Talk:First Earth Battalion

Confusing still?

I am not quite clear why the confusion tag was added, since there was no message on the Talk page. I've had a go at clarifying the things which struck me on first sight. Can the tag go now? --Telsa 18:56, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

No sources?

This article doesn't seem to cite it's sources. --68.41.80.161 (talk) 03:41, 18 September 2009 (UTC)

I think I see why no sources

This article seems to be a spoof of a spoof of a spoof. Is there an actual hard copy of the First Earth Battalion manual in existence? I was skeptical when I saw the movie, "The Men Who Stare at Goats", advertised on IMDb.com, and even more when I saw a bit on the Colbert Report about the movie; even more when I read sections of the book on amazon.com.

But the clincher which convinced me to write the first sentence above is this: according to this article, one ability listed in the manual, among the goals to be achieved, after "fall in love with everyone" and "organize a tree plant with kids", is "stop using mindless cliches."

The one after that is "stay out alone at night." The one I've put in bold-face seems a bit too pointedly self-referential to be true, and seems to be someone thinking they're too clever to get caught at posting nonsense here, and leaving clues to prove it. The others, I think, are made up by the author of the article.

So either someone is having fun with this whole thing because they think it's a big media spoof, or they're having fun with wikipedia. Thus my question. Has anyone seen this manual in the flesh? As it were? Iconoclastus (talk) 06:16, 22 September 2009 (UTC)

You write manuals on flesh? What kind of anti-Earth Army meat eater are you, anyway? Schwah! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.13.43.206 (talk) 08:38, 18 May 2010 (UTC)

Comment - This article was created sometime in 2005, so it's unlikely to be related to The Men Who Stare At Goats as a spoof (unless someone was thinking very far ahead, and spoofs on Wikipedia don't seem to last very long) - additionally, I have heard about the FEB since the early 80's living in Findhorn Foundation in Scotland, so again, not sure it is just a spoof. 24.118.136.76 (talk) 07:04, 26 March 2010 (UTC) To above commenter - the book was released in 2004, so your point is not valid, is it?93.92.58.180 (talk) 10:41, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

Comment#2: Wanted to add that at least one of the sources seem less reliable, LaRouchePub, or Executive Intelligenge Review, is run by a man who seems to be a little bit of a delusional character - Lyndon LaRouche. If we are going to use him or his "magazine" as a source, at least we should try to get some additional sources to back it up. The whole article smells conspiracy theory. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.92.58.180 (talk) 09:11, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

Comment#3: More reasons to believe it's just a giant hoax. Go to this page and look at the things they sell in their online store. http://firstearthbattalion.com/latest-feb-news/the-earth-battalion-is-30-years-old.php They seriously sell the same "defender" that they showed in Men Who Stared At Goats and they probably sell it because it was shown in the movie, not the other way around... nice way to make a few bucks. Here is the online store (funnily enough registered at "projectjedi".. seriously.. come on...) http://www.projectjedi.net/store.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.92.58.180 (talk) 09:25, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

Comment#4: And yet another clue that this is just an elaborate hoax. There is a Cafe Press webshop selling battallion merchandise - http://www.c a f e press.com/1eb - if you look at the logo it says; "Arcturus Meme Boutique".. it really sounds to me like a hint to be sceptical about the whole thing.93.92.58.180 (talk) 10:12, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

Noriega clarification

The information on the use of loud music in the capture of Manuel Noriega is not entirely accurate. In Tom Clancy's Non Fiction book Shaw Warriors; General Carl Stiner's ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Stiner ) recollection of the Capture of Noriega was based on Psyops possession of several Loud speak equipped vehicles for public relations announcements to the civilian population. When they cornered Noriega at the Papal consulate, the media coverage of the standoff was threatening operational security; so after a staff consultation General Stiner ordered Psyops to Blast Heavy Metal at the Papal consulate as a distraction and counter intelligence measure against media coverage of tactical military operations around the consulate.

But in that case; the music was done as a distraction to the media; there was no expectation that the music tactic would effect Noriega. Actually the Pysops against Noriega where based on his fascination with the local occult (i.e witch craft); and a special forces NCO with a Masters in Occult studies consulted on the psychological tactics used to capture Noriega peacefully from Papal protection. The used his occult beliefs in conjunction with his Catholic guilt under Papal sanctuary to motivate his surrender.

Just a clarification on a common misconception of the details of famous Psyops. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.82.126.100 (talk) 21:48, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

I can confirm this as I was present at the Papal Nuncio at the time. The directional mics operated by a couple networks picked up a some of the initial side-bar discussions as various negotiators were preparing to go in to talk to Noriega. Some details of their proposed negotiation tactics were promtly aired on US news programs - which were broadcast simulataneouly in Panama - before the negotiators even had a chance to talk to Noriega or the intermediaries. And, a small point, many types of music were played; why the media bubbleheads decided to zero in on heavy metal is anyone's guess. The media ran with the bull about the music being aimed at Noriega because that was a whole lot better than admitting they were screwing things up.76.125.60.137 (talk) 01:22, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

DARPA & Telepathy.

No reliable source (a blog isn't) supported that information (2009 DARPA interest in telepathy), so I removed it. 82.54.245.211 (talk) 18:29, 22 November 2009 (UTC)