Author: Paraclete

Independent – by JAMES BARGENT

It is a phrase now commonly heard in the hillside slums of Medellin, Colombia: “Take care of your daughter, or she will be sold.” The warning – or threat, depending on who is talking – is literal. The street gangs that rule the slums known as comunas are recruiting 10 to 15-year-old girls and auctioning off their virginities to drug lords and foreign tourists.

CBS Washington

Max Velocity Tactical

A couple of points to follow up on this topic:

This post isn’t about camouflage pattern clothing. So long as you are wearing appropriate camouflage or earth toned clothing, you are mostly good. I mean, for example, don’t wear desert camo in the woods, etc. Other than that, if you start getting into detailed discussions of things such as IR performance of camouflage clothing, when wet, when soaked in tabasco sauce, when soaked in Budweiser etc., then…..yawn….you are losing me…wake me up when you are done please…..my point: wear something appropriate, don’t disappear down a rabbit hole over it, just make it work. I wear Brit DPM because I like it, that’s all: it reminds me of the good old days and it works pretty well in the woods. Nothing more.   Continue reading “On Camouflage”

Oleg Volk

We now learn that cops were among the bikers who attacked a traveling family in New York and took an active role in the beating. Two lessons jump out at me:

1. Given a choice, try to avoid jurisdictions like New York, New Jersey, DC and California. Places where armed self-defense is restricted or illegal are also locations where “law enforcement” tends to act in criminal ways.

2. Make sure that all adults and teenagers in your family can use weapons. Practice using small arms from a vehicle (which is quite difficult to do effective and safely), so that the driver can concentrate on escaping the threats while another family member can shoot down boarders if necessary.  Continue reading “Two lessons from the biker attack on a family in NY”

Fox News – by Justin Fishel

It’s another ugly symptom of the partial government shutdown — and this time it impacts the families of soldiers who are dying for their country.

The Pentagon confirmed Tuesday that, as long as the budget impasse lasts, it will not be able to pay death benefits to the families of troops who’ve been killed in combat.

“Unfortunately, as a result of the shutdown, we do not have the legal authority to make death gratuity payments at this time,” said Lt. Cmdr. Nate Christensen, a Defense Department spokesman. “However, we are keeping a close eye on those survivors who have lost loved ones serving in the Department of Defense.”   Continue reading “Pentagon freezes death benefits for fallen soldiers’ families”

Fox News – by Todd Starnes

“I am now occupying the building at this time.”

And with that one decision – restaurant owner Glenn Helseth joined the ranks of Americans who’ve decided to defy the strong-arm tactics of the National Park Service.

For the past 11 years Helseth and his wife have operated the Carrot Tree Kitchens Restaurant inside the historic Cole Digges House in Yorktown, Va.

The National Park Service owns and operates the building. So when the government shut down on Oct. 1, the Helseths were given 48 hours to pack up and move out.   Continue reading “The 2013 Battle of Yorktown — restaurant owner defies feds”

Jon Rappoport

Ask yourself this question: if you’re forced to buy a product, will the seller also want to make sure you use it?

The first part of the question is called a clue. Who forces you to buy a product? What kind of person or group?

Forced purchase and forced use go hand in hand.   Continue reading “Obamacare: the ticking time bomb in “better health””

BCC News

Electrical supply problems at a National Security Agency data centre have delayed its opening by a year, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Power surges at the giant Utah centre had ruined equipment costing almost a million dollars, it said.

The technical problems had also led to lengthy investigations that had meant its opening date had been pushed back.   Continue reading “Power surges ‘cripple NSA data centre’”

BBC News

Researchers at a US lab have passed a crucial milestone on the way to their ultimate goal of achieving self-sustaining nuclear fusion.

Harnessing fusion – the process that powers the Sun – could provide an unlimited and cheap source of energy.

But to be viable, fusion power plants would have to produce more energy than they consume, which has proven elusive.   Continue reading “Nuclear fusion milestone passed at US lab”

Max Velocity Tactical

I feel it would be useful to post a comment about the purpose of the training videos that I have put up recently. I want to make it clear that I use them to illustrate specific points or training objectives, and not as the all encompassing answer to tactics. I’ve posted videos from the 1960’s, the OBUA (MOUT) training videos yesterday, and they are all full of useful nuggets but also lessons to be learned and sometimes ways not to do things and to learn from.   Continue reading “Training Videos: The Purpose Of Them”

Military SF

Two men make up a battleteam and they will never be far from each other. This is very important on a battlefield. First is the morale factor. A person is much more likely to panic if he is alone. He will feel cut off, in extreme danger and about to die. If someone else is nearby it provides a great deal of support because, if the individual is injured or lost, there is someone to help him or go for help. Other factors come into play also. If someone else is present the individual will attempt to mask his fear and in this way, more easily over come it. (This is one reason military forces do not readily acknowledge a soldier’s fear and encourage the ‘fearless’ attitude). Another factor is that in ‘tight’ units that the two (or more) are looking out for and relying on each other. When someone knows that someone else is doing their best to protect him from harm it has a very calming affect.     Continue reading “Tactics – The Battleteam”

The words of Thomas Paine, below, are intact….but for one word being updated.

These days in which we live, are so similar to his, we should act NO differently.

December 23 1776 / 2013

These are the times that try Men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine Patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of this country; but he that stands it NOW, deserves the love and thanks of man and women. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly:    Continue reading “These Days In Which We Live”

Matt Walsh

Dear President Obama,

You strike me as the sort of man who spends a lot of time staring at his own reflection. I wonder, what do you see when you gaze so admiringly at yourself? What image do you find in that mirror of yours? Let me guess: a graceful Greek god with a golden crown, draped in luxurious robes, perched on a giant, magnificent throne atop a mountain in the sky? You see a throng of angels singing your praises and masses of subservient peasants prostrated before you, trembling with fear and awe? You see a man who is more than a man, and a president who transcends the presidency; you see a historic figure of immortal importance?   Continue reading “An open letter to President Obama”

Tea Party Headlines – by Todd Cefaratti

Upon his inauguration, the president takes an oath. This oath of office is a bond with the American people, a responsibility the president assumes to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, our rule of law. The president places his hand on the Bible and is, so long as he remains in office, honor-bound to support the rule of law for the American people.   Continue reading “Putting America at Risk: Border Patrol Told to ‘Stand Down’ Amidst Government Shutdown”

1 M Vet March

Get ready to join a million vets in Washington DC and online! The Administration has closed down war memorials that are normally open 24/7 and that do not have any staff to guard them under normal circumstances.   Continue reading “Million Vet March on the Memorials”