John Kettler

Guys, Both sides were set to "Medium." Neither side had an advantage. Both sides had combined arms. My 60mm mortars were placed during setup in scattered trees near the startline, yet never fired a single shot while under command of the company CO. He had LOS to the target but never got any fire from the mortars. As for the 81mm mortar FO, the terrain was sufficiently close that he couldn't see anything until fairly late in the game. My smoke mission fizzled completely, probably because the rain immediately knocked down the smoke particles. Either that or the incoming rounds were buried so deeply in the mud that they couldn't function properly. Regards, John Kettler

Rob/1, Theoretically it shouldn't work at all, but I'm running on a Gen One, 233 MHz iMac which has 64 MB of RAM and a 2 MB ATI Rage board. It'll display in 800 x 600, but you wont' be happy with the image quality. I'm running at a crisp, easily viewable 640 x 480, but with so little VRAM, I can't use transparent smoke, the cool new explosions or see the dust clouds when a building collapses. I plan to add 4 MB of VRAM just as soon as I can get the money together. That should give me the bells and whistles, at the much more appealing 800 x 600 properly rendered. Hope this helps. John Kettler

Ah! So what I'm seeing is simply because I don't yet have the necessary video rendering horsepower. Yes, I'm the guy with a Gen One iMac. Having watched a lot of building demolition footage, I can certainly understand a big dust cloud resulting. My rig made it look like a blast effect, not dust. Sorry about that! Regards, John Kettler

The Jabos may be the very devil at times, but even they have to go home eventually. By jumping on one such opportunity, a tiny SS Kampfgruppe consisting of a Panzergrenadier platoon w/ 251s, a platoon of dismounted Panzergrenadiers, a Jagdpanzer IV, a Hetzer and two recon 250s conducted an attack which drove advance elements of a Polish recon battalion from a key village, paving the way for a regimental attack tomorrow at first light. Initial actions consisted of recon by fire against outlying buildings, followed by a probe up the road by a 250. The pinning attack was supported by MG fire from the other recon track, which advanced from cover to cover, supporting the Panzergrenadiers who advanced like ghosts through the trees. The Hetzer stayed close to the road and was rewarded for its prudence when a Polish Stuart gunning for the German infantry broke from cover, was sighted, and got immolated for its trouble. Careful observation eventually identified no more enemy armor, at which point the Hetzer switched to assault gun mode, pounding dug-in Polish infantry with point blank HE and MG fire, while the dismount units advanced by fire and maneuver. Meanwhile, the mounted Panzergrenadier platoon and the Jagdpanzer IV, screened by a single SS squad advancing as flank guard in the woods to the German right, drove through a grass covered plain and up the hill on the far side of the woods, unseen by the foe. The first indication of trouble was when the Jagdpanzer IV and all the halftracks opened up on the village in an envelop left assault. After a vicious exchange of fire with more dug-in Poles, the almost ammo exhausted carriers destroyed the outlying fighting positions and dismounted a squad which carried the smoking ruins of the first objective. One 251 was abandoned at the objective from unknown causes. This objective had been the particular target of the Jagdpanzer IV firing downhill. With time running out rapidly, there followed several well directed volleys of 81mm mortar fire, which killed off a couple of depleted Polish squads in front of the second objective and put the rest to flight. The defenders of the final objective were rooted out by main force, taking several casualties before abandoning their position. The Germans lost 4 KIA and 16 WIA, the Poles 14 KIA and 42 WIA, plus the Stuart and a mortar. A flamethrower team was captured before it could open fire. The Germans sustained only one armor casualty, even though several PIAT teams were encountered, at very short ranges. Infantry fire, main gun fire and brutally effective 81mm mortar fire no doubt account for this. Regards, John Kettler [This message has been edited by John Kettler (edited 06-21-2000).]

Fionn, I had what I believe to be a U.S. mech infantry company, 10 M3s with troops to fill them, with a solitary Sherman in support. I had two 60mm mortars, two bazookas, a tripod .50, and an 81mm mortar FO. My AI foe had a PAK 40,a 251, two Marders, two roadblocks, dug-in infantry in at least three tree protected fighting positions, plus something like a platoon + and supporting elements in five stone houses overlooking the battlefield. The accuracy of the artillery fire leads me to believe the AI had a TRP, and judging from the size of the explosions, I firmly believe I got hit with 15 cm and 105mm fires. The larger bursts dwarfed anything I ever saw before in the Beta Demo or in CE for the Gold Demo. I don't mind losing. And I revel in smart AI. What I don't understand is how I was supposed to have any chance at all given the fact that I had one long range direct fire weapon against three for the Germans, had to expose myself completely in order to seize any objective, while attacking into terrain tailor made for the defense, and was completely outclassed in terms of fire support, both absolutely (Germans had much heavier artillery) and relatively (my arty too light for well protected foe's positions). Given the above, I fail to see the forces as being even remotely in balance. In fact, with what they had, the Germans should've been attacking, instead of me. Regards, John Kettler

Dear BTS, Something extremely odd is occurring when a building explodes while being shelled. The problem first showed up in Gold Demo CE (640 x 480) when I used my StuG to drive the Americans from the farmhouse. Two shots from adjacent to the woods past the church sufficed to set the building ablaze, and a couple more led to an explosion more characteristic of a micronuke or an ammo dump going up. First the house blew up, but that modest explosion became a rapidly expanding flattened opaque white dome which grew to encompass practically the entire wheatfield. The dome took up some four inches of width on my iMac monitor. Nor is this problem peculiar to the Gold Demo. I observed the same thing happen yesterday when playing an Instant Battle. The barn got hit with HE, followed by the twin of the CE explosion. I didn't have improved smoke or explosions on, though I do have the patch installed. Thought you should know. Regards, John Kettler

Through some miracle (preordered way later than many), I already have mine. BTS mailed Friday, and I got it the following Monday. Maybe it's because I live at a major postal hub, Los Angeles, California. Here's some good news for all you Mac types. ZDTV just got through with a survey of its viewers on what their next OS would be. Some 21% said "OS X." I don't know about you, but I found that both astonishing and heartening. Regards, John Kettler

Charles, Thanks for the quick reply. What I was trying to say about the Sargasso Sea is that the map usually floats in a sea of green. Since it's overcast and raining in this scenario, it looks and feels odd to view the battlefield from any angle but ground level and see no gray sky, just the bright green backdrop and matching airspace above it. I think the battle map survives, so if this still isn't clear to you, I'll read up on screenshots and see what I can do. Regards, John Kettler

Dear BTS, After loading CM and the 1.01 Mac patch I set up to play a 500 point instant battle vs. AI. I took the Allies on the attack (one level below the most severe type), in the rain. Game duration: 20 turns. No mods to either side. Full FOW. November '44. Small hills. Special graphics off because of only 2 MB VRAM. The rain made quite an impression, and it made it harder to spot enemy positions. Those with suggestible bladders will find the rain sound experience immersive. The environmental sounds were great, but the "juddering" sound was back. I toggled sound off, then back on. Voila! Instant engines. The next thing I noticed was that even though it was raining, in most views I was seeing the Sargasso Sea, the green surround for the battlefield. When I went to ground level view, though, I got the proper murky gray sky. Visually confusing, to say the least. With that for mood setting, let me just say that from shortly thereafter, very little went right right for the Americans as halftrack after halftrack exploded, usually with serious pain to the passengers. Even by replaying the turn I couldn't figure out why I was taking such punishment. I saw several really big explosions (diameter roughly 3x the length of a halftrack), leading me to think I was just the unlucky recipient of 6" or greater artillery fire, but I did get some report of a possible gun position about the time the reporting unit was hit and destroyed. Basically my force was trapped in a kill zone with no way to advance across fire swept open ground, especially after my tank support was immolated. Infantry attacks collapsed in the face of withering multiple crossfires, and indirect fires knocked out or immobilized several of my halftracks. I was taking fire from everywhere, from a foe in buildings and entrenchments in the trees, while I was far more exposed. For reasons I have yet to figure out, I could never get fire missions from my 60mm mortars, even though I never moved them after initial setup and the company CO had LOS to the target. Maybe I put them in woods, figuring that since I could now indirect fire, it wouldn't be a problem. Guess I was wrong! My FO kept getting lost in the woods, harried much of the time by nasty artillery fire, but he did get off three fire missions, one of which was smoke. It fizzled completely. On balance, though, American fire support was grossly inadequate given the threat and the unfavorable terrain. German fire support seemed to be heavy, plentiful and deadly accurate. Murderous, in fact. The battlefield confusion was so high that I apparently knocked out a gun and an AFV without being aware of it at all. But I was definitely aware of an AFV which popped out from behind one building, drove down the road briefly, then disappeared. Couldn't do anything about it, though, since by then I had no tanks or other long range antitank weapons. Put the wind up me big time! The AI kicked the daylights out of me, winning an Axis total victory. (I had a 13% victory level by game end). Looking at the world from the German side was quite a shock, considering that my squads were in shreds and the Germans barely hit. Another surprise lay in who I fought, the boys in dapple. Now, I don't know how the instant battle generator works. Nor do I have any way of knowing what kind of fire support the Germans had, since that isn't on the end of game screen either. But I do know that I feel that the force I faced was way too powerful given what I had, my anemic fire support and that there was frighteningly exposed terrain through which I had to advance under stringent time limits. Does the instant battle generator factor in the time limit when selecting a defense, or is it simply 500 offensive points get X defensive points every time? How did I, as the attacker, wind up being outclassed in both direct and indirect firepower and against a well dug-in foe in defense favorable terrain? I had no real means of suppressing the defense, didn't know where most of it was, and lost practically every halftrack which tried to advance, along with my tank support. I'm not claiming I did a perfect job as commander either. I've never had to run U.S. mechanized infantry in the game before, and it showed. In spite of my broad front advance using coordinated leapfrog tactics, covering fires into suspect areas,and infantry to protect my armor, I still got shot to pieces and never had a coherent picture of what I was fighting. Maybe a concentrated thrust in one area would've done it, but the result of that could've easily been the shattering of my entire force by the hammer from the sky, whatever it was. Whoever ran the German artillery was a master at his craft. I can't remember ever taking such an artillery pounding before. The whole debacle may've been the result of a bad Allied force mix draw and a great German one. Kind of like getting the short straw, I guess. But this is pure conjecture on my part. The game itself was gut gripping, a whirlwind of confusion, terror and one failed approach after another. Sometimes, the dragon wins! Would love your thoughts on what I've said here, BTS. Gratefully, John Kettler [This message has been edited by John Kettler (edited 06-20-2000).] [This message has been edited by John Kettler (edited 06-20-2000).]

Problem solved (I think). You should have my German deployment in your E-mail now. Regards, John Kettler

By doing a "Save as" from Netscape Messenger directly to the special folder and by putting a ".txt" tail on my file name, I finally actually got into VoT and was able to do my setup. Assuming my transmittal worked properly, I should shortly receive Black Sabot's turn 1. Thank you one and all for your help! I'd be even more excited were it not for the unexpected arrival today of a Priority Mailer from Williston, Vermont. Way to go, BTS!!! You really know how to take care of your customers. Sincerely, John Kettler

Mine came today in the mail here in Carson (near Long Beach). A wonderful surprise to get it so soon! Thanks, BTS!!!

If you want people to buy CM, simply find a way to have them try CM, by pitching it to the specific interests of your target audience. To my brother "There you are in that big house in Washington state, but your family's back in Columbus, Georgia. Why not download the Gold demo? That way, we could play by E-mail. You could also play hotseat with your buddy Ted across the street." Naturally, if he plays so much as a few turns of the demo, he's going to insist on having the full game, especially when he sees how incredibly detailed the wargame is, how much research went into it (another grognard), and the stunning visuals. To another brother (who happens to be a wargame designer and a great fan of miniature battles) "You really ought to see this. It's amazing! Imagine if you could somehow animate MicroArmor, vehicles and men alike, issue it commands, then watch it attempt to carry out your orders while under fire and responding as real troops would. The game can be played in a variety of modes (list here). The computer keeps track of the morale, casualties, ammo, etc. You haven't lived until you see the gun on a StuG traverse and fire, complete with recoil. This game is truly revolutionary. The free demo's better than most finished games. He's putting in some long hours on his regular job and working on the next Command at Sea release, but how can he resist? He's got a son who might play and a wife who herself has gamed. I had a friend over last night who is a professional graphic artist and a game designer. I showed him some of the POTDs, particularly the new explosions and the goodies from MDMP-1, told him about the patch and the mods, new scenarios, etc.for CM. I then hit him with the second movie (Sherman tanks surging over hill, Tigers firing, infantry on the move), which really got his attention. I then took him to a just commenced CE game in which I was Germans and let him play after giving him a crash course on the controls and giving orders. He found it utterly engrossing, amazing, cool beyond belief. I told him that was nothing compared to the full game and gave him a fast rundown on that and everything else connected with CM, along with the price and where to order, info he asked for. I have several friends back East who are most interested but whose computers lack the power to run even the demo. One should be here in the next day or so and will see exactly what he's missing. He's a writer and wargame designer; his wife's a champion wargamer in her own right. He thinks he wants a new computer for Diablo II, but wait until I've had my shot at him! Of course, when he gets back he won't be able to stop himself from telling his gaming buddies what he's just seen. I'm waiting to see what my nephews thought, and I've got several more friends to ping, one of whom owns a huge hobby shop (hosts a game club) in Georgia and is an avid gamer period. There are so many ways to bring people into the CM fold. Just be yourself, be honest and let your enthusiasm speak through you. Regards, John Kettler [This message has been edited by John Kettler (edited 06-19-2000).]

Talk about an overwhelming response! Thank you one and all for your input. I'll now attempt a coherent reply. I have an iMac, hence no second mouse button. I'm running Netscape Communicator 4.5.1, under OS 8.6. My E-mail program is Netscape Messenger. Black Sabot's running on a PC, I believe, and his turns show up in my E-mail as long code blocks, not as draggable attachments. Will have to check the way I saved the file, but I suspect Charles is right and that I saved it as a WP file instead of text. I don't have Word, so I'm hoping the fixes for using Apple Works take care of the problem. I need to grok all this in fullness, then start trying out the fixes you've all so generously proposed. Many thanks! John Kettler

I'm trying to get my first PBEM game going with Black Sabot, but somehow I'm not getting the desired results. I was told to create a folder within the PBEM folder for our game. I did that. I then highlighted the entire codelike text block representing his setup and copied that to a new word processor doc. I used Apple Works 5. I then saved as to the special folder within PBEM. That done, I fired up the Gold Demo, hit the PBEM button, opened the folder, then double clicked the special folder. Pong! Somehow I offended the ever impatient computer god, but I know not how. The game simply refuses to accept the info, so I never actually get far enough to do my setup. Would you Mac PBEM wargamers please tell me what I'm doing wrong? I really need help. Many thanks! John Kettler

As previously noted elsewhere on this Forum, I'm running a Gen One iMac (233 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 2 MB VRAM on ATI Rage video card), under OS 8.6. Amazingly, the Gold Demo runs, but only at 640x480 and without transparent smoke. I checked with the Apple Tech Exchange, and was told that my only real video upgrade option was a scarce special Voodoo 2 which fit into the Mezzanine slot on early iMacs. Someone else said I could have as much as 6 MB of VRAM on my existing card. Could some of you iMac savvy types please tell me what you think my options are? I can't afford to replace the computer right now, but I'd really like better video performance than I presently have. 640x480 gives me eyestrain, leading to a headache. 800x 600 would be fine, though. That's what the Beta Demo ran at. Is there an approach no one's suggested to me so far? If I had 4 0r 6 MBs on the present video card, would that work? I'd really appreciate any help. Sincerely, John Kettler

I'm so glad I reasked this question! Naja, could you please provide further details about the oddly, to me, at least, named HIRSCHFELD book? I've never heard of it and want to know what it's about. I definitely had never before read anything explicit about Panzerfausts as U-boat cargo. Mark IV, thanks for the long quote on the Japanese prototype AT weapon. Here are a couple of return morsels for you. A WWII war correspondent named Tom Agoston wrote a bunk called BLUNDER, which details how the technical fruits of a Top Secret SS weapon development center hidden within the Skoda Works wound up in Soviet hands even though the Germans wanted us to have them. There is some information in the book about the sub we're discussing here. The History Channel had an episode which talked about what Germany shipped Japan during the War and went into great detail about planned Japanese and German strikes on the U.S. Juicy stuff! I think we need to contact Bletchley Park and ask for copies of translated cargo manifests for U-boats delivering tech items to the Japanese. Maybe we could even pry the original Navy report loose covering the U-boat's contents when surrendered. Also, though most people don't know it, the Germans had several varieties of what we'd call flying saucers during the war. These craft used jet, rocket and even more exotic means for propulsion. I highly recommend you read Renato Vesco's MANMADE UFOs 1945-1990. Vesco worked on some of the projects during the War and retired as chief of technology for the Italian Air Force during the mid '60s. A former member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Terziski, has done tons of research on these German craft, some of which is in the book, and has interviewed the son of a Japanese engineer who apparently was present when a dissasembled rocket powered version was reassembled and test fired in Japan during the War. Reportedly, it so terrified the Japanese that they destroyed the thing. Those of you who are in interested in the true state of German weapon development during the War will also find the German Research Project (www.1999.com/ufo/grp.htm) of consuming interest. Not only is there a wealth of material here on exotic German aerial craft, but unusual bombs, acoustic weapons, advanced missile and U-boat projects, etc. Thank you all for exposing me to a wealth of new information. Sincerely, John Kettler

Lack the means and the motive. Would never do it even if given the opportunity. Doubly so since I myself am a writer. John Kettler

Mark IV, Never heard of that one before! Thanks for some fascinating new weapon development info. Regards, John Kettler

What if the Germans had provided their allies the Japanese with the plans and help to make Panzerfausts? This would've given the Japanese infantry the means to not only kill tanks from standoff, but also strongpoints, heavy weapons and even infantry groups. Imagine how many secondary missiles several pounds of HE detonating on coral would've made. The Germans supplied the Japanese with such exotic things as the Me 163 Komet rocket fighter, radar equipment and optical gear, in exchange for rubber, tin, etc., so it's not any stretch at all to believe that something like this could've been done. Why wasn't it? The Japanese already had rockets, hence propellant, and lunge mines, which were hollow charge munitions. The rest should've been straightforward weapon engineering. Considering the casualties we took from lunge mines, human satchel charges and men sitting in pits waiting to hammer the fuze of an armed aerial bomb, we should be grateful that they didn't. Something to think about! Regards, John Kettler

Combaiku! Haven't written any poetry since a family member's birthday, but it's been decades since I last wrote any haiku. Thank you so much! A gentle reminder. Not only must haiku follow the hallowed 5-7-5, but also must include Nature in the verse. Thus, Klotzen nicht kleckern! My winter-chilled throat's cry As a Sherman burns or My uniform is rain-drenched My body torn and bleeding The German position's mine! or The flaming tongue speaks To warm those freezing soldiers When sleet is pouring down or The leaf-dappled "88" Patiently awaits the foe Like a coiled adder Regards, John Kettler

Argie, thanks for the plaudits. You are correct. The director (also co-producer) was Barbara Trent. I spent two weeks straight working closely with her every day during post production. Bobarro (think that's right), we had enough material to do an eight hour film, but we had to keep it down to ninety minutes in order to keep the audience sufficiently awake and interested that we could do grass roots campaigning immediately afterwards in an effort to get Congressional hearings held on what really happened during Just Cause and why. The Pentagon stonewalled both us and Congress on Just Cause footage, saying most of it was "lost," yet the History Channel has aired several Panama documentaries with boatloads of supposedly "lost," previously unseen footage. It's amazing how fast things reappear when the government wants to make its point! To this day, and in spite of our repeated offers to do a shortened version of the film to fit PBS's one hour format on POV, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has refused to air "The Panama Deception." So much for independent broadcasting! Hope this clarifies things a bit. Regards, John Kettler

Steve, If your fundamental premise were correct, then we would logically expect that the violent crime rate would drop in countries which have disarmed. If you look (try www.sightings.com for starters) at both England and Australia, you'll find that violent crime has gone UP not down since the people were disarmed. Worse, the nature of the crime has changed too. It has become blatantly invasional. Naturally, none of this gets mainstream press coverage here, since it flies in the face of what we're being told. One of the biggest problems is that "hot jobs" have mushroomed. These are break-ins while the residents are home. Typically, these target the old and infirm. How would you like to be a pensioner facing one or more strapping, possibly drug-crazed, thugs armed with lead pipes, knives and such? It is precisely such a situation that a firearm corrects, usually without anyone getting hurt. What else can so quickly level the playing field? Sidebar By the way, Steve, some years ago a retired, much respected Scotland Yard detective did an analysis on victim survival expectancy if attacked by gun, lead-filled pipe or knife. On average, the victim stood a 25% chance of death if shot, but a 50% chance of death if hit with the pipe or stabbed. This was because the pipe typically was applied vigorously to the victim's skull, usually resulting in depressed fractures and brain trauma. The knife not only did direct stab injury but also carried contaminated foreign matter, like clothing, deep into the wound, leading to often deadly infections. Restated, a violent crime victim is actually, on average, better off being shot than bludgeoned or stabbed. End sidebar Criminals have repeatedly demonstrated an enormous interest in not getting shot. Study after study confirms that the last thing crooks want is an encounter with an armed potential victim. A gentleman named Cates (sp?), an academic who has carefully studied the effect of firearms in deterring crime, came up with 60,000 violent crimes a year averted by private firearm ownership, usually with all parties alive and intact. We get hugely inflated casualty figures from gun deaths, but their proven deterrent effect on criminals rates no media mention. Why? In Dade County , Florida some years ago there was a major rape problem. The police then announced a program to teach 10,000 women to shoot and issue those who passed the training with concealed carry permits. Guess what? Not only did rape plummet, but so did ALL violent crimes. I don't know about you, but that sure looks like a real world deterrent effect to me. That also explains why foreigners are targeted in Florida. They can't carry concealed weapons. If you have an issue with accidental shootings, as I certainly do, I would then argue that this points to a need for education concerning firearms, not demonizing them as seems to be the current approach. When I was twelve, I went through the official Arizona Fish & Wildlife Safe Hunter course. The demonstrations there of what a gun could do were so telling that they remain clear in my mind to this day. I also received stern coaching from my father. There are several organizations, including the NRA, which offer excellent training in proper handling and use of firearms. Why not use their proven expertise to help protect our children? If the fundamental problem regarding kids and guns were access, then we would logically expect that the less restrictive days back when would've had notable problems with school shootings, but with one bizarre exception from the 1930's, we don't. When my Dad was going to school in Arkansas it was common for the kids to shoot squirrels on the way to school, and they brought their rifles to school! So what's different? Let me count the ways. How about destruction of the family unit, community erosion, drugs, lack of discipline, a culture based on rampant egotism, materialism and instant gratification, a violence saturated culture in which the consequences are seldom discussed (19,000 shootings seen on TV by the time a kid turns 18), almost nonexistent morality, an acute, worsening public mental health problem and, oh yes, how about the widespread prescription of antidepressants to our kids and the public, with drugs which have been repeatedly shown to cause all sorts of acting out (Phil Hartman's wife on Prozac, at least one Columbine shooter on Fluvoxil, for starters)? Could these possibly have anything to do with the problem you describe, Steve? But none of the ones I've listed is sexy, politically high profile or amenable to a "quick cure." The incidence of violent crime is way down from what it was years ago, according to the FBI's official statements every year for many years now. Yet you'd never know it from listening to the antigun forces or watching the media, who often lead the local news with a gun murder. Why? We are being terrorized into giving up our guns. Nor do most people know that some of the most rabid antigun types, such as Senator Barbara Boxer of California, have concealed carry permits for firearms. She "needs a gun for personal protection," (even though she has bodyguards, which we don't) but is leading the charge to deprive the rest of us of that self same defensive option! The current administration has repeatedly demonstrated that it cares not one whit for the law or the Constitution. At Ruby Ridge a mother was shot in the head while holding a baby in her arms. The government prosecutor was sanctioned for advising federal agents how to falsify evidence at the scene. Not only was no one punished, but the guy behind it got promoted. He was a major player at a little event called Waco, where some 87 people died, including quite a few children, under circumstances still under litigation.Additional prison time for Waco defendants from firearm charges has been thrown out. Interestingly, one of the Senate's consultants on the now famous IR footage disappeared, ALL his files and video footage vanished, then he reappeared, two weeks later, as a badly decomposed corpse sitting behind the desk in his locked office. And did I mention that with all the filming the government did during the raid, somehow the critical warrant service footage was "lost?" Odd, isn't it, how incredibly clumsy the government is with vital records (Agent Orange, radiation experiments, biowarfare experiments, Gulf War Syndrome, etc.)? I highly recommend you rent "Waco: Rules of Engagement" and the follow-up "Waco--A New Revelation," if it's been released (www.waco-anewrevelation.com). Noted IR experts have described the recent, much ballyhooed government IR tests (which naturally found light flashes, not federal machinegun fire) as fundamentally flawed and in no way even close to the real conditions they supposedly model. If you think that my minuscule tally above just means I'm a Clinton hater, then I'd like to offer the wonderful picture of an MP5 SMG toting, body armored Border Patrol agent pointing that gun right at Elian Gonzalez and Donato Dalrymple, as well as the testimony of the brutalized news crew members who unanimously report that they were told they'd be shot if they moved and were totally prevented from carrying out their Constitutionally-protected 1st Amendment function. Their accounts didn't make the news either. Quoth Reno, "we were told that there might be guns, either in the crowd or in the house." The stormtroopers were sent in after the 11th Court of Appeals specifically and directly enjoined the government from taking Elian. Reno didn't honor the law; she simply found a tame judge and got a highly dubious search warrant issued. In other words, the Executive branch simply ignored the Judiciary. So much for checks and balances! But let's say that everyone in the administration is in fact a living saint. There is an even more pressing reason why people should own guns and be trained in their use. There is a court ruling which says the police are NOT responsible for protecting individuals, only the community at large. It's called Bowers vs. De Vito and arose from a case in Seattle in which a woman reported a break-in in progress. No one came for hours, during which time she was repeatedly raped, stabbed and mutilated. Amazingly, she survived, sued Seattle PD and the City--and LOST. The politicians, law enforcement and many others may have their control and rice bowl agendas, but when it comes right down to it, we CAN'T COUNT ON THEM, nor are they legally liable. Columbine provides another sterling example. There, SWAT units sat on their thumbs for two hours while terrified students hung signs out the window saying "They're Killing Us!" SWAT is armed,equipped and trained to deal with armed nut jobs, yet it did nothing and children were massacred. Still want to let the government protect your vital interests? If the government can't protect us, isn't required to, and in word and deed daily routinely exceeds its authority, flouts the law and hides the truth (I've cited only flagrant examples), then perhaps people will begin to understand why no less august a personage than George Washington himself said this of firearms: "Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence..." I seriously doubt I'll change your mind, Steve, but I urge the rest of you to take a close look at what's occurring, see whose interests are really being served, see what the Founding Fathers, who risked all that we might be free, have to say about firearms and their relation to liberty, then act as your informed conscience directs. And if you're really worried about kids and their survival, plan on banning cars, planes, bathtubs, swimming pools, skateboards, etc. They're EVIL! They KILL KIDS! (Same logic as gun controllers are using.) Sincerely, John Kettler

This thread is just too interesting to let pass. There are several issues I'd like to clarify. M-16 bullet tumbling The cartridge for the M-16 traces its ancestry to a varmint (woodchuck, gopher, etc.) round, featuring a light, very fast moving bullet designed to instantly disable a varmint, but only in the open or light cover. As noted, the bullet is stable enough to reach the target, but is easily diverted and upset from its trajectory when it hits something not much larger than a twig. Because of this, the bullet acts somewhat like a saw blade when it hits people, becoming unstable at entry, tumbling in the wound and giving up its kinetic energy very quickly, producing great tissue trauma and shock effect in the process. There is another aspect to M-16 wounding most aren't aware of. At close range (under 30m) the bullet is traveling so fast that hitting someone causes it to usually break up in the wound, creating one entry wound but as many as three wound paths within the victim's body. I have personally read the anguished reports of Panamanian physicians who treated those hit by M-16 fire during Operation Just Cause at close range. They thought that we were using some inhumane, prohibited weapon, when what was really happening was that the bullet was simply failing under stress loads it was never designed for. Typically the bullet failed at the cannelure (where the casing gets crimped on). AK-74 tumbling The Russians get the same basic result, but through an entirely different approach. Their bullet is designed such that the lead core doesn't fill the entire projectile jacket. Instead, there is a space deliberately left at the front, and the core is inserted in such a way that a strong shock (hitting someone) will free it and let it move forward. This instantly imbalances the bullet, causing it to yaw violently through the victim, causing such severe shock and trauma that the Mujahideen dubbed it "the poisoned bullet." Finally, since someone brought up the progressive disarmament of citizens by their governments, I thought I'd drop a bombshell here. A group called Jews for the Protection of Firearms Ownership has uncovered damning evidence that the fundamental U.S. gun control law, the 1968 Gun Control Act, is practically a verbatim translation of the original Nazi gun control decree. That evidence includes documentation that the author of the bill requested and borrowed from the National Archive a translation of the Nazi gun control decree only days before offering his gun control bill in the Senate. Just think! In these oh-so-PC times, those who would disarm us use Hitler's laws (which led to genocide for several groups, not just the Jews) to advance their cause, while the survivors/descendants of the last "benefactors" of gun control, try to warn everyone of the mortal danger we all face. Not only can this group show that gun control led to genocide in Germany, but in nearly a dozen other countries as well. The sordid tale is there for all who have the courage to read it. The URL is www.jfpo.org Thought you should know. Regards, John Kettler "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

Argie, The institution you're trying to describe is the School of the Americas, located in Fort Benning, Georgia, U.S.A. It does indeed have the dubious distinction of producing one dictator after another, put out a manual on conducting terrorism and employing torture, and is generally notorious among those who care about human rights. Hundreds of people have been arrested protesting it, including at least one Catholic nun. I believe all the public pressure and outcries finally led to a revision of the curriculum there. That notwithstanding, it is a conspicuous example of how many local lives the U.S. was willing to wreck or even see lost in order to keep friendly (read non-Communist, obeyed orders, didn't threaten U.S. political or business interests) leaders in power in the region. Noriega's fate also tellingly demonstrates what can happen when a Third World U.S.ally threatens our perceived interests. The record clearly shows that his troubles began when he stopped backing the Contras and got involved in the Contadora regional peace plan, an initiative not created or favored by the U.S. The drug trafficking and harassment of U.S. citizens and soldiers were pretexts, not the real reason. And did you know that special U.S. units were there specifically to create an incident with Panama? I believe that item appeared in the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES. The unit was called the "Hard Chargers." I did primary research in the Academy Award- winning documentary, "The Panama Deception." In it, we include a visual roster of the numerous dictators who were all graduates of the School of the Americas. I don't know if you can find it out your way, but it was distributed by Rhino Home Video. Thank you for a most interesting view we otherwise wouldn't have. Regards, John Kettler