That Doesn't Make It Right

Our Rights: Defend Them Or Lose Them

A long time ago, I put my life on the line by swearing an oath to support and defend the rights of United States Citizens, one of which reads like this:

"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."

I didn't toss that oath aside when I left military service, and although I haven't lived it to perfection, I do consciously strive to fulfill it.

If you haven't read the First Amendment to the United States Constitution lately, I challenge you to do so, and then recommit yourself to support and defend those rights for yourself and others.

The NFL Is a Non-Profit!?

I really hope this isn't true, but things like this don't really surprise me any more. If I discover it is true, I'm going to research how Paul Tannahill & Associates can become a not-for-profit organization. 

Now accepting applications for new Associates.

A Stimulating Simulation Conversation

"It could take some time to collect enough data to begin peeling back the paint of our universe to see if the walls have been constructed from ones and zeros rather than actual wood."

Read more here.

How to Effectively Beat A Red-Light Camera Ticket

Yes, I know, I also prefer original and fresh content on the various blogs I read. So don't bother reading this excellent blog post about how you might be able to deal effectively with a traffic cam ticket. I don't care, I saved the copy in Evernote, just in case…

You Probably Can't Stomach Another Example of Racism, But…

… check out all of these RACISTS stating opposition to Obama and ObamaCare!

I'm Adding Oprah To My List…

Oprah Winfrey's comments here disgust me. She simply cannot comprehend that some (actually, a LOT of) reasonable people could hold opinions very different from her own, so the only thing her self-limited mind can offer up is that it must be a shallow bias such as racial prejudice. Sadly, she is among many who attempt to marginalize people with differing opinions with that incessant, nonsensical and unsubstantiated claim.

And before you say it, Oprah's comments (NOT Oprah herself) disgust me not because she is "African American," but because she peddles her unearned political influence to shut down meaningful and reasonable dialog about extremely important issues (and not-so-important issues, too, like a $40,000 purse, but that's another reason altogether to be disgusted…).

I notice the only way the Far Left usually refers to anyone they disagree with as "racist" is behind their online anonymity or some other indirect way. Why don't they just come up to us in person and spew that crap to our face?
…
I sent this message to the Oprah Winfrey Facebook page:

Oprah, please don't stoop to race-baiting. A lot of reasonable people hold opinions and beliefs very different from President Obama, and those differences have nothing to do with racial prejudice. Making accusations like you made here:

(link to above video)

may serve to substantiate the popular narrative that Conservatives are mostly racists, but it alienates us and marginalizes our views. Wouldn't you rather be know for listening to and discussing a variety of opinions and outlooks, or are you only interested in left-leaning perspectives? The Right listens to the Left's positions all the time - how about facilitating some balanced dialog that builds on what we all have in common, and moves us all forward from there, since the old "divide and conquer" tactics don't seem to have worked out so well?
…
Wanna join me in holding my breath, waiting for a reply?

Is This a Little Too Thought-Provoking?

This may be just a little too thought-provoking for some, but here goes:

How many of you remember when the APA removed general homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in 1973? I do. Do you remember concern being raised that the APA would someday do the same for pedophilia? I do.

Guess what.

Since I'm probably on a roll here with provocation of thought, I might as well add a little something as I wonder whether this has had any influence on the APA's latest move:

If you have no idea what any of this has meant, currently means, and will mean to the American culture and society in the future, I suggest you wake up, study up, and stop being part of the problem.

Dare I Add to What The Dalai Lama Said?

"We are visitors on this planet. We are here for ninety, one hundred years at the very most. During that period, we must try to do something's good, something useful with our lives. Try to be at peace with yourself, and help others share that peace. If you contribute to other people's happiness, you will find the goal, the true meaning of life."

- The Dalai Lama 

If I might be so bold as to add:

"If you make it your life's work to help others contribute to other people's happiness, you will have both found and shined light on the goal for others to see, and strengthened the true meaning of life for all humanity."

- Paul Tannahill

The Old "Guns On Campus" Issue Revisited

At the college where I work, students and other campus visitors who hold a concealed weapons permit are allowed by statute to carry concealed on campus, but employees are not, because of a college policy. This results in the college not permitting people it knows from being able to defend themselves and other employees and students, but letting relative strangers carry freely. As a former Marine and law enforcement weapons instructor, it seems a little out of whack to me, as well as to numerous responsible permit-holding employees I know.

Please don’t strike back with an emotion-laden response to this issue, as a wealth of solid facts and statistics back up the position that a policy that allows trained and license concealed carry permit holding employees to carry in the workplace drastically reduces workplace violence. I have studied this issue for years, and I encourage you to do your own research if it concerns you.

This story brought all of these thoughts to mind for me.

Treat People Different To Give Them Equality. Wait… Huh?

From an old Facebook note I wrote a couple of years ago:

---

I attended an education symposium yesterday, where I heard these statements from a panel of educators promoting “equality” for students of color:

“If you want high grades for people of color, you have to reward faculty based on that model.”

"Students need educators that look like they look."

"Treat different people and situations differently - that's the only way we can achieve equality."

I was just a tag-along at this symposium, probably the least-educated and lowest-ranking person in the entire room, so I didn’t offer up a comment to the panel, but if I would have, it would have sounded something like this:

“I’m a newcomer to academia, having built my career in the workforce, in military, government, and private sector workplace training and development. We had pretty much moved past the point of stressing about people’s skin color and race (there is only ONE race: human), but instead promoted the general idea that we all are to strive to further the organizational mission by training and supporting people in their various roles. A red man hires a brown woman to supervise a yellow man to help a black woman train a white man for his new job, with everybody recognizing each other as just people - that’s what gets the job done. “Red, Brown, Yellow, Black and White, they are precious in His sight.” And they are all precious in OUR sight, too.

Accommodating and enabling relationships built on skin color (or, as you call it, “race”) does our students a disservice, and does not prepare them well for life out there in the real world, the workplace that has largely moved past a perpetual focus on differences, and toward a focus on what we have in common to contribute to the mission. You may want to continue embracing  your old-fashioned race-based quotas and efforts to divide along lines of skin color, but the real world movers are PEOPLE who practice mutual respect and dignity across all lines of differences.”

iOS 7 First Impression

I like iOS 7 so far, but I miss the drop shadows behind the icons. The 2-dimensional flat look reminds me of Windoze. The next update to Mac OS X sure better not follow suit, or I'll start a "Give Us Our Mac OS & iOS Drop Shadows Back!" Facebook group. 

Help Kickstart World War 3!

Polar Shift Plotted

Want to see how much the magnetic North Pole has been migrating over the last couple of decades (it averages about 25 miles a year), and where it is projected to move in the near future? Download this file and open it in Google Earth.

Amazing Flash Flood / Debris Flow Southern Utah

Boy Prays to Barack Obama

How To Turn A Beer Can Into The Only Camping Stove You'll Ever Need

How To Turn A Beer Can Into The Only Camping Stove You'll Ever Need from Tom Allen on Vimeo.

Document Expert Could Topple Obama

Question: "How will Obama’s lawyers discredit a forensic document expert that their own law firm extensively relied on? Answer: They won’t be able to discredit him. If they do happen to try to discredit him, every single case Perkins Coie has employed Reed Hayes for will also be discredited."

Read more here.

What a Tragic, Wasted Opportunity

I am just so sad that the first black president of the United States turned out to be such a divisive, hating failure. He has turned out to be something else this country will be ashamed of in the history books, should we last long enough to have history books that tell the story of this time. What a tragic, wasted opportunity.

Martha Finney

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Why Aren't We Here Yet?

California Democrats Pass Bill That Protects Pedophiles

"When the law was passed in California, Republicans did attempt to add an amendment specifying that pedophilia is not covered as an orientation, but the Democrats defeated the amendment.  What the Democrats either failed to realize or didn't care about was that, by labeling pedophilia a sexual orientation, discrimination laws apply and pedophiles cannot be barred from jobs such as teaching preschool based solely on their pedophilia."

How anyone can embrace this evil ideology is beyond me (and don't even get me started on abortion!).

Source:

http://www.charlesmphipps.com/2013/04/california-democrats-pass-bill-that.html?m=1

Let's Be Like Laos

I just read an article about Laos. We bombed them extremely heavily them during the Vietnam war, and they weren't even involved. People there are still getting killed from unexploded US bombs and mines. The writer noticed how nobody he met seemed to be resentful or angry about it. They only expressed kindness and forgiveness. He finally asked his tour guide if their forgiveness is genuine. He replied by asking if anger can change the past.

Atlas Shrugged

Have you read and/or watched Atlas Shrugged? If so, what did you think of it? If not, why not, and what are you waiting for?

What The Heck Is That Guy Doing!?

Wife-Beating Tutorial

In case you ever need to beat your rebellious or disobedient wife, here is the authorized way to do it. Just be sure to use the correct rod.

Get On With The Disclosure Already!!!

Call me a kook for believing in UFOs (well, I'm not sure yet, but leaning more in that direction all the time), but if governments around the world are going to admit they have been in contact with extraterrestrial life - actual "disclosure," then I definitely want to be alive when that happens. Imagine how our lives will be impacted just by the simple knowledge that extraterrestrial life exists, and that they have been engaging this planet and the human race for many years now. That is, of course, if it really is true.

Below is some footage I had never seen before until very recently. I have to say, knowing what I know about computer graphics, if all of these incidents are fake, then a lot of regular people have some pretty extraordinary (think professional movie production) special effects skills, and they are wasting those skills on duping people for fun. Hmmm…

Paul Hellyer, Canadian Minister of National Defense offered a public disclosure just a few day ago. “Just as children survive the idea of the tooth fairy and Santa Claus when they become adult, I think the taxpaying citizens are quite capable of accepting the new and broader reality that we live in a cosmos teaming with life of various sorts.”

Former CIA Officer Gives Deathbed Testimony About UFOs

UFO Disclosure Continues As Former U.S. Senators Add Testimonies

I am looking for a video I watched a few weeks ago that made it clear that this idea of "disclosure" is looking like other momentous events in scientific discovery: the discoverer of newly-discovered facts are marginalized and even abused by those who can't tolerate their world being shaken up. If and when I locate that video, I will add it to this post, so stay tuned!

Banned Flight 93 News Video

By George, I Think He Got It (Right)!

George Orwell’s future is upon us.

Liberty is no longer being eroded a bit at a time; it’s being ripped away in chunks, in the name of “security.”

Modern-Day Prophecy?

This was written by a pastor's wife in biblical prose as a commentary of current events. It is brilliant.

And it came to pass in the Age of Insanity that the people of the land Called America , having lost their morals, their initiative, and their Will to defend their liberties, chose as their Supreme Leader that Person known as "The One."

He emerged from the vapors with a message that had no meaning; but He Hypnotized the people telling them, "I am sent to save you." My lack Of experience, my questionable ethics, my monstrous ego, and my Association with evil doers are of no consequence. I shall save you With hope and Change. Go, therefore, and proclaim throughout the Land that he who proceeded me is evil, that he has defiled the nation, And that all he has built must be destroyed. And the people rejoiced, For even though they knew not what "The One" would do, he had promised. That it was good; and they believed. And "The One" said "We live in The greatest country in the world. Help me change everything about it!" And the people said, "Hallelujah! Change is good!" Then He said, "We are going to tax the rich fat-cats." And the People said "Sock it to them!" "And redistribute their wealth." And The people said, "Show us the money!" And then he said, " Redistribution of wealth is good for everybody."

And Joe the plumber asked, "Are you kidding me? You are going to Steal my money and give it to the deadbeats??" And "The One" Ridiculed and taunted him, and Joe's personal records were hacked and publicized. One lone reporter asked, "Is that not Marxist policy?" And she was Banished from the kingdom.

Then a citizen asked, "With no foreign relations experience and Having zero military experience or knowledge, how will you deal with Radical terrorists?" And "The One" said, "Simple. I shall sit with Them and talk with them and show them how nice we really are; and they will forget that they ever wanted to kill us all!" And the people Said, "Hallelujah!! We are safe at last, and we can beat our weapons Into free cars for the people!"

Then "The One" said "I shall give 95% of you lower taxes." And one, Lone voice said, "But 40% of us don't pay ANY taxes." So "The One" Said, "Then I shall give you some of the taxes the fat-cats pay!" And the people said, "Hallelujah! Show us the money!"

Then "The One" said, "I shall tax your Capital Gains when you sell Your homes!" And the people yawned and the slumping housing market Collapsed. And He said. "I shall mandate employer-funded health care For every worker and raise the minimum wage. And I shall give every Person unlimited healthcare and medicine and transportation to the Clinics." And the people said, "Give me some of that!" Then he said, "I shall penalize employers who ship jobs overseas." And the people said, "Where is my rebate check?"

Then "The One" said, "I shall bankrupt the coal industry and Electricity rates will skyrocket!" And the people said, "Coal is Dirty, coal is evil, no more coal! But we do not care for that part About higher electric rates." So "The One" said, Not to worry. If Your rebate is not enough to cover your expenses, we shall bail you out. Just sign up with the ACORN and you troubles are over!"

Then He said, "Illegal immigrants feel scorned and slighted. Let us Grant them amnesty, Social Security, free education, free lunches, Free medical care, bi-lingual signs and guaranteed housing..." And The people said, "Hallelujah!" and they made him king!

And so it came to pass that employers, facing spiraling costs and Ever-higher taxes, raised their prices and laid off workers. Others Simply gave up and went out of business and the economy sank like unto A rock dropped from a cliff.

The banking industry was destroyed. Manufacturing slowed to a Crawl. And more of the people were without a means of support.

Then "The One" said, "I am the "the One"- The Messiah - and I am here To save you! We shall just print more money so everyone will have Enough!" But our foreign trading partners said unto Him. "Wait a minute. Your dollar is not worth a pile of camel dung! You will have to pay more... And "The One" said, "Wait a minute. That is unfair!!" And the world said, "Neither are these other idiotic programs you have embraced. Lo, you have become a Socialist state and a second-rate power. Now you shall play by our rules!"

And the people cried out, "Alas, alas!! What have we done?" But yea verily, it was too late. The people set upon The One and spat upon him and stoned him, and his name was dung. And the once mighty nation was no more; and the once proud people were without sustenance or shelter or hope. And the Change "The One" had given them was as like unto a poison that had destroyed them and like a whirlwind that consumed all that they had built.

And the people beat their chests in despair and cried out in anguish, "give us back our nation and our pride and our hope!!" But it was too late, and their homeland was no more.

Are We On Autopilot?

"… everything we do is based on repeating things we have done in the past without questioning whether or not it can be done differently. We simply perpetuate beliefs and theories that we are afraid to update."

Read more here.

Did DOJ Monitor Phones of Members of Congress?

Breaking! Gun Confiscation Leads to Armed Conflict

BOSTON - National guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned assault weapons were ambushed on April 19th by elements of a para-military extremist faction.

Military and law enforcement sources estimate that 72 were killed and more than 200 injured before government forces were compelled to withdraw.

Speaking after the clash Massachusetts Governor Thomas Gage declared that the extremist faction, which was made up of local citizens, has links to the radical right-wing tax protest movement.

Gage blamed the extremists for recent incidents of vandalism directed against internal revenue offices. The governor, who described the group's organizers as "criminals," issued an executive order authorizing the summary arrest of any individual who has interfered with the government's efforts to secure law and order.

The military raid on the extremist arsenal followed wide-spread refusal by the local citizenry to turn over recently outlawed assault weapons.

Gage issued a ban on military-style assault weapons and ammunition earlier in the week. This decision followed a meeting in early this month between government and military leaders at which the governor authorized the forcible confiscation of illegal arms.

One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out that "none of these people would have been killed had the extremists obeyed the law and turned over their weapons voluntarily."

Government troops initially succeeded in confiscating a large supply of outlawed weapons and ammunition. However, troops attempting to seize arms and ammunition in Lexington met with resistance from heavily-armed extremists who had been tipped off regarding the government's plans.

During a tense standoff in Lexington 's town park, National Guard Colonel Francis Smith, commander of the government operation, ordered the armed group to surrender and return to their homes.

The impasse was broken by a single shot, which was reportedly fired by one of the right-wing extremists.

Eight civilians were killed in the ensuing exchange. Ironically, the local citizenry blamed government forces rather than the extremists for the civilian deaths.

Before order could be restored, armed citizens from surrounding areas had descended upon the guard units. Colonel Smith, finding his forces overmatched by the armed mob, ordered a retreat.

Governor Gage has called upon citizens to support the state/national joint task force in its effort to restore law and order. The governor also demanded the surrender of those responsible for planning and leading the attack against the government troops.

The ringleaders of the extremist faction, identified as Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John Hancock, remain at large.

April 20, 1775

Enjoy Your Bus Ride

Every now and then (ok, quite often), my good friend Jason Smith posts an extremely clear and concise essay that hits the nail on the head. This is definitely one of his best pieces:

Does anyone know what these words actually mean? Republican, and Democrat. In a democracy (where the word democrat comes from, those who follow that doctrine) the people vote, and the majority rules.

This means that everyone must obey the rules set by the majority. It doesn't matter what your personal belief is, you are expected to follow the majority's rule. If the majority votes to drive the bus off a cliff, you are expected to sit quietly in your seat and ride along.

A republic (supported in principal by republicans) is founded on individual rights. No matter what the majority decides, you as an individual have the privilege of your own opinion. You can ask the bus to stop, and you can get off before it heads over the cliff.

Basically you have two choices, individual rights (republican) or mob-rules (democrat).

A pet peeve of mine is when people say that America is a democracy. It is not, and never has been.

It was founded as, and still is today a republic.

Remember the pledge of allegiance? "To the REPUBLIC for which she stands?"

Anyone who claims to believe in INDIVIDUAL freedom, and votes democrat, needs to read a little history (and the dictionary).

Just saying.

[Original Post]

SoundCloud - BlogSpot

Testing it out.

What Is Conceptual Training?

A good friend asked me to send him my thoughts on "conceptual training," and to include three examples of effective conceptual training. Here is what I sent him:

---

1: Conceptual training is that which focuses on the theory (concepts) rather than practical application of concepts. A conceptual training event must be carefully targeted to deliver the right training to the audience. You have to clearly identify and iterate your training objectives to match the audience's training needs and expectations.

2a: Lecture presentation, followed by discussion (synchronous, then asynchronous)

2b: Reading and/or video assignment, followed by discussion (synchronous, then asynchronous)

2c: Role-play scenario, followed by discussion (synchronous, then asynchronous)

As you can see, I'm a big fan of student discussion as an integral part of the learning process. Live discussions, followed by online discussions are proven to greatly enhance learning and retention.

---

My friend didn't tell me this, but I bet he's angling for a new job. Good luck, George! Don't forget us little people!

Gun Advice from Uncle Joe!

CIA's Social Networking Tools

A panel of Social Media Experts discusses various well-known Social Networking tools that the CIA is using to spy on us. Fact or fiction?

"We Have Lost Our Republic…"

"All of us must act to get it back."

There is a corruption at the heart of American politics, caused by the dependence of Congressional candidates on funding from the tiniest percentage of citizens. That's the argument at the core of this blistering talk by legal scholar Lawrence Lessig. With rapid-fire visuals, he shows how the funding process weakens the Republic in the most fundamental way, and issues a rallying bipartisan cry that will resonate with many in the U.S. and beyond.

Lawrence Lessig has already transformed intellectual-property law with his Creative Commons innovation. Now he's focused on an even bigger problem: The US' broken political system.

"The Second Amendment is only about hunting…"

Said no informed American ever.

Retweeted!

Dear MSNBC, if our kids belong to you, do your kids belong to us too? If so, can we take them hunting after church in our big pickup truck?
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) April 9, 2013

Know Saul Alinsky, and You Know Barack Obama

The Battling Bastards of Benghazi

We're the Battling Bastards of Benghazi,

no fame, no glory, no paparazzi.

Just a fiery death in a blazing hell,

defending the country we loved so well.

It wasn't our job, but we answered the call,

fought to the consulate, 'n scaled the wall.

We pulled twenty countrymen from the jaws of fate,

led them to safety, 'n stood at the gate.

Just the two of us, 'n foe by the score,

but we stood fast to bar that door.

We called for reinforcement, but it was denied,

so we fought, 'n we fought, 'n we fought,

'n we died.

We gave our all for our Uncle Sam,

'n Obama didn't give a damn,

just two dead SEALS, who carried the load,

no thanks to us, we were bumps in the road.

Poem written by Col. William Bauer, USMC

"Why can't I get a job?"

Attention: Survivalists, Preppers, Zombie Killers, Separatists

From a good friend of mine, posted with permission:

Attention Survivalists, Preppers, Zombie Killers, Separatists, or whatever currently faddish group that you currently belong to, I have a few concerns about your methods.

Since I was a boy, I have been aware of a percentage of the American population that has been preparing for (fill in the blank here) to happen. While I applaud anyone that realizes the reality of certain scenarios playing out here on American soil, I have strong reservations regarding many of your methods.

Paramount to almost every preppers plan is to include the stockpiling of tens-of-thousands of rounds of ammunition. I will simply ask…why?

In America, the average number of rounds fired in a gunfight is between 2.1 and 3.7 (depending on the internet source that you chose to believe). Of course that is for a civilian "shootout" and usually between just two people. But…what about the Hollywood scenario of "you against the world" during an end-of-days battle between good and evil? How many rounds do you "need"?

Let start out with what professional warriors carry, in this case an average Army Infantry Squad.

Four M-4 carbines with 210 rounds (ea.) of 5.56.
Two M-203 Grenade Launchers with 210 rounds (ea.) of 5.56, and 84 rounds (ea.) of 40mm HE.
Two M-249 SAW's with 800-1000 rounds (ea.) of belted 5.56.
One M-14 (designated marksman rifle) with 40-80 rounds of 7.62.

Of course these numbers and weapon systems vary greatly depending on the unit in question, and the mission at hand. But we have to pick a starting point, so I chose this one. Deal with it.

I will assume that you do not have a belt-fed weapon, or grenade launcher, and that your personal weapon is something more like an AR-15. Assuming this, the professionals with the military equivalent of your weapon carry a basic load of 210 rounds. That’s 7, 30-round magazines.

The hit percentage of rounds fired vary greatly depending on the training of the individual and the given scenario, but the accepted "book" answer is that somewhere between 2 and 4% of all rounds fired in direct ground combat actually find a home in human flesh.

I will indulge you for a moment, and assume that you are a real-life Rambo, you are somehow more trained than any Green Beret, and that you are apparently bullet-proof. Let's say that your super-human hit percentage is a solid 10.

Assuming that you are carrying 210 rounds, this means that you can "expect" to hit 21 people with the ammunition that you are currently carrying. Okay, now for a little reality… those 21 people are most likely shooting back at you, and despite what Hollywood has led you to believe, they usually CAN shoot about as well as you (or at least to the more realistic 2-4% hit rate).

Ever thought about this? If it truly is "you against the world", those are some pretty crappy odds. I wouldn’t want to go up against them, and I guarantee you that I am a lot better trained than the average American sitting behind a computer (thank you US Taxpayers).

So, if you have 1000 rounds stockpiled, you are expecting to hit 100 people without getting a scratch.

If you have 10,000 rounds stockpiled, you are expecting to hit 1000 people without getting a scratch.

If you have 100,000 rounds stockpiled, you are expecting to hit 10,000 people without getting a scratch.

If you have 1,000,000 rounds stockpiled, you are expecting to hit 100,000 people without getting a scratch.

Umm…I hate to break it to you, but even Hollywood wouldn’t make a movie that was this unrealistic.

In October of 1993, two of the baddest men on this planet, with more training, motivation, and heart than God himself, were eventually killed by a pack of untrained, drug-crazed animals in a shit-hole called Mogadishu Somalia. Don’t for a damned second think that you are any better than those two men. Just don’t.

Believe me, there are much better ways to prepare for a bad scenario than stockpiling ammunition. Don’t get me wrong, I have plenty of it myself (because I like to shoot), but you need to truly understand that throwing money at a shelf full of ammunition does not somehow magically make you invincible.

Anyone with any military training knows that when outnumbered, your tactics change. You wouldn’t walk alone into a biker bar and set out to kick the entire places ass would you? Sound ridiculous? Well that’s exactly how I see you, as you stockpile yet another thousand rounds to collect dust in your basement. It is unrealistic, and only gives a false sense of security to the ignorant.

You want to survive an "end of days" scenario? Here's a tip, avoid direct contact at all costs with whatever enemy is hunting you. Stay away from places where you may be targeted, do not draw attention to yourself, and most importantly, you need to THINK. Think about what you really need. You need security, water, food, and possibly medical aid. That’s about it.

There are a million ways to obtain the above needs, and I will not bore you with my personal plan, other than that I would be hunting with a compound-bow instead of a firearm. (Remember the whole principal of not attracting attention.) I know this isn’t as glamorous as Rambo firing an M-60 from a helicopter, but hey, it’s a lot more realistic.

Now, with the above being said, would you whacko's please stop buying every damned box of ammo that is placed on a store shelf!? The rest of us normal people would like to buy a few boxes of ammo to actually use.

Thank you,

Jason S.

Mortal

The Era of Programming the Mind

by Jon Rappoport

February 22, 2013

www.nomorefakenews.com

If you want to track a civilization as it collapses, watch what happens to the concept of the rebel.

On a profound level, mass shootings and assassinations (whether staged or not) are used to define the ever-present "lone assassin" as the REPRESENTATION AND THE SYMBOL OF WHAT THE INDEPENDENT INDIVIDUAL IS.

You're a separate and distinct individual? An outsider? Watch out. Overnight, you could turn into a raging killer.

You happen to know an outsider, a loner? He's dangerous. He doesn't live by the rules the rest of us accept. He's deranged. Stay away from him. Shun him. And if you see the slightest indication of (insert your own term here), report him to the authorities.

"See a rebel, say something," to paraphrase the DHS motto.

Any human being who has courage, intelligence, eyes to see, and a determination to express his power in uncompromising terms can now be redefined as a potential threat to the stability of society---if he criticizes the prevailing Authority.

From the 1960s onward---starting with Lee Oswald and the assassination of JFK---the whole idea of "the rebel" with power has been sequentially updated and repackaged. This is intentional.

The objective is to equate "rebel" with a whole host of qualities---e.g., runaway self-serving paranoia; random destruction; out-of-control drug use; generalized hatred; the commission of crimes---qualities that will defeat the very notion of honorable and righteous and powerful opposition to fascist authority:

On a lesser, "commercialized" level, the new rebel can define himself by merely showing up at a concert to scream and drink heavily and break something, having already dressed to make a dissident fashion statement. He can take an afternoon off from college classes and have his arms tattooed. All the while, of course, he functions as an avid consumer of mainstream corporate products.

You even have people who, considering themselves rebels of the first order, support a government that spies on its people 24/7, launches military attacks all over the world, and now funds a Manhattan Project to map every move of the 100 billion neurons of the brain, for the ultimate purpose of controlling it.

More than ever, the individual has to explore and discover, with intelligence, a position that is FOR himself and AGAINST the concocted and sustained illusion called consensus reality.

When the individual embarks on this path, the external false definitions of him as rebel or outsider or mentally ill or criminal no longer matter. Instead, what matters is his deepest nature.

Even going back as far as the 1950s, the so-called decade of conformity, psyops professionals sculpted notions of The Rebel: He was the person who didn't want to take part in the emerging bland corporate culture.

He was presented as troubled and morose, a wobbly unfocused JD Salinger Holden Caulfield, or a beatnik, a Madison Avenue caricature of somebody who opposed Madison Avenue.

In other words, the people who were shaping the consumer culture were programming the image of the rebel as a cartoon figure who just didn't want to buy into "the good life."

Time Magazine ran a cover story on the beatniks, and characterized them as a disaffected trend. Marlon Brando, heading up a bunch of moronic motorcycle riders, invaded a town of pleasant clueless citizens and took it over, wreaking destruction. The 1953 movie was The Wild One. James Dean, who had the same trouble Brando did in getting out a complete sentence, was "the rebel without a cause" in the "iconic film" of the same name. He raced cars toward cliffs because his father couldn't understand him.

These were all puff pieces designed to make rebels look ridiculous, and they worked. They also functioned to transmit the idea to young people that being a rebel should be a showbiz affectation. That worked, too.

Then the 1960s arrived. Flower children, in part invented by the major media, would surely take over the world and dethrone fascist authority with rainbows. San Francisco was the epicenter. But Haight-Ashbury, where the flowers and the weed were magically growing out of the sidewalks, turned into a speed, acid, and heroin nightmare, a playground for psychopaths to cash in and steal and destroy lives. The CIA, of course, gave the LSD culture a major push.

For all that the anti-war movement eventually accomplished in ending the Vietnam war crime, in the aftermath all those college students who had been in the streets---once the fear of being drafted was gone---scurried into counselors' offices to see where they might fit into the job market after graduation. The military industrial complex took its profits and moved on, undeterred.

The idea of the rebel was gone. It later resurfaced as The Cocaine Dealer, the archangel of the 1980s.

And so forth and so on. All these incarnations of The Rebel were artificially created and sustained as psyops, for the purpose of deflating attempts at genuine and powerful rebellion. And, at bottom, the idea was to discredit the Individual, in favor of The Group.

Now, in our collectivist society of 2013, The Group, as a rapidly expanding victim class, is the government's number one project. While extolling this group as heroic and in constant need of help, the government is doing everything it can to crash the economy and widen the population of victims. It's a straight con. "We're here to make you worse off while we lift you up."

In the psyop to demean, distort, and squash the rebel, there is a single obvious common denominator: the establishment media are doing the defining; they are the ones who are setting the parameters and making the descriptions; they are the ones who build and program the cartoons; looking down their noses, pretending to a degree of sympathy, they paint one unflattering picture after another of what the rebel is and does and says; they have co-opted the whole game.

These days, the ultimate rebels, the media would have you believe, are the Tea Party and their affiliated "gun-toting racist bitter clingers who have religion." Another distorted unflattering portrait, meant not only to drive people away from the Tea Party, but also to prove the guilt, by association, of any person who says the federal government is unconstitutional and out of control.

"All the fascism is on the political Right. There can be no fascism on the Left." This is the major domestic policy of this administration---this absurd assertion.

The Rebel is real. But he has been covered up by media fabrications and caricatures.

You can take a whole host of political films and television series of the past 50 years, and look at them for signs of the Rebel: Seven Days in May, Advise and Consent, The Candidate, The Seduction of Joe Tynan, Dave, Primary Colors, The Contender, Good Night and Good Luck, The American President, West Wing, Scandal, The Newsroom...

Good acting, bad acting, drama, message---at the end you're looking for the core. What do the rebel heroes really stand for? What are their principles? It's all bland. It's vague. It has the posturing of importance, but little else. It's not meant to have real substance, only undefined affectation. The rebel takes action, but it's based on superficial slogan. It's another deflating caricature.

As I was finishing this piece, a friend wrote with a quote attributed to Robert Anton Wilson: "The universe is a war between reality programmers."

This is exactly where the real rebel enters the scene. He's not trying to program people. Freedom means cutting loose from programming.

The rebel dismantles inhibiting and artificial structures.

He doesn't go to the market and choose which reality program he wants. They're all used up as soon as they come out of the package.

The political fancy or trend or program of the moment is a hardened dream somebody borrowed to make mince meat out of the population. The rebel has no allegiance to any of this.

Albert Camus one wrote: "The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants, and it provides the further advantage of giving the servants of tyranny a good conscience.It would be easy, however, to destroy that good conscience by shouting to them: if you want the happiness of the people, let them speak out and tell what kind of happiness they want and what kind they don't want! But, in truth, the very ones who make use of such alibis know they are lies; they leave to their intellectuals on duty the chore of believing in them and of proving that religion, patriotism, and justice need for their survival the sacrifice of freedom."

"THIS or THAT" is the modern history of civilization: choose reality program A or B. The choice was always a con.

We're well into a time period when the experts and scientific authorities are settling on the human being as a biological machine that can only respond to programming. That's their view and their default position.

It's sheer madness, of course, but what else do you expect? We're in an intense technological age, and people are obsessed with making things run smoother. They treat their precious little algorithms for control like the Crown Jewels. They're terribly enthusiastic about the problem they're solving, and that problem is us.

We're the wild cards, a fact which they take to be result of our improper and incomplete conditioning. They aim to fix that.

There is---and has been, for a long time---a blended sequence in operation: a) observe; b) predict; c) control; d)re-create. "Well, we can see many patterns in this society. So we can make some predictions about what is going to happen. Actually, if we covertly introduce certain elements from the outside, we can control what happens. Why not stop diddling around and just make the whole thing over? Why not reshape humans?"

Having decided that, the battle begins between competing programmers of the mind. Which program for humans is better?

The rebel is against all such programming, no matter how "good and right" it sounds. Good and right are the traps:

"Well, certainly we could make a list of qualities we want all people to have. You know, the best qualities, like bravery and determination. Who could be against that? So suppose we could actually program such qualities into humans? Wouldn't that be a fine thing? Then people would just BE that way..."

The ultimate rebellion is against programming, whatever it looks like, wherever it occurs.

Jon Rappoport

The author of an explosive collection, THE MATRIX REVEALED, Jon was a candidate for a US Congressional seat in the 29th District of California. Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has worked as an investigative reporter for 30 years, writing articles on politics, medicine, and health for CBS Healthwatch, LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. Jon has delivered lectures and seminars on global politics, health, logic, and creative power to audiences around the world. You can sign up for his free emails atwww.nomorefakenews.com