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THIRD WORLD TRAVELER is an archive of articles and book excerpts that seek to tell the truthabout American democracy, media, and foreign policy, and about the impact of the actions ofthe United States government, global financial and trade institutions,transnational corporations, and the corporate media, on democracy, social and economic justice, human rights, and warand peace, in the Third World, and in the developed world.THIRD WORLD TRAVELER also providesinformation and links to aid international travelers.Visitors are encouragedto buy the books and subscribe to the magazines,to ask their libraries to put them on the shelves and their bookstoresto stock them, to visit the websites, and to tell others about the wealth of information that theseindependent news sources provide. For, without public awareness of and support for independent authors,publications, and websites,this much-needed information may not continue to be available."Believe nothing, no matterwhere you read it, or who said it, unless your own reason andyour own common sense agree."Gautama Buddha(quotation is a paraphraseof the original)THE MONSTROUS WORK OF MODERN-DAY BARBARIANS Napalm-Vietnam (1960s-70s) / AgentOrange-Laos (1960s-70s) / Depleted Uranium-Fallujah, Iraq (2003)/ Gaza, Palestine (2014) / Yemen (2017)"They have pillaged theworld. When the land has nothing left for men who ravage everything,they scour the sea. If an enemy is rich, they are greedy; if heis poor, they crave glory. Neither East nor West can sate theirappetite. They are the only people on earth to covet wealth andpoverty with equal craving. They plunder, they butcher, they ravish,and call it by the lying name of 'empire'. They make a desertand call it 'peace'."Publius Cornelius Tacitus - ahistorian of the Roman Empire"Why, of course, the peopledon't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to riskhis life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is tocome back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common peopledon't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America,nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, afterall, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policyand it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whetherit is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament ora Communist dictatorship.... Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to thebidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is totell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifistsfor lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. Itworks the same way in any country."Hermann Goering - Nazi leader -from Gustave Gilbert's Nuremberg Diary (1947)"Do you begin to see, then,what kind of world we are creating?... A world of fear and treacheryand torment, a world of trampling and being trampled upon, a worldwhich will grow not less but more merciless as it refines itself."from George Orwell's 1949 novel"1984"TRUTH-TELLERS / WHISTLEBLOWERS(A PARTIAL LIST) Philip Agee-CIA / John Stockwell-CIA/ Julian Assange-Wikileaks / Edward Snowden-CIA"To oppose the policiesof a government does not mean you are against the country or thepeople that the government supposedly represents. Such oppositionshould be called what it really is: democracy, or democratic dissent,or having a critical perspective about what your leaders are doing.Either we have the right to democratic dissent and criticism ofthese policies or we all lie down and let the leader, the Fuhrer,do what is best, while we follow uncritically, and obey whateverhe commands. That's just what the Germans did with Hitler, andlook where it got them."Michael Parenti"The further a societydrifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speakit."George Orwell"The men the American peopleadmire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men theydetest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth."H. L. Mencken"We Americans are the ultimateinnocents. We are forever desperate to believe that this timethe government is telling us the truth."Sydney Schanberg"If you think any Americanofficial is going to tell you the truth, then you're stupid."Arthur Sylvester, assistant secretaryof defense for public affairs, to American journalists, 1965"During times of universal deceit, telling the truthbecomes a revolutionary act."George Orwell"There is no such thing,at this date of the world's history, in America, as an independentpress. You know it and I know it.There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions,and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appearin print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out ofthe paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similarsalaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolishas to write honest opinions would be out on the streets lookingfor another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear inone issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupationwould be gone.The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lieoutright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon,and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. Youknow it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independentpress?We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. Weare the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Ourtalents, our possibilities and our lives are all the propertyof other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."John Swinton, preeminent New Yorkjournalist, at a press banquet,1880"The master planners devisedthe strategy of a merger - a Great Merger - among nations.But before such a merger can be consummated, and the United Statesbecomes just another province in a New World Order, there mustat least be the semblance of parity among the senior partnersin the deal. How does one make the nations of the world more nearlyequal? The Insiders determined that a two-prong approach was needed;use American money and know-how to build up your competitors,while at the same time use every devious strategy you can deviseto weaken and impoverish this country. The goal is not to bankruptthe United States. Rather, it is to reduce our productive might,and therefore our standard of living, to the meager subsistencelevel of the socialized nations of the world.The plan is not to bring the standard of living in less developedcountries up to our level, but to bring ours down to meet theirscoming up... It is your standard of living which must be sacrificedon the altar of the New World Order."Gary Allen in his book "TheRockefeller File"Michael Parenti Howard Zinn THIRDWORLD TRAVELER - SITE MAP"There is a transnationalruling class, a "Superclass", that agrees on establishinga world government. The middle class is targeted for elimination,because most of the world has no middle class, and to fully integrateand internationalize a middle class, would require industrializationand development in Africa, and certain places in Asia and LatinAmerica. The goal of the Superclass is not to lose their wealthand power to a transnational middle class, but rather to extinguishthe notion of a middle class, and transnationalize a lower, uneducated,labor oriented class, through which they will secure ultimatewealth and power.The global economic crisis serves these ends, as whatever remainingwealth the middle class holds is in the process of being eliminated,and as the crisis progresses, the middle classes of the worldwill suffer, while a great percentage of lower classes of theworld, poverty-stricken even prior to the crisis, will sufferthe greatest, most probably leading to a massive reduction inpopulation levels, particularly in the "underdeveloped"or "Third World" states."Andrew Gavin MarshallWEBSITES TO VISITTRUTH-TELLERS"The war against a foreigncountry only happens when the moneyed classes think they are goingto profit from it."George Orwell"As news organizationsare increasingly driven by a bottom-line mentality, the news weget becomes more and more sensational. What is the differencebetween Time and Newsweek? Between ABC, NBC, and CBS News? Betweenthe Washington Post and the New York Times? For all practicalpurposes, none. The concentration of media power means that Americansincreasingly get their information from a few sources who decidewhat is "news."Oliver StoneDISINFORMATION NATION"Because the United Statesdoes not look like a militarized country, it's hard for Americansto grasp that Washington is a war capital, that the United Statesis a war state, that it garrisons much of the planet, and thatthe norm for us is to be at war somewhere at any moment."Tom Engelhardt"During the past two centurieswhen the peoples of the world were gradually winning their politicalfreedom from the dynastic monarchies, the major banking familiesof Europe and America were actually reversing the trend by settingup new dynasties of political control through the formation ofinternational financial combines. These banking dynasties hadlearned that all governments must have sources of revenue fromwhich to borrow in times of emergency. They had also learned thatby providing such funds from their own private resources, theycould make both kings and democratic leaders tremendously subservientto their will."Carroll Quigley in hisbook "Tragedy and Hope"BEYOND THE MEDIA MATRIX"Today Americans wouldbe outraged if UN troops entered Los Angeles to restore order;tomorrow they will be grateful. This is especially true if theywere told there was an outside threat from beyond, whether realor promulgated, that threatened our very existence. It is thenthat all peoples of the world will plead with world leaders todeliver them from this evil. The one thing every man fears isthe unknown. When presented with this scenario, individual rightswill be willingly relinquished for the guarantee of their wellbeing granted to them by their world government."Henry Kissinger speaking at theannual Bilderberger meeting, May 21, 1992"Ever since the days ofHenry Ford, the Economic Elite have needed a thriving US middleclass to increase growth and profits, but now, in the global economy,they view the US middle class as obsolete. They increasingly lookglobally for profits and they would rather pay cheap labor incountries like China and India."David DeGrawREAL WORLD ORDER"Some believe we are partof a secret cabal working against the best interests of the UnitedStates, characterizing my family and me as "internationalists"and of conspiring with others around the world to build a moreintegrated global political and economic structure - one world,if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proudof it."David Rockefeller in his "Memoirs""The corporate-dominatedeconomy and the transnational corporate state had consolidatedits power over almost every aspect of public and private life,and under a formal globalization movement the transnational corporationswere extending their tentacles all over the planet.Footsoldiers like Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, the ever-dutifulBush family, Helmut Kohl, and a list of Japanese leaders had diligentlykept the faith. Working with the timeworn International MonetaryFund (IMF), the World Bank and ultimately with the new engineof globalization, the World Trade Organization, they ensured thatthe interests of capital were nowhere endangered by the needsof the world's three billion poor to eat, have shelter, clothing,sanitation, medical care, and education."William F. Pepper in his book "AnAct of State: the Execution of Martin Luther King"EMPIRE OF CHAOS"If we have to use force,it is because we are America; we are the indispensible nation."U.S. Secretary of State MadeleineAlbright (1998)"Since World War Two theUnited States has attempted to overthrow more than fifty foreigngovernments, it has dropped bombs on the people of around thirtycountries, has attempted to assassinate some sixty foreign leaders,helped to suppress dozens of populist or nationalist movements,has tortured many thousands, and seriously and illegally intervenedin one way or another in virtually every country on the planet,in the process of which the U.S. has caused the end of life forseveral million people, and condemned many millions more to alife of agony and despair."William Blum, in a speech at theUniversity of Vermont, 2007"Coming to grips with U.S./CIAactivities in broad numbers and figuring out how many people havebeen killed in the jungles of Laos or the hills of Nicaragua isvery difficult. But, adding them up as best we can, we come upwith a figure of six million people killed-and this is a minimumfigure. Included are: one million killed in the Korean War, twomillion killed in the Vietnam War, 800,000 killed in Indonesia,one million in Cambodia, 20,000 killed in Angola ... and 22,000killed in Nicaragua. These people would not have died if U.S.tax dollars had not been spent by the CIA to inflame tensions,finance covert political and military activities and destabilizesocieties."John Stockwell, CIA official inthe 1960s and 1970sGLOBAL KLEPTOCRACY"We are ruled, though itmay be difficult to imagine, by a small dynastic power structure,largely consisting of powerful banking families, such as the Rothschilds,Rockefellers, and others. They emerged in controlling the financialsystem, extended their influence over the political system, theeducational system, and, through the major foundations, have becomethe dominant social powers of our world, creating think tanksand other institutions which shape and change the course of societyand modern human history."Andrew Gavin Marshall"The general public areviewed as no more than ignorant and meddlesome outsiders, a bewilderedherd. And it's the responsible men who have to make decisionsand to protect society from the trampling and rage of the bewilderedherd. Now since it's a democracy they - the herd, that is - arepermitted occasionally to lend their weight to one or anothermember of the responsible class. That's called an election."Noam Chomsky"The powers of financialcapitalism had a far-reaching aim - nothing less than to createa world system of financial control in private hands able to dominatethe political system of each country and the economy of the worldas a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashionby the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secretagreements arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences.The apex of the system was to be the Bank for International Settlements[BIS] in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlledby the world's central banks which were themselves private corporations... Each central bank sought to dominate its government by itsability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges,to influence the level of economic activity in the country, andto influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewardsin the business world."Carroll Quigley in his book "Tragedyand Hope""People, governments andeconomies of all nations must serve the needs of multinationalbanks and corporations."Zbigniew BrzezinskiPATHOCRACY: THE GLOBAL ORDER "Americans are too broadlyunderinformed to digest nuggets of information that seem to contradictwhat they know of the world. Instead, news channels prefer tofeed Americans a constant stream of simplified information, allof which fits what they already know. That way they don't haveto devote more air time or newsprint space to explanations orfurther investigations... Politicians and the media have conspiredto infantilize, to dumb down, the American public. At heart, politiciansdon't believe that Americans can handle complex truths, and thenews media, especially television news, basically agrees."Tom Fenton"I spent thirty-three yearsin the Marines, most of my time being a hlgh class muscle manfor Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, Iwas a racketeer for capitalism.I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking houseof Brown Brothers in 1910-1912. I helped make Mexico and especiallyTampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I brought lightto the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916.I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City[Bank] boys to collect revenue in. I helped in the rape of halfa dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street.In China in 1927 l helped to see to it that Standard Oil wentits way unmolested.I had a swell racket. l was rewarded with honors, medals, promotions.l might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could dowas to operate a racket in three city districts. The Marines operatedon three continents."General Smedley Butler, formerUS Marine Corps Commandant, 1935INCONVENIENT TRUTHS"Americans are wonderfullycourteous to strangers, yet indiscriminately shoot kids in schools.They believe they are masters of the world, yet know nothing aboutwhat goes on outside their shores. They are people who believethe world stretches from California to Boston and everything outsideis the bit they have to bomb to keep the price of oil down. Onlyone in five Americans hold a passport and the only foreign storiesthat make their news are floods, famine, and wars, because itmakes them feel good to be an American. Feeling good to be Americanis what they live for. "Brian Reade, London columnist"The American governmentcould already be described as authoritarian... Due process oflaw and the right of habeas corpus, which for centuries have characterizedthe rule of law in democratic states, have been eliminated. Atthe discretion of the president, non-citizens and citizens alikemay be classified as enemy combatants, picked up and held foran indeterminate period of time without access to counsel. A networkof secret prisons and camps is being established both inside andoutside of the United States. Paramilitary forces or private mercenaryarmies are being developed to make up for the inadequate numbersof the existing volunteer army. This is effectively resultingin the privatization of the US military."William F. Pepper in his book "AnAct of State: the Execution of Martin Luther King"THE PLUTOCRACY CARTEL"Powerful private familiesdecide who controls the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England,the Bank of Japan and even the European Central Bank. Money isin their hands to destroy or create. Their aim is the ultimatecontrol over future life on this planet, a supremacy earlier dictatorsand despots only ever dreamt of."F. William Engdahl in his book"Seeds of Destuction""This world is not runby Presidents or Prime Ministers, it is run by the global corporationsand the banks. For it is these entities that control the moneysupply and it is these entities that decide which country livesor falls."The Daily Bell, 2012BARBARIANS IN SUITS"The war on terror as seenby Washington and a complaisant US media is the ultimate moneyand power machine, requiring a huge military and intelligencecommitment that is endless and not confined to any part of theworld. As terror has no capital city or national identity thewar against it cannot end through capture and surrender. As itis a secret war, it can be waged using unconventional methods,without regard for the deaths of civilians who are seen as "sheltering"the terrorists, guaranteeing that the blood of the innocent willproduce new generations raised hating America. The bleeding willcontinue forever and everywhere as long as there are terrorists,justifying government intrusion into the lives of the citizensat home and huge and unsustainable budgets to wage the war worldwide.It is George Orwell's dark vision of 1984 turned into reality.Tyranny and bankruptcy will be the war on terror's legacy."Philip Giraldi, 2009HOW THE WORLD REALLY WORKS"The easiest way to gaincontrol of a population is to carry out acts of terror. The publicwill clamor for such laws if their personal security is threatened."Josef Stalin"The question is nothow to get good people to rule; the question is how to stop thepowerful from doing as much damage as they can to us."Karl PopperTHE WAR RACKET"Governments don't wantwell-informed, well-educated people capable of critical thinking,That is against their interests. They want obedient workers, peoplewho are just smart enough to run the machines and do the paperwork,and just dumb enough to passively accept it."George CarlinRULINGELITESNEW WORLD ORDERONEWORLD GOVERNMENT"The drug "industry"is run as a single integrated world operation, from the opiumpoppy to the nickel bag of heroin sold on an inner-city streetcorner. Not only is illegal drug traffic under the control ofa single world network, but opiates traffic in particular is withoutdoubt the best-controlled production and distribution system ofany commodity in international trade, illegal or legal."www.bibliotecapleyades.net "Howthe Drug Empire Works""War means blind obedience,unthinking stupidity, brutish callousness, wanton destruction,and irresponsible murder."Alexander BerkmanMEDIA- MAIN PAGEAUTHORS' PAGEWilliam Blum / John Pilger"Most Americans have noidea that what we are fed by the news media is nothing more thana portrayal of what powerful corporations want us to believe,that what happens to pass as education is as often as not merepropaganda, that what we learn in church may have very littleor nothing to do with the truth, that what our parents teach usmay be nothing more than an accumulation of their own personalbiases, no doubt a rather subtle modification of what they weretaught by their parents. And through such a process, governmentsand nations around the world wield control as to what their citizens,believe, value, and do."Doug Soderstrom"In America, we grew upthinking that the people that we see on the nightly news are journalists.But, there is no journalism happening there, only script reading.That is understood by anyone with a sliver of common sense, andthe objectivity to realize that their newsperson is basicallyan actor."Charlie Robinson, in his book "TheOctopus of Global Control", 2017BOOK EXCERPTS - SORTEDALPHABETICALLYBOOK EXCERPTS - SORTEDBY SUBJECT"The New York Times isthe house organ of the Establishment. It is committed, both editoriallyand in its presentation of the news, to the interests of an Establishment:continuity, security and legitimacy. Therefore they generallysupport business and finance, the American version of empire,the government and the president, until, and unless, some excessis so egregious that it poses a threat to continuity, securityor legitimacy."Larry Beinhart"What the press do is theytell you lies, lies they already know you want to hear. The presscan figure out what its readers or viewers believe, and make ahell of a living pandering to their egos and telling them thatthey're smart. They lie and tell the audience they are right,and they never have to change your mind about anything. And theaudience rewards them, lauding them and paying them money to keephearing those sweet, self-serving lies."Allan Uthman"The major news media serveat the pleasure of a commercial oligarchy that pays them, andpays them handsomely, for their pretense of speaking truth topower... The prominent figures in our contemporary Washingtonpress corps regard themselves as government functionaries, enablingand codependent."Lewis H. Lapham"Most newspapers are partof huge conglomerates, and the policy that comes down is thatyou don't rock any boats. You can't make the government upsetbecause the value of the company is the broadcast licenses, andthe government will not renew them, and we can't make our corporateowners mad because they will fire us, and we can't make the advertisersmad or they will pull their advertising. So the media can't sayanything that will upset the power structure. And that's whathas happened to the press."Paul Craig Roberts"The main media bias isin favor of the thieves who stole our country and economy, andown the mainstream media companies. The omnipresent mainstreammedia is the greatest weapon of oppression humanity has ever known."David DeGrawPropaganda page Publicrelations watchProject CensoredpageMediaControl pageBroadcastMedia watchMedia watchMedia ReformThink Tank watchPrint Media pageGlobalMedia page"More than fifty yearsago the J.P. Morgan firm decided to infiltrate the Left-wing politicalmovements in the United States. This was relatively easy to do,since these groups were starved for funds and eager for a voiceto reach the people. Wall Street supplied both. The purpose wasnot to destroy ... or take over but was really threefold: (1)to keep informed about the thinking of Left-wing or liberal groups;(2) to provide them with a mouthpiece so that they could "blowoff steam," and (3) to have a final veto on their publicityand possibly on their actions, if they ever went "radical".Carroll Quigley in his book "Tragedyand Hope""Communism and socialismare themselves forms of monopoly. The only difference is thatin this case, the monopoly is operated by the government. Butwhat if an international banker, through loans to the state, manipulationof a central bank, campaign contributions, or bribes, is ableto achieve dominion over a government? In that case, he wouldfind socialism welcome, for it would serve him as an instrumentto control society."James PerloffCORPORATE MEDIA'S THREAT TO DEMOCRACY"CEOs of most of theworld's largest corporations daily make decisions that destroythe lives of many other human beings. Only about 1 to 3 percentof us are sociopaths - people who don't have normal human feelingsand can easily go to sleep at night after having done horrificthings. And of that 1 percent of sociopaths, there's probablyonly a fraction of a percent with a college education. And ofthat tiny fraction, there's an even tinier fraction that understandshow business works, particularly within any specific industry.Thus there is such a shortage of people who can run modern monopolistic,destructive corporations that stockholders have to pay millionsto get them to work. And being sociopaths, they gladly take themoney without any thought to its social consequences."Thom Hartman"The total result of themanipulation of society by the Establishment elite has been fourmajor wars in sixty years, a crippling national debt, abandonmentof the Constitution, suppression of freedom and opportunity, andcreation of a vast credibility gulf between the man in the streetand Washington, D.C.. While the transparent device of two majorparties trumpeting artificial differences, circus-like conventions,and the cliché of "bipartisan foreign policy"no longer carries credibility, and the financial elite itselfrecognizes that its policies lack public acceptance, it is obviouslyprepared to go it alone without even nominal public support."Antony C. Sutton in his book "WallStreet and the Rise of Hitler", 1976U.S. FOREIGN POLICY - MAIN PAGE"Why, of course, the peopledon't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to riskhis life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is tocome back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common peopledon't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America,nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, afterall, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policyand it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whetherit is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament ora Communist dictatorship."Hermann Goering - Nazi leader"Since the anticommunismhysteria in the years following the Second World War, a bipartisanconsensus has existed on foreign policy. Meaningful politicaldiscourse has been almost absent about foreign policy issues.So many foreign policy decisions have been placed beyond publicscrutiny, that almost all of what passes as official informationabout foreign policy is manufactured by government agencies forits propaganda effect."Daniel Hellinger and Dennis R.Judd"Those whom the gods wishto destroy they first make mad."Euripides (485-406 BC)September11, 2001, NYCConspiracyTheories or 'Real' World Order?OneWorld Governmnt pageGlobal Secrets& LiesFriendlydictators pagePentagon watchDictators pageForeignpolicy watchMiddle East watchIsrael watchIraq pageAfghanistanpage"There is nothing puzzlingabout America's gratuitously aggressive foreign policy. What anaggressive foreign policy accomplishes by slow degrees, a stateof war accomplishes in a trice. Overnight war kills reform, overnightit transforms insurgents into traitors and the Republic into animperiled realm. Overnight it strangles free politics, distractsand overawes the citizenry. Overnight it blasts public hope."Walter Karp"Terrorism has become asort of screen created since the end of the Cold War by policymakersin Washington. It is fabricated to keep the population afraidand insecure, and to justify what the United States wishes todo globally."Edward SaidAfrica watchCentral Africapage CongowatchEastAfrica pageNorth Africa pageSouthernAfrica pageWestAfrica pageLatinAmerica watchCaribbean watchHaiti pageColombiapage CubapageCentralAmerica watch"The modern pantheon ofenemies are the banking consortium; the global Elite born andbred from mega-wealth; the academics and economists who disconnectideas from reality; and the scientific and military minds whoare so compartmentalized by design that they rarely know whatsort of dictatorship to which they are making their contributions."Michael EdwardsSufferthe Children - Israeli War Crimes in Lebanon and Gaza. 2006 -photosSeeNo Evil - Abu Graib prison and U.S. barbarism in Iraq - photos"The Defense AuthorizationAct [2007] gives the Executive the power to move National Guardunits anywhere in the country, without regard for the wishes ofthe state governors, and to declare martial law. This declarationwould authorize the detention of dissenting citizens who couldthen be picked up and held incommunicado for an indefinite period,without access to counsel or the courts. This is nothing shortof a militarization of the Republic.Enabled by the Defense Authorization Act, the president can nowdeclare martial law, transfer military technology to militarizeddomestic police forces, and detain dissenting citizens virtuallyat will. These detainees could be held in camps that are now beingconstructed and refurbished by Kellogg Brown and Root, ostensiblyfor illegal immigrants.... The unitary presidency has been granted the authority to orderkidnapping, detention, and torture abroad under the Military CommissionsAct of 2006. This act authorizes extraordinary rendition, whichinevitably means foreign detention and torture of anyone the Presidentdetermines to be an unlawful combatant."William F. Pepper in his book "AnAct of State: the Execution of Martin Luther King"Venezuela pageSouthAmerica watchMexicowatch EcuadorwatchBoliviawatchCanada pageEurope watchYugoslavia pageRussia watchPacificwatchIslandswatchCentral AsiawatchAsiawatchSoutheastAsia pageChinawatchSouthAsia pageBurma watchNepalpage"The theories offered byeconomists rationalize the self-interest of big business and thewealthy. Such theories claim to benefit society and the public'swell-being. But they do just the opposite: they make the greatmass of people poorer while making the rich fabulously richer."Ravi Batra"The world order doesn'tallow for any frontal attack aimed at destroying narco-traffickingbecause that business, which moves $400 billion annually, is fartoo important for the leading nations of world power to eliminate.The US punishes those countries which don't do enough to fightagainst drugs, whereas their CIA boys have built paradises ofcorruption throughout the world with the drug profits."Ecuadorian Presidential CandidateManuel SalgadoSchool of the Americas watchTorture watchAmericanEmpire pageNATOpageLandmine watchMilitarizationof Space pageUnitedStates & Third World pageWar on Drugs pageCoup d'etatpageSubvertingDemocracy page War and Peace page"Americans don't understandthat terrorists cannot take away habeas corpus, the Bill of Rights,or the Constitution. Terrorists are not anything like the threatthat we face to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution from ourown government in the name of fighting terrorism."Paul Craig RobertsDemandingDemocracy pageWeaponspageForeignPolicy Institutions pageAssassinationspageInternationalWar Crimes pageTerrorism watchWaron Terrorism pageWar Profiteering pageMilitary-IndustrialComplex pageReducingU.S. Military Budget pageTowardan Ethical Foreign Policy"American leaders are perhapsnot so much immoral as they are amoral. It's not that they takepleasure in causing so much death and suffering. It's that theyjust don't care. The same that could be said about a sociopath.As long as the death and suffering advance the agenda of the empire,as long as the right people and the right corporations gain wealthand power and privilege and prestige, as long as the death andsuffering aren't happening to them or people close to them, thenthey just don't care about it happening to other people, includingthe American soldiers whom they throw into wars and who come home- the ones who make it back alive - with Agent Orange or GulfWar Syndrome eating away at their bodies. American leaders wouldnot be in the positions they hold if they were bothered by suchthings."William BlumFRIENDLY DICTATORS(A PARTIAL LIST)DICTATORS AND AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNMENTSTHAT THE UNITED STATES HELPED PUT IN POWER OR SUPPORTED, MOSTOFTEN BY OVERTHROWING DEMOCRATICALLY-ELECTED GOVERNMENTS OR SUPPRESSINGPOPULIST MOVEMENTSRafael Trujillo-Dominican Republic/ Paul Kagame-Rwanda / Antonio Salazar-PortugalGeorge Papadopoulos-Greece / SaniAbacha-Nigeria / Anastasio Somoza-Nicaragua Yoweri Moseveni-Uganda / FranciscoFranco-Spain / Hugo Banzer-Bolivia Humberto Branco-Brazil / MobutoSese Seko-Zaire / Jorge Videla-Argentina Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq-Pakistan /Alfred Stroessner-Paraguay / Ferdinand Marcos-Philippines Shah Pahlevi-Iran / General Suharto-Indonesia/ "Papa Doc" Duvalier-Haiti"The greatest myth concerningAmerican foreign policies is the deeply-held belief that no matterwhat the United States does abroad, no matter how bad it may look,no matter what horror may result, the American government meanswell. American leaders may make mistakes, they may blunder, theymay even on the odd occasion cause more harm than good, but theydo mean well. Their intentions are always honorable. Of that Americansare certain. They genuinely wonder why the rest of the world can'tsee how kind and generous and self-sacrificing America has been."William BlumHenry Kissinger INTERNATIONALWAR CRIMES & CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY - MAIN PAGE"I spent thirty-three yearsin the Marines, most of my time being a hlgh class muscle manfor Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, Iwas a racketeer for capitalism.I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking houseof Brown Brothers in 1910-1912. I helped make Mexico and especiallyTampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I brought lightto the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916.I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City[Bank] boys to collect revenue in. I helped in the rape of halfa dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street.In China in 1927 l helped to see to it that Standard Oil wentits way unmolested.I had a swell racket. l was rewarded with honors, medals, promotions.l might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could dowas to operate a racket in three city districts. The Marines operatedon three continents."General Smedley Butler, formerUS Marine Corps Commandant, 1935"After World War II, inthe name of containing Communism, the United States, mostly throughthe actions of local allies, executed or encouraged coups in,among other places, Guatemala, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Argentinaand patronized a brutal mercenary war in Nicaragua ... By theend of the Cold War, Latin American security forces trained, funded,equipped, and incited by Washington had executed a reign of bloodyterror - hundreds of thousands killed, an equal number tortured,millions driven into exile-from which the region has yet to fullyrecover."Greg Grandin in his book "Empire'sWorkshop"UNITED STATES INTERVENTIONSSINCE 1945(A PARTIAL LIST)ASSASSINATIONS, REGIME CHANGE,MILITARY INTERVENTIONS, COVERT OPERATIONS, COUPS AND ATTEMPTED COUPS, ELECTION INTERFERENCE, COLOR REVOLUTIONSPhilippines, South Korea, Lebanon,Iran, Guatemala, Cuba, Rep. Congo (Zaire), Brazil, Greece, Russia,Poland, Turkey, Dominican Republic, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia,Chile, Angola, East Timor, Nicaragua, Grenada, Panama, Kyrgyzstan, Haiti, Yugoslavia, Georgia, Ukraine,Argentina, Ghana, Venezuela, Bolivia, Hondoras, Paraguay, Mexico, El Salvador, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia,Pakistan, Yemen, Tunesia, Egypt, Libya, SyriaJean-Bertrand Aristide-Haiti /Jacobo Arbenz-Guatemala Kwame Nkrumah-Ghana / Fidel Castro-Cuba / Salvador Allende-ChileGeneral Sukarno-Indonesia / JoaoGoulart-Brazil Mohammad Mossadegh-Iran / HugoChavez-Venezuela / Patrice Lumumba-DRCongo (Zaire)"American foreign-policymakers are exquisitely attuned to the rise of a government, ora movement that might take power, that will not lie down and happilybecome an American client state, that will not look upon the freemarket or the privatization of the world known as "globalization"as summum bonum [the highest good], that will not change its lawsto favor foreign investment, that will not be unconcerned aboutthe effects of foreign investment upon the welfare of its ownpeople, that will not produce primarily for export, that willnot easily tolerate the International Monetary Fund or the WorldTrade Organization inflicting a scorched-earth policy upon thecountry's social services or standard of living, that will notallow an American or NATO military installation upon its soil.Given the proper pretext, such bad examples have to be reducedto basket cases, or, where feasible, simply overthrown."William Blum"The result of neo-colonialismis that foreign capital is used for the exploitation rather thanfor the development of the less developed parts of the world.Investment, under neo-colonialism, increases, rather than decreases,the gap between the rich and the poor countries of the world.The struggle against neo-colonialism is not aimed at excludingthe capital of the developed world from operating in less developedcountries. It is aimed at preventing the financial power of thedeveloped countries being used in such a way as to impoverishthe less developed."Kwame Nkrumah, President of Ghana1957-1966InternationalLaw pageTruthCommissions pageBush Gang pageGeorge W.Bush pageTheCarlyle GroupRonald Reagan pageHenry KissingerpageHuman Rights watch pageSchool of the AmericaspageLandmines pageGenocidewatch"We are going to have awar on terror which you can never win, and so you can always keeptaking people's liberties away. The media is going to convinceeverybody that the war on terror is real. The ultimate goal isto get everybody in the world chipped with an RFID chip, and haveall money be on the chips, and if anyone wants to protest whatwe do, we turn off the chip."Nicholas Rockefeller to producerAaron Russo - eleven months before the 9/11 World Trade Centerattacks"Condelleza Rice and ColinPowell are both dangerous people. What they did in Haiti [2004U.S.-backed coup that ousted democratically elected PresidentJean-Bertrand Aristide] is a good measure of it. They destroyeda democracy. They squelched loans that had been approved by theInter-American Development Bank. They did everything behind thescenes, including arming the thugs that came to overrun the country.They're frauds."Randall Robinson"Drug profits are securedthrough the ability of the drug cartels to launder and transferbillions of dollars through the US banking system. The scale andscope of the US banking-drug cartel alliance surpasses any othereconomic activity of the US private banking system."James PetrasConspiracyTheories or 'Real' World Order?"We are on theverge of global transformation. All we need is the right majorcrisis and the nations will accept the New World Order."David Rockefeller - statement tothe United Nations Business Council, 1994"Money laundering, accordingto IMF estimates for the 1990s, was between 590 billion and 1.5trillion dollars a year. The proceeds of the drug trade are depositedin the banking system. Drug money is laundered in the numerousoffshore banking havens in Switzerland, Luxembourg, the BritishChannel Islands, the Cayman Islands and some 50 other locationsaround the globe. It is here that criminal syndicates involvedin the drug trade and the representatives of the world's largestcommercial banks interact. Dirty money is deposited in these offshorehavens, which are controlled by major Western banks and financialinstitutions which have a vested interest in maintaining and sustainingthe drug trade."Michel Chossudovsky in his book"America's War on Terrorism"Scholars for 9/11 Truth & Justice"The Bilderberg group isan organization of political leaders and international financiersthat meets secretly every spring to make global policy. Thereare about 110 regulars - Rockefellers, Rothschilds, bankers, headsof international corporations and high government officials fromEurope and North America. Each year, a few new people are invitedand, if found useful, they return to future meetings. If not,they are discarded. Decisions reached at these secret meetingsaffect every American and much of the world."Jim TuckerGeorge Orwell NEWWORLD ORDER"We are grateful to theWashington Post, the New York Times, Time magazine, and othergreat publications whose directors have attended our meetingsand respected their promises of discretion for almost 40 years.It would have been impossible for us to develop our plan for theworld if we had been subjected to the lights of publicity duringthose years. But the world is now more sophisticated and preparedto march towards a world government. The supra-national sovereigntyof an intellectual elite and world bankers is surely preferableto the national auto-determination practiced in past centuries."David Rockefeller - Council onForeign Relations, June 1991"Some of the charactertraits exhibited by serial killers or criminals may be observedin many within the political arena. They share the traits of psychopathswho are not sensitive to altruistic appeals, such as sympathyfor their victims or remorse or guilt over their crimes. Theypossess the personality traits of lying, narcissism, selfishness,and vanity. These are the people to whom we have entrusted ourfate. Is it any wonder that America is failing at home and world-wide?"Jim Kouri"Money laundering is simplyeverywhere. On the grand scale, it's endemic to banking... Moneylaundering is not some distant fantasy. It's actually how youhandle the profits of extortion, tax evasion, criminal conspiracyand huge quantities of drug money, how you get that into the whitesector... We pay vast sums of money to agencies that are supposedto stop money laundering. It doesn't happen."author John le CarreJohn Perkins COVERTACTIVITIES - MAIN PAGECIA watchFBI watchNational Security Agency (NSA) watchGlobalSecrets & Lies pageNational Endowment for Democracy (NED) pageThe SecretWars of the CIA - John StockwellCIAs Greatest Hits pageTerrorismwatch"Our leaders are cruelbecause only those willing to be inordinately cruel and remorselesscan hold positions of leadership in the foreign policy establishment.People capable of expressing a full human measure of compassionand empathy toward faraway powerless strangers do not become presidentof the United States, or vice president, or secretary of state,or national security adviser."William Blum"For the world as a whole,the CIA has now become the bogey that communism has been for America.Wherever there is trouble, violence, suffering, tragedy, the restof us are now quick to suspect the CIA had a hand in it. Our phobiaabout the CIA is, no doubt, as fantastically excessive as America'sphobia about world communism; but in this case, too, there isjust enough convincing guidance to make the phobia genuine. Infact, the roles of America and Russia have been reversed in theworld's eyes. Today America has become the nightmare."Arnold Toynbee, the British historian,quoted in the New York Times of May 7, 1971"American policymakers,setting themselves up as guardians of the world system, are moreinclined than ever to simply disregard international laws andconventions if they get in the way of unrivaled military supremacy.Every instance of U.S. armed intervention during the 1980s and1990s represents a flagrant violation of regional treaties andlaws, not to mention the UN Charter itself, which explicitly prohibitsmilitary attacks against sovereign nations - for example, Grenada,Nicaragua, Haiti, Panama, Serbia, and Iraq. In any event, theU.S. has consistently shown its contempt for international bodies,agreements, and procedures that might conflict with its hegemonicaspirations."Carl BoggsTRANSNATIONALCORPORATIONS - MAIN PAGENAFTA, FTAA, CAFTA pageStructuralAdjustment pageOil watchWater pageWorld Trade Organization (WTO) pageInternational MonetaryFund (IMF) and World Bank page"In the absence of a coherentalternative, the transnational corporations carry on inexorably.Increasingly flagless and stateless, they weave global webs ofproduction, commerce, culture and finance virtually unopposed.They expand, invest and grow, concentrating ever more wealth ina limited number of hands. They work in coalition to influencelocal, national and international institutions and laws. And togetherwith the governments of their home countries in Europe, NorthAmerica and Japan, as well as international institutions suchas the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the InternationalMonetary Fund and increasingly, the United Nations, they are moldingan international system in which they can trade and invest evenmore freely - a world where they are less and less accountableto the cultures, communities and nation-states in which they operate.Underpinning this effort is not the historical inevitability ofan evolving, enlightened civilization, but rather the unavoidablereality of the overriding corporate purpose: the maximizationof profits."Sierra Club"If you wanted a nationalmonopoly, you must control a national socialist government. Ifyou want a worldwide monopoly, you must control a world socialistgovernment. That is what the game is all about. "Communism"is not a movement of the downtrodden masses but is a movementcreated, manipulated and used by power-seeking billionaires inorder to gain control over the world, first by establishing socialistgovernments in the various nations and then consolidating themall through a "Great Merger," into an all-powerful world,socialist super-state."Gary AllenTransnationalcorporations & Third World pageNew Global EconomypageCorporatewatchControllingCorporations pageGlobalization watchCorporateWelfare page"The media are a pitifullot. They don't give us any history, they don't give us any analysis,they don't tell us anything. They don't raise the most basic questions:Who has the most weapons of mass destruction in the world by far?Who has used weapons of mass destruction more than any other nation?Who has killed more people in this world with weapons of massdestruction than any other nation? The answer: the United States."Howard ZinnCesar Chavez QUOTATIONSPAGE"Since the late 1940s,the United States has been deliberately engaged in an imperialproject, and anyone who would hold the office of the presidencyhas to be willing to serve that end. All presidents have to promotethe national security state, both domestically and in Americanforeign policy, if they wish to attain and hold on to power."Morris Berman"The technetronic era involvesthe gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a societywould be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values.Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillanceover every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containingeven the most personal information about the citizen. These fileswill be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities."Zbigniew Brzezinski in his 1970book "Between Two Ages: America's Role in the TechnetronicEra"DEMOCRACY& SOCIETY - MAIN PAGE Frederick Douglass / William O.Douglas / Martin Luther King. Jr"Why should they ask meto put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombsand bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro peoplein Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?No I'm not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burnanother poor nation simply to continue the domination of whiteslave masters of the darker people the world over. This is theday when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned thatto take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But Ihave said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of mypeople is here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people ormyself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting fortheir own justice, freedom and equality. If I thought the warwas going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my peoplethey wouldn't have to draft me, I'd join tomorrow. I have nothingto lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I'll go to jail, sowhat? We've been in jail for 400 years."Muhammad Ali"I wouldn't call it fascismexactly, but a political system nominally controlled by an irresponsible,dumbed down electorate who are manipulated by dishonest, cynical,controlled mass media that dispense the propaganda of a corruptpolitical establishment can hardly be described as democracy either"columnist Edward ZehrDemocracy in AmericapageFascismwatchPatriotismpagePoliticalPathocracy pageDissent pageLabor pageClass War watchRulingElites pageDemocracywatchSocietywatchNeoconservativespageCivil LibertieswatchMilitarizationof America pageDemandingDemocracy pageSocialismwatch"I never saw a foreignintervention that the New York Times did not support, never sawa fare increase or a rent increase or a utility rate increasethat it did not endorse, never saw it take the side of labor ina strike or lockout, or advocate a raise for underpaid workers.And don't let me get started on universal health care and SocialSecurity. So why do people think the Times is liberal?"New York Times reporter John Hess"The easiest way to gaincontrol of a population is to carry out acts of terror. The publicwill clamor for such laws if their personal security is threatened."Josef StalinBanks watchFederal ReservepageWallStreet pageEconomicswatchHistorywatchThinkTank watchNationalism pageHealth watchReligionpageReformingthe Electoral Process pageWater pageFood watchEducation watchReal DemocracypageNationalSecurity pageAssassinationspageNeoliberalEconomics pageEnvironmentwatch"If Nuremberg were applied,then every post-war American president would have been hanged."Noam Chomsky"The United States hasentered the ranks of the failed states. One of the most remarkablemanifestations of a failed state is that the criminals are allinside the government operating against the people, whereas ina normal state, the criminals are on the outside of the government,operating against it. So, we now have every manifestation of beinga failed state, with the government in the hands of a few WallStreet gangsters."Paul Craig RobertsPolitics watchPoliticalRepression pageProgressive PoliticswatchPoliticians'pagePoliticalCrimes and Criminals pagePoliticalCorruption pagePolitical ReformpageAmericanFundamentalism pageRe-orderingAmerica's PrioritiesEnergy watchYouth & Children watchWomen watchSocialism watchPoliceState watchMilitary-IndustrialComplex page"A global financial cabalengineered a fraudulent housing and debt bubble [2008], illegallyshifted vast amounts of capital out of the US; and used 'privatization'as a form of piracy - a pretext to move government assets to privateinvestors at below-market prices and then shift private liabilitiesback to government at no cost to the private liability holder.Clearly, there was a global financial coup d'etat underway."Catherine Austin Fitts"The U.S. militaryacts in the interests of the corporate and financial elite, asthose countries that do not submit to American economic hegemonyare deemed enemies, and the military is ultimately sent in toimplement 'regime change'. "Andrew Gavin MarshallDick CheneyFASCISM- AMERICAN-STYLEThe 14 characteristics of Fascism"When fascism comes toAmerica, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."Sinclair Lewis"When and if fascism finallytakes hold in America, the basic forms of government will remain...Fascism will appear to be friendly. The legislators will be insession. There will be elections, and the news media will continueto cover the entertainment and political trivia. Consent of thegoverned, however, will no longer apply. Actual control will havefinally passed to the oligarchic elite controlling the governmentbehind the scenes."John W. WhiteheadHugo Chavez THIRDWORLD - DEFINITION & DESCRIPTION"Every time weaker nationshave attempted to reallocate their resources and undertake landreform to feed starving populations, powerful interests emanatingfrom the rich world and its multilateral bodies have thwartedtheir efforts."Susan George"We first fought in thename of religion, then Communism, and now in the name of drugsand terrorism. Our excuses for global domination always change."Serj TankianArchbishop Oscar Romero HUMANRIGHTS & DEMOCRACY DOCUMENTS" I think this a very hardchoice, but the price - we think the price is worth it."Secretary of State Madeleine Albright- about US sanctions killing more than 500,000 Iraqi children"The corporate grip onopinion in the United States is one of the wonders of the Westernworld. No First World country has ever managed to eliminate soentirely from its media all objectivity - much less dissent."Gore VidalJean-Bertrand Aristide HAITI PAGE"When the full and truestory of Jean-Bertrand Aristide is finally told, it will portraya noble and humble man who gave of himself honorably to servethe interests of all the people of Haiti. His only failure washis inability to overcome the brutal and corrupt power of theU.S. and its determination to see him fail. "Stephen Lendman"Africa is extremely richin many resources, from agriculture to oil, minerals, and a hugevariety of other resources used all around the world. If Africannations were able to develop their own economies, use their ownresources, and create their own industries and businesses, theycould become self-sufficient at first, and then may become a forceof great competition for the established industries and elitesaround the world. After all, Europe does not have much to offerin terms of resources, as the continent's wealth has largely comefrom plundering the resources of regions like Africa, and in becomingcaptains of monetary manipulation. A revitalized, vibrant, economicallyindependent and successful Africa could spell the end of Westernfinancial dominance. "Andrew Gavin Marshall"The war against a foreigncountry only happens when the moneyed classes think they are goingto profit from it."George OrwellNelson Mandela HUMANRIGHTS - MAIN PAGE"They have pillaged the world.When the land has nothing left for men who ravage everything,they scour the sea. If an enemy is rich, they are greedy; if heis poor, they crave glory. Neither East nor West can sate theirappetite. They are the only people on earth to covet wealth andpoverty with equal craving. They plunder, they butcher, they ravish,and call it by the lying name of 'empire'. They make a desertand call it 'peace'."Publius Cornelius Tacitus - a historianof the Roman Empire"Since the Bush-CheneyAdministration took office in January 2001, controlling the majoroil and natural gas fields of the world had been the primary,though undeclared, priority of US foreign policy... Not only theinvasion of Iraq, but also the toppling of the Taliban in Afghanistan,had nothing to do with 'democracy,' and everything to do withpipeline control across Central Asia and the militarization ofthe Middle East."F. William Engdahl"Every ten years or so,the United States needs to pick up some crappy little countryand throw it against the wall, just to show the world we meanbusiness."neocon Michael LedeenHumanRights Documents pagePrison watchLife & deathin Third World pageHuman rights watchGenocide watchJustice watchReforming the SystempageUnited Nations pageThirdWorld in United States pageWorld Federalismpage"States, most especiallythe large hegemonic ones, such as the United States and GreatBritain, are controlled by the international central banking system,working through secret agreements at the Bank for InternationalSettlements (BIS), and operating through national central banks[such as the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve]... The sameinternational banking cartel that controls the United States todaypreviously controlled Great Britain and held it up as the internationalhegemon. When the British order faded, and was replaced by theUnited States, the US ran the global economy. However, the sameinterests are served. States will be used and discarded at willby the international banking cartel; they are simply tools."Andrew Gavin Marshall"Somehow we find it hardto sell our values, namely that the rich should plunder the poor."Secretary of State John FosterDulles (Eisenhower Administration)"WHY DO THEY HATE US ?""From 1945 to 2003, theUnited States attempted to overthrow more than 40 foreign governments,and to crush more than 30 populist-nationalist movements fightingagainst intolerable regimes. In the process, the US bombed some25 countries, caused the end of life for several million people,and condemned many millions more to a life of agony and despair."William Blum"How does continuous waract to keep the Lows "stupefied by poverty" and therebyassure the maintenance of the social structure? The goal of thewars is to enable the economy to be kept going for the benefitof the High, its military, and its bureaucracy and control personnel(the Thought Police, etc.), but at the same time to assure thatany excess production capacity is prevented from producing consumergoods for the lower classes. That excess capacity is instead directedto producing excess military goods which will ' ultimately rustaway or be destroyed in warfare; that is, the excess capacityis deliberately wasted in order to turn it away from the productionof goods which would result in added leisure or well-being forthe lower classes. Those classes are instead continually forcedinto group activities expressing hatred toward the current enemy(any enemy) and dependency upon and love toward their benevolentrulers for protecting them from that enemy. They are thereby ledto accept the consumer shortages, the poverty, and the other privationsto which they are subjected. Their economic status is kept atthe subsistence level, forcing their priorities to be focusedon simply acquiring basic food, clothing, and shelter. They arethus denied either the time or the inclination to question thefairness or permanence of their societal condition, or to otherwiseevolve into a threat to the established hierarchy."from George Orwell's 1949 novel"1984"Ralph Nader WHATYOU CAN DO - MAIN PAGE"The question is not howto get good people to rule; the question is how to stop the powerfulfrom doing as much damage as they can to us."Karl Popper"Why, of course, the peopledon't want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to riskhis life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is tocome back to his farm in one piece? Naturally, the common peopledon't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America,nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, afterall, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policyand it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whetherit is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament ora Communist dictatorship."Hermann Goering - Nazi leader"A competent war on drugsmust begin with a war against the banking institutions and bankerswho 'launder' Dope, Inc.'s ill-gotten gains...Shut down the drugmoney-laundering by the major Anglo-American banks, and the dopecartel would choke to death on its own profits... Dope, Inc.'svulnerable flank is the international network of banks and otherfinancial institutions that 'launder' the cartel's $558 billionper year in gross revenue... Action by governments against thedrug bankers could rapidly shut down Dope, Inc.."DOPE, INC., Executive IntelligenceReview, 1992"Even open-minded peoplewill often find themselves unable to take seriously the likesof Noam Chomsky, Edward Herman, Howard Zinn and Susan George onfirst encountering their work; it just does not seem possiblethat we could be so mistaken in what we believe. The individualmay assume that these writers must be somehow joking, wildly over-statingthe case, paranoid, or have some sort of axe to grind. We mayactually become angry with them for telling us these terriblethings about our society and insist that this simply 'can't betrue'. It takes real effort to keep reading, to resist the reassuringmessages of the mass media and be prepared to consider the evidenceagain."David Edwards"The Depression [1929]was not accidental. It was a carefully contrived occurrence. Theinternational bankers sought to bring about a condition of despairhere [United States] so that they might emerge as rulers of usall."Louis T. McFadden, Chairman ofthe U.S. House of Representatives' Banking and Currency Committee,1932Becomeinformed - authors pageBecomeinformed - excerpted books sorted alphabeticallyBecomeinformed - excerpted books sorted by subjectPREPARE FOR A PLUTOCRAT-CONTROLLED NEOLIBERAL ECONOMIC ORDER AND GLOBAL AUTHORITARIANISM Things are moving rapidly. Inequalityin America is extreme. Authoritarianism is increasing. Beforewe realize it, America's democratic experiment will have endedin failure, and possibly chaos. Societies with extreme inequalityhave always come to ignoble ends. The question is whether Americawill end with a whimper, or with a bang.American hubris has resulted in global economic chaos and strategicconfrontation. We are no longer the only superpower. Both Russiaand China, once great empires, want a second chance at globalprosperity and respect. As the U.S. is forced by circumstancesto abandon its role as the sole global policeman and economicpowerhouse, others are ready to take its place. But, dying empiresare known to flail about and fight viciously to preserve theirformer hegemony. And, it looks like the United States will notgo quietly into the night.U. S. power was at its peak following World War II. America ruledthe globe economically and militarily. It's influence was ubiquitousand its soft power seemingly unlimited. But, arrogance and greedhave turned the United States into a pariah. We are feared forour power, but no longer respected for our institutions. Inequality,injustice, corruption, and our projection of violence, have turnedmuch of the world against us.Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century, the UnitedStates rhetorically lauded the benefits of democracy, while underminingdemocratically-elected governments everywhere. U.S.-sponsoredcoups and "color revolutions" dressed-up as spontaneouspopular uprisings, have shown that democratic governments arenot well-suited to withstand 21st century 'realpolitik'.Developing countries, which once looked to the United States asa model for political and economic development, are re-evaluatingwhether democracy is their best political choice. As the economicand political might of Russia and China grow, so does their influence.And, as the United States repeatedly demonstrates how easily itcan manipulate elections and exploit popular unrest, while hypocriticallypreaching about democracy, developing countries may conclude thatauthoritarian government may be their best survival option.The result: democracy will be leftin the dustbin of history.On the economic front, a new feudalism is emerging. As work ismade contingent and part-time, employee benefits are cut, operationsare moved offshore, unemployment increases, well-paying manufacturingjobs become minimum-wage service jobs, family debt grows, inequalityincreases and opportunities disappear, the United States is beginningto look more like a mal-developed country in the global South,than an economic giant, while American workers, once the envyof the world, struggle to compete with workers in the third world.21st century neoliberal capitalism is producing chaos, globally.Unabashed greed, absence of effective regulation of business activity,and the growth of global casino capitalism have caused untolddamage. Austerity, privatization, extreme financial risk-taking,endemic fraud and market manipulation have combined to producea perfect economic storm.Regulators have stopped regulating,plutocrats continue to accumulate wealth, and politicians grabwhat they can. Nobody trusts anybody, banks won't lend, unemploymentis high and rising, personal debt is staggering, and hardshipand immiseration are growing, while the .01% spends with abandonand economic inequality has achieved heights not seen since theGilded Age of the late 19th century.Business and political elites have shown a willingness to undermineand severely damage their own country's economy, in order to weakena populist government that refuses to support neoliberal economicpolicies that enrich the wealthy. As the economy is covertly sabotaged,the population, unaware that the source of their misery is thebusiness elite, blame the populist leaders, and remove them fromoffice. The result is that neoliberal governments replace populistgovernments, anti-worker policies are adopted and accelerated,the elites grow richer, and the working class suffers even more.In Asia, China's growing economic power is transforming globalfinance. The Chinese yuan may soon take its place as an internationalreserve currency, joining the dollar - or even replacing it. Theglobal impact of the dollar's reserve currency displacement wouldbe enormous.Banks have started restricting cash withdrawals. It is now difficultto take out more than a few thousand dollars in cash from somebanks. Soon it may be nearly impossible to withdraw cash frombank accounts.Some countries are considering becoming cashless societies, wheremoney will no longer be accepted and all monetary transactionswill be digital. The result will be the end of financial privacy.Governments will then have total control over the economic livesof their citizens.In the new "normal" financial environment, banks willprosper by taxing the deposits of savers (rather than paying intereston deposits) or by taking some of the savings of their customers(bail-ins) as needed to enhance their balance sheets.As the economic noose tightens, political turmoil, popular unrestand even global conflict may result.Kleptocratic elites in concert with corrupt political and businessleaders, will not be the solution to the probem - they will bethe problem.Every person will have to fend for himself or herself, and fortheir loved ones, in a more chaotic, less fair, less democratic,more authoritarian world.The time to prepare is now.TRAVELWEATHER"The Council on ForeignRelations (CFR) took control of the ideological foundations ofthe American empire, encompassing the corporate, banking, political,foreign policy, military, media, and academic elite of the nationinto a generally cohesive overall world view. By altering one'sideology to that of promoting such an internationalist agenda,the big money that was behind it would ensure one's rise throughgovernment, industry, academia and media. There are divisionswithin the elite, predicated on the basis of how to use Americanimperial power, where to use it, on what basis to justify it,and other various methodological differences. The divide amongstelites was never on the questions of: should we use American imperialpower, why has America become an Empire, or should there evenbe an empire? If one takes such considerations to heart and questionsthese concepts, be it within the foreign policy establishment,intelligence, military, academia, finance, corporate world, ormedia; chances are, such a person is not a member of the CFR."Andrew Gavin Marshall"The privatization of publicservices and functions manifests the steady evolution of corporatepower into a political form, into an integral, even dominant partnerwith the state. It marks the transformation of American politicsand its political culture from a system in which democratic practicesand values were, if not defining, at least major contributingelements, to one where the remaining democratic elements of thestate and its populist programs are being systematically dismantled."Sheldon WolinTRAVELHEALTH"If it had not been forthe discontent of a few fellows who had not been satisfied withtheir conditions, you would still be living in caves. Intelligentdiscontent is the mainspring of civilization. Progress is bornof agitation. It is agitation or stagnation."Eugene Debs"What is masquerading asgovernment is a crime syndicate with a flag. The US Governmentis an instrument of organized crime, alternatively described asthe Octopus, the Washington Consensus, the Shadow Government,Wall Street, the Round Table (Bilderbergs, Trilaterals, Councilon Foreign Relations, Royal Institute of International Affairs),and the New World Order."Nikki AlexanderTRAVELLINKS"Patriotism has got tobe more than hanging out a flag and then sitting on your ass watchingjets bomb Afghanistan."Ruth Coniff"American government iscorrupt. Those who have enough money can almost get anything theywant from our government, whether it is tax breaks, or subsidies,or policies and laws changed, removed, or added.... Today CEOs and wealthy businessmen are the ruling elite inthe Western world, especially the United States. Their donationsfinance elections and even education, which they are constantlysaying has to adapt itself to the needs of the market (that is,be molded to inculcate their views). It should come as no surprisetherefore that the theories offered by economists rationalizethe self-interest of big business and the wealthy. Overtly, ofcourse, such theories claim to benefit society and the public'swell-being. But covertly, they do just the opposite: they makethe great mass of people poorer while making the rich fabulouslyricher."Ravi Batra in his book "TheNew Golden Age"TRAVELINFORMATION"So important did militaryspending and the military-industrial sector become during WorldWar II and the Cold War that they have become fundamental to theU.S. economy, U.S. economic growth and above all U.S. technologicaldevelopment. Despite its often almost incredible wastefulnessand corruption, this military spending has also been in some waysa kind of unacknowledged but rather successful state industrialdevelopment strategy in a country whose free market ideology meantthat it could not formally adopt or admit to such a strategy."David EdwardsTHIRDWORLD TRAVEL"The Party seeks powerentirely for its own sake, We are not interested in the good ofothers; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxuryor long life or happiness: only power, pure power... We are differentfrom all the oligarchies of the past, in that we know what weare doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves,were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the RussianCommunists came very close to us in their methods, but they neverhad the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended,perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillinglyand for a limited time, and that just round the corner there laya paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We arenot like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with theintention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is anend. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguarda revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish thedictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The objectof torture is torture. The object of power is power."from George Orwell's 1949 novel"1984"