The Forgotten Man

Robert Peel, the British Prime Minister who created the first modern police force in 1829 while serving as British Home Secretary, insisted that “police are the public and the public are the police.” The only difference between a police officer and any other “civilian,” from Peel’s perspective, was that he is “paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen” where protection of life, liberty, and property are concerned.

– excerpt from William Grigg’s essay ‘The Police State’s “Cardinal Rule”‘

Wow, I haven’t posted in over a month.  Tons of stuff going on.

The biggest thing, I guess, is that I have left the world of self-employment and have a real job again.  Been at it for a week now and so far, so good.

I’ve been insanely busy this past month: living in three states, interviewing everywhere, and doing what’s been needed to get by.  I don’t see the insanity letting up any time soon.  Probably for the best since, in this new 5.0 phase of my life, I don’t really feel the need to subject you all to my mind any more.

More later, maybe.

The recent tragic shooting at Ft. Hood, got me thinking about a video of a lecture I recently watched.

The lecture was given by Massad Ayoob: policeman, competitive shooter, firearms historian, defense instructor, highly-sought expert witness, and the preeminent authority on the judicious use of lethal force in the US. In this lecture (which is taught to law enforcement officers, attorneys, and private citizens) he mentioned that after the shooting at Columbine high school in 1999, the standard response to an active shooter changed.

Before Columbine, the standard response was for officers arriving on-scene to wait for a negotiation team to arrive. If that wasn’t possible, then they would at least wait for there to be a large enough body of officers that they could swarm the shooters en masse.

The obvious problem with this tactic is that this waiting period gives the killer(s) more time to kill.

A lot of analysis was done of the massacre at Columbine and a new protocol was developed. This new protocol was specifically designed for situations where there was a killer in an area where the victims had little or no ability to defend themselves (such as in schools where it is illegal to possess self-defense weapons). In this new protocol the goal is to take down the killer immediately. Officers are trained to engage immediately.

Sgt. Munley, the brave woman police officer who responded to the shooting at Ft. Hood last week, was trained in this new protocol. She got the call, went to the scene, and immediately engaged Maj. Hasan and ended the killing spree.

It is sad comfort, but comfort nonetheless, that our law enforcement professionals to learn from these events; and that the knowledge gained does lead to better tactics that do eventually trickle down to the brave men and women we hire to keep us safe. It’s horrible to imagine what Maj. Hasan would have done if Sgt. Munley had just sat around and waited for backup.

One common trait of people in the various geek cultures is that of talking really fast. I’ve been used to this since forever. As a result, listening to a podcast, or audiobook at 2x or even 4x speed is no sweat. More content in the same amount of time; or the same content in a fraction of the time. W00t!

My first iPhone application just went live in the Apple app store. Help a brother out and tell everyone you know to buy a copy. Click the link below to be taken to the product page in iTunes.

Dare to Compare: Abs

Actually, I didn’t need a star because I never left sight of land.

I’ve learned to sail, and found that it is something that I love dearly. Wish I had started 20 years ago. I spent much of this past Friday sailing around Shilshole Bay in Puget Sound. The sound is a great place for sailing. Lots of interesting features; lots of quirky local weather to learn to deal with; lots of commercial shipping, fishing, cruise line traffic to learn to recognize and avoid; etc.

There’s a nice view off my starboard side. That’s Bainbridge Island there in the distance, 5.5 nautical miles away. Trivia: Russell Johnson, the actor who played the Professor on Gilligan’s Island, lives there. How apropos.

In the sky that was our home
I remember them flying bold
I was proud as they learned and grew
Wept as they bathed in the morning dew
Now their feathers are soaked in oil
Heavy wings that can’t unfurl
No longer shall I hear them sing
No longer will they feel the majesty of spring

But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed, but not defeated.

Look people, they’re pipe cleaners. Stop calling them “chenille craft wands”. Gah, makes me want to barf.

Saturday afternoon I got a surprise text message from the captain of the schooner Lavengro asking if we’d like to go for a sail. Uhm, yeah! So we jumped off the highway and headed down to the Metro dock and had an awesome afternoon. Drinks, snacks, guitars, great wind, and good friends.

Lavengro was built in 1927. She’s been a fishing boat, a military training vessel, a charter, a private residence, and the victim of neglect. Now as a charge of the Northwest Schooner Society she is a non-profit used for education and charters.

We’ve done a little work helping with the restoration, and the crew are quickly becoming some of our dearest friends. We’ve been totally unskilled labor, but the crew have been gracious in sharing their extensive knowledge, and trading us sailing time for sweat.

Lavengro is meant to be a community-building project; so, if you want to learn about sailing, or just learn about restoring an old boat, get in touch and get involved. They give free sails every Sunday from the Center for Wooden Boats. Come aboard, lend a hand, make some great new friends, and have a blast doing it all on the waters around Seattle.