Reading the Riot Act

Okay, it's coming back to me now from the riot control training that I got in the army.  While the military does not normally do police type work, they can during times of war or civil disturbance.  There has to be some kind of imminent threat that the local police can't handle, and then the president or a state governor has to issue a declaration of martial law.  Civil liberties can be temporarily suspended while the declaration is in effect. For example, curfews can be imposed and large gatherings of people can be prohibited.  The governor can call out the National Guard or the president can call out the regular army to restore law and order.  The president can also "nationalize" the National Guard, which means they are temporarily removed from the governor's control and put under the command of the president.

When any military force confronts a group of hostile but unarmed civilians, they are supposed to employ what's called "the theory of minimum force".  First the hostiles have to be informed of the declaration, usually somebody reads it to them over a bullhorn.  This is the origin of the expression "reading the riot act".  The hostiles are then warned to disperse or force will be used against them.  Non lethal methods like tear gas or water cannons should be tried before deadly force is employed.  If that doesn't work, warning shots are fired into the ground in front of the advancing horde.  If that doesn't work, shots are directed at the legs of the rioters.  If that doesn't work, the soldiers shoot to kill.  There are other tactics that might be employed along the way, but that pretty well sums it up.  We used to do something called the "step jab", which involved advancing in a tight line or wedge formation while making short jabs with our bayonets, the intention being to push back or split up a crowd.  That only works if the rioters are hemmed in by buildings or other barriers on either side and can only go forward or backward.  If you try it in open spaces, they will just go around the formation.  I don't think our military even carries bayonets anymore, so I doubt that the practice is still in use.

I had not heard of minks being trained to hunt, but I know that ferrets were used in the past to flush animals out of their dens or holes.  Hence the expression "to ferret someone or something out".  Ferreting was prohibited in most U.S. jurisdictions for some time, but I understand there have been efforts to re-legalize it in Michigan.  I seem to remember that it's now okay to keep ferrets as pets, but I don't know if they ever legalized hunting with them.  I believe that falconry has been legalized, but I'm not sure about ferreting.

I'll argue about Social Security and Chicks Up Front another time.  Step jabbing is a fatiguing activity, and I got tired just writing about it.