Time to End the Great Economic Deception

I think now is the time, while the heads of the Western capitalist nations are meeting about the 'financial crisis'
to take a much better look at how this is all run and who exactly are the people that have profited from it for generations. Keep in mind it was created about the time the US congress was also being coerced into WWI a few short years before Britain reneged on their deal with the Arabs and with the signing of the also very deceptive 'Balfour Declaration' the modern day bloodshed in the middle east had begun (the cost to Britain in lives and budget was huge in the years before the creation of Israel) >This is also the time the great deception regarding diamonds and the De Beers company that had manipulated the market for diamonds for years invested in an advertising campaign that created a fake value for something that was essentially worthless. All these world leaders know exactly the history that has got us to this point of economic desperation....not one of them can do a thing about it, collectively they can but the big money that really controls the world markets would have to ruthlessly exposed. (See an earlier blog on the creation of the Federal Reserve)

see this post here



" It took just under 100 years, since its creation in 1913, for the Federal Reserve to accumulate about $800 Billion in assets.
It's taken just two months to nearly double it."


Another aspect (apart from the derivatives gambling fiasco) of this that needs looking into is the huge 'War on Drugs' deception and the covert money laundering operations that it covers. War on terror is a similar process that converts your tax dollars into profits for rich men that own the production of the war machine.The links to corporations like Haliburton are pretty obvious in the outgoing US administration .All these things we are meant not to see but with the electronic age a quarter of century old now our world leaders must wake up to the fact that eventually history and the world view of people on the planet will not see the period from 1908-2008 by what lies and deceptions are concocted in the present to cover up the endless coverup that has set the stage for the myriad of world crisis we face together at this point in time.


An article from 2004 has pretty good idea about the housing bubble and a brewing crisis.. it took a little while longer to happen.Timed for the US elections maybe?

My last recommended reading on this sorry state of affairs is this article:

Paper money evolved from using gold as a medium of exchange. People would store their gold with a goldsmith, who had a secure strongroom, and who could wiegh and assay the gold. He would issue them a receipt upon their deposit. They soon found it more convenient to trade the receipts between themselves, rather than to redeem the gold itself for every transaction. This created an opportunity for the goldsmith, who realized that people seldom came to redeem the gold. He then realized he could forge receipts and spend them. Better yet, he could loan them out at interest, creating an steady and ever-increasing income for which he did nothing but forge receipts.
A fraud is a deception that deprives someone of his or her wealth. People only accepted the paper because it claimed to represent a specific gold deposit. If they had known the goldsmith was just printing the "receipts" without actually receiving a deposit, people would not have accepted them. It deprived them of their wealth by devaluing the money they already held.

If the goldsmith printed too much of these counterfeit receipts, people would notice the devaluation and everyone would demand his or her gold. Of course there wasn't enough gold to honor all the receipts. Many a goldsmith met his demise that way. The more clever of them realized that if they limited the forgery of receipts to a certain percentage of the gold held, the devalutaion would occur slowly enough that people wouldn't notice. The fractional reserve system then, was a mathematical technique for concealing the fraud from its victims. That is the basis for our monetary system today, but it has advanced far beyond that in both theft and deception.

machine time

A Grandfather Looks Back on 40 Years of Happy Pot Smoking

Here I was, an honest, ethical man, devoted to his wife and children, a tax-paying involved citizen, law-abiding in every way, every way except for one -- I absolutely refused to let the government tell me I couldn't use cannabis. But as my kids grew up, I never defended marijuana to them, I just stood quietly by and let the state propaganda machine do its worst, and I trusted that my kids would be able sort out the truth when they got older.
LINK

Why Don’t We Build An Atoms-For-Peace Dirigible

(Mar, 1956)

Filed under: Aviation, Impractical — @ 1:45 am
Source: Mechanix Illustrated
Issue: Mar, 1956
More articles from this issue

Here is a bold plan for displaying peacetime uses of the atom to the peoples of the world.

By Frank Tinsley

EARLY last year, President Eisenhower asked the Congress for funds with which to build a fission-powered merchant ship for the global spread of peaceful atomic knowledge.

“Visiting the ports of the world,” the President stated, “the ship will demonstrate to people everywhere the peacetime use of atomic energy, harnessed for the improvement of human living.”

In Washington, the basic idea of a floating exhibit of American fission techniques was received with general approval by members of the Congress. Some of the plan’s technical aspects, however, generated a bit of discussion. To avoid protracted experimental research and thus speed the ship launching date, it was originally decided to fit the vessel with a duplicate of the power plant used in the atomic submarine Nautilus.

Read the rest of this at the wonderful modernmechanix site »

NZ dolphin rescues beached whales

Moko is well known locally for playing with swimmers in the bay Moko the dolphin

A dolphin has come to the rescue of two whales which had become stranded on a beach in New Zealand.

Conservation officer Malcolm Smith told the BBC that he and a group of other people had tried in vain for an hour and a half to get the whales to sea.

The pygmy sperm whales had repeatedly beached, and both they and the humans were tired and set to give up, he said.

But then the dolphin appeared, communicated with the whales, and led them to safety.

The bottlenose dolphin, called Moko by local residents, is well known for playing with swimmers off Mahia beach on the east coast of the North Island.

Mr Smith said he gave the dolphin a pat to say thank you

Mr Smith said that just when his team was flagging, the dolphin showed up and made straight for them.

"I don't speak whale and I don't speak dolphin," Mr Smith told the BBC, "but there was obviously something that went on because the two whales changed their attitude from being quite distressed to following the dolphin quite willingly and directly along the beach and straight out to sea."

He added: "The dolphin did what we had failed to do. It was all over in a matter of minutes."

Back at play

Mr Smith said he felt fortunate to have witnessed the extraordinary event, and was delighted for the whales, as in the past he has had to put down animals which have become beached.

He said that the whales have not been seen since, but that the dolphin had returned to its usual practice of playing with swimmers in the bay.

"I shouldn't do this I know, we are meant to remain scientific," Mr Smith said, "but I actually went into the water with the dolphin and gave it a pat afterwards because she really did save the day."

BBC

The Dubious Wartime Adventures of Jasper Maskelyne

"What an excellent thing history would be" , said Tolstoy, " if only it were true."

On stage I watched a handsome, slender man about six feet, four inches tall, a veritable model of the perfectly accoutered socialite in full evening dress. With his broad smile, clipped moustache and dashing manner, he reminded me of Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Sr., the motion picture stars of yesteryear. He looked a little too refined ,however, to be swashbuckling. His style of working was light and humorous; the reason for his professional success was obvious."-John Booth

http://www.maskelynemagic.com/

A very long but very interesting story of a WW2 magician feats of deception against the Nazi's and some excellent detective work on discovering the truth Vs fiction

M o d e r n R u i n s

M o d e r n R u i n s

-P h o t o g r a p h i c E s s a y s-

A great collection of photographs by Shaun O'Boyle

Mysteries of computer from 65BC are solved

Ian Sample, science correspondent

· Mechanism hailed as more valuable than Mona Lisa
· Device with gear wheels tracked sun and moon

A reconstruction of the Antikythera mechanism. Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty

A 2,000-year-old mechanical computer salvaged from a Roman shipwreck has astounded scientists who have finally unravelled the secrets of how the sophisticated device works.

The machine was lost among cargo in 65BC when the ship carrying it sank in 42m of water off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera. By chance, in 1900, a sponge diver called Elias Stadiatos discovered the wreck and recovered statues and other artifacts from the site.

The machine first came to light when an archaeologist working on the recovered objects noticed that a lump of rock had a gear wheel embedded in it. Closer inspection of material brought up from the stricken ship subsequently revealed 80 pieces of gear wheels, dials, clock-like hands and a wooden and bronze casing bearing ancient Greek inscriptions.

Since its discovery, scientists have been trying to reconstruct the device, which is now known to be an astronomical calendar capable of tracking with remarkable precision the position of the sun, several heavenly bodies and the phases of the moon. Experts believe it to be the earliest-known device to use gear wheels and by far the most sophisticated object to be found from the ancient and medieval periods.

Using modern computer x-ray tomography and high resolution surface scanning, a team led by Mike Edmunds and Tony Freeth at Cardiff University peered inside fragments of the crust-encased mechanism and read the faintest inscriptions that once covered the outer casing of the machine. Detailed imaging of the mechanism suggests it dates back to 150-100 BC and had 37 gear wheels enabling it to follow the movements of the moon and the sun through the zodiac, predict eclipses and even recreate the irregular orbit of the moon. The motion, known as the first lunar anomaly, was developed by the astronomer Hipparcus of Rhodes in the 2nd century BC, and he may have been consulted in the machine's construction, the scientists speculate. ...More

Curious Expeditions

The Silk Rope and the Golden Cage

February 4th, 2008

“Bring me the fattest woman in the world.”

~Sultan Ibrahim the Mad~

The Ottoman Empire was one of the greatest powers the world has ever known. With territory spanning 3 continents and a reign of over 600 years the “House of Osman” was not to be trifled with. The empire was ruled by the all powerful Sultan, the king of kings, the khan of khans, he ruled by decree. Some Sultans were warriors, others thoughtful poets. But of the 36 or so Sultan’s that ruled during the empire, there is one who stands out to both the Turkish people and historians alike as…different from the rest. Sultan Ibrahim I, more commonly known as Ibrahim the mad.

But to do justice to the story of Ibrahim the Mad, we must first tell the story of his mother, the beautiful greek concubine Maypeyker Kösem, and his father, the compassionate Sultan Ahmet.

The pressures of being prince aren’t easy in any royal family, and history is full of eccentric rulers, warped by a childhood spent under a golden thumb. But the stakes in the house of Osman were higher then in any other. Unlike other royal families which practiced primogeniture (the right of the first born son to rule) the Osman clan left things a bit more open ended. The Sultan often fathered anywhere from a dozen to over a hundred children during his rule, and upon his death, all were eligible for the throne. Truth is, for 9 out of a 10, being born to a Sultan was a death curse.

When the Sultan died a sort of deadly musical chairs for would-be Sultans began. Often, the son who was closest to the throne at the time of the Sultans death, literally the one nearest in physical distance from the throne, would become the new Sultan by jumping into the chair and declaring himself so. Upon ascending to the throne, the triumphant new Sultan would shout his first decree, usually something like “All my brothers are to be immediately killed.”

An army of deadly eunuchs would then be sent forth to do just that. All brothers, including infant children, and mothers carrying as of yet unborn brothers were quickly eliminated. (These eunuch assassins were curious in that, in addition to having been castrated, they had also had their eardrums poked out, so as not to hear the screams of their victims, and their tongues split, so that they could not speak of their dastardly deeds. The preferred method for royal fratricide was strangulation by silk rope…a classy way to go at least.)

Royal fratricide was the standard and regarded as simply part of the bargain. Sultan Mehmed III had some nineteen (although wikipedia puts it at an even higher 27) of his pre-teen brothers killed, and seven concubines pregnant with possible nephews stuffed in sacks and thrown into the Bosporus.

Sultan Selim the Grim had a couple brothers, a handful of nephews, and some five dozen other relatives offed. Earning his nickname “Grim” he even killed four out of his five sons so his favorite son Suleiman, would be sure to inherit the throne. (Suleiman went on to be a the great Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.)

So far the policy of brother killing was working out great. But it had one major drawback; it nearly wiped out the Osman family line. Once the Sultan had killed all his brothers it was up to him to carry on the Osman name, a risky business. (No doubt one of the reasons for the creation of Sultan Paste, known today as Turkish Viagra, an herbal aphrodisiac and energy booster. Perfect for the Sultan, tired after a long day of fratricide.)

All of this changed in 1590 with the rule of Ahmet I. Ahmet’s (or Ahmed, depending) name is one familiar to most visitors in Istanbul. He is well known for commissioning the building of the the amazing Sultan Ahmet Mosque, aka the Blue Mosque. In fact, the entire old town of Istanbul is also known by his name, as the Sultanahmet district. Ahmet was a kind ruler, and was very much in love with a young and beautiful greek girl named Maypeyker Kösem. Kösem, however, was more then just beautiful, she was cunning, brilliant and hungry for power.

Sultan Ahmet I left another legacy besides the Blue Mosque. Ahmet was the first Sultan to break with the practice of royal fratricide. Ahmet had grown up with a slightly retarded brother named Mustafa. Ahmet was well known for his compassion, and when it came time to have his mildly retarded brother Mustafa done in, he just couldn’t do it.

Instead the childish Mustafa lived with his grandmother in a single room of the Harem known as the Kafe or the Golden Cage. A special room, it had windows only on the second floor, and a slot for delivering food. Though it was beautifully decorated on the inside, it was merely an exquisite prison cell.

For the first time in Ottoman history a royal brother was spared the silk rope and allowed to live. This simple act of kindness was to change the way the entire Osman line of succession worked and Mustafa would be the first of many royal brothers who would spent most of their lives in this gilded jail. Out of the silk noose, and into the golden cage. (One brother spent more then fifty years in the Kafe, and “at least one deposed sultan and one heir committed suicide in the Cage.”)

When Ahmet died of typhoid fever, Mustafa, despite being retarded or perhaps because of it, was installed to the throne. Another first, it was the first time in Osman house history, a Osman brother was made Sultan instead of a son. His rule didn’t last long.

After a few months the confused Sultan was sent on a hunting trip only to come back and find he had been deposed by his nephew Osman II and Mustafa was sent back to the golden cage. (This was the first deposing in Ottoman history.) The young Osman II was then himself deposed and killed. Mustafa was dragged back out of the golden cage, re-enthroned, only to be deposed again by his other nephew Murad IV. Mustafa was finally sent happily back to his safe Golden Cage where he could read in peace…before eventually being strangled by the silk rope.

The cause of all this conflict really lay between the Jannasaries (special soldiers, more on them soon) and the Greek beauty Maypeyker Kösem. Kösem, the widow of Ahmet I and mother of Murad IV was in league with the eunuch corp. Kösem and the eunuchs ruled through the mentally disabled Mustafa, while the Jannisaries ruled through Osman II… whom they decided they didn’t like after all, and killed. It was a time of firsts, this being the first regicide in Ottoman history. (When the Jannisaries killed Osman II they killed him by “compression of his testicles”, “a mode of execution reserved by custom to the Ottoman sultans.” They also cut off his ear and sent it to his mother Hadice show who was in charge.)

Kösem took the opportunity presented by the death of Osman II. Her oldest son Murad IV was only 11, still a minor, so when he took the throne, the seductive Kösem became official regent of the Ottoman empire. It is a notable peculiarity that the Turkish and Muslim empire was officially ruled by Kosem, a Greek woman, for over 9 years, and unofficially by her for another 20. Kösem was perhaps the most significant part of 130 Ottoman period known as the Sultanate of women, in which the ladies, the wives and mothers of the Sultans, held considerable power.

Murad IV’s rule (and his mother Kösem’s by proxy) was iron fisted. He banned alcohol, tobacco, and coffee on pain of death. He also returned to the practice of brother killing, (and son killing if Mama Kösem was behind it) offing a couple of his brethren. But Murad IV didn’t kill all his brothers. History tends to repeat itself. Like his father Ahmet with his retarded brother Mustafa, Murad IV also had a slightly weird brother whom he allowed to live. His name was Ibrahim.

Murad IV was determined not to make the same mistake his father had with Mustafa. Murad IV ordered that upon his death, his weird brother Ibrahim was to be killed as well. All fine and well, except had these orders be carried out the Osman line would have ended. It seems Murad IV would have rather seen the end of the house of Osman, then have the mad Ibrahim as Sultan.

Murad died at the age of 27 of cirrhosis of the liver (Ironically, the prohibition crazy Murad may have been a closet alcoholic.) As Murad IV lay on his death bed his mother Kösem lied to him, saying that Ibrahim had already been strangled. Happy at the news, Murad IV died smiling. After Murad’s death Kösem promptly placed Ibrahim onto the throne.

Ibrahim was in no shape to rule a nation. Odd to begin with, it didn’t help that he had spent his entire life living as a prisoner in the golden cage, staring longingly out the unreachable stained glass windows. Inside the prince was kept company by a few deaf-mute servants, and a couple of harem girls, barren ones, to prevent him from fathering possible heirs to the throne. (The servants were, by default, prisoners as well.)

Ibrahim also lived under the constant and reasonable fear of deaf-mute eunuchs throttling him with a silk rope. So it makes sense that when guards showed up to bring him to the throne, he refused to go, thinking it was a trick. Ibrahim wouldn’t even open the door until Murad’s body was produced, and his mother Kösem had to “coax him out as if cajoling a kitten with food”. When Ibrahim was finally convinced that he was not about to be garroted to death, he ran deliriously through the halls screaming “the butcher is dead”, “the butcher of the empire is dead.”

Suddenly out of the cage and the supreme ruler of an enormous empire, Ibrahim barely knew what to do with himself. While his mom did most of the actual decision making, Ibrahim busied himself with his new harem. He first decorated his room with mirrors so that he might get a better view of himself in action. He then called the girls in. Dimitri Cantemir wrote in his History of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire,

“In the palace gardens he frequently assembled all the virgins, made them strip themselves naked, and neighing like a stallion ran amongst them and as it were ravished one or the other, kicking or struggling by his order.”

Ibrahim loved forbidden fruit and when he was refused the hand in marriage of the daughter of the Mufti, the highest religious authority in the empire, he decided he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Ibrahim had the girl kidnapped, had his way with her, and sent her back to the mufti a few days later.

When not getting into lady trouble, the Sultan kept himself busy soaking his beard in expensive ambergris (nice smelling whale vomit, and a Curious Expeditions favorite), dressing himself in furs, feeding gold coins to the fish in the Bosphorus, and taking potshots at civilians with his royal crossbow…all was not well in the Ottoman empire.

Ibrahim’s harem was full of young, nubile, girls from around the world. But after a while, the slender things from Russia and the Balkans didn’t do it for him anymore. One day Ibrahim happened to see the genitalia of a female cow. Pleased by what he saw, Ibrahim had a gold cast made and, hoping to find a human match to the bovine privates, he ordered his aides to “bring him the fattest woman in the world.” They did their best, finding a 300 pound Armenian girl named “Sugar Cube” (Sechir Para or more literally translated “Sweet Lump of Sugar”).

Ibrahim loved her, and spent many a night curled in her large arms. It wasn’t long until the big woman had gained power over Ibrahim equal only to that of her girth. It would be Sugar Cube who would spell the final downfall of Ibrahim the Mad.

Read the rest of this story

at the fabulous

Curious Expeditions

site

BibliOdyssey

http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/
I would like to start off the year by paying homage to one of my favorite blogs