Your Influence Counts ... Use It! The SPOTLIGHT by Liberty Lobby

Reprinted from www.libertylobby.org, home of The SPOTLIGHT archive

The SPOTLIGHT June 5, 2000

Bilderberg Fearful of Buchanan Bid for President

A severely scaled-down Bilderberg is holding its annual meeting June 1-4 in a resort in Belgium. And The SPOTLIGHT has uncovered more than just its hiding place.

By James P. Tucker Jr.

Behind the closely guarded gates at the Chateau du Lac, 20 miles from Brussels, Belgium, Bilderberg participants are deeply fearful of Pat Buchanan's presidential campaign.

While the environment is on their agenda, Buchanan is much more on their minds. These sons of smokestack industrialists actually have little concern or clean air or water but for control -- by creating a global environmental agency that will enhance their power.

They are using their immense power to pressure the media into ignoring Buchanan's campaign lest his ideas become more widely known among American voters. They are determined to keep Buchanan out of the presidential debates because they know he could toy with George W. Bush and Al Gore.

They are keenly aware that, if Buchanan's views were well known to Americans, he would be their choice for president. This would end Bilderberg's immense but hidden power.

Bilderberg is also anxious to suppress the fact (SPOTLIGHT, May 15) that neither the Democrats nor Republicans enjoy majority support of American voters and a great awakening could launch Buchanan into the White House.

Buchanan is the only viable candidate since the late Sen. Robert Taft (R-Ohio) to stand for everything Bilderberg opposes: an America-first foreign policy, jealously protecting national sovereignty, opposing "free trade" deals in favor of fair trade, not empowering the United Nations until it becomes a world government, non-intervention in the domestic affairs of other countries and not spilling American blood unless our borders are threatened.

They are also concerned that Buchanan is bucking the old left-right, liberal-conservative labels and is emerging as a classic populist. He has recruited a black woman and self-proclaimed leftist and reached out to all segments of American society, including labor, in a campaign that frightens the Establishment and mainstream media.

Historically, Bilderberg has owned presidents.

Since President Nixon's years, they have owned both horses in two-horse races between Democrats and Republicans. George W.'s daddy, President George Bush, was a member of Bilderberg's brother group, the Trilateral Commission. Gore's boss, President Clinton, is a member of the Trilaterals and Bilderberg.

For the first time since Bilderberg met as a formal group in 1954, it is on the defensive. For 46 years, Bilderberg has been able to conduct world affairs in secrecy, with virtually all of the human race ignorant of their existence. But
Bilderberg awareness has grown since SPOTLIGHT prompted interest with the European newspapers and Bilderberg now lives in dread of exposure.

Despite extreme efforts at secrecy and cover-up -- with the help of the mainstream press -- sources always exposed their meeting site. Bilderberg is terrified of the thought of being destroyed by public outrage. They fear demands that they reimburse the human race for the costs exacted when they raise taxes, give away taxpayers' money for their own enrichment and spill American blood in contrived wars such as in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and Yugoslavia.


The SPOTLIGHT June 5, 2000

Illegals Inundating Towns on Border

The federal government has done little if anything to assist local communities trying to cope with the masses of illegal immigrants who steal across the U.S.-Mexico border daily. The sheer number has so overwhelmed several small U.S. towns' resources that local officials are publicly admitting they can no longer stop Mexicans from sneaking into the United States.

By Mike Blair

Starting July 1, officials in three Tex as border counties will halt their cooperative effort with U.S. officials to prosecute Mexican aliens in county and state courts, particularly those involved in small-scale drug cases.

El Paso County District Attorney Jai me Esparza told federal officials that the counties do not have the resources to continue prosecuting thousands of illegal Mexicans.

The Clinton administration has failed to provide the counties along the Mexican border with federal assistance to cover the cost of incarcerating and prosecuting the Mexicans who are arrested, Esparza said.

According to Esparza, the courts and jails in the border counties are overflowing with Mexican illegals and drug-traffickers who have violated various state laws and that their prosecution is bankrupting his county.

He gave high marks to the Border Patrol for its work in trying to stem the tide of Mexican illegals as well as drugs.

The Mexican government, he said, is not taking measures on its side of the border and is not cooperating with the U.S. to stem the tide of illegal aliens and drugs pouring into the United States.

NAFTA WORSENS PROBLEM

The problem with Mexico has worsened since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), according to officials concerned with the border problems. They point out that NAFTA has made the border even more porous than in the past. Under NAFTA regulations, Mexican trucks are allowed to pass through border check points with scant attention and inspection by U.S. customs agents.

The border problems represent only a small part, though perhaps the most dangerous for U.S. national security, of troubles caused by NAFTA.

Hundreds of thousands of American jobs have been lost because of NAFTA. U.S. manufacturers continue to relocate their industries and factories across the border to take advantage of cheap Mexican labor.

In addition, Mexico is flooding American supermarkets with thousands of tons of uninspected produce heavily contaminated with pesticides and germ-laden waste, while officials at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who carefully inspect American-produced fruits and vegetables, look the other way.

The late Rep. Sonny Bono (R-Calif.) championed legislation in Congress to require the labeling of the origin of foreign-grown produce. No one on Capitol Hill has continued his efforts since Bono died in a skiing accident in 1998.

ACT OF WAR

Tensions continue to mount along the border, where recent attacks by Mexican Army troops making incursions into U.S. territory and firing at Border Patrol agents have heightened concerns unequaled since 1915, when Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa and his "Villatistas" attacked U.S. towns along the border.

It took Gen. John "Blackjack" Pershing in 1916 to go into Mexico with a detachment of U.S. Cavalrymen to stop Villa's Mexican border raids.

The clashes with heavily-armed Mexican soldiers on the U.S. side of the border have been described as "an act of war" by Reform Party presidential candidate Patrick J. Buchanan.

Buchanan recently returned from a fact-finding mission to the border, where he conferred with Border Patrol agents. He said he believes American soldiers should be used to seal up the porous boundary, through which hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens flow into America every year, along with illicit drugs.

Buchanan is the only presidential candidate addressing the border crisis. Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, remains silent about the growing problem with Mexico, despite the fact that many of the border problems occur in his state.

A Border Patrol agent told The SPOTLIGHT that he and his fellow agents stationed along the border and American ranchers and others who are leery about the increase of illegal immigrants and drug trafficking appreciate Buchanan's interest and concern in the border problems.

Bush and VP Al Gore, who seeks the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, have long backed NAFTA. They also approve of other international trade agreements, including the granting of permanent most favored nation trade status to Red China, which Buchanan strongly op posed because it would cost U.S. workers their jobs.


The SPOTLIGHT June 5, 2000

Second amendment Last Defense Against Tyranny

The federal government is incrementally denying Americans their constitutional right to defend themselves with firearms.

By G. Russell Evans

Our Founding Fathers gave us our Second Amendment rights to "keep and bear arms" for a very good reason. As sound today as it ever was, it is our last-ditch defense against government encroachments on our freedoms and sovereignty.

These precious rights have nothing to do with rabbit hurting and target shooting, as some media and political do-gooders would have us believe.

The White House and Congress lean toward world government controls and piecemeal surrender of national sovereignty and freedoms in United Nations operations. For this, stalwarts such as Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Bill Clinton, Al Gore and the Republican majority in congress can take a bow.

They have joined the gun control advocates as a means for more and more control over our lives and eventual disarming of the American people in order to phase out our freedoms and dictate on their own terms.

WHAT OUR FOUNDERS DID

What exactly did our forefathers mean about bearing arms?

Thomas Jefferson wrote: "No man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."

Added Tench Coxe, an assistant secretary of the treasury in 1789: "The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but...in the hands of the people."

The Federalist papers are full of justifications for armed citizens.

In No. 29, Alexander Hamilton expounds on the far-fetched idea of any danger to our liberty from an armed militia.

In No. 46, James Madison wrote: "Americans possess the unique advantage of the right to bear arms over almost every other nation -- a barrier against the enterprises of ambition..."

THE CLINTON FIX

When President Clinton claims that a trigger-lock might have saved the six-year-old girl shot recently in Michigan by a six-year-old boy, he is not being realistic.

After all, is it realistic to expect that a trigger-lock would concern the little fellow's guardian -- a drug dealer with two stolen guns and a friend who leaves guns lying around the house?

Lawsuits threatened against gun manufacturers for crimes committed with guns caused Smith & Wesson to sign a "voluntary" gun control agreement -- something our laws do not require.

Gun manufacturers, Glock Inc. and Browning, refused to sign. New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer warned: "If you do not, bankruptcy lawyers will be at your door."

This is pure coercion and a frightening example of bold tyranny.

THE FIX

At two o'clock one February morning, Bricie Tribble, an elderly lady in Mesa, Ariz., heard noises downstairs at her home. She investigated with her trusty .45 caliber pistol -- which has no trigger-lock -- and found a beg burly burglar robbing her blind.

Mrs. Tribble shot the invader -- a one-shot conclusion to a chance meeting.

Earlier, police found that this burglar had abducted a young woman, raped and shot her. A nervous and frustrated Mrs. Tribble, fumbling for a trigger-lock, could have made herself a victim, too.

NOT A FIX

Trigger-locks are no sure-fire fix -- just another encroachment on the people's right to bear arms.

Gov. Parris Glendenning (D) proudly spearheaded Maryland as the first state to mandate trigger-locks.

At a recent news conference, however, Glendanning was asked to demonstrate the "safety feature" and couldn't unlock the handgun. This fiasco was later featured in a commercial by the National Rifle Association (NRA) to demonstrate that a criminal won't wait for some nervous Nellie to unlock a legal gun, but, instead, will fire his own gun.

Fortunately, the NRA is in the forefront to protect our constitutional rights to "keep and bear arms."

Outlawing so-called assault rifles is not the answer, either. Nor is wild-eyed gun control.

Self-control, family values and virtue are solutions to the moral anarchy that produces gun violence in our country.


The SPOTLIGHT June 5, 2000

Red Light Cameras

Cameras set up at slights to catch drivers who run red lights exposed more than the speeders. It uncovered some real discrepancies with the traffic law.

By F.C. Blahut

Has the police department in your town installed cameras at certain key intersections to catch people running red lights?

It's the latest trend. Vienna, Va., a Washington, D.C. suburb, is typical. Or is it? And is that good?

Sold to the public as a two-pronged effort -- an attack on reckless drivers and scoff laws and a safety measure to reduce accidents -- the idea is the darling of the mainstream media.

In Vienna, Va., the town installed cameras to enforce traffic laws at three of its 13 signalized intersections late last year.

Enter the National Motorists Association (NMA), which discovered some interesting statistics.

In 1997, there were 100 red light citations issued for the entire year. After eight months of camera enforcement at only three intersections, approximately 2,357 citations had been issued. Were the cops really missing that many red light runners?

The figures alarmed NMA member Gene Quinn, according to the National Motorists Association News (May/June, 2000).

In January, Quinn began measuring the yellow light time (cops and traffic control people like the term "amber," but the hoi polloi still say "yellow") given drivers at the intersections with cameras and without.

CHECK THE LAW

Then he checked the engineering codes and the Virginia state laws relating to yellow light time. He discovered that 33 percent of the intersections measured, including one photo-enforced intersection, failed to give even the minimum yellow light time needed to make a so-called "safe" s.

None of the intersections provided the minimum yellow light time required for safe passage and clearance of the intersection.

As of May, the yellow light time provided to drivers was still below the minimum required by state law, says the NMA.

Quinn contacted his town's officials and they have promised to do something about the timing. But will they be re turning the fines paid by uninformed motorists? Not yet.

Quinn contacted the NMA and enlisted the aid of other interested motorists in his area and they have been measuring the timing of yellow lights against state laws. The results are not encouraging.

So far, says the NMA, "all of the intersections measured have failed to provide the minimum yellow light time required" for a vehicle to make safe passage and clearance of an intersection and many fail to provide sufficient yellow light time to s.

According to Virginia law -- and probably the law in your state -- drivers are entitled to the yellow light time to accomplish both of these tasks.

If you've been cited for running a red light, you might want to check the timing of the yellow light, says the NMA.

Even local officials have to obey the law.


The SPOTLIGHT June 12, 2000

SPOTLIGHT Wins Distinguished Media Award

The SPOTLIGHT has done it again, winning plaudits for covering news that the big media either can not -- or will not -- report.

By Michael Collins Piper

Project Censored, the prestigious media monitoring project based at Sonoma State University in California, has named The SPOTLIGHT as among the publications that reported one of the stories "censored" by the major media.

Cited for honorable mention was an Aug. 2, 1999, story by SPOTLIGHT staff writer Margo Turner reporting that the International Action Center headed by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark had charged President Clinton and other NATO leaders with war crimes carried out during the NATO attack on Yugoslavia. The story reported that the U.S. and NATO deliberately targeted Yugoslavian civilians and civilian infrastructure.

The SPOTLIGHT story was among 30 stories cited for honorable mention by Project Censored, which also ranked the 25 most censored stories for 1999.

Miss Turner reacted to the honorable mention of her story, saying, "Since I've joined The SPOTLIGHT, I've had a free hand in covering issues that I'm interested in, such as the subject of the story honored by Project Censored, so this is a particular and most unexpected thrill for me. I appreciate the honor."

According to SPOTLIGHT Managing Editor Christopher J. Petherick, "We're quite honored that Margo's story was among those selected this year by Project Censored. Bringing the news that the rest of the media does not report is what we're all about, so it's good to see that a respected group such as Project Censored has acknowledged our efforts."

Some 175 faculty and students at Sonoma State University participated in the balloting, along with a host of nationally known judges including Dr. George Gerbner, dean emeritus of the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania; noted political analyst Michael Parenti; Jack L. Nelson, professor of the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University; and Howard Zinn, professor emeritus of political science at Boston University, among many other prominent names in media and education.

What is interesting is that of the stories deemed by Project Censored to be the five most censored stories of 1999, The SPOTLIGHT actually had also reported on various aspects of no less than four of them (not only in 1999 but in previous years as well):

• Multinational corporations profit from international brutality;

• Pharmaceutical companies put profits before need;

• Financially bloated American Cancer Society fails to prevent cancer; and

• Turkey destroys Kurdish villages with U.S. weapons.

Project Censored also cited the story "American sweatshops sew U.S. military uniforms," although that was the one story (of the five) that The SPOTLIGHT did not report.

In 1991, Project Censored handed The SPOTLIGHT, not one, but two, awards for publishing two of the 10 most censored stories of 1990. That year, Project Censored declared The SPOTLIGHT's report that the Bush ad ministration had effectively given Sad dam Hussein a "green light" to invade Kuwait to be the "number one" most censored story of the year -- ignored by the mainstream media in America.

The other SPOTLIGHT story noted by Project Censored among the 10 most censored stories of 1990 dealt with a controversial so-called "anti-crime bill" introduced in Congress that, if enacted, would have swept aside the guarantees of the Bill of Rights. Fortunately, the measure was never approved, largely because of the publicity generated by The SPOTLIGHT's report.

On Feb. 25, 1991, a Public Broad casting Service television special, Moyers -- Project Censored, hosted by well-known "mainstream" journalist and former White House press secretary Bill Moyers, featured and cited The SPOT LIGHT's scoop on the Bush administration's actions which (wittingly or unwittingly) set the stage for the Persian Gulf war.


The SPOTLIGHT June 12, 2000

Bilderberg Confers Amidst Fears of Detection, Publicity

The shadowy cabal known as Bilderberg felt the pressure from unwanted publicity as conferees gathered in Belgium and skulked to their secret meeting place like Mafia dons.

By James P. Tucker Jr.

Bilderberg luminaries quickly learned taht their most strenuous attempt at secrecy -- on of their traditional extreme measures -- failed again.

The camaraderie remained, but it was less jovial as Bilderberg staffers and other arrivals at the Chateau du Lac about 20 miles from Brussels, Belgium- greeted each other with solemn handshakes but without the hearty laughter and back-slapping of earlier years.

From the onset, according to Bilderberg participants, they had been determined to duck the wave of publicity that has washed over them in recent years.

That's why they first chose to return to a luxury resort a a high mountain in Telfs, Austria, about 20 miles from Innsbruck.

When Bilderberg met there in 1988, they all arrived by helicopter and the gate was heavily guarded. The SPOTLIGHT penetrated, but it was difficult.

Recently, because Israel and the international community objected to the results of a democratic election in Austria, Bilderberg chose the politically correct path and canceled its arrangement, officials of the Inter-Alpen Resort told The SPOTLIGHT.

But Bilderberg learned that it is difficult to find a remote, luxury resort willing to risk liability by canceling events and reservations so the establishment can be sealed off by private security, local police and the army of the host country.

They found a home here at the Chateau du Lac, which is owned by the European Common Market and, while accepting guest, goes to great efforts to keep a "low profile".

The five-star resort is not listed in Michelin's Year 2000 Book of Five-Star Hotels, Belgian edition. It is hard for travel agents to get information about it on computers. Geographically it is well tailored for Bilderberg: miles from other establishments.

Bilderberg went to extreme lengths to keep the site secret. Participants themselves still thought, for weeks after the cancellation, they were going to Telfs. Many knew only that they were being flown to brussels but not where the limos would take them.

POST REPORTS BOGUS INFO

The Washington Post stooped to a new low by actually publishing false information.

The Post has been represented by its publisher at Bilderberg since 1954, when the late Philip Graham would attend. When Graham died, his wife Katharine became publisher, attending almost all Bilderberg meetings. The torch has passed in recent years to her son Donald. Usually, associated editor Jim Hoagland attends with young Graham.

Hoagland refused to pick up the phone but, when pressed, his staff said he is not attending Bilderberg this year -- one of the numerous casualties as Bilderberg cut back participation to reduce the risk of leaks.

Donald Graham is attending and also refused to pick up the phone. His staff refused to disclosed the location. The Post expressed no concern about public officials conducting public business behind closed doors.

On March 16, in the middle of a story on page 18 about many groups boycotting Austria, the Post reported that Bilderberg had "decamped to Switzerland." This was only the third time in at least a decade that the Post ever used the word "Bilderberg."

ONE TIME AND THEN AGAIN

On the first occasion, the Post mentioned, buried in a lengthy profile of then-Vice President Dan Quayle that he had attended a Bilderberg confab. The second time was in a profile of "super lawyer" and Bilderberger, Vernon Jordan, when editors let it slip that in 1991 then-Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas had attended the Bilderberg meeting in Germany.

Some of the European press picked up on the Post story and reported Bilderberg would meet somewhere in Switzerland. Some publications were told Bern, Switzerland. Others were told Davos, Switzerland, scene of more public international conferences.

The Post's false report was widely circulated, but the truth finally got its boots on and caught up.


The SPOTLIGHT June 12, 2000

Citizens Combating Illegal Border Incursions

If you live in Arizona you have two choices: agree to see your country overrun with illegal aliens or defend your property.

By William Carmichael

Arizona became the preferred U.S. crossing point for Mexican illegal immigrants two years ago.

Now, with their efforts to restrict illegal immigrants' rights in California blocked by courts, some Americans are pushing to make Arizona the front line in a new battle against illegal immigration.

Neither major political party presidential candidate -- George W. Bush for the GOP and Vice President Al Gore for the Democrats -- wants to do anything about it.

It is left to citizens to protect themselves and their families and property -- and face problems with their own government.

Pro-illegal groups have protested to the government that the anti-illegal effort has created growing tension and has sparked fear in northern Mexican towns. It seems that illegals are worried that they won't be welcomed with open arms by legal United States citizens.

The situation also worries U.S. government officials, even those who so far have largely tolerated ranchers who set out with guns and dogs to look for Mexicans crossing the border.

In the southeastern Arizona town of Douglas, on the Mexican border, the once-overwhelming influx of illegal immigrants through residents' properties has declined due to the posting of additional Border Patrol agents. Despite the drop off, some ranchers and their supporters in the area have decided to build a political movement.

S THE INVASION

They concede that property damage is no longer the driving issue, as they once claimed. Instead, they are trying to spark a nationwide battle against what resident Larry Vance calls "a literal invasion."

Vance, the son of a Mexican immigrant, denies any connection to hate groups.

"I don't want any goofball groups around," he said.

But he said southern California "has already become a political extension of Mexico," and he patrols his land outside Douglas from a steel tower with his night-vision goggles.

With California's anti-immigrant Pro position 187 struck down by the courts and with little support from the state, several California-based groups came out to the nearby Arizona town of Sierra Vista in mid-May for a meeting to support the local movement.

Reporters at the meeting said that participants hailed rancher Roger Bar nett -- who patrols his 22,000-acre ranch with a high-powered rifle and dogs and has detained dozens of immigrants -- as a national hero.

"I get calls every week from people wanting to come here and help," Barnett said. He added that he has turned down the offers because he doesn't think they would be effective.

But Barnett says the damage in litter, lost cattle and downed fences on his property -- which has cost him about $15,000 -- "is not the primary thing" anymore.

"It's a principle," he said.

The ranchers face a potential legal fight from the Mexican government, which has hired a Washington law firm to take possible legal action against them for assault. They hate the Mexican government so much, they almost relish the prospect of a tussle.

"Maybe the troops need to go down and occupy Mexico," Barnett said.

That's what presidential hopeful Pat Buchanan has suggested -- bring U.S. troops home from overseas and put them on the borders to prevent the illegal invasion that is threatening to overwhelm the country.

Despite pressure from Mexico, the U.S. government has paid little more than lip service to discourage the movement. The government argues it can't stop U.S. citizens from patrolling their own private property, though there are reports that some ranchers have taken to detaining immigrants on roads outside their land.

Local, state and federal authorities have never found an immigrant willing to lodge a complaint against the ranchers. Vance said one local official told him to "stay within the law, so I can stay on your side."

The patrol's Tucson sector chief, David Aguilar, concedes the ranchers "are an assistance, in the sense that they're our eyes and ears" in remote areas around the border.

But Aguilar said the Border Patrol is concerned about the potential danger of citizen detentions. His second-in-command, Carlos Carrillo, said there has been an increase in incidents of violence since the ranchers' movement started a year ago.

It is undeniable that illegal immigrants have frightened residents and caused property damage since they began making Arizona their main crossing point.


The SPOTLIGHT June 19, 2000

The Bilderberg 2000 Agenda: Global Control, Censorship

The hot issues on Bilderberg's 2000 agenda include pushing a global gendarmerie, using the environment as a stepping-stone to global power and keeping its critics out of the press.

By James P. Tucker Jr.

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Bilderberg, though confined and disorganized, nevertheless had a full agenda while meeting here June 1-3.

• Making Sierra Leone a United Nations protectorate, financing the program by mining diamonds left untouched while blood is being spilled.

• Creating a global Environment Commission -- not for the sake of conservation but for more United Nations control of once-sovereign nations.

• Speeding Europe's advancement into a single state as part of the larger plan to create a world government.

• Increasing interest rates throughout the world for the enrichment of international financiers.

• Keeping Americans ignorant of presidential candidate Pat Buchanan's views by preventing newspapers and broadcast networks from giving more than token coverage of his presidential campaign.

For the first time, all Bilderberg participants were unable to be sheltered in the same luxury resort. They had been scheduled to meet near Innsbruck, Austria, but called it off after Israel black listed Austria.

They found out they were unable to commandeer such quarters on short notice. Thus, Bilderberg was confined to a five-star resort that only accommodates 120 -- the normal number of actual participants without accounting for staff and valets.

Because of their smaller number, they were calling it a meeting of the "steering committee." It was to have been their annual spring meeting. However, some support staff was accommodated by surrounding villas, which are also part of the five-star Chateau du Lac, or Castle by the Lake.

Bilderberg was forced to shorten its meeting by a day, leaving on Sunday morning instead of Monday. This had never happened before in Bilderberg's 46-year history.

The regulars -- David Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger and such -- were all present.

Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) appeared again, after their maiden Bilderberg meeting in Portugal a year ago. This means Bilder berg believes they will be useful. Hagel is on George W.'s short list of Republican vice presidential candidates.

BACK TO AFRICA

Bilderberg's plan for a UN takeover of Sierra Leone was revealed by Alexis Kela of La Radio Africaine.

Kela covered the European Commission and European Parliament in Brus sels, along with one of his fellow broadcasters.

Shortly before Bilderberg luminaries began gathering at the Chateau du Lac, about 15 miles outside Brussels, Kela's team was poised at the entrance to the Hilton International in downtown Brussels. They explained they were waiting for the prime minister of the African country of Niger.

After the meeting, Kela and his associate said the prime minister was assured by Bilderberg that the plan to make Sierra Leone a UN protectorate "was not a return to colonialism but only an effort to end the fighting and the poverty that leads to more bloodshed."

A "trusteeship" of five to 10 years could turn everything around, the Bilderberg representatives reportedly told the prime minister.

The deal could be financed by selling diamonds, according to Kela.

In 1999, Sierra Leone exported only $31 million in diamonds while Liberia, with no significant diamond deposits, ex ported $298 million.

James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, presented a new report by his organization at Bilderberg acknowledging that much of African aid -- the lion's share of which is paid by American taxpayers -- has been wasted by inefficiency and corruption.

But, predictably, Wolfensohn called for more handouts, claiming a "window of opportunity to reverse the region's marginalization."

Wolfensohn also called for greater African involvement in "global negotiations that shape the world trading system."

ENVIRONMENT

The global environmental authority was known to be on the Bilderberg agenda in advance as a means of laying another level of world authority on the UN bureaucracy, rather than cleaning the air and water and preserving the world's natural resources.

"For these industrialists to be worrying about preserving the environment is analogous to a billy goat taking care of a cabbage patch," said a high State Depart ment official and veteran Bilderberg watch er.

THE 'CONVENTION'

There was much communication among Bilderberg leaders and officials of the European Union (EU), who were meet ing a short distance away in Brussels.

Some EU officials were summoned to the Chateau du Lac periodically to receive updates on conference talks.

At the same time Bilderberg was meeting, 62 men who called themselves the "Convention" were preparing a new charter for the EU. A draft of the new charter, effectively a written constitution for the EU, is to be ready for consideration by October. It is to be adopted at the EU summit in Nice, France, in December.

Bilderberg reportedly communicated with President Clinton, who was only 50 miles away in Aachen, Germany. Clinton was given the Charlemagne prize for his contribution to creating the "United States of Europe."

A Bilderberg member, Clinton is described as a "strong backer" of more political and economic integration of the European states.

It was impossible to determine if Clinton used a few hours of what the White House schedule calls "private time" in order to drop in at the Chateau du Lac.

When confronted, Bilderberg staff would only reply, "I can't say."

But Bilderberg's message to the "Commission" was the same as Clinton's: Write
a charter for the EU that turns Europe completely into a single superstate. The European Parliament already imposes laws on member states and the European Court already nullifies legislation passed by the once-sovereign nations.

But the "United States of Europe," Bilderberg told the EU, must also have a president and a strong cabinet -- a central government built on the American model.

Bilderberg instructed the money managers in the nations of Europe and North America to sharply increase interest rates in the months ahead to avoid "inflation." This would also enrich the money-changers and increase unemployment as investment capital dries up. It would also make labor cheaper, though still more expensive than in China and Africa, now being exploited by international financiers.

Bilderberg is not only concerned about Americans being exposed to Pat Buchanan's views but it now has a problem with Jean-Pierre Chevenement, interior minister of France, a self-described "left winger" who is jealous of his nation's sovereignty.

In responding to a speech by Joschka Fischer, Germany's foreign minister, who called for a federal Europe, Chevenement said Europe needs "strong nation-states" to defend itself against U.S-style globalization. He accused the Germans of trying to recreate the "Holy Roman Empire."

"The dismantling of states can only lead to the triumph of globalization" with Europe finding itself a "rich suburb of the American empire," Chevenement said.

The Europeans are having a hard time gagging Chevenement because, with such notable exceptions as Belgium, the media are less inhibited than in the United States, where Bilderberg has recruited high officials of the major newspapers and all broadcast networks.

But silencing Buchanan is crucial to Bilderberg. His views, when known, are shared by most Americans -- an America-first foreign policy, jealously guarding national sovereignty, limited government and low taxes. So the Bilderberg-controlled media are instructed to give Buchanan only token coverage with his positions noted only when it can be distorted into "anti-Semitism" or "racism."

Bilderberg considers it imperative to keep Buchanan out of the presidential debates for fear that if Americans see and hear him unfiltered, he would win the enthusiastic support of millions. More over, they know that Buchanan could turn Texas Gov. George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore into chopped liver in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation.


The SPOTLIGHT June 19, 2000

Buchanan Criticizes Washington Post

Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan blasted The Washington Post for its failure to report fairly and accurately on Buchanan's campaign. And the Post is lying by covering up its conflict of interest.

By Clay Potts

Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan has denounced The Washington Post for using "the power to fix the election" to stand "on the windpipe" of his Reform party.

In a blistering letter to Leonard Downie, executive editor of the Post, Buchanan assailed the newspaper for its heavy coverage of a California effort to keep him off the ballot, then ignoring the story about his victory in the struggle -- something others fully covered.

Buchanan's letter pinpointed the Post's cover-up of its conflict of interest and its bias:

"The Washington Post owns and operates one of the key polls that is charged with measuring whether our campaign has reached the 15 percent threshold for participation in the presidential debates.

"The Post is also one of the media companies that will determine whether our campaign is fully and fairly covered -- the only way we have a chance to reach the 15 percent.

"In brief, the media companies that control the polls -- NBC, CBS, CNN, Washington Post etc. -- also control our TV and press coverage, the decisive factor in whether we reach 15 percent."

What prompted Buchanan's June 5 letter was the Post's biased coverage of a rebellion in which Reform dissidents tried to keep him off the California ballot.

The Post's first story, although hardly an event that Buchanan would welcome, was fair, he said, and should be covered. It dealt with a dissident scheme to derail Buchanan's California campaign.

"So important was it, your reporter-pundit David Broder rushed to his post on the highly rated Sunday NBC show, Meet the Press, to gush about the devastation about to fall," Buchanan wrote. Then he quoted Broder on TV:

"Well, {Ralph] Nader is doing much better . . . he is running well ahead of Pat Buchanan in the polls. . . . The other interesting thing with Buchanan is that he is now for the first time running into real resistance from some elements in the Reform party . . . the California Reform party is on the verge of rejecting the Buchanan candidacy. I think our friend Mr. Buchanan may have problems within his own party."

But the same Sunday, Buchanan forces, joined by Reform allies, rolled back and routed the threat.

"On Monday, The New York Times and Washington Times gave extensive coverage to our victory," Buchanan wrote. "The Post, which had trumpeted the threat, ignored our triumph. Not one word."

This is "not another complaint about the anti-Buchanan animus of the Post -- that is not news," Buchanan wrote. "This is rather a request that you review the inherent conflict-of-interest your newspaper, given its bias, has in the 2000 presidential race."

Buchanan continued:

"To sum up, you have the power to fix the election of 2000; our fate is in the hands of our Big Media adversaries. You are standing on our windpipe, Mr. Downie."

This is a lesser problem for Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the Republican candidate-in-waiting, Buchanan said, because he has the finances to help offset media bias.

"Republicans will take in $250 million in 'soft money' from corporate buyers of public policy and his campaign will get $65 million in federal funds," Buchanan said. "He will have the cash to compensate for media bias."

But "this situation does represent one hellish problem for us, as our campaign will get only $12.5 million and I do not take 'soft money,' " Buchanan said.

His campaign "is dependent on fair and comprehensive coverage by Big Media institutions that also own and operate the polls that will determine if we get that 15 percent" target for joining the presidential debates, Buchanan said.

"That, Mr. Downie, is why I am bringing up the transparently one-sided coverage of that California battle," Buchanan wrote. "You may guffaw at the suggestion, but, to us, a hostile press is the greatest impediment we face to getting in the debates, which is the only opportunity we will have to get our case before the American people."

The Post's conflict "is as obvious as is the conflict in having the Commission on Presidential Debates itself controlled by partisan Democrats and Republicans, with no Reform party representation," Buchanan wrote.

In Mexico, he noted, all six candidates participated in the first presidential debate. And whenever U.S. and UN observers go abroad to monitor elections, a lack of media coverage for challengers is considered a cause for decertifying an election.

"Should not the United States try to live up to election standards that it insists be met in Tadjikistan, Bosnia and Peru?" Buchanan asked Downie.


The SPOTLIGHT June 19, 2000

Power Elite Gather for Bilderberg 2000; Can't Escape Media Spotlight

The most recent confab of the shadowy Bilderberg cabal attracted the attention of more than just The SPOTLIGHT and some of the other usual party crashers.

By James P. Tucker Jr.

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Despite choosing a site where the state subsidizes the press; where reporters and the public are intimidated; and where a massive campaign of disinformation was easily conducted, Liberty Lobby, publisher of The SPOTLIGHT, finally won against Bilderberg's blackout attempts.

Victory came when a Brussels paper, DeMorgen, carried a major page one story about Bilderberg hiding out behind armed guards at the Chateau du Lac. Inside, on page 7, another detailed story and a photo of two Bilderberg participants strolling past the lake was published.

DeMorgen reporter Sue Somers had heard about the dramatic sealing off of the five-star Chateau du Lac and appeared because she thought it had something to do with the world soccer championships, which have Europe and the United Kingdom in the grip of great excitement.

SPOTLIGHT photographer-reporter Christopher Bollyn, who is fluent in French and several other languages, explained the situation to Miss Somers, giving her a copy of The SPOTLIGHT's special feature, Who's Hiding Inside the Chateau du Lac? * (This feature was so in demand that the hundreds of copies available were exhausted and supporters made machine copies.)

Miss Somers and her colleague, Walter DeBock, called their newspaper and remained at the chateau, working on a Bilderberg story. Their work appeared the following day.

Meanwhile, other reporters from Bri tain, who had collaborated with The SPOTLIGHT at earlier Bilderberg sessions, appeared again in Brussels, assuring further exposure.

But it was the toughest fight ever as Bilderberg went even beyond its usual extreme efforts at secrecy.

It began in Washington as Bilderberg tried to divert reporters to the wrong country. The Washington Post reported the meeting would be in Switzerland. Post Publisher Donald Graham knew this was a lie because he attended the meeting near Brussels.

Bilderberg knew The SPOTLIGHT would be on hand when facts about the meeting were posted on Liberty Lobby's web site on May 18, said an angry policeman who was harassing and searching Herbots Didier, who was caught passing out issues of The SPOTLIGHT to an eager public.

Knowing that they had been uncovered, Bilderberg tried to divert all reporters and supporters to the NATO headquarters in downtown Brussels. They came dangerously close to succeeding.

I arrived in Brussels on May 29 for advance scouting. On May 30, I was led into conversation by a friendly, middle-aged man in a Bilderberg uniform -- pin-stripped suit -- at the Hilton International, where he was quartered.

Yes, some Bilderberg people will be at the chateau, the man said, but others will be staying elsewhere because of the limited (121 rooms) space. They would be shuttled each day to NATO headquarters, where they would do business.

"NATO headquarters is your target," he added, "and good luck."

I've had much experience with liars, having covered the Internal Revenue Service and broken bread with liberals, but this expert seemed believable. I called The SPOTLIGHT with this tentative information.

Another attempt to hide was by not taking over the hotel as an organization called "Bilderberg."

When I called to make reservations and was told the chateau was completely filled up, I said that I was to attend a meeting of a group called Bilderberg. No such group had made reservations, the hotel said.

Later, when Bilderberg shut the place down, they called themselves Bilderberg. And when I -- posing as a friendly trooper -- asked if the place had been secured for Bilderberg, plainclothesmen said, "yes."

My first visit to the Chateau du Lac was as a casual but thirsty tourist.

There, an employee explained that she would have to stop working after Wednesday but those who remained on the job were required to wear photo-ID badges. This sounded like a traditional Bilderberg shutdown.

Also it was learned that the chateau had several villas to accommodate more staff and participants.

By prearrangement, Bollyn had been able to check into the chateau on Wednesday, June 3, but had to check out by noon the next day. Bollyn called me at the Hilton to say the guards were being deployed and a tent was set up to hide the participants as they entered the chateau.

The SPOTLIGHT was called and advised that it would be a classic Bilderberg meeting: all participants disappearing behind armed guards, including state police and military troops, emerging only after the secret meetings ended.

MISINFORMATION

The resort is not owned by the European Union (EU) but by an English billionaire named John Martin. The Chateau du Lac's own literature describes it as "Belgian owned," which is understood to mean it was owned by the government.

Earlier, The SPOTLIGHT had been erroneously informed that it was owned by the EU.

But this is neither where efforts to suppress the news began nor ended.

Mark Delcour of Brussels had been in extensive contact with The SPOTLIGHT for a month, starting when it was only known that "all planes are flying to Brussels" while the site was still un known. The moment Delcour was called with the information, he alerted the Brussels media. Between them, Delcour and Didier had advised 60 others who normally would want to appear.

"They are intimidated," Delcour explained. "The press and the people are afraid of losing jobs and other forms of punishment. With the government subsidizing the press, they can stop the story."

Damien Mears, a freelance writer from London who had collaborated with me in 1998 at the Turnberry in Scotland, arrived and started calling reporters he knew at local newspapers.

At first, Mears said, they all seemed excited about Bilderberg. But when he would call back an hour later, all explained they had been forbidden to cover Bilderberg.

Earlier in the day, Mears had been threatened with arrest by the police if he did not leave even though he was on public property. He didn't and they didn't.

But Bollyn had a close call. Security men were at his side for hours as he photographed luminaries with a long-range lens.

"These two thugs were shadowing me," Bollyn said. "Whenever I tried to take a picture, they would get in the way but I was usually able to outrun them."

Bollyn, outrunning the "thugs," aimed his camera at George Soros and Carl Bildt.

"Then, the head of Belgian security came to me and said: 'If you keep running behind people, I'll jump on you,' " Bollyn added.

Bollyn avoided being taken by outracing the cops to a small restaurant on the edge of the compound. There, he waited for a cab that took him to the train station.

Didier was followed by guards armed with machine guns, he said. When sped, the guards were told by radio to ask him certain questions. That's when he learned that The SPOTLIGHT's web site had alerted Bilderberg.

They demanded Didier's identification. He gave them three cards -- all with different addresses. They painstakingly recorded it all.

Also present were people from the National Front in France and nationalists from Hungary and other countries.

TUCKER FOLLOWED

Stalking began on May 29 when I first began scouting the chateau. There was always one, but most often two, hotel personnel at my side as I roamed public areas as a tourist.

The "lead stalker" was later identified as Chrishe Voet, the hotel's banquet and conference manager. Another was Alain Vanbinst, the food and beverage manager.

Later, it was Vanbinst, who helped Bilderberg security harass Bollyn on the morning I was checking out.

The hotel had angered the few remaining guests, who loudly protested as they checked out that the noisy Bilderberg security setup had kept them up all night. One man refused to pay his bill for lodging because he was unable to sleep.

As Bollyn roamed the hotel on the morning he was to check out, he was constantly shadowed. Staff urged him to hurry up and check out. Bollyn pointed out that checkout time was noon, not 11 a.m. Hotel employees told him to stay in his room but Bollyn refused.

When checking out as his deadline approached, Bollyn strongly protested his treatment. Hotel personnel apologized profusely. By that time, they were much experienced at apologizing.

EXPOSED

But despite all the disinformation, intimidation and threats, Bilderberg has been covered and photographed.

More newspapermen from around Europe came streaming into Brussels after the DeMorgen story broke and pressure was brought on Bilderberg to open up. There was also a lengthy look at Bilderberg arrivals on a French TV station.

A source in the European Union provided the list of participants to The SPOTLIGHT. Then the Bilderberg staff hastily prepared its standard bland "press release," explaining they are nobodies doing nothing, with the list of participants attached.


The SPOTLIGHT June 26, 2000

Sour Grapes Over Buchanan

The "old guard" in the Reform Party is crying sour grapes over the fact that in every state the Buchanan brigade has been overwhelmingly supported.

By Clay Potts

Efforts to gag Reform Party presidential hopeful Pat Buchanan and keep his message from the American people have reached the extreme of proposing that the Reform Party nominate nobody for president.

Paul Truax, who founded the Texas chapter, proposed either abandoning the Reform Party Convention or nominating no presidential candidate during a meeting of the party's executive committee on June 5.

The information and minutes of the meeting were supplied by Buchanan-backer Linda Muller, the operator of Buchanan's email news update.

Traux, who is a close associate of Russell Verney, the party's first national chairman, and of founder Ross Perot, cited "threats of violence" in calling for no Reform Party candidate.

The minutes read:

Paul Truax raised an issue of concern about the ongoing threats of violence by Buchanan supporters and officials and bullying tactics of the Buchanan campaign in state after state. He requested an open discussion of the body about whether to postpone or cancel the national convention . . . extended discussion.

But The Houston Chronicle carried a detailed story on June 11 that implied no violence or irregular activities ever occurred involving the Buchanan Brigade.

The no-candidate proposal was apparently a backlash as a result of Buchanan angering the "old guard" of the Reform Party establishment by winning the delegates at the June 10 convention in Texas. Buchanan will have 32 of Texas' 33 delegates to the Reform Party's national nominating convention in Long Beach, Calif. in August.

Verney thought he was denouncing Buchanan when he said: "After this election is over, you will have a political party from which the radical right can run for office without kowtowing to moderate Republicans."

At the time the Buchanan Brigade was winning the Texas delegates, Buchanan was in Langhorne, Pa., accepting the nomination of the Pennsylvania Reform Party.

But Tim Haley, Buchanan's campaign director, was on hand to say "those allegations are outrageous" and his supporters "are just trying to go by the rules."

Efforts to muzzle Buchanan are a collaboration of Bilderberg, the Republican and Democratic parties and all who have a stake in maintaining the two-party system.

With little to distinguish between the two major parties, both politicians and the international financial elite are afraid to have Americans exposed to Buchanan's ideas because they are fresh and rooted deeply in American history.

By winning the Reform Party nomination, Buchanan will have $12.6 million in federal election funds to bring his message to America.

Buchanan will also be on the ballot in all 50 states, and if he rises to 15 percent in the polls, he must be included in the presidential debates.

Buchanan's possible appearance in the TV debates strikes fear in the hearts of his detractors. Millions who do not read newspapers and get only limited information from newscasts will be watching.

His detractors know that millions of these voters would rush to Buchanan's side after the debates.


The SPOTLIGHT June 26, 2000

Bilderberg Fallout Impacts World

This year's annual Bilderberg meeting is barely over and already Europe is feeling the effects.

By James P. Tucker Jr.

Just days after Bilderberg ordered interest rates increased worldwide, the European Central Bank (ECB) responded like a dog to the whistle. North America will be close behind.

The ECB increased its benchmark rate by half a point on June 8 in what the Bilderberg-controlled Washington Post approvingly described as "an unexpectedly bold move." It had been ordered just five days earlier by Bilderberg (SPOTLIGHT June 19).

Analysts said the increase to 4.25 percent on interest on loans to commercial banks was unexpectedly high but might help the sagging European currency, the euro.

David Rockefeller demanded the increase to enhance profits for financial institutions, such as his Chase Manhattan Bank, and to increase unemployment by reducing job-creating capital ventures. Higher unemployment means lower wages. (D. Rockefeller)>

Announcement of the interest rate increase came with a technical change in how the ECB conducts business. Instead of fixing the interest rate it charges member banks to borrow, the ECB will set a minimum rate and loan to banks that pay the highest interest rate.

In announcing the rate increase and minimum-rate policy, ECB President Willem Duisenberg called the actions "accommodative," which, in bank double-speak, indicates more rate increases, according to analysts.

But, in saying that the technical change "clears the horizon," Duisenberg was indicating that if member banks offer to pay enough above the new minimum, future formal increases may be avoided, analysts said.

Either way, bank profits will go up as employment goes down.

Thomas Mayer of the Goldman Sachs Group in Frankfurt, Germany, hailed the ECB action as "a bold move."

Goldman Sachs is always represented at Bilderberg. This year, John Thornton, its president, and Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, a member of the ECB's executive board, also attended last year.

"If it works, price stability and the euro should benefit," Mayer said. "The risk is that they lose control of interest rates."

The variable-rate system will help the ECB control interest rates, analysts said. The ECB routinely receives bids from banks for more than 100 times the amount of money it wants to disperse into the system as a means of controlling interest rates.

Under the new system, more like the Federal Reserve System, they said, successful bidders will have to pay more than the 4.25 percent minimum, forcing the costs of borrowing still higher for businesses and consumers.

"This will permit Bilderberg, through its control of the ECB and ability to manipulate interest rates, to dictate economic conditions in Eur ope -- whether there shall be high employment and prosperity, or economic slow downs and resulting unemployment -- whatever suits the selfish motives of international financiers," said a high official of the State Department and long-time reliable source.

He predicted similar actions in the United States and Canada and -- through its brother group, the Trilateral Commission -- in Japan and other Asian nations.

"It's about global control," he said.


The SPOTLIGHT June 26, 2000

Group Meets to Expose, Eradicate Vote Fraud

Did you ever wonder if elections in the United States were rigged? A government watchdog group plans a convention to discuss the issue.

By The SPOTLIGHT Staff

The Citizens for a Fair Vote Count Convention will take place Aug. 25-27 at the Greater Cincinnati Airport. This is the first international convention devoted to restoring honest elections and getting rid of easily rigged computerized vote counting systems.

Conferences will put "on the record" the evidence that TV networks have either censored events or, of those that did make it to the airwaves, attempted to make Americans forget about it. The event will also launch an action plan to get more Americans involved in the election process.

The SPOTLIGHT has consistently given comprehensive coverage to the Votescam issue when investigations into computerized fraud began to gather steam in the early 1980s.

Citizens for a Fair Vote Count Director Jim Condit Jr. said in an exclusive interview with The SPOTLIGHT that the event will show a shocking compilation of what the networks didn't want you to see, namely:

• Interview with Princeton University computer professor Howard J. Strauss, aired by CBS Evening News on election eve in 1988. Strauss tells Dan Rather: "When it comes to computerized elections, it's not a door without locks, it's a house without doors." There was never a follow-up to this report.

• Report by Mary Krutko of WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the only wiretapper ever to state in a deposition that he was involved in fixing an election.

• Jim and Ken Collier, authors of Votescam: The Stealing of America, being dragged hundreds of feet and thrown out of the Dade County, Fla., Board of Elections.

• Pat Buchanan on C-SPAN talking about the vote fraud against him in the
Iowa Caucus of 1996.

• Howard Phillips squarely addressing the vote fraud issue in his Labor Day, 1999, acceptance speech of the Constitution Party's nomination for president.

• Sen. Bob Smith on C-SPAN discussing the fact that all four networks called him the loser in the New Hampshire Senate race in 1996. "They forgot that in New Hampshire we count the votes before we declare the winner," said Smith. (N.H. is the only state where all votes are hand counted in the general election.)

Confirmed speakers are author and lecturer Devvy Kidd, who will speak about her own experiences with our "riggable" elections; Terry Hayvield, investigator, who will discuss the motives for the vote fraud establishment -- financial monopoly via "free trade" and mergers; and John Schull, who fought crooked elections in Texas.

Condit will give an overview of the vote fraud issue. Phyllis Collier will accept on behalf of her late husband, Jim Collier, and his brother Ken, a Lifetime Achievement Award for their tireless and uncompromising efforts to fight vote fraud and restore honest elections.

Brent Beleskey of Ontario, Canada, director of the International Voter Coalition, will lay bare the international vote-rigging establishment, its sinister goals and its propped-up "false opposition" to fight computerized elections in order to misdirect citizens who are waking up.

CURRENT PLANS

Current plans are for The SPOTLIGHT to be represented by Tom Valen tine, popular host of Radio Free America, who conducted the radio interview that changed America on the vote fraud issue. The broadcast with Condit explained how he and others proved the vote fraud against Buchanan and the people of Dubuque, Iowa, was perpetrated by the networks and their exit-poll company, Voter News Service, with full cooperation of the Iowa GOP state headquarters.

Since it is now effectively illegal for citizens to count or double-check the vote in 49 states, the situation could hardly be more serious. The once proud citizens of the United States are now treated no better by those running their government than Russians under communism or Third-Worlders under tin horn dictatorships. As communist ty rant Josef Stalin said: "Those who cast the votes decide nothing; those who count the votes decide everything."

"The army that emerges from this convention will take the message to the nation," Condit told The SPOTLIGHT. "We refuse to continue to live under this occupation government kept in power by big media lies, big media censorship, and computerized vote fraud. With a clear presidential alternative to Gush and Bore, the Citizens for a Fair Vote Count Convention will be the most important gathering of this election year. It's 1776 all over again."

For more information, please contact Citizens for a Fair Vote at (513) 389-7700.


The SPOTLIGHT June 26, 2000

Satellite Spy System Targets a Nun and a Princess?

The National Security Agency has been accused of using a super-eavesdropping satellite system to spy on controversial public figures, activist organizations and foreign governments.

By Mike Blair

What do the late Princess Diana, the late Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, Amnesty International, Christian Aid and the environmental group Green peace have in common?

They have been the targets of Echelon, the ultra-secret electronic spy agency operated by the National Security Agency (NSA) around the world in cooperation with Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Now that the European Parliament has voted to undertake an investigation of the activities of Echelon, former intelligence officers have been coming forward to reveal various activities of the global ultra-sophisticated electronic eavesdropping system, including how it pried into the electronic communications of humanitarian efforts of Princess Diana, Mother Teresa and the pope.

"Anybody who is politically active will eventually end up on the NSA's radar screen," said Wayne Madsen, who worked for NSA for 20 years.

According to Madsen, the NSA has been monitoring charities operating overseas because they may have access to details about controversial regimes.

Princess Diana, as an example, was tied to an international effort to ban land mines, which continue to cause thousands of deaths and injuries in former battle zones all over the world, usually involving innocent civilians, including children.

Margaret Newsham, an American computer software expert who worked during the 1980s at Echelon's giant listening post at Menwith Hill in Yorkshire, England, said of the spying effort: "I was aware that massive security violations were taking place. If these systems were for combating drugs or terrorism, that would be fine. But not for use in spying on individuals."

Echelon has the ability to monitor on a massive scale all telecommunications in the world simultaneously. The high-tech system uses supercomputers called "dictionaries" to process billions of communications. After picking up "trigger words," it red-flags them for further scrutiny by NSA analysts.

Electronic intelligence experts suspect that Echelon has eavesdropped on millions of conversations of Americans and citizens of countries believed to be U.S. allies.

See also:

Brits Weary of U.S. Eavesdropping (SPOTLIGHT Feb. 16, 1998)
Snooping Program Extends East and West (SPOTLIGHT Aug. 23, 1999)


The SPOTLIGHT June 26, 2000

Study Links Vaccines to Autism; Poses Risk for Pregnant Moms

Imagine the militancy with which organized medicine would attack a simple, herbal immune-system enhancer if it were learned that it affected a person negatively after using it. Now Imagine how it is that vaccines can be linked to the nation's epidemic of autistic children yet organized medicine unscientifically explains away and connection as merely coincidental.

By Don Harkins

Vaccine-autism link researcher Dr. F. Edward Yazbak has concluded that the MMR (measles, mumps, rubeola) vaccine, when given to pregnant mothers and infant children, must be considered a factor in the increasing number of children in this nation who have been diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders.

Autism is a permanent psychological disorder that prevents children from being able to relate emotionally to parents or anybody outside of themselves. Also called childhood schizophrenia, afflicted children are extremely withdrawn and are impenetrably self-absorbed.

According to a study released in March 1999, incidence of autism in California has increased 273 percent over the last 10 years -- 1,685 new cases reported in 1999 alone. A national study entitled, Autism 99, A National Emergency (Yazbak, 1999), that was bases upon yearly reports to congress from the Department of Education, indicates a national trend in the incidence of autism that is consistent with the California model. Figures for Maryland indicate a 500 percent increase in incidents of autism over the last decade. Brick Township, N.J. reports that one in 149 children develop autism.

MMR, PREGNANCY AND AUTISM

Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and vaccine manufacturers warn that the MMR vaccine should not be given to pregnant women. However, many pregnant women are given the vaccine as a requirement for employment or higher education. Some are even re-vaccinated because they were determined to not have developed antibodies to the three diseases after vaccination.

Yazbak's initial study with regard to pregnancy and MMR involved seven women, six who received live virus MMR and one who received a hepatitis B vaccine after an MMR booster five months prior to conception.

"All of the children who resulted from these pregnancies have had developmental problems," wrote Yazbak in his peer-reviewed report. "Six of the seven (85 percent) were diagnosed with autism and the seventh seems to exhibit symptoms often associated with autistic spectrum disorders."

Among Yazabak's logical conclusions is that, "If live virus vaccination during early pregnancy or several months prior to conception is in any way a factor in the development of autism, than a similar relationship between autism and live virus vaccination in general should be seriously investigated by independent, longitudinal large scale studies."

Yazbak's conclusion also questioned the logic behind supporting ongoing research to develop new vaccines designed to deliver disease "immunity" to both the mother and her infant in utero.

The main study, which Yazbak expects to be completed soon, will include data that has been gathered from 240 mothers who were vaccinated with MMR during pregnancy.

According to the California Education department (CED), in 1998 the West Coast state had a public school population of 5,727,305 students, 632,238 of whom were enrolled in special education classes.

CED stats also show a four-fold increase in autism since 1993 -- up from 2,157 cases to 8,084 cases by April 1999.

As mentioned previously, Brick Township has an extremely high rate of autism with 40 cases in a population of 6,000 children.

In 1991, New Jersey reported 241 cases of autism in a population of 1,915,403 students. By 1997, the student population had only marginally increased to 2,082,706 while reported cases of autism had escalated to 1,634 -- nearly an eight-fold increase in just seven years.

Hazbak pulled the figures for Illinois to determine if the dramatic increases of autism cases experienced on the East and West Coasts were represented in the nation's heartland as well.

In 1991, Illinois reported a public school population of 111,326, of which there were 317 cases (.28 percent) of autism. The percentage rates of autism have increased steadily until figures released for 1997 show that 1.83 percent of the state's 126,065 students were diagnosed as autistic.

Other states chosen at random, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Washington, Missouri and Rhode Island, report steady increases in autism cases that are consistent with New Jersey, California and Illinois.

There is no way to deny that the dramatic increase in numbers of autistic children, a trend that shows no sign of abating, represents a national emergency. What sociological perils await a nation where 2 percent of its people are destined to be terminally institutionalized for being unable to see outside of themselves?

Most on-going research into the cause of autism, which is being performed in the same research facilities that develop vaccines, is looking for a responsibility-absolving genetic cause of the disease.

Yazbak believes this research has yet to produce any major findings and is not likely to do so. It did, he contends, it would not result in a reduction in the incidence of autism.

"Research should, therefore, be focused on any and all new environmental insults affecting this generation of children and their parents," Yazbak observed and added that the federal government should commission "independent and far-reaching studies of all possible factors.

Beyond a doubt, children who are born with or have developed autism since 1990 are members of the most vaccinated generation in American history. Prior to the current generation, the parent of these children could claim to be the most vaccinated generation of Americans in history.

Considering that the nation's public health "experts" currently recommend 36 vaccinations by the age of five and many parents have been vaccinated their entire lives with the recommended regimen plus tetanus boosters and periodic hepatitis A and B inoculations, Yazbak determined it prudent to scientifically explore the relationship between vaccines and autism.

A different series of 22 mothers who had received live virus vaccine prior to conception or during pregnancy were studied.

"Every one of them has at least on child with autism," Yazbak reported. "Several mothers who were in good health and had normal children report that after they were re-vaccinated with MMR or rubella vaccines they experienced health problems; they had miscarriages or delivered prematurely; they still remained rubella-susceptible; and their children developed autism and other disabilities."

Tetanus and rabies shots during pregnancy resulted in early onset autism in both resultant children.

In many cases, the autism of these 22 women's children began to manifest or worsen after the children received their first MMR vaccination.

"In one case, clinical autism started at the age of 11 months after chickenpox," Yazbak noted.

Yazbak's interest in the relationship between autism and vaccines was prompted by the birth of an autistic grandchild after his daughter had received two MMR boosters as an adult. His findings prove to the layperson that there is a relationship between vaccinations, particularly the MMR, and autism.

His research also indicates that there might be some relationship between the development of autism after a child born to a mother with vaccine-induced disease antibodies is himself vaccinated.

To date, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatricians, the CDC, the FDA, the Department of Health and Human Services, pharmaceutical companies and Congress have all maintained the position that there is absolutely no autism-vaccination correlation and that the onset of autism around the time of an MMR vaccination is purely coincidence.

Murder By Injection by Eustace Mullins is available at The Liberty Library for $20. Hardback, 372 pages, item #127.


The SPOTLIGHT June 26, 2000

Toxic Feminine Products Affect Millions of Women

U.S. manufacturers routinely use toxic chemicals like bleach and asbestos in their so-called "feminine hygiene products."

By Don Harkins and Ingri Cassel

Like so many other products that have been granted approval by federal regulatory agencies as being safe, the results are in and women who repeatedly use dioxin-bleached pads and tampons containing asbestos and rayon to absorb their monthly menstrual flow are leaving themselves open to serious health problems.

The list of medical complications from toxic sanitary products include immune system suppression, toxic shock syndrome, endometriosis, birth canal cysts and infections that can lead to the development of reproductive tract cancer and sterility.

Dr. Clyde Reynolds of Forest Grove, Ore., recently identified the origin of one of this patient's many ailments as being her choice of "feminine protection."

"This young woman (in her early 40s) was an extremely active and physically fit Olympic-class cyclist who was tired all of the time and had developed discharge and a cyst on her cervix," explained Reynolds, who also described how a painful and itchy rash spread from her pelvic area to her inner thighs, abdomen, underarms and neck.

The experienced naturopath went through the drill of testing the woman for allergies to fabrics she wore, body and laundry soaps she used, chemicals to which she ws exposed and every other thing in her environment that cold possibly be responsible for her steadily deteriorating condition.

"After a lot of testing, I became convinced that the tampons she had been using were the source of her problems," Reynolds said. "since switching to all cotton tampons, her symptoms have disappeared and have not recurred in almost eight months."

DIOXIN IN TAMPONS

There are more than 75 known isomers of dioxin, which is also known as TCDD. According to Taber's Medical Dictionary, 18th Edition, 1997: "This chemical is extremely important because of its being an unwanted and undesirable contaminant in widely used herbicides and preservatives."

Dioxin is a cumulative poison that does not readily metabolize. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that there are no levels of dioxin exposure that are safe.

Tabor's goes on to say that low-level exposure to dioxin can cause liver damage, peripheral neuropathy, central nervous system changes and psychiatric difficulties," and that dioxin,"...is one of the most toxic substances to which workers in the industrial and agricultural environment can be exposed."

Taber's concludes its description of dioxin by directing the reader to, "SEE: Agent Orange...."

Cr Zane Guard was a family practitioner in Sturgeon, Mo., in 1979, when a trainload of Monsanto pesticides containing just a few ounces of the dioxin toxin caused all ground life within three of the spill to die. According to Guard, who has since become a pioneer in the field of clinical ecology, to this day, Sturgeon's incidence of cancer is still several times higher than the national average.

Women should also be wary of feminine hygiene products that contain asbestos.

Identified as a carcinogen in the 1970s, the removal and disposal of all asbestos-containing building materials became a manic, nation-wide obsession.

Essence magazine recently reported that companies include asbestos in their products for no other reason than to boost sales and usage because asbestos promotes menstrual flow.

The manufacturers of feminine products have known since at least 1989 that their wares are of toxicological concern to their users. The May/June 1995 edition of Ms. Magazine reported that, in 1989, activists in England mounted a campaign against chlorine bleaching of tampons and pads. It reportedly took six weeks 50,000 letters to convince the manufacturers of these products to replace toxic bleach with non-toxic oxygen bleach.

Though women in countries all over the world have lobbied for and have been given non-toxic sanitary products, American women are still in the dark about the problem.

Tampax (Tambrands), Playtex, O.B. and Kotex products contain these known toxins. By using 100 percent cotton pads instead of tampons, women can also minimize their exposure to harsh toxins.


The SPOTLIGHT June 26, 2000

Virus Scare Carries Military Overtones

Are feds using bugs to spread designer diseases?

By The SPOTLIGHT Staff

Last September it was widely reported that New York Mayor Fudy Guiliani (R) ordered that his city be sprayed with Malathion to kill mosquitoes that apparently carried an exotic from of encephalitis. The disease had been responsible for at least one death.

New evidence may reveal that defense contractors created the new viral strain for which a vaccine must be developed after being unleashed upon the public.

But this is not just a theory.

According to a Sept. 29, 1999, article in Newsday, Manhattan's Rockefeller University has been experimenting with the West Nile virus since the 1950s.

"Epidemiologists suspect that the West Nile virus has for the first time been isolated in human and animals in the Western Hemisphere, but the virus has bor decades made its home in several U.S. research laboratories. including Rockefeller University in Manhattan and Yale University in New Haven, Conn.," wrote Newsday.

At the time the story was big and was receiving massive news coverage. Airplanes and helicopters were spraying Malathion from the air, biohazard gear-bedecked personnel were spraying Malathion from the ground. Guiliani announced that the Malathion is safe and will not harm the children.

Malathion was banned in Japan in 1976 because it was unsafe. It is a carcinogenic cholinesterase inhibitor that causes people to develop spastic symptoms.

The people of New York were so fearful of the outbreak that they not only allowed the government to spray them with thousands of gallons of extremely toxic pesticides, they allowed Centers for Disease control and Prevention employees to go door-to-door, taking blood samples and administering experimental vaccines -- all because somebody reportedly died from a mosquito bite.

FEDS OWN VIRUS

On Nov. 28, 1994, the pharmaceutical company OraVax, Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., applied for "an exclusive, royalty-bearing, revocable license of U.S. Patent Application Serial Number 08/348,882 entitled 'Infectious DNA Clones of Japanese Encephalitis Virus and Attenuated Strains Japanese Encephalitis Virus Made from the Clones'...Rights to this invention are owned by the United States Government as represented by the secretary of the Army."

It is interesting to note that the origins of all three influenza epidemics this century have been traced to military installations.

Evil though it may sound, there is precedent to suggest that our government is capable of designing a disease, releasing it to the Public and then inoculating people with experimental vaccines.

In an under reported comment by the EPA last February, it was stated that the EPA was planning to spray the nation's wetlands this summer to prevent the proliferation of mosquitoes, presumably to prevent the spread of what ever designer form of encephalitis they may be circulating.

If that is the case. the spraying, blood sampling and inoculating of the people of New York city would appear to have been a practice session.


The SPOTLIGHT June 26, 2000

Feds 'Prepare' U.S. For Next Influenza Pandemic

Last summer The SPOTLIGHT published a story regarding the inevitability of a worldwide influenza pandemic and the police-state mechanisms that will be triggered to handle chaos. The following updates the government's planned pandemic program.

By The Idaho Observer

The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) has been spreading the word of the pending Center for Disease Control broadcast. The IAC promotes mass and mandatory vaccination as sound public health policy no matter how many children are hurt as a result of being vaccinated.

"The next influenza pandemic: Not if, but when is the central message of the annual Preparing for the Next Influenza Pandemic satellite broadcast sponsored by the Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC). Public health officials who attend this broadcast will learn about strategies to address community needs during the next influenza pandemic. Originally scheduled for June, this year's broadcast has been rescheduled for Thursday, July 13," an IAC spokesperson explained.

CDC promotional literature for the program stated, "Epidemiologist agree that the probability is high that another dangerous new strain of the influenza virus will emerge. In an effort to lessen the worldwide morbidity and mortality that such a strain will cause, public health experts from federal, state and local agencies have developed state and local guidelines to prepare for the next influenza pandemic and its anticipated vaccine shortage and disruption of social and community services. This live, interactive satellite broadcast will update local, state and national plans, describe the federal role in the case of pandemic influenza as well as provide recommendations for antiviral drug use and triage and infection control measures."

For more information on this course, you can visit the CDC's Public Health Training Network web site at: http://www.cdc.gov/phtn/pandemic/pandemicflu.htm

Updates to the planning guide and general broadcast information will be made available on this web site prior to July 13.

A guidebook titled Pandemic Influenza: A Planning Guide for State and Local Officials (Draft 2.1) will be the text for the course. To download this document online, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/od/nvpo/pandemicflu.htm.

To register or to receive information about course materials and continuing education, contact your state immunization coordinator. For a list of state immunization coordinators and their phone numbers, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/nip/ed/coordinationors.htm.

Ingri Cassel, president of the North Idaho Chapter of Vaccination Liberation will attend the broadcast. A full report of the program will be published in the later editions of Here's to Your Health.

For more information contact Cassel at: Vaccination Liberation, North Idaho Chapter P.O. Box 1444, Coeur d'Alene Idaho 83858-1353 or call (208) 255-2307 or email: vaclib@dmi.net.