Are The Pyramids in Egypt a Psyops? The American Experiment: Who Are These People? Gilded Age into Eugenics: How Did It Happen?

Has the course of History been directed by a small group of people with common interests? The paintings and pictures of the great men of the past centuries reveal a common thread which links them together. Is it a coincidence that many of them hid one of their hands when posing for a portrait

Has the course of History been directed by a small group of people with common interests? The paintings and pictures of the great men of the past centuries reveal a common thread which links them together.

Is it a coincidence that many of them hid one of their hands when posing for a portrait? It seems unlikely. We'll look at the Masonic origin of the "hidden hand" and the powerful men who used the sign in famous portraits.

"Today's thinking toward a democratic world state is neither a new trend nor an accidental circumstance; the work of setting up the background of knowledge necessary to the establishing of enlightened democracy among all nations has been carried on for many hundreds of years by secret societies."
-Manly P. Hall, Secret Destiny of America

Is there a hidden force behind the world events of the past centuries? Are the fall of European monarchies, the bringing forth of the Age of Enlightenment and our path towards a world democracy part of a great plan lead by a "hidden hand"? Before the advent of mass media, portraits depicting their leaders in majestic poses were the only artifacts people had. Do these portraits have an occult meaning?

One of those poses is the "hiding of the hand". I remember my history teacher trying to explain why Napoleon was often shown with a hand inside his shirt. The common explanation went along these lines:

"Many theories have been presented as to why Napoleon is traditionally depicted with his hand in his waistcoat. Some of these theories include: he had a stomach ulcer, he was winding his watch, he had an itchy skin disease, in his era it was impolite to put your hands in your pockets, he had breast cancer, he had a deformed hand, he kept a perfumed sachet in his vest that he'd sniff surreptitiously, and that painters don't like to paint hands"
-Tom Holmberg

Unless all the individuals discussed in this article had a stomach ulcer or deformed hands, the gesture of hiding one's hand simply has to have a specific meaning. It does. Most of the people using this sign are proven (and often enthusiastic) members of the Freemasons. Considering the great importance of this gesture in Masonic rituals and the fact that all of the elite were either part of Freemasonry or knew of it, it is simply impossible that the recurrence of this sign could be the result of a coincidence. The "hidden hand" can, in fact, be found in the rituals of the Royal Arch Degree of Freemasonry and the world leaders that use this sign are subtly saying to other initiates of the order: "This is what I'm part of, this is what I believe in and this is what I'm working for".

"The members of this Degree are denominated companions, and are "entitled to a full explanation of the mysteries of the Order"; whereas in the former Degrees they are recognized by the common, familiar appellation of brothers, and kept in a state of profound ignorance of the sublime secret which is disclosed in this Chapter. This accords with the custom of Pythagoras, who thus distinguished his pupils. After a probation of five years, as stated before, they were admitted into the presence of the preceptor, called his companions, and permitted  to converse with him freely. Previous to the expiration of that term he delivered his instructions to them from behind a screen"
-John Fellows, Fellows's Inquiry into the Origin, History, and Purport of Freemasonry

"If we pass on to the Royal Arch, we receive a wonderful accession of knowledge, and find every thing made perfect; for this is the nec plus ultra of Masonry, and can never be exceeded by any human institution."
-George Oliver, Lectures on Freemasonry

It is during this degree that the initiate learns the sacred name of God.

"A Degree indescribably more august, sublime, and important than any which precede it, and is, in fact, the summit and perfection of ancient Masonry. It impresses upon our minds a belief in the being of a God, without beginning of days or end of years, the great and incomprehensible Alpha and Omega, and reminds us of the reverence which is due to His Holy NAME."
-George Oliver, Historical Landmarks

This holy name is Jahbulon, a combination of words meaning "god" in Syriac, Chaldaic, and Egyptian.

"JEHOVAH. Of the varieties of this sacred name in use among the different nations of the earth, three particularly merit the attention of Royal Arch Masons:

1. JAH. This name of God is found in the 68th Psalm, v. 4.

2. BAAL OR BEL. This word signifies a lord, master, or possessor, and hence it was applied by many of the nations of the East to denote the Lord of all things, and the Master of the world.

3. ON. This was the name by which JEHOVAH was worshiped among the Egyptians."
-Malcolm C. Duncan, Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor

The initiation ritual to this degree re-enacts the return to Jerusalem of three Most Excellent Masons who were held captive in Babylon. The following image depicts the hand sign required to go through the second veil, as documented in Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor

"Master of Second Veil: "Three Most Excellent Masters you must have been, or thus far you could not have come; but farther you cannot go without my words, sign, and word of exhortation. My words are Shem, Japhet, and Adoniram; my sign is this: (thrusting his hand in his bosom); it is in imitation of one given by God to Moses, when He commanded him to thrust his hand into his bosom, and, taking it out, it became as leprous as snow. My word of exhortation is explanatory of this sign, and is found in the writings of Moses, viz., fourth chapter of Exodus":

"And the Lord said unto Moses, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom; and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow".
-Malcolm C. Duncan, Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor

Said to be inspired by Exodus 4:6. In this biblical verse, the heart ("bosom") stands for what we are, the hand for what we do. It can thus be interpreted as: What we are is what we ultimately do. The symbolic significance of this gesture might explain the reason why it is so widely used by famous Masons. The hidden hand lets the other initiates know that the individual depicted is part of this secret Brotherhood and that his actions were inspired by the Masonic philosophy and beliefs. Furthermore, the hand that executes the actions is hidden behind cloth, which can symbolically refer to the covert nature of the Mason's actions.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century. He was initiated into Army Philadelphia Lodge in 1798. His brothers, Joseph, Lucian, Louis, and Jerome, were also Freemasons. Five of the six members of Napoleon's Grand Counsel of the Empire were Freemasons, as were six of the nine Imperial Officers and 22 of the 30 Marshals of France. Bonaparte's association with Masonry has always been played down in historical records. Masonic researcher J.E.S. Tuckett addresses the situation:

"It is strange that evidence in favor of the Great Napoleon's membership of the Masonic Brotherhood has never been examined in detail, for the matter is surely one of interest, and – seeing the remarkable part that remarkable men played in the affairs of Europe, at a time when Continental Freemasonry was struggling out of chaos into regular order – it cannot be without an important bearing upon Masonic history"

In his essay on Napoleon and Masonry, Tuckett claims:

"There is incontestable evidence that Napoleon was acquainted with the nature, aims and organization of Freemasonry: that he approved of and made use of it to further his own ends"
-J.E.S. Tuckett, Napoleon I and Freemasonry (source)

Napoleon was also said to be aided by occult powers. In 1813 he was defeated at Leipzip and behind him was a "Cabinet of Curiosities" in which a Prussian officer discovered his Book of Fate and Oraculum. Originally this Oraculum was discovered in one of the Royal tombs of Egypt during a French military expedition of 1801. The emperor ordered the manuscript to be translated by a famous German scholar and antiquarian. From that time onward, the Oraculum was one of Napoleon's most treasured possessions. He consulted it on many occasions and it is said to have "formed a stimulus to his most speculative and most successful enterprises."

Karl Marx is known today to be the founder of modern Communism. Despite being denied by some Masons, Marx is said to have been a 32nd degree Grand Orient Freemason. Marx became the spokesman of the atheist and socialist movements of Europe. He planned the replacement of monarchies with socialist republics, with the next step conversion to communist republics.

George Washington was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and is considered to be the "most important American Mason". Charles Wilson Pealed produced this painting when Washington was 52 years old. Notice the position of Washington's feet: they form an oblong square. The position of the feet is of utmost importance in Masonic symbolism.

Compare this with this excerpt from Duncan's Ritual Monitor:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is considered to be one of the most prolific and influential composers of music ever. He also was a Freemason and was initiated in the Austrian lodge Zur Zur Wohltatigkeit on Dec. 14th, 1784. Mozart's creations often incorporated important Masonic elements. The Magic Flute opera was mainly based on Masonic principles.

"The music of the Freemasons contained musical phrases and forms that held specific semiotic meanings. For example, the Masonic initiation ceremony began with the candidate knocking three times at the door to ask admittance. This is expressed musically as a dotted figure: meanings. For example,

This figure appears in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute in the overture, suggesting the opening of the Masonic initiation."
– Katherine Thompson, The Masonic Thread in Mozart

The musical progression of The Magic Flute was based on the Golden Ratio (1,6180…), the proportion of everything that is considered divine by Mystery Schools.

Here are compositions created by Mozart for use in Masonic lodges:

• Lied (song) "Gesellenreise, for use at the installation of new journeymen"
• Cantata for tenor and male chorus Die Maurerfreude ("The Mason's Joy")
• The Masonic Funeral Music (Maurerische Trauermusik)
• Two songs to celebrate the opening of "Zur Neugekrönten Hoffnung"
• Cantata for tenor and piano, Die ihr die unermesslichen Weltalls Schöpfer ehrt
• The Little Masonic Cantata (Kleine Freimaurer-Kantate) entitled Laut verkünde unsre Freude, for soloists, male chorus, and orchestra

Marquis de Lafayette was a 33rd degree Freemason. According to Willam R. Denslow's 10,000 Famous Freemasons, Lafayette was a French military officer who was a general in the American Revolutionary War and a leader of the Garde Nationale during the bloody French Revolution. Lafayette was also made an honorary Grand Commander of the Supreme Council of New York. More than 75 Masonic bodies in the U.S. have been named after him, including 39 lodges, 18 chapters, 4 councils, 4 commanderies, and 7 Scottish rite bodies.

Salomon Rothschild was the founder of the Viennese branch of the prominent Mayer Amschel Rothschild family. The most powerful family in the world has greatly influenced the policies of Germany, France, Italy, and Austria. The Rothschilds are also the main players behind the creation of Zionism and the state of Israel.

The power of the Rothschilds went way beyond the confines of the Masonic lodge. They are said to be part of the 13 "Illuminati Bloodlines". An analysis of the recently built Supreme Court of Israel (read the article here) confirms the Rothschild's embrace of Masonic symbolism.

Known as "El Libertador" (the Liberator), Bolivar is considered to be the "George Washington of South America". He joined Freemasonry in Cadiz, Spain, received the Scottish Rite degrees in Paris and was knighted in a Commandery of Knights Templar in France in 1807. Bolivar founded and served as master of Protectora de las Vertudes Lodge No. 1 in Venezuela. The country of Bolivia is named after him. Bolivar also served as the president of Colombia, Peru and Bolivia in the 1820's. He belonged to the Order and Liberty Lodge No. 2 in Peru.

Notice in the image above the position of his feet (oblong square) and the checkerboard pattern of the floor, also Masonic. His stance might have been inspired by the Knights of Christian Mark Degree as depicted below in Richardson's Monitor of Freemasonry:

After being shot in 1940, the young man on the right has been edited out by Stalin's people.

Stalin's reign of terror in the Soviet Union lead to the deaths of millions of his own countrymen. He is often shown in pictures using the hidden hand gesture. No official records have been found that prove Stalin's initiation into Masonry.

Of course, dictators such as Stalin tightly controlled all information concerning themselves and their affairs, making it difficult to prove anything one way or the other. The hiding of his hand, however,  provides an initiate's clue to his possible allegiance to an occult brotherhood.  

Source: The Hidden Hand that Shaped History | Vigilant Citizen

It's commonly used in modern warfare—especially with air support and artillery—to speed up targeting and reduce confusion between different military units.

There are two main types:

• Blue kill box – aircraft can attack targets in the area. 
• Purple kill box – both aircraft and surface weapons (like artillery) can engage targets. 

The concept became widely known during conflicts such as the Gulf War and Iraq War.

Outside the military, "kill box" can also refer to:

• A deadly trap area in video games or fiction 
• A confined shooting lane in tactical training 
• A thriller novel title or entertainment reference

How Kill Boxes Work Operationally

A kill box is essentially a pre-approved combat zone. Instead of requiring commanders to approve every individual strike, military planners establish a geographic area where enemy forces are expected to be operating.

The basic process:

• Intelligence identifies an area where enemy forces are active. 
• Commanders define the boundaries of the kill box. 
• Rules of engagement are established. 
• Aircraft, drones, artillery, missiles, and other weapons systems can engage authorized targets within that area. 
• Coordination measures are used to prevent friendly-fire incidents. 

The goal is speed. Modern battlefields move quickly, and waiting for approval on every target can allow enemy forces to escape.

Kill boxes became especially important during the 1991 Gulf War and later operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, where aircraft, drones, artillery, and ground forces often operated simultaneously over large areas.

Legal and Ethical Controversies

The military argument is straightforward:

• Faster response times. 
• Better coordination. 
• Greater ability to attack moving targets. 
• Reduced command bottlenecks. 

Critics raise several concerns:

Civilian Casualties

If intelligence is wrong or outdated, civilians can be present inside a designated kill box.

One concern is that pre-authorized engagement areas may encourage rapid strikes before all information is verified.

Identification Problems

In counterinsurgency conflicts, fighters may not wear uniforms.

Distinguishing:

• civilians 
• insurgents 
• local police 
• allied militias 

can be extremely difficult.

Accountability

Critics argue that when authority is distributed across many units, responsibility for mistakes can become less clear.

Questions often arise after civilian deaths:

• Who approved the kill box? 
• Who identified the target? 
• Who launched the strike? 
• Was the intelligence accurate? 

International Humanitarian Law

Under the laws of armed conflict, military forces must still follow:

• distinction (combatants vs. civilians) 
• proportionality 
• military necessity 

Creating a kill box does not remove these legal obligations.

• A target inside a kill box is not automatically lawful to attack; forces are still expected to verify that it is a legitimate military objective.

In video games, a "kill box" usually means something very different.

Shooter Games

A kill box is often:

• a choke point 
• a narrow corridor 
• a trap area 

where players are funneled into concentrated fire.

Examples occur in many multiplayer shooters where defenders have a strong advantage.

Survival and Strategy Games

In games such as Rim World, players intentionally build elaborate kill boxes:

• maze-like entrances 
• sandbags 
• turrets 
• traps 
• firing positions 

The goal is to force enemies through a controlled route where they can be defeated efficiently.

Game Development

Developers sometimes use "kill box" to mean an invisible area that instantly kills a character if they fall off the map or leave the intended play space.

The phrase tends to sound shocking because of the word "kill," but in military doctrine it is primarily a command-and-control term describing a geographic area where weapons employment has been pre-coordinated. The controversies arise not from the concept itself, but from how it is applied in real-world combat situations where civilians, intelligence errors, and complex battlefields can be involved.

Many critics of U.S. foreign policy have expressed similar views, though others strongly disagree.

The argument behind that criticism is that since the end of the World War II, the United States has maintained a global military presence, hundreds of overseas bases, extensive intelligence operations, drone programs, and has been involved in numerous conflicts, interventions, and counterterrorism campaigns. Critics argue that this creates a situation where military force can be projected almost anywhere on Earth, making much of the world subject to potential U.S. military action.

Supporters of U.S. military policy typically make a different argument. They contend that the global presence helps deter rival powers, protects trade routes, supports allies, combats terrorist organizations, and contributes to international stability.

Whether one sees the result as:

• global security, 
• global policing, 
• empire, 
• hegemony, 
• deterrence, 
• or a "worldwide kill box" 

depends heavily on one's political, historical, and ethical perspective.

From a strictly military standpoint, a "kill box" is a specific battlefield tool with defined geographic boundaries. Using it as a description of the entire world is metaphorical—a way of expressing concern that modern surveillance, drones, missiles, special operations forces, and global military reach have made almost any location potentially accessible to military force.

Whether that metaphor is persuasive depends on how one interprets the role and consequences of U.S. power in the world.

In 1789 Alexander Hamilton became the first Treasury Secretary of the United States.  Hamilton was one of many Founding Fathers who were Freemasons. He had close relations with the Rothschild family which owns the Bank of England and leads the European Freemason movement.  George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Ethan Allen, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, John Brown and Roger Sherman were all Masons.

Roger Livingston helped Sherman and Franklin write the Declaration of Independence. He gave George Washington his oaths of office while he was Grand Master of the New York Grand Lodge of Freemasons.  Washington himself was Grand Master of the Virginia Lodge.  Of the General Officers in the Revolutionary Army, thirty-three were Masons.  This was highly symbolic since 33rd Degree Masons become Illuminated. [1]

Populist founding fathers led by John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and Thomas Paine- none of whom were Masons- wanted to completely severe ties with the British Crown, but were overruled by the Masonic faction led by Washington, Hamilton and Grand Master of the St. Andrews Lodge in Boston General Joseph Warren, who wanted to "defy Parliament but remain loyal to the Crown". St. Andrews Lodge was the hub of New World Masonry and began issuing Knights Templar Degrees in 1769. [2]

All US Masonic lodges are to this day warranted by the British Crown, whom they serve as a global intelligence and counterrevolutionary subversion network. Their most recent initiative is the Masonic Child Identification Program (CHIP). According to Wikipedia, the CHIP programs allow parents the opportunity to create a kit of identifying materials for their child, free of charge. The kit contains a fingerprint card, a physical description, a video, computer disk, or DVD of the child, a dental imprint, and a DNA sample.

The First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia in 1774 under the Presidency of Peyton Randolph, who succeeded Washington as Grand Master of the Virginia Lodge.  The Second Continental Congress convened in 1775 under the Presidency of Freemason John Hancock.  Peyton's brother William succeeded him as Virginia Lodge Grand Master and became the leading proponent of centralization and federalism at the First Constitutional Convention in 1787.  The federalism at the heart of the US Constitution is identical to the federalism laid out in the Freemason's Anderson's Constitutions of 1723. William Randolph became the nation's first Attorney General and Secretary of State under George Washington. His family returned to England loyal to the Crown.  John Marshall, the nation's first Supreme Court Justice, was also a Mason. [3]

When Benjamin Franklin journeyed to France to seek financial help for American revolutionaries, his meetings took place at Rothschild banks.  He brokered arms sales via German Mason Baron von Steuben.  His Committees of Correspondence operated through Freemason channels and paralleled a British spy network.  In 1776 Franklin became de facto Ambassador to France.  In 1779 he became Grand Master of the French Neuf Soeurs (Nine Sisters) Lodge, to which John Paul Jones and Voltaire belonged.  Franklin was also a member of the more secretive Royal Lodge of Commanders of the Temple West of Carcasonne, whose members included Frederick Prince of Whales. While Franklin preached temperance in the US, he cavorted wildly with his Lodge brothers in Europe.  Franklin served as Postmaster General from the 1750's to 1775 – a role traditionally relegated to British spies.

With Rothschild financing Alexander Hamilton founded two New York banks, including Bank of New York. He died in a gun battle with Aaron Burr, who founded Bank of Manhattan with Kuhn Loeb financing.  Hamilton exemplified the contempt which the Eight Families hold towards common people, once stating, "All communities divide themselves into the few and the many.  The first are the rich and the well born, the others the mass of the people…The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge and determine right.  Give therefore to the first class a distinct, permanent share of government.  They will check the unsteadiness of the second."

Hamilton was only the first in a series of Eight Families cronies to hold the key position of Treasury Secretary.  In recent times Kennedy Treasury Secretary Douglas Dillon came from Dillon Read (now part of UBS Warburg). Nixon Treasury Secretaries David Kennedy and William Simon came from Continental Illinois Bank (now part of Bank of America) and Salomon Brothers (now part of Citigroup), respectively. Carter Treasury Secretary Michael Blumenthal came from Goldman Sachs, Reagan Treasury Secretary Donald Regan came from Merrill Lynch (now part of Bank of America), Bush Sr. Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady came from Dillon Read (UBS Warburg) and both Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Bush Jr. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson came from Goldman Sachs. Obama Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner worked at Kissinger Associates and the New York Fed.

Thomas Jefferson argued that the United States needed a publicly-owned central bank so that European monarchs and aristocrats could not use the printing of money to control the affairs of the new nation.  Jefferson extolled, "A country which expects to remain ignorant and free…expects that which has never been and that which will never be.  There is scarcely a King in a hundred who would not, if he could, follow the example of Pharaoh – get first all the people's money, then all their lands and then make them and their children servants forever…banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.  Already they have raised up a money aristocracy." Jefferson watched as the Euro-banking conspiracy to control the United States unfolded, weighing in, "Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of the day, but a series of oppressions begun at a distinguished period, unalterable through every change of ministers, too plainly prove a deliberate, systematic plan of reducing us to slavery".

But the Rothschild-sponsored Hamilton's arguments for a private US central bank carried the day.  In 1791 the Bank of the United States (BUS) was founded, with the Rothschilds as main owners.  The bank's charter was to run out in 1811.  Public opinion ran in favor of revoking the charter and replacing it with a Jeffersonian public central bank.  The debate was postponed as the nation was plunged by the Euro-bankers into the War of 1812.  Amidst a climate of fear and economic hardship, Hamilton's bank got its charter renewed in 1816.

Old Hickory, Honest Abe & Camelot

In 1828 Andrew Jackson took a run at the US Presidency.  Throughout his campaign he railed against the international bankers who controlled the BUS.  Jackson ranted, "You are a den of vipers.  I intend to expose you and by Eternal God I will rout you out.  If the people understood the rank injustices of our money and banking system there would be a revolution before morning."

Jackson won the election and revoked the bank's charter stating, "The Act seems to be predicated on an erroneous idea that the present shareholders have a prescriptive right to not only the favor, but the bounty of the government...for their benefit does this Act exclude the whole American people from competition in the purchase of this monopoly.  Present stockholders and those inheriting their rights as successors be established a privileged order, clothed both with great political power and enjoying immense pecuniary advantages from their connection with government.  Should its influence be concentrated under the operation of such an Act as this, in the hands of a self-elected directory whose interests are identified with those of the foreign stockholders, will there not be cause to tremble for the independence of our country in war...controlling our currency, receiving our public monies and holding thousands of our citizens independence, it would be more formidable and dangerous than the naval and military power of the enemy.  It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government for selfish purposes...to make the rich richer and more powerful.  Many of our rich men have not been content with equal protection and equal benefits, but have besought us to make them richer by acts of Congress.  I have done my duty to this country."

Populism prevailed and Jackson was re-elected. In 1835 he was the target of an assassination attempt.  The gunman was Richard Lawrence, who confessed that he was, "in touch with the powers in Europe".

Still, in 1836 Jackson refused to renew the BUS charter.  Under his watch the US national debt went to zero for the first and last time in our nation's history.  This angered the international bankers, whose primary income is derived from interest payments on debt.  BUS President Nicholas Biddle cut off funding to the US government in 1842, plunging the US into a depression.  Biddle was an agent for the Paris-based Jacob Rothschild.

The Mexican War was simultaneously sprung on Jackson. A few years later the Civil War was unleashed, with London bankers backing the Union and French bankers backing the South. The Lehman family made a fortune smuggling arms to the south and cotton to the north.  By 1861 the US was $100 million in debt.  New President Abraham Lincoln snubbed the Euro-bankers again, issuing Lincoln Greenbacks to pay Union Army bills.

The Rothschild-controlled Times of London wrote, "If that mischievous policy, which had its origins in the North American Republic, should become indurated down to a fixture, then that Government will furnish its own money without cost. It will pay off its debts and be without debt. It will have all the money necessary to carry on its commerce. It will become prosperous beyond precedent in the history of the civilized governments of the world. The brains and the wealth of all countries will go to North America. That government must be destroyed, or it will destroy every monarchy on the globe."

The Euro-banker-written Hazard Circular was exposed and circulated throughout the country by angry populists.  It stated, "The great debt that capitalists will see is made out of the war and must be used to control the valve of money.  To accomplish this government bonds must be used as a banking basis.  We are now awaiting Secretary of Treasury Salmon Chase to make that recommendation.  It will not allow Greenbacks to circulate as money as we cannot control that.  We control bonds and through them banking issues".

The 1863 National Banking Act reinstated a private US central bank and Chase's war bonds were issued.  Lincoln was re-elected the next year, vowing to repeal the act after he took his January 1865 oaths of office.  Before he could act, he was assassinated at the Ford Theatre by John Wilkes Booth.  Booth had major connections to the international bankers.  His granddaughter wrote This One Mad Act, which details Booth's contact with "mysterious Europeans" just before the Lincoln assassination.

Following the Lincoln hit, Booth was whisked away by members of a secret society known as Knights of the Golden Circle (KGC).  KGC had close ties to the French Society of Seasons, which produced Karl Marx.  KGC had fomented much of the tension that caused the Civil War and President Lincoln had specifically targeted the group.  Booth was a KGC member and was connected through Confederate Secretary of State Judah Benjamin to the House of Rothschild.  Benjamin fled to England after the Civil War.

Nearly a century after Lincoln was assassinated for issuing Greenbacks, President John F. Kennedy found himself in the Eight Families' crosshairs.  Kennedy had announced a crackdown on off-shore tax havens and proposed increases in tax rates on large oil and mining companies.  He supported eliminating tax loopholes which benefit the super-rich.  His economic policies were publicly attacked by Fortune magazine, the Wall Street Journal and both David and Nelson Rockefeller.  Even Kennedy's own Treasury Secretary Douglas Dillon, who came from the UBS Warburg-controlled Dillon Read investment bank, voiced opposition to the JFK proposals.

Kennedy's fate was sealed in June 1963 when he authorized the issuance of more than $4 billion in United States Notes by his Treasury Department in an attempt to circumvent the high interest rate usury of the private Federal Reserve international banker crowd.  The wife of Lee Harvey Oswald, who was conveniently gunned down by Jack Ruby before Ruby himself was shot, told author A. J. Weberman in 1994, "The answer to the Kennedy assassination is with the Federal Reserve Bank.  Don't underestimate that.  It's wrong to blame it on Angleton and the CIA per se only.  This is only one finger on the same hand.  The people who supply the money are above the CIA".

Fueled by incoming President Lyndon Johnson's immediate escalation of the Vietnam War, the US sank further into debt. Its citizens were terrorized into silence. If they could kill the President they could kill anyone.

The House of Rothschild

The Dutch House of Orange founded the Bank of Amsterdam in 1609 as the world's first central bank.  Prince William of Orange married into the English House of Windsor, taking King James II's daughter Mary as his bride.  The Orange Order Brotherhood, which recently fomented Northern Ireland Protestant violence, put William III on the English throne where he ruled both Holland and Britain.  In 1694 William III teamed up with the UK aristocracy to launch the private Bank of England.

The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street- as the Bank of England is known- is surrounded by thirty foot walls. Three floors beneath it the third largest stock of gold bullion in the world is stored.

The Rothschilds and their inbred Eight Families partners gradually came to control the Bank of England. The daily London gold "fixing" occurred at the N. M. Rothschild Bank until 2004.  As Bank of England Deputy Governor George Blunden put it, "Fear is what makes the bank's powers so acceptable.  The bank is able to exert its influence when people are dependent on us and fear losing their privileges or when they are frightened."

Mayer Amschel Rothschild sold the British government German Hessian mercenaries to fight against American Revolutionaries, diverting the proceeds to his brother Nathan in London, where N.M. (Nathan and Mayer) Rothschild & Sons was established.  Mayer was a serious student of Cabala and launched his fortune on money embezzled from William IX- royal administrator of the Hesse-Kassel region and a prominent Freemason.

Rothschild-controlled Barings bankrolled the Chinese opium and African slave trades. It financed the Louisiana Purchase.  When several states defaulted on its loans, Barings bribed Daniel Webster to make speeches stressing the virtues of loan repayment.  The states held their ground, so the House of Rothschild cut off the money spigot in 1842, plunging the US into a deep depression.  It was often said that the wealth of the Rothschilds depended on the bankruptcy of nations.  Mayer Amschel Rothschild once said, "I care not who controls a nation's political affairs, so long as I control her currency".

War didn't hurt the family fortune either.  The House of Rothschild financed the Prussian War, the Crimean War and the British attempt to seize the Suez Canal from the French.  Nathan Rothschild made a huge financial bet on Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, while also funding the Duke of Wellington's peninsular campaign against Napoleon. Both the Mexican War and the Civil War were goldmines for the family.

One Rothschild family biography mentions a London meeting where an "International Banking Syndicate" decided to pit the American North against the South as part of a "divide and conquer" strategy.  German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck once stated, "The division of the United States into federations of equal force was decided long before the Civil War.  These bankers were afraid that the United States…would upset their financial domination over the world.  The voice of the Rothschilds prevailed." Rothschild biographer Derek Wilson says the family was the official European banker to the US government and strong supporters of the Bank of the United States.

Family biographer Niall Ferguson notes a "substantial and unexplained gap" in private Rothschild correspondence between 1854-1860. He says all copies of outgoing letters written by the London Rothschilds during this Civil War period "were destroyed at the orders of successive partners".

French and British troops had, at the height of the Civil War, encircled the US.  The British sent 11,000 troops to Crown-controlled Canada, which gave safe harbor to Confederate agents.  France's Napoleon III installed Austrian Hapsburg family member Archduke Maximilian as his puppet emperor in Mexico, where French troops massed on the Texas border.  Only an 11th-hour deployment of two Russian warship fleets by US ally Czar Alexander II in 1863 saved the United States from re-colonization.

That same year the Chicago Tribune blasted, "Belmont (August Belmont was a US Rothschild agent and had a Triple Crown horse race named in his honor) and the Rothschilds…who have been buying up Confederate war bonds."

Salmon Rothschild said of a deceased President Lincoln, "He rejects all forms of compromise.  He has the appearance of a peasant and can only tell barroom stories."  Baron Jacob Rothschild was equally flattering towards the US citizenry. He once commented to US Minister to Belgium Henry Sanford on the over half a million Americans who died during the Civil War, "When your patient is desperately sick, you try desperate measures, even to bloodletting."  Salmon and Jacob were merely carrying forth a family tradition.  A few generations earlier Mayer Amschel Rothschild bragged of his investment strategy, "When the streets of Paris are running in blood, I buy".

Mayer Rothschild's sons were known as the Frankfurt Five.  The eldest – Amschel – ran the family's Frankfurt bank with his father, while Nathan ran London operations.  Youngest son Jacob set up shop in Paris, while Salomon ran the Vienna branch and Karl was off to Naples.  Author Frederick Morton estimates that by 1850 the Rothschilds were worth over $10 billion. [21] Some researchers believe that their fortune today exceeds $100 trillion.

The Warburgs, Kuhn Loebs, Goldman Sachs, Schiffs and Rothschilds have intermarried into one big happy banking family.  The Warburg family- which controls Deutsche Bank and BNP- tied up with the Rothschilds in 1814 in Hamburg, while Kuhn Loeb powerhouse Jacob Schiff shared quarters with Rothschilds in 1785.  Schiff immigrated to America in 1865. He joined forces with Abraham Kuhn and married Solomon Loeb's daughter.  Loeb and Kuhn married each others sisters and the Kuhn Loeb dynasty was consummated.  Felix Warburg married Jacob Schiff's daughter. Two Goldman daughters married two sons of the Sachs family, creating Goldman Sachs.  In 1806 Nathan Rothschild married the oldest daughter of Levi Barent Cohen, a leading financier in London. Thus, Merrill Lynch super-bull Abby Joseph Cohen and Clinton Secretary of Defense William Cohen are likely descended from Rothschilds.

Today the Rothschild's control a far-flung financial empire, which includes majority stakes in most world central banks.  The Edmond de Rothschild clan owns the Banque Privee SA in Lugano, Switzerland and the Rothschild Bank AG of Zurich.  The family of Jacob Lord Rothschild owns the powerful Rothschild Italia in Milan. They are founding members of the exclusive $10 trillion Club of the Isles – which controls corporate giants Royal Dutch Shell, Imperial Chemical Industries, Lloyds of London, Unilever, Barclays, Lonrho, Rio Tinto Zinc, BHP Billiton and Anglo American DeBeers. It dominates the world supply of petroleum, gold, diamonds, and many other vital raw materials.

The Club of the Isles provides capital for George Soros' Quantum Fund NV – which made a killing in 1998-99 destroying the currencies of Thailand, Indonesia and Russia.  Soros was a major shareholder at George W. Bush's Harken Energy. Quantum NV operates from the Dutch island of Curacao, in the shadow of recently shuttered Royal Dutch/Shell and Exxon Mobil refineries.  Curacao was recently cited by an OECD Task Force on Money Laundering as a major drug money laundering nation.  The Club of Isles is led by the Rothschilds and includes Queen Elizabeth II and other wealthy European aristocrats and Black Nobility.  Fugitive Swiss financier and Mossad cutout Marc Rich, whose business interests were recently taken over by the Russian mafia Alfa Group, is also part of the Soros network.

Ties to drug money are nothing new to the Rothschilds.  N. M. Rothschild & Sons was at the epicenter of the Bank of Credit & Commerce International (BCCI) scandal, but escaped the limelight when a warehouse full of documents conveniently burned to the ground around the time Rothschild-controlled Bank of England shut BCCI down.

Recent Rothschild endeavors include the backing of Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, control over Blackstone Group (see "…The 911 Short Selling Financial Scam": globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24687), and the takeover of giant Swiss oil trader Glencore.

Perhaps the largest repository for Rothschild wealth today is Rothschilds Continuation Holdings AG – a secretive Swiss-based bank holding company.  By the late 1990s scions of the Rothschild global empire were Barons Guy and Elie de Rothschild in France and Lord Jacob and Sir Evelyn Rothschild in Britain.

Evelyn was chairman of the Economist and a director at DeBeers and IBM UK.

Jacob backed Arnold Schwarzenegger's California gubernatorial campaign. He took control of Khodorkovsky's YUKOS oil shares just before the Russian government arrested him. In 2010 Jacob joined Rupert Murdoch in a shale oil extraction partnership in Israel through Genie Energy – a subsidiary of IDT Corporation.

Within months, Sarah Palin had hired former IDT executive Michael Glassner as her chief of staff. [27] Is Palin the Rothschild choice in 2012?

The Khazars disappeared in the strongest sense. Their state collapsed, their language vanished, their ruling institutions disappeared, and over time they were absorbed into surrounding populations. Historians can trace what happened generally, but there is no modern "Khazar nation" and no recognized Khazar royal family carrying on today. They effectively dissolved into history.

The Romanovs lost their empire, but not their bloodline.

The Russian Revolution destroyed the Romanov monarchy. In 1918, Nicholas II and his immediate family were executed. To many observers it looked like the dynasty had ended.

It had not.

Numerous Romanov relatives survived because the dynasty was large. Some escaped Russia, settled across Europe and America, married into other noble families, and continued the bloodline. The empire disappeared, but Romanov descendants remain alive today.

The Habsburgs experienced something similar.

When the First World War ended, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed. The Habsburg monarchy lost its throne, territory, and political power. What had once been one of Europe's most powerful dynasties suddenly became a private family.

Yet the Habsburg family itself survived. Members continued living throughout Europe, holding titles socially rather than politically. Today there are still numerous descendants of the Habsburg line.

The contrast is interesting:

• The state disappeared.
• The ruling class disappeared.
• The language disappeared.
• The identity largely disappeared.

• The empire disappeared.
• The family survived.

The empire disappeared.

The family survived.

In some ways the Khazars are closer to the:

• Scythians
• Sarmatians
• Huns

These were peoples who dominated enormous territories and then gradually merged into later populations.

The Romanovs and Habsburgs are closer to what historians call dynastic collapses. Their governments vanished, but the families continued.

That's one reason the Khazars remain more mysterious. We can point to living Romanov descendants. We can point to living Habsburg descendants. We cannot do the same with the Khazars. Their empire vanished, and the people who once called themselves Khazars gradually became something else. That's a much rarer outcome in recorded history.

Absolutely. In fact, the Khazars are interesting because they are not unique. History is filled with peoples who seemed powerful, important, and permanent in their own time, only to fade into larger populations later.

For centuries the Scythians dominated the grasslands north of the Black Sea. Greek historians wrote about them. Persian kings fought them. They controlled trade routes and enormous territories.

Then they gradually disappeared.

Not because they were exterminated, but because they merged into later populations. Today there is no Scythian nation, no Scythian language, and no Scythian royal family. What survives are archaeological sites, burial mounds, and historical accounts.

The Sarmatians replaced the Scythians as major powers across much of the steppe. Roman writers discussed them extensively. They fought wars, controlled trade routes, and influenced Europe for centuries.

Then they too faded into later populations.

Most people today have never heard of them despite their importance.

When the Huns appeared, they terrified much of Europe. Under Attila the Hun they built one of the most feared empires of late antiquity.

After Attila's death, the empire fractured rapidly. Within a few generations, the Huns had largely disappeared as a distinct people. Historians still debate where many of their descendants went.

The Avar Khaganate controlled large portions of Central Europe for centuries. They fought Byzantium, collected tribute, and ruled an impressive state centered in the Carpathian Basin.

Then they vanished.

By the Middle Ages, the Avars had largely been absorbed into surrounding populations.

The Khazars fit into this same pattern. For roughly three centuries they stood at the center of Eurasian trade. Then their state collapsed and their identity gradually dissolved into neighboring peoples.

The Cumans dominated much of the Eurasian steppe before the Mongol invasions. They were powerful enough that kings, emperors, and princes negotiated with them.

Today there is no Cuman state.

Most descendants were absorbed into neighboring populations.

This one surprises many people.

• The Visigoths conquered Spain.
• The Ostrogoths ruled Italy.

For a time, the Goths were among the most important peoples in Europe.

Then they disappeared as a separate identity.

Modern Spaniards are not walking around calling themselves Visigoths.

• The people remained.
• The label vanished.

• The Vandals conquered North Africa and even sacked Rome in 455 AD.
• Their kingdom once controlled major Mediterranean territory.
• Today they survive mostly as a word in the English language.
• The people themselves disappeared into later populations.

The Picts ruled much of what is now Scotland for centuries.

• They fought Romans.
• They built kingdoms.
• They left carved stones and monuments.
• Then they gradually merged with neighboring peoples and vanished as a separate identity.

Most people imagine history as nations replacing nations.

In reality, history is often populations blending into populations.

• A kingdom falls.
• The ruling family disappears.
• People marry neighbors.
• Languages change.
• Religions change.

Within a few generations, people who once thought of themselves as Khazars, Goths, Picts, or Scythians begin thinking of themselves as something else.

• The Khazars sit in an unusual middle ground.
• They were important enough that historians know they existed.
• They were wealthy enough to influence international trade.
• They were unusual enough to attract attention because of their Jewish ruling elite.
• Yet they disappeared enough to leave major unanswered questions.
• That combination—power, wealth, influence, and disappearance—is what keeps people interested in them more than a thousand years later.

In many ways, the greatest mystery in history is not how empires rise. It's how entire peoples can dominate a region for centuries and then leave behind little more than ruins, scattered records, and a name in an old chronicle.