The Riot Makers

Currently reading The Riot Makers, by Eugene Methvin. 

(At Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/yyg7c4kc Good luck!)

(At Archive.org: https://tinyurl.com/y4vnv2yc One hour or 14 day loan, updated/corrected. No print, copy, etc of e-book loaner.)

Published in 1970, and apparently only in one print run, it is an in-depth study of commie methods of inciting riots, based on the "disorder" of the 1960s, primarily in the United States, both on- and off-campus. 

I realize that in some corners the phrase "commie methods of inciting riots" makes the author (and me, I suppose) sound like a conspiracy theorist, but the evidence is pretty compelling.

The book opens with a description of the Newark, NJ, riot of July, 1967. 1967, of course, having been the "Long, Hot Summer".

The author then follows the history of social engineering from Lenin to Mao, with brief looks at the Gracchi brothers and Mark Antony, Sam Adams, the "Babouvists" of the French Revolution, and Karl Marx.

The history of Lenin and social engineering is detailed, as is the description of the social engineering process. 

One constant theme is they manner in which communications technology facilitates the organizing and incitement process; it takes absolutely no imagination at all to add the internet and cellular telephones to radio and television and see how that amplifies the effect. 

You have probably heard the saying that "History doesn't repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme"; reading this book with an eye towards current events will certainly confirm the notion, if not, as I alluded to above, make you think about triple-layering your tin-foil hat. 

I got this book through an inter-library loan, courtesy the King County Library system. If you can find a copy, I strongly urge you to do so.

EDITED to add: The writing style and attitudes in this book may seem dated. Certainly, some of the psychological and sociological terminology used is out of date and/or obsolete. Also, this book was published back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, when I was growing up, and "Negro" was still the word used in polite company. Some may find that jarring, or even, this being 2020, offensive.

Here's a documentary based on the book:

UPDATE 9/13

 Here's what the sun looked like at about 4:30 PM yesterday:

©2020 D.W. Drang and The Cluemeter

And here's what the view down my street looked like this morning:

©2020 D.W. Drang and The Cluemeter

And there's still a school in here somewhere:

©2020 D.W. Drang and The Cluemeter

Looks like fog, but it's not moist. There's a little condensation on Mrs. Drang's car, which hasn't been driven since Friday, but none on mine.

Supposedly will rain tomorrow night or Tuesday, which will help to suppress this, but may cause other problems.  There's not as much ash in this as there has been in past similar events. In 2017 when I left to work Hurricane Harvey (which turned into working Irma, but never mind that now) we were getting actual ash.

Smoke on the water...

 The entire state has smelled like a campfire this past week. 

Earlier in the week, we had easterly winds sending smoke from fire on the east (or "dry") side of the state over the Cascades and sending air quality, even along the shores of Puget Sound and the Salish Sea, into the "unhealthy for sensitive groups" or even "unhealthy" ranges.

Thursday night the wind shifted, now coming from the south, and now we are blanketed with smoke from wildfires in Oregon and California.

Here's a link to Washington's Air Quality Monitoring Network map. (LINK.) And a screen grab of current readings; note that we are in the Very Unhealthy to Hazardous range pretty much all over, until you get to elevation.

Edited to add: That spot of green turns out to be a monitoring station that doesn't "do" smoke.< br/>The stuff it <i>does</i> monitor is just fine...

.

Here are some pics from my corner of the 98-double-ought-3.

©2020 D.W. Drang & the Cluemeter

View out front Friday (9/11) afternoon, looking south. Traffic permitting, we have an unobstructed view to the major east-west thoroughfare about a quarter mile away.

Looking kind of misty, but it's not humidity, it's smoke.

©2020 D.W. Drang & the Cluemeter

Same view this morning.

©2020 D.W. Drang & the Cluemeter

The elementary school around the corner from us, also this morning. This gives an idea of just how yellow the sky is.

Reminds me of the "Yellow Wind" we used to get in Korea, when the wind was out of the Gobi. (Mind you, from the stories, after spending several years living in Shanghai, my sister would probably shrug this off...)

I see from the Wikipedia article I linked there that the Yellow Wind has been exacerbated the last several decades due to desertification and deforestation arising from Soviet industrial policies. 

Thanks, Commies!

Speaking of which, wildfires in western states have been exacerbated by green policies preventing prescribed, controlled burns and the clearing of underbrush which fuels the fires. Not to mention California's refusal to maintain dams and reservoirs. Because who needs water in these cities you built in the desert?

Here's another useful web site for tracking this: WA Smoke. It's a collaboration between state, tribal, local, and federal agencies. Hosted on Blogspot, I was surprised to be able to access it at work, which blocks nearly all social media, and especially blogs.  

Here's their entry for this morning:

Gasp! How much longer???

Quick answers: at least another day and a half in Western WA. 2-3 days in eastern WA.

Gradual clearing will commence on the WA coast on Sunday from west to east, and it will be Monday before that pushes across the state. For western WA, this means we're close to the peak of the episode, but much of eastern WA will deteriorate further today before it starts to get better. The size of the Oregon smoke plumes parked offshore is so "super-massive", and the fires themselves are very smoky, so smoke will continue to pour into the state for a while to come. And there are also several fires within WA to contend with.

I can't help thinking of the Tom Lehrer song "Pollution": "Don't drink the water/And don't breathe the air!"