"One of the most admirable things about history is, that almost as a rule we get as much information out of what it does not say as we get out of what it does say. And so, one may truly and axiomatically aver this, to-wit: that history consists of two equal parts; one of these halves is statements of fact, the other half is inference, drawn from the facts. To the experienced student of history there are no difficulties about this; to him the half which is unwritten is as clearly and surely visible, by the help of scientific inference, as if it flashed and flamed in letters of fire before his eyes. When the practiced eye of the simple peasant sees the half of a frog projecting above the water, he unerringly infers the half of the frog which he does not see. To the expert student in our great science, history is a frog; half of it is submerged, but he knows it is there, and he knows the shape of it."

-‘The Secret History of Eddypus’ ……as quoted by Mark Twain

In the dying years of the 20^th century another person came along and picked up the anti-Imperialistic sword. Not that others haven’t wielded it many times before or since, but one of his writings in particular has risen above all his other works…plus most of those of his peers.

In the Internet age, this work has been spreading fast…but not fast enough for his liking…or many others. Even though it’s in its fourth edition and thirteenth printing, it’s still not a book that you will find on the shelf of many major book chains, at least not here in Canada. I ordered mine through Amazon.

The ‘frog/creature’ is the Federal Reserve System that was spawned on Jekyll Island, Georgia about the same time as Mark Twain was on his anti-Imperialist crusade in Washington.

Along with the review (posted at the above hyperlink), I would like to paraphrase what Mr. Griffin had to say in the preface to the book…

"There was no doubt in my mind that the Federal Reserve is one of the most dangerous creatures ever to stalk our land. Furthermore, as my probing brought me into contact with more and more hard data, I came to realize that I was investigating one of the greatest "who-dunnits" of history. And to make matters worse, I discovered who did it."

"…this tale truly is incredible, which means, unbelievable. The magnitude by which reality deviates from the accepted myth is so great that, for most people, it simply is beyond credibility. Anyone carrying this message is immediately suspected of paranoia. Who will listen to a madman?…Furthermore, the evidence of the truth of this story is now so overpowering that I trust my reader will have no choice but to accept it, all questions of sanity aside."

"There are seven discernible threads that are woven throughout the fabric of this study. They represent the reasons for abolition of the Federal Reserve System. When stated in their purest form, without embellishment or explanation, they sound absurd to the casual observer. It is the purpose of this book however, to show that these statements are all too easy to substantiate."

- It is incapable of accomplishing its stated objectives. (Chapter 1)
- It is a cartel operating against the public interest. (Chapter 3)
- It is the supreme instrument of usury. (Chapter 10)
- It generates our most unfair tax. (Chapter 10)
- It encourages war. (Chapter 14)
- It destabilizes the economy. (Chapter 23)
- It is an instrument of totalitarianism. (Chapters 5 and 26)

"This is a story about limitless money and hidden global power. The good news is that it is as fascinating as any work of fiction could be…the bad news is that every detail of what follows is true."

One of the more incredible aspects of this book is the number of years it took to research and write it. It was a seven-year journey. And as he says in the preface…"From the beginning, however, it took on a life force of its own, and I became but a servant to its will." The Bibliography alone is six closely spaced pages of small type…sixty-eight entries in the first two pages alone.

I’m writing about this book, not only to urge you to read it, but to bring to your attention Mr. Griffin’s work on this subject since he wrote it. What he’s been doing is a variation on a theme of the book itself, and in some ways is a précis of the entire work.

Strike Three was the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and the anthrax scare that followed. If you’ve read the two parts of The Grand Deception – A Second Look at the War on Terrorism, then no further explanation is necessary…or will be provided here.

But in each of these "Three Strikes" scenarios, it was the same script used each time…aggravate, insulate, and facilitate. Aggravate the enemy into a position where it has little choice but to strike, insulate the target from any knowledge that it is in danger, and facilitate the enemy by making it as easy as possible to strike successfully for maximum effect.

Now what about Strike Four. It is the opinion of many, that the attempt to lure U.S. citizens into going into all-out war against the "evil-empire" of Islam is only one more ‘incident’ away from happening. It almost goes without saying that this incident will most likely be against American interests, and on American soil. But the ‘incident’ could show up in multiple places, and in multiple countries. The only point of controversy is whether it will be nuclear, chemical, or biological…or a combination of "all of the above". The press, CIA, FBI, plus all other levels of government and the military have been pounding away on a daily basis that it’s coming…and come it will. We’ve been given fair warning.

But ‘the incident’ is coming one way or another. And regardless of whom the messenger is, we all know who’s going to get blamed.

There’s another possibility regarding Strike 4. This event may not happen until after King George, Kinglet Blair and their merry men have actually gone to war against Iraq (last week of February is the latest date making the rounds right now). Then whatever happens from that point on can be pointed to as a retaliatory strike by Osama or Saddam, or whomever. (For those of you who have short memories…most of the participants in 9/11 were citizens of Saudi Arabia (not Afghanistan), and I don’t see the U.S. invading Saudi Arabia…yet.)

You might think I’m paranoid. Maybe you feel that I’ve taken up ingesting several varieties of mind-altering drugs. Not likely. As Edward Griffin points out in the preface to his book…"another obstacle to communication is that this tale truly is INCREDIBLE, which means UNBELIEVABLE. The MAGNITUDE by which REALITY DEVIATES FROM THE ACCEPTED MYTH IS SO GREAT that, for most people it is SIMPLY BEYOND CREDIBILITY. Anyone carrying this message is immediately suspected of paranoia. Who will listen to a madman?" Did you get that??? Read the book and the speech.

Four years ago, writing an essay on the Internet would never have crossed my mind. I had no idea how to operate a computer, didn’t own one, and owning shares in gold and silver stocks was the very last thing on my mind.

But times and circumstances change.

This truth (and it is the truth) is spelled out quite clearly in Griffin’s book. The aggravate, insulate, and facilitate scenario is now in its final phase, and this time the United States Constitution is the target. But, as I said earlier, it will probably not be the only target this time. The first three strikes all involved subterfuge at the highest levels of the British and American governments and military (and the financial system, and elitists that really runs the show). This one is too. I urge you to read the Griffin’s book and his speech. As I stated earlier…the speech is a précis of the book.

G. Edward Griffin is not the only person throughout American history who has spoken up about the evils of banking, fiat currency, the Federal Reserve System and freedom.

Thomas Jefferson (quoting Benjamin Franklin) said… "Those who desire to give up Freedom in order to gain Security, will not have, nor do they deserve, either one."

In a letter to John W. Eppes in 1813, Thomas Jefferson had this to say… "The unlimited emission of bank paper has banished all (Great Britain’s) specie, and is now, by a depreciation acknowledged by her own statesmen, carrying her rapidly to bankruptcy, as it did in France, as it did us, and will do us again, and every country permitting paper to be circulated, other than that by public authority."

Henry Ford was reported to have said: "It’s well enough that the people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning."

And of course, lest we forget, we have the words of Alan Greenspan when he was a disciple of Ayn Rand…long before he was converted to the "Dark Side of the Force" and joined "The Empire"…the Federal Reserve System and its handlers. His essay "Gold and Economic Freedom" which appeared in Ayn Rand’s 1966 book, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, is still looked upon by honest money proponents as Mr. Greenspan’s true colours. As recently as two years ago, Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) asked Sir Alan if he would autograph a copy of this essay. While he was doing it, Ron asked Alan if there was anything that he would change after all these years, to which Sir Alan replied…"Not a word."

In his essay, Mr. Greenspan had these closing comments…."In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. If there were, the government would have to make its holding illegal, as was done in the case of gold. If everyone decided, for example, to convert all his bank deposits to silver or copper or any other good, and thereafter declined to accept checks as payment for goods, bank deposits would lose their purchasing power and government-created bank credit would be worthless as a claim on goods. The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves."

"This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold standard."

(statism: economic control and planning by a highly centralized government)

"In any discussion of the future of Gold, or of the price of Gold, the first thing that must be realized is that Gold is a political metal. In the true meaning of the word, its price is "governed".

This is so for the very simple reason that Gold in its historical role as a currency is fundamentally incompatible with the modern worldwide financial system.

Up until August 15, 1971, there has never in history been an era when no paper currency was linked to Gold. The history of money is replete with instances of coin clipping, printing, debt defaults, and the other attendant ills of currency debasement. In all other eras of history, people could always escape to other currencies, whose Gold backing remained intact. But since 1971, there is no escape because no paper currency has any link to Gold.

All of the economic, monetary, and financial upheaval of the past 30 years is a direct result of this fact.

The global paper currency system is very young. It depends for its continued functioning on the belief that the debt upon which it is based will, someday, be repaid. The one thing, above all others, that could shake that faith, and therefore the foundations of the modern financial system itself, is a rise (especially a sharp rise) in the U.S. Dollar price of Gold."

Amen to that.

I’m hoping and praying for the best…but expecting the worst. Although I can’t read Mr. Griffin’s mind, I’m sure that we would be both be eternally grateful if we were not only wrong…but wrong at the top of our voices…but I doubt that we are.

God help us all.

Since Saddam is not going to oblige everyone by invading another country like Hitler did with Czechoslovakia or Poland; or as Japan did to Manchuria or Pearl Harbor...that would provide the necessary moral outrage, and/or the political or military justification...it appears that the USA is prepared to precipitate a crisis themselves. They are manufacturing an "enemy of the state". When the events of 9/11 and Afghanistan didn't give them as much "bang for the buck" that they had hoped for (the trans-Afghanistan pipeline idea was a bust), all of a sudden this ‘new enemy’ has cropped up. This is right out of their playbook in "The Creature".

The U.S. has been trying to implicate Saddam in what happened on 9/11 since the day it occurred, with no results worth mentioning. That attempt has intensified since the war in Afghanistan faded from the TV screens at CNN and CNBC. But evidence or no evidence, they're going into Iraq anyway. (So far the inspectors haven’t found a thing, but that won’t stop the USA et al from coming up with whatever justification is necessary…no matter how thin)

But these foreign affairs problems that the United States seem to acquire by sticking its nose into the political, economic and financial affairs of every nation on earth; whether it wants it or not, or needs it or not, has given rise to a ground-swell of anti-Americanism all around the world. As a government official in Washington put it earlier this year...."The problem with American foreign policy, is that our State Department is creating terrorists faster than our military can kill them." (Remember the Aggravate part of the plan?)

Will this pending conflagration continue to be unprovoked as it is now? Or will another ‘triggering event’ be needed to fan the flames? Will it be a ‘natural’ event by the ‘enemy’, or will it be a ‘set-up’ event...like some historians say Pearl Harbor was that got America into war with Japan…or the sinking of the Lusitania, which Winston Churchill had a hand in…that got the USA involved in WWI in Europe?

Or is it just ‘the boys’ who are trying to save themselves from the last 15 years of corporate, financial and government malfeasance that they have imposed on their own citizens, as well as the citizens of the rest of the world?

Is it one of the above...none of the above...or a little of each? The purpose of this essay is not to give a definitive answer, but play an international game of "Let's Make a Deal" without Monty Hall around, and with just a couple of more doors to chose from. You pick...because I'm not 100% sure. I’m just bringing all this up to alert the reader that while our attention is being diverted by this ‘nuke Saddam’ frenzy in the Middle East, the real power game will be happening somewhere else, by someone else.

But I can tell you this. The United States is "marching off to war" in one hell of a hurry and I just have to ask…WHY????

I leave you with the words of a long since departed leader, Julius Caesar, in a similar circumstance that led to "The Fall of the Roman Empire". To give credit where credit is due, I stole this shamelessly from a post by Barnacle Bob on Gold Eagle. But since it's not his quote, I'm sure he won't mind.

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch, and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar."
Caesar

These were not the only words of wisdom from "Barnacle Bob". This above quote was immediately followed by what the Supreme Court had to say in Miranda vs. Arizona, 384

U.S. 436 (1966) (USSC+). It speaks right to the heart of what is wrong with government and corporate America today.

"Decency, security and liberty alike demand that government officials shall be subjected to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen. In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that, in the administration of the criminal law, the end justifies the means…would bring terrible retribution. Against that pernicious doctrine this Court should resolutely set its face."

All thoughts of these have been cast aside and long forgotten in the past fifteen years of corporate and government financial malfeasance…but now the war drums that sound for Iraq grow louder by the day. Words such as these, in those previous two quotes, will come back to haunt the good citizens of our neighbour to the south in the months and years ahead.

After the events of 9/11, some of America’s freedom quietly disappeared. The next ‘event’ on U.S. soil will see a huge chunk of the rest of America’s freedoms go the same route.

If Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Andrew Jackson were alive today, they would be appalled. As the old saying goes…"those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." It’s hard to believe that all these problems we have today boil down to the fact that the politicians and central bankers of the world could not bide by the constraints that were imposed upon them by the gold standard.

The world that emerges from what’s coming down the pipe will not be as safe or as certain as the one we have now; and whatever form it takes, we aren’t going to like it one bit.

My biggest fear is that the same hands (that are attempting to stoke this patriotic bonfire to an incandescent white heat) may entice her citizens to turn this conflagration into a funeral pyre for the Constitution of the United States.

However, before they get sweet talked into giving this Great Document the old "heave ho", they should consider the words of that great American patriot, Patrick Henry…

"THE CONSTITUTION IS NOT AN INSTRUMENT FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO RESTRAIN THE PEOPLE. BUT RATHER IT IS AN INSTRUMENT FOR THE PEOPLE TO RESTRAIN THEIR GOVERNMENT."

But any way you slice it or dice it, the western world’s economies and their associated financial systems are on their last legs. You and I know that they can’t keep the old apple cart up and going around the track forever, because sooner or later something is going to blow up in their faces. The ‘Powers That Be’ elitists of the New World Order know it too. It will all end badly, and you can start counting the days as of right now.