My father was a naval communications officer who served on the Admiral's flagship in the Pacific fleet during WWII, and was a historian and teacher in civilian life. We discussed the history of the cold war in general terms, and he told me that in his opinion the justification for it was shaky and open to historical doubt. In his younger years he was deeply afraid of the possibility of the loss of civil liberties in the United States as a result of the growth of a power center composed of the "defense" department and the industries that fed it- or is it the other way around?

In later years his views became more conventional for an ex-naval officer, but by that time it was too late--he had already infected me with the habit of independent thought.

Thanks, dad.

Capitalism searches out the darkest corners of human potential, and mainlines them.

good stuff, de.

has anyone discovered collusion in russia between military-industrial biz and government to distort facts too, or is it just the west^TM?
back in the 40's, or now?

on a paranoid day, i see visions of all the death-tycoons on both sides agreeing to whip up fear for mutual profit.

i wonder if that's happening now...

'hey vlad, we're gonna put more bases around you, that should boost you guys' bizniz, now why don't you make some noise about training missiles on yurp, and how you're going to plough more roubles into your war machinery.'

'that should do the trick george,will do. brilliant!, see ya at g8 for drinks and golf. oh, and thanks for saying you saw my soul, the russian church love me now'.

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

The Swiss newspaper "Le Temps" reports about a conference in Geneva on 9/11 questions:

La version américaine sur le 11 septembre continue de susciter la méfiance
(The American version of September 11 continues to raise suspicion)

The conference "The Oil Age Peak, 2001 September 11 and the War On Terror: What Links Them?" (approximate translation from here) is held at the "Forum Meyrin" center, inspired by the film "9/11: Press for Truth" shown in Switzerland at the end of January. 9/11 doubts were raised recently by Japanese and European parliamentarians.

Googling up for 9/11 at Google News gives the following two interesting stories:

'Official Conspiracy Theory' Believed Only by 'Hypocrites and Fools'

More evidence of Pre-9/11 Inside Trading: Follow the Money? God forbid

If you don't laugh, a possible basis of the modern conspiracy pyramid:

"In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act. - George Orwell

The year is 1913, Woodrow Wilson is president, and powerful banking interests, who have been trying for year, finally achieved their long term goal, of silently taking control of the American government.

The first thing the did to accomplish their take over was convince secretary of state, Flan Denox, to lie to the American people, and tell them that the 16th amendment [Income Tax Amendment] had been legally ratified by the states when it was not. The bankers knew that this tax would ultimately end up in their pockets.

Because of this fraud the American people were led to believe there was a tax on their labor. Congress and the President ARE completely aware of this fraud and it was cited in a recent court case:

"If you... examined [the 16th amendment] carefully, you would find that a sufficient number of states ratified that amendment." - U.S.District Court Judge, James C. Fox, 2003

That very same year [1913] the bankers committed their second, and by far most diabolical fraud ever perpetrated on the American people, by bribing senators to pass the Federal Reserve Act, without the required Constitutional amendment. They did this during Christmas vacation, when many senators where home celebrating Christmas with their families.

And that is how the unconstitutional Federal Reserve Act came into being. They were very clever, and understood that who ever issued the money for America controlled the government.

"Give me control of a nations money supply, and I care not who makes its laws." - Mayer Rothschild, Private Banker

President Wilson, who signed the Federal Reserve Act later said in regret:

"I'm a most unhappy man; I have unwittingly ruined my country a great industrial nation is now controlled by a system of credit. We are no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinions and duress of a small group of dominant men." - Woodrow Wilson, 1919

How did America transform from being a truly free country with a servant government where our individual rights are protected by our Constitution, to being a country that talked about being free but really wasn't?

The change started when the Federal Reserve came into existence, and America adopted one of the major planks of the Communist Manifesto by creating for America this central bank.

The very same people that back the Federal Reserve System also back the graduated income tax, a second plank from the Communist Manifesto.

And now our Congress so dominated by the banks, is helping them entrap people even further by passing new Bankruptcy Laws making it more difficult for the people to declare bankruptcy and get a fresh start.

"Who controls money controls the world." - Henry Kissinger, Council of Foreign Relations

These are starting theses from Aaron Russo's film America: Freedom to Fascism (transcribed from here).

Check also Peter Joseph's movie Zeitgeist.