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remus (at) woodpilereport.com

 

Policy

Ol' Remus offers his opinions as-is, where is. He rarely cites support for his opinions so they are, in that sense, unwarranted. He comes by them largely by having lived and watched and listened rather than by argument or persuasion. His opinions, not having been arrived at by debate are, therefore, not particularly vulnerable to debate. He entertains opposing opinion but he feels no inclination, much less obligation, to discuss or defend his own. Whatever usefulness or amusement readers may find in them is their own business.

Woodpilereport.com is an entirely private information service that is my sole property made available to others as a form of free personal expression under my de jure Preamble Citizen’s right as later guaranteed in the First Article in Amendment to the Constitution. Woodpilereport.com is not a “public accommodation” and it is preemptively exempt from any forced or coerced accommodation, via legislation or bureaucratic interpretation thereof or any dictate, directive, or decree by any agency of government or by any NGO or by any individual under any future “Fairness Doctrine” or similar charade. I reserve the right to refuse service - to wit: to refuse posting, linking, or mention of anyone or anything, at my sole discretion - to any person, agency, corporation, or other entity.

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Woodpile Report does not maintain an archive. Some issues linger on the server until Remus gets around to deleting them. Don't confuse Woodpile Report with a blog. It isn't. It's an olde tymme internet site made by hand and archives are a dispensable chore.

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Privacy

Here at Yer ol' Woodpile Report all incoming email is automatically detected and deleted by instantaneously disconnecting before it arrives. Taking no chances, a clever device shreds Remus's hard drive into nanosize filaments and sinters them into a bust of Chopin. Meanwhile, from a hardened and very remote location, he sends a bot that deletes said email on your end by tricking your PC into self-immolation. Other devices vaporize every ISP that handled it and beam the resulting plasma into deep space. Then he sends a strike team of armed pre-med students to administer a prefrontal lobotomy so you can't remember your own birthday much less writing him an email. Finally, all persons in your zip code with the same last name as yours are put into the witness protection program. Now that's privacy.

 

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Disclaimer

The content of Woodpile Report is provided as general information only and is not be taken as investment advice. Aside from being a fool if you do, any action that you take as a result of information or analysis on this site is solely your responsibility.

Links to offsite articles are offered as a convenience, the information and opinion they point to are not endorsed by Woodpile Report.

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You may copy and post an original article without prior permission if you credit the Woodpile Report, preferrably including a link. You may copy and post an original photo in a non-commercial website without prior permission if you credit the Woodpile Report .

. . . . .

 

Where the name came from

What's with the title Woodpile Report? Well, it's this way, from January of 2004 until mid-2007 it was emailed to a subscibers list. In that form it was titled the Woodpile Weather Report. A picture of ol' Remus's woodpile appeared at the top as both a weather report and, by documenting the progression from log pile to chunkwood to a split 'n stacked woodpile, a witness to the seasonal changes. It was the thin thread from which comments hung. As thrilling as all that was, the comments metastasized and took over. But the title remains.

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Regime-speak

You're about to be lied to when they say-

a hand up
a new study shows
a poll by the highly respected
a positive step
are speaking out
arguably
arsenal
at some level
at-risk communities
best practices
broader implications
challenge
climate change
collectively
commonsense solutions
comprehensive reform
cycle of poverty
cycle of violence
demand action
denier
disenfranchised
disparate impact
disproportionately
diverse backgrounds
divisive
economically disadvantaged
embattled
emerging consensus
empower
enhance
evidence shows
experts agree
extremist
fair share
fiscal stimulus
fully funded
give back
giving voice to
greater diversity
growing support for
gun violence
hater
have issues
high capacity magazine
history shows
impacted by
impactful
in denial
inappropriate
inclusive environment
insensitivity
investing in our future
linked to
making a difference
making bad choices
marginalized
marriage equality
mean spirited
most vulnerable
mounting opposition to
multicultural
non-blaming
nonjudgmental
non-partisan, non-profit
not value neutral
not who we are
nuanced
off our streets
on some level
oppressed minorities
our nation's children
outreach
people of color (sometimes, colour)
poised to
poor and minorities
positive outcome
potentially
progressive
public/private partnership
raising awareness
reaching out
reaffirm our commitment to
redouble our efforts
research tells us
root cause
sends a message
shared values
social justice
solidarity with
sow discord
speaking truth to power
stakeholders
statistics show
sustainable, sustainability
the American People
the bigger issue is
the failed ...
the larger question is
the more important question is
the reality is
the struggle for
too many
too often
touched by
underserved populations
undocumented immigrant
unpack
value neutral
vibrant community
voicing concern
war on ...
working families

. . . . .

 

Hypercorrectness

You know who the media means by not saying who they mean when they say -


at-risk students
gang-related
gangbanger
low-income students
mob and rob
mobbing up
pack of teens
rival gang members
roving group
swarm mob
teen gang
teen mob
teen thugs
troubled youths
unarmed teen
unruly crowd
urban youths
young people
young men
youth violence

. . . . .

 

Tactics of the Left
Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals

Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have

Never go outside the experience of your people.

Whenever possible, go outside the experience of the enemy.

Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.

Ridicule is man's most potent weapon

A good tactic is one your people enjoy.

A tactic that drags on for too long becomes a drag.

Use different tactics and actions and use all events of the period.

The threat is more terrifying than the thing itself.

Maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.

If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside.

The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.

Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it.

. . . . .

 

How To Create A Socialist State
by Saul Alinsky

1) Healthcare — Control healthcare and you control the people

2) Poverty — Increase the Poverty level as high as possible, poor people are easier to control and will not fight back if you are providing everything for them to live.

3) Debt — Increase the debt to an unsustainable level. That way you are able to increase taxes, and this will produce more poverty.

4) Gun Control — Remove the ability to defend themselves from the Government. That way you are able to create a police state.

5) Welfare — Take control of every aspect of their lives (Food, Housing, and Income).

6) Education — Take control of what people read and listen to — take control of what children learn in school.

7) Religion — Remove the belief in the God from the Government and schools.

8) Class Warfare — Divide the people into the wealthy and the poor. This will cause more discontent and it will be easier to take (Tax) the wealthy with the support of the poor.

. . . . .

 

Moscow Rules
via the International Spy Museum

Assume nothing.

Never go against your gut.

Everyone is potentially under opposition control.

Don't look back; you are never completely alone.

Go with the flow, blend in.

Vary your pattern and stay within your cover.

Lull them into a sense of complacency.

Don't harass the opposition.

Pick the time and place for action.

Keep your options open.

. . . . .

 

Rules of Disinformation
via Proparanoid

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil

Become incredulous and indignant

Create rumor mongers

Use a straw man

Sidetrack opponents with name calling, ridicule

Hit and Run

Question motives

Invoke authority

Play Dumb

Associate opponent charges with old news

Establish and rely upon fall-back positions

Enigmas have no solution

Alice in Wonderland Logic

Demand complete solutions

Fit the facts to alternate conclusions

Vanish evidence and witnesses

Change the subject

Emotionalize, antagonize, and goad

Ignore facts, demand impossible proofs

False evidence

Call a Grand Jury, Special Prosecutor

Manufacture a new truth

Create bigger distractions

Silence critics

Vanish

Remus's antidote: tell the truth as plainly as you can. Humor helps.

. . . . .

 

The Five Stages of Collapse
Dmitry Orlov

Financial Collapse. Faith in "business as usual" is lost.

Commercial Collapse. Faith that "the market shall provide" is lost.

Political Collapse. Faith that "the government will take care of you" is lost.

Social Collapse. Faith that "your people will take care of you" is lost.

Cultural Collapse. Faith in the goodness of humanity is lost.

. . . . .

 

The Five Rules of Propaganda
Norman Davies

Simplification: reducing all data to a single confrontation between ‘Good and Bad', ‘Friend and Foe'.

Disfiguration: discrediting the opposition by crude smears and parodies.

Transfusion: manipulating the consensus values of the target audience for one's own ends.

Unanimity: presenting one's viewpoint as if it were the unanimous opinion of all right-thinking people: drawing the doubting individual into agreement by the appeal of star performers, by social pressure, and by ‘psychological contagion'.

Orchestration: endlessly repeating the same messages in different variations and combinations.”

. . . . .

 

The Psychology of Cyber Attacks
Robert Cialdini
via securityintelligence.com

Principle of Liking - people tend to form trust with those they’re attracted to, both physically and emotionally

Social Proof - People are motivated more by what others do than a perceived or even quantifiable benefit

Rule of Reciprocation - Humans feel a sense of obligatory quid pro quo

Commitment & Consistency - Most people stick with their original decisions despite information that supports changing their course

Principle of Authority - Authority, whether real or perceived, elicits obedience in many people

Principle of Scarcity - People want to be included in exclusive offers and often make poor choices under pressure

. . . . .

 

How to prosecute anybody

Look around for "suspicious" behavior, i.e., behavior on the part of a private citizen that can be made to appear suspicious

Ruthlessly probe every element of the "suspect's" life, using the effectively infinite resources of the State, until enough "suspicious" behavior has been amassed

Assemble a huge list of charges to place before a grand jury

Present the case in such a fashion as to promote the less plausible accusations and obscure the more plausible ones, thus securing a grab-bag indictment

Offer the indicted person a plea bargain that will spare him centuries in prison and complete pauperization at the bargain price of a few years and/or a few thousand dollars.

Francis Porretto

. . . . .

 

Overused Military Sayings
Task & Purpose

Long pole in the tent
Oh and by the way
And getting blown up/shot could ruin your whole day
Bottom line up front
Zero dark hundred/ zero dark thirty
All of us are smarter than any of us
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt
OBE
Standby to standby
That’s not in your seabag
Hurry up and wait
Too easy
Only easy day was yesterday
You get what you inspect
Needs of the [service]
Ship, shipmate, self
Full spectrum
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast
Boots on the ground
Lackadaisical attitude
Soup sandwich
Warmy fuzzy
Shut up and color
Stay in your lane
Show me your war face
Just to piggyback on what the CO said
High speed, low drag
Dog and pony show
Shit hot
We got a lot of moving parts here
Break break
Are you tracking?
It would behoove you

 

 

 

art-top-gradient-650pxl-wide
gradient on blue texture
gradient on blue texture

Colin Cooper, Grand Central, c1909

The painting is of the Grand Central Depot, built in 1871, enlarged in 1900, and replaced by the current Grand Central Station in 1913. Grand Central was extensively renovated in 1998.

 

art-remus-ident-04.jpg Jim Quinn at The Burning Platform sees a catastrophic end to the ongoing disintegration :

The dichotomy between what is happening in the real world and what is happening in the world of the financiers will lead to violent upheaval on a timeline not anticipated by the ruling class. There is a good reason gun stores were overwhelmed with business at the outset of this over-hyped flu pandemic. Trust in the government, central bankers, the corporate media, and “experts” is disintegrating rapidly. The anger and disillusionment grows by the day and pockets of resistance are propagating throughout the country...

The only thing that matters is we will experience a disastrous outcome in the very near future from this reckless issuance of debt. The civic decay has entered the confrontational stage, with sides taken, weapons at the ready, awaiting the spark which will ignite the dynamite.

Next

Carol Brown at American Thinker balks at the idea we're 'at war' with an 'invisible enemy'. An excerpt:

With respect to the coronavirus, President Trump often says "we're at war with an invisible enemy." The message is wrong, inaccurate, histrionic, and disrespectful to our veterans, and it validates the lefts narrative.

First and foremost, you go to war to protect and defend your nation. But the severe mitigation measures put in place are destroying our nation.

And when our military do go to war, they put their lives on the line to defend America, American values, freedom, and civilization itself. While people are dying from the coronavirus, they have not put their lives on the line to defend America. They died because they succumbed to a novel virus, just as people die every day from all manner of infection, disease, or injury. To call this a war is an insult to our military, who are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe.

Next

Cara Giaimo at Atlas Obscura follows Donald Olson's detective work to nail down when and where Ansel Adams photographed his best known works. An excerpt:

In the past, he and his team at Texas State University have figured out where Julius Caesar landed when he invaded Britain in 55 B.C. (northeast of Dover), why the British didn’t spot Paul Revere as he made his Midnight Ride (the moon was in a weird spot), and the identity of at least two mysterious yellow orbs floating in paintings: the one in Vincent Van Gogh’s White House at Night (it’s Venus) and the one in Edvard Munch’s The Girls on the Pier (it’s the moon).

More recently, they tackled two of Ansel Adams’s images of Alaska—Moon and Denali and Denali and Wonder Lake—using topographic maps, astronomical software, and webcam archives to figure out exactly when and where the photos were snapped.

Next

Mac Slavo at SHTFPlan warns of global cooling and lists ways to prepare for the upcoming winter. Excerpts:

Last year, 2019, the Sun was blank 77% of the time. Two consecutive years of record-setting spotlessness adds up to a very deep solar minimum, indeed.”

The best bet is to be prepared for anything really. Solar minimum can and has historically wreaked havoc on crops. Freezing temperatures in places that don’t normally freeze can create famines. Droughts are common as well, meaning growing could be difficult. Prepare, don’t fear. All of this might happen, but none of it could also happen.

What can you do about it when the sun changes during this cycle? You can do plenty of things. Let’s go over a few of them...

 

1940. Ford magazine ad

 

art-remus-ident-04.jpg The 1940 Fords were the final version of the 1937 design.

 

art-remus-ident-04.jpg Remus's notebook

 

Principia Scientific - The World’s Fastest Camera Is Frankly Mind-Boggling ... 70 trillion frames per second

Appalachian Magazine - Why the Blue Ridge Mountains are Blue ... trees emit isoprene

Urban Survival - Food Calorie Chart ... a simple backyard garden isn’t going to sustain your family very long if you’re growing typical vegetables like cucumbers, radishes and tomatoes

City Journal - America's Havana ... San Francisco ranks first in the nation in theft, burglary, vandalism and shoplifting

USDA - Feral Swine Populations by County 2019 ... map

Law Enforcement Today - Sergeant fired for inaction while kids were slaughtered in Parkland rehired with backpay ... he was taking cover behind his squad car rather than directing officers on scene and leading them into the school

Organic Prepper - Meat Shortages Go Mainstream with Rations and Menu Changes: How to Keep Meat on Your Table ... meat is becoming difficult to get

TMIN - You May Not Understand This Now, But You Need To Get Prepared For The Food Shortages That Are Coming ... empty shelves have started to appear, and food prices are starting to go up aggressively

Taxpayer-Funded PBS Stations Caught Working with China on Chinese Propaganda Film ... entitled “Voices from the Frontline: China’s War on Poverty”

Task & Purpose - Does anybody care about UFOs anymore? ... COVID-19 has simply drowned out all other news stories

Sven Henrich, NorthmanTrader - Reality check: By the time this is all over the poor will be poorer, the middle class smaller, the country horrifically in debt, unemployment much higher than before and the top 1% will be largely fine. Do not underestimate the long term impacts of this ever increasing divide.

National File - Woman Befriends Mother’s Murderer, is Then Murdered by Him ... victim befriended mom's and cousin's killer out of "spiritual obligation"

 

Stuff you may want to think about
Synopsis with links

 

Reopen the nation, American Thinker - Hundreds of thousands of businesses are on the verge of bankruptcy and permanent closure. 33+ million are unemployed, and the federal government is creating massive unsustainable debt. This nation has made the biggest blunder in its history. The time has come for the politicians from the President to the Governors and Mayors to stop hiding behind the scientist/bureaucrats and fully reopen the nation. Focus on that segment of the population most at risk, without compulsory isolation or de facto imprisonment. And restore the civil liberties that have been wantonly eroded.

 

Fred Reed, Unz Review - We are told that In China, everything you say or do is monitored. Obviously China is a most terrible place. Who could doubt it? By contrast, in America, cameras are everywhere, all email is recorded, every bank transaction, credit-card purchase, who you called by telephone and when, and of course criminal records. Since little of this is directly done by the federal government, we do not live in a surveillance state. After all, none of the entities involved would share their information with the feds–would they?

 

Self-sufficiency, Thoughts From Frank and Fern - Frank and I have discussed for years that if just a tiny percentage of the population of our country woke up one day and realized they would run out of food, went to the store and bought enough for a week that the shelves would be empty. Then along came COVID19. And it happened. It really doesn't matter what caused "it". The future will unfold whether we like it or not, vote for it or not, or deal with it or not. Now people are searching for ways to provide for their families without leaning on the government, food banks, or other means of income. I can only hope it is a new era of individual responsibility which will lead more people to step up and take care of their own instead of holding out their hand for more. No one is coming to save you.

 

Homeless, Front Page - The problem with homeless shelters has always been getting the homeless to stay in them. No matter how comfortable the facilities might be, the inhabitants go off searching for drugs and alcohol which they’re not allowed to have in the shelters, and there goes your whole shelter in place strategy. But San Francisco is a uniquely creative place and the Health Department decided to convince the homeless to stay in their hotel rooms by delivering booze, pot, and cigarettes as part of room service. Along with three meals a day. The homeless immigrating to San Francisco from less friendly parts of California are even dialing 911 to get a hotel room.

 

1940. Bridgewater, Vermont

 

art-remus-ident-04.jpg Bridgewater is a town of 930 today, 895 in 1940.

 

 

More stuff you may want to think about
Synopsis with links

 

Solar minimum, Daily Star - As the sun enters a period of "solar minimum" its activity has decreased, scientists report there have already been 100 days where the sun has displayed zero sunspots. This means were could be entering one of the deepest period of sunshine recession which could trigger long periods of cold, famine and other issues. NASA scientists fear a repeat of the 1790 and 1830 "Dalton Minimum" which led to a period of intense cold and powerful volcanic eruptions. Last year, 2019, the Sun was blank 77% of the time. Two consecutive years of record-setting spotlessness adds up to a very deep solar minimum, indeed.

 

Upcoming crisis, Survivopedia - The most probable scenario for the US during economic collapse is hyperinflation. If you have credit card/car/mortgage payments each month and lose your job you’ll lose everything. If you don’t have debt, you only have to worry about losing your job. Stock at least a three months’ supply of food. You can supplement with emergency rations, canned meats and veggies, honey, and freeze-dried foods, and you can bet you’ll live better than 90% of the population when SHTF. Utilities will be unreliable and sporadic if not totally wiped out. You’ll have to focus on harvesting water from unclean/unreliable sources so consider investing in a high-quality water filter.

 

Anyons, Nautilus - Every last particle in the universe—from a cosmic ray to a quark—is either a fermion or a boson. These categories divide the building blocks of nature into two distinct kingdoms. Now researchers have discovered the first examples of a third particle kingdom. Anyons, as they’re known, don’t behave like either fermions or bosons; instead, their behavior is somewhere in the middle. Since their wave functions are not restricted to the two solutions that define fermions and bosons, these particles are free to be neither of the two, but anything in between.

 

Unscience, Straight Line Logic - After an unsustainable debt-propelled respite, the Greater Depression has resumed. Its poverty and devastation will sicken and kill multiples of the people who will ultimately be afflicted by the coronavirus. All this supposedly guided by “science,” yet its proponents commit the most unscientific offense—they corrupt their own data. By their own admission they’re corrupting the death count. Doctors have been instructed to list Covid-19 as a cause of death if the deceased had any of the symptoms associated with Covid-19. They receive $13,000 from Medicare for each Covid-19 patient and $39,000 for each patient put on a ventilator.

 

1945. Ferrara, Italy

 

art-remus-ident-04.jpg

Ferrara is a Renaissance city of 132,000 in the Po Valley of northern Italy, about fifty miles south of Venice. During World War II it's industrial center was repeatedly bombed by the Allies.

 

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For adjusting your monitor

 




 

 

 

 



These past issues are still on the server
There is no archive

623 - 624 - 625 - 626 - 627

 


Notate Bene

We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission.
Ayn Rand

. . . . .

 

Gold is the money of kings, silver is the money of gentlemen, barter is the money of peasants and debt is the money of slaves.
Traditional

. . . . .

 

If, before undertaking some action, you must obtain the permission of society—you are not free, whether such permission is granted to you or not. Only a slave acts on permission. A permission is not a right.
Ayn Rand

. . . . .

 

The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.
Ayn Rand

. . . . .

 

Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thought crime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.
George Orwell, 1984

. . . . .

 

There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.
Ayn Rand

. . . . .

 

The socialist ideal eventually goes viral, and the majority learns to game the system. Everyone is trying to live at the expense of everyone else. In the terminal phase, the failure of the system is disguised under a mountain of lies, hollow promises, and debts. When the stream of other people's money runs out, the system collapses.
Kevin Brekke

. . . . .

 

When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing; when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods, but in favors; when you see that men get rich more easily by graft than by work, and your laws no longer protect you against them, but protect them against you … you may know that your society is doomed.
Ayn Rand

. . . . .

 

Because the regime is captive to its own lies, it must falsify everything. It falsifies the past. It falsifies the present, and it falsifies the future. It falsifies statistics ... It pretends to fear nothing. It pretends to pretend nothing.
Vaclav Havel

. . . . .

 

Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice.
H. L. Mencken

. . . . .

 

We have reached a point of diminishing returns in our public life. Hardly anything actually needs doing. We may in fact be past that point; not only does nothing much need doing, but we'd benefit if much of what has been done were to be undone.
John Derbyshire

. . . . .

 

The hallmark of authoritarian systems is the creation of innumerable, indecipherable laws. Such systems make everyone an un-indicted felon and allow for the exercise of arbitrary government power via selective prosecution.
Ayn Rand

. . . . .

 

Tyranny is defined as that which is legal for the government but illegal for the citizenry.
Thomas Jefferson

. . . . .

 

When you are fed, there are many problems. When you are hungry, there is one problem.
NoPension at Zero Hedge

. . . . .

 

We have reached the stage where satire is prophecy.
Theodore Dalrymple

. . . . .

 

Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, nor to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better.

When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity.

To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself. One's standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control.

I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.
Theodore Dalrymple

. . . . .

 

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This is number
628

19 May 2020