Will somebody (Borepatch, Vox Day, ESR - all of you have written in a knowledgeable-seeming fashion about this) please write a post on what this "Dark Enlightenment" is supposed to be in aid of? What is it about? What does it claim to be about? Is there in fact any "there" there? In terms of non-internet relevance, where would you rank its claim to moral and human ethical values on a scale between Lord of the Flies and The Alamo?
Yes, I read this Telegraph article; no, I'm still not any better informed than I was before doing so. Neither, apparently, is Mr. Bartlett, though that doesn't slow his willingness to "explain" things.
A little help here ...
Friday, February 14, 2014
Friday, February 7, 2014
Setting The Olympic Bar As Low As It'll Go
So, it seems Putin-on-the-Olympic Games in So-Shit Russia may be best remembered for the examples of people backing away from taking any of the "glory".
And these are the people we spent 70 years being told were going to bury us.
And these are the people we spent 70 years being told were going to bury us.
Monday, February 3, 2014
A Circumstantial Problem Of Perspective
One of the instructors at my local Krav Maga school has written an article titled Legal Issues Surrounding Use of Force and Krav Maga which is published on the East Texas Krav Maga school web page. While generally well written and quite informative, in my judgement the piece suffers from a particularly dangerous failure of perspective as a result of the author's contextual assumptions.
As a former police officer, Paul Landreth-Smith appears to have approached his topic from the perspective of someone who enjoys benefit of the legal notion known as qualified immunity as well as the assumption that individuals interests are best served by providing all the information possible to law enforcement agents following involvement in a violent incident. While this may in fact be the case for a member of law enforcement (and my reading shows that opinion is not universal), I believe that advice is a particular disservice to the vast majority of non-law enforcement Krav Maga students as well as all people who lawfully carry a firearm in their own right.
The wealth of detail Paul Landreth-Smith offers regarding recording the incident you were involved in is quite comprehensive and useful to your defense counsel. And here we see how Paul's assumption based on Qualified Immunity misinforms his thesis; Paul is quite correct that all of the data he itemizes is necessary to a proper defense of the Krav Maga student, but the assumption that law enforcement is necessarily concerned with your defense is potentially a tragically mistaken one.
The other error of assumption the author makes is to base the choice of whether or not to engage the skills learned in Krav Maga from any other standpoint than, "Does this act meet the legal standard of self defense?" Paul Landreth-Smith rightly dismisses the nonsense notion of there being any requirement to declare your martial arts training status (and more generally, that you are armed at all), but he fails to specify the legal requirements for an individuals actions to qualify as self defense. This, especially combined with the other error cited above, makes his article very problematic.
In brief, a claim of self defense requires that a hypothetical other person would concur that your actions were both reasonable and proper in the circumstances in which they occurred. In my judgement, every student of Krav Maga (most especially to include anyone who owns or carries a firearm on their person) must base there decision to engage in violence with another on this principle alone. Unlike law enforcement, as a general rule people do not have any requirement to engage in violence with other people (as I understand it, the requirement for law enforcement to do so is the fundamental justification for Qualified Immunity). Granted, in most US states people famously have the right to "Stand Your Ground", but all that really means is there is no lawful requirement to retreat from threat. As Krav students, this means we don't have to try to "run away, run away", but that also doesn't obviate our requirement (just like every other reasonable and law abiding person) to avoid physical conflict whenever circumstance permits.
I commend Paul Landreth-Smith for extending this discussion to specifically include Krav Maga students. I believe I have illustrated how my fellow students might further benefit from debate about possible refinement or expansion of this discussion as part of our Krav Maga training. In that vein, I suggest that inclusion of legal experts on this specific topic might be of value. For now, I encourage my fellow Krav students to adopt the Self Defense legal standard as their own metric by which to weigh their decision whether or not to use their Krav training, in addition to applying as much of Paul Landreth-Smiths advice in supplying their defense council with as much data as possible, should they ever have to choose to fight.
As a former police officer, Paul Landreth-Smith appears to have approached his topic from the perspective of someone who enjoys benefit of the legal notion known as qualified immunity as well as the assumption that individuals interests are best served by providing all the information possible to law enforcement agents following involvement in a violent incident. While this may in fact be the case for a member of law enforcement (and my reading shows that opinion is not universal), I believe that advice is a particular disservice to the vast majority of non-law enforcement Krav Maga students as well as all people who lawfully carry a firearm in their own right.
The wealth of detail Paul Landreth-Smith offers regarding recording the incident you were involved in is quite comprehensive and useful to your defense counsel. And here we see how Paul's assumption based on Qualified Immunity misinforms his thesis; Paul is quite correct that all of the data he itemizes is necessary to a proper defense of the Krav Maga student, but the assumption that law enforcement is necessarily concerned with your defense is potentially a tragically mistaken one.
The other error of assumption the author makes is to base the choice of whether or not to engage the skills learned in Krav Maga from any other standpoint than, "Does this act meet the legal standard of self defense?" Paul Landreth-Smith rightly dismisses the nonsense notion of there being any requirement to declare your martial arts training status (and more generally, that you are armed at all), but he fails to specify the legal requirements for an individuals actions to qualify as self defense. This, especially combined with the other error cited above, makes his article very problematic.
In brief, a claim of self defense requires that a hypothetical other person would concur that your actions were both reasonable and proper in the circumstances in which they occurred. In my judgement, every student of Krav Maga (most especially to include anyone who owns or carries a firearm on their person) must base there decision to engage in violence with another on this principle alone. Unlike law enforcement, as a general rule people do not have any requirement to engage in violence with other people (as I understand it, the requirement for law enforcement to do so is the fundamental justification for Qualified Immunity). Granted, in most US states people famously have the right to "Stand Your Ground", but all that really means is there is no lawful requirement to retreat from threat. As Krav students, this means we don't have to try to "run away, run away", but that also doesn't obviate our requirement (just like every other reasonable and law abiding person) to avoid physical conflict whenever circumstance permits.
I commend Paul Landreth-Smith for extending this discussion to specifically include Krav Maga students. I believe I have illustrated how my fellow students might further benefit from debate about possible refinement or expansion of this discussion as part of our Krav Maga training. In that vein, I suggest that inclusion of legal experts on this specific topic might be of value. For now, I encourage my fellow Krav students to adopt the Self Defense legal standard as their own metric by which to weigh their decision whether or not to use their Krav training, in addition to applying as much of Paul Landreth-Smiths advice in supplying their defense council with as much data as possible, should they ever have to choose to fight.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Wellville Update
To re-cap; on Sunday the 19th of January I developed lower back pain that extended down the length of my left leg. On the following Monday (January 20), this was diagnosed as bursitis since X-ray revealed no physical abnormality to my back and pelvic region. The next day, I was seen by the first available orthopedic specialist who determined there was no medical cause for my symptoms revealed so far (he specifically ruled out bursitis) and he scheduled me for an MRI which took place the next day (Wednesday, Jan 22). The following Tuesday, 28 Jan, the orthopedic specialist determined I was suffering from a stenosis of the L-1 and/or L-2 vertebrae, which basically means a narrowing or constriction of the channels through which the nerves run causing nerve pain (which has the attribute of expressing as pain almost anywhere the given nerve extends or "transmits" to/from).
Simply as a result of who I saw first for pain treatment (the Urgent Care doc-in-a-box alternative to the Emergency Room), I ended up going to the wrong specialist. No one's fault as such; everyone involved sought the best treatment for me as the information they had available indicated. My personal physician has now taken the lead position on my treatment, as would have occurred from the outset had this not transpired on a holiday weekend. He has arranged for me to begin physical therapy starting this next Tuesday (that would be Feb 4 for those keeping score at home) and for me to be seen by a neurosurgeon, although that doesn't happen until Thursday Feb 13.
I've been off work this entire time and getting the Sickness and Accident insurance payments going is a slloooww process. I'm in no danger of starvation, especially when you take the appetite suppression qualities of codeine into account, and the bills are all being paid still, but I'm actually looking forward to beginning PT if only for something to do. Anyone who has been treated by a physical therapist will recognize just how extreme my level of boredom must be. Also, poverty (the money to pay for stuff is coming from my money to do things account). First world problems all.
I expect to be off work for several more weeks at best.
I'm tempted to whine that "it never ends", but in fact it does and that alternative invites not at all. I'll wait (and work) for "gets better".
Simply as a result of who I saw first for pain treatment (the Urgent Care doc-in-a-box alternative to the Emergency Room), I ended up going to the wrong specialist. No one's fault as such; everyone involved sought the best treatment for me as the information they had available indicated. My personal physician has now taken the lead position on my treatment, as would have occurred from the outset had this not transpired on a holiday weekend. He has arranged for me to begin physical therapy starting this next Tuesday (that would be Feb 4 for those keeping score at home) and for me to be seen by a neurosurgeon, although that doesn't happen until Thursday Feb 13.
I've been off work this entire time and getting the Sickness and Accident insurance payments going is a slloooww process. I'm in no danger of starvation, especially when you take the appetite suppression qualities of codeine into account, and the bills are all being paid still, but I'm actually looking forward to beginning PT if only for something to do. Anyone who has been treated by a physical therapist will recognize just how extreme my level of boredom must be. Also, poverty (the money to pay for stuff is coming from my money to do things account). First world problems all.
I expect to be off work for several more weeks at best.
I'm tempted to whine that "it never ends", but in fact it does and that alternative invites not at all. I'll wait (and work) for "gets better".
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