Military Hand-Arm Signals in Movies

A general pet peeve of mine is when an author or film maker attempts to depict military action, or a military milleu, and obviously lacks the knowledge to do it right.

One specific annoyance in the last decade or more is the hand-arm signals used by actors portraying fighting men.

(Such signals are used by marines and infantry while moving tactically in the field, prior to contact, lest they break noise discipline by talking.)

Now, granted: units down to the platoon level often develop their own S.O.P.s for signaling, but in my experience the basic set of signals (get in the wedge; move out; double-time; cease-fire; rally point; head count; halt; freeze; enemy sighted; etc.) are universal across the combat arms in both the US Army and USMC.

So here’s what I think happened: Some movie was made depicting soldiers or marines on a patrol or some other tactical movement. The point man heard or saw something to make him suspect the enemy was close, so he gave the signal to “freeze.” The grunts stopped in their tracks. Some other film maker watched the scene and decided, “Hey, that’s kinda’ cool. Now I know everything I need to know about tactical movement.”

So that film maker, when it was his turn to display his wealth of military research, had an actor use the gesture when it was his turn to film such a scene. Problem is, he thought it was the symbol for “halt,” (open palm facing the troops: “Come to a stop, you richard-heads.”) which is used in different circumstances than “freeze” (raised fist: “Don’t make a move or you might get all our asses shot off!”)

After that, any time a similar scene was shot in any subsequent military movie, rather than hire an advisor to police basic minutia like this, the director went by how it was done in the last flick. After all, “it looked cool.”

So now, invariably, the “freeze” signal is used to command a halt on the screen (even in non-tactical situations, and even in vehicle convoys).

The fallacy is so ubiquitous that I wouldn’t be surprised if actual soldiers begin jacking up the S.O.P. in a life-imitates-art manner after having grown up on these poorly researched movies.

[End of rant.]

“Every Line Is Snark Gold!”

…So claims the latest review of The Greater Good, my “satire-tastic” lampoon of SJWs, superhero/action-adventure tropes, and The Narrative in general.

“However,” she warns, “it’s heavily packed with sarcasm.”

I have no idea where she got that notion. In fact, I take umbrage that she would even imply I’m capable of such vulgar behavior at my hallowed keyboard.

Fellow author Kia Heavey says, “The pages are packed with witty, pointed mockery of today’s Progressives that actually made me laugh out loud. Spot-on and silly at the same time, The Greater Good is written in a heroic, propagandist tone to match the artwork on the cover.”

This masterpiece now has a whopping FIVE REVIEWS!!! Another 195, plus a couple billion sales or so, and surely this literary diamond will be propelled up through the rough to a page where Amazon shoppers might actually discover that it exists. From there, of course my meteoric rise as an author follows a predictable trajectory: bestseller lists; the lecture circuit; world domination.

If you act RIGHT NOW, you can be the first one on your block to get your very own copy for less than the cost of…well, pretty much anything. Even the cost of a bottle of friggin’ water fer cryin’ out loud. (Unless you buy water in bulk from Costco, Big Lots or Sam’s Club, I suppose, if you insist on splitting hairs.) Time is running out, and these e-books are going fast! I can’t guarantee there will be any left unless you ACT NOW! (It’s obvious ebooks are in very limited supply–just look at the prices charged by the Big Five publishers!)

How Important Is Freedom?

LIBERTY AND THE LEFT

obama2ndcomingIt’s old news now, but the mainstream media used terms like “messiah” and “savior” when Barrack Hussein Obama came up out of the abyss to be installed into the White House.

There are more people now than ever who are beginning to understand that the mainstream media is utterly corrupt, and nothing more than the propaganda ministry of the Democrat Party (plus the globalist elites who pull the strings of our elected “representatives”obamanewhope from both parties). The press spends more time and effort suppressing news than reporting it. And yet, perhaps 40% of the population in North America believes whatever the MSM tells them to believe.

Obedient to that lapdog media, certain demographics have worshiped Obama since they first were informed of his existence in 2008. Enthusiasm has waned overall since his carefully orchestrated meteoric rise, but the left still irrationally defends anything and everything Hussein does. obamagodkingWhen he betrays our country, gives aid and comfort to our enemies, abuses power, and defies the law he swore to uphold, they have ways to rationalize all of it. Their rationalizations are various levels of ridiculous, but when Hussein is in conflict with the law, they determine the law to be wrong, every time.

The lapdog media is hardly the only culprit. The narrative-spinners of Hollywood do their part to program the leftist hive mind, too.

If you think Gwyneth Paltrow’s fawning over this fraud is sickening, just listen to this ignorance in action:

As pathetic and stupid as Chris Rock’s comments are, Jamie Fox, in a horrific moment of transparency at the Soul Train Awards, reveals what is really going on in the hive mind. Notice how the crowd reacts to what he says:

Obviously, this contempt for our country and its laws, and deification of a shady, entitled, deadbeat fraud lacking the qualifications to run for mosquito control czar in Buttwater, Illinois, has trickled down into the ovine intellects of the useful idiots occupying our major population centers.

But now, as an alternative, we have…

LIBERTY AND THE “ALT RIGHT”

As perverse and disgusting as the willful ignorance of the left is, is it any trumpnapoleonbetter in the “alt right” countermovement?

The law of the land is the Constitution of the United States of America. Both elected and unelected officials are still required to take an oath to uphold it. It is the very authority for their respective offices, in fact.

Whereas leftists destroy rule of law by reinterpreting it away to suit their own agenda(s), the “alt right” are openly trumpgodkingcontemptuous of it and anyone who respects it. “It’s (the current year) you losers! Freedom is for un-hip midwits; muh white tribalism is all that matters!”

(At least the “alt right” is honest about their contempt for individual liberty. True to their nature, leftists try to hide their totalitarian aspirations behind language designed to sell it as the opposite of what it actually is.)

Since they openly despise individual, unalienable rights; the rule of law; separation of powers; a representative government and all the other blessings we inherited as citizens of the USA…what would they replace it with?god-emperor?

They would have a “god-king” instead. Browse around in the “alt right” spectrum of the web, and you can’t help but run into this utopian pining after a god-emporer.

COMPARING THE MOVEMENTS

There once was an attractive young woman who considered herself a special snowflake. While flirting with a rich man, she was asked what it would take for her to go to bed with him.

Would flattery get her into bed?

“Absolutely not.”

How about flowers, gifts, and other romantic gestures?

“No. I’m too smart to be manipulated.”

How about a lifetime commitment and promises of eternal faithfulness?

“I’m afraid that’s not enough, by itself.”

How about a million bucks in cash?

The woman’s eyes flashed, as she thought about what she could do with that money. She’d be set for the rest of her life and never have to work again. She could eat and live however she wanted and spoil herself with the finest things, all for giving this rich dude a few minutes of pleasure. A few hours, tops.

“Why? Do you have a million you’re willing to give me?”

“Hold that thought,” says the rich man. “Now that we’ve determined what you are, we can negotiate price.”

Both the left and the “alt right” want a dictator. So far their main point of contention is mostly superficial: what should their desired god-emperor look like? Do they want one who promises a globalist, or nationalist, utopia? Etc. (That last one, by the way, is the essential difference between a Communist  and a Nazi.)

Now that we know what they are, all that remains is to negotiate all those superficial details, until a god-dictator is presented who can unite them into one ovine serfdom.

Strangely enough, we were warned about 2,000 years ago that just such a god-emperor is coming.

…The whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?”

And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it…

Revelation 13:3-8

Dialog at Twilight’s Last Gleaming #1

There’s some notable conversations taking place in “flyover country” these days. I think I’ll document some of them.

NGV: I know (our co-worker) has a family to provide for, but stealing from the company…pissing off the customers…I don’t see how they wouldn’t fire him.

RAV: I don’t want anybody to lose their job–especially in this economy. He needs to go on welfare or something, because he’s damaging our reputation.

NGV: I feel bad for his family, though.

RAV: Yeah. There ain’t that many jobs out there, and frankly, depending on what happens in this election, there might not be an America for much longer. It could be a lot more like Brazil or Venezuela pretty soon.

NGV: Speaking of that, when the shit hits the fan, you’re welcome to bring your family and follow me to (redacted) in Idaho.

RAV: No kidding? (Wow, he’s a lot more prepared than I thought.)

NGV: Yeah, seriously. If all you’ve got is your bug-out bag, that’s cool. Ammunition won’t be a problem, either–we’ve got plenty to share.

RAV: Oh yeah? (Holy cow, he’s blowing OPSEC all to hell. Doesn’t he realize we’re talking on cellphones?) I don’t know where I’ll be when the day comes, or what my travel options will be, but I really do appreciate that. (I just wish you’d be wiser about what you say on an unsecured line.)

Why Obama Needs More Foreign Criminals on Our Streets PDQ

Obama released 19,000 criminal illegals to the streets of America.

In a meeting with Trump, ICE officials informed the nominee why the Obama/Clinton mafia is desperate to flood the country with even more undocumented Democrats. Watch the brief video.

Combined with the rigged voting machines, dead/serial voters, and corrupt vote counters, it should give Hillary a lock on the White House.

No surprise, here.

More evidence That FBI are Stooges of the Clinton Mafia

Remember that one crime (from a long list of Clinton scandals) was that the Clinton Administration in the 1990s illegally collected FBI files on their political opposition  (the blackmail factor helps explain why the Clintons never were taken to task for any of their high crimes and treason–the Monica Lewinski episode was just a smokescreen which distracted the public from the far more serious crimes while providing the illusion that the media wasn’t covering up for the Clinton Machine). Abuse of power on this scale dwarfs anything Nixon ever did, but would only be “wrong” if a Republican was guilty of it.

Well, we already knew Comey and Lynch are in the tank for Hillary, anyway. The video below is just more evidence.

Looks like the Hillary campaign better come up with some more mud to sling at Trump, quick. Maybe they can find a Millennial to come forward and say, “He shook me when I was a baby!”

Never Fear! The Democrats Will Investigate Themselves

Gee, I wonder what the verdict will be?

A hidden-camera video by a conservative group purports to show Hillary Clinton campaign staffers in West Palm Beach making light of sexual assault and condoning the destruction of Republican voter registration forms.

…The West Palm Beach video has been viewed more than 1 million times since it was posted Wednesday on YouTube. It was shot by an undercover activist who worked briefly out of a Democratic coordinated campaign office.

…In one clip from the Project Veritas video, a Democratic campaign staffer sitting in a restaurant with others says: “I think that the bar of, like, acceptable conduct on this campaign is pretty, pretty low…In order for me to be fired I’d probably have to grab Emma’s ass like twice.”

In another clip, the undercover worker tells a supervisor that he ripped up three “ballots” — apparently meaning voter registration forms — that had been submitted by Donald Trump supporters.

“So we’re OK with that?” the undercover plant says.

“Yeah,” says the supervisor, who later says he won’t report it. “As long as you don’t make it a habit.”

 

Granted: this sounds like a setup (which the MSM would consider perfectly kosher if the roles were reversed), but it gives you an idea of the integrity of those entrusted with the political process in 2016.

hillaryvoterfraud

There once was a time when, no matter how much each side wanted their guy to win, they still wanted the process to be fair and honest, and would accept “the will of the people.” At least I’ve heard it was that way, once. The Democrat election fraud has been painfully obvious for the last couple election cycles, despite the cover-up efforts of the “mainstream” (left-wing) media. But it’s not enough that they flood the polls with fraudulent ballots–they also see nothing wrong with destroying the legitimate ballots of Trump supporters,

(Remember, in recent elections, how pallet loads of military absentee ballots from overseas have been intentionally misplaced until it’s too late for them to be counted?)

The ironic part is that the most blatantly offending side is the one with the least need for such desperate chicanery. Whether fast (the Democrats) or slow (the RINOs), America is driving over the cliff. Either way, they get what they want: America destroyed.

Big Fork is Here!

Some of us have been waiting a long time for this–online resources and social networks that are not a part of the left-wing hive mind.

First off, and most exciting to me, is an alternative to wikipedia:

INFOGALACTIC.COM

(The Planetary Knowledge Core)

Then there is the alternative to twitter:

GAB.AI

…And I’m on it. You can find me @MachineTrooper.

And (completing a short, chronologically backwards list) there is an alternative to the borg browsers which collaborate with the NSA’s domestic spying, censoring information which contradicts The Narrative, etc:

BRAVE.COM

These alternatives are young; at least one of them (Gab) is still in beta testing mode; but I am using all three and am very pleased to finally have a choice. If you are able, and inclined, your donations to any or all of these efforts would certainly help them succeed.

 

PS: I quit Faceborg some time ago, and don’t plan on ever going back. I have created an account at MeWe, however, and occasionally post there. So far, they seem to support free speech.

Timeless – A Review

While watching NASCAR (almost the only TV viewing I still practice) I saw the preview for this new series. Being a sucker for time-travel tales, I decided to give the pilot episode a try against my better judgment.

The premise of this first episode is that some bad guys hijack a time machine and go back to the Hindenburg disaster to alter history for their own nefarious purposes. A trio of good guys are assembled to go back after them and stop said nefarious plan. Chaos ensues, the prime Directive is violated (for those of you who speak Trekkie), and history is altered anyway, though the bad guys are kinda’ thwarted, to an extent. And as a result…okay, I’ll stop with the spoilers.

The trio of good guys consists of a female historian, a black engineer, and a white delta force veteran. I know what some of you are thinking, but at least there is a variation from the standard SJW Narrative right there: they did not choose to insert the ubiquitous amazon superninja into the role of the “combat specialist.”

timeless

Well and good, but the Delta veteran, on this very first assignment, lets his emotions jeopardize the mission. You would think somebody who made it into Delta, and survived it, would have a whole lot more discipline than this guy, but you can only expect so much from Hollywood.

The other elements of the series are more predictable. I don’t buy any plot line in which the Department of Fatherland Homeland Security are the good guys, or have any altruistic motives whatsoever. Yeah, there may be some “good people” working in the Alphabets, including the DHS, just as I’m sure there were “good people” in the Wermacht and the Red Army.

What would offend “alt right” bloggers the most is that the super-secret techno-creative team who designed and built the time machines seems to be staffed exclusively by women and minorities. Because, you know, there are no white male scientists (rather, they are ‘over-represented in the real world, so the Television Fantasy Factory must compensate).

And more obligatory Race Narrative: the black engineer spews commentary about how racist America is and always has been. (That must explain why he’s an engineer instead of a janitor; why the US fought a war that freed the slaves; and why so many Africans have and still come to the USA of their own free will.)

The most nauseating item, for me, is when the historian speculates about the motives of the bad guys: something to the effect that “they want to destroy America in its infancy.”

How very telling. The America I know was born in 1776 and organized as a constitutional republic where government’s purpose is to protect the inalienable rights of the people. The America they believe in was evidently born during the New Deal. ‘Nuff said.

Next.

Just In Case there Was Any Doubt…

…That the next debate would be moderated as fair and impartially as the first one, it turns out that Anderson One-Of-My-Hairs-Turns-White-Every-40-Lies-I-Tell-On-TV Cooper will moderate the second.

Sit back and relax in the confidence that this paragon of journalistic integrity determines which candidate is asked what question.

If you don’t feel up to spending 90 minutes watching another tedious Hillary Soundbite Fest, here’s a summary, in advance, of how it will go:

IMPARTIAL NON-PARTISAN MODERATOR: Mr. Trump, the experts agree that you are the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler. Do your extremist views on immigration derive more from your hatred of minorities, or your plan to start a nuclear war?

TRUMP: Let me start off by saying that minoritiess really, really love me. (Sniff.)  And I run a wonderful, wonderful company that makes lots and lots of money. (Sniff.) And I never threatened to nuke anyone who didn’t make rude gestures.

IMPARTIAL NON-PARTISAN MODERATOR: Secretary Clinton, I’ve got a real hardball for you. Would you say Mr. Trump is unfit to be president more because he is a psychotic Nazi, or because he’s a dehumanizing hater of all women?

HILLARY: (chuckles) Well, that is a tough one. But a president has to be prepared to answer tough questions, and I’ve been preparing .  So let me say, right off, that Donald probably isn’t as rich as he says he is. Secondly, however rich he actually is, he got that way by shady real estate deals, stiffing contractors and cheating on his taxes. Now, more to the core of your question, I would say the psychotic Nazi side of Donald would explain his alliance with that deplorable cartoon frog…and what foreign leader could even take him seriously? I mean, really. (Audience laughs.) Now, the misogynistic, woman-dehumanizing monster side of my opponent is the reason no female staffers or political aides would be safe anywhere near the White House with Donald living there. But really, it’s a combination of many factors–from his crooked real estate deals, to the way he covers for people who abuse women, to the way he made his millions, to his ridiculous Birther allegations, to his attitude toward the First Amendment…all of these factors add up to a man who is unfit to run a business, much less a country. (Audience applauds.)

TRUMP: Believe me, I’m every bit as rich as I say I am. Trust me on this.