Skating the Infosphere

Have you ever wondered why the strongest country in the world has such a problem dealing with less powerful nations? Why we always seem to give up more than we gain in international negotiations? Why are our politicians so dazzled with size, complexity and abstruseness in treaties and trade agreements? Is there any way to get better at negotiating so we don’t constantly embarrass ourselves?

I’m afraid not. The ability to bargain is not necessarily instinctual, it can be learned and honed with practice but we have cultural problems that will forever doom us to hoping and flailing, wishing and blustering when we deal in the international arena.

We are uncomfortable in negotiations because the outcome is never guaranteed. We find ourselves placing our comfortable fixed price existence at risk and we are suddenly dependent on a skill we have never had to develop. It’s so easy to walk into a commercial establishment and only have to decide whether or not we are willing to pay the posted price for an item.

We (and I include most of Europe in this) have evolved into this fixed price society. The only time we bargain is when we purchase a home or an automobile and then we hate every minute of it. In nearly every other case the cost of goods and services are set by the seller and our only decision is whether or not we will accept the price. Not so the rest of the world.

In many smaller, less structured and less advanced societies everything is negotiable. The price of every item is a matter of competition between a seller who wants value for his product and a buyer who is willing to give up assets in order to make the purchase. These folks grow up from childhood practicing the art of hondling and it should be no surprise when they clean our clock in international negotiations.

We enter international negotiations with discomfort and apprehension because of our lack of proficiency. Our adversaries are well aware of our shortcomings and take advantage. We are so afraid of losing major points in a negotiation that we paint ourselves into corners by allowing our adversaries to score point after point on smaller issues. This has the dual effect of stimulating our opponents while discouraging us. While our adversaries are seeking advantage, we give up what we have in order to keep talks going. Other nations enter negotiations with clear goals in mind and an understanding of risk and reward, we go in with a laundry list of points we are willing to concede. Clearly our result will be less positive than our opponents.

At the end of the Korean conflict, during the Panmunjom “peace” talks, the North Koreans infuriated the U. S. representatives by placing everything from the seating arrangements to the color of the tablecloth to the size of the place cards into the negotiations. Then they sat back and smirked while our side fumed and blustered over these minor details and were psyched into an inferior position. A half century later we are still doing the same thing.

Our lack of negotiating skill delayed our exit from the Viet Nam quagmire as we got bogged down in minutiae while the NVA scored hit after hit. Our Vietnamese allies who stayed behind paid the price and died in their thousands because of our lack of bargaining skill.

We always enter negotiations in good faith, believe in the rectitude of our position and miss opportunity because of ingrained inflexibility. Unfortunately, we think our adversaries are doing the same. Our first mistake.

We are more interested in being liked than in being successful. We have given away huge amounts of treasure and political power because we always believe we have to get along with everybody. The most powerful nation in the world hasn’t the guts to work for its own best interest.

Our aim in negotiations is to minimize losses rather than maximize gains. Our opponents do just the opposite, largely because we are so predictable.

Our goals are short term and rigid. We gave and gave to Russia after the Second World War because we were unable to negotiate from the position of our overwhelming strength and we were more interested in reaching an accommodation than in preventing Russia from consolidating its power.

We have just witnessed free elections in Iraq and there are those who are concerned that they will not come up with a government that is like ours or at least similar enough to be acceptable. Iraq will evolve into its own form of government regardless of our best efforts because, for better or worse, they understand the art of bargaining, we do not.

It’s far too late for us to learn to negotiate properly. We should learn to use our strength to gain advantage, not wimp out every time we are challenged. Bet it won’t happen.

© 2005 Charles Stone, Jr.

Born: Buffalo, NY 8/7/42
Graduated: Williamsville Central HS 1960
Military Service USAF 1/27/61 - 1/4/65 Missile mechanic, 3 years in Germany.
Computer School, Buffalo, NY 1967.
Worked as a computer programmer, programmer/analyst, systems analyst, DP manager and consultant from 1968 - 1990
Became disabled in 1991
Currently living in Kissimmee, FL
Interests: politics, motor sports, history (mainly military), Web surfing, talk radio junkie.
Member of the NRA.
Favorite TV shows: CSI, Whose Line Is It, Anyway?, Nova.
Favorite radio program: Neal Boortz
Political leaning: libertarian, Constitutionalist, individualist.
Supported and campaigned for Harry Browne in 1996 and 2000. Not sure I’d do it again.
Published in: Bureaucrash, Sierra Times, The Libertarian Enterprise, Free Market Net, We Hold These Truths, The Informed Volusian

..I have loved collecting. I used to love collecting funny things like milk bottle lids or decks of cards, I suppose its some sort of hording gene that tells me 10 of one thing is a good number to have, or that having more than 6 bikes is cool. As with all things of this nature though you grow up and get a bigger paycheque and upscale your habbits and desires. Now I tend to go for expensive collectables and whenever I see a sign by the road that says something along the lines of collectables for sale I find it very difficult not to pull over my nice used landrover over and take a look at thier selection - usually opting for some sort of expensive wade item or other collectable ceramic pot - Its weird I know - Not your average addiction is ceramics!!! lolz.

[Keywords: ceramics, collectables, landrover, collectibles for sale ]

The Second World War was the continuation of World War One and a plan to break down the existing structures in order to make this part of the One World plan come to fruition. They had tried this with the Merovingian Napoleon in a more direct fashion in the century before they put this refined plan in motion. Prince Bernhard was part of the Thulean Gestapo and I think Plantard was his equal on the apparent other side. Bernhard became the CIA man to head the Bilderberg founding and Plantard went on to be the Nautonnier of the Priory which even if it was new they both have been around in some way under some name since the Trojan War as I have demonstrated. Saunière as a top Priory official would have been part of the planning of this effort to unite the world beginning with Europe. Metternich, Czar Alexander II and others had seen the importance of uniting Europe. This Czar was assassinated for trying to create a real democracy or for his efforts on behalf of the US against the Rothschild plan. Clearly the Rothschilds had a change of heart after trying to break the US into many warring factions.

Hitler, Stalin and the Churchills who were in the pocket of the Rothschilds as well as other visible characters or ‘fronts’ were for public consumption and served their purpose well. This first quote is the reaction of a Canadian military attaché to the Allied government shortly after the second war to end all wars, when Bradley presented his book for comment. I take this a lot further than any book Bradley has written.

“He wasn’t surprised at the contents. He knew the story already, and said that everyone at appropriately high levels in Europe and North America knew it too. He advised us not to publish any of it.” (2)

I will give the reader the names of the families and a few more historical insights that include names of people who are very well known and alive today. The whole mess is purposefully confusing as Bradley notes on pages 338-9 of Holy Grail across the Atlantic:

“..And we may recall that other nonsensical fragment from the Dossiers secrets deposited sometime in the 1950s for researchers to find. ONE DAY THE DESCENDANTS OF BENJAMINE LEFT THEIR COUNTRY {With the help of their Phoenician ‘brothers’.}; CERTAIN REMAINED; TWO THOUSAND YEARS LATER GODFROI VI(DE BOUILLON) BECAME KING OF JERUSALEM AND FOUNDED THE ORDER OF SION {And the French Masons don’t accept SOUL.} Certain researchers had, by 1956, concluded that this Order of Sion had been THE super-secret organization behind the more overt Templars, Knights of St. John (Maltese Knights), Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement, etc. In short, this Order of Sion seemed to be THE Grail Dynasty’s core group. Was this new ‘Prieure de Sion’ registered in 1956 a legitimate descendant of the medieval Order of Sion?

The Prieure de Sion did not reveal the name of its leader, or Nautonnier, but it did list some officers and its Secretary-General, one Pierre Plantard de Saint-Clair. A Saint-Clair again…

Researchers quickly discovered that the Plantards were an ancient lineage originating from the Pyrenees while, of course, it had long been appreciated that the Saint-Clairs were age-long paladins of the de Bouillon bloodline. The Prieure de Sion claimed a house organ, or ‘newsletter’, called Circuit, but the addresses given for both the Prieure de Sion and for Circuit’s offices did not exist… (pg.342)

The magazine also published a character sketch written by Plantard’s first wife, Anne Lea Hisler. According to this, Plantard was —the friend of personages as diverse as Comte Israel Monti, one of the brothers of the Holy Vehm, Gabriel Trarieux, one of thirteen members of the Rose-Croix, Paul Lecour, the philosopher on Atlantis, the Abbé Hoffet of the Service of Documentation of the Vatican {If this is not the same young man that Sauniere met who is in the same position it was someone of the same inner sanctum.}, Th. Moreaux, the director of the Conservatory at Bourges, etc. Let us remember that during the Occupation, he was arrested, and suffered torture, by the Gestapo and was interned as a political prisoner for long months. In his capacity of doctor of arcane sciences, he learned to appreciate the value of secret information, which no doubt led to his receiving the title of honorary member in several hermetic societies,….

On the other hand (pg.343), maybe we of the democratic and mechanistic world-view should not snicker loudly at all. The Marshall Plan, the financial and political plan for the reconstruction of Europe, was thrashed out at Lake Leman {Where Plantard de Saint-Clair had been brought by the Swiss Government, after his time with the Illuminati inspired Gestapo.} in Switzerland {The HQ of the Rothschild/Merovingians, where a town named Sion has an interesting statue.}. The American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, had approved this plan, and two of his closest friends and advisors had backgrounds and interests as disreputable as Pierre Plantard’s. One such advisor, the financial wizard Bernard Baruch, was a graduate of a French ‘hermetic’ school and was the financial architect of the so-called Marshall Plan {Kissinger was here too.}. He visited Lake Leman frequently in the immediate post-war years. FDR’s other close friend and advisor was the architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, whose estate, ‘Taliesin’, was named in honour of that boasting Welsh bard we have already (pg. 344) referred to in the section about evidence that Joseph of Arimathaea may have come to the Glastonbury area…

And we may recall that FDR was the most notable shareholder in the ‘Old Gold Salvage and Wrecking Company’ which was engaged in delving for ‘pirate’ treasure on Oak Island. What did they wreck?

No, we dare not snicker. Because we do not have the faintest idea what has been going on beneath the comfortable blanket of history, the kind of history that Will and Ariel Durant have dealt with, and Barbara W. Tuchman… Who was the leader? Could he be the actual heir of the Dynasty? Reporters got onto that, too:

… ‘On February 13 (1973) the ‘Midi Libre’ published a lengthy feature on Sion, Sauniere and the mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau. This feature specifically linked Sion with a possible survival of the Merovingian bloodline into the twentieth century. It also suggested that the Merovingian descendants included ‘a true pretender to the throne of France’, whom it identified as M. Alain Poher.

While not especially well known in Britain or the United States Poher was (and still is) a household name in France. During the Second World War he won the Resistance Medal and the Croix de Guerre. Following the resignation of de Gaulle, he was provisional President of France from April 28th to June 19th, 1969. He occupied the same position on the death of Georges Pompidou, from April 2nd to May 27th, 1974. In 1973… M. Poher was President of the French Senate. As far as we know, M. Poher never commented, one way or the other, on his alleged connections with the Prieure de Sion and/or the Merovingian bloodline. (3)

As early as 1966 the French author, Saint-Loup, noted the birth of a new mass-movement in Europe. It has not yet spread to North America. Some people had begun to put together what they considered to be the truth about human history. They became ‘Cathars’ and began to make pilgrimages to the monuments of the great struggle, Camelot and Montsegur.”

My given names Robert Bruce are in honour of our supposed connections with the Douglas clan and Robert de Bruges or the Scottish King Robert the Bruce. The grandfather of ‘Prince’ Henry Sinclair is reported by Bradley to have fought and died beside Sir James Douglas while attempting to bury the silver casket with the heart of Robert the Bruce in the Holy Land. This bloodline of Jesus is not the ‘terrible secret’ of Saunière, that kind of history is not earth-shaking enough to make all these people do the things they have done. We will present much more of them and reasons or possibilities before we present the answer that we think fits the facts - ALL or at least many of the facts. It will not be ‘terrible’ but it is earth-shaking and in line with what Napoleon saw when he sat alone in the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid. He had been told by the genealogists of the Masons that Josephine Beauharnais was a true Merovingian carrier of the blood of Jesus. He was probably directed or encouraged to marry her (a Creole from the Indies) as well as to go to Egypt and begin the uncovering of the secrets in the Pyramid.

Author of Diverse Druids
Columnist for The ES Press Magazine
Guest ‘expert’ at World-Mysteries.com

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, once a staunch supporter of reforming the way political campaigns are financed, is now very much against the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA).

The BCRA, more familiarly known as the McCain-Feingold act, is the baby of one on Romney’s rivals for the nomination Sen. John McCain. The bill was enacted in 2002 and was credited as a major reform in campaign financing.

Without offering details, as befits a political candidate, Romney said “McCain-Feingold has not worked. It’s hurt my party, it hurts First Amendment rights. I think it was a bad bill.” This is a rather strange statement coming from a politician who once wanted to tax all contributions to candidates who opted for privately funding their campaigns in order
to publicly fund elections.

The word on the street is that Romney’s change of heart is politically motivated because McClain is one of his main rivals.

Additionally, Romney said provisions of the law bar some nonprofit groups from mentioning the name of a federal candidate during certain times in the campaign cycle. That statement has been disputed by several leading nonprofit organizations, who say no one’s freedom of speech is impeded by the financing bill.

[Keywords: romney, \\\'campaign finance reform\\\', McCain ]

The momentum of the Orange Movement must continue to mobilize
in order that there be no further withdrawals from any portion
of the Land of Israel. The urgency and energy must be channeled
toward ensuring there is no division of Jerusalem, or of the
West Bank. The Palestinian Islamic enemy has now stated
specifically that Jerusalem and the West Bank will be their next
strategic focus as they march toward Israel’s demise. Jerusalem
must be protected, and no one must be allowed to fragment the
West Bank.

Many of Israel’s idealistic youth will be in danger of
disillusionment, since their efforts failed to result in the
saving of Gaza and the Shomron communities. They may seriously
begin to doubt whether any effort is worth it at all! They need
to be reassured that their protests and hours of volunteer work
were definitely appreciated, and that their efforts indeed have
raised the awareness of the seriousness of Israel’s survival in
the face of the Islamic enemy.

The energy of the Orange Movement must be harnessed, and
redirected into positive, well-orchestrated programs, that will
multiply their efforts toward the preserving and building of the
Nation. Some members may be best directed toward the political
arena, assuring a viable religious right-wing that has the
strength and following to form the next government.

It is obvious the Likud is now in trouble after Ariel Sharon’s
hypocrisy and manipulative tactics. He was elected on a platform
of no land concessions, and then ran roughshod over those
promises. He is trying to win back the trust of the masses by
stating there will be no more withdrawals, and Jerusalem will
not be divided. He buckled under international pressure before.
What is to prevent him from buckling again? Who is able to trust
him to live up to his promises now?

Because of how the Withdrawal debacle was brought about, the
democratic process has been severely undermined. Trust in the
democratic process must be restored, and integrity brought back
to the floor of the Knesset. The people of Israel must let it be
known the government has been placed under public surveillance,
and no shenanigans will now be tolerated! If it means the
formation of a new right-wing political party, then there is no
time to waste. Just be sure the movement is strong enough, and
high profile enough, to ensure the vote will not be split in the
upcoming election!

At the same time, another strategical tact must now be
mobilized. Those sympathetic to the Orange Movement, but not
necessarily willing to join with a specific political party,
must become a strong lobby, effectively influencing the
government across the entire political spectrum. The Gaza and
Shomron anti-disengagement movement has become a force to be
reckoned with. Just because the Withdrawal is complete does not
mean their voice is no longer needed. In fact, now may be their
best opportunity to reach into the heart of the nation regarding
the issues which will effect Israel’s very existence. The
challenge will be in making certain all Israeli citizens are
kept informed about the issues and the ramifications.

The entire Land must be embraced, and guarded, like a family
standing together against outsiders. The Israeli family, like
any loving family, may have its internal squabbles, but
woe-betide anyone attempting to attack any family member, or
make-off with any family possessions or property! They may have
done it once, but they won’t get away with it the next time!

Instead of tiredness and discouragement, the flames of faith,
love, understanding, and togetherness must be fanned. The Jews
are G_d’s Chosen Nation! The Orange Movement has already begun
to tap into this understanding and reality! Gaza may temporarily
be lost to the wiles of the enemy, but G_d too has a Plan! Now
is the time to be on G_d’s side, and understand His purposes.
The Roadmap being perpetrated upon Israel is not G_d’s ultimate
will for Israel! However, the Covenant will only be fulfilled by
those willing to follow the L_rd G_d of Israel. The Orange
Movement and the Settlers have begun to understand the will and
purposes of G_d, but the entire nation must be brought on-side
also. The door of opportunity is now wide open! The challenges
ahead are not going to be easy to face, and great faith and
determination will be needed.

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their descendants, were promised
the Land. The Jews are the people of that Promise! This truth
must not only be mentally understood, but grasped within the
very DNA of the nation! The end of the story is already written
by the Prophets. Now its up to the People of the Promise to get
with the program!

Will Israel now have peace and safety as Israel’s PM Ariel
Sharon and President Bush of the USA promised would result from
the Withdrawal? Apparently not! The enemies of Israel will see
to it no peace results! They have threatened there will be no
peace until every last Jew is forcibly run out of the Middle
East! They have openly declared War! It has been said that war
in the mind of one is a state of war itself. For Israel, who
desires above all else just to be allowed to exist in peace,
only unrest and war appear on the horizon.

Now is not the time to sit under a blanket of false hope,
because the enemy is already prepared to attack! The days ahead
will be fraught with danger, and with painful choices, but those
who refuse to be lulled to sleep with false promises will not
only survive, but will ultimately thrive.

The Captain of the L_RD’s Host stands ready to lead Israel’s
army of faith, to go in and possess the Land! But, do not run
ahead of the L_RD. And, do not break ranks.

The Orange Movement may be a vital troop of this mighty army!

In the Bill Of Rights, the First Amendment to the Constitution, titled “Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression” states the following: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”.

Now, I am not an attorney nor am I a legal scholar, and I realize that the courts have interpreted the foregoing in numerous ways, however, I also realize that how the Amendment is interpreted depends on which judge is sitting on the bench at the time a case is heard and just because a person is a judge does not mean that that person is infallible and it does not mean that that person does not have his or her own agenda. Judges are, after all, still human.

In my opinion, having organized prayer in school is not “an establishment of religion”, but is instead the carrying out of the will of the majority of the people in this nation. I further believe that to forbid school prayer is “prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. It is also “abridging the freedom of speech” of the majority. This nation is supposed to be a Republican Democracy where the will of the majority of it’s citizens is supposed to rule. As far as I can determin, the majority of the citizens in this country believe in prayer, of one type or another, and only a small minority, comprised of certain athiests, far left politicians, “Hollywood celebrities”, etc., are against prayer. To allow this small minority to override the will of the majority is wrong. To allow this small, very loud, very activist, very well financed minority to take away the right of the ’silent’ majority, to pray as they wish, is to allow them to corrupt our system and to take away freedom of religion from our citizens. I realize that our citizens can still pray at home and in church, however, public schools are paid for with public tax dollars, and as long as the majority of tax payers want school prayer then they should have school prayer.

When a teacher leads a class in prayer, no one is forced to pray. Some people claim that when a child does not join in the praying, that child may be embarrassed or ridiculed by the teacher or other students, therefore they claim that class prayer is harmful. I disagree. No good teacher would criticize a student for not praying. If a teacher does so then that teacher should be reprimanded or dismissed because that teacher is not worthy of being a teacher. If some students ridicule a non praying student then those students have not been taught properly about the rights of others and should be corrected. For my own reasons, I never prayed during class prayer and no one ever said anything to me. I was never ridiculed or critcized. I knew others that did not pray and to the best of my knowledge they never had any problems, except that some of their parents embarrassed them by complaining to the school. It seems that while the non praying students did not mind school prayer, their parents did.

The majority of Americans find hope and comfort in prayer. To deny them the right to pray because a small minority does not approve, is just plain wrong. I realize that in a small number of cases some children do have problems with school prayer, but to deny the large majority of students the hope and comfort of starting their school day off with a prayer is to stomp on their rights. To deny the majority their religious freedom goes against what this country stands for.

One of the most important things about attending school is that children learn how to deal with other people. All kinds of things go on in school that affect or bother various students. They can not and should not be protected from everthing that they don’t like. Some children are embarrassed by going to physical education class, should we then take physical education off the curriculum? Some children are bothered by certain things taught in history class, should we then take history off the curriculum? Some children are embarrassed because they are not good at math, should we then take math off the curriculum? If we took everything off the curriculum that might embarrass or bother a student there would no longer be any schools. If we protected the students from everthing that bothered them then they would not learn how to cope with problems and would not be able to function as adults.

In my opinion, forbidding school prayer is just another case of ‘political correctness’ gone overboard.

David G. Hallstrom, Sr. is a retired private investigator and currently publishes several internet directories including www.resourcesforattorneys.com a legal and lifestyle resources directory for attorneys, lawyers and the internet public. For more lifestyle information see lifestyle.resourcesforattorneys.com, the Lifestyle directory from Resources For Attorneys.

Many people have looked at the world and its operations and thought that it just isn’t right and someone needs to fix the World. So many million of people want to run the World but no one wants to fix it, you see that is hard work. Many would rather relegate that responsibility to the next generation and use their energies to fix everything.

So, whereas I agree that we need to help Africa, fix the system of government and stop polluting, some times I wonder if using hypocrites to decide how to shape the minds of the next generation are indeed the best way to do that. Speaking on all sides of the issue and those who move the human endeavor forward; that is to say World Leaders, Politicians, Artists, Media, Religious Folks and academia. They in fact want to train the next generation to do that for them and use their energy of youth to move the mountains of bureaucracy and barriers in the way.

Don’t we owe it to ourselves to fix the problem now and not leave it for the next generation? Haven’t all the past generations already done that? What happened? Nothing. Still the same, yes we need to work on the next generation, but if we do, we need to have a good and proper, morally correct system for the species in place when we pass the baton; because if we pass the gas instead along with the torch they are liable to cook them selves. Thus they will have no more chance to fix the problems than our grandparents or their grandparents or those before them. Think on this in 2006, as we have work to do that cannot wait.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/