Simplicity is the key of many things in life. That goes double when your life is on the line. What’s with the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon tactics?
You do not need to go far. Just the first interaction with the guy trying to snatch the gun away from him says it all. Why all the dancing? Just shove the sucker out of the way, put two rounds on him to keep him quiet and go for the next threat. When life is on the line, we do not engage in Tactical Tango.
The height of cultivation is really nothing special. It is merely simplicity; the ability to express the utmost with the minimum. It is the halfway cultivation that leads to ornamentation.
Bruce Lee.
Nuff said.
PS: If you don’t have it in your personal library, buy a copy of Tao of Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee. If you are into unarmed martial arts for the sake of self-defense, you will rethink your training. Armed Martial Arts people will also benefit on the philosophy side of business
My ancient Ipod Mini carries the veritable Old Fart collection of Music (Mostly pre-80s sans Disco und Crap-Rap) and the obligatory Gun Podcasts from the established authors.
But I am enjoying a the new generation of young guns podcasting their introduction and growth in the Gun Culture. Just like when we started in the Interwebs paying by the hour of access and gathering in the old rec.guns location and thought it was the coolest stuff since the introduction of hollow points for self defense, this new bunch has taken over the advanced media that is now available to basically everybody who lives nearby a Best Buy.
It is fun to see them grow into the Gun Culture at an accelerated pace. It is like they are growing in a hydroponics garden absorbing what was done before, processing it and sharing it with the rest of their “posse” (God, that was lame.) And amazingly they are very open to suggestions and advice from us old codgers which makes them twice as smart as we were. They are willing to correct mistakes, take chances and learn new stuff without fear of their egos being hurt. If the advice does not work, no problem, it might for somebody else. If it works, they appreciate it.
I’ll be creating a podcast list of links in my blogroll soon, but in the meantime you may want to check the following nutjobs. They are raw, unpolished and sometimes a pain in the ass, but we were once like that too.
Liberty Or Zombie Podcast: If we were in the 50s, they’d be bohemians. Allan Gingsberg is dating Gidget and she is into some kinky stuff.
Shooting the Breeze Podcast: Do you remember Orson Wells sitting in his confy chair with a cigar and a brandy? Similar, but talking with more sense and without raising your desire of kicking his smug ass.
The RoadGunner Podcast:Guns from a the cab of a tractor trailer. It brought memories of Ali McGraw changing shirts on the back while Kris Kristofferson is busting police cars. with his rig. Chester (Not his real name…yet) is lot less violent and only travels with dogs. Musical Theme: Ramblin’ Man by The Allman Brothers
Empty Mags Podcast: He is trying to be the serious one of the bunch. I suspect he has ulterior motives. Somebody said he is into gun podcasting because it is a Gun Babe magnet. Chicks with guns are hot plus armed back up is cool.
Enjoys these four in the meantime. So far they have done over 10 podcasts (my arbitrary rule indicating they don’t appear to be a fire and forget podcast) and they are making incredible strides improving their performances. Most of the time… 🙂
I am following a case in Spainthat is both sad and a perfect example of what happens when idiots are in charge of prosecuting crimes.
On May of 2010, Santiago Manjón Bermúdez bought a kitchen knife from a Madrid hardware store and set to find a police officer to commit “Suicide by Cop.” He manages to find an empty police car and proceeds to vandalize it in order to call attention to himself. Passerby’s notify the beat cops that somebody is beating the crap out of their car so the cops approach the Mr. Manjon who suddenly pulls the knife and confronts the cops while screaming “Shoot me in the head!”
Officer Israel Sánchez Vieco draws his HK Compact in 9mm and tells Manjon to drop the knife. Manjon charges Officer Sanchez who is then forced to use his weapon three times to stop Mr. Manjon by shooting him in the arm, abdomen and hip area. Officer Sanchez states that he deliberately shot low to stop Manjon and not to kill him (and from what I caught on a Spanish TV talk show, this is procedure for the Madrid P.D. who are not issued Tasers or other less than lethal devices.) The shot that hits Manjon in the arm over penetrates, ricochets off the pavement and hits a passerby, Antonio Castro Pimentel in the eye. Mr. Pimentel eventually loses the eye as consequence of the wound.
Antonio Castro Pimentel who lost an eye by a ricocheting bullet.
Over a year later, the trial begins. The accused are: Santiago Manjón Bermúdez for Assault with A Knife upon a police officer and Officer Israel Sánchez Vieco for causing Grieving Injuries on one Antonio Castro. Manjon is facing 9 months in jail because he has been found to be mentally unstable and Officer Sanchez is facing two years in prison for shooting Manjon and accidentally wounding Mr. Castro in the eye causing its loss.
The prosecution is also demanding monetary compensation to Mr. Castro for the loss of the eye and to Manjon for being shot by Officer Sanchez. According to the prosecuting attorney, Officer Sanchez did not need to use his firearm to stop the attack because he could have used his night stick or talk the subject down or him and his fellow officers rush Manjon and subdue him.
I am not even going to try to explain Spain’s approach to Law here because not even the Spaniards can figure that crap out. I am not surprised that this case has gone the way it has: Spain has a tradition to eschew logic in favor of esoterically progressive thinking applied to the dispensation of “Justice.” It is not uncommon for judges to set a very low bail or release confessed murderers on their own recognizance because the person they happened to murder was the wife and/or significant other. The “reasoning” is that the accused does not constitute present and ongoing threat to society because they only intended to kill one specific person and therefore they can be released. That suspect take this “vote of confidence” on their behavior and decide to flee is of no consequence to the court.
Back to our case. That the prosecution moron dismisses the real threat of a suspect with a knife reveals the amazing ignorance that Spanish Officers of the Court have about real life, specially in a country where the preferred method of killing people for centuries has been a bladed weapon. A dedicated bastard with a knife can inflict untold damage to anybody standing around him as I posted here back in May of this year. I am assuming that Mr. Prosecutor might have seen one too many Jackie Chan movies and thought that Officer Sanchez could have delivered a nice round-kick and brought the suspect under custody without any further damage.
And this would be reason 5,942 of why I do not care to even visit Europe to visit my relatives.
UPDATE: I just found out from another blog that Officer Israel Sánchez Vieco was found not guilty as he was defending himself and was on the line of duty. The blog does not cite source so I can’t confirm the news. The nutjob also did not get a time behind bars other than a couple of days in observation but he has to pay for the damages given to the police car in the amount 301,76 Euros (aprox. $385) and 2/5 of the court costs.
