PatrickMead.net

To some, they looked like random scratchings, or perhaps the marks left by the erosive effects of wind and water through the years. But for Robert Pyle, they were something entirely different. He was in Wyoming County, West Virginia following up on a 1983 article in the monthly magazine "Wonderful West Virginia." That article dealt [...]

While the Hidden People series will continue here (we are done looking at gangs for awhile), I thought you might like to know that the last four chapters of TRIBES have all been posted — one on Tuesday, one on Wednesday, and two today. I will post another blog here, but then we need to [...]

As of today they are in 33 States. MSNBC dubbed them "the most dangerous gang in America" for good reason. All gangs are, or have the capacity to be, violent, but Mara Salvatrucha are the most violent of them all. Rivals are found with their fingers hacked off, their heads severed or nearly so. Sudden, [...]

Picture this: the USA decides it is time to take the drug war to the home ground of the cartels. It imports Mexican Army Special Forces and trains them in dirty warfare, urban warfare, and various nasty tricks. They send them home where the newly trained forces gather and train allies in the various police [...]

First – the story everyone
knows: when the ships of the Spanish Armada were beached and destroyed by a
freak storm, many Spanish sailors escaped into the Irish population. Since the
Irish didn’t like the English either, they hid the Spaniards, eventually
absorbing them into their DNA. Their descendents are the dark haired, dark
skinned, dark eyed Irish.
 
Great story, and [...]

Before we begin this fun column, some quick news. I hope to post chapter 18 on Tribes sometime today if time allows. Chapter 19 should follow in a few days. Today I have to pack, go to the shooting range and air out an AR-15 and a Smith and Wesson M&P with one of my [...]

(Chapter 17 was just posted at www.tribes.patrickmead.net)
When you think of New Jersey, what comes to mind? If you’ve never been there and all your information about NJ comes from TV you might think it is one huge cesspit of crime, urban blight, gang warfare, and not much else. You’d be wrong. New Jersey has beautiful [...]

(NOTE: Chapter 15 AND sixteen! was just posted at tribes.patrickmead.net.Glad you’re enjoying it. Check out sacredink.patrickmead.net for a description of their dire need for funds and prayers. Leave them a note of encouragement, please.)
Ready to be confused? In a recent LOST episode, Jack, the mysterious doctor, awoke to find a tattoo on his arm. That [...]

The post below is just a day old, but I found out that some people didn’t know Tentpegs, my blog on family and church matters, is still up and running. Look for the link at the right! Also, TRIBES, the novel I’m posting online, just got its 14th chapter up. The 15th chapter is ready [...]

It was Halloween, October 31, 1992 and the largest single scam ever pulled by Irish Travellers was launched. It began with a CBS TV show — 48 hours — that highlighted how lax hotel security was in major hotels nationwide. Some Travellers saw that show, including one that was known for thinking big and ramrodding [...]