Please take a moment to read this. Thank you for being a sheepdog. And for those of you who received this who don’t think you’re a sheepdog, I would argue that I have personally witnessed differently.

Sheep, Sheepdogs, and Wolves

Jill Edwards is a junior math major at the University of Washington. In brief, Edwards, a member of the UW student senate, opposed a memorial to UW grad "Pappy" Boyington. Boyington was a U.S. Marine aviator who earned the Medal of Honor in World War II. Edwards said that she didn't think it was appropriate to honor a person who killed other people. She also said that a member of the Marine Corps was NOT an example of the sort of person the University of Washington wanted to produce.

Entered below is Gen. Dula's letter to the University of Washington
student senate leader.

To: Edwards, Jill (student, UW)

Re: Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs

Miss Edwards, I read of your 'student activity' regarding the proposed memorial to Col Greg Boyington, USMC and a Medal of Honor winner. I suspect you will receive a bellyful of angry e-mails from conservative folks like me. You may be too young to appreciate fully the sacrifices of generations of servicemen and servicewomen on whose shoulders you and your fellow students stand. I forgive you for the untutored ways of youth and your naiveté.

It may be that you are, simply, a sheep. There's no dishonor in being a sheep - - as long as you know and accept what you are. Please take a couple of minutes to read the following. And be grateful for the thousands - - millions - - of American sheepdogs who permit you the freedom to express even bad ideas.

Brett Dula

Sheepdog, retired

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ON SHEEP, WOLVES, AND SHEEPDOGS By LTC (RET) Dave Grossman, RANGER, Ph.D., author of "On Killing."

Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for? -William J. Bennett - in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997 One Vietnam Veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident." This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another.

Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.

I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me, it is like the pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell.

Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.

"Then there are the wolves," the old war veteran said, "and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy." Do you believe there are wolves out there whom will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

"Then there are sheepdogs," he went on, "and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf." If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.

Let me expand on this old soldier's excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial; that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids' schools.

But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid's school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, can not and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.

Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports, in camouflage fatigues, holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, "Baa." Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door. Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?

Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed, right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference. There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.

There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: Slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do inAfrica, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself. Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, "Let's roll," which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers -athletes, business people and parents. -- from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.

There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men. - Edmund Burke Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn't have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.

If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.

For example, many officers carry their weapons in church. They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your loved ones.

I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, "I will never be caught without my gun in church." I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy's body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?"

Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for "heads to roll" if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids' school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them.

Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, "Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?" It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up.

Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn't bring your gun, you didn't train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear, helplessness and horror at your moment of truth. Gavin de Becker puts it like this in Fear Less, his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation: "...denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn't so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling."

Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level. And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes. If you are a warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be "on" 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself..."Baa."

This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.

"If It Weren't For The United States Military and the Local Police, there Would Be No United States of America". God Bless You All! Soke Merriman

Residents who witnessed this horrible chain of events, which took only seconds, ran for their own lives. And, then the blame game started. Rich’s family and friends spoke glowingly of a man who would give you the shirt off his back. Miller’s family initially took some heat because of his father’s (Frazier Glenn Miller's)White Supremacist past 20 years ago. But, the family reached out to the locals and expressed their grief at this senseless tragedy too. They (like the Columbine shooters families) could not explain their sibling's reaction to a simple car accident after a couple of bad days with his girlfriend.

[L-R: Officer Andy Clark's injuries in his near-death brush with Jesse Miller; all photos are from KSPR 33 website]

Of course, the man whose family was left to deal with the aftermath was the young Marionville officer who, to this day, is lucky to be alive and still cannot fully use his left arm. Officer Clark says what was on most of our minds who didn’t just want to have a group hug and get on with life, "I think he would have walked into town and there's no telling how many people he would have shot." He did his job and protected his flock. A young officer who has lost his livelihood and doctors say is lucky because the shot narrowly missed his spine and an artery in his neck. His wife, Rhonda, also lived through this recent episode as one of the first responders to the scene of her husband’s shooting.

And, what do we take from this? As a previous prosecutor in Lawrence County (from 1997-99), soke has more than passing familiarity with Marionville, Missouri, which sits in Lawrence County. A quiet, sleepy little town where nothing ever happens. Just, like good ‘ol Springfield. People...WAKE UP! Kirkwood, Missouri, Columbine, Colorado, ad nauseum! These are not big cities. Predators are striking where the sheep live quietly in their pastoral surroundings. But, just last week, a church in the toughest patrol district in Springfield panicked and threw a hissy fit about a parishioner even suggesting a security team (unarmed but, with radio communication) in their midst. The wailing and gnashing of teeth was long and loud while the women in that congregation lost their freaking mind. Soke even lost a good student over the mess when a wife put her foot down and ordered him out of the aiki ju jitsu program.

We continue to learn nothing from these shootings, folks! The price of safety is vigilance and you have to stop whining whenever someone points this out to you, particularly, if you do not want to take point. You see, at the same time soke’s lost student was getting his come-uppance, less than 90 seconds away from that latter church, William Lamar Aspaugh (a 45-year-old Springfield thug) stabbed 34-year-old Dwight Scott to death for an alleged insult over a stolen pitbull! And...that...is why you have to pull your head firmly from your rectum folks. It ain’t Mayberry no more anywhere!

-----Original Message-----
From: L K Tucker [mailto:kc4iai@hotmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 4:12 PM
To: martiallaw@hushmail.com
Subject: Site Feedback George A Dillman Explained

I found your site while performing reverse searches from hits to my site. Please forward this message to the author, or person responsible for the review of the article about Dillman, on the linked page. I was struck by Dillman and Seung Hui Cho articles being together without your realizing the two are connected. My site is about a little known problem with the physiology of sight related to the vision startle reflex. It caused mental breaks for office workers in the 1960's. The cubicle has been used for forty years to prevent what is a believed-to-be- harmless mental episode.

You are correct in that Dillman does not possess superhuman or supernatural powers. He does believe what he attempts as Dim Mak no touch Chee strikes. (It appears to work because of hypersuggestability. It doesn't work with non-students.) Why he believes it is at the heart of the problem on my site. Low-level long-term Qi Gong or Kundalini Yoga exercise sessions produce a fixed altered mental state where other such beliefs appear. Kundalini Yoga Gurus might believe they can levitate, dematerialize, walk through solid objects unharmed, and read your thoughts/control your actions through mental telepathy. Any exercise that uses the same eyes-open concentration with repeating detectable movement in peripheral vision has the potential to create these bizarre mental states. Look at what you must believe regarding Qi Gong. Standing in a group and waving your arms and legs in unison grants you the power to control powerful energy responsible for creating the Universe.

I write people who have expressed an interest in some aspect of this because I believe this same phenomenon is responsible for disappearances and strange suicides of college students. Perform the demonstration of subliminal sight and habituation in peripheral vision to understand how subliminal Distraction exposure begins. The 'Qi Gong psychotic reaction' page has a longer explanation. The Virginia Tech shooter created the "special circumstances" to cause this exposure. When he had the believed-to-be-harmless mental event he planned and killed 32 people.

L K Tucker
In Montgomery AL This email address is not on the site.

-----Original Message-----
From: martiallaw@hushmail.com

To: L K Tucker [mailto:kc4iai@hotmail.com]

Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 8:43 PM

Subject: RE: Site Feedback George A Dillman Explained

Interesting. We have studied a similar phenomenon in US army marksman observer situations where our marksman experience "phantom" appearances, etc. while staring fixedly at the same target without sufficient eye relief. You can actually begin to "see" and experience phenomenon which are not actually there. Hence, why we are instructed to frequently break eye contact and look at something else allowing our peripheral vision to keep track of the mark. Failure to do so can lead to vertigo, etc. too. When I update our newsletter, I will include your remarks if you do not mind. Thank you!

-----Original Message-----
From: L K Tucker [mailto:kc4iai@hotmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 4:12 PM
To: martiallaw@hushmail.com
Subject: Site Feedback George A Dillman Explained

Please do include the email in your newsletter. You may also use any information on the website. You might note that I propose that PTSD is actually caused by this same phenomenon when the battle situation and group living arrangements create Subliminal Distraction. The outcome of WWI exposure in trench warfare and barracks living would have caused heavy exposure. Look at the YouTube links to video of "shell shock" during that campaign. The mistake being made is to assume that the subjects of flash backs are the cause of those mental events. There is no evidence that this is true.

I had panic attacks that suddenly just stopped. I had changed computers and moved the location to a corner of the room where I could not have SD exposure. The first position was on a room divider where all family members could walk by me as I used the computer. If you have previous traumatic experiences they are recalled by your brain in an effort to associate the effects and sensations of panic attacks. An important detail is that you can have exposure from more than one place in the same day. This is because subliminal sight does not identify the movement in peripheral vision it just triggers a warning reflex when movement is detected. When you learn to consciously ignore distracting movement it is never identified by your mind.

But, those of us in the sniper class unanimously and spontaneously asked the same question when we heard about the shootings, "Why didn’t someone fight back?" Two hand guns inflicting 3 bullet wounds per victim totals more than 100 rounds of ammunition fired by this little runt. And, folks, unlike Kliebold and Harris (armed with battle rifles) Seung Hui Cho had to reload his small-caliber pistols at least five times to account for the rounds expended that I heard about. It will be interesting to see (in the future) what the actual sequence of events were that unfolded on the second story of the Virginia Tech building on campus. Unfortunately, probably the same situation where most of the victims died on their knees begging for their lives. A hard, fast military rule in critiquing actions under stress is that "if you were not there and you did not see what happened, keep your mouth shut. You’re not entitled to an opinion". And, that is why I would never question the decision to run away from an armed assailant. We teach here at the ryu that if you can get away, run away. A tactical retreat is always better than getting yourself killed.

But---what do we do when we can not run away? When death stares you in the face and you must fight instead of flee? And, that is where I anguish on this latest shooting. Just like Columbine, we know from news reports that bystanders did have time to think and take SOME action by dialing 9-1-1, videotaping the shooting, using a camera phone to snap photos, getting on their knees and wait for death, etc. In other words, these poor kids today (just like their peers in every other community) had been indoctrinated in conflict resolution (talking), alternative dispute resolution (finding someone else to solve your problems), negotiation and compromise. All of those diplomacy skills that Neville Chamberlain displayed so well as Adolph Hitler conquered the Rheinland, Poland, Yugoslavia and Western Europe in the late 1930’s.

At Virginia Tech. (just like Columbine before her), the thought of stalking and killing this a** hole Cho with their bare hands, apparently, did not even occur to these kids. As one who has been wounded by small arms gunfire three times in my life, I can tell you that a 9 mm handgun and a .22 pistol (statistically) take a long time to kill someone except in extremely rare circumstances. And, a moving, dynamic aggressive target throws off even the most dedicated shooter. Soldiers taught SWAT cops that in the 1980’s when drywall proved to be poor "cover" and even civilian police officers have learned (unfortunately, through the death of several of their own compatriots) that attacking an attacker who is shooting at you is a far better tactic than cringing behind a wall and trying to return fire. The morale? When you have nowhere to run, kill the SOB with your MP-5 if you have it, your sidearm if you don’t and any other damned thing you can find if you have to. Hope and prayer are not viable course of action in these scenarios. Hats off to Flight 93 on 9-11!

I was sitting at the motor vehicle inspection station on 24 April (1 week to the day after the shootings at Virginia Tech.) when I picked up the current US News & World Report which made the bold statement "For a moment, we are all the Hokie Nation". The magazine does what magazines do--it publishes sensational stories to sell as many of its magazines as possible. And, as my stomach turned, I read the same tired, symbolism- over-substance rites that pass for an actual response to these ever-increasing tragedies which is just waiting for the next psycho to finish his manifesto:

• The candlelight vigil on the quad at Virginia Tech;

• The throngs laying roses at the foot of simple, limestone memorials hastily "laid in a gentle arc" erected for the dead;

• Of course, there was no stone for Cho which was a "powerful statement";

• The obligatory remark "Let’s find out what happened, move forward, and always remember those who died" said Brian Dougherty a Senior member of the school’s corps of cadets; and

• He then twisted the knife deeper into the evil assailant by shouting, "Let’s go Hokies!"

In other words, the kids are dead...long live the kids!

You see, the remarkable thing that also, sadly occurs to me is that Virginia Tech is a military school folks! And, it greatly disturbs me to hear a fine young man (I am certain) like Mr. Dougherty who is going to be a future soldier mouth such things when he is not also credited with remarks such as it is time that the corps of cadets is allowed to train and arm themselves for these types of assaults on our lives. Because, folks, the public dimwits are going to question the actions of the police on 16 April up in Virginia. Where were they? How come it took the University administration so long to [fill in the blank]? In other words, we will continue to fix the blame instead of really fixing the problem of psycho/socio paths who seek to do us harm. Every single young man in this country must train in the art of unarmed, close-quarter battle. And, if there is a military ROTC presence on campus, they need to be trained to engage and evacuate too! But, that is not going to happen. More guns or violence are not the solution to the politically-correct. So, you have to ask yourself--"If these wonks are willing to sacrifice their own kids, am I willing to let them sacrifice mine?"

Because, believe me someone else will try to better Cho’s new record. He referred to Columbine, Colorado’s Kliebold and Harris as "martyrs" in his manifesto after all the smoke cleared and it was recovered. Cho’s shooting was almost precisely 6 years to the day after the former killing spree. And, other sick, twisted unloved and diseased animals are still out there happy in the knowledge that they are going to get their own chance to try to break this record and get their 15 minutes of fame...you can take it to the bank! So, the issue really is one of siege mentality--you can hire as many police and security guards as you want at these public institutions but, as the Israelis will shout all day long to anyone who is willing to listen, when the wolf comes for the flock, the first responders are the young men who are trained to kill these terrorists with their bare hands. The question is really simple, "What are you willing to do to protect your self and your loved ones?" The answer has to be "Anything!" or you have just accepted your mantle of victimhood. Be prepared to lay down, beg and die.

Firearms are not the problem! Even US News & World Report noted (in the same issue) that in Japan (a homogenous country which only had 2 shooting deaths last year), a popular politician was just gunned down. So, again, the tool is not the problem, i.e., the proliferation of firearms creates the killer. To the contrary, the solution is to present a dangerous environment for the predator so he seeks his prey elsewhere. And, the other culprit in the Cho scenario is the same, tired 1970’s Jimmy Carter Administration nonsense regarding the mentally ill, i.e., they must be insinuated into society in the "least restrictive environment". Stupid school policies that allow nut jobs to roam unfettered around the kids who made it through the freak show that passes for mainstream culture today are simply irresponsible. And, the public who continues to fund this stinkin’ thinkin’ is part of the problem too. Cut off the money and the mind soon changes.

The normal, healthy, decent students’ rights are paramount and the pop culture, Star Trek character Mr. Spock’s words still ring painfully true, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few". Mr. Cho’s writings were so disturbed and his actions so bizarre that for at least two years before his killing rampage, university officials met on several occasions to discuss the freak but, of course, did nothing to remove him from the ultimate victims of his psychosis. These pseudo- intellectual, self-appointed arbiters of school safety arbitrarily enforce their own brand of political-correctness and waive privacy rights as their standard of conduct. Screw them and these crazies’ privacy rights. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and...enough said! These instructors should be publicly excoriated and fired for their pussy-whipped failure to take any action other than conducting meetings about the disturbed Mr. Cho. Do not blame the dog who bites...blame the hand(s) that trained the dog and/or enabled its actions.

In closing, there are those who question why a 50-year-old lawyer would go out into the field and freeze his butt off for 5 days with men half his age, spend hundreds of dollars to learn to arm, fire with precision, stalk, document and observe?? And, maybe you do too. But, I can tell you, challenging yourself with people half your age to learn the modern methods of defending against the long-gun or use it to your advantage takes the mystique and fear out of that paradigm. If I have to represent a sniper in court who pulled the trigger or (God forbid) have to take a life with a bolt gun; I am no longer afraid of that event. By meeting these challenges and taking away the fear; we grow stronger and more resolved.

So, dear readers, do not listen to what these experts say, watch what they do! In the future, there will be a lot of rhetoric but, nothing will change on the killing grounds we obtusely refer to as our public schools. Again, the American Puritanical ethic of fixing the blame, not, fixing the problem. So, let’s take the matter into our own hands--instead of disarming our children, let’s teach them how to stay alive. It is not skills that are lacking (they can be easily taught) but, rather, the hearts and minds of our children which desperately need this discipline at this dire time in American history. Let us all pray for the future of this nation and, through our vigilance and resolve, particularly at this ryu, forestall this next tragedy from happening in our community.

Get a mental picture of how far we have sank in this country. Mr. Merriman always says that public school is just another form of child abuse in this community. Teachers are not paragons of virtue (a lot of them are but, since they remain silent to keep their jobs, so, they are part of the problem too). Where do you think the evil "administration" comes from--from the rank and file teachers...that's where. Do they suddenly lose their white hat when the get promoted or something? All of these stupid policies are touted by these "educators" as interpretations of the amorphous federal Safe School’s Act and that same flow of offal comes from the teacher’s union and those "educators" who have been promoted to the heinous administration because of their service record (or, more likely, political acumen in keeping their mouth shut). This stupid "violence never settles anything" attitude is where all of these useless young men that Soke has to re-train come from. It actually starts in Kindergarten when a young child is told it is "bad" to stand up and fight for himself/herself. The culture of victim-hood is the lifeblood of these hands-off educators and most parents just tow the party line blissfully ignorant of the damage they are doing to their children.

In fact, both of Soke's kids beat the snot out of bullies in their local public school in their tenure (his daughter twice) and nothing happened on either occasion. Why? Because Mr. Merriman is a lawyer and the only antidote for this nonsense is the one thing these bureaucrats fear in this world...the dreaded lawsuit. So...exactly what is the LAW that these bureaucrats keep misrepresenting and that Soke Merriman teaches us here at the ryu? First, the holy grail touted by those of stupid thinking... the elusive "Safe Schools Act". What is it and exactly what does it actually say about "fighting" in school? Well...absolutely nothing. To check out the actual text of all of the statutes cited in this article on this subject yourself, click here to read all relevant portions of federal and Missouri state statutes. We encourage you to read the law itself not just take a local bureaucrat's word for it.

In fact, the federal statutes (The Safe Schools Act of 1994 and The Gun Free Schools Act of 1994) say absolutely nothing substantial but, rather, are simply what the federal Congress always implements when it sees some social do-gooder cause...a way to funnel money back to states who want to address a particular "problem" in schools. What was the problem, they were trying to address? School violence. You know, predators (drug dealers, gang-bangers and other low-lifes) who were preying on the good, normal kids at school and making it a dangerous place for the latter to get an education. A very noble, laudable goal. Finally, we are going to stop catering to the lowest common denominator (the dumb-asses who don't want to be in school anyway) and protect the guys who did want to study, excel and learn, right? Not so lucky...these guys are from the government and they are here to help you. They helped by letting each local jurisdiction adopt their own laws and get federal money to help implement them. And, of course, Missouri jumped on board with its own Missouri Safe Schools Act. See also, Carnahan Analysis for our esteemed (but departed) Governor Mel Carnahan’s warm, huggy analysis of the situation which he helped create. 

Unfortunately, in an Orwellian interpretation that would do the old Russian disinformation services proud, the local school boards defined the term "violence", regardless of how justified it is, is to be the same. So, a victim asserting their privilege to self-defense is equated with their initial aggressor in a truly ridiculous policy-making rigamorole that forces you (as a parent, tax payer or student) to agree with their nonsense or be penalized by being removed from school or branded a pariah. Disagree? Consider the Columbine tragedy which conclusively proved that it a school district’s implementation of their "Zero Tolerance" policy (if you fight back, you get punished too) both failed to protect the victimized students who died in that tragedy and even substantially contributed to the mental collapse of Klebold and Harris at that school and contributed to the rage that fueled their joint killing spree.

The truth (not widely reported by the mainstream media) was that these psychopaths had been literally tortured and mocked by their classmates since their Kindergarten year and, by graduation, they were fed up. Instead of teaching their kids to fight back and stand their ground, their parents (too busy with their careers and own problems) shirked their responsibility by adopting the public school party-line and telling these kids to report the bullying to their local school officials. When the kids reported it to the school authorities, the teachers did absolutely nothing which, of course, taught the budding young killers that they had no recourse other than their drug-soaked, virtually-reality, MTV freak-show experiences to fall back on. Mr. Merriman’s father had a different mentality in the 70’s, "A boy needs to know how to fight and stand up for himself".

Does the government’s failure justify what these two morons did in Colorado? Of course not. But, there is plenty of blame to go around for a system that contributes to creating such monsters too. Not, just their goofy, indoctrinated parents and the proliferation of guns and alleged violence in the movies-- the two usual suspects. Klebold and Harris committed these horrible acts and are responsible for their actions. However, facing the truth that the world is a violent place and preparing for such an ambush is also a good tactic. The question really is since we cannot control other parents and their abusive offspring and, therefore, these animals are going to get into the schools themselves; what we essentially have are two options-- 1) Home school or privatize our children to get them educated (you can’t get killed in a public school if you aren’t there) completely isolated from such garbage; or 2) If public school is the forum, then teach our own children how to deal with such a close-quarter incident so that they can fight on a level playing field. The majority of Columbine students died on their knees begging for help after all.

So, rest assured that there is nothing in either federal or Missouri law that prohibits self-defense on school property or during a school event as touted by the NEA and your School Board or PTA. Your school’s policy is nothing but hot air and a bureaucrat's opinion. Mr. Merriman could find no case which had ever held that Missouri’s Safe School’s Act (or its federal counterpart) prohibited acting in self defense, carrying a pocket knife, fingernail clippers or Midol for menstrual cramps (all media stories for expulsion of a student). In fact, exactly the opposite is true. The Act only prohibits conduct which either-- 1) if committed by an adult (age 17 or older)...is [an] assault in the first, second or third degree, sexual assault, or deviate sexual assault against a pupil or school employee; 2) is possession of a weapon (dirk, club, billy, firearm, brass knuckles, projectile weapon, knife over 4 1/2", etc., prohibited by Missouri law); 3) is possession of a controlled substance (non-prescribed drug overseen by the federal DEA); 4) demonstrates disruptive behavior (no definition given); or 5) is a situation where a school official is mandated to report to local law enforcement any act of school violence (no definition given) which occurs in their presence. Say, what?

Self-defense is still a statutory privilege granted to every Missouri citizen regardless as to their age or where it becomes necessary to deploy. There is no exception for school property or a school-sponsored activity. In fact, Missouri statutory law supersedes (trumps) any stupid local school board policy regardless as to its huggy-feely nature or disinformation by the school to the contrary. So, even a cursory review of Missouri law, reveals that reasonable and necessary force can be used to protect: 1) the victim; 2) a third party; 3) students under the care of their teacher; 4) to maintain reasonable discipline in a school, class or other group; 5) property under certain circumstances; 6) to maintain discipline on a school bus or other public conveyance; and 7) including deadly force (force which is capable of causing death or serious physical injury) to repel death, serious physical injury, rape, sodomy or kidnapping or serious physical injury through robbery, burglary or arson. Read the information provided on the link referenced above for yourself or click here.

Of course, before taking a chance and thumping a deserving thug, please read the citations provided on this web-site and educate yourself as to what the law actually says not what you have been told that it says. Remember, school board policy only pertains to your employment status if you are a teacher (you get fired if you violate it) or your ability to attend classes if you are a student. And, of course, it will cost you money to hire a lawyer to force the pinheads to follow the law and reinstate you. However, these statutes pertain to everyone regardless as to school board policy or where you happen to be standing. Since a free public education has already been judicially approved as a right and, self-defense is also both a God-given right (in our opinion) and a statutory privilege not subject to school board policy; the school district may argue that they can penalize your kid for standing up for himself but, we are willing to bet that a judge or jury in a civil case will be forced to disagree with these talking heads. Besides, remember the fateful language of the Missouri statutes: any student who is on suspension/expulsion for any of the offenses listed in the Missouri Safe School’s Act, must still be educated (at the school board’s expense). So, the kid gets a private school education at public expense? C'est les vie!!

Curiously, at the same time that single-parents (particularly mothers) are unintentionally destroying their young sons and daughters by worshipping at the altar of political correctness in thought, action, word, and dress; we will not compromise and accept that disease. Instead, we remind you that girls cannot do the same thing that boys can--hence, the need for young men to step up and take care of business protecting themselves and their loved ones not vice versa. Let the other martial arts instructors peddle their one-size-fits-all stupidity--not us. We do not expect for our traditional Catholic boys and girls in our families to think, talk, dress, and act alike. Neither should any young women be dressing like a prostitute to attract the sexual predators who stalk our streets looking for prey. Nor, should our young men be emulating the hip-hop, degrading, ignorant, pro-homosexual, feminist agenda that is being foisted (falsely) as mainstream American culture. So, we reject your premise and your culture.

And, things will eventually change. We simply cannot have it both ways. With the increasing threat of terrorism (both foreign and domestic) coming to our community here in the Midwest, in time, we will either reject this popular pseudo-intellectual nonsense for what it is or a superior enemy will force it down the public's throat. Stinkin' thinkin' breeds stupid thoughts and stupid thoughts lead to stupid actions. That is an immutable law of nature and, acting like a slut or a gangster only increases one's risk of assault or death (even by the desperate at their own hand) by the forces of evil that exist in this world. But, since most of you (the curious reader) deny that truth, you are both a waste of space and our time. We are tired of selfish, immature parents who marry, breed, divorce at the first sign of trouble, get a job and ignore their children from sun-up to sun-down, refusing to discipline (yes, that means blistering the offending backside when it is necessary), neutering their young sons by trying to turn them into girls, allowing their daughters to embrace the lesbian/pagan Athena complex, and then either calling the police to deal with their problem (so we can all enjoy, and pay from our pockets for, their inept parenting skills) or, in the past, dragging them to this ryu expecting us to turn them into something useful; were simply wasting their (and our) time. I pray for the safety of this great nation with this abuse of American teenagers but, that is now your problem not ours.

 Hilary Clinton and her ilk are full of crap! It does not take an entire neo-pagan village to raise a child. To the contrary, it takes one good family who puts their kids first, sacrifices creature comforts for the good of their children (by being there for them), to protect their loved ones from that type of arrogant, condescending thinking. Instead, the acorn does not fall far from the tree and the increasing level of youth violence (the single greatest problem in law enforcement) bespeaks the simple fact that these children (that's right not miniature adults with civil rights) are angry and their rage is directed at who? You--the politically- correct parent! For the rest of you, come join a dying breed of the best that the Ozarks has to offer and realize your full potential. To the existing student body, God bless you all and continue to take the path less traveled, especially, now that we have become what we always should have been...a private, non-commercial dojo.---Pat J. Merriman, Shodai Soke & Attorney at Law.

October 9, 2010: Testing & Promotion Board for all ranks and provisional ranks.

December 11, 2010: In Dojo, Mid-Term provisional promotions all ranks except black belt.

February 26, 2011: Testing & Promotion Board for all ranks and provisional ranks.

April 16, 2011: In Dojo, Mid-Term provisional promotions all ranks except black belt.

June 11, 2011: Testing & Promotion Board for all ranks and provisional ranks, Summer Party at Merriman Home.

August 13, 2011: In Dojo, Mid-Term provisional promotions all ranks except black belt.

October 15, 2011: Testing & Promotion Board for all ranks and provisional ranks.

December 10, 2011: In Dojo, Mid-Term provision promotions all ranks except black belt

ALL TESTING DATES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE!