WESTEN WISE

A blog over flowing with the wise words of Burn Notice's Michael Westen. Matt Nix is a genius.

[westenwise]

It's been a long time but I'm coming back soon!

[westenwise]

When a front door is being watched, your best option often times is just to make a back door. If you don't mind getting damp, a water saw is a great tool for the job. It will cut through the wall much more quietly than a metal saw and won't ignite anything flammable that happens to be lying around.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

It's always best to have business arguments unarmed. When tempers are high and everyone's got a gun, you never know what's going to set someone off.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

People underestimate the tactical importance of TV in urban warfare. Guard duty's boring, and a ballgame passes the time better than, say, looking for intruders. More battles have been decided by pennant races than people imagine.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

Every profession has occupational hazards. Butchers cut themselves, house painters fall off ladders, and operatives get asked to help kill their own people.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

When you work with someone long enough, you learn to trust them. When things go bad, that trust is the difference between life and death. Of course, knowing that doesn't make it less terrifying to back a play you know nothing about.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

To tail someone, you need both skill and instinct. You need skill because the driving is tough. You can't get too close, and you can't drift too far away. You can't go too fast or too slow. You need instinct because every turn, every lane change, every bridge raises the risk of being seen. Anyone can be trained to follow a car. But it takes good instincts to know when it's time to stop following.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

Searching for a concealed enemy who could be anywhere is a waste of time. Usually, your best bet is to stay put and give your enemy a reason to come to you.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

When people are desperate for information, they start filling in the blanks, often without realising it. It's something fortune-tellers rely on. It works pretty much the same way for spies. Although fortune-tellers usually don't get smacked around as much.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

Interrogation professionals don't ask questions directly. They hide what they know and don't know. Amateurs tend to ask for exactly what they want. It's like playing poker with your cards showing.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

In the criminal world, selling yourself as a colleague often means doing something illegal. So while snorting lactose isn't pleasant it may put people's minds at ease.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

When it comes to cover ID's, impersonating a bad cop is much better than impersonating a good one. An honest cop follows policies and procedures, from the way he cuts his hair to the approach he takes when carrying out a traffic stop. Pose as a good cop, and you have to go by the book. Pose as a bad cop, and you can throw out that book and write your own.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

When you're concerned you might be walking into a police stakeout, there are a number of things to look out for: Parked cars or vans, workers that seem unusually preoccupied and curious kids. No matter where you go in the world, little boys like candy, puppies, and cops.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

In the field, it's often your human instincts that jeopardize an operation. Helping people is great, but there are times that impulse can get people killed. Sometimes the right thing to do is let a guy bleed for a while.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

Behavior in a combat situation is unpredictable. Sometimes trained soldiers go screaming for the hills. Sometimes guys who have never fired anything bigger than a cap gun turn out to have ice in their veins.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

Smart criminals have a variety of ways to find out if a meeting is under police surveillance. Some are more subtle than others. Throw a few punches, and any cops in the area have to come running.

Michael Westen

[westenwise]

Whether you're hunting down extremists in the mountains of Kashmir or tracking arms dealers through the streets of Moscow, the life of a spy takes a toll. So during down times, you work out, eat right, and try to recharge your batteries, because you never know what's waiting for you around the next corner.

Michael Westen