This article by Byron Belitsos is now available in the May Issue of the Connection Magazine, Santa Cruz, CA. Thank you Byron for your thoughtful article, and thanks to the Connection Magazine for covering our event in your May issue.

Face the Shadow First:
Seeking the Hidden Dimensions of American and Global Politics

Probe Beneath the Surface of the Obama Era at the “Understanding Deep Politics” Conference
in Santa Cruz, May 14-16

http://understandingdeeppolitics.org/news-article

By Byron Belitsos

Some say it began with the invasion of Iraq. Others, with the inauguration of George W. Bush for his second term. Many point to the day of 9/11. But those in the know—including ten distinguished speakers headlining the “Understanding Deep Politics” Conference in Santa Cruz this May 14-16—trace the era of deep politics further back: some to JFK’s assassination; others, to the aftermath of World War II. And a few speakers in Santa Cruz will stretch us back to Hitler, Lenin, Weishaupt, or Machiavelli, from there to ancient secret societies, and even back to the dawn of human governance itself—in the belief that conscious political deception is an inescapable feature of human nature. But all agree on the general definition of deep politics: It refers to government in which two dimensions of action always coexist: overt and covert, or benign and utterly ruthless.

Thanks to Michael Wolsey, Cheryl Curtis, Jason King

YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/deeppoliticsconf

Twitter: http://twitter.com/DeepPol

Our Site: http://understandingdeeppolitics.org

Tickets: http://understandingdeeppolitics.eventbrite.com/

(Let's not forget that the catastrophe of 9/11 brought suffering to many and extraordinary profits to a few. The toxicity of thinking that went into 9/11 paid handsome dividends to speculators, defense contractors, oil companies and a ruling elite whose governance is described below in this latest essay by historian Michael Parenti. Qui Bono applies to the functionaries of false flag operations as well as to the underwriters of the vast sums of capital needed for their life-hating agenda.)

Capitalism’s Self-inflicted Apocalypse

by Michael Parenti

After the overthrow of communist governments in Eastern Europe, capitalism was paraded as the indomitable system that brings prosperity and democracy, the system that would prevail unto the end of history.

The present economic crisis, however, has convinced even some prominent free-marketeers that something is gravely amiss. Truth be told, capitalism has yet to come to terms with several historical forces that cause it endless trouble: democracy, prosperity, and capitalism itself, the very entities that capitalist rulers claim to be fostering.

This is still one of my favorite talks. I used to show this to people before I talked to them about 9/11. For those who don't know, Dr. Parenti was one of the signatories of the "9/11 Truth Statement" in October 2004.

Here is the list of signatories. I wonder if this is something the media should have covered:

1. Virginia Deane Abernethy, Ph.D., anthropologist, author, Population Politics
2. Ed Asner, actor, activist
3. Marshall Auerback, international portfolio strategist for David W. Tice & Associates, Inc.
4. Catherine Austin Fitts, Asst. Secretary of Housing in the first Bush administration
5. Keidi Obi Awadu, aka The Conscious Rasta, talk show host, LIBRadio
6. Michael Badnarik, Libertarian candidate for President
7. Byron Belitsos, publisher, Origin Press, author Planetary Democracy

(An oldie but a goodie from Parenti. Some things never change, it seems... but that won't stop anyone from trying. Reposting at the suggestion of user 'cburn'. -rep.)

From Dirty Truths by Michael Parenti (1996, City Lights Books) (Pages 172 - 191)

THE JFK ASSASSINATION II: CONSPIRACY PHOBIA ON THE LEFT

Almost as an article of faith, some individuals believe that conspiracies are either kooky fantasies or unimportant aberrations. To be sure, wacko conspiracy theories do exist. There are people who believe that the United States has been invaded by a secret United Nations army equipped with black helicopters, or that the country is secretly controlled by Jews or gays or feminists or black nationalists or communists or extraterrestrial aliens. But it does not logically follow that all conspiracies are imaginary.

Conspiracy is a legitimate concept in law: the collusion of two or more people pursuing illegal means to effect some illegal or immoral end. People go to jail for committing conspiratorial acts. Conspiracies are a matter of public record, and some are of real political significance. The Watergate break-in was a conspiracy, as was the Watergate cover-up, which led to Nixon's downfall. Iran-contra was a conspiracy of immense scope, much of it still uncovered. The savings and loan scandal was described by the Justice Department as "a thousand conspiracies of fraud, theft, and bribery," the greatest financial crime in history.

Pacifica’s Dennis Bernstein To Host more 911 Truth Stories

Radio station KPFA, a Pacifica affiliate in Berkeley California, has an award winning show on the afternoons called Flashpoints, hosted by long time radio producer and author, Dennis Bernstein
http://www.flashpoints.net/
On February 6, Dennis aired portions of the Michael Parenti talk that first appeared here at 911blogger. Parenti’s attack on the Bush lies around the events of September 11, 2001 were included in the broadcast. According to the Flashpoints web site; “Investigative reporter, radio host, human rights advocate and poet Dennis Bernstein is a regular contributor to Pacifica's Democracy Now, and Associate Producer of Pacific News Service. He is currently cohost of KPFA's Flashpoints News Magazine, and is a frequent commentator on WBAI airwaves.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGEcVP7MRiA

Michael Parenti in answering Barrie Zwicker's well put question to him, states that he supports a real investigation into 9/11.