If you unfold a street map, you can never refold it in the same way again.

It’s been weeks since I’ve made an entry to the blog. Not because there haven’t been news stories that are pertinent to the subjects I discuss or for a lack of thoughts on the world around us. The reason is simply time management and outside interests.

Of all the things that keeps me going every day, dragging my beleaguered ass into the office to make more money for someone above me in the income food chain, isn't one of them. Having and maintaining a day job is what it is; a way to pay bills and advance down the professional road as far as I wish to take that road. Being paid wages for labor and services rendered is enough for most people and to those who do it and ask for nothing more, my hat is tipped to you.

What gets me up and keeps me going every day is the knowledge that once I am done with the 9 to 5 white collar job, I can go home and focus on the jobs that I do to make extra money. The work that I do for me, and my own benefit, are what keeps me going. Up until recently I looked at the home based business process as just a way to help pay bills and get me through the rough spots that modern life throws all of us. Now, I am in the middle of one of those life-changing phases that strike folks like me from time to time.

After I left the Navy in 1992 I began a cycle of working a wide range of jobs and trying different professions, not because I couldn’t maintain a single job, but because my mind is prone to jumping to new interests at an alarming rate. In the first 5 years after rejoining the civilian world I worked construction, been a full-time student, worked as a machinist and did testing in an R&D shop for a company in the alternative energy field. I’ve been in the IT industry since 1997 and have plied this trade in 4 different industries; hospitality, mechanical services, marketing research and credit card processing. I’m about to move in a new direction and this one is going to be strange and interesting.

There is a certain critical point where your perception of what you have been doing and what you perceive to be a potential new career, flips. Like an iceberg rotating itself to maintain it’s mass in relation to the earth’s gravity and it’s own buoyancy, this is the point where all things are heaved over. Even the most simple and mundane things such as driving down the road become filtered through a new set of eyes and you no longer see things the way you did before. Now I see opportunity where I once saw ‘nothing’ and the way I used to think in this area seems overly simplistic.

This is not to say that I am moving away from the blog. I will still comment on the events and news that connect to Conspiracy Theory and the High Weirdness subjects. I’m only saying that for the time being, maybe until late summer or early fall, my posts will be far less frequent. I hope you will still stay with this blog as I do foresee many things worthy of comment and I humbly appreciate the positive and kind words I’ve had from so many of you who have “stumbled” onto this blog in the last year. I will still post, I will still rant and rave, I will still call out politicians on their bullshit. I will still do what I have always done, just in smaller doses.

Change is never bad when it is welcomed and comes on your own terms. Some people spend their entire life changing but never seeming to make headway. Making headway in this old world is all about following the paths that you see fit to follow. One of the people I link to from this site and have mentioned before in previous postings is the artist Mack White.

Mack has recently retired from his job at the University of Texas and is pursuing his work full time. The university job, he has written about, paid for his support through the years so he could continue to create. Now he has retired from that position and his work, his own energy and his own direction is his focus. Mack should be very proud of the route he is taking. Any creative soul who stays on their path and does what it takes to maintain that outlet is one worthy of praise.

That is the kind of change I am talking about. Following the path that you create, the path you see illuminated and the path you know is true. While my new path isn’t going to follow a creative endeavor it is still one that I will be proud of when I get to the next turning point. God only knows where that next turning point will come from and what it will be.

So, for the time being hold on to your hats and don’t delete that bookmark for this blog. It isn’t curtains for me. I still have thoughts and weird subjects to mine. It’s time for me to adjust to the new surroundings, get my bearings and call back to you from the wilderness from time to time.

Helpful hints for the regular guy if faced with a radioactive and toxic spy satellite.

I realized last night that with all of the senior officials of our government being out of the country for the satellite shootdown, and the quiet approach by FEMA, that someone needs to give the average American some advice on what to do if this thing comes down in their back yard. Now, I’m no rocket scientist, health care professional or NSA spook, so take these bits of advice with a grain of salt.

What you should do if the satellite falls in your back yard:

Run like a scalded dog.
Run very far away.
Run very fast.
Don’t look back.
Screaming at the top of your lungs is optional.
Run so fast that the soles of your shoes begin to smolder.

What you should not do if the satellite falls in your back yard:

Don’t poke around the debris field with a stick.
Put visions of YouTube fame out of your head.
Don’t put pieces of the wreckage in your mouth, even if they do look like Charms Blow Pops.
Don’t call your cousin to come over to take pictures.
Don’t let your hounds sniff around the wreckage.
Don’t say, “Lookie what I found, fellers.” when the Army arrives.
Don’t tell your kids that Santa finally made it to your street and he left a jungle gym out back.
Don’t think about how much money you are going to make at the recycler.
Don’t call NASA or the NSA, cover the mouthpiece of the phone with a handkerchief and say, “I’ve got something you lost…fer a million, billion, jillion dollars I’ll give it back to ya.”
Don’t call 911 and tell the dispatcher that you’ve got a crashed UFO in your yard.
Don’t blame it on Osama.
Don’t sit in front of the TV watching the Fox news report coming from a helicopter camera and tell your wife, “Damn if that don’t look a lot like our place.”

Wow. The sky really is falling!

If you’ve followed this blog for a given length of time you know that I love analogies. The more absurd the analogy the better and every time I turn around the Government gives me more material for new analogies. This Thursday the Navy is going to try to shoot down one of the NRO’s spy satellites. This is a satellite the spy agency at first told us is nothing to worry about, even though it’s loaded with about 1000 pounds of highly toxic fuel and, if that weren’t enough, somewhere between three quarters of a pound to almost a pound and a half of plutonium. So, now the Navy gets to “test” it’s new missile defense shield system on this bus sized beast.

Folks, Imagine you are sitting in your apartment and there is a knock at the door. You open the door and there is your neighbor with smiles for you and a slightly sheepish look on his face. “Hey, I hate to bother you but I just wanted to let you know that if you see a snake in your apartment you should get away from it and come see me.” You ask your neighbor why and he says, “I’m a snake collector and one of them…well…sort of got out and I can’t find him in my apartment, so I’m afraid he’s going to show up unannounced in someone’s apartment. He wouldn’t have slithered away outdoors since it’s winter and too cold.” Your neighbor leaves with the reminder, “DON’T go near the snake if you see it, just come get me. Okay?”

Away your neighbor runs and you are flipped out over the snake news. A few days later he knocks at your door again wearing snake boots, heavy protective clothing, carrying a shotgun with bandolier strapped across his chest and a pack of insane and fierce ferrets in a box. “I have a plan for getting the snake. Can I come in for a bit?” Now your neighbor tells you he needs to kill the snake because it’s just too dangerous to allow a surprise appearance. “Look, I hate to tell you this but it’s a deadly black Mamba that got out. He last ate a few weeks before he turned up missing and I think he’s hungry, pissed and aggressive. I need to set the ferrets loose and dig around for this thing and kill it.” You ask if it’s safe to be in your apartment and your neighbor tells you, “Um…yeah…sure. Just sit down and do what you normally do at home. Oh, and if the snake slithers out in front of you I need you to yell for me immediately.”

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what our government is up to these days. There is a highly toxic bus soaring out of control over our heads, which also houses the latest and greatest electronic spy secrets the NRO can lift into outer space. Something has spooked (no pun intended) the spooks so badly that they have let the cat out of the bag with other alphabet agencies and the danger posed by this is so great that the Navy is going to shoot it down.

Let’s be honest, the government doesn’t really care if toxic substances poison 100% of the world’s population. Even recent history shows that they lied their asses off about the levels of toxicity in the World Trade Center debris and dust clouds. Before that we have above ground atomic bomb tests, the spraying of biological pathogens on the city of San Francisco and we still have a massive arsenal of chemical and biological weapons sitting in bunkers, still not destroyed. The government isn’t worried a bit about people dying if this thing crash lands smack in the middle of Times Square or even on an elementary school in Somewhere, USA. To paraphrase Stalin, one dead person is a tragedy, a million dead bodies is a logistics challenge.

So why are they all hot to trot at shooting this thing down? Is it the equipment onboard that has them shaking like crazy? Are they afraid the thing will wind up in the middle of China, spilling secrets willy-nilly like a missing Los Alamos hard drive? This would still be a lousy “real world” test of the missile shield defense system since the parameters of the test would be uncontrollable.

I have to wonder if there are not other secrets onboard this craft that the government does not want the world to know about? I have to assume that the NRO’s satellites have a defensive system onboard with several sub-systems and ancillary systems supporting the mission. A “gun” system would of course be needed to disable or destroy anything that is trying to destroy the satellite. I doubt it’s a real gun with ammunition that packs a high kinetic kill capability, due to the weight issues of carrying a magazine of high-density slugs. An energy-based weapon would be more in line with I assume it would have and it also makes me think there may be more plutonium onboard than first mentioned. I’d say the pound and a half, while quoted as the high end, is actually on the low end.

I assume it would have an electronics package for target assessment, target assignment and weapons tracking. This would be a big loss to the spy agencies if it fell into foreign hands, as it would give them the blueprint for jamming the defense systems. I also assume it is carrying the most recent mods for the actual surveillance payload. The imaging system is perhaps far beyond what any of us can imagine and there have been hints before that the newest generation of these satellites can see through dense material. In other words, it can see through walls and roofs. I have always assumed they have advanced these systems to a point where they can actually pick up sound as well.

Let’s keep an eye on this one, it could be interesting and even if the Government says all was a success and the satellite was shot down and is now sitting in harmless chunks on the bottom of the Pacific, I’d still be suspicious of what has actually occurred. Consider a news story that just came to light yesterday with the Dallas DA’s office announcing the release of 15 boxes of secret info about the Kennedy assassination. In the more than 40, and approaching 50 years since that stockpile has been sitting in a vault, every Dallas DA had decided to keep those documents and their existence, a secret. If the Dallas DA’s office can keep a secret squirrel stash of over a dozen boxes of evidence after the millions of man hours, maybe even billions, spent by researchers and enthusiasts to study the Kennedy Assassination, we have to automatically assume the Feds know far more than they are letting on. We can apply this same knowledge to our current governmental agencies and personnel.

Keep looking to the skies…keep looking.

The Baskin-Robbins of Politics.

The mainstream media has spoken and made up our minds for us. Here we are nine months away from the big election and they’ve whittled down the field for us. Thanks to the fourth estate the horse race is now down to a handful of sway back nags, frothing at the mouth for the finish line. Too bad we are still in the first corner and have a long backstretch to look forward to. At least our summer won’t be ruined with all that ‘perlitikel’ junk.

Now that the Un-Fab Four are set, it’s time to do what any other red-blooded American should do. It’s time to take the piss out of the surviving bathing beauties so we can focus on the important races that the average American might actually have a chance of determining the outcome for; such as who will be the dog catcher in their county. I’ve got my eye on Billy Bob but I’m not certain if the CFR or the Trilaterals have given him the green light to pick up our strays. There are actually five candidates in the race but the press corp is ignoring Ron Paul as though he's the guy who shows up stag for the senior prom and hangs out at the refreshment table. I'll give him some love here but remember, this is a take the piss out of them post. Don't flip out on me.

Here, for your enjoyment, is a look into the future. I’m going to tell you what will happen to each candidate 10 minutes after being sworn in. This way, when the CFR makes it’s final decision and the Diebold machines get their new logarithm uploaded, you won’t be surprised by what happens in the dreary year of our Lord, Two Thousand Nine, on a depressing afternoon in January:

Ron Paul – Ten minutes after being sworn in he breaks out a gigantic blackboard eraser and he wipes the slate clean. Everything gets reset and he mobilizes the National Guard to clear the halls of every government agency and locks the doors shut. We will all be on our own, which wouldn’t be bad since he would probably have the courtesy to go on TV and tell us to pack sand and figure out what to do on our own. Hey, the system is already broken, let’s just Mad Max it and be done with the foreplay.

Mike Huckabee – Ten minutes after being sworn in he looks to the heavens, says “Thank you, Jesus! I’m commin’ to see ya’!” and asks which button he’s supposed to push to kill everyone. Nukes fly, billions die, Mikey Boy has to be removed from office by force and the rest of his un-natural life is spent endlessly rocking back and forth while singing Amazing Grace under his breath and out of key; occasionally interrupted by his shouts of “Why’d yew fersake me, sweet Jesus?” or “Just give me one more missile to shoot? Please? I won’t be bad again. Honest, I won’t”

John McCain – Ten Minutes after being sworn in he orders the Navy and Air Force to “Bomb the living shit out of any place that isn’t America.” When confronted by his aggression during his first press conference, President McCain will look and point toward the TV camera and ask, “Is that thing on?” after being told the camera is indeed working he’ll stare right into it and say, “Tough titty. Suck it, Uncle Ho.”

Barak Obama – Ten minutes after being sworn in he’ll be given secret papers out of the White House file labeled ‘BUSH, GEORGE W – LIST OF BROKEN SHIT FOR THE NEXT PERSON TO FIX’ For the first time he gets to see just what it is he’s dealing with, which prompts him to ask the closest Secret Service agent, “Okay, who’s got Marlboros and a light?” While browsing the stack with a smoke dangling from his mouth he can be heard to mutter, “What the fuck, man?” and after a few more pages, “Bull shit!” and upon finishing the last page, “Goddamn, man… I should have stayed in Illinois. Motherfucker! Go get me a carton of Marlboros!” Ultimately gives in and becomes one with the system after he realizes that “Change” is something you carry in your pocket, not something you make the real leaders of this country do.

Hillary Clinton – Ten minutes after being sworn in she has to tell Bill to get the fuck away from her desk, shoo away two of Bill’s groupies, investigate what’s going on with Bill after things get too ‘quiet’ in the Lincoln Bedroom. Spends the first day in office correcting heads of state by saying, “No, this is Hillary.” when they call to send their best wishes, and she answers the phone by saying, “President Clinton speaking. How can I help you?” and they say, “Bill? You sound funny. Are you alright?” Things go downhill from there. Richard Mellon Scaife, however, has a field day. Fills her evenings drinking whisky with John McCain and contemplates contacting Rush Limbaugh to see if he’ll take a blow job to back off a bit so she can “get my head together”.

Personally I am disheartened that Mitt Romney dropped out of the race. I had a feeling that sooner or later the stress would get the best of him and he would break out into his Sylvester the Cat imitation when asked his thoughts about some tragedy or some other inappropriate moment. Let’s face it, any country club lizard that has the balls to lie his ass off by declaring he saw his father marching with Martin Luther King and then have his campaign manager try to defuse the ramifications of that bullshit by saying, “He was speaking metaphorically” is a force of nature to be reckoned with. Romney’s metaphors are quite interesting and remind me of one uttered by the great Formula 1 racer Mika Hakkinen years ago when he was asked his thoughts over fellow racer Jaques Villeneuve, who said that driving his car through the Eau Rouge turn at Spa was like sex. Hakkinen thought about it for a moment and in all sincerity said, “I think he’s shitting in his pants and mixing the two emotions.”

President Mitt Romney…my head is slowly splitting apart beginning at the part in my hair just thinking about that scenario.

Uncle Sam's wire cutters

“To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.” Oscar Wilde.

In the span of less than a week, four major underwater telecommunications cables have been “cut”. Can you imagine being in a car wreck on Monday and the ambulance you are riding in after the wreck is also involved in a wreck and on Tuesday you wreck the rental car that the insurance company got for you and when you leave the lot with a second rental car, that one gets totaled too? Telecoms, governments and the media all want us to believe the car wreck story. That’s what they are force-feeding us when they aren’t busy trying to ignore the story.

What would be the reasons behind taking down an entire region’s communications grid in this way? There are several possibilities and I think the wilder ones could carry the most weight as this is an extraordinary set of equipment failures.

Some people are postulating that this is an opening salvo before Iran opens its oil Bourse. The latest given date for the opening is February 11th and it will be interesting to see how the communications situation is resolved and if there are other problems popping up when the Bourse opens. It is possible that the cables were taken down as a warning to not only Iran, but also the rest of the world, that their main means of operating in the modern financial world could be taken down with a moment's notice. I think this explanation carries the most weight as the timing and the “signal” of this communications outage is most prescient.

There are a few “I don’t know about that…” twists with a warning shot theory. Namely, the dollar is already being unpegged from Middle East oil producers and let’s face it, the US economy is already fucked six ways to Sunday. Sending some SEALs to the Med and the Gulf, armed with wire cutters and spare air tanks seems a bit like overkill. Then again, subtlety isn’t a trademark of the US Government.

There is also quite a bit of speculation that the outage is a byproduct of the US Government carrying out a large-scale surveillance program. I assume the NSA is capturing data streams en masse and in real time on most if not all international communications lines, so this seems less likely unless there were specific traffic routes that they had no access to. I have wondered, from an IT professional’s perspective, if the cables were cut to corner or head off a stream of communication that had the potential for damage. The idea of taking an all or nothing course of action with a dangerous communications link by cutting all traffic seems more damaging to the overall picture than helpful so I am not crazy about this idea either.

Time will tell what the real deal is behind the communications outage but we should keep in mind that if or when the shit really hits the fan here in the US we would never be able to find out in real time, from alternate sources, what has transpired. If the powers that be decide to pull the plug on our Democracy they’ll do it under the cover of night and we’ll all wake up to a glossy doll’s eyes version of the normal life we have become accustomed to. It will be as though surreal pixies remade our world overnight. The news will report that “something” has happened but we will not be privy to the reality. It will be as though someone snipped our transatlantic cables and satellite communications with the rest of the world. We will be blinded and unable to find content other than what they allow us to view. At this very moment, Iran is in that exact position.

One other thing to consider is the similarities of this outage and what ATT customers experienced during the transition periods when the NSA installed it's equipment in their COs. Add the BellSouth customers who couldn't get email when ATT "transitioned" those customers into their network and you have an interesting case study in how things don't flow when the feds snoop. To this day there are latency issues with email coming from BellSouth where looking at the header info will show an outbound email from a BellSouth customer, bouncing around like a pinball within ATT's network.

Downard's example

Back in the early 90’s I became quite interested in the works of James Shelby Downard through various Feral House publications. While the vast majority of his writings flew over my twenty-something head, I was still able to comprehend that Downard was tapping into certain methodologies that could be used by anyone on any subject. Want to know why watching TV can make you feel depressed? Pay closer attention to the real nature of what you are watching and you will find out why you feel so rotten. Understanding the nature of TV broadcasting forces you to use some of Downard’s methodology such as understanding the language and use of symbols and words, the etymology of words, the way we really communicate and the way we truly perceive. Downard even saw the lay of the land, geography, as a form of communication.

If you have lived or spent any good length of time in Atlanta you probably know a set of high-rise office buildings on the north end of the perimeter known as the King and Queen buildings. I’ve driven by them for years, even lived within viewing distance of them and could see them out my bedroom window for years. Imagine my surprise recently as I was stuck in traffic on 400 southbound and saw them for the first time in a new light. The official name for the buildings is the Concourse Towers. Locals know them as the King and Queen buildings due to their unique open beam construction at the top of the buildings, which makes them look like King and Queen chess pieces. Downard probably would have found the symbolism and place marks of his trade in a matter of moments, for me it took years to open my eyes.

The beam structures at the top of these two buildings are white and if they were lined up on a chessboard, the white player would be facing south, with the Queen to the left of the King. I wondered, “Who is playing chess and who is their opponent?” The black opponent, it would seem, would be the city of Atlanta itself.

There is no such thing as accidental design in architecture. All aspects of a building’s design are well thought out from the colors to the shape and there is meaning behind these and many other things on large structures. Look at the very old buildings in your city and look closely for details the architect placed into them. The idea that an architect or a firm commissioning a design for a multi-million dollar building would throw symbolism into a design with no real meaning behind those designs is absurd. Symbolism is a form of communication; even a company logo is a form of communication. Even if the logo’s real meaning is to simply elicit an emotional response in the public it is still there by design. It was talked about, thought out and debated by a group of people.

Let’s look at these buildings and the overall lay of the land in Atlanta. The buildings themselves are known as the Concourse Towers and they sit immediately on the outside center of the I-285 perimeter interstate and immediately east of the GA 400 toll road which bisects 285. If we look at the opposite end of I-285 and to the immediate west of where I-75 bisects 285; just inside the perimeter is Hartsfield-Jackson airport. There is a northern “concourse” and a southern “concourse” represented in these two locations. There is the coming together or merging of the rural, suburban, exurban and urban at the perimeter.

But there are no chess piece representations of these two buildings around the airport. The King and Queen buildings are figurative representations of a chess game being played by the northern end of Atlanta against the city of Atlanta itself. Well known as a city represented by, led and governed by African-Americans, the black chess pieces are the leadership base of the city itself. It is the white suburbs against the black inner city.

Where are the other chess pieces? This one is a bit more awkward as there is not even a grid style layout to Atlanta streets. You can still see symbolic relationships to chess pieces if you look at other landmarks around the city.

To the west of the Concourse in the position for King’s Rook you will find the Dobbins Air Reserve base and the main Lockheed aircraft assembly plant where the F-22 fighter is built. In King’s Knight position you will find the location where the Chattahoochee River makes an L-shaped bend, similar to the move that that Knight can make. In Knight’s Bishop you will find two very interesting places just a few thousand feet apart, Arlington Cemetery and the Sandy Springs Masonic lodge #124.

So, beginning in the west we have a military base and a major Military-Industrial Complex facility representing the Rook, the Castle, the Siege Tower. Three miles to the east of that facility we have a natural landmark where the river bends in an L-shape like the move made by the Knight, the only piece from the back row that can be moved before the Pawns (people), and in light of our recent water woes in the southeast where the movement of water is at issue, it is interesting to note this idea. Three miles to the east of the bend in the river we have Arlington Cemetery and the Masonic lodge representing the Bishop. Two miles to the east of the Bishop are the King and Queen buildings.

Atlanta has had it’s black King; the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. His tomb at the King Center represents the black King in this game of chess; the queen is the tomb of his late wife, Coretta Scott King. His Queen’s Bishop is represented by his church, Ebenezer Baptist Church, to the west. His Queen’s Knight could be symbolically represented by I-75-85 at the “Grady Curve” which makes a long arcing turn around the east side of downtown Atlanta, somewhat similar to the L-shaped move of the Knight. His Queen’s Rook would be the Auburn Ave. district, a “stronghold of black culture in Atlanta. If his late wife is buried to the west of his body at the King Center, I would not be surprised. This is something I would like to investigate in the near future.

Even more enlightening is to take a map of Atlanta and mark the King Center and the Atlanta Masonic Temple and draw a line between the two. If you look to the west of the King Center you will see Washington Park. Draw a line between the King Center and the park and then draw a line between Washington Park and the Masonic Temple. You now have a triangle. If you turn this triangle into the All Seeing Eye and look to the center of the eye you will find the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology. The exact center of this eye is the corner of 4th Street and Fowler Street. If you look at a map of the Tech campus you will see that this is the center of Greek housing on campus - the fraternities.

Atlanta sits on the 33rd degree of latitude. 33 being a major number with Freemasonry and leads to all sorts of interesting ideas. The main Masonic Temple of Atlanta sits on the north side of I-85 at the Brookwood interchange, across the street from the Atlanta Amtrak station at the corner of Deering Rd. and Peachtree St. If you take 85 north it is impossible to not see the temple. Fraternal orders, secret societies, hidden symbolism..it is all-present even in my city.

Look around your town a bit, look for the odd and unusual but by all means, please keep your eye out for the obvious. Sometimes secrets are best told by leaving them completely in the open, where all can see the plans of the Grand Architect.

Tick...tock...tick...tock

If I had four arms, I’d need a fifth. If there were 48 hours in a day, I’d need 50. Being busy and staying active is a great way to live your life but I’ve been way overloaded with things to do for months and weeks. Between my salaried job, my side jobs, taking care of personal business and the day-to-day of modern life I’ve had hardly the time to even sit down and clear my thoughts of late.

A little less than 8 years ago I was introduced to the Franklin-Covey system of day planning. I used the system sporadically and half-heartedly for the first few years but found a way to make it work for my own life about 3 years ago. Now I use it to plan not only my salaried job workday but also my personal life. The problem, for me at least, is that I tend to become a bit too efficient with this system and I’ll get too much done and from time to time I overanalyze my planning and goals. I’m trying to shake myself free from one of those events right now. I’m not having a lot of success.

I do sometimes wonder if I have OCD or ADHD, as some of the symptoms I can relate to and sometimes find myself noticing that I have several of the symptoms. Then I realize one of the reasons why my life is and always has been like it is, can be traced to what I do with my day and not so much how my mind works. I’ve always had trouble balancing personal and professional interests and goals. Since leaving the Navy I’ve always worked in places and had responsibilities that tended to make me want to actually be at work in the morning. Since I was a boy I’ve had personal activities that have made me want to rush off to them when I am on my free time.

By time I get home in the evening I have been gone for 10 to 12 hours. I take care of my two wonderful dogs and any business that needs to be tended to such as cooking dinner and bill paying. When that is done it’s time to start working on my home based business and playing with the pups while I work. By time 11 PM rolls around I’ve been on the go since waking up at 5 AM and its time for bed and hitting the stack of books at my bedside if possible. The dogs just want to go to bed and lie next to me at this point; even they are exhausted and they sleep all day. Weekends aren’t much different except I fill the day with home business work and some fun. Usually, these two areas mix as I rely on hitting yard sales, thrift stores and estate sales to buy inventory for one part of my business.

This is where it all gets interesting, the personal interests and the home based business and how they blend. I sometimes find stuff that I don’t want to resell. It could be a piece of furniture, a book, a piece of California pottery or a record. Even when I’m at work, I’m thinking of my personal interests and even when I am enjoying a personal interest I think of how to use it with my work. It is frantic at times and I have to constantly switch mental gears between the two. Sometimes I get overwhelmed by work and my personal life or I will obsess on “getting work done” and the next thing I know my days are so full of keeping busy that I can’t find the time to relax or enjoy what it is that I am doing. Sound familiar?

Yet with all this work it is still a struggle to stay on top of things and getting ahead is more like a hurdler, blasting down the track and in the lead only to nip the last two hurdles and fall into third place. I seem to clear hurdles all the time and get ahead, only to trip up and wind up holding on in the end, not gaining and maybe falling behind a little bit at a time. The hard work comes to naught. Sound familiar?

I’ve rarely had a problem with having initiative or motivating myself. When I have had those problems it’s been because I was worn out physically or mentally unfocused. Age has given me some wisdom and experience to notice when that is happening and do something about it. But initiative and motivation are not all that is needed to get ahead in life. Having some inspiration, time and a good idea can be hard to find all at the same time, let alone motivation and initiative. Sound familiar?

I’ve heard before that sometimes a person’s life is simply to be the “cautionary tale”, I’ve also heard differing opinions on the hand that luck plays in life and I know there is always a killing to be made by book publishers when it comes to self help books. As I’m getting older and my ways are becoming more and more set and I struggle to keep fighting the good fight in life and I have always tried to be what John Lennon described in his song ‘Working Class Hero’. Sound familiar?

I realize that the only “success” I will ever see are the many small battles of life that I win. I have become what I was going to become. I made myself into what I am today and the only time I feel like I haven’t amounted to much is after I have been watching TV for too long. Those commercials and the blathering of talking head gibberish is always geared toward making us feel like losers unless we live in the McMansion, drive the Hummer and lead a vapid existence with a head full of propaganda. Sound familiar?

I sometimes think what has kept me going and not becoming one of the burned out victims of our society is a deep-seated fear of being typical or being “just like everyone else”. When I was growing up I didn’t seem to fit in and when I visit my family in the Appalachian foothills of north Georgia I often wonder just how in the hell I wound up like I am. This leads me back to where I began this post, being overloaded with work and staying active in a healthy way.

Hope has always been the key. Hope will keep you alive. Hope will keep you going. Hope, in spite of the world you see in front of you, is what matters. Hope got me out of the hills and hope makes me admire the simple life of my hometown instead of being embarrassed or condescending of the place I came from and the people I cleaved myself from. Hope is what tells me I can be myself, do my own thing and keep searching for more and meaning to it all without having to be exactly like everyone else in an Atlanta office. Hope tells me it is okay to do this and hope tells me it will be okay in the future.

Hope is directly connected to faith, belief, charity, vision, wisdom, coping with reality and ultimately; life itself. Lose hope and you lose the reason to live. Lose hope and you’ve lost the ability to think through the obstacles of life. Lose hope and you can have no faith in God, your brothers and sisters or yourself. Hope is what keeps me going; hope that I can make my small mark in life, hope that I can overcome what lies ahead. I don’t know if overloading myself is a sign that I am desperately in need of something to be hopeful for or if it is simply a sign that I am just optimistic.

I hope for a better future and I hope I can get my life running in a slightly less hectic pace. I hope you are doing well and I hope we will all see a brighter day ahead in spite of all these dark clouds. Afterall, we do have hope...

Train rolls on...

Wheezing along like an asthmatic marathon runner in Denver, the economy chugs away. Billions upon billions lost, fiat money that never had backing, never had more value than the inflation that keeps it afloat. Sphincter muscles pucker along every latitude and longitude of the globe. Some poor bastard on a Micronesian island paradise is probably shitting himself over the falling value of his coconuts and the rising cost of maintaining his topless beauties in fish meat right about now. All except for the 946 billionaires who walk the earth. I still wonder about the possible existence of a so-called “Top Out of Sight” overclass and how many of them could make Bill Gates look more like a socio-economic version of me.

At this point it appears that even the egghead economists aren’t too sure of what’s going to happen next. It’s a bit like a thousand people discussing Global Warming or God, or a thousand baseball fans discussing steroids and record books. No one, and I mean no one, seems to have a clue as to what is about to happen and when it will happen.

I’m a worrier by nature. I “borrow trouble” as the old southern saying goes. This is one thing I don’t worry about for 1 second. Simple reason; I can’t effect change in the market and what little money I do have would be wiped out for a glimpse of a slice of stale white bread if inflation grew to a point it once was in Germany post World War I. I’m stuck with what the bastards do and change never comes when things are running smoothly like a big V-8 driving a Powerglide transmission down an empty stretch of winding road. Change comes when the engine seizes or the toque converter self-destructs and you are stuck on the side of the road.

I worry about what happens next but ya’ know what, folks? If the other shoes does drop and we all lose our jobs and a single egg costs $1000.00 USD, fuck all will be done to remedy the problem immediately. What did Reagan say in the early 80’s? He had the balls to say, “People who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless who are homeless, you might say, by choice.” Fuck all will be done to make sure you don’t freeze at night. Nothing has every really been done to solve the poverty problem in this nation for ages.

Think the Washington fat cats will go into an emergency session because a bunch of C++ coders got evicted from their apartments and have to sleep in their Accords? Fuck all will be done no matter what will happen. There aren’t many homeless folks who stand in line at their polling location on Election Day and we are in an election year. The politicians have their asses covered already; they don’t give a fuck about me and mine or you and yours.

What happens, happens. Now, what is very important is how you and I react if all hell breaks loose. I’m not talking about rampaging and rioting in the street. Shit, I’m in my 40’s, have a back that goes out when the weather gets too cold and damp and I’ve got dogs to feed every day. I’m in no mood or shape or mental state to go on a crazed Viking rampage through the burbs, scarfing up loaves of bread, gallons of milk and bags of Nutro dog food. Hell no.

I do, however, have neighbors. You do too. I’m sure most of us work in similar fields, are in similar situations and have similar backgrounds. All of us will be in this together so we need to stick with one another. Why not commandeer the green spaces of your apartment complex and start a community garden. What is management going to do? Call the cops on Mr. Green Jeans and his helpers? I think the local Barney Fife’s and Sheriff Andy’s are going to have bigger fish to fry than a bunch of vegetable garden growing apartment dwellers.

Why not say enough is enough and back yourself completely out of the credit and banking system we all see and get ripped off by? Why not say to hell with Exxon and Sheik’s making a killing of my labors and take the bus and or subway a few times a week? Why not tell lying fourth estate imposters to take a hike and not watch their TV “news” programs, turn off the talk radio and ferret out those alternative media sources and weigh what you read, judge the source and make your own judgment from facts?

For things to get “better” in this country, we, the people, need to take a look at what goes on in our individual lives and then fix the problems. When powers greater than us affect change in our own realms, we can find the focus and direction to take in beating them back out of our lives. Politicians won’t save us, Ministers won’t save us, and the riches of the world won’t save us. As individuals, we can save ourselves and help our neighbors. I’d give my neighbor a $100 before I dared dreaming of giving a fucking millionaire politician a penny of my money, an ounce of my labor or a second of my time.

If you want to know the best way of protecting yourself in the coming economic collapse, look to yourself and your neighbor. Don’t look for a Knight in shining armor who has a flag bearing an elephant or a donkey.

There Will Be Boos

I was able to catch the new PT Anderson film, There Will Be Blood, this past Friday night with a small and mixed audience. A few couples, two groups of twenty-somethings and the rest of the audience were comprised of folks like me, middle aged and seeing the film alone. As the end credits came up one of the twenty-somethings stood and to no one in particular and everyone in particular, stated, “That fucking sucked” before leaving with his buddy. I guess he was expecting Boogie Nights on an oil rig.

The middle aged folks stayed to watch the credits, the younger generation left like their feet were on fire; dropping snarky comments complete with giggles. I think the non-graying folks missed the two main themes of the film, at least what I saw as the main themes. You can never judge or trust a person by their words but you can always count on their true nature coming out through their actions. The other theme being we learn by observing and teaching will always be our truest legacy, not what we said or did in our lives. Listen to the experienced, watch how they act, let your actions speak for themselves and pass down your wisdom. In showing us these ideas, Anderson has succeded; and has created a new template to view American life. It felt a bit like Peckinpah, looked a bit like Ford and still has the Altman sensibility. This is his answer to the Kubrickean question.

Daniel Plainview is Ouroboros, this film is Ouroboros, we in turn are Ouroboros. Listen, learn and teach comes full cycle between teacher and student, child and parent. This story and the characters are cyclical in our reality and our history and in the world of film. There is the reality of the corporate state in the early 20th century and the loop we have made in return. The Plainview character should remind us all of someone we have worked with or for, and in him we should see our own nature. Oil has always driven us to bloodshed. The symbolism is almost too much and can at times overwhelm the story.

I should have seen this one coming when I read the reviews that mention Citizen Kane and noticed that the first 16 minutes resemble 2001: A Space Odyssey, while the ending reminds me of Lolita, a film which Kubrick began and ended with the same scene. Ouroboros. No wonder the twenty-somethings smirked as they left and the middle aged sat and watched the credits. They had no frame of reference and whatever they expected when they walked into the theater, it appears they didn't get what they came for.

There is the mixing of religion and the “Church of the Third Revelation” which is taken almost entirely from Spiritism and the Third Revelation movement, a sly reference to evangelist Billy Sunday, we even got a curve ball out it, maybe even a spit ball if you count Plainview's assaying technique. Cain and Abel, a variant of the name of God as spoken in Hebrew and Aramaic, the duality of man. Anderson reached very high with this film. He’s becoming a great storyteller and he’s entering a new phase of originality. Is he shooting arrows too far over our heads?

Perhaps this film will be a touchstone of our time, a representation of where America was in the early 21st century. Individualists with singular focus staking their own places out of society, while the business savvy corner the markets we all depend on. Raving lunacy for the spirit of God coming from false prophets of our time and their followers pointing pious fingers at the “weakness” of others while unable to hide their own hypocrisy and lusts.

As the old saying goes, those who fail to heed history are doomed to repeat it. Students of the Bible can tell us about “Generational Curses”. As for me…I’ll keep watching ATT gobble up all that they once divested, while staring at the Lucent logo and wondering if the National Recovery Administration logo looks dated.

A young 73

Yesterday would have, or should I say could have been the 73rd birthday for Elvis Presley. With the complete pimping of his legacy and the passage of time, Elvis looks quaint and comical in this, the end of the first decade of the new century. The sparkled and colorful jumpsuits with massive 6” belt buckles, the shows in Vegas and the ultimate ballooning of weight before death took him. They all combine and make Elvis the cautionary tale for gluttony and the passing fancy of clothing styles. He wasn’t the jumpsuit or the fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and he wasn’t the cat in the movies. He was something else, entirely.

Late June 1954 saw the recording of his first hit with the great Scotty Moore on guitar and the late Bill Black working the slap bass and almost fifty-eight years have since passed but the immediate and lasting effect Elvis had on southern culture and the national obsession with pop culture can still be found. Regardless of how you view his place in music history or view the credit he has been given over many black artists of his era, Elvis still carries the flag for being the first wave of modern pop culture icons. He was the first wave of leaders for the youth of America who unappologeticaly flew his freak flag, allowed his true inner self to be seen and showed the kids a glimpse of what freedom was really all about.

Consider this, like Frank Sinatra Elvis was a teen idol. Elvis had something else working on the periphery of his fame; the danger associated in the 50’s with race, leadership of American youth, the promotion of self-realization and blistering overt sexuality. Unprepared and realizing much too late that he was not a fad, it is easy to understand the dread Elvis struck in the minds of the American power base. He could muster thousands of screaming, out of control teenagers at the mere mention of his presence. All this at a time when the CIA was hip deep in MKULTRA and J. Edgar Hoover initiated the COINTELPRO program. He was a threat to the systemic control over the minds of Americans that government agencies and business and financial leaders were fighting for.

Two short years after becoming a national presence, Elvis was drafted into the Army and while stationed in Germany his long affair with dope began. In 1960 the Army discharged Sgt. Presley to a pop culture landscape that was becoming much more corporate controlled, a career in Hollywood movies that would sap the power of his presence and an American music scene that was beginning to fracture. The Army and corporate America quelled the danger he posed to their agendas. He never shook the core of American consciousness again on the same level as he had between 1956 and 1958. He wasn’t allowed to recreate himself as he had while touring the south between 1954 and 1956.

Look at the early pictures of Elvis before Sam Phillips sold his contract to RCA. Look very closely at his eyes and you can see that he wore eye shadow and mascara. Elvis was wearing makeup not as a stage effect or as a sign of an alternate sexual nature. For a young truck driver who loved wearing amazing Lansky Brothers suits this was a radical thing to do. This, coming from a young man who was actually unpopular and bullied while in school, is even more amazing. In 2008, a teenager in high school who is bullied might go on a killing spree. In the early 50’s it was a different beast, a different and dangerous path to follow, even in a wild southern city like Memphis.

My God, those suits and those clothes. The Lansky Brothers made wearing black pants with a pink shirt something even a street fighter could wear and pull women while tipping back a bottle of Schlitz. Roll collar shirts, pegged pants, you name it and he made it look good. Once Elvis hit, those guys couldn’t keep anything on the shelves long enough to go out of style.

That is the Elvis I think of when his name is mentioned. Not the stoned and obese tragedy. I think of the young man fresh from a truck route and the Memphis projects who made the men carrying the weight of power shift uncomfortably with concern as they realized he wasn’t going to simply go away. Elvis was the epitome of the poor white trash southerner who doesn’t seek revenge but finds it when he becomes a success on his own merits and with absolute freedom. Freedom is the true reason he was dangerous to the CIA, Hoover and the establishment. He showed the kids of the 50’s that being yourself and doing your own thing was far greater than following the pack.

2007 - Long, long gone.

The year of our Lord, Two Thousand Seven; is in it’s final hours. The year’s end is a time of reflection and a chance to look forward, reassess where we stand now and where we want to go in the future. It’s a time to make plans, set goals, hope and learn. Some just get loaded. Aye… even I have resembled a Jello Biafra song, too drunk to fuck, indeed.

It’s been a year of tumultuous events but hardly anything seems to have changed in the world for the better. The scope of this past year’s craziness is so vast that I’m going to miss some events while writing, which is probably a good thing as I don’t want this to be a 5,000 word essay. So here they are, the stories of 2007:

Politics:

The Democratic Party assumed control of both houses of Congress and immediately proceeded to turn into stone. The 110th Congress has done fuck all regarding the issues they were elected to remedy. About as useful as a screen door on a submarine, they are a shameful lot of rats, all of them.

Scooter Libby was found guilty of obstruction of justice in the Plame Gate case. Big Daddy Bush commuted his sentence and Florida land baron/mind control enthusiast Mel Sembler headed an effort to raise the money to pay for poor little Scooter’s fine. The media has taken a holiday since Bush said, “Bad Scooter! No! No!”

It was learned that 7/8ths of the Republican Party are closeted homosexuals.

Half of the Republican Party who is closeted couldn’t sneak a blowjob or two without getting caught. We learned that wide stance is an affliction suffered by flaming Idaho Mary’s who love to play footsie in airport shitters.

The DC Madam story broke open, then closed. The 1/8th of the Republican Party who isn’t a closeted homosexual seems to like sex with hookers more than their wives. I guess wives get a little touchy when their husband wants to dress up in a diaper like Louisiana Congressman David Vitter does. I wonder why?

Georgia Governor, Prince Sonny the First, declared war against invertebrates as mollusks and the Army Corps of Engineers faced his wrath. Sonny boy prayed for rain, sat on his ass and appeared as lucid and insightful as a drunken chimpanzee on the national news. Go, Sonny! You are a beacon for Georgia tourism, especially on a double bill with screenings of Deliverance. You make us seem so smart.

War:

The US is still at war. We have always been at war. War brings peace and prosperity. War is…holy shit. What am I saying? $10 billion USD gets flushed down the toilet every week; along with arms, legs and eyes. General Dynamics, Lockheed, Haliburton, etc…get fatter and fatter.

The bloodthirsty vampires still want war with Iran, North Korea, Syria, China and Russia. That type of psychopath has always wanted war.

No end is in sight as the 110th Congress is afraid of the spin the vampires will use against them and God only knows they are afraid of losing that cushy DC job and their health care. Fucking douchebags.

The Economy:

Our economy is melting down faster than Britney Spears with a bottle of Zanax and a couple of jugs of Two Buck Chuck. Mortgage companies have gone tits up. Banks have gone tits up. Property values have gone tits up. Greenbacks have gone tits up. Gas is never going to sell for less than $2.80 again and $10 will get you a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk and a bottle of store brand aspirin and nothing else. Hot air is all that is keeping us afloat.

Conspiracy Theories:

April brought us the VaTech Massacre. This event was a major Black Op that pulled in many disciplines of Conspiracy Theory research; Mind Control experts, Assassin studies, Illuminatists, the Theocratic researchers. Everyone saw something in this event that made their eyes open wide and gasp. Even Lorne Coleman was able to write about it as copycats sprang up in places as interesting as NASA headquarters in Houston. This story will return in the future as some researcher will dig much deeper than any of us already have.

Tainted products – This is a story that is still with us. Beginning with poisoned dog food in the spring, we have had one horrifying story after another involving tainted food and consumer products imported from China. At one point the Chinese government official in charge of ensuring product safety was executed after it was learned that he had accepted bribes to look the other way. This story will follow us into 2008 and beyond as our food and product safety watch dog has been all but put to bed forever.

Youtube – There was no specific Conspiracy Theory associated with YouTube, it is interesting to take note at how this site has become front and center in an interesting way for this area of research. Black, white and gray propaganda can be found in all it’s forms with “user submitted” videos. We saw supposed UFO videos, viral marketing campaigns and now we are seeing alternate videos of the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. This is a site we should all take with a grain of salt and be wary of the authenticity of the short videos posted. Don’t assume a YouTube video is as it seems to be, just as you would do with Wikipedia.

Benazir Bhutto Assassination – This is a massive story and could become a history turning point. Bhutto wasn’t killed by simple minded and singularly focused Islamic extremists, as the media and the governments would have you think. Follow this story as it develops as this may very well be a high-water moment in the current direction of world events.

The American Police State – We started the year with indignation over the Atlanta Police Department storming the home of an elderly women, murdering her in cold blood, attempting to plant evidence and cover their tracks and we have ended it with sensory overload regarding the seemingly random use of the taser against innocent American citizens on an almost daily basis. The fire departments in America are being asked to spy on their fellow citizens. City leaders try to tell us how to dress in public and we have no more privacy. It is all gone…forever. Power that our government currently has will not be relinquished.

Sports:

I’m waiting to hear reports that Braves announcer Skip Carey and the batboys for the Detroit Tigers are on performance enhancing drugs. In years past that would have meant beer for the announcer and Bazooka gum for the batboys. I don’t know if Clemens really did the juice or not but I have to say that I saw and heard Rog’s fastballs in late 1990 when he came back from arm problems, saw his decline through the 90’s and a mysterious return to form in the late 90's with a sudden pop, movement and velocity that he didn’t even have back in 1990. If that was the Flexall 454 I would be surprised.

Barry Bonds – All-Time Home Run King.

Barry Bonds – Indicted for perjury before a federal grand jury.

Barry Bonds – Waterhead.

Michael Vick will be able to enjoy his sabbatical in the federal pen by focusing his enormous brain on the problems associated with quantum mechanics, more specifically with issues surrounding the theory of quantum decoherence. He will, however, have to keep an eye out for an aggressive blitz by the welcome wagon who are looking at taking a blind side shot at his ass. The main question I have regarding Michael Vick’s possible return to the NFL is whether it is possible to scramble out of the pocket efficiently after 23 months of being forcefully poked in the butt with a (several?) penis? MV7, was it worth it to watch your dogs fight?

Formula 1 – A summation of the F1 season in one sentence: “There was a spy scandal, mind games between a rookie and the World Champion, overall craziness and a wild drunken Finn won the World Championship.” How was that for understatement? Major congratulations to Kimi and here’s hoping that 2008 is an even more exciting season. A big “Fuck You!” to Bernie Ecclestone for screwing the US fans out of the US Grand Prix.


That is the year that was. It almost is no more. What a year it has been and may the next be a little less stressful for all the average, workaday, Joes and Jills all around the world. We could use a break for a change, couldn’t we?

Happy New Year to you and yours and I hope you ALL have a very special year in 2008!

Babushka Lady, Umbrella Man and now we have Hatman

Two of the more curious visuals of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy have long since entered the realm of conspiracy theory folklore: The Babushka Lady and the Umbrella Man. The Bhutto assassination it seems has it’s own version of this visual. While no one has yet discussed it, if you look at the photos from her last minutes a man can be seen wearing a very strange, colorful hat.

I assume, and assuming is dangerous, that this man was a member of her security detail as he is seen in many of the photos taken immediately prior to the attack. Was the hat a "GO" sign in the operation to take her life? Was the hat a type of landmark to help guide the assassin to his target?

Of course I can't help but think of the late Robert Anton Wilson when I look at the above photograph. The open palm of Bhutto, that could be seen not as a hand wave, but instead as the Indian symbol of the departed. Wilson gave us Discordia and theories about the number 23 and how all things are connected if you simply look hard enough and are clever enough to find them. The license plate on the car in which Bhutto died was 7772. Seven plus seven plus seven plus two equals twenty three. I'm not saying that I am clever or looking very hard, only that Wilson was telling us to open our eyes and look around a bit at our world, question our perspective and consider what we see when we do this.

And so it goes...

More pics of "Hatman":

...and so the year ends.

We close out a year of terrible violence with an assassination. While I wish this could be a trend that is about to reverse I have suspicions that the opposite is about to happen. Another age of assassins is upon us. Another age of the CIA running wild on the planet is upon us. 2008 will be bloodier and more bold than 2007.

The lead up to the Bhutto assassination and the actual act, stink of CIA involvement from beginning to end. Many are deflecting the attention by pointing the finger of blame at “Islamic extremists” and by doing so are brushing aside centuries of Pakistani involvement with foreign intelligence, allegiances that are never set in stone and opportunistic grabs for money. It was never in the best interest of the powers that be, the current administrations of both Pakistan and America, the Military-Industrial Complex, the drug smuggling trade or the intelligence agencies to allow Bhutto a shot at becoming the leading politician of her nation.

It is a thinly veiled secret that the White House pushed the Bhutto situation down the throat of Musharraf and the Pakistan power base. They had great fear of her because of her populist agenda and her stated plans once she was re-elected as Prime minister. Had she been elected her plans were to attack every institution and operation that men like Musharraf and the US Intelligence Community make their living with. She was made cannon fodder by the White House and now the muckraker is gone. The script can continue as written.

Bhutto made no secret that she would declare open warfare on the Taliban and allow the US to enter Pakistan and begin rooting out Islamic extremists that have been given a safe haven in northern Pakistan. The safe haven that Musharraf created is the training and breeding ground for the pawns in the game of terrorism. Agencies like the CIA, MI6 and the ISI may fund, train and have a hand in terrorist groups but the rank and file soldiers are comprised of confused, angry young men who are turned into the suicide bombers and gunmen, looking for paradise promised to them by handlers trained by CIA men. Bhutto planned to shut off the fuel supply for a part of the IC machine.

The agency had much to gain from her death; Musharraf and his Persian cronies had much to gain. There is also the vague warning to Musharraf to not become a pain in the ass that wanders away from the script supplied by the US Intelligence Community. Noriega went off the script and is in a US prison. Saddam decided to become a free agent and he is dead. Bhutto is dead and if you don’t learn your lines and stick with them you’ll either wind up dead too or we will fund and woo the Generals who currently answer to you. Guatemala, Vietnam, Chile; all provide Musharraf with many examples of how the US Intelligence Community operate when the leash has been put away and after more than 6 years of the leash being removed, the agency is a well oiled machine now. Someone has hidden the lever that slows the machine, and the switch that kills the power to the machine was removed long ago.

Fifty years ago this sort of thing was happening in South America and on the fringes of Eastern Europe. The cold war was the driver for the coups and terror campaigns in the 50’s. Forty years ago this sort of thing was happening in Southeast Asia. The cold war was the pretext for the mayhem but big money and insatiable thirst for power was the driver. Thirty years ago the hangover began and the leash was applied to the Agency.

In 1978 and 79 the focus began to shift, a sea change was about to get underway. President Carter initiated an energy plan that was to have removed our dependence on Middle Eastern oil and a covert operation to combat the old Soviet Union was underway in Afghanistan. When Reagan was elected President and the former CIA chief with money, connections and power became Vice president, the gears were set into motion that has brought us to this day and age. Reagan gutted Carter’s energy plans, the CIA was sent out in the field with money to smuggle dope and guns and the death squads of Central America whetted the thirst for blood and torture. The Agency and the Reagan administration funded Saddam, Usama and the Mujahadeen with weapons and money bought and paid for with drug money earned from heroin and cocaine.

Today, the CIA, the powers that be, the Military-Industrial Complex, the real money makers of this world; are hip deep in Persia and Arabia, rampaging and playing games and having the time of their lives. Bhutto’s assassination is another power grab and chapter in the long history of the worlds most notorious and accomplished terror organization: the CIA.

Happy New Year.

Persian Poker or: What's the deal with this new NIE report?

If you play card games of any type you know there are three things that guide your strategy: 1) The cards you can see. 2) The odds for the cards you can’t see. 3) Understanding the habits and strategy of your opponent(s). There are a finite number of cards, a finite number of plays and a finite number of players in any card game. If you are playing with or against someone with whom you have played before, you know how they play the cards, the odds and how they play against or with you. Politics, of any sort, bear a close resemblance to card games, the only real differences being there are fewer rules in the polemic game but the stakes are much higher. The recent revelations regarding the NIE report on Iran’s nuclear programs have brought the card game analogy to my mind.

In the spring of 2005, NIE reports that trumpeted an increased determination and focus in Iran in regard to their nuclear programs. This led the Bush administration to apply heavier pressure and increase the rhetoric against Iran. Now the NIE is rescinding that assessment stating:

“"We judge with high confidence that in the fall of 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program." Furthermore, “Tehran’s decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005." As well as, "Our assessment that Iran halted the program in 2003 primarily in response to international pressure indicates Tehran's decisions are guided by a cost-benefit approach rather than a rush to a weapon irrespective of the political, economic and military costs."

Taking the circumstances of this new NIE report at face value is a dangerous maneuver. To take them at face value is the equivalent of the US government directly telling the Iranian intelligence apparatus that at least two sources of intelligence have contradicted each other, and the results point directly to the source. Regardless of how the intelligence was gathered it would lead the Iranians to a strategy of back tracking their own steps to see what caused these two NIE report findings.

To take this at face value from the perspective of the Iranians would be equally dangerous. It would result in a change in their methods, a new emphasis on information security and would provide the US Intelligence Community with an opportunity to see the Iranian Intelligence Community hard at work. The best way to learn about your opponent’s methodology is to simply sit back and watch him work. Observation of the world is how we learn about the world.

We need to ask ourselves a few questions about this turn of events:

1) What are the specifics regarding the 2005 estimate that led the US government to overestimate the Iranian nuclear program?
2) What new intelligence brought to light the incorrect assessment from 2005?
3) What lessons can be learned about Iran’s strategy and tactics since they have sat back for the last two years, watching the US watch them, while knowing all along that the NIE report was wrong?
4) What lessons did Iran learn about the US Intelligence Community and it’s strategy and tactics over the last two years?
5) Did the Iranian IC manipulate the US IC into thinking it had an ongoing and active program underway? i.e. Did they give the US a red herring? What caused the US to finally realize it was a red herring?
6) Does looking at the white, black and gray propaganda from the last two years shed light into the inner workings of the Iranian and US IC?

With the exception of point number 6, details will certainly be hidden from the public. There is simply no chance in hell that this administration or any government agency would willingly tell the world the specifics of how it gathers, analyzes, disseminates and reacts to the intelligence it sifts through. Point number 6, the study of propaganda about the Iranian nuclear program(s), is one we can study.

In February of 2005, when threats of a US attack on Iran were high, Iran conducted a media campaign that threatened the use of asymmetrical warfare in the event of a US attack on it’s soil. This came only a matter of months after they conducted a massive war game exercise that increased tensions in the gulf, Washington and Tehran. The effect of this threat of guerrilla warfare stirred a series of op-ed pieces that threatened and warned American citizens that Iran has sleeper cells throughout the Persian Gulf and possibly here in America.

It also had the effect of contributing directly to two consecutive rises in the futures trading price for oil. At the end of 2001, with US forces on the ground in Afghanistan, the yearly average price for a barrel of oil was $23. At the end of 2002, when the war drums were beating heavily, the average price had dropped a little less than 1% to $22.81. At the end of 2003, with the US in Afghanistan and Iraq and the early drumbeats of war against Iran were beating, oil rose in price 21% and stood at $27.69. In 2004 oil rose another 36% to $37.66. By the end of 2005, with Washington rhetoric high and an Iranian “bring it on” style response to the Bush administration, oil had risen to $50.04, an increase of another 32%. In just 4 short years the price of oil had risen 117%.

I’m not saying that the NIE overestimate was done solely to boost oil company profits, after all the profits of every single defense contractor has also skyrocketed in this period of time as a direct result of waging two wars on two fronts, so there are other factors. Still, it cannot be overlooked that the increased uncertainty in that region that has driven the price of oil to incredible levels is directly tied to the instability created by both the incorrect NIE report and the unnecessary saber rattling by the Bush administration. This, in turn, has had an enormous and negative impact on the US economy and placed an even greater strain on the budgets of US citizens. In other words, the Bush administration has caused greater harm to the paychecks of Americans in this period of time than the government of Iran.

In this case, the white propaganda meted out by the Bush administration and it’s sycophants can be viewed as advancing the interests of the oil industry. Both the corporations and the government’s that profit on the production of oil benefited greatly by this white propaganda. The effect and the source of this propaganda cannot be overlooked.

A more recent series of events can be looked at as having a possible connection to this recent NIE report and it has a direct influence on the white and gray propaganda currently being spread regarding the situation in Pakistan. Is it possible that the sudden change in the NIE assessment of Iran’s nuclear status has less to do with Iran and everything to do with the evolving situation in Pakistan?

In August of 2005, when the initial wave of propaganda swept out from the NIE report that stirred this hornet’s nest, the IAEA released a widely under-reported piece of news. Their inspections uncovered a key piece of evidence regarding the Iranian bomb-making program. Their tests showed that the enriched uranium particles found on Iranian equipment came not from Iran, but from Pakistan. Pakistan is where this equipment was illegally imported from, all in secret.

Now, we all know that Pakistan has the bomb and we can safely assume that their nuclear program now consists primarily of making more bombs, designing higher yield bombs and honing strategies for future use of those weapons in time of war. The problem in Pakistan in regards to it’s nuclear secrets has been directly tied to Abdul Khan, the government official and nuclear scientist who admitted in 2004 to selling nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea and was exposed in 2003. Iran bought this equipment from Khan in secret and there has been no dispute over that sale.

Recent events in Pakistan have given us the return of Bhutto, assassination attempts on her life, major abuses of freedom following Musharraf’s crackdowns and we have the threat of a nuclear power losing control of it’s weapons due to political turmoil. This could also lead to the release of more information regarding Abdul and his connections if the political conditions deteriorate further. Considering the probability that Abdul operated within the full knowledge and light of the major Intelligence Communities of the world, the last thing the US and other governments need is the threat of their secrets in this arena being exposed.

These pieces of information and the evolving nature of Pakistan’s power base and connections are interesting when placed against the backdrop of her history and the direct connections she has had with the underworld of smuggling, covert operations and varying loyalties based on financial considerations. Pakistan held a vital place in the British East India Company’s holdings with the production of opium and the illegal smuggling of opium into China during the Opium Wars. The great fortunes of the leaders in international finance today were based on the fortunes gained by the opium smuggling trade. CitiGroup, ING, HSBC and others own the booty that was gained as Bostonian smugglers and well-heeled Englishmen plundered the wealth of China and addicted a full quarter of her male population 200 years ago. Pakistan was the proving grounds and classroom for the CIA’s future drug smuggling schemes.

The US/Pakistan relationship has been hot and cold since it’s formation in 1947. The 50’s, 80’s and this first decade of the 21st century have placed them in close contact and with a location that provides perfect base of operations for covert operations, it is not difficult to see Pakistan being a covert ally to various components of the US Intelligence Community even in the worst of times.

Which leads me back to the possibility that the reason for the new NIE report being tied somehow to events in Pakistan. If there is fear that the US/Pakistan relationship will sour, and very soon at that; and concerns that Pakistan is on the verge of collapse, would it not make sense to downgrade the trumped up assessment of Iran to ensure that any change in the status of Pakistan does not expose more than the Bush administration wishes to be known?

All of this, of course, is speculation. However, it is most curious that the only major development in world politics of great significance in the months prior to this reversal is the turmoil and upheaval in Pakistan. What cards does Bhutto hold, is Musharraf bluffing or will he be forced to fold? Has Iran been playing it straight all this time simply to see how the others at the table are showing their hand? One thing is certain; this administration has the worst poker face ever seen. They bluff when they should fold, raise when they only have a pair of twos, they fold with a king high full house and Bush can’t even do an overhand shuffle without the cards flying all over the table.

Presidential Bathing Beauties -- Round Two -- Dried up fruits and nuts

Candidate Gravel relaxes on the outdoor chaise lounge as candidate Tancredo attempts to "witness" before him.

This round of Presidential Bathing Beauties features Mike Gravel (D) and Tom Tancredo (R).

Who - Candidate Mike Gravel

Qualifications – Former Alaska state representative and US Senator for 12 years, left the Senate in ’81.

Platform – Would get all US troops out of Iraq within 120 days of taking office. Advocate of diplomatic approach to Syria and Iran. Wants to abolish the IRS and move to a national sales tax on goods and service and source carbon taxes for sources of air pollution. For the guest worker program, against the “war on drugs”.

What’s the deal? – Gravel is the clichéd “crazy old uncle” who shows up in the movies to add charm and humor to family get-togethers during the holidays. He’s cranky, funny, out on a limb and doesn’t suffer fools gladly.

What in the hell sparked this man to run for the highest office in the land after being away from public service since 1981? Was it anger at the direction of this country? Was it a final and all consuming desire to try to save the country? Out of the blue he came and he’s been quite an interesting candidate, especially in the debates where the man lays down napalm on the podium and for the most part speaks the mind of the “average man”.

Trivia – Served in the Army Counter Intelligence Corp (1951-55) and has dyslexia. Couldn’t make that one up. Inserted over 4,000 pages of the famous “Pentagon Papers” into the Congressional Record.

Bathing Beauty Quals – None, absolutely none. This makes him the perfect candidate if the system was torn down and we were to rebuild from the ground up but fat chance in hell that is going to happen.

Can he get the nomination? – Only if he chooses me to be his running mate.

Can he become PotUS 44? – Not if he does choose me to be his running mate.

Conspiracy Theories? – The man is pretty steeped in 1960’s politics and seems to have an open mind at the ripe young age of 77. Chances are he would be able to talk a lot about events of the 60’s and how they tie in with the study of conspiracy theories. His experiences in the Intelligence Community would undoubtedly be an eye-opening subject were it broached, especially in light that he served in West Germany. I think he would be a fantastic interview subject on the Military-Industrial Complex.

Who – Candidate Tom Tancredo.

Qualifications – Colorado State Legislator, US Congress since 1999. Loves Jesus.

Platform – Hates abortion, loves Jesus. Hates rich people getting taxed, loves Jesus. Hates judges that “legislate from the bench”, loves Jesus. Hates lawsuits against medical malpractice, loves Jesus. Loves Jesus, hates atheist commie peaceniks that want us out of Iraq. Loves guns, loves Jesus. Did I mention he LOVES the Jesus?

What’s the deal? – He drank the Jesus Juice because it’s more holy than Kool Aid. Will say anything that he hopes and prays will get him into office. Hates government so very much that he wants to be a civil servant and continue to be a civil servant. Hates socialized health care so much that he’s willing to bring small business into the mix since illegal immigrants are the cause of all our health care woes, but he loves the health care plan that Congress has.

This man is so shameless in his pandering to the ignorant and sore of knees from praying that if someone told him he would win the office if he would only recreate the Passion Play, with real nails, in the Washington Mall, he’d ask, “Ten penny nails or spikes?”

Trivia – Tancredo was a College Republican who spoke publicly in support of the war in Vietnam, but told the draft classification Doctors that he had been “treated for depression”. He got a 1-Y deferment for his efforts and took a job teaching junior high school immediately afterward. I wonder if Tom thought Jesus would say he was depressed too?

Bathing Beauty Quals – Wants to bomb the hell out of Mecca because that’s what Jesus would do and God knows that Tom loves Jesus. Over-compensates for his shame at being a hawk in his head and a coward in his heart and inability to come to terms with that disparity by wanting to bomb the holy living fuck out of anyone who isn't as WASPy as he is.

Can he get the nomination? – Only if Jesus REALLY loves him.

Can he become PotUS 44? – Only if Jesus REALLY hates us.

Conspiracy Theories? – A full-blown, right wing, paranoid, Jesus freak; Tancredo’s head must be as full of conspiracy theory’s as a snakes den is full of the heebie jeebies. I peg Tancredo as a neo-anti-communist nut who still thinks the word “hippies” apply to any draft dodger who doesn’t stare back from his own mirror?

Most likely consults the seminal work of anti-communist conspiracy buffs, “None Dare Call It Conspiracy” to this very day, looking for new angles on how those Godless Ruskies are still plotting to overthrow the US from within, just like that Godless Karl Marx said.

Summary – Fruits and nuts; that sums these two. Gravel being the old nut and Tancredo being the old fruit. No one can hate “teh ghey” like Tancredo does without feeling shame for a pecker or two that he might have sucked in his early hormonal days of adolescence, and not act like he does. Fruits and nuts are great in a bowl of cold cereal, not so great in positions of enormous power.

Presidential Bathing Beauties -- Round 1 -- The wide hips candidates.

Presidential Bathing Beauty hopefuls Duncan Hunter (R) and Chris Dodd (D) enjoying the view.



Who - Candidate Duncan Hunter

Qualifications – He’s a lawyer and has been in the House of Representatives since 1981.

Platform – Wants to amend the Constitution to define “personhood” at the moment of conception and make an amendment to define marriage as being between man and woman only. Believes in slashing taxes, slashing budgets (except DoD related budgets) and making sure the NEA doesn’t get a penny. Wants to build more border fencing, create a national employment verification system and reform birth right citizenship.

What’s the deal? – Seems to be parroting some of the neo-con and traditional GOP talking points (War on Terror, gays – bad / pro life - good) but appears to buck the trend on trade (one way street analogy). Right wing extremist “pundits” Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham and Michelle Malkin lust for him in that polemic sort of way. What a crazy 4 way that would make.

One of the things that has all but destroyed American manufacturing and crippled the financial prospects for the lower-middle class and working class in this country, is NAFTA. I give big props to Rep. Hunter for taking an anti-NAFTA stance. In the close bond between big business and big government, this is a stance that I understand can be a relationship killer for a politician.
In the shattered world of defining political leanings, Rep. Hunter is being labeled a “conservative” Republican vs. a “liberal” Republican (Giulliani, Huckabee). I just see him as being a cross between a Goldwater conservative (fiscal, trade), a Reagan Conservative (social, military) and a Moral Majority conservative (right to life, anti-gay). In other words, he’s a Gumbo Republican.

Trivia – Served in Vietnam for the 75th Ranger Regiment, 173rd Airborne as a First Louie, not a ring tapper either.

Bathing Beauty Quals – Give Pat Buchanan a Valium, or give 4 Valiums to Ron Paul, and you have summed up his Bathing Beaty qualifications. He can’t seem to express passion and serious ideas because he cannot elicit passion and seriousness. Good intentions, some good ideas but something seems “off” in his delivery. I have a feeling that if you sat with him, off the record and talked about issues he would be able to express, one-on-one what he believes in. I believe you could disagree with him and the discussion wouldn’t teeter from a wedge due to the differences.

Can he get the nomination? – Only if Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham and Michelle Malkin do a 3 way lez fest on pay-per view to raise campaign money.

Can he become PotUS 44? – Not if Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham and Michelle Malkin do a 3 way lez fest on pay-per view to raise campaign money.

Conspiracy Theories? – If you sat down with him, off the record, I have a feeling he would give you the blank stare if you asked his thoughts about conspiracy theories. I think he knows about them in a general sense, meaning he thinks they are kooky and theorists are kooks. “Next question.” Would be his response.



Who – Candidate Chris Dodd

Qualifications – A Lawyer and has served Congress since his election to the House of Representatives in 1975 and the Senate in 1980. 32 years in DC…holy Jesus, Dodd.

Platform – Parrots the end the war in Iraq line, but doesn’t define where troops will be “redeployed”. Talks the talk on energy but only offers tax incentives for consumers to buy new energy efficient cars. How about the working poor, for whom buying a Prius just isn’t an option? Follows the standard Roosevelt and Great Society beliefs on social issues.

What’s the deal? – Dodd is one of those unknown factors. He talks the talk on a lot of issues but his total number of years inside the Beltway seems to have worn off on him like it has John McCain. I think Dodd is politically savy and knows what lingo to throw out there. I just don’t think he can walk the walk, be a ball buster when it’s needed or pull people together when he needs to.

Trivia – 2nd generation Senator, his father was one of the prosecutors at the Nuremburg War Crimes Tribunal. Spent two years in the Peace Corp and six years in the Army Reserves and National Guard.

Bathing Beauty Quals – If this were the Miss America pageant, Dodd would be a 1940’s version of Miss Idaho or North Dakota; personable and nice and likable but not a lot of beauty or substance or depth. He’s a wide hips sorta politician. He chose a role (stereotypical social cause Democrat) and stuck with it instead of being a visionary. It’s a shame because with his background he could have easily become one.

Can he get the nomination? – Sure, if the rest of the Democrats jump out of the race.

Can he become PotUS 44? – Sure, if he runs un-opposed…across the board.

Conspiracy Theories? – I have a feeling if you sat down with him in a cabin out in the boonies of Connecticut and a case of beer, he’d laugh it up for a while with you. If there are any conspiracy theories that Dodd might have a thought over it would be the JFK assassination. I doubt if he would follow a single theory belief in the JFK assassination, he probably just believes “someone” was behind it all.


Summary - Bet good money on Dodd to spend another 3 decades in Congress. Bet good money on Hunter getting uber rich on a lobbyist salary when he decides it's time to call all those favors back home when he leaves office. Don't bet a penny that either man will have a shot in hell at becoming the next President...thank God for small miracles.

Viral marketing and propaganda -- The Cloverfield campaign

The upcoming release of the film Cloverfield has provided me with a fun distraction of late. The back-story that apparently is included with the film is interesting and deep, there is mystery surrounding the entire project and driving the online chatter about the film is a series of websites that are directly connected to main and subplots of the story. Following the story online we have the chance to see the present day in a past tense manner. It is also a chance to see a well-tuned online viral marketing campaign in action.

Viral marketing interests me because it works by exploiting social networking and the desire of people to conform and follow what is popular. It is a method of social control even if the goal is to simply make millions of dollars on a movie. The thing that fascinates me the most about these campaigns is that many people will still follow the marketing script even if they know for a fact that it is a manufactured process. When government propaganda is exposed for what it really is, the effect upon the citizenry is opposite; they feel duped and begin to swing their beliefs in the opposite direction. I often wonder if that point of critically, the point where citizens turn against the propaganda fed to them, has also been engineered. In this day and age, there is very little difference in the methodology between creating and waging a viral marketing campaign to advertise a movie, and creating and waging government sponsored propaganda to advertise going to war. The only real difference is the subject matter.

Viral marketing relies on people disseminating information about the product to people within their social network. Propaganda relies on the citizenry discussing the points of the propaganda with people within their social network as well. Viral marketing relies on peer pressure to help sell their product to people within the network because they want to fit in. Propaganda relies on citizens not questioning the “right” nature of what the propaganda sells by threat of ostracization from American society and the dreaded taunt of treason being thrown around.

When I was growing up this was simply called a fad. That is probably what it was called when you were in your teenage years. Clothing, music, language and pop culture tastes were determined by the sine wave of fads. Now, the medium for disseminating information has changed and we have the Internet and text messaging to speed the process and make it all encompassing. 23 years ago all it took was one Bruce Springsteen video and everybody simply had to have a jean jacket. Even then it still had no effect on people living in the suburbs and rural America, people who had no access to cable TV. Now, even my Mother can surf the web and she does indeed surf, even if it is only a dialup account.

The term viral marketing is itself a new term. First coined in 1996 by a Harvard Business School professor, it’s roots lie with media critic Douglas Rushkoff who wrote about advertisers infecting susceptible users and spreading the infection among other users. The spread could be charted long before the actual “infection” took place by using statistical analysis and the entire process could be tweaked for maximum effect by the marketer, even as the campaign was being run. Our self-awareness, or rather, the awareness of us by marketers and advertisers, is astounding.

Of course the irony of this posting is that I may be contributing to the viral marketing process by advertising the film and giving my reasons for wanting to follow the campaign. In effect, I could be feeding the beast intentionally. Then again, some unknowing traveler in cyberspace may see this posting and become enlightened to the interconnection of marketing campaigns and propaganda. Who knows?

Will I be a big fat hypocrite and see the movie? Probably. I have had a life-long love of horror movies featuring giants that goes back to my days of watching Shock Theater on WTVC in Chattanooga. I saw all of the giant monster movies on that show; King Kong, Son of Kong, The Mighty Joe Young. It Came From Beneath The Sea, Konga and all the Godzilla movies. I even remember seeing The Attack Of The 50 Foot Woman and feeling that pre-pubescent attraction to actress Allison Hayes in the title role. Talk about great legs. I even use my old VCR from time to time just so I can watch War Of The Gargantuas.

I’m also a big time sucker for any movie or book that requires in-depth study of specially written and complex encyclopedias and bibles to follow the back-story. I often wonder if this is the prime reason why I follow conspiracy theories and the high weirdness subjects. There are tons of back-story in them to sift through and in the end there is a monster to face.