Redux--- The Shadow Government: A Bit of History

This is from Professor Carroll Quigley--- the late and renowned macro-historian who was Bill Clinton's mentor at Georgetown University---and was written about 45 years ago  [Now, 53 years ago; I first wrote this in 2007].  Following are excerpts from his book, Tragedy and Hope (1966)---
[All emphasis added...below.]

"There does exist, and has existed for a generation, an international Anglophile network which operates, to some extent, in the way the radical Right believes the Communists act. In fact, this network, which we may identify as the Round Table Group has no aversion to cooperating with the Communists, or any other groups, and frequently does so... 

"I know of the operations of this network because I have studied it for twenty years and was permitted for two years, in the early 1960's, to examine its papers and secret [private] records. I have no aversion to it or to most of its aims and have, for much of my life, been close to it and to many of its instruments...

"[A] front organization, called the Royal Institute of International Affairs, had as its nucleus in each area the existing submerged Round Table Group. In New York it was known as the Council on Foreign Relations and was a front for J.P. Morgan and Company in association with the very small American Round Table Group...

"On this basis, which was originally financial and goes back to George Peabody, there grew up in the twentieth century a power structure between London and New York which penetrated deeply into university life, the press, and the practice of foreign policy...

"In England the center was the Round Table Group, while in the United States it was J.P. Morgan and Company or its local branches in Boston, Philadelphia, and Cleveland...

"The American branch of this 'English Establishment' exerted much of its influence through five American newspapers (The New York Times, New York Herald Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, the Washington Post, and the lamented Boston Evening Transcript )...

" They were gracious and cultured gentlemen of somewhat limited social experience who were much concerned with the freedom of expression of minorities and the rule of law for all, who constantly thought in terms of Anglo-American solidarity, of political partition and federation, and who were convinced that they could gracefully civilize the Boers of South Africa, the Irish, the Arabs, and the Hindus, and who are largely responsible for the partitions of Ireland, Palestine, and India, as well as the federations of South Africa, Central Africa, and the West Indies...

"It was this group of people, whose wealth and influence so exceeded their experience and understanding, who provided much of the frame-work of influence which the Communist sympathizers and fellow travelers took over in the United States in the 1930's...

"It must be recognized that the power that these energetic Left-wingers exercised was never their own power or Communist power but was ultimately the power of the international financial coterie, and, once the anger and suspicions of the American people were aroused, as they were by 1950, it was a fairly simple matter to get rid of the Red sympathizers...

"Before this could be done, however, a congressional committee, following backward to their source the threads which led from admitted Communists like Whittaker Chambers, through Alger Hiss, and the Carnegie Endowment to Thomas Lamont and the Morgan Bank, fell into the whole complicated network of the interlocking tax-exempt foundations...

The Eighty-third Congress in July 1953 set up a Special Committee to investigate Tax-Exempt Foundations with Representative B. Carroll Reece of Tennessee, as chairman. It soon became clear that people of immense wealth would be unhappy if the investigation went too far and that the 'most respected' newspapers in the country, closely allied with these men of wealth, would not get excited enough about any revelations to make the publicity worth while, in terms of votes or campaign contributions..."

[My point here is to illustrate that those who founded the "Shadow Government" were beyond political party affiliations, right v. left, and all that Propaganda. I believe that is still true today...and today, the Shadow Government is greatly expanded and includes many multi-national corporations, not just those in banking, oil, and newspapers.]

Quigley's book, Tragedy and Hope, quickly was suppressed.  I doubt you can find a copy today.  Finally, keep in mind that the good Professor was not a deranged nutcake; instead, he was well respected and very credible.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well
p.s.  Some years ago, Bill Moyers also did an excellent piece on "The Shadow Government".

Notice How the Corporate Media Take a Terrorism Story...

and beat it to death...over and over...day after day.  I'm not saying these fanatical, philosophically ignorant, "true believers" are not dangerous (whether it's "jihadists" or some nut attacking Planned Parenthood), but the fact remains, you have more chance of being killed by lightning than by a terrorist.  Plus, while the stories of terror attacks are "in-depth", there's hardly a peep from the Corporate Media about how the U.S. Govt's military misadventures (especially drone attacks) are generating terrorism, not preventing it.

Here's what we all really should be afraid of---
1.  Neoliberal politicians---such as McConnell, McCain, Obama, Schumer, etc. ad nauseam---who are backing policies and laws that are destroying this great Land economically.
2.  The fact that we are in a deep Recession with an imploding economy.
3.  The fact that the world economy is in deep trouble...mostly because the Powers-That-Be still are shifting wealth from the Lower & Middle Classes to the Upper Crust...at an astounding pace.
4.  The Fed Reserve engenders Boom-Bust economic cycles; it doesn't prevent them.
5.  The true unemployment rate in America is somewhere between 20% and 40%.
6.  The fact that Edward Bernays style Propaganda continues to mold minds to the benefit of the Rich and Powerful, and to the detriment of the rest of us.

I vote for some in-depth reporting on those fearsome items.  I realize that the true economic situation may not be "flashy" news, but it's much more valuable than the fact that the latest nutcake criminal pledged her allegiance to ISIS...which I've heard on the Corporate Media now for about four straight days.  Who gives a damn about to whom she pledged anything?  Yes, Terrorism poses a danger of sorts; but Neoliberalism is a much greater danger.  Bizarre financial derivatives and Financialization are much greater dangers.  Wall Street still running amok is a much greater danger.  Economic/Financial Bubbles bursting are a much greater danger...especially now.  A Police State is a much greater danger.  Outright lies by politicians and bureaucrats such as Clapper and Brennan and Obama and Trump are a much greater danger.  Blatant Propaganda is a much greater danger.  Criminal Mega Banks (whose CEOs think they are Masters of the Universe) are a much greater danger.

The Corporate Media are complicit with other Powers-That-Be (both public & private) in distracting, dividing, and in general, conquering Lower & Middle Class Americans, thus completely destroying the "American Dream".  They all do it not just for money, but for power and control as well.  Finally, once again, it's not any kind of grand "conspiracy".

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Redux: Our Jury Rights are Being Trampled Upon

I'm re-posting this piece because it's extremely important to the concept of Freedom... especially now, given the plethora of unconstitutional "Laws" currently in force in this great Land.  [The previous title was "The Last Bastion".]

The last sane bastion against an errant government (not counting armed revolt, which nowadays is insane) is jury nullification. Very early in our country's history, the role of jury nullification as a defense against oppression by the State was unquestioned. It remained so until the 1850s, a time during which many juries began not convicting in prosecutions under the Fugitive Slave Act. Judges, seeing a mighty demonstration of the power of juries, began to change the rules of the Court. The primary and most devastating change was that juries would no longer be permitted (by judges) to judge the law; they would be confined to judging only the facts of the case.

The new rules were (and still are) a blatant infringement on the rights of juries. That's not just my view...

"The jury has a right to judge both the law and the facts in controversy."
~ John Jay, First Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court, 1789

"The jury has the right to determine both the law and the facts."
~ Samuel Chase, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1796
"The law itself is on trial quite as much as the cause which is to be decided."
~ Harlan F. Stone, 12th Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court, 1941

Juries routinely are told by judges that jury members cannot judge the law, only the facts of the case. Not true. Numerous case decisions have upheld the right of any juror to nullify a "bad" law and vote to acquit. Example: "The jury has an unreviewable and unreversible power...to acquit in disregard of the instructions on the law given by the trial judge." U.S. v.Dougherty, 473 F 2nd 1113, 1139 (1972). Example: "...it is presumed that juries are the best judges of facts; it is, on the other hand, presumed that courts are the best judges of law. But still both objects are within your power of decision. You have a right to take upon yourselves to judge of both, and to determine law as well as the fact in controversy." [Emphasis added.] State of Georgia v. Brailsford, et.al. 3 U.S. 1 Dall. (1794).

So, why do jurors not know these things? The reason is simple: in

Sparf v. United States (1895), the Court decided that courts need not inform jurors of their de facto right of jury nullification even though the jurors' inherent right to judge the law remains unchallenged. All judges are aware of this. Rather than inform juries of all their rights, judges tend to intimidate jurors by telling them that they cannot judge the law.

All of this is crucial to individual sovereignty and freedom because governments practice Legislative Absolutism (a term coined by Justice Harlan in 1901), passing laws without any regard for constitutions (Federal and State). Other than bringing suit in a court of law, the aggrieved citizen has no legal and peaceful recourse except to rely on jury nullification. Bringing suit usually is very expensive and time-consuming. Unfortunately, relying on jury nullification depends upon having a fully informed citizenry, and jurors with courage and integrity...therefore, spread the word! We need fully informed juries.

Not just my opinion.  Be Well

The Most Dangerous Idea in the History of Central Planning

This subject is so huge that all I can do here is give you a very scant idea of it.  Most importantly:  don't think for a moment that it's impossible...or hundreds of years off in the future.  It's maybe only one to three decades away.  Michio Kaku, a somewhat well-known String Field Theory physicist, is one of its primary proponents.  [His book, HyperSpace, was fantastic; I haven't read his Future of the Mind.]

We're talking about the worldwide movement known as Transhumanism.  The advocates of this philosophy, most all of whom seem to be rational human beings, are bent on developing a Posthuman (or Post-Human).  The roots of this go all the way back to Julian Huxley (the biologist and philosopher) in the 1950's.  Back then, the whole thing essentially was science fiction.  It's not entirely that anymore.  Advances in genetics, robotics, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology have brought the idea to within a hair's breadth of scientific reality.

As with most central planning ideas, the intentions of Transhumanists appear to be good.  They propose to mitigate or even eliminate physical and mental disabilities.  Some even think we can eliminate many or most social problems, poverty, war, etc. by creating Posthumans.  [From what I can gather, Posthumans first will be Cyborgs---part human & part machine---and then super-intelligent robots.]  Those may be a long way off, but steps prior to them are fairly close at hand...as follows.

One of the plans is to use the techniques & data from the mapping of every neural connection in the human brain; see the Human Connectome Project, which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  [I'm not suggesting that NIH personnel are Transhumanists.]  The mapping of rodent brains, similar to those of humans but simpler, has been underway for years.  The idea of the Transhumanists is to figure out how to modify human behavior.

Some proponents of the Posthuman predict that by 2045, you will be able to upload your mind to a computer (in a robot, perhaps?)...supposedly then becoming "digitally immortal".

Some of them propose connecting (remotely, I presume) our brains to a central supercomputer so that we may all be part of a "hive mind"...which supposedly will make us all more cooperative and peaceful.  These people are serious about this...it's one of their projects.

Most Transhumanists appear to believe that both the Mind and the Body must be "enhanced" (one of their favorite words) and transformed... for the "good" of Humanity.  They tout it as the next step in human evolution.

The statement has been made that the rights of those who wish to remain "Humanish" should be respected.  [Well, Human Rights often are not respected even now.]
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Francis Fukuyama, a fierce critic of Transhumanism, has called it "the most dangerous idea of the century".  I couldn't possibly agree more.  Despite any good intentions, central planning ideas such as this practically always result in much more harm than good.  The harm in this one should be self-evident.  [I'm reminded of Surrogates, the fictional movie with Bruce Willis.]

Keep in mind that the advocates of the Posthuman strongly believe in the concept, are working hard to implement it, and are very smooth salesmen.  Michio Kaku, for example, is all over YouTube & elsewhere...and he makes it all sound so wonderful...with extraordinary benefits to Humankind.  Beware.  Finally, again, this is not way off in the future; it is relatively close at hand.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well...and be human.  :)

The Astounding PROPAGANDA from the State-Corporate Complex

Below is a copy of an email I sent out tonight.  The title was "A Perfect Example".

The brilliant Glenn Greenwald explains EXACTLY how the State-Corporate complex dupes people via shameless Propaganda.  This instance is in regard to terrorism, Snowden, Gov't officials, the recent Paris attacks, etc.  Too bad more people will not see this.  It shows how many, especially those on the so-called Right (but also those on the so-called Left), are being subjected to misleading info & outright lies, led down the path to more war, led into Islamophobia, and being flim-flammed into accepting the destruction of the Fourth Amendment...as well as other parts of the Constitution.  All of these efforts by the Powers-That-Be are not only un-American, but also anti-American.  The whole thing is disgusting.

The segment after this one also is illuminating relative to the submissive Corporate Media in the USA.

If we continue to accept the rubbish put out by the Gov't & Corporatist Media outlets, our grandkids will be living in Orwell's Animal Farm.  Guaranteed.

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/11/19/glenn_greenwald_shameless_cia_exploits_paris?autostart=true

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Several Insanities in the Western World, Especially the USA

Remember reading about the Age of Enlightenment, often cited as running from the late 1600's to about 1800, and sometimes called the Age of Reason?  It would appear that we humans are in need of a Second Age of Enlightenment.  Following are some of the things supporting such an assertion.  Let's begin with a somewhat trivial (compared to the others) example.

1.  Trump recently stated that "wages [in the USA] are too high".  What planet is The Don on?  Wages here essentially have stagnated for the last thirty years.  The cost of living has not.

2.  Our Fed Gov't and those of Russia & France are bombing ISIS in Syria...but, mostly thanks to the US,  they're not all cooperating with each other.  Is that a good plan?

3.  The Fed Gov't here denigrates Russia for sticking it's nose into Syria (a Russian ally) and for trying to increase its influence in the Middle East.  Are you kidding me?...talk about the pot calling the kettle black.  The US Gov't's primary foreign policy component is to stick its nose into just about every civil war in the world...especially in the Middle East and/or southern Central Asia.  Good grief!

4.  The US Gov't continues to kowtow to Saudi Arabia...not entirely, but significantly.  That's a troublesome issue because of the following.  Wahhabism, the Saudi State-sponsored extremist Sunni Sect, spreads its poison all around the world.  Radical, extremist terrorists are greatly encouraged by the Wahhabis; the roots of ISIS are in Wahhabism.  The DC Powers-That-Be know that...and yet they continue to support the House of Saud.

5.  The situation in Syria and Iraq is a complete mess.  [Over 7,000 airstrikes by the US Gov't haven't helped much at all...but they have pissed off a whole bunch of terrorists.]  In addition to the points above, the Gov't of Turkey is fighting ISIS...and fighting the Kurds, too...who happen to be fighting ISIS.  Certain leaders in the world seem to have lost their minds.

6.  The Taliban in Afghanistan now control more territory than they ever have since the US invasion.  So much for interfering in a civil war...and so much for "nation-building".

7.  Iraq now essentially is a failed State.  Ditto the last sentence above.

8.  The General in charge of the US program to train "moderates" to fight ISIS in Syria either has been or is going to be promoted.  The program was a complete failure.  About 5,000 were to be trained and equipped.  Five or so were put into battle; in short order they all were killed or captured...along with their weapons.

9.  Obama and most Republicans continue to push for approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).  Most Americans appear to be either oblivious to the Agreement/Treaty or against it.  The smallest bit of research should reveal to anyone that the TPP is bad news for average people.  It benefits only the Rich and Powerful.  For any politician to claim that it will make us more competitive and increase the number of jobs here is utter nonsense at best, and a bald-faced lie at worst.

10.  The War on Cash is well underway.  Under Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws here, any significant amount of cash on you now can be seized by Law Enforcement...without you being charged with anything.  The reason?  It's "suspicious".  In addition, the Powers-That-Be are pushing for a move to a cashless society.  One of the reasons is to prevent bank runs in the case of an economic/financial collapse.  Another reason:  those same Powers then will know, because of the National Surveillance State, every single purchase you make...or at least, they will have access to those records.  Consumer privacy will be gone.  I foresee a day when, if you use any cash at all, you'll most likely be deemed a "financial terrorist" or a run-of-the-mill criminal.

11.  The Police State in the USA continues.  Examples:  the Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws cited above; FBI Agents now writing their own Search Warrants (euphemistically titled "National Security Letters")...our Constitution is clear---a Judge must sign a Search Warrant; monitoring of people not even under investigation (the National Surveillance State); the militarization of local Police [a problem because the Police then act as though all citizens are their enemy...they have to, it's policy, it's "safe" procedure]; the almost unrestrained use of TASERs...which have killed people; shooting people in the back...for minor infractions [e.g., a homeless guy in New Mexico was camping outside of town...he turned to walk away from the cops & they killed him]; and many other examples.

12.  The Mega Banks, Mega Hedge Funds, and Mega Insurance Corporations have created, bought, and sold "Swaps" (Credit Default Swaps) to the tune of $550 trillion.  [The entire world's annual GDP is about $75 trillion.]  These Swaps do not make up all of the bizarre financial derivatives out in the Market (that total is about $1.25 quadrillion), but they are the ones that supposedly act as "insurance" against defaults on various contracts.  Should that Swap Bubble burst, as many reputable economists all across the political spectrum say it will, the whole world will be plunged into a Great Depression.  Who benefitted from the sale of these Swaps?  Oligarchs did...in the billions and billions...and billions.

13.  About 95% of world commerce is conducted either in dollars, the Pound, the Euro, or the Yen.  Every one of those currencies purposely is being debased (devalued).  That causes inflation in countries that don't have those as their currency...the emerging Markets, such as China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, etc.  Because of that, China is engaged in a Currency War with us...and because of that (and other reasons), the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency most likely will not last much longer.  Our Gov't tends to denigrate and blame China for all this.  The fact is, China is only protecting itself and its economy.  The U.S. is doing what many countries historically have done when they have way too much debt:  our Gov't, in a de facto way, is purposely debasing the dollar in order to cope with a massive debt...a debt that never will be repaid in full.  All gov'ts know that's what's happening.  My point here is this:  inflation is a currency event, not a price event.  In 1961, I bought a pair of Levi jeans for $3.95; the price of jeans now is anywhere from about $25 to $40.  In 1961, cigarettes were 25 cents a pack; now they're anywhere from $4 to $8 a pack.  That's because the U.S. dollar is worth less; it has been debased for decades via creating "money" out of thin air.  The chickens are finally coming home to roost, and the Fed Reserve is out of ammunition.

14.  Whether Democrats or Republicans are in power in the United States, Edward Bernays style Propaganda reigns supreme regarding war, the economy, and the "value" of the Rich and Powerful.  Again, please heed the words of Warren Buffett:  "We are in a Class War in this country, and unfortunately, my Class is winning.".  A big Amen to that, Warren.
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Yes, I would say Humankind is in dire need of a Second Age of Enlightenment.
Not only my opinion.  Be Well

The Powers-That-Be are Lying

The Oligarchs don't lie about everything, but there are several crucial subjects about which they do lie often.  Following are some of those.

1.  Price inflation is stagnant.  The State-Corporate Complex can say this with a straight face because when they figure how much prices have increased, here's what's not included:  the costs of food, housing, and energy.  Those items are not part of what's called "core inflation".  To give credit where it's due, the Powers-That-Be are correct regarding energy costs...even though those are not counted.  Oil has tanked, no pun intended; that's good, but a guy like me drives only about 20 miles per week.  "Low" gas prices don't make up for the constant increases in food and sundry grocery store items.  Manufacturers of those goods either are raising prices outwardly or doing it surreptitiously by shrinking the size of product packages.  Plus, rent for housing in the USA (with a few exceptions) is skyrocketing.  An old dog like me cannot believe how high rental costs are nowadays.

2.  Unemployment in the USA is now 5.X%.  This lie is so egregious as to make one physically sick.  Reputable, credible economists and former Fed Gov't officials all across the political spectrum estimate that the true unemployment rate is somewhere between 20% and 43%.

3.  The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement will be good for everyday Americans.  The details of that abomination now are finally public; some were released earlier by WikiLeaks, but now we have the entire disaster available for scrutiny.  The critics (such as Lori Wallach of TradeWatch) are saying, "It's worse than we expected.", and they were harsh critics before the full text was released.  I've written about this before, so I won't repeat myself.  The details of this miserable Treaty can be found in lots of places, not the least of which is Citizen.org/TPP.  Promotion of the TPP by many in Gov't, the Corporate Media, and various other Mega Corporations is proof positive that Oligarchs don't give a damn about us.

4.  We are not at War...it's "counter-terrorism"; therefore, Geneva Conventions, Due Process, the Constitution in general, Ethics, and even Morality do not limit us when dealing with "enemy combatants".  That lie is so outrageous and defies Logic so much that I'm beginning to think that George Orwell was the greatest political prophet in all of History...bar none.  The Powers-That-Be are trying to sell us on the concept that the people we're fighting are neither soldiers nor criminals.  Sorry, Oligarchs, they have to be one or the other.  The term, "enemy combatant" is a fiction.  Due Process applies to everyone, even soldiers or criminals.  If it doesn't, we no longer are civilized, ethical beings.

5.  It is necessary to monitor everyone in the National Surveillance State.  Good grief, that is pure, unadulterated Propaganda...it's bullshit to the Nth Degree.  Why people are buying into that is beyond my comprehension.  Have mercy.

6.  We are in an Economic Recovery.  That statement is so blatantly ridiculous it defies not only Logic, but the imagination as well.  All one has to do to see it's not true is take a little time to do a serious, critical study of our economic condition...utilizing a wide variety of credible sources while ignoring Propaganda from the State-Corporate Complex.  The USA, and most of the world, is in a deep Recession and heading for a Depression that very well may be worse than the one in the 1930's.
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It's important to keep in mind that when it's "crunch time", when Institutions are in a bind, any Institution will protect itself rather than individuals or Individual Rights.  Natural Rights, possessed by all people, will be sacrificed by any Oligarchy upon the altar of expediency.  It is Institutions that constantly must be monitored...by us.  Remember the words of an Eastern philosopher:  we be many; they be few.  That is precisely why we are inundated totally with Propaganda from the State-Corporate Complex.  It's important to us and future generations that we think critically, speak out, deny unwarranted power to Institutions run amok, boycott those entities that trash Natural Rights, and do it all peacefully.  Violent actions beget more violence and complete suppression of the individual.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well