Investigative reporter Jon Rappoport blew the lid off Secret Societies as the main guest on Monday's show. "I have compiled a list of 13-14," of these societies which have a covert agenda for domination and control. These groups present a "public face," often a humanitarian cover story, to obscure their true strategy, Rappoport reported.

One organization he named was the Bilderberg Group, which he said has been successful in their goal to create a "United States of Europe," as part of their overall plan to eradicate the sovereignty of nations. The Illuminati, he explained, is a term used for groups that generally advocate the abolition of personal property. And both of these stratagems lead to large groups of people being controlled by the few, namely the members of these secret societies, who seek to protect their vast holdings.

According to Rappoport, these individuals have an unquenchable thirst for power and seek to enslave people's minds with their version of reality. "They have no ideology, they use ideology," he said. They might, for instance, foment conflict and war, setting opposing groups against each other, in order to serve their ends. Rappoport believes the antidote to these controlling societies, is for the decentralization of power among people everywhere.

Lesser Known Secret Societies

Sure, we've all heard of the Masons. But it wasn't till I started paging through the The International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies, that I realized how many mysterious associations had sprung up over time. The author of the encyclopedia, Alan Axelrod, points out that the majority of these groups share two features: secrecy and initiation (usually some type of ritual). Here is a sampling of some lesser known groups listed in his book:

• Alliance of Transylvanian Saxons-- Contrary to their name, there is nothing vampiric about this fraternal organization which seeks to preserve Saxon culture.
• Atlantis-- A French group founded in 1926 with the goal of rediscovering the lost traditions of the fabled Atlantis.
• Khlysty-- An extinct 17th Russian sect that practiced self-flagellation as part of their worship.
• Ben Hur Life Association-- Once headquartered in a spectacular building in Crawfordsville, Indiana, this group, founded in 1894, based its rituals on a book of fiction, the novel Ben Hur by Lew Wallace.
• International Brotherhood of Old Bastards-- I.B.O.B. is said to have gotten its start in 1813 to give members "the opportunity to prove you're a real bastard." Headed by the "Supreme Archbastard," details about this group seem to be a blend of fact and fiction.

--Lex

Tanter on North Korea

Raymond Tanter, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan, appeared in the first hour to discuss the North Korean situation. "The post-Cold War environment is probably just as dangerous as the Cold War was," he said. North Korea could blow up a terrorist bomb in Seoul or Japan, or launch a missile at the U.S., but Tanter believes it would be easier for them to smuggle a weapon on a shipping container that could possibly enter a port city without detection. With Saddam out of the picture, Kim Jong-il is currently the most threatening of rogue dictators, he added.