Sheila Casey

The deep state does not respond to FOIA requests

Published in the September, 2009, Rock Creek Free Press

In an attempt to get to the bottom of what really happened on 9/11, citizen investigator Aidan Monaghan has filed dozens of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with federal agencies such as the FBI, SEC, Department of the Navy, and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.  Agency after agency has refused to comply with his requests, instead claiming that the information cannot be found, does not exist, was never properly filed, or even, from the FAA, that it was simply “not in a position to release said records at this time.”

The Freedom of Information Act was signed into law by President Johnson in 1966.  It mandates that information held by federal agencies must be made available to any citizen requesting it, unless that information is exempt.  The Act specifies nine reasons why any given piece of information could be exempt, such as invasion of personal privacy, trade secrets, anything related to the supervision or regulation of financial institutions, and anything that could compromise either law enforcement or national security.  In addition, the FBI has put an exemption on all of their 9/11 information and will release information only if compelled to do so by a lawsuit, of which Monaghan has filed two.

Despite the persistent stonewalling, Monaghan has turned up some interesting discrepancies.   While it was widely reported in the media, such as by USA Today, that the flight data recorder (FDR)  also known as the “black box,” for American Airlines flight 77 (the plane that allegedly hit the Pentagon on 9/11) was found at 4 am on September 14, 2001, the file containing the FDR data was dated over four hours earlier.  In other words, we are asked to believe that the data from the FDR was downloaded prior to the FDR being found.

Chicago Sun Times picks up "Is it true that truthers never get laid?"

NY Times Complicit in FBI Anthrax Coverup

Published in the March, 2009 Rock Creek Free Press

by Sheila Casey

Back in 2001, just months after the anthrax attacks that killed five people, several articles came out in mainstream newspapers that pointed clearly to the CIA and Army as the most likely sources of the weaponized anthrax. Articles in The Baltimore Sun, Miami Herald, Washington Post and New York Times laid out the facts that incriminated Battelle Memorial Labs in West Jefferson, Ohio, and the Army’s lab at the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah as the only logical sources for the anthrax. These facts, as reported in 2001, include:

1. For over a decade, Army scientists at Dugway have been making weapons-grade anthrax that is “virtually identical” to the anthrax used in the attacks.

2. The anthrax used in the 2001 attacks was extremely concentrated, with a trillion spores per gram. The Dugway anthrax had a similar concentration.

3. The FBI was increasingly focused on US government bioweapons research programs as the source of the deadly anthrax.

4. Both the lab in Utah and the lab in Ohio received anthrax samples from the United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick, although USAMRIID deals only with wet anthrax and ships it wet.

5. The investigation was focused on the Dugway anthrax, and Dugway was described as the only facility that was known to be weaponizing anthrax.

6. One FBI official said that the CIA’s anthrax was “the best lead we have at this point.”

7. Army officials said that Fort Detrick did not have the equipment for weaponizing anthrax.

The FBI has never explained what became of this initial focus on the labs in Utah and Ohio. Instead, after the death of Fort Detrick anthrax researcher Bruce Ivins in July, 2008, the FBI attempted to make the case that Ivins was the murderer and all other suspects had been cleared of suspicion.

Since Ivins’ death, the media have, with very few exceptions, passively swallowed the line dispensed by the FBI, and have acted as little more than stenographers in parroting the hollow arguments presented by the FBI that Ivins is guilty.

Top scientists ask medical journal "Science" to retract original AIDS papers

Thirty-seven doctors, senior researchers and attorneys have asked the journal Science to retract four articles published in 1984 that supposedly established that HIV was the cause of AIDS.  The articles, by a group led by Dr. Robert Gallo, have drawn criticism for some time.  An investigation in the early 90s by the US Department of Health and Human Services concluded that the lead paper was “fraught with false and erroneous statements.” A Congressional Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations produced a staff report on the papers which contains scathing criticisms of their integrity.

Now, new analysis of the documentation behind the papers has revealed even more reason to doubt Gallo’s findings.  The letter refers to “recent revelation of an astonishing number of previously unreported deletions and unjustified alterations made by Gallo…”

Dr. Mikulas Popovic wrote the manuscripts while Gallo was in Europe, but Gallo made handwritten changes to the manuscripts upon his return.  Popovic wrote: "Despite intensive research efforts, the causative agent of AIDS has not yet been identified.”  This sentence was deleted and replaced by a statement that the findings suggest that HIV is the cause of AIDS.

Gallo submitted micrographs to Science that were identified as containing the HIV virus. But just four days before he submitted them, Dr. Matthew A. Gonda, then Head of the Electron Microscopy Laboratory at the National Cancer Institute, wrote a letter to Gallo and Popovic stating that he “does not believe” that the micrographs contain images of HIV.  The micrographs were published in Science on May 4, 1984 and identified as containing HIV. 

These developments add to the mounting body of evidence that the original conclusion that HIV causes AIDS is deeply flawed. 

Thus far there has been no response from Science regarding the request for retraction.

Everything you know about AIDS is wrong

 Published in the November, 2008 Rock Creek Free Press.

By Sheila Casey / RCFP

On April 23, 1984, Secretary of Health and Human Services Margaret Heckler and researcher Robert Gallo from the National Cancer Institute held a press conference and announced that Gallo had found the cause of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the retrovirus HIV. Heckler estimated that a vaccine would be available in just two years. That same day in 1984, Gallo patented the blood test to detect the HIV antibodies.

As a retrovirus researcher, Gallo had previously tried to pin the blame for Alzheimer’s, leukemia and neurological disorders on a retrovirus, all without success. Now AIDS was in his sights.

But Gallo had skipped an important step in the scientific process: his HIV research had never been subjected to peer review, and was not published until after the press conference with Heckler had already conferred legitimacy on it.

Billions of dollars poured into research programs and millions of people lined up to have their blood checked; by 2006, 72 million Americans had been tested, with a third of that number tested every year. As its creator, Gallo received a percentage of the cost of each test.

To receive a positive HIV test result was considered a death sentence: you would get AIDS and die a miserable death, sooner or later.

As the years passed, it became apparent that this was not true. Only five percent of the people who tested HIV positive went on to develop AIDS. A vaccine has never been found. And there is now a growing group of scientists who dispute that HIV causes AIDS.

One firefighters story and why he founded Fire Fighters for 9/11 Truth

Published October 27, 2008 in the Chicago Sun Times and Reuters

Erik Lawyer, a 12 year veteran of the Seattle Fire Department with Truck 3, founded Firefighters for 9/11 Truth and their website went up in August, 2008.  Erik's essay about how he came to 9/11 Truth is both moving and deeply honest.  He admits that he was blind, that he hadn't wanted to really look at the facts, that he in fact thought that 9/11 truthers were somehow unpatriotic or assisting the enemy. 

Eventually, at the prodding of a friend, he DID look at the facts and what he learned changed his life.  He is now on a mission to inspire other firefighters to stand up for the truth, and to harness their trademark courage into a mission more important than a single burning building; for right now our entire democracy and way of life is going up in flames. 

An excerpt from Erik's story is below.  The full text can be found here.

Erik Lawyer
Founding Member, Firefighters for 9/11 Truth
August 23, 2008

"I’ve been a conservative my entire life; a registered Republican since I could vote.  I am a self proclaimed Patriot with George Washington as one of my all time heroes.  So when conspiracy theories quickly surfaced, and “Liberals” cried foul on the erosion of civil liberties, I chalked it up to their political beliefs and bitterness towards the Republican President.  I read many debunking articles - including Popular Mechanics - and watched many debunking videos including, Farenhype 9/11.  I was convinced that these “Liberals” were misinformed and were grasping at straws to discredit the “official” story.  Like most people with strong opinions, instead of looking at all the facts, I was specifically looking for anything that supported my own beliefs.  As soon as I discovered any inaccuracy in a conspiracy claim, I wrote it off.  My father, a big city cop and Korean War veteran, loved to say, “don’t confuse me with the facts, I have my mind made up!”  Well, I had my mind made up. I told conspiracy theorists like my own Truck Officer, Lt. Earl Emerson, that they were insane if they thought anyone other than the terrorists did this.  Heck, we have ID cards, security camera videos, Bin Laden confession tapes - how much clearer did they need it?  The years went on and I was satisfied in my beliefs.  I even believed these “Wackos” that doubted the “official” story were distracting our country from focusing on the real threat of terrorism.

Yes, the middle class will be destroyed. No, it's not an accident.

Published in the November, 2008 Rock Creek Free Press.

Economist and financial guru Karl Denninger has been railing for weeks about the lunacy of the bailout bill and the devastation it will bring to our financial markets.

Here's the key passage from Denninger's post on Market Ticker from Wednesday:

Oil will collapse in price to $20/bbl.  Unfortunately nobody will have any money to buy gasoline, or a car, so it won't matter.  As in The Depression millions of automobiles will be scrapped after being abandoned by their owners for lack of insurance and registration fee money.  Cheap scooters will become the dominant form of transportation for those with jobs, as they will be all most people can afford.

As credit collapses distribution of food and other essentials will break down.  Unable to access credit, trucking companies will be unable to get goods to market.  The current distribution system for food requires travel of over 500 miles from production to consumption; this is untenable in a market where stable credit is unavailable.  Food distribution will be severely impacted and in some areas may break down below critical levels.

Unemployment will reach 25% within two years.  Median income will fall by 30% nationally.  Foreclosures will reach 20 million homes.  The government will step in with HOLC-style remediation but it won't matter - the unemployed won't be able to pay irrespective of the price.

House prices will fall to well under $100,000 nationally on a median basis but with lending all but non-existent you'll need 50% down.  A few people will make out like bandits near the bottom, being able to buy up homes for $10,000 each in blocks of 10 at a time - for cash.  60% of America will be renters; nearly half of all homeowners will ultimately lose their homes to foreclosure.

Civil unrest will break out in major cities when incomes fall but the cost of food and essential services fail to come down materially, leaving millions of Americans hungry, broke and homeless.  Unlike in the 1930s America will not quietly stand in soup lines - instead they will riot, loot and burn.  The National Guard will be called up but will find it impossible to exert meaningful control without shutting down all commerce in the affected areas. The decision will be made to cordon off the cities and deny entry to anyone who does not live in that specific neighborhood, essentially shutting down commercial activity.  GDP will fall by 30%.

Confessions of a Conspiracy Theorist

Published in the October, 2008 issue of The Rock Creek Free Press

Over the past few decades, the CIA controlled mainstream media in America has achieved a significant PR objective:  they have made it socially unacceptable to believe that there is a conspiracy operating at the highest levels of our government.  This puts those of us who do know about the plot at high levels in an awkward position:  either we pretend that we don’t know what we know, or we risk being ridiculed and marginalized as a pathetic joke.

He who defines the language defines the parameters of the debate, and so far the conspirators are winning.  They have succeeded in imbuing the moniker “conspiracy theorist” with such intensely negative connotations that even most conspiracy theorists—such as 9/11 truth activists—tie themselves in knots to avoid earning that label.  

Is there anything wrong with having theories?  Of course not.  Knowledge progresses through scientists proposing a certain hypothesis (or theory) and then testing to see if it holds up.  It doesn’t mean they are flying blind, untethered by facts.  They use the facts they already know to create theories about things that are still unknown. 

Is there anything wrong with having theories about a conspiracy?  Is it akin to having  theories about leprechauns, poltergeists or Bigfoot?  Do conspiracies exist only in the realm of fantasy or the occult?

Definitely not.   There are dozens of vast conspiracies that have been validated by historians. Wikipedia lists 27 “proven conspiracies, some of which were not the subject of any widespread speculation until they were exposed.” 

That is, they used to.  The list of 27 proven conspiracies is in my article on the back page of  the June issue of the Rock Creek Free Press, exactly as copied from Wikipedia in May 2008.  That list of “proven historical conspiracies” was removed from Wikipedia on June 7, 2008, just a few days after the June issue of the Creek hit the streets of DC. 

But I digress.

High level government conspiracies definitely happen.  So what exactly is wrong with having a theory about a vast plot to deceive us?

From the point of view of the conspirators, plenty.  They cannot succeed unless their under-handed dealings remain well out of sight.  If the details of Operation Mockingbird became widely known, no one would read or watch any news from the mainstream media anymore, and their effort to control public opinion would fail.

Those in charge of the cover-ups had very good reasons for launching an all out attack on conspiracy theorists, and due to Operation Mockingbird, they are able to insert their memes into TV shows, news articles, books, movies, songs, greeting cards and comic books.  Without quite realizing how it happened, the population adopts the belief desired by the conspirators: that those who suspect conspiracies are deficient human beings in every respect. 

Based on my own exposure to the MSM, I could easily conclude that conspiracy theorists are:

Bruce Ivins the fall guy to cover secret anthrax weaponization program

By Sheila Casey

Published in the September, 2008 issue of The Rock Creek Free Press

US Attorney Jeff Taylor was sweating on August 6, as he laid out his case against the late Dr. Bruce Ivins at a news conference—and with good reason.  Anyone familiar with the case is well aware that Dr. Ivins was railroaded, and that the news conference was a flimsy web of lies.

Ivins had nothing to do with the 2001 anthrax attacks.  The attacks were almost certainly carried out by the only group that had the means to produce the highly weaponized anthrax in the letters:  the CIA, its contractor Battelle Memorial Institute of West Jefferson, Ohio., and the Army at Dugway in Utah.

The DOJ-FBI frame-up of Ivins rests heavily upon the claim of new advances in genetic testing which supposedly prove that the killer anthrax could have come only from Ivins’ flask.

Jeff Taylor stated: 

The FBI sought out the best experts in the scientific community and, over time, four highly sensitive and specific tests were developed that were capable of detecting the unique qualities of the anthrax used in the 2001 attacks.

This is an outright lie.  No special tests were required to assess the genetic heritage of the Ames strain in the envelopes.  The Washington Post reported on December 16, 2001 that “only five laboratories so far have been found to have spores with perfect genetic matches to those in the Senate letters.”

The distinguishing feature of the anthrax that killed five people in 2001 is not related to its genes.  What made that anthrax unique was that it was highly weaponized.  Anthrax is a common pathogen found in the soil in many places.  It doesn’t become lethal unless produced in such a way that it behaves like a gas, floating easily in the air and deep into a victim’s lungs. 

The anthrax used in the attacks was beyond cutting edge.  Donald A. Henderson, former assistant secretary for the Office of Public Health Preparedness at the Department of Health and Human Services, told Science magazine: "It just didn't have to be that good" to be lethal.

Why the killer anthrax was so deadly

1.    Precisely sized particles—1.5 to 5 microns.  Anything smaller is exhaled, anything larger tends to get caught either in the nose or in the cilia in the trachea.  

2.    Coated with silica.  The silica acted as a buffer, preventing spores from adhering to one another.  The silica on the attack anthrax rested on a thin layer of polymerized glass, which is a highly advanced technique for coating anthrax spores.  To do this required a “spray dryer,” the cheapest of which sells for $50,000.  The lyophilizer in Ivins’ lab is used to dry anthrax, but can NOT be used to coat the spores with silica.  Ivins did not have a spray dryer. 

3.    Highly concentrated.  The letter to Senator Daschle’s office contained two grams of anthrax, about the weight of a dime.  Each gram contained a trillion pure spores of anthrax, or enough to kill 200 million people. 

4.    Electro-statically charged.  The slight charge on each spore caused it to repel the other spores and spread out into the room after the envelope was opened. 

It is these attributes of the anthrax—not its genetic heritage—which made it so unique and so lethal. 

The source of the anthrax was clear in 2001

US Attorney Jeff Taylor characterized a flask in Dr. Ivin’s possession as “the murder weapon.”  But a Dec. 12, 2001 article in The Baltimore Sun stated:

For nearly a decade, U.S. Army scientists at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah have made small quantities of weapons-grade anthrax that is virtually identical to the powdery spores used in the mail attacks that have killed five people. 

The article refers to Dugway as “the only site in the United States where weapons-grade anthrax has been made in recent years,” and also includes this:

Dugway's production of weapons-grade anthrax, which has never before been publicly revealed, is apparently the first by the U.S. government since President Richard M. Nixon ordered the U.S. offensive biowarfare program closed in 1969.

The following day, The Washington Post echoed the Sun article:

An Army biological and chemical warfare facility in Utah has been quietly developing a virulent, weapons-grade formulation of anthrax spores since at least 1992.

On Dec 16, 2001, The Washington Post corroborated the Sun report by stating that “Dugway is the only facility known in recent years to have processed anthrax spores into the powdery form that is most easily inhaled,” also stating, “Army officials in Washington said yesterday that Fort Detrick does not have the equipment for making dried anthrax spores.”

On September 4, 2001, The New York Times explained:

Over the past several years, the United States has embarked on a program of secret research on biological weapons . . . even the [Clinton] White House was unaware of their full scope. The projects, which have not been previously disclosed . . . have been embraced by the Bush administration, which intends to expand them.

These projects involve the CIA, Battelle Memorial Laboratories in West Jefferson, Ohio, and the Army at Dugway in Utah.

[T]he need to keep such  projects secret was a significant reason behind President Bush's recent rejection of a draft agreement to strengthen the germ-weapons treaty, [the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention,] which has been signed by 143 nations.

Had the treaty been strengthened, the Dugway and West Jefferson sites would have been subject to international inspections. It is important to note that Battelle not only operates its own labs in West Jefferson, but also is contracted by the Army to operate the labs at Dugway.

The DOJ-FBI news conference on August 6, 2008 was a deliberate attempt to divert attention from the secret anthrax weaponization projects by pinning the crimes on a dead man. So far the DOJ-FBI have succeeded in covering up the real perpetrators of the crime, concealing the illegal weapons program, and persuading many that it is time to close the investigation.

Conference for Media Reform Goes Halfway with Truth

by Sheila Casey
Published in the July, 2008 issue of The Rock Creek Free Press

The National Conference for Media Reform made a good first impression.  It was held in the vast and beautiful Minneapolis convention center.  The press materials and handouts were professionally designed and accurate.  Well known media personalities such as Amy Goodman, Bill Moyers and Naomi Klein were in attendance as speakers.  But the conference pulled its punches and refused to consider the most serious problem confronting our media, i.e., control by the CIA.

The event got off to a rousing start in the main auditorium with speeches from Josh Silver, co-founder and head of Free Press, the organization putting on the conference; Larry Lessig, law professor at Stanford, and Keith Ellison, the only Muslim in the House of Representatives.   There were multiple standing ovations.   

Josh Silver’s best quote was, “we are living in the Matrix and big media is writing the script.”

Lessig delivered a well-rehearsed speech with accompanying slide show that focused on the flaw in our Constitution that allows money to corrupt government.  Lessig’s best quote:  “So long as there is private funding of public elections, corruption will continue.”

Ellison showed the clip of himself with CNN talk show host Glen Beck, where Beck says “I’m tempted to ask you…to prove to me that you’re not a terrorist.”  His best quote, in reference to having people who hate government running the government, was “Vegetarians do not make good steak house chefs.”

Over the next three days, there were dozens of smaller sessions on topics ranging from the corporate media to the WGA to black radio. 

Yet despite all the populist energy and wide-eyed optimism, it gnawed at me that 9/11 was not mentioned.  The only official group questioning 9/11 was Project Censored, the Sonoma State University project that puts out a publication each year on the top 25 most important censored stories.  I heard that panels on 9/11 had been proposed, but turned down because they had done one at the last NCMR in Memphis, and taken flack for it from the corporate media.

So the 2007 conference on media reform upset the corporate media.  “Big mistake,” the conference organizers decided.  “Let’s make sure we don’t do anything to upset them next time!”

I stood in line to ask a question at a panel called “Corporate Confidential,” with Catherine Crier of Cajole Entertainment, Jeff Cohen, founder of FAIR, and Cliff Schecter, author of The Real McCain. 

I tilted the microphone toward my mouth so my voice was loud and clear. 

“I write for a variety of left-leaning publications—Buzz Flash, Common Dreams, the Progressive Populist, Dissident Voice.  But I find that when I write about 9/11, I have a very hard time getting published.  These progressive outlets are certainly no friend of the current administration.  On this particular issue, they are unwilling to question the story the administration has fed to us.  I’ve conducted a comprehensive investigation into all aspects of the official 9/11 story, and have determined that it’s a lie.  Why is the progressive media so unwilling to look at this?”

There was scattered applause and cheers from the audience.