nexus 0704 - new times magazine

JUNE – JULY 2000 NEXUS • 1

N E X U SNEW TIMES MAGAZINE

Volume 7, Number 4 JUNE – JULY 2000

PO Box 30, Mapleton Qld 4560, Australia

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.............................................4

GLOBAL NEWS.............................................................6News and views, from the digital supervirus threatand MI5's new e-mail monitoring capability, towhy a key Lockerbie witness can't testify.

DeBRIEFINGS: BEHIND THE HEADLINES.................1 1

An update on drug pollutants in North Americanwaters; Kenn Thomas on the connection betweenEchelon and the infamous PROMIS software; andnew findings on the MMR vaccine's link to autism.

PROJECT CENSORED'S 25 TOP NEWS STORIES........17

Compiled by the Project Censored team, this list ofthe most under-covered stories in the US last yearincludes the return of the "Star Wars" space weaponsystem, NATO's defence of corporate interests inthe Balkans, and toxic racism in Louisiana.

THE INTERNATIONAL DRUG COMPLEX—Part 2......25

By Hans T. van der Veen. Organised crime groupshave globalised the illegal drug industry incooperation with established power elites, whilesubverting political and economic structures anddisempowering individuals, societies and nations.

EXCITOTOXIC FOOD ADDITIVES—Part 1................33

By Dr Russell L. Blaylock. Evidence is growing thatprocessed food additives like MSG and aspartameare "excitotoxins" which react with brain receptors,kill neurons and cause neurological disorders.

DR GAVREAU'S INFRASONIC WEAPON...................39

By Gerry Vassilatos. Dangerous infrasound can begenerated by both natural phenomena and the builtenvironment. In the late 1950s and 1960s, Frenchrobotics scientist Dr Vladimir Gavreau found a wayto detect it, weaponise it and defend against it.

SWIMMING THROUGH THE ETHER.........................47By Nick Franks. The vibrational healing techniquesof radionics and homoeopathy can be betterunderstood in terms of an esoteric scientific modelwhich recognises the nature of nonmaterial reality.

SCIENCE NEWS...........................................................55

By John C. Bedini. US inventor John Bedini recentlyput plans for his free-energy motor on the Internet,after helping a 10-year-old schoolgirl win scienceawards for running the motor non-stop for four days.

THE CIA, MJ-12, JFK & JAMES JESUS ANGLETON......59

By Timothy S. Cooper. In his role as the CIA's Chiefof Counterintelligence with an eye on the Soviets,James Jesus Angleton was privy to Top Secret/MJ-12UFO data which President Kennedy tried hard toaccess before he was assassinated.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE................................................67

This issue we look at a B-29 gunner's version of theRoswell incident; an ancient city alleged to bebeneath Death Valley, California; and the discoveryof previously unknown chambers and a tunnel inEgypt's Meidum pyramid, built around 2600 BC.

R E V I E W S — B o o k s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1"The Toxic Playground" by Jo Immig"Global Spin" by Sharon Beder"Celtic Mysteries in New England" by P. Imbrogno and M. Horrigan"The Tutankhamun Prophecies" by Maurice Cotterell"Roswell 1947: 'I Was There'" by Robert J. Shirkey"The Out-of-Body Experience" by Graham Dack"Vaccination: The Right Choice?" by Maureen Hickman"Magical and Mystical Sites" by Elizabeth Pepper and John Wilcock"The Living Energy Universe" by Gary Schwartz and Linda Russek"Cyberculture Counterconspiracy" edited by Kenn Thomas"The People Before" by Gary J. Cook and Thomas J. Brown"The Pure State of Nature" by David Horton"The Thread of Infinity" by Jon Whistler"The Grand Design, Volumes 1 & 2" by Paddy McMahon"Conspiranoia!" by Devon Jackson

R E V I E W S — Vi d e o s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 8"UFO Down-Under" by Barry Taylor

R E V I E W S — M u s i c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 9"Taralinga Lila" by Sangeet, Tarshito, Jimmy"Republica Dominicana" by various artists"Beyond Skin" by Nitin Sawhney"Tribe" by Tribe"Shafqat Ali Khan" by Shafqat Ali Khan

NEXUS BOOKS, VIDEOS, ADS, SUBS...................88–96

NEXUS MAGAZINEVolume 7, Number 4

JUNE – JULY 2000PUBLISHED BY

NEXUS Magazine Pty Ltd, ABN 80 003 611 434

EDITORDuncan M. Roads

CO-EDITORCatherine Simons

ASSISTANT EDITOR/SUB-EDITORRuth Parnell

EDITORS' ASSISTANTRichard Giles

OFFICE ADMINISTRATORJanine Carmichael

CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUEKenn Thomas; Project Censored;

Hans T. van der Veen; Russell L. Blaylock, MD; Gerry Vassilatos;

Nick Franks; John Bedini; Timothy S. Cooper; George Filer

CARTOONSPhil Somerville

COVER GRAPHICJohn Cook, [email protected]

PRINTINGWarwick Daily News, Queensland, Australia

AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTIONNewsagents Direct Distribution

HEAD OFFICE – All CorrespondencePO Box 30, Mapleton, Qld 4560, AustraliaTel: (07) 5442 9280; Fax: (07) 5442 9381

E-mail: [email protected] page: www.nexusmagazine.com

NEW ZEALAND OFFICERD 2, Kaeo, Northland

Tel: +64 (0)9 405 1963; Fax: +64 (0)9 405 1964E-mail: [email protected]

USA OFFICE - 2940 E. Colfax, #131,Denver CO 80206

Tel: 303 321 5006; Fax: 603 754 4744 E-mail: [email protected]

UK OFFICE - 55 Queens Rd, East Grinstead, WestSussex, RH19 1BG. Tel: +44 (0)1342 322854;

Fax: +44 (0)1342 324574E-mail: [email protected]

EUROPE OFFICE - PO Box 372, 8250 AJ Dronten,The Netherlands. Tel: +31 (0)321 380558;

Fax: +31 (0)321 318892

STATEMENT OF PURPOSENEXUS recognises that humanity is undergoing amassive transformation. With this in mind, NEXUSseeks to provide 'hard-to-get' information so as toassist people through these changes. NEXUS is notlinked to any religious, philosophical or politicalideology or organisation.

PERMISSION-TO-REPRODUCE POLICYWhile reproduction and dissemination of the infor-mation in NEXUS is actively encouraged, anyonecaught making a buck out of it, without our expresspermission, will be in trouble when we catch them!

WARRANTY AND INDEMNITY

Advertisers upon and by lodging material with the Publisher for publication or authorising or approving of the publication of any material INDEMNIFY thePublisher and its servants and agents against all liability claims or proceedings whatsoever arising from the publication and without limiting the generality of theforegoing to indemnify each of them in relation to defamation, slander of title, breach of copyright, infringement of trademarks or names of publication titles, unfaircompetition or trade practices, royalties or violation of rights or privacy AND WARRANT that the material complies with all relevant laws and regulations and thatits publication will not give rise to any rights against or liabilities in the Publisher, its servants or agents and in particular that nothing therein is capable of beingmisleading or deceptive or otherwise in breach of the Part V of the Trade Practices Act 1974. All expressions of opinion are published on the basis that they arenot to be regarded as expressing the opinion of the Publisher or its servants or agents. Editorial advice is not specific and readers are advised to seek professionalhelp for individual problems. © NEXUS New Times 2000

Editorial

Like many NEXUS readers, I often spend time wondering who and what is 'behind itall'. Is 'life' just the product of a mechanistic universe devoid of any meaning? Or

is there meaning to it all? And, if so, what? On a more localised level, I find myself fascinated with mass events and the question

of whether they are being 'guided' by an unseen hand or are just randomly driven by theattitudes of the masses. In this modern era, it is plain to see (for those who care to look)that many forces driving our social 'progression' are organised and are financiallymotivated.

The drive to unite countries into continent-sized trading blocks did not emerge fromthe citizens of those countries. The drive to set global standards on things like the rec-ommended daily dosage of vitamin C (as with the Codex Alimentarius Commission), orthe push to combine many national currencies into one new denomination, has notemerged from those representative nations. This 'push' towards globalisation is notbeing driven by the ordinary people: it is clearly being driven by an elite from behindthe scenes.

This is no longer conspiracy theory: it is observable fact! On the surface it is easy topoint to transnational corporations and their obvious profit motive. But look at theinterlocking control of those powerful, long-standing corporations from a viewpoint offamily bloodlines and you get a whole new perspective.

But, just who comprises this 'elite'—and what their motives and goals are—is the sub-ject of many a conspiracy theory. Has this elite existed for a long time? If so, how farback do they go? Are they any particular race or religion? Is it just a rich ruling-classwith no more meaning to their lives except to amass more power and wealth? Are theyterrestrial or non-terrestrial? Are they from an inner Earth civilisation or do they shape-shift? Are 'they' even from this dimension?

There are several viewpoints of 'the big picture' of life which involve the concept ofother-dimensional beings who 'feed' off emotional energy emitted by humans. Onecompelling book I read recently contained this very idea. In The Thread of Infinity (seereview this issue), the "Lords of the Higher Realms" live non-physically but have lesserminions actively (physically) engaged here on planet Earth, stirring up trouble. Theyinstigate and steer vast conspiracies, many of which are hauntingly familiar. Their goalis to control our egos. The 'good' guys seek to encourage us to connect our souls withour egos and awaken to the God within each of us. The 'bad' guys want us to focus ourattention (and our beliefs) outwards—on survival, money, sex, religion, entertainment,good times, wars and problems. Our resulting emotional stress is all they want. Tothem it is an energy source, much like food/emotions/sex combined.

My own perceptions of history tell me that forces behind the scenes are coming closeto achieving a long-held goal of globalisation. What has always puzzled me, is why thiselite has focused on using war, suffering, coercion, terror and external force as their pre-ferred tools to effect change. Why not use love, greatness and example as an incentive?Surely it is far cheaper, more effective, more permanent and, above all, more pleasant.

I have personally seen many problems 'solved' with lose-lose-lose situations, whenthey could easily have been solved with win-win-win situations. This occurs on all lev-els of government on a regular basis, and I am not alone in this observation. I'm comingclose to concluding that there is no rational reason for this. I cannot see how eventransnationals benefit from such short-term thinking.

In one of his out-of-body explorations, Robert Monroe, founder of The MonroeInstitute, was told that life on Earth is unique, and that it was created by beings who useour emotional output as a food source. This revelation put the poor guy into shock forweeks! After all, discovering that we humans may not be at the end of the 'food' chainis not something we want to tell the kids, is it?

So as you read this issue of NEXUS, spare a loving thought for those you may be'feeding'!

— Duncan

2 • NEXUS JUNE – JULY 2000


Chemtrails over Newcastle?Dear Duncan: At 11.00 am on

27 March, while at Tenambit (anouter suburb of Newcastle,NSW), I saw white "streams"drifting through the sky to the leftand right, as far as the eye couldsee, in front and behind me, drift-ing along in the breeze—streamsfrom five feet to 50 feet long!

Some of the streams, or"webs", came within reach, so Ipicked them out of the air. It feltlike cobwebs, but the web con-tained about 30 to 40 strands andthe beginning of it seemed like aball of web, and it looked like agigantic spider web! I comment-ed to friends that it was "spacesperm", and everyone (10 ofthem) was amazed at the amountthat was floating through the sky,as far as the eye could see!

I rolled up the web and threw itaway. I thought no more of ituntil I discussed it with one ofyour readers (the co-ordinator ofthe NEXUS discussion group)who then located your story invol. 6, no. 3, April–May 1999issue. I would be interested tofind out if people in the area arebeing affected in the same way asin the US and elsewhere.

We've decided to send a copyof the article to a local doctor tosee if, in fact, any negative effectsare being felt. Let's hope not.

Sincerely, Kurt King, Cardiff,New South Wales, Australia

Computer PrecautionsDear Duncan: Thanks for the

April–May 2K NEXUS. Denis Coone (Letters, 7/03)

could, as may anyone else, pre-vent his hard disc from beingviewed whilst he was on the Netby installing a Firewall programavailable from many of the share-ware distributors that advertise inthe computer mags. The viewingprograms are installed on the PCfrom attachments on Urgent:Open Now e-mails. Moral: don'topen junk mail!

Most ISPs that supply freediscs/CDs use tailored packagesthat cannot be used on a "dial-up"independent ISP such asTotalserve (UK only), so chang-ing ISP could be difficult.

A word of caution. RememberGary Glitter? He fell foul of UKlaw, being "caught in possessionof" prohibited (in UK) materialon his HD. That he viewed it is

not in dispute, but that he saved itis. Have you looked at theDirectory Cache in your Netfi les? Unless you are luckyenough for it to be purged eachtime you leave the Net, then itwill be massive, containing everypage you have ever looked at.All files will be HTM. Open oneup under Explorer or Navigatorand you will see; there will be nographics because the file nameswere changed, but they are thereas GIF. Load one into a DTP andsee! Remember it now? Okay,so now go and delete the contentsof cache; better to use somethinglike SWIPE.EXE which rendersthe files totally unrecoverable. Infact, use that to remove anythingthat could be "sensitive".

Remember, Big Brother i swatching you, and he is severelyparanoid!

Regards, Alan M. Levett,Glastonbury, Somerset, UK

Flaws in Citing Animal StudiesDear Duncan: I'm sorry, but an

article peppered with so manyreferences to animal studiesinstantly loses its credibility—ref."Soy Products: Tragedy andHype" by Sally Fallon, NEXUS7/03, April–May 2000.

Results from experiments onanimals cannot be accuratelyextrapolated to another animalspecies, let alone to humans. Infact, the results can vary evenwithin the same species, depend-ing on the conditions at the time,strain of animal, time of day, etc.

The statement, that Dr ClaudeHughes's "research suggests thatthe effects observed in rats 'willbe at least somewhat predictive ofwhat occurs in humans'" is non-sense and completely unscientif-ic. Animal experiments haveabsolutely no predictive value forhumans. If similar results occurin humans, it is pure coincidence,the human studies providing thereal evidence.

Numerous animal experimentshad been conducted on DESbefore it was pronounced safe formarketing. These experimentsdid not prevent the daughters ofwomen who took the drug duringpregnancy from suffering cancerwhen they reached their twenties,but provided the pharmaceuticalcompanies with an alibi. That is,all the required tests had beenperformed and, anyway, as they

admit, animal tests are unreli-able—a win-win situation!

So please, let's kick this flawedmethodology into touch before itdoes any more damage and leadsus forever up the garden path.

Sheila Edwards, Dubai, UAE

Mind-Expanding MagazineThank you for a very stimulat-

ing magazine and a useful web-site. I have been reading yourmagazine for about three yearsnow and, although I have to takesome of the material with a hugepinch of salt, there is plenty thatis mind-expanding. I particularlyappreciate it when I find a goodbibliography at the end of thearticles, or at least some way inwhich I can obtain supportingmaterial at little or no cost.

However, a few articles haveappeared to be little more thanimaginative money-makingschemes/ideas/ventures. It isobvious that many people havevery different realities. Theworld they see is quite differentto the one I see. It's hard to saywhose reality is correct at times.

I particularly enjoy articles inthe areas of health, science andtechnology, where it seems to bethe case that many useful, some-times revolutionary ideas can berejected out of hand because theydon't fit with the current acceptedparadigm. Peer review isextremely conservative, some-times usefully so, but I believethat too much valuable material isbeing pushed to one side.

People are generally reluctantto allow their cages to be rattled(see "Why don't people listen?" byHugh Mackay). Our economicsystem, unfortunately, has to takethe blame for many of the ills ofthe world today. Largeorganisations take on a life andmomentum of their own, quite outof the control of the managementwho are legally bound tomaximise shareholder returns (alittle simplified). Individualdirectors of a public companywould have to be almost suicidalto step out of line with their fellowboard members. Many of theindividuals who work for some ofthe world's most damagingorganisations are the nicest peopleyou could wish to meet, but are inpractical terms powerless to doanything about improvingmatters.

Meanwhile, please keep on rat-tling my cage! Life is much morerewarding when one's beliefs arechallenged.

Best wishes, David Tweedie,Adelaide, South Australia,[email protected]

Sensitive Street Lights Dear Editors: The phenome-

non I am about to describe hasbeen put on videotape. Sometime in 1992, I began to be awareof the fact that certain types ofstreet lights reacted to my pres-ence. By June of 1999 I was cer-tain that this was the case.

I am an artist, and at the time ofthe first occurrence I lived in theindustrial area of Albuquerque,near the railroad tracks. I mightnever have been aware of thisphenomenon except for the factthat I lived in a poorly lit part oftown. I took regular nightlywalks and began to notice the factthat two of the street lights beganto behave in an erratic manner.They simply blinked off as Iapproached, and then came backon within a minute or two.

At first I dismissed the event,assuming that something waswrong with the lighting. Then Inoticed that it began to happen inother parts of town after I hadmoved from the original location.The necessary ingredient seems tobe repetitive passes. The lightsbehaved in a way unlike anythingI had ever seen.

The type of light which reactsto my presence is that which haslight-sensing photo cells. Ibelieve they are referred to ashalogen lights, though I have notdone the research to verify this.This is the type of lighting whichcomes on automatically as it getsdark. Lights which are onstraight timers appear to be unaf-fected. At first I thought that thephenomenon happened onlythrough repeated walking in theproximity of the lights. I havefound recently that I can be ridingin a car, as well as outdoors; thelights will respond in the sameway. The sensing device in thelight can pick me up as far awayas one or two hundred feet.

I wish to clarify the fact thatonly a small percentage of photo-sensitive lights react to my pres-ence at any one time. The num-ber increases daily and the loca-tions affected are increasing. I

Letters to the Editor ...


suppose the interesting aspect ofthis phenomenon is that I am ableto predict the area of town wheremore lights will behave erratical-ly, and find them.

After the initial contact andblink-off, the light no longerbehaves normally and appears tobe permanently disrupted, thoughit does not go black, but the fila-ment, if that's the correct nomen-clature, remains barely lit until itcomes back on full force. Itbegins to cycle on and off in peri-ods of 20 seconds up to two min-utes or more. This lasts indefi-nitely. For all practical purposes,the light is broken and must even-tually be replaced.

In September of 1999, I beganto videotape the various kinds oflights and their unusual behav-iour. Some were on busy streets,others in school yards or parkinglots. If I were to draw a map ofthe locations of the lights, itwould very clearly delineate aroute which I have either walked(I am an addictive walker) or dri-ven on a regular basis. This typeof erratic behaviour can only befound on the route described,which extends from my neigh-bourhood to my parents' house,several miles away.

There are six lights flashing onand off in the school yard nextdoor to my parents' house, as Iwrite, and there will be morebecause the entire school yard isringed with the same type oflighting. Within the compoundwhere my parents live, about sixlights have been affected. Thistype of lighting behaves different-ly in that it flickers continuouslyuntil it goes black. Two of thesehave already been replaced. Anew one began flickering lastnight.

There are other non-functionallights, of course, on other streetsand parts of town, but they aresimply black, and remain thatway. I have counted some 27lights on the above-describedroute that behave erratically.These ceased to function one byone. Someone will eventuallynotice, and they will be replaced.But by then there will be manymore in other parts of town.

From what I have observed, itis the sensing mechanism that isdisrupted, not the flow of juice.Once this takes place, the light nolonger functions normally; itblinks on and off in an erratic

cycle. I have not yet contactedanyone who understands theoperating mechanism in theselights. I have not heard of anyoneelse who has experienced thesame phenomenon. Perhaps youhave. Filming it is the only wayto be sure.

If you have any ideas about anarticle, or are interested in thevideotape, please contact me.

Sincerely, Janusz Kozikowski,Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Cancer Cure TestimonialsDear Duncan, I've been

researching the cancer cure cover-up story for a number of yearsnow, and I am currently writing abook on the subject (for whichNEXUS has proved an invaluableresource). I am in the process ofgathering testimonials from can-cer patients who have usedEssiac, Hoxsey method, Gersonmethod, Rife treatment, Clark'szappers, Naessens's 714X,Cancell or oxygen therapy.

I thought that as NEXUS hasrun features on these, and adver-tises some of the products, itwould be a perfect place to con-tact people who are anxious toshare their story with the world.Highlighting this story is one ofthe most important thingsNEXUS has done, and the morepeople who know, the better.

Anyone who wants to contactme regarding this is welcome toe-mail me on [email protected].

Thanks, Duncan. Keep fight-ing the good fight.

Sincerely, Ralph Cohen

Side Effects of Soy MilkDear NEXUS: I would like to

congratulate NEXUS on success-fully delivering yet anotherenlightening and informative arti-cle, explaining the possible risksof soy and soy products [7/03].

My initial reaction to this arti-cle was one of total shock, disbe-lief and disappointment. Hopingthis not to be true, I desperatelysearched the Internet looking forarticles that might oppose suchclaims. Alas, to no avail.

I use the word "enlightening"because it was this article thatbrought attention to the fact that,ever since I have been drinkingsoy milk, I have found myselfmenstruating 2–3 times a month!At first, I found no connection

and just assumed that it was mybody adjusting to this new diet.However, I then spoke to a girl-friend who has been goingthrough exactly the same thingfor the past two years after drink-ing soy milk! Needless to say,we instantly made the connectionand have since stopped. At thisstage I would like to point outthat, for her, the search foranswers from doctors and natur-opaths has been futile. Theirresponses were simply "stress".

After this series of revelations,I asked Sanitarium if they couldcomment on the article. I feelthis request was justified as Ihave used some of their products,based on the fact that they statethey are a "health food company".They sent a reply which containsthe following excerpt: "Thepoints made in the article are notoriginal, being a compendium ofcirculating views and selected(apparently) contradictoryresearch. A combination of bothscience and advocacy, one wouldthink, making bad use of goodscience, and in a very convincingmanner..." I then sent another e-mail, asking if they could thensuggest another reason for why Iwas constantly menstruating, andto date have received no reply.

So, please be warned. If youwould like further information,please contact me at [email protected].

Regards, Natalie Ford, SurreyHills, Victoria, Australia

Space Quanta TechnologyLadies and Gentlemen: Re

transmutation of elements, withthe goal to decrease radioactivityand/or to convert surplus energyinto thermal or electrical energy,for many years I have beenwatching the activities in the fieldof free energy (over unity) as wellas some border areas.Professionally, as well as private-ly, I am working in this field forseveral parties.

I am very well acquainted withthe group nearby doing researchin space quanta technology.Members, readers or Internet visi-tors of your organisation surelywould be interested to know thatspecialists in this group recentlygained some pioneering knowl-edge in the abovementionedfields.

My point (and the purpose of

this e-mail message) is to drawthe attention of your members,readers or Internet visitors to therecently published article by DSc.Nat. Hans Weber, who, as theleading researcher, discusses theabove subjects. The completearticle can be found on theInternet at http://www.rqm.ch/engl/chance.htm.

I would appreciate it if youcould publish and use this noticeaccordingly.

Best regards, WernerRusterholz, Jona, Switzerland,rusterholz@ active.ch

Soy's Anti-Nutrient ActionDear Duncan: The soy disin-

formation story is the mostimportant dietary info I have readto date ["Tragedy and Hype,7/03].

The anti-nutrient advice myfamily have received over 30years is staggering. The soy babyformula prescribed for one childmay well be the cause of hisimmune system, behavioural andlearning difficulties in the 1970s.

Some years ago, I fell into theCFS/asthma roundabout. I wasvery low in zinc, iron, B12, withclumped red cells, etc. Holisticassistance did a good job, but Istill had the problem absorbingzinc. I stopped using soy milkwhile overseas last year, butrestarted some time after myreturn. My energy started to"creep down", and blood screen-ing with tests showed the restartof the zinc and red cells story, butwhy? Since "Tragedy and Hype",I have stopped my soy intake andmy energy is back. I anticipate aclear blood screening soon!

By the way, I rang myfavourite (Australian) organic soymilk company. They use steeltanks, so at least I wasn't gettingaluminium poisoning!

Before my "accelerated brainageing" from the isoflavonescatches up, I implore all readerswho talk with naturopaths, healthfood stores, doctors and parentsto give them a copy of "Tragedyand Hype" as a gift to future gen-erations (and this one).

Peace be with you. Hugh Simmons, New South

Wales, AustraliaPS: Can anyone specifically

state that organic rice milk is safe,or is this another chemical timebomb with group action potential?

... more Letters to the EditorNB: Please keep letters toapprox. 100 to 150 words

in length. Ed.


"SON OF STAR WARS"COMING TO UK/EUROPE

Following a series of secret meet-ings over the past six weeks in

London, Washington andBrussels—involving members ofthe Clinton Administration and theBritish Cabinet, senior staff officersfrom the Pentagon and the BritishMinistry of Defence, senior man-agement from the US NationalSecurity Agency and BritishGCHQ, and representatives fromNATO (on a strictly "need-to-know" basis)—Washington hasbeen given permission to proceedwith the first British stage of the"Son of Star Wars" program. Thisinvolves changes in computer soft-ware at the US satellite base atFylingdales in North Yorkshire(Intelligence, no. 112, p. 26).

Eventually the US$50 billion nationalmissile protective shield, designed to pro-vide early warning of a rogue nuclear mis-sile attack against the US, will involve amassive extension to Menwith Hill, nearHarrogate, and an arsenal of 200 "intercep-tors" set up in Britain, Denmark and theUSA (North Dakota and Alaska).

Although the system is not due to betested until mid-May, President BillClinton has been under increasing pressurefrom the Republican-dominated Congressto agree to develop the technology.

Pointing out that London could not beexpected to "turn down a request from ourclosest ally to change its computer soft-ware", a UK Cabinet spokespersonclaimed that Prime Minister Tony Blairhad "acted as a bridge between Europe andthe US" in persuading the Pentagon to"share information about the missile shieldtechnology" with its NATO allies.

Exactly what the Europeans are to dowith the data, which is bound to be heavilyedited, wasn't mentioned in the statement. (Source: I n t e l l i g e n c e (France), #115, 10April 2000, www.blythe.org/Intelligence)

CASE AGAINST DR HULDACLARK DISMISSED

Charges laid against HuldaRegehr Clark, PhD, ND, have

been dismissed. Dr Clark wasarrested in September 1999 andcharged with practising medicinewithout a licence—a felony that canbe punished with up to eight yearsin prison (see Global News 7/01).

Dr Clark was released on bail afew weeks later, but the uncertaintyover the outcome of her trial was aheavy burden on the 71-year-oldresearcher from San Diego, CA.Her enemies wanted to see herlocked up behind bars. To theestablished medical interests, DrClark's workable therapy againstcancer is a huge threat. But nowthe charges have been dismissed.

David Amrein, President of the Dr ClarkResearch Association, has expressed histhanks to everyone who contributed to thelegal fund or helped in other ways. Hesays the real fight is far from being over—the fight for individual freedom of choicein medical matters. (Source: Dr Clark Research Association,18 April 2000, e-mail [email protected],website www.drclark.net)

DRUG MAKERS DON'T FINISHSTUDIES AFTER LICENSURE

Drug makers have consistently failed toconduct studies of their products after

they are put on the market—studies thatwere often required by the FDA as a con-dition for a drug's approval, according tothe consumer watchdog Public Citizen.

Data that the group obtained from theFDA through the Freedom of InformationAct shows that from 1990 to 1994, 88 newdrugs were approved, based in part on themanufacturers' commitment to do suchstudies (known as postmarketing or phase-four studies). Just 13% of the manufactur-ers of these drugs had completed the stud-ies as of December 1999, the group found.

"This means that for at least five and aslong as 10 years after drug approval, all ofthe studies for 87% of these drugs had notbeen completed," says Larry Sasich,PharmD, MPH, a spokesperson for PublicCitizen, the group founded by consumeradvocate Ralph Nader. (Sources: http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1728.56650, via Sheri Nakken,[email protected], 18 April 2000)


... GL BAL NEWS ...SUPERVIRUSES: THE NEXT

DIGITAL THREAT

The "Love Bug" has given us just a tasteof what could be coming. The virus

caused billions of dollars' worth of dam-age—more than any other virus or hackingattack since the dawn of cyberhistory.

It lay dormant for nearly a week beforesurfacing on computers in Hong Kong.The message, seemingly sent by someoneknown to the computer user, said"ILOVEYOU" and had an attachmentwhich appeared to be a love letter.

Launching the attachment allowed a pro-gram to invade the computer, which notonly sent copies of the e-mail to all theaddresses listed on the machine but alsoscooped up all the passwords it could findand sent them back to the creator of thebug. [Emphasis added. Ed.]

Anyone from the Pentagon to the Houseof Commons to New Zealand universitieswas hit. An estimated 20 per cent of theworld's computers were affected. It couldhave been much worse.

In November 1999, the "Bubbleboy"virus broke the longstanding rule that youhave to open an e-mail attachment tobecome infected. By the time it was inyour in-box, it was already too late.Thankfully, Bubbleboy did not have a"destructive payload" and so did littledamage. Importantly, however, few tookmuch notice of the quantum leap that itrepresented. In April 1999, a virus called"Chernobyl" was activated in hundreds ofthousands of computers in Asia and theMiddle East. Not only did it wipe outstored data, it destroyed BIOS—the basicinstructions that tell a machine how tostart. Another quantum leap.

Virus writers are now able to combinethe destructiveness of Chernobyl with theinvasiveness of Bubbleboy and the speedof the Love Bug—and create a supervirus.

According to experts, at least 50 suchsuperviruses have already been detected onthe Internet. None has yet been launchedat the public. Some may not work; somemay be shot down by existing virusdefences; some might get through. Andthat is the nightmare scenario.

A hacker known as "Dark Tangent",who heads a group which advises big busi-ness on their security, said the only sur-prise is that a "supervirus hasn't happenedyet".(Source: The Observer , UK, www.guardian.co.uk, 7 May 2000)

DRIVING WITH BIG BROTHER

In Australia, plans are afoot to compulso-rily equip all motor vehicles with elec-

tronic sender units which will be read byglobal positioning system (GPS) satellites.

The Victorian Government expects thesatellite detection system to be fully opera-tional by 2001.

All registered vehicles will be requiredto carry a microchip sender unit, whichinstantly records a vehicle's position andspeed. Heavy fines and even vehicle con-fiscation will apply to those with missingor inoperable sender units.

The government is well advanced in itsplan to link Melbourne's new E-tag free-way tolling system into the speed detectionnet. The E-tag tolling system operates viaa number of overhead gantries on majorarterial freeways. These gantries detect avehicle's E-tag signal as it passes under-neath, directly debiting the driver's E-tagaccount to pay the toll. The gantries arealso used to calculate the vehicle's speed.

No doubt the Victorian Government willbe pleased at President Clinton's recentannouncement to make military-level GPSsatellite data—which is 10 times moreaccurate than before—available to all.(Source: Australian Motorcycle News, vol.49, no. 18, 31 March 2000)

ISPs TO BE 'HARDWIRED' TOMI5's INTERNET SPYING CENTRE

MI5 is building a new £25m e-mailsurveillance centre which will have

the power to monitor all e-mail and

Internet messages sent and received inBritain. The UK Government is to requireInternet service providers (ISPs) to have"hardwire" links to the new computerfacility so that messages can be tracedacross the Internet.

The security service and the police willstill need Home Office permission tosearch Internet traffic, but they can alsoapply for general warrants that wouldenable them to intercept communicationsfor a company or an organisation.

The new computer centre, codenamedGTAC (government technical assistancecentre)—which will be up and running bythe end of the year inside MI5's Londonheadquarters—has provoked concernamong civil liberties groups.

"With this facility, the government cantrack every website that a person visits,without a warrant, giving rise to a cultureof suspicion by association," said CasparBowden, director of the Foundation forInformation Policy Research.

The government already has powers totap phone lines linking computers, but thegrowth of the Internet has made it impossi-ble to read all material. By requiring ser-vice providers to install cables that willdownload material to MI5, the governmentwill have the technical capability to readeverything that passes over the Internet.

The new spying centre will decode mes-sages that have been encrypted. Undernew powers due to come into force this(northern) summer, police will be able torequire individuals and companies to hand


... GL BAL NEWS ...over computer "keys"—special codes thatunlock scrambled messages.

"The arrival of this spy centre means thatBig Brother is finally here," said NormanBaker, Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes."The balance between the state and individ-ual privacy has swung too far in favour ofthe state." (Source: The Sunday Times , UK, 30 April2000, www.sunday-times.co.uk)

PROZAC – A PRESCRIPTION FOR VIOLENCE

Prozac, the world's best-selling anti-depressant, is being blamed for turning

healthy, placid people violent. It is thoughtto have led to crimes that include murder.

In the first clinical trial of its kind, DrDavid Healy, director of the North WalesDepartment of Psychological Medicine atthe University of Wales, gave Prozac to avolunteer group of mentally healthy adultsand found that even t h e i r behaviour wasaffected. "We can make healthy volunteersbelligerent, fearful, suicidal, and even posea risk to others," he said.

The study is the strongest vindication yetof mental health campaigners who claimthat dozens of people have been wronglyimprisoned because of the effects Prozachas had on their behaviour. In the UnitedStates, school shootings have been linkedto number of children given Prozac andother anti-depressants.

In February, a judge in Connecticutacquitted a bank robber who blamed hisbehaviour on Prozac. In what is thought to

be the first ruling of its kind, SuperiorCourt Judge Richard Arnold freedChristopher DeAngelo, a 28-year-old insur-ance agent, because the defendant wasunable to appreciate that his actions werewrong. Defence lawyer John Williamssaid: "This was someone who was drivento commit crimes because of prescriptiondrugs."

Meanwhile, doctors in the USA are pre-scribing Prozac and Ritalin to an ever-increasing number of children. In 1995,over 150,000 children—just in the agegroup of two to four years—were onProzac-type drugs. This figure is likely tohave tripled since then.(Sources: Guardian Weekly , 2–8 March2000; The Observer, 12 March 2000)

MODERN HUMANS NOTRELATED TO NEANDERTHALS

An analysis of DNA extracted from theribs of a 29,000-year-old Neanderthal

infant buried in a cave in southern Russiashows that modern humans are not relatedto Neanderthals.

The infant would have been among thelast of the Neanderthals. Exactly what hap-pened to them is a mystery. Various theo-ries suggest they were killed off, lost out tocompetitors or were simply absorbed bymodern humans.

The study, led by William Goodwin ofGlasgow University, is also importantbecause it verifies the findings of the firstanalysis of Neanderthal DNA in 1997. TheDNA sequence from the infant is very

similar to the specimen from the FeldhoferCave in Germany—proving that both aregenuinely Neanderthal and that there waslittle diversity among them.

"The fact that these two Neanderthals areclosely related and not related to modernhumans implies that they don't have thediversity to encompass a modern humangene pool," said Goodwin.(Source: Reuters, 27 March 2000)

INCENTIVES FOR DOCTORS MAYAFFECT YOUR HEALTH

It usually begins in medical school.Students receive drug company pens,

clocks and coffee mugs. As they becomedoctors, the gifts they receive oftenincrease in value: drug samples, tickets toball games, dinners for them and their fam-ilies, all-expenses-paid trips to ski or beachresorts to "consult" with drug company rep-resentatives.

It is all part of an intense marketingeffort. Each drug company tries to con-vince doctors of the benefits of its medica-tions, so the doctors, in turn, might pre-scribe them to you.

By one published estimate, drug compa-nies last year spent an average ofUS$13,000 on every physician in the USA,which adds up to more than $8 billion.Drug companies now employ 70,000 salesrepresentatives, which means one sales rep-resentative for every nine doctors.

A recent analysis of 16 different studiesshowed that doctors courted by drug com-panies were more likely to engage in "non-rational" prescribing. In other words, theywere more likely to order a drug that wasmore expensive or less effective than whatthe patient actually needed.

The doctors were also more likely—insome cases, 20 times more likely—to ask ahospital to add the company's drug to thehospital inventory, even though most of therequested drugs "presented little or notherapeutic advantage".(Source: ABC News, USA, 17 February2000, http://abcnews.go.com/onair)

LOCKERBIE PRIME WITNESSPREVENTED FROM TESTIFYING

Former US Defense Intelligence Agency(DIA) operative Lester Coleman was

recently incarcerated in a Kentucky prisonon charges he alleges are false—yet anoth-er effort by the federal government tosilence him. Upon his release, Colemanwas remanded into custody once again, this


... GL BAL NEWS ...time by New York Federal Judge ThomasPlatt. Coleman is a key witness in the PanAm 103 trial, currently underway in CampZeist, The Netherlands.

Coleman's "crime", according to JudgePlatt, is perjury, committed in an affidavithe gave in 1997. His testimony blew thewhistle on a massive CIA/DEA drug smug-gling operation which facilitated the smug-gling of a bomb aboard Flight 103. A bagof heroin aboard the flight, bound for aDrug Enforcement Administration drugsting operation in Chicago, was switchedfor a bag of explosives. Coleman main-tains that this testimony is true, and hasattempted to appeal the perjury conviction,claiming that his "guilty" plea was madeunder extreme duress.

A front-page story that appeared on 16April in the Sunday Herald newspaper inScotland corroborates Coleman's state-ments. The story reveals claims made byRoland O'Neill, the Pan Am baggage han-dler who was in charge of loading luggageonto Flight 103. O'Neill's statements backup long-held suspicions that Palestinianterrorists operating in Germany planted thebomb at the behest of Iran, mirroringColeman's allegations.

Coleman has led the life of a fugitiveever since co-authoring a book, The Trailof the Octopus, based on his knowledge ofdrug smuggling by various US intelligenceagencies. Upon the book's publication, anorder for Coleman's arrest was issued bythe US Government, primarily on accusa-tions of perjury. He was attacked andviciously beaten shortly before his return tothe United States in 1996, then placed incustody on federal charges. His book'srelease by major publishers has since beensuccessfully suppressed.

Coleman has been subpoenaed to testifyat the trial of the two Libyans who havebeen blamed for the Pan Am 103 bombing.However, his continued imprisonment willeffectively prevent his appearance.

Coleman would not be the first person todie because of having inside knowledge onthe Pan Am tragedy. Investigative journal-ist Danny Casolaro was found with hiswrists slashed in Martinsburg, WestVirginia, in 1991—one week after inter-viewing Coleman. Former DIA/DEA asso-ciates of Coleman, including two Lebaneseoperatives who knew about the drug sting,have been murdered. (Source: Rumor Mill News Agency, 19April 2000, www.rumormillnews.com)

ASPARTAME-RELATED HEALTH PROBLEMS CONTINUE LONG AFTER INGESTION STOPPED

From Betty Martini, Mission Possible

In the last few days I have read discussions about aspartame reactions recurring monthsafter having ceased ingestion of the toxin, and also with detoxifying and losing weight

(which you would expect to release poison). I have mentioned in the past that it is common to have a severe reaction, should you

accidentally get the least little bit of NutraSweet or even another toxin. James Bowen,MD, has discussed this with me on several occasions, and since he called tonight I askedif he would dictate some information on the issue so it could be put on the list for allwho have had questions.

Please keep in mind that aspartame is not an additive: it is a chemical poison. Thebest way to understand NutraSweet is to think of it as a minute dose of nerve gas thateradicates brain and nerve functions. Below are Dr Bowen's comments.

"I have come across first-hand reports of a lady doctor who had her medical degreerevoked because she spoke on the aspartame issue. Even I have been threatened byinsiders from the political camp of aspartame, that they will get my degree revoked.

"This brings up a topic of equal magnitude to the aspartame topic, and directly relatedto it: polychemical sensitivity syndrome (PCS) or chemical hypersensitivity. Virtuallyevery doctor who has dealt with this problem has had a large group of highly satisfiedpatients, only to see his career destroyed by medical licensing boards and the medicaltraining establishments. This reflects the sure knowledge that they are destroyingpeople's health with this problem.

"The Persian Gulf syndrome is largely polychemical sensitivity from the massiveNutraSweet exposure experienced by our men in combat units in the Persian Gulf. Thefirst investigative reports of the Persian Gulf syndrome noted these facts, only to be fol-lowed by reports that these Persian Gulf victims obviously could not have polychemicalsensitivity syndrome because such a thing doesn't exist, and nothing the medicine wasdoing for them was helping. Therefore, they must be chronically unhappy people whocouldn't be made happy in any manner.

"This illustrates the highly significant feature of aspartame poisoning: that it is anextreme hypersensitisation agent which is highly reactive with other chemicals, espe-cially toxic ones—like the nerve gas and nitrogen mustard gas our troops were exposedto in the Gulf, when our government tried to destroy the stockpiles of these gases theyhad previously supplied to Saddam Hussein. This is a very poignant part of theNutraSweet issue, because those who had problems with Nutrasweet will now experi-ence recurrences of those same problems when exposed to even the most minute dosesof various toxic agents.

"For example, the government studies of formaldehyde hypersensitivity performedmany years ago showed that, once hypersensitised, a person can then react to as little asa billionth of a gram of formaldehyde with a violent health problem of some kind. Backin l983, when NutraSweet was put on the market for [soda]pop, the allowable amount offormaldehyde in ambient air was 500 parts per billion. Our government has subsequent-ly lowered that tolerance level to 50 parts per billion as an official government environ-mental standard.

"Yet, the government defends staunchly the marketing of aspartame, which as aformaldehyde poisoning is probably 500 times as potent as straight formaldehyde, caus-ing aggravated formaldehyde poisoning in its victims. And yet the amount you wouldget from a can of pop greatly exceeds what you would get from inhaled air, even by theold, more lenient standard.

"The reason I feel it's so important to publish this information is that those who havebeen victimised by aspartame really don't have a good shot at enjoying the health theyhad before, unless they recognise the problem and know how to deal with it."

— James Bowen, MD, telephone +1 (719) 332 0033(Source: From Betty Martini, [email protected], 16 April 2000. Formore information on aspartame, visit the website www.dorway.com.)


MORE PHARMACEUTICAL POLLUTANTS FOUND INWATERWAYS AND GROUNDWATER IN US & CANADAby J. Raloff © 2000

Over the past decade, European chemists have been docu-menting widespread pharmaceutical contamination oftheir lakes, streams and groundwater. In early April, US

and Canadian scientists offered preliminary confirmation thattraces of drugs, excreted by people and livestock, similarly pol-lute American and Canadian waters. They presented their find-ings at the first major American symposium on pharmaceuticalsin water, held as part of the American Chemical Society's Springnational meeting.

Water pollution by drugs "is a newly emerging issue", observesChristian G. Daughton, symposium co-organiser and chief ofenvironmental chemistry at the US Environmental ProtectionAgency's National Exposure ResearchLaboratory in Las Vegas, Nevada. By offer-ing a US venue for the meeting "and partici-pation by many European leaders in thisfield", he hoped to awaken domestic interestand catalyse research on the topic (S c i e n c eNews, 21 March 1998, p. 187).

Ironically, Daughton notes, EPA scientistswho examined the sludge from a US sewagetreatment plant 20 years ago found that theincoming sewage contained excretedaspirin, caffeine and nicotine. Daughtonsays that the findings were written off as acuriosity and were all but forgotten.

At about the same time, recalls HermanBouwer of the US AgriculturalResearch Service in Phoenix, Arizona,the cholesterol-lowering drug clofibricacid turned up in a groundwater reser-voir being tapped to meet the Phoenixcommunity's thirst. The drug hadentered with treated sewage which thecity had been using to replenish theaquifer.

"At the time," Bouwer recalls, "wedidn't pay attention to the finding." Itshould have been a wake-up call, henow argues, because if clofibric acidcould pass through a sewage treatmentplant and percolate through soil unscathed, so could a host ofother drugs.

And they do, as new studies show.Chris Metcalfe of Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario,

Canada, reports finding a broad mix of drugs, including anti-cancer agents, psychiatric drugs and anti-inflammatory com-pounds. "Levels of prescription drugs that we have leavingsewage treatment plants in Canada are sometimes higher thanwhat's being seen in Germany," he says. He explains that manyNorth American cities employ more rudimentary sewage treat-ment methods than do those in Germany.

Daughton also observes that a million US homes send theiressentially untreated sewage directly into the environment.

Two years ago, the symposium's other co-organiser, Thomas

A. Ternes, documented unexpectedly high concentrations ofdrugs, many of which "measured in parts per billion (ppb)", bothin raw sewage and in water leaving treatment plants in Germany.The chemist, who is based at the Institute for Water Research andWater Technology in Wiesbaden, Germany, now finds that thesedrugs enter groundwater.

Sewage effluent can amount to at least half the water in manyof Germany's smaller rivers, Ternes notes. Groundwater fed bystreams carrying relatively undiluted effluent can be tainted with1 ppb of carbamazepine, an anticonvulsive drug. Ternes has alsodetected similar amounts of the anti-inflammatory drugdiclofenac, and up to 2.4 ppb of iodine-based drugs used toimprove contrast in X-rays.

Because people discard their excess drugs, the town dump canalso be a source of pharmaceutical pollution. Under one landfill,

Ternes found groundwater tainted with 12ppb of clofibric acid and 1 ppb ofphenazone, an analgesic. The latter med-ication also turned up in groundwater—"but at far higher concentrations"—under aleaking dump in Zagreb, Croatia, notesMarijan Ahel of the Rudjer BoskovicInstitute in Zagreb. Some of his water sam-ples had the drug at as much as 50 timesthe concentration detected by Ternes.

In the United States, federal scientistsrecently began probing another source ofdrug pollution: large feedlots for livestock.An estimated 40 per cent of the antibioticsproduced in the United States is fed to live-

stock as growth enhancers. Geochemist Mike Meyer, of the US

Geological Survey in Raleigh, NorthCarolina, and his colleagues havebegun looking for antibiotics in hog-waste lagoons. Three drugs frequent-ly show up, one in concentrationsapproaching one part per million. Thesame three antibiotics, which are alsoprescribed for people, often appear inlocal waters—though, as Meyer notes,"usually only at one-tenth to one-hun-dredth the concentrations in thelagoons". "So, it appears we're get-

ting transport of these antibiotics into surface and ground waters,"he told Science News.

Meyer says that colleagues at the Centers for Disease Controland Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, have begun sampling bacteriafrom the tainted waters to investigate their responses to theantibiotics present. Their findings could begin to resolve a long-standing question: what is the contribution, if any, of livestock topotentially dangerous reservoirs of bacteria resistant to commonantibiotics (Science News, 5 June 1999, p. 356)?

Traces of drugs are sometimes making it all the way into tapwater. Thomas Heberer, of the Technical University of Berlin,reported finding traces of at least three pharmaceuticals in sam-ples from his home tap. The concentrations, however, were nearthe limits of detection—a few parts per trillion. Moreover, he

d e B r i e f i n g s

The symposium'sscientists note that, to date, few if any

toxicological studies have evaluated risks

posed by chronicexposure to traceconcentrations ofpharmaceutical

drugs.


found that running this water through an activated carbon filterremoved all vestiges of the drugs.

Ternes's studies confirm that two disinfection agents, "activat-ed carbon and ozone", which are used in many European drink-ing-water plants, generally remove any traces of drugs. It'sbecause these relatively costly technologies aren't employed fortreating sewage, he notes, that a large share of the drugs flusheddown toilets can reach open waters.

The symposium's scientists note that, to date, few if any toxi-cological studies have evaluated risks posed by chronic exposureto trace concentrations of phar-maceutical drugs. However,most of the participants suspectthat the biggest risks face aquaticlife, which may be bathed fromcradle to grave in a solution ofdrugs of increasing concentrationand potency.

David Epel, of StanfordUniversity's Hopkins MarineStation in Pacific Grove,California, is especially con-cerned about new drugs called"efflux-pump inhibitors". Thesedrugs, he says, are designed tokeep microbes from ejecting theantibiotics intended to slay them,and also impede the cellular pumps that nearly all animals use toget rid of toxicants (Science News, 12 February 2000, p. 110).

Epel is concerned that if pump-inhibiting drugs enter the aquat-ic environment, they might render wildlife vulnerable to concen-trations of pollution that had previously been innocuous.(Source: By J. Raloff, Science News, vol. 157, no. 14, 1 April2000, p. 212, website www.sciencenews.org/20000401/fob1.asp,posted 8 April 2000)

PROMIS SOFTWARE: A LINK TO THE ECHELONSPYING SYSTEM? by Kenn Thomas © 2000

The research of Danny Casolaro, the writer who died inMartinsburg, West Virginia, in August 1991 while investi-gating an intelligence cabal called The Octopus, continues

to contextualise current events in ways that the mainstream mediafail at daily. For instance, it seems more than likely that the vastspy satellite system known as Echelon, now emerging as a majortopic in international public debate about the surveillance society,

relies on some permutation of thePROMIS software—a system thatwas crucial to Casolaro's research.

PROMIS was stolen from theInslaw company by Ed Meesecronies in the US JusticeDepartment under Ronald Reagan.It became infamous for its "backdoor", allowing the Octopuscronies to spy on clients who hadbought PROMIS illegally.

In addition to high-resolutionvisual monitoring, the E c h e l o nsatellites—maintained and utilisedby such US intelligence groups asthe National Security Agency(NSA) and the National

Reconnaissance Office (NRO)—monitor phone calls and e-mailtransmissions for key words like "bomb" and "assassination" thatostensibly might expose terrorists. A growing body of indepen-dent researchers, however, have come to understand that the sys-tem has been used for industrial espionage and for the tracking ofprivate citizens and political dissidents. The E c h e l o n s a t e l l i t e suse advanced software-hardware technology that mystifiesresearchers. Amidst official denials that it can be done at all,

these researchers are beginning to focuson the real question of h o w it can bedone. The answer to that may rest withPROMIS and Danny Casolaro'sresearch.

The development and use of Inslaw'sPROMIS, to the extent of Casolaro'sresearch, are detailed in The Octopus:Secret Government and the Death ofDanny Casolaro , the book I co-authored with Jim Keith. However, thepermutations and evolutionary muta-tions of PROMIS have since becomethe gist of much further speculation andresearch. At the start of the ClintonAdministration, for instance, PROMISilluminated the death of White Houseaide Vince Foster with suggestion thatit has been introduced into internationalbanking systems. According to onetheory, Foster's Swiss bank accountswere made vulnerable in this way andmay have led to his suicide or murder.


... it seems more than likely that thevast spy satellite system known asEchelon, now emerging as a majortopic in international public debate

about the surveillance society, relies on some permutation of

the PROMIS software ...


PROMIS came up again on the periphery after the Heaven'sGate cult incident, when it became apparent that the last signifi-cant news from the area where the cult lived, in Rancho Santa Fenear San Diego, involved the murders of Ian Spiro and his fami-ly. Spiro was a British intelligence spook who had been helpingDanny Casolaro's main informant, Michael Riconosciuto—thecreator of the PROMIS back door.

Even the death of Diana, Princess of Wales has a tentaclereaching back to PROMIS in the person of Adnan Khashoggi,Dodi Fayed's uncle. Khashoggi's signature appeared on a docu-ment that had Casolaro excited on the day that he died. That verynight, he was due to meet with someone named "Ibrahim" whowould have shed more light on Khashoggi's role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Khashoggi is a notorious arms merchant respon-sible for developing supra-legal contracts that sustain MiddleEast defence and oil industry corruption.

Those politics certainly played a role in whatever happened toDiana and Dodi in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel. They came intoplay again with the tragic death of myOctopus co-author, Jim Keith, in September1999. Keith died of a blood clot after reluc-tantly going into a Reno, Nevada, hospitalfor minor knee surgery. Rumours were rifethat the odd death had to do with Keith'sreporting on the possibility that Diana waspregnant at the time of her death. In a col-umn for the website Nitro News (nowdefunct), Keith said he would name thephysician who told Diana she was pregnant.Word had it that Keith was killed before hecould name that name. A thorough investi-gation of Keith's death—a tremendousloss to the conspiracy informationunderground—has yet to be made.

Of paramount interest to the desk-top conspiracy student, however, isthe ongoing development ofPROMIS-like back doors that havebeen popping up to spy on averagepersonal-computer users. These arethe most likely suspects as somehowbeing linked to the Echelon system.

Rumour had it that when the origi-nal versions of Windows 95 appeared,they contained a back door that sur-reptitiously read the user's hard driveand reported it back to someone—Bill Gates? Echelon? In thetrans-global corporate state, the distinction hardly needs to bemade. This rumour came with the story that pressing some keycombination during the opening "clouds" sequence of Windows95 brought to the screen a photograph of a prized Palaminoowned by Gates. The first draft of Casolaro's book on theOctopus was entitled "Behold, A Pale Horse". The "back door"feature ostensibly was removed from later versions of Windows,and today the software has a voluntary registration that does thesame thing, only with the consent of the spied-upon. Presently,there is no indication of how it works with the pre-installed soft-ware often bought by many non-computer-savvy people.

The standard consumer computer and its Internet connectionmay contain the means by which Echelon spies on the world. LastJanuary, a "glitch" in the protocol for removing phone listingsfrom the Yahoo! site gave private address listings when phonenumbers were punched in. Glitches found in the Netscapebrowser in 1995—one that allowed Netscape to extract the historyof a user's session, and another that subverted encryption/decryption operations—won $1,000 from a bug bounty huntergroup for two young hackers in Australia and San Francisco,USA. Perhaps it is not surprising that two years later, presumablylong after it fixed these other bugs, Netscape awarded another$1,000 plus a T-shirt to Danish software company Cabocommwhen it discovered another glitch. This one allowed a websiteoperator to read anything stored on the hard drive of a computerlogged on to the site. Implications of a more advanced technologyno doubt employed by Echelon are onerous.

Encryption security and the "Clipper chip"—a "front door"strategy for keeping tabs on the Internet—served as issues with

the general public in preparation for thecoming Echelon debate. Philip Zimmermanused a public domain algorithm to create thePretty Good Privacy encryption software,and he publicised it freely, bringing thatprotection to the masses. However, evencybernerds have trouble dealing withPROMIS/Echelon possibilities that may noteven exist, as some have argued.

Daniel Brandt, producer of CIABase/NameBase, a renowned data engine onintelligence literature and personalities,argues: "...a 'back door' to get around pass-

word protection is easy for any pro-grammer... [but] you still need physi-cal access to the computer, eitherthrough a direct-connect terminal or aremote terminal through the phonelines, in order to utilise a back door.[It is difficult] to believe that foreign-ers allow technicians from anothercountry to install new computer sys-tems in the heart of their intelligenceestablishments, and don't even think tosecure physical access to the systembefore they start entering their pre-cious data...claims that PROMIS...cansuck in every other database on Earth,

such as those used by utility companies, and correlate everythingautomatically...needlessly discredit [whistleblowers] by their ownhigh-tech gullibility."

Bill Hamilton, the owner of Inslaw—the company which origi-nally developed PROMIS—maintains that the software could runon "any UNIX machine, Hewlett Packard UNIX, RISC 6000,AT&T, AS400, under its own operating system, and on main-frames under MVS"; that it was comprised of 88 program mod-ules; and that the source code, replete with the Inslaw namethroughout the code commentary, was kept by any governmentwhich had it. When asked how a foreign country could modifythe source code without discovering the back door, Hamilton was


The standard consumer computer

and its Internetconnection

may contain the means by which Echelon spies on

the world.


explicit about the connection to Echelon: "I don't know what'smeant by the 'back door'. What we've been told is that not onlythe software was sold, but computers with extra chips... Whatthe chips do, we've been told—the extra chips—is to broadcastthe data inside PROMIS to satellites owned by the NSA...but wedon't know enough about it as they've never shared anything withus." This possibility addresses Daniel Brandt's objection thatphysical access is required for a back door to work.

Writer J. Orlin Grabbe elaborated on the idea in a recent col-umn: "Since intelligence computers are, for security reasons,usually not connected to external networks, the original backdoor was a broadcast signal. The PROMIS software was oftensold in connection with computer hardware (such as a Primecomputer) using a specialised chip. The chip would broadcastthe contents of the existing database to monitoring vans or collec-tion satellites, using digital spread spectrum techniques wheneverthe software was run. Spread spectrum techniques offer a way tomask, or disguise, a signal by making it appear as 'noise' withrespect to another signal. For example, one may communicatecovertly on the same spectrum as a local TV broadcast signal.From the point of view of a TV receiver, the covert communica-tion appears as noise and is filtered out. From the point of viewof the covert channel, the TV signal appears as noise. In the caseof the PROMIS broadcast channel, the signal was disguised asordinary computer noise..." Thereafter, unfortunately, Grabbe'sdiscussion—which includes correspondence with PROMIS archi-tect Michael Riconosciuto—becomes more technical than is use-ful to a non-technical person's understanding of how PROMISworks.

It is the same with remarks about further criticism from DanielBrandt, penned by Riconosciuto, which have circulated amongconspiracy researchers. For example, Riconosciuto states: "Asfar as the requirement of special hardware to transmit data [isconcerned] ...the example that Mr Brandt uses, that software canalone supply various combinations of ones and zeros to the CPU,only shows Mr Brandt's lack of knowledge of what Walsh func-tions are... Brandt's comments start out that computers radiateelectromagnetic energy unless they are shielded. This is aninsult. Anybody who has been around knows what Van Eyckbacking is (decoding from a distance what is displayed on a CRTscreen). An active phased array antenna is superfluous at theshort distances he describes. A high-performance surveillancereceiver such as those made for Vatkins Johnson corporation,Stoddarts/Singer or Fairchild, will do the job quite nicely with astandard biconical antenna... Brandt will find that if an arbitrarilysmall section of a sine function is known, the function is knowneverywhere. This feature of the sine wave is referenced to sinu-soidal waves that transmit information at a net rate of zero!... MrBrandt's statement that software can only provide combinationsof 1s and 0s to the CPU totally misses the point that Walsh func-tions are inherently suited to binary operations. This is one rea-son why such tight, compact code can be written around opera-tions with Walsh functions. This is why it is so difficult to findthese routines and differentiate them from routines normally usedat the RTL (register transfer logic) level. This is at a level of pro-gramming that is one jump lower than machine language."

Which, again, is several steps above the average person's abilityto follow these technical possibilities. It seems almost inarguable

that the PROMIS software has properties and applicationscompatible with the Echelon military-industrial spy satellitesystem.

In addition to being a bell-ringer for the dangers PROMISposes to the average person, Casolaro—and perhaps JimKeith—died in part trying to uncover its other, more sinistercapacities. Echelon has almost become the ultimate expressionof the global conspiracy culture, and certainly the most obvi-ous example of the encroaching surveillance society.

The developing interest in and protest over E c h e l o n's exis-tence is the best legacy of those who made sacrifices in tryingto understand the role of The Octopus and the possibilities ofPROMIS. This part of the story is still unfolding.

About the Author:Kenn Thomas is co-author of The Octopus: SecretGovernment and the Death of Danny Casolaro (FeralHouse) and author of the prequel, Maury Island UFO(IllumiNet Press). He has edited two volumes ofCyberculture Counterconspiracy (Book Tree) (see reviewthis issue), and produced five other books on conspiracytopics, including NASA, Nazis & JFK. He publishes theconspiracy magazine Steamshovel Press. (For a copy of thecurrent issue, send USD$6 [USD$8 foreign]; for a four-issue subscription, send USD$23 [USD$28 foreign] to:POB 23715, St Louis, MO 63121, USA.) Steamshovel Pressmaintains a website, www.steamshovelpress.com. Forfurther information, e-mail Kenn Thomas [email protected].



MMR VACCINE LINK TO AUTISM NOW CLEARERby Lorraine Fraser © 2000

Strong evidence for a link between MMR (mumps-measles-rubella) vaccination and autism and bowel disease in childrenwas announced by UK doctors in February 1998. In a furtherstudy, led by Professor John O'Leary, the measles virus wasfound in the intestines of 24 out of 25 children who developedautistic enterocolitis after an apparently healthy infancy.

Speaking under oath before a hearing of the powerful USCongress Committee on Government Reform, ProfessorJohn O'Leary told how his state-of-the-art laboratory had

identified the measles virus—something which certainly shouldnot have been there—in samples taken from the intestines of nofewer than 24 of the 25 patients studied.

The findings of his vitally important study, reported for thefirst time on 6 April at the congressional hearing on autism, pro-vide compelling new evidence linking measles virus infectionand this terrible affliction. And they raise urgent new concernsover the safety of MMR vaccine—the combined mumps, measlesand rubella vaccination given routinely to hundreds of thousandsof children in Britain (and around the world) every year.

It is more than five years sinceRosemary Kessick, desperate to find outwhy her previously healthy baby haddeveloped terrible bowel problems andwas suddenly behaving uncontrollably,first sought out the man who providedProfessor O'Leary with those crucialbiopsies from the autistic children. Sheapproached Dr Andrew Wakefield, anhonorary consultant gastroenterologist atthe Royal Free Hospital in London andan acclaimed researcher on inflammatorybowel disease.

Dr Wakefield had never before seen achild like William, whose autism had descended on him almostovernight. When he examined the lining of William's bowel witha fibre-optic camera, he was stunned to discover an inexplicableabnormality. In February 1998, having seen 11 more patientswith identical symptoms, he dared to suggest that parents such asRosemary, who believe their children developed autism afterreceiving the MMR vaccine, should now be taken seriously.

In a scientific paper published in the leading medical journalThe Lancet, Dr Wakefield and his colleagues described how theydiscovered this same pattern of inflammation of the bowel—which they believed was part of a new disease, autisticenterocolitis—in all 12 children. They reported that parents ofeight of the children said that the youngsters' behaviour began todeteriorate after their MMR vaccinations. While there was nodirect evidence of a link, Dr Wakefield said it must be properlyinvestigated. He stressed he was not anti-vaccine and onlywanted safe vaccination programs for children.

But within the medical establishment there is no greater heresythan to question the safety of a childhood vaccine. Dr Wakefieldwas quickly accused of undermining parents' confidence in MMRand of putting children's lives at risk because large numbers ofparents had decided to shun the vaccine. From that day on, he wasostracised by the medical community. His meticulous studies on

the 12 children—and subsequently, hundreds more like them—were ignored by the UK Government and dismissed by "experts"from the Medical Research Council. He was ordered by hisbosses at University College London not to speak to the Press.

Now, says Professor O'Leary, a leading independent patholo-gist from the Republic of Ireland, the new evidence from his lab-oratory must change all that. He is doubly concerned becauseanother independent research group in Japan has also found themeasles virus in the blood of three of Dr Wakefield's patients—and they say the genetic fingerprint is "consistent" with the strainused in MMR vaccine; so further studies are now imperative.

"The findings that I presented to Congress," said ProfessorO'Leary, "are the results of independent work carried out by mylaboratory on material referred to us by Andrew Wakefield. Thematerial that was given to us was sent in a blinded fashion. Wedid not know the name of the patients, the diagnosis or age beforeour tests were completed. There was no bias in terms of chang-ing diagnosis or changing results to suit a particular hypothesis."

He said that of the 25 children with autistic enterocolotis whomhis laboratory screened, 24 harboured the measles genetic finger-print. Only one of the 15 control-group children—those who do

not have autism—contained the virus."That is 96 per cent compared with 6.6per cent, which is highly statisticallysignificant and implies an associationbetween the measles virus and this dis-ease," said Professor O'Leary. "Measlesvirus is present in the gut of these chil-dren. It shouldn't be there. The nextquestion is to find out what it is doingthere, and there needs to be a full inves-tigation of this with proper funding."

Parents in the UK came under enor-mous pressure from health visitors andGPs to have their children vaccinated

with MMR, with some families thrown off doctors' medical listsfor refusing. The Government blocked the import of measles-only vaccine last year. Parents who want the single vaccine areforced to go overseas. If measles virus infection—from whateversource—is confirmed to be causing the chronic bowel changesand brain damage in at least this group of autistic children, it maybe possible to find a treatment. Indeed, many parents have foundthat a strict diet can help their children.

The UK Department of Health has poured scorn on ProfessorO'Leary's study, yet, at the beginning of April, the MedicalResearch Council announced a massive survey of two millionpeople across the UK, which is aimed at finding out more aboutautism and which would "be able to examine any possible associ-ation between autism and the MMR vaccine". The potentialimportance of Professor O'Leary's results will not be lost onsolicitors for some 200 children—large numbers of them autis-tic—who are already suing the makers of MMR vaccine.

Professor O'Leary, who has now decided to widen hiscollaboration with Dr Wakefield, commented: "The time now isfor real research. We need to work out what is going on."

For the hundreds of parents like Rosemary Kessick, thatresearch cannot be done soon enough.

(Source: The Mail on Sunday, UK, 9 April 2000)


The findings raise urgent newconcerns over the safety of

MMR vaccine—the combinedmumps, measles and rubella

vaccination given routinely tohundreds of thousands of

children every year.

Sonoma State University's Project Censored has released its latest list of the top 25most under-covered news stories in the United States—as it has been doing for thepast 24 years. Media students and staff screened several thousand stories fromlate 1998 through 1999, and selected 500 to be evaluated by faculty and communi-

ty experts. The top 200 stories were then researched for national mainstream coverage bythe Media Censorship class, and a final collective vote of all students, staff and facultywas taken in early November 1999. Lastly, the top 25 stories were ranked by ProjectCensored's national judges.

1. Multinational Corporations Profit from International BrutalityIn the name of commerce, huge multinational corporations collaborate with repressive

governments and, in the process, support significant human rights violations.Corporations often argue that their presence and investment will improve human rights.This practice is referred to as "constructive engagement".

Major international energy corporations such as Mobil, Exxon, Enron and Unocal haveengaged in major business ventures in countries known as major human rights violators.Major US governmental grants, as well as corporate capital investment, have funded thesuppression of media, political opposition and personal rights in Turkmenistan, India andBurma. The myth of "constructive engagement" has failed to improve human rights, andyet has been endorsed both by international corporations and the US Government.

Since the release of this information, BP-Amoco and Statoil have taken positive stepstowards addressing human rights issues. Programs are being developed in the US andabroad to deal with the conduct of energy companies globally. Source: Arvind Ganesan ([email protected]), "Corporation Crackdowns: BusinessBacks Brutality", Dollars and Sense, May/June 1999.

2. Pharmaceutical Companies Put Profits Before NeedMultinational pharmaceutical companies focus their research and development on high-

profile, profit-making drugs like Viagra instead of developing cures for life-threateningdiseases in poorer countries. Viagra earned more than one billion dollars in its first year,for instance. Though representatives of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturersof America claim that some funds are directed towards eliminating tropical diseases, nei-ther they nor individual firms are willing to provide statistics.

Research into Third World tropical diseases is not being extensively considered or pro-duced. A recent and effective medicine for African sleeping sickness was pulled fromproduction, while older remedies are no longer available because they are not needed inthe US. AIDS continues to receive the most attention in the Third World, mainly becausethe disease also remains a threat to the First World.

Since the release of this story, Doctors Without Borders won the Nobel Prize andannounced an international campaign to increase access to key drugs.Source: Ken Silverstein ([email protected]), "Millions for Viagra, Pennies for thePoor", The Nation, 19 July 1999.

3. Financially Bloated American Cancer Society Fails to Prevent CancerThe American Cancer Society (ACS) is growing increasingly wealthy, thanks to

donations from the public and funding from surgeons, drug companies and corporationsthat profit from cancer cures. More than half the funds raised by the ACS go to overheads,salaries and fringe benefits for its executives and other employees, while most direct

According to theProject Censoredvoting team, theseare last year's top25 news stories

which should havebeen reported bythe media in a bigway, but weren't.

compiled by

Project Censored © 2000Sonoma State University1801 East Cotati Avenue

Rohnert Park, CA 94928-3609, USATelephone: +1 (707) 664 2500E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.projectcensored.org



community services are handled by unpaid volunteers. The valueof cash reserves and real estate totals over US$1 billion, yet only16 per cent of funds go into direct services for cancer victims.

Conflicts of interest affect ACS's approach to cancer preven-tion. With a philosophy that emphasises faulty lifestyles ratherthan environmental hazards, the ACS has refused to provide sci-entific testimony needed for the regulation of occupational andenvironmental carcinogens. The Board of Trustees includes cor-porate executives from industries with a vested interest in manu-facturing both environmental carcinogens and anti-cancer drugs.Source: Samuel S. Epstein ([email protected]), "American CancerSociety: The World's Wealthiest 'Non-profit' Institution",International Journal of Health Services, vol. 29, no. 3, 1999.

4. American Sweatshops Sew US Military UniformsThe US Department of Defense (DoD) has $1 billion invested

in the garment industry, making it the country's 14th largest retailapparel outlet. Lion Apparel contracts withthe DoD to produce military uniforms, yet thecompany's workplace conditions are dismaland remain virtually unregulated by the USGovernment. Lion employees are mostlywomen who are paid as little as $5.50 perhour. According to records obtained byMother Jones through a Freedom ofInformation request, the Occupational Safetyand Health Administration (OSHA) citedLion Apparel 32 times for safety and healthviolations in the past 12 years. Employees ina Kentucky plant are subjected to formalde-hyde fumes that cause shortness of breath,headaches and skin rashes.

Efforts to unionise workers have failedbecause, union leaders claim, the compa-ny managed to evade a federal law pro-hibiting the threat of plant closures. Themilitary continues to refuse to sign thegarment industry's anti-sweatshop codeof conduct.

Despite the coverage provided by thisarticle, the author estimates that there arestill 10,000 American women sewinggovernment uniforms, often in unsani-tary, unsafe conditions.Source: Mark Boal, "An AmericanSweatshop", Mother Jones , May/June1999.

5. Turkey Destroys Kurdish Villages with US Weapons In 1995, the Clinton Administration recognised that the Turkish

Government used American arms in domestic military operationswhere human rights abuses occurred. In fact, Turkey has forciblyevacuated, levelled and burned more than 3,000 Kurdish villagesin the past decade. Most of the atrocities, which have cost over40,000 lives, took place during Clinton's first term in office.

As an ally of the US through NATO, Turkey receives USweapons from dozens of companies including Hughes, Boeing,Raytheon and General Dynamics. Despite a horrifying AmnestyInternational report on violent abuse, the State Department passedarms deals with Turkey. The war in Turkey represents the great-est use of US weapons in combat anywhere in the world today.Source: Kevin McKeirnan ([email protected]), The Bulletinof Atomic Scientists, March/April 1999.

6. NATO Defends Private Economic Interests in theBalkans

As a result of NATO's success in the military conflicts ofBosnia and Kosovo, NATO's member nations have been providedwith the political and economic opportunities to partake in theexploitation of the significant mineral resources in the Balkans.

In addition, Western multinational corporations are now wellpositioned to access the lucrative oil refining industry needed at aterminal end of the pipeline, as per the agreement which was for-mally signed last November by President Clinton and the presi-dents of four key Caspian-region nations. The proposed pipelineroutes will divert oil and gas from the Caspian Sea area to eitherMediterranean or Eastern European terminals for export to theWestern nations, thus avoiding the competing interests of eitherRussia or Iran.

Successful re-establishment of NATO's military presence in theBalkans has made real the goal of a leaked 1992 document of a

Pentagon plan to preserve NATO as the pri-mary instrument for Western security inter-ests as well as the channel for US influenceand participation in European affairs.Sources: Diana Johnstone ([email protected]), "The Role of Caspian SeaOil in the Balkan Conflict", Women AgainstMilitary Madness , November 1998, andSonoma County Peace Press , April/May1999; Sara Flounders ([email protected]), "Kosovo: It 's About theMines", Because People Matter , May/June1999, reprinted from Workers World, 30 July1998; Pratap Chatterjee ([email protected]), "Caspian Pipe Dreams", The San

Francisco Bay Guardian, 16 December1999.

7. US Media Reduce ForeignCoverage

Coverage of foreign news by the USmedia industry reflects a continuingdownward trend, despite evidence thatthe American public wants more interna-tional information.

Pollsters reveal that most Americansrely on television for national and inter-national news. Unfortunately, majornetwork coverage of foreign news is cur-rently seven to 12 per cent and drop-ping—a sharp contrast to the at least 40

per cent coverage during the heydays of Cronkite, Chancellor andReynolds.

Coverage in print media is also down in large metro-area newsmarkets. An example is the drop in coverage by the IndianapolisS t a r from 5,100 column inches within a 30-day period inNovember 1977 to 1,170 column inches in 1997—a 23 per centdrop over those two decades.

Despite a critical examination by the Project for Excellence inJournalism and the continued campaign of the American Societyof Newspaper Editors, major market editors seem to continue tofocus on the production of a media diet of crime news, celebritygossip and soft features in an effort to gain more market share andan increase in profit margins.Source: Peter Arnett (parnett348@aol), "Good-bye World",American Journalism Review, November 1998.

NATO's membernations have beenprovided with the

political andeconomic

opportunities topartake in the

exploitation of thesignificant mineral

resources in theBalkans.


8. Planned "Star Wars" Weapons in Space ViolateInternational Treaty

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 bans the deployment of spaceweapons of mass destruction. Recently, US Congress ignored thefurther need for such a treaty and approved the development ofthe US Military's Space Command Weapons program. This sud-den shift of viewpoint coincides with the complete absence of anyforeign government competition, and with the increase in the abil-ity of the US to use satellite surveillance effectively in militarycampaigns. The proposed system is designed to extend control ofspace far beyond the outer boundaries of the Earth's atmosphere.To prevent deployment of any adversarial country's satellites, thePentagon is well along in its research and development of an anti-satellite weapons program.

The re-emergence of a "Star Wars" weapon system is echoed inthe words of General Joseph Ashly, Commander-in-Chief of theUS Space Command: "It's politically sensitive but it's going tohappen...we are going to fight from space and we are going tofight into space."

Concerned with the possibility of nuclear contamination of theatmosphere from satellite break-up, the European Space Agencyhas urged the US to utilise solar power to fuel military spacecommand modules. Sources: Karl Grossman ([email protected]), "USViolates World Law to Militarize Space", Earth Island Journal,Winter/Spring 1999; Bruce K. Gagnon ([email protected]), "Pyramids to the Heavens", Toward Freedom, September/October 1999.

9. Louisiana Promotes Toxic RacismContained within the boundaries of a 100-mile [161-km] stretch

of land between Baton Rouge and New Orleans are seven oilrefineries and 175 heavy industrial plants. The area is locallycalled "Cancer Alley". The Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) reports that the majority of the 23 million pounds of toxicwaste released into the air are in two zip-code areas, primarilyinhabited by African-Americans.

A 1992 National Law Journal investigation found that evenwhen the government enforces the environmental regulationsagainst companies in violation, the fines levied in these areas aresignificantly lower than those levied in white communities.

Prompted by an increase in public awareness, President Clintonsigned an executive order in 1993 toopen an investigation into the impactof the petrochemical industry's prac-tices in these communities of colour.

Despite the rhetoric, little haschanged amongst the targeted commu-nities. On the contrary, the State ofLouisiana has run full-page promo-tional ads in the Wall Street Journal,promising significant incentives forlarge corporate industries to relocateto the state, and touting the state's pas-sage of tort reform legislation thatlimits the liability of companies whichlose negligence suits and restricts theability of citizens to file claims against"these protected companies".Source: Ron Nixon ([email protected]), "Toxic Gumbo",Southern Exposure , Summer/Fall1998.

10. The US and NATO Deliberately Started the Warwith Yugoslavia

The US and NATO pushed for war with Yugoslavia bydemanding full military occupation of the entire country as a con-dition of not bombing. Belgrade could not accept the US-draftedtwo-part Rambouillet ultimatum, not only because it was a thinlyveiled plan to detach Kosovo from Serbia, but also because it con-tained provisions even worse than loss of that historic province—provisions no sovereign country in the world could possiblyaccept. Unreported in the mainstream media was the fact thatwhen Serbia rejected the treaty it also passed a resolution declar-ing its willingness to negotiate Kosovo's self-management.

For months, the Serbian Government offered to negotiate.High-level government teams made many trips to Pristina to holdtalks with Ibrahim Rugova and other non-violent ethnicAlbanians. The Albanians refused to negotiate, for fear of goingagainst the rising rebel movement, the Kosovo Liberation Army(KLA), which was hostile to any compromise and ready toassassinate "traitors" who dealt with Serbs.Sources: Jason Vest ([email protected]), "The RealRambouillet", The Village Voice, 18 May 1999; Seth Ackerman,"Redefining Diplomacy", Extra, July/August 1999 and "What Wasthe War For?", In These Times, 8 August 1999; Diana Johnstone([email protected]), "Hawks and Eagles: 'GreaterNATO' flies to Aid of 'Greater Albania', Covert Action Quarterly,Spring-Summer 1999; Amy Goodman (host), Democracy Now,Pacifica Radio Network, 23 April 1999, www.Pacifica.org.

11. America's Largest Nuclear Test Exposed Thousands Thirty years ago, Amchitka, Alaska, was the site of three large

underground nuclear tests, including the most powerful nuclearexplosion ever detonated by the United States. Despite claims bythe Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Pentagon that thetest sites would safely contain the radiation released by the blastsfor thousands of years, independent research by Greenpeace andnewly released documents from the Department of Energy (DoE)show that the Amchitka tests began to leak almost immediately.

The blast ruptured the crust of the earth, sucking a creek into abrand new aquifer—a radioactive one. Highly radioactive ele-ments and gases poured out of the collapsed test shafts, leachedinto the groundwater and worked their way into ponds, creeks andthe Bering Sea.


Sources: Alexander Cockburn ([email protected])and Jeffrey St Clair ([email protected]), "Aftermath of Amchitka",Counterpunch, Summer 1999, Terrain, Fall 1999; Jeffrey St Clair,"Thirty Years After: The Legacy of America's Largest NuclearTest", In These Times, 8 August 1999.

12. Evidence Indicates No Pre-War Genocide inKosovo and Possible US/KLA Disinformation Plot

According to the New York Times , the "turning point" inNATO's decision to wage war on Yugoslavia occurred on 20January 1999, when US diplomat William Walker led a group ofnews reporters to discover a so-called Serb massacre of some 45Albanians in Racak, Kosovo. This story made international head-lines and was later used to justify the NATO bombings.

The day before the "massacre", Serb police had a firefight withKLA rebels that was covered by an AP film crew. At the end ofday, the village was deserted. William Walker arrived at noonwith additional journalists and expressed his outrage at a"genocidal massacre" to the world press.

Walker's story remains shrouded with doubt. "What is disturb-ing," remarked war correspondent Renaud Girard, "is that the pic-tures filmed by the AP journalists radically contradict Walker'saccusations." Belorussian and Finnish forensic experts were laterunable to verify that a massacre had actually occurred at Racak. Sources: Mark Cook ([email protected]), "William Walker:'Man with a Mission'", Covert ActionQ u a r t e r l y, Spring/Summer 1999; SamSmith ([email protected]), "MyMultinational Entity, Right or Wrong",The Progressive Review , June 1999;Pablo Ordaz, "Spanish police and foren -sic experts have not found proof of geno -cide in the north of Kosovo", El Pais, 23September 1999.

13. US Agency Seeks to ExportWeapons-Grade Plutonium toRussian Organisation with CrimeLinks

The Washington-based Non-Proliferation Trust (NPT) proposes that theUS sell nuclear waste to Russia. NPT's plan would make Russiathe world's dumping ground for nuclear waste, includingweapons-grade plutonium. NPT's partner in this endeavour isMinAtom, Russia's Ministry of Atomic Energy.

NPT is headed up by Daniel Murphy (former Deputy Directorof the CIA), Bruce Demars (former head of the US Navy's nuclearprogram) and William Webster (former Director of the CIA andFBI). Although NPT is set up as a non-profit organisation, itsprincipals stand to make huge profits from consulting and sub-contracting. On the list of potential subcontractors is HalterMarine, in Gulfport, Mississippi—a company to which USSenator Trent Lott has close links.

Yevgeny Adamov, the head of MinAtom, estimates that theoperation could produce US$150 billion in revenue, making it themost lucrative operation in Russia. MinAtom is also alleged tohave links to corrupt government officials and the Russian Mob.Sources: Jeffrey St Clair ([email protected]), "Hot Property, ColdCash: The Plan to Turn Russia into the World's Nuclear WasteDump", In These Times, 17 October 1999; Jeffrey St Clair andAlexander Cockburn (alexandercockburn@ asis.com), "TheMinAtom Conspiracy", C o u n t e r p u n c h, vol. 6, no. 16, 16–30September 1999.

14. US Media Ignores Humanitarian Aspects of Faminein North Korea

As a food crisis of staggering proportions develops in NorthKorea, the US media are focusing on the threat posed by NorthKorea's continuation of nuclear testing. US media have used theNorth Korean famine for political propaganda and have failed tocover the huge disaster from an humanitarian perspective.Nowhere is there an outcry like the one developed by mediaworldwide for Ethiopia.

The German Red Cross estimated there were two million deathsin 1997 due to starvation; the South Korean Buddhists SharingMovement reported an estimated three million deaths; and theNew York Council of Foreign Affairs reported an estimate of onemillion North Korean deaths due to famine.Source: Yuh Ji-Yeon ([email protected]), "Dangerous Communists,Inscrutable Orientals, Starving Masses", Peace Review, June1999.

15. Early Puberty in Girls may be Linked to Chemicalsin the Environment and Increases in Breast Cancer

Endocrine disrupters may be responsible for young girls matur-ing faster, thus creating an increased risk of breast cancer. AUniversity of North Carolina cross-sectional study of girlsbetween the ages of three to 12 years, found that girls are devel-oping pubertal characteristics at younger ages than is suggested

by standard paediatrics textbooks.The study found that, on average,African-American girls beginpuberty between eight and nineyears of age, and white girls by 10years of age, which is six monthsto a year sooner than previousdata suggests. Although it isunclear what is causing this earlyonset of puberty, environmentalexposures have been implicated.

Breast cancer risks include theearly onset of puberty that isbrought on by the release of natur-al oestrogens in the body. Womenwho go through puberty early

have longer exposure to these oestrogens and therefore may be atgreater risk of developing breast cancer.Sources: Marcia E. Herman-Giddens, Eric J. Slora, RichardWasserman, Carlos Bourdony, Manju V. Bhapkar, Fary Koch,Cynthis Hasemeier, "Secondary Sexual Characteristics andMenses in Young Girls Seen in Office Practice: A Study from thePediatric Research in Office Settings Network", P e d i a t r i c s , v o l .11, no. 3, December 1998.

16. Media Distort Debate on Affirmative ActionThe US media oversimplified the debate on affirmative action

and deliberately misled the American public. Media coverage atthe national level presented the controversy as a conflict primarilybetween African-Americans and whites, minimising the place ofLatinos and Asian-Americans in the affirmative action debate.

In 1995, headlines, visuals, highlighted quotes and storylineemphasis demonstrated unavoidable conflict of interest betweenWhites and Blacks. The media portrayed African-Americans pur-portedly gaining at the direct expense of whites. The continueduse of the buzzword "preferences", in conjunction with affirma-tive action, intensified the emotional context of the issue. Thenews reinforced racial antagonism, while perpetuating the idea

The so-called Serb massacre ofsome 45 Albanians in Racak,

Kosovo, which made internationalheadlines and was later used to

justify the NATO bombings, is now classed as part of a

US disinformation campaign.


that the White majority is fed up with affirmative action. Thisfalse perception may have discouraged White politicians whomight otherwise have defended the policy. Since the media havemade affirmative action an issue concerning only Blacks andWhites, Latinos and Asians have been left in peripheral positionsand women and Native Americans barely register on the radarscreen.Sources: Robert Entman ([email protected]), "The Color Game:How Media Plays the Race Card", News Watch, Summer 1999;Linda Jue, "It is the Nuances, Stupid", News Watch, Summer1999.

17. World Bank's Resettlement Programs DisplaceMillions of People

The World Bank funds large dam-building projects, but doeslittle to help the displaced millions who are forced to relocate. Arecent report by the World Bank's Operations EvaluationDepartment (OED) shows the Bank's failure to implement its ownresettlement policy. The most recent data available indicates that1.9 million people are being displaced by projects in the Bank'scurrent portfolio, and that these numbers arecontinuing to grow.

One of the biggest concerns aroused by theauthors of the OED report is the Bank'sinability to restore the incomes of thoseresettled. The report recommends that theBank move away from its policy of offeringreplacement land for land lost to a project."In reality, resettlers lose the best land in thearea—river valley land—and it's replacedwith the most awful land around, becausethat is what is left." Source: Lori Pottinger ([email protected]),"World Bank's Record on ResettlementRemains Troublesome", World RiversReview, December 1998.

18. Minors in California arebeing Tried as Adults in theCriminal Justice System

It is unclear how many minors aregetting bumped into the "big leagues"via fitness hearings which determinewhether they should be tried as adults.Due to the lack of a tracking system,there is no way to determine wherethese minors are ending up, or if tryingminors as adults is an effective deterrentor rehabilitation method. Researchshows that 80 to 90 per cent of juveniles who did undergo fitnesshearings ended up in adult court.

In 1994, two California State Assembly members "courtingtough-on-crime votes revamped section 707 of the penal code,making it easier to try teens accused of serious offenses in theadult system".

Paul S. D. Berg, PhD, a forensic pathologist who has testified inthree or four dozen fitness hearings, stated: "The only cases thatend up in these hearings are serious cases, so the criterion is metby definition."Source: A. Clay Thompson ([email protected]), "The LostBoys: California is trying kids as adults—and locking them upfor life. No one knows how many", The San Francisco BayGuardian, 27 January 1999.

19. Cow's Milk Bacterium May Cause Crohn's DiseaseResearch points to a possible connection between gastro-

intestinal Crohn's disease and the milk we drink. Four studiesshow that the bacterium Mycobacterium paratuberculosis , whichis found in the almost identical Johne's disease in cattle, survivesthe pasteurisation process and can infect us through the dairyproducts we consume. This disease has already infected between500,000 and one million people in the US alone, andapproximately 55 Americans are newly diagnosed each day. Atleast half of these victims will have an inflamed intestinesurgically removed.

Both medical and veterinary researchers agree that there iscause for concern and great need for further investigations, yetneither the government nor the dairy industry is willing to touchthe issue. Forty-five per cent of dairy producers are eitherunaware of the disease or know very little about it, despite the factthat the dairy industry is losing US$1.5 billion a year fromanimals lethally infected with Johne's disease.Source: Lisa Chamberlain ([email protected]), "TheCrohn's Connection?", Cleveland Free Times, 16–22 June 1999.

20. IMF and World Bank Contributedto Economic Tensions in the Balkans

The International Monetary Fund (IMF)and the World Bank were leading contributorsto economic tensions in the Balkans that stim-ulated the break-up of Yugoslavia.Declassified documents from 1984 reveal thata US National Security directive, entitled"United States Policy Towards Yugoslavia",set a policy for destabilising the YugoslavianGovernment.

In the early 1980s, the World Bank andIMF provided loans to the former Yugoslavia

supposedly to "fix" the economic hard-ship of the region. The loans from thesetwo organisations included mandatedmacroeconomic restructuring that, ratherthan helping, in fact destroyed the indus-trial sector and dismantled the welfarestate. In 1990, the IMF and the WorldBank delivered a new "financial aidpackage" that required new and exten-sive expenditure cuts by the federal gov-ernment. The IMF and World Bankinvolvement led to the impoverishmentof the population, which in turn led tohatred, confusion and divisiveness.Source: Michael Chossudovsky,

"Banking on the Balkans", THIS, July/August 1999.

21. The Vatican's UN Status ChallengedA special delegation to the Vatican (the Holy See) holds a posi-

tion in the United Nations that is more powerful than any othernon-governmental organisation (NGO), enjoying the same statusas politically neutral Switzerland.

The Holy See claims to be the representative of "the entire peo-ple of God", and promotes its agenda by threatening to "pull out"of any of the 300,000 health care facilities it owns worldwide, ifthe UN should attempt to force any of those facilities to provideabortion or contraception services. This threat creates a hostagesituation for poorer countries that are reliant on the Church forpoverty relief and basic health care.

The Holy See claims to be the representative of "the entire people ofGod", and promotes itsagenda by threatening to "pull out" of any of

the 300,000 health carefacilities it owns

worldwide, if the UNshould attempt to forceany of those facilities to provide abortion orcontraception services.


The See Change Campaign was launched to challenge theVatican's power. Frances Kissling, president of Catholics for aFree Choice, asks: "Why should an entity that is in essence 100square acres of office space and tourist attractions in the middle ofRome, with a citizenry that excludes women and children, have aplace at the table where governments set policies? If the Vaticanis a state," she says, "then EuroDisney deserves a place on theSecurity Council."

The Church's opposition prevented UN peacekeepers fromdistributing RU486 to rape victims in Kosovo.Source: Laura Flanders ([email protected]), "Giving theVatican the Boot", Ms. Magazine, October/November 1999.

22. US and Germany Trained and Developed theKosovo Liberation Army

Since the early 1990s, Germany and the USA have collaboratedin supporting the development and training of the KosovoLiberation Army (KLA) deliberately to desta-bilise a centralised socialist government inYugoslavia. Undercover support of Kosovo'srebel army was established as a joint endeav-our between the CIA and Germany'sBundesnachrichtendienst (BND).

Since the mid-1990s, there has been ahandful of Pentagon contractors or privatemilitary companies providing support to theKLA. One of these contractors is MilitaryProfessional Resources, Inc. (MPRI), whichemploys more than 400 personnel and canaccess the résumés of thousands of former USmilitary specialists.

There has also been a blurring of lawenforcement and military activities bycompanies like Dyncorp and ScienceApplication International Corporation(SAIC). One of Dyncorp's UN policemonitors was wounded by pro-Indonesian East Timorese militiamen inthe post-referendum violence that sweptthe territory. Others, providing policeservices in NATO-occupied Kosovo,were attacked by both Serbian andAlbanian militia groups. Source: Wayne Madsen ([email protected]), "Mercenaries in Kosovo: TheUS Connection to the KLA", T h eProgressive, August 1999.

23. International Conference Sets World Agenda forPeace

The Hague Appeal for Peace (HAP) Conference, which tookplace in The Netherlands in May 1999, set a "Global Agenda" forworld peace in the 21st century. Ten thousand peace activists,Nobel Peace Prize winners and celebrities from a hundred differ-ent countries met for four days in to voice their suggestions onhow to make international peace possible.

One campaign launched at the conference was the InternationalAction Network on Small Arms (IANSA), which will encouragetracking, protesting and publicising the sales and shipments ofweapons. Referring to the fact that the United States sold $119billion in arms (some 45 per cent of the world's total) from 1989to 1996, Pierre Sane of Amnesty International stated at the confer-ence that the US is "becoming the arsenal of the world".

The Hague Global Agenda calls for recognition and enforce-ment of World Court rulings that over 150 countries haveendorsed. The United States has been unwilling to submit to theinternational jurisdiction of the World Court.

A long-term project put in motion at the conference is GlobalAction to Prevent War. Its purpose is to establish a coalition oforganisations that will build a permanent body of NGOs, individ-uals and, eventually, governments to support world peace.Source: Robin Lloyd ([email protected]), "United for Peace",Toward Freedom, July 1999.

24. US Nuclear Weapons Controlled by MentallyUnstable Personnel

Mentally unstable individuals may be in control of US nucleardevices. A screening process called the Personnel ReliabilityProgram (PRP), set in place after a near-disaster in 1959, is sup-posed to guarantee that only competent, stable and dependable

individuals have access to America's nucleararsenal.

PRP is a two-step process consisting of aninitial screening and post-approval monitor-ing. Screening includes a cursory medicalevaluation, review of the candidate's person-nel file and a background check of profes-sional, educational and personal histories.However, no routine psychological testing isdone, and an expelled PRP Marine hasclaimed that heavy drinking and depressionare overlooked. In certain cases, individualsstill had their PRP clearance while in prisonon a felony conviction. In several cases,

PRP-certified people have gone on tocommit suicide or murder, assault, rapeand other serious crimes, exposingunstable mental conditions in their pastand present.Source: Ken Silverstein ([email protected]), "Positive Attitude TowardNuclear Weapons Duty", Mother Jones,November 1998.

25. US Military Trains Soldiers toHunt, Kill and Eat Tame Animals

People for the Ethical Treatment ofAnimals (PETA) estimates that morethan l0,000 animals, including chickens,

rabbits and goats, are used each year at military installationsaround the country in military training classes.

"Survival Skills" teaches soldiers to hunt, kill, cook and eat thetame animals.

Transported to training grounds by truck, the soldiers stage anambush of an animal-laden vehicle, and release, chase, captureand kill the animals. They are "required to stroke the rabbit tocalm it, then bash it on the head—and the rabbits don't always diewith the first blow".

Two Air Force bases alone used more than l,500 rabbits eachyear at a cost of more than $l0,000, and, according to a l997Department of Defense report, the Air Force kills more rabbits insurvival skills courses than does the DoD in all its intramuralresearch facilities combined.Source: D'Arcy Kemnitz ([email protected]),"Irrational Rations: Animals Used in Military Training", T h eAnimals' Agenda, July/August l999. ∞

Mentally unstableindividuals may be incontrol of US nuclear

devices.

In several cases,personnel have gone on

to commit suicide ormurder, assault, rape and

other serious crimes,exposing unstable mental

conditions in their past and present.


THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF DRUG LAW ENFORCEMENT

The growth of the drug industry and concomitant real or perceived threats to states'authority gave an important impulse to the development of law and the organisa-tion of crime control. Since the beginning of the 20th century, starting with theShanghai Conference in 1909, step by step a global prohibition regime was creat-

ed, sanctioning the production, dealing and trafficking of psychotropic substances. 8

Almost every country in the world, by ratifying international treaties, obliged itself toadapt its national laws in accordance with these treaties and thereby to suppress the nowillegal drug business.

The responsibility for control and furthering the design of the regime came to fall on theUnited Nations in 1946.9 This regime is still under construction, targeting new drugs andexpanding its organisational structure. It encompasses multinational organisations, statebureaucracies, banks, medical institutions and morality. Thereby an unprecedented regu-latory framework is established, comparable to the non-proliferation regime for nuclearweaponry. In the evolution of this international regime, individual states attained a highdegree of worldwide uniformity and mutual tuning in the regulation of one category ofintoxicating, mind-bending substances (Gerritsen, 1993:75).

There exists a formal global prohibition regime, but, to date, there is no global criminaljustice system to meet the challenge of drug trafficking and globalised crime. Althoughformal regime control and design are with the United Nations, execution and dedication ofcontrol efforts are in the hand of governments and state agencies of individual nation-states. In spite of formal compliance to the predispositions of the prohibition regime, inpractice the strategies and tactics for its enforcement are broadly disputed.

Historically, the conception of the 'drug problem' has been subject to dramatictransformations. Fiscal, balance of payments, civic security, public health, social welfareand moral considerations can be found as determining the main diagnosis of the problem.Within and between societies, the conception of the problem and the discourses guidinggovernment intervention in the drug industry vary widely, over time and in geographicspace. The multi-dimensionality of the drug problem makes it a very complex policyfield. With prohibition in place, repression is still no panacea.

It was only after their dependencies gained independence that the major European pow-ers dissolved their colonial monopolies on the opium trade. Prohibition also met withfierce resistance from the pharmaceutical industries in Germany, Japan and Switzerland.These were often shielded by state interests in the preparation for war, in which thesecured supply of anaesthetics plays an important role. Coaxing governments into com-pliance with prohibition has been, and still is, an arduous process.

From the beginning, it has been the United States that has taken the lead in building theprohibition regime. Especially since the 1980s, unilateral, bilateral and multilateral formsof pressure, intervention and collaboration have been proliferating to force governmentsto comply with prohibition and to stifle the growth of the drug economy. Conditionaldevelopment aid, extradition treaties (so-called International Mutual Legal AssistanceTreaties), new types of financial policing to 'chase the money' around the internationalbanking system, financing and advising foreign military and police, political pressure andeven outright military intervention count among the plethora of instruments applied in therelations between states in this War on Drugs. In the process, institutional structures (e.g.,Interpol, Europol, UNDCP) are strengthened to intensify international cooperation.

Besides that, many informal structures have developed between police, military and

Criminal forces incollusion with

established eliteshave put the drugindustry on a truly

transnationalfooting, while

increasing theirpower overindividuals,

societies andeconomies.

Part 2 of 2

by Hans T. van der Veen © 1999European University Institute

San Domenico, Italy

Published on the Internet by

Centre for Drug Research (CEDRO)University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.frw.uva.nl/cedro/


intelligence agencies (see Anderson et al., 1995; Anderson andden Boer, 1994; Benyon e t a l ., 1994, Fijnout, 1993; Marshall,1991). Many of these are not new. Before the end of the ColdWar, countries like France and the United States had extensiveprograms for the assistance of foreign military and police forces(Fijnout, 1993; Marshall, 1991). Nowadays, however, such pro-grams are legitimised by the supposed need to strengthen otherstates' capabilities to fight the drug industry. Since the mid-1980s, through the process of European integration, the EuropeanUnion also has been asserting itself as a major player in the field.

The internationalising powers to enforce the prohibition regimeare largely legitimised and rationalised by interdependencies thatderive from the global division of labour in the illegal drug indus-try and the concomitant problems this presents to individual statesto control the drug industry. But forthcoming interdependencydoes not necessarily mean greater integration (collaboration andharmonisation). Interdependency can possibly also mean "depen-dency", "exploitation", "free riding" and "conflict" (Bühl,1995:123).

International law-enforcement instruments are unevenlydistributed and include the exchange of information between lawenforcers, international pressures on countries to shape theirlegislative body (for example, with the closure of coffee shopsand the lifting of bank secrecy), the provision of military aid andadvisers (an important element of theAmerican efforts in Latin America),or the extension of 'intelligence'-gathering by liaison officers stationedin foreign countries. The controlover these instruments ultimatelytouches on the control that countrieshave over their economies andpolitical system, and on the controlpeople have over their privacy andsovereignty.

POWER & SOCIAL CONTROLThe strategies and tactics applied

by governments in their drug policiesnot only touch upon very differentconceptions of 'the drug problem', but they also affect the distribu-tion of income within and between societies and the level of pro-tection that citizens can attain.

Interventions in drug markets influence the direction, composi-tion and volume of drug streams around the world and of theflows of money that are generated in this international business.They thereby touch upon the distribution of wealth that can beaccumulated in the drug business and the relative power of play-ers within and between societies.

Drug interests are strong enough to create powers that can playa major role in political life and economic activities. Where manypeople depend on the drug industry for their income, and wherethe overall economy is dependent on the influx of foreign curren-cies from the drug trade, such drug interests—and concrete effortsof drug entrepreneurs to protect their trade—severely limit themargins for governments to deal with the drug industry.Moreover, enhanced drug repression also strengthens coerciveand other powers within state apparatuses relative to each otherand the society at large.

Drug policies therefore also have an impact on the distributionof power and security in and between countries. On the one hand,they can limit the destabilising effect of the drug industry on soci-ety. On the other hand, enhancing the resources and legal powers

of a state's security forces can also limit the sovereignty of indi-viduals, peoples and countries, and hence the level of freedom,democracy and human rights they can enjoy.

Drug repression thus also attains an important political dimen-sion. From the perspective of the ruling elites, it is of concern toprevent power-contending ethnic, political or clan associationsfrom using the drug proceeds for building their own power struc-tures. In such a situation, they may have little choice but to gaincontrol over the business themselves, or at least find a way ofincorporating such new, dynamic sectors into the existing powerstructure. In many cases, drug repression would only strengthenthe opposition as it would leave a good share of the populationwithout means of support.

Domestic and foreign drug policies thus touch upon the distrib-ution of power, wealth and security, both within a country andbetween societies. These interests are informing, if not imposing,a specific logic on many a state's policies and practices, and theylead to systemic interactions between the upperworld and theunderworld, that play a decisive role in deepening their perverseimpact on the relations among states and between states and theirsocieties. The phenomenon of "protected trafficking" here entersthe picture (Scott and Marshall, 1991:vii), where the selectivesuppression and protection of the drug industry becomes a morelikely outcome of drug policies.

LINKS BETWEEN ORGANISEDCRIME & THE POWER ELITE

Criminal groups (and criminallyobtained resources) are often a deviantelement in the national and internationaldynamics of politics. The illegitimate useof violence and 'authorised' force to servethe purpose of one class, clan, ethnicgroup, region or country against the otheris no new phenomenon. However, it isstrongly related to the dynamics and con-sequences of the growth of drug marketsand the state policies implemented tocontrol them. In many countries, it isexactly the association of criminal groups

with power elites that produces and prolongs such perverse conse-quences (Hess, 1986:128).

In the recent history of both industrialised countries (e.g.,France, the United States and Italy) and developing countries(e.g., Turkey, South Africa, Colombia, Mexico), many examplescan be found of cooperation between secret services, political par-ties and other elite power groups with drug-trafficking criminalgroups in the repression of domestic opposition, the destabilisa-tion of foreign governments and the support against (geo)politicalfoes (see, for example, Block and Hess, 1986; Krüger, 1980;McCoy, 1972; Scott and Marshall, 1991). Equally, many opposi-tion groups have discovered how important drug income can be towithstand (foreign) control over their territories (e.g., the PKK inTurkey, the Shining Path in Peru, and the Afghan Mujahedin).

Such symbiotic relations between drug entrepreneurs and local,national or foreign power elites are often amended by forms ofcorruption of a more or less institutional nature. The price-increase effect of prohibition works effectively as a tax which doesnot flow straight into the coffers of the state treasury, however, butis collected by the producers, traffickers and other serviceproviders in the trade. In many countries, though, a prohibition taxis equally levied by 'corrupt' enforcement officers and otherprotectors of the trade within the politico-administrative system.

Drug interests are strongenough to create powers

that can play a major role inpolitical life and economic

activities.


However, such state-induced extortion or bribing of the trade is notonly an activity for private gain (supplementing salaries). In fact,various systems exist that provide for the distribution of such rentswithin hierarchical networks through which such money flows. Inreturn, they facilitate exchange in prohibited markets.

Bribery can be a primary method of public finance, alongsidetaxation, borrowing and inflation (Thornton, 1991:137). Fromthat perspective, it should be less of a surprise to find police offi-cials actively involved in the management and maintenance of theblack-market monopolies. Through their relations with drugentrepreneurs, police officers and other state protectors becomeresponsive to the monopolist. This may lead them to act againstnew entrants or third parties in the pursuit of maintaining themonopoly and its profits.

Such symbiotic relations are often an outcome of law enforce-ment tactics, where drug enforcement agenciesinfiltrate trafficking rings and set up 'front'stores to provide services to the drug industry.

The War on Drugs in many countries is lit-erally running out of control. A severe crisisupset the Dutch police and juridical systemwhen it turned out that the methods used bypolice agencies in their criminal investigationsof drug traffickers had to a large extentdevolved beyond juridical boundaries and par-liamentary control. The Dutch parliamentarycommission which investigated these methodsin 1996 found, for example, that 285 tonnes ofdrugs had been imported by the Dutch police,of which 100 tonnes had disappearedonto the market (Zwaap, 1996).10

The opportunities for bribery and out-right extortion, facilitated by the outlawposition of drug entrepreneurs, constitutean important incentive for the escalationof the drug war. In a more formalisedway, asset seizure laws have had thesame result (Benson, Rasmussen, Solars,1995; Benson and Rasmussen, 1996). Infact, the idea of self-financing policeforces is now also actively propagated byPino Arlacci, director of the UnitedNations Office for Drug Control andCrime Prevention (AFP, 31 March 1999).

ECONOMIC, SOCIAL & POLITICAL IMPLICATIONSTo a greater or lesser extent, the narcotics industry has become

economically and socially entrenched in almost every country inthe world. Drug-related interests have permeated many sectors ofsociety—sectors which often function in the formal economy butderive part of their income from activities connected to the drugtrade. Few sectors remain untouched by the drug industry, asdrug proceeds are consumed and invested in other enterprises oras banks and transport companies, for example, provide servicesto the drug industry and so become part of the drug industry them-selves.

The drug industry is to varying degrees also socially embeddedin many countries. Certainly, drug consumption is culturally root-ed in not only the most marginalised sectors of the population.Furthermore, drug entrepreneurs increasingly establish themselvesas a social force that seeks integration in the formal institutions ofthe societies in which they live and operate. Thereby, they oftengain if not the respectability, then at least some leverage to protect

their interests. The income and employment the industry gener-ates, for a multiplicity of players and societies at large, also do notfail to provide political clout to drug-related interests, especiallywhen threatened by foreign or domestic repression efforts.However, prohibition severely hampers the formal incorporationof the drug industry through taxation, interest mediation andforms of market, labour and product regulation.

It is my contention that from the consequential partial, informalor denied integration derive many of the most harmful conse-quences of the industry's operations, much more so since policeand military institutions are ill-equipped to perform these regula-tory roles.11

As both the drug industry and drug law enforcement are inter-nationalising, they put severe strains on the possibilities of thestate to incorporate the drug industry in local and domestic

arrangements which could limit their desta-bilising effects on society. However, such astrategy, if applied—and many countriescannot escape such a choice, either by infor-mal arrangements or through 'corruption'—becomes less feasible where the power oforganised crime and pressures for intensifiedlaw enforcement upset such symbiotic rela-tions.

The drug industry and drug repression,certainly where they cross the borders ofother states, can therefore have very disrup-tive effects on domestic political-economicinstitutions and arrangements. This can

come about merely as an unintendedconsequence of conscientious cross-bor-der supply reduction efforts. However,in many instances, drug policies aremerely part of other foreign policygoals and are to a large extent shapedby the institutional logic of agenciescalled in to implement them.

Recent history has shown that, right-ly, much more calculation tends to playa role in supply-side policies than inzealous supply reduction. Such policiesalso take into account the interestsinvolved in drug trafficking, and thecapabilities of governments to offset the

pressure put on these interests by efforts to stifle the drug econo-my (for example, crop substitution projects carried out by theUnited Nations with the aim of providing drug farmers with analternative source of income, or the provision of arms to theColombian military). However, as soon as drug policies becomepart of broader policy goals towards other countries, they are like-ly to be subordinated to other priorities that states pursue to pro-tect their national interests.

Just as war is the continuation of politics by other means, so theWar on Drugs has become an extension of foreign policy by othermeans (Marshall, 1991:ii). International drug policies almostinescapably become enmeshed with geopolitical and economicconsiderations (LaBrousse and Koutouzis, 1996). So, enhancingthe powers of specific law-enforcers—such as, in an extreme case,the military in Peru or Colombia—is also likely to serve interestsquite different from convincing coca growers to limit their output.In the most brutal form, international drug law enforcement canlegitimise outright military intervention, as the Panamaniansexperienced in the late 1980s.

To a greater or lesserextent, the narcoticsindustry has become

economically and socially entrenched

in almost every country in the world.

Few sectors remainuntouched by the drug

industry, as drug proceeds are consumedand invested in other

enterprises or as banksand transport companies.


In the foregoing paragraphs I have built an analytical frame-work for studying the underlying dynamics, outcomes and conse-quences of the War on Drugs. Thereby, I've tried to show howthe growth of global networks of crime and the internationalisa-tion of law enforcement are shaped by some fundamental changesin the global political and economic system. I've also focused onhow the War on Drugs is likely to be subverted by interests ofboth drug entrepreneurs and the powers that are called in to con-trol the drug industry. Through their symbiotic and systemicinteractions, they are the most likely beneficiaries of this war.

As their interactions take place in a competitive world withunevenly distributed resources, the out-comes of their interactions are also like-ly to impinge unevenly on differentsocieties and groups within them. Thecriminal system permeates the politicaland economic system, undermining thefunctioning of legal industries and therole and functioning of the state. Theextension of states' coercive powers to'control' the drug industry also impingesheavily on the distribution of power,wealth and security within and betweensocieties, often through practices thatescape democratic control.

The destructive force of the inter-twined dynamics of the drug industry and state repression is there-by likely to demolish the existing relations between states, mar-kets and societies. Therewith, the underlying dynamics and out-comes of the drug war are not only shaped by but are also reshap-ing the fundamental structures of the world's political economy.

THE INTERNATIONAL DRUG COMPLEXIn this section I argue that interests in the drug industry and in

drug law enforcement collide in both domestic and internationaldomains to form the International Drug Complex.

In analogy with the theory of the Military Industrial Complex—developed since the 1960s to explain the longevity of the ColdWar, the arms race, the persistence of anti-communist ideologyand political interventions in people's lives and societies—I havetried in this paper to assemble and understand the mechanisms

and dynamics that might explain the flourishing of both drugeconomies and new regulatory frameworks for 'state' control.

Therewith, I hope to elaborate a theory of the InternationalDrug Complex. This theory tries to explain both the prolongationof the War on Drugs and the flourishing of the drug economy, byfocusing on political and economic interests that shape relationsbetween drug markets and state interventions in these markets.

The basic hypotheses I try to further are that the dynamics with-in and between the social forces at both sides of the law do nottend to keep each other in check, but, rather, reinforce each other,either by acting in concert or through more systemic interactions.

Through this, a 'community of interest'—a coalition of groups with vested psy-chological, moral and material inter-ests—develops between drug entrepre-neurs and coercive state agencies or thepower elites that control them. Thismutual support takes many shapes andhas many levels, changing over time andlocation. However, the consequence ofthis collusion is that the interests of bothgroups are advanced to the detriment ofthird parties and areas of the societies inwhich they flourish. The drug industryand drug law enforcement, in thisapproach, are not necessarily opposite to

each other but develop a more or less intertwined and interdepen-dent dynamic—a sort of countervailing but also mutually rein-forcing 'coalition' that serves the interests of both, independent ofdemocratic control by citizens and sometimes even governments.

Globalisation, neoliberal reforms and the end of the Cold Warhave strongly affected the regulation of relations among states andthe relation between states and societies. The Cold War systemimposed relative stability in the international state system, as wellas order and discipline within both camps and a more generalfoundation for stability in the world economy. The Cold War didnot lead to a major conflict between the superpowers, and itdiminished the possibilities for war between states; but it alsocharged a heavy toll on peoples squeezed between the antagonis-tic claims to maintain political and ideological unity within thesuperpowers' self-proclaimed spheres of influence.

The criminal system permeates the political and

economic system,undermining the functioning

of legal industries and the role and functioning of

the state.

Bibliography• Akida, Okon, "International Trade inNarcotic Drugs: Implications for GlobalSecurity", Futures 29(7):605-16, 1995.• Albini, Joseph, "The Distribution of Drugs:Models of Criminal Organization and TheirIntegration", in Thomas Mieczkowski (ed.),Drugs, Crime, and Social Policy, University ofSouth Florida, Simon & Schuster, 1992, pp.79-108.• Anderson, Malcolm and Monica den Boer(eds), Policing Across National Boundaries,Pinter Publishers, London, 1994.• Anderson, Malcolm et al., "Policing theEuropean Union: Theory, Law and Practice,Clarendon Studies in Criminology, ClarendonPress, Oxford, 1995. • Andreas, Peter, "Free Market Reform andDrug Market Prohibition: US Policies atCross-Purposes in Latin America", ThirdWorld Quarterly 16(1):75-87, 1995.• Bagley, Bruce, "Myths of Militarisation:Enlisting Armed Forces in the War on Drugs",

in Peter H. Smith (ed.), Drug Policy in theAmericas, 1992, pp. 129-50.• Belenko, Steven, Behind Bars: SubstanceAbuse and America's Prison Population, TheNational Center on Addiction and SubstanceAbuse, Columbia University, 1998.• Benyon, John et al., "Understanding PoliceCooperation in Europe: Setting a Frameworkfor Analysis", in Anderson and den Boer (eds),ibid.• Block, Alan A., "A Modern Marriage ofConvenience: A Collaboration BetweenOrganized Crime and US Intelligence", inRobert J. Kelly (ed.), Organized Crime: AGlobal Perspective, 1986, pp. 58-78.• Bühl, Walter, "Internationale Regime undEuropäische Integration", ZfP 2(2), 1995.• Centre Tricontinental, "Drogues et narco-trafic: le point de vue du Sud", AlternativesSud, Cahiers Trimestriels 3(1), 1996.• Cerny, Philip G., "Globalization and theChanging Logic of Collective Action",International Organization 49(4):595-625,

1995. • Chatterjee, S.K., Legal Aspects ofInternational Drug Control, 1981.• Dorn, Nicholas, Jorgen Jepsen and ErnestoSavona (eds), European Drug Policies andEnforcement, Macmillan Press Ltd, 1996.• Drug war facts: http://www.csdp.org/factbook/military.htm.• Economische en Statistische Berichten(ESB), 26 June 1996.• Estievenart, Georges (ed.), Policies andStrategies to Combat Drugs in Europe: TheTreaty of the European Union: Framework fora New European Strategy to Combat Drugs?,Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht, 1995.• Fijnout, Cyrille (ed.), TheInternationalisation of Police Cooperation inWestern Europe, Kluwer, Deventer, 1993.• Foust, Dean and Gail DeGeorge, "TheNew, Improved Money Launderers", BusinessWeek, 28 June 1993.• Gereffi, Gary and Miguel Korzeniewicz(eds), Commodity Chains and Global


With globalisation and the end of the Cold War system, states'legitimation and capacities to maintain internal order and protec-tion against external threats have quickly diminished. Neoliberalreforms and regional integration have only accelerated the inca-pacity of individual states to manage the interface between theirsociety and the rest of the world and to intervene in the distribu-tion of opportunities within society.

In the protection of the state, internal and external security areclosely related. For half a century, military-industrial elites havenearly always prevailed over domestic rivals without much diffi-culty. Fear of the foreign foe has persuaded political managersand the population at large to acquiesce in new efforts to matchand overtake the other side's armaments.The escalating arms race, in turn, hashelped to maintain conformity and obedi-ence at home, since an evident outsidethreat is, as always, the most powerfulsocial cement to humankind (McNeil,1982:382).

The vast, armed establishments thatprotected the NATO and Warsaw Pactpowers against one another, their ideo-logical strife and the legitimation fordomestic control and foreign interven-tions are nowadays being supplanted byan extension of the strong arm of the lawin private, domestic and foreign domains.

Today, a qualitative and quantitative shift has been broughtabout in the constitution and dedication of the coercive apparatus-es of states. In public discourse, in government budgets and in thedaily lives of many of us, we are witnessing important transfor-mations—transformations in the dominance of acclaimed threats(from communism to drugs, crime and foreigners), in the prioritygiven to financing for the preservation of internal order instead ofexternal security arrangements (from the military to policing insti-tutions), and in states' demands on citizens to acquiesce to restric-tions on spending power, consumer freedom, personal privacy,sovereignty and liberty in order to comply with internationaldemands to 'harmonise' efforts in countering the scourge of drugtrafficking and other forms of criminalised activities.

The discourse and state activities supporting these

transformations are to a large extent based on new foes—basically, the drug industry and its alleged connections withorganised crime, terrorism and migration. The 'red scare' is nowsubstituted by the fear of drugs and organised crime. The fightagainst this 'white scare', however, poses for societies and statesmany of the same opportunities, dilemmas and systemiccontradictions as they were facing during the Cold War.

Different from the Cold War era, which was dominated byexternal security concerns, coercive powers are nowadays basical-ly set up for safeguarding internal security. However, such divi-sions are progressively blurred by the internationalisation of non-military threats to internal security. As a result, the traditional

divisions of labour between the police,military, secret service and othercoercive state powers tend to losetheir significance. Such develop-ments can be seen in the militarisa-tion of the War on Drugs, in thepolicing of external frontiers and incooperative or interventionist activi-ties of law enforcement agenciesacross borders.

So, in many respects, the War onDrugs is taking over the functions ofthe Cold War in legitimising thecoercive use of state powers to fosterinternal order and discipline, but also

in setting up control mechanisms to defend the state and societyagainst external threats at home and abroad. However, the inter-nationalisation of police cooperation and the concomitant prolifer-ation of tools to intervene in the sovereignty of individuals, peo-ples and foreign countries are highly liable to decrease theprospect of a world order in which peace, justice and freedom candevelop. This is mainly due to the uneven distribution of thepowers unleashed by the International Drug Complex.

One the one hand, the globalising forces of crime, monetaryvolatility and migration, for instance, decrease the possibilities ofprotecting the state and the social arrangements that support it.The increasing overlap this brings about between internal andexternal security concerns is likely to lead to the formal goals ofthe drug war being overruled by geopolitical and economic

The War on Drugs is taking over the functions of the Cold War in legitimising

the coercive use of state powers to foster internal order and discipline ...

Capitalism, Greenwood Press, Westport,Connecticut, 1994.• Gerritsen, Jan-Willem, De politiekeeconomie van de roes, Proefschrift,Amsterdam, 1993.• Hess, Henner, "The Traditional SicilianMafia: Organized Crime and RepressiveCrime", in Robert J. Kelly (ed.), OrganizedCrime: A Global Perspective, 1986, ibid., pp.113-34.• Jamieson, Alison, "Drug Trafficking After1992: A Special Report", Conflict Studies, no.250, Research Institute for Study of Conflictand Terrorism, 1993.• Johnston, Les, The Rebirth of PrivatePolicing, Routledge, London, New York,1992.• Kelly, Robert J. (ed.), Organized Crime: AGlobal Perspective, Rowman and Littlefield,1986.• Krüger, Henrik, The Great Heroin Coup:Drugs, Intelligence, and InternationalFascism, South End Press, Boston, 1980.

• LaBrousse, Alain and Michel Koutouzis,"Géopolitique et géostratégies des drogues",Economica, 1996.• Marshall, Jonathan, Drug Wars:Corruption, Counterinsurgency and CovertOperations in the Third World, Cohen andCohen, Berkeley, 1991.• Mauer, Marc, Americans Behind Bars: USand International Use of Incarceration, 1995,The Sentencing Project, 1997.• McCoy, Alfred W., The Politics of Heroin inSoutheast Asia, Harper and Row, New York,1972.• McNeil, William H., The Pursuit of Power,University of Chicago Press, 1982.• Miron Jeffrey A. and Jeffrey Zwiebel, "TheEconomic Case Against Drug Prohibition",Journal of Economic Perspectives 9(4):175-192, 1995.• Naylor, R.T., Hot Money and the Politics ofDebt, The Linden Press/Simon & Schuster,New York, 1987.• Naylor, R.T., "From Cold War to Crime

War: The Search for a New 'NationalSecurity' Threat", Transnational OrganizedCrime 1(4):37-56, 1995.• NRC, Handelsblad, 10 March 1997.• Observatoire Géopolitique des Drogues(OGD), Géopolitique des drogues, Editions laDécouvert, Paris, 1995.• Ouazzani, Ansaf, "Le kif au Maroc: de lasurvie au narco-trafic, le double versant durif", in Centre Tricontinental, Drogues etnarco-trafic: le point de vue du Sud, 1996,ibid.• Perl, Raphael F. (ed.), Drugs and ForeignPolicy: A Critical Review, Westview Press,Boulder, Colorado, 1994.• Rosen, Steven (ed.), Testing the Theory ofthe Military-Industrial Complex, LexingtonBooks, Lexington, Massachusetts, 1973.• Rosenau, James N., "The Relocation ofAuthority in a Shrinking World", ComparativePolitics, April 1992.• Scheptycki, J.W.E., "Law Enforcement,Justice and Democracy in the Transnational


Bibliography (continued)Arena: Reflections on the War on Drugs",International Journal of the Sociology of Law24, 1996.• Scott, Peter Dale and Jonathan Marshall,Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies and the CIAin Central America, University of CaliforniaPress, Berkeley, 1991.• Silvis, Jos, "Geschiedenis van deInternationale Strijd tegen Drugs" Recht enKritiek 19(2), 1993.• Smith, Peter H. (ed.), Drug Policies in theAmericas, Westview Press, Boulder,Colorado, 1992.• Stein, S.D., International Diplomacy, StateAdministrators and Narcotics Control, GowerPublishing Company Ltd, Aldershot, 1985.• Strange, Susan, The Retreat of the State:The Diffusion of Power in the WorldEconomy, Cambridge University Press, 1996.• Thornton, Mark, The Economics ofProhibition, University of Utah Press, 1991.• Tullis, Lamond, "Beneficiaries of the Illicit

Drug Trade: Political Consequences andInternational Policy at the Intersection ofSupply and Demand", United NationsResearch Institute for Social Development(UNRISD), Discussion Paper No. 19, March1991.• Tullis, Lamond, "UnintendedConsequences: Illegal Drugs and DrugPolicies in Nine Countries", Studies on theImpact of the Illegal Drug Trade, Vol. IV,Lynne Rienner Publishers, Boulder, Colorado,1995.• UNDCP (United Nations Drug ControlProgram), World Drug Report, 1997.• Van der Vaeren, Charles, "The EuropeanCommunity's International Drug ControlCooperation Policy: A Personal View", inGeorges Estievenart (ed.), 1995, ibid., pp.346-352.• Wilson, Suzanne and Marta Zambranao,"Cocaine, Commodity Chains, and DrugPolitics: A Transnational Approach", in GaryGereffi and Miguel Korzeniewicz (eds),

Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism,

1994, ibid., pp. 297-315.

• Youngers, Coletta, "La guerra en los Andes:

El rol militar en la política internacional de

los Estados Unidos sobre la droga", Series

breves de la oficina sobre Latinoamerica en

Washington (WOLA)/ CEDIB, December

1990.

• Zwaap, René, "Hassans gecontroleerde

doorvoer", De Groene Amsterdammer, 14

February 1996.

Editor's Note:• Hans T. van der Veen's article is reprinted

with permission from CEDRO, the Centre for

Drug Research (Cen trum voor

Drugsonderzoek) at the University of

Amsterdam, Nieuwe Prinsengracht 130, 1018

VZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands, telephone

+31 (20) 525 4061 /4280 /7432, fax +31 (20)

525 4317, e-mail [email protected], website

www.frw.uva.nl/cedro/.

concerns. The coercive powers of states, which are called in tomaintain internal order and external security, tend to a large extentto escape democratic control, as their 'operational information'activity needs to be shielded from the outside world. Diminishingaccountability goes hand in hand with the increased powersassigned to coercive state agencies.

However, more than this threat of free-floating state power, it isthe subversive impact of international criminal organisations thatundermines the very basis of the states and the societies they pre-side over. If indeed law enforcement directed against the drugindustry is also counterproductive—and thus serves quite differ-ent political goals—this leaves uswith a less than gloomy perspectivefor the future development anddemocratisation of our societies.

TRANSNATIONALDIMENSIONS

Since the end of the Cold War,the so-called New World Order—established under conditions ofincreased globalisation and under-written by neoliberal reforms—islargely shaped by two forces: thevisible hand of criminal forms ofmarket control, and the extension ofthe strong arm of the law in the national and international domain.

These two forces of repression and subversion increasinglyshow the tendency to squeeze the populations of entire societiesinto a spiralling anarchy, endangering the constitutional state andthe living conditions of its citizens.

Both sides of the law, although formally opposed to each other,in fact enhance each other's growth and therewith their impact onthe rest of society. In their mutual (systemic) interactions, theypermeate societies with a logic reminiscent of the way in which,during the Cold War, the two antagonistic superpowers and theirmilitary-industrial complexes on the one hand fostered the controlover their spheres of influence, and on the other handincapacitated their populations to counter the pressures of vestedinterests in a spiralling arms race that enhanced the income,prestige and power of military establishments and the profits of

weapons industries that fed the threat of war. The two worlds of criminal entrepreneurs and coercive agencies

of states are not separated by geographical boundaries, however;nor are they separated from the societies in which they function.As both increasingly attain transnational dimensions, they becomemore disposed to prevent themselves from being incorporated intosociety and, hence, from being subordinate to democratic control.At the same time, they increase their powers to penetrate the sov-ereignty of individuals and entire societies over the globe. ∞

Endnotes 8. The substances covered by thisregime are expanding with technologi-cal developments in pharmacology,while new 'designer' drugs are rapidlyproliferating and being incorporated inthe prohibition regime. The principaltargets for control are opiates, followedby coca and cannabis derivatives.Other substances with prohibited mark-ing are denominated by their activesubstances.9. For an overview and analysis of thedevelopment of this global prohibitionregime, see for instance Stein (1985),Gerritsen (1993) and Silvis (1993).10. In June 1999, a new Dutch parlia-mentary commission (Kalsbeek-com-

mission) concluded that double-informants, with the help of drugofficers, had managed to import and market an additional 15,000kilograms of cocaine (NRC, 10 June 1999).11. As in many other black-market sectors such as illegal gam-bling and prostitution, exchanges in the drug industry are of a con-sensual nature. The criminalisation of personal vice, as opposedto some of the consequential social harm it inflicts on society, thusleads to what some authors call 'victimless crime'. Both this con-sensual nature and the fact that prohibition pushes all exchangesunderground, have far-reaching implications for the tactics of lawenforcement agencies in the process of evidence-gathering, as par-ticipants are unlikely to issue complaints or invoke arbitrage fromformal institutions, even when disputes arise. Moreover, many ofthe negative consequences associated with illegal drugs derivefrom the prohibition rather than the consumption of the prohibitedgoods (Miron and Zwiebel, 1995).

Both sides of the law, althoughformally opposed to each other,

in fact enhance each other'sgrowth and therewith their

impact on the rest of society.


EXCITOTOXINS, NEURODEGENERATION AND NEURODEVELOPMENT

Agrowing number of clinicians and basic scientists are convinced that a group ofcompounds called "excitotoxins" play a critical role in the development of sev-eral neurological disorders, including migraines, seizures, infections, abnormalneural development, certain endocrine disorders, neuropsychiatric disorders,

learning disorders in children, AIDS dementia, episodic violence, lyme borreliosis, hepat-ic encephalopathy, specific types of obesity, and especially the neurodegenerative dis-eases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's dis-ease, Huntington's disease and olivopontocerebellar degeneration.1

An enormous amount of both clinical and experimental evidence has accumulated overthe past decade, supporting this basic premise.2 Yet, the FDA still refuses to recognise theimmediate and long-term danger to the public caused by the practice of allowing variousexcitotoxins to be added to the food supply—excitotoxins such as MSG (monosodiumglutamate), hydrolysed vegetable protein and aspartame. The amount of these neurotox-ins added to our food has increased enormously since their introduction. For example,since 1948, the amount of MSG added to foods has doubled every decade. By 1972,262,000 metric tons were being added to foods. Over 800 million pounds of aspartamehave been consumed in various products since it was approved. Ironically, these foodadditives have nothing to do with preserving food or protecting its integrity; they are allused to alter the taste of food. MSG, hydrolysed vegetable protein and natural flavouringare used to enhance the taste of food, while aspartame is an artificial sweetener.

These toxins (excitotoxins) are not present in just a few foods, but, rather, in almost allprocessed foods. In many cases they are being added in disguised forms, such as naturalflavouring, spices, yeast extract, textured protein, soy protein extract, etc.Experimentally, we know that when subtoxic levels of excitotoxins are given to animalsin divided doses, the animals experience full toxicity, i.e., the excitotoxins are synergistic.Also, liquid forms of excitotoxins, as found in soups, gravies and diet soft drinks, aremore toxic than that added to solid foods; this is because they are more rapidly absorbedand reach higher levels in the blood.

So, what are excitotoxins? These are substances, usually acidic amino acids, that reactwith specialised receptors in the brain in such a way as to lead to destruction of certaintypes of neurons. Glutamate is one of the more commonly known excitotoxins. MSG isthe sodium salt of glutamate. This amino acid is a normal neurotransmitter in the brain.In fact, it is the neurotransmitter most commonly used by the brain. Defenders of MSGand aspartame usually ask how a substance that is used normally by the brain could causeharm. It is because glutamate, as a neurotransmitter, exists in the extracellular fluid onlyin very, very small concentrations—no more than 8 to 12 µM [micromoles/litre]. Whenthe concentration of this transmitter rises above this level, the neurons begin to fire abnor-mally. At higher concentrations, the cells undergo a specialised process of delayed celldeath known as "excitotoxicity"; that is, they are excited to death.

It should also be appreciated that the effects of excitotoxin food additives generally arenot dramatic. Some individuals may be especially sensitive and develop severe symptomsand even die suddenly from cardiac irritability, but in most instances the effects are subtleand develop over a long period of time. While the food additives MSG and aspartame areprobably not direct causes of the neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's demen-tia, Parkinson's disease or ALS, they may well precipitate these disorders and certainlyworsen their pathology—as we shall see. It may be that many people with a propensity

Almost allprocessed foodscontain powerfulexcitotoxins, such

as MSG andaspartame, whichare implicated in

causing a variety ofneurological

disorders.

Part 1 of 2

by Russell L. Blaylock, MD © 1999

First published inMEDICAL SENTINEL

(vol. 4, no. 6, Nov–Dec 1999)PO Box 13648

Macon, GA 31208-3648, USATelephone: +1 (912) 757 9873

Website: www.haciendapub.com

for developing one of these diseases would never develop a full-blown disorder if not for their exposure to high levels of food-borne excitotoxin additives. Some might only have had a verymild form of the disease, if not for the exposure. Likewise, food-borne excitotoxins may be harmful to those suffering fromstrokes, head injury and HIV infection, and certainly should notbe used in a hospital setting.

THE DISCOVERY OF EXCITOTOXINS In 1957, two opthalmology residents, Lucas and Newhouse,

were conducting an experiment on mice to study a particular eyedisorder.3 During the course of this experiment, they fed newbornmice MSG and discovered that all demonstrated widespreaddestruction of the inner nerve layer of theretina. Similar destruction was also seen inadult mice, but was not as severe as in thenewborns. The results of their experimentwere published in the Archives ofO p t h a l m o l o g y and soon forgotten. For 10years prior to this report, large amounts ofMSG were being added not only to adultfoods but also to baby foods, in doses equalto those given to the experimental animals.

Then, in 1969, Dr John Olney, a neurosci-entist and neuropathologist working out of the Department ofPsychiatry at Washington University in St Louis, repeated Lucasand Newhouse's experiment.4 His lab assistant noticed that thenewborn of MSG-exposed mice were grossly obese and short instature. Further examination also demonstrated hypoplasticorgans, including pituitary, thyroid and adrenal, as well as repro-ductive dysfunction. Physiologically, they demonstrated multipleendocrine deficiencies, including of TSH, growth hormone, LH,FSH and ACTH. When Dr Olney examined the animals' brains,he discovered discrete lesions of the arcuate nucleus as well asless severe destruction of other hypothalamic nuclei.

Since this early observation, monosodium glutamate and otherexcitatory substances have become standard tools in studying thefunction of the hypothalamus. Recent studies showed that gluta-

mate is the most important neurotransmitter in the hypothalamus.5

Later studies indicated that the damage by monosodium glutamatewas much more widespread, affecting the hippocampus, circum-ventricular organs, locus ceruleus, amygdala, limbic system, sub-thalamus and striatum.6 More recent molecular studies disclosedthe mechanism of this destruction in some detail.7

Early on, it was observed that when neurons in vitro w e r eexposed to glutamate and then washed clean, the cells appearedperfectly normal for approximately an hour, at which time theyrapidly underwent cell death. It was discovered that when calci-um was removed from the medium, the cells continued to survive.

Subsequent studies have shown that glutamate and other excita-tory amino acids attach to a specialised family of receptors

(NMDA, kainate, AMPA and metabotroph-ic) which in turn, either directly or indirectly,opens the calcium channel on the neuron cellmembrane, allowing calcium to flood intothe cell. If unchecked, this calcium will trig-ger a cascade of reactions, including freeradical generation, eicosanoid productionand lipid peroxidation, which will destroythe cell. With this calcium-triggered stimu-lation, the neuron becomes very excited, fir-ing its impulses repetitively until the point of

cell death, hence the name "excitotoxin". The activation of thecalcium channel via the NMDA-type receptors also involves othermembrane receptors such as the zinc, magnesium, phencyclidineand glycine receptors.

In many disorders connected to excitotoxicity, the source of theglutamate and aspartate is endogenous. We know that when braincells are injured, they release large amounts of glutamate fromsurrounding astrocytes, and this glutamate can further damagesurrounding normal neuronal cells. This appears to be the case instrokes, seizures and brain trauma. But, food-borne excitotoxinscan add significantly to this accumulation of toxins.

COUNTERING THE FDA'S SPIN ON MSG SAFETYIn July 1995, the Federation of American Societies for

Experimental Biology (FASEB) conducted adefinitive study for the US Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) on the question of safety ofMSG.8 The FDA wrote a very deceptive summa-ry of the report in which it implied that, exceptpossibly for asthma patients, MSG was found tobe safe by the FASEB reviewers. But, in fact,that is not what the report said at all.

I summarised, in detail, my criticism of thiswidely reported FDA deception in the revisedpaperback edition of my book, Excitotoxins: TheTaste That Kills, by analysing exactly what thereport said and failed to say. 9 For example, itnever said that MSG did not aggravate neurode-generative diseases. What it said was, there wereno studies indicating such a link; specifically, thatno one has conducted any studies, positive or neg-ative, to see if there is a link. A vital difference.

Unfortunately for the consumer, the corporatefood processors not only continue to add MSG toour foods but go to great lengths to disguise theseharmful additives. For example, they use suchnames as "hydrolysed vegetable protein", "veg-etable protein", "textured protein", "hydrolysedplant protein", "soy protein extract", "caseinate",


When excitotoxin taste-enhancers are added

together, they becomemuch more toxic than if taken individually.


"yeast extract" and "natural flavouring". We know experimental-ly that when these excitotoxin taste-enhancers are added together,they become much more toxic than is seen individually.10 In fact,excitotoxins in subtoxic concentrations can be fully toxic to spe-cialised brain cells when used in combination. Frequently onsupermarket shelves I see processed foods, especially frozen ordiet foods, that contain two, three or even four types of excitotox-ins.

We also know, as stated, that excitotoxins in liquid forms aremuch more toxic than solid forms because they are rapidlyabsorbed and attain high concentration in the blood. This meansthat many of the commercial soups, sauces and gravies containingMSG are very dangerous to nervous system health, and shouldespecially be avoided by those who have one of the above-men-tioned disorders or who are at a high risk of developing one ofthem. They should also be avoided by can-cer patients and those at high risk for cancer,because of the associated generation of freeradicals and lipid peroxidation.11

In the case of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS), we know that consumption of redmeats, and especially MSG itself, can signifi-cantly elevate blood glutamate to levelsmuch higher than seen in the normal popula-tion.12 Similar studies, as far as I am aware,have not been conducted in patients withAlzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. But, as ageneral rule, I would certainly suggest thatpersons with either of these diseases avoidMSG-containing foods as well as red meats,cheeses and puréed tomatoes, all ofwhich are known to have higher levelsof glutamate.

It must be remembered that it is theglutamate molecule that is toxic inmonosodium glutamate. Glutamate is anaturally occurring amino acid found invarying concentrations in many foods.Defenders of MSG safety allude to thisfact in their defence. But, it is free glu-tamate that is the culprit. Bound gluta-mate, found naturally in foods, is lessdangerous because it is slowly brokendown and absorbed by the gut so that itcan be utilised by the tissues, especiallymuscle, before toxic concentrations can build up. Therefore, awhole tomato is safer than a puréed tomato. The only exceptionto this as stated, based on present knowledge, is in the case ofALS. Also, the tomato plant contains several powerful antioxi-dants known to block glutamate toxicity.13

Hydrolysed vegetable protein is a common food additive andmay contain at least two excitotoxins: glutamate and cysteic acid.Hydrolysed vegetable protein is made by a chemical process thatbreaks down the vegetable's protein structure purposefully to freethe glutamate as well as aspartate, another excitotoxin. Thisbrown, powdery substance is used to enhance the flavour offoods, especially meat dishes, soups and sauces. Despite the factthat some health food manufacturers have attempted to sell theidea that this flavour enhancer is "all natural" and "safe" becauseit is made from vegetables, it is not. It is the same substanceadded to processed foods. Experimentally, one can produce thesame brain lesions using hydrolysed vegetable protein as by usingMSG or aspartate.14

A growing number of excitotoxins are being discovered, includ-ing several that are found naturally. For example, L-cysteine is avery powerful excitotoxin. It is now added to certain breaddoughs and is sold in health food stores as a supplement.Homocysteine, a metabolic derivative, is also an excitotoxin. 1 5

Interestingly, elevated blood levels of homocysteine were recentlyshown to be a major, if not the major, indicator of cardiovasculardisease and stroke. Equally interesting is the finding that elevatedlevels of homocysteine are also implicated in neurodevelopmentaldisorders, especially anencephaly and spinal dysraphism (neuraltube defects).16 (It is thought that there is a protective mechanismof action associated with the use of the prenatal vitamins B12, B6and folate when used in combination.) It remains to be seen if thetoxic effect is excitatory or due to some other mechanism. If it isexcitatory, then unborn infants would be endangered as well by

glutamate, aspartate (part of the aspartamemolecule) and the other excitotoxins.Recently, several studies found that allAlzheimer's patients examined had elevatedlevels of homocysteine.17

One interesting study found that personsaffected by Alzheimer's disease also havewidespread destruction of their retinal gan-glion cells.1 8 Interestingly, this is the areafound to be affected when Lucas andNewhouse discovered the excitotoxicity ofMSG. While this does not prove that dietaryglutamate and other excitotoxins cause oraggravate Alzheimer's disease, it is powerfulcircumstantial evidence. When all of the

information known concerning excita-tory food additives is analysed, it ishard to justify continued approval bythe FDA for the widespread use ofthese additives.

THE EFFECTS OF TOXICFREE RADICALS

It is interesting to note that many ofthe same neurological diseasesassociated with excitotoxic injury arealso associated with accumulations oftoxic free radicals and destructive lipidoxidation products. 19 For example, thebrains of Alzheimer's disease patients

have been found to contain high concentrations of lipidperoxidation products and evidence of free radical accumulationand damage.20, 21, 22

In the case of Parkinson's disease, we know that one of the earlychanges is the loss of one of the primary antioxidant defence sys-tems, glutathione, from the neurons of the striate system and espe-cially in the substantia nigra.23 It is this nucleus that is primarilyaffected in this disorder. Accompanying this, is an accumulationof free iron, which is one of the most powerful free radical gener-ators known.2 4 One of the highest concentrations of iron in thebody is within the globus pallidus and the substantia nigra. Theneurons within the latter are especially vulnerable to oxidantstress because the catabolic metabolism of the transmitter,dopamine, can proceed to the creation of very powerful free radi-cals; that is, it can auto-oxidise to peroxide, which is normallydetoxified by glutathione. As we have seen, glutathione loss inthe substantia nigra is one of the earliest deficiencies seen inParkinson's disease. In the presence of high concentrations of free

Unfortunately for theconsumer, the corporatefood processors not onlycontinue to add MSG to our foods but go to greatlengths to disguise these

harmful additives.

For example, they use such names as "hydrolysed vegetableprotein", "vegetable

protein", "textured protein","hydrolysed plant protein",

"soy protein extract","caseinate", "yeast extract"and "natural flavouring".


iron, the peroxide is converted into the dangerous and very pow-erful free radical, hydroxide. As the hydroxide radical diffusesthroughout the cell, destruction of the lipid components of the celltakes place—a process called "lipid peroxidation". Of equalimportance is the generation of the powerful peroxynitrite radical,which has been shown to produce serious injury in cellular pro-teins and DNA, both mitochondrial and nuclear.25

Using a laser microprobe mass analyser, researchers discoveredthat iron accumulation in Parkinson's disease is primarilylocalised in the neuromelanin granules (which gives the nucleusits black colour).2 6 Other studies showed that there is dramaticaccumulation of aluminium within these granules.27 Most likely,the aluminium displaces the bound iron, releasing highly reactivefree iron. It is known that even low concentrations of aluminiumsalts can enhance iron-induced lipid peroxidation by almost anorder of magnitude. Further, direct infusion of iron into the sub-stantia nigra nucleus in rodents can induce a parkinsonian syn-drome and a dose-related decline in dopamine. Recent studiesindicate that individuals having Parkinson's disease also havedefective iron metabolism.28

Another early finding in Parkinson's dis-ease is the reduction in complex I enzymeswithin the mitochondria of this nucleus.29 Itis well known that the complex I enzymesare particularly sensitive to free radicalinjury. These enzymes are critical to the pro-duction of cellular energy. As we shall see,when cellular energy is decreased, the toxiceffect of excitatory amino acids increasesdramatically.

In the case of ALS, there is growing evi-dence that similar free radical damage, mostlikely triggered by toxic concentrations ofexcitotoxins, plays a major role in the disor-d e r .3 0 Several studies demonstratedlipid peroxidation product accumulationwithin the spinal cords of ALS victims,as well as iron accumulation.31

It is now known that glutamate actson its receptor via a nitric oxide mecha-n i s m .3 2 Overstimulation of the gluta-mate receptor can produce an accumu-lation of reactive nitrogen species,resulting in the generation of severalspecies of dangerous free radicals,including peroxynitrite. There is grow-ing evidence that, at least in part, this ishow excess glutamate damages nervecells.33 In a multitude of studies, a closelink was demonstrated between excitotoxicity and free radicalgeneration.34–37

Other studies showed that certain free radical scavengers(antioxidants) successfully block excitotoxic destruction of neu-rons. For example, vitamin E is known to block glutamate toxici-ty completely in vitro.38 Whether it is as efficient in vivo is notknown. But it is interesting in the light of recent observations thatvitamin E, combined with other antioxidant vitamins, slows thecourse of Alzheimer's disease and is suggested to reduce the rateof advance in a subgroup Parkinson's disease as well.

In the Datatop study of the effect of alpha-tocopherol alone, noreduction in disease progression was seen. The problem with thisstudy was the low dose that was used and the fact that the DL-alpha-tocopherol used is known to have a much lower antioxidant

potency than D-alpha-tocopherol. Stanley Fahn found that a com-bination of D-alpha-tocopherol and ascorbic acid in high dosesreduced progression of the disease by 2.5 years.39 Tocotrienol mayhave even greater benefits, especially when used in combinationwith other antioxidants. There is some clinical evidence, includingmy own observations, that vitamin E, especially in the form of D-alpha-tocopherol, also slows the course of ALS. I would cautionthat antioxidants work best in combination, and that when usedseparately can have opposite, harmful effects. That is, whenantioxidants, such as ascorbic acid and alpha-tocopherol, becomeoxidised themselves—such as in the case of dehydroascorbicacid—they no longer protect, but rather act as free radicals them-selves. The same is true of alpha-tocopherol.40

Again, it should be realised that excessive glutamate stimula-tion triggers a chain of events that in turn sparks the generation oflarge numbers of free radical species, both as nitrogen and oxy-gen. These free radicals have been shown to damage cellular pro-teins (protein carbonyl products) and DNA. The most immediateDNA damage is to the mitochondrial DNA, which controls pro-

tein expression within that particular celland its progeny, producing rather profoundchanges in cellular energy production. It issuspected that at least some of the neurode-generative diseases, Parkinson's disease inparticular, are affected in this way. 4 1

Chronic free radical accumulation wouldresult in an impaired functional reserve ofantioxidant vitamins, minerals, enzymes andthiol compounds necessary for neural pro-tection. Chronic unrelieved stress, chronicinfection, free-radical-generating metals andtoxins, and impaired DNA repair enzymesall add to this damage.

We know there are four main endogenoussources of oxidants:

1. Those produced naturally fromaerobic metabolism of glucose.

2. Those produced during phago-cytic cell attack on bacteria, viruses andparasites, especially with chronic infec-tions.

3. Those produced during the degra-dation of fatty acids and other mole-cules that produce H3O2 as a by-prod-uct. (This is important in stress, whichhas been shown to increase brain levelsof free radicals significantly.)

4. Oxidants produced during thecourse of p450 degradation of natural

toxins. And, as we have seen, one of the major endogenoussources of free radicals is from the exposure of tissues to free iron,especially in the presence of ascorbate. Unfortunately, iron is onemineral heavily promoted by the health industry, and is frequentlyadded to many foods, especially breads and pastas. Copper is alsoa powerful free radical generator and has been shown to beelevated within the substantia nigra of parkinsonian brains.42

What has been shown in all these studies is a direct connectionbetween excitotoxicity and free radical generation in a multitudeof diseases and disorders such as seizures, strokes, brain trauma,viral infections and neurodegenerative diseases.

Interestingly, free radicals were shown to prevent glutamate

Continued on page 81

What has been shown in all these studies is a

direct connectionbetween excitotoxicity

and free radicalgeneration in a

multitude of diseases and disorders such as

seizures, strokes, braintrauma, viral infectionsand neurodegenerative

diseases.


It was masterfully macabre: black foundations, blue pillars and rainbow ceilings;sound, rhythm and space. Ultra-chromatic chord frames rose like rock walls from theblack depths, and immense stellar crystallisations radiated tonal perfumes throughdeep, black, radiant space. Lovely, lyrically swooping melodies reached up towards

unknown depths of space. Each had its foundation in ultrabass tones of rooted depth. Thebasso profondo of Messiaen was the critical foundation, supporting the strong pillars of animmense architecture which extends beyond performance walls.

Olivier Messiaen, the master composer, used the ground-thrumming tones of greatParisian cathedral organs to evoke sensations which may only be called otherworldly. Hescoured the deep and unreachable roots of worlds to hold his musical cathedrals together.Such majesty and grandeur of sound! It was rich in the intelligence which flooded andmade the world, the musical currents and the atmosphere of tones; fluidic music andmeaning.

Yet, the most fundamental signals which permeate this world are inaudible. They notonly escape our hearing, but they undergird our being. Natural infrasounds rumblethrough our experience daily. Their manifestations are fortunately infrequent and incoher-ent. Infrasound is inaudible to human hearing, being of pitch below 15 cycles per sec-ond—the bottom human limit, the plinth, the foundation. Infrasound is not heard, it isfelt. Infrasound holds a terrible secret in its silent roar.

Infrasound produces varied physiological sensations which begin as vague "irritations".At a certain pitch, infrasound produces physical pressure; at specific low intensity, it pro-duces fear and disorientation. Nazi propaganda engineers methodically used infrasound tostir up the hostilities of crowds who were gathered to hear their madman. The results arehistorical nightmares. At a very specific pitch, infrasound explodes matter; organismsrupture in its blast. At other pitches, infrasound incapacitates and kills. Sea creatures usethis power to stun and kill prey.

The swelling bass tones of the cathedral seem as though they can burst the very pillarswhich uphold the vaults. Stained glass windows have been known to erupt in a shower ofcoloured fragments from the organ's basso profondo. Somewhere in the almost inaudibleroll of these basement sounds, these impulsed ultrabass tones, this thunder, there was adevastating and fearful power.

INFRASOUND GENERATED BY NATURAL PHENOMENANatural phenomena—thunder, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, ocean waves, waterfalls,

winds and auroras—are prodigious generators of infrasound. The potent distal effects produced when natural explosions occur produce legendary

effects. When Krakatoa exploded, windows were shattered hundred of miles away by theinfrasonic wave. The "ringing" of both earth and atmosphere continued for hours. It isbelieved that infrasound actually formed the upper pitch of this natural volcanic explosion,tones unmeasurably deep forming the actual "central harmonic" of the event. The islandof Krakatoa was literally lifted into orbit in the fatal blast.

Analysts contend that infrasound is composed of a very broad band of pitches. Thesetones of immense pressure and duration "accommodate" themselves when encounteringresonant cavities. All such resonant cavities are "found and destroyed" when the properpressure waves flow into their resonances. Infrasound is the cruel tonal giant, tearingopen whatever it finds in its path.

Studies reveal that the sudden shock of an explosion propels a complex infrasonic

Observations of theharmful effects of

infrasonicvibrations led

French roboticsscientist Dr

Vladimir Gavreauto developinfrasound

detectors, weaponsand shields.

by Gerry Vassilatos © 1996

from chapter 8 of his bookLOST SCIENCE

published in 1998 by Borderland Sciences Research

FoundationPO Box 6250

Eureka, CA 95502, USAWebsite: www.borderlands.com


signal far beyond the shattered perimeter. Incoherent though suchshockwaves may be, their destructive influence dissolves distantwalls and windows seconds after the shrapnel has done its deadlywork. Objects of all shapes, sizes and compositions explodewhen the infrasonic impulse passes through their space. Noshield can block infrasound. Physicists have studied the refusewhich remains after an explosive charge has been detonated. Fewmaterials can maintain their integrity. Those objects whichmanage to survive explosions are noteworthy as infrasonic"resistors". Screen-reinforced concrete does not easily succumbto the infrasonic blasts of explosive charges.

Certain earthquake activities produce large and virtually insen-sate vertical displacements of the ground surface, in extremeinstances amounting to a few feet per pulse. In this case, theground becomes like the surface of a drum, ringing out its deadlycadence at infrasonic pitch, hours before the event. The groundundulates with infrasonic tones, an elasticity that eventuallycracks under the heaving stress.

These ultralow-pitch earthquake sounds are keenly felt by ani-mals and sensitive humans. Indeed, infrasonic shocks producecharacteristic pressure effects on structures and organisms alike.The sensation flattens the body; it isas if one were struck with a solidinvisible wall from which there is noescape. Anxiety, fear, extreme emo-tional distress and mental incapacita-tion are all part of the unpleasantphenomenon. Notable among humanexposures to quake-correlated infra-sound is the precursory nausea whichmany report; this strong sensationleaves its more sensitive victimshelpless.

Ocean waves which pound theatmosphere across huge areas pro-duce an acoustic energy with a meanpitch of 16 cycles per second. Thephenomena of "barisal guns", "fog guns" and "lake guns" form awell-documented bibliography of anomalous acoustic phenomena.Some of these "booming" tones manifest at haphazard intervals,but others are periodic. Bay sizes, wave sizes, the geologic com-positions of bays and shores have been woven into complexmechanistic attempts at explaining how these mystery sounds arebeing generated in certain environments. These natural bay toneshave great infrasonic content. These booming sounds have rattledwindows and rocked some small towns.

However, mysterious and sudden barometric variations indicatethat natural infrasonic generation has a much wider source thanthe subterranean earth or bodies of water. Both solar flares andthe normal thrummings of the solar wind generate infrasonic puls-es throughout the atmosphere. Aerial earthquake sounds havebeen reported by observers. Typical of infrasound, the sourcescannot be accurately located. The high-pitched sizzling sounds ofthe aurora borealis are augmented by deep and ominous thrum-ming. These deep tones sweep through the bodies of listeners,and these permutations produce an irritability and a dizzying nau-sea. The infrasonic shockwaves of the aurora are normally notheard, but definitely sensed.

Infrasound moves, unaffected, through and across both windsand storms, but these too can generate infrasound. The powerfulharmonic rotations of storms shear the atmosphere, radiating acyclonic series of expanding infrasounds. The sense of impend-ing fear which precedes hurricanes is due to infrasonic emissions.

The infrasound of seasonal winds and weather patterns producesillness in certain persons. Symptoms include anxiety and depres-sion, emotional tension, irritability, disorientation, accident-proneness, nausea and diarrhoea.

Infrasound travels long distances with virtually no attenuation.Its pressures thus arrive at great distances with the same force andintensity as when generated. The atmosphere sustains prolongedand powerful infrasonic vibrations. Not much acoustic power isrequired for infrasound to produce such extreme and sustainedphysiological and psychological symptoms.

EFFECTS OF MACHINE VIBRATIONSVibrating man-made structures stimulate the artificial genera-

tion of dangerous infrasound. When turns are made at 60 milesper hour [96.6 kph], car chassis vibrations produce a peak infra-sonic emission. Travel sickness can be associated with prolongedinfrasonic exposure to any vibrating chassis. Cars, buses, trains,motorcycles and jets alike, each register hazardous intensities ofinfrasound. Each transportation mode has its characteristic infra-sonic pitch, the necessary outcome of mechanical frictions andinertial resistances.

There is difficulty in recording andreproducing ultradeep tones for studyand analysis. They have to be gener-ated on site for experimental purpos-es. Theatre-sized sound systems cannever completely transmit all of thesensations associated with naturallyoccurring infrasound. But there havebeen instances where audiences havebecome frighteningly ill because ofthe accidental generation of infra-sound in a theatre space.

Of critical importance is the com-prehension of human tolerances toinfrasound. Military medical teamshave long studied the effect of

machine vibration on human judgement and behaviour out ofnecessity. If jet pilots and rocket pilots alike evidence even minorerrors in judgement through their exposure to infrasound, disastercan result. Certain critical errors in judgement and accuracy havein fact been noted during short flight times.

The powerful infrasonic vibrations of jet chassis absolutelysaturate the bodies of pilots. Continually saturated with theseinfrasonic energies throughout their flight time, pilot reflexes areseverely diminished. Military procedure recognises this factor,and routinely limits flight time. It is known that excess infrasonicexposures endanger pilots and their flight missions. Pilot-damaging effects include decrements in vision, speech,intelligence, orientation, equilibrium and the ability to discernsituations accurately and make reasonable decisions.

DEADLY COLD WAR WEAPONRY The Cold War was on. The United States alone held the dread-

ed secret. The most terrible weapon yet developed was the pri-vate property of one government. The mere existence of theatomic bomb was a threat to nations whose motives were notentirely altruistic.

Obtaining atomic bomb data was a priority for several motivat-ed, aggressive and imperialistic nations. The only manner inwhich some nations obtained the secret was by stealing it. WhenStalin's science officers finally developed a duplicate of theAmerican atomic bomb, pressure suddenly was placed upon every

Objects of all shapes, sizes andcompositions explode when the infrasonic impulse passes

through their space. No shield can block infrasound.


other European nation to create an equivalent or better device. When one seeks to defend one's borders, the consequences of

releasing weapons of devastation to the world do not seem impor-tant. Weaponry is death-oriented by nature. But there are moraldifferences between weapons of defence and weapons of offence.

Previous to this atomic proliferation, competing nations con-centrated their weapons research on truly bizarre and equallydeadly means for defending their national boundaries. Perfectedin rapid succession were deadly variations and combinations ofgas weaponry, pathogenic agents and radiant weaponry. Stalin'sresearch teams investigated psychic powers as a possible meansof destroying an enemy. Psychotronic warfare was developedamong numerous groups, both private and national, with measur-able success. Information on some simpler psychotronic weaponshas recently been obtained through anincreasing process of Soviet disclosure.

In truth, the larger the weaponry, the lesssafe were the national boundaries. While thesuperpowers concentrated their weaponsdevelopment programs on mass-destructivenuclear weaponry, others focused on morepractical, conventional weapons whichseemed to fill an immediate need in the limit-ed tactical warfare of small battlefields.

While developing its own atomic device,France sought defensive tactical weaponry onevery possible technological front. Short-range weapons would best defend against aconventional national assault. But othersystems were also sought—systemswhich, though non-nuclear, were equallyinvincible. As the great mediaevalFrankish knight Charles "the Hammer"Martel repelled ruthless invaders fromthe East, so a new hammer would besought to defend France against possiblenew enemies. Even as Charles Martelarose from obscurity, so this strange new"hammer" would arise in equalobscurity.

DR VLADIMIR GAVREAU The central research theme of Dr Vladimir Gavreau was the

development of remote-controlled automatons and roboticdevices. To this end, he assembled a group of scientists in 1957[at the Electro-Acoustical Laboratory in Marseille, France]. Thegroup, including Marcel Miane, Henri Saul and RaymondComdat, successfully developed a great variety of robotic devicesfor industrial and military purposes.

In the course this development, Dr Gavreau and his staff madea strange and astounding observation which not only interruptedtheir work but became their major research theme. Housed in alarge concrete building, the entire group periodically experienceda disconcerting nausea, often day after day, for weeks at a time.Industrial examiners who were called to inspect the situation alsofell victim to the malady. It was thought that the condition wascaused by pathogens—a "building sickness". No such biologicalagencies were detected, yet the condition prevailed. Theirresearch schedules now seriously interrupted, the team called for acomplete examination of the building.

The researchers had noticed that the mysterious nausea ceasedwhen certain laboratory windows were blocked. It was thenassumed that "chemical gas emissions" of some kind were respon-

sible for the malady, and so a thorough search of the building wasundertaken. While no noxious fumes could be detected by anytechnical means, the source was finally traced by building engi-neers to an improperly installed motor-driven ventilator. Theengineers at first thought that this motor might be emitting nox-ious fumes, possibly evaporated oils and lubricants, but no evapo-rated products were detected. They then found that the looselysupported low-speed motor, poised in its cavernous duct of sever-al storeys' height, was developing "nauseating vibrations".

The mystery magnified for Dr Gavreau and his team when theytried to measure the sound intensity and pitch. Failing to registerany acoustic readings at all, the team doubted the assessment ofthe building engineers. Nevertheless, closing the windowsblocked the sense of nausea.

In a step of brilliant scientific reasoning,Gavreau and his colleagues realised that thesound they were dealing with was so low inpitch that it could not register on any avail-able microphonic detector. This was costly tothe crew; they could not pursue the "search"for long time-periods. In fact, during the verycourse of tracking down the sound, an acci-dental direct exposure rendered them allextremely ill for hours.

When they finally managed to measure the"sound", they found that a low-intensity pitchof a fundamental seven cycles per second wasbeing produced. Furthermore, this infrasonic

pitch was not one of great intensity. Itbecame obvious that the slow-vibratingmotor was activating an infrasonic reso-nant mode in the large concrete duct.

Operating as the vibrating "tongue" ofan immense "organ pipe", the rattlingmotor produced nauseating infrasound.Coupled with the rest of the concretebuilding—a cavernous industrial enclo-sure—the vibrating air column formed abizarre infrasonic amplifier.

Knowledge of this infrasonic configu-ration also explained why shutting thewindows was mildly effective in "block-

ing the malady". The windows altered the total resonant profile ofthe building, shifting the infrasonic pitch and intensity.

Since this time, others have noted the personally damagingeffects of such infrasonic generation in office buildings andindustrial facilities. The nauseating effects of exposure to a low-intensity natural or man-made infrasonic source is now wellappreciated. It has become a routine architectural procedure toseek out and alter any such possible resonant cavities. Thesources often appear in older buildings, the result of constructionrendered faulty by previous lack of this knowledge. All such"improper" architectural formats are modified by the addition ofsound-blocking materials.

EXPERIMENTS WITH INFRASONICSDr Gavreau and his research team now carefully investigated

the effects of their "infrasonic organ" at various intensity andpitch levels. By changing the spring tension on the shock mountswhich held the fan motor, it was possible to change the pitch.Various infrasonic resonances were established throughout thelarge research building. Shutting the windows blocked most ofthe symptoms, but opening them again, however weak was the

Gavreau and hiscolleagues realised that the sound they

were dealing with wasso low in pitch that it could not register

on any availablemicrophonic

detector.


source, made the team feel the nauseating effects once more. In the business of military research, Dr Gavreau believed he

had discovered a new and previously "unknown weapon" in theseinfrasounds. Aware of the natural explosives by which infrason-ics are generated, Dr Gavreau began to speculate on the applica-tion of infrasonics as a defence initiative. The haphazard explo-sive effects of natural infrasound in thunderclaps were quite effec-tive in demonstrating what an artificial "thunder-maker" coulddo—but how could a thunderclap be artificially generated in acompact system? These thoughts stimulated theoretical discus-sions on the possibility of producing coherent infrasound—aninfrasonic "laser".

The first devices Dr Gavreau implemented were designed toimitate the "accident" which first made his research group awareof infrasonics. The team designed real organ pipes of exceedinglygreat width and length, the first of these being six feet in diameterand 75 feet long. Two forms of these infrasonic organ pipes werebuilt: the first utilised a drive piston which pulsed the pipeoutput, while the second utilised compressed air in a moreconventional manner. These designs were tested outdoors,securely propped against protective sound-absorbent walls, whilethe investigators stood at a greatdistance.

The main resonant frequency ofthese pipes was found to be in the"range of death", between three andseven cycles per second. Thesesounds could not be humanlyheard—a distinct advantage for adefence system. However, theeffects could be felt.

Even though the pipes were oper-ating for only a few seconds, symp-toms in the investigators came onrapidly and unexpectedly. The pres-sure waves impacted against theentire body in a terrible and inescapable grip—a pressure whichcame in on the body from all sides simultaneously, an envelope ofdeath. Next came the pain—dull, infrasonic pressure against theeyes and ears. Then came a frightening manifestation on thematerial supports of the device itself. With sustained operation ofthe pipes, a sudden rumble rocked the area, nearly destroying thetest building. Every pillar and joint of the massive structuremoved. One of the technicians managed to ignore the painenough to shut down the power supply.

These experiments with infrasonics were as dangerous as thoseearly investigations of nuclear energy, but infrasonic assaults onthe body are the more lethal because they come with a dreadfulsilence. Dr Gavreau and his associates were dangerously ill fornearly a day after these preliminary tests were performed. Theireyesight was affected for days. More dangerously, their internalorgans were affected: the heart, lungs, stomach and intestinalcavity were filled with continual painful spasms for an equal timeperiod. Musculature convulsions, torques and tears were thesymptoms of their infrasonic exposure. All the resonant bodycavities absorbed the self-destructive acoustic energy, and wouldhave been torn apart had the power not been extinguished at thatprecise moment.

The effectiveness of infrasound as a defensive weapon offrightening power having been demonstrated "to satisfaction",more questions were asked. After this dreadful accident,approaching the equipment once again was almost a fearful exer-cise. How powerful could the output of an infrasonic device be

before it affected even the operating engineers? With greatest caution and respect for the power with which they

worked, Dr Gavreau began recalculating all of his design parame-ters. He had grossly misjudged the power released by the pipes;in fact, he had greatly lowered those calculated outputs for diag-nostic purposes. Never had he imagined that these figures wereactually far too great in the world of infrasound!

Empirical data collection and analysis being the only way todetermine how infrasonic energy correlated with both biologicaland material effects, the tests were again attempted with a minia-ture power supply. First, the dimensions of these devices had tobe greatly reduced; their extreme length was objectionable. Inorder to provide absolutely safe control of the deadly blasts, sev-eral emergency cut-off switches were provided. These respondedto the radiated infrasonic pressure wave. The intensity could belimited by the use of automated barometric switches.

In an attempt to produce more compact and controllable infra-sound generators, Dr Gavreau designed and tested special hornsand whistles of various volumes. These were each remarkablysimple, flat, circular, resonant cavities, having a side output duct.They were simply the large analogues of foghorns and police

whistles. These flat forms were volu-metrically reduced in successivedesign stages because it was found thattheir output was far too great. Theinfrasonic foghorns could produce afrightening two kilowatts of infrasonicenergy at a pitch of 150 cycles per sec-ond. The flat "police whistles" weremore easily designed to the requiredspecifications. Their overall character-istics were quite simple to determine, amathematical formula being devisedfor the purpose. The whistle's resonantpitch was found by dividing its diame-ter into a numerical constant of fifty-

one. Increasing the depth of the whistle effectively increased itsamplitude. A whistle 1.3 metres in diameter produced an infra-sonic pitch of 37 cycles per second. This form violently shookthe walls of the entire laboratory complex, though its intensitywas less than two watts of infrasonic power.

TESLA'S RESEARCH AND MILITARY MEDICAL TESTSNot much amplitude is required for infrasound to produce phys-

iological malady. Several researchers accidentally did themselvesgreat harm when, either by deliberate intent or accident, they suc-ceeded in generating infrasonic vibrations.

Dr Nikola Tesla used vibrating platforms as an aid to vitality.He delighted in "toning the body" with vibrational platforms of hisown design. Mounted on heavy rubber pads, these platforms werevibrated by simple, motorised, "eccentric" wheels. Their mild use,for a minute, could be pleasantly stimulating, the effectsinvigorating the whole body for hours thereafter. However, theirexcessive use would produce grave illness, extreme aggravationsof the heart being the most dangerous aspect of the stimulation.The entire body would "ring" for hours with an elevated heart rateand greatly stimulated blood pressure. The effects could bedeadly.

In one historic instance, Samuel Clemens, Tesla's close friend,refused to descend from the vibrating platform after repeatedwarnings. Tesla was sorry he had allowed him to mount it, buthis concern was drowned out by both the vibrating machine andClemens's jubilant exaltations and praises. Several more seconds

These experiments withinfrasonics were as dangerous as those early investigations ofnuclear energy, but infrasonicassaults on the body are the

more lethal because they comewith a dreadful silence.


and Clemens nearly soiled his white suit. The effects of the infra-sound were duly recorded.

Tesla often went to great lengths in describing the effects ofinfrasound to newspaper reporters who, behind his back, scoffedat the notion that a "little sound" could effect such devastation.Yet, it was precisely with such "little sound" that Tesla nearlybrought down his laboratory on Houston Street. His compactinfrasonic impulsers were terribly efficient. Tesla later designedand tested infrasonic impulse weapons capable of wrecking build-ings and whole cities on command.

Walt Disney and his artists were once made seriously ill when asound effect, intended for a short cartoon scene, was slowed downseveral times on a tape machine and amplified through a theatresound system. The original sound source was a soldering iron,whose buzzing 60-cycle tone was lowered five times to 12 cycles.This tone produced nausea in the crew, which lasted for days.

Physiology seems to remain paralysed by infrasound.Infrasound stimulates middle ear disruptions,ruining organismic equilibrium and immobil-ising its victims. The effect is like severe,prolonged seasickness. Restoration to nor-mal vitality requires several hours or evendays. Exposure to mild infrasound intensitiesproduces illness, but increased intensitiesresult in death.

Alarming responses to infrasound in the 40to 100 cycles range have been accuratelyrecorded by military medical experts, and theresults are sobering. As infrasonic pitchesdecrease, the deadly symptoms increase.Altered cardiac rhythms, with pulse rates ris-ing to 40 per cent of their rest values,are the precursors to other pre-lethalstates. Mild nausea, giddiness, skinflushing and body tingling occur at 100cycles per second. Vertigo, anxiety,extreme fatigue, throat pressure and res-piratory dysfunction follow. Coughing,severe sternal pressure, choking, exces-sive salivation, extreme swallowingpains, inability to breathe, headache andabdominal pain occur between 60 and73 cycles per second. Post-exposurefatigue is marked. Certain subjects con-tinue to cough for half an hour, whilemany continue the skin-flush manifesta-tion for up to four hours. Significant visual acuity decrements arenoted when humans are exposed to infrasound between 43 and 73cycles per second. Intelligibility scores for exposed persons fallto a low of 77 per cent of their normal scores. Spatial orientationbecomes completely distorted. Muscular coordination and equi-librium falter considerably. Depressed manual dexterity andslurred speech have been noted before individuals black out. Justbefore this point, a significant loss in intelligibility is noted.

The findings of Dr Gavreau in the infrasonic range between oneand 10 cycles per second are truly shocking. Lethal infrasonicpitch lies in the seven-cycle range. Small amplitude increasesaffect human behaviour in this pitch range. Intellectual activity isfirst inhibited, blocked and then destroyed. As the amplitude isincreased, several disconcerting responses occur as a result.These responses begin as complete neurological interference. Theaction of the medulla is physiologically blocked; its autonomicfunctions cease.

EXPERIMENTS WITH INFRASOUND DETECTORS Infrasound clings to the ground, a phenomenon well known in

the animal world. Female vocalisations and those of their youngtake their traceable routes through the air. High-pitched soundsare aerial in nature. This means that females and their young arenatural targets for predators. Low-pitched tones cling to theground, being "guided" along the soil layers. Male sounds cannotbe localised by predators because they "hug" the ground, diffusingout from their source. Some males rumble the ground with theircalls and hooves. These are communications signals which theyalone comprehend.

The fact that the ground draws and guides low-frequency tonesis a remarkable gift to the animal kingdom, enhancing the survivalof male leaders. When herds are attacked by predators, the malescan continue to give guidance to their companions, while remain-ing completely "invisible" and elusive. Predators cannot locatethe calls and rumblings of male leaders because their low-pitched

signals are impossible to pinpoint. They aretherefore also impossible to attack.Predators are often overtaken by the maleswho maintain their diffusive communica-tions across and through the ground.

The same analogies would apply to aninfrasonic defence system. First, infrasounddoes not lose its intensity when travellingvery long distances across the ground; itremains at the same intensity as whenreleased from its deadly source. Also,because of the ground-clinging effect, infra-sonic sources cannot be located without spe-cial appliances. This would work well for

those who used the weaponry of infra-sound. But suppose some hostile forcewas itself using infrasonics?Infrasonics are inaudible. The battlewould be over before anyone knew ithad begun. How would one know ofan infrasonic attack? The first line ofdefence therefore would be the detec-tion of the "unperceived enemy". Thedevelopment of an adequate infrasonicweapons systems would first requirean infrasound detector.

Dr Gavreau first concentrated ondeveloping infallible infrasonic detec-tors for the personal safety of his oper-

ators, and then for eventual tactical deployment. He experiment-ed with several designs which followed the arcane analogues ofold wireless detectors. One such design used enclosed flames todetect infrasonic pitches. They were reminiscent of those flamedetectors developed by Lee de Forest just before his invention ofthe triode. Gavreau's flame detectors employed variable resonantcavities, the flame amplitudes shifting with specific infrasonicpitches. He could calibrate the infrasonic intensity as well as thepitch with these detectors. But flames are dangerous and fickle,and not very reliable in battle.

Dr Gavreau next experimented with enhanced mechanicalbarometers. These coupled large resonant cavities with very finebarometer tubes. They displayed great sensitivity. Steadyincreases in barometric pressure were registered when large cavitybellows were compressed by infrasound. The sensitivity of thesebarometers increased as the bellows' capacity was increased.They were adequate, but frail.

Physiology seems toremain paralysed by

infrasound. The effect is like severe, prolongedseasickness. Restoration

to normal vitality requires several hours

or even days. Exposure to mild infrasound

intensities producesillness, but increased

intensities result in death.


Another embodiment resembled the early mechanical televisiondesigns of John Logie Baird. It utilised large timpani skins, mir-rors, lights and photocells. A mirror was fastened to the tim-panum, and a light beam would flicker when infrasound struck themirror. The photocell recorded these flickers as an electrical sig-nal. This detector system was very reliable.

By far the most advanced detectors which Gavreau designedand tested utilised an electrolytic process. In this analogue of sys-tems developed by Fessenden to measure faint wireless signals,chemical solutions and fine wirepoint electrical contacts wereused. Chemical solutions, separated by an osmotic barrier, wereforced to migrate through the barrier whenever infrasound tra-versed the system. This chemical mixture was then measured asan increased electrical conductivity in a sensitive galvanometer.This system was reliable and accurate.

However, all of these systems suffered from one problem: theoffensive use of an incredible infrasonic amplitude would burstthem into vapour.

DEFENCE AGAINST INFRASOUND Statements were issued by the

French authorities, to the effect thatDr Gavreau was not developingweapons at all. Several patents,however, betray this conspicuoussmokescreen. While it is impossibleto retrieve the actual patents for theinfrasonic generators, Dr Gavreau iscredited with extensive developmentof "infrasonic armour". Why wouldhe "waste" such time and expense ifnot for an anti-weapons program?

Thus use of infrasonic weaponrynecessitates the development andimplementation of infrasonic shields.Dr Gavreau spent more time devel-oping infrasonic shields than on developing efficient infrasonichorns. Infrasound could not be blocked adequately, as DrGavreau discovered early in his research. Infrasonic devicesrequire extremely large baffles. Furthermore, no one would dareinitiate an infrasonic barrage on any invasive force without ade-quate protection. Infrasonic horns can project their sounds in agiven direction, but natural environments "leak" portions of thesound in all directions. Infrasounds saturate their generators,flooding and permeating their sources in a few seconds. They"work their way back" towards those who dispatch their deadlysignals. Infrasounds "hug" the ground and spread around theirsources. Unfortunately, those who would release infrasonic ener-gy would themselves be slaughtered in the very act.

Gavreau's first method involved the conversion of infrasoundinto successively higher pitches until the infrasonic pitch was"lost". This was achieved in his passive "structural" method—anenormous, layered series of baffles and resonant cavities. Thisform is "passive", since it merely stands and waits for infrasonicbarrages, absorbing and converting them into harmless audibletones.

His second method was more "aggressive", actively engagingand nullifying any offensive infrasonic power. The nullifier usesa well-known physical principle in its operation. As an "active"shield, it transmits tones whose opposing wavefronts destructivelyinterfere with incoming infrasound. Infrasonic attacks are nulli-fied, or at least brought to much weaker levels. This methodrequires high-speed detection and response systems. The process

involves determination of an attack pitch, generation of the same,and projection of the pitch "out of phase". The active nullifiermethod is not completely accurate or protective by any means. Ahighly modulated, mobile infrasonic source would be nearlyimpossible to neutralise successfully without extremely sophisti-cated electronics.

But Gavreau imagined an elegantly simple approach—onewhich would not require the defender to be exposed to his owninfrasonic projections. While fixated on the old notion of guninstallations and stations, Gavreau and the team had momentarilyforgotten their first research endeavour: robotics!

ROBOT-DELIVERED INFRASONIC WEAPONRY Let us recall that Dr Gavreau and his team of pioneers were in

the business of robotics, and developed industrial and militaryautomaton systems. How difficult would it have been to couplehis newfound weaponry with robotic applications?

Dr Gavreau combined the organ pipe and whistle format. Thedevice was housed in a concrete block, less than a cubic metre involume. The primary whistle was poised within its interior. At

its flared opening were placed severalresonant pipes. The device was oper-ated by highly compressed air, andits output was frightful. In a conven-tional engagement, it would be capa-ble of utterly destroying an aggres-sor. For one experiment, this infra-sound whistle set-up was sealed in an880-pound [400-kg] concrete pier,with a concrete baffle placed over itsprojective end. Even with these pre-cautions, the device succeeded inabsolutely shaking a fan-shaped por-tion of Marseille. It broke through itssupportive concrete pier anddestroyed the baffle-covering in an

instant. Macabre! No sound was ever heard. This design demon-strated great pitch selectivity, power and directionality.

In this last feature, Gavreau and his team achieved a safety fac-tor of greatest value. Infrasonic defensive armaments could nowbe safely directed away from the operators. This weapon was aremarkably compact and efficient device. Its efficiency wasgauged by the destructive output and the weapon's volume.

A later embodiment of this terror disclosed another compactcube. The infrasonic whistle was presumably housed therein.Proceeding from the front plate were some 60 pipes, with flaredhorns aimed in a deadly forward array. It was said that this devicealone, remotely guided into an arranged artificial battlefield, burstopen heavy battlements and tank interiors with hideous effortless-ness. In addition, several other more frightening and unmention-able disruptions of equal effectiveness were observed. In eachinstance, not a sound was heard.

The device was mounted on a mobilised robotic vehicle,powered by diesel engines or compressed gas. The almostinsignificant unit would be a bizarre foe for an army to engage.As defensive weaponry, such a device would be terrible andeffective. The system would be a true deterrent for those whowould be foolish enough to attempt a ground assault on anynation so armed. Armies would fall flat. Once the infrasonichorns were unleashed against the foe, the battle would not evenbegin. Such a war engine would be impossible to locate. None

Unfortunately, those who would release infrasonic energy

would themselves be slaughtered in the very act.


We analyse the normal so that we may know the difference between it and theabnormal.

— Dr Ruth Drown

A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF RADIONICS 1

In the past few issues of The Homoeopath, there have been a number of references todowsing. Nicholas Biggins's article, "Off with the Fairies" (issue 73, spring 1999), isan excellent description of how he has learned to use the pendulum to give him sig-nificantly improved results. Previous to this, the readership may have been surprised

to discover that no less a person than Edward Whitmont would test his remedy selectionby stroking a glass rod across the abdomen of his patient, looking for the reaction whichwould confirm its suitability (see tribute from Dana Ullman, issue 72, winter 1999).

Since its beginnings about 100 years ago, the relatively obscure science of Radionicshas utilised various dowsing techniques, 2 not only to detect disease states but also to iden-tify and apply appropriate therapies. Homoeopathic remedies are widely used in radion-ics, and some seminal personalities (such as John Damonte) in the present development ofhomoeopathy in Britain were also radionics practitioners. In this essay, I will give a briefoverview of radionics and how radionic techniques may be of assistance in homoeopathicprescribing and also to our understanding of what remedies are and how they work.

Radionics was founded by Dr Albert Abrams (1863–1924), a native of San Francisco,under the original name of ERA—Electronic Reactions of Abrams. A highly qualifiedconventional practitioner with an illustrious career and also the advantage of a substantialprivate fortune, Abrams was able to pursue his researches without reliance on outsidefunding. Like Hahnemann, the founder of homœopathy, he was a master of observationand a tireless experimenter and truth-seeker—attributes which eventually led him to makediscoveries which brought considerable opprobrium from the medical establishment of theday. Like so many of these outstanding figures, he was also capable of making inspiredleaps of judgement.

Abrams's fundamental discovery was that under certain conditions the human nervoussystem will react to the energy field of external elements such as persons with diseaseconditions, samples of diseased tissue and so forth. This reaction would manifest bymeans of a muscle reflex which could be detected by percussing the abdominal wall.Alternatively, Abrams found that drawing a glass rod across the abdomen could also beused to localise the point of response. Different diseases produced reactions in differentparts of the abdomen, and, as Abrams noted, "drugs in homoeopathic dilutions can bedetected and identified by the stomach reflex", which suggested a unique diagnosticmethod.

He then proceeded to develop a technique which placed a person (known as "theSubject"), with abdomen bared, in series with a patient, i.e., linked by a wire which termi-nated on the subject's forehead. He could then diagnose by testing on the healthy subjectfor response to disease conditions in the patient. Abrams later discovered that certain dis-eases produced reactions in the same muscle groups, which neatly threw his method offthe rails until he hit upon the idea of placing a variable potentiometer (i.e., a rotary controlsuch as might be used to adjust the volume on a hi-fi) in the middle of the cable linkingthe subject to the patient. Settings of the potentiometer would be found which wereunique to each disease, thus making it possible to diagnose a wide range of conditions.

Eventually Abrams discovered that he could diagnose just as accurately using a bloodsample from the patient, and he later found out that he could work at a distance with the

Esoteric scienceprovides a modelfor understandinghow radionics andhomoeopathy work

in transmittingspecific energyfrequencies toeffect healing.

by Nick Franks © 2000

PO Box 93

Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5FF, UK

Fax: +44 (0)1625 549809

E-mail: [email protected]: www.nicko.com



patient's sample placed next to the telephone line; such tests wereperformed over distances of more than 500 miles. He finallydiscovered that he could work without any form of linking wirebetween himself and the sample, but not over a distance of morethan a mile.

From these basic elements—the reflex muscle reaction to thestimulus of an external energy field, the substitution of a samplefrom the patient for the patient himself, the creation of a uniquevalue representing a disease or other energy factor, and the possi-bility of working at a distance—is formed radionics as we know ittoday.3

Dr Ruth Drown (1892–1963), a chiropractor based inHollywood, USA, had apparently worked in Abrams's clinic as ayoung woman and decided to develop his methods. From theaccounts I have read, she was clearly another remarkable figure.Probably as a consequence of her successesand unwillingness to toe the line, the estab-lishment persecuted her to the point of trialand eventual brief imprisonment. In fact, asa result of the Drown trial in 1951, itremains basically illegal, I believe, to prac-tise radionics in the USA.

Drown redesigned the diagnostic instru-ment into a compact system which gavegreater flexibility and extended range. Thepatient's blood sample was relocated into asmall container in the instrument. Shereplaced the subject's abdomen with a smallrubber membrane (known as the "stickpad"); the index finger was strokedalong the pad while the potentiometerswere adjusted, and when the appropri-ate setting was found—i.e., the circuit-ry came into balance, indicating a reso-nance or response in the practitioner—the finger would "stick" on the mem-b r a n e .4 Her new designs, incorporat-ing a number of potentiometers inseries, also allowed longer sequencesof numerical values to be created,which enabled her to assemble an atlasof rates covering most of the structuresin the human body, many diseasetypes, poisons and toxins, and a rangeof other factors including emotional states.

Drown sought to define perfect structures, to measure thedegree of deviation from perfection and then to rectify any imbal-ances or deficiencies. Thus, very simply, her rate for the liver is48; this would be set on the instrument and the deviation fromzero tested.5 Any significant reading would indicate a problemeither in the liver or elsewhere in the body which was affectingthe liver. Her principal treatment method was to feed the "per-fect" rate back to the respective diseased location in the patient,either by wires or remotely—the idea being that as new cells werecreated, they would be healthy and would replace the diseasedstructures. According to the information available, she claimedmany successes. She also placed a priority on treating theendocrine system, and, as radionics emerges as a system of treat-ment on the dynamic plane, I will show how this ties in with theanalysis of the subtle anatomy which has come to dominate pre-sent-day radionics, at least in the UK.

What is also of significance is Drown's use of the technique oftreating at a distance—any distance, anywhere in the world—in

the process known as "radionic broadcasting". It was no longernecessary for the patient to be present. Incidentally, the term"broadcasting" is descriptive but probably inaccurate, as no radioor television technology is involved. Whatever the mechanism,there is no doubt in my mind that treatment-at-a-distance works,whether one is broadcasting homoeopathic remedies, radionic(i.e., Drown-type) rates or any other energy factor or vibrationalpattern which can be represented as a radionic signature and isappropriate to the patient. Substance itself cannot be broadcast—at least not yet, as far as I know; otherwise we would be in therealm of the matter transporters which form such an integral partof Star Trek technology.

It would seem from the present-day position that virtually any-thing can be represented by a radionic rate, and this of courseincludes the entire Materia Medica. It is even possible, in princi-

ple, to find rates for remedies which we donot yet have or which are too dangerous tohandle, such as radioactive materials.Malcolm Rae's ever-expanding system hasaround 24,000 rates which are presented inthe form of ratio cards and include the wholeacupuncture system of meridians and a vastrange of chemicals, drugs, human organfunctions, ayurvedic and I Ching conceptsand so forth.

THE DEMATERIALISATION OFRADIONICS

Drown was also very involved in esotericstudies, notably of the Kabbala—whichamongst other things attempts toexplain the underlying structure of reali-ty through the relationships betweennumbers—and she thus sought to findmeaning in the radionic rates throughkabbalistic interpretation. Whatever theresult of this, she also thought that ener-gy flowed from the universe into thehuman system via the brain, and thatproper distribution of this energy wasessential to healthy functioning; in otherwords, this was a move away from apurely physical conception of healthand disease.

Just as Kent, influenced by Swedenborg, switched the focus ofhomoeopathic diagnosis to the mental and emotional planes andthe realms of high-potency prescribing—and thus dematerialisedhomoeopathy—so Drown's esoteric line of thought was taken ahuge step further by the work of David Tansley and Malcolm Rae(both men regrettably dying quite young).6 Most of their workwas done in the UK between approximately 1965 and 1985.

Tansley, a chiropractor, had spent many years studying thewritings of Alice Bailey (1880–1949) and drew heavily on herconcepts of esoteric anatomy and psychology in introducing anew diagnostic system which reoriented the focus of radionicanalysis away from the material plane of organ functions andpathology and towards causation within the human energy (orsubtle) body.

Bailey's work, 7 drawn from various Eastern traditions and inte-grated into a new form, is far too vast even to begin to attemptdescribing here, and I will simply create a thumbnail sketch ofsome of what has been appropriated into radionics. I might addthat, as the years have gone by, various of these concepts have

What is also ofsignificance is Drown'suse of the technique oftreating at a distance—any distance, anywhere

in the world—in theprocess known as

"radionic broadcasting".


become commonplace, but during the period the books were writ-ten, 1919–1949, they must have seemed like the last word inarcane obscurity.

Bailey proposed a model of (ultimate) reality as beingcomprised of seven planes of energy, each with its concomitantforms of consciousness. Each plane is comprised of seven sub-planes of increasing quality and fineness, the whole blending intoa continuum. Each of these planes also manifests in us as acorresponding energy body, e.g., the etheric body, astral body andso forth.

Briefly, the 7th plane is the Physical, which is subdivided intothe solid physical, then liquids, then gases, then four superior lev-els of etheric matter. It is the energy(p r a n a) of the Etheric plane whichvitalises the physical form. Tansleystates that the "miasms" reside in theetheric body, and that when activatedby an appropriate (morbific) stimulusthey will taint the energy reaching thephysical body, with results thatHahnemann described at length.(Hahnemann spent 12 years trying tounderstand why chronic diseaseexists, and concluded there must besome underlying disturbance whichinterferes with the vital force, produc-ing chronic disease symptoms. Suchmiasms can be inherited or acquired.)I should also note that energy is also distributed through the ether-ic body via a system of pathways known as nadis, and it may beconsidered that these in turn externalise as the nervous system.8

The 6th plane is the Astral (or Emotional)—the seat of emo-tions, desire and illusion, and also, with the Etheric, the place oforigin of the greater number of diseases. The 5th plane is theManasic (or Mental), the plane of mind, which ranges from con-crete rational knowledge on its lower subplanes through to spiritu-al knowledge on its higher levels.

For the purposes of this article, it is not necessary to deal withthe four higher planes—Buddhic (Intuitional), Atmic (Spiritual),Monadic and Logoic9—as they are not involved with the diseaseprocess. Tansley refers to them as the "transpersonal self" (or

perhaps "soul"), and I suppose you could consider them as theessential being of a person, whereas the lower vehicles are thebecoming of a person—the deeper objective of life being to alignthe soul's purpose with that of the personality.

The link point between the transpersonal self and the personali-ty is the higher ego or causal body. This is the vehicle found onthe Mental plane, through which the individual manifests his orher purpose in existence. It is primarily friction10 resulting fromconflict between the different objectives of the higher and lowerselves which creates illness and hence most1 1 of the illnesses ofhumanity.

Compare this concept with §9 of Hahnemann's Organon: "Inthe healthy human state, the spirit-like life force (autocracy) thatenlivens the material organism asd y n a m i s, governs without restric-tion....so that our indwelling, rationalspirit can freely avail itself of thisliving, healthy instrument for thehigher purposes of our existence."

Without arguing the finer points, itcould be proposed that radionics andhomoeopathy share a broadly similarcentral concept of the nature ofhuman health.

Embedded in the subtle bodies area number of energy transmission andcirculation centres known as chakras,

which have their counterpart on each plane.1 2 As the individualdevelops and consciousness reaches a higher level, so the chakras"open" and become receptive to energy flowing from higher andhigher sources. Radionic analysis is principally concerned withthe seven major chakras—the Base, Sacral, Solar Plexus, Heart,Throat, Brow and Crown—although certain minor chakras, suchas the Spleen, are often taken into consideration. Each of thesechakras, in turn, externalises as one of the endocrine glands, e.g.,the Throat chakra corresponds with the thyroid gland, and thestate of the chakra is considered to condition the functioning ofthe associated gland and local anatomy.

Seen in this context, the physical human is a precipitation ofhigher energies into form, and, as such, the quality of each

Tansley states that the "miasms"reside in the etheric body, and

that when activated by anappropriate (morbific) stimulus

they will taint the energy reaching the physical body ...

Endnotes1. The best history of radionics is Report onRadionics, by Edward Russell (C.W. Daniel& Co, 1973, ISBN 85435-002-0). This isessential reading and includes fascinatingmaterial on agricultural radionics and the gen-eral techniques of weed and pest control with-out chemicals (suppressed in the USA in the1950s by the chemical companies, accordingto Russell). Those of you who are againstgenetically modified (GM) foods and chemi-cal agriculture, read it and weep.2. Dowsing, sometimes known as radiesthe-sia, is a vast field of study predicated on theidea that everything has a unique energy sig-nature which can be detected by a human sen-sitive using a means such as the divining rodor pendulum. The technique used merelyserves to amplify the dowser's subconsciousreaction which is transmitted to his or her armmuscles. Although the pendulum is consid-ered to have no intrinsic power, I have

noticed that some pendulums seem to workbetter than others. I put this down to the factthat the material from which these are mademay be incompatible with me in some way. Ihave also noticed that pendulums get "tired"and do not react as efficiently after continualuse; which suggests that if a crystal gets over-loaded, you will too—so in other words, becareful not to fatigue yourself. One recentlypublished book recommended for beginnersis Anyone Can Dowse for Better Health, byArthur Bailey (1999, ISBN 0-572-02461-4). 3. Abrams also developed electronicallybased treatment procedures, but this promis-ing line of work has, for the present, falleninto neglect and is outside the scope of thisarticle. Nevertheless, it may bear some rela-tion to what Dr Jacques Benveniste is current-ly researching; see his website, www.digibio.com [and refer to Science News in NEXUS6/05. Ed.].4. Present-day practitioners tend to use a hair

sample, and I think that the pendulum is nowmore widely used than the stick pad; it cer-tainly gives a far greater range of responses.5. See The Drown Homa-Vibra Ray andRadio-Vision Instruments and Their Uses –Radionic Rate Book. This and seminal worksby Abrams and others have been republishedby Borderland Sciences Research Foundation(BSRF) in California; see website www.borderlands.com.6. For the sake of brevity, I am obliged toomit comment on important researchers suchas George De La Warr (UK), T. GalenHieronymous (USA) and Dr W. GuyonRichards (UK), to name but three. The trendof their work, however, does not materiallyaffect what I am describing.7. Bailey's work covers 24 volumes and isnot a religion, system or dogma. The intro-duction to each volume basically says "Takeit or leave it", or even "Take what you wantand leave the rest". A starting point for those


structure, physical or subtle, will reflect the quality of the energywhich has reached it. To put it another way, each structure willcondition the energy flowing through it; hence, for example, themiasm in the etheric body taints the energy to produce some formof illness in the physical. Energy must flow freely through all ofthese systems into the physical body to make for the healthyhuman, and any disturbances of the subtle body will tend tointerrupt the flow at some point and will be reflected in mental,emotional or physical symptoms of some nature.

Thus, the objective of radionic diagnosis is to find the energydisturbance at its source, if possible, and treat it appropriately.1 3

Again, this can be compared with §3 ofThe Organon : "...a physicianmust...clearly realise what is to becured...in each single case ofdisease..."14 In other words, we have toidentify and rectify the causation; wewill not deal with a polluted river (as itwere) simply by cleaning it updownstream, if the source of the toxicmaterial is in the higher reaches.

RADIONIC ANDHOMOEOPATHIC ANALYSIS

As I have noted, virtually anythingcan be represented by a radionic rate,and radionics is truly an open-ended system which enables a vastrange of energy qualities and relationships to be studied.

The first step in radionic medical analysis is to discover thelocation, type and, if possible, reason for any deviation from prop-er function. The second step is to establish the nature of the rela-tionship between the patient and an energy factor—for instance,the homoeopathic remedy—which may be used to correct theproblem.15

The practitioner uses the instrument to create an overall pictureof the patient's health and vitality by working through various lev-els and systems: the mental, emotional and etheric bodies, the auraand nadis, the chakras, and the physical systems as generalities,e.g., cardiovascular, respiratory, muscular, gastrointestinal tractand so forth. The influence or presence of miasms and the effectsof vaccinations, poisons, toxins, geopathic stress, malignancies,

infections, allergies, nutritional deficiencies and other factors arealso checked. The findings are marked onto a chart, and thisenables a rapid assessment of the patient's general state to be made;any areas of difficulty should immediately be apparent. The typeand source of the problem can be worked out either by mentallyposing questions and watching the pendulum's response or by theuse of additional charts. Again, each practitioner will tend to varythe basics according to his or her knowledge and experience.Radionics is not simply a "dumb" process of watching a pendulummove, as the key factor lies in knowing which questions to ask andhow to interpret the responses. It should be apparent that both

diagnosis and treatment are highly indi-vidualised, as in homoeopathy.

I suggest that the system of subtlebodies and chakras constitutes a modelof the dynamis, or perhaps a model ofwhat the life force must flow through(as, by analogy, electricity flowsthrough a circuit) in order to result in astate of health in the individual; andthat radionic methods can give thepractitioner additional information tohelp the diagnosis and prescription andcan even detect diseases before theymanifest in the form of symptoms.16

Homoeopaths use the word "stuck"when talking about cases, and another way of looking at the prob-lem is to find out where the energy is stuck. In case-taking, wehave the verbal description by the patient to guide us. In radionicanalysis, we use a structured method of dowsing to locate thepoints where the energy is blocked. The description of the symp-tom by the patient, I have to suppose, is how he verbalises thesymptoms he experiences as a result of the blocks in his subtleanatomy.

A counterpart idea to this is that the provings, rubrics and reme-dy pictures are records of the effect of the energy of a potentisedsubstance on a healthy person, and the prescription is reached by atransposition of the patient's comments into the special diagnosticlanguage of homoeopathy via a weighting system, through whichthe practitioner attaches greater or lesser significance to thepatient's symptoms and then compares them with the rubrics in

interested might be Esoteric Healing (LucisPress, 1953, ISBN 85330-121-2). Note that Ihave deliberately left out any mention of hersystem of Ray psychology because of spacelimitations.8. There is considerable debate about theexact nature of the relationship between thenadis and the nervous system. As a therapeu-tic note, I am beginning to suspect that severedysfunction of the nadis is a key factor in so-called chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME.Shock, overwork, excessive emotional strain,etc. causes the nadis to "crash", and thus ener-gy does not reach the nervous system and youhave a kind of nervous collapse. This may bewhy, for example, Kali Phos, a so-callednerve remedy, may be indicated in suchcases. 9. The Logoic plane is the plane of God (orhowever we try to understand this concept).We do not have a Logoic body, although theMonad (or Spirit) is a "chip off the old

block", so to speak.10. Perhaps this friction is what we couldconsider, from a philosophical point of view,to be the root of psora as a general humanphenomenon, i.e., the basic delusion of exis-tence, which has been written about in mostof the great spiritual writings. Presumably anindividual who has overcome his lower selfwould be free of psora, or "enlightened" as itis also called.11. But not all. For instance, there is a classof diseases produced by conditions inherentin the structure of the planet itself—condi-tions such as geopathic stress. For example,see chapter 9 of The Origin of Life byGeorges Lakhovsky (1935; later republishedby BSRF), in which the author examines thestatistical distribution of cancer in Franceagainst the underlying geology. 12. Which is to say, you don't have a separatechakra for each plane, but the planes are pre-sent in the chakras like layers in a sandwich.

13. Chronic diseases are defined inhomoeopathy as non-self-limiting conditionswhich generally have a slow onset and anincreasing degree of action (often spottedwith acute episodes), ending in death. If it iscorrect that the miasms reside in the ethericbody, should they be activated by a problemat an energy level higher on the scale (e.g.,astral body impinged by shock) then it maybe that you have to identify this and treat it,otherwise the maintaining cause, as it were, isstill there.14. See Organon of the Medical Art bySamuel Hahnemann (Wenda BrewsterO'Reilly edition, 1996).15. To indicate how broad this is, I wouldimagine that anyone who understoodacupuncture and related concepts could usethe appropriate Rae cards to perform aradionic diagnosis and treatment within theterms of traditional Chinese medicine. I do not know for sure, but I suspect that

I presume that the remedycancels out some distortion

in the patient's field and thusrectifies it, and this is laterreflected in the removal of

the symptoms.


the repertory until the best possible remedy match is found.Using radionic methods, which work via a certain human sensibil-ity which has not yet been properly explained, we have the possi-bility of finding the name of the energy (remedy) by dowsing.

The problem with working from symptoms can be that thepatient may not give you all of them, or may not remember cer-tain things which happened, or may not consider certain things asbeing relevant or important enough to tell you, or perhaps thepractitioner may misinterpret them. Consequently, you may neverfind the key to the case or you may give any number of what youthink are well-selected remedieswithout useful results because youare missing a vital part of the picture.

Clearly, many successful homoeo-pathic prescriptions are made whichbring about fantastic results, but justas clearly there are many failed pre-scriptions where cases are notresolved because a suitable remedyis not identified. Although somecases will indeed not be curable—forexample, because of excessive med-ical drugging or gross pathologywhich has gone too far to berepaired—in general, these failurescannot be a failure of the principlesof homoeopathy because, given such circumstances, the "law ofsimilars" could not be a law but a guideline. This is not good,because we deeply desire homoeopathy to be, and to be shown tobe, successful on its own terms, e.g., through the law of similars,and not reliant on any alien methodology for an assessment of itsviability.17

Therefore, the radionic diagnosis of the subtle energies, andselection of the remedy and potency by dowsing, can help usresolve the matter, particularly when the remedy cannot be dis-cerned from the patient's stated symptoms. Whichever method isused to find the most similar remedy, however, is secondary to thefact that the therapeutic result does not abrogate Hahnemann'sfundamental law, and thus, when applied in this way, the radionicmethod supports homoeopathic practice.

There is a further test which is possible with radionic techniques,

which is that the effect of the selected remedy can be checkedbefore it is administered to the patient. Abrams discovered that "asample of quinine gave exactly the same reactions on the subjectas malaria"; if he tested the blood of a malarial patient with a fewgrains of quinine, he could obtain no reaction at all.18 There arevarious easy ways in which this test can be done with radionicsinstruments, and using the analysis in tandem with the remedy youcan check against all detected problems to see how much action theremedy is likely to have. To put it another way, a hair sample pro-vides a link with the energy field of the patient; when you

introduce the radionic rate or ratiocard or sample of the remedy itselfinto that field, you are mixing thetwo together in some way. I pre-sume that the remedy cancels outsome distortion in the patient's fieldand thus rectifies it, and this is laterreflected in the removal of thesymptoms.19

NEW CHALLENGES FORHOMOEOPATHY

As I have stated, analysis andtreatment in radionics are often per-formed when the patient is else-where, possibly even on the other

side of the planet. Although I found these ideas fantastical at first,practical application has shown that diagnosing and treating at adistance does work. You can give someone a remedy by settingup the instrument appropriately, and they will receive it as if theyhad taken it by mouth. I have even had patients call me up andask if I'd switched the machine on at such-and-such a time (whichof course I had done) without first telling them. I can see that thiswill be a very disturbing idea to some readers, but I would like tolook at it from another angle.

Since its beginnings, homoeopathy has been attacked by themedical establishment and even now is not really accepted inmany quarters. It should also be noted that remedy manufactureis a very small industry when compared with the turnover of themajor drug companies and is therefore no real threat to shareprices and can be ignored. This sword, however, cuts two ways:

homoeopathic remedies which corrected anyproblems identified in Chinese terminologycould also be dowsed out. 16. In a footnote in §6 of The Organon,Hahnemann states: "The medical-art practi-tioner can never see the...life force that cre-ates disease, and he never needs to see it." Infact, the dynamis is something which is onlydetectable in terms of the symptoms it pro-duces. Other lines of thought, such as thatemployed by radionics, suggest this is not so.There are grounds to believe that, in time, wewill be able to see the dynamis and the subtlebodies. Drown and De La Warr developedradionic cameras which purported to be ableto photograph the etheric fields of whateverthe camera was tuned into, and this includeshomoeopathic remedies; for instance, see DeLa Warr's radionic photograph of Aconitumnapellus in New Worlds Beyond The Atom byGeorge De La Warr and Langston Day (EPPublishing Ltd, 1956, now out of print).

There are also various so-called aura camerasaround which appear to depict the aura quiteaccurately, although whether they show theother subtle bodies is not clear to me yet. Ican imagine that interesting experimentscould be done where people are photographedbefore and after taking a remedy, and soforth.17. Such as the type of drug testing carriedout by pharmaceutical companies. Except inthe case of acute miasms, homoeopathy seeksto individualise its prescriptions and does notseek medicines for named diseases, as in"What've you got for ulcers?". The problemwith pharmaceutical drugs is that most of theinformation on drug action is thrown into abig dustbin called "Side Effects", so that yourulcers are cured but you end up with highblood pressure, or whatever, and this istreated as a sort of unfortunate problem ratherthan an undesirable consequence. All thiswas clearly recognised by Hahnemann when

he described the biphasic action of drugs.The best way to advance homoeopathy isthrough success with patients, and notthrough attempting to struggle withmainstream science, because by and large themechanistic mindset has not yet caught up towhat homoeopathy is. On the other hand, ifwe homoeopathically treat a person who hassymptoms which involve laboratory-identifiable micro-organisms and we claim tohave cured the problem, I don't think itunreasonable for a lab test to be administeredwhich establishes the presence or absence ofthe organism post-treatment. 18. Quoted from Report on Radionics, p. 28.I think most readers will recognise that this iswhere Hahnemann started out.19. In electronic terms, this appears to me tobe akin to the phenomenon known as "phasecancellation". If two identical waveforms ininverse relationship are added together, theywill cancel each other out. I do not yet know

Thus it could be that the remedy is the energised form field of the substance it represents ...

or, to put it another way, the remedy is the energisedarchetype of the substance.


one way is that homoeopathy is not validated by mainstream sci-ence and therefore lacks a certain cachet, but the other is that to aconsiderable degree it is left alone, at least in the UK.

From reading The Homoeopath (issue 72), I know that RollandConte has made this claim: "There is now known to be adetectable difference between potentised and unpotentised materi-al, and that difference has been confirmed by independently repli-cated scientific research."20 While on the one hand this could beseen as good news and a validation of homoeopathy, it is actuallyonly a validation of potentisation and not the law of similars, andis in a way (even though the science asdescribed by Elwyn Rees is very eso-teric) an attempt to rematerialisehomoeopathy and treat potentised sub-stances just like other drugs—whichyou will see if you visit Rolland Conte'swebsite.21 In short, it seems that Contewants to treat remedies as if they wereregular drugs and apply them to nameddiseases on a drug-per-disease basis.

If Conte is correct and can demon-strate a statistically significant successrate using a simple biomechanistic rela-tionship between the remedy and the ill-n e s s ,2 2 the present situation ofhomoeopathy could change quite radically, and I think it is neces-sary to consider the situation from a number of angles in case theclassical position needs to be defended.

Contrary to Conte's claims, I would contend that homoeopathyis not a material science, even though it produces effects andresults on the material plane. Using radionic techniques, we candemonstrate not only that remedies can be simulated, i.e., artifi-cially manufactured, but also that they do not need to be manufac-tured at all in order to be administered to a patient; i.e., they canbe administered by radionic broadcasting.23 To me, this is some-thing which is quite different from what is considered normal bymainstream science, and is prima facie evidence of why we musttreat attempts to normalise homoeopathy along these lines withthe utmost caution.

From Alice Bailey's viewpoint, physical reality is the result ofthe precipitation of energy into form via force—force being the

vector or idea, as it were, which organises energy. Thus theimmaterial is first and the material comes afterwards. WhenHahnemann invented higher-potency remedies, it's possible thathe abstracted the energy and the vector from the physical sub-stance. Thus it could be that the remedy is the energised formfield of the substance it represents, the degree of potentisationbeing the amount of energy available; or, to put it another way,the remedy is the energised archetype of the substance. 2 4 T h a tarchetype provides something which will correct the "mistuned"energy field of the sick person and produce a cure.

All of this leads me to think thatHahnemann, apart from having provid-ed us with a superb healing system,gave us one of the few actual proofs wehave at present of the existence ofsupra-physical dimensions, and that themethods used in radionics and dowsingcan be used to validate this view ofHahnemann's work (and solve prescrib-ing problems). I personally considerthe need to show the existence of high-er orders of reality as important, sincethe alternative is that the mechanistic,materialistic model of science will con-tinue to hold its dominant position,

with all the problems it has created for humanity and the planet. In closing, I would like to reproduce part of a quote from a lec-

ture by the late Aubrey Westlake, given to the British Society ofDowsers at Malvern in 1972:

God hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confoundthe wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the worldto confound the things that are mighty.. . God hathchosen...things which are not, to bring to naught things thatare... In the eyes of the world, radiesthesia is a thing of noaccount compared with, say, nuclear or astrophysics oratomic research, and yet...it can, when properly understood,open to us the mysteries both in this world and the worldinvisible. It can reveal to us the Truth in so far as our finiteminds can comprehend it.25

∞

if this idea throws any light on what actuallyhappens in homoeopathy.20. Quoted in the article "Conte andContext", by Elwyn Rees, published in TheHomoeopath, issue 73, spring 1999 (TheSociety of Homoeopaths, 2 Artizan Road,Northampton, NN1 4HU, United Kingdom,tel +44 (0)1604 621400, e-mail societyofhomoeopaths@btinternet. com).21. Medicine Quantale, the company formedto put Conte's ideas into practice, is atwww.mql.com. Read through the website.Here are a few quotes:

"Although homoeopathic medicine doesnot constitute the entire scope and vision ofMQL, the initial direction and efforts of thecompany are focussed on the industrialisationof this field of science."

"At present, world pharmaceutical con-sumption is valued at approximately US$400billion per annum, with only 1% currentlyrelated to the use of non-molecular or low-

concentration-molecule remedies, mainlyused in 'homoeopathic' applications.However, in view of the current interest in'alternative medicine', the prescription ofhomoeopathic medicine is growing at a rateof around 20% per annum in the UnitedStates of America."

"In July 1997, MQL...entered into aresearch and co-operation agreement to con-duct a study on the effects of high-level dilu-tions on the growth and behaviour of undif-ferentiated neuroectodermal primary tumours(medulloblastoma)...to assess the effects ofcertain prepared dilutions on cell growth..."

Conte's methods may of course prove to becorrect, even though they appear to be againstthe spirit and the letter of classical homoeopa-thy. But if so, watch out. It is not inconceiv-able that you may end up paying royalties andlicensing fees to Conte if appropriate patentsare granted. You only have to look at the(successful) efforts of medical companies to

patent certain human gene structures torealise that this could be so.22. Even though we know from the historicalexample of Richard Hughes (1836–1902) thatthis approach was not generally successful,apparently the biggest-selling 'flu remedy inFrance is Oscillococcinum 200C—one of thefew remedies (maybe the only remedy)allowed in high potency by law in France!23. I personally use pharmacy-manufactured,simulated and radionically broadcast reme-dies as seems appropriate. I am definitely notsuggesting practitioners should give up on thepharmacies; we should use what we are com-fortable with. On the other hand, I'd be veryinterested to run some radionically simulatedremedies through Conte's testing process tosee if there is a detectable change in the mate-rial. If the remedy works but there is nodetectable change in the water, then what? Ifthere is a detectable change, but it is produced


I would contend thathomoeopathy is not a material science, even

though it produces effects and results on the

material plane.

JOHN BEDINI'S FREE-ENERGY MOTOR

Inventor John Bedini's free-energymotor has been around for over 15years, but it is only recently that his

research has received some much deservedattention.

On 26 April this year, electromagneticsresearcher/consultant Lt Col. ThomasBearden (Ret.) released an article,"Explanation of John Bedini's Formationof Negative Resistors in Batteries", whichis available on the Sightings website,w w w . s i g h t i n g s . c o m / g e n e r a l / r e s i s t o r s . h t m .It's preceded by John Bedini's letter of 27April to Sightings radio talk show host JeffRense. Bedini explains why Bearden wrotethe paper:

"It's because I helped a little 10-year-oldgirl to win every science award in Coeur

d'Alene...all first places plus a specialaward in science with one of my motors.

"The motor ran for four days, withoutstopping, at 4000 rpm. It also ran a genera-tor producing power the entire time.

"The science teachers went nuts over thisdemonstration, and wanted to know how itworked.

"I then put the plans for i t out onKeelyNet and gave the thing away freely.So far, the comments are good; some havealready produced the free energy and havethe motor running—but then there arealways the others who say it can't work.(You can't win them all.)..."

Following is a 1996 article by John Bedini.It and the accompanying diagrams canalso be seen at his website, www.nidlink.com/~john1/foreward.html, or at theKeelyNet website, www.keelynet.com.

Imagine having a small DC electricalmotor sitting on your laboratory bench,

powered by a common 12-volt battery.Imagine starting with a fully charged bat-tery and connecting it to the motor with noother power input. Obviously, the motor isgoing to run off the battery, but by conven-tional thinking it will stop when the batteryruns down. Impossible, you say. Not atall. That's precisely what I have done, andthe motor is running now in my workshop.

It isn't running by the conventional wis-dom of electrical physics. It isn't runningby the conventional rules of electric motorsand generators, but it is running. It isn'tsomething complex. It is pretty simple,once one gets the hang of the basic idea.

It is running off the principles of electro-magnetics that Nikola Tesla discoveredshortly before 1900 in his ColoradoSprings experiments. It is running off the

S C I E N C E


JOHN BEDINI1985

This was the second unit built by John Bedini1985. This is a two battery system with a voltagelevel switch controller.

TOM BEARDENJOHN BEDINIJULY 1985

All North polesfacing coils

+ -12 Volt Battery

+ -12 Volt Battery

6 COILS250 TURNS

EACHMASSWEIGHT

FLYWHEEL20 LBS

2200 RPM

12 VOLT DCMOTOR 1.5 AMP

2250 RPM

N

N

VOLTAGE LEVELCONTROLLER

SWITCH

ENERGIZER

fact that empty vacuum—pure "emptiness",so to speak—is filled with rivers andoceans of seething energy, just as NikolaTesla pointed out.

It is running off the fact that vacuumspace-time itself is nothing but pure,massless charge. That is, vacuum has avery high electrostatic scalar potential; it isgreatly stressed. To usefully tap theenormous locked-in energy of that stress,all one has to do is crack it sharply and tapthe vacuum oscillations that result. Thebest way to do that is to hit somethingresonant that is embedded in the vacuum,then tap the resonant stress of the ringingof the vacuum itself.

In other words, we can ring something atits resonant frequency and, if that some-thing is embedded in the vacuum, we cantap off the resonance in vacuum stress,without tapping energy directly from theembedded system we rang into oscillation.So what we really need is something that isdeeply embedded in the vacuum; that is,something that can translate "vacuum"movement to "mass" movement.

Well, all charged particles and ions arealready embedded in the vacuum by theircharged fluxes, so stressed oscillations—that is, vacuum oscillations—can be

converted into normal energy of massmovement by charged particles or ions, ifthe system of charged particles or ions ismade to resonate in phase with our tapping"potential". For our purpose, let's use asystem of ions.

First, we will need a big accumulator tohold a lot of the charged ions in the systemthat we wish to shock into oscillation. Weneed something that has a big capacitanceand also contains a lot of ions. An ordinarybattery filled with electrolyte fits the billnicely.

While it is not commonly known, ordi-nary lead-acid storage batteries have a reso-nant ionic frequency usually in the range of

from 1 to 6 MHz. All we have to do isshock-oscillate the ions in the electrolyte attheir resonant frequency and time our "trig-ger" potential and "siphon" current correct-ly. Then if we keep adding potential totrigger the system, we can get all that"potential" to translate into "free electricalenergy".

Look at it this way. Conventionally,"electrostatic scalar potential" is composedof work or energy per column of chargedparticle mass. So if we add potential alone,without the mass flow, to a system of oscil-lating charged particles, we add "physicalenergy" in the entire charged particle sys-tem. In other words, the "potential" we addis converted directly into "ordinary energy"by the embedded ions in the system. If weare clever, we don't have to furnish anypushing energy to move pure potentialaround. (For proof that this is possible, seeTom Bearden's "Toward a NewElectromagnetics; Part IV: Vectors andMechanisms Clarified", Tesla Book Co.,1983, Slide 19, p. 43, and the accompany-ing write-up, pp. 10–11. Also see Y.Aharonov and V. Bohm's "Significance ofElectromagnetic Potentials in the QuantumTheory" in Physical Review, second series,vol. 115, no. 3, August 1, 1959, pp.

N E W S C I E N C E N E W S C I E N C E N E W S C I E N C E


It is running off the factthat vacuum space-time

itself is nothing but pure, massless charge.

SIMPLE FREE ENERGY MOTOR

12VBattery

DCMOTOR

DCMOTOR

DCCONTROLLER

G-Fieldor

Energizer

MASSWEIGHT

MOTOR

ON

ON ON

ONON

OFF OFF

OFFOFFOFF

ENERGIZER

Tom BeardenBuilt by John BediniJune 1984

485–491; on page 490 you will find that it'spossible to have a field-free region of spaceand still have the potential determine thephysical properties of the system.)

Now this "free energy resonant coupling"can be done in a simple, cheap system.You don't need big cyclotrons and hugelaboratories to do it; you can do it withordinary DC motors, batteries, controllersand trigger circuits.

And that's exactly what I have done. It'sreal. It works. It is running now on mylaboratory bench in prototype form.

But that's not all. I am also a humanitari-an. I am concerned for that little oldwidow lady at the end of the lane, stretch-ing her meagre Social Security check as faras she can, shivering in the cold winter andnot daring to turn up her furnace becauseshe can't afford the frightful utility bills.That's simply got to change, and I may wellbe the fellow who changes it. By openlyreleasing my work in this paper, I am pro-viding enough informa-tion for all the tinkerersand independent inven-tors around the worldto have a go at it. If Ican get a thousand ofthem to duplicate mydevice, it simply can'tbe suppressed as somany others have been.

So here it is. I havedeliberately written mypaper for the tinkererand experimenter, notfor the scientist. Youmust be careful, for thedevice is a little trickyto adjust-in and syn-chronise all the reso-nances. You'll have tofiddle with it, but itwill work. Keep at it.

Also, we warn younot to play with thisunless you know whatyou are doing. Theresonating battery elec-trolyte produces hydro-gen, and if you hit ittoo hard with a "volt-age spike" you can getan electrical sparkinside the battery. Ifthat happens, the bat-tery will explode, sodon't mess with itunless you are quali-

fied and use the utmost caution. But it does work. So all you experi-

menters and pioneers, now's your chance.Have at go at it. Build it. Tinker with it.Fiddle it into resonant operation. Then let'sbuild this thing in quantity, sell it widelyand get those home utilities down to wherewe can all afford them—including the shiv-ering little old lady at the end of the lane.

And when we do, let's give men like methe credit and appreciation they so richlydeserve.

— John C. Bedini © 1996

The following comment, from an unnamedrepresentative of the US Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.,can also be seen at John Bedini's website.

John C. Bedini has constructed a labora-tory model of a machine in which output

energy exceeds input. It consists of a lead-acid battery which powers a small DC

motor, which turns a magneto-like dynamo,which provides output energy to an elec-tronics package, which in turn feeds timed(scalar?) pulses back to the battery termi-nals for recharging.

As a demonstration, Bedini then removesthe good battery and sequentially insertsfully discharged, dead batteries. Each ofthe dead batteries eventually receives a fullcharge. Stated differently, he starts withone good battery and four discharged bat-teries. At the end of the demonstration, allfive batteries are fully charged.

This author has personally visitedBedini's lab many times, in company withtechnicians and professors of physics andelectrical engineering. None of us has beenable to fault Bedini's findings.

Each of my professorial friends, howev-er, has requested that their names not beused for attribution, the inference beingthat their respective universities would notbe understanding of heretical concepts. ∞

N E W S C I E N C E N E W S C I E N C E N E W S C I E N C E


G-FIELD GENERATOR

Built byBedini Electronics

June 1984

SOFT IRONPOLE PIECES

ONLY

NONMAGNETICSHAFTONLY

To controller

+

-

AC

ACDIODEBRIDGE

Tom BeardenJohn BediniKromreyRon Cole

COILABOUT 500 TURNS

COILABOUT 500 TURNS

N

N

S

S

James Jesus Angleton was born on December 9, 1917 in Boise, Idaho, to NCR busi-nessman/OSS Colonel James Hugh Angleton and Mexican-born Carmen MercedesMoreno. Upon graduation from Yale in 1941, Angleton moved to Harvard LawSchool where he met his future wife, Cicely d'Autremont, of Duluth, Minnesota.

Inducted into the US Army on March 19, 1943, Angleton was recruited into the Office ofStrategic Services (OSS) in August through the efforts of Angleton's father and NormanPearson, his old English professor from Yale who at that time was head of the OSSCounterintelligence division in London.1

OSS COUNTERINTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS DURING WW IIJames Jesus Angleton was assigned the Rome desk after Italy's capitulation to the

Allies, and was made an OSS Lieutenant who ran counterintelligence (CI) activities insuch countries as Austria, Germany, Spain and Switzerland as well as the Mediterraneanarea. As part of OSS operations in the European theatre, Angleton mastered the arts of"black" propaganda and "playback"—that is, the method of reading the effectiveness ofone's own disinformation on the enemy. In 1944, he was given charge of the OSS SpecialCounterintelligence Unit Z, made up of US and British agents, and was the youngestmember of X-2 and the only American member allowed access to the top-secret BritishULTRA code-breaking intelligence.

After the war, Angleton was promoted to Captain and was awarded the Legion of Meritfrom the US Army which cited him for successfully apprehending over a thousand enemyintelligence agents. He was also decorated by the Italian Government and was awardedthe Order of the Crown of Italy, the Order of Malta/Cross of Malta and the Italian WarCross for Merit.

In October 1945, President Truman dissolved the OSS and had all research and analysisunits moved to the State Department and operational units to the War Department, andredesignated it as the Strategic Services Unit (SSU). Angleton stayed on in the SSU inRome and became the vital station chief in charge of the 2677 Regiment, which madeAngleton the senior US intelligence officer in Italy until the SSU became the CentralIntelligence Group (CIG) in 1946, forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).2

THE MAKING OF JAMES ANGLETON AS A MASTER SPY HUNTERAngleton's war experience in counterintelligence operations had affected him to the

extent that he became absorbed into the "hall of mirrors" world of intelligence and refusedto leave the service, despite much insistence and disappointment from his father. Jameswould pour over the many CI files he had amassed while in Italy and was forever changedby the intrigue and the possibilities of a career in the CIG.

In the summer of 1947, Angleton returned to the United States to live in Tucson,Arizona, to be with his wife and family, but his love for the service was overpowering. OnDecember 30, 1947, he was hired by the CIA as a senior aide to the Director of the Officeof Special Operations (OSO).3 It was during this period that Army G-2 and other intelli-gence agencies were trying to crack the Soviet Venona code, used by espionage agentsoperating in the United States to send back sensitive information regarding the ManhattanProject based at Los Alamos, New Mexico. It is possible that Angleton was on specialassignment prior to officially reporting to the OSO, which had the responsibility of runningcounterespionage operations. 4 Angleton's primary mission in the OSO included oversee-ing a classified component that operated espionage and counterespionage activities abroad,and reading all sensitive material coming across his desk and passing it to OSO operators

As the CIA'sCounterintelligenceChief, James Jesus

Angleton hadaccess to the

Agency's mostclosely guarded

secrets, includingMJ-12 files on

UFOs.

by Timothy S. Cooper © 2000

PO Box 1206Big Bear Lake, CA 92315

USATelephone: +1 (909) 878 5929



in countries where the CIA had interests. In 1949, he moved up thechain of command within the OSO and held a GS-15 position.

Angleton developed the philosophy, "If you controlcounterintelligence, you control the intelligence service". Hequickly realised the significance of the B-29 detection of Joe-1,the Soviet's first atomic weapon detonation in August 1949, andknew that the technology acquired by the Soviets was not home-grown but the product of espionage. He immediately set out todiscover who the moles were who passed on America's mostguarded secret to Moscow. As with all covert actions,counterintelligence operated without specific mention in theNational Security Act of 1947, so Angleton set out to acquireinformation on the most guarded secret of all.

ANGLETON AS CHIEF OF COUNTERINTELLIGENCEAside from the theft of atomic secrets, the most guarded secret

within the CIA was the scientific and technical informationregarding new weapons developments, including the planned useof a new generation of thermonuclearweapons and high-altitude reconnaissanceplatforms for spying on countries hostile toUS strategic interests. One of the technicalsecrets was the study and transfer ofadvanced electronics gleaned from US AirForce studies of unconventional aircraft andmissile research carried on at several AtomicEnergy Commission facilities and provinggrounds.

The FBI and the CIA were aware of Sovietespionage rings operating in the UnitedStates, Canada and the United Kingdom.The main task of these rings was to provideany and all technical and scientificinformation on advanced technologieswhich would give an advantage to theSoviet Union in the event of anotherworld war breaking out.

By 1949, military intelligence author-ities had classified the "flying saucer"phenomenon as Top Secret, and theArmy Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC)had passed on information that theSoviets could have developed saucer-shaped aerial weapons, capable ofdelivering atomic bombs or dissipatingradioactive materials over NATO coun-tries, as a stopgap measure to make upfor the nonexistent nuclear weapons arsenal. In early 1947, thenonexistent nuclear arsenal in the United States was a closelyguarded secret as well; and no doubt this fact set in motion thenuclear arms race, which terrified Angleton. The OSO was prob-ably aware of Soviet knowledge of the bomb gap existing withinboth superpowers. Moreover, the flying saucer invasion of theUnited States—reports of which crossed Angleton's desk—put ascare into Angleton's psyche which is reflected in a credo heshared with other OSO staff members: "You who believe or halfbelieve, I can say this now, that I do believe in the spirit of Christand the life everlasting, and in this turbulent social system whichstruggles sometimes blindly to preserve the right to freedom andexpression of spirit. In the name of Jesus Christ, I leave you."

After General Walter B. Smith was appointed Director, CentralIntelligence (DCI), Angleton continued on with OSO Staff A (for-eign intelligence operations) inside the CIA's clandestine division.

In 1951, he was assigned the all-important Israeli desk, which heheld under tight control for 20 years because it was a vital sourceof Soviet information in the Middle East. As more and moreU F O5 sighting reports made their way to CIA headquarters,unevaluated reports were forwarded to Counterintelligence whenthe locations were identified as coming from Soviet Bloc coun-tries. During this period, Angleton established good links withFBI contacts who were equally concerned with protecting vitalatomic research facilities, and no doubt he read many domesticreports as they came across his desk in the "L" Building acrossfrom the Lincoln Memorial.

When Smith was coaxed away from his power base as DCI,Allen Dulles—Angleton's friend from OSS days—became thenew Director. In late 1954, he promoted Angleton to the positionof Deputy Director and Chief of Counterintelligence, with directaccess to Dulles and all foreign UFO intelligence from theIntelligence Advisory Committee (IAC) which had been estab-lished to look into national security implications involving the

UFO phenomenon. 6 In order to cementAngleton's counterintelligence charter,Dulles commissioned General James H.Doolittle to conduct an outside survey ofCIA counterintelligence operations.Doolittle concluded that the CIA was losingground to the KGB, and recommended thatmore stringent and ruthless measures betaken against Soviet penetration. Dullesendorsed the Doolittle Report by ordering amore powerful tool to stop and interdict themoles within the CIA, and he personallychose Angleton to head the CI Staff.Perhaps this is why foreign and domestic

UFO sighting reports diminished innumber shortly afterwards.

During Dulles's tenure as DCI from1953 to 1961 (the longest in CIA histo-ry), Angleton enjoyed a privilegedposition not shared by other directors.This was despite the fact that Angletonreported to the Deputy Director ofOperations (DDO), and on many occa-sions bugged the phones and resi-dences of various high-ranking USGovernment officials and foreign dig-nitaries with Dulles's approval andover the objection of the DDO. If thesituation called for it, Angleton could

go around proper channels to acquire personal data on anyonewithin the CIA and other agencies, which was clearly outside theCIA charter and violated FBI jurisdiction.

As the new head of CI, Angleton had to organise a staff, writethe rules and oversee all clandestine operations aimed at theSoviet Intelligence Service military and security organs, the GRUand KGB.7 The CI Staff was primarily tasked with preventingpenetrations at home and abroad and protecting CIA operationsthrough careful research and analysis of all incoming intelligencereports. By keeping the most vital and sensitive files to himself,Angleton became a storehouse of secrets, which helped himconsolidate his power base. Officially, Angleton was allowedaccess to everyone's personnel, operational and communicationsfiles within the CIA, and he reviewed all proposed and activeoperations and approved the recruitment of agent assets. This didnot engender trust or cooperation, but Angleton did not concern

As more and more UFO sighting reports

made their way to CIA headquarters,

unevaluated reports were forwarded toCounterintelligence when the locations were identified as

coming from Soviet Bloc countries.


himself or his staff with such intrusions. One of Angleton'sformer Chief of Operations, "Scotty" Miller, described theenvironment in which CI Staff operated as that of a "watchdog"snooping around, sniffing out Soviet deception and manipulation.

ANGLETON AND THE MJ-12 DIRECTIVEAmong the controversial documents leaked to the public in the

last 20 years regarding state secrets and the UFO phenomenon,are the CIA's unacknowledged Majestic Twelve/MJ-12 fileswhich disclose the most guarded of all classified subjects:extraterrestrial life-forms and their technologies.8

In order to secure this knowledge and prevent foreign countriesfrom learning this vital secret andgetting an edge on the United States,President Harry S. Truman signed adirective that basically said that noone (including a chief executive) wasto be in possession of or disclose thefinding without a "need to know"clearance which was above TopSecret.9

The directive was secretly imple-mented without the knowledge orconsent of Congress and was con-cealed by the wording of theNational Security Act of 1947, whichprohibits the disclosure of classifiedmatters without presidential approvaland prior agreement by the Department of Defense and theCentral Intelligence Agency, as amended in later versions of theNational Security Act.

Knowledge of the finding was limited to only a select few with-in the government's intelligence and scientific communities. Aslong as the secret remained unresolved, there would be no officialacknowledgement. The only official study program, Project BlueBook, was taken over by the CIA in 1953 as a public experimentand used as a debunking tool to discount the extraterrestrial reali-ty, and possibly to quash any attempts by the KGB and GRU toglean any technological or defence secrets from the study.

Like the Manhattan Project group, Majestic Twelve or MJ-12(as used in some leaked documents) was a joint government/mili-tary/private-sector undertaking thatencompassed every facet of nationalsecurity functions. The CIA was thepremier intelligence agency tasked withmaintaining the first line of defence ofthe United States during the 55-yearCold War between the capitalist Westand the communist East. WhenAngleton assumed his throne as Chief ofCounterintelligence, no doubt Truman'sdirective was a most inviting instrument,allowing him to carry on his mole-hunt-ing career within the CIA against theKGB and GRU.

Majestic Twelve enjoyed greater pro-tection than did the hydrogen bomb pro-gram of the early 1950s. With that, theSoviets were driven to penetrate not onlythe secrets of the H-bomb program itself,but the ultimate prize that lay scatteredthroughout the US Government's maxi-mum security research facilities located

in the southwestern and eastern United States. The shocking truth of the Soviet atomic weapons espionage

program, Enormous, dealt a tremendous blow to US and Britishsecurity when it was learned that British diplomats operatingwithin the US State Department, as well as US Army techniciansat Los Alamos National Laboratories, had not only supplied blue-prints and materials for the atomic bomb to their KGB handlers inNew York, but had stolen the proposed plans for the hydrogenbomb as well. Security officials were left guessing as at what elsethe Soviet spies had stolen from under their noses.10

As far as we know, there was no successful penetration byKGB or GRU agents into the CIA's UFO program—in large part,

due to the disgraceful and unlawfulactions taken by Angleton's CI Staff.After the fallout from the Burgess-MacLean-Philby defections and theexecution of the Rosenbergs,Angleton tightened security and dedi-cated himself to safeguarding whatev-er secrets still eluded the Soviets.Thus he embarked on a vicious mole-hunt that would almost paralyse theCIA until his departure in 1974.

During the time of the Eisenhoweradministration (1953–1960), the CIAwas at its apex in covert operations,piling up one success after anotherwhere cores of Soviet moles were

detected and sent home to Moscow. However, comments fromthe White House were nil when it came to the UFO problem,although Eisenhower's supposed meeting with extraterrestrials in1954 was given some publicity. While it was largely discountedby the Press, some did try to connect Eisenhower's heart attackwith the meeting. The national media were downplaying the UFOsightings in the US and abroad as part of a Cold War hysteria thataccompanied the "duck and cover" scare that seemed to grip thecountry. No real problems popped up until the 1960 presidentialelections when Democratic candidate Senator John F. Kennedyaccused the Republican incumbent President Eisenhower ofallowing a "missile gap" to exist, and charged that the UnitedStates was getting too close to the Soviet Union through détente.

The only official study program,Project Blue Book, was taken over by the CIA in 1953 as a

public experiment and used as a debunking tool to discount the extraterrestrial reality ...


Soon after Kennedy became President, he began to needle theCIA for information on UFOs,11 which was unnerving at the out-set to Allen Dulles after he was burned over the failed Bay of Pigsinvasion of Castro's communist-enslaved Cuba in April 1961.The once cordial relationship that had existed fell apart, andDulles knew his time as DCI was short—as evidenced in his 1961draft directive to MJ-12.12 He knew that the explicit instructionscontained in the September 24, 1947 Truman directive—prohibit-ing the DCI from making disclosures to a chief executive whoobviously did not have a "need to know" clearance—would com-promise the CIA, but also that the lengthy and costly UFO pro-gram, deemed so necessary to national security by all involved,simply could not be jeopardised foranyone—not even the President of theUnited States.

Knowing the character of AllenDulles and James Angleton, I can onlyspeculate as to what kind of responseKennedy got. The DCI Top Secret/MJ-12 document leaves no doubt thatDulles was not going to cooperatewith Kennedy's request of June 28,1961, which he forwarded to Angletonfor consideration and feedback.

Majestic Twelve/MJ-12 includedspin-off projects that were obviouslyequally sensitive activities of the CIA,such as P a r a s i t e, P a r h e l i o n, E n v i r o,P s y o p, G r e e n, S p i k e and House Cleaning. Other sensitive andcovert programs could be affected as well, such as MK-ULTRA,A r t i c h o k e and D o m e s t i c, which all appear to have been opera-tional projects associated with Majestic Twelve. The full implica-tions of the above are not clear at present, but it is obvious that theother projects were held in readiness for some kind of mass indoc-trination and deception undertaking in a national crisis.

MARILYN MONROE AND MURDER, INC.The pressure put on the CIA by Kennedy was reaching a flash-

point of wills; and with the Noresenko affair13 driving Angleton to

obsession, a UFO leak crisis brought new strains on Angleton.He learned that Hollywood screen star Marilyn Monroe's phoneconversation with a New York art dealer 1 4—in which she dis-cussed Kennedy's secret visit to an undisclosed military base tosee alien artifacts, and her disdain over her soured relationshipswith President Kennedy and his brother, the United StatesAttorney General—had been recorded by CIA domestic electronicsurveillance experts. Since 1955, Monroe had been under surveil-lance by the CIA, and the FBI had maintained a security dossieron her because of her marriage to a well-known American writersuspected of having communist affiliations, and her trip to Russiaand the Press coverage she received while she was there.15

The wire-tap report also mentionsnationally recognised New Yorksyndicated reporter DorothyKilgallen as having conversationswith Monroe regarding the RoswellUFO crash of 1947 and PresidentKennedy's politically motivatedNASA A p o l l o Moon program.Dorothy Kilgallen made headlines in1955 when she disclosed a privateconversation with a British Cabinetofficial who told her that UFOs arereal and that the US and Britishauthorities consider the matter as ofthe highest importance.

The significance of the wire-taphas to do with the fact that Monroe was murdered the followingday in her Brentwood condo. According to Milo Speriglio,internationally recognised private investigator and director of theNick Harris Detective Agency, Monroe was the victim of anational security management hit by the CIA and the Mob.16 Thesuggestion that somehow the CIA was involved in a domesticmurder of an American citizen is not too far-fetched whenconsidering the past abuses coming from Angleton's CI programwith its "absolute security at any cost" philosophy. WhetherAngleton authorised the hit is not known, but the modus operandiof the way her body was found and moved around, the fashion in

Endnotes1. September 25, 1943 OSS memo,released through the FOIA in September1989.2. US Senate Select Committee to StudyGovernment Operations with Respect toIntelligence Activities, Final Report, BookVI, April 23, 1976, pp. 154-55.3. JJA personal records. Angleton took aseven-month leave of absence to remainin Tucson, Arizona, for unspecifiedreasons, not substantiated by the need tobe with his wife and family—as is believedby other writers regarding Angleton'sabsence from CIA's Washingtonheadquarters during May throughDecember 1947. See Tom Mangold, ColdWarrior James Jesus Angleton: the CIA'sMaster Spy Catcher, Touchstone Books,Simon & Schuster, 1991, p. 361.4. On December 12, 1947, the NationalSecurity Council (NSC) adopted measuresto counter the espionage and

counterespionage threat, as specified inNSCID 1, later amended in NSCID 5, thatauthorised the Director of CentralIntelligence to "conduct all organizedFederal espionage and counterespionageoperations". According to CIA historianArthur B. Darling, atomic weaponsresearch became an overriding issue, andcoordination with the Office of ScientificResearch and Development with the AECwas through CIA consultant Dr H.P.Robertson, through General Vandenberg'sdirective containing an agreementbetween Dr Vannevar Bush whichfacilitated the transfer of ManhattanEngineering District files to the Director ofCentral Intelligence for proper collectionof foreign atomic energy research. SecretOSO activities in this area were notallowed to fall into administrative controlof the AEC nor FBI, as Vandenberg thoughtthey should remain within CIA intelligenceoperations. See Arthur B. Darling's The

Central Intelligence Agency: AnInstrument of Government to 1950, PennState Press, 1990, pp. 197-239.5. The term "UFO", as defined by AirForce intelligence directives, is used hereto reflect unconventional aircraft andmissiles, not interplanetary spacecraft.6. CIA FOIA response letter, dated March26, 1976, to a July 14, 1975 FOIA requestmade by Ground Saucer Watch ofPhoenix, Arizona, in which it stated thatthe NSC tasked the CIA with arequirement to determine the actual UFOthreat. The CIA responded through theOffice of Scientific Intelligence by creatingthe Intelligence Advisory Committee tostudy the threat aspects. Military membersof the IAC fought vigorously to maintainparticipation in areas relating to AECintelligence collection. The Joint Chiefs ofStaff, represented by General Todd (who ismentioned in an FBI memo regarding JointStaff Council ignorance of flying saucer

The suggestion that somehow the CIA was involved in a

domestic murder of an American citizen is not too

far-fetched when considering the past abuses coming from

Angleton's CI program ...


which the autopsy records were changed to reflect suicide, and thetheft of her secret red diary one day after her autopsy, all havesimilarities to the methods used by Angleton's covert CIACounterintelligence operators.

JFK AND THE CIA'S UFO FILESThe final straw for Angleton came when

President Kennedy fired off a Top Secretmemorandum to him,1 7 outlining a previousdiscussion concerning a classificationreview of all CIA UFO files that could affectnational security. It was dated November12, 1963—just 10 days before he would begunned down in the streets of Dallas, Texas.

Kennedy informed Angleton that he wassetting things in motion to share sensitiveCIA UFO intelligence data with theRussians through the director of NASA,James Webb.1 8 This request was made onthe same day he requested Webb 1 9 t obegin Kennedy's peace overture to theRussians via joint space exploration.Webb, being a board member of theintelligence community,1 9 most likelyinterpreted Kennedy's program to meanthe sharing of classified UFO data,which was forbidden under the currentdirective.

In Kennedy's Top Secret memoran-dum,20 he outlined for Angleton thespecific items he wished to have dis-closed to Webb, such as "[to] have thehigh-threat cases reviewed with thepurpose of identification of bona fide as opposed to the classifiedCIA and USAF sources", and "that we make a clear distinctionbetween the known and unknowns in the event the Soviets try tomistake our extended cooperation as a cover for intelligence-gath-ering of their defense and space programs". Finally, Kennedywanted Angleton to "arrange a program of data-sharing with

NASA mission directors in their defensive responsibilities". This was unprecedented and was totally unacceptable to

Angleton and the CIA. Here, Kennedy was requesting the CentralIntelligence Agency—the agency he swore he would "break into athousand pieces"—just to hand over the most guarded secret ever!

This memo was passed on to William Colby,who indicated to someone in Angleton's staffin a handwritten note, "Response from Colby:Angleton has MJ directive".21 The note isdated November 20, 1963—just two daysbefore Kennedy's assassination.

It seems that Kennedy's request wasbounced to and from Angleton's desk; eitherconsensus was being sought, or the buck wasbeing passed back to Angleton. In any case,it was a hot potato that Angleton had to dealwith. It is also significant that NSAM No.271 was the last to come from Kennedy'sdesk, just before he left Washington for

Dallas. Whatever the real significance,it was buried somewhere within theCIA, and Angleton spent many a daytrying to figure out who orderedKennedy's execution.

Was Angleton set up, or did he unin-tentionally supply the needed ingredientfor the murder of the century? In eithercase, the secret remained safe.

NSA SPECIAL ACTIVITIESOne of the few former CIA officers to

speak publicly on the Kennedy assassi-nation and the UFO secret is Victor

Marchetti, who at one time was Assistant to the Deputy for Plansand Operations under DCI William Colby. In a rare interview withSecond Look magazine in 1979, Marchetti—author of the sensa-tional book, Cult of Intelligence, which was vetted and censored bythe CIA prior to publication (the only book to include the redactedportions within the text)—made some interesting observations

data in 1947), were at odds with the CIAabout duplication of efforts by the MilitaryIntelligence Division in producing UFOintelligence data for the IAC. See ArthurB. Darling, ibid., pp. 349-356. 7. The KGB, the Committee for StateSecurity, was a non-military arm of theSoviet Intelligence Service. The GRU wasthe military arm. The KGB received itstitle in 1954. When mentioning theRussian Intelligence Service, KGB andGRU are referenced generically to includeboth organisations.8. This remarkable fact is substantiated inthe mistakenly downgraded Top SecretCanadian Department of Transport intra-departmental correspondence, dated 21November 1950, from Wilbert B. Smith toDr Robert I. Sarbacher, an Americanphysicist and science consultant in the USDefense Department's Research andDevelopment Board and a member of theGuidance and Control Panel. Smithacknowledged that UFO studies were

"considered by the United Statesauthorities to be of tremendoussignificance" and that the "matter is themost classified subject in the United StatesGovernment, rating higher than the H-bomb". 9. September 24, 1947 Top Secret/MAJIC/Eyes Only Project White Hot PreliminaryEstimate in Five Parts (unacknowledged bythe US Government). See Robert M.Wood, PhD, and Ryan S. Wood, TheMajestic Documents, Wood & WoodEnterprises, 1998, pp. 43-81.10. November 25, 1955 Top Secretmemorandum from Rear Admiral Edwin T.Layton, Deputy Director for Intelligence,The Joint Staff, to the Chairman, JointChiefs of Staff, ref. JCS 1712/5. This reportdeals with the Burgess-MacLean defection,after it was learned that sensitive weaponsresearch information had been sent toMoscow through diplomatic means andafter the CIA was informed of thedefection. Angleton was devastated to

learn that Kim Philby, a longstandingfriend of British intelligence, was part ofthe spy ring.11. Unacknowledged June 28, 1961 TopSecret National Security Memorandumfrom President John F. Kennedy to TheDirector [Dulles], Central IntelligenceAgency, Subject: Review of MJ-12Intelligence Operations as they relate toCold War Psychological Warfare Plans. Itis a one-line request that reads: "I wouldlike a brief summary from you at yourearliest convenience."12. Unacknowledged CIA Top Secret/MJ-12 Counterintelligence carbon copy ofdraft directive from Director of CentralIntelligence to MJ-12 members 1 to 7, witheight tabs on government watermarkonion skin paper, circa 1961.13. Yuriy Ivanovich Norsenko was aSoviet KGB officer who defected in 1962.Angleton had him detained and torturedfor three years, believing the warninggiven by another KGB defector, Anatoliy

Here, Kennedy wasrequesting the CentralIntelligence Agency—

the agency he swore hewould "break into athousand pieces"—

just to hand over the most guardedsecret ever!


regarding the CIA's UFO intelligence-gathering program and whythe subject is not open for discussion.

Retired Air Force intelligence officer Robert Collins producedfor his website an insightful foreword to an extract from theMarchetti interview, in which he quotes Marchetti as saying: "Mytheory is that we have, indeed, been contacted—perhaps even vis-ited—by extraterrestrial beings, and that the US Government, incollusion with other national powers of the Earth, is determined tokeep this information from the general public."

Marchetti alluded to "rumors" atthe highest levels within the CIA thatthe NSA has information as well,and that this must be kept away frompublic viewing.

We know now that the NationalSecurity Agency does have sensitiveCOMINT files, which for reasons ofnational security it cannot disclose.One of these NSA files thatMarchetti speaks of might be theNSA intercept of Kennedy's phoneconversation with Khrushchev onNovember 12, 1963, in whichKennedy spoke of a "situation thataffects both our countries and theworld" and "a problem that we share in common".

It is believed that the UFO problem became a national securityissue when President Truman authorised the covert establishmentof the National Security Agency, whose primary responsibilitybordered on "special activities"—perhaps as outlined in an alleged

Intelligence Estimate prepared by national security officials onSeptember 30, 1947, in which one of the concerns stated that"what we are up against is controlled by intelligent operators" andthat "these objects are real and not illusionary".

It is not surprising that, in 1968, an NSA employee drafted asignificant analysis of the intelligence community's ambivalencetowards the UFO camouflage and warned of dire consequencesunless the defence establishment woke up and recognised the dan-ger these phenomena pose in the nuclear age.

On a final note, the legend of JamesJesus Angleton and his "wilderness ofmirrors", as he often referred to hisdaunting task of protecting vital statesecrets, faded into obscurity on May11, 1987. But the secret that wentwith him re-emerged almost preciselythe day he died.

Perhaps Jim was not the real badguy in the counterintelligence game.Maybe he was its victim. ∞

About the Author:Timothy S. Cooper i s anindependent researcher and writerwho has worked in security and

investigation fields for 15 years. A Vietnam veteran, hebegan researching military UFO intelligence operations in1988 and has collected extensive CIA and NSA files. He hasalso acquired the largest collection of MJ-12 documents andprivately owned, original Project Blue Book files in the USA.

Endnotes (continued)Mikaylovich Golitsyn, that Norsenko wasordered to defect and act as adisinformation plant to spread misleadinginformation to the CIA regarding Sovietcapabilities and intentions. Later CIAanalysis suggested that it was Golitsyn, notNorsenko, who was the real mole plantedwithin the CIA. Angleton was convincedthat Golitsyn was a bona fide defector andhe used Golitsyn's information, but the CImole-hunt virtually destroyed the CIA'scovert operations for some time.14. Top Secret CIA wire-tap report, datedAugust 3, 1962, of discussion betweenMarilyn Monroe and Howard Rothberg,with references to Project 40, Moon Dust,the 5412 Committee and MJ-12. Thereport was given to Angleton and has hissignature at the bottom right-hand portionof the document, establishing that CI wasaware of Monroe's desire to blackmail theKennedys over their indiscretions during asexual affair with her prior to August.15. FBI file No. 105-40018-1, formerlyclassified Secret. CIA is copied on anAugust 19, 1955 FBI document from MrDennis A. Flinn, Director, Office ofSecurity, Department of State. A copy wassent to Director, Central IntelligenceAgency, for the attention of DeputyDirector, Plans, and was marked Secret. Itwas declassified on November 11, 1978,

but the subject matter was redacted.16. See Adela Gregory and MiloSperiglio, Crypt 33: The Saga of MarilynMonroe – The Final Word, Birch LanePress, 1993.17. This would be amazing, since no onein government knew that James Angletonworked for the CIA, much less of hisexistence, since there were few pictures ofAngleton and very few within the Agencyknew who he was and what he did. It isalso interesting that until his appearancebefore the Church Committee in 1975, thepublic did not know about Angleton or hisCIA Counterintelligence position. Hisidentity had been kept secret for 20 years.18. National Security ActionMemorandum No. 271, dated November12, 1963, to The Administrator, NationalAeronautics and Space Administration,Subject: Cooperation with the USSR onOuter Space Matters. President Kennedyinstructs James Webb as Administrator ofNASA to "...assume personally theinitiative and central responsibility withinthe Government for the development of aprogram of substantive cooperation withthe Soviet Union in the field of outerspace, including the development ofspecific technical proposals. I assume thatyou will work closely with the Departmentof State and other agencies asappropriate." Kennedy had requested an

interim report on NASA's progress in thisadventure by December 15, 1963. Ofcourse, after Kennedy was killed, thisprogram was never acted upon.19. It should be pointed out here thatJames E. Webb served on PresidentTruman's Psychological Warfare StrategyBoard and assisted in revising NSC 10/2for the Office of Policy Coordination(Covert Operations) in 1948 for the CIAand the Joint Chiefs of Staff for emergencyplans in case of war. He also was theauthor of the Webb Staff Study thatworked out cooperation between themilitary and the CIA concerning IACintelligence-sharing of foreign atomicresearch with the AEC, which allowed theDCI prerogatives in the dissemination tokey executive officials. Webb consideredthe DCI slot after Rear AdmiralHillenkoetter left office in 1950.20. Top Secret Kennedy memorandum tothe Director [of Counter Intelligence],Subject: Classification review of all UFOintelligence files affecting NationalSecurity, dated November 12, 1963.21. ibid.

Additional ReferencesFor further updates and reports, see:• http://home.sprintmail.com/~rigoletto/tim_cooper_documents.html• http://home.sprintmail.com/~rigoletto/Sanctuary_Of_The_Birds.htm

... the UFO problem became anational security issue when

President Truman authorised thecovert establishment of the

National Security Agency, whoseprimary responsibility bordered

on "special activities" ...


ANOTHER ALLEGED ROSWELLWITNESS TELLS HIS STORY

The following item comes via CNI News,with thanks to George Filer ([email protected]), editor and publisher of Filer'sFiles (www.filersfiles.com), for permissionto reproduce this eyewitness testimony.The item was first published in Filer'sFiles #14, dated April 10, 2000.

In answer to an inquiry from CNI News,George Filer explained that he hadrecently received an unsolicited e-mail

from a Filer's Files reader, giving the nameand e-mail address of a man allegedlyinvolved in the Roswell UFO incident of1947.

Filer contacted the man—who wishes toremain anonymous, but whose name isknown to CNI News—and exchanged sev-eral e-mails, from which the followingaccount was assembled. To date, the wit-ness has declined to discuss these matterswith Filer by phone.

CNI News and several well-knownRoswell researchers have requested directcontact with this man, but as of April 16that request remains unanswered.

Filer, an Air Force veteran, told CNINews that, while he cannot vouch for theauthenticity of this witness, the man doessound as if he is genuinely familiar withdetails of B-29 aircraft and flight proce-dures. In addition, a well-known Roswell

researcher confirmed that the name givenby this witness is a name that can be posi-tively linked to Roswell Army Air Field atthe time of the Roswell incident.

The witness gave this account to GeorgeFiler:

Iwas at Roswell in 1947 to early 1950. Iwas at the time a gunner in the 393rd

Bomb Squadron, 509th Bomb Group, and amember of Captain Frederick Ewing's B-29combat crew, with tail number 44-7301(Straight Flush).

On Wednesday, July 9, 1947, our crewtransported a crate to Carswell Army AirForce Base, Fort Worth, Texas, in 1:55minutes [from Roswell, a distance of about425 miles in one hour, 55 minutes]. Themission and cargo were classified. Thecrate was hauled into the front bomb-bay,

and armed guards rode in that bomb-baywith the crate. When I removed the downlock, I saw a Major and a TechnicalSergeant in the bomb-bay and some othersin there. They rode the whole trip in thebomb-bay and did not return with us.

We flew unpressurized at about 8,000feet. Our bombardier made a safety checkof the shackles which held the platformsecure. Those shackles were rigged so thatthe cargo could not be jettisoned.

The Corporal tail gunner and I saw thecrate when we removed the down locksfrom the bomb doors. The crate was cov-ered with a tarp when unloaded and takenaway on a trailer at Carswell. I wouldguess the crate was about 12 x 6 x 6 feet.

The engineer and I talked about weightand balance. They evidently had not givenhim a firm figure on the weight. He saidwith a laugh, "As long as it isn't more thanfive thousand pounds, our center of gravityshould be okay."

We knew that Fort Worth was to be ourlanding point... Someone made a remarkabout carrying "the General's furniture".

There had also been rumors for a coupleof days about a spaceship crash, but wewere only told it was classified cargo andto stay back.

On the way home, I went forward to chatwith Warrant Officer Landry about [a]minor problem with a prop. We had theCurtiss Electrics [people there] and there

There had also beenrumors for a couple ofdays about a spaceshipcrash, but we were only

told it was classifiedcargo and to stay back.


was concern that one of them was huntinga bit.

Major Jesse Marcel rode back to Roswellwith us and I talked briefly with him. Hewas always interested in the enlisted menon flight crews. He wanted gunners to begood observers when on long missions. Idon't think his questions that day wereprobing... He asked if I was anxious to getinto B-36s [the newest Air Force bomber atthat time].

We were told repeatedly not to talk ofthis incident, not even to our wives. I heldthat inside until 1988, when books began toappear. To this day, I am in touch with oneother member of our crew. Most of theothers are no longer alive. Major Ewingwas killed in a B-47 crash in Florida in1952.

Some time afterwards, about three to sixmonths later, the wives began talkingamong themselves about the clean-updetail. This originated from the wives ofmen on that duty. One such was a neigh-bor of ours in July 1947. They movedacross town, but I would sometimes seehim, and I asked him what he had seen outthere. He was upset and told me, "Youdon't want to know." Based on the wives'gossip, we heard that he had seen a body.

Later, I became a pilot, and while inSAC [Strategic Air Command] was aninstructor in the aero clubs and moonlight-ing as a crop duster. Aviation has been mylife. While in SAC...at March AFB, ourcrew had two weird experiences withsomething that officially wasn't there.

[Signed] A Roswell B-29 gunner

George Filer adds this note: "The government claims what was

brought to Fort Worth under guard was aMogul balloon, [the type] that theylaunched regularly from White SandsProving Grounds, with printed instructionson the side for [how to obtain] a reward, iffound.

"Our witness claims there were multipleguards inside the bomb-bay. Even atomicbombs did not normally warrant guardsinside the bomb-bay, and certainly not anofficer with the rank of Major."

CNI News notes that, assuming the testi-mony is true, whatever was carried in thatbomb-bay was regarded by Roswell and/orCarswell military commanders as being ofthe utmost importance (perhaps moreimportant than an atomic bomb).

Major Jesse Marcel flew on a different

plane to Carswell, as ordered by his com-manding officer Colonel WilliamBlanchard, accompanying samples ofdebris that the military would publiclyidentify as parts of a "weather balloon".

Marcel apparently had nothing to do withwhatever was in the bomb-bay in the largebox described by this witness, and might

not have known anything about it. This account is consistent with previous-

ly published claims that bodies and wreck-age from a genuine UFO crash nearRoswell were flown in one or more largecrates by B-29 to Carswell, from whichthey might then have been dispatched totheir final destinations, possibly includingWright Field (Wright Patterson Air ForceBase) in Dayton, Ohio. ∞(Source: CNI News, USA, telephone +1970 282 7077, e-mail [email protected], website www.cninews.com/)

ANCIENT CITY BENEATHCALIFORNIA'S DEATH VALLEY?

Bourke Lee, in his book Death ValleyMen (MacMillan, NY, 1932), in thechapter titled "Old Gold", describes

a conversation he had several years beforewith a small group of Death Valley resi-dents. The conversation eventually turnedto the subject of Paihute Indian legends.

At one point, two of the men, Bill andJack, described their experience with an"underground city" which they claimed tohave discovered after one of them fellthrough the bottom of an old mine shaftnear Wingate Pass.

They said they found themselves in anatural underground cavern which they fol-lowed about 20 miles north into the heartof the Panamint Mountains. To theiramazement, they allegedly found them-selves in a huge, ancient, underground cav-ern city. They claimed to have discoveredwithin the city several perfectly preserved"mummies" which wore thick armbands,

wielded gold spears, etc. The city hadapparently been abandoned ages ago, andthe entire underground system looked veryancient. It formerly had been lit, theyfound out by accident, by an ingenious sys-tem of lights fed by subterranean gases.

They claimed to have seen a large, pol-ished, round table which looked as if it mayhave been part of an ancient council cham-ber, giant statues of solid gold, stone vaultsand drawers full of gold bars and gem-stones of all kinds, heavy stone wheelbar-rows which were perfectly balanced andscientifically constructed so that a childcould use them, huge stone doors whichwere almost perfectly balanced by counter-weights, and other incredible sights.

Bill and Jack also claimed to have fol-lowed the caverns upwards to a higherlevel which ultimately opened out onto theface of the Panamints, about halfway upthe eastern slope, in the form of a fewancient tunnel-like quays. They realisedthat the valley below had once been underwater, and they eventually came to the con-clusion that the arched openings wereancient "docks" for sea vessels. Theycould allegedly see Furnace Creek Ranchand Wash far below them.

They told Bourke Lee that they hadbrought some of the treasure out of the cav-erns and tried to set up a deal with certainpeople, including scientists associated withthe Smithsonian Institution, in order to gainhelp to explore and publicise the city asone of the "wonders of the world".

These efforts ended in disappointment,however, when a "friend" of theirs stole thetreasure (which was also the evidence).They were scoffed at and rejected by thescientists when they went to show them the"mine" entrance and could not find it. Arecent cloudburst, they claimed, had alteredand rearranged the entire countryside; thelandscape no longer looked the same.

When Bourke Lee last heard from thetwo men, Bill and Jack were preparing toclimb the eastern face of the Panamints tolocate the ancient tunnel openings or quayshigh up the side of the steep slope. Leenever did see or hear from his friendsagain.

In 1946, a man calling himself Dr F.Bruce Russell, and claiming to be a retiredphysician, told a similar story about findingstrange underground rooms in the DeathValley area in 1931. He told of a largeroom with several tunnels leading off indifferent directions. One of these tunnels

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

The city had apparentlybeen abandoned ages

ago, and the entireunderground systemlooked very ancient.


led to another large room that containedthree mummies. Artifacts found in theroom appeared to be a combination ofEgyptian and American Indian design.The most amazing thing about the mum-mies, though, was the fact that they weremore than eight feet tall.

Dr Russell and a group of investorsformed Amazing Explorations, Inc. to han-dle the release and profit from this remark-able find. But, as stories of this type usual-ly go, Russell disappeared and the investi-gators were never able to find the cavernsand tunnels again, even though Russell hadpersonally taken them there. The desertcan be very deceptive to anyone not usedto travelling in it.

Months later, Russell's car was foundabandoned, its radiator burst, in a remotearea of Death Valley. Russell's suitcasewas still in the car.

The old TV series Death Valley Daysonce ran a short story about western pio-neers finding mummies in the desert.Since one of the scriptwriters stated that"there had never been a script without asolid basis in fact", it would be interestingto find out what their source had been.

For now, these stories will have to beshrouded in mystery, along with theaccount of the 21,000-year-old bonesfound in California's Imperial Valley,which were also rumoured to have beenspirited off by the Smithsonian. (Source: www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Lagoon/1345/valley.html)

NEW ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDSIN MEIDUM PYRAMID

The pyramid of Meidum, one ofEgypt's earliest pyramids, is a com-plicated structure, even by ancient

Egyptian standards. It was built about2600 BC, but its designers apparentlycouldn't make up their minds on what itshould look like.

And now, French and Egyptian archaeol-ogists, armed with a fibre-optic endoscope(like those which doctors use to peer insidethe human body), have discovered two pre-viously unknown chambers and a tunnelthat stretches nearly 40 metres (131 feet)into the heart of the enigmatic pyramid.

The structure began as a step pyramid,with stair-step sides like a giant weddingcake, in the style of the famous "first pyra-mid" built at Saqqara for Pharaoh Djoser.Then the steps were expanded by addinganother layer. Finally, its steps were

encased in a smooth shell to create one ofthe first true pyramids. Situated 90 kilo-metres (56 miles) south of Cairo, it risesnearly 100 meters (330 feet). Quite likelyit was unstable from the beginning, and itseems never to have been used as a tomb.

A tunnel shaft leads from the outside ofthe mostly collapsed pyramid to the burialchamber deep inside. But, as Gaballah AliGaballah told the Eighth InternationalCongress of Egyptologists in Cairo onThursday 30 March, two recesses near thebottom of the shaft have confused archae-ologists. (Gaballah is head of Egypt'sSupreme Council of Antiquities.)

Each recess is about 1.7 metres (5.7 feet)high and 2.1 metres (6.9 feet) across. Anunreinforced span of that size should betoo great to sup-port the enor-mous weight ofthe stone blocksabove it. Butthe Franco-Egyptian teamthinks it hassolved the mys-tery.

E x a m i n a t i o nof the masonryalong the top ofthe shaftrevealed whatlooked like acarefully con-cealed window.In May 1998,the researchersslipped an endo-s c o p e — " adevice like along, flexibletelescope aboutthe diameter of ahuman finger"—through a joint

between building blocks. What they sawthrough the scope was another tunneldirectly above the first. And this one had a"corbelled" roof—a top built of overlap-ping blocks that rise progressively to apoint. Such a roof would distribute theoverlying weight and relieve pressure onthe open corridor below it. The new shaftdoes not open onto the outside of the pyra-mid, but it does head down towards thetwo troublesome recesses.

Last year, the team used the endoscopeto explore beyond the end of the tunnel andabove the recesses. What they found weretwo identical corbelled chambers, oneabove each recess and the same width.This rather clever, weight-distributing con-struction likely explains how the flat-roofed recesses were made possible.

Gaballah notes that the exact purpose ofthe complex recesses, chambers and twinshafts is not clear: "The work is still inprogress and we don't know what toexpect."

In addition to Gaballah, the team includ-ed Mustafa El-Zeiri of Egypt and GillesDormion and Jean-Yves Verd'hurt ofFrance.(Source: By Robert Locke, 12 April 2000,h t t p : / / f o x n e w s . c o m / s c i e n c e / e g y p t / e g y p t _meidum.sml)

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

Archaeologists havediscovered two previouslyunknown chambers and a

tunnel that stretches nearly40 metres (131 feet) intothe heart of the enigmatic

pyramid.


THE TOXIC PLAYGROUNDby Jo ImmigPublisher: Total Environment Centre,Sydney, Australia, 2000 ISBN: 0-947360-16-6 (104pp tpb) Price: AUD$23.00 + $3 p&h in NSW, $5other states, $6 to NZ, $10 elsewhereAvailable: Australia—Total EnvironmentCentre, 362 Kent Street, Sydney, NSW2000, tel +61 (0)2 9299 5599, fax +61(0)2 9299 4411, website http://tec.nccnsw.org.au/

Environmental scientist Jo Immig, an anti-chemicals campaigner for the Sydney-

based Total Environment Centre, wrote TheToxic Playground to alert us to the dangerschildren face at home, at school and at child-care centres from the toxic chemical loadthat causes "sick building syndrome" and ahost of human health problems. Knowinghow vulnerable children are to exposure, sheis on a mission to promote risk-reducingstrategies.

The huge increases in recent years in child-hood asthma, multiple chemical sensitivity,chronic fatigue, so-called attention deficitdisorder and food allergies/intolerances mustbe seriously viewed against the onslaught byenvironmental chemicals (many of whichhave endocrine-disrupting effects) as well astoxic food additives. Innig gives a briefoverview of toxicology and highlights someof the most dangerous substances includinglead, volatile organic compounds, formalde-hyde, solvents and combustion products.She gives tips on identifying, auditing andremoving the chemical pollutants that are

outgassed by carpet, furniture, panels, glue,dyes, paints, photocopiers, and many of theitems which children use for playing andlearning. She also stresses the importance ofmaintaining good indoor air quality and ven-tilation.

Innig also looks at chemical risk reductionpolicies and strategies in Australia and theUnited States. Her slim but invaluable bookis an accessible read and presents case histo-ries, checklists, safe alternatives as well asresources and references. This is essentialinformation to act upon to help childrengrow up to lead healthy, fulfilling lives.

GLOBAL SPIN: The Corporate Assaulton Environmentalism by Sharon BederPublisher: Scribe, Australia, 2000, rev. ed.ISBN: 0-908011-44-X (336pp tpb) Price: AUD$29.95; NZD$44.95; £10.95 Available: Australia—Scribe Publications,tel (03) 9349 5955, e-mail [email protected]; NZ—Addenda, tel (09) 8345511; UK—Green Books, tel 01803863260 (1997 edition only)

It should come as no surprise to NEXUSreaders that corporations employ sophisti-

cated techniques to persuade public opinionin favour of various agenda they wish topush. The environment is one area wheretheir drive is particularly relentless. As DrSharon Beder explains in Global Spin, cor-porations utilise industry-funded scientists,specialist public relations companies, themedia, conservative think-tanks and thelegal system to win over the hearts andminds of politicians and the people.

When Global Spin was first published in1997, it was ignored by the mainstreammedia, and it would be unfortunate if this

newly revised Australasian edition had asimilar response. This one has three newchapters covering corporate-sponsored con-fusion on global warming, the "greenwash-ing" of the Sydney 2000 Olympics, andGreenpeace's adoption of a solutions-basedapproach with industry that is arguably atodds with its "green warrior" stance.

Dr Beder is an engineer and associate pro-fessor in science, technology and society atthe University of Wollongong, Australia.Her analysis is an indictment of the way ourenvironmental problems are managed in thisPR mega-spin era. The lead-up to Sydney'sonce so-called "Green Games" is a classicexample of how a major problem of a for-mer toxic waste dump on the site can bestage-managed and the public duped intothinking the problem has been solved.

If you're concerned about the environment,read this book to be wiser to the tacticsutilised to protect corporate vested interests.

REVIEWSReviewed by Ruth Parnell

CELTIC MYSTERIES IN NEW ENGLANDby Philip Imbrogno and MarianneHorriganPublisher: Llewellyn, USA, 2000 ISBN: 1-56718-357-3 (164pp tpb)Price: AUD$25.95; NZD$35.95; £9.99;USD$12.95; CAD$19.95Available: Australia—Banyan Tree, tel(08) 8363 4244; NZ—Peaceful Living, tel(07) 571 8105; UK—Airlift Book Co., tel020 8804 0400; USA—Llewellyn, tel 1-877 639 9753, www.llewellyn.com

Scattered through the woodlands of NewYork state and New England are hun-

dreds of stone chambers. Constructed ofhewn slabs of granite, quartz, limestone andshale, these rectangular, oval and circularchambers were built up at 20° angles on thesides, were supported by a massive slab ontop with allowance for a doorway, and werecovered with soil. Curiously, they don't allshow the same weathering patterns, so it'slikely they were built over a very long time.

Science teacher Philip Imbrogno and para-normal researcher Marianne Horrigan havespent much of the last two decades investi-gating these enigmatic chambers. In CelticMysteries in New England, they concludethat the chambers significantly pre-datecolonial times and were used for astronomi-cal, ritual and burial purposes. They deter-mined with instruments that the chambersare sited in areas of strong magnetic anom-aly. Because many of them are found along-side far older megalithic stone markers, theauthors suggest that earlier peoples had

already tuned into the local landscape ener-gies and even interdimensional portals. Adiverse range of paranormal activity has alsobeen recorded around these sites.

The authors have found evidence for sever-al waves of chamber builders over millen-nia: the Phoenicians, from around 2500 BC,then Iberian Celtic mariners around 1200BC, followed by Irish Druids and, later,Celts and Irish Christian monks from AD500 and for centuries beyond. Their find-ings add another key piece towards unlock-ing the true history of ancient exploration.

THE TUTANKHAMUN PROPHECIESby Maurice CotterellPublisher: Headline, UK, 1999, 2000 (pb) ISBN: 0-7472-6050-8 (356pp pb)Price: AUD$19.95; NZD$29.95; £7.99Available: Australia—Hodder Headline,tel (02) 8248 0800; NZ—Hodder MoaBeckett, tel (09) 478 1000; UK—Headline,tel 020 7873 6000, www.headline.co.uk

Following on from where he left off inThe Mayan Prophecies and The

Supergods, author/engineer/scientistMaurice Cotterell adds the 18th dynastyEgyptian boy-king to his reincarnating pan-theon in his latest book, The TutankhamunProphecies. Having studied the artefacts, hebelieves that the Pharaoh Tutankhamun(1333–1323 BC) was one and the same asLord Pacal, also a boy-king, who broughtknowledge and wisdom to the people ofMexico over 1,250 years ago.

Both of them were known as the "featheredsnake"—a symbolic representation of theSun and its sunspot cycles including its"neutral warp", Cotterell explains. Both hadencoded within their tombs, death masksand adornments this vital knowledge of the

Sun and its effects on fertility, as well asknowledge of the nature of light and theimmortal soul. They both prophesieddestruction, and the collapse of their dynas-ties coincided with sunspot minima.

Cotterell believes this ancient knowledgeof sunspot cycles and soul reincarnation wasnot lost but protected by secret societies,including members of higher Freemasonicorders who coded aspects of it into the medi-aeval cathedrals of Europe. Now, scientistsare finding the keys to what the "gods" leftfor us to decode on how the Sun controlsfertility and biorhythms, determines person-ality, causes cancers and affects the rise andfall of civilisations. Cotterell includesdetailed appendices on all this and more inthis richly illustrated volume. His findingsare awesome and have serious implicationsfor our future, the more we learn about theSun's strange behaviour.


REVIEWS


ROSWELL 1947: "I WAS THERE"by Robert J. ShirkeyPublisher: Movin' On Publishing, 2000 ISBN: 0-9671465-0-X (154pp tpb)Price: USD$15.95 + $3.50 p&h in USA(postage elsewhere, contact publisher)Available: USA—Movin' On Publishing,Inc., PO Box 2664, Roswell, NM 88202,tel 1-877 482 7474, fax (505) 622 5278,e-mail [email protected], websitewww.roswellincident.com

We haven't heard the end of the Roswellincident yet, for witnesses are still

coming forward with their recollections ofthe July 1947 alleged UFO crash/retrievalevent. One such account is from RobertShirkey, who at the time was a FirstLieutenant and Assistant Group OperationsOfficer of the 509th Bomb Group based atthe Roswell Army Air Field, New Mexico.

Shirkey attests to seeing metallic frag-ments (including a small "I-beam") from thealleged crash site being carried through theOperations building at the air field—one ofthe carriers being Major Jesse Marcel—andloaded aboard a waiting B-29 aircraft boundfor Fort Worth. This was on 8 July 1947;ten days later, he was transferred to ThePhilippines. Had he seen too much?

In his account, Roswell 1947: "I WasThere", Shirkey provides additional materialfrom Frank Kaufmann, a longtime Roswellresident and former Army Air Force radaroperator who'd seen an unexplained "blip"disappear on the radar screen during an elec-trical storm on the night of 3 July 1947. Thecraft and its occupants, Shirkey claims, werelocated and whisked away by the military

before sunrise the next morning. Shirkey broke his silence in 1990 when,

with fellow Roswell witness Walter Haut, hespoke out at a UFO conference, though hesays he was never told to keep quiet aboutwhat he'd seen or heard that day. His writ-ten account—a memoir plus a record of sto-ries from witnesses whose integrity hetrusts—is a worthy addition to the lore.

THE OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCEby Graham DackPublisher: Oobex, UK 1999 ISBN: 0-9534458-0-1 (296pp pb)Price: £13.95 (includes postage and han-dling to anywhere on the planet)Available: UK—Oobex Publishing, tel/fax+44 (0)1788 891514, websitewww.oobex. freeserve.co.uk

There's no substitute for personal experi-ence when acquiring knowledge and

wisdom is concerned; so when it comes toout-of-body experiences, no one else can doit for you, but it helps if they can give a fewpointers. Graham Dack does this admirablyin The Out-of-Body Experience. He's a self-taught explorer of other dimensions, andhere he explains in simple terms his uniqueunderstanding based on 25 years of studyingsleep and dream processes and projectionsinto etheric, astral and spiritual realms.

Providing background on himself and hisdiscoveries first of all, Dack then explainsthe ins and outs of etheric, astral and spiritprojection, the landscapes of dreams, andpractical techniques for learning how torelax—a prerequisite before embarking onan out-of-body journey.

He covers the record-keeping process,questions relating to religion, morality andhealth, as well as some of the multifarious

encounters that can be had "out there". Out-of-body projection has been a funda-

mental human activity for many thousandsof years, and Dack maintains it can be prac-tised and mastered by anyone with the will,discipline and patience to stick with it—though he concedes that some people seemto have greater ease than others in achievingthis. He says that as you become morefamiliar with the technique, the subscon-scious mind adjusts to the idea that it is nor-mal for the spirit-body to exist outside thephysical body; indeed, both the soul and theconscious mind use the spirit-body as avehicle and are not fixed in the physical.Such projection is often cloaked in dreams.

Dack portrays with humility and wonderthis most exhilarating of human experiences.His user-friendly guide is a beacon for thoseon a journey of self-discovery.

REVIEWS


VACCINATION: The Right Choice? by Maureen HickmanPublisher: M. Hickman, Australia, 2000 ISBN: 0-646-38724-3 (246pp pb)Price: from NEXUS, AUD$28.00 includespostage within Australia; NZ p&h addAUD$8.50; UK/Europe/USA p&h addAUD$10.00Available: Australia—NEXUS Magazine,tel (07) 5442 9280; or Maureen Hickman,PO Box 274, Ettalong Beach, NSW 2257,tel (02) 4342 5294, fax (02) 4342 5379,e-mail [email protected]

The question of whether or not to haveone's child vaccinated is a dilemma for

parents; but the more information they have,the more confident they can be in exercisingtheir right to "informed consent". It is inthis spirit of enquiry that Maureen Hickmanhas written Vaccination: The Right Choice?

Sydney-based Hickman has drawn on her25 years of para-legal experience and herexpertise in research for legal claims by vac-cine-damaged individuals. Much of the datashe presents relates to Australian cases andcircumstances, but she also covers develop-ments in the USA, UK and Europe.

Hickman addresses the confusion sur-rounding the withholding of child care pay-ments to Australian parents who refuse tohave their children vaccinated, and detailsconsumer rights under the various applicableActs in Australia, NSW in particular.

She looks at how the Australia Card wedidn't want is in effect being revamped viathe Australian Childhood ImmunisationRegister, and chides the government for its

failure of duty in not establishing a systemfor reporting vaccine adverse effects. Mostchildhood vaccines, she says, are not putthrough proper clinical trials before beingfoisted on the defenceless, so the officialline that "the benefits far outweigh the risks"is an untested myth until the benefits/riskscan be accurately quantified.

With comprehensive information on themake-up and effects of vaccines as well asthe vested interests in political, medical,pharmaceutical and media fields, Hickman'sbook is a great contribution to helping par-ents decide without feeling intimidated.

MAGICAL AND MYSTICAL SITES:Europe and the British Islesby Elizabeth Pepper & John WilcockPublisher: Phanes Press, USA, 2000 ISBN: 0-933999-44-5 (300pp tpb)Price: £13.99; USD$16.95 + p&hAvailable: UK—Airlift Book Co., tel 0208804 0400; USA—Words Distributing Co.,1800 593-WORD; Phanes Press, tel (610)456 5740, e-mail [email protected], web-site www.phanes.com

Most of us will never get to visit all theancient, sacred places which are the

foundation of Western occult traditions, butthis book, Magical and Mystical Sites, is asuitable alternative for those who at leastdream of undertaking such a quest.

Authors Elizabeth Pepper and JohnWilcock take the reader on a magical mys-tery tour of Europe and Britain, starting inEphesus, Turkey, then moving on to theAegean islands and Greece, Malta, Italy,Spain and the Basque region, and then toFrance and southern Germany and over tothe British Isles. They include a wealth of

historical, archaeological, religious and cul-tural data but contextualise it within themythical, folkloric and occult background.

The authors identify two major themes toWestern magical thinking—one shaped andenergised by the Greeks in the first millenni-um BC; the other, a much more ancient tra-dition extant thousands of years earlier.They found evidence of the latter on Maltain the Hypogeum subterranean temple, andin Ireland in the legacy of the pre-CelticTuatha Dé Danann.

Taking in the Temple of Artemis atEphesus and the Oracle at Delphi; the caveart of Altamira and the menhirs of Brittany;Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, and theraths of Ireland...this travelogue of sacredplaces, where the natural world meets thesupernatural, conveys the message thatWestern heritage is far more esoteric thanwe generally acknowledge.

REVIEWS


THE LIVING ENERGY UNIVERSEby Gary Schwartz, PhD, and Linda Russek, PhDPublisher: Hampton Roads, USA, 1999 ISBN: 1-57174-170-4 (288pp hc)Price: AUD$47.95; NZD$62.95; £16.99;USD$21.95 Available: Aust—Gemcraft, tel (03) 98880111; NZ—Peaceful Living, tel (07) 5718105; UK—Airlift Book Co., tel 020 88040400; USA—Hampton Roads PublishingCo., tel (804) 296 2772, fax (804) 2965096, website www.hrpub.com

In The Living Energy Universe, GarySchwartz and Linda Russek attempt to

unify science and spirituality via their sys-temic memory hypothesis. Central to theirmodel is the notion that all systems, fromthe most microscopic to the universal, areeternal, alive and evolving and, as such,have eternal, living, evolving memories.

Dr Schwartz, a professor of medicine, neu-rology and psychiatry but with a focus onintegrative and bioenergetic medicine, setupon the idea in the early 1980s when study-ing systems theory. But it wasn't until 1993that he and Dr Russek, also a medical pro-fessor involved in energy medicine, began todevelop the hypothesis—and in response toa question about life after death.

The authors argue that the systemic memo-ry process is facilitated by "recurrent feed-back interactions" that occur between neu-rons and neural networks, within all cellsand molecules. The idea of tapping into this"universal living memory" is not new; forinstance, ancient Sanskrit teachings describe

the "Akashic records" and how to accessthem. Thankfully, the authors do acknowl-edge their debt to the ancients, and give duecredit to more recent scientists/philosophersincluding Ken Wilber, Gary Zukav, RupertSheldrake, Stuart Hameroff as well as BevanReid—whose 1987 experiment on informa-tion transfer between crystals in Petri dishesthey have replicated (their summary is in theappendices). Their simple, logical, elegantmodel, if accurate, has enormous implica-tions for...everything.

CYBERCULTURE COUNTER-CONSPIRACY: A Steamshovel WebReader – Volumes 1 & 2edited by Kenn ThomasPublisher: The Book Tree, USA, 1999 ISBN: 1-58509-125-1 (177pp tpb), 1-58509-126-X (125pp tpb)Price: £10.95 each + p&h; USD$13.95each + p&hAvailable: UK—Counter Productions, tel020 7274 9009; USA—The Book Tree, POBox 724, Escondido, CA 92033, websitewww.thebooktree.com

Sooner or later, all good websites reachinformation overload; so when it came

time for Kenn Thomas, publisher of the USconspiracy journal Steamshovel Press, toremove much of his website's material thathad built up over the recent years, he had itcollated and published in two book volumes(or, a laser imprint for the digitally inclined)as Cyberculture Counterconspiracy. Usingthis title, he pays tribute to Dr TimothyLeary, "the true champion of the cybercul-ture", and a host of mostly US-based con-spiracy researchers and counterculture com-mentators, past and present.

The first book includes postings from theLatest Word column, with short featuresfrom Steamshovel contributors like LenBracken, Adam Gorightly and the late JimKeith; insightful interviews with Thomashimself, deceased activist/anarchist KerryThornley as well as JFK; and missives fromfellow conspiracy journalists fromParanoia!, The Excluded Middle and theUK-based journal Lobster. The second vol-ume contains reviews, news and posted linksfrom the site's Offline Illumination andThings Are Gonna Slide columns. (But ifonly these volumes had contents or indexpages to ease the navigation task...)

The material is mainly US-centric andranges from the bizarre to the intriguinglyinterconnected, covering subjects/names asdiverse as the occult, CIA mind control, theManson family, UFOs, Reich, Castaneda,the globalisation agenda and the OKCbombing. Heady stuff for conspiracy buffs.

REVIEWS

THE PEOPLE BEFORE(THE SECRET LAND Trilogy, Vol. 1)by Gary J. Cook and Thomas J. BrownPublisher: StonePrint Press, NZ, 1999 ISBN: 0-9582040-0-4 (225pp tpb)Price: NZD$29.90; Australian orders,add NZD$8.00 p&h, elsewhere addNZD$15.00 p&hAvailable: New Zealand—StonePrintPress, Post Box 55-037, Castle Hill Village,Christchurch 8020, tel +64 (0)3 318 7377,fax +64 (0)3 318 7311, e-mail [email protected], www.stoneprint.co.nz

The prehistory of New Zealand is far rich-er than the mainstream version of events

concedes. The Polynesian Maori iwi (tribe)may have arrived after AD 1200, but it'sbelieved that an earlier group arrived a thou-sand years earlier, only to find the landalready populated with tall, light-skinned,fair-haired people, a darker people of small-er stature, and even vestiges of giants.

For The People Before, writer/historian/explorer Gary Cook and researcher TomBrown, former editor of the Borderlandsjournal, have compiled this dynamic firstbook in a trilogy titled "The Secret Land",on New Zealand's hidden, alternative histo-ry. Both of them contribute an introductorychapter which must also serve as their finalwords, for in the end readers are left to mullover the facts and draw their own conclu-sions about the origins of tangata whenua,the earlier occupants of the islands. Manyof these ancient artifacts, which includecanals, pits, mounds and stone carvings,have been deemed "anomalous", their ori-gins not part of Maori stories covering thelast thousand or 1,800 years.

Cook and Brown present recent scientificfindings as well as diverse archival accountsand illustrations from late 19th/early 20thcentury anthropological and archaeologicalsources which have been convenientlybrushed aside over ensuing years. Amongthe evidence is that the Maori knew thatNew Zealand's flightless bird, the moa, wasextinct before the first wave of their ances-tors arrived, and that a much earlier peoplewith links to Central and South America,Australia and the entire Pacific Ocean regionoccupied the land in ages past.

The authors treat their subject matter withsensitivity, but their controversial findingsstill leave many questions unanswered.

THE PURE STATE OF NATUREby David HortonPublisher: Allen & Unwin, Aust, 2000 ISBN: 1-86508-107-8 (192pp tpb)Price: AUD$19.95; NZD$27.95Available: Australia—Allen & Unwin, tel+61 (0)2 8425 0100, e-mail [email protected]; NZ—Archetype BookAgents, tel (09) 377 3800

In The Pure State of Nature Dr DavidHorton, scientist, archaeologist, farmer

and editor of Encyclopaedia of AboriginalAustralia, launches an attack on the miscon-ceptions of white Australian academia andculture over the last two centuries and pre-sents a passionate argument for a differentway of looking at Australia's prehistory.

Dr Horton takes exception to a viewexpounded by Dr Tim Flannery in TheFuture Eaters, that Aborigines used fire tothe detriment of the environment and thatthey were responsible for the demise of theland's megafauna. He argues that their useof fire caused no more damage than a typicalbushfire (which, he concedes, can be verydestructive) and that large-scale use was notin the interests of their survival.

On the second point, Horton asks how theAborigines, who have occupied Australia for50,000 years (at least), could have killed offthe megafauna when they co-existed for25,000 years before the extinction. The "killsites" proposed by some archaeologists arenon-existent. The culprit, he maintains, wasclimate change. The megafauna, havingadapted to climatic variations in precedingages (like the other species, humans includ-ed) were cut off from adequate water sup-plies (as other species were not, due to betteradaptations) when the lush interior was besetby an extended dry spell which causeddesertification of key ecosystems.

With his personal, provocative approach,Dr Horton gives insights into the Aboriginalview of nature, and laments that the rampantecological havoc inflicted on Australia thesepast 210 years has already caused disaster.


REVIEWS


THE THREAD OF INFINITY by Jon WhistlerPublisher: Light Pulsations, Aust, 2000 ISBN: 0-9585489-8-6 (664pp tpb)Price: AUD$35.00 in Aust; AUD$40.00 toNZ; US$30.00 elsewhere (prices incl p&h)Available: Australia—NEXUS Magazine,tel (07) 5442 9280; or Light Pulsations, POBox 1447, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, tel+61 (0)3 6334 5195, fax +61 (0)3 63281539, website www.ionictherapylife.com(Reviewed by Duncan Roads)

It is not often that I get so drawn into oneof the books on our eternal "reviews pile".

I initially picked up this book to make an"executive decision" as to whether I wouldinclude the title for review in NEXUS, andended up not being able to put the darn thingdown! My concern was that the book was"visionary fiction" (a category I generallyavoid including in NEXUS), and indeed, tothis moment, I am still undecided as towhether I believe it to be literally true ornot.

The tale starts in an ancient civilisationwhich is known to its inhabitants as "Lemu".The characters reappear in various guisesand lifetimes at key points in the Earth's his-tory: in Atlantis; Rome in the time of JuliusCaesar; Judea in the time of Jesus Christ; anancient American "Indian" civilisation; thetime of Arthur and Merlin in ancient Britain;pre–World War II Nazi Germany; and oninto the super-secret world of the Illuminatiand the upper echelons of the global intelli-gence community.

It is the story of those who feed on theenergy of fear so they can maintain theirenergy source. It is the story of those strug-gling to break through the boundaries of adeliberately created space-time illusion (plus

its attendant ego) and awaken to the energiesof their God within—unconditional love.

This book is so well written, I had to pinchmyself so I'd remember where I was eachtime I put it down. You, as the reader, arethere, living each life, experiencing theirfeelings. It has so many echoes of historicalaccuracy that you will be left in eternal won-der as to where the information came from.I just cannot praise it highly enough!

THE GRAND DESIGN, Volumes 1 & 2by Paddy McMahonPublisher: Hampton Roads, USA, 2000 ISBN: 1-57174-154-2 (vol 1 200pp tpb); 1-57174-155-0 (vol2 226pp tpb)Price: AUD$29.95 each; NZD$38.95each; £n/a; USD$13.95 each Available: Aust—Gemcraft, tel (03) 98880111; NZ—Peaceful Living, tel (07) 5718105; UK—Airlift Book Co., tel 020 88040400; USA—Hampton Roads PublishingCo., tel (804) 296 2772, www.hrpub.com

As a child, Irishman Paddy McMahonwas fascinated by fairies and angels, yet

fearful of the hell, devil and evil spirits ofhis Catholic upbringing. Much later, at theage of 44, he began to see and hear spiritguides, and three years on, in 1981, had hisfirst conscious communication with onewhom he named "Shebaka". Fifteen yearslater, he learned that this highly evolvedspiritual entity was once the EgyptianPharaoh Shabaka (712–698 BC), who pre-served an ancient scroll bearing Ptah's cre-ation story in a stone carving—now held atthe British Museum in London.

The Grand Design is a two-volume collec-tion of Shebaka's higher-soul wisdom, chan-nelled for the purpose of relaying insights tohelp individuals achieve their true spiritualpotential. McMahon's original self-pub-lished edition was very well received, andit's easy to see why it gelled with so manypeople. Shebaka's messages have the clarityand authority of a being who has progressedthrough various stages of evolutionarydevelopment, and they ring true to thosewho are on a path of spiritual enquiry.

Volume 1 shares Shebaka's insights onGod and the Grand Design, awareness andconsciousness, the seven stages of evolu-tionary growth, time and space, group rein-carnation, prophecy and even euthanasia andsuicide. Volume 2 delves further into howthe Grand Design translates into the realityof human experience; it considers uncondi-tional love, sin and karma, imagination andmeditation, soul mates and relationships,ETs and the Akashic records, as well as sex,politics, money and much more.

This is down-to-Earth wisdom, comingfrom a non-judgmental, loving space.

REVIEWS


quotes in a nicely anarchic layout. Chaptersare not numbered, but symbolised; the sameicons are used in the text where appropriateto aid cross-referencing (though this takessome getting used to).

Jackson sums it up when he describes"conspiranoia" as the grey area betweenwhat you know is true and what you feel istrue. A book I wish I'd written myself!

UFO DOWN-UNDERProduced by Barry Taylor, Australia, 2000(PAL/VHS or NTSC/VHS, 50mins) Price: AUD$40.00 inc. p&h in Australia;AUD$47.00 elsewhere Available: Australia—Barry Taylor, POBox 679, Grafton, NSW 2460, [email protected], websitewww.nor.com.au/users/stingray/

The area of Grafton in the northeasterncorner of New South Wales, Australia,

has long been considered a "hot spot" forunusual and unexplained phenomena.Whilst many researchers are aware of themany reported UFO sightings, as evidencedby scores of local newspaper reports overthe years, not so many people are aware thatthe hills behind Grafton have more thantheir fair share of sightings of strange crea-tures, including 30-foot-long lizards and, ofcourse, the elusive yowie.

Barry Taylor is to be congratulated for thisfine-quality production. Good visuals andsoundtrack as well as clear narration add upto make a very watchable video.

Features on the video include:• The "Jellyfish" UFO—an eight-minute

daytime sighting of a most unusual objectthat had an appendage dangling from under-neath. The object appeared to be "swim-ming" because of its unusual movement, andusing this "tail" to propel itself. As theobject gets further away, you can clearly seeit pulsing. Zoomed close-ups of the objectshow the "tail" action.

• "Cluster" UFOs—the footage of this 50-minute daytime sighting is considered bymany to be the best ever taken of these.Five different "clusters" are featured, withzooms showing their unusual action ofrolling around one another. The sightingincludes orange and blue spectrum UFOs.When these objects fly in front of cloud, youcan see their upright cylinder shape; theseare also zoomed so you get a better look.

Other highlights include still images of theUFO flap of April 1998; low, slow-flyingUFOs over Grafton at night; and a "triangleformation" of UFOs just west of the town.

REVIEWSCONSPIRANOIA! The Mother of AllConspiracy Theoriesby Devon JacksonPublisher: Plume/Penguin, USA, 2000 ISBN: 0-452-28128-8 (200pp tpb)Price: USD$13.95; CAD$19.99 Available: USA—Plume Paperbacks/Penguin Putnam Inc., tel +1 (212) 3662222, fax +1 (212) 366 2262

For those who like their conspiracy theo-ries with a dose of humour, this book,

Conspiranoia!, will make you smirk and gri-mace at the same time. It's also the idealbook to brush up with so you can amazeyour friends at conspiracy quiz nights.

Author Devon Jackson, a freelance jour-nalist whose work has been published in TheVillage Voice, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fairand New York Times, has been exploring thevast conspiracy territory for over a decade.He has a special mix of wit and irony in hisreporting, lifting the reader out of despairingtoo much over who "They" really are.

In describing the territory of 20 major con-spiracy theories, Jackson starts out with"maps"—appealingly hand-drawn diagramsshowing links between the main themes andplayers. The text begins with his analysis ofthe "Master Plan", which includes God,Satan, the Illuminati, Freemasons and Nazisas well as the NWO, CIA, FBI, LSD, CFR,TNCs, ETs, the Aquarian Conspiracy andmany other lesser-known groupings. Hethen focuses on sub-conspiracies, withcatchy chapter names like Dark Knights,Freemalluminati, Zionist Anti-Zionist,Ameryan, Reactioneers and Schizodelic.

The entries in each category are brief butpithy, and they're compiled with photos and

Reviewed by Duncan Roads

TARALINGA LILA by Sangeet, Tarshito, JimmyProducer: Tarshito for Kittani Music,NSW, Australia, 1999 (57mins) Distributor: Australia—Kittani Music,tel +61 (0)2 6684 2350, websitehttp://users.mullum.com.au/tarshito

One of Australia's unique and refreshingambient performers, Tarshito has been

producing music since 1989 and doing itwell. Earlier releases like One Moment,Travellers Tales and Dreams of Passionhave been gentle, cross-cultural pieces ofambient, uplifting, fusion music. The latest,Taralinga Lila, featuring fellow musosSangeet and Jimmy, is an exciting mix ofWest and East, with sitar, cello, percussion,guitar and didgeridu, that sails along in arhythmic flow of Indian-inspired, percussivedancing sound. A lively, celebratory album.

REPUBLICA DOMINICANA by various artistsProducer: Dan Storper for PutumayoWorld Music, NY, USA, 2000 (41mins) Distributors: Aust—MRA, tel (07) 38496020; USA—Putumayo Music, tel 1888788 8629, website www.putumayo.com

Another in the great Putumayo catalogue,this time from the Dominican Republic.

The most famous music from the island isthe style known as merengue. It's an excit-ing dance rhythm that's found throughoutthe Caribbean. Usually the music is playedby a large ensemble that includes saxo-phones, trumpets, brass and keyboards, witha bunch of peppy singers who do their stuffwith lots of great choreography. The otherform is bachata which features the bongosand the requinto, a small guitar. This hotcollection pushes both styles and will haveyou up on your feet for every track.

BEYOND SKIN by Nitin SawhneyProducer: Nitin Sawhney for OutcasteRecords, London, UK, 1999 (58mins)Distributors: Aust/NZ— FestivalRecords; UK—Outcaste Records, web-site www.outcaste.com

Identified by an extraordinary cover imageof a bust of a crying man, Beyond Skin is

among the best British/Asian experimentalfusion pieces of the year. Nitin states: "Myidentity and my history are defined only bymyself—beyond politics, beyond nationali-ty, beyond religion and beyond skin." Amix of upbeat, fused and synthesised sound,

techno, flamenco, jazz, traditional instru-ments and political statements makes this anexciting exploration of the musical bound-aries of the best new Indo-tradition.

TRIBE by TribeProducer: David Pendragon forPentacles Music, Aust, 1999 (61mins) Distributors: Aust—One World Music,tel (07) 3367 0788; UK—One World, tel01986 781682; USA—One World, tel1800 7710987, website www.new-worldmusic.com

Journeying into a mix of tribal cultures hasbeen the goal of Tribe members David

Pendragon, Bill Hall and Wayne Miller.Here they combine mixes from Asia, Africaand the Pacific with their own brand ofworld tribal music. Bringing together key-boards with dulcimer, flute, accordian, bassand percussion, they have captured thesounds of diverse cultures from around theplanet. This is a very listenable album oflaid-back world fusion. Recommended.

SHAFQAT ALI KHAN by Shafqat Ali KhanProducer: Douglas McKeehan forWorld Class Music, USA, 2000 (55mins)Distributors: Aust—MRA, tel (07) 38496020; USA—World Class Music, tel(415) 331 3200, website www.world-classmusic.com

The tradition of gharana-singing is onethat can be traced back centuries in the

Indian and Pakistani classical musical lin-eage. Shafqat Ali Khan's own musical fami-ly line goes back to the 16th century. Herehe is enhanced by an electrified musicalbacking with keyboards and guitars plus tra-ditional instruments, the udu, dhumbek,tabla, kanjira and shakers, to produce a moreexotic, blended sound. An intriguing albumthat successfully manages to cross theboundaries between ancient and modern.

Reviewed by Richard Giles


REVIEWS


uptake by astrocytes as well, which wouldsignificantly increase extracellular gluta-mate levels.43 This creates a vicious cyclethat will multiply any resulting damage andmalfunctioning of neurophysiological sys-tems, such as plasticity.

Endnotes1. Ikonomidou, C. and Turski, L., "Glutamatein Neurodegenerative Disorders", in Stone,T.W. (ed.), CNS Neurotransmitters andNeuromodulators: Glutamate, CRC Press,Boca Raton, 1995, pp. 253-272.2. Whetsell, W.O. and Shapira, N.A.,"Biology of Disease. Neuroexcitation, excito-toxicity and human neurological disease", Lab.Invest. 68:372-387, 1993.3. Lucas, D.R. and Newhouse, J.P., "The toxiceffect of sodium L-glutamate on the inner layerof the retina", Arch. Opthalmol. 58:193-201,1957.4. Olney, J.W., "Brain lesions, obesity, andother disturbances in mice treated withmonosodium glutamate", Science 165:719-721, 1969.5. Pol, A.N.V., Wuarin, J.-P. and Dudek, E.,"Glutamate, the dominant excitatory transmit-ter in neuroendocrine regulation", Science250:1276-1278, 1990.6. Coyle, J.T. et al., "Excitatory Amino Acid

Neurotoxins: Selectivity, Specificity, andMechanisms of Action", Neurosci. ResearchBull. 19(4), 1981.7. Blackstone, C.D. and Huganir, R.L.,"Molecular Structure of Glutamate ReceptorChannels", in Stone, T.W. (ed.), CNSNeurotransmitters and Neuromodulators:Glutamate, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1995, pp.53-67.8. "Analysis of Adverse Reactions toMonosodium Glutamate (MSG)", Life SciencesResearch Office, FASEB, July 1995.9. Blaylock, R.L., Excitotoxins: The TasteThat Kills, Health Press, Santa Fe, 1997, pp.248-254.10. Olney, J.W., "Glutamate: a neurotoxictransmitter", J. Child Neurol. 4:218-226, 1989.11. Choudhary, P., Malik, V.B. et al., "Studieson the effect of monosodium glutamate onhepatic microsomal lipid peroxidation, calci-um, ascorbic acid and glutathione and itsdependent enzymes in adult male mice",Toxicol. Lett. 89:71-76, 1996.12. Plaitakis, A. and Caroscio, J.T., "Abnormalglutamate metabolism in amyotrophic lateralsclerosis", Ann. Neuro. 22:575-579, 1987.13. Blaylock, R.L., "Neurodegeneration andaging of the central nervous system:Prevention and treatment by phytochemicalsand metabolic nutrients", Integrative Med.1:117-133, 1998.14. Olney, J.W., "Excitotoxic food additives:functional teratological aspects", Prog. Brain

Res. 18:283-294, 1988.15. Parsons, R.B., Waring, R.H. et al., "In vitroeffect of the cysteine metabolites homocysteicacid, homocysteine and cysteic acid uponhuman neuronal cell lines", Neurotoxicology19:599-603, 1998.16. Esskes, T.K., "Neural tube defects, vita-mins and homocysteine", Eur. J. Pediatr.157(Suppl 2):S139-S141, 1998.17. McCaddon, A., Daves, G. et al., "Totalserum homocysteine in senile dementia ofAlzheimer type", J. Geriatr. Psychiatry 13:235-239, 1998.18. Banks, J.C. et al., "Retinal pathology inAlzheimer's disease. I. Ganglion cell loss infoveal/parafoveal retina", Neurobiol. Aging17:377-384, 1996.19. Onanow, C.W., "A radical hypothesis forneurodegeneration", Trends in Neurosci.16:439-444, 1993.20. Aisen, P.S. and Davis, K.L., "Inflammatorymechanisms in Alzheimer's disease: implica-tions for therapy", Am. J. Psych. 151:1105-1113, 1994.21. Murphey, T., Parikh, A. et al.,"Arachidonic acid metabolism in glutamateneurotoxicity", Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 559:474-477, 1989.22. Smith, M.A., Richey, P.I. et al.,"Widespread peroxynitrite-mediated damagein Alzheimer's disease", J. Neurosci.

Excitotoxins: Dangerous Food Additives

Continued from page 36



17:2653-2657, 1997.23. Jenner, P. et al., "Oxidative stress as acause of nigral cell death in Parkinson's dis-ease and incidental Lewy body disease", Ann.Neurol. 32:282-287, 1992.24. Griffiths, P.D. and Crossman, A.R.,"Distribution of iron in the basal ganglion andneocortex in Parkinson's disease andAlzheimer's disease", Dementia 2:61-65,1993.25. Bolanos, J.P., Almeida, A. et al., "Nitricoxide–mediated mitochondrial damage in thebrain: mechanisms and implications for neu-rodegenerative diseases", J. Neurochem.68:2227-2240, 1997.26. Dexter, D.T. et al., "Increased iron con-tent in post-mortem Parkinsonian brain",Lancet ii:219-220, 1987.27. Hirsch, E.C., Brandel, J.P. et al., "Iron andaluminum increase in the substantia nigra ofpatients with Parkinson's disease: an X-raymicroanalysis", J. Neurochem. 56:446-451,1991.28. Logroscino, G., Marder, K., Graziano, J. etal., "Altered systemic iron metabolism inParkinson's disease", Neurology 49:714-717,1997. 29. Schapira, A.H.V. et al., "Mitochondrialcomplex I deficiency in Parkinson's disease", J.Neurochem. 54:823-827, 1990.30. Bergerson, C., "Oxidative stress: Its rolein the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral

sclerosis", Neurol. Sci. 129:81-84, 1995.31. Gerlach, M., Ben-Shachar, D. et al.,"Altered brain metabolism of iron as a cause ofneurodegenerative diseases", J. Neurochem.63:793-807, 1994.32. Dawson, V.L., Dawson, T.M. et al.,"Mechanisms of nitric oxide–mediated neuro-toxicity in primary brain cultures", J. Neurosci.13:2651-2661, 1993.33. Williams, L.R., "Oxidative stress, age-related neurodegeneration, and the potentialfor neurotrophic treatment", Cerebrovasc.Brain Metab. Rev. 7:55-73, 1995.34. Domenico, E., Pellegrini-Giampietro etal., "Excitatory amino acid release and freeradical formation may cooperate in the gene-sis of ischemia-induced neuronal damage", J.Neurosci. 10:1035-1041, 1990.35. Mundy, W.R., Freudenrich, T.M. andKodavanti, P.R., "Aluminum potentiates gluta-mate-induced calcium accumulation and iron-induced oxygen free radical formation in pri-mary neuronal cultures", Mol. Chem.Neuropathol. 32:41-57, 1997. 36. Aarala, J.T., Loikkanen, J.J. et al., "Leadamplifies glutamate-induced oxidative stress",Free Radical Biol. Med. 19:689-693, 1995.37. Lipton, S.A. and Nicotera, P., "Calcium,free radicals and excitotoxins in neuronalapoptosis", Cell Calcium 23:165-171, 1998.38. Murphey, T.H. et al., "Immature corticalneurons are uniquely sensitive to glutamatetoxicity by inhibition of cystine uptake", J. FASEB 6:1624-1633, 1990.

39. Fahn, S., "A pilot trial of high-dose alpha-tocopherol and ascorbate in early Parkinson'sdisease", Ann. Neurol. 32:S128-S132, 1992.40. Niki, E., "Interactions of ascorbate andalpha-tocopherol", Third Conference ofVitamin C, Burns, E.T. (ed.), Ann. NY Acad.Sci. 498:186-199, 1987.41. Beal, M.F., Hyman, B.T. and Koroschetz,W., "Do defects in mitochondrial energymetabolism underlie the pathology of neu-rodegenerative diseases?", Trends in Neurosci.16:125-131, 1993.42. Pall, H.S., Blake, D.R. et al., "Raised cere-brospinal fluid copper concentration inParkinson's disease", Lancet Aug 1:238-241,1987.43. Sorg, O., Horn, T.F. et al., "Inhibition ofastrocyte glutamate uptake by reactive oxygenspecies: role of antioxidant enzymes", Mol.Med. 7:431-440, 1997.

Editor's Note:This article is reproduced courtesy of DrRussell Blaylock and was first published inMedical Sentinel (vol. 4, no. 6, Nov–Dec1999), the bimonthly peer-reviewed journal ofthe Association of American Physicians andSurgeons (AAPS) [Hacienda Publishing, Inc.,PO Box 13648, Macon, GA 31208-3648,USA, tel (912) 757 9873, fax (912) 757 9725,e-mail h [email protected], webs itewww.haciendapub.com].

Excitotoxins: Dangerous Food Additives


Continued next issue ...

who saw its size would believe it to containsuch lethal power. Most would overlookthe device completely. A flood of suchdevices, each emanating a peculiar, highlymodulated blend of infrasound, would bean unstoppable wall. Robotic tanksequipped with infrasonic generators couldsweep an area with deadly infrasound,destroying all opponents to within a five-mile radius. These terrifying infrasonicweapons could easily be secured in dronejets, where aerial assaults could quicklyand methodically waste any approachingarmy on the offensive.

Deterring would-be aerial attackers couldbe equally devastating for the offenders.Infrasonic beacons could sweep and scanthe skies with lethal accuracy. Infrasoundpasses through all matter with equal effec-tiveness, seeking out offenders with deadlyconsequence.

The intensities which the Gavreaudevices effectively broadcast into the envi-ronment are frightening. In these devices,we see the perfection of phenomena whichnever naturally occur in such dangerousintensities. This is why these weapons—if

used at all—must be deployed by remotecontrol, operating as automatons at greatdistances from their operators.

In Gavreau's own words: "There doesnot exist complete protection against infra-sound. It is not absorbed by ordinary mat-ter; walls and chambers do not suffice toarrest it."

And so, once again, we stand at thecrossroads. We are called, summoned toappear before two pathways. On the one,we hear Messiaen and the musical mes-sages of peace; on the other, Gavreau andthe musical messages of war. And againwe choose. And again we m u s t c h o o s e .Whose music will it be? ∞

References• Fehr, "Infrasound from Artificial andNatural Sources", Journal of GeophysicalResearch, May 1967.• Gavreau, V., "Infra-Sons", Acustica, vol.17, 1966.• Gavreau, V., "The Silent Sound ThatKills", Science and Mechanics, January1968.• Gavreau's French patents: no.131,551, "Infrasonic Generator"; no.437,460, "Infrasonic Generator"; no.

1,536,289, "Infrasonic Shield". • Mohr, "Effects of Low Frequency Noiseon Man", Aerospace Medicine,September 1965.

Editor's Note:This article is published with permissionfrom the Borderland Sciences ResearchFoundation (BSRF). It was first published(in part) in The Journal of BorderlandR e s e a r c h (4th quarter, 1996), and wasalso published as chapter 8 of GerryVassilatos's book, Lost Science ( 1 9 9 8 ,ISBN 0-945685-25-4, BSRF, Inc., PO Box220, Bayside, CA 95524, USA, tel +1(707) 825 7733, e-mail [email protected], website www.borderlands.com).

About the Author:Gerry Vassilatos is an underground sci-ence researcher and regular contributorto The Journal of Borderland Research.He produced the Ray of Discovery videodocumentary series and is the author ofVril Compendium, Secrets of Cold WarTechnology: Project HAARP andBeyond, Declassified Patents of the ColdWar and SDI and Lost Science ( s e ereview in NEXUS 5/03).

Deadly Sounds: Dr Gavreau's Infrasonic Weapon



by an exposure of the water to a radionic rate(as opposed to dilution-succussion), thenwhat?24. Ideas about "form fields" have beenexpounded at length by Dr Rupert Sheldrake,who has proposed the concept of "morpho-genetic" (roughly, "structure-creating") fieldsin his theory of formative causation.Morphogenetic fields exist in a dimensionbeyond time and space, as it is currentlyunderstood, but they are nevertheless inextri-cably entwined with "normal" reality. (SeeThe Presence of The Past, Fontana, 1988,ISBN 0-00-637466-2). One of the reasons Iwas originally attracted to Sheldrake's workwas that Sir John Maddox, former editor ofthe prestigious scientific journal Nature,apparently called The Presence a "book forburning" in his review of it. I definitely con-sidered such a level of disapproval to be a rec-ommendation. In July 1988, Sir John Maddoxpublished Dr Jacques Benveniste's paper onhomoeopathy, and soon afterwards went per-sonally to Benveniste's laboratory in France toexamine his experiments, with a technical sup-port crew which included the famous magicianand star of stage and screen, James Randi. AsI understand it, the result of this was thatBenveniste was rubbished by Maddox,ostracised by the French scientific community,

and lost his laboratory and his funding—eventhough other French scientists later repeatedhis experiments and validated his findings. 25. Quoted in Dimensions of Radionics, byTansley, Rae and Westlake, 1977.

Radionics BibliographyThere are a number of useful books on radion-ic techniques, but I suggest these as beingespecially useful: • Radionics and the Subtle Anatomy of Man,by David Tansley, published by C.W. Daniel& Co., 1972, ISBN 0-85032-089-5.• Chakras, Rays and Radionics, by DavidTansley, published by C.W. Daniel & Co.,1984, ISBN 0-85207-161-2. This also con-tains a chapter by John Damonte on themiasms.• Dimensions of Radionics, by David Tansley,Malcolm Rae and Aubrey Westlake, publishedby Brotherhood of Light, 1977, ISBN0-914732-29-3.

Radionics Equipment SuppliersThere are four suppliers of radionics equip-ment that I know of in the UK:• Copen Instruments Ltd, tel 01444 487900, fax 01444 483555.• Magneto-Geometric Applications (foundedby Malcolm Rae), tel 0181 461 2220, fax 0181 461 5253.• McGurk Electrical Services,

tel 0121 453 9898, fax 0121 457 9609.• Tony Bassett, at No. 1 Electronics, tel 0171 431 2613, custom-makes equipment.

Radionics Information• The official body in the UK is The RadionicAssociation, tel/fax +44 (0)1869 338852.• A comprehensive radionics resource guide isavailable at www.methuselah.org/schwingung.

About the Author:Nick Franks was born in M a n c h e s t e r ,England, in 1951 and graduated fromManchester University in 1973 with a degreein Economics. He co-founded a professionalaudio electronics company and was manag-ing director and later chairman until he leftthe company in 1997.

Nick began studying Alice Bailey materialin 1991, classicial homoeopathy in 1994 andradionics in 1995 and is self-taught. He iscurrently practising radionics and has appliedto the Radionic Association for membership.

Nick would be glad to hear from anyonewith an interest in radionics, homoeopathy orrelated topics. He can be contacted by fax at+44 (0)1625 549809, by e-mail [email protected], or by post at PO Box93, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5FF, UK. Visithis website, www.nicko.com, for additionalinformation including a more complete list ofsources and resources.

Swimming through the Ether

