Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Movie Reviews

Freedom Shenanigans & High Jinks will be on hiatus until December 1, 2009. To keep you occupied this holiday weekend we are happy to introduce a Freedom Shenanigans & High Jinks' exclusive. From video affectionado Roy Fox comes some reviews of popular "patriot" videos. Many of these are from the One Dollar DVD project. Others are from the various presenters.
Check it out. A few years ago Roy was a government lackey, working his government job until he was given a video. It was like taking the
"Red Pill" in The Matrix. The world was never the same after that. His interest was piqued and he started to research the various "patriot" subjects.
He has put years and thousands of babble bux into viewing and reviewing the best and worst of the "patriot" videos proffered to the American patriot community above and underground. There is no agenda except for how well the message is being delivered by the video maker.
Read before you buy and redistribute videos.


Notes On Documentary Films

Rating Scale
4 Stars - Outstanding
3 Stars - Good
2 Stars - Fair
1 Star - Poor


The Big Picture Time 1:28
The film is divided into eight parts. The first part entitled "A Global Conspiracy" displays pictures associated with different aspects of the overall Illuminist New World Order plan in a rapid fire . There are several sections where images flash by without any explanation of their meaning. Those without the background on all the issues will find large sections of the film unintelligible. One can only assume that the film is intended for an informed hard core patriot audience. The film also suffers from too many superficial discussions of the various issues, while spending too much time on the "Planet X" non-issue. The production quality and soundtrack are top-notch, and the sections on Codex Alimentarius and Mind Control are superb.
Rating: ***

Wake Up Call Time 2:29
This film borrows heavily from an assortment of the best films in the conspiracy genre. It opens with the famous red pill/blue pill scene from the movie "The Matrix", then proceeds with many of the best clips from Alex Jones documentaries such as "Endgame" and "Order of Death", "Zeitgeist", "Monopoly Men", David Icke's "Turning The Tide", "Illuminati, Volume 1", "The Capitalist Conspiracy", 911 Loose Change", and scenes from numerous other films. The film clips are linked together in a coherent and logical sequence to tell a story that is compelling and riveting. The last section on Mind Control is a chilling exposé on the elites' plans for all of us.
Rating: ***

Injecting Pandemic Time 2:00
Dr. True Ott discusses the evidence which proves the elitists are engaging in a eugenic depopulation conspiracy through development of deadly flu strains. The recent "Model Health Emergency Laws" that have been passed in most states have set up the framework for totalitarian mandatory mass vaccinations, arrests and quarantines. He shows how these laws will actually spread the pandemic and how China is promoting biological war on the American population. The presentation appears to have been filmed in a home study or living room and the production quality is strictly amateur. There are several audio and video glitches. Nevertheless, the information is compelling and contains information everyone needs to be familiar with.

Rating: ***

Innocents Betrayed Time 0:58
This documentary film is produced by Aaron Zelman of the activist gun rights organization "Jews For The Preservation Of Firearms Ownership" (JPFO). It demonstrates the historical link between governments instituting strict gun control/gun confiscation and the major genocides of the 20th century. The production quality is good, but the film suffers from its repetitive format. By the third or fourth example, the genocides start to blur one into the other. While each story is individually important, the shock value begins to lessen after seeing the horrors repeated too many times. The commentary by Zelman and Stevens at the end was excellent, and one wishes that there was more of that discussion throughout the main body of the film. By covering different aspects of the gun control issue throughout the film, it would have been a more engaging documentary.
Rating: **

Our Corrupt Foreign Policy Time 2:02
This is a collection of documentaries, many narrated by different Hollywood celebrities like Elizabeth Montgomery, Susan Sarandon, and Kris Kristofferson. The topics cover all aspects of the ongoing US war against Third World countries, including the School of the Americas, the Iraqi genocide, Iran-contra, the Panama invasion, Indonesia and East Timor and Viet Nam. There are extended speeches by Philip Agee (CIA) and Ramsey Clark. Overall the information is good, but marred by occasional left clichés. Particularly annoying is the endless repetition of the phrase "killing women and children"...does that mean killing adult men is of no concern? The solutions offered--calling/writing your Congresscritters or standing in the street with "peace" symbols and antiwar chants--are futile.

Rating:
**

America From Freedom to Fascism Time 1:49
This is a great professionally done film by Hollywood director Aaron Russo whose credits include the films "Trading Places" and "The Rose". Russo also hosted a weekly cable TV series "Mad As Hell" where he dealt with government intrusions in our lives. This film begins with a little history of the bankers conspiracy to saddle the American people with a central bank and an income tax. The film is done in Michael Moore style by playing the role of "Everyman" while interviewing government officials and the man in the street. The income tax issue consumes a large portion of the film, and it would have been nice to see some of the other issues get more attention in the film, like the militarization of police, discussion of the increasingly fascistic laws being passed by Congress, and more expansive coverage of the new technologies of surveillance and control.

Rating: ***

Obama Deception TIme 1:51 (plus "extras")
Alex Jones documentary films are legendary and ubiquitous in the truth movement. This latest entry is one of his best productions to date. Jones has matured greatly as a filmmaker over the years, and this film stays away from some of the scattershot approach of earlier films. The reporting is solidly non-partisan and can be a useful tool to wake up folks on the left or the right. Alex provides damning evidence of politicians at every level being tied to the CFR, Bilderberg, or Tri-Lateral organizations. Bush's and Obama's connections to occult groups/secret societies such as Skull and Bones and Freemasonry complete the sinister picture. Jones shows how the agenda for world government and the loss of our rights and constitutional sovereignty never changes regardless of whether a Republican or Democrat are in the White House. The real power behind the throne pulls the strings of the President and Congress to carry out the plan for world domination. The only negatives in the film are the filming of scenes of Alex in the streets shouting through a bullhorn, and the devotion of too much footage of Jim Tucker in hotel rooms stating the obvious and scenes of vehicles heading into a "Bilderberg Group" meeting. As with similar scenes in Jones' previous films, they distract from the more important issues being discussed.

Rating: ****

Zeitgeist Time 2:02
Zeigeist is perhaps the the most earth shaking and paradigm shattering film in the conspiracy documentary genre. Part one has created tremendous controversy because it exposes the false basis of religion, and how the elites have always used religion to control populations. In particular, the sacred myths of Christianity are exposed as retreads of many earlier religious myths, and are linked to sun worship and astrological belief systems. Part two exposes the myths behind the 911 story portrayed by government and the mass media. Part three is a breathtakingly powerful discourse on the criminal basis of the Federal Reserve System and our enslavement through the bankers' corruption of our money. The conclusion is an appeal to people to question their paradigms and belief systems, which would become the basis of defeating the elite's conspiracy against mankind. The production quality is excellent, and the film is a must see. Versions that skip Part I can be found for those who might be disturbed by the subject matter.
Rating: ****

Codex Alimentarius Time 2:09
Codex is the food and supplement guidelines being promulgated by the World Trade and World Health Organizations under the false pretense of protecting the public from tainted food, but in reality promoting deadly and toxic GMO foods while denying access to vitamins and herbal supplements. This agenda is being driven by Big Pharma and Big Agra to "harmonize" with draconian European guidelines and to do an "end around" the US DSHEA legislation. This disk contains two presentations, the first by Ian Crane which lasts about 90 minutes. He discusses both the threat posed by Codex and how it fits hand in glove with the New World Order agenda. The second presentation is given by Dr. Rita Laibow, who went into more detail on Codex and where they are heading. Her speaking style is somewhat distracting when she tries to be "too cute", but there is substantial reason to share her grave concerns.
Rating: ***

Terrorstorm Time 1:50 (plus "extras")
This is an excellent documentary by radio talk show host Alex Jones which goes beyond 911 to show strong evidence of British government involvement and coverup in the 7/7 London Underground and bus bombings. Alex makes a strong case using circumstantial evidence to show how the so-called terrorists were innocent patsies framed by MI5. The long history of government use of terror to coerce populations is powerfully presented in the film, and proves the point that we are all being railroaded into a totalitarian police state by these false flag black ops. This film deviates from its professional journalistic style when it falls back on filming scenes of Alex's "trademark" bullhorn rants. The production decision to include extensive coverage of the antiwar protests at Crawford, Texas was generally unenlightening. Ditto on the long segment covering Charlie Sheen's doubts about 911. The final section on mind control techniques would have tied the whole film together much better if it weren't for the loss of focus and intensity resulting from these few weak segments.
Rating: ***

Economic Collapse Time- approx 2 hours
This is a collection of sixteen shorts from youtube.com covering various subjects connected with the planned economic collapse of the US economy. There are a few standouts in list, as well as a few video clips that were better left on the editing room floor. The British TV show "The Last Laugh" falls under that category and the iTulip interview with Scurlock didn't leave much of an impression. "Proof In Your Pocket" parts 1 & 2 are well done eleven minute segments on the US dollar, the North American Union, CFR/Secret Societies, and the NWO agenda. George Carlin's 10 minute "They Own You" is entertaining and yet cuts right to the heart of the matter. In the king's court, the fool was often the only person who could speak truth to power. Carlin's passing was a great loss as a powerful voice of freedom.
Rating: **

They Killed 'Em: JFK and Son Time: 3:43

This is a well done investigative report of all the circumstantial evidence surrounding the assassination of John F Kennedy and the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of his son John Jr. in a plane crash near Martha's Vineyard airport. The video is divided into 4 parts. Part 1 covers the evidence that George W Bush had means and motive to prevent the rescue of any survivors in the John Jr.'s fatal crash. Part 2 covers the JFK assassination in Dallas and how George Bush Sr is implicated in the conspiracy. Part 3 is entitled "Deep History" and runs about 18 minutes. It presents an well supported theory for JFK's assassination. The final part, "911 Connections" is interesting--but since it only runs 12 minutes, the viewer is left hanging, hoping to see more. The only annoying part of the 4 part video is the incessant Kennedy family worship throughout the films. Despite the overt bias, the video is compelling and convincing, a must see.

Rating: ****

911 The Road To Tyranny Time 2:20
This early release of this video by Alex Jones was probably the first 911 conspiracy video produced after the September 11 attacks. As a result, a lot of the smoking gun evidence that came public in the months and years afterward did not make it into this video. The video features a compelling segment showing government lies and complicity in the Oklahoma City Murrah Building bombing and the botched first World Trade Center bombing. Building a case on the history of false flag attacks, Alex combines circumstantial evidence to build a case of probable White House/Pentagon involvement in the attacks. The video later runs rapid-fire through various important side issues, including media control, martial law exercises, vaccination, microchip implantation, surveillance, loss of rights, and others. It concludes with an apocalyptic vision of the world if the global elite are successful in their plans.
Rating: ***

Alex Jones: Dr Laibow MD and Maj General Stubblebine Time 1:45
Radio talk show host Alex Jones from Austin, Texas conducts a powerful interview of Dr Laibow on the issue of Codex Alimentarius and how it relates to the elitist's agenda for world depopulation. Her husband, retired Major General Stubblebine, adds perspective as previous head of Air Force Special Weapons Research. Video footage is primarily Alex speaking into his broadcast mike from the studio, interspersed with still pictures of his guests or an occasional graphic. The interview would be just as effective in an audio CD format. If this interview doesn't wake people up to how deadly serious this food issue is, then people are just too stupid to live.
Rating: ***

Loose Change 2nd Edition Time 1:26
This is the follow-up video that became a sensation on the internet with millions of viewings and copies of the DVD circulating throughout the country. The title "Loose Change" was "coined" by the amateur filmmakers who put it together on a very small budget. Yet the film is extremely powerful and convincing in making its points and in exposing many of the key anomalies associated with the government's version of 911. This is one of the "must-see" videos produced by the 911 truth movement.
Rating: ****

911 Eyewitness Time 1:44
Interesting analysis of video footage taken by photographer Richard Siegel on September 11. A lot of questions about the government's explanation of events are raised in the film. Alternative theories of what happened are followed up with careful measurements taken directly from the audio and video footage and live audio from AM radio station WINS. The physical evidence proves that the government version of events was false. This film is useful for serious students of 911 who want to look into several key details of the buildings collapsing.
Rating: ***

Power Of Nightmares Time 3:00
This is a 3 part series from the BBC which purports to expose the use of fear to control national debate and steer government policies. Part 1 explores the rise of Leo Strauss and the neocons after World War II. Part 2 continues through the Reagan and Clinton administrations. Part 3 explores current events in the Middle East, the domination of neocons in the Bush administration and the myth of Al-Qaeda. Unfortunately, being a product of controlled mainstream media, there is too much deception and half-truth in the film. Although some of the history is interesting, this film is mostly spin as opposed to serious journalism.

Rating: *


Depleted Uranium & America's Dirty Bomb Time 1:48
Two documentaries on the use of so-called depleted uranium in US tactical munitions. "Depleted Uranium" is a Power Hour presentation narrated by Dr. Joyce Riley, retired military. The production quality is excellent, the facts are horrifying. Our country is guilty of the worst war crime in modern history. We have turned Iraq into a nuclear hellhole and condemned the Iraqi people to sickness, deformity and death. The pictures are very graphic and deeply disturbing. The film "America's Dirty Bomb" is a documentary by Dr. Doug Rokke who was in charge of the American team investigating the effects of depleted uranium contamination on US soldiers. His data and testimony are riveting. The documentation he has accumulated is extensive and terrifying--evidence he acquired at the cost of his own health and that of his research team. These two documentaries need to be seen by everyone immediately. This has to be stopped and the people behind this atrocity need to be...well, held accountable.
Rating: ****

Americanism 101 Time 1:03
This is a collection of video clips cobbled together from different sources, but half of the one hour disk is the John Birch Society presentation "Overview of America" narrated by John McManus. While very well-meaning and patriotic, his ignorant dismissal of anarchism as an alternative to the statist belief of granting government a monopoly of force is hard to sit through for anyone with a more thorough understanding of the principles of liberty. The film will appeal to Constitutionalists and conservative Republicans looking for answers to the growth of leviathan government. But the film's premise that we can have limited government controlled by "the people", is delusional. The other film clips are on varied unrelated topics and are good as "stand alones". Jerry Daly's graphic presentation on the profound media bias against Ron Paul is well done. "Blue Pill, Red Pill" and "This In America" are two popular and well done "youtube" shorts.
Rating: **

The End Of America/Naomi Wolf Time ---
Long one of the icons of the "progressives" in America, Naomi Wolf laments the end of America in this 5 part DVD. Each segment records either a radio/TV interview or a speaking engagement promoting her book by the same name. The dialogue seems rehearsed and not spontaneous. Naomi appears shocked that the country is turning totalitarian, even though it was redistributive policies promoted by her and her "comrades" on the left that helped get us here. And fer gossake, will someone please tell this woman that America is (or was) a REPUBLIC and not a DEMOCRACY?! The positive value of the film is to clarify the changes to our political environment that are heralding the coming dictatorship and police state. Did I say coming...it's already here. All the flashpoints that are on Naomi's top ten list have already happened.
Rating: **


Best Of Puppet Government Time 1:04
This is a collection of best short videos from youtube.com. There are about a dozen selections, the including the "must see" video by Billy Vegas entitled "The Militarization of Police". A ten minute video entitled "American Warning" is also highly recommended. "We Are The Ones" utilizes the famous "Network" diatribe as a narrative but spends too much of its time on the unusual footage of wildlife on the Serengeti plains. "How You Ended The War" covers Bush/Cheney WMD lies and other sins from the left/antiwar viewpoint . "False Flags, Lies and Nukes" is a better crafted segment covering similar issues. These videos are very useful to raise awareness with people who don't want to invest hours to watch one of the feature length conspiracy videos.
Rating: ***

Confessions Of An Economic Hitman Time 1:09
A CSPAN Book Club Speech by the author of the book by the same name. Another poor misguided soul who sees the corruption in government, but thinks more or "better" government is the solution. As a "talking head" video, and dealing with economics, it already had two strikes against it in terms of "watchability". "Confessions" might be of interest to someone needing a whistleblower's perspective to convince them that an evil conspiracy is really happening. Otherwise, take a pass on this one.
Rating: *

WTC Dust & Deceit Time 0:59 (plus extras)
New Yorkers were told by the EPA that the air quality was safe on 9-11 and in the days thereafter. The documentary proves the point that government can and does cause grave harm and death to those foolish enough to trust them. The story needed to be told, the issues are vital and the stories are heartrending. It's almost as if the government wanted to increase the death toll from 9-11...naah, they only have our best interests at heart, as everybody knows. (sarcasm off) The film could have been shorter and made the point just as well. There is a saturation point one reaches when listening to a seemingly endless parade of human misery. It might have been interesting to investigate the conspiracy angles further.
Rating: *

David Ray Griffin: 911 and the American Empire Time: 1:24
This video is a speech given to an audience at the University of Wisconsin-Madison which summarizes most the key points of 911 and how the official story is clearly a lie. The producers of the video also augment the speech by inserting pictures, documents and text that support Mr. Griffin's key points. There is nothing in the data presented that is new or groundbreaking in any sense. The facts have been presented in many videos made previously. The chief value of this 911 film is the respectability lent to the subject from a leading theologian.
Rating: **

End The Fed Time 2:06
This collection of videos on the Federal Reserve banksters is simply fabulous. While other videos have done a fair job on the issue, this combination of documentaries is the gold standard, pardon the pun. If you had to show just one short video to someone about the Fed, the excerpt from Zeitgeist Addendum entitled "Fractional Reserve Banking" is the most powerful 19 minutes ever put together on the subject. There is also an 11 minute excerpt entitled "The Fed" from the original "Zeitgeist" movie that is excellent. There are two longer fims on the disk--"Fiat Empire" which borrows heavily from G Edward Griffin and his pioneering work and "Money, Banking and the Federal Reserve" which is produced by the Mises Institute. Both are 41 minutes in length, and both are very good in depth discussions of all the issues surrounding the money and banking issue. The only complaint with the latter film is the poor lip sync, which is just a minor nuisance. This is definitely one of the top ten videos that are obtainable from dollardvdproject.com
Rating: ****

Pretext for the North American Union Time 1:38
This video deals with an important subject for those who worship the nation-state. Unfortunately for those who have as little use for the USA as they have for the NAU, the film has little to offer. The entire presentation is backdropped with an American flag and uses the film technique of playing video clips in a small window while scrolling text below. Large sections of the film are "power point" style, with the narrator reading the text frame by frame. For those manage to stay awake until the end, you will be "treated" to the national anthem...together with suggestions that you should beg Congress to stop their plans to steamroll us into world government. The producer of this film has good intentions, but that isn't good enough any more. There are so many vital issues threatening our (so-called) civil liberties in this American police state that the issue of the NWO empire rearranging its administrative network over a larger region is simply a small piece of a much larger conspiracy.
Rating: *

911 Missing Links Time 2:07
This is the film you watch AFTER you've finished watching some of the other 911 films. This film truly fills in the "Missing Links"--those facts of the conspiracy that the other filmmakers apparently considered too hot to handle. Dropping all pretense of "political correctness", this film effectively exposes the deep Israeli connection with the 911 disaster, as well as the massive Zionist infiltration of every branch of US government. Finally, we have a film that exposes the "elephant in the living room", the real driving force of US foreign policy and the treasonous politicians that are behind it all. See this film now before pending US "hate laws" overturn our first amendment rights and censor this vital information. If we can't discuss the truth frankly, we will never be able to stop the NWO plan.
Rating: ****

911 Mysteries Time 1:30
Although the introduction to the film risks alienating potential viewers ("Hi, I'm Brad and I'm a conservative Republican..."), this is a very good forensic analysis of most of the factual data of 911. Produced in 2006, the film does an impressive job of destroying the official government version of events by first reciting each official conclusion from the 911 Commission followed by a scientific analysis of the evidence that proves each of the Fedgov's point wrong. Unlike other films which go more heavily into the political and foriegn policy aspects of 911, this film stays on task with using factual documentation and primary laws of physics. There is no escaping the conclusion that the government's "911 conspiracy theory" is a badly fabricated lie.
Rating: ****

Upcoming reviews: Election Fraud Combo, Iraq War Documentaries, Who Is Ron Paul, Ruby Ridge, Theft By Deception, 911 What's The Truth, Everyone's Gotta Learn Sometime, Confronting The Evidence, Who Killed John O'Neil, Steven E Jones 911 Revisited, Secret Mysteries of America's Beginnings Vol.1, Riddles In Stone Vol. 2, Eye Of The Phoenix Vol.3, Master of Terror, America Destroyed By Design, Matrix Of Evil, Police State 2000, Police State II The Takeover, Police State III Total Enslavement, Wake Up Or Waco, Martial Law 911: Rise of the Police State, Endgame, One Nation Under Siege, Chemtrails The Video, Fahrenheit 911, Global Warming or Global Governance, HAARP- The Update, We Become Silent, Prescription For Disaster, Waco Rules of Engagement, Votescam The Stealing of America, The Money Masters, Gulag USA

Saturday, November 21, 2009

What Government Really Is!!!

It really isn't an old joke;
"Why doesn't government like organized crime?" "Because it hates competition!"

It is the truth.

Most governments use the fraud of the sanctity of Law to support the illusion of majority rule while a noncompetitive minority makes decisions sans any actual majority input other than an occasional ballot whose outcome may or may not be prearranged. Furthermore, government routinely tries to monopolize everything it can by coercion. Therefore, ANY government that does not allow and protect voluntary disassociation is a violence based protection racket no different than the "organized crime" that it sanctimoniously excoriates.

From John Robb's
Global Guerrillas

PROTECTION RACKETS

Diving into military theory (again).

A core dynamic behind the emergence of the nation-state was it's ability to run a successful protection business (aka racket). A system that has been growing since the treaties of Westphalia in the 1600s. The protection business is relatively simple:

  1. It is a monopoly. It has exclusive ownership over the use of violence. As a monopoly, it must crush all internal competitors.
  2. It defends its monopoly from outside interests -- as in warfare with nation-state and non-state competitors.
  3. It charges the customers (individuals and businesses) within its geographical areas of control for this service. This isn't optional. Customers presumably benefit from this protection.

Historically Successful Protection Rackets

So what made the nation-state formula for protection so superior to its competitors during its ascent over the last 400 years? It's simple. It delivered value to its customers. Let's dive into this with a paper by Charles Tilly (War Making and State Making as Organized Crime). He cites the economic historian Frederic Lane's simple formula for success:

  • The protection monopoly must generate tributes in excess of the costs necessary to maintain it's monopoly.
  • The protection monopoly must generate protection rents for its customers. The amount the customers benefit gain from the protection of their interests less the amount they pay for it.
  • Both tributes and protection rents must be positive for long term success. Further, the nation-state that minimized protection tributes in favor of maximizing protection rents grew the fastest (historically, that was partly accomplished through economies of scale).

The Status of Modern Protection Rackets

The protection formula broke down in the latter half of the 20th Century as the nation-state became more complex. Key elements of this breakdown include:

  • First, the advent of nuclear weapons made full scale war impossible (van Creveld).
  • Second, the emergence of a global marketplace with global property rights meant that the commercial interests of the nation-state's remaining customers became more powerful than nation-state's interests. This restricted/limited warfare even more.
  • The result has been a slow unraveling of the nation-state's ability to maintain it's monopoly over violence (and much more) within and outside its geographical borders. This has created a gap in protection at the local level into which small violent groups are now quickly converging. Finally, there is additional evidence that the economies of scale that drove the growth of earlier protection monopolies has broken down.
What this Means

It's likely that small groups that emerge to seize local control (as in, create a TAZ), will eventually converge on the successful protection model (delineated above). In fact, we have already seen this shift with groups as diverse in origin as the Sendero Luminoso to the Taliban to the Zetas to MEND. These groups will be successful in so far as they:
  • Stay decentralized and cooperative (re: opposition to the state) to ensure protection efficiency. There are few economies of scale in this environment given the leverage offered by globalization and the presence of legacy nation-states as barriers to growth.
  • Generate positive protection rents for their customers. Deliver value. Protection monopolies that expand into the core businesses of its customers will become vulnerable and inefficient. Expand the business interests of customers by eliminating competition when possible and ensuring market access. Charge competitive rates and not monopoly rents (sufficient tribute but not excessive).
  • Diversify. To maximize potential tributes while still delivering accelerating protection rents to customers, a protection racket should expand its customer list. This means extending protection from drug smuggling to generic smuggling (across the entire range of potential goods) to generic commercial activity (standard corporate and small business interests). Create a vibrant local commercial environment across the entire spectrum of potential activity.

NOTE: I think this is a nice expansion of the theoretical groundwork laid down in Brave New War, with the goal of laying out the entirely new framework for how 21st Century warfare will work. Of course, since I don't work for anybody exclusively, it is available to everybody. Use as you see fit.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

The Oddsman Cometh as Nemesis

Been busy for awhile with family responsibilities. I see that the pot's temperature is rising and many frogs are getting ready to put out the fire themselves.
Just to show that I'm not alone I'm re-running a piece from 6/7/2007. Afterwards is a link to Mike Vanderboegh and the Sipsey Street Irregulars with another chapter in the soon-to-be-published novel Absolved.

In this chapter, the American patriots do like the Armenians and Irish and start sending the the ones responsible for
infringement, injustice and injury to meet their maker.

Big Thanks to
Bill St.Clair for the "heads-up" on this!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


What American Patriots need to consider IF the situation moves toward a martial law or a martial rule condition, ARE the strategy and tactics of Michael Collins.

1. Intellegience - KNOW YOUR ENEMY - Who are they, where do they live, work, shop, attend public events, church. Who are their neighbors, family, friends.

2. Supply your needs - food, weapons, ammunition, hide-outs, Communications ability with your comrades and the general public.

3. Strike the Root not the branches - Hit the top people, not the drones.

4. Leaderless Resistance - No central planning, no central head to hit. Individuals committed to the strategy of seizing liberty with different tactics independent of each other but united by a common belief in the Creed of Freedom. http://www.freedom-force.org/freedom.cfm?fuseaction=creed

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Throughout Irish history, rebellions were always failures because of cowardice, drink, and most ominously, informers. Returning from Frongoch Prison in Wales with the other survivors of the failed 1916 Rising, Michael Collins realised this. Britain had always been able to either place spies in rebel parties or else succeed in enticing Irishmen to ‘rat out’ their colleagues for money and protection. With his own intelligence network, he took on, and beat, Britain at its own game.

Building up the Network

“For the first time in the history of separatism we Irish had a better intelligence service than the British… this was Michael Collins’ great achievement and it is one for which every Irishman should honour his memory.”- Todd Anders

Michael Collins was appointed the Director of Intelligence of the Irish Volunteers in January 1919. By this time, he had already laid much of the groundwork for his intelligence network.

Collins had penetrated the Irish and English postal, telephone and telegraph systems. Letters and dispatches could be moved to various contacts by certain train inspectors. The railway workers were organised so effectively that the military frequently had to move troops and stores by road, which would play into the hands of the IRA ambushes as the war intensified. The trade unions were mobilised to hamper police and military movements by road, rail and sea. For many months the army had to tie up thousands of men on the major ports as the dockers had paralysed all attempts to land stores.

One of Collins’ key activities was gun running. He established a network of agents across the British Isles using his IRB (the Irish Republican Brotherhood) connections. His secret channel was dubbed the ‘Irish Mail’. Gelignite from Wales and England came carefully packed in tin trucks, rifles came in wicker hampers, revolvers and ammunition in hand luggage. In December 1918 a munitions factory was set up in the cellar of a bicycle shop in Dublin, with Collins taking over the operation of it several months later.

The Squad

“I am a builder, not a destroyer. I get rid of people only when they hinder my work.”- Michael Collins

“Our only way to carry on the fight was by organised and bold guerilla warfare. But this in itself was not enough. England could always reinforce her army. To paralyse the British machine it was necessary to strike at individuals outside the ranks of the military. Without her Secret Service working at the top of its efficiency England was helpless… robbed of the network of this organisation throughout the country, it would be impossible to find ‘wanted’ men.” - Michael Collins

Collins set up ‘the Squad’, a small band of Dublin Volunteers attached to the Intelligence Department, in July 1919. It was a full-time assassination team, made up of clerks, tradesmen, and general workers, who were paid £4.10 a week. According to Bill Stapleton, one of its members-

“Our chief function was the extermination of British spies and individuals.”

Strict rules were laid down for Squad shootings. Assassinations were a last resort, coming after repeated warnings to the target. Once the order to shoot was given, the Squad would study the locale carefully and work out where and when the shooting would take place. After a job the guns would be dropped in the pockets of ‘the Black Man’, a former boxer who perpetually walked the streets of Dublin.

On July 30th, Detective Sergeant Smith of the ‘G’ Division was shot dead by the Squad on the authority of Dail Eireann. On September 12th, Sergeant Daniel Hoey was shot dead outside of Police Headquarters at Brunswick Street. Both Smith and Hoey had disregarded several warnings from Volunteers. As a result of these killings, political detectives became less inclined to go beyond the letter of their duty, or taking any risks in its execution. Collins explained his strategy in 1922-

“Without her spies England was helpless… Spies are not so ready to step into the shoes of their departed confederates as are soldiers to fill up the front line in honourable battle. And, even when the new spy stepped into the shoes of the old one, he could not step into the old one’s knowledge… We struck at individuals, and by doing so we cut their lines of communication, and we shook their morale.”

The other main result of these killings, and Volunteer activity in Munster, was the banning of Sinn Fein and Dail Eireann. This created a fertile climate for Collins’ tactics, allowing him to assassinate more British police and agents without being restrained by moderates.

Following the suppression of Dail Eireann, the Dail and the Volunteers (by now popularly known as the IRA) agreed that the IRA should intensify its campaign. With the demise of the DMP in Dublin, the British authorities decided to bring down Mr. William C. Forbes Redmond from Belfast to reorganise the detective force. But his assistant in Dublin Castle was one of Collins’ agents. Redmond was identified and his movements were recorded. On January 20th 1920, Redmond was shot dead by members of the Squad as he returned to his suite in the Standard Hotel in Harcourt Street. According to a Squad member, Joe Dolan-

Following Redmond’s death, his own undercover detectives pulled out and returned to Belfast, and thereafter ‘G’ Division “ceased to affect the situation”, according to British military intelligence. By the following month, a Secret Service Branch of the RIC no longer existed.

It may be wondered how Collins and his intelligence officers went about seemingly unhindered during this time. The remaining DMP men were generally too afraid to go after Collins, even though many of them were able to identify him. The twin evils of spies and raids remained however. Many of Collins’ office and hiding places, dotted throughout Dublin city, were turned over during the War of Independence. He usually got forewarning from one of his agents and was able to be elsewhere. It also helped when one of his ‘friendly’ detectives was leading the raiding party. In November 1919 Collins’ financial offices on Harcourt Street were raided. Nothing important was discovered because the detective in charge of the search simply didn’t bother looking. What he actually did was-

“I went upstairs and counted the roses on the wallpaper until the raid was over.”

It is believed that up to half the Cairo Gang may have escaped assassination, but ‘Bloody Sunday’ (as it became known afterwards) was overall a huge success for Collins’ intelligence network. Spies and their wives flocked to Dublin Castle in despair, and Collins’ intelligence team were able to jot down the names of those they didn’t already recognise. Bloody Sunday had a crippling effect on British intelligence in Ireland. One of Collins’ agents wrote-

“The effect was paralysing. It can be said that the enemy never recovered from the blow.”

Collins himself wrote-

“My own intention was the destruction of the undesirables who continued to make miserable the lives of ordinary decent citizens… If I had another motive, it was no more than a feeling such as I would have for a dangerous reptile… There is no crime in detecting and destroying in war-time, the spy and the informer. They have destroyed without trial. I have paid them back in their own coin.” -
Michael Collins and the Organisation of Irish Intelligence, 1917-21

Towards a Truce

“The tenacity of the IRA is extraordinary. Where was Michael Collins during the Great War? He would have been worth a dozen brass hats.”- British civil servant Tom Jones writing to Bonar Law

On December 20th, Eamon de Valera returned from America. De Valera argued that it would be better to change from hit and run guerilla tactics to having a series of battles with the British, mainly for propaganda purposes. This resulted in the burning of the Customs House on May 25th 1921. It was a publicity success worldwide but resulted in many of the best IRA men in Dublin at the time being captured. As the summer reached its peak, Collins had been preparing to assassinate around sixty fresh agents sent in from Britain, as well as groups of soldiers who were based in Dublin. Half an hour before this operation was due to begin, it was called off. Lloyd George had sent word that he wanted peace.

Britain had been facing growing worldwide pressure, especially from America, to negotiate a settlement. The Anglo-Irish Truce came into effect on July 11th 1921. As the peace talks were going on in London, and the guns were silent across the country, things were still going on in the murky underground war. The IRA were all coming out into the open, including intelligence officers, and the British Secret Service were noting their appearance and their various whereabouts. Collins ruefully admitted-

“Once a truce is agreed, and we come out into the open, it is extermination for us if the truce should fail… We shall be like rabbits coming out from their holes.”

This didn’t stop him continuing to run his intelligence office as the truce was maintained. A truce it had in no small part brought about.

Conclusion

Several things forced the truce of July 1921, of which Collins’ intelligence network is only one. But it is arguably the most important one. One of the key reason that the War of Independence of 1919-1921 actually achieved a tangible result (the Anglo-Irish Treaty), unlike scores of previous rebellions, was intelligence.

British spies and informers were wiped out by the Irish. People were now afraid to be seen supporting or passing information to the British administration. Spies were routinely shot. British intelligence lines were intercepted and used against them. The State became effectively paralysed by Collins’ network. This is acknowledged by British historians, none more so than Lawrence James in The Rise and Fall of the British Empire. As he looks at the reasons behind the British agreeing to a truce in July 1921, he notes-

“The British army had still not overcome many of its operational problems, not least the lack of a competent intelligence-gathering service. In fact, by early June, the two sides were facing deadlock.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Absolved, Chapter 28. Nemesis: The Six Apostles.

"Who today still speaks of the extermination of the Armenians?" -- Adolf Hitler, 1939.

In the Greek tragedies Nemesis appears chiefly as the avenger of crime and the punisher of hubris . . . She was sometimes called Adrasteia, . . . meaning "one from whom there is no escape"; her epithet Erinys ("implacable") is specially applied to Demeter and the Phrygian mother goddess, Cybele. -- Wikipedia.

17 July 1915


Aram Avakian’s father was herding his goats in the hills above their village at the base of the mountain that the Ottoman Empire called Musa Dagh but the Armenian Christians called Musa Mer when the Turkish gendarmes came, looking for a little diversion. Ordered to hide and be silent no matter what happened, little Aram hid under a large basket and listened as the Turks raped his mother, one after another. Aram could hear his mother moaning and weeping and the laughter of the gendarmes. When they were done, just before they bayoneted her, one of them asked, “Where’s your Christ to protect you now?”

When they were gone, Aram ran to find his father.

There were six villages of at least five thousand Armenians scattered around the base of Musa Mer and all had been ordered to evacuate and march to somewhere in the interior, away from the Mediterranean Sea. Having heard rumors of what happened to other Armenian Christians when given similar orders, most of the villagers decided to withdraw up the mountain, construct defensive positions and defy the order.

Some, about 60 families, decided they would be safer if they obeyed the order. They marched off with all that they could carry, and were never heard from again.

Between the six villages the Armenians had managed to hide about a hundred and twenty modern rifles and shotguns from the authorities when they had previously been ordered to give them up. In addition, they had perhaps another 350 out-dated flintlock muskets and old horse pistols.

The Armenians stripped out their homes and shops of every manner of provision and carried them up the mountainside. That took them one whole day. They immediately placed sharpshooters at key points and began digging trenches and constructing road blocks.

Arriving to find the Armenians gone, the Turkish Army was ordered up the mountain to round them up and kill all who resisted, which it would later turn out, had been the plan all along.

On 21 July, a force of 200 Turkish soldiers moved up Musa Dagh in expectation of an easy victory. After losing a number of casualties and a mountain howitzer, they retreated. The next attack consisted on 3,000 soldiers and a large number of gendarmes and Muslim irregulars and the Turks drove to within 400 yards of the Armenian camp. Only a deep ravine separated them from their prey. By this time night had fallen and the Turks settled in, expecting to finish the job in the morning.

In the darkness, having no other option, the Armenians took a page from the Bible and duplicated Gideon’s feat by infiltrating down and around the Turkish position until they had it surrounded. When they attacked, the startled Turks were first thrown into confusion, then panic. The Turkish soldiers and their irregular allies fled down the mountain, leaving their camp and considerable war material and food behind.
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