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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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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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.
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
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
George Henry, Noon, 1885
George Henry (1858–1943) was a prominent Scottish painter of the Glasgow School.
We have police to protect people and their property. The Minneapolis police have done neither. Rioters in Minneapolis have been looting, attacking police and firefighters, burning down stores, homes and police headquarters in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd during his arrest for passing counterfeit money. Minneapolis is becoming the Baltimore of the midwest.
The New York Post informs us how George Floyd was known to the Minneapolis police:
In 2007, Floyd was charged with armed robbery in a home invasion in Houston, in which another man posed as a water department worker in an attempt to gain access to a woman’s residence, according to court documents.
When the woman realized he wasn’t actually a water department worker, she tried to close the door. That’s when five other men got out of a car that had just pulled up and forced their way inside.
According to charging documents, the largest man in the group, whom the victim identified as Floyd, “forced his way inside the residence, placed a pistol against the complainant’s abdomen, and forced her into the living room area of the residence.”
Floyd in 2009 was sentenced to five years in prison as part of a plea deal in the case...
On Monday night, an employee at a Minneapolis grocery store called cops after Floyd allegedly tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.
The NY Post also informs us of the fatal arrest:
The federal probe will look into whether the actions of the four Minneapolis cops involved in Floyd's death violated his civil rights.
From KSTP-TV Minneapolis-St. Paul we learn there may have been a prior connection between Floyd and Chauvin:
A former club owner in south Minneapolis says the now-fired police officer and the black man who died in his custody this week both worked security for her club up to the end of last year.
George Floyd and now-former Officer Derek Chauvin both worked security at the El Nuevo Rodeo club on Lake Street, according to Maya Santamaria. Santamaria owned the building for nearly two decades, but sold the venue within the last few months.
The Z Man comments:
Many of the rioters are recent imports from the former third world. They are guests rioting in the home of the host. That’s not a fair analogy, because a host invited his guests. These people are more like home invaders than guests. No one asked for them to be here. No one was walking around Minneapolis saying, “We need for Africans.” The people of that city were never asked if they wanted more Africans. They never got a say.
That’s the lesson here. These things we are seeing are not the fault of the people for voting for the wrong guys. The policies that have created these riots were never put up for a vote or even discussed openly. Whether it is race policy or immigration policy, the decisions were all made in the shadows.
and finally
It appears we're at the start of an economic collapse similar to that of 1929 and into the 1930s. What we're seeing in Minneapolis and elsewhere appears to add the danger of organized violence.
The decampment from big cities began some time ago and appears to be accelerating. Bloomberg reports RV sales are up 30% in some urban places. The causes are fascinating but in the end what matters is how this migration to flyover country may affect your personal planning.
As I said here last week:
July will tell the truth about the economy. I've chosen November as the month of general truth, whether the years following will be of manageable coping, of unexampled disaster, or something in between.
July, when the direction of the economy will be plain to see, is the time to shape your preparations more exactly. Prepping comes down to food, shelter and protection. November is the month of the presidential election, when all sides reveal their intentions and one is chosen. It's also when winter weather begins. Time is running out.
1946. Jantzen magazine ad
Remus's notebook
Survivopedia - What Will Happen After The Supply Chain Breaks ... will go mainstream in 2-3 months tops
Daily Beast - Brace for Blackouts in the Summer of COVID-19 ... working from home with the AC on could strain grids coast to coast
DISRN - Washington officials admit to counting gunshot victims as COVID-19 deaths ... "there can be a variation in the accuracy of any data"
Science Alert - Many Astronomers Now Think Planet Nine Might Not Exist After All, Here's Why ... simulations show that the Kuiper Belt should contain different orbits than we observe if Planet Nine exists
Urban Survival Site - The Highest Calorie Crop You Can Grow ... the highest-calorie crops that require the least amount of space
Spectator USA - Antifa’s American insurgency ... the far-left has perfected the art of rioting
Task & Purpose - No, the Marine Corps is not replacing the M27 with the Army’s next-generation squad weapon after all ... one drawback of the M27 is that it each rifle costs three times as much as an M4
Food Dive - DOJ clears pork industry's plan to collaborate on euthanizing hogs ... because of "overwhelming oversupply" caused by the coronavirus pandemic
Investment Watch - Liz Wheeler on OAN: 68 Days into a 15 Day Lockdown ... politicians lied
Survivopedia - 20 Ways To Use Aluminum Foil For Wilderness Survival ... use the heavy-duty aluminum foil
Electroverse - North America has set 233 new all-time Monthly Low Temperature Records in May (so far) vs just the 18 Record Highs ... temps in North America declined at a rate of 2.03C per decade between 2015-2019
Law Enforcement Today - Riots break out in Houston hours after police chief marches with Black Lives Matter protestors ... a liberal politician hack in a police uniform
Stuff you may want to think about
Synopsis with links
Lockdowns, Human Events - There is no shortage of greedy politicians, at the state or municipal level, who are exploiting local lockdowns to expand their authority and create an atmosphere of fear. The Che Guevara-quoting apologist for Marxist regimes was problematic long before the coronavirus hit, but Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio has used the crisis to create a sort of authoritarian supernova. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer just extended her lockdown until June 12th—but that’s just another arbitrary date from a chief executive who has trampled all over fundamental civil liberties in what could be the most severe lockdown in America. Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) and Gov. Tom Wolf (D-PA), both sent their elderly to febrile nursing homes where thousands died.
Riots, Z Man - The current black riots are being described as unprecedented, when in fact they are a regular feature of American life. Birds fly, fish swim and blacks riot. Amusingly, the man allegedly responsible for these riots, President Trump, you know, because of the low black unemployment, is in office because of the last round of black riots. In fact, black rioting is one of the regular features of the ongoing morality play that is modern liberal democracy. The usual suspects, looking for a reason to get white people to the theater, start scanning about for some case where a black was harmed by an unsympathetic white. They create a narrative around the incident, have the stories placed in the media and then encourage the black “activist groups” to start making an issue of it. From there, the story writes itself.
Experts, Burning Platform - Not one penny of the trillions generated by the Fed out of thin air is helping the 38.6 million people who were thrown out into the streets by government decree. It wasn’t meant to trickle down. It’s just another example of socialism for the corporate fascists and another screw job for the average working stiff. The Fed’s sole purpose is to enrich their banker benefactors, corporate titans, hedge fund managers and corrupt politicians. The unemployment rate is headed toward 30%. GDP in the 2nd quarter will approach -40%. We’ve entered a 2nd Great Depression. The damage is permanent and ultimately fatal.
1941. Route 1 between Baltimore and Washington DC
Scrap drive gathering place.
More stuff you may want to think about
Synopsis with links
Lockdowns, Mises Institute - Those who have claimed that lockdowns are "the only option" had virtually no evidence at all to support their position. Indeed, such extreme over-the-top measures such as the general lockdowns required an extreme level of high-quality, nearly irrefutable evidence that lockdowns would work and were necessary in the face of a disease with an extremely high fatality rate. But the only "data" the prolockdown people could offer was speculation and hyperbolic predictions of bodies piling up in the streets. The lockdown crowd destroyed the lives of millions to satisfy the hunches of a tiny handful of politicians and technocrats.
Lockdowns, Spiked - In the clamour to respond with certainty to the uncertainty of the pandemic, all the mechanisms that would normally put a brake on rapid increases in government power faltered. The media, the opposition, the courts, public opinion – they all fell in line. We now know that many of the measures that were called for have been found either to be questionable, baseless or disproportionate: mask-wearing, the two-metre rule, the recent 14-days quarantine for new arrivals, to name a few. In the coronavirus crisis, the government is choosing to hide behind ‘expertise’ and anti-scientific claims of ‘following the science’ to cover for their lack of political judgement and foresight.
1942. Poster
For adjusting your monitor
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
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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