General Discussion

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The Weasel Spotter’s Field Manual
A Practical Guide for Those Who Suspect Everything and Everyone (Correctly)

1. The Prime Directive: Assume the Weasel
“What are these weasels up to now?” — Jeremy Paxman
• Begin every inquiry with suspicion, but don’t confuse suspicion with cynicism.
• The goal is not paranoia; it’s pattern recognition with moral purpose.
• Every institution will insist it’s the exception. It isn’t.

2. Field Signs and Droppings
Weasels rarely appear in the open. Look for:
• Sudden opacity: formerly public data becoming restricted “for security reasons.”
• Overly smooth language: “safeguards,” “transparency,” and “ethics board” are often camouflage.
• Technical bafflegab: the more impenetrable the jargon, the likelier the rot.
• Selective audits: audits that never seem to find anything meaningful.
• The charisma trap: a genius, a visionary, a saviour. Always a red flag. Yeah, exactly who you think I might be talking about

3. The Kit Bag
Essential equipment for the lone investigator:
• A notebook and a second real notebook you never write names in.
• Freedom of Information laws.
• Open-source data tools (OSINT, procurement databases, WHOIS lookups).
• A trusted network of fellow spotters: lawyers, coders, moral philosophers, and the eternally disenchanted.
• A humour supply — portable, renewable, and life-saving.

4. Rules of Engagement
1. Never accuse before you can demonstrate.
2. When they call you a conspiracy theorist, you’re likely to be one document away from vindication. Plenty of shrapnel but still no smoking gun.
3. Always ask: Who benefits if this fails in precisely this way?
4. “Follow the money” remains a universal solvent.
5. When confronted by a billionaire, imagine them as a small child hiding crumbs behind their back. The dynamic is identical.

5. Psychological Survival
• Expect exhaustion. The weasels have better lawyers.
• Celebrate small, verifiable wins.
• Keep perspective: cynicism is how the weasel wins inside your own head.
• Cultivate solidarity. The lone spotter is vulnerable; the pack is formidable.

6. Closing Invocation

“We do not hunt weasels to destroy them,
but to keep the meadow honest.”