Junk and Luxury

One of the fastest ways to fail in life is to work so hard your manager will think you're after his job. In 1976, one year before our semi-blissful marriage of five years, my ex-wife and I went on a sailing adventure in the West Indies. We paid good money to be deckhands on a 248-foot, four-mast schooner, island-hopping the Leeward Islands of St. Martins, St. Barts, St Eustatius, St. Kitts and Nevis for two weeks. After a few days, we hooked up with a couple from Philadelphia and a couple from Alaska. One day the six of us were wandering the neighborhood back streets of a town on Nevis. Some of the locals were sitting on the front porches of their modest houses, playing dominoes or watching the tourists pass by. The couple from Philadelphia (liberals) mentioned how poor everyone seemed and suggested there should be an influx of government money to help everyone out. The couple from Alaska (conservatives) wondered why no one seemed to be working very hard and suggested an influx of private industry to kick-start the economy. My ex-wife was too busy looking for a shop where she could buy some more useless junk to notice anything. However, I noticed and wondered if I was the only sane person in the group. Everyone I saw along the street appeared to be perfectly content in their existence. You could see the happiness in the twinkle in their eyes. It was beyond my comprehension why anyone would want to barge in and spoil a perfectly desirable way of life. Apparently, there's a big difference between liberals and conservatives and relatively sane human beings. On the Orb of Wounded Souls, being enslaved by dependency on government handouts or being enslaved by becoming a cog in the giant economic engine of production and consumption (mindless growth) are both forms of enslavement. Clearly, there must be a more reasonable way of life. Once upon a time in America, the Europeans had not yet arrived to spoil a perfectly desirable way of life. There were indigenous people (Native Americans) scattered throughout the continent, doing just fine until the white man arrived on the eastern shore, stuck a flag in the ground and declared it to be a "discovery." Some of the indigenous folks had permanent settlements while others were hunter-gatherer nomads. A hunter-gatherer society consisted of small bands of nomadic people who lived in an area where it was too harsh to allow permanent settlements. They survived by foraging for edible plants and wild animals. Basically, they wandered from one food source to another. Everything they owned, they carried on their backs. One of the major areas of concentration of hunter-gatherer nomads was the Great Basin Desert area of the southwest (Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, etc.). These societies were part of the Shoshonean bands of Indians (Hopi, Piute, Mono, Comanche, Kawai, Panamint, Chemehuevi and others). In an article titled THE ART OF NOTHING, Thomas J. Elpel declares, "Hunter-gatherer societies succeeded in working only one or two hours per day, yet in our efforts to reproduce their lifestyle we end up working all day." Elpel is the director of Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School in Montana and author of many books on survival. According to Elpel, the hunter-gatherers "had a lot of time on their hands because they produced almost no material culture." They basically sat around all day doing nothing. This helped conserve energy, an economical imperative so they wouldn't be forced to harvest more food each day to feed themselves. They also produced no unnecessary material goods, including artwork. Whenever they were forced to move on, they needed to do so with a minimal of effort. They didn't want to be dragging junk or luxury items with them. In our materialistic culture where the objective always seems to be growth, we love junk and luxury. Often they're the same thing. We work 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, just to stay even. In fact, we're less than even since our national debt is in the multiple trillions and continually rising. But we're too busy "getting ahead" to notice. So, you can be a go-getter and spin your wheels in pursuit of junk and luxury, or you can be a do-nothing and observe the folly of the go-getters as they work harder and harder while getting deeper and deeper in debt. Work is something you do because it's necessary for survival -- work you do beyond that is called a burden. Instead of continually clamoring for jobs, jobs, jobs, we should make quality of life our common objective. This would include a shorter work-week, less government control, less monetary insanity, less military adventurism, etc. • The corporate world wants everyone working at full capacity to maximize profits. • The government wants everyone working at full capacity to maximize tax revenues. • Financial institutions want everyone working in order to perpetuate their credit schemes to expand their control of the monetary system. • The military-industrial complex wants a world of bloody conflict to justify their costly existence. A shorter work-week and a less stressful way of life for the masses goes against the greedy ambitions of those who control the puppet strings. Endless, mindless growth is a cancer -- sooner or later, the puppets are going to figure it out. ___________ Quote for the Day – "The sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being." Carl Jung (1875 - 1961) ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and where happiness comes from being satisfied with what you have, not with yearning for more, more, more. ___________ - -

Assassinating John Wayne

Marion Robert Morrison was born in Winterset, Iowa, on May 16, 1907. At age four, his family moved to Los Angeles. He was a gifted athlete who lost his football scholarship at USC due to a body surfing accident. Soon, he found work in small bit parts at local film studios, where he eventually changed his name to John Wayne. John Wayne appeared in 142 motion pictures, often in Westerns as a heroic character, and won an Academy Award for his role as a U.S. Marshall in the movie TRUE GRIT. Throughout his life, John Wayne was a staunch political conservative, opposing communism and politically liberal viewpoints. He passed on to the Great Beyond in 1979 due to stomach cancer. According to a book titled JOHN WAYNE -- THE MAN BEHIND THE MYTH by Michael Munn, there were three assassination attempts on Wayne's life. In 1949, Joseph Stalin (communist dictator of the USSR) learned about John Wayne's anti-communist fervor from Russian filmmaker Sergei Gerasimov during a peace conference in New York. Stalin soon decided Wayne should be killed. The plot to assassinate John Wayne was also reported by Russian filmmaker Alexei Kapler (who had been imprisoned by Stalin) and Russian filmmaker Sergei Bondahuck, later confirmed by Gerasimov. According to Munn's book, John Wayne's good friend, legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt, had "saved his life" in the early 1950s. The FBI had discovered that Russian agents were being sent to Hollywood to assassinate Wayne and notified him of the problem. Supposedly, Wayne told the FBI to let the agents show up and he would deal with it. Wayne then devised a plan, with help from a screenwriter named Jimmy Grant, to dissuade the assassins from carrying out their plans. While the details of the incident were never revealed to Munn, the prevailing rumor was that a group of stuntmen abducted the agents and drove them to a beach where they staged a mock execution. Thereafter, the agents supposedly remained in the USA and worked for the FBI. Subsequently, Wayne rejected any FBI protection and relocated with his family to a more secure house surrounded by a large wall. In addition, a group of Hollywood stuntmen pals infiltrated communist cells in America and learned of additional plots to kill Wayne In 1953, another attempt on Wayne's life was initiated in Mexico by a communist cell when Wayne was filming the movie, HONDO. This plot also failed. Joseph Stalin died in 1953 whereby Nikita Krushchev became the new communist leader of the USSR. In a private meeting in 1958, Krushchev told Wayne that he had cancelled Stalin's orders to assassinate him. "That was a decision of Stalin during his last five mad years. When Stalin died, I rescinded that order." The third attempt on Wayne's life occurred in 1966 when he was visiting U.S. troops in Vietnam. An enemy sniper who had been captured claimed, "There was a price on John Wayne's head, put there by Mao Tse Tung (communist leader of China)". To some John Wayne was a grand hero, emblematic of American values. To others, he was a symbol of what was wrong with America, as a self-righteous bully who conquered others through force. From FEAR AND LOATHING IN AMERICA by Hunter S. Thompson -- "John Wayne is a final, rotten symbol of everything that went wrong with the American dream -- he is our Frankenstein monster, a hero to millions… The brainwaves of 'The Duke' are like those of the Hammerhead Shark… He is a ruthless stupid beast with only one instinct -- to attack, to hurt & cripple & kill… John Wayne, a cowboy movie actor whose only real talent was an almost preternatural genius for brainless violence. The Duke wasn't satisfied with just killing people; he beat them into bloody, screaming hamburger." Love him or hate him, John Wayne was bigger than life. He was a proud American who understood that communism was a form of human slavery, serving the bureaucratic masters who rule the Government Plantation. More government control means less individual freedom. Power does not corrupt people -- positions of power attract corrupt people. Those who yearn to control others, even if they regard it as benevolence, are simply demanding the right to create their own version of heaven on earth. The struggle for freedom never ends. Whether or not John Wayne was a hero is debatable. Perhaps the true heroes are those who go gently through life treating others with tolerance, compassion and forgiveness. ___________ Quote for the Day – "Life is tough -- it's even tougher if you're stupid." John Wayne ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains in the Land of Ark with a few dogs and where stupid is as stupid does. ___________ - -

A Dragonfly Tattoo

Women are a mystery -- the ones that are easy on the eyes are never easy on the nerves. They speak several languages, one of which is verbal. I once stood in line in at Wal-Mart behind an attractive woman who had a tattoo of a dragonfly on the small of her back. I asked her if she knew the significance of the dragonfly whereupon she asked me if I knew the significance of minding my own business. As relationships go, it was remarkably short. Dragonflies, much like tattooed women, have their fair share of weirdness. They make themselves invisible to airborne prey by using a system called “motion camouflage.” It tricks the victim’s retina into perceiving the dragonfly as a stationary object blending into the background. Thus, the dragonfly becomes “invisible” even though it’s moving forward. Often, the pursuing dragonfly will fly away from its target rather than toward it to maintain the disguise. I had become familiar with the dragonfly years earlier when I lived in the Arizona desert where a man who claimed to be a shaman gave me a reading using 44 Native American Indian medicine cards. He explained that as we come into the Earth Walk, there are seven directions, each aligned with a particular ability or challenge, surrounding our bodies -- East, South, West, North, Above, Below, and Within. Then I drew seven medicine cards representing the seven directions in my Earth Walk. • East – Wolf. The wolf awakens the teacher within to understand the Great Mystery of life. • South – Armadillo. The armadillo teaches us to define our boundaries or space. • West – Dragonfly. The dragonfly reveals the illusionary facade of physical reality. • North – Hummingbird. The hummingbird encourages us to enjoy the succulent nature of life. • Above – Bat. Bat medicine teaches that to become your future, you must die and be reborn. • Below – Whale. Whale medicine people have the psychic ability to tap into the universal mind. • Within – Antelope. The antelope empowers us to honor the gifts sent from the Great Mystery. The West medicine card reflects the internal solution to your present life challenges and reveals how to reach your desired goals. In my case, this is represented by the dragonfly. According to the shaman, this world is full of nature spirits. Dragonfly medicine indicates knowledge received from the spirits of the four basic elements of air, earth, fire, and water. Dragonfly medicine is the essence of the winds of change. Messages of enlightenment and knowledge were supposedly being communicated to me, especially during the dream-time, causing a transformation where illusion was being replaced by true wisdom. I was indeed going through a transformation at the time. The physical world seemed more like a robotic world of worker bees toiling in a giant rat race to maintain an economy that seemed more like a pyramid scheme than an intelligent way of life. Humanity was being duped into a self-perpetuating system of servitude to a formation of suffocating governments and mega-corporations whose only purpose was to ensure their own growth. For a government or mega-corporation, it meant survival -- to an individual human being seeking peace of mind, it was madness. When I returned home from Wal-Mart, a dragonfly was perched on my mailbox, reminding me to always be aware of the world around me. For example, a woman who wears a tattoo is a woman who wants to be noticed. And a woman who wants to be noticed is a woman who wants to be admired. But the moment you express a hint of admiration, the same woman will instinctively reject you. Men may rule the world but women rule the men. A dragonfly tattoo is a subtle form of camouflage – you can admire it but must pretend you don’t notice it. ___________ Quote for the Day – "You think I am a fool, but you are a greater fool." Sitting Bull ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and an imaginary girlfriend named Tequila Mockingbird. ___________ - -

THE SENILE SEVEN

The Senile Seven in Cherokee Village, Arkansas. Originally from Wisconsin and Minnesota, my parents retired in Cherokee Village, Arkansas, in the 1980s. Cherokee Village is a retirement community in north central Arkansas that is primarily occupied by retired Yankees. It was developed back in the 1950’s when it was determined that Yankees had a propensity to drift south after they retired and there was a need to confine them to a single area so they wouldn’t contaminate the local way of life. I wrote a newspaper column about Cherokee Village in 2002, titled "The Senile Seven". It was awarded first place by the Arkansas Press Association in 2003, for humor columns written the previous year in medium-sized newspapers (about 40 of them). I was subsequently awarded first place in 2006, 2007, and second place in 2004 in the same humor category, as well as winning awards in other categories. The Senile Seven was my first newspaper award. I was very pleased with the honor. But then again, in Arkansas you also win awards for spitting, both accuracy and distance. __________________________ THE SENILE SEVEN Within Cherokee Village is a select group of old coots who call themselves the Senile Seven. There are two requirements to be chosen for membership into this private club. First, you must be senile. In other words, you must exhibit a loss of mental faculty characteristic with old age. If your mind has degenerated to the point where you can’t spell “senile” or know what it means, you’re probably qualified to join the group. The second requirement is that you must be able to count all the way to seven. That way when one of the members passes away, the others will know that one of them is missing. Initially, they were only six of them, known as the Senile Six, but one of the members kept getting “six” confused with “sex” -- which was even more confusing for the other members who mostly forgot, or never knew, anything about sex in the first place. So they had to search Cherokee Village for another senile old coot, a fairly simple task, to bring the count up to seven. Al, Don, Floyd, Harlan, Jack, Jim, and Wes are the current seven members. They only use first names because that’s about all they can remember from day to day about each other. Wayne and Bill are substitutes. Apparently, they’re not quite senile enough yet to join the club but are well on the way. The Senile Seven is not to be confused with the Magnificent Seven who were seven fictitious characters in a western movie that were quick on the draw, had good posture and most of their original teeth. The Senile Seven do everything in slow motion, slump a lot and have about a dozen good teeth between them. Many retired Cherokee Villagers spend their free time involved in community beautification, such as clearing litter off the roadways and planting flowers in cul-de-sac islands. Apparently they don’t want to be reminded that they live in Arkansas. Others stay active by helping the elderly, caring for stray animals, doing various volunteer tasks and becoming involved in local government affairs. The Senile Seven also does a great deal of good for the community. They play cards. In fact they play cards every day for hours and hours without ever moving, except for an occasional squirm in a chair or a quick run to the restroom. By remaining indoors at all times, these old codgers are not out in their vehicles terrorizing other drivers trying to remember where they are going and wondering why the clutch pedal is missing. They’re very considerate when it comes to turn signals though. They’ll put the left turn signal on when they leave the driveway, knowing that somewhere down the line they’re apt to make a left and will have one less thing to worry about. My father is a member of the Senile Seven. The rest of the family couldn’t be more proud. As I understand it, he’s the only one who always shows up at the card games with matching socks. Naturally, that’s because all 51 of his socks match. Slightly younger than most of the others, my father didn’t get the opportunity to vote for Chester A. Arthur and wasn’t actually in the Spanish American War. He was born shortly after the end of the war to end all wars, now commonly referred to as World War One. Somewhere down the line, it was discovered that world wars were good for the economy and quite profitable for certain sectors, so they decided to start numbering them and get another one going. In high school, my father learned many useful things, such as the dangers of the dangling participle, the inner workings of the steam engine, and that the earth wasn’t really flat after all. My father has a bit of a problem remembering much of his past. He thinks the Great Depression started the day I was born. I can’t imagine why. Basically, we never grow old. We mature in one sense and remain childish in another. The past and future dictates our present, and our state of mind manifests our being. We are what we are because of what we have been and what is yet to come, and what we choose to do about it. Age only matters if you're a bottle of wine or a block of cheese. ___________ Quote for the Day – "The hardest years in life are those between 10 and 70." Helen Hayes ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books -- my father (Wes) passed on to the Great Beyond at age 92 in December of 2011 and my mother joined him at age 97 in June of 2015 -- Wonderful memories of my parents -- Rest in Peace. ___________ - -

Creatures of the Id

If our subconscious thoughts were pleasant, we wouldn't have to bury them so deep. The "id" is one of three categories of the human psyche. Completely unconscious, it is the source of psychic energy derived from instinctual desires -- the subconscious mind. The other two categories are ego (consciousness, perception of reality) and super-ego (sense of morality, guilt). According to Sigmund Freud, the id is "the dark, inaccessible part of our personality.... striving to bring about the satisfaction of the instinctual needs subject to the observance of the pleasure principle." In other words, the id is lurking deep within us, remaining hidden from our conscious thoughts, driven by primal instincts. Actor Leslie Nielsen died on November 28 2010, at age 84. He had appeared in over 100 movies. Known primarily for his comedic roles in movies such as AIRPLANE and NAKED GUN, he was featured in the 1956 MGM classic science fiction movie THE FORBIDDEN PLANET as the commander of a spaceship on a rescue mission, only his second film. The plot and characters of THE FORBIDDEN PLANET were inspired by William Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST. The thrust of the story-line includes a "plastic educator" device which advances one's intelligence. However, it also has the capacity to create "Monsters of the Id" -- manifesting malevolent beings that kill the subjects of the subconscious anger of the person utilizing the device. Thus, the monsters are an extension of the id of the person unknowingly creating them. Sometimes, so-called reality is stranger than fiction. In October of 1943, the U.S. Navy conducted a Top Secret exercise in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard that attempted to render a vessel (the USS Eldridge) invisible to radar detection. Part of the experiment also dealt with investigating possible military applications of rotating magnetic fields applied to humans, as a potential psychological warfare tool. It was part of an operation called "Project Rainbow," later dubbed the Philadelphia Experiment. The results were unfavorable to catastrophic, depending upon which version you read. According to various sources, researchers from the Philadelphia Experiment met in 1952-53 whereupon they obtained approval and funding from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop a weapon that would induce symptoms of psychotic disorders and schizophrenia. It was called the "Phoenix Project" and initially began operations at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York. For several reasons, it was soon moved to a nearby decommissioned U.S. Air Force Base at Montauk, New York. By 1967-68, all the equipment and operations had been moved underground beneath the former Air Force base. In 1969, the surface area became a wildlife refuge, while everything underground was designated a "D1 Base" and property of the U.S. Air Force. Many experiments were conducted as part of the Montauk Project. These supposedly included time travel and contact with intelligent beings beyond Earth. In 1983, one of the resident psychics (Duncan Cameron) sat in the "Montauk Chair" and visualized a monster. The monster then materialized and went on a rampage. Described as 25 feet tall, the monster developed a mind of its own and began destroying everything in its path. It was a real-life creation of a "Monster of the Id" and it apparently got everyone's attention in a hurry. Scientists hacked away at equipment with axes until the power finally went down. The Monster then dematerialized and the project was soon abandoned. Beware of what you visualize -- it may come storming angrily out of your id into reality and scare your cat. I have a friend in California who had a very serious Near Death Experience (NDE) in 2002. Ever since, she has experienced elevated psychic abilities, plus a much wider visual and auditory sensory range than before. Everything we see is made up of a vast array of frequencies (vibrations). Human senses are based on frequencies. The frequency range of human sight and hearing is exceedingly small compared to what exists all around us. My friend's sensory frequency ranges have expanded. She now has the ability to see "entities" drifting into and out of and nearby other people. She continually sees them around us in our daily lives. Perhaps these are Creatures of the Id, being formed in a nearby dimension (frequency). My friend senses they are with us always, yet out of our sensory range of frequencies. Some are malevolent -- perhaps Monsters of the Id. Others are angelic -- perhaps spirit guides. And many seem to be benign -- perhaps observant watchers. Everything we perceive in our material world is made up of atoms -- electrons orbiting a nucleus of protons. It's an assembly of energy, not solid matter. And it's more than 99 percent empty space. Basically, everything we perceive as solid is merely a glob of energy. We are not objects, we are perceivers of objects. In fact, there are those who believe the entire universe is manifested by a collective consciousness. Creatures of the Id are almost certainly globs of energy as well, surfacing when compelled by another frequency (the host) or whatever. Delving into the mysteries of the universe and beyond is not for the timid. I don't know all the answers, but I do have a lot of the questions. In the movie AIRPLANE, when told, "Surely, you can't be serious." -- Leslie Nielsen uttered the famous line, "I am serious, and don't call me Shirley." R.I.P. Leslie Nielsen -- Shirley, you will be missed. ___________ Quote for the Day -- "Our subconscious minds have no sense of humor, play no jokes and cannot tell the difference between reality and an imagined thought or image. What we continually think about eventually will manifest in our lives." Robert Collier ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and where monsters of the Id fear to tread. ___________ - -

The Santa Dimension

When I was about five years old, I was excited to learn that Santa Claus was going to appear at my house early on Christmas Eve to personally hand Christmas gifts to my little brother and me. My parents explained that Santa was doing this as a special treat for us since we didn't have a chimney. Sure enough, Santa showed up. Although he was an hour late, according to my mother, I was thrilled to see him. I quickly rushed outside into the cold Wisconsin night but stopped several feet short. Something wasn't right. Santa was clearly wearing a mask on his face. I asked him why he was wearing a mask and he told me it was to keep warm. Later that holiday season, I overheard a conversation between my parents whereby I learned it was my grandfather pretending to be Santa and that my mother was very upset with him for showing up late and drunk. When my mother realized I had discovered the great Santa deception, she explained that Santa had so many houses to visit that evening that he didn't have time to make special stops and that my grandfather was just pretending to be Santa to make us happy. Once again, being a young innocent squirt, I bought the explanation. My grandfather was always a great guy, drunk or sober, and I appreciated him for stopping by on such a cold night just to please my brother and me. A few years later, in the second grade, I was hanging out with a couple of my buddies during recess. Usually we would shoot marbles behind a big oak tree so our teacher couldn't see us. Mrs. Henderson didn't like it when her boys would participate in games of chance, especially when marbles would change hands. Instead of playing marbles, we got into a discussion about Santa Claus. There had been some speculation that Santa Claus didn't really exist so the three of us tried to figure it out logically. Duncan Jones was the brains of the group, Vinny Gagliardi was ever so inquisitive, while I was more action oriented, preferring to play games of chance (marbles) rather than attempting to fathom the unfathomable. It all started when curious Vinny came up with a series of intriguing questions. • How does Santa visit so many houses on a single night? • How can he get all those presents in his sleigh? • How can reindeer fly? • How does a hefty guy like Santa manage to slip down a chimney and get back to the roof? • What does Santa do when there is no chimney? • How does Santa know whether you were naughty or nice? • And so on and so on. Duncan made some quick calculations. He figured if there were a billion houses and Santa took only a minute per house, or 60 houses per hour, it would take about 17 million hours, not counting flying time. Then there was the flying reindeer problem. Duncan and I were fairly certain reindeer couldn't actually fly, but Vinny wasn't so sure. He had seen an elephant fly in a Disney cartoon and it looked feasible to him. Soon a light bulb went off just above Duncan's head. Suppose there was a parallel universe. Santa could pop in and out of our reality almost instantaneously while doing most of his work in a parallel dimension. This would impose an anomaly in the continuum of time and space whereby a few seconds of our reality could be a year of Santa reality. This could also explain the reindeer problem. They don't actually fly -- there're merely transported to our reality directly onto the roof and disappear the same way. Santa makes his way into the house in the same manner. Apparently, according to Duncan, it's simply a matter of hyper-dimensional travel between simultaneous planes of existence. The bell rang and we had to go back inside where Mrs. Henderson made us print the alphabet all afternoon. She wanted to make sure we slanted our letters at the proper angle. Mrs. Henderson always emphasized penmanship and seating posture, but had a phobia about teaching math. Numbers greater than 20 made her nose bleed. It's strange how so many parents are unaware of parallel dimensions. They tell their kids the most ridiculous tales to make up for their lack of knowledge about the anomalies of the continuum of time and space. Merry Christmas y'all. ___________ Quote for the Day – "I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked me for my autograph." Shirley Temple ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a couple of dogs and many fond memories of Christmas Past. ___________ - -

Lincoln and JFK Assassinations

John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln each attempted to extract American currency away from the private banking interests (who eventually formed the Federal Reserve in 1913) and back into the U.S. Treasury. The banking interests in the Kennedy years (through today) are the same intergenerational dynasty of foreign banking families in the Lincoln years, in the 1800s. On February 25, 1862, President Lincoln authorized the printing of greenback notes from the U.S. Treasury, backed by silver, in the form of silver certificate notes. This fostered growth that could not be taxed and controlled by foreign banking interests. Needless to say, this action angered the international banking dynasty families. Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865. In 1886, a group of millionaires purchased Jekyll Island, off the coast of Georgia, and converted it into a retreat, the USA’s most exclusive club. By 1900, the club’s roster represented 1/6th of the world’s wealth, with members such as Astor, Vanderbilt, Morgan, Pulitzer and Gould on the club’s register. In 1908, J.P. Morgan (purportedly) created a national money panic, whereby, Congress established a National Monetary Authority. In 1910, a secret group was formed consisting of the chiefs of major corporations and banks in this country. The group left secretly by rail from Hoboken, New Jersey, and traveled anonymously to the hunting lodge on Jekyll Island, where they laid the groundwork, primarily drafted by (international German banker) Paul Warburg, for what would eventually be called the Federal Reserve System (the Fed) -- the new central bank could not be called a central bank because America did not want one, so it had to be given a deceptive name. A majority of Fed members were to be selected by the private banks that would own its stock. To keep the public from thinking that the Federal Reserve would be controlled from New York, a system of 12 regional banks was designed. Given the concentration of money and credit in New York, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York basically controlled the system, although, it was portrayed as a regional concept, which was a ruse. Thus, the Federal Reserve System was created (orchestrated) in 1910 and codified by Congress in 1913 to become a reality. Also, in 1913, the personal income tax system went into effect as part of the new system. This allowed the banking interests to inflame the nation's citizens to become involved in the European War in 1914 (World War I). The bankers financed and profited from both sides of the war -- just as they had also financed and profited from both sides in World War II, a couple of decades later. Since 1776, the USA has been at war 222 out of 239 years. International bankers and many others prosper from global conflict, much of which they manipulate into occurring. For some, war is good. President Kennedy often made remarks about the negative covert influence of the Fed and of the nefarious covert actions of the CIA. He had expressed the desire to abolish the Fed and curtail (renegade) CIA activities. "The very word Secrecy is repugnant in a free and open society… There is a plot in this country to enslave every man, woman and child. Before I leave this high and noble office, I intend to expose this plot." John F. Kennedy In November of 1961, President Kennedy halted the sales of silver from the U.S. Treasury. Until then, the silver within the U.S. Treasury was rapidly being sold off at very low prices. President Kennedy then drafted a bill (H.R. 5389) to authorize the printing of silver certificate notes from the U.S. Treasury to replace the depletion of silver from the Treasury. In June of 1963, the same day the bill became law, Kennedy issued Executive Order 11,110 which authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to issue silver certificate notes, without any input from the Federal Reserve. On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. President Lincoln angered the banking dynasties and was assassinated -- President Kennedy angered the banking dynasties and was assassinated. Perhaps, it was simply a coincidence? Ironically, there is an additional remarkable set of coincidences between President John Kennedy and President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946. Lincoln was elected President in 1860. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. Lincoln’s secretary was named Kennedy. Kennedy’s secretary was named Lincoln. Sometime prior to Lincoln's assassination -- he was in Monroe, Maryland. Sometime prior to Kennedy's assassination -- he was with Marilyn Monroe. Both Presidents were shot in the head on a Friday. Lincoln was assassinated in a theater named Ford. Kennedy was assassinated in a limousine made by Ford. Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson. Andrew Johnson, succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson, succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908. Both alleged assassins had three names of 15 letters. John Wilkes Booth was born in 1839. Lee Harvey Oswald was born in 1939. Booth ran from a theater, was caught in a warehouse. Oswald ran from a warehouse, was caught in a theater. Both assassins were assassinated before their trials. In 1976, the House Select Committee on Assassination investigated the Kennedy assassination, concluding that President Kennedy was probably assassinated by a conspiracy involving the mob, and potentially the CIA. And if that is true, the mob or the CIA could have conspired to do it at the behest (under the direction or manipulation) of the banking dynasty cabal. Or perhaps, a coincidence is merely a coincidence? Sometimes it's hard to believe in coincidence. Perhaps, a coincidence or synchronicity is a supernatural way of drawing our attention to hidden truths. Follow the money. ___________ Quote for the Day – "We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values." John F. Kennedy ___________ Bret Burquest is the author of 12 books. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a few dogs and an imaginary girlfriend named Tequila Mockingbird. ___________ - -