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Nalah affixed the massive shield to her back, the rectangular form large enough for him to fit behind while only needing to crouch slightly. It was mostly ironwood, but the sides and front were metal-plated, so it still weighed a considerable amount. Despite that, the thing’s bulk hardly seemed to be noticed by the blonde-furred female, likely due to the constant construction work she involved herself in. It paired oddly with the long pike she insisted on using, but he couldn’t deny that poking at things while hiding behind a mobile wall sounded like a good idea.
Jax was wearing his new armour, the bulky chest-piece a mirror of his blond-furred pack mate’s. Though he forwent the protection a buckler or likewise would offer, he doubled up on gear. Gauntlets, vambraces, pauldrons, and anything else he could wear to compliment the massive axe he had taken a liking to.
Where Nalah was fitted to look like an apocalypse survivor—her protections limited to her torso, forearms, and shield—the black-furred male resembled a giant, if underfunded, paladin. All he needed now was some religious imagery and a penchant for exalting the qualities of their god. Joseph almost nudged the guy to suggest it for kicks.
On second thought, he decided that Jax absolutely did not need a reason to start yelling about the Human-turned-religious-figure, because there was no way in hell he wouldn’t. There was no telling what he would choose to say, and the Grand Hunter was perfectly happy never knowing.
Having been with the male as long as he had, it would probably involve ‘taming’ females or something else that would leave him groaning for weeks, if not just contemplating another high-dive from the cliff.
Joseph fixed his own equipment, the ‘Wraith armour’ worn over his own thin iron breastplate. He wasn’t thrilled to wear the extra weight, but it beat being mauled by the thing they were heading out to kill. The trips so far had been tolerable, fog and overcast skies keeping the temperature in check, but he didn’t want to go out in this on a hotter day as Summer really kicked back in. He was sweaty enough without baking inside all this crap.
He adjusted the wolf-skull mask, the rest of the hunting party having gotten over the worst of the unease it gave them. Though they’d needed to rotate people out for the sake of fairness, this would be their eighth consecutive scouting. Using the information that Raine and Faye provided, they narrowed down a likely stomping grounds for the creature and were systematically clearing sectors. It might have been discouraging to keep looking after so long, but the occasional marking on trees and the odd moss-wolf corpse tipped them off that they were getting close. There was still another week’s worth of searching left if today wasn’t the day, but somehow he doubted they wouldn’t need that long.
All in all, they numbered six; larger parties were attempted, but their efforts at stealth quickly became pointless between so many trudging through the forest and stopping for breaks. There was a bit of a scare where one of Mi’low’s pack went missing, but the guy had just stopped to relieve himself. Since the discovery was made by someone else knocking him over in the process by mistake, they decided that keeping the number smaller made communication easier. And lowered the amount of grumbling about needing a bath.
Jax, Nalah, two security members, one of the hunters, and him. Sure, grabbing Tel or the Wraiths would have been a bit more useful for cohesion, but they were all busy with things, and he didn’t want to grind everything in the settlement to a halt for nothing if the search turned up empty again. They were more suited to taking out their fellow Lilhun than some monster in the woods, as much as he disliked the thought.
Scarlet was spending a lot of time with Violet and the new Atmo, Faye was spending much of her recovery with the moss-wolves and moss-pup, and Tel was in the process of helping Harrow shore up the few security members that were slated to become snipers. Kaslin was still learning chemistry with Toril, and Raine was helping whoever needed a hand, so that marked off all of his usual accompaniment. He could have taken more of his direct pack, but they all had important things to take care of as well.
Sahari was managing the pack and putting people where people needed to be put, Pan was working with Idee and Heralt to make a line of armour for the whole pack, and Mi’low was...well, Mi’low. He was pretty sure she was unofficially the master of the hunter’s lodge and spent most of her time keeping track of what came in and out of it, while also making sure that everyone got their fair share. It needed to be done with the settlement growing as much as it had, and it kept Mi’low busy enough to stymie the flow of complaints, so he wasn’t about to complain.
They double checked that they had everything that was needed; food, water, arrows, bolts, and some bags to store anything that the snares had caught on the way back. Four ranged and two melee weapons meant that they would be mostly using Jax and Nalah to soak hits if it came down to it, the others peppering it with projectiles. Given that Harrow was insistent on the bear-thing being resistant to anything they could use at a distance, they also carried spare weapons for the ranged users, just in case. Nodding, Joseph gestured to the group finishing up their preparations for the day’s trip.
“A moment, sir?” Scarlet called to him as she approached the gate, the Wraith flanked by Rose and Cobalt. The two Atmo were decked-out in their own armour, which appeared to be almost entirely metal, save for the palm lining the inside for comfort. Each of their six legs were adorned with broad shields, their bases capped off with a flat storage carriage. They looked like someone had a little too much fun testing how much the insects could effortlessly carry and had ended up with sapient hexapedal tanks.
“Only if you explain why those two would look more at home if they had cannons installed on their backs,” he quipped, an expression somewhere between surprised, amused, and plain dumbfounded plastered on his face. The blackish red-furred female smirked for a split-second before resuming her usual servile presentation.
“The young mistress had extended her request for these two to accompany you.”
Joseph tilted his head incredulously. “Violet told you to send them?”
Scarlet nodded, gesturing to the outfitted Atmo. “They have been under her tutelage for some time now, and wish to be of assistance.”
The Grand Hunter snapped his mouth closed when he was about to ask why his daughter would teach them anything that might be useful for fighting a deadly beast. Of course she did; It was one of the first things he did for her. It would have been weirder for her not to pass on what she knew after all the hours she spent either seeing him coach the others, or being coached herself. With the time she had under her belt, she was the local Atmo Close Quarters Combat specialist, and no one else understood how the modified boxing she learned worked with their bodies like she did.
He wore a hesitant expression, shifting his weight to his other leg. “Well, they’ve certainly geared up.”
“It is a product our smith is rather proud of,” the Wraith affirmed confidently.
He exhaled slowly. “Seems a bit much.”
She seemed to be expecting the remark, barely pausing to register what he said before responding. “Your kit wishes you safe, yet understands you would not allow her to accompany you. These two wish to be of assistance.”
To punctuate her point, the two nodded in agreement, walking forward and slinging some of the backpacks onto their carriages. It seemed ‘no’ wasn’t something they were going to accept after Violet had said her piece. He sighed, conceding that they wouldn’t slow the party down with everyone carrying so much weight in equipment, regardless of the bags. They took breaks frequently enough to accommodate the Atmo, so that wouldn’t hinder anything either.
“Fine,” he relented with a wave of his hand. “We’ll take them. Not like they’d hurt anyway. But–” He put a warning into his tone. “–they’re not playing the hero and getting themselves killed. This isn’t going to work if they think any of us dying is still a net positive, got it?”
The two Atmo mimed their understanding, Scarlet replying with a victorious smile. Joseph couldn’t help but bemusedly roll his eyes. The female had taken rather well to baby-sitting, and that seems to have extended to humouring the young Queen’s schemes now. It wasn’t an unwelcome addition to their little sojourn. At least they could haul back any larger game without it tacking hours onto the return trip.
He thanked Scarlet for her trouble before dismissing her, confirming with the group that everything was accounted for, and set off before it grew too late. He wasn’t looking to get caught out in the woods during the night. The Lilhuns might be fine, but he was pretty well blind unless the moon felt generous.
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Jax watched the two Atmo quietly follow on the sides of the group, their heavily armoured forms posing no issues with their naturally soundless movements in the forest. In the den, they would make moderate clacks and clicks as their chitinous legs contacted the ground, but the soft dirt and foliage stifled all but the smallest report of their travel. With Scarlet supervising alongside Violet, he wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the former Blade had influenced their movement with the goal in mind, though he had never paid much attention to how they walked before to compare.
He had to admit, having them carry the additional equipment was exceedingly useful. He had proposed having the group use the newly acquired platforms on their more arachnid-like abdomen to rest in shifts, but Joseph was quick to insist that the insects were of lesser stamina than even Lilhuns. The phrasing seemed like a comparative insult, but Jax had more than enough experience with the Human to know that he had simply spoken his mind. To him, everyone had sub-par stamina. Training had gone some way to remedy the discrepancy, but the Grand Hunter could still continue for longer than even the most well-conditioned of them.
The black-furred male rolled his shoulders, feeling the heft of his axe shift with the movement. It was an impressive size, the weight well-balanced and its edge sharp. He had once laid it to the ground out of curiosity and confirmed that it was about as tall as Pan from head to haft, though only if she stood to her full height. Regardless of its size, it was still lighter than the armour he chose to don.
Having only really worn leathers or a few sets of ironwood protections, the encumbering prominence of the iron equipment took getting used to. It wasn’t entirely restrictive, but did put a damper on any chances he had of sprinting from danger. That was fine, he supposed, since he was wearing it against a beast he had no experience with. It could very well outrun him regardless, and he would rather have the defences in either case.
Nalah seemed to be doing fine, the large barrier she kept on her back swaying slightly as she walked. She was unhindered by it, her movements barely affected by the bulk, which was reassuring. Joseph, however, seemed to be panting more than usual, the rolling cloud coverage easing as the sun progressively warmed the environment. The fog from earlier meant that it was rather humid, and that seemed to bore no well wishes for the male encased in dark leathers and thick plates. He had even flipped down his hood, the sweat beading on his skin adding a sheen to his visage.
“I liked this better when the sun didn’t exist,” the Human lamented quietly, just loud enough for Jax to hear. The black-furred male chuckled.
“It would be rather dark.”
Joseph glared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes. “I just don’t rank ‘heavily armoured hike through the woods’ high up on my list of things I want to do regularly.”
“I believe that list would be occupied by your mates, no?” he ribbed playfully, a smirk arising when the Grand Hunter shunted his eyes closed in a grimace.
“I hate you.”
“I can see your smile underneath your displeasure, Joseph,” Jax quipped, nudging the male with his elbow, then giving an apologetic smile when his friend almost fell. Joseph sighed, waving Cobalt over and fetching a water-skin from the luggage that the insect was ferrying without breaking stride—though he needed to be careful not to get stepped on.
The Atmo always amused Jax. Be it their passive demeanour hidden by their towering stature, or his interactions with the den-kit, they never failed to be curious people. Having the two that accompanied Volta with them was an unexpected development, but he couldn’t claim to disapprove. If they had been imparted the methods of combat that Violet had cultivated, then there was little worry of them being harmed by naught but perhaps their current target. At least not until there was a better reference of its strength than the single encounter the first-years had so long ago.
At the time, it had smashed pillars and pierced flesh effortlessly, claws proving to be little more than tempting ministrations of tender touch to the thick hide. Jax only had some of the pack’s recount to base the experience off of, but was content to take their word for it. He was, ashamedly, preoccupied taking care of baser needs when the event transpired, so he was woefully unprepared for the eventual encounter. Still, he was afforded the best the settlement had to offer so that he might serve his duty of protecting the Grand Hunter. Harrow would never forgive him if only he returned.
His thoughts were disturbed by Joseph calling for a rest, Jax’s legs thankful for the break from supporting the unusual weight for so long. The Human dispensed rations and water for the pack, the Atmo waiting until everyone else was supplied before accepting their portion. They rested on their base directly, instead of curling their legs beneath them like Jax had become accustomed. Perhaps the armour impeded such, or they wished to remain mobile in the event such was required. Regardless, they blocked what little breeze there was, forcing the Grand Hunter to walk beyond them to enjoy it in the shade. It was short-lived however, as Rose quickly repositioned to stay between the pack and whatever lay beyond their protections.
It was a futile effort, it seemed, because it repeated again twice before Joseph groaned loudly and threw himself atop the carriage to lay back, his legs dangling at the knee. He seemed perfectly content with the unorthodox arrangement, snorting his amusement along with a muttered comment about a ‘taxi.’
The entertaining sight was marred by a distant yelp, snapping the group to attention. Jax and Joseph traded looks, subtle nods and gestures given to move out while remaining quiet. Ignoring his earlier complaints, the Grand Hunter flicked his hood up and donned the mask, drawing his crossbow and readying a bolt. The hunter of the pack mimicked the preparation, the two security members loosely nocking their arrows while Rose, Cobalt, Jax, and Nalah took point.
They proceeded quietly for far longer than the proximity of the noise would have suggested, but marks and gashes upon the trees implied a moving conflict. Thoughts of it being a lost cause quickly became moot as a closer growl and bark shattered the careful silence they had been maintaining.
Motioning for the pack to stop, Joseph waved Jax forward, Nalah approaching the other side. Using the large shield as additional cover, they peered around a particularly thick tree. Locked in combat were two moss-wolves, both attacking a truly massive grey creature.
Twice the Human’s height, half that in width. Four pillars as legs—the muscular trunks sinewy and defined—supported the disturbing hunched figure, the wide base tapering slightly into a thick and extended torso. A singular eye-stalk replaced the head, the ocular organ atop it pitch black and free of any indication of its focus. Four arms with deadly claws parried and sliced the two yellow beasts as they attempted to drive off the predator, a sickeningly large maw gaping to catch any attempts at a lunge. The mouth of the creature almost occupied the entirety of the available surface area upon its front, the jagged bone tools of manduction undulating with the promise of sustenance.
Joseph pulled them back, cursing under his breath as he tried to fight off the tension. From Nalah’s worried expression, it seemed his caution was rather potent, the other members of the group smelling his reaction as well.
“So, what’s the plan, Jax?” the Human whispered, his grip on the crossbow alternating with his fingers stretching across the trigger lest his fidgeting cause a misfire.
“I thought that, with your record, you would wish to tame it for the settlement,” Jax replied while thinking through a plan of action. He was glad that his friend trusted him, but he wished he had known the true scale of the beast prior. Joseph grit his teeth, turning to glance past the tree again with sarcasm pouring out of his response.
“Can’t quite see Winnie-the-woodchipper there playing great with kids.”
“You say that after adopting an Atmo as kit, Grand Hunter,” he returned, nodding to himself when a plan formed. The Human smiled, the banter easing the tension somewhat. “Rose, Cobalt, you two are the most well defended of us. Circle around and drive the beast this way. You should be capable of such without noise, yes?”
The two insects nodded, emptying their luggage behind a tree so as not to lose any of it before disappearing into the trees. The slight glimmer of their iron armour was the only indication of their position through the dense forest. Jax hoped that the beast was not particularly curious about the dimly pulsing glare, nor finished with its current altercation in time to impede the pair.
Satisfied with their progress, he motioned for the two security members to scale a tree and gain a superior vantage point. Their weapons would be able to maintain a more rapid pace of sustained fire at longer ranges. Joseph and the hunter were instructed to hide behind trees nearby, though the Human would need to remain grounded as his lack of claws made scaling the large flora difficult with his equipment.
Finally, Nalah and he positioned themselves much closer, in order to flank the creature as it fled the Atmo and occupy it long enough for the others to bleed it out, if not outright dispose of it.
With the forms of the Atmo peeking through the brush opposite them, Jax raised his axe to signal the start.
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Joseph felt the hammering in his chest, his heart preparing him to fight for his life against the walking abomination that easily outclassed the only other predator that he had experience with. Sure, the moss-wolves were easy to take down once you had equipment and a plan, but that thing screamed danger.
He watched Jax and Nalah set up behind thick trees, their goal being for Jax to hopefully disable a leg or two with the war-axe while Nalah occupied it with the shield. As the two strongest members of his little family, he trusted both to do their job.
As a clusterfuck of animal and torture device, he had no faith in the creature playing along.
Swallowing his hesitation, he adjusted his grip on the crossbow again, mentally tallying his shots and cursing himself for not researching explosives. Sure, Toril didn’t want to be involved in that kind of weapon, but at the moment, the tailless white-furred male could suck it up and make one anyway. Joseph would give his left nut to see how quickly the chemist would make weapons of mass destruction just to annihilate whatever that thing called home.
Jax raised his axe, glinting the sunlight of it towards the Atmo. Receiving the start signal, the two clicked and loosed a deafening screech, the Human’s ears ringing even from this distance.
The beast seemed unperturbed by the noise, though the lack of visible ears may have had something to do with the lacklustre effect. Regardless, it did notice the two armour-clad insects charging at it, and smartly decided to extradite itself from the area. The moss-wolves, however, didn’t quite get the memo, mistaking the advancing assistance as yet another foe to defend themselves from.
He had to say, Violet taught the two well. They flashed their blades out in the same flicker jab that he had shown his daughter, and with an unceremonious squelch, the two bisected canines landed in four pieces, a vibrant green ichor now staining the weapon-like appendages of the Atmo. Undeterred by their first act of violence—as far as he was aware, anyway—they continued herding the beast.
It wasn’t as fast as they might have feared, its quadrupedal gait hindered by its proportions, but it was still quick enough to be damn intimidating. Its arms acted as a counter balance, constantly adjusting this way and that just to keep it stable. That thing was clearly never meant for sprinting, all its mobility being given to the overactive maw that pulsated with the exertion.
He readied his crossbow, the shaking in his hands not ruining his aim against such a large target. He eyeballed the distance between the creature and the ambush point, forcibly moving his finger off the trigger so that he didn’t fire early.
Closer. Come on. Almost.
Now.
Jax wound up like a particularly enthusiastic lumberjack, putting his full body into the rotation. The massive axe swung like a horizontal pendulum striking home with all the finality of a clock tolling midnight. It bit into the front leg of the beast, only sinking a few inches before momentum nearly wretched the weapon from the black-furred male. Luckily, the force and timing was enough to trip it, the creature crashing to the forest floor with a deafening roar of pain.
They could hurt it. That made him feel better.
His relief evaporated as the beast swiftly recovered, hauling itself from the ground faster than he thought possible, but his archers took it for an unspoken signal. Arrows and bolts peppered its thick hide, to no effect—it shrugged off the projectiles like they were nothing more than pine needles, none sinking far enough to gain notable purchase.
Jax hefted his axe for another strike, careful not to over-commit this time. Nalah prodded the beast wherever she could with her pike, the melee weapon sliced and skewered just past the surface of the hide, though not enough to do more than marr. It was, however, enough to gain the attention of the target, the creature swinging two of its four arms to rake across the shield that the blond-furred female held. The iron plating across the front let out an unearthly shriek as claws ripped and crumpled the metal.
Well, fuck.
Nalah was quick to react, treating the shield less as an immovable barrier and more like a slight distance buffer, dodging in and out of range to steal jabs with the polearm. The security members nocked another volley, picking different targets than before. An arrow bounced harmlessly off the black orb of an eye, another finding purchase in what passed for gums in its mouth.
The hint was received; aim for the mouth. Thankfully, that was a large target. Less thankfully, it realized that flashing its teeth was detrimental to its health, slamming the maw closed.
Jax managed another swing, this time into one of the rear legs. It wasn’t as effective as the first strike, but it did warrant a sweeping double back-fist from the creature, scoring Jax’s armour with shallow claw marks as he jumped backwards. Joseph let out a breath as he fired his second shot, only just narrowly missing the sliver of a gap between razor teeth that the enraged attack afforded. It couldn’t keep its mouth shut forever, each frenzied swipe pulling its form enough for glimpses of softer flesh within to appear. The hunter dropped from their tree, darting across to reposition for a wider angle to capitalize on. The creature noticed, lunging forward to eviscerate the easier target.
Joseph blinked as two armoured figures jumped in front of the Lilhun, raising their blades in a tight guard to block the four arms grabbing for a quick meal. The beast recoiled with a thunderous screech, two of its appendages sporting deep gashes that fountained blood, while the others managed to impact above the edged outside of the blades. Rose and Cobalt pressed forward, buying time and space for the hunter to collect themselves and scale up another perch. Taking advantage of its pain, two new arrows ripped through the air, smacking into exposed inner flesh. Two new protrusions joined the first in the mouth, one landing next to the existing projectile, while the other cleared the gateway of serration, driving deeply inside of it.
More flicker jabs and extended straights pushed and cut the beast as it tried to gain distance from the two that wounded it, every retaliatory strike earning it another gash in its grey hide.. Unencumbered by the constant barrage, Nalah thrust into its legs more vigorously, her body leaning into each attack to gain every inch of penetration she could into the muscle and thick hide.
Jax used the chance to score another chopping blow, doubling down on a previous wound to a back leg—striking bone this time, based on the unholy wail the beast uttered. Joseph raised his crossbow to land another shot into its mouth, but the beast flailed wildly to fend off the ambush.
Rose managed to block, Jax lunged backwards, Nalah deflected most of it with what remained of her shield, but Cobalt was caught by a strike, taking the hit to its torso. The Atmo flew backwards, rolling when it landed, the carriage and assorted armoured plates trailing behind it. Rose shifted instantly, covering the direction that their companion had been sent while Jax and Nalah focused on pulling the beast away from the downed combatant.
Joseph’s eyes flicked to the Atmo, waging an internal battle on whether helping the insect would be better or worse for the situation as a whole. He didn’t want to lighten up their assault if it would just mean more injuries, but Cobalt could be in dire need for a patch job. It was hard to tell from where he was.
Cursing, he bolted from his spot, firing off one last round into the gaping maw before clipping the crossbow onto his armour and sliding on his knees in front of Cobalt, healroot hastily retrieved from his pocket.
He paused, sighing in relief when none of the armour bore more than deep gashes, the carapace underneath unblemished by the attack. Cobalt clicked lightly, dazed, but otherwise seeming unhurt. Unlearned in the physiology relevant, he ushered the Atmo to remain out of the fight for fear of concussion or something similar. They could look at the insect back at the base to be sure later.
“Joseph!”
His head spun around at both Jax and Nalah screaming his name, a massive clawed hand sweeping at him—the monster's approach unnoticed while he focused on Cobalt. Lacking a better option, he lunged forward towards the underside of the beast to dodge the swipe, crashing to his shoulder on the dirt below.
The creature raised a leg above Joseph, pounding the earth scant inches from his head as he rolled sideways. Ignoring the kicked up dirt, he brought his fist to the underside of the beast, flicking the release on his bracer.
Blood spouted from the newly formed wound, the blade breaking at the mechanism as the massive animal lurched in pain, Joseph rolling out of the way of another attempted trampling. He scrambled to his feet, feeling the wind of another strike narrowly missing him.
Yeah, that would probably kill him.
Luckily, the injuries renewed the desire to flee in the monstrosity, the group of attackers proving too dangerous to continue challenging. It stumbled away from them, sparing Cobalt from its panicked trudging. Jax and Nalah started to run towards him, worry evident in their eyes, but he barked for them to finish it, redirecting the two to keep the pressure going. He didn’t want to mention the pain in the arm from where the bracer hitched. It didn’t feel broken, and thus was irrelevant.
Pressure applied, the grey beast picked a random direction free of opponents to escape, ignorant of the waiting security. When it was too close for them to shoot into its mouth at a decent angle, they slung the bows over their shoulders and drew the swords they had been afforded, patiently waiting with the blades turned down.
It passed below them, the two Lilhuns dropping from the branches to put their full weight into the plunging blades. Both landed on the large target, one sword sinking deep into a shoulder, while the other managed to pierce one of its hip joints. The beast spun haphazardly to dislodge the ‘new’ threats, both security members kicking off and finding new trees to set up in.
Whatever damage was actually done, it had lost the use of an arm, and its gait shifted awkwardly as the blade lodged in its hip worked more harm with each shambling step.. Emboldened, Jax picked up the pace, struggling to position himself with the amount of metal he wore. Ducking another swipe of its claws, he saw his chance and swung, pivoting with his axe as a counter weight. For the third time, his axe blade found the wound in its leg, adding a sickening crunch as the bone snapped from the impact.
The creature swung wildly, forced to favour its two remaining good legs, and the only other leg that could still support at least some of its weight. It was unstable now, the hunched figure swaying while unmoving. Unable to run, it decided to go down with as many of them as it could.
Rose caught up with the attack, drawing attention from the comparatively squishy Nalah as the blond-furred female deflected a wayward swing with her shield. The once iron-plated ironwood now sporting little more than jagged scraps of metal atop its silver wooden structure, a series of deep gouges marring the surface. Two lunging thrusts with the pike bit flesh, drawing new blood from the beast.
Joseph loaded his crossbow, getting off two bolts, but not managing to keep it steady enough to hit anything of use, his arm faltering under the weight of the weapon. Cursing, he decided to flank the beast and try his luck with the other bracer. If nothing else, the force in which the blade deployed was enough to pierce the thick hide, and the others were doing a good job of distracting it.
The red armoured Atmo let loose a series of directed swings, the fifth severing an arm in motion, the flying appendage forcing Nalah to raise her shield to block the unorthodox projectile. The female was sent sprawling from the weight of the impact, but the beast was too busy voicing its agony to take advantage of it. Jax worked another two chops into the broad legs, but neither managed to incapacitate it any more, and the prolonged exertion was slowing his reflexes.
As if cued into his waning energy, the beast flung Jax with another strike, the hunter of the group sinking a bolt deep into the cavernous flesh of its mouth to prevent an attempt at following up.
Joseph roared, desperate to finish it off before the creature could do the same to his downed pack. He sprinted at the monster's back and slid underneath it with as much speed as he could muster. Throwing his fist into the passing undercarriage, he let the deployed blade leave a long gash in its wake.
The grey monster lost its ability to stand, torn tendons, blood loss, and inflicted injuries taking their toll. The Grand Hunter kicked off his knees to fling himself out of the way of the collapsing figure, grimacing as the remaining bracer proved unable to support the abuse he had put it through. He looked back at the beast, the flailing body failing to right itself as teeth did little more than gouge dirt, its back exposed. Rose approached, raising their blades together and plunging it through the body over and over until it stopped moving.
Exhausted, the Atmo dropped where it was, breathing heavily. Joseph’s instinct to yell their victory was delayed as he hurried over to Jax and Nalah to confirm he didn't need to bring back bad news. Nalah seemed fine, if a bit sore from hitting the dirt and rolling, while Jax just asked to lay down when he heard that everything was over. Cobalt came over to the group, the armour that had come off collected atop the carriage it had managed to loosely affix to its base.
It was light, a chuckle originating from the Human as he slumped to the ground against a tree, but soon the entire group was roaring with laughter as victory settled in their minds. The two security members helped the hunter begin disassembling the beast, their contribution to the fight leaving them with more energy than the rest. They hadn’t been slacking off, that much was certain. The number of arrows jammed into the maw of the thing would have guaranteed a few extra seconds of survival and chances to escape if one of them had been forcibly tossed into there, and it had caused enough pause for the rest of them to get in a few hits up close.
Joseph rested across from Jax and Nalah, letting his heart rate slow from the rapid pace it had been pinned to since the start of the conflict. His arm continued its protests, but from the amount of movement he still had, he guessed that he had just strained the elbow. A few days taking it easy should straighten that right up.
Once the active members were about half way through processing the creature for hide and meat, Cobalt approached him, a mimed request for assistance putting their armour back on being redirected to Nalah since he doubted he could lift the damn pieces without hurting himself at the moment. She obliged, getting the blue Atmo back in full attire, though it took a while.
Rose stood first, stopping over to allow the hunter to place collected bits and pieces onto the carriage before securing it with whatever they could make due. A security member gathered the moss-wolf corpses for a similar treatment. Waste not, want not, he supposed.
Rose ended up carrying most of their spoils. When he was about to ask why, he, Jax, and Nalah were dragged to Cobalt and hefted onto the carriage. A series of confused questions revealed that the rest wanted to head back before it started getting dark, and it was pretty obvious who was the most exhausted of them. Lacking the will or energy to argue it, he flopped back on the Atmo as the trees passed them by, Nalah resting her legs across him as her head sat on Jax’s lap. The black-furred male didn’t so much as smirk, so it was clear he had pushed himself too far to quip about the arrangement as he laid down.
“The next time you wish to exhaust me this much, Joseph,” the Head of Security started after a long while of silence, tiredness in his voice, “I would prefer it to involve my mate and a bed.”
The Human snorted, closing his eyes and enjoying the lack of walking as the surprisingly stable Atmo carried the three of them. “Fuck off, Jax.”
“Of course, Grand Hunter.”
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A/N: Patreon is fixed!... aka new one cuz problems with the last. Check it out to support the story, get AI character art every now and then, or even preview sections of chapters as i write them! (aka, before kieve gets to fix them :D)

I got my blood work done. From my novice understanding everything was guchi, except my test. Here was my results; Male, 29yo Total Test 281 cFT 5.7 Estradiol 28.5 TSH/FT3/FT4 1.74/3.2/1.07 DHEA 301 HDL/LDL/TRIGs 1.74/ 3.2 / 1.07 Vitamin D/B12 36/714 SHBG 29.9 PSA 0.5 A1C 5.1
I was given 200mg TRT, HCG SQ Injection 50units and anastrozole tablets (if needed). Oh and some Vitamin D. My levels were also trash there. I've already been give one dose of TRT and have a month supply. Here's my hesitance on continuing and after thoughts, could be derived from ignorance but that's also why I'm here for a plethora of opinions from a niche audience; I was a competitive strongman competitor in college. Thru ages 19-26 I was placing in most contests. Always been naturally strong. Even now, I'm still strong albeit a bit fatter. 6ft, weighing >245lbs. I can easily rep 315 on squat, easily bench 225 for 12 reps, easily deadlift 405. None of those max effort cause I've got multiple past injuries that keep me from pushing myself to maxes. Low back issues. w/e. These days I lift with serious body builders. I'm not at their level, but I can almost keep up. Which I consider good seeing as I consider myself to be pretty out of shape. a year ago I was 195lbs, 6 pack pushing to see my 8 well, which I didn't even realize I had. Albeit- not as strong as I was when I was fatter. Only reason I'm mentioning all of this is I'm so flabbergasted that my test levels actually came back this low. I know I don't sleep enough (average 5-6 hours). I'm getting back to a more healthy state but haven't become strict with my diet; although usually I have better results by now. Going from middle weight to heavyweight is nothing new to me. I also work from home and definitely don't get enough sun. Could fixing these things further, on their own, bring my levels back to something more comparable with an athletic 29yo? I'm nervous cause I've never taken a test booster of any kind. Protein shakes, creatine, pre workout. All I've ever taken. I was competitive in an untested sport and winning medals. Idk what my levels were then, but it makes me feel like this test was somehow an outlier. I did go thru buying the prescribed medications because I just felt in the moment it's what I should do. But still. I'm cautious cause from my understanding if I continue taking this now, it's a lifelong commitment. And I guess most of all I just can't seem to find good info on a normal range of testosterone day to day or what a normal variance would be. And I'm paranoid the Doc is pushing me to this route for a few bucks in his pocket. I could be way out of line with any number of things in this post. Could be over thinking the entire thing. I will lastly add that I don't want to be average. I may not compete again (may) but I really like being in great shape. Being well above average in strength, even when cutting. And I would like to maybe body build or at least look like I do. So if I should take these results as a sign that I just had a huge drop off and should supplement to get to 1000 or more so I can hit the goals I have, I'm not outright opposed to taking any of the prescriptions. Although, it's like $180/mo. I mean I can afford it for sure, but my stingy ass can't help but recognize that's like a car payment and I imagine that only goes up from here. So what do you think. Lay it on me.

Wearable technology market is anticipated to grow at a significant CAGR of 12.8% during the forecast period. Wearable technologies are smart electronic devices that can be worn on consumer’s body. Wearable devices include smart watches, smart clothing, smart glasses, and fitness band. The changing lifestyle and consumer preference is driving the growth of the wearable technology market across the globe. People are upgrading their lifestyle towards modernization which increases the usage of smart wearable devices and led to the market growth. For instance, in June 2022, Noise launched its first smart eyewear i1 in India. The smart glasses deliver a unique audio experience to its users priced at Rs 5999. Noise i1 supports Bluetooth version 5.1 and claims to deliver up to 9 hours of battery backup on a single charge. The smart eyewear also supports fast charging and with 15 minutes of charge users can enjoy 120 minutes of music playback.
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· Market Coverage
· Market number available for – 2023-2029
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· Competitive Landscape- Archer Daniels Midland Co., Ingredion Inc., Kerry Group Plc, Cargill
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Global Wearable Technology Market Report Segment
By Product
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• Fitness
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By Type
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• Wrist Wear
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By Application
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• Lifestyle
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Europe
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• Spain
• France
• Rest of Europe
Asia-Pacific
• China
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Rest of the World
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The Report Covers
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• Annualized market revenues ($ million) for each market segment.
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As the title suggests, I think Tears of the Kingdom completely destroys any consistency in the story of Breath of the Wild, and in turn the rest of the Zelda timeline, and is by nature pretty goofy. Allow me to explain my points. I do have to preface, I do not and never will on my own volition own a Wii, and thus have never played Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, or Skyward Sword. I realize that doesn't help my case at all as someone claiming any level of authority on Zelda lore, but this post aims to illustrate that the lack of knowledge I have on the lore of those games doesn't even matter.
One thing that has been floating around in the Zelda lore community over the past six years since Breath of the Wild released was the tapestry depicted the original battle between the hero and the great calamity, ten thousand years before the events of Breath of the Wild. It is often believed that this specific hero was a Zonai, due to his odd looks and green arm reminiscent of Rauru's. Problems arise when in Tears of the Kingdom, we see that the red hair of the hero in the tapestry, often attributed to the Zonai by the Barbarian armor set isn't actually a trait the Zonai had. From what we know of the Zonai, their hair was white rather than red, albeit we only get to see two of them. Moreover, they were scholars rather than warriors, building machines to work for them, comparable to those built by the Sheikah to do battle, although it is made clear in TotK that the Zonai gave machines a much greater presence in their lives than the Sheikah did, with the constructs (what the Zonai call their machines) working as soldiers and servants, rather than just soldiers.
The Barbarian set itself introduces some contrivance into the lore by indication that the Zonai came from and resided within the Faron region in the Southeast reaches of Hyrule. It's impossible to say whether or not there is any truth to this, because we only ever see two Zonai, but their ruins are all across Hyrule, underground and above. There very well may have been a point in time that the Zonai only lived within the Faron region, but they did not come from it. Historically, according to Tears of the Kingdom, the Zonai were an advanced civilization that came from the sky. Unfortunately, it's impossible to say what it means to say that the Zonai came from the sky. Would it make them aliens, like those seen in Majora's Mask? Were they like the people of Skyloft? If so, why was there no record of any large structures having been in the sky at any point from the founding of Hyrule to the Great Upheaval? Was the Faron region just unexplored by the Zora, Rito, Goron, or Hylian nations before the Zonai built a complex flying machine to fly them out of the region and into what is now Central Hyrule, and everyone there thought them to be gods when they landed? Forgiving me for calling it convoluted, but I think that explanation is indeed too convoluted to be correct. Unfortunately, taken at face value, it seems that the Barbarian set doesn't reference the Zonai at all, being that its description mentions warriors from Faron and the Zonai are specifically referred to as advanced scholar demigods from the sky. Rauru and Mineru themselves fight with magic instead of weapons, which seems to be within their regular abilities rather than granted by their secret stones, seeing as it is made clear that secret stones only amplify abilities rather than granting them, though this falls apart when applied to Ganondorf, whom I can guarantee did not have an innate ability to summon monsters and turn the moon red.
My point with all of this is that the hero seen in the tapestry of the great calamity cannot possibly be a Zonai, because the figure does appear to be a hero with red hair wielding a blade. The Zonai are shown to have done very little fighting of their own, and very little usage of swords (in fact, the only Zonai swords in-game belong to constucts) along with a lack of red hair and an unlikelihood of having created or worn the Barbarian armor set. Truthfully, none of that matters at all since if we account for the events of Tears of the Kingdom, the great calamity possibly didn't happen ten thousand years ago anyway.
Many Zelda fans have decided that the events of Tears of the Kingdom's memories occur ten thousand years before those of Breath of the Wild, and whether it's actually stated in-game, or the time between TotK's Imprisoning War and Link's triumph over Ganondorf is just stated to be "thousands of years" does make a pretty big difference, however if we assume the events are ten thousand years apart, unless upon being sealed away Ganondorf immediately manifested Calamity Ganon, I find it hard to believe that it happened in the first place. We know the original great calamity had to have happened during or after the reign of Rauru, due to the presence of Hyrule Castle in the tapestry. Along with the Divine Beasts, guardians, and towers also present in the tapestry, nowhere to be found anywhere within the present or past of Tears of the Kingdom, I think it is safe to say this casually accepted ten thousand year gap cannot be the case, and that TotK's Imprisoning War happens before the arrival of the great calamity. That's fine, but... If it's the same Imprisoning War as the one mentioned in prior Zelda games, more problems arise. There's the obvious issue that Ganondorf didn't get sent to any other realm, he just got placed under the castle, and then other issues like the presence of a Rito sage which would be impossible if we are to assume the Rito "evolved" from the Zora when the Great Sea showed up sometime after OoT, and there is no real reason not to believe that, seeing as the series' writers have confirmed it. The only way at all that the Imprisoning War of TotK happens after the entirety of the rest of the Zelda timeline, with the implication being that Hyrule fell to ruin and was rebuilt by the Zonai, who have never been present before in any Zelda game at all.
Another big issue arises on the topic of the Sheikah and their technology. This is one that has been debated for a while now. The question goes: After Breath of the Wild, what happened to the Sheikah towers, shrines, guardians, and Divine Beasts? It has only been a few years, and it seems like it would be difficult to fully get rid of them all in that time. The generally agreed answer is that they were removed and used to build the new towers present in TotK. This answer is really dumb. Those towers are significantly smaller than the ones in BotW. Shrines also contain vast underground areas that could not be "removed" or refilled within the span of a few years, and they contain the bodies of one-hundred and twenty-four possibly dead or alive mummified monks, which would no doubt constitute them as sacred places unfit to be destroyed. The Divine Beasts are also the only resting grounds for the Champions' spirits, a fact that pretty much everyone in Hyrule knows. Only two of the Champions even have memorials outside of the Divine beasts, those being Mipha and Daruk, and Daruk's memorial was defaced by Yunobo. For Revali and Urbosa, their Divine Beasts are the only memorial they have, and unfortunately all but Mipha seem to have undergone the third death. It seems odd, then, that the Divine Beasts were not also considered sacred and left undisturbed. In other words, it's a question that still remains unanswered, and I personally believe that's because it's a retcon. They weren't removed, the writers just want us to accept the new continuity they've designed in which they were never there.
Also, for another contradiction to Breath of the Wild, the Zonai are referred to throughout BotW as mysterious and unknown, pretty much only referenced in item descriptions. Tears of the Kingdom retcons all of that. Pretty much everyone recognizes Zonai ruins when they see them. Talk to most NPCs, they'll have something to say about the Zonai. Even Zelda knows a hell of a lot about them at the start of the game. Pretty much every major character has accepted that the Zonai founded Hyrule, when literally nothing in the previous game indicates that.
Finally, let's look at how Tears of the Kingdom contradicts its own lore. Possibly not inhabited by the Zonai, the Faron region contains imagery that makes it clear that the people there worshipped the dragons, specifically Farosh. The one implication that those are Zonai ruins comes with Mineru's quest, in which Link has to go around the Dracozu river looking for some explicitly Zonai armor. However, if they are Zonai ruins, issues associated with dragon worship become MUCH bigger, but even if they aren't, there are still issues with the concept of dragon worship. Put simply, if you eat a secret stone you become a dragon and lose everything, and that's universally agreed to be a bad thing. So, the dragons were people who ate secret stones. But that's forbidden... So why would they be worshipped by anyone...?
On the topic of secret stones, what's up with Ganondorf? He puts on a secret stone and suddenly becomes a demon king with the power to create red slime and spawn monsters and turn the moon red. Anyone else puts on a secret stone, they can make a gust of air, or roll fast, or move some water, or strike lightning. Why is it that Ganondorf suddenly becomes a deity when he wears one? Is it his connection with Demise, his innate abilities only manifesting as those of his original form? In that case, why is it that the Triforce only turns him into a pig guy? One seems vastly superior to the other. I just personally believe there is no good reason to make Ganondorf the Demon King, since he shows two feats throughout TotK's memories: leading a group of Gerudo who control a swarm of molduga with a pungi like snake charmers. And it's not Ganondorf who plays it. And making a puppet Zelda. That's it. It seems overboard to give him control of the moon. And it is the moon, it's not a puppet moon. You could say everything he makes, monsters included, are just puppets, but the issue is the extent of his power. Rauru is considered a god by Hyrule and the best he can do is sacrifice himself sealing one guy away. One guy. Ganondorf gets armies. Rauru gets to seal one guy and make an explosion and die. Yunobo gets to roll, but he can do that without the stone. Sidon gets to make a bubble. Again, he can do that without the stone. Riju gets to strike lightning, and she too can do that without the stone. Tulin gets to make gusts, but he too can do that without the stone. Sonia can rewind stuff, but Link can do that without a stone. Mineru gets to attach stuff to her construct body, something that I kid you not EVERY CONSTRUCT CAN DO. The stone doesn't let her have the body. She could already do that. The stone isn't even really what lets her attach stuff to it. Really, it does absolutely nothing for her. Period. So why does Ganondorf get armies and the power to manifest whatever he wants? That's silly. I'm sorry, really, it's goofy. Kohga can do all kinds of wacky stuff, if that guy got a secret stone I think Hyrule would legitimately be doomed, judging by the logic of Ganondorf and his silly rock. The would would transform into a giant spiked ball or something. Genuinely, the difference of power between the level of amplification on Ganondorf's abilities and the level of those amplified for everyone else is so drastic that I consider it contradicting to the game's lore, because once again, Rauru is considered a god and his power is dwarfed by Ganondorf's.
I'd love to hear your opinions, and I know someone's gonna say mine doesn't matter because I haven't played the Wii games, frankly I don't care, I included only a few references to them that pretty much every Zelda fan knows. Really, I'm not the most versed in Zelda lore and this is not in any way my attempt to appear as an authority on it, but I do think someone with authority on Zelda lore such as Zeltik should look at TotK through a critical lens because it's goofy. I've seen very little but praise posted about this game everywhere but this sub, and as someone who enjoyed playing it I personally do not think the praise is warranted.

COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum - Reposting

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Reposting this, long read but relevant for the coming deluge of 💩
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1. COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum
2. Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation
3. Eight Traits of the Disinformationalist
4. How to Spot a Spy (Cointelpro Agent)
5. Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

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COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum..
There are several techniques for the control and manipulation of a internet forum no matter what, or who is on it. We will go over each technique and demonstrate that only a minimal number of operatives can be used to eventually and effectively gain a control of a 'uncontrolled forum.'
Technique #1 - 'FORUM SLIDING'
If a very sensitive posting of a critical nature has been posted on a forum - it can be quickly removed from public view by 'forum sliding.' In this technique a number of unrelated posts are quietly prepositioned on the forum and allowed to 'age.' Each of these misdirectional forum postings can then be called upon at will to trigger a 'forum slide.' The second requirement is that several fake accounts exist, which can be called upon, to ensure that this technique is not exposed to the public. To trigger a 'forum slide' and 'flush' the critical post out of public view it is simply a matter of logging into each account both real and fake and then 'replying' to prepositined postings with a simple 1 or 2 line comment. This brings the unrelated postings to the top of the forum list, and the critical posting 'slides' down the front page, and quickly out of public view. Although it is difficult or impossible to censor the posting it is now lost in a sea of unrelated and unuseful postings. By this means it becomes effective to keep the readers of the forum reading unrelated and non-issue items.
Technique #2 - 'CONSENSUS CRACKING'
A second highly effective technique (which you can see in operation all the time at www.abovetopsecret.com) is 'consensus cracking.' To develop a consensus crack, the following technique is used. Under the guise of a fake account a posting is made which looks legitimate and is towards the truth is made - but the critical point is that it has a VERY WEAK PREMISE without substantive proof to back the posting. Once this is done then under alternative fake accounts a very strong position in your favour is slowly introduced over the life of the posting. It is IMPERATIVE that both sides are initially presented, so the uninformed reader cannot determine which side is the truth. As postings and replies are made the stronger 'evidence' or disinformation in your favour is slowly 'seeded in.' Thus the uninformed reader will most like develop the same position as you, and if their position is against you their opposition to your posting will be most likely dropped. However in some cases where the forum members are highly educated and can counter your disinformation with real facts and linked postings, you can then 'abort' the consensus cracking by initiating a 'forum slide.'
Technique #3 - 'TOPIC DILUTION'
Topic dilution is not only effective in forum sliding it is also very useful in keeping the forum readers on unrelated and non-productive issues. This is a critical and useful technique to cause a 'RESOURCE BURN.' By implementing continual and non-related postings that distract and disrupt (trolling ) the forum readers they are more effectively stopped from anything of any real productivity. If the intensity of gradual dilution is intense enough, the readers will effectively stop researching and simply slip into a 'gossip mode.' In this state they can be more easily misdirected away from facts towards uninformed conjecture and opinion. The less informed they are the more effective and easy it becomes to control the entire group in the direction that you would desire the group to go in. It must be stressed that a proper assessment of the psychological capabilities and levels of education is first determined of the group to determine at what level to 'drive in the wedge.' By being too far off topic too quickly it may trigger censorship by a forum moderator.
Technique #4 - 'INFORMATION COLLECTION'
Information collection is also a very effective method to determine the psychological level of the forum members, and to gather intelligence that can be used against them. In this technique in a light and positive environment a 'show you mine so me yours' posting is initiated. From the number of replies and the answers that are provided much statistical information can be gathered. An example is to post your 'favourite weapon' and then encourage other members of the forum to showcase what they have. In this matter it can be determined by reverse proration what percentage of the forum community owns a firearm, and or a illegal weapon. This same method can be used by posing as one of the form members and posting your favourite 'technique of operation.' From the replies various methods that the group utilizes can be studied and effective methods developed to stop them from their activities.
Technique #5 - 'ANGER TROLLING'
Statistically, there is always a percentage of the forum posters who are more inclined to violence. In order to determine who these individuals are, it is a requirement to present a image to the forum to deliberately incite a strong psychological reaction. From this the most violent in the group can be effectively singled out for reverse IP location and possibly local enforcement tracking. To accomplish this only requires posting a link to a video depicting a local police officer massively abusing his power against a very innocent individual. Statistically of the million or so police officers in America there is always one or two being caught abusing there powers and the taping of the activity can be then used for intelligence gathering purposes - without the requirement to 'stage' a fake abuse video. This method is extremely effective, and the more so the more abusive the video can be made to look. Sometimes it is useful to 'lead' the forum by replying to your own posting with your own statement of violent intent, and that you 'do not care what the authorities think!!' inflammation. By doing this and showing no fear it may be more effective in getting the more silent and self-disciplined violent intent members of the forum to slip and post their real intentions. This can be used later in a court of law during prosecution.
Technique #6 - 'GAINING FULL CONTROL'
It is important to also be harvesting and continually maneuvering for a forum moderator position. Once this position is obtained, the forum can then be effectively and quietly controlled by deleting unfavourable postings - and one can eventually steer the forum into complete failure and lack of interest by the general public. This is the 'ultimate victory' as the forum is no longer participated with by the general public and no longer useful in maintaining their freedoms. Depending on the level of control you can obtain, you can deliberately steer a forum into defeat by censoring postings, deleting memberships, flooding, and or accidentally taking the forum offline. By this method the forum can be quickly killed. However it is not always in the interest to kill a forum as it can be converted into a 'honey pot' gathering center to collect and misdirect newcomers and from this point be completely used for your control for your agenda purposes.
CONCLUSION
Remember these techniques are only effective if the forum participants DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THEM. Once they are aware of these techniques the operation can completely fail, and the forum can become uncontrolled. At this point other avenues must be considered such as initiating a false legal precidence to simply have the forum shut down and taken offline. This is not desirable as it then leaves the enforcement agencies unable to track the percentage of those in the population who always resist attempts for control against them. Many other techniques can be utilized and developed by the individual and as you develop further techniques of infiltration and control it is imperative to share then with HQ.
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Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation
Note: The first rule and last five (or six, depending on situation) rules are generally not directly within the ability of the traditional disinfo artist to apply. These rules are generally used more directly by those at the leadership, key players, or planning level of the criminal conspiracy or conspiracy to cover up.
1. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. Regardless of what you know, don't discuss it -- especially if you are a public figure, news anchor, etc. If it's not reported, it didn't happen, and you never have to deal with the issues.
2. Become incredulous and indignant. Avoid discussing key issues and instead focus on side issues which can be used show the topic as being critical of some otherwise sacrosanct group or theme. This is also known as the 'How dare you!' gambit.
3. Create rumor mongers. Avoid discussing issues by describing all charges, regardless of venue or evidence, as mere rumors and wild accusations. Other derogatory terms mutually exclusive of truth may work as well. This method which works especially well with a silent press, because the only way the public can learn of the facts are through such 'arguable rumors'. If you can associate the material with the Internet, use this fact to certify it a 'wild rumor' from a 'bunch of kids on the Internet' which can have no basis in fact.
4. Use a straw man. Find or create a seeming element of your opponent's argument which you can easily knock down to make yourself look good and the opponent to look bad. Either make up an issue you may safely imply exists based on your interpretation of the opponent/opponent arguments/situation, or select the weakest aspect of the weakest charges. Amplify their significance and destroy them in a way which appears to debunk all the charges, real and fabricated alike, while actually avoiding discussion of the real issues.
5. Sidetrack opponents with name calling and ridicule. This is also known as the primary 'attack the messenger' ploy, though other methods qualify as variants of that approach. Associate opponents with unpopular titles such as 'kooks', 'right-wing', 'liberal', 'left-wing', 'terrorists', 'conspiracy buffs', 'radicals', 'militia', 'racists', 'religious fanatics', 'sexual deviates', and so forth. This makes others shrink from support out of fear of gaining the same label, and you avoid dealing with issues.
6. Hit and Run. In any public forum, make a brief attack of your opponent or the opponent position and then scamper off before an answer can be fielded, or simply ignore any answer. This works extremely well in Internet and letters-to-the-editor environments where a steady stream of new identities can be called upon without having to explain criticism, reasoning -- simply make an accusation or other attack, never discussing issues, and never answering any subsequent response, for that would dignify the opponent's viewpoint.
7. Question motives. Twist or amplify any fact which could be taken to imply that the opponent operates out of a hidden personal agenda or other bias. This avoids discussing issues and forces the accuser on the defensive.
8. Invoke authority. Claim for yourself or associate yourself with authority and present your argument with enough 'jargon' and 'minutia' to illustrate you are 'one who knows', and simply say it isn't so without discussing issues or demonstrating concretely why or citing sources.
9. Play Dumb. No matter what evidence or logical argument is offered, avoid discussing issues except with denials they have any credibility, make any sense, provide any proof, contain or make a point, have logic, or support a conclusion. Mix well for maximum effect.
10. Associate opponent charges with old news. A derivative of the straw man -- usually, in any large-scale matter of high visibility, someone will make charges early on which can be or were already easily dealt with - a kind of investment for the future should the matter not be so easily contained.) Where it can be foreseen, have your own side raise a straw man issue and have it dealt with early on as part of the initial contingency plans. Subsequent charges, regardless of validity or new ground uncovered, can usually then be associated with the original charge and dismissed as simply being a rehash without need to address current issues -- so much the better where the opponent is or was involved with the original source.
11. Establish and rely upon fall-back positions. Using a minor matter or element of the facts, take the 'high road' and 'confess' with candor that some innocent mistake, in hindsight, was made -- but that opponents have seized on the opportunity to blow it all out of proportion and imply greater criminalities which, 'just isn't so.' Others can reinforce this on your behalf, later, and even publicly 'call for an end to the nonsense' because you have already 'done the right thing.' Done properly, this can garner sympathy and respect for 'coming clean' and 'owning up' to your mistakes without addressing more serious issues.
12. Enigmas have no solution. Drawing upon the overall umbrella of events surrounding the crime and the multitude of players and events, paint the entire affair as too complex to solve. This causes those otherwise following the matter to begin to lose interest more quickly without having to address the actual issues.
13. Alice in Wonderland Logic. Avoid discussion of the issues by reasoning backwards or with an apparent deductive logic which forbears any actual material fact.
14. Demand complete solutions. Avoid the issues by requiring opponents to solve the crime at hand completely, a ploy which works best with issues qualifying for rule 10.
15. Fit the facts to alternate conclusions. This requires creative thinking unless the crime was planned with contingency conclusions in place.
16. Vanish evidence and witnesses. If it does not exist, it is not fact, and you won't have to address the issue.
17. Change the subject. Usually in connection with one of the other ploys listed here, find a way to side-track the discussion with abrasive or controversial comments in hopes of turning attention to a new, more manageable topic. This works especially well with companions who can 'argue' with you over the new topic and polarize the discussion arena in order to avoid discussing more key issues.
18. Emotionalize, Antagonize, and Goad Opponents. If you can't do anything else, chide and taunt your opponents and draw them into emotional responses which will tend to make them look foolish and overly motivated, and generally render their material somewhat less coherent. Not only will you avoid discussing the issues in the first instance, but even if their emotional response addresses the issue, you can further avoid the issues by then focusing on how 'sensitive they are to criticism.'
19. Ignore proof presented, demand impossible proofs. This is perhaps a variant of the 'play dumb' rule. Regardless of what material may be presented by an opponent in public forums, claim the material irrelevant and demand proof that is impossible for the opponent to come by (it may exist, but not be at his disposal, or it may be something which is known to be safely destroyed or withheld, such as a murder weapon.) In order to completely avoid discussing issues, it may be required that you to categorically deny and be critical of media or books as valid sources, deny that witnesses are acceptable, or even deny that statements made by government or other authorities have any meaning or relevance.
20. False evidence. Whenever possible, introduce new facts or clues designed and manufactured to conflict with opponent presentations -- as useful tools to neutralize sensitive issues or impede resolution. This works best when the crime was designed with contingencies for the purpose, and the facts cannot be easily separated from the fabrications.
21. Call a Grand Jury, Special Prosecutor, or other empowered investigative body. Subvert the (process) to your benefit and effectively neutralize all sensitive issues without open discussion. Once convened, the evidence and testimony are required to be secret when properly handled. For instance, if you own the prosecuting attorney, it can insure a Grand Jury hears no useful evidence and that the evidence is sealed and unavailable to subsequent investigators. Once a favorable verdict is achieved, the matter can be considered officially closed. Usually, this technique is applied to find the guilty innocent, but it can also be used to obtain charges when seeking to frame a victim.
22. Manufacture a new truth. Create your own expert(s), group(s), author(s), leader(s) or influence existing ones willing to forge new ground via scientific, investigative, or social research or testimony which concludes favorably. In this way, if you must actually address issues, you can do so authoritatively.
23. Create bigger distractions. If the above does not seem to be working to distract from sensitive issues, or to prevent unwanted media coverage of unstoppable events such as trials, create bigger news stories (or treat them as such) to distract the multitudes.
24. Silence critics. If the above methods do not prevail, consider removing opponents from circulation by some definitive solution so that the need to address issues is removed entirely. This can be by their death, arrest and detention, blackmail or destruction of their character by release of blackmail information, or merely by destroying them financially, emotionally, or severely damaging their health.
25. Vanish. If you are a key holder of secrets or otherwise overly illuminated and you think the heat is getting too hot, to avoid the issues, vacate the kitchen.
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Eight Traits of the Disinformationalist
1) Avoidance. They never actually discuss issues head-on or provide constructive input, generally avoiding citation of references or credentials. Rather, they merely imply this, that, and the other. Virtually everything about their presentation implies their authority and expert knowledge in the matter without any further justification for credibility.
2) Selectivity. They tend to pick and choose opponents carefully, either applying the hit-and-run approach against mere commentators supportive of opponents, or focusing heavier attacks on key opponents who are known to directly address issues. Should a commentator become argumentative with any success, the focus will shift to include the commentator as well.
3) Coincidental. They tend to surface suddenly and somewhat coincidentally with a new controversial topic with no clear prior record of participation in general discussions in the particular public arena involved. They likewise tend to vanish once the topic is no longer of general concern. They were likely directed or elected to be there for a reason, and vanish with the reason.
4) Teamwork. They tend to operate in self-congratulatory and complementary packs or teams. Of course, this can happen naturally in any public forum, but there will likely be an ongoing pattern of frequent exchanges of this sort where professionals are involved. Sometimes one of the players will infiltrate the opponent camp to become a source for straw man or other tactics designed to dilute opponent presentation strength.
5) Anti-conspiratorial. They almost always have disdain for 'conspiracy theorists' and, usually, for those who in any way believe JFK was not killed by LHO. Ask yourself why, if they hold such disdain for conspiracy theorists, do they focus on defending a single topic discussed in a NG focusing on conspiracies? One might think they would either be trying to make fools of everyone on every topic, or simply ignore the group they hold in such disdain.Or, one might more rightly conclude they have an ulterior motive for their actions in going out of their way to focus as they do.
6) Artificial Emotions. An odd kind of 'artificial' emotionalism and an unusually thick skin -- an ability to persevere and persist even in the face of overwhelming criticism and unacceptance. This likely stems from intelligence community training that, no matter how condemning the evidence, deny everything, and never become emotionally involved or reactive. The net result for a disinfo artist is that emotions can seem artificial.
Most people, if responding in anger, for instance, will express their animosity throughout their rebuttal. But disinfo types usually have trouble maintaining the 'image' and are hot and cold with respect to pretended emotions and their usually more calm or unemotional communications style. It's just a job, and they often seem unable to 'act their role in character' as well in a communications medium as they might be able in a real face-to-face conversation/confrontation. You might have outright rage and indignation one moment, ho-hum the next, and more anger later -- an emotional yo-yo.
With respect to being thick-skinned, no amount of criticism will deter them from doing their job, and they will generally continue their old disinfo patterns without any adjustments to criticisms of how obvious it is that they play that game -- where a more rational individual who truly cares what others think might seek to improve their communications style, substance, and so forth, or simply give up.
7) Inconsistent. There is also a tendency to make mistakes which betray their true self/motives. This may stem from not really knowing their topic, or it may be somewhat 'freudian', so to speak, in that perhaps they really root for the side of truth deep within.
I have noted that often, they will simply cite contradictory information which neutralizes itself and the author. For instance, one such player claimed to be a Navy pilot, but blamed his poor communicating skills (spelling, grammar, incoherent style) on having only a grade-school education. I'm not aware of too many Navy pilots who don't have a college degree. Another claimed no knowledge of a particular topic/situation but later claimed first-hand knowledge of it.
8) Time Constant. Recently discovered, with respect to News Groups, is the response time factor. There are three ways this can be seen to work, especially when the government or other empowered player is involved in a cover up operation:
a) ANY NG posting by a targeted proponent for truth can result in an IMMEDIATE response. The government and other empowered players can afford to pay people to sit there and watch for an opportunity to do some damage. SINCE DISINFO IN A NG ONLY WORKS IF THE READER SEES IT - FAST RESPONSE IS CALLED FOR, or the visitor may be swayed towards truth.
b) When dealing in more direct ways with a disinformationalist, such as email, DELAY IS CALLED FOR - there will usually be a minimum of a 48-72 hour delay. This allows a sit-down team discussion on response strategy for best effect, and even enough time to 'get permission' or instruction from a formal chain of command.
c) In the NG example 1) above, it will often ALSO be seen that bigger guns are drawn and fired after the same 48-72 hours delay - the team approach in play. This is especially true when the targeted truth seeker or their comments are considered more important with respect to potential to reveal truth. Thus, a serious truth sayer will be attacked twice for the same sin.
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How to Spot a Spy (Cointelpro Agent)
One way to neutralize a potential activist is to get them to be in a group that does all the wrong things. Why?
1) The message doesn't get out.
2) A lot of time is wasted
3) The activist is frustrated and discouraged
4) Nothing good is accomplished.
FBI and Police Informers and Infiltrators will infest any group and they have phoney activist organizations established.
Their purpose is to prevent any real movement for justice or eco-peace from developing in this country.
Agents come in small, medium or large. They can be of any ethnic background. They can be male or female.
The actual size of the group or movement being infiltrated is irrelevant. It is the potential the movement has for becoming large which brings on the spies and saboteurs.
This booklet lists tactics agents use to slow things down, foul things up, destroy the movement and keep tabs on activists.
It is the agent's job to keep the activist from quitting such a group, thus keeping him/her under control.
In some situations, to get control, the agent will tell the activist:

• "You're dividing the movement."

[Here, I have added the psychological reasons as to WHY this maneuver works to control people]
This invites guilty feelings. Many people can be controlled by guilt. The agents begin relationships with activists behind a well-developed mask of "dedication to the cause." Because of their often declared dedication, (and actions designed to prove this), when they criticize the activist, he or she - being truly dedicated to the movement - becomes convinced that somehow, any issues are THEIR fault. This is because a truly dedicated person tends to believe that everyone has a conscience and that nobody would dissimulate and lie like that "on purpose." It's amazing how far agents can go in manipulating an activist because the activist will constantly make excuses for the agent who regularly declares their dedication to the cause. Even if they do, occasionally, suspect the agent, they will pull the wool over their own eyes by rationalizing: "they did that unconsciously... they didn't really mean it... I can help them by being forgiving and accepting " and so on and so forth.
The agent will tell the activist:

• "You're a leader!"

This is designed to enhance the activist's self-esteem. His or her narcissistic admiration of his/her own activist/altruistic intentions increase as he or she identifies with and consciously admires the altruistic declarations of the agent which are deliberately set up to mirror those of the activist.
This is "malignant pseudoidentification." It is the process by which the agent consciously imitates or simulates a certain behavior to foster the activist's identification with him/her, thus increasing the activist's vulnerability to exploitation. The agent will simulate the more subtle self-concepts of the activist.
Activists and those who have altruistic self-concepts are most vulnerable to malignant pseudoidentification especially during work with the agent when the interaction includes matter relating to their competency, autonomy, or knowledge.
The goal of the agent is to increase the activist's general empathy for the agent through pseudo-identification with the activist's self-concepts.
The most common example of this is the agent who will compliment the activist for his competency or knowledge or value to the movement. On a more subtle level, the agent will simulate affects and mannerisms of the activist which promotes identification via mirroring and feelings of "twinship". It is not unheard of for activists, enamored by the perceived helpfulness and competence of a good agent, to find themselves considering ethical violations and perhaps, even illegal behavior, in the service of their agent/handler.
The activist's "felt quality of perfection" [self-concept] is enhanced, and a strong empathic bond is developed with the agent through his/her imitation and simulation of the victim's own narcissistic investments. [self-concepts] That is, if the activist knows, deep inside, their own dedication to the cause, they will project that onto the agent who is "mirroring" them.
The activist will be deluded into thinking that the agent shares this feeling of identification and bonding. In an activist/social movement setting, the adversarial roles that activists naturally play vis a vis the establishment/government, fosters ongoing processes of intrapsychic splitting so that "twinship alliances" between activist and agent may render whole sectors or reality testing unavailable to the activist. They literally "lose touch with reality."
Activists who deny their own narcissistic investments [do not have a good idea of their own self-concepts and that they ARE concepts] and consciously perceive themselves (accurately, as it were) to be "helpers" endowed with a special amount of altruism are exceedingly vulnerable to the affective (emotional) simulation of the accomplished agent.
Empathy is fostered in the activist through the expression of quite visible affects. The presentation of tearfulness, sadness, longing, fear, remorse, and guilt, may induce in the helper-oriented activist a strong sense of compassion, while unconsciously enhancing the activist's narcissistic investment in self as the embodiment of goodness.
The agent's expresssion of such simulated affects may be quite compelling to the observer and difficult to distinguish from deep emotion.
It can usually be identified by two events, however:
First, the activist who has analyzed his/her own narcissistic roots and is aware of his/her own potential for being "emotionally hooked," will be able to remain cool and unaffected by such emotional outpourings by the agent.
As a result of this unaffected, cool, attitude, the Second event will occur: The agent will recompensate much too quickly following such an affective expression leaving the activist with the impression that "the play has ended, the curtain has fallen," and the imposture, for the moment, has finished. The agent will then move quickly to another activist/victim.
The fact is, the movement doesn't need leaders, it needs MOVERS. "Follow the leader" is a waste of time.
A good agent will want to meet as often as possible. He or she will talk a lot and say little. One can expect an onslaught of long, unresolved discussions.
Some agents take on a pushy, arrogant, or defensive manner:
1) To disrupt the agenda
2) To side-track the discussion
3) To interrupt repeatedly
4) To feign ignorance
5) To make an unfounded accusation against a person.
Calling someone a racist, for example. This tactic is used to discredit a person in the eyes of all other group members.
Saboteurs
Some saboteurs pretend to be activists. She or he will ....
1) Write encyclopedic flyers (in the present day, websites)
2) Print flyers in English only.
3) Have demonstrations in places where no one cares.
4) Solicit funding from rich people instead of grass roots support
5) Display banners with too many words that are confusing.
6) Confuse issues.
7) Make the wrong demands.
8) Compromise the goal.
9) Have endless discussions that waste everyone's time. The agent may accompany the endless discussions with drinking, pot smoking or other amusement to slow down the activist's work.
Provocateurs
1) Want to establish "leaders" to set them up for a fall in order to stop the movement.
2) Suggest doing foolish, illegal things to get the activists in trouble.
3) Encourage militancy.
4) Want to taunt the authorities.
5) Attempt to make the activist compromise their values.
6) Attempt to instigate violence. Activisim ought to always be non-violent.
7) Attempt to provoke revolt among people who are ill-prepared to deal with the reaction of the authorities to such violence.
Informants
1) Want everyone to sign up and sing in and sign everything.
2) Ask a lot of questions (gathering data).
3) Want to know what events the activist is planning to attend.
4) Attempt to make the activist defend him or herself to identify his or her beliefs, goals, and level of committment.
Recruiting
Legitimate activists do not subject people to hours of persuasive dialog. Their actions, beliefs, and goals speak for themselves.
Groups that DO recruit are missionaries, military, and fake political parties or movements set up by agents.
Surveillance
ALWAYS assume that you are under surveillance.
At this point, if you are NOT under surveillance, you are not a very good activist!
Scare Tactics
They use them.
Such tactics include slander, defamation, threats, getting close to disaffected or minimally committed fellow activists to persuade them (via psychological tactics described above) to turn against the movement and give false testimony against their former compatriots. They will plant illegal substances on the activist and set up an arrest; they will plant false information and set up "exposure," they will send incriminating letters [emails] in the name of the activist; and more; they will do whatever society will allow.
This booklet in no way covers all the ways agents use to sabotage the lives of sincere an dedicated activists.
If an agent is "exposed," he or she will be transferred or replaced.
COINTELPRO is still in operation today under a different code name. It is no longer placed on paper where it can be discovered through the freedom of information act.
The FBI counterintelligence program's stated purpose: To expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, and otherwise neutralize individuals who the FBI categorize as opposed to the National Interests. "National Security" means the FBI's security from the people ever finding out the vicious things it does in violation of people's civil liberties.
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Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression
Strong, credible allegations of high-level criminal activity can bring down a government. When the government lacks an effective, fact-based defense, other techniques must be employed. The success of these techniques depends heavily upon a cooperative, compliant press and a mere token opposition party.
1. Dummy up. If it's not reported, if it's not news, it didn't happen.
2. Wax indignant. This is also known as the "How dare you?" gambit.
3. Characterize the charges as "rumors" or, better yet, "wild rumors." If, in spite of the news blackout, the public is still able to learn about the suspicious facts, it can only be through "rumors." (If they tend to believe the "rumors" it must be because they are simply "paranoid" or "hysterical.")
4. Knock down straw men. Deal only with the weakest aspects of the weakest charges. Even better, create your own straw men. Make up wild rumors (or plant false stories) and give them lead play when you appear to debunk all the charges, real and fanciful alike.
5. Call the skeptics names like "conspiracy theorist," "nutcase," "ranter," "kook," "crackpot," and, of course, "rumor monger." Be sure, too, to use heavily loaded verbs and adjectives when characterizing their charges and defending the "more reasonable" government and its defenders. You must then carefully avoid fair and open debate with any of the people you have thus maligned. For insurance, set up your own "skeptics" to shoot down.
6. Impugn motives. Attempt to marginalize the critics by suggesting strongly that they are not really interested in the truth but are simply pursuing a partisan political agenda or are out to make money (compared to over-compensated adherents to the government line who, presumably, are not).
7. Invoke authority. Here the controlled press and the sham opposition can be very useful.
8. Dismiss the charges as "old news."
9. Come half-clean. This is also known as "confession and avoidance" or "taking the limited hangout route." This way, you create the impression of candor and honesty while you admit only to relatively harmless, less-than-criminal "mistakes." This stratagem often requires the embrace of a fall-back position quite different from the one originally taken. With effective damage control, the fall-back position need only be peddled by stooge skeptics to carefully limited markets.
10. Characterize the crimes as impossibly complex and the truth as ultimately unknowable.
11. Reason backward, using the deductive method with a vengeance. With thoroughly rigorous deduction, troublesome evidence is irrelevant. E.g. We have a completely free press. If evidence exists that the Vince Foster "suicide" note was forged, they would have reported it. They haven't reported it so there is no such evidence. Another variation on this theme involves the likelihood of a conspiracy leaker and a press who would report the leak.
12. Require the skeptics to solve the crime completely. E.g. If Foster was murdered, who did it and why?
13. Change the subject. This technique includes creating and/or publicizing distractions.
14. Lightly report incriminating facts, and then make nothing of them. This is sometimes referred to as "bump and run" reporting.
15. Baldly and brazenly lie. A favorite way of doing this is to attribute the "facts" furnished the public to a plausible-sounding, but anonymous, source.
16. Expanding further on numbers 4 and 5, have your own stooges "expose" scandals and champion popular causes. Their job is to pre-empt real opponents and to play 99-yard football. A variation is to pay rich people for the job who will pretend to spend their own money.
17. Flood the Internet with agents. This is the answer to the question, "What could possibly motivate a person to spend hour upon hour on Internet news groups defending the government and/or the press and harassing genuine critics?" Don t the authorities have defenders enough in all the newspapers, magazines, radio, and television? One would think refusing to print critical letters and screening out serious callers or dumping them from radio talk shows would be control enough, but, obviously, it is not.

A brief history of myself; I have always been an apolitical person. I have dated men, women, and transgenders. However, I have grown passionate about a certain issue recently.
That issue is gender ideology. I have always believed adults should be able to live their own lives. However, I have an issue when the freedom for some people to live their lives begins removing the freedom of other people to live theirs. Some prominent examples; people losing their careers and being expelled from universities for having an opposing opinion. Outspoken conservatives having physical violence done against them. Biological women losing opportunities in sports. People not able to practice free speech without being called bigot or transphobic and getting treated disrespectfully for expressing their opinion. The list goes on.
The one that has especially moved me is how minors are being allowed to have life changing surgeries and hormones that are not reversible. The youth cannot vote, or drink, serve in the military, hold a job, live on their own, and much much more. The brain and the body do not fully develop until our mid-20s. Yet, in some places, minors are allowed to permanently alter their bodies.
Are there true transgenders? Of course. Yet, I believe for some people, having a pronoun is a style, a fashion statement. When I was in high school several of my classmates (including myself) had a long list of genders, sexualities, and even self-diagnosed mental disorders that we shared like badges of honor. But they were fads. Shortly after graduation most of us outgrew this and learned ourselves. I personally didn't settle into a traditional, heterosexual lifestyle. But we learned that those labels were not who we really were. We found ourselves and we did not figure ourselves out until we became young adults. The experimentation was fun for us, for sure, but none of us had any life-changing consequences because of it.
That is not the case now. In some places a minor may receive hormones and surgeries and in these places it is against the law for a therapist to make an attempt to see if there is an underlying issue that is not gender dysphoria. They have to accept the self-diagnosis without question and prescribe hormones, blockers, and referrals for surgeries. And medical companies have made a lot of money from this so I am sure they don't mind continuing with the narrative. I wonder how much is this really the child's choice? How much are they influenced by their parents, social media, and the rest? Is this truly what they want? Would we be better as a society if we just left children alone?
So what do we do from here? I'm not sure. I'm not even going to claim to have all the answers, because I definitely don't. I believe a good start is for everyone to be able to speak and listen to each other. I try to do my part by listening to people who completely disagree with me and learn from everyone. Right now, I think that's all I can really do.

Exhausted: Profitable a Tremendous Bowl. WIRED: Successful a Tremendous Bowl through blowout and cementing oneself as 1 of the utmost dominant groups within just NFL record. I joking of training course, as it under no circumstances iredin direction of earn a Tremendous Bowl, primarily Although by yourself basically comprise a single in the direction of your credit score. And I don fairly treatment how the Eagles battle the Kansas Town Chiefs within Tremendous Bowl 57, basically that they do. If it demands them in direction of crawl previously mentioned weakened glass in direction of eke out a 1-place victory, the euphoria will be exactly as comprehensive and potent as if they acquire through 4 touchdowns. Consequently as your self browse the loosen up of this tale, you should recognize that I am not anticipating the Birds in direction of blow out the Chiefs inside the Tremendous Bowl, nor do I believe that it the just sensible kind of victory. Obtain the trophy. Incorporate the parade. Fly the flag. That all that things. Nonetheless if we zoom out and greedily let ourselves in direction of gaze at the more substantial think about, we can view the Eagles are upon the precipice of some thing incredible. A huge victory in excess of Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes and the unwind of an unbelievable Chiefs squad in just 2 months would cement the 2022 Philadelphia Eagles as a person of the NFL most significant groups of all-year. Imagine relating to that. Believe that around the largest NFL groups at any time assembled Nolan Smith Jersey. The unbeaten 1972 Dolphins, the 1985 Bears juggernaut that went 15-2 and routed their direction toward a Tremendous Bowl victory, the 1984 and 9 49ers, the 2007 Patriots (of course, the types that shed their excellent period in the direction of Eli Manning), Washington in just 1991, the 9 Rams, people Steelers groups of outdated, the 2 Cowboys, 8 Broncos. The 2022 Eagles may perhaps sign up for them, relying upon the consequence of Tremendous Bowl 57. In opposition to the to start with 7 days of the time until eventually already, the Eagles had been the NFL least difficult staff members. They incredibly comprise no holes. Their offense was relentless 7 days-inside of and 7 days-out, in a position in the direction of dominate the operate video game with their operating backs or their QB or toss the ball all previously mentioned the business toward A. J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert. They incorporate the least complicated offensive line within just soccer, the least complicated cornerback trio inside soccer and a defensive line that designed historical past this year. The Eagles' security led the NFL inside of sacks this time as a result of 15, the greatest superior margin simply because the league formally started out monitoring staff members sacks in just 1963. . . Merely the AFL Oakland Raiders within just 1967 experienced a extra intensive direct at the season close Their simply hiccup arrived While Jalen Hurts, who likely must be the league MVP, disregarded 2 of the past a few game titles of the time with a shoulder problems https://www.eagleslocker.com/Tyree_Jackson_Jersey-58. They have been 13-1 each time Hurts went down for 2 game titles and experienced a a few-recreation add for the best vacation spot within just the convention with a few towards engage in. Philadelphia performed with a 14-3 history, the greatest wins within franchise record. Experienced Hurts not gotten damage, they virtually of course would incorporate overwhelmed the Fresh new Orleans Saints, and one particular would expect he would not comprise thrown 2 interceptions versus the Cowboys upon Xmas Eve. With their commencing QB underneath middle, this staff incredibly possibly would include long gone 16-1. By now it affordable in the direction of notice that, inside words of monthly year stage differential, the Eagles+133 was in this article that of the 49ers (+173) and the Charges (+169). The Eagles experienced a pair conclusion wins for the duration of the month to month time and their 2 losses below Gardner Minshew ended up not successful, consequently if there a hit from this community, it that. Yet don't forget that even with their asyprogram, they performed within just the merely office within just soccer within just which no workers done less than. 500 and contain long gone 9-1 from profitable groups this yr, a background handful of within heritage incorporate been capable in direction of sport. "The Eagles experienced an simple routine. "Perfect information within just NFL background vs. successful groups:9-1.. 1969 Vikings9-1.. 2007 Patriots9-1.. 2022 Eagles @StatheadReuben Frank January 30, 2023Their postseason function includes additionally been involving the least difficult within just NFL record hence considerably. Pleasant. This involves the Tremendous Bowl, for illustration #1 1989 49ers:55 inside 2 playoff game titles45 within just SB XXIV100 amount of money Due in direction of their 38-7 acquire in excess of the Giants and 31-7 earn earlier mentioned the 49ers, the Eagles are by now +55 in just actuality differential. The @Eagles are the to start with employees inside of NFL background in the direction of rating 30+ info even though making it possible for less than 10 within just again-in the direction of-again postseason video games https://www.eagleslocker.com/Kelee_Ringo_Jersey-122. OptaSTATS January 29, 2023Excluding the 1940 Bears, who merely performed one particular postseason video game and harmed the Cardinals 73-0 inside the NFL championship, each individual other staff members upon this record performed at minimum a few playoff video games inside of get in direction of acquire that fact differential. Eagles stored the two the 49ers and Giants towards 7 or less pointsFirst personnel within the playoffs in the direction of do that mainly because Ravens 23 yrs in the past Whoever wins the Tremendous Bowl, background tells us it will most likely be through excess than a touchdown. Within just the 56 prior online games, basically 21 of them (37. 5%) ended up determined through a person ranking, like the Birds8-issue victory about the Patriots within just Tremendous Bowl 52. 30-a single occasions (55. 3%), the successful workers gained by means of 10 or added, and there include been 13 instances (23. 2%) in which the victory was through a few touchdowns or excess. If the Eagles can grow to be the 14th staff members in the direction of do that latter, they will incorporate authored a postseason function bettered by means of specifically a few groups within playoff heritage: 1989 49ers, 1986 Giants, and the 1985 Bears. Back again, wel hungrily devour any Tremendous Bowl victory, be it through a single truth or 30, still my childhood is littered with recollections of those people blowouts. May perhaps we look at yet another within just 2 months? Perhaps, nonetheless it not heading. Even upon a gimpy leg, Mahomes is continue to the great within just the sport, and Reid is made up of cemented himself as a of course-hearth, initially ballot Corridor of Famer. Kansas Metropolis contains a sturdy move hurry of their particular, tempo all in excess of the market and are younger and hungry. Whoever wins, the margin of victory is heading in the direction of be in just 1 rating, and it simply as almost certainly the Eagles order blown out as they would blow out the Chiefs. That reported, K. C. hurt woes are attacking their having corps, Reid is made up of not experienced the simplest history upon the most important issue and Mahomessignificant ankle sprain/absence of mobility might be a main place from the Eaglesgo hurry. At the conclude of the working day, all that items is the Birds get the dang activity, a thing they are completely effectively-situated in direction of do. Crown 'em? The Eagles are the 5th personnel towards acquire the Divisional Playoffs and Meeting Championship by way of at minimum 21 facts. Just about every of the final 4 groups gained the Tremendous Bowl. By means of 21 specifics or 1, a Tremendous Bowl victory will make the 2022 Eagles the most significant inside of franchise background. And thatl be sufficient.
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Reposting this, long read but relevant for the coming attacks
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1. COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum
2. Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation
3. Eight Traits of the Disinformationalist
4. How to Spot a Spy (Cointelpro Agent)
5. Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

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COINTELPRO Techniques for dilution, misdirection and control of a internet forum..
There are several techniques for the control and manipulation of a internet forum no matter what, or who is on it. We will go over each technique and demonstrate that only a minimal number of operatives can be used to eventually and effectively gain a control of a 'uncontrolled forum.'
Technique #1 - 'FORUM SLIDING'
If a very sensitive posting of a critical nature has been posted on a forum - it can be quickly removed from public view by 'forum sliding.' In this technique a number of unrelated posts are quietly prepositioned on the forum and allowed to 'age.' Each of these misdirectional forum postings can then be called upon at will to trigger a 'forum slide.' The second requirement is that several fake accounts exist, which can be called upon, to ensure that this technique is not exposed to the public. To trigger a 'forum slide' and 'flush' the critical post out of public view it is simply a matter of logging into each account both real and fake and then 'replying' to prepositined postings with a simple 1 or 2 line comment. This brings the unrelated postings to the top of the forum list, and the critical posting 'slides' down the front page, and quickly out of public view. Although it is difficult or impossible to censor the posting it is now lost in a sea of unrelated and unuseful postings. By this means it becomes effective to keep the readers of the forum reading unrelated and non-issue items.
Technique #2 - 'CONSENSUS CRACKING'
A second highly effective technique (which you can see in operation all the time at www.abovetopsecret.com) is 'consensus cracking.' To develop a consensus crack, the following technique is used. Under the guise of a fake account a posting is made which looks legitimate and is towards the truth is made - but the critical point is that it has a VERY WEAK PREMISE without substantive proof to back the posting. Once this is done then under alternative fake accounts a very strong position in your favour is slowly introduced over the life of the posting. It is IMPERATIVE that both sides are initially presented, so the uninformed reader cannot determine which side is the truth. As postings and replies are made the stronger 'evidence' or disinformation in your favour is slowly 'seeded in.' Thus the uninformed reader will most like develop the same position as you, and if their position is against you their opposition to your posting will be most likely dropped. However in some cases where the forum members are highly educated and can counter your disinformation with real facts and linked postings, you can then 'abort' the consensus cracking by initiating a 'forum slide.'
Technique #3 - 'TOPIC DILUTION'
Topic dilution is not only effective in forum sliding it is also very useful in keeping the forum readers on unrelated and non-productive issues. This is a critical and useful technique to cause a 'RESOURCE BURN.' By implementing continual and non-related postings that distract and disrupt (trolling ) the forum readers they are more effectively stopped from anything of any real productivity. If the intensity of gradual dilution is intense enough, the readers will effectively stop researching and simply slip into a 'gossip mode.' In this state they can be more easily misdirected away from facts towards uninformed conjecture and opinion. The less informed they are the more effective and easy it becomes to control the entire group in the direction that you would desire the group to go in. It must be stressed that a proper assessment of the psychological capabilities and levels of education is first determined of the group to determine at what level to 'drive in the wedge.' By being too far off topic too quickly it may trigger censorship by a forum moderator.
Technique #4 - 'INFORMATION COLLECTION'
Information collection is also a very effective method to determine the psychological level of the forum members, and to gather intelligence that can be used against them. In this technique in a light and positive environment a 'show you mine so me yours' posting is initiated. From the number of replies and the answers that are provided much statistical information can be gathered. An example is to post your 'favourite weapon' and then encourage other members of the forum to showcase what they have. In this matter it can be determined by reverse proration what percentage of the forum community owns a firearm, and or a illegal weapon. This same method can be used by posing as one of the form members and posting your favourite 'technique of operation.' From the replies various methods that the group utilizes can be studied and effective methods developed to stop them from their activities.
Technique #5 - 'ANGER TROLLING'
Statistically, there is always a percentage of the forum posters who are more inclined to violence. In order to determine who these individuals are, it is a requirement to present a image to the forum to deliberately incite a strong psychological reaction. From this the most violent in the group can be effectively singled out for reverse IP location and possibly local enforcement tracking. To accomplish this only requires posting a link to a video depicting a local police officer massively abusing his power against a very innocent individual. Statistically of the million or so police officers in America there is always one or two being caught abusing there powers and the taping of the activity can be then used for intelligence gathering purposes - without the requirement to 'stage' a fake abuse video. This method is extremely effective, and the more so the more abusive the video can be made to look. Sometimes it is useful to 'lead' the forum by replying to your own posting with your own statement of violent intent, and that you 'do not care what the authorities think!!' inflammation. By doing this and showing no fear it may be more effective in getting the more silent and self-disciplined violent intent members of the forum to slip and post their real intentions. This can be used later in a court of law during prosecution.
Technique #6 - 'GAINING FULL CONTROL'
It is important to also be harvesting and continually maneuvering for a forum moderator position. Once this position is obtained, the forum can then be effectively and quietly controlled by deleting unfavourable postings - and one can eventually steer the forum into complete failure and lack of interest by the general public. This is the 'ultimate victory' as the forum is no longer participated with by the general public and no longer useful in maintaining their freedoms. Depending on the level of control you can obtain, you can deliberately steer a forum into defeat by censoring postings, deleting memberships, flooding, and or accidentally taking the forum offline. By this method the forum can be quickly killed. However it is not always in the interest to kill a forum as it can be converted into a 'honey pot' gathering center to collect and misdirect newcomers and from this point be completely used for your control for your agenda purposes.
CONCLUSION
Remember these techniques are only effective if the forum participants DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THEM. Once they are aware of these techniques the operation can completely fail, and the forum can become uncontrolled. At this point other avenues must be considered such as initiating a false legal precidence to simply have the forum shut down and taken offline. This is not desirable as it then leaves the enforcement agencies unable to track the percentage of those in the population who always resist attempts for control against them. Many other techniques can be utilized and developed by the individual and as you develop further techniques of infiltration and control it is imperative to share then with HQ.
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Twenty-Five Rules of Disinformation
Note: The first rule and last five (or six, depending on situation) rules are generally not directly within the ability of the traditional disinfo artist to apply. These rules are generally used more directly by those at the leadership, key players, or planning level of the criminal conspiracy or conspiracy to cover up.
1. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. Regardless of what you know, don't discuss it -- especially if you are a public figure, news anchor, etc. If it's not reported, it didn't happen, and you never have to deal with the issues.
2. Become incredulous and indignant. Avoid discussing key issues and instead focus on side issues which can be used show the topic as being critical of some otherwise sacrosanct group or theme. This is also known as the 'How dare you!' gambit.
3. Create rumor mongers. Avoid discussing issues by describing all charges, regardless of venue or evidence, as mere rumors and wild accusations. Other derogatory terms mutually exclusive of truth may work as well. This method which works especially well with a silent press, because the only way the public can learn of the facts are through such 'arguable rumors'. If you can associate the material with the Internet, use this fact to certify it a 'wild rumor' from a 'bunch of kids on the Internet' which can have no basis in fact.
4. Use a straw man. Find or create a seeming element of your opponent's argument which you can easily knock down to make yourself look good and the opponent to look bad. Either make up an issue you may safely imply exists based on your interpretation of the opponent/opponent arguments/situation, or select the weakest aspect of the weakest charges. Amplify their significance and destroy them in a way which appears to debunk all the charges, real and fabricated alike, while actually avoiding discussion of the real issues.
5. Sidetrack opponents with name calling and ridicule. This is also known as the primary 'attack the messenger' ploy, though other methods qualify as variants of that approach. Associate opponents with unpopular titles such as 'kooks', 'right-wing', 'liberal', 'left-wing', 'terrorists', 'conspiracy buffs', 'radicals', 'militia', 'racists', 'religious fanatics', 'sexual deviates', and so forth. This makes others shrink from support out of fear of gaining the same label, and you avoid dealing with issues.
6. Hit and Run. In any public forum, make a brief attack of your opponent or the opponent position and then scamper off before an answer can be fielded, or simply ignore any answer. This works extremely well in Internet and letters-to-the-editor environments where a steady stream of new identities can be called upon without having to explain criticism, reasoning -- simply make an accusation or other attack, never discussing issues, and never answering any subsequent response, for that would dignify the opponent's viewpoint.
7. Question motives. Twist or amplify any fact which could be taken to imply that the opponent operates out of a hidden personal agenda or other bias. This avoids discussing issues and forces the accuser on the defensive.
8. Invoke authority. Claim for yourself or associate yourself with authority and present your argument with enough 'jargon' and 'minutia' to illustrate you are 'one who knows', and simply say it isn't so without discussing issues or demonstrating concretely why or citing sources.
9. Play Dumb. No matter what evidence or logical argument is offered, avoid discussing issues except with denials they have any credibility, make any sense, provide any proof, contain or make a point, have logic, or support a conclusion. Mix well for maximum effect.
10. Associate opponent charges with old news. A derivative of the straw man -- usually, in any large-scale matter of high visibility, someone will make charges early on which can be or were already easily dealt with - a kind of investment for the future should the matter not be so easily contained.) Where it can be foreseen, have your own side raise a straw man issue and have it dealt with early on as part of the initial contingency plans. Subsequent charges, regardless of validity or new ground uncovered, can usually then be associated with the original charge and dismissed as simply being a rehash without need to address current issues -- so much the better where the opponent is or was involved with the original source.
11. Establish and rely upon fall-back positions. Using a minor matter or element of the facts, take the 'high road' and 'confess' with candor that some innocent mistake, in hindsight, was made -- but that opponents have seized on the opportunity to blow it all out of proportion and imply greater criminalities which, 'just isn't so.' Others can reinforce this on your behalf, later, and even publicly 'call for an end to the nonsense' because you have already 'done the right thing.' Done properly, this can garner sympathy and respect for 'coming clean' and 'owning up' to your mistakes without addressing more serious issues.
12. Enigmas have no solution. Drawing upon the overall umbrella of events surrounding the crime and the multitude of players and events, paint the entire affair as too complex to solve. This causes those otherwise following the matter to begin to lose interest more quickly without having to address the actual issues.
13. Alice in Wonderland Logic. Avoid discussion of the issues by reasoning backwards or with an apparent deductive logic which forbears any actual material fact.
14. Demand complete solutions. Avoid the issues by requiring opponents to solve the crime at hand completely, a ploy which works best with issues qualifying for rule 10.
15. Fit the facts to alternate conclusions. This requires creative thinking unless the crime was planned with contingency conclusions in place.
16. Vanish evidence and witnesses. If it does not exist, it is not fact, and you won't have to address the issue.
17. Change the subject. Usually in connection with one of the other ploys listed here, find a way to side-track the discussion with abrasive or controversial comments in hopes of turning attention to a new, more manageable topic. This works especially well with companions who can 'argue' with you over the new topic and polarize the discussion arena in order to avoid discussing more key issues.
18. Emotionalize, Antagonize, and Goad Opponents. If you can't do anything else, chide and taunt your opponents and draw them into emotional responses which will tend to make them look foolish and overly motivated, and generally render their material somewhat less coherent. Not only will you avoid discussing the issues in the first instance, but even if their emotional response addresses the issue, you can further avoid the issues by then focusing on how 'sensitive they are to criticism.'
19. Ignore proof presented, demand impossible proofs. This is perhaps a variant of the 'play dumb' rule. Regardless of what material may be presented by an opponent in public forums, claim the material irrelevant and demand proof that is impossible for the opponent to come by (it may exist, but not be at his disposal, or it may be something which is known to be safely destroyed or withheld, such as a murder weapon.) In order to completely avoid discussing issues, it may be required that you to categorically deny and be critical of media or books as valid sources, deny that witnesses are acceptable, or even deny that statements made by government or other authorities have any meaning or relevance.
20. False evidence. Whenever possible, introduce new facts or clues designed and manufactured to conflict with opponent presentations -- as useful tools to neutralize sensitive issues or impede resolution. This works best when the crime was designed with contingencies for the purpose, and the facts cannot be easily separated from the fabrications.
21. Call a Grand Jury, Special Prosecutor, or other empowered investigative body. Subvert the (process) to your benefit and effectively neutralize all sensitive issues without open discussion. Once convened, the evidence and testimony are required to be secret when properly handled. For instance, if you own the prosecuting attorney, it can insure a Grand Jury hears no useful evidence and that the evidence is sealed and unavailable to subsequent investigators. Once a favorable verdict is achieved, the matter can be considered officially closed. Usually, this technique is applied to find the guilty innocent, but it can also be used to obtain charges when seeking to frame a victim.
22. Manufacture a new truth. Create your own expert(s), group(s), author(s), leader(s) or influence existing ones willing to forge new ground via scientific, investigative, or social research or testimony which concludes favorably. In this way, if you must actually address issues, you can do so authoritatively.
23. Create bigger distractions. If the above does not seem to be working to distract from sensitive issues, or to prevent unwanted media coverage of unstoppable events such as trials, create bigger news stories (or treat them as such) to distract the multitudes.
24. Silence critics. If the above methods do not prevail, consider removing opponents from circulation by some definitive solution so that the need to address issues is removed entirely. This can be by their death, arrest and detention, blackmail or destruction of their character by release of blackmail information, or merely by destroying them financially, emotionally, or severely damaging their health.
25. Vanish. If you are a key holder of secrets or otherwise overly illuminated and you think the heat is getting too hot, to avoid the issues, vacate the kitchen.
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Eight Traits of the Disinformationalist
1) Avoidance. They never actually discuss issues head-on or provide constructive input, generally avoiding citation of references or credentials. Rather, they merely imply this, that, and the other. Virtually everything about their presentation implies their authority and expert knowledge in the matter without any further justification for credibility.
2) Selectivity. They tend to pick and choose opponents carefully, either applying the hit-and-run approach against mere commentators supportive of opponents, or focusing heavier attacks on key opponents who are known to directly address issues. Should a commentator become argumentative with any success, the focus will shift to include the commentator as well.
3) Coincidental. They tend to surface suddenly and somewhat coincidentally with a new controversial topic with no clear prior record of participation in general discussions in the particular public arena involved. They likewise tend to vanish once the topic is no longer of general concern. They were likely directed or elected to be there for a reason, and vanish with the reason.
4) Teamwork. They tend to operate in self-congratulatory and complementary packs or teams. Of course, this can happen naturally in any public forum, but there will likely be an ongoing pattern of frequent exchanges of this sort where professionals are involved. Sometimes one of the players will infiltrate the opponent camp to become a source for straw man or other tactics designed to dilute opponent presentation strength.
5) Anti-conspiratorial. They almost always have disdain for 'conspiracy theorists' and, usually, for those who in any way believe JFK was not killed by LHO. Ask yourself why, if they hold such disdain for conspiracy theorists, do they focus on defending a single topic discussed in a NG focusing on conspiracies? One might think they would either be trying to make fools of everyone on every topic, or simply ignore the group they hold in such disdain.Or, one might more rightly conclude they have an ulterior motive for their actions in going out of their way to focus as they do.
6) Artificial Emotions. An odd kind of 'artificial' emotionalism and an unusually thick skin -- an ability to persevere and persist even in the face of overwhelming criticism and unacceptance. This likely stems from intelligence community training that, no matter how condemning the evidence, deny everything, and never become emotionally involved or reactive. The net result for a disinfo artist is that emotions can seem artificial.
Most people, if responding in anger, for instance, will express their animosity throughout their rebuttal. But disinfo types usually have trouble maintaining the 'image' and are hot and cold with respect to pretended emotions and their usually more calm or unemotional communications style. It's just a job, and they often seem unable to 'act their role in character' as well in a communications medium as they might be able in a real face-to-face conversation/confrontation. You might have outright rage and indignation one moment, ho-hum the next, and more anger later -- an emotional yo-yo.
With respect to being thick-skinned, no amount of criticism will deter them from doing their job, and they will generally continue their old disinfo patterns without any adjustments to criticisms of how obvious it is that they play that game -- where a more rational individual who truly cares what others think might seek to improve their communications style, substance, and so forth, or simply give up.
7) Inconsistent. There is also a tendency to make mistakes which betray their true self/motives. This may stem from not really knowing their topic, or it may be somewhat 'freudian', so to speak, in that perhaps they really root for the side of truth deep within.
I have noted that often, they will simply cite contradictory information which neutralizes itself and the author. For instance, one such player claimed to be a Navy pilot, but blamed his poor communicating skills (spelling, grammar, incoherent style) on having only a grade-school education. I'm not aware of too many Navy pilots who don't have a college degree. Another claimed no knowledge of a particular topic/situation but later claimed first-hand knowledge of it.
8) Time Constant. Recently discovered, with respect to News Groups, is the response time factor. There are three ways this can be seen to work, especially when the government or other empowered player is involved in a cover up operation:
a) ANY NG posting by a targeted proponent for truth can result in an IMMEDIATE response. The government and other empowered players can afford to pay people to sit there and watch for an opportunity to do some damage. SINCE DISINFO IN A NG ONLY WORKS IF THE READER SEES IT - FAST RESPONSE IS CALLED FOR, or the visitor may be swayed towards truth.
b) When dealing in more direct ways with a disinformationalist, such as email, DELAY IS CALLED FOR - there will usually be a minimum of a 48-72 hour delay. This allows a sit-down team discussion on response strategy for best effect, and even enough time to 'get permission' or instruction from a formal chain of command.
c) In the NG example 1) above, it will often ALSO be seen that bigger guns are drawn and fired after the same 48-72 hours delay - the team approach in play. This is especially true when the targeted truth seeker or their comments are considered more important with respect to potential to reveal truth. Thus, a serious truth sayer will be attacked twice for the same sin.
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How to Spot a Spy (Cointelpro Agent)
One way to neutralize a potential activist is to get them to be in a group that does all the wrong things. Why?
1) The message doesn't get out.
2) A lot of time is wasted
3) The activist is frustrated and discouraged
4) Nothing good is accomplished.
FBI and Police Informers and Infiltrators will infest any group and they have phoney activist organizations established.
Their purpose is to prevent any real movement for justice or eco-peace from developing in this country.
Agents come in small, medium or large. They can be of any ethnic background. They can be male or female.
The actual size of the group or movement being infiltrated is irrelevant. It is the potential the movement has for becoming large which brings on the spies and saboteurs.
This booklet lists tactics agents use to slow things down, foul things up, destroy the movement and keep tabs on activists.
It is the agent's job to keep the activist from quitting such a group, thus keeping him/her under control.
In some situations, to get control, the agent will tell the activist:

• "You're dividing the movement."

[Here, I have added the psychological reasons as to WHY this maneuver works to control people]
This invites guilty feelings. Many people can be controlled by guilt. The agents begin relationships with activists behind a well-developed mask of "dedication to the cause." Because of their often declared dedication, (and actions designed to prove this), when they criticize the activist, he or she - being truly dedicated to the movement - becomes convinced that somehow, any issues are THEIR fault. This is because a truly dedicated person tends to believe that everyone has a conscience and that nobody would dissimulate and lie like that "on purpose." It's amazing how far agents can go in manipulating an activist because the activist will constantly make excuses for the agent who regularly declares their dedication to the cause. Even if they do, occasionally, suspect the agent, they will pull the wool over their own eyes by rationalizing: "they did that unconsciously... they didn't really mean it... I can help them by being forgiving and accepting " and so on and so forth.
The agent will tell the activist:

• "You're a leader!"

This is designed to enhance the activist's self-esteem. His or her narcissistic admiration of his/her own activist/altruistic intentions increase as he or she identifies with and consciously admires the altruistic declarations of the agent which are deliberately set up to mirror those of the activist.
This is "malignant pseudoidentification." It is the process by which the agent consciously imitates or simulates a certain behavior to foster the activist's identification with him/her, thus increasing the activist's vulnerability to exploitation. The agent will simulate the more subtle self-concepts of the activist.
Activists and those who have altruistic self-concepts are most vulnerable to malignant pseudoidentification especially during work with the agent when the interaction includes matter relating to their competency, autonomy, or knowledge.
The goal of the agent is to increase the activist's general empathy for the agent through pseudo-identification with the activist's self-concepts.
The most common example of this is the agent who will compliment the activist for his competency or knowledge or value to the movement. On a more subtle level, the agent will simulate affects and mannerisms of the activist which promotes identification via mirroring and feelings of "twinship". It is not unheard of for activists, enamored by the perceived helpfulness and competence of a good agent, to find themselves considering ethical violations and perhaps, even illegal behavior, in the service of their agent/handler.
The activist's "felt quality of perfection" [self-concept] is enhanced, and a strong empathic bond is developed with the agent through his/her imitation and simulation of the victim's own narcissistic investments. [self-concepts] That is, if the activist knows, deep inside, their own dedication to the cause, they will project that onto the agent who is "mirroring" them.
The activist will be deluded into thinking that the agent shares this feeling of identification and bonding. In an activist/social movement setting, the adversarial roles that activists naturally play vis a vis the establishment/government, fosters ongoing processes of intrapsychic splitting so that "twinship alliances" between activist and agent may render whole sectors or reality testing unavailable to the activist. They literally "lose touch with reality."
Activists who deny their own narcissistic investments [do not have a good idea of their own self-concepts and that they ARE concepts] and consciously perceive themselves (accurately, as it were) to be "helpers" endowed with a special amount of altruism are exceedingly vulnerable to the affective (emotional) simulation of the accomplished agent.
Empathy is fostered in the activist through the expression of quite visible affects. The presentation of tearfulness, sadness, longing, fear, remorse, and guilt, may induce in the helper-oriented activist a strong sense of compassion, while unconsciously enhancing the activist's narcissistic investment in self as the embodiment of goodness.
The agent's expresssion of such simulated affects may be quite compelling to the observer and difficult to distinguish from deep emotion.
It can usually be identified by two events, however:
First, the activist who has analyzed his/her own narcissistic roots and is aware of his/her own potential for being "emotionally hooked," will be able to remain cool and unaffected by such emotional outpourings by the agent.
As a result of this unaffected, cool, attitude, the Second event will occur: The agent will recompensate much too quickly following such an affective expression leaving the activist with the impression that "the play has ended, the curtain has fallen," and the imposture, for the moment, has finished. The agent will then move quickly to another activist/victim.
The fact is, the movement doesn't need leaders, it needs MOVERS. "Follow the leader" is a waste of time.
A good agent will want to meet as often as possible. He or she will talk a lot and say little. One can expect an onslaught of long, unresolved discussions.
Some agents take on a pushy, arrogant, or defensive manner:
1) To disrupt the agenda
2) To side-track the discussion
3) To interrupt repeatedly
4) To feign ignorance
5) To make an unfounded accusation against a person.
Calling someone a racist, for example. This tactic is used to discredit a person in the eyes of all other group members.
Saboteurs
Some saboteurs pretend to be activists. She or he will ....
1) Write encyclopedic flyers (in the present day, websites)
2) Print flyers in English only.
3) Have demonstrations in places where no one cares.
4) Solicit funding from rich people instead of grass roots support
5) Display banners with too many words that are confusing.
6) Confuse issues.
7) Make the wrong demands.
8) Compromise the goal.
9) Have endless discussions that waste everyone's time. The agent may accompany the endless discussions with drinking, pot smoking or other amusement to slow down the activist's work.
Provocateurs
1) Want to establish "leaders" to set them up for a fall in order to stop the movement.
2) Suggest doing foolish, illegal things to get the activists in trouble.
3) Encourage militancy.
4) Want to taunt the authorities.
5) Attempt to make the activist compromise their values.
6) Attempt to instigate violence. Activisim ought to always be non-violent.
7) Attempt to provoke revolt among people who are ill-prepared to deal with the reaction of the authorities to such violence.
Informants
1) Want everyone to sign up and sing in and sign everything.
2) Ask a lot of questions (gathering data).
3) Want to know what events the activist is planning to attend.
4) Attempt to make the activist defend him or herself to identify his or her beliefs, goals, and level of committment.
Recruiting
Legitimate activists do not subject people to hours of persuasive dialog. Their actions, beliefs, and goals speak for themselves.
Groups that DO recruit are missionaries, military, and fake political parties or movements set up by agents.
Surveillance
ALWAYS assume that you are under surveillance.
At this point, if you are NOT under surveillance, you are not a very good activist!
Scare Tactics
They use them.
Such tactics include slander, defamation, threats, getting close to disaffected or minimally committed fellow activists to persuade them (via psychological tactics described above) to turn against the movement and give false testimony against their former compatriots. They will plant illegal substances on the activist and set up an arrest; they will plant false information and set up "exposure," they will send incriminating letters [emails] in the name of the activist; and more; they will do whatever society will allow.
This booklet in no way covers all the ways agents use to sabotage the lives of sincere an dedicated activists.
If an agent is "exposed," he or she will be transferred or replaced.
COINTELPRO is still in operation today under a different code name. It is no longer placed on paper where it can be discovered through the freedom of information act.
The FBI counterintelligence program's stated purpose: To expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, and otherwise neutralize individuals who the FBI categorize as opposed to the National Interests. "National Security" means the FBI's security from the people ever finding out the vicious things it does in violation of people's civil liberties.
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Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression
Strong, credible allegations of high-level criminal activity can bring down a government. When the government lacks an effective, fact-based defense, other techniques must be employed. The success of these techniques depends heavily upon a cooperative, compliant press and a mere token opposition party.
1. Dummy up. If it's not reported, if it's not news, it didn't happen.
2. Wax indignant. This is also known as the "How dare you?" gambit.
3. Characterize the charges as "rumors" or, better yet, "wild rumors." If, in spite of the news blackout, the public is still able to learn about the suspicious facts, it can only be through "rumors." (If they tend to believe the "rumors" it must be because they are simply "paranoid" or "hysterical.")
4. Knock down straw men. Deal only with the weakest aspects of the weakest charges. Even better, create your own straw men. Make up wild rumors (or plant false stories) and give them lead play when you appear to debunk all the charges, real and fanciful alike.
5. Call the skeptics names like "conspiracy theorist," "nutcase," "ranter," "kook," "crackpot," and, of course, "rumor monger." Be sure, too, to use heavily loaded verbs and adjectives when characterizing their charges and defending the "more reasonable" government and its defenders. You must then carefully avoid fair and open debate with any of the people you have thus maligned. For insurance, set up your own "skeptics" to shoot down.
6. Impugn motives. Attempt to marginalize the critics by suggesting strongly that they are not really interested in the truth but are simply pursuing a partisan political agenda or are out to make money (compared to over-compensated adherents to the government line who, presumably, are not).
7. Invoke authority. Here the controlled press and the sham opposition can be very useful.
8. Dismiss the charges as "old news."
9. Come half-clean. This is also known as "confession and avoidance" or "taking the limited hangout route." This way, you create the impression of candor and honesty while you admit only to relatively harmless, less-than-criminal "mistakes." This stratagem often requires the embrace of a fall-back position quite different from the one originally taken. With effective damage control, the fall-back position need only be peddled by stooge skeptics to carefully limited markets.
10. Characterize the crimes as impossibly complex and the truth as ultimately unknowable.
11. Reason backward, using the deductive method with a vengeance. With thoroughly rigorous deduction, troublesome evidence is irrelevant. E.g. We have a completely free press. If evidence exists that the Vince Foster "suicide" note was forged, they would have reported it. They haven't reported it so there is no such evidence. Another variation on this theme involves the likelihood of a conspiracy leaker and a press who would report the leak.
12. Require the skeptics to solve the crime completely. E.g. If Foster was murdered, who did it and why?
13. Change the subject. This technique includes creating and/or publicizing distractions.
14. Lightly report incriminating facts, and then make nothing of them. This is sometimes referred to as "bump and run" reporting.
15. Baldly and brazenly lie. A favorite way of doing this is to attribute the "facts" furnished the public to a plausible-sounding, but anonymous, source.
16. Expanding further on numbers 4 and 5, have your own stooges "expose" scandals and champion popular causes. Their job is to pre-empt real opponents and to play 99-yard football. A variation is to pay rich people for the job who will pretend to spend their own money.
17. Flood the Internet with agents. This is the answer to the question, "What could possibly motivate a person to spend hour upon hour on Internet news groups defending the government and/or the press and harassing genuine critics?" Don t the authorities have defenders enough in all the newspapers, magazines, radio, and television? One would think refusing to print critical letters and screening out serious callers or dumping them from radio talk shows would be control enough, but, obviously, it is not.

5/5 stars
Chinese Warlord Armies 1911–30 is the third and best book of Philip Jowett's Chinese trilogy. It balances well the world building, narrative and visual references, with much better plates. It wraps it up very well given its short size.
"More officers than soldiers, more soldiers than guns, and more bandits than people", with this Chinese saying the book starts at the onset of the decadent Ch'ing (Manchu) Imperial Dinasty being ousted from power in 1911, after decades of incompetence and humilliating defeats at the hands of the West and the Japanese. After abortive attempts of republicanism and monarchy, including a Quixotesque attempt at imperial restoration by the Pigtail Army that lasted eleven days and mostly killed civilians in the crossfire, China was fractured into warring parallel states. The boy-emperor Pu Yi was kept as an avatar for the people while the actual power was wielded by warlords of varying strenght and shifting loyalties. Those feudal lords were theoretically loyal to the headless Republic and followed the Republican rank system and flags, usually the Wuchang flag of the 1911 coup d'état with minor differences since they were made by local workshops.
The breakdown of central governament control in 1912 led to a period of chaos and competing fiefdoms ruled by local military governors, or "tuchans", the Warlods. These generals controlled and expanded their territories like medieval feudal lords, leading to 700 separate conflitcs from 1912 to 1933 - 500 in the "remote and troublesome province of Szechwan alone". Those conflicts ranged from low to high intensity, with large numbers of troops, but most of them remaining idly by, both because they were so low quality to the point of not making any difference or because they were unreliable. With the example of the Chili Army, the strongest for most of the period, having 480,000 men, with 380,000 being considered loyal and only 130,000 being counted as reliable combat troops doesn't inspire much confidence in the fighting quality of those warlord armies.
Those men, mostly uniformed rabble, were prone to pillage and misbehavior, abusing the poor peasants on their area of operations. Looting, raping, forcing requisitions or demanding goods in exchange for the "worthless notes issued by their commanders", it is no surprise the civilian population qualified the warlod soldiers in no uncertain terms as "bad iron". Nothing good could be made from the "material" those soldiers were made; they were the lowest form of life. Many of those soldiers were ex-bandits recruited en masse, as warlords were always in need of expanding their ineffective armies. Soldiers from defeated armies were also incorporated with no illusions about their loyalty or actual efficency: their former commander would be paid by the rifles he brought, the men being a low quality commodity, dilluting even further the quality of even adequate troops.
The narrative presents the main "Cliques": the Anhwei, Chili, Fengtien and Kuominchun during the High Warlordism period, and the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) and Ankuochun (anti-NRA) at the final showdown. The chronology shows the creation of the Anhwei Army in 1916 with the pompous name of "War Participation Army", as they were trained and equipped by the Japanese to fight in the Great War. They were respected and considered to be elite by everybody but were immediatly defeated by the Chili Army in two days in 1920, with most of their coveted weaponry being captured by the Fengtien Clique when the defeated Anhwei fled north into their territory. With such a fiasco it's disheartening to picture the Anhwei trying their luck against the Germans.
The Chili and Fengtien would be the main players during the Warlord Period and engage each other in two destructive main wars that made for an interesting read. The well-equiped Fengtien would be defeated first by the genius of Wu Pei-fu, nicknamed the "Jade Marshal" or "Scholar Warlord" by his knowledge of tactics; he was mostly supplied by the Italians and stressed the importance of military drill having in the élite 3rd Division the core of his Chili Army. He was not a strategist though, and would be defeated in the second round due to the betrayal of the Christian Warlord, who disregarded orders and re-routed his forces to Peking, proclaiming his own governament and creating the Kuominchun, "People's Army".
These armies were always poorly armed and lacking in ammunition, with photographs showing ammo bandoliers mostly empty. The warlords would scrounge everything they could get their hands on, from taking captured weapons, to buying from different foreign peddlers and from their own workshops. This created a plethora of exotic weapons as well as a logistical nightmare. Machine guns were a luxury and artillery almost unheard of, being mainly mortars, with howitzers being reserved for only the most powerful tuchans. The warlords tinkered with aviation and chemical warfare, but with neglectable results. "Dare to die" commando units were armed with automatic Mauser pistols and large Da Dao swords for infiltration or frontal charges. Some Renault FT and Schneider tanks were bought by the Fengtien and Renault-Kegresse armoured half-tracks by the Chili, but those weapons were rarely used due to the warlords being paranoic of having those precious machines being captured by the enemy - better to just expend the cheap cannon-fodder. Armored trains were a main source of military power and changed hands many times.
Only the Tin Hat Brigade, of the élite 3rd Division of the Chili Army had helmets as standard equipment; the M15 Adrian, got either from the Russians or Serbians.
The warlords themselves were colorful characters, with exotic names such as "Jade Marshal", "Tiger of the North" and "Dog-Meat General". While the author uses Wade-Gilles, this is dilluted by his insistence on using the warlods' Chinese names instead of their more recognizable nicknames, leading to a confusing narrative. The author also shows an unwarrented obssession with the Christian Warlord due to his faith, even having a plate of him. Other warlods are mentioned, either by their brutality or their cleverness, but the most interesting characters were without a doubt Chang Tso-lin, "The Tiger of the North", and Chang T'sung-chang, "The Dog-Meat General", both from the Fengtien Clique (also the more interesting of the bunch).
Having served as a guerrilla fighter for the Japanese in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, the Tiger of the North was supplied and advised by the Japanese, who assassinated him in 1928 due to the Tiger outliving his usefulness after being defeated by the NRA; his territory of Manchuria would be transformed in the Manchukuo puppet state in 1931. The Dog-Meat General was brutal even by warlord standards and full of shenanigans, having the "three don't knows": he didn't know how much money he had in his coffers, how many concubines in his harem and how many soldiers in his army. He was the most avid recruiter of White Russian mercenaries, having them as his personal body guard, technical jobs, elite shock units and even commandos operating behind the lines (as mentioned in the first book). With the mechanical expediency of a psychopath, he hired a force of Russian female nurses -atypical in the warlord period - to improve his army's survivability and morale. Those Russian nurses would also train Chinese nurses to expand the service.
This book has great pictures. The photographs are good and we can easily see details of weapons and uniforms. The plates are a giant leap from the last book, having better proportions and being more appealing. They remain somewhat monochromatic with the main uniform being bluish-grey, but they do a great job in showing the good to poor panoply of Chinese warlord soldiers. From well-kitted soldiers to poor sods using straw sandals and armed with obsolete rifles or even lances (by the sheer lack of firearms). Soldiers would have armbands to show their alligience or simply a piece of cloth pinned to their uniform. Some commanders would have reserve identifications of their enemy, already antecipating defeat and integration.
The rank system is again shoved in, half a page, black-and-white, with a text instead of being illustrated in the colour plates. The same with the service colors. The warlord peacock-like parade uniform of the period is not shown, instead having a boring plate of the Christian Warlord notable exactly for being inconspicuous.
There is a plate of a Russian cavalryman from the Dog-Meat General's body guard but we didn't get a female nurse. What we do get is the plate of a Japanese advisor of the Fengtien; an important part of the warlord warfare, with the Japanese and Soviet advisors being a notable presence. Another great addition is the two plates showing child soldiers, something also not uncommon in said war scenario.
Chiang Kai-shek's NRA would come out from being a poorly and irrelevant force to a well-equipped and hegemonic force by means of Soviet advising (of all people) and lead the Northern Expedition that finally defeated the warlords in their united front. The NRA brought in a rethink, and won by being institutionally stronger, with a more solid sense of unity. Their focus on providing flags and banners for even small units is more important than it seems, as it gave the soldiers and commanders even a cursory notion of unity - the only thing China didn't have. This didn't end China's troubles, however, as the Japanese would start their destructive war in China shortly after, and then came the civil war and the Korean War. How many of those victorious NRA soldiers showed cheering in page 9 of the chronology would be alive 20 years later is testament to the tragic Chinese history in the 20th century.
As an introduction, this book really makes a good job in easing the reader into the period (except for the warlords' names) and paves the way for more reasearch. The author expanded the subject in larger books such as "The Armies of Warlord China 1911-1928", with 200 pages, and "China's Wars: Rousing the Dragon 1894-1949" with 400 pages.

Hi, my name is Josef. I'm 16 years old, and I live in Tunisia, but I was born in Germany. I lived there for 6 years in an Arab/Muslim family. I really want to talk about my problems in this paragraph, although it might seem a bit scattered. Firstly, let's talk about the positives in my life. Yes, I'm actually well known in my town, Alhamdulillah. I discovered my passion for photography in 2021, so I asked my dad for a camera, and indeed, I got what I wanted. I started taking pictures of everyday things in my life and began uploading them on social media platforms. I was really happy when I saw people reacting to my posts, even though I knew that one of my siblings, who was using my mom's phone, was the one reacting. I really started gaining popularity towards the end of 2022 when I began photographing people in my town. Day after day, my Instagram gained more and more followers, and people started recognizing me in my school as "Josef the photographer". Some people already knew me before, to be honest. I used to build robots, so I was known as 'Harry Potter the tech nerd", but as of now, I'm Josef the photographer. That was the positive side of the story. Now let's talk about the other side.
I can categorize my problems into many categories, but let's focus on the latest one caused by my new passion. As I mentioned, people know me as the new photographer, so every time I took out my camera to shoot street pictures, people would stop me and ask for free pictures. At first, I was completely okay with that, but as time went on, it started to annoy me. I realized I needed to put an end to this. I know you might not take this issue seriously, but it's a problem for me, especially because I still don't know how to say the simple word 'NO.' It's actually the key to solving many problems, but I can't bring myself to do it. I'm very weak in this aspect, and I get nervous when showing my pictures to new people I don't know, fearing that I might disappoint them. I truly need to practice more so that one day I can confidently say the word 'NO.' It's a work in progress.
Oh, one more thing, I often photograph for free. Sport teams contact me to come and cover their matches, and I do take pictures. However, what puts me under high pressure is the fact that people want the photos as fast as possible. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I prefer to edit my pictures calmly and enjoy the process. Besides, I also have to study for school and manage other responsibilities. Sometimes I'm simply not in the mood, but they don't understand that, and it frustrates me even more. I could talk for days about this specific problem. It may seem like a minor issue with a simple solution for some people, but for me, it's not that easy.
Moving on to other insecurities I have about myself, it's my body. Yes, I know I should be happy with what I have, Alhamdulillah, but I still wish I could make some changes. I'm a short guy, around 1.67 meters tall, which is considered short compared to other teens in my age. This has caused some problems for me, as I was always the shortest guy in my class, and I was often bullied because of it. However, it's no longer a significant issue, and I can live with it. As for my face, I wouldn't say I'm ugly, but lately, I've been dealing with acne that has been growing rapidly over the past year. People keep mentioning it every time they see me, and it's really annoying, especially when someone says, 'Oh, it seems like you masturbate too much.' I know it doesn't make sense, but that's what they say! Anyway, I'm trying hard to overcome and get rid of my acne, and Alhamdulillah, I'm living with it for now.
I wrote this little paragraph to help alleviate my overthinking and negative vibes. It's now midnight, and I'll probably go do my skincare routine, even though it doesn't seem to help much. But I hope tomorrow will be a good day.
What do you think guys about my problems ?

Hi, my name is Josef. I'm 16 years old, and I live in Tunisia, but I was born in Germany. I lived there for 6 years in an Arab/Muslim family. I really want to talk about my problems in this paragraph, although it might seem a bit scattered. Firstly, let's talk about the positives in my life. Yes, I'm actually well known in my town, Alhamdulillah. I discovered my passion for photography in 2021, so I asked my dad for a camera, and indeed, I got what I wanted. I started taking pictures of everyday things in my life and began uploading them on social media platforms. I was really happy when I saw people reacting to my posts, even though I knew that one of my siblings, who was using my mom's phone, was the one reacting. I really started gaining popularity towards the end of 2022 when I began photographing people in my town. Day after day, my Instagram gained more and more followers, and people started recognizing me in my school as "Josef the photographer". Some people already knew me before, to be honest. I used to build robots, so I was known as 'Harry Potter the tech nerd", but as of now, I'm Josef the photographer. That was the positive side of the story. Now let's talk about the other side.
I can categorize my problems into many categories, but let's focus on the latest one caused by my new passion. As I mentioned, people know me as the new photographer, so every time I took out my camera to shoot street pictures, people would stop me and ask for free pictures. At first, I was completely okay with that, but as time went on, it started to annoy me. I realized I needed to put an end to this. I know you might not take this issue seriously, but it's a problem for me, especially because I still don't know how to say the simple word 'NO.' It's actually the key to solving many problems, but I can't bring myself to do it. I'm very weak in this aspect, and I get nervous when showing my pictures to new people I don't know, fearing that I might disappoint them. I truly need to practice more so that one day I can confidently say the word 'NO.' It's a work in progress.
Oh, one more thing, I often photograph for free. Sport teams contact me to come and cover their matches, and I do take pictures. However, what puts me under high pressure is the fact that people want the photos as fast as possible. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I prefer to edit my pictures calmly and enjoy the process. Besides, I also have to study for school and manage other responsibilities. Sometimes I'm simply not in the mood, but they don't understand that, and it frustrates me even more. I could talk for days about this specific problem. It may seem like a minor issue with a simple solution for some people, but for me, it's not that easy.
Moving on to other insecurities I have about myself, it's my body. Yes, I know I should be happy with what I have, Alhamdulillah, but I still wish I could make some changes. I'm a short guy, around 1.67 meters tall, which is considered short compared to other teens in my age. This has caused some problems for me, as I was always the shortest guy in my class, and I was often bullied because of it. However, it's no longer a significant issue, and I can live with it. As for my face, I wouldn't say I'm ugly, but lately, I've been dealing with acne that has been growing rapidly over the past year. People keep mentioning it every time they see me, and it's really annoying, especially when someone says, 'Oh, it seems like you masturbate too much.' I know it doesn't make sense, but that's what they say! Anyway, I'm trying hard to overcome and get rid of my acne, and Alhamdulillah, I'm living with it for now.
I wrote this little paragraph to help alleviate my overthinking and negative vibes. It's now midnight, and I'll probably go do my skincare routine, even though it doesn't seem to help much. But I hope tomorrow will be a good day.
What do you think guys about my problems ?

Have you noticed that many members of congress have been strangely silent on the recent Grusch whistleblower revelations? Have you noticed that many members of congress claim to be unaware of UAP matters even though they are on oversight committees that would have been briefed on these issues? Want to know why? See below...
******************
From the 2021 New York Times article "No Longer in Shadows, Pentagon’s U.F.O. Unit Will Make Some Findings Public"

Mr. Davis, who now works for Aerospace Corporation, a defense contractor, said he gave a classified briefing to a Defense Department agency as recently as March about retrievals from “off-world vehicles not made on this earth.” Mr. Davis said he also gave classified briefings on retrievals of unexplained objects to staff members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Oct. 21, 2019, and to staff members of the Senate Intelligence Committee two days later." Committee staff members did not respond to requests for comment on the issue.

**************
From:
https://www.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/8u9owl/notes_on_eric_daviss_june_24th_appearance_on/
From a summary of comments by Eric Davis during a 2018 discussion:

Congress has been paying attention to this [UAP issue], but he can't say anything else.

*************
From a statement from Mark McCandlish (Technical illustrator who has worked for several U.S. Aero-space contractors and had a top secret clearance) regarding advanced craft that were referred to as "Alien Reproduction Vehicles" by a US General to those in attendance of a secret military presentation in 1988. A witness at the presentation claims that several congressmen were in attendance:
Source: https://groups.google.com/g/bit.listserv.skeptic/c/ILxcSz6Xbyw

The presentation within this hangar was sponsored by The Air Force Office of Public Affairs, Western Region, run at that time by a Col. Thomas Hornung ,(now retired). He denied any knowledge of the event when I spoke to him about it face to face over lunch, but he became quite pale when I described what Brad had seen, and quickly lost his appetite for his meal after that. It was also sponsored in part by the office of Congressman George E. Brown Jr. (now deceased). At the time Cong. Brown was the Chairman of the Congressional Subcommittee on Space,Science and Advanced Technology. His office was located just a few miles away from the hangar at Norton AFB, in the city of Colton, CA. A phone call to the congressman's office within a week after this private showing, confirmed the presence of "the three discs".

(snip)

Brad also alleged that Sen. Alan Cranston was in attendance at this presentation, but all attempts to confirm his presence there were met with vehement denials, practically up to his death several years ago.

*************
From: "Lue Elizondo confirms Congress has seen high definition video of UAP in classified briefings."
Source: about 2:15 into this April 2022 video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKJcommzcoQ
Lue Elizondo talking about what UAP evidence has been presented to members of congress:

"..but what are they seeing and what they are hearing is very compelling. They're getting, in some cases, and certainly their staff, I know that to be a fact, are receiving high definition videos and photographs of things from some very sensitive platforms on a weekly basis, we're getting new information. "

(Snip)

"..but they are getting information, and they're getting it by organizations who control these particular capabilities and platforms. They're also getting the testimony from eyewitness testimony, in some cases from the pilots themselves who actually engaged it. They're seeing the reporting and telemetry data that comes in from the executive branch, form the various disparate organizations."

**************
From: https://www.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/yvj9vb/rep_tim_burchett_is_worried_about_a_compromised/
Rep. Tim Burchett is Worried about a Compromised Congress
About 25 seconds into the 6 minute interview video linked in the above link.
Congressman Tim Burshett says he thinks certain members of congress are “compromised” because of the difficulty he has getting them to meet with him to discuss the UAP issue.

“..and then I attempt to get with these senators and they just setup a meeting and then they just cancel it. It’s clear they’ve been told not to talk to me or they’ve been told to back off. I just think too many members of congress are compromised and some in some fashion and I don’t know how they compromise them or what they’re told, but I suspect it happens quite a bit."

(Snip)

“..I was supposed to have a meeting with Rubio but then they canceled it. So yeah, I dont know…I don’t know what to make of that.”

The interviewer then asks him if the meeting with Rubio was supposed to be about the UAP subject and he responds:

“Absolutely, 100 percent. And they knew that was what the meeting was about.”

The interviewer then gives a puzzled look and says [of Rubio]

“That’s strange behavior..”

**********
On May 17th 2022, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security Ronald S. Moultrie and Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott W. Bray, both gave congressional testimony on UAP matters. Weeks later, angered by what they saw as a lack of candor by Bray and Moultrie, Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) proposed a radical new amendment to the upcoming Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. It passed the House by overwhelming bipartisan support, had many tough regulations that had third parties such as Inspector Generals and the Government Accountability Office, spearhead independent investigations into the US military and Intelligence agencies UAP secrecy apparatus.
It also included a new secure system for whistleblowers to provide UAP information, and harsh whistleblower protections such as allowing whistleblowers to sue the Government in Federal court if government officials took reprisals against them and mandating that any UAP related whistleblower complaints, be quickly sent to congress for review. It created the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), a new government UAP investigative body and importantly, would have various independent Inspector Generals, overseeing the work of AARO.
Then something strange happened.
When the Senate version of the bill came out of committee, almost all of the third party oversight language had been removed with no explanation, and their responsibilities given directly to AARO. AARO would have no one looking over their shoulder to make sure there were no shenanigans. Inspector Generals would no longer be doing historic reviews of military/intelligence UAP secrecy to find the truth. The new changes would in effect, allow the military and intelligence agencies to investigate themselves thru AARO. Also removed was the ability of whistleblowers to sue the government if they were retaliated against. Unknown members of various military and intelligence agency oversight committees in congress had stripped out the teeth of the original amendment that passed the house. To date, no one knows why this was done, or by whom. This watered-down version was ultimately passed into law.
You can read a detailed analysis of the amendment and changes here:
https://douglasjohnson.ghost.io/probes-for-hidden-government-ufo-data-proposed-in-defense-and-intelligence-bills-now-advancing-in-congress-with-bipartisan-backing/
and here:
https://douglasjohnson.ghost.io/uap-related-provisions-of-the-final-proposed-fy-2023-national-defense-authorization-act/
****************
One final clue as to why congress is keeping secrets on UAP may be found in the short 2 minute video in the link below titled “Sen. Blumenthal on the Spaceforce proposal. One could read between the lines and understand that this is not just about Russia and China.”
Sen. Blumenthal on the Spaceforce proposal. One could read between the lines and understand that this is not just about Russia and China.. : UFOs (reddit.com)
****************
In summary: Congress has had privy to UFO/UAP information for many years and has not forced disclosure. The Grusch whistleblower revelations won’t change anything, I’m sorry to say.

Have you noticed that many members of congress have been strangely silent on the recent Grusch whistleblower revelations? Have you noticed that many members of congress claim to be unaware of UAP matters even though they are on oversight committees that would have been briefed on these issues? Want to know why? See below...
******************
From the 2021 New York Times article "No Longer in Shadows, Pentagon’s U.F.O. Unit Will Make Some Findings Public"

Mr. Davis, who now works for Aerospace Corporation, a defense contractor, said he gave a classified briefing to a Defense Department agency as recently as March about retrievals from “off-world vehicles not made on this earth.”
Mr. Davis said he also gave classified briefings on retrievals of unexplained objects to staff members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Oct. 21, 2019, and to staff members of the Senate Intelligence Committee two days later."
Committee staff members did not respond to requests for comment on the issue.

**************
From:
https://www.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/8u9owl/notes_on_eric_daviss_june_24th_appearance_on/
From a summary of comments by Eric Davis during a 2018 discussion:

Congress has been paying attention to this [UAP issue], but he can't say anything else.

*************
From a statement from Mark McCandlish (Technical illustrator who has worked for several U.S. Aero-space contractors and had a top secret clearance) regarding advanced craft that were referred to as "Alien Reproduction Vehicles" by a US General to those in attendance of a secret military presentation in 1988. A witness at the presentation claims that several congressmen were in attendance:
Source: https://groups.google.com/g/bit.listserv.skeptic/c/ILxcSz6Xbyw

The presentation within this hangar was sponsored by The Air Force Office of Public Affairs, Western Region, run at that time by a Col. Thomas Hornung ,(now retired). He denied any knowledge of the event when I spoke to him about it face to face over lunch, but he became quite pale when I described what Brad had seen, and quickly lost his appetite for his meal after that.
It was also sponsored in part by the office of Congressman George E. Brown Jr. (now deceased). At the time Cong. Brown was the Chairman of the Congressional Subcommittee on Space,Science and Advanced Technology. His office was located just a few miles away from the hangar at Norton AFB, in the city of Colton, CA. A phone call to the congressman's office within a week after this private showing, confirmed the presence of "the three discs".

(snip)

Brad also alleged that Sen. Alan Cranston was in attendance at this presentation, but all attempts to confirm his presence there were met with vehement denials, practically up to his death several years ago.

*************
From: "Lue Elizondo confirms Congress has seen high definition video of UAP in classified briefings."
Source: about 2:15 into this April 2022 video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKJcommzcoQ
Lue Elizondo talking about what UAP evidence has been presented to members of congress:

"..but what are they seeing and what they are hearing is very compelling. They're getting, in some cases, and certainly their staff, I know that to be a fact, are receiving high definition videos and photographs of things from some very sensitive platforms on a weekly basis, we're getting new information. "

(Snip)

"..but they are getting information, and they're getting it by organizations who control these particular capabilities and platforms. They're also getting the testimony from eyewitness testimony, in some cases from the pilots themselves who actually engaged it. They're seeing the reporting and telemetry data that comes in from the executive branch, form the various disparate organizations."

**************
From: https://www.reddit.com/UFOs/comments/yvj9vb/rep_tim_burchett_is_worried_about_a_compromised/
Rep. Tim Burchett is Worried about a Compromised Congress
About 25 seconds into the 6 minute interview video linked in the above link.
Congressman Tim Burshett says he thinks certain members of congress are “compromised” because of the difficulty he has getting them to meet with him to discuss the UAP issue.

“..and then I attempt to get with these senators and they just setup a meeting and then they just cancel it. It’s clear they’ve been told not to talk to me or they’ve been told to back off. I just think too many members of congress are compromised and some in some fashion and I don’t know how they compromise them or what they’re told, but I suspect it happens quite a bit."

(Snip)

“..I was supposed to have a meeting with Rubio but then they canceled it. So yeah, I dont know…I don’t know what to make of that.”

The interviewer then asks him if the meeting with Rubio was supposed to be about the UAP subject and he responds:

“Absolutely, 100 percent. And they knew that was what the meeting was about.”

The interviewer then gives a puzzled look and says [of Rubio]

“That’s strange behavior..”

**********
On May 17th 2022, Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence & Security Ronald S. Moultrie and Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott W. Bray, both gave congressional testimony on UAP matters. Weeks later, angered by what they saw as a lack of candor by Bray and Moultrie, Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) proposed a radical new amendment to the upcoming Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. It passed the House by overwhelming bipartisan support, had many tough regulations that had third parties such as Inspector Generals and the Government Accountability Office, spearhead independent investigations into the US military and Intelligence agencies UAP secrecy apparatus.
It also included a new secure system for whistleblowers to provide UAP information, and harsh whistleblower protections such as allowing whistleblowers to sue the Government in Federal court if government officials took reprisals against them and mandating that any UAP related whistleblower complaints, be quickly sent to congress for review. It created the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), a new government UAP investigative body and importantly, would have various independent Inspector Generals, overseeing the work of AARO.
Then something strange happened.
When the Senate version of the bill came out of committee, almost all of the third party oversight language had been removed with no explanation, and their responsibilities given directly to AARO. AARO would have no one looking over their shoulder to make sure there were no shenanigans. Inspector Generals would no longer be doing historic reviews of military/intelligence UAP secrecy to find the truth. The new changes would in effect, allow the military and intelligence agencies to investigate themselves thru AARO. Also removed was the ability of whistleblowers to sue the government if they were retaliated against. Unknown members of various military and intelligence agency oversight committees in congress had stripped out the teeth of the original amendment that passed the house. To date, no one knows why this was done, or by whom. This watered-down version was ultimately passed into law.
You can read a detailed analysis of the amendment and changes here:
https://douglasjohnson.ghost.io/probes-for-hidden-government-ufo-data-proposed-in-defense-and-intelligence-bills-now-advancing-in-congress-with-bipartisan-backing/
and here:
https://douglasjohnson.ghost.io/uap-related-provisions-of-the-final-proposed-fy-2023-national-defense-authorization-act/
****************
One final clue as to why congress is keeping secrets on UAP may be found in the short 2 minute video in the link below titled “Sen. Blumenthal on the Spaceforce proposal. One could read between the lines and understand that this is not just about Russia and China.”
Sen. Blumenthal on the Spaceforce proposal. One could read between the lines and understand that this is not just about Russia and China.. : UFOs (reddit.com)
****************
In summary: Congress has had privy to UFO/UAP information for many years and has not forced disclosure. The Grusch whistleblower revelations won’t change anything, I’m sorry to say.

Yesterday I had multiple people ask me to post this, and their comment has 552 likes at the time of me writing this, so I have spent the last day and a half editing, and adding information so it's up to standard. Overall, it has taken me close to a week to make. It probably isn't perfect, but I will edit it if I notice any mistakes. I hope you enjoy ❤
I would like to start this off by saying that this is an incredibly long write-up. This case spans 54 years, and this write-up is over 8650 words long, and is in fact so long that it exceeded the character limit, forcing me to make 2 parts. u/that1guywiththehat has already covered this case, and their write-up is much shorter. I will link it here, and you can check it out if you'd like. They did a fantastic job. 😊
https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/g3wqcc/after_18yearold_annette_craver_vail_vanishes/
Secondly, this write-up borrows EXTENSIVELY from "Gone," a 35,500 word book about the life and crimes of Felix Vail. It contains information that you simply cannot find anywhere else, and I'd estimate that around 80% of this write-up uses it's information. While it's extremely long, being over 4 times the length of this write-up, it is well worth the read. I will also link it here so you can check it out if you'd like.
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/felixvailgone/2016/12/29/felix-vail-gone-one-wife-dead-two-other-missing-jerry-mitchell/95895894/
Now with that out of the way...

PART 1:

MARY HORTON:

​
Born on the 16th of February 1940 to Floyd and Lillie Horton, Mary was popular, beautiful, and well liked. She became homecoming queen at Eunice High School and wrote for the school newspaper. After graduating she began attending McNeese State University where she was so popular that all 5 sororities invited her to join. She eventually chose Chi Omega.
https://www.clarionledger.com/gcdn/-mm-/d313713be82928fb5c54a52348e9f0b6fbe9ca88/c=0-232-3288-4617/local/-/media/2016/12/27/JacksonMS/JacksonMS/636184665129485321-mary-horton-0001.jpg?width=300&height=401&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
(Mary Horton from 1957, as Eunice High School homecoming queen.)
A FATEFUL ENCOUNTER
In 1960 she began dating William Felix Vail Sr, who goes by Felix. He was 6’, slender and in the words of another sorority girl “looked like he’d been touched by heaven.” In her diaries and messages to friends, Mary spoke of being happy and excited. However, not everything was sunshine and rainbows for the young couple.
On June 20th, 1960, Mary confided in a friend “I really do love Felix, but I don’t think that I like him anymore. He really is sweet, but we don’t see eye to eye on things.” She requested that a friend set her up on a date with another man in the hopes that Felix would leave her.
In response to this date, he came to Mary saying he suffered from a disease. She asked what disease he had. He meant Mary.
The 2 had a conversation that Mary described as ‘Felix doing all the talking, and her just listening.’ He told her that he had changed, and she said that she had too.
The 2 began dating again, but Mary continued to see other people. She attended a house party with Kelley McFarland, who afterwards heard that Vail was so angry he ‘wanted to kill him.’ McFarland tracked him down, eventually meeting him in dark woods. The 2 exchanged no blows, and they went their separate ways.
After this incident, Mary described herself as “miserable” and Felix as “jealous”, although she reiterated her love for him. There was reportedly an incident at a pool party where Felix “walked up to Mary and just slapped the heck out of her,” according to Mary’s high school boyfriend Leonard Matt.
Despite everything, Mary continued to defend him, calling him a “wonderful person.”
THE MARRIAGE
On July 1, 1961, in Eunice, Louisiana, Mary Horton and Felix Vail got married.
https://www.clarionledger.com/gcdn/-mm-/3a212b032aef874dfc60297c45f3a63946f5aeee/c=0-304-1765-2658/local/-/media/2016/12/28/JacksonMS/JacksonMS/636185193505145184-1022maryhorton003.JPG?width=300&height=401&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
(Mary Horton in her wedding dress, July 1st, 1961.)
In the fall of that year, Mary began her job as a second-grade teacher at Moss Bluff Elementary School. That December, she found out she was pregnant. Another teacher, Myrtis Quinilty said Felix didn’t want a child.
Her sister-in-law, Sue Jordan, told Mary the only reason Vail believed she wanted to get married was to have a baby, and not because of him. Mary blamed herself, saying “I can see, looking back, from many things I said how they could have been misunderstood.” Mary insisted that the couple were happy but did comment on how unattractive she felt while pregnant, a sentiment that Felix shared.
On their anniversary, Mary gave birth to William Felix Vail Jr, who they called Bill.
https://www.clarionledger.com/gcdn/-mm-/c701d4cdc0e5ff127e79b575a1c137adfa57d585/c=0-0-180-240/local/-/media/2016/12/28/JacksonMS/JacksonMS/636185195986996911-TCLBrd-08-11-2016-ClarionLedger-1-A001-2016-08-10-IMG-636047953682196834-M-1-1-G0FAJ00I-L860703094-IMG-636047953682196834-M-1-1-G0FAJ00I.jpg?width=180&height=240&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
(Mary holding Bill in 1962)
Within a month, Mary suspected that she may be pregnant again. At this time, strange things began to happen in the couple’s apartment. One morning, the couple awoke to find their front door had been removed from its hinges. Another time, they found the front door of their apartment wide open. Nothing was stolen.
Mary began receiving threatening calls. The couple concluded that whoever was calling must be watching them because the caller only ever did it when Felix wasn’t home.
Mary spoke with her mother about divorcing Felix. Her mother, a devout Catholic, urged her daughter to stay and work things out. It would be a fatal mistake.
MARY'S DEATH
On October 28th, 1962, at 7:30pm, Felix Vail drove up to Shell Beach saying that his wife had fallen in the water of the Calcasieu River while they were running trot lines. It took 2 days to find her body, close to where Vail had said she disappeared.
Her funeral was held on October 31st. Vail never paid a cent for it.
On November 4th deputies arrested Vail at work, hauling him to jail and questioning him. He refused to take a lie detector test. The coroner ruled Mary’s death an “accidental drowning,” a sentiment not shared by the officers who found her body, or the community at large. Days later, Vail was released without charge, as the D.A declined to prosecute.
Months later, he picked up his son, Bill, from the Louisiana home of his late wife’s aunt and headed for Mississippi. According to Bill years later, Vail told him that he and Mary were out fishing, that a boat had come by and caused a big wave and knocked her out of the boat. Mary didn’t know how to swim, had no life jacket (despite being afraid of water) and so immediately sank and drowned. He said he had almost died trying to rescue her.
I will go further in depth into Mary’s death further down this write-up when I go through the investigation that followed, decades later. There are more details that I will cover there.
ROBIN SINCLAIR:
In this section I will cover his relationship with a girlfriend between the murders of Mary Horton and Sharon Hensley. Vail was a full-time scumbag and I want to illustrate that, as well as show some of the other lives he’s impacted, and other people he’s hurt. I will be covering multiple instances like this one. If you only want to read about the 3 murder victims, feel free to scroll down, I have them clearly marked for convenience.
AN 11 YEAR AGE GAP AND A DEAD-BEAT DAD
In 1967, Vail met a 17-year-old Robin Sinclair at a bus stop in San Diego. (Vail would have been 28 at this time. Large age gaps will be a theme in this write up.) She was spending the summer there with her sister, and the 2 began dating. When summer break ended, she left without him, returning home to San Francisco.
In October of 1968 while attending an Iron Butterflies concert, Vail appeared again. Sinclair took it as a sign that the 2 belonged together. He had his young son Bill, and the 3 bounced from place to place together. Sinclair would later describe how Bill was poorly looked after, neglected and that Vail would even give the young boy drugs. Bill would later recount his father giving him LSD as a child.
While watching over another couple’s home during the Christmas holidays, she learned she was pregnant and shared the news with Vail. He said, “Well, I don’t think you’re emotionally stable enough to handle the pregnancy.” The next morning, Vail and his young son had vanished. A friend told Sinclair that he went back to Mississippi, that it was time for his son to go to school and that he didn’t want to be with her.
Heartbroken, Sinclair would move in with her parents. In August of 1969 she gave birth to her daughter, who she named Simone. She wrote Vail an angry letter, and 2 months later he showed up on her doorstep. She told him to leave, and that she never wanted to see him again. She never did.

SHARON HENSLEY:

​
Sharon Hensley was born on December 20th, 1948. Growing up in the state capital of Bismarck, North Dakota, she dated football players and belonged to the high school’s 'Demonettes', an award-winning dance team founded by a former Rockette.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT-drYY1YZjqadja6gpHI_j8-zHNTiww7XDLwZ3pq-m&s
(A photo of Sharon Hensley.)
She graduated in 1966, and attended Bismarck Junior College, where she took classes in dance and acting, performing in a play with her older brother, Frank.
In 1967, aged 19, Sharon discovered she was pregnant. Wanting to escape her hometown, she followed her brother Frank and other classmates to San Francisco. After arriving, she stayed in a home for single mothers, where she gave birth to a girl she named “Cherry” after the popular Neil Diamond song. She told friends she wanted to keep the child but was unable to. Two years after leaving for California, Sharon was in jail and her mother, Peggy, headed there with a $5,000 cashier’s check to bail her out. When she returned, Sharon wasn’t with her.
“She said she had lost her daughter,” her younger brother Brian would later say. “She cried almost every night. She was never the same after that.”
MEETING VAIL
While house-sitting in a high-rise apartment, Vail would meet his future girlfriend, Sharon. She was 20, and attractive, having even modeled in her teens. They became friends, and then started a relationship despite the 10-year age gap.
While hitchhiking across California, Vail would confess to Hensley that he had killed Mary, something his son Bill overheard. Because of this, Bill would later go to the police to report his own father for murder. The police at first didn’t believe Bill, but after camping out on the front steps, one detective listened. He told the detective that he was hungry, tired of using the drugs his father gave him, that he wanted to go back to school, live like other kids, and that he had overheard his father admit to killing his mother.
At a beach along the Merced River, police found his father and Hensley, carrying a bag of LSD capsules. Police charged the couple with LSD possession and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Vail received a six-month jail sentence, plus three years’ probation, after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of LSD possession.
California police shared their information with Louisiana authorities. Once again, the district attorney in Lake Charles once again passed on prosecuting Vail for murder. Another fatal mistake.
Bill returned to Mississippi to live with his grandparents, who then gained full custody. On January 23rd, 1971, Vail and Sharon showed up in the driveway. Bill thought Vail was there to kill him, and his grandmother had to reassure him that he was safe.
The father and son eventually sat down and had a talk. Vail told Bill that he didn’t blame him for the time he spent in prison, but instead blamed Sharon, which the young boy found strange because “she had nothing to do with it.”
The family wondered how the couple could even legally be in Mississippi if they were supposed to be on probation in California. They couldn’t. After a visit from the Sheriff, the 2 were smuggled out of town and given enough money to get back to the West Coast.
In the Summer of 1972, the couple appeared unannounced at Sharon’s childhood home in Bismarck. The more the family saw of the couple, the more horrified they became. Sharon wore a mini skirt with no panties and had armpit hair and leg hair "like a man." She had been losing weight and losing clumps of hair.
Her younger brother Brian said it felt like his sister had been brainwashed. If someone asked her a question, “either Felix would answer the question for her, or she would look at Felix while she was giving the answer.”
The couple left then North Dakota and traveled to Mississippi, where they stayed with Vail’s family. On the dairy farm the family owned, they helped paint the home. The couple also sunbathed in the nude, drawing the ire of neighbors.
Peggy Hensley received a telephone call from Sharon, who said she and Vail were heading to New Orleans and then to Miami to make pornographic films. She believed it was a cry for help as “what daughter tells her mother she’s going to do a porno?” Sharon’s parents wanted to travel down to get their daughter back but couldn’t. (The 2 did end up shooting pornographic scenes together, but I won’t get into any of that.)
In early 1973, Sharon called and talked of traveling to South America with Vail, where they would eat natural foods and write a book. It was the last conversation the family would ever have with her. Soon after, she would send her final letter. It contained a photo of her holding a pen, captioned “making travel notes.” It was the last picture ever taken of Sharon Hensley.
https://www.clarionledger.com/gcdn/-mm-/94195697544ea2e63b0b95e33a6de88a8b4f1e2b/c=0-50-399-276/local/-/media/2016/12/28/JacksonMS/JacksonMS/636185487179588030-Sharon-Hensley.jpg?width=399&height=226&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
(The last photo ever taken of Sharon.)
THE DISAPPEARANCE
In March of 1974, Peggy received a letter from Vail, claiming he was in West Florida. He wrote that he last saw Sharon about a year before in Key West, with an Australian couple that was traveling around the world. All he recalled was the first names of the couple (John and Vanessa), who were talking with Sharon about “island hopping around South America, the West Indies, --- Hawaii for a while, maybe a couple of years in the Philippines, then India, Egypt and the Mediterranean islands and coasts. I don’t know which of these (if any) they decided on or in what order.” Peggy didn't believe a word of it.
In the fall of 1975, Vail’s mother wrote to the Hensley family, saying that her son was surprised the family hadn’t heard from Sharon during that time. Interestingly, Vail told his mother the names of the couple that Sharon left with were Frank and Sally, different names than he had given a year earlier. Vail explained to his mother that before Sharon left, she had burned all her identification cards, got new IDs, and declared that she would become a completely different person.
Bill recalled his father mentioning Sharon. “He said she would never bother anyone ever again.” The words upset Bill, who believed his father had just confessed to another murder. “There was not a soul I could tell about it because I had had my experience in court when I was 8, no one would believe me. It would be my word against his, and no one would believe a 13-year-old.”
​
SHARON CAMPBELL:
I want to talk about this relationship because of the egregious age difference. For reference, Campbell is only 4 years older than Vail’s son.
While riding a bus to north Mississippi in 1975, Vail sat next to 17-year-old Sharon Campbell. Despite being literally twice her age, he commented on how fit she looked, saying "he needed someone like her to keep him fit." In spite of this, she felt flattered and shared her telephone number with him. Not long after she got home, Vail appeared in a yellow Volkswagen bug.
Vail said he wanted Campbell to travel with him, and she told him the only way her parents would allow it was if they got married.
On July 24, 1975, they did, honeymooning in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
In court years later, she would tell prosecutors that they never consummated the marriage because “he was unable to obtain an erection.” (This isn’t relevant, I just wanted to include it out of spite because fuck this guy.)
Several weeks later, she went with Vail to visit his relatives in Louisiana. There, she said a niece told her, “You probably need to know that he killed his first wife --- they arrested him. We all believed that he did it, he drowned her out of a boat.”
Campbell didn't believe them, telling herself that he would be in prison if he was a murderer. But as the months passed by, she concluded that he “had no value in the female gender,” and that “he hated women.”
She later traveled with Vail to his parents’ home in Montpelier. While there, he was outdoors working on the Volkswagen and Campbell walked closer without him noticing. He opened a compartment, and she said she saw “sinister, surgical looking saws of all shapes and sizes in a neat formation.” To her, the sight screamed evil. “It scared me. I said, ‘I’m not going anywhere with you.’” She left, annulled the marriage, and never looked back. It was likely the best decision she ever made.
After the divorce he would marry a woman named Carolyn in 1977. The relationship would end after he cheated on her with a woman named Alexandra Christianson during a double date. When Carolyn called Vail’s mother and asked her if the behavior surprised her, she simply replied “no.”
After being served the divorce papers, Vail smashed his car into her MGB Sports Car. A month later he would call her saying “I love you.” She did not reciprocate. She would later describe Vail as “mentally deranged.”
​
ALEXANDRA CHRISTIANSON:
Alexandra is the woman Vail cheated on Carolyn with. She eventually got married to him in Mexico after he officially divorced Carolyn. Not long after their marriage, she heard that Vail was cheating on her.
After a motorcycle accident, he came to rest up at her condo in Costa Mesa, where she confronted him about the cheating. He reportedly got agitated and said, “you know my first wife died.” When she replied saying he’d told her she drowned, Vail shot back “I could have saved her, but I chose not to.”
After telling him to leave, she went to have a shower. While in the shower, Vail attacked her, wrapping his hands around her neck. Hearing her screams, Alexandra’s young brother came in, grabbing Vail and forcing him to the ground. Vail then left.
Soon after this, she found out she was pregnant. The child was still-born, and Alexandra was heart-broken. She would later lead important investigators to witnesses that were used in Vail's eventual trial.
In part 2, I will cover Vail's final victim Annette Craver, and the lengths her mother went to to finally secure justice.
Here is Part 2:
https://www.reddit.com/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/143riqi/felix_vail_the_pedophile_serial_killer_caught/
MY SOURCES:
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/8284?nav
https://charleyproject.org/case/annette-michelle-craver-vail
https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/felixvailgone/2016/12/29/felix-vail-gone-one-wife-dead-two-other-missing-jerry-mitchell/95895894/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5796622/mary-elizabeth-vail
https://charleyproject.org/case/sharon-hensley
https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/20525?nav

The 1950s Yankee dynasty had some great hitters -- Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Moose Skowron, Hank Bauer, Gil McDougald, just to name a few -- but the key to going to eight World Series between 1950 and 1959 (and winning six of them) was a pitching staff that led the league in ERA in five of those 10 seasons -- and in the top three in all 10!
Whitey Ford was the ace of the staff, going an unbelievable 121-50 (.708 W%) with a 2.66 ERA (140 ERA+) between 1950 and 1959. And that was with Casey Stengel often skipping Ford against weaker teams to save him for tougher match-ups, meaning that most of those wins came against top competition. In 1956, for example, the Chairman of the Board had 10 starts against teams with losing records, and 20 starts against teams with records of .500 or better. He went 7-1 with a 2.27 ERA against the losers, and 12-5 with a 2.59 ERA against the winners!
But behind Ford were some pretty good if less famous pitchers, including Allie Reynolds, Eddie Lopat, Tommy Byrne, and Bob Grim. And another, even lesser known hurler won two rings as a key member of the Yankee rotation: Tom Sturdivant.
A hard enough thrower in his youth that he got the nickname "Smoke," by the time Sturdivant reached the Yankees he was called "Snake" because of the way his pitches moved. He threw a curve that broke away from right-handed batters, a screwball that broke away from lefties, a sinking fastball, and a looping change-up. All were good pitches, but none of them was great. Ted Williams was asked how Sturdivant was so successful without overpowering stuff, and he replied:

"Maybe he hasn’t got a thing. But I notice one thing. He keeps winning."

Eventually he did find a thing, though. Particularly later in his career, Sturdivant became known for his knuckleball. He would call it his "money pitch." He also complained about the pitch like an unruly pet, saying "it just won't act right 'til late in the season."
Born in Gordon, Kansas, on April 28, 1930, Thomas Virgil Sturdivant grew up in Oklahoma City and attended Capitol Hill High School. Sturdivant was signed by Yankee scout Tom Greenwade, who also signed another kid from Oklahoma, Mickey Mantle. Like Mantle, Sturdivant was signed as an infielder. But Sturdivant also was a pretty good pitcher as a teenager, as Greenwade told a reporter:

"Used to be a high-school pitcher in Oklahoma City, you know. And one of the greatest. He set some kind of record. More than 100 innings without being scored on."

Sturdivant struggled to hit his first few seasons as an infielder in the minors, hitting .246 in 281 at-bats in 1950. He then spent all of 1951 and much of 1952 in the U.S. Army, and -- as happened to most major leaguers drafted into the service -- spent most of his time playing baseball for a base team. (As Whitey Ford once said: "Army life was rough. Would you believe it, they actually wanted me to pitch three times a week!") Sturdivant's success pitching in the Army, as well as a leg injury that cost him some of his running speed, convinced him he should ask the Yankees to try him at pitching.

"I knew I wasn't getting anywhere, batting .246 in Class B, so I decided I'd better try something else if I wanted to stay in baseball, which I did, badly."

He returned from the Army in time to pitch 86 innings with the Yankees' Double-A affiliate, the Beaumont Roughnecks, and went 3-3 with a 3.56 ERA. His days as an infielder were over.
Sturdivant went 10-7 with a 2.98 ERA in Double-A the following season, and 8-9 with a 3.57 ERA in Triple-A the year after that. Yankee pitcher Allie Reynolds, a fellow graduate of Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City who had gone 20-8 for the Yankees in 1952, had retired after the 1954 season. That winter, he worked with Sturdivant and told him he might make the Yankees in spring. Sturdivant's hard work that off-season impressed manager Casey Stengel. "We learned that he can be a fighter, and that's what we want with this club," he said.
He made the team out of spring training and made his major league debut on April 14 against the Red Sox at Fenway Park -- Boston's home opener. Bob Grim started the game and was bombed for five runs on seven hits through six innings. Sturdivant entered the game in the 7th, with the score 5-2, and gave up another run. The Yankees battled back in the bottom of the 8th, scoring two runs on back-to-back singles from Elston Howard and Jerry Coleman to make it a two-run game, but Sturdivant gave up a two-run single in the 8th to pitcher Ellis Kinder to put the game out of reach again, and the Yankees lost, 8-4.
In 33 games that year, Sturdivant posted a 3.16 ERA and a 1.302 WHIP, not bad for a rookie. He didn't give up a lot of hits, but he did walk 41 men in 68.1 innings. Stengel didn't mind that, though. In a 2020 article, "Big Walkers", Bill James wrote about how Stengel employed a strategy of "pitching around" power hitters. When a slugger was at the plate, pitchers were coached to work the edges of the plate, not giving him anything good to hit. He might chase pitches and strike out... he might hit something off the end of the bat... or he might walk. Any of the three, in Stengel's opinion, was a better outcome than throwing a pitch down the middle to a guy who could hit it 450 feet.
As a result, the Yankees often were near the top in walks allowed -- but also in fewest home runs allowed. And also in double plays. And also, not coincidentally, in earned run average.
In his five seasons with the Yankees, Sturdivant walked 221 batters in 524.1 innings (3.8 BB/9), but only gave up 45 home runs (0.8 H9). He also induced 44 double plays. James, in looking at what made the Yankees successful in the 1950s, discovered that they had a huge differential in HR-GIDP. In 1955, Sturdivant's first year in the league, the Yankees hit 175 home runs, and grounded into 101 double plays (+74). Yankee opponents had 108 home runs, and grounded in 145 double plays (-37). In 1956, the Yankes were +86, their opponents -53.
James wrote:

This is not a typical championship team pattern. In many areas, the 1950s Yankees were just an ordinary team. They really had only one outstanding starting pitcher, while Cleveland usually had three or four. But the Yankees huge advantages in Home Runs vs. Double Plays enabled them to win almost every year.

Sturdivant rode this strategy to back-to-back 16-win seasons, going 16-8 with a 3.30 ERA (118 ERA+) in 1956, and 16-6 with a 2.54 ERA (142 ERA+) in 1957.
After those two great seasons, though, Sturdivant's career went up in... well... smoke.
In Spring Training 1958, he held out for a raise, eventually signing for $18,000, a $4,000 raise from what he'd made the year before. He gave up 10 runs in his first two starts of the year, and then missed a month with a sore arm. When he came back, he was hit hard in his next three starts, and was banished to the bullpen. After a pretty good month (8.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K), he was put back into the rotation, and went 3-2 with a 3.31 ERA in 32.2 innings, but his arm still wasn't quite right, and he missed some time in August due to a heel injury. He was on the World Series roster in 1958, but didn't pitch.
All off season there were rumors that Sturdivant was on the trading block, and after another slow start -- 0-2 with a 4.97 ERA, and still bothered by his sore arm -- he was dealt to the Yankees' favorite trading partner in the late 1950s, the Kansas City Athletics. "Snake", along with Jerry Lumpe and Johnny Kucks, was dealt for Ralph Terry and previously forgotten Yankee Hector Lopez -- a pretty good deal for the Yankees, as Terry and Lopez helped the Yankees to five straight pennants and two championships between 1960 and 1964. Lumpe, a little used utility player with the Yankees, proved to be a solid regular for the Athletics and then an All-Star with the Tigers in 1964. But Kucks, an All-Star with the Yankees in 1956, was done, going 12-21 with a 4.78 ERA (84 ERA+) in two seasons with the Athletics, and was out of baseball after the 1960 season.
Sturdivant would hang around another five seasons, and pitch for six different teams! He went from the Athletics to the Senators -- not the original Senators, who were now the Twins, but the expansion team founded in 1961 that would become the Rangers in 1972 -- then the Pirates, the Tigers, back to the Athletics, and then rejoined Casey Stengel on the Mets in 1964. Over that stretch he went 21-20 with a 4.16 ERA and 1.301 WHIP as a swingman.
The 34-year-old Sturdivant announced prior to the 1964 season he was running for the Oklahoma State Senate and that he'd quit baseball if elected in November. The Mets beat him to it, though, releasing him in May after he posted a 5.97 ERA in 28.2 innings. Maybe more as a campaign ploy, in July Sturdivant signed with the Oklahoma City 89ers. He went 6-3 with a 3.89 ERA and 1.365 WHIP in 74.0 innings. He lost the election, and retired from baseball.
After that, Sturdivant owned a trucking company and tried to drum up support for the Hall of Fame case for his old mentor Allie Reynolds.
In 2000, the 69-year-old Sturdivant was in a serious car accident. Someone -- he never learned who -- found him on the roadside, thrown from his truck after it had rolled five times. When the ambulance arrived, they thought he was dead. They strapped his body to a stretcher and loaded him into an ambulance.
Sturdivant told sportswriter Brian Jensen:

"When we were driving to the hospital, I was in the back and they had me strapped down and I guess when I came to, I raised my head and I said, 'hey could y'all call my wife for me,' and the driver almost jumped out of the van. It just wasn't time for me to go."

He had broken his back, both hips, his pelvic bone, his tailbone, multiple ribs, and had a punctured lung. He never recovered.
"I don't have a life," Sturdivant said. "You know, I have a hard time remembering a lot of stuff and I'm kind of slow. I kind of have little spells where I pass out and have a hard time walking straight."
Sturdivant died on February 28, 2009.
Smoke Show:

• According to a 2010 article in Sports Illustrated, Mickey Mantle hurt himself while playing golf with Sturdivant in 1957. Sturdivant must have been having a better game than Mantle was, because at some point the Mick threw his putter in frustration. The putter hit a tree and knocked off a large branch, and then either the putter or the branch landed on Mantle's leg, giving him a nasty cut. Mantle missed five games due to what the Yankees told reporters at the time was "shin splits."
  
• Another key starting pitcher for the Yankees in the early 1950s: Forgotten Yankee Vic Raschi, "The Springfield Rifle." Raschi had one of the all-time great lines about pitching: "My best pitch is anything the batter grounds, lines, or pops in the direction of Rizzuto."
  
• Sturdivant wore #47 all five years he was with the Yankees. He was, according to baseball-reference.com, the first Yankee to wear the number. The number is currently assigned to Frankie Montas; prior to that, it was worn by Jordan Montgomery. Other #47's include Ivan Nova, Shane Spencer, Dave Silvestri, and Roy Fontenot. Luis Arroyo, the Yankee closer from 1960 to 1963, wore #47.
  
• In addition to Tom Sturdivant and Allie Reynolds, the other graduates of Capitol Hill High School to play in the majors were 1960s outfielder Don Demeter, 1950s infielder Jerry Snyder, and 1980s outfielder George Wright, though none played for the Yankees. The Yankees signed another pitcher out of Capitol Hill High School, a righty named Bob Shipman, but he never made the majors despite going 32-14 between 1953 and 1955 in the Yankee system.
  
• Demeter later became a pastor in Oklahoma City, and Sturdivant was a member of his church!
  
• The Yankees almost released Sturdivant early in the 1956 season. Hoping to sneak him back down to the minors, the Yankees put him on waivers, but Detroit manager Bucky Harris put in a claim for him. Harris had been the Yankee manager prior to Casey Stengel, and after leaving the Yankees went to the Senators, where he had picked up a number of former Yankee pitchers -- Bob Porterfield, Fred Sanford, Tom Ferrick, and Spec Shea. (They also acquired previously forgotten Yankee Jackie Jensen.) For whatever reason, ex-Yankee pitchers on the Senators seemed to dramatically improve. Now Harris was on the Tigers, and wanted Sturdivant. Thinking Harris must know something, the Yankees pulled him back. Apparently Harris did know something, as Sturdivant went 32-14 with a 2.88 ERA over the next two seasons!
  
• In the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Sturdivant started Game 4, and did what he usually did: He gave up six walks, but no home runs, and got a double play. He went the distance and the Yankees won the game, 6-2, to even the World Series at two games each. After the game, the Associated Press called it "the best pitching job in the series." Sturdivant's glory was short-lived, however: the next day, Don Larsen threw a perfect game.
  
• The infielder turned pitcher because he couldn't hit was a pretty good hitter for a pitcher in 1956, when he hit .313 with a double and a triple in 64 at-bats. Overall, though, he hit just .183/.208/.195 in 364 career plate appearances. Moving to the mound was a good decision!
  
• No relation, and spelled differently anyway: Tyler Sturdevant, who pitched in the minors for the Indians from 2009 to 2015. He finally made his debut with the Rays in 2016, at age 30, with a not-bad 3.93 ERA and 1.309 WHIP in 18.1 innings. The following year he was in the A's system, but he never got another trip of the Show.
  

Sturdivant remained a Yankee for life. After his playing days were over and he was living in Oklahoma, he was an early adopter of a subscription service that allowed him to watch Yankee games!

I don't actually intend to work out in it, but I work a freight job so I'm lifting heavy items a bit, but I'm also walking around, doing stairs and repetitive lifting.
I don't have a large chest, but I am still uncomfortable with it just in a sports bra at work. Ideally I would find a binder that is safe for me to work in, but if that's not possible I'd also take some restrictive sports bras.
Also, any suggestions on male styled bottoms that will fit a woman's body? I'm not curvy, but if I want the waist to fit, I can't get the pants past my thighs, and if I can get them past my thighs, I have to wear a belt because the waist is an extra 4 to 6 inches around. I'm struggling hard trying to find clothes that fit that aren't overly feminine. I'm tired of being mis-gendered at work because I wear tight clothing. I have sensory input issues with jeans, so I still need them to be well fitted in the lower leg.

Part 2 of 2: All constructive criticism is welcome and the more specific, the better.

Bringing a pitchfork to an android fight

This leaves the ruled with the sole strategic deterrent of their collective potential for violence. The deterrent is twofold:

1. Their potential as agents of coercive violence on the part of intra-class competitors
2. Their collective power as a ‘mob’ or mass movement that if necessary can overwhelm through numbers (a la Bastille)

In societies, where the institutions of legitimacy are hereditary, intra-class rivalries are more likely given the largely unconditional and irrevocable nature of legitimacy conferred by birth. No effective mechanism can remove class membership without challenging the legitimacy of the institution conferring membership.
Privileges and special treatment are often accorded to members of the same class in external societies with matching institutions of legitimacy. These privileges can even hold in wartime where either special treatment during capture or prohibitions against shedding ‘royal’ or ‘noble’ blood set class members apart from the ruled populace of either society.
This irrevocability of status limits the ability of a class to neutralize rogue members. Even if rejected by other class members, rogue members are often able to still garner support internally and externally based on their claim to legitimacy as in the case of James Francis Edward Stuart.
This inherent instability results in the courting of the ruled by competing members of the ruling elite as agents of violence. It can be as gross as the direct financing of the Clodian and Milonian gangs by Caesar and his opponents or the actual bidding war for the Roman Imperial purple by Didius Julianus. Or it can be as professional as purchasing the services of condottieri during the Italian city-state conflicts. The commonality is gathering enough of the ruled to bludgeon other members of the ruling elite into submission.
The 20th century saw the beginning of the end for hereditary institutions of legitimacy. The Chinese and Russian Communist revolutions as well as the ascent of Nazism in Germany represented the rise to power of ideologies that were fatally antagonistic to the aristocracy) and royalty. The post World II breakup of the British Empire - especially in India - saw the removal of more hereditary rulers as former colonies coalesced into independent modern nation-states. Even the former imperial leader saw radical institutional shakeups. The Labour Party’s victory in the 1945 elections started Great Britain’s transition from hereditary legitimacy as well culminating in the House of Lords Act 1999 and its following updates. In less than 100 years, a substantial portion of humanity transitioned their institutions of legitimacy and the basis of ruling elite power.

The end of elite intra-class conflict

Modernity has seen the irrevocable legitimacy of birth and descent replaced with the conditional legitimacy of intellectual compliance with the ruling elite’s philosophy or ideology. This phenomenon is most easily discerned in the Soviet Union, Communist China and other formecurrent Communist countries.
Elites were subject to constant surveillance and purged for even small infractions of ideological deviation. Surveillance was pervasive - so pervasive that in East Germany it was estimated that there was one Stasi (secret police) informer for every 6.5 citizens. Once identified as deviants, purged members were de-legitimized prior to removal in tightly controlled trials where ‘extracted’ confessions were presented as damning evidence of ideological nonconformity. This ‘delegitimization’ was so effective that popular uprisings on behalf of purged members were/are virtually nonexistent. With no legitimate claim or access to energy in the system, the purged members are rendered powerless to raise groups of the ruled to save them.
In Western Europe and the vast majority of the Anglosphere, credentialism is the preferred institution of legitimacy and can be revoked unlike inherited nobility or spiritual superiority. Credentialism (nominal meritocracy coupled with ideological compliance) forms a framework of class control slightly less punitive, yet every bit as pervasive as the Communist regimes.
In a credentials-based system, the institutions that bestow credentials - such as elite universities - represent a significant chokepoint of control over ruling elite members.
Attendance has its privileges. In the United States, Ivy League and Ivy League plus graduates are overrepresented in the upper echelons of US government, business and non-profit institutions. Currently 8 out of 9 US Supreme Court justices are graduates of just two law schools: Yale and Harvard Law. 4 out 5 of the last US Presidents graduated from Ivy League schools.
However, despite representation as a ‘meritocracy’, admission to and attendance at these institutions are not contingent solely on merit. The most obvious exceptions being legacy preferences and affirmative action. Legacy preferences and affirmative action are non-merit criteria for admission that enables ruling elites to play gatekeeper and prefer members of their class or preferred candidates for addition to the class.
Less obvious though is the implied ideological conformity to become a member of these credential granting institutions. During the 1950s and 1960s, the whiff of Communist sympathies could blacklist an individual from these institutions. In present times, differing views on gender, race, immigration or even ‘lack of personality’ can bar an individual from admission, cause rescission of admission or expulsion from these credential granting institutions. Earned credentials can be revoked for academic disagreement if it buts against the class consensus as is the case in California where disagreement with the ‘consensus’ over COVID now allows medical license revocation.
Technology makes possible the ubiquitous yet decentralized class policing to maintain conformity in the West. Stray comments from years in the past during literal childhood are now grounds for exclusion or ‘cancellation’. Social media and cancel culture allows class coordination in real-time with everything captured on phones and immediately shared on Twitter, Tiktok, Instagram to generate instant class outrage and cancellation - all without recourse to a government institution. There’s no longer a need to ‘eliminate’ someone when a bot can post inciting content that results in the loss of credentials, employment and social status for the problematic individual.
Whether the punitive Communist system or the slightly less punitive yet every bit as controlling Western system, the revocable nature of legitimacy in both systems enables modern elites to resolve intraclass disputes without having to resort to mass violence. Expulsion from the institutions of legitimacy is possible without death and can be instantaneous since unlike birth-descent legitimacy which only ends upon death, removal of a credential or Party membership doesn’t require the individual to be found, seized and killed. A few keystrokes and boom! - virtual death.
This ease and swiftness of delegitimization means class dissidents are less likely to be able to garner and maintain enough popular support necessary to violently contest for supremacy.
While beneficial to the ruling class, this removes participation in the informal violence of intraclass conflict within the ruling elite as a path of advancement or accommodation for the ruled. The ruled are no longer needed to maintain the intra-class balance.

We need pitchforks. Lots of pitchforks.

The ruled populace’s sole remaining leverage is to act as members of the formal security institutions of the society such as the armed forces or law enforcement.
The structure of the armed forces mimics the same control structure as other social institutions with the officers corps overpopulated with members of the ruling elites and the bulk of recruits from the other strata of society.
In the US, the bulk of the enlisted recruits - 80% - 90% of the total - are from households under $100k annual income. With an average income of slightly over $50,000, these recruits’ household incomes are significantly below the top 10% annual income average of $173,000 .
Doing the bulk of the fighting and dying has meant that the ruled populace has enough strategic value to the ruling elite as violent counterbalances to external elites that accommodations in energy distribution and class membership are a grudging but recurring feature of political history.
There’s a roughly direct relationship between conflict severity and the level of accommodation. The violent global paroxysms of the 20th century (WWI, WW2, the Korean War) saw the advent of socialized medicine), the GI Bill and other concessions throughout Western Europe and the Anglosphere. The Cold War saw the further growth of the welfare state in the societies of the West as well the advent of a series of development/aid programs directed towards the developing world. The ruling elites of the West and the Communist bloc competed with accommodations to shore up their popular support domestically and globally in case of another world conflict that might be nuclear and apocalyptic in nature.
The Vietnam War represented the beginning of the end of this type of popular accommodation in the United States. The usual inequities of socioeconomic status vs combat exposure were hyper-magnified as college and health related exemptions allowed many scions and aspiring members of the ruling elite to avoid the conflict altogether.
This left the armed forces composed of draftees - disproportionately from the lower socioeconomic classes - commanded by the few volunteer members of the ruling elite. The results were disastrous. Social justice protests, McNamara’s Morons, ‘fragging’ and other disciplinary and performance issues - caused by the imbalanced force structure - proved such a toxic stew that the US moved to an all-volunteer force in 1973.
The move to a professional army removed the need for broad-based popular consent to ensure force cohesion during conflict (or so the theory went). And with the decreased need for broad-based support, the US ruling elites began to contract the post-World War accommodations and welfare-state.
First to suffer was veteran treatment as the soldiers exposed to Agent Orange were denied compensation and care for the myriad health problems resulting from their exposure. The 1980s saw the beginning of the end for The Great Society welfare state and culminated with the ‘end of welfare as we know it’ being signed into law by President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Offshoring began in the 1980s and accelerated with NAFTA and China’s accession to the WTO. This coupled with the Reagan-Bush-Trump tax cuts further eviscerated the middle class which typically provides the bulk of armed forces recruits.
Initial impacts on operational readiness appeared during the first Gulf War, Afghanistan and the second Gulf War but were ameliorated by extended and repetitive use of reserve forces. However, recruiting has plummeted across the board and the soldiers that fought the last three American conflicts are aging out of service eligibility. In 2022 and 2023, it is projected that all branches except the Space Force will have failed to meet recruitment goals.
The likelihood that new recruitment techniques will improve the situation are grim as the Army estimates that only 23% of the 17-to-24 year olds in the US would even qualify as recruits. The other 77% are unable to pass the basic armed forces entrance exam or are too overweight/obese to meet minimum fitness requirements.
A shrinking pool of recruits has not impaired the ruling elites’ willingness to engage in armed conflict to achieve their geopolitical goals. Currently, the United States and its NATO allies are engaged in a proxy war in Ukraine against Russia. The United States, Taiwan, Australia, South Korea, Japan and the Philippines stand on the verge of conflict over Taiwan and access to the South China Sea.
All of the actors in these brewing or ongoing conflicts are experiencing some degree of demographic decline with severe population declines projected for Russia, Ukraine, China, South Korea, Japan and much of Europe. The United States is projected to be buoyed by immigration however the native birth rate has already plummeted below replacement levels.
This leaves the ruling elites with the confounding situation where the current economic and political institutions they control have ennervated the ruled populace to the point it impairs their ability to project power externally. Rebuilding the middle class that provides the bulk of recruits would necessitate major structural changes that would greatly lessen their class’ control and at least a generation of time for enough children to be born to erase the recruitment deficit.
Reversing 40-years of rigged economic and political policy alone would represent a Herculean task. But couple this with natural class resistance to any loss of control egged on by the psychopathy of the class leaders, the necessary changes are improbable to the point of impossible.
With no change and conflicts on the immediate horizon, the ruling elites have one solution left to them to replace the dispossessed recruitment pools of the middle class - artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons.

Move over humans. It’s time for something scarier.

A.I. powered weapons offer a number of advantages over human combatants. Not only does A.I. already demonstrate tactical superiority against human opponents in simulation, but its unique nature is particularly appealing to the ruling elites.
Without conscience or kinship ties or moral safeguards, the A.I. soldiers will pursue any objective regardless of the dubious nature of the orders. History would have been markedly different if A.I. soldiers had been present in the Soviet Union during the hardline coup against Gorbachev or available to the Arab rulers during the Arab Spring. Implementing Asimov’s Laws of Robotics would be foolhardy in a combat android but even if implemented, the noted problems of AI control could result in unintended casualties.
Additionally, as non-humans, casualties no longer equal declining morale in the armed forces and society as a whole. The Vietnam War demonstrated the impact of seeing body bags of soldiers returned home. During the Afghanistan, Gulf and Iraq wars, this type of footage was banned (until 2009) to stop the type of social unrest that occurred during the Vietnam War when the public was faced with the direct cost of conflict. It is doubtful that humans will see injured or killed A.I. soldiers in the same empathetic light as they do human casualties. Risky missions start to have acceptable loss levels and this change enables more aggression on the part of ruling elites.
But the greatest advantage of the new A.I. soldier is that there is absolutely no need for accommodation by the ruling elites to the ruled populace to maintain their base of power. A newer, remorseless and completely obedient purveyor of violence is now available to the ruling elite. It makes no demands beyond bare functioning and feels no emotional remorse for immoral acts.
These A.I. soldiers that are capable of maintaining the developed world’s strategic parity to the global masses’ numbers can be also used internally to quell any possible dissent or mass movement. A.I. generally offers unlimited potential for surveillance and internal class discipline but coupled with advances in robotics, it will offer an ethics-free physical enforcer to combat protests like Sri Lanka, Canada, the Netherlands and the United States. There are no repercussions available for the A.I. soldier since they have no personhood or control so even the spotty administration of ICC justice isn’t a deterrent. Already law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles, New York and other jurisdictions are deploying robotic dogs - which is eerily reminiscent of the usage of attack dogs by oppressors through history. An A.I. soldier that was used for similar purposes would have no fear of punishment or injury or fear at all unlike the officer or even the dog in past situations.
Attempts to control this new technology and A.I. soldiers are manifesting in calls for A.I. regulation and licensing by the ruling elites of the US and Western Europe. The potential for positive change through a human-A.I. partnership is tremendous and widespread availability has the potential to provide the ruled populace with substantial technical and economic advancements without the overhead of the ruling elite. Citing the danger of extinction by A.I. while simultaneously continuing development of the technology highlights how disingenuous the call for regulation is by the ruling elites. In reality this is a call to restrict any dangers presented to their institutional control of education, finance and healthcare as well as their monopoly of violence within society.
The future is grim for the ruled populaces of humanity. At a time that technology could power the solutions to climate change, economic collapse and space exploration, the technology is being evolved and restricted to prop up the ruling class’ domination. And with no bargaining chips left - whether as producers or gangs or soldiers - the real extinction crisis may not be for humanity as a whole but for the ruled.

Appendix: A Classical Case of Control

Pre-Marian reforms

In the pre-Marian reform Roman Republic, strict divisions were made between patricians )and plebeians with severe restrictions on political and religious participation placed on the plebeian class. Military service was strictly limited to property owners to ensure that the landowning class maintained a monopoly on violence. A credo of tribal superiority ranking Roman -> Latin -> Italian -> non-peninsulars was embodied legally in tiered political membership of Citizen -> Latin Rights holder -> Foreigner. Membership was zealously policed by officials called censors who were initially exclusively patrician.
The patricians of Rome were successful in maintaining their monopoly of power until a series of secessio plebis (Latin: withdrawal of the commoners or secession of the plebs) or general strikes by the plebeian class forced the patricians to cede some power, privileges and land to the plebeian class. Faced with complete economic standstill, a series of accommodations were made to maintain the viability of the power structure itself.
This cession of power was largely illusory though. While technical class distinctions were removed, the old patrician class and the wealthiest of the plebeian class merged through co-option and intermarriage to form a new nobility that enforced their new collective will through property qualifications restricting political participation.
This new nobility fought any further accommodations to middle and lower classes such as the Gracchan, Marian and Livian reforms. The brothers Gracchi and Livius Drusus) were killed and Marius died in the middle of a civil war with Sulla and his noble adherents.
Conquest and the resulting ubiquity of slavery destroyed any further economic leverage the lower classes had. With literally millions of slaves now cheaply available, laborers, craftspeople, shopkeepers and domestic employees were dispossessed of their livelihoods as slaves replaced them in their jobs. Small landholders were driven off their farms and into the urban stews as the treasure of conquest inflated the price of real estate astronomically.

Post-Marian reforms

The Marian reforms left one avenue for the lower classes - the military. As the rich and powerful (Marius v Sulla, Pompey v Caesar, Augustus v Antony) fought each other for supremacy within their own class, the poor were courted with numerous concessions and bonuses to serve as soldiers for the powerful.
While always at the whim of the commander (barring assassination) who was always a member of the ruling class, military necessity served as a check on the ruler's ambitions. Armies need soldiers and another ambitious member of the same class could always bribe or recruit soldiers with better terms to topple the current leader. A degree of class balance was a necessity to preserve the power structure.
For those who couldn’t or wouldn’t join the army, panem et circenses (bread and circuses) dulled the need for rebellion. Gladiator games, free food distributions and occasional money distributions maintained a docile subsistence-based population that remained fairly quiescent until the late Western Empire despite depredations by the landed elite and nobility.
The system despite all its inequities suffered along for multiple centuries until external pressures and the depredations of the nobility overwhelmed the economic and military capacity of the Empire and resulted in its fall in 476 CE. But it’s important to note that the system wasn’t overthrown from within but overwhelmed from the outside.

this guy is the last friend i have that i still see semi regularly and we do stuff together sometimes, and we play video games online in our free time.
but over the last 10+ years i’ve known him, he is a genuinely toxic person who has this black hole effect surrounding him. he has multiple kids with a girl, they had them while renting a place and have now moved into his girlfriends parents home where they’ve been living for about a year. he has underwent a tough year which is why i sympathise with him, along with being a longtime friend.
he had a younger sibling pass away a year ago, and then he had to have surgery because he’s basically destroyed his body from a sedentary lifestyle which is of his own fault.
he claims if he was fit and able he’d still play sport regularly (which we both used to do) but i can’t see it, he used to play sport regularly l, then moved in with his girlfriend and out of his parents house and became a recluse. i can say nothing on this front as i am a recluse myself.
but it gets much worse, they guy is a compulsive liar and megalomaniac with only his own self interest at heart. as far back as secondary school, he has cheated on his girlfriend countless times, and then went onto boast about it to me like a badge of honor. he try to cheat on his girlfriend with a girl i was talking to/seeing for a small period of time in secondary school, this was like 10+ years ago but still. he was being sneaky trying to text her to get with her. i never confronted him about it.
oh i forgot to mention, he is incredibly aggressive, like to the point of masculine insecurity. if you try to confront him on an issue, he gets incredibly defensive, starts to raise his voice, his body language totally changes to fight mode almost. he’s super confrontational.
a few months back, he sent a message which was meant for someone else about me, to me. while we were in a voice call on discord. i read his message out loud, he tried to come up with an excuse, i left the call and didn’t speak to him, he messaged me saying he’s an idiot and he doesn’t know why he tried to lie about it and is embarrassed about it.
i let it go because, who the hell else do i have?
you’re probably wondering why i’m even friends with him to begin with. well we’ve had a lot of good times and memories together and did a lot of dumb shit as young boys do.
but he just lies, and twists and everything is about him “me me me” kind of shit i can’t stand it.
i really don’t know what to do, if i cut him off i will have basically no friends, and maybe he depends on that fact and i exploits it.
i’m not from a city or well populated area, you can’t just go and make friends, everyone already has their clicks, you can’t just plop yourself into it and force yourself onto others it’s just weird.
so do i become totally isolated and alone by cutting off a really toxic individual in my life, or is it better to stay friends as it means i wouldn’t be totally alone?
i look at my choices for who i considered my best friends over the last 10 years i regret many decisions i made.
admittedly, i am an avoidant personality type, and i push people away to spare myself from pain. so maybe i am giving in to my own messed up psychology? idk anymore

<
Friday, May 28, 2010

• Adnan could have filed for post conviction relief at any time during these past seven years, and did not have to wait ten years. Rabia lied about that.
  
• According to Rabia, Justin Brown has decided not to subpoena Asia, given her reaction when approached by the PI.
  
• Attoney Justin Brown files for Post Conviction Relief citing "Ineffective Assistance of Counsel" aka "IAC." This filing contains the first appearance of Asia's letters in the record.
  
• Syed asks for new trial, claiming trial counsel (Gutierrez), and appellate counsel (Warren Brown) were ineffective:
  
  • 1) Gutierrez failed to establish a timeline disproving State's case
  • 2) Gutierrez failed to investigate alibi witness (Asia)
  • 3) Gutierrez failed to move for new trial based on Asia's statements
  • 4) Gutierrez failed to cross-examine Debbie
  • 5) Gutierrez failed to pursue a plea offer
  • 6) Gutierrez failed to request a change of venue
  • 7) Gutierrez failed to investigate Jay
  • 8) In Adnan's appeal brief, Warren Brown failed to include the fact that Waranowitz strayed from his area of expertise, at trial.
  • 9) Cumulative Ineffective Assistance of counsel.
  • [Four years later, on October 18, and November 18, 2014, Rabia lied to the readers of her blog, writing that Adnan was forced to wait ten years to file for post conviction relief. The truth is the defendant has ten years from the date of conviction to file, but cannot file AFTER 10 years. In her book, Rabia wrote that she and Adnan knew all along that Adnan could file for post conviction relief the day after his appeal was denied in 2003]
  • [Rabia also lies about how a 2013 google search led her to Sarah Koenig's coverage of Gutierrez' disbarment. Adnan's May 2010 filing for post conviction relief discusses Sarah Koenig's reporting. This is how Rabia would have become aware of Koenig.]

Sunday, June 27, 2010

• Adnan has been at Cumberland / Supermax for one year.

June 27, 2010

• Justin Brown files a Supplement to Adnan's May 28, 2010 Petition for Post Conviction Relief. Cites a 10th point for PCR.
  
  • 10) Sentencing counsel, Charles Dorsey, failed to request that the motion for sentence modification be held in abeyance.

  After Syed fired Gutierrez, he was represented by a public defender, Charles Dorsey. Mr. Dorsey filed a Motion for Modification of Sentence. Mr. Syed had just received a sentence of life plus 30 years. Rather than ask the Court to hold that motion in advance and raise it after, up to ten years, which is the common practice when a defendant receives a very long sentence, Mr. Dorsey didn't do that. The court ended up ruling on the Motion for Modification a couple of days after it was filed. And, of course, the motion was denied. So that's our third, ineffective assistance of counsel claim. That he should have handled that differently. - The supplement also included further points Justin Brown wanted to make about Gutierrez's failure to ask for a pleas deal.
  

No copies of this supplement exist on the internet.
July 27, 2010

• State of Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services announces that Fewer Cell Phones Finding Their Way into State Prisons

Summer 2010

• According to transcripts, Justin Brown attempts to subpoena Asia. (This could be the reason for one of the postponements.)

Friday, October 15, 2010

• Hae Min Lee 30th birthday

November 29, 2010

• Motions Hearing. The State Requests the defense file. Transcript Excerpt.

Friday, December 20, 2010

• PCR Hearing scheduled, but postponed. First postponement.

February 28, 2011

• Adnan has been in jail/prison for twelve years.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

• Adnan's 30th Birthday

June, 2011

• Dale Sides's blog

Thursday, June 9, 2011

• Adnan receives Certificate of Achievement at North Branch Correctional.
  
• Adnan has been at Cumberland / Supermax for two years.
  

Monday, August 8, 2011

• PCR Hearing scheduled, but postponed. Second postponement.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

• Adnan moves to disqualify Kathleen Murphy as counsel for the state.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

• Hae Min Lee 31st birthday

Thursday, October 20, 2011

• PCR Hearing scheduled, but postponed. Third postponement.

November 27, 2011

• Thiru Vignarajah joins Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office

January, 2012

• Rabia founds the "Safe Nation Collaborative." Unfortunately, law enforcement has never heard of it.

Monday, February 6, 2012

• PCR Hearing scheduled, but postponed. Fourth postponement.
  
• Adnan's motion to disqualify Kathleen Murphy is denied.
  
• Murphy says she first spoke to Urick about testifying at the PCR in February 2012
  

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

• PCR Hearing scheduled, but postponed. Fifth postponement.

February 28, 2012

• Adnan has been in jail/prison for thirteen years.

March 21, 2012

• Supreme Court Decisions [Lafler & Frye] re; Defense Attorney's obligation to seek plea deal

Monday, May 21, 2012

• Adnan's 31st Birthday

Friday, June 15, 2012

• Michael Sye named coordinator of athletics for the Baltimore County Public Schools, the top job in running one of the nation's biggest scholastic sports programs. He oversees competitive athletics for 24 high schools.
  
• Adnan has been at Cumberland / Supermax for three years.
  

July 13, 2012

• Adnan writes Justin Brown, asking for postponement of October court dates, due to a foot injury. No mention of July and August court dates.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

• PCR Hearing scheduled, but postponed. Sixth postponement.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

• PCR Hearing scheduled, but postponed. Seventh postponement.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

• Transcripts: for Evidentiary Hearing in Post-Conviction Appeal.
  
  • (Shamim's and Rabia's testimony filed and paid for by stop_saying_right after Rabia refused to upload anything but Urick's testimony.)
• Justin Brown opens. He will focus on (3) issues.
  
  • Gutierrez's failure to investigate Asia.
  • Gutierrez's failure to pursue a plea offer.
  • Dorsey's failure to request that the motion for sentence modification be held in abeyance.
• Kevin Urick testifies:
  
  • Gutierrez never approached him seeking a plea bargain. If he had been approached, there would have been a possibility of a negotiated disposition.
  • Asia called him because she was afraid of being forced to testify. She had already made up her mind not to testify when she called Urick. And only called him looking for a way to get out of it.
• Shamim Rahman testifies: Posted and discussed on reddit thanks to SSR.
  
• Rabia Chaudry testifies: Posted and discussed on reddit thanks to SSR.
  

Monday, October 15, 2012

• Hae Min Lee 32nd birthday

Thursday, October 25, 2012

• Transcripts: for Evidentiary Hearing in Post-Conviction Appeal.
  
  • (Adnan and Meady's testimony filed and paid for by stop_saying_right after Rabia refused to upload anything but Urick's testimony.)
• Adnan Syed testifies. Posted and discussed on reddit thanks for SSR.
  
  • Adnan testifies that he told Dorsey about Asia, but there is no mention of Asia's letters, or giving Dorsey Asia's letters.
• Margaret Meady testifies
  
• Justin Brown fails to call Andrew Davis, the Private Investigator hired by Flohr and Colbert to investigate the library/track alibi.
  

February 28, 2013

• Adnan has been in jail/prison for fourteen years.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

• Adnan's 32nd Birthday

June 11, 2013

• Adnan's Cumberland Evaluation
  
• Adnan has been at Cumberland / Supermax for four years.
  

August, 2013

• It has been ten months since the October 2012 Hearing for Post Conviction Relief.
  
• Rabia says she watched the documentary "West of Memphis," looked up reporters who covered Gutierrez's disbarment, and found Sarah Koenig. Rabia hoped that media attention could influence Welch's pending decision, ten months after the hearing.
  
  • Rabia is lying when she talks about this 2013 google search that led her to Sarah Koenig's coverage of Gutierrez' disbarment for the Baltimore Sun. The truth is that Adnan's May 2010 filing for post conviction relief discusses Sarah Koenig and the coverage in the Baltimore Sun. This is how Rabia would have become aware of Koneig. Not via an August 2013 random google search, after watching West of Memphis.

August 12, 2013

• Rabia sends a letter to Sarah Koenig, asking her to take a look at the case. Rabia claims the police and prosecutors knew Adnan was innocent, and Gutierrez threw the case for money. Note here that leading up to Serial, Rabia was convinced that Jay did it, and would have pitched the story, with the carrot of exposing Jay.

August 29, 2013

• Rabia hastily sets up an LLC in Maryland, even though she is not licensed to practice law there.
  
• In anticipation of meeting with Sarah Koenig, Rabia sets up an office at Security Plaza, across the street from Woodlawn High School.
  
• Rabia wants Sarah to think this has always been her office, and that this is where she works. The truth is Rabia lives and works in DC.
  

August 30, 2013

• Approximate: In her "office" across the street from WHS, Rabia meets with Sarah Koenig, leading Koenig to believe Rabia has had this office for a while. Note here that Jay being the killer would have been part of this conversation.
  
• Undated: Rabia tells Sarah Koenig that Gutierrez threw the case on purpose, to get more money for the appeal - Despite Gutierrez having suggested that another attorney handle the appeal.
  

Late September, 2013

• Adnan receives a letter from Justin Brown saying that a reporter named Sarah Koenig wanted to do an interview. Justin wrote that he didn't think Sarah would waste time on a story if she didn't believe Adnan was innocent. Adnan receives the first letter from Sarah Koenig, a few days later.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

• By now, Adnan has received an introductory letter from Sarah Koenig. She sent him a pad and pencil and stamps. Adnan writes Sarah Koenig a letter about his story and case. Discussion.
  
  • Adnan says he wasn't much bigger than Hae.
  • Adnan says that students weren't allowed to use the top parking lot. (several WHSers and Krista have said that students used the top parking lot.)
  • Adnan describes the route to the Best Buy but neglects to mention the back way.
  • Adnan implies that the October 31 break up was the final break up.
  • Adnan says that he and Hae would joke about two women calling him on his cell phone at the same time. (Only we know that Adnan's first, ever cell phone was activated the evening of January 12, and there are no calls on the call log that support this story.)

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

• Hae Min Lee 33rd birthday

November, 2013

• Sarah Koenig meets with Chris Flohr to try to get some sense of Adnan's innocence. She tells Flohr that she won't do the story unless Adnan is innocent. Jay as the killer is context for Koenig's work on Serial.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

• Justin Brown talks about the importance of the defense investigator, despite having failed to call the defense investigator at Adnan's PCR hearing.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

• Adnan receives a reply letter from Sarah Koenig and puts her on his visitor list. Sarah has decided to report on the story.

Monday, November 25, 2013

• Adnan writes Sarah Koenig to thank her for her letter and let her know she is on his visitor list.
  
  • Adnan tells Koenig that no one but him (and the person who did it) will ever know if he did it or not. Adnan forgetting that Jay also knows the truth.
  • Adnan writes: Looking back, I always knew that Jay was jealous of my relationship with Stephanie. Stephanie had told me she was going to break up with Jay when she went off to college. Jay asked me if I knew about it. I told him that I did, and he wasn't too happy about that.
  • But on January 5, 2000, Adnan had said: Stepanie was so devoted to Jay that she talked about not going to college and possibly staying with Jay and renting an apartment.
  • Breakdown of lies in this letter that Koenig could have questioned, and/or featured in Serial.

Monday, December 30, 2013

• Post Conviction Decision written by Justice Martin P. Welch.

January 2, 2014

• Andrew Davis in a single car accident, that proves fatal.

Tuesday, January 6, 2014

• Post Conviction relief denied by Justice Martin P. Welch.

Mid January, 2014

• Koenig says that her first conversation with Adnan took place right after he received Welch's decision. Link to excerpt from first recorded interview
  
• Asia returns Sarah Koenig's call. Asia tells Sarah that when she was approached by the Defense PI, she "freaked out" and called Urick, who told her Adnan was guilty, so she dodged the attempt to produce her at the PCR.
  
• Bilal is notified of disciplinary action regarding his dental license, citing un-necessary treatments and overcharging on multiple occasions in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.
  

Monday, January 27, 2014

• Defense files ALA (Applicaton for Leave to Appeal). Adnan's attorneys have to ask for permission to appeal Welch's decision, as there is no guaranteed right to appeal. Defense requests review of two issues:
  
  • 1) Whether Gutierrez was ineffective because she didn't contact/interview Asia
  • 2) Whether Gutierrez was ineffective for failing to pursue a plea deal, and telling Adnan she had.

Monday, February 17, 2014

• Adnan Defense Team PI Andrew Davis passes away. He was never asked about Asia or anything about the defense's pre-trial investigation. Drew Davis Photo Album

Late February, 2014

• Sarah has met with Deirdre Enright who has agreed to work on Adnan's case.
  
  • Two UVA law school clinics begin work on Adnan's case.
  • Rabia says that Sarah reached out to Dierdre on her own. But it's clear that Adnan told Sarah about the Justin Wolfe case and subsequently, Deirdre Enright.
  • DNA issue important to law student, Mario

February 28, 2014

• Adnan has been in jail/prison for fifteen years.

Late February/March 2014

• Justin George of the Baltimore Sun begins helping Sarah Koenig, at Rabia's urging. Rabia wanted a local reporter on the story, too.

Spring, 2014

• Approximate: Sarah emails Young Lee
  
• Approximate: Sarah interviews one of the prosecuting attorneys, Kathleen Murphy, for two hours
  
• Sarah and Dana Chivas visit Woodlawn, and surrounding areas:
  
  • Krista shows them her scrapbook, lets them read Adnan's letters, and see her photos of Hae.
  • Sarah and Dana Chivas do the drive test that Adnan asked Sarah to do. Rabia asks to go along. Sarah says no.
  • Sarah shows Rabia the Enehey Report from the MPIA file. Rabia had never seen it. Sarah has redacted the name of the author of the report. She has promised the author she wouldn't reveal her name. Later, Rabia would post the report on her blog, and tell the world the name of the woman who wrote the report.
  • Rabia says in her book that this report explained why the detectives focused in on Adnan. She leaves out that the report was not written until Adnan had been in jail for six months.
  • Rabia dates the report as August 24, 1999, without mentioning that by then, Adnan had been arrested, indicted, and awaiting trial for months. (Later, Rabia would say that Justin Brown had a copy of the report in the police file, but never showed it to her.
• Adnan sends Sarah Koenig two "Price of Tea" charts, and asks her to hold them until the next time they speak. In October, of 2014, Koenig wrote about the subsequent conversation here.
  
  • C-Mart Chart 7-11 Chart

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

• Adnan's 33rd Birthday
  
• Bilal sexually assaults patients.
  

May 31, 2014

• Adnan's Cumberland Evaluation

June 4, 2014

• Adnan has been at Cumberland / Supermax for five years: Prison Evaluation

July 25, 2014

• Original SERIAL podcast air date

Thursday, August 7, 2014

• Sarah and Julie fly to California, two weeks after the original air date for the podcast. Jay wouldn't talk to them on the phone, so they delayed the podcast, and flew to California to blind-side Jay.

Friday, August 8, 2014

• Sarah and Julie arrive at Jay's house. No one is home. They go away, then come back, for the second time, to walk across his lawn, unannounced.
  
  • Jay said this upset his children.
  • During the conversation, Jay refers to himself as a "scoundrel with scruples." Jay wisely doesn't see any upside to letting them record an interview.

Saturday, August 9, 2014

• Sarah Koenig emails Jay, apologizes for blind-siding him and causing upheaval, suggests they have a drink or coffee, and refers to the project she's working on as a documentary, not a podcast. Sarah tells Jay that the upside to doing a taped interview is that he can tell his version. Her message: "I'm going to do a story and talk about you, whether you like it or not."

August 2014

• Adnan completes Home Study Programs > 8/22: Substance Abuse 8/22: Anger Management 8/25: Offender Corrections 8/29: Contentious Relationships

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

• Maryland Court of Special Appeals orders the State of Maryland to file a response to the defense's January 27, 2014 "ALA" (Application for Leave to Appeal). Court asks for State's response to the defense's assertion that Adnan asked for a plea, and Gutierrez failed to seek one. Court sets deadline of November 14, 2014 for State's response

September 2014

• Adnan completes Home Study Programs > 9/8: Parenting 9/8: Cognitive Awareness 9/12: Theft & Shoplifting 9/12: Domestic Violence 9/12: DUI 9/12: Employment 9/22: Offender Responsibility

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

• Sarah writes to Rabia that the story will be presented in podcast form, over 12 episodes.

Friday, October 3, 2014

• Serial Episode 1 and 2:
  
  • "The Alibi" Transcript
  • "The Breakup" Transcript

Saturday, October 4. 2014

• /serialpodcast is created - [will update link soon]

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

• Rabia's first blog post on Serial; undermining Koenig. Jakeprops says its must-read
  
  • Rabia lies to her readers, writing that Adnan had no choice but to wait for ten years to file for Post Conviction Relief.
  • The truth is that the defendant can file any time during those ten years, but not after ten years has lapsed.
  • The truth is that in a 2004 letter to Rabia, Adnan articulated his strategy to wait out the years, until the deadline was upon them, and then file for PCR.
• Rabia begins to advertise her version of the story on reddit - [will update link soon]
  

Saturday, October 11, 2014

• Baltimore Sun: Relatives of Convicted Killer Suffer in Silence

Friday, October 14, 2014

• Serial Episode 3: "Leakin Park" Transcript
  
• Rabia promoted her blog on reddit.
  

Wedneday, October 15, 2014

• Hae Min Lee 34th birthday

Thursday, October 16, 2014

• Serial Episode 4: "Inconsistencies" Transcript
  
• Rabia tweets Jay's last name, and it is picked up on reddit. Pictures of Jay's house are posted on reddit as a result.
  
• Rabia texts Sarah and says that Redditers "figured out" Jay's last name and posted his Facebook.
  

Friday, October 17, 2014

• Rabia's blog post #2 on Serial. Response to "Inconsistencies"... Rabia reshapes Koenig's narrative. Posted on reddit.

Saturday, October 18, 2014

• Saad's Reddit AMA

Thursday, October 23, 2014

• Serial Episode 5: "Route Talk" Transcript
  
• Hae's classmate "Summer" listens, and reaches out to Sarah Koenig. In a later episode, "Summer" sounds an awful lot like "K." Summer has never been heard from again.
  
• Adnan is a Psychopath thread posted
  
• Yusuf's response to the Psychopath thread. Yusuf thinks the author is Bilal.
  

Friday, October 24, 2014

• Rabia's blog post #3 on Serial. Addresses "Route Talk." Reshaping the narrative for her own ends.
  
• Rabia writes that after her first few blog posts, she received an uncomfortable call from Koenig who rightly felt that Rabia was interfering with the storytelling. Rabia writes that she wasn't going to let this moment pass, but she agreed not to trump Sarah's show.
  

Saturday, October 25, 2014

• Saad names names and let's people know they will be bullied and harassed if they come forward.

Monday, October 27, 2014

• Rabia's blog post #4. She is offended at having been called "loosey-goosey"
  
• Rabia appears on a "google chat" with Pete Rorabaugh.
  

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

• Rabia's blog post #5 on Serial. Rabia announces that she will be appearing in a "google chat" every Monday with Pete Rorabaugh. and directs her readers to view the "chats."

Thursday, October 30, 2014

• Serial Episode 6: "The Case Against Adnan Syed" Transcript

Friday, October 31, 2014

• Rabia's sixth blog post on Serial. Addresses Serial's latest episode as "The worst of it."

Monday, November 3, 2014

• Google Chat #2 with Pete Rorabaugh
  
• Bilal signs Department of Health order suspending his license to practice dentistry.
  

Thursday, November 6, 2014

• Serial Episode 7: "The Opposite of the Prosecution" Transcript

Friday, November 7, 2014

• Rabia's seventh Serial blog post promoted on reddit.. Reframes "The Opposite of the Prosecution."
  
• Asia's classmate sends her a message about Serial via Facebook messenger
  
  • Affiant's version
  • Asia's version

Monday, November 10, 2014

• Google Chat #3 with Pete Rorabaugh

Thursday, November 13, 2014

• Serial Episode 8: "The Deal with Jay" Transcript

Friday, November 14, 2014

• Rabia's 8th blog post about Serial. She writes about the West Memphis Three, and promotes her blog on reddit
  
• State misses deadline to respond to defense's January 27, 2014 "ALA."
  
• Pictures of Jay's house are posted on reddit
  

Monday, November 17, 2014

• Google Chat #4 with Pete Rorabaugh
  
• Bilal begins defrauding Medicaid. He will eventually accrue 1.2 million from November 2014 to February 2016
  

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

• Hae's brother posts on reddit.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

• Rabia blogs about her first Facebook post on Adnan's case.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

• Serial Episode 9: "To Be Suspected" Transcript
  
  • Rabia tweets that they are poised to file to get the DNA tested
  • Items UVA IP seeks to get tested.

Friday, November 21, 2014

• Rabia blogs about "To Be Suspected," and promotes her blog on reddit.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

• Susan Simpson begins writing about Adnan, and posting her blog on reddit. - will update link soon.
  
• Baltimore Sun: City's Crime Image Based on Truth
  

Thursday, November 25, 2014

• Google Chat #5 with Pete Rorabaugh

Friday, November 26, 2014

• Rabia blogs re; Thanksgiving and letters of support she's received.

Saturday, November 27, 2014

• Rabia uploads Jay's first interview and Jen's interview. They are terrible copies she found in the defense file. Rabia still doesn't have the police investigation MPIA file, that Sarah Koenig has.

Monday, December 1, 2014

• Google Chat #6 with Pete Rorabaugh

Thursday, December 4, 2014

• Serial Episode 10: "The Best Defense is a Good Defense" Transcript
  
• Judge Heard posts on Facebook that Adnan is guilty
  

Friday, December 5, 2014

• Rabia blogs about how Gutierrez swindled them; posts a video of Shamim.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

• Approximate: Dierdre Enright and her students from the UVA IP travel to meet Adnan in prison.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

• Jon Ronson's piece in the Guardian written from an "innocent" perspective, appears to have been placed by a PR firm. Ronson includes Adnan's childhood drawings as originals. A redditor later found that these drawings were copied from a children's book. Not a big deal other than that they were presented as originals, for sympathy.

Monday, December 8, 2014

• Rabia blogs about Serial Episode 10; how Muslim kids in the USA hide things like dating from their parents.
  
• Google Chat #7 with Pete Rorabaugh
  

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

• Rabia posts interviews with Chris Flohr and Justin Brown

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

• City Paper: Where the Bodies Aren't Buried

Thursday, December 11, 2014

• Serial Episode 11: "Rumors" Transcript

Friday, December 12, 2014

• Rabia blogs about how the "Rumors" episode is "Much Ado About Nothing." She has organized a video chat of Adnan's friends to rebut every single one of the rumors.
  
• Krista creates a FreeAdnan Facebook page.
  

Saturday, December 13, 2014

• Deirdre and Justin Brown have been giving Adnan conflicting advice about how best to proceed, what to push for and when. On Saturday Adnan finally gave Deirdre the go ahead to file the motion to test DNA. It was an emotional decision for him.
  
  • Adnan Syed: It’s just anything about my case, I want to know it. I don’t want anyone to be able to say “well he didn’t want to know so boom, we went and found out.” No, I want to know. So I called Miss Deirdre and said “Look Miss Deirdre, I wanted you to test things. I’m the one that asked for this. You guys had it sitting for sixteen years and you never tested it. It’s impossible for it to be sitting there for sixteen years and you guys never tested it. So that’s fine, I want it tested... I want to see what it says. There’s nothing about my case that I’m afraid of.

Monday, December 15, 2014

• Asia contacts Adnan's defense team, after listening to the podcast
  
• Baltimore Sun: Serial Brings Healing to Syed Family
  

Thursday, December 18, 2014

• Final Serial Episode (12): "What We Know" Transcript
  
• Baltimore Sun: Rabia Chaudry Fights for Muslims - and Syed; Firebrand for Muslim Women inspired Serial
  

Friday, December 19, 2014

• Rabia launches the Adnan Syed Legal Trust on Launchgood.com: Dennis Robinson named Trustee - [Will update link soon]
  
• Rabia's responds to the final episode of Serial, in her blog and points to Don.
  
• Deirdre promotes the UVA IP via Time Magazine
  
• Asia:
  
  • At the 2016 Hearing for Post Conviction Relief, Asia testified that she binge listened to all the episodes at one time.
  • At the 2016 Hearing for Post Conviction Relief, Asia testified that she reached out to Justin Brown in "Mid-December 2014."
  • At the 2016 Hearing for Post Conviction Relief, Asia testified that Sarah Koenig recommended the attorney that Asia hired, Gary Proctor.

Undated between December 20, 2014 and January 2, 2015

• Rabia asks Sarah Koenig when she can have back all her hard copies and tapes.
  
• In the same email, Rabia asks if she can have the full police file from Sarah's MPIA request.
  
• Sarah doesn't realize that Rabia will sell/use documents from Sarah's MPIA request and research to raise money for Adnan's defense fund, and start her own podcast.
  

Monday, December 22, 2014

• Google Chat #8 with Pete Rorabaugh
  
• Rabia tweets that she will be selling transcripts. For every $10,000 raised for Adnan, she will release more documents.
  
• Tanveer characterizes Rabia's activities as a "campaign."
  

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

• Jay says that he is looking for an interview in which he can control the conditions. He is looking to expose Sarah Koenig for "who she really is."

December 28, 2014

• Rabia posts transcripts in keeping with her "transcripts for donations" advertisement.

Saturday, December 28, 2014

• Asia responds to her classmate's Facebook message

Sunday, December 29, 2014

• Susan Simpson posts the "previously unpublished" 2003 COSA Denial of Adnan's appeal, and says she filed to obtain this document, but it got water-stained in her mail box while she was out of town. However, this looks "obtained" from Rabia's water damaged documents.
  
• The Intercept publishes Part I of an Interview with Jay.
  
  • Reddit thread re; this interview: Addressing the Conspiracy Theory - will update link soon

December 30, 2014

• After receiving more money for Adnan, Rabia posts more transcripts, per her commitment to sell them for donations.
  
• Thiru Vignarajah named Deputy Attorney General
  
• The Intercept publishes Part II of an Interview with Jay.
  

Friday, January 3, 2015

• Sarah Koenig emails Rabia back about returning the documents and tapes. Sarah doesn't respond to Rabia asking for the MPIA documents. Sarah says they never identified Hae's pager.

Saturday, January 4, 2015

• ISB member calls for members to do the right thing.

Monday, January 6, 2015

• Rabia writes in her blog about Jay's lies.
  
• Rabia posts Sarah's January 3 email in her blog, saying Sarah tried to trick Adnan into thinking she had Hae's pager number when, she didn't.
  
  • Either this day or the next, Sarah calls Rabia, and is super angry: Sarah said she was mistaken, and that they did have Hae's number.
  • Sarah said Rabia's posting a private email made Serial look incompetent.
  • According to Rabia's book, Sarah and Rabia engage in a a full on shouting match re: "The Best Defense is a Good Defense."
  • Rabia is angry that Sarah only aired the part about Adnan being happy with Gutierrez, when he clearly isn't happy, and has a pending IAC claim against her.
  • Rabia told Sarah that what she used in Serial could affect Adnan's case. Sarah replied that the IAC wasn't her problem, and [Serial] used what parts of the interviews they wanted due to "editorial discretion."
  • [Note: According to Krista, Hae did have a pager.
• After receiving another $10,000 for Adnan's legal fund, Rabia posts two days of trial testimony.
  
• Jemima Khan asks her twitter followers to support Adnan's legal fund
  

Tuesday, January 7, 2015

• Kevin Urick Intercept Interview

Saturday, January 10, 2015

• Susan Simpson begins posting snippets of police files obtained via Sarah Koenig's MPIA request. She got them from Rabia who got them from Sarah.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

• Baltimore Sun: 'Serial' Prosecutor Speaks Out

Monday, January 12, 2015

• Rabia speaks at Stanford Law School
  
• At the 2016 PCR Hearing, Asia testified that she wrote her 2015 affidavit, but asked Gary Proctor and his office to look it over for grammar.
  

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

• 16th anniversary of Hae Min Lee's death
  
• Asia signs 2nd affidavit, but it is not yet released to the public.
  

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

• Part 2 of Kevin Urick's Intercept Interview

[Post Conviction III>>]()

It must be said that PD have put tremendous work into continually improving GT7. While the argument can certainly be made that many of the improvements they've implemented along the way should have been present in the game at launch, that doesn't diminish the amount of work and dedication the studio have shown in releasing a new update every month. Most notable among these are the ability to sell cars (even gift cars), and the most recent update which finally divorced the final tuning options and engine swaps from the pits of RNG hell. That, at least to me, is a clear signal from PD that they're intent on improving the player experience and may - possibly - maybe - even be considering player feedback in their decisions.
However, I also feel that there are a number of key quality of life improvements that can and should still be made to the game in order to bring it to the level of being the greatest Gran Turismo ever made.
In no particular order, my list of improvements and my reasoning:

• Fix Split screen / 2 local players support. Admittedly, I doubt I'd use this feature, but from what I understand, it still doesn't work properly. Why this is the case, I don't know - it could be due to optimization concerns with rendering 2x as many cars and environments, AI issues with the cars now being forced to react to two players, or it simply isn't a priority for PD at this time. Nevertheless, it's a glaring omission and something that should have been addressed long ago.
• Extend Localization Settings to the Car Settings menu. I have my game set to Miles/MPH/Lbs, so why in the name of all that is holy is the Transmission Top Speed and Gear Ratio adjustments still showing in KPH? I'm in the US, I don't think in metric, and I'm not great at converting kilometers to miles in my head. I shouldn't have to be, because the setting to switch to Standardized US units is in the game. It just doesn't translate to the tuning settings. I could gripe about ballast being in kg as well, but that, at least, has a minimal impact on my experience. The transmission thing is a huge PITA for me, though.
• Fix the visual bug with tire changes in the pit. I'm referring specifically to the visual representation of the tires your pit crew throws on your car being the same type as the tires you entered with despite whatever you're changing them to. Enter the pit on Racing Hards to switch to Intermediates? You'll watch the pit throw another set of Hards on. Come back to the pit after the track dries to get your Intermediates removed and Racing Mediums on to close out the last couple of laps? You watch them put on another set of Ints. A minor gripe that only affects immersion, but still. C'mon, man.
• Give us the ability to add/remove additional gears to transmissions. The new availability of engine swaps has really highlighted the need for this. There's no way you're going to spend in excess of a million dollars to fit a Le Mans engine into your car only to keep it mated to a 5-speed gearbox. This renders a number of very expensive (and initially very exciting) engine swap possibilities virtually unusable in the game. (I'm looking at you, '91 GTO.) I'd even be willing to spring for an 'extra special' transmission in the Ultimate menu of the Tuning Shop in order to make this possible.
• Allow us to view a list of races organized by Type / Class instead of by location. The current method of organizing races in the world circuits by the course they take place on, while visually appealing and making sense in a "where do you want to race" kind of way, actually results in a very impractical user experience. If I'm in my Sauber C9 looking to take part in Gr.1 races, just let me choose from a condensed list of all the Gr.1 races available in the game! Don't make me literally hunt all over the world for where they're individually buried in a sub menu! Not only that, if I'm trying to race Gr.1, and I dive into the St. Croix circuit menu, I am not at all interested in the Schwarzwald or Turbo Sports Car leagues at that time. It's a menu system taxonomy that runs counter to what would actually be useful to people playing the game.
• Stop being precious with the carbon fiber. Livery artists will relate to this one. What is with the bizarre and arbitrary limitation on the carbon fiber textures in the Livery Editor? I'm not allowed to make any part of my car carbon fiber unless I make everything, from the body, to the hood, to the side mirrors, to the freaking roll cage out of it? What purpose does this serve? Does PD really think that a car is either entirely a carbon monocoque or nothing?
• General decal improvements in the Livery Editor. Custom liveries are a significant part of the game and community. Give us some more robust controls over how decals are configured and applied. I'm talking about really basic things like masks, custom gradients, and the ability to combine decals into groups. Heck, while we're at it, give us full control over the texture and reflectivity of decals. Why can only paint be reflective? Why can't I make a custom decal one of the special paint colors I paid for? It's not as if metallic decals aren't a thing. And why, again, is the texture an all-or-nothing proposition? Either every decal on a car is matte or none of them are? Yes, there are often workarounds, but they're extremely time-consuming and fiddly. The livery community would greatly appreciate some added functionality here.

That's my list for now. I tried to format it to avoid a big wall of text, but Reddit is Reddit. I'd like to know what other QOL improvements I might have forgotten or missed, as well, so feel free to add your own in the comments.