Confronting the Beast

The tragic murder of a well-liked, no, beloved Show Low, AZ policeman on election day of this year brings up several issues.

The first, of course, is the loss of a fine man and model police officer. A grieving family just weeks away from the holidays. He was set to retire in just a few weeks as well.

Another issue to consider is emotion, anger and fear. While an event like this unfolds, many talk about how evil and dastardly the shooter is. When it’s over and the “bad guy” is dead, sometimes those involved engage in high-fives and fist bumps and other celebratory activities. Then starts the admonitions to pray for the officer and his family and rightfully so. But do you hear of any talk of prayer for “bad guy”? Sane, normal people do not shoot cops, or anyone else without a very good reason. This man obviously had something terribly wrong going on in his head to perpetrate such a terrible deed. None of us can possibly know what he must have been feeling to make him do the things that he did. He had his whole life ahead of him too. There will be those that will grieve for him and miss him this Christmas as well.

Would I have killed him had I been there? Absolutely. Without a moment's hesitation. That doesn't mean that I have to hate him to do it. It simply means that I cannot allow the killing of innocents. The moment that this man's mind snapped, the moment that Satan took control of his actions, he became the Beast. He became the evil that some pretend doesn't exist and should have been stopped by someone that knows that it does. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Officer Reed was caught at a disadvantage and there was no one else present that had the willingness to confront the Beast and the Beast murdered, ran and holed up in a dark cave like any other hunted animal.

Which brings us to the third point....

People, you, the general population,  need to try to come to grips with the fact that we live in an increasingly violent world. Not by our choice but by God's. I believe that this is all simply a part of the Greater Plan.

Violence thrives on fear and weakness. Violence MUST be met with violence if we are to survive! As distasteful as this may seem to some, it is a cold, hard fact of the society that we live in today. Therefore, we MUST be armed, prepared and willing at all times to confront the Beast when he knocks on our door. By this, I mean that all good and decent people MUST be armed at all times! ALL TIMES! We do not have the luxury of being able to choose the time when an attack will befall us or our loved ones.  It is imperative that we not only train and carry a weapon with us every waking moment of our adult lives, we must also work on developing the mindset that will allow us to perform an act that goes against everything that good and decent people have been taught from childhood -- we must face the reality of being forced to injure or kill another human being. We need to understand that it is justifiable, both by man's law and by God's law, to perform this act in defense of ourselves or others.

Sadly, the Beast will not die when his vehicle expires. No, the Beast will find another carrier to continue his evil work. That is why we MUST be armed and prepared to meet the Beast at all times. The other choice is to submit to him. These are our 2 choices. We will consciously make one or unconsciously make the other. We absolutely must, MUST be prepared to meet the Beast while we are eating dinner, at the movies, at work, even while we sleep! The Beast will not rest and so must we not rest in our vigilance against it

When we accept these principles of survival, we can more comfortably and confidently go about our daily lives. It is the world that we live in, like it or not. Making the sheep understand this ancient and everlasting principle of life is another issue.

This principle became carved in stone the day that Cain murdered Abel and it holds true today.

Lastly, the bleeding heart libs will use these tragedies to push a ton of hell down on us in the form of the most draconian gun legislation this country has ever seen. This will be another battle, a battle for freedom, that we must be prepared to fight with every fiber of our moral being. Our rights WILL be taken away from us if we do not put everything we have into the upcoming battle! What about Officer Reed’s rights you ask? Yeah, what about them? What if just one sheepdog could have been there to confront the wolf when Officer Reed was distracted?

The cancer of violent crime is now firmly entrenched in Smalltown, USA and spreading. WE are the cure...


In Liberty,
Cope Reynolds (Desertscout)
Southwest Shooting Authority of Arizona

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Colts and Kimbers are what you show your friends. 
GLOCKS are what you show your enemies!

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!

FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!

Everyone is starting to see lots of requests by different groups and individuals to help defray the expense of fighting for liberty. In 17 years of doing this, I have never once asked for help in the way of donations. We have received some help from a few good-hearted, loyal patriots but we haven't asked for it. We have conducted a few fund raisers like turkey shoots and raffles over the years but time is of the essence right now and staging fundraisers just isn't in the cards. If we make it safely through this winter, maybe we can start doing some of that fun stuff again next year.

Surely all of you have seen at least some of the stuff going around on the various news outlets. Natural disasters, terrorism, economic and social degradation, illegal immigration, gov't over-reach and invasions, etc, etc. The vast majority of people do nothing either because they don't care or they are oblivious to what is going on.

There are also many patriots that are simply unable to do anything physically no matter how much they want to.

Then there's the III%. Those few that will risk life and limb. Those dedicated, patriotic individuals that put all else aside and dive head first into the fray. Whether it be helping citizens during disasters, helping law enforcement during search and rescue operations or getting involved in the battle for liberty, the III% are getting things done.

Unfortunately, everything we do costs money. We have homes, jobs and families just like everyone else.

We can't do this much longer without some help. Our personal gear wears out or gets damaged and has to be replaced. Sometimes we need specialized items for certain missions that we don't normally have. There's tires, fuel, maintenance, food, medical supplies, porta-potties and much more.

The informed patriot knows that time is short. We know that there is a storm brewing. Most of us feel that we are past the point of no return. Whatever is going to happen will happen with or without us. The concern is, will we be able to continue the struggle, whatever it may be for, or will we be defeated because we can't travel to where we need to go or feed ourselves or will many simply quit because of personal issues.

The requests probably won't stop anytime soon. The big question for those donating, and a very legitimate one, is where does money go and what is it used for? Just like any other large group of people, there will always be a few that are unethical and in it for themselves. We saw that at Bundy Ranch. We saw it down on the border and we saw it in Washington state during the fires. Do your research and chose carefully who you donate to. None of us really have an in-depth accounting system. We operate on the honor system. I can tell you that it doesn't take long to separate the wheat from the chaff.

One thing that I can assure you of... We, you and I, are the only thing that stands between the citizens of this Nation and our destruction by the enemies of all that is good. The morals, values and standards that most of us grew up with are being destroyed by enemies bith foreign and domestic. From without and from within.

There are current issues that MUST be dealt with immediately and others on the horizon.
Make an informed choice, but make a choice. Support the militias and patriot groups that are giving their all for their God and their Nation.

((This is a re-post with updated information))


In Liberty,
Cope Reynolds (Desertscout)
Southwest Shooting Authority of Arizona

If you'd like to help support our efforts, you can do so by donating to The Shooting Bench by clicking the "DONATE" button below!

Listen to Cope live on The Shooting Bench Mon thru Fri, 8 to 9pm Pacific/11pm to midnight Eastern


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Colts and Kimbers are what you show your friends.
GLOCKS are what you show your enemies!

Happy Independence Day! (not 4th of July...)

The 4th of July is a date. It falls immediately after the 3rd and directly precedes the 5th. In and of itself, it is nothing special.

Independence Day, however, is a holiday during which we celebrate our Nation's birth. It is possibly my favorite holiday.

Some suggest that we not celebrate Independence Day any longer because of the state that the Nation is in.

We're rightfully celebrating a time when men were men and would run away from home and lie about their age to have the opportunity to fight the enemies of freedom.

We're celebrating a time when being a patriot had real meaning and the gov't feared the people and not the other way around.

We're celebrating a time when the "rockets red glare" brought a tear to the eye instead of ooh's and aah's and "hand me another beer" while we watch the fireworks.

We celebrate days gone by when Americans were fierce and proud. When we knew what gender we were and were comfortable in the fact that God had not made a mistake in creating us.

Suggesting that we not celebrate Independence Day because control of America has slipped away from us, is akin to saying we shouldn't celebrate Christmas because it has become too commercialized. 

Saying "Happy 4th of July" on Independence Day is similar to saying "Happy Holidays" instead of Merry Christmas. 

What's next? Merry 25th of December or Happy 1st of January? 

Honor the event, not the day. Honor the flag. Honor the memories of the men and women that gave up everything so that we can live the way we do.

I will not dishonor my country by not celebrating the anniversary of her independence any more than I would dishonor my wife by not celebrating our anniversary because she is not 19 anymore. It is not my wife's fault that she is no longer 19 any more than it is my country's fault that we no longer have the guts and the drive to take it back.

No, I will celebrate this Independence Day just as I always have. She's as young and beautiful and pure and as much worth fighting for as she ever was, in spite of my shortcomings... just like my wife.

In Liberty,

Cope Reynolds (@Desertscout1)

Southwest Shooting Authority of Arizona 

 

Colts and Kimbers are what you show your friends.

GLOCKS are what you show your enemies!

The Arrest of Bill Keebler

OFFICIAL STATEMENT

Concerning the arrest of and subsequent charges against Bill Keebler, it is the official position of Liberty for All, the White Mountain Militia and myself, that Bill Keebler has a constitutionally protected right to be assumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury of his peers. Any and all of us should expect and receive the same.

I am sickened and deeply ashamed of these so-called "patriots" and wannabe militia members that have thrown this patriot under the bus on nothing more than the federal narrative. How dare you consider yourselves patriots! You are no better than the sheeple that you chastise and belittle every day.

I cannot, in good conscience, definitively say whether Bill did or did not do what he is accused of doing but I can tell you this; Bill Keebler has a deep and abiding love for this country. He would kill or be killed without hesitation to protect both the land and the Constitution just like many of the rest of us. Has he said some stupid things that he regrets in the presence of mental midgets that have misconstrued and twisted his words to further their own agenda? Probably so, just like many of the rest of us. Bill just happened to have gotten caught.

Did he push the button on the explosive device in question? Maybe, maybe not. But there were 2 or 3 federal employees that will testify that he did so it doesn't matter. I've known Bill for quite a while and I can assure you that he did not come up with this idea on his own. He was prodded and coerced by what he thought were trusted friends (Brad R. Miller, Jacob Davis and Leonard Bloom. At least that's the names they were using) who were well trained and skilled in the art of prodding and coercing. Does that make it OK? Of course not. Nor is it OK to cheat on your spouse because you've had too much to drink. If, IF the federal narrative is even remotely correct, this was entrapment at its finest.

  The feds strategically chose the location so that they could tie it in to LaVoy. They set the trap by pumping Bill up and stroking him and making him think he was really going to be a hero. They convinced him that they would be taking all the risks by acquiring all the materials and actually building the device and convincing Bill that he could take the credit and be the hero by simply pressing the button. Then they nailed him when he did. Bet your bottom dollar that it happened something like that.

Now, did LaVoy take them to the target area to scout  it out for the purpose of planning to destroy property  and risk hurting someone? ABSOLUTELY NOT! You would have to be a very special kind of stupid to think that. LaVoy would have escorted Bill or anyone else off of his property that might have even mentioned something like that. Pretty much everyone that works in their various capacities out in that remote area knows that the Ranger Station is the closest place to get aid, especially in the summer and during hunting season.

To summarize: Bill Keebler was set up. He was set up just like LaVoy Finicum. Whether or not he pushed the button is not relevant. He would have never in a million years planned and executed such a stupid and useless scheme. Just like it didn't matter whether or not LaVoy had a gun on him the day he was murdered in cold blood. By the time things had progressed to the point that he might have reached for a gun, he was totally justified in using one. But the jackals had already surrounded the lamb.

One of us will be next. Don't be so anxious to cast the first stone. If you are next, you may be treated just as you have treated others.

Cope Reynolds (Desertscout)

Southwest Shooting Authority

Listen to Cope live on The Shooting Bench Mon thru Fri, 8 to 9pm Pacific/11pm to midnight Eastern

"The Shooting Bench" Podcast: The Shooting Bench

Colts and Kimbers are what you show your friends.

GLOCKS are what you show your enemies!

Communications Security 101

Communications Security 101 by Cope Reynolds Let's talk a little bit about communications security or "COMSEC" as it pertains to email, texting and social media.  COMSEC is also critical in the use of landlines, snail mail and even the face-to-face conversations that you have on the street from day to day but for now, let's stick to online dangers.  The following is fairly long but if you value your safety and privacy, it will be WELL worth your time to read it.  Please bear in mind that are many more advanced measures above and beyond what is mentioned here but for now, this will get you headed in the right direction.  Like everything else, opinions may vary on this subject.  I can say that I have had a couple of the finest communications and security specialists available advise me on this subject and we have been playing this game for a long, long time.  "COMSEC" is not just a military or law enforcement acronym, it applies to all of us. A common phrase that just makes me cringe is, "My life is an open book, I have nothing to hide".  I have heard or seen those exact words hundreds of times over the years.  Well, yes you do have something to hide.  The things that you say online can be used easily to build profiles on you and your family or your business by those that wish to do you harm either physically, financially or psychologically.  These can be hackers, scammers, violent criminals or the gov't.  For instance, after a few times of mentioning on Facebook what time you pick up little Jimmy from baseball practice or what time you go to work or when you get paid, just to mention a few, a profile can be started on you and how you conduct your day to day life.  Careless mention of friends' or family names, addresses, phone or social security numbers, dates, etc. When you're leaving, where you're going and how long you'll be gone on vacation.  Nearly anything you provide can be used to harm or inconvenience you and it is astonishing to see the amount of personal information that gets put out every day! Luckily, there are a few things we can do to dramatically reduce that possibility. One last thing before we move on and this is crucial! Keep these three words in the back of your mind and consider them before you relay ANY information that may be of a sensitive nature. "Need-to-know".  Make absolutely certain that the person that you are sharing information with NEEDS TO KNOW!  If they want to know just for curiosity's sake, do not share it with them!  If you want to tell them just to stroke your own ego, do not share it with them!  This goes for nosy spouses, best friends and your barber.  NEED-TO-KNOW!  That's not WANT-TO-KNOW! It's not WANT-TO-SHARE!  Your three-word, take-home phrase of the day is... say it with me -- "NEED-TO-KNOW! OK, we can move on now... PASSWORDS   Good, strong passwords are the key to protecting your personal information online.  Never use birthdays, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, addresses, names or recognizable words as all or part of your passwords.  Information that you may inadvertently provide can allow people to hack your passwords through what is called social engineering.  Social engineering it is just one of several methods used to hack passwords. Four or five character passwords may be okay for forums and chat rooms where personal information is not usually at risk.  6 characters are better especially if you use uppercase lower case and numbers in your password.  However, this is still only moderately secure.  A "complex password" is one that uses uppercase and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.  A 6-character complex password has something to the tune of 700 billion possible combinations.  I know that sounds like a lot but it's still not all that difficult to hack using electronic means.  A simple, 8-character password using only letters and numbers has over 50 times more combinations then a 6-character complex password.  An 8 character complex password, choosing from a pool of numbers, upper and lower case letters and 19 special characters gives you almost 646 trillion  combinations.  Again, that's a staggering number but a determined hacker with a fast computer and the right software could break that in less than three months.  Add one more character out of the same pool and it could take as many as much as nine years to go through every possible combination.  Obviously, the longer the password is and the more characters to choose from, the stronger the password.  This is also why we should change our passwords from time to time so if someone has already begun this process, they'll never reach their goal.  Ideally, we should memorize our passwords.  However, we should NEVER use the same password for everything, especially very sensitive sites, so that makes it difficult to memorize multiple, complex passwords. It is best not to write your passwords down but if you must, save them somewhere secure.  It is best to store passwords in a file that is protected by a very strong, complex password.  We strongly encourage people to use a program like KEEPASS which can help both create secure passphrases and store them in encrypted files. To further protect your contacts, messages and information, it is imperative that your phone also be passcode or pattern protected instead of just swiping the screen.  A good passcode is stronger than a pattern but a complex pattern using 6 or more dots works fairly well too.  Locking by using your fingerprint is extremely secure unless... an aggressive captor physically forces you to unlock your screen by forcibly touching your fingertips to the screen until they get the right one. Security and safety is often inconvenient.  Okay, now that we got that out of the way, let's talk about secure communications.  For our purposes today, it's online voice and text that we are concerned about.  I could spend an hour telling you what not to use and why but I'm going to spare you all that let you do your own research.  I will tell you that Hushmail and Safemail are a couple of email programs that most of us no longer trust completely.  Understanding that technology is subject to change, I will tell you some programs that we use that we do trust and if you wish to speak securely with any of us, you will likely have to use one of these programs. SIGNAL Signal is our top program for about 95% of our day-to-day communications.  Signal allows secure, encrypted texting and encrypted voice communications.  Signal is a full-service texting program and should be installed and used as your default texting client.  Signal, like so many other secure programs, is only secure if you are communicating with another Signal user.  Texting to another Signal user will automatically be secure, there is nothing more that you must do (other than both of you keeping your phones secured).  That being the case, there are a couple things you must watch out for to avoid sending sensitive information to people that are not secure.  For one thing, in the text box where you type your message, it will say "Send Signal Message" before you ever start typing.  As soon as you start typing in the text box, the blue attachment button to the right with the paperclip in it will morph into a "Send" button. It will still be bright blue and have a little paper airplane and a locked padlock in it.  If you wish to send a secure attachment, you will need to touch the paperclip in the blue circle on the right before you start typing. If the text box says "Send Unsecured SMS" obviously your message will be unsecure when sent.  When you start typing in the unsecured box,the "Send" button on the right will turn dark grey with an unlocked padlock in it.  Those are two prior warnings that you may be sending sensitive information to an unsecured user.  Also when you send a secure message you will see after it has sent there will be two check marks beside your message on the right if it went through.  If there is only one check mark that means that it was either sent to an unsecure recipient or has not yet been received by a secure recipient.  That will let you know that you may have inadvertently sent sensitive information to an unsecured user and give you time to work on damage control. Signal users must be in your phone's contact list.  You must have their phone number and they must have yours.  This may be considered a downside to Signal because you can only use it with trusted contacts and not anonymously.  Signal allows secure texting and calling over Wi-Fi and data which opens up many options for you.  That means that you can pull up beside McDonalds and make a free phone call on their wifi using Signal. You could download Signal onto a disposable smart phone, make your important calls, destroy the phone and be on your way. To use Signal voice communications, tap the telephone receiver in the top, right corner of your phone screen, just like your regular texting client. Signal voice calls need a good, strong data signal or wifi. One last thing about voice on Signal, DO NOT use "voice texting" if you want your text message to be secure.  You are still using the mic on the phone and it could be intercepted.  The Signal voice feature encrypts the voice message upon sending.  Regular voice text does not. Signal has no mandatory burn time on messages but you can set a voluntary burn time which means that the message will be destroyed on both ends at the desired time.  Signal, as well as all the other secure programs should NEVER be set to where you are signed in all the time.  You should always set it to where you have to sign in periodically.  The higher the risk at any given time, the shorter the time before the program should lock you out.  When you do not do that, you are compromising everyone in your group.  If you are too lazy to type in the password occasionally then you should not be trusted as someone to share information with. Integrity, respect and honesty in this game is imperative! Make Signal your default texting program.  It has all the features you need and is every bit as easy to use as anything else with the exception of punching in a password from time to time.  WICKR (NOTE: Wickr used to be our second choice for secure texting but has recently been purchased by Amazon which means that we no longer trust it. We havecall deleted it from our phones and tablets.)   Wickr does not need to exchange phone numbers so communications can be done anonymously. This is a plus. It also has a mandatory burn time which is inconvenient. You can set your burn time for anything from a few seconds to 6 days but you cannot keep it permanently.  This means that if you have information that you want to save you will have to copy and paste it and put it somewhere else where it won't burn but is still secure, such as Signal or ProtonMail.  You do not want to copy the information and store it in an insecure file on your computer.  It will not send and will stay in queue under your username indefinitely unless you have to restart the program.  Wickr can send secure files, pictures and very short audio files. Signal and Wickr both have their strong and weak points as far as convenience is concerned but Signal definitely has yhe best security. Wickr is limited to, I believe, 1,500 characters per message. CONFIRMATION OF MESSAGES   It is assumed that some messages, whether secure or not, may be time sensitive.  If you are relaying the time to pick someone up or go to a meeting and the recipient doesn't receive the message for a hour after you sent it, it doesn't do much good. With all texting programs, when you are in a questionable service area, it is important to begin all text messages with the time that the message was sent in 24-hour format or "military time".  That way,  if your message is received much later than it was sent, your contact will know. This may be critical.  For example....   Let's say that you send an important text message to a contact that is in a weak signal zone.  The message appears to have sent on your end and you have no reason to believe that it wasn't received a few seconds later.  However, since your contact was in a poor service area or maybe had his phone off or in airplane mode, he will not have any idea when the message was sent.  If he assumes that it was just sent and the information is time sensitive,  it could be catastrophic.  Also, be specific in your instructions in case the message is not received right away.  Don't tell someone to "Meet me at HQ in an hour".  Your text should be worded thusly... "1335 - Meet me at HQ at 1500 hrs."  Your recipient will have all the information they need. ZELLO Zello is an also-ran. Forget it if want true secure communication.   SKYPE Skype used to be an amazing program but it is no longer to be trusted. Skype does not have the same degree of security that it had before Microsoft acquired it. It is fine for family and friends to visit and pass along things that you don't want everyone in the world to know but it offers zero protection against government intrusion or very determined hackers.  You can call Skype to Skype for free and have unlimited talk time.  If you want to call a landline, you either have to subscribe to one of their programs, use their pre-paid program or offer payment information call by call.  You can get Skype on desktop or laptop computers and there is a full-featured app for your phone.  It has a wonderful texting program, voice and video messaging and file transfer.  Skype is moderately secure in all modes, free and easy to use. If you would like to purchase the premier version, you can also get your own phone number which you can use for a home or business phone and it is pretty cheap.  When you call out, you can set your caller ID to either show that you called from an anonymous number or any number of your choice.  You have complete control of call forwarding, caller ID and many other features. PROTONMAIL ProtonMail is probably the most secure, stand-alone email program known at the present time.  It is based in Switzerland and is extremely secure. You can send secure attachments, both voice and text plus images and audio files.  As with Signal, ProtonMail is only totally secure with other ProtonMail users.  ProtonMail may take a little while to get an account.  I've been using ProtonMail since it's very inception and have found no flaws.  As with Signal for texting,  ProtonMail is the only email program that we will share sensitive information over at the current time. Other email programs can be made secure as well and there are dozens of tutorials online to help you do that.  Here is one such link that will walk your through using Thunderbird and PGP encryption. So, there you go.  There is so much more but for now, this should give you some things to think about concerning your personal security.  It's time folks!  It's time to start covering your tracks a little and being just a tad more cautious! In Liberty, Cope Reynolds (Desertscout) Southwest Shooting Authority of Arizona Colts and Kimbers are what you show your friends. GLOCKS are what you show your enemies!