Why Stand Alone in a Crisis? Join the P.A.L.A.D.I.N.s

What will happen if a natural disaster or social upheaval comes and government cannot, or will not be able to defend you, your home, or your community? When armed marauders or looters come, will you stand alone, or will you have your own local network of helpers: Paladins?

 

 

by H. Michael Sweeney proparanoid.wordpress.com   Facebook   proparanoid.net  

copyright © 2016, all rights reserved. Permission to repost hereby granted provided entire post with all links in tact, including this notice and byline, are included. Quote freely, links requested. Please comment any such repost or link to original posting.

 

Reading this post you will learn…

 

• there are disaster and upheaval threats not even government can always quickly address;

• individuals cannot well defend against marauding gangs and other threats in a crisis;

• Paladins (modern-day ‘Knights’) may be a simpler, easier, safer solution than Militia;

• Paladins can be useful at any time for humanitarian missions of their own devise;

• Paladin Units (unite) can protect each other, their communities, and beyond, as needed.

 

What is a Paladin?

“Paladin” is another word for Knight, a kind of soldier of good moral character who in times of Olde served his fellow knights, community, country, and God. P.A.L.A.D.I.N. members are similar, and yet different. They are somewhat modeled after the Paladins in the popular Fallout computer game series, but THIS IS NO GAME. Fallout takes place in a future post apocalyptic World where there is no government, and everyone is struggling to survive, which literally means at times, kill or be killed, perhaps even eaten by others. Several groups compete for control with lust for power as their agenda, but the Paladins were formed in an attempt to maintain order and protect against such threats — a bit like self-organized Police the people come to rely upon.

Almost no one is truly prepared for disaster or civil upheaval. When it strikes, the impact of the disaster is therefore nearly total. All one has to do is look back on Katrina, or any other major disaster or upheaval around the World where local governments were unable or unwilling to respond — to see the value in not having to stand alone in a crises. FEMA and other government ‘help’ in Katrina was less than ‘useless’ for an extended period of time, actually causing more harm than good in many cases. Local law enforcement was either unavailable or, at times, a serious threat to many a resident’s well being. Likewise for the National Guard.

Is this you? No go bag, emergency plan, store of supplies? No guns and ammo, survival skills? No hope, no future?

In such events, local governments at any level collapse and become non existent in domino fashion, while regional and national governments play political waiting games. The following is a quote from From Disaster to Lessons Learned: What Went Wrong in the Response to Hurricane Katrina?

The Dissolution of Government

As noted earlier, disaster response in the U.S. is predicated on a system of “cascading failure,” in which successively higher levels of government are called in as lower levels are overwhelmed. However, the system requires some government to be in place. When the storm hit, local government in New Orleans, for all intents and purposes, ceased to exist. Both politicians and administrators had evacuated prior to landfall, and what little structure was in place was immediately rendered ineffective. The severity of the disaster also paralyzed state government and stunned federal government officials. A period of many hours passed before coherent calls for help began to travel up and down the system; even then, they were generally unfocused and nonspecific. Mayor Nagin’s media appeals for the federal government to “send everything” were heartfelt, but were so general they were difficult to act upon.

Meanwhile, at higher levels of government, a political showdown was brewing between the White House and Gov. Kathleen Blanco of Louisiana. Louisiana’s National Guard was heavily deployed to Iraq at the time of the storm, and the governor had activated pre-existing agreements with other states to “borrow” National Guard troops prior to landfall. These troops were quickly moved to the area, but the White House wanted to federalize the troops, while Gov. Blanco wanted to keep them under state control. The White House also disputed the timing of the governor’s request to release active-duty military troops into the area, although later evidence showed that the request had come much earlier than initial White House claims.

 

Even once on site, FEMA and National Guard, et. al., cannot be everywhere at once, and they cannot solve all the problems and threats people face. In some cases, policy or needs dictates result in harm to individual residents, mostly unintentional, but at times, intentional. In the end, almost everyone needs to fend for themselves for a protracted period of time, and that often means defending themselves from each other, or facing general extreme hardships or death, alone.

In Katrina, nearly 2,000 died, and many died at the hands of others (including authorities who opened fire on crowds trying to escape across a bridge). There were, in addition to looters and aggressive authorities, at least one known roving gang of vigilante Whites who had set about to kill Blacks they deemed looters, ‘loosely defined.’ The true number of murders is unknown; few records were kept given the mass casualties, but ‘bullet riddled corpses’ were not hard to find. Where there is no law, lawlessness ensues.

Bad things happen

Disasters are all too common, some worse than others. But imagine an outright siege caused by insurgents, racial violence of the sort this country has recently seen, or even military invasion such as foreseen in Operation Lion Dance; where Chinese flood into America via the Canamex rail system, hiding in container cars which can be parked on any rail siding in America from a laptop. Or perhaps it is simple revolution or civil war born of irreconcilable political differences. There are many such threats, none of which are especially likely, but all of which are specifically possible.

P.A.L.A.D.I.N. stands for Post Apocalyptic Local Area Defense Information Network; the core organization. Do not let the gloomy sounding name deter or fool you. While it certainly could be a possibility that doom and gloom awaits us on a regional, national, or global scale (it is after all forecast by virtually every religion and many experts in military, financial, and political circles), any simple disaster or localized upheaval can result in a crisis government is unable or unwilling to address quickly. It is even possible, some believe, that government might become the cause or actual threat themselves, such as in a military coup. But if having Paladins available to help you fend off a crises in a post apocalyptic tragedy, how much better then that they could be available in a lesser threat, such as a killer quake or storm?

Here are just a few such threats — do you have everything in place to survive? Will you, alone, be able to defend them from those who do not? Or will you be waiting for government to get around to attempting to rescue you, not as a soul in need of help, but a mere politically acceptable (expendable) statistic should they fail?

• Sudden Poll Shift — a sudden shift could melt the ice caps and cause serious globally felt quakes

• Sudden Ice Age or Ice Cap Melt — choose your favorite scientist and worry with them

• Super Volcano — doomsday shroud encircles the planet killing all crops, causing ice age

• Super Earthquake — hundreds of thousands or even millions could be homeless and helpless

• Asteroid Strike — we’ve already had nearly a half-dozen near misses in the last twenty years

• EMP Attack — total loss of all things electric, throwing us into pre industrial age

• Solar CME Flare — same as EMP attack, but potentially global in impact

• Planet X — we know it’s coming soon, its effects upon Earth could be catastrophic

• Nuclear or Bio Terrorism — could render an entire region helpless

• Pandemic — we keep coming close to having one, it’s only a matter of time

• Financial Collapse — what happens when money has no value or is unavailable?

• Civil Insurrection — race war, revolution, response to Martial Law, gun seizure

• Military Coup — a top U.S. General has forecast it possible

• War or Nuclear War — no nation is immune from invasion or sneak attack

• Alien Threat — leaders of several nations and scientists have said it possible

• Prophetic End Times Tribulation — seven years a mix of the above, or worse

 

The P.A.L.A.D.I.N. concept is simple, and addresses an important question: is it better to stand alone trying to protect your home and family against armed marauders or other dangers seeking to take what you need to survive from you, even your very lives… or to be prepared? Prepare a go bag and survival supplies, by all means, but to become a Paladin is to pre establish a local mutual defense network which can protect you and yours, your fellow Paladins, your community, and by extension, your country and way of life. P.A.L.A.D.I.N. is a non militia solution that can effectively become functional equivalent of a small and focused militia — on demand. It does not suffer the overhead and commitment of a militia, nor the political tainting.

Paladins may also elect to engage in general humanitarian missions at any time, for any reason or cause; actively active activists. This includes the possibility of providing aid to stalking victims, the homeless, or anyone being unfairly treated by another group in some way which cannot be well addressed by local authorities. It can even mean choosing to side with civilians against authorities in a non violent protest; whatever the Unit deems appropriate. Were I a Paladin near to the tribal protests in the Dakotas over the oil pipelines, I would have urged my Unit to give on-site support, for instance.

Armor wearing Paladins standing guard in Fallout 4, by Bethesda Game Studios (fallout4.com)

Everyone should join!

Anyone who has much to loose if accosted by armed strangers in a crises should join. Stalking victims and other persons who have experienced unusual targeting should definitely become a Paladin. This will enable you to call upon other Paladins when threats return, and help to document, prosecute, or thwart such targeting. Activists should join Paladin, as it becomes a tool useful in a cause, where you can make good argument to fellow Paladins to engage with you — and enables protection should those opposed to your cause elect illegal harassment campaigns against you (target you). Minorities and others who are consistent victims of gang harassments should also join, as it provides yet one more ally and strengthens your ability to stand against aggression, especially in rioting. Ex military should definitely join as an alternative to a Militia, which often has a bad PR image due to a political or religious bent they may have assumed. All are welcome.

To be a Paladin does not require ownership of a gun, but it is ideal.  To own a gun does not require good training or a military background, but it is ideal. Weaponry and combat skills are only important WTSHTF big time, and most gun owners do know how to handle themselves, and they also tend to own more than one weapon, which means that in a pinch, they can share, teach, and lead. The primary requirement is to be of good moral character and to care about your family, your community, and your country. The rest will take care of itself; unity is the key factor.

P.A.L.A.D.I.N. Units of 6 or more Paladins are formed in any given Zip Code once at least half of the members do have arms, and at least one of them has some military or leadership background suitable for acting as Commander. Such leaders are provided with tactical advice on formation and operation of their Unit, and given contact information for any adjacent Units. Paladins can then call upon each other to request aid, or to propose missions to aid others. There are provisions in the formation of Units which allows local Units to join up for improved functionality, and for like hookup with Units in other communities, should regional operations be necessary.

Membership is by default anonymous except between Unit members and adjacent Unit Commanders, but that does not mean members must remain secret. Indeed, public evangelism and recruitment is encouraged (promotional materials will be made available). There is no membership fee to join. However, once a Unit is formed, a small annual membership fee determined by the Unit can be assessed to help fund missions or enhance emergency response capabilities. There can be some small personal expense in order to facilitate Unit functionality, such as the purchase of a Walkie Talkie by each member.

Each Unit is autonomous and stands alone in responsibility; it is not a political body or under the command of a national head, such as myself, even as founder. Therefore, there is no legal liability or risk except for those actions the Unit itself elects to undertake. I am not bound by your actions, nor are yours dictated or bound by mine. You serve only your own Unit member’s best interests and mission goals for public good, and remain subject to all laws in the doing, each member insuring the next does nothing which threatens Unit integrity or viability.

There is no political leaning or bent, nothing which should alarm authorities. In fact, Units should consider making themselves available as volunteers to authorities as emergency helpers or, where law enforcement has such programs, reserve deputies. In such a case, each member is free to participate or abstain, which is generally true in all missions. Units should be prepared to submit to lawful military or law enforcement once order is restored in a crisis, and should maintain records of all actions for use by any needed law enforcement investigations after the fact. That serves both as protection for the Unit and members, as well as a means to prosecute evil doers who may have been confronted by the Unit. Everything is above board and transparent within the Unit, and as private or as public as the Unit itself elects.

TO JOIN: simply email your interest to join to proparanoidgroup at gmail com and provide your City, State, and Zip. This does not obligate you to anything. This will be used to update a database of members maintained anonymously at my Facebook page for the purpose. That page is organized in a way which allows determining if a Unit can yet be formed in a given Zip — your evangelism in recruiting other members is key to that eventuality.

Once a Unit can be formed, members are so advised and connected to one another for the purpose of determining if they should form, and if forming, deciding who will be their Commander. They are also provided with additional support advice on how best to proceed as a functioning unit. Once forming, individual members are then obligated only to commit to the goals established by the Unit for mutual self defense and whatever additional good they may do for community and beyond, in or out of crisis (missions.) Risk and investment are minimal. Rewards can include the possibility of continued life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness — in the face of dire circumstances bent on preventing same.

Other material to consider

The Post Apocalyptic Library is an important collection of life-saving information  commonly beyond the average person’s current knowledge base, and which will NOT BE AVAILABLE once disaster strikes. It is a series of links to critical information which can be learned online or downloaded and printed for placement in a go bag or emergency supplies for later use. It is advised that extra copies should be made in advance for handout to others.

The FEMA, Martial Law, and Revolution Database is a collection of materials which seek to educate the public about individual risks and likelihood of events beyond their control, and/or give advice on how best to survive or react. It is an eye opening review of little known facts which may prove quite sobering. Don’t be yet another Sheeple caught totally unaware.

Dropping off the Grid: abandon the Control Matrix. This author has done so for the last three years, and though living a rather spartan life by comparison to what came before, the freedom is enhanced, and the quality of life (happiness) with it. Living simply has proven to be more satisfying — and should be much safer in the event of major troubles. Here is a snapshot of possibilities. I will soon be offering a Seminar or other promotional venue (i.e., video) on the topic.

An Intentional Community is one way to live off the Grid. Here is one example, a low-cost, self-sufficient community based on tiny homes, a project of the Free Will Society I founded to helped stalking victims: it is called Free Will Haven. It has a gofundme. Such a community is by default more or less the functional equivalent of Paladins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gun Shops, Grocers, Other Retailers Key to Disaster Survival

When the stinkiest FEMA kind of stuff hits the fan, anyone who has a business dealing in key resources will find their valuable inventories and property at risk of sack and pillage by looters, or outright theft by government. There is a way to protect such assets while at the same time insuring better chances of survival of families.

How do I protect my business in a disaster?

by H. Michael Sweeney

copyright © 2013, all rights reserved. Permission to repost hereby granted provided entire post with all links in tact, including this paragraph, are included.

What can gun shop owners do to protect against gun consfication?

The Threat to Business Property is significant in a disaster…

Korean shop owners (rooftop) defend shops during LA Riots to augment or supplant Law Enforcement (click for riot details)

In the prior part of this series we reviewed a wide variety of disaster situations that make emergency preparedness an ultra-important concern for families, reasons far more serious and far reaching than mere quakes, floods, or tornadoes. In the second part, we proposed a disaster preparedness plan much more comprehensive and truly useful than that advised by FEMA/DHS, albeit one government will never approve. Why? Because it’s closer to their own preparations and mimics their own capabilities, and removes you from dependence upon them. That means they cannot control you by being your only source for key survival items.

But the previous material addressed family needs from their perspective. And, there were certain aspects of such a plan which would prove difficult for many families without the help of an outside party. Then we have businesses to consider, who have their own unique concerns as to what happens in dire emergencies. Business owners or responsible managers of many kinds of retail and other business with select kinds of inventories or resources, should be every bit as concerned as a family, and looking for a disaster preparedness plan which specifically protects their valuable business assets, both real property and inventories.

There are several key reasons to consider this a critical concern: One, many disasters are deemed Acts of God and are therefore not included under insurance provisions unless, perhaps, paying extra premiums for specific policy riders such as a flood or tornado insurance. No insurance policy provides protection against acts of war, which includes revolution, military coups and similar political unrest, often even excluding protection against riot losses — regardless of the cause of the riot.

And beyond the worry of insurance protection, FEMA’s plan for your assets in an emergency will very likely include confiscation and take over of your property ‘for the good of the community.’ Similar concerns exist in any Martial Law situation. So if you have such a business, you should worry and wonder if there is not some way you can protect your assets from such total or near-total loss or take over. Never fear, the Professional Paranoid is here to help…

What will happen to gun shops in a FEMA declared emergency?

Partnering with Family Collectives

The prior posts in this series dealt with idea of forming multi-family unit collectives for improved emergency preparedness at the family level, as well as why such preparedness plans and kits should go well beyond minimal FEMA advice and prepare for long-term disasters, not just three day fire/quake/flood protection. This involved numerous considerations and plans in terms of organization and supplies, individual responsibilities and more. But for many such collectives as might be established, some items become difficult to come by or store due to cost or special attributes.

The bottom line is, in a serious emergency situation, looting and general criminal activity become a serious threat to any owner of a business handling inventories of critical resources which are also valuable to long-term disaster kits. Often just as important, many such inventories represent a storage problem for long-term home survival kits. Gun shops especially, and even food or fuel can be difficult to store in quantity suitable for a long-lived disaster. Many more items could be added to such a list, as a given collective of families will have their own unique set of limitations and issues to resolve. As result, even a motorcycle shop or car dealership, auto parts store, tire shop, or tool shop, may find themselves in the same position as a gun shop. In some communities, for example, boats will be a key product in need of protection and in demand as an emergency item. So there are many kinds of businesses who can take advantage of the ideas offered here.

My goal in this series of posts was to attempt to find a solution addressing both these concerns by partnering family collectives with such owners. And, the word owners could in some cases mean ‘managers,’ where owners are corporations or persons who do not themselves manage and/or live near enough to ‘take charge’ for the purpose. Such partnerships are simple: the owner joins or heads a family collective, either one they formed on their own (perhaps made up of employee families), or by joining with someone who approaches them with an acceptable offer.

In some cases, such as gun shop owners or owners of vey large facilities (e.g., super market,), they may wish to partner with multiple collectives. This is because in the event of worst-case long-term disaster scenarios, there may be a need for significant armed resistance against third parties, even to include unconstitutional seizure by Federal forces. By unconstitutional, I mean in the event of an attempt to overthrow the government by the military, or armed insurrection to restore the Republic against some other form of tyranny.  We will know that horse when it rides into town; mass arrests or attempts to seize weapons door-to-door will be its hallmarks.

We all remember the LA Riots? Even though the National Guard was deployed, it was up to citizens to protect their own property. Neither soldier nor Police and Fire were of much help. Korean family-owned businesses gave us the model we need to consider following; they armed themselves to the teeth and took to the roofs of their stores and residences and fended off looters. Family units can band together in like fashion, and better yet if also joining with a one or more business owners in some mutually beneficial arrangement.

Gun shop owners, in particular, have a serious need. They become the highest-value target in town, and therefore, need many able-bodied people to bear arms — in sufficient number to become a significant deterrent to assault. This works well for the families involved, as well, providing them with low or no-cost access to weapons needed to protect their families and homes. The trick is to find ways to do it which do not amount to simply giving away inventory. Not a problem, given that provisional contractual agreements can be drawn up in advance.

How can we prevent government confiscation of our business assets in a declared emergency?

Making it work for all concerned

I propose that such partnerships might be best approached with a contractual agreement for mutual protection. The agreement should provision for both the possibility of taking possession of weapons and munitions immediately and only after a serious event transpires. It might provide for trade of ownership of weapons deployed once the crises is over for a minimum guarantee of service to the shop owner providing protection of the business property.  Weapons can be deemed as ‘rented’ during the disaster with options to purchase afterwards, perhaps with rental applying to the price, or may be considered as ‘payment’ for protection helps rendered, or some mix, thereof. Such items, pre any event, need not be fully deployed to family possession, allowing for normal inventory turnover so that older inventory is sold off and replaced with new, and families don’t need to worry about storage.

Take a gun shop: Only if the family collective partner wishes to take possession (ownership) of weapons for storage at home up front (the suggested kit calls for one pistol minimum), need any money change hands. Once a serious emergency transpires, the families can be issued the additional firearms from shop inventory, and sign for them. They must keep them safe, and must use them on call or by schedule in protection of the store property. It would only take one person from each family unit at a time, given the quantity of family partnerships participating — to adequately defend the store. They ‘pay for what they use’ in the form of a rental/purchase option to be addressed after the emergency ends, perhaps involving payment terms (perhaps involving very small payments pre disaster). There are any number of creative solutions to make it mutually viable.

I am no lawyer, but in a civil emergency, many laws fall by the wayside as a matter of practicality. A gun permit process is not something you worry about when the government is shut down and lives are at stake. However, a wise shop owner might want to check with a lawyer and get some advice and deal with such concerns up front. There is no reason a single individual from each family collective could not undergo a permit process as part of the contingency preparation. What they do with the weapons in an emergency should at that point no longer matter to the shop owner, with reasonable agreements to avoid illegal uses in place. One might also want to address how to safely store key records in order to insure lists of gun holders are not compromised and lead to confiscations, anyway.

Other kinds of businesses? Consumables such as food from a grocery store which have dates of expiration would be lost, anyway, so any financial arrangement to distribute storables in an emergency with any level of appropriate financial reimbursement or property protection services of participants should, IMO, be eagerly embraced. For most shop owners, it converts a disaster where they face the potential loss of all inventory and significant property damage into a situation that more closely approximates the ultimate ‘sale’ where all inventory goes out the door to happy customers, AND the property is protected.

From the family side, a collective should easily be able to field 6-10 adults to defend as many different business sites simultaneously, while still retaining sufficient adults to protect the home base camp. Therefore, they have access to 6-10 different key survival items they might not otherwise be able to afford or store long term. It is a win-win situation for everyone but looters and would-be confiscators.

Upon event occurrence, family members ‘report for duty’ and are issued weapons, sending the appropriate portion back to the family for home defense and protection from confiscation by FEMA/Military.  I propose an organized convoy is the only safe way, as otherwise, armed interlopers might dare to ambush a lone person or single vehicle. I further suggest that, if not already the case by natural instinct, a strict military-like organization and rules for command and engagement be established. Such a model should ideally trickle down to the family units as well, if a long-term event is involved.

Therefore, prior military service, especially in combat or involving combat training, is to be highly prized in any collective or partnership. Where such experience is found in a retired Officer (as opposed to an enlisted rank), so much the better. If there is additionally someone with prior intelligence or forward observer experience, or demolitions or military engineering background, better still. Likewise for any medical corps. or other medical background.

In closing, the business itself should have on hand sufficient stores of foods and other resources (as opined in the prior post) to sustain several months of a ‘stand off’ in defensive posture. A key factor will be the ability to communicate with partnering family units that they may be called in to provide force rotation, deliver emergency supplies, or outright tactical relief against assaulting forces. The prior posts cover communications alternatives in a total outage of all utilities.

How can I protect my business as well as my family in a disaster?

Related articles

• FEMA Preparing Military Police For Gun Confiscations and Martial Law (eutimes.net)
• The Use of Food As a Weapon Against American Citizens (republicbroadcasting.org)