Folks,
I have two impolite questions. Perhaps one of you can answer them.
1. How high does American unemployment have to get before we begin to seriously deport the illegals who compete for jobs and drive wages down?
2. Obama's big-deal "infrastructure plan" is going to mortgage your great-grandchildren's futures to do what exactly? Boost publicly-funded construction projects, right? Been by any construction projects lately? Who do you see? Cheap Mexican labor, right? So, can we more properly call this "Obama's Recovery Plan for Illegals"?
Sorry, folks. I told you they were impolite.
Mike
III
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
A Typical Prag "Success": Tell me again what a great deal Heller was.
Well, folks, here we are again. We've been cut off at "Reasonable Regulation Pass" for the umpteenth time. Read the story here and tell me again what a great deal the Heller case was. The "law," people, is what THEY say it is. Get it?!?
Mike Vanderboegh
III
DC tightens gun rules after landmark court ruling
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The District of Columbia Council passed more regulations for gun owners Tuesday, months after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the city's 32-year-old handgun ban.
Among other things, the bill requires gun owners to register their weapons every three years and receive training by a certified firearms instructor.
"This bill will be, I think, one of the most progressive registration laws in the country," Council member Phil Mendelson said.
The National Rifle Association accused the city of forcing residents to jump through unnecessary hurdles, thereby undermining the intent of the Supreme Court's ruling in June that affirmed the right of Americans to keep guns in the home for self defense.
"The D.C. Council continues to try to make it harder and harder for law-abiding citizens to access this freedom," NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said.
In September, the House passed an NRA-backed bill that would have essentially stripped the city of its ability to regulate firearms, but the measure died in the Senate.
D.C. leaders say they are trying to be respectful of the Supreme Court case while doing everything they can to enact strict gun control measures in a city where gun violence is common.
"No constitutional right is absolute, nor is this right to possess a gun in the home for self defense," said councilwoman Mary Cheh, a law professor at George Washington University.
Since the handgun ban was overturned, the council has passed legislation allowing residents to own most semiautomatic pistols while banning magazines capable of firing more than 10 rounds. Registration also is limited to one pistol a month, and gun owners face prosecution if they fail to keep loaded weapons away from children.
Tuesday's bill builds on those regulations. It requires gun owners to spend at least one hour at the firing range and four hours in the classroom with an instructor before registration. The bill also requires a criminal background check for gun owners every six years.
Mike Vanderboegh
III
DC tightens gun rules after landmark court ruling
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The District of Columbia Council passed more regulations for gun owners Tuesday, months after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the city's 32-year-old handgun ban.
Among other things, the bill requires gun owners to register their weapons every three years and receive training by a certified firearms instructor.
"This bill will be, I think, one of the most progressive registration laws in the country," Council member Phil Mendelson said.
The National Rifle Association accused the city of forcing residents to jump through unnecessary hurdles, thereby undermining the intent of the Supreme Court's ruling in June that affirmed the right of Americans to keep guns in the home for self defense.
"The D.C. Council continues to try to make it harder and harder for law-abiding citizens to access this freedom," NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said.
In September, the House passed an NRA-backed bill that would have essentially stripped the city of its ability to regulate firearms, but the measure died in the Senate.
D.C. leaders say they are trying to be respectful of the Supreme Court case while doing everything they can to enact strict gun control measures in a city where gun violence is common.
"No constitutional right is absolute, nor is this right to possess a gun in the home for self defense," said councilwoman Mary Cheh, a law professor at George Washington University.
Since the handgun ban was overturned, the council has passed legislation allowing residents to own most semiautomatic pistols while banning magazines capable of firing more than 10 rounds. Registration also is limited to one pistol a month, and gun owners face prosecution if they fail to keep loaded weapons away from children.
Tuesday's bill builds on those regulations. It requires gun owners to spend at least one hour at the firing range and four hours in the classroom with an instructor before registration. The bill also requires a criminal background check for gun owners every six years.
"Sundown at Coffin Rock"
Folks,
My discussion of underground target ranges below jiggled a little pessimistic memory floating between my synapses of a piece I read in the mid-90s in "The Blue Press," a catalog/magazine put out by Dillon Precision Products, Inc. of Scottsdale, AZ.
Back then, I cut and pasted Blue Press pages into a leaflet and distributed it to gunstores and other gunnie gathering places. Since then, the editor, Mark Pixler, has been kind enough to allow distribution on the Internet.
It is a cautionary tale, set in a future where we have lost. You will find it here.
Read it, and then, if you do not wish to live in that grim place, go back to getting ready for the upcoming fight.
My discussion of underground target ranges below jiggled a little pessimistic memory floating between my synapses of a piece I read in the mid-90s in "The Blue Press," a catalog/magazine put out by Dillon Precision Products, Inc. of Scottsdale, AZ.
Back then, I cut and pasted Blue Press pages into a leaflet and distributed it to gunstores and other gunnie gathering places. Since then, the editor, Mark Pixler, has been kind enough to allow distribution on the Internet.
It is a cautionary tale, set in a future where we have lost. You will find it here.
Read it, and then, if you do not wish to live in that grim place, go back to getting ready for the upcoming fight.
War Outside a Faraday Cage: EMP
Folks,
The second volume of the Absolved series will contain examples of how future freedom fighters can use small electromagnatic pulse (EMP) weapons to attack the the databases and operations of the Regime. Here, thanks to my correspondent "rsr" (kindly all tip your hats to the man) is this article that demonstrates that EMP warfare is not just in our fictional future.
Air Force Seeks (Non Lethal) City Stopper
by George Hulme, Dec 7, 2008 01:20 PM
While it won't destroy buildings, or directly kill people, it will shut down everything in its path with a power button.
Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) bombs have been written about for quite some time, and are supposed to have been used in a number of conflicts in the past 15 years. These weapons are designed to shut down cities, as well as military communications and weapon systems, not physically destroy them.
Well, only the electrical parts.
The U.S. military already has EMP capabilities, but it looks like, based on this Air Force solicitation published in the past couple of days, that they're about to get more tactical:
Combatant commanders (COCOMS) have expressed desires for additional military options against the variety of electronic systems that are used in military, industrial, civil, and asymmetrical applications. To provide viable military options to the COCOMS, the Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate's High Power Microwave Division (AFRL/RDH) is seeking to develop and demonstrate the capability and operational utility of a high power microwave (HPM) aerial demonstrator.
The objective of this effort is to develop, test, and demonstrate a multishot and multitarget aerial HPM demonstrator that is capable of degrading, damaging, or destroying electronic systems. For this effort, the contractor shall develop a compact HPM payload for integration into an aerial platform. The contractor shall produce five aerial demonstrators. One aerial platform without the HPM source shall be developed for a flight test to demonstrate delivery, controlability, and fusing. The remaining four aerial platforms with the integrated HPM source shall be developed for flight testing, demonstration, and HPM effects tests.
Want to cause mayhem before an invasion, or perhaps get a bright-white surrender flag waving at you before the first physical bullet is fired? Unleashing one of these over a modern city has the potential to shut down TV and radio broadcasting and receiving, car starters, home and office electronic circuitry, network routers, computers, embedded circuitry.
Want to use your cell phone? Forget it. Need an ATM? No cash for you. Dependent on a life-support system? You have a problem.
Sounds like the perfect weapon to use against any modern society. The more dependent that society is on electronics, the better.
Perhaps that's why a number of U.S. commanders believe Iran is working on a similar weapon to be used against the West.
I've got to run to Home Depot now, see if they carry gas-powered generators and have the materials to build one of these around my home.
The second volume of the Absolved series will contain examples of how future freedom fighters can use small electromagnatic pulse (EMP) weapons to attack the the databases and operations of the Regime. Here, thanks to my correspondent "rsr" (kindly all tip your hats to the man) is this article that demonstrates that EMP warfare is not just in our fictional future.
Air Force Seeks (Non Lethal) City Stopper
by George Hulme, Dec 7, 2008 01:20 PM
While it won't destroy buildings, or directly kill people, it will shut down everything in its path with a power button.
Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) bombs have been written about for quite some time, and are supposed to have been used in a number of conflicts in the past 15 years. These weapons are designed to shut down cities, as well as military communications and weapon systems, not physically destroy them.
Well, only the electrical parts.
The U.S. military already has EMP capabilities, but it looks like, based on this Air Force solicitation published in the past couple of days, that they're about to get more tactical:
Combatant commanders (COCOMS) have expressed desires for additional military options against the variety of electronic systems that are used in military, industrial, civil, and asymmetrical applications. To provide viable military options to the COCOMS, the Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate's High Power Microwave Division (AFRL/RDH) is seeking to develop and demonstrate the capability and operational utility of a high power microwave (HPM) aerial demonstrator.
The objective of this effort is to develop, test, and demonstrate a multishot and multitarget aerial HPM demonstrator that is capable of degrading, damaging, or destroying electronic systems. For this effort, the contractor shall develop a compact HPM payload for integration into an aerial platform. The contractor shall produce five aerial demonstrators. One aerial platform without the HPM source shall be developed for a flight test to demonstrate delivery, controlability, and fusing. The remaining four aerial platforms with the integrated HPM source shall be developed for flight testing, demonstration, and HPM effects tests.
Want to cause mayhem before an invasion, or perhaps get a bright-white surrender flag waving at you before the first physical bullet is fired? Unleashing one of these over a modern city has the potential to shut down TV and radio broadcasting and receiving, car starters, home and office electronic circuitry, network routers, computers, embedded circuitry.
Want to use your cell phone? Forget it. Need an ATM? No cash for you. Dependent on a life-support system? You have a problem.
Sounds like the perfect weapon to use against any modern society. The more dependent that society is on electronics, the better.
Perhaps that's why a number of U.S. commanders believe Iran is working on a similar weapon to be used against the West.
I've got to run to Home Depot now, see if they carry gas-powered generators and have the materials to build one of these around my home.
The Gandalf of Global Guerrillas
Critical for the success of the Mission in LOTR is that Gandalf make it clear to all the nature and extent of the threat and also what has to be done to "Win".
Most of the time Gandalf advises. Rarely - at crisis points - he acts. Above all he treats all as adults. You take his advice or you don't. He does not preach - he offers.
He is hard to read. There are deep internal forces that are not clear to outsiders or even to himself as he also morphs from Grey to White.
I think many of us might agree that if there is a Gandalf among us - it may be John Robb.
So says Robert Patterson here.
For those of you who have never heard of John Robb, you need to go to his website, Global Guerrillas, here and get your mind around his concept of resilient communities. We Three Percenters are a community. We further live, scattered across the US, in other communities that either are, or can be made, resilient against the coming shocks.
Sipsey Street Irregulars ought to give Robb's site a daily visit. As he says at the top it deals with "Networked tribes, systems disruption, and the emerging bazaar of violence. Resilient Communities, decentralized platforms, and self-organizing futures."
What's not to like?
Mike
III
Most of the time Gandalf advises. Rarely - at crisis points - he acts. Above all he treats all as adults. You take his advice or you don't. He does not preach - he offers.
He is hard to read. There are deep internal forces that are not clear to outsiders or even to himself as he also morphs from Grey to White.
I think many of us might agree that if there is a Gandalf among us - it may be John Robb.
So says Robert Patterson here.
For those of you who have never heard of John Robb, you need to go to his website, Global Guerrillas, here and get your mind around his concept of resilient communities. We Three Percenters are a community. We further live, scattered across the US, in other communities that either are, or can be made, resilient against the coming shocks.
Sipsey Street Irregulars ought to give Robb's site a daily visit. As he says at the top it deals with "Networked tribes, systems disruption, and the emerging bazaar of violence. Resilient Communities, decentralized platforms, and self-organizing futures."
What's not to like?
Mike
III
"Eight Really, REALLY, Scary Forecasts"
Again over at Pete's place, is this link which includes this prediction from Jim Rogers, a commodities guru who predicted two years ago that the credit bubble would devastate Wall Street.
Virtually the only asset class I know where the fundamentals are not impaired - in fact, where they are actually improving - is commodities. Farmers cannot get a loan to buy fertilizer right now. Nobody's going to get a loan to open a zinc or a lead mine. Meanwhile, every day the supply of commodities shrinks more and more. Nobody can invest in productive capacity, even if he wants to. You're going to see gigantic shortages developing over the next few years. The inventories of food worldwide are already at the lowest levels they've been in 50 years. This may turn into the Great Depression II. But if and when we come out of this, commodities are going to lead the way, just as they did in the 1970s when everything was a disaster and commodities went through the roof.
Virtually the only asset class I know where the fundamentals are not impaired - in fact, where they are actually improving - is commodities. Farmers cannot get a loan to buy fertilizer right now. Nobody's going to get a loan to open a zinc or a lead mine. Meanwhile, every day the supply of commodities shrinks more and more. Nobody can invest in productive capacity, even if he wants to. You're going to see gigantic shortages developing over the next few years. The inventories of food worldwide are already at the lowest levels they've been in 50 years. This may turn into the Great Depression II. But if and when we come out of this, commodities are going to lead the way, just as they did in the 1970s when everything was a disaster and commodities went through the roof.
Praxis: "Extemporaneous Ammo"
Over at Western Rifle Shooters Association, Pete presents an interesting article here by HABCAN: "Extemporaneous Ammo: A Next Step."
Practical thoughts, HABCAN says, "in December in the last year of the Great Republic." I love an optimist.
Practical thoughts, HABCAN says, "in December in the last year of the Great Republic." I love an optimist.
Keeping our feathers numbered: "Build a 75 foot target range in your basement."
Folks,
Back when I was a kid, one of my favorite cartoon characters was Foghorn T. Leghorn, the indisputably Southern rooster of unflappable persona. In one episode I recall, FTL had just come up on the wrong end of what passed for an IED in those days, totally denuding him of feathers from the waist up. As he gathered up his feathers in his arms, he walked off, commenting, "Fo-chune-ately, ah keep mah feathas num-bahed for just such an a-cay-sion." I thought about the need for eveyone to have a back-up plan when I saw THIS.
I've always been a sucker for old Popular Science and Popular Mechanics back issues from the Twenties, Thirties and Forties. They have all kinds of cool stuff for self-sufficiency. Today, I am indebted to "the Dweeze" for this link. Who knows, if we lose, some of you may have to teach your kids and grandkids how to shoot this way -- underground, away from prying eyes. IF we lose. But if so, it is important to keep our feathers numbered.
Mike
III
Back when I was a kid, one of my favorite cartoon characters was Foghorn T. Leghorn, the indisputably Southern rooster of unflappable persona. In one episode I recall, FTL had just come up on the wrong end of what passed for an IED in those days, totally denuding him of feathers from the waist up. As he gathered up his feathers in his arms, he walked off, commenting, "Fo-chune-ately, ah keep mah feathas num-bahed for just such an a-cay-sion." I thought about the need for eveyone to have a back-up plan when I saw THIS.
I've always been a sucker for old Popular Science and Popular Mechanics back issues from the Twenties, Thirties and Forties. They have all kinds of cool stuff for self-sufficiency. Today, I am indebted to "the Dweeze" for this link. Who knows, if we lose, some of you may have to teach your kids and grandkids how to shoot this way -- underground, away from prying eyes. IF we lose. But if so, it is important to keep our feathers numbered.
Mike
III
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
"Why I Write" by Neal Ross
Folks,
This was forwarded to me by Jackie Junti and I found it compelling. Neal has kindly given me permission to reprint it here in full. Enjoy.
Mike
III
Why I Write
Neal Ross
15 December, 2008
When I write something I am, hopefully, doing more than expressing my views on a subject. It is my desire to stimulate people to think about the subject I am writing about.
I do not expect people to always agree with me, or take my word for anything. In fact I would prefer that they do not. Accepting what someone says without verifying the information for yourself is a foolish endeavor at best. On the other hand, it is my sincere desire that people do not disregard what I have to say simply because it differs from what they believe.
My worst fear, and one that I, unfortunately have found to be the case, is that far too many people simply do not care enough to spend a few hours researching the information I discuss. After all, I would hate to be the one who imposes upon peoples time when it concerns something as insignificant as the survival of our republic, or the steady infringements upon your unalienable rights.
If people took the time to think about what I am say they would notice that in most of my articles there is a constant underlying theme that I keep repeating over and over and over. It appears that, more often than not, I am not successful in getting that subliminal point across, so let me try and put it into plain English for you.
In 1789, the Constitution was ratified by the legislatures of the original thirteen states. Prior to the ratification of the Constitution the states were independent sovereigns, so it was no small task to get them to agree to give up some of their sovereignty to a central government.
However, once it was ratified, the Constitution became the supreme law of the land, as stated in Article 6 of that document. It is essential that you understand that the Constitution superseded all other laws, and it was to be the standard by which all other laws were to be measured.
This new form of government was one in which we would choose people to represent us, governing strictly according to the limits the Constitution imposed upon them. Article 6 of the Constitution also states, "The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution..." Simply stated, that means that every single person we elect to represent us is duty bound to govern according to what the Constitution says.
Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution clearly defines the powers that we the people have granted our government. Nothing they do that steps outside those specific boundaries was to be considered legal, because as previously mentioned the Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
In his Notes on Virginia, Q.XIII, 1782, Thomas Jefferson stated, “[The purpose of a written constitution is] to bind up the several branches of government by certain laws, which, when they transgress, their acts shall become nullities; to render unnecessary an appeal to the people, or in other words a rebellion, on every infraction of their rights, on the peril that their acquiescence shall be construed into an intention to surrender those rights.”
In Federalist Paper 15, Alexander Hamilton made the following statement, “Government implies the power of making laws. It is essential to the idea of a law, that it be attended with a sanction; or, in other words, a penalty or punishment for disobedience.”
However, if one were to take the time to read the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, which specifies certain rights which, under no circumstances our government was to infringe upon, they would realize that our elected representatives are not supporting the Constitution as they are bound by oath to do.
As Hamilton said, all laws are attended with a sanction, or a penalty or punishment for disobedience. Unfortunately there appears to be no law put into place that would penalize those who violate the supreme law of the land, the Constitution.
Therefore, the question boils down to this, is our Constitution still valid? If it is, then it must be strictly adhered to, as it is still considered the supreme law of the land. We the people must be willing to reject any law passed by our government that is which goes beyond the specifically enumerated powers granted them, particularly when those laws infringe upon our unalienable rights.
On the other hand, if our Constitution is no longer valid, then neither is our government, for where it not for the Constitution our government WOULD NOT EVEN EXIST! Therefore every law this illegitimate government enacts is null and void and we are not legally bound to obey them.
Re-read that if you must, but it is important to let that simple fact to sink in, either we have a Constitution and it is strictly adhered to, or we don't and our government holds no power over us whatsoever.
Yet how many laws has our government enacted that are not to be found among the specific powers granted them by the Constitution? Think about what happens when we do not obey those laws, even though they are unconstitutional?
So, if a government can enact laws that are outside the powers granted it by the people, and if that government can impose penalties upon those who do not obey these laws, what does that sound like to you? To me it sounds like tyranny, and that is what our founders fought a war to escape. Yet we the people have sat back and let it happen because we did not take the time to study, to think for ourselves, and to hold our elected representatives accountable when they did not uphold the Constitution.
We have forgotten that those men and women who sit in our nations capital are our servants, not vice versa. To quote Hamilton one more time, “No legislative act contrary to the Constitution can be valid. To deny this would be to affirm that the deputy (agent) is greater than his principal; that the servant is above the master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people; that men, acting by virtue of powers may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.”
It may already be too late to save our nation, but I would hope that each and every one of you who reads this would take a few moments of your precious time to learn what the Constitution says. Either we have a Constitution and it is being trampled upon by those who have sworn an oath to uphold it, or we don’t and those traitors have no power and authority over us whatsoever.
I am Neal Ross, and I approved this message
Comments may be sent to bonsai@syix.com
My New Blog: http://www.zombie-slayer.com/neal/
This was forwarded to me by Jackie Junti and I found it compelling. Neal has kindly given me permission to reprint it here in full. Enjoy.
Mike
III
Why I Write
Neal Ross
15 December, 2008
When I write something I am, hopefully, doing more than expressing my views on a subject. It is my desire to stimulate people to think about the subject I am writing about.
I do not expect people to always agree with me, or take my word for anything. In fact I would prefer that they do not. Accepting what someone says without verifying the information for yourself is a foolish endeavor at best. On the other hand, it is my sincere desire that people do not disregard what I have to say simply because it differs from what they believe.
My worst fear, and one that I, unfortunately have found to be the case, is that far too many people simply do not care enough to spend a few hours researching the information I discuss. After all, I would hate to be the one who imposes upon peoples time when it concerns something as insignificant as the survival of our republic, or the steady infringements upon your unalienable rights.
If people took the time to think about what I am say they would notice that in most of my articles there is a constant underlying theme that I keep repeating over and over and over. It appears that, more often than not, I am not successful in getting that subliminal point across, so let me try and put it into plain English for you.
In 1789, the Constitution was ratified by the legislatures of the original thirteen states. Prior to the ratification of the Constitution the states were independent sovereigns, so it was no small task to get them to agree to give up some of their sovereignty to a central government.
However, once it was ratified, the Constitution became the supreme law of the land, as stated in Article 6 of that document. It is essential that you understand that the Constitution superseded all other laws, and it was to be the standard by which all other laws were to be measured.
This new form of government was one in which we would choose people to represent us, governing strictly according to the limits the Constitution imposed upon them. Article 6 of the Constitution also states, "The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several state legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution..." Simply stated, that means that every single person we elect to represent us is duty bound to govern according to what the Constitution says.
Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution clearly defines the powers that we the people have granted our government. Nothing they do that steps outside those specific boundaries was to be considered legal, because as previously mentioned the Constitution is the supreme law of the land.
In his Notes on Virginia, Q.XIII, 1782, Thomas Jefferson stated, “[The purpose of a written constitution is] to bind up the several branches of government by certain laws, which, when they transgress, their acts shall become nullities; to render unnecessary an appeal to the people, or in other words a rebellion, on every infraction of their rights, on the peril that their acquiescence shall be construed into an intention to surrender those rights.”
In Federalist Paper 15, Alexander Hamilton made the following statement, “Government implies the power of making laws. It is essential to the idea of a law, that it be attended with a sanction; or, in other words, a penalty or punishment for disobedience.”
However, if one were to take the time to read the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, which specifies certain rights which, under no circumstances our government was to infringe upon, they would realize that our elected representatives are not supporting the Constitution as they are bound by oath to do.
As Hamilton said, all laws are attended with a sanction, or a penalty or punishment for disobedience. Unfortunately there appears to be no law put into place that would penalize those who violate the supreme law of the land, the Constitution.
Therefore, the question boils down to this, is our Constitution still valid? If it is, then it must be strictly adhered to, as it is still considered the supreme law of the land. We the people must be willing to reject any law passed by our government that is which goes beyond the specifically enumerated powers granted them, particularly when those laws infringe upon our unalienable rights.
On the other hand, if our Constitution is no longer valid, then neither is our government, for where it not for the Constitution our government WOULD NOT EVEN EXIST! Therefore every law this illegitimate government enacts is null and void and we are not legally bound to obey them.
Re-read that if you must, but it is important to let that simple fact to sink in, either we have a Constitution and it is strictly adhered to, or we don't and our government holds no power over us whatsoever.
Yet how many laws has our government enacted that are not to be found among the specific powers granted them by the Constitution? Think about what happens when we do not obey those laws, even though they are unconstitutional?
So, if a government can enact laws that are outside the powers granted it by the people, and if that government can impose penalties upon those who do not obey these laws, what does that sound like to you? To me it sounds like tyranny, and that is what our founders fought a war to escape. Yet we the people have sat back and let it happen because we did not take the time to study, to think for ourselves, and to hold our elected representatives accountable when they did not uphold the Constitution.
We have forgotten that those men and women who sit in our nations capital are our servants, not vice versa. To quote Hamilton one more time, “No legislative act contrary to the Constitution can be valid. To deny this would be to affirm that the deputy (agent) is greater than his principal; that the servant is above the master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people; that men, acting by virtue of powers may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.”
It may already be too late to save our nation, but I would hope that each and every one of you who reads this would take a few moments of your precious time to learn what the Constitution says. Either we have a Constitution and it is being trampled upon by those who have sworn an oath to uphold it, or we don’t and those traitors have no power and authority over us whatsoever.
I am Neal Ross, and I approved this message
Comments may be sent to bonsai@syix.com
My New Blog: http://www.zombie-slayer.com/neal/
Why I Love Gun Shows: "I always thought you were full of sh-t."
I've finally lived long enough to realize the truth in the saying that anyone can become a prophet in his own land if he can stay alive past middle age.
The great thing about gun shows is that they are the last bastion, the last gathering place, of a free people. You meet people there, chat with them, argue sometimes, shake hands and then you won't see them until the next time. Gradually, over the years, you grow a group of friends that you otherwise wouldn't have met.
And the thing about them, the thing that sets them above most of the rest of the folks you meet day-to-day is that they're FREE, and they don't give a hoot in hell what anybody thinks about them.
I ran into two such friends at the last gun show here in Birmingham. One, a longtime "pragmatist" that I had known for 15 years while fighting in the political trenches together (and with whom I had argued frequently with) came up to me and shook my hand. After the pleasantries he said: "You know, Mike, I always thought you were full of sh-t. The way you used to rave back when Clinton was in, you used to scare the hell outta me. Now, well, now I see you were dead right. We're going to have to fight these bastards." I nodded, shook his hand again, and said, "Welcome to the fight."
The other fellow I ran into was a retired Army officer who has a background of training indigenous troops overseas. We chatted a bit, musing on the political scene. Looking around at all the obvious newbies packing the show, he said, "I've trained troops on four continents, I guess I can train dumb Alabama rednecks. They're goin' to be comin' down out of the hills in a few months lookin' for someone to show 'em the difference between a muzzle and a buttplate." We both laughed.
I commented that neither he nor his buddies were overburdened with packages, unlike the rest of the folks at the busy show. "Hell, Mike," he said, "we're ready. We've been ready. We're just waitin' for the bastards to kill YOU." He threw back his head and roared. And after a moment, so did I.
Lord above, I love gun shows.
The great thing about gun shows is that they are the last bastion, the last gathering place, of a free people. You meet people there, chat with them, argue sometimes, shake hands and then you won't see them until the next time. Gradually, over the years, you grow a group of friends that you otherwise wouldn't have met.
And the thing about them, the thing that sets them above most of the rest of the folks you meet day-to-day is that they're FREE, and they don't give a hoot in hell what anybody thinks about them.
I ran into two such friends at the last gun show here in Birmingham. One, a longtime "pragmatist" that I had known for 15 years while fighting in the political trenches together (and with whom I had argued frequently with) came up to me and shook my hand. After the pleasantries he said: "You know, Mike, I always thought you were full of sh-t. The way you used to rave back when Clinton was in, you used to scare the hell outta me. Now, well, now I see you were dead right. We're going to have to fight these bastards." I nodded, shook his hand again, and said, "Welcome to the fight."
The other fellow I ran into was a retired Army officer who has a background of training indigenous troops overseas. We chatted a bit, musing on the political scene. Looking around at all the obvious newbies packing the show, he said, "I've trained troops on four continents, I guess I can train dumb Alabama rednecks. They're goin' to be comin' down out of the hills in a few months lookin' for someone to show 'em the difference between a muzzle and a buttplate." We both laughed.
I commented that neither he nor his buddies were overburdened with packages, unlike the rest of the folks at the busy show. "Hell, Mike," he said, "we're ready. We've been ready. We're just waitin' for the bastards to kill YOU." He threw back his head and roared. And after a moment, so did I.
Lord above, I love gun shows.
Monday, December 15, 2008
The Coming Social Chaos: Danger to Liberty or Job Opportunity for the Armed Citizenry?
"Order, Safety and Liberty"
"In any riot, hurricane, or other man-made or natural disaster, who is the most popular guy in the neighborhood when the looters begin to roam? The man with the evil semi-automatic 'assault rifle' of course. 'Nobody needs one of those,' our enemies sneer. Except, of course, when they do. Will the Crips, the Bloods, MS-13, the Latin Kings, the Aryan Brotherhood, the Klan and every motorcycle gang in the country not have them too? What a silly question. So pardon me, Brady Bunch, if I wish to be armed as capably as the worst maddog criminal I might encounter.
So when we 'bitterly cling' to firearms, this is what we cling to: order, safety, liberty." -- Mike Vanderboegh, "Three Percent: toward a theory and practice of republican restoration."
So I wrote five days ago on this blog here.
I thought of this early this morning when I read this:
As in the 1970s, the problem of out-of-control youth could very soon be back on the political agenda. Although youth crime hasn’t been on the national radar since the crack boom of the early 1990s, demographic trends confidently predict a rising storm that should break within two years or so. The crime surge of the 1970s was in large part the consequence of the baby boom reaching its most crime-prone years, as the huge cohort of those born around 1960 hit their late teens. Something very similar is about to happen again. The number of babies born in the U.S. in 1990 was only slightly smaller than the 1960 generation, and by 2010 we could be entering an alarming era of violent crime, manifested in soaring rates for homicide and robbery. Factor in the economic crisis, and American cities could look as frightening and dangerous as they did at the time of New York City’s 1977 blackout, with its rioting and looting.
Making the situation still worse, the massive expansion of union membership for which many Democrats clamor will add mightily to the plethora of urban problems. Imagine cities devastated by youth crime and gang wars, while emergency workers, hospitals, buses, and garbage services are regularly on strike. If you think Americans were alienated from government in 2008, come back in two years. Liberals will try to interpret the coming crisis in terms of race and class, a problem to be solved by unlimited social spending. Conservatives had better be ready to respond with ideas of individual and family responsibility and the defense of social order.
So wrote Philip Jenkins in the 15 December 2008 issue of The American Conservative in an article entitled "The Spirit of ’76: Welcome back, Carter." Mr. Jenkins has a theory that the Obama presidency, like the Carter one, will self-destruct as a result of doctrinaire liberal over-reaching and social and political problems that their mindset is ill-designed to deal with. Personally, I find this wildly optimistic, if for no other reason than the demographic changes and cultural rot that have eaten away at the foundations of the Founders' Republic for the past 30 years have made the electorate far more susceptible to collectivist lies.
In addition, Jimmy Carter, as wrong-headed as he was and still is, is no Barack Obama. Obama is more wily and, I believe, more ruthless than the bumbling Carter.
So the critical question is, given the prediction of another crime wave above, what will Barack Obama do to counter a very real fear of crime and civil disorder? Certainly the gun confiscationists will continue to blame the firearm and its owner, and we can expect the federal seizure of control over private firearms transfers (the "gun show loophole") and another, more draconian "Assault weapons Ban."
That is one danger.
Another is the undoubted fact, demonstrable by even a cursory reading of history, that crime waves and civil disorders have always preceded tyrannies who come to power promising peace in the streets. This was Hitler's most powerful card -- "elect me and the street battles will go away, we WILL have order" -- and the fact that people understood that he was responsible for one half of that disorderly equation, the Brown Shirts, did not keep them from entrusting him with absolute power. Fearful people do stupid things, like surrender their liberty, hence the Ben Franklin quote about "a little temporary safety."
Now Obama doesn't control the Crips and the Bloods or MS-13 and the Latin Kings, but that doesn't mean that his party and his philosophy of government isn't responsible for creating the social conditions that bred them. In any case, he doesn't need to control them as Hitler did the Brown Shirts in order to scare the people into backing a tyrannical play against our traditional liberties.
But of course we cannot count out the possibility that he may indeed end up with some Brown shirts all his own, for we do not know what his "Civilian Security Force" is going to look like.
So those are some of the dangers of the coming crime wave. In addition, demographics are not the only thing driving this portending period of social chaos, we also have the current economic crisis as a huge incentive for the criminal class.
I was talking to a local cop the other day, and he says that the collapse of the scrap market has led thieves to forget boosting air conditioners and start burglarizing houses. This is anecdotal evidence, to be sure, but it makes sense. Of course, when you start busting in on people, folks turn up dead -- perps and victims -- which is why KABA is under no threat of running out of self-defense examples that they lead their daily news blog with.
A conservative, goes the old saw, is merely a liberal who has just been mugged. Expect more liberals to be mugged in the coming years. The question is, will there be enough of them to make a difference with gun control legislation? Also, will the old political verities hold true as Philip Jenkins believes or are we, with Obama, truly through the looking glass where the old electoral truths no longer operate?
Time will tell.
To answer the title question I posed, "The Coming Social Chaos: Danger to Liberty or Job Opportunity for the Armed Citizenry?", I think I can categorically state: both. To the extent that we can convince people that the armed citizenry is the basis of order, safety and liberty in this country, we can fend off the demands to disarm us. But if Obama is Hitler-slick at using fear to get what he wants, we'll just have to demonstrate the limited social utility of that decision. In other words, to use the old bumper sticker, when guns are outlawed, we'll all be outlaws. They used to joke that Nixon took crime off the streets and put in the White House where it belonged. Obama has the ability -- and I think, the appetite -- to do the same thing.
But if this is so, then the government becomes just one more criminal gang. The only thing is, if the country descends into gang war between the street gangs, the government gangs and the people, they are going to find out that the armed citizenry is the biggest and most powerful "gang" of all. Because it, of all the other forces in society, is the basis of order, safety and liberty.
"In any riot, hurricane, or other man-made or natural disaster, who is the most popular guy in the neighborhood when the looters begin to roam? The man with the evil semi-automatic 'assault rifle' of course. 'Nobody needs one of those,' our enemies sneer. Except, of course, when they do. Will the Crips, the Bloods, MS-13, the Latin Kings, the Aryan Brotherhood, the Klan and every motorcycle gang in the country not have them too? What a silly question. So pardon me, Brady Bunch, if I wish to be armed as capably as the worst maddog criminal I might encounter.
So when we 'bitterly cling' to firearms, this is what we cling to: order, safety, liberty." -- Mike Vanderboegh, "Three Percent: toward a theory and practice of republican restoration."
So I wrote five days ago on this blog here.
I thought of this early this morning when I read this:
As in the 1970s, the problem of out-of-control youth could very soon be back on the political agenda. Although youth crime hasn’t been on the national radar since the crack boom of the early 1990s, demographic trends confidently predict a rising storm that should break within two years or so. The crime surge of the 1970s was in large part the consequence of the baby boom reaching its most crime-prone years, as the huge cohort of those born around 1960 hit their late teens. Something very similar is about to happen again. The number of babies born in the U.S. in 1990 was only slightly smaller than the 1960 generation, and by 2010 we could be entering an alarming era of violent crime, manifested in soaring rates for homicide and robbery. Factor in the economic crisis, and American cities could look as frightening and dangerous as they did at the time of New York City’s 1977 blackout, with its rioting and looting.
Making the situation still worse, the massive expansion of union membership for which many Democrats clamor will add mightily to the plethora of urban problems. Imagine cities devastated by youth crime and gang wars, while emergency workers, hospitals, buses, and garbage services are regularly on strike. If you think Americans were alienated from government in 2008, come back in two years. Liberals will try to interpret the coming crisis in terms of race and class, a problem to be solved by unlimited social spending. Conservatives had better be ready to respond with ideas of individual and family responsibility and the defense of social order.
So wrote Philip Jenkins in the 15 December 2008 issue of The American Conservative in an article entitled "The Spirit of ’76: Welcome back, Carter." Mr. Jenkins has a theory that the Obama presidency, like the Carter one, will self-destruct as a result of doctrinaire liberal over-reaching and social and political problems that their mindset is ill-designed to deal with. Personally, I find this wildly optimistic, if for no other reason than the demographic changes and cultural rot that have eaten away at the foundations of the Founders' Republic for the past 30 years have made the electorate far more susceptible to collectivist lies.
In addition, Jimmy Carter, as wrong-headed as he was and still is, is no Barack Obama. Obama is more wily and, I believe, more ruthless than the bumbling Carter.
So the critical question is, given the prediction of another crime wave above, what will Barack Obama do to counter a very real fear of crime and civil disorder? Certainly the gun confiscationists will continue to blame the firearm and its owner, and we can expect the federal seizure of control over private firearms transfers (the "gun show loophole") and another, more draconian "Assault weapons Ban."
That is one danger.
Another is the undoubted fact, demonstrable by even a cursory reading of history, that crime waves and civil disorders have always preceded tyrannies who come to power promising peace in the streets. This was Hitler's most powerful card -- "elect me and the street battles will go away, we WILL have order" -- and the fact that people understood that he was responsible for one half of that disorderly equation, the Brown Shirts, did not keep them from entrusting him with absolute power. Fearful people do stupid things, like surrender their liberty, hence the Ben Franklin quote about "a little temporary safety."
Now Obama doesn't control the Crips and the Bloods or MS-13 and the Latin Kings, but that doesn't mean that his party and his philosophy of government isn't responsible for creating the social conditions that bred them. In any case, he doesn't need to control them as Hitler did the Brown Shirts in order to scare the people into backing a tyrannical play against our traditional liberties.
But of course we cannot count out the possibility that he may indeed end up with some Brown shirts all his own, for we do not know what his "Civilian Security Force" is going to look like.
So those are some of the dangers of the coming crime wave. In addition, demographics are not the only thing driving this portending period of social chaos, we also have the current economic crisis as a huge incentive for the criminal class.
I was talking to a local cop the other day, and he says that the collapse of the scrap market has led thieves to forget boosting air conditioners and start burglarizing houses. This is anecdotal evidence, to be sure, but it makes sense. Of course, when you start busting in on people, folks turn up dead -- perps and victims -- which is why KABA is under no threat of running out of self-defense examples that they lead their daily news blog with.
A conservative, goes the old saw, is merely a liberal who has just been mugged. Expect more liberals to be mugged in the coming years. The question is, will there be enough of them to make a difference with gun control legislation? Also, will the old political verities hold true as Philip Jenkins believes or are we, with Obama, truly through the looking glass where the old electoral truths no longer operate?
Time will tell.
To answer the title question I posed, "The Coming Social Chaos: Danger to Liberty or Job Opportunity for the Armed Citizenry?", I think I can categorically state: both. To the extent that we can convince people that the armed citizenry is the basis of order, safety and liberty in this country, we can fend off the demands to disarm us. But if Obama is Hitler-slick at using fear to get what he wants, we'll just have to demonstrate the limited social utility of that decision. In other words, to use the old bumper sticker, when guns are outlawed, we'll all be outlaws. They used to joke that Nixon took crime off the streets and put in the White House where it belonged. Obama has the ability -- and I think, the appetite -- to do the same thing.
But if this is so, then the government becomes just one more criminal gang. The only thing is, if the country descends into gang war between the street gangs, the government gangs and the people, they are going to find out that the armed citizenry is the biggest and most powerful "gang" of all. Because it, of all the other forces in society, is the basis of order, safety and liberty.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
"I'll start a small war of my own." The Lonely War of Lt. Eric Fisher Wood, Jr.
Folks,
I'm about to dive back into the conclusion of Absolved and probably won't re-emerge for anything much serious until I finish. As that will likely be after 16 December, the 64th anniversary of the opening of the Battle of the Bulge, I want to make sure I do this remembrance of an American warrior, a man who more than any other single man, made a material difference to the outcome of the battle. His story is inspiring, almost electrifying, in its incredible details. The fact that his name is almost entirely unknown to this generation of Americans condemns us all.
Over on the Castle Arrrgh website is the following comment by "Fishmugger."
October 30, 2008 10:00 AM
Yes, we are reputed to be the ugly Americans...but just so you all know...
Each and every grave of an American Serviceman in Holland is assigned to a Dutch family, they volunteer and there is a waiting list, to maintain and care for. On special occasions, flowers are placed and the children make reports at school as to who is buried and what happened. The grave sites are important and are willed father to son to continue the honor. They have been named in divorce settlements.
In all the small towns in Belgium and France, people continue to look after our dead. Not so ugly sometimes.
One of my favorite subjects of study is the American army in defeat -- Philippines, 1942, Kasserine Pass, 1942, Battle of the Bulge, 1944-45, Korea, June, 1950 & November, 1950 -- for only in defeat do you see the best and the worst of humanity and in that terrible crucible learn lessons that are visible nowhere else.
Rifleman Dodd by C.S. Forester is likewise one of my favorite novels. Dodd, skirmisher of the 95th Rifles in Wellington's Army during the Peninsular War, was cut off from his unit as it retreated. His story of continued resistance against all odds was written in 1932, first published in England under the title "Death to the French." By the time Eric Fisher Wood entered West Point it was popular reading among cadets. One can only speculate what effect Rifleman Dodd had on the young plebe. What is certain is that Eric Fisher Wood, an American Dodd, outdid his fictional hero by a country mile. I will have some more comments on the other side of his story.
Mike
III
The Lonely War of Lt. Eric Fisher Wood, Jr.
Saturday Evening Post, December 20, 1947 by R. Ernest Dupuy, Col. USA, Ret.
Told for the first time, the story of a young lieutenant who almost single-handedly saved the right flank of an American army in the Battle of the Bulge, "the most amazing example of heroism in World War II."
DARING indeed would be he who named one individual as the epitome of human heroism. Through the ages, men of all nations and all races have fought well and died well. Once in a great while, however, a man emerges who, under extraordinary circumstances, flings down the gauntlet to death, defies fate, says farewell to the conflict only when breath leaves his body. Since chance - and chance alone - decides whether or not there be witnesses to such an exploit, let us say of what follows only that it is the most amazing example of heroism as yet to come out of World War II.
The man was a first lieutenant, Field Artillery, AUS, one of thousands bearing identical labels. The cannons were squatty, humped-up, wicked looking pieces towed by great six-by-six trucks- three of thousands of the same type carried on Ordnance records aa "Howitzer, 105 mm., M1." There the resemblance of this man and these cannons to others of their respective kinds ceases. For the cannons saved the right flank of an American army in the Ardennes. And had it not been for the man, they wouldn't have been available to do it. After the cannons bad been lost with honor when howling waves of the Nazi 2nd SS Panzer Division washed over both them and the remnants of the field artillery battalion serving them, the man continued to wage single handed warfare against the 6th SS Panzer Army. So the man, as always, is the important element. And his tale is worth the telling.
It begins on December 16,1944, when the Battle of the Bulge broke furiously on the Ardennes front. The howitzers - there were four of them to start with - of Battery A, 589th Field Artillery Battalion, 106th Infantry Division, emplaced in rear of the little village of Schlausenbach on the north- western slopes of the Schnee Eifel, were, with the rest of the battalion, supporting the 422nd Infantry Regiment of the same division. 1st Lt. Eric F. Wood, Jr., from Bedford, Pennsylvania, twenty-five year- old Princeton fullback, five feet eleven, 195 pounds in weight and catlike in reflexes, was executive officer of the battery. His skipper, Capt. Aloysiua J. Menke, up at a forward OP, was silent. He would continue to be silent, for the first kraut wave had overrun the OP, and Menke, a prisoner, will not enter this story again. Wood was then acting battery commander.
Up the forest through a gaping hole torn in the northern sector of the 106th Division's recently inherited cordon defense positions, the Germans were swarming around the left flank and rear of the infantry, and into the artillery positions. Three German tanks pushed along the road, one leading on the road and two others off the road in the draw behind the leader. Lt. Wood, from his command position, shouted commands to his No. 1 piece gunner, John Gatens, who with two shots destroyed the lead tank by direct fire. No. 1, incidentally, was the only piece in the entire battalion which could reach any of the defilade tanks. Lt. Wood, the previous day, had arranged for No. 1 gun to be placed so that it could sweep the road. The lead tank destroyed by No. 1 gun, Wood then ordered all four guns to fire on the remaining tanks that were below the hill. He did this with high elevation fire, using one powder bag instead of seven. The remaining two tanks were disabled by this "indirect fire." He then swept the woods around him with short-cut fuse, breaking up the enemy's infantry support.
All this was but a temporary respite.. By nightfall the battalion was ordered to fall back; the krauts were crowding in from all sides. But getting out was easier said than done. In the Battery A positions the big tow trucks churned the icy muck to a paste in which the howitzers sank almost hub deep. Hostile fire, small arms and artillery was sweeping the area. Snow blew patchily into sweating faces in the night. The wind howled through trees each of which might be hiding an infiltrating enemy soldier. Hostile flares flickered over the snow drooped pines. It was not nice. But Eric Wood tore around, and the men of Battery A tore and tugged with him. He was that kind of guy. At last they got the howitzers on the road one by one, with two trucks grinding at each piece and with little clumps of men pushing, like ants tussling with twigs. The howitzers could shoot again, once they dropped trails, for Eric Wood had packed eighty-three rounds of ammunition for each piece in the trucks. In the rest of the battalion Battery C never got out. The pieces, too deeply mired, had to be blown up. That left eight howitzers out of twelve. Battery B got out ahead of A, and the outfit went swaying and fumbling in the dark over a narrow corduroy trail, while the enemy, with white phosphorus shells, hunted for them.
They got to their new positions by dawn. A field on the right of the road that runs north from Bleialf into Schonberg on the Our. They were about a mile and a quarter from Schonberg itself. Battery B got in first. Wood got three of his howitzers in. The last one, lagging, its tow truck partly crippled, he held on the road as antitank defense. The Germans were really bursting through in force that second morning. From the north they were coming down the Our valley into Schönberg; from the south they were coming up this road from Bleialf. But all that Eric Wood knew was that the world seemed full of krauts. The enemy from the south washed nearer, overrunning their neighbors. The acting battalion commander - the original was cut off behind them with Battery C - ordered the outfit out, to push through Schönberg and west toward St. Vith. Wood got two pieces rolling and sent the crippled third howitzer back with them. "I'll meet you west of Schönberg," he told the section chief, Sgt. Barney M. Alford, "if I get there."
For Wood's last howitzer was stuck. Once again the perversity of inanima to objects was working against him. So he stayed to get it out, with its crew. They worked at it while more krauts began to overrun Battery B, and its howitzers were abandoned. That, of course, left four howitzers in the battalion, out of twelve. When Wood at long last got his last piece on the road and swung over the tail gate of the truck, the last man out, the main body of the 589th Field Artillery Battalion consisting now of Wood's three other howitzers and some truckloads of men of both batteries, was way ahead of him. This bedraggled outfit hit Schönberg to find the krauts coming in from the north. The three piece "battalion" beat them to the Our River bridge by seconds, and got away. It got away to fight again, beginning on December nineteenth, at a dreary crossroads far to the west on the hastily forming and still somewhat nebulous right flank of the United States 1st Army. How these three howitzers for four days saved the right flank of the 82nd Airborne Division and of the Army at "Parker's Crossroads" is another story.
When Eric Wood and the twelve men with him in the truck now came rolling down the steep hill into Schönberg the howitzer bounding behind, a kraut tank poked its nose out of the southern entrance of the village. Brake bands screamed as the truck pulled up in front of it. Wood and his men piled out to attack it. Pfc. Campagna had a bazooka, the others their carbines. But the tank wasn't having any - God knows why! It scuttled crab like back across the bridge and disappeared into the town with Wood and his gang in pursuit. They crossed the bridge and pointed west in Schönberg's one street, with snipers pecking at them. And they slowed down while Sergeant Scannapico and Pfc. Campagna, still hugging his bazooka, ran ahead to see where that tank had holed up. They found it tucked in an alley. Scannapico fired his carbine at it. Campagna, climbing into the truck, let fly with his bazooka as they rolled past. Again the tank wasn't having any. The truck slowed to let Scannapico catch up, but a sniper got him cold. So the section rolled on. They gathered speed as they left the village and met, over a rise in the road, another kraut tank. A medium, this, with its cannon and machine guns trained directly on them.
Wood's reflexes worked instantaneously. He pitched his men and himself out into the ditch an instant before the tank's artillery blasted the truck to scrap iron. That was that, so far as getting the howitzer back safely was concerned. It left the battalion's score at three out of twelve. But what about Wood and his men? The enemy was firing at them now from across the river on the right. Kraut infantry were firing from the trees beyond the meadow across the road to the right rear. More kraut infantry was pouring out of Schönberg behind them. And that tank squatted in front of them a stone's throw away. To the ordinary man, the situation seemed hopeless. And all but one of the group were ordinary men. They raised their hands to surrender. They were through. But Eric Wood wasn't through. Leaping the ditch, he ran, dodging northwards the trees. The others could see kraut bullets sending little squirts of snow puffing up in the meadow at his heels, until he disappeared from sight in the shelter of the forest.
Late in the afternoon of the next day, December eighteenth, Peter Maraite, woodsman, left his home in the mountain village of Meyerode, Belgium, about four miles north of where that tank had smashed Eric Wood's truck. There were Germans all around. There had been fighting; doubtless there would be more. But Maraite had something else to think about. He was going to Cut a Christmas tree - there had always been a tree in the Maraite house for Christmas; there always would, as long as Peter could provide one. They are like that, in the Ardennes, war washed for generations. So Peter plodded for a mile through the woods, moving southeast in the general direction of Schönberg. It was cold; clammy mist cloaked the woods. The snow powdered his head as he brushed low branches. Then two armed men loomed in front of him at a six way trail crossing - Americans. Peter knew Americans when he saw them; they had held this sector for more than two months now. One was a big man with single silver bars on the shoulders of his short overcoat. He had a pistol. The other was smaller and wore no insignia of rank. He was armed with an infantryman's rifle, not an artillery man's carbine.
Peter Maraite is insistent on this point. Now, like most of the Belgians of this border country, Peter Maraite spoke only German. The Americans could not speak German. But Peter managed to convey the idea that he was a friend; he invited them home. Cold, wet and tired, they accepted. Because of the Germans, they came home cautiously, slipped into the warm stone house where astonished Anna Maria, Peter Maraite's wife, and wide eyed Eva, their daughter, rushed to pour hot coffee. The Americans gulped it down while Eva slipped out to bring back Peter's trusted friend, and neighbor, Jean Schroder, who spoke English. The watchdog was put outside to guard the door. The Americans relaxed, steaming their soggy clothes before the fire. The big young officer, with a confident, smiling face, told how he had escaped from a detachment surrounded near Schönberg. He and his companion were going to St. Vith. He was concerned about the fate of his men, "all very good and loyal men," as Peter Maraite remembers the conversation. The villagers warned that the country between Meyerode and St. Vith was full of Germans.
The young officer wasn't a bit disturbed by their shaking heads. "I'll either fight my way back to my outfit," he told them, "or I'll collect American stragglers. I've seen some in the woods around here and I'll start a small war of my own." What he wanted now was information about the Germans. He pulled out a map. So, while the woman and the girl bustled to get supper, the young American officer and the two droopy- mustached woodsmen pored over the map. The Americans couldn't go that night, the villagers said; they would. So the two Americans ate and drank with their hosts. The officer cracked jokes "said funny things which made us laugh," is the way Peter and Anna Maria Maraite put it. He seemed to have no fears. After they cleaned their weapons, the Americans repaired to the big soft feather bed while their clothes dried. They slept the sleep of tired but confident men, not waking even when a V bomb crashed in the outskirts of Meyerode with its hideous thunder.
The Maraites at first wondered if their American visitors had been among those captured on the Ades Berg. Perhaps - but odd things were happening in those woods southeast and east of the village, deep behind the German lines in the dense Omerscheid area of the Bullingen Forest. Daily, bursts of small arms fire came from the hills, and sometimes the "wham" of a mortar. These sounds were in addition to the crashes of bombs and pom-pomming of flak guns along the highways to the west. The weather had cleared and the Allied air forces were taking toll of German columns. Fighter bombers continually strafed the roads. The Germans had had to reroute their daylight movements through the secondary roads in the eastern woods leading to the Our Valley and thence through the Losheim Gap. It was from this area that those unexplained small arms bursts were coming over the cold air to the peasants huddled in their homes. Meyerode people began to notice that while large forces came and went at will through the hills, never did a small body of Germans or a supply column pass into the pine woods but that one of those mysterious bursts of fire followed. And the krauts issued orders strictly forbidding civilian movement in the forests.
Chance words dropped by the Germans, unguarded bursts of wrath from officers of the staff billeted in the village, plus the evidence of their own eyes and ears, gradually were pieced together by the Maraites and their neighbors. In a community like Meyerode the grapevine travels fast. Most of the burghers knew of the Americans who had stayed at the Maraite dwelling. Sepp Dietrich himself, quartered in the home of Jean Pauels, the burgomaster - a relative of Anna Maria Maraite - began to thunder about American "criminal scoundrels and bandits." The krauts were getting nervous, itchy. Daily, wounded men came in from the easterly woods, some hobbling, some carried. Kraut orderlies gossiped. "Damned bandits," it seemed, flitted like ghosts through the trees out there, hid in snow banks. A German traveling those woods never knew when a bullet might come singing his way. Larger and larger detachments were assigned to guard working parties who from time to time took a six horse snowplow out to clear those wood roads. Searching patrols went daily into the forest, but no American prisoners ever were brought back.
So the weeks rolled on, with the daily crack of small arms on the winter air, and the burghers of Meyerode built up their theory. They conjectured that out in the forest a small but organized group of Americans roamed. They had plenty of arms, they had at least one medium mortar, and they were taking a steady toll of the Germans. And all the stories added up one way: that these American guerrillas were led by the young officer who had visited the Maraites, a man "very big and powerful of body and brave of spirit." He kept his wolf pack going, it was said, by sheer will power. There could not have been many of them - the Meyerode woodsmen later found no evidences of large bivouacs other than those known to be German. How they existed through those bone chilling winter weeks no one knows. Probably horse meat was their diet - there were several horse drawn kraut artillery units in the neighborhood, and horse drawn transport was daily passing through. Perhaps the Americans found rations in abandoned dumps. There was an ammunition dump at a trail crossing just a mile south of Meyerode where, after the Germans had gone, villagers found quantities of mortar ammunition still remaining.
Anyway, the daily firing in the woods continued until the middle of January. It was stilled just a few days before the counterattack ebbed and the Americans began slashing back into the neighborhood - perhaps about January twenty-second. When the Germans left, the people of Meyerode combed those woods. The burgomaster first sent two competent woodsmen - his cousin August Pauels and Servatius Maraite - to search. They found German graves and some unburied German dead. And they found a few American dead, also unburied. In a dense thicket southeast of Meyerode, not far from the six way trail crossing, Servatius Maraite found the body of an American officer, a big young man, "with single silver bars on his shoulders." Near him lay the bodies of seven German soldiers. All had been dead about the same length of time - as well as could be judged, perhaps ten days before the Germans were driven out. American Graves Registration people later would fix the date as probably January twenty-second. That no living Germans had later visited this spot, the villagers agree. This was evidenced by the fact that the American officer still had in his clothing his papers and 4000 Belgian francs, a sum no kraut looter would overlook. So the American had died as he had lived -- a free man, taking with him when he went the last of his pursuers.
That American officer, Graves Registration attests, was 1st Lt. Eric F. Wood, Jr. And the people of Meyerode say that he was the man befriended by Peter Maraite and his family - the leader of the American guerrillas, whose description by wounded Germans, according to Burgomaster Jean Pauels, fits "like a police description" with that of Eric Wood. Records and statements of eyewitnesses prove that the only officer of the 106th Infantry Division unaccounted for from December sixteenth onward - that is, neither dead nor alive as free man or prisoner of war - was 1st Lt. Eric F. Wood, Jr.
("The details of the killing of the German tanks were updated from actual accounts (1999) of those that participated in the battle at the time. The additions of these actual accounts do not change the overall description of the original author.")
MBV: Consider the difference one indomitable man made in this battle --
The three guns he saved (the only ones of his division that made it out) were critical in the "Battle for Parker's Crossroads," a delaying action on the northern shoulder of the Bulge that allowed the 82nd Airborne and other units to defend the Elsenborn Ridge. Unable to break out to the north or the south, the Germans were channeled into the delaying actions at St. Vith and Bastogne. With the holding of the shoulders, the German offensive was doomed.
Second, we can only speculate what effect his little guerrilla war had on German logistics, but if the Belgian witnesses are correct, it was enough to make Sepp Dietrich half-crazy with frustration. Of course, it was poor logistics that, as much as being channeled between the shoulders, was the reason the offensive failed.
Finally, there is the butcher's bill reckoning of the effectiveness of a soldier. How many Germans did he kill before he went down outside Meyerode? Whatever it was, it was a uneven trade for the Germans.
So take a few moments and ponder the incredible fight and sacrifice of Lt. Eric Fisher Wood, Jr. His story is an American inspiration for the ages. We are coming into another dark moment of American history. Let us hope the next Eric Woods are getting ready for the fight.
I'm about to dive back into the conclusion of Absolved and probably won't re-emerge for anything much serious until I finish. As that will likely be after 16 December, the 64th anniversary of the opening of the Battle of the Bulge, I want to make sure I do this remembrance of an American warrior, a man who more than any other single man, made a material difference to the outcome of the battle. His story is inspiring, almost electrifying, in its incredible details. The fact that his name is almost entirely unknown to this generation of Americans condemns us all.
Over on the Castle Arrrgh website is the following comment by "Fishmugger."
October 30, 2008 10:00 AM
Yes, we are reputed to be the ugly Americans...but just so you all know...
Each and every grave of an American Serviceman in Holland is assigned to a Dutch family, they volunteer and there is a waiting list, to maintain and care for. On special occasions, flowers are placed and the children make reports at school as to who is buried and what happened. The grave sites are important and are willed father to son to continue the honor. They have been named in divorce settlements.
In all the small towns in Belgium and France, people continue to look after our dead. Not so ugly sometimes.
One of my favorite subjects of study is the American army in defeat -- Philippines, 1942, Kasserine Pass, 1942, Battle of the Bulge, 1944-45, Korea, June, 1950 & November, 1950 -- for only in defeat do you see the best and the worst of humanity and in that terrible crucible learn lessons that are visible nowhere else.
Rifleman Dodd by C.S. Forester is likewise one of my favorite novels. Dodd, skirmisher of the 95th Rifles in Wellington's Army during the Peninsular War, was cut off from his unit as it retreated. His story of continued resistance against all odds was written in 1932, first published in England under the title "Death to the French." By the time Eric Fisher Wood entered West Point it was popular reading among cadets. One can only speculate what effect Rifleman Dodd had on the young plebe. What is certain is that Eric Fisher Wood, an American Dodd, outdid his fictional hero by a country mile. I will have some more comments on the other side of his story.
Mike
III
The Lonely War of Lt. Eric Fisher Wood, Jr.
Saturday Evening Post, December 20, 1947 by R. Ernest Dupuy, Col. USA, Ret.
Told for the first time, the story of a young lieutenant who almost single-handedly saved the right flank of an American army in the Battle of the Bulge, "the most amazing example of heroism in World War II."
DARING indeed would be he who named one individual as the epitome of human heroism. Through the ages, men of all nations and all races have fought well and died well. Once in a great while, however, a man emerges who, under extraordinary circumstances, flings down the gauntlet to death, defies fate, says farewell to the conflict only when breath leaves his body. Since chance - and chance alone - decides whether or not there be witnesses to such an exploit, let us say of what follows only that it is the most amazing example of heroism as yet to come out of World War II.
The man was a first lieutenant, Field Artillery, AUS, one of thousands bearing identical labels. The cannons were squatty, humped-up, wicked looking pieces towed by great six-by-six trucks- three of thousands of the same type carried on Ordnance records aa "Howitzer, 105 mm., M1." There the resemblance of this man and these cannons to others of their respective kinds ceases. For the cannons saved the right flank of an American army in the Ardennes. And had it not been for the man, they wouldn't have been available to do it. After the cannons bad been lost with honor when howling waves of the Nazi 2nd SS Panzer Division washed over both them and the remnants of the field artillery battalion serving them, the man continued to wage single handed warfare against the 6th SS Panzer Army. So the man, as always, is the important element. And his tale is worth the telling.
It begins on December 16,1944, when the Battle of the Bulge broke furiously on the Ardennes front. The howitzers - there were four of them to start with - of Battery A, 589th Field Artillery Battalion, 106th Infantry Division, emplaced in rear of the little village of Schlausenbach on the north- western slopes of the Schnee Eifel, were, with the rest of the battalion, supporting the 422nd Infantry Regiment of the same division. 1st Lt. Eric F. Wood, Jr., from Bedford, Pennsylvania, twenty-five year- old Princeton fullback, five feet eleven, 195 pounds in weight and catlike in reflexes, was executive officer of the battery. His skipper, Capt. Aloysiua J. Menke, up at a forward OP, was silent. He would continue to be silent, for the first kraut wave had overrun the OP, and Menke, a prisoner, will not enter this story again. Wood was then acting battery commander.
Up the forest through a gaping hole torn in the northern sector of the 106th Division's recently inherited cordon defense positions, the Germans were swarming around the left flank and rear of the infantry, and into the artillery positions. Three German tanks pushed along the road, one leading on the road and two others off the road in the draw behind the leader. Lt. Wood, from his command position, shouted commands to his No. 1 piece gunner, John Gatens, who with two shots destroyed the lead tank by direct fire. No. 1, incidentally, was the only piece in the entire battalion which could reach any of the defilade tanks. Lt. Wood, the previous day, had arranged for No. 1 gun to be placed so that it could sweep the road. The lead tank destroyed by No. 1 gun, Wood then ordered all four guns to fire on the remaining tanks that were below the hill. He did this with high elevation fire, using one powder bag instead of seven. The remaining two tanks were disabled by this "indirect fire." He then swept the woods around him with short-cut fuse, breaking up the enemy's infantry support.
All this was but a temporary respite.. By nightfall the battalion was ordered to fall back; the krauts were crowding in from all sides. But getting out was easier said than done. In the Battery A positions the big tow trucks churned the icy muck to a paste in which the howitzers sank almost hub deep. Hostile fire, small arms and artillery was sweeping the area. Snow blew patchily into sweating faces in the night. The wind howled through trees each of which might be hiding an infiltrating enemy soldier. Hostile flares flickered over the snow drooped pines. It was not nice. But Eric Wood tore around, and the men of Battery A tore and tugged with him. He was that kind of guy. At last they got the howitzers on the road one by one, with two trucks grinding at each piece and with little clumps of men pushing, like ants tussling with twigs. The howitzers could shoot again, once they dropped trails, for Eric Wood had packed eighty-three rounds of ammunition for each piece in the trucks. In the rest of the battalion Battery C never got out. The pieces, too deeply mired, had to be blown up. That left eight howitzers out of twelve. Battery B got out ahead of A, and the outfit went swaying and fumbling in the dark over a narrow corduroy trail, while the enemy, with white phosphorus shells, hunted for them.
They got to their new positions by dawn. A field on the right of the road that runs north from Bleialf into Schonberg on the Our. They were about a mile and a quarter from Schonberg itself. Battery B got in first. Wood got three of his howitzers in. The last one, lagging, its tow truck partly crippled, he held on the road as antitank defense. The Germans were really bursting through in force that second morning. From the north they were coming down the Our valley into Schönberg; from the south they were coming up this road from Bleialf. But all that Eric Wood knew was that the world seemed full of krauts. The enemy from the south washed nearer, overrunning their neighbors. The acting battalion commander - the original was cut off behind them with Battery C - ordered the outfit out, to push through Schönberg and west toward St. Vith. Wood got two pieces rolling and sent the crippled third howitzer back with them. "I'll meet you west of Schönberg," he told the section chief, Sgt. Barney M. Alford, "if I get there."
For Wood's last howitzer was stuck. Once again the perversity of inanima to objects was working against him. So he stayed to get it out, with its crew. They worked at it while more krauts began to overrun Battery B, and its howitzers were abandoned. That, of course, left four howitzers in the battalion, out of twelve. When Wood at long last got his last piece on the road and swung over the tail gate of the truck, the last man out, the main body of the 589th Field Artillery Battalion consisting now of Wood's three other howitzers and some truckloads of men of both batteries, was way ahead of him. This bedraggled outfit hit Schönberg to find the krauts coming in from the north. The three piece "battalion" beat them to the Our River bridge by seconds, and got away. It got away to fight again, beginning on December nineteenth, at a dreary crossroads far to the west on the hastily forming and still somewhat nebulous right flank of the United States 1st Army. How these three howitzers for four days saved the right flank of the 82nd Airborne Division and of the Army at "Parker's Crossroads" is another story.
When Eric Wood and the twelve men with him in the truck now came rolling down the steep hill into Schönberg the howitzer bounding behind, a kraut tank poked its nose out of the southern entrance of the village. Brake bands screamed as the truck pulled up in front of it. Wood and his men piled out to attack it. Pfc. Campagna had a bazooka, the others their carbines. But the tank wasn't having any - God knows why! It scuttled crab like back across the bridge and disappeared into the town with Wood and his gang in pursuit. They crossed the bridge and pointed west in Schönberg's one street, with snipers pecking at them. And they slowed down while Sergeant Scannapico and Pfc. Campagna, still hugging his bazooka, ran ahead to see where that tank had holed up. They found it tucked in an alley. Scannapico fired his carbine at it. Campagna, climbing into the truck, let fly with his bazooka as they rolled past. Again the tank wasn't having any. The truck slowed to let Scannapico catch up, but a sniper got him cold. So the section rolled on. They gathered speed as they left the village and met, over a rise in the road, another kraut tank. A medium, this, with its cannon and machine guns trained directly on them.
Wood's reflexes worked instantaneously. He pitched his men and himself out into the ditch an instant before the tank's artillery blasted the truck to scrap iron. That was that, so far as getting the howitzer back safely was concerned. It left the battalion's score at three out of twelve. But what about Wood and his men? The enemy was firing at them now from across the river on the right. Kraut infantry were firing from the trees beyond the meadow across the road to the right rear. More kraut infantry was pouring out of Schönberg behind them. And that tank squatted in front of them a stone's throw away. To the ordinary man, the situation seemed hopeless. And all but one of the group were ordinary men. They raised their hands to surrender. They were through. But Eric Wood wasn't through. Leaping the ditch, he ran, dodging northwards the trees. The others could see kraut bullets sending little squirts of snow puffing up in the meadow at his heels, until he disappeared from sight in the shelter of the forest.
Late in the afternoon of the next day, December eighteenth, Peter Maraite, woodsman, left his home in the mountain village of Meyerode, Belgium, about four miles north of where that tank had smashed Eric Wood's truck. There were Germans all around. There had been fighting; doubtless there would be more. But Maraite had something else to think about. He was going to Cut a Christmas tree - there had always been a tree in the Maraite house for Christmas; there always would, as long as Peter could provide one. They are like that, in the Ardennes, war washed for generations. So Peter plodded for a mile through the woods, moving southeast in the general direction of Schönberg. It was cold; clammy mist cloaked the woods. The snow powdered his head as he brushed low branches. Then two armed men loomed in front of him at a six way trail crossing - Americans. Peter knew Americans when he saw them; they had held this sector for more than two months now. One was a big man with single silver bars on the shoulders of his short overcoat. He had a pistol. The other was smaller and wore no insignia of rank. He was armed with an infantryman's rifle, not an artillery man's carbine.
Peter Maraite is insistent on this point. Now, like most of the Belgians of this border country, Peter Maraite spoke only German. The Americans could not speak German. But Peter managed to convey the idea that he was a friend; he invited them home. Cold, wet and tired, they accepted. Because of the Germans, they came home cautiously, slipped into the warm stone house where astonished Anna Maria, Peter Maraite's wife, and wide eyed Eva, their daughter, rushed to pour hot coffee. The Americans gulped it down while Eva slipped out to bring back Peter's trusted friend, and neighbor, Jean Schroder, who spoke English. The watchdog was put outside to guard the door. The Americans relaxed, steaming their soggy clothes before the fire. The big young officer, with a confident, smiling face, told how he had escaped from a detachment surrounded near Schönberg. He and his companion were going to St. Vith. He was concerned about the fate of his men, "all very good and loyal men," as Peter Maraite remembers the conversation. The villagers warned that the country between Meyerode and St. Vith was full of Germans.
The young officer wasn't a bit disturbed by their shaking heads. "I'll either fight my way back to my outfit," he told them, "or I'll collect American stragglers. I've seen some in the woods around here and I'll start a small war of my own." What he wanted now was information about the Germans. He pulled out a map. So, while the woman and the girl bustled to get supper, the young American officer and the two droopy- mustached woodsmen pored over the map. The Americans couldn't go that night, the villagers said; they would. So the two Americans ate and drank with their hosts. The officer cracked jokes "said funny things which made us laugh," is the way Peter and Anna Maria Maraite put it. He seemed to have no fears. After they cleaned their weapons, the Americans repaired to the big soft feather bed while their clothes dried. They slept the sleep of tired but confident men, not waking even when a V bomb crashed in the outskirts of Meyerode with its hideous thunder.
The Maraites at first wondered if their American visitors had been among those captured on the Ades Berg. Perhaps - but odd things were happening in those woods southeast and east of the village, deep behind the German lines in the dense Omerscheid area of the Bullingen Forest. Daily, bursts of small arms fire came from the hills, and sometimes the "wham" of a mortar. These sounds were in addition to the crashes of bombs and pom-pomming of flak guns along the highways to the west. The weather had cleared and the Allied air forces were taking toll of German columns. Fighter bombers continually strafed the roads. The Germans had had to reroute their daylight movements through the secondary roads in the eastern woods leading to the Our Valley and thence through the Losheim Gap. It was from this area that those unexplained small arms bursts were coming over the cold air to the peasants huddled in their homes. Meyerode people began to notice that while large forces came and went at will through the hills, never did a small body of Germans or a supply column pass into the pine woods but that one of those mysterious bursts of fire followed. And the krauts issued orders strictly forbidding civilian movement in the forests.
Chance words dropped by the Germans, unguarded bursts of wrath from officers of the staff billeted in the village, plus the evidence of their own eyes and ears, gradually were pieced together by the Maraites and their neighbors. In a community like Meyerode the grapevine travels fast. Most of the burghers knew of the Americans who had stayed at the Maraite dwelling. Sepp Dietrich himself, quartered in the home of Jean Pauels, the burgomaster - a relative of Anna Maria Maraite - began to thunder about American "criminal scoundrels and bandits." The krauts were getting nervous, itchy. Daily, wounded men came in from the easterly woods, some hobbling, some carried. Kraut orderlies gossiped. "Damned bandits," it seemed, flitted like ghosts through the trees out there, hid in snow banks. A German traveling those woods never knew when a bullet might come singing his way. Larger and larger detachments were assigned to guard working parties who from time to time took a six horse snowplow out to clear those wood roads. Searching patrols went daily into the forest, but no American prisoners ever were brought back.
So the weeks rolled on, with the daily crack of small arms on the winter air, and the burghers of Meyerode built up their theory. They conjectured that out in the forest a small but organized group of Americans roamed. They had plenty of arms, they had at least one medium mortar, and they were taking a steady toll of the Germans. And all the stories added up one way: that these American guerrillas were led by the young officer who had visited the Maraites, a man "very big and powerful of body and brave of spirit." He kept his wolf pack going, it was said, by sheer will power. There could not have been many of them - the Meyerode woodsmen later found no evidences of large bivouacs other than those known to be German. How they existed through those bone chilling winter weeks no one knows. Probably horse meat was their diet - there were several horse drawn kraut artillery units in the neighborhood, and horse drawn transport was daily passing through. Perhaps the Americans found rations in abandoned dumps. There was an ammunition dump at a trail crossing just a mile south of Meyerode where, after the Germans had gone, villagers found quantities of mortar ammunition still remaining.
Anyway, the daily firing in the woods continued until the middle of January. It was stilled just a few days before the counterattack ebbed and the Americans began slashing back into the neighborhood - perhaps about January twenty-second. When the Germans left, the people of Meyerode combed those woods. The burgomaster first sent two competent woodsmen - his cousin August Pauels and Servatius Maraite - to search. They found German graves and some unburied German dead. And they found a few American dead, also unburied. In a dense thicket southeast of Meyerode, not far from the six way trail crossing, Servatius Maraite found the body of an American officer, a big young man, "with single silver bars on his shoulders." Near him lay the bodies of seven German soldiers. All had been dead about the same length of time - as well as could be judged, perhaps ten days before the Germans were driven out. American Graves Registration people later would fix the date as probably January twenty-second. That no living Germans had later visited this spot, the villagers agree. This was evidenced by the fact that the American officer still had in his clothing his papers and 4000 Belgian francs, a sum no kraut looter would overlook. So the American had died as he had lived -- a free man, taking with him when he went the last of his pursuers.
That American officer, Graves Registration attests, was 1st Lt. Eric F. Wood, Jr. And the people of Meyerode say that he was the man befriended by Peter Maraite and his family - the leader of the American guerrillas, whose description by wounded Germans, according to Burgomaster Jean Pauels, fits "like a police description" with that of Eric Wood. Records and statements of eyewitnesses prove that the only officer of the 106th Infantry Division unaccounted for from December sixteenth onward - that is, neither dead nor alive as free man or prisoner of war - was 1st Lt. Eric F. Wood, Jr.
("The details of the killing of the German tanks were updated from actual accounts (1999) of those that participated in the battle at the time. The additions of these actual accounts do not change the overall description of the original author.")
MBV: Consider the difference one indomitable man made in this battle --
The three guns he saved (the only ones of his division that made it out) were critical in the "Battle for Parker's Crossroads," a delaying action on the northern shoulder of the Bulge that allowed the 82nd Airborne and other units to defend the Elsenborn Ridge. Unable to break out to the north or the south, the Germans were channeled into the delaying actions at St. Vith and Bastogne. With the holding of the shoulders, the German offensive was doomed.
Second, we can only speculate what effect his little guerrilla war had on German logistics, but if the Belgian witnesses are correct, it was enough to make Sepp Dietrich half-crazy with frustration. Of course, it was poor logistics that, as much as being channeled between the shoulders, was the reason the offensive failed.
Finally, there is the butcher's bill reckoning of the effectiveness of a soldier. How many Germans did he kill before he went down outside Meyerode? Whatever it was, it was a uneven trade for the Germans.
So take a few moments and ponder the incredible fight and sacrifice of Lt. Eric Fisher Wood, Jr. His story is an American inspiration for the ages. We are coming into another dark moment of American history. Let us hope the next Eric Woods are getting ready for the fight.
First stop on the Sipsey Street Irregulars Tour
Folks,
I will be at the Indy 1500 Gun & Knife Show, 9-11 January 2009. We should have a table there with info on Absolved and other concerns of the Sipsey Street Irregulars. The show is held at The Indiana State Fairgrounds, 1202 East 38th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46205. Show hours are as follows: Friday, 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM; Saturday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM; Sunday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
We will likely not have copies of Absolved ready by the time of the show, but we certainly should have ordering information by that time. Anyone from Michigan (or gutless antisemite trolls from KABA, or rogue ATF agents) wishing to punch me in the nose can make an appointment at our table Saturday morning between 0800 and 0805. I do not guarantee to stand still for the blow, nor do I promise not to return it. Rules are David Codrea's "Any chair in a bar fight."
Mike Vanderboegh
III
I will be at the Indy 1500 Gun & Knife Show, 9-11 January 2009. We should have a table there with info on Absolved and other concerns of the Sipsey Street Irregulars. The show is held at The Indiana State Fairgrounds, 1202 East 38th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46205. Show hours are as follows: Friday, 2:00 PM to 8:00 PM; Saturday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM; Sunday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
We will likely not have copies of Absolved ready by the time of the show, but we certainly should have ordering information by that time. Anyone from Michigan (or gutless antisemite trolls from KABA, or rogue ATF agents) wishing to punch me in the nose can make an appointment at our table Saturday morning between 0800 and 0805. I do not guarantee to stand still for the blow, nor do I promise not to return it. Rules are David Codrea's "Any chair in a bar fight."
Mike Vanderboegh
III
"A technocratic priesthood of unquestionable moral authority"?
Welcome to "Googlewashing."
Folks,
One of the greatest threats we face in the coming period is to be cut off from each other by the government applying to the Internet what they certainly are going to apply to talk radio via the "Fairness Doctrine." Read the article below from across the pond and you will understand that the administration does not have to pass any new laws such as Internet "Hate Speech Codes" to accomplish that. All they have to do is a quiet deal with "a technocratic priesthood of unquestionable moral authority," i.e. Google and other search engines.
Those of you who have studied ancient history are familiar with the fact that "priesthoods" generally find their "god" to be on the side of the Regime in power, any regime. Well, you've heard of brainwashing, right? Welcome to "Googlewashing." We had better be about establishing alternatives to the tried and true. We are through the looking glass, and the verities of the world we once inhabited no longer apply. And they won't, until we smash the bloody mirror.
Mike
III
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/12/googlewashing_revisited/
Google cranks up the Consensus Engine
Manufacturing isn't dead - it just went to Mountain View
By Andrew Orlowski
Posted in Music and Media, 12th December 2008 19:38 GMT
Google this week admitted that its staff will pick and choose what appears in its search results. It's a historic statement - and nobody has yet grasped its significance.
Not so very long ago, Google disclaimed responsibility for its search results by explaining that these were chosen by a computer algorithm. The disclaimer lives on at Google News, where we are assured that:
The selection and placement of stories on this page were determined automatically by a computer program.
A few years ago, Google's apparently unimpeachable objectivity got some people very excited, and technology utopians began to herald Google as the conduit for a new form of democracy. Google was only too pleased to encourage this view. It explained that its algorithm "relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. "
That Google was impartial was one of the articles of faith. For if Google was ever to be found to be applying subjective human judgment directly on the process, it would be akin to the voting machines being rigged.
For these soothsayers of the Hive Mind, the years ahead looked prosperous. As blog-aware marketing and media consultants, they saw a lucrative future in explaining the New Emergent World Order to the uninitiated. (That part has come true - Web 2.0 "gurus" now advise large media companies).
It wasn't surprising, then, that when five years ago I described how a small, self-selected number of people could rig Google's search results, the reaction from the people doing the rigging was violently antagonistic. Who lifted that rock? they cried.
But what was once Googlewashing by a select few now has Google's active participation.
This week Marissa Meyer explained that editorial judgments will play a key role in Google searches. It was reported by Tech Crunch proprietor Michael Arrington - who Nick Carr called the "Madam of the Web 2.0 Brothel" - but its significance wasn't noted. The irony flew safely over his head at 30,000 feet. Arrington observed:
Mayer also talked about Google’s use of user data created by actions on Wiki search to improve search results on Google in general. For now that data is not being used to change overall search results, she said. But in the future it’s likely Google will use the data to at least make obvious changes. An example is if “thousands of people” were to knock a search result off a search page, they’d be likely to make a change.
Now what, you may be thinking, is an "obvious change"? Is it one that is frivolous?
(Thereby introducing a Google Frivolitimeter™ [Beta]). Or is it one that goes against the grain of the consensus? If so, then who decides what the consensus must be? Make no mistake, Google is moving into new territory: not only making arbitrary, editorial choices - really no different to Fox News, say, or any other media organization. It's now in the business of validating and manufacturing consent: not only reporting what people say, but how you should think.
Who's hand is upon the wheel, here?
None of this would matter, if it wasn't for one other trend: a paralysing loss of confidence in media companies.
Old media is hooked on the drug that kills it
Today, the media organisations look to Google to explain what is really happening in the world. Convinced that they can't lead, the only option left is to follow. So they reflect ourselves - or more accurately, they reflect the unstinting efforts of small self-selecting pockets of activists - back at us. In the absence of editorial confidence, Google - the Monster that threatens to Eat The Media - now defines the purpose of the media. All media companies need do is "tap into the zeitgeist" - Google Zeitgeist™!
Take this example from a quality British broadsheet.
One journalist on the paper lamented that:
...it's becoming all too clear at The Telegraph, whose online business plan seems to be centred on chasing hits through Google by rehashing and rewriting stories that people are already interested in.
The digital director of the Telegraph recently suggested the newspaper could work even closer with Google... by subsuming its identity into the Ad Giant. Why couldn't The Telegraph run off a telegraph.google.com domain and allow Google to take care of all the technology? he mused.
Not all companies have the same suicidal lack of foresight as The Telegraph's resident guru - but many share the same apocalyptic conclusion.
Today, Google's cute little explanation of being "uniquely democratic" is no longer present on that page. A subtly different explanation has taken its place - one which acknowledges that in the new democracy of Web 2.0, some votes are more equal than others.
PageRank also considers the importance of each page that casts a vote, as votes from some pages are considered to have greater value, thus giving the linked page greater value. We have always taken a pragmatic approach to help improve search quality and create useful products, and our technology uses the collective intelligence of the web to determine a page's importance.
So you see, it's not rigged! How could Google "rig" a system that only reflects our finest and most noble sentiments back at us - mediated by a technocratic priesthood of unquestionable moral authority?
Google has taken Googlewashing in house.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Amish Tom presents a 3% Song Idea
Amish Tom presents a song with "apologies to Blaze Foley" with this additional note: "Need to work out a fingerpickin slide arrangement now. Lookin like a blues in D."
One two three and maybe four
who's on that other side of the door?
I'll just keep playing and a singing a song
while the feds step on their dongs.
We ain't going in a peaceful way
Got our constitution, it's here to stay
If you don't want to die on this here floor
think of the "maybe" in my score
Nobody wanted a fight but you
We told you all along so, too
but you kept kicking in our doors
one two three or maybe four
Call out your fine gravediggers
find the best men that you can
because you're looking at some work
with your "citizen improvement" plan.
One two three and maybe four
who's on that other side of the door?
I'll just keep playing and a singing a song
while the feds step on their dongs.
We ain't going in a peaceful way
Got our constitution, it's here to stay
If you don't want to die on this here floor
think of the "maybe" in my score
Nobody wanted a fight but you
We told you all along so, too
but you kept kicking in our doors
one two three or maybe four
Call out your fine gravediggers
find the best men that you can
because you're looking at some work
with your "citizen improvement" plan.
Hell’s Angels — Lithuanian Style
My thanks to "thedweeze" for forwarding this story by Michael Yon, our 21st Century Ernie Pyle who has already tempted fate a hundred times just like Ernie, always too far forward for his own good. Here, http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/on-the-front-lines-in-afghanistan-part-two/2/, in the second part of a series on Afghanistan, Yon describes the Lithuanian Special Forces:
Hell’s Angels — Lithuanian Style
U.S. and Afghan soldiers in Zabul Province give high marks to the Lithuanian Special Forces, who like to ride these captured Taliban motorbikes to sneak up on, and chase Taliban fighters. The “LithSof” are on their way to becoming living legends: Both Afghans and Americans report that the Taliban are afraid of the Lithuanians. Stories about them are filled with dangerous escapades and humor.
Americans say that the Lithuanians are sort of a weaponized version of Borat, who think nothing of sauntering around a base in nothing but flip-flops and underwear. “They look like mountain men. They never shave, sometimes don’t bathe, and often roll out the gate wearing nothing but body armor and weapons. Not even a t-shirt,” an American soldier told me. The Lithuanians may be a little bit nuts, but the Americans love to have them around because Lithuanians love to fight, and when you need backup, you can count on them. That contrasts starkly with many of the NATO “partners.” Maybe when your country spends almost a half-century with the Soviet boot on its neck, its first generation of free soldiers know what freedom is worth — and that you sometimes have to fight for it.
Hell’s Angels — Lithuanian Style
U.S. and Afghan soldiers in Zabul Province give high marks to the Lithuanian Special Forces, who like to ride these captured Taliban motorbikes to sneak up on, and chase Taliban fighters. The “LithSof” are on their way to becoming living legends: Both Afghans and Americans report that the Taliban are afraid of the Lithuanians. Stories about them are filled with dangerous escapades and humor.
Americans say that the Lithuanians are sort of a weaponized version of Borat, who think nothing of sauntering around a base in nothing but flip-flops and underwear. “They look like mountain men. They never shave, sometimes don’t bathe, and often roll out the gate wearing nothing but body armor and weapons. Not even a t-shirt,” an American soldier told me. The Lithuanians may be a little bit nuts, but the Americans love to have them around because Lithuanians love to fight, and when you need backup, you can count on them. That contrasts starkly with many of the NATO “partners.” Maybe when your country spends almost a half-century with the Soviet boot on its neck, its first generation of free soldiers know what freedom is worth — and that you sometimes have to fight for it.
"Operation Firestick": Rumors & Rumor Control. An Oldie but a Goody.
Folks,
During a momentary (I hope) writer's block on Absolved, I am engaged in an archaeological dig of my office. Among the layers I found the document below from a lifetime ago in the 1990's. I have recently been getting bombarded once again with all manner of "Red Dawn" type rumors that somebody heard from somebody else who heard it from Mark Koerneke on shortwave or something.
Anyway, back in the '90s one of the more useless efforts I was tasked to perform for my fellow militiafolk was rumor control. The fact that so many people take rumors like the one below seriously is a damning indictment of government schools in this country. However, without further ado, I present this classic of critical thinking as applied to short wave silliness:
RE: "Operation Firestick" Report
26 February 1996; 15:23 CST
From: Rumor Control Center
"Black Helicopters Our Specialty"
Comments Ad Seriatim From Original Report
1. "You are already aware of the 30,000-40,000 (actually 1/2) newly purchased Iraqui tanks 200 miles south of Medina, Mexico. There are now some Russian personnel there as well."
Even if the numbers are 15,000-20,000 armored vehicles ("actually 1/2") and they are counting APCs, command vehicles, bridge layers, etc., as "tanks," this means that the Iraqi Army has not only trebled in size since the Persian Gulf War (which they started with a mere 4,500 main battle tanks and 2,880 armored personnel carriers of all types) but they have somehow managed to find the sealift to transport them to Mexico secretly through the embargo (is it possible that they were smuggled out through Jordan as used Chevy Impalas?).
Now since we don't know the order of battle or TO&E of this phantom force, let us make some guesses about how many people it would take to operate and support such a force. The Iraqi Army started the Gulf War with about a million men to go with those 7,380 AFVs so does that mean that there are 2 million to 3 million Iraqi/Russian/crazed Jamaican mercenaries hiding out down there too? The Mexican tourist industry is indeed having a banner year. Unless serious food shortages have just developed in Mexico (none reported) they must be getting their goat fajitas through some sort of supply line. The usual ration of teeth to tail is about 8-10 men to support every man in the field.
Since we may assume that the entire AFV number comprises the "teeth," the Mexican roads must be choked with the supply trucks, fuel lorries, etc, in preparation for this South of the Border Blitzkrieg. (Boy, the Mexican cops must be getting rich on the "mordida" from all the truckers required.) Also, unless the Mexican roads got any better since our source visited Chihuahua, they'd better have brought an engineering capability larger that that supporting the Normandy Invasion.
Then there's the little matter of POL for this conquering host. PEMEX would have to strip fuel from every sector of the Mexican economy to support it.
Now, having consulted our Mexican maps, we can find no "Medina," Mexico. We have guessed that someone who has trouble spelling "Iraqi" might be wrong about that too, so we looked for the name of a town that was close. We'll take a wild-assed guess and say they meant "Madera," in which case the invasion force is located roughly near some roads in southern Chihuahua marked "not recommended for travel" on the AAA map. Perhaps the supply operation is working with burros instead of Russian ZIL trucks. If so the water required to support that many burros would make this the largest naval engagement in Mexican history. . .
We were going to dissect the rest of this report, but we got to laughing so hard we p-ssed ourselves. One last guess if Madera is the jump-off for this evil invasion: the road net (Mexico map attached) indicates that the likely invasion route is aimed at El Paso up Route 45, but we think that the operation will be preceded by a lightning strike with Hind gunships at Columbus, NM. Psychologically, the chance to recreate Pancho Villa's 1916 raid will be irresistible to the Mexicans. Even so, we predict that the invasion force will run out of both gas and money to bribe the Mexican highway patrol before they reach the border. They might be able to steal the fuel, but they won't be able to get past the "mordida."
Get a life, guys.
1st Alabama Cavalry Military Intelligence Company.
During a momentary (I hope) writer's block on Absolved, I am engaged in an archaeological dig of my office. Among the layers I found the document below from a lifetime ago in the 1990's. I have recently been getting bombarded once again with all manner of "Red Dawn" type rumors that somebody heard from somebody else who heard it from Mark Koerneke on shortwave or something.
Anyway, back in the '90s one of the more useless efforts I was tasked to perform for my fellow militiafolk was rumor control. The fact that so many people take rumors like the one below seriously is a damning indictment of government schools in this country. However, without further ado, I present this classic of critical thinking as applied to short wave silliness:
RE: "Operation Firestick" Report
26 February 1996; 15:23 CST
From: Rumor Control Center
"Black Helicopters Our Specialty"
Comments Ad Seriatim From Original Report
1. "You are already aware of the 30,000-40,000 (actually 1/2) newly purchased Iraqui tanks 200 miles south of Medina, Mexico. There are now some Russian personnel there as well."
Even if the numbers are 15,000-20,000 armored vehicles ("actually 1/2") and they are counting APCs, command vehicles, bridge layers, etc., as "tanks," this means that the Iraqi Army has not only trebled in size since the Persian Gulf War (which they started with a mere 4,500 main battle tanks and 2,880 armored personnel carriers of all types) but they have somehow managed to find the sealift to transport them to Mexico secretly through the embargo (is it possible that they were smuggled out through Jordan as used Chevy Impalas?).
Now since we don't know the order of battle or TO&E of this phantom force, let us make some guesses about how many people it would take to operate and support such a force. The Iraqi Army started the Gulf War with about a million men to go with those 7,380 AFVs so does that mean that there are 2 million to 3 million Iraqi/Russian/crazed Jamaican mercenaries hiding out down there too? The Mexican tourist industry is indeed having a banner year. Unless serious food shortages have just developed in Mexico (none reported) they must be getting their goat fajitas through some sort of supply line. The usual ration of teeth to tail is about 8-10 men to support every man in the field.
Since we may assume that the entire AFV number comprises the "teeth," the Mexican roads must be choked with the supply trucks, fuel lorries, etc, in preparation for this South of the Border Blitzkrieg. (Boy, the Mexican cops must be getting rich on the "mordida" from all the truckers required.) Also, unless the Mexican roads got any better since our source visited Chihuahua, they'd better have brought an engineering capability larger that that supporting the Normandy Invasion.
Then there's the little matter of POL for this conquering host. PEMEX would have to strip fuel from every sector of the Mexican economy to support it.
Now, having consulted our Mexican maps, we can find no "Medina," Mexico. We have guessed that someone who has trouble spelling "Iraqi" might be wrong about that too, so we looked for the name of a town that was close. We'll take a wild-assed guess and say they meant "Madera," in which case the invasion force is located roughly near some roads in southern Chihuahua marked "not recommended for travel" on the AAA map. Perhaps the supply operation is working with burros instead of Russian ZIL trucks. If so the water required to support that many burros would make this the largest naval engagement in Mexican history. . .
We were going to dissect the rest of this report, but we got to laughing so hard we p-ssed ourselves. One last guess if Madera is the jump-off for this evil invasion: the road net (Mexico map attached) indicates that the likely invasion route is aimed at El Paso up Route 45, but we think that the operation will be preceded by a lightning strike with Hind gunships at Columbus, NM. Psychologically, the chance to recreate Pancho Villa's 1916 raid will be irresistible to the Mexicans. Even so, we predict that the invasion force will run out of both gas and money to bribe the Mexican highway patrol before they reach the border. They might be able to steal the fuel, but they won't be able to get past the "mordida."
Get a life, guys.
1st Alabama Cavalry Military Intelligence Company.
Harbinger?
My thanks to Billy Beck for bringing this to my attention:
http://www.improvedclinch.com/index.php/weblog/harbinger/
Harbinger?
Sometimes events occur which signal changes of major significance for society as a whole, but the events which cause the change are not recognized as such until after the fact. I am not saying that a bomb, found outside a bank in Oregon, which explodes killing a police officer signals a seismic shift in individuals’ attitudes. What I am saying is that current economic conditions, coupled with increasing government interference and meddling in not only economic markets but individual lives, is quite possibly leading to a period of violent actions against the government, and, more noteworthy, businesses and individuals which are feeding at the government’s tit at the expense of productive individuals who have no truck with the state and desire none.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h3NkOmNbgySlywqhyoTVETQY9f_wD951MCPO0
Bank blast kills police officer in Oregon
By BRAD CAIN – 9 hours ago
WOODBURN, Ore. (AP) — A bomb exploded inside a bank here late Friday afternoon, killing a police officer who arrived to check on a suspicious object and seriously injuring two others.
A spokesman for the Oregon State Police, Lt. Gregg Hastings, said a Woodburn police officer died. He did not identify him.
He also said the blast seriously injured the Woodburn police chief and a bomb technician with the Oregon State Police.
The police chief, Scott Russell, was in surgery at a Portland hospital late Friday, said a hospital spokeswoman. Hastings said Russell was in stable condition.
Bank President and CEO Bob Sznewajs told The Associated Press that some bank employees might have been injured by flying glass but that none was seriously hurt.
Before the detonation, a Wells Fargo Bank branch nearby got a call that was "a potential bomb threat" but police searched and found nothing, Sznewajs told The AP.
He said his bank then got a call "from an unknown person saying that we should look for one as well. We called authorities, but they looked and found nothing."
Sznewajs said one employee saw a device in the bushes near the bank and called the authorities. "We looked at it and evacuated the branch and sent people away," he said.
Authorities decided to move the device inside the branch, apparently scanned it, and then it went off, he said.
Sznewajs said he did not know if the bomb went off on its own or as a result of the technicians' investigation.
The Marion County Sheriff's Department said the device detonated at 5:24 p.m. The bank branch, which employs 3-5 people, normally closes at 6 p.m.
Sznewajs said he knew of no previous threats against the bank.
Late Friday night, federal agents were talking with security people at the bank about any information they may have, Sznewajs said.
Woodburn is an agricultural town south of Portland.
http://www.improvedclinch.com/index.php/weblog/harbinger/
Harbinger?
Sometimes events occur which signal changes of major significance for society as a whole, but the events which cause the change are not recognized as such until after the fact. I am not saying that a bomb, found outside a bank in Oregon, which explodes killing a police officer signals a seismic shift in individuals’ attitudes. What I am saying is that current economic conditions, coupled with increasing government interference and meddling in not only economic markets but individual lives, is quite possibly leading to a period of violent actions against the government, and, more noteworthy, businesses and individuals which are feeding at the government’s tit at the expense of productive individuals who have no truck with the state and desire none.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h3NkOmNbgySlywqhyoTVETQY9f_wD951MCPO0
Bank blast kills police officer in Oregon
By BRAD CAIN – 9 hours ago
WOODBURN, Ore. (AP) — A bomb exploded inside a bank here late Friday afternoon, killing a police officer who arrived to check on a suspicious object and seriously injuring two others.
A spokesman for the Oregon State Police, Lt. Gregg Hastings, said a Woodburn police officer died. He did not identify him.
He also said the blast seriously injured the Woodburn police chief and a bomb technician with the Oregon State Police.
The police chief, Scott Russell, was in surgery at a Portland hospital late Friday, said a hospital spokeswoman. Hastings said Russell was in stable condition.
Bank President and CEO Bob Sznewajs told The Associated Press that some bank employees might have been injured by flying glass but that none was seriously hurt.
Before the detonation, a Wells Fargo Bank branch nearby got a call that was "a potential bomb threat" but police searched and found nothing, Sznewajs told The AP.
He said his bank then got a call "from an unknown person saying that we should look for one as well. We called authorities, but they looked and found nothing."
Sznewajs said one employee saw a device in the bushes near the bank and called the authorities. "We looked at it and evacuated the branch and sent people away," he said.
Authorities decided to move the device inside the branch, apparently scanned it, and then it went off, he said.
Sznewajs said he did not know if the bomb went off on its own or as a result of the technicians' investigation.
The Marion County Sheriff's Department said the device detonated at 5:24 p.m. The bank branch, which employs 3-5 people, normally closes at 6 p.m.
Sznewajs said he knew of no previous threats against the bank.
Late Friday night, federal agents were talking with security people at the bank about any information they may have, Sznewajs said.
Woodburn is an agricultural town south of Portland.
Shoes for Industry
"Shoes for Industry!
Shoes for the Dead!
Shoes for Industry!"
"Hi, I'm Joe Beets.
What chance does that returning deceased war veteran have for a good job, more sugar and that free mule you've been dreaming of? No clue? . . Then take off your shoes FOR INDUSTRY!" -- Firesign Theatre, Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers
Folks, a H/T to Chris at Mindful Musing and Pete at WRSA for drawing my attention to this:
http://www.survivalblog.com/2008/12/sabotage_and_countersabotage_b.html
Sabotage, of course, was invented by Dutchmen as a response to Napoleonic invasion, so I have some knowledge of the subject historically. Sabot meaning shoe in French, the Dutch would take off their wooden shoes and chuck them in the windmill workings of the French quislings amongst the Nederlanders. No windmill, flooded fields, no crops. Shoes for industry. MV III
Sabotage and Counter-Sabotage, by A. Farm Graduate
The purpose of this article is to put another skill (if not a skill, perhaps a seed) in the mental toolkit of preparedness-oriented individuals. Although not an exhaustive study on clandestine operations, this article will give you a glimpse into an advantage seeking two part mindset – sabotaging the enemy’s equipment and keeping your equipment from getting sabotaged! It is assumed the condition under which this article would find use is the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI). Please don’t go do something listed in this article that you don’t have the skill or legal right to do.
You want to ensure the survival of yourself and your loved ones. I’m sure you’ve made preparations to do so, right? You have to keep your equipment preparations running to get a tactical or survival advantage from them. You must learn to see your equipment through the eyes of a saboteur. This will allow you to spot equipment vulnerabilities. Why would anyone want to sabotage your gear? They would do it for the same reasons they would threaten you in the first place. Their lack of morals, planning, and diligence, brought to the surface by a desperate situation, leads them to persecute you for gain. Your equipment stands in their way. The reason could be that they don’t want you to have anything they don’t have!
Some may consider sabotage a little too proactive – too dangerous even. We’re talking nightmarish end-of-the-world stuff here. We’re talking about using any and every tool in the box to keep our loved ones safe. Sabotage is a no-brainer if you are gutsy enough to use recon teams or actually make an armed stand. Once you get past the negative aura of the word “sabotage,” you realize it is indeed a valuable skill. Why would we ever want to sabotage someone’s equipment? It is the same reason that causes us to buy expensive battle rifles and copious quantities of ammunition – to deny the enemy the ability to take our freedom and lives. If you do not maintain or gain the tactical advantage, will not the enemy gain it? What good is a stockpile of all the latest gear or a heap of brain power and courage if you simply refuse to fully use it? Learn to see the enemy’s equipment through the eyes of a saboteur to reap huge tactical rewards. Perhaps the elimination of the enemy’s advantage will spare you from having to take his life. Sabotage can have a large psychological impact. A discovered act of sabotage lets the enemy know that they are not safe. It will throw them “off their game.”
You can hide in your retreat, counting bullets while sporting only your lucky camouflage boxers. However, you wouldn’t need that expensive battle rifle and all that ammunition if no one could ever find you. You will have a confrontation with a hostile organized group. It’s too small a world with too few morals. Ruthlessness is surely a trait that would allow said hostile group to survive in lieu of preparedness. They’ll be roving the wasteland looking for more supplies and victims. Their survival would be evidence of their pillaging proficiency. As we all learned in grade school, bad people don’t fight “fair.” There will most likely be more people in their group than in your group. As we get older, we realize that fighting “fair” really means fighting with a handicap. There must be some pseudo-religious notion in the subconscious mind of upright people that tells them anything remotely perceived as “sneaky” is wrong. When someone threatens the life of you and your loved ones, then you must do whatever it takes to protect yourselves. This is why survivalists who actually survive TEOTWAWKI will use tools like sabotage.
Types of Sabotage
The first type of sabotage is covert. That is, the target does not discover the non-working machine for some time or discovers the non-working machine but does not immediately suspect foul play. This type of sabotage requires the most skill, time, and planning. A lightly armed team of two lookouts and one technician, each fully blacked-out with NVGs and good noise discipline, could accomplish a fantastically effective covert sabotage. One person with nerves of steel, a pile of patience, and the proper motivation can work wonders too! Some of the reasons for covert sabotage are listed below.
1. Keeping the target from knowing there is a hostile force in the area.
2. Attempting to avoid retaliation from target.
3. Extra time for escape and evasion.
4. Attacking the target right before it discovers its equipment doesn’t work (surprise!).
The second type of sabotage is overt. It could be loud, fast, and ugly. It could also be just loud, just fast, or just ugly. If this type of sabotage had a mascot, it’d be a sledgehammer. Once the target gets near the machine, it’s red alert time. The target may even hear or see the sabotage happen. It doesn’t matter; you just want his machine out of the game! Overt sabotage is mostly the stuff of last ditch seat-of-the-pants defenses. Some of the reasons for overt sabotage are listed below.
1. Approaching enemy vehicles.
2. Quickly shutting down enemy communications.
3. Diversions.
Covert Vehicular Sabotage
Covert vehicular sabotage can range from slowing the target down to keeping them from moving at all. Probably the most cunning covert design is that which leaves a small team stranded some distance from base camp. The designer would have a good opportunity to ambush the stranded team. The following list is a sample of what can be done. It is mostly arranged from mild to wild. Not all items are applicable to all vehicles. Some of these items may require the use of an “improvised” car door key. Some vehicles have the hood release cable located directly behind the grille, which can be manipulated to open the hood without gaining access to the interior of the vehicle. Remember, it is assumed that the perpetrator has put some thought and planning into situations like these:
Water in the fuel tank. What is more innocuous than this?
Loosened valve stem on one of the tires - just enough so that the tire will be flat in the morning.
Replacement of a critical fuse (fuel pump, ignition) with a blown fuse of the same value.
Cut on bottom (non visible) side of main engine belt deep enough to reach the interior cords. This action removes most of the belt’s tensile strength and creates a stress riser in the belt. The result is no alternator, water pump, power steering, or AC – oh my.
Loosened or removed lower radiator hose clamp. Coolant will leak out under pressure when the engine gets warm (away from base camp that is). Loosened oil plug or filter. Oil will leak more freely once it is warm (away from base camp that is).
Loosened battery cable. This could turn into a nasty surprise if the battery is emitting hydrogen when the sparks start.
Un-plugged vacuum lines.
Modified ignition timing. Distributor equipped vehicles only.
Plastic electrical connectors un-plugged from critical sensors – just enough to break electrical contact. A look of authenticity is given when the small connector retainer arm is broken.
Switched spark plug wires that are similar in length. Not for coil-per-plug vehicles.
Bleach in the fuel tank. Once cranked, the engine will eventually sputter and stop. (Mythbusters rule!).
Examples of Overt Vehicular Sabotage Here is a partial list of the easy, ugly, quick, and dirty.
Slashed tires
Cut fuel lines
Cut transmission lines
Cut coolant hoses
Cut under-hood wires
Large holes put in the radiator or fuel tank
High-powered rifle bullets fired into the engine block or transmission of approaching enemy vehicles
Explosives wired to the ignition switch circuit
Examples of Stationary Equipment Sabotage
Cut power wires
Cut control wires
Cut antenna signal and guy wires
Loosened electrical connections – done when equipment is de-energized
Water or dirt placed in bearings
Removal of chain master link retainers – done while equipment is stopped
Protecting Your Equipment from Sabotage
We have explored some sabotage possibilities. Hopefully you will start examining your equipment for possible vulnerabilities. It is not possible to list every conceivable scenario here like a playbook, therefore, it is important you learn to use your imagination and think like a saboteur. Use the following list as a starting point:
Know your equipment
Inspect your equipment often
Don’t leave equipment where it is visible - if possible
Always lock every lock (sidearms excluded)
Mark the head of bolts and the bolted equipment with aligned paint dots for indication of tampering
Use fasteners with tamper resistant heads (High security bits are uncommon)
On vehicles, cover the lower engine compartment openings with expanded metal
Run power and communications wiring underground and have it enter a building through the floor thereby minimizing outside exposure
Run critical wires in conduit
Run “dummy” wires in plain sight while hiding the route of the actual critical wires
Install an alarm with security lights and motion detectors in critical areas
Use dogs to alert you to suspicious activity
Use sentries to watch the premises
Move the equipment to a secure shelter or build a secure shelter around the equipment
Use layered security (combination of all) for the most effective setup. - A. Farm Graduate
Shoes for the Dead!
Shoes for Industry!"
"Hi, I'm Joe Beets.
What chance does that returning deceased war veteran have for a good job, more sugar and that free mule you've been dreaming of? No clue? . . Then take off your shoes FOR INDUSTRY!" -- Firesign Theatre, Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers
Folks, a H/T to Chris at Mindful Musing and Pete at WRSA for drawing my attention to this:
http://www.survivalblog.com/2008/12/sabotage_and_countersabotage_b.html
Sabotage, of course, was invented by Dutchmen as a response to Napoleonic invasion, so I have some knowledge of the subject historically. Sabot meaning shoe in French, the Dutch would take off their wooden shoes and chuck them in the windmill workings of the French quislings amongst the Nederlanders. No windmill, flooded fields, no crops. Shoes for industry. MV III
Sabotage and Counter-Sabotage, by A. Farm Graduate
The purpose of this article is to put another skill (if not a skill, perhaps a seed) in the mental toolkit of preparedness-oriented individuals. Although not an exhaustive study on clandestine operations, this article will give you a glimpse into an advantage seeking two part mindset – sabotaging the enemy’s equipment and keeping your equipment from getting sabotaged! It is assumed the condition under which this article would find use is the end of the world as we know it (TEOTWAWKI). Please don’t go do something listed in this article that you don’t have the skill or legal right to do.
You want to ensure the survival of yourself and your loved ones. I’m sure you’ve made preparations to do so, right? You have to keep your equipment preparations running to get a tactical or survival advantage from them. You must learn to see your equipment through the eyes of a saboteur. This will allow you to spot equipment vulnerabilities. Why would anyone want to sabotage your gear? They would do it for the same reasons they would threaten you in the first place. Their lack of morals, planning, and diligence, brought to the surface by a desperate situation, leads them to persecute you for gain. Your equipment stands in their way. The reason could be that they don’t want you to have anything they don’t have!
Some may consider sabotage a little too proactive – too dangerous even. We’re talking nightmarish end-of-the-world stuff here. We’re talking about using any and every tool in the box to keep our loved ones safe. Sabotage is a no-brainer if you are gutsy enough to use recon teams or actually make an armed stand. Once you get past the negative aura of the word “sabotage,” you realize it is indeed a valuable skill. Why would we ever want to sabotage someone’s equipment? It is the same reason that causes us to buy expensive battle rifles and copious quantities of ammunition – to deny the enemy the ability to take our freedom and lives. If you do not maintain or gain the tactical advantage, will not the enemy gain it? What good is a stockpile of all the latest gear or a heap of brain power and courage if you simply refuse to fully use it? Learn to see the enemy’s equipment through the eyes of a saboteur to reap huge tactical rewards. Perhaps the elimination of the enemy’s advantage will spare you from having to take his life. Sabotage can have a large psychological impact. A discovered act of sabotage lets the enemy know that they are not safe. It will throw them “off their game.”
You can hide in your retreat, counting bullets while sporting only your lucky camouflage boxers. However, you wouldn’t need that expensive battle rifle and all that ammunition if no one could ever find you. You will have a confrontation with a hostile organized group. It’s too small a world with too few morals. Ruthlessness is surely a trait that would allow said hostile group to survive in lieu of preparedness. They’ll be roving the wasteland looking for more supplies and victims. Their survival would be evidence of their pillaging proficiency. As we all learned in grade school, bad people don’t fight “fair.” There will most likely be more people in their group than in your group. As we get older, we realize that fighting “fair” really means fighting with a handicap. There must be some pseudo-religious notion in the subconscious mind of upright people that tells them anything remotely perceived as “sneaky” is wrong. When someone threatens the life of you and your loved ones, then you must do whatever it takes to protect yourselves. This is why survivalists who actually survive TEOTWAWKI will use tools like sabotage.
Types of Sabotage
The first type of sabotage is covert. That is, the target does not discover the non-working machine for some time or discovers the non-working machine but does not immediately suspect foul play. This type of sabotage requires the most skill, time, and planning. A lightly armed team of two lookouts and one technician, each fully blacked-out with NVGs and good noise discipline, could accomplish a fantastically effective covert sabotage. One person with nerves of steel, a pile of patience, and the proper motivation can work wonders too! Some of the reasons for covert sabotage are listed below.
1. Keeping the target from knowing there is a hostile force in the area.
2. Attempting to avoid retaliation from target.
3. Extra time for escape and evasion.
4. Attacking the target right before it discovers its equipment doesn’t work (surprise!).
The second type of sabotage is overt. It could be loud, fast, and ugly. It could also be just loud, just fast, or just ugly. If this type of sabotage had a mascot, it’d be a sledgehammer. Once the target gets near the machine, it’s red alert time. The target may even hear or see the sabotage happen. It doesn’t matter; you just want his machine out of the game! Overt sabotage is mostly the stuff of last ditch seat-of-the-pants defenses. Some of the reasons for overt sabotage are listed below.
1. Approaching enemy vehicles.
2. Quickly shutting down enemy communications.
3. Diversions.
Covert Vehicular Sabotage
Covert vehicular sabotage can range from slowing the target down to keeping them from moving at all. Probably the most cunning covert design is that which leaves a small team stranded some distance from base camp. The designer would have a good opportunity to ambush the stranded team. The following list is a sample of what can be done. It is mostly arranged from mild to wild. Not all items are applicable to all vehicles. Some of these items may require the use of an “improvised” car door key. Some vehicles have the hood release cable located directly behind the grille, which can be manipulated to open the hood without gaining access to the interior of the vehicle. Remember, it is assumed that the perpetrator has put some thought and planning into situations like these:
Water in the fuel tank. What is more innocuous than this?
Loosened valve stem on one of the tires - just enough so that the tire will be flat in the morning.
Replacement of a critical fuse (fuel pump, ignition) with a blown fuse of the same value.
Cut on bottom (non visible) side of main engine belt deep enough to reach the interior cords. This action removes most of the belt’s tensile strength and creates a stress riser in the belt. The result is no alternator, water pump, power steering, or AC – oh my.
Loosened or removed lower radiator hose clamp. Coolant will leak out under pressure when the engine gets warm (away from base camp that is). Loosened oil plug or filter. Oil will leak more freely once it is warm (away from base camp that is).
Loosened battery cable. This could turn into a nasty surprise if the battery is emitting hydrogen when the sparks start.
Un-plugged vacuum lines.
Modified ignition timing. Distributor equipped vehicles only.
Plastic electrical connectors un-plugged from critical sensors – just enough to break electrical contact. A look of authenticity is given when the small connector retainer arm is broken.
Switched spark plug wires that are similar in length. Not for coil-per-plug vehicles.
Bleach in the fuel tank. Once cranked, the engine will eventually sputter and stop. (Mythbusters rule!).
Examples of Overt Vehicular Sabotage Here is a partial list of the easy, ugly, quick, and dirty.
Slashed tires
Cut fuel lines
Cut transmission lines
Cut coolant hoses
Cut under-hood wires
Large holes put in the radiator or fuel tank
High-powered rifle bullets fired into the engine block or transmission of approaching enemy vehicles
Explosives wired to the ignition switch circuit
Examples of Stationary Equipment Sabotage
Cut power wires
Cut control wires
Cut antenna signal and guy wires
Loosened electrical connections – done when equipment is de-energized
Water or dirt placed in bearings
Removal of chain master link retainers – done while equipment is stopped
Protecting Your Equipment from Sabotage
We have explored some sabotage possibilities. Hopefully you will start examining your equipment for possible vulnerabilities. It is not possible to list every conceivable scenario here like a playbook, therefore, it is important you learn to use your imagination and think like a saboteur. Use the following list as a starting point:
Know your equipment
Inspect your equipment often
Don’t leave equipment where it is visible - if possible
Always lock every lock (sidearms excluded)
Mark the head of bolts and the bolted equipment with aligned paint dots for indication of tampering
Use fasteners with tamper resistant heads (High security bits are uncommon)
On vehicles, cover the lower engine compartment openings with expanded metal
Run power and communications wiring underground and have it enter a building through the floor thereby minimizing outside exposure
Run critical wires in conduit
Run “dummy” wires in plain sight while hiding the route of the actual critical wires
Install an alarm with security lights and motion detectors in critical areas
Use dogs to alert you to suspicious activity
Use sentries to watch the premises
Move the equipment to a secure shelter or build a secure shelter around the equipment
Use layered security (combination of all) for the most effective setup. - A. Farm Graduate
Friday, December 12, 2008
JPFO's latest video: "2A for the USA"
Folks,
I have been remiss in not drawing your attention previously to JPFO's latest video, "2A for the USA". Go to Pete's Western Rifle Shooters Association and read his comments, then follow the link to JPFO and watch the video. It is a great one for educating the Johnny and Jill come-latelys.
http://westernrifleshooters.blogspot.com/2008/12/jpfos-latest-video.html
I have been remiss in not drawing your attention previously to JPFO's latest video, "2A for the USA". Go to Pete's Western Rifle Shooters Association and read his comments, then follow the link to JPFO and watch the video. It is a great one for educating the Johnny and Jill come-latelys.
http://westernrifleshooters.blogspot.com/2008/12/jpfos-latest-video.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)