Total democracy
According to Wikipedia, democracy is a form of government in which power is held indirectly by citizens in a free electoral system. It is derived from the Greek δημοκρατία (dēmokratía (info)), “popular government”. Yet an enduring problem in modern society is that a great deal of people feel disengaged from the political system - even “powerless”. It appears that general public are more prone to vote for reality TV shows than for their political convictions.
However, for the first time in history, we have the technology to radically alter our working democratic model. Thanks to banks, we have secure 24 hour access to our money – either via cash machines (ATMs) or via the internet. In addition, it would be a simple matter to give each eligible citizen a voting account – we could even piggyback on the existing ATM infrastructure. Online referendums would be cost-effective whether they be on a monthly, a weekly or even a daily basis. In fact, a system of such direct democracy would render large sections of governmental bureaucracy redundant. For example, we would surely no longer require parliamentary representatives since online referendums would act as our hotline into government.
Of course, this system (call it “total democracy”) would have its fair share of critics who believe that the general public is simply too uninformed to run the government in such a direct fashion. Almost everyone I’ve spoken to about total democracy has suggested that the masses are not to be trusted to run the country & there’s a fair chance that this thought has crossed your mind also. The conclusion I’m obliged to reach is that this country is less than committed to the principle of democracy. Worryingly, I suspect that I am not part of the solution.
Money makes the world go around
In a week that Gordon Brown said that banks should be the “servants of the economy and society and never its master”, there is a growing sense that banking is the tail that wags the dog. A good friend of mine, who has a background in banking, is more specific about the current financial malaise & considers the US Federal Reserve System to be the invisible hand that manipulates the global economy. He told me to check out this melodramatic but intriguing article entitled The Shadow Money Lenders: The Real Significance of The Fed’s Zero-Interest-Rate Policy (ZIRP).
My friend suspects that the Federal Reserve is behind every economic boom & bust since & including the Great Depression. Motive? Foreknowledge = massive profit. Conversely, economics can also serve as an efficient political weapon. “If the Federal Reserve is behind the Credit Crunch, what’s their aim?” I asked my friend. His response: “China is a slumbering giant; they wish to cripple the economy before it overtakes the West.”
Mistrust of the Federal Reserve is nothing new. Ezra Pound (modernist poet,visionary, traitor, fascist & lunatic) believed that the bankers in charge of the Federal Reserve and their associates in the Bank of England were responsible for getting the USA into both World Wars, in an effort to drive up government debt beyond sustainable levels. Pound commissioned his protege, Eustace Mullins, to write a book about the history of the Federal Reserve in the style of a detective story. The book, Secrets Of The Federal Reserve, charges that bankers hide behind the screen of the central banks and pull political strings to drive countries into the war, creating immense profits for themselves as the principal beneficiaries of wartime debt. [Wikipedia]
Another high-profile critic of the Federal Reserve was President John F. Kennedy who, on June 4, 1963, signed Executive Order No. 11110 returning to the U.S. government the power to issue currency without going through the Federal Reserve Bank (effectively stripping the Federal Reserve of its power to loan money to the government at interest). The John F. Kennedy vs The Federal Reserve showdown didn’t last long however. JFK was assassinated 5 months later & Executive order 11110 became obsolete.
Haves & Have Nots
My old history teacher would often solemnly declare – in his thick Welsh brogue – that history is an ongoing struggle between the Haves and the Have-nots. The older I get, the more I tend to agree. Politics, religion, race are all significant factors but dig deep enough & you find that money (& what it represents) is invariably the root cause.
A quick glance at the news will confirm that it’s the poor & the disenfranchised that are hit hardest in the wars in Afghanistan & Iraq. Even the US troops sent over to fight on the front line are largely recruited from the lower classes. Coverage of the recent Gaza crisis underlines the disparity between the invaders & the invaded: TV footage contrasts impoverished Palestinian victims with middle-class Israelis being interviewed in relatively affluent neighbourhoods. OK, so you have to allow for biased editing but the point is that conflict rarely has a negative impact on the rich & powerful. On the contrary, there are big profits to be made for the entrepreneurial in oil, defence contracts & even opium. Like Deep Throat said, you simply have to “follow the money”.
The fact is that, according to economic historians, global inequality has never been greater. So how much money is there in the world? Let’s assume that there’s a finite amount, that a limited amount of money is available to the 6 billion & more people who inhabit the earth. What then would be one person’s equal share?
According to an estimate in the essay How much money, Gold does the world hold?, the global money supply exceeds $60.2 trillion. Divide that into the global population & you get $9393. The inevitable implication is that, when a person gets rich, people somewhere else become poorer as a consequence. This is the kind of unsettling logic that made Huey Long’s Share Our Wealth program so popular & so dangerous.
The list
Last month, a list containing the details of over 10,000 BNP members was leaked onto the internet. Having tracked down the list on google, a quick search revealed that one BNP member lives on my street & even supplied his name & contact details. By dropping my neighbours’s “dirty little secret” in my lap, the list granted me real power over this man: the power to judge & even terrorise without fear of reprisal.
The media focused on the scandalous fact that several teachers & police were included on the membership list incidentally reinforcing the general perception of the BNP as an “immoral” organisation (which I happen to agree with but that’s beside the point). Furthermore, a few days later, with the BNP story still fresh on everybody’s minds, Shane Meadow’s This is England aired on terrestrial TV. The film, which is a masterpiece in its own right, has been perceived as a shocking & powerful indictment of racism & the National Front.
The leaking of the list & the (coincidental?) timing of the film airing amount to a terrible PR week for the BNP. If you were trying to destroy the credibility of the BNP, could you devise a better way of going about it? Which brings me to the real interest of the story i.e.: who leaked the list? Was it merely a disgruntled former party member or was a secret player involved? After all, it’s long been suspected that Combat 18 was an operation to ambush neo-nazis. Is this a subtler type of operation?
Propaganda
What’s the difference line between spin/PR & propaganda? Drop us a postcard if you know (or post a comment).
Yesterday, The Guardian ran a surprisingly high profile story yesterday about the activities of the Research, Information and Communication Unit (RICU): Revealed: Britain’s secret propaganda war against al-Qaida – BBC and website forums targeted by Home Office unit
Freedom of the press & authority don’t always mix. A media insider recently mentioned that all news items in the UK are routinely cleared by “spooks”. In the US, a common perception is that the end of the Vietnam War was accelerated due to extensive media exposure covering the Peace Movement. In November 1969, journalist Seymour Hersh broke the story of the My Lai Massacre, in which hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians were killed by U.S. soldiers in March 1968. The report prompted widespread condemnation around the world and reduced public support for the Vietnam War in the United States.
This type of ’subversive’ reporting has resulted in a determination in US right-wing thinking to muzzle the press, at least in wartime (this is, of course, only my opinion). The trouble comes when we consider ourselves to be in a state of perpetual war which, some might say, is a pretty accurate description of the Cold War.
It was Howard Hunt who broke the story that the CIA funded Animal Farm, the animated film version of George Orwell’s political allegory.
However, this was only one example of a worldwide policy unearthed by the Frank Church investigations (Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities) in 1975. Details of Operation Mockingbird were revealed as a result of According to the Congress report published in 1976:
“The CIA currently maintains a network of several hundred foreign individuals around the world who provide intelligence for the CIA and at times attempt to influence opinion through the use of covert propaganda. These individuals provide the CIA with direct access to a large number of newspapers and periodicals, scores of press services and news agencies, radio and television stations, commercial book publishers, and other foreign media outlets.” Frank Church argued that misinforming the world cost American taxpayers an estimated $265 million a year.
Mockingbird’s “principal operative” was the enigmatic Cord Meyer. In February, 2001, the writer, C. David Heymann, asked Cord Meyer about the death of his wife, Mary Pinchot Meyer: “My father died of a heart attack the same year Mary was killed , ” he whispered. “It was a bad time.” And what could he say about Mary Meyer? Who had committed such a heinous crime? “The same sons of bitches,” he hissed, “that killed John F. Kennedy.”
Sans haine, sans violence et sans arme
Nice in Nice
In 1982, one-time MI6 employee & friend to Kim Philby, Graham Greene, wrote a non-fiction book called ‘J’Accuse — The Dark Side of Nice’ declaring that police & judicial corruption was flourishing in Nice. As a result, he lost a libel lawsuit & Greene was effectively gagged in France. However, in 1994, after Greene’s death, he was finally vindicated when the “colourful” former mayor of Nice, Jacques Médecin, was imprisoned for corruption and other crimes.
“Big crime in Nice is practically nonexistent” once said Nice Mayor Jacques Médecin, conveniently overlooking the career of Albert Spaggiari who, as well as occasionlly acting as photographer for the mayor, had a starring role in the “Bank Heist of the Century” & other things.
“Without Weapons, Neither Hatred Nor Violence” is the phrase that Albert Spaggiari wrote on the walls of a Nice bank vault after he’d tunnelled into it via the sewers & the inspiration for the title of a new film about the high-profile criminal.
Tower 7
9/11 Truthers seem to be focusing on the fate of Tower 7, the “first and only tall skyscraper in the world to have collapsed because of fire”. BBC article: The evolution of a conspiracy theory
Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, a group consisting of hundreds of building professionals, want Congress to open up a new investigation of 9/11. Founder, Richard Gage, believes that the Twin Towers and Building 7 collapsed as a result of explosives. A letter from Gage to Congressman Robert Wexler has been posted on the group’s website, asking the congressman to investigate a number of inconsistencies.
The Good Shepherd: CIA Secrets or Hollywood Sizzle?
Cloak-and-dagger movie, The Good Shepherd, tells the story of the CIA’s early days through the eyes of Edward Wilson, the movie’s main character. Wilson is patterned after the legendary spy-catcher, James Jesus Angleton but how much of the movie is true and how much is Hollywood sizzle?
To spy or not to spy…
The evolution of espionage in England.
- The English Machiavelli
An interesting angle on the lives of Francis Walsingham (founder of the English intelligence & espionage service), Christopher Marlowe & Francis Bacon. - The murder of Christopher Marlowe
Who exactly was “sweet Kit Marlowe”? - George Edwards
Outrageous agent provocateur, George Edwards, had a starring role in the Cato Street Conspiracy as recruiter, conspirator & informer.
The Kelly Affair & elusive WMDs
This blog takes a brief look at The Kelly Affair, Curveball & Plamegate with WMD providing a constant background theme.
- Norman Baker MP begins investigation into the death of Dr David Kelly (Jul 3, 2006)
British LibDem MP Norman Baker two months into a private, year-long investigation into the death of Dr David Kelly, the scientist who found himself under seige after apparently accusing the government of ‘sexing up’ the case for war to a BBC journalist. The Hutton Inquiry, framed as a battle between the government and the BBC, failed to probe the manner in which Dr Kelly met his death. Suicide was largely assumed, but the blunt gardening knife found at the scene, the fact that only a single ulnar artery was transected, the lack of blood splattering, and the tiny amount of co-proxamol residue found in Dr Kelly’s stomach, points up the need for closer scrutiny. - Police could not find any fingerprints on Dr Kelly’s ’suicide’ knife
Fresh doubts were raised over the suicide of Dr David Kelly after it emerged that no fingerprints were found on the knife he supposedly used to kill himself. - Weapons Expert Dr David Kelly was Murdered [article by Norman Baker] (20 October 2007)
Why I know weapons expert Dr David Kelly was murdered, by the MP who spent a year investigating his death. - Part Two of Norman Baker’s shocking investigation.
- Would you trust someone called curveball?
well the bush administration did! - US relied on ‘drunken liar’ to justify war’Crazy’ Iraqi spy was full of misinformation, says report
- American people misled on Plame affair Says McClellan
McClellan, former Press Secretary to President Bush, described how he misled the American people about who was involved in the leaking of the classified information about CIA agent Valerie Plame. He also described how he was deliberately not told the truth by Vice President Cheney and Scooter Libby. - The Complete Bill Maher Interview Valerie Plame & Joe Wilson
Interview of Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson which aired on Real Time Friday 11-2-2007
From Dallas to Watergate…
From Dallas to Watergate, it’s all here…
- Dallas Police Interviews
Various interviews of Chief Jesse Curry of the Dallas Police and Dallas DA Henry Wade. Included is the midnight interview of Lee Harvey Oswald and his shooting by Jack Ruby.
- Kennedy Assassination Thwarted Weeks Before His Death
A former Secret Service agent says there was a plot to kill president John F. Kennedy in Chicago three weeks before he was assassinated in Dallas.
- David Atlee Philips AKA Maurice Bishop
CIA operative Antonio Veciana testified regarding his case officer Maurice Bishop. The sketch of Bishop was based on Veciana’s recollections of the appearance of the man meeting with Oswald. He was shot in the head after testifying, but survived. Phillips was The Chief of Western Hemisphere Operations. He denied knewing Oswald, but the HSCA wanted him charged for perjury. He died of cancer in 1988.
- House Select Committee on Assassinations – 1976
Established in 1976 to investigate the John F. Kennedy assassination and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination. The Committee investigated until 1978, and in 1979 issued its final report, concluding that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, probably as a result of a conspiracy.
- 1977 CBS report on Oltmans & De Mohrenschildt
1977 CBS report on Williem Oltmans’ HSCA testimony concerning his interviews with Georege De Mohrenschildt.
- Bill Hicks on JFK
Bill Hicks talking about JFK from Revelations.
- 40 years after RFK’s death, questions linger
‘Three major assassinations rocked America in the 1960s. Two of the assassins – Lee Harvey Oswald, the killer of John F. Kennedy, and James Earl Ray, who shot Martin Luther King Jr. – are dead. But Sirhan Sirhan, convicted of killing Robert F. Kennedy 40 years ago in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, is living out his days in the California state prison at Corcoran. He is 64 and has never fully explained what happened that night other than to say he can’t remember it….’ - Mad Money in High Places Citizen Hughes
‘Citizen Hughes is mostly about big money in high places, of cash siphoned from Hughes’ Nevada gambling casinos and piped to politicians. Wielding the only power he knew, the deranged industrialist reveals a crude cynicism. On Lyndon Johnson: “I have done this kind of business with him before. So, he wears no awe-inspiring robe of virtue with me.” On Hubert Humphrey: “A candidate who needs us and wants our help . . . somebody we control sufficiently.” On Richard Nixon: “My man. He I know for sure knows the facts of life.”‘ - Remarks By President Gerald Ford On Taking the Oath Of Office As President
“The oath that I have taken is the same oath that was taken by George Washington and by every President under the Constitution. But I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances never before experienced by Americans. This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.”
