Unless we have true military training and are well-versed in defensive tactics, there are probably holes in our defensive plan. But the biggest hole isn’t usually in our training, it’s in our decision process. The post The Morality of Self-Defense appeared first on Survivopedia.

DEI and ensuring that women make up at least 30% of the department may be among the U.S. Secret Service's top priorities, but its core function is still ostensibly to "ensure the safety and security of [its] protectees, key locations, and events of national significance." Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle, 53, acknowledged in an interview Monday that her agency failed to execute this core function at the Trump rally over the weekend — where the former president was grazed by one of a hail of bullets and a beloved father of two was slain in the stands. While Cheatle admitted failure and told ABC News that the "buck stops with me," the director revealed that her ownership of fault effectively means nothing. Sources close to the Biden family recently told the New York Post that Cheatle, who previously served in the Secret Service for 27 years, then briefly ran global security for PepsiCo., secured the favor of Jill Biden and her advisers, including Anthony Bernal. "Cheatle served on Dr. Biden's second lady detail and Anthony pushed for her," a Democratic insider told the Post. "Anthony has no national security or law enforcement experience. He should have no influence over the selection of the USSS director." Another insider said, "I heard at the time [Cheatle] was being considered for director that Anthony had pushed her forward as an option." "Anthony is obsessed with being DEI-compliant," a third source told the Post. President Joe Biden appointed Cheatle to lead the agency in 2022. 'What I was seeing was DEI.' Biden said at the time, "She is a distinguished law enforcement professional with exceptional leadership skills and was easily the best choice to lead the agency at a critical moment for the Secret Service. She has my complete trust, and I look forward to working with her." It appears that Biden's confidence was again misplaced. "It was a total security breakdown from start to finish," former FBI Assistant Director Chris Swecker told the Post. "From the total security plan for the rally to the reaction once the shots rang out." "What I was seeing was DEI," continued Swecker. "The women I saw up there with the president — they looked like they were running in circles. One didn’t know how to holster, the other one didn’t seem to know what to do, and another one seemed not to be able to find her holster. DEI is one thing. Competence and effectiveness is another, and I saw DEI out there." "It was obviously a situation that, as a Secret Service agent, no one ever wants to occur in their career," Cheatle told ABC News. When asked who bore most responsibility for the security failure, Cheatle said, "What I would say is the Secret Service is responsible for the protection of the former president." "The buck stops with me," continued Cheatle. "I am the director of the Secret Service, and I need to make sure that we are performing a review and that we are giving resources to our personnel as necessary." "It was unacceptable, and it's something that shouldn't happen again," added Cheatle. Despite admitting responsibility for this "unacceptable" failure, Cheatle said she does "plan to stay on" in her role. Various lawmakers and officials have called on Cheatle to step down. 'There was a complete breakdown of communication all the way down the line.' Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), for instance, refrained from criticizing the agents on the ground who threw themselves on President Donald Trump when the bullets started flying but insisted that the "head of the Secret Service should resign over this." Cruz also latched on to Cheatle's characterization of Trump simply as a "former president," noting Trump is "the first in modern history to run for president again, and he has been the focus of several prosecutions and controversies — understatement intentional." Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) told cable news, "There was a complete breakdown of communication all the way down the line, and so that starts at the top. The head of the Secret Service needs to go. That's obvious. But I doubt that will happen." Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) introduced the Secret Service Accountability Act Monday to hold Cheatle accountable "for the agency's incompetence and failure to protect President Trump during the Butler, Pennsylvania, campaign rally." "Saturday's assassination attempt on President Trump's life was either intentional or the result of gross incompetence by the United States Secret Service," Boebert said in a statement. "Under Director Cheatle's failed leadership, the United States Secret Service has prioritized woke DEI policies over the core responsibilities of the Secret Service, including protecting our nation's leaders. This lack of leadership contributed to the first assassination attempt of a President in 43 years. Director Cheatle has got to go!" The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability has asked Cheatle to provide information related to the incident, including: a complete list of all law enforcement personnel with roles in protecting Trump at the rally; all audio and video recordings in the possession of the Secret Service related to the rally; all memos and or notices issued by Cheatle to Secret Service personnel regarding the assassination attempt; and other intel and correspondences related to the rally and assassination attempt. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters days after Trump was shot on Cheatle's watch that he has "100% confidence in the director of the United States Secret Service." Cheatle has in turn expressed her confidence in the security plan for the Secret Service at the Republican National Convention. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

John Herbert Strand, a former model and actor who went to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 to protect Dr. Simone Gold of America’s Frontline Doctors, was ordered released from prison July 15 in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision stymieing use of a 20-year felony obstruction charge.United States District Judge Christopher Cooper granted Strand’s second motion for release since February — just weeks after a Supreme Court ruling strictly limited the obstruction of an official proceeding charge leveled against Strand and 354 other Jan. 6 defendants.Gold, Strand’s friend who served a 60-day prison sentence on a misdemeanor count of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, praised Strand’s integrity after learning of the release order.'Who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hand?'“He was offered a single misdemeanor plea,” Gold said in an interview with Blaze News. “He said, ‘I'm going to walk into the fire.’ He walked into the fire. He never regretted it. I mean, he’s a full-on hero in an age when we need heroes.”Strand, 41, of Naples, Fla., will have to finish his 12-month sentence on four Jan. 6 misdemeanor charges, which puts his release date on July 24. Strand was originally sentenced to 32 months in prison.Strand might come to see his release in the light of the miracle of three Old Testament figures who inspired him during his long Jan. 6 ordeal, Gold said.Strand loves the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as told in chapter 3 of the prophecy of Daniel, she said.The book of Daniel recounts how the three men were bound tightly and thrown into a roaring furnace after they refused to worship a giant golden idol commissioned by Babylonian King Nabuchodonosor (often spelled Nebuchadnezzar).“Who is the God that shall deliver you out of my hand?” the king asked.The flames, however, did not consume Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. An angel drove the fire out “and made the midst of the furnace like the blowing of a wind bringing dew, and the fire touched them not,” Daniel wrote. John Strand records a speech by Dr. Simone Gold in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. Strand worked as Gold's bodyguard on Jan. 6, 2021.(CCTV/U.S. Capitol Police)“And they walked in the midst of the flame, praising God and blessing the Lord.”After a year in federal prison, Strand will walk out of the Federal Correctional Institution in Oakdale, La. — one of three lockups that have been his personal crucible since July 25, 2023.During his year in custody, Strand spent some four months in solitary confinement, according to Gold. He never wavered in his belief that going to trial was the right decision.Strand has said he resisted the pressure to take a plea deal rather than capitulate to what he considered unjust charges.A federal District of Columbia jury found Strand guilty of all five charges against him on Sept. 27, 2022 — including the 20-year felony obstruction count.Gold had been scheduled to speak about medical freedom and COVID-19 at a permitted event on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6. The massive crowds that swarmed the Capitol after then-President Donald J. Trump’s speech at the Ellipse canceled the event.After entering the Capitol, Gold and Strand made their way to Statuary Hall, where Gold attempted to give her medical-freedom speech. After police pushed the crowd out just before 3 p.m., Gold and Strand moved to the Great Rotunda. She stood on the platform of a statue of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and gave her speech through a bullhorn.'I think the world needs heroes. We've got one.'Left-wing publications including Rolling Stone and others mocked Strand’s decision to go to trial and celebrated his conviction, calling him a “model-turned-Covid-19 conspiracy theorist" and an "underwear model turned insurrectionist."“If there is anything that this case can teach us, it’s that a male model’s life is a precious, precious commodity,” Rolling Stone wrote in September 2022. “Just because they have chiseled abs and stunning features, it doesn’t mean that they, too, can’t go to jail."On June 1, 2023, Cooper sentenced Strand to 32 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release and ordered him to pay $12,170 in restitution and fines.Gold said she hopes Strand will go into public life after his release."I'm going to encourage John to run for office,” she said. “I think the world needs heroes. We've got one. The world needs men who stand up. Men who walk into the fight.”Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

My mother died two weeks ago. I may write for a living, but I still find myself at an utter loss to communicate my heartache. I plan to share more details from these weeks — little glimmers of heaven that poke through the cloud of grief — because there have been some nuggets of hope despite it all. One such “moment” was the diluvian flood of support that washed over my family from our small South Carolina town. On the day Mom passed, the women of Florence County descended on us like a swarm of friendly worker bees, and in true old school fashion, they came with food. I could barely eat, and I still struggle to feel any hunger at all. But here I’ve shared one of the recipes that fortified our spirits and filled our home while we managed the worst moments of our lives. I’m deeply humbled and grateful for the person who brought it. If you know someone who has been through a tragedy, this mess-free platter of sandwiches will help.Pimento Cheese and Chicken Salad Croissants Pimento Cheese Ingredients 2 cups freshly grated, extra-sharp cheddar cheese 8 ounces cream cheese cut into 1” cubes and softened at room temperature* 4 ounces pimento peppers**, well-drained and chopped if in strips 2 tablespoons mayonnaise (Duke’s is traditional, but I also like Sir Kensington’s) ¼ teaspoon garlic powder ¼ teaspoon onion powder ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (decrease or omit if sensitive to spice) ½ medium jalapeño pepper, ribs and seeds removed, and minced (about 1 tablespoon; omit if sensitive to spice) Freshly ground black pepper, to taste Salt, to taste Pimento Cheese Instructions In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the cheddar, cream cheese, pimento peppers, mayonnaise, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper and jalapeño (if using), and several twists of black pepper. Beat the mixture together with a hand mixer, your stand mixer, or by hand with a sturdy wooden spoon or spatula until thoroughly combined. Taste, and add more black pepper and/or salt if desired for more overall flavor (I usually add a pinch of two). If you’d like your pimento cheese to have more of a kick, add another pinch of cayenne. Blend again. Transfer the mixture to a smaller serving bowl. Serve your pimento cheese immediately or chill it in the refrigerator for up to one week. Pimento cheese hardens as it cools; let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature to soften. Chicken Salad ingredients 4 cups cooked chicken breasts, shredded or chopped into cubes. (You can use rotisserie chicken, cooked chicken, or roast your own chicken breasts)1 cup mayo 2 celery stalks, finely chopped 1/2 cup finely chopped onions (Add more/adjust to taste as necessary)1/2 cup pickle relish (I used sweet relish. Use what you prefer)1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon onion powder salt and pepper to taste Chicken Salad Instructions Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and stir. Taste repeatedly and adjust the spices to suit your taste. Sandwich ingredients 1 dozen croissants (Costco’s are excellent) Pimento cheese (From the store is great, I love the Palmetto Cheese brand from Pawley’s Island Specialty Foods, especially since it’s from where I’m from) Chicken Salad (If you don’t have time to make the recipe as listed, Costco again has an excellent one of its own. One box will do) Sandwich instructions Cut the croissants lengthwise and in half Spread pimento cheese on both sides of the interior Spoon a healthy amount of chicken salad in the center These should be delivered in a disposable aluminum container with a top or a platter covered with saran wrap. Make sure to deliver with a note of condolence so your mourning friend can remember who to thank.

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