What should a free man do?

Writer's cramp

I've read so many comments at so many blogs and news sites over the past few days about the Fort Hood shooter; people bantering back and forth about how horrible it is that Muslims ~ hereinafter referred to as disloyalists ~ are permitted to stand on American street corners and preach hatred toward the United States ~ and most of the banterers are not willing to do anything other than shake their little pudgy cyber-fists in front of computer images of these Isalmo-thugs and hurl threats they need to hush.

If you're not up to speed on this ugly phenomenon, take a good look at this video ~ and then this one.

Okay, then; had enough of these seditious "revolutionary" punks? Oops... disloyalists.  Instead of just whinin' about it, maybe it's time you got involved in the battle for freedom. Your choice, as always.

These disloyalists don't have more rights than you or me, they're just not afraid to take advantage of those rights, smack-dab in your face.

Here's what you might want to do if you decide to take a stand: Find out what the local  laws are pertaining to sidewalk demonstrations or speeches.  If you need a permit, you might be able to get one on-line. You also might be able to see who's been granted permits, what they're for or against, and where/when they'll be. You'll probably be interested in demonstrations/speeches by ... disloyalists, eh?

Know your local laws having to do with assault, harassment, threats, disorderly conduct, weapons carry/concealment, brandishing a weapon, and use of deadly force.  You need to know when the disloyalists are violating your rights and committing the first four offenses against you so you can notify cops, and have some idea if you can respond in kind ~ can you hit them back if they hit you ~ if they spit on you can you punch their fuckin' lights out. Some jurisdictions allow for "fighting words", understanding that there are words that can be said which legitimately provoke a man to strike another. Does your state have those laws? You need to know. You also need to know if you can carry a concealed weapon, and if you must attempt to retreat if threatened or if you can use reasonable force to stop the threat without looking for a getaway, and under what conditions you can take the life of another.

If you don't know these things, you need to stay on the porch... and stop calling yourself  Big Dog.

Everybody on the team need to know all these laws.  Team?

You're going to need, in my opinion, at least five people: one speaker, one flier hander-outer, one close protection person, and two counter-surveillance people.  

• Speaker stands as close to the disloyalists  as the law, available real estate and how the disloyalists are set up will permit.  Speaker simply reads aloud from a prepared text, over and over, in a clear, loud voice, at least as loud as the disloyalists are barking. Don't vary from the text because, if there is any complaint about you saying this or that to offend the tender sensibilities of the disloyalists, you can show the police what you were reading.  
• Flier hander-outer does just that: hands out fliers ~ the exact same flier from which the speaker is reading... over and over again.  Details on the text below.
• Guard does nothing but keep an eye on the disloyalists  from no more than 20' away, watches for signs of aggression from the "revolutionaries" ~ are they using comms of some sort to call in reserves, etc.. You need a cell phone/radio, maybe a weapon, gloves ~ try to get the kevlar-lined ones from on-line police supply sites. If you carry a hand-gun, plot your shots based on what's behind your potential targets and rehearse those shots in your mind. Only in your mind. Do nothing to appear aggressive or threatening.  Let counter-surveillance guy know if things are tensing up and he or she needs to start camera work/call cops.
• Counter-surveillance guys/girls, across the street behind the disloyalists, or off their flank no more than 100' away. Try to be inconspicuous.  You need a video camera, cell phone a/o radio, maybe a weapon if that's what you decide. Watches for more IslamoThugs coming to back-up their brothers, in which case you should notify the guard by radio, call the cops when/if you see that coming. Camera work when necessary. Know how to treat wounds.

If you choose to use signs and posters at intersections, you'll need:

• At least one sign-holder: holding signs, handing out brochures, answering questions.
• At least one close guard to watch sign-holder(s) and look for danger close. Guards do not hand out brochures or answer questions. They are watching for people driving up with weapons, vehicles that appear to be driving toward them with malicious intent, vehicles stopping and occupants getting out to head for the signers. Gunfire: push signers down/behind cover, which you need to identify before anybody lifts a sign. If your response plan includes returning hostile fire, you'd better be trained up, legal, and know where your rounds are going when you pull the trigger.
• Two counter-surveillance people a little way down the street. Watch for danger close to and approaching your team from all directions  ~ no more than 50 yards away from the signers. I'd put CS guys on both sides of the team, and behind if the terrain/situation dictates.  Warn the signers and guards so they can take evasive a/o protective measures. It might be good for you to have a first aid kit with some stuff for stopping major bleeding, as I suggest in this post right here. Actually, I'm going to suggest you hit that link and carefully read the entire post, including all the links.  

General thoughts:  

• It might be a good idea for the team to be wearing protective glasses to guard against spit, other liquids and thrown stuff. A change of clothes?
• Be sure you have with you all the permits and licenses necessary, including weapons permits if you intend to go armed. 
• Bring at least a hand-held recorder to tape confrontational chatter but be aware there may be laws prohibiting you from taping without permission from the disloyalists. Know the law.
• Get at least a pair of those little walk-talkie radios. They might be better than cell-phones for quick team comms.
• Don't move or touch the disloyalists' stuff. Is that apostrophe in the right place?
• Do not say Allah is not god, Mohammad was no prophet, the Qu'ran is not holy. That's just plain argumentative and that's all you'll get. And maybe a fight you don't need.
• Everyone on the team needs to understand they might end up in the hospital, jail, or dead because of what they're doing to confront these disloyalists.
• The team needs to rehearse before moving to contact the public. Rehearse what you'll do and say under normal conditions and if the situation goes bad.
• Be sure you're not followed on the way home. If you suspect you are being followed, drive to a police officer/station and report it ASAP.
• Never ever lie to the cops. Do what they tell you when they tell you to do it. If you feel it's wrong, get his or her badge number and report it later at the local station.
• If you are arrested, be sure to request fervently and sincerely that your name and address be redacted from any police report released to anyone other than another police angency.

Okay, after much searching, I found the website which has all the good stuff you need for making a public stand against these disloyalists, if you choose to do so.  Crazy Islam is right... here. Take a good look around and see the cool stuff and good info you can use in your quest, should you decide that way.

To give you a little head-start, questions for Muslims can be found here. 

And, you can find posters and signs to use at counter-demonstrations here.

Remember, you're not there to teach anyone a lesson or to shove anything down anyone's throat or play catch-up for Fort Hood or 9/11/01. Nope. You're there to offer the genuine truth to the same people the disloyalist liars are trying to reach.

Remember: what I've written here are just general thoughts and ideas I'd put into use if I was going into the valley of the shadow to stand up to some IslamoDirtbags. You may or may not use any or all of them ~ at your own discretion and risk. I'm not telling you to do anything. You decide and take responsibility for your actions, just like I do for mine.

Patty-cake, patty-cake

Take a look at this article to get an idea as to how sublimely ignorant and naive are those among us who often claim to be  the most discerning.  Christians are supposed to be light to the world, helping the lost see in the darkness.  They are to speak the truth.  Ergo, they are obligated to search for truth and to speak and act against that which is false. Since Islam is so demonstrably false, there is no excuse whatsoever for any Christian to take part in any Muslim celebration or rite.

Let's see if the precious, sensitive Christian souls who decided a Ramadan fast was just the thing to do also want to participate, condone and thereby enable the lovely Muslim religious rite called Ashoura.  The observance of Ashoura is one of the most senseless, bloody events in Islam.  Ashoura marks the anniversary of the death of Husayn, grandson of the so-called prophet...

 
Mohammad (Pestilence Be Upon Him)...

in what is now Kerbala, Iraq. The death of Husayn was the beginning of the Sunni/Shia split, which persists in Islam to this day.  And you thought evangelical denominational splits were ugly.

 

This piece of shit cut his son's head and smeared blood all over his face, to honor the dead kin of his supposed prophet (pus be upon him). Is there anything to feel warm and fuzzy about in this custom... or this "religion"?

In the past, Shia men have demonstrated their galacticly stupid devotion to Husayn by letting their blood flow freely from self-inflicted wounds. Can you possibly imagine Christians beating and bleeding themselves to prove their loyalty to Calvin or Arminius?  Not likely, eh?  Today, many governments have tried to ban the barbaric, crazed rite of Ashoura, with varying degrees of success. In Lebanon, the practice is permitted, and a bloody commemoration of Ashoura takes place in Nabatieh every year.

 

If there is a chance they will kill themselves off as they bleed to death in the gutter, maybe we should encourage these events to be put on weekly.

Most participants make a small cut on their head, and then beat the wound with their palm--or in this case a sword--to keep the wound open and bleeding.

 
  
This dip-shit probably runs with scissors too. 

Participants then march in groups around the town, yelling chants to express their devotion to Husayn and the so-called prophet

 

I need this guy to trim my hedges.

Think that stuff only happens in the Middle East? Think again.

Queens, New York. USA. Ashoura 2008.  Not sure what to think about the chubby fella in the background, in the black trousers.

Queens, New York. USA. Ashoura 2008. I think this guy's got a Vegas act...     off the strip but still worth the trip.

Any person, Christian or otherwise, who celebrates Ramadan with Muslims is a fool.

In this video we can see what the attitude of even so-called Westernized Muslims is toward our laws and our Constitution. Even a distinguished-looking gentleman like the one in the video has barbaric, savage beliefs about human life. What do you think a hard-core terrorist will look like? Will the color and content of his or her heart be any different than that of this smug cretin?

They will never reciprocate, never allow a sliver of Judaism or Christianity to "pollute" the "purity" of their so-called religion. Never. There is no reason at all, in the bloody centuries of Islamic history ~ or the slippery, slimy, deceptive, passive-aggressive current-day context ~ to believe they will do so.  Read it for yourself: it's Islam all over the world forever... or you die.

You.

I'd like to recommend that you read this book, The Suicide of Reason. In it is described a tribe of people who fall so in love with their own rules that they can't see how another tribe with no rules at all doesn't want to have rules at all.  So the tribe with all the rules believes that the tribe with no rules will surely see that following rules is best, and so it's just a matter of time until the unruly tribe gives themselves over, heart and soul, to the tribe with the rules rules ~ one of which is to treat everybody nice ~ just because those who have rules believe that's how things are supposed to go... by rule.

And so the nice tribe goes around being nice to a tribe which has no rules ~ except to slaughter everyone in the tribe with rules ~ hoping that the savages will one day be nice and follow their rational rules.

Ain't gonna happen. Read the book.

Too many people are too nice. 

Some time back I was driving down a major street in my town when, in the middle of the block, about equa-distant from the intersections in before and behind me, the white Dodge in front of me suddenly comes to a dead stop.  No sirens wailing in the distance, heading our way.  No stop light or sign within a hundred fucking yards.  I jammed on my brakes as did the other drivers in the flow of traffic behind the now-stopped Dodge.  Why?  Looking to my left I see some shuffling ass-hat in the CD lane and he doesn't appear to be willing to stop... he just decided he was going to stroll across the street in the middle of the block and goddamn any traffic that had the nerve to get in his way.

So the pussy Dodge driver made pussies of us all, almost causing a couple rear-enders, as he let the fuck-stick break the law.  Stopping the smooth and legal flow of street traffic so some FUBU punk can cross in the middle of the block isn't being tolerant and nice. It's enabling and encouraging a lazy,  inconsiderate smart-ass who doesn't care about rules, no matter why they're in place. I'm not suggesting anyone should have hit the guy in the street, but he certainly could have been stopped in the CD lane by all the cars whizzing legally by him.

Here is an article about how the Obama Rules Of Engagement are inhibiting the ability of our soldiers to kill the enemy and thereby win the just war in which we are now engaged in Afghanistan. 

Here's a video telling us more about how the new ROE are endangering our brave warriors, making this war un-winnable. Notice how at the end, the news-reader counsels us that it's best this way so we don't piss off the locals. Oops; dead link. Vlad tells me the viodeo's not at YouTube anymore. I'll repost it if I can find it.

Below I've posted a picture of me and my guys. Tact Squad, 2d MP Company, 2d Infantry Division, Camp Casey, ROK ~ in the summer of '80. There were three or four other MP's in other parts of the village of TDC when that picture was taken but on just about any normal night, that's all there was between the innocents and those who might hurt them. Nobody in the picture is heavily muscled, although Jerry, not shown, had some huge guns. We were all just regular guys. We wore baseball caps while other MPs in the AO wore riot helmets as they stood at gates, checking passes. Each of us on Tact Squad carried a 1911-model .45 cal pistol, 20 rounds of hardball in three mags, a wooden baton, one set of cuffs and a radio. And maybe a Mag- or B-light. Some of you know what those are.  Me? Because I was the patrol supervisor, I carried two sets of cuffs, three flex-cuffs tucked inside my gun-belt, a three-cell B-light and a fiberglass stick, not a GI wooden stick. So, which one am I in the picture?

 
What you don't see is OC spray or tazers.  You don't see suspenders or cool chest pouches. Why? Because we did a whole hell of a lot of fighting and the more straps we had hanging off us, the more handles for bad-guys to grab onto and suh-wing us around. 

Guard-mount was at 1900 each night and we started shutting down all the clubs about 2330 so everyone could get back on Camp Casey by curfew at 2400. The strip we patrolled had about 50 bars and clubs of various sizes, an unknown number of small whore-houses, about 1200 Koreans doing various things to earn money, and a similar number of GI's in different stages of intoxication strolling and stumbling around, more than willing to give it to them.

I love the Infantry guys. I learned to respect them deeply. And they just loved to fight MPs. Some of them had an axe to grind, some just liked to rumble. Some of them were misbehavin' and needed to have their asses kicked. And if they needed it kicked, we kicked it for 'em. If they were acting up in public, then that's where we kicked their asses ~ right there in front of God and everybody so everybody could see, This is what happens when you violate Army regulations and then try to fuck with us when we arrest you. You go to jail, and maybe the hospital too.

You want to know why violent crime against cops doesn't go down as police use of "technology" goes up? Because when some bad-ass gets hosed with OC, or his toes twinkled with a Tazer, or the sense knocked out of him with some "less-lethal" bullshit, he's thinking the cop did not defeat him, technology did.

And guess what. He still wants to kick that cop's ass because he hasn't proved he can do it man-to-man.

I know there are many many many police officers who train and work out hard hard hard and have all the strength and stamina and technique and tactics to trash any bozo on any street any time of the day or night. For sure. But if a bad-guy gets arrested after getting a dose of OC up his nose, I'm tellin' ya he's still thinking' he's got something to prove.

But if he knew that if he pulled a knife he'd be dead from multiple Center of Mass hits from at least one police service weapon, then he might not even carry a knife, lest he be mistaken for some miscreant. If a fella knew that a sure way to get his lights punched out would be to put a hand on a cop, then maybe that fella would just keep his hands where and how they couldn't possibly be seen as a threat to anybody, most importantly that fine police officer asking him for a fuckin' driver's license.

Christians who kiss the asses of blood-thirsty Muslims, drivers who bend over for jay-walkers and almost cause traffic accidents, a commander-in-chief who won't let his soldiers win a just and necessary war ~ so, where am I going with all this?

We're in a war against more savages than most of us care to know. Whether you're a police officer or Joe or Jodi on the street, there is more danger threatening our lives and our American way of life than ever before. And if we just keep on petting it, keep treating it as though it's some simple misunderstanding on the part of our attackers that we can explain away and then eeeeeeverything will be swell, then their tricks and lies will work and life as we know it will go away. Perhaps forever.

For Joe and Jodi; you need to man up and stay ahead of the soothing tone of the false assertions that Islam is the religion of peace.  Stay ahead of the lies by studying here. You need to read this entire blog and follow the links and get serious and trained and in shape and hard hard hard and armed and dangerous to the degree your conscience and local laws will permit. Because you are the first responder to your little shit-storm. The cops might not make it in time, try as they will.

Having done my time on mean streets, I feel like I am permitted to offer this to law enforcement officers: You know your beat, the people you greet and confront every time you load up. So, you know what alley tussle you can end with a glance and which little fuck-stick is about to need a trip to ER.  Stay brave. Be braver, if you struggle with that sometimes.

But jump with me to what I see as the worst case scenario, other than a nuke about to go off at the county fair: shooters in a school with many juvenile hostages, just like Beslan. I don't believe any PD teaches its officers, other than snipers, to shoot a terrorist who has his or her arm around the neck of a hostage or who is carrying a small hostage in his or her arms. For fear of the outrage that would come if a hostage is killed by a cop, many departments have a no-shoot policy, cops must back up and try to negotiate.

But when Beslan hits America and you, a rock of a police officer, are heading down a school hallway looking for shooters, it's my belief that you're going to have to place the life of the other hostages ~ however many there may be ~ above the life of any single hostage... including the one who may be right in front of you who reminds you of your daughter.

A bad-guy in the hallway with a child in his arms is doing one of two things: taking the child from a room in the building where he probably raped a/o sodomized the girl/boy to the place where the other bad-guys and hostages are, OR taking the child from the place where the other bad-guys and hostages are to a room where he will rape a/o sodomize his package. And you won't know for sure where he is between A and B or B and A. You won't know.

But there is one thing you must know before you ever see him or her: that motherfucker isn't going to take one more step in either direction with that child.

If it's me in that hallway, I'm gonna do this: because I probably won't have a COM shot at the terrorist and I don't want him escaping to rejoin his "brothers" or to hurt the hostage, I'll put a three-round burst into his knees. In doing so, I will probably hit the hostage as well. As soon as I pull the trigger on his knees, I'll advance quickly and put a burst into his head, even if I have to force my weapon under the screaming, bleeding  hostage to get the shots off.

Can I get from where I shot him in the legs to where I'm putting three in his melon fast enough to prevent him from shooting the hostage? Yes. Somehow I will pull this off.  That motherfucker is not going to hurt any more people than what the scenario I'm describing suggests is possible.  And that needs to be your attitide, your mental state, belief, conviction and intent because anything less lets the terrorist get away and leave you wondering for the rest of your life why you ever put on a badge in the first place.

Break.

I've been rather slow in putting this post together as I've been dealing with some personal issues for a while and I've been distracted.  But two days ago I was reminded, as all of should have been, that we truly are at war with enemies who are inside the walls, not just howling and clawing at the gates. 

You're all aware, I imagine, of the terrorist attack at Fort Hood which occured on 5 Nov 09 so I won't go into detail or bitch about this or that or even link to the many stories about the attack.

But I will close this post by saying that we all need to be as brave and determined as this woman:

DoD Police Sergeant Kim Munley ~ Call-sign: Mighty Mouse.

We'll know more when she tells her own story but here is at least a preliminary report of the courage and perseverance Sgt Munley displayed in the face of danger and death.

Sooner or later a similar attack will take place here in CONUS ~ no doubt. This jihadi asshole has enflamed the ragged, riotous, retarded rabble that calls itself Islam. They are encouraged and pumped and some will try copy-cat attacks, seeing how easy this one was. They will do all the damage they can but will try to kill more than their new hero, whose name I won't list here.

Then, what will you do?

Will you be unprepared and just lay there weeping and whimpering, waiting for somebody else to be Might Mouse?

Will you be prepared in your heart and soul ~ as well as in training, tactics and equipment ~ to attack attack attack and defeat whatever the savages may be doing to destroy you and those you love with as much brutality as they can muster?

Muslims in general have earned the trust deficit they now suffer and about which they whine. Don't give them the benefit of the doubt. Treat them as human beings, but do not be fooled by any of them no matter how friendly they may appear.

It is not bigotry or racism to recognize behavior that suggests a Muslim may be bent on jihad. And it is not wrong to speak against it, to bring it to the attention of the appropriate authorities until they take action, or to defend yourself and others.

So, I ask again: what are you gonna do, unerschrocken? Keep playin' patty-cake or do the honorable, right thing?

It matters

A few days ago, I was exchanging emails with a woman on certain security matters.  In part, she wrote the following:

On another note - eight women were together on Saturday at a retreat (including me) - Carol, one of the Mom's related the story of a muslim foreign exchange student who, after spending the year with the family, said at leaving - "when I return for jihad, I will kill you first and then your children" - several of the Mom's were shocked - this was their first exposure to islam.

Only the name has been changed.

It matters what this student/jihadi said to this woman and her family.  From my perspective, it matters most that he might have been serious.

I suggested to the woman I was chatting with that she advise her friend as follows:

• Report the threat to the local police and to the FBI
• Include sworn written statemenst from any/all other witnesses
• Send pictures of the student and any/all associates to the cops/FBI... but keep the originals
• If the man is seen again, immediately report his return to the cops/FBI

If this ever happens to you, do the same.

Carry on, unerschrocken.

Protection

I was recently asked to send "security" advice to someone who's been threatened by some Muslims. Edited here is basically what I wrote in the emails I sent.

First of all, security is when you lock the door behind you.  Protection is when there's a threat of you being injured or killed by someone else and you decide to do someting about it.  That's how I define it, anyway.

This all assumes you live in the city. Start at the curb, going in:

• If you have security at the door and think they're inadequate or incompetent, contact the company and complain until you get the guards you want.
• If you're approaching the door to your place, whether on foot or in a cab, and you don't see the usual guard or doorman, look to see if there is someone else in his or her place. When he sees you, does he give some sort of hand or head signal to someone watching out of your sight, does he look over his shoulder and nod or make a cell phone call as you're approaching?  If so, don't go in.  Call to see if the family inside the house are okay.
• You have to plan and rehearse all potential scenarios with your family, if you have one.  If you're a target, don't be an easy one.  
• If there is a guard or doorman you trust, you might consider setting up visual duress signals so he can let you know of danger close, before it gets too close. Consider whether it would be wise to give this guard your cell phone number as a second method of communication. You should have the phone numbers for the security desk and cell phone numbers so you can call before you arrive to see if everything's okay. Guard should have verbal duress codes to use to alert you of danger, such as: Your car is ready for pick-up.  
• If you live in an apartment of condo, depending upon the floor you live on, you shouldn't take either the stairs or the elevator all the time. Alternate stairs/elevator every day and mix it up.  For example: one day walk up to the 3rd floor and then get on the elevator going up to 12, then walk up to 15 and then catch the elevator down to your floor on 7. Or whatever.  Next day, take the elevator to 6 and then walk up to 9, ride down to 7. Don't be predictable. 
• If you're catching a lift in the lobby and there's someone already in the elevator when the doors open and he/she doesn't get out, don't get in that car. Step away from the door and move to the side.
• If you're in an elevator and some suspicious person steps in, push all the floor buttons, that way the car will be stopping every 5-10 seconds giving you a chance to step off or for help to get on.
• Ideally, you should be living between the 4th and 7th floors ~ too high for bad-guys to jump to, but low enough for fire ladders and SWAT teams.
• Use all available exit/entry doors.  Don't be predictable.
• Be looking for unusual things/people near your front door, something close enough blow you up when you stop to unlock your door or someone close enough to rush you when you open it. If you see that, keep walking by as though you don't live there.  If your family is inside, call and make sure they're okay. Consider duress codes you can use in case they're being listened to. Call the police and ask them to help you, in this case, or security if they're competent.
• Buy and install the best deadbolt locks you can afford for the exterior doors. Chain-locks don't help. Check out these products here.
• Once inside, announce to everyone that you're home and make it SOP that they respond to you verbally when you call to them.  You're taking a head-count, getting them to tell you they're okay.
• I'll talk about handguns later but immediately consider buying a shotgun, if you don't have one already. 

Just remember this; for now: if anyone approaches or attacks you in the city streets and seems to be trying to take you from that spot, fight them then and there. You'll have a much better chance of getting help there at that spot than at the spot they're trying to take you... and kill you. When you fight, don't shout Help! Nobody will come.  Shout FIRE!
 
Inside the house, some thoughts:

• You need to have a plan for what you will do if this happens or that happens, whatever bad thing that might come through the door or be waiting for you on the other side of one. The plan(s) has to be simple, easy to remember and practice and needs to be rehearsed once a month at least.
• The plan(s) needs to take into account your current self-protection profile: armed or un. But if you get a shotgun or pistol, redo the plan to take the weapons into account, but keep the unarmed plan too.
• An armed response plan needs to take into consideration where you might be shooting from ~ is it cover and will stop a bullet or just concealment that will hide you ~ and where you'll be shooting to ~ is the wall over there thick enough to stop a 12 ga shotgun round or a 9mm pistol round. Etc.
• Can you set up a safe-room in the house? Needs good lock, reinforced door and frame, comms such as a charged extra cell phone, first aid, some sort of weapon; if no gun, then a sword. Yea, a sword.
• Such as this: this one, shown below, which is definitely sharpened for combat.

• Or this one below, which might be sharpened for combat, I can't tell for sure. If this one isn't sharpened, I'd still buy at least two, maybe one for each room, and get then sharpened to combat quality.

• One of my favorites is here, shown below.  Very simple.  Um, you might have to click on a couple links to find this one, once you get to this knife's site.

• Another good one is right here.  

• A good thing about these is they're easy to find and buy, and can be sharpened very easily. Too, you can cut a broom handle or something to the same length of the sword and have a great practice tool.
• If you buy one/some of these, have them sharpened so that they cut meat easily. Depending on the threat at your place, don't have them in their sheaths. Have them hanging unsheathed at about knee level so you can grab it as you run by it or reach it from the floor. The hooks should be strong enough to hold the weapon but not so strong that you can't pull the whole thing out of the wall if you need to do so. The backs of doors is often a good spot.
• Of course, these mounting suggestions have to take into consideration house guests and the general decor of your place.
• As for knives you can carry on your person, go to an outdoor gear store and handle knives, don't buy online. You want one with a stud/bolt on both sides of the blade so you can open it one-handed with either hand, which is something you will practice faithfully, right?  Studs/bolts are different size/locations on the blade, some don't have a stud/bolt but a large hole. Find what feels best in your hands, which one opens easiest for you. But at least two. You can get good ones for around $20.  You don't need the super-priced ones. Get them sharpened up real good.  One goes in your coat pocket dedicated to just that knife.  There's no business cards or gum or anything in that easily-reached/opened pocket but that knife.  Oh, yea, it should have a belt clip on it too.  

Knife attacks 

• Here is a very good practice video for Krav Maga, defense against knife attack. 
• Here is one on taking a gun from someone about to shoot you in the head. 
• As for when you might have to use a knife as a defensive weapon, remember your best defense will be a good offense. When shooting, the best place to aim is the Center of Mass (CM) of your attacker, usually in the chest area, because this is the easiest to hit and there are vital organs there.
• CM for you in a knife attack, when it's you with the knife, is the neck and throat area, especially the side and front. This includes the shoulders, sloping down from the neck.
• In the center/front of the neck is the trachea.  If you plunge a knife in there, it will disrupt his breathing, he'll sputter on some blood but still be able to fight you for a while. So, if you have to stab him in the throat from the front, you need to jerk the knife to the left and right so that you can sever the trachea and possibly get to a carotid artery.
• The carotid arteries on both sides of the neck are not far under the skin. Then can be lacerated with a cutting motion or punctured with a stabbing motion.
• Directly under the collarbone on both sides of the neck is the sub-clavian artery. That can be cut with a downward stab to either shoulder, from the front, but you must hit this one hard as the clavicle might need breaking for you to get to the artery below. 
• You might need to twist the knife in the wound to do maximum damage.  That's true of any wounds you inflict with a knife.
• You must strike with as much force as you can when defending yourself this way. In doing so, you just might cut yourself.  Remember that in any fight, if you are hurt and you stop to tend your wounds, you will lose the fight and probably die. You must fight on despite the wound and get treatment, or treat yourself, ASAP after the attacker is stopped.
• The longer any type of fight goes on, the more likely that you'll be hurt. So, you need to fight fast and furious. You need to train this way as well.  Upper body, arms, legs, hands must all be worked in quick reps and sets to get an aerobic effect. You need to work up a good sweat and be breathing heavy at every workout in order to train your body for a fight.
• Item last: the best place to win a fight is on the ground, grappling, not dancin' around like some martial arts princess.  Look at the cage matches. Most are won when somebody gets taken to the floor. So, take a good look at the Krav Maga training videos on that subject and practice, practice, practice.

Let' s make sure we all understand fully that I'm not telling anyone to do any of this. But if a bad situation develops and you're faced with defending yourself with a knife, it won't be at all like the little playground "sword" fights you had with twigs when you were a kid.
I'll leave you for now with this: this from Saving Private Ryan.
 
Don't be the scared guy. And don't be the dead guy... keep fighting.

From the front step to the street:

• When you're preparing to leave a building, slow down to take a look for suspicious situations/people. Look out the windows if you can, obviously, but also take time to look across the street at windows there to see if they reflect a suspicious someone or something out of view on your side of the street. Report your suspicions to security if they're there, or the cops.
• While you're walking in the city, remember to look to the side and behind you from time to time to see if you're being followed. Use windows on the opposite side of the street to see who slows down when you do. Every now and then just turn on a dime and see if anyone does the same thing. Anyone who does is probably following you.
• Your choices then are to loudly confront them: Hey, why the hell are you following me? This might scare them off. Try taking a picture of them with your cell-phone, if you can. That creates a record of what you saw. Save the pics on your computer. Or you can lead them to the nearest cop. Whatever you do, don't go into a secluded spot when you think you're being followed and never go home; maybe they don't know where you live yet.
• The most likely abduction/attack location will be close to somewhere you often/usually go. Most likely abduction scenario on the street: you're walking along and ahead of you is a man close to the buildings ~ loitering, leaning, pretending to be busy. Opposite him across the sidewalk is a van with the door open and someone in the driver's seat. The van is parked strangely: sticking out in traffic a bit, too much room between it and the car parked in front of it, driver taking a look back over his shoulder at the loiterer or at you ~ he's set-up for a quick get-away. As soon as you get between the loiterer and the van door, the loiterer will force you into the van. This is where you start fighting, kicking, biting, punching, Glasgow-kissing', screaming. Someone inside the rear compartment of the van will shut the door as the driver speeds away. If a car is used, the rear door will be open and there will be someone sitting behind the driver to pull you to the floor when the loiterer shoves you in and then jumps on you. If you spot this in advance, turn back, do not continue forward into the "danger zone".
• If they want to just kill you, they'll do it there and not drag you into the vehicle. If they try to get you into a vehicle, it's an abduction and they're still gonna kill you, they're just going to take their time in doing it. So you have to run like hell or fight like hell. Right there. Don't let them take you.
• If you had a bodyguard, he would be responsible for doing the advance work on your moves.  But you have to be your own bodyguard. You might consider introducing yourself to people who work in buildings opposite or next to buildings to which you often go.  Get their phone numbers on speed-dial and call them about 5 minutes before you arrive to find out if they see something suspicious being set-up before you arrive there. Maybe set up a duress signal with those people as a secondary signal: if there's trouble, they stand at the curb and scratch their head.
• No matter where you are/going, know the way to the nearest hospitals, police station, safe places. And safe restrooms.
• If you're driving or in a cab, get out if someone you don't know gets in.  Don't ask questions or bitch about it ~ get out immediately.
• Never say yes if someone asks to share a fare. Too many bad scenarios spin from that.
• If you're driving and a vehicle blocks your way, slow down to about 10MPH to look like you're stopping. Depending on where the most get-away room is to the front or rear of the blocking vehicle, accelerate to about 15-20MPH and hit the blocking car in the front or rear wheel and then keep up the acceleration to drive through the blockade. If there are two, slow down again and then punch it to 15-20MPH pointing the center of your cart to where the two blocking cars meet and then accelerate through them and away. Do not stop. Unless you drive a "smart car, the impact won't damage your vehicle to the point that it's not drivable. But expect an air bag to deploy.
• If people are out of vehicles or blocking you in some other way and you determine to a reasonable certainty that they mean to harm you and/or those with you, run them over.  Lean toward the center of the car to duck any incoming bullets, but keep an eye up so you can drive straight. Aim for the bad guy(s) and run them over. And then keep on going. My guess is that the cops would like to kow what happened and it's usually the first story told that gets believed the longest, so you might want to report the "accident."
• Whether it's in a school, theater, restaurant, hospital, synagogue; the best thing to do when a terrorist attack begins, like at Beslan, is to run to get out of the building. Hiding is the second best option. Staying inside, surrendering to the terrorists is not an option.  This goes for you and those with you, whether you're at a crowded venue or at a private affair.

A shotgun... is not a bowling ball.

• Keep it available, not in a bag under the bed. I'd lean it, muzzle down, in the corner of the closet so it can be reached easily by the grip. Or in the corner of your bedroom/next to the bed farthest away from the door. Keep a round in the chamber, and use the safety. The sound of you racking a round is cool, but it's not good tactically. Need to understand what a powerful weapon you have. And you need to not fear it.
• For use in a dwelling, #4 Buckshot is recommended over the famous #00 Buckshot
• Here's some good #4 buckshot at a good price.
• You need to shoot several different brands (Federal/Winchester/Remington) from your gun to find out which shot shoots best from your gun, which has the tightest pattern of pellets at about 25'.
• This is the only slug really recommended for dwellings: Brenneke Home Defense Slugs.
• Know your state ammo purchase laws.

Forgot to mention earlier: When you're out walking, stay at least an arms length away from walls and doorways.  Too easy to grab you if you're that close.
 
Below you'll find some items I suggest you put on your shotgun. I looked for all the items at one place so, if you order them, you can make just one order.  CheaperThanDirt is the lowest price you can find on the www for these items. These axccessories are for a Remington 870 12 ga pump shotgun. All the accessories are also available at CTD for most other self-defense shotguns.

• I'm not sure of your size and upper-body strength but you want to be able to shoot the your gun comfortably and to handle it well, so you might need a collapsing stock.
• Because you'll be using this at home, maybe, and you don't walk around with ammo pouches in your pants, you need to have as much ammo in and on the gun as you can get. This handy shotshell holder is part of the collapsing stock.
• This shotshell holder affixes to the left side of the  receiver. 
• In order to quickly, fully, and comfortably actuate the pump action, you might need a little help.  Failure to fully pump/cycle the action is the main cause of shotgun misfires, so you might need this pistol-grip forend.
• The little tiny bead sight on the some shotguns is inadequate for the type of shooting you might need to do. Buy one with installed ghost-ring sights or have a local gunsmith install a good strongt set.
• Remember what I said about having as many rounds in and on the gun as you can get? You might try a 7  or 8 round magazine extension.
• You need to go to a range and shoot the heck out of that gun, to get familiar with it and to see how devastating it can be. But you also need to practice dry-firing at home.  These snap-caps help you practice without killing anyone or blowing holes in closet doors.  They come two in a pack, buy six packs so you can practice firing and reloading.
• Light for your gun? That's a personal decision.  Yes, light helps you see bad-guys in the dark.  But it also lets them see exactly where you are. It may be best to arrange ambient light to your tactical advantage and use furniture/accessories to guide bad-guys into your subtly lit field of fire.

Now that we have all that paraphernalia out of the way, you need to think about some tactics.  I don't know the lay of your home, you do. As stated earlier, you need to have a plan for what you're going to do based on how the house is laid out and what and whom is where and when. You might want to move some things around to get things to your tactical advantage. But, while it's true that you can set up your place to your tactical advantage, circumstances as they develop in front of you might require a change in tactics. 
 
Some possible scenarios and some suggestions, totally your choice:

Scenario 1: Someone breaks in the house and the bad-guy is still down the hall way, not yet to the bedrooms.  

• Take up a position with your shotgun that covers the hallway.
• If he's taking the TV, let him have the freakin' TV.
• If he starts coming down the hall toward the bedrooms, give him one verbal warning, if you want: Get the hell out of here now or I'll shoot you where you stand.  Be very loud. You are not required to give a warning of any kind.
• Not a good idea to fire a warning shot.  Hopefully, he'll leave when he hears he might get shot if he hangs around. 
• Once he leaves, then call the cops.
• If he doesn't turn around and leave after your warning, maintain your position of cover and if he continues down the hall toward you, shoot him in the CM, Center of Mass, his chest.  Twice might be good.
• Don't let him get closer than 20' from any room in which there are people. That's enough space for him to get in the room before you can shoot.
• If you shoot him, immediately rack another round into your gun and stay covered. 
• Listen.  Is he making noise that indicates he's alive? Wounded? Just pissed off?
• Can someone in the house call the cops now? Tell them to do so. 
• Keep the guy, whether dead or not, covered with your shotgun until the cops arrive. 
• If the bad-guy gets up and moves to leave, I guess you should let him go. Don't go near him.
• Get a good description of him for the arriving cops: Uh, yea, and I think his left arm has suddenly gone missing... that might be it over there on the floor. Can I have his watch? 
• If he gets up and continues to be a threat to you and your guests, shoot him more carefully this time to stop his action. 
• Remember this: never say, I don't want to shoot you, or Don't make me shoot you. This tells the bad-guy you're probably afraid and will hesitate if he makes an aggressive move toward you, which will give him an extra second or two to take your gun.
• Also, don't say: If you move, I'll kill you. You're not trying to kill him, you're trying to stop his aggressive, illegal actions and if he dies because you shoot him, it's his fault for being there in the first place. Also, if he lives, the first question from his atty in the civil case he'll bring against you will be: Why did you want to kill my client? 
   

Scenario 2: A guest/family member screams from a bedroom. 

• Without going into the room, yell, Are you okay?
• If no answer or another scream, call 911 on a land-line and get an open channel to the cops but don't spend any time chatting with the operator, let her figure it out. Use the land-line if possible because your location shows up on their dispatch screens.
• Since there might be bad-guys close to/holding your guest, I'd shoot a slug if I have to shoot, not buckshot.
• Carefully, come around the corner into the room with shotgun at high-ready ~ prepared to shoot, just looking down the barrel for your target.
• Target might not be too big, he might be holding your loved-one or guest around the neck and the head-shot you want isn't available.
• If you don't do something, he might kill the guest and then come after you.  Or try to leave with the guest  Neither of those are options I'd permit and neither would you, I imagine. 
• So, this is what I'd do, if I can get a shot off.  Remember the scene from Speed with Keanu Reeves where he shoots his partner in the leg so he can get a clear shot at Dennis Hopper? Don't do that unless it's the absolute only option. I'd shoot the bad-guy in the feet. The steel pellets pounding into many sensitive feet bones will cause a ton of pain and he'll react to that by dropping to the floor, if he's standing.  While he's falling, I'd rack another round and go straight to his head, maybe moving a bit closer as I fire, to be sure, and I'd put one in his head. If you're shooting buckshot, you're probably going to hit your guest with some of the pellets. You can train your family to drop/pull away from the bad-guy as soon as you take your first shot, because you're looking for a second shot and you don't want them in the way. Your guests won't have this training so you'll have to tell them what to do. Tell them. Clearly. Don't ask. If you're shooting slugs, you'll have to aim a little better for his feet/leg and for his head, but the chances of hitting your family member/guest is lessened. No matter where you shoot this guy, you must know he might react with what's called a sympathetic reaction in his gun hand ~ when his muscles tense up in pain after you shoot him, his trigger finger muscles might tighten too. If he's got the safety on, the gun probably won't go boom.  Safety off... I don't know.  Holding a knife?  If your family members watches the Krav Maga video, they can know how to escape that blade.  This is a worst-case scenario and you'll have to pre-plan your response and rehearse it. Yea, really. Bed-guys are gonna rehearse. Why not you?

 
Variation of Scenario 2: Bad-guy says: Put down the gun or the girl get it (he's got a gun or knife) 

• Watch the movie Taken.  Scene where Liam Neeson has the sheikh at gunpoint in the boat bedroom. 
• He's acquired his target but remains silent.
• The sheikh begins to speak: We can nego... and then Neeson shoots him in the head.  Whoever did the advising on that movie knew his stuff. 
• If the situation develops where there's a stand-off, you don't have to talk. 
• Acquire your target.
• When he starts to talk, he'll do it thinking, Oh, he hasn't shot me yet and he's not screaming at me... maybe I can talk my way out of this. 
• If he's talking, he can't be planning to pull his trigger at the same time. 
• So shoot him in the head while he is talking. 
• That's what I'd do. 

Scenario 3: Bad-guy(s) come in shooting/slashing. 

• Yell to your kin/guests: "Stay down, call the cops..."
• Return fire using #4.
• Don't shoot unless you see them, no blind firing.
• Between shots, ask if the guests/family members are okay.

Item last: Handgun
 
It's up to you totally. If you decide to buy a handgun, I'd recommend the Glock in 9mm. I carry a full-size Browning Hi-Power myself so I can't be a cheer-leader for Glocks, but they're fine guns.  If you fire the right 9mm bullets, it will do the job without bouncing around in your hand like larger calibers.  Plus, you can buy cool 30-round magazines for it. Go to a pistol range and fire one if you can.  That's all I have to say about that.
 
All of these Protection emails I've written are offered as general advice and no matter how you heed it or practice it, the situation may develop where you're thinking, Oh, what do I do now? You're busy so you probably can't fit in a few months of intense combat training, so you have to have a combat mindset available, if you don't stay in that mental zone.  You have to be able to switch from loving father/mother/sister/brother to thoat-cutting warrior in less than a second because if it happens, that's how fast it'll happen. 
 
No matter what, never stop fighting. If you're hurt, keep fighting or you will die.
 
Remember, no matter what occurs, never lie to the cops. Never, even if you think you were wrong in some aspect of what you did or didn't do. If you lie, they will discover it and you'll be in serious trouble.
 

 

The Perfect Day

The Perfect Day in the terrorist lexicon describes a series of simultaneous attacks on American schools.

I've seen that when people look in on these Beslan pages, they usually tend to spend a minute or so on each page. Yup, my blog stats tell me that. To me that suggests most readers are not paying the proper amount of attention to the issue. What's the issue?  Terrorists killing American school kids.

At other blogs you'll find a yearly tribute to the slain and that has a certain usefullness.  But if the only "lesson learned" is that is that there are bad people out there and that we have to protect our kids, that's not a lesson ~ that's barely a reminder.  If the "lesson learned" is that when we give terrorists "respect" they'll leave us all alone, then that's not a lesson either ~ that's a canard.

Here at this blog, I take an objective look at Beslan and suggest some very easily-done tasks you can and should undertake in order to protect your kids.  Our kids.  So, turn up your compassion if you're the cold-hearted sort. Or perhaps what you really need to do is just once turn down your smug self-assuredness that those nasty terrorists are merely misunderstood freedom-fighters and mean us, and you, no harm.  Once disabused of that dangerous illusion, take the time to read carefully. Comment if you'd like, pass the link on if that suits you. But don't scan this stuff and then go back to some stupid reality show.  I mean, hey; you don't really watch that crap, do you?

If you've read this stuff before and haven't done anything yet... what are you waiting for?

If not you... whom? If not now... when?

Anyway; where were we?

Intel gathered from interrogations of captured terrorists a/o physical evidence strongly suggests men and women with holy warrior inclinations will consider news of the attacks to be a signal to kill the nearest unbeliever. For example, a taxi driver with passengers he believes to be of a religion other than his hears of the attacks on the radio and so drives his vehicle into a wall at high speed in order to kill them.

More info here.

Terrorists have publicly bragged that they have the right to kill 2 million American children. After several deadly attacks involving children in Russia, Osama bin Laden said he would inflict far worse death and destruction on America; presumably on children given the context of that particular remark.

Where do you find kids in bunches? Schools. Have you seen the video of terrorists training in building and room entry tactics and hostage control? It's a good depiction of their intentions and commitment, but you never hear the audio, do you? If you could crank up the volume, you'd hear them shouting control commands.  In English.

School emergency plans have been found in the possession of people who have no need to know that information. Schools across the country have been under purposeful recon for quite a while. Terrorists are taking these, and other, preparation steps every day in America.

Some believe American law enforcement agencies are responsible for defending our schools and students. But courts have decided no police agency is required to protect you, the individual citizen, from any enemy foreign or domestic; their only mandate is to protect 'society' in general. So, if you call them to come save you from a criminal or terrorist act and they're late on scene, guess what; there's nothing you can do about it. You cannot sue them. Certainly, they will do their best to respond to any threat. But if they can't get to the schools fast enough or in sufficient force, a lot of people are SOL, in view of the generally sorry state of security preparation in most American schools.

Listen up.

In reality the first line of defense is parents, staff and faculty, coaches, students with formal a/o informal leadership roles, contracted or proprietary security officers. If the cops get there on time, that's a bonus. Bottom line, it's up to you to protect yourself and those you love. So, it's important to have a good plan in place to make sure Murphy and his kin don't show up.

According to the plan, if/when that day comes, attacks will be perpetrated simultaneously at several schools across the country, probably all in the same time zone. The schools will probably not be in large cities where police SWAT can get there in a hurry but in towns where terrain, distance, and manpower issues create significant police response lag time. On the other hand, they might pull it off in a large city by creating a diversion to draw police tactical assets away from the attack site. Either way, terrorists will show up out of nowhere at grade schools where the kids, especially the boys, are too small to resist.

Following their Beslan model, they will come in hard and fast and loud and violent, probably herding everyone to the gymnasium or cafeteria, or multiple areas in the building. They will be trying to frighten everyone into complete, instant obedience. If they find males big enough to fight back, those men and boys will be summarily executed, perhaps in front of the rest of the students and staff. These murders will be committed while terrorists are hurrying people into the building, or once they have everyone under control there. Anytime after that; once they're sure they have control of their hostages and the perimeter, girls will be repeatedly raped and sodomized in front of everyone. Older girls and women might be taken to separate rooms and raped and sodomized there. Boys might be sodomized, too. Anyone who resists will be killed on the spot.

Sorry if this shakes you, but this is what they did to innocent boys and girls, men and women in Beslan. And, maybe you need shaking.

Explosives will be emplaced and charged to destroy the building. Terrorists will cover a/o booby-trap every door and window, preventing entry and exit. Nobody gets in and nobody gets out.

Will they negotiate? Who knows? If terrorists don't kill anyone in the take-over, there could be a slight chance their intentions are to negotiate for something. But if there is killing right away, and there probably will be, it's a pretty good bet their intention is to kill as many of the students and staff as they can.

Why?

With these attacks, terrorists hope to create a horrible revulsion here that will stir Americans to strike back against anyone who may follow Islam. When "moderate" Muslims all over the world see their co-religionists attacked by marauding Yankee infidels, it is believed the "radical "ranks will swell immediately. From this wildfire they hope will reemerge The Twelfth Imam who will lead Islam back to power and, under Muslim law and rule, the world will finally know justice and peace.

Alrightythen. Any questions?

To translate the double-speak of many Muslim secular and religious leaders, this ascension back to running the world will come only after 'terrible and unprecedented calamities, when persecution and injustice engulf the earth'. They want to kill our kids to push us to the point that we lash out violently in retribution. Then they can shout 'American persecution and injustice has engulfed the earth' and POOF... The Twelfth Imam pops out of the bottle.

I had a previous post viz Beslan. Maybe you should refresh your memory on that massacre if you think it can't happen here. If 19 men can plan and carry out 9-11, another group can pull this caper. They only have to be lucky once. Some believe political leaders are obliged to protect us from this potential horror. If that's true, then why did no government employee get fired for mistakes they made which permitted 9-11?

Yes, it is the right of parents of school children to petition various government agencies for help in enhancing the security profile of the school their child attends. But it is not the duty of any politician to get money for any particular school.  So, where does that obligation reside?

In your living room.

Okay, who wants to be unerschrocken now?

Time for you to read the rest of the Perfect Day posts, even if you read them before: 

School kill zones 

More of The Perfect Day

Adjunct to The Perfect Day

Perfect Day Recon

Lockdown

More Perfect Day

Rifqa Bary

Brief post here to let you know that, if you'd like to help spread the word about Rifqa's situation, I have a brochure available that you can print out and spread around as much as you want.

I had Robert Spencer at JihadWatch take a look at it and he's given it a green light. So, if you want it, for free, email me at freemendo@hotmail.com and I'll send it right over.

Recon 101

Over the years we’ve been told to report anything suspicious.  While that general advice is certainly good, it would be better to have some concrete clues for which to be alert.  Remember; suspicious means something that is unusual or suspicious to you, not necessarily anyone else. We all have an innate sensitivity to danger, which gives us intuitive warning signs. These subtle, inner red flags can help us discover terror attacks in the preparation phase.

If you remember nothing else, remember to be aware of your surroundings no matter where you are or when.

If you see something unusual, evaluate it.  After evaluating for a short time, if the totality of circumstances still has you wonderin' what's going on, or if you think a threat may exist, notify law enforcement ASAP. That means right away, not when you get around to it.

Terrorists will usually conduct some sort of surveillance prior to an attack.  This pre-attack activity is actually an important part of the attack to come later.  Surveillance may be a quick drive-by, just moments before an attack; or a prolonged, comprehensive assessment of a target’s vulnerabilities.

Here are some basic indicators from the FBI on how pre-attack surveillance might look.

• Discrete use of still cameras, video-recorders, or note-taking at non-tourist type locations.
• Prolonged static surveillance, using operatives disguised as panhandlers, demonstrators, shoe-shiners, food or flower vendors, news agents, or street sweepers not previously seen in the area.
• Unusual or prolonged interest in security or access control personnel, entry points and access controls, or perimeter barriers such as fences or walls.
• Unusual behavior such as staring or quickly looking away from the personnel or vehicles entering or leaving designated facilities or parking areas.
• Observation of security reaction drills and procedures.
• Increase in anonymous telephone or e-mail threats to facilities in conjunction with suspected surveillance incidents, indicating possible surveillance of threat-reaction procedures.
• Foot surveillance involving two or three individuals working together.
• Mobile surveillance using bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, cars, trucks, sport-utility vehicles, boats, and small aircraft.
• Use of multiple sets of clothing, identifications, or the use of sketching materials (paper, pencils).
• Questioning of security or facility personnel.

Stay tuned, unerschrocken.

Does anybody really know what time it is?

In case you're not up to speed on the latest news viz the terrorists living and plotting among us,  read this, and follow the links there for the full story.

Take a good look here for further insight as to why you need to be more than just aware of your surroundings, but always alert and proactive in your daily life, no matter where you go, no matter with whom you spend your time or  call a friend.

With a crisp salute to Daniel Pipes, here are some ways to recognize sleepers.

... ways do exist to distinguish the likely sleepers from other Muslims. To begin with, all known sleepers until now have been young men. (The only women arrested for Al-Qaeda activities were two Algerians producing fake credit cards and passports in Leicester, England.) Perhaps the militant Islamic networks will one day go beyond this self-imposed limitation, but for now it appears to be one way of winnowing down the pool of potential suspects.

It is hard for sleepers to maintain a perfect cover. Connections to foreign countries offer one set of warning signals:

• Arrival from countries where violent militant Islamic groups (such as Al-Qaeda) are known to operate;
• Long, unexplained absences; or absences for vague purposes of religious education, charity work, or pilgrimage;
• Travel to hot spots where Muslims are fighting non-Muslims (Bosnia, Chechnya, Lebanon, Kashmir);
• Travel to countries where militant Islam rules (Sudan, Iran, Afghanistan).

Sleepers much prepare themselves for their operations, and this can leave telltale indications:

• Study of technical subjects (such as electrical engineering or computer sciences) that would help pull off an operation.
• Collecting information on subjects (e.g., crop-dusting planes) that could help in carrying out an operation.
• Working in an area (such as import/export) that serves as a cover for preparing for an operation.
• Engaging in para- or military training, perhaps under guise of preparing to do security work (e.g., serving as a bodyguard).
• Physical training.
• Possession of such artifacts as detonators and a protective suit against chemical and biological weapons.
• Purchase of chemicals and other dual-use materials.
• Scouting out military bases, government buildings, and other potential targets; practicing routines; and otherwise rehearsing for an operation.
• Possession of instructions for conducting of either a spiritual nature (how to prepare for one's suicide death) or a practical nature (how to smuggle detonators).

Some attitudes raise red flags:

• Support for militant Islamic groups and fronts.
• Outspoken support of Muslims in combat against non-Muslims.
• Excusing violence against Americans on the grounds that American actions provoked the problem.
• Disparagement of Western civilization in favor of Islamic civilization.
• Fury at the West, for reasons ranging from the personal (unemployment) to the global (policy toward Iraq).
• Bigoted statements against non-Muslims in general ("infidels") or specifically against Jews, Christians, or Hindus.
• Seeing moderate Muslims as apostates from Islam.
• Conspiracy theories about Westerners (e.g., the CIA arranged for the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center to boost its funding levels).
• Accusing the West of trying to destroy Islam.
• Hoping to apply Islamic law in the United States.
• Disregard for the U.S. legal system where it prohibits something permitted by Islamic societies (such as polygamy or the "honor" killing of women).

Problems having to do with identity are a further indication:

• Fraudulent personal identities, sometimes with inconsistencies. (Zacarias Moussaoui presented himself as French, but when spoken to in French not only could not reply but became belligerent.)
• A cover story that does not ring true. (A young Arab, recently arrived in Spain, wants to buy a watch repair shop and the owner agrees to sell, but something seems not right—"He had fat fingers, so how was he going to fix watches?")
• Evasive about his background ("I'm from the Middle East" rather than giving a country name).
• Losing passports or other documentation so as to get new ones.
• Acquisition of multiple identities and their careful use. ("The only time [the shoe-bomber, Richard] Reid appears to have used his real name is when flying.")

Social activities can offer clues:

• Membership in militant Islamic groups or front organizations.
• Financial support for those groups or fronts.
• Active involvement at mosques known for their militant Islamic orientation.
• Close friendships or family ties with other suspects.
• Immersion in a purely Muslim environment.
• Avoiding contact with the larger society: "friendly but standoffish," in the words of a former assistant U.S. attorney. "Say 'hello' but don't talk. Let people see you, but don't bring attention to yourself," in the words of an Al-Qaeda advisory.

Other miscellaneous pointers to look for include:

• Choosing to live in areas where many cultures are represented and an easygoing attitude toward different customs is evident (northern New Jersey, southern Florida, Leicester or Bradford in England, Hamburg in Germany).
• Sending or receiving large amounts of money.
• A preference for cash transactions.
• Criminal activity, especially reliance on counterfeited money and smuggling.
• A promising career that failed, descent into drugs and alcohol, then redemption through Islam.
• An offer to work for the enemy's intelligence services.
• Enrolling in university studies in the liberal arts, then switching to engineering or the sciences.

These are admittedly imprecise indicators; a Muslim who exercises and makes anti-Hindu statements cannot automatically be suspected of planning a suicide operation. Rather, the above signals must be seen in the context of a whole personality and a wider pattern of behavior. Precisely because the legitimate search for sleepers is open to abuse, it requires an unusual degree of common sense, sensitivity, and restraint.

Good stuff, huh?  Remember to report your suspicions to law enforcement as quickly as you can. Be thorough in the information you provide and make sure you get the name of the person to whom you give the information, and a reference number of the report, if there is one. Follow up on your initial report to see what's being done and if you come across more information.

Get tough, unerschrocken; it's not over and it's gonna get worse before it gets better.

When the roll is called up yonder

I've been thinking the past few days about soft targets.  We've discussed them here before.  If you missed that, then you need to look  'round here and get up to speed.

Soft targets are generally these: schools, shopping malls, churches, mass transit vehicles such as buses and trains, hotels/resorts/family vacation spots. Some would define soft as a target having no security personnel on site.  As you may have noticed, having a security "force" does not in any way suggest anything or anybody there is secure or safe. 

By whatever terms we define soft, it's just a darn good thing we never go to or even near any of these targets and that there are so very few of them in this country.  Eh?

Fer sher.

Softest of all targets might be churches, especially those with community out-reach programs such as a Free Store or weekly free hot meals. I've thought it through and have in mind very particular details as to what I'd look for if I were a terrorist looking to explode a church, but I won't list the details here.  In fact, I can think of exactly which churches I'd hit here in town if I was of such a mind.

It really can happen here, don't you see.  The lady in this story blew up her own kind and her own kid because she believed it would please her god.  You think there are no true believers in the US? As this shows clearly, we've got American-born and educated people willing and able to attack churches.  Why wouldn't a misunderstanding immigrant?

I wrote here a while back about the potential dangers we face from the hapless homeless and it's self-evident from what you can read here that terrorists know how to play on the good-will of people, even their own. 

Soon state-side civilians will be targets.  You and me.  You and those you love.

You.

Under the "leadership" of the current, enlightened administration, there will be much less proactive, preemptive counterterrorism action taken against potential terrorist plots and plotters than there was with President Bush. We will see a switch back to the Clinton days of pursuing terrorists as violators of the law and not as enemy combatants, as people trying to kill us and destroy our way of life.  The results of this stupid policy switch will be horrific.  Soon.

I actually wrote the paragraph above several days ago, as a draft, so there was no real evidence that the FBI would be put back in charge as the lead agency in counterterrorism.  But here you can read... it's official.

Be that as it may, let's get back on track: there is absolutely no reason to believe terrorists already here or soon to come won't try to soften up the "compassionate" and trick them to their deaths.

Churches are already high on target lists. Here's how a terrorist might try to fool you and turn as many of you as possible into pink mist:

A very pregnant woman comes to the weekly free lunch at your church.  She speaks pretty good English, and isn't in dire straits financially, but will be soon. Sez she. She might be dressed in Western clothes or in the long robes worn in other parts of the world.  She takes time to meet a couple workers or church members who are there serving the food or in some other capacity. She might mention a growing desire to convert to Christianity but express a vague hesitancy, even a fear. She'll come back to the free meal deal the next week and say hello to those she met the time before, building the "friendship" a bit more.  She will explain that she's still interested in leaving her religion but is a bit scared now since men and women from her local "church" have found out about her desire to convert and are making not-so-veiled threats to kill her if she does.  This makes the protective urge even stronger in your church folk.  She will try to keep her contacts to just the women at your church, staying away from the naturally more suspicious men. After a couple visits, she might come back one more time the following week, trying to stir just a little more concern and compassion in your ladies.  Somewhere during the second or third visit, she will ask when your Sunday services are and tell you she'll be there next Sunday.

Once she shows up for Sunday service, she's got her foot in the door. A level of trust will grow and any doubting members will be hushed by the more "spiritually sensitive." The bomber will make some new friends that first Sunday she attends and promise to attend the next Sunday, because she's nearing decision-time viz a conversion experience.  Sez she.

The next Sunday, she'll show up looking neat and clean in whatever she's wearing, probably something appropriate for hiding the bomb she's carrying.  When the altar call is given, this still obviously "pregnant" woman will go forward for prayer and to get "saved". Once she's been led through the "sinner's prayer", she'll rise, probably in tears, and turn around to look for her new found lady friends in the congregation.  She'll motion them forward and give them warm, teary hugs when they join her.  The congregation will be focused on this "miracle" and some may even move forward to welcome her to the family of God.

When the "convert" has the most people around her that she thinks she can get, she'll detonate her belly bomb. 

I don't know what this woman will look like in terms of ethnicity or race.  And it doesn't matter. Whoever she is, whatever she looks like, here's what you do:

You're looking for wires that hang or protrude from whatever she's wearing.  You might also see wire printing under her clothes ~ like panty-lines under tight jeans ~ you can see what appear to be wires under taut clothing. 

Where do the wires go?  From the wrist, up the sleeve to the armpit, then down the side and over to her belly? And does the wire hang out from the end of her sleeve with a button switch attached?  Ouch.  That's going to be a bomb.  Pretty much for sure, I'm thinking.  But she won't be wearing tight clothing.  Depending on the weight of the bomb, her shoulders might droop lower than normal for a pregnant woman, and what should be bra straps might actually appear to be straps for a back-pack, about 1"-2" wide and maybe padded.

As she rises from her "salvation experience", she might keep one hand beneath her clothing, or reach there and not withdraw her hand.  Is she holding the detonator switch?  I don't know.

If I saw this scene and knew the woman met most or all of the characteristics I listed above, I'd have to conclude that she had murder on her mind, not living forever with Jesus.

If you're going to go on defense at that moment; be sure to yell to the congregation to get down as you are assuming the position.  What's the position?  Face down with something that will stop shrapnel between you and the bomber lady.  If you can't find cover, then get down flat with your feet pointing away from said bomber lady because, as we all know, the leather on the bottom of your shoes stops flyin' bomb stuff better than the gel in your hair.

You decide what you're going to do, not me.  If after all the moral wrangling you decide to go on offense and you have taken the time and care to be sure you're within all the legal parameters set up by your jurisdiction, then you might want to consider taking a look at this and further deciding for yourself what you're willing to do.

I have no axe to grind with you, whatever it is you might decide; here and now or there and then.

I don't have anything like a premonition or an impression or a revelation of any sort that this type of attack might be attempted.  It just occurred to me several days ago that such an attack would be relatively easy to pull off.  If someone is out there planning this mayhem, I'd feel sorta strongly that we should not let that person succeed.

But that's just me.  And I could be wrong: maybe she really is just responding to the love of Jesus she sees in your baby-blue eyes.

Here are some additional thoughts.  Hey, let's be careful out there.

When push comes to shove

Take a good listen and look at this video of a gay man being taunted by Somali Muslims in Minneapolis.  But what's wrong with this picture, other than the obvious fact that these yoots feel enabled and protected enough that they literally chase down a public street someone they hate, because he defies the constraints of their religion... merely by living his life the way he wants to live it.  I think there was supposed to be a question mark in there somewhere, don't you?

The gay guy ~ let's call him Bruce ~ literally laughs the entire episode off, saying over his shoulder that's he's not afraid. Believe me, he was scared. If he wasn't, then he's just stupid.

Whatever his mental state at the time, the point is that he walked on, willing to take shit from those maggots without a word of protest. 

Bullshit!  In most jurisdictions the little song and dance perpetrated by those punky ass-hats is called Breach of Peace.  It's a crime.  A crime for which those barbarians-in-waiting can be arrested. And prosecuted. And punished.

One more thing wrong with this picture appears about 59 seconds in, as what turns out to be a security officer walks by.  Initially I thought he was a cop and had committed a gross error in not at least admonishing the gang. Believing this, I sent a brief but curt email to the Chief of Police in Minneapolis... aaaaand an apology when I realized I was wrong.  Ouch.

Anyway, the security guard there had no legal duty to act ~ even if the thugs were beating poor Bruce to death, he could have stood there watching and no action could be taken against him ~ unless Bruce was beaten to death on property the guard was paid to protect.  In that case, there could have been civil charges of Inadequate Security a/o Inadequate Supervision made against the officer a/o the company he represented. 

Still, the guard could have made a citizen's arrest of any participants in the crime he was witnessing, the dirtbags he observed as being most guilty of the charge of Breach of Peace. But he didn't.  Why?

• Because he didn't know he can. 
• Because he knows he can when on duty but thinks that authority is limited to on-the-job activity.
• Because he doesn't know the elements of proof of the crimes committed in his presence. 
• Because he believes he will be fired if he does anything other than observe and report.
• Because he doesn't care. 
• Because he doesn't have any fuckin' idea that an innocent, harmless gay man being pursued, taunted and assaulted by a gang of loud, pissy, arrogant thugs is in deep shit.
• Any or all of the above.

As a private citizen who just happened to be dressed at the time as a security guard, he could have asked the gang what they were up to or asked Bruce if he was okay, if he wanted the police to be called. Asking questions like that while in a security uniform, or while dressed as Wyatt-fuckin'-Earp for that matter, does not necessarily constitute an act committed under the color of authority.  The guard had a right to be where he was at the time.  The fact that he was an armed guard in full uniform does not mean he purposely represented himself to be a police officer.  If he asks a question or offers a benign statement such as, I think you need to knock that shit off right now, and the thugs do so because they think he's a cop, then there is no legal harm done.

But you and me and any civilian who observed the taunting and rock-throwing, a clear breach of peace and possibly an assault, could have done a citizen's arrest as well. Just so you know.

Check here for some good, basic advice on making a citizen's arrest. And, here is some more info.

Of course the situation was just some "kids" teasing a some gay fella. This time.  This is what could have happened, and, I predict, will happen with more andmore frequency here in the US, as it's becoming commonplace in the EU ~  young men taking out their hateful aggression on targets of opportunity. (Undaunted note: I have no knowledge as to the religious beliefs of the attackers in the video depicted at the link in this paragraph.)

Here is another example of thugs, who evidently appear to be Muslims, threatening and assaulting people who are clearly within their constitutional rights to peaceably assemble.  Cops told the Christian guy he could shoot some video at the festival, no restrictions according to US law.  But... non-Christian security guards said they had no right to even be in the area.  Michigan law requires that security agencies be licensed and that each guard be licensed through their employing security company. I don't know what happened when the video stopped rolling but the local cops should have questioned the guards and demanded to see their individual licenses, company license, and all training records. They might have been able to plainly see or even conjure up some probable cause whereby they could see if any of the festival guards were carrying weapons, such as firearms, and determined if they were properly licensed and insured. These thugs were clearly outside the boundaries of legal security work and the state of Michigan needs to shut them down, pronto.

To the thin blue line: Being kind to strangers from other lands is not a suicide pact.  You guys need to be alert for this kind of mini-mayhem and maybe kick a little ass when it shows its ugly ahead around you.  If you don't, we might feel compelled to act in our own defense.  We don't have to turn the other cheek.  When shit like this happens, when our safety and lives are threatened, then we are the first responders, not you.

Okay, another thought and then I gotta take off; if you're going to fight back, the most effective way is probably Krav Maga.  Take a look here to find instructors near you.  

More coming this evening: How to push back when they shove.

Okay, where were we? Ah, yes... shoving back.

When you're in a potentially dangerous conversation, you need to be on defense, but fully ready to strike preemptively as well. Here's how you do that:

In any chat that might go south, remember not to stand there with your feet close together or your legs crossed like you gotta take a leak. You should be in a subtle fighters stance, your feet spread about 12" apart, right foot dropped back so the toes are about even with the left heel.  Reverse that if you're left handed.

When you're talking with someone who appears to be friendly or neutral, keep your hands about waist level, palms up, moving slightly with no sudden motions.  If possible, try to stay outside the reach of his or her legs so it will be harder to strike you with fist/foot.  If the person moves inside that safe zone, be careful.  It might be preparatory to an attack.  When they step or slither close enough to touch you in a way that you consider to be threatening, raise your hands to just below your chest level, palms facing the person, as though you're getting ready to push him away.  Continue to speak but more loudly so the aggressor and bystanders can hear what's going on, with your hands moving calmly and slowly back and forth, up and down, as you speak.  You're letting the guy get used to seeing your hands moving so if you have to strike, it won't be a sudden move but will flow from arms and hands already in motion and not seen as a threat by your potential attacker. Yet.  In that middle position your hands can also come up quickly to block punches and begin to grapple and break holds.

By the way, during the chat you're having with this person, be as careful as you want to be in terms of intentionally provoking him or her. 

When some dipshit behaves in a manner that makes you, an entirely reasonable person, believe you're about to be attacked, then raise your hands up into a fighter position, about neck-level, but don't clench your fists. Continue to try to talk to the person through your up-raised hands. Speak more loudly than before so there's no doubt as to what you're saying, unless of course you only want the bad guy to hear what you're saying. Hands in that up position, with palms facing out, tend to show a defensive intent, rather than the offensive pose indicated by clenched fists. But, lucky you, it's still possible to slap the shit out of a deserving someone with an open hand.

Here is a good demonstration of the neutral stance and a fighting stance. Although it doesn't exactly fit what I just wrote above, it helps you get the idea. In the conversational setting we're discussing, you wouldn't bend your knees until you're about to slap or punch or block incoming blows.

I won't discuss punches or fighting now.  I've written a little bit on that at other posts here and you're free to search those posts out if you'd like. If you're serious, I believe it would be better for you to check out the Krav Maga link above and go from there. If you can't do that, then check out the many other Krav Maga demonstration training video clips shown here again.  You can google Krav Maga and come up with several free video training courses.  That's the nice thing about Israeli Krav Maga; they don't care if you come to their gym to learn it for a fee, they just want you to learn it ~ though taking the training with a qualified instructor is best. 

A few thoughts on slappin' the shit out of someone; when they've got it comin', of course.

Your hands are up in the I'm-a-reasonable-person-and-I-believe-that-asshole-right-in-front-of-me-is -going-to-assault-me defensive position. Keeping your hands moving as you're talking, step forward quickly and drive your strong hand up and into his neck, squeezing a little as you make contact so he doesn't slip away. Keep pushing out with your hand, don't bend your elbow, as your feet drive forward. The guy will be off balance and with that you can push him down to the ground, kinda like what the Las Vegas police sergeant does in this clip. Notice the right hand of the sergeant.  Masterful. That stupid white-boy got his ass beat by a tactically smarter man and then hauled off to jail, no doubt.  If you do that to ssomeone, your choices then are to run away or get on top of him and try to restrain him, which might look like you're beating the shit out of him.  You should be yelling for the cops the whole time. Perhaps you can tell him you're placing him under citizen's arrest and will be detaining him until the police arrive.  Good luck with that one.

Another basic move is to just slap the bad-guy across the nose.  Hard. His hands are low enough so you can strike, so swing whichever open hand is best for you right across his or her face, striking the nose from the side.  Hit hard and the nose will start bleeding.  Most people will stop to assess the damage and to wonder aloud Did you see what that mother-fucker just did? Oh. My. God. 

While he's doing that, you get the hell outta Dodge. And then call the cops, if someone hasn't already.

As always, these thoughts are just that: things that I've come to know through my training and experience that I choose to share with you.  I'm not saying you should do any of these things. Ever. What you do is entirely your decision and you bear the consequences for your actions.

I do know this: I'm not going to let anybody of any religion push me or anyone else around the way the Muslims did in the Minnesota and Michigan clips. I have no idea as to the religious persuasion of the stomp-killers.

These fuckers want holy war?  They can have it