Caveat lector: Nothing in the following investigative report should be construed as evidence that Sott.net condones the manipulative activities of organisations like Scientology or any other organisation that preys upon human frailty. Not only do we accept the need to protect the vulnerable in society from such 'New Age' con-artists, over the past 10 years we have repeatedly sought to expose such predators. It is the very New Age con artists that we exposed who then began to smear us with the "cult" label. The problem however, is that state-funded bodies that have been created supposedly to protect citizens from 'mental manipulation' have their own agenda that is, in the long run, just as pernicious as the spiritual snake oil-peddling groups they claim to stand against. This is revealed in the fact that MIVILUDES has only undertaken a token attack on Scientology; they were never raided nor interrogated (as many harmless groups have been), and at the end of a long, well-publicized legal action, were fined only 600,000 euros, a veritable slap on the wrist for such a wealthy organization. Meanwhile, France's president, Sarkozy, cosied up to Scientology's representative, Tom Cruise on several occasions. In short, MIVILUDES' actions against Scientology are merely for show.

Since the 1970s, successive French governments have used, abused and exaggerated the danger posed by New Age groups to enforce an oppressive conformity of belief in the state itself on the French people. This simply supplants one destructive and manipulative cult ideology for another. As the preeminent anti-cult organisation in France, MIVILUDES, has stated: "State repression must take place when a certain number of elements are gathered [...] when one or several people start getting fond of ideas not commonly shared and agreed upon by society." That is to say, when ordinary people start to get fond of ideas that could, in a general way, threaten the control of the psychopaths in power over the masses of normal human beings.

The troubling state of affairs that we outline in the following paragraphs does not, however, concern only the French people. It is global in scope and has its roots in the 1960s and '70s and the efforts by Western 'intelligence agencies' and elements within Western governments to co-opt and discredit what was known as the 'Human Potential Movement' and the subsequent 'New Age' movement and enforce a conformity of thought and belief on hundreds of millions of people.

Initially the strategy involved the infiltration and co-opting of any group that was beginning to see (and speak about) the problems with big governments and big corporations dominating (and destroying) the world. It was, and is, about control of the population - mind, body and soul - of any given country. But the agenda was not limited to mere infiltration of such groups. After all, it would take a lot of effort and manpower to continually keep tabs on each new group and try to subvert them. What was needed was the ability to automatically demonise any group that 'deviated' from social norms or proposed ideas that were at odds with the agenda of big government and big corporations. Within the process of subverting such groups, the logical answer was found.

Once a group had been infiltrated (or created from scratch by an intelligence agency), they could, quite easily, be made to appear quite insane. Groups that have lost touch with reality ultimately resort to extreme measures, like suicide, or so the logic goes. What better way to demonise the very idea of 'alternative lifestyles' than to create some high-profile cases where such groups commit 'collective suicide'?

But people involved in such subterfuge are always on the lookout for an opportunity to maximise their gains with the least effort. Groups that have been targeted for transformation into a 'cult' are ultimately expendable, and expendable assets of intelligence agencies are traditionally used as cover for highly illegal activities on the part of government and corporate leaders.

If certain influential and well-connected individuals want to engage in illegal money-making activities, they organise themselves in secret and attempt to ensure a significant level of deniability. If they want to engage in some HIGHLY illegal activity (like weapons sales prohibited under international law, money laundering, overthrowing governments, phony terrorist attacks, pedophilia rings, etc.) they organise themselves under the cover of an organisation that can, if necessary, be denounced as a 'suicide cult'. After all, 'suicide cult' members tell no tales and few questions are asked about their motives because, clearly, they were just insane.

In addition, such 'cult suicides' very effectively establish the 'reality' of dangerous cults in the public mind and that 'reality' can then be used to defame, threaten and, if possible, destroy any group that threatens the status quo of psychopaths in power and the general population as their slaves.

The 'Jonestown' cult and 'collective suicide' (which was clearly a CIA operation) is an example of this very strategy, but there have been many other such operations, which together have produced the 'cult' meme in modern society. But it has been in France, where adherence to, and admiration for, 'normal' French cultural values is seen as the quintessence of sanity, that the 'cult' meme has been used to such great effect in the modern world.

Since the 1990s, there have been several legal entities created in France that are supported by the government whose sole purpose is to mandate what people can think and believe. These organizations have the capability (expressly designed into them) of bypassing and/or superseding any rulings of the European Court of Human Rights. These French organizations, for instance MIVILUDES, are essentially full-spectrum Fascism created and run by psychopaths and their Authoritarian Followers. Anybody who is discovered to have the slightest tendency to adopt alternative views is seemingly a danger because they are undoubtedly going to turn into an "apocalyptic cult" at any moment! The examples of the mass suicides of the People's Temple, the Solar Temple and Heaven's Gate are trotted out at the beginning of the 2010 MIVILUDES report, thereby making the label "cult" as scary as "Muslim Terrorist". (Never mind that those events were CIA PsyOps designed as a sort of '9-11' against non-mainstream thinking, the way 9-11 was designed to initiate the War on Terror.)

Particularly targeted by these organizations are any and all individuals or groups which advocate practices such as alternative medicine (including nutritional approaches to getting and staying healthy), non-mainstream cancer therapies, yoga, meditation and other stress-relieving techniques, especially if such discussions include scientific support. Additionally targeted are any individuals who discuss 'conspiracy theories' (especially about 9-11, but also including economic collapse and NWO topics), UFOs/aliens, psychology other than Freudianism (especially if such discussions include cutting edge scientific support; Jungian psychology is especially targeted), Earth Changes and cometary bombardments (especially if it includes scientific support), increasing earthquake and volcanic activity (especially if it includes scientific support) and more. All of these activities, or even thoughts about these activities, will get you labeled as a cult or a follower of a cult and subject to some pretty frightening procedures designed to "help" you reorganize your thinking more in line with what is accepted by the mainstream authorities such as the American Medical Association (AMA), Big Pharma, Big-Agri, NASA and certainly the CIA. Anything that is not handed down from those authorities is labeled "pseudo-science", no matter how credible the scientist or how accurate the research. In short, it is as much a war against real science - as opposed to the corrupt science that has dominated the world for the past 100 years and is used to support wars more than anything else - as it is against religious beliefs. Moreover, if you are researching religions (Bible scholars beware!), mysticism, ancient wisdom and alternative history, you are also a cult. And if you have no apparent cultic beliefs, it's just a ruse; you are just trying to appear like a researcher to lure people in, waiting to turn into an apocalyptic cult at any moment. The whole approach is reminiscent of the Bush gang's claims about WMDs vis-a-vis Iraq and Saddam Hussein, and I think you all realize what that kind of rhetoric led to.

The 2010 MIVILUDES report tells us:

The fact of offering people the possibility to search for mysticism, wisdom and a forgotten ideal world, all the while assuring them of happiness, can be an extremely efficient bait.

There exists as well the risk that current social topics may be used (such as ecological aspirations) in order to play on people's anguish and anxiety such as: frustration concerning the meaning of life, solitude, the pervasive anonymity and isolation, the lack of interpersonal communication and social acceptance, the need for the religious and the sacred in one's life, refusal of a crushing social way of life.

By feeding into this environment of social anxiety via the use of references to pseudo-scientific elements, even those which have not been verified, in reality these beliefs are a tool that promotes collective fear, with the purpose of exerting more power over people and, in extreme cases, this can possibly lead to a vital risk [risk of mass suicide!] for the members of the group, or to questioning mainstream society through more or less violent actions.

I think that the perceptive reader can see what this organization is set up for and what it is they are really afraid of: they are afraid of people waking up and recognizing that the lunatics have taken over the asylum! It is clear to any normal person with empathy that the authors of this report are inquisitors set up to defend the status quo of the rule of a pathological elite who are not fit to rule as evidenced by their psychopathic behavior and intolerance towards anything truly human and who are able (and have been able) to get away with the most outrageous human rights violations in modern day France.

Did you know that alternative medicine and homeopathy are labeled as cults in France? People have gone to jail and have had their children taken away from them for giving alternative treatments to their children even when they were told in advance by their doctors that the child's case was terminal and they would die even with the mainstream treatments (chemotherapy and radiation?!). The parents were destroyed for seeking something, anything, that might save the life of their child or, at least, not subject them to the horrors of modern cancer treatments. (See Maître Jean-Marc Florand, avocat de monsieur et madame de M, in French.)

The fact is that it is the psychopaths who rise to the top who have no stress. Normal people who feel empathy and who have a conscience are the ones who are being crushed in this pathological society. To whom do French people turn to in order to get help for their sufferings and wounds? As it happens, the psychological sciences in France are as backward as almost everything else; they still consider Freud to be the only psychological authority! How Dark Ages is that? Most psychology in the rest of the modern world is NOT Freudian and more and more psychologists are coming to the realization - as Jung did - that Freud was a psychopath himself. Which means that psychological help in France can only add to people's suffering.

US intelligence analysts continue to believe there is no hard evidence that Iran has decided to build a nuclear bomb, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Citing unnamed US officials, the newspaper said the latest assessments by US spy agencies are broadly consistent with a 2007 intelligence finding that concluded that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program.

The officials said that assessment was largely reaffirmed in a 2010 National Intelligence Estimate, and that it remains the consensus view of America's 16 intelligence agencies, the report said.

The report came after the International Atomic Energy Agency warned that it continued to have "serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program."

The Times said there was no dispute among American, Israeli and European intelligence officials that Iran had been enriching nuclear fuel and developing some necessary infrastructure to become a nuclear power.

In a major victory for public health and what will hopefully lead to other nations taking action, a French court decided today that GMO crops monster Monsanto is guilty of chemically poisoning a French farmer. The grain grower, Paul Francois, says he developed neurological problems such as memory loss and headaches after being exposed to Monsanto's Lasso weedkiller back in 2004. The monumental case paves the way for legal action against Monsanto's Roundup and other harmful herbicides and pesticides made by other manufacturers.

John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman,describes how the United States of America, through corporations and the CIA, wages economic wars against Third World countries in order to control their resources. Where economics fail, the CIA will come in creating dissent to overthrow a non-compliant government. Where that fails, assassination is employed. Only after all these options have failed will the U.S. military become involved.

Rep. John Mathis calls undercover investigators "animal rights terrorists," and says video recordings that have brought national attention to systemic animal welfare abuses are "propaganda" and fundraising efforts.

The bill, HB187, targets anyone who videotapes or takes photograph on a farmer's property without permission. It creates the crime of "agricultural operation interference," a class A misdemeanor which is elevated to a third-degree felony on the second offense.

It comes at at time when the FBI has considered "terrorism" charges against undercover investigators.

Rep. Mathis' opening remarks at a hearing by the Utah House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee on February 14th are indicative of the good ol' boy network that is attempting to pass this legislation:

"It's fun to see my good ag friends in this committee," Mathis said. "" all my good friends are here."

Former Florida governor was critical of current field in a speech this week, prompting rumours he could be a surprise contender

Speculation that a late challenger might still emerge in the increasingly bitter race for the Republican presidential nomination is set to surge after former Florida governor Jeb Bush made remarks criticising the current field.

Bush, who is the brother of President George W Bush and son of President George Bush Sr, is a beloved figure among many conservatives who see him as a strong and charismatic leader who is popular in the must-win swing state of Florida.

That contrasts with a widespread unease among many Republican leaders and grassroots activists with the remaining crop of Republican candidates and the vitriolic nature of the fight between frontrunner Mitt Romney and his main challengers Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.

In answers to questions from the audience after a speech in Dallas on Thursday, Bush cautioned the remaining Republican campaigns from drifting so far to the right that they put off the key independent voters needed to beat President Barack Obama in November.

"I think it's important for the candidates to recognise though they have to appeal to primary voters, and not turn off independent voters that will be part of a winning coalition," Bush told the audience according to CBS news.

President Obama jets to Florida today for a mix of official and political business that will steal some headlines in the Sunshine State and line his campaign coffers with at least $4 million.

The act of presidential piggybacking -- coupling official duties, in this case a speech on the economy, with political fundraising -- was not pioneered by Obama but is prominently on display this year.

Obama has taken four trips outside Washington, D.C., since Jan. 1, including 18 re-election fundraisers interspersed with various activities related to his duties as president. Most recently, Obama concluded a three-day, three-state swing when he attended eight fundraisers and two official events.

The president's jet-setting has drawn the usual criticisms from his political opponents but also raised the curiosity and questions from taxpayers about who bears the sky-high costs.

Tempers may be raging over revelations the New York Police Department has secretly been conducting surveillance in New Jersey, but a simple check of government records shows the NYPD has been operating in the Garden State for at least seven years.

And they have done it with the permission of the governor's office - granted in 2005 by former Gov. Richard Codey, state records show.

It was only two years later that the NYPD began a spy operation in Newark, sending in street operatives to compile reports on Muslims living and working in the state's largest city.

The set of executive orders were put on the books in July 2005, following a series of terror attacks that tore through three London subway trains and a double-decker bus. The two orders gave the NYPD open-ended legal authority to operate in New Jersey in limited circumstances, without the need to seek additional local clearance. The orders - Nos. 43 and 44 - can be found on the state government website.

London - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested on Thursday Syria's opposition will ultimately arm itself and said she would bet against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's staying in power.

Speaking directly to Russia and China, which have blocked U.N. Security Council resolutions designed to end the violence in Syria, Clinton said the government's "brutality" against its own people was unsustainable in the internet age.

"The strategy followed by the Syrians and their allies is one that can't stand the test of legitimacy or even brutality for any length of time," Clinton told reporters in London.

"There will be increasingly capable opposition forces. They will from [form] somewhere, somehow, find the means to defend themselves as well as begin offensive measures," she added.

"It is clear to me there will be a breaking point," Clinton said. "I wish it would be sooner, so that more lives would be saved, than later, but I have absolutely no doubt there will be such a breaking point."