July 24, 2017 -- A Quick Run Around the Web

"The Squatter Man (Squatting Man) Petroglyphs" The first two images in the top left corner represent how a certain pinched type of high-energy plasma discharge would appear to a viewer; the other images show examples of petroglyphs from around the globe apparently showing the same phenomena. For more information, see Peratt, Anthony L., "Characteristics for the Occurrence of a High-Current Z-Pinch Aurora as Recorded in Antiquity," IEEE Transactions On Plasma Science, Vol. 31, No. 6 (Dec. 2003) (large PDF). According to Peratt, these plasma discharges would occur from a current that would only be produced "if the solar flux from the Sun were to increase one or two magnitudes or if another source of plasma were to enter the solar system." (Peratt at 1210) (underline added). It offers a different possible interpretation of what John saw in Revelation 10:1-3.

• The wages of sin socialism: "‘They All Deserve to Die’: Caracas Militants Vow to Take Up Arms"--Bloomberg. Some Venezuelan protesters are preparing to take up arms against police and military troops. From the article:

       The security forces they’re up against, the riot-helmeted troops shooting tear-gas canisters and water cannon and bullets? “They all deserve to die,” one of the bomb makers said flatly, dripping petrol into a jar.

       The call to arms coming from some in the resistance may be the initial stirrings of the kind of urban guerrilla movement the country hasn’t seen in half a century. It’s too early to tell if they’ll actually follow through on their threats, but the bold talk is a troubling sign for mainstream opposition leaders who have issued instructions -- pleas, recently -- for peaceful rallies and marches. Those calls increasingly fall on deaf ears. Masked activists hurl their homemade bombs, rocks, jars filled with feces, anything they can get their hands on. They’ve stormed office buildings, shattered store windows and blocked roads.

       “We do not know exactly how to control them, and we are scared that they can get out of hand and damage our fight,” said National Assembly Deputy Angel Alvarado, a longtime foe of Maduro and his predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chavez. “These radical boys are a danger.”

         A young man on a street corner in Caracas, his face covered by a white bandanna, dismissed that as the obsolete opinion of the old guard. His view? “We are tired of being killed,” he said as crowds surged around him, agitators suited up in hardhats and bicycle helmets and swimming goggles and gas masks, some carrying shields made of old skateboards as protection.

• "K-increasing – Firearms Carry More Prevalent"--Anonymous Conservative. He notes a survey by John Lott showing that the number of people possessing concealed carry permits increased by 256% during Obama's presidency, even though real crime rates were decreasing. He attributes this to a sense that the current state of affairs--e.g., the economy, government bloat and entitlements, and immigration--cannot long continue.
• "The Shura"--Brushbeater. Shura is an Afghan term referring to the consensus reached by a gathering of leaders within a Tribe or group. "The agreement reached provides the community’s consent to action, recognizing the authority of the community and accepting the burden of consequence." Also, the author warns, unless you have been active in community meetings now--at church, the local city council meetings or school board meetings--and earned respect, you and your advice will be ignored post-SHTF.

This doesn’t mean don’t work to bring as much to the table as possible, it doesn’t mean you’re free to become a burden on everyone else, and no, it doesn’t mean don’t go out and practice with your weapons and tactics- exactly the opposite- but you have to recognize some context. No, you’re not an Infantryman. No, you’re not in an Infantry unit. And hell no, stop thinking like one- you don’t have an army behind you; you do need a community of people you know very well and who know (and think favorably of) you. And when the day eventually comes that an army be raised, it’ll be those with documented experience who get tapped for the leading and training job- not some self-important blowhard with a kludged-out AR-15. Three seasoned guys who look and fight like they’re from there and can hit a man at 500m is a hell of a lot better and much more effective than 12 lead farmers doing modified CQB drills and looking like Delta Farce- and don’t know it.  This doesn’t mean don’t train, it simply means train smarter. Make perceived handicaps strengths. You’re not fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, you’ll be fighting like the Iraqi or Afghan. By all means, don’t believe me. And realize that none of it matters either way if the community ain’t behind you.

Basically, the author is voicing something that I've stated before: that the opinions of those who are ex-military (even if they only served as a cook) will carry more weight when it comes to defense matters than the best trained, tactical savvy "amateur." 

• Sedition: "How California’s ‘sanctuary state’ bill would further limit ICE’s ability to arrest immigrants"--Los Angeles Daily News. The bill will set a floor--a lower limit--on how much cities and local governments can cooperate with ICE in turning over illegal aliens, but allows municipalities to be even less cooperative if they want.
• Progressives on either side of the aisle are adamant that anyone can move to America and be an American, but "magic dirt" theory apparently doesn't work in the other direction according to The Huffington Post.  In her article, "A White Person Wrote ‘Why Anyone Can Be Chinese,’ And It’s A Checklist In Privilege," Kimberly Yam, a so-called "Chinese American," explains why a white person in China can never be Chinese:

       Bell, a white man from Canada, ignores the real, human experiences that Chinese people live through, Tchen noted. 

       Bell isn’t someone whose family has been brought up in China through generations, communicating through insider references. His ancestors haven’t lived through events like the Opium Wars or the Cultural Revolution that have shaped the population’s outlook. Bell is a white man whose roots and values come from elsewhere. 

        There’s another issue at hand with Bell’s comparison. Ideas of belonging and identity are tied to political environment, Tchen says. These concepts are forged out of history and traditions, constructed over time by cultural and political forces. A western view of these ideas will be different from, say, a Chinese one. Bell doesn’t seem to acknowledge that, though.

She adds: "To be Chinese is not a mere checklist, just like being black or from any other culture isn’t about hitting a set number of achievements." So, per her own article, Yam can't be American.

• "Pope Benedict’s SOS"--The American Conservative. Rod Dreher caught the following comment in a eulogy from retired Pope Benedict XVI:

We know that this passionate pastor and shepherd found it particularly difficult to leave his post, especially at a time in which the Church stands in particularly pressing need of convincing shepherds who can resist the dictatorship of the spirit of the age [Zeitgeistes] and who live and think the faith with determination. However, what moved me all the more was that, in this last period of his life, he learned to let go and to live out of a deep conviction that the Lord does not abandon his church, even when the boat has taken on so much water as to be on the verge of capsizing.

• "Are We Gearing Up to Lose the Next War? Overmatch, Part 2: Bullets & Backbreakers"--The Firearms Blog. Nathaniel Fitch comments that, at a time that our "[s]oldiers are often expected to carry over 100 pounds of gear on marches that destroy knees, ankles, hips, and backs and leave tens of thousands of good men with 100% disability ratings," it is crazy to expect them to carry even more in terms of a heavier weapon and/or heavier ammunition. Something also to think about for those of you who are planning to bug out or conduct security patrols post-TEOTWAWKI.
• Isn't this like the third in the past month? "New Clinton Kill, WSJ Reporter Joseph Rago"--Anonymous Conservative. Yet another person investigating the Clintons--this one being a reporter looking into Hillary’s involvement in the purchase of Russian drug company Veropharm by Abbot Labs at a time in 2014 when sanctions against Russia would have prevented the sale--has conveniently died.
• "Treasure chest with £100MILLION of Nazi gold is found by a British crew in the wreck of a ship deliberately sunk by Hitler to avoid being captured"--Daily Mail. From the article:

       UK-based Advanced Marine Services found a box containing up to four tons of valuable metal, believed to be gold from South American banks, in the post room of the SS Minden, which sunk in 1939.

       The gold was believed to be on board the ship and headed to Germany when the boat sank 120 miles southeast of Iceland on September 24, 1939, shortly after World War II began.

Reading the article further, it is not clear whether the metal retrieved was confirmed as being gold or just believed to be gold; however, I expect that Germany will soon be making its claim. 

• The rabbits are turning on each other: "California SUED for 'violating Latino rights by failing to provide sufficient healthcare'"--Daily Mail. The suit accuses the states of creating an 'unequal system of healthcare' that favors white people and discriminates against lower-income residents--the majority of whom are Hispanic--based on discrepancies between funding and doctors' reimbursement rates for Medi-Cal (the system for the poor) versus Medicare (which, in theory, people pay into while working to provide health care for when they retire). 
• "The Voice of Warning" by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. "While the duty to warn is felt especially keenly by prophets, it is a duty shared by others as well. In fact, 'it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor.'" (quoting D&C 88:81).