The Bad Attitude Guide to Good Citizenship is DONE! Well, except for the afterword, which I’m going to redo and turn in next week. Other than that — it’s done and submitted to Paladin Press.
Just looked to see when the first email arrived from Donna at Paladin proposing the project.A month ago today. From zero to completed manuscript (about 2/5 new material, 3/5 compiled columns — but even those had to be edited and updated, so still quite a project) in exactly one month. Whew!
(Ulp. I also just realized, in re-reading Donna’s first message, that I didn’t really fulfill Peder Lund’s exact request on the book’s theme. Ah well … Writers. You know how they are. I did show ’em an outline, so hopefully we’re still somewhat in tune.)
Now Paladin gets to perform the real miracles. They’re determined to have the book published and on sale by mid-October. Editing the book, formatting it, and printing it in three weeks? That’ll be interesting.
In further book news, I hear rumors that Hardyville Tales could be appearing any day now. Just rumors, though. Writers are the last to know.
One S.W.A.T. article to write — and then I’m back in the real world.
Anybody have any topic suggestions for the S.W.A.T. piece? I suspect other minds are working better than mine right now. The issue I’m deadlining on will hit mailboxes in early January (though it is not the January issue, so New Years themes are out). Always hard writing something topical with that long a lead time. Your ideas are most welcome …
For the S.W.A.T. piece maybe something about beating the post holiday doldrums? Thats all I have tonight.
I don’t know if you’ve written on this before in S.W.A.T., but how about a reminder to its readership that LEOs are subject to the same laws as everyone else?
I would like to see an article on a subject that isn’t discussed enough among people who, in the course of their work, need to apply martial skills. Ecalation of force. Verbal: talking, instructing, commanding. Physical: presence, touching, grabbing, striking. Weapons: presentation, striking/spraying/tasering, lethal force. The point being that people are (somewhat) trained in (some of) the techniques but not in when or how to intelligently apply them. They are given a policy manual and that’s pretty much it. The bad examples of citizen vs police interaction frequently happen when the cop doesn’t take the opportunity to de-escalate. Contact me if you want to discuss this.
Thanks for the ideas, guys.
ubik380, yours is (as I’m sure you know), a particularly apt topic. My first reaction is that I’m not qualified to write on the subject and probably couldn’t qualify my self via any form of research that would make me credible to cops in S.W.A.T.’s audience. Still … yes, why aren’t more police focused on that subject? I’ll email you.
Pat, I wish I could write a reminder to LEOs that they’re subject to the same laws as the rest of us. But are they?
Sam, doldrums? Maybe post-election doldrums: “The R’s have won, but don’t just sit back and trust them.” That’s a possibility.
” I wish I could write a reminder to LEOs that they’re subject to the same laws as the rest of us. But are they?”
Well — SHOULD be! And where did the idea go wrong; somewhere in the Constitution — or since?
Congratulations on a remarkable(IMO) feat in completing the Guide in record time!! If it’s not exactly what Paladin actually wanted, I’m sure it’s exactly what they actually needed. 😉 I’m on tenterhooks awaiting it’s availability.
If it is not too obvious for you/S.W.A.T; Cold weather shooting and/or gun care and/or gun handling (with mittens/gloves)?
Oh, I probably should say, since most here don’t subscribe to S.W.A.T. … my column is political — at least a very loose sense. It’s about current issues or history or freedom — or the relationship between cops and their fellow citizens. That sort of thing. Other writers, more knowledgeable than I, write about tactics and weaponry. I’ve written about police-related subjects like the over-use of violent tactics by police. But Denny (editor) prefers me to write about topics that … well, emphasize that it’s us (including cops and soldiers) against the government. Recent columns have been about the proposed “internet kill switch” and lies the TSA has told about their porn-screening machines. And I’ve written several columns about ATF abuse of gun owners.
So there’s a lot of room for variety, but they basically hired me for being opinionated.
Karen … 🙂 Thank you. I hope both the upcoming books live up to your expectations. But I hate to think of you hanging there on tenterhooks …
In keeping with the internet kill switch, I think it would be a good topic to address those much loved “free speech zones”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_speech_zone
I know it is a topic that makes me feel proud and honored to live in this “free” country 🙂
Claire,
I think an interesting article for the SWAT folk, which I salute for carrying your column, would be the concept of whether LEO’s will actually follow the law or side with a fellow officer, regardless of the law. I am attaching a link to the KC Star, which reports that a local officer lost his job because he refused to side with a DEA thug and instead, reported the truth, thus being fired. Sad but it illustrates the reality most officers face and deserves discussion.
http://www.kansascity.com/2010/09/25/2250584/exposing-agent-costs-kck-detective.html
Tahn,
I think that would make a great SWAT article — though that’s definitely one where I’d have to talk to Denny about what he’d consider an acceptable approach. Funny, I was reading about that vicious beating just this morning, but the news story I read mentioned not a word about an honest cop bringing it to light.
Another thing that always strikes me about these “bad apple” stories is that very few supposedly “good cops” ever try to stop the bad actor.