The skinheads have their foot in the door -- slam the door.

Sometimes memories can come back and seem so real that I can taste sweat and blood in my mouth or smell diesel fuel exhaust on a cold dark morning where any sound rings like it’s inside a glass bell. When it happens an event will come to me in flashes with brief moments of visual and tactile clarity. A flurry of movement and I’m on the ground, a brief moment where I can see a flattened beer can on the asphalt and I can hear the sound of air rush just before the big Doc Martins’ begin stomping me. Another flurry of movement and the sensation of being pummeled followed by a vision of the hair on the side of a young man’s hand, a young man no older than me, just before I sink my teeth into the fleshy part of his hand and the pinky. I feel the resistance of his flesh and with the next two kicks I feel my teeth sink and embed deeply into his hand. Once my teeth have solid bone between them, I smell copper and then remember a flurry of arms and wails as I let go and they leave me under a bright and noisy light.

I remember lying on the ground with two sharp pains in my chest and side. One sharp pain when I inhaled and one when I exhaled, two pains with every breath. Each time I breathed I could feel the sensation of my breath being taken away by the pain. It felt like my side was cut open, but it wasn’t; it was the two freshly cracked ribs scraping flesh and muscle from the inside. I could see my breath and hear the idle of a garbage truck in front of the dumpster behind a business. The diesel smelled comforting to me, almost as sweet as honeysuckle, the diesel meant someone sane was there to help me. An older black man, older for me anyway since I was only 20 and he looked to be in his late 40’s, leaned in and asked if I was okay. His truck scared them away and from his cab and headlights he saw the final moments of my beat down. A half hour later I was in an ambulance and a few hours later I would be in a white duty van, being taken back to the ship with lots of questions awaiting from the duty officer when I arrived.

Yes, I remember skinheads.

They never went away, folks. They have always been with us; the last 6 years of xenophobia and Muslim hate have brought them converts. Now they feel emboldened and they are coming soon to a political rally near you. Stormfront, Aryan Nations and White Supremacists of all stripes are on their way to infiltrate and stand behind Presidential candidate Ron Paul. For the first time since Ross Perot ran for the office in 1992, we have a major not-by-the-books candidate, one that has something Perot never had; experience with the machine of Washington politics, and he’s gaining steam. The problem is the skinheads are out to wreck the party with their support.

It’s easy to say, “Well, I’m not racist and I don’t prescribe to their beliefs and supporting Ron Paul doesn’t mean I’m one of them or support them.” That sounds good but the truth is when you find common ground with groups of extremists as fucked up as the skinheads, it’s time to break that common ground and push the freaks to the gutter where they belong. It’s time for Ron Paul, and more to the point the Ron Paul supporters, to tell the neo-Nazis to go fuck themselves under threat of beating the holy living fuck out of every last one of them. I’m not a violent man, but I am all for beating skinheads shitless.

My experiences with these inbred shitheads were two fold. One was that they loved to show up at punk shows to see if there were any “easy pickings”. Easy pickings were either confused kids that were vulnerable to their recruitment. The other was people they could fight with. I had many physical scrapes with them over the years and only once, the experience I opened this post with, did they do real damage to me. The other area where I saw them was with the Klan. On more than one occasion did I run into Klansmen who were out doing their thing in packs, like wolves. Both the skinheads and the Klansmen have one thing in common. If their numbers aren’t good at the moment, they turn into pussies and won’t dare say shit even if they have guns or knives. Once they see they have the numerical and size upper hand, they’ll start the taunt and the beat down always follows the taunt. It’s like the playground in the 3rd grade on steroids with roid rage involved.

I’m not a large man; I stand all of 5’ 7” and weighed about 150 lbs back in the day, all of it muscle. But I have always “looked” like I can handle myself, which I can, and when they saw the discolored calluses on the ridge of my knuckles back then they looked at me differently, they assessed the situation and my skills more seriously. They always knew I was more trouble than was worth it unless they had a numerical advantage over me.

In the worst beat down I ever had in my life, I was surrounded by three of them, when I was alone and stranded after seeing a Minor Threat show. My old Dodge pickup died as I was leaving and I was forced to walk all the way back to the ship. I knew I was in trouble when I heard a low idling sedan cruising up behind me and low hushed voices inside the car. I stopped, stood my ground and in the end the fuckers might have sent me to the hospital but I can at least guarantee that some dumbass, if he’s still alive, has a God-awful scar and some nerve damage in his good hand, thanks to me. Wasn’t worth it, was it you fuckers? I got my licks in too.

The skinhead movement wants to prey on our frustrations with everything. They want to take advantage that we are frustrated by the lack of action by our government when it comes to immigration and border security. The longer it goes unchecked and the more angry we feel, the better the conditions are so they can start busting skulls unfettered and uncriticized by the good people of America. They want us to become so tired of the bullshit being done to our government that we are willing to jump on the same bandwagon as them when it comes to supporting a Presidential candidate. I’m not going to act all buddy-buddy with those fuckers and I hope you will shun them and point them out for the racist scum they really are.

The White Supremacist and Christian Identity movements have desperately wanted to be viewed in a more mainstream way for a long time. The conditions in this country have gone so far in the toilet that good people are now willing to lie in bed with a bunch of flea ridden shitheads just to get some change out of their government. Folks, if you lie with dogs, you will wake up with fleas. Don’t let the skinheads have a peek at the inside of the mainstream. Shoot them down and expose them whenever you get the chance.

To any skinheads out there who don’t like this post; go fuck yourselves. Fuck the Goddamn skinheads and fuck their bullshit ideas.

Don't be stupid, be a smarty, come and join the Jesus Party!

Coming soon to a ballot in your district, The Jesus Party. I can easily see this happening following the comments by James “The Dachshund Beater (http://www.nospank.net/dugan.htm) Dobson; that he will back a third party candidate if the Republican Party doesn’t pick someone who is, “conservative enough.” Talk about balls.

I think it’s time for the radical religious freaks to form their own political party, the Jesus Party. Where free spirits and those who live life without lies or shame are called heathens and are cursed. It’s time to put the extremists in a position where every American can see just how fucked in the head some of our worst fellow citizens are. No reason to pussyfoot around and pretend to be a “compassionate conservative”, just show the world how full of hate and contempt you really are. The rest of us can see what those folks are really all about and make some serious choices.

The current crop of 4th tier bathing beauties who are running for President are too afraid of telling hard truths and making hard choices. The Congress is locked in it’s own paralysis of doing the right things for fear of being branded as one thing or another. They are afraid of the consequences. The consequences being the loss of their cushy job in DC and that fear is something that shouldn’t be a part of the job because we all know those lobbyist positions are lined up after a career in politics. We need men and women to make the hard choices and say the things that have to be said to get us on the right track. Instead they’ll talk the talk that they believe is the talk we want to hear.

There was a time, even in the small north Georgia town I grew up in, that getting a bit too full of the Holy Spirit would bring about the response of the common sense most of us have. There was a time that we did not suffer fools gladly and it was encouraged to call things exactly as they appear to be. The fundamentalists had a side role in local politics and social issues, the role of the lunatic fringe. This was the case up until the early and mid 80’s. What precipitated this change from sanity to all-out goofiness? The fear of satanic forces.

Starting with the whole back masking phenomenon in the early 80’s I saw the attitudes in my small town change. First it was the satanic influences upon the young with rock music. Then they added the “epidemic” of drugs and they brought it full circle in the early 90’s with fear of the Clintons and the supposed hidden agenda of one-world secularism. As if the whole scene weren’t enough, my little hometown newspaper began operating a program where they asked the local citizens to rat each other out over who was selling drugs. Honest to God, they instilled fear into the citizens and then asked readers to send in their reports of suspicious activity to the newspaper, which would be forwarded to the local law enforcement authorities. The editor of the paper at that time was a former aid to radical right wing Congressman, Larry McDonald.

How did they frighten and change the minds of these simple country folks who had always maintained country smarts? Fear of everything that sits on the other side of the mountain and fear of it invading and taking over their small town, that’s how they did it. In a town like I came from, there are two mountains that separated us from the rest of the world. Nothing good or positive happened on the other side of those two mountains. To add to it, one mountain was where the drug dealers had their crops and the other housed devil worshipers. I am serious.

Lookout Mountain was where, according to rumor, pot growers had clandestine fields of dope, guarded by men with hunting rifles and woe to anyone who happened upon them. The other mountain was where two Satanists lived in their estate named Corpsewood (http://theconspiratorsnest.blogspot.com/2007/04/from-archives-look-back-at-corpsewood.html) . The mountains were more than just geological boundaries for the community; they became symbolic of barriers to keep the rest of the world at bay.

This is was a microcosm of the path we as a nation have gone down in the past 6 years. Fear of anything beyond the boundaries of our coastal areas and fear of anything beyond the borders that separated the countries we are sandwiched between. Everything on the other side is evil and satanic and we are constantly being infiltrated by demonic forces that threaten us.

In many ways, the field of Conspiracy Theory studies is similar to this phenomenon. We, the CT enthusiasts, are constantly trying to warn everyone else of the dangers we see. Dangers being guided by unseen forces, forces of evil. The problem with both CT studies and extremists religious causes is that far too often we both go into extremely radical territory. I myself understand that I have ideas that stray into the fantastic. However, there is a difference between the two groups. The radicalized religious want to alter the way we all live. They wish to enforce their beliefs upon all of us. The conspiracy theorists only want to broaden their, and your, horizons and expose the false idols around us.

It is easy to see the far religious right wishing to enslave all of us while the conspiracy theorists are trying to free us by exposing the plots. What is most surprising to me in this process is how many conspiracy theorists wind up like Texe Marrs and become caught in anti-Semitism and I really believe there is a trigger point which starts this conversion. Once they head down the “Jewish conspiracy” path there is rarely an outcome other than far right-wing political extremism.

So let’s all cheer for the formation of the Jesus Party. Perception and reality, ideaology and truth rarely meet in the center. Sooner or later the far right-wing of this country will need to show their true colors, on full display for all to see. After all, if you are going to be a full blown fascist you might as well wear the t-shirt that shows you were there for the party.

Mel Sembler, The CIA, Mind Control and Scientology. What a lovely tea party that makes.

Here is an odd and enlightening set of timelines for a group of notable events. Do the folks of DeKalb county really want someone with such a notorious past, with such unseemly connections, to have such a major impact on the county's future as Mel Sembler might have if the Sembler Company's plans go ahead? Talk about a wild set of parallel connections.

1832 – Skull and Bones is founded at Yale University.

1875 – Beginning in San Francisco, opium trafficking by Chinese immigrants is outlawed in the United States.

1880 – The US and China sign an agreement that prohibits the shipment of opium between both countries.

1914 – The Harrison Narcotic Act is passed into law requiring sellers of opiates to become licensed.

1917 – Prescott Bush tapped for Skull and Bones.

1937 – The Marijuana Tax Act is signed into law.

1948 – George H.W. Bush tapped for Skull and Bones.

1950 – The CIA begins the MKUltra program.

1953 – The Church of Scientology is founded. Founder L. Ron Hubbard forms special Celebrity Centers to cater to and recruit celebrities, musicians, artists, politicians and various professional positions.

1953 – Zapata Oil is founded.

1955 – The Peoples Temple is founded by Reverend Jim Jones in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1958 – Charles Dederich founds Synanon in Santa Monica California. Synanon was created to provide drug addicts with a recovery program. It eventually turns into a cult that used violence and “tough love” against its members/patients.

1961 The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, an international treaty banning the illicit manufacture and trafficking of narcotic drugs, is adopted.

1964 – The CIA renames MKUltra to MKSearch.

Mid 60’s through mid 80’s – Future President George W. Bush is reported to have suffered substance abuse problems (alcohol and drugs).

1966 – The Church of Scientology creates NARCONON, a drug rehabilitation program that is based on the writings of Hubbard and was tested on drug abusers in the Arizona State Prison system.

1967 – The Peoples Temple moves from Indianapolis to Redwood Valley, California.

1968 – George W. Bush tapped for Skull and Bones.

Late 60’s and early 70’s – Youth offenders on drug charges are routinely sent to Synanon by court order. Celebrities, musicians and various professionals are recruited and openly invited to Synanon properties and events.

1969 – The State of New Jersey releases a study that shows only 10% to 15% of Synanon’s participants actually end their addictions.

1970 – The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 is signed into law.

Early 70’s – The US Government funds a program known as “The Seed” that follows the tactics and example of Synanon, located in Florida.

Early 70’s – The Peoples Temple makes attempts at becoming mainstream by creating a state licensed facility for developmentally disabled persons, community outreach programs, drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs and Jones’ involvement as a community social and political leader in San Francisco.

1971 – President Richard Nixon coins the phrase, “War on Drugs”

1972 – George H. W. Bush is named Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

1973 – CIA Director Richard Helms orders all MKUltra files destroyed. The US Government claims that the program has ended.

1973 – The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is created as a law enforcement agency within the Justice Department as a result of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. The position of “Drug Czar” is created by President Richard Nixon.

1974 - Filmmaker Robert Altman uses members of Synanon as extras for the making of his film California Split.

1974 – Investigations begin into the inner-workings of Synanon. Cult activities begin to appear at around this time. Women are forced to shave their heads, men were given forced vasectomies and there is a communal lifestyle with multiple compounds in possession of the organization.

1974 – Sen. Sam Ervin presents a report to Congress titled, “Individual Rights and the Federal Role in Behavior Modification”. Among the findings were that programs like The Seed, “begin by subjecting the individual to isolation and humiliation in a conscious effort to break down his psychological defenses.” and such programs are “similar to the highly refined brainwashing techniques employed by the North Koreans in the early 1950’s.” Funding for The Seed is soon cut off.

1975 – Synanon files to revise its tax status, attempting to make itself a church, The Church of Synanon.

1976 – The Church of Scientology locates its “Worldwide spiritual headquarters” in Clearwater Florida. The Church of Scientology has since become a major landowner in the Clearwater area.

1976 – Mel Sembler and Joseph Zappala found a program known as Straight Incorporated, using The Seed as it’s guide and former Seed employees to staff the new company. Funding for the program comes from the same federal agency that funded The Seed. Sembler bases his operations out of Clearwater Florida, also the new home of The Church of Scientology.

1976 – George H.W. Bush becomes the Director of the CIA.

1978 – First reports surface of child abuse at Synanon facilities and the money flow to its founder is exposed. Synanon begins a campaign of threats and physical attacks on outspoken former members and whistle blowers as well as filing lawsuits against media outlets that expose the activities of the organization.

1978 – US Congressman Leo Ryan is among the more than 900 victims of the Jonestown Massacre. Ryan’s assassination at the order of Jim Jones precipitates the ordered mass suicide of the congregation.

1978 – George W. Bush unsuccessfully runs for Congress, campaign managed by brother Neil Bush, who lives in Lubbock, Texas. At the time of this political campaign, John Hinckley Jr. also resides in Lubbock.

1979 – The Church of Scientology incorporates the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises. Among the organizations that later will fall under the WISE umbrella is the Clearwater Business Association.

Late 1970's - Mark David Chapman works with Vietnamese refugees at Fort Chafee Arkansas.

1980 – In an eerie mirroring of the plot of Robert Altman’s classic film Nashville, John Hinckley Jr. is arrested in Nashville on firearms charges. He later admits that he had already formed a plan to assassinate President Jimmy Carter to impress actress Jodie Foster and had come to Nashville because of Carter’s appearance in that city.

1980 – George H.W. Bush announces plans to run for President of the United States. Among his political and financial supporters are John W. Hinckley Sr., Chairman and President of Vanderbilt Energy Corporation, formerly Hinckley Oil.

1980 - George H.W. Bush is elected Vice President of the United States.

1980 – John Lennon is assassinated by Mark David Chapman.

1981 – Assassination attempt on the life of President Ronald Reagan. Would be assassin John Hinckley Jr. is held. On the date of the attempt on Reagan’s life, the brother of John Hinckley Jr., Scott Hinckley, and the son of Vice President Bush, Neil Bush; were scheduled to have dinner together.

1981 – Son of President George H.W. Bush, Jeb Bush; enters the real estate industry in Florida, eventually becoming a partner with Cuban immigrant Armando Cordina. In later years Bush would become a real estate consultant for Cuban exile Miguel Recarey, who assisted the CIA in attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro.

Early 80’s – The CIA provides weapons, training and money to the Mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation. The trained and funded fighters ultimately organize the Taliban, who take control of Afghanistan in 1996 after seizing the capital, Kabul

Early 80’s – The CIA decides to fund their overt war in Afghanistan by assisting in the production and smuggling of opium made from Afghanistan poppy production.

Mid 80’s – Florida developer and co-founder of Straight Incorporated, serves on the White House Conference for a Drug Free America.

1988 – Mel Sembler serves on the National Steering Committee and the national Finance Committee for the Presidential campaign of George H.W. Bush.

1988 – George H.W. Bush is elected as the 41st President of the United States.

1989 – The state of New Jersey bars Synanon from doing business with NJ casinos after it is discovered they had a contract with Showboat Casino to provide a “Motivational program” to it’s employees. Through ADGAP, Synanon also sells about $30,000.00 worth of pens, pencils, key chains and other items.

1989 – The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations reports that members of the State Department provided support for the Contras by the use of drug trafficking.

Early 90’s – Military style “boot camps” for youth offenders become an option for the courts to send troubled kids. A 1997 Justice Department report finds that these boot camp style treatment programs are no more effective than juvenile prisons.

1992 – Bill Clinton defeats George H.W. Bush in the Presidential election. Clinton becomes the 42nd President of the United States.

1992 – The World Literacy Crusade is formed as a non-profit organization devoted to study technologies and drug rehabilitation technologies developed by L. Ron Hubbard.

1993 – Federal funding for Straight Incorporated is halted and the organization goes out of operation. Key employees and staff members immediately create new programs identical to Straight Incorporated and in some cases re-open in the same location as Straight Incorporated. Straight Incorporated becomes the Drug Free America Foundation. Board members of the Drug Free America Foundation include former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

1994 – One million Americans are incarcerated yearly on drug related offences.

1994 – Republican Mark Foley is elected to Congress. Before being elected to public office, Foley was involved in Florida real estate in the 80’s and later spearheaded Congressional work regarding laws against the sexual exploitation of children.

Mid 90’s – Synanon dies out as an organization.

1997 – Charles Dederich, founder of Synanon, dies.

1997 – The Wall Street Journal reports on the use of Mena, Arkansas in the trafficking of illegal drugs by the Contras, the CIA and the cover-up of these activities by then Arkansas Governor, Bill Clinton.

1997 to 2000 – Mel Sembler operates at the Finance Chairman for the Republican National Committee.

1998 – The CIA Inspector General published a two-volume report that describes the contra and contra-related entities that were involved in drug trafficking and protected by US law enforcement on orders from the Reagan and Bush administration.

2000 – George W. Bush is elected 43rd President of the United States.

2000 – The Taliban issues a decree banning opium poppy cultivation. At the time of the decree, Afghanistan supplied 75% of the world’s supply of opium.

2001 – The US Government gives Afghanistan $48 million dollars for reducing their opium production by 99.89%.

2001 – 9/11 attacks lead to the invasion of Afghanistan.

2001 – The Taliban are chased from power in Afghanistan.

2001 - Mel Sembler named US Ambassador to Italy.

2003 - The infamous forged Nigerian uranium yellowcake documents were reportedly recieved in a Rome apartment by an Itallian agent, Rocco Martino.

2003 – World Wide Association of Specialty Programs (WWASP) reports revenue of $80 million dollars. The WWASP Dundee Ranch Academy in Costa Rica is raided by child welfare authorities. The owner of the facility is arrested on charges of human rights violations.

2003 – Florida Congressman Mark Foley is given a special dinner by the Clearwater Business Association at the FLAG Land Base of the Church of Scientology.

2005 – The cost of waging the “War on Drugs” for the year 2005 totals $12 billion dollars, the cost of incarcerating drug law offenders is $30 billion dollars, $9 billion dollars for police protection, $4.5 billion for the legal expenses and $11 billion for state and federal correctional facilities. The total for all these activities is over $45 billion dollars.

2005 - Mel Sembler heads up the Scooter Libby defense fund raiser efforts. Several million are netted, Scooter walks on the charges after President Bush commutes his sentence.

2006 – The supply of opium from Afghanistan has increased dramatically. Before the rise of the Taliban, Afghanistan supplied 75% of the world’s opium supply. As of 2006 90% of the world’s opium comes from Afghanistan.

2006 – Florida Congressman Mark Foley resigns from his position following a scandal in which he solicited sex from young male Congressional Pages. Foley claims he has an alcohol problem and was molested by a Catholic priest when he was young.

2007 – The Taliban is in resurgence in Afghanistan.

Richard Jewel and random memories of the 90's. It's 11 o'clock, do you know where your kooks are?

In many ways, for me at least, much of the 90’s seem to be a slow blur. Moments pop out at me when I look back, many good and many bad. An entire inner-connected series of memories have come back to me over the last two days with the passing of Richard Jewel. Jewel, you may remember, was the security guard at the Atlanta Olympic games whom the FBI attempted to scapegoat after the Centennial Olympic Park bombing.

In the summer of ’96 I was living out in the country but still a short drive into Atlanta. I watched those Olympic games and how they affected Atlanta, from afar. On the night of the bombing I was watching TV and followed the news reports closely, switching between the four local news stations and ESPN’s coverage. In the days after the bombing, when Jewel was rightly identified as a hero, I was happy to see what appeared to be a regular Georgia “country boy” making good in the city. That feel good moment was dashed only days later when the feds leaked the information to the news organizations that Jewel was the prime suspect.

One thing you develop as you get older is a prime eye for telling what is real and what is not real when it comes to people. In the case of Jewel, it was obvious the feds were lying. Their MO sounded credible until you looked at the man and how he was holding up to the insane media pressure. I wasn’t the only one who felt he was being railroaded. My co-workers, all of them “country smart” could see that something wasn’t right and that he was innocent. Jewel was eventually cleared and the investigation appeared to have reached a brick wall.

When I first moved to Atlanta we seemed to be the center of a lunatic bomber’s attention. The Olympic Park bombing, the Otherside Lounge bombing, the Sandy Springs abortion clinic bombing were making all of us more than a little uncomfortable with what was happening and where they would strike next. I remember several long lunchtime and water cooler conversations we had about who the killer could be. My pet theory was that we had a crazy redneck that was driving into town to kill Atlantans, but I was certain it was a Georgian.

When the Birmingham bombing killed a police officer and horribly injured a nurse in early ’98 all of the people I knew raised their eyebrows with attention. It was pretty obvious that the nut that was setting off bombs here in town was at work in Birmingham. The only question most of us had was whether or not the bomber lived in west Georgia or east Alabama.

When Eric Rudolph was announced as the prime suspect, all seemed to fall in place. Rudolph could be a poster child of the things that were wrong about us as a people in the 90’s and he was one of the precursor warnings of the type of lunatic fringe American that we would all see post-9/11. In a decade that gave us the Oklahoma City bombing and Eric Rudolph, we had more than enough signs of what we have become. The lunatics who weren’t satisfied with simply firebombing abortion clinics so they moved on to bombing them and killing abortion Doctors are the type of person who maintains the systems of control and power in America today.

I live in a large American city, with an international airport and high visibility facilities such as the CDC and the Federal Reserve. I am not at all worried about Islamic terrorists blowing my ass up. It’s possible but I think I am far more likely to be struck by lightning or win the lottery than to be killed by a terrorist in the city I live. I am, however, still worried about right wing extremists in America. I am, in effect, afraid of my own people. I admit this one day after posting an angrily worded entry regarding fear in America, so I do understand how this can be considered a hypocritical statement.

These extremists have always been here in this country. The south has always been the stereotypical home ground for such lunatics but don’t let that assumption steer you in the wrong direction. At the height of the popularity of the Ku Klux Klan, the largest population of members was not found in the south; Indiana was the state that boasted the highest concentration of Klansmen. Those extremists are not only down here; they are in your town too.

In the 90’s we had the rare opportunity to see these people up close and personal. We saw the militia movements and were able to hear the ideas of extreme nationalism that permeate throughout their communities. We saw the radical Christian identity movement followers who rationalize death and murder by killing abortion providers, homosexuals and non-Christians. We saw the far right anti-government radicals such as Randy Weaver and Eric Rudolph. But we also saw a more open and less afraid government who was willing to go to equally extreme ends with citizens who frightened it.

In the 90’s we had the chance to see our government up close and personal as well. The massacre at Waco, the Ruby Ridge calamity and strangeness surrounding the Oklahoma City bombing all added to a certain mistrust of the government. We instantly forgot all about those events, those radicals and those capabilities when the 9/11 attacks occurred. The faux-patriotism and “pride” in America swept through this nation in a way that was not purely spontaneous. The only genuine responses that we had to the attacks were gone within days of the attacks. Was anyone really acting “changed” when October 11 came around?

The death of Richard Jewel should be our reminder to us of what the government will do to an innocent person and Eric Rudolph should be a reminder that we have lunatics among us that compare unequivocally with the most extreme Middle East elements and are the product of America itself. Greed, hate, mistrust, fear, the lust for power and a narrow worldview are the food of American terrorists.

Hey kids, rock and roll. Nobody tells you where to go, baby.

I’m a fatality on the side of the fashion highway and I’m too damn old to want to dress like a twenty-something. The baggy pants culture has mystified me since it began, especially when baseball players began wearing their pants as though they were track pants but, to each his/her own. Now the kids have attracted the faceless bureaucrats and power mad creatures that lurk in the halls of government.

Atlanta City Councilman C.T. Martin has sponsored an amendment to the city’s indecency laws that will target clothing styles in which the wearer’s undergarments are exposed. Under fire would be baggy pants worn by young men and boys as well as styles favored by some young women and girls where their bra strap or the strap of their thong is exposed. Of course this amendment will get shot down for it’s extremist idea but the seed is planted. The tree expected to bear fruit is one of control over you and I and powerlessness to defend ourselves against an oppressive state.

I hate to say this but we have evil fucking rednecks all over the place that detest the baggy pants hip-hop culture styles that have found their way out to suburbia. It’s not because they don’t like the style or because they are too old to “get it” the anger and hatred is much more simple to understand. The stereotypical young, urban, and black thug epitomize this style. Don’t think for one second that we in the south have a monopoly on ignorant rednecks. Some of the biggest rednecks I ever met lived in Connecticut. Ignorance and hate know no geographical boundaries.

The point is this amendment will get support from the super radicalized extremists of both the left and the right. This leaves the other 60% to 80% of us asking ourselves what in God’s name does the city government have to do with policing the clothing we chose to wear or express ourselves with? The ultimate resting place for this amendment is in our minds. It is a reinforcement we have to subconsciously process. The government, ultimately, controls everything about you and your life and if it chooses to, it controls what you can and cannot wear.

A few years ago the City Council passed amendments to chase homeless people off the streets. They criminalized panhandling and began rounding up and shipping violators all over the metro area. Why did they do this? Complaints from the forces of downtown gentrification who were offended by the homeless asking for help. Some went as far as to say the homeless would “get pushy” sometimes. The idiocies of statements like that don’t even need to be addressed, they are self-evident.

Homeless rights advocates fought back but the groundswell was too much for them to overcome. Now, you are a criminal in Atlanta if you have no home and try to ask for money or help from folks on the street. The Atlanta Police Department will take you to jail for it. Now, a City Councilman doesn’t like the way young people dress, so he wants to amend the laws to absorb his fashion sense. What is next? If I wear a t-shirt down near the capitol that mocks our Governor’s “Sonny Do” list, will I spend nights in lockup at the Fulton County jail? If I put a bumper sticker on my car stating that Police Chief Pennington needs to go back to New Orleans, will my car be impounded and will I suddenly find myself in the backseat of a patrol car, at the mercy of the cop who is offended by my exercise of free speech?

Time and time again we have seen the rights of decent, regular Americans stomped on because they had something negative to say about their leaders. The current masters of government have turned it into an art form. To be honest, I wonder if I will ever get a visit at my front door for what I write here in this blog. We all know that all of our email, web traffic and phone calls are being monitored by the agents of our government. We are at their mercy because we allowed them to take control of our lives.

First they will tell us what we cannot do. They will tell us we cannot question authority, we cannot dress a certain way, we cannot say certain things. Once we are beaten down far enough, and live in constant fear and dread for the government targeting us for seemingly innocent “violations” of their codes, we are then ready for them to begin the real "control" phase. The final phase of control is not to tell us what we cannot do; it is the phase where our behavior is guided based on the mandates of government. Government sanctioned clothing, government-sanctioned entertainment and government sanctioned lives for its citizens.

High Weirdness Drifter

Its been a while since I last gave a roundup of stuff found on the web, so here is a short list:

It seems the private investigator industry has taken a page from the FBI’s COINTELPRO folder. An Atlanta minister is suing Progressive insurance and a private investigator service for infiltrating and secretly taping weekly group support meetings that were held at the minister’s home. The minister was suing Progressive following a 2004 auto accident and the investigators hired by Progressive to get the insurance giant off the hook decided to follow the yellow brick road of what could be argued as highly unethical behavior. It’s always nice when a private firm uses the federal government as an example, isn’t it?

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2007/08/21/invasion_0822.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab

Hurricane Dean, the 3rd most powerful hurricane ever recorded to have struck land, is aiming for Mexico’s one and only nuclear reactor and has been tearing across the Bay of Campeche, home to Mexico’s most productive oil producing zone, the Cantarell oil field. Go figure the odds of that 7-10 split. Sales of Viagra to energy traders have plummeted to pre-Enron levels.

Blogger was down this morning for what I can only assume was an indeterminate amount of time. Being the good little conspiracy buff that I am, I spent all of 30 seconds to 2 minutes evaluating the possibility that the shit was about to hit the fan. Remember folks, the revolution will not be televised. First signs that something is about to happen won’t be a “Breaking News” title card on TV, it’ll be a major communications outage, most obviously noticed will be a failure of online communication sites such as Blogger, WordPress and message boards. We are, for the moment, safe; I think.

If you think I am insane, I can assure you that even I have nothing on the lunatics who are part of the Center for Security Policy. Those fucking loons make even me seem un-paranoid. Several left leaning blogs have recently exposed some of this groups more wacky members. Included is a wildly disturbing essay by Philip Atkinson where the author promotes not only a Bush, President for life strategy but also claims our Fuhrer in Chief should…I’m sorry…Commander in Chief should just “slaughter Iraqis until they comply with his demands” as this would be the “wisest course.” Never call me a crazy mother fucker…there are plenty of morons like Atkinson who on their most sane days are still a million times crazier than I, or the proverbial shithouse rat, could ever be. Check out some of these goofy ideas.

Will Musharraf get the Diem treatment?

There is a chilling report at the CNN website at this moment regarding the US Military Intelligence Community doing research to assess how Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal would be protected if President Musharraf were “replaced”. This sort of talk reminds me too much of what befell Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963. In the case of Diem, he was assassinated by ARVN forces in a coup which had the overt approval of the US government. Of course we all know how the CIA, the Military-Industrial Complex and the armed forces took his assassination as the green light to go ape shit for the better part of the next 10 years.

Is Musharraf in danger of becoming the next Diem? I think it is not only possible but probable. Already the parrots have begun screaming that without Musharraf in power an Islamic fundamentalist government will take hold in Pakistan and crazy Muslims with nukes are the biggest boogy man TPTB own. It does not matter that the Islamic power structure in Pakistan is actually in the vast minority. It matters not that Pakistani’s see India as their sworn enemies and not the west. All that matters is pulling out the scary doom and gloom of radical Islamists.

I do not feel comfortable with the status quo in Pakistan. The government is shaky at best, and they do have the nukes. TPTB may appear to be shaken in America by looking at poll numbers but they are as firmly entrenched as ever. The Democrats are still enabling them and in effect, condoning their actions. The mad end-times lunatics are still devoted to the idea of Armageddon occurring in our lifetime, the sooner the better. The xenophobic still thirst for the blood and death of brown, olive and black skinned humans.
The ideas have been floated in the mainstream press that something is going to happen in Pakistan, and the mantra is still fight them over there, blah, blah. blah. When the government is looking at contingency plans if Musharraf falls we should look at it as a warning of what the government wants to do.

The Oral Majority

I wonder if I am limiting my sexual enjoyment by only having sex with free spirited liberal leaning women? It seems that tough talking manly men in the Republican party are pretty adept at giving head based on current events. Should I stop chasing the wild east Atlanta bohemian women and start focusing on the guys wearing Brooks Brothers suits who haunt the state capitol?

Florida State House Rep. Bob Allen got busted last month for soliciting oral sex from “a pretty stocky black guy” in a public park restroom late one evening in July, for $20. The “stocky black guy” turned out to be an undercover cop and wham-o, Allen got hauled off to the pokey (no pun intended) for a little Q&A at the Broward County jail. Hmmm…even as a straight man I’ve always heard about these so-called cruising spots. Allen must have thought he was at Hartsfield-Jackson.

For Allen’s defense he says he was in no way at the park looking to give a quick, public BJ to settle his lustful little right wing heart. No, he says he was all askeered of the big scary black man and offered to give this man $20 to suck his hoo haa just to keep himself from being a “statistic”. You know, I’ve felt very nervous and unsafe in certain locations and times around Atlanta over the years. Defusing the situation by paying to give a dangerous looking man a wet sloppy hummer was the last thing I thought of doing.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-allentape0307aug03,0,1892734.story?coll=orl_tab01_layout

If that weren’t enough, the National Federation Chair of the Young Republicans, Glenn Murphy, has resigned his position after police reports have surfaced that accuse him of giving an unwelcome blow job to a young man while he slept. Ya know, I’ve woken up to the wonderful sensation of oral pleasure being performed on me while I was asleep on many occasions. Of course, it was being done by a Birkenstock wearing hippie chick who was being extra nice to this paranoid bugger with her reckless sexual abandon.

http://www.takingdownwords.com/taking_down_words/files/glennmurphy.pdf

What is it with these uptight, gay bashing, family values sort of Republicans giving BJs away like they are candy? Hell, they are even paying to give oral pleasure. No woman even gave me so much as a nickel if I let her go down. Maybe these moral high road fellas are onto something very progressive and forward thinking? Do Republican women act this way too?

Good Lord, have I been making a mistake for all these years by sharing my bed only with wild liberal women? Are the Republican women little sexual hell cats, who’s wiles are so great that they can drive 100% hetero dudes into paying strangers to give juicy oral action in public men’s rooms and on unsuspecting Young Republicans while they doze away? What sort of sexual pixie dust are these people sprinkling?

Romney-Vision!

Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has created a new philosophical tenant with his claim that his sons are showing their support for American servicemen by traveling across the nation helping him to get elected. Honestly, this is the most brilliant philosophical stance I have ever heard. I think I will base the foundation of my life on it. For example:

From this day forward I will my support for the poor and under-privileged of America by buying top of the line designer clothing. Looking sharply dressed will inspire them to get themselves together.

I will show support for the Iraq war by setting fire to 10 additional gallons of gasoline a week. I’ll simply burn the gas in a pit.

I will show my support for global warming initiatives by leaving the doors open to my refrigerator. This will cool the planet.

I will show my support for the health insurance industry by quitting smoking. I will switch to chewing tobacco instead.

I will show my support for the 1st amendment by telling anyone with a differing opinion to shut the fuck up. Some folks waste freedoms and don’t deserve what they get.

I will show my support for free trade and the global economy by buying 2 tons of imported Chinese wheat gluten and making dog food out of it. Any problems that occur afterward are just road bumps of capitalism and the only victims in a free market are those without a plan.

Wow. I feel better now that I have a new direction in life. Who knew that justifying selfish stances could be so liberating?

Blackwater gets serious

There has been quite a bit of discussion going on at various blogs and alternative news sites over the past few days regarding the lawsuit by Blackwater Security Consulting against the families of the 4 Blackwater contractors who were killed in Fallujah in 2004 in a now infamous attack. The background and shadowy details of Blackwater and it’s right-wing extremist president, Erik Prince, has been garnering more and more attention of late with books being published about him and this private army, as well as the troubling rise of contractors in Iraq. I’ve posted briefly about Prince in an earlier post but to get a more well rounded set of information about him I strongly advise the reader to spend some time Googling his name.

One of the most worrisome aspects of this lawsuit against the families is the effect it could have on other families who may wish to sue Blackwater in the future if their loved ones meet their demise in Iraq or elsewhere in the world. It could also have a chilling effect on any potential Government investigations into their work in the “War on Terror”. Among the attorneys who are pursuing the lawsuit against the families are Fred Fielding (current counsel to President Bush), Joseph Schmitz (former Inspector General of the Pentagon), Kenneth Starr (of the infamous Starr investigation of President Clinton) and Cofer Black (former Director of the CIA Counter Terrorism Center).

What Blackwater has done in retaining these lawyers in this case is troubling when you consider their connections to the upper echelons of the recent power structure in Washington. Fielding’s involvement is quite troubling as his presence creates a direct pipeline of information between the President, Rove, Cheney and Blackwater. Attorney/Client privilege is supposed to prevent information from leaking out of cases like this but do we really believe that these people care about the law and privacy? One thing about those who wield true power in this country is that they do not view the laws of this nation as something that applies to them.

The last thing Blackwater needs is to have it’s inner workings exposed before the American public, especially in a case that would generate public sympathy for the families of the deceased contractors. In fact, a full disclosure of the inner workings of Blackwater is what this nation needs. We need to wake up to the dangers presented by a rogue, private army being led by a far right-wing extremist that is being supported by extremist ideologues within our own Government.

Commentary - The political conspiracy of the Evangelical movement in America

Under the radar and away from the collective consciousness of Americans, there has been an open plot by the extreme evangelical movement to undermine and take control of American government. With Presidential elections a year away, the political commentators and pundits on both sides of the aisle talk about the Republican candidates and whether or not they can appeal to the Republican “base”. The “base” they are describing is not the traditional group of fiscal conservatives, the Republican party has morphed and the Goldwater conservatives are long gone as the demographic being catered to. Even the Reaganites who were created a generation ago have lost their luster and place within that party. The course of the Republican party is steering from a chart plotted by the evangelical movement.

This movement has not shirked away from their stated goals, to assume control of the American government, overthrow judicial rulings that do not conform to their theocratic ideals and to force all Americans to live under their vision of America and God. The conspiracy of this movement has never kept its goals a secret and the conspirators willfully and openly admit what they want to achieve. With the recent death of Jerry Falwell, the subjects being discussed among the Republican Presidential hopefuls and the scandal of the fired US Attorneys this is a good opportunity to look at a few aspects of this movement.

I have to admit to a certain amount of underestimating on my part about this movement. In the 1980’s when Pat Robertson’s cache grew within the political right and ministers such as he, Falwell and others openly discussed a future where evangelicals ruled the courts, I dismissed and scoffed at the claims. My sentiment at the time was that the evangelicals attempting to gain political control of the nation were sadly gullible. Time and time again they had attempted to make in-roads of gaining political clout, only to be disappointed by the actions of the leaders they had backed, Reagan included, when they were cast aside. I misjudged how sly these leaders could be.

Instead of putting all their eggs into the overt basket of one political leader, the leadership of the evangelical right-wing bet the farm on a covert, yet fully in the open plan of education and changing policy from within the structure of government. Universities such as Regent began churning out lawyers and a grass roots movement of evangelical lawyers began to grow. Their goals were clear and concise – turn the nation into a theocracy through an aggressive legal campaign. With a changing political landscape in the mid-90’s, one which they had a major hand in shaping and one in which fear and loathing became the modus operendi, the evangelical movement created and nurtured the political alliances that would allow them to inject their legal commandos for God into the upper tiers of the American judicial and legislative branches. With the election of George W. Bush to President, the third branch of power was the missing piece and full sympathy to their goals was found.

The most worrisome aspect of this conspiracy is that the stated goals of this movement are to literally turn America into a theocracy and they have been active in actually making this happen. They do not want to simply have freedom of religion, where all people are allowed to worship as they desire with no fear of retribution, they wish to change the fundamental way in which Americans are allowed to live.

Civil rights would vanish as even the most centrist of these leaders are violently opposed to gay rights, abortion and free speech. Abortion would not only be outlawed under their vision for America, sexuality would be criminalized outside the marriage between man and woman. Free speech would suffer as criticism of religion and religious leaders would be tantamount to blasphemy and the overall tone of adult discourse would be watered down as literature, film and music would be affected by classifying words and ideas that they consider obscene.

The hidden agenda of these leaders is far more dark and frightening than what they extol on the surface. Time and time again we can see that what most Americans would consider to be extremist beliefs are widely shared by these evangelical leaders and their followers. When confronted with their statements after they have been made, insincere apologies are made, but the cat has been let out of the bag. The comments made by Falwell after the 9/11 attacks are an example, but there are far more examples of this type of belief.

If the mainstream media ever decide to fully report this movement and report their beliefs, goals and actions in a serious, compelling tone then perhaps the public at large will recognize the danger that these sociopaths present to the nation as a whole. I fully support and wish that every person can worship and live their lives the way they feel is best. I do not condone silencing the extremists of the evangelical movement. I do however believe that when dangerous fools show their true nature, it is the responsibility of others to expose these frauds and hypocrites. The cultish quality of the modern evangelical movement and the hatred they display are dangerous, labeling their actions as religious freedom is an affront to Christians, Jews, Muslims, Agnostics and Atheists -- in other words, all people, all children of God.

Who would Jesus bomb?

James "The Dachshund Molester" Dobson has talked about a recent meeting that he and 12 other right-wing Christian extremists had with President Bush. The subject, bombing the living hell out of Iran. Godwins Law was also invoked as the President of Iran was compared to Adolph Hitler. In other words, it was a typical day in the Bush White House.

Among Dobson's comments are some real winners:

Dobson described Bush as “upbeat and determined and convinced, adding, “I
wish the American people could have sat in on that meeting we had.”

Yes Mr. Dobson, the rest of the country also wishes that The President would be less secretive, more open and actually mingle with the common folks of this country. We wish he would talk with us as well, even better would be if he actually listened to us.

“I heard about this danger [from Iran] not only at the White House but from
other pro-family leaders that I met during that week in Washington," he said.
“Many people in a position to know are talking about the possibility of losing a
city to nuclear or biological or chemical attack. And if we can lose one we can
lose ten.

False Flag Op in the cooking? Why do "Pro-Life" leaders have access to intelligence that Dobson is alluding to? Never mind, I answered my own questions.

Dobson continued, “Some of our listeners might not like that but I tell you,
if we didn't stand up to Hitler, we'd be speaking German today.”

Godwin's Law at your service. I think Dobson needs to re-read his history books and revisit the time just before the onset of WWII and our entry into the war. But, Dobson's history books probably tell him that dinosaurs walked the earth with man, so I doubt that his source material would be worth a damn.

All in all, another day another Christian extremist kook on the loose. With Falwell now just a bad memory it's time for Dobson to go viral.

Other blogs - Blackwater USA - Who's Private Idaho?

Relatively little media attention has been paid to the emergence of the Blackwater USA paramilitary group, but a recent posting at DailyKos provides an excellent overview to this group, it’s founder and it’s mission.

What is more troubling; the lack of oversight regarding the war profiteering money grab made by Blackwater owner Erik Price, or the fact that a billionaire extremist has his own private army complete with it’s own private air fleet?

News - Confirmation of the Cho/Unification Church Connection

(update by The CT Blogger - 5/7/2007 - New update on the shooter's background in the Evangelical movement can be found here)

Following a posted comment by one of the readers of the blog, there is more to add regarding the VaTech shooter’s connection to the Unification Church (Moonies).

The researcher who operates the Exod-US blog has discovered and posted details of the Unification Church connection The direct connection comes through Rev. David Kim, who you will note from a previous entry I made on Rev. Kim, was involved in the PR cover up upon the request of the shooter’s sister.

Exod-Us blog has also found much more detailed information regarding the Wellington Boone connection Via Manna Christian Fellowship, including a timeline of the movement and the Boone/Kim relationship.
(Hat tip to “Babalabo” for this story)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The champions and enemies list revolving the VaTech massacre grows.

News - Cho ties to Manna Christian Fellowship

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

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

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

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

More to come...

Commentary - Who will benefit?

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

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

Guess who's thunder has been stolen?

Commentary - The 2nd Ammendment Conspiracy Theories

(CT Blogger's note - I wrote this over the weekend and was planning on posting on the 19th. In light of today's tragic events, it seems more appropriate to post today, unedited and unproofed.)


There are three tragic events which have anniversaries over the next few days that have deep CT roots. The 19th marks the 14th anniversary of the Branch Davidian tragedy in Waco and the 12th anniversary of the Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City. The 20th marks the 8th anniversary of the Columbine massacre. The first two events, Waco and Oklahoma City, are directly linked. Columbine is not, at least it appears to not be linked if you only look at the surface. There is a conspiracy theory that runs underneath all three events and this theory has played a major part in a major sea change within the CT world.

There are two separate conspiracy theories that have swirled around the Waco event. The first is mainly adhered to by right wing conspiracy theorists who believe the Waco siege and deaths were part of a conspiracy to undermine the Second Amendment. The second theory postulates that federal agents using specialized weapons started the fire that destroyed the Davidian compound.

This incident is what Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, claimed as the event that caused him to plan and commit his attack on the federal building. McVeigh believed that the Federal government was at fault for the Waco deaths and stated that his attack was retribution for that event. McVeigh was one of the right wing extremists who also believed that the Waco siege was a part of a larger conspiracy to take away guns from the American public.

While these two events have no direct link to the Columbine massacre the underlying CT which connects all three, is the theory that there is a conspiracy against the 2nd Amendment. Following the event in Columbine there was once again a call to ban or restrict gun ownership. The followers of this CT all share a common political identity, right wing conservatism. This extremist faction of followers, such as McVeigh, stand on an anti-government belief system. There is also an extremist left wing faction that mirrors this movement.

Since the 911 attacks the extreme right wing conspiracy theory faction that follows the 2nd Amendment CT, has evolved. The policies of the neo-conservative movement have initiated many ideals that the right wing extremists extol but they have also embraced ideals that the extremists loathe. The neocon embrace of extremist Israeli policies, “Big Brother” surveillance and the expansion of big government has caused the extreme right wing to evolve into Illuminati believers.

Because of this evolution there has been a major increase of interest in the Illuminati, NWO and Bilderberg Group fields of study. Ten years ago there were a small handful of theorists who specialized in Globalist theories. A quick survey of Internet forums today will return a large number of people discussing the Illuminati subjects and it’s my opinion that Illuminati based theories are by far the most discussed online.

Millennial mass hysteria set the stage for the current state of CT affairs. 1999 was a year that saw Y2K fears, uncertainty of what the 2000 elections would bring in America, an out of control division of politics due to Clinton backlash and the emergence of a new electronic economy that was unstable due to the dotcom bubble. This set the stage for the right wing extremist evolution as the Bush war machine was set in motion.

I believe that there is a side benefit to this evolution in that we may see a CT researcher, or group of researchers, attempt to weave an all-encompassing Unified Theory of Conspiracy and the Illuminati studies brings the researcher close to the possibility of a Unified Theory. There are a large number of CT enthusiasts who post to forums who draw upon segments of what could be merged into such a theory but for reasons known only to them, they do not combine this information into something larger.

David Icke may be the most well known of the current CT personalities who does weave a Unifying Theory. What Icke does is present the various facets of such a theory as singular, independent subjects that happen to be connected to a larger, whole theory. This presentation philosophy has what I believe is a serious flaw. If you go to his website there is no cohesive narrative to guide the visitor through his ideas and if you are well versed in his theories you will know that the narrative he provides is loose and each facet seems to lead you to yet one more book he has written that he wants you to buy.

I believe that Icke’s work in CT is invaluable simply from the standpoint that he is a lightning rod to CT studies. In England his name is well known but for the rest of the world those who know of his ideas mostly learn them in snippets. His work is geared more toward the spiritual, which is somewhat unsettling to me as it has a definite overtone of cultism that cannot be shaken regardless if this was unintentional and incidental. To weave together his CT narratives leads the researcher at every point to a spiritual center. The danger in such an approach, as you can guess is that people searching for a spiritual answer to the world’s problems are susceptible to cult programming. Icke has not helped this problem as he once claimed that he is God.

Which leads me back to the dates in question. These dates can be looked at as examples that the CT enthusiast can use for identifying common threads between various theories. There is a strange order that can be found once you begin looking at coincidental connections between events. Identifying patterns is crucial in solving mysteries and linking clues. While the coincidence of these events may be purely accidental, the underlying CT can be found if you look closely at the aftermaths of each event.

The aftermaths of Waco, Oklahoma City and Columbine have only one common thread, the 2nd Amendment theory. Right wing extremists cite the 2nd Amendment theory. Right wing extremists have evolved into Illuminati theorists. The current state of conspiracism revolves around Illuminati theories.

Commentary - A system of structure and definitions for Conspiracy Theory - Part 2

In part 1 of this post I described a system that can be used to classify and categorize conspiracy theories. Part 1 can be found here:

http://theconspiratorsnest.blogspot.com/2007/04/system-of-structure-and-definitions-for.html

In this part I give examples of using this system and how to expand and/or clarify existing theories. Far too often the scope of these theories can cause us to fail to see the forest for the trees, as the old saying goes. Larger connections can be made and insights gained if a method of organizing these theories is found.

There is great promise of using databases, social networking software and other forms of database analysis for CT research. The drawbacks to this approach are the time needed, money and the required skill sets to make this approach work. Creating the database would be the real devil of such a project unless several people teamed up for the effort. OCR software, scanners, a library of reference material and a quality control process would address part of the problem, but you would still need the time and dedication to scan and review tens if not hundreds of thousands of pages of books and magazines. Addressing NNTP, static web pages and dynamic forum data would be an entirely different project. The lone researcher or enthusiast is left to their own resources.

Lets begin with a subject which has received very little attention from conspiracy theorists but is beginning to make waves in the area of political science blogs. The subject being a conspiracy theory stating that an aspect of the religious right wing is attempting to take control of the US Government, more specifically, that the conspiracy is the fruition of Pat Robertson’s goal to change the world by using graduates of Regent University.

Using the system I described we can classify this as a Crossover Conspiracy Theory (CCT) as it has a foundation in two of the three social systems that must be present to become a conspiracy theory. This theory involves Theocracy and Politics. The main foundation is Theocratic and its secondary foundation is Polemic. The goal (a changed world that follows a specific religious belief) is attained after gaining and influencing political power surreptitiously. Therefore, we can call this a Theocratic Crossover Conspiracy Theory with a Polemic Secondary Foundation.

Using this description we can then overlay the theory with other theories which are classified and categorized in the same manner. From this overlay the researcher can then look for the common denominators of each and determine if there is a confluence between the two. The common denominators can be people, identical statements of “Groupthink” (propaganda), organizational structures, shared events and even geographical anomalies (two headquarters or centralized services situated on the same street or same location).

When a connection is made from an overlay the researcher can then focus on the vetting process to see if their theory is part of a much larger conspiracy or isolated. Isolated theories are not lesser in their importance; it simply removes the theory from a larger, more complex theory.

Let’s look at the Regent University theory again with this information. We have 150 graduates of Regent University serving under the Bush Administration. Quite an amazing fact considering it is a Tier-4 law school that has only been in existence for less than 30 years. Even more impressive is the fact that some Regent alumni have climbed to extremely high positions, most notably within the Justice Department.

Monica Goodling, the recently discussed Justice Department official who is among those at the center of the scandal involving the fired US Attorneys, was a 1999 graduate of Regent and her final position at Justice was Senior Liaison for the White House. For a 33 year old who only had 7 years experience in law, this is a stunning rate of advancement. Did she get this position of enormous responsibility from her own record as a trial, corporate or personal lawyer? No, she did not. After graduating from Regent and before joining the Justice Department she worked for the RNC at their DC headquarters in the Bush Opposition Research Team, who’s main claim to infamy was leading the faux outrage riot at a southern Florida elections office which was fully documented by the major media outlets during the election re-count controversy.

On the surface, Goodling was nothing more than an astute and talented social networker, an eager overachiever who nurtured relationships with mentors who placed her in higher and higher places of power. So how does she act as a common denominator in this scandal? Her very presence and that of the other 149 fellow alumni is a red flag for the researcher. Her exponential rate of promotion and her proximity to two Theocratic and Polemic conspiracy theories make her and her educational partners a serious common denominator.

The theory about Pat Robertson's goals overlays perfectly with the fired US Attorney scandal. The goals of the Moral Majority/Christian Coalition and Robertson’s stated goals of Regent University include numerous stated desires to change or overthrow many legal findings, not limited to but including the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. The censorship of media outlets that they declare to be “anti-family” and removing the recognition of homosexuality and the rights of homosexuals are also among theory stated legal goals.

These people, Goodling included, have been involved with the actual process of removing Attorneys who were not 100& “Pro-Bush” and in their place they would be hiring lawyers who did agree with every political and religious view of the far right wing religious extremists. The “Pro-Bush” platform can be seen as having many platforms. But anti-abortion, anti-homosexual and pro-family are a few of the main points of argument that they use. From those points they branch out into the far extreme ends of ideas.

From this exercise you can see how this system works and how it can help you make those connections. Try it yourself with a new theory you’ve had or with one of the classics like the JFK assassination or Freemasonry. You may find a few surprises, possibly a new connection that no one has seen before. Good luck!

News - Will the floodgates open?

Now that the Don Imus storm has peaked will the floodgates open on right wing media personalities? The idea is beginning to float with Rush Limbaugh even telling his listeners that he's next. MediaMatters.org has posted a large data dump of the most notable examples of right wing pundits crossing the line:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200704120010

I'm waiting for the "PC" backlash to brew from the political right if this keeps rolling down the tracks and picks up steam. We need a good moral panic these days, with right and left wingers throwing the pity party for themselves complete with the good old-fashioned First Amendment finger jab to the chest.