An infant covered with their meal, p. 11: Minicus Felix, Octavius of Minucius Felix, Chapter 9. Felix was a Christian, and the quoted passage was from an imagined dialogue between a pagan and a Christian, with the former simply repeating the tales of Christian activities exchanged among the Romans.
An Instrument of Torture as Symbol and Identity, p. 14: Christians also used a fish as a symbol, a less threatening depiction of their identity. The fish, however, had long been used by cultures in China, India, Egypt and Greece to designate fertility (again with strong sexual implications). Its use by Christians has never been as pervasive or as unifying as the cross. Have you ever seen a Christian making the sign of a fish?
Kabbalah, p. 16: A multitude of spelling variations exists, including Qabbala, Cabala, Cabalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabala, Kabalah, Kabbala, Qabala and Qabalah. “Kabbalah” appears to have won election, but only with a plurality.
He renamed the fortress Alamut, p. 32: It has also variously been identified as Eagle's Guidance and Vulture's Nest.
“caused to be made a vast garden in which he had water conducted”, p 33: This description is retold by Thomas Keightley in his 1837 work, Secret Societies of the Middle Ages—The Assassins, the Templars & The Secret Tribunals of Westphalia (Boston: Weiser Books, 2005), p. 74. Keightley's research was impeccable and his conclusions were drawn long before the topic was subject to the sensationalist theories of Hollywood and fact-based fiction writers.
And they were the first to be known as the hashshashin or assassins, p. 36: An alternative explanation to the name claims that assasseen in Arabic translates to Guardians of the Secrets. The hashish connection is more widely accepted, however. In fact, this may be a situation of reverse definition, with assasseen derived from the assassins and not the other way around. In any case, assassins was almost exclusively a European term for the group; to Muslims they reportedly were known as Nizaris.
Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism , p. 38: Robert Jay Lifton (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989).
…also called Aladdin (Height of the Faith), p. 41: This is not the Aladdin of the fabled lamp.
…where they became known as the Khojas , p. 41: The Khojas are not to be confused with the Thugees, a Hindu tribe of strangler bandits who terrorized parts of India before being hunted down and hanged by British colonial administrators in 1861.
…including many signers of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, p. 43: The number of Masons who signed the Declaration of Independence varies with the teller. Some sources claim that most were Masons. Historian Jasper Ridley, who had unfettered access to Masonic archives, could confirm only nine of the fifty-six signers as members.
…the result not of chivalrous intent or even a dedication to the Christian faith, but of feudalist obligation, p. 45: Much of the information on the Templars was obtained from Keightley's Secret Societies of the Middle Ages.
…“sweet-tempered, totally dedicated, and ruthless on behalf of the faith…”, p. 50: Robert Payne, The Dream of the Tomb: A History of the Crusade (New York: Stein & Day, 1984), p. 64.
“But both names suit them, for theirs is the mildness of the monk and the valor of the knight”, p. 52: Keightley, p. 193.
…offering to convert to Christianity if the Templars would forego the tribute, p. 54: F. W. Bussell, Religious Thought and Heresy in the Middle Ages (London: R. Scott, 1918), p. 796.
… he faced death by protracted torture., p. 54: Keightley, p. 206.
… the Germanic language acquired a new description for a house of ill-fame, p. 55: Tempelhaus : The description of the Templars’ extracurricular activities comes from G. Mollat, Les papes d'Avignon (Paris: Unknown bindery, 1912), p. 233.
… they engaged in a battle launched by the Templars reportedly in pursuit of their rival's treasure, p. 56: Keightley, p. 219.
“unspeakable apostasy against God, detestable idolatry, execrable vice, and many heresies”, p. 56: Nesta H. Webster, Secret Societies & Subversive Movements (London: Boswell Print & Co, 1924; reissued by A&B Publishers Group, 1998), p. 51. Webster's work is sound in a scholarly manner but her racist views, especially her anti-Semitism, color many of her conclusions.
“… should be so forgetful of their salvation as to do these things, we are unwilling to give ear to this kind of insinuation”, p. 56: As quoted by Webster from Michelet, Proces des Temploiers (1841). Some historians claim the Templars left their riches with the French king, but this contradicts the king's later actions against them.
“The flames were first applied to their feet”, p. 58: Keightley, p. 326.
No fewer than sixteen U.S. presidents have proudly declared their Masonic status, p. 61: But not necessarily concentrated power. In this category, Skull & Bones may well dominate.
“Although our thoughts, words and actions may be hidden from the eyes of man…”, p. 62: Thomas Smith Webb, The Freemasons Monitor or Illustrations of Masonry (Salem, Mass.: Cushing & Appleton, 1821), p. 66.
“In the bosom of the deepest darkness…”, p. 67: Marquis de Luchet, Eassai sur la secte des illuminees (Paris, 1789).
In spite of Washington's objections…, p. 69: Various attributions, including Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma: Of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (New York: Nuvision Publications, 2004). This is from TOTSE.com.
Among the symbols impressed on Washington's street layout…, p. 69: Various graphic interpretations of Freemason and satanic symbols on the street grid of Washington DC exist.
….the initiate experiences the point of a compass being pressed against his chest…, p. 71: There seems to be some confusion about this ritual. Apparently some Mason chapters continue to follow it while others have discarded the practice.
Recently, their image has been tarnished by revelations suggesting that barely 25 percent of their $8-billion charity endowment is spent on actual charitable activities, p. 72: TORO magazine, “Black Shadow” (Summer 2005), pp. 41–45.
“‘Frater’ meaning male brothers….”, p. 73: Ibid., p. 45.
The shots were to be fired by 77-year-old Albert Eid, p. 75: Newsweek (March 11, 2004). Eid pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and was sentenced to five years’ probation.
A Priory is defined as an offshoot of an abbey, whose superior officer is a prior. Sion is the Latin term for Mount Zion, the hill on which David founded Jerusalem.
Despite certainty among Christians, Mary Magdalene was no Jerusalem strumpet, p. 78: As noted, multiple variations exist of the tale of Mary Magdalene giving birth in France. The basis for this version came from several sources, most notably Jim Marrs, Rule By Secrecy (New York: HarperCollins, 2000).
Thanks to several geographic advantages, Rhaede boasted a population at the time of more than 30,000 inhabitants, p. 80: Details of Renne-leChateau's past were obtained from the town's official Web site, www.renneslechateau.com.
Plantard sometimes assumed the clichéd manner and appearance of French underworld characters, p. 89: Details on Plantard's life were obtained from GNOSIS magazine, “The Priory of Sion Hoax” (Spring 1999), and from the Rennes Observer,“The Templars of the Apocalypse,” by Jean-Luc Chaumeil, (June 15, 1997) pp. 19–20.
The latter is easily confirmed via French police archives, p. 90: This information was provided in response to an inquiry concerning a two-page letter dated 8 June 1956 from the Mayor of Annemasse to the Sub-Prefect of St. Julien-en-Genevois, held in the File containing the original 1956 Statutes of the Priory of Sion [File Number KM 94550]: “… in our archives we have a note from the I.N.S.S.E dated 15 December 1954 advising us that Monsieur Pierre Plantard was sentenced on 17 December 1953 by the court in St. Julien-en-Genevois to six months imprisonment for a ‘breach of trust’ under articles 406 and 408 of the Penal Code.” Articles 406 and 408 of the old-style Penal Code correspond to Articles 314–1, 314–2 and 314–3 of the present Penal Code. These articles are classified in Book iii of the Code, “Crimes and offences against property”—theft, extortion, blackmail, fraud, and embezzlement.
Evola supported a philosophy similar to the Divine Right of Kings, p. 97: Evola's teachings continue to fascinate fringe groups, including substantial numbers of skinheads and young people caught up in the “Goth” culture. For details on his life and teachings, read Nicholas Goodrick-Clark's Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity (New York: New York University Press, 2001).
Correspondence seized from Saunière's church, p. 99: Details of Saunière's mail-order business in masses were provided by Jean-Jacques Bedu in Autopsie d'un myth, published in 1990.
The myth lives on, p. 100: A final note to the Priory fable: Two of the most exhaustively researched books on this general topic–Keightley's Secret Societies of the Middle Ages (1837) and Webster's Secret Societies & Subversive Movements (1924)—fail to make any mention of the Merovingian bloodline or the Priory of Sion. Both were published long before Plantard's claim of their existence and their influence on world events. Books published on this topic since 1970, claiming various degrees of authenticity, are legion, of course.
Those seeking to become Druids at the height of the movement's influence, p. 104: The source for this account is Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages—Readers Edition (New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2003).
Caesar, as talented at observing and recording social structures as he was at commanding armies, p. 106: Julius Caesar, The Gallic Wars, Book 6, paragraph 13.
Followers of the Gnostic sect led by Carpocrates, p. 113: Epiphanius (ca. 310–403 ad), Bishop of Constantia in Cyprus, provided this commentary. His zeal for the monastic life, ecclesiastical learning and orthodoxy gave him extraordinary authority and may also have encouraged him to exaggerate some of the more licentious activities of the Gnostics whom he undoubtedly disliked.
A follower of John the Baptist, Simon gathered his own disciples around him and was viewed, not surprisingly, as a potential competitor to early Christian leaders, p. 114: Simon has his defenders, who note that, as a Samaritan, he was viewed with distaste and suspicion by Jews, and that his words and intentions may have been distorted. The legacy, nevertheless, lives on in English dictionaries.
As Christianity grew in strength it became less tolerant of Gnosticism, p. 117: Webster, Secret Societies & Subversive Movements, p. 32.
Whether or not Gnostics suffered abuse at the hands of Christians, p. 117: Ibid, p. 32.
“In the ancient world,” Jung wrote, p. 118: Dr. Carl Jung, Aion, Collected Works, Vol. 9, 2 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1959), p. 10.
In addition to these biblical writings, three other books dominate ancient Kabbalah philosophy, p. 123: Eliphas Levi, The Mysteries of the Qabalah: Or Occult Agreement of the Two Testaments (New York: Samuel Weiser Inc., 1974; reissued Weiser Books, 2000) p. 123.
… the “pagans” may well have been Jews seeking to satirize Christianity for their own amusement and ends, p. 123: Hall hints at this theory in The Secret Teachings of All Ages, and then discounts it. Others are not so sure.
The base of the Sephiroth (Malkut) represents the world, with all of its flaws and perfections. The pinnacle (Keter) represents God, or the Supreme Crown, p. 124: Spellings and interpretation of the Sephirots vary according to sources.
Three triangles are formed by the nine sephirots and connecting pathways above the Malkut. These symbolize the human body; the topmost represents the head, the middle represents the trunk and arms, and the bottom represents legs and the reproductive organs, p. 125: Other methods of interpreting the Sephiroth are promoted by various factions of Kabbalah. One, for example, teaches that the centers are arranged in three columns. The left column is called the Pillar of Severity and represents the female side. The right column is called the Pillar of Mercy and represents the male side. The middle pillar is called the Pillar of Equilibrium and represents the balance between the male and female pillars.
According to Webster, the Zohar's original wise counsel has been “mingled by the Rabbis with barbaric superstitions, p. 128: Secret Societies & Subversive Movements, p. 11.
“His chamber is lighted up by a silver candlestick on the wall”, p. 129: The Jewish Encyclopedia.
From there it was a small step to associate this with the Holy Grail, supposedly possessed by Templars and later Masons, inspiring fresh connections to new galaxies of secret conspiracies, p. 130: The linkage between Kabbalah and the Holy Grail is presented with some detail and a straight face in The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail.
Crowley died penniless in 1947, p. 132: Crowley's fame did not entirely disappear, in pop culture at least. His face appears amid the crowd on the album cover of the Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and Jimmy Page, lead guitarist with Led Zeppelin, lives in Crowley's mansion in Scotland, surrounded by various Crowley memorabilia. Most surprising of all perhaps were the results of a poll conducted by the bbc in 2002 to name The 100 Greatest Britons: Crowley was rated 73, ahead of Lloyd George, Chaucer, Field Marshall Montgomery and Sir Walter Raleigh.
His name was Feivel Gruberger, p. 132: Details of Feivel Gruberger/Philip Berg and the origins of Kabbalah Center are drawn from several sources, including a lengthy account in the Daily Mail (UK), (May 22, 2004).
None of these discussions took place during the remarkably long life Rosenkreuz led, p. 140: The actual publication date of the Fama remains controversial. Most sources say 1614, a few suggest 1610, and The Catholic Encyclopedia is adamant that it was published in 1604. This latter date is curious, since it is precisely 120 years after the death of Rosenkreuz, a period of time that bears some significance—it is the number of years that the founder requested secrecy following his death and, as readers of works such as Umberto Eco's novel Foucault's Pendulum will recognize, it represents cycles of secrecy demanded by Templars.
… the man was “unfamiliar with the use of a pen, and it is obvious either that he copied the signature or that his hand was guided while he wrote.”, p. 142: As quoted by Manly P. Hall in The Secret Teachings of All Ages. First published in 1928 (and reissued in 2003 by Penguin), Hall's book is considered a classic of its genre. It includes an extensive discussion of the role of Bacon as the true author of Shakespeare's works and serves as a prime source of the discussion of Bacon as a Rosicrucian.
Is it possible that the greatest single fount of English literature is merely a series of envelopes containing clandestine messages in murky codes?, p. 143: The source of these claims (other sources and other claims are legion) is Hall's The Secret Teachings of All Ages, pp. 543–51.
In Henry IV, Part One, the word “Francis” appears 33 times on one page, p. 143: The multiple mentions of Francis occur early in act 4, scene 1.
“Bacon is not to be regarded solely as a man but rather as the focal point, p. 144: Hall, pp. 548–49.
A contemporary of Lippard, Paschal Beverly Randolph, was also acquainted with Lincoln, p. 150: Details of Randolph's life are found in his work After Death, or Disembodied Man (Boston: Rockwell & Rollins, 1868).
AMORC takes great pains to identify itself not as a religious order but as “a non-profit educational charitable organization”, p. 153: As reported on the Rosicrucian Order Web site www.rosicrucian.org.
“We do not propose a belief system, nor a dogmatic decree”, p. 153: amorc Web site.
“A true Rose Cross does not indulge in secret hand signs or shakes, celebrations, vain displays of wealth”, p. 154: R. S. Clymer, The Rose Cross Order (Quakertown: The Philosophical Publishing Co., 1916).
“Unlike Masons, Rosicrucians have no special rings”, p. 154: R. S. Clymer, The Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis (Quakertown: The Philosophical Publishing Co., 1929).
Johansson's lengthy and meandering article, readers are informed, was drawn “from discourses presented by the Grand Masters and the Imperator at the World Peace Conference”, p. 155: Data from the Johansson article is from Rosicrucian Digest (No. 1, 2005) p. 10.
For much of the information on triads and tongs, I am deeply indebted to author and criminal investigator James Dubro, who summed up much of the history of these groups in his excellent book Dragons of Crime: Inside the Asian Underworld (Toronto: Octopus Publishing Group, 1992).
Resident Chinese usually refer to the organizations as hei she hui , literally translated as “black (or secret, sinister or wicked) society”, p. 162: South China Morning Post, Macau Edition (December 12, 1999).
Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigators claim 14K and other triads maintain a presence in every Chinese community of substance across North America”, p. 165: rcmp Triad files: ecdp0062.doc.
“I was not required to pay any percentage of profits to the 14K leadership”, p. 168: Discussion Paper by the Australian Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Crime Authority (February 1995).
One Hong Kong businessman who chose to defy triad threats was sent the severed head of a dog, p. 169: Jan Morris, Hong Kong (New York: Random House, 1988), p. 44.
In Britain, the National Criminal Intelligence Service conducted a study of triad activities, p. 170: erri: Evaluation of Chinese Triads in Great Britain—EmergencyNet news Service (July 21, 1996).
In 1988, an Australian government study estimated that 85 to 95 percent of all heroin entering that country was controlled by Chinese triads:Asian Organised Crime In Australia—A Discussion Paper by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Crime Authority (February 1995).
… a U.S. investigation indicated that triad dominance had been reduced by competition from South east Asian countries: Statement of Steven W. Casteel, Assistant Administrator for Intelligence, before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary (May 20, 2003).
“The leaders of the early gangs came out of the aftermath of the Vietnam war”, p. 171: Interview with the author (August 6, 2005).
In AD 1000, a wave of invasions brought Normans, p. 174: Much of the information in this section was derived from Gaia Servadio's excellent Mafioso: A History of the Mafia from Its Origins to the Present Day (New York: Stein & Day Publishers, 1976).
The code of omerta decreed that any man who appealed for law enforcers to right a wrong was either a fool or a coward, p. 179: Rick Porello, The Rise and Fall of the Cleveland Mafia (Ft. Lee, NJ: Barricade Books, 1995).
A high-ranking Italian government official recently described ’Ndrangheta, p. 180: Italian government news release, Ministry of the Interior (September 22, 2004).
“Only blood does not betray”: S. Accardo, as quoted by M. La Sorte, see ff.
…in 2004 the Italian government suggested the ’Ndrangheta consisted of 155 family clans and a total membership of over 6000, p. 182: M. La Sorte, The Calabrian ’Ndrangheta (suny: The ’Ndrangheta Looms Large, December 2004).
Promoting the region as a holiday destination, the Calabrian tourism office admits “you will find no Florences or Venices in Calabria”, p. 182: Ibid.
…you may also enter a Calabrian village and encounter a sight similar to that witnessed by the citizens of Taurianova, p. 182–183: Ibid. from P. Lunde, Organized Crime (New York: dk Publishing, 2004).
FBI lurkers heard Deluca instructed to repeat an oath spoken by the boss, p. 192:“fbi tapes offer a rare inside look at Mafia induction,” the Boston Globe (March 27, 1990).
D'Amato was head of the DeCavalcante family, the largest in New Jersey and reputed to be the basis of the popular Sopranos television series, p. 193: “Mafia Head Killed for Being Gay, Mobster Testifies,” National Post (May 2, 2003).
This was a matter of personal pride that the prospect of having 5000 volts of electricity blasting through his body within a few hours could not divert, p. 196: Interestingly, Buchalter was Jewish, not Italian. It is a tribute of sorts to the power of the Mafia's code that he chose to make his statement and be assessed as a man of honor to the end.
“The nobles, courtiers and even the ladies in waiting of the women's quarters were slashed to death”, p. 202: J. N. Leonard, Early Japan (New York: Time-Life Books, 1968), p. 58.
In addition to incomplete pinkies, Yakuza members may be identified by their extensive tattoos, p. 204: Davis E. Kaplan and Alex Dubro: Yakuza—The Explosive Account of Japan's Criminal Underworld (Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1986).
The sokaiya are chosen for their vehement style, capable of shouting down anyone who tries to silence them, p. 207: Christopher Seymour, Yakuza Diary—Doing Time in the Japanese Underworld (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1996).
“Without witches, some late medieval theologians were left facing their questions as to why bad things happen”, p. 213: Walter Stephens, Demon Lovers: Witchcraft, Sex and the Crisis of Belief (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2002), p. 100.
… celebrated on February 2 to mark the first stirrings of spring and the return of light to the world, p. 223: On this basis, the sabbats do not apply to countries south of the equator.
“That was done which may not be done except in great emergency”, p. 227: Philip Heselton, Gerald Gardner and the Cauldron of Inspiration—an Investigation into the Sources of Gardnerian Witchcraft (Milverton: Capall Bann Publishing, 2003).
“witches are consummate leg-pullers; they are taught it as part of their stock-in-trade”, p. 227: G. B. Gardner, Witchcraft Today (San Francisco: Citadel Press, 1954/2000), p. 27.
“On the west wall hung, among other pictures”, p. 230: Fleshing Out Skull & Bones (Walterville, OR: TrineDay Press, 2003), p. 473.
Howard Altman, an award-winning U.S. writer and editor, reported that in 1989 a man named Phillip Romero visited him, p. 231–232: Ibid., pp. 33–36.
Adding to the story's veracity is the reported existence of a privately printed document, p. 232: Rob Rosenbaum, “More Scary Skull and Bones Tales,” the New York Observer (2002).
The reward for Bonesmen may have been worth the humiliation, p. 237: Ron Rosenbaum, “The Last Secrets of Skull and Bones,” Esquire magazine (September 1977), p. 89.
“We speak through a new publication, because the college press is closed to those who dare to openly mention ‘Bones’, p. 237: Fleshing Out Skull & Bones, pp. 3–4.
Prescott Sheldon Bush, Yale ’17, was ideal Skull & Bones material, p. 238: Ibid., p. 40.
Hitler mesmerized Thyssen as, in fact, he mesmerized virtually an entire country desperately in need of strong, decisive leadership, p. 239: Thyssen described this transaction, along with his motivations, in his tell-all book I Paid Hitler (New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1941).
For the latter, he turned to Thyssen's steel mills, whose profits soared in the following years, overflowing into the coffers of the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvart in Rotterdam and the Union Banking Corporation in New York, p. 241: A postwar investigation of the Thyssen family's role in arming Nazi Germany estimated that the family's interests had provided the following proportion of Germany's national output in 1938:
50.8 percent of pig iron
41.4 percent of standard plate steel
36.0 percent of heavy plate steel
38.5 percent of galvanized sheet steel
45.5 percent of steel pipe
22.1 percent of wire
Source: Elimination of German Resources for War, U.S. Congress report,
Sub-Committee on Military Affairs (July 2, 1945), p. 507.
The bank's Russian connection inspired Lord Bearsted of Britain to recommend that Union Banking cease its dealings with Stalin, p. 241: W. Averell Harriman papers, Library of Congress (September 12, 1927).
Consider the identity of its eight members of the board of directors, p. 242: Fleshing Out Skull & Bones, p. 205 and p. 249.
The year 2003 saw the publication of a Duty, Honor, Country , a glowing tribute to Prescott Bush, p. 243: Quotations from Duty, Honor, Country—The Life and Legacy of Prescott Bush (Nashville: Rutledge Hill Press, 2003), p. 72.
Consider this partial list of Bonesmen associated with the U.S. intelligence community, p. 246: Fleshing Out Skull & Bones, p. 9.
The individual who handled the paperwork on the name changeover and the incorporation of RTA was Howard Weaver, p. 248: Ron Rosenbaum, The Secret Parts of Fortune: Three Decades of Intense Investigations and Edgy Enthusiasms (New York: HarperPerennial, 2000), pp. 155–67.
Coincidences grow curiouser and curiouser, p. 248: Joseph McBride, “George Bush, cia Operative,” The Nation (July 16, 1988).
Zapata happens to be the cia’s code name for the Bay of Pigs invasion, p. 248: Michael R. Beschloss, The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Khrushchev, 1960–63 (New York: Edward Burlingame Books, 1991), p. 89.
Another coincidence involves the same former president George H.W. Bush and the assassination of President Kennedy, p. 249: The complete document, as provided by Joseph McBride, op. cit., reads:
Date: November 29, 1963 To: Director, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State
From: John Edgar Hoover, Director Subject: assassination of president john f. kennedy november 22, 1963
Our Miami, Florida, Office on November 23, 1963 advised that the Office of Coordinator of Cuban Affairs in Miami advised that the Department of State feels some misguided anti-Castro group might capitalize on the present situation and undertake an unauthorized raid against Cuba, believing that the assassination of President John F. Kennedy might herald a change in US policy, which is not true.
Our sources and informants familiar with Cuban matters in the Miami area advise that the general feeling in the anti-Castro Cuban community is one of stunned disbelief and, even among those who did not entirely agree with the President's policy concerning Cuba, the feeling is that the President's death represents a great loss not only to the US but to all Latin America. These sources know of no plans for unauthorized action against Cuba.
An informant who has furnished reliable information in the past and who is close to a small pro-Castro group in Miami has advised that those individuals are afraid that the assassination of the President may result in strong repressive measures being taken against them and, although pro-Castro in their feelings, regret the assassination.
The substance of the foregoing information was orally furnished to Mr. George Bush of the Central Intelligence Agency and Captain William Edwards of the Defense Intelligence Agency on November 23, 1963, by Mr. W.T. Forsyth of this Bureau.
“I have carefully reviewed the FBI memorandum to the Director, Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Department of State dated November 29, 1963”, p. 249: United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Civil Action 88-2600 ghr, Archives and Research Center v. Central Intelligence Agency, Affidavit of George William Bush (September 21, 1988).
In August 2003, de Wit recalled his experience with the CIA and Skull & Bones, p. 250: Fleshing Out Skull & Bones, p. 212.
With an estimated $4 million in assets in 2000, p. 251: Yale University archives, Light & Truth's Guide to Society Life at Yale. Interestingly, the competitive secret society Scroll & Key has substantially higher assets of $6 million.
“Experts today concur—and rightly so, we concluded—that the Protocols , at least in their present form, are a vicious and insidious forgery” , p. 262: Baigent et al., The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (London: Arrow Books, 1996), pp. 198–203. All references are from this edition.
The Protocals , intended to be read like an instruction manual for running the world, are either chilling or absard, depending on your gullibility and appreciation for black humor, p. 264: Several sources for the Protocols exist. These herein have been selected from Jim Marrs, Rule By Secrecy (New York: HarperCollins, 2000), pp. 145–53. The author is a secret societies alarmist, but his work on this topic at least is accurate in its selection of the Protocols contents.
The Roman Catholic Church is as appropriate a target for criticism as any , p. 266: For the record, I have no Roman Catholic affiliation—in fact, I have no religious affiliation.
The Rothschild connection, according to Welch and others, p. 279: Sources for this section include Jews and Freemasonry in Europe ( Boston: Harvard Press, 1970) and William T. Still, New World Order: The Ancient Plan of Secret Societies (Lafayette, LA: Huntington House Publishers, 1990), pp. 104–41.
At Retinger's funeral in 1960, one of the eulogizers recalled, p. 281: The speaker was Sir Edward Beddington-Behrens, President, Central and Eastern European Commission, European Movement. The quote is available at dozens of Web sites purporting to deliver the “true” story behind the Bilderberg Group, although most misspell his name.
The NSC has been described as “the ultimate Washington insider's club”, p. 287: Dan Dunsky, “Two Degrees of Domination,” Toronto Globe & Mail (June 25, 2005) p. D3.
The pinnacle of Kissinger's power in this regard occurred in the latter days of Richard Nixon's presidency, p. 288: A detailed and disturbing examination of the nsc and the risk it poses is available in David J. Rothkopf's excellent Running the World: The Inside Story of the National Security Council and the Architects of American Power (New York: PublicAffairs Books, 2005).
“We want so much to be roused from our humdrum lives”, p. 296: The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, p. 123.
“Sooner or later,” he warns, “this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces”, p. 297: Ibid., p. 209.