Stop The Bleed Month

May is Stop the Bleed Month. And May 23rd is National STOP THE BLEED Day.

(Yes, those seem to be "rival" web sites...)

Perhaps with that in mind, Tamara had a post yesterday (The largest window for error...) in which she linked to an article about gun safety vis à vis administrative gun handling, and said that, if you're going to carry a gun, you should have a "blow out kit" with you. (SayUncle linked, and, this being the Internet, predictably, derp ensured in comments.)

I've written about first aid and (especially) trauma care and training before, and on this very topic in The Clue Meter: Tourniquets Save Lives.

In that post I included some videos of how to apply a tourniquet, including one I reproduce here, how to apply a field expedient tourniquet:


As to which tourniquet to carry, the two standards seem to be the CAT (Gen 7+) and the SOF-T (Gen 4+); the advantages of one over the other seem be minor and due as much to personal preference of the professional you are speaking to, as well as to incremental improvements in one or the other. Similar tourniquets are likely to mimic the style or design, but use cheaper materials.

There is at least one "bargain" tourniquet that is essentially a long rubber band; in formal testing it was rated as better than nothing -- barely. (The sales pitch is cool, "Tighten until the diamonds are squares and the ovals are circles"; just doesn't seem to work as well in real application.)

Research:

• Efficacy of Pre-hospital Application of Tourniquets and Hemostatic Dressings to Control Traumatic External Hemorrhage. Opens a .pdf document from EMS.gov, a site at the National Institutes of Health.

GET TRAINING!

You need to take classes; even if you master applying a tourniquet by watching YouTube videos, there are other things you'll need to know. So where do you find such training? After all, you might not know a handy Ambulance Driver who happens to be conducting a class on the subject.

• BleedingControl.org has a Find A Class page.
• The Stop the Bleed Monthweb site does too: Find Training.
• As does the National STOP THE BLEED Day web site: Get Trained.
• FEMA also has some suggestions: Stop the Bleed | Homeland Security
• The Firearms Training Hub has a page listing Medical classes; among others, Dark Angel Medical has classes nationwide. Including one local to me next week...

If you're not comfortable buying  emergency medical/trauma care supplies off of Amazon -- and stories of counterfeit merchandise abound -- some reputable sources include:

• Chinook Medical Gear, Inc.
• Tactical Medical Solutions for Military and First Responders
• First Aid Kits | First Aid Supplies | MyMedic
• Adventure® Medical Kits

This is another item in the "Better to have it (and know how to use it!) but never need it, than to need it and not have it and/or not know how to use it" category.

"Sick of the NRA? Read this."

Breach/Bang/Clear: Sick of the NRA? Read this. | Duane Liptak with a reality check

...people bash the NRA a lot without understanding the reality of how the silly reindeer games get played on the hill. Try to at least understand the value that the organization provides because it is big and very real, and critically important. I want a live tank in my front yard and mail order Solothurn S-18/1000’s from Bannerman’s. But the path to get there isn’t exactly a clear one in the current legislative environment. Without the strength of the NRA helping to pack the courts, shape elections the best we can, fight off bad legislation wherever possible and pave the way to improve rights through the judiciary (we’ve confirmed 85 federal judges in addition to the 2 Supremes with 130 more to go), I fear we won’t have a path to it at all. That’s why I’m a member, and helping to make the organization as right as we can get it is why I got involved.

I get the frustration. I’m mad that we’re even in this situation. How could we, a republic, born from free men taking up arms against oppression, even be considering some of this nonsense? It baffles me. And, I used to be super frustrated with the NRA, also. Until…I was forced into being involved in politics and seeing how this whole mess works. Now I know what I have to do, and I hope everyone out there who cares about gun rights can get on board, too.

So, if you want to support GOA or FPC or FPC, or JPFO…that’s fantastic. Join your state organization, also. Be active locally. Let your elected representatives know how you feel on these issues regularly. But…be a member of the NRA, and be active. Vote. Let the board and the staff know where you stand on issues. Help to be a part of the solution. If we, as gun owners, can’t stick together and take advantage of the strengths of all of our organizations where they can do the most good, we will lose this fight. I’m not willing to lose.

 This is the last three paragraphs. Go read the whole thing.

Observations -- UPDATE!

Some observations while I'm sitting here contemplating my liquid diet.  Many of you know from personal experience what I'll be doing (or having done to me) tomorrow.

1. Naturally, it seems like there are nothing but pizza commercials on.
2. This gunk tastes like someone involved in the formulation might have considered making it palatable.
3. Not that they did.
4. I tried to tell them that a nice, tall glass of whole milk, maybe accompanied by a properly aged blue cheese, would have the same effect, but apparently it wouldn't be scientific or something. 
5. Amazing how the cat that fights getting off your lap under ordinary circumstances recognizes the urgency in your voice when said gunk begins to take effect...
6. (Bonus observation, added later): The worst part may have been giving up ibuprofen for the various aches and pains and creaky joints. Of course, the VA says there's nothing wrong with me... 
7. UPDATE: I had to stop taking ibuprofen Sunday.
1. Up until sometime last night I was convinced that was the worst part of the process.
2. Now they tell me I can't take it again for two more weeks. 
3. 😱😰😭

I Ain't'nt Ded Yet

It's just, you know, so hot and humid here...

I confess, some of us have been kind of hoping that we'll see Hurricane Ruben* before the season is through...







And I already did this one, so sue me:
Which reminds me I still need to get a pic of me standing by an A1A sign...


*Alas, no.

Note to Everybody

Inspired by Tam's post Copypasta from my Bookface wall...

Go ahead and unfriend me.

The only way I am going back to Facebook is if they change their rules to let one post using a pseudonym with your "legal ID" not publicly available, and not searchable, without a warrant.

I'd even be willing to pay a double sawbuck (that's a Jackson for you kids, AKA an Irony Note, until Harriet replaces Andy, at which time it will be a Freedom Note, I guess) per annum for the service.

Facebook can be a useful way to stay in touch with family and friends; people evacuating from Hurricane Harvey only need a couple of minutes to post to their wall "Safe in Dallas, more later" and everyone will know they made it out OK.

Google+ could do that much, too, and anyone who has an Android phone has a Google+ account by virtue of having an Android, AKA GMail, AKA Google, account. And Google+ does not demand you post your legal ID anywhere. (Ask me how I know...)

But Zuckerberg et. al. are more interested in making piles of money and in manipulating society than in providing a simple service that people would actually like.

So feel no guilt at all about trimming your friends list by one there.

BTW, I'm still on Twitter, as of this week. Not real active, compared to some, but posting a link to the blog posts will (or used to) cross-post to Facebook, and occasionally some SJW does or says something stupid...

Earworm 6/30/2017

My last couple of years of college we hung out at The Fiddlers Green Pub in Ypsilanti. They'd have folk singers, mostly Irish Rebel Tunes, although Marty Burke sang a bit of everything.

This was one.

Alas Marty never cut an album, although there was a lot of not-quite-bootleg tapes floating around. (Folks would sit in the front row with their boom boxes taping stuff with his full knowledge. At least a couple of these were processed well enough to be demos, but so far as I know they never got a hearing...)

Too bad. Marty had a lot to do with developing my rather eclectic musical tastes...

How an armed citizen helped stopped a mass shooter

How Allen Crum Helped Stop UT Tower Sniper Charles Whitman 50 Years Ago

Granted, it was Texas, so to those who would have us believe that armed citizens could never do anything positive, it doesn't count...

Maybe it's just me...

...but all these shows in which an alien race has arrived and has to a greater or lesser extent taken over, is now controlling everything...

..I cannot for the life of me conceive how in the hell anyone can write these stories and have collaborators with the alien overloads as protagonists.

We never did, really...

‘We don’t have the gear': How the Pentagon is struggling with electronic warfare - The Washington Post

Mike Rowe Speaks

He does that a lot, of course, because that's what he gets paid for.

Mike Rowe on expanded/universal background checks for firearms purchases.

• #‎When‬There’sAHoleInYourNet, you don’t need a bigger net; you need a smaller hole.
• #WhenYourFoundationIsShaky, you don’t keep building on top of it, you knock it down and start over.

A Good Guy Needs Help

You will no doubt have heard that yet another beta male crawled out of his Mama's basement long enough yesterday to try for his 15 minutes of fame down in Roseberg, OR.

Since the campus of Umpqua Community College is a Designated Victimization Zone he managed to rack up a fairly significant score before the local constabulary cleansed him from the gene pool.

One of his victims, Chris Mintz, is an Army vet who reacted to the threat by charging it in an effort to save others. Chris survived, but he was shot seven times and is in the hospital.

A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help pay for his medical care and also to support his family while he is recovering: Chris Mintz - UCC Shooting Survivor by Derek Bourgeois - GoFundMe.

The Day After...

So, yesterday today* was September 11th.

Which, among other things, is Mrs. Drang's birthday.

My blogging friends, including those I have yet to meet, mostly posted... something.

Mind you, the whole thing still chokes me up, and makes me see red. Thus, in past years I posted videos which expressed the anger that Americans felt on September 11th,and many of us still do today.

However, it seems to me that the date has turned into yet another one on which we mark a box on the obligatory expression on whatever it has been deemed appropriate. (SEE: Christmas, Thanksgiving, et. al.)

Bobbi summed it up pretty well in her post, 11 September.

It does not help my attitude when our so-called "national leadership" seems bound and determined to sell us out to the adversary.

So, we were going to celebrate Mrs. Drang's birthday by going to the fair, ditched that, sent the morning doing not much, did some grocery shopping.

I installed a Surefire fore-end on my shotgun, then cooked dinner. Managed not to give either of us food poisoning


Just to show that I am not a complete curmudgeon, though, here is a Feel Good Video with a 9/11 tie-in: This Search and Rescue Dog and New York Hero Gets to Have the Best Day Ever Exploring New York City


*EDIT: Harummph, this was supposed to be scheduled to post in the wee small hours of 9/12. Oh, well.

Inboxing

Some things that have been gathering electronic dust in my inbox...

Source: Instapundit.
Story: Global eavesdroppers: In World War II, dozens of radio operators in Scituate dialed into enemy conversations worldwide - News - providencejournal.com - Providence, RI
In case you ever wondered how a US Army unit that never left the Continental United States could win a Presidential Unit Citation for the battle of the Atlantic, this related story gives a clue, although only part of one. (I thought I'd posted this one before, but I guess not...)

Source: Dunno.
Story: Why Science Fiction Pioneer Hugo Gernsback Matters 131 Years Later | Inverse
Could be more fact-heavy, and the author is pretty clearly in the CHORF camp of the Sad Puppies controversy (if you don't understand, congratulations!), but, while I'm not sure Hugo Gernsback invented Science Fiction As We Know It, he sure laid the groundwork.

Bit of a change-up in this article from The Atlantic: How JSOC Became a Manhunting Machine, From Panama to Iraq - The Atlantic

Speaking of which, Insty pulls a few related pieces fom the archives: Instapundit » Blog Archive » AS WE FIGHT THE WAR ON TERROR DOMESTICALLY AGAIN, A FEW RELEVANT PIECES FROM OVER A DECADE AGO…

Sometimes coming back is pretty much the point:  A ‘monumental’ rescue: Coast Guardsman swims a mile in choppy seas to save four fishermen, one at a time - The Washington Post

A further change of pace: How to reclaim your privacy in Windows 10, piece by piece | PCWorld (Beware auto-play!)

Earworm (and News), Sneaky Pete Edition

When I hear a song with this title, on a satellite radio channel dedicated to the 1940s, I think of guys with burnt cork on their faces and blue steel or parkerized daggers, not walking in the park with my sweetie...

Then fact that the song is from 1953, not a decade earlier, doesn't really change much..

Plus, it showed up during my drive to work the same day this showed up in my in-box:

Ham Among Devil’s Brigade Members to Receive Medal
02/02/2015
A 90-year-old California radio amateur — Stan McEtchin, WB6KDZ, of Paradise — will be among the surviving members of the First Special Service Force (FSSF) known as “The Devil’s Brigade” to receive the Congressional Gold Medal on February 3. The medal recognizes the unit’s extraordinary heroism and service during World War II.

“We used to go behind the lines at night and sit out there, and we could hear the Germans talking,” McEtchin told The Paradise Post. “Our guy would write it down, so we would find out where their guns were and that kind of thing.”

Montana US Senators Jon Tester and Max Baucus worked for 5 years to honor the unit. “The Devil’s Brigade represented the very best of our Greatest Generation that defeated tyranny around the world,” Tester said. “The Medal is the highest honor Congress can bestow, and yet, while a small token of this nation’s gratitude, it is an everlasting reminder of the sacrifices these men made for all of us.” Remarked Baucus, “Without these brave volunteers, there would be no Special Forces today.”

The Devil’s Brigade was based at Fort Harrison in Helena, Montana. It was a top-secret combat unit comprising 1800 volunteers from 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. Their training was the first of its kind, specializing in high alpine combat, covert amphibious landings, parachuting, mountain climbing, among other tactics. By the time the war ended, the Force had suffered 2314 casualties, equating to an astounding 134 percent of its original combat strength. It had captured more than 30,000 prisoners, won five US campaign stars and eight Canadian battle honors. The Force never failed a mission.

You may have seen the movie The Devils Brigade, which was Hollywood's take on the First Special Service Forces, and like most Hollywood productions, was less than accurate. Sometimes the inaccuracies are due to an agenda, sometimes because of difficulty filming the truth, and sometimes they are because no one would believe it was true. In this case, maybe a bit of all three...

Officially, the Army's Special Forces trace their lineage to the FSSF, even though there is no actual connection other than the patch ("shoulder sleeve insignia") being similar. The problem is, when the Special Forces were established, the existence of the Office of Strategic Services' (et. al) "Jedburgh Teams" was still highly classified, so rather than just make up a new unit out of whole cloth, the Army decided to pretend that the new unconventional warfare unit with a new mission traced it's existence back to a new-ish unit that had an old mission...

...Which caused complications when the Ranger Regiment was formed, and the obvious regimental-sized basis for it was taken. (Merrill's Marauders, having been a provisional unit, should not have counted for lineage under normal Army rules. Granted we're talking "unconventional" stuff here....)(And Roger's Rangers were British, in case you were wondering.)

While we're on the subject of snoopin' and poopin', this link showed up in my Facebook feed this morning, too: The KA-BAR and the Fairbairn-Sykes: two fighting children of different philosophies | HROARR
(I can see many days being spent clicking links on that site...)

I can just imagine the initial briefings...

"We're gonna go do an FTX in an abandoned nuclear reactor..."

JBLM soldiers take over abandoned Satsop nuclear plant — but it’s only make believe | Military News | The News Tribune

"Battlefield Surveillance Brigade".  Because "Military Intelligence Brigade" sounds too geeky.

For those of you "not from around here", this "abandoned" nuke plant is a legacy of the notorious financial failure of the Washington Public Power Supply System, appropriately known as "Whoops". (Apparently, they're still aruond as "Energy Northwest"; who knew?)

How does your garden grow?

So far, so good, I suppose...

The  planting season came pretty late here, so we'll see how things go in the long run, but after planting these things last weekend, and staggering around for most of the week from too much lifting and squatting, things seem to be going OK.

Last year this raised bed had a grape tomato plant in it, which did well.  There were also strawberry plants, which did not.  At the end of the season, we pulled out the tomato and put the provided cover on.  Now we have a raised bed for strawberry plants, which are doing well.

Planting season started late enough this year we just put the tomato plants into large pots.  I convinced Mrs. Drang to get a Roma plant, hoping that it will do well enough we can can some tomato sauce.

Last year this raised bed had out peas and beans.  The chard (I think?  green leaves, red tips) is apparently a volunteer, I don't remember it being in that bed...  Doing well, though.  The garlic (in container at right) is going to be transplanted to what is currently the location of a dead rose bush.

Last year this one had various green leafys, the herbs and things seem to have survived under the other provided raised bed cover.

Last year this bed held our other tomato plant, a Black Krim (heirloom.) Alas, the plant did not survive, despite our efforts to protect it from the weather.  This bed now contains various leafys, and (many small yellowish leaves at top of photo) golden beets, about 2 dozen of which came in a one pint container.  Took Mrs. Drang an hour to untangle the roots and plant them all...

This is one of the waist-high raised beds.  The plastic dingus at the left is the top of the watering system, there is a reservoir under the soil that holds a gallon or two, and has a cloth ribbon, looks like a kerosene lantern wick, the is supposed to wick water to the soil.  We'll see how it works.

This is the other waist-high raised bed.  I'm sure I'll be reminded what is in these eventually...   (Or find the energy to go read the labels.)

Cedar raised bed by garage.  Beans.  Peas?

Other cedar raised bed by garage.  Spaghetti Squash and... um.... stuff.  Peas?  Cucumbers. The wooden frame for them will be replaced by one that will lean against the side of the garage.  When it arrives...

Not many strawberries today, should be some big ones tomorrow...

History's rhyming like a sumbitch

So, back in the dark ages, when I was a PFC attending the Basic Korean Course at the Defense Language Institute, we got a new class across the hall from us.  It was small, consisting of (IIRC) three or four Master Sergeants, two majors, and a bird colonel.  It was explained to us that it was a Gateway Class, and we should all behave.

Gateway courses were (still are, for all I know) intended to teach GIs enough about a host nation's language and customs  that they won't cause any international incidents.  I was told, but never had confirmed, that German Gateway was mandatory for all GIs reporting to the Bundesrepublik of Radland¹ who didn't have a Defense Language Proficiancy Test for "GM".  They didn't teach in in Korea; any officers and senior NCOs heading to high-level Eighth Army staff positions that might need it, got it at DLI.

Anyway.  The roach coach would show up mid-morning, and we'd all go outside and get coffee, or whatever.  It was a designated "No headgear, no saluting" area.  So some classmates got annoyed when my roommate and I saluted the bird colonel anyway.

I was annoyed that I had to explain the significance of the little blue ribbon with five stars.

He was annoyed when our classmate asked him how he got it.  "Doing my job when someone was watching" was all he'd say.

Later the word came down to us (roommate and I) "Good job, but he would really prefer you didn't", and to classmate "Don't be a douche.  BTW, he flew the last Huey out of Saigon."

So now, watching Obama fiddle while Iraq and Afghanistan burn, I'm wondering if I'll meet the last pilots out of Baghdad, and Kabul.

I doubt they'll have medals, though.

The poltroons in the Pentagon seem to be so politicized that, even though they started their careers about the same time I did, and had the same instructors, with the same sensation of watching the Republic of Viet Nam fall and negating whatever sacrifice we made, if anyone were to suggest that they should be standing on the Resolute desk, demanding that we at least make air strikes and making supply runs², the most they'd do would be to look sad and mutter things about "civilian control."

Unfortunately, I just don't believe that they're even making the effort to advise the Spineless Quisling In Chief of the long-term fallout of expecting "stern diplomatic notes" to have any effect at all.

***

1. I had a couple of different roommates over the years that used the term; Germans were referred to as "Rads", short for "kamerad", so in typical GI fashion the Bundesrepublik Deutschland was called... 
2. Note that the proximate cause of the fall of the Republic of Viet Nam was that the Republican president had so little political capital that the Democratic-controlled congress refused to authorize air strikes or supply runs.

This just seemed cruel...

...so I thought I'd repeat it for everyone back East...

"Federal Aid Programs for State of Washington Disaster Recovery"

This seems to be the most recent information.

Federal Aid Programs for State of Washington Disaster Recovery | FEMA.gov
Release date: April 2, 2014
Release Number: HQ-14-021FS

Following is a summary of key federal disaster aid programs that can be made available as needed and warranted under President Obama’s major disaster declaration issued for Washington.

Assistance for Affected Individuals and Families Can Include as Required:

    Rental payments for temporary housing for those whose homes were destroyed or are unlivable.  Initial assistance may be provided for up to three months for homeowners and at least one month for renters.  Assistance may be extended if requested after the initial period based on a review of individual applicant requirements.  (Source: FEMA funded and administered.)
    Grants for home repairs and replacement of essential household items not covered by insurance to make damaged dwellings safe, sanitary and functional.  (Source: FEMA funded and administered.)
    Grants to replace personal property and help meet medical, dental, funeral, transportation, child care assistance and other serious disaster-related needs not covered by insurance or other federal, state and charitable aid programs.   (Source: FEMA funded at 75 percent of total eligible costs; 25 percent funded by the state.)
    Unemployment payments up to 26 weeks for workers who temporarily lost jobs because of the disaster and who do not qualify for state benefits, such as self-employed individuals.  (Source: FEMA funded; state administered.)
    Low-interest loans to cover residential losses not fully compensated by insurance.  Loans available up to $200,000 for primary residence; $40,000 for personal property, including renter losses.  Loans available up to $2 million for business property losses not fully compensated by insurance.  (Source: U.S. Small Business Administration.)
    Loans up to $2 million for small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives and most private, non-profit organizations of all sizes that have suffered disaster-related cash flow problems and need funds for working capital to recover from the disaster's adverse economic impact.  This loan in combination with a property loss loan cannot exceed a total of $2 million. (Source: U.S. Small Business Administration.)
    Loans up to $500,000 for farmers, ranchers and aquaculture operators to cover production and property losses, excluding primary residence.  (Source: Farm Service Agency, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.)
    Other relief programs: Crisis counseling for those traumatized by the disaster; income tax assistance for filing casualty losses; advisory assistance for legal, veterans’ benefits and social security matters.

(Those are the sorts of things I was supposed to be helping folks sign up for when I was involved in the Hurricane Sandy response, BTW.  We thought we were going to be passing out blankets and bottled water, some probably had visions of being some sort of shake-and-bake instant Urban Search and Rescue teams, but they turned us into administrative assistants...)

Part of the reason I bring it up is that Mrs. Drang came into the bedroom last night (I had already gone to bed, it was a school night, but I was reading) and told me that on the news they had said that "FEMA is raising money to rebuild houses destroyed in the mudslide so folks can move back in."

While I advise against underestimating the stupidity of bureaucrats, not to mention the ability of The Press to Get It Wrong, I suspect that item number 2

Grants for home repairs and replacement of essential household items not covered by insurance to make damaged dwellings safe, sanitary and functional.

is going to run into a lot of "We are very sorry, this house/homesite cannot be made safe or habitable."

And then what's a volunteer to do?

Or a political appointee, or an elected official, in election year?

***

Please note that my Wookie Suit is hanging in the closet as I type this. 

***

The FEMA release goes on:

How to Apply for Individual Assistance:

• Due to the localized impacts of the disaster, FEMA will work closely with residents, tribal members and business owners who sustained losses in the designated area on a one-on-one basis. 

• Affected individuals and business owners in designated areas can begin the disaster application process by registering online, at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or by web enabled mobile device at m.fema.gov.  Disaster assistance applicants, who have a speech disability or hearing loss and use TTY, should call 1-800-462-7585 directly; for those who use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 1-800-621-3362. Online registration is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  The toll-free telephone numbers are operating from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time seven days a week until further notice. Applicants registering for aid should be prepared to provide basic information about themselves (name, permanent address, phone number), insurance coverage and any other information to help substantiate losses.

The 'slide itself was localized enough that everyone impacted has probably been contacted. 

I'm sure the scam artists have come out of the woodworks, too.

Not my normal souvenir

"Pigment, essential oils of spruce, fir & cedarwood."

"...and don't be surprised to find yourself squeaky clean and yearning to 'run with the BEARS'!"