Way to go, Barak. The continued arming of America.

More women, suburbanites carrying guns

The United State of America

Washington is expanding its power by turning state governments into instruments of federal policy.

Herschel Smith on The Foolishness Of Militia At The Border

Mike is a nice guy, but I’m not. If you are the one wearing paint or doohickey’s around your face, I don’t really care what you think about me or what I’m writing. But just to pull these threads a little more, those who rushed to the border to stop this catastrophe use your eyes, but you don’t see. You listen, but you don’t hear. You cannot discern the signs of the times because you think you control too much and trust yourself and your power more than you should.

Logistics: Using Water As A Weapon Of War

But up until that point the article is worth heeding in its warnings. For those of us who believe that the current system and infrastructure cannot and will not continue due to the ideological and moral rot at its core, there are a number of object lessons. First of all, without logistics – and this includes ordnance, food, ammunition, water, clothing, hygiene products – an army cannot even survive, much less be effective and succeed. But this goes for men and their families too.

See also, from today's headlines: Islamic State grabs Iraqi dam and oilfield in victory over Kurds

Islamic State fighters seized control of Iraq's biggest dam, an oilfield and three more towns on Sunday after inflicting their first major defeat on Kurdish forces since sweeping across much of northern Iraq in June.

Capture of the electricity-generating Mosul Dam, after an offensive of barely 24 hours, could give the Sunni militants the ability to flood major Iraqi cities or withhold water from farms, raising the stakes in their bid to topple Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government.

"The terrorist gangs of the Islamic State have taken control of Mosul Dam after the withdrawal of Kurdish forces without a fight," said Iraqi state television.

But a Kurdish official in Washington told Reuters the dam was still under the control of Kurdish "peshmerga" troops, although

he said towns around the dam had fallen to Islamic State forces.

D’Souza talks ‘America,' Palmer talks D.C. gun case on Armed American Radio

If anything, those attack pieces serve to bolster the thesis of the film, that there are two different visions of what America has been, is and should be about, with detractors relying heavily on one of the main subjects of the documentary, hard-left "community organizer" Saul Alinsky, particularly through their obvious and heavy-handed employment of his Rule Five “ridicule” tactic specified in “Rules for Radicals.”

Obama's Inexplicable Love for the Dark Side

Historically, the most destructive leaders are malignant narcissists with a sociopathic streak, superficially charming and impressive, but manipulative, heartless, and intent on constantly smearing their perceived enemies.

Praxis: The new tracers

Army’s new high-tech ammo could help hide U.S. soldiers in combat

Ask yourself: Why is this guy doing this? And why is he doing this NOW?

Obama readies executive action on immigration

President Obama is preparing to announce new measures that would potentially allow millions of illegal immigrants to remain in the United States without fear of deportation, a politically explosive decision that could jolt Washington just weeks before the midterm elections, according to people who have been in touch with the White House.

With a little more accent on the "alcohol."

ATF agent arrested for driving while intoxicated

Why the Security of USB Is Fundamentally Broken

Computer users pass around USB sticks like silicon business cards. Although we know they often carry malware infections, we depend on antivirus scans and the occasional reformatting to keep our thumbdrives from becoming the carrier for the next digital epidemic. But the security problems with USB devices run deeper than you think: Their risk isn’t just in what they carry, it’s built into the core of how they work.

Praxis: Free State Road Maps

A very useful site for smugglers.

Got Ammo?

“A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition.” ― Rudyard Kipling.

Guns Save Lives brought up a very good point Wednesday, noting that the next logical target of Obama Administration sanctions on Russia for the ongoing war in Ukraine is Russian ammunition. An importation ban could halt the importation of Barnual, the various “Bear” brands, Herter’s, Tula, Wolf, and other Russian-made ammunition virtually overnight.

Yeah. I seem to recall somebody saying that around here five months ago: Why even the most isolationist and unconcerned Fudd should care about the Ukraine -- Poof! There goes the Russian ammo supply.

Owens continues:

Our advice would be for shooters to estimate their projected ammunition usage in each caliber they own over the next year, and then see if they have enough cartridges in their inventory for each caliber. You do know how much ammunition you have, right?

Sounds like a silly question but it isn't. I often ask the same question of newbies and get blank stares. And those who do know how many rounds they have generally have little idea how many rounds get expended in modern combat. A hunter looks at three boxes of .30-06 silver-tips and figures he's good for a couple of years. An infantryman, even a designated marksman who doesn't spray and pray, looks at 60 rounds as enough for the next half-hour -- if the enemy doesn't push real hard.

Do yourself a favor and pull an inventory of everything you've got ammo-wise. Inspect it. Look at it critically. Is it good enough for plinking but you wouldn't want to bet your life on it? Then segregate it and count it differently. How is it packaged? Long term storage in tuna cans? Okay, but do you have enough to reload quickly when the rounds are flying both ways? That is, how much of it is in stripper clips and bandoleers?

Ask these questions now and you won't be terminally embarrassed later.

Sorry for the hiatus, but I had a less-than-optimal afternoon yesterday.

Around 2 PM, I tripped walking back from the mailbox and did a face-plant in my "yard" (I put that in parentheses because this is Pinson where the soil is so rocky that you have to blast before you roto-till). Gashed the bridge of my nose on the rocks, bent my glasses into spaghetti and, worst, smashed my left elbow. Lacking the co-pay, I deferred going to the ER, hoping that it would feel better this morning. It doesn't so Rosey has persuaded me to at least go to a doc-in-the-box (where the co-pay is a mere $35) to have it x-rayed later this morning. Oi-FRIGGING-veh, as Sergeant Levinson used to say. (It came out as one expressive word when he said it.) Posting with one good hand is a pain but I will do what I can with what I've got.

Gun owners should take White House up on invitation to write Obama

“Share your story with the White House,” the email invites, “and if you want to write the President a note, you can do that right here.” Well, why not? This is still America, as much as Obama's trying to fundamentally transform the place, and as long as you steer clear of anything the Secret Service might not find humor or understanding in, you’re still free to tell the guy what you think of him, or to ask him a question, or to urge him to... well, use your best judgment there.

Obama team closed ranks to bury facts about 'Fast and Furious' gun-walking operation

To followers of politics, the settlement is still further evidence of what is by now obvious - that Burke and others in the Phoenix office were sacrificed by their superiors in Washington, D.C., as scapegoats in a politically charged murder case, the first great Obama administration scandal.

More "Three Percenters" on the border. "Dangerous foolish children playing dangerous foolish games."

The LA Times now reports breathlessly in a belated and under-researched article: Militias patrolling Texas border draw scrutiny, concern.

The article refers to this: Photos Emerge Of 10 "Active Militia Teams" Securing The US-Mexico Border.

A few days ago I forwarded the above Zero Hedge article with photos to my friend Bob Wright. Bob, you may recall, is a guy who has been a leader in the constitutional militia movement for 20 years and and was operations officer for the Minutemen in 2005-2006. A resident of Lea County NM, Bob is intimately aware of the situation on the border. Bob reacted:

"Just the fact that these pictures were made and posted clearly displays the childish nature of those in the photos. They are dangerous assholes who will do nothing to secure the border and everything to help the invaders' cause while damaging our own. They are not Three Percenters in any way. They are dangerous foolish children playing dangerous foolish games."

This was one of the photos he was talking about:

If anonymity is required, then a balaclava is sufficient to the need, I would think. Painting oneself up as the boogeyman is certainly foolish and childish. It is also stupid from a purely optical point of view. It is eerily reminiscent of this image:

Helping the enemy make his propaganda points is the personification of "dangerous foolish children playing dangerous foolish games." On Tuesday I received this email from Maxwell Barna of VICE News, which read in part:

We've picked up on a story on a heightened presence at U.S.-Mexico borders between Texas and California, and we've heard that The Three Percenters are one of the militia groups associated with the current drive. I was hoping you might be able to give me a call to answer a few questions about the three percenters, the ideology behind it, your views on immigration reforms, and what you plan to do at the borders.

I'm not mounting a bull shit smear campaign against you and your organization -- I'm just trying to play a straight hand and tell this story for what it is. Any help you could give me would greatly be appreciated. As I am on a strict deadline for this story, a call at your earliest convenience would be greatly appreciated.

I responded to his email as follows:

The Three Percent movement is just that. It is a movement, an idea, it is not an organization or a militia, although there are obviously militia groups that embrace the philosophy. See "A Brief Three Percent Catechism -- A discipline not for the faint-hearted."

Responding to his line asking "what you plan to do at the borders," I wrote:

What I plan to do at the border is, at present, nothing. Indeed, the folks who are playing silly but dangerous games on the border represent a tiny fraction of the movement. See "Proposed cluster coitus on the border" and this from 7 July, "So-called 'Three Percenters' on the Border. 'This video is no longer available because the uploader has closed their YouTube account.'"

I added:

There are many folks who embrace the name of Three Percenters. Fewer of that number seem to have internalized what actually being a "three percenter" means. As I said, it is not an organization, it is a movement, so I cannot expel such folks, nor drum them out, nor court martial them from an organization that does not exist. I can counsel them on their philosophic error but have no way of making them listen. It seems that I have been successful at weaponizing an idea, but I have discovered that it is almost impossible to keep some folks from misunderstanding it.

Barna responded:

So, what you're saying is that the Three Percenter militia groups on the border are not at all affiliated with you, personally. And that this is a movement -- perhaps an ideology -- and not a single organization?

To which I replied, "Yes." He then asked:

Also, how then, do YOU feel, about the heightened presence of militias and other volunteers at the border? I understand that you feel that many of them misunderstand the message you've been trying to send, but could you perhaps highlight to me some of the ways in which your philosophy and rhetoric has been misinterpreted?

I responded:

Obviously you haven't had time to read the linked posts, so let me excerpt this from my first reaction:

"Is the proposed COA (course of action) consistent with the principles and mission statement of the organization or movement mission statement and principles? What is accomplished by a picket line of armed volunteers threatening to shoot unarmed, half-starved and thirsty children? I agree that the invasion is devilish in its conception, carried out by collectivists who could give a shit less about how many kids die along the way, but will the proposed COA do ANYTHING about it other than to help make the other side's propaganda points?. . . As for my advice to Three Percenters, based on what I know now, stay as far away from this incipient exercise in cluster coitus as you can."

Mr. Barna has not, to my knowledge, done anything with that interview nor with another that he had with Bob Wright.

If I may repeat my position. I do not view the "operations" along the border to date as anything but ill-thought, ill-considered, ill-planned and self-defeating. There was an interesting meeting held in Texas recently between a retired general officer of the US Army, a former commander of the Texas National Guard, and members of responsible Texas militia units, including Three Percenters and Oath Keepers. This meeting showed some promise of working out an operations plan that made sense to deal with the border crisis that proposed to integrate the armed citizenry with established Texas state defense forces. To date I have heard of no significant follow-up. When someone comes up with a sensible plan and COA I will support it. In the meantime, the threats of state and federal tyranny in Nevada, Colorado, New York and especially Connecticut are absorbing my entire attention. It is in one of those arenas that the immediate future will be determined, for good or ill.

And if I cannot convince you that the border situation is not the immediate threat that you have to worry about -- if you think I am, as some have called me, a "traitor" because I refuse to endorse a precipitate rush to the border -- then, okay, fine. But please, do us all a favor and lose the boogeyman face paint. Because Bob is correct, you do look like "dangerous foolish children playing dangerous foolish games."

We didn't spy on you, as far as you know. Well, maybe a little but there won't be anything you can do to us that we don't want done.

Inquiry by C.I.A. Affirms It Spied on Senate Panel

Another headache for Eric Holder. If there's no tapes, what is the FBI so afraid of in the Trentadue case that they're threatening witnesses?

Lawyer says FBI threatened witness in OKC bombing records trial

Attorney Jesse Trentadue said the Salt Lake City-based FBI agent had contacted John Matthews, who he described as a former undercover operative for the government, and suggested that it would be “best for everyone if [Matthews] didn’t show up to testify.”

The agent also suggested that Matthews take a vacation and said that if he did testify, “he should have a case of the ‘I-don’t-remembers,’ ” Trentadue told U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups.

See also: Waddoups ordered the federal attorneys to look into it. On Thursday, Department of Justice attorney Kathryn Wyer said the FBI in Utah told her that Matthews reached out to the agency to ask how he could get out of testifying. Wyer called Trentadue's version of events "another wild theory" that is inaccurate. But Waddoups said the allegation merits more attention, and he set a court date of Aug. 25 for the agent to testify. "We can't just leave this where it is," Waddoups said. "It's too serious of an allegation. We need to get to the bottom of this."

“You can’t actually have everyone in the world hate you.” (But Cuomo tries real hard.)

Cuomo's M.O. haunting him now

Sharyl Attkisson on the Fast & Furious document order.

Although this is certainly an unpleasant development for Eric Holder, her description is a little more tempered and fact-based than the earlier Judicial Watch triumphalism.