Organic Prepper: Yes, There IS a Domestic Threat in America. It’s Our Own Government

Daisy Luther at The Organic Prepper talks about the disturbing things being said in the halls of government in Yes, There IS a Domestic Threat in America. It’s Our Own Government

The federal government loves labeling folks who think differently from them as domestic terrorists. We’ve seen it multiple times over the years and this name-calling has picked up recently.

The flames are being fanned.

There was Joe Biden’s speech casting Trump supporters as villains.  The attacks on dissent are nearly constant. Celebrities are being praised on outlets beloved by millions of young people for walking away from their own families over politics.

Everything is meant to be divisive, to cause even more internal strife in America before the midterm elections by painting approximately half of the country as the enemy. No longer are differing opinions a constitutionally protected right – they’re practically criminal and seen as a reason for hatred.

And now, there’s a vile comparison to 9/11.

Regardless of what you believe happened on September 11th, I think we can all agree that it wasn’t a bunch of Trump voters hijacking planes.

More recently, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner, compared those who participated in the events on January 6th to the people responsible for the devastating attacks on September 11th.

On Face the Nation, Warner said:

“I remember, as most Americans do, where they were on 9/11. I was in the middle of a political campaign and suddenly, the differences with my opponent seem very small in comparison and our country came together. And in many ways, we defeated the terrorists because of the resilience of the American public because of our intelligence community, and we are safer, better prepared…

…The stunning thing to me is here we are 20 years later, and the attack on the symbol of our democracy was not coming from terrorists, but it came from literally insurgents attacking the Capitol on January 6th.”

This is deliberately orchestrated to make coming together as a nation impossible.

So who is the real threat?

Who’s actually the threat right now? Is it your neighbor with the lawn sign for an opposing candidate, out there watering her roses in the late summer drought? Is it your obnoxious uncle who makes every family get-together unpleasant by voicing opinions you’d rather not hear?

Or is it someone else? Here’s what Tulsi Gabbard had to say about it.

I think Gabbard is right. The biggest threat to our country right now is the politicians and public figures telling us how much we should hate and fear each other. In this article, Selco talks about being bombarded with fear and hate right before the Balkan War. Are we being any less manipulated by our own media today?

We need to stand up and refuse to be manipulated like this. We need to find common ground with our fellow Americans again, because divided like this, we’re sure to fall.

But what do you think?

Who are the people actually causing our country to stagger under the weight of hatred? Why can’t we all just agree to disagree like we used to? What would it take for us to unite again as a nation?

WPC: Normal Governance to Return to Washington on October 31

The Washington Policy Center reports on Governor Inslee’s announcement that he is ending 900 days of his COVID emergency order.

Governor Inslee announced today that he will finally end governing under an emergency order, after more than 900 days, on October 31. When the legislature next convenes it should ensure that this type of ongoing emergency governance without affirmative legislative approval never happens again. Whether or not you agree or disagree with every decision the Governor has made for the last 900-plus days, the fact remains these decisions with vast impact on individuals and businesses were made behind closed doors in the executive branch.

It is true that in an emergency, governors need broad powers to act fast. Legislative bodies inevitably take longer to assemble and act than a single executive, so they temporarily delegate their power to the executive in emergencies. But these powers are supposed to be transferred for a limited period of time with meaningful legislative oversight of the decisions made.

Earlier this summer, Court of Appeals Judge Bernard Veljacic (appointed by Governor Inslee) wrote this dissent in a case concerning emergency powers:

“Even so, I am not convinced that the legislature, in making the grant of authority, anticipated such a broad and lengthy imposition of emergency health measures when it first enacted chapter 43.06 RCW. It is true that our Supreme Court has recognized that the broad grant of authority ‘evidence[s] a clear intent by the legislature to delegate requisite police power to the governor in times of emergency.’ But this begs the question: ‘for how long’?

Certainly, while initial executive response to emergencies should be robust and unhindered by the burden of administrative or legislative oversight, this should not be the case over a longer period of time. Of course, in the early days of an emergency, Washingtonians would suffer if required to wait on the executive to set a legislative session, assemble the necessary quorum, and oversee a vote on a course of action. But at some point, over the long term, an emergency grows less emergent. After all, time allows for the opportunity to reflect. That same opportunity should include legislative review.

In all instances, we must be careful with such broad grants of authority. We would do well to employ a healthy skepticism of such authority upon objective consideration of who might possibly wield it at some point, or what they might deem an emergency.”

Long-lasting emergency orders should receive the input and affirmative approval of lawmakers following a public process, allowing the perfection of policies through a collaborative weighing of all the options, alternatives and tradeoffs. This is precisely why the people’s legislative branch of government exists – to deliberate and provide guidance to the executive branch on what policies should be in place and how to implement them.

There is a very simple fix the legislature should make next session to restore balance to the state’s emergency powers framework. Harmonizing the existing law so that both waiving of statute and restrictive proclamations expire after 30 days unless the legislature votes to continue should not be controversial. There is no logical reason to treat those emergency actions by the Governor differently.

Requiring affirmative legislative approval after a set point in time removes not a single tool from the Governor’s toolbox. All existing authority remains, the only change is that the closed-door policymaking is required to be justified to the people’s legislative branch of government to continue a policy (i.e., the separations of power and checks and balances envisioned and promised under our republican form of government).

The Governor should not fear being required to make the case to lawmakers why a particular emergency restriction is appropriate to continue, and the legislature should not hide from its constitutional responsibility to debate and adopt policy. At some point the executive branch should be required to receive permission from the legislative branch to continue making far-reaching policies under an emergency order.

Our system of governance is not meant to be the arbitrary rule of one behind closed doors. Judge Veljacic is correct that ‘we must be careful with such broad grants of authority.’ An emergency order should never last more than 900 days unless it has received affirmative authorization for continuation by the legislative branch of government. The legislature must still act to restore the balance of powers for future use of emergency orders.Sign up for the WPC Newsletter

QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo, Sept. 17-18, 2022

The QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo returns to the internet for the fifth time on the weekend of September 17-18, 2022.

There will be:

  • 50+ amateur radio presentations on a wide variety of subjects. Check out the full list at Presentations and download times now to your calendar to plan a full weekend and optimize your time at the Expo.
  • For the first time, anyone can share their latest ham radio project, technology, operating mode, DXpedition, or history in our new Project Gallery. Just submit your presentation article, video, or slideshow at Project Gallery Submission.
  • Meet with ARRL representatives and other exhibitors in state-of-the-art video lounges. Visit the ARRL booth to meet over Live video with ARRL staff to get answers to your specific questions answered. Other exhibitors will answer product questions, provide technical training, etc.

Tickets are only $10 and grant full access to the Expo weekend, presentations, Project Gallery, and Exhibitor video lounges as well as the 30-day post-Expo on-demand period where all presentations and resources are available. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.qsotodayhamexpo.com.

AmRRON: T-REX 2022, Sept. 9-11

From AmRRON

The timeline is set, the inject traffic and initiating stations are in place, and hundreds of operators are making final preparations of their gear.

As in years past, this year’s scenario-based nationwide exercise is based on a cyber attack.  But there will be more!

For most participants, this makes the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, or more T-REX exercises they’ve participated in.  Each time, more is learned, tested, and previous experience applied.  We all grow and become better radio operators for it.  But we take it for granted that this might be the first time for many of the new members who have joined AmRRON over the past year or more.  Apologies!  We will help prepare the newer folks much farther in advance in the future, as we’ve done in the past.

WHAT IS T-REX?

It is a three-day (actually, 48 hours) scenario-based disaster preparedness exercise, from Friday, September 9th, through Sunday at Noon, Pacific time, September 11th (non-stop).   All participants cuts commercial power, internet, cell phone, satellite, and any other conventional communications methods and simulates a nationwide grid-down emergency.

TIME:  Beginning Friday at Noon Pacific time (1pm Mountain; 2pm Central; 3pm Eastern; 1900 Zulu).

It is an opportunity for you as an individual, or family, or preparedness group, church disaster relief ministry, militia, or organization to practice implementing your worst-case emergency preparedness plan.  Cook with your off-grid equipment, power your batteries with your solar panels, test out alternative lighting, play a board game with your family by lantern and no electronics, practice your bugout plan, etc.

But most importantly, it’s an opportunity for you to practice using your emergency communications skills and equipment.  Make mistakes, learn shortcomings, capabilities and limitations, and identify where you need to make improvements (and you will, each time you do an exercise).  Take it seriously, but have fun!

WHAT WILL ACTUALLY HAPPEN DURING THE EXERCISE?

Initially, each SIGCEN (Signals Center) and NCS (Net Control Station) will produce and send an Initial Event Summary.  In a real-world event, radio operators will be taking to the airwaves to find out exactly what has happened, and how widespread are the effects.  They will inherently be looking to Net Control Stations for answers and guidance.  The Initial Event Summary is a tool we use to convey what we know at the moment, at the onset of an event, as well as guidance and instructions such as reminders of when the next scheduled net is to take place, and what frequency and mode, etc.

Also, this year there are 38 pieces of preloaded radio traffic (we call ‘injects’) which was developed and distributed to over twenty volunteer Initiating Stations across the country.  Nine of  those are welfare traffic requests, such as someone requesting a check on a loved one in another state, for example.

Each Inject that was issued included a set of instructions for each Initiating Station, including when to ‘inject’ their radio traffic into the scenario.  This helps enhance the timeline and the scenario with realistic messages, reports, and developments which might occur in logical fashion in a real-world emergency.  Net Control Stations will direct traffic to help keep the nets running smoothly, and will facilitate getting radio traffic to their destinations.  Tuning in to the nets will help you gain an understanding of the size, scope, and impact of the disaster.

Each piece of traffic is assigned a three-digit training exercise control number, or Traffic ID number.  And each Inject Station is assigned a two-digit Station ID number.  This helps us track official exercise traffic so we can understand the effectiveness of the nets, identify shortcomings, and track the successful delivery of the traffic.

Some traffic is for wide distribution, for everyone’s situational awareness.  Some wide distribution traffic pertains to specific communities, or regions, and is not intended for all nationwide participants.  For example, a church setting up a soup kitchen at the American Baptist Church on 123 Merry Lane, Smallville, USA,  would only pertain to the people in that community.  It wouldn’t pertain to someone a thousand miles, and five states away.  On the other hand, foreign military forces landing on the shores of the east coast, the west coast, and crossing the Mexican border would pertain to everyone on the North American continent — when wide distribution means WIDE distribution.

The SIGCENs (Signals Centers) on the east and west coasts will be compiling reports as they are receiving them from NCSs, and others, and compiling consolidated SITREPs (Situation Reports), or Intelligence Briefs, etc.  Those are generally for wide distribution intended for all parties with the ability to receive radio signals.

Keep notes for ideas on how to improve your personal situation.  As you receive information over the air, and you learn of some of the events taking place, use the opportunity to discuss with your family or group, ‘what would we do, or how would we respond, if this were real’?

YOU GET TO TRANSMIT.  One of the first things an NCS is going to try to do is take a ‘pulse check’ to find out who is out there on the air, who else is affected, in what ways, how far reaching the effects are, and what does he not yet know, but should.  We use the STATREP (Status Report) as a tool to provide a formatted method for each radio operator to report the status at their location.  As each station reports his/her Status Report, others will be able to see those reports as well.  The NCS will use the information from these STATREPs to update his Initial Event Summary to fill in any gaps on what he didn’t know beforehand.

Be prepared to submit your STATREP if you are properly licensed to transmit on the Amateur Radio bands.  This pertains to both HF and local VHF/UHF frequencies.  USE THE ABBREVIATED STATREP.  AmRRON operators will find guidance on how to format their STATREPs on Page 37 of the AmRRON Signals Operating Instructions, Section 6.3.1 — the ‘Abbreviated STATREP‘.

YOU ARE GRID DOWN DURING T-REX, and your STATREP should reflect that.   Your STATREP should indicate that, at minimum, you are without commercial power and all conventional communications (phone/internet).

This can be done over voice (aka. phone) or using ham digital modes, such as JS8Call, FSQCall, or fldigi modes such as Contestia 4-250.  Follow the instructions of NCS.  For most AmRRON operators, this is a walk in the park.  We practice this regularly.

What is different about T-REX nets versus regularly-scheduled practice nets?

TRAFFIC.  Ensuring important traffic (especially Priority or Immediate/Emergency traffic) gets passed.  This is the primary difference.

In a real-world emergency, unless there is not business (traffic) to attend to, taking check-ins for the sake of filling a list of callsigns is the lowest priority. Generally, AmRRON nets become ‘Traffic Nets’ for the purpose of moving important, time sensitive, or lifesaving information.

Net Control will likely announce himself, including his name and location, and then announce any traffic he has for the net, including the precedence level of the traffic.  Then:

A.  He will (should) ask for another station to act as an Assitant NCS (ANCS).  The ANCS helps relay traffic to others which may not have a good path to Net Control, and he can step up to take over the net if something happens to NCS (like, if NCS vanishes — it happens — computers crash, generators run out of fuel, dogs chase the neighbor cat, etc.).

B.  First, he will ask if there is any Immediate (or Emergency) traffic for the net.   He may take the traffic directly, if appropriate, or he may facilitate getting the Priority traffic relayed on to its destination.

C.  Then he will send any traffic he has for the net, beginning with Priority traffic.

D.  If a station announces he has directed traffic, NCS will then try to identify a station at, or close to, the destination.  For example.  If NCS is in Missouri and a Station from Texas calls announcing he has traffic that needs to go to Montana, NCS will tell him to stand by and ask if there are any Montana station on frequency.  If nothing heard, he may ask for stations in states surrounding Montana to check in who can relay the traffic.  An Idaho station responds, offering to take the traffic, and who will work with others in the region to get the traffic to its destination.  NCS will then direct the Texas and Idaho stations to move up, or down, three to six kilohertz and exchange traffic.  if they do not have a direct path to each other, then the ANCS can move with them, and relay the traffic between them, clearing the main net frequency as soon as possible.  ANCS will return to the net frequency as soon as the relay is finished.   If there are no stations at or near the destination, the NCS can take the traffic and pass it along using other means after the net closes.

E.  Other NCSs from adjacent regions should announce themselves on a net, so the primary NCS knows they are there, and can relay net traffic to them which is intended for their region.

To help keep the scheduled nets from becoming congested, any stations with directed traffic should try to use the Persistent Presence Net to find other stations who might be able to relay the traffic toward its destination.  All stations should keep a log of who you sent traffic to, and who you received traffic from.  If it gets lost or disappears during the exercise, this will help in tracking it down and learning what happened to it, and why, so we can remedy any shortfalls.

However, since many stations have limited alternate power (perhaps a single RV battery and a small solar panel), it may not be viable for them to be on the air continually.  This is why we have regularly scheduled nets listed in the SOI, creating a time window when as many stations as possible can meet on the air to exchange traffic.  Scheduled nets is also when wide distribution traffic from AmRRON will be sent.

IF YOU HAVE  NO HF CAPABILITIES:

This is a shortcoming you MUST overcome.  Get a shortwave radio receiver with SSB capability, or an SDR dongle, if nothing else.  You must have the ability to receive information from outside your immediate area if repeaters are rendered inoperable.  You must be able to inform your community if there is a radiation cloud, lava, zombies, langoliers, or foreign military convoys bearing down on you from the next state over.

IF YOU HAVE A LOCAL VHF/UHF, GMRS, CH3 COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK BUT NO INJECT TRAFFIC:

Develop your own ‘micro scenarios’ which fit your community, but which go along with the larger nationwide scenario.  You’re already a leader, so organizing some training scenarios which provide opportunities to use your communications networks should be right down your alley!

AmRRON is a patriot-oriented network, not an anti-government network.  So, do not create micro scenarios which project an adversarial relationship between your local group and government officials or political groups.

But share your small group training experiences as well.  What worked, what didn’t, overall impressions and experiences, and areas you’ve identified as needing improvement, and solutions to address the shortcomings revealed during the exercise.

Keep a list of the traffic you receive over the course of the exercise!  There will be a survey that will be used to create several after action reports (something we did not get to complete last year).

September Meeting Cancelled but GMRS Operational

There will be no September meeting.

Thanks to the generous financial support of the people, the GMRS repeater is operational. It covers from Benton City to Selah. By mid-month, our correspondence chair hopes to have it linked with the UVA repeater in Selah.  Frequency info: 462.575MHz, PL 69.3, Offset: +5.00MHz. GMRS Ch. 16. Repeater is referred to as “Dry Grass.”

A GMRS license can be obtained from the FCC for $35 and lasts for 10 years before it needs to be renewed. The license covers the entire immediate family which is defined as licensee, spouse of licensee, children, grandchildren, stepchildren, parents, grandparents, stepparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and in-laws of the licensee. The following link has steps for obtaining a GMRS license. https://quality2wayradios.com/store/gmrs-fcc-license

American Thinker: Biden’s Hateful Rhetoric Against Americans Presents Sterling Opportunity

The Democratic party has been engaging for many years now in a purge of conservatives in the media, the military, and in academia. Last week President Biden, in a surreal speech, expanded the purge to the citizenry who dare to have opposing viewpoints, especially calling out Republicans who want to make America great again claiming that they are an extremist threat to the foundations of the republic. In this article from American Thinker, the author says it is an opportunity for conservative voices.

Whenever political leaders lose all political capital due to their misgovernance and have no real issues to base their campaign on, they often resort to focusing on the symbolic — usually referring to “the soul of the nation.”

This happened before in the U.S., it happened in India, it happened in the U.K. and it happened again in the U.S.

This is most typical of the left.

Instead of being humble and conceding their mistakes, they attack voters for thinking of voting against them while overlooking the myriad catastrophes they presided over.

They often blame their opponents for what they are guilty of — bigotry, violence — and then end with the “soul” plea.

Biden delivered his “soul” speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the birthplace of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

The manner of delivery was unhinged; he frequently waved his fists aggressively.  His voice was hoarse, perhaps owing to recent bouts with COVID-19, giving the speech a scornful tone. 

Biden spoke flanked by uniformed Marines, while his backdrop was bathed in blood-red hues making it look ominously like a hellscape.


Twitter video screen grab.

His speech was a sequel to his recent addresses, where he claimed that he doesn’t respect MAGA Republicans and that MAGA philosophy is like “semi-fascism.”

Biden called for Americans to “unite behind the single purpose of defending our democracy regardless of your ideology.”

But Biden added a caveat that this doesn’t apply to “MAGA forces” — i.e., all those scores of millions who voted for and intend to vote for MAGA candidates.

Biden said that “too much of what’s happening in our country today isn’t normal.”

Biden is right here, but the blame for this lies on him.

Never before have government institutions been hijacked and misused to target political opponents.

Never before has a virus been misused to impose lockdowns that infringe on the right to freedom of movement and the right to earn a living.

Never before have vaccines been mandated, causing people to be fired from their jobs or suffer from health issues.

Never before has the U.S. government demonized its own citizens, calling them domestic terrorists.

Never before has the U.S. government set up a “Disinformation Governance Board” that sits in judgment of the utterances of citizens.

Never before has the U.S. been subjected to prolonged disinformation campaigns, the Russian collusion hoax, the Ukraine call hoax, and now the insurrection hoax.

Never before has the U.S. had a president whose cognitive abilities are so impaired that he struggles to read off a teleprompter and causes citizens to wonder who is in charge.

Biden continues by claiming that the Republican Party is “dominated, driven, intimidated by Donald Trump” and his supporters, calling it “a threat to this country” because “they refuse to accept the results of a free election.”

Perhaps Biden forgot the Russian collusion hoax concocted by the Democrats that baselessly attempted to delegitimize the results of the 2016 presidential election.  It was the Democrats who refused to accept the results of a free election.

Perhaps Biden forgot that big media and Big Tech suppressed the Hunter Biden laptop scandal prior to the 2020 election.  A recent poll shows that nearly four of five Americans believe that “truthful” coverage would have changed the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Perhaps Biden forgot about Mark Zuckerberg spending $419 million to infiltrate sacrosanct electoral infrastructure of the 2020 elections and push for mail-in voting.

Perhaps Biden forgot that 69% of voters nationwide cast their ballot non-traditionally — i.e., by mail and/or before Election Day for the 2020 election.  Mail votes are highly vulnerable to fraud.

Biden also alleged that the “MAGA forces” are aligned with white supremacists, violent extremists, and other undesirables.

Perhaps Biden forgot violent Democrat extremists threatening Supreme Court justices and vandalizing Catholic churches, pregnancy centers, and the offices of pro-life groups.  There was an assassination plot against Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Biden also accused “MAGA Republicans” of seeing a country consumed in “darkness.”

Perhaps Biden forgot that his misgovernance is the sole cause of darkness.

The open borders have caused an influx of illegal aliens, some of whom are violent criminals.  More than 4.9 million illegal migrants have crossed the southern border. 

The smuggling of illicit drugs across the border is a regular occurrence.  There were an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States during the 12-month period ending in April 2021, an increase of 28.5% during the same period the year before.

Inflation is at a very high 8.5 percent, causing the price of essential items to skyrocket.  The price of fuels continues to be high.

The crime wave is ravaging the nation, and Democrat judges refuse to prosecute misdemeanors such as drug possession, driving offenses, disturbing the peace, shoplifting, larceny, domestic violence, etc.

None of the Biden-backed initiatives such as the Inflation Reduction Act or the infrastructure bill or his climate initiative or pardoning student loans will reduce people’s suffering.  In fact, wasteful spending will make inflation worse. 

Biden’s “gun safety” red flag laws allow instant confiscation of guns on mere suspicion.  This endangers lives, especially considering the crime wave.

Thus, not only has Biden taken the nation into darkness, but his misgovernance will blacken the darkness even further.

Biden perfunctorily claimed that “not every Republican, not even a majority of Republicans, are MAGA Republicans; not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology.”

If that were indeed the case, and the MAGA movement were just a small minority, why did Biden base his entire speech on an insignificant minority?

This was an attempt to distinguish between the Good Republicans (Lincoln Project, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, and company) versus the Bad Republicans (Trump and the MAGA GOP).  The truth is the “Good Republicans” are useful idiots, who will instantly become bad if they dare to run against Democrats.

Most Americans disapprove of Biden; that number is likely to rise after his hateful rhetoric.

The purpose of the address was to demonize, dehumanize, and otherize Donald Trump and his supporters, which would justify any kind of persecution by government agencies.

This also creates grounds for the Democrats to reject the outcome of the midterms should the GOP, particularly the MAGA GOP, win by a landslide.  They could claim to stand against fascist forces.  The Democrats have broken every immutable norm in recent times; they already attempted to overthrow the 2016 election; they could very well do this for the midterms.

But there is a silver lining.

Despite claims that the speech would be apolitical, Biden delivered a campaign speech.  However, it wasn’t for the Democrats.  It was instead for the Republicans and Donald Trump.

Even personnel from Democrats’ mouthpieces such as CNN and the Daily Beast weren’t impressed…(continues)

Radio Contra Ep. 179 and 180 – Political Warfare and Coming Troubles

Episode 179. Mike Belcher on Conservative Political Warfare. I’m joined by Mike Belcher, candidate for New Hampshire State House, to talk political warfare for conservatives. Coming into a adulthood raised in a far Left household and himself a former Leftist Environmental activist, he describes the exact steps the Left in America is taking, how he became a Conservative and a Christian, and how to beat the Marxist ideology at its own game.

Radio Contra Ep. 179 Mike Belcher on Conservative Political Warfare

Episode 180. The Coming American Troubles with Chris Weatherman. I’m joined by Chris Weatherman, author of the best selling Going Home series, to talk the coming troubles in America and the incitement of leftist political violence as a result of last night’s speech from President Biden.

Radio Contra Ep. 180 The Coming American Troubles with Chris Weatherman

ZeroHedge: Twitter, Facebook Regularly Coordinated With Biden Admin To Censor Users

Here’s another shot in the argument about whether censorship by private companies is or should be illegal/unConstitutional. It’s well accepted that the First Amendment right to free speech only applies against the government. But when the government is directing or influencing the decisions of the private company…then what? Here’s ZeroHedge, talking about how Twitter, Facebook Regularly Coordinated With Biden Admin To Censor Users.

Newly released internal emails from Facebook and Twitter show an extensive effort to coordinate with the Biden administration to censor users, according to a Thursday release of information by GOP Attorneys General Eric Schmitt of Missouri and Jeff Landry of Louisiana.

Throughout the emails, officials within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Health and Human Services (HHS) emailed Facebook and Twitter employees with instructions on flagging instances of alleged misinformation, and guided them with talking points to counter allegedly false narratives on the platforms. 

In one instance, a CDC official asked Facebook for monthly meetings to plan “debunking” strategies, while in another case a White House official requested the removal of an Anthony Fauci parody account.

“We have already received a number of documents that clearly prove that the federal government has an incestuous relationship with social media companies and clearly coordinate to censor freedom of speech, but we’re not done,” said Schmitt in a joint statement. ” The Department of Justice is cowering behind executive privilege and has refused to turn over communications between the highest-ranking Biden Administration officials and social media companies. That’s why, yesterday, we asked the Court to compel the Department of Justice to produce those records. We’re just getting started – stay tuned.”

More via AG Schmitt’s Thursday release:

The communications already provided by the Department of Justice to the plaintiff states show, as the joint statement points out, a vast “Censorship Enterprise” across a multitude of federal agencies. In response to Missouri and Louisiana’s interrogatories, defendants identified 45 federal officials at DHS, CISA, the CDC, NIAID, and the Office of the Surgeon General (all of which are contained in either DHS or HHS) that communicate with social media platforms about “misinformation” and censorship. The joint statement points out, “But in those responses, Defendants did not provide information about any federal officials at other federal agencies of whom they are aware who engage in such communications with social-media platforms about misinformation and censorship, though Plaintiffs had specifically asked for this highly relevant information. Defendants’ document production, however, reveals that such officials at other federal agencies exist—for example, their emails include extensive copying of officials at the Census Bureau, and they also include communications involving the Departments of Treasury and State.”

Beyond the Department of Justice’s production, “Meta, for example, has disclosed that at least 32 federal officials—including senior officials at the FDA, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, and the White House—have communicated with Meta about content moderation on its platforms, many of whom were not disclosed in response to Plaintiffs’ interrogatories to Defendants. YouTube disclosed eleven federal officials engaged in such communications, including officials at the Census Bureau and the White House, many of whom were also not disclosed by Defendants.”

 
The joint statement continues, “The discovery provided so far demonstrates that this Censorship Enterprise is extremely broad, including officials in the White House, HHS, DHS, CISA, the CDC, NIAID, and the Office of the Surgeon General; and evidently other agencies as well, such as the Census Bureau, the FDA, the FBI, the State Department, the Treasury Department, and the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. And it rises to the highest levels of the U.S. Government, including numerous White House officials. Defendants have objected to producing some of the most relevant and probative information in their possession.”

This “Censorship Enterprise” is proven by the Department of Justice’s productions thus far, but the full extent of federal officials’ collusion with social media companies on censorship is unknown until the Department of Justice produces further communications requested by Missouri and Louisiana.

A senior Facebook official sent an email to the Surgeon General stating, “I know our teams met today to better understand the scope of what the White House expects from us on misinformation going forward.” This email chain follows the SG’s “misinformation health advisory” in July 2021: https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/free-speech-pitch-thread-docs/hhs-fb-email-1.pdf?sfvrsn=53bc4454_2

The same senior official sent a later email to HHS and noted, “Thanks again for taking the time to meet earlier today.” Then, the official continued to discuss how Facebook is taking even more steps to censor freedom of speech: https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/free-speech-pitch-thread-docs/hhs-fb-exhibit.pdf?sfvrsn=55bd83df_2

Twitter scheduled a meeting to debrief top White House officials on “vaccine misinformation.”: https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/free-speech-pitch-thread-docs/twitter-vaccine-meeting-wh.pdf?sfvrsn=6599e359_2b 

 
There are several instances where Facebook wouldn’t proceed with censoring freedom of speech on their platform until they had input, or a “debunking” from the CDC. Twitter followed the same course in at least one email.

The CDC also proposed a monthly pre-debunking meeting with Facebook to help them censor free speech (https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/free-speech-pitch-thread-docs/cdc-fb-monthly-debunk.pdf?sfvrsn=3508a21f_2) as well as regular “Be on the Lookout” calls with major social media outlets: https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/free-speech-pitch-thread-docs/cdc-bolo-meeting.pdf?sfvrsn=9a060658_2

A White House official was even concerned about parody Fauci accounts and coordinated with FB to take them down: https://ago.mo.gov/docs/default-source/press-releases/free-speech-pitch-thread-docs/fake-fauci.pdf?sfvrsn=a9d8f2bf_2

Doom and Bloom: Burns

The Altons at Doom and Bloom Medical have a couple of articles on burns. The first is on First and Second Degree Burns, while the third covers Third Degree Burns. Here’s an excerpt from the first of the articles, as always, more pictures in the original article:

A wide variety of situations, both in normal times and disaster settings, put us in proximity with high levels of heat. If we’re knocked off the grid, it won’t be unusual to cook food over a fire of our own making, something very few do on a regular basis. As such, the survival medic will often be faced with burn injuries. Having the materials and knowledge to treat burns will be absolutely necessary in times of trouble.

Burns can be caused by contact with sources other than flames, including:

•             Scalds due to contact with hot water or steam.

•             Contact with electricity associated with lightning or another source.

•             Friction burns due to contact with hard surfaces such as roads (“road rash”), carpets, or hard flooring.

•             Skin exposure to extreme cold and winds. Yes, extreme cold can cause burns.

•             Chemical spills.

•             Radiation due to contact with energy emitted by x-rays and other medical testing or treatment, “dirty bombs,” or thermonuclear explosions.

In general, the different types of burns are treated similarly, although some burns, like those caused by electricity or radiation, may cause internal damage without destroying the skin. Inhalation of superheated air may cause damage to lung tissue. Off the grid, the lack of advanced care will make these cases a challenge for the medic.

The severity of a burn injury and resulting chance of death or disability depends, in part, on the percentage of the total body surface involved, as measured by the “rule of nines.”

Assessing the percentage of body surface area burned is standard practice and helpful in modern medicine. It may, however, have less practical benefit in austere settings where transport isn’t an option. In any case, knowing the “rule of nines” may give the medic an idea of the chances of recovery for a burn victim.

Burns to the face, feet, hands, genitals, and lungs are considered the most problematic. Burns that go completely around a body part, say, an arm, cause constriction that may affect circulation. Areas with a lot of scar tissue may have limited mobility.

BURN DEGREES

Besides total surface area involved, an important factor is the amount of penetration of the burn. This is usually measured in degrees.

First-Degree Burns

Most burns you’ll see will be due to excessive exposure to the sun. A majority of cases will be “first-degree burns.” In first-degree burns, the patient may be red as a lobster, but only the superficial layer of the skin (the “epidermis”) is injured.

A first-degree burn will appear red, warm, and dry. It will be painful to the touch, especially when large areas of skin are involved. Fortunately, major complications are rare unless other symptoms such as nausea and vomiting appear. Treatment is simply focused on relieving discomfort.

Immersion in a cool bath will be helpful; at the very least, run cool water over the injury. A cool moist cloth on the burn for 20 minutes will give some relief. So will anti-inflammatory medicines such as Ibuprofen. Aloe vera, zinc oxide, and benzocaine sprays are effective alternatives. Expect the discomfort to improve after 24 hours. Until then, avoid constrictive, tight clothing and wear light fabrics, such as cotton.

Prevention, of course, is worth a pound of cure. To avoid this type of sunburn:

•             Don’t “sunbathe” (a tan is not healthy).

•             Avoid the peak sun hours for the time of year and latitude.

•             Wear long pants and sleeves, hats, and sunglasses.

•             Spend time in the shade whenever possible.

If extended exposure to sunlight is unavoidable, be certain to use a sunblock. Apply 15 minutes prior to going outside and re-apply frequently throughout the day. Even water-resistant sunscreens should be reapplied every one to two hours. Most people fail to put enough on, so be sure to use plenty.

As an aside, sunblock and sunscreen are not the same thing. Sunblocks contain tiny particles that “block” and reflect UV light. A sunscreen contains substances that absorb UV light, thus preventing it from penetrating the skin below. Many commercial products contain both. Sunblocks and sunscreens should be an integral part of your medical storage.

The SPF (Sun Protection Factor) rating system was developed in 1962 to measure the capacity of a product to protect against UV radiation. It measures the length of exposure to the sun before you burn. A SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 15 is recommended. It takes about 20 minutes without sunscreen for your skin to start turning red. SPF 15 blocks 94 percent of the sun’s rays, SPF 30 blocks 97 percent, and SPF 45 98 percent. The higher the number, the longer it takes for the skin to burn.

Although the increase in protection may seem small, higher SPF numbers are especially beneficial to those with fair skin. They offer better protection against long-term skin damage leading to cancer.

Besides the sun, first-degree injuries will most likely be related to cooking or campfires. Using hand protection will prevent many of these burns, as will careful supervision of children near campfires and food preparation areas.

Second-Degree Burns

Second-degree burns are deeper injuries that penetrate through the superficial epidermis and partially through the deeper layer of the skin (the “dermis”). Thus, they’re often called “partial thickness burns.” While first-degree burns may cover a large percentage of surface area without becoming life-threatening (but are painful), a relatively small percentage of the body covered with significant second-degree burns may require serious medical intervention.

Unlike first-degree burns, which appear dry, second-degree burns will be moist and often have blisters with reddened bases. The area will have a tendency to weep clear or whitish fluid. Second degree burns will cause swelling as well, so it’s important to remove rings and bracelets.

To treat second degrees burns:

Remove the victim from the heat source immediately. Run cool water over the injury for 10-15 minutes (avoid ice, which will traumatize already-damaged skin). After washing and running water over the wound, pat the area dry. The next step is to apply moist skin dressings such as Xeroform, Spenco Second Skin or non-stick dressings (Telfa pads) with thin layers of products like aloe vera or Aquaphor. Be sure to replace regularly and review the progress of healing. Other actions should include:

•             Removing jewelry like rings and bracelets (swelling may cause painful constriction).

•             Elevating burned extremities.

•             Applying cool compresses.

•             Giving oral pain relief such as Ibuprofen (Advil).

•             Applying anesthetic creams such as benzocaine or lidocaine.

•             Avoidance of “peeling” burned skin, which sometimes comes off in sheets.

•             Protecting adjacent burned fingers and toes with a dry barrier in-between.

•             Encouraging hydration.

•             Using a “tenting” method to keep sheets above extensive burns.

We’re often asked whether to pop blisters associated with second-degree burns. It’s wisest to avoid the lancing of blisters, if possible, unless they’re infected and filled with pus. Some very large blisters will, however, break with the slightest pressure and may benefit from controlled drainage. If this is the case, use a sterilized needle or scalpel blade to pierce the side of the blister near the base. The roof of the blister is often retained to provide additional protection to the healing base.

It’s important to avoid the use of lard or butter on burns: They tend to keep in heat and may worsen the injury. Egg whites and toothpaste, long considered to be home remedies, may increase the risk of infection. It’s better to use sterile saline solutions to keep the burn area and (non-stick) dressing moist, especially in severe burns.

In part 2 of this series, we’ll discuss third-degree burns. Is there anything the survival medic can do if confronted with this life-threatening issue?

Pat Buchanan: Winners and Losers from the Ukraine War

Author and former senior Presidential advisor Pat Buchanan writes a column about Winners and Losers From the Ukraine War.


If Russia has been badly bled and Ukraine has suffered irretrievable losses of land and soldiers, who then are the winners? And who benefits from a continuation of this war, which will bring thousands more dead and wounded Russians and Ukrainians?

“There never was a good war or a bad peace,” wrote Ben Franklin at the end of the American Revolution.

But that depends on the war-makers and the causes for which they fight.

Six months into the war in Ukraine, launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 24, when he could not get the U.S. or Kyiv to rule out admission of Ukraine to a NATO alliance aimed against Russia, who appear to be the winners and who the losers?

While Russia has made gains in the east of Ukraine, the Donbas and in the South adjacent to Crimea, captured Mariupol, and turned the Sea of Azov into a Russian lake, its losses have been massive.

The invading Russian army of February was stopped in its tracks outside Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv. That army failed to capture Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, close to the Russian border. It failed to capture Odessa, the third largest city and Ukraine’s major port on the Black Sea.

According to Western sources, Russia has suffered 75,000 to 80,000 casualties and is desperately recruiting, even in prisons, to find troops to replace the dead and wounded lost in Ukraine.

Putin wants to expand his army by an additional 137,000 troops.

The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, the cruiser Moskva, has been sunk. A thousand tanks and armored personnel carriers have been destroyed.

The reputation of the Russian army as a near-invincible force in any land war in Europe has been shattered.

Politically, Russia has isolated itself from much of Europe, been hit with severe sanctions and watched as Europe and NATO unite against it.

Sweden and Finland have abandoned their historic neutrality to become the 31st and 32nd members of NATO.

Is Ukraine then the winner of this war?

After all, the war that the Ukraine of Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fought against a larger Russia for its freedom, independence and territorial integrity has won the admiration of much of the world.

Yet, in two clashes with Russia, in 2014 and 2022, Ukraine has lost 20% of its territory in its east and south, and Kyiv is not going to retrieve these lost lands before winter comes.

But if Russia has been badly bled and Ukraine has suffered irretrievable losses of land and soldiers, who then are the winners?

And who benefits from a continuation of this war, which will bring thousands more dead and wounded Russians and Ukrainians?

America?

Is this new Cold War II with Russia, into which we appear to have plunged, in the national interest of a United States that so welcomed the peaceful end of the old Cold War three decades ago?

Of what benefit to the U.S. is the sending of troops to the Baltic republics? Are we stronger, safer, more secure, now that we have committed to fight Russia to defend the 830-mile Finnish-Russian border, something no Cold Warrior of an earlier era would have dreamt of doing?

Are we better off because all the nations of the Warsaw Pact and three republics of the old USSR are now NATO allies for whose independence we are committed to fight Russia?

Is the revival of the Sino-Soviet pact, aimed at the West in the 1950s and now aimed at NATO and our Asian allies, something we should welcome? Have not our own post-Cold War policies contributed mightily to reviving the old Cold War Russia-China alliance against us?

Where President Richard Nixon appeared to split Mao’s China from Russia, this generation of American leaders appears to have restored that hostile duopoly.

Putin was a Russian KGB agent during the Cold War. Now every member state of the former Warsaw Pact and three constituent republics of the USSR of that era are NATO allies of the United States.

This is the new Cold War. Is Putin alone responsible for igniting it?

Perhaps highest among our goals in the first Cold War with Russia was the avoidance of a hot war that could escalate to a nuclear war and destroy both nations.

Now that we are again in a hostile state of relations with Moscow as we were then, how can this be the result of a successful foreign policy?

In the first Cold War, Eastern Europe and the Baltic States were accepted as satellites of the Soviet Union. Communism had been imposed upon them all after World War II.

But that was not a cause for military conflict between us.

When we brought virtually all of Eastern Europe into NATO, we were the ones, not Putin, who made their independence of Moscow and alliance with the West a matter for which we committed ourselves to go to war.

As Russians and Ukrainians kill one another in the Donbas, and hatred of Russians for Americans grows, how is that good for the USA?

Perhaps we ought to invest as much time and energy trying to end this war as we do to defeat and humiliate Russia, which will not bring us peace.

The Captain’s Journal: National Borders and the Bible

The following post comes from The Captain’s Journal, wherein he discusses an article of the same name over on The Postmillenial Worldview.

Replace “Biden Maladministration” with Washington DC since Reagan first gave amnesty, and you’re set. The author, bless his heart*, is still living in the fog of delusion about the Republicans. He’ll learn, after decades of betrayal, they all do. That’s another topic.

“The collapsing border disaster under the Biden Maladministration is a live topic of international consequence today. Many well meaning Christians believe it is wrong to keep refugees out on a temporary basis because they believe borders are man-made constructs lacking biblical warrant. Besides the contradiction obvious in their having homes with walls and locked doors, their argument does not hold.

“Established borders are biblically warranted as we see in two clear scriptural examples. Though other arguments are available, these are quite potent.“

In building a case for national borders, Dr. Gentry starts in Genesis and then briefly discusses the Law and historical books primarily.

Any discussion of the necessity of national borders must start with a REAL definition of Nation, which comes from the word natal, meaning: of the same womb/lineage. A proper definition includes a common language, customs, and, most importantly, common religion.

Briefly, distinct religions won’t coexist. They can’t. The Bible clarifies that conversion is necessary for an immigrating person to be accepted into a nation. This is actual assimilation. It’s even true for Christians today. To be a citizen of the Kingdom of God, you must first be converted by God, accepting Christ under the power of the Holy Spirit, or you are a trespasser in the kingdom of heaven; woe to you, for except you be born again, damnable is your end indeed (Matthew 18:3, John 3:3, others).

Not mentioned in the article is the fact that the Hebrews were a religious, ethnic, and linguistically unique people. And in the few instances where they weren’t, again, adherence to the religious Law (conversion) was required. A country is simply some distinct region or a land area.

Chapters 9-11 of Genesis detail the creation of Nations. In a longer form post, we could include the post-flood covenant through to the Tower of Babel. The covenant with every living creature and the rights of men are discussed here.

The author does an excellent job of taking complicated topics and making them accessible to the average Christian, and he keeps posts to a digestible size, something most appreciate. That’s probably one reason he doesn’t tackle the abovementioned points while offering only two clear instances from Scripture.

*This is a southernism. Sometimes it’s not, but we’re using it only as tongue in cheek. We deeply respect Dr. Gentry’s work.

Out Front: The Importance of Community Building

Here is Mike Shelby/Sam Culper of Forward Observer and Grey Zone Activity taking briefly about the importance of community building. At the beginning of this clip, he’s finishing up talking about the chances of upheaval around the 2024 elections. He answers the question about community/mutual assistance groups around the two minute mark.

Wyoming Survival: Uniden BCD436HP Is Number 1

Wyoming Survival has an article up about the Uniden BCD436HP scanner. This is a scanner that we’ve recommended ourselves in our post about Suggested Radio Equipment for Community Safety. This is a pretty feature rich scanner, which can make it somewhat intimidating for users new to scanning. Luckily, it’s pretty much ready to go out of the box, and fairly user friendly to get started with basic scanning in your area. We’ll just add a note here about programming software for this scanner. Uniden has their own Sentinel software for this device, but we’ve been using BuTel’s ARC536PRO software, which seems to have more to it.

Uniden BCD436HP Scanner

Anyone who has been following me for awhile knows I’ve been testing the Uniden BCD436HP VS. The Whistler TRX-1. I’ve written multiple posts about them and how good the decode DMR, how quickly they pick up signals, and what not. Today while messing around I stumbled on a feature of the Uniden that puts in the top spot for you digital scanner and SIGINT tool.

I have been having a bunch of discussions on Instagram about the use of scanners other than listening to local LEOs. I was making multiple short videos about what they were asking. I was discussing about using 2 scanners scanning different bands searching for the Baofeng Brothers. In the video I was using the Whistler TRX-1 on UHF and the Uniden BCD436HP on VHF. To do this on the Uniden you have to use the Discovery mode. You set your limits. I set mine to 136 MHZ to 179 MHZ which is what the Baofeng UV-5R will cover. So when the Uniden captures a frequency in Discovery mode it logs it so you can go back and see what frequency it was that it got a hit. What I didn’t know was it also records the audio of that hit!! This is HUGE!!

So let’s say you are in your Listening Post and you are getting your instant coffee ready. While you are pouring the sugar the scanner picks up part of a PSK31 transmission. You spill your hot ass coffee in your lap trying to get to the scanner to at least catch the frequency it was on but you’re unable to because your crotch is burning from the hot coffee you spilt all over yourself. Yeah with the Uniden BCD436HP you don’t have to worry about that since it logged the frequency AND recorded what audio it picked up.

I don’t know what else to say. It decodes DMR, logs the frequency, AND records the audio for you to review later. Its hard to ask for much more in a SIGINT tool

Tucker Carlson: Carjacking is sign that your civilization is falling apart

Tucker Carlson recently talked about how carjacking (also known as highway robbery in older times) is a clear sign of civilization failing as lawlessness prevents free travel.

Turns out the symptoms of societal decay are universal. They’re not unique to a specific society. You recognize them in any country at any time, now or a thousand years ago, always the same. The men become weak. The leaders get decadent. Law enforcement gets politicized. The currency gets devalued and then things begin to come apart.  

Pretty soon, it doesn’t take long, the society can no longer perform its most basic function. The reason we have societies in the first place, which is to protect the weak from the strong. That’s where you have a society. Well, in places like this, it becomes, among many other things, very hard to travel anywhere. You just can’t go where you want to go. With legitimate authority in retreat, roads are not controlled by the police. They’re controlled by armed predators and the armed predators take exactly what they want from travelers because they can.  

This is an ancient problem. It used to be called highway robbery, and for most of history, it kept people very close to home. Turns out it still exists, but now it’s called carjacking. Carjacking is the clearest possible sign that your civilization is falling apart and that’s why you find it in places like Somalia and South Africa, places where force, violence and clan loyalty have replaced law and order, places where might makes right. In the city of Johannesburg, for example, a vehicle is hijacked on average once every hour of the day. Now, once that happens, there’s really no coming back from it. Nobody’s going to build anything in the city with endemic carjacking. 

In fact, most normal people will leave as fast as they can, as they have in Johannesburg, as they are starting to do, we are sad to tell you, in the city of New Orleans, where carjacking is now a permanent feature of life. Last summer, a law student called Madison Bergeron pulled into the driveway of her home in New Orleans. As she gathered belongings in the car, a young man appeared out of nowhere, stuck a gun in her face, and demanded that she hand over everything she had, including the car. He screamed at her. Terrified, she complied, and that’s what carjacking is always like. It is an act of violence. 

People don’t want to give up their cars. They have to be terrified into doing so. That’s why the majority of victims are women, old women, young women, and that’s why the people who do it will do anything. If you will carjack, if you will steal someone’s car at gunpoint, you will also rape. You will also murder. You have no limits. You are willing to violate on the most basic level, the civil rights of another person and in this case, that was certainly true because that same perpetrator went on, after terrifying Madison Bergeron and stealing her car, to do the same to other women in the city, a lot of them.  

“There was a car blocking me in,” one victim recalled. “And next thing I turn around, there’s yelling and there’s a gun barrel in my face. The kid is yelling to get the F out of the car, get the F out of the car,’ or else he will shoot me.” In all, the carjacker would terrorize five women and steal five cars in just two days before New Orleans police finally arrested him and it’s amazing that they did because there are virtually no police left in New Orleans.  

In a city that probably needs about 2,000 cops, they’re under 500 active-duty policemen left in New Orleans. In New Orleans, they have definitely defunded the police. But in this case, the carjacker, a young teenager was ultimately caught, tried, convicted and sentenced for his crimes. Now, these crimes got a lot of attention in New Orleans. 

So, the mayor of the city, Latoya Cantrell, showed up to the sentencing, but here’s the twist in the story. Mayor Cantrell didn’t show up to support the victims, the women who’d been terrorized by this predator. No, the mayor showed up to support the carjacker and to let the entire city know that she was doing it, to let everyone know whose side she was on. Watch.  

REPORTER VOICEOVER: The mayor showed up in court as a character witness for a 14-year-old offender during sentencing. The teen robbed three women in separate incidents with a fake gun, stealing their cars and belongings. The victims told Fox 8 they were traumatized by what happened and then they felt victimized all over again when the mayor showed up in support of the young criminal. 

WOMAN VICTIM: I was in shock she wasn’t there for us. She was there for the assailant and his mother and it felt like she was supporting the crime.  

REPORTER VOICEOVER: Juvenile Judge Darensburg sentenced the juvenile to a three-year suspended sentence, meaning no jail time. 

It felt like she was supporting the crime, said the victim. Well, yes, it did, because that’s exactly what the mayor was doing. Cantrell was taking the side of the carjacker over the traumatized, law-abiding woman. Now in New Orleans, Cantrell is known by her nickname Teedy, but many people call her exactly what she is: “Latoya the destroya.” She is, in fact, a destroyer. The mayor is incompetent. Mayor is an open race hater. 

The mayor is an encourager of violence and she is destroying an already wounded city. We reached out to Mayor Cantrell’s office to ask why she is doing all of this. Why did she pressure a judge to release a convicted armed carjacker with no prison time? But of course, she didn’t reply to us. It turns out the mayor of New Orleans had a connection to this carjacker. Cantrell had enrolled this person in one of her administration’s welfare programs called “Pathways Youth Internship Program.” Using taxpayer money, the program says it provides young people who commit crimes with a reward, paid internships and a stipend.  

We contacted the Pathways program this morning. We want to know how many people enrolled in that program go on to commit violent crime within five years. We also asked how much taxpayer money they spent, but of course they didn’t answer. But we don’t need an answer. We know exactly what this is. Pathways, like most social justice scams, is not, in fact, designed to reduce crime. It’s about siding with the criminal, giving the criminals as much support as they need, even a courtroom visit from the mayor, if necessary, so they can go out and commit more crimes as soon as possible. So, why would you do something like this if you were the mayor of a city of New Orleans? Why would you force people to leave your city, the people who pay all the taxes of all colors, by the way? Why would you do that?  

Well, possibly because the people who are left tend to be the ones who vote for you. So, it is a kind of electoral strategy. It’s not just happening in New Orleans. It’s happening in a lot of places. The downside is it leads to carnage. There have already been 191 carjackings in the city of New Orleans this year alone. To all of last year, they were a total of 177. Now, most of these carjackings and this is true in a lot of other places, Washington, D.C., we think, most of these are committed by people under the age of 18…(article continues)

S2 Underground: Intro to Sigint

S2 Underground has a new video providing an introduction to signals intelligence, that is intelligence derived from electronic signals and systems, such as communications systems, radars, and weapons systems. If you’re interested in the topic, Brushbeater has a signals intelligence course, though the last one for 2022 was a week ago.

00:00 – Introduction and History

03:48 – Flight Tracking Apps

06:13 – ADS-B Receivers

07:39 – Software Defined Radios

11:01 – Scanners

15:43 – HackRF Devices

17:35 – Recap

17:58 – Your Own Communications

19:39 – Feasible and Realistic

25:25 – Have a Goal

26:24 – Shelter

29:30 – Automation

30:18 – Integration

31:27 – Closing Thoughts