Sleepers awake

Click the image for a closer and more detailed view.

It is important for all of us to be concerned about Iranian President Ahmadinejab’s visit to the US, in particular the guarantee of his safety by US Law Enforcement. I believe that sometimes we can gauge the overall mood or concerns of the country by doing a scan of keywords from local and national news outlets, whether they be print, televised or electronic. With this in mind pay close attention to this headlines screen capture of the MSNBC website this morning. Do you see keywords and an overall tone that can be gathered by this screen cap?

Of course the graphic and the Newsweek story concern religion and more to the point, evangelicals. Is there a more radical Christian group in America than evangelicals? Look to the “More Top Stories” banner and check the content/tone of those headlines. US, Baiting, Insugents, Iraq. Angry, Welcome, Awaits, Iran. Strike, Deadline, Today. DEA, Nabs, Crackdown. More, Funerals, Home. Halo, Satisfying, Finale.

The keywords, even if not intentionally chosen with an agenda; incite or reflect fear, certainty of death and violence in their placement and order. Is this an example of the media instilling thoughts in the minds of the reader or is it just a coincidence? Would this be a message for a Manchurian Agent, a call for a sleeper to awake and move forward? The age of the assassin is returning, I have no doubt about that, just what would be the fallout if Iran lost it’s leader on American soil to a “lone nut gunman”?

Be on your toes and keep an eye out, folks. The signs are all around you.

60 Minutes interview with Iranian President Ahmadinejad -- Black propaganda in its most obvious form.

Is CBS correspondent Scott Pelley jonesing for a job at Faux News? Or is he simply trying to out-Stossel John Stossel? After viewing Pelley’s interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last night I was thrown aback at several comments made by Pelley and the overall effect of the Neo-Con puff piece. I even wondered which White House flunky was given the task of briefing Pelley before his trip to Tehran.

The propaganda of Pelley’s interview was in plain view, complete with faux outrage and the Neo-Con talking points showing themselves at various points. The aggressive tone of Pelley at times made me wonder out loud, “Would Pelley have the balls to be this direct with his own President, or would he just cave and kiss his ass?” What is more frightening to me than Iran’s nuclear intentions or Pelley’s lapdog story is how many people may have watched the interview and not recognized the black propaganda at work.

At one point Ahmadinejad appears to recognize the tactics of Pelley as being propaganda and he jabs back at him by equating his questions and tone with the work of the CIA. It’s foolish and naive to think that the Agency would not be interested in talking with Pelley or his crew after their return to the states, or to see the raw tape of their trip. With this in mind it’s interesting to note his sly smile and measured pacing of his responses and the comments themselves.

I’m not going to put my head in the sand and declare Ahmadinejad an innocent because he is not an innocent. This man is a carbon copy of our own President. Both are radical extremists with no conscience and they manipulate religious extremists into following their dangerous, hateful example. Neither man will be satisfied until the world is engulfed in flames.

What is depressing about the Pelley piece is the way it highlights the continual slide our Fourth Estate makes as it toes the corporate line; and the loss of insight that we cannot gain because our press stays on topic to suit the politicians and corporations and their agenda. At one point Pelley has the gall to tell the Iranian President, “I am just a reporter. I am a simple average American reporter.”

No Mr. Pelley, you are not just a simple average American reporter. I’m sure that if we compared your yearly salary with 95% of the American press corp we would see that you aren’t average. You would be in the financial elite of the class. As for proclaiming yourself as simple, please spare all of us the ridiculous self-depreciation. Show me a talking head who is not self-obsessed and far too complicated and I’ll show you a talking head who works the news in Chattanooga or Sioux Falls or a Class II or III or IV market.

When the MSM realizes a Conspiracy Theory may be true.

An op-ed piece that was published this week by the Register-Guard of Eugene, Oregon and deeply discussed on the Crooks and Liars blog has caught my eye. Once again we are seeing the mainstream public opening up to conclusions that the Conspiracy Theory crowd has been talking about for many years. The piece discussed the recent refusal to let Congressman Peter DeFazio see the secret plans by the current administration on what they will do following a terrorist attack.

For most of us, the first inkling we had of secret government plans to declare martial law, suspend the Constitution and round up American citizens came to light when we learned about Rex 84 in the early 1990's. Most of us began to brace and keep a suspicious eye open following 9/11 and the passage of the Patriot Act. The current MO of our leaders have a lot of us jumpy at the thoughts of what is coming next and what is in store for us. The MSM occasionally pops up with a response like the Register-Guard, which should be a major red flag to people who dismiss Conspiracy Theories outright.

Each segment of society has extremists; this community is no different in that regard. There are theories out there so elaborate and extreme that it is difficult to rationalize the loops and twists that make up even the foundations of belief. However, it is obvious that many ideas floated in the past 5 ½ years are showing up as fact. Real ID, the suspension of Habeus Corpus, the criminalization of dissent, the destruction of the 1st Ammendment; all of these things were laughed at 10 years ago as mere paranoid ramblings from the fringe. Now, who is laughing?

I am someone who drifts in and out of the false veil of normalcy in America, the America we were brain washed into believing existed, the America that we were taught in school, the Boy Scouts and in history books. The America that is a mirage and a symbol of hope but doesn’t exist in reality. The real nature of power over the public and over the image of what America actually is, comes banging on the door like storm troopers each time I look at what we have actually become. Reality is sometimes difficult to swallow.

The America we were told existed is like comfort food. It is something to imagine when fear and despair and confusion set in. Like wishing we were young again, waiting for Santa Claus, and the world is good and innocent and right. There never were “Good Old Days” only a blissfully innocent youth for those of us lucky enough to not be shattered by tragic and evil events. Sooner or later the evil presents itself and we are never again the same. We are shattered and left bloody, like ex-virgins on the backseat of a 57’ Chevy with blood drying on our thighs. We never again see things as we thought they were, we are bloodied and we are left knowing that the fantasy and innocence of childhood are long gone.

If the public were confronted with the reality of what we really are and what we have become I think the nation would change. Opening the eyes of those who still believe in the fantasy of a normal America could become the instrument of change. No one in the MSM is willing to weave together the tapestry of reality, a reality that has only a thin glaze preventing it from being seen by all, and open the public at large to a new way of dissecting the day’s events.

We are left to our own devices and left to rely on each other to help us see what is actually occurring. Just because some Conspiracy Theories are outrageous doesn’t mean they are all wrong. The outrageous and seemingly impossible are always possible. Once we all realize that fact we can go about trying to effect real change in the world. The saying from the 90’s of think globally, act locally is possibly the most subversive thought to arise in the last 70 years. Imagine if we were able to effect change on a small scale in our homes and in our communities, how the collected effect would devastate the old guard, the powers that be, the evil men who hold true power in this world.

If an abusive spouse controls a woman the most powerful action she can take is to simply leave him, disappear into the ether and never be seen by him again. If money controls us how can we shed the chains that bind us? Society has been configured to include money and earnings into every aspect of our lives. Escaping it entirely means turning your back on society as a whole. This is a drastic response and is really far beyond what needs to be done. If even 1% of the population were able to reduce their monthly bills by 1% and redirect those funds into something that benefits themselves and their local community, the masters of our economy would notice, immediately. Like the old saying goes, a billion dollars here, a billion dollars there and sooner or later you are talking real money. A billion dollars may not represent 1% income of 1% of the population but a million here and a million there out of more than 400 million Americans and the next thing you know we would have Wall Street scratching their greedy little heads.

Imagine for a moment if you and your neighbors were able to knock that 1% out of your bills every month and reinvest it into something you can all use such as a community garden or the installation of solar power panels, the effect would be immediate. Corporate farms would see a huge decrease in demand for their goods. The energy sector would see a drop in their income and the manufacturers of alternative energy devices would see a rise in their income. Imagine their reaction when they realize that they have slightly less power over the public than they did yesterday.

I’m not talking about creating hippie communes or exhuming socialism. I’m talking about reducing the control over your life that is held by evil, corrupt men and returning it to your hands. Simple modifications in our lives can have far ranging effects. Driving less by combining trips saves gas and reduces the money residing in the coffers of big oil and the government. Using electricity more wisely reduces the money in the coffers of the energy conglomerates and the government. Planting a vegetable garden keeps you and your family and neighbors fed and keeps your money out of the coffers of the corporate food industry and the government. They understand money and the power that comes from controlling how much you spend each month and how much you earn and save from your labor. The slightest chink in their profit margins would go far in reducing their power over us. Even failing to meet expected profits when there is still a profit can be devestating to the men who control our lives through money.

Would this prevent martial law being declared in the event of a terrorist or false flag attack? In our current state it would not. We have allowed ourselves to become so swaddled in the cotton of the world they created that far too many of us would bow down to anything as long as the cable is working and the McDonalds is stocked. Taking nicks and pieces of their control would certainly be beneficial to all of us and it’s not too late to start.

In my mind the most valuable aspect of Conspiracy Theories is that they can be used as cautionary tales in our lives. If your food is being poisoned in the factory, grow your own food or buy from a local farmer. If your freedoms are being threatened, use your mind and talents to determine what aspects of your life that can be truly made free from outside interference. If your future is threatened, plan for a future that avoids or limits how much of your present life is being controled.

A true revolution can be silent and peaceful.

The return of the DC Madam story

Didn’t ABC News, more specifically ABC reporter Brian Ross, say that there were, “no members of Congress we can find in these phone numbers.” When reporting on the DC Madame case just two short months ago? I guess Brian shouldn’t have made such a broad comment since he, and the rest of us knew he was seeing only a small portion of those phone records because lo and behold we have a Senator who is now caught up in the story.

I’ve said before that the only problem I have with these people using the services of prostitutes is the fact that it opens them up to blackmail. I could care less if they like kinky sex or the kind of sex they may not be able to get at home. Their choices are theirs to make and that’s between them and their spouse. But, as a Senator or any other high ranking public official, if you choose the services of a prostitute you are ripe for being blackmailed.

So, why did Ross go to such lengths to defuse the story and make a dismissive remark on a story he was covering? I think we can all guess the reason why but it is still a very good reminder of how the corporate media operates. ABC or it’s parent company, Disney, rolled the dice that a judge would not allow the rest of Ms. Palfrey’s phone records to be released. They downplayed the importance of the story and for those of us who made note of their light touch are remembering it.

Let’s wait and see who else pops up on the list. Remember that Wayne Madsen was reporting at the time of the 20/20 whitewash that VP Cheney was also among the patrons of Palfrey’s operation. For further posts on this subject, click here.

The sky is falling

After watching the mainstream media’s reporting of the attempted car bombings in the UK this past weekend I can only say that the bloodthirsty little beggars are little more than cheerleaders and idiots, as they have been for quite some time, who also need to look up the actual meaning of the word foiled. I spent all of Saturday morning and some of the early afternoon completely in a news vacuum, away from the TV and out of the house with only CDs to keep me occupied while I was out and about doing Saturday errands. I came home to MSNBC’s coverage and realized quickly what was happening and how deeply they wanted this to be far more serious than it really is. Have these idiot talking heads of the TV news ever heard of the IRA? Do they even know the history of terrorist attacks in London? Of course they have not and do not to answer both questions.

So bad were the early 80’s attacks that even Roger Waters of Pink Floyd was inspired to write, “and maniacs don’t blow holes in bandsmen by remote control.” in the lyrics to a song. If an IRA bomber had screwed up as badly as these idiots did this past week, in making such a lame excuse for a car bomb, I am pretty sure they would kill them just to weed out the idiots from their ranks. And yet the mainstream media are acting as though death is waiting to descend upon America at any moment, as though London is burning and we are spiraling into the sun.

What has happened in London and Glasgow can be clearly seen as nothing more than idiots on parade. Nothing was “foiled” as the press are falling over themselves to say. Foiling an attack would mean that the police or intelligence agencies raided them before they were able to carry out an attack. Catching them after they’ve left two sedan sized Molotov cocktails in London and damaged the passenger drop off at the Glasgow Airport isn’t “foiling” a plot. It’s called catching criminals after they have committed a crime, regular police work in other words.

Can the media talking heads, with their neat suits and neat hair and neat accents keep their little bloodlust fantasies to themselves for 5 minutes these days? I don’t think they can, to be honest. All afternoon long on Saturday I watched them talk about al-Qaeda, potential victims of shrapnel wounds, Osama bin Laden giving his okay, fighting them over there so we don’t have to over here, and the usual clap trap that they can’t prevent themselves from saying when there is very little actual news to report.
Fear not only serves the government, it also serves the media and the sponsors of the networks that cover the news. The true leanings of the talking heads are on display when something like this occurs. They are bloodthirsty little monsters who probably tortured small animals for gratification when they were adolescents. Their “reporting” is more akin to masturbation than professional journalism.

Executive Branch Three Card Monte

The past week has brought to light an aspect of the Bush administration that has only been reported peripherally. The revelation that VP Cheney is not only violating the Presidential Records Act intentionally but has also created his own security and classification system for documents and is claiming that he, his office and his responsibilities are not connected to the Executive Branch, shouldn’t be surprising. The fact that no one seems to give a damn and holy hell is not being raised is surprising. Cheney’s control over the shadow government has been documented several times since the 9/11 attacks, what we are now seeing are glimpses of the mechanisms he has put in place to work behind a veil of secrecy of his own creation.

Several months after 9/11 there was an article published by Time Magazine that provided a general overview of Cheney’s whereabouts in the days and weeks following the disaster. Site R was described and vague details of how the shadow government operates were given. Cheney is many things, but dumb and disorganized he is not. The processes we are now being seeing for the first time, such as his customized document classification system are simply the surface gloss covering what he and his office and henchmen are doing as day-to-day work.

The fact that the Fourth Estate is rolling over and purring like a content kitten and not making this a major news story is one more piece of evidence that the so-called “Liberal Media Bias” is simply a fable and term used by propagandists. Our senior members of the Executive Branch are showing all of us once again that they believe the laws of the land do not apply to them, that they are above the law and complicit in this conspiracy to circumvent the law is our mass media, the Fourth Estate.

The details of what Cheney and his staff are and have been doing in secret will most likely never be learned. Document shredding appears to be a full time job at the Naval Observatory and we have seen first hand that those who are the leaves on this tree of power do not open their mouths, even with the threat of prison hanging over their head. Their loyalty is to individuals and to the maintenance of power, not to our nation and certainly not to their fellow Americans. The scandal that brews beneath the surface of this process in the office of the VP may never see the light of day, and it never will if the corporate news leaders have their way.

But few care and why should they with Paris Hilton nearing the end of her jail stint and an interview ready to happen with the giant of journalism, Larry King. We have pregnant white women being murdered to satisfy your news jones and if that isn’t enough to satisfy our need to be informed about the world around us we still have Barry Bonds waiting in the corner with his juiced race to surpass Henry Aaron for the home run record. With race, murder, sports and celebrity to ponder who needs to spend time thinking about boring politics?

The yearly Bilderberg news vacuum

Here is a brief roundup of news coming from the periphery of this year’s Bilderberg Group meeting in Istanbul:

Prison Planet is reporting that the meeting is being held at the Ritz Carlton after the group tried to throw reporters off the trail by telling them that the meeting would be held at the Klassis Hotel in Siliviri, Turkey. They are also reporting that Kissinger has asked the international community to cooperate with the US in the Iraq conflict in a speech given before the group.

An Austin TV station is reporting of criticism over Texas Governor Rick Perry’s attendance at the meeting, who’s expenses are being paid for by Perry’s campaign fund and PAC, “Texans for Rick Perry”. One of the criticisms being drawn against Gov. Perry is the Bilderberg secrecy which “..defeats the purpose of open democracy.”

In a Pro/Con style of editorials, the Turkish Daily News has offered a scathing anti-conspiracy theorist article regarding the meeting. Just days ago the paper offered a surprisingly frank and honest appraisal of the meeting. I guess Hank Kissinger didn’t like the tone of the earlier piece and made a few calls to get better PR.

How the press is complicit in the tainted food scandal and how this promotes the goals of Big Business.

The recently unearthed scandal of tainted food imported into the US from China brings a host of problems to light. How government trade policies with China are flawed, how our food safety system is ineffective and how the investigative journalism of America’s once-great fourth estate is no longer capable of performing the basic “Five Ws” of reporting.

The question of why Chinese exporters are intentionally using toxic substances in the food items being exported is not being fully investigated. We are being told that melamine was placed into the faux wheat gluten to boost nitrogen content in the product, which would then indicate a high protein level. The mass media in America has left that answer as being the final word on why the melamine was present in the food items with little follow-up to the story.

The foreign press has performed a much better service than their American counterparts. What they have unearthed is a global effort by Chinese exporters of food, medicine and hygiene products to add toxic substances to the products they manufacture. Over 100 Panamanians have been killed in recent months after taking Chinese manufactured cold medicines that contained di-ethylene glycol. Di-ethylene glycol is an ingredient found in anti-freeze. This isn’t a one-off case as the same chemical has also been found in toothpaste made in China that has also killed numerous Panamanians and an unknown number of other Latin Americans.

This problem cannot be simply brushed aside as a case of human error. Too many of these cases show forethought and the intention to deceive regardless of the consequences. This cannot be brushed aside as a case of greed. Sooner or later the mounting deaths and fallout over safety will flare up and someone will have to pay the price.

There is a much darker reason behind the organized and systematic poisoning of our food and health items. When our own government admits that they cannot inspect all food that enters out country, which they have done, only two things can be done. One; is to increase the funding for food inspections to a level far beyond what it is at this moment. The effect of this is to anger Americans over the cost and condition us into accepting that this is something far to big for us to control. The other thing that can be done is to simply accept this as a new fact of life and we will have to learn how to live with the threat posed by imported food items.

Our government will not address the root cause of this problem because this would alter the power of the new global economy. In the end it would adversely affect the bottom line for existing and emerging big businesses. In the end it promotes a greater agenda where the lives, money and future of all people are controlled by big business. Fear and feelings of powerlessness are two methods of conditioning that are used by these people to control our lives and as this story evolves watch for the media to promote fear and portray the process of inspecting all food products to be an impossible task.

Whiplash warning - ABC News backpedals on DC Madam story

If you watched last night's episode of 20/20 on ABC hoping to get a bit more perspective and info on the DC Madam case, you are probably as disappointed as I am. ABC has completely backpedaled on it's original claims that Bush Administration officials are on the list of clients of Palfrey and the tone of the piece was low-key when compared to the info that has already leaked out.

Last week, 20/20 reporter Brian Ross stated, "there are people there at the Pentagon, lobbyists, others at the White House, prominent lawyers — a long, long list." and "There are several thousands names, tens of thousands of phone numbers and they range from administration officials to lobbyists to advisers who are well known, people who appear on television, lawyers, and then just a lot of sort of ordinary businessmen and CEOs.

However, during last night's report Ross stated, "As usually is the case in Washington, much of it is dull. There are no members of Congress we can find in these phone numbers, no White House officials. Quite frankly, but for the few exceptions, most of the men on this list just aren't newsworthy." The 180 degree turnaround on this one is pretty stunning. I'm surprised that Ross wasn't forced to do the story in a neck brace. Backpedalling that fast can give a man whiplash.

Hardly anyone worth reporting? Let's look at who has been exposed in this scandal already:

The "AIDS Czar" and Deputy Secretary of State, Randal Tobias, has already resigned his position at the State Department because of his admitted use of the escort agency. Tobias reported directly to Secretary of State Rice.

An instructor at the US Naval Academy has been implemented in her work for Palfrey as a prostitute.

Dr. Harlan Ullman, the architect for the US "Shock and Awe" campaign at the start of the 2003 invasion of Iraq has been identified as one of her customers.

Grover Norquist, one of the key players in the so-called "Gang of Five" who are at the forefront of the current conservative movement in America. Norquist is one of the top leaders of the conservative movement and the Republican Party, currently the President of anti-tax lobbying group Americans for Tax Reform.

I just listed three administration officials and this is only the shortlist that has been announced so far. Yet Brian Ross and ABC are now brushing this aside as though it were not worthy of reporting. Then again, the mainstream media brushed aside the Jeff Gannon scandal as though it were nothing more than a schoolboy prank. What should we expect from them?

What do you think?

News - Fascist America in 10 easy steps

From The Guardian newspaper website:

"From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that
any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues
Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all... "

More can be found here.

A few points to make.

1) Conspiracy Theorists and fringe figures have been arguing that America has been turning into a fascist state for decades. It's nothing new to those of us who are CT enthusiasts. Have we been right in this theory, all along?

2) It is interesting that a mainstream media publication such as the Guardian would take so long to finally just come out and state what so many of us have been saying and thinking, for years. They've hinted around the fact without spelling it out but this is actually an interesting development from The Guardian.

3) If a major US publication published a story like this, the right wing spin machine would have a total meltdown complete with "terrorist sympathizer" and "treason" rants being thrown. Of course the Pot can call the Kettle black all it wants in cases like this because it's always two sides of the same coin.

I'm not saying that the left is a group of angels when it comes to screwing us but the right wing extremists are so much more entertaining when they get their panties bunched.

News - AIM editor demands the firing of NBC News president over VaTech videos.

The editor of the conservative Accuracy In Media (AIM) organization is demanding that General Electric fire the president of NBC News over the network's airing of the VaTech shooter videos. AIM Editor Cliff Kincaid has already asked AIM members to send postcards to GE President Jeffrey Immelt, asking that NBC News president Steve Capus be fired because, "The decision to air the gross material, made by NBC News president Steve Capus, could inspire more copycat killings. Capus has made NBC into the Al-Jazeera of mass murderers"

Some highlights of AIM's history gathered at their Wikipedia entry:

At CBS's meetings, Irvine frequently denounced Walter Cronkite as a Soviet dupe. At a 1986 meeting, Irvine requested that Cronkite be removed from the CBS board of directors for allegedly supporting unilateral disarmament.[3]

AIM also famously denounced journalist Helen Marmor, who in 1983 produced a documentary for NBC concerning the Russian Orthodox Church.[4] AIM contended that "it ignored the repressive religious policies of the Soviet state."

The group denounced New York Times reporter Raymond Bonner for his reporting in January 1982 of the El Mozote massacre in El Salvador. AIM devoted an entire edition of its AIM Report to Bonner, reporting that "Mr. Bonner had been worth a division to the communists in Central America."[5] The issue included some insinuations about Bonner's political sympathies, noting that he had once worked for Ralph Nader.

In 1998, head of AIM, Irvine Reed at the Conservative Political Action Conference, claimed there was a conspiracy within the Republican Party to "suppress investigations of Clinton administration scandals."[2] He noted, "Conspiracy is a word that has been given a very bad connotation -- it's become synonymous with 'kooky,'" he told a Post reporter.[2] "But really it has a very good connotation." In other words, he elaborated, some conspiracy theories are valid. But not Hillary Clinton's notion of a vast right-wing conspiracy. "She's kooky," he said."[2]

AIM has been critical of the United Nations and its coverage by the media. In February 2005, AIM revealed that United Nations correspondents, including a correspondent for The Nation named Ian Williams, had accepted money from the UN while covering it for their publications. AIM also revealed that the United Nations Correspondents Association may have violated immigration laws by employing the wife of Williams. Williams and The Nation denied wrongdoing. [1][2] The charges were also reported by FrontPage Magazine. The allegations concerning Williams receiving UN cash was picked up by Brit Hume and the Fox News Channel. [3]

In November 2005, AIM columnist Cliff Kincaid criticised Fox News for broadcasting a program "The Heat is On," which endorsed the view that global warming represents a serious problem (although the program was broadcast with a disclaimer). Kincaid stated that this "scandal" amounted to a "hostile takeover of Fox News" [4].

In a December 13, 2005 column, Kincaid called for a "Quit Gay Sex" campaign to rival "Quit Smoking Campaigns" launched by certain media outlets in the United States. He contended that homosexual sex is widespread and homosexual men "simply cannot stop having homosexual sex" and that it was spreading HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.[6]

The champions and enemies list revolving the VaTech massacre grows.

News - Cho ties to Manna Christian Fellowship

(UPDATE 5/2/2007 by the CT Blogger - Cho connection to the Unification Church has been verified by another blogger. Follow the link to the posted update: http://theconspiratorsnest.blogspot.com/2007/05/news-confirmation-of-chounification.html)

In an earlier posting I brought up a possibility that Cho had a connection to the Unification Church. I still have found no direct evidence of a Moonie tie to this but I have found a connection to Manna Christian Fellowship.

The fellowship was founded by Rev. (or Bishop) W. Wellington Boone, who has since formed The Wellington Boone Ministries of Atlanta and has been deeply involved in the radical right-wing evangelical movement. Boone's political and religious views are far right-wing to say the least, fascist and un-Christian is probably a more apt description. Boone is also a member of the Promise Keepers movement, which promotes the total submission of women to their husband. Another way to look at their beliefs could be to question whether they wish their followers to submit to the leaders wishes, and in effect, submit to whatever the government tells them to do.

The Cho connection? While at Princeton, Cho Sun-kyung was a member of the Princeton branch of the movement and. The Princeton based representative of this church is now involved in the PR and media spin on this story. Apparently the Manna movement has focused extensively on recruiting from within the Asian student bodies of the top Universities. The are major differences in the methods and beliefs of these two organizations but they share a common philosophical belief and as we have seen proven through evidence learned in relation with the DoJ scandal, there is a conspiracy by the far right-wing religious movement to take control of of this nation's government and direct our foreign policy.

More to come...

News - Lockheed Martin loses LCS 3 contract

Lockheed Martin's money grab has gotten a little smaller this year as the Navy first issued a stop work order for LCS 3 and last week cancelled the contract for the ship. Work continues on LCS 1 (Lockheed Martin) and LCS 2 &4 (General Dynamics). The loss of LCS 3 combined with the deepening, but virtually off the corporate news radar, Deepwater Program and the VH-71 Presidential helicopter program scandals give us another look at the massive amounts of power and money that flow to the coffers of defense contractors.

The Deepwater Program has resulted in a DoJ investigation (Go Gonzo), 8 cracked and warped hulls which have resulted in the decommissioning of all 8 boats, a loss of hundreds of millions of tax-payers dollars and a severely reduced Coast Guard capability that may take decades to recover from. "We never forget who we're working for." is the new motto of Lockheed Martin. Oh yeah? Just who are you working for if this is a sign of your work?

I wish I had the time and resources to add up the total profit that Lockheed Martin and all the companies that it has bought over the years, have made from the US taxpayer since WWII. I'm sure it would reach into the hundreds of billions of dollars and I'm not talking about net income, I'm referring to pure profit. The talking point that politicians love to use that covers the ass of the defense contractor is the lie that we are providing the best equipment available to our troops. The Senators and Congress critters love to go tromping back to the district with money in their fists for the contractors, promising jobs for the locals and a sense of helping to protect the nation, right there in your own back yard.

As General Smedley Butler so famously said, "War is a racket." and it doesn't take a lot of work to find examples of how much cash being thrown around today. For all the change in this world some things never change and some things change only on the surface as the war profiteer learns and adapts to the environment to maximize profit.

News - Get an Rx -- go into the database

One interesting piece of information that came to light as a result of the VaTech massacre is the revelation that the federal government is maintaining a database of prescription drug recipients. ABC news reported this information on their website and it has now been scrubbed. I made a screen capture of this item yesterday and will post the cap tonight in this article after I get home. (EDIT by The CT Blogger: Screen Cap has been added 4/20)

Boing Boing has a blog entry on the drug database which adds some new light on the story and it gives the conspiracy theory researcher yet one more area to look into as part of their greater research.

According to the Boing Boing posting there is a State Prescriptions Monitoring Program that has been in existence since 2003. The FAQ for this program states,

Program officials state that their systems are not used to target possible subjects of an investigation.

And this is apparently another lie since it has already been shown that the feds looked at the database to see if the shooter's name was listed. Once again, the government is caught in a lie, maybe.

I mentioned in the previous post that I thought Total Information Awareness was the source for the information reported by ABC News. This is also a strong possibility since Poindexter's dream for the program was to pump data from any and all existing means of collecting information and lace it together under the TIA blanket. So it is possible that the NASPER database was not the source of the query and instead TIA was the system that was searched. The fact that NASPER states their database will not be used to investigate is irrelevant. If another system is used to perform searches then the NASPER statement still holds true.

Never forget that the government is highly skilled at making statements that can be defined as the truth and a lie at the same time. Few people can argue over semantics the way our government can.

News - A quick roundup

Here are some of the news stories that are being overshadowed today by the VaTech massacre:

AG Gonzales testimony. You can stream the C-SPAN coverage from this URL:

http://www.c-span.org/watch/cs_cspan3_wm.asp?Cat=TV&Code=CS3

The missing White House emails (and Rove's violation of the Presidential Records Act) is still a serious story. The Washington Post has the latest developments here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701984.html?nav=rss_politics

More than 200 dead in Iraq over the last 24 hours following a car bomb spree. 198 were killed yesterday, SecDef is on the ground in Iraq and 3 more US soldiers were killed yesterday:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/04/19/iraq.main/index.html

Wolfowitz's scandal at the World Bank deepens as a senior deputy tells him to resign:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/imf/story/0,,2060755,00.html

The US Supreme Court opens the door for a serious Roe v. Wade challenge (guess those SCOTUS hearings shouldn't have been pooh-pooh'd by the media and the Democrats, but hey, we all told you so):

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18195406/

and to lighten the doom and gloom for a moment, Lawrence Fishburne signed to provide the voice of the Silver Surfer:

http://movies.ign.com/articles/781/781876p1.html

More random thoughts

For the next few days, probably weeks, I’m going to keep my posts on the VaTech massacre to a few numbered items, such as what I am doing with this posting. After yesterday’s data dump of information to NBC News I feel more than a little overwhelmed from the added info and I want to digest it. What I am considering is blogging this story less frequently but with greater depth, such as the multi-part commentaries I have been posting for the last few weeks. A half dozen unfocused posts a day aren’t going to add to the understanding of this event.

I’ve been somewhat ambivalent about classifying this as a Black Op mind control event but that ambivalence is now gone. Between Cho’s syncopated, rhythmic delivery in the videos, the speed and direction of the Ismael Ax fallout and the media’s complete lack of interest in the efficiency and skill shown in the classroom shootings, I am convinced that this isn’t just a case of a disturbed young man. Not to mention the fact that the Attorney General is testifying before the Senate today in the US Attorney firings scandal and the media is all but ignoring this massively important story.

The attention that this has taken away from the larger, more important scandals emerging is staggering. The gun control rhetoric is heating up and the politicization of this tragedy began within hours, before the bodies were even cold. The direction of the discussion of the keyword “Ismael Ax” is reinforcing anti-Islamic emotions. And all because a 23 year old creative writing major went on a kill crazy rampage in a manner than would make a veteran SpecOp soldier stand and take notice.

Some thoughts this morning:

1) The shooter’s sister is an Ivy League graduate who works as a, “contractor to the State Department in the rebuilding of Iraq.” The shooter’s listed home is within walking distance of the headquarters of both the NRA and the NRO.

2) Would the shooter have really had time to escape one crime scene, get back to his dorm room and continue editing the NBC News documents and create more content, burn the DVD or CD and finish gathering his documents and then high tail it to the post office 1.5 hours after the dorm room shooting?

3) Why was there no panic at the dormitory after he shot and killed two people?

4) Why would a respected University keep a trouble-making, troubled and mentally imbalanced student on its campus after years of documented anti-social incidents? A quick glance at his writings that have been posted to the web clearly show that his “work” was juvenile at best. He couldn’t have been contributing anything to “The Academy” by being allowed to stay, and yet he was a senior, apparently close to getting his BFA in Creative Writing.

5) A full day before the Ishmael Ax information was discussed by the mainstream media, this information was circulated and being discussed in Conspiracy Theory forums.

Another day, more questions.

Commentary - The militarization of America - Part 2

Part 1 of this commentary can be found here:

http://theconspiratorsnest.blogspot.com/2007/04/commentary-militarization-of-america.html

Rumors about the toy box

Coinciding with the late 80's-early 90's escalation of combat operations and shining publicity was a curious sideshow involving secret desert bases, exotic advanced weapons and technology and a faint hint of otherworldly connections. Starting around 1987 the subject America's stealth fighter technology and experiments came to light. It began in technical and trade journals as well as the sub-culture of aviation enthusiasts. The existence of the B-2 bomber and the F-117 Stealth fighter had been verified by time of the Panama invasion. The invasion was the "test bed" for the capabilities of both weapons delivery systems, the first Persian Gulf war was the coming out party.

Bubbling under these two developments were rumors of other, far more exotic toys being played with in the toy box of the high desert of Nevada; Area 51. American interest had been piqued by the story sub-plots found in TV shows and movies like "The X-Files", "Men in Black" and "Independence Day" which hinted at or directly covered the existence of advanced military weapons systems that were kept in the secret Area 51 air base. These rumors and plot devices satiated the American appetite for superiority in all things related to the military and gave popular culture a new outlet for conspiracy theories and urban legend. Instead of public fear and outrage at these stories, Americans were strangely seduced and pleased by these stories. Why?


Look around you

The military, its suppliers and its second cousins are all around us. Turn on the TV if you have cable and there is literally a 24-hour a day presence of the military on your TV. The Military History Channel is one of the many channels which fall under the broadcast umbrella of General Electric and it's A&E Television Networks. In the early and mid-90's another basic cable staple, The Discovery Channel, was a science and history centric source of programming. It's shows featured stories about ancient societies, space exploration and world history. The only military themed shows were the 1 hour-long documentaries about military action from history. This aspect of the programming can be prominently seen in early episodes of HBO's The Sopranos, as lead character and mob boss Tony Soprano, is an enthusiast of these shows and their historical figures. In Gus Van Sandt's film "Elephant", a fictionalized account of the Columbine Massacre, the killers are seen skipping school with a Discovery Channel styled documentary playing in the scene where an automatic rifle is being delivered to them.

The Discovery Channel and General Elctric's web of cable stations all use the modern military, it's weapons and tactics as a central subject of much of their programming on top of the 24 hour coverage featured on The Military History Channel. The quantity and tone of this type of programming is quite unsettling when you begin to look closely at the subject material. Is this glut of military themed programming a result of public demand, or is it a carefully orchestrated plan to desensitize the American public to the mission of the military (wage war and cause death and destruction) and/or to desensitize them and give sympathy to the suppliers of military weapons? General Electric stands much to gain by their own form of self promotion.

I have not seen a single example of criticism of the fraud, corruption or fleecing of the American public by the makers of the American weapons industry on these channels. It is only wall-to-wall praise and glory for the purported capabilities of these weapons, weapon delivery systems and their designers. No mention of the checkered history of the Osprey aircraft platform. No mention of the massive cost overruns, abject failure to produce viable products in accordance with contractual obligations and flawed production of the LCS and Deepwater Programs. No mention of the sham and money pit that was the A-12 Avenger program. Chest thumping and sexy base reactions from the masses, yes. Honesty and critical thinking, no!

Switch channels to over-the-air broadcast TV and you'll see even more propaganda. The Armed Forces have spent a ton of money to sponsor cars in the NASCAR Nextel Cup racing series. At any sporting event worthy of national attention there is the obligatory honor guard and flyover of high tech aircraft. You can't sit down and simply watch a football game on a lazy Sunday afternoon without being assaulted with images of spit and polished servicemen, a close-up of a formation of F-18 Hornets, and now the on-screen box score even features the logos of and website address of the military. GoArmy.com indeed. Especially if my team can go 5-2 after this game.

The military's advertising has even morphed into a variation on themes. One commercial features the POV of a middle aged parent, with their child informing them of the news that they have or are considering joining the military. The POV parent, of course, is silent for the length of the commercial as your youngster rattles off the promises of the recruiter. Another commercial approach shows the military as a video game. No comment necessary.


In conclusion

This militarization of the American masses is so ingrained in our culture that it's virtually a useless exercise to reverse the trend. Spend some of your time with your eyes open and your mind aware of the military symbolism all around you. What does your local police force look like? Here in Atlanta where I live and in the rest of the state of Georgia, out police officers rarely act or dress in the traditional way of law enforcement agents. Many wear all black uniforms, with their pants combat dressed into their boots.

All we need is for the Commander in Chief to dress in the uniform while in office and all is complete. Wait a minute, that already happened.

Image from Reuters

News - The moral panic begins

Here comes the pre-emptive arrests, questionings and targeting of "potential killers" in our midst:

http://www.ajc.com/hp/content/shared-gen/ap/National/Virginia_Tech_Colorado.html (Free registration required to read the article)

Excerpt from the article:

Student Arrested Over Va. Tech Remarks

BOULDER, Colo. — A University of Colorado student was arrested after making comments that classmates deemed sympathetic toward the gunman blamed for killing 32 students and himself at Virginia Tech, authorities said.

During a class discussion of Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech, the student "made comments about understanding how someone could kill 32 people," university police Cmdr. Brad Wiesley said. Several witnesses told investigators the student said he was "angry about all kinds of things from the fluorescent light bulbs to the unpainted walls, and it made him angry enough to kill people," according to a police report. Witnesses "said they were afraid of him and afraid to come to class with him," Wiesley said.

News - Leaving the bubble

Tragedy does not stop the world from revolving. Too many stories drop into the memory hole during times of breaking, high profile news and here is something for all Americans to think about.

The Marine Corps Times has posted a strongly worded article about bringing back the draft.

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2007/04/military_groundforces_draft_070417w/

Some points from the article:

“If the United States is going to have a significant component of its ground forces in Iraq over the next five, 10, 15 or 30 years, then the responsible course is for the president and those supporting this open-ended and escalated presence in Iraq to call for reinstating the draft.”

“For the first time since Vietnam, we are caught with no strategic reserve. We simply do not have a strategic fallback position for the crisis that will come inevitably,” McCaffrey warned.

There is subtle but definite "s*** or get off the pot" tone to the article.

Commentary - Who will benefit?

I think it is safe for me to say that the first group that stands to benefit, and benefit the most from the VaTech massacre is the Republican Party. Within days I expect the pro-gun/anti-gun rhetoric to heat up. Which side of the fence do both parties reside? The support and approval that the Democratic Party has gained over the last year will begin to erode once they begin to pick up the anti-gun stance.

The nation's top law enforcement agent goes before the Senate on Thursday to answer questions about the US Attorney firings and the media is reporting that the Senate Committee is attempting to gain immunity for Monica Goodling in return for her testimony.

Guess who's thunder has been stolen?