The Riot Makers

Currently reading The Riot Makers, by Eugene Methvin. 

(At Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/yyg7c4kc Good luck!)

(At Archive.org: https://tinyurl.com/y4vnv2yc One hour or 14 day loan, updated/corrected. No print, copy, etc of e-book loaner.)

Published in 1970, and apparently only in one print run, it is an in-depth study of commie methods of inciting riots, based on the "disorder" of the 1960s, primarily in the United States, both on- and off-campus. 

I realize that in some corners the phrase "commie methods of inciting riots" makes the author (and me, I suppose) sound like a conspiracy theorist, but the evidence is pretty compelling.

The book opens with a description of the Newark, NJ, riot of July, 1967. 1967, of course, having been the "Long, Hot Summer".

The author then follows the history of social engineering from Lenin to Mao, with brief looks at the Gracchi brothers and Mark Antony, Sam Adams, the "Babouvists" of the French Revolution, and Karl Marx.

The history of Lenin and social engineering is detailed, as is the description of the social engineering process. 

One constant theme is they manner in which communications technology facilitates the organizing and incitement process; it takes absolutely no imagination at all to add the internet and cellular telephones to radio and television and see how that amplifies the effect. 

You have probably heard the saying that "History doesn't repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme"; reading this book with an eye towards current events will certainly confirm the notion, if not, as I alluded to above, make you think about triple-layering your tin-foil hat. 

I got this book through an inter-library loan, courtesy the King County Library system. If you can find a copy, I strongly urge you to do so.

EDITED to add: The writing style and attitudes in this book may seem dated. Certainly, some of the psychological and sociological terminology used is out of date and/or obsolete. Also, this book was published back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, when I was growing up, and "Negro" was still the word used in polite company. Some may find that jarring, or even, this being 2020, offensive.

Here's a documentary based on the book:

This isn't creepy at all

Apple and Google building coronavirus tracking tech for iOS and Android, coming in May - CNET

What could possibly go wrong?

Two of the tech industry's biggest players are working together to fight the coronavirus, announcing a new set of tools that could come to a majority of smartphones around the world.

The new technology, outlined in white papers published by Apple and Google on Friday and further discussed in a call with reporters Monday, relies on Bluetooth wireless radio technology to help phones communicate with one another, ultimately warning users about people they've come in contact with who are infected with the coronavirus.

 It's like Big Brother and Skynet got together, and...

Contact tracing

Apple and Google's technology is meant to support contact tracing, which historically has been a manual process in which health care workers painstakingly comb through a patient's history to figure out who they were near and may have exposed to infection.

Apps could potentially speed up that process. People who're marked as having coronavirus in an app on their phone could then wirelessly transmit alerts to anyone they come in contact with, potentially leading people to take extra precautions or self-quarantine to slow any further spread.

Apple and Google representatives said they chose to create this joint technology in part because they wanted to ensure interoperability between different phones. The companies also chose to build the system into their iOS and Android software in order to reduce the impact this technology could have on battery life.

To ensure as many people have access to the technology as possible, Google will include the tracking data in an update to its "Google Play services" feature for phones powered by its Android software. As a result, more people will have access to the technology even if their phone isn't being actively updated by manufacturers anymore.

What the companies didn't know is how many people need to sign up to make the system work, in part because the crisis itself is unprecedented. But together, the companies' software runs nearly all the billions of smartphones and tablets in use today.

This project brought to you by the Chinese Communist Party's Ministry of State Security...

The good news, FWIW, is that comments are running against the idea, in this article and in others elsewhere. (Even this jackboot licker here: Apple and Google are working together to fight COVID-19 but it's up to us to make it effective | Android Central)

I'm surprised...

...that President Trump hasn't been touting the wisdom of Robert Frost...

PSA, Cybersecurity Edition

Generating a Bunch Of "Internet Noise" Isn't Going to Hide Your Browsing Habits

I thought that was obvious, but maybe that's because traffic analysis is what I do did.

Note that the guy who wrote the "Internet Noise" app actually says in his write up of the thing that it's "protest-ware", not an actual privacy/security app.

Which seems pointless, but what do I know? If it makes you happy to clog system resources in a gesture the people you're protesting at won't even notice, go for it.

Retail Derpitude

Or: How To Alienate New Shooters!

So, a friend and co-worker surprised me by casually mentioning in conversation a week or two ago that she was having trouble finding a holster for her pistol.

I suppose she thought I knew she had bought herself a pistol, but up until a month or so ago we had spent quite a while on opposite shifts, and on those rare occasions when we did have a chance to chat over coffee it was usually over the stupidity of colleagues and/or management.

Anyway, I was glad to hear that she had avoided any pressure or "advice" to go with a snub nosed revolver or a .380, which are all too often recommended as "Lady's guns", and in deciding to go with a 9mm she went with a S&W M&P 9 Compact, rather than a Glock 43 or an S&W Shield because "the extra capacity seemed like a good idea."

Not only that, but she has eschewed off-body (purse, fanny pack) carry for reasons both practical and tactical.

Now, she has decided that for her purposes a cross-draw holster will work best. We discussed the potential drawbacks, and she acknowledged them, but feels that this will serve her best, and I refuse to push lest she decide either not to carry, or not to speak to me again... 😞

Thus we come to the derpitude, to wit, not only is she having trouble finding a cross-draw holster in stock, at least one dealer said that "nobody makes those."

Not "We don't stock those as there's not much call for them, let's see what I can order", but "No such thing".

Furthermore, he implied that there weren't (m)any holsters for the M&P 9 Compact at all!

{Insert Facepalm Meme Here}

Naturally, within half an hour or so I had forwarded her half a dozen links to various and sundry holster makers' wares for the M&P 9C, including cross-draws, highlighting holster makers local to us.

I also had to keep explaining that a cross-draw holster may be worn forward of the hip, but that referring to it as an appendix holster (as Minion #1 kept doing) was going to confuse people as to where and how you are planning to place the thing. ("No, I'm going to wear it for cross-draw." "I understand, but these days when you say 'appendix carry' people will assume you mean strong-side in waist band. With practice, this can be a very good way to carry concealed, but that's not what you intend.")

Hopefully her fashionable belts will support the holster, when she finally gets it...

Short Takes

Things I feel like I ought to have something for, but not a lot...

***

Burlington: How many heard the shooter described as "Hispanic-looking" and thought "Oh, bioy here we go again"?

Now, a 20 year old Turk living in America for years may or may not be a Muslim, or a devout one,at any rate, but I can just picture the meeting where some brasshat vetted the APB and said "Yeah, so what does 'Levantine' mean again? Yeah, that's what I thought, no."

At least the warnings against "backlash" don't seem as severe as usual. Or even the media are getting tired of them.

OTOH, I haven't been watching the press conferences because every time they come  on there's Governor Inslee hinting at gun control to come...

Even if all he had was what looks like a Ruger 10/22. Damned Fudd guns.

BTW, that mall which is said to have been posted, I am told that only the theater there is posted.  Like many states with licensed carry, IF every public entrance  is clearly posted, then you can be asked to leave if caught; if you return armed, or refuse to leave, you can be charge with misdemeanor trespass.

***

Charlotte: Looks to me like, even if he didn't have a gun in his hand, the police had every reason to believe he was going for one.

And even if they were wrong, burning down the city is not a good way to get your point across. Look what it did for my hometown...

Also, blocking the Interstate is not a good idea, especially when you ar doing it in such a manner as to give motorists reason to believe that you are threatening them with grave bodily harm.

You might then give them reason to believe that their best course of action will be to put it in drive (or maybe "low") and move forward. 

• Reginald Denny
• Marian Pyszko 

Note that "drive on" is not meant to mean "deliberately run people down." But is they are pounding on your car, yelling threats, throwing rocks, trying to rock it and overturn it, well, they're playing stupid games, they should be prepared to win stupid prizes.

***

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners has determines that the proper response of Los Angeles' Finest to armed suspects should be to... run away.

LAPPL - Los Angeles Police Protective League: Police Commission tells officers to run away, or else

The officers didn’t run away. The Commission, armed with video and their own political agenda broke down the footage frame by frame to determine that in the course of seconds, the first officer whose “position initially provided Officer C with a position of tactical advantage” lost the advantage as the suspect charged him. They wrote, “this advantage rapidly diminished as the Subject continued her advance, leaving him with neither distance nor effective cover as the Subject approached the space between two parked vehicles by which Officer C was located.”

Suspect charging from the front. Vehicles on either side. Where do you “redeploy?” Run backwards. This is absurd and it’s dangerous. What happens if the officer loses his footing with a charging suspect? What happens if the suspect runs into a nearby home or store and confronts its occupants with her weapon? What if the suspect also had a concealed gun? What is created when an officer turns tail and runs away is a large target. It’s called a back. The officer would put their lives in further jeopardy by running away if the suspect had a gun. At this close range, running away would create a self-caused danger to the officers and the public.

Chief Beck, who has absolutely no problem finding fault with officers, agreed with these officers’ actions. The Commission, with a grand total of zero years of experience in law enforcement, overruled the Chief’s decision. The Commissioners created an alternative set of facts that acknowledged that the officer was right to believe his life was in jeopardy but found fault with the officer shooting the knife-wielding suspect because the officer should have run away.

Hmmm, I wonder how the mayor would feel if his protective detail yelled "gun!" and...ran away?

James Comey Should Resign

That is all.

GOAL Post 2016-11

 Once again, the state legislature has to go into overtime. Looks like this time they are consipring to raise yet more money for education. Funny how every year we pay more and more for that, and every year it seems to be even less sufficient...

But that's for a different series of posts...

***

FROM: GOAL WA <goalwa@cox.net>

TO: undisclosed-recipients:

SENT: Fri 3/18/2016 5:56 PM

SUBJECT: GOAL Post 2016-11

Legislative Update from Olympia, 18 March 2016

• FOUR BILLS STILL SIT ON GOVERNOR’S DESK
• BUDGET IMPASSE CONTINUES

The four firearm-related bills passed by the legislature still sit on the governor’s desk awaiting his action: sign into law, veto/partial veto, or allow to become law without his signature.

House and Senate budget conferees have been working inside that traditional smoke-filled back room, but so far without results acceptable to both sides.  Last year it took three special sessions!  The hang-up appears to be on raises for school teachers – and how to pay for the raises.

BILL STATUS:

Bill #	Subject	Prime sponsor	Status	GOAL position on bill
SHB 2410	Felon gun registry	Hayes (R-10)	To governor	SUPPORT
2SHB 2793	Suicide awareness and prevention	Orwall (D-33)	To governor	SUPPORT
HB 2908	Use of force by peace officers	Ryu (D-32)	To governor	NEUTRAL
SB 6165	Clarifies possession of short barreled rifles	Takko (D-19)	To governor	SUPPORT

Key to abbreviations:  S. = Senate, H. = House, Jud = Judiciary, L&J = Law & Justice, W&M = Ways & Means

HEARINGS SCHEDULED: None

LEGISLATIVE HOT LINE:  You may reach your Representatives and Senator by calling the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000.  Toll free!!!  The hearing impaired may obtain TDD access at 1-800-635-9993.  Also toll free!!!

1-800-562-6000   TDD 1-800-635-9993

OTHER DATA:  Copies of pending legislation (bills), legislative schedules and other information are available on the legislature's web site at "www.leg.wa.gov".  Bills are available in Acrobat (.pdf) format.  You may download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe's web site (http://www.adobe.com).  You may also obtain hard copy bills, initiatives, etc, in the mail from the Legislative Bill Room FREE OF CHARGE by calling 1-360-786-7573.  Copies of bills may also be ordered toll free by calling the Legislative Hotline at (800) 562-6000.  You may also hear floor and committee hearing action live at http://www.tvw.org/ (you need "RealAudio" to do this, available free at the TVW web site).

By reading the House and Senate "bill reports" (hbr, sbr) for each bill, you can see how individual committee members voted.  By reading the "roll call" for each bill, you can see how the entire House or Senate voted on any bill.  The beauty of the web site is that ALL this information is available, on line, to any citizen.

GET THE WORD OUT:  If you want to subscribe to the GOAL Post by e-mail, send a message to "jwaldron@halcyon.com" or to "goalwa@cox.net.".  Please pass GOAL Post on to anyone you believe may have an interest in protecting our rights.  Better yet, make a couple of copies of this message, post it on your gun club’s bulletin board, and leave copies with your local gun shop(s).  PERMISSION IS HEREBY GRANTED TO DUPLICATE OR REDISTRIBUTE GOAL POST PROVIDED IT IS REPRODUCED IN ITS ENTIRETY WITHOUT TEXTUAL MODIFICATION AND CREDIT IS GIVEN TO GOAL.  I can be reached at "jwaldron@halcyon.com" or by telephone at (425) 985-4867.  

Upcoming WAC gun show(s):

Puyallup              19-20 March

Monroe                  2-3 April

For more information about WAC, see:  https://washingtonarmscollectors.org/

"The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men."

Article 1, Section 24

Constitution of the State of Washington

Copyright 2016 Gun Owners Action League of WA

How special

Local man accused of supporting ISIS

Federal prosecutors say a Washington state Army deserter who made statements supporting fighters from the Islamic State group has been charged with illegally possessing firearms, including a machine gun.
Daniel Seth Franey, 33, has lived in Montesano for the last three years, working as a commercial fisherman out of Westport.
He appeared before a judge Monday afternoon, charged with six felony counts for illegally possessing automatic weapons and other firearms.
The investigation started after a few people went to police saying Franey talked about his support for ISIL and his desire to kill Americans.

Once again, many if not most of the evidence comes from "undercover Federal agents", posing the question "Which came first, the plot or the investigation?"

In this case at least, the court documents at the linked article indicate that "Witness 1" contacted the local sheriff's office, which is what launched this particular investigation.

An interesting -- and scary -- read (Times two)

The Intelligence Lessons of San Bernardino | | Observer

While the importance of metadata to American counterterrorism will continue to be a hot-button topic, the disastrous effect of the Snowden affair and its political aftershocks on our intelligence agencies is not up for debate. Neither is the fact, as attested to by several Western intelligence chiefs, that Snowden’s leaks have made terrorists more careful in their communications, and therefore more difficult to intercept. Just as bad, several top secret NSA programs, beyond metadata, that assisted counterterrorism have been downscaled since 2013 out of fears they may “look bad” if leaked.

“Before Snowden we had a definite bias for action,” explained a senior NSA official with extensive experience in counterterrorism. “But now we all wonder how the White House will react if this winds up in the newspapers.” “It’s all legal,” the official added, “the lawyers have approved, and boy do we have lots of lawyers – but will Obama throw us under the bus again?”

That concern is widespread in American counterterrorism circles, where the Obama administration’s worries about appearing “Islamophobic” are well known. This White House early on warned intelligence personnel about using the term “Islamic terrorism” even in classified reports that would never be released to the public. “Since 2009 we’ve opened investigations of groups we knew to be harmless,” explained a Pentagon counterterrorism official, “they weren’t Muslims, and we needed some ‘balance’ in case the White House asked if we were ‘profiling’ potential terrorists.”

 Edited to add: Administration nixed probe into Southern California jihadists | TheHill

We had these two groups in our sights; if the investigation had continued and additional links been identified and dots connected, we might have given advance warning of the terrorist attack in San Bernardino. The combination of Farook’s involvement with the Dar Al Uloom Al Islamiyah Mosque and Malik’s attendance at al-Huda would have indicated, at minimum, an urgent need for comprehensive screening. It could also have led to denial of Malik’s K-1 visa or possibly gotten Farook placed on the No Fly list.

But after more than six months of research and tracking; over 1,200 law enforcement actions and more than 300 terrorists identified; and a commendation for our efforts; DHS shut down the investigation at the request of the Department of State and DHS’ own Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Division. They claimed that since the Islamist groups in question were not Specially Designated Terrorist Organizations (SDTOs) tracking individuals related to these groups was a violation of the travelers’ civil liberties. These were almost exclusively foreign nationals: When were they granted the civil rights and liberties of American citizens?

Worse still, the administration then went back and erased the dots we were diligently connecting. Even as DHS closed my investigation, I knew that data I was looking at could prove significant to future counterterror efforts and tried to prevent the information from being lost to law enforcement. In 2013, I met with the DHS Inspector General in coordination with several members of Congress to attempt to warn the American people’s elected representatives about the threat.

In retaliation, DHS and the Department of Justice subjected me to a series of investigations and adverse actions, including one by that same Inspector General. None of them showed any wrongdoing; they seemed aimed at stopping me from blowing the whistle on this problem. Earlier this year, I was finally able to honorably retire from government and I’m now taking my story to the American people as a warning.

Point Of Order!

People keep saying that the San Bernardino terrorists' AR15s were purchased legally, and then illegally modified.

The modifications WERE illegal, but the ARs were pruchased as part of a starw sale:
San Bernardino shooter used friend to dodge gun check, may have planned larger attack, sources say - LA Times

...one of the shooters in last week’s massacre at a San Bernardino social services center, asked a friend to buy two rifles used in the attack so he could dodge a federal background check and also may have been planning an even larger assault, according to government sources familiar with the ever-widening investigation.

One of the sources said Thursday that {dirtbag who's name I will not repeat} wanted to make sure “the guns were not tied back to him” when he asked Enrique Marquez to make the purchases at a Southern California gun store in 2011 or 2012. {DwnIwnr} feared he “wouldn’t pass a background check” if he attempted to acquire the military-style rifles on his own, the source said.

Gee, illegal activity facilitated terrorism.Who'd'u thunk it?

Not that I expect this fact to penetrate the hate-filled, bigoted skulls of those engaged in the "Let's Ban Guns!" blooddance.

They have to tell them this?

Sheriff tells off-duty deputies to carry firearms, extra ammo | The Seattle Times

“While off-duty I am asking all commissioned personnel to always carry their sidearm, with extra magazines. I know that some of you already do, but many do not. Now is the time! With all that is going in the world, it is more important than ever to have the means to protect your family, the public, and yourself.”

I know that some agencies don't require that officers be armed off-duty -- and a few prohibit it -- but it never occurred to me that the KCSO left it optional.

Related?:

• Gunfire Erupts in Police Operation Near Paris - NBC News
• Map of Terror: Where Will ISIS Strike Next? - NBC News

ATTENTION, EURO-WEENIES!

After hitting "Publish" on my previous post, I noticed on the "Dashboard" that Google has the following advisory:

European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent.

As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies.

You are responsible for confirming this notice actually works for your blog, and that it displays. If you employ other cookies, for example by adding third party features, this notice may not work for you. Learn more about this notice and your responsibilities.

The only cookies I know anything about are the ones my wife bakes, or, under extreme duress, we purchase at the store.

If any cookies end up on your computer (or whatever you call it in Euro-speak) they were put there without my knowledge.

Especially since that apparently means you're too stupid to block cookies and the like. Sheesh, it's the Twenty-First Century, people! 

I deny any responsibility for anything that may happen to you or your devices while visiting my subversive, pro-liberty, anti-authoritarian blog.

Unless you start agitating for your country to ditch the EU and EC, and start organizing on libertarian principles.  I'm all over taking credit for that.

And Google can go take a flying leap, too. Paying Word Press is looking better every day.

Magical Thinking

Or The Obama Misadministration summed up in one picture:

Stolen from.

What He Said

Screw The Facebooks... - The Minuteman

So. This makes three. Does that make it enemy action?

About that... OPM Data Breach Edition

Insty has a link to an ABC report: Instapundit » Blog Archive » MASSIVE OPM HACK EVEN WORSE THAN THOUGHT: OPM Hack Far Deeper Than Publicly Acknowledged, Went Undetected For More Than A Year, Sources Say...

The massive hack into federal systems announced last week was far deeper and potentially more problematic than publicly acknowledged, with hackers believed to be from China moving through government databases undetected for more than a year, sources briefed on the matter told ABC News.

"If [only] they knew the full extent of it," one U.S. official said about those affected by the intrusion into the Office of Personnel Management's information systems.

It all started with an initial intrusion into OPM's systems more than a year ago, and after gaining that initial access the hackers were able to work their way through four different "segments" of OPM's systems, according to sources.

By some accounts, the data exposed goes back 20 or 30 years.

And may have been stored unencrypted.

It inspired this: Rick Wilson's rant on OPM breach (with tweets) · faceattack · Storify

Which came out BEFORE this: Daily Pundit: OPM Got Hacked Because It Handed Root to the People’s Republic of China Three Years Ago
Quoting Ars Technica:

A consultant who did some work with a company contracted by OPM to manage personnel records for a number of agencies told Ars that he found the Unix systems administrator for the project “was in Argentina and his co-worker was physically located in the [People’s Republic of China]. Both had direct access to every row of data in every database: they were root. (!!!) Another team that worked with these databases had at its head two team members with PRC passports. I know that because I challenged them personally and revoked their privileges. From my perspective, OPM compromised this information more than three years ago and my take on the current breach is ‘so what’s new?'”

(Emphasis added)

But good news! Now it will get traction: Instapundit » Blog Archive » A DEBACLE OF THE FIRST ORDER: OPM tells lawmakers their information was likely stolen….

Attention, Facebook Friends!

Facebook wants me to upload digital copies of my photo ID to them.

Fuck that.

Sorry, it's been real.

Politicians playing politics with political games...

So, apparently Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson (Jeh?) is lobbying for folks to call their congresscritter and demand that the DHS Budget be passed.

For anyone not paying attention--which includes those disgusted with politics, and who can blame them?--the issue is that the House passed a DHS budget which specifically did not include funding for His Imperial Majesty, Barack Hussein Obama's proposed immigration amnesty.

The Senate has not even been able to vote on same due to a Democratic filibuster.

Part of Secretary Johnson's reasoning runs along the lines of "With ISIS/ISIL and Al Qaeda and Boko Haram and Al Shabab and all those other touchy-feely members of the Religion of Peace acting up, this is no time to play politics with money for Homeland Security!"

Some thoughts:

• If the goat-humping neo-barbs are such a threat, maybe we should be tightening up on immigration, not throwing open the gates.
• A year ago the filibuster was a tool of the devil. Now it is the sacred right of the minority party.
• I guess it's only playing politics when the other guy doesn't do what you want.
• Maybe it's just me, but I'm a little annoyed by a cabinet secretary lobbying like this.
• I was going to comment on the hypocrisy of blaming the GOP for this, but never mind.
• And, of course, the media playing cheerleader for HIMBHO & Minions.

I think I need to go re-inventory ammo...

"Life In The Caliphate"

As a follow-up to my previous post:
The American Interest has also published Caliphatalism? a look at Life Under the Caliphate.

"What ISIS Really Wants" - The Atlantic

What ISIS Really Wants - The Atlantic


Long article, amazed that it was published by The Atlantic.