A Glibertarians Exclusive: Blood and Gold, Part II
02 September 1987 – Strasbourg, France
“So this is the place?” Belos asked. He looked up at the sky; it was growing light in the east. The two men (using the term ‘men’ in a rather broad sense) were walking amongst the crypts in a large Strasbourg cemetery. Belos had shed his British Army uniform and was wearing the plain gray coveralls of a laborer. Hess was dressed similarly.
“The man whose grave we seek was a collaborator,” Hess said. “He died of heart failure – honest heart failure, not the 9mm sort that was more usual for men like him – before the liberation of France. From what I gleaned from the fat man at Nuremburg, Oberlin’s grave was considered a good spot for a cache, as it was unlikely to be disturbed.”
“You hope. A collaborator may well have been dug up and cast into the river.”
“We can hope not, and that he is still here, in the Cimetière Nord de Strasbourg. Hess walked along from the center of the cemetery, noting a name on one of the graves at the end, then turning into a row. He counted off as he strode past the individual graves: “…neunzehn… zwanzig… einundzwanzig… zweiundzwanzig… Ah. Oberlin. Here it is.”
The crypt was simply marked: Oberlin, 1888 – 1943. As with most of the nearby graves, whoever Oberlin was had been laid to rest in a marble crypt, with a heavy marble cover. Hess examined the grave. “I think we can move the cover,” he said. “It doesn’t look like it was disturbed.”
“How much gold should be here?”
Hess thought for a moment. “I’m not sure. But most of these caches were laid away by high-level Nazis as an insurance policy against the failure of the Third Reich, which of course happened. But most of them – most of us,” Hess added, frowning, “did not expect the Allies to be so efficient and rounding up and prosecuting us. At any rate, any one cache should be substantial.”
“And you know of three,” Belos said. “Half of that will be substantial indeed.”
“It will, my son,” Hess agreed. He grinned, showing strong yellow teeth. “You could leave the British Army and live a life of leisure.”
“We can hope. What is your plan, anyway?”
“I plan to enjoy my anonymity, of course. I have had quite enough of notoriety.”
“I can see how that would be the case. All right then. Let’s have a look. I’ll get this side.”
The heavy marble lid had to be lifted, then slid aside. It would have taken ten normal men to budge the heavy lid, but Hess – his apparent age and frailty notwithstanding – and Belos were able to move it easily. They pulled the lid to an angle with the coffin inside and looked in.
“I don’t see anything,” Belos said. “What was the gold packaged in?”
“A leather knapsack,” Hess replied, “if Hermann was telling the truth.”
“I don’t see any leather knapsack.”
“We’ll open the coffin.”
That required lifting the marble vault lid off and setting it aside. Hess reached into the vault, snapped off the hasps holding the plain wooden coffin open and lifted the lid. Inside lay a shriveled lich wearing the remnants of a cheap suit.
“Alas, poor Oberlin,” Hess misquoted, “I hardly knew ye.” He chuckled, a dark, oily sound.
There was no leather knapsack in the coffin. No gold. No ‘resources.’
Belos muttered something under his breath. “Well, old man,” he said out loud, “looks like your information was bad. Could it be in one of the crypts around here?”
“We can scarcely,” Hess pointed out, “Look in all of them. I knew of Oberlin. Any Nazi at the higher levels would have known of him. He was… infamous and would not have survived the liberation of France in any case. It makes good sense that his grave would be used as a cache.”
“Someone else would seem to have had the thought ahead of you.”
“So it seems. Come, my son, let’s put this grave to rights; no sense in letting anyone know it was disturbed. Then we will find a quiet place to talk. I do know of two other caches, perhaps we’ll have better luck in München or Rome.”
They closed the coffin and levered the heavy lid into place, then walked out of the cemetery. “There’s a café near here,” Belos suggested, “with a large canvas overhang – to keep us out of the sun, you know. Shall we go there and plan our next move?”
Hess nodded. “Why not?” Hess was pliable enough; he felt no need to feed. Earlier the evening prior, before meeting Belos at the cemetery, a foolish young knifeman had tried to rob Hess; that young man’s francs now resided in Hess’s pocket, and the knifeman’s drained corpse was at the bottom of the Ill.
The morning sun was up now, causing both Belos and Hess more than a little discomfort. They went from shaded spot to shaded spot. Both had floppy hats to cover their heads and kept their hands in their pockets.
When they were across the street from the café, about to emerge from a dim alley to scurry across the street, a tall, lean form confronted them.
“Morning, fellas,” he said. “Talk with y’all a minute?” He was tall and lean, with broad shoulders, wearing denim jeans, tooled boots, a red flannel shirt and a black cap of the type Hess had learned was called a ‘baseball cap.’ He stood squarely in the alleyway, blocking the path. Foolish of him, Hess thought, but then decided, we may as well see what he wants.
“And who are you?” Hess asked.
“My name,” the big man said in a broad, Western American accent, “is Alexander van Helsing. You can call me Alex.”
“As you wish,” Belos said. “What do you want with us, Alex?”
Alex van Helsing leaned in closer and spoke in a conspiratorial stage whisper. “I know what you are. Both of you. I know the signs. My father taught me. His father taught him. The eyes, the hands, the ears – and the teeth. Especially the teeth. Yeah, I know what you are.”
“And so?” Hess asked.
“I know what you’re looking for. I know where it is. I’ll help you get it, and I want a third of the boodle.”
Hess and Belos looked at each other. “I’ve heard of your family,” Hess said at last. “It seems you’ve lost some of the, shall we say, purpose of your forebears.”
“They could afford a purpose. I can’t. My grandfather lost everything and moved us to America for a fresh start. Now we still barely have a pot to piss in.” He took off his cap, wiped his forehead. “My father raises cattle south of Encampment, Wyoming. I didn’t want to raise cattle. My brother can take that over when the time comes. I came to Europe to look for some excitement, and what do you know, I discover the location of a cache of Nazi gold the Allies and the Mossad don’t seem to know about. I won’t tell you how I know where it is, except to point out that my family name apparently still carries some weight in Europe. I will tell you I can’t retrieve it myself. I know what I know, and I know what you two can do. If we work together, we cash in. Otherwise, I walk away, right now, right into the sunlight outside this door, and leave you to find out where the cache is now, all on your own.”
Belos looked at Hess. Hess nodded, ever so slightly. “Very well, Herr van Helsing,” he said. “Let’s talk.”
Van Helsing and Dracula meet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9jE-rAYRpw
It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ’em
Pretty ballsy trying to work with a pair of vampires.
Hmmm? I haven’t see a government tax collector yet in this story….
purpose
The Church ain’t payin’ like it used to?
Animal, you magnificent bastard… I read you… wait, hang on — I mean, if you didn’t mean to be evoking this, I’ll be stunned. Check the graves beside it indeed. 😉
I like it.
Wonderful. Thanks, Animal! I don’t know how you do it.
Chess World Cup Rnd of 16 finished the tiebreakers today. However 7 of the 8 matches finished up yesterday, only 1 went to tiebreaks. In comparison, I think over half the matches went to tiebreakers in the last round.
Winners and QF matchups:
Carlsen (2835) v Gukesh (2744)
Abasov (2632) v Vidit (2719)
*Caruana (2782) v *Dominguez Perez (2739)
Erigaisi (2710) v Praggnanandhaa (2690)
Abasov is the cinderalla story of the tourney, ranked #97 in the world and the hometown hero, the tourney is in Azerbaijan, and he is the last Azerbaijani left. Vidit upset Nepo in the 2nd tiebreaker today.
With Nepo’s loss, top 3 qualify for Candidates Tourney next year, with 4th still having a shot at getting a spot, as Carlsen is likely to refuse it.
Seeding was done based on June ratings (which is what I have listed), live rating have Pragg at 2720 and Erigaisi at 2713, so the favorite is reversed, but its a pretty even battle. I would say the difference might be more extreme as Pragg just turned 18 so is rising fast…but Erigaisi is only 19, so not that much different. The young Indians are making a mark, Gukesh is 17, Vidit is the oldster at 28.
Just for comparison, the non-Indians:
Carlsen is 32, Caruana is 31, Dominguez Perez is 39, and Abasov is 28.
More from Maui.
Something ain’t right.
Like incompetent nepotism is a revelation in politics
We have a widespread lack of good leadership all over the world. People in charge are too concerned with playing politics and DIE bullshit instead of being competent and doing a good job for the people they represent. And there is ZERO accountability. People don’t even lose elections anymore when they monumentally fuck up.
I know the Hawaiian native community is pretty robust, I really hope they succeed in fighting off the rich tech assholes who want to make Hawaii their next pet project.
Property owners are reportedly already getting calls from investment firms. This is crazy.
One point two trillion. I won’t take a penny less.
“People don’t even lose elections anymore when they monumentally fuck up.”
And whose fault is that?
I hope the part about the kids is false, if not, more kids just died from this event than the Rona.
Too bad both parties can’t loose. Fuck the racist Hawaiian native community.
IF that is true, it is going to be huge. That isn’t something that can stay hidden.
Yes it is. And even if it doesn’t, nobody can/will do anything about it.
Wow. I’m going to let the dust settle though.
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/1691118848882376704
CWAA
This video was down in the comments. At one point she says she talked to a firefighter who claimed to have pulled out 80 bodies just himself.
No idea as to how accurate her report is, but she makes a number of disturbing claims on a few different topics.
And no matter what, we all know that the official responses will be to:
– force more control into government hands
– enable big-money cronies
– further the proggie narrative (AGW, DIE, etc.)
My mom’s caregiver says 5 members of her family died while trying to escape in their car. She has a big family, so these are probably distant cousins that she’s never met, but still.
Anyway, as I mentioned in the last thread, the governor wants the state to acquire the land. “Gov. Josh Green, during a visit to Lahaina with FEMA, told journalists that he won’t let Lahaina get too expensive for locals after rebuilding. He said he is thinking about ways for the state to acquire land to use for workforce housing or open space as a memorial for those lost.” (https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-maui-lahaina-housing-prices-shortage-d8902c3ea55a8ec4d9938865f3f749f7)
Like the slave quarters on a plantation?
I think the Great Resetters have more of this in mind.
“now see here… just listen… I’m taking this here land of yours on account of I don’t want it to go getting too expensive your you so as you kin stay here….”
I’m thinking more along the lines of Nero’s palace Domus Aurea after the Great Fire of Rome in 64AD.
We are talking about people with the same morals and scruples.
Another episode that keeps me hanging around.
Thanks, Herr Animal
COG wants DC tour busses and other commercial drivers to stop idling
According to the Department of Energy, a transit bus uses 0.97 gallons per hour idling but gets 3.26 mpg. Someone must be using new math.
Yeah, a diesel is extremely efficient at idle when compared to an otto cycle (gas) or to a turbine.
The M1 Abrams used a turbine because it was so much more efficient than the V12 in the M60.
Which is true… when traveling down the road at 30 miles an hour. The problem was that the turbine uses almost as much fuel idling in an hour as it does going down the road.
The V12 can idle for days on a tank of fuel.
They really shouldn’t be putting gas in those. They’re diesel engines.
🙁
I got the text alert that my 3D Printer has been delivered, but I’m stuck at the office.
Unrelated (okay, fully related), what are some good retail outlets to check for quart or gallon jugs of 99% isopropyl?
I’ve already checked the local Walmart out of desperation (they had none, and I verified this online) and my delivery order won’t arrive until friday.
My local Ace Hardware has it in store.
There’s one local to me, so that’s one to check.
Is you are not using it on your person but for cleaning, you could use denatured alcohol from a home store.
For 3D printing you want to avoid any moisture. The ethanol in it is bad news as we all know with regards to moisture.
Does it have to be 99%? It’s preferred for my non-resin printing cleaning, but not mandatory.
It appears to be an ACE hardware item. Your local dealer may or may not stock it, but it does show inventories at various locations on the web site.
Documentation says it has to be at least 95%, but I only ever seen 91% or 99%.
I’ve been having issues with the work proxy and Ace’s website that I blame the proxy for because it’s the same behavior I get with some other pages. Otherwise I would verify that the physical location has some.
What’s the zip. I’ll look it up for you
The store is in 12188
No dice in any of the stores. Only 70% and small bottles.
Damn.
Thank you anyway.
Looks like UCS’ next hobby will be distilling.
Maybe a hobby supply store in the area that cater to additive makers?
How big were the ‘small’ bottles?
/channels inner UCS
Smaller than the big bottles.
How big were the ‘small’ bottles?
Pint. But you don’t want 70%, correct?
Sorry, I misread. No, 70% doesn’t work.
More internet searching indicates I might find a gallon of 99% some 30 miles south of me.
Walgreens, any drugstore or pharmacy would carry it in the before times.
After a month of waiting, the deck guys are here stripping off the old deck. 2nds step in redoing the entire exterior of the house. The roof was done a month ago.
I didn’t know you like watching guys strip.
He just wants to be within the cloud of turpentine fumes.
Strip
quart or gallon jugs of 99% isopropyl?
What do they sell at pharmacies? Is it 99%, or something less concentrated?
The pharmacies I’ve visited appear to stop at 91%.
You can buy it there in something like 750ml size. Our CVS has them.
Just checked – not online anymore.
I finally have something I can share without getting yelled at.
According to WebDom, Short Bus is a Disney Princess, able to summon and converse with small woodland creatures.
+1 Audrey Hepburn as the Beastmistress in Green Mansions
I want NPR lady to do a links post some time.
I haven’t even told her the URL. Just cut and pasted a few pieces.
She was unamused to find out her nickname.
Interestingly, I was watching the last Steve Lehto video last night about the Kansas police raid on the local newspaper and reporters. Today, she sent me a link to a news story about it. So there’s some small overlap in our Venn diagrams.
Speaking of Lahaina (or however you spell it)- just saw a highly romanticized dog-in-the-manger story about how authentic Hawaiians need to band together to fight off the gentrifiers and Evil Monied Outside Interests.
Good luck with that.
If they can get organized, and can restrain splitters from cashing in on lucrative offers, they can keep the land in the hands of locals. If, as carnitas/spicy salsa notes above, the state decides to stick it’s nose in, then they’re screwed.
Narrator: They’re screwed
Anyway, as I mentioned in the last thread, the governor wants the state to acquire the land. “Gov. Josh Green, during a visit to Lahaina with FEMA, told journalists that he won’t let Lahaina get too expensive for locals after rebuilding. He said he is thinking about ways for the state to acquire land to use for workforce housing or open space as a memorial for those lost.”
21st century serfdom.
Up next will be Frau Sara Blucher *horse whinnies* nee Sara Jessica Harker.
Would a place like Grainger, or Fastenal, or an industrial cleaning supply house have 99% alcohol. That won’t help much if there are no such places in your neighborhood.
Somehow there is a Grainger in this area, but it is only open Banker’s hours, and for whatever reason only sells 4 gallon minimums at a much higher price per gallon.
Did I miss something and everyone hates Amazon? https://www.amazon.com/MaxTite-Isopropyl-Alcohol-99-9-Gallon/dp/B08CGCNHPR/ref=sr_1_4?crid=7U9WLT6EL9NI&keywords=95+percent+isopropyl+alcohol&qid=1692037484&sprefix=95+percent+isopropyl+alcohol%2Caps%2C151&sr=8-4 seems simple enough.
Did I miss something
yes
I’ve already checked the local Walmart out of desperation (they had none, and I verified this online) and my delivery order won’t arrive until friday.
Ah. That’s what I get for reading while distracted I suppose.
Might just have to suck it up there, Buttercup *cough*.. I mean UCS.
Why? I just got home with two Gallons of 99% Isopropyl.
That “worker housing” stuff reminds me: about forty years ago, Breckenridge Colorado and Summit County decided they needed to do something about employees being priced out of the market. Good, honest upstanding government employees, like teachers and firemen and cops; not those private sector losers.
The plan was to build a housing development and let (carefully scrutinized and approved) buyers “purchase” them. Except you didn’t really own it, because if you decided to sell, it could only be to an approved buyer from the waiting list, at an approved price. You couldn’t buy one and rent it out, either. I wonder how that turned out.
After high school my brother moved to Steamboat Springs thinking he’d work at the ski resort. It turns out those jobs were already taken by the people who worked there the previous year. Unable to afford a regular apartment he lived in a log cabin without indoor plumbing and with a coal burning stove for heat. After a few months of that he decided college wasn’t such a bad idea after all and he’s now an engineering professor. If the government had offered him “workforce housing” he could have fulfilled his dreams of being a ski bum on the taxpayer dime.
Just this side of company housing like the Pullman Workers’ Homes if you ask me. But hey you won’t own anything and you’ll be happy.
for whatever reason only sells 4 gallon minimums at a much higher price per gallon.
That part doesn’t surprise me. For the most part, the people shopping at Grainger aren’t spending their own money.
Isopropyl readily absorbs water from the air. Getting and keeping it at high concentrations takes work. That’s why it’s so much more expensive than the 70% stuff.
I suspect it is this quality that makes it necessary for the 3D printing (keeping the process “dry”).
Just this side of company housing like the Pullman Workers’ Homes if you ask me. But hey you won’t own anything and you’ll be happy.
I think Big Sky has employee dormitories. No idea if they are factored into compensation, or a separate transaction. At least they’re honest about it. “Here’s a shitty hovel to shelter in when you’re not working. And you can’t say you couldn’t make it to work because the roads weren’t plowed.”
I think most of those jobs, at least in California, are taken by teenagers from other countries on some work visa program. I’ve run in to some who thought they were going to be in the big city but ended up at summer resorts in small towns in Alaska or Wyoming.
I know there’s dorms out by Cedar Point, as well as housing for seasonal workers up on the islands in the Lake.
Yup, same as in our national parks (!) Bunch of Indians and others running the postcard stand at Mount Rushmore when I was there about 10 years ago.
I want NPR lady to do a links post some time.
I can’t wait for the Common Dreams take on the Trump indictments.
I would think it would be a breath of Fresh Air.
All Things Considered, it’d be interesting.
Wait… wait, don’t tell me…
UCS, I don’t have any for this job but we use 99% IPA by the gallon when sampling for sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid mist. I’d be happy to help you out.
Make sure you have your alcohol handling gloves on.
(If you want to screw with people ask for 2-hydroxypropane
Or dimethyl carbinol.
Finally something IPAs are good for.
Extra bitter.
Good stuff, looking forward to the rest of this.
Also, speaking of former Nazi havens… Argentina’s first round of its presidential election has been won by Javier Milei, an anarchocapitalist and leader of the Liberty Advances coalition.
Hopefully it will bleed over into Uruguay.
I have plans…
‘first round’ implies they’ll be round 2 where the commies will band together.
Thumb on scale
The Biden administration on Monday released new guidance to help colleges navigate what remains legally viable in admissions to ensure their campuses recruit and admit diverse classes.
The Supreme Court in June gutted race-conscious admissions practices that colleges have used for decades after it sided with Students for Fair Admissions in its cases against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
——-
The Biden administration said the guidance is its first step to ensure colleges know what they are legally able to do to ensure their doors are open to students of color.
“With respect to admissions practices themselves, especially for the upcoming cycle, the Departments encourage colleges and universities to review their policies to ensure they identify and reward those attributes that they most value, such as hard work, achievement, intellectual curiosity, potential and determination,” the administration wrote in the “Dear Colleague” letter.
How droll.
Call me crazy, but what leads the Biden administration to assume America’s most elite institutions of higher learning are incapable of running their admissions offices without guidance from Fearless Leader?
Biden is assuring them that the DOE and DOJ won’t interfere with their attempts to ignore SCOTUS.
to ensure colleges know what they are legally able to do to ensure their doors are open to students of color.
I didn’t realize the Supreme Court ruling prevented minorities from legally attending college.
^this
So crazy.
Interestingly, I was watching the last Steve Lehto video last night about the Kansas police raid on the local newspaper and reporters. Today, she sent me a link to a news story about it. So there’s some small overlap in our Venn diagrams.
That story just screams “small town politics, petty slights and insufferable indignities”. Identity theft- sure. And terrorism.
Word got around to the barflies and the Baptists…
Biden is assuring them that the DOE and DOJ won’t interfere with their attempts to ignore SCOTUS.
Checks out.
Judge Rules in Favor of Montana Youths in Landmark Climate Case
A judge in Montana ruled on Monday that young people in the state have a constitutional right to a healthful environment, finding in a landmark case that the state’s failure to consider climate change when evaluating new projects was causing harm.
The case, brought by a group of young Montana residents ranging in age from 5 to 22, is the first of its kind to go to trial in the United States. While the state has contended that Montana’s emissions are minuscule when considered against the rest of the globe’s, the plaintiffs argued that the state must do more to consider how emissions are contributing to droughts, wildfires and other growing risks to a state that cherishes a pristine outdoors.
We are so fucked.
In the long run, not really. The government is fucked.
The more they do this, the more they undermine their rule. Nobody will respect their authority.
In the short run however…
The government is fucked.
Which makes us all fucked, unless you are looking forward to the collapse of civil society in US.
I can’t stop what’s coming.
What a great scene.
Which clause of the Montana constitution lists that right?
(article is paywalled)
I believe they sued under Part IX, Section 1:
I still think the Judge is wrong because the science is too iffy — but that’s why they had a case at all. Countdown for voter initiatives to get this crap into as many other states as possible for the sake of the lawyers *cough* ^W children in 3… 2… 1…
I’d like to see the proof that Montana wouldn’t actually benefit from global warming.
Avoiding mile-deep glaciers seems like a win.
My preferred remedy would be for the claimants to be prevented from using any petroleum or petroleum derived products.
They are doing the left’s dirty work but they look cute on TV. We are definitely fucked.
I didn’t realize the Supreme Court ruling prevented minorities from legally attending college.
Lester Maddox is chief justice of the Supreme Court. Try to keep up.
Judge Rules in Favor of Montana Youths in Landmark Climate Case
Oh goody.
Isopropyl readily absorbs water from the air. Getting and keeping it at high concentrations takes work. That’s why it’s so much more expensive than the 70% stuff.
That was my guess. Which means you really don’t want to open more than what you immediately need.
Hey Glibs,
I have a question for you canning prepper folks. I have a bunch of Hungarian Wax peppers I want to pickle and keep on my shelf. With a low pH of say <3.5 would I need to use a traditional canning method to keep shelf stable or is the purpose just to make the vacuum seal? I have a sealer that can pull vacuum on the canning lid and make a tight seal.
High acid fruits and veggies can be canned in a simple water bath. Low acid products need a pressure cooker.
But would I need the water bath for pasteurization if I can vacuum seal the lids without it?
You are pasteurizing what’s in the jar, then sealing as they cool off.
I do not know the shelf life of unpasteurized, pickled veggies. It offers some protection, but nothing like the pressure canning.
Got it. I’m worried that they will loose their crunch if boiled.
Thanks,
They may lose their crunch but they’ll be safe for a long time.
Otherwise, make in small batches and refrigerate.
A simple water bath Canner is 25 bucks.
It’s simple, it’s easy, it’s safe.
I have one I can use.
I think for long term canning you need to have a certain acid content, and then just use the regular heat canning method. That is something you don’t want to play around with. We use this book as a reference, it has all the instructions and great recipes.
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-all-new-ball-book-of-canning-and-preserving-over-350-of-the-best-canned-jammed-pickled-and-preserved-recipes/11589718/item/16115170/#edition=11144437&idiq=16115170
Thanks TOK. I think my mom has an earlier edition of this book.