This Week: Spies of the Valley: Real-life 007s, Michael A. Aquino, National Geographic Channel Investigates LSD and 2012, Movie Review: The Anti-Semitic “A Serious Man,” and more…
Spies of the Valley. The Las Vegas Sun ran a front page article on the Association of Former Intelligence Officers called “Real-life 007s—and Q Branches—Who Have Retired To Las Vegas Recount Their Missions” by Joe Schoenmann published on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009. The article began:
“The old spies who live among us have their own organization and meet every couple of months at Nellis Air Force Base.
“One of the leaders of the group, retired Army Col. John Alexander, was the basis for the George Clooney character in ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats,’ which hits theaters in early November. But each of the 40 or so active members of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers’ Las Vegas chapter could be turned into a film character.
“Nationwide, the Association of Former Intelligence Officers boasts 5,000 members in 23 chapters. Some 200 members from across the country gathered in Las Vegas this month for their national fall symposium, ‘Cold Warriors in the Desert: From Atomic Blasts to Sonic Booms,’ which was co-sponsored by the Energy Department, the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Air Force Warfare Center.
“When retired spies from across the nation get together, they can delve into topics that sound a little beyond average folks. Alexander, a frequent presenter in the local chapter, for example, gave a presentation on ‘Geotransformational Changes that Affect the Future of Conflict.’
“Alexander’s Hollywood fame is coming because of his involvement in investigating paranormal phenomena, such as psychokinesis and remote viewing, and their potential use by the Army.
“Having been called the ‘father’ of the non-lethal weaponry concept, he remains active in intelligence circles by writing position papers for the Joint Special Operations University and travels the world seeking ways to improve military operations.”
Read the entire article by clicking here: www.lasvegassun.com/news.
(Ret. Col. John Alexander was involved in investigating paranormal phenomena and is the inspiration behind George Clooney’s character in “The Men Who Stare at Goats.” Photo for LV Sun by Sam Morris.)
National Geographic Channel’s Explorer: Inside LSD. Finally, it’s making a comeback! Could LSD be the next wonder drug in your doctor’s arsenal? Can LSD enhance brain power, expand creativity or cure mental illness?
It’s one of the most potent mood-changing chemicals ever discovered. Outlawed in 1970, the street drug developed a dangerous counterculture reputation, capable of inspiring either moments of genius or a descent into madness. Now, science is taking a fresh look into this psychedelic world, including the first human LSD trials in more than 35 years.
On Tuesday, November 3, 2009, at 10 PM, National Geographic Channel's Explorer: Inside LSD puts this mysterious molecule back under the microscope. Some researchers believe this “trippy” drug could become the pharmaceutical of the future—enhancing brain power, expanding creativity and even curing mental illness.
Despite its illegality, an estimated 23 million Americans have taken LSD, and more than 600,000 try it each year. natgeotv.com/explorer.
2012: Countdown to Armageddon. Timed with the Hollywood movie “2012” (it’s already being mocked), National Geographic Channel asks: “What if the Maya were right about the end of humanity as we know it? Would fire pour from the sky, buildings shatter, floods destroy the nation's capital and Los Angeles slide into the Pacific?” The Maya great calendar cycle ends on December 21, 2012. Time to start stocking up on toilet paper!
National Geographic Channel examines the evidence behind the Maya calendar prophecies in 2012: Countdown to Armageddon, premiering Sunday, November 8, 2009, at 8 p.m. The Maya believed that everything—including creation and destruction—occurred in cycles. Their calendar spanned five cycles, each lasting approximately 5,200 years. At the end of each cycle before this one, the Maya believed the current, flawed creation had to be destroyed for the world to be born again.
Some, including me, believe the end of the current cycle on December 21, 2012, is an apocalyptic sign.
The program travels to Germany for a look at the Dresden Codex (pictured), the most comprehensive source for Maya astronomy, which has been locked in a high-security vault. The Dresden Codex contains astronomical tables of outstanding accuracy. It is most famous for its Lunar Series and Venus table. The lunar series has intervals correlating with eclipses. The Venus Table correlates with the apparent movements of the planet. Contained in the codex are almanacs, astronomical and astrological tables, and religious references.
2012: Countdown to Armageddon highlights its last page, which graphically depicts an apocalypse and the destruction of the world.
In order to prevent mass suicides and a run on banks, 2012: Countdown to Armageddon ends on this note: Current theories suggest an imminent Doomsday is not impossible. natgeotv.com/2012.
Michael Aquino. Michael Aquino, demonized for years by conspiracy theorists, is also a well-respected member of the Intelligence Community. The Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) held their National 2009 Fall Symposium on October 13–16 in Las Vegas. John Alexander was among the many illustrious speakers. At the black tie banquet held Saturday night, we finally met the Aquinos. Michael and Lilith are the Baron and Baroness of Rachane.
Michael is more known for his religious affiliation and the hare-brain belief that he, along with John, were members of MKULTRA! Michael fed his unwanted infamous fire by establishing The Temple of Set in 1975. He and certain members of the priesthood of the Church of Satan left because of administrative and philosophical disagreements with its founder.
The Temple of Set was incorporated in California in 1975 as a nonprofit church.
While Michael remains an active member of the Temple of Set, he no longer holds any office within the organization. The office of High Priest is currently held by Magistra Patrica Hardy, who succeeded Aquino in 2004.
Someone has produced a YouTude video called MKULTRA Military Intelligence (#13). This is just one in a video series on MKULTRA, microwave weapons development, military intelligence, assassination of political dissidents, The Jon and Kate Divorce, and whether or not Lindsay Lohan can salvage her career.
The video summary says: “The Eugenics movement, human radiation testing, and MKULTRA are established facts. The videos that follow detail how scientists, members of the intelligence community, and extreme right wing segments of society are using political dissidents (US citizens) in terminal experiments to perfect the latest in radio frequency and microwave weapons. Personalities include Lt. Col. Michael Aquino, Col. Paul Vallely, and Col. John B. Alexander, all alumni of the Phoenix Program that targeted 20,000 Vietnamese civilians for assassination.”
The Barony of Rachane (Pictured: The Barony Coat of Arms) was chartered under the Great Seal in 1708 in favor of Archibald Campbell, 3rd Duke of Argyll and it remained a personal title of the Dukes of Argyll until the mid-20th century following the 2004 Abolition of Feudalism in Scotland. The Barony has continued as a personal title of the 13th Baron Michael and Baroness Lilith, currently residing in San Francisco.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2ecI3ErhY8.
The genteel Michael has more of a sense of humor about himself than do the unbalanced, self-described mind control robot-victims he is supposed to be remotely influencing from his California enclave. I hope to see Michael and his lovely wife Lilith soon again. We should have a lively talk about Satan and his demon army!
Movie Review. A Serious Man. You will leave “A Serious Man” and think: “The Coen Brothers are self-hating Jews.” Why is every character ugly and repulsive except the naked shiksa next door? What does this say about the Coen Brothers?
I’m not only confused, I’m troubled.
The movie opens with a mini-horror tale about a Jewish peasant who is helped by an old man. He invites the man to his home. As soon as he tells his wife, she says they are now cursed. The man died a few years ago, so now a dybbuk (in Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is a malicious possessing spirit, believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person) is coming for soup! Confronting their guest, the wife promptly stabs the man (or dybbuk) in the chest.
Never go to 1967. It was ugly. In a Jewish neighborhood in the Midwest, Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is a college mathematics professor on the verge of tenure with a wife, Judith (Sari Lennick), who is having an “affair of the heart” with repulsive friend Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed); a son, Danny (Aaron Wolff), who is preparing for his bar mitzvah while stoned on pot; and a shrieking daughter, Sarah (Jessica McManus), who is stealing money from him for a nose job.
As if this sadistic look at middle-class Jewish life has any philosophical context, Larry struggles to explain the famous thought experiment, the classic Schrödinger's cat*, to his class. So, let’s be clear: Larry knows nothing.
Staying with the Stuhlbargs is Larry’s loser of a brother Arthur (Richard Kind), who has a repulsive disease he must tend to every few hours by extracting tons of pus from a cyst on his neck. He is staying on their couch. He has other anti-social, humiliating problems as well.
When Judith and Sy (pictured) announce they are planning to get married in the faith, they insist Larry move to a nearby motel with Arthur. Larry goes to a series of rabbis who are clueless and offer absolutely no spiritual advice or comfort. Faced with mounting legal bills, Larry’s tenure is jeopardized by harassing letters to the college’s committee. A Korean exchange student aggressively refuses to accept his failing grade from Larry. He offers Larry a bribe.
I was appalled by the cruel, cartoon depiction of Jews!
So now I know where the Coen Brothers came up with Anton Chigurh’s hairdo. Their parents made them get that haircut.
Every person in Larry’s world—his Jewish community—is vile. Every stereotype is lovingly represented: Spitting Jews, Jews without teeth, obese Jewish women with male voices, ancient rabbis who do not care about their people—this shocking portrayal of Jewish people goes on and on.
The entire story is dressed with so much vulgarity that whatever “message” the Coen Brothers are saying is buried beneath a pile of anti-Semitic feces. The Coens even disrespect Jewish customs and religion. Danny goes to his bar mitzvah stoned. The rabbis have absolutely no interest in helping Larry save his marriage. There is no community support.
Larry lives in a vicious, loathsome ugly world.
How in the world did both Coen brothers and their entire production staff and crew agree to this mean-spirited depiction of Jewish life and morality?
*Schrödinger's Cat: A cat, along with a flask containing a poison, is placed in a sealed box shielded against environmentally induced quantum decoherence. If an internal Geiger counter detects radiation, the flask is shattered, releasing the poison that kills the cat. The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics implies that after a while, the cat is simultaneously alive and dead. Yet, when we look in the box, we see the cat either alive or dead, not a mixture of alive and dead.
