Panama City, Panama
Yon-Genre mind-dump, sans edit
Life on earth is immensely effected by the Moon. Second only to the sun. Entire religions, calendars, tides, architecture, and every sort of human behavior including war and migration, are directly related to the Moon.
During the Florida mating season, when the Moon is high at night, the Mockingbird perches under the sky, singing through the night, calling for a mate. The Moon and the Mockingbird. Many a night I fell asleep to the Mockingbird song. The greatest singer of all.
As a young Green Beret, I learned to watch the moon. The Apaches and Comanches and the other able fighters always knew the moon. As do the Taliban. I reckon Pashtun fighters are like modern Apaches but with AK-47s.
There is much to learn from Afghan fighters. Old school. Adhering to principles. Such as as patience.
They wait for the right conditions. Including the moon. Six months, a year, or more.
Attack with sun to your back, or near sunset or sunrise, depending on advantage of getting in or getting away. Basics.
Tracking, being tracked. Shadows confer much advantage in tracking. Fighting from the shadows. Avoiding the tremendous winds and sun of daylight fighting that favor those with longer rifles.
Often they attack in broad daylight but they usually consider the continuum of the light-dark cycle. Pashtun may attack by night and literally go straight to field to harvest without so much as going home to change shoes.
When eclipse of Moon or Sun, Afghans will rush outside to fire rifles into the sky to save the Sun or Moon from Satan. This idea is common the world ‘round. Europeans of past did similar. Ringing church bells, clanging pots and pans, blasting fireworks.
During harvests, Afghans work all night in the cool under the bright Moon. So bright you can literally read a book without other light.
One night, in Southern Afghanistan, I was with Afghan interpreters. My camera was on tripod with more than 1,120mm of glass. A 400mm lens x 2.0 x 1.4 extenders = 1,120mm. The night was fine and clear. Little breeze. The Moon was crisp, moving quickly through the field of view.
The interpreters peered at the Moon. Asking me questions such as, “What do they grow up there? How do they manage water.”
Mind you, these are smart men. They just don’t know. Great fighters. Courageous. They know how to use the Moon to farm and fight. But they know nothing of tides or Apollo. Afghanistan is landlocked and earthlocked.
When Taliban attacked our massive base, Camp Bastion, destroying Harrier jets and killing our Marine Commander on the ground, I was away from Afghanistan. But I knew immediately there was no Moon. Taliban make such attacks under what we call “Red Air.”
This attack would come during a time or Red Air. Especially no Moon, a contributive factor to Red Air. I’ve written about Red Air — causing the issue to be brought up by Congressmen: https://www.michaelyon-online.com/red-air-americas-medevac-failure.htm
And so, I published immediately my assessment of what happened. How the Taliban attacked using Red Air conditions.
I know these things because I study things that others do not. Like that time I published immediately about the North Korean fraud from “Escape From Camp 14.” I had seen him on 60 Minutes.
And minutes later, after North Korean Shin Dong-hyuk appeared on 60 Minutes, I published that Shin was an obvious fraud. For years, the North Korean fraud had fooled top journalists such as author Blain Harden. But I knew. Because I study and spend much time with such folks.
I’ve spent more than half my life with distant cultures around the world. And now, I know things. I write these words from the country of Panama, having recently left Colombia, and Portland, Oregon.
Example of clues: the North Korean knew his birthday. That was a dead giveaway. His name is Shin Dong-hyuk. Guys like Shin NEVER know their birthdays.
Shin’s body language. His everything. Shin Dong-hyuk was a giant duck with giant webbed feet and yet passed himself off as having brilliantly escaped Camp 14. He travelled the world on a world sympathy and cash tour. Media and naive universities fawned and he landed on 60 Minutes. I outed him in minutes.
Shin fooled author Blaine Harden. Mr. Harden holds every beautiful credential of journalism. And after Shin fooled poor Blaine, throngs of journalists and academics lined up to be fooled. Until I came along. Outing Shin was easier than tracking a herd of cows through mud.
As for Afghanistan, the Moonless attack on Camp Bastion that destroyed our jets on the ground was an epic study in the incompetence of leadership tasked to guard the base.
If they had studied basic tactics, and our incredibly able if illiterate Taliban enemies — American and British Commanders would have realized they were fighting the equivalent of Apaches or Comanches. Those guys kick ass. They may be the enemy, but we must respect or they will destroy our jets on the ground and shoot the Commander dead. And they did.
And so, without missing a beat, in a way of demonstrating my knowledge of Taliban and that specific terrain and battlespace, I immediately published “When the Moon Sets, Watch Out.” Attached herewith.
A Marine intelligence officer on the base contacted me saying my dispatch was amazingly accurate other than a couple small points, which he did not clarify. Given I did that assessment off the cuff — I figured something had to be wrong — but I know how Taliban operate and knew basically how they pulled it off. I had warned many times about such Taliban tactics.
And tonight I see the moon high over Panama. I am in Panama City. The phase is Waxing Gibbous with 98% illumination. Weather tonight over the Southern border of United States is perfect. I checked for El Paso: A cool 62 Fahrenheit, and clear.
The migrants will be storming the border in high numbers during this moon.
Tomorrow the Moon will be full. If no clouds, your body will cast a shadow on the desert. Go there tomorrow, to the border by Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California — and watch during the full Moon as huge numbers of people cross into America.
I must go now. Thank you for your financial support. I need it. Tracking Taliban and all the rest is expensive and occupies my life. Make sure to read the attached link. This is not normal war correspondent work. This is the top 1% of the top 1%. Am not bragging. This is just true.