Billion-dollar babies

WHO rules the world? The most familiar answers to this question are so poisoned by paranoia that it is tempting to dismiss the question itself. If the Jews are so powerful, then why have they had such a dreadful time of things? If the men and women of Davos are so mighty, then why do they keep messing everything up?

Yet the fact that so many people give foolish answers to a question does not discredit the question. The rise of nation states produced national ruling classes. It would be odd if the current integration of the world economy did not produce new global elites—business people and financiers who run global companies and global politicians who steer supra-national organisations such as the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund.

David Rothkopf, a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, argues that these elites constitute nothing less than a new global “superclass”. They have all the clubby characteristics of the old national ruling classes, but with the vital difference that they operate on the global stage, far from mere national electorates.

They attend the same universities (Mr Rothkopf calculates that Harvard, Stanford and the University of Chicago are now the world's top three superclass producers). They are groomed in a handful of world-spanning institutions such as Goldman Sachs. They belong to the same clubs—the Council on Foreign Relations in New York is a particular favourite—and sit on each other's boards of directors. Many of them shuttle between the public and private sectors. They meet at global events such as the World Economic Forum at Davos and the Trilateral Commission or—for the crème de la crème—the Bilderberg meetings or the Bohemian Grove seminars that take place every July in California.

Mr Rothkopf makes a fascinating tour of the world of the superclass. He opens the door to the office of the head of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, on the top floor of Goldman's tower on New York's Broad Street. He visits the factory that customises Gulfstream jets (every year nearly 10% of Gulfstream's clients attend Davos). He calls on the Carlyle Group where financiers and former presidents get together to make each other richer. And he offers a tour of the weird proceedings of the Bohemian Grove meetings, which Richard Nixon described as “the most faggy goddamned thing you could ever imagine.”

“Superclass” is such a wide-ranging book that it inevitably also raises quibbles. Mr Rothkopf never quite defines the boundaries of his subject. Is he talking about the super-rich? Or about the super-influential? Do the people he talks about really constitute a “class”? Or are they an agglomeration of competing elites with different agendas? Mr Rothkopf adds to the confusion by chasing all manner of hares, including the rise of internet-enabled jihadists.

Mr Rothkopf, whose CV includes a spell working for Kissinger Associates and a period as the deputy under-secretary of commerce for international trade, is much better informed about America than he is about the rest of the world. He is fascinating on the revolving door between the Pentagon and the arms industry, for example, but he says next to nothing about the rise of the EU, one of the great building blocks of the trans-national world. His exposition of the wonders of Davos is more breathless than illuminating.

Still, none of this should put off potential readers: “Superclass” is a pioneering study of a subject that has often been the preserve of conspiracy theorists. Mr Rothkopf is anything but a crank, and he is right when he says that, these days, the most influential people around the world are also the most global people.

He is also admirably ambivalent about his subject. He worries about surging inequality—the richest 1% of humans own 40% of the planet's wealth—and about the rumbling backlash against so much unaccountable power. But he points out that, in a world where most global institutions are lumbering and antiquated, members of the superclass have repeatedly stepped in to put the global system to rights. Let us hope that they have not lost their touch.

He forgot to mention David Rockefeller and Philip Rothschild!

Source: Economist.com

Spooky fireballs and UFO sightings in North Dakota

Further to the previous post The Phoenix lights are back again I have been given a link to the following article.

Last night (October 24, 2007) a fireball crashed near Bismarck. In a similar sighting a little over a year ago, three fireballs fell from the sky (read article here).

Maybe it’s just the spooky Halloween atmosphere, but it seems like there is a lot going on in North Dakota skies–including some bizarre UFO sightings. For fun, I’ve made a mini-directory of some of the most freaky things to come across my screen so far:

Has North Dakota become the new Area 51 state? Scroll down the site to get to read this article.
Strange lights in Dickinson (very interesting).
Aliens near Tappen, North Dakota. This video clip left me with a very creepy feeling.
Unexplained mysteries forum: more on the Tappen encounter and some in Minot, too?
One near Grand Forks, North Dakota in September 2005.
1968 UFO sighting near Minot Air Force base
Alien abduction near Dickinson caught on tape? Hmmm. Would be fun to see the footage.
The 1953 Ellsworth Case near Bismarck.
1948 Fargo sighting.
Strange sighting in Amidon, North Dakota.

I’ve never seen a UFO in North Dakota myself. I don’t know if they’re real or not, and if they are real, I would have to ask if they’re military-based or truly full of aliens.
Either way, it’s a fascinating and entertaining subject. I’m glad to share North Dakota’s place in it.

Source: Bismarckndblog.com

The Phoenix lights are back again

Several people reported seeing four lights forming various formations above the Valley Monday night.

Tony Toporek was talking with his neighbours in north Phoenix when the lights appeared at about 8 p.m.

He grabbed his video camera and started taping.

Witnesses reported that the lights formed a vertical line, then formed a diamond-shape, followed by a u-shape.

The lights reportedly moved from side to side and upward before disappearing one by one.

Toporek said the last light vanished and then briefly reappeared before disappearing again.

ABC15 contacted several agencies Monday night, including the FAA, Sky Harbor, Luke Air Force Base, and the Phoenix Police Department. No one could explain what the lights are.

Source: ABC15.com

Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World

Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing.

Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.

At a Costco Warehouse in Mountain View, Calif., yesterday, shoppers grew frustrated and occasionally uttered expletives as they searched in vain for the large sacks of rice they usually buy.

“Where’s the rice?” an engineer from Palo Alto, Calif., Yajun Liu, said. “You should be able to buy something like rice. This is ridiculous.”

The bustling store in the heart of Silicon Valley usually sells four or five varieties of rice to a clientele largely of Asian immigrants, but only about half a pallet of Indian-grown Basmati rice was left in stock. A 20-pound bag was selling for $15.99.

“You can’t eat this every day. It’s too heavy,” a health care executive from Palo Alto, Sharad Patel, grumbled as his son loaded two sacks of the Basmati into a shopping cart. “We only need one bag but I’m getting two in case a neighbor or a friend needs it,” the elder man said.

The Patels seemed headed for disappointment, as most Costco members were being allowed to buy only one bag. Moments earlier, a clerk dropped two sacks back on the stack after taking them from another customer who tried to exceed the one-bag cap.

“Due to the limited availability of rice, we are limiting rice purchases based on your prior purchasing history,” a sign above the dwindling supply said.

Shoppers said the limits had been in place for a few days, and that rice supplies had been spotty for a few weeks. A store manager referred questions to officials at Costco headquarters near Seattle, who did not return calls or e-mail messages yesterday.

An employee at the Costco store in Queens said there were no restrictions on rice buying, but limits were being imposed on purchases of oil and flour. Internet postings attributed some of the shortage at the retail level to bakery owners who flocked to warehouse stores when the price of flour from commercial suppliers doubled.

The curbs and shortages are being tracked with concern by survivalists who view the phenomenon as a harbinger of more serious trouble to come.

“It’s sporadic. It’s not every store, but it’s becoming more commonplace,” the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, James Rawles, said. “The number of reports I’ve been getting from readers who have seen signs posted with limits has increased almost exponentially, I’d say in the last three to five weeks.”

Spiking food prices have led to riots in recent weeks in Haiti, Indonesia, and several African nations. India recently banned export of all but the highest quality rice, and Vietnam blocked the signing of a new contract for foreign rice sales.

“I’m surprised the Bush administration hasn’t slapped export controls on wheat,” Mr. Rawles said. “The Asian countries are here buying every kind of wheat.”

Mr. Rawles said it is hard to know how much of the shortages are due to lagging supply and how much is caused by consumers hedging against future price hikes or a total lack of product.

“There have been so many stories about worldwide shortages that it encourages people to stock up. What most people don’t realize is that supply chains have changed, so inventories are very short,” Mr. Rawles, a former Army intelligence officer, said. “Even if people increased their purchasing by 20%, all the store shelves would be wiped out.”

At the moment, large chain retailers seem more prone to shortages and limits than do smaller chains and mom-and-pop stores, perhaps because store managers at the larger companies have less discretion to increase prices locally.

Mr. Rawles said the spot shortages seemed to be most frequent in the Northeast and all the way along the West Coast. He said he had heard reports of buying limits at Sam’s Club warehouses, which are owned by Wal-Mart Stores, but a spokesman for the company, Kory Lundberg, said he was not aware of any shortages or limits.

An anonymous high-tech professional writing on an investment Web site, Seeking Alpha, said he recently bought 10 50-pound bags of rice at Costco. “I am concerned that when the news of rice shortage spreads, there will be panic buying and the shelves will be empty in no time. I do not intend to cause a panic, and I am not speculating on rice to make profit. I am just hoarding some for my own consumption,” he wrote.

For now, rice is available at Asian markets in California, though consumers have fewer choices when buying the largest bags. “At our neighborhood store, it’s very expensive, more than $30” for a 25-pound bag, a housewife from Mountain View, Theresa Esquerra, said. “I’m not going to pay $30. Maybe we’ll just eat bread.”

Source: nysun.com

Who’s That Man?

This is an old story but still very relevant today. If Saddam was not executed and was flown out of Iraq to live a very good lifestyle beyond his own country then the question is, was he working for the 'elite'? Similar accounts have also been told about Hitler and his departure from Germany to Portugal towards the end of 1945. Hence, are all current wars fought on this planet staged?

In June 2005 the BBC broadcast film of what it said was Saddam Hussein facing a tribunal in Iraq. The footage was broadcast without the sound of Hussein speaking and the BBC made no comment other than to say that the film was “mute”. Prompting veteran Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk to ask why we were not allowed to hear what Hussein had to say.

However this writer would suggest that his court appearance was without sound because man in the dock was not Saddam Hussein himself but one of his many doubles. Just think about that for a moment: because previously, the real Saddam had employed the services of a small band of look-a-likes to thwart possible assassination attempts.

And there are many indications that the man, or should that be the men, who faced the Tribunal is one such. From his dental work – see photo below – to stories of the real Saddam flying out of Iraq at the beginning of the invasion, to the fact that his wife could not recognise him when she visited her husband to reports of Saddam being given safe haven in Belarus, there are numerous stories which cast doubt on the official line that the real Saddam Hussein is still in Iraq.

So much so that, although we don’t hear too much about it, many ordinary Iraqis refuse to believe that the Coalition authorities are holding Saddam Hussein captive in Iraq.

Just look at the various individuals pictured here. They certainly look similar but are they all one and the same man, or simply a bunch of look-a-likes? The teeth are an obvious give-away but the eyes, the windows of the soul, also have their own story to tell.

Which may explain why Saddam's first court appearance was broadcast without the sound of him speaking. Because if the man in the dock was not the real Saddam but one of his many doubles, then although he might look like Saddam Hussein, he might not actually sound like him. Or, at least, there might be enough of a difference to make people look again at the man the authorities claim is Saddam.

All of which prompted the Coalition authorities to play it safe with footage of the alleged Saddam Hussein’s first court appearance and omit the sound of him speaking. It's simple enough, a few doubles, some hair dye and careful camera work and you've got Saddam Hussein, as good as new. As a result, few people in the West have asked if the man in the dock was actually Saddam Hussein and those in Iraq who might ask, don't count.

They either obey the Coalition forces or die fighting with the resistance.

It’s voters in the West who still need to be lured into believing this charade. After all, vote fraud aside; it’s Western voters who will pick the next puppet president or prime minister in the US/UK and in this case their choice hinges on the influence of imperceptible changes, broadcast step-by-step, on national TV.

Like Saddam Hussein’s court appearance.

First he appeared without the sound of his voice. Now that Western audiences have bought the first lie – that the man in the dock really is Saddam Hussein and maybe after being coached to speak like him, now even sounds vaguely like him – they are ready for the next lie. Believing that when he speaks they are hearing, in the words of the BBC: “former dictator Saddam Hussein testifying in his defence at his trial in Baghdad…” etc. etc. etc....

References:

Saddam’s wife could not recognise her husband

www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=1703

Mrs Saddam Says Saddam Not Saddam www.vialls.com/subliminalsuggestion/saddamscam.html

Iraqi Commander Swears he saw USAF fly Saddam out of Baghdad www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=1079

Hussein Given Safe Haven in Belarus?

www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=729

Shaddam Shaddam New Vaudeville Scam! www.vialls.com/subliminalsuggestion/saddamscam.html

Seeing Double In Baghdad: Saddam Uses Look-Alikes To Disguise His Whereabouts www.rferl.org/features/2002/10/09102002155130.asp

Yes, but Where Are the Saddam Look-Alikes?

www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=742

Carol Rosin warning us on Staged Threats

This is another excellent post from Richard Lalancette's blog. Thank you Richard for drawing attention to this very important issue.

Richardlalancette.blogspot.com

My name is Carol Rosin. I am an educator who became the first woman corporate manager of an Aerospace Company, Fairchild Industries. I am a Space and Missile Defense Consultant and have consulted to a number of companies, organizations, and government departments, even the intelligence community. I was a consultant to TRW working on the MX missile, so I was part of that strategy, which turned out to be a role model for how to sell space-based weapons to the public. The MX missile is yet another weapon system that we didn’t need.

I founded the Institute for Security and Cooperation in Outer Space, a Washington DC based think tank. I am an author and have testified before Congress and the President’s Commission on Space.

When I was a Corporate Manager of Fairchild Industries from 1974 through 1977, I met the late Dr. Wernher Von Braun. We first met in early 1974. At that time, Von Braun was dying of cancer but he assured me that he would live a few more years to tell me about the game that was being played- that game being the effort to weaponize space, to control the Earth from space and space itself.

What was most interesting to me was a repetitive sentence that he said to me over and over again during the approximately four years that I had the opportunity to work with him. He said the strategy that was being used to educate the public and decision makers was to use scare tactics that was how we identify an enemy.

The strategy that Wernher Von Braun taught me was that first the Russians are going to be considered to be the enemy. In fact, in 1974, they were the enemy, the identified enemy. We were told that they had "killer satellites". We were told that they were coming to get us and control us - that they were "Commies."

Then terrorists would be identified, and that was soon to follow. We heard a lot about terrorism. Then we were going to identify third-world country "crazies." We now call them Nations of Concern. But he said that would be the third enemy against whom we would build space-based weapons.

The next enemy was asteroids. Now, at this point he kind of chuckled the first time he said it. Asteroids-against asteroids we are going to build space-based weapons.

And the funniest one of all was what he called aliens, extraterrestrials. That would be the final scare. And over and over and over during the four years that I knew him and was giving speeches for him, he would bring up that last card.

think I was too naive at that time to know the seriousness of the nature of the spin that was being put on the system. And now, the pieces are starting to fall into place. We are building a space-based weapons system on a premise that is a lie, a spin. Wernher Von Braun was trying to hint that to me back in the early 70’s and right up until the moment when he died in 1977.

What he told me was that there is an accelerated effort in place. He didn’t mention a timeline but he said that it was going to be speeding up faster than anybody could possibly imagine. That the effort to put weapons into space was not only based on a lie but would accelerate past the point of people even understanding it until it was already up there and too late.

Who would benefit from these space-based weapons? They are the people who work in that arena, people in the military, in industries, in universities and labs, in the intelligence community. This is not just in the United States but it is worldwide. This is a worldwide cooperative system. Wars are cooperative. Just as peace will be when it breaks out. But right now there are a lot of people benefiting. This is what our economy has been based on in this country and spreading around the world - war.

Source: Bibliotecapleyades.net

Socialite pair “plotted to blackmail” Royal

The proceedings reported below are a sordid affair and normally we would ignore them but for the fact that they echo earlier allegations made by another Royal servant.

Those allegation were made by Princess Diana's former servant George Smith, who claimed that homosexuality was rife in the royal household.

This shouldn’t surprise us however, it’s almost par for the course in the dying days of empire. The same held true in the final days of imperial China when Beijing’s Forbidden City was infested with homosexuals.

Although the royal in the report below remains unnamed, earlier allegations made by the former royal valet specifically named a senior royal aide and Prince Charles whom, Smith claimed, he had found in bed together.

Smith even went so far as to claim that he had been subject to a homosexual rape by the royal aide in question.

Smith stood by his claim, despite his being largely ignored or ridiculed by the British media.

What is interesting here however is that Prince Charles private secretary, Sir Michael Peat, subsequently confirmed that the Prince was so troubled by the allegations that he wished Mr Smith could somehow be "made to go away".

Well he got his wish.

Virtually unreported by the media, George Smith died, says wikipedia, of an "unknown illness" on August 24, 2005. So while they largely dismissed his credibility while he was still alive, the mainstream media also completely ignored his untimely death.

Like Princess Diana's "accident", George Smith's death from an "unknown illness" stinks.

Socialite pair “plotted to blackmail” Royal over claims he performed a gay sex act on aide
Daily Mail – April 15, 2008

A married member of the royal family was a victim of a gay sex blackmail plot, the Old Bailey heard today.

Other members of the family were also named in "scandalous and disparaging" allegations.

Two men tried to gain £50,000 "with menaces" from the royal to prevent these allegations appearing in the media, the jury was told.

They were arrested after a meeting at the Hilton hotel in Park Lane with the royal's representative who turned out to be an undercover police officer.

Neither the victim, described as "a member of the extended royal family" and a married family man, nor the man on whose claims the alleged blackmail plot was based can be identified because of court orders made by Mr Justice Cooke.

Ian Strachan, 31, of Chelsea, and Sean McGuigan, 41, of Battersea, have pleaded not guilty to making unwarranted demands with menaces between July and September last year.

Mark Ellison QC, prosecuting, said the defendants made eight hours of video and audio computer files of allegations by a man known as Witness D.

Both Strachan and McGuigan knew D, who was employed by the royal known as Witness A, but strongly disliked him. D was often drunk and was filmed apparently taking drugs using a Harrods card, the court heard.

On the files D "gave his forthright opinions on a range of well-known people and on a wide range of other members of the royal family which included a number of scandalous and disparaging remarks", Mr Ellison said.

"There were three audio files of the man apparently asserting that the member of the royal family who employed him had performed an act of oral sex on him."

If this material was ever published there was "the obvious potential to cause embarrassment and hurt to A and a number of members of the extended royal family".

Strachan made the recordings using McGuigan's mobile phone, the court heard. He approached several newspapers and publicist Max Clifford.

At the meeting, McGuigan was recorded saying there was an offer of "250" for the tapes, Mr Ellison said.

He said what he was doing was "about witness D" who was "not a very nice person".

"He spikes people's drinks when they're asleep or when they're unconscious he fiddles about with them and things life that... he's got to be stopped."

Strachan said the tapes included D snorting cocaine.

D was also recorded saying he had letters the royal gave him.

He said the tapes were four hours of video and four of audio.

Mr Ellison said Strachan claimed money was not his primary objective as he wanted to expose D, but he did ask one newspaper for "a substantial sum".

The newspapers decided there would be legal problems and turned Strachan down, said Mr Ellison. The defendants turned their attention to A.

In July last year A's personal assistant, known as Witness B, received a call from a man claiming to be Kent Logan and demanding to speak to A, said Mr Ellison.

The man added: "If he knows what's good for him he will ring me back" and left a phone number which was registered to Strachan's mother.

Three weeks later McGuigan rang B asking to speak to A. He mentioned "something relating to an act of oral sex", and said D was "slagging off" A's wife and other royals and was going to go to the newspapers.

B rang Witness C, a close associate of A and a lawyer, who contacted McGuigan, Mr Ellison said.

McGuigan told C he did not want money but "wanted A to know how nefarious his employee D was". However he added: "But if A wanted to 'take care of them' it would be nice," said Mr Ellison.

Strachan told C they had been offered up to £100,000 for the tapes and demanded £50,000 from Mr A. In taped phone conversations, C told Strachan: "A would rather avoid a big scandal, but for him £50,000 is a lot of money. He doesn't want to pay that big amount under duress and find there are many copies circulating around."

Strachan replies: "Definitely not. I'm a man of my word."

In September the undercover officer, known as Paul, met Strachan and McGuigan in a bugged meeting at the Hilton.

McGuigan told him they had the potential to earn £250,000 from the media.
Mr Ellison said that after hearing some material Paul asked if he had heard everything that affected A.

Strachan replied that D "kinds of flips in" and says A performed oral sex on him "but he doesn't go into much detail".

The case continues

Source: Dailymail.co.uk