Monday, February 1, 2010

“Although the brotherhood of Masonry appears to be relatively new, it is in reality the oldest continuous network on the planet, dating back many thousands of years, beginning when stones were first dressed. Masonry today has a generally sinister reputation, because the people suspect that this powerful brotherhood has been manipulating and exploiting them. However, the average Mason has never been ‘in the know’ and is, therefore, merely a member of a social club. Nevertheless, the higher-ups have indeed had their hand in creation on this planet on a large scale for a long time … The Masons are there, perpetually hidden behind the scenes, leaving clues to their existence as a brotherhood, some of which are evident yet still not seen. For example, the biblical Nimrod, the king who built the tower of Babel, is considered the first Mason.” -Acharya S., “The Christ Conspiracy” (238-9)

Freemasonry is a secret fraternal order that has existed for hundreds, arguably thousands, of years and is now operating in most every country in the world. Masonry promotes itself as a philanthropic club for men of morals and they perpetuate this image through members of the first three “Blue degrees.” 97% of all Masons fall into this category and they are often upstanding citizens, pillars of the community who truly are charitable and benevolent. However, the higher degrees, the inner-circle of World Freemasonry, use the society’s global influence to advance their control.

“The ongoing connective tissue between the modern and ancient secret societies has been Freemasonry, which existed as a formidable force long before certain lodges became ‘Illuminized.’ During the late Middle Ages when any opposition to the Holy Roman Universal (Catholic) church was forced deep underground, among the only organized groups able to move freely throughout Europe were the guilds of stone masons, who maintained meeting halls or "lodges" in every major city. The masons, who traced their own secret knowledge of architecture and building back to Egypte essential in the construction of Europe's churches and cathedrals. They were the direct descendants of early guilds of masons which existed both in Egypt and Greece and utilized esoteric construction techniques in their craft. These techniques had been passed down through the sects and mystery schools and some continue to confound modern builders.” –Jim Marrs, Rule by Secrecy (242-3)

Freemasonry evolved over the last thousand years from the Knights Templar, and before that traces its roots to ancient Egypt, the Egyptian Mystery Religion and Esoteric Schools. Some believe the original Masons were the builders of the Pyramids or that they hold the secrets of those early master Masons. Freemasonry is not, however, merely a builders and stone-workers guild. Right from the first degree initiates take blood-oaths, perform occult rituals, and begin learning about a number of arcane subjects delving deeper as they rise in degrees. Some of the subjects studied/practiced include: Astrology, Consciousness, Magic, Tarot, Kabbalah, the Tree of Life, Sacred Geometry, Divination, Scrying, Theosophy, Numerology, Symbology, Alchemy, Hermeticism, the Chakra system, Auras/Energy bodies, Astral Projection/OBEs, Kundalini Yoga, Geomancy, Masonic/Occult History and Philosophy, Metaphysics, Epistemology, Secret Handshakes and Gestures.

Masons rise in degrees through a process of rituals and initiations. They read books like Machiavelli’s “The Prince” and Albert Pike’s “Morals and Dogma” then write essays detailing whether they agree philosophically with people like Pike, Hegel, Machiavelli and others. These essays are then sent in to the Headquarters of International Freemasonry and reviewed by top-level Masons. If the initiate agrees that the few should control the many, and that secret society rule is virtuous, etc. then he is congratulated and promoted through higher degrees. If the initiate disagrees that the few should control the many, and holds a genuinely moral position, then he is congratulated and promoted within his existing branch, never to rise above the Blue degrees. Every Mason will disagree with this however, because most Blue Lodge Masons genuinely do not know, and high-ranking Masons are sworn to secrecy.

"The Blue Degrees are but the outer court or portico of the Temple. Parts of the symbols are displayed there to the initiate, but he is intentionally misled by false interpretations. It is not intended that he shall understand them, but it is intended that he shall imagine that he understands them. Their true implication is reserved for Adepts, the Princes of Masonry.” –Albert Pike (Sovereign Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of the 33rd degree and Supreme Pontiff of Universal Freemasonry) “Morals and Dogma”

"Freemasonry is a fraternity within a fraternity - an outer organization concealing an inner brotherhood of the elect. ... It is necessary to establish the existence of these two separate yet interdependent orders, the one visible and the other invisible. The visible society is a splendid camaraderie of 'free and accepted' men enjoined to devote themselves to ethical, educational, fraternal, patriotic, and humanitarian concerns.

The invisible society is a secret and most august fraternity whose members are dedicated to the service of a mysterious Arcanum arcandrum [a sacred secret]. Those brethren who have essayed to write the history of their craft have not included in their disquisitions [a formal discourse or treatise] the story of that truly secret inner society which is to the body Freemasonic what the heart is to the body human. In each generation only a few are accepted into the inner sanctuary of the work ... the great initiate-philosophers of Freemasonry are ... masters of that secret doctrine which forms the invisible foundation of every great theological and rational institution." -33rd Degree Mason Manly P. Hall, “Lectures on Ancient Philosophy”

The process from a 1st to 33rd degree Freemason may take 10, 20, 30 or more years but is not based on time. The way initiates rise degrees is through invitation by members of a higher degree. This is the nature of all secret societies; the only way to get ahead is by appeasing those ahead of you. It is through this boot-licking pyramid structure that the few bloodline elite at the top control the many at the bottom. Then by issuing lords, knights, and vassals of various degrees along the way to do their bidding, the royals essentially control all facets of this world-wide Brotherhood.

"The initiated brother realizes that his so-called symbols and rituals are merely blinds, fabricated by the wise to perpetuate ideas incomprehensible to the average individual. He also realizes that few Masons of today know or appreciate the mystic meaning concealed within these rituals." -33rd degree Mason Manly P. Hall, “The Lost Keys of Freemasonry

“The invitation-only thirty-third degree … is the highest publicly known degree. The vast majority of members look upon their affiliation with Freemasonry as little different from joining the Lion's Club, the Optimists, or the chamber of commerce. And from their standpoint, this is true. Even Masonic literature makes clear that only those initiates who progress beyond thirty-third-degree status are educated in the group's true goals and secrets. This hierarchy is readily admitted by Masonic authors. ‘There has always existed an external, elementary, popular doctrine which has served for the instruction of the masses who are insufficiently prepared for deeper teaching,’ wrote Mason Wilmshurst. ‘There has been an interior, advanced doctrine, a more secret knowledge, which has been reserved for riper minds and into which only proficient and properly prepared candidates, who voluntarily sought to participate in it, were initiated.’” -Jim Marrs, “Rule by Secrecy” (247-8)

The highest known formal degree of Masonry is the 33rd degree. This title has been held by many world leaders and important names in modern history. The following US presidents are/were known to be Masons, many of them 33rd degree: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Polk, Buchanan, Johnson, Garfield, McKinley, Roosevelt, Taft, Harding, Roosevelt, Truman, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and both Bush’s.

All the following people are/were also Masons, most of them 33rd degree: Buzz Aldrin, John Glenn, Yasser Arafat, Tony Blair, John Wilkes Booth, James Cameron, Winston Churchill, Walt Disney, Bob Dole, Frederick Engel, Newt Gingrich, Mikhail Gorbachev, Al Gore, Billy Graham, Richard Holbrooke, J. Edgar Hoover, Colonel Mandell House, Saddam Hussein, Burl Ives, Jesse James, Jesse Jackson, Henry Kissinger, Vladimir Lenin, Robert McNamara, Karl Marx, Lord Alfred Milner, Benjamin Netanyahu, Albert Pike, Prince Philip, Colin Powell, Cecil Rhodes, James Rothschild, Charles Taze Russell, Joseph Stalin, Strom Thurmond, Leon Trotsky, Paul Warburg, H.G. Wells and thousands more.

“When we examine the historical record of the world's most despicable mass murderers and revolutionaries, we find that almost all of them were members of Freemasonry and other secret societies of the Illuminati: Robespierre was a Freemason; Weishaupt was a Freemason; Napoleon was a Freemason; Lenin was a Freemason; Stalin was a Freemason; Mussolini was a Freemason; Truman and Roosevelt were Freemasons; Ariel Sharon is a Freemason; Bill Clinton is a Freemason; Fidel Castro is a Freemason.” -Texe Marrs, “Codex Magica” (43-4)

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Secret Banking Cabal Emerges From AIG Shadows

Source: Bloomberg

The idea of secret banking cabals that control the country and global economy are a given among conspiracy theorists who stockpile ammo, bottled water and peanut butter. After this week’s congressional hearing into the bailout of American International Group Inc., you have to wonder if those folks are crazy after all.

Wednesday’s hearing described a secretive group deploying billions of dollars to favored banks, operating with little oversight by the public or elected officials.

We’re talking about the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, whose role as the most influential part of the federal-reserve system -- apart from the matter of AIG’s bailout -- deserves further congressional scrutiny.

The New York Fed is in the hot seat for its decision in November 2008 to buy out, for about $30 billion, insurance contracts AIG sold on toxic debt securities to banks, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Merrill Lynch & Co., Societe Generale and Deutsche Bank AG, among others. That decision, critics say, amounted to a back-door bailout for the banks, which received 100 cents on the dollar for contracts that would have been worth far less had AIG been allowed to fail.

That move came a few weeks after the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department propped up AIG in the wake of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s own mid-September bankruptcy filing.

Saving the System

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was head of the New York Fed at the time of the AIG moves. He maintained during Wednesday’s hearing that the New York bank had to buy the insurance contracts, known as credit default swaps, to keep AIG from failing, which would have threatened the financial system.

The hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform also focused on what many in Congress believe was the New York Fed’s subsequent attempt to cover up buyout details and who benefited.

By pursuing this line of inquiry, the hearing revealed some of the inner workings of the New York Fed and the outsized role it plays in banking. This insight is especially valuable given that the New York Fed is a quasi-governmental institution that isn’t subject to citizen intrusions such as freedom of information requests, unlike the Federal Reserve.

This impenetrability comes in handy since the bank is the preferred vehicle for many of the Fed’s bailout programs. It’s as though the New York Fed was a black-ops outfit for the nation’s central bank.

Geithner’s Bosses

The New York Fed is one of 12 Federal Reserve Banks that operate under the supervision of the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, chaired by Ben Bernanke. Member-bank presidents are appointed by nine-member boards, who themselves are appointed largely by other bankers.

As Representative Marcy Kaptur told Geithner at the hearing: “A lot of people think that the president of the New York Fed works for the U.S. government. But in fact you work for the private banks that elected you.”

And yet the New York Fed played an integral role in the government’s bailout of banks, often receiving surprisingly free rein to act as it saw fit.

Consider AIG. Let’s take Geithner at his word that a failure to resolve the insurer’s default swaps would have led to financial Armageddon. Given the stakes, you might think Geithner would have coordinated actions with then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Yet Paulson testified that he wasn’t in the loop.

“I had no involvement at all, in the payment to the counterparties, no involvement whatsoever,” Paulson said.

Bernanke’s Denials

Fed Chairman Bernanke also wasn’t involved. In a written response to questions from Representative Darrell Issa, Bernanke said he “was not directly involved in the negotiations” with AIG’s counterparty banks.

You have to wonder then who really was in charge of our nation’s financial future if AIG posed as grave a threat as Geithner claimed.

Questions about the New York Fed’s accountability grew after Geithner on Nov. 24, 2008, was named by then-President- elect Barack Obama to be Treasury Secretary. Geither said he recused himself from the bank’s day-to-day activities, even though he never actually signed a formal letter of recusal.

That left issues related to disclosures about the deal in the hands of the bank’s lawyers and staff, rather than a top executive. Those staffers didn’t want details of the swaps purchase to become public.

New York Fed staff and outside lawyers from Davis Polk & Wardell edited AIG communications to investors and intervened with the Securities and Exchange Commission to shield details about the buyout transactions, according to a report by Issa.

That the New York Fed, a quasi-governmental body, was able to push around the SEC, an executive-branch agency, deserves a congressional hearing all by itself.

Later, when it became clear information would be disclosed, New York Fed legal group staffer James Bergin e-mailed colleagues saying: “I have to think this train is probably going to leave the station soon and we need to focus our efforts on explaining the story as best we can. There were too many people involved in the deals -- too many counterparties, too many lawyers and advisors, too many people from AIG -- to keep a determined Congress from the information.”

Think of the enormity of that statement. A staffer at a body with little public accountability and that exists to serve bankers is lamenting the inability to keep Congress in the dark.

This belies the culture of secrecy obviously pervasive within the New York Fed. Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns noted during the hearing that the bank initially refused to disclose even the names of other banks that benefited from its actions, arguing this information would somehow harm AIG.

‘Penchant for Secrecy’

“In fact, when the information was finally released, under pressure from Congress, nothing happened,” Towns said. “It had absolutely no effect on AIG’s business or financial condition. But it did have an effect on the credibility of the Federal Reserve, and it called into question the Fed’s penchant for secrecy.”

Now, I’m not saying Congress should be meddling in interest-rate decisions, or micro-managing bank regulation. Nor do I think we should all don tin-foil hats and start ranting about the Trilateral Commission.

Yet when unelected and unaccountable agencies pick banking winners while trying to end-run Congress, even as taxpayers are forced to lend, spend and guarantee about $8 trillion to prop up the financial system, our collective blood should boil.

(David Reilly is a Bloomberg News columnist.

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