Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded. If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.” – Numbers 30:1-2 (KJV)

Notes for Friday – July 17, 2015

Today, we present another entry for Round 59 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools, and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul pmags 30rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. (An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  7. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $340 value),
  8. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  9. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  12. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  4. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  5. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  6. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  8. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 59 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Married Under God or Licensed Marriage, by G.P.

Three women and two men who wear robes to work` have decided that they know more than God on what marriage is. They have chosen to throw out all that we have known as Godly marriage. I fully and firmly disagree.

Married Under God

What does it mean to be “married under God”? Let’s start at the beginning, at creation.

The Man:

These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Genesis 2:4-8

Just so we are clear, that was the man, the first one. There were none before him.

The Woman:

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Also being clear, this was the woman, the first one. There were none before her.

God did not want the first man to be alone but to have one “comparable to him”. She was different in some ways, but she was comparable, not above him nor below him in importance. A companion for life she was made to be. Adam said of Eve that she was “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” God saw and knows what the best thing is. A man for a woman and a woman for a man is the divine combination. If God, who knows all, makes a choice, that is sufficient.

V 22 (from above) says “…He brought her unto the man”. This is the first marriage. This is the only marriage in the Garden of Eden.

V 24 says “Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.” This is God’s description of those involved in a marriage– one man and one woman.

Strictly speaking, the context means a man leaves his home, that of his parents, takes a wife and does the same thing his parents did. They cleave together, and they form a new home. There is no other combination available. The design is for one man and one woman.

Jesus made His own statement as to what God meant for marriage.

And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Matthew 19 4-6

Jesus thought enough of God’s definition of it that He also said the same– the man and the woman were joined and became one flesh. If there was a time for anything else Jesus would have mentioned it, but it was not. They were discussing marriage, defined as the same as the first man and woman– one of each. The context in verse five is the same joining as Gen 2:24 with no other options.

Some people have stated that Jesus never directly dealt with “gay marriage” or homosexuality, and they have said He would have spoken against it if He was. That is a very foolish argument from silence. There was no “gay marriage” among the Jews, and a homosexual pairing was well taught as an abomination for centuries. Jesus had no reason for it in the Mat 19 discussion or any other place. However, He did indirectly deal with it in Luke 17:28-29. That was where Jesus said that God destroyed Sodom. It is where we now get the word sodomy from. Read here how God used fire and brimstone against them:

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

That was a heavy indirect verse concerning Sodom. Here is the Dictionary.com definition of sodomy:

noun

1. anal or oral copulation with a member of the opposite sex.

2. copulation with a member of the same sex.

3. bestiality (def 4).

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sodomy

Jesus also never spoke directly about dealing with pedophiles that we know about, so did that make it okay by Him? No, and it is utter foolishness for those who say things like Jesus did not talk about homosexuality in His teachings. Just in case anyone wanted to ask, those who prey upon children (pedophiles) are also rapists and should be dealt with as such and then some.

Keeping these things in mind, it may now be law of the land by judicial decree to violate what God said, but it never becomes right to do so. We, as Christians, have a higher responsibility to what God has said than to what any man has judged.

Licensed Marriage

Did you ever get a license for your dog? Was it because some agency said if they catch your dog without one they will impound the dog and fine you for having a dog and no license? How about fishing? Did you get a fishing license so as not to be caught with fish and no license? The driving license we can assume was for the same reasons; you did not want to pay the penalty for driving without one.

Okay, maybe the state has jurisdiction over dogs, fishing, and driving. So what does that have to do with a spouse? Can the state really tell us we are not married without getting a license? You may or may not be aware of it, but in 1911, some other progressive (rhymes with oppressive) leadership got together with other like-minded people and made what is called The American Uniform Marriage and Marriage License Act. In part, it reads:

AN ACT Relating to and Regulating Marriage and Marriage Licenses; and to promote Uniformity between the States in reference thereto. [Defining the essential elements of a marriage contract; prescribing the manner of contracting marriages; requiring the consent of parents or guardians of minors; requiring a marriage license in all cases; providing for the issuance thereof, the recording thereof, the form thereof, and the form, delivery and recording of the certificate of marriage; imposing penalties for solemnizing marriages without a license, or without authority of law, for refusing to return or record the certificate of marriage, for refusal or neglect by any marriage license clerk of the duties prescribed by this Act; providing that a certified copy of the record shall be prima facie evidence of any marriage; prohibiting common law marriages; providing for the legitimation of children by ex post facto marriages; requiring re turns by marriage license clerks to the ____ of this State; fixing the fees of marriage license clerks; and repealing, consolidating, and extending existing laws in relation to these subjects.

Section I. Be it enacted, etc., That marriage may be validly contracted in this State only after a license has been issued therefor, in the manner following: …

And it goes on. It is 51 pages long. You can read and download the whole thing here if you like.

But in 1911, it was decided for all of us that we needed to be licensed under the law to be considered to be married. Some states went with it within a few years, and by 1929 all went with the requirement. My problem with that is that at least several thousand years earlier God had already ordained marriage, and there was no license involved because God said that this is the way it should be. There were no marriage licenses issued in 1776, nor when the U.S. Constitution was signed. So, in my own opinion, phooey on the American Uniform Marriage and Marriage License Act and phooey on any agency that thinks that they must require a license on what God has ordained.

Pastor Matthew Trewhella had made some very good points in his pamphlet entitled “5 Reasons Why Christians Should Not Obtain a State Marriage License”, which he wrote before five judges were trying to overrule God. One struck me as very much on the point. He said that under the law if two gays get a marriage license and a Christian couple are married in a church without one, the law will recognize the homosexuals as married but not the ones in the church. I believe Mat Trewhella’s logic in this is exactly right, that the government will do this. They will discriminate against us.

Trewhella also stated that the first U.S. licenses were required so that blacks and whites could not get married. I have read similar elsewhere, and some have added that in some cases judges or other officials in places required a license that they were not willing to issue so that white men who wanted to marry Asian women they brought home could not always do so. Mixed race marriages were called Miscegenation. Late this year, my own wife and I will be married 42 years. She is Asian– a Filipina.

George Washington was married without a marriage license in any case. He did not need one and us neither.

Anyone who is interested can download the full pamphlet by Pastor Trewhella here: http://www.mercyseat.net/pdfs/marriagelicense.pdf

Amendments Violated by the Court

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Some Other Considerations

Some people have said if people do not get “legally” married through the state they live in they will lose tax benefits. I figure if you are getting married with a license because of tax reasons then there are problems already. We would all be better off if the feds and the states dropped the deductions for everyone and everything and stopped playing with people’s lives. A reasonable flat tax, the same for all, would be better anyhow.

Some say that children would not have the benefits of married parents. Is that because a state did not say so? If you were married in a church under God, in front of witnesses hopefully, you are married. There should be no issue in my non-legal opinion.

For those who think they need or want a license, I certainly will not prevent anyone from getting one. I have just reached the point where I have no plans of signing a marriage license that is state or county issued any longer as the officiant or pastor. Not so long as the feds insist on imposing that marriage means something other than one man and one woman. I would be happy to sign a Certificate of Marriage issued through a church.

I am not as familiar with the laws in different places, but some states also issue a Certificate of Marriage after a church ceremony, and I think some do not. Some also issue a Confidential Certificate of Marriage and some call it a Confidential Marriage License. I am not promoting these things, but I am relaying that there are those things out there for those that think they need them.

Something else to consider is a Covenant Marriage. It can be written or verbal, but it is a covenant under God, which is more than a contract, between a man and a woman. I have officiated at Covenant Marriage ceremonies. Here is part of the definition you can find on Covenant Marriage in the Legal-Dictionary.

A legal union of Husband and Wife that requires premarital counseling, marital counseling if problems occur, and limited grounds for Divorce.

I located a website called Covenant Marriage. I have no tie or affiliation with them, but I like what they have in mind– one man, one woman under God. I very much like what they have in their “What we believe” section. It says this:

Believing that marriage is a covenant intended by God to be a lifelong fruitful relationship between a man and a woman, we vow to God, to each other, our families and our community to remain steadfast in unconditional love, reconciliation and sexual purity, while purposefully growing in our covenant marriage relationship. Our Vision In recognition of the movement of God to restore the sacredness of marriage, we purpose to call individual couples, families, churches, communities, the nation, and the world back to an understanding and practice of marriage as covenant, which is the foundation of society, for God’s glory. Our mission is to restore churches and society to an understanding and practice of marriage as covenant by applying the timeless principles of God’s Word.

I very much support Covenant Marriage over a federally-defined marriage that attempts to overrule God. Such a federal ruling invites even more judgment. The feds and many others do not care, but I do.

Franklin Graham had this to say, and I agree 100%.

Franklin Graham Warns Gay Marriage Ruling Will Lead To Christian Persecution

By Todd Starnes, Fox Nation

Published June 28, 2015

One of the nation’s most prominent evangelical leaders issued a dire warning for the nation in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling on homosexual marriage. “I believe God could bring judgment upon America,” said Franklin Graham in an exclusive interview. Graham told me that Christians should be prepared for persecution in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling on homosexual marriage. “You better be ready and you better be prepared because it’s coming,” Graham said just moments after the court handed down its ruling. “There will be persecution of Christians for our stand.” Graham, the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, said he was disappointed in the 5-4 Supreme Court ruling. “I’m disappointed because the government is recognizing sin,” he said. “This court is endorsing sin. That’s what homosexuality is– a sin against God.” Graham said regardless of the ruling, he will refuse to marry any same-sex couple. “I will never recognize it in my heart because God gave marriage between a man and a woman and that’s what marriage is,” he said. “And I don’t think the court – since it never defined marriage – doesn’t have the right to redefine it. God gave us marriage. Period. And God doesn’t change his mind.” The Supreme Court’s decision means gay rights now trump religious liberty. And if you think the cultural purging of the Southern States has been breathtaking, wait until you see what LGBT activists are about to unleash on American Christians. “If pastors are going to be forced to provide marriage services for gay couples, I’m not going to do it,” Graham declared. Churches and faith-based business should prepare for lawsuits and government investigations. Pastors who refuse to perform gay marriages and preach from the Bible should prepare for hate crime charges. All dissent will be silenced by the government and the activists. But I believe that an overwhelming number of Christians will defy the law. Governor Mike Huckabee posted this message on Facebook: “I will not acquiesce to an imperial court,” vowing to “resist and reject judicial tyranny.” In closing, I am reminded of something the late Charles Colson wrote: “If we’re not willing to fight this, even to the point of breaking the law, or refusing to recognize the law, then we will lose everything.” Given the choice of obeying God or the government, I believe Christians will obey God – even if there is hell to pay.

Like Franklin Graham, I will defy this judicial law also.

Related Scriptures

Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Leviticus 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Jude 6 & 7 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Romans 1:24-31 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

I Corinthians 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Last Words

If you follow the federal judges on this matter, you may be okay for awhile with the tyrannical leaders, but it will never end. They will always want more. They will always come to take from you again. And you would not be okay in God’s eyes.

This might be the beginning of the end for our nation. God did not make me a prophet, so I can say only what it looks like from here. As more than one family or friend and I have discussed, America is not listed in Scripture. My tendency is to think either we will not be here as a nation or we will be broken into smaller parts or just not important enough to mention.

In the meantime, none of us should be surprised if we are persecuted in our churches by members of our own government. The media could go after you. You and your church could be called a hate group. In the extreme, you could get locked up or fined. You have some choices to make. I have made mine.

Godspeed,

Letter Re: Don’t Tread On Us

HJL,

In his “Don’t Tread On Us” contribution, BJ says SCOTUS erred in not treating gay marriage as a states’ rights matter. The states agreed, in 1868, via the 14th Amendment, that they would provide equal privilege, immunity, and protection of the laws to all citizens. The 14th Amendment reads, in part: “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Plainly stated, government can’t provide benefits and privileges of marriage to some people, and deny them to others.

In a society truly committed to liberty, a voluntary relationship between two consenting adults, where neither violates the rights of others, is simply not the business of government. Unfortunately, the government plays all kinds of “carrot and stick” games with the concept of marriage, which takes us into the legal arena. An objection based on faith, traditional views, or any other subjective measurement of what marriage is or isn’t, does not weigh on this as a legal matter. I would encourage people to continue to treat marriage as their faith and beliefs dictate. If two homosexuals choose to marry (in the eyes of government), you don’t have to view that marriage as sacred. View it however your beliefs dictate. Looking to government for guidance on this matter is foolhardy. It says nothing about what marriage is to you. That’s between you and your creator.

One hundred sixty years ago, many U.S. state governments wouldn’t allow marriage between different races. There were many people who thought it was a profound offense to the creator, against the natural order of things. While there may be some holdouts, few think that way anymore, and most couldn’t imagine our government interfering in such a choice.

Don’t force your beliefs on others with the help of government. That’s a double edge sword you don’t want swinging back in your direction. Instead, work to minimize government intrusion into every citizen’s life, and limit the amount of power and coercion government can apply to anyone. We’re all better off for it. – R.S.

HJL Responds: This issue is much more difficult than just minimizing government intrusion into our lives. The SCOTUS is attempting to redefine something that they did not define in the first place and that they actually have no right or even ability to define at all. By applying the 14th Amendment to marriage, the SCOTUS is attempting to usurp the authority of God Himself. Long before the SCOTUS existed, and even long before governments defined by man existed, God defined the boundaries of marriage as a covenantal relationship between one man, one woman, and God Himself. As part of the definition of that covenant, there exists the ability to build a home, raise a family, designate property sharing, educate your children, and generally conduct business to the benefit of the family unit within an ethical structure. Along with those abilities comes the responsibility to administer justice in a just and righteous manner as well ensure the safety and security of that family.

Since God is the architect of marriage, it follows that He is the one that gets to define what the boundaries and rules are surrounding it. Part of those rules are about how other people (fellow believers, the church) are given the authority to administer correction in a just and righteous manner over that same marriage and individuals within that marriage when the leader of the home is not administering it as he should. The government stepped in a long time ago under the guise of administering the property sharing rights and has continued to enlarge its claim over marriage as they claim social safety of children, et cetera. Most of this intrusion has not been met with the resistance it should have received until now. While the government should have the right to set rules and boundaries for contractual agreements between people, marriage should be off limits to them because they have no authority in a covenant that they did not take part in. If the SCOTUS had chosen some other vehicle to define what they wanted, such as “civil unions”, I doubt there would have been as much backlash as what you see today.

It is clear, in light of the ruling by the SCOTUS only a few years ago, that DOMA was unconstitutional and that marriage was a “states right” and now the ruling that effectively reverses that ruling, claiming that it is not a “states right” but a federal issue, that they are simply playing political games, exceeding their authority, and furthering a progressive agenda. The truth of the matter is that not even states have the right to meddle in the definition of marriage. If they want to create a civil union that grants privileges similar to marriage, that is their right to do so, but they cannot usurp God in redefining what marriage is. Truth is truth whether they like it or not and it does not matter what they call it. Any law that is unconstitutional is wrong and is in effect self-nullified, and thus we have an obligation not to obey it. But further than that, any law that is contrary to God is wrong, and we have an obligation to not follow it either.

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

Economics and Investing:

Health Insurance Prices Take Off: Worker Pay Stagnant – H.L.

o o o

DANGER! The Federal Reserve Is Very Afraid Of A Stock Market Bubble.

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Items from Mr. Econocobas:

Trader Slams Schiff: You Make ‘Outlandish Predictions’- This is just kind of funny… Could be part of the next Schiff was right youtube video…

This Is Yellen’s Response When Asked If The Fed Is Too Worried About The Stock Market

Debt Is The Barbarous Relic! Not Gold

Odds ‘n Sods:

Venezuela Is Suddenly Intent on Annexing Two-Thirds of Neighboring Guyana – H.L.

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Chattanooga Shooting: 4 Marines Killed In Gun Free Zone (Video) — Shooter: Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez – T.P.

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Once You See What’s Attached to the End of This Drone, You May Think It’s the Coolest or Scariest One Ever – JBG

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Immigrant who is a convicted felon accused in fatal stabbing – P.M.

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Biohackers Aim To Make Homebrew Insulin, But Don’t Try It Yet – K.B.

Notes for Thursday – July 16, 2015

July 16th is the anniversary of the death of Hugh John McCall, in Rhodesia, in 1979.

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Today, we present another entry for Round 59 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The $12,000+ worth of prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

  1. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
  2. A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
  3. DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools, and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
  4. Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul pmags 30rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. (An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.),
  5. Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
  6. A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
  7. A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $340 value),
  8. A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
  9. A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
  10. KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
  11. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
  12. Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Second Prize:

  1. A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol and a SIRT AR-15/M4 Laser Training Bolt, courtesy of Next Level Training, which have a combined retail value of $589,
  2. A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
  3. The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
  4. A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
  5. Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
  6. TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
  7. RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.

Third Prize:

  1. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
  2. A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
  3. Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
  4. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
  5. Mayflower Trading is donating a $200 gift certificate for homesteading appliances,
  6. APEX Gun Parts is donating a $250 purchase credit,
  7. Montie Gear is donating a Precision Rest (a $249 value), and
  8. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).

Round 59 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Don’t Tread On Us, by B.J.

This past July 4th was a somber day for us. We spent the day reflecting on the state of our country, not the least of which was the recent Supreme Court actions and the world and sacrifices our founding Fathers endured. Later in the day my wife and I decided to get off the farm and go to town for a burger. We passed a large city park that was packed full of people making merry. I wondered, “What independence are they celebrating?”

Did I miss something? Have we solved the pesky little problem of unreasonable searches and seizures in this country? Do we really enjoy freedom of speech in the country? If you think so, tell that to the former CEO and co-founder of Foxfire who was fired for making a contribution to a political cause of his liking. Fortunately, we don’t have to endure taxation without representation in this country, like our founders did. (I’ll turn the cynicism off now.) I know a lot of people, and not one of them thinks that there is any person in Washington D.C. that represents them. Then there is the matter of the recent Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage that you so appropriately addressed in your piece titled ”A Dark Day”.

I want to make a point about that ruling that I believe has been missed. This country was founded as a Republic (not a democracy) that supported states’ rights. As the saying goes, “let Texas be Texas and Vermont be Vermont.” Due to an overreach at every level of federal government, states’ rights have been trampled on, and this ruling was the final nail in the coffin. To be consistent with the Constitution, the ruling should have been that this is not a federal matter and each state needs to work it out for themselves. That obviously isn’t what happened. What most people think happened is that the court ruled that gay marriage is now legal nationally, but I would argue that what actually happened is 9 or 5 or 1 unelected persons (take your pick) mandated gay marriage in the country. King George would be proud!

When asked “Doctor what do we have a monarchy or a republic?” Ben Franklin said, “a Republic if you can keep it.” Well, it’s official now; we didn’t keep it.

So what do we do now?

Redress our grievances?

In my opinion, there are three things we should NOT do now, and then I will list some things I think we should do now and in the near future. If it is any consolation to the reader, I am a direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson, my family and I live on our homestead within the American Redoubt, and we have been hard core survivalists for a dozen or so years.

  1. If you think that if we just “get out the vote” and “vote the bums out” or if enough of us call and write our Congressmen that we can get this ship back on course, then you are sadly mistaken. It is decades past the point of that working. I have worked for the United States Congress recently, and I can tell you that by in large they really don’t care what you think. Yes, on some issues that are not core to their voting base, they do tally calls and letters, but they will never read your letter or consider what you have to say in a call. It’s just X number of contacts were against this and Y were in favor of it. That being said, 100 million people could call Diane Feinstein’s offices to discourage draconian gun legislation and it wouldn’t change a thing. Stating our grievances so that we are clear on them and the powers that be have been put on notice as to what they are is a good idea, but that is different. So, don’t waste your time writing, calling, or getting out the vote at the national level. You are wasting your breath.
  2. As Captain Rawles has stated on this blog, now is not the time to take serious steps towards secession. As he says, it will be squashed. The time may come; in my opinion, it probably will come, but now is not the time. However, we should have a plan of how to proceed, if it does come to that.
  3. Now is not the time to take up arms. That day may come also, but it will not be of our choosing; that destiny is being chosen for us. How will we know when that day has come? We will know it when we see it, but primarily we will NOT back down from our God-given inalienable rights. We don’t answer to man.

Then what should we do now? Many of you are frustrated, I know; I talk to you. It’s not the time to go forward, and we can’t go backwards, which is frustrating, but be patient.

  1. Know who you are and where we as a country came from. What do you stand for? Who do you answer to? None of us would ever sanely choose what we think is coming, but then we haven’t been given the choice. Our personal plan, until recently, has been that when the collapse occurs we are just going to keep to ourselves, fend for ourselves, and help our neighbors where we can. There are some problems with that though that each person has to work out for themselves. I am in my early 50’s, which in reality means I am about two-thirds of the way through my expected life span. I live the “treat your neighbor as yourself” doctrine and have many good works to my name. Have I changed the lives of people along the way? Maybe, hopefully. Have I changed the world that my grandchildren will inherit? No, I have not. I can keep them fed and safe through extended times of trouble, but that’s a different proposition than influencing the world they will live in. So, I for one, when the time comes, am not going to kick the can down the road to stay safe and comfortable.

    Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

  2. Network, recruit, and prepare. If you aren’t in a safe place, pray about it as the time is at hand. People will take issue with me I am sure, but to my mind there are only four places in this country that are worthy of consideration. First and foremost is the American Redoubt, which is why we relocated here from central California decades before it was named that. Second is Texas/Arizona. Third is the south– the Carolina’s, Ozarks, Appalachians, et cetera. Finally, there are sections of Northern California, such as the Red Bluff and Redding areas. I personally think the American Redoubt is superior to those other locations, but the point is if you’re not in one of those areas now, please pray about what God would have you do as you may be in jeopardy
  3. List your grievances so that they are clear in your head and you can articulate them to those in your center of influence. A few examples of mine would be:

    • an overreach by every level of federal government,
    • the trampling of states rights (that most states have gone along with so they can suck at the hind tit of the free money flow),
    • the militarization of local police,
    • and the insistence that we are the threat to the society,
    • encouraging mass illegal immigration to get votes to stay in power that calls into question the very legitimacy of the federal government itself,
    • spending money that is not theirs to spend that can now NEVER be repaid.

    What’s on your list?

  4. I am calling on the leaders of the Christian Patriot Survivalist Prepper community, both within and without the American Redoubt, to begin meeting to create a framework for a regional provisional governance system in case our current Federal or local governments are not able to provide such leadership. If God forbid a nuclear bomb took out D.C. or an EMP attack occurred (for example) and decapitated our federal government, we need a plan of regional and multi-state governance until a legitimate federal government resumes control.
  5. As part of that plan, if a calamitous event occurs and our federal government cannot protect us and provide for our safety, then we need to have plans in place to do so for ourselves until they can. That may mean raising militias to provide for our safety, in which case plans need to be in place to provide for them. I am also calling on the Christian Patriot leaders to secure a food storage location not unlike our federal government used to do and what the Mormons do for their faithful in case of emergency. This should be on private property in a secure undisclosed location somewhere in the heart of the Redoubt. Surely somebody in Idaho or Montana has an available pole building or suitable barn that could be used. When a facility is procured, I will make the first donation of one ton of wheat, one ton of corn, and one ton of beans. What will you donate?
  6. Our friends and heroes in the active duty U.S. military need to know exactly where we stand. A few decades ago, serving in our military rarely if ever produced a conflict of which master you were serving. Today things are different, and as I hope you know, you cannot serve two masters. If the day comes that you are given illegal orders or orders that violate a citizen’s God-given inalienable rights, then you will have choices to make. I hope you choose wisely, as your eternity may depend on it. Specifically, we expect you to uphold each and every one of the ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights. Illegal King George-type edicts, such as the NDAA, do not justify ANY violations of the Bill of Rights. I pray for each and every one of you in our military. I see that some of you have your eyes open. I see some of you have gone dark, and some have scrubbed all social media of any personal information or indications of your uniformed service. I know some of you are concerned about what the future holds also.
  7. Lastly, I call on all pastors, but especially those with churches in the Redoubt, to shed your 501c3 status. No, I am not the first person to call for this; I am not even the first person on this blog to call for this, but allow me to add to the discussion. I have recently asked two pastors if their churches enjoy 501c3 status, and they both happily asserted “YES!” I guess thinking that this fact might entice me to make a larger contribution than I might otherwise so I could enjoy the tax break. I questioned them about this fact, especially in light of the recent Supreme Court rulings. The answer I got from them was essentially “our members very much benefit from the tax deductibility of their contributions”. To which I would say, I doubt it. I will explain why in a minute, but there is a bigger picture. You, too, cannot serve two masters, and your Uncle Sam Master has just thumbed his nose (I can think of a better descriptive, but this is a family-friendly blog) at your God Master. Where is your line in the sand? Which one will you serve?

    Most people, including pastors, are pretty clueless about taxation. The conventional wisdom is something like this. Let’s say you have a family of four with a family income of $100,000 per year, and they tithe $10,000 in a year. They are in the 25% marginal tax bracket, so they get a $2,500 tax break for their $10,000 contribution. The church gets the $10k, and after the tax break they only had to truly spend $7500 so everyone is happy, right?

    Well, first if the plan was to tithe ten percent, they didn’t do that, but more importantly, if you believe my example above is relatively accurate then for most tax payers you just failed taxation 101.

    The IRS allows taxpayers to choose either the standard deduction or if they wish they can use Schedule A to itemize deductions. Schedule A allows you to write off things like medical expense, mortgage interest, some taxes, and charitable contributions are the primary ones. You only get to “write off” your charitable contributions if you file a Schedule A. For 2014 the standard deduction for a married filing jointly return was $12,400. So it only makes it worth itemizing if your deductions are greater than $12,400. Then, if you do itemize the marginal benefit is not the full amount of your Schedule A deductions; The benefit to the taxpayer is the amount they itemize that is above $12,400 because that was a given going in. So, in my hypothetical example above, if the $10,000 tithe was the only event on their tax return that could have been itemized, they would have lost money by “writing off” their contributions. Or let’s say that in addition to the $10,000 in tithing they had $5,000 in mortgage interest. So in total they could itemize $15,000 (10k tithe + 5k interest). So the actual benefit to them is then how much? Right, it’s only $2,600. ($15,000 – $12,400). That’s a far cry from them being able to “write off” the whole $10,000. This may be complicated for some, but suffice it to say that most church goers don’t enjoy huge benefits from the tax deductibility of their contributions. Then how do you quantify the growing numbers of us who will not attend and will not contribute to churches who have 501c3 status?

    So again, I join the chorus that pastors should make a statement and shed their 501c3 status.

In conclusion, none of us knows what the future brings, but I would encourage all of us to start thinking in a bigger picture than we have previously. Pray that you are in the right place, doing the right things, and never forget that “if God is for you, who can be against you?”

Letter: 501c3

HJL,

The IRS is not evil in itself, in my view. They are a tax collection agency for the government. They are pretty good at what they do, albeit with many errors and some corruption along the way. The law makers who write the laws implementing policies that the IRS must enforce are another matter. Most of those folks we elect, and it’s not a pretty picture.

I don’t believe the IRS is where the real fight for the soul of our country is or will be. We, as Christians, can either change the law (policy) through lobbying and/or elections, or we can avoid the IRS and its rules where legally possible. The mandates within the “Rules for Churches” publication IRS Pub. 1828 are meant to be just that…rules. They are serious rules meant to restrain the activity of the church in certain areas; some of them are not clearly defined (see page 5 of IRS Pub 1828). This gives the enforcing agency (the IRS) great latitude to express the wishes of policy makers in whatever political climate they find themselves in. The current political climate is not very friendly to Christians or Christian churches who take a stand for Christ out loud. This is where agency rules bite, and they bite hard.

The thinking Christian must then ask, “Do we really need to be registered and thereby under these onerous rules at all?” The answer is NO! No church can be compelled to register with the IRS for any reason. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution makes this perfectly clear…”congress shall make no law….” Further, the IRS states this fact several times in their publications, and another SB reader has pointed this important fact out as well.

To protect the freedoms granted the Church by God Almighty working through our Founding Fathers, we need to be free to speak and act. Not only must we protect that which we still have, we must regain that which has now been lost. Serving the Living God is never easy, even in the best of times. These are not the best of times, and the fight is likely to be long, difficult, and messy. Keeping in mind Ephesians 6:12 regarding the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places, we must put on the WHOLE armor of God. For that, we must be legally free of IRS rules and then stand on our own two feet. We must possess ALL the freedom and bravery instilled in us for us by our Founding Fathers. We can then stand strong unfettered by the trappings of the corrupt policies of men, and with the unencumbered clear voice of the Gospel of Salvation for all.

Talk to your Church family. Let’s just do it, and get ourselves free for service to Him. It’s getting late. – DJF

Hugh’s Quote of the Day:

“Collectivism doesn’t work because it’s based on a faulty economic premise. There is no such thing as a person’s “fair share” of wealth. The gross national product is not a pizza that must be carefully divided because if I get too many slices, you have to eat the box. The economy is expandable and, in any practical sense, limitless.” – P.J. O’Rourke

Notes for Wednesday – July 15, 2015

There are only two weeks left in round 59 of the writing contest. Be sure to get your entries wrapped up and sent in as soon as possible. Don’t forget that we will now publish pictures!

o o o

Seed for Security, LLC is having a special sale. Their Colossal Security Pack is 15% off. This pack is a total of seven pounds of vegetable, grain, and herb seeds and all are open-pollinated and non GMO. Included are their three most popular collections: the Super Survival Pack, the four Grain Collection, and the Heirloom Herb Collection. This offer is for a limited time.

Timeless World War 2 Lessons, by T.W.

After recently reading a number of books on intelligence, subterfuge, spying, and survival in World War 2, I have been led to compile a list of lessons that we can draw on today.

Preparation is Key

The best spy masters and espionage groups built up networks of contacts around strategic areas before the invasion or war. This allowed one to gain information without being seen as suspicious. If your spy doesn’t know the language thoroughly, errors in translation lead to disaster. A few weeks in language school is rarely enough, but that’s what many operatives received during World War 2 because there were too few people fluent in critical languages to avoid sending poorly trained people out. World War 2 exploded in part because the British waited for an expected internal coup to kill Hitler, many of which failed, instead of building up their defenses in the interim. This added to the severity and duration of the war. Today, we should learn the lesson to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best, instead of putting all our faith in someone else taking the risks to solve the problem. Those who stocked up on supplies before the war were in a stronger position than those who relied on markets day to day. They were less desperate for essentials and able to barter for what they needed, as long as they weren’t condemned for hoarding and saw their supplies confiscated. Having a hiding place for the stored goods well before shortages begin is far more secure than being seen stocking up during the frenzy.

Who to Choose, Who to Trust

Never use a politician in a spy or espionage ring. It risks the politicization of information, such as targeted leaks to improve one’s situation or suppressing details of failure to make oneself look good but hurting the overall objective. The people forced to retire early are the ultimate insiders to the organization’s current members and may be financially strained or angry enough to work with a rival group to gain information by leveraging those contacts. A proactive group identifies those who have valuable knowledge and disaffection with the government and lures them into spying before the other side does. Anyone who brags that they are a spy cannot be trusted to be one, though there is the remote chance the person is doing so to improve their cover by seeming to boast idly. Applying strict standards of ideological or national purity can drive out many who can support your movement but aren’t radicals. The Jewish espionage groups in World War 2 formed by kids who weren’t allowed in variation national resistance groups come to mind. Applying strict moral standards to your crew, especially at the lowest level, can hurt information gathering and espionage. For example, rules that say you can’t talk to smugglers and former convicts for information can prevent you from learning what is going on in the underground or black market.

On Human Nature and Human Resources

Reward sources and supporters, and where possible protect them. The U.S. made a major mistake after pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan by giving refugee status to Muslim Syrian refugees while neglecting to give refuge to Iraqis and Afghanis who risked their lives to be translators for American troops. Likewise, the neglect of the Pakistani doctor who found Osama Bin Laden and silence by the federal government as to his imprisonment and torture has destroyed potential information sources in the entire Middle East (and the unspoken reason why Western polio workers started to be killed en masse after Bin Laden’s death). However, people who became spies for the money are prone to becoming double agents for even more money. It is the little details that can get someone captured. For example, many criminals on the run today are found through their girlfriends or wives who make contact with friends and family to let people they know hear that they are safe; her contact with them then leads the authorities to him. Many events occurred because someone received intelligence warning of an event and didn’t believe it. Per the book Burn After Reading: The Espionage History of World War 2 by Ladislas Farago, Colonel Oster informed Norway of the impending Nazi invasion, which the Norwegian military attaché refused to believe; this is one case in point. The invasion of Norway, though, occurred on the day Colonel Oster said it would. Spy networks are as often filled with unwitting dupes as willing friends and mercenaries who act for money. Be careful of people who would join a movement so they can use it for revenge or abuse of people they don’t like. Spy rings in place too long become lazy and complacent. Those created in the 1920s were often incapable of acting with speed and effectiveness during the invasions of the late 1930s and 1940s. Sun Tzu pointed out that one could scheme with women, and World War 2 certainly saw prostitutes used as information sources, with the Germans even taking over a brothel and having specially trained girls sent to entertain high ranking men and elicit information from them. This is why people who used such sexual services were seen as having a strike against them after World War 2 when applying for security clearances. On a side note, the sexual promiscuity of homosexuals was another reason for disqualifying them, and the lowering of these standards in the name of political correctness is why Bradley Manning (Chelsea Manning) was in a position to leak the information he did. The lesson to learn from this is that those who bed hop with either gender generally cannot be trusted with secrets, but they can be used to get information by those willing to exploit pillow talk.

Propaganda and Getting the Word Out

The appearance of strength can be as important to defense as the actual defenses. It is more important if it deters an attack that the defenses might not stand against. Here’s a quote from Burn After Reading– “All secret services have special branches whose war time job is to concoct lies and to spread useful rumors.” Spreading useful rumors is easier and often safer than coming up with new lies that can be traced back to you. Under slander laws in many jurisdictions, you can be prosecuted for lying to officials or intentionally spreading negative lies about others, but repeating rumors is neither a lie nor slander since you’re not the source. In the same book, Burn After Reading, the best propaganda was often a variation of what the enemy already used. For example, when the German soldiers received pamphlets with a list of French whorehouses, a pass good for one free service per day and locations where they could get condoms and treatment for STDs, the pamphlets were copied exactly and distributed through Germany with a note to women that this is how well their men were treated.

The Importance of Leadership

The British have kept the identity of their head of MI5 secret for years, even in the person’s obituary. The secrecy of the organization is iron clad and strictly maintained. Any effort you want to keep secret needs that secrecy strictly maintained from the top down to have a good chance of succeeding. The quality of an espionage group depends on the quality of the people in charge of them. Bureaucratization of intelligence services in World War 2 hurt efforts that needed secrecy as much as they needed creativity. Underlings afraid to report bad news to a superior are as likely a cause of misinformation at the top as deliberate feeding of bad information by spies. This is due to a leadership problem.

Know How to Know Someone Is On Your Side

World War 2 included a large number of wireless transmitters and mobile operators. The British learned who a number of German wireless operators were and trained their own people to imitate the German’s style of tapping out Morse Code, so that the Germans receiving the broadcasts thought they were talking to the real German operatives in England. This can be seen as a precursor to someone hacking your Facebook page or getting your phone and sending messages while pretending to be you; as long as they are a good enough imitation, they pass as you until they make a mistake or fail to show up for an in-person meeting. Relying entirely on digital communications to talk to someone makes it both easier for the communications to be monitored and someone to impersonate your contact, if not be a fake one altogether. Don’t assume that the person on the other end is who they say they are, much less trust them unconditionally without verification. Agent provocateurs may lead rebellions to identify the partisans for roundup and execution. An entire OSS team was caught by the Nazis in Slovakia and killed this way. Mao’s Hundred Flowers Campaign to let people air their grievances against the Communists publicly in a show of tolerance before arresting them and killing them was another. It can be difficult to identify provocateurs, but if the era of openness is too good to be true, it is. Likewise, a plainly visible website and invitation-only forum as the perfect place to start discussing grandiose plans with people who you’ve never met is also a mistake. Some people play both sides to stay safe. For example, some people cozened up to the Nazis to stay safe while hiding Jews or feeding intelligence to the resistance. That can make it hard to know who to trust, but it should be understood so that you don’t rule out someone who plays nice with a rival in order to protect family or hide illegal activities.

Hiding in Plain Sight

Those who have a legitimate excuse for their activities have the best cover. For example, during World War 2, Japanese spies were designated junior diplomats to have an excuse for their radio transmitters. However, the spies didn’t socialize like the higher ranking ones. Looking like you are no one can get you farther than pretending to be someone. Many spies have gotten far by pretending to be dullards, like Mary Bowser in the Confederate President’s house. The best way for a group to meet is somewhere they are inconspicuous. People in uniform meeting at an alma mater, younger people at a social venue, and so forth avoid suspicion. According to the book Masquerade by Seymour Reit, gun emplacements were hidden in old wooden shacks, bridge abutments, tool sheds, innocent shops, and one as a marble war monument. Try to hide things in plain sight by building around them or integrating them into the landscape. Otherwise, use the unused spaces that might otherwise be neglected, like the newly dug subway line in London turned into an assembly line for war manufacturing during World War 2.

Intelligence and Analysis

Recommended courses of action on what to do per intelligence reports tends to be vague as a compromise between various conflicting sources of information. That is unless the reports are used as an excuse to take a desired course of action, which fits an existing plan or agenda. In that regard, detailed recommendations in response to an intelligence report where other recommendations were vague are like the standard liberal response to a mass shooting to outlaw the types of guns and registration of owners that they have always wanted. Beware of recommended actions that they’ve always insisted upon. During World War 2, people who escaped a raid were often caught because a calendar with a doctor’s appointment was discovered or notes with the next time and place of meeting. The little details could give them away. Information gathering doesn’t have to be a cloak and dagger affair. Hair dressers at an Italian salon frequented by officers’ and officials’ wives were trained to ask leading questions to get information for the Allies. Code breaking and cryptography didn’t negate the need for observations on the ground and information not in the reports. Code breaking can yield tactical information in advance of an attack like the location of the fleet, but it doesn’t yield much strategic information. Code breaking may be done by people who don’t know the language, when it is a matter of piecing together the puzzle. Human archeology is based on the idea that people have left behind a lot of trash throughout their history. You can find useful information in documents and other items thrown away. However, it is even better to pay the janitor to save papers from destruction and deliver them to you. People like to talk. The skill intelligence needs is how to ask questions to gather useful information without arousing suspicion. Intelligence will be faulty and full of mistakes, both due to misinterpretation and deliberate misinformation. Balance sacking your best people for mistakes that aren’t their fault and tolerating faulty sources with lots of excuses or good connections.

Technical Details

The best way to undermine a monitoring or analysis group is with a deluge of information. This is why businesses that want to hide incriminating information send thousands of pages of documentation, to be seen as complying with discovery orders while minimizing the risk that incriminating information is found in time to be used. Data in the modern age is easily modified or corrupted. True information comes from those on the ground or in the know. You cannot simply rely on databases to find the truth, when it is so easily altered or destroyed. During World War 2, a simpler version of this was creating false paper trails for fake identities. If you need to disarm a bomb and have little else at hand, douse it in water. You have a good chance of shorting out something electrical and stopping it. Due to the extensive monitoring via many nations’ intelligence organizations, the old fashioned methods of sending messages are again the most private. A letter is unlikely to be opened and scanned and read by a government official, though such orders can still be used by the Post Office. Written messages sent within harmless packages are unlikely to be read or reviewed. It isn’t as fast as a text message or phone call, but it is far more secure.

Summary

While technology and science have advanced, basic human nature hasn’t changed, and techniques and problems from earlier eras are just as workable today. Learn from the lessons of the past so that the mistakes aren’t repeated.