Being reflective; personally taking stock of a situation, or issue, seems to be antonymic to the nature of most people who prefer that matters be handled by leaders of groups they belong to.  Whether the issue is government, war, crime, drug-addiction, or most anything else, they are quick to pass the buck, determining that it really isn’t up to them to take stock… with that 50’s mentality that “father knows best.”  And as a year comes to an end, instead of personally taking stock and weighing what is happening to their nation, Americans’ choice is to keep the mind relaxed and let the President tell them in January’s State of the Union speech “how things really are.”  Let the lies and b-s roll!

My background as a business counselor compels me to help close this 2007 calendar year with a socio-economic and political statement of “profit and loss;” its bottom line soon to be incorporated into a balance sheet that will give us a snapshot of what we, the stockholders of the Empire, hold as equity entering 2008.

Before we look at the revenue and expense components of America’s P&L, we should take a look at that bottom line, which to no one’s surprise appears as the blood-spilling continuation of embarrassing failures for the seventh straight year, courtesy of the most incompetent management team ever to run the Empire.  Our nation has been piling up losses during this time in such a spendthrift and indurate way to the point all retained success built into the balance sheet throughout the years has been now wiped out, and the losses are already eating away into our investment, our until now untouched legacy of democratic capital.  Bush has succeeded not only in mismanaging the nation’s affairs but he is recklessly leading us into un-chaptered political bankruptcy… sure to happen by the time a new same-old-face president is inaugurated in January 2009.

Few years as this 2007 have brought the United States so little in political and socio-economic revenue, either foreign or domestic.  In the domestic front there was little the government would provide via judicial determinations by the tilted-right Supreme Court (evidenced by the partial abortion and a half dozen other rulings); or needed legislation from Congress; or any constructive leadership by the White House and its appendage, the Pentagon.  Although both houses of Congress were controlled by the lesser-evil party, they could not muster the votes to overrule a veto-happy Bush, whether on issues of war or even providing healthcare for the nation’s children.  It would be difficult to come up with just one significant thing that could be construed as something of value for the nation as a whole coming from any of the three branches of government.

As far as revenue from foreign policy investments, which have been mostly made in the currency of war and threats to other nations, one could hardly expect positive returns.  There was a lower count of dead Americans in Iraq – the only ones we care to count – attributed to the military surge, and little else.  One cannot think of any dividends from foreign sources that could add economic, military, social, or political value to the P&L.  Even in the area of global warming, we antagonized the entire world, losing at year’s end the support of the other Kyoto non-signer, Australia.  A final tally of foreign and domestic accomplishments (revenues) yields nothing but a big fat zero.

Ah!  But if our successes were few or inexistent, our failures can be measured in grand scale, both internationally and domestically.  Our expenses reached levels we would expect from a teenager at the mall having a credit car with “no limit” stamped on all four corners.  Monetarily, our insatiable borrowing, not only from the savings of people in other countries but from our own future generations, reached a level not only difficult to understand mathematically, but impossible to accept morally.  And our dysfunctional, make-believe, consumption-driven economy has brought the nation to the edge of the precipice, with overvalued assets in both real estate and stock market to a figure now approaching the nation’s entire annual GDP of over US$13 trillion.

Little needs to be said about our overseas failures, not just in the Middle East, where we have erred miserably in an unjustified and chimeric pseudo-protection of Israel, but everywhere else as well.  After seven years of trying, Bush finally succeeded in making Russia once again a potential enemy of the US, instead of a friend and partner in seeking harmony for the world.  And the tally of potential enemies, and disappointed friends, grows as nations in both Africa and Latin America no longer see a mutuality of interests between the United States and themselves.

One could easily conclude that the US government is not only coldhearted towards the peoples of the world, but cares little about its own citizenry, its interest being solely in self-perpetuating its power, and the financial welfare of a select-few who control the lion’s share of wealth and power, in America and elsewhere where capitalism flourishes.

This exiting 2007 was for me one more session for Bush et al to chisel at the shrinking equity that Americans have in America; a year in which a mendacious government continued  whittling away on those unalienable rights of man, stated in our Constitution as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

For years we have observed how social and political events have taken place in this nation clearly pushing it towards the path of fascism, American fascism; real fascism, but rooted in this United States; a fascism different from Hitler’s, or Mussolini’s or even Franco’s, but fascism nonetheless. These days, our own NS-Frauenschaft provides the nation with fascist whores who trot with impunity up and down Main Street, anywhere in this land of ours, dressed in vibrant, patriotic red-white-and-blue colors; dollar-stars in their eyes; silver crosses as pendants; and, yes, unabashedly toting bibles.  Our Lady Liberty has now been replaced by replicas of a fascist libertine; a libertine venerated as the immaculate virgin-mother of corporate, military and evangelical America.

Yet, with such clarity provided by this year’s socio-economic and political statement, Americans remain undeterred, meekly consenting to everything the government puts on their plates, eating their soylent green as if it were the greatest gourmet delicacy.

© 2007 Ben Tanosborn

www.tanosborn.com

Tags: congress, democracy, economics, empire, Global, government, history, imperialism
Categories: Commentary, Global, Economics, government, Congress, Empire, History, Imperialism
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An Article by:

Steve Hammons

December 21, 2007

According to a recent Scripps Howard News Service/Ohio University poll, “Nearly two-thirds of Americans think it is possible that some federal officials had specific warnings of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, but chose to ignore those warnings.”

That was the conclusion explored in a Nov. 20, 2007 article by Kevin Crowe, a reporter for Scripps Howard News Service, and Guido H. Stempel III, director of the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University, Athens, Ohio.

Crowe and Stempel noted that in a Scripps Howard/Ohio University survey in July 2006, “more than one-third of Americans thought federal officials assisted in the 9/11 attacks or took no action to stop them so the United States could go to war in the Middle East.”

The survey looked at Americans’ distrust of the federal government in general and at specific topics like the 9/11 attacks, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, rigging of international oil prices and questions about what the federal government knows about UFOs and extraterrestrial visitation to Earth.

Crowe and Stempel reported that the survey “was conducted by telephone Sept. 24 to Oct. 10 among 811 adult residents of the United States who were selected at random. The survey was conducted by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University under a grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation and has a margin of error of about 4 percent.”

In their article, Crowe and Stempel quote several experts and authors on facts and theories involved that may affect Americans’ views on alleged cover-ups and conspiracies.

Of course, when we say “the federal government,” we must look at many individuals, groups, departments and agencies as well as forces behind the scenes. There are many good and honorable people and groups within the federal government. There may also be people and groups that do not fit into these categories.

Two apparently unrelated topics of interest addressed in the survey were the 9/11 attacks and questions about UFOs and extraterrestrial visitation. Looking at these might provide examples of the reasons for doubts by Americans.

QUESTIONS ABOUT 9/11

Various questions have been raised by the 9/11 Commission, experts, investigators and the general public. These questions apparently have fueled mistrust of the “official story” of the 9/11 attacks.

Some of these questions include, but are not limited to, the following:

- FBI agents, intelligence officers, national security officials and international intelligence personnel reportedly were raising red flags about a pending attack, but their intelligence allegedly was not responded to by the appropriate civilian chains of command.

- Certain people and groups publicly indicated that “a new Pearl Harbor” was needed to provoke Americans to expand certain military operations and defense spending.

- There reportedly was a desire by some to invade Iraq (and possibly Iran and/or Syria) and a justification for the American people and the international community was needed.

- Several air defense military maneuvers and training activities were ongoing around the time frame of 9/11. These exercises depleted available U.S. Air Force air assets and caused confusion among military and civilian air traffic controllers and air defense personnel.

- Stock market transactions, known as “put options,” were made regarding the stock of the two airlines involved prior to the 9/11 attacks. These particular transactions were especially unusual.

- Certain officials were reportedly advised not to fly around the time frame of 9/11.

- At the Pentagon, the debris and type of damage done to the building is not consistent with the impact of a passenger jet, according to some determinations by experts.

- In Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the debris field at the alleged impact site seemed inconsistent with the crash of a passenger jet, some people state.

EXTRATERRESTRIAL VISITATION

Since the late 1940s, the sightings of unusual objects in the sky have been a topic of great interest in the U.S. and around the world. There have been many indications that some of these objects could possibly be related to spacecraft from outside our normal understanding. That is, they may not be conventional human-made craft or other technology.

Some of the questions and discussion about so-called “unidentified flying objects (UFOs)” include, but are not limited to the following:

- References to unusual flying objects can be found throughout human history in written material and art.

- American WWII pilots reported seeing “foo fighters” during military operations. These were unusual objects flying near U.S. aircraft.

- In 1947, Army Air Corps personnel at Roswell Army Air Base in Roswell, New Mexico, apparently concluded that a “flying saucer” that may have been extraterrestrial in origin had crashed nearby.

- After that event, some researchers allege that President Harry Truman created a special group of scientists and top military officials to try to understand and coordinate this challenging situation.

- There are reports that as part of the evolving developments, further U.S. diplomatic contact was made with more than one extraterrestrial race that was visiting Earth. According to some of these claims, advanced technology was provided to U.S. officials in exchange for cooperation.

- Sightings and contacts of various kinds between people around the world and what are alleged to be extraterrestrial activities have been reported in many countries.

- Other aspects of the alleged situation involve efforts to prepare the American people, and people around the world, about the surprising development of contact with extraterrestrial civilizations. Books, articles, movies and other communications platforms reportedly have been used to help in this process.

NEED TO KNOW

The concept of “need to know” is one used in various military, intelligence and other circles. That is, some information is sensitive and if a person does not have a need to know it, don’t tell them.

Certainly, information security can be important and this has its place. At the same time, freedom of information, knowledge and understanding are also important for us, especially in a democracy. Secrecy can sometimes be unwise, unethical or dangerous.

The distrust of certain elements of the federal government reported in the Scripps Howard News Service/Ohio University poll are both cause for concern and might also be a healthy and natural response to our current situation. There may very well be valid justifications for this distrust.

As we decide what we have a need to know and what we do not, Americans will undoubtedly continue to be vigilant in protecting their Constitutional rights and liberties, perceiving various internal and external dangers, and maintaining a healthy understanding about the dangers of excessive secrecy and power on the part of the federal government.

Research like that in the Scripps Howard News Service/Ohio University poll can help us “get on the same page” and recognize that many of us are thinking along similar lines. This might unify us and move us toward success, peace, progress, preparedness and prosperity in the future.
- - -
To read the article on the Web site of the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University, visit:

http://newspolls.org/story.php?story_id=66

******************

AmericanChronicle.com
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=46800

Tags: agency, anomalous cognition, citizens, government, military, Steve Hammons, Terrorism
Categories: Commentary, government, Terrorism, military, Steve Hammons
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Time Magazine, in their annual declaration of the individual that qualifies as the most influential person of the year, cited Ron Paul, not as the most influential, but as a person worthy of mention. However, in the brief description of Ron Paul and his political advocacies, Time Magazine incorrectly portrayed Paul as an isolationist when it comes to foreign policy:

Booed by Republicans for his [bold face added to original text] isolationist foreign policy views and anathema to Democrats for his anti-government philosophy, the Texas congressman was proudly out of step with both political parties. But marching to his own drummer, the grandfatherly libertarian found himself leading an online parade. Millions of dollars poured into his quixotic presidential campaign, raising an inevitable question: What’s next for this free-thinking and strangely compelling grassroots crusader?

This characterization of Paul is patently false, and Time Magazine needs to correct its erroneous description of Ron Paul and his political positions.

In actuality, Ron Paul is a non-interventionist; which is certainly a marked distinction from the foreign policy philosophy of an isolationist. Ron Paul does not want America to look inward, not taking an interest and a role in geopolitical affairs. Rather, Paul is opposed to a foreign policy that is modeled upon an international activist programme, whereby America feels obliged to intervene in the domestic affairs of other countries, even if through military force.

We have suffered – for the last 6 years – under a Presidential regime that has acted belligerently toward other nations, and has, indeed, militarily invaded non-aggressor states in order to install regimes that are favorable to the United States. It is precisely this militarism, which is the hallmark of the Bush Administration, to which Ron Paul is opposed.

Please inform the Time Magazine associate responsible for writing this description of Ron Paul that you take exception to his erroneous characterization of Ron Paul’s foreign policy philosophy.

Please consider writing to the editor, in order to ensure that Time Magazine makes a correction to its incorrect portrayal of Ron Paul.  You can find the mistatement regarding Ron Paul at the following uri:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/0,28804,1690753_1690758_1693558,00.html

Russell Cole

Tags: foreign policy, Global, government, imperialism, military, neoconservatism, politics, war
Categories: Commentary, Global, government, Politics, War, Foreign Policy, Imperialism, military, neoconservatism
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Meanings of human ‘intelligence,’ new discoveries are important in 21st century
An Article by:
Steve Hammons

Originally Published on:
December 20, 2007
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=46675

It seems helpful for us to continue expanding the meaning of “intelligence” in the 21st century and recognize that the word intelligence has many meanings, including new meanings.

For example, in my two novels, MISSION INTO LIGHT and the sequel LIGHT’S HAND, the San Diego-based joint-service “Joint Reconnaissance Study Group” intelligence team and their friends conduct research on mysterious topics that have captured the interest of millions of people worldwide.

Readers join the research team of ten women and men in the exploration of strange and unknown phenomena, and of themselves.

I have said it before and I will say it again: Right now, the human race needs all the intelligence we can get our hands on — intelligence in the broadest meaning of that word.

The dedicated members of the “JRSG” intel team conduct investigations into current and future human evolution, deep-memory DNA theories, anomalous cognition (ESP) and remote viewing, near-death experiences, Navy dolphin projects, past and future Earth geological disasters, UFOs, crop circles, and Native American culture and legends.

They travel from San Diego to the Arizona Sonoran Desert, Sedona, Arizona, the “Four Corners” area, Durango, Colorado, in the southern Rockies, New Mexico and Oahu, Hawaii.

The researchers try to put together pieces of a strange cosmic puzzle. They conduct urgent operations to understand emerging intelligence affecting the United States, the human race and planet Earth.

Sudden, seemingly miraculous events surprise even the most open-minded and hopeful members of the group.

Or maybe these events and processes are just natural. Maybe Nature, Earth and the Great Spirit are revealing phenomena the human race is finally ready to understand.

TEAM MISSION

The Joint Reconnaissance Study Group is given a mission that is described as follows:

Mission Identification:

The Joint Reconnaissance Study Group (JRSG) is a research entity designed to utilize the resources of the Department of Defense and national intelligence services in the missions to be defined by the Congress of the United States, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the President of the United States.

JRSG personnel will endeavor to investigate intelligence-related matters deemed relevant to the national security of the United States of America.

Areas to be explored by JRSG will be regarded as TOP SECRET / SCI, using the compartmented code word BOONE. Need-to-know protocol will be in force. Study groups within JRSG will be compartmented to the degree necessary.

Cross-fertilization of data and intelligence will be at the discretion of study group team members and the commanding officer of JRSG. Research and investigative findings will be compiled and interpreted by the senior officers on each team and submitted to the JRSG CO for communication to higher command authorities.

Group Structure and Personnel:

JRSG teams will be structured as follows to enhance cross-service, and cross-agency cooperation and communication. Initial organization of study teams include three, three-person groups. The JRSG CO, Colonel Thomas O’Brien, U.S. Air Force, will have direct command and full discretionary command and control.

- Team One: Commander Daniel Wells, U.S. Navy; Lieutenant Commander James Etienne, U.S. Navy; Captain Amy Mella, U.S. Air Force

- Team Two: Colonel Edward Thompson, U.S. Army; Captain William MacNeil, U.S. Army; Michael Green

- Team Three: Colonel Gene Voss, U.S. Marine Corps; Major Karen Valdez, U.S. Air Force; Jennifer Thorsen

Areas of Research:

JRSG teams will conduct broad-based, yet narrowly focused research and investigations into areas as identified and directed by the JRSG CO. These areas will include, but will not be limited to, the following general categories:

1) Unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Alleged abductions of humans by same. Reported technology and method of operations.

2) Extra-sensory perception (ESP). Alleged perception of information available to human beings through means other than the five senses.

3) Near-death experience (NDE). Alleged contacts with Heavenly persons and afterlife-type phenomena reported by persons experiencing clinical death.

4) Research in sub-atomic and quantum physics and how these fields may affect or illuminate the above areas.

5) DNA and other genetics studies and how these fields may affect or illuminate the above areas.

6) Native American culture and history and how it may affect or illuminate the above areas.

7) Cross-theoretical/cross-cultural religious and philosophical studies and how they may affect or illuminate the above areas.
Methods and Goals:

JRSG personnel will conduct field interviews and other information and intelligence gathering tasks as directed by the JRSG CO. JRSG teams will pursue intelligence and reconnaissance based on their investigative discretion and initiative.

Senior officers Commander Daniel Wells, Colonel Edward Thompson, and Colonel Gene Voss will report directly to the JRSG CO. JRSG CO Colonel Thomas O’Brien will report directly to the National Security Council, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the President of the United States.
JRSG teams will endeavor to conduct reconnaissance on the seven general areas of study and maintain security of the intelligence collected. The JRSG will be granted the full cooperation of all military commands and civilian governmental agencies. Reports will be channeled from JRSG field teams to the JRSG CO on an as needed basis at the discretion of senior team officers.

UNCONVENTIONAL GROUP

In MISSION INTO LIGHT, what starts out as a phone call and job offer to forty-something Arizonan Mike Green quickly evolves into a mystifying adventure into the unknown.

Mike is recruited into a quasi-scientific Defense Department research team based in San Diego. He starts his job with the Joint Reconnaissance Study Group on San Diego’s Point Loma peninsula. Ten women and men comprise the JRSG. Several loyal allies, and deadly opponents, soon emerge.

The JRSG and its friends search for information on unusual national security-related issues and mysteries. They look into crop circles, dolphin intelligence, deep DNA memory theories, UFOs, ESP, modern physics, near-death experiences, so-called “Earth changes” and “pole shift” concepts, and Native American culture and legends.

Connections between these areas are discovered as well as links to the past and the future of Earth and the human race. The women and men of the research group explore ancient questions and modern discoveries crucial to the evolution and survival of humanity.

They face experiences that are scientific, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. The group uncovers dangerous threats to their investigation, to the United States, Earth, and human civilization.

Mike feels he’s getting in over his head at times. Even with the support and fellowship of the research group and friends, he faces extreme circumstances alone.

In the midst of dangers and challenges, there is romantic heat between him and Amy Mella, one of the group’s dolphin researchers.

This is also a story of relationships between women and men, military and civilian, the intelligence community and the average American. It is an exploration of phenomena and mysteries that now rightly hold the interest and attention of millions of people worldwide.

The story climaxes in a hidden canyon on the Navajo Nation in far northeastern Arizona. In a kiva, one of the large sunken stone circles of the ancient Anasazi people, many VIPs attend a special field conference. Sudden discoveries, dangers, and the experience of the strange unknown shock those present.

The characters in MISSION INTO LIGHT follow paths of discovery and knowledge to find new understanding of their nation, the human species, and the hoped-for breakthrough that will change the world.

FRIENDS AND DISCOVERIES

In MISSION INTO LIGHT, members of the JRSG, their friends and associates work together and carefully share information about research areas related to their missions.

For example, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, JRSG members Mike Green and Army Special Forces Captain Bill MacNeil interview Dr. Brenda Carruthers, associate professor of anthropology, New Mexico State University, about unconventional research topics.

Another interesting development is when former U.S. Marine and World War II Navajo Code Talker Joe Bear has a vision during a sweat lodge with fellow former Code Talkers near his home on the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona.

On an operation in the Sedona area, in the Red Rock-Secret Mountain Wilderness Area, Mike has a near-death experience and enters into an apparent DNA deep-memory phenomena. He learns about connections between UFOs, extraterrestrials and Native Americans in the era before European conquest of the ancient Cherokee homeland in the Smokey Mountain region. He also learns about pending unconventional developments.

Later, JRSG member Air Force Captain Amy Mella has a vivid dream about a huge catastrophe on Earth, possibly geological in nature. She and Mike meet with fellow JRSG member Navy Commander Dan Wells to discuss Wells’ knowledge about theories of Earth geological changes, including crustal displacement and crustal pole shift theories.

Also in the novel, based on the real-life 1997 “Phoenix Lights” event that made national headlines, multiple witnesses in Arizona and the metro Phoenix area see a large triangle or boomerang-shaped craft drift silently over the city, going from northwest to southeast, one evening.

And in the final chapter, at a special seminar of sorts in an ancient kiva, at the bottom of a hidden canyon near the Monument Valley area, dozens of guests and VIPs witness, and experience, a strange anti-gravity phenomenon. As this unfolds other unusual and urgent developments at the top of the canyon include the appearance of a triangular-shaped craft that plays a key role in the final climax.

THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES

In this sequel, LIGHT’S HAND, readers continue on a thought-provoking metaphysical adventure with the top secret Joint Reconnaissance Study Group.

This small Defense Department research team continues their intelligence investigation of unusual phenomena.

Other strange phenomena emerge and challenge the researchers, who travel from their San Diego base to the Four Corners area, Durango, Colorado, and Flagstaff, Arizona, as well as the Arizona Sonoran Desert.

The main characters, Mike and Amy, are deployed to the Navajo Nation in northeast Arizona after the National Security Agency reports a strange signal coming from deep space. The message is in Morse code, and in the World War Two Navajo Code Talker code.

In the midst of urgent developments in and around the Four Corners area, Mike and Amy explore the depths of their love relationship and learn more about each other. About their passion, and compassion.

The dedicated researchers put together pieces of a cosmic puzzle just in the nick of time. Because strange and mysterious developments are underway. A sudden increase in crop circles, requests for safe houses on higher ground, and an ancient Cherokee legend are parts of this puzzle.

A breakthrough occurs when a strange event and process kicks the researchers into high gear, and the group acts as a rapid response team to the site of a possible miracle.

MORE INTEL AND RECON

As the second novel begins, two National Security Agency officials visit WWII Marine Code Talker veteran Joe Bear at his home on the Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona. They ask him to interpret signals the NSA has picked up coming from deep space. The signals are in Morse Code and World War II Marine Corps Navajo Code Talker code.

From New Mexico, Mike, Amy and CIA analyst Jennifer Thorsen interview Dr. Ben Westman, former Army intelligence major and anthropology professor at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, about unconventional research topics.

Meanwhile, back in San Diego, Air Force Colonel Tom O’Brien, commanding officer of the Joint Reconnaissance Study Group, returns from top secret briefings and meetings back east. He contemplates the implications of what he has learned and how these things fit into the mission of his group.

Up in the Four Corners, Mike, Amy and Jennifer leave Durango for Flagstaff, Arizona where they visit a book-signing at a local bookstore by a Cherokee author and story-teller.

He tells a story strikingly similar to the vision Mike was given by his grandparents during a near-death experience in MISSION INTO LIGHT. In that experience, Mike seemed to go back in time, and into his own ancient DNA of his Cherokee ancestry to a strange incident.

Mike, Amy and Jennifer conduct a field interview with the author to obtain more information.

Then, many developments begin to converge including increased global appearance of crop circles, detection of undersea fault activity by Navy dolphins and other matters.

Members of the Joint Reconnaissance Study Group continue their operations and prepare for a possible significant event to occur as part of, yet distinct from, a steady process they have become aware of.

Suddenly, in the early morning hours on the north side of Phoenix, Arizona, a strange light slowly and gently emerges. Public safety personnel and the JRSG members respond to the scene … and find that something very significant is occurring, something that changes the world.

Tags: education, government, history, military, war
Categories: Commentary, government, Education, War, History, military
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An Article by:

Ben Tanosborn

Subprime loans, my foot!  That subprime fiasco, which is likely to mount losses between one-half and one trillion dollars, is just a small part of the true real estate problem which little by little is starting to take shape; a problem that Wall Street, politicians, economists, and the public at large have been unwilling to talk about, much less confront.  And that is, the multi-trillion dollar excess valuation of real estate in the nation, in both residential and commercial markets; something which for the next 3 to 5 years, at a minimum, will have the US immersed in a recession, a modified version of the one experienced in Japan throughout the 90’s and the first 2 years of the new millennium.

With that introduction, and my crystal ball over a table at center stage, I bring a vision that comes into focus as realities zoom in; a vision which could change drastically the way Americans will be looking at politics by mid-2008 with elections just four months away.  By then, there will be two candidates in place running for the White House, with an overwhelming majority of Americans wishing there was somebody else they could vote for, someone able to get them out of a snowballing real estate mess, then starting to accelerate.  Unfortunately, it will be too late, and we’ll be stuck with two candidates from two parties that always get us into these predicaments that economists and politicians simply dismiss as economic cycles that clear our capitalist system of these so-called excesses, what some describe as accumulated economic debris.

Economic cycles perhaps… but very definitely predictable and largely avoidable.  At least the government should advocate and adopt policies that can dampen, flatten that economic sine wave that dislocates not just capital, but people’s lives.  These cycles have less to do with the workings of a free market, and a lot more to do with lack of necessary governmental controls to curb irresponsible, illicit business conduct and also restrain greed out of control, as it’s always the case with real estate, creating what some may consider punitive levels of taxation.  But, of course, our love of predatory capitalism does not permit any tampering with the Wild West way of doing things.

Realtors throughout the country, in their ever present monopolistic ways and self-serving behavior – holding a good part of the blame in our present state of affairs – continue heralding their lies, forecasting that housing will buck up next year.  Never mind that prices have nowhere to go but down, 20 to 30 percent depending on which metro area or region.  They and those who suck from the same udder – the local newspapers for one – are inundating us with ridiculously optimistic articles and informational data skewed to tell us something they wish to be true, but that is not.

Polls tell us that most people feel that their houses are keeping their value.  Of course, that will always be the case until they have a true, non-speculative, “need” to sell; home prices, more so than commercial properties, have always been sticky, sliding down slowly in contrast with the exuberance exhibited on the way up during those greedy and obscene “flipping days.”  And now that we have reached the limits of affordability and have touched the ceiling, we simply have no room left to grow… just like the price of tulip bulbs in Holland almost four centuries ago.  Has it occurred to Realtors, or anyone else for that matter, that when you talk about housing costs you have to go beyond the mortgage payments and include all other associated expenditures including those of maintenance and energy costs required to keep livable those 2,000-3,000 sq. ft. palacettes?  Undoubtedly these things are known but kept in the hamper with all the other unmentionables, but laundry day has finally arrived. 

This past weekend, Portland-Oregon, an area touted as one of four in the nation where residential real estate prices “presumably” remain steady, was home to the largest homes-auction on record, 240; all owned by one builder.  There were 141 homes sold, all but 6 of them below the so-called “reserve price” which according to the builder, Pollock, represents “his cost”… which can mean just about anything – believe me, I know; that’s my field of expertise in an industry that I intimately know.

But I didn’t have to attend the auction. I already knew that prices in this metro area have decreased from 10 to 15 percent of those a year ago, although Realtors and builders tell us a much different story, drawn from flawed or skewed data, to prove a senseless argument that they are sure to lose.  And here in the Portland-Vancouver area we still have a long way to go, perhaps another 15 to 20 percent drop in prices… or more.

And with little or no equity in our homes, overnight we have become from “psyched rich” to “resisting poor”… with our ATM-homes unable to spit out any more funds, and our homes finally becoming what they always were: brick, mortar and a roof over our heads… and absolutely nothing else.

But these real estate ills are not all our wonderful Fed has bestowed on us in its desire to please the White House; as if that weren’t enough, they have marched us into an era of stagflation.

© 2007 Ben Tanosborn
www.tanosborn.com

Tags: economics, economists, economy, plastic, policy, politics, social responsibility
Categories: Commentary, Economics, Politics, social responsibility
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An Article by:

Ben Tanosborn

America, more than anything else, more than the proverbial land of opportunity, is very definitely something else. This nation of ours appears to be, first and foremost, a land of contradictions where, while the polls indicate most people feel the nation is being led in the wrong direction, we seem inclined to follow the same pied piper foreign policy.

Like it or not, in the US you cease to be an American (or rather, a “good American”) in the mind of your family, friends and neighbors the moment you deny the sacred dogma of inerrancy in US foreign policy. It may seem irrational to some people – either the statement on its face or what it’s implied by it – but deep inside that is the attitudinal belief of a vast majority of Americans I know and, I would venture to guess, most Americans anyone might know. And yet, that “patriotic majority,” so similar to me to the “moral majority” of time past, prefer not to think of themselves in any way, shape or form as nativists, jingoists, or otherwise exclusionary… convinced they are just down-to-earth regular folks: Main Street America.

Shortly after 9/11, political America – Democrats and Republicans – decided that it was about time to set aside their minute differences in foreign policy and act as a true united front. After all, they could always maintain some semblance of independence in the domestic arena, keeping a presumed differentiation alive and well… as if the gross mislabeling of the conservative and liberal captions defined how either party stood.

To our national detriment, including America’s standing in the world, such unnecessary and unwarranted united front was adopted by our political duopoly without as much as the blink of an eye; its ideas quickly permeating, and finding acceptance, through much of the citizenry of Main Street America. That citizen’s consent to relinquish rights and freedoms, giving blind permission, authorization, license and sanction allowing Bush’s White House to do as it pleased – all too often in open acts of criminality – has made it starkly clear that even if we claim to live under democratic rule, a so-called rule of law, our republic operates under a much different rule: the rule of consentership. And we, the citizenry, are simply the consenters! Such role reversal has made Americans the doting citizens of their uncle, Sam, an embarrassingly felonious uncle at that.

Let’s stop being hypocrites! Let’s stop blaming Bush for our own cowardice and lack of civic guts. Empowering a selected – not elected – government; granting clearance for the neocons to act; giving Bush the green light to invade Iraq; tolerating the usurping of our rights and freedoms; and going along with blatant economic malfeasance that is sure to bankrupt this nation, is unmistakably defining the highest level of consentership: what some of us would call the ultimate political pass.

Could it be that we are consenting because that is exactly what we want? That deep inside we know that someone needs to do the dirty work on our behalf, and that there needs to be a price paid? Are we really accomplices as much as we are consenters? Isn’t this a form of a dictatorship by that antidemocratic triumvirate that rules our lives: predatory capitalism, wasteful consumerism, and religious fundamentalism?

It’s beginning to look as if in early 2008, consentership will continue to dominate our Tweedledum-Tweedledee politics with Republicans and Democrats achieving renewed solidarity in foreign affairs, be it the forever-occupation (or negotiated presence) of Iraq, a non-stop continuing demonization of Iran and other “terror-villains,” or the constant denunciation of any nation that challenges our imperial hegemony and right to collect tribute in any way we see fit. Bush will soon be on his way out, but rest assured that his replacement will be a clone; or, as it is now starting to look, “a Bush in drag.” Perhaps we continue to be led astray with the promise of a lesser evil approach in domestic governance, but it will not be a lesser evil in the areas that are essential to bring trusting understanding among peoples of the world; it will not be a recipe to achieve peace on this earth, just as the organic compounds were to achieve life.

Of late, we have been looking at what is happening in Greater Russia, and are totally befuddled by the confrontational attitude of Mr. Putin. A man that not so long ago our own Duce, after looking into his eyes, tabbed as his straightforward, trustworthy friend Vladimir. My God, can someone explain how our prophetic, infallible Bush was able to get a sense of Putin’s soul and just a few years later have him turn against us?

But we shouldn’t fret over Putin’s reaction to our accustomed imperialist behavior, nor should we be surprised at his popularity in Greater Russia. Just like here in the US, there is also an apparent consensus in the neo-czarist land of Vladimir Putin, with an overwhelming majority matching their consentership against our very own. If we can be bipartisan in adopting – preserving might be a more appropriate word – an imperial foreign policy, it’s understandable that the Russians’ newly found economic success and national pride have turned their political behavior into one of consentership. The US should not expect anything better after our “screw-you” behavior during their cold turkey exit from communism, and now our insolence of trying to park missiles at their borders.

Consentership may not be dangerously consequential for small groups or nations that have no influence beyond their memberships or borders. For an imperial superpower it can turn out to be the most extreme among political extremes, perhaps the worst form of dictatorship. After all, we are consenting to the rule of a very few… and those few have been granted the power to push the nuclear button at will, to turn daylight into permanent night.

And we have the gall to criticize some nations because we tag them as dictatorships!

© 2007 Ben Tanosborn

Tags: american empire, anti imperialism, bush, citizens, democracy, economics, empire, Global, imperialism, liberty, National, political parties, politics
Categories: Commentary, National, Economics, Democracy, liberty, Politics, Empire, Imperialism
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For those of us with backgrounds in literature or the social sciences, we should be familiar with the qualities embodied by the cliché character, the postmodern hero. This form of existence abandons with Modernistic pretenses that we somehow form a unified agent, who possesses the same underlying identity from one occasion to the next, despite the differences that are manifested in our behaviors and temperaments, which take on different forms depending upon the particularities of the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Rather than a single biography, the postmodern hero lives many existences with no underlying congruency that might provide a persistent identity that endures in the face of the differences that depict one’s character and environmental contingencies in situ. The postmodern hero goes from one micro-narrative to the next without integrating the manifold stories that he or she lives into an encompassing meta-narrative that would provide consistency to one’s ego.

Whether or not such a condition – the disintegration of the ego into splintered series of divergent adventures; not unified through a reflexively constructed compilation of overarching motives and intentions that might tell of a encapsulating, singular biography – deserves to be romanticized, which it tends to be in contemporary postmodern literature, merits no treatment in the context of this essay. Rather, I am primarily concerned with the prospects of electing a postmodern hero to the Office of President; an event that we would witness if the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, succeeded in his present aspirations to win the Presidency of this Nation.

If we look to life of Mitt Romney we can find a stunning exemplar of the postmodern hero. This politico has gone from one existential embodiment to the next, caring little for consistency or the appearance of integrity. Indeed, Romney has crafted his persona in a fashion that reflects the immediacy of the present and the contingencies that are particular to it, rather than accounting for the public positions he has held in previous micro-narratives; whether as a Mormon; as the Governor of a liberal Northeastern State; or as a Republican candidate, who is pressured with appealing to the base of the Party: a collection of Evangelicals and economic elitist conservatives; both of which demand of their candidate the embrace of political positions that are in stark contradiction to the policies supported by the amorphous Romney during his performances in micro-narratives whose settings are spatiotemporally distinct from the situation in which he is constructing his current character.

The question then arises, would it be advantageous to elect a postmodern hero to the Presidency, taking into account the disjuncture of the many embodiments assumed by the many identities that have been referenced under Mitt Romney?

The most appropriate response to such a question would be:  Who the hell knows?

Russ Cole

Categories: Commentary
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An Article by

Chuck Adkins

I have been sitting here today, watching the headlines about Mitt Romney and his Mormonism and his so-called Christianity. I also see where he gave a speech, that has been compared to John F. Kennedy’s Speech on his Catholicism. I’ve also watched, as some very well known Republicans have swooned over his speech. I find this quite disturbing. Because I am a Born Again Christian, who believes the Bible IS the True Word of God, Because I reject the Mormon Religion as nothing more than a dangerous, mind-controlling, cult. I am going to give the Blogging world, the TRUTH on Mitt Romney and his involvement in the Mormon Church.

I will forewarn you, this article is quite long, and is quite in-depth… I hereby release this information to the public domain, feel free to use it, as you see fit on your Blog or news service.

I would like to publicly thank Ed Decker, Of Saints Alive in Jesus for his assistance and for providing the information given here.

Here is the Straight Truth about Mitt Romney and his Mormonism:

Looking Back

Almost 30 years ago, the late BYU Professor and LDS author Cleon Skousen founded the Freemen Institute [later to be called The National Center for Constitutional Studies]. The name came from The Book of Mormon.

And those who were desirous that Pahoran should remain chief judge over the land took upon them the name of freemen; and thus was the division among them, for the freemen had sworn or covenanted to maintain their rights and the privileges of their religion by a free government. Alma 51: 6-7

Skousen joined forces with Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority on some major political issues late 70s and early 80s and I was prompted to study out both the public and the LDS insider position on government, the constitution. [The LDS Church says it is a divine document from the hand of God.] Using that research, I produced a Study called “The Mormon Plan for America”.

When George Romney, Mitt’s father, made his aborted run for President in 1968, there was a lot in internal LDS talk about the last days prophecies that the US constitution would hang by a thread to be saved by the elders of the LDS church. Many felt that the day had finally arrived for the actual “Kingdom of God” to be established. But here we are again in 2007 with another Romney who effervesces conservative family values on the cover of Time Magazine as he begins his bid for the country’s highest office.

To many Mormons, this is the beginning of the prophetic ‘End Times’ scenario of the last days of America and the Mormon theocracy that would usher in the millennial reign of Christ. It is in the very blood stream of Mormonism. It is part of the corporate DNA of a whole people group and a subject rarely discussed with outsiders.

This pure form of theocratic, prophet-led government would prepare the way for the ushering in of the millennium, the time when Jesus would return to earth, sit in his temple in Missouri to reign over the earth, with the center of His government here in America, operated as the “Kingdom of God” on earth.
The actual background for all these whispered conversations in Mormon priesthood meetings and meeting houses come from much of the historical documents of the church and the speeches of many of the early church authorities.

It goes something like this. Joseph Smith implemented a program called the United Order in the church. It was a plan of sharing; everything in common, all properties and wealth turned over to and owned by the church and dispersed by the Brethren to the people on an as needed basis with a requirement for good stewardship or loss of use.

It was called the “Kingdom of God.” It was people living as God ordained under the United Order. However, it failed.

It was later determined that it could only work when both the secular and ecclesiastic functions operated under one authority. It required an LDS prophet ruling over a theocratic government where eternal commandments like the United Order and plural marriage and blood atonement would function within “The Kingdom of God”

This Theocracy would come into existence when the U.S. Constitution would hang by a thread and the Mormon elders would be there to save it and the country and thereby usher in The Kingdom of God, the prophesied Mormon theocracy.

On December 7, 1968 Elder Hugh B. Brown presided over the groundbreaking of the LDS Washington D.C. Temple. It was dedicated in November 1974 by the prophet, Spencer W. Kimball.

The unique thing about this temple that struck me as singularly important was the design and furnishing of a large room on the upper floor. A photograph of this room is in the film, The Godmakers. It was set to house a presiding governing body.

It is my own personal belief that it was designed as the place where the theocratic government of God would conduct its business, with the prophet in His place of authority.

Now we jump ahead 40 years to 2007… and the 2008 Presidential election. A whole generation has passed and the son of George Romney has risen to the top of the list of

Mormons who would qualify to take that run at the Oval Office and perhaps be in the right place as President or Vice President as the Constitution hangs by that foretold thread… and be there to call upon the elders, the Brethren to save the nation and soon usher in the “Kingdom of God.”

Far fetched… I would agree that I sound like a man shouting fire in a theatre, but, as you will read, I am talking about valid LDS end-times teachings and events that every Temple Mormon has sworn to help bring to pass.

You will also see that Mitt Romney has been raised and trained for this day. His family has been in the church for generations. He is the great grandson of polygamists Gaskell Romney and Anna Amelia Pratt.1

Mitt Romney is a Temple Mormon, a High Priest, and as such he has sworn blood oaths of sacrifice, obedience and consecration to the church and the “Kingdom of God.” His perfect obedience to these laws will allow him to become a god in the next life, the literal father of the peoples of a new and different earth.

He is truly a Presidential candidate with an actual, definable god complex.

On February 12, 2007, as Mitt Romney announced that he would run for the office of President, he commented in a USA Today, article, “Will Mormon faith hurt bid for White House?” by Jill Lawrence, that…

… It is not his job as a presidential candidate to educate people about his church. “I’m running for a secular position,” he said in an interview. “I subscribe to what Abraham Lincoln called America’s political religion. The Constitution and the rule of law are the highest promises I would make in taking the oath of office.”

Mitt Romney’s understanding of the U.S. Constitution from the LDS perspective and its divine role in the end times is not that of the average American.

Mitt Romney is a nice looking man, successful in the business world, with core values of family, church and faith. He does not smoke, drink or even touch coffee or tea. He has been married to the same woman for decades. He seems like the cure for dealing with the corruption of our national leadership.

What could possibly be wrong in having such a man as our President? Let’s look at some of the reasons his presidency could be the end of America as we know it.

I recently searched through my files and have resurrected and updated the research paper, “The Mormon Plan for America.” That information is part of what I share below.

Some Extremely Grave Questions

Let me re-introduce you to a portion of one chapter in my book, The God Makers, co-authored with Dave Hunt.2 It is a part of Chapter 16: The Hidden Kingdom. I suggest that you buy the book and read the entire story. It will shock you even more than what I will reveal here.

It is a hidden kingdom that lurks beneath the placid surface of public Mormonism. It is this LDS “Kingdom of God” that former Governor, Mitt Romney, in the very sacred act of “taking out His Endowments” has sworn blood oaths of obedience to in the LDS temple ritual.

The late Apostle and LDS theologian, elder Bruce R. McConkie described the Mormon temples as:
“Holy sanctuaries wherein sacred ordinances, rites, and ceremonies are performed which pertain to salvation and exaltation in the kingdom of God are called temples.”

There are several purposes to be achieved in the temple by worthy Mormons. First, they learn the secret/sacred signs, tokens, handshakes necessary to pass by the sentinels and enter the Celestial glory where they will become gods and goddesses and people new earths like this one.

Second, they receive sacred undergarments with talismanic markings to wear for their protection while on earth, a secret new name by which they will be called from the grave. Throughout the temple rituals, they swear obedience to certain laws that will govern their membership, obedience to the prophet and their behavior while on earth.

Mitt Romney’s temple experience was no different when he first received his “endowments” in preparation for his 30 month stint as an LDS Missionary.

The Law of Sacrifice

One of several temple oaths was his oath of Obedience to the Law of Sacrifice, in which he vowed,

“As Jesus Christ has laid down his life for the redemption of mankind, so we should covenant to sacrifice all that we [I] possess, even our [my] own lives [life] if necessary, in sustaining and defending the Kingdom of God.” 3

The “execution of the penalty” for ‘disobedience at the time Mitt Romney took out his “temple Endowments” was demonstrated by

“by placing the thumb under the left ear, the palm of the hand down, and by drawing the thumb quickly across the throat to the right ear, and dropping the hand to the side”4.

It is hard to imagine that well-educated Mormon men of such political stature like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah or Senator Harry Reid of Nevada could bring their thumbs to their throats and swear a blood oath that they will ‘suffer’ their throats slit from ear to ear should they not “sacrifice all that [they] possess, even [their] own lives if necessary, in sustaining and defending the Kingdom of God, as defined by the Mormon prophet.

These LDS oaths are taken directly from the rituals of Blue Lodge Masonry, the source of much of the LDS temple rituals. It is no wonder, since the first five presidents and prophets of the LDS church were Masons.

These high level Temple Mormons clearly know that this Mormon “Kingdom of God” is, in reality, a Mormon one-world government, a theocracy, soon coming to America, that will be run by the strong arm of the Mormon Brethren, headed up by the only true prophet of God on earth. However they look at it, it is very certain that they did swear such an oath.

The Law of Consecration

The other significant oath Mitt Romney has sworn to obey is the Law of Consecration. In the LDS temple ritual, the officiator says to the temple ‘patrons’,

We are instructed to give unto you the Law of Consecration as contained in the book of Doctrine and Covenants, in connection with the Law of the Gospel and the Law of Sacrifice which you have already received. It is that you do consecrate yourselves, your time, talents and everything which the Lord has blessed you, or with which he may bless you, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint, for the building up of the Kingdom of God on the earth and for the establishment of Zion.

All arise. (All patrons stand.) Each of you bring your right arm to the square.

You and each of you covenant and promise before God, angels, and these witnesses at this altar, that you do accept the Law of Consecration as contained in the Doctrine and Covenants, in that you do consecrate yourselves, your time, talents, and everything with which the Lord has blessed you, or with which he may bless you, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for the building up of the Kingdom of God on the earth and for the establishment of Zion.

Each of you bow your head and say “yes.”
PATRONS: Yes.

Now we can see and understand the spiritual positioning of elder Mitt Romney beginning on that day he first swore these oaths and reinforced with every temple visit thereafter. Let’s go back to Chapter 16 of my book, The God Makers.

Secrets of the Hidden Kingdom of God

Mormon leaders call their empire the “Kingdom of God.” However, their “God” is an extraterrestrial, an exalted man from near the great star, Kolob and definitely not the God of the Bible.

Further, the “Zion” to which their spirit-brother-of-Lucifer, Jesus Christ will return to reign is Independence, Missouri, not Jerusalem.

Most Christians believe, as the Bible declares, that Christ will return to Jerusalem, Israel, to establish His millennial kingdom, whereas Mormons believe that they must first establish a worldwide Mormon kingdom controlled from their Missouri base in order to make it possible for Christ to return.

Therein lays a great difference, which is why the Mormon hierarchy, beginning with Joseph Smith himself and continuing down to the present-day leadership, has always had worldwide influence and absolute political power as its divine goal.

Mormon historian Klaus J. Hansen has written,

“The idea of a political kingdom of God, promulgated by a secret Council of Fifty, is by far the most important key to an understanding of the Mormon past.”5

Mormon writer John J. Stewart has said:

“The Prophet established a confidential Council of Fifty, or “Ytfif,” (Fifty spelled backwards), comprised of both Mormons and non-Mormons, to help attend to temporal matters, including the eventual development of a one-world government, in harmony with preparatory plans for the second advent of the Saviour”.6

These things are in the very blood stream of the Mormon corporate consciousness.

Some Extremely Grave Questions

Mormonism seems as American as apple pie, and Mormons seem to be the perfect citizens with their close families, high morals, patriotism, Boy Scout programs, Tabernacle Choir, and conservative politics. A Los Angeles Times article implied that Mormons have recently gained the image of “super-Americans . . . [who] appear to many to be ‘more American than the average American.” 7

This may explain why such a high proportion of Mormons find their way into government. Returned LDS missionaries have “the three qualities the CIA wants: foreign language ability, training in a foreign country, and former residence in a foreign country.”8 Utah (and particularly BYU) is one of the prime recruiting areas for the CIA.

According to BYU spokesman Dr. Gary Williams, “We’ve never had any trouble placing anyone who has applied to the CIA. Every year they take almost anybody who applies.”9

He also admitted that this has created problems with a number of foreign countries, who have complained about the “pretty good dose of [Mormon] missionaries who’ve gone back to the countries they were in as Central Intelligence agents.”10

This may at least partially explain the reported close tie between the Mormon Church and the CIA.11 A disproportionate number of Mormons arrive at the higher levels of the CIA, FBI, military intelligence, armed forces, and all levels of city, state, and federal governments, including the Senate, Congress, Cabinet, and White House Staff.

Sincere and loyal citizens, most of them may be unaware of the secret ambition of The Brethren. What could be better than having such patriots as these serving in strategic areas of government and national security?

Unfortunately, as we have noticed in every other area of Mormonism, the real truth lies hidden beneath the seemingly ideal image of patriotism presented by Mormons in public service. In fact their very presence in responsible government positions, particularly in agencies dealing with national security, raises some extremely grave questions that were expressed in my following letter mailed to the LDS Brethren in Salt Lake City. I also published it as an open letter in the Salt Lake Tribune.

The Mormon Oath of Vengeance
Against this Nation

An open letter to:

The President, First Presidency and members of the General Authorities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

August 21, 1980

Gentlemen:

I was recently reflecting that although the actual blood oath and the oath of vengeance were removed from the Temple ceremonies sometime after 1930, you gentlemen [listing ten of the above] are of an age to have received your own endowments prior to their removal, and therefore, are still under these oaths.

I am particularly interested in your personal position on your oath of vengeance against the United States of America. As you recall, the oath was basically as follows:

You and each of you do solemnly promise and vow that you will pray and never cease to importune high heaven to AVENGE THE BLOOD OF THE PROPHETS (Joseph and Hiram Smith) ON THIS NATION, and that you will teach this to your children and your children’s children unto the third and fourth generation.

Have you officially renounced this oath? Or are you still bound by it?

If you have not renounced it, how can you presume to lead four-and-one-half [now over six and a half million Americans] million people [US citizens] under item 12 of your Articles of Faith and still be bound to call upon heaven to heap curses upon our nation? (”We believe in being subject to Kings, Presidents, Rulers and Magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.”)

If you have renounced it, how can you justify having sworn such an oath in the most holy of holy places on this earth, before the sacred altar of your omnipotent God, and then renounce it? Gentlemen, I call upon you to repent of this abomination and proclaim to both the Mormon people and to the people of the United States of America that you renounce that oath and all it represents.

I also call upon all members of the Mormon Church who hold office in our government, serve in the Armed Services, work for the FBI and CIA who have gone through the Mormon Temple and sworn oaths of obedience and sacrifice to the church and its leaders (above), to repent of these oaths in the light of the obvious conflict of interest between their pledge of allegiance to the USA and their higher loyalty to a group of men who are sworn to seek vengeance against this great nation.

Sincerely, (Signed) J. Edward Decker

cc: President J. Carter

Mr. Ronald Reagan

No response was ever received to this letter. The Brethren are so powerful that they are immune to criticism and feel no need to explain themselves or account to anyone for these actions. The Mormon Church already packs a political punch far out of proportion to its size. The Wall Street Journal explained how, in spite of the Constitution separation between Church and State, public schools in Utah are used to instill Mormonism in young minds.

It mentioned political reapportionment, airline deregulation, the basing of the MX missile and the ERA as political issues affected by the power of the Church. For example, when the Church opposed the MX for Utah, those plans were immediately dropped by the federal government. The same Wall Street Journal article quoted the following statement from J.D. Williams, a University of Utah political science professor:

There is a disquieting statement in Mormonism: “When the leaders have spoken, the thinking has been done.” To me, democracy can’t thrive in that climate. They [Mormon politicians] don’t have to be

called to Church headquarters for political instruction. They know what they’re supposed to do. That’s why non-Mormons can only look toward the Mormon Church and wonder: “What is Big Brother doing to me today?”12

A Disturbing Possibility

While the election of a Mormon President might seem unlikely, it is highly probable under the present swing toward conventional morality and conservatism that a Mormon could become a Republican Presidential or Vice-Presidential nominee. This is especially true when one considers the growing cooperation between Mormons and Christian leaders like (the late) Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and groups like the Moral Majority.

With the power, wealth, wide influence, numerous highly-placed Mormons, and large voting block under their virtual control, The Brethren have a great deal to offer a Republican Presidential candidate. Let’s assume that even if the Mormon candidate is not selected as the Presidential nominee, but because of his clout, takes he second spot on the ticket. If the Mormon Vice-Presidential candidate is on the winning ticket, and thereafter the

President dies in office or is assassinated, the Mormon will obviously succeed him as President of the United States.

There is every reason to believe that a Mormon President would immediately begin to gather around him increasing numbers of zealous Temple Mormons in strategic places at the highest levels of government.

A crisis similar to the one which Mormon prophecies “foretold” occurs, in which millions of Mormons with their year’s supply of food, guns, and ammunition play a key role. It would be a time of excitement and zealous effort by the “Saints” to fulfill Joseph Smith’s and Brigham Young’s “prophecy”:

The time will come when the destiny of the nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from the threatened destruction.13

Not only does Mormonism predict the “saving” of America, but the precedent for an attempted takeover by force or subterfuge through political means has been set by the founding “Prophet” himself. In 1834 Joseph Smith organized an army and marched toward Independence, Missouri, to “redeem Zion.” In spite of a humiliating surrender to the Missouri Militia that proved his bold “Prophecies” false, the “Prophet” later formed the “Nauvoo Legion” and commissioned himself a Lieutenant-General to command it. Lyman L. Woods stated:

I have seen him on a white horse wearing the uniform of a general. . . . He was leading a parade of the Legion and looked like a god.14

Joseph Smith was not only ordained King on earth, but he ran for President of the United States just before his death, at which time Mormon missionaries across the country became “a vast force of political [power].”15

Today’s Church leaders are urging Mormons to prepare themselves for the coming crisis in order to succeed where past “Saints” have failed. A major article in the LDS Ensign magazine about being prepared included this oft-repeated warning reminder:

The commandment to reestablish Zion became for the Saints of Joseph Smith’s day the central goal of the church. But it was a goal the Church did not realize because its people were not fully prepared.16

Going back to our hypothetical crisis, what Mormons unsuccessfully attempted against impossible odds in the past, they might very well accomplish with much better odds in this future state of affairs. Under cover of the national and international crisis, the Mormon President of the United States acts boldly and decisively to assume dictatorial powers.

With the help of The Brethren and Mormons everywhere, he appears to save America and becomes a national hero. At this time he is made Prophet and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Mormon Kingdom of God, while still President of the United States. There is no provision in the Constitution to prevent this.

With the government largely in the hands of increasing numbers of Mormon [and Masonic] appointees at all levels throughout the United States, the Constitutional prohibition against the establishment of a state church would no longer be enforceable. Mormon prophecies and the curse upon the United States government in revenge for the blood of Joseph and Hyrum Smith would seemingly have been fulfilled. In effect, the United States will have become a theocracy exactly as planned by The Brethren, completing the first step in the Mormon takeover of the world. LDS President John Taylor boasted of it 100 years ago:

Let us now notice our political position in the world. What are we going to do? We are going to possess the earth . . . and reign over it for ever and ever. Now, ye Kings and Emperors help yourselves if you can. This is the truth and it may as well be told at this time as at any other. There’s a good time coming, Saints, a good time coming!17

A More Likely Scenario

While the above presents an extremely disturbing possibility, it may seem highly speculative and improbable. There is another scenario, however, which is equally disturbing and much more likely. It arises from the fact that Mormonism is actual part of something much larger.

We have already noted that the “revelations” that Joseph Smith received, far from being unique, were in fact very similar to the basic philosophy underlying many occult groups and secret revolutionary societies.

Thus far in history, these numerous occult/revolutionary organizations have remained largely separate and in competition with one another.

If something should happen to unite them, and at the same time their beliefs should gain worldwide acceptance, a new and unimaginably powerful force for world revolution would have come into existence.

There is increasing evidence of a new and growing secular/religious ecumenism persuasive enough to accomplish this unprecedented and incalculably powerful coalition.

It could be the means of creating the one-world government that has not only been the long-standing hope and plan of The Brethren and many other occult/revolutionary leaders, but is increasingly gaining a wide acceptance through New Age networks as the only viable option to a nuclear holocaust and/or ecological collapse. [End of quote from The God Makers, Chapter 16.]

Let’s review this once more from the top before we thread Mitt Romney’s bid for the Presidency into the mix.

Mormonism Teaches That:

The Constitution will hang by a thread, to be saved by the Mormon Church.

Will the Constitution be destroyed? No, it will be held inviolate by this people; and, as Joseph Smith said, “The time will come when the destiny of the nation will hang upon a single thread. At that critical juncture, this people will step forth and save it from destruction.” It will be so. (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses [JOD] Vol. 7, page 150).

…And when the Constitution of the United States hangs, as it were, upon a single thread, they will have to call for the “Mormon” Elders to save it from utter destruction; and they will step forth and do it. (Brigham Young, JOD, Vol. 2, page 317).
…

We shall spread abroad, and the day shall will come - and this is another prediction of Joseph Smith’s - I want to remind you of it, my brethren and sisters, when good government, constitutional government, liberty will be found among the Latter-day Saints, and it will be sought for in vain elsewhere…… The day will come when the constitution and free government under it will be sustained and preserved by this people. (George Q. Cannon, JOD, Vol 23, page 104).

The Mormons will usher in a Theocracy, or “The Kingdom of God”, directed by the Lord’s Prophet (LDS).

With the restoration of the gospel and the setting up of the ecclesiastical Kingdom of God, the restoration of the true government of God commenced. Through this church and Kingdom, a framework has been built through which the full government of God will eventually operate. … The present ecclesiastical kingdom will be expanded into a political kingdom also, and then both civil and ecclesiastical affairs will be administered through it. (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, page 338).

Brigham Young confirmed that when the LDS Kingdom of God was in control, the American flag would fly above us.

When the day comes in which the Kingdom of God will bear rule, the flag of the United States will proudly flutter unsullied on the flag staff of liberty and equal rights, without a spot t sully its fair surface; the glorious flag our fathers have bequeathed to us will then be unfurled to the breeze by those who have power to hoist it aloft and defend its sanctity. (Brigham Young JOD, Vol. 2, page 317).

The Mormons will possess the whole earth and reign over it. As the Civil and Religious laws become one, the “United Order” will become the “Kingdom of God”.

Verily I say unto you, my friends, I give unto you counsel, and a commandment, concerning all the properties which belong to the order which I commanded to be organized and established, to be a united order, and an everlasting order for the benefit of my church, and for the salvation of men until I come- (D&C 104, verse 1).

The poor will be exalted and the rich made low. All property, including liquid assets will be deeded to the “kingdom” (Church), all money turned in. Some property will be conditionally ‘deeded’ back for us to “manage” as is deemed necessary for each man.

This is spelled out in the Doctrine & Covenants 42:

28 Thou knowest my laws concerning these things are given in my scriptures; he that sinneth and repenteth not shall be cast out.

29 If thou lovest me thou shalt serve me and keep all my commandments.

30 And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support that which thou hast to impart unto them, with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken.

31 And inasmuch as ye impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me; and they shall be laid before the bishop of my church and his counselors, two of the elders, or high priests, such as he shall appoint or has appointed and set apart for that purpose.

32 And it shall come to pass, that after they are laid before the bishop of my church, and after that he has received these testimonies concerning the consecration of the properties of my church, that they cannot be taken from the church, agreeable to my commandments, every man shall be made accountable unto me, a steward over his own property, or that which he has received by consecration, as much as is sufficient for himself and family.

33 And again, if there shall be properties in the hands of the church, or any individuals of it, more than is necessary for their support after this first consecration, which is a residue to be consecrated unto the bishop, it shall be kept to administer to those who have not, from time to time, that every man who has need may be amply supplied and receive according to his wants.

34 Therefore, the residue shall be kept in my storehouse, to administer to the poor and the needy, as shall be appointed by the high council of the church, and the bishop and his council.

If a man shall transgress this law, it shall ALL be taken from him, without recourse. All this is for the benefit of the Church. He who sins against this shall be cursed and delivered over to Satan. Lands shall be gotten by purchase or by blood when there is a problem in obtaining it. Every Mormon in the world swears an oath of obedience to the Law of Consecration and the Law of Sacrifice… in the Temple rites. They are bound by blood oath to honor their word.

Let’s look at the portion of the Revelation, Doctrines & Covenants 104, given to

Joseph Smith the Prophet, April 23, 1834, concerning the United Order, which set this in its spiritual place

1 Verily I say unto you, my friends, I give unto you counsel, and a commandment, concerning all the properties which belong to the order which I commanded to be organized and established, to be a united order, and an everlasting order for the benefit of my church, and for the salvation of men until I come-

2 With promise immutable and unchangeable, that inasmuch as those whom I commanded were faithful they should be blessed with a multiplicity of blessings;

3 But inasmuch as they were not faithful they were nigh unto cursing.

4 Therefore, inasmuch as some of my servants have not kept the commandment, but have broken the covenant through covetousness, and with feigned words, I have cursed them with a very sore and grievous curse.

5 For I, the Lord, have decreed in my heart, that inasmuch as any man belonging to the order shall be found a transgressor, or, in other words, shall break the covenant with which ye are bound, he shall be cursed in his life, and shall be trodden down by whom I will;

6 For I, the Lord, am not to be mocked in these things-

7 And all this that the innocent among you may not be condemned with the unjust; and that the guilty among you may not escape; because I, the Lord, have promised unto you a crown of glory at my right hand.

8 Therefore, inasmuch as you are found transgressors, you cannot escape my wrath in your lives.

9 Inasmuch as ye are cut off for transg