tagged w/ Skull and Bones
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In the past decade, nearly every pillar institution in American society — whether it's General Motors, Congress, Wall Street, Major League Baseball, the Catholic Church or the mainstream media — has revealed itself to be corrupt, incompetent or both. And at the root of these failures are the people who run these institutions, the bright and industrious minds who occupy the commanding heights of our meritocratic order. In exchange for their power, status and remuneration, they are supposed to make sure everything operates smoothly. But after a cascade of scandals and catastrophes, that implicit social contract lies in ruins, replaced by mass skepticism, contempt and disillusionment.
In the wake of the implosion of nearly all sources of American authority, this new decade will have to be about reforming our institutions to reconstitute a more reliable and democratic form of authority. Scholarly research shows a firm correlation between strong institutions, accountable élites and highly functional economies; mistrust and corruption, meanwhile, feed each other in a vicious circle. If our current crisis continues, we risk a long, ugly process of de-development: higher levels of corruption and tax evasion and an increasingly fractured public sphere, in which both public consensus and reform become all but impossible.
For more than 35 years, Gallup has polled Americans about levels of trust in their institutions — Congress, banks, Big Business, public schools, etc. In 2008 nearly every single institution was at an all-time low. Banks were trusted by just 32% of the populace, down from more than 50% in 2004. Newspapers were down to 24%, from slightly below 40% at the start of the decade. And Congress was the least trusted institution of all, with only 12% of Americans expressing confidence in it. The mistrust of élites extends to élites themselves. Every year, public-relations guru Richard Edelman conducts a "trust barometer" across 22 countries, in which he surveys only highly educated, high-earning, media-attentive people. In the U.S., these people show extremely low levels of trust in government and business alike. Particularly distrusted are the superman CEOs of yore. "Chief-executive trust has just been mired in the mid- to low 20s," says Edelman. "It started off with Enron and culminates in Citi."
Such figures show that the crisis of authority extends beyond narrow ideological categories: Big Business and unions, Congress and Wall Street, organized religion and science are all viewed with skepticism. So why is it that so much of the country's leadership in so many different walks of life performed so terribly over this decade? While no single-cause theory can explain such a wide array of institutional failures, there are some themes — in particular, the concentration of power and the erosion of transparency and accountability — that extend throughout.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1971133_1971110_1971117,00.html#ixzz0iQYu4JDjIn the past decade, nearly every pillar institution in American society —... more
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The short answer is, we don’t. But that does not mean we leave the hop or stay at home.
It is very important for the life and health of our crumbling and mostly artificial democracy that all American voters participate in civil life actively and aggressively, I might even say viciously. This is regardless of the superficial nature of American politics.
Why?
Because even if and when we have huge voter turnouts, the rich, connected and powerful turn the dials on the machinery of government to get what they want any way.
To some extent, elections are theater, no matter who wins or loses. The rich, the powerful, the connected and the entire Patrician class understand this dynamic intimately. They always have. They always will. Their knowledge of how power works gives them a lifetime of staying above the fray that the rest of us are destined to suffer.
Elections, no matter what they are about or what issues are involved are public salve on private wounds that will never completely heal. The powerful will always be the powerful and to some extent they will always be above the will of the people.
Lots of money and lots of “position” power allow Patricians to literally live in a different world than you and I. They know this and that is why money and social connections are so important. These things can literally buy citizenship in an Amerika that you and I know very little about; it is the Amerika of the elites.
It is Skull and Bones, it is Harvard and Princeton and Penn and Vassar and Smith College and Stanford and Yale. It is elite country clubs, membership in the best social groups, teenage sons and daughters of the elites “summering” overseas to get “enculturated”.
It is an MBA from the Wharton School of Business or Yale or Harvard and then a high paying job on Wall Street after graduation. It is learning how to manipulate federal regulations and oversite of financial dealings. It is learning how to hide money in overseas accounts so as not to pay a fair share of taxes.
It is not serving in the Armed Forces (it would be beneath a Patrician to do that) and at the same time insisting that the U.S. Armed Forces be continually used as a thug or a heavy in overseas protections of Patrician holdings and emerging market deals. Let working class kids fight and die, let working class kids become disabled veterans. Patricians do not do such things.
It is the complete domination of all government agencies and structures by these “special” people.
They make belonging to the Republican or Democratic Party a joke. Neither Party runs anything. The elites in both Parties run everything. That is the sad truth of how things work in Amerika, which is actually much more real than America.
There are no real rules of any substantive nature for these people. It has been that way for them since childhood. They count on that to get what they want. Money can buy anything. They know that too.
So where does that leave you and me; out in the cold? Not exactly. The people can stage bloodless revolutions too. It is not simply the aristocracy that can arrange a silent coup. Dubya came close but he got caught. We won’t.
Lets take a look at the news and see what I am saying here.
First off, let me say that I grew up in Republican politics in Philadelphia, PA. My grandfather was a Republican ward leader in that city for decades. My family is still involved in GOP politics in that city.
I am actively involved in Democratic Party politics where I live now, in Northern Virginia. But Party affiliation aside, you need to know that American politics really has little to do with party politics. It really has to do with money and connections. It has more to do with bloodlines and school affiliation and other such things than you could ever imagine. It really is that simple.
More at the link:The short answer is, we don’t. But that does not mean we leave the hop or stay... more
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Nov. 12th, 2009, author of secrets from the tomb interview. In 2004, both Bush & Kerry were S & B men.Nov. 12th, 2009, author of secrets from the tomb interview. In 2004, both Bush &... more
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Jenime
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added this
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4 months ago
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http://images2.layoutsparks.com/1/27283/skull-crossbone-pink-black.png
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Atlanta-based artist Brian Dettmer is keeping analog media alive through his art. Using cassette tapes, Dettmer creates incredibly detailed skulls and skeletons. The artist has been creating the cassette skeletons since 2005 and first developed the idea while pondering the place of analog media in our digital world.Atlanta-based artist Brian Dettmer is keeping analog media alive through his art.... more
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The fragment of skull, marked by a bullet hole, long believed by the scientists that it part of the the infamous German dictator Adolf Hitler's skull, were jolted by the findings of a recent DNA testing conducted by USA Scientists.
The DNA test revealed that that the fragment actually turns out to be that of a young woman aged between 20 - 40 years old, and not Hitler's as it was believed.The fragment of skull, marked by a bullet hole, long believed by the scientists that... more
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A controversial look into the stunning connections between age old secret societies and their influence on the American government.
By Edgar SardarianA controversial look into the stunning connections between age old secret societies... more
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Part 2 of a controversial look into the stunning connections between age old secret societies and their influence on the American government.
Directed by Edgar Sardarian.Part 2 of a controversial look into the stunning connections between age old secret... more
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Part 1 of a controversial look into the stunning connections between age old secret societies and their influence on the American government.
Directed by Edgar SardarianPart 1 of a controversial look into the stunning connections between age old secret... more
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Considering how far they went, and all the laws they broke with complete immunity from prosecution and question - so they claimed, what stopped the EVIL EMPIRE from going further?
Bush, Cheney, Carl Rove, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle, Rice, Gonzales and his minions, and so on, and so on...
They didn't almost make it, they failed by a mile nevertheless, they wrecked havoc on America and THEY accomplished what they attributed to the cave dwelling Saudi Arabian guy - that is, to bankrupt America. Curious, isn't it.Considering how far they went, and all the laws they broke with complete immunity from... more
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HARTFORD, Connecticut - Geronimo's descendants have sued Skull and Bones — the secret society at Yale University linked to presidents and other powerful figures — claiming that its members stole the remains of the legendary Apache leader decades ago and have kept them ever since.
The federal lawsuit filed in Washington on Tuesday — the 100th anniversary of Geronimo's death — also names the university and the federal government.
Geronimo's great-grandson Harlyn Geronimo said his family believes Skull and Bones members took some of the remains in 1918 from a burial plot in Fort Sill, Okla., to keep in its New Haven clubhouse, a crypt. The alleged graverobbing is a longstanding legend that gained some validity in recent years with the discovery of a letter from a club member that described the theft.
Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here
"I believe strongly from my heart that his spirit was never released," Harlyn Geronimo said.HARTFORD, Connecticut - Geronimo's descendants have sued Skull and Bones —... more
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Geronimo's descendants have sued Skull and Bones — the secret society at Yale University linked to presidents and other powerful figures — claiming that its members stole the remains of the legendary Apache leader decades ago and have kept them ever since.
The federal lawsuit filed in Washington on Tuesday — the 100th anniversary of Geronimo's death — also names the university and the federal government.Geronimo's descendants have sued Skull and Bones — the secret society at... more
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Watch and Discuss...
So easily said...and in this day dismissed or lost forever from inaction....
we've known this deep in our hearts why are so many people unwilling to open their eyesWatch and Discuss...
So easily said...and in this day dismissed or lost forever... more
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US President George W. Bush is proposing a new law which allows local and state police to spy on American citizens with no evidence.
The law proposed by the Department of Justice would permit local and state cops to gather intelligence on police suspicion, not evidence, keep it secret for up to 10 years, and share it with the federal government.
The draft has mounted fears among American activists as it gives the US police the go-ahead to stake out antiwar groups or people who the cops might deem as threats.
The police will be free to use public records, the Internet, undercover surveillance and other techniques to spy on threat groups and listen in on Americans' communications, even when no crime has been committed and the likelihood of a crime is low.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) criticized the proposal by the Department of Justice, saying the US state police have already launched spying programs against those opposing the Iraq war.
The Bush-proposed law gives local police the authority to violate the constitutional rights of thousands of Americans.
“The federal government has increasingly encouraged state non-enforcement agencies to become basically intelligence gatherers and we have seen problems as a result,” Mike German, an ACLU lawyer, told Press TV.
Referring to the use of undercover agents against peace activists in California and protest groups in New York, Colorado and most recently in Maryland, German said, “It's indicative of what happens when we start playing not by the rules."
The new Justice Department/FBI guidelines for police operations supposedly contain procedures to protect people's constitutional rights.
But critics say the history of rights enforcement by the Justice Department over local law enforcement has been less than stringent and abuses are likely to happen.
Some members of the Congress have called the new rules troubling, but the White House which gives only $2 billion to local law enforcement is eager now to lift restrictions on local police to spy on whomever they 'think' is acting suspiciously. US President George W. Bush is proposing a new law which allows local and state police... more
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As the nation focuses on Sen. John McCain's choice of running mate, President Bush has quietly moved to expand the reach of presidential power by ensuring that America remains in a state of permanent war.
Buried in a recent proposal by the Administration is a sentence that has received scant attention -- and was buried itself in the very newspaper that exposed it Saturday. It is an affirmation that the United States remains at war with al Qaeda, the Taliban and "associated organizations."
Part of a proposal for Guantanamo Bay legal detainees, the provision before Congress seeks to “acknowledge again and explicitly that this nation remains engaged in an armed conflict with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and associated organizations, who have already proclaimed themselves at war with us and who are dedicated to the slaughter of Americans.”
The New York Times page 8 placement of the article in its Saturday edition seems to downplay its importance. Such a re-affirmation of war carries broad legal implications that could imperil Americans' civil liberties and the rights of foreign nationals for decades to come. As the nation focuses on Sen. John McCain's choice of running mate, President... more
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush promised Tuesday that the nation would be safer with John McCain as president, saying his impressive life story and sound judgment make the Arizona senator the man Americans need to follow him in the White House.
"I've sat at the Resolute desk and received the daily intelligence briefings, the threat assessments and the reports from our commanders on the front lines," Bush told delegates to the Republican National Convention in Minnesota via video hookup from the White House. "I know the hard choices that fall solely to a president. John McCain's life has prepared him to make those choices."
Bush added: "He is ready to lead this nation."
Inside the hall, the Bush family legacy was on display. Bush's father, former President George H.W. Bush, drew a standing ovation when he entered the arena with his wife, Barbara, and other relatives.
And first lady Laura Bush took the podium to introduce the president's address.
She was the voice of defense on her husband's eight-year record in the Oval Office, tossing out statistics on everything from education gains to fighting AIDS across the globe. She said that when Bush became president, fewer than 50,000 Africans suffering from AIDS were getting the medicine they needed to survive, and that the number now is nearly 2 million.
"You might call that change you can really believe in," the first lady said, a clear poke at the slogan of McCain's opponent, Sen. Barack Obama.WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush promised Tuesday that the nation would be safer with... more
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ivxx
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1 year ago
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In a shocking scandal, the Dept. of Interior under George W. Bush has been accused of accepting cash favors, drugs and sex from major oil company execs. In a shocking scandal, the Dept. of Interior under George W. Bush has been accused of... more
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Corporate welfare good..welfare for poor people to eat bad
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7 homes check, wife's 5 mill in jewelry check...I don't see anything wrong with the economy do you? 7 homes check, wife's 5 mill in jewelry check...I don't see anything wrong... more
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With the financial markets in turmoil, President Bush said Thursday that he shares Americans' concerns and the government will act aggressively to avert a deepening crisis.
Bush was supposed to spend the day in Alabama and Florida raising money for Republicans and talking energy policy. But he canceled the trip to focus on what is unfolding as the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression.
Aiming to be reassuring and to show that he is working on the problem, he said the markets are adjusting to the "extraordinary measures" that have been taken in recent days by the federal government.
Read The Rest at Link...
With the financial markets in turmoil, President Bush said Thursday that he shares... more
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