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Remember
the “Remote Controllers?” You don’t hear about them anymore. But the fecund
minds at Camp Disinformation had a dozen other equally colorful and implausible
scenarios up their sleeve.
No
Plane Hit the Pentagon. Explosives in the WTC. And our personal favorite,
See The Flash, pointing out to new initiates the pods beneath the wings
of the hijacked planes.
Clowns
formed the false opposition—people pretending to oppose those
to whom they secretly owe allegiance. Like the Phony
Bought-Off Left before them, planted to divert and deflect the attention
of the only medium which wasn't completely under control at
the time of the 9/11 attack.
It
started when we received several dozen spams from previously-unknown
individuals who needed to tell us of their delight in a new book. One typical
message came from someone named "Fred Burks" at something named
http://www.septembereleventh.org/.
Fred’s
message (The 9/11 X-Files - A review of The New Pearl Harbor)
was enthusuatic, but a little stilted, like a book review in English class.
He sounded about as sincere as sincere can be, but what he sincerely
wanted me to know sounded more than a little dubious.
“This
is the by far best book I've seen on the 9/11 cover-up,” gushes Fred, about
“The New Pearl Harbor,” by David Ray Griffin a theology professor at Claremont
college. “It has already woken up many, many thousands of people…
I can't recommend this book highly enough.”
We
mulled over Fred’s advice. Apparently a groundswell of public opinion
was developing around the central premise that Divinity Professors are
an underused resource in homicide investigations.
We’d
somehow missed it. On the off-chance that there was something else in play,
we wondered: who the f- is Fred?
And
we were, of course, shocked—shocked!—when we discovered that
Fred—and this is a coincidence!—used to work for, and
sometimes still does, President George W. Bush, who was the beneficiary
of a campaign by Fred to get people to pray for him.
We
thought: isn't that precious. Then we read this quote from Fred:
"I'll be sitting in a room with President Bush and President Megawati of
Indonesia helping them to communicate with each other by interpreting.
Several other top government leaders from the US and Indonesia will be
present. What I like to do in these meetings whenever I'm not interpreting
is to channel divine love to everyone present."
Now
we thought: isn't that creepy.
Here
again we feel that maybe we've missed something... Has Fred's boss (and
prayer buddy!) George W Bush suddenly changed course and come out for full
disclosure of the truth about 9/11?
You
can appreciate the problem.
Famous
Chicago Nelson Algren had a list of prohibitions. "Never play cards with
a man named 'Doc.' Never eat at a restaurant named 'Mom's.' And never sleep
with anyone with more problems than you."
The
Graduates of 9/11 Clown College have today prompted us to add to
Nelsen Algren’s List. “Never trust anyone trying to convince
you Professors of Theology know any hot skinny at all about
the 9/11 attack.”
"Weekending
with Just Plain Folks"
We
discovered that—as it happens— Fred is an associate of Mike Ruppert's
and Inquiry organizer Carol Brouillet. They all spent a weekend together
last year speaking to a Unitarian Universalist’s Social Justice Committee
shindig in Berkeley.
Anyone
'down' for a weekend called "Coup Against the People” (whether pro or con
wasn't specified) is clearly on relatively intimate terms with his or her
fellow speakers. Its not like they just bumped into each other while presenting
at the People’s Choice Awards.
A
weekend with the Social Justice Committee probably isn’t the hottest ticket
in town. We doubt there were very few “walk-ins” showing up after seeing
all the excitement.
We
don't mean to suggest Fred’s employment by the Bush family disqualifies
him from recommending books.
We
do
mean to suggest he peddle his bullshit elsewhere, and not spam our
mailbox with his puerile posturing that we never asked to receive. “The
critical mass needed to create powerful, positive changes in this world
is slowly awakening!" gushes Fred. "Thanks for playing your part in this,
and please continue to help by spreading the word! Take care and have a
great week ahead!”
We
can only imagine what writing such heart-felt prose took out of poor Fred.
We were exhausted just reading it. But we admit to leaving ourselves open
to being called a pretty heartless bastard for raising suspicions about
a fella whose email address is
wecare@wanttoknow.info
Teaching
Pigs to Sing Guantanamera
Rambling
Fred traveled to Cuba via Mexico in 1999, we learned, a federal no-no,
for which a year and a half later he received a fine for nearly $8,000.
Fred went to Cuba, reported the Associated Press, to “soak in Cuba’s music
and culture.” http://www.cubacentral.com/travelvictimsdetail.cfm?ID=10
But
atjust about this same time long-time Bush Family retainer Craig Fuller
was leading an "an opening to Cuba.
Mohamed
Atta's main man Wally Hilliard was part of it too. Hilliard brought a paper
bag filled with Presidential Rolex's. We don't know what Fred brought,
other than his sunny disposition.
This
is probably just another freak coincidence.
We
looked to Fred's many self-described "Empowering Websites" for clues.
At
www.WantToKnow.info
we heard Fred's been busy "Revealing major cover-ups & working together
for a better world."
At
www.gcforall.org
we discovered good-hearted Fred is all about "Building a Global Community
for All."
At
www.weboflove.org
we heard of his commitment to "Strengthening the Web of Love that interconnects
us all."
We
even got to meet Satan, even if he's not the real Sata: .http://www.warrior-sage.com/meetsatyen.htm
Fred's
websites usually have a motto. At www.momentoflove.org
for example, it states:
"Every
person in the world has a heart."
Just
on the basis of the 9/11 attack, we feel Fred may be a little off base
about this. But perhaps his mistake is just the blind spot of a Rainbow
Warrior who can’t be bothered by a lot of "negative energy."
So
Fred keeps busy in other ways, by penning confessional articles, for example.
Our favorite: "A Big Breakthrough in My Confusion Around Sexuality.”
We
mustnow leave Fred and his creepy persona, however, but not without a final
question: "What's a Bush factotum who slipped into Cuba and got caught
doing publicizing a book about 9/11 by a clueless Professor of Divinity?"
Pumping Irony the Natural Way
Its
always
gratifying
to learn you’ve been right. We’ve been happy to see independent researchers
confirming our suspicions about these people.
But
we wondered if we’d seen or overlooked any
other evidence
of people and groups conspicuously loitering near the public restrooms
of the 9/11 investigation. And the answer was yes…
Which
is where Internet Pontificator Mike Ruppert comes in. Called a “rebel without
a rebellion” by Fintan Dunne of
www.breakfornews.com,
we have discovered that Ruppert receives funding from an international
group run by people who major newspapers and U.S. attorneys call “financial
criminals, crooks and swindlers.”
When
questioned about it, Ruppert resorted to threats of lawsuits.
We
of course immediately wanted, to know more. After He attempted to bully
a researcher friend of ours with threats of lawsuits after she wrote what
looks surprising like the God's-Own Truth.
The
brouhaha started with a note. “Let me remind all that Ramy El-Batrawi and
Adnan Khashoggi go back a long, long way,” a researcher wrote us,
“... 1980s at minimum."
"Why
would Mike Ruppert fall for the lies of this well-known con artist?”
We
thought she was being too kind. Suggesting Ruppert had “fallen” for a con
artist’s lies doesn't quite seem to cover it, to us. Of course Ruppert
disagreed.
“Ruppert
fell for nothing,” he wrote, in creepy Nixonian third person.
“Post
a message like this again Lois and you’ll get a call from my lawyer, followed
by a letter, then a suit.”
Well
now. What happened to "strengthening the web of love?"
We
sympathized with our friend. Especially since we find ourselves in the
uniquely curious position of being one of the few journalists—worldwide!—to
do serious investigative reporting on 9/11 while at the same time being
sued for ‘emotional distress’ by someone in business with
people funding the 9/11 Truth Movement!
How
unlucky is that?
The
irony has not been lost on us.
"Peak
Oil Found in Dominican Republic"
We
consoled ourselves with the fact that the German BND, that country’s version
of the FBI, requested our assistance recently in locating for questioning
one of Mohamed Atta’s seven close German associates (named in “Welcome
to Terrorland.”)
So
we're probably doing something right.
After
receiving a copy of Ruppert's bullying note we wrote to him, sportingly
informing him that our next story—the very one you’re now
reading—would probably make him want to threaten to sue us too,
so he should tell his attorney to give him a two-for-one discount.
We
also appended several questions... “What do you know about a company called
CLF International Consulting? Did you travel to Cabo San Lucas to speak
to them? If so, how much were you paid? What kind of contract did you have
with them, one-time-only or continuing?”
Ruppert
responded promptly, admitting a relationship with the group. “I have traveled
– not only to Cabo San Lucas, but to Cancun (2x), and the Dominican
Republic – all expenses paid plus a $1,000 speaking fee for a group called
Pinnacle Quest International.”
According
to published reports and the Attorneys General of half a dozen states,
fraudsters operate under a continuously changing array of front companies,
including monikers like Global Prosperity Group, the Institute of Global
Prosperity, Global Prosperity Marketing Group, the Global Group, the Institute
of Global Prosperity.
Says
the Toronto Sun, "The scam is known as Pinnacle Quest International."
“I
have great respect for PQI," Ruppert wrote. It has evolved and become something
incredibly useful in terms of information and knowledge sharing, marketing,
medicine and health, financial survival, and they present some incredibly
powerful and useful legal information and lectures.”
We
bet "lucrative," too, huh?
Anyone
with an Internet browser can learn all they’ll ever want to know about
these people, for whom Ruppert professes such respect. Here's a smattering:
The normally staid Toronto Sun recently (June 20, 2004) called them “scam
artists ripping off people of their hard-earned money. Nothing makes my
blood boil more than scam artists ripping off people of their hard-earned
money.”
And
that’s one of the nicer quotes we found about a group which finds the need
to change its name frequently.
“As
one Canadian financial journalist who dared to take on the Global Prosperity
scum and who took harsh criticism from those getting rich from this international,
multi-million-dollar, offshore banking scam-- this makes me smile," read
the Sun's story.
“Some
of the crooks have been found guilty of fraud and are serving sentences
in U.S. prisons. Others have been indicted on charges of money laundering,
wire fraud, mail fraud and filing false tax returns, and are in jail awaiting
trials.”
"Like
Scientologists...just not as nice."
"And
arrest warrants have been issued by the U.S. justice department for three
Global Prosperity principals—David Struckman, Dan Andersen and Lorenzo
Lamantia.”
Wow.
Sounds like things can get a little personal with these 'folks,'
like with Scientologists. Ruppert alluded to their legalistic prowess
in his note. “BTW, PQI has some incredible attorneys!”
Drat
the luck!
The
Sun report continued, “You may recall how I wrote about the threesome back
in 2000, when victims started calling me to complain of an alleged scam,
that involved a multi-level-marketing scheme that sold tapes and seminars
promising financial freedom from paying taxes through offshore trusts...”
“When
authorities started clamping down, the name would change -- from Global
Prosperity Group, to the Institute of Global Prosperity, to Global Prosperity
Marketing Group, the Global Group and the Institute of Global Prosperity,
the paper reported. Now, the scam is known as Pinnacle Quest International.”
Now
we were interested! The group’s website was www.clfic.com,
now
http://clfic.com
.
(Or try http://www.pqi.cc/
) And some evidence of the removed website remains on the Wayback Machine.
http://web.archive.org/web/20031214132159/http://www.clfic.com/
Within
several days of when we started looking into them, the site had been taken
down, which reveals some damn fine intelligence. We had, however, made
copies of a few salient pages, just to capture their lively prose:
“Presenting
an Extraordinary Workshop That Will Change Your Financial Life Forever...The
Secret Psychology of Wealth."
We
didn't known Wealth had a psychology, let alone a “Secret” one, but then
again maybe that's why we're not rich. But you’ve got to say something
to charge 6500 bucks, right? The scam’s founder, Keith Anderson, was a
fervently religious anti-tax crusader, we read, extradited from Costa Rica
and is now in a U.S. prison, facing a number of criminal charges.
"Like
all pyramid schemes, it's a scam designed to make its inventors rich at
the expense of everyone else who buys into it," said a Consumers Institute
Alert about the group. In a story called “Get-Rich-Quick Scheme
Leads Some Down Road To Ruin” CBS profiled the group (Jan. 25, 2001)
“The
founders of the Institute of Global Prosperity say they offer a sophisticated
sales and investment program over the Internet designed to make members
rich,” reported CBS. “Global members are invited to attend seminars
in places like Cancun, Mexico and the Bahamas where independent entrepreneurs
pay IGP to make their pitch. The cost of attendance: $6,250.”
And
some of that money made its way into Mike Ruppert’s pocket. Now only that
but he endorse the group on his website.
We
were—how can we say this—shocked! Lucy sure has some
''spraining to do.
But
we confess we were not surprised at all to find that money from the group
had also made its way into the pockets of former Bush Administration factotum
Catherine Austin Fitts, who's always run in 'illustrious' company.
Catherine,
we like to recall, was workin' for Bush before workin' for Bush was even
cool.
Even Kiwi's Hip To Fraudsters
The
Consumers' Institute in New Zealand issued a “Warning: Pinnacle Quest International.
Like all pyramid schemes, it's a scam designed to make its inventors rich
at the expense of everyone else who buys into it," said the alert.
“If
people sign up for the whole deal, they are going to find themselves over
$40,000 out of pocket.”
Maybe
less for them, but more for Ruppert & Fitts.
Life
can sure be a zero sum game sometimes, huh?
40K
is a fair bit of change. We will soon see more evidence that this
is a network that thinks big. We wondered: other than the opportunity to
hob-knob with luminaries like Ruppert and Fitts, what did people get
for their money?
Apparently,
the chance to go to jail. “So far, more than 50 Global Prosperity carpetbaggers
have been convicted,” reported the Sun.
One
disillusioned fraudster wrote grimly: “My parents drove me to El Reno
Federal Prison at 12:00 on September 5, 2000. We pulled to the security
box and told them I was there to self report and the guard yelled “Get
out of the car and walk the line”. It scared me half to death and I don’t
scare easily. I got out and said goodbye and not to worry. I turned and
walked by this huge, double fence with razor wire and went to the iron
gate and pushed the button. The guard came out and walked me in with the
gate slamming closed behind me…”
Even
to non-believers like ourselves, that seems a pretty heavy price to pay
to learn the truth about Peak Oil.
At
http://www.OracleInternational.com
we learned that the Florida & International Corporate & Financial
Fraud Investigators had 17 pages of bad things to say (“The Firm specializes
in international investment scams and securities issues…) about Ruppert’s
treasured friends at whatever they were calling it this month…
“Empowering
individuals. enhancing lives. establishing wealth... What would it
be worth to you?"
The
slogans sound uncannily like sales pitches we’ll see used next
Monday in the colorfully fraudulent endeavors helmed by Adnan Khashoggi
& his Saudi toady Ramy El Batrawi, using as their Corporate Vehicle to Fraud
Heaven a company incorporated by the man suing us currently. Small
world?
Don't
bet on it. |