The G.I. Joe Conspiracy From The Vigilant Citizen, the Masked Internet Superhero who brought you the koolest konspiracy of the last two years with the "Lady Gaga is an Illuminati Agent" theory, now has G.I. Joe in his/her target. According to Vigilant, the Joe cartoons in the 80's weren't merely half-hour long commercials for really cool toys you wanted your parents to buy for you, but rather a diabolical propaganda unit for the New World Order. And to Vigilante's credit, the case made is a pretty powerful one: G.I. Joe is an iconic cartoon TV show that marked an entire generation of young boys during the 80s. Most fans still recall the main characters and the epic gun fights. But what about the storyline? A look at the TV series in today’s context is quite a strange experience: Many of Cobra’s “far-out” plots are actually happening today. Could G.I. Joe be a case of predictive programming? We will look at some G.I. Joe episodes describing the replacement of the US dollar and the usage of mind control on celebrities and civilians and see how they relate in today’s context. To read the whole article: How the Animated Series G.I. Joe Predicted Today’s Illuminati Dajjal Agenda December 18, 2010 http://www.pakalertpress.com/2010/12/18/how-the-animated-series-g-i-joe-predicted-today%E2%80%99s-illuminati-dajjal-agenda And to read more from Vigilant: http://www.vigilantcitizen.com Of course, Vigilante doesn't mention the other G.I. Joe conspiracy, that the 70's version of the doll (uh, I mean, action figure) was, like his Mattel Toys knock-off Big Jim, totally gay. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) The "G.I. Joe, Big Jim and the homosexual agenda" theory is even more persuasively presented at Retroland in its recent profile of the Big Jim toyline: Introduced by Mattel Toys, Big Jim had a body to be proud of and he wasn’t afraid of showing it off. With actual flexing biceps, and patented “Big Jim Body Action”, this was one highly flexible action figure. The included decorative armband proved no match for his biceps of steel and could be popped off with a single squeeze. And with a mere push of a protruding dorsal button, Jim’s mighty arm would snap into action, able to break his karate board as if it were a stick of butter. These weren’t the only accessories that came with Big Jim though. A big Jim’s Sportsbook was also included, as well as dumbbells and, um, a skimpy set of shorts. But what’s a guy without friends? To his credit, Jim had a number of equally muscular acquaintances, which in hindsight might have been a little too Village People-esque. You had Big Jeff, the blond with the khakis and machete; Big Jack, the African-American version of Big Jim; and Big Josh, the furry lumberjack with the cutoff denim shorts. Throw in a police officer and a construction worker and these guys could have gone on to enjoy a career as a successful musical act. To read the whole article on Big Jim: Big Jim December 20, 2010 http://www.retroland.com/big-jim Incidentally, though the invaluable Retroland Retropedia is no longer linked to its front page, you can still find its extensive entries at this URL: http://dev.retroland.com/pages/retropedia *** DNA Test for John Wilkes Booth? Meanwhile, another conspiracy theory has been gaining currency in the mainstream media, this one slightly of historical importance, even if it covers events nearly 150 years old. Specifically, it's the idea that John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln, didn't die twelve days after the murder but instead lived another 38 years. Granted, this theory isn't completely new: it was powerfully presented in the 1975 book Jesse James Was One of His Names, by Del Schrader & Jesse James III. The book's text used to be available online for free, but alas no more. You can get a copy of the book on CD for $39.99 by contacting L.K. Shick by email or snail mail: L.K. Shick 3700 S. Westport Ave., #2501 Sioux Falls, S.D. 57106 shark_lyric1@yahoo.com Some of you may be confused by the title of this book. After all, just what the hell does Jesse James have to do with the Lincoln Assassination? (And for you younger readers out there, the Jesse James we're referring to here is the Wild West outlaw, not the dude who cheated on Sandra Bullock with a bunch of skanky whores.) Well, to give a Cliff Notes version of the theory, the Lincoln Assassination was part of a bigger operation, involving the Knights of the Golden Circle, a secret society that essentially was the spy network for the Southern Confederacy. Apparently, James was a member, and his bank robberies were fund-raising activities for the Confederate underground. Another alleged member of the Golden Circle was Booth, and thus the slaying of Lincoln was a job done by the Southern intelligence apparatus. JWB's death was faked and he was given a cover identity as a reward for his deed. (As a side note, two leaders of the Golden Circle were "respectable" Mason Albert Pike and Bedford Forrest, the man who inspired the first name of Tom Hanks' retarded Oscar winner. The same two men founded the Ku Klux Klan. It can then be argued the KKK evolved from remnants of hardcore racists and confederates within the Golden Circle.) This theory has been covered pretty well on the Internet, though it's a bit hard to find now. Brian Redman of Conspiracy Nation (now called Melchizedek Communique, found at http://www.shout.net/~bigred/cn.html ) did postings on it in 1999, but they're not to be found on his Website now. Dave McGowan of Davesweb.cnchost.com also wrote about it in 2003, and this led to his inclusion in the "bonus" documentary found on the National Treasure: Book of Secrets DVD. I had a little something to do with that, as I was unavailable to be interviewed for the DVD, but recommended McGowan for the DVD based on his interest in the subject. McGowan tells the behind-the-scenes story of the interview in this funny post: http://davesweb.cnchost.com/nwsltr92.html In case you didn't see the movie (or the documentary, which has aired on the Discovery Channel by itself) the Golden Circle as the mastermind of the Lincoln Assassination is central to the movie's plot. Well, along comes a new TV show, the most excellent Brad Meltzer's Decoded on the History Channel ( http://www.history.com/shows/brad-meltzers-decoded ) and they decided to investigate the angle of whether Booth actually died or faked his death. Along the way, they learned of the grave for Edwin Booth, JWB's brother. DNA from his corpse could be compared to the vertebrae of the alleged JWB killed in 1865 found at the National Museum of Health and Medicine to settle the issue once and for all. For some reason, the National Museum of Health and Medicine is fighting this. But the DNA test has some strong supporters including historian Nate Orlowek: "If the man who killed our greatest president got away and a giant hoax was perpetrated on the American people, then we should know about it." To read the CNN article on this subject: Did Abraham Lincoln's assassin get away? DNA could end questions Mallory Simon December 24th, 2010 http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/24/did-abraham-lincolns-assassin-get-away-dna-could-end-questions And to read more about the Knights of the Golden Circle, check out the following blog: http://knights-of-the-golden-circle.blogspot.com *** Ronni Chasen & Star Whackers The Melchizedek Communique has been quite busy lately even if it hasn't been writing about the Lincoln Assassination. It's one of the few places to follow the curious death of Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen, even though authorities now claim case closed, that she was killed by supposed lone gunman Harold Smith. But as MC notes: Harold Smith had allegedly bragged about killing Ronni Chasen. He reportedly claimed he was waiting to receive $10,000 for assassinating Chasen. Several persons close to Ronni Chasen have described her murder as a professional hit. "A lot of people think it's a hit. A lot," said singer-songwriter Carol Connors, a friend of Chasen for more than 35 years. Kathie Berlin, a publicist and close friend of Chasen, said, "I knew this was a professional hit from the minute I heard about where the shots went and the number of shots." "This was clearly a targeted hit," said a veteran Hollywood film studio executive who has known Chasen for three decades. Incidentally, Usually when attempted robbers shoot their victims five times at point blank range, they follow through with the actual robbery. Patrick Goldstein, in a smug LA Times piece to dismiss most of the mystery surrounding the murder, had to admit that "it seems as if everyone in town agrees on one thing: the Beverly Hills Police Department’s explanation that Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen was killed by a small-time crook in a botched midnight robbery is utter hogwash." So if it wasn't a random murder, what's really behind her death? Theories that have been floating on the Web include gambling debts by a close Chasen friend or family member, a dispute over an art deal gone bad, shady investments in one of the productions she was involved with and a petty squabble over Oscar campaigns. A common bad guy in many of these theories is the Russian Mafia, which is probably a great place to start in the mystery sniffing. MC tries to tie the Chasen murder with the infamous "Star Whackers" rant given by Hollywood actor turned fugitive Randy Quaid. Quaid's claim of "Star Whackers" has been derided in the press, and perhaps it is just the paranoid ramblings of a man who has lost his grip. But at this point, it's probably more credible than the official line. For further reading: Melchizedek Communique, MC122110 http://www.shout.net/~bigred/mc122110.html Ronni Chasen: Dark theories over her slaying Patrick Goldstein December 13, 2010 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2010/12/ronni-chasen-a-victim-of-lurid-hollywood-conspiracy-theories.html As a side note, MC points out the apartment Harold Smith lived in was next to the studio Ed Wood filmed Plan 9 From Outer Space. I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the murder, but it's a pretty cool fact to know. *** FeedBack: Who is Behind Wikileaks? Dr Stuart Jeanne Bramhall http://stuartbramhall.aegauthorblogs.com I, too, am troubled by the superficial content of the recent cables that have been released. There is really no new information there that isn't widely available on the Internet. I find nothing related to the "strategic" reasons the US is at war in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Nothing about the Pentagon agenda to foster the secession of oil and mineral rich Balochistan from Pakistan as a US client state - just like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and other former Soviet republics. Nothing about CIA support for the Baloch separatist movement. Nothing about the CIA training young Baloch separatists in bomb making and other terrorist activities to disrupt operations at the Chinese-built Gwadar Port (intended to transport Iranian oil and natural gas via Pakistan to China.) *** Classic Photo Break http://robalini.blogspot.com/2011/01/classic-photo-break.html From top to bottom: Greg Bishop of The Excluded Middle & Robert Sterling in Laughlin, Nevada Kenn Thomas of SteamshovelPress.com & Robalini in the 90's Robalini, KT, and Greg Bishop wearing the hat & glasses of William S. Burroughs, owned by Richard Metzger of DangerousMinds.net From left to right: Bishop, Robalini, Jim Martin of Flatland Books, The Christ Conspiracy author Acharya S and Kenn Thomas From left to right at Barney's Beanery: Free Citizen zine editor Scott Sawyer, Acharya S, Robalini, KT & writer Skylaire Alfvegren. (Where is Acharya's foot in this photo?) From left to right at LAX: Robalini, Acharya S, KT and Greg Bishop *** Maybe the TSA Has Gone a Little Bit Too Far... The mainstream news cycle has dropped the story of TSA airline passenger abuse, but that doesn't mean it isn't still happening. From RawStory.com comes this little tale. Claire Hirschkind, a 56-year-old woman with a pacemaker, was unable to go through the TSA's porno scanners due to potential dangers to her life-saving device. Instead, they demanded to give her an "enhanced patdown" - which is a nice euphemism for being finger fucked. Ms. Hirschkind, a rape victim, refused: "I told them, 'No, I'm not going to have my breasts felt,' and she said, 'Yes, you are.'" She was pushed to the floor, handcuffed and arrested. Of course, this gross violation of the Fourth Amendment would be disgusting without the added circumstances, but in her case it is decidedly an even greater outrage... Rape victim arrested for refusing TSA pat down Eric W. Dolan Friday, December 24th, 2010 http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/rape-victim-arrested-refusing-tsa-pat *** How Easy Obamacare Could Have Been Fixed Truth-Out.org reprinted Chapter 5 from Thom Hartmann's excellent book Rebooting the American Dream on its site. The title of the chapter - "Medicare 'Part E'- for Everybody" - summarizes its conclusion pretty succinctly: that the real solution to America's healthcare crisis is to simply allow a buy-in to Medicare for all Americans as a healthcare public option, which is pretty much my conclusion as well. It's not only good economics, it's good politics: expanding an effective and popular program that has worked is the way to go. The best thing about opening up Medicare is it wouldn't kill private insurance, but rather improve it, by forcing them to innovatively compete with real competition rather than participate in a rigged oligopoly. What's more, if universal coverage is a real goal of health reform (which apparently it isn't under Obamacare, as it is guaranteed to still exclude millions from the healthcare system) rather than have an individual mandate (i.e. forcing people to buy insurance from corrupt insurance companies, a strategy which is both politically unpopular and of at best dubious constitutional grounds) you could merely set up a payroll tax for those without private insurance, so they are automatically included in the public option. The payroll tax plan would be politically contentious, no doubt, but no more contentious than the Obamacare debate has been and with a greater upside. Unfortunately, Obamacare didn't expand a successful and popular program like Medicare, but rather an unsuccessful and unpopular program that is for-profit korporate health insurance. The end result is we'll still have easily the worst healthcare system in the industrialized world. Hartmann notes: "As journalist and author T. R. Reid pointed out in his seminal 2008 documentary, Sick around the World, and in his subsequent book on the topic, The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care, the United States is the only industrialized nation in the world that allows for-profit corporations to offer basic, primary-care health insurance. While many countries allow for-profit players in the insurance market, they’re specialized; the insurance will get you a single room or suite in a private hospital or covers things like elective cosmetic surgery - basically health insurance add-ons for the rich. But every other nation except the United States considers health care a right instead of a privilege, so they let only nonprofit companies provide insurance for it, or the nations’ governments provide it themselves." Oh, well, too bad those evil Republicans stopped Obama and the Democrats from giving us the health care reform they really wanted to, but couldn't. After all, there were only 59 Dems in the Senate, one short of the number needed to stop the filibuster that forced the necessary compromise. There's only one problem with this argument: "If legislation is considered in the Senate that only adjusts the amounts of revenue coming in or going out, it can be done through a process called 'reconciliation,' which requires only a simple majority - 50 votes - to pass, with the vice president to break a tie. For example, George W. Bush and the Republicans used reconciliation - majority rule - to push through his huge cuts in taxes on the richest Americans three different times in the first decade of this century. They were not creating a new program but simply adjusting the revenue figures. Ronald Reagan had done the same. If legislation has to do only with revenue or scale adjustments to existing programs, 50 votes in the Senate are enough. Therein lies the greatest - and the simplest - opportunity to truly reform health care. We already have Medicare, which is a fairly comprehensive basic health insurance/health-care program that covers nearly all Americans over 65 years of age. It is, in essence, a single-payer health-care program. Obama and the Democrats could easily push to expand the Medicare program to allow Americans of all ages to participate in it, and all they’d need is a simple majority, not a supermajority." Could the Democrats get 51 votes out of 59 Senators (or 50, assuming Biden would vote yes on the tiebreaker) on expanding Medicare with a buy in for a public option? (Or, perhaps more contentiously, if you want to go the whole nine yards, a new payroll tax to create real universal coverage?) It's hard to imagine nine Democrats doing something that would be so politically unpopular, as a public option had overwhelming support in pretty much all opinion polls. But what's telling is that all it would take is one Congressman (Senate or HOR) to get this up for a vote, and not one did. No Dennis Kucinich, not even supposed independent socialist Bernie Sanders. It appears that all the Democrats in Congress would rather protect a corrupt secret deal made by the Obama Administration to the for-profit health industry than help the average American. For further reading: Medicare “Part E”- for Everybody Thom Hartmann Monday 13 December 2010 http://www.truth-out.org/medicare-part-e-everybody65901 Also, please check out Firedoglake.com, which has been the best site in covering the flagrant flaws of Obamacare. *** The Right Wing Plot to Destroy Public Pensions If things go according to the right wing's plans, the Federal Government that bailed out Wall Street millionaires and billionaires won't help out state governments, in the process destroying public pensions and making public worker unions politically impotent. This is the plan according to of James Pethokoukis of Reuters, who declares: "This may be the biggest political battle in Washington, my Capitol Hill sources tell me, of 2011." Pethokoukis reports that "the most intriguing aspect of President Barack Obama’s tax deal with Republicans is what the compromise fails to include — a provision to continue the Build America Bonds program. BABs now account for more than 20 percent of new debt sold by states and local governments thanks to a federal rebate equal to 35 percent of interest costs on the bonds. The subsidy program ends on Dec. 31. And my Reuters colleagues report that a GOP congressional aide said Republicans 'have a very firm line on BABS — we are not going to allow them to be included.'" Without low-interest bonds, states suffering the squeeze from the economic downturn may be forced into bankruptcy, a scenario that delights many in the GOP. As The Weekly Standard notes with approval, "The bankruptcy law should give debtor states even more power to rewrite union contracts, if the court approves. Interestingly, it is easier to renegotiate a burdensome union contract in municipal bankruptcy than in a corporate bankruptcy." Pethokoukis summarizes: "From the Republican perspective, the fiscal crisis on the state level provides a golden opportunity to defund a key Democratic interest group. For the GOP, it’s an economic and political win." There are some legitimate issues on the fiscal soundness of current pensions for public workers. You don't have to be a right-wing charlatan or a Wall Street asshole to admit that. (Although it doesn't hurt if you are.) But the supposed solution here is politically cynical and may be as economically damaging to the public as the "Fuck You!" attitude to subprime loan victims has been. Secret GOP plan: Push states to declare bankruptcy and smash unions James Pethokoukis Dec 7, 2010 http://blogs.reuters.com/james-pethokoukis/2010/12/07/secret-gop-plan-push-states-to-declare-bankruptcy-and-smash-unions *** The National Film Registry 2010 Picks The Library of Congress has made its annual picks for the 25 films added to the National Film Registry, and as always, it's an entertaining, eclectic mix. Here's this year's choices: • "Airplane!" (1980) • "All the President's Men" (1976) • "The Bargain" (1914) • "Cry of Jazz" (1959) • "Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB" (1967) • "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980) • "The Exorcist (1973) • "The Front Page" (1931) • "Grey Gardens" (1976) • "I Am Joaquin" (1969) • "It's a Gift" (1934) • "Let There Be Light" (1946) • "Lonesome" (1928) • "Make Way For Tomorrow" (1937) • "Malcolm X" (1992) • "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" (1971) • "Newark Athlete" (1891) • "Our Lady of the Sphere" (1969) • "The Pink Panther" (1964) • "Preservation of the Sign Language" (1913) • "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) • "Study of a River" (1966) • "Tarantella" (1940) • "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (1945) • "A Trip Down Market Street" (1906) Films selected to the National Film Registry Tue Dec 28, 2010 http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/films-selected-national-film-registry-ap *** Oil of Oregano & Pomegranate Juice Kick Cancer's Ass Courtesy of NaturalNews.com, oil of oregano and pomegranate juice are nutritious weapons in fighting cancer... Oil of oregano fights harmful bacteria, cancer Ethan A. Huff Saturday, December 25, 2010 http://www.naturalnews.com/030833_oil_of_Oregano_cancer.html Pomegranate juice components block cancer cell migration S. L. Baker Wednesday, December 29, 2010 http://www.naturalnews.com/030862_pomegranates_cancer_cells.html *** Holograms: The Future Is Soon? Two recent stories from the London Telegraph indicate holographic technology may be a big thing on the horizon. One, a report on how holographic images may soon be able to be sent via telecommunications in real time: just like in the Star Wars movies. Meanwhile, Apple has patents to produce holographic images over movie, television and computer screens without the need for special glasses... Star Wars 3D holograms 'close to reality' Richard Alleyne 03 Nov 2010 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/8107899/Star-Wars-3D-holograms-close-to-reality.html Apple patent reveals plans for holographic display Richard Gray 26 Dec 2010 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/8224930/Apple-patent-reveals-plans-for-holographic-display.html *** RIP Teena Marie Farewell to Teena Marie, aka Lady T. Best known for the song "Lovergirl", she was both professionally and romantically involved with funk superstar Rick James. Their musical collaboration helped pave the way for her Latin-flavored, R&B sound. Many at first thought Marie was either Latina or African-American: in fact, she was caucasian, earning her the nickname "The Ivory Queen of Soul" from fans. Despite being a dance-music diva, her music rocked hard: her 1986 album Emerald City was named one of the ten greatest heavy metal albums of all time by noted rock critic Chuck Eddy in his book Stairway to Hell.