Editorial
Music and the Power Elites: A Long and Fruitful Association
Last week, we looked at the impact of State intervention on scientific research. Today, we wish to examine the close links between the power elite and the arts, with a special focus on music. (Other art forms will be explored in subsequent installments).
It is well known that music has, since the Greek Antiquity, been recognized as a powerful tool with which to arouse, control, or modulate human emotions. In a surprisingly blunt assessment, Plato recognized the necessity, for the elites, of directing and supervising musical development: "Musical innovation is full of danger to the State, for when modes of music change, the laws of the State always change with them" (The Republic).
In light of Plato's statement, it is certainly no coincidence that, for instance, religious music has been associated for centuries with traditional, even archaic, genres, and evolved much more slowly than secular music, or that national anthems all over the world share similar characteristics.
As with institutions of higher knowledge, official music-making was, until the Renaissance, mostly associated with the Church and the high nobility, although there has always been a lively tradition of folk music. On the other hand, in contrast to science, the elites seem not have been able to control the music industry, on a large scale at least, until the 20th Century. (More on this later).
However, this does not mean that the elites' influence on music was not felt previously. For centuries, musicians have benefited from the financial backing that only the elites could provide them; in turn, the controlling elements of society gained from being able to mold official music production according to the memes, moods and emotions they wished to convey, following Plato's dictum.
Thus, musicians have always enjoyed close ties with power elites and we find that during the Renaissance many of the foremost court musicians performed double duty as spies, the post of court musician providing ideal cover for their espionage activities. Thomas Morley, one of the preeminent composers of late 16th Century England, organist of St Paul's Cathedral and Gentleman of the Chapel Royal, was also employed as a government spy, while his contemporary, the famed lutenist John Dowland, spied on the courts of France and Denmark on account of the English court.
The late Renaissance also marks the birth of a new musical era: music-making as a large-scale commercial enterprise. Born in Florence, but truly making its niche in Venice, the opera, a new musical genre specifically created by humanists such as Vincenzo Galilei (the father of Galileo) with the aim of affecting people's emotions through music, was perhaps the first musical genre written explicitly for the general public.
It was the financial elite of 17th-Century Venice, which, having realized the potential impact of this new genre, brought opera to a new level with the overt goal of turning it into a successful commercial venture, but also with the covert ambition of introducing humanist ideals to a larger public through music. Venice was at the apex of its influence at the time, a worldwide capital of munificence and licentiousness, a fantasy world where quasi-pagan carnivals vied for people's attention with operatic productions recreating antique myths laden with "special effects," in a way that eerily prefigured 20th-Century Hollywood and Las Vegas.
While opera continued to develop and evolve along with other musical genres, it also led to a gradual reappraisal of the role and social status of the musician. Once confined to the role of servants performing in courts, palaces and chapels, musicians were increasingly cast in the public eye and began, over the course of the 18th and especially the 19th Century, to be seen as attractions themselves, sometimes even cult figures such as in the case of pianist and composer Franz Liszt, eventually leading to the modern concept of stardom.
The elites were keen to use this to their advantage by ensuring that the images and memes conveyed by composers, librettists, and virtuoso performers conformed to their views. Of course, this meant enlisting the best musicians as allies rather than as mere lackeys, and we find the preeminent musicians of the period collaborating with the elites not as spies, but as brothers in secret societies.
The great Mozart, for instance, was not only a Freemason but also a friend of Adam Weishaupt, the founder of the Bavarian Illuminati. The Magic Flute, one of Mozart's most famous operas, is clearly inspired by Illuminati ideals: One of their goals, which is to make "the Earth a heavenly kingdom, and mortals like the gods," is actually sung as a couplet in the opera.
Similarly, Beethoven's teacher, Christian Neefe, was head of the Bonn lodge of the Bavarian Illuminati and doubtless influenced his pupil. Thus, the finale of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, probably his best-known work, is a musical setting of Ode to Joy, a famous poem by German playwright Friedrich Schiller that is rife with Illuminati imagery. Beethoven's setting of Schiller's poem later became, fortuitously or not, the Anthem of Europe. Late 19th-Century French composer Claude Debussy was heavily involved in occultism as well, and it appears that Debussy may even have risen to the position of Grand Master of the Rosicrucian Order.
The next significant turning point in this longstanding association between musicians and power elites was the advent of mass media such as the radio and television which, together with the development of recording techniques, made possible the commercialization and dissemination of a uniformized musical content on a worldwide scale, and tremendously increased the elites' control over art and culture. From that point on, elites could finally achieve their dream of molding mainstream music and use it as a powerful propaganda tool to directly manipulate people's emotions and moods on an unprecedented scale, covertly injecting their memes into young minds under the guise of entertainment. Not coincidentally, it is also during this period that we see the rise of gigantic corporations and statist institutions entirely devoted to the development and transmission of cultural content.
One such institution was the Frankfurt School of Social Research, which counted among its members leaders of the counterculture movement such as Wilhelm Reich, Herbert Marcuse and especially, Theodor Adorno. Perhaps best known for his book, The Authoritarian Personality (1950), a blueprint for the elites' plans which advocated the breakdown of the family and of nationalism (allegedly as a way to counteract the development of fascist tendencies in modern societies), Adorno was in fact trained as a musicologist.
Adorno came to the United States in 1939 to head the music division of the Princeton University Radio Research Project, which was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation with the official aim of analyzing the social effects of new forms of mass media such as television and radio. Rather, this research led to a fundamental transformation of these media by turning them into efficient vehicles for cultural programming through the establishment of the hit parade system which, according to Paul Hirsch (a scholar who reported on Adorno's project), converted radio networks "into round-the-clock recycling machines that repeated the top forty hits."
The Tavistock Institute is another institution, and probably the most important one, whose whole raison d'être was cultural programming. There are good reasons to believe that the Tavistock Institute and its affiliates directed the hippie movement of the 1960s from behind the scenes, and covertly promoted bands such as the Beatles in order to transmit their society-altering values such as sexual liberation and the widespread usage of drugs. (For more on this topic, see DB article, Is Paul Dead?).
In a modern reworking of the "musician-as-spy" arrangements of the Renaissance, many of the biggest rock and pop stars of that period apparently had close ties to intelligence agencies or to the military, as for instance The Doors' Jim Morrison, whose father, George S. Morrison, was the commander of the ships involved in the Gulf of Tonkin incident that ignited the Vietnam War. Doubtless similar associations still continue today (see Wishful Thinking: Why The Economist Wants Social Media To Replace Blogs).
Clearly, the elites have been able, with the help of 20th-century technological developments, to parlay their control of the financial spigots and of the governmental apparatus into a quasi-total domination of the musical sphere. However, as with science and the mainstream media, the recent emergence of the Internet has somewhat undermined the elites' plans by allowing informal (and sometimes illicit) music distribution networks to flourish, though the long-term impact of this latest revolution remains to be seen.
In conclusion, we do not wish, dear reader, to tarnish your enjoyment of Mozart's operas, nor do we suggest that you jettison your Beatles anthology. Nevertheless, we believe that it is important to be aware of the historical extent of the elites' use of music as a powerful means to manipulate our emotions, and to realize that the globalists' strategy affords an important place to cultural programming besides financial, political and military hegemony.
Some related DB articles:
Lady Gaga Wants a New Hate Crime
Lady Gaga Approves Repeal of DADT
What Has Happened to US Movies?
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Posted by Kriss Robin on 09/26/11 01:16 PM
No no no, beam me up Scottie. All considered equal here, and Yes I fully agree with "perspective", or viewpoints. Coming from Sanity as I can see you all are and dealing with in-Sanity, like a clever player in a game, one that Understands his opponent will prevail. A Respect or understanding of one's opponents perspective is essential, and cleverly played will outwit one's opponent. This essential understanding does not make one "the opponent", rather, it allows one to beat the opponent at "his/her" own game.
Having said that, there are many ways to express and or say the same thing, it is whether or not one seems to allow one's perception to Hear "another" perception, "pride and humility" come to mind. LOL
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Posted by John Danforth on 09/26/11 10:05 AM
The site promotes a viewpoint, like any other opinion or editorial site.
That viewpoint will be defended, naturally.
Disagreement with that viewpoint is actually tolerated here, unlike most other editorial sites. That being the case, where there is disagreement, facts and logic go a long way toward making the point or convincing others. Blanket statements and nitpicking about side issues don't convince anyone, and I can't imagine them being published on the host's site without challenge. When civility, facts, and logic are used, disagreements lead to interesting discussions here even where people are diametrically opposed in their viewpoints -- one of the gem qualities of this site.
May the best ideas win. That's the whole point.
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Posted by Kriss Robin on 09/26/11 07:35 AM
No, with all due Respect memehunter. It was addressed to comments DB had made to Howard Roark and John had in part, backed.
To say this a slightly different way. The amount that is written can in no way justify its content of Truth. Whereas a Truth can be conveyed in "any" amount, small or large.
Where one is Perceiving from is more to the point ...
Having said that, DB, you and your elves do seem to have difficulty seeing from any other perspective than your own. This by no means is a criticism, just an observation.
Reply from The Daily Bell
"Having said that, DB, you and your elves do seem to have difficulty seeing from any other perspective than your own."
This surprises you? You wish instead to read central bank encomiums or endorsements of NATO's endless wars? Surely you have other places to go to read such efforts ...
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Posted by memehunter on 09/26/11 03:53 AM
DB: "What?"
DB: I think the confusion comes from the fact that you wrote a reply to John Danforth (at 7:01 PM), but this reply should in fact have been addressed to Howard Roark, judging from its content.
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Posted by Kriss Robin on 09/26/11 03:06 AM
"You have never been much of a "fan" that we can see, judging from occasional comments going back months. Whether it is moon landings or other issues, your feedbacks are usually fairly brief and conclude with an expression of disappointment regarding our articles and perspectives. if you would back up your remarks with something factual, that would help. But you don't. Your previous comment is a case in point:"
DB. John D too.
Should I write a 1,000 books on a subject and be credited world wide, does it make me any more knowledgeable "IN FACT". Than if I were to write the same in a single paragraph.
The Fact that I need to read a 1,000 books to reach the Knowledge gained by reading just one paragraph says a lot about how Alert I am to True Knowledge.
It takes a MAN as "you" say, to question this, Honestly, without an "instant" intellectual reply from an academic brain. LOL
Reply from The Daily Bell
What?
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Posted by Kriss Robin on 09/26/11 02:50 AM
TRUTH is no respector of "opinion". Even Elves do not escape this Fact.LOL
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Posted by John Danforth on 09/25/11 07:01 PM
Your namesake would not be so sensitive. If your ideas have merit, then prove them out and don't let your feelings be hurt. Nobody will hate you for it (like you should care). On the other hand, your previous post was nothing but a weak attack on the host of this site. And you are surprised to get poked back? Man up, man. Or stop calling yourself Howard Roark.
Reply from The Daily Bell
You have never been much of a "fan" that we can see, judging from occasional comments going back months. Whether it is moon landings or other issues, your feedbacks are usually fairly brief and conclude with an expression of disappointment regarding our articles and perspectives. if you would back up your remarks with something factual, that would help. But you don't. Your previous comment is a case in point:
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"Yeah this was pretty out there. I know the DB doesn't care much for differing opinions (they are almost always critcal and often rude to dissent) but they really need to stick with the economics because they really lose their focus with moon landing type stuff every once in a while. This is deserving of no additional thought."
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"Out there?" "Deserving of no additional thought." Your idea of a feedback seems to be a complaint wrapped around a (hostile) generalization. If you want to engage in a discussion, then make a valid point.
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Posted by glenn on 09/25/11 03:50 PM
09 25 2011 DB
Random Thoughts and Opinions...
Sources: Manuscripts of Charles Sanders Peirce. Peirce was and probably still is the West's foremost Historian of Science and Philosophical Systems Thinker. Also other sources include the writings of systems thinking philosophers.
Since it is known that a Schism occurred in the Church in the 14th Century and that it resulted in a victory by Nominalist/Humanist Philosophers over the Scholastics, are the Elites that are being referred to by the Daily Bell Staff the Nominalist/Humanists philosophers within the Church? If so are the ousted Scholastic philosophers the ones became a positive secular force outside the Church and indirectly influenced the Arts, Music, and Science based a complete Aristotelian philosophy. The Nominalist/Humanist philosophy removed 'Form' and with it removed the scientific and philosophical basis for addressing the Arts, Music, and Science from an intellectual perspective.
The Western argument that the Age of Reason and the Age of Enlightenment makes little sense when seen in the light of history of science-as-described-by-Charles Sanders Peirce.
If it assumed that the Nominalist/Humanist philosophers succeeded in reducing Aristotle's Mode of Being to just Matter, then it should follow that the Arts, Music, and Science-as-defined-by-the Daily Bell Staff is Nominalistic/Humanist. In other words it is devoid of mentalistic or subjective attributes of a complete Aristotelean philosophers and because of that is random, without structure, and non-scientific. The Nominalist/Humanist may be called Mindless.
Then does that mean that the underlying forces are that produced the Classical music of Mozart is something other than a single group of "Elites". The "Elites" as described by the Daily Bell Staff appear to be negative force on one hand and the "Elites" that sponsored Mozart represents a positive force that continually overcame the shortcomings of the Mindless Materialistic Nominalist/Humanist Elites.
The Classical Arts represent the influence of Positive Elites. When looked at with a eye towards mathematics then Aristotle's Form is represented everywhere with the works of Art.
It boils down to a continual battle between the Mindless Materialistic Nominalists/Humanists philosophers and the Mindful Scientific philosophers. The dominant Mindless philosophy is leading Western Civilization down a dead end road. In science the Mindless philosophy has completed its dominance by infusing the DoD/IC with knowledge that is incomplete, formless, without Logic, without Reasoning, and devoid Forward Looking Critical Systems Thinking. Our inability to comprehend and understand the Toyota Production System that used on the Toyota production line exemplifies our Mindlessness.
There is more to this story…
Thank you.
Very respectfully,
Achteck
Reply from The Daily Bell
Yes, from Wikipedia we learn John Dewey was a pragmatist. 'Nuff said.
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Posted by Howard Roark on 09/25/11 02:04 PM
You know I used to be a big fan of this site and still think you are spot on with your economic commentary but your "elves" sure are jerks to anyone who has a differing opinion. Not sure its worth keeping in my rotation of websites with such arrogance. Your motto should be question everything, except us because we are always right.
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Posted by Niklaus on 09/25/11 01:50 PM
While I do agree on that the power elite has been strongly controling 20th century popular music, even "creating" "stars" like Faul MacCartney, and killing "bonaparted" ones, please dont put beloved Mozart on the wrong side!
Of course, he was, at first, a church composer, but parted with archbishop Colloredo, and became a court composer - a market for "bürgerliche" music came only later, starting with Schubert. Mozart was an ethusiastic member of a freemason lodge (non-scottish rite), enjoying the ceremonies, but are there really links to the Illuminati?
The Zauberflöte is full of freemason symbolism, however, it was a private venture by the director and librettist Schickaneder, premiered at the community theatre "Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden", and not the court theatre. There are even conspiricy theories that Mozart was killed by freemasons, because he revealed too many secrets.
Also Schiller. There is new evidence that Schiller was killed by freemasons, because he never joined and wrote critically about them. Goethe, who was a freemason, found out, but did not dare to betray his brothers and to tell anyone before his death. He revealed the deed and the culprit posthum in a coded passage in his Faust II ...
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Posted by Kriss Robin on 09/25/11 04:29 AM
Something, anything, ONLY has the power that one gives to it, if I do not give it POWER it has no power. Human emotions included. Sovereignty comes from Within, it is not something that is dealt from others out there, Elites included. Helplessness seems to come from a state of hopelessness. Helpless coz one has given another one's Sovereignty. People deserve what they get, until they learn to Stand in their own Sovereignty.
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Posted by tawny on 09/25/11 01:47 AM
Yes, recall that it is a 'battle for the minds of men'- controlling what people think and believe (including things they aren't always aware of in themselves). And pop culture is an important avenue into 'the minds of men'... and women ... and the young. It is a subtle battle that is being waged on several levels.
A good book tracing the intellectual history/foundation of the 'methods and madness' of the current power holders/seekers is THE ASCENDENCY OF THE SCIENTIFIC DICTATORSHIP by Paul and Phillip Collins. It is written from a Christian pt. of view, but the basic research is very good and it is not a book that proselytizes at all but is based on careful research. (I am not a Christian and I find it a very sound and well-researched and well thought out book.)
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Posted by memehunter on 09/25/11 01:20 AM
I'm not sure what you mean by "pretty out there", but a large part of the information presented in the article can actually be found on Wikipedia or on other mainstream websites. Google "Mozart freemason" or "Thomas Morley spy" and see what you come up with. If you read German, you can also check the German version of the Wikipedia page on Christian Neefe, for instance.
I believe that the connections between the music industry and the intelligence agencies go even deeper and include unsavory aspects that are even more "out there" than what the article mentioned. See the comment by Tawny at 6:05 PM or read Dave McGowan's fascinating account of "Laurel Canyon".
I'm glad that DB does not "stick with the economics" because there are many more socio-historical and cultural aspects of the elites' strategies that are worth discussing, in my opinion.
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Posted by Howard Roark on 09/24/11 11:37 PM
Yeah this was pretty out there. I know the DB doesn't care much for differing opinions (they are almost always critcal and often rude to dissent) but they really need to stick with the economics because they really lose their focus with moon landing type stuff every once in a while. This is deserving of no additional thought.
Reply from The Daily Bell
"This is deserving of no additional thought."
Evidently, you are using the article to justify your normal state of mind.
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Posted by ussgreen on 09/24/11 07:44 PM
haha this read is such bulls**t. i will now be much more scrutinizing when reading any other DB articles. they shouldnt print such nonsense. all it will do is make people doubt the veracity of honest, historically accurate articles
Reply from The Daily Bell
"i will now be much more scrutinizing"
You can't write, so it's doubtful you do much reading ...
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Posted by tawny on 09/24/11 06:05 PM
DB, you have hit upon a deep, complex, and important topic here, for sure.
Check out this link
Click to view link
Turns out that several of the early R&R 'greats' came from CIA families.
The hedonistic R&R hippy generation was the successor to the earlier politically active anti-Viet Nam War youth culture. And of course LSD came from a CIA lab I believe (Sandoz). [better they be stoned out of their gourds than politically active - right?]
In DOPE,INC. by LaRouche's EIR staff, Theodore Adorno's work is mentioned, and the deliberate and successful attempt to direct all that youthful energy away from political activism and into Dionysian hedonism (drugs, sex, and rock n'roll).
I am not a La Rouche fan (consider him dis-info, probably a witting tool, do not agree with his FDR-worshipping economics - which he shares with Webster Tarpley, probably another tool - to be totally flawed, read HAMILTON'S CURSE by Thomas DiLorenzo for an excellent analysis/rebuttal) - but DOPE,INC. does tell a lot of truth about the drug trade origins of many of the 'great' old British families, and their fortunes - and about the successful 'turning' of idealistic and energetic youth from political activism to hedonism.
Also - very relevant here is the CIA's MK ULTRA trauma-based mind control program/project. Pop music (obviously) continues to promote a culture of decadence, hedonism, and even S&M/satanism to the young. Yes, satanism (Michael Aquino). Satanism/terrorism is the perfect way (in any criminal organization) to control the minions. (Read THE ULTIMATE EVIL by Maury Terry.)
Trauma-based mind control (which can incorporate satanic beliefs) is the perfect way to control your operatives. Talented people in the entertainment industry and other key areas are good people to have under some degree of 'control'.
If you doubt me, do searches on these phrases and look up the books THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES and TRANCE-FORMATION OF AMERICA as well as the above titles.
And for the record I am not a Christian. Not hostile to Christianity - more of an agnostic who believes like many of the founders of the orig. USA that we should practice religious tolerance (exclusive of decadent/kinky extremes like satanism!).
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Posted by jrxtrmadura on 09/24/11 05:58 PM
Sorry, cavalry. Just a thought... aren't control memes just songs otherwise sung falsley?
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Posted by freedon on 09/24/11 05:43 PM
Your article on music and the power elites made me wonder if I had mistakenly wandered on to the Onion or La Rouche websites. I'm a lifelong libertarian and was involved in the Goldwater campaign and was heavily involved in the anti-war, psychedelic and New Age movements and what you wrote was horsesh-t.
The Beatles were anti-tax (Ever hear "Taxman?) anti war and anti state and some were arrested for this usually because of pot which all libertarians think should be legal. And by the way Timothy Leary held a fund raisng party for Ron Paul in 1988.
Reply from The Daily Bell
Sorry we upset you.
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Posted by philitarian on 09/24/11 05:33 PM
Thanks for sharing that link. I read some of the Laurel Canyon series but this was more like a tight summary.
Also thanks DB for that response. I would agree the main benefits of gaming is socialization and the comradely that often comes from more competitive play. I have played the most violent/gruesome games in my lifetime, but thankfully I've been tempered with strong morality and wisdom to be able to discern the good from the bad.
The videogame industry IS a joke and there are clearly unsavory forces at work here. Over the past decade I've seen the glorious, innovative days of gaming of the 90s and early 2000s be replaced by the 'Hollywood model' of pumping out endless sequels, clones, nonsensical "EULA" copyright and DRM, and "expansions" of virtual garbage while nickel and diming you with "DLCs" (downloadable content... hey buy a virtual piece of horse armor for your virtual horse for only $5!). There is also a disturbing trend amongst major publishers (Activision, EA) of centralizing their online services such as Click to view link, where you are constantly monitored and are forced to use their monopolistic 'service' while smashing any amateurs trying to work-around their insane command & control structure (see Blizzard's history in the courts). Instead of using more reliable and more gamer friendly dedicated servers, major publishers want you to be CONSTANTLY connected to their systems, or no game for you.
Despite the sad devolution of the gaming 'industry', the indie gaming scene is healthy and growing rapidly thanks to digital distribution. Far better taste and quality is found from indie-games where these developers have creative passion and more artistic freedom than the failing publisher/large developer model. Despite the fact that the large publishers are trying to push games to $60 a pop (utter insanity... only the dominant publishers can do this) and even when they do, they are usually forced to lower the price within a month because of such intense competition of indie-games that can produce twice the quality of gameplay at a fraction of the cost.
I hope developers everywhere will realize how completely unnecessary the publisher model is in the Digital Era. The Internet is truly shattering the archaic and broken system, and long may it do so.
PS: Well then since a fiat $5 is also virtual currency then I think my head just exploded again. Using virtual money to buy virtual goods... I think that sums up the Power Elite's ultimate goal.
Reply from The Daily Bell
Thanks for the info and perspective.
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Posted by jrxtrmadura on 09/24/11 04:37 PM
Bravo Anthony. This article just one of the many reasons to love the DB.Perhaps now that the alert have learned(via the truth telling and educational process of the internet) the equestrian dance melodies of the modern day Scythians we can throw their headlong calvary charge towards NWO into disarray... .From a legend attributed to some ancient Greeks on the westeren fringes of Scythian influence who fearing an invasion by these dreaded horsemen also learned through intelligence that these consumate equestrians in more peaceful moments trained their steeds to elaborate dance routines to specific melodies.Upon the day of battle ,as the story goes,the Greeks rose up and played those melodies loudly sending the mounted van into chaos. The invaders were obliterated.
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