President Jimmy Carter: "The U.S. Government is an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery."

This photo of President Jimmy Carter and me along Spruce Creek was taken in 1995. The interview with Jimmy Carter can be found as a video w/ the link below. I want to add to his thesis by saying that the collusion and cronyism which has eroded participative democracy is most evident at the local level!  Not only with the plutocrats.

Oligarchy suggests the conspiracy of billionaires whose broad influence I am not denying. However, even in the shire --- i.e. my home town, the tyranny of petty water authority fiefdoms, and political dynasties---think Shuster---which are linked into the highways, and convention centers in phase one, and later in mammoth multi-million dollar school contracts, the thugs on the ground level who are pawns for their masters, and every member of the school board, etc., etc... Of all the disturbing things in America today---perhaps the most disturbing to me is the futility of its educational system---from top to bottom. And the whole ballgame is wrapped up in the hands of 'petit bourgeois' millionaires. It is better to be a "big fish in a small pond" and I will tell you why: amongst the billionaires or one-percenters there is the prospect of global exploitation of every resource: big fish in a big pond.  And of course there are little fish in a big pond---for example the Clintons. But what really cements the deal---are the big fish in the small pond. I am talking about mayors, the men and women who are on the boards of water authorities, utilities, municipalities, state level supervision and so on. It is at this level that democratic action is a possibility but it will require the awakening of the citizenry to actual political involvement on the level of one's own field of action. It is the schooling first of all which destroyed the sincerity of american political participation and not only in that it masquerades ineffectual ideals and never faces up to the local corruption in the media (WTAJ News, and the Altoona Mirror for example) who report street crime corruption but do not expose the corruption in the very political process of town hall meetings where these fracking projects and these new million dollar school contracts are being launched under the pretence of participative democracy. There are about three families who run Altoona.

The other part of the economy that is corrupt through and through and highly anti-democratic is of course medicine. A huge conglomerate like UPMC runs the state---and there is no democratic process. The AMA and the medical doctors are aloof from street level politics and are the pawns of insurance giants and the Pharma. American medicine demonstrates very little allegiance to the nation and its people.

Above all, Americans do not know what they have in common anymore. Association is the basis of political theory. People with similar religious views bond in associations for their aims. But what do americans have in common anymore---the entertainment is not democratically participative (think of the 60s). It is top down.

Love of money is the root of all evil, yes. Another root is the technocracy. Technological "culture" itself is highly undemocratic---compare a Bill Gates or a Zuckerberg to Thoreau or Franklin. Even a techie saint like Steve Jobs constructed a programmed fascism---democracy cannot be digital--the addition of apps and trinkets cannot assist in the fundamental citizen duty to be autonomous and educated in truth.

https://theintercept.com/2015/07/30/jimmy-carter-u-s-oligarchy-unlimited-political-bribery/

Bill Moyers: Donald Trump's Demolition Derby

My brother explained to me that a man named Schumpeter, an economist, came up with the view that "creative destruction" is what drives the american economy(build to destroy to build again)---the following essay is a good example:

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/donald_trumps_demolition_derby_20170128

Jimmy Page tells the Story of How Stairway to Heaven was Written

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDo4CA13LbY

Plato: The Republic (trans. F.M. Cornford) Please read the middle paragraph on p.235 (to better view the page, click on the image)....

Someday Baby lyrics and chords (alternate version)

Tell Tale Signs Version

Capo 1st fret (sounding key: E flat major)

Chords:

Cadd9     x30030 or x35533

                      D            
I don't care what you do, don't care what you say
                     Cadd9 G                 D
don't care where you go      or how long you stay
             A                G                D
Someday baby,  you ain't gon' worry po' me any more

Cadd9   G   D

You take my money and you turn me out
You fill me up with self doubt
Someday baby, you ain't gon' worry po' me any more

You made me eat a ton of dust
You're potentially dangerous, and not worthy of trust
Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry poor me any more

[Instrumental verse]

Little by little, bit by bit
Every day I'm becoming more of a hypocrite
Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry poor me any more

You've got my mind tied up in knots
I just keep recycling the same old thoughts
Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry poor me any more

When I heard you was cold, I bought you a coat and hat
I think you must have forgotten about that
Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry poor me any more

[Instrumental verse]

Gonna blow out your mind, and make you pure
I've taken about as much of this as I can endure
Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry poor me any more

You put me down from the upper creek
That's all right, to you I turn the other cheek
Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry poor me any more

[Instrumental verse]

You say you need me, how would I know?
You say you love me, but it can't be so
Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry poor me any more

I don't want to brag, but I'll wring your neck
When all else fails, I'll make it a matter of self-respect
Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry poor me any more

[Instrumental verse]

Living this way ain't a natural thing to do
Why was I born to love you?
Someday baby, you ain't gonna worry poor me any more

A Complex Case: That Time I Turned a Routine Traffic Ticket into the Constitutional Trial of the Century

This is a complex case but I could cite many more!

http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2017/01/18093/

Woody Allen and Billy Graham

Please enjoy this video: Personally, I think that Billy Graham comes out as the stronger thinker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=194zJ55LcVk

My Current Teaching Assignment: Introduction to Social and Political Philosophy

http://introsocialpolitical.blogspot.com/

But is it Ethical?--NY Times Article

Head of Ethics Office Speaks Out. Some Republicans Ask, Was It Ethical?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/13/us/politics/walter-shaub-ethics-oversight-jason-chaffetz.html?_r=0

AS a veteran instructor of ethics, I see the irony in this title! I wonder what qualifies this "Head of Ethics" to lead this task---did he practice turning the cheek more than the other guy, or did practice the Golden Rule in season and out of season, or perhaps he studied 'ethics'? In any case, I fear that he will be unable to determine "was it ethical?" Not only in this case, but in any case. By what measure will he determine this, evaluate it---what will be his measuring stick?

Truthdig: Chris Hedges on the So-called Intelligence Assessment of Russian Cyberhacking

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_real_purpose_of_the_us_governments_report_on_alleged_hacking_by_russi

I agree with Hedges' view on this amateur intelligence report which demonstrates exactly how intelligent the CIA, FBI and NSA are---not very!

Moreover, I agree that when you see a document this flimsy with absolutely no evidence cited, you must ask yourself why these agencies are stretching out their necks in this manner. It reveals pernicious intention of the highest degree.

What exactly is the premise: that voters for Clinton were inexplicably compelled by this "influence" to change their minds and vote for Donald Trump? Yes, I am sure that happened. Not. And if not this, then what exactly did the influence accomplish? Nothing. If it accomplished nothing then why waste the agents valuable time on such an assessment.

I have not seen such dubious intelligence since the CIA Attempted to discredit Benjamin Franklin as a "liability" (click below).  Such intelligence gurus are really a disappointment. I guess what they mean by 'intelligence' is the ability to paranoiacally project bizarre narratives which begin with 'what if?'---the dreaded subjunctive hypothetical. Question: What if worms had machine guns? Answer: Robins would not mess with them!

Before we start to use the word 'intelligence', we should make an effort to define the term.

 http://franklinjunto.blogspot.com/2015/04/franklin-accused-afresh-in-cia-diclosure.html

An excerpt from the epic: Setting out for America

Setting out for America (excerpt)

What kind of artistry is equal to the silver glisten on a river, or a sunset, or lightening in the sky?

What kind of man’s artistry can compare to the great artistry of creation?

What, indeed, could compare with the silver glistening on this white iron lake?

The poet is only an echo of what he sees and hears.

A transmitter, a go-between.

Little wavelets lap this rock on which I sit.

Having been refreshed by a swim, a cool swim, 

the poet has a prerogative to swim in whatever fresh water he sees fit to swim in anywhere in America.

That’s the poet’s prerogative to bathe in nature.

It’s his primary right to do so.

No law can touch this.

This water is like a tea, like in Black Moshannan, brown cola-colored like the intertidal pool of the Missouri River.

The hard granite I sit upon, moss covered, rather lichen.

The wonderful green of lichen, and beneath it this pink granite.

This very hot and dry evening in May.

And the van, a stone’s throw away behind the little trees hidden beyond the rushes from the water.

And the calm fluttering in the elm and birch.

The little leaves amidst the steady ever-present roar of the waterfall over which Route, highway number 1 passes.

The little leaves are spindling around, waving as if in a game, then pausing for just a millisecond, standing there and then starting again, waving, teetering, now calm, now still.

And the blue sky emerges.

Then they begin their fluttering again and the sky disappears.

They come to the center of the stage and clamor for attention.

Some type of sign language I am as yet unable to read, but I know intuitively what it speaks to me.

As God speaks through these little things in nature, nothing grandiose, it’s all in the details.

Only with man do we find the ambitions to overcome and dominate the world, to rise above, to be higher than the world.

But it’s all here.

And in Minnesota, north.

Great calm.

After so many miles.

And I admit my weariness.

This road is very long, indeed.

And I’ve still got a very long way to go.

But knowing that poets like Dylan and Whitman have gone before me gives me courage and strength to move on, to carry on, not knowing where I’m headed, not lonely, but somehow disjointed, out of sorts.

We thank God for this beautiful day and we ask God to continue to bless our work and to bless Bob Dylan and to honor poets everywhere, especially those on the road.

There’s a Ptarmigan, or some such forest-type bird, poking around and stamping loudly like an angry squirrel.

By Lake La Moyant I see an ant running across this white lichen-covered stone.

This ant achieves his goal.

or if there is an obstacle in his path, he turns and finds another way.

The ant is a lowly, small creature but very diligent and hard working as the book of Proverbs says.

But there’s always two sides to every story.

Went through Ely.

The Chamber of Commerce there has the website: www.ely.org.

Look it up!

The scent of the forest is truly wondrous, dry perfume.

There is a beautiful Monarch butterfly impaled right into the center of my hood ornament.

Yellow and black wings with  one wing having 3 blue windows and behind it, an orange window, like stained glass.

Smashed, broken butterfly.

Ornament on my car.

Symbol of resurrection.

What was once larval state,

died, rose again, chrysalis, then in its colorful, beaming, radiant, beautiful, resurrected body.

And as I drive away, I see five more perfect yellow butterflies, two together and then three together.

And I notice that the name of the lake where I was swimming was Birch Lake.

Oh, Lord, I have sought to escape you, fleeing on the highways and byways, speeding down the road, all over America from state to state, county to county.

Fleeing.

We are trying to hold onto some liquid before it races erases from my fingers.

I cannot hold onto it all the same.

And now I stand empty-handed.

You, God, are working your work in me.

I’m your putty and I’m your man, Lord, and I’ll stand by.

I will stand by you.

Restore me, oh Lord, even if it means losing my voice and my poetry and my music.

If it means losing my house and my family.

If it means losing all of my possessions, my love.

You are first.

You are the Lord, most high, Jesus Christ.

Three Channels of Original Music

1. Firewheel Studio-Standard P. Wolf Compositions

https://soundcloud.com/firewheel-studio/sets/top-plays

2. Uncle Gino's Cabin-folk music; guitar duos with Paolo Agostino, recorded at Log Cabin Recordings, Ltd.

https://soundcloud.com/firewheel-studio/north-country-fair

3. Crunchkin-Experimental, percussive experimentation, and avant-garde, crunchkin (tm) music 

https://soundcloud.com/crunchkin/mount-snowden

One of the most beautiful teachings....

The ancient law of the goel said, �If a man died without having an heir, his nearest relative would marry his widow and have a child who would carry on his line, redeeming the barren house. Scripture shows this in the line of Judah with Tamar and centuries later with Boaz and Ruth who had Obed, who fathered Jesse, who fathered David. Later, we come to Miryam; Mary who was born of the line of the Goel intervention. She gives birth in Bethlehem - the same place the Goel redemption happened to Ruth. The birth of Messiah is the ultimate Goel redemption. Adam’s line had fallen because of sin. We were barren and couldn’t produce life; we were headed to death. So God Himself intervened that we might be redeemed and bear fruit. That’s what God does for you. He sees your barrenness, comes and puts His life within your heart and your life miraculously bears His fruit. Rec! eive His life, love, and His Spirit and bear His fruit. Your life will be redeemed and fruitful for God Himself is your Goel.

(Source: Jonathan Cohn) 

Reflection on Winter Solstice -12/21/2016

Truth
I wish to meditate upon truth. There is perhaps no single topic of greater significance for human beings to consider.

Human beings are born and live in the truth and yet many cannot see this----as such it is a mystery for philosophers to contemplate: why is truth both present and yet hidden to man (woman)? I do not wish to engage in this subtle inquiry in this present essay. I have many other essays addressing this very theme. For example in the blog entitled: "entelechaia": http://entelechaia.blogspot.com/2014/12/essay-from-summer-14.html

Today, I wish to reflect on the truth that is immediate and accessible to all---even now, in this present moment truth is "one step away"---to be honest not even a step---take one deep breath, release it and acknowledge this truth that surrounds us everywhere, on all sides, all the time as though it were the element we dwell in. Like the flying fish who leaps beyond the surface of the sea into the air realizes then and there for the very first time that all of her life she has lived in water. The self-evidency of the water did not appear until the first leap beyond the water. The first step is to let things be what they are for the path of doubtful debating leads nowhere---doubting is the active resistance against the power of truth here and now.

You may ask: with all of this truth surrounding me, why is the world full of lies? A formidable question! And one that is potentially irresolvable----having entered into the fray of this inquiry, one might never depart. And yet, truth is self-evident and immediately grasped here and now. The skeptic
succeeds in ushering in doubt by turning away from the immediately given self-evidence of truth.  Such a thing happens with the use of words---since truth is not a linguistic artifact or a theory. The "suchness" (essential being) of things is not altered by naming them, and no amount of naming can make a thing come to pass in truth.

Is truth on the side of the subject? The object? Or somewhere in between? Or perhaps there is yet another option. Truth, like salvation,  is for human beings---not for God, or nature, not even for the angels. Man alone, searches for truth and needs truth.

If my reader is a veteran skeptic, ready to draw arms at the mention of the mere word 'truth', allow me to say that as a teacher I am ready to show you how to learn to know the truth that surrounds you, step by step. However, one must begin in earnest with the self-evidency of one's own perception, here and now.  I call this "assuming one's own standpoint". This is analogous to the flying fish acknowledging its watery domain as its birthright as it breaks free albeit briefly from the clutch of the surf.

To be honest, the analogy of the flying fish is not entirely univocal point for point. The human being cannot exit the fact of truth and true-being no matter how hard he or she may try! For example, dreaming itself may be the gateway that leads beyond truth, hence upon waking one realizes that whereas I was dreaming and caught up in illusion and untruth, now that I have awaken I see the truth directly before me. Another attempt may be found in telling lies. One may deceive concerning the truth. However, strictly speaking, this is not effective. If I am standing before an oak tree, and I declare: "this is not a tree, " I lie. This lying word in no way changes the truth of the oak tree. The more I look at it---man may run from truth but cannot hide! Not even dreaming and lies can keep the human being outside of the truth.

Let us return to the skeptic: provided that you can assume your own standpoint, that is acknowledge that you are awake and are able to honestly name the oak tree that is directly in your eyesight, I can teach you the truth. Beginning with the self-evidency of one's own perception,  the path that opens to truth is as follows: Beginning with one's own starting point you proceed to ask: How must the universe be in order that this immediately self-evident starting point is indeed true? The quest must begin in earnest. Honesty is the first virtue that is required---honesty, then a sense of wonder---how, indeed, is any of this appearing to me now? For the self-evidency of my being here and now  is irrefutable. It is this truth that we begin with that leads us toward the consideration of how "the universe must be" in order that this immediate fact can be. The skeptical path is futile as is clearly seen---if I accept the immediate evidence of my standpoint but then imagine that the universe itself does not cohere with this truth then I am proposing an impossibility---namely that the one and only truth in the universe is my own standpoint.

In order for their to be one standpoint in truth it follows that the entire universe must be true or at the very least must allow enough truth for this immediate experience to stand before me as it most evidently does here and now. Our question then becomes: how is it that there is truth in the universe?
This becomes the correct method of inquiry, not only in philosophy, but in all endeavors. An allied question is this how can I sustain the truth since it is so self-evidently present to me here and now? As a preliminary I answer that there is truth in the universe because the universe itself is aimed at truth and I can sustain the truth by staying present to the evidence that arises before me here and now.

Reflections At Christmastime-2016

I am feeling more compassionate, by the grace of God, as we enter the twenties of december twenty-sixteen. Ironically, it is not compassion toward family and friends that I consider, but rather, those who from habit or insult are deemed enemies. Each person is one step away from salvation---one step!

Let this be a hardened criminal, a pedophile, a corrupt politician---with Christ's eyes I see a man or woman and I know that, like them, I am but for the grace of God a serious sinner. So I must in all good faith leave my judgement aside, this person is one step away from salvation.

How to explain this? See the Apostles to the Geeks blog: http://apostletothegeeks.blogspot.com/2016/12/i-come-at-this-strange-time-as-apostle.html

This Performance had Me in Tears

Click for New Yorker article on Patti Smith performing Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A-gonna Fall" in Stockholm, Sweden.


http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/patti-smith-on-singing-at-bob-dylans-nobel-prize-ceremony

Enjoy the Musical Tracks at Uncle Gino's Cabin

https://soundcloud.com/uncleginoscabin

Sleeper by Woody Allen-1973

Here is the summary of the film's plot: "Miles Monroe (Woody Allen), a jazz musician and owner of the "Happy Carrot" health-food store in 1973, is subjected to cryopreservation without his consent, and not revived for 200 years.[2] The scientists who revive him are members of a rebellion: 22nd-century America seems to be a police state, ruled by a dictator about to implement a secret plan known as the "Aries Project". The rebels hope to use Miles as a spy to infiltrate the Aries Project, because he is the only member of this society without a known biometric identity."

The genius of this film is more evident in the current time----since it was unclear in the '70s how technical so-called progress would play out. In 2016 we have enough evidence to see that the future dystopic world that Woody Allen shows presents here is pretty close to the world are living in and it is a nightmare. So many of the ideas of progress and science, including artificial intelligence, and bionics are forced upon the citizenry in a a kind of mass-experimentation. Like Sleeper, only a few of the citizens "the underground"---realize that a society fuelled by mass brainwashing and advanced security and hyper-surveillance is anti-human. 

New Fiction on Bhagavad America Blog

http://bhagavad-america.blogspot.com/2016/11/introduction-word-of-narration-by-chuck.html

You're a Big Girl Now (Bob Dylan) -Uncle Gino's Cabin

soundcloud.com/firewheel-studio/pw-dylan-your-a-big-girl-now-1

I want to share with you...A mysterious song! A most mysterious song!

I offer you a song that has haunted me for years and given me hours of sheer wonder considering the meaning of the lyrics. Here is the link to Youtube so that you can hear this masterpiece of dramatic choreography. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9LJkyZU-QM Al Stewart- One Stage Before  1975

It seems to me as though I've been upon this stage before And juggled away the night for the same old crowd These harlequins you see with me, they too have held the floor As here once again they strut and they fret their hour I see those half-familiar faces in the second row Ghost-like with the footlights in their eyes But where or when we met like this last time I just don't know It's like a chord that rings and never dies For infinity And now these figures in the wings with all their restless tunes Are waiting around for someone to call their names They walk the backstage corridors and prowl the dressing-rooms And vanish to specks of light in the picture-frames But did they move upon the stage a thousand years ago In some play in Paris or Madrid? And was I there among them then, in some travelling show And is it all still locked inside my head For infinity And some of you are harmonies to all the notes I play Although we may not meet still you know me well While others talk in secret keys and transpose all I say And nothing I do or try can get through the spell So one more time we'll dim the lights and ring the curtain up And play again like all the times before But far behind the music you can almost hear the sounds Of laughter like the waves upon the shores Of infinity Guitar solo played by Tim Renwick: Drums: Stuart Elliot Produced by Alan Parsons Recorded at Abbey Road Studio Now my commentary: It seems to me as though I've been upon this stage before self-referential, especially if one is performing the song on stage And juggled away the night for the same old crowd  Which gives a clue to the song's title---one stage before. These harlequins you see with me, they too have held the floor Harlequins-fellow players. As here once again they strut and they fret their hour they too have been here before (deja vu) I see those half-familiar faces in the second row Ghost-like with the footlights in their eyes what a masterful poetic perception! And note its realism, he even desfcribes the lighting. But where or when we met like this last time I just don't know Here is a deep mystery It's like a chord that rings and never dies tying in the song itself and noting its endless temporality For infinity And now these figures in the wings with all their restless tunes verse two introduces a new cast of characters---not players. Are waiting around for someone to call their names spirits of music itself or the tunes which enliven this stage They walk the backstage corridors and prowl the dressing-rooms And vanish to specks of light in the picture-frames these characters are transported on specks of light and vanish in paintings But did they move upon the stage a thousand years ago In some play in Paris or Madrid? And was I there among them then, in some travelling show Was I there?---the singer reveals himself And is it all still locked inside my head Is this all in his head--i.e., hallucination For infinity And some of you are harmonies to all the notes I play Now he addresses those who are listening---calls them 'harmonies' to his notes. Although we may not meet still you know me well When I first met Al Stewart in Seattle, I shook his hand and quoted this line.  But many others who never meet Al "still [may] know him well."While others talk in secret keys and transpose all I say There are others who talk in secret key (signatures) and transpose these lyrics And nothing I do or try can get through the spell This causes a 'spell' through which the singer cannot penetrate. So one more time we'll dim the lights and ring the curtain up So one more time-fulfilling the title:One More Stage. Also, "So" as in therefore...And play again like all the times before To play again like all the times before. Are all stages one four dimensional outpouring? But far behind the music you can almost hear the sounds But----behind this song you might hear something else that is almost audible--- it is laughter like wavesOf laughter like the waves upon the shores Of infinity Upon the shores of infinity.  This is merely my "take" on the song, each one may come to his own interpretation. However, remember that the interpretation that is 'optimal' accounts for the meaning of the verses without importing ideas and images that are not literally there. The Music The song begins with an eery and hypnotic 12 string guitar strumming in a basic triple meter between Em and C. The beat is a complex meter when you listen to the syncopated hi-hat rhythm. When I met the drummer who played this song for Al Stewart in Seattle the night I met the entire band and partied with them (the same drummer that played for  the Spencer Davis Group), he showed me how to play the hi-hat figure. The bass is prominent in the first verse. "For INFINITY" ends verse one-and here the producer adds more reverb to Al's voice which renders an eery feel. And for the next verse a low fuzzy synthesized tone adds an obsessive backdrop to verse 2. "For INFINITY" is sung with yet more reverb, sounding very eery. The cumulative energy keeps building as verse 3 opens. Now the synthesized voice is in a treble register. What an amazing choice. "OF INFINITY" adds a twinkling bell phrase that ushers in the guitar solo. THe guitar solo is truly one of my favorites. It is well known that Al stewart has a reputation of hiring many fine guitarists, moreover in the choice of Tim Renwick, who played on Al's previous two albums the familiarity seems to grow until he plays this masterful piece. Alan Parsons also produced the two albums leading up to Year of The Cat, the album from which this song is pulled. The solo is played on a stratocaster, if I am not mistaken. The solo plays over the chord changes: Em/C/Em/C  [Capo at the 3rd fret---sounds in Gm]

The alternating phrase in the verses is G---D/F#--C--Am  Em/C

The bridge begins in G

G--D--C--G/B--Am

D--Am--Bm

C--G/B--Am--G--D/F#--Em

Am--D--B--Em ("for INFINITY") Notice how the B chord sets up the key phrase: FOR INFINITY

Notice what the drummer plays behind the solo---it is as good as it gets in studio drumming---Stuart Elliot.

The final note of the solo seems to fade into the wind sounding synth production, like "a speck of light into a picture frame."

There is more that I could say about this eery and wonderful song but I prefer listening to music rather than talking about it.

November 2016: Reflections on the Crunchkin Blog

Re: The term 'Crunchkin'

Today, when one searches Google for 'Crunchkin', you will find a whole host of products, services, dog biscuits, chocolate candy and many more. When I coined the term back in the late '90s I had no idea that 'Crunchkin' would be so widely disseminated. It is a flattering thing. This blog presents artwork, music, opinion, and other sorts of "content" which reflects the Crunchkin brand.

The World Today

To my mind the 21st century is a grave disappointment. When I say 'world' I mean the human world, and not nature. Nature strikes me as the closest thing to God and a permanent blessing, no matter how badly lovers of technology deny their destructive impact. Now we have so-called environmentalists attempting to combat so-called Global Warming with Geoengineering---it is truly a case of the blind leading the blind---flimsy science concocting apocalyptic scenarios which are de facto atheistic. Now it is the engineers who must "save" the earth---what incredible blasphemy! And in their know-it-all do-gooder modus operandi they go about seeding clouds with chemtrails and ushering in consequences far more devastating than the symptoms of climate change they seek to ameliorate.

9/11

The american people continue to be in the dark concerning the fall of the world trade centers while 1000s of architects, pilots and firefighters testify to the utterly erroneous account for the catastrophe given in the Official Report. WTC7, the 48 story skyscraper that is circled in the image above fell by controlled demolition at 5:24 PM September 11, 2001. It is called "the smoking gun" by 9/11 truthers and rightly so. Further evidence of controlled demolition in the North and South Towers can be discerned in the form of pyroclastic clouds billowing at a 90 degree angle as the first tower "falls" at 9.8 meter per second per second free fall which physicists have concluded is impossible.

Truth= God

Guardians of political correctness (BTW: this is a Stalinist Term. In russian: 'politicheskii pravitel'nost) warn, cajole, and discourage any mention of the True God by teachers and believers. Talk of religion and spirituality is OK as long as it is buffered by a relativistic philosophy---but should any believer give powerful arguments supporting truth---they are practicing hate speech and intolerance. Such pompous ignorance reigns in all departments of the contemporary university, even so-called Christian universities. The bottomline is that if there is found one piece of truth, then it follows that God exists, for Truth must have an author. On the other hand, when discussing the true God---it is self-evident that this God is 'ONE and TRUE'---there can be no plural of the term "God". Yes, there may be many "ways" to this One, True God---but if the term is to be employed at all it refers to the Creator, the Master of the Universe. A pathetic attempt to refute this is put forward by astrophysicists such as Stephen Hawkings who speak of multiverses. The term is a misnomer pure and simple, medieval philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas already understood that this mention of multiverse ushers in a "regression to infinity".

Judaism, Islam and Christianity all acknowledge the same Creation as described in Genesis---the so-called name of God is a moot point. As Dylan wrote: "You can call Bobby, you can call me Zimmy, you can call me RJ, you can call me Ray, no matter what you say YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO SERVE SOMEBODY." So what do I care how the Hebrew or the Muslim or the Christian prays the name of God? No matter what you say each one must serve the ONE, TRUE God!

Did I fail to mention that God is LIVING and PRESENT? To all backwards looking people---when are you going to wake up? The True God is Living and Present (here and now). You see human opinion matters not one whit---GOD IS---this is the ROCK that we must conform---God is no respecter of persons! Let's say that one begins with one's own human intelligence and belief, and yes, at this level we find opinion and relativity. But for the man or woman who proceeds toward the true, living God, opinion, is overcome, then one cannot say: I think God is multiple or has retired (Deism), or is a Higgs-Boson particle---this is literal ignorance. Each people have their own revelation of God---this statement is blatantly false. There is one pure revelation of God, this is the Son of God. The Son of God became flesh and was crucified by politicians and religious leaders. Nothing has changed.

The doctrine of progress is sheer vanity, nothing more. There has been no progress, The Son of God is still routed out and hated by ignorant men and women in power. Power not progress prevails, and this world knows nothing of the power of love and truth which Jesus Christ brought to light in the teachings of his brief life. IBM believes in progress---see the ad above---as I keep pointing out IBM is like the Wizard of Oz---projecting an awesome technological show, but when Toto pulls back the curtain, Dorothy sees that the Wizard is a pathetic charlatan---so too with Watson and those who think that all the apps and computer tricks are somehow better than the tools of the past. They are not.
 Finally, to conclude, I am not at home in the current world---life was better in the 1970s or in many other eras. This is a cold world, America has lost its charm,  Dostoevsky wrote that the average citizen has within their soul the same bloodthirsty tendency to be a tyrant as Zherebiatnikov, the brutal prison guard. Nature alone remains unblemished and proximal to God's beauty and truth. Leon Russell sang: "I am a stranger in a strange land." You keep your Starbuck's coffee, and Spotify, and all of your fancy things, The Lord is my Rock and my Shelter, I will serve Him.

October 2016-Blessed Days of the Lord

Listening to the Moody Blues "Candle of Life"---so many monumental reflections! Thinking of Alan who originally opened my ears to this amazing music. Life has become so epic in proportion, cosmic and amazing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrWTftmfe6Q

Lillian and Dennis Blalock

 This was an art exhibition of Blalock's work maybe 8 years ago. Strange to think that both of these dear people are passed from the earth. Blalock is one of the most important painters that I have ever met.

Water Rushing Through the Grasses-August 26 Greenwood PA

Olivia on an August Hike

Jack Frost on the Lamb

Loss of A Truly Beautiful Woman---Nancy Hobson Wolf (d. 12/24/15)

This is a lovely photo I took of my mother some years ago at the vets with her beloved Barney---She is terribly missed and I am so honored to have been her son!

IBM CEO Ginni Rometty Continues to make Unsubstantiated Claims concerning Watson's AI Facticity

Click for link to Apocalypse Illustrated...

Consensus 911: Best Evidence

Click for Consensus 911: Best Evidence Points

Crossing the Rubicon: Dick Cheney's Role in 9/11

Please click for link...

Excerpt from the book...

On May 8, 2001 – four months prior to 9/11 – the president placed Dick Cheney in charge of “[A]ll federal programs dealing with weapons of mass destruction consequence management within the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Justice, and Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other federal agencies?” This included all “training and planning” which needed to be “seamlessly integrated, harmonious and comprehensive” in order to “maximize effectiveness.” This mandate created the Office of National Preparedness in FEMA, overseen by Dick Cheney. 15

Dick Cheney was placed directly in charge of managing the seamless integration of all training exercises throughout the entire federal government and all military agencies. On 9/11 Cheney oversaw multiple war games and terror drills, including several exercises of NORAD, the Air Force agency whose mandate is to “watch the sky.”

The evening before September 11th, 2001, the National Security Agency intercepted a communication between Khalid Shaikh Muhammad and the alleged ringleader of the 9/11 attacks, Mohammed Atta. The communication stated, “The match is about to begin.”

Were they “matching” their activities to the war games? Was the attack a rigged “match” between the defenders on one side, and the attackers with their accomplices on the other?

The White House was so infuriated when this communication leaked from the Senate Intelligence Committee that they threatened Senators with polygraphs and office searches for disclosing classified information. This leak struck a nerve within the White House.

We know multiple Air Force war games were running on the morning of 9/11, as documented extensively in the mainstream press. 16 What Crossing the Rubicon has documented conclusively is that there was a live-fly drill taking place on 9/11 titled Vigilant Warrior. Richard Clarke disclosed the name of this drill on page 4 of his book, but it was Major Don Arias of NORAD who confirmed the definition of the title “Warrior” to Mike Ruppert via email.

Warrior = JCS/HQ NORAD sponsored FTX, or field training exercise (live-fly). 17

That means that the Vigilant Warrior drill conducted by the Joint Chiefs of Staff involved at least one real commercial aircraft in the skies, intended to simulate exactly the kind of airliner hijack emergency presented on 9/11. Coincidence?

This was further supported by an April 18 2004 USA Today article titled, “NORAD had drills of jets as weapons.” The report cited NORAD officials who confirmed live-fly drills were conducted using hijacked airliners originating from the continental United States used as weapons crashing into targets including the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The specific drill USA Today referred to was “planned in July [2001] and conducted later” – likely on 9/11 itself. 18

Remember, on 9/11 the Bush administration claimed it had “no idea” aircraft would be used as weapons. Then why were they drilling such scenarios before and during 9/11? The White House dodged this by saying it wasn’t aware of these drills but that is a transparent lie. The drills took place in the White House! 19

Secret Service runs simulated attack field exercises – exactly what Vigilant Warrior was. This Joint Chiefs of Staff drill was likely being run through Secret Service lines of communication by a central command under Cheney’s control. 20

Additional war games on 9/11 included Northern Vigilance, an exercise that pulled Air Force fighters from the east coast of the United States up into Canada and Alaska simulating an attack out of Russia. All of those fighters were rendered useless as the 9/11 plot unfolded – too far away to respond.

One of the components of this drill included “false blips” (radar injects simulating aircraft in flight) placed on FAA radar screens. 21 At one point FAA head Jane Garvey said they suspected up to 11 hijackings on 9/11. Was she saying they couldn’t determine which were real, which were simulated, and which were live-fly military exercises?

Regardless, all of this rendered Air Force response on 9/11 useless.

In Air War Over America it is documented that General Arnold of NORAD didn’t pull out of the war game titled Vigilant Guardian until reports of flight 93 being hijacked were coming in. That was at 9:16, a total of 54 minutes after it was known that flight 11 was a hijacking. 22 What took so long? Were there still “false blips” on FAA radar screens at this time?

There were likely false blips on screen even after 9:16. The Kean Commission’s report introduced “phantom flight-11” as being reported by the FAA at 9:25 on 9/11. The FAA reported flight 11 was heading to Washington D.C. at that time when in fact it had already struck the World Trade Center. The Kean Commission’s report stated they were “unable to locate the source of the mistaken FAA information.” 23

“Phantom flight-11” was a false blip, but since the war games are classified, specific information on “false blips” and other details can’t be reported.

Now imagine being an air traffic controller with both real planes and “false blips” simulating hijackings on your screens when suddenly there are real, multiple, hijackings. Where do you send the few Air Force fighters that you have? You can’t guess wrong, you don’t have enough assets for that. The FAA doesn’t even make that decision, the military does. The Kean Commission managed to scapegoat the FAA in their report, but the Air Force itself confirmed the FAA did its job properly on 9/11 in Air War Over America. 24

There were more 9/11 war games including Northern Guardian, Northern Denial (recently confirmed by an Assistant Editor at Harper’s magazine) and an unnamed National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) drill for a plane crashing into NRO headquarters at precisely the time of an actual crash in New York.

Another coincidence?

War games, terror drills and exercises are run by the military quite frequently. In this case, they mirrored the real attacks of 9/11 with such shocking congruence as to be beyond the realm of coincidence.

This is made clear when we consider the warnings that had flooded U.S. Intelligence prior to 9/11, indicating that terrorists were planning to hijack aircraft and crash them into American targets on the ground during the week of September 9th, 2001. 25 With that type of information, who in their right mind would then schedule war games that would leave New York and Washington D.C. completely undefended?

We’ve already shown that the man in charge of managing all such programs was Dick Cheney. Among the central decision-makers for the scheduling of so many simultaneous exercises would be Dick Cheney and Ralph Eberhart, head of NORAD.

It certainly was a perfect “match.”

The Maestro

The most important revelation made about the 9/11 war games comes again from Major Don Arias of NORAD. With multiple war games running, there had to be someone coordinating them.

“Yes, there is an exercise maestro,” said Don Arias in a phone interview. 26

So who was the maestro?

Mike Ruppert called every relevant military and government office looking for an answer to this question and received no response. At the final 9/11 Commission hearing on June 17, 2004, I asked General Ralph Eberhart – the man in charge of NORAD on 9/11 – who was in charge of coordinating the war games that day. His only response was, “No comment.” None of the commissioners, including Chairman Kean, could answer this question. 27

FTW’s research has concluded the maestro was either Dick Cheney, Ralph “Ed” Eberhart, or both. Whoever the maestro was, he was certainly under Cheney’s management as per the May 2001 presidential mandate.

-----------------------------More on Ralph (Ed) Eberhart--------

Point MC-9: The Activities of General Ralph Eberhart during the 9/11 Attacks

<< Previous Point, Next Point >>

Introduction

NORAD is the US-Canadian military agency responsible for defending North American airspace. Its traditional operating procedures – according to which planes are to be intercepted when they deviate from their courses, turn off their transponders, or permanently lose radio contact – were not followed on 9/11.

As the commander-in-chief of NORAD on 9/11, General Ralph E. “Ed” Eberhart was ultimately responsible for all of NORAD’s failures on 9/11 – most importantly, the failure to intercept hijacked airliners before they could strike the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. The fourth airliner, UA 93, which was reportedly headed towards the nation’s capital, may have been shot down by NORAD, but NORAD has denied this. Accordingly, the official story about 9/11 is that NORAD was four-for-four in failing to intercept hijacked airliners that day.

Nevertheless, in spite of NORAD’s disastrous failures under General Eberhart’s leadership, he was never held accountable or even criticized. Indeed, he was promoted shortly after 9/11 and later called a “9/11 hero.” [1]

Unlike others, such as Gen. Richard Myers and Gen. Henry Shelton, Eberhart has not written an account of his actions on 9/11. Likewise, he was seldom discussed by the 9/11 Commission. Accordingly, we do not know much about his actions that day. But enough has been said and reported by officials and the media to add up to an official story about his actions.

The Official Account

• “On the morning of 9/11 General Eberhart was in his office at headquarters—roughly 30 minutes away from Cheyenne Mountain, where the operations center is located.” [2]
• “Eberhart received a call at 6:45 AM MDT (Mountain Daylight Time, or 8:45 AM EST [sic EDT] from CMOC’s [Cheyenne Mountain Operation Center’s] Command Director (CD) that informed him of the ongoing circumstance of a suspected hijacking on the East Coast. He was told that this was a non-exercise. He went to his office, and saw the CNN broadcast of the World Trade Center explosion.” [3]
• It seemed to Eberhart that there was “great confusion in the system” at this time. (This was also stated by Canadian Lt. Gen. Rick Findley, the Battle Staff Director at Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center, who later told the 9/11 Commission that, following the second attack on the Twin Towers, there was “confusion as to how many, and which aircraft, were hijacked.” [4]) When Eberhart learned about the second WTC attack, it became obvious to him that “an ongoing and coordinated terrorist attack” was underway. [5]
• Eberhart tried to contact Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Henry Shelton, but could not, because Shelton was on a plane to Europe to attend a NATO meeting. [6]
• Eberhart then contacted the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, who was on Capitol Hill meeting with Senator Max Cleland. Eberhart called Myers sometime between 9:03 and 9:30 AM, hence before the report of the Pentagon attack, which took place at approximately 9:37 AM. [7]
• Eberhart updated Myers about the crisis, telling him that the Twin Towers had been hit, that NORAD would be launching fighter jets in response, and that he was working with the FAA to get all non-military planes in the United States grounded. [8]
• According to Myers, Eberhart told him that there were “several hijack codes in the system,” [9] which meant, said Myers, “that the transponders in the aircraft [were] talking to the ground, and they’re saying … we’re being hijacked.” [10]
• Eberhart next said that he was going to remain at Building 1 of Peterson Air Force Base – the headquarters of the US Air Force Space Command (of which Eberhart was also the commander) – because “he did not want to lose communication.” However, he then decided to drive to NORAD’s Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center, leaving at “approximately 9:30” EDT (or 7:30 MDT), which would have been shortly after his conversation with Myers. As to why Eberhart took this trip during the crisis, he explained that things had “quieted down” and the Operations Center “had communications capabilities not available at Peterson.” [11]
• Although, according to the 9/11 Commission, making the 12-mile drive normally takes “roughly 30 minutes,” it took Eberhart 45 minutes. As a Washington Poststory reported later, the trip “can be time-consuming if traffic is bad.” [12] During this period, it was later reported, Eberhart “couldn’t receive telephone calls as senior officials weighed how to respond,” [13] or at least could not hold them: He “lost a cell phone call with Vice President Dick Cheney.” [14]
• At 9:49 AM, Eberhart, during the Pentagon’s air threat conference call, ordered “all air sovereignty aircraft to battle stations, fully armed.” [15]
• The 9/11 Commission asked Eberhart why he, after realizing that there was an organized attack against the country, did not implement the plan called SCATANA (Security Control of Air Traffic and Air Navigation Aids), which would clear the sky of all non-military planes, so that the military would have complete control of the U.S. airspace. Eberhart explained that, with the radars it had, NORAD would not have been able to “control the airspace that day,” so if SCATANA had been implemented suddenly, even more problems would have developed. In response to those within NORAD who had advised him to implement it immediately, Eberhart said: “I will execute SCATANA once you have a modified SCATANA that … doesn’t cause a bad situation to become worse.” Two hours after the second plane hit the WTC, Eberhart was able to execute the modified SCATANA. [16]

The Best Evidence

An examination of the evidence shows that Eberhart, rather than being considered a “9/11 hero,” may well be the opposite. This evidence can be divided into two categories:

1. Eberhart made several contradictory and implausible statements.
2. Eberhart also caused delays by virtue of his actions and omissions.

1. Eberhart made several contradictory and implausible statements:

The official story about Eberhart contains the following elements, discussed in the order they appeared in the summary above:

• Eberhart said that he first tried to contact Gen. Shelton, finding that he was on the way to Europe. However, given that Shelton’s trip had been planned for some time, the claim that Eberhart did not know when his immediate superior (the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) would be absent is not credible.
• Eberhart said that he called General Myers while the latter was on Capitol Hill – which, as shown in the 9/11 Consensus Point about Myers, [17] was false.
• Although Eberhart reported that the hijacked airliners, having used the hijack code, were talking to the ground, the failure of all eight pilots to squawk the hijack code is one of the main problems with the official account. [18]
• Although Eberhart justified driving to the Operations Center by saying that things had “quieted down,” two hijacked airliners were still in the air (which his statements about several hijack codes implies that he believed).
• If he had a good reason to get to the Operations Center, he could have taken the quick helicopter trip (rather than wasting 45 minutes or longer driving the distance). [19]
• Although Eberhart claimed that he was unable to communicate by cell phone during the trip, he at 9:49 AM (7:49 Mountain) reportedly ordered – during an air threat conference call – interceptor pilots to get to their battle stations. [20]
• Although “battle stations” sounds like an effective action, it actually means that pilots wait in their jets with the engines off, so they were not ready to scramble immediately. [21]
• Eberhart’s claim that he could not implement SCATANA immediately, without making a bad situation worse, is not credible, given that SCATANA was a procedure set up for emergencies, and the modified SCATANA would have surely been already worked out, especially given the fact that NORAD was doing exercises at the time, including a plane crashing into a Manhattan skyscraper. Also the NORAD officers who were urging Eberhart to order SCATANA evidently saw no problem with doing so.

Accordingly, the official account about Eberhart contains inaccuracies, extraordinary claims, and actions and omissions through which the interception of the hijacked airliners would have been delayed.

2. Eberhart caused delays through further actions and omissions

There were additional irregularities regarding Eberhart’s actions, omissions, and statements:

• It is standard operating procedure for NORAD to intercept a flight if it has lost radio contact, turned off its transponder, and gone off course. This was true of all four 9/11 flights and yet NORAD, under Eberhart, did not intercept any of them. [22]
• As to why NORAD failed to intercept, it gave out a timeline in 2001, claiming NORAD knew about the hijackings and tried to intercept the airliners but could never get there in time. [23] NORAD told this story from 2001 until 2004. But then, in The 9/11 Commission Report, it gave a completely different account, according to which (1) the FAA failed to alert NORAD about American 11 until it was too late for jets to reach it and (2) the FAA failed to tell NORAD about all three of the other flights until after they had crashed. [24]
• Regarding American 77 (which reportedly hit the Pentagon), Eberhart and the 9/11 Commission said that “NEADS never received notice that American 77 was hijacked.” [25] But if that were true, why did Eberhart, about six weeks after the attacks, tell the U.S. Senate that NORAD had scrambled jets at 9:24 AM after being notified that hijacked American 77 was coming towards Washington, adding that this was a “documented notification”? [26] Did the 2004 timeline mean that Eberhart’s 2001 statement to the Senate was a lie? Or did it mean that the FAA was lying when it emphatically said that it had shared “real-time information” with NORAD and the Pentagon about “all the flights of interest, including Flight 77.” [27]
• As to why the new story may have emerged: The 9/11 research community had shown that NORAD’s first timeline did not excuse NORAD, because there would have been time to intercept the airliners before the Twin Towers and the Pentagon were hit. In June 2004, while the 9/11 Commission Report was being prepared, Eberhart said that this view was correct – that if NEADS had been told about the flights when the FAA claimed, his people would have been able to “shoot down all three of them — all four aircraft.” [28]
• When Eberhart was interviewed by the 9/11 Commission in March 2004, he said he had “no knowledge of the circumstance [sic] that initiated the scramble” [29] of fighter jets at 9:24 AM fromLangley. Having learned that NEADS had scrambled those fighters in response to a false report – that American 11, which had hit WTC 1, was still airborne and heading toward Washington DC – Eberhart said that he had learned about this false report only “recently.” [30] It seems incredible that the head of NORAD would have been ignorant about which fighters had been scrambled until two and a half years following the attacks.
• Eberhart had the responsibility of setting the alert levels of the INFOCON, which defends against attacks on the Pentagon’s communications networks. Just 12 hours before the attacks, INFOCON was reduced to its least protective level and then not raised until after the second WTC attack. [31]
• Eberhart was also in charge of many of NORAD’s military exercises (“war games”) that occurred on 9/11, such as Vigilant Guardian, which had a scenario in which terrorists hijacked an airliner with the aim of attacking New York City. The exercise was conducted “sim over live,” meaning the simulated hijackings were to be inserted into the live air traffic control system. As a result, NEADS personnel for some time were uncertain whether the radar tracks were real or simulated.
  According to Eberhart’s own testimony, he realized after the second WTC attack, hence shortly after 9:00 AM, that a “coordinated terrorist attack” was underway. Eberhart was the person with the primary responsibility to protect Canada and the US from attack, and yet he allowed the war games to continue until after 10:00 AM.
  Moreover, radar personnel at Cheyenne asked NEADS to “get rid of this goddamn sim.” According to a 9/11 Commission interview with Canadian Lt. Gen. Rick Findley, who was NORAD’s Battle Staff Director at Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center on the morning of September 11, there was, following the second attack, “confusion as to how many, and which aircraft, were hijacked.” [32] Nevertheless, the sim remained until after the time of the Pentagon attack (at 9:37 AM). When asked about the impact of the military exercises by the 9/11 Commission, Eberhart falsely claimed that they had “at most cost us 30 seconds.” [33]
• Researcher and reporter Michael Kane of Global Free Press, who was on the scene at a 9/11 Commission Hearing, reported: “After General Eberhart’s sworn testimony, I asked him who was in charge of coordinating the multiple war games running on 9/11. He replied: ‘No Comment.’” [34]However, Lt. Col. Dawne Deskins from the North East Air Defense Sector (NEADS) told the Commission, “Exercises that are designed on the NORAD level are created at planning conferences. NORAD planning exercises are mostly held at Peterson,” which is where General Eberhart was in charge. [35]

Conclusion

Eberhart made several statements that were clearly false and others that were at least highly implausible, including:

• that he decided it would be all right to drive to the Operations Center because things had “quieted down”;
• that the airliner pilots had squawked the hijack code;
• that he could not use his cell phone during his drive to the Operations Center;
• that the military exercises would have delayed NEADS no more than 30 seconds;
• that he had only recently learned that the 9:24 AM scramble was based on a false report about American 11;
• that he called General Myers while the latter was on Capitol Hill.

Eberhart also caused delays through his actions and omissions:

• by turning INFOCON down to the least protective level;
• by taking 45 minutes or longer to drive to the Operations Center with a cell phone that reportedly did not work (which meant that Eberhart – like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Myers, Shelton, and Winfield – was reportedly incommunicado during the attacks);
• by ordering interceptor pilots to “battle stations,” which meant that the pilots wait in their jets with the engines off, so they were not ready to scramble immediately;
• by delaying to implement SCATANA until after the attacks were over;
• by arranging multiple military exercises for 9/11, with at least one of them being “sim over live,” then not ordering removal of these confusing “sims” until after the Pentagon attack.

Finally, in agreeing with The 9/11 Commission’s statement that NORAD’s 2001 timeline was false, Eberhart implied that the military (under his control) had given a false account.

In short, Eberhart did nothing effective in response to the 9/11 hijackings – despite being present in the military’s teleconference as those hijackings were in progress – except to delay responses.

Considerable evidence points to Eberhart as having been derelict in his duty. [36]

A formal investigation should be launched to see if there is any other conclusion that could be reached.

<< Previous Point, Next Point >>

References for Point MC-9

[1]	Gerry J. Gilmore, “Eberhart Tabbed to Head U.S. Northern Command,” American Forces Press Service, May 8, 2002; the Northern Command (NORTHCOM) is considered “the nation’s premier military homeland defense organization”; NORAD and USNORTHCOM Public Affairs, “NORAD and USNORTHCOM Honour 9/11 Heroes,” October 15, 2012.
[2]	The 9/11 Commission Report, note 228 on p. 465.
[3]	“Memorandum for the Record: Interview with CINCNORAD (Commanded in Chief NORAD), General Edward ‘Ed’ Eberhart,” 9/11 Commission, 1 March 2004, p. 4.
[4]	9/11 Commission “Memorandum for the Record, Interview with NORAD Deputy Commander, Lieutenant General Rick Findley, Canadian Forces (CF),” March 1, 2004, p. 3.
[5]	Ibid., p. 2.
[6]	“Memorandum for the Record: Interview with CINCNORAD (Commanded in Chief NORAD), General Edward ‘Ed’ Eberhart,” 9/11 Commission, 1 March 2004, p. 4.
[7]	General Myers confirmed that shortly after Eberhart’s call the Pentagon was hit while he was on his way back to it. Source: “Panel I, Day II of the Twelfth Public Hearing of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States.” Chaired by Thomas Kean, Chairman, June 17, 2004, p. 43-44.
[8]	Richard Myers (with Malcolm McConnell), Eyes on the Horizon: Serving on the Front Lines of National Security (New York: Threshold Editions, 2009), 9.
[9]	“Memorandum for the Record: Interview with Richard Myers, Affiliated with NORAD, 9/11 Commission,” February 17, 2004, p. 4.
[10]	“Richard Myers, Interview by Jim Miklaszewski,”NBC News, September 11, 2002; Myers, Eyes on the Horizon, 9.
[11]	“Memorandum for the Record: Interview with CINCNORAD,” March 1, 2004.
[12]	The 9/11 Commission Report, 465; T. R. Reid, “Military to Idle NORAD Compound,” Washington Post, July 29, 2006.
[13]	Bruce Finley, “Military to Put Cheyenne Mountain on Standby,” Denver Post, July 27, 2006.
[14]	The 9/11 Commission Report, 42; Pam Zubeck, “Cheyenne Mountain’s Fate May Lie in Study Contents,” The Gazette, June 16, 2006; Lynn Spencer, Touching History: The Untold Story of the Drama That Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11 (New York: Free Press, 2008), 240.
[15]	The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 38 (pdf-p. 55), citing “DOD transcript, Air Threat Conference Call, Sept. 11, 2001.”
[16]	William B. Scott, “Exercise Jump-Starts Response to Attacks,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, June 3, 2002; 9/11 Commission, Twelfth Public Hearing, June 17, 2004, p. 70; Spencer, Touching History, 269.
[17]	9/11 Consensus Panel, Point MC-6: “The Activities of General Richard Myers during the 9/11 Attacks.”
[18]	9/11 Consensus Panel, Point Flt-1: “A Claim Regarding Hijacked Passenger Jets.”
[19]	“No reason was ever given (or requested) for why Eberhart did not fly directly to CMOC from Peterson, making use of the Cheyenne Mountain helicopter port,” Kevin Ryan, “The Case Against Ralph Eberhart, NORAD’s 9/11 Commander,” January 12, 2013.
[20]	The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 38 (pdf-p. 55), citing “DOD transcript, Air Threat Conference Call, Sept. 11, 2001.”
[21]	Leslie Filson, Air War Over America: Sept. 11 Alters Face of Air Defense Mission (Tyndall Air Force Base: 1st Air Force, 2003), 55; Lynn Spencer, Touching History, 27.
[22]	Bob Arnot, “What Was Needed to Halt the Attacks? Cockpit Security, Quick Response Not in Evidence Tuesday,” MSNBC, 12 September 2001.
[23]	NORAD, “NORAD’S Response Times, Sept. 11, 2001,” September 18, 2001.
[24]	The 9/11 Commission Report, pp. 18-30 (pdf-p. 35-47).
[25]	The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 34 (pdf-p. 51).
[26]	Transcript of Hearing Before the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate, October 25, 2001.
[27]	“FAA Communications with NORAD on September 11, 2001: FAA clarification Memo to 9/11 Independent Commission, May 22, 2003,” published by 911Truth.org, August 12, 2004.
[28]	9/11 Commission, Twelfth Public Hearing, June 17, 2004.
[29]	“Memorandum for the Record: Interview with CINCNORAD (Commanded in Chief NORAD), General Edward ‘Ed’ Eberhart,” 9/11 Commission, March 1, 2004.
[30]	The 9/11 Commission Report, 26-27, 34; “Memorandum for the Record: Interview with CINCNORAD,” March 1, 2004.
[31]	1st Fighter Wing History Excerpt, July through December 2001: 61.
[32]	9/11 Commission “Memorandum for the Record,” Interview with NORAD Deputy Commander, Lieutenant General Rick Findley, Canadian Forces (CF), March 1, 2004, p. 3.
[33]	Vigilant Guardian 01-02 Planning Document; “’Real-World or Exercise’: Did the U.S. Military Mistake the 9/11 Attacks for a Training Scenario?” Shoestring 9/11, March 22, 2012; “ ‘Let’s Get Rid of This Goddamn Sim’: How NORAD Radar Screens Displayed False Tracks All Through the 9/11 Attacks,” Shoestring 9/11, August 12, 2010; 9/11 Commission, Twelfth Public Hearing, June 17, 2004. 9/11 Consensus Panel, Point ME-2: “The Claim that the Military Exercises Did Not Delay the Response to the 9/11 Attacks”.
[34]	Kane spoke to Eberhart following the Commission’s Twelfth Public Hearing, June 17, 2004. Source: Don Jacobs, “The Military Drills on 9-11: ‘Bizarre Coincidence’ or Something Else?” In Paul Zarembka, ed., “The Hidden History of 9-11-2001,” Elsevier, 2006, p. 129.
[35]	9/11 Commission Interview with Lt. Col. Dawne Deskins, North Eastern Air Defense Sector (NEADS) field site visit, October 30, 2003, p. 3.
[36]	“Dereliction of duty is a specific offense under United States Code Title 10,892, Article 92, and applies to all branches of the US military. A service member who is derelict has willfully refused to perform his duties … or has incapacitated himself in such a way that he cannot perform his duties [as when Eberhart took his long drive] … Article 92 also applies to service members whose acts or omissions rise to the level of criminally negligent behavior.” (“Dereliction of Duty,” Wikipedia, accessed April 2015).