The New American Digest

… but it would feel like plagiarism

Go read DiveMedic at Areo Ocho “More Surveillance“

“Merely refusing to have any of this hardware is no longer good enough.“

I’m of two opinions (or more):
Note that I’m of the belief that such surveillance and the tools to make it possible are “Weapons of War” – “arms” so to speak – and therefore covered by the 2nd Amendment. Traditionally, spies are hung.

1) Fight Back:
Defense vs anti-Defense (as opposed to “Attack”) – “Countermeasures”: It’s amazing how much equipment of the type necessary to mount an effective counter-defense is available to the common public. It’s not free though: the difference between a 30-30 deer rifle and a sniper rifle.

2) Learn To Love It:
It’s impossible to get away from it and it’s only going to get more pervasive in a real hurry; they’re building – right now and underway – massive multi-billion dollar factories to mass produce more advanced tools. 2 years from now: the 2028 elections?
(Indiana, N Carolina, New York ($100B for one facility), Ohio, Arizona, Idaho, Texas)

One major player is now the #1 company by market capitalization: Nvidia at $5.5T … which makes 1 company the #3 ranked by GDP, behind the US as a whole and China (Germany close behind $5.4T at #4). There are 14 companies worth $1T or more.

“Data Centers” using AI sounds so much better than “it’s a central gathering and interpretation point for surveillance information“. AI is not what people hope for but it’s a damn good search and compile engine. So there’s not really any point in worrying about the overwhelming expansion of surveillance technology – it’s here and we get daily evidence that the justice system is seriously flawed at best. And you are being judged of everything you do in public … and home in same cases (Alexa?)

Nothing will change short of a >MAJOR< event that forces a disabling of the system. The war with Iran is not such a major event but could lead to one – say something like a nuke on DC …

Your life will change. Take the Blue Pill until then.

I held a red card for several years and worked a couple of campaign fires https://www.dankolaw.com/blog/what-is-a-campaign-fire/

I guess combat exceeds it – (usually) no one’s shooting at you … but …

When you’ve spent 3 nights sleeping on a hose bed, you’re working a line – your buddies up and down the line nearby, the flames suddenly burst up around you, you find you’re surrounded by flames – a burnover … you’re hoping a tanker plane drops the retardant next to you, not on you.

You’re hoping the plane shows up.

On Saturday, June 27, while working on a wildfire in western Colorado, five federal firefighters were involved in a burnover incident resulting in shelter deployment. Two firefighters are being treated for burn injuries, and three others did not survive. The identities of the U.S. Wildland Fire Service and U.S. Forest Service firefighters are being withheld pending notifications.

You don’t deploy shelters unless a dire emergency – dire as in the “you’re dead but don’t know it yet” stage, but that baked potato sack might help you survive anyway. Or at least help us find your bodies afterwards.

I still have my potato sack laying around here someplace, packed up and never used. It’s old and of no use anymore except for memories.

The fire, originally started June 26, was caused by lightning near the Colorado-Utah border. Saturday saw extreme fire behavior, which is expected to continue on Sunday, according to the the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit. Firefighters are evaluating conditions and determining the “safest and most effective suppression tactics.”

Damn! RIP brothers – Hell of a way to go …

This was once the main highway over Raton Pass between Trinidad, CO and Raton, NM. I-25 runs over the pass these days.