Patterico's Pontifications

9/13/2020

Western States On Fire

Filed under: General — Dana @ 12:59 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Unbearable.. I am undone just reading about it:

Chris Tofte blew past the blockade, his green Jeep Cherokee aimed for the bowels of the raging Beachie Creek fire.

It was around 4 a.m. Tuesday morning, and he was desperately searching for his wife, son and mother-in-law. The family lived 4½ miles up North Fork Road SE, about 10 minutes from Lyons and 30 minutes from Salem.

[I]n the Jeep, struggling to navigate a road once so familiar but now shrouded by smoke-filled darkness, Chris almost ran over what looked like a bikini-clad woman on the road. Once he was closer, he realized she was wearing underwear. Her hair was singed, her mouth looked almost black, and her bare feet were severely burned.

He impatiently tried to help her into his car, explaining how he needed to find his wife and son, feeling like she was resisting.

Finally, she spoke. “I am your wife.”

The ongoing fires in Oregon have burned more than one million acres.

California’s fires have burned 3,354,234 acres, or roughly more than 3% of the estimated 100 million acres of land in the state.

In the state of Washington, more than 500,000 acres have burned.

I have loved ones in both Oregon and Washington who are all keeping a wary eye out as the fires draw closer to them. My Oregon family sent photos this past week, and in every one of the dystopian-like images, the sky is nothing but a strange, burnt orange backdrop silhouetting the still-standing forest below. I swear you can almost feel the heavy thickness of the polluted air just by looking at the images. In much of California, the skies are a dull orange/gray and the smoke and falling ash make it unhealthful to be outside except for the briefest of trips.

Everyone can do something to help: Here you can read about the most effective ways to help those who have had to evacuate and/or have lost their homes in the fires. While the report specifically refers to California, the information is clearly applicable to Oregon and Washington as well. And of course, we are all able to offer prayers on behalf of so many, like Chris Tofte and his wife, whose very hearts and lives will never be the same again.

–Dana

Two Deputies Critically Wounded After Person Opens Fire On Them As They Sat In Patrol Car

Filed under: General — Dana @ 9:33 am



[guest post by Dana]

This happened last night around 7:00 pm:

Two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were critically wounded after being shot Saturday evening in Compton in what authorities described as an “ambush” that was captured on surveillance video.

The video, released by the department, shows a man walking up to the deputies’ parked patrol car, pulling out a gun and firing several times into the front seat area from the passenger side. The assailant is then seen running from the scene.

“One male deputy and one female deputy were ambushed as they sat in their patrol vehicle. Both sustained multiple gunshot wounds and are in critical condition. They are both currently undergoing surgery,” the department said in a statement.

Horribly, the report includes this detail: “at least one of the deputies was shot in the face and the other in the head”.

Here is video of the shooting. Consider yourselves warned:

Also, because we ve apparently become a country where a lot of Americans no longer have the simple goodwill or grace to extend to victims of violent crime if they are law enforcement, there was this:

Untitled

From a perusal of tweets and comments left at various reports about the incident, it’s clear to see that it’s not a small number of people who believe that *all* cops are guilty, and should be treated as such. There can be no innocent cops because the system itself doesn’t allow for it. By default, if you are part of that system, you are guilty. We are thus supposed to save our sympathy and prayers for the real victims who deserve it, and that cannot include law enforcement. However, it might include the shooter, because according to any number of Americans, his crime, by default, is justified. God help us all.

Me, I’m going to pray for the victims, hope that the suspect is caught, and stay firmly planted in my corner of no man’s land where it is still possible to both loudly condemn bad behavior by law enforcement when they act with impunity against the citizenry and loudly condemn anyone who intentionally opens fire on law enforcement officers sitting in their patrol car.

A manhunt is currently underway for the suspect.

–Dana

UPDATE by JVW: Here’s the video of the jackass protesters, if you can stomach it.

UPDATE BY PATTERICO: If you’re looking to lose faith in the decency of humanity, by all means click on the tweet above and read some of the responses, or watch the video JVW embedded. The job will be accomplished quickly.

UPDATE BY DANA: President Trump responded to the horrific shooting:

Here is Joe Biden’s response:

Sunday Music: Bach Cantata BWV 89

Filed under: Bach Cantatas,General,Music — Patterico @ 12:01 am



It is the fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Today’s Bach cantata is “Was soll ich aus dir machen, Ephraim” (What shall I make of you, Ephraim):

Today’s Gospel reading is Matthew 18:21-35:

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

The text of today’s piece is available here. It contains these words:

Indeed, God should freely
speak a work in judgment
and revenge the mockery of His name
at the hands of His enemies.
The reckoning of your sins is uncountable,
and even if God has patience,
yet your inimical will spurns
the offered goodness
and forces the guilt onto your neighbor;
therefore vengeance must be ignited.

A merciless judgment
will certainly be pronounced over you.
Vengeance begins with those
who do not show mercy,
and like Sodom, they are totally annihilated.

Well then! My heart lays anger, quarreling and discord aside;
it is ready to forgive my neighbor.
However, how terrified is my sinful life,
since I am full of guilt before God!
Yet Jesus’ blood
accounts for the reckoning,
if I turn to Him, as the source of the law,
in faith.

Happy listening! Soli Deo gloria.


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