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"I am against the constant destruction of evidence in criminal matters and political assassinations. Prime witnesses are murdered before or after testifying. Diaries are forged and planted in obvious places. Doubles are created to confuse. The Police Departments manipulate facts in cooperation with conspirators. I am outraged that our judicial system since 1947 has been patterned after Nazi Germany." - Mae Brussell

Thursday, July 31, 2008
Iraq's Antiquities Looted
news.mywebpal.com
07/31/08
By DAUD SALMAN, The Institute for War & Peace Reporting

BAGHDAD — To most, the scenes of looting and wanton destruction of Iraq’s archaeological treasures that followed the U.S. invasion in 2003 are just a distant memory. But unfortunately, the country continues to lose its priceless artifacts on a daily basis as a result of theft, illegal excavations and trespassing.

The government estimates that there are around 10,000 archaeological sites in the country. Most of them are located in central Iraq, an area badly hit by the chaos and lawlessness that has gripped the country over the last several years. While some of the best-known Mesopotamian sites, such as Ur near modern-day Nasiriyah, are well-protected, many others are completely unguarded.

Qais Rashid Hussein, director general of excavations and inspection at the Ministry of Archaeology and Tourism, said there are only 1,200 troops available to protect all of Iraq’s historic treasures. That has created “a huge problem” that has left antiquities vulnerable to gangs and smugglers, he said.

Treasure hunters illegally excavate the sites for valuable items that are then traded on the black market and often smuggled out of the country. Margarete van Ess, director of Oriental Science at the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin, estimated that illegal excavation in Iraq has caused $10 billion worth of damage in recent years.

“Many of the sites are far from town centers and cities and are under the control of tribes,” she said, making them vulnerable to looters. Former President Saddam Hussein’s regime maintained tight control over most of the country’s archaeological sites and imposed stiff penalties on those caught looting. Those convicted of stealing antiquities faced 15 years in prison, and, in some cases, the death penalty. While many of those laws remain on the books, they are rarely enforced today.

Ancient coins, seals and other gold, silver and bronze pieces can be purchased on the black market in Iraq for as little as $10. But the same item offered for sale in Syria or Jordan can fetch thousands of dollars.

“A (Sumerian) cylinder seal can be bought for less than $100, and gold coins for even less (in Baghdad),” said Said Mahmood, a 52-year-old antiquities collector. “(However) the same cylinder seal can be sold for more than $2,000 outside of Iraq.” Last month, the Iraqi government announced that it was launching a concerted effort to reclaim about 15,000 artifacts believed stolen during the looting on the Baghdad Museum in 2003.

Already, Jordan has returned about 2,000 stolen items, some dating back to 7,000 B.C. In April, Syria turned over around 700 pieces, including gold coins and jewelry, which were seized by Syrian customs officials.

But even as the government reclaims stolen items, additional artifacts are being looted from unguarded sites. Sometimes, ignorance or neglect is behind the damage being done to Iraq’s ancient past. Last year, officials with the antiquities ministry discovered that a new housing project was about to be built on top of a priceless archeological site; in Baghdad, a similar site was being used as a garbage dump until authorities intervened.

Khalid Sultan, a Baghdad-based archaeology expert, said both the Iraqi government and the international community need to do more to protect the country’s past.

“The destruction of Iraqi antiquities after the 2003 war has been enormous,” he said. “We need a massive effort from the international community to return the stolen pieces and to help us to protect the remaining archaeological sites.”

Daud Salman is a reporter in Iraq who writes for The Institute for War & Peace Reporting, a nonprofit organization that trains journalists in areas of conflict. Readers may write to the author at the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, 48 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8LT, U.K.; Web site: www.iwpr.net. For information about IWPR’s funding, please go to http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?top—supporters.html.

(c) 2008, The Institute for War & Peace Reporting

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/680/public/news917241.html
Posted by Alex Constantine at 4:28 PM 0 comments Links to this post
U. of Barcelona Study: Formadehyde Derived from NutraSweet Bonds with Human Tissue in Vivo





See: http://www.mpwhi.com/formaldehyde_from_aspartame.pdf
Posted by Alex Constantine at 10:49 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Accused Statutory Rapist Robert Wadman's "Libel" Suit Against John DeCamp Flops
By Alex Constantine
Revised 7-31-08

Yesteraday, at 5:09 pm, I had a call from Lincoln, Nebraska attorney John DeCamp, author of The Franklin Cover-Up, and his legal assistant, Bobby Kosmicki. They were driving away from the Ogden, Utah courtroom - where Robert Wadman made one more attempt to suppress allegations of statutory rape and conspiracy to conceal the evidence, among other serious charges - in jubilant spirits. This was decent enough news because Wadman is also suing my publisher, Adam Parfrey, for libel - thirteen years after my own book, Psychic Dictatorshiip in the USA, was printed.

Thie trial was over in a couple of hours, and DeCamp didn't exactly limp away from it a legal eunuch, as Wadman hoped.

John DeCamp

DeCamp moved early on in the proceeding to have the suit thrown out because in many states a libel suit cannot be filed in small claims. The judge saw it differently, however, and maintained that though the case should have been brought in district or superior court, Utah statutes grant him the authority to preside over libel claims.

So Wadman pressed on, claiming that DeCamp's book had defamed him and caused him to lose employment as an overseas advisor in international policing by the Bush Justice Department, resulting in a "loss of income." Little evidence was presented at trial, though, and in the end the judge ruled in favor of DeCamp, although Wadman has the right of appeal.

According to Ms. Kosmicki, the former police chief's testimony consisted of
"continual misstatements and a lot of whining of victimization, and lies about being besieged by DeCamp office's 'death threats.""

Wadman's perjured case against myself and my publisher hinges on his contention that he "does not know Larry King," the Republican whig at the epicenter of the Omaha scandal, among other claims.

Wadman has gone so far as to swear under oath that he barely knew King.

DeCamp, in a post-publication interview:

"... That's not what King says. In April 22, 1989 interviews with King and Wadman, Frank Brown of TV-7, Omaha, questioned them about an incident in which Wadman intervened at King's request, to order the release of a suitcase seized in a drug raid.

BROWN: King acknowledges he is a friend of Chief Wadman's. We asked King did he call the chief to get a suitcase released that had been seized in a drug investigation?

BROWN: You had that friendship where, you could -

KING: Yes.
http://www.vrijheids.net/media/The_Franklin_Cover_Up.pdf

Robert Wadman also claims that he does not know Alisha Owen, who has testified (and never recanted) that the-then chief of the Omaha police department is the father of her child, and that she had sex with him at the age of 14. From the Nebraska Leadership Conference Newsletter, No. 2, Oct. 11, 1991:

"[Alisha] Owen stated that when she first met Police Chief Robert Wadman, she was a virgin." This was at a party in Omaha. "Another party took place on August 31, at the same location. Present were 'Alfie Allen, Larry King, Alan Baer, Robert Wadman ... "

And so it goes. Wadman denies everything. My publisher meets him in the courtroom in September.

Stay tuned for more details - and word on my own suit against Wadman - who has actually written to by distributor, claiming that Psychic Dictatorship is under "litigation" (he fails to mention that it's in small claims court) and should be recalled, removed from the shelves. This is a lame attempt to censor my books and abridge my first amendment rights.

In California, there are anti-SLAPP statutes against filing harassment suits to silence journalists ... like good ol' Alex Constantine, as Wadman is about to find out.*

So I'll be filing a suit against him to put a stop to this stalking and filing groundless legal compliants in a pathetic attempt to silence DeCamp and myself.
•••••••
http://www.casp.net/slapps/mengen.html

* What are SLAPPs?

SLAPPs — Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation — are civil complaints or counterclaims (against either an individual or an organization) in which the alleged injury was the result of petitioning or free speech activities protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. SLAPPs are often brought by corporations, real estate developers, or government officials and entities against individuals who oppose them on public issues. Typically, SLAPPs are based on ordinary civil tort claims such as defamation, conspiracy, and interference with prospective economic advantage.

While most SLAPPs are legally meritless, they effectively achieve their principal purpose: to chill public debate on specific issues. Defending a SLAPP requires substantial money, time, and legal resources and thus diverts the defendant's attention away from the public issue. Equally important, however, a SLAPP also sends a message to others: you, too, can be sued if you speak up.

Every year thousands of people are hit with SLAPPs for such activities as writing a letter to a newspaper, reporting misconduct by public officals, speaking at public meetings, filing complaints with officials over violations of labor laws or health and safety laws, "whistleblowing" in corporations, or organizing tenants. ...
Posted by Alex Constantine at 8:07 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Re "Alex Constantine Returns"
By Alex Constantine

Once again, the Conservative Voice, a mine of ringing right-wing propaganda, is taking me to task for debunking the "Islamo-fascism" red herring.

Paul Krugman is correct: "There isn’t actually any such thing as Islamofascism — it’s not an ideology; it’s a figment of the neocon imagination."
http://neveryetmelted.com/index.php/no-islamofascism/

Neocons parroting Bush, badly in need of a dictionary, promote the "islamo-fascism" line, eg. Raymond Ibrahim, editor of the Al Qaeda Reader, an omelet of texts written by Islamic extremists, and compares the words of Al Qaeda to Mein Kampf.

Ibrahim performs this service at David Horowitz's FrontPage site.

It's fairly well-known that Horowitz receives generous funding from Richard Mellon Scaife - a CIA propagandist since the early days of the cold war. (The intelligence connection runs in the family: "During World War II, while Richard and Cordelia's father, Alan Scaife, served in Europe in the OSS, the forerunner to the CIA, the Scaife family lived in Washington."
- http://www.salon.com/news/1998/04/07news.html)

Scaife supports a phalanx of organizations that, like the FrontPage site, distribute fascist propaganda. They all have ties to the CIA:

American Enterprise Institute
Atlas Economic Research Foundation
David Horowitz Freedom Center
Federalist Society
Foundation for Economic Education
Free Congress Foundation (headed by Paul Weyrich)
Freedom House
GOPAC (headed by Newt Gingrich)
Independent Women's Forum
Intercollegiate Studies Institute (which operates the Collegiate Network)
Judicial Watch
Landmark Legal Foundation
Media Research Center (headed by Brent Bozell)
Pacific Legal Foundation
Pittsburgh World Affairs Council
Reason Foundation

http://www.answers.com/topic/richard-scaife

Most of these CIA-subsidized propagandists are towing the "Islamo-Fascism" clunker. Krugman: " ... a bunch of lightly armed terrorists and a fourth-rate military power — which aren’t even allies — pose a greater danger than Hitler’s panzers or the Soviet nuclear arsenal ever did. ... "
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/10/29/krugman-no-such-thing-as-islamofascism/

Blogger Steve Benen comments, "The politics of fear might be more effective if it were grounded in reality."

Why point the finger at the Middle East, when actual fascism is corporate and would probably not exist without the capitalistic impetus that flows internationally from the United States?

Fascism is unbridled capitalism - it is a feature of American life. It elevates thugs and criminals to positions of power. It is inherently conspiratorial and engages in acts of destruction to advance itself. Scapegoating "Islamo-fascists" - when American corporations in league with their corallaries in Germany, Japan, Italy, etc., make fascism possible and feed the geo-genocidal beast. The Arabs may have had Nazi collaborators, as did America itself, many more, but make no mistake about it, the U.S. is the beating heart of it all.

• IBM counted the Jews at Auschwitz - not shieks from Araby.

• GM mechanized the Blitzkrieg - not desert camel drivers.

• Standard Oil had a secret pact with the Reich - not fig farmers in Iraq.

• Coca-Cola had Nazi contracts - not the water-carrier out on the oasis.

• BTW, what kind of sneakers do the Good Germans wear at Conservative Voice? What music do they listen to? Could be pertinent ...

Fascism is all-American - all-capitalist, all-corporate, all-degenerative. The yahoos who prattle about "Islamo-fascism" echo G.W. Bush, who hails from a family with reasonably well-known Nazi financial connections.

The great brainwashed finger-pointers are turned the wrong direction. America's ruling elite are the fascists, and they are bringing the country to its knees.
Posted by Alex Constantine at 10:06 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Accused Statutory Rapist Robert Wadman's "Libel" Suit Against John DeCamp Flops
By Alex Constantine

Yesteraday, at 5:09 pm, I had a call from Lincoln, Nebraska attorney John DeCamp, author of The Franklin Cover-Up, and his legal assistant, Bobby Kosmicki. They were driving away from the Ogden, Utah courtroom - where Robert Wadman made one more attempt to suppress allegations of statutory rape and conspiracy to conceal the evidence, among other serious charges - in jubilant spirits. This was decent enough news because Wadman is also suing my publisher, Adam Parfrey, for libel - thirteen years after my own book, Psychic Dictatorshiip in the USA, was printed.

Thie trial was over in a couple of hours, and DeCamp didn't exactly limp away from it a legal eunuch, as Wadman hoped.

John DeCamp

DeCamp moved early on in the proceeding to have the suit thrown out because in many states a libel suit cannot be filed in small claims. The judge saw it differently, however, and maintained that though the case should have been brought in district or superior court, Utah statutes grant him the authority to preside over libel claims.

So Wadman pressed on, claiming that DeCamp's book had defamed him and caused him to lose employment as an overseas advisor in international policing by the Bush Justice Department, resulting in a "loss of income." Little evidence was presented at trial, though, and in the end the judge ruled in favor of DeCamp, although Wadman has the right of appeal.

According to Ms. Kosmicki, the former police chief's testimony consisted of
"continual misstatements and a lot of whining of victimization, and lies about being besieged by DeCamp office's 'death threats.""

Wadman's perjured case against myself and my publisher hinges on his contention that he "does not know Larry King," the Republican whig at the epicenter of the Omaha scandal, among other claims.

Wadman has gone so far as to swear under oath that he barely knew King.

DeCamp, in a post-publication interview:

"... That's not what King says. In April 22, 1989 interviews with King and Wadman, Frank Brown of TV-7, Omaha, questioned them about an incident in which Wadman intervened at King's request, to order the release of a suitcase seized in a drug raid.

BROWN: King acknowledges he is a friend of Chief Wadman's. We asked King did he call the chief to get a suitcase released that had been seized in a drug investigation?

BROWN: You had that friendship where, you could -

KING: Yes.
http://www.vrijheids.net/media/The_Franklin_Cover_Up.pdf

Robert Wadman also claims that he does not know Alisha Owen, who has testified (and never recanted) that the-then chief of the Omaha police department is the father of her child, and that she had sex with him at the age of 14. From the Nebraska Leadership Conference Newsletter, No. 2, Oct. 11, 1991:

"[Alisha] Owen stated that when she first met Police Chief Robert Wadman, she was a virgin." This was at a party in Omaha. "Another party took place on August 31, at the same location. Present were 'Alfie Allen, Larry King, Alan Baer, Robert Wadman ... "

And so it goes. Wadman denies everything. My publisher meets him in the courtroom in September.

Stay tuned for more details - and word on my own suit against Wadman - who has actually written to by distributor, claiming that Psychic Dictatorship is under "litigation" (he fails to mention that it's in small claims court) and should be recalled, removed from the shelves. This is a lame attempt to censor my books and abridge my first amendment rights.

In California, there are anti-SLAPP statutes against filing harassment suits to silence journalists ... like good ol' Alex Constantine, as Wadman is about to find out.*

So I'll be filing a suit against him to put a stop to this stalking and filing groundless legal compliants in a pathetic attempt to silence DeCamp and myself.
•••••••
http://www.casp.net/slapps/mengen.html

* What are SLAPPs?

SLAPPs — Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation — are civil complaints or counterclaims (against either an individual or an organization) in which the alleged injury was the result of petitioning or free speech activities protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. SLAPPs are often brought by corporations, real estate developers, or government officials and entities against individuals who oppose them on public issues. Typically, SLAPPs are based on ordinary civil tort claims such as defamation, conspiracy, and interference with prospective economic advantage.

While most SLAPPs are legally meritless, they effectively achieve their principal purpose: to chill public debate on specific issues. Defending a SLAPP requires substantial money, time, and legal resources and thus diverts the defendant's attention away from the public issue. Equally important, however, a SLAPP also sends a message to others: you, too, can be sued if you speak up.

Every year thousands of people are hit with SLAPPs for such activities as writing a letter to a newspaper, reporting misconduct by public officals, speaking at public meetings, filing complaints with officials over violations of labor laws or health and safety laws, "whistleblowing" in corporations, or organizing tenants. ...
Posted by Alex Constantine at 12:10 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Oops, the MEDUSA Mind Control Ray Gun Will Actually Kill You
Also see: "THE MILITARY USE OF ELECTROMAGNETIC MICROWAVE AND MIND CONTROL TECHNOLOGY"

And: "Report: Nonlethal Weapons Could Target Brain, Mimic Schizophrenia"

http://www.gizmag.com/medusa-microwave-crowd-control-raygun/9605/
•••••••
MEDUSA: Microwave crowd-control raygun

As part of the U.S. Navy's investigation into futuristic nonlethal weaponry, the Sierra Nevada Corporation is building a microwave energy pulse gun that can produce a painful screaming sound inside a person's head from a long distance away. The inescapable sound, which is inaudible to untargeted bystanders, can be set to irritate, nauseate or even incapacitate people and animals that lie within range. Future applications may include crowd control, military use and even incapacitate people and animals that lie within range.

Future applications may include crowd control, military use and even shopping mall security, provided it proves safe from permanent side effects.

The science behind it also has the potential to give hearing to certain deaf people, or even projecting voices into peoples' heads.

The Sierra Nevada corporation has signed a contract with the U.S. Navy to follow up on successful recent testing of a non-lethal crowd control weapon that uses microwaves to project high-intensity sounds in the heads of targets, according to New Scientist magazine.

The MEDUSA (Mob Excess Deterrent Using Silent Audio) system makes use of the well-established Microwave Auditory Effect, in which microwave stimulation causes parts of the ear around the cochlea to expand thermally, which is interpreted as sound by the brain. The effect is a sound that appears to originate in the target's head, and can't be heard by anyone not directly in the beam's path.

This is not to be confused with Raytheon's Active Denial System, another crowd control weapon in development which uses a similar directed energy beam to cause unbearable but non-damaging heat pain in the top few layers of a target's skin.

Because MEDUSA's sound doesn't vibrate the eardrum itself, and thus the eardrum is not exposed to the damage potential that loud acoustic noise produces, traditional noise level limits don't have to apply with the MEDUSA system. So it's possible to dial in any level of sonic deterrent from mildly annoying up to physically and mentally incapacitating levels that the target has no way of blocking out of their head.

The MEDUSA system has the ability to be aimed at specific targets, multiple targets or even cover large areas with a broad beam, which will make it an effective security deterrent for the perimeters of protected areas. The same technology, on a smaller scale, could be used as an invisible sonic scarecrow to keep certain areas free from birds, as birds appear to respond to very low levels of microwave audio.

There are certain side effects - in 1961 testing of the first Microwave Auditory Effect system, Allen H. Frey noted dizziness, headaches and pins and needles in his subjects - and little is known about what further effects might occur when power levels are turned up to an incapacitating level. The potential for serious neural damage can't be ignored when you're effectively microwaving the inside of somebody's head - and if it does turn out to be lethal, the research may continue down that path and the technology may end up being used as a microwave death ray.

Beyond being used to generate an annoying high-pitched scream, the Microwave Auditory Effect has shown itself to hold interesting peacetime possibilities if it can be proven safe. By modulating the projected frequency, Sharp and Grove showed in 1975 that it's possible to "plant" voices, music and other sounds directly into the head.

Because the eardrum is not involved in the transmission of this sound, there have been hopes that patients with outer ear problems might be able to listen to music or voices through microwave transmission. On a more sinister note, it's easy to see how one might abuse the ability to direct "voices" straight into a person's head, as would appear to be feasible using the device described in this 2002 patent.

Still, the MEDUSA system is expected to be testable within one year and a mobile deployment unit built within another 18 months. And if it can be proven not to be harmful, it could be deployed within a few years in warzones, protest situations and shopping malls.
•••••••
IEEE Spectrum Online

Death Ray

The MEDUSA crowd control ray gun we reported on earlier this month sounded like some pretty amazing—and downright scary—technology. Using the microwave auditory effect, the beam, in theory, would have put sounds and voice-like noises in your head, thereby driving you away from the area. Crowd control via voices in your head. Sounds cool. However, it turns out that the beam would actually kill you before any of that happy stuff started taking place, most likely by frying or cooking your brain inside your skull. Can you imagine if this thing made it out into the field? Awkward!

“Any kind of exposure you could give to someone that wouldn’t burn them to a crisp would produce a sound too weak to have any effect,” said Kenneth Foster, a bioengineering professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Foster knows what he's talking about, too. In 1974 he published the first research on the microwave auditory effect.

Fellow scientist and microwave research author Bill Guy agrees, citing some hard facts to support his conclusions:

Guy says that experiments have demonstrated that radiation at 40 microjoules per pulse per square centimeter produces sound at zero decibels, which is just barely in hearing range. To produce sound at 60 decibels, or the sound of normal conversation, requires 40 watts per square centimeter of radiation. “That would kill you pretty fast,” Guy says. Producing an unpleasant sound, at about 120 decibels, would take 40 million W/cm2 of energy. One milliwatt per square centimeter is considered to be the safety threshold.

Both scientists were in agreement about one other thing too: the MEDUSA just morphed from a crowd-control device into a monstrous weapon. We need more of those, right?

http://gizmodo.com/5029484/update-oops-the-medusa-mind-control-ray-gun-will-actually-kill-you
Posted by Alex Constantine at 2:28 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Trailer for 'W' Shows President Bush as Party Animal
BY DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
July 29th 2008

Josh Brolin as George W. Bush

Dubya won't be too happy with "W."

President Bush is depicted as a rudderless young party animal in an upcoming Oliver Stone movie about his life, a trailer for the film shows.
A youthful Bush is shown gambling, taking a swing at his famous dad and downing shots of booze in the 96-second clip promoting the flick.

"What exactly are you cut out for?" asks by an actor playing the part of President George H.W. Bush. "Partying, chasing tail, driving drunk?"

The younger Bush is depicted slamming his car into a house and being led into a jail cell, a dramatization of his drunken-driving arrests. ...

Story continues with video trailer
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/07/29/2008-07-29_trailer_for_w_shows_president_bush_as_pa.html
Posted by Alex Constantine at 12:05 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Alaska Senator Is Indicted on Corruption Charges
NY Times
July 30, 2008
By DAVID STOUT and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

WASHINGTON — Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, the longest-serving Republican senator in United States history and a figure of great influence in Washington as well as in his home state, has been indicted on federal corruption charges.

Mr. Stevens, 84, was indicted on seven counts of falsely reporting income. The charges are related to renovations on his home and to gifts he has received. They arise from an investigation that has been under way for more than a year, in connection with the senator’s relationship with a businessman who oversaw the home-remodeling project.

The indictment will surely reverberate through the November elections. Mr. Stevens, who has been in the Senate for 40 years, is up for re-election this year. Mark Begich, a popular Democratic mayor of Anchorage, hopes to supplant him.

The Justice Department scheduled a news conference for Tuesday afternoon to announce the indictment.

Republicans on Capitol Hill were already jittery over a lobbying and influence-peddling scandal related to the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is now in prison. Mr. Stevens’s troubles are not linked to that affair. Instead, they stem from his ties to an oil executive whose company won millions of dollars in federal contracts with the help of Mr. Stevens, whose home in Alaska was almost doubled in size in the renovation project.

Mr. Stevens is a former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and he is still on the panel. As chairman, he wielded huge influence, and did not hesitate to use it to steer money and projects to his state.

“No other senator fills so central a place in his state’s public and economic life as Ted Stevens of Alaska,” the Almanac of American Politics says. “Quite possibly, no other senator ever has.”

Mr. Stevens, one of only a handful of World War II veterans left in the Senate, grew up in Indiana and California and moved to Alaska in 1950, before it was a state, according to the political almanac. He first ran for the Senate in 1962, losing to Ernest Gruening, a Democrat. He was appointed to fill a vacant seat in the Senate in 1968 by the governor at the time, Walter Hickel, and has been re-elected six times since then.

Word spread through the Capitol like an electric current, prompting whispers among senators and staff. The Democrats were gathering in a room near the Senate chamber for their weekly conference lunch. Republicans, meanwhile, moved their lunch to the headquarters of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, a common change of venue when the primary topic of discussion is politics.

Mr. Stevens is seen as a legendary, even heroic, figure in Alaska, who played a crucial role in its achievement of statehood, which became official in 1959. According to Senate Republican rules, Mr. Stevens will have to give up his leadership positions, which include some hugely powerful posts, as the senior Republican on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the defense appropriations subcommittee.

The long-running federal corruption investigation in Alaska has been hanging over Mr. Stevens as he faces his toughest re-election contest in many years. Mr. Begich was expected to mount a strong challenge even before word of the indictment spread.

Alaska, which last elected a Democratic senator in 1974, is one of several seemingly unlikely states where Democrats believe they have a strong chance of pulling off upset victories in the November elections.

The indictment comes nearly a year after federal agents raided Mr. Stevens’s home as part of a continuing investigation into corruption that had already ensnared the senator’s son, Ben Stevens, who was then president of the State Senate.

Though lawmakers have been aware of the Justice Department inquiry for some time, the news of an indictment still came as something of a shock this week, as both houses of Congress are trying to wrap up legislative business before the monthlong August recess.

Senator Daniel Inouye, Democrat of Hawaii, who is the chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee and a friend of Mr. Stevens, said that “he is innocent until proven guilty.” Mr. Inouye said he did not expect that the indictment would interfere with Senator Stevens’s ability to work in the Senate.

Other lawmakers, including Senator Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, the chairwoman of the ethics committee, said they needed to know more about the indictment before commenting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/washington/30stevens.html?ei=5087&em=&en=591b1b6b52e551e9&ex=1217476800&pagewanted=print
Posted by Alex Constantine at 12:00 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Monday, July 28, 2008
Operation Sarkozy: how the CIA placed one of its agents at the presidency of the French Republic
by Thierry Meyssan
www.voltairenet.org

One should judge Nicolas Sarkozy according to his actions, and not according to his personality. Yet when his doings surprise even his own constituents, it is legitimate to take a detailed look at his biography and question the bonds that brought him to power. Thierry Meyssan has decided to write the truth about the French Republic’s president background. All the information included in this article is provable, except for two assertions signalled by the author who alone takes full responsibility.

26 JULY 2008

Tired of the overextended presidencies of François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac, the French elected Nicolas Sarkozy counting on his energy to revitalize their country. They were hoping for a break with years of no-change and ideologies of the past. What they got instead was a break with the very principles which founded the French nation, and have been shocked by this “hyper-president”, seizing every day a new dossier, attracting towards him the right and the left wing, and tearing apart all points of reference to the point of creating a total confusion.

Like children who have just made a boo-boo, the French are too busy trying to find excuses for themselves to admit the magnitude of the damages and of their naiveté, and they refuse all the more to see who Nicolas Sarkozy really is, that they realize they should have known since a long time who he was.

One must say the man has talents. Like a magician he tricked them. By offering them the spectacle of his private life and posing in People’s magazines, he got them to forget his political history.

The aim of this article must be clearly understood. It is not to reproach to M. Sarkozy his family, his friends or his professional ties, but the fact of having hidden those ties from the French who believed, wrongly, they were electing a free man.

To understand how a man whom all agree today to view as an agent of the United States and of Israel was able to become the head of the Gaullist party and the president of the French Republic, we must go back in time, very very far back. We must make a long digression in the course of which we will present the protagonists who are today taking their revenge.

The family secrets

At the end of Second World War, the United States secret services relied on Italo-US godfather, Lucky Luciano, to control the security of American ports and prepare their disembarking in Sicily. The main contacts of Luciano — held at that time at a New York luxury prison — to the US intelligence services went notably through Frank Wisner, Sr. Later, when the “godfather” was liberated and chose to exile in Italy, they operated through his Corsican “Ambassador”, Étienne Léandri.

In 1958, worried about a possible victory of the FLN in Algeria which could open the way to Soviet influence in Northern Africa, the United States decided to provoke a military coup d’Etat in France. The operation was jointly organized by the Cia’s Direction of Planning – theoretically lead by Frank Wisner, Sr. – and by NATO. But Wisner had already become senile by that time and it was his successor, Allan Dulles, who supervised the coup. Out of Algeria, French generals organized a Public Salvation Committee which pressured the Parisian civilian authorities to vote full powers to General de Gaulle without having had to use force.

Yet, Charles de Gaulle was not the pawn the Anglo-Saxons had believed they could manipulate. In a first phase, he attempted to deal with the colonial contradiction by granting to the overseas territories a large autonomy within the French Union. But it was already too late to save the French empire; the colonized people didn’t believe any longer in the promises of the Metropolitan France and demanded their independence. After victorious but fierce repression against those fighting for independence, de Gaulle decided to face reality, and in a rare show of political wisdom, he granted independence to each colony.

This turn about was perceived by most of those who brought him to power as a betrayal. The CIA and NATO supported then all kinds of plots to eliminate him, among which a missed coup and some 40 attempts to murder him. However, certain of his followers approved of his political evolution. Around Charles Pasqua, they created the SAC (Civic action services), a militia to protect him.

Pasqua was both a Corsican bandit and a former resistant. He married the daughter of a Canadian bootlegger who made fortune during the prohibition and he directed the Ricard company who, after commercialising absinthe, a forbidden alcohol, won respectability by converting to the sales of another alcohol based on liquorice (anisette). The company continued however to serve as a cover for all sorts of traffics connected to the New York Italian American family of the Genovese (and) that of Lucky Luciano. It is therefore not surprising that Pasqua called on Étienne Léandri (Ambassador of Luciano) to recruit the hands that constituted the Gaullist militia. A third man played an important role in the formation of the SAC, the former body guard of de Gaulle, Achille Peretti, also a Corsican.

Thus protected, de Gaulle designs an audacious national independence policy. Even though asserting his belonging to the Atlantic camp, he questions the Anglo-Saxon leadership. He opposes the entry of the United Kingdom into the European common market (1961 and 1967); refuses the deployment of UN helmets into Congo (1961); encourages the Latin American states to become free of US imperialism (speech of Mexico, 1964); kicks NATO out France and withdraws from the Atlantic Alliance’s integrated command (1966); he condemns Israeli expansionism during the Six Day war (1967); supports independence of Quebec (Speech of Montreal 1967), etc.

Simultaneously, de Gaulle consolidated the power of France by endowing it with a military industrial-complex including a nuclear deterrent and guarantying its energy provisions. He conveniently distanced the encumbering Corsicans of his entourage by entrusting them with foreign missions. Thus, Étienne Léandri became a leader of the ELF group (today Total), while Charles Pasqua the trusted man of the Francophone heads of State in Africa.

Conscious that he could not defy the Anglo-Saxons on all fronts at the same time, De Gaulle allied himself to the Rothschild family, choosing as Prime Minister, Georges Pompidou, who was the fondé de pouvoir of the bank. The two men constituted an efficient tandem, the political audacity of the first never losing sight of the economic realism of the second.

When De Gaulle resigned in 1969, Georges Pompidou succeeded him briefly at the Presidency before being taken out by a cancer. The historical Gaullists did not admit his leadership, however, and worried about his anglophile proclivities. They howled treason when Pompidou, supported by the General Secretary of the Élysée, Edouard Balladur, had “perfidious Albion” join the European Common Market.

The making of Nicolas Sarkozy

That decorum having been put into place, we can now return to our main character, Nicolas Sarkozy. Born in 1955 he is son to a Hungarian catholic nobleman, Pal Sarkösy of Nagy-Bosca, who sought refuge in France after fleeing the Red Army, and to Andree Mallah, a Jewish commoner from Thessalonica. After having three children (Guillaume, Nicolas and François), the couple divorced. Pal Sarkösy of Nagy-Bocsa remarried with an aristocrat, Christine de Ganay, with whom he had two children (Pierre Olivier and Caroline). Nicolas will not be raised by his own parents alone, but will go back and forth within this recomposed family.

His mother became the secretary of De Gaulle’s bodyguard, Achille Peretti. The latter, after founding the SAC, pursued a brilliant political career. He was elected Deputy and Mayor of Neuilly sur Seine, the richest residential suburb of the capital, and later President of the National Assembly.

Unfortunately, in 1972, Achille Peretti comes under grave accusations. In the United States, Time Magazine reveals the existence of a secret criminal organization « the Corsican Union » which controls a large part of the drug trade between Europe and America, the famous « French connection » which Hollywood popularized on the large screen. Based on parliamentary auditions and on his own investigations, Time names the name of a mafia boss, Jean Venturi, arrested a few years earlier in Canada, who is none other than Charles Pasqua’s commercial delegate at the liquor society Ricard. The names of several families headed by the “Corsican Union” are cited, among which that of the Peretti. Achille denies, but is forced to renounce to the presidency of the National Assembly, and barely escapes a “suicide”…

In 1977, Pal Sarkösy of Nagy-Bocsa separates from his second wise, Christine de Ganay, who then gets together with the N°2 of the US State Department central administration. She marries him and settles in America with him. The world being very small, as everyone knows, her husband is none other than Frank Wisner, Jr, son of the previous. Junior’s responsibilities at the CIA are unknown, but it is clear that he plays an important role. Nicolas, who remains close to his mother in law, his half brother and his half sister, begins to turn towards the United States where he “benefits” from training programs of the State Department.

During that same period, Nicolas Sarkozy adheres to the Gaullist party coming into frequent contact with Charles Pasqua, who was not only a national leader then, but also the head of the party’s Haut de Seine department section.

Having finished Law School in 1982 and joined the Barr association, Nicolas Sarkozy married the niece of Achille Peretti. His best man was Charles Pasqua. As a lawyer, Sarkozy defended the interests of his mentors Corsican friends. He bought a property on the Island of Beauty, in Vico, and went as far as envisaging to make his name more “Corsican” by replacing the “y” by an “i”: Sarkozi.

The next year, he was elected Mayor of Neuilly sur Seine in replacement of his uncle in law, Achille Peretti, thundered by a heart attack. However, it was not long before Nicolas Sarkozy betrayed his wife, and since 1984, he had a secret liaison with Cecilia, the wife of the most famous entertainer of French television at that time, Jacques Martin, whom he had met while celebrating their marriage, a function he exerted being mayor of Neuilly. That double life lasted five years, before the lovers decided to quit their respective couples in order to build a new home.

In 1992, Nicolas was best man in the marriage of Jacques Chirac’s daughter, Claude, with an editorialist of Le Figaro. He couldn’t refrain himself from seducing Claude and having a short liaison with her, while officially living with Cecilia. The cuckold husband committed suicide by absorbing drugs. The break was brutal and without pardon between the Chirac’s and Nicolas Sarkozy.

In 1993, the left lost the legislative elections. President François Mitterrand refused to resign and entered into cohabitation with a right wing Prime Minister. Jacques Chirac who ambitioned the presidency, and was thinking at that point of constituting, with Edoaurd Balladur, a couple comparable to that of De Gaulle and Pompidou, refused to be Prime minister and left his post to his “30 year long friend”, Edouard Balladur. In spite of his sulphurous past, Charles Pasqua became Interior Minister. While keeping high hand over Moroccan marijuana trade, he took advantage of his situation to legalize his other activities taking control of casinos, gambling and horse races in francophone Africa. He wove ties with Saudi Arabia and Israel and became an officer of honour to the Mossad. Nicolas Sarkozy on his part, became minister of Budget and spokesman for the government.

In Washington, Frank Wisner, Jr. became the successor of Paul Wolfowitz as head of the Political Planning department of the Department of Defense. Nobody noticed at that time the ties to the spokesman of the French government.

It is then that tensions similar to those which rocked the Gaullist party 30 years earlier, broke out between the historical Gaullists and the financial right wing, incarnated by Balladur. The new element was that Charles Pasqua and along with him, the young Nicolas Sarkozy, betray Jacques Chirac in order to join the Rothschild current. Mayhem breaks out. The conflict will reach a climax in 1995 when Edouard Balladur ran for president, against his former friend, Jacques Chirac, and was beaten. Foremost, following instructions from London and Washington, the Balladur government opened negotiations for membership status to the European Union and NATO to States of Central and Eastern Europe who had freed from Soviet control.

Havoc reigns then in the Gaullist party where the friends of yesterday are ready to kill themselves today. To be able to finance his electoral campaign, Edouard Balladur attempts to grab the secret slush fund of the Gaullist party, hidden in the double deckered accounting of the books of the oil group ELF.

The ride through the desert

Through out his first mandate, Jacques Chirac keeps Nicolas Sarkozy at arms distance. The man was discrete during his ride through the desert. Discretely, however, he continued to weave ties to the financial circles.

In 1996, finally succeeding to bring to conclusion an endless divorce procedure, Nicolas Sarkozy marries Cecilia. Two billionaires were their best men, Martin Bouygues and Bernard Arnaud (the richest man of the country).

The final act

Way before the Iraqi crisis, Frank Wisner Jr. and his colleagues at the CIA plan the destruction of the Gaullist current and the coming to power of Nicolas Sarkozy. They move in three phases: first, the elimination of the leadership of the Gaullist party and the take over of the party apparatus, then the elimination of his main right wing rival and the securing the nomination to the presidential election for the Gaullist party; finally, the elimination of any serious challenger on the left to make sure that Nicolas would win the presidential election.

During years, posthumous revelations by a real estate dealer kept the media on their toes. Before dying from a terminal disease, for reasons which remain unknown, he decided to video tape his confessions and for reasons which are even more obscure, the “cassette” landed in the hands of a Socialist party leader, Dominique Strauss Kahn, who addressed it indirectly to the media.

While the confessions of the real estate dealer did not lead to any juridical sanctions, they opened up the Pandora’s Box. The main victim of the series of scandals was Prime Minister Alain Juppé. To protect Chirac, he assumed alone all the penal sanctions. The removal of Juppé from the front lodges opened the way for the take by Sarkozy of the leadership of the Gaullist party.

Sarkozy exploited then his position to force Jacques Chirac to take him into the government once again, in spite of their reciprocal hatred. In the end, he became Interior Minister. Mistake ! This post gave him control over the prefects and the internal intelligence apparatus which he used to gain positions of power over the large administrations.

He dealt also with Corsican affairs. Prefect Claude Érignac was murdered. Even though nobody claimed it, the murder was immediately interpreted as a challenge by the independentists to the Republic. Following a long hunt, the police managed to arrest a fleeing suspect, Yvan Colonna, son of a Socialist deputy. Caring little about the presumption of innocence, Nicolas Sarkozy announced the arrest, accusing the suspect of being the assassin. The news is too important, a mere two days away from the referendum the minister has organized in Corsica to modify the status of the island. Be as it may, the electors reject the Sarkozy project, who, according to some, favoured mafia interests. While Yvan Colonna was ultimately declared guilty, he always claimed his innocence and no material proof was ever found against him. Strangely, the man preferred to remain totally silent rather than reveal what he actually knew. We reveal here that prefect Érignac was not directly killed by the nationalists, but by a paid killer, immediately exfiltrated towards Angola where he was hired to the security of the Elf group. The mobile of the crime was precisely connected to the previous functions of Érignac, responsible for the African networks at Pasqua’s cooperation ministry. As for Yvan Colonna, he is a personal friend of Nicolas Sarkozy since decades and their children have entertained social relations.

A new scandal broke out then: phoney computer listings were circulating falsely accusing several personalities of hiding bank accounts in Luxembourg, at Clearstream. Among the defamed personalities: Nicolas Sarkozy, who filed a suit insinuating that he suspected his right wing rival to the presidency, Dominique de Villepin, to have organized this machination. Sarkozy didn’t hide his intention either to throw him in jail. In reality, the false listings were put in circulation by members of the French American Foundation, of which John Negroponte was the president and Frank Wisner Jr, the administrator. What the judges ignored and which we reveal here is that the listings were fabricated in London by a common office of the CIA and of MI6, Hakluyt and co, of which Frank Wisner is also an administrator.

Villepin denied the accusations, but was indicted, assigned to residence and, de facto, eliminated from political life temporarily. The road is thus free on the right wing for Nicolas Sarkozy. It remained for the opposition candidacies to be neutralized. The membership fees to the Socialist party were reduced to a symbolic level in order to attract new activists. Suddenly, thousands of youth take membership cards. Among them, there were at least 10 000 new members who are in reality militants from the “Lambertist” Trotskyite party, (named after its founder Pierre Lambert). This small extreme left group historically served the CIA against the Stalinist communists during the cold war (it is the equivalent of the Social democrats/USA of Max Schatchman, who trained the US neo-conservatives). It is not the first time the “Lambertists” infiltrate the Socialist party. They introduced there two notorious CIA agents : Lionel Jospin (who became Prime minister) and Jean Christophe Cambadelis, the main advisor to Dominique Strauss Kahn.

Primaries were organized inside the Socialist party to designate its candidate to the presidential election. Two personalities were competing: Laurent Fabius and Ségolène Royal. Only the first was a danger for Sarkozy. Dominique Strauss Kahn came into the race with the mission to eliminate Fabius at the last moment. Something he did with the help of the votes of the infiltrated “lambertists”, who voted not for him but for Royal.

The operation is possible because Strauss Kahn is since long on the pay roll of the United States. Frenchmen ignore that he teaches at Stanford, where he was hired by the prévot Dean of the University, Condoleeza Rice. From the beginning of his term, Nicolas Sarkozy and Condoleeza Rice will thank Strauss Kahn by having him elected to the leadership of the International Monetary fund.

First days at the Élysée

The evening of the second round of the presidential election, when polling agencies announced his probable victory, Nicolas Sarkozy gave a short speech to the nation from his general campaign quarters. Then, contrary to all custom, he didn’t celebrate with the militants of his party, but went to the Fouquet’s. The famous brasserie at the Champs-Élysées, formerly the place of rendez-vous of the “Corsican union” is today the property of Casino magnate, Dominique Desseigne. It was lent to the elected president to receive his friends and main campaign donors. Some hundred guests crowded there, the richest men of France hobnobbing with the casino bosses.

The elected president then offered himself some days of well merited rest. Transported to Malta by a private Falcon 900, he relaxed on the Paloma, a 65 m yacht of his friend Vincent Bollore, a billionaire trained at the Rothschild bank.


Finally, Nicolas Sarkozy was inaugurated president of the French Republic. The first decree he signed was not to enact an amnesty, but to authorize the casinos of his friends Desseigne and Partouche to multiply the money machines.

He composed his working team and his government. Without surprise, one finds there an ominous casino owner (the minister of Youth and Sports) and the lobbyist of the casinos of his friend Desseigne (who became a spokesman of the “Gaullist party”.)

Nicolas Sarkozy relies above all on 4 men :

Claude Guéant, secretary general of the Elysée Palace, the former right hand of Charles Pasqua.

François Pérol, under-secretary general of the Elysée, an associate manager of the Rothschild bank.

Jean-David Lévitte, diplomatic advisor. Son of the former director of the Jewish Agency. French ambassador to the UN, he was removed by Chirac who judged him too close to George Bush.

Alain Bauer, the man of the shadows. His name does not appear in the directories. He is in charge of the secret services. Former Grand Master of the French Great Orient (the most important Masonic organization in France) and former N°2 of the United States National Security Agency in Europe.

Frank Wisner Jr. who in the meantime was named “special envoy” to President Bush for the independence of Kosovo, insisted that Bernard Kouchner be named minister of Foreign affairs with a double mission priority: the independence of Kosovo and the elimination of France’s Arab policy.

Kouchner started his career by participating in the creation of a humanitarian NGO. Thanks to financial support from the National Endowment for Democracy, he took part in operations of Zbigniew Brzezinski in Afghanistan against the soviets, along sides with Oussama Ben Laden and the Karzai brothers. One finds him again in the 90’s working with Alija Izetbegovic in Bosnia Herzegovina. From 1999 to 2001 he was high representatives of the UN to Kosovo.

Under the rule of the youngest brother of president Hamid Karzaï, Afghanistan became the first world producer of opium poppies transformed in heroin locally and transported by the US Air force to Camp Bondsteed (Kosovo). There, the men of Hacim Thaci take charge of the drug and distribute it mainly in Europe and accessorily in the United States. The benefits are used to finance the illegal operations of the CIA. Karzai and Thaci are longstanding personal friends of Bernard Kouchner who undoubtedly ignores their criminal activities in spite of all the international reports which have been dedicated to them.

To complete his government, Nicolas Sarkozy named Christine Lagarde, minister of the Economy and Finances. All her career was made in the United States where she directed the prestigious law firm Baker and McKenzie. At the Center for international and strategic studies of Dick Cheney, she copresided with Zbigniew Brzezinski a working group which supervised the privatisations in Poland. She organized also an intense lobbying effort for Lockheed Martin against French airplane producer Dassault.

New escapade during the summer. Nicolas, Cecilia, their common mistress and their children went on holidays to the United States at Wolfeboro, not far from the property of President Bush. The bill was paid this time by Robert F. Agostinelli, an Italian-New Yorker investment banker, Zionist and a pure brand of neo-conservative who writes in Commentary, the magazine of the American Jewish Committee.

The success of Nicolas had impact on his half brother, Pierre Olivier. Under the American name of Oliver, he was named by Frank Carlucci (formerly N°2 of the CIA after having been recruited by Frank Wisner, Sr.) Director of the new investment fund of the Carlyle Group (the common investment firm of the Bush family and Ben Laden). Having become the 5th largest business dealer in the world, he handles the main assets of the sovereign funds of Kuwait and Singapore.

The popularity of the President is in a free fall in the polls. One of his communications advisors, Jacques Seguela (also consultant for political communication at the NED where he is in charge of diverse CIA operations in Western Europe and Latin America), proposes to detract the public’s attention with new “people stories”. The announcement of the divorce with Cecilia was publicised by Libération, the paper of his friend Edouard de Rothschild, to cover up the slogans of demonstrators in a day of general strike. Stronger even, the communications agent organized a meeting between the president and the former top model, Carla Bruni. Some days later, her liaison with the president became official and the media hammering covered up once again political criticism. Some weeks later, the third marriage of Nicolas occurred. This time, he chose as best men Mathilde Agostinelle (the wife of Robert) and Nicolas Bazire, a former cabinet director of Edouard Balladur who became assistant manager at the Rothschilds.

When will the French use their eyes to see what they have to do?

http://www.voltairenet.org/article157821.html#auteur29
Posted by Alex Constantine at 11:09 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Forgetting His Vote To Allow Waterboarding, McCain Says ‘We Could Never Torture Anyone’
thinkprogress.org

In February, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) voted against a bill banning the CIA from waterboarding and using other torture tactics in their interrogations. When the bill passed, McCain urged Bush to veto it, which he did.

In an interview with Newsweek published today, McCain defended his position, insisting that the CIA plays “a special role” in defending the U.S. and thus should be allowed to use harsh interrogation tactics such as waterboarding:

NEWSWEEK: On torture, why should the CIA be treated differently from the armed services regarding the use of harsh interrogation tactics?

MCCAIN: Because they play a special role in the United States of America and our ability to combat terrorists. But we have made it very clear that there is nothing they can do that would violate the Geneva Conventions, the Detainee Treatment Act, which prohibits torture. We could never torture anyone, but some people misconstrue that who don’t understand what the Detainee Treatment Act and the Geneva Conventions are all about.

McCain’s vote against the waterboarding ban did make one thing clear: that he condones torture. With Bush’s veto, waterboarding remains a distinct option for the CIA:

Still, waterboarding remains in the CIA’s tool kit. The technique can be used, but it requires the consent of the attorney general and president on a case-by-case basis. Bush wants to keep that option open.

“I cannot sign into law a bill that would prevent me, and future presidents, from authorizing the CIA to conduct a separate, lawful intelligence program, and from taking all lawful actions necessary to protect Americans from attack,” Bush said in a statement.

McCain is either clueless or ignorant about the fact that his vote allows the CIA to waterboard detainees. And as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), one of McCain’s chief surrogates, has said about waterboarding, “I don’t think you have to have a lot of knowledge about the law to understand this technique violates Geneva Convention common article three, the War Crimes statutes, and many other statutes that are in place.”

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/28/mccain-torture-anyone/
Posted by Alex Constantine at 10:49 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Mention of CIA Banned From Gitmo Trial
by Eric Umansky - July 28, 2008
www.propublica.org

Plans for a war crimes tribunal at Guantanamo Bay have long faced intense criticism, including from the tribunal's one-time chief prosecutor. The first trial started last week: Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden, has been charged with conspiracy and material support for terrorism.

So far there have been relatively few fireworks. A judge excluded any statements Hamdan made during interrogations at Bagram, where abuse of prisoners was reportedly routine. Hamdan also apparently became upset and walked out after video was shown of him being, as the Los Angeles Times put it, “trussed, hooded and badgered by armed and masked U.S. captors.”

Meanwhile, yesterday’s Los Angeles Times had a "reporter’s notebook” dispatch giving a peek behind the scenes. According to the Times' Carol Williams, no mention of the CIA will be allowed at the trial:

No records of the agency's interrogations of Salim Ahmed Hamdan can be subpoenaed, and no agent can be called to testify about what he or she learned from Osama bin Laden's former driver.

When defense attorney Harry H. Schneider Jr. attempted to demonstrate how many interrogations Hamdan had undergone in the months after his November 2001 arrest -- at least 40 -- he couldn't list the CIA along with more than a dozen other agencies including the Secret Service and what was then known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The prohibition against naming the CIA came in a "protective order" issued by the court at the government's request. The tribunal's deputy chief prosecutor, Army Col. Bruce A. Pagel, couldn't say which agency sought the shield or what arguments were made to justify it.

We just traded e-mails with journalist Jonathan Mahler, a New York Times Magazine writer and author of the forthcoming book on Hamdan’s case, The Challenge. Mahler said he’s not aware of any direct proof that the CIA interrogated Hamdan -- with "enhanced interrogation techniques" or otherwise -- but there was "a big date gap in the catalog of his interrogations."

It wouldn't be very surprising if the CIA did in fact give its own very secret treatment to Hamdan. As the Washington Post first reported, the CIA long maintained a "prison within a prison" at Guantanamo Bay.

The secret facility, "one military official" told the Post, was "off-limits to nearly everyone on the base." The CIA also declined to discuss it with the Post.

http://www.propublica.org/article/mention-of-cia-banned-from-gitmo-trial-728/
Posted by Alex Constantine at 10:39 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Infamous Auschwitz Tattoo Began as an IBM Number
IBM's Pivotal Role in the Holocaust
Edwin Black
www.thecuttingedgenews.com
July 28th 2008

In August 1943, a timber merchant from Bendzin, Poland, arrived at Auschwitz. He was among a group of 400 inmates, mostly Jews. First, a doctor examined him briefly to determine his fitness for work. His physical information was noted on a medical record. Second, his full prisoner registration was completed with all personal details. Third, his name was checked against the indices of the Political Section to see if he would be subjected to special punishment. Finally, he was registered in the Labor Assignment Office and assigned a characteristic five-digit IBM Hollerith number, 44673.

The five-digit Hollerith number was part of a custom punch card system devised by IBM to track prisoners in Nazi concentration camps, including the slave labor at Auschwitz.

The Polish timber merchant's punch card number would follow him from labor assignment to labor assignment as Hollerith systems tracked him and his availability for work, and reported the data to the central inmate file eventually kept at Department DII. Department DII of the SS Economics Administration in Oranienburg oversaw all camp slave labor assignments, utilizing elaborate IBM systems.

Later in the summer of 1943, the Polish timber merchant's same five-digit Hollerith number, 44673, was tattooed on his forearm. Eventually, during the summer of 1943, all non-Germans at Auschwitz were similarly tattooed.

Tattoos, however, quickly evolved at Auschwitz. Soon, they bore no further relation to Hollerith compatibility for one reason: the Hollerith number was designed to track a working inmate-not a dead one. Once the daily death rate at Auschwitz climbed, Hollerith-based numbering simply became outmoded. Soon, ad hoc numbering systems were inaugurated at Auschwitz.

Various number ranges, often with letters attached, were assigned to prisoners in ascending sequence. Dr. Josef Mengele, who performed cruel experiments, tattooed his own distinct number series on "patients." Tattoo numbering schemes ultimately took on a chaotic incongruity all its own as an internal Auschwitz-specific identification system.

However, Hollerith numbers remained the chief method Berlin employed to centrally identify and track prisoners at Auschwitz. For example, in late 1943, some 6,500 healthy, working Jews were ordered to the gas chamber by the SS. But their murder was delayed for two days as the Political Section meticulously checked each of their numbers against the Section's own card index. The Section was under orders to temporarily reprieve any Jews with traces of Aryan parentage.

Sigismund Gajda was another Auschwitz inmate processed by the Hollerith system. Born in Kielce, Poland, Gajda was about 40 years of age when on May 18, 1943, he arrived at Auschwitz. A plain paper form, labeled "Personal Inmate Card," listed all of Gajda's personal information. He professed Roman Catholicism, had two children, and his work skill was marked "mechanic."

The reverse side of his Personal Inmate Card listed nine previous work assignments. Once Gajda's card was processed by IBM equipment, a large indicia in typical Nazi Gothic script was rubber-stamped at the bottom: "Hollerith erfasst," or "Hollerith registered." Indeed, that designation was stamped in large letters on hundreds of thousands of processed Personal Inmate Cards at camps all across Europe.

The Extermination by Labor campaign itself depended upon specially designed IBM systems that matched worker skills and locations with labor needs across Nazi-dominated Europe. Once the prisoner was too exhausted to work, he was murdered by gas or bullet. Exterminated prisoners were coded "six" in the IBM system.

The Polish timber merchant's Hollerith tattoo, Sigismund Gajda's inmate form, and the victimization of millions more at Auschwitz live on as dark icons of IBM's conscious 12-year business alliance with Nazi Germany. IBM's custom-designed prisoner-tracking Hollerith punch card equipment allowed the Nazis to efficiently manage the hundreds of concentration camps and sub-camps throughout Europe, as well as the millions who passed through them. Auschwitz' camp code in the IBM tabulation system was 001.

Nearly every Nazi concentration camp operated a Hollerith Department known as the Hollerith Abteilung. The three-part Hollerith system of paper forms, punch cards and processing machines varied from camp to camp and from year to year, depending upon conditions.

In some camps, such as Dachau and Storkow, as many as two dozen IBM sorters, tabulators, and printers were installed. Other facilities operated punchers only and submitted their cards to central locations such as Mauthausen or Berlin. In some camps, such as Stuthoff, the plain paper forms were coded and processed elsewhere. Hollerith activity, whether paper, punching or processing, was frequently-but not always--located within the camp itself, consigned to a special bureau called the Labor Assignment Office, known in German as the Arbeitseinsatz. The Arbeitseinsatz issued the all-important life-sustaining daily work assignments, and processed all inmate cards and labor transfer rosters.

IBM did not sell any of its punch card machines to Nazi Germany. The equipment was leased by the month. Each month, often more frequently, authorized repairmen, working directly for or trained by IBM, serviced the machines on-site-whether in the middle of Berlin or at a concentration camp. In addition, all spare parts were supplied by IBM factories located throughout Europe. Of course, the billions of punch cards continually devoured by the machines, available exclusively from IBM, were extra.

IBM's extensive technological support for Hitler's conquest of Europe and genocide against the Jews was extensively documented in my book, IBM and the Holocaust, published in February 2001 and updated in a paperback edition. Shortly after publication of the paperback, the The Village Voice broke exclusive new details of a special IBM wartime subsidiary set up in Poland by IBM's New York headquarters shortly after Hitler's 1939 invasion.

In 1939, America had not entered the war, and it was still legal to trade with Nazi Germany. IBM's new Polish subsidiary, Watson Business Machines, helped Germany automate the rape of Poland. The subsidiary was named for its president Thomas J. Watson.

Central to the Nazi effort was a massive 500-man Hollerith Gruppe, installed in a looming brown building at 24 Murnerstrasse in Krakow. The Hollerith Gruppe of the Nazi Statistical Office crunched all the numbers of plunder and genocide that allowed the Nazis to systematically starve the Jews, meter them out of the ghettos and then transport them to either work camps or death camps.

The trains running to Auschwitz were tracked by a special guarded IBM customer site facility at 22 Pawia in Krakow. The millions of punch cards the Nazis in Poland required were obtained exclusively from IBM, including one company print shop at 6 Rymarska Street across the street from the Warsaw Ghetto. The entire Polish subsidiary was overseen by an IBM administrative facility at 24 Kreuz in Warsaw.

The exact address and equipment arrays of the key IBM offices and customer sites in Nazi-occupied Poland have been discovered. But no one has ever been able to locate an IBM facility at, or even near, Auschwitz. Until now. Auschwitz chief archivist Piotr Setkiewicz finally pinpointed the first such IBM customer site.

The newly unearthed IBM customer site was a huge Hollerith Büro. It was situated in the I.G. Farben factory complex, housed in Barracks 18, next to German Civil Worker Camp 7, about two kilometers from Auschwitz III, also known as Monowitz Concentration Camp.

Auschwitz' Setkiewicz explains, "The Hollerith office at IG Farben in Monowitz used the IBM machines as a system of computerization of civil and slave labor resources. This gave Farben the opportunity to identify people with certain skills, primarily skills needed for the construction of certain buildings in Monowitz."

By way of background, what most people call "Auschwitz" was actually a sprawling hell comprised of three concentration camps, surrounded by some 40 subcamps, numerous factories and a collection of farms in a surrounding captive commercial zone. The original Auschwitz became known simply as Auschwitz I, and functioned as a diversified camp for transit, labor and detention. Auschwitz II, also called Birkenau, became the infamous extermination center, operating gas chambers and ovens. Nearby Auschwitz III, known as Monowitz, existed primarily as a slave labor camp. Monowitz is where IBM's bustling customer site functioned.

Many of the long-known paper prisoner forms stamped Hollerith Erfasst, or "registered by Hollerith," indicated the prisoners were from Auschwitz III, that is, Monowitz. Now Auschwitz archivist Setkiewicz has also discovered about 100 Hollerith machine summary printouts of Monowitz prisoner assignments and details generated by the I.G. Farben customer site.
For example, Alexander Kuciel, born August 12, 1889, was in 1944 deployed as a slave carpenter, skill coded 0149, and his Hollerith printout is marked "Sch/P," the Reich abbreviation for Schutzhäftling/Pole.
Schutzhäftling/Pole means "Polish political prisoner."

The giant Farben facilities, also known as "I.G. Werk Auschwitz," maintained two Hollerith Büro staff contacts, Herr Hirsch and Herr Husch. One key man running the card index systems was Eduard Müller. Müller was a fat, aging, ill-kempt man, with brown hair and brown eyes. Some said, "He stank like a polecat." A rabid Nazi, Müller took special delight in harming inmates from his all-important position in camp administration.

Comparison of the new printouts to other typical camp cards shows the Monowitz systems were customized for the specific coding Farben needed to process the thousands of slave workers who labored and died there. The machines were probably also used to manage and develop manufacturing processes and ordinary business applications. The machines almost certainly did not maintain extermination totals, which were calculated as "evacuations" by the Hollerith Gruppe in Krakow. At press time, the diverse Farben codes and range of machine uses are still being studied.

It is not known how many additional IBM customer sites researchers will discover in the cold ashes of the expansive commercial Auschwitz zone.
A Hollerith Büro, such as the one at Auschwitz III, was larger than a typical mechanized concentration camp Hollerith Department. A Büro was generally comprised of more than a dozen punching machines, a sorter and one tabulator. Leon Krzemieniecki was a compulsory worker who operated a tabulator at the IBM customer site at the Polish railways office in Krakow that kept track of trains going to and from Auschwitz. He recalls, "I know that trains were constantly going from Krakow to Auschwitz--not only passenger trains, but cargo trains as well." Krzemieniecki, who worked for two years with IBM punchers, card sorters and tabulators, estimates that a punch card operation for so large a manufacturing complex as Farben "would probably require at least two high-speed tabulators, four sorters, and perhaps 20 punchers." He added, "The whole thing would probably require 30-40 persons, plus their German supervisors."

The revelation of IBM technology in the Auschwitz area constitutes the final link in the chain of documentation surrounding Big Blue's vast enterprise in Nazi-occupied Poland, supervised at first directly from its New York headquarters, and later through its Geneva office. Jewish leaders and human rights activists were again outraged. "This latest disclosure removes any pretext of deniability and completes the puzzle that has been put together about IBM in Poland," declared Malcolm Hoenlein, vice president of the New York-based Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. "The picture that emerges is most disturbing," added Hoenlein. "IBM must confront this matter honestly if there is to be any closure."

Marek Orski, state historian of the museum at Poland's Stuthoff Concentration Camp, has distinguished himself as that country's leading expert on the use of IBM technology at Nazi concentration camps in occupied Poland. "This latest information," asserts Orski, "proves once more that IBM's Hollerith machines in occupied Poland were functioning in the area of yet another concentration camp, in this case Auschwitz-Monowitz-something completely unknown until now. It is yet another significant revelation in what has become the undoubted fact of IBM's involvement in Poland. Now we need to compile more documents identifying the exact activity of this Hollerith Büro in Auschwitz Monowitz."

Krzemieniecki is convinced obtaining such documents would be difficult. "It would be great to have access to those documents," he said, "but where are they?" He added, "Please remember, I witnessed in 1944, when the war front came closer to Poland, that all the IBM machines in Krakow were removed. I'm sure the Farben machines were being moved at the same time. Plus, the Germans were busy destroying all the records. Even still," he continues, "what has been revealed thus far is a great achievement."

Auschwitz historians were originally convinced that there were no machines at Auschwitz, that all the prisoner documents were processed at a remote location, primarily because they could find no trace of the equipment in the area. They even speculated that the stamped forms from Auschwitz III were actually punched at the massive Hollerith service at Mauthausen concentration camp. Indeed, even the Farben Hollerith documents had been identified some time ago at Auschwitz, but were not understood as IBM printouts. That is, not until the Hollerith Büro itself was discovered.

Archivists only found the Büro because it was listed in the I.G. Werk Auschwitz phone book on page 50. The phone extension was 4496. "I was looking for something else," recalls Auschwitz' Setkiewicz, "and there it was." Once the printouts were reexamined in the light of IBM punch card revelations, the connection became clear.

Setkiewicz says, "We still need to find more similar identification cards and printouts, and try to find just how extensive was the usage in the whole I.G. Farben administration and employment of workers. But no one among historians has had success in finding these documents."

In the current climate of intense public scrutiny of corporate subsidiaries, IBM's evasive response has aroused a renewed demand for accountability. "In the day of Enron and Tyco," says Robert Urekew, a University of Louisville professor of business ethics, "we now know these are not impersonal entities. They are directed by people with names and faces." Prof. Urekew, who has studied IBM's Hitler-era activities, continued, "The news that IBM machines were at Auschwitz is just the latest smoking gun. For IBM to continue to stonewall and hinder access to its New York archives flies in the face of the focus on accountability in business ethics today. Since the United States was not technically at war with Nazi Germany in 1939, it may have been legal for IBM to do business with the Third Reich and its camps in Poland. But was it moral?"

Even some IBM employees are frustrated by IBM's silence. Michael Zamczyk, for example, is a long-time IBM employee in San Jose, California, working on business controls. A loyal IBMer, Zamczyk has worked for the company for some 28 years. He is also probably the only IBM employee who survived the Krakow ghetto in 1941 and 1942. Since revelations about IBM's ties to Hitler exploded into public view in February 2001, Zamczyk has been demanding answers-and an apology--from IBM senior management.

"Originally," says Zamczyk, "I was just trying to determine if it was IBM equipment that helped select my father to be shipped to Auschwitz, and if the machines were used to schedule the trains to Auschwitz."

Zamczyk started writing letters and emails, but to no avail. He could not get any concrete response about IBM's activities during the Hitler era. "I contacted senior management, all the way up to the president, trying to get an answer,"states Zamczyk. "Since then, I have read the facts about IBM in Poland, about the railroad department at 22 Pawia Street in Krakow, and I read about the eyewitnesses. Now I feel that IBM owes me, as an IBM employee, an apology. And that is all I am looking for."

Zamczyk was met by stony silence from IBM executives. "The only response I got," he relates, "was basically telling me there would be no public or private apology. But I am still waiting for that apology and debating what to do next."

Repeated attempts to obtain IBM reaction to the Auschwitz disclosure were rebuffed by IBM spokesman Carol Makovich. Despite being phoned more than a dozen times, Makovich did not respond, or grant me permission to examine Polish, Brazilian and French subsidiary documents at the company's Somers, New York archives. Nor has the company been forthcoming to numerous Jewish leaders, consumers and members of the media who have demanded answers.

At one point, Makovich quipped to a Reuters correspondent, "We are a technology company, we are not historians."

Edwin Black is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of IBM and the Holocaust, and the forthcoming book, The Plan--How to Save America the Day after the Oil Stops— or Perhaps the Day Before (Dialog Press, September 2008). This essay was adapted from a 2001 article which originally appeared in the Village Voice and syndicated thereafter, which received the award for Best Investigative Article of the Year by American Society of Journalists and Authors.

http://www.thecuttingedgenews.com/index.php?article=663&pageid=22&pagename=Investigation
Posted by Alex Constantine at 11:44 AM 1 comments Links to this post
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Military Computer Contractor Pleads Guilty to ID Theft
He sold a thumb drive containing information on personnel at Marine Corps Reserve Center in San Antonio for $500

By Grant Gross

Anonymous says: First of all, this guy is a traitor. If he isn’t shot right away, he should never see daylight again....

Anonymous says: Five, possibly 7 years; not enough of a deterrent. I say, he should be put against the wall and shot....

May 2, 2008 (IDG News Service) WASHINGTON -- A former U.S. military contractor has pleaded guilty to exceeding authorized access to a computer and aggravated identity theft after he was accused of selling names and Social Security numbers of 17,000 military employees, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Randall Craig, 41, of Houston, pleaded guilty today to both counts of an indictment returned in April by a grand jury in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Craig acknowledged selling information contained in a military database to a person he believed to represent a foreign government, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas and the FBI.

The person who purchased the names and Social Security numbers from Craig was an undercover FBI agent, they said.

Craig worked as a private computer contractor at the Marine Corps Reserve Center in San Antonio in September 2007, and he had access to personal information of U.S. Marines in the center's database, the DOJ said.

On Feb. 6, Craig met with someone he believed to be a representative of a foreign government at the Houston airport to discuss the sale of a thumb drive containing the information Craig had obtained from the military database, the DOJ said. Craig sold the thumb drive for $500, the agency said.

"Our personal identification information is readily available to those who have a legitimate use for it as well as those who do not, such as Mr. Craig," U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle said in a statement. "Because he sought to profit from this identity theft, we moved swiftly and justly -- as we will in all such cases -- to protect our military heroes and to protect everyone in the conduct of their personal affairs."

A forensic examination conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service determined the data was from the Marine Corps Reserve Center where Craig worked, the DOJ said. The thumb drive contained personal information of 17,000 people assigned to the Battalion of the U.S. Marine Corps in San Antonio, the DOJ said. The investigation found that none of the information obtained by Craig was sold to others or otherwise compromised.

At a Feb. 22 meeting with the FBI undercover agent, Craig said he had made efforts to contact other foreign countries in an attempt to offer his services, according to the DOJ. The undercover agent and Craig discussed future contact, using cell phones and e-mail.

The conviction for exceeding authorized access to a computer for financial gain carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two-year sentence that must be served consecutive to any sentence imposed for the charge of exceeding authorized access. Both counts also include maximum fines of $250,000.

Craig is scheduled to be sentenced July 28. He is being held in federal custody without bond, the DOJ said.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=storage_security&articleId=9082158&taxonomyId=153&intsrc=kc_top
Posted by Alex Constantine at 6:13 PM 0 comments Links to this post
U.S.-South Korea Carried out Massacres of Civilians
" ... U.S. oversaw exterminations: Alan Winnington of the British Daily Worker in an article entitled “U.S. Belsen in Korea” reported that 20 witnesses observed that truckloads of cops arrived on July 2 and immediately made people dig six pits of about 200 yards each. Executions went on for three days, by both machinegun and, when the bullets ran out, decapitation by sword ... "

Truth Commission reveals history of Korean War
By Eric Struch
www.workers.org
Jun 29, 2008

As told by most history textbooks in the U.S., the Korean War started with a June 25, 1950, invasion from the communist north and the freedom-loving U.S. came to the aid of the besieged democratic Republic of Korea in the south. The reality was very different.

Not only did the RoK’s dictatorial, fascist-like regime of U.S. puppet Syngman Rhee make the first move, it had prepared for it for more than a year in advance. These preparations included using paramilitary fascist organizations and the regular army for cross-border raids on northern villages to test the defenses of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Domestically, the preparation meant carrying out large-scale executions of suspected communists, leftists and anyone who opposed the neo-colonial rule of the U.S. in the south. The majority of these massacres took place throughout the summer of 1950, but thousands of civilians were executed by RoK military and police throughout the war.

The U.S. military—which had operational command of the RoK army—not only was aware of the massacres, but assisted and even directed many of the executions.

That these massacres had occurred was common knowledge among people both north and south. Due to the repressive anti-communist National Security Law, which threatened penalties of decades in prison, no one in the south dared to speak up until recently.

A half century of official silence finally began to end after the hard struggle of the pro-democracy movement in the 1980s created a political space. Even those who fled to the U.S. to escape the repression couldn’t speak up. They were dependent on established Korean-Americans for jobs, housing and loans, and these privileged elements often had ties to the right-wing Grand National Party or the Korean Central Intelligence Agency.

One voice through the decades spoke the truth to the world about the mass murders. The press in the DPRK constantly tried to bring these crimes to the attention of the world. Because Washington’s racist anti-DPRK propaganda was all-pervasive, the truth never gained any traction in the corporate mass media around the world.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Today in the RoK, a government-funded Truth and Reconciliation Commission headed by Ahn Byung-ook is investigating 1,200 incidents of mass executions in addition to 215 cases in which the U.S. military was directly involved in the executions. Of the more than 150 mass graves unearthed so far, the commission has the physical evidence, documentation and eyewitnesses to officially confirm two mass executions at Ulsan and Cheongwon.

The RoK government now acknowledges that its military, national police and fascist paramilitaries killed over 100,000 civilians at that time, when Korea’s population was 20 million. Kim Dong-choon of the TRC called these government estimates of the human cost of this bloody anti-communist paroxysm “very conservative.”

The numbers may be as high as 200,000 people, with some sources putting it as high as 300,000. These numbers do not even include the extra-judicial executions during the war of those RoK puppet troops deemed to be sympathetic to the liberation forces from the DPRK.

Rightist ideologues, both in Seoul and Washington, point to alleged massacres carried out by the Korean People’s Army, while denying that the actual proven murders perpetrated by the southern puppet forces even took place. In reality, according to a CIA study dated July 19, 1950, cited by Korea scholar Bruce Cumings, during the occupation of the south by the KPA “North Korean officials ran a tight ship but without a lot of bloodshed.”

In another CIA report from 1950, a “large percentage” of trade unionists and union leaders joined the KPA only 10 days into the war. DPRK President Kim Il Sung had given a radio address calling on people in the RoK to organize themselves. People’s Committees were formed and went about seizing Japanese and RoK government property as well as that of the rich.

KPA units in the south distributed rice to the people and emptied the jails of political prisoners, who then turned on the cops and the fascist youth groups. KPA troops, in alliance with the poor peasantry, carried out democratic land reform as they swept southwards. Even in the chaos of war, the KPA maintained its discipline. Cumings says that “captured North Korean documents continued to show that high-level officials warned against executing people.”

The same cannot be said of the RoK puppet forces. Before the war even began, the RoK government created the National Guidance League, a fascist-inspired “re-education” corps for people the Rhee dictatorship claimed were communists. By 1950, more than 300,000 people were forced to join the League.

Kim Dong-choon says the police or the military executed many of the League’s forced inductees. National Police under Korean Military Advisory Group supervision executed 7,000 people in Yangwol (near Taejon) from July 2-6, 1950.

U.S. oversaw exterminations

Alan Winnington of the British Daily Worker in an article entitled “U.S. Belsen in Korea” reported that 20 witnesses observed that truckloads of cops arrived on July 2 and immediately made people dig six pits of about 200 yards each. Executions went on for three days, by both machinegun and, when the bullets ran out, decapitation by sword. According to eyewitnesses, U.S. officers oversaw everything while sitting in their Jeeps. The U.S. Embassy in London then had the chutzpah to call Winnington’s findings a “fabrication.”

The U.S. military, through its operational command over the RoK army, was involved at the highest level in the executions. New York Times correspondent Charles Grutzner talked about “the slaughter of hundreds of South Korean civilians, women as well as men, by some U.S. troops and police of the Republic.”

Keyes Beech, in a July 23, 1950, Newark Star-Ledger article wrote: “It is not the time to be a Korean, for the Yankees are shooting them all.”

Donald Nichols, a former Air Force intelligence officer, wrote in his 1981 memoir of witnessing an “unforgettable massacre” of “approximately 1,800” at Suwon during the war.

In addition, an investigation made by RoK lawmaker Park Chan-hyun in 1960 during the (relatively) democratic interlude of Chang Myon’s Second Republic revealed that an estimated 10,000 people were executed in Busan.

RoK dictatorship was shaky

What these horrible, inhuman atrocities reveal is that the puppet RoK dictatorship knew its power rested upon a profoundly shaky foundation. As another quite frank CIA report cited by Cumings noted, the rightist RoK leadership “is provided by that numerically small class which virtually monopolizes the native wealth and education of the country.... Since this class could not have acquired and maintained its favored position under Japanese rule without a certain minimum of ‘collaboration,’ it has experienced difficulty in finding acceptable candidates for political office and has been forced to support imported expatriate politicians such as Rhee Syngman and Kim Koo. These, while they have no pro-Japanese taint, are essentially demagogues bent on autocratic rule.”

Rhee’s venal clique knew that his planned drive north depended upon drowning the patriotic and communist elements in the south in blood. Pockets of communist guerrillas who had fought the Japanese occupation were still active in the south as late as 1950.

According to KMAG commander Gen. W.L. Roberts, the RoK puppet army killed 6,000 communist guerrillas from November 1949 to March 1950. Of the attacks on northern border villages carried out by the army and the fascist Northwest Youth paramilitaries that took pace in 1949, Gen. Roberts said that “each was in our opinion brought on by the presence of a small South Korean salient north of the (38th) parallel.... The South Koreans wish to invade the North.”

Despite the staggering scale of the mass murders carried out by the Rhee puppet regime, patriotic feeling still ran so deep among the Korean people that even in the RoK National Assembly, 48 members declared their allegiance to the DPRK at the end of July 1950.

The issue of the mass execution of civilians still divides those who are subservient to U.S. neo-colonialism and those who want an independent Korea. Former RoK president Roh Moo-hyun apologized in an official capacity for the 870 confirmed murders at Ulsan, calling them “illegal acts.” In stark contrast, current president Lee Myung-bak, already deeply unpopular, has threatened to cut funding for the TRC.

Seven years ago, the U.S. government finally admitted part of its own guilt, that its soldiers had killed hundreds of innocent civilians in the South Korean township of Nogun-ri shortly after the start of the Korean War in 1950. President Bill Clinton himself expressed “deep regret” in a public statement on Jan. 11, 2001.

http://www.workers.org/2008/world/korea_0703/
Posted by Alex Constantine at 1:13 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Rosenberg Case: Spy's Unreliable Memoir was Fatal
www.canberratimes.com
24/07/2008

The unexpected release by the US government of secret grand jury testimony from the Rosenberg atomic secrets spy case of 1951 has revealed the death of Ruth Greenglass, aged 83, who had been living under an alias. She was a crucial prosecution witness in the case. The wife of one of the accused, David Greenglass, she testified that her sister-in-law, Ethel Rosenberg, had typed up secret information on the United States' Manhattan Project to be passed through Rosenberg's husband, Julius, to the Soviet authorities. Ms Greenglass's evidence ensured Rosenberg went, with her husband, to the electric chair in 1953 for conspiracy to commit atomic espionage.

The trial, held at the height of America's post-war anti-communist hysteria, aroused protests around the world. The gradual release of official documents since has left little doubt that Rosenberg was guilty as charged, but that Ms Rosenberg may well have been a victim of perjury by the Greenglasses. In 2001 a New York Times reporter traced Greenglass (Ms Rosenberg's brother) living under an assumed name. Interviewed on television under a heavy disguise, he acknowledged he and his wife's court statements had been untrue.

The drama began in February 1950 with the arrest by the British of Klaus Fuchs, a scientist who had worked on the US atomic bomb project at Los Alamos and who was jailed for 14 years for passing classified information to the Soviet Union. His interrogation by Scotland Yard, allied to an American decoding breakthrough which enabled them to read reams of intercepted wartime KGB messages, led to the arrest of Rosenberg in July 1950.

Senator Joseph McCarthy had just launched his ferocious attack on the supposed nest of communists operating in most of official Washington. In the face of that onslaught, J.Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI, envisaged a public relations triumph for himself and the bureau, as it rounded up what appeared to be a significant spy network. Within days Hoover had sent a memorandum to the US attorney-general Howard McGrath saying, ''There is no question that if Julius Rosenberg would furnish details of his extensive espionage activities it would be possible to proceed against other individuals. Proceeding against his wife might serve as a lever in these matters.''

David Greenglass, a technical sergeant involved in machining parts at the Manhattan Project, originally attracted the FBI's attention for stealing small quantities of uranium as a souvenir. Under questioning, he admitted acting as a Soviet spy at Los Alamos and named Rosenberg as one of his contacts. But he flatly denied that his sister, Ms Rosenberg, had ever been involved. Though he told the FBI at the time that his wife had acted as a courier, he said in his 2001 television interview that he had warned the bureau, ''If you indict my wife you can forget it. I'll never say a word about anybody.''

The difficulty with Hoover's proposed strategy of using Rosenberg's wife as a lever was that there was no evidence against her. Nonetheless, she was arrested and her two children were taken into care. The Rosenbergs' bail was set at $100,000 each, which they had no hope of raising, and the pressure on them to incriminate others increased. Neither offered any further information.

Ten days before the start of the trial, the FBI re-interviewed the Greenglasses. In his original statement, Greenglass had said that he handed over atomic information to Rosenberg on a street corner in New York. In this new interview, he said that the handover had taken place in the living room of the Rosenbergs' New York flat. Ms Greenglass then elaborated on this by telling the FBI agents, ''Julius then took the info into the bathroom and read it, and when he came out he told [Ethel] she had to type this info immediately. Ms Rosenberg then sat down at the typewriter ... and proceeded to type the info which David had given to Julius.''

Ms Greenglass and her husband repeated this evidence in the witness box and it became the basis of Ms Rosenberg's conviction as a co-conspirator. However, the court verdict failed to induce a confession from Rosenberg. There were innumerable unsuccessful appeals, and up until the night of the execution President Dwight Eisenhower was on stand-by to commute the Rosenbergs' sentences. But the couple remained silent.

Born Ruth Printz, Ms Greenglass grew up in the same New York district as her future husband. They were married in 1942, when she was 18 and he just 20. Their interest in politics prompted them to join the Young Communist League. In 1944, Ms Greenglass left New York for Albuquerque, New Mexico, to be near her husband in Los Alamos. It was during this time she allegedly asked Greenglass to pass on any information he had about the Manhattan Project to Rosenberg.

In exchange for her evidence in the 1951 trial, Ms Greenglass was given immunity from prosecution. After the verdict, she lost her job but continued to live in New York under a protective alias. Her husband was jailed for 15 years, and, on his release in 1960, the couple lived together under assumed names.

Then, 48 years after Ms Rosenberg's execution, Greenglass recanted he and his wife's account of the meeting in the apartment. Instead, he said, ''[Julius] asked me to write up some stuff, which I did, and then he had it typed. I don't know who typed it, frankly. And to this day I can't even remember that the typing took place. But somebody typed it. Now I'm not sure who it was and I don't even think it was done while we were there.''

Greenglass, who still lives under an assumed name, survives his wife.

Harold Jackson, Guardian

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/spys-unreliable-memoir-was-fatal/1225252.aspx
Posted by Alex Constantine at 1:01 PM 0 comments Links to this post
FBI 'Used Mafia Enforcer' to Find Bodies in Mississippi Burning Case
A former Ku Klux Klan member convicted in the killings of three Mississippi civil rights workers in the 1960s must be freed because the FBI used a Mafia enforcer to torture a key witness for information, his lawyers say.

By Tom Leonard in New York
Telegraph
25 Jul 2008

Edgar Ray Killen, 84, was convicted in 2005 of ordering the Klan killings of the trio 41 years earlier, a crime that was dramatised in the film Mississippi Burning. His lawyers have appealed against his life sentence for triple manslaughter, citing new evidence that the FBI used Gregory Scarpa - known as The Grim Reaper - to put pressure on Klan members to reveal where the bodies had been hidden.

The lawyers also say that his conviction was tainted by the fact that a defence lawyer in a previous trial over the killings in 1967 was an FBI informant who had been providing prosecutors with information about the defence case.

The court transcript from 1967 - in which Killen was acquitted on civil rights charges - was allowed to be used in the later trial because many of the witnesses had since died. Rob Ratliff, Killen's lawyer, said the evidence included crucial information from a Klan member who revealed where the bodies had been buried. It was now clear that the informant had been kidnapped by Scarpa and an FBI helper, and subjected to "typical Mafia-type behaviour", he said.

The "behaviour" may have included a severe beating but certainly included death threats to his family and having a gun barrel inserted into his mouth, he added. Killen's lawyers argue that his rights to a full and fair trial, and the right to confront witnesses against him, have been violated.

If the 1967 trial had known that the location of the bodies had been discovered unlawfully, it would not have been allowed as evidence, said Mr Ratliff.

The FBI has always declined to comment on whether Scarpa was involved in the case. Scarpa was a senior member of the Colombo crime family and an FBI informant for three decades. Killen's lawyers officially requested on Thursday that the FBI hand over its files relating to Scarpa and to the defence lawyer, who was named as Clayton Lewis. Lewis, the former mayor of Philadelphia, is also now dead.

"If it's OK to torture witnesses to get a conviction against Killen, then it's OK to torture witnesses to get a conviction against anybody," said Mr Ratliff.

Scarpa's involvement in the investigation had long been rumoured but was confirmed last year by a New York judge who had seen his FBI file while trying an unrelated murder case involving the mobster's former FBI handler.

The judge said: "That a thug like Scarpa would be employed by the federal government to beat witnesses and threaten them at gunpoint to obtain information regarding the deaths of civil rights workers in the south in the early 1960s is a shocking demonstration of the government's unacceptable willingness to employ criminality to fight crime."

Linda Schiro, Scarpa's former girlfriend, said a few months ago that she had accompanied him to Mississippi in 1964. She said she believed he had been brought in because J Edgar Hoover, the FBI chief, was under heavy pressure to get results in the case. She told ABC's Eyewitness News: "When we we walked into the hotel, I saw a bunch of guys and I saw Greg wink, and he says, 'Those are FBI agents'." "We went up to the room, knock on the door, an agent came in and handed him a gun."

Mississippi Burning alluded to the FBI's use of nefarious tactics, introducing a black FBI agent who is brought in to rough up witnesses when conventional methods fail.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2458844/FBI-'used-Mafia-enforcer'-to-find-bodies-in-Mississippi-Burning-case.html
Posted by Alex Constantine at 11:44 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Obit: NSA's Milton Zaslow - oversaw U.S. security operations around the globe for more than 30 years
Code-breaker knew America's secrets

July 26, 2008
PATRICIA SULLIVAN
WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON–Early in the Korean War, Milton Zaslow and three other cryptologists working in China for the U.S. Armed Forces Security Agency were reading thousands of messages sent over commercial telegraph when they began to notice a large number that said: "Father died. Come at once," or "Mother ill. Come home."

They figured out the Chinese army was recalling soldiers on leave to their units. Tracking the movements of four army divisions, Zaslow and his colleagues determined the Chinese were preparing to enter North Korea. The discovery was important. The intervention of the Chinese in November 1950 greatly increased the war's scope.

Zaslow, 87, a seminal figure at the National Security Agency who played a significant role in U.S. intelligence from World War II through the Vietnam War, died of cardiac arrest July 15 at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Md.

Because he worked for an agency that holds some of the U.S. government's most secret information, an agency that for years was itself a secret, the full details of Zaslow's career might never be known. But by his retirement in 1979, he was NSA's second-highest-ranking civilian.

His career at NSA included oversight of its operations in Vietnam during the war. He was involved in a variety of matters, including the reports of hostile action in the Gulf of Tonkin, which launched America's major intervention, and providing signal intelligence for the failed 1970 rescue attempt of U.S. POWs held at Son Tay in North Vietnam.

The New York native had just graduated from the City College of New York when the United States entered World War II in December, 1941 Trained in intensive Japanese-language classes, he was commissioned an army second lieutenant and put in charge of 10 linguists, mostly Japanese-Americans whose families were interned in the United States.

His unit translated captured diaries and documents picked up on battlefields, then accompanied Marines, acting as translators, in Tinian, one of the main Northern Marianas Islands. They swam ashore on Okinawa on Aug. 6, 1945, the day the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

"The only things that kept me from sinking is I packed my bag so well (that) it kept me afloat. I carried a carbine and a .45 and 20 pounds of dictionaries," he told a Library of Congress interviewer.

His unit was among the first to enter Nagasaki after the atom bomb, and it stayed to aid reconstruction.

After World War II, he transferred to the Army Security Agency, an NSA precursor. Posted to China, he began reading thousands of messages that led to the discovery of Chinese troop movements.

Fifty years later, Zaslow told a spellbound crowd at the opening of a Korean War exhibit at the NSA's museum, "I have been waiting a long, long time to talk about this."

The NSA was formed in 1952, and Zaslow rose through the ranks, serving as its first liaison to the Pentagon in 1969 and overseeing the group dealing with the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc nations.

His wife, Elinor, died in 1996. Survivors include two children.

http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/467778
Posted by Alex Constantine at 11:24 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Saturday, July 26, 2008
NSA Employee Convicted of Dealing Crack
" ... She was sentenced to 18 months in jail, but Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner agreed to suspend the entire sentence and let her stay free. ... It is unclear from court records whether Hommel ... left the agency before or after her March 25 arrest. ... "

www.hometownannapolis.com
By SCOTT DAUGHERTY
July 17, 2008

For 23 years she worked for the National Security Agency.

Then she started dealing cocaine.

Lorna Elizabeth Hommel, who is currently unemployed but previously worked for the NSA as a contracting officer according to court records, pleaded guilty July 10 to distribution of cocaine. She was sentenced to 18 months in jail, but Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner agreed to suspend the entire sentence and let her stay free.

Marci Green, an NSA spokesman, declined to comment about Hommel or her time with the agency citing office policy. It is unclear from court records whether Hommel, 41, of 7729 Gatewood Court in Pasadena left the agency before or after her March 25 arrest.

Hommel and her attorney, Assistant Public Defender Denis O'Connell, could not be reached for comment.

Police arrested Hommel after she and a friend allegedly sold crack to two undercover detectives on two occasions earlier this year in Pasadena.

Felony drug distribution charges are still pending against, Kelly Hrina, 45, also of 7729 Gatewood Court. A trial is scheduled for July 24.

According to charging documents, detectives met Ms. Hrina at a Pasadena liquor store March 12, got her cell phone number, and arranged to buy drugs later that night. The detectives then met Ms. Hrina and Hommel at their home and asked for $40 worth of crack. After paying, Hommel left the house and came back with .43 grams of crack.

Six days later, the detectives called Ms. Hrina and arranged to buy drugs at a Pasadena gas station. That time, Ms. Hrina took the money, got into a car with Hommel, and drove away. They returned a short time later and Ms. Hrina gave the detectives .31 grams of crack, prosecutors said.

Ms. Hrina told the detectives to call her and Hommel if they wanted any more, prosecutors said.

While prosecutors said it is "very unusual" for an NSA employee to be charged with a felony, it has happened before.

Linda Ann Kelley, 51, of Severn was convicted in 2005 of perpetrating a felony theft scheme in connection with the pilfering of hundreds of pieces of jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from two different stores where she held part-time jobs.

In July 2007, she was ordered to turn over most of the 984 pieces of jewelry found in her house in 2004. She also was sentenced to one year in jail, but a county judge suspended the sentence and placed her on probation for two years. A judge struck the conviction in April, giving Ms. Kelley a probation before judgment.

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/07_17-39/PRI
Posted by Alex Constantine at 4:57 PM 0 comments Links to this post
How the British Security Forces are Helping a Killer Spy to Rebuild his Life
By Neil Mackay
www.sundayherald.com/news
July 26, 2008

MI5 HAS rebuilt the life of a "killer spy" who was the British Army's highest- ranking double agent at the heart of the IRA, and a man implicated in dozens of murders.

Freddie Scappaticci was exposed by the Sunday Herald in May 2003 as the infamous double agent codenamed Stakeknife. The Sunday Herald has now uncovered how Scappaticci has made millions in a taxpayer-funded resettlement package which was put in place after his cover was blown.

As well as the huge financial deal, Scappaticci has also been given a new home, a new job, a new identity and a new face, thanks to plastic surgery. It is thought he is the only spy who operated in Ireland to be given facial surgery as part of a resettlement deal.

Scappaticci was an informer for the army's Force Research Unit (FRU), a shadowy wing of military intelligence, which used terrorists on both sides of the divide in Northern Ireland as proxy assassins. The FRU allowed paramilitaries, who they were running as agents, to carry out bombings and shootings in order to preserve their cover and keep passing high grade information to their army handlers.

A FRU officer who ran Stakeknife as an agent told the Sunday Herald that Scappaticci had been allowed to take part in murders in order to maintain his cover as a high-ranking IRA officer. In total, the FRU handler said, the running of Stakeknife may have cost up to 40 lives.

Both human rights groups and former British Army intelligence officers who took part in the fight against terrorism in Ulster, but have since rejected many of the tactics used by the military, say Scappaticci should be interviewed by the police as a failure to do so undermines British justice.

To underscore just how valued Scappaticci is by British intelligence, the Sunday Herald was threatened with a court gagging order when MI5 was alerted that the paper planned to tell readers about Scappaticci's new life.

Following previous threats of being gagged by the government over earlier investigations into the so-called "Dirty War" in Ulster, the Sunday Herald has an agreement with the D Notice Committee to brief the intelligence services about articles the paper may run which could identify agents of the state. The committee can legally prevent newspapers from publishing material deemed contrary to national security.

The Sunday Herald alerted the committee that we planned to publish an investigation into why the British government was protecting a man accused of involvement in serious offences, and why Scappaticci has still not been interrogated by police despite the accusations against him being public record for more than five years.

The committee's secretary, Air Vice-Marshall Andrew Vallance, was also made aware that the paper had certain details about Scappaticci's new life. As a result, government solicitors said they would take out an interim interdict against the newspaper "restraining publication" of information they want to remain secret.

MI5 said that "if any such story containing details of Scappaticci's whereabouts or photographs of him was ever published it would pose a direct and very grave threat to Scappaticci's life and possibly also to the lives of others". Vallance added: "The Security Service ... clearly see this quite literally as a matter of life and death."

Although the government still refuses to confirm or deny that Scappaticci was a double agent, one very senior government source referred to Scappaticci as an "obnoxious character", adding that he "had his appearance changed recently".

The paper made clear to the Security Services that we had no intention of publishing any information that would put Scappaticci's life at risk.

Jane Winter, the director of the human rights organisation British Irish Human Rights Watch, said: "This case is one of many that has left many very serious questions unanswered.

"We have a number of clients ... with both interests in this case and others who want answers but are hitting a brick wall. One of the problems of the aftermath of the conflict is that no-one wants to tell the truth about what went on.

"How can all sides of the community be expected to walk into a brave new post-conflict world while the answer to these questions are still outstanding?"

A former FRU officer said: "Freddie has been given a new face as he needs personal security. The state has no desire to ever allow Freddie to be put in the position where he has to explain himself.

"You have to remember that he will never have a normal life. The state does owe him this protection as he acted on behalf of the state and under the direction of the military for 25 years as a public executioner."

The FRU officer estimated that Scappaticci was now a "millionaire many times over". As well as bringing in an estimated £80,000 a year while working as a spy, his resettlement package would have been worth a small fortune.

In addition, the FRU source said he believed there was little real will by the government to go down the path of seeking truth and reconciliation in Ulster because of what skeletons it would bring out of the cupboard.

"The British state will not allow him to be interviewed by anyone as it would implicate the state. Can you imagine the financial consequences of up to 40 widows suing the state? It's never going to be allowed to happen.

"Freddie Scappaticci will never be subjected to the courts, but if he is he shouldn't be there alone," the FRU source said.

http://www.sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.2392785.0.how_the_british_security_forces_are_helping_a_killer_spy_to_rebuild_his_life.php
Posted by Alex Constantine at 9:52 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, July 25, 2008
OBIT: FRANK 'THE GERMAN' SCHWEIHS
Mob hit man dies at 78
www.suntimes.com
July 25, 2008
BY NATASHA KORECKI AND STEVE WARMBIR Staff Reporters

After decades of living in free society as a prolific, merciless mob hit man, Frank "The German" Schweihs, was finally set to face justice this fall.

But Schweihs, 78, who made even the most hard-core mobsters shiver with fear at the very sight of him, died Wednesday night, escaping a federal trial set for October. Schweihs, who had been housed at the downtown lockup since his capture in 2005, died of complications related to cancer.

His death elicited a strong reaction on Thursday from Nick Seifert, 46, son of Dan Seifert, who was slain outside a Bensenville factory by several mobsters in 1974, allegedly including Schweihs.

"I'm happy that he's dead. I'm happy that he suffered with the cancer," Seifert said. "I know he did it. He knows he did it. He didn't die happy. He didn't die free on the street."

Seifert said he feels sorry for some of the families of the victims of Schweihs, who never got any sense of justice for their loved ones.

"It's incredible how he got away with all these murders," Seifert said.

Schweihs had been charged along with 13 others in 2005 in the landmark Family Secrets mob case. Schweihs was a fugitive at the time of the indictment, which took a historic hit at the Chicago mob organization, including charging the Outfit with 18 unsolved murders. Schweihs was captured in Kentucky later that year and was locked up in the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

Schweihs' cancer diagnosis let him avoid the trial last summer that resulted in the conviction of five defendants. But earlier this year, he was deemed healthy enough to stand trial this fall. Just last month, Schweihs mouthed off to a prosecutor at a hearing, asking: "Yeah you, you making eyes at me? Do I look like a fag to you?"

He was transferred to Thorek Hospital and Medical Center Monday and died Wednesday night.

At last year's trial, Schweihs was implicated as one of the men who took part in the Seifert murder. Seifert was to testify against the mob for stealing money from the Teamsters. Schweihs allegedly botched his role in the murder by failing to get Seifert in handcuffs. Seifert was able to escape and briefly ran away before another killer gunned him down, according to court testimony.

Schweihs was known on the street as a prolific hit man. FBI Supervisory Special Agent John Mallul, who investigated organized crime in Chicago for more than two decades, called Schweihs "muscle" for infamous mobster Joey "the Clown" Lombardo.

"Virtually every Outfit guy feared him," Mallul said. "They didn't necessarily even want to be around this guy. If they saw this guy coming, they would have to kill him," or they knew they'd be killed.

Schweihs developed his reputation for outrageous behavior early by defecating in cash registers after he and his mob crew cleaned out a joint.

His standing among mobsters was legendary.

The late mobster Michael Spilotro once warned his teenage daughter that if she ever saw Schweihs around their home, she was to lock the door and call the cops immediately, according to testimony in the Family Secrets trial.

In one conversation secretly recorded by the feds, Schweihs told a man he wouldn't be around because he had to go kill someone -- as most people would say they have to take out the trash.

Joe Seifert, 38, another son of Dan Seifert, said Schweihs' death gives him no comfort.

"No relief. No justice. No peace," said Joe Seifert adding Schweihs' death "wasn't unpleasant enough."

"I know he died from cancer, but I think he got off easy."

"He certainly evaded justice, there's no question," Mallul said. "But there is a certain amount of satisfaction I think on behalf of law enforcement and the victims that he has been incarcerated" and charged.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1074081,CST-NWS-german25.article
Posted by Alex Constantine at 7:09 PM 0 comments Links to this post
CIA Mind Control: Bin Laden's Driver Driven Insane at Gitmo
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! and others have reported on on CIA mind control techniques at Gitmo. Hamdan, bin Laden's driver, currently on trial, "hears voices inside his head," according to Time magazine. This development occurred under detention. The average prole will jump to the conclusion that this is a symptom of induced scizophrenia, and this may be - but voices are also computer-generated and transmitted to the brain's auditory pathways of the CIA's subjects in highly illicit electromagnetic (EM) brain experimentation and operations, as I documented in Psychic Dictatorship in the USA (Feral House, 1995), and elsewhere.

It's quite possible - given the harshness of his detention by the CIA - that Hamdan was driven crazy by advanced mind control tech ...

" ... Hamdan's six years at Gitmo have left him a shell of a man. He has deteriorated mentally to the point where he can no longer meaningfully assist in his own criminal defense. He is suicidal, hears voices inside his head and talks to himself. ... "

The same can be said of many subjects of EM bio-electronic assault.

- AC

Excerpt - Hamdan: Guantánamo's Mystery Man
By Jonathan Mahler
Jul. 21, 2008
Time
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1825334,00.html

... In May 2002, Hamdan was flown to Guantánamo Bay, where he became detainee No. 149. Soon after, he met Soufan, the FBI's foremost expert on al-Qaeda, who interrogated Hamdan repeatedly until December 2003, when President Bush chose him from among thousands of detainees in U.S. custody to be the first Arab defendant in the military tribunals.

Hamdan was not necessarily an obvious choice for this historic role. He wasn't a high-ranking officer of al-Qaeda, nor was he known to have participated in any specific terrorist operations against the U.S. But from the prosecutor's perspective, he did have certain things going for him. Because the military tribunal system was brand-new, the government thought it made sense to try lower-ranking operatives first, in case anything went wrong. Hamdan had also been in U.S. custody since his capture and had not been rendered to any foreign countries for interrogation, which might have opened the door for his defense lawyer to raise questions about his treatment. And his story certainly had narrative appeal: Hamdan had been with bin Laden between 1996 and 2001, a stretch of time that spanned not just 9/11 but al-Qaeda's 1998 attacks on two embassies in East Africa and the 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in Yemen.

But in 2004, Swift, Hamdan's military defense lawyer, successfully urged his client to reject the government's tentative offer — 20 years imprisonment in exchange for full cooperation, including testifying at the military commissions of other detainees. Together with a young constitutional law professor named Neal Katyal, Swift built a defense that delayed Hamdan's military tribunal for years as it gradually made its way through the courts. His lawyers' perseverance meant little to Hamdan. Officials at Guantánamo have characterized Hamdan as a problematic prisoner, a rabble-rouser who turns every order into a negotiation and incites his fellow inmates to acts of defiance. For this reason, he has spent much of his time in conditions tantamount to solitary confinement. Hamdan has blamed Swift for failing to improve his life on Guantánamo and has often refused to see him and even fired him once. Hamdan has also gone on and off hunger strikes, one of which ended with his being force-fed liquid nutrients in a restraining chair.

In the spring of 2006, Hamdan's lawsuit, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, reached the Supreme Court. The justices handed Hamdan a sweeping victory, with the majority finding that the President's military tribunals were unlawful. But Hamdan's odyssey didn't end there. Rather than offer Hamdan a reduced sentence, the Administration redoubled its efforts, pressing Congress to authorize the military tribunals, which it did by passing the Military Commissions Act during the waning days of the Republican Congress in the fall of 2006. Hamdan was recharged under the Military Commissions Act and moved into a new maximum-security facility. There he was permitted only an hour or so of indirect contact with other detainees during his daily recreation period. (He had to exercise alone, but his chain-linked recreation pen adjoined several others.)

By his lawyers' accounts, Hamdan's six years at Gitmo have left him a shell of a man. He has deteriorated mentally to the point where he can no longer meaningfully assist in his own criminal defense. He is suicidal, hears voices inside his head and talks to himself. And yet his trial, which is taking place in a small courtroom at Guantánamo Bay, will still influence the future of the tribunal system. Under the rules of the tribunal, Hamdan faces a jury of military officers who will decide his innocence or guilt. Whether their decision is perceived as fair will go a long way toward determining if the military tribunals that President Bush first authorized in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks will survive under the next Commander in Chief. In that sense, the fame — or infamy — of Salim Hamdan may endure long after his trial ends.
•••••••
Jonathan Mahler's book, The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight over Presidential Power, from which this article is adapted, will be published in early August.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1825334,00.html
Posted by Alex Constantine at 12:39 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Cuba-bound Computers from Pastors for Peace Make it After Confiscation
News From 91.3 KUWS
7/16/2008

The computers seized by U.S. Customs from the humanitarian aid group Pastors for Peace were returned Monday. Amy Swanoski reports the computers are being transported to Cuba.

On July 3, the U.S. government confiscated 32 computers from Pastors for Peace. They were bound for Cuba. Now, Customs has returned the computers. Communication Director Lucia Bruno says the computers needed to be licensed before they could be transported out of the country.

“Since we refused to ask for or receive a license we have to disregard that, we can’t in good conscience license the goods that we take to Cuba because we feel that it is humanitarian aid to a neighbor that is being harassed and victimized be the US government.”

To get around the license requirement the activists carried the computers to Mexico on foot.

“As soon as we received them we turned around and walked them back over the border into Mexico where they were received by the Mexican part of the caravan. It’s a very good example of how US foreign policy makes no sense”

Duluthian David Moulton was part of this peace mission. Bruno says the computers are on their way to Cuba where they will be delivered to Cuban schools. Pastors for Peace has made 19 trips to Cuba. Bruno calls this year’s mission a victory.

http://www.businessnorth.com/kuws.asp?RID=2388
Posted by Alex Constantine at 12:16 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Former Nazi SS Task Force Officer is "A Great American," say Oregon Neighbors
Former WL resident charged with Nazi past
BY CLIFF NEWELL
The West Linn Tidings
Jul 24, 2008

The federal government is charging that Peter Egner is a Nazi war criminal. His friends in West Linn cannot believe it. It came as a shock to them last week when the Department of Justice issued an announcement that it is requesting that Egner’s citizenship be revoked for lying about his service with a notorious SS mobile killing unit.

The charges listed in the DOJ complaint are of the utmost severity: During Egner’s service in the organization in 1941 and 1942, the Einsatzgruppe was responsible for the deaths of more than 17,000 Serbian civilians – Jewish men, women and children, communists, suspected communists and Gypsies.

In the announcement, acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich said, “The Nazi unit in which Peter Egner is alleged to have participated was responsible for countless deaths and unimaginable human suffering. By bringing this action today, we again declare our unwavering commitment to the principle that participants in Nazi crimes should not be afforded the rights and privileges of U.S. citizenship.”

To Egner’s friends in West Linn, where he lived from 1981 to 2006 before moving to Bellevue, Wash., this war criminal description does not fit.

“When I heard about it I didn’t believe,” said Russell Wilson, who lived in the same West Linn condominium complex as Egner for 15 years. “The Peter I know would not do such a thing as this.” Wilson, a World War II Navy veteran, said he never talked about the war – or even politics – with Egner during their frequent conversations in the complex parking lot.

“The only thing he ever told me was that he got wounded,” Wilson said. “Peter was a great guy, a sweet old guy, so cheerful and positive.”

Robert Anderson, also a resident of the complex, knew Egner even better and his disbelief about Egner’s guilt is even stronger. “I was totally shocked,” said Anderson, who added that Egner was one of the first people he met when he moved to the complex. “Peter was a fantastic guy, a great American. I don’t believe anything about him harming anybody. Everybody here loved him.”

Increasing Anderson’s alarm for Egner is that at age 86 he may lose his citizenship and be deported back to Serbia, possibly to stand trial for war crimes. Egner has been a U.S. citizen since 1966, according to the DOJ.

“I can’t think they would do that to an 86-year-old man,” Anderson said. “It would be a shame to deport such an elderly man.” However, to Aaron Breitbart, a spokesman for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which tracks suspected Nazi war criminals hiding in the USA and other nations, age has nothing to do with prosecution for war crimes.

“A lot of people ask why go after people who are so old. This case is a perfect example of why this must be done,” said Breitbart, senior researcher for the Wiesenthal Center. “To not go after these war criminals would give the younger generation a bad message. It would say, ‘If you are lucky enough or smart enough, society will let you off the hook, even for mass murder.’

“We want to say, ‘No matter how long you avoid detection, someone will come looking for you.’ That is what this case is all about.” Breitbart said that for years former Nazis or their collaborators benefited from the Cold War era, in which the U.S. refused to accept evidence of their war crimes from the Soviet Union.

“A great majority of those responsible for the Holocaust were never brought to justice. Period,” Breitbart said. That situation changed after Détente was reached between the United States and Russia, but Breitbart said, “If the world had done what it should have done, we wouldn’t be seeing these 70, 80 and 90 year old Nazis running around now.”

Egner’s attorney, Robert Gibbs, told newspapers in Seattle that Egner denied participating in persecution of prisoners. Gibbs also maintained that the DOJ charges against Egner were confusing. However, Egner did admit in 2007 to federal officials that he served as a prison guard with the Einsatzgruppe.

The reason why is a thorny question for Egner’s friends.

“Peter was probably 16 or 18 when Hitler came in,” said Anderson, “and like most of the Germans back then he probably thought Hitler was pulling them out of a big mess. He was probably inducted by the army, where you had to do anything they told you to do or else they would blow you away. Especially over there in Germany.

“The charges against him are crazy, in my opinion.”

The Egner case could take years to be settled. It has been assigned to U.S. District Judge James P. Donohoe in Seattle, where it will move through the litigation process. The Egner case is one of 14 investigations of suspected Nazi war criminals living in the U.S. now being pursued by the DOJ’s Office of Special Investigations.

http://www.westlinntidings.com/news/story.php?story_id=121683551924231700
Posted by Alex Constantine at 9:37 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Pan Am 103 Bombing: The Lindauer Affidavit
" ... Fuisz told her that the perpetrators of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie were based in Syria. He was adamant that Libya had played no role whatsoever in the tragedy. One month after their meeting, the Clinton administration placed a gag order on Dr. Fuisz preventing him from publicly discussing the issue. ... "

The Lindauer Affidavit
canadafreepress.com
By Ludwig de Braeckeleer
July 21, 2008

Part 15

‘Susan, if the United States government would let me, I could identify the men behind this attack [Pan Am 1003] today. I could do it right now. You want a police line up? I could go into any crowded restaurant of 200 people, and pick out these men. […]And you know what, Susan? You won’t find this restaurant anywhere in Libya. No, you will only find this restaurant in Damascus.’ - Dr. Richard Fuisz to Suzan Lindauer, September 1994

July 17 1988. The day was eventless. A Maltese shopkeeper bought some baby garments. An American woman celebrated her 25th birthday. Neither of them could possibly imagine that the downing of Pan Am 103 later this year would irreversibly affect their life.

For his identification of Megrahi which played a key role in securing his conviction for the bombing of Pan Am 103, Toni Gauci received 4 US$ millions and enjoys a good life somewhere in Australia. Suzan Lindauer will be less lucky.

In the fall of 1994, Dr. Richard Fuisz, a major CIA operative in Syria during the 1980s, met with Lindauer, then a congressional staffer. Fuisz told her that the perpetrators of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie were based in Syria. He was adamant that Libya had played no role whatsoever in the tragedy.

One month after their meeting, the Clinton administration placed a gag order on Dr. Fuisz preventing him from publicly discussing the issue.

In 1998, Lindauer filed a formal deposition in which she recounts their discussion. The full text is attached below.

‘I learned that Dr. Fuisz is covered by the Secrets Act, which severely restricts his ability to communicate information about Pan Am 103. Though he says freely that he knows first hand that Libya was not involved in any capacity whatsoever, it’s my understanding that he can provide no further details regarding his part in the investigation, or details identifying the true criminals in this case,’ Lindauer wrote.

On July 14 of this year, Dr Fuisz confirmed to me that he was not allowed to discuss this matter.

On March 11 2004, Susan P. Lindauer was arrested and accused of ‘acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government’.

Shirley McKie is a former Scottish police detective who was falsely accused by experts from the Scottish Criminal Record Office. She was eventually acquitted and a Public Inquiry about the scandal is set to begin later this year.

Reacting to a rare article regarding Suzan Lindauer story, Iain Mckie, the father of Shirley, posted the following comment.

‘In his devastating article, Michael Collins quotes Susan Lindauer as saying: This work makes you know how small you are. This has often been my feeling as I grew to understand more and more about the truly global reach of the Lockerbie disaster and the political intrigue surrounding it. Often it all seemed too much for the individual to cope with.

Finding that my daughter Shirley might have been an innocent, if remote, victim of this intrigue helped me put things into perspective. As I reflected on Jim Swire and other grieving relatives fighting on for over 18 years I realized that my value did not depend on the political will of powerful governments but on my determination as a father to do what I could to change things. Although the individual often suffers in the fight for justice against the powerful, it is his or her determination that marks us out as strong and governments as weak. We might be small but collectively I believe we can help to change things.’

What would our world become without people such McKie, Swire or Lindauer? I admire all of them for their extraordinary courage and indefatigable willingness to find and to expose the truth. Happy birthday Suzan! Wherever you may be, you are in our thoughts.

Back to the Present

Yesterday, due to a ‘miscommunication’, no progress could be made at the procedural hearing for the second appeal of Megrahi. The next public procedural hearing will take place on 20 August. However, there will be a private hearing on 19 August involving only the Crown and the Advocate General.

‘By that time the judges will have read and absorbed the mystery document in respect of which the UK Government has claimed public interest immunity. This is the very first time of which I am aware in Scottish legal history that a hearing has been convened in a criminal appeal from which the appellant and his legal representatives have been excluded. It should also be the last,’ Pr. Black wrote

Text of Deposition

My name is Susan Lindauer. I reside in Silver Spring, Maryland, one of the suburbs outside the District of Columbia in the United States of America. At the time these events took place, I was living inside the District of Columbia, at 1002 C Street NE on Capitol Hill.

In offering this deposition, I hereby inform the court and all interested parties at the United Nations that I have never accepted any financial compensation from any of the individuals, or governments involved in this case, in any form of cash or non-cash payment. Furthermore, I have never solicited nor received promise of future payments in exchange for this testimony. My reasons for coming forward reflect my own deepest personal values, and my sense of obligation to the cause of international peace and security. I remain deeply persuaded that justice must never be confused with convenience or political scapegoating, and that the issues of this case, including the prosecution of terrorist activities and the imposition of sanctions that seek to isolate an entire Arabic population, are too important in this contemporary age for a lie to stand unchallenged. And so let it be understood by the court: I make these statements of my own free will, out of respect to my own conscience and sense of obligation as a world citizen.

This deposition pertains to my direct and immediate knowledge of an American named Dr. Richard Fuisz, and unequivocal statements by Dr. Fuisz directly to me that he has first hand knowledge about the Lockerbie case. Dr. Fuisz has told me that he can identify who orchestrated and executed the bombing. Dr. Fuisz has said that he can confirm absolutely that no Libyan national was involved in planning or executing the bombing of Pan Am 103, either in any technical or advisory capacity whatsoever. He has also made direct statements to me describing harassment that he has suffered for trying to provide this information to the families of Pan Am 103 and prosecuting authorities in the United States government.

I first met Dr. Richard Fuisz in his business office in Chantilly, Virginia in the United States of America. The date was September, 1994. I had been invited to meet Dr. Fuisz by a mutual acquaintance because of my position as press secretary to former Congressman Ron Wyden (a Democrat from Oregon), and because of my known longstanding interest in the Middle East. Wyden is now a United States Senator, and I have continued my career in TV journalism and public affairs. For the record, my relationship with Dr. Fuisz has remained purely professional, and based strictly on my respect for his integrity and incredible, indepth knowledge of the Middle East.

Dr. Fuisz told me in September, 1994 that he had lived in Syria during the 1980s, and that he maintained close ties to Saudi Arabia and the Middle East overall. Mutual friends and associates have confirmed this. He was vague as to what capacity he was working, but after our conversation, I concluded by myself that he must have been feeding U.S. intelligence efforts. He told me that he had infiltrated a network of Syrian terrorists tied to the Iranian Hezbollah, who, at the time of his residence in Damascus, were holding Americans hostage in Beirut. Dr. Fuisz impressed on me that he had identified the organizers behind the hostage crisis, and that he had actually located the streets and buildings where those Americans were being held captive, at tremendous personal risk, in order to try to orchestrate a rescue. This information was later confirmed by a third party source.

We talked a great deal about how the sale of heroin/opium from the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon is financing terrorist activities on a global scale. I must add, the rise of heroin in street markets all over the U.S. is a most insidious trend with enormous human costs, which has further motivated my determination to stay involved in this question of Pan Am 103. (The bombing of Pan Am 103 was intended to strike drug enforcement agents of the United States, in reprisal for their aggressive efforts.)

As further evidence of his deep infiltration of terrorist circles, occasionally Dr. Fuisz pointed to photographs on his wall that showed individuals engaged in social activities at private homes. He said they were some of the ‘most famous terrorists in the Middle East,’ to use his words. Obliquely he told me they might be household names in the United States.

Dr. Fuisz asked for my help as a congressional staffer because he said he had a problem. After testifying before a congressional committee about an American company that supplied Iraq with SCUD mobile missile launchers, he complained of being seriously harassed in lawsuits and by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Efforts by his attorneys to stop this harassment had been answered with warnings from the highest levels that he should never have talked about U.S. arms supplies to Iraq, and that he should stop trying to contact families tied to Pan Am 103.

In fact, this was the context for how the Pan Am bombing came up in our conversation. He said to me, gosh, could be providing so much more information about Middle Eastern terrorists, except the United States government doesn’t want anybody talking about Syria. Then he jumped into the Lockerbie case by way of example of unsolved bombing cases that he said has the immediate capability to resolve. He complained that he was getting shafted for trying to assist a cause that American leaders profess to care very much about. In essence, he insisted the messenger was getting shot for delivering the message.

Dr. Fuisz made it very clear that he knows a great deal of insider knowledge about this case. Because of his Syrian ties, he told me he ‘was first on the ground in the investigation,’ to use his words. At one point, I said to him, ‘Oh yeah, everybody knows Syria did it, and the U.S. repaid them for supporting us during the Iraqi War by shifting the blame to Libya.’ Immediately he cut me off.

‘Susan ‚ Do you understand the difference between a primary source and a secondary source? Those people in Virginia are analysts. They’re reading reports from the field, but they don’t have first-hand contact with events as they’re happening on the ground. Or first hand knowledge about what’s taking place. So they don’t actually know it, even if they think they do.’

‘I know it, Susan. I know it. That’s the difference. Because of my Syria contacts, I was the first on the ground in the investigation. I was there. They’re reading my reports.’

(His emphasis. Then he laughed sarcastically.) ‘In this case, they’re reading them and destroying them.’ (And he threw up his hands.) He continued on:
‘Susan, if the (United States) government would let me, I could identify the men behind this attack today. I could do it right now. You want a police line up? I could go into any crowded restaurant of 200 people, and pick out these men.’

‘I can identify them by face, by name.’ He started gesticulating, and counting off on his fingers. ‘I can tell you the address where they work, and what time they arrive at their office in the morning. I can tell you what time they go to lunch, what kind of restaurants they go to, and what time they leave their offices to go home for the day.

I can tell you their home addresses, the names of their wives if they’re married, the names and ages of all their children. I can tell you about their girlfriends. I can even tell you what type of prostitutes they like.’

‘And you know what, Susan? You won’t find this restaurant anywhere in Libya. No, you will only find this restaurant in Damascus. I didn’t get that from any report, Susan.’ Dr. Fuisz started shaking his head. ‘I got it because I was investigating on the ground, and I know. Do you understand what I’m saying to you now? I know!’

To which I answered. ‘For God’s sakes tell me, and I’ll get my boss to protect you.’

Then he got really mad. ‘No, no ‚ It’s so crazy. I’m not even allowed to tell you, and you’re a congressional staffer.’ Then he repeated his story about the Terex lawsuit against both him and New York Times reporter Seymour Hirsch, (the famous Pulitzer Prize winner), whose only crime was reporting Dr. Fuisz testimony at the congressional hearing.

This was how I learned that Dr. Fuisz is covered by the Secrets Act, which severely restricts his ability to communicate information about Pan Am 103. Though he says freely that he knows first hand that Libya was not involved in any capacity whatsoever, it’s my understanding that he can provide no further details regarding his part in the investigation, or details identifying the true criminals in this case.

This is tragic on two accounts. First, the accused Libyans are effectively denied the right to a fair trial where they might bring forth witnesses in their own defense, which could immediately exonerate them of all charges. And secondly, the families are denied the ability to close this terrible wound, and experience the healing that would be gained from discovering the complete truth and facts surrounding this case.

On both accounts, I cannot be silent. I suspect my disclosure will grieve the families with the horrible revelation that U.S. government officials have behaved so cynically and despicably as to withhold evidence in this case. And yet such a cynical and desperate act must be condemned by civilized society. I dare say Libya is entitled to financial compensation for the economic harassment her people have endured because of these blatantly false accusations, and the deliberate efforts to mislead potential judges, and victimize potential witnesses by a policy of aggressive harassment and punishment for speaking out. Meanwhile, the true culprits have literally gotten away with murder.

For shame on all of you!

This ends my deposition.

Signed this 4th Day of December, 1998 In the presence of a notary public.
(Lindauer’s signature and the crest of the notary stamp)

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/4051
Posted by Alex Constantine at 8:31 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Vitter Wants Campaign Funds to Pay for D.C. Madam-Related Fees
Vitter to seek help with fees
Senator wants to use money from campaign
By GERARD SHIELDS
Advocate Washington bureau

Published: Jul 3, 2008 - Page: 1A

Correction: A story in Thursday’s editions gave an incorrect figure for the amount U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., is seeking in reimbursement from his campaign funds for legal fees he incurred for his involvement in the case of a Washington woman convicted of running a prostitution ring.

Vitter is seeking a total of $207,177, which includes the $70,000 in fees he already paid with his own money.

The Advocate regrets the error.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. David Vitter will ask the Federal Election Commission today whether he can use campaign funds to pay for the $137,177 in legal fees he incurred from his involvement in the case of a woman convicted of running a high-priced Washington prostitution ring.

The Louisiana Republican acknowledged in July 2007 that his phone number appeared on the client list of the woman dubbed “the D.C. Madam.” Deborah Jeane Palfrey was convicted in federal court in April of money laundering, mail fraud and conspiracy.

In a letter to the FEC, an attorney for Vitter says his client incurred the legal expenses in monitoring the Palfrey trial and quashing the subpoenas issued to him.

Vitter also had to hire attorneys to defend himself to the Senate Ethics Committee because of a complaint filed by the government watchdog group Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The complaint was dismissed by the committee, which noted that Vitter was not charged with a crime and the incidents occurred when he was a House member.

The legal fees also cover the advice Vitter received on how to manage the case and address it publicly, wrote his attorney, Jan Witold Baran.

“The Senator’s involvement in the Palfrey matter was predicated solely on his status as a United States Senator,” Baran wrote. “Other individuals whose phone numbers appeared in Ms. Palfrey’s records who did not have a public profile like the Senator’s were not dragged into the legal proceedings and did not incur the related legal fees.”

Vitter has paid $70,000 of the legal fees personally and is asking that the money be re-imbursed through the campaign funds, the letter says.

FEC officials could not be reached late Wednesday afternoon for comment. Through his spokesman, Vitter declined to comment on the letter. The latest FEC campaign contributions report for Vitter, filed March 31, shows he has $1.6 million in his campaign coffers.

Baran, in the letter, says Vitter had been monitoring the Palfrey case three months before the senator acknowledged what he called a “serious sin” in his past. A review of the Palfrey records shows Vitter’s number on the list five times between 1999 and 2001 when he was in the House.

Vitter was subpoenaed in the Palfrey trial by her attorneys, but was never called to testify. He was also subpoenaed in a pretrial hearing that was cancelled. Palfrey committed suicide in May, two weeks after her conviction. She faced four to six years in federal prison.

In his request to the FEC, Vitter points to the case of former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, whom the commission allowed to use campaign funds for expenses incurred after he left office. Those fees were in connection to press reports about Kerrey’s conduct in the military during the Vietnam War.

“The press coverage (of Kerrey) was stimulated by virtue of his position as a U.S. Senator even though the underlying conduct predated any candidacy or his duties as a Senator,” the Vitter letter says.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/22850554.html
Posted by Alex Constantine at 10:20 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Mind Games - The New York Times "Remembers" Brainwashing
The corporate media are a "brainwashing" operation initiated by the CIA's Allen Dulles a year before the CIA was even created, as recounted by Joe Trento in The Secret History of the CIA, and they protect other mind control operations by filtering out any reference to ongoing programs, pretending that the barbarity ended with MK-ULTRA. It didn't, and there are an untold number of current victims. Tim Weiner, who authored these half-truths, is a shill at the New York Times who is playing the game - to give the false impression that mind control is a thing of the past. It was "a time of secrecy and fear?" And 2008 isn't? This ridiculous perspective happens to shield the Times from exposure as a propaganda front for the CIA and the "Complex," one that silences victims by censoring their screams. Mind control operatives are busier than ever these days, especially at the Times.

BTW, the constant media references to supposed cold war Chinese "brainwashing" tactics are overblown. The Pentagon's own documents reveal that the Chinese only plied "enhanced interrogation techniques," not anything resembling mind control. The trumped-up accusation against China was an excuse for American personnel to experiment on unwitting guinea pigs themselves, just as the accusation of WMD's in Iraq was an excuse for going to war. Edward Hunter, mentioned in the article, was a CIA official. Hunter coined the term "brainwashing," and as a science, it is an American invention. The word "remembering" brainwashing in the headline is a lie - many are living the Hell that is kept out of the newspapers. The Times and other controlled information brokers supplement the abuse with censorship and harsh discrediting tactics. - AC

MIND GAMES - Remembering Brainwashing
July 6, 2008

By TIM WEINER

IT was a time of secrecy and fear. Fear of a strange enemy driven by an alien ideology, killing Americans abroad, threatening Americans at home. And it created a new terror.

In the early 1950s, American troops were being killed and captured by the thousands in Korea. Panic spread that China’s Communists had learned how to penetrate and control the minds of American prisoners of war.

The technique was called “brainwashing.” And suddenly it’s worth recalling what brainwashing was about. Because now we know, from an article in The New York Times last week, that in a new time of anxiety America’s own interrogators drew lessons from China’s treatment of American prisoners of war for their treatment of prisoners in the war on terror.

The concept of brainwashing was the brainchild of Edward Hunter, a newspaperman born in 1902, who had covered the rise of fascism in Europe before joining the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency, during World War II. The Korean War had just begun in 1950 when The Miami News published his article, “ ‘Brain-Washing’ Tactics Force Chinese Into Ranks of Communist Party.”

He determined that “the Reds have specialists available on their brainwashing panels,” experts in the use of “drugs and hypnotism,” as he later told the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Their ultimate goal was conquering America.

“The United States is the main battlefield,” he testified, “the people and the soil and the resources of the United States.” He warned that brainwashing would make Americans “subjects of a ‘new world order’ for the benefit of a mad little knot of despots in the Kremlin.”

The idea that a totalitarian state could control people like Pavlov’s dogs had appeared in 1940s novels, notably Arthur Koestler’s “Darkness at Noon” and George Orwell’s “1984.” It took Mao’s China — and the forced “confessions” of some American prisoners of war during the Korean conflict — to make brainwashing a centerpiece of 1950s culture.

After the war, thousands of American P.O.W.’s returned under suspicion of having collaborated with the enemy while in captivity. A handful, on orders from their captors, had, in fact, falsely accused the United States of conducting germ warfare against North Korea. Congress was transfixed by “the fear that the soldiers could have been brainwashed by the Chinese and still be spying for them,” Col. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie wrote in the journal Military Medicine. Dread that the Chinese Communists had created zombie sleeper agents spread quickly and ran deep.

A Dutch psychologist, Joost A. M. Meerloo, caught the apocalyptic tone in a New York Times Magazine article in 1954: “The totalitarians have misused the knowledge of how the mind works for their own purposes. They have applied the Pavlovian technique — in a far more complex and subtle way, of course — to produce the reflex of mental and political submission of the humans in their power.”

Orwell’s hero in “1984,” Winston Smith, holds out hope against Big Brother and his minions: “With all their cleverness they had never mastered the secret of finding out what another human being was thinking.”

But the threat that they could riveted Americans — and the C.I.A.

Finding out what others are thinking was (and is) the job of spies. The Korean experience spurred the C.I.A.’s search for mind-control techniques to grill suspected double agents. The agency took on a task described in its documents as “overseas interrogations.”

Clandestine prisons were created in occupied Germany, occupied Japan and the Panama Canal Zone. “Like Guantánamo,” said a charter member of the C.I.A., Thomas Polgar. “It was anything goes.” In these cells, the agency conducted experiments in drug-induced brainwashing and other “special techniques” for interrogations. These continued inside and outside the United States, sometimes on unsuspecting human guinea pigs, long after the Korean War ended in 1953.

“There was deep concern over the issue of brainwashing,” Richard Helms, the former director of central intelligence, told the journalist David Frost 25 years later. “We felt that it was our responsibility not to lag behind the Russians or the Chinese in this field, and the only way to find out what the risks were was to test things such as L.S.D. and other drugs that could be used to control human behavior. These experiments went on for many years.”

While the government chased after truth serum, fiction raced behind reality. The theory of a robot-like Manchurian Candidate was posited by the C.I.A. in 1953, six years before Richard Condon published the novel of that name, nine years before the book became a movie. William Burroughs, in “Naked Lunch” (1959), created a drug-addled mad scientist, Dr. Benway, “an expert on all phases of interrogation, brainwashing and control.”

In the 1960s, brainwashing began to fade as a nightmare, though it was revived when captured soldiers and pilots released by North Vietnam made antiwar statements. In 1967, a Republican presidential contender, Gov. George Romney of Michigan (Mitt’s dad), was ridiculed when he said he had been brainwashed by American generals about how well the war in Vietnam was going.

Flash forward to 2002. American military and intelligence officers, looking for better ways to interrogate prisoners in the war on terror, went combing through government files. They found that the best institutional memory lay in the interrogation experiences of American P.O.W.’s in Korea. They reprinted a 1957 chart describing death threats, degradation, sleep deprivation — and worse — inflicted by Chinese captors. And they made it part of a new handbook for interrogators at Guantánamo.

The irony is that the original author of that chart, Albert D. Biderman, a social scientist who had distilled interviews with 235 Air Force P.O.W.’s, wrote that the Communists’ techniques mainly served to “extort false confessions.” And they were the same methods that “inquisitors had employed for centuries.” They had done nothing that “was not common practice to police and intelligence interrogators of other times and nations.”

Brainwashing was bunk: no secret weapon to control the human mind existed, America’s best experts concluded in the 1960s. Yes, the Communists used time-honored and terrifying interrogation tactics during the cold war. Some, like waterboarding, had been perfected during the Spanish Inquisition. But Mr. Biderman concluded that “inflicting physical pain is not a necessary nor particularly effective method” to persuade prisoners of war.

Some veterans of the war on terror say that lesson should have been relearned, despite the urgent need to uncover whatever possible about terrorist planning — the administration’s principal justification of its harsh interrogation policies.

Alberto J. Mora, the Navy’s general counsel from 2001 to 2006, told a recent Congressional hearing, where the Biderman chart resurfaced: “Our nation’s policy decision to use so-called ‘harsh’ interrogation techniques during the war on terror was a mistake of massive proportions.”

Tim Weiner is the author of “Legacy of Ashes: A History of the C.I.A.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/weekinreview/06weiner.html?_r=1&ei=5087&em=&en=9acc7cd78aeba116&ex=1215403200&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
Posted by Alex Constantine at 10:38 AM 0 comments Links to this post
YouTube Video: ABBA Star's Nazi Father
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhAIgwTC6kM
Posted by Alex Constantine at 1:42 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Monday, July 21, 2008
Bush Lied, Knew He Was Lying, Thought It Was Funny, and Killed Over a Million People
www.scoop.co.nz
http://afterdowningstreet.org/node/34952

By David Swanson

Borrowing heavily from Congressman Dennis Kucinich's articles of impeachment, but adding and removing bits and pieces, here's a case against the current occupant of the White House:

In his conduct while President of the United States, George W. Bush, in violation of his constitutional oath to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution "to take care that the laws be faithfully executed," intentionally misled Congress to obtain authorization for the use of force against Iraq and used that fraudulently obtained authorization to commit US troops to combat.

Long before the March 19, 2003, invasion of Iraq, a wealth of intelligence informed the President and those under his direction and control that Iraq's stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons had been destroyed well before 1998 and that there was little, if any, credible intelligence that showed otherwise. As reported in the Washington Post in March of 2003, in 1995, Saddam Hussein's son-in-law Hussein Kamel had informed U.S. and British intelligence officers that "all weapons—biological, chemical, missile, nuclear were destroyed."

In September 2002, the Defense Intelligence Agency issued a report that concluded: "A substantial amount of Iraq's chemical warfare agents, precursors, munitions and production equipment were destroyed between 1991 and 1998 as a result of Operation Desert Storm and UNSCOM actions…[T]here is no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons or whether Iraq has-or will-establish its chemical warfare agent production facilities." The main source of the President's claims that Iraq was producing biological weapons was an informant code-named Curveball by his German interrogators, who had informed the Bush Administration that Curveball was not "psychologically stable," was a heavy drinker, had had a mental breakdown, was "crazy," and was "probably a fabricator."

On or about September 12, 2001, former terrorism advisor Richard Clarke personally informed the President that neither Saddam Hussein nor Iraq was responsible for the September 11th attacks. On September 18, Clarke submitted to the President's National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice a memo he had written in response to George W. Bush's specific request that stated: (1) the case for linking Hussein to the September 11th attacks was weak; (2) only anecdotal evidence linked Hussein to al Qaeda; (3) Osama Bin Laden resented the secularism of Saddam Hussein; and (4) there was no confirmed reporting of Saddam Hussein cooperating with Bin Laden on unconventional weapons.

Ten days after the September 11th attacks the President received a President's Daily Briefing which indicated that the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking Saddam Hussein to the September 11th attacks and that there was "scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda."

In Defense Intelligence Terrorism Summary No. 044-02, issued in February 2002, the United States Defense Intelligence Agency cast significant doubt on the possibility of a Saddam Hussein- Al Qaeda conspiracy: "Saddam's regime is intensely secular and is wary of Islamic revolutionary movements. Moreover, Baghdad is unlikely to provide assistance to a group it cannot control."

The October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) gave a "Low Confidence" rating to the notion of whether "in desperation Saddam would share chemical or biological weapons with Al Qaeda." The CIA never informed the President that there was an operational relationship between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein; on the contrary, its most "aggressive" analysis contained in "Iraq and al-Qaeda-Interpreting a Murky Relationship" dated June 21, 2002, was that Iraq had had "sporadic, wary contacts with al Qaeda since the mid-1990s rather than a relationship with al Qaeda that has developed over time."

The October 2002 NIE concluded that "Baghdad for now appears to be drawing a line short of conducting terrorist attacks with conventional or CBW against the United States, fearing that exposure of Iraqi involvement would provide Washington a stronger case for making war. Iraq probably would attempt clandestine attacks against the US Homeland if Baghdad feared an attack that threatened the survival of the regime were imminent or unavoidable." This statement was not included in the declassified shortened version of the NIE that was used to mislead the Congress. Other changes to the declassified version included removing dissenting paragraphs and footnotes, and removing phrases such as "We judge that..." and "We assess that..." and "Although we have little specific information on Iraq's CW stockpile..." in order to transform speculation into fact. Other phrases were added in the declassification process, including the phrase "including potentially against the U.S. homeland."

Notwithstanding the absence of evidence proving that weapons stockpiles existed and in direct contradiction to substantial evidence that showed they did not exist, the President and his subordinates and agents made numerous false representations claiming with certainty that Iraq possessed chemical and biological weapons that it was developing to use to attack the United States, including these:

(1) "In defiance of the United Nations, Iraq has stockpiled biological and chemical weapons, and is rebuilding the facilities used to make more of those weapons." Speech of President Bush, October 5, 2002.

(2) "All the world has now seen the footage of an Iraqi Mirage aircraft with a fuel tank modified to spray biological agents over wide areas. Iraq has developed spray devices that could be used on unmanned aerial vehicles with ranges far beyond what is permitted by the Security Council. A UAV launched from a vessel off the American coast could reach hundreds of miles inland." Statement by President Bush from the White House, February 6, 2003.

Despite overwhelming intelligence in the form of statements and reports filed by and on behalf of the CIA, the State Department and the IAEA, among others, which indicated that the claim was untrue, the President, and those under his direction and control, made numerous representations claiming and implying through misleading language that Iraq was attempting to purchase uranium from Niger in order to falsely buttress its argument that Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear weapons program, including:

(1) "The regime has the scientists and facilities to build nuclear weapons, and is seeking the materials needed to do so." Statement of President Bush from White House, October 2, 2002.

(2) "The [Iraqi] report also failed to deal with issues which have arisen since 1998, including: . . attempts to acquire uranium and the means to enrich it." Letter from President Bush to Vice President Cheney and the Senate, January 20, 2003.

(3) "The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." President Bush Delivers State of the Union Address, January 28, 2003.

Despite overwhelming evidence in the form of reports by nuclear weapons experts from the Energy, the Defense and State Departments, as well from outside and international agencies which assessed that aluminum tubes the Iraqis were purchasing were not suitable for nuclear centrifuge use and were, on the contrary, identical to ones used in rockets already being manufactured by the Iraqis, the President, and those under his direction and control, persisted in making numerous false and fraudulent representations implying and stating explicitly that the Iraqis were purchasing the tubes for use in a nuclear weapons program, including the following:

(1) "Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production." President Bush's State of the Union Address, January 28, 2003.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Report on Whether Public Statements Regarding Iraq By U.S. Government Officials Were Substantiated By Intelligence Information, which was released on June 5, 2008, concluded that:

(1) "Statements by the President and Vice President prior to the October 2002 National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iraq's chemical weapons production capability and activities did not reflect the intelligence community's uncertainties as to whether such production was ongoing."

(2) "The Secretary of Defense's statement that the Iraqi government operated underground WMD facilities that were not vulnerable to conventional airstrikes because they were underground and deeply buried was not substantiated by available intelligence information."

(3) Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Jay Rockefeller concluded: "In making the case for war, the Administration repeatedly presented intelligence as fact when in reality it was unsubstantiated, contradicted, or even non-existent. As a result, the American people were led to believe that the threat from Iraq was much greater than actually existed."

Notwithstanding the complete absence of intelligence analysis to support a claim that Iraq posed an imminent or urgent threat to the United States and the intelligence community's assessment that Iraq was in fact not likely to attack the United States unless it was itself attacked, President Bush, both personally and through his agents and subordinates, made, allowed and caused to be made repeated false representations to the citizens and Congress of the United States implying and explicitly stating that such a dire threat existed, including the following:

(1) "States such as these [Iraq, Iran and North Korea] and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic." President Bush's State of the Union Address, January 29, 2002.

(2) "The history, the logic, and the facts lead to one conclusion: Saddam Hussein's regime is a grave and gathering danger. To suggest otherwise is to hope against the evidence. To assume this regime's good faith is to bet the lives of millions and the peace of the world in a reckless gamble. And this is a risk we must not take." Address of President Bush to the United Nations General Assembly, September 12, 2002.

(3) "On its present course, the Iraqi regime is a threat of unique urgency. . . . it has developed weapons of mass death." Statement of President Bush at White House, October 2, 2002.

(4) "Today the world is also uniting to answer the unique and urgent threat posed by Iraq. A dictator who has used weapons of mass destruction on his own people must not be allowed to produce or possess those weapons. We will not permit Saddam Hussein to blackmail and/or terrorize nations which love freedom." Speech by President Bush to Prague Atlantic Student Summit, November 20, 2002.

(5) "But the risk of doing nothing, the risk of the security of this country being jeopardized at the hands of a madman with weapons of mass destruction far exceeds the risk of any action we may be forced to take." President Bush Meets with National Economic Council at White House, February 25, 2003.

While the President noticeably avoided the word "imminent," which might have prompted requests for evidence, he frequently used equivalent phrases, such as "on any given day," "before the day of horror can come, before it is too late to act," "the danger is already significant, and it only grows worse with time," "each passing day could be the one," etc.

In furtherance of his fraudulent effort to deceive Congress and the citizens of the United States into believing that Iraq and Saddam Hussein posed an imminent threat to the United States, the President allowed and authorized those acting under his direction and control, including Vice President Richard B. Cheney, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and Lewis Libby, who reported directly to both the President and the Vice President, among others, to pressure intelligence analysts to tailor their assessments and to create special units outside of, and unknown to, the intelligence community in order to secretly obtain unreliable information, to manufacture intelligence, or to reinterpret raw data in ways that would support the Bush administration's plan to invade Iraq based on a false claim of urgency despite the lack of justification for such a preemptive action.

Former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke said on "Good Morning America" in 2004 that on September 12, 2001, "The President in a very intimidating way left us - me and my staff - with the clear indication that he wanted us to come back with the word that there was an Iraqi hand behind 9/11." Vice President Richard Cheney made several unprecedented visits to the CIA to pressure analysts. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, at an August 2002 meeting of the Defense Intelligence Agency, criticized the CIA for not finding a link between Hussein and Al Qaeda. Robin Raphel, a veteran of the State Department's Foreign Service, David Dunford, a State Department Middle East specialist, Richard Kerr, former deputy director of the CIA, Kenneth Pollack, a Clinton Administration National Security official, and Paul Pillar, retired CIA agent, are among those who have testified to White House pressure on intelligence analysts to make a case for war on Iraq. This determination to fix the facts around the policy of invasion is also documented in the minutes of a July 23, 2002, meeting hosted by the Prime Minister of Britain Tony Blair, known as the Downing Street Minutes, and in a related collection of British memos.

Further evidence of the President's intention to make war a first, rather than a last, resort and to mislead the Congress and the public, is found in the British minutes of a January 31, 2003, White House meeting between President Bush and Prime Minister Blair, at a time when their public statements included claims of working to preserve peace. During this meeting, the President proposed a number of possible ways to manufacture an excuse for war, including suggesting that the United States paint U2 reconnaissance aircraft with UN colors and try to get them shot at. The President agreed to pressure the United Nations for a resolution authorizing war, but said that he would launch a war regardless of the outcome.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Report on Whether Public Statements Regarding Iraq By U.S. Government Officials Were Substantiated By Intelligence Information, which was released on June 5, 2008, concluded that:

"Statements by the President and the Vice President indicating that Saddam Hussein was prepared to give weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups for attacks against the United States were contradicted by available intelligence information."

Notwithstanding his knowledge that neither Saddam Hussein nor Iraq was in any way connected to the September 11th attacks, the President allowed and authorized those acting under his direction and control, including Vice President Richard B. Cheney and Lewis Libby, who reported directly to both the President and the Vice President, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, among others, to pressure intelligence analysts to alter their assessments and to create special units outside of, and unknown to, the intelligence community in order to secretly obtain unreliable information, to manufacture intelligence or reinterpret raw data in ways that would further the Bush administration's goal of fraudulently establishing a relationship not only between Iraq and al Qaeda, but between Iraq and the attacks of September 11th.

Further, despite his full awareness that Iraq and Saddam Hussein had no relationship to the September 11th attacks, the President, and those acting under his direction and control have, since at least 2002 and continuing to the present, repeatedly issued public statements deliberately worded to mislead, words calculated in their implication to bring unrelated actors and circumstances into an artificially contrived reality thereby facilitating the systematic deception of Congress and the American people. Thus the public and some members of Congress, came to believe, falsely, that there was a connection between Iraq and the attacks of 911. This was accomplished through well-publicized statements by the Bush Administration which contrived to continually tie Iraq and 911 in the same statements of grave concern without making an explicit charge:

(1) " [If] Iraq regimes [sic] continues to defy us, and the world, we will move deliberately, yet decisively, to hold Iraq to account…It's a new world we're in. We used to think two oceans could separate us from an enemy. On that tragic day, September the 11th, 2001, we found out that's not the case. We found out this great land of liberty and of freedom and of justice is vulnerable. And therefore we must do everything we can -- everything we can -- to secure the homeland, to make us safe." Speech of President Bush in Iowa on September 16, 2002.

(2) "With every step the Iraqi regime takes toward gaining and deploying the most terrible weapons, our own options to confront that regime will narrow. And if an emboldened regime were to supply these weapons to terrorist allies, then the attacks of September 11th would be a prelude to far greater horrors." March 6, 2003, Statement of President Bush in National Press Conference.

(3) "The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11, 2001 -- and still goes on. That terrible morning, 19 evil men -- the shock troops of a hateful ideology -- gave America and the civilized world a glimpse of their ambitions. They imagined, in the words of one terrorist, that September the 11th would be the 'beginning of the end of America.' By seeking to turn our cities into killing fields, terrorists and their allies believed that they could destroy this nation's resolve, and force our retreat from the world. They have failed." May 1, 2003, Speech of President Bush on U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln.

(4) "Now we're in a new and unprecedented war against violent Islamic extremists. This is an ideological conflict we face against murderers and killers who try to impose their will. These are the people that attacked us on September the 11th and killed nearly 3,000 people. The stakes are high, and once again, we have had to change our strategic thinking. The major battleground in this war is Iraq." June 28, 2007, Speech of President Bush at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

Notwithstanding his knowledge that there was no credible evidence of a working relationship between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda and that the intelligence community had specifically assessed that there was no such operational relationship, the President, both personally and through his subordinates and agents, has repeatedly falsely represented, both explicitly and implicitly, and through the misleading use of selectively-chosen facts, to the citizens of the United States and to the Congress that there was and is such an ongoing operational relationship, to wit:

(1) "We know that Iraq and al Qaeda have had high-level contacts that go back a decade. Some al Qaeda leaders who fled Afghanistan went to Iraq. These include one very senior al Qaeda leader who received medical treatment in Baghdad this year, and who has been associated with planning for chemical and biological attacks. We've learned that Iraq has trained al Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases." September 28, 2002, Weekly Radio Address of President Bush to the Nation.

(2) "[W]e we need to think about Saddam Hussein using al Qaeda to do his dirty work, to not leave fingerprints behind." October 14, 2002, Remarks by President Bush in Michigan.

(3) "We know he's got ties with al Qaeda." November 1, 2002, Speech of President Bush in New Hampshire.

(4) "Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own." January 28, 2003, President Bush's State of the Union Address.

(5) "The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11, 2001 — and still goes on. . . . [T]he liberation of Iraq . . . removed an ally of al Qaeda." May 1, 2003, Speech of President Bush on U.S. S. Abraham Lincoln

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Report on Whether Public Statements Regarding Iraq By U.S. Government Officials Were Substantiated By Intelligence Information, which was released on June 5, 2008, concluded that:

(1) "Statements and implications by the President and Secretary of State suggesting that Iraq and al-Qa'ida had a partnership, or that Iraq had provided al-Qa'ida with weapons training, were not substantiated by the intelligence."

(2) "The Intelligence Community did not confirm that Muhammad Atta met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in 2001 as the Vice President repeatedly claimed."

In order to fulfill the requirements of the Congressional Authorization to Use Force, the President was required to submit to Congress his determination that:

"(1) reliance by the United States on further diplomatic or other peaceful means alone either (A) will not adequately protect the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq or (B) is not likely to lead to enforcement of all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq; and

"(2) acting pursuant to this joint resolution is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorist and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001."

On March 18, 2003, President George Bush sent a letter and a report to Congress stating that he had made those determinations. The evidence shows that the President knew his assertions in this letter and report to be false.

At a January 31, 2003, White House press conference with Tony Blair, at which Bush and Blair did not mention their discussion of how to manufacture excuses for war, but rather claimed to be working for peace, a reporter asked "Do you believe that there is a link between Saddam Hussein, a direct link, and the men who attacked on September the 11th?" President Bush replied: "I can't make that claim."

Congress relied on the false information provided to it by the President of the United States. Congress provided the President with the authorization to use military force that he requested. As a consequence of the fraudulent representations made to the Congress, the United States Armed Forces, under the direction of George W. Bush as Commander in Chief, pursuant to Section 3 of the Authorization for the Use of Force which President Bush requested, invaded Iraq and occupy it to this day, at the cost of 4,116 lives of US service men and women, injuries to over 30,000 of our troops, the deaths of over 1,000,000 innocent Iraqi civilians, the destruction of Iraq, and a long term cost of $2 to $3 trillion of taxpayers' money.

President Bush's misrepresentations to Congress to induce passage of a use of force resolution are subversive of the Constitutional system of checks and balances, destructive of Congress' sole prerogative to declare war under Article I Section 8 of the Constitution, and therefore constitute a High Crime. An even greater offense by the President of the United States occurs in his capacity as Commander in Chief, because he knowingly placed the men and women of the United States Armed Forces in harms way, jeopardizing their lives and their families' future, for reasons the President knew to be fraudulent.

In all of these actions and decisions, President George W. Bush has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as President and Commander in Chief, and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and to the manifest injury of the people of the United States and of those members of the Armed Forces who put their lives on the line pursuant to the falsehoods of the President. Wherefore, President George W. Bush, by such conduct, is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office.

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0807/S00229.htm
Posted by Alex Constantine at 6:52 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Mind Control: "The Great Battlefield of the Cold War" - Allen Dulles
Excerpt from: "Could hypnotism be the future of surgery? This dental patient certainly thinks so," by Danny Penman, Daily Mail Online, 27th June 2008

... The powers of hypnosis not only have the potential to help mankind, but also to be used for nefarious ends.

The themes have been explored by Hollywood in such films as the Manchurian Candidate and the Bourne Identity.

As you may recall, in these films a person’s character is broken down and reprogrammed allowing them to become controlled by renegade government agents. But what few people know is that both films were based on the work of the U.S. psychologists J.W.Watkins and George Estabrooks.

Both men worked for the U.S. military on several clandestine projects. Watkins specialised in placing army recruits into deep trances and ‘reprogramming’ them. In one series of experiments, he hypnotised soldiers and told them to attack senior officers. Disregarding all their years of military discipline, they duly did so. One even pulled out a knife and attempted to stab an officer.

Similarly, the CIA has also explored hypnosis as part of its intelligence-gathering techniques. In 1953, the CIA director Allen Dulles kick-started several secret programmes when he announced that: ‘Mind warfare is the great battlefield of the Cold War and we have to do whatever it takes to win.’

Morse Allen, a CIA researcher, managed to hypnotise his secretary and, in an attempt to test his powers, ordered her to shoot her best friend. (A tragedy was only averted as the gun she’d been given had been emptied of bullets before she pulled the trigger.)

Such stories of medical marvels and total mind control will doubtless sound incredulous to cynics. ...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1029833/Could-hypnotism-future-surgery-This-dental-patient-certainly-thinks-so.html
Posted by Alex Constantine at 8:43 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Is the Global Oil Crunch a Myth?
By Ismael Hossein-zadeh
Middle East Online
July 14, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/91226/

The popular perception of the recently skyrocketing oil price is that there is an oil shortage in global energy markets. The perceived shortage is generally blamed on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting countries (OPEC) for "insufficient" production, or on countries like China and India for their increased demand for energy, or on both.

This perception is reinforced--indeed, largely shaped--by the Bush administration and its neoconservative handlers who are eager to deflect attention away from war and geopolitical turbulence as driving forces behind the skyrocketing energy prices.

Impressions of an oil shortage are further bolstered by Wall Street and its financial giants that are taking advantage of the insecurity created by war and geopolitical turmoil in oil markets and are making fortunes through manipulative speculation in commodity futures markets.

Perceptions of insufficient oil supply are also heightened by the recently resuscitated theory of the so-called Peak Oil, which maintains that world production of conventional oil will soon reach--if it has not already reached--a maximum, or peak, and decline thereafter, with grave socio-economic consequences.

However, claims of an oil shortage are not supported by facts. Evidence shows that, in reality, there is no discrepancy between production and consumption of oil on a global level. Citing statistical evidence of parity between production and consumption of oil, OPEC President Chakib Khelil recently emphasized that there was no shortage of oil: "As far as fundamentals are concerned I think we have equilibrium between supply and demand. . . . In fact right now we have more supply than demand."

Facts of abundant oil supplies in global markets are now also being acknowledged and reported by mainstream media. For example, Ed Wallace of Business Week recently reported that "that worldwide production of oil has risen 2.5% in the first quarter, while worldwide demand has grown by only 2%. Production is expected to increase by 3.3% in the second quarter, and by as much as 4.1% by the third quarter. The net result is that the US daily buffer for oil production against demand, which was a paltry 1.5 million barrels as recently as 2005, is now up to 3 million barrels in excess capacity today."

Wallace then asks, "So what is going on here? Why would our Energy Secretary say there's a supply and demand problem when none exists? Why would he say that speculators have little or nothing to do with the incredibly high price of oil and gasoline, when it's clear they do? President Bush--a former oilman--gives the ever-growing demand for gasoline as the primary reason prices are so high, yet that notion can be dispelled with one minute of research."

So, if indeed there is no imbalance between production and consumption of oil in global markets, how do we then explain the skyrocketing oil prices?

The answer, in a nutshell, is: war and geopolitical instability in oil markets. Contrary to the claims of the champions of war and militarism, of the Wall Street speculators in energy markets, and of the proponents of Peak Oil, the current oil price shocks are caused largely by the destabilizing wars and political turbulences in the Middle East. These include not only the raging wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also the danger of a looming war against Iran that would threaten the flow of oil out of Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz.

Close scrutiny of the soaring oil prices shows that anytime there is a renewed US or Israeli military threat against Iran, fuel prices move up several notches. For example, Agence France-Press (AFP) recently reported, "Crude oil prices went on a record-setting surge Friday as fears of a new Middle East conflict were fanned by comments from a top Israeli official about Iran. New York's main oil futures contract...leapt 10.75 dollars a barrel--its biggest one-day jump ever."

War and political chaos in the Middle East tend to increase energy prices in a number of ways. For one thing, as war plunges the US deep into debt, it depreciates the dollar--thereby appreciating, or inflating, the price of dollar-denominated commodities, especially oil.

Depreciated dollar tends to raise the price of oil (and other commodities) in two major ways. First, since oil is priced in US dollars, oil exporting countries would demand more of the cheaper dollars for the same barrel of oil in order to maintain the purchasing power of their oil. Second, when the dollar falls, oil prices rise because investors are more likely to use their money to buy tangible assets or commodities such as oil and gold that won't lose value.

According to a number of energy experts, between 30- and 40-percent of the recent increases in the price of oil can be attributed to dollar depreciation. One of the simplest ways to calculate this is to compare the price per barrel of oil in dollars and euros over the last five years. "The widening gap between the two [dollar price vs. euro price] indicates that 35 percent of the increase in the price of oil could be attributed to currency [dollar] devaluation."

Stronger than the impact of dollar depreciation on the price of oil has been the impact of manipulative speculation: war and political instability have served as breeding grounds for hoarding and speculation in energy futures markets. According to F. William Engdahl, a top expert on energy and financial markets, "As much as 60% of today's crude oil price is pure speculation driven by large trader banks and hedge funds. It has nothing to do with the convenient myths of Peak Oil. It has to do with control of oil and its price. . . . Since the advent of oil futures trading and the two major London and New York oil futures contracts, control of oil prices has left OPEC and gone to Wall Street. It is a classic case of the tail that wags the dog."

US Representative Bart T. Stupak, Democrat - Michigan, chairman of the subcommittee investigating commodity market speculation, attributes even a higher percentage of the oil price hike to market manipulation: "Speculations now account for about 70% of all benchmark crude trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up from 37% in 200."

Wall Street financial giants that created the Third World debt crisis in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the tech bubble in the 1990s, and the housing bubble in the 2000s are now hard at work creating the oil bubble. By purchasing large numbers of futures contracts, and thereby pushing up futures prices to even higher levels than current prices, speculators have provided a financial incentive for giant futures traders to buy even more oil and place it in storage.

Unrestrained by an appalling lack of regulation, this has led to a steady rise in crude oil inventories over the last two years, "resulting in US crude oil inventories that are now higher than at any time in the previous eight years. The large influx of speculative investment into oil futures has led to a situation where we have both high supplies of crude oil and high crude oil prices. . . . In fact, during this period global supplies have exceeded demand, according to the US Department of Energy."

The fact that the skyrocketing oil prices of late have been accompanied by a surplus in global oil markets was also brought to the attention of President George W. Bush by Saudi officials when he asked them during a recent trip to the kingdom to increase production in order to stem the rising prices. Saudi officials reminded the President that "there is plenty of oil on the market. Iran has put some 30 million barrels of oil that it can't sell into floating storage. 'If we produced more oil, it wouldn't find buyers,' says the Saudi source. It wouldn't affect the price at all."

And why producing more oil "wouldn't affect the price at all"? Well, because what is driving the soaring oil prices is not shortage but speculation: "with so much investment money sloshing around in the commodities markets, the Saudis calculate they have no hope of controlling short-term price fluctuations. They blame the recent price run-ups on speculation and fear of shortages [not real shortages], factors they say are beyond their control."

To sum up, manipulative speculation and dollar depreciation account for most of the recent increases in the price of oil--speculation accounts for nearly 60 percent, dollar depreciation for almost 40 percent. This is no longer a secret. What remains largely a secret, and needs to be exposed, however, is the relationship between speculation and dollar depreciation, on the one hand, and war and geopolitical instability, on the other.

While it is important to point out the impacts of dollar depreciation and commodity speculation on the price of oil, it is even more important to show that both of these factors are byproducts of war and militarism. Not only has the war played a critical role in the weakening of the dollar (through plunging the US deep into debt), it has also created favorable grounds for manipulative speculation in commodity markets, especially energy markets.

Therefore, while efforts to curb speculation in energy markets (through regulation of the largely unregulated futures markets) or buttress the dollar from further declining may sound comforting, such efforts will remain illusive and ineffectual unless the devastating wars and military adventures in the oil-rich Middle East are terminated; that is, unless the root causes of currency depreciation and commodity speculation are exposed and cut out.

Ismael Hossein-zadeh, author of the recently published The Political Economy of US Militarism (Palgrave-Macmillan 2007), teaches economics at Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa.

© 2008 Middle East Online All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/91226/
Posted by Alex Constantine at 1:47 PM 0 comments Links to this post
CIA Torturer Dan Mitrione's Wikipedia Entry
" ... His funeral was largely publicised by the U.S. media, and it was attended by, amongst others, David Eisenhower and Richard Nixon's secretary of state William Rogers. Frank Sinatra and Jerry Lewis held a benefit concert for his family in Richmond, Indiana. ... "


See: http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2008/04/cia-torturer-dan-mitriones-wikipedia.html
Posted by Alex Constantine at 10:46 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Book Review - How to Get Away with Anything: Supreme Crime, Supreme Impunity
pacificfreepress.com
03 July 2008

Getting Away with the Supreme International Crime
by Kim Petersen

The US and its coalition has been ground down by the Iraqi resistance, despite its vastly superior weaponry, despite plundering the Iraqi treasury, despite decimating the economy and infrastructure, despite the blatant divide-and-conquer strategy, despite, as my colleague B.J. Sabri wrote me;

"Here is the picture: over 1.5 million killed, 4 million refugees inside Iraq, 3 million outside Iraq,1 75% unemployed, cancer rates increased 20,000% since 2003, no medical system, no functioning economy, prostitution is rampant and Iraq has the highest number of women turned prostitutes more than any country that experience war, US detains over 28,000 Iraqis kids below age 18, and over 110,000 adults, US and Shiites divided Baghdad with concrete walls, electricity is available every 4-6 days, no clean water, gasoline is scarce, and the killers still kill and no one knows who is killing who except of course the Americans …"

"I don’t care about international law. I don’t want to hear the words ‘international law’ again. We are not concerned about international law." – US military judge in Guantánamo Bay

International Justice and Impunity: The Case of the United States
Edited by Nils Andersson, Daniel Iagolnitzer, and Diana G. Collier
Paperback: 304 pages
(Clarity Press, 2008)
ISBN: 978-0-932863-57-7

Despite everything, the US-led aggression and occupation has lost the ground war. What the US ruling class fears most are scenes of soldiers and collaborators scrambling for their lives to rooftop helicopters in Baghdad. The military-industrial complex fears a new strain of Vietnam Syndrome. ...

That leaves strong-arming a capitulation from “prime minister” Nouri al-Maliki and his quisling administration installed under occupation. Just as a Vichy regime installed under Nazi occupation was illegitimate, so is the “Iraqi”2 regime installed under US occupation (as is the Karzai regime in Afghanistan illegitimate while under US-led occupation). Nevertheless, while the US occupation is failing splendidly, the US ruling clique is attempting to win Machiavellianly through the farce of a so-called Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which is, essentially, an entrenchment of occupation and a relinquishment of Iraqi sovereignty. The SOFA would turn over military bases in Iraq to the US and allow for continued impunity of US personnel.

The “culture of impunity” is well known of within the United Nations, and UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon often comments on it. He talked about “a serious culture of impunity” in Central African Republic.3 Prior to heading off to Sudan, Ban warned that “a culture of impunity and a legacy of past crimes that go unaddressed can only erode the peace.”4 Most recently, at a memorial to slain reporters in London, Ban said, “In tribute to their memory we must end the culture of impunity surrounding crimes against reporters. We must bring the perpetrators to justice.”5

Clarity Press has published a book, International Justice and Impunity: The Case of the United States, that deals with the scourge of impunity that enables serial aggressions, violations of human rights, and international laws. In Impunity, 26 experts make the case against impunity.

Author William Blum has detailed the United State’s serial aggressions and military interventions that violate the sovereignty of other states. Rarely has the US been called to account for these international crimes. One instance where it was called before the bench was when it suffered the indignity of being found guilty of wielding an “unlawful use of force” (i.e., “terrorism” as defined by the US Code of Federal Regulations) by the International Court of Justice in 1986. In a blatant act of impunity, the US disregarded the verdict and removed itself unilaterally from the purview of the court. Likewise, the US refuses to recognize the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction over it, and it has “negotiated”6 bilateral treaties with a plethora of countries removing referral to of any criminal American actions to the ICC — an undermining of the ICC.

In fact, much of the policies and actions of the US are directed to subverting international law and international institutions, and often these actions undermine/contradict the historiography of the US itself. For instance, the US was a prime mover in the formation of the United Nations, a central plank of whose Charter is to prevent the scourge of war upon future generations. The US is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions (although as Impunity co-editor Daniel Iagolnitzer acknowledges, additional Protocol I of 1977 remains unratified by the US and other countries) — conventions that the US, ostensibly, chooses to respect and uphold at its convenience. The Waterboarding USA is also a signatory to the UN Convention Against Torture. The US’s hackneyed warmongering all-options-are on-the-table rhetoric against Iran, which is legally developing its nuclear technology within the stipulations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), exposes further the hypocrisy underlying its imperialist agenda.

Under conditions where fairness exists, it is axiomatic that one must not criticize one state for alleged pursuit of nuclear weaponry while its client state, Israel, possesses an armada of nuclear weapons built with western aid. Arab states have called for a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. The US dismisses this, thus declaring itself for the existence of unfairness in the world.

The US is a signatory to the NPT. As former US attorney general Ramsey Clark points out, the NPT was actually an abolition treaty: not only was it designed to prevent the emergence of new nuclear weapons states, the states already in possession of nuclear weapons were obliged to rid themselves of nuclear weapons. Obviously, once again, disregard for treaty obligations and fairness is abundantly evident to any neutral observer.

Clark states that “equality is the mother of justice” and notes how the US undermines the UN Charter through the creation of separate tribunals to sit in judgement upon crimes as directed by US interests: for example, the tribunals on Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

Despite such a treaty already being in place (the NPT), Hiroshima mayor Tadatoshi Akiba works toward a universal nuclear weapons convention by 2010, which would abolish all nuclear weapons. He states that public opinion in the US indicates that two-thirds of Americans support such an abolition.

Given the present Pax Americana mindset in the US regime, there is negligible chance of the US giving up its nuclear weapons. Egyptian professor Samir Amin lays clear the ruling class’s aim: global military control, evidenced by plans dividing the planet into zones of military control and the far-flung global network of US military bases.

Amin describes how trans-national corporations entrench a western-led, capitalist world order through spreading neoliberalism via international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organization, NATO, and the G7/G8. According to Amir, consequent to the imperialist agenda is securing tribute to imperial states through the indebting of poor states. Amir states that Europe’s steadfast support of Empire is signaled by the European corporate media’s silence on imperialism.

Maybe the Europeans shouldn’t be so quick to hop on the American horse of imperialism. Abraham Behar, president of the French section of the UN Disarmament Commission in Geneva, states bluntly that rejection of international treaties and “total enthrallment of all ‘allies’” is the strategy of the George W. Bush administration.

Honorary professor Monique Chemillier-Gendreau addressed the “large scale targeting of the Vietnamese population” by the US, and argues that there is no passage of time that allows the US to escape culpability for reparations.

Noting the lawlessness in the US’s gulag in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Amnesty International official Geneviève Sevrin asks, “Would the United States tolerate such treatment of its citizens by another government?” There is no adherence to fairness in US Empire.

Blum asks if the host country of the conference on impunity (1) complains about the undermining of the UN, and (2) whether France or any other country decried the US-UK overflying and bombing of Iraqi airspace. However, France is poorly positioned to condemn the no-fly zones since it partook in the overflight of these zones. Moreover, France is very much complicit in the undermining of the UN, as exemplified by its participation in the aggressive coup against Haiti and the removal of the Haitian’s people’s popularly elected president Jean Betrand Aristide, exacerbating the humanitarian plight in Haiti.

Law professor Robert Charvin examines the co-opting of humanitarianism by the US and the West and concludes that humanitarian law has been weakened as a result.

Charvin posits: “It cannot be accidental that a rise in the importance of humanitarianism in general came simultaneously with interference, allowing for the by-pass of the fundamental principle of the United Nations Charter, the sovereign equality of all States!”

Given the hypocritical pressure exerted by imperialist regimes7 and the cacophony of the toe-the-line corporate media over cyclone-ravaged Myanmar, a statement by Charvin is cautionary:

"Humanitarianism as an alibi is the worst of all perversions practiced today. It can be avoided only by protesting the humanitarianism.

"… With humanitarian interventionism without the consent of the parties involved, humanitarian law, which to that point had been universal, becomes a law of inequality."

Professor Barbara Delacourt rues the militarization of humanitarianism. She quotes Bush’s “we intervene in Iraq in order to make them respect 17 UN resolutions.” This is astounding because of the US’s overt hypocrisy vis-à-vis Israel, which is a far more flagrant violator of UN Security Council resolutions and, yet, receives support and cover from the US.

Professor Antoine Bernard, a specialist in international public law, says the tools to tackle impunity are missing, as is the political will to tackle impunity. He calls for a strengthening of the ICC and emphasizes the importance of prosecuting anyone, including state or government heads, which, according to Bernard, is permitted by Article 27 of the Rome Statute.

Attorney Nuri Albala adds:

“What is fundamental to universal jurisdiction is the fact that all of humanity is victimized by crimes against humanity, and hence that these crimes can be judged anywhere.”

Lawyer Roland Weyl charges that the “United States institutionalizes impunity” when it pressures other states to drop laws on universal jurisdiction. He warns that unequally applied humanitarian law may have anti-humanitarian effects; he reveals a secret clause of the Rambouillet Agreements required privatization of the Serb economy, something unconnected with human rights, which eventually served as a pretext to destroy Serbia.

Canadian law professor Ann Bartholomew claims that US violations of international law are designed to “reconstitute the law itself.”

She sees overcoming the bystander effect among citizens of empire as crucial, and deplores the lack of outrage to known widespread violations of human rights and humanitarian law. She argues “‘non-resistance’ to empire is a moral and political failing.”

In the vein of Bartholomew, theoretical physicist Jean Bricmont concludes, “In the absence of a genuine international force, the only thing that could limit the impunity of powerful states is the actions of their own citizens.”

Sociology professor Pedro A. García-Bilbao warns, “The fact that crimes which are classified as serious under international law are being committed is cause for concern; but repeated impunity is even worse.” Repeated impunity leads the transgressor to believe himself above the law.

Is there hope is on the horizon? Ramsey Clark’s effort to move a case for impeachment against Bush was put on the congressional agenda by Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich, who pledged to keep reintroducing the measure until the House Judiciary Committee voted on it.8 But a Kucinich pledge is lightly regarded by many progressives who remember well how he betrayed his progressive support base by endorsing the pro-war presidential contender John Kerry. Thus it was no surprise when Kucinich voted against his own measure (along with the Democrats), dismaying his constituents.9

In another recent happening, the US Supreme Court ruled that rights of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay were being violated by the government.10 A distraught looking Bush disagreed with the judgement but relented, “We’ll abide by the Court’s decision.”

Virginia Sloan of Constitution Project President hailed it a tremendous victory for the system of checks and balances. Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights said it was a critical decision and predicted most of the detainees would be released for lack of evidence against them.

Impunity is a book that a single book review cannot do justice to (pun unintended). Clarity Press translated Impunity into English, so its vital message could reach a wider audience. Undeniably, impunity must be eliminated; otherwise the rulers of powerful states can continue to wield lethal violence against the citizenry of weaker states. Until such time as impunity is a relic of an uncivilized past, the supreme international crime remains a possibility. One needs look no farther than the current disinformation and belligerent rhetoric directed at Iran. As long as impunity exists, Iran and other states will feel threatened by a violent superpower.

As for whatever agreement, SOFA or not, that the US signs with collaborationists in Iraq, it does not matter as long as the resistance fights on. It is the resistance that will dictate what is appropriate for Iraq and its sovereignty. As long as the Iraqi resistance struggles for the Iraqi people’s homeland, the nightmare of Vietnam syndrome manifests itself to American militarists; the dream, however, is to end aggression — for this to come about, ending impunity is necessary.

Annotations

Sabri’s numbers are high. The UN Refugee Agency estimates “more than 4.7 million Iraqis have left their homes, many in dire need of humanitarian care. Of these, more than 2.7 million Iraqis are displaced internally, while more than 2 million have fled to neighbouring states…” The Iraq Situation, “The Continuing Needs of Iraq’s Displaced,” UNHCR. The situation remains dire. Democracy Now! cited Amnesty International’s Sarnata Reynolds: “While the US government’s rhetoric indicates otherwise, the human rights situation in Iraq remains too dire to encourage voluntary returns.” Headlines, “Amnesty: Iraqi Refugee Crisis Worsening,” Democracy Now!, 17 June 2008. #

Many of the government members are Iraqis transplanted back into Iraq after years abroad, Ayad Allawi and Ahmed Chalabi being two better known examples #

“Ban Ki-moon Urges Credible Dialogue to Resolve Crisis in Central African Republic,” UN News, 5 December 2007. #

“Ban Ki-moon kicks off first visit to Sudan,” UN News Center, 3 September 2007. #

“UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls for the killers of journalists to be brought to justice as he lights a memorial in London,” Reuters TV — London, 17 June 2008. #

Many of these “treaties” were arrived at by blackmail, e.g., sign or face a cut in US “aid.” See Nicholas D. Kristof, “Schoolyard Bully Diplomacy,” New York Times, 16 October 2005. #

Kim Petersen, “Nasty Double Standards on Man-made Catastrophes and Crimes against Humanity,” Dissident Voice, 19 May 2008. #

Jason Leopold, “Kucinich Vows New Round of Impeachment Articles Against Bush If Measure Dies,” Dissident Voice, 13 June 2008. #

Patrick Martin, “House Democrats kill resolution to impeach Bush,” World Socialist Web Site, 12 June 2008. #

“Supreme Court condemns Guantanamo,” Real News, 13 June 2008.

http://pacificfreepress.com/content/view/2789/1/
Posted by Alex Constantine at 10:16 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Obit: John Foster Dulles, Eldest Son of Nazi-Collaborating Former Secretary of State
By Joe Holley
www.washingtonpost.com
June 28, 2008; Page B06

John Foster Dulles, 95, a noted Brazilian history scholar and the eldest son of the former secretary of state, died of kidney failure June 23 at North Central Baptist Hospital in San Antonio.

Mr. Dulles, a professor of Latin American studies at the University of Texas at Austin for 45 years and the author of books on Brazil and Mexico, was preparing for the fall semester until he became ill June 12. His wife of 68 years, Eleanor Ritter Dulles, died four days before her husband.

"He was a real character," said Tom Staley, director of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. "We referred to him as 'Cactus Jack,' because he wrote these books about Brazil and Mexico. His students loved him."

John Watson Foster Dulles was born in Auburn, N.Y., and received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Princeton University in 1935. He received a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University in 1937 and then joined the Bank of New York, where his father, long before he became President Dwight D. Eisenhower's secretary of state, was a director.

Banking was a bit tame for the young Mr. Dulles, so he went to work for a New York import-export business, C. Tennant Sons & Co. The company sent him to Nogales, Ariz., to work in a company mine.

He and his new wife, the daughter of a prominent Philadelphia architect, liked frontier Arizona, far from their Northeastern establishment families. In addition to his father, for whom the airport is named, Mr. Dulles's great-grandfather and a great-uncle also were secretaries of state. His uncle, Allen Dulles, would become head of the CIA, and his aunt, Eleanor Lansing Dulles, was a State Department official known as "the mother of Berlin" for her role in the city's recovery after World War II. His brother, Avery Robert Dulles, would become the first American priest to be elevated to cardinal without having been a bishop. ...

Living in San Antonio, where his wife enjoyed the company of Monterrey expatriates, he made the 180-mile round trip to Austin three times a week. Since the university forbade him to smoke his omnipresent pipe in campus buildings, he worked out of an office on the 27th floor of an off-campus high-rise. Students met with him in a warren of rooms suffused with the pungent odor of pipe smoke and stuffed with books, papers and memorabilia collected over nine decades.

Survivors, in addition to his son, of Denver, include three other children, Edith Lawlis Dulles of Dallas, Ellen Dulles-Coelho of San Antonio and R. Avery Dulles of Austin; his brother, Cardinal Dulles, of New York; nine grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/27/AR2008062703642.html
Posted by Alex Constantine at 8:21 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Immigration: Why Prudencia Died
www.tucsoncitizen.com
07.07.2008

Prudencia Martin Gomez's death in the desert is rooted in the chaos wrought by U.S. involvement in Guatemala's decades-long civil war

JODY L. IPSEN

More than 4,000 people have died along the U.S. border with Mexico over the past 13 years. With no hope for immigration reform from Congress this year, the dying season is here again.

Neither President Bush nor the presidential candidates wants to address immigration reform. Many Americans believe Latin American governments are responsible for the immigration problem. On the contrary, no country has been more egregious in creating this problem than the United States.

The history behind the case of Prudencia Martin Gomez makes that clear.
Prudencia, 19, came from Todos Santos, Guatemala, an indigenous village in the Cuchumatanes Mountains. She was migrating to California to join her boyfriend, Ismael. When she fell ill from dehydration and heat exposure, her group abandoned her. She died June 15, 2007, in the Tucson Sector of the Sonoran Desert. The recorded temperature that day was 115 degrees.

Many men and women, like Prudencia, have fled Guatemala despite the peace accord that was signed in 1996. The civil war that raged there in the 1970s and 1980s resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths.

And in a CIA report released under the Freedom of Information Act, the agency's David M. Barret readily admits to U.S. clandestine complicity in the civil war. The CIA and the U.S. government gained tremendous currency during the Cold War by selling fear that Guatemala was a rising communist country. Pivotal roles in overthrowing the Guatemalan government were played by two brothers - John Dulles, then secretary of state, and Allen Dulles, who was CIA director.

Allen's investments in United Fruit Co. were threatened by the possible expropriation of land that President Jacobo Árbenz Guzmán wanted returned to peasant farmers. As John Foster Dulles said in 1958, "The United States of America does not have friends; it has interests."

The lucrative interests of United Fruit Co. were of foremost importance.
The CIA and U.S. Ambassador John Peurifoy directed certain Guatemalan military leaders in overthrowing Arbenz's government, CIA documents report.

"It was also psychological warfare - cleverly deceptive efforts to persuade Guatemala's citizens and political/military leaders that a major invasion force was steadily moving toward the nation's capital," the CIA papers say.
Under such secret directives by the U.S. government, Todos Santos, the hometown of Ismael and Prudencia, became one of many villages burned to the ground in the 1980s.

Ismael's father was forced to join the ranks of the military (or be murdered) and fought against his own ilk. When Ismael grew up and became a teacher, he could not find work and migrated to the U.S.

"The Guatemala affair (was) a disreputable moment - Eisenhower was 'directly responsible' for 'death and destruction' yet showed no signs of embarrassment then or later over his 'bullying of a banana republic,' " writes Christopher Andrew, a scholar on the history of U.S. intelligence. More than 200,000 people had been murdered by the time the civil war ended in 1996.

But whether the military violence ever really ended is questionable. Last year, 3,000 women "disappeared" in Guatemala - many of their bodies later found mutilated, therefore to remain forever unidentified. Many observers suspect the killers are former Guatemalan military and police officers, trained by the U.S. at the notorious School of the Americas.

In an attempt to bring back the conservative party known as mano dura (iron fist), the military appears to be using mutilations to instill fear, persuading peasants that only "the fist" can stop the violence. Many migrants leaving Guatemala are without work or even, as in Ismael's case, without a community. The fallout of the decades-long civil war continues despite the ongoing efforts of Amnesty International.

The legacy of death and destruction, due largely to U.S. covert operations, thwarts any efforts to restore Guatemalan life to prewar conditions.
But we remember Prudencia, though she was but one of many, many victims of U.S. intervention in Guatemala.

July 14, 2007, a memorial service was held in the desert where she had died. That day, 33 humanitarians caravanned along a dusty road to a remote region about 20 miles west of Tucson. Discarded backpacks, filthy jeans, brittle water bottles and worn shoes spread across miles of greasewood, mesquite and devil's claws. In the bed of a truck, Father Bob covered his mouth and nose with a bandana to avoid choking on the fine dust that creates our stunning sunsets. It was over 100 degrees at 5:30 p.m. But we had transportation. Prudencia never even had a chance.

Since her death, at least 239 more bodies have been recovered from Arizona deserts. Each of these people had a history, a family, a face. We must continue to fight for humane immigration reform, and we must give voice to the dead, such as Prudencia.

Jody L. Ipsen is a Tucson writer and humanitarian working with migrants in the desert and across the border. Email: jodyipsen@msn.com

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/opinion/90085.php
Posted by Alex Constantine at 8:17 PM 0 comments Links to this post
The Supreme Court, Habeas, John Yoo and Murdoch's Wall Street Journal
" ... Yoo is a neocon ideologue and a member of the hard right Federalist Society. ... Some, with good reason, call him 'the torture professor' ... "

For story, click moi
Posted by Alex Constantine at 7:57 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Ex-Fed: 'I Want Blood'
ARRESTED IN CALIF. | Former Chicago FBI agent accused of murder plot

BY STEVE WARMBIR Staff Reporter
www.suntimes.com
July 17, 2008

A former Chicago FBI agent, who once investigated organized crime, was secretly recorded talking about murdering people and planning to rip off a drug courier in Orange County, Calif., according to a criminal complaint released Wednesday.

Vo Duong "Ben" Tran, 40, told a government informant secretly recording him that he had been a sports bookmaker and wanted to kill people across the country who owed him money, including a man from Redlands, Calif., who was in debt to him for more than $200,000.
•••••••
'ALL MY HITS, THEY ARE CLEAN'

Former FBI Agent Vo Duong "Ben" Tran, secretly recorded on dealing with a debtor: "I want blood. I don't want to collect. I want blood ... I have to make sure it has to be done right because all my hits, they are clean."

"I want blood," Tran said, according to the government transcript. "I have to make sure it has to be done right because all my hits, they are clean."
••••••••
The government informant records Tran cautioning him to be careful talking on cell phones. Tran allegedly discussed guns, silencers and bulletproof vests, as well as the perils of federal prison time as they planned the robbery. Tran wanted to know where the closest hospital was to the drug courier's house, as well as the closest police station.

Tran, a hypermuscular Vietnamese man, was arrested earlier this week in California and was being held without bond in a Santa Ana jail Wednesday on a conspiracy charge.

He started working for the FBI in 1992 and spent most of his time in the Chicago office until he was fired in 2003 after a series of alleged offenses, including admitting to trying to bribe a Vietnamese official when he traveled to the country, court records show. Tran has a federal lawsuit pending in Chicago in which he alleges the FBI discriminated against him.

Tran has been charged in two other criminal cases but beat both.

In 2004, he was found not guilty of impersonating a police officer. He was accused of knocking on the door of a Glenview home, carrying a gun and telling the people inside he was a FBI agent and their lives were in danger. Tran was on administrative leave at the time.

Also in 2004, he was charged with lying on paperwork that he was buying guns and silencers for his job as an FBI agent. The charges were dismissed after a federal judge found FBI agents conducted an improper search of Tran's home.

In the current case, Tran is accused of leading a robbery crew to rip off what he believed was a drug-money stash house containing more than $200,000. He didn't know a government informant was secretly recording him discussing his plans.

"If you do this," Tran allegedly said of the robbery, "you don't leave any witnesses."

At one point, Tran is recorded as saying his wife was expecting a baby, so he has to check to see if he can take part in the robbery.

Tran, now living in New Orleans, told the informant that he wanted to spend no more than three days in Orange County and be "in and out like a ghost, the longer you stay, people track you down."

An attorney for Tran could not be reached for comment.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/mob/1060694,CST-NWS-mob17.article
Posted by Alex Constantine at 2:47 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, July 18, 2008
Barack Obama's foreign policy braintrust
uk.reuters.com
Jul 19, 2008

... Following is a list of some of the Democratic senator's closest advisers on international affairs, all of whom will travel abroad with him.

GREG CRAIG - Craig served in the State Department under President Bill Clinton and later led the legal team defending the president against impeachment. But he became an early supporter of Obama and now advises him on foreign policy.

RICHARD DANZIG - Danzig, who served as Navy secretary under Clinton, advises Obama on national security issues.

ANTHONY LAKE - Lake was Clinton's national security adviser and before that, advised the Democratic president during his 1992 campaign.

MARK LIPPERT - A former foreign policy aide in the Senate, Lippert returned recently from a tour as a naval reservist in Iraq, where he served as an intelligence officer for the Navy SEALS. He is a staff adviser to Obama.

DENIS MCDONOUGH - McDonough is a staff adviser to Obama and previously served as an aide to former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

BEN RHODES - A senior Obama adviser and national security speechwriter, Rhodes has worked for former Rep. Lee Hamilton, the 9/11 Commission and the Iraq Study Group. [Also, co-author of Hamilton's and Thomas Kean's memoir of the September 11 commission.]

SUSAN RICE - Rice, who was assistant secretary of state for African affairs in the Clinton administration, is one of Obama's most senior advisers.

DENNIS ROSS - Ross served as a top Middle East negotiator for President George H.W. Bush, a Republican, and Clinton, a Democrat.

JAMES STEINBERG - Steinberg was a deputy national security adviser to Clinton and was a sherpa to the Group of Eight meetings in 1998 and 1999.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN1843176120080719?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
Posted by Alex Constantine at 10:44 PM 0 comments Links to this post
A Hidden Agenda: John McCain and the International Republican Institute
By Sarah Hamburger
Council on Hemispheric Affairs
June 26, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/89431/

Presidential hopeful John McCain is hiding a skeleton in his closet. Not your typical political scandal, Senator McCain's dirty little secret is his longtime involvement with the International Republican Institute (IRI), an organization that operates in 60 countries and is budgeted by millions of US taxpayer dollars each year. The IRI is "officially" a politically independent entity, though in reality it is aligned in most respects with the Republican Party and its ideals. Senator McCain has been chairman of the IRI since 1993 and Lorne Craner, president of the organization, is one of the presumptive Republican candidate's informal foreign policy advisors. If McCain's involvement with the IRI does not worry Latin America yet, it certainly will if the policies that have had such a destructive influence in the past are backed by the power of the presidency. His connection to the IRI could endanger already stressed US-Latin American relations in the event of a McCain victory.

The IRI: A History

In 1982, Ronald Reagan delivered a spirited speech that would lead to the founding of the controversial "research group." In that speech, Reagan said, "Let us now begin a major effort to secure the best — a crusade for freedom that will engage the faith and fortitude of the next generation. For the sake of peace and justice, let us move toward a world in which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny." The IRI nostalgically identifies Reagan's words as the "historic speech" in which the vision of the IRI first took shape. Not coincidentally, the years that followed became known as the "lost decade" in Latin America, something many have attributed in part to the Reagan Administration's misguided policies toward the region. During this period, structural adjustment loans plunged regional economies and living standards into a downward spiral from which many countries have yet to recover. The 1980s were plagued by violence; US funded government security forces in Guatemala and El Salvador prosecuted dirty wars which resulted in the disappearance, torture, and massacre of thousands of the countries' own citizens. In 1984, US became embroiled in one of the region's most public and profound political scandals. The Iran Contra Affair, an attempt by the Reagan administration to overthrow Nicaragua's democratically elected Sandinista government by providing funds to the "Contras," a group of anti-communist rebels notorious for their appalling human rights record. These are the dubious auspices under which the International Republican Institute was founded, fitting when considering what the organization was to become - a covert operation to advance right-wing policy under the guise of promoting freedom.

The International Republican Institute claims to be a nonpartisan organization whose mission is to "advance freedom worldwide by developing political parties, civic institutions, open elections, good governance and the rule of law." Unfortunately, the magnanimous goals of the IRI have been distorted by a quest to advance rightist US initiatives. Ghassan Atiyyah, Director of the Iraq Foundation for Development and Democracy (a beneficiary of a $116,448 donation from the IRI) commented on the inconsistency of the organization's policy: "Instead of promoting impartial, better understanding of certain ideas and concepts, they are actually trying to further the cause of the Republican administration." Though Atiyyah here refers to the current Bush Administration, the McCain administration promises to be equally compatible with the strong armed methods advocated by the IRI and practiced in Latin America in the past.

Furthermore, during the years that the presumptive candidate chaired the IRI, the organization has chosen ironic means to "advance freedom:" training corrupt opposition leaders and providing funds to groups that effectively undermine often democratically-elected officials that the US government views unfavorably. In addition to running training camps, the IRI also conducts polls in high-stakes elections; the organization has been known to conduct "secret polls" with the intention of skewing public opinion in order to yield a desired outcome. The problem with such secret polls is that they cannot be verified and often contradict the findings of other, similar studies.

The IRI: Breaking the Bank

The IRI currently operates with a robust budget of $79 million. Though one of John McCain's goals as chairman of the organization has been to increase private funding for the IRI, the overwhelming majority of funds for the organization comes from two public sources, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Founded in 1983, the NED is an organization that has come under significant scrutiny, much like the IRI. Critics claim that it illegally privatizes US foreign affairs that are supposed to be overseen exclusively by the legislative and executive branches of the government. Additionally, the NED is publicly funded but lacks the transparency of a public organization. The organization allegedly has funded far right parties in Eastern Europe, even working with convicted Nazi collaborators such as Lazslo Pasztor of the Free Congress Foundation. In Nicaragua, the NED spent what equated to more than $20 on each voter, considerably more than the combined expenditures of the candidates in the 1988 US Presidential election. Not only does the NED represent a misuse of taxpayers' dollars, but its interference in the affairs of supposedly sovereign nations is illegal and its lack of transparency should disqualify it from receiving public funds. However, the opposite has happened and NED funding has risen from $59 million in 2005 to $74 million in 2006, in addition to $10 to $15 million in operation-specific funds mandated by Congress.

USAID is the other major donor to the IRI. Established in 1961, the organization has the "two-fold purpose of furthering America's foreign policy interests in expanding democracy and free markets while improving the lives of the citizens of the developing world." It is important to note that the ultimate goal of USAID is to advance US interests, with the secondary goal being to benefit the citizens of the world. This technicality explains why USAID sponsors the IRI, an organization that sometimes foregoes the latter goal in its pursuit of the former. USAID had a $176 million budget for operations in Latin America in 2006, a significant portion of which went to the IRI.

Big business, lobbyist groups and foundations annually donate $1.4 million to the IRI, a small fraction of the organization's $79 million budget. Such donors to the IRI include UPS, AT&T, Anheuser-Busch, Bell-South, Lockheed Martin, Blackwater, Chevron, ExxonMobil and BP. It is worth noting that several of these donors regularly lobby regarding issues under the jurisdiction of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation where McCain is the second-highest ranked Republican. Private donations account for only $200,000, significantly less than 1 percent of the IRI's total income.

In a speech regarding his presidential goals, McCain foresaw a future in which "Congress has not sent [him] an appropriations bill containing earmarks for the last three years. A top to bottom review of every federal bureaucracy has yielded great reductions in government spending... and [he has instigated] far reaching reforms of procurement and operating policies that have for too long extravagantly wasted money..." Will the IRI, which is a likely beneficiary of such "earmarks" and bureaucracy, be exempt from these "bottom to top" investigations? Will McCain fulfill his campaign promises or will he suffer from the conflict of interest resulting from his involvement with the IRI?

The IRI in Haiti

Founded in 1983, the IRI's website reminisces about how it "planted seeds of democracy in Latin America." Several of these so-called "seeds" were sown during John McCain's tenure as the IRI's Chairman. The main IRI project in Haiti involved the overthrow of the country's democratically-elected President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. A former Roman Catholic priest, Aristide rose to power in the wake of the brutal Duvalier family dictatorship and was immensely popular with the poverty-stricken and oppressed masses of Haiti. Aristide was overthrown in 1991 (supposedly with the financial support from the outgoing elder Bush administration) but returned to power in 1994 with the help of the Clinton administration. Aristide was re-elected by a land-slide vote in 2000 but once again ousted in a 2004 coup.

In the years immediately preceding the most recent overthrow of President Aristide, the IRI sponsored several "political training" clinics for Haitian leaders in the Dominican Republic and Miami. Though the IRI claims to be an unbiased group that provides funding across the political spectrum, recent research has exposed the fact that the IRI leaders specifically chose virulently anti-Aristide Haitians, including members of the business elite and former military and paramilitary personnel to attend these clinics. The IRI also generously funded the anti-Aristide resistance efforts, the main benefactor of its practices being the Haitian opposition group known as the Democratic Convergence, a unified collection of the previously splintered anti-Aristide factions.

Stanley Lucas, the head of the IRI effort in Haiti, was instrumental in the creation of the Democratic Convergence and, thus, the eventual fall of the Aristide government. Lucas has been described by Mother Jones Magazine as "the scion of a powerful Haitian family with long-standing animosity toward Aristide..." Lucas' family had close ties to the ruthless Duvalier regime that preceded Aristide and has similarly close ties to the Haitian military, which was an important element of the 2004 coup. Two of Lucas's cousins allegedly were responsible for organizing a massacre of 250 peasants protesting for land reform. Journalist Max Blumenthal has claimed that he had a source who lived and worked with Lucas in Haiti and who "saw documents indicating that while Lucas was working for IRI, he was being paid by Michelle Francois, who was a notorious FRAPH [paramilitary] leader…" The choice of a program leader with an allegiance to groups that opposed the democratically-elected government is strange considering the IRI claims its goal was to promote democracy.

Lucas' involvement with opposition groups directly opposed the US government's official policy of supporting all democratically-elected governments. There is every indication that Stanley Lucas' involvement undermined the goal of Haitian democratization. US Ambassador Brian Dean Curran discovered that Lucas was encouraging the Democratic Convergence not to negotiate with Aristide to resolve the political conflict that lead to the coup, essentially encouraging the disruption of the democratic process. Yet when Curran reported Lucas' apparent infractions to USAID, the result was an incredibly lenient 4 month suspension followed by an eventual return by Lucas to his old ways. In addition to originally being a scandalous choice to lead the Haitian program, Lucas' behavior while holding the position and the subsequent failure of both USAID and the IRI to sufficiently punish Lucas and remedy the situation is a telling example of the mixed messages surrounding the IRI's supposed "pursuit of freedom."

When the coup finally occurred, Washington made very little effort to protect democracy and the rule of law, placing Aristide under great pressure to leave the country. Thus, a leader who was not once, but twice elected democratically, was evicted from his own country with the help of the IRI. While President Aristide's record was not without real achievements - he dismantled the Haitian military, built more schools than had been constructed in the previous century, and doubled the minimum wage - his clearly promising social program was not the type of change the IRI was looking for.

In a 2005 speech, President George W. Bush congratulated the IRI on its accomplishments, saying, "The world is safer and freer and more peaceful because of the International Republican Institute." This statement is far from the truth in the case of the IRI's activities in Haiti. The year following Aristide's overthrow--notably by IRI-supported opposition groups--was one of the most politically tumultuous times in recent Haitian history. Violence and corruption were at a high, with frequent kidnappings and a crooked police force crippling the justice system and Haitian society. The elections to choose a leader to replace Aristide had to be delayed on four separate occasions. The irony of the IRI's involvement in bringing about this situation should not be missed. The organization's activities in Haiti helped to cast a shadow over US foreign policy initiatives throughout Latin America. Yet Haiti is not the only victim of IRI policy.

The IRI in Venezuela

After a failed coup attempt against Venezuela's democratically elected but left-leaning President Hugo Chávez in 2002, the Bush Administration faced accusations of being involved in the attempted overthrow. Despite Washington's energetic denials, it became apparent that the Bush administration had tentatively interfered in Venezuela by providing opposition groups with considerable donations through the IRI. The US government has encouraged sensationalizing the negative aspects of the Venezuelan government and demonized its President more aggressively than might be warranted. Though Chávez has become more confrontational and his popularity has fluctuated since coming to power in 1999, he took office with and maintains considerable public support. Since 1998, the poverty rate has dropped from 54 percent to 38.5 percent (30 percent if food and health subsidies are considered). The people of Venezuela gained free health care and more than half the population was enrolled in free, public education. Yet, on April 11, 2002 Venezuelan military leaders briefly removed Chávez from power and replaced him with a pro-US businessman named Pedro Carmona. Despite the objections of almost all Latin American nations, the US hailed the overthrow of Chávez as a victory for democracy and the Venezuelan people. Before the coup had even been completed, the IRI president at the time, George Folsom, claimed, "The Venezuelan people rose up to defend democracy." However, Chávez was reinstalled just two days later after his supporters took to the streets and Carmona was deposed. Upon his return to power, Chávez condemned the United States for its quick recognition of the new and illegitimate government.

Between 2000 and 2001, the National Endowment for Democracy (one of the main sponsors of the IRI) tripled its funding in Venezuela from $257,831 to $877,435. This allocation was granted to anti-Chávez groups, including two that participated in the protests that resulted in his brief overthrow in 2002. The IRI office in Caracas received $339,998 in 2001, a seven-fold increase from its meager $50,000 grant in 2000. Though the IRI claims to have used these funds in its work with the Youth Participation Foundation (FPJ), the organization ostensibly no longer existed at that time. Instead, funds were used to sponsor political party-building workshops, which conceivably could have been a legitimate use of funds had the participants not have been handpicked solely from opposition groups. During the month before the coup, the IRI flew a group of anti-Chávez politicians, union leaders and activists to Washington to meet with US officials.3 While it is possible that the meeting was perfectly innocent, the timing and secrecy delegitimize any explanation of coincidence. If the IRI is indeed guilty of intervening in Venezuelan politics, one must wonder which of its professed high moral standards it was pursuing at the time.

The IRI and John McCain

The aforementioned events in Haiti and Venezuela are significant, not only because they reflect gross abuses of power and the misuse of taxpayers' dollars, but also because they received McCain's stamp of approval during his tenure as chairman. McCain held that position for nearly a decade, so he cannot claim to have inherited these policies, nor can he argue that he did not know they were taking place. In fact, McCain has boasted that he has been a very involved chairman, informing the press, "All board members are involved in determining where IRI will work and in overseeing those activities." Further evidence of the overlap in IRI policy and McCain's foreign policy is his "rogue state rollback" plan, first mentioned during his 2000 presidential campaign. When questioned about his policy plans regarding "rogue states," McCain responded that he would "arm, train, equip, both from without and from within, forces that would eventually overthrow the governments..." Though McCain goes on to say that he would then install democratically-elected governments, the IRI's tactics have, in the past, been directed towards governments that could already claim that mark of legitimacy. The prospect of IRI-influenced policies like "rogue state rollback" applied by the White House is a frightening one that shows a disregard for true democracy, which can not be achieved by outside intervention as McCain proposes, but only through the desire and efforts of a country's own citizens.

The IRI has not only provided Senator McCain with certain detrimental policy tendencies, but has also heightened the superiority complex necessary to be comfortable with intervening in the affairs of other nations. Those who see McCain as a different kind of Republican point to his broad-minded stance on immigration. He had, after all, reminded Americans that illegal Mexican immigrants "are God's children as well." One of McCain's favorite rhetorical phrases "boots on the ground," is a telling implication of McCain's predilection for intervening in the affairs of other nations, and a warning about the nature of his potential foreign policy. Even conservative-minded voters should have reason to be concerned, exhibited by a statement taken from American Conservative Magazine: "Such narcissism, unseemly in anyone, is especially unbefitting in a president, yet it is key to understanding McCain's evolution from conventional Republican realist to relentless interventionist." McCain's campaign website also illustrates the bias the Arizona Senator may have inherited from the IRI. On it, McCain promises to build strong alliances with those governments "who reject the siren call of authoritarians like Hugo Chávez." This unfounded statement neglects to acknowledge that not only was Chávez democratically elected, but that Venezuela's popularly elected Asamblea Nacional is responsible for all legislation and can over-rule any presidential decree or veto with a simple majority vote. McCain has affirmed, "There is such thing as good international citizenship," but it unfortunately seems as though the model upon which he has based his own regional policies is on the same misguided model as the IRI.

In a March 2008 speech, McCain said, "We must also lead by attracting others to our cause, by demonstrating once again the virtues of freedom and democracy, by defending the rules of international civilized society and by creating the new international institutions necessary to advance the peace and freedoms we cherish." The IRI is undoubtedly an example of such a "necessary" institution in McCain's mind, but the organization has undermined democracy, setting an example that favors government subversion and illegal interference in the affairs of sovereign nations rather than true promotion of democracy. McCain's IRI does not set a model for democracy, it is a model for bureaucracy and an abuse of power that has no place in the White House.

Big Business and Big Bucks for the IRI Chairman

McCain and his presidential campaign have benefited financially from the Arizona senator's connection with the IRI. During his time in the Senate, McCain became a champion of big oil, proposing a tax plan that will give the top five oil companies $3.8 billion a year in tax breaks. One oil company that has benefited from a friendship with McCain is Chevron, which also happens to be a contributor to the IRI. Chevron has its own murky past in Latin America and is currently being sued by Ecuador as part of a $16 billion lawsuit for allegedly exposing tens of thousands of native peoples living in the rainforest to fatal levels of pollution. The IRI's connection to Chevron is almost as suspicious as the one it has to Blackwater, the private security firm that has played a controversial role in the Iraq War, or to Lockheed Martin, the world's number one military contractor.

The overlap in funding between the IRI and the John McCain's political career is worrisome: McCain received $392,000 in donations from IRI donor companies and their employees since January 2005 and his presidential campaign has received $670,000 from institute donors. Senator McCain has over 100 lobbyists working for his campaign and his connection to big business through the IRI contradicts his promise that if elected, "the United States will not bow to special interests seeking to block progress."

McCain's IRI and the Presidential Campaign

The most disturbing problem with the credibility of McCain's foreign policy background is that much of his experience in international relations has come from his time with a very compromised IRI. The policies the IRI has pursued, if reinforced by the full might of the White House, could have a devastating impact on an already deeply fractured relationship between the US and Latin America.

As more Latin American governments shift to the left, they become almost too numerous to extinguish by either brute force or financial might, which could be described as the IRI's modus operandi since its inception. Now is the time for a US administration to be willing to negotiate with our southern neighbors in a spirit of constructive engagement and compromise. A new president could spearhead such progress. This feat will be difficult to accomplish for a politician who "grew up" in the shadow of a cloak-and-dagger operation like the IRI.

Last year, the IRI presented Antonio Saca, president of El Salvador, with its "Freedom Award" for what McCain called a transformation of El Salvador's politics and economy. Yet in 2006, just two years after Saca was elected President, crime had reached an all time high in El Salvador. In response, death squads unofficially linked to Saca's ruling ARENA Party emerged to supposedly suppress the surge in crime. What resulted was rampant corruption, which remains a problem for the Salvadoran government to this day. Despite a questionable record, McCain has praised Saca, claiming, "Advocates of freedom have no better ally in the region than President Saca." This is a worrisome statement considering Saca has publicly praised people like Colonel Monterrosa, leader of the massacre at El Mazote, stating, "Colonel Monterrosa knew how to defend the nation, with nobility..." Though Saca has been championed as a Latin American success story and a friend of the IRI, slipping popularity ratings and alleged ties to brutal disciplinary groups would appear to make his friendship a contradiction to the ideals of both the IRI and John McCain.

McCain's Future in Latin America

The IRI has a long and infamous history in Latin America. Should he reach office, McCain will have to deal with foes like Hugo Chávez and other left-leaning leaders of governments that are typically targeted by the IRI. In a campaign speech, McCain claimed, "Relations with our southern neighbors must be governed by mutual respect, not by an imperial impulse or byanti-American demagoguery." Yet the policies McCain has endorsed during his time with the IRI have in no way implied a respect for the democratically-elected leaders of the region or the sovereign rights of other nations. In order to salvage his reputation with our southern neighbors, McCain will need to sever his ties to the right-wing organization or have his Latin American policy suffer the consequences. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that he will embrace such a change in favor of a policy of constructive engagement. In an interview with the Arizona Republic, McCain said, "Given my decades of involvement in promoting democratic values, it is safe to assume that I will remain a supporter of legitimate democracy-building." This statement implies that McCain will continue to support policy much like that which he has advocated during his time as the IRI's chairman, a prospect for US-Latin American relations that is about as "safe" as the IRI is "legitimate."

This analysis was prepared by Research Associate Sarah Hamburger at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs.

© 2008 Council on Hemispheric Affairs All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/89431/
Posted by Alex Constantine at 9:26 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Another Dead 9/11 Activist Based at St. Marks to Add to the Names Duncan and Blake
Another peculiar death to tickle MediaBistro's Kate Coe: Peg Carter: "There are two people I saw at those Church meetings who ended up dying unnatural deaths. Beside Jeremy Blake, with whom I had a conversation there, was Dan Wallace.... Dan just didn't wake up one morning. 23 years old. The autopsy report was never made public.... Dan was one of the original 'We Are Change' members. He was less likely to follow the bogus leadership and was open to the No Planes research. He also stood up to the police in various street actions. There are more videos in regard to Wallace, but this one came out today: Who Killed Dan Wallace, by 'Scottish Cream 1st.'"
http://synchromysticismforum.phpbb-forum-host.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=44&start=70
Posted by Alex Constantine at 12:29 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Ashcroft Testimony Brings CIA Interrogation Timeline Into Question
Note: I was tortured with "nonlethal" weapons by the CIA for the first time 20 years ago - and for a period of eight years thereafter- for exercising my right to free speech (at the expense of America's beloved fascist leadership), long before legal "torture memos" and CIA-Justice Department timelines. My offense? - writing and reporting on ritual abuse, ie. organized, CIA-cult mind control operations in the preschools, supplemented by child rape, torture ... and media plants who babbled about "false memories," drawing on the "expert opinions" of thinly-veiled CIA mind control personnel pretending to be legitimate academics who distorted all supporting evidence to discredit the preschool victims and their advocates, reducing them to targets of ridicule.

I have testimony of four letter words for our "Congressional watchdogs" and the disreputable, psyop-driven media.

We hear daily about "enhanced interrogation techniques" applied to foreign nationals - domestic torture isn't newsworthy. Let's open those files and show the world who the actual terrorists are, CIA - you sadistic, soulless, mindless, seditious, fascist asswipes.

- Alex Constantine
•••••••
Ashcroft Testimony Brings CIA Interrogation Timeline Into Question
By Kate Klonick - July 18, 2008

Did the CIA start using torture before the DOJ authorized it in the infamous torture memos?

That's what it sounded like according to former Attorney General John Ashcroft, who was on the Hill yesterday testifying on interrogation techniques before the House Judiciary Committee.

It was during Ashcroft's years as attorney general that the infamous "torture" memos were written. The memos approved the use of waterboarding and other forms of interrogation as long as they did not "cause pain similar in intensity to that caused by death or organ failure." The first memo-- often called the Bybee memo -- was dated August 1, 2002 and was written by former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo, who also testified before the Judiciary Committee in an earlier hearing in the series on torture.

But at least four months prior to the publication of that memo, the CIA captured al-Qaida operative Abu Zubaydah on March 28, 2002. Zubaydah's detention and interrogation has garnered much publicity, as it was thought to be especially brutal and involved waterboarding.

The CIA has long denied employing harsh interrogation techniques before it received authorization via the legal memos provided by the DOJ, but Ashcroft's testimony yesterday called that timeline into question, and raised the possibility that "the CIA started torturing at least one detainee before any of the memos were even written."

From Salon's War Room:

But during questioning, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., pointed out that the abuse of Zubaydah had reportedly begun weeks, if not months, earlier. "Did you offer legal approval of interrogation methods used at that time ... prior to August 2002?"

"I have no recollection of doing that at all," Ashcroft responded. He added that he did not remember anyone else at the Justice Department doing so either. He said later in the hearing that Zubaydah's interrogation "was done without the opinion that was issued on the first of August."

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/ashcroft_testimony_brings_cia.php
Posted by Alex Constantine at 10:47 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Mortgage Fraud Trips Up Accused Torturer
St. Petersburg Times
By David Adams, Times Latin America Correspondent
July 15, 2008

Just as the gangster Al Capone was finally brought down on tax charges, one of Haiti's most notorious death squad leaders looks like he's headed to prison for mortgage fraud of all things.

Emmanuel "Toto" Constant's trial this week in New York caps a bizarre and ugly tale that doesn't reflect especially well on the United States' handling of some of Haiti's worst human rights abusers.

"Constant is a human rights violator as well as a crook, and he needs to be held accountable for all of that," said Jennie Green, a senior attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, a civil rights group monitoring his mortgage fraud trial which began Monday in New York.

Between 1991 and 1994, Constant led the notorious Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti, or FRAPH, responsible for enforcing a military junta that had overthrown President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Human rights groups allege FRAPH systematically terrorized the country, killing, raping and torturing supporters of Aristide.

After President Clinton ordered U.S. troops to return Aristide to power in 1994, a warrant was issued for Constant's arrest. But he managed to slip out of the country, reappearing in New York City. Despite a 1995 deportation order, Constant remained in Queens, because U.S. officials said instability in Haiti meant he couldn't get a fair trial. It may also have had something to do with his claims of close ties to the CIA. Constant told CBS' 60 Minutes that the CIA paid him $700 a month for political analysis.

Constant was not alone. Several other military leaders received golden exile in the United States. Among them were Col. Carl Dorelien and Col. Hebert Valmond. The former head of military intelligence, Valmond had settled in Tampa as a Pentecostal minister. Dorelien lived in Port St. Lucie. In 1997, he won $3.2- million in the state lottery.

In 2000, a Haitian court convicted Constant, Dorelien and Valmond in absentia for their role in one of Haiti's most notorious massacres at Raboteau. Dorelien and Valmond were deported to Haiti in January 2003 and jailed. But Constant was allowed to stay and continued to live in Queens until he was arrested in 2006 on charges he bilked lenders out of $1.7-million inflating real estate deals with straw buyers.

Then, just when it looked as though Constant might spend some time behind bars for the mortgage fraud case, the Department of Homeland Security decided he ought to go home after all. Facing up to 15 years in prison, Constant agreed to a plea deal that would have allowed him to be deported with time served.

Sensing he would slip away again unpunished, human rights activists protested. A judge intervened and ordered that he stand trial.

What might happen if he were sent back to Haiti isn't clear. Currently no former FRAPH or military human rights abusers are in jail. Dorelien and Valmond escaped in 2004 when Aristide was ousted a second time. They remain at large, and no-one seems to be looking for them very hard.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/world/article701368.ece
Posted by Alex Constantine at 7:23 PM 0 comments Links to this post
World War II -- Brought to You by Nestlé's Candy
The Swiss didn't just hang on to Holocaust victims' bank accounts. They used them to bankroll Hitler's war machine.

BY JONATHAN BRODER
www.salon.com

The next time you're hungry for a Nestlé's Crunch or a box of Quik, consider this: In 1933, the same year that Adolph Hitler rose to power in Germany, the food giant was helping to finance the creation of a Nazi Party in its native Switzerland. It was a political investment that paid off handsomely. During World War II, Nestlé won the contract to supply the entire Germany army with chocolate -- a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars. ...

Story continues
Posted by Alex Constantine at 9:02 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Satanism and Ritual Abuse: Case-by-Case Documentation
The facts about satanism and RA as they stand ON THE PUBLIC RECORD, this side of plausible deniability and ulterior motives:

The following cases detail legal proceedings held in juvenile, family, civil and criminal courts around the world in which allegations of Satanism or the use of ritual to abuse surfaced.

Any religion or organization can be used as a front to hide ritual abuse activity, including Christianity, Buddhism, Shamanism, Hinduism, Masonry, Mormonism, pagan and Satanic religions; however, not all Satanists commit crimes and not all occultism is Satanism. It is imperative that investigators and professionals familiarize themselves with cross-cultural belief systems so as not to target any particular group.

This document will have regular updates; this present version is current as of July 10, 2007. It is recommended that this archive be used as a resource only and original documents be obtained from Lexis/Nexus or Westlaw with the assistance of an attorney:

________________________________________
Research by Diana Napolis

INTRODUCTION: In the 1980’s adults and children came forward around the world disclosing that they were victims/perpetrators of satanic ritual abuse [SRA] and/or were witness to satanic ritual murders. These claims were routinely dismissed by FBI’s Special Agent Ken Lanning and an organization called the False Memory Syndrome Foundation which came into existence in 1992 stating there were no case convictions or scientific evidence to prove that satanic ritual abuse existed. Claims such as this should not go unchallenged because therapists across the country have lost their licenses due to allegations that the memories of SRA victims are too “bizarre” to be believed and are to be attributed solely to “False Memory Syndrome.” It is apparent that these beliefs have been instigated by the FMSF because they are a political and legal advocacy group acting on behalf of accused perpetrators.

It has been documented that the FBI has been responsible for not only ruining case investigations in several instances but intimidating witnesses to recant their abuse. [See, Westpoint, Bonacci v. King, Finders case]. In the Finders case it appeared that the FBI had a conflict of interest because this organization was in their counter-intelligence files.

In regards to the scientific communities opinions about the reality of satanic ritual abuse, it appears the Appellate Court in the State of Arkansas had the last word about this subject. According to Echols vs. State (1996):

"Echols next contends that Dr. Griffis should not have been allowed to testify that the murders had the 'trappings of occultism' because there was no testimony that the field of satanism or occultism is generally accepted in the scientific community. The trial court did not allow the evidence to prove that satanism or occultism is generally accepted in the scientific community.

Rather, the trial court admitted the evidence as proof of the motive for committing the murders."

Entire families have been implicated in the ritual abuse of children which proves the fact that generational Satanism exists. See Parker (1995) Figured/Hill (1994) and Gallup (1991) Perpetrators have been found to be professionals who work in law enforcement, the military or daycare, and Christian fronts have been used in some instances as a means of hiding the satanic motivation of the perpetrators. See Cannaday (1994) Wright (1992) Gallup (1991) and Orr (1984). In several cases the perpetrators have confessed to the satanic element of the crime or participation in prior satanic offenses. - See Helms (2006) Cala (2003) Smith (2003) Delaney (2002) Morris (2001) South (2000) Page (2000) T. Kokoraleis (1999) Bonacci (1999) Brooks (1996) Hughes (1996) Penick (1995) Alvarado (1995) Ingram (1992) Rogers (1992) and Fryman (1988)

The FMSF and those affiliated with this organization have been using the Appellate courts to overturn cases convictions involving ritual abuse themes.

The Appellate court cases in this archive are valuable because most opinions have affirmed that Satanism was the motivation for the crime and the introduction of that evidence has been routinely found to be probative and not prejudicial. The author has chosen to describe the satanic element of the crime only rather than every point of law that was appealed. This level of documentation is important because, if published, the rulings of these courts can be cited as case law. The majority of the appellate cases cited in this archive are published opinions.

In addition to court documents this archive also references news articles that document the ritual elements of the crime which include perpetrator confessions, cannibalism, murder, mutilation in the context of Satanism, and there is ample evidence to prove the existence of cult groups who sacrifice their victims as an offering to Satan. This proves beyond doubt that unusual occult belief systems exist and the bizarre acts committed by these individuals are not only not usual, they are commonplace.

In some cases involving multiple defendants the legal histories have been combined in the title of the case and are separated by semicolons, but in other instances the histories are described separately.

This archive begins with a First Amendment case, filed on behalf of a prisoner, regarding his use of the Satanic Bible [written by Anton La Vey of the Church of Satan] and other accouterments of Satanism.

August 24, 1989, CHARLES MCCORKLE v. W. E. JOHNSON, WARDEN, JOSEPH KOLB, CHAPLAIN, FREDDIE V. SMITH, COMMISSIONER, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS, ELEVENTH CIRCUIT, 881 F.2d 993, Denial of Satanic Material Affirmed
'
Overview: Appellate court documents state that Charles McCorkle, a state prisoner confined in the Holman facility in Alabama, filed a complaint, seeking redress for the deprivation of his first amendment rights to freely exercise his chosen religion – Satanism. The prison officials denied his request to access certain Satanic books and articles, including the Satanic Bible, the Satanic Book of Rituals, and a Satanic medallion because they posed security threats and were directly contrary to the goals of the Institution.

The court wrote: “The prohibition on Satanic materials such as those requested by the plaintiff is justified by the defendant’s concern for institutional security and order. It is an informed and measured response to the violence inherent in Satan worship and to the potential disorder that it might cause within the prison. ”

Testimony was given at an evidentiary hearing where the plaintiff, McCorkle, recounted two of the rituals espoused by the Satanic Book of Rituals. The fertility ritual included the sacrifice of a female virgin, preferably a Christian. The initiation ritual called for wrist slashing, blood drinking, and the consumption of human flesh – usually fingers. The candles preferred by the plaintiff and other Satanists “are not made of wax or paraffin, instead they are made from the fat of unbaptized infants.” The plaintiff had been observed drawing his own blood, by slicing his wrists, and had asked other inmates for their blood. One inmate was “highly irritated when the plaintiff requested that he donate a vial of blood for use in the worship of Satan.”

The warden testified that upon review of the Satanic Bible, he concluded that persons following its teaching would murder, rape, or rob at will without regard for moral or legal consequences. He thought the prisoner’s safety would be at risk if other inmates knew of the contents of the Satanic Bible. Anton Szandor LaVey was quoted in a chapter from the Book of Satan, stating that “right and wrong had been inverted too long,” and he challenged readers to “rebel against the laws of man and God.” He declared that hatred of one’s enemies was of utmost important and revenge should be a top priority.

The court noted that there were several Satanic sects represented at Holman Prison who did not need these specific books to practice their religion and that plaintiff’s right to freely worship Satan could be exercised only at significant cost to guards, other prisoners, and society in general. Accordingly, he denied plaintiff’s requests.
----
In State v. Freeman, 559 P.2d 152 (1976) it was the opinion of the expert witness that revenge was the motivation for the murder that the defendant was being tried for, and noted that the defendant had underlined certain passages in the Satanic Bible addressing vengeance and revenge. He stated…that the language, “not only sanctioned revenge, but required it.”

In Childs v. Duckworth, 705 F.2d 915 (1983) the plaintiff Donald Childs, an alleged member of the “Satanic Church,” brought a Civil rights claim, requesting permission for various Satanic items, including the Satanic Bible, which the appellate court denied. Childs confessed to having sacrificed cats and pigeons and casting spells to retaliate against others. The Warden and Director both stated that Satanism was not recognized as a religion by that Institution. The Court stated the authorities had legitimate reason for denying inmates request and it did not deprive him of his Constitutional rights.

In Doty v. Lewis, 995 F. Supp. 1081 (1998) the court ruled that a ban on high security prisoners possession of candles, incense, Baphomet tapestry, and Satanic religious tracts, which advocated retaliation, sacrifices, spells and racial separation, did not impinge on plaintiff Doty’s free exercise rights, given rational reasons related to prison security for banning materials, and despite the prisoner’s sincere belief in the Satanic religion. Materials requested were not essential to practice his religious tenets, and there was a rational connection between restrictions of these materials and prison security concerns.

The inmate had thirty-one disciplinary actions reflecting an escalation of violence and aggression each year, and he was trying to engage other prisoners in violent behavior. It was thought that the Satanic Bible in the hands of this particular prisoner would endanger the security of the prison.
The appellate court stated the Satanic Bible presented a serious threat to the safety and security of the prison, that the book condoned human sacrifice and the book’s philosophies were blatantly “vicious,” “selfish,” and brutal.” The book “advocated hurting someone, who in the opinion of the Satanists, deserved to be harmed and destroyed.” The plaintiff Doty admitted that he had engaged in “sacrificing cows.”

In Burton v. Frank, 2004 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9603, the prisoner’s request for the Satanic Bible was denied because the prison had shown that inmates possession of the Satanic Bible posed a threat to the prison’s legitimate interest in maintaining security and promoting rehabilitation. Passages from the Satanic Bible book were quoted:

“The only time a Satanist would perform a human sacrifice would be if it were to serve a two-fold purpose; that being to release the magician’s wrath in the throwing of a curse, and more important, to dispose of a totally obnoxious and deserving individual.”

At least one Satanist inmate engaged in a ritual in which an effigy was tortured and “murdered.” The appellate court stated that the Satanic Bible outlined procedures for destroying enemies through the use of effigies.
The prison’s position was that the Satanic Bible promoted “violent and illegal” behavior, and that “manipulation, disregard for laws and authority, self-indulgence and revenge,” were inconsistent with criminal rehabilitation. The court also noted that other Satanists in this particular prison kept a notebook, called the “Book of Shadows,” which was filled with murderous language.

Note: The Church of Satan claims they have never been associated with any criminal activity. However, that is incorrect. Followers of Anton La Vey have routinely requested the Satanic Bible while in prison, and in the majority of cases their requests have been denied. As of 7/4/07 a Lexis Nexus search revealed more than 30 appellate decisions in which the Satanic Bible was mentioned. In Maine vs. Waterhouse (1986) the appellate court quoted passages from the Satanic Bible to prove and uphold the satanic motivation for the crime. In Adoption of Quentin (1997) the appellate court noted the perpetrator had read the Satanic Bible.

[The source of cattle mutilations has remained unsolved in the United States which makes the admission of the sacrifice of a cow in Doty vs. Lewis a point of interest.] See “Mutilated Bull: No Blood, No clues,” Gallup Independent, May 5, 2007; “The Truth is Out There,” The Gallup Independent, May 5, 2007]

January 6, 2006, STATE OF IDAHO v. THOMAS WENDELL HELMS, COURT OF APPEALS OF IDAHO, 137 P.3d 466, 2006 Ida App. LEXIS 3, Sentencing for Battery of a Correctional Officer Modified

Overview: Appellant documents state that defendant Thomas Helms was serving time in the Idaho Maximum Security Institution for grand theft, possession of a dangerous weapon by an inmate, and battery with intent to murder. He had a self-inflicted wound on his arm which had required stitches and needed to be moved to another cell. When officers attempted to move him he threw toilet water on them which then required tests to insure that the guards had not contracted HIV or Hepatitis. Helms was charged with battery on a correctional officer and received the maximum prison sentence after a jury trial, a sentence which this appellant court reduced.

Defendant Helms had a history of disruptive behavior and had been placed in increasingly restrictive confinements. He was self-mutilating, destroyed property, exposed himself, and threw feces and urine. Helms had told investigators about “feats” of murder and cannibalism during a brief period of his life when he was not incarcerated, although it was not clear to the majority opinion whether these were actual crimes.

The Dissenting Judge thought a stronger sentence should have been imposed and remarked that the majority opinion minimized Helm’s behavior. He was in favor of Helms never being released and cited the following evidence as reason why he should be kept in confinement:
As a youth Helms had sexually violated a young girl and his younger brother. He was designated a sexual predator shortly thereafter. His parole officer stated Helms had no conscience. Helms slashed the throat of one inmate and planned to murder another one. After the attack Helms told officers that if they had not stopped him, he planned to eviscerate the victim, pull out his internal organs, and eat some of them.

Helms repeatedly displayed a fascination with homicide, cannibalism, and idolized Charlie Manson. In the year 2000, Helms told investigators that in 1994 he had been involved in the murder of a female African-American prostitute and subsequently ate her heart after assisting in cutting up her body to pieces. He also confessed to another murder at that time. When asked about the truth of these statements in the year 2003, Helms again affirmed that these statements were true, that he was part of a satanic cult at that time, and he had engaged in murder and cannibalism.

Based on this evidence, the Dissenting Judge thought Helms would always remain a danger to society.

May 26, 2005, THE PEOPLE v. RICHARD JOHN VIEIRA, SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA, 25 Cal. Rptr. 3d 337, Death Sentence Affirmed on Three Counts; Remand to Trial Court and Reversal of the Death Sentence for one count.

Overview: Appellate documents state a jury convicted Richard John Vieira of Stanislaus County of four counts of murder and conspiracy which took place in 1990. Vieira and his co-defendants, David Beck and Gerald Cruz, all lived in a camp where Gerald Cruz served as the leader. Cruz instigated the murders of four individuals from a rival group.

Defendant’s sister testified that she lived with Cruz in 1987-1988, at which time Cruz led others in the study of the occult and the performance of supposedly occult rituals that included candles, robes and chanting. Cruz told Young that “to sacrifice your first newborn was the greatest thing you could ever do and that it was ‘for the satisfaction of Satan.’”

The defense solicited testimony regarding defendant’s cult membership and his incapacity to form the requisite criminal intent. Testimony evidenced that Vieira was a “slave” to other members of the group. Family members testified defendant often appeared to have been “beat up” with black eyes, fat lips and slashes on his arm. According to defendant’s diary he had been electroshocked and beat up by members of the group.

A cult expert testified that Cruz directed a cult which had occult and satanic underpinnings, they engaged in various rituals, and defendant was under mind control at the time of the crime. Cruz directed the members of the group to read and study the books of Alistair Crowley, of whom Cruz believed himself to be the reincarnation. There were also reports that the defendants were part of a Nazi or White Supremacist organization. The court ultimately rejected the defense’s argument that the crimes were committed under duress.

The dissenting Judge wrote that he would have reversed the death penalty and acknowledged that at the time of the murders the defendant was a submissive member of a satanic cult led by Gerald Cruz.

“In this case, the evidence shows that defendant acted under the substantial domination of cult leader Gerald Cruz, who controlled every aspect of defendant’s life and threatened to kill anyone who did not follow his orders. Absent the pernicious influence of a satanic cult leader, it is doubtful that defendant would have committed murder.”

The dissent thought that the defendant was under mind control at the time of the crime and noted that the expert explained how cults use isolation, sleep deprivation, punishment, and occult ritual to dominate and control the minds of their members.

March 18, 2005, TRACE ROYAL DUNCAN v. STATE OF ALABAMA, COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF ALABAMA, 925 So.2d 245, 2005 Ala. Crim. App. Lexis 78, Affirmed in Part, Remanded with Instructions; 827 So. 2d 838, 2005 Ala Crim App. LEXIS 116, Court of Appeal Reversed the Death Penalty.

Appellate documents and news articles state four teenagers, Trace Royal Duncan, 17, Cary Dale Grayson, 19, Kenny Loggins, 17, and Louis Mangione, 16, kidnapped and murdered hitchhiker, Vicki De Blieux, 37, who was traveling to her mother’s home in Tennessee. The defendants picked her up and promised to take her to her mother’s but instead took her to a wooded area. After she spurned their sexual advances, they kicked and stomped her and threw her over a cliff. Carey Grayson told Louis Mangione that he was going to “sacrifice the bitch.” Three defendants then returned to the scene and proceeded to mutilate, cannibalize part of her body, and remove all of her fingers, both to thwart identification, and to keep as souvenirs. The defendants were arrested after Louis Mangione began showing Ms. De Blieux’s fingers to friends. Kenneth Loggins and Carey Dale Grayson were sentenced to death. Louis Christopher Mangione and Trace Royal Ducan received a sentence of life imprisonment.

The medical examiner found that every bone in the victim’s face was fractured at least once, her skull was broken open with most of the brain separated from it. Large lacerations were found on the back of her head along with extensive bruising on the head, her left and right ribs were fractured, there were at least 180 stab wounds all over her body, two incised wounds were found in her chest and abdomen, her left lung was removed by a knife, there was bleeding of the tongue, and all her fingers and thumbs had been removed. The medical examiner could not be certain what wounds were inflicted before and after death.

The satanic element of the crime was documented in Trace Royal Duncan’s appeal and several news articles. Duncan’s trial counsel stated that his co-defendants were Satanists and that Mr. Duncan “kicked the victim a few times in the head,” and the other codefendants “returned to the victim’s body to mutilate it, stabbing it over 180 times, removing organs and eating them and removing fingers to thwart identification and to keep as souvenirs…” Counsel was able to interject his theory that two codefendants were Satanists who instigated the murder, committed most of the acts against the victim, and threatened to kill the appellant if he told what happened. He attempted to portray codefendant Grayson as the older instigator and leader who was a Satanist wanting to sacrifice the victim to Satan. In closing arguments the defense stated that the codefendants could have committed the murder as a satanic ritual.

The legal history of this case is as follows:

Trace Royal Duncan: 925 So. 2d 245, 2005 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 78; 827 So. 2d 839, 1999 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 224; 673 So. 2d 838, 1995 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 350

Carey Dale Grayson: 954 So. 2d 1141, 2005 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 2676; 824 So. 2d 844, 2002 Ala. LEXIS 13; 824 So. 2d 844, 2001 Ala. LEXIS 167; 824 So. 2d 804, 1999 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 261; 665 So. 2d 986, 1995 Ala. Crim. Appl. LEXIS 71

Kenneth Loggins: 771 So. 2d 1093, 2000 Ala. LEXIS 217; 910 So. 2d 146, 2005 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 57; 771 So. 2d 1070, 1999 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 52

Louis Christopher Mangione: 740 So. 2d 444, 1998 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 133; 796 So. 2d. 446, 1999 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 2553

News articles report that co-defendant Dale Grayson told newspaper reporters that it was Trace Duncan who stabbed the woman, hacked open her chest and pulled out an organ from her body. The police were told that Grayson was a Satanist who drank the blood of his victim. See “Murder Suspect Claims he’s no Satanist,” Birmingham News, April 29, 1994; “Grayson Says Friends Carved Woman’s Body,” Birmingham News, May 5, 1994; “Trial Will Begin for Man Accused in Woman’s Sport Killing,” Birmingham News, October 29, 1995

October 21, 2003, ANGLESEY, NORTH WALES, MATHEW HARDMAN, Appealing Conviction for Murder

Overview: News reports state a teenager found guilty of murdering his elderly neighbor and drinking her blood in a vampire ritual was attempting to challenge his conviction. He was jailed in 2002 for a minimum of 12 years following his trial. The jury was told the art student killed 90 year old Mabel Leyshon and removed her heart in a satanic-style ritual in November 2001. His first bid to appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeal in early 2003. See ”Vampire Killer to Challenge Conviction,” Press Association, October 21, 2003

September 11, 2003, BRASILIA, BRAZIL, Cesio Brandao aka Cesi Favio Caldas aka Sergio Brandao, Sentenced for Murder and Attempted Murder
Overview: News articles report that five influential members of Brazilian society went on trial in 2003 for the torture, castration, and murder of five children, aged eight to 13, whose sexual organs had been removed and used in rites of black magic between 1989 and 1993.

Amailton Madeira Gomes, son of a businessman, Carlos Alberto Santos, policeman, and two doctors, Anisio Ferreira de Souza, and Cesio Brandao, aka Cesi Favio aka Sergio Brandao were charged with the crimes. The fifth defendant, 75 year old Valentina Andrade, a fortune teller and leader of a UFO group called the Superior Universal Alignment, was tried for these crimes but was not convicted.

The five defendants, including Valentina de Andrade, allegedly used their influence in efforts to stop the case from going to trial, intimidated victims, and destroyed evidence. The prosecution asked for the trial to be moved to another locale, Para State.

A total of 19 boys, aged eight to 14, were victimized. Five were mutilated and died, three escaped with horrible injuries, six escaped before they were harmed, and five have never been seen again. Some victims had their eyes gouged out, wrists slit, and sexual organs cut off. The two doctors were accused of selling the internal organs of the children and using their genitals in satanic rituals.

Two mutilated survivors, now adults, escaped from Brazil’s Amazon region where they had been tied to trees after being doped and castrated. They both identified Carlos Alberto Santos as the man who kidnapped them when they were nine and 10 years old.

Brazil’s Special Secretary for Human Rights said the trial had symbolic significance because of the influential professions of the defendants. The trial was seen as a test of Brazil’s ability to bring justice to isolated areas where it was suspected the legal system might be under the sway of powerful locals.

Carlos Albert Santos was sentenced to 35 years, Amailton Gomes was sentenced to 57 years, Anisio Ferreira de Souza was sentenced to 77 years, Cesio Brandao was sentenced to 56 years. See “Trial Opens on Ritualistic Murders of Brazilian Children,” Agence France Presse, August 29, 2003; “Two Sentenced in Mutilation Murder Case in Brazil,” Associated Press, August 30, 2003, “Satanic Sect Leader Denies Charges She tortured, Murdered Children in Brazil,” Agence France Presse, November 19, 2003. See HYPERLINK "http://www" http://www.religionnewsblog.com for articles: “Five on Trial for Child Ritual Murders,” August. 29, 2003, “Doctor Gets 56 for Brazil Sect Killings,” September 10, 2003; “Brazil Jails Occult Killers,” Aug. 31, 2003, “Brazil Court Finds 2 Guilty in Mutilation Killings,” August 30, 2003, “Doctor Gets 77 Years for Brazil Sect Killings,” Sept. 5, 2003
August 9, 2003, CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA: KANAWHA COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, Case No. 93-F45, Louis Kelley Sentenced to 15 years in prison for Sexual Assaults.

Overview: News reports state that Louis Kelley, 37, was sentenced by the court to serve 15-30 years in prison for sexual assault and one to five years in prison for sexual abuse of a boy. Kelly, who also called himself Damien Prince, convinced the boy to participate in Satanic rituals and molested him numerous times. Kelly pleaded guilty in February 2003 to the two counts related to an incident on Halloween night in 1991. “Man to Serve 15 years for Sexual Assault of Boy during Ritual,” Associated Press, August 9, 2003
June 19, 2003, MANASSAS, VIRGINIA, JUVENILE AND DOMESTIC COURT, PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Case No. JA020390-02-00, Russell John Smith Plea-Bargained to Four Counts of Rape and was Sentenced to 48 Years.
Overview: News reports state that self-described Satanist Russell John Smith, 38, a former guard at the Prince William County jail and founder of a satanic worship group on the internet, plead guilty to four counts of rape. He claimed that most of the sex acts with a 12 year old girl were part of his Satanic rituals. Police who searched his home found numerous Satanic items, including robes, black candles, goat’s skull, a pentagram and an altar. See “Virginia Fugitive Arrested in Oregon,” Associated Press, Sept. 4, 2002; “Self-described Satanist Sentenced to 48 years for Rape,” Associated Press, July 25, 2003; “Sentencing Delayed for Satanist who Raped Girl,” Associated Press, June 19, 2003; “Metro in Brief,” The Washington Post, July 28, 2003

May 19, 2003, POWELL v. THE STATE, SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA, 581 S.E. 2d 13, 2003 Ga. LEXIS 478, Conviction for Murder Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state that on May 22, 1998, Keith Powell, 44, who had been living with his parents, shot his unarmed father during a family dispute. Powell routinely carried a .45 caliber handgun in a holster on his person while in the home.

Mr. Powell claimed that the shooting was in self-defense and that he feared his father due to the abuse he suffered as a child. A friend of his testified to the “positive” relationship that existed between Powell and his father but stated that Powell had a lot of anger toward his mother, accusing her of abusing him in a ritualistic satanic manner.

A psychologist opined that Powell had a delusional disorder, apparently due to the fact he spoke of being beaten, drugged and threatened, supposedly because of “gold” he had discovered at some point in his life.

Note: This case has been included because a diagnosis of “delusional disorder” does not necessarily negate this defendant’s claim of alleged satanic ritual victimization by his mother.

January 31, 2003, ROANOKE, VIRGINIA, ROANOKE CITY CIRCUIT COURT, Case No. CR02000968-04, Terry Dale Duncan, Pleaded No Contest to Attempted Capital Murder

Overview: News report states Terry Dale Duncan, 30, a self-styled Satanic high priest, pleaded no contest in an attempt to murder his one month old son. His child would have died if not for the intervention of a nurse and social worker after the child missed a doctor’s appointment. Duncan’s child had suffered fractures to a leg, a shinbone, both collarbones, and bruises covered his nose, forehead and eyes. The authorities also discovered a wound that appeared to be a cigarette burn at the back of his throat.

The father said he decided to “sacrifice” the child because he believed he was not the child’s father, so he tried to “disassemble” him. The father claimed he used to injure victims in this manner when he was affiliated with an Oklahoma based satanic cult. He told police that, “The majority of those States that we done the sacrifices, some of them were immediate sacrifices to where the heart was busted or the throat was enclosed to cause breathing to stop immediately and cause instant death, and then we disassembled the bodies.”

He confessed to many satanic murders but the police stated law enforcement in other communities did not respond to their request for information about any unsolved homicides. See “Father Pleads No Contest to Abusing Infant,” The Roanoke Times, January 31, 2003

January 8, 2003, FORT WORTH, TEXAS, TARRANT COUNTY JUSTICE CENTER, Case No. 0822743, Joseph Frank Cala II, Conviction for Murder
Overview: News reports state Joseph Frank Cala II, 41, pleaded guilty to murder in the 2001 death of his 79 years old mother, Lydia M. Cala, after he “beat her to death, sliced her open, and ate some of her heart.” After a three-hour hearing, the District Judge chose the maximum of the 20-30 year sentence range contained in a plea agreement.

The victim’s daughter testified that she went to her mother’s house the evening of Oct. 15, 2001 after neighbors called and said windows had been shattered from inside the house. She was afraid to enter the residence due to fear of her brother, so she notified authorities. Officer Kevin Meador testified that when he looked through a bedroom window, he saw a naked, bloody man standing over what he learned later was a woman’s mutilated body. Another officer saw Cala eat what appeared to be an organ, according to police reports. Meador and other officers said they went inside and heard Joey Cala saying that he worshipped the devil. When officers took him into custody, he told them they had interrupted his “sacrifice.” The 76 pound woman, had a broken nose, teeth, collar bone, ribs and multiple bruises and cuts likely caused by fist or feet, the medical examiner said. After she died, “her chest and abdomen were cut open and some organs were removed,” the medical examiner testified. Part of her heart contained teeth marks and a piece was missing. See “Man Gets 30 Years for Killing, Cannibalizing Mother,” Associated Press, January 8, 2003

March 13, 2002, MICHAEL DELANEY, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS GUARDIAN AD LITEM FOR BRYAN DELANEY, JASON DELANEY AND JUSTYN DELANEY v. CAROL CLIFTON, PH.D AND MARY ELLEN FARLEY, M.A., COURT OF APPEALS OF OREGON, 41 P.3d 1099, Dismissal of Lawsuit Against Therapist Affirmed
Overview: Appellate documents state patient’s former husband and her children sued professional counselor and clinical psychologists for professional malpractice and the husband, a third party to the therapeutic relationship, sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

As background, in 1993, Lee Ann, the wife of the appellant, began to attend lectures and read books about Multiple Personality Disorder and Satanic cults. She began to suspect she had been a victim of satanic ritual abuse. Her husband, the plaintiff, also became convinced of the existence of the satanic cult, his own involvement, and the validity of the therapy she was receiving.

In therapy, Lee Ann described “alters” that surfaced in response to environmental cues and believed she participated in ceremonies in which people and animals were tortured. Lee Ann was referred to a specialist who also diagnosed her as MPD.

The plaintiff and Lee Ann divorced and the husband filed a claim for damages against the therapist, alleging that the diagnosis of MPD was considered “controversial and unreliable in the mental health profession” and the therapists damaged the relationship between he and his wife. The local court dismissed this claim because the husband was a third party to the therapeutic relationship and Lee Ann had no complaint about her treatment. The appellate court noted that the plaintiff called for the court to join a “national trend” of jurisdictions that, in the context of MPD generally and memory retrieval in particular, recognize negligence claims against therapists brought by persons outside the therapist-patient relationship.”
The Appellate court wrote: “We are unconvinced that such a trend exists. More to the point, however, we would have to depart from settled Oregon tort jurisprudence to join the trend, if there were one. We decline to do so.”
Several other lawsuits have had successful outcomes for therapists after their clients have recanted their disclosures of satanic activity:

November 30, 2000, Jones v. Lurie, 32 S.W. 3d 737. After a trial, no negligence was found on the part of psychologist Lurie and they found her treatment was within the standard of care. The client had disclosed that her grandfather, father, and brother, had sexually abused her, and that her parents took her to satanic rituals where she was physically and sexually abused by other cult members. She claimed to remember murdering and cannibalizing babies and believed “Nazi mind-control” methods were utilized on her, although she later attributed these statements to her therapist. The client had been diagnosed by all of her psychiatrists and treating psychologists with Multiple Personality Disorder [DID]. A Dr. Johnstone, who was a witness for the client, testified that there was no such diagnosis as multiple personality disorder and that others professionals who wrote about MPD were ‘”quacks.” The court found that the client was mentally ill long before Lurie treated her and affirmed the judgment of the trial court that found no negligence on the part of the therapist.

November 1, 2000, Bloom v. Braun, et al. 739 N.E. 2d 925. After her mother recommended treatment with therapist/defendant Braun, who she was also seeing in therapy, the client came to believe that she had a diagnosis of MPD [DID] and was involved in satanic cult ritual abuse. The client alleged that the therapist “misrepresented” as fact that satanic ritual abuse was proven to exist, there was no objective evidence of such cults, and that since her mother had recovered memories of participating in such rituals, she was also a victim/participant in this activity. She claimed that her memories and the resultant multiple personality disorder were actually caused by the therapy. The appellate court dismissed Bloom’s complaint based on her failure to satisfy the requirements of the legal disability exception to the statue of limitations.

August 22, 2000, Althaus v. Cohen, 2000 Pa. LEXIS 2017. After a jury awarded monetary damages to the client and her parents, the therapist appealed. The issue in this case was whether a therapist - after being referred by social services - who treats a child for alleged parental sexual abuse owes a duty of care to the child’s parents in a therapeutic setting where the child allegedly has been abused by the parents. The child had accused her parents of incest, murder, and leading a satanic cult. The appellate court found that the therapist did not owe a duty of care to the client’s parents and reversed the jury’s decision, resulting in the parents having to return the monetary award. However, this decision did not affect the nominal amount of money awarded to the child.

August 19, 1998, Green v. Charter Pines Hospital, Wallace, Timmons, et al., No. 96-CVS-5235. Lawyer R. Christopher Barden argued that his client Susan A. Green had been made to falsely believe she had been molested by her father and by satanic cult members. He also stated that therapies which claim to retrieve forgotten sexual abuse memories from deep inside the mind are based on “junk science.” The jury rejected these claims and found in favor of the psychologists and believed that the therapist’s therapeutic techniques were well within the standard of care during the time the therapeutic relationship occurred.

September 18, 1995, Stecks v. Young, 38 Cal. App. 4th 365. David and Nancy Stecks brought an action for libel, slander, and intentional infliction of emotional distress against psychologist Young after she made a report to child protective services regarding the Steckses and others. Her client had alleged that these individuals engaged in child abuse and participated in cult activities such as human and animal sacrifice. The appellate court ruled because the therapist was a mandatory reporter, she had absolute immunity.
July 15, 1998, Charter Peachford Behavior Health System, et al. v. Kohout, 504 S.E. 2d 514, 1998 Ga. App. LEXIS 995. The appellate court reversed the judgment of the lower courts finding that therapists and hospital could be sued. The client, Kimberly Kohout, had claimed that she was “brainwashed” into creating “false memories” about being sexually and ritually abused by family members in Satanic cult ceremonies. Kohout admitted to having contacted the False Memory Syndrome Foundation about her “memories.” The court ruled that instead of using a “subjective standard” of the patient’s awareness of psychological harm, the court should use the objective one of when the patient reasonably should have known about it. The suit was dismissed due to the statute of limitations precluding a legitimate cause of action.
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July 18, 2001, IN THE INTEREST OF S. C. P., A/K/A S. C. J, MINOR CHILD, M.C.P, MOTHER, COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA, 2001 Iowa App. LEXIS 442, Termination of Parental Rights Affirmed

Overview: Appellate documents state that the mother, Mary, was diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder (now called Dissociative Identity Disorder) and other psychological disorders. Her child was a ward of the Juvenile Court and they wanted to terminate parental rights. There was domestic violence between her and the father of her child. The Courts concern was that “by November 1999 Mary was stating she had been the victim of Satanic ritualistic abuse.” She blamed her father for causing her mental illness. Mary’s therapist testified that she might be able to care for her child within one year. Her therapist stated she was working with the mother on her Dissociative Identity Disorder, helping her to map and contain her identity.

July 16, 2001, JEFFREY DEWAYNE CLARK v. MICHAEL O’DEA, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS, SIXTH CIRCUIT, 257 F.3d 498, Conviction for First Degree Murder Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state a Kentucky jury convicted Jeffrey Clark and an accomplice of first-degree murder in 1995 for which he received a life sentence. Rhonda Sue Warford was stabbed multiple times and one stab wound pierced her brain stem. The medical examiner noted that an inverted cross was tattooed below her left clavicle, and that her injuries were caused by a sharp singled-edged instrument such as a knife. Both Keith Hardin and Jeffrey Clark were questioned about the crime and they were both indicted for murder after being jointly tried.

Several witnesses testified about Clark and Hardin’s Satanic worship. Jeffrey Clark was also found to have an inverted tattoo on his shoulder. A witness claimed he took her to an area where he said a number of animal sacrifices had been made. Another witness testified that Clark always carried a knife with him and called it his “sacrificial knife,” and stated he had admitted to sacrificing an animal in front of a church. The victim’s sister testified, stating she too knew that Hardin was involved in satanic worship.

Defendant Clark contested the admittance of Satanism at his trial, claiming there was a lack of evidence to prove the murder was a ritualistic killing. The State claimed it introduced evidence of Satanism to supports its theory that the victim’s murder was motivated by the belief held by Clark and Hardin that they would gain “power” by killing her. Testimony had been solicited about satanic teachings and, according to a witness, certain worshippers could empower themselves by killing other living beings by performing a human sacrifice.

The appellate court stated this evidence was probative as to the motive for the killing.

April 12, 2001, SHARON LYNNE ARMSTRONG MORRIS v. JOEY FRANKLIN MORRIS, SUPREME COURT OF MISSISSIPPI, 783 So. 2d 681, Judgment of Custody Decision Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state the husband brought a divorce action against his wife, a nurse, and the court awarded him custody of their three children. The wife, Ms. Armstrong, filed an appeal. The husband alleged she subjected him to cruel and unusual treatment, in part, because she had homicidal thoughts of killing him and her mother. The record describes in detail mutual conflict between the parties. The mother had blackouts and would not know how to get home and would not recognize her husband and children. At times, she was suicidal.

The appellate court noted that her mental problems likely stemmed from her sexual abuse perpetrated by her grandfather from the ages of 8-12. The mother admitted to a history of Satanic cult involvement. Her involvement was reportedly at the insistence of her grandfather, and included “group sex, animal sacrifices, cannibalism and perhaps caused the death of at least one individual.” The court acknowledge that much of her emotional problems occurred because of this sexual abuse and because she was made to participate in satanic cult rituals as a child and raped as an adult. Consequently, the appellate court affirmed the decision of the local court.
October 24, 2000, FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, BROWARD COUNTY COURT, Case No. 9900926-CF10A, Darrel Wayne Harris Convicted of Attempted Second Degree Murder

Overview: News reports state that Darrel Wayne Harris, a 17-year-old, was charged as an adult and was arraigned on an attempted first-degree murder charge in a stabbing attack that stemmed from a Satanic ritual, police said. Harris allegedly stabbed Robert Menendez four to six times in the throat and back with a carving knife after a ritual in which they cut their hands to let their blood mingle and chanted lines from a satanic book together.

Menendez and Harris had been friends for about a year. Harris told him he had prepared a “special alter” (sic) for satanic ritual at the site, Menendez testified.

As they were chanting on April 21, they drew a pentagram in the dirt and Harris told Menendez to look down at the symbol. As Menendez looked down, Harris attacked him with the knife. "Somewhere along the line the culprit just started to hack him with the knife," said Fort Lauderdale Detective Arturo Carbo. "The victim told us that the stabbing was not part of the ritual and he firmly believed he was going to die.” Harris and others left Mendez for dead but he managed to crawl to a nearby area and get help. There was evidence that Harris planned the attack. The victim was hospitalized for several days.

“Harris and Menendez were part of a network of 30 to 40 local young people who were involved in Satanic activities," Carbo said. Menendez told police he and Harris, who have known each other for at least 18 months, hung out at local public libraries to use computers to access satanic Web sites and send e-mail to each other. The group used online nicknames such as Natas, which is Satan spelled backwards, Mindblower and Deathtrap.

On October 24, 2000, a jury convicted Darrel Wayne Harris for attempted second degree murder. The victim formally testified in court that he had “dabbled in the occult” and had read a book on Satanic ritual. He accompanied Harris out of curiosity. Harris took a butcher knife and book on satanic rituals out of his backpack. Using the knife, Harris cut his hand and Menendez’ hand and the two mixed their blood. Harris carved a pentagram in the ground and stood behind the cross-legged Mendez, telling him to stare at his hand and watch as the fingers disappeared and reappeared. Harris using the butcher knife, stabbed Menendez once in the neck, and three times in the back. See "Teen Charged as Adult in Stabbing that took place during Satanic Ritual," Associated Press, May 28, 1999; “Satanic Ritual ends in Stabbing: Teen Charged with Attempted Murder,” Sun Sentinel, May 28, 1999; “Mom: Son Depressive Teen Charged with Stabbing in Satanic Ritual,” Sun Sentinel, May 29, 1999; “Teen Guilty in Occult Ritual Stabbing Garners Second-Degree Murder Verdict,” Oct. 25, 2000

October 12, 2000, EDDIE LEE SEXTON vs. STATE OF FLORIDA, SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA, 775 So. 2d. 923, 2000 Fla. LEXIS 1993; 697 So. 2d. 833 (1997) Conviction and Death Sentence Affirmed;

Overview: Appellant documents state that Eddie Sexton’s criminal trial was continued until August 1998 after the Appeals court in 1997 remanded the case back to the local court because testimony about the abuse of his children needlessly inflamed the jury. After the second trial, Eddie Lee Sexton was found guilty and sentenced to death again on Nov. 18, 1998. The Supreme Court of Florida affirmed the conviction and death sentence on October 12, 2000.

Eddie Sexton was convicted and sentenced to death for the participation in the murder of his son-in-law, Joel Good. Joel was murdered by Sexton’s 22 year old son, Willie, who strangled him to death under Sexton’s direction. Willie Sexton testified against his father in exchange for his guilty plea to second-degree murder.

The court noted Sexton moved to Florida in 1993 with his family and the victim to avoid arrest and prevent authorities in Ohio from removing his children from the home. His infant grandchild, who was the son of the victim and his daughter, died under suspicious circumstances.

Sexton objected to the testimony of 5 of his daughters, as cited in the appellate opinion that he: "beat them, conducted 'marriage' ceremonies with his daughters, had regular sex with them and fathered several of their children, encouraged his children to have sex with each other, made his sons compare their penis sizes and ridiculed them, practiced Satanism and engaged in other bizarre conduct, threatened his children if they discussed family matters with others, trained his children how to kill FBI agents, engaged in a standoff with police in Ohio shortly before coming to Florida, fled to Florida to prevent his children from being taken into custody, and directed the killing of his infant grandchild.”

The States proposed motive for the killing was that Sexton's son-in-law knew Sexton was the father of his own "grandchildren." The prosecution wanted prior bad acts admitted to show the control this man had over his children. The appeals court thought this testimony needlessly inflamed the jury and so ordered a new trial.

News reports state that during the second trial, his son, Willie Sexton, said his father convinced him he had Satanic powers and sexually abused him. He also stated that he was tied up to his bed at night when he was a child, and the father gave coins to the other children to call home if anyone spoke about the abuse.

Sherri Sexton, daughter of Eddie Lee Sexton, discussed séances held in the home. She told news reporters that her dead cat was placed on a table and “my dad had all of us go around the table holding hands. He was talking weird. He was saying he was Satan… He kept asking us to give our souls to him – to follow him to Satan.”

Eddie Lee Sexton had been “ordained” by mail order at one time and had filed incorporation papers for a “Calvary Church of God.” Mr. Sextons own father was a “Free Will Baptist Preacher.” See “Children Tell of Life of Incest, Violence,” Beacon Journal , February 6, 1994; "Court Revisits Murder Case, Son's Fears," St. Petersburg Times, September 2, 1998.

[Eddie Lee Sexton is the husband of Estella Sexton whose case is described next.]

March 9, 1998, STATE OF OHIO vs ESTELLA SEXTON, COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, STARK COUNTY, 1998 Ohio App. LEXIS 1302; 1995 Ohio App. LEXIS 1413, Convictions for Complicity to Rape, Felonious Sexual Penetration, Gross Sexual Imposition, Complicity to Gross Sexual Imposition, and Child Endangerment Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state that in April 1992 Machelle, one of Estella Sexton's daughters, alleged that their father, Eddie Sexton, was molesting the three oldest daughters. There were 12 children in the family. DHS took six of the children into custody, but three of the children were returned to the mother under an agreement that she would keep the children away from the father.

In December of 1992, Mrs. Sexton fled Ohio with the three children, and reunited with Mr. Sexton at a hotel in Kentucky. On January 14, 1994, appellant and Eddie Sexton were arrested in Hillsboro County, Florida. The three children were returned to the custody of DHS.While living in Jackson Township, and in a camper in Hillsboro County, Florida, appellant and her husband perpetrated acts of sexual, physical, and mental abuse against all of the children. While living in Jackson Township, Kim, Lana, and Machelle were forced to participate in a wedding ceremony with their father. During the ceremony, Eddie engaged in a French kiss with the girls. Appellant was present, and took pictures of the ceremony.

The Court writes: "In the camper in Florida, appellant and Eddie gave Kim and Chris little red pills and Nyquil to ingest every evening, despite the fact that neither had a cold. On one occasion, Kim did not ingest the medicine and saw appellant fondling Chris' penis while he was asleep."...The mother and father inflicted "shaving rituals" on the girls. While living in Jackson Township, Lana and Machelle were forced to experience a similar shaving ritual. Lana was taken to the master bedroom for the purpose of punishment. Once inside the room, appellant held Lana down, while Eddie shaved her entire body with a razor. “While shaving her, Eddie cut her leg, put the blood on her finger, and made her sign a paper, saying that she was selling her soul to the devil." During the shaving, both appellant and Eddie Sexton fondled Machelle’s vaginal area.

Chris received beatings from both appellant and Eddie Sexton. He would beat Chris once or twice a week, while appellant guarded the door. The beatings would often leave bruises. Appellant and Mr. Sexton also punished Chris by having him stand against the wall for five to six hours, holding a penny against the wall with his nose. During this punishment, Chris was not permitted to go to the bathroom. At age twelve, Chris was forced to participate in weekend parties involving the family members in which he was given beer to drink.

According to Ohio vs. Estella Sexton, February 13, 1995, 1995 Ohio App. Lexis 1413, one of the children stated that family members were involved in satanic rituals, invoking spirits, and "baby thingies and things like that." “We will hold hands ... it mostly takes place after my grandmother died. They will bring her spirit back. Sometimes they bring devils back. They come out of the table and you see them floating around in the room ... we all hold hands while it’s happening.” This testimony regarding Satanic ritual was found by the court to be relevant to the proceedings.

Note: On October 11, 2005, COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, 2005 Ohio App. Lexis 5150, upheld the finding of the local court that Estella Sexton was a “Sexual Predator.”

September 30, 2000, MURFREESBORO, TENNESSEE, RUTHERFORD COUNTY JUDICIAL BUILDING, Case No. 48444, Alonzo South Pleaded Guilty to Three Counts of Aggravated Sexual Battery, Sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Overview: News articles state that according to the plea agreement Alonzo South, 31, admitted that on at least three occasions over the last two years he participated in satanic rituals in which a nude girl under the age of 10 was sexually touched. Court records say the child, who was the daughter of a woman involved in the Satanic group, was raped in a home, the nearby woods, a shed, a pickup truck and a car. See, "Man gets 24 years for Satanic-ritual rape of 10-year-old girl," The Tennessean, Sept. 30, 2000
August 10, 2000, PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOS v. PATRICK PAGE, SUPREME COURT OF ILLINOIS, 737 N.E.2d 264, Death Sentence Affirmed
Overview: Appellate documents state that Patrick Page was convicted of three murders in approximately 1985-87. He confessed to committing these murders, along with other defendants, Kenneth Cherney and Gerald Feinberg. One victim was stabbed and set on fire. The second murder victim was also stabbed and a “fire was started over the grave with lighter fluid.”

The third victim was stabbed, buried and a sheet and rug were burned over his grave.

Defendant Page claimed that his trial counsel failed to include evidence regarding his involvement in a cult as a mitigating factor because it would explain to the jurors how he was associated with these murders, how others were more culpable, and how he came to be able to be involved in such acts. He claimed he needed to be in a hospital setting.

Defendant told one psychologist that he was engrossed in the study of black magic and that he and several friends, led by a 24 year old warlock, held services, conjured demons and cast spells. A prior police report quoted a witness stating that “there are people who believe Mr. Patrick page is the Anti-christ, and that Page derived a power from the location where victim was buried… and indicated Page was a leader of a Satanic cult.” Another witness, and friend of Page, also stated Page derived “power” from certain locations and she “provided notes regarding defendant’s involvement in black magic, rituals and sacrifices.”

Defendant Page wrote in a an affidavit that he was involved in certain practices from a young age and was still in fear of individuals who were involved and who may still be involved in these practices. Mr. Page’s father and brother submitted affidavits stating that when defendant was 16 year, he was involved in some kind of cult or devil worship. Another psychologist and physician stated that defendant was under the influence of a cult leader at the times he committed these murders. The Doctors described the mind-control techniques used by leaders of cults.

The court thought if this information had been submitted, far from being mitigating evidence, it would probably have served as aggravating evidence. “This evidence describes defendant’s involvement in devil worship and ritualistic sacrifices.” Defendant wanted his case remanded back to the local court so he could have Neurological Assessment and a cult-related Psycho Social Investigation. The court denied this request and upheld defendant’s death sentence.

April 1, 2000, WARSAW, POLAND, Tomasz Suszyna and Robert Krakowian Pleaded Guilty to Murder

Overview: News articles state Tomas Suszyana, 22, and Robert Krakowian, 19, plead guilty to a double murder and said the victims were an offering to Satan. The victims, a 19-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy, were killed during a ritual Satanic mass in southern Poland, police said, after finding the cut up and burned bodies. The two victims were members of a sect that staged the Black mass in a disused bunker on the outskirts of the town of Ruda Slaska, but they did not know they were to die. Another teenage cult member who survived was taken to the hospital with multiple knife wounds. See "Teenage Cult Members Killed in Satanic Mass," Agence France Presse; March 4, 1999 and "Polish Satanists Jailed for Ritual Double Murder," Agence France Presse, April 1, 2000.

March 9, 2000, IN THE MATTER OF: SHAWN ELLIS, DEPENDENT MINOR CHILD, (FRANKLIN COUNTY CHILDREN SERVICES, COMPLAINANT-APPELLEE, CARLA RICHARDSON, RESPONDENT-APPELLANT) . IN THE MATTER OF: KIMBERLY DAVIS, DEPENDENT MINOR CHILD, (FRANKLIN COUNTY CHILDREN SERVICES, COMPLAINANT-APPELLEE, CARLA RICHARDSON, RESPONDENT-APPELLANT) COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, TENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, FRANKLIN COUNTY, 2000 Ohio App. LEXIS 849, Permanent Court Commitment of Children Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state in May 1995 allegations of abuse and neglect were filed against the mother, Carla Richardson, on behalf of her two children. She failed to protect the children from being sexually molested by a boarder in the home who was ultimately convicted of rape. After three and a half years of offering services and receiving treatment from six different counselors, the mother remained in denial about the abuse her children had suffered. None of the parents complied with the reunification plans for their children and the court stated Satanic occult practices were allegedly commonplace.

The court noted that after being in counseling for over three years, appellant continued to deny what happened to her children and claimed an inability to remember the abuse. “There was even testimony that appellant could not recall taking blood and hair from the children as part of satanic rituals."
February 24, 2000, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, Motion Withdrawn to Hold State in Contempt of Court.

Overview: News articles report that a Federal judge was asked to hold the State in contempt of court in February 2000 for its continued failure to provide court-ordered and doctor-prescribed mental health services to a severely traumatized 17-year-old victim of rape and occult ritual abuse.
Four months prior, State officials signed a federal consent decree in the case which was known as Grier vs. Wadley to make sure Sarah C. received the care she needed. While in the custody of the State, she was exposed to occult sadism, was beaten, hung from walls locked for prolonged periods in closets, and raped repeatedly. This all happened before the age of seven. A State advocacy group, Tennessee Justice Center, filed a class action lawsuit against the state for failure to properly administer the appeals procedure for the health care plan enrollees of TennCare, (Tennessee Behavioral Health). The 17 yr. old victim was just one of the people named in the settlement but she was left without proper care until this motion was filed. In April, the state agreed to properly attend to her care. See "Tenn. Could be in Contempt if Mental Care for Teen Inadequate," The Commercial Appeal, February 24, 2000; “Foster Parents Say State Failed to Care for Abused Girl in State Care,” AP, February 24, 2000; "Sarah C. to Get Badly Needed Care," Knoxville News-Sentinel Co., April 18, 2000

October 21, 1999, SOUTH AFRICA, Ameriko Manyike Sentenced to Life in Prison

Overview: News articles state Ameriko Manyike, 32, mutilated a 15-yr-old boy and tried to sell his genitals which he had cut off. "Ritual or 'muti' murders are common in South Africa where people are prepared to pay well for potions made of human parts which they believe will bring good health or good fortune." See "Mozambican Jailed for Life in S. Africa for Ritual Murder," Agence France Presse, Oct. 21, 1999

August 18, 1999, STATE OF OHIO v. KENNETH J. SMITH, 1999 Ohio App. LEXIS 3794, Status as Sexual Predator Affirmed

Overview: Appellate documents state that on June 4, 1991 Kenneth Smith pled guilty to sexual imposition against a 10 year old child. Years later he appealed the designation as a sexual predator. The trial court noted the nature of the sexual conduct with the victim as indicated in the summary in the presentence investigation report and found defendant’s conduct demonstrated “a pattern of abuse.”

The court stated that in making its decision, the report indicated alcohol was used, the defendant had threatened the victim, and that Satanic ceremonies had been involved.

August 11, 1999, HELSINKI, FINLAND, Jarno Sebastian Elg, Terhi Johanna Tervashonka, Mika Kristian Riska Sentenced for Murder

Overview: News articles state a court sentenced three alleged Satanists, including a 17-year-old girl, to prison terms for ritually killing a man and ingesting some of the body parts. Jarno Sebastian Elg, 24, was given a life sentence for killing a 23-year-old man in November and instigating others to participate in a ritual that included torturing the victim and listening to heavy-metal music. The Hyvinkaa District Court in southern Finland sentenced Terhi Johanna Tervashonka, 17, to two years and six months in prison and Mika Kristian Riska, 21, to two years and eight months in the case. The victim, who was not named, suffered prolonged torture and eventually was strangled to death, the court said. It also said the three people convicted "were strongly influenced by Satanism." The court declared most of the details of the case secret. See "Alleged Satanists Sentenced for Murder, Cannibalism," Associated Press, August 11, 1999

August 3, 1999, KIEV, Dmitry Dyomin was Sentenced to Death for Murder; His Accomplices, Valentin Chelyshev and Alexei Andreyev Sentenced to 13 and 8 yrs. in jail.

Overview: News articles state Dmitry Dyomin and his two accomplices, Valentin Chelyshev and Alexei Andreyev, killed a 15-year-old girl whose tongue was then boiled and ate. Dyomin belonged to a Satanic cult and with the help of his two accomplices, he severed the girl's head with a kitchen knife. Dyomin later lacquered the skull and kept it in his room. Skulls that he had taken out of graves, and books on black magic, pentagrams, and upside-down crucifixes were found during a search of the defendants home. See “Cannibal Satanists Get Death Sentence,” ITAR-TASS NEWS Agency, August 3, 1999

July 24, 1999, UGANDA, AFRICA, Yunus Samanya, Francis Muwanga, Gloria Nagadya, Sentenced to Death

Overview: News reports state that Yunus Samanya, 23, a native healer, Francis Muwanga, 24, and his wife, Gloria Nagadya, 21, were sent to the gallows for the ritual murder of a girl, Shamin Muhamad.
The girl’s head, tongue, private parts, and two fingers were cut off. The motive for the murder was that the perpetrators wanted to become “rich,” with the assistance of evil spirits, and a witchdoctor advised them to make a human sacrifice.
The article also mentioned that cases of child sacrifice had triggered public outrage. See “Shamin Killers for the Gallows,” Africa News, July 24, 1999

Four companion cases are described below:

October 6, 1999, PEOPLE, STATE OF ILLINOIS v. ROBIN GECHT, SUPREME COURT OF ILLINOIS, 720 N.E. 2d 1098, 1999 Ill. LEXIS 1423, Petition For Leave to Appeal Denied

Note: Four members of a satanic cult, Andrew Kokoraleis, 23, Thomas Kokoraleis, 26, Robin Gecht, 28, and Edward Spreitzer, 26, were convicted in a series of murders, rituals, and acts of cannibalism over a number of years in the mid 1980’s. The case broke after an 18-year-old prostitute was brought unconscious to the local hospital after being found naked, bleeding profusely and near death. Her left breast had been severed and she identified Robin Gecht, a carpenter-electrician, as her attacker.
All the defendant’s appeals are in published decisions except for Robin Gecht’s which is reported as a Table case.

Overview: News articles report that Robin Gecht, 28, a carpenter-electrician was arrested on Oct. 20, 1982, in the vicious slashing of an 18-year-old prostitute which “proved to be the opening of a Pandora’s box of depravity, sadism, Satan worship and cannibalism that perhaps involved nearly a score of Chicago-area women.” Within a week of Gecht’s release on bond for the attack on the prostitute, another woman claimed to have been attacked by him. He was then rearrested.

Following clues, the police had pulled a van over to the side of the road which was driven by Edward Spreitzer, and which had Andrew Kokoraleis as a passenger, who told them the van belonged to Robin Gecht. The gruesome link between many of the slayings in which the remains were still identifiable was that victim’s breasts had been mutilated or slashed off with a knife or piano wire. The three suspects then began implicating each other.
“The first inkling that the killings might have been part of a cult ritual came when a former neighbor of Gecht in Villa Park told authorities that Gecht enjoyed reading books on torture practices of ancient cultures. ‘He told me that he was reading about how the ancients cut off the breasts of women and saved them for tobacco pouches,” she said.”

The police found six crosses, some black and some red, painted on the walls of a tiny attic room in a house once occupied by Robin Gecht. Thomas Kokoraleis told investigators that the room had contained an altar, made from a board covered with red cloth, where cult members cut up animal parts, and sometimes human parts, for sacrifice.

“All were found to have been legally sane at the time of the murders, but Gecht was said by behavioral experts to exhibit multiple personalities, perhaps as a ruse. For example, in their discussion with him he wandered. His voice changed. He would speak as a small child, a teenager or a businessman. The experts said it probably was a sham.”

Robin Gecht was ultimately convicted of the attack on the 18 year old prostitute, and is currently serving a sentence of 120 years. Authorities learned later that Gecht had worked twice for John Wayne Gacy doing construction [the well-known serial murderer of 33 boys] See “Disappearances of Young Women Formed a Path Into the Darkest Depths of the Human Psyche,” Chicago Tribune, Oct. 11, 1987; “Trail’s End: Gruesome Clues Led to an Altar in an Attic,” Chicago Tribune, Oct. 12, 1987
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March 15, 1999, THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS v. ANDREW KOKORALEIS, SUPREME COURT OF ILLINOIS, 707 N.E.2d 1224, 1999 Ill. LEXIS 670; 637 N.E.2d 1015 (1994); 547 N.E.2d 202 ( 1989); 507 N.E.2d 146 (1987), Stay of Execution Allowed

Overview: Appellate documents state Andrew Kokoraleis was convicted of the murder and kidnapping of Lorraine Borowski and Rose Beck Davis and was sentenced to death for these murders which occurred in 1982. Lorraine Borowski’s skeletal remains were discovered in a cemetery. Defendant told officers that he and his alleged accomplices, Robin Gecht and Edward Sprietzer, engaged in intercourse with the chest cavities of the victims after the breasts were removed. The State presented evidence of defendant’s participation in two other murders, Linda Sutton and Shui Mak, and the defendant ultimately confessed to 16 murders.

One of the victims, Linda Sutton, was found with her breasts and anterior chest wall absent. The pathologist concluded that the condition of the body was consistent with breast mutilation. The court agreed to exclude evidence of cult involvement in this defendant’s case at the start of the proceedings but the prosecutor told the jurors that the defendant lived out the “Satanic Bible.”
In 1994 Defendant Andrew Kokoraleis appealed his conviction and sentence of death in the murder of Lorraine Borowski. He claimed ineffective representation of counsel during his sentencing phase which resulted in the death penalty. He argued that counsel did not independently investigate the psychological factors that made him vulnerable in following co-defendant Robin Gecht, who “fancied he possessed a Charles Manson-like persona, (who) subjected defendant to his will to commit the crimes.”

Andrew Kokoraleis denied responsibility for the crimes committed and stated that his statements to police were coerced and that he was “framed.” The court stated that given the circumstances of this case, it was not unreasonable for his attorney to not have investigated his “disturbed psyche” because the defense strategy had been to “bar at the outset of trial the introduction of evidence that defendant’s crimes were part of some cult ritual. It would have been inconsistent with the strategy of barring that evidence for counsel to later argue the very same evidence showed, in the sentencing phase, that defendant’s culpability was due to a disturbed psyche. The fact that counsel did not investigate sources to glean such evidence is therefore rendered strategically inconsequential. Further, as already noted, arguing the lurid particularities of the crimes as evidence of a psyche ripe for Gecht’s enslavement was inconsistent with defendant’s sworn proclamations of innocence.”

On March 15, 1999, the Appeals court stayed Andrew Kokoraleis execution until the Supreme Court reviewed the case. The Supreme Court denied his writ of certiorari, and on March 17, 1999 Andrew Kokoraleis was executed.
See “Cult Murder Trial Opens in Du Page,“ Chicago Tribune, March 11, 1987; “Mutilation Cult Suspect on Trial,” Chicago Tribune, Feb 5, 1985; “Kokoraleis Found Guilty in Rape, Killing,” Chicago Tribune, Feb. 12, 1985; “Man Guilty in Murder of Woman,” Mar 19, 1987; High Court is Asked to Set Killer’s Execution,” Chicago Tribune, Dec. 10, 1998; “Gruesome Clues Led to an Altar in an Attic,” Chicago Tribune, October 12, 1987; “Cult Murder Trial Opens in Du Page,” Chicago Tribune, March 11, 1987; “Satanic Crime Police Say the Devil Made Some People Do It,” Chicago Tribune, April 18, 1988; Book – “Deadly Thrills,” by Jaye Slade Fletcher
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March 28, 1991, PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS v. EDWARD SPREITZER, SUPREME COURT OF ILLINOIS, 572 N.E.2d 931, 1991 Ill. LEXIS 22; 525 N.E. 2d 30 (1988), Dismissal of Post-Conviction Petition Affirmed
Overview: Appellate documents state that Edward Spreitzer was found guilty along with Andrew and Thomas Kokoraleis for the murder of Linda Sutton, whose breast had been amputated. Edward Spreitzer confessed to the crime and implicated Robin Gecht. He stated they had picked up a black woman and Gecht dragged her into the bushes, cut off one of her breast, and had sex in the chest cavity. Spreitzer retrieved a wire from their van at Gecht’s request, and Gecht severed the woman’s other breast and had sex in that chest cavity. Spreitzer later admitted to also severing the victim’s breast.
Defendant Spreitzer confessed to 4 other murders, including that of Shuk Mak, Rose Davis, Sandra Deleware, and Raphael Tiradao. Several of these victim’s breasts also had their breasts removed. The Appellate court stated that the defendant filed a motion to exclude information about his “religious cult” in which “ritualistic ceremonies“ were preformed with the amputated breasts in Gecht’s attic. Due to the agreement, the prosecutor erred by raising the issue of “devil worship,” but defendant did not object to it at the trial court.

Edward Spreitzer plead guilty and was sentenced to die for the slaying of Linda Sutton, and for his part in the killings of Lorraine Borowski, Shui Mak, Rose Beck Davis, Sandra Deleware and Rafael Tirado, but his sentence was commuted by the Governor in 2003.

See “Prosecutors to Seek Death in Devil-Worship Killings,” Chicago Tribune, Feb 25, 1986; “Defendant to Tell About Mutilation Victim Was Dead, Lawyer Says,” Chicago Tribune, March 4, 1986; “Defense Lawyer Admits Mutilation,” Chicago Tribune, Feb 26, 1986; “Spreitzer Sentenced to Death,” Chicago Tribune, March 20, 1986; “The Push to Restore Wisconsin’s Death Penalty: Advocates Have New Strategy, New Majority,” Madison Capitol Times, March 1, 2003
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January 25, 1990, PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS v. THOMAS C. KOKORALEIS, APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS, SECOND DISTRICT, 549 N.E.2d 1354, 1990 Ill. App. LEXIS 105; 501 N.E. 2d 207 (1986), Denial of Request to Withdraw Guilty Plea Affirmed

Overview: Appellate documents state that Defendant Thomas Kokoraleis was convicted of the rape and murder of Lorraine Borowski. The Appellate court overturned his conviction in 1986 and remanded the case back to court. Defendant then plead guilty to murder in return for a 70 year sentence. Defendant sought to withdraw his guilty plea but the court denied his request.

The Defense stipulated that if the case had gone to trial, the State would have presented evidence to show that Borowski’s body was found with her left breast removed; that the defendant admitted to police officers that he and his cohorts had abducted Borowski;, removed her left breast with a piano wire, and killed her; and that the defendant was part of a cult that would rape and kill women and cut off their breasts. The Appellate Court ruled that because the Defendant had falsely confessed to another murder it did not affect his admission of guilt regarding two other murders which he plead guilty to.

News articles report that Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Richard Beuke testified at Thomas Kokoraleis’s trial in Du Page County, stating that the severed breast of the murder victims would be removed from a box and placed on the altar. The rituals, while Gecht read passages from the Bible, involved cannibalism. Police thought Robin Gecht was the leader of the group. See “Gang Member Gets 70 Years in 1982 Slaying,” Chicago Tribune, July 17, 1987, and other articles.

February 19, 1999, PAUL A. BONACCI vs. LAWRENCE E. KING, 4:CV91-3037, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEBRASKA; $1 Million Default Judgment Awarded for Conspiracy, Emotional Abuse, Battery, False Imprisonment

Overview: Court documents and a book publication by Paul Bonacci’s attorney, ex-senator John de Camp, state that Larry King organized groups of children to sexually blackmail and compromise politicians and businessmen while he served as Manager of the Franklin Credit Union in Omaha, Nebraska. King had political ties that reached the presidency of the United States and he sang at the 1988 Republican National Convention in New Orleans.

Paul Bonacci, who suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder (now called Dissociative Identity Disorder), stated that as a youth, he had been transported across the U.S., and was forced to have sex with various people, forced to deliver drugs, and forced to participate in satanic snuff films, where Larry King was present. He identified the Bohemian Grove in Northern California, a well known gathering/meeting site for politicians, as the location of a satanic murder, and he had inside knowledge about many satanic ritual abuse cases around the country that he claimed to have been present at. These include a case in Jordan, Minnesota, in which Jim Rud was the only defendant charged, and in Bakersfield, California, another case in which several individuals were criminally charged for the sexual abuse of children within the context of ritual abuse.

The Omaha police chief, Robert Wadman and publisher of the local newspaper Harold Anderson, were implicated in the sexual abuse allegations. The FBI refused to investigate the child abuse allegations because the local FBI representative, Nick O’Hara, claimed that Robert Wadman was his “friend.” A Grand Jury was convened which labeled the children’s allegations as a “hoax,” apparently due to the high-profile nature of the alleged perpetrators, the ritual abuse allegations, and after one witness, Troy Boner, recanted his statements about abuse. John de Camp states that his retraction was a key factor in the Grand Jury’s findings that all the children had lied. Troy Boner later claimed that the FBI threatened him into recanting.

One sexual molest victim, Alicia Owen, was charged with perjury due to naming the police chief, Robert Wadman, as one of her abusers. She served prison time for this charge but was released in the year 2000. Paul Bonacci claimed that the sex ring that plunged him into Satanism and mind control was centered at Offutt U.S. Air force Base, near Omaha. The main investigator assigned to this case, Gary Cadiori, died in a suspicious plane crash shortly after he took statements from the children.

Larry King was convicted in 1991 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for embezzlement, conspiracy, and making false financial record entries. The Credit Union was missing 40 million dollars and there were allegations that funds were used to finance the Contras, and other clandestine operations by the CIA.

John de Camp linked Lt. Col. Michael Aquino, leader of the satanic group, the Temple of Set, to mind control operations and writes:

“Child victims gave evidence in depth of the role of Lt. Col Michael Aquino in this depravity. Aquino…was long the leader of an Army psychological warfare section which drew on his expertise and personal practice in brainwashing, Satanism, Nazism, homosexual pedophilia and murder.”

Noreen Gosch, mother of Johnny Gosch who was kidnapped 20 years ago when he was 12, testified at Mr. Bonacci’s hearing on his behalf on February 5, 1999 in this civil lawsuit against Mr. King. Ms. Gosch was responsible for the passage of legislation on behalf of missing children, and due to her efforts, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was created. She carried out her own investigation about her son’s disappearance over the years and observed at this hearing that if the FBI had actually done their job in her case, it would have “opened up the biggest scandal in the United States, bigger than the Iran-Contra story.” Paul Bonacci gave information to Noreen Gosch about the kidnapping of her son, Johnny Gosch, and admitted to participating in his kidnapping.

Ms. Gosch claimed her son, Johnny, visited her in March of 1997 and told her the exact same story Paul Bonacci had, and asked her to make these claims public. He said kidnapped children and others were being used by professional pedophiles and some of those children were victims of mind control. In Ms. Gosch’s book, “Why Johnny Can’t Come Home,” (2000) she wrote that he and three others claimed that Lt. Col. Michael Aquino was involved in Johnny’s kidnapping. (pg. 223) Ms. Gosch stated the following in the court hearing:

“There was a man by the name of Michael Aquino. He was in the military. He had top Pentagon clearance. He was a pedophile. He was a Satanist. He’s founded the Temple of Set. And he was also a very close friend of Anton LaVey. The two of them were very active in ritualistic sexual abuse. And they deferred funding from this government program to use this experimentation upon children …where they deliberately split off the personalities of these children into multiples so that when they’re questioned or put under oath or questioned under lie detector, that unless the operator knows how to question a multiple personality disorder, they turn up with no evidence.

They use these kids to sexually compromise politicians or anyone else they wish to have control of…they were taken to be used by professional pedophiles. People that have the money to buy what they want, take the kids wherever they want... and by splitting the children’s personalities they could then train each one of the personalities to do a different function. And the rest of the personalities within that host personality would not be aware of it or remember it.”

The Circuit court wrote in its judgment against Larry King:

"Two counts are alleged against the defendant King in the complaint. Count V alleges a conspiracy with public officers to deprive the plaintiff [Paul Bonacci] of his civil rights, designed to continue to subject the plaintiff to emotional abuse and to prevent him from informing authorities of criminal conduct. Count VIII charges battery, false imprisonment, infliction of emotional distress, negligence and conspiracy to deprive the plaintiff of civil rights. Between December 1980 and 1988, the complaint alleges, the defendant King continually subjected the plaintiff to repeated sexual assaults, false imprisonments, infliction of extreme emotional distress, organized and directed Satanic rituals, forced the plaintiff to 'scavenge' for children to be a part of the defendant King's sexual abuse and pornography ring, forced the plaintiff to engage in numerous masochistic orgies with other minor children. The defendant King's default has made those allegations true against him. The issue now is the relief to be granted monetarily.

The now uncontradicted evidence is that the plaintiff has suffered much. He has suffered burns, broken fingers, beating of the head and face and other indignities by the wrongful actions of the defendant King. In addition to the misery of going through the experiences just related over a period of eight years, the plaintiff has suffered the lingering results to the present time. He is a victim of multiple personality disorder, involving as many as fourteen distinct personalities aside from his primary personality. He has given up a desired military career and received threats on his life. He suffers from sleeplessness, has bad dreams, has difficulty in holding a job, is fearful that others are following him, fears getting killed, has depressing flashbacks, and is verbally violent on occasion, all in connection with the multiple personality disorder and caused by the wrongful activities of the defendant King."

Larry King did not appear at this civil hearing and a one million dollar default judgment was awarded to Mr. Bonacci.

See books which describes this case: “The Franklin Cover-up: Child Abuse, Satanism, and Murder in Nebraska,” by John W. DeCamp, 1996; Why Johnny Can’t Come Home, by Noreen Gosch, 2000; [See, Aquino vs. Stone, 1992, Aquino vs. ElectriCiti, 1997], and news articles: “Judge Determining Damages in Bonacci Lawsuit,” AP, February 6, 1999; “Owen is paroled: Served a 4 ½ year sentence - The woman linked to the Franklin Credit Union sexual abuse investigation wants to be a normal person.” Omaha World-Herald, Sept. 21, 2000

July 24, 1998, STATE OF OREGON v. MICHAEL JAMES HAYWARD, SUPREME COURT OF OREGON, 963 P.2d 667, 1998 Ore. LEXIS 593, Murder, Assault, Kidnapping, Robbery, and Burglary Affirmed, Death Sentence Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state that on April 10, 1994 Jason Brock, Daniel Rabago, Jason Brumwell, and Johl Brock, three of whom considered themselves to be Satanists and members of a "Death-Metal" band, decided to rob a Dari Mart. They listened to their Death-Metal music before they committed the crime, which included lyrics to "The Pick-Axe Murders," An Experiment in Homicide," "Hammer smashed face," Meat Hook Sodomy," "Gutted," and "Living Dissection." They planned their crime and went to a Dari Mart store, killed a female clerk, and brutally beat another one.
Jason Brock described the lyrics of “Cannibal Corpse,” as songs which “explain or picture through words killing people.” Johl Brocks testified that the death metal lyrics to which the group listened “described basic satanic practices, ceremonies and stuff.” He also stated that the lyrics on the CD by the band Decide is what led to the two of them “dabbling into Satanism.” Daniel Rabago testified “we were all into evil and we were all pretty much deathers.”

The evidence of "Death-metal" music and Satanism was admitted into the court testimony and was upheld because it partially explain the motive for the crime and the motive for the degree of brutality used.

April 28, 1998, LUBUK PAKAM, INDONESIA, Achmad Suradji Sentenced to Death for Murdering 42 Women.

Overview: News reports state an Indonesian sorcerer Achmad Suradji, 47, was sentenced to death for murdering 42 women as part of a bizarre attempt to “boost his magical powers.” The case first came to light in April last year when police, following up a missing person's report, found a body buried in a sugar cane field near Suradji's house. When they went to question the sorcerer, they found women's shoes and handbags. Over the next few weeks, a further 41 bodies were unearthed close to his village. According to the police, Suradji said that he had a dream in 1986 in which the ghost of his father had told him to kill a total of 70 women and then drink their saliva in order to enhance his mystical powers. See "Sorcerer to die for 42 murders," The Daily Telegraph, April 28, 1998 and "Witch Work; How an Indonesian lured 42 women to their death," Asiaweek, June 13, 1997

March 25, 1998, MEXICO CITY, MEXICO, Elio Hernandez Rivera, David Serna Valdes and Sergio Martinez Salinas, Sentences for Murder, Conspiracy, Drug Trafficking and Weapons Violations Reduced

Overview: News articles state that reputed “Godmother,” Sara Maria Aldrete Villarreal, a student at Texas Southmost College, and four other members of a cult were sentenced to more than 60 years in prison for the ritual slaying of 13 people, including Texas College student, Mark Kilroy. After they appealed, an appellate judge reduced the sentences of Rivera, Valdes, and Salinas from 67 to 50 years.

Mark Kilroy, 21, a pre-med student, was kidnapped on the streets of Matamoros on March 14, 1989 during Spring Break. Police arrested cult member Serafin Hernandez, a drug trafficker, after he drove through a federal judicial police roadblock outside Matamoros believing he was rendered “invisible” by his cult’s “black magic.”

Hernandez confessed to participating in the kidnapping and burial of Mark Kilroy and took authorities to his remains on a ranch near the Rio Grande. Sara Aldrete and other cult members had taken Kilroy there, where they ritualistically murdered him, removed his brain and cut his body into pieces. The police also discovered the remains of 13 other victims, including another U.S. citizen, and a 9-year-old child.

Decomposed goat heads, parts of a rooster, bowls containing dried blood, a cauldron with human remains, including a brain and a heart, and spines crafted into necklaces, were found on the ranch. Authorities said Sara Aldrete was the “Godmother” who presided over rituals along with “Godfather” and cult leader Adolfo de Jesus Constanza. In 1989 Aldofo Constanza was killed by another cult member at his request during a police shootout.

The group thought their self-styled religion, which drew from the Caribbean Santeria and the African Palo Mayombe traditions, would render them bulletproof and protect them from police and rival gang members which was the rationale for why they “sacrificed” Mark Kilroy and others. See “I’ve Never Seen Anything Like This Before,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 16, 1989; “Texan Arrested in Cult Killings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 18, 1989; “Behind Drug Cult Killings in Mexico,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 7, 1991; “Cult Killers Given Lighter Sentences,” San Antonio Express-News, March 25, 1998; “’Devil Ranch’ Priestess Still Says She’s Innocent,” San Antonio Express-News, March 21, 2004

March 18, 1998, SOUTH AFRICA, Naledzani Mabuda and his Wife Helen Madida Confessed to Murder

Overview: News reports state the father, Naledzani Mabuda, 26, a traditional healer and spiritual medium, and his wife, Helen, 22, confessed to ritually killing their 23 month old son because Mabuda’s ancestors had threatened to destroy him if he did not. Police found the boy's head, legs, hands and genitals buried under various parts of the floor in the couple's house. Mabuda testified in court that killing his son as a sacrifice to the family’s ancestors was central to his role as a traditional healer and spiritual medium. Later searches revealed the toddler's intestines, liver and other internal organs found in a series of ritual "graves" on the nearby mountainside.

The couple were refused bail after another local traditional leader banned them from the village. He testified that the couple had committed a crime of the "greatest evil" and that the townspeople were terrified by the act. A series of sangomas were asked to testify about ritual human sacrifices as part of traditional African beliefs. See, "A Sangoma Couple in Court for Sacrificing Child to Ancestors,” Africa News Service, March 18, 1998. 

In January 1998 several of South Africa's witch-doctors, or sangomas, claimed that ritual murders and killings related to the medicinal quest for body parts had decreased by more than 90 percent. The news article reports that police estimate that several hundred people, many of them children, are killed in South Africa each year for their body parts. Female genitals, breasts and placentas are used for infertility and good luck, while hands burned to ashes and mixed into a paste are seen as a cure for strokes, and hearts for heart disease. Blood is given to impart vitality and brains for political power and business success. However "true sangomas eschew the use of body parts, treating physical and mental ailments using herbal medicines." See "Witch-doctors not making a killing any more: South African healers say ritual murders no longer in vogue." The Ottawa Citizen, January 2, 1998

February 4, 1998, SEAN RICHARD SELLERS v. RONALD WARD, WARDEN OF THE OKLAHOMA STATE PENITENTIARY, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS TENTH CIRCUIT, 135 F.3d 1333, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 1621; 728 P.2d 515 (1996); 889 P. 2d 895 (1995); 809 P.2d 676 (1991); Federal Habeas Corpus Relief Denied.

Overview: Appellate documents state in 1985 - 1986, at the age of 16, Sean Sellers killed three people, including his parents. He was tried as an adult and sentenced to death. Evidence of his Satanic belief system was admitted by the defense at trial. His defense counsel had portrayed Sellers as the victim of Satanism and said he was addicted to the game Dungeons and Dragons.

Sean Sellers appealed in recent years due to new evidence that he suffered from Multiple Personality Disorder or (DID). Extensive medical documentation was submitted to the court indicating that an "alter" committed the offenses. The appeal was denied although the court was clearly disturbed by the ramifications of Sean Seller's mental disorder.

“Although troubled by the extent of uncontroverted clinical evidence proving Petitioner suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder, now and at the time of the offenses of conviction, and that the offenses were committed by an “alter” personality, we are constrained to hold Petitioner has failed to establish grounds for federal habeas corpus relief. There was no evidence that Sellers host personality was aware of or could not control the alter, and that alter knew the difference between right and wrong at the time they committed the crime.”

Note: Sean was executed on Feb. 4, 1999 despite appeals by Amnesty International contesting the legal wisdom of executing a man for crimes he committed at age 16 and who suffered from a psychological disorder like MPD/DID.

November 26, 1997, STATE OF TENNESSEE vs. CHRISTA GAIL PIKE, COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE, AT KNOXVILLE, 1997 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 1186 (First Degree Murder-Death Penalty) Conviction for First Degree Murder and Conspiracy to Commit First Degree Murder Affirmed. Death Penalty Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state Christa Pike killed another female she felt rivalry with and carved a pentagram into her chest. A group of "others" were named who helped her, but Pike did not provide information about them. Both the Defendant and suspect Tadaryl Shipp wore pentagram necklaces and a “Satanic Bible” was recovered from a search of Shipp’s room. The Defendant admitted that she and another person carved the pentagram in the victim’s chest. The medical examiner testified that all of the wounds prior to the final blow to the head had been made while the victim was alive and conscious.

The psychiatrist involved thought there were Satanic elements to the crime but believed that Pike was just a "dabbler" in Satanism. A witness stated that as the Defendant described hitting Slemmer in the head with a piece of asphalt and carving a pentagram in her chest, she danced around in a circle, smiling and singing."

News articles report that an acquaintance of Pike stated she “seemed just like us when she first got here…two weeks later she’s talking about the Satanic Bible.”

Two years later another news report states Tadaryl Shipp was convicted for this murder:

"A Knox County judge imposed consecutive prison terms Thursday for a young Memphis man who took part in the torture slaying of a Knoxville Job Corps student. Criminal Court Judge Mary Beth Leibowitz said public safety concerns dictate that Tadaryl D. Shipp be imprisoned as long as the law allows. Shipp, 21, had no regard for human life when he helped murder Colleen A. Slemmer, 19, the night of Jan. 12, 1995, the judge said. He treated her with "gross cruelty" while at least partly satisfying an interest in Satanism, Leibowitz said.

See "Orange County Woman to Die for Tenn. Killing," The News & Observer, April 1, 1996; "Judge Orders Shipp to Serve Life in Slaying, Then Another 25-year Term " Knoxville News-Sentinel, March 12, 1999

October 3, 1997, EQUATORIAL GUINEA, An Unnamed Individual was Condemned to Death.

Overview: News reports state that an unnamed individual was condemned to death after removing the eyes, tongues, ears, and genitals of his 10 year old victim. Malabo radio reported that 17 ritual murders were committed in Equatorial Guinea in August and September of 1997, according to official figures. --- See "Ritual murderer of girl, 10, sentenced to death," Agence France Presse, October 3, 1997.

Another news report cites a Spanish journalist and ethnographer, Jose Manuel Novoa, an expert on the country who has conducted investigations in Equatorial Guinea since 1979 and has written two books about cannibalism in the region. Novoa claims that anthropophagy (eating human flesh) is widespread in the country. He stated, "Eating human flesh was a tradition of warriors pertaining to the ethnic group of the Fang, which lives in Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Gabon and Cameroon ...as they conquered new territories, Fang warriors ate parts of their victims to absorb desirable qualities such as youth and strength... human organs are eaten by members of secret brotherhoods which practice sorcery in forests at night. New members are initiated in ceremonies which invoke spirits...bodies are obtained through murder and robbing them from cemeteries ...the secret groups are known as 'evu societies', because many Guineans believe the human body to contain an organ known as the 'evu.'"... "The human brain is known to be highly toxic, for which reason the cannibals seek to immunize themselves by ingesting potent vegetal poisons in small doses... nevertheless, the cannibalism is believed to have led to a disease known as the kuru." See "Cannibalism still common in Equatorial Guinea, Spanish expert claims," Deutsche Presse-Agentur, April 5, 1998.

In April of 1988, President Omar Bongo met with leaders of the Catholic, Protestant and Moslem communities to discuss possible action against imported beliefs and practice. This action was taken after an admission by a witchdoctor, purporting to belong to a sect based in neighboring Equitorial Guinea, that he had eaten six humans, including two of his own children, over the past decade. The witchdoctor was a railway worker and his followers had killed another victim, a teacher who was seeking help to solve family problems. See "Bongo Denounces Sects in Wake of Gruesome Cannibalism Tale." Reuters (Libreville), April 29, 1988
The following case involves the author of this archive

September, 23, 1997, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, Aquino v. ElectriCiti, Inc., Media Law Reporter, 26 Med. L. Rptr. 1032, No. 984751, Civil Suit Alleging Defamation Dismissed

Note: Lt. Col. Michael Aquino sued internet provider ElectriCiti, located in San Diego, California, for “defamation” due to an anonymous person posting information about him on the internet. The author of this archive, Diana Napolis, was this “anonymous” person, who debated with Lt. Col. Aquino while using the pseudonym “Karen Jones” and “Curio” during the years 1995-2000. Lt. Aquino sued, claiming “defamation,” when it was clear he only wanted the name of the owner of the account in question after military records were posted to the internet, proving he had been processed out of the Army in 1990 after a ritual abuse investigation.

After the Internet provider reviewed the allegedly “defamatory” messages and ascertained that no libel had occurred, they refused to divulge any account name to Lt. Col. Aquino because they believed he was dangerous. ElectriCiti was sued twice, but the claims were ultimately dismissed due to the Communications Decency Act, which precluded internet companies from being held liable for messages written by their customers.

The Media Law Reporter gave an overview of the complaint but unfortunately quoted Aquino’s description of the “facts.” They wrote that “Curio” stated the Aquinos were the “ring leaders of an international conspiracy to further the satanic ritual abuse of children, and that they engaged in kidnapping, cannibalism and murder of anyone who stood in the way of this international conspiracy.”

Lt. Col. Aquino submitted this information to the Media Law Reporter for reasons unknown, even though this author never made those particular statements at the time. However, due to new information which has been have reviewed, namely a publication by John de Camp, “The Franklin Coverup,” (1996) which alleges criminal activity by Michael Aquino, Noreen Gosch’s book, “Why Johnny Can’t Come Home,”(2000) and after viewing several internal Criminal Investigative Tapes of the Army interviews of children in their investigation of Lt. Col. Aquino, it does appear that the above statements are absolutely correct.

Lt. Aquino claimed he was not processed out of the Army in 1990; however, according to a letter from the National Personnel Records Center, dated December 1, 2006, his dates of service in the Army were from June 14, 1968 to August 31, 1990. Aquino is known for frivolously suing anyone who mentions this fact. [Aquino v. TimesWarner/Linda Blood, Aquino v. Lockwood, Aquino v. Raschke,]

An internet metasearch reveals 70 web pages which describe this lawsuit [Aquino v. ElectriCiti.] See news articles: “Internet Provider Sued Over Postings,” San Diego Union-Tribune, June 24, 1997; “Wired News Flash, Satanist Sues ISP to Silence Usenet Poster,” San Francisco, Business Wire, May 22, 1997; Army Transcript of CID Interview, dated 1989. [See cases in this archive: Aquino vs. Stone, Presidio Army Base, People v. Daryl Ball, Jubilation Day Care Case]

A lawsuit is pending against Lt. Col. Aquino due to his continued efforts to violate the authors First amendment rights to free speech.
May 13, 1997, J. P. v. CLARENCE CARTER, COMMISSIONER OF THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES, COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA, 485 S.E.2d 162, 1997 Va. App. LEXIS 310, True Finding of Child Molestation Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state that on May 8, 1993 the Arlington County Police Department received a report that two children had been sexually molested by appellant, their thirteen year old baby sitter. Their report included claims that the appellant, J. P., conducted Satanic rituals, used a “magic” crystal and a “magic” ring, as well as allegations of statutory rape, sodomy, and aggravated sexual battery. The 13 yr. old female minor, J. P., was found to have molested two children in the context of Satanic ritual ceremony while she was babysitting them. The kids reported to their parents and investigators that: "...[appellant] had undressed and fondled [one child] on these two different occasions, performed oral sodomy, had [him] touch her breast and sat on top of [him] and quote "hurt his penis." [Appellant] allegedly had [the other child] draw a pentagram and circle and told [him] this is where to love Satan while she fondled his penis. . . [The children's mother] said the boys reported that [appellant] talked of Satan's power and that she would kill them and their parents if they told anyone what happened. This minor's name was submitted to the central registry as a founded sexual abuser.“

May 13, 1997, ADOPTION OF QUENTIN & OTHERS, SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS; 678 N.E.2d 1325, 1997 Mass. LEXIS 104, Order Granting Petition to Dispense with Consent to Adoption of Three Children Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state Department of Social Services planned to adopt out the children of the father and mother. The parent's appealed and the court briefly describes Social Services case for neglect, sexual molestation, and statements of the children. While describing the past history of the father, the court writes:

"In 1983, the father joined a religious organization called Orlo Templi Orientis and studied the so-called 'Satanic Bible.' In January, 1984, he was convicted of grave robbing, and sentenced to two months in jail. After release, he returned to his transient life-style, alternating between Los Angeles and San Francisco."

"The eldest child, E. was diagnosed as suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. During an interview with Dr. O'Connell, she stated that "her 'Daddy's a witch;' that 'bad witches took my picture with no clothes on;' that '[Paul, a friend of the father] calls me his girlfriend;' that [Paul] took pictures of her with no clothes on; that [Paul] said not to tell; that she and her mother were tied up together with no clothes on while her father had no clothes on; and that the witches 'shared weenies' and tried to touch her with their weenies but that she ran away." Two licensed social workers who evaluated the children testified that they were suffering from effects of post traumatic stress disorder.

[Two companion cases are described below]
December 23, 1996, DAMIEN WAYNE ECHOLS AND CHARLES JASON BALDWIN v. STATE OF ARKANSAS, SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS, 936 S.W.2d 509; 902 S.W. 2d 781 (1995), Convictions and Sentencing for Murder Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin were jointly tried and convicted for killing three 8 yr. old boys. Their accomplice, Jessie Misskelley, confessed and implicated both Echols and Baldwin in the murders. Misskelley was tried separately. In an appellate opinion dated July 17, 1995 (902 S.W.2d 781) Echols had previously appealed his case but filed a motion specifically waiving all points concerning his death sentence. The appellate court ordered the case back to the lower court to address Echols competency to waive an appeal of the death penalty. Echols finally decided to appeal his death sentence but the sentence was upheld.
One jury member received a death threat, another had received a threatening phone call during the trial. In the courts overview of the sufficiency of the evidence arguments, there were detailed descriptions of the three victims bodies, they'd been beaten and stabbed, and there were injuries to the genital area, evidencing forced oral sex. There was evidence of castration regarding child victim, Christopher Byers. "The skin of the penis had been removed, and the scrotal sac and testes were missing."

When asked by police how he thought the boys had been killed, Echols gave them statements not yet publicly known. On the witness stand, Echols testified that he'd read these facts from the newspaper. When the newspapers were shown to him, Echols admitted the information he was referring to was not in them and he didn't access the information in question from the newspaper after all. Two witnesses testified they overheard Echols admit he killed the three boys and that he was going to kill two more. The state thought the killings had been performed in a satanic ritual and an expert witness on the occult gave that opinion also. Echols admitted to being involved in the occult, items in his home included journals that had references to "morbid images, spells, and dead children." His parents had concerns about his involvement in "devil worship."
Medical records contained statements by Echols about his belief system: "People are in two classes, sheeps and wolves, and the wolves eat the sheep." He thought he obtained power from drinking the blood of others, especially from his sexual partners.

In regards to whether the field of satanism has scientific validity, the court notes:

"Echols next contends that Dr. Griffis should not have been allowed to testify that the murders had the 'trappings of occultism' because there was no testimony that the field of satanism or occultism is generally accepted in the scientific community. The argument is without merit, as the trial court did not allow the evidence to prove that satanism or occultism is generally accepted in the scientific community. Rather, the trial court admitted the evidence as proof of the motive for committing the murders."
In regards to Jason Baldwin, a witness testified that Baldwin spoke of the murders. "He told me he dismembered the kids, or I don't know exactly how many kids. He just said he dismembered them. He sucked the blood from the penis and scrotum and put the balls in his mouth."
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April 1, 1996, JESSIE LLOYD MISSKELLEY, JR. v. STATE OF ARKANSAS, SUPREME COURT OF ARKANSAS, 915 S.W.2d 702, Convictions for First and Second Degree Murder Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state three 8 yr.old boys were brutally murdered, raped, and mutilated in Arkansas by Jesse Misskelley and two other accomplices-- Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin. The case against Misskelley was primarily based on his confession and supporting circumstantial evidence. "Misskelley stated he had been involved in a cult for three months, they met in the woods, they engaged in orgies and, as an initiation rite, the killing and eating of dogs. At one cult meeting, he saw a picture that Echols had taken of the three boys. Another witness testified that she had attended a Satanic cult meeting with Echols and Misskelley. A doctor offered testimony that the type of cuts in one of the victim’s genital area required the use of 'skill and precision.'"

October 25, 1996, ST. CLAIRSVILLE, OHIO, BELMONT COUNTY COURTHOUSE, Case No. 96CR-28, Nathan Brooks Found Guilty of Murder and Sentenced to Two Consecutive Life Terms.

Overview: News reports state Nathan Brooks was found guilty of the mutilation slaying of his parents. He decapitated his father and his mother was hacked to death. Brooks told the officers he used the head in a Black mass ritual that he believed would increase his Satanic powers. He said he had also planned to kill a younger brother, but the youngster was visiting a friend. See "Man to be Jailed at least 43 Years in Satanic Killings,” Columbus Dispatch, October 25, 1996; “Man Guilty in Parents Slayings: Deaths Were Part of Satanic Ritual, Son said in Statement,” Columbus Dispatch, October 22, 1996

July 16, 1996, IN INTEREST OF P. J. M.,/E. C. M.,/J. W. M., MINORS, MISSOURI COURT OF APPEALS, 926 S.W.2d 223, Termination of Parental Rights Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state this self-described Satanic family had been in and out of social services for many years resulting in their parental rights being terminated as to three of their seven children. The father had hit their 3 months old child while striking at the mother, and knocked that child to the ground. Later the child and mother fell from an automobile operated by the father while attempting to avoid apprehension.

There was constant and severe domestic violence; the father continually abused the mother, including using a cattle prod to electrically shock her, shot her with a gun, cut her with a razor blade and violated her with a baseball bat. The mother then claimed she made up the story, although physical evidence was discovered, she had a stab wound in her side and she was bleeding internally. She also related past abuse by the father, including being raped, shot, stabbed, and of attempts to cut her throat and cut off her arm.

Both parents had been arrested for the rape of a teenager, but the witness wouldn't testify so the charges were dropped. Both parents had tried to commit suicide and were involved in drug usage, satanic worship, and they sacrificed animals in front of the children. The mother admitted to this activity and to giving the children drugs to forget the ceremonies. The children also stated that this occurred.

February 29, 1996, BRIAN SIMMONS v. THE STATE OF NEVADA, SUPREME COURT OF NEVADA, 912 P.2d 217, Conviction For First Degree Murder Affirmed

Overview: Appellate documents state Defendant Brian Simmons shot his high school classmate, 15 year old Jason Kopack. Mr. Simmons had become preoccupied with Satanism, mutilation, rape, and killing. The court notes that in handwritten journals admitted into evidence, Simmons had copied Satanic invocations from books and expressed his desire to please Satan by murdering and mutilating people he knew. He reportedly told his victim’s girlfriend that if Satan told him to kill someone, including Jason, he would do so. He had a list of five other individuals he planned to murder.
The court found that a book concerning witchcraft, expressing satanic themes was seized because it was considered relevant to the murder that was under investigation.

February 6, 1996, SUZANNE HUGHES v. DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES ARLINGTON COUNTY, COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA, 1996 Va. LEXIS 77, Termination of Parental Rights Affirmed

Overview: Appellate documents state a baby was removed from the custody of the mother, Suzanne Hughes, after evidence of abuse. The mother was eventually diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder. The child was returned to her, but after further incidents of abuse and neglect, she was taken into custody again. The mother's counselor testified that the mother stated she was involved with a Satanic cult that killed adults and babies, and they had threatened her. She stated she was involved with them since she was 7 yrs. old and she reported members of the cult abducting and raping her.
Under cross-examination, the mother was asked about the maternal grandparent’s failure in reporting her own abuse, and the court was concerned that she was living at the maternal grandfather's home. The trial judge expressed concern over the continued existence of the Satanic cult, appellant's inability to help the police prosecute a member of this cult, appellant's continued residence in the same family home where she had been verbally and physically abused as a small child, and lack of family support that was missing when appellant was an abused child.

The appellate court found that the evidence of Ms. Hughes participation in the cult described was relevant to the proceedings.

December 19, 1995, JIMMIE LEE PENICK v. STATE OF INDIANA, SUPREME COURT OF INDIANA, 659 N.E.2d 484, Conviction for Murder and Enhanced Sentence Affirmed

Overview: Appellate documents state four practitioners of Satanism, Jimmie Penick, Mark Goodwin, Keith Lawrence, and David Lawrence, conspired and planned to murder a prospective member, William Ault, of their "Satanic Church." All worked at a County Fair. They were concerned that the victim, William Ault, knew about a prior murder. They took him to what he thought was an initiation..."Ault was asked to lay down on a door, which was being used as an altar. Keith Lawrence read an invocation to Satan…Goodwin and the Lawrences made cuts on Ault’s chest and abdomen in the form of an inverted cross, as well as other cuts…Penick’s own words describe how the victim’s chest and abdomen were cut open, how Goodwin tried to cut out victim’s heart before he died, and how the victim remained conscious throughout this and responded to questions from the defendant.

The Court found that the aggravators were that Penick rendered his victim physically defenseless prior to torturing and killing him by painful and torturous methods, he dismembered the victim’s body and orchestrated and assisted in concealing the victim’s remains. There was evidence that victim’s chest and abdomen were cut open, that a con-conspirator tried to cut out the victim’s ear before he died, and that the victim remained conscious throughout.

Penick dismembered the victim’s head and hands and admitted he removed the head to give the skull to a friend. Penick’s defense was that he acted under the influence of his strong beliefs in Satanism but that he had converted to Christianity while in prison.

Nov. 6, 1995, MCINTYRE v. THE STATE, SUPREME COURT OF GEORGIA, 463 S.E. 2d 476, Conviction For Murder Affirmed

Overview: Appellate documents state defendant Robert McIntyre was convicted of murdering a young female victim who was a runaway because she spurned his advances. Robert McIntyre was a member of a Satanic group of which a Terry Chapman was the leader. Malisa Earnest and the victim were runaways who were given shelter by Chapman.

After the victim rejected McIntyre’s sexual advances, McIntyre, Chapman and Earnest discussed killing the victim and agreed to strangle her with a boot lace. McIntyre then took the lace and tightened it around her neck. McIntyre and Chapman sat on either side of the victim’s body… “Holding hands, they repeated a Satanic chant.”

Terry Chapman and Malisa Earnerst were also tried and convicted.
The Court found that the evidence regarding Satanism was properly admitted as motive for the crime.

November 15, 1995, STEVEN BRIAN ALVARADO v. STATE OF TEXAS, COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS, 912 S.W.2d 199, Convictions and Death Sentence Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state Steven Alvarado killed two people, a mother and son, during a drug deal in 1991 when he was 17 years old. A year or so prior to the murder Alvarado had been in the hospital. The psychologist stated that at that time, based on her reports, the appellant was "violent and dangerous and that he had a full-blown antisocial personality disorder."... He had "no concern for the rights of others, and admitted selling illegal weapons, abusing and selling illegal drugs, sexually assaulting a woman, mutilating human infants in Satanic rituals, and committing numerous other crimes. He was discharged after twelve days in the hospital because he was felt to be a danger to the other patients and that he was not suffering from a mental illness that was treatable, and, therefore under the mental health code had to be discharged."

The Court found that these and other factors supported the jury’s finding at the punishment stage of the trial on the future dangerousness of the defendant

August 24, 1995, EDWARD BENNETT v. THE STATE OF NEVADA, SUPREME COURT OF NEVADA, 901 P.2d 676; 787 P.2d 797 (1990), Denial of Post Conviction Petition Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state Edward Bennett was sentenced to death for killing a girl. Writings were seized as evidence. Some of the statements included: "There's a problem in this country and has a lot to do with being white. There's too many people with ugly skin."... "I need to kill somebody or tear someone apart. I got to satisfy my need, cure this thirst for blood. So as I make the sacrifice by doing it just for you and kill this child, for it is a first born, I'm giving you my soul, Satan. Where is my reward? My thirst for blood is now calm, but it shall rise again. My power is so strong I need to cause some death. For Lucifer's inside of me, and I don't want to let him out. I look in the mirror, I see him in my eyes. I feel his heart beating in my chest, and I know it is not mine. For I feel so privileged for I'm with number one. I'm so f_____powerful and my reign has just begun as I kill and kill again. I feel my rewards come on. My power's growing even greater. I'm so f___ strong for I am the devil's right-hand man. I carry out his every chore. I make this sacrifice in his name, Lucifer the Great, blood splattered on my face from the kill I've just done.”

The prosecutor argued that the murder committed by Bennett was a “random, ritualistic, satanic execution.” The Court found that the murder was "ritualistic and satanic," and that was a proper interpretation of the evidence.

July 5, 1995, STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. MICHAEL ALAN PARKER, SR., COURT OF APPEALS OF NORTH CAROLINA, 459 S.E.2d 9, 1995 N.C. App. LEXIS 523, Convictions for Multiple Counts of Child Molestation Affirmed
Overview: Appellate documents state the defendant Michael Parker thought there should be a mistrial for several reasons, one of which was witness testimony that he threatened to bomb the woman’s shelter his wife and family were staying at. Defendant’s children all testified to several specific instances of sexual abuse.

The Court described children’s testimony: “…Defendant pulled down S’s pants and threw her on the floor and inserted a spoon into her vagina and moved it around. Defendant took blood that was on the spoon, put it in a cup and drank it while the others were standing around singing with lit candles.”…”S testified that when defendant took her to the woods behind her grandmother’s house and abused her in front of several people holding lit candles, another young girl, A Robinson, “started screaming at first and then she jumped up and she had no clothes on and she started running and her dad jumped up and started chasing after her through the woods.”
On one occasion, defendant took M. to his grandmother’s house, where she removed his clothes and got on top of him on the bed and jumped up and down on his private parts. Defendant watched and did nothing. One of the spectators Travis Gordon, put his penis in M’s mouth. Defendant also placed his penis in M’s mouth. M. Testified to another similar incident with the same 4 people.

The grandmother, Mildred Parker, was named as a co-defendant and was convicted for indecent liberties with a child.

News articles describe the children testifying that Parker raped and sodomized them in the family’s trailer near Saluda and in nearby woods, often while other people wearing black pants and white shirts chanted. One child testified that on one occasion, defendant placed a brush handle into her vagina. Medical examinations of the three victims corroborated each of the victims testimony and indicated a diagnosis of sexual abuse. See “Dad Guilty of Abusing Children Sexually, Eight Life Sentences,” Greensboro News and Record, Feb. 6, 1994

June 29, 1995, ATHENS, GREECE, Asimakis Katsoulas and Manos Dimitrokallis were Found Guilty of Kidnapping, Rape and Murder. They were Sentenced to Life Imprisonment. Dimitra Maryetti was Found Guilty of Complicity and Sentenced to 23 years.

Overview: News reports state Satanic cult leader Asimakis Katsoulas and his “high priestess,” confessed to leading a 20 member Satanic cult which had conducted animal and human sacrifices for three years. They were found guilty of kidnapping, raping and murdering a 30 year old woman and a 15 year old girl during occult ceremonies. The first victim was killed at her initiation ceremony. Katsoulas claimed he was the vehicle for “ancient demons.” Another witness was abducted when the murderers told her they were police officers who wanted to question her. See “Two young men confess to Rape, Murder of two women as part of a Satanic cult ritual, police said,” AP, Dec. 28, 1993 and “Court convicts, sentences two to life terms for murder,” AP, June 30, 1995; “Dark Trial of Yong Greek Satanists Grips Public,” June 29, 1995

December 30, 1994, IN THE MATTER OF HEATHER BARKER, NEGLECTED CHILD, COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, SEVENTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, HARRISON COUNTY, 1994 Ohio App. LEXIS 6100, Juvenile Court Decision to Grant Permanent Custody to DHS affirmed

Overview: Appellate documents state that at the age of 5 years Heather Barker was taken into custody by DHS due to physical injuries to her genital area. Cumulative testimony proved to the court that she had been sexually molested by clear and convincing evidence, although there was no obvious perpetrator to hold accountable. The mother was cited for neglect and was given 18 months reunification services but that did not alleviate the problems which brought the child into custody. Social Services did not believe the mother could protect the child. The child was prone to “trance-like” states after unsupervised visits with the mother and other unusual behavior. Both a treating psychologist and social worker evaluated the child and thought she had been ritually sexually abused based on her statements. A trial took place contesting these matters and the court amended the abuse complaint, based on clear and convincing evidence, to a finding of neglect as well.

September 10, 1994, ARIZONA, PINAL COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT, STATE OF ARIZONA vs. EDWARD G. CANNADAY, DEFENDANT, Sexual Conduct with a Minor, Sentenced to 20 years // Co-Defendant, STATE OF ARIZONA, PLAINTIFF, vs. SHARLOTTE ANN BROWN, DEFENDANT, Case No. CR 16909, Convicted of Contribution to the Delinquency/Dependency of a Minor, Sentenced to Probation

Overview: News articles state the children of Edward Cannaday, 38, a former pastor, claimed that their father and his three retarded brothers were part of a satanic cult that sacrificed animals, babies and children, and engaged in family group sex in the desert west of Coolidge in 1988. Cannaday was accused of having sex with and fondling his daughters and step-daughter, then 5, 10 and 11, and molesting his 6 year old son. All of the children were placed in foster homes.

Police heard reports during the late 1980’s that dozens of dead bodies had been seen, but none were found, and no charges were filed, but still unexplained were bone fragments, bits of clothing and scraps of duct tape that were found.

Five other relatives were indicted on charges ranging from aggravated assault to child molestation but charges against the three younger brothers were dropped when they were declared incompetent to stand trial.
After a three-week trial Edward Cannaday was convicted of sexual molestation of a child. The defense attorney didn’t dispute that the children were chronically abused which testimony and medical evidence suggested. His co-defendant and sister, Sharlotte Ann Brown, was convicted for contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

See “Man Could Get 162 Years in Molestations,” The Arizona Republic, September 10, 1994; Ex-Pastor Sentenced On child-Sex Charges, The Arizona Republic, November 19, 1994

October 26, 1994 , PEOPLE OF TEXAS v. FRANCES AND DANIEL KELLER, COURT OF APPEALS, Both Cases Upheld on Appeal No. 3-92-603-CR and No. 3-92-604-CR, Convicted for Aggravated Sexual Assault on a Child upheld; Sentenced to 48 years

Overview: Appellate documents and news articles state Defendants Dan and Frances Keller were indicted in Travis County, Texas. They arranged to surrender to police but fled to Las Vegas instead after Dan Keller dyed his hair. The police tracked them down and arrested them in Las Vegas. The Kellers had a joint trial after which a jury found them guilty of sexually abusing a three year old girl. A doctor had found lacerations to the labia and hymen of the child that were consistent with an allegation of sexual abuse.
News reports state that more than one child was thought to have been abused at "Fran's Day Care" in Austin, Texas, operated by the Keller's, but this particular case cites their conviction of only one 3 ½ year old child. A 6-yr-old child, who also claimed to be a victim, testified on the behalf of the 3 1/2 year old and called Fran's Day Care, "Fran's Hate Care." About eight children were in therapy due to the abuse.

The children described ritual acts: being terrorized in a graveyard, seeing animals killed, being buried alive with animals, painting pictures with bones dipped in blood, being shot and resurrected, being stuck with needles and drugged, and seeing bodies dug up and mutilated with a chainsaw. A child led an investigator to a graveyard where they found animal bones. Parents reported that the children were terrified of baths, children who believe they must kill themselves on their birthday, children who were afraid of ponies, fearful they will be put in jail, and children who could conduct a séance, complete with otherworldly “chants.”

Children spoke of being forced to close their eyes while the Kellers took a meat cleaver and pretended to chop off their fingers and toes. One child peeked and saw Dan Keller pull a bone from a bag and smear it with blood from a jar and realized the perpetrator had tried to fool him. The child was forced to paint a picture with “Satan’s arm” dipped in blood.

They spoke of seeing the Kellers place infants in the backyard swimming pool and letting them sink. Frances Keller would then remove the baby from the bottom of the pool, baptize it with blood, and offer it to Satan. The Kellers reportedly killed a baby named Rachel by cutting her heart out. The heart was placed in a child’s hand who described it going “thump, thump, thump until it stopped.” The body was put in the swimming pool, and its skin and eyeballs buried in a hole.

One boy said a gun was held to his head while he was forced to molest his infant sister. When the pornographic movie was replayed for him, the gun was not visible and he realized he’d been tricked. At least three children developed an “eerie habit of behaving like cats. In sudden realistic transformations, parents say, the children would crawl, meow, hiss and demand food from bowls.” One parents stated her daughter told her they were taken to an actual jail cell, and she was put in there with a kitten, and then it crawled through the bars and the perpetrators stomped on the cat, cut it up, and told them if they told, that’s what would happen to them. They would show the children their parent’s payment in check and would say, “See? Your mommy pays us to do this to you.” The children then hatched a plan to try to kill Dan Keller. Texas Ranger Johnny Waldrip said he believed the kids wholeheartedly, and thought they were subjected to ritualistic acts so they would be discredited. A therapist and expert witness testified about the reality of ritual abuse for the jury.

The defense lawyers used videos showing some the younger child recanting, saying the abuse never happened, in efforts to try to undermine the case. The defense also stated that the claims were "too outlandish to be believed" because the children also spoke of going on airplane rides and seeing a baby killed. The parents claimed that one of the perpetrators was flashing threatening hand signals during the child's testimony.

Another mother said,"I put my son in a mental hospital as a result of this abuse (by the Kellers), and it's only been through over a year of intensive psychotherapy that he's begun to partially heal."

Three other people were indicted for sexually abusing children at this daycare. They were Douglas Perry, a Travis County road maintenance worker, Janise White, a Travis County constable – Perry’s wife, and Raul Quintero, another Travis County constable and Whites partner. Douglas Perry was originally given immunity but denied any knowledge of events on the witness stand. Prosecutors then introduced a statement written by Perry on July 7, 1992 which was read to the jury. The statement described sexual activities with two children by the aforementioned individuals. He confessed to tearing a head off a doll and threatening the children that if they told, their heads would come off the same way.

Perry eventually pleaded guilty to a charge of indecent acts with a child and he received 10 years probation.. Indictments against White and Quintero were dismissed. Parents of two children filed a civil suit holding these three people accountable for not reporting the abuse, but the case was dismissed.
See “Speaking the Unspeakable/Nightmares of Fran’s Day Care Stalk Families,” Austin American-Statesman, Dec. 13, 1992; "6-yr-old Testifies he Witnessed Abuse of girl," Nov. 24, 1992, and "Kellers Found Guilty of Sexual Assault," Austin American Statesman, Nov. 26, 1992; “Therapist Describes Ritualistic Abuse Claims,” Austin American Statesman, Nov. 20, 1992.
August 16, 1994, STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA v. PATRICK S. FIGURED, COURT OF APPEALS OF NORTH CAROLINA, 446 S.E. 2d 838, Convictions Affirmed For First Degree Sexual Offenses

Overview: Appellate documents and news articles state Patrick Figured, 41, a former executive of an electronics company, entered an Alford plea of guilty to three counts of first degree sex offenses. The State agreed to dismiss the charges against a co-defendant, Sonja Hill, 34, who was Figured’s girlfriend.
In July of 1990, the outgoing DA re-indicted Sonja Hill on the same charges. Figured filed a motion to have his guilty pleas set aside due to the DA violating terms of the agreement. On March 9, 1992, the Grand Jury re-indicted Figured for three counts of first degree sex offenses which occurred in 1988. The Court noted that each child who testified stated that the defendant inserted a screwdriver in his or her anus. Physicians found physical abnormalities in these children. Two of the children testified that the defendant made a dog urinate and forced the children to drink it. The Jury heard how Figured and his girlfriend, Sonja Hill, would drug and then molest the children at the unlicensed child care center in the Smithfield home of Hills’ mother, Virgina “Polly” Byrd. The children testified that there were video cameras present when Figured sodomized them. Figured was then convicted of all charges.

Sonja Hill was convicted of indecent liberties with a child on 7/28/93
News articles describe this case as one involving child pornography, satanic rituals, and animal abuse. Parent of one of these abused children filed a civil suit against Sonja Hill and her mother, Polly Byrd, who ran the daycare center. They alleged that their children had been forced to participate in Satan worship while being abused. The kids spoke of having to drink blood, their abusers burned Bibles, and wore masks and capes. Mr. Figured told the children that he did not believe in God.

Sonja Hill and her mother did not respond to the lawsuit, but a Johnston County jury awarded a $10.5 million judgment to the parents who did not believe they would ever collect the money but wanted other people to know that these acts do occur. See “Johnston Couple Win Child Sexual Abuse Suit,” News and Observer, March 27, 1990

April 12, 1994, IN RE: CHRYSTAL AND TASHA, SUPERIOR COURT OF CONNECTICUT, JUVENILE MATTERS, 1994 Conn. Super. LEXIS 1061, Termination of Parental Rights Affirmed

Overview: Appellate documents state that children Chrystal and Tasha were in several placements over a period of 4 years after a finding of neglect in Juvenile court. The mother was in and out of prison due to drug usage and sales. A Social worker who had worked with Tasha four days out of the week in the hospital noted that one of the children had been diagnosed with Multiple Personality Disorder and had been subjected to Satanism. The Court said that because of the introduction of evidence of ritual or Satanic sexual abuse, which came to light only after that child’s commitment in 1989, it could account for her fragile emotional condition. It was not clear whether the incidents took place with the biological mother or in the foster homes the child was in over the years where allegations of abuse had been confirmed.

The Social worker could not eliminate the mother’s home because Tasha identified her mother as a “ghost” and expressed fear of her. The child had referred to her mother as “Natas,” which is Satan spelled backwards. Tasha recognized her mother as “Mama Dawn,” one of the “Mamas” who involved her in the terrifying experiences she recounted from the Satanic ritual abuse connected with the Church, and feared her. Contact with her mother was suspended when the child began exhibiting negative behaviors after visitations or after other types of communication.

March 22, 1994, COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. RICKIE JAY GADDIS, SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA, 639 A. 2d 462, 1994 Pa. Super. LEXIS 963, Sentence Affirmed, Fine Vacated

Overview: Appellate documents state that the consolidated appeals were taken from the judgments of sentence imposed on February 9, 1993 against the father, Rickie Gaddis. He was found guilty in two separate trials of more than 150 counts of aggravated assault; recklessly endangering another person; terroristic threats; endangering the welfare of children; corruption of minors; false imprisonment; simple assault; prohibited offensive weapons; rape; statutory rape; involuntary deviate sexual intercourse; aggravated indecent assault; indecent exposure; incest; and criminal conspiracy.

The charges arose from the “horrific sexual, physical and emotional” abuse and neglect by Rickie Jay Gaddis, of his minor children. Gaddis was sentenced to “235 to 470” years in prison. The appellate court affirmed his sentence but vacated his fine. There had been concern he was going to capitalize on his crimes by selling a book.

News reports quote the police, stating the children were subjected by their parents and neighbors to ritualistic torture that included bloodlettings with a sword, Satanic ceremonies, hot needles under their fingernails, sodomy, stretching and tattooing. The children told police of Satanic rituals in which their 34 year old father used ceremonial swords to draw blood from adults and children to pour on the grave of a daughter killed in a fire three years ago. Also arrested were a 39 year-old man and three juveniles who lived with him, a 41 year-old man, and a 29 year-old man, visitor to the house.“
Rickie Gaddis’ wife, Debbie Louis Gaddis, 33, was also convicted.
In news reports dated 2006, Ricky Gaddis requested release from prison due to health woes but the Judge denied his request. He was described as a notorious child rapist/torturers and quoted his children’s testimony about how he ruled over them with the claim of having “special powers.” See “Pa. couple is charged with torturing children: Police say neighbors also took part in abuse,” The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, November 26, 1991; “Pennsylvania Couple Charged with Brutalizing their children,” The Washington Post, November 26, 1991; and “Parents charged with Torturing their Children,” Associated Press, Nov. 25, 1991; “Gaddis Released Denied: Judge unmoved by health woes,” Tribune-Democrat, December 9, 2006; “Child Abuser Seeks Prison Release,” Tribune-Democrat, September 30, 2006

Dec. 27, 1993, WASHINGTON D.C., U. S. News and World Report, “’Through a Glass, Very Darkly’: Cops, Spies and a Very Odd Investigation”

Overview: This news article cites that the Justice Dept. was reinvestigating the Finders case and that some of the unresolved questions were allegations that the Finders Group were linked to the Central Intelligence Agency and they wanted to know whether or not the investigation into their activity had been closed inappropriately. “The many unanswered questions about the Finders case now have Democratic Rep. Charlie Rose of North Carolina, Chairman of the House Administration Committee, and Florida’s Rep. Tom Lewis, a Republican, more than a little exercised. Could our own government have something to do with this Finders organization and turned their backs on these children? That’s what all the evidence points to,” says Lewis, and there’s a lot of evidence.”… “Law enforcement sources say some of the Finders are listed in the FBI’s classified counterintelligence files.”

As background, in early Feb. 1987, six children were taken into custody in Tallahassee, Florida. Two men were charged with child abuse, but charges were dropped. The men said they were transporting these children to Mexico to a school for brilliant children. Their mothers were located in a group called the Finders. At the same time, Washington, D.C., police and U.S. Customs Service agents raided a duplex apartment building and a warehouse connected to the group.

Customs Reports dated 2/12/87 and 4/13/87 cite that among the evidence seized were detailed instructions about obtaining children for unknown purposes around the world, child trafficking, instructions to keep the above six children moving, and how to avoid detection. There were several photographs of nude children that appeared to “accent” the child’s genitals, photographs of children involved in animal rituals, an altar, jars of urine and feces, and a staging area, all of which appeared to the Custom’s Agents as an “indoctrination” center. Custom’s agents were told to drop their investigation because it had become a “CIA internal matter” a fact which is documented in the Custom’s documents.

According to U.S. District court records, a confidential police source reported that the Finders were a “cult” that used “brainwashing” techniques. The source told of being recruited by the Finders with promises of financial reward, sexual gratification, and of being invited by to explore satanism with them.

Officials of the U.S. Customs Service, called in to aid in the investigation, said that the material seized included photos showing children involved in bloodletting ceremonies, of animals, and one photograph of a child in chains. Customs officials said they were looking into whether a child pornography operation was being conducted. See Officials Describe ‘Cult Rituals’ in Child Abuse Case,” The Washington Post, Feb. 7, 1987
December 14, 1992, THE STATE OF TEXAS vs. PHIL STANLEY ROGERS; CASE NO. 18, 738, Charged and Pleaded guilty to "Indecency with a Child, Younger than 17 years, Committed During the Course of a Ritual." Jury sentence – 99 years.

Overview: Court documents and a news article state that Phil Stanley Rogers plead guilty to Indecency with a Child during the course of a Ritual. The rituals began with the purchase of a Ouija board. Items taken as evidence included books covering Satanic topics, pentagram symbols, candles, daggers and wands. An Abilene Police specialist on the occult explained how the items were used to gain “power and control.” The 15 year old victim, a relative of the defendant, cried as she testified that the rituals began with the purchase of a Ouija board, chanting, and meditation were next. See “Man Admits Indecency with Child During Course of a Satanic Ritual,” Abilene Reporter News, Dec. 15, 1992 Note: Mr. Rogers was convicted under a ritual abuse law that was in the Texas penal code in 1992 but it has since been rescinded.

April 29, 1992, IN THE MATTER OF THE WELFARE of J. M. P., COURT OF APPEALS OF MINNESOTA, 1992 Minn. App. LEXIS 436, Termination of Parental Rights Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state the mother of J. M. P, Sharon Pieske, challenged the trials court’s termination of her parental rights. The court noted that her past included "years of sexual and physical abuse, parental neglect, early and long-standing addiction to numerous drugs, serious mental health problems, and involvement in a Satanic cult." Her child was taken into custody after two hospitalizations due to overdosing. The mother was involved in four incidents, three involving criminal convictions, which caused harm to the children, including J.M.P. The child was enuretic, periodically preoccupied with themes of violence and bodily injury, and her “disorder is not curable.” The mother tried to commit suicide, and was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

May 9, 1992, ORLANDO, FLORIDA, ORANGE COUNTY COURTHOUSE, James L. Wright, Case No. CR0911814-A, was Convicted of Raping and Fondling Five Children; Margie Wright, Case No. CR0911814-B, Pleaded No Contest to Three Charges of Attempted Sexual Battery and Two Charges of Attempted Lewd Acts and was Sentenced to 5 1/2 years in Prison. 

Overview: Three news articles describing this case state that Jim Wright, 36, and Margie Wright, 29, were charged with molesting children in the context of Satanic rituals. The victim's parents met the Wrights through their Church and Bible classes they attended together. The children reported that they saw Wright sacrifice a stray dog, slit its throat and stomach, and remove some entrails. He held up the entrails for the children to see and said the same thing could happen to the children if they “tattled.” Sheriff's investigators found the dog's skeleton near the Wright's trailer.
A psychological evaluation of three boys said there were strong symptoms of sexual abuse associated with the cult activity. A 9 year old girl told investigators that Jim Wright forced her to have oral sex with him at gunpoint. “I didn’t tell because I was scared,” said a child. “Jim had a gun and said he’d kill my family, and he put a bad curse on us. Jim said devil words to us.”

The Wright's molested children during their "Magic Show"; the victims said he pulled a gun out of a hat and made their underwear “disappear.” The children described Satanic symbols, chalices filled with blood, and a box containing a corpse.

The parents of three of the victims moved residences and the prosecutor expressed concern because the children had been threatened by the cult not to testify. The parents said cult members had come to their house to take the children to stop them from testifying against the Wrights. The children had to be moved to a secure location due to the threats.

Maggie Wright testified against her husband while she pleaded no contest to reduced charges. See “Convict's Wife Sentenced for Trying to Molest Kids," Orlando Sentinel Tribune, May 9, 1992; "A Family Fears That Satanic Cult will try to Silence their Sons," Orlando Sentinel Tribune, August 10, 1991; "Child Abuse Suspect Trades Testimony for Lesser Charges," Orlando Sentinel Tribune, January 31, 1992

January 22, 1992, THE STATE OF WASHINGTON v. PAUL ROSS INGRAM, COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON, No. 13613-9-II, Division Two, Confession to Sexual Molestation and 20 yr. Exceptional Sentence Affirmed.

Overview: The Appellate court stated Paul Ingram, former Thurston County Chief civil Deputy Sheriff and 16-year law enforcement officer, was arrested on November 28, 1988 following allegations of sexual abuse made by his daughters, then 18 and 22 years old. Ingram waived his right to counsel and made incriminating statements. After six months of further investigation and interrogation, Ingram was charged by amended information with six counts of rape in the third degree - three counts per daughter - covering July through October 1988. He tried to withdraw his guilty plea but that was denied.

In May of 1989, Ingram signed a statement pleading guilty, acknowledging that he had sexually abused his daughters. The trial court had meticulously questioned Ingram about each element of the crime. Ingram stated on the record that the plea was voluntary. In October of 1989, Ingram sought to withdraw his guilty plea. He claimed that the original plea was the result of influences, including deception, brainwashing, religious and familial coercion. Dr. Richard Ofshe, a sociologist, testified for Ingram, stating that he thought the plea had not been entered in a knowing matter but was the result of fantasies created from intensive coercion. However, the three psychologists who testified for the State all agreed that Ingram’s statements were real recollections and not the products of any trances or hypnosis. Bill Lennon, originally hired by the defense, eventually submitted a report that reflected statements made by Ingram, acknowledging long term abuse of his children and involvement in incest, sodomy, and homosexual activity.

“Ingram’s Nov. 28 statement to officers were made before any contact with psychologists, his wife’s pastor, or his wife’s attorney, and contains virtually uncontestable evidence of guilty. Ingram confessed to using sex practices to prevent pregnancy with one of his daughters and of that daughters abortion in another county when she became pregnant by him, and of having anal intercourse with the daughter during her menstrual period so that the bed wouldn’t get ‘messed up.’”

Aggravating factors found were that Ingram threatened to kill his victims and the court concluded that the threats demonstrated deliberate cruelty.
Note: Paul Ingram, ostensibly a Christian man, confessed to police officers that he ritually abused his children in the context of Satanic ceremony, which his daughters also claimed took place. Richard Ofshe of the FMSF tried to talk Ingram out of his confession by claiming he confessed in a "trance-like" state and "proved" that by suggesting to Ingram a case scenario which very well could have occurred. Both Ofshe and Elizabeth Loftus, of the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, testified at Ingram's clemency hearing trying to assist in obtaining his release. According to news articles and the Clemency Board Transcripts, dated June 7, 1996, Ingram's son also attended that particular hearing and asked the board to keep his father in prison because he had been physically and sexually abused by him, which the board did. See: “Felons Hope for a Parting Gift from Lowry," Seattle Times, Dec. 12, 1996, Clemency Court Transcripts can be ordered at: (360) 753-6780.

For documentation of the satanic allegations, see “Remembering Satan - Part I,” The New Yorker, May 17, 1993; “Remembering Satan - Part II,” The New Yorker, May 24, 1993, by Lawrence Wright. The conclusions Mr. Wright reaches are closely aligned with the False Memory Syndrome Foundation. However, because this organization does not believe in the existence of SRA, their observations about individual case are not particularly important.


Lt. Col. Aquino was implicated in the following four cases:

February 26, 1992, MICHAEL A. AQUINO v. MICHAEL P.W. STONE, SECRETARY OF THE ARMY, UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, 957 F.2d 139; 768 F.Supp. 529 (1991), Titling of Officer Affirmed;

Overview: Appellate documents, court documents, news articles, and Criminal Investigative Division [CID] transcripts state Michael Aquino, founder of a Satanist group, Temple of Set, was a Lt. Col in the Army Active Reserves. After an investigation at the Presidio Army base where he was stationed, he sued the Army after they "Titled" him under an investigatory report, which was released two months after the criminal statue of limitations ran, for indecent acts with a child, sodomy, conspiracy, kidnapping, and false swearing, and for his dismissal from the active reserves. The standard for Titling is “probable cause,” and in 1990 Lt. Col Aquino was processed out of the Army after a ritual child abuse investigation. Only one child victim, the daughter of the Chaplain of the Presidio, was named in the victim block although the word “children” was mentioned throughout the reports.

The child had identified Aquino as “Mikey” and his wife, Lilith, as “Shamby” after she sighted them at an Army PX on August 12, 1987. She told her mother that “Mikey was the ‘blood man’ because he had put blood on her and licked it off.” The CID investigators showed photographs to the child:
“Photographs do show a number of items that corroborate Kinsey’s and other children’s descriptions of the house where they were taken: (1) masks (2) guns (4) toy animals or dinosaurs (4) a lion picture on the wall and lions on the Egyption throne (5) a computer (6) camera (7) a black room with soft walls and (8) a robot.”

The investigation of Lt. Col Aquino, a very wealthy man, and his wife, Lilith, involved multi-jurisdictions and several children interviewed identified him from photo lineups as their alleged abuser, but the identification of Lilith Aquino was not persuasive. A child stated that during their abuse “Mikey” was dressed in woman’s clothes and “Shamby” was dressed in men’s clothing.

On March 15, 1989 the CID interviewed a child victim who gave details of that child’s sexual molestation in the context of satanic rituals by members of a “devil worship club,” during the years 1985-86, which the child said involved Lt. Col. Aquino. The child described the children being forced to chant that they “Hated God,” and “Loved the Devil,” before and after being molested which was filmed, in addition to providing detailed descriptions of murder and cannibalism. The bodies were reportedly kept in a basement and then “dumped” in a lake. The child gave detailed descriptions of the Aquino’s residence which matched the descriptions of other children - - black walls with crosses on the ceiling.

*An article dated Nov. 16, 1987 entitled “Second Beast of Revelation” in Newsweek magazine described the Presidio Daycare case and noted that Lt. Col. Aquino referred to himself as the Anti-Christ and he had an interest in the Nazi SS.

*In 1994, Temple of Set member Lillian Rosoff filed a restraining order against Michael Aquino, claiming he harassed her for leaving his “Church” after being a member for 18 years. [San Mateo County Superior Court Case #CIV-388423 – Case Sealed].

Internal court documents to Aquino vs. Stone can be ordered from: Office of the Clerk, Albert V. Bryan, US Courthouse, 401 Courthouse Square, Alexandra, Virginia, 22314-5798. Michael Aquino has also been associated with the case of Paul Bonacci, [See US District Court v. Paul A. Bonacci, 1999], and the following three cases in this archive.

See “Sect Founder Says Accuser Not a Member,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 25, 1994. See, CID Army Child Interview Tape, March 15, 1989 [can be ordered from the author] “Satanic Chief tied to Mendocino Sex Abuse,” Press Democrat, May 15, 1989; “Preschool Child Sex Abuse: The Aftermath of the Presidio Case,” Journal of Orthopsychiatry 62 (2), April 1992, by Diane Ehrensaft, Ph.D; Books: “The New Satanists,” by Linda Blood, 1994; “Why Johnny Can’t Come Home,” by Noreen Gosch, 2000

1989, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, PRESIDIO ARMY DAY CARE CASE, Monetary Settlement with parents

Overview: News reports state that on Jan 5, 1987 Gary Willard Hambright, Presidio Daycare employee, was indicted for molesting one child who had been sodomized, but after a year of investigation, more than 30 victims at the Presidio Army Base had been identified. Children gave statements about being ritually abused, they were taken off base, and they claimed other perpetrators were involved in their abuse. The children alleged they were sexually abused, taken to private homes, forced to urinate and defecate on Gary Hambright – and he would do the same to them - and they were forced to drink urine and eat feces.

One child said she played “pop poo baseball” at the home of one of her female teachers. Some children said they had blood smeared on their bodies, had guns pointed at them, and were threatened that if they told about the abuse their parents would be killed. Many children said their abuse occurred during satanic rituals. Inside a concrete bunker behind the Military Intelligence Building at the Presidio, the words “Prince of Darkness” were painted. Another wall was covered with the numerals 666 and occult drawings.

In the early 1980’s, a gardner’s shack adjacent to the Presidio was raided. They found a pentagram on the floor and dolls heads on the ceiling. Two investigators were given permission to set up surveillance on the shack but they were then told to call it off. “We were sitting there, we’ve got a cult on the Presidio of San Francisco and nobody cares about it,” said one investigator.

Three months after the indictment of Hambright, charges were dismissed without prejudice. The court would not allow hearsay evidence and ruled the victim could not qualify as a witness because of his age. Hambright was reindicted on Sept. 30 1987 for molesting 10 children. At that time he suggested there were other people involved. The US Attorney was criticized for not including children in the case who had persuasive evidence of molestation, but she did not want to present the more “bizarre” elements before a jury. She decided that Federal Jurisdiction in the case ended at the boundaries of the Presidio, which meant children who claimed they were taken off base could not be used as witnesses, and the case was dismissed. Gary Hambright later died of AIDS. The parents alleged a cover-up, and after the investigation 23 children filed a $55 million claim against the Army.
Lt. Col. Michael Aquino was questioned in this case. [See Aquino vs. Stone] See “Satanic Priest Questioned in New Sex Case,” San Jose Mercury News, May 13, 1989; “CHILD ABUSE AT THE PRESIDIO, THE PARENTS AGONY, THE ARMY’S COVER-UP, THE PROSECUTION’S FAILURE, San Jose Mercury News, July 24, 1988. The settlement with the Army is documented by Presidio parent Sue Dorsey.

September 21, 1988, PEOPLE v. DARYL T. BALL, SR. AND CHARLOTTE THRAILKILL, SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SONOMA, SCR 14750-C, Pleaded no contest to lewd and lascivious acts

Overview: This case was described by the prosecutor as involving multi-victims/perpetrators and ritual abuse although only Daryl Ball and Charlotte Thrailkill were the only ones charged. In an arrangement designed to spare the children the ordeal of testifying, Dary T. Ball and Charlotte Thrailkill pleaded no contest to a total of nine counts involving lewd and lascivious conduct with six children. Ball was sentenced to 24 years in prison, Thrailkill was given a 14 year prison term.

Officials who interviewed and examined the children said there was no question they had been the victims of repeated and severe sexual assaults. The probation officers who wrote the presentencing evaluations said the children were in psychological treatment but the damage might be “irreparable.”

The prosecutor described the extreme terror the children experienced and how difficult it was for them to testify. During the 18 month preliminary hearing, the children testified that they were threatened to keep quiet or the perpetrators would eat their mothers hearts and make them eat it too. They described being given injections (or were bled), and being tied up. Daryl Ball threatened witnesses to keep them from testifying. The children also described being molested while being filmed with a banner in the background reading "Super Duper Child Molest Day." They were forced to watch the video of their own molest afterwards. A plea bargain was struck, reportedly to spare the kids from having to testify further.

The Criminal Investigative Division of the Army interviewed some of these same children in this case in their "Titling" investigation of Michael Aquino of the Temple of Set. (Case above).

A May 17, 1989 San Jose Mercury news article reports the statements of several parents:

“Ritual Sex Abuse of children has been under investigation in Mendocino County since at least 1984, when several children at the Jubilation Day Care Center in Fort Bragg said they had been sexually abused, tortured and forced to drink blood and eat feces. Debi Withrow, a Ukiah mother of two children who told police and Army investigators that Aquino abused them, said parents hope that their ‘children will have their day in court.’ Another parent, Dee Hartnett of Santa Rosa, said her daughter also told authorities that Aquino was one of the people who abused her in Mendocino County in 1986. The daughter testified against two of her abusers in a case in Santa Rosa that resulted in plea bargains last year. One of the accused Daryl T. Ball was sentenced to prison for 4 years in connection with the abuse of Hartnett’s daughter and five other children. The other, Charlotte Thrailkill, was sentenced to 14 years in prison.”

See “Child Sexual Abuse case ends with Prison Terms,” The Press Democrat, Sept. 21, 1988; “Mendocino County Cops, Parents seek Help in Child Abuse Probe,” San Jose Mercury News, May 17, 1989

**In Sept. 1998, Charlotte Thrailkill was declared a violent sexual predator -- the first female to have that distinction in California and she was sent to a State Hospital. See, "Thrailkill a Sexual Predator, Ex-SR Woman First in State with Designation," Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Sept. 9, 1998
1984, FORT BRAGG, CALIFORNIA, Barbara and Sharon Orr’s Daycare Closed by State, License Permanently Revoked.

Overview: Pamela Hudson, L.C.S.W. assessed and treated over 27 children from a Fort Bragg daycare case called the Jubilation Daycare in Mendocino County between the years 1983 and 1990. The children stated the daycare operators and their “friends” abused them. Ms. Hudson described having no prior experience or training about ritual abuse but came to understand it after many years of treating these particular victims. Some of the symptoms the children exhibited were defecating on the floor in certain patterns and lying spread-eagled on the floor as if in crucification. She described children reporting being locked in a cage, their parents were threatened, they were buried in the ground in “boxes,” held under water, threatened with guns and knives, injected with needles, bled and drugged, photographed during the abuse, tied upside down over a “star,” hung from poles and hooks, had blood poured on their heads, and witnessed the ritual sacrifices of babies, after which they were forced to chant “Baby Jesus is dead.”

Jubilation Daycare, operated by Sharon and Barbara Orr (who presented themselves as Christians who held “Bible Study” meetings) was closed in 1984 and their license was permanently revoked after the State Department of Social Services investigated and found sufficient evidence of “child endangerment.” There were no medical facilities in that immediate area that could evaluate child sexual abuse, but of all the children taken out of county to medical facilities, all were diagnosed with sexual molestation. Because the perpetrators had four months advanced warning, no other evidence was found, and no criminal charges were filed.

Children from this case also identified Lt. Col. Aquino as one of their abusers. From a 1989 Press Democrat news article:

“Local authorities for almost four years have insisted their investigations are inconclusive about repeated allegations from Debi and Greg Withrow that his two sons, from a former marriage were victims of ritual molestation during ceremonies witnessed by a large group of adults…”

“Last week, criminal investigators with the Army reportedly questioned lt. Col Michael Aquino the satanic priest implicated in the Presidio case, about allegations he was involved in molestation cases in Mendocino and Sonoma counties. Besides the Withrow angle, Aquino was questioned about sexual abuse at the Jubilation Day Care Center in Fort Bragg.”

Lt. Col. Michael Aquino and Lilith Aquino were open satanists and High Priest and Priestess of their own cult, the Temple of Set, for 20 years while Aquino served in the Armed forces. They have never been criminally convicted of any crime.

See book publications: “Treating Survivors of Satanist Abuse,” edited by Valerie Sinason, pgs. 71- 81, 1994, and “Ritual Child Abuse: Discovery, Diagnosis and Treatment,” by Pamela S. Hudson L.C.S.W., Jan 1, 1991; “Satanic Chief tied to Mendocino Sex Abuse,” Press Democrat, May 15, 1989; “Ukiah Pair Keep Molest Case Alive,” Press Democrat May 16, 1989;
August 28, 1991, STATE OF OREGON v. MARY LOU GALLUP, COURT OF APPEALS OF OREGON, 816 P2d. 669, 1991 Ore. App. LEXIS 1266, Conviction Remanded // September 6, 1989, STATE OF OREGON v. EDWARD J. GALLUP, SR., 779 P.2d 169, Conviction for Sodomy Affirmed

Overview: Appellate documents state Mary Lou Gallup sought reversal of her conviction for sexual abuse in the first degree. The Appeals Court found error in the local courts ruling that material contained in the District Attorney file was work produced, and exempt from discovery, which resulted in her conviction being vacated.

Mary Lou Gallup operated a private kindergarten in Roseburg, Oregon, called the Gallup Christian Daycare center. Her husband, Edward J. Gallup, an ex-minister of the Nazarene church, operated a separate preschool in that same vicinity. Their son, Edward (Chip) J. Gallup, operated a preschool in Winston, Oregon.

In 1987 defendant Ed Gallup Sr. was indicted for sexually assaulting a young boy who was a student as his preschool, and his son, Chip, was ultimately indicted on six separate charges for sexually assaulting six other preschool students. Chip Gallup was ultimately found guilty of three charges.

In February, 1988, defendant Ed Gallup Sr. and his wife were indicted on new charges for sexually assaulting another child. Ed. Gallup Sr. appealed, claiming that publicity in his case prevented him from having a fair trial. He objected to a State’s witness’ testimony and the fact that he wasn’t allowed to question his expert witness on re-direct. He also objected to the State’s psychologist statement that children who have been sexually abused will very often not report the incident if they have been threatened by the abuser. The appellate court affirmed the conviction of Ed Gallup Sr.

According to a documentary about this case the children reported having to participate in the killing of animals, they were put in cages, the Gallup’s “dunked” children’s heads in buckets of blood, they threatened the children, telling them that if they disclosed their abuse their parents would be killed. The Gallup’s would take toothpicks and make crucifixes or crosses out of them, and would ask, “Who are we worshipping today?... Jesus.” Then on other occasions they would turn the crosses upside down and ask, “Who are we worshipping today?” and the Gallup’s would say “Satan.” A child was worried that she would not go to heaven because she believed she participated in the killing of another person.

See “Introduction to Children at Risk: Ritual Abuse in America,” 1992, Narrated by Mike Farrell, for documentation of the ritual abuse aspects of this case. Ordering information is at: HYPERLINK "http://www.cavalcadeproductions.com/index.html" http://www.cavalcadeproductions.com/index.html

July 30, 1991, COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. JASON L. ENDERS, ET AL., SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA, 407 Pa. Superior Ct. 201, Conviction for False Imprisonment Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state Jason Enders and three co-defendants Scott Francis Liptak, Alexander O. Steinberg and Daniel Nelson were convicted of false imprisonment stemming from their participation in a Satanic cult ritual. The victim stated he wanted nothing to do with them but he was forcibly taken to an abandoned barn and tied to stakes in the ground over a pentagram drawn in the dirt. He had a leather collar with nails placed around his neck and a Satanic ritual was performed over him. One of the defendants punctured the victim’s neck by pressing on the nails, and placed his fingers in the victim's blood, and then to his lips. A medical expert testified to treating wounds to the victims neck. The victim was then released after being warned he would be killed if he told anyone about what had been done to him. Skulls and books on the occult were taken from the perpetrators homes as evidence.

The court described the crimes as ritualistic acts and stated that admitting evidence of the belief in and involvement in Satanism at the time was relevant and probative.

June 11, 1991, NEW YORK, WESTPOINT MILITARY ACADEMY DAYCARE CASE, Monetary Settlement with Parents, Court File Sealed

Overview: News articles state that in 1984-85 a 3 yr. old child from Westpoint’s daycare was diagnosed with physical findings of molest - a lacerated vagina. 50 children who attended West Points Army daycare were then interviewed by the FBI and several of them alleged sexual abuse. The parents in this case alleged a cover-up because no criminal charges were filed. The Times Herald Record reported on June 11, 1991 that the incidents unfolded against a backdrop of satanic acts, animal sacrifices and cult-like behavior. A parent complained that the Army was not prepared to treat satanic abuse and the FBI “botched” the investigation. “The specter of Satanism would later spur U.S. Military Academy officials to change the West Point child-care center’s building number from 666 to 673.”

San Jose newspaper reporter Linda Goldston, who covered the Presidio case, described the Westpoint case as one involving ritual abuse. The children said they had excrement smeared on their bodies and were forced to eat feces and drink urine. They said they were taken away from the day care center.
At that time, U.S. prosecutor Rudolph Giuliani declined to indict any alleged perpetrators and was criticized for potential conflict of interest because he was also defending West Point for the government against civil suits brought by the parents against the Army.

In 1985, the parents of 11 children filed a $110 million civil suit against the Army alleging their children were sexually abused. The Army concluded the case in 1991 by negotiating a monetary settlement with the parents, but no other facts are known because the court case was sealed. See “West Point case provoked $100 million Civil Suit,” San Jose Mercury News, August 9, 1987; “A Legacy of Pain,” The Times Herald Record, June 11,1991“The People v. R. Giuliani,” The Record, Sept. 27, 1987; “CHILD ABUSE AT THE PRESIDIO, THE PARENTS AGONY, THE ARMY’S COVER-UP, THE PROSECUTION’S FAILURE, San Jose Mercury News, July 24, 1988
April 29, 1991, STATE OF MONTANA v. LEON LLOYD WHITCHER, SUPREME COURT OF MONTANA, 810 P.2d 751, Conviction For Sexual Intercourse Without Consent Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state, Leon Lloyd Whitcher, 30, a self-described "high priest" of a Satanic cult, had sexual intercourse with a 14 yr. old without her consent. Prior to the assault, he asked her a series of questions about initiation into his satanic cult, whether she wanted "power," and if she'd "obey a high priest." He told the victim about a creature with a cat head and human body who would protect her.

The Court described “a pentagram, a satanic symbol in the form of a five-sided star inside of a circle with an eye in the center of the star that was painted on the floor of a large room in the house.” Whitcher told the victim to change into a black robe, lie down, and stare at a pentagram painted on the ceiling before he assaulted her.

April 13, 1991, SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA, SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF ORANGE, B. , ET. AL V. ROE, ET. AL, Case # 590362: Civil Suit for Child Abuse Won Against Parent

Overview: News reports state a pair of anonymous sisters, Bonnie, 48, and Patty, 38, who said their parents worshiped Satan and forced them to perform incest, ritual abuse and murderous deeds, won a lawsuit against their mother. The daughters told of human sacrifice and sexual abuse by a network of satanic cult members across Southern California who scared them into repressed silence for more than 30 years. They also accused their mother of sexually abusing her granddaughter, then 11 years old. “This [case] involved brainwashing, mind control and hypnosis,” the daughters attorney told an Orange County Superior Court jury. “We’re talking about sick people who enjoy inflicting pain – who get their jollies from being sadistic.”

No monetary damages were awarded, but the jury found that the two daughters suffered abuse and found that the mother was negligent. During the trial, Bonnie told jurors she was 12 when her parents forced her to kill an infant she conceived after being raped by a cult leader. She said her father cut up and burned the child. Patty also testified she was forced to kill a homeless man when she was 12. See “Mother to Trial, Alleging Ritual and Sexual Abuse,” Orange County Register, March 19, 1991; “Sisters Win Suit on Satanic Abuse,” The San Diego Tribune, April 13, 1991
March 12, 1991, STATE OF MISSOURI v. THERON REED ROLAND II , COURT OF APPEALS OF MISSOURI, WESTERN DISTRICT, 808 S.W.2d 855, 1991 Mo. App. LEXIS 371, First Degree Murder Conviction Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state Theron Reed Roland was convicted for the murder of his friend Steven Newberry. According to Roland, he murdered him after becoming involved in Satanism, began using drugs, and after listening to groups like "Megadeth" which advocated sexual and physical violence. After an abusive childhood, he began hallucinating, practiced self-mutilation, tortured and killed animals and "chanted" to Satan for power. He developed a mentor relationship with another teen Satanist and they both decided to sacrifice Steve Newberry by clubbing him to death.
Roland believed this human sacrifice would "cause Satan to appear and give them power." Roland wanted the defense expert on the occult to testify about the effects of Satanism on the mind. The court let the expert testify to other aspects of the occult but didn't feel that he was qualified to testify on psychiatric aspects of the case. The expert, Carl Raschke, testified that Satanists abhor everything that Judeo-Christian morality deems good, and deems good everything Judeo-Christian morality abhors. A Catholic priest, and authority on Satanism, explained the differences between satanic groups for the jury.

December 17, 1990, PEOPLE v. CLIFF ST. JOSEPH, 226 Cal. App. 3d 289, DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA, HABEAS PETITION DENIED, Conviction For First Degree Murder Perpetrated by Torture Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents stated defendant, Cliff St. Joseph, was convicted of the murder by torture of John Doe No. 60, and the sodomy and false imprisonment of Ricky Hunter. At trial, the court permitted an accomplice, Mr. Bork, to testify under a grant of immunity to the charges.
As background, four people were arrested for disturbing the peace. One of the parties arrested, Mr. Hunter, had been taken to the apartment two days before by appellant. Ricky Hunter claimed St. Joseph and the others had held him against his will and assaulted him; there was talk of Satanic worship and the other three people had been speaking of "sacrificing" him. At the apartment he was restrained and repeatedly assaulted by appellant, Mr. Bork, and another person by the name of Mr. Spela. Bork was present in the apartment when the murder victim arrived. He left the apartment after he heard screaming from the bedroom and saw appellant slashing the victim’s chest.

A body was later discovered in San Francisco, California on June 15, 1985. "John Doe" had multiple stab wounds, genital injuries, and a pentagram had been carved into his chest. The court notes that there was "substantial evidence" that it was a sadistic, ritualistic human sacrifice consisting of whipping with a chain, slashing the victim's lips, dripping wax into the victim's eyes, burning and carving the victim's flesh with a knife, multiple stabbings, tying the limbs with guitar wire, and genital mutilations. The identity of the victim was never established. One of the offenders stated he had been present when St. Joseph had "John Doe" in his home and he helped St. Joseph dispose of the murdered victim described above. The court found that there was sufficient evidence proving that the injuries had been inflicted on the victim while he was still alive. The Coroner testified that some of the wounds inflicted were consistent with sadomasochistic practices, but the Court made a point of highlighting that the manner in which the victim was murdered, along with inferred intent, indicated that this was a ritualistic sacrifice.

July 14, 1990, DETROIT, MICHIGAN, Agustin Pena and Jaime Rodriguez Jr., Convicted of First-Degree Murder, Sentenced to Life in Prison
Overview: News reports state that Agustin Pena and his cousin, Jaime Rodriguez Jr., were convicted of killing Stephanie Dubay in 1991.

Prosecutors described the slaying as ritualistic activity and part of Rodriguez’s devil worship. Both Pena and Rodriguez lost their appeals in the State court system in the mid-1990’s. The Medical examiner said Dubay, a 15 year old runaway, was killed in a ritual crime, based on her tattoos, wounds and the “meticulous mutilation” of her body.

Dubay was decapitated, her skull skinned and saved in a freezer, and her tongue, right index finger and spleen were removed, all with surgical precision. Dubay had been stabbed 10 times in the back and chest and dismembered in the basement of Pena’s house. Body parts were buried in three plastic bags in a shallow grave, and a fourth bag was found in the front seat of a car in the garage. Law enforcement experts stated that each of these acts had a significance in some satanic belief systems They believe that extraordinary powers can be captured and controlled through stylized sacrifice, mutilation, or taking specific body parts. See “Dismemberment Skills Hint at Other Crimes, Police Say, Detroit Free Press, July 14, 1990; “Beheading Murderer Seeks to Overturn Conviction,” The Macomb Daily, August 27, 2006
February 22, 1990, STATE OF UTAH v. ALAN B. HADFIELD, SUPREME COURT OF UTAH, 788 P.2d 506, Convictions for Sodomy and Child Molest; Remanded Back to Court for Evidentiary Hearing.

Overview: Appellate documents state Alan Hadfield was convicted of sodomy and sexual abuse of his children after his children testified against him. He appealed based on claims of "newly discovered evidence." This was an allegation by a paralegal who stated that therapist Barbara Snow, who was involved in counseling Hadfield’s children and others in this Mormon community, was the common factor in these cases, and inferred that the therapist was responsible for the allegations.

The appellate opinion cites that at "least fifteen adults and fifteen children were identified as participants in various unusual sexual activities, including instances of group abuse of children by adults. The activities described by the children involved Satanic ritual, costumes and masks, photography equipment, men dressing in women's clothing, and frequent episodes of playing with and consuming human excrement. A specific instance of abuse related to Dr. Snow by W. and described by her at trial for example, involved defendant's removing feces from W.'s rectum with a spoon and forcing him to play with it." The court stated that the defendants strategy of undermining the believability of the children by attacking the practices of the therapist was ultimately unsuccessful with the jury.

The appellate court remanded the case back to court for an evidentiary hearing to see if the affidavit by the paralegal had merit.

Note: On 9/2/98 Assistant Attorney General Robert Parrish stated to this author that the Judge reviewed the information about claims against the therapist and found that there was no evidence to support the claims of the paralegal. Alan Hadfield's conviction still stands and he was released from probation in 1998. See: Video “Promise not to Tell” which documents the Hadfield case. Ordering information can be found at HYPERLINK "http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0889650/maindetails" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0889650/maindetails

November 26, 1989, GIBREVILLE, GABON, Mba Ntem was Found Guilty and Sentenced to Death for Murder and Leading Cannibalism Rites.

Overview: Several members of a religious cult were found guilty of aiding in "cannibalism ceremonies by serving human flesh to worshippers." A victim's mutilated remains were found in another town, and a photo was published of the high priest with a knife in his teeth and a jar containing pieces of a victim's tongue in his manacled hands. In the ceremony led by Mba Ntem, members of the cult ate the victim's stomach, liver, heart, lungs, tongue and genitals in what their leader called a "sacred plate." Some of the worshippers were unaware of the contents, Ntem told the court. The court prohibited other details from being released. The news article states that "Animism" is a loose religious belief popular in central Africa and other parts of the word that a spirit or force resides in every animate and inanimate object. See "Death Sentence for High Priest in Cannibalism Trial," Associated Press, November 26, 1989.

April 6, 1989, HAROLD GLENN SMITH v. THE STATE OF TEXAS, COURT OF APPEALS OF TEXAS, 1989 Tex. App. Lexis 794, Conviction for Murder Affirmed.

Overview: Appellant documents state that Harold Smith was one of a group of young people who planned and carried out the brutal murder of their friend, Dennis Keith Medler. A group tricked him into accompanying them to a cemetery where they tortured him. Forensic evidence established that Medler died from lack of oxygen due to blockage of the airway by foreign objects, his own teeth and blood. Medler’s torturer repeatedly beat him with their fists and kicked him, fractured both his upper and lower jaw, caused two teeth to lodge in his trachea, cut and stabbed him with a knife, burnt his hair, choked him by using a bandana and pipe tourniquet, and used the same pipe to pierce one of his eye sockets in an attempt to gouge out the eye. Medler begged his murders to “knock him out,” once he realized they planned to kill him.

A witness testified that Smith compared the planned murder of his victim with animal sacrifice rituals he had carried out before and the prosecution presented evidence of his Satanic belief system. Mr. Smith appealed this issue but the Court upheld references to Satanism as motive for the crime.

December 30, 1988, STATE OF OHIO v. JOHN L. FRYMAN, COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO, TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, BUTLER COUNTY, 1988 Ohio App. LEXIS 5296, Conviction for Murder Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state John Fryman took the victim Monica Lemen to his "sorcery room where he had erected an altar for Satanic worship." He then shot her in the head. The next day he cut off the woman's legs above the knees and disposed of them behind an old church. The rest of the body was never found. Fryman claimed that he had killed her because she had insulted him by bringing another magician to his trailer, and that he disposed of her legs behind the church because "it was the place he practiced magic. By throwing her legs there he increased the power of that spot."

November 25, 1988, SINGAPORE, Adrian Lim, Tan Mui Choo, and Hoe Kah Hong hanged for murder.

Overview: News reports state three cult members, Adrian Lim, 46, his wife, Tan Mui Choo, 34, and his girlfriend Hoe Kah Hong, 33, were convicted in 1983 of murdering Agnes Ng Siew Heok, eight, and Ghazali Marzuki, 10, in 1981. The three perpetrators belonged to a cult that believed sacrificing children could bring “good luck.” The three drank the children's blood after suffocating them in a bathtub.

Another news report states that the "macabre ritualistic killings included drinking the children's blood, trances, and electric shock 'treatments.'" See "Three Singaporeans Hanged for Cult Murder of Children," Reuters, November 25, 1988 and "Three hanged in Singapore for ritual killings" UPI, Nov 25, 1988

July 7, 1988, IN THE MATTER OF DANIEL "DD" ET AL., ALLEGED TO BE ABUSED AND NEGLECTED CHILDREN, CHEMUNG COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES; ALICE “DD”, SUPREME COURT, APPELLATE DIVISION, THIRD DEPARTMENT, 530 N.Y.S.2d 314, Finding of Neglect Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state the mother was appealing an order from Family Court finding she had neglected her children in New York State. She had allowed visitations to continue between the father and his girlfriend even though she knew that the girlfriend’s children had been removed from the home for sexual abuse, but she did not question the situation until the father and girlfriend were arrested on sexual abuse charges.

Social Services discovered that all children had been forced by threats of physical abuse to engage in acts of sexual intercourse among themselves and with adults. In addition, they described participation in forced acts of bestiality, as well as involvement in Satanic rituals involving the sacrifice of animals and the drinking of blood. The court cites there was evidence that the mother may have been involved in these activities as well but that was never proven.

March 30, 1987, HAMILTON, ONTARIO, FAMILY COURT, Children Declared Wards of the Court

Overview: A legal publication reports that two children, “Janis,” 7 years, and “Linda,” 5 years old, were voluntarily placed in foster care by their mother “Sharon Wells” after she had a nervous breakdown. The children began disclosing information about their abuse in satanic rituals to their foster parent after which the foster parent recorded the details in an 165 page journal. The children spoke of being lowered into coffins with rotting corpses, of being forced to eat flesh from freshly murdered children, and starring in child pornography. Disbelieving the young girl’s stories, the police declined to thoroughly investigate their allegations.

The Wardship hearing lasted 17 months, with 150 hearings days, 15,000 pages of transcripts, 61 witnesses and 142 exhibits, including 45 hours of audio and videotaped session s of the children in play therapy. After nine days detailing her traumatic life on the witness stand, the mother collapsed, screaming on the courtroom floor, and had to be taken away by ambulance.
Family Court Judge Thomas Beckett summed up the horrific elements of the case in his ruling:

“The Court heard allegations of murder, of cannibalism, of graveyard rituals, and acts of bestiality. Allegations so horrible, so gruesome, so loathsome, that no one, including myself, wanted to believe any of it. In fact, I wanted very much to believe that none of the allegations made by the two little girls could be true.”… “The descriptions of midnight graveyard scenes with dancing and singing, people with masks, opening of graves and coffins, together with gross sexual acts, suggest cult activities …“And why did the children speak of the number “666” – the symbol used in the Book of Revelations?”… “To say they ‘lied’ or that it was fantasy falls far short of explaining how such things could have been in their minds”… “The children gave graphic descriptions of the murder of children as well as adults, of dismemberment, of cutting flesh from bones.”

Judge Beckett ordered police protection for the mother after she alleged her former husband threatened to kill her, the judges, and lawyers in the case.
On March 30th 1987, Judge Becket ruled that the two girls were sexually abused and forced to eat feces by their parents and the mother’s former boyfriend. He made the girls Crown Wards and also ordered the third child, born to the mother during the hearing, be made a ward of the court as well.
News articles report that in 2006 the mother, Sharon Wells, publicly asked her now two grown daughters to donate a kidney to her, in order to “save her life.” See “The Cannibal Case,” Canadian Lawyer, March 7, 1989; “Questions of Satanism: Tales of ritual Abuse are Common,” MacLean’s, April 21, 1997; ”Sick Mom, Much Sicker Story- Daughters asked to Donate Kidney to Ailing Mother they Accused of Horrific Sexual Abuse,” The Toronto Sun, January 29, 2006

August 15, 1986, STATE OF MAINE v. SCOTT WATERHOUSE, SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT OF MAINE, 513 A.2d 862, 1986 Me. LEXIS 862, Murder Conviction Affirmed

Overview: Appellate documents state Scott Waterhouse was convicted for the murder of a 12 yr. old girl. The presence of semen on the victim’s clothing indicated that the perpetrator masturbated over the victim’s body. 

Defendant claimed that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of his belief in Satanism. The Appeals Court disagreed. The State admitted a taped conversation between defendant and police officer in which defendant described at length both Satanism and the extent of his involvement with that belief. In addition, the State introduced into evidence portions of the “Satanic Bible.” The defendant described sex and destruction rituals as part of the system of satanic beliefs. He stated that Satanism represented the darker side of humanity and urges indulgence of man’s carnal needs rather than abstinence. He characterized the “seven cardinal sins” of the Christian faith as representing abstinence.

The portions of the Satanic Bible that were introduced as evidence were:
*Satan represents indulgence, instead of abstinence!

*Satan represented all of the so-called sins as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification!

*Are we not all predatory animals by instinct? If humans ceased wholly from preying upon each other, could they continue to exist?

*Death to the weakling, wealth to the strong!

*Blessed are the powerful, for they shall be reverenced among men -- cursed are the feeble, for they shall be blotted out.

The court stated: “Defendant could view commission of the heinous crime involved in this case as a means of achieving ‘physical, mental or emotional gratification,’ similarly he could believe that a demonstration of strength by domination of a weaker person would bring ‘reverence among men.’ At the expense of who, ‘being weak, deserved his fate.”

Both evidence of Satanic beliefs was considered probative of motive and the identity of the perpetrator.

[Two companion cases are described below]
March 12, 1986, COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSSETT v. CARL H. DREW, SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS, 489 N.E.2d 1233, Murder Conviction Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state Carl Drew was convicted of the first degree murder of one of his Satanic cult members in Fall River. The victim, Karen Marsden, was identified by a portion of the skull, clumps of hair, clothing, and jewelry. Evidence was admitted describing Marsden and another prostitute Doreen Levesque who were killed.

According to witness testimony... "The killing was performed as a diabolic ritual during which the soul of Marsden was purportedly given to Satan." Earlier, Marsden had tried to sever relationship with the cult. Drew threatened to kill her on several occasions, which he finally did. "Murphy dragged Marsden by the throat and hair into the woods. As she did this, the defendant walked alongside while Fletcher and Davis followed close behind. Murphy and the defendant then began striking Marsden with rocks. After further brutalizing Marsden, the defendant ordered Murphy to slit Marsden's throat and Murphy complied. The defendant then tore the head from the body and kicked it."

Carl Drew later told another person that he had killed Marsden because "she wanted to leave the cult and that he wanted her to feel pain." Several witnesses testified to the defendant’s cult practices and he was asked to remove his jacked to exhibit a tattoo on his arm of a devil’s head with the partially obliterated inscription “Satan’s Avengers.” The Court described the defendant chanting in a low, scratchy voice during rituals, purported to conjure Satan’s presence.
The court specifically stated Drew's involvement in Satanism and the victim's desire to leave the cult was evidentially important to detail the context of the crime to the jury, as opposed to viewing the murders as just random acts of violence.

------------
May 28, 1982, WILLIAM SMITH v. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS, 436 N.E.2d 377, Immunity for Witness was Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state William Smith contested immunity for witness, Robin Murphy, who was to testify against him for the murder of Doreen Levesque. The appellate opinion states "These murders were among a series of ritual killings performed in the Fall River area by members of a Satanic cult.” The witness described the ritual that accompanied the murder, and named various participants. The witness also recanted several times before finally testifying but finally admitted that she had been involved in the murder. She described the practices of the Satanic cult and indicated that both victims, Karen Marsden and Doreen Levesque, had been connected with the cult, either as devotees of the faith, or as associates in a prostitution enterprise.

February 19, 1986, COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. FRANK G. COSTAL, JR., SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA, 505 A.2d 337, Murder Conviction Affirmed.

Overview: Appellate documents state expert testimony regarding Satanism and mind control was admitted into the court record to explain the killings of a mother and her 4 yr. old daughter by Frank Costal. The killings appeared to be in retaliation for the mother's interference in a drug deal and homosexual relationship between her husband and Costal. The state submitted evidence that the murders were performed in a "ritualistic manner." The victims were stabbed in a similar fashion, in the same pattern. Ceremonial robes, books, posters, plastic skulls and bats, and marriage licenses drawn up by Costal and signed by him as a "high priest" of Satan were seized from his apartment. A witness testified that Costal told him of attendance at human sacrifices and that 17 was the number of stab wounds required at these ritualistic killings.

December 3, 1983, DETROIT, MICHIGAN, Arzell Jones was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, single counts of kidnapping and using a firearm during a felony. Linda Greene was convicted of two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Overview: News reports state Arzell Jones, a private investigator, and Linda Greene, a Detroit policewoman, were convicted of sexually assaulting a 31-year-old woman who was held for more than three days and forced to take part in Satanic rituals. The prosecutor stated the woman was a victim of some "cultism and some ultimate psychological warfare." See: "Judge Says Victim was Subjected to 'Reign of Terror' Man, Policewoman Guilty of Sexual Assault in Satanic Rituals," Detroit Free Press, December 3, 1983.
Posted by Alex Constantine at 5:03 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Bush, Bribes & Team Barakat
Payne’s group had contract with Pakistan after 9/11
www.statesman.com/blogs
By Jason Embry | July 15, 2008

Stephen Payne, the Houston businessman whom the Sunday Times of London caught on video suggesting a donation to the Bush library could help land a meeting with key White House officials, was part of a group hired by the Pakistani government after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks to improve relations with the U.S.

According to records available through the U.S. Department of Justice, Payne was part of a group, called Team Barakat, that Pakistan hired to provide strategic advice, interface with the U.S. government and members of Congress and try to strengthen relations between the two countries.

In materials promoting his business, Payne claims that he helped Pakistan negotiate a five-year, $3 billion aid package from the U.S., and that he “coordinated the removal of economic and military sanctions imposed on Pakistan under the Clinton administration.”

Payne worked for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in the mid-’90s. He claimed to have a lofty title in her 2006 campaign, but Matt Matthews, the campaign manager that year, said Payne’s boast is not true.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/washington/washington/entries/2008/07/15/paynes_group_ha.html
•••••••
Also see: "Stephen Payne continues to make Jack Abramoff look like a piker," Majikthise: "... If even half of what Stephen Payne says about himself is true, there is no question that he had acces to the highest levels of the Bush administration. Payne was a Bush Pioneer in 2000 and 2004. He was also a member of Bush Cheney 04, George W. Bush for President, and Tom DeLay's Congressional Committee. According to a cached copy of Payne's curriculum vitae that I found on the Worldwide Strategic Partners website (now scrubbed), Payne claims to have been George W. Bush's personal travel aide during his father’s 1988 Presidential campaign. Payne served as Senior Advisor to the NASA Administrator on White House and Congressional Affairs in 2001, according to the same document. ... "
http://majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2008/07/stephen-payne-c.html
••••••••
Stephen Payne Worked For Pakistan After Sept. 11
By Andrew Tilghman - July 15, 2008, 12:00PM

... Payne was one of several Bush supporters who made up a firm known as Team Eagle, which signed a $180,000-a-year contract with the Pakistani government on Oct. 13, 2001, according to a government database maintained under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

The firm was also known as Team Barakat, according to FARA documents.

Payne was partners in the firm with Gary Polland, the head of the Harris County Republican Party, according to a January 14, 2002, report in the Houston Chronicle, which we found in the Nexis database.

Polland was widely celebrated as the man who empowered the Houston-area party machine in the 1990s.

A third partner was Houston lawyer Brian Ettinger, former aide to U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden (D-DE), according to the Chronicle report. (Ettinger may have worked for a Democrat, but he's given more than $20,000 to Republican political campaigns and PACs since 2002, FEC reports show)

Payne, Polland and Ettinger did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

You might remember that just before September 11, 2001, our relations with Pakistan were very rocky. The U.S. State Department had strongly condemned Pakistan for testing a nuclear bomb in 1998. And we denounced Musharaff as an undemocratic dictator after he staged a coup in 1999 and ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Specifically, the U.S. had imposed a range of economic sanctions on Pakistan.

But all that came into question after the Bush administration decided it wanted Musharraf to let the U.S. run massive military supplies through his county as we sought to overthrow the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

It was those economic sanctions that the Pakistani government wanted some help with from the Houston firm.

According to the contract signed in October 2001, the Pakistanis wanted:

"Meetings with Administration officials and members of congress and/or staff and share with Pakistan the U.S. attitudes and desires regarding the bilateral relationship with Pakistan and assist in bringing U.S. interests together. The policies in issue are:

(1) In ending U.S. sanctions against Pakistan.

(2) In providing economic assistant on Pakistan's external debt and related trade issues.

Payne's current firm, Worldwide Strategies, has a brochure that rattles off a list of major accomplishments it achieved for Pakistan in a brochure originally obtained by the Times of London:

Helped Pakistan negotiate a 5-year, $3 billion dollar aid package from the United States .

Coordinated the removal of economic and military sanctions imposed on Pakistan under the Clinton Administration
`
Secured Pakistan the prestigious 'Major Non-NATO Ally Status" including: Japan, Australia, Israel, Egypt

And this might be the most interesting accomplishment, Payne's firm claims:

After intensive coordinated efforts, Pakistan was finally able to purchase f-16 fighter jets (previously canceled under the Clinton Administration) and secured the delivery of C-130 transport aircrafts, helicopters and night-vision equipment from the U.S. to fulfill Pakistani military requirements.

Worldwide Strategies also quotes a letter from Musharraf to Payne:

... It gives me great pleasure to thank you for playing such an important role in strengthening US Pakistan ties . . . The challenges faced by both our countries in the aftermath of September 11th, brought us even closer, in which you played a pivotal role . . . -Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Letter to Stephen Payne, Dated January 21, 2006 . .

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/steven_payne_worked_for_pakist.php
Posted by Alex Constantine at 4:40 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
UPI: "Some want RFK Assassination Revisited"
July 14, 2008

LOS ANGELES, July 14 (UPI) -- There are valid reasons to re-examine the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy to determine if Sirhan Sirhan really acted alone, conspiracy proponents say.

Paul Schrade, the labor adviser to Kennedy's presidential campaign who also was wounded in the shooting that left Kennedy dead in Los Angeles 40 years ago, said today's technology can help prove others were involved, the New York Daily News reported Monday.

"I'm convinced we can make the case," said Schrade, who is assembling a legal team to challenge the verdict that put Sirhan, now 64, behind bars.

Shane O'Sullivan, author of Who Killed Bobby?, questions the verdict based on evidence he says shows multiple shots came from more than one direction. A security guard implicated by audio analysis of the shots has denied he shot Kennedy, the Daily News said.

The Kennedy clan is reluctant to push to have the case reopened. Bobby Kennedy Jr. told the News that while he suspects the assassination of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, may have been a conspiracy, he has "never seen particularly compelling evidence" that was the case in his father's death.

Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, said while she didn't know if prosecutors knew of the recent analyses, they "believe Sirhan's conviction is valid and supported by the evidence presented to a jury at trial."

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/07/14/Some_want_RFK_assassination_revisited/UPI-97711216070029/
Posted by Alex Constantine at 10:58 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Coca-Cola & the Nazis/British Comedian Publicizes Coke's Nazi Past
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CLASS/AM483_95/projects/coke/coke2.html

Sometimes during one of the many reversal of fortune so characteristic for the North African theater of war, German troops on the offensive stumbled across a cache of Coca-Cola left behind by retreating Allied troops. But the welcome find came with a snag and thirsty throats stayed dry despite the heat: The enemy had forgotten to leave some ice as well, and since every German soldier knew that a bottle of Coca-Cola had to be consumed eiskalt, the booty remained worthless unless somebody came up with another method of refrigeration under the scorching African sun.

Luftwaffe-pilots stationed nearby eventually provided an ingenious answer to this let-down by wrapping wet towels around the bottles and tying them to the wings of their Messerschmidts 109F before take off. Once the fighters were airborne, evaporation and the lower temperature of higher altitudes cooled the precious load down. The subsequent scene upon the pilots' return to base must have been irresistible: The pilots hopped out of their planes, plucked ice- cold Coca-Colas from the wings, opened them and then let the brown juice run down their throats to celebrate the thirsty return from another successful mission.

So much for the commercial potential of this image. Once the vision wears off, however, another question demands an answer. Would anybody have suspected that this harmless war-anecdote exemplifies the Coca-Cola Company's dual roles during the Second World War? Leaving aside the accidental aspect of this incident in the North African desert, it is still a fact that the soft drinks giant from Atlanta, Georgia collaborated with the Nazi-regime throughout its reign from 1933 to 1945 and sold countless millions of bottled beverages to Hitler's Germany.

Unfortunately, this in itself seems neither surprising nor exciting. Cooperation if not outright collaboration with the Nazis was the rule for many transnational corporations with a stake in Germany and has been the subject of extensive research. Next to Standard Oil and I.G. Farben, for instance, Coke's story of peddling soda to opposing trenches appears tame.

The immorality of bottling Coca-Cola for the Nazis stands in no relation to STP's selling of aviation fuel to the German war machine, nor can it overshadow the oil- producer's cozy wartime relationship with Germany's chemical giant I.G. Farben. Simply put, Coca-Cola's infamous deeds were not the Second World War's only ones, nor were they particularly sinister. After all, Coke cannot be used to fly airplanes or make bombs.

The Coca-Cola Company's tale of questionable wartime conduct would thus be comparatively insignificant and not worth the effort of dwelling upon, were it not for the fact that its product, namely Coca-Cola, was and is a luxuary item whose commercial success is inseparably tied to a public image created through advertising. Like all other companies in the business of selling goods nobody really needs, the Coca-Cola Company's advertisements must reflect the desires of the times in order to defend its share of the mass-market. How Coca- Cola chose to define itself through advertising was crucial to its success during the war years in the United States and is the story of the previous chapter. Thanks to a relentless barrage of war-supportive advertising built upon the Company's credo that "It isn't what a product is, but what it does that interests us," Coca-Cola after December 1941 convinced Americans at the front and at home that drinking Coca-Cola was somehow synonimous with fighting against the enemies of freedom and democracy. Coke wanted to be understood as a morale- booster for the American effort.

There was a moral price attached to this sort of advertising, because Coca-Cola's managers failed to couple the new patriotic image with a correspondent curbing of its contradictory activities in Germany, the company's second biggest market. While Coke-drinking GI's and other U.S. citizens had their carbonated soft-drink sweetened with patriotic statements like the 1943 slogan "Universal Symbol of the American way of Life," German Coca-Cola men had been busy quenching the thirst of the Third Reich and its conquered territories for years. To say the least, catchwords like Universal and American Way of Life were at odds with the Nazis' pursuit of their own "universalist" goals.

However, for the Coca-Cola GmbH (Inc.) odds existed in order to be overcome. While establishing itself in Germany, a politically difficult, but potentially rewarding market of seventy million people, the company solved an overwhelming number of problems: In defiance of strong anti-American sentiments within the turbulent Weimar Republic, Coca-Cola entered the country at the onset of the Great Depresion in 1929. Despite the bad timing for launching a consumer product, Coca-Cola overcame the intense competition of Germany's breweries and cola-imitators, learned to combine its interests with those of Germany's Nazi-rulers after 1933 in an overall harmonic symbiosis and thus even managed the seemingly impossible task of surviving the war intact as an American-owned company.

What saved the Coca-Cola GmbH from being crushed by Germany's fascist rulers was that its corporate structure and advertising philosophy came naturally close to the Nazis' totalitarian ideas of a brave new world. The case of Coca-Cola thus goes beyond mere collaboration: before Hitler decreed the Principle of Leadership (Fuehreprinzip) in industry, which replaced collective bargaining by handing dictatorial powers to company directors, the Coca-Cola GmbH was already dominated by its own authoritarian leader.

Company and government interests subsequently overlapped: the Nazis regarded mass-production and mass-consumption as crucial building blocks of their new society. Coca-Cola's modern means of producing a uniform product could have only impressed them. Similar things can be said about Coke's advertising strategy, which again reflected values central to the National-Socialist society. Through the same modern channels that the Nazis used for propaganda; namely film, radio, mass- publications, and sports events, Coca-Cola appealed, among others, to workers, soldiers, and automobilists, target groups that are significant insofar as they epitomized the Nazis' idea of modernity.

7X and Merchandise #5 aside, these were the true secret ingredients for Coca-Cola's German success, fully confirmed by the company's sales figures: In the ten year period spanning 1929 and 1939, the company's annual sales of cases of beverage soared from zero to a staggering four million. Even during the war's difficult late stages the company didn't falter; in 1944 the company still produced a respectable two million cases of bottled beverages, selling them to a country that was being rapidly reduced to rubble.

Back in 1929, these achievements seemed all but impossible. Germany between the wars was a humiliated and revanchist country. Public sentiments for the World War I victor nation USA were ambiguous at best as Dan Diner's excellent essay on the history of anti-Americanism in Germany points out. Despite an undeniable trend toward the "`Americanization' of the economy, technology and culture," Germany was still seething with increasingly entrenched anti- American sentiments," a situation not conducive to the high profile marketing of American brands.

Fears of U.S. economic domination, a country perceived as both ultra-capitalist and culturally inferior, encompassed the whole of the political spectrum. Indeed, next to the desire to tear down the embattled republic, virulent anti-Americanism may have been the only characteristic shared by the many political extremists. Communist Reichstag member Clara Zetkin's ad hoc rejection of the Dawes Plan in 1923 provides an illustrative example for the enthusiastic response to anti- American rhetoric, for it was met by the unusual sound of standing ovations from the gentlemen ideologically most opposed to Communism, the National-Socialists. Zetkin began her impromptu speech by claiming that America was bent upon turning Germany into "a colonized country." "The United States," she continued, "represents sharp-eyed and reckless capitalists without any of the old traditions that still sometimes constrain capitalism in Europe, so that they would be the last to trip over the thin thread of moral qualms. No, [the U.S. wants] to capture the German labor force with American capital, [make] cheap labor [out of them] and to thus turn Germany into a colony of the United States. No illusions about this fact!"

Since such rhetoric met with the approval of politicians of all colors, it seems not too far-fetched to argue that the general public cannot have been too warm about the United States either. Quite to the contrary: America, as David Large sums it up, became the object of a revival of "a set of deprecatory images [...] because doing so afforded [Germans] a measure of self-respect at a time of great inner doubt." Large argues that, true to a tradition that continues to this day "America [became] a kind of composite symbol for all the things that Germans [found] unpalatable in their own country, which [was], after all, the most Americanized in Europe."

Given such hostile circumstances, the Company had no illusions that it had to distance Coca-Cola from its American roots, were the Coca-Colonization of Germany to be successful. One cannot help but note that this initial strategy departed radically from the marketing ploys of the years after 1945, when, as Ralph Willett points out "Coca-Cola [came] to symbolize America and American culture: [...] the identification was already so strong by 1948 that when non- Americans thought of democracy, it was claimed, they instantly called to mind Coca-Cola."

The post-war Americanized image stands in complete contrast to the pre-war situation, a factor which helps account for the inability of Germans to recall Coke's presence prior to the war. Indeed, Coca-Cola's original German marketing strategy so successfully disassociated the drink from its Atlanta roots that Hans Dieter Schaefer felt compelled to note six decades later "It is characteristic for the state of our mind that we associate Coca-Cola only with the years of the Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle)."

>But the failure to remember once the clock struck "Stunde Null" (zero hour) cannot alter the facts of history. Coke's German business began with Ray Rivington Powers in 1929. The expatriate American set up shop in the City of Essen in the Ruhrgebiet, Germany's industrial heartland "where the thirst of workers would need quenching." He had a difficult stand there: Not only did Powers face the powerful competition of cola-imitators Sinalco and Afri-Cola, he also had to convince Germans that Coca-Cola was a tasty alternative to their beer-drinking habits. This meant hard work. Hubert Strauf, an advertising man in the service of Powers, described how this eccentric six and a half feet tall man who had allegedly once claimed to "have done everything in the world but murder," "filled the first bottles himself with the help of just one worker. With him he then drove to the Ruhr to peddle the first bottles of Coca-Cola in Germany himself - the American with his beautiful Marengo topcoat and stiff hat, a hulking fellow who called out with a thick Southern accent: `Drinken Coca-Cola, kostlich und erfrescht.'(which approximately means: `Drink Coca-Cola, delicious and refreshing')"

To properly introduce Coca-Cola in grammatically correct German, Powers printed up leaflets titled "Was ist Coca-Cola?" and had them distributed at sporting events and on the tables of restaurants in and around Essen. "When distraught proprietors threw them out, the Coke men doggedly replaced them," reports Mark Pendergrast and continues that "Many who picked up the folder expected to find an analysis of the ingredients and were angered when it simply said that Coke was a refreshing drink, but the endless repetition of the product name had its intended effect." The effect was that an increasing number of retailers carried Coca-Cola, most of them stashed beneath beer bottles so as not to anger the breweries that owned most restaurants and did not like potential competitors like Coca-Cola.

Thanks to the vigorous targeting of industrial workers with Hubert Strauf's slogan to "Mach doch mal Pause" (Come on, take a break) apparently derived from its U.S. pendant "The pause that refreshes" and a lot of hard work to open new outlets, Coca-Cola's annual sales rose to 111.000 cases four years later (see appendix). The Company had gained a small, but respectable foothold by the time the crucial year of 1933 came around.

It cannot be overemphasized, however, that a big portion of this success must be attributed to what the Coca- Cola ads failed to mention: Coke's U.S. roots. The Company had successfully established itself as a German brand in the unconscious mind of the soda-drinking public. The following anecdote shows just how successful the Company was in this respect: When a group of German prisoners of war debarked in Hoboken, New Jersey, in early 1945, one of the first things that caught their eyes was a large Coca-Cola sign.

This prompted excitement among the Germans and when one of the guards demanded an explanation for their behaviour, he received the answer: "We are surprised that you have Coca- Cola here too."

The twelve years separating 1933 from the end of the war provide an explanation for Coca-Cola's boom. One year after 1933, Coke's output had already more than doubled to 234,000 cases. This was no coincidence.

There were striking parallels between the Coca-Cola GmbH and the nation at large. Firstly, the business of Coca-Cola and the Reich was guided by similar-minded (and similar-looking) people: In Coke's case, the name of the man now in charge was Max Keith (pronounced Kite). According to the testimony of former employees, Keith's charisma and uncompromising nature invited more than one analogy to the Adolf Hitler. "He was a born leader and very charismatic," claims one. "You liked to work for him although he was almost a slave driver . . . . Oh, yes, I was scared of him. We all were, even aides who were older." Still, so the witness concludes, most of his followers "would have died for this man." Keith's own words definitely betray the fanatic in him: "I was full of activity and enthusiasm," he reported in 1963, "and the thing which then took possesion of all that was in me and which . . . has never lost its hold on me, was Coca-Cola. From then on and to all eternity, I was tied to this product for better and for worse."

It was mostly for the better that Keith was tied to Coke, because, as he himself recognized, "time marched with us." To quote Felix Gilbert, "At the time the Nazis took over, recovery from the recession was beginning" and Germany was economically prospering. The Nazis, through a massive public works system, which included "the construction of the systems of Autobahns, and . . . providing industry with armament contracts," were determined to keep the upward swing going and Germans content.

Economic prosperity, however, as catchwords like public works and infrastructure programs reveal, also meant the continued Americanization of Germany's economy under Hitler. Indeed, the dictator himself seems to have welcomed America's efficient methods of production. Hitler was, for instance, a proponent of mass-consumption, as shown by his statement from September 1941: "Frugality is the enemy of progress. Therein we we are similar to the Americans, that we are fastidious." Detlev Peukert underlines Hitler's pro- American stance, arguing that, not unlike the U.S., the Third Reich consciously aimed to represent "the dawning of the new achievement-orientated consumer society based on the nuclear family, upward mobility, mass media, leisure and an interventionist welfare state [. . .]."

The Nazis were thus not anti-modernists, but, according to Peukert, "Agrarian romanticism notwithstanding, [. . .] fostered enthusiasm for modern technology, not only because it needed it as part of its armoury for conquering Lebensraum, but also because the toughness, frictionless functionality and efficiency of the machine matched the ideal of the fighter and the soldier, the man hard as Krupp steel." Interestingly, Peukert assumes that the man "hard as Krupp steel" liked to quench his thirst with Coca-Cola, for in the same paragraph he mentions that "Even Coca-Cola consumption rose significantly in Germany in the thirties."

In other words, that Coca-Cola had tied its fortunes to the thirst of industrial workers paid out now, for the increasingly busy workers needed the pause that refreshed more than ever. The destruction of the trade unions resulted in longer working hours and Coke's chairman Max Keith himself recognized that "The requirements of the people were much higher than in the past . . . . They had to work harder, had to work faster, the technical equipment they had to handle required soberness." What soda could do a better job than a deliciously refreshing Coca-Cola?

Beside its industrial connection, modernization and newfound wealth opened additional avenues for Coke: refrigeration steadily invaded German households throughout the thirties which made home-consumption possible, whereas the massive infrastructure programs and the ensuing infatuation with the automobile allowed Coke to sell its products along Germany's vast network of new highways (see appendix). With the Company's dependency on restaurants removed, expansion proved limitless.

Coca-Cola's success was thus based on the needs of a modernizing and economically prospering totalitarian state. It was a stroke of luck that for strategy-purposes the company could consult with the Atlanta headquarters and imitate some of the New Deal ad campaigns pertinent to the German experience. This, however, is where the analogies with the United States must end, for it should be emphasized that neither Germany nor the Coca-Cola GmbH in Essen were turning distincly American under the Nazis. Far from it, Nazi- ideology thrived on a xenophobia that did not spare the U.S. and while Hitler might have been jealous of the efficieny of the U.S. economy, he was nevertheless rabidly anti-American in all other respects.

He openly described the United States as a "deeply lazy country full of racial problems and social inequities. . .", stating that his "feelings for America are full of hatred and antipathy; half Jewish, half negro and everything based on the dollar . . . Americans have the brain of a chicken. This land is a house of cards with an unequal standard of living. Americans live like swines, even if in a very luxurious pigsty."

During the 21 years of its existence in Germany, the producers of Coca-Cola could have easily constructed a mammouth concern. . . . with its own bottling plants, packaging, ice box producers, its own storage spaces, advertising companies and printing presses. They didn't do so but instead passed all contracts along to independent industries.

But Coke was not above moving behind the scenes and handing out bribes when their policy of limited greed failed to calm down xenophobic nazi-officials. Thus was the case when Hermann Goering in 1936 introduced a Four-Year Plan, which restricted imports to a bare minimum in order to make Germany self-sufficient and ready for war. When Coke's main lawyer could not convince the authorities that Coca-Cola was a German business which deserved government support, the company announced that it would from now on produce all of the concentrate's elements, with the exception of Merchandise No.5 and 7X, within Germany. When even this show of goodwill did not suffice to sway the government into granting an import exemption, the company turned to a frantic pulling of strings behind the scenes, which seems to have included a bribe for Goering. Coca-Cola gained the needed import license and saved itself from impending doom.

Coke's readiness to strike deals points to the second pillar of Coke's survival strategy which had a lot to do with the leadership of Max Keith, "the quintessential Coca-Cola man and Nazi-collaborator." Simply put, his strategy was to please the Nazis whenever possible and through whatever means necessary.

An abundance of examples shows how Coke's advertising supported the Third Reich. Hans Dieter Schaefer reports, for instance, that after the aggressive news broadcast by the Reichsrundfunk, silly advertising jingles propagating the evangelium of refreshment were next. Coke ads deliberately sought the close contact to the men in power. This meant that when the cover of a magazine sported a picture of the Fuehrer, chances were good that a Coke advertisement would grace the back of that cover. Even when visitors streamed into the Sportpalast to listen to one of Dr. Goebbels' infamous speeches, they had to pass by a large billboard urging them to drink "Coca-Cola eiskalt."

Max Keith left out no opportunity to ingratiate himself with Germany's leaders. Coca-Cola was one of the three official beverage sponsors with a Getraenkedienst (beverage service) at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, and thus participated in an event the Nazis deliberately exploited to celebrate Germany's return to power and status. Moreover, to quote Ralph Willett, "By servicing the Olympices, Coca-Cola associated itself with the modernity of media technology, in the form of microphones, transmitter vans, and cameras for (respectively) radio broadcasts [. . .]. It was true that "the emphasis on sport [. . .] was in line with curent cultural ideology epitomized by the Berlin Olympics." Athletic competition was a Nazi ideal and the Coca-Cola GmbH cashed in heavily on this infatuation by becoming one of the biggest sponsors of sports events, most notably the annual Deutschlandrundfahrt (National Bycicle Championships) and the Soccer Cup.

In 1937, Keith succeeded in taking Coca-Cola literally into the heart of nazism. The occasion was the Reichsausstellung Schaffendes Volk, or Reich "A Working People" Exhibit. In this industrial exhibition reserved to the companies most loyal to the new order, the Coca-Cola GmbH, according to Mark Pendergrast, set up a functioning bottling plant, with a "miniature train carting Kinder beneath it, [. . .] at the very center of the fair, adjacent to the Propaganda Office."

The strategy of direct association with Nazi-leaders or of lending support to events propagandized by nazi-ideology sent a powerful subliminal message to both consumers and government by signaling that Coca-Cola was on Germany's side. Sometimes, however, it took a little more than that and it is interesting to note the circumstances under which Coca- Cola transgressed the boundaries of political neutrality in a more open show of support of the Nazis.

A flagrant example for such a transgression can be found in the October 1938 issue of the army-magazine Die Wehrmacht printed up to celebrate the annexation of the Sudetenland. In this (unfortunately unavailable) ad, Hans- Dieter Schaefer reports that a hand holds out a Coke bottle in front of a world map underlined by the caption Ja, Coca-Cola hat Weltruf (Yes, Coca-Cola enjoys international reputation) that goes on stating that `of the forty million automobilists from all over the world increasing attention is demanded,' which is the reason why they 'like to take advantage of the "pause that refreshes."' Schaefer quite correctly remarks that "this ad aimed at German soldiers and mixed a global point of view with a technologic-athletic perspective", but fails to point out the cynical effect of such a global point of view in a magazine dedicated to the glorification of Germany's recent annexations.

That such aggressive advertisements had become necessary was in part the result of the slanderous activities of Karl Flach, the boss of Afri-Cola. Intent on driving out the foreign competitor, Flach in 1936 began circulating flyers depicting Coca-Cola bottle caps from the U.S. with Hebrew inscriptions.

Although the inscriptions were nothing but an indication that Coke was kosher, the flyers claimed to prove that Coca-Cola was a Jewish company.

The damage was terrific and never quite contained as both the flyers and the rumor of Coke's Jewish owners continued to circulate over the years.

However, sales figures prove that most of the impact was only temporary and due to the bad publicity generated when, as Mark Pendergrast rightly asserts, "Nazi Party Headquarters hastily canceled their orders."

Pendergrast seems to be wrong, however, when he claims that "the entire business was in jeopardy" because the Atlanta headquarters had forbidden Keith "to print defensive literature." If Keith had been given such an order, he disregarded it, for he knew just like Coke's company lawyer Walter Oppenhof that nobody outside Germany "could have any conception" of the scope of the problem. Coca-Cola thus did attempt to regain status in the eyes of Germany's rulers by placing several ads denouncing the anti-semitic accusations in the Stuermer, the official Nazi publication renowned for its vicious attacks against Jews. These ads did not go unnoticed in the United States and produced angry headlines claiming that "Coca-Cola Finances Hitler."

It seems as if the only principle that the Coca-Cola GmbH never betrayed in its history of wheeling and dealing under the Nazis was the product itself.

The company fought the Nazi-bureaucracy tooth and nail to keep Coca-Cola unchanged after the Ministry of Economics in 1939 passed out rules demanding that bottles conform to a metric standard based on decimals.

Since the Coke bottle contained 180 cubic centimeters instead of 200, the Nazis promptly halted the production of new bottles, showing little understanding for the argument that the production of different-sized bottles would constitute an unacceptable drain on Germany's scarce glas resources.

Not surprisingly, the company found an ingenious and unscrupulous solution. With the help of Reinhard Spitzy, a well-connected former high official in the German Foreign Office, Coca-Cola manouvred to take advantage of the situation in the recently annexed Sudetenland, where German laws, including the packaging regulations, did not fully apply yet.

Spitzy recounts that when he asked the Gauleiter (District Leader) how the local glas industry was coping with the international embargo imposed on all German products after the annexation of Czechoslovakia, he received the answer: "My dear Party Comrade Spitzy, the situation of the glas industry is absolutely shitty, the machines run only a few hours a day." When Spitzy told him how unfortunate this was given that "the international company Coca-Cola urgently needs millions and millions of new bottles," the Gauleiter reacted predictably by engineering an import exemption for Coca-Cola bottles manufactured in the Sudetenland.

While this exemption could be regarded as the result of a successful act of opposition against the Nazi bureaucracy, one should not exaggerate the heroism in Coke's stand: by helping the Sudetendeutsche industries back on its feet, the Coca-Cola GmbH supported the Nazi-government in circumventing an international embargo designed to cripple its rule.

Stories like these illustrate how Coca-Cola achieved its success under the Nazis. Simply put, the Coca-Cola GmbH and the Nazis needed one another.

The former took advantage of the latter's economic and territorial expansionism, while the latter needed modern companies like Coca-Cola as role-models for mass-production. Underlying these overlapping interests was an undeniable ideological affinity that kept the relationship strong. The tale of the March 1938 concessionaire convention sums up best what is meant here. While Max Keith presided over the 1,500 people in attendance, German soldiers stormed across the Austrian border to execute the Anschluss. Mark Pendergrast's description of the event leaves no doubt that the swastika and the Coca-Cola logo rested next to each other comfortably.

Behind the main table, a huge banner proclaimed, in German, `Coca-Cola is the world-famous trademark for the unique product of the Coca-Cola GmbH.' Directly below, three gigantic swastikas stood out, black on red. At the main table, Max Keith sat surrounded by his deputies, another swastika draped in front of him.

Although acknowledging glorious past efforts, Keith urged his workers to forge onward into the future, never to be content until every citizen was a Coke consumer. "We know we will reach our goal only if we muster all our power in a total effort," he said. "Our marvelous drink has the power of endurance to continue this march to success." [. . .] The meeting closed with a "ceremonial pledge" to Coca-Cola and a ringing, three-fold "Sieg-Heil" to Hitler. Coca-Cola ?ber alles.

Given this overtly enthusiastic embrace of the Nazis, the fact that the Coca-Cola GmbH survived the oncoming war seems more a logical conclusion to this paper than a surprise in need of an explanation. Despite all the difficulties inherent in Coke's rise, by the time war broke out, Coke's situation was so secure that Max Keith could get himself "appointed to the Office of Enemy Property to supervise all soft drink plants, both in Germany and the captured teritory. As German troops overran Europe, Keith and Oppenhof followed, assisting and taking over the Coca-Cola businesses in Italy, France, Holland, Luxembourg, Belgium and Norway." Even that the war had cut off the supply of 7X and Merchandise #5 proved unimportant. Keith and his men countered by inventing Fanta to see them through the war, and thus created a success that still reverberates throughout the corners of the world where local bottling companies fill Fanta bottles.

Although it must be noted in all fairness that the Coca- Cola GmbH only in rare instances directly endorsed the Nazis, it is still a fact that the Coca-Cola GmbH went beyond mere opportunism to stay alive. Coca-Cola was part of the Nazi state. Should this paper have proven inadequate in pointing this out, plenty of other sources can. The survivors of the forced labourers kidnapped from the conquered territories will testify to that. Some of them were sent to work for Max Keith's Coca-Cola GmbH.

THE INDEPENDENT
http://www.sanderswood.com/viewer.cgi/press/press_images/20040526_coke_ind.2.jpg.html

No laughing matter: comedian advertises Coca-Cola's 'Nazi" past
By Ciar Byrne, Media Correspondent
26 May 2004

Coca-Cola adverts are to be found in the farthest corners of the globe promoting a happy, wholesome image, but now they are the subject of a new exhibition which links the soft drinks giant with Nazi Germany.

The comedian Mark Thomas and the artist Tracey Sanders-Wood, who curated the art show Coca-Cola's Nazi Adverts, which opened in central London yesterday, say the company advertised in Nazi papers, exhibited at Nazi trade fairs and opened bottling plants in Sudetenland shortly after the Nazis invaded Czechoslavia.

Coca-Cola has rejected any suggestion that it sympathised with the Nazi regime, although it admits it operated in Germany while Hitler was in power.

Artists and members of the public with artistic aspirations were invited to contribute to the exhibition. Their brief was to imagine Coca-Cola's adverts in Nazi Germany. Mr Thomas said: "Coke exists through advertising. That's why people drink the stuff. You can't escape it. What we wanted to do was to create an exhibition which made people think again every time they reached for a Coke.

"It's a very democratic exhibition. I mentioned it after gigs and we set up a website. If a work is submitted, it will be exhibited."

Images in the exhibition, which will include more than 400 pieces when it moves to the Foundry in east London next month, feature Coca-Cola symbols - the company's slogan and the Coke bottle - combined with Nazi slogans, propaganda and pictures of Adolf Hitler.

Predictably, it has not gone down well at Coca-Cola. "We reject out of hand the suggestion that as a company Coca-Cola ever sympathised in any way with the abhorrent acts or policies of the Nazi regime in Germany," said Tim Wilkinson, communications director for Coca-Cola Great Britain. "That is an unwarranted insult toward every person working for our company."

Coca-Cola has donated money to help those who were involved in forced labour during the Nazi years in Austria and Germany, but Mr Wilkinson said this was good corporate practice and not an admission of guilt.

Richard Niman, whose sculpture portraying Hitler as a little girl holding a doll has been on display at the Imperial War Museum in London since 1990, is involved with the project. He believes that focusing on Coca-Cola's past gives the show wider appeal. "You have to pick something big to make it have a more universal context. Hopefully it will embarrass Coca-Cola," he said.

Thomas, known for his attacks on the Government and on corporate Britain, has been compared with the American Michael Moore. He uses stand-up gigs and his Channel 4 show to decry miscarriages of justice and oppression.

He has forced the former armed forces minister Nicholas Soames to display a family heirloom, a mahogany three-tier buffet, at Christie's in London, under a law that made works of art available to the nation in lieu of inheritance tax, and has driven a tank into a McDonald's "drive-thru" restaurant.

He has also has set up an exhibition of contaminated sea- gull droppings at the Sellafield nuclear centre, and went to the Athens arms fair in 1998 posing as a PR consultant and encouraging dealers to put on a media-friendly spin.

Thomas's concerns centre on Coca-Cola's actions in Kerala in India, where it has come under fire from courts over water consumption at its bottling plant. Coca-Cola denies that it is responsible for depleted water reserves in the region.

Coca-Cola's Nazi Adverts is on show at the Nancy Victor Basement, 36 Charlotte Street, London W1 until 10 June. The exhibition will then move to the Foundry, 84-86 Great Eastern Street, London EC1.
Posted by Alex Constantine at 9:15 AM 1 comments Links to this post
Monday, July 14, 2008
Re Refuting Alex Constantine
By Alex Constantine

At the fascist propaganda site, The Conservative Voice, "Benyamin Solomon" - the pseudonym of a 17-year-old brainwashee - complains, "Alex Constantine wants to portray me as a right-wing cook."

I have no concern with what young "Ben" does in the kitchen, but in his spare time he demonstrates that he has fallen for the "Islamo-Fascist" hoax perpetrated by the American far-right and the CIA's media persuaders.

"The real Nazis come from the Middle East," he writes.

The real Nazis were funded by seditious American war criminals in league with the German industrial base, with names like Bush, Morgan, Farish, Rockefeller, Pew, Ford - these were more than Nazi sugar daddies, they were self-interested hijackers of the American system. They bankrolled the Nazi war machine and still have us by the throat.

"President Bush is portrayed as a Nazi" by liberals, "Benyamin" complains. No, Bush IS a Nazi - a genocidal, wire-tapping, torturing, cluster-bombing, corporate looting, racist, concentration camp loving Nazi whose CIA father is a known terrorist and whose grandfathers on both sides were collaborators of Hitler.

"Ben" complains that I consider him "hateful." "In reality," he informs us, "the radical Islamist ideology is hateful. To know that, you just have to watch documentaries such as Obsession or the Fox News documentary Radical Islam."

Fox News is a CIA front that promotes genocidal wars and specializes in fascist attitude adjustment. It is propaganda, disinformation, deceit. The network is run by an international criminal.

And Muroch's CIA front programmed my 17-year-old detractor: "Is it me that wants Fascist rule in my country?"

Guess so, if he has turned his mind over to Fox: "I will refute leftists including liberals and the PC system, which is controlled by the left till the very end." Yet my detractor denies hotly that he is Nazified.

"Ben" writes writes that I accused him "of saying that liberals are Nazis. I never said that." But he does say that "liberals whitewash radical Islamists," and if radical Islamists are Nazis, then liberals are Nazi collaborators.

This is the logic of fascist propaganda, and it is found wholesale in the corporate media, an ideological mafia that turns boys like "Ben" into raving, paranoid, wrong-headed fanatics.

"Ben": "How am I hateful? Because I oppose radical Islam and other of America's totalitarian enemies?"

No, because "Ben" is hateful because he supports America's totalitarian leaders, doesn't comprehend that liberals aren't framing Bush with a "Nazi" metaphor - the word is descriptive and loaded with suppressed historical data. Bush IS a Nazi.

"Alex, I'm exposing Fascist and other totalitarian enemies of America."

No, kid. The totalitarian enemies of America are people like William Farish, an Auschwitz heir and close friend of your hero Bush, who bombed innocent Iraqi women and babies under a false pretext, gave the green light to torture and concentration camps. That is not America, "Ben." That is a Nazi paradise.
Posted by Alex Constantine at 8:14 PM 0 comments Links to this post
George W Bush Electronic Surveillance Program is Illegal
11 JULY 2008
WWW.DAILY.PK

On July 3, Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court in California made a ruling particularly worthy of the nation's attention. In Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation Inc. v. Bush, a key case in the epic battle over warrantless spying inside the United States, Judge Walker ruled, effectively, that President George W. Bush is a felon.

Judge Walker held that the president lacks the authority to disregard the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA -- which means Bush's warrantless electronic surveillance program was illegal. ...

The story of how Al-Haramain's lawyers negotiated the journey thus far to Judge Walker's ruling -- a team of seven lawyers that includes me -- sheds light on how much is at stake for the Bush administration and the country. It is a surreal saga, involving a top-secret document accidentally released by the government, a showdown between Bush lawyers and a federal judge, the violent destruction of a laptop computer by government agents, and possibly even the top-secret shredding of a banana peel.

Call me Alice -- because this is a tale directly from Government Secrecy Wonderland, the bizarre and unnerving adventures of suing President Bush for apparently violating a federal law. I'll swear under penalty of perjury that what follows is true and correct. Otherwise, you might not even believe it.

The secret document

FISA requires a warrant for electronic surveillance inside the U.S. for intelligence gathering. President George W. Bush secretly violated FISA for nearly six years, starting shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. FISA makes those violations felonious and provides for civil liability to the victims. I am one of seven lawyers in Oregon and California representing three of those victims in Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation Inc. v. Bush, a civil lawsuit against the president.

The plaintiffs are Al-Haramain -- a defunct Islamic charity based in Oregon -- and two lawyers who represented Al-Haramain in 2004 during proceedings by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to declare Al-Haramain a terrorist organization, the primary consequence of which was to freeze its assets. (This effectively put the organization out of business.) Of the four dozen lawsuits challenging various aspects of Bush's warrantless electronic surveillance program, the Al-Haramain case is unique because we have proof that our clients were actually wiretapped and thus can satisfy the legal requirement of "standing," or grounds to sue -- meaning we can show they were victims of the unlawful conduct for which they are suing. Nobody else has been able to produce such proof.

Our proof is a top-secret classified document, which the government accidentally gave to Al-Haramain's lawyers in August of 2004. We call it "the Document." It appeared in a stack of unclassified materials that the lawyers had requested from OFAC. Six weeks later, after the government realized its blunder, FBI agents personally visited each of the lawyers and made them return their copies of the Document. But the agents made no effort to retrieve copies that the lawyers had given to two members of Al-Haramain's board of directors, who lived outside the United States.

I can't publicly reveal what's in the Document because, well, it's a secret. I would be committing a crime -- a violation of the Espionage Act of 1917 -- if I were to do so. But we assert the Document as proof of allegations we have made that in March and April of 2004 the National Security Agency conducted warrantless electronic surveillance of attorney-client communications between a representative of Al-Haramain and two of its attorneys, and that in May of 2004 the NSA gave logs of those surveilled communications to OFAC.

The FBI vs. the judge

Along with the complaint (the formal pleading that starts a lawsuit), which we filed in February of 2006 in the Oregon federal District Court, we submitted the Document. The government's first response was to try to seize the Document from the court. On March 17, 2006, as we were holding our first all-hands meeting of the Al-Haramain legal team in Portland, we received a telephone call from a Department of Justice attorney, advising us that FBI agents were en route to the federal District Court building to confiscate the Document. We immediately lodged a protest with the assigned judge, Garr King, who scheduled an emergency telephone conference with him and all counsel. The FBI agents retreated.

During the emergency hearing, DOJ attorney Anthony Coppolino demanded that the Document be turned over to the FBI for storage in a top-secret repository called a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility, or SCIF. To my astonishment, Judge King responded: "What if I say I will not deliver it to the FBI, Mr. Coppolino?" A clash of constitutional powers was brewing. Agents of the executive branch were threatening to invade the files of the judicial branch. The judge was resisting, almost daring them to.

It was the executive branch that blinked. After a pause, Coppolino said: "Well, your Honor, we obviously don't want to have any kind of a confrontation with you; we want to work this out." We all agreed that the Document would be held in a nearby SCIF to which Judge King would have free access.

This was the beginning of a bizarre journey that has not yet ended. Since then, for nearly two and a half years, we have been attempting to use the Document to confirm our clients' standing to sue under FISA and thus test the legality of President Bush's warrantless surveillance program. More broadly, we want the courts to discredit the so-called unitary executive theory of presidential power, which holds that the president has exclusive authority over matters of national security and may disregard laws like FISA that impose checks on presidential power. First, however, we have had to get past a major obstacle used by the Bush administration to stand in our way.

The state secrets privilege

The state secrets privilege, which is rooted in a 1953 Supreme Court case, allows the government to refuse in civil lawsuits to disclose classified evidence that is a state or military secret. In extreme cases, where the very subject matter of the lawsuit is secret, the lawsuit may be thrown out entirely.

Soon after the Document's place of reposit was resolved, the government asked Judge King to throw out our lawsuit pursuant to the state secrets privilege, a tactic used aggressively by the Bush government. We opposed that request, arguing that the Document isn't a secret any longer, since we and our clients have seen it. The government attorneys insisted that the Document is still a secret no matter who knows about it, and further insisted that the warrantless surveillance program itself remains secret -- never mind that the New York Times revealed the program in December of 2005 and soon thereafter the president publicly admitted its existence.

By this time, in a burst of healthy paranoia, we had destroyed all our copies of the Document, and the government wouldn't give us access to the copy held in the SCIF. What would Judge King do? It's no small thing for a judge to take on the president in matters of national security. Judge King came up with a compromise: In a ruling issued on Sept. 7, 2006, he denied the government's request, but also denied us access to the copy in the SCIF. Instead, he said, we could proceed to demonstrate standing by filing secret affidavits describing the Document from memory.

Laptop lunacy

The government lawyers appealed Judge King's ruling to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. But they blundered: They failed to file an immediate request to suspend the lower court proceedings that Judge King had authorized -- our showing of standing with secret affidavits describing the Document from memory. For two months we quietly worked on our written showing. By the end of October, having completed most of the drafting, all we had left to do was prepare our secret affidavits describing the Document from memory, along with a short supplemental secret brief explaining how the affidavits established standing. On Oct. 27, 2006, I flew to Portland from my home in Oakland, laptop computer in hand, to finish the work with co-counsel. The Oregon attorneys prepared the secret affidavits; I wrote the supplemental secret brief on my laptop. Three days later, we filed our documents with the district court.

The government attorneys were enraged. We'd caught them off guard. They wrote to Judge King and requested an immediate hearing, arguing we had prepared our secret papers and taken them to the courthouse without complying with CIA directives that require certain top secret documents to be "carried only in approved containers by authorized couriers" and "transmitted electronically only through 'specially designated and accredited communications circuits secured by an NSA-approved cryptographic system and/or protected distribution systems.'"

In fact, we'd only done what Judge King had said we could do. In a responding letter to the judge, we also pointed out that CIA directives don't apply to us because we aren't CIA employees. Nevertheless, in another moment of fear, we destroyed our drafts and notes for the secret filings. We no longer had copies of the secret documents we had filed.

During a short hearing, Judge King absolved us of wrongdoing but ordered that, in the future, we would have to confer with the DOJ attorneys before preparing secret filings. At the end of the hearing, the government attorneys demanded that we relinquish any electronic versions of the secret documents we had filed. The judge ordered all counsel to confer on this, too, and "see what you can work out." These two orders set the stage for some of the most bizarre experiences of my 29-year legal career.

Judge King suspended further proceedings on the standing issue until the pending 9th Circuit appeal was decided. That took nearly a year, during which time all of the four dozen cases nationwide challenging various aspects of the warrantless surveillance program were consolidated and transferred to the federal District Court in San Francisco for decision by a single judge, Vaughn Walker.

Meanwhile, the government attorneys demanded that we give them our computers to enable DOJ technicians to "wipe" the computers clean of any electronic remnants of secret material that might remain somewhere in the computers' hard drives. Because of attorney-client confidentiality considerations, we refused, proposing instead to do the wiping ourselves in whatever manner the government technicians suggested. We weren't about to let the DOJ go rummaging through our files. Negotiations on the "wiping" logistics dragged on throughout the winter.

Briefing blind

Come spring, we turned our attention to the 9th Circuit appeal, where the appellate court would decide whether the state secrets privilege required our lawsuit to be thrown out entirely. In June of 2007, the DOJ attorneys filed two opening briefs in the 9th Circuit. One brief was publicly available, to which we would be allowed to file a publicly available responsive brief. The other was filed in secret, under seal, for the judge's eyes only. The bad news for us was that we would not be permitted to see the government's secret brief; the (sort of) good news was that we could file our own secret brief in response.

Rebutting arguments you've not been allowed to see is a talent that isn't taught in law school. I consulted Kafka's "The Trial," looking for helpful tips, but found none. I tried guessing at what might be in the government's secret brief and then hazarding a response in our own. Because of Judge King's prior order, we had to confer with the DOJ attorneys on the logistics of how to do this secret filing.

The government attorneys referred us to DOJ employee Erin Hogarty, a Washington-based member of the DOJ's Litigation Security Section. I contacted Hogarty and said I needed to confer with her and review the documents we had filed under seal with Judge King the prior year. We made arrangements to meet at the federal courthouse in San Francisco on June 15, 2007.

Hogarty and I convened in a windowless interior room adjacent to Judge Walker's chambers. She had brought our previous secret filings with her. She set me up in the room with the filings, took my cellphone from me, instructed me that I could take no notes either then or later, and then left me alone while she sat outside the closed door. After a while, I called Hogarty back into the room and we discussed the logistics for drafting the secret appellate court filing.

Hogarty instructed me that the drafting session would take place in the DOJ's San Francisco offices under her supervision. I told her that, in addition to myself, I wanted another member of our Oregon legal team to attend the session. Before I even told her who I wanted, she volunteered "not Tom Nelson." A key member of the team, Nelson had helped prepare the affidavits we had filed the previous October and had hand-carried them to the courthouse. Hogarty said that Nelson had been "uncooperative," which I took to refer to strong objections he had voiced to the DOJ rummaging through his computer files. Hogarty then named one of our other Oregon team members -- Steven Goldberg -- as the only other attorney who could participate in the drafting session.

We chose a date: June 26, 2007. She then laid out ground rules: I could not prepare any advance notes that contained any classified information. I could not discuss any classified information over the telephone with Goldberg prior to the drafting session. Goldberg and I could only discuss the drafting "face to face" -- which was a problem, since I was in Oakland and he was in Portland. We would be put in a room at the DOJ's San Francisco offices, where we would be loaned a government computer on which to work.

The telltale banana peel

On the morning of June 26, Goldberg and I met Hogarty in the lobby of the San Francisco federal building. She took us through a locked door and into the DOJ offices, on a floor that was strangely deserted. She ushered us into a small interior room lined with bookshelves that had been completely emptied, except for a few chairs, a large table, a dusty telephone, a laptop computer and a printer. She took our cellphones.

At that point, we brought up the subject of Tom Nelson. Goldberg told Hogarty that we wanted to be able to telephone Nelson on a secure line during the drafting session, or, alternatively, have him fly down from Portland immediately to join us personally. Hogarty politely refused. Goldberg asked on whose instructions she was acting, and she named one of the DOJ attorneys, Andrew Tannenbaum -- although, as she put it, Tannenbaum had received the instructions from "higher up."

We went forward without Nelson, drafting our secret appellate brief in a DOJ office, on a DOJ computer, under the watch of a DOJ security officer -- that is, under the auspices and control of our adversary in the legal case. We could print out drafts but couldn't take them from the room; instead, we were to leave the drafts on the table to be shredded by Hogarty later. When the brief was done, we were to print out five copies: one for each of the three judges on the panel that would decide the appeal, one for the DOJ attorneys and one to be put in a special safe under Hogarty's supervision. She would personally give the judges their copies, which nobody else -- not the court clerks, not the judges' staff attorneys -- would be permitted to see. We would not be allowed to keep a copy of what we had written; the brief in Hogarty's safe was "our" copy.

Hogarty explained that anything we wrote down that contained classified information, then or later, would instantly become "derivatively classified" and thus unlawful for us to possess. I wondered whether this meant that the portion of my brain that remembers the Document is also "derivatively classified," making its presence in my skull unlawful.

Goldberg and I spent about three hours writing our response to the secret government brief we had not been allowed to see. I produced an initial draft without using notes. Goldberg edited and added to my draft, then I reedited, and so on. We took the brief through several drafts, printing out hard copies to work from as we went along. As lunchtime approached, I got hungry, which Goldberg mentioned to Hogarty during a bathroom break. Hogarty kindly offered me a banana. When we returned to our drafting, I ate the banana and set the peel alongside our stack of hard-copy drafts.

Finally, we printed out five copies of our finished brief, which I laid on the table alongside the stack of drafts and the banana peel, and I called for Hogarty. I told her: "Here's everything, even the banana peel." Hogarty said she would shred the drafts and the banana peel. (She may have been joking about the banana peel, but I couldn't be sure.) She returned our cellphones to us and escorted us out of the building into the San Francisco sunlight.

We submitted our 9th Circuit briefs on July 3, 2007. In the publicly available brief, we argued that the state secrets privilege shouldn't apply to the Al-Haramain case for several reasons. Among them was the Document's accidental disclosure to the plaintiffs, which meant the surveillance of them was no longer a secret. We also argued that we only want to use the Document to confirm the previously disclosed fact of the surveillance, and not to reveal any of its operational details, so the lawsuit did not threaten national security.

I can't reveal, of course, what we argued in our secret brief. The government subsequently filed a secret reply brief -- which we weren't allowed to see.

The court scheduled a hearing on the appeal for Aug. 15, 2007. At the same time, the court would hear oral arguments in a lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) against telecommunications carrier AT&T, challenging AT&T's wholesale disclosure of its customers' e-mail and telephone records to the government as part of the warrantless surveillance program.

The attack of the Samsonite Gorillas

On Aug. 8, 2007 -- more than nine months after I'd drafted the secret supplemental brief we'd filed with Judge King -- the DOJ people came to "wipe" my laptop clean of any electronic remnants of the brief. We'd finally agreed on the logistics: Erin Hogarty would bring a DOJ technician from Washington, D.C., and we'd meet in the windowless room adjacent to Judge Walker's chambers in San Francisco, where the technician would do the deed in my presence. It turned out to be more of a "whacking" than a "wiping."

Hogarty brought someone she introduced simply as "Miguel." By this time, alas, my laptop, which was old, was in its death throes. After Miguel tried logging onto the laptop and encountered fatal errors, he pronounced it dead. Hogarty asked me whether it would be OK if they physically destroyed the hard drive. I'd bought a new laptop and had managed to retrieve from the old one everything that I cared about, so I agreed.

They had brought no tools with them. Hogarty was about to canvass the building for a screwdriver, but I had a pending meeting elsewhere, so Miguel made do by fashioning a crude implement from the metal clip of his pen. He pried the back cover off the computer and removed the hard drive and memory board.

The situation grew darkly comic. They didn't have a hammer, so they started debating how to smash the hard drive. I suggested they smack it against the corner of the table that was in the room. That didn't do much. Hogarty then had an idea to put the thing on the floor and use a table leg on it. Miguel put down the hard drive, picked up the table and brought it down several times forcefully. The noise resounded, but the hard drive was impervious. One of the table legs became bent from the procedure.

Next, Miguel tried attacking the hard drive with his homemade tool. Soon he'd managed to pry off the hard drive cover and commenced scratching at the components. Meanwhile, Hogarty took the memory board and began banging on it on the floor with a chair leg. The memory board was weaker than the hard drive and cracked in several places. Then she held the memory board in her hands and tried bending it, but Miguel stopped her, warning that he'd seen someone get cut badly doing that -- evidently they'd done this sort of thing before.

I found myself thinking of the Samsonite Gorilla, the TV commercial from the 1970s in which a gorilla stomps on a piece of luggage that just won't break. I thought: "These people are entrusted with our national security?"

Eventually they managed to turn two shiny pieces of technology into about 20 jagged pieces of junk. Miguel started to throw the pieces into the wastebasket, but I asked if I could keep them -- a dark memento of sorts -- and he agreed.

As for my colleagues' computers, Hogarty and Miguel made a separate trip to Oregon, where they destroyed one of Portland attorney Zaha Hassan's Zip disks. They checked Goldberg's computer but apparently didn't find what they were looking for and left his hard drive intact. Nelson resisted all efforts to get at his electronic files, telling the DOJ attorneys that if they wanted access to his computer they would have to get a court order. They made no effort to do so.

Arguing gagged

A week later, I was arguing the case before a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. Hogarty told me beforehand that if I said anything during the hearing that risked a public disclosure of classified information, she would stop the proceedings and clear the courtroom, suggesting I would likely suffer unspecified but unpleasant consequences.

In the middle of my argument, Judge Margaret McKeown asked me what information we needed from the Document to demonstrate our clients' standing to sue under FISA. I was at a loss. When Judge McKeown pressed me, I said: "I cannot tell you. I have a sealed filing in this case." When she pressed further, I said: "What's in the Document, I cannot mention it today." This was not my most eloquent moment as a lawyer.

Then, DOJ attorney Thomas Bondy stood at the lectern and delivered a mind-boggling rebuttal to our argument that the surveillance of our clients was no longer a secret.

"They don't know," Bondy said. "Let me make clear what I mean by that. When plaintiffs explain what they mean when they say they, in quotes, 'know,' they don't know. What they mean when they say that is that they -- although they think or believe or claim they were surveilled, it's possible they weren't surveilled ... When they say they know, what they mean by that, on their own terms, is that they don't know."

Bondy went on to argue "it is absolutely clear and undisputed that the world at large, the whole world, does not know whether or not any of the plaintiffs were surveilled." This incredible exchange ensued:

Judge McKeown: The world knows what they think they know, whatever that is that they know.

Bondy: Exactly. And that's less than actually knowing whether it's true.

Judge McKeown: Boy, we are really splitting the "knows."

At this point Judge Michael Hawkins interjected: "Sounds like Donald Rumsfeld."

Bondy: But your honor, let me be plain. If it's entirely possible, and I'm not saying one way or the other, obviously --

Judge McKeown: Right, because you don't yet know.

Bondy: It's entirely possible --

Judge McKeown: And we can't know.

Bondy: It's entirely possible that everything they think they know, just to give one example, is completely false. It's possible, or maybe it's partly true.

And so on. If I'd been permitted a reply, I would have quoted from Lewis Carroll -- not from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," but from his poem "Jabberwocky": "Beware the jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!"

Endgame?

The 9th Circuit issued its ruling on Nov. 16, 2007, reversing Judge King's decision and sending the case back to Judge Walker for further proceedings. The appellate court ruled that if the state secrets privilege applies to the Al-Haramain lawsuit, it must be thrown out because the Document is indeed a state secret, regardless of its accidental disclosure to the plaintiffs, and because public disclosure of information concerning the Document would threaten national security. Judge King's compromise of allowing us to file affidavits describing the Document from memory was, the appellate court said, an improper "back door around the privilege." But the appellate court also ordered Judge Walker to decide whether FISA preempts the state secrets privilege in FISA litigation because of provisions in FISA for adjudicating claims under secure and confidential procedural conditions, which would allow our lawsuit to go forward.

Judge Walker's decision last week was a major victory for us. Walker concluded that FISA does indeed preempt the state secrets privilege. More broadly, he addressed the key issue raised by our lawsuit -- the validity of the "unitary executive" theory -- and said what we've been long awaiting: that the president does not have unbridled power to disregard federal statutory law in the name of national security. According to Judge Walker, "the authority to protect national security information is neither exclusive nor absolute in the executive branch. When Congress acts to contravene the president's authority, federal courts must give effect to what Congress has required."

But the ruling also sends us back down the rabbit hole once again. Judge Walker further held that, because of the peculiar way in which the applicable FISA provisions are written, we can't use the Document to confirm our clients' wiretapping until we first make some sort of preliminary showing -- using only non-classified information -- of "enough specifics" indicating that our clients were wiretapped. Only that could lead to a ruling giving us standing -- a burden Walker suggested might be "insurmountable." According to Walker, "if reports are to be believed," we will have "little difficulty" establishing standing once we are able to use the Document. But we can't use it yet. At this point, the Document alone just gives us what Walker called "actual but not useful notice" of our clients' unlawful surveillance. We need something more, from non-classified information, for that "actual" notice to become "useful."

In other words, we must show that our clients were surveilled before we can show that our clients were surveilled. The irony in this is not lost on Judge Walker, who commented that FISA is "not user-friendly."

Judge Walker gave us 30 days to restructure our complaint to make our preliminary case -- based on non-classified information -- for using the Document to confirm our clients' surveillance. We're grateful for the opportunity. We even think we can do it, using bits and pieces of non-classified information that has been revealed about the warrantless surveillance program and the terrorist designation of Al-Haramain in the 28 months since we commenced the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Congress is on the verge of killing the pending lawsuits against the telecommunications carriers with a grant of retroactive immunity from liability. The 9th Circuit has not yet decided the AT&T case, evidently waiting to see whether Congress gives the carriers retroactive immunity. Other lawsuits against the government have been thrown out or are in danger of being thrown out for lack of standing -- since the plaintiffs in those cases have no proof that they were actual victims of the warrantless surveillance program. The Al-Haramain case is likely to become the last -- the only remaining hope for a determination of the legality of the president's extrajudical spying program and for Supreme Court review of the "unitary executive" theory.

It's hardly a secret that the Al-Haramain plaintiffs were spied upon -- it's been reported in Salon, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and the New Yorker magazine, among others. The reality is that the Al-Haramain case doesn't threaten national security; it threatens only the "unitary executive" theory and the notion that presidents can disregard an act of Congress at their pleasure. Yet we have had to litigate the Al-Haramain case in the shadow of secrecy, where the government wants the case to die quietly -- without a court ruling on whether the president of the United States has broken the law.

We, the members of the Al-Haramain legal team -- Ashlee Albies, Steven Goldberg, Bill Hancock, Zaha Hassan, Tom Nelson and I -- cannot let that happen without fighting to the end.

http://www.daily.pk/world/worldnews/84-worldnews/5543-george-w-bush-electronic-surveillance-program-is-illegal.html
Posted by Alex Constantine at 6:41 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Dispelling the Murkiness of the Corporate Media: The Real News
www.dissidentvoice.org/2008

" ... The participants to the Halifax International Symposium on Media and Disinformation in 2004 ... unanimously declared disinformation to be a crime against humanity and a crime against peace. ... "

by Kim Petersen / July 3rd, 2008

Concomitant to the violence wreaked in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo, and elsewhere around the world by US/western-backed militarism as well as corporate plunder of the destroyed states is the enabling role played by the corporate media in propagandizing and disinforming the public, paving the way for the war crimes. Is the corporate media also culpable? The participants to the Halifax International Symposium on Media and Disinformation in 2004 thought so. They unanimously declared disinformation to be a crime against humanity and a crime against peace.1

In the United States, the propagandizing and disinforming by the corporate media has been systematically enabled by duopoly politicians with the compliance of the Federal Communications Commission, leading to a media monopoly.2 Professors Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky elaborated in great detail, and with myriad examples, how the monopoly media Propaganda Model functions so effectively.3 The upshot and danger of this is that the diversity of views are dependent upon a handful of media owners to find expression — something unlikely to occur when such views are contrary to the interests of the media owners.

Obviously, there is a dire need for a grassroots media that is unbeholden to corporations and the advertising dollar.

Fortunately, there are a number of independent websites that have proliferated as corporate media credibility further wanes. Lacking, however, has been a source of television news. University of Glasgow media researchers, Greg Philo and Mike Berry, acknowledged “the crucial importance of TV news in informing public opinion and the powerful influence it can have on how we see and understand our world.”4


A promising video-based media entrant, however, has appeared on the news scene. The Real News Network aims to provide “independent and uncompromising journalism.”5 Although nascent, the Real News has already covered the Winter Soldier hearings, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, racism and poverty in the United States, the oil industry grab for Iraqi resources, the US-Israel disinformation blitz about Iran’s nuclear program, and much more. Much of this was ignored or marginalized by the corporate media. On 22 May, for instance, there was a great report with Real News journalist Pepe Escobar and, an expert on the US in South Ixachilan (America), Forrest Hylton cutting through the US corporate media disinformation on the Interpol report over the files found on FARC laptops allegedly implicating Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez.6 One would be hard-pressed to find meaningful coverage on this in the corporate media.

The Real News could be the start of what is vitally needed by the news viewing public: news unfettered by corporate interests. Providing insight to the Real News is Geraldine Cahill, a Communications and Volunteer Coordinator at the Real News. She is also a filmmaker and editor, freelancing in documentary production since 2002.

Kim Petersen: I have been following the Real News Network for over a year now, with much interest.7 For the greatest part, it looks really promising. Please give an overview of the development and future plans for the Real News.

Geraldine Cahill: Sure, the Real News came about by the initial business plan was put in place by Paul Jay, the CEO and senior editor here. Paul had been working seven years at a Canadian debate show called Counterspin which played on CBC Newsworld and was very popular for a number of years …

Following that, he had started investigating the writing of a screenplay for a film called 2020 which was basically a look forward at, potentially, the political and social situation in the year 2020 — based on what he could see happening in world politics and in the media, generally.

Then, following the attacks of September 11 and the invasion of Iraq, he saw the capitulation of the corporate media towards government rhetoric and, also, enforcers of the advertising industry on the corporate-led media as well — and saw several journalists with years of experience leaving big newsrooms in frustration and some of them being fired because they wouldn’t tow the company line and decided that he couldn’t just make a film about it … He wanted to start a news network that was free of corporate influence, advertising revenue, and government revenue, so that the newsroom could be freed up to concentrate on telling the story according to the facts and not feel that pressure, whether it’s conscious or unconscious, put on journalists, you know, to alter their stories, or delete certain comments, and whatever it might be.

So, that’s where the idea came from and was in development since 2003 … by 2005 they launched the original website, under the name Independent World Television.

I started working here as a volunteer, actually, not long after that time, and there was a huge response from [the public] to the original website, a very positive response, a much needed voice in the wilderness for many people.

Largely, actually … we just weren’t prepared for the kind of huge explosive support in terms of producing any news content right away … we didn’t produce any content until midway through last year, 2007, and we started the regular production of news stories, and we have been churning along since then — producing somewhere between three to five, sometimes six stories a day about our own content plus partnering with people like the Guardian in the UK, The Hindu in India and places like Alive in Baghdad and more recently, American News Project.

KP: Associated Press.

GC: Associated Press we have a relationship with to use their video content … which we discovered when we started seeing their video content. Obviously, all newsrooms, just about every major news organization around the world that gets AP content sees the same pictures coming in. What we realized was: most users when they use that material will take a five, you know, a five second clip and run that, try to run that, in such a way that changes things to affect what you are seeing.

KP: Sound bite

GC: A sound bite. Exactly, exactly. …

So it is very important to us the way we utilize that AP content. When we first started using that, we sent out that picture while actually calling it Raw News. It is really interesting to see the response just playing out video and sound from all of these countries in the world. People were writing in saying “I’ve never seen this kind of coverage.” It was amazing to hear without journalists not talking over on top of the content…

KP: It was very interesting what you said about not “talking over” because one of the things I really like about the Real News is that when somebody is speaking in a language that’s not English, you don’t have someone talking over what they are saying. So if you could understand Arabic or whatever language it is, you can listen and hear it directly, and there are subtitles for people that don’t understand.

GC: Yes, you know, I think, to some people that is a small thing, but to a lot of people it is a very important that you hear the language from the region that the story is coming. And a lot of emphasis has been placed on getting the stories from the people living and working in the country that the story is coming from. That is a very big focus for us. The more we can do that the better. We still regard ourselves as in development, and we are constantly striving to connect with people that are working in the regions that we are reporting from, so the more relationships we develop, the better really.

KP: You mentioned that the Real News Network runs on a business model. Like any business, it has to break even. There is a BOD. It appears to be a hierarchical model with a chair of the board, CEO, and senior editor. The Real News Network appears to follow a traditional capitalist business model rather than a progressivist, egalitarian model. Is this, in fact, so? And if so, why?

GC: Yes, I agree and obviously disagree on some points there. To some …Yes, there is a board of directors. Yes, it acts in many ways like an editorial committee, so because we are in development we need some structure to make sure that certain things get done. So yes, we do follow a business model in some respect. There needs to be some dominance. It is not a collective, if you like, so I guess that is what you are regarding, a sort of egalitarian model. It is not a collective because just in terms of getting a story out on the day, there is still a need to have a certain level of structure. It is not capitalist in the sense, the word capitalist [pause] you know, [pause] to me, it is such a harsh word. It is a business model but there is not, as I said, the fundamental basis of the structure of the business plan is that there is no government funding; there is no corporate funding; there is no corporate underwriting; and there is no advertising revenue coming in.

What we rely on is donations. And to some degree, the development of the project has relied on some foundations and larger donor funding to get the project to this level. And what we are after now is a crossover of getting away from the reliance on that big donor funding and building the small donor funding, so that we get to a point where the small donor — and by that I mean like $10 or $20 a month, whatever it might be — these people we get to sustain the network. And, what that allows for is; that’s the pressure that we face, pleasing if you like, creating the content that enough people wanna support; I mean, when people ask me how, you know, money influences the newsroom, if you take away all these other pressures, really, the pressure is on us to maintain a certain integrity, to maintain a certain standard of production, so that enough people want to support the network.

If this wasn’t what they were looking for, they would go elsewhere, and there are plenty of places to go online and in print where they can get varying content. That’s the pressure we face: is getting enough people to sustain the network properly. So, to me it is not a capitalist system at all. It might well be a hierarchical structure within the editorial division because that’s the way that stories get put out every day. But, at the same time, there is the invitation for people to submit citizen journalism videos. We have been building to a point where we have a video-sharing community where people can upload their own video, and that will go into the mix. So, as much as there is a hierarchical structure, it is in the newsroom itself to get things out…

KP: As for the donations, does the Real News account publicly for how it spends those donations? And are there preconditions placed on donations?

GC: No, there has never been preconditions placed on donations. That was mainly put in place for large-level donors, that donate significant amounts of money, say $50,000 plus. It was very important to all and to the development committee that no preconditions were on the use of that money because that would also mean that there would be some influence over the newsroom then… That, obviously, allows the newsroom to operate independently. However, having said that, in general, in our messaging and donations page, there are four or five points that we’d like to inject funds in to. People don’t tick off a box and say, I want to donate to the US, the Washington DC bureau. However, we are thinking we could do that, to some degree. But that’d be in general… But we wouldn’t necessarily know, you know, who that person was. It would just be that some money was being channeled into the DC bureau, some money was being channeled into the Canadian bureau, some money was going to climate change … was going to whatever it might, areas that might well be significant news, so that, I don’t believe, compromises the journalists themselves.

KP: On 20 May, I checked the Election ‘08 section of the Real News. It was heavily skewed to the Democrats. Of the 100 video reports I counted there, only one dealt with a candidate outside the political duopoly: that is, the Democrats and Republicans. That was about Ralph Nader announcing his candidacy for US president. Nader is among those who deplore the “two party dictatorship” that manipulates media attention. So I wonder: how does the Real News differ from the corporate media in its overwhelming focus on the political duopoly?

GC: I think you have a good question there. It’s kind of like a … We have spoken to other candidates, but you are right they tend to fall within those two parties, whether it’s Gravel, Ron Paul, or whoever. We have been trying to chase a follow-up interview with Nader, as well. I think it is always gonna be a bit of a balance between, you must investigate the candidates running …

KP: Yeah. But what I’ve pointed out is that 99 percent, 99 out of 100, were Democrats or Republicans versus one …

GC: Yeah, I think we could certainly … what we struggle against is not for this to be an excuse, but we do also have a problem resource-wise to try and get out. We only have one producer running around in the US, trying to get to different places, Matt Palevsky … We certainly will be expanding, and have been expanding interview requests outside that duopoly. What we really wanted to do though is examine the candidate who is most likely to be running for president because of the dominance of the two-party system. You have to understand the policies behind those people. And you don’t often get a level of investigation into, you know: who is McCain? Who are his closest policy advisors? What is the content behind his rhetoric? And the same goes for all the candidates on the other side as well.

Most likely, inevitably, the choice will be between them in terms of the popular voting. A lot of our revenue needs to go into breaking down what their policy positions are and what is likely to happen should either side emerge triumphant. Because the levels of understanding that you get from other sections of the corporate media are so thin and so based on the horse race rather than on the substance; it is important that we get that out with the resources that we have … However, not getting away from your question, I think it is a really good question, and I hope that we can provide some stories from that group as well…

KP: The Real News pivots mainly around four on-air commentators: Canadian Paul Jay…

GC: Canadian-American

KP: American Eric Margolis, Indian Aijaz Ahmed, and Brazilian Pepe Escobar. When reporting news, for example, as an anchor, nationality seems rather unimportant. But how does an individual who does not live in the context and history of certain news — or maybe not even speak the language — grasp the nuances and provide accurate, well-informed commentary outside their national scope? Is it not preferable to have a person from the region in focus?

GC: I absolutely agree totally with you. As I said earlier to you in the interview, it is part of our development plan. It is important to talk to these people. However, having said that, someone like Pepe or Aijaz have been working for years to understand the history and the make-up of certain regions. They certainly wouldn’t speak with authority on an area that they didn’t feel that they knew well. When it came to the Benazir Bhutto assassination around the turn of the year, and certainly leading up to that point, we had two or three different journalists from Pakistan talking very regularly on our programming about the situation in Pakistan. I think Aijaz also spoke on that regard because, obviously, he spent a lot of time in Pakistan as well. And most all of his expertise is in the south Asian region. But we had Munizae Jahangir, and also, in fact, it is very interesting, to say rather chilling, that we had Asma Jahangir in the Toronto studio two weeks before she was taken under house arrest in Pakistan in December. That’s Munizae’s mother. And we also spoke several times to Beena Sarwar who lives in Pakistan as well, so we try and speak to people from the regions.

When it comes to Pepe and Aijaz, it’s a little different. We speak to Phyllis Bennis as well, from the Institute of Policy Studies, about Iraq just because of their ample years of experience, understanding these situations, and, of course, it would be to the areas they speak to. Now that doesn’t speak to the need to connect to people that live in the regions.

And as much as possible, we try and do that, but it is simply not feasible all the time resource-wise to be able to chase them, to get hold of them, and also, technologically, it is difficult sometimes. We are working, largely, digitally here. A lot of the interviews we shoot on Skype video. And if somebody can’t get a broadband connection, we try and talk to them on the phone

You know, we are striving as much as possible to connect to people living and working in their area of expertise. Hopefully over time. So, as I said, we are trying our best.

KP: Margolis says that the “US media is self-censoring itself” because it is selling a product called news; therefore, the media wants to avoid offending people and sell more entertainment than actual news.8

In Manufacturing Consent: A Propaganda Model, Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky put forward a model that holds the media is preponderantly selling itself, not to viewers, but to advertisers.3 Speaking of media then, is it then sound to say that it supplies information as decided by the financial political power that created and now controls it regardless of who sits on the editorial Board?

GC: I think that is largely why we are here. I think that very basis of this particular network is because of that. In fact, most of the editors, mid-level editors, senior-level editors are influenced by “I can’t let that story out because I don’t want to offend that advertiser. We get 50 percent of our advertising revenue from that company, we can’t say that they were using illegal methods because …” But absolutely that happens. Sometimes it is just a subtle pressure in the room, you know, and often they don’t speak its name, you know, because the journalists working in these newsrooms, a lot of them are great.

KP: They know without being told what they can report and what they can’t.

GC: Whether it happens directly or indirectly is not the point: stories get through or what stories you are assigned, you only have so much time during the day, what are you gonna get assigned, or how much time am I allowed to spend on this piece? All these things go into the make-up of what is coming out the next day, the next week, whatever it might be. And those things are, of course, influenced by the people above you, the editor-in-chief, you know the people that are talking to the editor-in-chief, financiers, so, you know, that’s why we are here: to try and get away from those things.

The pressure is on the journalists themselves to chase the facts and to tell the story as it is and to try and create an understanding of the level of complexity of the issue involved. So, that’s where the pressure comes in, and that’s where the pressure should be.

KP: Anything you’d like to add?

GC: … I think one of the most exciting things about the network, and which hasn’t yet had a chance to grow as much as I would like it to, we are putting more emphasis on it now with the new site — is the interactivity which is possible with people of the world sending us their stories and engaging with us as participants in the newsroom and participants in the delivery of information out into the community. That is what I see as a very necessary part of the development of the news, is to get people to give us their take on their own community.

That personally is what I am very excited about, engaging with the online community, and spreading this information around, and, you know, that is all I can say about the work that I do myself. But I do think that is very important: to allow people to participate in the generation of the news that they see and to have a vested interest in the stories that we are telling.

Kim Petersen, “Disinformation: A Crime Against Humanity and a Crime Against Peace,” Press Action, 17 February 2005. #
Ben Bagdikian, The Media Monopoly (Boston: Beacon Press, 1983). #
Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (Pantheon Books, 2002 edition). # #
Greg Philo and Mike Berry, “Bad News From Israel,” Glasgow Media Group. #
“Our Mission,” Real News. #
“Colombia: What did Interpol find in the laptops?” Real News, 22 May 2008. #
Disclosure: So enamored with the concept was I that I sent off a CV. #
“Margolis says TV news hiding truth about Iraq civil war,” Real News, 17 August 2007. #
Kim Petersen is co-editor of Dissident Voice. He can be reached at: kim@dissidentvoice.org. Read other articles by Kim.

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/07/dispelling-the-murkiness-of-the-corporate-media-the-real-news/
Posted by Alex Constantine at 6:07 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Jules Kroll: A Corporate Detective Is Saying Farewell
By AMY ZIPKIN, MICHELLE LEDER, PHYLLIS KORKKI, ELIZABETH OLSON, ERIC SYLVERS
NYT/July 6, 2008

Jules B. Kroll has turned up in some of the most visible cases involving corporate forensics.

Jules B. Kroll in 1994. Clients of his corporate intelligence company have including the government of Kuwait. It hired the firm to find Saddam Hussein’s hidden assets.

It all started 36 years ago, after Mr. Kroll made a bid to become a councilman at large in Queens but failed. Drawing on his background as a former assistant district attorney in Manhattan and his experience in the family printing business, he began consulting for corporate purchasing departments that were concerned about inefficiency or were suspecting corruption.

Mr. Kroll and the firm that emerged, Kroll Inc., became pioneers in modern corporate security and intelligence. Now, at age 67, Mr. Kroll is retiring from the company, which was acquired by the Marsh & McLennan Companies in 2004.

He says his most memorable case was when the Kuwaiti government hired the firm to look for Saddam Hussein’s hidden assets and arms procurement network after Iraq invaded Kuwait in the early 1990s. Forty people worked full time for two years digging into public filings as part of that effort, Mr. Kroll said.

His firm also did work for the family of Roberto Calvi, a financier with ties to the Vatican who was found hanging from a London bridge in 1982. (First ruled a suicide, the death was later called a murder and remains unsolved.) Kroll also worked for a government-appointed administrator in Italy after $5 billion assumed to be in a bank account of the dairy company Parmalat was found not to be in the account. (Parmalat sued its banks; the banks denied wrongdoing.)

Mr. Kroll said technology had made his work more accurate and efficient in recent years. But, he added, people are crucial: “Technology is no substitute for a really good source.”

AMY ZIP

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/business/06suits.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
Posted by Alex Constantine at 5:24 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Saturday, July 12, 2008
TUPAC!
14th October 2005: Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney Crafting Legislation To Open Government Files On Tupac Shakur:

The Black Electorate recently reported that Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney is attempting to pass legislation for the public release of all files on the life and murder of Tupac Shakur. Afenia Shakur, Tupac's mother and former Black Panther, is supporting these efforts.

The full article as reported by the Black Electorate:

On Thursday, September 22nd, at the end of her packed-to-capacity Congressional Black Caucus Braintrust, "Countering Culture: COINTELPRO Attacks On Political Musicians"; Rep. Cynthia McKinney made a dramatic announcement. With Afeni Shakur providing a smile of approval, the Georgia lawmaker told the audience she will be introducing legislation to open the United States government files on the life and death of Tupac Shakur.

The statement came at the end of a two-hour discussion featuring Paul Robeson, Jr., son of the legendary scholar, athlete, activist, and actor; Alex Constantine, noted author of , "The Covert War Against Rock"; and Ms. Afeni Shakur, Tupac’s Mother, former Black Panther member and head of the Tupac Amaru Shakur Center For The Arts. Mr. Robeson had already spoken of the opposition his father faced from the FBI and CIA, including the infamous MKULTRA program; Mr. Constantine had just provided little-known information regarding the surveillance and destabilization efforts of intelligence agencies aimed at Jimmy Hendrix and Bob Marley; and Ms. Shakur detailed her first-hand testimony and perspective not only as a victim of COINTELPRO and a mother of an artist murdered under suspicious circumstances, but also as one who argues that self-perpetuated weaknesses and ills in the Black community are what continue to make itself susceptible to external forces. I had the honor of moderating the discussion and public question and answer session.

Nearly 3 years prior to that day, on September 20, 2002, I wrote a BlackElectorate.com editorial, "RapCOINTELPRO X - Getting To The Top And Bottom Of The Murders Of Biggie And Tupac". The editorial was inspired in part by the September 6, 2002 Los Angeles Times article which claimed that the Notorious B.I.G. masterminded a $1 million plot to murder Tupac. The paper even claimed that the rapper, also known as "Biggie Smalls" supplied the murder weapon. This latest version of events claiming to explain the murder of Tupac, followed elaborate arguments that Death Row Records CEO, Suge Knight, was responsible for the murder, and has been followed, as recently as two weeks ago, by the news that a federal probe has re-opened the investigation into the 1994 shooting of Tupac at Quad Studios. In regards to the constant speculation, leaks and investigation from law enforcement and media outlets revolving around ‘Who Killed Tupac?,’ I wrote the following, "The only way to get to the top and bottom of both murders is to find out once and for all what the United States government knows about them. Since it is a fact that Death Row and Bad Boy Records and Tupac and Biggie were under FBI, ATF, IRS, NYPD and LAPD surveillance and/or investigation at the time of both murders; their exist, at this very moment files that have not been made public. Especially in the case of the government agencies involved, these files should be opened. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) allows anyone - a family member or journalist - to obtain such files. There do exist files and dossiers on both Biggie and Tupac within the federal government. Efforts should be made to obtain the de-classified and still classified files pertaining to Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace."

That Tupac was under surveillance at the time of his murder and that government and other informants had infiltrated his inner circle at that time is generally accepted by those who were close to him at the time of his death. But the full reality and important details that Tupac had long been a target or subject of law enforcement’s watchful, and often mischievous eye is less understood. For example, at last week’s CBC Braintrust, in riveting fashion, Afeni Shakur provided an account of Tupac’s arrest on rape charges, full of anecdotes about the manner in which a S.W.A.T. team was present, Atlanta police called, and Tupac asked to give himself up in certain way in the hotel, that would lead a reasonable person to wonder if the circumstances of his arrest were not also an attempt to murder him. In an interview I recently granted, I was asked the question of who killed Biggie and Tupac. I replied in part that I don’t know but I do believe that the government and our worst enemies have tried to use the murders, and their lack of an arrest for either, against the Hip-Hop and Black and Latino community. I could rest my case, alone, on the ‘leaks’ that law enforcement agencies have given to publications over the last 9 years, accusing or suspecting various Hip-Hop artists, music industry and street figures of responsibility for Tupac’s murder. If the files surrounding his life and death were opened, perhaps the light of disclosure would remove any intentional mystery surrounding this one young Black Man’s death.

Yesterday, I asked Congresswoman McKinney how the legislation would look. Rep. McKinney replied: "Basically we would model the Tupac legislation on the MLK legislation which I introduced earlier this year. That legislation, in turn, is based on successful legislation that put a process in place for the public release of all files pertaining to the murder of President John Kennedy. We know that in 1999 a jury determined that there was a conspiracy to kill Dr. King that included our own government. To the extent that there are files available on the life and murder of Tupac, they, too should be released for public inspection. Maybe then, like the Tennessee jury, we'll get closer to the truth about the forces swirling around this young man that ended up taking his life."

Although it must be enormously painful for Afeni Shakur to have to relive, repeatedly, the death and painful memories of her son; her support of Congresswoman McKinney’s legislation indicates her courage, strength and insight into the necessary steps that we will have to take to outthink our worst enemies and learn the lessons of history, that we may not repeat them. It also sets a beautiful example for Voletta Wallace, the mother of Christopher Wallace (the Notorious B.I.G.) to consider following. In my September 20, 2002 editorial I wrote: "Among other things, the community should also encourage, and hope and pray that Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur and Biggie's mother, Voletta Wallace, eventually meet with Dr. King's late wife, Coretta Scott King, who can be a source of wisdom and strength to them as they navigate not only the pain and grief of loss, but also the possibilities that very powerful individuals in government and without, know more about the murders of Biggie and Tupac than has ever been reported. This may be especially helpful to Biggie's mother who is persuaded by the work of a White investigator that the LAPD is covering up Biggie's murder (Afeni Shakur has been clear in her statements that she does not trust the government, local police, or media where her son is concerned). This is bigger than the LAPD. The fact that Biggie and Puffy's cars, that fateful night in March of 1997, were under surveillance by the ATF, FBI and undercover NYPD; and that members of Biggie's entourage were shown pictures of cars and individuals who were near them at the time Biggie was shot provides evidence that more than an LAPD cover-up is involved. Coretta Scott King can be an invaluable resource of insight into dealing with the federal government's knowledge of what happened in September of 1996 in Las Vegas and in Los Angeles in March of 1997."

Last week we all received the wonderful news that Mrs. Coretta Scott King had left the hospital and was healing and in therapy after a serious stroke. She is even speaking a bit. Whether or not she is able to provide wise counsel to Ms. Shakur and Ms. Wallace may no longer be the point. The courageous example of her life and the pain of living under a cloud of suspicion and unanswered questions regarding a loved one murdered under suspicious and political circumstances is enough to teach us all the depth of the harm that can be caused to individuals and an entire community when the right questions are not answered and mysteries remain intentionally unsolved. It is good for us all that Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney understands this lesson.

http://www.2pacworld.co.uk/2pacnews_archive2005.html
Posted by Alex Constantine at 11:09 PM 0 comments Links to this post
LEE HARVEY OSWALD & THE UNITARIAN CHURCH, CIA, ALBERT SCHWEITZER COLLEGE, QUAKERS, BILLY GRAHAM, ROCKEFELLER'S MISSIONARIES, JOHN KENNEDY MURDER
George Michael Evica's A Certain Arrogance

A Book Review
by Robert D. Morningstar
November 22, 2006
http://www.amazon.com/Certain-Arrogance-George-Michael-Evica/dp/1413464777

Oh, how terrible and barbarous are those Islamic Fundamentalists! How devious and demonic appear those Mullahs and Ayatollahs shown to us on CNN and Fox News each day and night, manipulating and perverting the religious teachings of a "religion of peace" to indoctrinate young minds towards self-destruction, suicide bombing and terrorism. How perverse of them it is to use religion as an excuse to attain political and military objectives. And, Oh, how much more moral are we than they! We, the self-righteous, morally and ethically "superior" Westerners who eschew such debased use of religious dogma as propaganda and mass mind-control tactics in the indoctrination of our own citizens.

"Not so!" might say Professor George Michael Evica, an outstanding and well-respected expert of JFK assassination and US intelligence history, through his riveting new book, entitled A Certain Arrogance. In A Certain Arrogance (Iron Sights Press, 2006), Professor Evica reveals the history of the recruitment and indoctrination of US intelligence assets (spies/assassins) for OSS and CIA beginning during World War II when, through the work of OSS members Wild Bill Donovan and Allan Dulles, religious institutions, particularly, the Unitarian Church and the Quaker movement, were used as "fronts" in the selection and culling of candidates for espionage and special operations by America's intelligences services, OSS and CIA, domestically and abroad.

From OSS World War II operations in Switzerland to the Congo of the 1950s and 1960s to Patrice Lamumba University in Moscow, Evica takes the reader on a meticulously documented tour of international intrigues involved in the training of intelligence operatives through their education and indoctrination at various institutions run by religious organizations. Foremost among these in American intelligence gathering and special operations were the Unitarian Church and the Quakers. However, Evica shows us that these are not the same Quakers we think of when we remember the warmth and quiet courage of Gary Cooper and Friendly Persuasion.

Professor Evica begins his chronicle of covert operations with the recruitment, education and indoctrination of Lee Harvey Oswald as began his peregrinations in 1958-59 toward his defection to Russia by passing through Switzerland's Albert Schweitzer College, where the CIA and FBI maintained contacts and operatives.

Evica chronicles the historic role of the Rockefeller clan in funding "missionary activities throughout the world" for intelligence gathering and suppression of undesirable activist social movements beginning in the early 188o's to gather intelligence information in order to quash American Indian activities in the West. Evica states:

"As early as 1883, the Rockefellers had 'used [Christian] missionaries to gather intelligence about [Native American] insurgencies in the West or to discourage them.' In the United States and later throughout Central and South America, Family Rockefeller power was linked to Christian missionary work."

The Rockefeller method of using Christian military activities in conjunction with financial power proved to be so successful in consolidating the Rockefeller Empire in the Americas that it was then employed in the Far East, in China, Korea, Philippines and Taiwan. By 1957, the Rockefellers had enlisted American Fundamentalist Revivalism as a national power base and put their support behind the evangelist, Billy Graham.

Evica's book takes the reader back and forth across continents and oceans both to the Far East, Korea and Nationalist Taiwan, and to Europe, but always after short side trips, Evica returns the travels of Lee Harvey Oswald as he made his way inevitably to Dallas, Texas and the site of the JFK Assassination.

Ruth and Michael Paine
A Quaker & A Unitarian
Lee Oswald's Dallas "Handlers"

Throughout his meandering journey, Oswald repeated encounters operatives of Unitarian, Quaker and Southern Baptist Fundamentalist missionary activities. For example, Oswald's "friends" and hosts in Dallas, Michael and Ruth Paine, who took Marina Oswald under her wing, were associated with both the Unitarian and the Quaker missionary movements. Evica suggests (as this writer has often asserted) that Michael Paine, "a physical Oswald double," may have acted in that capacity to bring attention in a negative way to Oswald's activities by setting up "political confrontations" at Southern Methodist University on Sundays after attending as "a communicant at a 'nearby' Unitarian Church."

The religious intrigues surrounding the life and death of Lee Harvey Oswald, as detailed and documented by Evica in this masterful work, shed a disturbing light on the events in Dallas on November 22, 1963 and suggest an almost direct link to current history-altering and world-shaping national and international events in which our nation is today engaged (although "embroiled" may be a more appropriate term).

The importance of this work is self-evident and shows that the JFK assassination is as important today as on the day it happened, exactly 43 years ago today (I chose to compose on this day intentionally for this reason). George Michael Evica's close friend and research associate for many years, Charles Drago, writes in his eloquent introduction to "A Certain Arrogance":

"A Certain Arrogance stands as Professor Evica's response to the unavoidable question: How do we define and effect justice in the wake of the world-historic tragedy in Dallas?

Clearly he understands that, at this late date, being content merely to identify and, if possible, prosecute the conspiracy's facilitators and mechanics would amount to hollow acts of vengeance. Cleaning and closing the wound while leaving the disease to spread is simply not an option." Mr. Drago goes on to make analogy between the JFK Assassination and a cancer that continues to spread through our government and contaminates and taints our history.

From this short and eloquent diagnosis, current events clearly demonstrate that "the cancer" which infected government policy and national politics that day in Dallas, November 22nd, 1963 still persists, continues to grow in virulence and has created an all too patient but sick nation. The question remains "What is the remedy that will rid us of the cancer but not kill the patient?" This reviewer's response is:

The remedy that will heal the nation and stop the cancer from spreading any farther is achieving "Justice for JFK."

I recommend A Certain Arrogance to all those good citizens who are interested in recovering our national security from the Machiavellian manipulation of misguided patriot actors and religious fanatics who at the core are not dissimilar in credo, strategy and tactics from those same terrorists from whom they pretend to defend us.

http://www.ufodigest.com/news/1106/certainarrogance.html
••••••
Greg Parker writes, educationforum.ipbhost.com:

... The Unitarian Church/International Association for Religious Freedom owned and operated the Albert Schweitzer College to which Oswald applied while still in the Marines with Thornley at Santa Ana.

During this same period, publisher r-w RC Hoile was giving lectures at Unitarian Churches and Exchange Clubs in Orange County.

Also touring Unitarian Churches in the area at that time giving lectures were Stephen Fritchman, Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow - all representing the Western Behavioral Sciences Institute (WBSI).

Vaughn Marlowe has advised that he knew a Skinnerite at UCLA who was associated with the WBSI - leaving open the distinct possibility that Skinner himself was associated with it.

BF Skinner was a product of Army Intelligence. The book A Clockwork Orange was based on Skinner's experiments in behavioral control. Skinnerites were supporters of his theories involving reward/punishment.

I have not found evidence of Skinner being involved personally with the WBSI, though certainly, he and Rogers were well acquainted, Additionally, Rogers often quoted Skinner in his lectures.

Rogers, late in life, admitted his research into controlling human behavior was on behalf of the CIA. ...

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=1864&pid=10573&mode=threaded&start=#entry10573
Posted by Alex Constantine at 8:51 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Pittsburgh: Former City Police Officer Sentenced in Blast
" ... Investigators claim Palmer's tattoos are typically associated with the Aryan Nations, a white supremacist group whose motto is 'violence solves everything.' ... Investigators last year seized from Palmer's house more bomb-making components, ammunition and "a large amount of literature and items commonly associated with white supremacist groups. ... "


By Jason Cato
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
June 21, 2008

A former Pittsburgh policeman who was fired after shooting at a big rig during a fit of road rage told a federal judge Friday he didn't mean to hurt anyone when the bombs he was making last year blew off part of his arm.
"I didn't even know what the potential damage was before this happened," said Paul Anthony Palmer Jr., 39, who sports a teardrop tattoo below his right eye and a spider web design over the nub left by the amputation on his left forearm. Investigators claim Palmer's tattoos are typically associated with the Aryan Nations, a white supremacist group whose motto is "violence solves everything."

U.S. District Judge David S. Cercone sentenced Palmer, formerly of North Fayette, to 52 months in prison for his guilty plea to a charge of possessing an unregistered destructive device.

The former police officer faced up to 63 months, but the judge said he imposed a lesser sentence because of Palmer's police service, reports of mental health issues related to sexual abuse and family problems from his childhood and the fact that he injured only himself in the explosion. ...

Defense lawyer James Wymard argued his client deserved leniency due to serving more than 10 years on the police force, which would make him a target behind bars, and the fact Palmer is missing his left hand, which would make it difficult to defend himself if attacked.

On May 1, 2007, Palmer was making explosives inside his Redwood Drive home when static electricity sparked the blast that caused his injury, investigators determined. Palmer told Cercone he was making explosives in cardboard tubes that he planned to detonate with friends as part of a July 4th celebration. He said he'd made small explosives using wax and gun powder that he used to blow up pumpkins.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Shaun Sweeney questioned Palmer's explanation, saying his devices included BB pellets -- which are often used to injure others.

Investigators last year seized from Palmer's house more bomb-making components, ammunition and "a large amount of literature and items commonly associated with white supremacist groups, in particular, the Aryan Nations," according to court documents. ...

Unexpurgated story
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_573902.html
Posted by Alex Constantine at 8:28 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Private Property Seizures: Booz, Allen & Hamilton, the Army's Accomplice in Southeast Colorado
Deanna Spingola
July 11, 2008

Booz, Allen & Hamilton (hereafter Booz Allen), a privately held corporation owned by about 300 senior executives, is the Army's accomplice in their attempted private property seizure in southeast Colorado. Their expertise, they declare, is strategy and public sector mission effectiveness.

Booz Allen contracted with the Army for $500,000 to maneuver the ranchers out of their property rights. Skillful facilitators (provocateurs), despite their friendly demeanor, very likely use an advanced version of the deceptive Delphi Method, mind-games developed by the U.S. Air Force's RAND Project, financed by the Ford Foundation. Project RAND became the "premier think tank" and "purveyor of American imperialism" and facilitated the Cold War façade. Their activities contributed to the exponential growth of the military-industrial complex. RAND encouraged numerous U.S.-backed military dictatorships in third world countries. [1]

Booz Allen's professional provocateurs use psychologically-designed surveys in an alleged attempt to "gather opinions." In the Delphi technique, these activities are a subtle persuasion tactic to manipulate target groups into "accepting predetermined government policies" while giving the impression of being concerned and accountable to private needs. [2] If the first survey is unsuccessful, another survey requests that the respondents attempt to be more flexible in their answers. "When the series of surveys are accomplished, the respondents are told that the majority of respondents achieved a 'consensus' with whatever direction the pollers wanted in the first place." [3]

The same cast of politically-connected characters, with a determined agenda, functions in think tanks, as corporate heads and in government positions. Former trustees and/or researchers for RAND include: Donald Rumsfeld (1977-2001), Condoleezza Rice (1991-1997), Francis Fukuyama (1979-1980, 1983-1989), and Zalmay Khalilzad. [4] Rumsfeld was Chairman of RAND Corporation from 1981–1986. RAND "invented the theories that led two administrations to military escalation against North Vietnam." [5]

Booz Allen knows the financial/credit history, computer key-strokes, personality traits, political affiliations, friends, associates, medical issues, weaknesses and strengths of every single southeast Colorado rancher and will use that information for the army's objective — the seizure of private land. Their surveys, meetings, polls are a façade — citizen's input is irrelevant. For additional pressure, the Army claims they have a "willing seller" with 100,000 acres, perhaps a newly-arrived non-rancher strategically-placed in order to influence and alter the balance of opinions.

By 2006, the company had a global staff of 18,000 in thirty countries on six continents from more than one hundred offices with annual revenues of $3.7 billion. [6] Booz Allen has two divisions — commercial (based in New York) and government (based in McLean). More than 50 percent of Booz Allen's business consists of U.S. government contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. They are a "key adviser and prime contractor to all of the major U.S. intelligence agencies — the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the National Security Agency (NSA), the ultra-secret agency and the world's leading espionage organization ,[7] — as well as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Counterterrorism Center, the Department of Defense and most of the Pentagon's combatant commands." Many of Booz Allen's 300 vice presidents exploit the government/corporate revolving door of shared personnel. [8] See company profiles.

Booz Allen business dealings are revealing. On May 16, 2008, Booz Allen announced the sale of the majority of its U.S. government business division to the Carlyle Group (established 1987), a multibillion dollar private equity firm (no obligation to divulge financial data) for $2.54 billion, expected to be complete by mid-late 2008, "subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions." [9] Carlyle Group has had "investments with the Bin Laden family, and some extensive investments in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East." [10] In September 2007, the Mubadala Development Company, a sovereign wealth fund of the government of Abu Dhabi specializing in acquisitions, paid 1.35 billion for a 7.5% ownership stake in Carlyle. [11] The politically-connected, bi-partisan, buyout firm, Carlyle Group, stacked with former politicians/war profiteers ,[12] has massive assets.

George H. W. Bush joined Carlyle in 1993 and was the Senior Advisor to their Asia Advisory Board from April 1998 to October 2003. He resigned under pressure due to the company's massive Iraqi war profits. He retained his Carlyle stock and gave speeches on Carlyle's behalf for a $500,000 fee. Carlyle is notorious for buying defense companies and "doubling or tripling their value" due to abundant, frequently no-bid, defense contracts. In 2002, Carlyle "received $677 million in government contracts," and by Bush's 2003 Iraqi invasion, Carlyle contracts were worth $2.1 billion, netting sizeable profits for the investors — friends and family. [13]

Notables associated with Carlyle include: James Baker III, former U.S. Secretary of State under George H. W. Bush, Staff member under George W. Bush; Frank C. Carlucci, Deputy Director of the CIA under Jimmy Carter; Richard Darman, former Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget under George H. W. Bush; Randal K. Quarles, former Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury under George W. Bush; Allan Gotlieb, Canadian ambassador to the United States; William Kennard, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under Bill Clinton; Arthur Levitt, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under Bill Clinton; Mack McLarty, White House Chief of Staff under Bill Clinton, President of Kissinger McLarty Associates and many others. [14]

From 1992-2000, numerous Bill Clinton scandals distracted the population which enabled politically-connected oil companies to seize complete control of the government. Oil oligarchy ownership of Congress precluded conviction of the perjured president, also applicable to future officials/criminals who would continue the privatization of government and asset seizure, including foreign and domestic land. [15] After 9/11, the take-over, using no-bid contracts and privatization, leaped forward. The war on terror, the creation of numerous new agencies and bureaucrats (to protect us) was never about freedom or security. All of it, the programs, the proposed PCMS expansion and Iraq reconstruction are all a colossal assault on the federal budget, facilitated by the government, using politically-connected, selectively efficient contractors who collect up-front who then frequently, depending on location and importance, sub-contract projects to unskilled workers who frequently never complete the work.

FEMA, a DHS agency, has outsourced (privatized) disaster and hurricane recovery planning to the politically-connected companies like Acquisition Solutions, Ashbritt and Innovative Emergency Management (IEM), founded in 1985. IEM partners with Booz Allen and Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon's No. 1 contractor, who made millions upgrading NORAD (twice). Eighty percent of Lockheed's business is with the Department of Defense and other federal agencies. Lockheed is the largest provider of information technology (IT) services, systems integration, and training to the government. [16] Read more about the infamous military industrial complex and their lucrative contracts here. "The Department of Homeland Security, the arm of the federal government responsible for ensuring our safety in times of national emergency, has become little more than an arm of big business, a radical experiment in President Bush's brand of market-based government." [17]

John Michael McConnell was a Booz Allen Senior Vice President (1996-2006). [18] He was the NSA Director (1992-1996) and the Intelligence Director for the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1990-1992). [19] While McConnell was at Booz Allen, he led the "firm's support to the Presidential Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, focusing on the vulnerabilities of the banking and financial sector." After 9/11, Bush authorized the mining of banking records, purportedly on a limited basis, using the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). The CIA and the Treasury Department hired Booz Allen as an outside supervisory auditor. Amazing, considering Booz Allen's deep connections within the "U.S. government security establishment." It was definitely not a "genuine check" on the SWIFT program. [20][21][22]

Booz Allen Vice President Dov Zakheim (CFR), a Trustee of the Foreign Policy Research Institute and a Board Member of the World Affairs Councils of America ,[23] leads the firm's global defense business. From 2001 to April 2004, "he was Under Secretary of Defense (Controller) and Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Defense." [24] The Pentagon, for over twenty years, had failed all financial audits, justification for Rumsfeld's military privatization when it was announced, on September 10, 2001, that $2.3 trillion was unaccounted for.

Zakheim allegedly co-authored Rebuilding America's Defenses, Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century, the Project for the New American Century's (PNAC) position paper (published September 2000) which advocated the "necessity" of a Pearl-Harbor-like incident to mobilize the country into war with the Middle East. Since May 20, 2008, PNAC's website is not accessible and that 90-page PDF document is no longer available from that source. The (archived) PNAC Statement of Principles has twenty-five signatories. Seventeen (68%) of the twenty-five belong to the Council on Foreign Relations. Cheney (CFR Director) and Rumsfeld were signatories. [25]

Former CIA Director and current Chairman of Freedom House, R. James Woolsey (CFR), was a Booz Allen Vice President from July 2002 to February 2008. [26] He headed their "Global Assurance" division, which advises corporations on security issues. [27] He participated in the secretive North American Forum held in Banff, Alberta, Canada, September 12-14, 2006. [28] Wife, Suzanne H. Woolsey (CFR), joined the Board of Directors of Fluor Corp., an engineering and contracting firm, on February 3, 2004.

By August 2004, Fluor had a $1.6 billion Iraqi reconstruction contract. Fluor also raked in about $1.3 billion for reconstruction for Hurricane Katrina (August 23-29, 2005). [29] The storm displaced 1.5 million people and caused about $81.2 billion in damage, the costliest disaster in U.S. history. On September 26, 2005, Senator Mel Martinez hosted the Halliburton-sponsored "Katrina Reconstruction Summit" for no-Katrina-victims-need-apply contractors. Meanwhile, congress was investigating Halliburton for contract fraud. [30] Politically-connected private contractors are often awarded no-bid contracts — a veritable gift of taxpayer funds without competing with rival companies who might work better, faster and more economically.

Booz Allen Vice President, former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Air Force Keith Hall, also on the NASA Advisory Board, oversees GPS support for U.S. military interests, "a constellation of about two dozen U.S. government satellites. The Global Positioning System (GPS) was built by the DOD to aid in national security. Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) data provided by the GPS was intended to support defense operations such as precision strike capabilities." [31]

Booz Allen, a highly profitable public-private partner, is a primary partner in the NAFTA Kansas City SmartPort Project. [32][33] A main rail line will go through southeastern Colorado. See the SmartPort map; click on "Show Rail Lines" and "Show Highways." Booz Allen is creating a National Security Agency (NSA) database using records from illegal surveillance and data mining by AT&T, Verizon and Comcast. [34]

A one-year spending moratorium for the Piñon Canyon expansion was authored and sponsored by Representatives Marilyn Musgrave and John Salazar which was included in the 2008 federal budget. It is difficult to reign in a private contractor — they are, after all, not under the jurisdiction of Congress. [35] Apparently, that spending ban does not apply to the Pentagon, a presidential cabinet agency. Booz Allen "operatives" and sub-contractors (Bernett Research) continue their "studies, focus groups, invitation-only meetings and telephone polls but have been under investigation by the Government Accountability Office, as requested by Musgrave on February 27, 2008. [36] That might be akin to one mafia family investigating criminality in another mafia family.

Senators Wayne Allard and Ken Salazar (Rep. John Salazar's brother), unknown to the "land-owning family ranchers" have "sponsored legislation designed to facilitate expansion of the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS)." [37] This legislation, counterproductive to the spending ban, was included in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 and authorized an "analysis by the Army" due by July. Additionally the bill included "amendments that will help curb encroachment around military bases," legislation that "is critical to our military installations in Colorado and to supporting our troops and their families." On Ken Salazar's web site: "Military installations, ranges and airspace throughout the country have been constrained by increased development, population growth and loss of habitat on non-military lands." Salazar has revealed his loyalties! Playing the patriotic card, he apparently fails to oppose the Army's private property "encroachment." He is a member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees. Salazar family dinners must be very interesting.

Senator Salazar seeks approval for his "contribution to conservation" through "the most recent Farm Bill." The ranchers are not impressed! "What kind of contribution to conservation is a battlefield on hundreds of thousands of acres of the largest native grassland left in the American Great Plains?" [38]

Marc Gerencser, Booz Allen's managing director of global government markets, claims that "scrutiny will not hurt the company's good standing. We follow all of the guidelines around ethics. We adhere to our core values so strongly and having a strong ethics program has been a big plus for us. In all of the actions we do, we can stand any test of scrutiny." [39] Not always, Mr. Gerencser, not always! The Pentagon pays Booz Allen millions to accomplish just one item on their perverse agenda — help the Army, the proverbial protectors of our freedoms, seize private property and destroy the livelihood of southeast Colorado ranchers.

NOTES:

[1] The RAND Corporation: America's University of Imperialism By Chalmers Johnson

[2] United Nations Global Strait Jacket by Joan Veon, pp. 355–357

[3] Ibid

[4] The RAND Corporation: America's University of Imperialism By Chalmers Johnson

[5] Ibid

[6] Carlyle Group May Buy Major CIA Contractor: Booz Allen Hamilton by Tim Shorrock , Special to CorpWatch, March 8th, 2008

[7] The Total Information Awareness Project Lives On, Technology behind the Pentagon's controversial data-mining project has been acquired by NSA, and is probably in use, April 26, 2006

[8] Carlyle Group May Buy Major CIA Contractor: Booz Allen Hamilton

[9] Booz Allen To Separate US Government and Global Commercial Business

[10] Corporate Crime Reporter, Interview With Dan Briody, Author Of The Iron Triangle: Inside The Secret World Of The Carlyle Group, (Wiley, 2003)

[11] Carlyle to Sell Stake to a Mideast Government By Andrew Ross Sorkin, September 21, 2007

[12] The Carlyle Group, Aerospace & Defense

[13] Congress Must Cut Off Bush Family War Profits by Evelyn Pringle, Global Research, April 10, 2007

[14] Carlyle Group, Wikipedia

[15] Black Gold, Chapter 4

[16] Arms Trade Resource Center

[17] Looting Homeland Security by Eric Klinenberg and Thomas Frank, December 15, 2005

[18] Intelligence officials believe Bush chose new Director in effort to darken Iran Intelligence Estimate, broaden domestic surveillance by Larisa Alexandrovna, January 8, 2007

[19] John Michael McConnell, Wikipedia,

[20] Intelligence officials believe Bush chose new Director in effort to darken Iran Intelligence Estimate, broaden domestic surveillance by Larisa Alexandrovna, January 8, 2007

[21] Booz Allen's Extensive Ties to Government Raise More Questions About SWIFT Surveillance Program, September 26, 2006

[22] Booz Allen Not An Independent Check On SWIFT Surveillance, A Memo by the American Civil Liberties Union and Privacy International, For the Article 29 Working Party of the European Commission, September 14, 2006

[23] World Affairs Councils of America, National Board Members

[24] Dr. Dov S. Zakheim — VP

[25] Project For A New American Century, The Real Foreign Policy Makers By Deanna Spingola, June 14, 2005

[26] R. James Woolsey — VP

[27] Carlyle Group May Buy Major CIA Contractor: Booz Allen Hamilton by Tim Shorrock , CorpWatch, March 8, 2008

[28] Secret Rumsfeld Meeting To Implement North American Union

[29] Rebuilding: At What Cost And In Whose Image? by Rita J. King, Special to CorpWatch, August 16th, 2006

[30] Curbing Government Contractor Abuse, San Diego Union-Tribune By Charlie Cray, September 30, 2005

[31] Booz Allen Vice President Named to NASA Advisory Board

[32] Dov Zakheim '911' Link To North American Union's KC SmartPort

[33] Service Providers, Technology Partners

[34] Telecom Companies in Cahoots with Illegal Bush Administration Surveillance Programs by Tom Burghardt, Global Research, May 27, 2008

[35] Ranchers want Army records on expenses for planning By Peter Roper, The Pueblo Chieftain, February 16, 2008

[36] Pushing the envelope Expansion-related activity sparks Musgrave's call for Piñon Canyon oversight By Michael de Yoanna

[37] Across the Fence, Mack Louden, May 19, 2008

[38] Ibid

[39] No. 13: Booz Allen, Quality over quantity, To counter scrutiny, Booz Allen puts ethics first By William Welsh

Deanna Spingola has been a quilt designer and is the author of two books. She has traveled extensively teaching and lecturing on her unique methods. She has always been an avid reader of non-fiction works designed to educate rather than entertain. She is active in family history research and lectures on that topic. Currently she is the director of the local Family History Center. She has a great interest in politics and the direction of current government policies, particularly as they relate to the Constitution.

http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/spingola/080711
Posted by Alex Constantine at 7:04 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, July 11, 2008
Why Media Claims of "Satanic Panic" are Deceitful and Cover Up Real Atrocities: Satanism in the News
Edited by Alex Constantine

Satanism Or Occultism Suspected In Dozens Of Rabbit Slayings
July 9, 2008
Amy Beeman - AHN

Dortmund, Germany (AHN) - German authorities are searching for a killer in what is being called one of the worst cases of animal cruelty in the country's history.

Since last year, more than 40 pet rabbits have been killed in the night in their outdoor hutches. Horrified owners found their beloved pets decapitated and drained of their blood in many cases. The killer takes the head and collects the blood, leading investigators to think that the animal killer is involved in the occult or Satanism. ...

Story continues
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7011557316
•••••••
Can children thrive in the Church of Satan?
Chicago Tribune
July 9, 2008

Jamie Meyer's apartment is covered with signs of the sacred and profane.

If you look closely at the picture to the left, you can see that the bookmark he uses to hold his place in The Satanic Bible is colored with crayon-- a gift from his young daughter.

A stack of Satanic literature shares space on a shelf with paraphernalia from his favorite gory film and an Olan Mills-like photograph of Meyer and his three youngest daughters.

What might seem counterintuitive to some seems perfectly normal for the father of four. He says he is as equally devoted to raising successful children as he is to clarifying misconceptions about the Church of Satan.

Still, Meyer's ex-wife is citing his religious affiliation as the main reason an Indiana judge should restrict his visitation time to allow his three youngest daughters to attend Christian church. ...

Story continues
•••••••
Prosecutor links case to satanism

Durham Democrat accused as accessory. DA says charges for 2 others stem from ritual.
Associated Press
www.charlotte.com

DURHAM --Prosecutors have charged three people, including two ranking members of the Durham County Democratic Party, as part of an investigation into allegations of rape and kidnapping that prosecutors said involved satanic worship.

The latest person charged is Diana Palmer, 44, the first vice chairwoman of the county Democratic Party. She turned herself in to police Wednesday afternoon and was charged with one count of accessory after the fact of assault with deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.

Palmer's arrest came five days after police arrested Joy Johnson, 30, the county party's third vice chairwoman, and her husband, Joseph Scott Craig, 25.

Authorities have said little about the case outside of the information included in arrest warrants, which allege that Craig beat a man and a woman, raped the woman and that Johnson watched as he did so. Durham County Assistant District Attorney Mark McCullough said earlier this week that charges stemmed from some sort of satanic ritual.

Attorney Bill Thomas said Palmer denies any association with satanic worship or any knowledge of a crime. He said the allegation against her is that Johnson or Craig asked her to take some items away from their house.

“The Durham Police Department has knowledge that my client was not present and did not have knowledge of crimes for which others have been arrested, and I hope the investigator will share this with the public,” Thomas said.

Craig faces three counts of second-degree kidnapping, one count of second-degree rape, one count of second degree forcible sex offense and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. Johnson faces several counts of felony aiding and abetting.

Court documents filed this week said the incidents occurred in December 2007 and in January and May. The warrants accuse Johnson of “instigating and encouraging” her husband as he handcuffed a man and forced him “into a dog cage, leaving him there for hours, terrorizing him.”

Other charges against Johnson stem from accusations made by a woman who listed the couple's home as her address. The man listed in the warrants as having been caged also lived at the house.

Craig and Johnson are being held in the Durham County Jail. The Durham County Public Defender's office was still assigning attorneys to their case.

Bond was being set for Palmer late Wednesday. The three were partners in a company called Indigo Dawn. Its Web site says the company offers services including “intuitive guidance, past-life regression, spirit guide communication and healing and cleansing.”

http://www.charlotte.com/local/story/697366.html

Also see: N.C. Dem leader accused of satanism, UPI.com
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/07/01/NC_Dem_leader_accused_of_satanism/UPI-90201214939867/
•••••••
'Safe' Catholic school that let killer deal drugs, have sex and worship the devil

ST DAVID’S High School in Dalkeith was a place where most parents felt secure in the belief their children were being educated in a moral environment which protected them from some of the more disturbing aspects of youth culture.

But the trial of Luke Mitchell for the gruesome murder of Jodi Jones has rocked that assumption to its foundations.

The police investigation into the killing exposed a culture of drug taking, violence and Satanism among some pupils which raised dADVERTISEMENT

isturbing questions for the authorities that run the Roman Catholic secondary school - one of 59 such schools in Scotland.

Midlothian Council has refused to reveal what action, if any, was taken to tackle Mitchell’s behaviour, but senior school sources admit teachers were "not in control" of the teenager.

Now parents and politicians have demanded an investigation into why a pupil with a history of violence, drug dealing, underage sex and a fascination with Satan was allowed to continue his damaging behaviour seemingly unchecked.

Mitchell’s criminal activities and his attempts to corrupt other pupils with drugs and Satanism were no secret at St David’s. But at a time when the Scottish Executive’s policy was to avoid excluding troublesome pupils, he was allowed to remain at the school, mixing with other youngsters - one of whom would pay for her relationship with him with her life. ...

Story continues
•••••••
From the Massachusetts General Laws:

Chapter 94: Section 139G. Ritual slaughter

Section 139G. Nothing in sections one hundred and thirty-nine C to one hundred and thirty-nine E, inclusive, shall prohibit, abridge, or in any way hinder the religious freedom of any person or group, and, in order to protect freedom of religion, ritual slaughter and the handling or other preparation of livestock for ritual slaughter shall be exempt from the provisions of said sections. In this section the term "ritual slaughter" means slaughter in accordance with the ritual requirements of the Jewish faith or any other religious faith that prescribes a method of slaughter whereby the animal suffers loss of consciousness by anemia of the brain caused by the simultaneous and instantaneous severance of the carotid arteries with a sharp instrument. ... The MGLs give the green light for ritual slaughter, and the Supreme Court has upheld animal sacrifice ...

http://blog.masslive.com/localbuzz/2008/06/tonguetied.html
•••••••
Posted by Alex Constantine at 1:51 PM 1 comments Links to this post
How Conditioning for the Police State - The American War At Home - Is Being Waged
by Cathy Garger
July 7th, 2008

Soldiers are being trained in US city parks and playgrounds and our law enforcement officials outdo themselves in terms of brutality, racism, and Police State measures. Read what one San Francisco organization is doing nationally to fight this assault in the War At Home


How Conditioning for the Police State –
The American War At Home – Is Being Waged

Cathy Garger

The US military has been working like busy worker bees this summer, conducting war training exercises in Indianapolis.
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=7672

Recently, military helicopters practiced playing war with “military Special Operations commandos training with Denver police and fire teams for a potential terrorism threat in a ‘realistic urban environment’" over the skies of Denver, Colorado in “counterterrorism helicopter exercises, which have rattled windows and residents' nerves.”
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/19/notification-about-copters-came-too-late-say/

It appears Uncle Sam has reason to believe the DNC convention is going to need some military “intervention” in Denver come August. http://cbs4denver.com/local/terror.exercise.denver.2.750216.html

In addition, in “War On America’s Playgrounds,” this writer reported on the Marine war drills waged in the city of Indianapolis that took place in a city park. Yes, you heard that right. Marines played war games in an Indiana city park. I swear to you, I’m not making this up!
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=7672

In a recent edition of The Rocky Mountain News,

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/19/notification-about-copters-came-too-late-say/

it was reported that Special Operations teams have conducted military training successfully in other cities as well. The article mentioned that the Special Operations Command had conducted at least 21 such exercises in U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Seattle over three years. A Washington Post article was quoted as reporting, “In city after city, the exercises have drawn fire from frightened residents who are not told beforehand that the roaring helicopters flying in circles several hundred feet overhead late at night ... are trying to get as close as possible to the buildings they appear about to crash into."

Starting with Katrina, federal enforcers and soldiers-for-hire have been getting Americans accustomed (conditioned) to a military and para-military presence within US cities. The use of private soldier companies like Blackwater eases the burden on the feds, as it lessens the necessity of having to pay benefits to federal employees. Plus, hiring contractors puts monies in the hand of private profiteers and stock holders often well-connected to those who make such decisions. Hiring private soldiers also lightens the federal legal burden should these contracted gunmen ever become, shall we say, a little too trigger-happy in the course of their work.

These realistic, urban warfare exercises are no mere customary military training drills, as there are roughly 440 military bases in the US upon which GI soldier games can be played.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/images/bases.pdf The expansion of war training to include America’s city parks and playgrounds undoubtedly serves another purpose - one that won’t be revealed tonight on the local TV newscast - as Americans become not-so-subtly acclimated to military presence and stringent law enforcement control within… and takeover of… their communities.

Still don’t get why the Department of Defense would choose to play war in US cities? f you think the answer is to practice soldier maneuver drills, think again. The normalization of military and para-military presence is a domestic operation being waged for the same reasons lethal Tasers are used by local law enforcers, police brutality is commonplace in our lower income neighborhoods, and gang violence, pitting our urban, non-white youth, one against the other, is often “helped” along – rather than prevented.

Soldiers now appear on Main Street, USA for the same purpose mindless TV viewing masses have been force-fed justification for liberal doses of torture on shows like the FOX channel’s “24.” Simultaneously, the rights and civil liberties of our citizens are being eroded while the Big Brother Surveillance State reaches mind-boggling new heights… with cameras now perched above nearly every traffic light and city street corner.

It’s a dog-eat-dog world where a growing Police State is continually justified as a means of keeping the peace – or, so we are led to believe. The United States is rapidly becoming a nation where brutality - and a culture of fear, militarization, and surveillance - is being augmented, with the goal of keeping American citizens compliant, passive, and obedient under authoritarian, militant control. ...

With regard to the increasing brutality of local law enforcement as the norm, we must work to expose what celebrated San Francisco community organizer, mesha Monge-Irizarry
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeo9ewi/idrissstelleyfoundation/ has termed the “war at home and abroad.” In describing some of the aspects of what the lifelong activist wrote are the “7 Degrees of Managed Mayhem,”
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeo9ewi/idrissstelleyfoundation/ in Poor Neighborhoods of Color, law enforcement creates “Managed Mayhem” to successfully antagonize the Youth into killing each other… In ‘response,” law enforcement Harrasses, Brutalizes and Kills Poor People of Color.”

Monge-Irizzary is a dedicated San Francisco organizer and activist whose only son, Idriss Stelley, a 23-year old African American, was wrongfully, brutally gunned down on June 13, 2001. Nine police officers fired 48 shots at the honor roll student experiencing an emotional breakdown inside an empty movie theater while possessing no firearms - not posing a serious threat to anyone. http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeo9ewi/idrissstelleyfoundation/

With monies awarded in a 2003 settlement against the city and county of San Francisco Police Department, Stelley’s extraordinary mother, Ms. Monge-Irizzary, channeled her grief into providing benefit for humanity and needed change in law enforcement by founding the Idriss Stelley Action and Resource Center.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeo9ewi/idrissstelleyfoundation/ The mission of the non-profit organization that bears the name of the murdered young Stelley is to end law enforcement brutality and racially based police actions, empower victims and survivors of law enforcement misconduct, provide support and development for organizations and individuals working to address police accountability, end the death penalty, and to organize grassroots campaigns and events to raise awareness and create policy changes.

A peek at the Idriss Stelley Action and Resource Center (ISARC) website
demonstrates how the determination of one citizen who wishes to make a difference in this nation can establish changes in the way local law enforcement operates in our communities. This organization depends on private sources of funding to end brutality and racism in law enforcement agencies throughout the nation. To assist with this effort, to connect with organizations through which ISARC works, and to lend your charitable support to this group’s superb ongoing actions, visit their website.
http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeo9ewi/idrissstelleyfoundation/

Be a part of making greatly needed change happen to oppose what’s going on in our cities. Resist the growing Police State taking place through both military training exercises and police brutality and racism. Join me in providing support to the Idriss Stelley Action and Resource Center (ISARC) in its actions geared in stopping militant law enforcement practices including brutality and racism. Through the support of organizations like ISARC that work to stop injustice in our cities, together we can make great strides in making our local, state, and federal law authorities work to provide assistance and public service to our communities – not the spread of militarization, brutality, racism, and other actions that harm – not support our fellow citizens.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/07/07/18514320.php
Posted by Alex Constantine at 5:37 AM 0 comments Links to this post
The Spin on Aspartame

Government Agencies, Health Experts Join Forces to Push Aspartame Safety
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2008/7/prweb1081414.htm

The FDA, the USDA, and medical experts from such powerhouses as the Mayo Clinic and Harvard Medical School have worked together for years to convince the American public that aspartame, the artificial sweetener commonly known as NutraSweet, is safe, despite numerous studies showing it causes a host of ailments, including brain tumors and lesions. Even worse, the research that these federal agencies, health associations and medical experts use to back up their safety claims has, in fact, been paid for by the aspartame industry itself.

St. Petersburg, Fl (PRWEB) July 9, 2008 -- New information from an independent reporter shows that the FDA, the USDA and even high-ranking government officials have worked in concert with nationally recognized health experts for years to convince the American public that aspartame, the artificial sweetener commonly known as NutraSweet, is safe, despite medical research showing it causes brain tumors and lesions.

In a well documented study, the author has traced the connections between such medical powerhouses as the Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School and the American Dietetic Association and the two biggest producers of aspartame in the world, the NutraSweet Company, in the U.S., and Ajinomoto, a global operation.

The complete article, The Spin on Aspartame (http://healthy-holistic-living.com/spin-on-aspartame.html) is available on healthy-holistic-living.com a site dedicated to offering tips and information for those wishing to live a healthier lifestyle. ...
••••••
The Spin on Aspartame

If you google "aspartame," the results will take you literally days to wade through-believe me, I know. I've been sifting through it for days. There's more than enough information, research, and speculation out there on the subject to fill volumes, and this is just a small article.

So rather than simply rehash everything that has been written about aspartame (I've included some links at the end of this article, and within it, for those who want more information), I wanted to take a different approach. I wanted to focus on a small part of the debate, and then follow it through to wherever it took me.

I wanted to look at the folks who keep assuring us that it's safe: the experts. Experts in the government, experts in the medical field, the people who keep patting us on the head and telling us not to worry, that if aspartame was dangerous, they'd tell us.

The problem was, I've always been something of a skeptic. The more someone pats me on the head, the more I start looking for something up his sleeve.

But, as skeptical as I am, what I found startled me: a concerted effort, on the part of those at the highest levels of our government and those at the highest levels of the medical community, to mislead us about the safety of aspartame.

Let me be clear: We have been deceived about the safety of a dangerous product, and all in the name of corporate profits.

* * *
Where did aspartame come from? It was first developed by the pharmaceutical company G.D. Searle. But Searle had difficulty getting their product approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the federal agency responsible for making sure our food and drugs are safe: Apparently, the monkeys and mice the substance was tested on developed brain lesions, tumors, and seizures, and even died from it. The company's applications for approval were rejected for 16 years, but they persisted in offering their "proof" that aspartame was safe until the FDA finally asked the Department of Justice to prosecute G.D. Searle for submitting fraudulent test data in their efforts to get the substance approved. (An FDA senior toxicologist, Dr. Adrian Gross, once told Congress, "Beyond a shadow of a doubt aspartame triggers brain tumors.")

But then G.D. Searle, producer of aspartame, made Donald Rumsfeld its CEO-yes, that Donald Rumsfeld. When Ronald Reagan took office and brought Rumsfeld with him as part of his transition team, a new FDA commissioner was appointed immediately. In one of his first acts as head of the federal agency, the new FDA commissioner approved aspartame, the artificial sweetener made by the company that Donald Rumsfeld was now the head of, over the objections of the FDA scientific board.

And here's a strange bit of trivia: When it looked like aspartame would be approved later on for use in carbonated beverages, the National Soft Drink Association itself objected, saying it wouldn't be safe because aspartame is very unstable in liquid form and breaks down into, among other things, formaldehyde. Monsanto bought G.D. Searle and Co. in 1985, and the NutraSweet Company operated as part of Monsanto until 2000, when Monsanto sold it to J.W. Childs Equity Partners, where it remains today.

And in all this time, the FDA has compiled a list of 92 symptoms associated with aspartame consumption, including nausea, dizziness, blindness, deafness, weight gain, and even death. And aspartame is still here, and it's showing up in more and more products.

In fact, the Aspartame Resource Center, at www.aboutaspartame.com, notes that it is found in more than 6,000 products worldwide. And they should know: the Aspartame Resource Center is actually a public relations and "information" arm of Ajinomoto, one of the world's largest producers of aspartame, the other being the NutraSweet Company. (Ajinomoto is also known for its other additive, monosodium glutamate, or MSG.) The ARC site is full of cheerful information on the safety of aspartame, and they even have a section labeled "Meet the doctors," which lists their "medical advisory board."

In that section, the ARC says, "The Aspartame Information Center Expert Medical Advisory Board was created to help guide the Center's communications to health professionals and the public about aspartame benefits, safety and role in a healthy diet. The board members provide counsel on current medical and nutrition science, as well as insight on tools that help address the needs of health professionals in their work. Their backgrounds span critical areas of medicine and science, and each has unique experience in health and nutrition."

But, wait. Are they confused about who they are? What is this "Aspartame Information Center" they mention? I looked it up: www.aspartame.org. They, too, have a laundry list of "experts" they use to back up their claims that aspartame is safe, including our very own FDA and something called the Calorie Control Council. In fact, the Calorie Control Council owns the Aspartame Information Center site and is listed on the bottom of every page as the copyright holder.

But back to the ARC. The Aspartame Resource Center offers all sorts of "fact" sheets you can download, including one called "Straight Answers About Aspartame." It was prepared by the American Dietetic Association . . . and the Calorie Control Council. At the bottom, the fact sheet notes that it has been sponsored by aspartame.org, that is, the Aspartame Information Center, a.k.a. the Aspartame Resource Center, a.k.a. Ajinomoto, one of the world's biggest producers of aspartame.

Ajinomoto, in cahoots with the American Dietetic Association? Let's see who's behind the Calorie Calorie Control Council. Here's what their own site, at www.caloriecontrol.org, says: "The Calorie Control Council, established in 1966 . . . represents 60 manufacturers and suppliers of low-calorie, low-fat and light foods and beverages, including the manufacturers and suppliers of more than a dozen different dietary sweeteners . . ."

Go further, and you'll see another site connected to the Calorie Contol Council, called Calories Count, at www.caloriescount.com, which lists as its sponsors . . . wait for it . . . Ajinomoto, NutraSweet, Splenda, and Sweet 'N Low. You can take a look at their sponsorship page here: http://www.caloriescount.com/support.html.

Because it's hard to keep the players straight in the aspartame follies, let's recap. The folks at the FDA thought aspartame was dangerous, so they wouldn't approve it. They changed their minds when the president at that time and his buddy, Donald Rumsfeld, who just happened to be the head of the company that made aspartame, appointed a new head of the FDA. Miraculously, aspartame was approved not long afterward, after sixteen years of being rejected. And when we look for information on aspartame, to allay our concerns, we find Web sites full of comforting information showing us how safe the stuff is, written by reliable organizations like the American Dietetic Association, and sponsored by . . . aspartame.

Got that? Okay, but there's more. Because I was trying not to get lost in the organizational rabbit hole, I backed out again to the Aspartame Resource Center and its expert medical advisors. After all, these were the medical professionals, the people who had the scientific knowledge, not to mention the connections with both the governmental agencies that protect our health and the largest medical and health organizations. Surely, they were to be trusted.

Skeptical, I started with the first name on the list, and I fell into yet another rabbit hole that seems, even now, to have no end. In fact, I never got past that first name.

The first name on the list? C. Wayne Callaway, M.D.

I went first to his own Web site. Once you get past the introductory quote from Hippocrates, you can find all sorts of interesting information there. In fact, he has very helpfully posted his entire curriculum vitae for all and sundry to see.

C. Wayne Callaway, M.D., received his medical training at Northwestern University, Mayo Graduate School of Medicine and Harvard University. Very impressive. He's board certified in Internal Medicine, Clinical Nutrition, and Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism and has held academic appointments at Harvard Medical School, Mayo Medical School, and George Washington University.

He also works with the Mayo Clinic, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the USDA; he was an advisor to the U.S. Surgeon General and helped develop dietary guidelines for the USDA. He served as chair of the Public Information Committee of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition and the American Society for Nutrition Sciences, has been a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Nutrition, has been a committee member at the American Heart Association, has been an advisor to the American Medical Association.

And he's served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, among other medical journals. Whew-busy man. Want more? His publications have appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Annals of Internal Medicine, the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, and the International Journal of Obesity, among others.

The separate biography on his site tells us that Dr. Callaway "has offered his expert views on nutrition on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, PBS, ESPN, and numerous affiliates, and has appeared on the McNeill-Lehrer Newshour, the Today Show, Good Morning America, Phil Donahue, Larry King Live, and other nationally syndicated news and talk programs." His opinions on nutrition and health are "frequently published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, and Wall Street Journal, as well as in numerous magazines (Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, Business Week, Vogue, Elle, Glamour, People, Self, Health, Prevention, and others)." You know, the mainstream media.

Callaway's bio says, "Dr. Callaway is a member of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition." And remember, we also saw that he served as chair of the Public Information Committee of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition. But looking for the American Society for Clinical Nutrition takes you directly to the American Society for Nutrition, www.nutrition.org. They publish the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, "the highest ranked peer-reviewed journal in nutrition and dietetics," and the Journal of Nutrition, "which provides the latest research on a broad spectrum of topics of vital interest to researchers, students, policymakers and all individuals with interests in nutrition."

Sounds impressive, until you start poking at it, as I did. If you keep going deeper down that particular rabbit hole, you find that the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, A.K.A. the American Society for Nutrition, is supported by what they call "sustaining members," which, they say, "[provide] corporate financial support for the society's activities in education/training, scientific programs and professional outreach." The site says that sustaining members have "the ability to sponsor educational opportunities, grants and other items." Oddly, they don't specify what those "other items" might be, but I'd be willing to bet that research is one of them.

Would you like to know who some of the sustaining members are? Get ready: The National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Cadbury Schweppes. Campbell Soup Company. ConAgra Foods. Dannon. Eli Lilly. General Mills. Gerber. GlaxoSmithKline. Kellog. Kraft. Mars. McCormick. Monsanto (of course!). The National Dairy Council. Nestle. PepsiCo. POM Wonderful (maker of those nifty pomegranate juices). Procter & Gamble. The Sugar Association. Unilever. Wrigley. Wyeth.

To recap, because the players are getting a bit confusing now, Dr. C. Wayne Callaway is a recognized expert in nutrition, such an expert, in fact, that he testifies before Congress and appears on national television to expound on his views on food and nutrition. His views are published nationally, and frequently. He is, in short, a national expert, and his views are taken very, very seriously, and published in well respected medical journals. And he pats us on the back and tells us not to worry, aspartame is safe.

And he works with and writes for the folks who are "supported," a.k.a. "paid by," the food industry that uses aspartame. Indeed, he is a "medical expert" on the safety of aspartame, one hired by the aspartame industry to go before the mainstream media and tell us how safe aspartame is.

Dr. Callaway's resume lists these as government agencies that he consults for: the Department of Health & Human Services; the National Insitutes of Health, or NIH; the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences; the U.S. Congress; the USDA, and, oddly, the U.S. Postal Service, to catch us, perhaps, if we try to send stevia through the mail.

Oh, and one more agency he consults for: the FDA. His Web site also helpfully lists the industry folks he consults for, a.k.a. "is paid by." They include the American Institute of Wine and Food; Mars; Mead Johnson Nutritional Group; the Milk Industry Foundation; the Monsanto Corporation; Nabisco, Inc.; the National Dairy Council; the Nestle Foundation for Nutrition and Health; Ocean Spray; Parke-Davis; Proctor & Gamble; Quaker Oats; the United Dairy Industry.

Oh, and one more: NutraSweet.

To recap once again, a nationally recognized expert on nutrition who says, in his extraordinarily frequent public appearances, that aspartame is safe, is paid by Ajinomoto and NutraSweet, the two largest producers of aspartame, to say that aspartame is safe. (And, this may be helpful for some of you, he's also spoken about the safety of Olestra. Just, you know, fyi.) I said earlier that we were being misled in the name of corporate profits. Where do the profits come in? It is projected that the U.S. market for artificial sweeteners, with aspartame leading the charge, will be about $1.1 billion by 2010. That's in this country, only; worldwide, it's projected to be over $3 billion. That's a lot of money for an easily concoted chemical.

* * *
So how do you know if a product contains aspartame? The Aspartame Resource Center says simply looking at the ingredient list will tell you if the product contains aspartame, and indeed, the FDA requires that aspartame be listed on the label. Right, that ARC, that FDA. But just in case a company hasn't listed it, if the label mentions "phenylalanine" at all, which is a component of aspartame, then the product contains aspartame.

But you'll need to be vigilant, especially given the tiny print on most ingredient labels. And given the propensity of aspartame to turn up where you least expect it, such as in the vitamins you give to your child, or your liquid antibiotics, or your Metamucil.

The bottom line is, your vigilance is the only thing standing between you and your unwilling ingestion of a dangerous product. Our government and our medical experts are in the very deep pockets of the industry that makes and sells that dangerous product, and no help is going to come from them. None.

* * *
At the top of the home page for the Aspartame Information Center-which, don't forget, is actually Ajinomoto, one of the two biggest producers of aspartame-we see this quote: "Few compounds have withstood such detailed testing and repeated, close scrutiny, and the process through which aspartame has gone should provide the public with additional confidence of its safety."

It's attributed to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

Pat, pat, pat.

If you would like to learn more you may want to read other articles on aspartame and the potential health risks associated with its use.

Aspartame- The Silent Killer
Aspartame Side Effects
Aspartame Poisoning
Aspartame and Pregnancy
Aspartame and Diabetes

Below is a list of links that you may find helpful in sorting out the facts:

www.aspartamesafety.com
http://aspartame.worldwidewarning.net/
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/
http://www.sweetpoison.com/

About the Author:

Lynn Stratton worked for the St. Petersburg Times as a news archivist, copy editor and staff writer until recently, when she started her own writing and editing business. Before that, she taught at USF for 15 years. Originally from NYC, she spends her spare time walking her standard poodle, Harry, and working in her butterfly garden, where she's had 6 species of caterpillars so far this year.
Posted by Alex Constantine at 4:50 AM 1 comments Links to this post
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Who Claims that Mac Wallace Killed JFK for LBJ?
Also see: The Origin of the "LBJ Killed JFK" Psyop: Bircher James Evetts Haley

Is this book for real? Author Barr McClellan (Scott's papa) maintains that Mac Wallace, a hit man on Lyndon Johnon's payroll, killed John Kennedy. I find this ridiculous, but judge for yourselves (as this post spins dervishly ... ).

Walt Brown: Author Barr McClellan's partner. Brown has since stated that McClellan's cable documentary The Guilty Men, naming Mac Wallace as a JFK killer, is largely "fiction." McClellan himself calls it "faction." Most of this is boosted from http://davesjfk.com/guilty.html.

Brown earned his Ph.D. in American History from the University of Notre Dame. He authored The People v. Lee Harvey Oswald (New York, NY: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1992) and Treachery in Dallas (New York, NY: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1995). He is a frequent contributor/editor of the Kennedy assassination newsletter, JFK / Deep Politics Quarterly. (see http://www.manuscriptservice.com/DPQ/)

Brown is well-known for his search for Noah's Ark.

Author of In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood, by Dr. Walt Brown
http://209.85.141.104/search?q=cache:zuxWhhzSvZMJ:www.biblecodesecrets.com/documents/GrizzlyAdamsDocumentaryExaminesNoahsArk-GlobalWarmingConnection.pdf+researcher+and+author+Walt+Brown+and+noah%27s+ark&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us

Since November 1, 2003 Dr. Brown has been attempting to distance himself from his involvement in Barr McClellan's book.

"I would not have so eagerly endorsed this work had I known what the publisher's edition would look like."

"I have no reason to think that his (McClellan's) work is in any way an attempt at deceit, but at the same time, I have no answers to the 'why?' of how it went from a solid, stand-on-its-own-legs work in July to an almost fictionalized account in October."

I for one find it hard to believe that Dr. Brown, who points out he once served as a Special Agent with the Justice Department in New York and Washington, D.C., never asked what happened to his input and fails to see the "why."
see: http://www.davesjfk.com/waltbrown.html

About Walt Brown:

Dr. Walt Brown, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, a mechanical engineer from MIT, and the former Chief of Science and Technology Studies at the Air War College, is another scientist featured in Miraculous Messages. According to Dr. Brown, it is inevitable that man contributes to some Global Warming, "but the amount is probably not large and no one really knows the extent."

http://www.biblecodesecrets.com/documents/GrizzlyAdamsDocumentaryExaminesNoahsArk-GlobalWarmingConnection.pdf

Barr McClellan:

Barr McClellan - McClellan is touted in The Guilty Men as "an attorney for Lyndon Johnson." No proof of this relationship is ever produced.

In his book McClellan opines that his former boss at the law firm, Ed Clark (1906-1992), is not only the person responsible for McClellan's past legal problems but the architect of the Kennedy assassination. McClellan claims Clark was one of the individuals culpable in the hiring of Oswald's alleged co-assassin, Malcolm Wallace. Wallace died in a single car accident in Pittsburgh, Texas on January 7, 1971 at age 50.

By his own admission, he is a lawyer who around October of 1982 was found guilty of forging a $35,000 deed of trust, was given probation, and was ordered to reimburse the $35,000 to the Travis Bank. He acknowledges that as a result of these events he was forced to cease the practice of law. (p. 292)

His animosity toward Clark carries over from his book to The Guilty Men. During McClellan's on camera appearance he explains that Clark:

"was the secret boss of Texas. He could and did arrange for people to be killed, he arranged for money to be laundered, he had that control."

"And when I heard that - there was no question but that Clark had been behind the assassination and he had done it for Johnson. I know beyond a reasonable doubt that Johnson murdered Kennedy. He acted through Clark he saw that it was done and he did it out of a corruption of power that is unequaled in our history"
http://davesjfk.com/guilty.html

Then there is Glen Sample who with Mark Collom authored The Men on the Sixth Floor, (Garden Grove, CA: Sample Graphics, 1995). He has vociferously disputed McClellan, Brown and Darby's fingerprint evidence that supposedly places Malcolm Wallace on the sixth floor with Oswald.

The Men on the Sixth Floor's web site
(http://home.earthlink.net/~sixthfloor/) press release of May 27, 1998 concluded:

"The challenge is hereby issued to Walt Brown, Jay Harrison, Barr McClellen and the entire Texas research group who claim to have made a forensic match between Wallace and the sixth floor fingerprints. Provide for us proof that will stand up to the harshest scrutiny of the critics. We will be waiting - hoping, for a change, that we are wrong."

Since his performance on the History Channel he has removed from his web site all references to past differences and is now working steadfastly on resolving the "issues."

"Even though Mark and I were unsuccessful (through our fingerprint investigators) in finding a match, we still feel that there is a distinct possibility that Darby's work is correct. Having discussed the issues with Mr. Darby, as well as, with Barr McClellan, we are now revisiting the print issue."

Glen Sample
11/22/03

In The Guilty Men, Sample fails to spell out that his book implicating Malcolm Wallace as a shooter is based upon the "confession" of a now deceased Chickasaw Indian, Loy Factor. Factor died May 5, 1994 due to complications from diabetes. Sample's co-author Mark Collom discovered Factor in 1971 while both he and Factor were in the hospital isolation ward at the State Prison at McAlester, Oklahoma. Factor was incarcerated for the 1968-strangulation murder of his wife while Collom was serving a 16-month sentence for a drug-related conviction.

Sample and Collom believe just about everything that Factor tells them. So what do the authors have to say concerning Factor's veracity? Factor is a man described in the book as having:

". . . a metal plate in his head as a result of a shrapnel wound, according to a brother. Factor was a veteran of World War II, and in June, 1948, the Veterans Administration said he was incompetent and entitled to receive compensation in the amount of $60 per month, but a guardian must be appointed before the monies would be released." (p. 43)

If Nigel Turner had compelled Sample to tell the whole story for the "documentary", that is that Factor's claims of involvement contradict McClellan's assertions - it might just damage the credibility of The Guilty Men.

Next we have Ed Tatro who I believe must be an expert in document mutation. In The Guilty Men he managed to convert an August 9, 1984 letter from Billie Sol Estes attorney, Douglas Caddy, to Stephen Trott of the U.S. Department of Justice into a "Justice Department document."

So naïve is Mr. Tatro he feels convicted con-man Estes, who was involved in millions of dollars in loans made on nonexistent fertilizer tanks, ". . . is telling the truth and there is every reason to believe he is . . ." Tatro never reveals just why he feels the almost life long plea bargaining Estes would not attempt to deceive.

http://davesjfk.com/guilty.html

- AC
Posted by Alex Constantine at 4:12 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Bush Administration Encouraged Hunt Oil Deal in Kurdistan, Undermining Iraqi “National Unity”
US Neo Cons secure Kurdish Oil! But is it for the Kurds or Turkey?
hevallo.wordpress.com

The Hunt Oil Company has secured a contract with the Kurdish Regional Government for oil but questions remain!

Firstly, Hunt Oil’s record of environmental damage is worrying to say the least.

Secondly, Ray L Hunt of Hunt Oil is a close friend of George Bush.

As well as being on the Foreign Intelligence Committee Ray L Hunt is also ‘on the board of trustees’ at right wing US ‘think tank’ CSIS with others including American Turkish Friendship advocate, Brent Scowcroft and William Cohen of The Cohen Group and (Joseph Ralston, is vice chair of The Cohen Group) Rex Tillerson, boss of Exxon Mobil.

We know that Exxon Mobil have been lobbying for closer ties with Turkey.
We know that Brent Scowcroft has been lobbying for closer ties with Turkey.
We know that Joseph Ralston has been lobbying for closer ties with Turkey.
We know that ‘Scott Sullivan’ is lobbying for closer ties with Turkey.
We know that the referendum of Kirkuk, article 140 is to be delayed . (with plots to scrap completely)

So the Hunt Oil deal makes it look as though the US are interested in Kurdish oil and takes the sting out of any anger over the delay of Article 140, a referendum on Kirkuk.

At the same time it puts pressure on Iraq to come up with oil deals for ExxonMobil and friends. ...

http://hevallo.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/us-neo-cons-secure-kurdish-oil-but-is-it-for-the-kurds-or-turkey/
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Bush Administration Encouraged Oil Deal in Kurdistan, Undermining Iraqi “National Unity”
By David Walsh
www.wsws.org
4 July 2008

The Bush administration publicly criticized a deal made between Hunt Oil of Dallas, Texas and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq last September for supposedly undermining Iraqi “national unity,” while privately officials were facilitating the oil firm’s activities, documents released this week by the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform reveal.

Hunt Oil, whose chief executive Ray Hunt has been a major backer of George W. Bush, signed the agreement with the Kurdish government on September 8, 2007 to explore and develop oilfields in the region.

No national law on the division of oil revenues had been passed at the time (and still has not been), and the agreement outraged Iraqi government officials fearful that Baghdad would be cut out of its share of lucrative oil profits by such arrangements and that the country might well break up under centrifugal pressures. At the time Iraq’s oil minister, Hussein al-Shahristani, called the deal “illegal.”

The Bush administration echoed these remarks. The president stated on September 20, 2007: “I knew nothing about the deal. I need to know exactly how it happened. To the extent that it does undermine the ability for the government to come up with an oil revenue sharing plan that unifies the country, obviously if it undermines it I’m concerned.”

A State Department official told the press: “It’s counterproductive. Our view is the contract process should be controlled by the central government and that these regional deals could become illegal if an oil law is passed.”

The Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, Jeffrey T. Bergner, wrote to a Congressional committee in October 2007 that, in his department’s view, “the signature of such contracts would needlessly elevate tensions between the KRG [Kurdish Regional Government] and the Government of Iraq.” Bergner went on to say, “We believe it is in the best interest of Iraq for all interested parties to agree to a single central approver of contracts so that Iraq’s oil and gas resources can be developed in accordance with a rational plan.”

This was all for public consumption. Behind the scenes, US government officials were assisting Hunt, a former member of the board at Halliburton (1998-2007), who has contributed $35 million toward the building of a Bush library, to land the deal with the Kurds.

The documents released by California Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman’s Oversight and Government Reform committee include an email from David McDonald, Hunt Oil’s General Manager for Europe, Africa and the Middle East, reporting on conversations with US government officials held June 12 and 15, 2007 in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region. McDonald sent the message in late September 2007, after the Hunt deal had been publicly censured by Bush and other administration officials.

In the email, addressed to Hunt Vice President Ken Topolinsky, McDonald writes about the initial discussion with US officials on June 12: “I described our visit as a security and business opportunity assessment, we discussed their views about security, power supply.” The officials, including members of the State Department’s Regional Reconstruction Team for the Kurdish region, suggested that McDonald return for another discussion three days later “when the expert concerned with the petroleum industry would be present.”

McDonald did so, and on June 15 another conversation took place between the Hunt oilman and US government representatives, among them, the “Senior Economic Adviser, Regional Reconstruction Team, USAID Northern Region.” In response to a question about production sharing contracts, McDonald explained that “I answered with a demonstration on a whiteboard of the terms of the agreement how royalties, cost oil, and profit oil are calculated and noted that the KRG contract [model production sharing agreement on the KRG web site] is consistent with agreements in use around the world and in fact is a sophisticated agreement. I specifically asked if the USG [US government] had a policy toward companies entering contracts with the KRG and [blacked out name] replied that there was no policy, neither for nor against.”

McDonald notes other contacts with American government officials in August and early September 2007, and concludes: “There was no communication to me or in my presence made by the 9 state department officials with whom I met prior to 8 September that Hunt should not pursue our course of action leading to a contract. In fact there was ample opportunity to do so, but it did not happen.”

The Commerce Department official who participated in the June 12 meeting, wrote Hunt Oil executives that same day: “It was a real pleasure meeting with you today, hope you [have] a fruitful visit to Kurdistan ... Please feel free to contact in case you need any support from our office here in Erbil.”

Casting further doubt on State Department claims that it was discouraging deals similar to the one Hunt was making with the Kurdish government, a few days after the agreement was announced in September, the Deputy Director of the US Regional Embassy in Basra wrote to a Hunt official, “I read and heard about with interest your deal with the regional Kurdish government,” and went on to tip her off about “another opportunity,” a liquefied natural gas refinery in southern Iraq. He added, “This seems like it would be a good opportunity for Hunt.”

As to the White House claim that it knew nothing about the deal, Ray Hunt’s own political relationship with the administration puts the lie to that. Aside from being a billionaire oilman, Hunt is a member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), along with 15 other business, military and intelligence types. Hunt dispatched two letters informing the PFIAB of his Kurdistan venture, presumably because the latter would involve contact with representatives of a foreign government.

On July 12, he wrote: “We were approached a month or so ago by representatives of a private group in Kurdistan as to the possibility of our becoming interested in that region. We had one team of geoscientists travel to Kurdistan several weeks ago and were encouraged by what we saw. We have a larger team going back to Kurdistan this week but who they will actually meet with while they are there and what the relationships of those people might be with the Government of Kurdistan are both unclear at this time.”

Some six weeks later, Hunt wrote again to the PFIAB, informing board members of his upcoming visit to the region: “While my schedule is still fluid, there is a high likelihood that I will meet with President Masoud Barzani, the Prime Minister, the Oil Minister and various other individuals associated with the government of Kurdistan.” The visit bore fruit.

Barzani said recently, in response to criticism from Baghdad, that the more than 20 production-sharing contracts his government has signed with foreign oil companies since passing its own gas and oil law in August 2007 are “irreversible.” He added, “Anyone who wants to put off these deals is a dreamer.” The Iraqi oil ministry has threatened to blacklist any oil firms making deals with the KRG, but that has not stopped the flow of such agreements. In late June, the Kurdish regime announced a new package of oil deals with South Korea’s state oil company.

The revelations about the US government and its dealings with Hunt come in the context of the recent announcement that American and European oil giants Exxon, Shell, BP and Total are receiving no-bid service contracts from the Iraqi government, deals that are simply the foot in the door for the massive companies.

The Bush administration claimed in this case too that it had nothing to do with the negotiations. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated, “The United States Government has stayed absolutely out of the matter of the awarding of Iraq oil contracts.” A State Department spokesman declared, “These are Iraqi contracts. They were made by Iraqis, for Iraqis.”

Everyone over the age of 10 knows that these claims are boldfaced lies. The US intervened in Iraq to seize control of the country’s oil reserves and assert its hegemony throughout the petroleum-rich Middle East. All the stated reasons—weapons of mass destruction, the Hussein regime’s ties with Al Qaeda, the establishment of democracy—have been exposed as falsehoods, and now, some five-and-a-half years later, the truth is emerging for all to see.

This is a potential embarrassment to the American ruling elite. Rep. Waxman makes clear that the brazenness of the Bush administration’s actions is a political problem: “The documents the Committee has received about Hunt Oil show that in matters involving Iraqi oil, official denials of knowledge and involvement can be misleading. This is a serious matter because of the widespread suspicion in Iraq and other nations that the United States went to war to gain access to Iraqi oil.”

As to why the State Department aided Hunt in Kurdistan, effectively undermining official policy in support of Iraqi “national unity,” the Bush administration is no doubt keeping all its options “on the table.” Washington is duplicitous in its dealings with the puppet regime in Baghdad, which it mistrusts and believes is too close to the Iranians, as it is with everyone else.

Voices have loudly been raised in favor of partition of the country, legal or de facto, and this policy has its backers in the administration. At the time of the Hunt deal signing last year, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman noted that Ray Hunt, “thanks to his policy position, is presumably as well-informed about the actual state of affairs in Iraq as anyone in the business world can be. By putting his money into a deal with the Kurds, despite Baghdad’s disapproval, he’s essentially betting that the Iraqi government ... won’t get its act together. Indeed, he’s effectively betting against the survival of Iraq as a nation in any meaningful sense of the term.

“The smart money, then, knows that the surge has failed, that the war is lost, and that Iraq is going the way of Yugoslavia. And I suspect that most people in the Bush administration—maybe even Mr. Bush himself—know this, too.”

Bush officials no doubt believe that there are various routes to the exploitation of Iraqi oil reserves. They are pressing for a national oil law, but see no difficulty in helping open up the Kurdish region to foreign predators in the meantime. Their policy is shortsighted and reckless, but this has been the character of the administration’s actions all along. The criminal plundering of Iraq’s natural resources, in the interest of the American corporate oligarchy, does not lend itself to rational, long-term planning.

Billions of dollars are at stake, and no doubt the administration did what it could to pass along some business to Hunt, a close political ally, whatever the ultimate consequences. A State Department official’s September 2007 email notes that when asked about “concerns over potential conflicts between the recently passed KRG hydrocarbon law and an [sic] national law,” Hunt’s McDonald said “the ‘significant opportunity’ outweighs the legal ambiguity.” Indeed.

It is worth noting that the Hunt name has a special political connotation.

The founder of the company, H.L. Hunt (1889-1974), Ray Hunt’s father, made a fortune in the oil industry in Texas. In 1957 Fortune magazine estimated that Hunt was worth $400-700 million, making him one of the eight richest individuals in the US.

Hunt was a fanatical right-winger and anticommunist. In 1951, he launched the Gen. Douglas MacArthur for president campaign with a chunk of his own money. Later, with two of his sons, he set up a right-wing “intelligence network,” the International Committee for the Defense of Christian Culture.

Hunt was involved in various ultra-right activities, including anti-Castro operations, and was a member of the John Birch Society. He also apparently helped bankroll the career of Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Ray Hunt was appointed the finance chairman of the Republican National Committee’s Victory 2000 Committee. During that campaign he was designated one of the 241 Bush “Pioneers,” thanks to his raising more than $100,000 in donations from his family. In 2004, Hunt and his wife donated $190,000 to the Republican cause.

In addition to his seat on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, Hunt serves as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and is a member of the National Petroleum Council, which advises the president on energy policy. As noted above, Hunt also served on the board of Halliburton, the firm once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jul2008/hunt-j04.shtml
Posted by Alex Constantine at 6:59 PM 0 comments Links to this post
The Origin of the "LBJ Killed JFK" Psyop: Bircher James Evetts Haley
Who killed Kennedy? In a word, "Minutemen," neo-fascists from the ultra-con Birch Society (funded early on by Nazi veterans of WW II in Germany, often linked to Nelson Bunker Hunt and others with known ties to the Kennedy murder), Young Americans for Freedom (YAF, a front for incoming Nazi spies from Munich) and Aryan-Nations/Liberty Lobby, all with Nixon, Pentagon and federal agency ties.

"To think - it was Nazis, all along." - Jack Ruby

The "LBJ killed JFK" cover story began with James Evetts Haley - a Bircher - the first to connect Johnson to organized crime in Texas and the Kennedy assassination, with particular reference to Billie Sol Estes - whose attorney was Douglas Caddy, an official of YAF. Subsequent writers have expanded on Haley's smears, most recently and notably Barr McClellan (former Bush spokesman Scott McClellan's papa).

Note that Haley had a history of libel. From Wikipedia:

Critic of LBJ and FDR

A sharp critic of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson, Haley, who was a member of the John Birch Society penned, A Texan Looks at Lyndon: A Study in Illegitimate Power. The bestseller exposes Johnson's relationship with swindler Billie Sol Estes of Pecos. Haley pointed out that the three men who could have provided evidence in court against Estes -- George Krutilek, Harold Orr, and Howard Pratt -- all died mysteriously of carbon monoxide poisoning from car engines. Haley's admirers claimed in 1964 that the book was outsold in Texas only by the Holy Bible. Haley's fellow conservative, Phyllis Schlafly, then of Alton, Illinois, and now of St. Louis, self-published the best-selling A Choice, Not an Echo to bolster the Goldwater campaign, with emphasis on what she saw as the destructive legacy of the Republican "Eastern Establishment" formerly headed by New York Governors Thomas E. Dewey and Nelson A. Rockefeller.

In 1936, in a meeting at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, Haley organized a short-lived third party, the "Jeffersonian Democrats of Texas", to offer opposition to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal within Texas. In 1964, Haley returned to his previous Republican affiliation to endorse then U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona, who was challenging President Johnson but fared poorly in Texas.

Haley also claimed that Johnson had a motive for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy: "Johnson wanted power and with all his knowledge of political strategy and his proven control of Congress, he could see wider horizons of power as Vice-President than as Senate Majority Leader. In effect, by presiding over the Senate, he could now conceive himself as virtually filling both high and important positions - and he was not far from wrong. Finally, as Victor Lasky pointed out, Johnson had nursed a lifetime dream to be President. As Majority leader he never could have made it. But as Vice-President fate could always intervene."

Houston Harte, a newspaper publisher in San Angelo, who supported LBJ, said that his friend Haley had gone to the extreme in writing A Texan Looks at Lyndon. "Haley can no longer be considered a serious historian," Harte claimed.

Historical works

In 1929, Haley published The XIT Ranch of Texas and the Early Days of the Llano Estacado. Accused of libel in a dozen lawsuits, Haley was compelled in 1931 to withdraw the book from circulation and to pay the plaintiffs $17,500 to settle all pending claims. He defended his work in which he had exposed "outlaws" and even made a trip into Mexico to authenticate a particular point in question ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Evetts_Haley
•••••
From "The Early Days of the John Birch Society," Psychic Dictatorship in the USA II (2008), by Alex Constantine

.... President John Kennedy responded to Birch Society criticism of his adminsitration in an address delivered at a fund-raising dinner hosted by the Democratic Party at the Hollywood Paladium on November 18, 1961. "In recent months, I have spoken many times about how difficult and dangerous a period it is through which we move. I would like to take this opportunity to say a word about the American spirit in this time of trial. In the most critical periods of our nation's history, there have been those on the fringes of our society who have sought to escape their own responsibility by finding a simple solution, an appealing slogan or a convenient scapegoat." Political extremists, Kennedy said, sought the easy explanation for every national crisis and ignored political complexities. A downturn in the economy "could be explained by the presence of too many immigrants." Wars were orchestrated by "international bankers." China ended trade relations with the world not as a result of internal conflicts, but due to "treason in high places." With their rhetoric, "these fanatics have achieved a temporary success among those who lack the will or the vision to face unpleasant facts or unresolved problems." ...
Posted by Alex Constantine at 1:50 PM 0 comments Links to this post
The Fires Last Time, Part II (California Arson)
"At a news conference Thursday, federal and local investigators said they recovered evidence from a hollow where the Silverado Canyon wildfire started. They said they were confident the flames had been deliberately started with a form of 'liquid fuel.' ... " - "Arson evidence whips up anger," Chicago Tribune, October 28, 2007

One arson suspect won't have much to say, though, because the cops zipped him up for good:

California Police Shoot Dead Suspected Arsonist

Fred Attewill
October 25, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2198866,00.html

Police have shot dead a man suspected of starting a fire in southern California amid growing concern that arsonists are responsible for some of the wildfires burning across the state.

The victim, a 27-year-old man from Arizona, had been spotted in scrubland near San Bernardino university campus on Tuesday evening. The area is on high alert after hundreds of homes were destroyed in the nearby mountains.

Armed university police tried to detain the man but he climbed into his car and drove off. He was chased up a track towards the foothills, where he was cornered. He was shot and killed when he reversed into a police car, authorities said. ...

Investigators believe at least two wildfires, including one in Orange county near Los Angeles, were started by arsonists. The FBI is investigating the blaze.

Three hours after the San Bernardino shooting, in the city of Hesperia, a man seen squatting by the roadside was arrested. Local police said the man, John Alfred Rund, 48, had just started a fire.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2198866,00.html
••••••••••
From the Cannonfire site:

Well, it's official: The recent fires in Southern California were caused by arson. I just heard Governor Schwarzenegger on the radio vowing to unleash hell on the evildoers.

Two men have been arrested on suspicion of arson, although no-one seems to think that they caused any major fires. One of the suspects is John A. Rund of Hesperia, a desert community near the San Bernardino mountains. In a previous post, I point out that this same fellow has been known to guide hikers through the areas devastated by the 2003 fires.

Tonight, an enigmatic -- and anonymous -- posting on Craigslist has come to my attention:

FBI just announced they arrested John Alfred Rund, 48, for arson in just one of the fires in Los Angeles. Rund is a known member of the National Socialist Movement and the Minutemen, both known terrorist organizations. The FBI also announced they are looking for multiple arsonist suspects in what is being called the largest terrorist plot to hit California to date.

Now, an unsigned Craigslist post is no-one's idea of a reliable news source. At least one fact is provably wrong: The FBI did not arrest Rund; he is being held by local cops in San Bernardino County. And I have never heard of a terrorist organization called "The National Socialist Movement."

Can anyone find another source for this "Minutemen" rumor? Right now, the allegation seems very unlikely. What motive would that group have to commit arson?

On the other hand, one must recall this earlier story about the strange individuals who were spying on various northern California fire stations.

That account does seem to hint at the work of a larger organization -- although, once again, the question of motive baffles. Why would arsonists videotape fire stations? ...
••••••••••
Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Who was Spying on California Fire Stations Last Month?

As I write, flames have charred much of my state. I haven't been directly affected, but people I know have been forced to evacuate. A friend's sister may have lost her home.

Fire officials now seem confident that the Orange County fire was an act of arson; other blazes may have a similar origin. The National Terror Alert Response Center cautiously discusses the possibility that the arsonists were terrorists.

One month ago, California Fire News published a fascinating story about suspicious activity around fire stations in Northern California:
During the last week of July, fire officials in the Bay Area city of Campbell reported that two men had been seen videotaping routine activities at a fire station.

The men were reportedly in their 20s or early 30s, and one was using a sophisticated news media-style camera.

When firefighters attempted to talk with the men, they reportedly jumped into a waiting car and sped off.

The incident prompted the Sacramento Regional Terrorism Threat Assessment Center to send out a request for Northern California fire stations to watch for similar incidents, and report them immediately.

The day the request went out, Sept. 6, a second, similar incident was reported at a fire station in Yuba City.

According to officials, a fire captain encountered two men parked outside the city’s main fire station. One of the men got out and allegedly began taking pictures of the fire station’s administration building. When the captain approached the men, to tell them they were in a no-parking zone, the photographer jumped in the vehicle and the men left.

The man who took the photos was described as being between 30 and 40 years of age.

On Sept. 12, Fresno Fire Department officials spotted two men in a vehicle allegedly observing activities at a fire training center. When questioned, the driver reportedly said they were just checking things out, then left immediately.

Two days later, on Sept. 14, personnel from the Sacramento Metro Fire Department noticed two men taking photos of a fire station. A third man sat in the back of a car, and appeared to be drawing or taking notes. When fire officials walked toward them, the two taking pictures jumped in the vehicle and sped away.

The men allegedly took pictures in front of the station, and in the rear. They ranged in age from late teens to about 60, officials recalled.

Did similar incidents occur in the southern part of the state? What useful info could an organized team of arsonists possibly gain from stake-outs of this sort? Why haven't the major media fastened onto this story?

I would note that the above paragraphs do not describe the suspicious men as being of Middle Eastern appearance.

Of course, I do not wish to engage in sensationalism. But we should not be afraid to discuss all possibilities.
•••••••••••
Suspicious Activity At California Fire Stations

September 20, 2007

During the last week of July, fire officials in the Bay Area city of Campbell reported that two men had been seen videotaping routine activities at a fire station.

The men were reportedly in their 20s or early 30s, and one was using a sophisticated news media-style camera.

When firefighters attempted to talk with the men, they reportedly jumped into a waiting car and sped off.

The incident prompted the Sacramento Regional Terrorism Threat Assessment Center to send out a request for Northern California fire stations to watch for similar incidents, and report them immediately.

The day the request went out, Sept. 6, a second, similar incident was reported at a fire station in Yuba City.

According to officials, a fire captain encountered two men parked outside the city’s main fire station. One of the men got out and allegedly began taking pictures of the fire station’s administration building. When the captain approached the men, to tell them they were in a no-parking zone, the photographer jumped in the vehicle and the men left.

The man who took the photos was described as being between 30 and 40 years of age.

On Sept. 12, Fresno Fire Department officials spotted two men in a vehicle allegedly observing activities at a fire training center. When questioned, the driver reportedly said they were just checking things out, then left immediately.

Two days later, on Sept. 14, personnel from the Sacramento Metro Fire Department noticed two men taking photos of a fire station. A third man sat in the back of a car, and appeared to be drawing or taking notes. When fire officials walked toward them, the two taking pictures jumped in the vehicle and sped away.

The men allegedly took pictures in front of the station, and in the rear. They ranged in age from late teens to about 60, officials recalled.

Tim Johnstone, a commander with the threat assessment center in Sacramento, said all of the incidents are being investigated, but there is no indication they might be related.

“We aren’t considering this a specific threat at this time; we’re just asking our public safety partners to be on the watch for suspicious activity,” he said.

He said the threat assessment center was formed to act as a collection point for homeland security intelligence, and disseminate it appropriately.

Jay Alan, deputy director of communication for the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security, said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is concerned about security agencies sharing information, and has made it a top priority.

Local officials said no suspicious incidents involving videotaping or photos have been reported at fire stations.

Fire department personnel are being asked to take note of vehicle descriptions, descriptions of suspicious subjects, and complete license plate numbers. Citizens who witness suspicious activity, near fire stations or elsewhere, should do the same, and report it to their local law enforcement agency.

Citizens should not attempt to contact suspicious individuals.

http://calfire.blogspot.com/2007/09/terror-watch-at-calif-fire-stations.html
••••••••
MEANWHILE, IN THE EAST, FAR FROM THE INCENDIARY CITY OF LOST ANGELS ...

Two Firefighters Accused of Arson
New York Times
October 29, 2007

Two off-duty New York City firefighters were arrested last night on charges of spreading and igniting flammable fluid outside a Manhattan firehouse early Saturday, Fire Department officials said.

A firefighter inside the firehouse, in the Clinton neighborhood, noticed smoke seeping in from the main garage door and alerted colleagues, and they quickly extinguished the blaze, the officials said. No one was injured and the door appeared to be operable last night, though much of its exterior was blackened.

The two suspects, Michael Izzo, 30, of Staten Island and Richard Capece, 31, of Brooklyn, who were stationed at other fire companies, surrendered yesterday. They were charged with arson, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief, all felonies. The motive was unclear, law enforcement officials said.

Firefighter Izzo is a six-year veteran of the department assigned to Engine 242 in Brooklyn, and Firefighter Capece is a five-year veteran currently assigned to Engine 1 in Manhattan.

The fire was set at 2:15 a.m. at the firehouse of Engine Company 34 and Ladder Company 21 at 440 West 38th Street, the department said. The episode was taped by a surveillance camera, the officials said.

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta called the crime "an outrageous, depraved act" and said that if convicted, the suspects would be terminated. For now, the two men are suspended from duty without pay.

The Uniformed Firefighters Association, the union that represents firefighters, did not immediately return a call seeking comment last night.
•••••••
Arson: California Fire Reward Now $250,000, Five Arrested
National Ledger
By Brenda Jones
Oct 26, 2007

The reward for helping capture and convict arson suspects that intentionally set some of the fires in California has now been increased to $250,000. The California fires destroyed an estimated 1,800 homes, causing well over 1 billion dollars of damage and burning 461,000 acres across drought-ravaged southern California from the Mexican border to Santa Barbara.

Wildfires have burned about 753 square miles and destroyed about 1,800 homes throughout the region, causing at least three deaths from flames. Two of the fires, in Orange and Riverside counties, are believe to be the work of arsonists. ...

http://www.nationalledger.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=18&num=16895
Posted by Alex Constantine at 12:56 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Doctored Photos Row: In Viewership, Fox Goes Down with a Fight
" ... Fox ran modified pictures of both men. Mr. Steinberg's teeth had been yellowed, his nose and chin made more bulbous, and his ears jugged. Mr. Reddicliffe was given black bags under his eyes, and his hairline was pulled back. ... "

Images taken from Fox News screen shots next to actual images of New York Times staffers. (mediamatters.org)




SINCLAIR STEWART
Globe and Mail Update
www.theglobeandmail.com
July 9, 2008

NEW YORK — Forget about that quadrennial blood feud known as the U.S. presidential election. In New York, at least, the most intriguing tussle between left and right in recent days doesn't centre on Barack Obama or John McCain, but on a pair of media organizations – The New York Times and Fox News – that wield considerable political clout in their own right.

Detractors of Fox, America's No. 1 cable news network, have always complained that it twists the truth, refracting people and events through a conservative prism until they acquire the distortions of a fun house mirror.

These criticisms, of course, are metaphors – or at least they were until a week ago, when a Fox program aired unflatteringly altered photographs of two New York Times staffers whose work had raised the broadcaster's hackles.

The doctored pictures, which weren't identified as such to viewers, have stirred a froth about journalistic ethics in media circles here, pitting liberal-minded broadsheet against populist network in a conflict that bears all the scars and sniping of a political race.

The seeds of the dispute were sown last week, when Times reporter Jacques Steinberg wrote a story on cable news ratings. The piece acknowledged that while Fox remained the most popular news destination for prime-time viewers in the coveted 25-54 demographic, its once dominant lead had eroded, with rivals CNN and MSNBC adding viewers at a faster clip.

A few days later, on the morning show Fox and Friends, co-anchor Steve Doocy described the article as a “hit piece” and averred that Mr. Steinberg had been doing a “bunch of attack stories” on the network.

Further, he added, Mr. Steinberg's boss, Steven Reddicliffe, was a former employee of the Fox media empire and reportedly had “an axe to grind” with the company.

At the same time, Fox ran modified pictures of both men. Mr. Steinberg's teeth had been yellowed, his nose and chin made more bulbous, and his ears jugged. Mr. Reddicliffe was given black bags under his eyes, and his hairline was pulled back. ...

Story continues
Posted by Alex Constantine at 10:26 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
New Allegations Concerning the John Kennedy Assassination
Also see: Who Claims that Mac Wallace Killed JFK for LBJ?

By Alex Constantine
(Revised)

I have a galley proof entitled The Men that Don't Fit In, by Rod Mac Kenzie, handed to me by a friend in Olympia, Washington, that purports to provide first-hand testimony on the hit team that shot John Kennedy on November 22, 1963.

Rod Mac Kenzie: "The actual assassins I either knew or knew of within a few days after the fact. I spent a day a week later drinking with Malcolm 'Mac' Wallace, the man who had directed the killing teams for Lyndon B. Johnson and his Texas Mafia with the help of the other Mafia. We spent a day doing the setup bars and strip joints in both Ft. Worth and Dallas. Mac was quite talkative in a conspirator way. He and I had known each other in the past from dealings with gamblers at the Adolphis Hotel and the Egyptian Lounge and my having to do with the safe house I ran for them and the Mob. Several of the people he mentioned I knew from my dealings over the past years in the Cuban fiascos and fun and games. The Permindex bunch run out of New Orleans paid the bills and Mac had often been the delivery guy. ... "

Mac Kenzie's account of the assassination appears to be a patchwork of misinformaion disseminated since the JFK murder, particularly linking to Barr McClellan's cover stories, which place the onus on Lyndon Johnson, and contribute to a traceable lineage of Kennedy assassination decoys and dead ends. Some of the information in the book is valid enough, some not. The story that emerges omits GHW Bush, CIA fronts like Mullen & Associates, Douglas Caddy and Charles Willoughby, founders of Young Americans for Freedom, and THAT is the book's reason to be, I believe.

This is the same psyop school that gave us self-described JFK Killer James E. Files, "Bum" Chauncey Holt, Billie Sol Estes and now Mac Kenzie, trailing away from suspects GHW Bush, CIA, Liberty Lobby/YAF's Charles Willoughby-Weidenbach - and that is why Estes, a predecessor of Mac Kenzie and one of Barr "LBJ Did It" McClellan's primary "sources" - a well-known pathological liar - was represented legally by Douglas Caddy of YAF.

Actually, the cover-up proves the crime.

Mac Kenzie describes his association with Chauncey Holt, and states as fact that the latter (photo right) was one of the tramps in the famed photo. Holt, of course, himself claimed to be one of the three tramps in the 1963 photo.

Rod Mac Kenzie writes, "a lot of people think Chauncy [sic] was bullshit but I know different" (The Men That Don't Fit, page 90).

Holt died over ten years ago, but Mac Kenzie writes that he "was and probably still is CIA." .... Even after death ... Mr. Holt was "in the R.R. yard with the hit team made up of Rogers and Harrelson and another guy ... " This doesn't hold up so well under examination. Some of the background on Holt and his tramp claim -

Holt's bio:

Chauncey Holt was born in Kentucky on 23rd October, 1921. When he was 19 he joined the United States Army Airforce (USAAF). The following year he was court-martialed and sent to the U.S. penitentiary barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for attacking another soldier with a Springfield rifle.

Holt was released in June 1940 but deserted from the USAF after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He eventually returned to duty but in 1942 he travelled in a car from Fort Knox to Louisville. He was arrested and charged with taking the car without permission and was sentenced to 18 months in the Industrial Reformatory at Chillicott, Ohio. On his release he found work with the Bethelem-Fairfield Shipyard Company.

After the war Holt met Peter Licavoli, a leading figure in the Mafia in Detroit. Holt was sent to Florida where he worked for Meyer Lansky as an accountant and pilot. This included several trips to Cuba where Lansky had extensive business interests. Lansky also sent Holt to worked for the International Rescue Committee (IRC). This was a Central Intelligence Agency controlled organization that had been set up to distribute funds to organizations attempting to overthrow left-wing governments. During the time Holt was also involved in producing forged documents for the CIA and the Mafia. ...

In 1963 Holt received instructions from Twombly to provide false ID documents for Lee Harvey Oswald. These documents (in the names of Lee Harvey Oswald and Alek Hiddell) were delivered by a man called George Reynolds. In August, 1963, Twombly asked Holt to travel to New Orleans, where he met Oswald and Carlos Bringuier.

Holt later claimed he was went to Dallas in November, 1963, with Charlie Nicoletti, James Canty and Leo Moceri. In Dallas he passed on forged documents and guns (with silencers) to Charles Harrelson and Charles Rogers (Richard Montoya). Holt was told that "an incident was going to be created which could be laid at the door of pro-Castro Cubans. The word attempted assassination was never used. We assumed that from all this light loaded ammunition that maybe somebody was going to try to take a shot from somewhere, probably the Dal-Tex building, or one of the buildings around there. But at no time was it ever intimidated to us that an assassination or attempted assassination on Kennedy."

When the Kennedy motorcade reached the Dealey Plaza Holt was in the parking lot behind the Grassy Knoll. After the shooting took place Holt went to hide in a railroad car. He was joined by Charles Harrelson and Charles Rogers. However, soon afterwards, Dallas police officers entered the railroad car and arrested all three men. The three men along with Jim Brading were interviewed by Gordon Shanklin of the FBI and then released.

In October, 1991, Holt confessed to John Craig, Phillip Rogers and Gary Shaw about his role in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Holt's story was undermined in 1992 when the Dallas Police Department revealed that the three tramps were Gus Abrams, John F. Gedney and Harold Doyle. Ray and Mary LaFontaine carried out their own research into this claim. They traced Doyle and Gedley who confirmed they were two of the tramps in the photograph.

Gus Abrams was dead but his sister identified him as the third tramp in the photograph. Chauncey Holt died on 28th June, 1997.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKholt.htm

From: An Apology - Of Sorts
http://davesjfk.com/holt.html

... John Craig and Phillip Rogers appeared during the above mentioned ASK Symposium. Their topic was "A presentation of identification of the infamous 'tramp' in Dealey Plaza." And at least unexpectedly to me some of the discussion DID revolve around Chauncey Holt's self-professed claims. The audience was shown the three tramp photographs along with some taken of Holt in 1991 for "comparison" purposes. During the question and answer period one of the many skeptical members of the audience asked the following question:

"Why does Holt have a fat nose in 1963 and a thin one in 1991?"

The answer: "It was because he bumped his nose in the railroad car, developed a nosebleed and stuffed his nose with cotton."

Now where would a tramp suddenly acquire pieces of cotton, I wondered?

The April 1992 edition of Film Threat magazine covered ASK - 1991. The reviewer, Dave Parker, indicated that "nearly everyone in the crowd [had] a problem buying the I.D.s. [and] everyone [left] the symposium, complaining bitterly."

By the time ASK was over, Holt had gone public and was identifying himself as the old man tramp in the three tramp photographs. Furthermore, Craig and Rogers published a book in 1992 called The Man on the Grassy Knoll. They made Holt a major player in the assassination.

They also revealed Holt told them he could be seen with Oswald in August 16, 1963 WDSU-TV news film showing Oswald passing out leaflets on a New Orleans street.

The story does not end there.

Filmmakers and investigators Ray and Mary LaFontaine dealt Holt's story a severe blow in late January of 1992 when researching Dallas Police Department records available from the city since 1989. Mary LaFontaine noticed the original arrest records of the three tramps. The documents identified the trio as Harold Doyle, John F. Gedney, and Gus Abrams. The LaFontaines contacted Doyle. Media representatives such as David Real of The Dallas Morning News and Billy Cox of Florida Today were in touch with Gedney. Both Doyle and Gedney* were able to confirm and prove they were two of the tramps in the photographs.

Social Security records show Gus Abrams, the old man tramp who Holt claimed he was, filed for disability payments due to a "lung condition" on July 27, 1970.

Abrams died on August 14, 1987 at age 75. Abrams' sister, Emma McCabe who lived in Ohio, was able to easily identify her brother as the person assassination researchers identified as the old man tramp in the photographs.

There is not one shred of physical evidence that Holt, who died on June 28, 1997, did what he claims to have done. We only have the debatable word of Holt, a former circus performer, who was described by one of his friends as "an old-fashioned raconteur, a sort of Renaissance man" and James Files as proof.

* Gedney also authored a book - The Making of a Bum: From Notoriety to Sobriety, (Gami Publishing, 2002)

http://davesjfk.com/holt.html

Roselli

Johnny Roselli, of course, was found chopped into pieces and floating in a drum near Donald Aronow's speedboat factory in Key Biscayne, Florida in 1976, not long after he questioned by the Church Committee. Aronow was murdered mob-style himself, and spent a week on the phone with then-president GHW Bush before he was gunned down on the drive of the speedboat shop.

Mac Kenzie writes: "The night before Nov. 22, was a very, very busy night at the Cabana Hotel and the Egyptian Lounge. I had been told to be at a meeting by Jake in the lower cafeteria at ... 11:00 am ... John Roselli was going to be there. ... " (p. 59)

In The Man Who Knew Too Much, by Dick Russell, there is a section entitled, "The Mob/CIA/FBI and Jim Garrison." It opens with a Jack Anderson column on a supposed plot by Fidel Castro to kill John Kennedy.

The Anderson story was based on leaks by "insiders." The "insiders" collectively were actually one John Roselli - "as part of what now appears to have been a CONSCIOUS DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN begun by the mobster in 1966, right after Garrison took Ferrie in for questioning ... " (Russell, p.641).

Roselli blew smoke around the assassination at the behest of CIA officials who'd been thrown into a state of panic by Garrison's investigation of David Ferrie.

Re Mac Kenzie's allegation that he went to the Cabana Hotel to meet with Roselli the night before the Kennedy assassination:

Where was Roselli that morning?

" ... According to Tosh Plumlee, a pilot working for the CIA, he picked up Roselli from Tampa, Florida, early on the 22nd November."

Roselli was in Tampa early in the morning of the 22nd, flew to New Orleans:

" ... Plumlee then took Roselli to New Orleans. After picking up three more men (of Cuban appearance), Plumlee took Roselli and his friends to Redbird Airport in Dallas. . ... "

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=693&mode=threaded&pid=4324

Not exactly.

It wasn't a straight shot from New Orleans to Redbird Airport, after all.:

Plumlee: " ... In 1963 I flew into Red Bird airport from Garland airport on the day Kennedy was assassinated. ... "

Roselli disembarked at Garland in one account:

Testimony of Bob Vernon
Dallas, Texas -- November 18, 1994 Hearing

" ... Mr. Plumlee stated that Mr. Roselli departed the plane at Dallas GARLAND Airport shortly after 6:30 a.m. on the morning of November 22nd, 1963. Mr. Plumlee testified that he was informed that the flight was an abort mission, and that their assignment was to stop the assassination attempt on Kennedy's life. ...

"Mr. Plumlee testified that he was told this by his superior officers, and he has identified those officers. Mr. Plumlee testified that he was present in Dealey Plaza on the South Knoll at the time of the assassination. ...

http://jfkassassination.net/arrb/index67.htm

Plumlee again. This time, Roselli continues on to Redbird airport during a storm, only arriving "as late as 11:00 am" - too late to meet with Ruby in Fort Worth early the same morning, as self-proclaimed JFK shooter James E. Files alleges (see below), and also probably too late to meet with Rod Mac Kenzie. Plumlee:

" ... The next morning, November 22,1963, about 4:30-5 a.m., our weather briefing was not favorable for a VFR flight into Dallas's Red Bird airport. We selected Garland as an alternate in case the weather had not improved by the time we arrived near Dallas air space. We did not file a flight plan nor intended to file IFR. This would have left a record of our flight with air traffic control. We continued to Garland,in northeast Dallas instead of Redbird Airport in Oak Cliff, a suburb of Dallas. We made this decision because of possible bad weather southwest of Dallas that had not cleared as yet.

"We arrived in Garland near daybreak. There had been so many threats against the President's life that we didn't have a great sense of urgency about this particular one. While waiting out the bad weather in Garland, and about thirty minutes after landing three of the passengers were picked up by car, including Roselli. (There are three documented corroborations of my presence at Garland airport that morning). After the weather had cleared sufficiently for the plane to continue via VFR flight rules to Redbird Airport in Dallas, we left Garland for the ten minute flight to Red Bird. We landed at Redbird around 9:30 or 10:30 a.m., perhaps as late as 11 a.m. where everybody got off and went their own way. ... "

BUT: "There is no way anyone can prove Roselli was in Dallas.... not even me. ... " - T. Plumlee
http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/lofiversion/index.php/t7072.html

Plumlee was an operative of Bob Bennett from Mullen and Associates - a notorious front for CIA assassinations and coup plots. Was Roselli even in Dallas on November 22?

Or was he a cover story to account for the Plumlee/Bennett/Mullens connection in Dallas?

Robert Bennett of Mullen & Co.,** the public relations firm, was a CIA operative. Mae Brussell writes that he worked with YAF co-founder and "attorney Douglas Caddy," and "shared the same offices" with E. Howard Hunt. "Caddy was co-founder of Young Americans for Freedom. Robert Mullen alleged to be CIA, as well as Caddy."
http://www.maebrussell.com/Mae%20Brussell%20Articles/Why%20Was%20Martha%20Mitchell%20Kidnapped%20-%201.html

Nixon's milieu.

Caddy was also the attorney for Billie Sol Estes.* Estes was also a key component of the LBJ focus of Barr McClellan's book on the Kennedy assassination.

Rod Mac Kenzie's story appears to be tailored to support the account of self-professed JFK assassin James E. Files, who, as mentioned, tells another story altogether - one that leads away from Robert Bennett of Utah and Plumlee, etc.

Plumlee was photographed at the south end of the grassy knoll when Kennedy was shot, trying, he claimed, to "prevent" the murder:

From: HudsonTom@aol.com
To: Multiple recipients of
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1996 10:47:39 -0400
Subject: Updated FILES CONFESSION REVIEW

" ... On November 22, the morning of the assassination, Files picked up John Roselli at the Dallas Cabana Hotel shortly after 7 AM then drove to a Fort Worth pancake house restaurant where he watched and guarded a meeting between Roselli and Jack Ruby. ... "
http://www.jfk-info.com/Jfiles3.txt

A flight from Tampa to New Orleans takes about 1 hr. 20 min. The flight time from New Orleans to Dallas is about the same. But there was a storm, waiting it out in garland, time passing by. So on the morning of November 22, Roselli spent several hours in the air, and more time scuttling about by car, waiting for rainfall to subside, for takeoff, collecting passengers, etc.

Yet he was picked up at the Cabana in Dallas at 7:00 am for a drive to Fort Worth for a meeting with Ruby - who was already at the Cabana, per the Warren Commission? None of these accounts are consistent or even possible.

* Caddy and YAF, per Mae Brussell:

September, 1960, two months before the elections, William F. Buckley Jr. launched his YAF, Young Americans for Freedom, from the grounds on his Connecticut estate.

Prior to that date, Buckley's career was one of the most conservative in the U.S. Following his graduation at Yale, mentor Frank Chodorov grabbed him for purposes related to his job with McCormick's Chicago Tribune.

Buckley served the CIA in Japan from 1950 to 1954.

He also did a stint with CIA in Mexico with E. Howard Hunt.

Co-founder of YAF was Douglas Caddy, whose offices were used by the CIA and Howard Hughes organization, at the time of Watergate illegal entries and other dirty tricks.

After the CIA in Japan, Buckley was ready to publish his own magazine, The National Review. This was an unusual opportunity to bring together the world's most conservative writers for publication and much propaganda accompanied by Buckley's glib innuendos.

Once the publication was going, Buckley decided to bring Young Americans for Freedom to the campus; old ideas, old money, and young minds to mold. Behind the project were always the well-funded military masters, such as the YAF's Tom Charles Huston and the Cointel-Program Nixon cooked up.

The selected advisory board for YAF was a Who's Who of oldies even then: Senator Strom Thurmond, Senator John Tower, Mr. Ronald Reagan, Professor Lev Dobriansky, General Charles Willoughby, and Mr. Robert Morris are a sample.

Robert Morris may not be a household name. But William Buckley knew him well, and Morris, Nixon, and Senator Joe McCarthy were team players. Senator Joe McCarthy's two strongest supporters for him to represent Wisconsin were Frank Seusenbrenner and Walter Harnisfeger.

Both admired Adolf Hitler and made continuous trips to Germany.

Senator McCarthy obliged fast enough. Before he went after the Commies in the State Department, he had to release a few of Hitler's elite nazis lingering in the Dachau prison camp. McCarthy beat John McCloy by about three years.

In 1949, during congressional hearings on the Malmedy Massacre, the bloody Battle of the Bulge, McCarthy invited himself to take over the entire testimony. He wasn't satisfied until the prison doors flew open. The most detestable and ugly battle of World War II, an assault upon Americans and civilians in Belgium, was ignored. Hitler's precious Generals Fritz Kraemer and Sepp Dietrick, along with Hermann Priess and many others, were free.

With that business finished, McCarthy took on Robert Morris as Chief Counsel for the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. Morris' earlier training in Navy Intelligence in charge of USSR counter-intelligence and psychological warfare could be utilized well by Senator Joe. Particularly the psychological warfare part.

After McCarthy died, Morris moved to Dallas, Texas. He was a judge, and became president of Dallas University.

In 1961, a year after Buckley founded YAF, another conservative organization was formed in Munich, Germany, calling itself CUSA, Conservatism USA. These were not students, but members of the U.S. army, soon to be mustered out, then to appear in Dallas, Texas, by November 1963. The host would be Robert Morris.

http://www.maebrussell.com/Mae%20Brussell%20Articles/Nazi%20Connection%20to%20JFK%20Assass.html

Caddy "Blows the Whistle":

" ... On 9th August, 1984, Estes' lawyer, Douglas Caddy, wrote to Stephen S. Trott at the U.S. Department of Justice. In the letter Caddy claimed that Wallace, Billie Sol Estes, Lyndon B. Johnson and Cliff Carter had been involved in the murders of Henry Marshall, George Krutilek, Harold Orr, Ike Rogers, Coleman Wade, Josefa Johnson, John Kinser and John F. Kennedy. Caddy added: "Mr. Estes is willing to testify that LBJ ordered these killings, and that he transmitted his orders through Cliff Carter to Mac Wallace, who executed the murders. ... "
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKwallaceM.htm

About the Cabana:

"Overlooking Stemmons Freeway, and less than two minutes from Dealey Plaza, stood the Cabana Motel. For mobsters in town to kill the President, the Cabana would have been a likely roost. . . . Just before midnight on November 21, Ruby arrived at the Cabana to meet a Chicago businessman named Lawrence Meyers, . . . Meyer's traveling companion was a woman he claimed was a "party girl" he had picked up at a hotel and lounge in Chicago. This was Jean West, aka Jean Aase, a shadowy figure who has not been heard from since. What makes Ms. West intriguing is the fact that, according to telephone records, David Ferrie--of New Orleans fame--placed an unexplained fifteen-minute phone call on September 24, 1963, to the Chicago hotel where Meyers says he met her.

Meyers and Ms West had arrived in Dallas on November 20 and checked into a Ramada Inn. On November 21, they checked out and moved to the Cabana Motel. Why? Perhaps to be nearer other people who were staying there.

Two of these people were Eugene Hale Brading, aka Jim Braden, high-flying West Coast con man with longstanding ties to the Chicago Mafia, and Morgan Brown, another con artist who had been involved in at least one shootout with Los Angeles police. . . .

Brading, traveling as "Braden," had checked into the Cabana with Brown on November 21, telling the clerk they would stay until November 24. Moments after the assassination, "Braden" was one of about a dozen people picked up by the Dallas cops and briefly questioned. When arrested he was in the Dal-Tex building across the street from the Book Depository. He claimed to have ducked into the building to use the phone. There an elevator operator thought he was suspicious and reported him to the police. While Brading was being questioned, his companion Brown checked out of the Cabana--without explaining why he was leaving two days ahead of schedule--and left his friend behind.

During the HSCA investigation, Chief Counsel Blakey reported the following:

A call made on September 24, 1963 by an investigator for New Orleans Mafia leader Carlos Marcello to a woman in Chicago, who was present with Ruby on the night before the assassination. The committee found that David W. Ferrie had called the number of Jean Aase West and had spoken for at least 15 minutes. On November 21, 1963, Miss West visited Ruby in Dallas, accompanied a mutual friend, Lawrence Meyers. Miss West and Meyers had drinks with Ruby shortly before midnight on November 212 at the Cabana Motel. (4 HSCA 499)
•••••••
Prior Attempts to Kill Kennedy?

Mac Kenzie: " ... I was told by John Roselli that they had set Kennedy up first at the baseball field in New York ... "

That would be an interesting trick, because Kennedy, if he even attended a New York Yankees game while president, would have thrown the first pitch - but Kennedy only threw three first pitches in his abbreviated term, none of them at "a baseball field in New York":

1961 John F. Kennedy
Washington Senators Griffith Stadium
Loss, 3-4

1962 John F. Kennedy Washington Senators
D.C. Stadium
Win, 4-1 First pitch in new stadium

1963 John F. Kennedy
Washington Senators D.C. Stadium Loss, 1-3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceremonial_first_pitch

Mac Kenzie: Kennedy was set up " ... then again in Chicago ... "

Roselli isn't needed for this information. Mac Kenzie must know of the story in November 2007, widely reported by ABC, on the group of armed Cubans routed in Chicago by the Secret Service early in November 1963, and this is very likely the source of the "Roselli revelation":

New Revelations in Kennedy Assassination: Information over holiday weekend turns an old story in new directions

Florida Insider

November 24, 2007 — A new report from a Chicago ABC affiliate and several other developments has shifted theories concerning the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy in new directions. ...

Kennedy was to travel by motorcade to a college football game at Chicago’s Soldier Field. The president’s trip was cancelled at the last minute, apparently for security reasons, although the public was told he had a cold.The man arrested, Thomas Vallee, like Lee Harvey Oswald, was an ex-Marine with expertise as a marksman. Pictures of the two men even looked somewhat alike. What made this report more interesting was the former agent’s revelation that the FBI received a tip from a hotel manager at roughly the same time that a group of Cuban nationals, staying at the Chicago hotel, had high powered rifles with telescopic lenses and a publicly published copy of the route the Kennedy motorcade was to take, in their room. The report implies that the route would have passed the hotel where the Cubans were staying.

The evidence, according to Bolden, was seized; the Cuban nationals fled and were never found. The hotel room, according to the former agent, was never dusted for fingerprints and the case file was lost. Bolden said that none of the information about Vallee or the Cubans was forwarded to federal officials in Dallas prior to Kennedy’s visit there just twenty days later.

More disturbing was the fact that Bolden, a black man who had been hand picked by Kennedy to serve in a prestigious and virtually all-white profession, apparently attempted to give the information to members of the Warren Commission formed to investigate the Kennedy assassination. Not only, according to Bolden, did they refuse to take the information, he was at about the same time accused of soliciting a bribe from a counterfeiter and sent to jail for six years. According to the interview, conducted by the ABC affiliate in Chicago, Bolden contends that this was a set-up to silence him. ...

http://www.southernpoliticalreport.com/storylink_1124_47.aspx

Re Mullen & Associates

" ... Robert R. Mullen and Company, a firm that had long provided cover for active CIA agents throughout the world and had actively been involved in Bay of Pigs operations. The owner of the firm, Robert Bennett, in addition to his CIA ties, was the Washington representative of Howard Hughes having
taken over that job from Larry O'Brien, the Democratic National Chairman, the target of the Watergate break-in. ... " (From: "Hollywoodstein: Coverup That Worked," May 13, 1976, EAST SIDE EXPRESS, by John C. Klotz)
http://www.walrus.com/~jklotz/watergat.htm

** The Hughes Connection

" ... Tosh just recalls his CIA instructor of 42 years ago as one Bob Bennett. ... upon some further digging I saw he was running 'the Mullen Company', a CIA front for Howard Hughes. We should also know that Robert Maheu, who worked for Howard Hughes, introduced the CIA to Johnny Roselli to enlist the help of the mafia in the now declassified CIA/Mafia plots to kill Fidel Castro. ... "
http://www.jfkmurdersolved.com/bennett.htm

Mae Brussell: " ... Co-founder of YAF was Douglas Caddy, whose offices were used by the CIA and Howard Hughes organization ... "
http://www.maebrussell.com/Mae%20Brussell%20Articles/Nazi%20Connection%20to%20JFK%20Assass.html
Posted by Alex Constantine at 11:37 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Mind Control: A COURSE IN MIRACLES - A CIA/UNITY CHURCH THOUGHT MANIPULATION DEVICE
www.hometown.aol.com

from Tal Levesque's Research Services
June 11, 2007

‘Creating a mythos’ to control people. Program of psychological warfare (PSYOP) or ‘Mind War’. ...

A Course in Miracles (also referred to as ACIM or "the Course"), [originally published in 1975] is a book considered by its students to be their "spiritual path".

According to Dr. Helen Schucman and the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP), Dr. Helen Schucman and Dr. William Thetford "scribed" the book by means of a process coming from a divine source through a form of channeling which Schucman referred to as "inner dictation". Schucman described the divine source of her channeling as none other than the person of Jesus Christ.

Well.... Dr. William Thetford, headed the CIA's "Mind Control" MK-ULTRA SubProject 130: Personality Theory, while at Columbia University between 1971-1978.

Dr. Thetford’s Professional Bio, also available on the A Course in Miracles web site, makes reference to his involvement in a Personality Theory Research Project while Professor of Medical Psychology at Columbia University, but the information does not specifically cite this as a CIA MK- ULTRA SubProject.

ce399.typepad.com...

There is a connection between Unity Church, "A Course In Miracles", MK-ULTRA Artichoke Subproject 130 ; Scientology ; the UFO Myth and the Stanford Research Institute.

"A Course in Miracles" was a CIA manipulation device.

It was an experiment orchestrated by the CIA/US government.

Many were DAMAGED by it.

It was implemented by Bill Thetford (an agent of the CIA) at Columbia University.

Search for info on Thetford and MKUltra (the government's well-documented mind-control program) to find more.

The agenda, according to those interested in this sphere of investigation, is to inflitrate and dilute the American left with New Age ideas and inward-focussed, anti-rational religious movements.
•••••••
The Making of 'A Course in Miracles'

Excerpt from : www.beliefnet.com...

William Thetford, also a Columbia professor, was a mysterious character, and "probably the most sinister person I ever met," the priest recalled. Only after he retired from teaching did Thetford's Columbia colleagues (who knew him best as a rare-books expert) discover that all during the years they worked with him, the man had been employed as an agent of the CIA--one who was, among other things, present at the first fission experiment conducted by physicists assigned to the Manhattan Project. Thetford also was "the most religious atheist I have ever known," Groeschel recalled, and conceived a great enthusiasm for A Course in Miracles, personally arranging for its publication. Schucman was embarrassed, Groeschel remembered, and confided to the priest her fear that the book would create a cult, which of course it did.

Groeschel initially read the Course as "religious poetry," but grew steadily more negative in his assessment of it as the years passed and sales of the three volumes passed into the millions of copies. From his point of view, A Course in Miracles served to undermine authentic Christianity more effectively than just about any other work he could recall, and while he was inclined to reject the position of St. John of the Cross that "these things are diabolical unless proven otherwise," doubts had crept in over the years. Most troubling to him by far was the "black hole of rage and depression that Schucman fell into during the last two years of her life," the priest explained. She had become frightening to be with, Groeschel recalled, spewing psychotic hatred not only for A Course in Miracles but "for all things spiritual." When he sat at Schucman's bedside as she lay dying, "she cursed, in the coarsest barroom language you could imagine, `that book, that goddamn book.' She said it was the worst thing that ever happened to her. I mean, she raised the hair on the back of my neck. It was truly terrible to witness."

(END OF QUOTE)

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread286946/pg1
•••••••
William Thetford

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Thetford

William N. Thetford, Ph.D. (April 23, 1923–July 4, 1988) was trained as a psychologist, and remained professionally active in this field throughout his life. Thetford worked in a collaborative venture with Dr. Helen Schucman in writing A Course In Miracles (ACIM), and also with its initial edits. [1] He died in 1988, aged 65, in Tiburon, California, after having made his involvement with the ACIM material and its study the most central focus of his life.

Early childhood

Thetford was born on April 23, 1923 in Chicago, Illinois to John R. and Mabel K. Thetford as the youngest of three children. At the time of his birth and early childhood, his parents were both regular members of the Christian Science Church. At the age of seven, the untimely death of his older sister caused his parents to disavow their affiliation with the Church of Christian Science. Afterwards, for the next few years, Thetford sampled various other Protestant denominations.

At the age of nine he contracted a severe case of scarlet fever, which led to rheumatic fever and a debilitating heart condition. These resulting health problems forced him to spend the next three years at home recuperating. During his forced recuperation period he took advantage of the many free hours, using the time to satisfy his voracious appetite for reading. Despite his absence from the classroom, he entered high school at the age of twelve.
[edit]University education

Following graduation from high school, he was awarded a four-year scholarship to DePauw University in Indiana where he graduated with majors in psychology and pre-medicine in 1944. During the course of his university studies, Thetford eventually settled on the idea of specializing in psychology, and in 1949 he received his Ph.D. in this field from the University of Chicago.

While he was a student during the early 1940s he served for a time as an administrative assistant for the Manhattan Project, the World War II atom bomb development project.[citation needed] The Metallurgical Laboratory where the first atomic reactor was assembled was located under Stagg Field at the University of Chicago during those years. In his graduate studies he was fortunate to be one of the first students of the renowned psychologist, Carl Rogers.

Career and hiring of Dr. Helen Schucman

For the next five years after his graduation in 1949, Thetford worked as a research psychologist in both Chicago, and later in Washington, DC. According to Dr Colin Ross, from 1951 to 1953 Thetford worked on Project BLUEBIRD, an early CIA mind control program [2]. He spent 1954 and 1955 as the director of clinical psychology at the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut. From 1955 to 1957 he was an assistant professor of psychology at Cornell University's CIA-funded[3] Society for the Investigation of Human Ecology[4].

In 1958 he accepted an assistant professorship, which later developed into a full professorship, at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. During a portion of this same period he also served as the director of clinical psychology at the Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital. It was here that he would stay for the next 20 years, and it was here that he first met and hired Dr. Helen Schucman, hiring her as a research psychologist and assistant.

Thetford's "Invitation" for ACIM

The working relationship between Thetford and Schucman was apparently often somewhat strained, yet throughout these difficulties they would always maintain a certain level of professional courtesy and respect for one another. The story is often retold that it was into this environment of inter-relational strain between Thetford and Schucman that the ACIM material was in a sense first “invited” into this world. This “invitation” came in the form of an exclamation by Thetford one day, in the midst of one of their periodic difficulties, in which Thetford exclaimed, “There must be another way!” This exclamation was followed by a certain speech he made to Schucman describing how he believed that it was time for them to try to refocus their energies on constructive and helpful agendas, rather than being forever hyper critical and hyper competitive with one another. Expecting a typically condescending response from Schucman, the studied silence that followed his speech was then followed by a most surprising concurrence from Schucman, fully supporting his new proposal. This speech was given in June of 1965.[5][6]

The next four months were filled with a number of unusually vivid dream sequences and even some unusual waking experiences for Schucman.

Amongst her vivid dream sequences, she began to become familiar with a certain internal character who spoke to her as Jesus in her dreams. Little did she know that the voice of this dream character would soon come to dominate the rest of her life. Many of her unusual experiences during these four months are recorded in the biographical work, ‘Absence from Felicity’, by Kenneth Wapnick.[7] Schucman appears to have confided her experiences with Thetford, who acted as a sort of a calming, encouraging and stabilizing influence for Schucman during this period.

The years of ACIM transcription

Finally in October of that year, the transcriptions of what is now known as ACIM first began. According to both Thetford and Schucman, due to Schucman’s intensely divided feelings about the work of the transcription, Schucman would at times require a great deal of reassurance from Thetford in order to complete the process that eventually resulted in the first typewritten copy of ACIM, (which later became known as the Urtext).

According to Thetford, Schucman was sitting at home on the night of October 21st, 1965, when she heard an internal "voice" say to her, "This is a course in miracles. Please take notes." When she first heard this internal voice, she thought she recognized it as the same voice of the dream-sequence character that in her recent dream sequences had represented the person of Jesus to her. Schucman then wrote down about a page of notes before she realized that this request was going to be of much greater significance, and would require a far greater commitment in time than it had ever asked of her before. In a panic, she phoned Thetford to ask for his advice. Thetford encouraged Schucman to do what the voice asked, and to take the notes. He offered to meet with her the next morning before work, to review her notes, to discuss them further with her, and then to determine what she should do with this "Voice".[8]

On the following morning, after Thetford's review of the notes, he was so impressed with what she read to him that he encouraged Schucman to continue with the note taking. Schucman was initially taken aback by Thetford's reaction, but then apparently after giving herself enough time to recover from her initial jitters to honestly review the notes herself, she agreed. Soon they recognized that the notes, which eventually became ACIM (referred to as The Course by ACIM students), was their answer, the "other way" that they had agreed to find together four months earlier.

Classifying this transcription process as one of Schucman’s unusual waking experiences is an understatement at best. During the process Schucman claimed to have the mental equivalent of a tape recorder in her thoughts, which she described as being able to turn on and off at will, at her convenience, so that she might be able to transcribe into shorthand notes, what she was internally hearing. This voice identified itself as none other than the historical Jesus.

During the beginning of this process, one of Thetford’s gentle complaints was, “In the beginning I spent most of my time while typing these notes with one hand on the typewriter and the other on Helen’s shoulder”. After some months of experiencing an initial struggle in this process, eventually they both began to experience less subconscious resistance to the process, and the initial transcription began to move along more smoothly.

From 1965 through 1972 Thetford directly assisted Schucman with the transcription of the first three sections of the work, which was in fact the great bulk of the material. Then in 1972, somewhat to both of their reliefs (yet on some levels to their dismay) it appeared that the writing was complete, which for the most part it was.

In 1972 Thetford and Schucman were first introduced to Dr. Kenneth Wapnick whom they later invited to assist them with the voluminous amount of editing that was required to render the rough draft of the ACIM manuscript into a publishable format. Wapnick readily accepted this invitation, and was eventually instrumental in assisting them in accomplishing this task. Thetford, Wapnick and Schucman, the three principle transcriber-editors of ACIM were to remain friends for the rest of their lives, throughout the arduous process of seeing this manuscript through to first successful publication, and beyond to witness the initial spreading of its teachings.

After the completion of the bulk of the initial scribing/ transcribing process, for brief periods during 1973, 1975, and 1977 the short transcriptions of Psychotherapy,[9] of Clarification of Terms, and of the Song of Prayer,[9] which are the remainder of the standard material of ACIM, were transcribed in similar fashion.

From 1971 to 1978 Thetford, along with David Saunders, headed the CIA mind control Project MKULTRA Subproject 130: Personality Theory. [10] [11]

Move to California

In 1978 Thetford resigned from his positions at both Columbia University and at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. In 1980 he packed up his household, and at the apparent invitation of Judith Skutch Whitson, moved to Tiburon California, where Whitson was by now employed full time in the publication and distribution of ACIM.

Now at age 57, in Tiburon Thetford transitioned into a sort of semi-retirement, no longer accepting any demanding positions of heavy responsibility in either his professional life, or in his involvement with the ever growing readership of ACIM. In California Thetford took on two part time professional positions; one as a psychology consultant at Travis Air Force Base and the other as one of the directors of the ACIM related Center for Attitudinal Healing in Tiburon, as offered to him by his friend and fellow student of ACIM, Dr. Gerald Jampolsky.

Here in California, Thetford spent the final eight years of his life, regularly attending meetings of fellow ACIM students where ACIM principles would be discussed, but only rarely engaging in these discussions in any kind of an authoritative manner. Instead, during this final period of his life, he appears to have been primarily concerned with his own personal study of the ACIM material, and with enriching his own grasp of its message. Still, some of his interchanges with his associates during this period are somewhat illuminating.

Anecdotal accounts of Thetford's California life

During one such interchange with his friend Judith Skutch Whitson[12], Whitson describes calling Thetford during a moment of extremely high tension in her relationship with Jampolsky. In the phone conversation Whitson went on at length, describing what she perceived to be Jampolski’s many faults. Thetford listened intently until Whitson finally ran out of breath. He then quietly said, "Judy, the Course (ACIM) can be summed up in the question, 'Are you willing to see your brother sinless?' "
"No!" Whitson screamed.

"Well, dear," Thetford replied, "when you are, you will feel much better." And then he hung up!

On July 4th, 1988, at age 65 Thetford died of a massive heart attack. In this instance another illuminating account, related to this, is told by Whitson. According to Whitson, just prior to Thetford’s heart attack, she and Thetford had been having an interesting conversation. Thetford explained to Whitson that he was feeling particularly good on this July 4th, because for some reason he felt especially ‘independent and liberated’ on this day. He then went out for a ‘short’ walk, but never returned.

Notes

^ The Scribing of A Course in Miracles. Foundation for Inner Peace. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.
^ Ross, Colin (2000). Bluebird: Deliberate Creation of Multiple Personalities by Psychiatrists. Manitou Communications.
^ Marks, John (1991). The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and Mind Control. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN-10: 0393307948; ISBN-13: 978-0393307948.Available online [1]
^ Price, David H. (June 2007). "Buying a piece of anthropology - Part 1: Human Ecology and unwitting anthropological research for the CIA". . Anthropology Today, Vol 23 No 3, June 2007 Available online [2].
^ Wapnick, Kenneth (1991). Absence from Felicity, pp. 93 ff
^ Foundation for Inner Peace, The Scribing of A Course in Miracles
^ pp. 97-131
^ ibid., p. 199
^ a b (1996) Supplements to A Course in Miracles: 1. Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice 2. The Song of Prayer. Viking Adult. ISBN 0-670-86994-5.
^ RA: MKULTRA de-classified documents
^ Dr. Willian N, Thetford Vita
^ Jessuph, Joe Miracle_Studies

References

Wapnick, Kenneth (1999). Absence from Felicity: The Story of Helen Schucman and Her Scribing of A Course in Miracles, 2nd Ed., New York:

Foundation for A Course in Miracles. ISBN 0-933291-08-6.

Miller, D. Patrick (Aug 1997). Complete Story of the Course. Fearless Books. ISBN 0-9656809-0-8.

Skutch, Robert (1996). Journey Without Distance: The Story Behind A Course in Miracles. Mill Valley: Foundation for Inner Peace. ISBN 1-883360-02-1.
Posted by Alex Constantine at 10:28 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Mobster Johnny Roselli and MK-ULTRA
From The Man Who Knew Too Much, by Richard Russell (Carroll & Graf, 1992) pp. 381-82:

... [Richard Case] Nagell has consistently stated that organized crime had no direct involvement in the assassination. ...

Despite Nagell's disclaimer ... there was far too much evidence for me to disavow the likelihood of Syndicate involvement. Yet the Mob, by itself, simply did not have the power to tamper with all the physical evidence eventually used to incriminate Oswald as a lone gunman - or the autopsy results on the president's body. ...

The CIA's security officer for Artichoke was Sheffield Edwards. Cooperating closely with the CIA was the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (VBN). Charles Siragusa, a Military Intelligence officer during World War II and later the FBN's liaison to the CIA, helped set up the California "safe houses" where numerous MK-ULTRA experiments were conducted on unwitting subjects in the 1950s. Then, in 1960, Edwards approached Siragusa about another project. Given Siragusa's vast knowledge about members of organized crime, Edwards now wanted him to recruit teams of money-for-hire assassins to assassinate foreign leaders. Siragusa would tell the Senate Intelligence Committee in 1975 that he had turned Edwards down. The Office of Security chief then turned to a Howard Hughes aide, ex-FBI agent Robert Maheu, who in turn went to Sam Giancana and John Roselli to find Cuban exiles willing to eliminate Castro.

The initial anti-Castro plots involved methods developed in the CIA's Technical Services Division, where Dr. Sidney Gottlieb had supervised the MU-ULTRA mind-altering program since its 1953 inception. ...

So what we have here is a frightening crossover. The same men who had spent more than a decade overseeing and implementing mind-control techniques ... became the very men who propelled forward the CIA's covert assassination squads. ...

The Senate Intelligence Committee, in describing Gottlieb's MK-ULTRA program in 1976, reported: "By 1963 the number of operations and subjects had increased substantially." ...
Posted by Alex Constantine at 10:16 PM 0 comments Links to this post
A Note on Lee Harvey Oswald Impersonators and Doubles: A CIA Attempt to Frame the Soviets for the Murder of John Kennedy
My previous two posts concerned cover stories for the murder of John Kennedy. To illustrate the complex, military-style planning of the assassination, the advance positioning of decoys and false trails - leading to universal confusion over an assassination carried out in broad daylight, in a public square - this, found at history-matters.com, written by Rex Bradford, is another example of CIA strategies to frame others - principally enemies of American fascism - for the Dallas atrocity:

J.E. Hoover: "The CIA advised that on October 1, 1963, an extremely sensitive source had reported that an individual identified himself as Lee Oswald, who contacted the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City inquiring as to any messages. Special Agents of this Bureau, who have conversed with Oswald in Dallas, Texas, have observed photographs of the individual referred to above, and have listened to a recording of his voice. These special agents are of the opinion that the above-referred-to individual was not Lee Harvey Oswald."

The paragraph shown above comes from an FBI memo sent to both the White House and the Secret Service on November 23, 1963, the day after President Kennedy's assassination. It was a follow-up to a phone call at 10:01 AM, in which Director Hoover informed Lyndon Johnson of the same fact. Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of Kennedy held in police custody in Dallas, had been impersonated in phone calls to the Soviet Embassy in Mexio City.

The fact that Oswald was impersonated less than two months prior to the Dallas shooting was obviously important news. What made the revelation even more stunning was that, in one such call, "Oswald" referred to a previous meeting with a Soviet official named Kostikov. Valeriy Kostikov was well-known to the CIA and FBI as a KGB agent operating out of the Embassy under official cover. But, far more ominously, the FBI's "Tumbleweed" informant had previously tipped off the U.S. that Kostikov was a member of the KGB's "Department 13," involved in sabotage and assassinations.

An otherwise inexplicable impersonation episode takes on an entirely new meaning in this light. The calls from the Oswald impersonator made it appear that Oswald was a hired killer, hired by the Soviet Union no less. This was a prescription for World War III. ...

http://www.history-matters.com/frameup.htm

- AC
Posted by Alex Constantine at 1:09 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Sunday, July 6, 2008
The McClellan Clan Spins Cover Stories for War and Political Assassination
By Alex Constantine

Parallel psyops: Scott McClellan's book makes GW Bush the "lone assassin" of the Iraq war, leads away from other core culprits at the Pentagon, CIA, State Department, media, etc. Papa Barr McClellan's book on the John Kennedy assassination heads straight towards LBJ, makes him the "lone assassin," leads away from other core culprits ...

By the same token, Sam Giancana and John Roselli did not kill Kennedy, as the cable industry claims. They were tangential chess figures, bit players, really.

John Kennedy knew his assassins:

"... We are opposed, around the world, by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence; in infiltration instead of invasion; on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice; on guerillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific, and political operations. Its preparations are concealed not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined, its dissenters are silenced, not praised; no expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. It conducts the cold war, in short, with a wartime discipline no democracy would ever hope to wish to match. ..."

http://www.sott.net/signs/editorials/signs20061122_JohnFKennedyandtheMonolithicandRuthlessConspiracy.php

DEPT. OF COINCIDENCE
EXPLAIN THIS ONE
by Jane Mayer
New Yorker
SEPTEMBER 22, 2003

When Scott McClellan, an unassuming thirty-five-year-old Texan, took over from Ari Fleischer as White House spokesman in July, it was clear that there would be no honeymoon with the press. American soldiers were being killed almost daily in Iraq. The federal deficit was growing; the likelihood of finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq was not. Few, then, would have predicted that McClellan’s first and most daunting damage-control assignment would turn out to be his own father ...

[Barr] McClellan said that when he joined the law firm, in 1966, another young lawyer at the firm told him that one of the senior partners, Edward Clark, had “arranged” the assassination. The motive, McClellan says, was money and power. After the assassination, he claims, Clark collected millions of dollars from oil and gas companies in Texas whose businesses were supposedly benefitting from having Johnson in the White House. Clark died in 1992, with a reputation as Johnson’s closest and most indispensable ally in the state. Robert Caro, in the first volume of his three-part biography of Johnson, says that Clark, who had been the Texas Secretary of State, was, “of all the men Johnson met in Austin,” the one “who would, over the long years to come, acquire and hold the most power.”
Caro was one of several reputable Presidential historians who last week opted not to pass judgment on McClellan’s book. But G. Robert Blakey, a professor at Notre Dame Law School, who served as the chief counsel for the House Select Committee on Assassinations (and who believes that there was probably a second gunman), dismissed the L.B.J. scenario as “highly implausible.” He pointed out that Johnson was in the motorcade that day. “You’d have to believe he paid someone to fire at a car in front of him, knowing the potentiality for a gunfight. What rational person would draw gunfire down upon himself?”

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/09/22/030922ta_talk_mayer

McClellan: Plame leak case was turning point
Ex-White House spokesman says he had hoped Bush would change D.C.

By Mike Celizic
TODAYShow.com contributor
May. 29, 2008

According to his White House biography, before joining the White House staff, McClellan was the traveling press secretary for the Bush-Cheney 2000 presidential campaign. He began working as deputy communications director for then-Gov. Bush in early 1999. Prior to joining the governor's office, he served as chief of staff to a Texas state senator, worked on grassroots outreach for lawsuit reform in Texas, and managed three successful statewide campaigns. ...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24861380/

The McClellan-Soros Connection

We'd merely note that the (McClellan) book's publisher is PublicAffairs, an imprint founded by left-wing editor Peter Osnos and which has published six books by George Soros. PublicAffairs is owned by Perseus Books, which is owned by Perseus LLC, a merchant bank whose board includes Democrats Richard Holbrooke and Jim Johnson, who is now doing Barack Obama's vice presidential vetting. One of Perseus's investment funds, Perseus-Soros Biopharmaceutical, is co-managed with Mr. Soros.
http://lisaed.newsvine.com/_news/2008/05/30/1523387-the-mcclellan-soros-connection

Title: FBI agents lied...Jack Anderson's papers [Papers Link HW Bush to JFK Assassination]
Source: OnLine Journal
URL Source: http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_753.shtml
Published: May 1, 2006
Author: Wayne Madsen
... The Bush family has been known to use retired FBI agents as their political heavies and clean up men in the past -- most notably to erase the Bush links to Dallas. George W. Bush's departing Press Secretary Scott McClellan has a close relative who continued to muddy the waters about the JFK assassination. ...

I am the one who started THE thread on Barr McClellans disinformation book when it came out. The thread is complete with details of HW Bush involvement including directly with Oswalds landlord in Dallas who urged Oswald to assassinate Kennedy.

HW Bush worked directly for Nixon in the WHite Hosue and NSC on Bay of Pigs ops during Eisenhower. He was "in touch" with CIA asset Howard Hughes to provide the Barbara, the Zapata, etc for the operation. He was aware as well of the Hughes owned movie theater in Dallas where Oswald fled and was captured.

HW Bush and his family have been involved with Ruby, David Ferry (CAP), Marcello and the mob in New Orleans (Jupiter island) since the early 1900s and with the Boston mob (Boston Fruit mob operation in Central America with Porter Goss and CIA) since the 1960s. HW Bush also worked directly with the AntiCuban hit team marksmen who came to visit Oswald. ...

http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=139642&Disp=All&
McClellan's "Overwrought Conspiracy Theory"
From Publishers Weekly

McClellan's overwrought conspiracy theory claims that Lyndon Johnson-motivated by power lust, fear of being dropped from the Kennedy ticket, and the need to cover up various scandals-masterminded Kennedy's assassination with the help of his evil "superlawyer" Ed Clark. But his evidence is meager and murky, even by the standards of Kennedy conspiracy scholarship. The main exhibit is a smudged partial fingerprint from Oswald's sniper's nest that may or may not belong to a Johnson associate, depending on which fingerprint expert you ask. Otherwise McClellan relies on what he heard during his years at Clark's law firm-e.g., a partner told him that Clark arranged the assassination-and the description of scenes in which a "a fixed stare," vague, unspoken understandings, and "code words" proved that Johnson and Clark were conspiring. Sample accusations include: "I knew Clark was admitting to the payoff for the assassination even though he never said he received a payoff for assassinating Kennedy...." The book offers many detailed accounts of conspiratorial meetings that turn out to be not fact but "faction" or "journalistic novelization"-that is, conjecture designed to distract readers from the lack of evidence. McClellan styles the assassination as the defeat of Camelot by Texas's sleazy nexus of dirty politicians, slick lawyers and oil money; the unmasking of Johnson, the personification of such back-room power politics, therefore promises a public "emotional purging" leading to the renewal of democracy. His confusingly structured, evasively argued, often nonsensical theories attest to the crime's continuing potency as a symbol of America's mythic heart of darkness.

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/3811043/m/179108178

This Is Your President's Brain on Drugs
Posted by RFKin2008 in General Discussion
Sun Jun 15th 2008, 09:09 AM

...

FATHERS AND SONS

Let’s start with the McClellans, who seem to have a fascinating familial habit of writing shocking tell-all books about their former White House bosses.

Scott McClellan’s father, Barr McClellan, penned a scathing (if rather dubious) indictment of the President he once served some 40-odd years ago, Lyndon Baines Johnson — in which he accuses LBJ of participating in the conspiracy to murder President John F. Kennedy.

Barr McClellan was a fellow Austinite and close friend to LBJ, one of his top personal lawyers who reportedly knew where all the bones were buried. For some reason, he chose to reveal much of what he knew (or thought he knew) about Johnson’s alleged involvement in his 2003 bestseller, Blood, Money and Power: How LBJ Killed JFK.

Then you’ve got the Bushes. Suspicions and conspiracy theories abound that the president’s father, former President George Herbert Walker Bush (known to his friends by the curious nickname ”Poppy”) not only profited personally from CIA drug running operations – just as his father had done quite well for himself making deals with the Nazis during WWII — but that he too was a key conspirator in the plot to assassinate President Kennedy.

The killing doesn’t stop there. Nope, some people believe that Lil’ Bush had something to do with the death by plane crash of the president’s late son, John F. Kennedy, Jr. in 1999. I’m not even gonna go down that rabbit hole because I don’t particularly feel like getting shot today, but I’ll just point out that this is what other people have said. Make of the information what you will.

Now, let’s get back to the McClellans and their Big Mouths, shall we?

Just as they used to call LBJ sticking his finger into your chest “the Johnson treatment,” nowadays, when a former president’s trusted aide sticks his penknife in your back, it’s called “the McClellan treatment.”

Of course, Barr McClellan’s allegations about Lyndon Johnson are far more serious and damaging to the former President’s legacy than anything his son is saying about George W. Bush in his new memoir. After all, cold-blooded murder is a much higher crime than a bloody nose caused by overindulgence in cocaine, but if true, Scott McClellan’s suspicions about Bush’s drug abuse would nonetheless prove beyond any doubt that our President is mentally and physically unfit to serve, his judgement seriously affected by cocaine use.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/RFKin2008

Texas 1963 Australia 1975

In light of the incredible posts about LBJ and his circle, I have reviewed Barr McClellan's Blood, Money and Power and my own notes from the 1970's. The Murchison-Ed Clark- LBJ- King Ranch connection stands out most clearly, but an often unexplored link is also to Exxon and all that entails. In the 1960's then-Esso via Humble had many oil-gas wells on King Ranch land and paid to King Ranch many millions in royalties yearly.

The Kleberg-LBJ connection from the 1930s was strong and longlasting according to all available evidence. And Big Oil-Murchison,Richardson, D.H. Byrd, H.L.Hunt,et al-were via import quotas and production controls in a symbiotic but subordinate relationship with the US Majors led by Esso. McClellan implies that Esso-Exxon was "quietly" complicit in Clark's claims for a bonus payment for his role in the Kennedy assassination, while also getting a favorable outcome for themselves and King Ranch. Big Oil, LBJ and lawyers like Clark were only powerful while their tenure or oil were current.

These parties had connections in Australia as well. King Ranch came in the early l950s linking up with Establishment familes Baillieu, Hordern and Rupert Clarke, and were secretive yet politically prominent. By l970 it was Australia's largest private landower. In mid-l975, with the Whitlam Labor government in crisis, John Connally attended the 1st ever Santa Gertrudis Breeders Conference in Surfers Paradise, and stayed about a week, visiting Canberra. He had then just begun his run for the US presidency supporting a stronger CIA and was on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Tell me he did not have a powerful message for the anti-Labor forces! After the November 11 coup against Whitlam, Ag Minister Ken Wreidt said King Ranch had distributed US government funds via the NSW Grazier's Association.

Earlier, in 1974, Esso paid Exoil $A450,000 to change its name to Oilmin, as Esso became Exxon. Exoil was the exploration company of Queensland's rightist premier Joh Bjelke-Peterson, who in 1975 broke precedent and appointed an anti-Whitlam senator to change the balance of power after a Labor senator died. This was instrumental in the events that followed.

Meanwhile by July 1965, Murchison's Delhi had a gas field east of Adelaide, when Ed Clark was appointed US Ambassador. (I actually interviewed him as a junior reporter on his return from viewing what I recall he described as US interests in Australia. These included we later discovered the Pine Gap satellite ground station.) According to his wife's book Australian Adventure they hosted John Murchison at least twice. Another visitor was Benno Schmidt "of Abilene and New York" who was partner with David Rockefeller in the large Orleans Farm near Esperance, WA. Also visiting Clark was Mike Wright "who is moving from New York to Houston to be vice president of Esso in charge of Humble", and Gus Wortham of the 8F group and the Austin Round Table.

Clark returned to Texas in Jan 1968 where Barr McClellan takes up the story of the bonus payment from Big Oil with unspecified help from Exxon and King Ranch.

By November 8 1975, the Opposition was blocking government funding in the Senate and over the weekend Ted Shackley pulled the trigger. Described as head of Asia Pacific operations, but I believe Deputy Head of Ops, he dictated a cable damning Whitlam and threatening an official CIA demarche. This and other leverage was enough to compel the Governor General to sack the Government, bringing a dissolution of Parliament, electoral chaos, letter bombs and the destruction of hope for an honest independent Labor Party for at least my generation.

These connections were effective in outcome in Australia and to a degree mirror earlier events in Texas. While the evidence is circumstantial,it is not merely coincidental in my humble opinion. While there were other actors especially underworld and CIA types, the main players were identical.

Possible conclusions-

LBJ and Edward Clark, and Big Oil, considered themselves above the law but were not beyond the power of money, begotten of vast wealth and influence far greater than that of Texas or the White House;

The same applies to the CIA and Mafia. In fact the improbability of such independence of action as the Kennedy assassination or the overthrow of a stable democratic government by subordinate groups in US society is only reinforced by the strained reasoning in, for example, Ultimate Sacrifice.

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showuser=5295
http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=8989&st=0&p=87929&#entry87929

Barr McClellan

Barr is Scott McCellan's daddy. You might remember ol' Scott. He was the White House spokesman for GWB for several years. And Barr's other son is head of the FDA.

The boys' mother, Barr's ex-wife, is Carole Keeton McCellan Rylander Strayhorn [Strayhorn is notable for several "firsts" in Austin and Texas politics. She is the first woman elected as mayor of Austin and the first Austin mayor elected to three consecutive terms. She was the first woman elected to the Texas Railroad Commission and the first woman elected as comptroller. She also was the first woman to serve as president of the Austin school board and as president of the Austin Community College board. ... Her father was the longtime dean of the University of Texas Law School and a renowned expert on tort law. ... Strayhorn's first marriage was to attorney Barr McClellan, whom she divorced in 1978 during her first term as mayor. ... As Carole Keeton Rylander, she won election to the Texas Railroad Commission in 1994 by beating Democratic incumbent Mary Scott Nabers, an Ann Richards appointee, by almost 300,000 votes. The panel primarily regulates the production of oil and natural gas (but no longer has authority over railroads). She served as commission chairman from November 1995 to January 1997, and from June 1998 to January 1999. ... Strayhorn switched parties and became a Republican in 1986- Wikipedia], an oft-married woman who has held high positions in Texas state politics, including Comptroller, and ran for governor in the last election. She lost, but is now making a bid for mayor of Austin, which was one of the first offices she ever held, back in the 1970's.

http://conservativepoint.tribe.net/thread/6ce70b7d-c97b-46bc-ae29-f9fb7bf0272b

OLIVER BARR MCCLELLAN

Bar Card Number*: 13400000

Work Address
2000 WEST LOOP S
#300 CONTROL DATA BUILDING
HOUSTON, TX, 77027-0000

Work Phone Number

Primary Practice Location
HOUSTON , Texas

Current Member Status

http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Member_Directory&template=/Customsource/MemberDirectory/MemberDirectoryDetail.cfm&ContactID=277375

State Bar Card Number*:
13400000

Texas Licensed*:
04/27/1964

http://www.texasbar.com/Template.cfm?Section=Member_Directory&template=/Customsource/MemberDirectory/MemberDirectoryDetail.cfm&ContactID=277375
Posted by Alex Constantine at 8:26 PM 1 comments Links to this post
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Ghosts in the Wind (Case File #18): The LSD Deaths of Gib Bogle and Margaret Chandler
www.adb.online.anu.edu.au

BOGLE, GILBERT STANLEY (1924-1963), physicist, was born on 5 January 1924 at Wanganui, New Zealand, fourth child of Archibald Hugh Bogle, licensed surveyor, and his wife Bertha Isabel Langley, née Reeve, both New Zealanders. Educated at Wanganui Collegiate School, in 1942 Gilbert entered Victoria University College, Wellington (M.Sc., 1946), to read physics. Although Bogle was eligible for war service in 1945, Professor D. C. H. Florance persuaded the manpower authorities to allow him to remain at university where he was directed to work as an assistant in the laboratory and to extend his honours course over two years.

A talented musician and linguist who was active in student affairs, Bogle went to England in 1947 as a Rhodes scholar and entered Oriel College, Oxford (B.A. Hons, 1949; D.Phil., 1952). Under A. H. Cooke of New College, he worked for two years at the Clarendon laboratory on paramagnetic resonance experiments at very low temperatures and published the results in a series of jointly-authored articles in the Proceedings of the Physical Society (London, 1951-55). Bogle's mentors noted that, 'for an experimenter', he had 'an unusually good grasp of the theoretical side'. Nicholas Kurti commended the quality of his research and the speed with which he completed his doctoral thesis which was used by students for several years as 'a kind of textbook'.

On 11 September 1950 at the parish church, Great Dunmow, Essex, Bogle married Vivienne Mary Rich, a schoolteacher and fellow graduate of Victoria University College; they were to have four children, one of whom was born after Gilbert's death. From July 1952 Bogle lectured in physics at the University of Otago, New Zealand, where he established what Florance described as quite a 'Bogle school of low temperature research'. His achievements in research and teaching brought him a senior lectureship in September 1955, but he was outgrowing Otago. 'I think that he is to some extent wasting his abilities there', wrote Cooke. Bogle had applied for a position as senior research officer in the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization's division of physics at the National Standards Laboratory, Sydney. His referees' support was warm and unequivocal: Kurti remembered him as 'a real live wire if ever there was one'.

Appointed for three years from 5 September 1956, Bogle began work with the cryogenics group. By October 1957 he had been given an 'indefinite appointment'. G. H. Briggs, chief of the division, found the new recruit 'noteworthy for his mental powers, his breadth of knowledge, his capacity for original ideas, his drive and enthusiasm, his range of experimental techniques and his outstanding ability as a lecturer'. Believing Bogle to be 'too good a man to tie down to work which did not offer him much scope for his special abilities', Briggs encouraged him to resume his research on paramagnetic resonance.

In recommending Bogle for accelerated advancement, Briggs drew attention to the link between his work and the recent development of maser (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) technology. Bogle's theoretical and practical contribution to the production of a 21-cm maser amplifier for use in radio astronomy earned him high praise from Briggs's successor R. G. Giovanelli who, in 1960, successfully urged his reclassification as principal research officer. By 1962 Bogle was regarded by his chief as 'the most brilliant member of the staff'. Meanwhile, Bogle had been offered a two-year appointment in 'quantum electronics' at the Bell Telephone Research Laboratories, New Jersey, United States of America. C.S.I.R.O. granted him leave of absence.

On 21 December 1962, shortly before Bogle and his family were due to leave for the U.S.A., he met Margaret Olive Chandler, née Morphett (1934-1963), at a Christmas party. Born on 2 April 1934 at Wentworthville, New South Wales, Margaret became a nurse and, on 24 December 1957 at St Stephen's Presbyterian Church, Sydney, married Geoffrey Arnold Chandler, a scientific photographer employed by C.S.I.R.O. Five years later, a housebound mother of two, she was immediately attracted to the engaging 'Gib' Bogle. Encouraged by her husband, she needed little persuading to accept Bogle's offer of a lift home from a New Year's Eve party at Chatswood, to which Bogle had ensured the Chandlers were invited. Some time between 4.45 a.m. and 6.00 a.m. on 1 January 1963 Bogle and Margaret Chandler died in bushland on the eastern bank of the Lane Cove River, near Fullers Bridge, Chatswood.

The discovery of the bodies some 40 feet (12 m) apart—both half-naked, but Bogle's discreetly draped with folded clothing and a piece of carpet, and Chandler's in greater disarray, covered by cardboard cartons—created a mystery that remains unsolved. Baffled police, forensic scientists and the coroner J. J. Loomes were unable to determine what had caused their deaths. While poison seemed the most likely cause, no toxic substance was detected. Was it murder, suicide or accident? Revelations of previous and concurrent infidelities by Bogle and the Chandlers, as well as the libertarianism of the Sydney 'Push' with which Geoffrey Chandler was associated, made the coronial inquiry and police investigations a media circus.

Chandler challenged popular assumptions of his guilt in a candid book, So You Think I Did It (Melbourne, 1969), but the police were more suspicious of Margaret Fowler, a scientifically-trained librarian. A jealous Fowler, for three years Bogle's lover, was a suspect against whom no evidence could be produced. She in turn apparently related the deaths in some way to chemical-warfare research. Both Fowler and Geoffrey Chandler later gave credence to never-substantiated allegations by Catherine Dalton, widow of G. C. J. Dalton, that her friend Bogle was assassinated when he was about to disclose Australian Atomic Energy Commission security leaks and American espionage improprieties in Australia. After Peter Wright (a former officer of Britain's M.I.5) claimed that an alleged Soviet spy Sir Roger Hollis had recommended Bogle to the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, Chandler speculated that Bogle had been 'eliminated' as a Soviet agent.

Although discarded in the mid-1960s—along with theories of poisonous gas, dry ice, weed-killer, aphrodisiac and shellfish toxin—the favoured explanation by the late 1980s was death by an accidental overdose (self-administered or unwitting) of lysergic acid diethylamide (L.S.D.); the hallucinogen (supposed to have been produced clandestinely in a C.S.I.R.O. laboratory) would have been untraceable at the time. Bogle's burial in Northern Suburbs cemetery on 13 March 1963, Chandler's cremation two days later and the failure to preserve tissue samples from either body left their deaths a tantalizing enigma.

Select Bibliography

C. R. Dalton, Without Hardware (Canb, 1970); S. Gardiner, The Commissioner Allan Story (Syd, 1973); A. Sharpe, Crimes That Shocked Australia (Syd, 1982, 1987); A. Atkinson (ed), Famous Court Cases (Syd, 1987); B. Toohey and M. Wilkinson, The Book of Leaks (Syd, 1987); Sydney Morning Herald, Jan-June 1963, 22 May 1989; Daily Mirror (Sydney), 27 Mar 1981; Sun-Herald (Sydney), 28 May 1989; CSIRO Archives (Canberra).

Author: Cameron Hazlehurst

Print Publication Details: Cameron Hazlehurst, 'Bogle, Gilbert Stanley (1924 - 1963)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 211-212.

http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130243b.htm

LSD

Sex, drugs and a murder mystery
Sydney Morning Herald
August 20, 2006

... Forensic tests came up with nothing. Despite all possible tests for poisons, none was found. After 50 witnesses, 63 exhibits and 762 pages of testimony, coroner J.J. Loomes concluded: "It gives me no satisfaction to sit here and tell you that all we know about this is that two people died from acute circulatory failure, the cause of which is unknown."

There the mystery stayed, its legend and associated wild theories growing over the decades. In 1996 there was a breakthrough. Fresh tests on the couple's remains done in the US detected traces of the hallucinatory drug LSD in their systems. Whether it was enough to kill them was unclear, but for the first time there was forensic evidence pointing to what could have happened that New Year's dawn.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/sex-drugs-and-a-murder-mystery/2006/08/19/1155408072101.html?page=2
Posted by Alex Constantine at 3:01 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Shifting Gears: Parts Three and Four of GM and the Nazis, by Edwin Black
General Motor's German subsidiary, Opel, remained a loyal corporate citizen of the Nazi regime, prospering as a result.

By Edwin Black
June 30, 2008

Hitler’s persecution of Jews was building to a frenzy even as fears of a war escalated. Nevertheless, General Motors’ German automotive subsidiary, Opel, remained a loyal corporate citizen of the Third Reich — content to obediently do the Nazi regime’s bidding, and unstintingly supporting Hitler’s program on many fronts. These included economic and employment recovery, anti-Jewish persecution, war preparedness and domestic propaganda. In return, Opel prospered. ...

Part three continues at AC's Anti-Fascist Research Bin

Part four
Posted by Alex Constantine at 6:04 AM 0 comments Links to this post
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
California Arson - Today's Posts
Arson in Banning:

http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2008/07/fire-consumes-30-acres-in-banning-ca_01.html

Arson in Martin:

http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2008/07/arson-in-california-tips-coming-in-on.html

Arson at Highway 1:

http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2008/07/arson-suspected-as-hwy-1-fire-forces.html

Arson at Highway 120:

http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2008/07/california-arsonist-at-work-along.html

2007 Arson by Blackwater:

http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2008/07/fires-last-time-blackwater-arson-in.html
Posted by Alex Constantine at 5:04 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Fire Consumes 30 Acres in Banning, CA - Arson Suspected
" ... Investigators have identified four separate starts, leading authorities to determine the cause as arson, she said. ... "

A firefighter is hurt in the blaze, which threatened homes in Riverside County.

By Francisco Vara-Orta
Los Angeles Times
June 16, 2008

Arson is suspected in a 30-acre fire that raged this morning north of Interstate 10 in Banning, leaving one firefighter with minor injuries, officials said. The fire was reported about 1 a.m. in a canyon west of the San Gorgonio Memorial Cemetery, said California Department of Forestry-Riverside County spokeswoman Jody Hagemann.

Investigators have identified four separate starts, leading authorities to determine the cause as arson, she said. ...

Banning, in the San Gorgonio Pass in Riverside County, is about 85 miles east of Los Angeles and 25 miles west of Palm Springs.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banning17-2008jun17,0,510454.story

A wildfire broke out in various places this morning around 1:00 a.m. in Banning, 85 miles east of Los Angeles. Last reports state that it has grown to at 75 acres with 130 firefighters responding to battle the blaze. ...

MAP OF BANNING AND SURROUNDING AREA

http://laist.com/2008/06/16/banning_fire_suspected_to_be_arson.php
Posted by Alex Constantine at 4:37 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Arson in California: Tips Coming In On Martin Fire 'Person Of Interest'
June 15, 2008
UPDATED: June 16, 2008

FELTON, Calif. -- Cal Fire officials said Monday they have received several calls after they released a sketch of a 'person of interest' in the Martin Fire that charred more than 500 acres, destroyed 10 structures and forced 1,500 residents to evacuate.

Cal Fire spokesman Bill Peters said his agency was seeking the public's help in tracking down the man. "We're really threadbare on information," Peters said. "That's why we need help trying to get him identified by the public."

The man was described as white, between 18 and 22 years old and about 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 11 inches tall with a thin build and sandy-colored hair, according to Cal Fire. A composite sketch of the man was released Saturday afternoon. Fire officials could not comment on why the man may have information about the fire. Anyone who may recognize the man is asked to call the Cal Fire Arson Hotline at (800) 468-4408. Callers may remain anonymous. ...

http://www.ktvu.com/station/16614310/detail.html
Posted by Alex Constantine at 4:32 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Hwy. 1 Fire - Arson Suspected
thecalifornian.com
June 20, 2008

UPDATE: Arson Suspected as Hwy. 1 Fire Forces Evacuations

Staff report

With multiple small fires starting close to each other, fire investigators say they suspect arson in the blaze that's shut down Highway 1 outside Watsonville this afternoon....

Check TheCalifornian.com for updates.

http://thecalifornian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080620/NEWS01/80620022/1002
Posted by Alex Constantine at 4:18 PM 0 comments Links to this post
California: Arsonist at Work along Eastbound Highway 120?
www.mantecabulletin.com
6/11/2008

• Four 120 Bypass grass fires
• $1,000 reward posted
• Quail Lakes fire in Stockton destroys 32 homes

Dennis Wyatt
Managing Editor

The wind-whipped freeway grass fire that destroyed 32 homes in Stockton Tuesday along Interstate 5 could easily have happened in Manteca.

Interim Fire Chief Chris Haas - who has made it clear that dry and windy conditions coupled with high weeds can bring major fires to the Northern San Joaquin Valley similar to those that for years have plagued Southern California - said the Stockton disaster along Interstate 5 near March Lane underscores the importance of weed abatement.

One Manteca engine company was sent to help cover a Stockton fire station while that city battled the fire that high winds spread from weeds along I-5 weeds to trees and then to homes and condos with highly flammable shake roofs. ...

Haas noted that at least one fire started up wind from the others. With the 20 mph plus winds, it was impossible for embers to have been responsible. That is what is leading fire officials to suspect an arsonist may be on the loose as the fires have suspicious origins.

Haas noted that over the past four years there have been a pattern of afternoon fires along the eastbound Highway 120 Bypass. At one point several years ago, there was a string of them started in succession from west of Tracy to Highway 99.

South County Crimestoppers is posting a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for starting fires in Manteca. You can call 823-4636. You do not need to leave your name.

There have been about 18 grass fires along the Highway 120 Bypass so far this year....

http://www.mantecabulletin.com/main.asp?SectionID=28&SubSectionID=58&ArticleID=58064
•••••••
Arson Stats

According to crime statistics prepared by the Federal Bureau of Investigation:

A total of 76,760 arson offenses were reported in 2001.

Structural arson was the most frequently reported arson category in 2001, accounting for almost half of all arsons.

Arson had a higher percentage of juvenile involvement than any other offense tracked in the FBI's National Crime Index. Of all arson offenses recorded in 2001, 45.2 percent involved only juvenile offenders.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/21/national/main4200204.shtml
Posted by Alex Constantine at 3:54 PM 0 comments Links to this post
The Fires Last Time (Blackwater Arson in California?)
CENSORED: San Diego Harris fire began at controversial Blackwater site
www.liveleak.com

Randi Rhodes Suggests that Blackwater Started California Fires
NewsBusters - Oct 26, 2007

And you know, every time I look for it what comes up, believe it or not, is that Blackwater wants to move to San Diego and build this giant complex in San ...

Bay Area Indymedia

A Town Beseiged: Potrero Residents Battling Blackwater Now Suffer ...
Bay Area Indymedia, CA

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the blaze, one of several major wildfires now burning throughout San Diego County. Combined, the fires have ...

PETITION: Act now to block Blackwater's mercenary base on the ...

Bay Area Indymedia, CA - 19 minutes ago

They want to acquire 824 acres of land in a sleepy rural corner of San Diego County to build a mercenary training facility, consisting of 15 firing ranges, ...

Huffington Post
Blackwater Wants To Build Live Fire Facility In Middle Of San ...

Huffington Post, NY - Oct 26, 2007

While San DIego County has been lit up for days, Blackwater USA has been heavily involved in putting out fires of its own. The controversy provoked by the ...

Wired News

Blackwater = Fire-Fighter?

Wired News - Oct 26, 2007

Blackwater, as Salon notes, "is planning to build an 824-acre military-style training complex in Potrero, Calif., a rural hamlet 45 miles east of San Diego. ...

Southern California Firestorm Toll Mounts
Blogcritics.org, OH - Oct 26, 2007

Bush has signed a disaster declaration for the state, as San Diego Country fires still spark and burn. San Diego now has more refugees than New Orleans ...

Op-Ed Contributor Slouching Towards Santa Monica
New York Times, United States - Oct 27, 2007

When I read on the scroll at the bottom of the screen that the evacuation was happening in San Diego, I was stunned. Naturally my first thought was, ...

Potrero Burns, Can Oaxaca Be Saved?
The NarcoSphere, NY - Oct 26, 2007

By Mark Smith, I live in San Diego, but I'm in the middle of the city, which is fine, not in the areas which are devastated by fire. ...

California fire evacuees disgusted by braggarts
Bay Area Indymedia, CA - Oct 25, 2007

In a related story, Blackwater is planning to build a controversial training camp near the border at Potrero, southwest of Campo in San Diego County. ...

Leading other papers, sites
USA Today - Oct 23, 2007

"The issue this time is not preparedness," San Diego City Council President Scott Peters tells the paper. "It's that the event is so overwhelming. ...

GARKO » Blackwater San Diego Fires Connection - Crossroads at ...

Blackwater San Diego Fires Connection - Crossroads at Portero County. 27 10 2007. First watch this video on Blackwater in Iraq. ...

www.itsmynet.info/GARKO.blog/?p=762 - 54k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Blackwater Wants To Build Live Fire Facility In Middle Of San ...

2007-10-22-blackwater.jpg While San DIego County has been lit up for days, Blackwater USA has been heavily involved in putting out fires of its own. ...
www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/10/26/blackwater-wants-to-build_n_69914.html - 60k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
portland imc - 2007.10.25 - BLACKWATER SAN DIEGO FIRE CONNECTION ...

Check out these stories for the very very coincidental events that preceeded the san diego fire which just happens to be at the very site where blackwater ...

portland.indymedia.org/en/2007/10/367320.shtml - 36k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

San Diego Fires: The Blackwater Connection » Shoutwire.com

Shoutwire is the latest community based internet news website. It allows the community rather than a news editor to submit and review news content on the ...

shoutwire.com/comments/112232/San_Diego_Fires_The_Blackwater_Connection - 10 hours ago - Similar pages - Note this

What They Don't Tell You: Blackwater and the San Diego fires?

Blackwater Plans for New Military Facility Near San Diego Draws Fire From Residents, Peace Activists and Local Congressmember ...

jpaulson.blogspot.com/2007/10/blackwater-and-san-diego-fires.html - 62k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Blackwater moving to San Diego : LA IMC

Fox Blames it on Terrorists so it must be blackwater !! San Diego Fires: A Good Reason To Stop Blackwater 23 hours ago by Rosemary ...
la.indymedia.org/news/2007/10/209044.php

Blackwater Wants To Build Live Fire Facility In Middle Of San ...

While San DIego County has been lit up for days, Blackwater USA has been heavily involved in putting out fires of its own. The controversy provoked by the ...

www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2141792 - 24k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Tomlinson, other Chargers evacuated in San Diego fires

If Blackwater stops guarding diplomats in Iraq, who's goi … ... Fires displace nearly 250000 near San Diego - 10/22/2007; Top UAW dissident glad to see ...

www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071022/UPDATE/710220418 - 63k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

Blackwater moving to San Diego: NOLA Indymedia

Fox Blames it on Terrorists so it must be blackwater !! San Diego Fires: A Good Reason To Stop Blackwater 23 hours ago by Rosemary ...
neworleans.indymedia.org/news/2007/10/11270.php

A Little Reality: San Diego Fires Update #6

We've got beer trucks boudn for San Marcos and San Diego that are being held in the LA area due to the fire and road closures. -Bex! ...
alittlereality.blogspot.com/2007/10/san-diego-fires-update-6.html

YouTube - San Diego Fire Copyright © 2007 Midwest Television
Both the Potrero and Witch Creek fires have doubled in size since 6 p.m. Sunday. The San Diego County Department of Emergency Services has declared a local ...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoOXfXA6jyw - 114k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

A Little Reality: San Diego Fires Update
San Diego Fires Update. El Cajon and Alpine are still safe. ... BlackWater and the Future · Answering an Iraq Professional · BlackWater - Mind Blowing Data ...
alittlereality.blogspot.com/2007/10/san-diego-fires-update.html - 76k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

State Dept. May Phase Out Blackwater - San Diego News Story - KGTV ...
**Whether Blackwater's secretive corporate culture, reputed to have encouraged a ... Harris Fire Continues Relentless March Through San Diego County ...
www.10news.com/news/14313341/detail.html

Blackwater = Fire-Fighter? on Danger Room

Blackwater = Fire-Fighter? By Noah Shachtman Email ... before the latest conflagrations near San Diego, that Blackwater West's "regular detonation of ...
blog.wired.com/defense/2007/10/blackwater-guns.html

San Diego Fires: The Blackwater Connection - Gold & Silver Forum

San Diego Fires: The Blackwater Connection General Discussion.
goldismoney.info/forums/showthread.php?t=192369

Huge brush fire near proposed site of Blackwater facility, San ...
Huge brush fire near proposed site of Blackwater facility, San Diego County ... San Diego County Board of Supervisors, but Blackwater has been pushing hard ...
www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2105068 - 72k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

http://nevernwo.blogspot.com/

Added: Oct 29 2007
In: News By: neverknwo (P:1528.96, S:74)
Tags: New World Order Secret Societies Illuminati 9/11 lies corruption deception bush nwo clinton 911 fascism state sponsored Black Flag terrorism usa iraq iran middle east wtc1 wtc2 wtc7 thermite inside job patriot liberty chen

RAW Video: Parking Rage Caught On Tape.. Squirrel Fight!.. Motorbike strapped to the roof of a car driving do.. Funny Ad: Dirty Hazel.. Ron Jeremy Does Britney Spears... Impression.. Squirrel Playing DEAD!.. Ghost caught on security tape at gas station ?..

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=006_1193695251

PUNCHLINE:

Fox News Runs With Al Qaeda Wildfires Conspiracy Theory

Fox News Runs With Al Qaeda Wildfires Conspiracy Theory Asks the question 'Did al Qaeda burn California?' Steve Watson Infowars.net Thursday, Oct 25, 2007 ...
infowars.net/articles/october2007/251007Wildfires.htm - 30k -
Posted by Alex Constantine at 8:08 AM 1 comments Links to this post
Third suspect sought in arson-murder of NASA engineer and his family
Associated Press
06/30/2008

LOS ANGELES - Authorities were seeking a third man after taking two into custody in connection with the murders of a NASA engineer and three others whose burned bodies were found in Quartz Hill house fire.

Jae Hwan Shim, 39, and Steve Kwon, 37, were found Saturday night in Douglas, Arizona, near the California border.

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Oscar Butao said Sunday that 34 year-old Si Young Yoon of Lancaster still was being sought.

All three men were named persons of interest in Monday's deaths of 60-year-old NASA engineer Joseph Ciganek, and three of his wife's relatives, a woman and two children.

All four were killed before the fire, according to the coroner's office.

Ciganek and a boy had been "beaten and slashed," Assistant Coroner Chief Ed Winter said. The woman and girl both suffered multiple stab wounds, he said.

Their bodies were badly burned and it may take several days to confirm their identities through dental records, coroner's Lt. John Kades said.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_9742853
Posted by Alex Constantine at 7:45 AM 0 comments Links to this post
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