rembar's New Writeups

official cover (thing)

2007-07-27T12:16:23Z

Official cover is a term used in state-sponsored espionage (particularly used by the CIA) that refers to operatives (usually intelligence officers, but sometimes intelligence agents) who assume positions in organizations with diplomatic ties to the government for which they work, generally the diplomatic service.

Official cover has three main functions. First, it provides a reason for operatives to be living in the country that they are operating in. Second, it provides an excuse for operatives to be in contact with sources connected to other governments due to diplomatic duties, which creates many opportunities to recruit agents. Third, it allows the operative's state to extend legal protection for the operative should that operative be discovered, a safety net that is not afforded to operatives under non-official cover.

There are several disadvantages of official cover. One disadvantage is that…

knife (thing)

2007-07-26T02:15:38Z

Although the first knives were simply sharp pieces of flint, modern knives are generally more complex, and have a number of different parts and blade actions.

Parts of the modern knife

Modern knives generally have the following parts (there are more parts, but these are the main ones):

Blade: The flat part of the knife, the part used piercing or cutting. The blade may be made out of a number of steels, ceramic, plastic, or many other materials.

Point: The end of the blade, typically used for piercing.
Edge: The side(s) of the blade actually used for cutting, from the point to the heel. Most knives today are either plain edge (the edge is smooth), serrated edge (the edge has teeth or ridges), or partially-plain, partially-serrated edge (usually called just partially-serrated, or sometimes combo edge). Generally, knives only have one edged sharpened, although some combat knives have both edges sharpened. Some knives

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folding knife (thing)

2007-07-25T19:20:08Z

A folding knife, commonly called a folder, is a knife whose blade folds into the handle when closed and pivots out into a straight position when open. The term "pocket knife" is often used interchangeably with "folder", but I prefer to think of pocket knives as a sub-type of folder, because "pocket knife" tends to call images of a red-handled Swiss Army Knife to mind, and there are folders that are smaller and larger than a knife expected to fit in a pocket would be.

For those of you who aren't familiar with knife-related terms, check out my writeup in the knife node, which has definitions for the terms I will use in this writeup.

While folding knives have existed at least since the Romans, the folding knife design has undergone significant changes recently and is still going through modifications.

Typically, a folder does not have a guard, as it would interfere with the folding action. Two exceptions are knives with extended finger grooves that form a…

Golgothan (person)

2007-07-22T03:39:10Z

According to the Bible, Jesus was crucified just ouside of Jerusalem's walls, at a place that is now referred to as Calvary but originally known in Aramaic as Golgotha. Christ wasn't the only one crucified at Golgotha, of course - the Romans also crucified numerous criminals, including thieves, rapists, killers, and more.

Upon death, the upright posture of the crucified criminals' bodies combined with their loss of muscle control caused their bowels and bladders to empty their contents onto the ground below. In Kevin Smith's Dogma, the resulting piles of excrement that accumulated on Golgotha conglomerated to form a living, semi-sentient being. This monster, which serves as Hell's chief assassin, is evil incarnate in fecal form, or as the thirteenth apostle Rufus puts it so tersely: "A shit demon!"

Physically, the Golgothan is a little over six feet and very bulky, and resembles a cross between Batman supervillain Clayface and the…

non-official cover (thing)

2007-07-21T08:52:56Z

Non-official cover is a term typically used in state-sponsored espionage (particularly by the CIA) for the covert roles that operatives, usually intelligence officers but sometimes intelligence agents, assume in organizations without ties to the governments for which they work. Sometimes the term is abbreviated as NOC (pronounced "knock") and can be used to refer to the operative under such cover rather than the cover itself.

The main disadvantage of non-official cover is the danger to the operative, because an operative who is caught while under such cover cannot be extended diplomatic protection through diplomatic immunity like he would under official cover. While operatives under official cover will generally just be sent home when caught, a NOC could be apprehended, imprisoned, tortured or worse. Typically, an operative under non-official cover who is caught will be…

false flag operation (thing)

2007-07-18T18:18:16Z

A false flag operation is a type of covert operation made to appear as though it is being carried out or sponsored by a party other than the actual acting or sponsoring party. The term "false flag" is derived from the military tactic of flying false colors, i.e. flying the flag of a country other than one's own. Typically, the deception of being sponsored by a different party than the actual one can be created through, amongst other methods, the use of the other party's flag, uniform, insignia, identifying signal, or equipment.

Flying a false flag is an old, much-used tactic, and one that is seen often even in the schoolyard with children playing Capture the Flag:
Child #1: "Catch him! He's running onto our side, trying to grab the flag!"
Child #2: "No, I'm on your team!"
Child #1: "Oh." Child #1 looks away.
Child #2: "NOT!" Child #2 starts running, grabs flag and runs back to his own team's…