Justice through Pardons

Probably many of you remember this case.

On Friday, 37-year-old Army sergeant Daniel Perry was found guilty of fatally shooting Garrett Foster, an Air Force veteran and BLM protester.

Perry’s defense lawyers say he shot Foster in self-defense at a demonstration in downtown Austin, Texas, on July 25, 2020.

Texts from Perry in which he wrote he “might have to kill a few people” who were “rioting” outside his apartment were used in the trial, which began on March 27.

He said he felt threatened after 28-year-old Foster pointed his AK-47 at him, though witnesses said they never saw Foster raise his weapon.

I was of course not there, but I notice that witnesses 'never seeing' things at these kinds of events is a common defensive strategy. There's a case in Atlanta right now around the so-called "Cop City" protests where a Georgia State Trooper was actually shot, and the witnesses -- who are mostly members of various activist groups and anarchist circles -- claim that they never saw a gun, so the cop must have been shot by one of his own. The police say they recovered his gun, can show that he purchased it, and that forensics establish that it was definitely the one that shot the trooper. The protesters say that they haven't seen or independently verified the police's forensics, so they will continue to hold that the trooper was shot by other cops.

It's possible. In the old days we would go to court and hash it out, trusting the jury to make a fair decision. In the current climate, juries and jury pools are selected for being subject to confirmation bias -- and so are prosecutors. Here as in the DC cases we've been watching, the prosecutor from Austin is biased and the jury pool draws from the most left-wing community in Texas.

On Saturday, Abbott wrote Texas has one of the nation’s “strongest ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws of self-defense that cannot be nullified by a jury or a progressive district attorney.”

Noting that, unlike other states, the governor in Texas is only allowed to act on a recommendation from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, Abbott said he had already “made (the pardon) request and instructed the Board to expedite its review.”

Abbott also noted he’s “already prioritized reining in rogue district attorneys,” likely referring to Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza.

This points to a failure of trust in our system so basic as to make certain areas very dangerous even to visit. Armed and violent riots are being coupled with an official system of punishing not the rioters, but anyone who defends themselves. This was prominent in Venezuela, where roving gangs loyal to the Communist government were enforcers of terror, protected by the law rather than restrained by it.  

Conan Report

I took the dog to his first VFD meeting and training session, which was on the setting up of helicopter landing zones for extractions. As you know, this is something that comes up from time to time and it's important for younger or newer members to learn. 

He was a big hit with the firefighters, although being a puppy he slept through most of it. I did pass him off to our training captain to hold for a little while during my turn at operating some of the equipment. She enjoyed the opportunity to hold a puppy. 

Stop the bleed

Speaking of rescue, a neighbor recently lost control of a power tool of some kind and gashed his leg badly, apparently at least knicking the femoral artery. A volunteer fireman across the street arrived quickly and used a "Stop the Bleed" kit and recent "Stop the Bleed" training to control a fairly dramatic hemorrhage. Although the nearest hospital is nearly an hour away, our neighbor was treated successfully and is home and doing well.

The news inspired me to put a "Stop the Bleed" kit in our kitchen and to read up on the controversy over tourniquet use. The "North American Rescue Tourniquet" is said to enjoy a good reputation. The manufacturer's website had a link to an article discussing tourniquet use throughout history, ending with this (paraphrased) summary of the current thinking:

Normally, we should leave tourniquet use to civilian or military personnel with proper training. Most hemorrhages even from amputation can be controlled with direct pressure, elevation, and packing of the wound.

Having said that, no patient should bleed out because we're afraid of a tourniquet. The complications from tourniquet use can be very serious indeed, but not in comparison with death. A tourniquet is a viable backup measure even for amateurs if other strategies aren't enough to save life, especially if transport to a hospital must be delayed.

If the safety of the patient or of caregivers requires emergency movement, use a tourniquet to control a life-threatening hemorrhage, but reevaluate it ASAP once in safety.

Place the tourniquet about a palm's width "upstream" (proximal, not distal) from the wound, or more if necessary to avoid a joint. If there is an impaled object, don't let the tourniquet press down on any part of it.

Remove all clothing from under the tourniquet (note that your first-aid kit should include fabric shears), and leave the tourniquet exposed, with no bandage wrapped over it. Mark the presence of the tourniquet prominently, including the time it was applied (note that your kit should include a Magic Marker to write on a bandage away from the tourniquet but easily visible to the next worker). Tell a conscious patient to inform every medical worker he comes in contact with when the tourniquet was applied.

Generally, you may need to tighten a tourniquet in the field but should almost never loosen it. Tighten the tourniquet if the wound continues to bleed below the pressure point, other than oozing from exposed marrow. Do not loosen a tourniquet in the field in any of these situations: (1) obvious signs of shock, (2) amputation, (3) resumed hemorrhage upon trial release of the tourniquet, or (4) (in a long-term emergency rescue) after the tourniquet has been in place for 6 hours. Even if hemorrhage no longer is an immediate danger, restoring long-blocked flow to blood-starved tissues can cause deadly problems that require more intensive medical care than you can possibly give in the field.

From Raven: Snowboarding Rescue

Look how just a little preparation allows one man to save another from a tree well. 

Rites of Spring

My congregation is pretty elderly, but at Easter we get a pretty good crop of young people. Our pastor brings out a plain wood cross with some wore netting on it and asks the kids to come up and help cover it in blooms.

We often have a baptism, too, and this morning was no exception:

A good Easter hymn.

An Easter Joy

By chance coincidence, AVI just had a post last week about this in which he wisely warned against such things. An ancient inscription I also saw last week says likewise:

I  am in tears, while carrying you to your last resting place as much as I rejoiced when bringing you home in my own hands fifteen years ago.

So I am fairly warned. 

Happy Easter

It’s a glorious morning in South Carolina. May your feast day be wonderful. 

UPDATE:

Turtle on the Catawba.

Rift.

Charlotte

This weekend brought me to Charlotte. 

Their website is ten years out of date, apparently, and it’s much too uptown to be a Viking bar. The axe was rubber and the clientele were whatever you call yuppies these days. About what you’d expect from a city. 

National Beer Day

 Today is also National Beer Day. I guess it is only fitting that I post some appropriate music for this important holiday. 

Good Friday Music

 W.A.S.P. was one of the more outrageous heavy metal acts of the '80s. In fact, the PMRC listed one of their songs amongst the "Filthy Fifteen."  No one in the band was more outrageous than its frontman, Blackie Lawless.  However, a number of years ago Blackie Lawless reconnected with the Christian faith of his youth.  Since then, Christian themes have featured prominently in the band's lyrics. W.A.S.P.'s last album was the 2015 release, Golgotha. The song below is one of my favorite from that album and particularly appropriate for today.

Declaration of Arbroath

Todays date was chosen for National Tartan Day because it was the date of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath in the year of our Lord 1320. 

From these countless evils, with His help who afterwards soothes and heals wounds, we are freed by our tireless leader, king, and master, Lord Robert, who like another Maccabaeus or Joshua, underwent toil and tiredness, hunger and danger with a light spirit in order to free the people and his inheritance from the hands of his enemies. And now, the divine Will, our just laws and customs, which we will defend to the death, the right of succession and the due consent and assent of all of us have made him our leader and our king. To this man, inasmuch as he saved our people, and for upholding our freedom, we are bound by right as much as by his merits, and choose to follow him in all that he does.

But if he should cease from these beginnings, wishing to give us or our kingdom to the English or the king of the English, we would immediately take steps to drive him out as the enemy and the subverter of his own rights and ours, and install another King who would make good our defence. Because, while a hundred of us remain alive, we will not submit in the slightest measure, to the domination of the English. We do not fight for honour, riches, or glory, but for freedom alone, which no true man gives up but with his life.

Emphasis added.  

National Tartan Day III: Firefighters

There have been several tartans designed for firefighters, mostly for pipe and drum bands associated with fire departments. Sadly, their duties are normally at funeral services. 

Here are a few, either universal or local to North Carolina.

Firefighter Memorial Tartan designed by Kelly Stewart, who notes: "Lastly, the three red lines in the middle of each square are 3 red threads, 4 red threads and three red threads - representing the 343 NYFD firefighters who lost their lives on 11th September 2001 - the largest number of firefighters who ever perished in a single day in the history of the United States."

National Tartan Day II: Military Issue

The weaving of plaid is prehistoric in Scotland and Ireland, apparently following patterns that were specific to localities only because particular families knew how to weave them. The use of symmetrical "tartan" to identify a particular clan is 19th century, and was part of the industrial effort to systematize the Highlands. It probably grew out of the use of such tartans to create military uniforms, famously including the Black Watch, a loyal-to-the-government-in-England unit that patrolled the highlands against rebels and their ilk.

US Marine Corps "Leatherneck" Tartan (Unofficial)

There are very many military tartans, too many for a useable post. After the jump, I will put up some of them, but only for the American military. I will not include the Confederate military, though it is officially considered part of the American military by Federal law; they had several, as you might imagine given the heavy Scottish highlander ancestry in the Appalachians, especially North Carolina, which provided more combatants than any other state in that conflict. I will only include current-service US military units.

I will also not include veterans' associations, such as the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association, purely for the sake of brevity. There are lots of those too. 

National Tartan Day

It's National Tartan Day, the annual celebration of Scottish heritage. Many states have registered district tartans that residents can wear, including both the state in which I was born and the state in which I currently reside. 

The Carolina District Tartan

Georgia District Tartan

Scenes from Western North Carolina

I met this gentleman, whose name is Jim, along with his daughter Dakota and his granddaughter (who is 7 and introduced me to her puppy). The horses were Frank and Jesse James, Frank being the one who was blind in the right eye. My son and I were out on the motorcycles, and met him on a mountain road. He offered us another kind of ride, which of course I took. He's a cool old character: blacksmith, farrier, and rebuilder of classic muscle cars. He took us over to his barn and showed us some of his collection.

Below the fold, some video from the fire scene the other night (taken after the fire was out).

Homecoming

It is an honor to once again join this august group of bloggers. To commemorate this auspicious event, I would like to introduce you to a favorite band of mine. Wytch Hazel is a band from Lancaster, England. Their sound is heavily influenced by bands like Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, and Iron Maiden. Their lyrics center on Christian themes. They describe themselves in the following way: 

"In the parallel universe where the New Wave of British Heavy Metal happened 600 years early, WYTCH HAZEL are the band of choice for the discerning Plantagenet headbanger."

They had me at Plantagenet headbanger. 

The first song is from their upcoming album, "Sacrament," out on 2 June. The other two songs are from their previous album, "Pentecost."

Supermajority

The NC legislature will now be able to override vetos from our rotten governor whenever they want. 

The Sword

The Sword is one of my favorite bands, founded on a retro style that looks back to 1982's Conan the Barbarian and its inspirations in hard rock and early metal. I think I've posted that song before, as it encompasses Norse style ritual cursing.

This one is a laid back piece, but try this one too:

And this one:

You get a lot of country music, Western music, and roots Americana on this blog, but that's not all we do around here.

Appalachian State Wage Discrimination

This appears to be a clear violation of Federal law, if the facts as presented in the article hold up on examination. It's 'for a good reason' and 'on the right side,' though, so who knows if anything will be done about it?

"Pagan's Progress"

In a review of "Prince" Harry's autobiography -- I assume he at least participated in editing it -- Dominic Green identifies the young man as one of his generation: "Not religious, he seeks enlightenment like a typical millennial: via drugs and meditation."

Harry has said he’s “not religious,” but he is spiritual. Christianity leaves him cold, but he pursues enlightenment with a zeal that would have warmed the heart of a Puritan divine. He travels this path alone, guided by drugs, spirit animals sent by his late mother, Diana, and daily yoga and meditation....

At around 15, Harry experienced a ritual induction into manhood. Guided by Sandy, a family retainer, he shot a stag. Sandy slit the dying animal’s throat and belly and told Harry to kneel.... Sandy pushed Harry’s head inside the carcass and held it there. “After a minute I couldn’t smell anything, because I couldn’t breathe. My nose and mouth were full of blood, guts, and a deep, upsetting warmth.”

“So this,” Harry tells himself, “is death.” Yet he’s ecstatic. “I wasn’t religious,” Harry writes, “but this ‘blood facial’ was, to me, baptismal.” Finally, he has lived the “virtues” that had been “preached” to him since childhood. Culling the herd is being “good to Nature” and “good to the community.” Managing nature is “a form of worship,” and environmentalism is “a kind of religion” for his father. For the first time Harry feels “close to God.”

This reminds me of another insight of GKC's: 

The only objection to Natural Religion is that somehow it always becomes unnatural. A man loves Nature in the morning for her innocence and amiability, and at nightfall, if he is loving her still, it is for her darkness and her cruelty. He washes at dawn in clear water as did the Wise Man of the Stoics, yet, somehow at the dark end of the day, he is bathing in hot bull's blood, as did Julian the Apostate.

The thing about being an apostate from the Church of England is that there's no peril in it. You can be a witch or a druid without fear in the lands consecrated to the Church of England; you can be a witch or a druid without ever leaving the Church of England. It's an easy faith, whether ardently beloved or rejected. It hunts no heresies and no heretics. 

I'm reading currently a very similar book, though, by a young Muslim woman who has adopted a similar path to rethinking Islam. I'm struck by how similar the paths are: she speaks of studying other religions for syncretic purposes, seeking wisdom from Native American elders, becoming a witch, taking magic mushrooms to appreciate the mind of God. Their paths are unique -- there is no room for orthodoxy in the religion of the youth, which every man or woman makes up for himself or herself -- but they are not dissimilar. 

Yet she is to be praised in a way that he is not to be, because what she is doing requires real courage. Even though she lives in America and is relatively buffered from the perils, that buffer is in no way absolute. It takes a brave woman to try to live an Islam that incorporates witchcraft; it takes genuine courage to publish a book about doing so. 

One mourns for Harry, who was once a soldier who knew virtues and courage. Not so for her, who is living such things even now. It is strange, really, how such similar paths can be so essentially different.