//The Wire//2300Z February 13, 2025// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: VEHICLE RAMMING ATTACK STRIKES GERMANY. STABBING ATTACK REPORTED NEAR TURKISH CONSULATE IN LONDON. US NAVY AIRCRAFT CARRIER COLLIDES WITH MERCHANT VESSEL IN EGYPT.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Germany: Early this morning a vehicle ramming attack was conducted in the city of Munich, resulting in the wounding of 28x people who were participating in a labor strike protest demonstration. Two people remain in serious condition, which are a mother and small child. The suspect, who has been identified as "Farhad N.", is an immigrant from Afghanistan who was allegedly already marked for deportation due to prior criminal offenses. AC: Of note, American Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy were scheduled to meet in Munich for a security conference. As this is a developing situation this morning, it is not clear as to how this terror attack may impact the scheduling of the security conference. Middle East: This afternoon the USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75) was involved in a collision with a commercial vessel in the vicinity of Port Said in Egypt. The TRUMAN collided with the M/V BESITKAS-M, a bulk cargo carrier flagged out of Panama, and did not experience any flooding. AC: Very few details have come to light regarding how an American aircraft carrier can even be involved in a collision (due to being surrounded by escort ships and host to extreme levels of security), however it's possible that the collision took place in the very busy waterways leading to the Suez Canal. Even taking into account the challenges of maritime navigation through these waters, it is hard to imagine a scenario in which a collision with an aircraft carrier can occur. United Kingdom: Limited reporting on social media this afternoon indicated that an incident took place outside the Turkish Consulate in London. A man approached the Consulate and set a Koran on fire while standing on the sidewalk outside the compound. A random passerby promptly stabbed the man. AC: Absolutely zero British media has covered this story, or even mentioned that it happened. As such, no details can verify that this incident actually happened, beyond video evidence posted on social media. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: The horrific attack in Munich is made more poignant in the context of local German political activity. Three days ago, a very large demonstration involving an estimated 200,000 Germans was carried out in Munich, specifically in opposition to both the AfD political party, and various immigration issues. Three days later, one of the "immigrants" that those people were protesting to keep in their nation, rams his vehicle into a crowd. As a result (and very likely intended to get ahead of this tragedy reigniting immigration issues), outgoing Chancellor Scholz immediately called for the attacker to be punished and deported, a sharp departure from Germany's very pro-immigration stance across most of the nation. Scholz's very likely replacement, Friedrich Merz, echoed the same sentiments while on the campaign trail, stating that "something has to change in Germany". However, all of this rhetoric is very likely to be more of a knee-jerk reaction rather than a genuine change of heart or policy. For instance, immediately following his statements this morning, Merz announced a new targeting effort aimed at Elon Musk, for allowing Merz's political opposition (yet also very likely to be a coalition partner, the AfD party) to have a presence on Twitter/X. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground

//The Wire//1800Z June 3, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: TARGETING EFFORTS INCREASE THROUGHOUT MIDDLE EAST AS U.S. TARGETS QESHM ISLAND, AND IRANIAN MISSILES AND DRONES STRIKE BAHRAIN AND KUWAIT. HOSTAGE SITUATION CONCLUDES AT BANK IN CALIFORNIA. TWO NIH EMPLOYEES ARRESTED AFTER ATTEMPTING TO SMUGGLE MONKEYPOX INTO THE USA.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Middle East: Overnight the war continued to expand with multiple strikes reported throughout the region. Following the now-daily American airstrikes on Qeshm Island, the Iranians retaliated by launching multiple ballistic missiles targeting locations in Kuwait and Bahrain. CENTCOM claimed that none of the missiles impacted their targets, however Kuwait International Airport was directly hit by at least one large munition (possibly a Shahed-type drone). The main terminal was heavily damaged, and a total of 63x individuals were wounded during this attack. Additionally, locals in residential areas to the north claim that Camp Buehring was also hit by a ballistic missile, though satellite imagery is still pending to confirm this. Separately, multiple munition impacts were reported in Bahrain though the details of these strikes remain less certain than in Kuwait. Some reports claim that Sakhir Air Base was hit, however this is not confirmed at this time. -HomeFront- California: Yesterday a hostage situation was reported in Bakersfield after a man entered Chase Bank on 17th Street with what he claimed was an explosive device. The man claimed to have wired an explosive vest with a deadman switch, and took a total of 5x hostages inside the bank. The individual has been identified as Anthony Scott Searle-Sharris, who conducted this incident for personal reasons, claiming that he was wrongfully convicted of previous crimes (crimes against children). The hostage situation continued throughout the night, before the suspect was neutralized this morning by an FBI sniper team. All hostages have been recovered in good health. Michigan: Two researchers for the National Institute of Health (NIH) were arrested in Detroit, after attempting to smuggle monkeypox into the United States. Vincent Munster (from the Netherlands) and Claude Kwe (from Cameroon) were arrested after a search of their belongings at customs revealed chilled storage for 113 vials which contained Monkeypox along with other pathogens. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: As a reminder, the information lockdown is palpable throughout the Middle East, so details are hard to verify. What is absolutely undeniable at this point, is that authorities throughout the region, to include CENTCOM, are posting very misleading "fact checks" which are carefully worded by attorneys to leave out critical details. In some cases, outright lies are being told to conceal the success of Iranian strikes. This has been the case since the start of the war, and it's extremely common for various entities to lie during a time of war, which is sometimes necessary to ensure mission success. If CENTCOM wants to conceal the success of strikes for operational security purposes that's their business, but we can't pretend that this is not happening. As luck would have it, the Sentinel 2 open-source imagery satellite passed over Camp Ali Al Salem a few hours after the missile attacks. Comparing the imagery taken today, with yesterday's pass, a discernable impact can be noted at one of the aircraft hangers on the airfield. As always, the Iranians already know about the success of their own strikes as the Iranians secretly purchased the Chinese TEE-01B satellite, which grants them their own imagery for Battle Damage Assessments (in addition to the wealth of intelligence support being provided by Russia and China). As a result, concealing the details of American bases getting hit is hiding the truth from exactly one audience...the American taxpayer. Around the region, the locals within GCC states are first hand observers to the strikes, even though most Arab nations are arresting their own citizens for posting videos of failed interceptions in order to keep the illusion going that air defenses are working. One such individual was arrested last night in Kuwait after posting a viral video while driving on the highway. While it is speculative, it's possible that the reason this individual was arrested is because it was easy to identify him due to the motor vehicle accident that also occurred at the same time and thus made the video go viral, but also because his video appears to show failed interceptions...several of the Patriot missiles fired at the incoming Iranian missiles appear to have missed and exhibited the telltale self-destruct phase of their flight path. It's a classic Middle Eastern shakey-cam situation, but the Kuwaitis are very motivated to conceal the true effects of Iranian targeting efforts and the impact craters observed throughout the country this morning add credence to the failed interceptions. This challenging information environment would be very wise to remember as the "good news" posts of impending peace saturate social media and mainstream media constantly at this point. The truth of the situation on the ground indicates that strikes on Iranian targets (specifically at Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island) are now daily occurrences, and the slow ramp-up to the collapse of the ceasefire has already been underway for several days. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//1800Z June 3, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: TARGETING EFFORTS INCREASE THROUGHOUT MIDDLE EAST AS U.S. TARGETS QESHM ISLAND, AND IRANIAN MISSILES AND DRONES STRIKE BAHRAIN AND KUWAIT. HOSTAGE SITUATION CONCLUDES AT BANK IN CALIFORNIA. TWO NIH EMPLOYEES ARRESTED AFTER ATTEMPTING TO SMUGGLE MONKEYPOX INTO THE USA.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Middle East: Overnight the war continued to expand with multiple strikes reported throughout the region. Following the now-daily American airstrikes on Qeshm Island, the Iranians retaliated by launching multiple ballistic missiles targeting locations in Kuwait and Bahrain. CENTCOM claimed that none of the missiles impacted their targets, however Kuwait International Airport was directly hit by at least one large munition (possibly a Shahed-type drone). The main terminal was heavily damaged, and a total of 63x individuals were wounded during this attack. Additionally, locals in residential areas to the north claim that Camp Buehring was also hit by a ballistic missile, though satellite imagery is still pending to confirm this. Separately, multiple munition impacts were reported in Bahrain though the details of these strikes remain less certain than in Kuwait. Some reports claim that Sakhir Air Base was hit, however this is not confirmed at this time. -HomeFront- California: Yesterday a hostage situation was reported in Bakersfield after a man entered Chase Bank on 17th Street with what he claimed was an explosive device. The man claimed to have wired an explosive vest with a deadman switch, and took a total of 5x hostages inside the bank. The individual has been identified as Anthony Scott Searle-Sharris, who conducted this incident for personal reasons, claiming that he was wrongfully convicted of previous crimes (crimes against children). The hostage situation continued throughout the night, before the suspect was neutralized this morning by an FBI sniper team. All hostages have been recovered in good health. Michigan: Two researchers for the National Institute of Health (NIH) were arrested in Detroit, after attempting to smuggle monkeypox into the United States. Vincent Munster (from the Netherlands) and Claude Kwe (from Cameroon) were arrested after a search of their belongings at customs revealed chilled storage for 113 vials which contained Monkeypox along with other pathogens. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: As a reminder, the information lockdown is palpable throughout the Middle East, so details are hard to verify. What is absolutely undeniable at this point, is that authorities throughout the region, to include CENTCOM, are posting very misleading "fact checks" which are carefully worded by attorneys to leave out critical details. In some cases, outright lies are being told to conceal the success of Iranian strikes. This has been the case since the start of the war, and it's extremely common for various entities to lie during a time of war, which is sometimes necessary to ensure mission success. If CENTCOM wants to conceal the success of strikes for operational security purposes that's their business, but we can't pretend that this is not happening. As luck would have it, the Sentinel 2 open-source imagery satellite passed over Camp Ali Al Salem a few hours after the missile attacks. Comparing the imagery taken today, with yesterday's pass, a discernable impact can be noted at one of the aircraft hangers on the airfield. As always, the Iranians already know about the success of their own strikes as the Iranians secretly purchased the Chinese TEE-01B satellite, which grants them their own imagery for Battle Damage Assessments (in addition to the wealth of intelligence support being provided by Russia and China). As a result, concealing the details of American bases getting hit is hiding the truth from exactly one audience...the American taxpayer. Around the region, the locals within GCC states are first hand observers to the strikes, even though most Arab nations are arresting their own citizens for posting videos of failed interceptions in order to keep the illusion going that air defenses are working. One such individual was arrested last night in Kuwait after posting a viral video while driving on the highway. While it is speculative, it's possible that the reason this individual was arrested is because it was easy to identify him due to the motor vehicle accident that also occurred at the same time and thus made the video go viral, but also because his video appears to show failed interceptions...several of the Patriot missiles fired at the incoming Iranian missiles appear to have missed and exhibited the telltale self-destruct phase of their flight path. It's a classic Middle Eastern shakey-cam situation, but the Kuwaitis are very motivated to conceal the true effects of Iranian targeting efforts and the impact craters observed throughout the country this morning add credence to the failed interceptions. This challenging information environment would be very wise to remember as the "good news" posts of impending peace saturate social media and mainstream media constantly at this point. The truth of the situation on the ground indicates that strikes on Iranian targets (specifically at Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island) are now daily occurrences, and the slow ramp-up to the collapse of the ceasefire has already been underway for several days. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//2300Z January 29, 2025// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: CONFLICT CONTINUES TO ESCALATE IN THE DRC. PRESIDENT TRUMP ANNOUNCES PLAN TO SEND ILLEGALS TO GITMO. F-35 CRASHES IN ALASKA, PILOT UNHARMED.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): Rioting continues throughout Kinshasa as the rebel advance in the east becomes more solidified. Overnight, M23 rebels consolidated control of Goma on the eastern border of the DRC, with some reports indicating further advances being planned. South of Kivu Lake, another axis of advance has possibly opened up, as locals report M23 forces in the vicinity of Bukavu. In the west, factional violence has broken out in force. -HomeFront- Alaska: One F-35 aircraft assigned to the 354th Fighter Wing crashed at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks yesterday afternoon. Video footage of the incident indicates that the pilot was able to eject before impact. No official statement has been released indicating the cause for the aviation mishap. Washington D.C. - President Trump announced plans to house captured illegal immigrants at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, while deportation operations continue. AC: While not exactly a new plan (this idea was floated during Trump's campaign) this facility will reportedly house the most violent offenders, which are unable to be housed in the standard minimum-security detention facilities that most other illegal immigrants are housed in. This is probably an attempt to separate out the baddest-of-the-bad from the general population. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: In the DRC, various groups who oppose Rwanda (and the M23 rebels) have taken to the streets to attack any ally of their arch enemy. Since the capital of Kinshasa is located 1,000 miles from M23's advance (and thus nowhere near the warzone), those who oppose M23 have taken out their anger locally, in the form of attacking anyone who is aligned with Rwanda or the Tutsi ethnic group, such as international diplomatic missions in the DRC. Various government offices were also ransacked overnight as well. Other than the general call to evacuate, most diplomatic missions in Kinshasa have not really addressed the growing violence, or provided much information on the status of foreign nationals (or international humanitarian efforts) in the DRC. Of note, this afternoon the Rwandan Defense Forces social media account posted a statement regarding the capture of 280 Romanians who were allegedly acting as mercenaries for the DRC's armed forces. This somewhat innocent post is largely a de facto admission that the M23 "rebels" are really just mercenaries acting on behalf off Rwanda to invade the DRC. This has been known for some time, however the increasingly casual descriptions of this relationship must be noted as this has the potential to drag other nations into this fight at some point, if the "soft" invasion becomes more methodical or deliberate. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground

//The Wire//1400Z June 30, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: UKRAINIAN OLIGARCH TARGET OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN MONACO. INMATES TAKE OVER JAIL IN NORTH CAROLINA.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Monaco: Yesterday afternoon an IED was detonated at a residential apartment building as part of an apparent targeted assassination attempt. One attacker deposited a backpack with the explosive device at the entrance to the building, and waited several minutes for the target to arrive. As the target passed near the backpack, the assailant remotely detonated the IED, before fleeing on foot across the border just a few feet away, into France. Several people were wounded during the attack, with the main target being Vadym Yermolaiev (a Ukrainian businessman). No one was killed, but Yermolaiev was hit by shrapnel and burns, and his wife reportedly suffered a bilateral amputation of the legs. Their son was also seriously wounded by shrapnel. Iran: Overnight, Iranian forces claimed to have killed a clandestine team that had infiltrated the border region. Iranian media claims that the entire 6 man team was killed during the engagement, and that four of the bodies have been recovered. No photos of the alleged team have been provided, however the Iranians claim that their equipment indicated they were attempting to carry out sabotage operations. Analyst Comment: Very few details have been provided on this incident, but if the team was American the Iranians surely would have televised every detail of the incident. Speculating as to the origin of the alleged attackers, they could have been Kurdish militiamen, but until photos are provided there's no verifying any of these details. However, the most interesting detail is that the Iranians claim that the firefight took place between Piran Shahr and Mahabad, which is deep inside Iranian territory and indicates that there might be more to this engagement than meets the eye. Qatar: The Ministry of Transportation has advised the temporary halt to all civil maritime activities in their waters until further notice. This comes after yesterday's death of a citizen, who was found deceased on their private vessel after the Iranian/American targeting efforts over the weekend. Analyst Comment: As it turns out, this death might have been the result of an American munition, or falling shrapnel from some sort of engagement. The Qataris are being very vague about this suspicious death, which would be expected if the US was the cause of it, since the American diplomatic team arrived in Doha for negotiations this morning. The Qataris probably don't want to cause a scene and upset the American delegation, and as a result are downplaying what exactly caused the death of one of their citizens. -HomeFront- North Carolina: Yesterday morning a large scale riot was reported at the Bertie-Martin Regional Detention Center. A total of 88x inmates overpowered two of the three guards that were on duty for the night shift, and took control of the facility. These two guards were held hostage throughout the day, with groups of prisoners being released from the facility by the group of inmates which started the takeover incident. By last night, authorities had regained control of the jail, and the situation was resolved. All 88x inmates have been accounted for, and everyone has been shuffled and transferred to other detention facilities as the investigation into the incident continues. Analyst Comment: For facilities like this, having only three guards on the night shift is surprisingly common, though after this incident the security posture at this (and other similar facilities) is likely to be increased. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: The context and history of the assassination attempt in Monaco is quite significant. Vadym Yermolaiev was/is a Ukrainian businessman who had a falling out with Zelensky and was sanctioned by the Ukrainian government a few years ago for his business dealings with Russia. After the sanctions, Yermolaiev fled Ukraine before settling in Monaco. Years ago, Yermolaiev was one of the wealthiest individuals in Europe, with most of his money originating from illegal activities such as running scam call centers in Ukraine, as well as construction companies and real estate ventures in the now-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine. Yermolaiev allegedly rebuffed Zelensky's attempts to nationalize his construction empire for the war, and apparently almost paid dearly for it. This attack is extremely shocking for the small city-state of Monaco, where crime is largely nonexistent, much less targeted assassinations. Considering that all signs point to Ukraine being the culprit for this assassination attempt, it will be interesting to see what the response to this attack will be. Monaco is a very small kingdom which serves mostly as a vacation spot for Europe's most powerful individuals, and Ukraine does not appear to realize the thin ice they are treading on by bringing the war to Europe's version of Martha's Vineyard. This attack will not go unnoticed by the global elite, which has been exclusively funding the Ukrainian war for the reasons of keeping the combat confined to the Donbas. If Zelensky is going to end up bringing the explosions to the finer parts of Europe anyway, purely for reasons of settling personal grievances, this might not work out in Ukraine's favor. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//1400Z June 30, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: UKRAINIAN OLIGARCH TARGET OF ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN MONACO. INMATES TAKE OVER JAIL IN NORTH CAROLINA.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Monaco: Yesterday afternoon an IED was detonated at a residential apartment building as part of an apparent targeted assassination attempt. One attacker deposited a backpack with the explosive device at the entrance to the building, and waited several minutes for the target to arrive. As the target passed near the backpack, the assailant remotely detonated the IED, before fleeing on foot across the border just a few feet away, into France. Several people were wounded during the attack, with the main target being Vadym Yermolaiev (a Ukrainian businessman). No one was killed, but Yermolaiev was hit by shrapnel and burns, and his wife reportedly suffered a bilateral amputation of the legs. Their son was also seriously wounded by shrapnel. Iran: Overnight, Iranian forces claimed to have killed a clandestine team that had infiltrated the border region. Iranian media claims that the entire 6 man team was killed during the engagement, and that four of the bodies have been recovered. No photos of the alleged team have been provided, however the Iranians claim that their equipment indicated they were attempting to carry out sabotage operations. Analyst Comment: Very few details have been provided on this incident, but if the team was American the Iranians surely would have televised every detail of the incident. Speculating as to the origin of the alleged attackers, they could have been Kurdish militiamen, but until photos are provided there's no verifying any of these details. However, the most interesting detail is that the Iranians claim that the firefight took place between Piran Shahr and Mahabad, which is deep inside Iranian territory and indicates that there might be more to this engagement than meets the eye. Qatar: The Ministry of Transportation has advised the temporary halt to all civil maritime activities in their waters until further notice. This comes after yesterday's death of a citizen, who was found deceased on their private vessel after the Iranian/American targeting efforts over the weekend. Analyst Comment: As it turns out, this death might have been the result of an American munition, or falling shrapnel from some sort of engagement. The Qataris are being very vague about this suspicious death, which would be expected if the US was the cause of it, since the American diplomatic team arrived in Doha for negotiations this morning. The Qataris probably don't want to cause a scene and upset the American delegation, and as a result are downplaying what exactly caused the death of one of their citizens. -HomeFront- North Carolina: Yesterday morning a large scale riot was reported at the Bertie-Martin Regional Detention Center. A total of 88x inmates overpowered two of the three guards that were on duty for the night shift, and took control of the facility. These two guards were held hostage throughout the day, with groups of prisoners being released from the facility by the group of inmates which started the takeover incident. By last night, authorities had regained control of the jail, and the situation was resolved. All 88x inmates have been accounted for, and everyone has been shuffled and transferred to other detention facilities as the investigation into the incident continues. Analyst Comment: For facilities like this, having only three guards on the night shift is surprisingly common, though after this incident the security posture at this (and other similar facilities) is likely to be increased. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: The context and history of the assassination attempt in Monaco is quite significant. Vadym Yermolaiev was/is a Ukrainian businessman who had a falling out with Zelensky and was sanctioned by the Ukrainian government a few years ago for his business dealings with Russia. After the sanctions, Yermolaiev fled Ukraine before settling in Monaco. Years ago, Yermolaiev was one of the wealthiest individuals in Europe, with most of his money originating from illegal activities such as running scam call centers in Ukraine, as well as construction companies and real estate ventures in the now-occupied areas of eastern Ukraine. Yermolaiev allegedly rebuffed Zelensky's attempts to nationalize his construction empire for the war, and apparently almost paid dearly for it. This attack is extremely shocking for the small city-state of Monaco, where crime is largely nonexistent, much less targeted assassinations. Considering that all signs point to Ukraine being the culprit for this assassination attempt, it will be interesting to see what the response to this attack will be. Monaco is a very small kingdom which serves mostly as a vacation spot for Europe's most powerful individuals, and Ukraine does not appear to realize the thin ice they are treading on by bringing the war to Europe's version of Martha's Vineyard. This attack will not go unnoticed by the global elite, which has been exclusively funding the Ukrainian war for the reasons of keeping the combat confined to the Donbas. If Zelensky is going to end up bringing the explosions to the finer parts of Europe anyway, purely for reasons of settling personal grievances, this might not work out in Ukraine's favor. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//2300Z January 28, 2025// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: DEPORTATION OPERATIONS CONTINUE NATIONWIDE. CONFLICT WIDENS IN DRC. WHITE HOUSE STATES NEW JERSEY DRONES WERE FRIENDLY FORCES.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): The situation regarding the rapid advance of M23 rebels has gone from bad to worse. Despite being located on the exact opposite side of the country (and thus 1,000 miles away from) the rebel advance in Goma, mass pandemonium and widespread looting was reported in the capitol city of Kinshasa. Various media outlets have claimed that the Embassies of the United Nations, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and even the United States were all either assaulted or overrun by rioters overnight. AC: As of this report, no statements have been made with regards to status of the American diplomatic mission in the DRC. However, this afternoon the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa urged American citizens to either shelter in place, or immediately evacuate the country, whichever option is possible for them. As is typical for the region, civil unrest can (and usually does) emerge without much warning, which presents logistical challenges. Right now, the usual extortionary roadblocks are being emplaced on most major roads, which makes travel difficult. As a reminder, there are two main airports in Kinshasa that are likely to be used for evacuation operations. The N'Dolo Airport is located in the city center, but has a shorter runway (roughly 1,000 ft) which is only capable of hosting smaller aircraft or helicopters. The other, much larger international airport (N'Djili Airport) is located east of the city. This airport, while larger, is a roughly 1-2 hour drive from the Kinshasa city center under ideal conditions, and has dubious perimeter security. Alternative evacuation plans can be carried out terrestrially, as Kinshasa sits on the border with the Republic of the Congo, which lies across the river to the north and hosts another international airport. However, there is no bridge between these nations, so highly unreliable ferry crossings are the only means of amphibious transport out of Kinshasa, in the event that airports become overrun. -HomeFront- New Jersey: During a press conference, the White House has stated that the recent drone scare that swept through the region was not activity from a malign actor, but research platforms that were authorized to fly by the FAA. No further comment was provided regarding who was operating these aerial platforms. AC: This statement will be interpreted in many ways. For one, if this statement is to be believed, this is more evidence in the pile that supports this whole scandal largely involving testing being done at Picatinny Arsenal or by some other unknown clandestine government agency. This was always the most likely theory from the very beginning, but in the absence of any real data to analyze, any theory was just as good as the next. However, for those who personally do not believe this narrative, no piece of evidence is likely to alter their view. USA: ICE raids began in New York City this morning, mostly focusing on well-known strongholds harboring illegals in the Bronx. Similar raids were conducted in Maryland. In Miami, local media reported that 40x illegals from China were arrested in Coral Gables this morning. During this morning's raids, at least one High Value Individual (HVI) was captured, who was allegedly a senior leader involved in the Tren de Aragua (TdA) cells operating in Denver. Throughout Colorado, raids have intensified following renewed efforts to target TdA enclaves throughout the state. Sunday morning, a TdA-operated nightclub in Adams County, CO was raided by federal and local officials, resulting in the arrest of 49x people affiliated with the infamous Venezuelan gang. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: Various opposition/protest movements are beginning to take form with regards to the federal deportation campaign. In addition to these protest actions, other efforts are being undertaken specifically to train immigrant populations to oppose federal immigration authorities. For instance, several schoolteachers around the nation have taken to social media to share their plans for ICE raids taking place in schools. In short, many teachers plan to use their school's active shooter plans against ICE agents, barricading their classrooms in the event of a raid. Further efforts to solidify plans are taking form, such as intelligence collection efforts, community notification efforts, obstacle emplacement, the works. A classic, low-effort example of such has arisen on TikTok and other social media platforms, whereby users will produce a short video about their "cute winter boots", while splicing in tutorials on how to avoid ICE raids (thus the poorly-coded language referring to ice occurring in the winter, thus the need for the "boots"). This poorly-coded language is a mainstay of many groups (much like the "in minecraft" verbiage used by other communities), and rarely results in any sort of plausible deniability defense actually working in court. Nevertheless, these half-hearted attempts at being sneaky continue, while also not really conveying any information that's actually helpful for those seeking to resist ICE. So far, most of these efforts appear to be largely uncoordinated, disorganized, and most importantly...not cartel affiliated. Cartel operations to counter ICE are always vastly more sophisticated, and in line with common insurgent doctrine...not some TikTok trend. However, in due time, the various politically-leftist groups that are driving these operations will become more organized. Though to what degree remains far less significant than the vastly more serious and complex operations that various Cartel-affiliated groups bring to the table. Though no solid information on the raids has yet been provided by ICE (which is fairly common as they don't normally provide many details, other than arrest numbers) most of the raids this morning appear to be largely symbolic and/or targeting individual people known to ICE for some time. Large-scale operations that result in the arrest of dozens (if not hundreds) of illegals in one area alone has largely not come to fruition yet, probably due to the logistical challenges of such operations. However, one point of consideration must be that resistance to deportation operations is likely to also arise from within ICE itself (or more likely, local authorities' partnerships with ICE). One must remember, Trump has only been President for 8 days...all of the authorities who are currently arresting illegals right now were also employed under the Biden regime. Of course, the claim can be made that the orders from the top prevented any real sort of investigation and/or deportation operations. This idea requires much more nuance to understand, as there are absolutely cases in which LE agencies around the country have hidden behind the excuse of "but the feds told us to not do our job", when in reality there was certainly much more they could have done over the past four years. Within the federal government, there is no excuse as common as "my boss won't let me" when it comes to the reasons as to why someone did not do their job. Of course, general orders (and national-level policy) comes from the leadership at the top. But anyone who's ever worked in government knows that there is always leeway at the mid-to-lower levels of bureaucracy that allow people to do good and wholesome work, despite a very oppressively top-down leadership style. Now that a political change has occurred, the American people have kept the receipts, and are now wondering about the exact details of why certain departments are suddenly able to do their job...what exactly was preventing them from policing before Trump took office? Was it a direct order to halt certain investigations, or was it agencies hiding their laziness behind a general policy? Once again, after every major political regime change, those who were serving under the previous regime will be questioned as to what they did during those times, and how they carried on the best they could, despite the policies from the top. If arrests couldn't be made, what else was done? Were targeting packages created or intelligence networks developed? What investigative evidence was gathered, even without express internal permission to do so? If the orders from the top were indeed the biggest barrier to enforcing the law over the past four years, what work was done to tie up everything with a neat bow to present to a new administration? In some cases, this was exactly how it worked out, with many investigators coming forward with roughly 4 years of investigative work that wasn't able to be acted on. In others, many agencies are finding out that some investigators just sat on their hands for four years, and didn't really make any attempt to do the best they could despite the circumstances. This will be an important observation to consider as deportation operations continue to ramp up. More broadly, it must be considered that there may be some resistance from among LE groups who, after many years of stagnation, finally will be doing real work. For many, the chance to finally do good is appreciated...but others might not be so motivated. Others still probably are on the payroll of the Cartels, or are immigrants themselves (as many LE jurisdictions around the US allowed illegals to become badged Law Enforcement Officers). How big of a problem this will become (or is right now) remains to be certain, but it is an idea that must be considered now, in the early stages of what is likely to be a large-scale deportation campaign. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground

//The Wire//2300Z February 12, 2025// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: EXPLOSIVE ATTACK STRIKES LOCAL COMMUNITY CENTER IN GRENOBLE. PROTESTERS GREET SECDEF DURING VISIT TO EUROPE. EXPLOSION REPORTED AT BUS DEPOT IN EL PASO.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- France: This afternoon an explosion was reported at a bar in the southeastern town of Grenoble. As this is a developing incident, few details remain confirmed. However locals on social media stated that an unknown assailant threw a hand grenade into the bar, resulting in the wounding of at least 10x people. AC: This attack took place in the old Olympic Village, which has become very heavily populated with immigrants from various Middle Eastern nations over the years, many of which have established homegrown storefronts in what traditionally would be described as residential buildings. The area that the attack took place in is only accessible by foot, and appears to be one of these improvised storefronts that does not appear on Google Maps. As such, it is possible that what is being described as a "bar" is probably an "internet cafe" that is being run out the ground floor of an apartment building that serves primarily Middle Eastern clientele; Internet cafes being extremely common features in most Arab nations, and thus usually popping up anywhere a largely Muslim diaspora settles. So far, most of the images/video from the scene indicate that at least a few victims were located in the vicinity of the rear exit door of the internet cafe at grid coordinate: 31T GL 14003 04723. This is most sharply evidenced by images of the attack site, and videos of the victims/witnesses speaking mostly Arabic. In any case French authorities have confirmed that the organized crime bureau will be handling this investigation, indicating that this may be less of a case of deliberate terrorism and more of an organized crime incident. Germany: Brief controversy was reported yesterday as SECDEF Pete Hegseth conducted a visit to American forces stationed in Europe. A small group of military spouses protested Hegseth's arrival at the U.S. Army garrison in Stuttgart. Separately, middle schoolers at the on-base Patch Middle School staged a walkout in response to Hegseth's visit. Both protest actions were carried out on base, and in opposition to the removal of all DEI initiatives across the Department of Defense. -HomeFront- California: Earlier this afternoon a US Navy aircraft crashed in San Diego Bay. Both crew members were rescued by a local fishing boat after ejecting from their E/A-18G Growler during a training flight. No word yet has been provided on the cause of the incident. Texas: Yesterday an explosion was reported at a public transportation maintenance depot at the airport in El Paso. 7x people were injured in the blast, which occurred at the Sun Metro Operations Center in the vicinity of the facilities used to perform maintenance on public buses. AC: At the moment, it's not immediately clear as to what caused the blast, but due to the context of El Paso being a sensitive location for more kinetic activities (due to the border crisis, and the growing conflict that is developing), a more thorough investigation into this incident is expected. Washington D.C. - Substantial anti-corruption efforts continue as before. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that FEMA was able to halt the transfer of $59 million to NYC, which resulted in the firing of senior FEMA leadership yesterday. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: While the protest at Stuttgart was small, and comprising mostly of what appears to be children and military spouses, conducting a political protest on base is a rather bold move. For those unaware of the wholly un-democratic nature of the US military, protesting DoD leadership on base is generally very unauthorized (though this does depend on the guidance set by the local installation commander). As such, it's very likely that investigations are underway to identify the participants of political protests on base, to determine if any violations of policy occurred. At the moment it is not clear as to if the base commander authorized this activity (or even knew about it). More broadly, this on-base protest event must be considered in the larger context of DoD attitudes toward certain social issues. For instance, we must remember the recent scandal involving Fort Bragg and pro-life individuals...for many years, if someone simply had a state-DMV-issued pro-Life license plate, that was enough to flag service members as being potential terrorists. Yet in Stuttgart, military spouses (who benefit from the privilege of base access) are somehow allowed to gain access to sensitive locations to engage in political protest activity. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground

//The Wire//2300Z May 04, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: VBIED ATTACK CONDUCTED IN OREGON. NAVCENT PUBLISHES TRANSIT PLAN FOR VESSELS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ, WITH MIXED SUCCESS. IRAN CLAIMS TO TARGET US NAVY "PATROL BOAT" IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ, CENTCOM CLAIMS TO SINK 6X IRANIAN GUNBOATS IN GULF. VEHICLE RAMMING ATTACK REPORTED IN GERMANY.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----   -International Events- Strait of Hormuz: Major developments have taken place in the Strait over the weekend. Last night, President Trump announced the creation of "Project Freedom", a plan to allegedly "guide" third-party commercial ships out of the Persian Gulf, so as to at least get non-affiliated ships out of the combat zone for humanitarian reasons. Today, the details of the plan became more clear, and it also became clear that the Iranians did not agree with this plan, nor were they notified ahead of time. Early this morning, the United States revealed that the plan was actually the publishing of an alternate traffic scheme for merchant vessels to transit the Strait using Omani territorial waters. Immediately after this plan was published, two merchant vessels made the crossing attempt, both of which were either struck with Iranian cruise missiles or drones. Later on, a third vessel was reportedly on fire in the Strait, though the cause of the fire is not yet known. Following this incident, the IRGCN released a new map of the Strait, with two no-go barriers depicted to the east and west, further stressing that the Strait is closed. At some point throughout the day, the United States has claimed that two unidentified vessels were able to make it out of the Gulf, though the names of these vessels have not been released yet. Separately, kinetic targeting between the United States and Iran appears to have resumed on the high seas. After the United States announced the implementation of Project Freedom, US Forces conducted kinetic strikes on 6x Iranian gunboats patrolling either the Strait of Hormuz, or the Persian Gulf itself. On the Iranian side, the IRGCN have claimed to have targeted what they describe as an American Patrol Boat with two cruise missiles during the earlier strikes on merchant vessels. The Iranians claim that these missiles were not targeting the vessel, but were serving as warning shots to prevent the US vessel from proceeding further. Analyst Comment: Due to the linguistic and cultural barrier, all Middle Eastern nations tend to use doctrinally incorrect terminology when referring to American warships. In this case, "patrol boat" might not refer to an actual Riverine Command Boat (RCB), but might refer to a Destroyer (DDG) or maybe a Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). CENTCOM issued a carefully worded statement confirming that a ship had not been hit, but did not address the claims directly. On the other hand, the Iranians have been known to make outlandish claims regarding the targeting of American warships, so it's equally possible that the Iranians tried to sink the vessel, then claimed that the missiles were "warning shots", so as to save face from successful interceptions. However, last night the sky over Hormuz was filled with munitions, and multiple hulls are burning in the Strait as of this morning, so out of all of the prior claims made by the Iranians, this one is the most plausible situation where the Iranians might have actually come close to hitting an American vessel. United Arab Emirates: After this morning's scuffle in the Strait, four Iranian drones/cruise missiles were reported in Fujairah, as Iranian forces targeted the large oil refinery complex which has been used to circumvent the need for merchant tankers to transit the Strait. The UAE indicated that three of these munitions were intercepted, but one made it through to it's target, with several large fires being reported at the refinery this afternoon. In response to these attacks, the UAE has begun to re-closed their airspace for the next week. Southern Atlantic: An outbreak of Hantavirus has been reported onboard a cruise ship which is currently moored off the coast of Cape Verde. Three passengers have died from the virus so far, and two other passengers are reportedly symptomatic. The vessel remains under quarantine while the extent of the illness is investigated. The vessel had previously departed Argentina, and the full ship's itinerary included stops in the Falklands, South Georgia Island, and a few other smaller islands as part of an Antarctic tour. Roughly 150 passengers and crew remain onboard the vessel. Europe: This afternoon a vehicle ramming attack was reported in Germany, after one assailant rammed his vehicle into a crowd of people in Leipzig, near a strip mall at the southwest corner of the main town square. Two individuals were killed immediately during the attack, and three others remain in serious condition at a local hospital. The assailant was detained at the scene, but has not yet been identified, other than authorities stating that he is a 33-year-old male from Germany, and at the time of his detention was verbally incoherent. -HomeFront- Oregon: Saturday morning a Vehicle-Borne IED attack was conducted at a gym in Portland. One former employee of the Multnomah Athletic Club rammed his vehicle into the main entrance to the facility, before detonating a series of explosives inside the vehicle. The explosives were comprised of several propane tanks, along with unidentified materials. The devices failed to produce a high-order explosion and instead mostly burned, consuming the vehicle. The suspect was the only person killed during the attack, and several other explosive devices were discovered in the vehicle that did not detonate during the fire. Analyst Comment: Local authorities have specifically stated that they are not treating this incident as a case of domestic terrorism, even though this incident meets most traditional criteria for a Complex Coordinated Attack (CCA) due to the attacker using multiple weapons during the attack (the vehicle ramming, and the IED detonations). USA: Around the nation, fuel prices increased substantially over the weekend once again, with a total of 8 states reporting diesel prices over $6.00 per gallon: Illinois, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, and California. Nationwide, only two states are below $5.00 per gallon for diesel (Texas and Georgia). Analyst Comment: While many citizens are beleaguered by high gas prices, keeping an eye on diesel is even more important. Diesel prices are directly tied to the consumer market, as everything from food to medicine is transported on trucks and trains that use this fuel. Many commercial-goods companies instituted price control measures two months ago when the war in Iran first began, with Amazon for example instituting a 3.5% surcharge for all third-party sellers on their platform, to cover the cost of rising fuel prices. As the price of diesel and other distillates climb higher, these fees are certain to increase as well. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: In the Persian Gulf, wishing does NOT make it so. It is unclear as to what decision making process has been used by CENTCOM in the creation of Project Freedom, and it is hard to imagine that the plan really is indeed what has been implied. It's always easy to armchair-quarterback the war, and criticism of the operations so far has been plentiful all around. However, there's no way to sugarcoat this situation...intentionally putting civilian lives at risk without offering sufficient protection is...something. Telling ships that the US will "guide" them through, but this guidance essentially just being a roadmap and no substantial support, is hard to believe...but it sure looks like that's what happened this morning. As with this entire war so far, every single event will be analyzed and debated not just in terms of effectiveness, but also of intent. On the more nefarious end of that scale, one of the more plausible theories for the events of the day is that the goal was to not really open the Strait, but to get the Iranians to fire first, break the ceasefire, and thus justify a resumption of the bombing. Granted, the US doesn't really need a reason to continue the war, but sending a couple of Destroyers into the Strait (if they actually did that, which isn't confirmed) to provide the bare-minimum "security" in order to convince a handful of ships to cross, is not in accordance with traditional naval doctrine. Especially since the wording of the notice announcing "Project Freedom" confirms that NAVCENT clearly stated that they haven't cleared the mines, but that their route takes ships through the minefield. Consequently, using merchant vessels to clear a minefield by driving through it is an interesting choice that will result in cost savings for the US Navy, but is not likely to result in companies trusting the United States. CENTCOM claims that US Navy vessels are in the Strait and protecting merchants from Iranian targeting efforts, but if they are indeed in the Strait they are sailing with their transponders off, which is not exactly indicative of a safe situation. Plus, the two (possibly three) successful Iranian strikes in the minutes after Project Freedom began cast doubt on the success of those escort efforts. One of the critical requirements for warships escorting merchant vessels is to actually protect merchant ships from harm, and if this cannot be guaranteed there's not much confidence in the overall mission. As with any war, there are knowns and unknowns. Deception and obfuscation are critical parts of all warfare, and in this case military deception has been used on all sides to achieve military objectives. Granting CENTCOM leadership as much charity and leeway as reasonable in their planning efforts, it is possible that what is transpiring in the Strait cannot be observed with total certainty by outside forces; it's possible that one or two ships are sneaking through with their transponder turned off. It's also possible that a larger operation is brewing. The US has a lot of tools in the toolbox of deception, but the grand question is how much deception can actually work in such a tight space. Maritime chokepoints and the terrain of the battlespace offer finite parameters to work within...it's a small Strait, and a dude with binoculars perched on any point of 500 miles of Iranian coastline can clearly see any merchant shipping attempting to cross it at any time. Weather is nearly perfect in the region year round, and day or night, there is zero way to conceal a large vessel's transit through the waterway. Considering all angles, it's theoretically possible that the US Navy has actually secretly cleared (or at least marked) many mines, if not from above the waves, then from below. The US certainly has the technical ability to get one or two ships out, but getting traffic back to the pre-war numbers of 100+ merchant ships transiting the Strait every day is not going to be possible without the Iranian's cooperation. Sneaking two ships out successfully (while also losing the same number to missiles), is what most would call a pyric victory at best, and since there are roughly 2,000 merchant vessels stuck in the Persian Gulf right now, this Project has gotten off to a rocky start. From the perspective of the commercial maritime industry, there's simply no way to know beyond all doubt what threats remain, and what the United States and Iran will do. But therein lies the problem...insurance companies and merchant mariners alike don't make decisions based on *all doubt*, but rather *reasonable doubt*. And right now it is very reasonable to not want to transit the Strait due to the risks, which remain insufficiently mitigated by western forces. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//2300Z January 27, 2025// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: DIPLOMATIC SCANDAL ERUPTS, IS QUICKLY RESOLVED, BETWEEN THE U.S. AND COLOMBIA. SKIRMISH BREAKS OUT ON SOUTHERN U.S. BORDER NEAR FRONTON, TX.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE----- -International Events- France: A 14-year-old was murdered by two as-yet-unidentified assailants in Paris. The boy died after being stabbed for refusing to give up his phone to the attackers, who were later arrested. Local police have stated that both assailants had previously been arrested for violent crime. Colombia: Diplomatic tensions remain high following a brief scandal involving deportations over the weekend. Trouble began when Colombian authorities refused to allow two American deportation flights to land in their country. Immediately following this development, the United States imposed a 25% tariff on all Colombian trade with the United States, and canceled all of the visas for all Columbian government officials in the United States. A few hours after President Trump posted these terms on his social media account, Colombia relented and will now accept all deportation flights as previously agreed. As a result, the United States has removed the threat of tariffs, and has resumed the status quo. AC: While short-lived, this diplomatic spat has largely served as a very strong message in the diplomatic arena, and proven that the United States government will not hesitate to impose tariffs. Middle East: Tensions have flared again following the ceasefire in Gaza as territorial aspirations have become more publicly known. Over the weekend, President Trump made his policy position more clear by desiring Gaza to be completely abandoned by the Palestinians. Specifically, he stated that "You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing". Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC): Conflict has intensified once again following the rapid advance of M23 rebels in the eastern region of the war-torn nation. Over the weekend the Rwandan-backed (and ethnically Tutsi) M23 rebels conducted a rapid advance into the city of Goma in eastern DRC. -HomeFront- Texas: One individual was shot by military police as they attempted to breach the perimeter of JBSA - Fort Sam Houston Saturday afternoon. AC: So far, very few details have been released regarding this incident, however the individual was reportedly attempting to enter the installation via the Walters Gate. The assailant was treated at a local hospital. Indiana: Mathew Huttle was shot and killed by State Police during a traffic stop in Jasper yesterday evening. AC: Huttle was recently pardoned by President Trump as part of the J6 pardons. Right now, the circumstances of this incident are unclear, however the shooting allegedly took place after Huttle resisted arrest. What originally prompted the traffic stop, and the attempt to arrest him remains unknown. As such, in the absence of information the larger context of many J6 prisoners being re-arrested on state charges must be considered as many loose ends pertaining to the J6 incident remain unresolved. USA: Deportations continue as before, with many ICE raids taking place in many major cities throughout the United States. Fortification efforts at the southern border continue as thousands of troops arrive and begin deterrence and security operations. This afternoon, Texas DPS officials reported a skirmish along the border in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, near the town of Fronton. A suspected Cartel element (of unknown size) attempting to aid illegals in their entry to the United States opened fire with small arms on unidentified American forces on the American side of the river. No casualties were reported on either side as a result of the engagement, though the crossing of illegals was halted as the suspected Cartel members broke contact and egressed from the area. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: As one might imagine, President Trump's short, off-hand comment on Gaza is exceptionally important in the context of the history of the region, and all of the wars fought over sand since WWII. Of course, close examination of President Trump's choice of vernacular rarely yields a clear result when it comes to foreign policy. However, many have taken this statement as further confirmation of what the United States' intentions are in the region: to forcibly immigrate Palestinians from Gaza en masse, into another neighboring nation, so that Israel can seize the land. Israel has been very open and clear regarding their desire for a defensive "buffer zone" that would require territorial expansion. As inflammatory as that idea may be for some, this plan is patently obvious at this point despite all of the efforts to gaslight and deflect from this truth. Of course, American discourse on this issue is largely tainted by the blackmail and manipulation of our politicians, and a gaslighting of the American people at large. In American society the most important facet of any conversation pertaining to the Palestinian question is that of denunciation. The slightest criticism of Israel simply is not allowed throughout American society without immediately condemning Hamas within the same breath, to the point that sheer conversational exhaustion abounds. This social implication alone has compromised all discourse on the region for decades. Granted, participants of the pro-Palestine movement here in the U.S. aren't doing themselves any favors either, both with their actions and the reality of the larger ideology at play not exactly endearing to (or being congruent with) American culture. However, taking all of the inflammatory ideology out of the equation (on both sides), and solely focusing on the stability of the region, Trump wanting to "clean out" Gaza is certain to result in a true, lasting peace becoming much harder to come about. Unfortunately, peace can come about in two ways. The first being if the belligerents of a conflict decide to halt hostilities...the second being if the entirety of one side, to include every living human being in the area, is eliminated. Unfortunately, President Trump's statements do nothing to alleviate the growing concerns that American intentions support the latter situation. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground

//The Wire//2300Z May 19, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: DETAILS EMERGE REGARDING YESTERDAYS SHOOTING IN CALIFORNIA. TENSIONS INCREASE IN IRELAND FOLLOWING DEATH OF CONGOLESE NATIONAL. WAR POTENTIAL IN MIDDLE EAST REMAINS AS ALL PARTIES CONTINUE PREPARING FOR CONFLICT.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----   -International Events- Ireland: Tensions have increased sharply following the death of a Congolese man on Friday. Yves Sakila died while resisting arrest, after he shoplifted from a local store and broke an elderly man's leg. This death has resulted in a mobilization of the Congolese population of Dublin, with mass protests planned for tonight and the next few days. Analyst Comment: It's too soon to tell, but many locals are saying this is Dublin's version of George Floyd in terms of civil unrest and the large Congolese population in Ireland. Roving bands of Congolese gangs commonly cause problems within Dublin, and since local tensions were already boiling before this, clashes are likely if the Congolese decide to escalate the situation. Middle East: The potential for a resumption of the war remains on the table, as rhetoric on all sides continues to escalate. The creation and streamlining of the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (the Iranian organization that has claimed administrative control of the Strait) has continued to be of cause for concern for western-aligned vessels. The handful of ships that are transiting the Strait are sailing with their transponders turned off, and so far all vessels have transited with Iranian approval. This afternoon, President Trump stated that he was only one hour away from ordering the resumption of the fighting yesterday. He also stated that the fighting may resume in a few days regardless, and all parties around the region remain ready for the ceasefire to come to an end. -HomeFront- Alabama: Yesterday a suspect was arrested in conjunction with a missing person investigation in Northport. Two weeks ago, Karen Deann Hollis was reported missing, after concerned family members failed to locate her. On Saturday, her remains were located at an undisclosed location in Greene County. At the scene, authorities arrested Randall Lendell Dejourney on charges of abusing human remains for 8 days. He is being held in jail on a $15,000 cash bond and no murder charges have been filed. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: Few details have come to light regarding yesterday's shooting at the San Diego Islamic Center, however the suspects have been identified as Cain Clark and Caleb Vazquez. The two shooters attempted to conduct a mass shooting at the facility, and began the attack by killing the security guard at the front entry point of the building. After making entrance to the facility, the suspects killed two more people, before re-entering their vehicle and driving a short distance from the facility. Both suspects were found deceased inside the vehicle with self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Concerning the suspects themselves, the very few details that have emerged indicate this was very likely the standard transgender shooting. Both suspects were of questionable status, though both appear to have been born male. Slogans and statements were written on the firearms with a white paint pen, which has become a staggeringly common calling card of most trans-affiliated mass shootings (as the shooters often try to copy previous attacks). Both attackers appear to have been Hispanic, but also used symbols from political movements that would not have approved of their lifestyle choices, which is another hallmark of such attacks as well. No official link to the Order of Nine Angles (O9A) or the 764 Network has been made, however this would be wise to investigate as this shooting is nearly identical to all prior O9A/764 mass murders from years past. The attackers also allegedly livestreaming the attack fits with many other similar attacks as well. Of note, another bit of amplifying information might be helpful for factoring in to risk assessments. Five days ago, a nationwide shortage of Progesterone was reported. Among many other more traditional uses, this medication is used by transgender individuals to level out mood changes during their process. More strategically, this could be nothing or it could be something. There's no indication at all that the two shooters in California were affected by this drug, and there is no evidence linking this attack to any drug shortage as drug shortages happen all of the time for varying reasons. However, copycat incidents are an extreme risk in the wake of attacks like this, and a drug which is intended to affect mood changes among this population is in short supply. Again, this might be a loose correlation at best, but it's worth being aware of when trying to calculate the risk of future copycat attacks. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//2300Z May 04, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: VBIED ATTACK CONDUCTED IN OREGON. NAVCENT PUBLISHES TRANSIT PLAN FOR VESSELS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ, WITH MIXED SUCCESS. IRAN CLAIMS TO TARGET US NAVY "PATROL BOAT" IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ, CENTCOM CLAIMS TO SINK 6X IRANIAN GUNBOATS IN GULF. VEHICLE RAMMING ATTACK REPORTED IN GERMANY.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----   -International Events- Strait of Hormuz: Major developments have taken place in the Strait over the weekend. Last night, President Trump announced the creation of "Project Freedom", a plan to allegedly "guide" third-party commercial ships out of the Persian Gulf, so as to at least get non-affiliated ships out of the combat zone for humanitarian reasons. Today, the details of the plan became more clear, and it also became clear that the Iranians did not agree with this plan, nor were they notified ahead of time. Early this morning, the United States revealed that the plan was actually the publishing of an alternate traffic scheme for merchant vessels to transit the Strait using Omani territorial waters. Immediately after this plan was published, two merchant vessels made the crossing attempt, both of which were either struck with Iranian cruise missiles or drones. Later on, a third vessel was reportedly on fire in the Strait, though the cause of the fire is not yet known. Following this incident, the IRGCN released a new map of the Strait, with two no-go barriers depicted to the east and west, further stressing that the Strait is closed. At some point throughout the day, the United States has claimed that two unidentified vessels were able to make it out of the Gulf, though the names of these vessels have not been released yet. Separately, kinetic targeting between the United States and Iran appears to have resumed on the high seas. After the United States announced the implementation of Project Freedom, US Forces conducted kinetic strikes on 6x Iranian gunboats patrolling either the Strait of Hormuz, or the Persian Gulf itself. On the Iranian side, the IRGCN have claimed to have targeted what they describe as an American Patrol Boat with two cruise missiles during the earlier strikes on merchant vessels. The Iranians claim that these missiles were not targeting the vessel, but were serving as warning shots to prevent the US vessel from proceeding further. Analyst Comment: Due to the linguistic and cultural barrier, all Middle Eastern nations tend to use doctrinally incorrect terminology when referring to American warships. In this case, "patrol boat" might not refer to an actual Riverine Command Boat (RCB), but might refer to a Destroyer (DDG) or maybe a Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). CENTCOM issued a carefully worded statement confirming that a ship had not been hit, but did not address the claims directly. On the other hand, the Iranians have been known to make outlandish claims regarding the targeting of American warships, so it's equally possible that the Iranians tried to sink the vessel, then claimed that the missiles were "warning shots", so as to save face from successful interceptions. However, last night the sky over Hormuz was filled with munitions, and multiple hulls are burning in the Strait as of this morning, so out of all of the prior claims made by the Iranians, this one is the most plausible situation where the Iranians might have actually come close to hitting an American vessel. United Arab Emirates: After this morning's scuffle in the Strait, four Iranian drones/cruise missiles were reported in Fujairah, as Iranian forces targeted the large oil refinery complex which has been used to circumvent the need for merchant tankers to transit the Strait. The UAE indicated that three of these munitions were intercepted, but one made it through to it's target, with several large fires being reported at the refinery this afternoon. In response to these attacks, the UAE has begun to re-closed their airspace for the next week. Southern Atlantic: An outbreak of Hantavirus has been reported onboard a cruise ship which is currently moored off the coast of Cape Verde. Three passengers have died from the virus so far, and two other passengers are reportedly symptomatic. The vessel remains under quarantine while the extent of the illness is investigated. The vessel had previously departed Argentina, and the full ship's itinerary included stops in the Falklands, South Georgia Island, and a few other smaller islands as part of an Antarctic tour. Roughly 150 passengers and crew remain onboard the vessel. Europe: This afternoon a vehicle ramming attack was reported in Germany, after one assailant rammed his vehicle into a crowd of people in Leipzig, near a strip mall at the southwest corner of the main town square. Two individuals were killed immediately during the attack, and three others remain in serious condition at a local hospital. The assailant was detained at the scene, but has not yet been identified, other than authorities stating that he is a 33-year-old male from Germany, and at the time of his detention was verbally incoherent. -HomeFront- Oregon: Saturday morning a Vehicle-Borne IED attack was conducted at a gym in Portland. One former employee of the Multnomah Athletic Club rammed his vehicle into the main entrance to the facility, before detonating a series of explosives inside the vehicle. The explosives were comprised of several propane tanks, along with unidentified materials. The devices failed to produce a high-order explosion and instead mostly burned, consuming the vehicle. The suspect was the only person killed during the attack, and several other explosive devices were discovered in the vehicle that did not detonate during the fire. Analyst Comment: Local authorities have specifically stated that they are not treating this incident as a case of domestic terrorism, even though this incident meets most traditional criteria for a Complex Coordinated Attack (CCA) due to the attacker using multiple weapons during the attack (the vehicle ramming, and the IED detonations). USA: Around the nation, fuel prices increased substantially over the weekend once again, with a total of 8 states reporting diesel prices over $6.00 per gallon: Illinois, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, and California. Nationwide, only two states are below $5.00 per gallon for diesel (Texas and Georgia). Analyst Comment: While many citizens are beleaguered by high gas prices, keeping an eye on diesel is even more important. Diesel prices are directly tied to the consumer market, as everything from food to medicine is transported on trucks and trains that use this fuel. Many commercial-goods companies instituted price control measures two months ago when the war in Iran first began, with Amazon for example instituting a 3.5% surcharge for all third-party sellers on their platform, to cover the cost of rising fuel prices. As the price of diesel and other distillates climb higher, these fees are certain to increase as well. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: In the Persian Gulf, wishing does NOT make it so. It is unclear as to what decision making process has been used by CENTCOM in the creation of Project Freedom, and it is hard to imagine that the plan really is indeed what has been implied. It's always easy to armchair-quarterback the war, and criticism of the operations so far has been plentiful all around. However, there's no way to sugarcoat this situation...intentionally putting civilian lives at risk without offering sufficient protection is...something. Telling ships that the US will "guide" them through, but this guidance essentially just being a roadmap and no substantial support, is hard to believe...but it sure looks like that's what happened this morning. As with this entire war so far, every single event will be analyzed and debated not just in terms of effectiveness, but also of intent. On the more nefarious end of that scale, one of the more plausible theories for the events of the day is that the goal was to not really open the Strait, but to get the Iranians to fire first, break the ceasefire, and thus justify a resumption of the bombing. Granted, the US doesn't really need a reason to continue the war, but sending a couple of Destroyers into the Strait (if they actually did that, which isn't confirmed) to provide the bare-minimum "security" in order to convince a handful of ships to cross, is not in accordance with traditional naval doctrine. Especially since the wording of the notice announcing "Project Freedom" confirms that NAVCENT clearly stated that they haven't cleared the mines, but that their route takes ships through the minefield. Consequently, using merchant vessels to clear a minefield by driving through it is an interesting choice that will result in cost savings for the US Navy, but is not likely to result in companies trusting the United States. CENTCOM claims that US Navy vessels are in the Strait and protecting merchants from Iranian targeting efforts, but if they are indeed in the Strait they are sailing with their transponders off, which is not exactly indicative of a safe situation. Plus, the two (possibly three) successful Iranian strikes in the minutes after Project Freedom began cast doubt on the success of those escort efforts. One of the critical requirements for warships escorting merchant vessels is to actually protect merchant ships from harm, and if this cannot be guaranteed there's not much confidence in the overall mission. As with any war, there are knowns and unknowns. Deception and obfuscation are critical parts of all warfare, and in this case military deception has been used on all sides to achieve military objectives. Granting CENTCOM leadership as much charity and leeway as reasonable in their planning efforts, it is possible that what is transpiring in the Strait cannot be observed with total certainty by outside forces; it's possible that one or two ships are sneaking through with their transponder turned off. It's also possible that a larger operation is brewing. The US has a lot of tools in the toolbox of deception, but the grand question is how much deception can actually work in such a tight space. Maritime chokepoints and the terrain of the battlespace offer finite parameters to work within...it's a small Strait, and a dude with binoculars perched on any point of 500 miles of Iranian coastline can clearly see any merchant shipping attempting to cross it at any time. Weather is nearly perfect in the region year round, and day or night, there is zero way to conceal a large vessel's transit through the waterway. Considering all angles, it's theoretically possible that the US Navy has actually secretly cleared (or at least marked) many mines, if not from above the waves, then from below. The US certainly has the technical ability to get one or two ships out, but getting traffic back to the pre-war numbers of 100+ merchant ships transiting the Strait every day is not going to be possible without the Iranian's cooperation. Sneaking two ships out successfully (while also losing the same number to missiles), is what most would call a pyric victory at best, and since there are roughly 2,000 merchant vessels stuck in the Persian Gulf right now, this Project has gotten off to a rocky start. From the perspective of the commercial maritime industry, there's simply no way to know beyond all doubt what threats remain, and what the United States and Iran will do. But therein lies the problem...insurance companies and merchant mariners alike don't make decisions based on *all doubt*, but rather *reasonable doubt*. And right now it is very reasonable to not want to transit the Strait due to the risks, which remain insufficiently mitigated by western forces. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

//The Wire//2300Z May 19, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: DETAILS EMERGE REGARDING YESTERDAYS SHOOTING IN CALIFORNIA. TENSIONS INCREASE IN IRELAND FOLLOWING DEATH OF CONGOLESE NATIONAL. WAR POTENTIAL IN MIDDLE EAST REMAINS AS ALL PARTIES CONTINUE PREPARING FOR CONFLICT.//  -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----   -International Events- Ireland: Tensions have increased sharply following the death of a Congolese man on Friday. Yves Sakila died while resisting arrest, after he shoplifted from a local store and broke an elderly man's leg. This death has resulted in a mobilization of the Congolese population of Dublin, with mass protests planned for tonight and the next few days. Analyst Comment: It's too soon to tell, but many locals are saying this is Dublin's version of George Floyd in terms of civil unrest and the large Congolese population in Ireland. Roving bands of Congolese gangs commonly cause problems within Dublin, and since local tensions were already boiling before this, clashes are likely if the Congolese decide to escalate the situation. Middle East: The potential for a resumption of the war remains on the table, as rhetoric on all sides continues to escalate. The creation and streamlining of the Persian Gulf Strait Authority (the Iranian organization that has claimed administrative control of the Strait) has continued to be of cause for concern for western-aligned vessels. The handful of ships that are transiting the Strait are sailing with their transponders turned off, and so far all vessels have transited with Iranian approval. This afternoon, President Trump stated that he was only one hour away from ordering the resumption of the fighting yesterday. He also stated that the fighting may resume in a few days regardless, and all parties around the region remain ready for the ceasefire to come to an end. -HomeFront- Alabama: Yesterday a suspect was arrested in conjunction with a missing person investigation in Northport. Two weeks ago, Karen Deann Hollis was reported missing, after concerned family members failed to locate her. On Saturday, her remains were located at an undisclosed location in Greene County. At the scene, authorities arrested Randall Lendell Dejourney on charges of abusing human remains for 8 days. He is being held in jail on a $15,000 cash bond and no murder charges have been filed. -----END TEARLINE----- Analyst Comments: Few details have come to light regarding yesterday's shooting at the San Diego Islamic Center, however the suspects have been identified as Cain Clark and Caleb Vazquez. The two shooters attempted to conduct a mass shooting at the facility, and began the attack by killing the security guard at the front entry point of the building. After making entrance to the facility, the suspects killed two more people, before re-entering their vehicle and driving a short distance from the facility. Both suspects were found deceased inside the vehicle with self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Concerning the suspects themselves, the very few details that have emerged indicate this was very likely the standard transgender shooting. Both suspects were of questionable status, though both appear to have been born male. Slogans and statements were written on the firearms with a white paint pen, which has become a staggeringly common calling card of most trans-affiliated mass shootings (as the shooters often try to copy previous attacks). Both attackers appear to have been Hispanic, but also used symbols from political movements that would not have approved of their lifestyle choices, which is another hallmark of such attacks as well. No official link to the Order of Nine Angles (O9A) or the 764 Network has been made, however this would be wise to investigate as this shooting is nearly identical to all prior O9A/764 mass murders from years past. The attackers also allegedly livestreaming the attack fits with many other similar attacks as well. Of note, another bit of amplifying information might be helpful for factoring in to risk assessments. Five days ago, a nationwide shortage of Progesterone was reported. Among many other more traditional uses, this medication is used by transgender individuals to level out mood changes during their process. More strategically, this could be nothing or it could be something. There's no indication at all that the two shooters in California were affected by this drug, and there is no evidence linking this attack to any drug shortage as drug shortages happen all of the time for varying reasons. However, copycat incidents are an extreme risk in the wake of attacks like this, and a drug which is intended to affect mood changes among this population is in short supply. Again, this might be a loose correlation at best, but it's worth being aware of when trying to calculate the risk of future copycat attacks. Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report.

[Music] hello again everybody and welcome back to the underground so today we've got kind of a very controversial topic um this is something that we've been working on and thinking about for a very very long time and it's not necessarily a topic that we're covering for a dire need so much as the fact that we're we're sort of oddly fascinated by these you know really unique sort of survival situations and and um circumstances that are very very difficult to you know thrive in uh so we've taken a special interest in that over the years and we'll dive into that a little bit later but also due to a few different reasons um mostly due to the societal um i guess turmoil is perhaps a way to put it that is sort of sprung up around not just around the us but around the world so we wanted to take a sort of scientific approach or if if we can't be you know scientists and maybe we can be historians and kind of and kind of walk through uh what is a very very controversial topic like i said and the topic we're gonna be covering today is how and and when to begin thinking about uh perhaps uh hiding or or surviving or making it through a difficult time and you know we're not of course saying that we should go out and start you know hiding people in our attics or anything um but it is kind of something that's interesting to think about and it's in and we haven't seen anybody really talk about this in a sort of other than a reverent way of remembering history we haven't really seen anybody talk about this topic in a 21st century context so that's what we're going to try to talk about today and you know of course when we start talking about this these are some of the questions that we get um mostly the fact that you know when you start talking about um concealing people or or supplies or cashing things inside your home or other places um people tend to look at you a little funny even people who are you know hardcore preppers or or survivalists or or even you know like some criminal elements tend to look at you a little bit weird if you're a perfectly sane person who's trying to um or or even just thinking about um perhaps hiding from the authorities in such a way that's um to prevent a sort of an atrocity from happening and we sort of walk that fine line because as we see we're gonna have to talk about some things that aren't necessarily strictly legal when we think about hiding people in our homes we of course go back to the anne frank example and we must remember that during the time period that that scenario went um down we must always keep in the back of our mind that you know otto frank and and his family were the criminals in that aspect and the people that were hunting them down uh to murder them they were perfectly within the law so we're gonna of course not encourage anybody to do anything illegal um and we're not if we're you know once again i can't stress this enough we're not you know encouraging people to be extremely paranoid but with that caveat this is an interesting topic to think about uh and it's it's definitely worth talking about in today's society especially with with everything that's going on so um as a good jumping off point we we must remember that this is something that the us government excels in and this is what this image is now i would not expect anyone to recognize this group of barrel-chested freedom fighters if you did they were not doing their job correctly so let's go to another image and this is the same image of these gentlemen during the 70s and 80s no one really knows when this image was taken but once again they're not really well known you should not be able to recognize these gentlemen and that's because these guys were the first uh special forces for the united states military now this was the very beginning of a very special kind of special forces when they were first created they were called operational detachments and these guys were first were part of this group called the operational detachment alpha they're still called odas today so you've probably heard us mention odas or or being on an oda in some of our previous content but while a lot of people will call these guys you know being on an oda most people would know them as green berets so these guys were part of the very very first green beret units and their mission was not to uh you know be inserted behind enemy lines in vietnam like you know a certain john wayne movie that we all know for sort of bringing forth the popularity of the green berets their mission was very was one uh very simple one and other than standing guard and you know performing security functions their goal their mission was to in the event of a soviet takeover of um west germany they would be able to stay behind let the soviet union and the soviet troops steamrolled through their area and then caused a lot of havoc they would lead the resistance afterwards they were what we now know as stay behind forces this concept is not new this goes back to way before world war ii but i highly suggest you look into this concept yourself because we can't really talk more about uh stay behind forces and the things we're doing in today's military because a lot of that stuff is still classified even though it happened a long time ago and is pretty much common knowledge um you're gonna have to research that on your own we may have a separate video on that later but it's kind of hard for us to talk about uh sort of stay behind forces and things like that so just know that even though the topic we're talking about today seems to be a very very very paranoid very very last ditch like oh this will never happen type scenario just be just you know be mindful of the fact that the us military has been training and specializing uh special forces uh detachments in this exact topic for a very very long time so that's where we're coming at it from we're not coming at it from a sort of survivalist or prepper angle i know we've said it many many times before but i myself is too actual and i don't think most of the people here associated with the esg underground we don't classify ourselves as being preppers but we do like to be a little bit more prepared for things that that may happen down the line and you know our sort of motto here is be an asset not a liability so be an asset to your team be an asset to uh your neighborhood your friends your family don't be a liability so that's what we're coming at it from that so hopefully that will put people in the right mindset for what the difficult topic we have to cover today so this is one of the um the clinchers um so when we think about an invasion or when we think about a a tyrannical government contemplating something as atrocious as genocide we have to realize that history is is um history has a long memory right so we have lots of cases where this is you know the case everything from somalia to you know afghanistan when the taliban took over you know afghanistan used to be a a very very prominent ski resort in a heavily westernized area same thing with iran you know iran they were a very westernized society and then a lot of political changes took place and now they're known uh they're very infamous for different reasons so one of the big questions that we get all the time is should i leave or should i not leave like when do i know when it's right to leave my country when do i know it's right to egress from my area and to be honest the answer is very very difficult however we can say that usually you make the decision way too late to do anything about it anyway and also usually it's very very easy to leave a country that's in strife um like it's very easy to leave you know rwanda like going back to the rwanda genocide it was very easy for europeans to leave that country even as the genocide was in full swing it was pretty easy to do um to get on that planet out of kigali to to to get back to europe or the u.s or wherever um but if you were a refugee uh it's easy to leave the country just walk out of it because the borders were open but it's a little bit more difficult to figure out where to stay long-term so the chances are if you ever have the the question in your mind of should i leave my nation and flee to another country that's it's more a little bit more stable you know should i leave rwanda in the summer of 1993 or 1994. you know should i leave in 1993 in the fall before the genocide occurs next spring next summer um you know that's hindsight is very easy to make the decisions but during the time period is hard to say and here's the other bigger question can it happen in the united states because usually when we're talking about leaving a tyrannical country leaving a dictatorial country leaving a country where there's an authority you know an authoritarian government a regime that's you know maybe committing acts of genocide or or you know something as atrocious as that or even just discriminating against a a population of people um can it should we leave the us um and the answer is uh for the most part that we've determined is no uh the united states is usually you know people don't tend to leave the united states because it's too tyrannical people don't tend to leave the united states because it's you know an authoritarian enough an authoritarian regime um it's you know the united states is sort of the goal to get to um so we don't have an answer for that um and we're not really sure that any of this sort of stuff applies to the united states you know we try to talk about various levels of um of hiding things and we do have a an example from the us but the kid that the problem is is that we just don't know and this is kind of an intelligence gap that we have and it's not that we don't lack uh the the gut feeling it's just that we don't have a good example for this and you know just to kind of hammer it home we can't mention this by name in the video or else youtube will flag this and take it down but obviously right now uh the reason we're even talking about this in the first place is not necessarily this thing that we have here on the screen but the impacts of it right so we're seeing people that are you know we hate to say these things out loud because when we say them out loud it tends to make it sound like we're making this stuff up and the the blanket truth and the the blunt and harsh truth is that around the united states people are being arrested for being outside during the wrong time of day people are having their children taken away from them because they may be sick or they you know refuse to quarantine people are being arrested left and right for opening up businesses being in parks not wearing masks so you know and and it's not that it's not that it's happening on a widespread scale because we can't know that like i i can't know how many people are being arrested every day because of this it may just be one or two or maybe one or two thousand but i'm saying that the fact that it's happening at all shows that it's maybe time to start thinking about these things it may not be time to uh start building things like we're going to be talking about here in a minute but it's definitely worth you know thinking about that's all we're trying to do with this video is get people to think um and sort of share ideas and and spread knowledge right now because right now it may not be the time to go you know quit your job and stock up food and hide in your attic for a couple years it may not be time for that but it is definitely the time for learning and it's definitely the time for thinking right so that's why we're sort of talking about this so that with that being said and with that long sort of disclaimer being said hopefully we haven't turned anybody off but these are our goals right is to quote you know quote unquote fill the sandbags before the rain right because by the time it starts sprinkling it's too late to start filling sandbags for the most part uh to stick with the analogy of a flood um but i'll just read this out for people who may be listening on the podcast our our first goal is to to have the capabilities to hold out until societal political and economic pressures subside uh therefore returning to a more stable period in time and for this we want people to think in their mind you know think about maintaining operations through prohibition think about all those bars and those speakeasies that sort of popped up and maintain operations through prohibition it was only for a very very short period of time but prohibition was such a drastic thing that it literally altered our constitution right so people tend to you know jump to uh the the the nazi you know uh allegory but you know prohibition is is not to be uh not to be misled either so that's our first goal and our second goal is more serious right our second goal is to be immediately prepared to not only be self-sufficient but also to provide aid shelter supplies to others in the event of a more serious collapse-like situation and for this category we're thinking you know thinking about surviving the rwandan genocide the rwandan genocide was a very very quick event when it comes to uh genocides now granted it did take many many months to kill those hundreds of thousands of people however the from the very very start right from the sort of burundian genocide which kind of kicked everything off and sort of uh you know allowed the the hutus and the tutsis to develop an animosity towards one another that was even uh it was genocidal in nature that occurred only you know a year before the actual genocide so from you know like 1990 1991 until you know 1994 when the genocide occurred that's something that's a very short time period it's only a few years we're not talking about 100 years of sentiment built up so that's sort of what we're thinking about this is going to be a very short term you know a couple of years at the very most and then we'll be back to or at least a different society and you know when you look at these two goals here you can sort of build a comparison to what we in the military or what we you know intelligence analysts like to use which is our most likely koa our most likely course of action and our most deadly our most or most dangerous course of action depending on which agency you work for so you're most likely koa is you know going to be you know prepare for what's most likely right but also be prepared for what's the worst case so be prepared for what's going to happen you know uh you know most often but also be prepared for the absolute worst case that's our goal right to be kind of prepared for both or at least be mindful but start thinking about them so this leads us to our sort of our system for caches or hideouts or what you call it so there's four main types that we have identified now this is all our own organic research a lot of people have been have done research in different areas but we've kind of narrowed it down to four things that we think are worth uh thinking about and the first one is micro caches um and if we slide this over to the side and we take a look at what micro caches contain they're going to be for information right micro caches uh for things like microfilm from like the 80s from you know the soviet spys or these secret coins that they put microfilm inside but nowadays we're talking micro sd cards micro sd cards can be hidden pretty much everywhere including inside the human body so that's what we say when we mean micro caches next up are sort of larger gear caches and these are going to be for things like food and supplies and gear and other things that are most likely to be banned you know if you've got say like an ammo box you know that's got some ammo in it or or maybe some you know 80 lowers or something like that you know that's socked away in the bottom of a closet or underneath the floorboard or two that's what we're talking about when we mean larger gear caches now these obviously can be of any size but that's the kind of size we're thinking we're thinking maybe ammo box maybe foot locker size at the very most and the next size up are what we call quick hides now this is an interesting concept we haven't heard anybody talk about really a quick hide is is is basically a coffin right it's a coffin-sized um hideout that a person can slip into very very easily and very very quickly um and hide their temporarily maybe you know no more than a couple of hours tops right so we're thinking about things like uh you know cool tables that uh like a pool table or something that you hit a button and a compartment drops down and you hit a button again and it raises the person gets in and you hit a button and the compartment raises back up and the person is hidden inside the the pool table that's the kind of thing we're thinking about with these and um these are kind of hard to construct if you're going to build one yourself it's going to be not easy to do but we'll talk about that in a minute and then our last category are long term hides now these are every prepper's dream right everybody wants to have a secret bunker or a secret annex right or something hidden where you could live inside there for a long period of time and no one would ever know sort of that's what we're going for when that's what may be required in certain circumstances but um you know we'll go we'll go over the pros and cons here in just a second but you know suffice it to say these covert living areas um they're not gonna be easy to maintain they're gonna there's there's a lot of problems with them but you also have to remember that they are the most secure and they're able to sustain life in relative comfort for a very long time so just some examples of micro caches this is what we have here now when you go research these micro caches you can use any sort of keyword you want diversion safes are a good a good term to start with but you have to be mindful this is kind of where we're straight to the legal sort of area all of these caches here like on the on the right side of the screen they you can see right here uh the one on the bottom uh this right here is the diversion safe hair brush by stash it brand can hide can what does it say can safe to hide money jewelry or valuables with discreet secret removable lid and bonus smell proof container so obviously these micro caches when you go look for them on amazon especially on amazon they're really meant for one market and they're trying to sugarcoat it but basically these caches are meant to hide drugs like that's basically what they're made for you can call them like covert pill containers this one over here on the right side of the screen again is a flashlight that's a quote-unquote discrete pill holder yeah right it's meant to hold like either weed or some kind of pills or something so you have to realize that a lot of times that's what these are made for and you know i'm not saying that it's you know a bad market i'm just saying that uh they're not fooling anybody when they're when they're talking about that so you you know possessing these in some areas might might not be the best thing so just keep that in mind is that you know to basically keep your information private you know even if you're putting a micro sd card with your health records on it inside a coin like up here in this micro sd card or inside a bolt right here you're going to have to buy things from people who are probably trying to help people conceal drugs and whatever your feelings are on that you know it's kind of irrelevant because the you know law enforcement's feelings on that are quite clear is that that's a crime so just keep that in mind is that you're gonna have to sort of buy stuff from stoners on amazon if you're trying to uh if you're trying to do that so with that out of the way here is another concept and this i want to briefly touch on this because we're going to have a whole separate probably an hour maybe two hour long series on just this exact thing now this is uh not a con this is not a picture of my exact one but this is a i have this exact container um this is my seer escape capsule and we will have a whole video on this so i'm sorry we can't talk about it now because we just don't have enough time but this is a very very interesting concept that i don't see anyone on the internet talking about despite the fact that this is kind of a pretty big part of seer um and you would think that at least some you know maybe some brovets or something who've actually been through like the advanced seer courses would talk about this but they don't which is kind of weird so uh let's move along now to the sort of larger caches now these are like uh your fake vents your uh my personal favorite of these little um power outlets like you know uh power receptacles in a house that you tilt down with a key and uh you could put stuff inside those are awesome these little you know fake floating shelves that slide open you can hide stuff in these are great for things like you know like just like here like uh some you know some money some you know passport maybe a firearm or two you know just look up covert firearm storage and you will find a lot of things like this now a lot of these are quite overpriced i will admit um and a lot of these you can make yourself hurt very very cheaply um but if you want something ready made you're gonna probably the big market if you're trying to find something to hide things uh go for covert firearm storage because if you can hide a firearm you can usually hide things like stacks of cash um you know information records uh even food or things like that so that's the kind of thing you're going to want to research if you're getting more and that's really all we're trying to do here is encourage you to do your own research and then this is sort of like your quick hide type thing now this of course costs a lot more money but you can readily get these products online nowadays and this is kind of a lifted bed with a storage area underneath and all you got to do is press a button it automatically lifts up and as you can see here in the sales image they have pillows in there but why can't you hide a person or two in there you know in 30 seconds you could open open the bed up pop a couple people in there put them back down there you go no problem at all so [Music] and then here is of course the coup de gras this is a a secret area that i think a dutch family found in their attic that was obviously used for some kind of resistance activity during world war ii and you know that's just that's just awesome so um you know i would give anything to find one of these in my attic just for the nostalgia factor and then the coolness factor of this but yeah once again these these living areas covert living areas are absolutely crucial and um yeah they're uh they're not that easy to make but this is essentially what we're talking about when we say these long-term living and you know if you think that they don't work you know they're hard to build um they're not so this is a very very easy thing to do and as you can see the top right image and the bottom right image show the ubiquitous us military spider hole now this is more for a remote type application sure but i think the the viet cong and the north vietnamese army would prove that you know over a decade or so they were quite good at building these they're very easy to make and you can hide you know somebody can walk within six inches of you and never know you're there so now obviously we're not talking about building spirals in our backyard that would be kind of a ridiculous thing to think about but if you look on the uh the upper left hand corner that spider hole should be a little bit familiar to a few of you that have been in the military for a little ways and that's because that's the inside of a very famous spider hole and this spider hole was saddam hussein's hideout so this is exactly or this is an artist rendering before they actually got pictures of what the spider hole looked like but this is where saddam hussein was hiding out after uh we basically uh won the invasion uh phase of the operation so yeah he had a styrofoam panel it was a very small spider hole but it was large enough to have people in there he could probably have fit several people in there if he wanted to but as you can see the sort of um schematic isn't exactly how uh how his spider hole was but um yeah it was kind of uh kind of an interesting concept that yeah it does work and uh if if you know the united states had not if you know the us analysts had not been on top of their game and not uh done the right human stuff they would not have found him so these types of spider holes and things like that are definitely definitely useful um though you know i don't have any i don't think anybody here the s2 underground project has one of these and they're you know in any other properties um but it might be something that we're thinking about hey if you've got a free summer you know and you're willing to try some things out you know why not go for it you know it's a skill that's not necessarily a bad one to have so just just uh just something to consider on that and then another example of a more sort of covert hidden living area is this kind of spooky area and as you can see by the images on the far right hand side of the screen this was found by a family who just purchased a house um in i think the london area of the uk and uh they found underneath that uh underneath that rug there a small grate which i'll let down a you know a ladder led down a hole to another door and they found this underground chapel and um they're not entirely sure how old it is i think they're still trying to work with the local archaeology department to figure it out but they think based on what was found in the room such as a cross on the floor that it may have been a hideout for christians um during the uh during one of the conflicts over there i'm not sure exactly which conflict they thought it was but um the the the the bunker so to speak predated the house by a considerable amount so it's it's possible that somebody found the land found that bunker and uh built a house over it and incorporated it right into the house that's kind of an interesting thing to do um and as you can see you could live in there for a considerable amount of time so you know this is obviously a a pretty big fantasy list right this is something that you know not all of us are going to be able to do but this is far more common so this is a concept you know if you this is another field that you might want to research and this is you know illegal alien smuggling so it turns out that if you want to figure out how to hide a person the number one people to turn to in society and at least in american western society is the criminal aspect look into human trafficking especially when it comes to illegal immigration because when it comes to smuggling adults you know when it comes to coyotes smuggling you know people across the border there's a lot of information about that because it happens so often so these couple of guys they were found uh smuggling in they were behind a bumper as you see it was pulled off but they never would have been found if some x-ray technology had not revealed their position so um you know this is once again a reminder that if you're going to research this stuff be advised that you're going to have to you're learning from criminals right there's no u.s government doctrine that's going to tell you how to safely hide in your home there's no going to be no like lawful doctrine anywhere or or any history books really that are going to tell you how to you know you know hide cash away or things like that you know the diversion saves those are easy because those are you know they're just diversion safes right but when it comes to hiding a person you're really gonna have to turn to criminals to figure out how to do that so be advised when you're researching that you're gonna you know um you're gonna be under probably some sort of surveillance so i would definitely not google any of this stuff not by a long shot um and use some of our use some of the uh techniques that we've talked about in our mass surveillance um series uh in our podcast use some of that stuff to kind of research this further but we'll talk about more of that later just wanted to kind of bring that up again that hey you're going to be researching some stuff that may be illegal to even learn right because apparently in the year 2020 forbidden knowledge is 100 a thing so um moving along to our sort of pros and cons of these different kinds of caches so as you move down from as you move you know up in size um we have you know micro caches sort of how these arrows work is you know they show the capabilities right so you know micro caches you're not going to be able to store anything in them at all because maybe a micro sd card that's it um however a long term hide like a secret compartment in your attic that's gonna be able to hold people you're gonna be able to hold a lot of food a lot of water sanitation all kinds of things in there right you can't fit that inside a quarter you know you can't fit that inside a chapstick tube or something like that so you can realize that as the size goes up the capabilities you have also go up however the cost also goes up so the bigger the cash the more expensive it is and that's usually a general rule um a lot of these micro cashes are pretty cheap um and definitely more cheap than you know building a secret compartment in your basement or in your attic or a spider hole somewhere um also the resources you need to build them are going to go up and this is important because if you if you ever find yourself in a situation where you're going to try to hide a person in your home chances are you didn't build that you didn't build a place to hide a human being beforehand so you're going to have to have wood you're going to have to have nails and screws you're going to have to be able to do it quietly you're going to have to be able to do it with minimal supplies and you know the more the bigger the place the more resources you're going to need so you know you might not be able to do that when the time comes um now granted there are ways you can build long-term highs with not that many resources by just taking advantage of of void spaces that's what we try to do when we're trying to figure out these long-term hide locations is look for the void spaces in a house and you can take advantage of those but also be admired be advised that if you can think of it you know law enforcement can think of it too so that's just something to once again be aware of and then once again the social impacts are also what we're thinking about you know i don't know about you guys but if you know i were to tell my wife that uh hey honey this weekend i want to build a a secret compartment in the attic to hold six people um i'm gonna get a crate i'm gonna get you know i'm gonna get looked at like i'm an insane person um it's going to be a a harder sell you can't tell your neighbors about the sort of thing you cannot tell your co-workers you can barely tell your family right you can barely tell people that are you know only the people that you share a house with can you tell about this sort of thing and even then they you know it might be a little bit hard to get around socially whereas if you know if i were to say hey look i want to buy this you know fake can of shaving cream it's got a little safe in the bottom let's see i can hide a couple of sd cards in there nobody bats an eye because that's a normal thing people do nowadays you know people have like hey i want to buy a small little lock box so i can kind of hide in my desk drawer sure that's fine nobody you know nobody bats an eye but the second you talk about putting secret compartments in you know your house or in your car um the social impacts get a little bit more a little bit more intense so that's something to keep in mind as well because we can't just ignore that fact this is a very very social thing we're talking about here so um i feel like a lot of people leave that out they said like you know you know when when shtf or when you know when the wrol situation it comes around just gonna slap on all my stuff and go out and blah blah blah well that's all well and good but what about your family you know are you taking care of them are you gonna alienate you know the little old lady next door you know you're gonna scare her half to death you know so the social impacts of all of this stuff is very very important and it's a more of a driving factor honestly than it should be in a lot of cases but we'll talk about that later so some of the areas so if we're going to talk about covert living areas they're going to require a lot of space and honestly these are the ones that are harder to research like i mentioned before now these are some areas that you can research i'll just read them out right quick for the guys listening to us on the podcast but these are areas that you can research to find more about covert living areas and like residences first and foremost is obviously the holocaust and very you know it's well known for jews and other uh uh enemies of the nazi regime hiding out in secret areas another one is world war ii pow escapes you know with the french resistance helping people escape uh with other resistance movements like you know through belgium through through the uh the netherlands things like that and through poland especially good grief with the you know the the the partisan elements there uh trying to help people escape good source of research another one is you know the escape stories from the rwanda genocide also you know other conflicts like the first chechen war the bosnian war even the isis occupation of syria and iraq back from just a few years ago that's a good source because that was a very much an invasion also another good source of research is the religious persecution in china so for those that are unaware it's pretty much illegal to go to church as a christian in china and while i'm not particularly religious myself i find it very very interesting to study that sort of thing because in china apparently you cannot go to church the only churches that are authorized are ones that are run owned and operated by the communist regime in china so they have a lot of underground churches so check that out that's a very good wealth of information for this sort of thing another one is operation searchlight which is more known by the bangladesh bangladesh genocide another genocidal uh action that not a whole lot of people in the west have heard about so that's something worth looking into as well um also taliban doctrine in the early years right when the taliban was started starting to seize power and starting to you know hide away in caves and things like that that's definitely something to research and then once again you know your criminal elements look into you know how narcotics traffickers do what they do that's a very interesting you know a subject area because you know we're not like you know disclaimer legal disclaimers aside we're not trafficking narcotics here like if you know the worst thing that we're probably stocking away is probably you know ammunition for our personal usage and of course all of this is illegal we're not advocating for doing anything illegal it's not illegal to hide an sd card with some books on it you know and you know a chapstick tube that's not illegal at all but yet there may be a day when it actually becomes illegal and then you know once again even though it's a kind of a dated excuse or not excuse an example the the prohibition in the united states that's a good uh good jumping off point um and so we have to remember that with these covert areas what's the sort of what's the goal here you know it and you know we're sort of with the covert living areas our main goal is just to survive the quote-unquote door kick in the night um so you know uh you know a a raid um happening because of a uh um something or other that you know where people are trying to come into your home from a law enforcement nature and try to arrest somebody for something and you know i know i'm talking around this so i'll get i'll just break down and give you an actual example so in our area it is mandatory right now for any visitors from out of state to self quarantine and if they don't self quarantine there they will be arrested it has happened multiple times many people i won't say many people but it's happened a few times right that's documented of people coming in from out of state um then like checking in at a restaurant on facebook which is dumb i know or or using their social media in some way and tagging the city or something and somehow or another the county health department or the city health department finds out they're there they show up and with the sheriff and they are arrested so in our area um we had some family come in for um just for you know to to uh to do some things with us and they're from out of state and uh so we had to shelter we had to hide two people in our own home we couldn't we had to you know make sure that when they arrived they arrived after dark so that you know our neighbors didn't see they use the back entrance from the from the uh sort of back alley way it's not really an alley but you know from behind the house and uh yeah they didn't go outside during the daytime and they were you know just there passing through for the most part stayed a couple of days and uh yeah didn't go outside did not show presents things like that so technically we were breaking the law when it came to um our own family members but i can tell you that you know it i'm not going to turn in my relatives so they can get arrested just for surviving right just for living so that moment right there was when we kind of sealed the deal and said hey you know what um we're going to make this you know youtube video we're going to make this presentation and kind of show people what we're thinking because that scared us right um you know i i tend to not necessarily be scared or even surprised by the things that have happened because of this crisis we're going through right now but i can tell you that you know despite seeing a lot of horrific things over my lifetime that right now i'm i'm very very concerned very very concerned and um that's why we sort of have had to think about these sort of things and you know i you know i think that a lot of people maybe i'm just you know reminiscing but i think a lot of people tend to prepare for things that that don't necessarily aren't necessarily going to happen you know i think that as soon as everybody gets their concealed carry permit then you know as soon as they conceal care for the first time they're picturing in their mind okay what happens if a bad guy comes in this store here you know oh i'm in line you know in the grocery store oh what happens if a bad guy comes in what am i gonna do is this you know and uh it's very easy to picture these things in your head and for me you know even as a child you know when i was growing up in the boy scouts i had a very very morbid fascination with uh things and survival situations that were extremely rare like you know how to survive you know falling out of a plane with no parachute you know some things that you know have no way to survive but you can do something to improve your chances you know how to survive you know being adrift at sea with no life raft or anything like that like you know it's things that are extremely extremely rare um and i find that you know i you know watching the great escape and it was steve mcqueen one of my favorite movies of all time you know watching that you know growing up you know i started thinking okay well you know if i was you know in a pia that became how would i escape and you know it's nothing more than a morbid curiosity more nothing more than just something that's interesting never really seriously considered the stuff until you know my wife comes to me and says okay well what are what are our plans for this you know what what are we gonna do hey you're supposed to be the guy that's prepared for everything right or you know if not prepared for everything you've you know thought about this stuff i know you've thought about it so what are we gonna do so that's sort of you know i hate to digress it on this particular slide but that's something that i felt like had to be sort of you know conveyed when it comes to the goals for this kind of thing but unfortunately the one of the big things you're going to have to do is just keep moving we found that you know we can analyze this sort of you know anne frank story uh to death and and and find out that um it is very very rare um her family and uh the other family that was staying with them they stayed in that location for about two years and that was extremely rare if you look up the data you'll find that on average the jews that were in hiding in the occupied territories throughout the war stayed in an average of four places throughout the the time that they were trying to move out of the country and they certainly didn't try to stay so keeping uh keeping on the move is key but um yeah so that's how all i wanted to say on the sort of covert living areas um and then there are some more considerations to think about um when it comes to the actual like social impact and things you're gonna have to have gear right you're going to have to have supplies you know in today's society i've said it before on all of our platforms i'm pretty sure but it's 2020 and if you don't have a gas mask right now for every member in your family i i don't know what to tell you because that is a requirement now um you know if i did not have a gas mask i would probably that was probably be one of the things that i panic bought beforehand um because nowadays it's it's crucial and you're going to need a gas mask if you're a civilian in 2020 um because i can tell you with the with the riots going down in portland right now um and the sort of summer of violence in 2020 that we've seen and the rise of the use of the gas mask i can guarantee you that come this fall some politicians going to try to make gas masks illegal for civilians to earn so that's just a writing on the wall if you you know if you can't see that i i you know we might have we might uh explain on that further in an update video with our you know seburn stuff but um you need a gas mask you know other things you might need just you're going to have to your normal sort of prepping type supplies your food water sanitation but you know skipping over that because that's stuff that other people far more experienced than us have covered we can talk about the environmental concerns most notably uh nowadays we have this thing called flear we have this thing called infrared imaging and thermal imaging that can detect void spaces in houses you've got all kinds of technological devices that if somebody was trying to find you even in the most sort of you know bruce wayne type hideout layer they're going to find you so everything from you know dogs to simple stethoscopes in the walls they're gonna you know you're gonna be detected if somebody's looking for you um but you know uh you also have to worry about things like condensation and paint shrinkage like for instance i had one particular area in my house where i had to uh take a piece of trim out and i took the piece of trim out and saw there was a pretty big void behind it in the wall so i said hey let me put something back there so i put something back there and stock some supplies away then put the piece of trim back and then painted it shut well a couple weeks later i go back to check on it and lo and behold the painted shrunk because the humidity and the condensation and things like that so you have to be able to to maintain your sort of stuff like that also if you live in a very humid area you've got to remember that if you're that if your covert living area is in like an attic you're going to have to deal with you know the heat you're going to have to deal with spoiler you can't store food in an attic for sure you can't release you can store stuff in basements of course but you know we're thinking addicts because i'm probably because i have an act i don't actually have a basement um but yeah you're gonna have to worry about things like rusting like you know we're here in the coastal you know mid-atlantic region we're not right on the water um but uh yeah you know you know rusting of things like weapons and other metal items huge thing and then of course there's this thing called the changing of the batteries phenomenon i'm not sure if that's the doctrinal term i'm not sure there is a doctrinal term for it i've seen a few pop culture references to this but basically it boils down to one simple idea and it's the idea that during the height of the cold war most spies that were caught by either the russians or by the united states most spies were caught changing batteries right they weren't caught stealing the information right they weren't caught um trying to you know subvert something they weren't caught with you know a camera in their hand they were caught you know changes they're changing the batteries to their electronic bugs or they were caught going back to a dead drop something that was supposed to be secure so that's something to keep in mind as well in other words you know you're probably going to get caught entering and exiting your covert living area way more likely to except for that to happen than it is for you to be caught just simply hiding in it so something to once again think about and so this concept is an interesting one and i it's something that i don't see nearly enough people do and it's a very very important thing basically once again the idea we're going for is just a little bit of an edge right we're not trying to be jason bourne and disappear we're trying to have just a little bit of an edge so myself and everybody here at the s2 underground project once they learned this is something i did this is interesting and this is the i'm not here message basically you've got a kitchen table like here in this image and you've got a little a pad on the kitchen table like or or even a message on a refrigerator right a little cute note and basically the note says hey honey i'm not there um i've gone to baltimore with the guys for a few days you know sorry it's last minute or something like that and you know love whoever right and put your actual name there that way if somebody has a warrant and they come into your house and they see you know they come into your house well you're not there or they come into your house when you know when you're in your hiding spot they will obviously see the note right it wasn't intended for them at least they think so but it was intended for them because that note is not real that note you and your spouse or you and your family have predetermined you've left there on purpose they know it's a fake note and they leave it there 24 7 and the goal is for anybody who breaks into your house or serves a warrant on your house or enters your house in some way they'll think you've gone they won't know you're hiding just a couple of feet away behind a wall or something so that's an interesting concept i haven't seen anybody do now obviously the caveat is it's you know it's pretty much free to do you just gotta have a piece of paper and just leave it in the right spot that's very easy to do and you know the caveat is you know once again that you have to pre-arrange with your spouse or whoever's in your home it's a fake note right they can't believe that it's a real note so there you go and then if you wanted to take that a step further if you're leaving your home for a short period of time or maybe even an extended period of time this is really more for the extended period of time do what's called a pre-ransack so take some things you know take some items out of your yeah out of your drawers you know messy up your place i sort of like what's in this image in this image this is exactly the level of stuff we're going for stuff that's easy to clean up in less than five minutes but it shows that the house has been ransacked already right that way if somebody breaks into your house right or breaks into your room and they see oh well hey this place has already been broken into and left um i gotta get out of here because they've already cleaned this place out they're just gonna leave not knowing that you ransacked your own place and all the valuables are hidden away and you know things like that also for law enforcement if you know some kind of illegal law enforcement actions going on and they're trying to arrest you for not wearing a mask or you know something like that and they serve a warrant you know they do a bench warrant for you for not wearing a mask somewhere and then they try to show up to serve the warrant on you they're going to come into your house and they're going to see oh this place has been ransacked so it's going to raise questions with them right and it's going to serve to misdirect right so once again this is this may be going a bit overboard especially considering you're not likely to leave a window or door open as in this image you're going to leave your place locked up tight but the inside's going to be ransacked you know what's that about so anybody that thinks about it for a minute is going to be you know going to be able to sort of pick it apart but they're going to always have that in the back of their mind like what the hey you know what's going on what's going on and this is kind of a weird scenario so um th

A couple of weeks ago, the chief strategy officer at Flock, the infamous surveillance company, contacted me on X because I called him a tyrant in one of his posts. At the time, I didn't really think much of my own comment, though I certainly stand by it, and I did not notice his message at the time, but I saw it two days ago. And though I do not reply to messages like this, I thought I'd strike while the iron was hot because this certainly struck me the wrong way, and I wrote a public rebuttal, which you can read on my Twitter page if you want. Many of you know that I have tried to reduce unsolicited opinion on things like this for a while, but this guy pissed me off. So, now you get the old S2, and I'm not going to let this one slide. If you have not done so, I would encourage you to read my short response on X, which sums up my own concerns regarding this technology. But since many of you asked, uh if you will permit me for a moment, I will expand on the concerns a little bit more so that we can maybe have a different perspective on what is really going on here. And first of all, let's take a time out. As of two days ago, I have been doing this for six years. So, for anyone out there who's been following me for all this time, the OG crew, you guys ask yourself, why is S2 so upset about this? Why this issue, of all things, and why now? I do not want you to agree with me just based on trust me, bro. I've spent years trying to discourage that actively. All I request is for you to pause and consider why I might be so concerned about this. Is it just because I hate this one company, or is there something else going on here? What do I know? Could it possibly be because I'm not reacting to what we see right now, but thinking forward to what is coming next? Just food for thought. I could fill an entire mini-series documenting my concerns, but for everyone's sake, I will keep it brief. My chief concern is not a camera, or even a network of cameras. It is that we have quietly allowed a national intelligence collection network the likes the world has never seen before to pop up in the United States, and there is not only active deceit being used by this company, but they are steamrolling any opposition to their actions. You see, the Flock cameras are a good analog for a lot of larger problems. It's certainly not just about one company. When Edward Snowden leaked the Prism project years ago and was exonerated by the courts which said that the programs he leaked were in fact illegal, the result of that was that many people generally know that they are now being spied on just parenthetically or generally speaking. But beyond that, nobody really seemed to care in the long run. Or maybe they thought there was nothing they could do about it, so why worry about it? When you log on to social media, you cannot see a little FBI logo on the corner of your screen. When you scan a bunch of bananas at the grocery store, the CIA's logo does not appear on the screen to tell you that your purchase has been monitored. You know generally that you are being watched. Logically, you know this, but you don't really feel it. It's not a part of your existence. A Flock camera, however, is a physical object. It is a monument to the national intelligence collection apparatus and it's planted on your child's playground, outside your bedroom window, and up and down your street. Driving your newborn back from the hospital, looking forward to a new era of happiness with your family, Flock is there, watching. Your child's first words will probably be recorded by a Flock camera. Teaching your son how to ride a bike on a quiet summer night, Flock's gaze lingers on your child, scanning every facial feature. These are the concerns that nobody thinks about when gaslighting and complacency has become the normal American lifestyle. And for those who think that all of this animosity toward Flock is misplaced when really we should be concerned about not just Flock but other things, you're certainly right. Flock is not the only company doing this. Alexa is recording your living room right now and you've probably known about that for years. The difference with Flock is that you are not getting anything in return. Even the claims of public safety are dubious at best. You don't even get your bread and circus. This device is planted in your world just to monitor you. You might say, "But what about regular security cameras? Aren't there concerns there, too?" Yes, there sure are. But the concerns are much, much different. Say, for instance, you have a children's playground and there is a security camera pointed at the jungle gym. If it's a public park, we need to find out who owns that camera. Chances are it will probably be the parks department or maybe the city. And usually there is a process for accountability there. However hard it might be and however much government red tape might be involved, there still is a process. You can go to a city council meeting, you can raise awareness, and you can demand accountability. Whether you get it or not, well, that depends on on the situation and the circumstances, but generally speaking, you have something to work from. It's the same difference between a company who makes a product and they have their customer service in the US versus overseas. With a domestic phone number and a domestic American mailing address in your local area, you have a lot more options for accountability. Also, chances are the minimum wage employee sitting in the parks department office probably doesn't pump that data feed into a centralized federal database. I mean, this might be a false assumption now, but you get the idea. The DVR machine in the back room of a 7-Eleven is not exactly the same level of concern as having every single square inch in a city being logged in a data center where you literally have no idea where the data is going. It is absolutely true that surveillance is a spectrum and perspective matters. In many cases, we want cameras on our streets and in many cases, we want them to be owned by private business owners that can get footage out to the public before anyone with power has a chance to delete the tapes, if you know what I mean. But at a certain point, we go too far and in the opinion of nearly everyone, Flock has gone too far. They started right out of the gate on a footing of deceit and they have never once actually followed through on their claims of transparency. Saying [snorts] you are transparent is not the same as being transparent. Of course, I know that this debate is nuanced. The chief argument right now used by the pro-surveillance factions and useful idiots who support not just Flock, but the entire intelligence apparatus is that, well, you just don't like Flock or you never had a problem with them before or why are you now just getting upset? Well, the rebuttal to that is pretty simple. I don't like any company or entity that is engaging in similar practices. Flock only gets this attention because they have gone above and beyond in using subterfuge to achieve their goals and they shirk providing answers at every single possible opportunity. They call the American people terrorists for wanting to know where Flock cameras are located, but those same Flock cameras can know where you are at all times. That is the act of a hostile adversary and there is no other way to put it. As for the timing, Flock has been concerning for a long time. However, these concerns get dialed up to 11 because they are absolutely sprinting to get these sensors in place and embedded in infrastructure before anyone notices. If someone cannot understand how we might not be so concerned about one company with 100 cameras and one company with 83,000 cameras, well, I can't really help you. Scale is the problem there. Once the internet started looking into what Flock has done, we learn more and the sunlight shown on the issue illuminates the scale of the problem. In short, we should have been concerned about this years ago, but now that we know how bad the problem really is, opposing this now is a better late than never situation. So, we know that this is a pretty hot button topic, don't we? But, what do these cameras actually do? Well, first of all, we need to change our vocabulary. These are not just cameras. In fact, I would argue that the camera portion of these sensors is probably the least important part of it. Flock calling these automated license plate readers is a huge lie by omission. Yes, these cameras can indeed log license plates, but that's not their primary function. Their purpose is to provide an electronic fingerprint of vehicles and people. To accomplish this, they of course have high resolution cameras and AI-driven object detection. They scan the entire vehicle, not just getting the plate, but the color, any kind of defects in the vehicle, any kind of bumper stickers, the passengers in the vehicle to associate the face with the car that's driving it or the passengers. They're logging everything. I cannot directly confirm if Flock itself does this with every device, so I will speak parenthetically and hypothetically to avoid getting in trouble, but the technology does exist to conduct lidar scans of vehicles and also people, which provide a more accurate dimensional map of whatever goes in front of the sensor. In short, it is possible that a lot of these cameras are providing high-resolution 3D models of whatever goes in front of them. Certainly not all, maybe not the ones that we can see, maybe the ones we can't see. Just speculating there. Unfortunately, because Flock has not entirely been forthcoming regarding what their sensor platforms actually do, and the technical specs of each individual device, where they're located, and what the internal sensors are, we have to make a best guess sometimes. And my personal opinion is that I think that these devices are doing more than what they say they are. There has always been a battle between liberty and safety, and a lot of police officers like the cameras that they have access to because of the capability that they provide in quickly catching criminals in some cases. Turns out Flock also lies about that much of the time, too, and because Flock has such an aversion to telling the truth, we cannot take anything they say at face value. They don't even want us knowing where these Flock cameras are located, much less what the guts of the insides look like. To be sure, a lot of the concerns we have with Flock are grounded in confirmed fact, not fiction, hyperbole, or emotion. Flock's entire business model is the complete opposite of transparency, and because of this extreme secrecy, we have to make educated guesses as to what they might be doing with this sensor network, and we have to take those theories, and we have to investigate further. But that's not even the most important part. We have to be able to make decisions without knowing all of the information. My question for you is how much information do you need to make a decision about what this company is doing, the future of this technology, and how much of this technology you want outside your bedroom window. What happens when Flock suffers a data breach, and the biometrics of your face are leaked to China? What happens if you're an American soldier whose face is now cataloged by Flock, a private company, and when combined with a previous breach from the Office of Personnel Management, a foreign adversary can cross-reference that data to now know where you live, your wife and children's names, and everything about you. What about the US Air Force convoys moving nuclear weapons around the country? Flock is logging them and scanning those vehicles. And who's to say they can't sell that data to China? What about the presidential motorcade that drives by a Flock camera? Does Flock have the Bluetooth device ID of Barron Trump's cell phone? I don't know, but I'd say probably. What about the cameras that are logging cargo shipments onto military bases and noting the size and shape of those cargo shipments? Their cameras are high resolution enough to measure the suspension sag of vehicles and using AI to determine the weight of that cargo combined with the general shape of a concealed object, they can probably get a lot of valuable data. Where it goes, nobody knows. But hey, what about illegal immigrants or other criminals? Well, now that is a great question because Flock explicitly states that they do not work with ICE and they do not track illegal immigrants. This is a dead to rights confession that Flock picks and chooses which crimes they want to report to those who enforce the law. They are publicly cherry-picking which laws they decide are worth following. What if they decide to protect the identity of a bank robber, but if you wave an American flag or wear a certain color of hat, then you are public enemy number one. That is, of course, a hypothetical situation, but in that situation, how do we hold Flock accountable? That's the whole point. There is no way to hold them accountable because they are a private company. You would have to take them to court and sue them, but the only way you can sue them is to know that they've harmed you in some way. And since they are a private company, they are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. They don't have to tell you if they are spying on you, but their only customer is the government. So, you get the worst of both worlds. You get the federal intelligence apparatus, but also not even the tiniest shred of accountability or even a process to get that accountability. Here's the thing. We don't actually have to let Flock explain themselves. I personally think that they had a good idea at first and they could have been the next SpaceX of security and of catching criminals. They could have had a good thing, but no, they had to mess it up by instantly betraying trust. And because of that, I think we should make an example out of them by bankrupting their company and hopefully motivating the next company, I'm looking at you Axon, to maybe rethink their actions. We do not have to sit here and listen to this company at all. We can oppose them outright. We don't have to have good faith conversations with them if we're up for it. No, your only client is the government and I am a taxpayer that pays your salary. You work for me and you don't talk to me like you're an HR representative giving me a reprimand. You should be groveling down on your hands and knees begging the American people for your privilege to receive tax dollars. You do not get to treat the American people that way. That is the brutal honest truth here. Did we not learn from COVID and what people like this on all sides of the spectrum did during that time? You do not give these people one single inch. We must nip this in the bud right now. In that vein, what can we do beyond the obvious steps which are being undertaken around the country right now? I would remind us all that this is not just a meme. This is a whole-of-society approach. Not just pushing back against Flock, but against all of the other similar companies that are racing toward this dystopian future at breakneck pace. The very bare minimum that you can do right now is know where Flock cameras are located and do your part in logging them on the map. The DeFlock group has website and a database for this and they just launched an app too, if I'm not mistaken. I would remind you though, using your smartphone in close proximity to a Flock camera is a huge no-no, so just be aware of that. They're logging your Bluetooth device and they know that it is you, your Bluetooth ID, from your phone that is next to a Flock camera. So, just know about that moving forward. This DeFlock database is also public. They have it on their GitHub as well and I'm trying to figure out how I can pull it into my own maps as well just for informational purposes, if that's allowed by the licensing. I don't actually know, but they are adding hundreds of cameras a day, Flock is, and the people around this country are logging probably way more than that. I'm just trying to catch up to the ones that are already out all around the country, so this database is changing quite quickly. Um, but again, Flock can't recommend them enough. They are trying to do the best they can, and I think that's [clears throat] a good effort. The next step is to educate your family. Most people are oblivious to what's going on around them, so something as simple as pointing out a Flock camera every time you see one is probably going to be a good idea. You don't have to be super paranoid about it all the time, of course, right? There's nuance to this and there's balance to life just in general, but if you're driving down the road, you can say, "Hey, you know what that is? That's a Flock camera." And there you go, there's your conversation starter. So, starting the conversation is very, very important. And again, Flock is not the end goal here. Flock is just a catalyst to get the conversation moving. Once people realize the insidious behavior that Flock has been engaging in over the years, maybe they're going to be more inclined to ask questions about other surveillance stuff that's going on in society that we don't know about. Maybe this is a good way to start talking about other technologies as well, like the Alexa in your living room or your smart TV or maybe the cell phone that's in your pocket. You see, we can go a lot of different directions from this. It's just that Flock is such a perfect issue to start with because it is right there, is in your community, and this company has demonstrated that they are malign actors. This leads into the next topic, which is to start thinking about data security. Once again, I'm not saying that I would recommend always carrying your phone around in a signal blocking Faraday bag or to go out and, you know, outfit your whole wardrobe with like anti-AI ball caps and clothing and stuff like that. I mean, you can if you want, but for most of us this is just not feasible. We have to live life even under the umbrella of mass surveillance. We've been surveilled for 20, 30, 50, 100 years by the federal government anyway, and it's going to be a hard sell to get people to realize that this is a clear and present danger because a lot of people just have surveillance fatigue. So, start the conversation. Start thinking about data security. Now is the time to start these thought processes. If I needed to not be surveilled by Flock, how would I do that? That's all you got to start with. The next thing you can do is be aware of what's next. This line of thinking is likely to encourage you to start researching Flock and similar adjacent technologies. Now that Flock is a starting to expand to the use of drones. Instead of these rather nefarious looking black boxes on poles, within a couple of years a Flock drone is going to be hovering over your property and there's nothing you can do about it. Or at least nothing I can encourage in the public forum, so I'll leave it there. The next thing you can do is political activism. If you are so inclined, engaging in political activism in your own way is the bare minimum. I know everybody groans when we say go call your congressman because they think it does no good. Ladies and gentlemen, if a Taliban fighter can sit on a mountain top in the Hindu Kush high above the tree line with a rusty AK and three rounds of ammunition in the magazine. He hasn't eaten in three days and he's been up there for weeks now just waiting for the chance to pop off a single round at a helicopter flying miles away. If that guy can sit on that hilltop and be that dedicated to such a hopeless mission, then I think you can stop doom scrolling for 5 minutes to fill up the voicemail inbox of your congressman. Be polite and respectful because your phone calls are being logged and recorded, but make sure they know what you think about Flock cameras and other similar technology. Think about it this way, money talks and you have to leverage any advantage you have. And if the office staff of a politician is spending 80% of their day fielding and logging phone calls from constituents, that's time not spent talking to potential donors. You are not spamming your congressman to get them to listen to you. You are spamming them because of the opportunity cost in dealing with you cost them time. Make them earn their paycheck or at least take up the time of the unpaid interns answering the phones. The final thing to think about is the carrot and the stick. We must hold people accountable, but we also must reward the good behavior, too. For the towns and cities that decide that Flock and other adjacent technologies are a bridge too far, we have to give them the good credit. You may not want to, I don't know of a single board of commissioners or a single city council anywhere in the country that is not filled with some of the most evil people on the face of the earth. But, if they decide to vote to stop this Flock stuff and to start pushing back against this surveillance effort, then you have to reward them in some way, if nothing more than just verbal praise. And also, if you are a police officer and your department uses Flock, you can decide whether or not to open up the laptop in your patrol car. We are not asking you to make a big scene. All we're asking you to do is be the good cop that we know you can be. We are done with this era of low IQ arguments against the police. We're done with that stuff. And you're not going to be able to associate a distaste for Flock with the blue-haired freaks that have been throwing bricks at you for years. It's not the same argument and you know it. We are not the drug dealer who's trying to turn a speeding ticket into a felony. Most Americans are not like that and we're not like that either. We do not want to alienate people in society who have the potential and the access to do good, but we also don't want you to alienate us, either. You have to admit that it's a pretty screwed-up world. You know this better than anybody being on the inside. Good cops get fired for no reason because somebody screeched loud enough, but the bad cops, guess what? They seem to stay on the roll no matter what. Technologies like Flock encourage all cops to treat us like criminals and it encourages us to view our cops as wardens and that is good for absolutely nobody on either side. That alone should be justification for removing them nationwide. When you turn the whole country into the Stanford prison experiment, very bad things happen to both sides and I do not want that. We know that the average beat cop has zero power to change this at the department level, but what you can do is push back wherever possible. And if you do that, it is our duty to back you up for doing the right thing. That responsibility extends to all of us. Remember the thousands of military service members, it was about 8,000 if I remember, who protested against the jab a few years ago and in doing so, they got separated from service? How many of you applauded them for doing so and said that that was the right thing to do? Now, how many of you gave them a job after you encouraged them to quit because they were serving a tyrannical entity? It's the same thing now. If we want to good cops, we have to support the ones that do the right thing. And right now, it seems like many cops do the right thing eventually get fired. We have to remember that. No matter what we do, we have to get serious. We have to do everything within our rights as Americans to not just push back on these efforts, but also refuse to let people like this dictate what it means to be an American. For far too long, we have entertained the concept of reaching across the aisle to the point that we compromise our own beliefs by even having the argument in the first place. Mr. Rahul Sidhu here is insinuating that we have to engage with them. No, we don't. I am an American, and it is my right to dislike you or your company for any reason whatsoever. I don't have to view you as an equal to me. I don't have to give you the talking stick, and I don't have to grant you any leeway to twist my words against me. We are done with the era of debates, at least with people like this. While it is instrumental to talk out these things amongst our selves, we are not obligated to listen to the opinions of people who want to enslave us, or in some cases kill us for our views. Once you cross that line, as Flock has, we are done. And we're going to not just stop this discourse, but we're going to move it back in the other direction, towards something good. Even if we have to, for now and while we still can, fight in the shade.

the farmers that use their software can't use it then that's a huge problem so these screenshots were leaked by a cyber security group that is working the issue and in which case this…

s most certainly not something that is in my wheelhouse at all, but I did want to mention it because of the national security concerns, which kind of is is what I do. So, like I…

…day it kind of makes sense considering the people that are whispering in his ear from a national security perspective you know at the very top end of the food chain um it's it kind…

…So, you know, you see how this is a kind of a big deal uh when it comes to everything from national security to the economy to the workplace. And oh man, it is just a…

…However, some things do catch my eye occasionally and again, I'm coming at things from more of a national security risk assessment kind of angle, right? So, there's some overlap, but not a lot…