Storm Signs: Ferguson

(flicker.com)

I’ve done some blue water sailing. Years ago, I was off Baja California savoring my morning instant coffee, when I noted a long, oily swell hiding beneath the calm Pacific. It was coming from the NNW, down from the Arctic seas, running crosswise to the normal westerly wind chop. Throughout the beautiful Mexican day that swell built. The next day, the blue sky above was filled with wispy white cirrostratus, bent and torn by the winds clashing miles overhead. By nightfall, the intruding swell was quite apparent. The third day dawned an angry, sullen red.

(theatlantic.com)

The crew had been pushing the boat hard for several days, heeding the storm signs. Late on the third day, our boat blew into San Diego Harbor, just hours ahead of the wicked, fast moving Alaskan storm. We hung off the quarantine buoy, safe and warm and dry; as gale force winds thundered and that now mountainous swell pounded the California coast.

I fear that experience is a good analogy for Ferguson.

This last week was a pivotal one for Ferguson. The leaked official autopsy report largely supported Officer Darren Wilson’s version of what happened that August afternoon. Seven or eight independent witnesses are also said to have agreed with the policeman. It now appears that Michael Brown was first shot within the police car, ran away, turned, then was shot again and killed rushing Wilson. It was found Brown had consumed a significant amount of marijuana in the hour before his death, likely to the detriment of his judgement. From a neutral perspective, it now looks like Michael Brown was the aggressor and Officer Wilson acted in lawful self-defense.

Al Sharpton
(Business Insider)

Tensions have not diminished; the new facts seem to have only escalated them. Unfortunately, Ferguson hasn’t been about Michael Brown for a long time, if ever. This situation is in the hands of activists and the agitators, anarchists, angry, disaffected, bored, violent, or just plain crazy. Add to the mix the professional racialists in their five thousand dollar suits, other looters and opportunists, pandering politicians, and the media, greedy for controversy, eyeballs and ad revenue.  All these have created a situation primed to explode. Any opportunity could serve, or it could be the expected mid-November release of the Grand Jury findings.    

(slate.com)

There are far too many desiring the burning, the violence, and the destruction of order. The racialist, politicians and media continue to agitate. My wife tells me of the brittle peace holding the various St Louis factions apart. The hunger for destruction is not limited to the St Louis area, nor to any race. Strata of disaffection exist throughout the United States. I feel the same tensions here in Los Angeles/ Long Beach: the posturing on the street corners, the micro-aggressions on the roadway, the aggressive surliness of some in the stores. There seems to be a swell of discontent everywhere.

(girlsjustwannahaveguns.com)

There are storm signs aplenty. We have been warned.

It’s time to prepare, to look to you and your’s safety. I’ll readily acknowledge that things are not perfect and there are many areas still to be improved. However, if someone expects me to pay with my life or the lives of my loved ones for their perceived slights, for something I have not done -- we will have words.  

I’m imploring our readers to:

•  Lock your car and home doors
•  Keep a full tank of gas in all your vehicles
•  Avoid areas or events where large groups of youths gather 
• Pay attention: to news radio, social media, sirens, helicopters, smoke
•  Keep your head on a swivel
•  Have three days’ worth of supplies on hand. Once you have that, add four more days. When you have a week’s worth of supplies where you can live without going outside your locked doors, add another week. Then another.
•  And look to your personal protection. The 2^nd Amendment was written with these times in mind. Fortunately ammo, magazines, and training are currently readily available and for a good price. I can personally attest to the calming influence of a full magazine as the world burns around you.

(usbacklash.org)

Best of luck – I fear we will all need it.

Other links of interest:

http://www.prageruniversity.com/Political-Science/Who-Are-the-Racists-Conservatives-or-Liberals.html#.VEVIyPl4qUQ

http://chrishernandezauthor.com/2014/08/24/a-dose-of-reality-for-ferguson-missouri/

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-kass-met-0822-20140822-column.html