Hobos, Tramps and Homeless Bums

[KaBar]

The title of Hitler's best known book is spelled "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle). I tried to read it when I was about 17. It's pretty boring. A much better book (but incredibly long and detailed) is "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." One well-known episode in Nazi history is "The Night of the Long Knives." There were two National Socialist organizations, the Schulzstaffel (SS) and the SA. The SS wore black uniforms, and the SA wore khaki. As part of the dress uniform, each included a special knife in a scabbard, very fancy--engraved and rather elegant looking "dress" knives, similar to the way military officer's uniforms still include a sword. The SS knife was longer than the SA knife. The leader of the SA was a homosexual named Ernst Rohm. Because Rohm preferred young men, a bizarre Nazi homosexual cult-like organization grew up within the SA. It was widely believed that one could not advance to the upper echelons without participating in homosexual assignations with top leaders. The men of the SA also had a reputation as being handsome and elegant dressers.

Hitler had blended two Nazi-like organizations into one, the German Workers' Party (DAP) better known as the Nazi Party. Rohm was the leader of the other organization, I think.

On the night of the Long Knives, the SS murdered the entire SA leadership, all on the same night. Hundreds, if not thousands, of homosexual Nazis were killed, all on the same night. (Edit: Since I first wrote this, I read somewhere that less than a hundred SA leaders were assassinated. So--I am no longer sure of these facts. My gut level feeling says that an event like this would require the killing of more than one hundred leaders.) Most of the SA rank and file became members of the SS. From that point on, anyone accused of homosexuality within the Nazi Party was imprisoned, and some were murdered. I wonder if the neo-Nazis of today realize how simple it would be for some other member of the DAP to eliminate an adversary within the party? Just accuse him of being part Jewish, or of being gay, and it's off to the torture chambers of the Gestapo. Kind of takes the shine off being a Nazi, I should think.

After WWII, the Allied occupation forces in Germany used former Nazi attorneys and judges and police chiefs to reestablish law and order. Within ten years (1955) former high ranking Nazis were holding high positions in the civil service, legislature and judiciary. The Prime Minister of Austria was a former Nazi. The American anti-gun law passed after the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. (the Gun Control Act of 1968) comes STRAIGHT FROM NAZI GUN LAW, almost word-for-word.

The first step to fascism is disarmament of the civilian population. If you think I'm exaggerating, do a web search for the American pro-gun organization "Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO)" and you can read a comparison of the two documents. Both U.S. and Canadian government establishments have far too tolerant an attitude towards fascistic ideas and behavior, especially Canada. When fascism comes to North America, it will be wrapped in the U.S. and the Maple Leaf flags. Bet on it.

There won't be any mass rallies and jackboot torch parades here. It will be a "progressive" movement "for the children," and "in defense of the environment," to achieve "fairness" and "equality for everyone." Fascism with a Social Democratic face, but fascism just the same.

You'll be able to identify them BY THEIR ACTS not by their words. If they disarm civilians. If they change the law to permit holding people without trial, or secret trials. If they insist on an "Official Secrets Act," where the government can declare any evidence against it to be a National Security secret and inadmissable in court. If they suspend habeus corpus. If they write a law forcing people to testify against themselves, allowing warrantless searches, seizure of property or personal papers without prior warrant and due process of law. If they create "special classes" of prisoners, like "politically unreliable" or "terrorist suspect" who are then treated as prisoners without rights. If they begin to rely more and more on what is called "dynamic entry" searches, where heavily armed para-military police raid people's homes at night, break down doors and destroy the home while "searching" for some sort of contraband.

Does any of this sound familiar to you? It should.

[Guest tunnel bum]

i like this post. more about tunnel bums. i bump into a few graff artist every week.

[Boring Bastard]

Kabar, you are one interesting person, I'll tell you that much!!!

[TEE_rase_war]

hey Kabar,

 

what do you think about the news(papers)...are they de-sensitising us, or censoring us?

[KaBar]

News Media

 

Tee Rase-- The actual newspapers are a passe' way of getting the news. I read stories in the newspaper two or three days after I hear about them online or even on CNN. The only really good thing about newspapers is that they are a sort of "hard copy" version of the multimedia news.

I do not trust news media people at all. They have thrown the old Who-What-When-Where-How rules to the wind. Virtually all broadcast news reporters and columnists blatantly put their own personal prejudices into news stories. They fabricate news out of whole cloth. A majority of American newspapers are owned by the same four or five conglomerates, all are controlled by ultra-liberals except the Washington Times, and it's run by people working for the Moonies. There is no conservative press at all, except on shortwave radio. Every story seems to be filtered through liberal-colored glasses. Americans don't receive one-tenth of the news of the rest of the World that is reported. Maybe not even one-twentieth.

In short, most of what is published as news is slanted, liberal-biased bullshit. Our schools of journalism are cranking out propagandists. I read the newspaper, I watch CNN and the major news networks, but I don't trust anything they say. The news media sucks a big one. If they had their way, except for the First Amendment, which directly affects them personally, the Bill of Rights would be gutted. Fuck them. Much of what they publish is lies and some of it borders on treason. THINK FOR YOURSELF.

[TEE_rase_war]

so true...

 

i believe that what we see and hear, is so candy coated (or the reverse, ie: the sept 11 attack) that it would do me better to take it in as lies. and see things for myself, through research, or other means.

 

you only believe what you truly accept. if you dont accept something, how do you believe. I have never read the bill of rights, i am not american. although you do explain it quite well.

 

I am canadian, but in these days the same things do apply to us as two different countries under one wing.

[Guest rolldafukout]

everytime i go paint with my one friend and he drives, he listens to this hobo guy and it's like a live recording, it's hella funny, he go's "HALLALULLA IM'A BUM"

[KaBar]

Yeah, that's an old hobo tune from the early 1900's, making fun of the Bible-thumping Christians who were running soup kitchens down on Skid Road back then, trying to clean up impoverished neighborhoods. It was written to the tune of an old hymn called "Revive Us Again." The chorus goes:

 

Halallujah, I'm a bum!

Halallujah, bum again!

Halallujah, give us a hand out,

and Revive Us A-gain!

 

(James Hill was a wealthy Robber Baron millionaire who founded the Union Pacific Railroad, I think.)

 

Oh, I like Jim Hill,

He's a good friend of mine,

and that's why I'm walk-ing,

on down his Main Line.

(chorus)

 

Oh, I like my boss,

He's a good friend of mine,

and that's why I'm walk-ing

on this picket line!

(chorus)

 

There were a whole lot of made-up verses to this tune. The IWW (a revolutionary labor union founded in 1905) used it as a theme song. To check out their web site try http://iww.org/

[mizx]

musta sucked not having shelter

[KaBar]

Not having shelter? I'm not sure I understand.

[dukeofyork]

Originally posted by KaBar

The first step to fascism is disarmament of the civilian population. If you think I'm exaggerating, do a web search for the American pro-gun organization "Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO)" and you can read a comparison of the two documents. Both U.S. and Canadian government establishments have far too tolerant an attitude towards fascistic ideas and behavior, especially Canada. When fascism comes to North America, it will be wrapped in the U.S. and the Maple Leaf flags. Bet on it.

There won't be any mass rallies and jackboot torch parades here. It will be a "progressive" movement "for the children," and "in defense of the environment," to achieve "fairness" and "equality for everyone." Fascism with a Social Democratic face, but fascism just the same.

You'll be able to identify them BY THEIR ACTS not by their words. If they disarm civilians.

Does any of this sound familiar to you? It should.

 

this is the very point ive been arguing with people over when it comes to gun control.

[KaBar]

Chozer, I don't know how old you are, but I'm going to assume you are over 18 years old. Adults, over 18, can purchase firearms and ammunition. One must suppose that an adult is mature enough to understand and accept the laws pertaining to purchasing, owning and appropriately using firearms. I do, and I think that most gun owners also do. The justification for disarming the 70 MILLION American gun owners is the less than one-tenth of one percent of American gun owners who choose to use them in illegal acts.

I do not trust anybody who would advocate taking away our RIGHT to own firearms because of the illegal behavior of the tiny criminal fraction of the population that misuse firearms. We need to punish THUGS and CRIMINALS, not law abiding citizens.

There is no law against caching firearms and ammunition. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are doing just that. They can purchase inexpensive military surplus rifles and ammunition, and they are hiding them, burying them, taking them out to Granddad's farm, etc. so that if any group of totalitarians tries to take over the Government, a resistance can be mounted. I realize that most of the people on this board are far too young to take such an idea seriously. But if things continue on the way that they have been going, you guys may find yourselves faced with a choice--submit, and become "subjects" of the Nanny State, or resist. I realize it sounds crazy, but no crazier than trying civilian "terrorists" in a military court without a jury, or suspension of habeus corpus, or setting up a special Office of Homeland Security. We are standing on the brink of a police state, even if it is for a good cause. If we lose the Bill of Rights, we will probably never get it back again. LOOK AROUND AND THINK ABOUT IT. People who love liberty and freedom, people who love their country know what to do. But I wouldn't waste much time. THINK FOR YOURSELF.

[Cracked Ass]

I've been seeing the police state creep in for a long time now, and it worries me. The ease with which a bunch of secret police legislation passed after 9/11 was sickening. The AVERAGE American is dumber than ever, believing spending is patriotic, censorship of political incorrectness is OK, the drug war is not an absolute sham, Wal-Mart is a great place to shop, etc. The sheep are asleep and ripe for slaughter.

One of the new laws is this: you can be detained if you are SUSPECTED of being a terrorist. That means YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS ANYMORE in the legal system. The government does not have to play by any rules - if you ask why you're under arrest, they just say "you're suspected of terrorism", even if they want to fuck with you for another UNRELATED reason (like, you publish too many statements critical of the government).

This is HUGE. This is ENORMOUS. Do you trust your government to use its new powers fairly and only against terrorists? I DO NOT.

Where is the outcry? I think the ACLU is grumbling about it, but not loudly enough. Or maybe they are scared shitless and trying to spread the news far and wide, but the media has been discouraged from covering the story. We are probably all in the dark by design.

[TEE_rase_war]

"war" (against terrorism) is great isn't it? throwing rights out the door on account of others' actions. civility does not exsist in the government, they are just diggin the whole that we shale al fal into.

[KaBar]

Cracked---I agree 100%. There is a segment of both the Democrats and the Republicans that does not truly believe in the freedoms set down in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I realize I've been harping on this topic several times in the last wek or so, but it's IMPORTANT. This whole Homeland Security Agency thing is going to wind up being a domestic CIA. Lord knows, we've got plenty of Government agencies surveilling us already. Here's an eye opener for you--look up CIA, National Security Agency (NSA,) Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA,) Defense Security Industrial Command (part of the Army Intelligence Service); National Reconnaisance Office, Naval Intelligence Service. You know what they all have in common (besides the fact that they are intelligence agencies)? They are all involved in surveilling PRIVATE CITIZENS within the United States. The local cops are the least of our worries. They are at least mainly concerned with enforcing the law. The intelligence agencies are looking to gather intelligence on regular, private citizens.

[suburbian bum]

Kabar, i totally agree with you on the gun issue and the new laws issue, I think one of the reasons that there has not been so much resistance, is that the media is supressing it, and the masses have been brainwashed and if something is "a war against terrorism" they will support it, no questions asked. Another thing is, if you guys havent noticed they now want to pass something (it may of already been passed) that allows the government to search your emails.

 

The government already does this, infact the government has computers that go through and pull out all emails sent through major email services (aol yahoo, hotmail etc...) with words they consider hateful or dangerous. So the government can read any email you send and probably has read lots of them so far.

 

And please correct me if im wrong on any of these topics but I beleive I am correct.

 

 

 

P.S..

Kabar, earlier you said that all newspapers are very liberal. This is not true in my city, which is a fairly major city in the West of the U.S.A. 2 out of the 3 newspapers from the area are VERY conservative and they put a tint on all of them twards the republican party.

 

 

Thanks for your time.

[Average White Railfan]

WOW! i lack the paitence to read all these posts, and i just skimmed through the ones on page three. Kabar your posts are blowing me away. it is clear to me that you have a profound overstanding of the difference between 'free' and 'liberated'. you are liberated...and offer a liberating viewpoint that exceeds most within the writing community..and most of america for that matter. like i said i have not read all of this, but what little bit i have read was inspiring. continue to: rock on with your bad self.

[KaBar]

Common Sense and Enlightened Self Interest

 

AWR--Thanks for the compliment, but I'm just another guy with a computer. If you've never looked into the Libertarian Party, you should check them out. I am actually a registered Republican, but they piss me off with great regularity, so I vote Libertarian if given the chance. The Democrats lost my allegiance when I was about 18 years old. I was so angry about the Vietnam War, I became an anarchist, and that lasted until I got sick of them supporting every stupid ass victim group on Earth. Plus, I knew that in my heart, I love my country. There is nothing wrong with patriotism, but one must exercise ENLIGHTENED SELF INTEREST. Read the Federalist Papers. It's a collection of articles written by the men who founded the United States. Believe me, they would NEVER have put up with the bullshit we have to put up with from the Government.

There is no one group that has all the answers, but I do like the Libertarian Party. But even they get a little goofy once in a while. For instance, they want all the National Parks and National Forests to be privatized. Having lived in Washington State, I can tell you--if you privatize a National Forest, the rich folks will clear cut the whole goddam place to make a buck, and the loggers will cheer them on, until they have logged off every damned tree in the entire country. Since I like forests, I can't support that. I have worked as a slash cutter on a logging operation, cutting alder in northern Washington to clear the way for the hodads replanting tamarack trees. Logging is brutal and unforgiving. I think we ought to require logging to be done with HORSES, like they did it a hundred years ago. Then the environment would be protected, everybody would have a job up north and lumber would be pretty damned valuable. But I digress.

THINK FOR YOURSELF. Use your brain. READ STUFF. If you young guys don't start waking up, we are in a world of shit.

[TEE_rase_war]

hey kabar...

 

i just watched a show called investigative reports or something...

they based the episode on trains and the dangers of hopping freights..i am quite interested in starting/trying to hop but i need some pointers...about things ie: deadman, blah blah....just wondering where to start. the show talked alot about killers ont he lines, the FTAA (?sp?) they also talked about how unbelievably unsafe it is. thought you could enlighten me some more!

 

thanks kabar

[Guest ODESK]

good points kabar..i was thinkin bout hoppin fr8s an you gave me alot of good info ..thanks----odesk-mds,6fk!!

[KaBar]

Lots of Info Right on this web site

 

Tee Rase--There's lots of information about hopping right on this web site. The best possible way to learn is to find an experienced trainhopper who KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING and hop with him for a while. The threads we have followed here, some of which I started, have a LOT of good info in them. This one, "Hobos, Tramps and Homeless Bums", and "Slack Action," and "Making your own Gear" all three have good stuff. I also highly recommend that you study Cracked Ass" threads about Yard Safety very closely. Read Duffy Littlejohn's book, and go down to the local yard with a pair of binoculars and STUDY WHAT'S GOING ON. Look for a spot where trains consistently roll very slowly (walking speed) or where they stop and stand waiting to go onto the Main Line. Try to make friends with some yard hands. Buy a 100-channel UHF/VHF scanner and monitor the railroad transmissions. You'll get the picture pretty quickly. Hopping freights is kind of like riding a motorcycle. It's a shitload of fun, but it's also a dead serious business. One careless mistake can cause a lifetime of sorrow. SAFETY FIRST.

[TEE_rase_war]

danke kabar

[local #195]

stuff

 

kbar... i've greatly enjoyed reading your post.

I'm curious to know what kind of graffiti you do, considering your age.

you definately have a very logical view of the world in general, and

it would do a great many people good to listen to what you have to say.

also, when i ws in high school, and had lots of free time, i took alot of pictures in yards, and have a quite large colection of streaks, I bet, being a veteran of the rails, you could probly shed some light on the origins, and posibly the authors of quite a few of them.

i'm looking forward to seeing more of your post, and talking to you more

please email me at dlf1@redrival.net

[KaBar]

Another Sunday in the Yards

 

Went out today with an old friend who wants to learn about trains and hopping. We hit every jungle in Houston that I know about. Down at T&NO Junction we ran into an old tramp who was totally wasted, sitting on the bank of a drainage ditch next to the tracks. He was totally drunk, and it looked like he was half asleep. I was sort of worried he would fall in, but I guess if he did, it would wake him up. We built a fire, brewed up coffee, and ate Top Ramen out of a gunboat in the early morning, then took a hike for a few hours to scope out a yard. Saw about ten trains, all together, and lots of nice graff. It's kind of cool, seeing old shitty jungles that I cleaned up and squared away being used by people and still taken care of. Keep a Clean Camp!

[suburbian bum]

bump this stufff up. Kabar , tell us some more storys.

[KaBar]

Foolish Overconfidence

 

A friend of mine and I got detained by the railroad police in a small Texas town because we got overconfident. We had managed to to catch out on a walking speed container well car (a TTX 48 with two boxes, leaving us about eight feet of riding space) and we enjoyed the ride on a perfectly beautiful Southern winter night--it was cold and clear and once we got away from the city, you could just about see every star in the sky. We mainly communicated by grabbing the other guy's arm and pointing at stuff or pantomiming, because the train noise was loud enough we had earplugs in. There was a brief delay in a division point town that has about three tracks. Nobody around so we got off and walked around on the ballast, stretching our legs. I had a Thermos of hot coffee and we drank coffee waiting for the train to move. We were making no effort to conceal our presence, really, as we didn't see a soul. When we got to our destination just after sunup, we got off (again, walking speed--nothing to the get-off, we just tossed our packs and stepped off the ladder) and started hiking across the yard in the early morning daylight, not expecting any problem. We had actually gotten all the way off railroad property (we thought) and were standing under a street overpass when the bull rolled up. It was obvious as hell we'd just gotten off the train, as it hadn't been in the Yard fifteen minutes yet. He was driving a white Ford Bronco with the standard UP logo and some radio antennas. "You gentlemen are trespassing on railroad property." We were standing there with dirty, rusty clothes, two rusty rucksacks, wearing over-alls, Army field jackets, gimme caps, boots and gloves with a cup of hot coffee. "Trespassing? Us? No sir, we're just watching trains." "Didn't you just get off that train?" "No sir, we're just looking for a chance to take some photographs when the light is better." Clearly, if he wanted to give us a ticket, he could have. Or even arrested us. "I need to see some State-issued I.D." Damn. I figured we were going to get a trespassing citation. He took our ID cards and wrote down the information, asking several questions about our home addresses and our Social Security numbers. "I'm not going to ticket you this time, but you guys are on railroad property here under this overpass. All of these overpasses are railroad property, if I catch you again, you're going to get a ticket. Understand?" We said yes. He pointed at a little access road that led to the street going over the overpass. "Get out of the Yard. There's a store that way about half a mile." I told him thanks and he just shook his head and got back in the Bronco. We caught a city bus to the Greyhound station and a bus back home. If we hadn't just been standing around like we owned the place, we would have never gotten popped. We should have headed straight out of the Yard when we got off the train and kept going.

[Guest wakassOATH]

well i guess you just sliped up.. it happeneds to the best of us

[Guest wakassOATH]

oh yea, i was gonna ask, if he did give you a ticket.. how much do you think it would be

[KaBar]

Title 7. Offenses Against Property

 

I looked it up, just to be sure. Title 7. Offenses Against Property Section (B) (2) (A) states:

(B) A person commits an offense if the person

(2) without effective consent of the owner

(A) enters or remains on railroad property, knowing that it is railroad property.

It is a Class "C" misdemeanor in Texas, resulting in a punishment of a fine of "not more than $500." More or less like a serious traffic ticket.

However if you do anything to damage property, it becomes a Class "B" misdemeanor.

Graff is covered in a separate section, and severity is determined by the dollar amount of the damage.

"Criminal Trespassing" is another deal altogether, and involves bringing a "deadly weapon" onto the property of another without permission, and remaining there after being asked to depart. It used to be for unwelcome hunters or perhaps burglars, then became a favorite law to use against irate husbands or boyfriends. It could, however, be used against armed trainhoppers.

[Guest wakassOATH]

heres one more question i have for you, it may seem a little silly but i would like to know just for the fuck of it

 

ok lets say im i commit some small crime like shop lifting, and im a street bum, i have no money, no ID, all i have is the cloths on my back and no one can identify me and i have no friends,

so the owner of the store calls the cops and they come and chat me up .. what would happen .. they would arrest me. but how would i go through the system, how could i go to court .. can they even put people in jail if they dont know anything about them.. what would happen if i just stayed completly silent