Secret HistoryS


Black Magic

DARPA's dirty deeds

DARPA's hellhounds
DARPA's hellhounds
In many ways, DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is the engine of the military-industrial complex, the heart at the center of the Pentagon that keeps America in constant state of weapons innovation and defense spending. Even before the attacks of September 11, 2001, DARPA kept defense contractors lining their pockets; in our post 9/11 surveillance state, DARPA sits at the nexus of corporate war profits, national security, and military innovation.

Cloaked in clandestine secrecy, DARPA has been called the "Oh God Why" branch of the Department of Defense. In the fiscal year of 2015, their requested budget was $2.91 billion, which doesn't include classified and black budgets. Even still, through Freedom of Information Act requests and intrepid journalism, some of the historical truths and future plans of this nebulous government agency have come to light in recent years.

Info

'Hobbits' found on Flores island are not Homo sapiens

Homo floresiensis
© Bobin's Peter Schouten AMHomo floresiensis or 'Hobbit' illustration.
Diminutive humans who died out on an Indonesian island some 15,000 years ago were not Homo sapiens but a different species, according to a study that dives into a fierce anthropological debate.

Fossils of Homo floresiensis, dubbed "the hobbits" due to their tiny stature, were discovered on the island of Flores in 2003.

Controversy has raged ever since as to whether they were an unknown branch of early humans or specimens of modern man deformed by disease.

The study, based on an analysis of the skull bones, shows once and for all that the pint-sized people were not Homo sapiens, according to the researchers.

Until now, academic studies have pointed in one direction or another and scientific discourse has sometimes tipped over into acrimony.

One school of thought holds that so-called Flores Man descended from the larger Homo erectus and became smaller over hundreds of generations.

The proposed process for this is called "insular dwarfing". Animals, after migrating across land bridges during periods of low sea level, wind up marooned on islands as oceans rise and their size progressively diminishes if the supply of food declines.

An adult hobbit stood one metre tall and weighed about 25 kilograms.

Similarly, Flores Island was also home to a miniature race of extinct, elephant-like creatures called Stegodon.

But other researchers argue that Homo floresiensis was in fact a modern human whose tiny size and small brain, no bigger than a grapefruit, was caused by a genetic disorder.

One suspect was dwarf cretinism, sometimes brought on by a lack of iodine. Another potential culprit was microcephaly, which shrivels not just the brain but its bony envelope. Weighing in with a new approach, published in the Journal of Human Evolution, a pair of scientists in France used high-tech tools to re-examine the layers of the "hobbit" skull.

More precisely, they looked at the remains of Liang Bua 1 (nicknamed LB1), whose cranium is the most intact of nine known specimens.

Light Saber

Colonel L. Fletcher Prouty - window into the U.S. shadow government

Fletcher Prouty
L. Fletcher Prouty
Leroy Fletcher Prouty served as Chief of Special Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President John F. Kennedy
Some might know Fletcher Prouty through his involvement with Oliver Stone's JFK. Others may know his book on The Secret Team. Still others might know of his insights into subjects as diverse as the Gary Powers U2 incident, MKULTRA, and the Origins of Oil. Today we explore the life, the experiences and the secrets spilled by Colonel L. Fletcher Prouty.

NOTE: This is a visualization of Episode 229 of The Corbett Report podcast, first released on May 7, 2012.


Easter Egg 2

The human price of the Valentine's Day diamond

blood diamon
For every finger to receive a ring, another finger must pull a trigger."


We all know the story.

The man gets down on one knee, grabs hold of the girl's hand and she covers her mouth as she is overtaken by emotions. The man pulls out a tiny box and opens it up to show off the sparkling diamond engagement ring before asking the question, "Will You Marry Me?"

The classic love story which peaks when the man asks for the woman's hand in marriage. They are officially engaged once he props a diamond ring on her finger.

However, there is another side to this story that never gets covered in the media. It is the dark side of the diamond, where if the public knew about the horrors and atrocities that take place to produce this mineral - perhaps we would re-think the way we celebrate "love."

Question

Skeletons found in ancient cemetery show people traveled to Rome from North Africa and the Alps 2,000 years ago

ancient Roman skull
© Kristina KillgroveScientists analysed the teeth from 105 skeletons found in two necropolises from ancient Rome and found eight individuals who appear to have migrated to the city from as far away as the Alps and North Africa. These included a 35 to 50-year-old male originally from the Alps
It is a contentious issue in many modern cities as they struggle to accommodate new arrivals, but it seems even Ancient Rome was a magnet for foreigners seeking their fortune.

A new study has suggested Rome was attracting immigrants from the furthest reaches of its empire and beyond 2,000 years ago.

Analysis of skeletons found buried in two ancient cemeteries of the city dating from the first to the third centuries AD showed eight of them were from as far away as North Africa and the Alps.

The migrants, who were mostly children and men, were buried in simple graves and appear to have been poor, suggesting they could have come to the city hoping to find success.

However, it is also possible they were slaves who had been brought to the city by their Imperial masters.

Comment: See also:


Calendar

Gruesome inventions used in torture, execution, war and medicine

The brazen bull execution device
The graphic shows a brutal method of execution invented in ancient Greece by Perillus, a bronze worker in Athens. As well as roasting criminals alive, the device also doubled as a musical instrument, converting the victim’s desperate cries into bellows.
From brutal torture devices to bizarre medical treatments, these terrifying contraptions reveal a darker side to innovation.
They show how inventors throughout history have put their skills and intellects to use in horrifying ways, creating contraptions that have caused unimaginable suffering.

The feature, first published in How It Works magazine, highlights some heinous inventions used in torture, war and medicine.
In the past, a punishment much worse than a long prison sentence awaited criminals.

From boiling people alive to sawing them in half, execution methods were often developed to be as cruel as possible and these gruesome events were usually carried out in public to deter others from following in the footsteps of the accused.

Even if people weren't sentenced to death, there were plenty of ghastly implements that could be used to torture them. Typically used to extract a confession or information about accomplices, torture was popular in medieval times, with the screams of victims echoing from castle dungeons across Europe.

War has also inspired a wide selection of horrific innovations. While guns and bombs were designed to kill instantly, chemical weapons could draw out death for several agonising days - thankfully, this form of warfare is now prohibited.

We are also lucky that some medical devices from history are no longer used. Despite being designed with good intentions, many medieval procedures were truly stomach-churning, making a trip to the doctor quite the ordeal.

Cruel Methods Of Execution

One of the most brutal methods of execution ever created took the form of a hollow bull statue.Invented in ancient Greece by Perillus, a bronze worker in Athens, it was given as a gift to a cruel tyrant named Phalaris of Agrigentum.As well as roasting criminals alive, the device also doubled as a musical instrument, converting the victim's desperate cries into what Perillus described as 'the tenderest, most pathetic, most melodious of bellowings'.

Eagle

The CIA's 'Phoenix Program' in Vietnam: Practice run for the "war on terror"

The Phoenix Program

The Phoenix Program
in Vietnam in many ways provides a blue print for our own times. Assassinations and torture are the essence of the war on terror. As are death squads and false flag terror attacks. As are mass surveillance of the populace.


Thanks to the work of Douglas Valentine in his classic book "The Phoenix Program" we have an extremely detailed account of the Phoenix Program exposing a classic example of the brutality of the CIA's counter insurgency wars. By studying the Phoenix program one can gain a great deal of insight into the wars in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq.

How the book came to be written is an interesting story in it's own right. Doug Valentine had written a novel about his fathers experiences in a prisoner of war camp during World War 2 called "Hotel Tacloban."

He decided his next book would be on Vietnam and he decided to focus on the CIA role since little had been written on the topic. He approached former CIA Director William Colby for help. He sent him a copy of his book and the former CIA director decided that Valentine was a man who understood the harsh realities of war and agreed to meet with him. Valentine cut his hair, bought a suit and tie met with Colby and managed to gain his confidence. Colby believed Valentine would write a sympathetic account. After all the CIA is used to working with journalists who censor the truth in exchange for inside information. Colby arranged for him to meet hundreds of former agents.

Comment: So how did elements of the CIA and the U.S. military get so good at wreaking havoc and destruction on such a large and global scale? Practice. Lots and lots of practice.


Mail

Israel 1948: The Dawayima massacre and 'barbarism by an educated and cultured people'

Israeli historian Yair Auron
Israeli historian Yair Auron
"There was no battle and no resistance (and no Egyptians). The first conquerors killed from eighty to a hundred Arabs [including] women and children. The children were killed by smashing of their skulls with sticks. Is it possible to shout about Deir Yassin and be silent about something much worse?" For the first time ever, a letter quoting one of the Israeli soldiers who were part of the Al-Dawayima massacre in October 1948 is published in full.

On Friday, February 5th 2016, Haaretz published an article in Hebrew by Israeli historian Yair Auron, which covers one of the biggest massacres of 1948. The massacre is of Al Dawayima, west of Al-Khalil (which is often referred to as Hebron). In a 2004 interview with Haaretz, Israeli historian Benny Morris refers to this as a massacre of "hundreds".

After the massacre, a letter was sent to the editor of the leftist affiliated newspaper Al-Hamishmar, but never published. As Auron notes, there are still many archives of the time which are classified. Auron also states that there was an investigation that was never concluded and "died out" as a massive amnesty was provided to military personnel in February 1949.

Comment: The atrocities committed against the indigenous people of Palestine is in Israel's DNA, and absolutely no different from what we are seeing occur today against the people of the West Bank and Gaza, or by proxy, the people of Syria, Iraq and other places. The men in the field, ie. the IDF, ISIL, etc. take their marching orders and derive their culture of brutality from the very top; further confirmation of the fact that the top of the chain of command are very often psychopaths in positions of power.


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Infamous Zodiac Killer finally unmasked as convicted serial killer

Dennis Rader
© IG/GettyDennis Rader (right) has never been questioned about the Zodiac Killer's crimes
The Zodiac Killer murdered at least seven people and possibly up to 20 in northern California between December 1968 and October 1969 and it has remained one of the world's greatest unsolved crimes.

The case has spawned dozens of books and a film, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo. The Zodiac nickname was derived from a series of cryptic and taunting letters which were posted to the media from the San Francisco Bay area. They included ciphers and only one of the four has been decoded.

But now a former detective, Kimberly McGath, has identified the Zodiac as Dennis Rader. Rader, now 70, is better known as the BTK Killer. He derived his grisly nickname from the fact that he Bound, Tortured and Killed his ten victims in Wichita, Kansas between 1974 and 1991. Rader was in the US Air Force from 1966 and 1970 before settling down with a wife in Kansas.

The BTK Killer sent numerous letters to the media but suddenly stopped. He then vanished until 2004 when he suddenly started sending letters again. The following year Rader was arrested after he sent police a floppy disk, which was traced back to him. Faced with a mountain of forensic evidence Rader confessed to being the BTK Killer and is now serving life imprisonment with no parole. But he has never been questioned about the Zodiac killings.

Ms McGath has been studying links between the two killers for two years, especially the letters they both wrote, and she told Daily Star Online : "There are just so many similarities between Zodiac and BTK."

She said the authorities ruled out a link because of a "general alibi" assuming Rader was serving in the US air force in Japan at the time of Zodiac's crimes. But she said he could easily have travelled back to California to carry out the killings and she points out in her book how close many of the killings were to air force bases.

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Europe's hunter-gatherers who endured the last ice age were largely replaced by populations from warmer areas further south

skull Dolni Vestonice burial site Czech Republic
© L. LangDNA was taken from ancient human bones, like this skull, from the Dolni Vestonice burial site in the Czech Republic
Europe went through a major population upheaval about 14,500 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, according to DNA from the bones of hunter-gatherers.

Ancient DNA studies published in the last five years have transformed what we know about the early peopling of Europe. The picture they paint is one in which successive waves of immigration wash over the continent, bringing in new people, new genes and new technologies.

These studies helped confirm that Europe's early hunter-gatherers - who arrived about 40,000 years ago - were largely replaced by farmers arriving from the Middle East about 8000 years ago. These farmers then saw an influx of pastoralists from the Eurasian steppe about 4500 years ago, meaning modern Europe was shaped by three major population turnover events.

Waves of immigration


The latest study suggests things were even more complicated. About 14,500 years ago, when Europe was emerging from the last ice age, the hunter-gatherers who had endured the chilly conditions were largely replaced by a different population of hunter-gatherers.

Comment: Europeans are a mixture of 4 ancestral populations