I Was to Go To Morocco And I Don’t See You

Just a video by the Twang to make up for the lack of posts.

Stay Alive in ‘95

From Chris’ Invincible Super-Blog:

Archie’s life as one of the Common People.

See the rest here.

Der japanische Mann kommt heraus.

With a dire lack of original thoughts lately, I thought I would share one of the more interesting blogs that I’ve read recently.

The blog, Dreaming 5GW, is a multi-person blog written about the evolution of fifth generation warfare. (See here for a seminal article by William Lind on the generations of warfare.) The post I would like to share is one written about what 5GW warriors would like to effect in battle. The example used in the post is the assassination of a Yakuza boss.

Crossing the Rubicon

When the yakuza boss is dead, he’s dead. Anything that happens after Plain Jane’s action will not change the fact that he’s dead. His closest associates will likely know that he’s been assassinated, unless his death is made to look natural in all respects. In fact, Plain Jane might not care if his associates know he’s been assassinated, because the world after his death will no longer be what it was before his death, and that would have been her objective after all.

His associates may scramble to fill the vacuum, possibly warring with one another and laying blame for his death on one another. A rival gang may see the power struggles and attack, entirely destroying or subsuming the now-leaderless gang. If the dead yakuza boss already had an appointed heir, that heir may be of inferior quality or have plans for the gang which vary greatly from the dead yakuza boss’s method of running the outfit. Alternatively, the heir may follow entirely in his predecessor’s footsteps and refuse any suggestions for improvements or variations on the pre-existing scheme.

What exactly follows the yakuza boss’s death isn’t particularly important, because Plain Jane already knew what would happen following the death: that is why she killed the man.

The SecretWarrior will not care if the effects of 5GW activity are apparent if the effects leave her adversaries on the other side of the rubicon. This would be a case of “knowing too late,” in that the sudden revelation that a SecretWar had been underway in no way mitigates whatever position in which the target now finds itself: The target would have a new set of circumstances requiring immediate attention which could not be ignored, and from which the target is unlikely to emerge unscathed. A successful 5GW will leave the target on a downward spiral into insignificance. The target’s knowing it has been a victim won’t save the target from the spiral.

At the same time, some effects of 5GW pre-conclusion may be apparent to the target, thus influencing the target to cross the rubicon, although the target will not know that he’s about to cross such a rubicon. Motivating the target to move down to the river, and to cross it, would require observable effects, problems to solve, the solving of which can only be effected by going to and then across the river. If the target at any time senses it is being manipulated down a path, the target will resist and the SecretWarrior risks being discovered.

You can find the rest here. It is a fascinating read.