The Ultimate Revenge

by Sally Fernandez

  28

  THE ODD INTERCONNECTIONS

  Max dashed past Doris and swung Noble’s office door open. She attempted to announce, “It’s not a…”

  “Hold on! Before you get started, you might find it interesting to know that I cracked the code.” Noble beamed and then noted, “By the way, you look like hell!”

  Max waved her arms, blowing off his observation. She had worked late the night before and then spent the rest of the night with Stanton. My life is out of control, she thought. After a momentary distraction, she refocused and blurted out, “You have to hear this first! I believe I found the connection between Agenda 21 and the Superstation.”

  “Okay, you’ve got my undivided attention—what is it?”

  “It’s not a what, it’s a who—it’s the Godfather.”

  “What!”

  “The link is Stronghold Management. The Godfather is the Chairman for the International Advisory Board for the Stronghold Management companies.” Max was not about to back down this time. With a curious grin, she questioned again, “Now do you think he is one and the same?”

  “We have no way of knowing for sure. Baari’s so-called Godfather worked behind the scenes. In fact, Paolo and the other members of Baari’s Administration admitted never having met the Godfather, so it’s conjecture. However, Paolo, using his deductive talents, believes he not only knows the identity of the Godfather, but also that of Baari’s bagman, the Financier, as well.”

  Max shook her head. “When I said earlier that this was starting to look like a Three Stooges movie—well now it appears to be a theatre of the absurd. I had to work through a labyrinth of information to make the connection to the Godfather. It was swimming upstream all the way.” She explained that when she first looked through the roster of directors and investors for the Superstation, there was no reference to the Godfather. Then she checked the Stronghold Management’s Website and again there was nothing.

  “Then I remembered that the Godfather hung out in Beijing and Stronghold Management had an office there, so I checked their roster and there was still no mention of the Godfather.”

  “Now you have me really confused. How can you say he was on the Advisory Board? That would have been our link.”

  “Here’s the attention-getter. I started searching the Internet for any business connections between the Godfather and Stronghold Management, and the only thing that popped up from the various sites was a quote from the president of Stronghold Greater China in 2005. He was referring to China being the economic engine of the world and the role the Godfather played in helping the Chinese government to move forward. It was the same year the Godfather first moved to Beijing. This guy also had a short stint as the Senior Vice President of Sustainable Development in Stronghold’s Denver office between 2005 and 2006.”

  “Wasn’t that the same period of time when Stronghold Management was being heavily fined for radiological contamination of workers?” Noble questioned.

  “I was wondering if you picked up on that detail.” Max paused and then took a deep breath. “Get this. In 1992 he was the Chief of Staff to the Secretary General of the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development…”

  Noble interrupted abruptly and finished Max’s statement. “And in 1992 the Godfather was the Secretary General and his boss. But this only implies that they know each other intimately. How can you prove the Godfather has a direct influence over Stronghold Management? I don’t see it.”

  “I asked myself the same question and continued to hunt for confirmation. Unable to get anything from the Stronghold Management sources, I began to scour renewable energy companies in Asia and I came across Euro Asia Energy Limited, or EAE. They are primarily gas and oil traders, although they did expand into investments for renewable energy. Their website lists the nine partners, along with their bios, that make up the team at EAE. One of the partners is the Godfather and his bio clearly states that he is the Chairman of the International Advisory Board for…”

  “The Stronghold Management companies,” Noble droned.

  “Exactly! So your source who gave you the napkin appears to be implying that the Godfather has influence over Stronghold and, therefore, the Superstation.”

  “It would appear that way, but the Godfather is still an enigma,” Noble alleged.

  Max agreed. “All this stuff has been in the news, albeit scarce and short-lived. Only the conspiracy theorists highlight his antics. The mainstream press ignores the facts. Moreover, while some investigative reporters connected the dots, for some unknown reason the news coverage disappeared. Since 2012, there has been absolute silence. It’s bizarre.”

  Noble grasped her point, but elaborated. “What’s bizarre is that a group of investors pushing for renewable energy would engage a company with a record of failures and questionable behaviors. Certainly their conduct is questionable as it relates to the removal of nuclear waste.”

  “Considering Stronghold funneled ten million dollars to the failed solar manufacturing plant, do you think it’s possible a portion of the two billion dollar stimulus fund was redirected to the Superstation?” Max questioned.

  “Let’s be careful not to disparage all the good that Stronghold Management does for companies around the world. To be fair, they were rated one of the world’s most ethical companies by Ethispere.com one year, but it does raise suspicions in the realm of renewable energy and waste disposal. It’s a distraction for now and we can’t afford the time to go off on a tangent.”

  Max noted the concern on Noble’s face, but there was more that he needed to hear.

  “I discovered a few other tidbits about our man of mystery. He also established the Tianjin Climate Exchange in China that mirrors the bankrupt Chicago Climate Exchange bought out by the Intercontinental Exchange. You recall the Godfather was also the architect of the Kyoto Agreement that granted profitable concessions to developing nations such as China, courtesy of the U.N.”

  “So he is now involved in China’s carbon trading?”

  Max shook her head affirmatively. “I also remembered that you said the president spoke about the IUCN Covenant in your meeting with him and mentioned that the Godfather was a patron.”

  It was evident Noble was becoming weary of the name. “Yes, along with the Prince of Monaco, Queen Noor of Jordan, and a long list of rich and powerful supporters.”

  “I guess it is one of the places where the rich continue to scratch each other’s back,” Max quipped. “Seriously, Noble, the final draft of the Covenant is constructed with seventy-nine articles. There are only seven articles in the U.S. Constitution, which is the framework for how our government is to function. It has survived for over two centuries. To date, it has been amended only twenty-seven times. Can you imagine if the Covenant is adopted as a global constitution? For openers, it would turn our Bill of Rights into confetti.”

  “I can’t argue that if we were to follow the Covenant it would trample the tenth amendment and states’ rights. Not to overlook the restrictions that would be placed on our second amendment right to bear arms, our fourth against unreasonable searches, and our fifth amendment right to private property.”

  “In essence, our Constitution would cease to exist.”

  Max mirrored Noble’s frustration.

  “As dire as this all seems, it still doesn’t tie Simon to the Godfather.”

  “Remember the Godfather’s quote: ‘We may get to the point where the only way of saving the world will be for industrial civilization to collapse.’”

  “So you are suggesting that the Stronghold Management connection to the Godfather could explain why Baari needed a plan to push the Superstation into operation. And if our assumptions are correct, Simon picked up where Baari left off for motives seemingly unrelated to Baari’s original plan to trigger a blackout. But it quite possibly conforms to the Godfather’s goal for global governance.”

  “That was a mouthful Max, but it seems to be a plausible explanation for Simon’s actions.
We will never really know for sure until we have captured him. I dare ask, is there anything else?”

  “One last thing—and it has nothing to do with assumptions, presumptions, or suppositions. When I conducted the research to find a connection, I switched over to the Google search engine. Every single time I’d searched for the Godfather, Covenant, Stronghold Management, et cetera, a bizarre message appeared at the end of each search string.” Max demonstrated an example on her tablet. “Check the ending; notice the last word.”

  https://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=the+covenant&btnG=Google+Search&aq=9&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=birthers

  “I guess you’ve been tagged.” Noble smirked. “Even the SIA is in the NSA’s radar.”

  Max added, “When it comes to surveillance, it’s not comforting to know that the executive chairman of Google spearheaded the former president’s team to develop their personal data mining project that paved the way for his election.”

  “I agree. He also invested millions of dollars in a company called Civis Analytics, which continues to be the fountainhead for liberal campaign data. Civis Analytics’ staff is comprised exclusively of the former president’s supporters.”

  Max stepped back. “Let’s move on, this is starting to freak me out. You said Paolo mentioned his opinion as to the identity of the Financier.”

  “When I met with Paolo he referred to Hank’s comment about Baari’s handlers being the Godfather and the Financier. We know who he presumes is the Godfather, but when I asked him who he thought the Financier was, all he said was to follow the open society.”

  “Hold on! If Paolo was referring to the Open Society Institute then he was clearly referring to its founder,” Max opined.

  “I suspected as much when Hank referred to the rapid increase of 501(c) (4) groups that sprouted up during Baari’s first presidential campaign. So I checked into the founder’s background more thoroughly. His network of non-profit activist groups—which some have called a shadow party—gives him enormous political clout. What is surprising is that his influence extends to numerous interest groups that include foreign affairs.”

  “So he was not just your typical financier, but a person with an agenda beyond the money.” Max was curious. She understood that the well-known philanthropist believes in capitalism as a means of generating funds to support his liberal causes.” Max read from her tablet. “Right here in his book, Open Society: Reforming Global Capitalism, he describes that his mission is to promote freedom, democracy, human rights, rule of law, social justice, and social responsibility as a universal idea. It’s also common knowledge that he was influenced by his professor Karl Popper at the London School of Economics where he advocated for an open society that combined socialism with liberty.”

  “Evidently, the concept of an open society was the primary motivation for who we now suspect is Baari’s Financier to reignite the progressive movement. That provided him a mechanism to promote a larger government to manage the affairs of the American people,” Noble surmised.

  “It would help to explain why he blurs the line between his social agenda and his political endeavors. He is on record for pouring millions of dollars into his activist groups to destroy the conservative agenda and its supporters, considered to be a roadblock to his open society.”

  Noble added, “the Financier also openly stated, speaking in economic terms…”

  A lot of positive things are happening. I see Africa together with the Arab Spring as areas of progress. The Arab Spring was a revolutionary development.

  “What is most confusing is his rabid support of the Arab world and the Muslim Brotherhood with their self-professed mission to ‘destroy Western Civilization from within.’”

  “Where did that come from? I didn’t think that was part of his game plan.”

  Noble explained how he did some probing of his own. “My research shows that some elements of the Western media had promoted the Arab uprisings repeatedly as a positive development for the U.S., while claiming citizens from oppressed countries were fighting for freedom and democracy. But there was very little reporting about the opportunities that were being created for the Muslim Brotherhood, as they waited in the wings to take advantage of the events.”

  Noble tapped on his tablet and shared his additional eye-opening findings. He described Chris Matthew’s interview with Brian Katulis on his MSNBC Hardball segment. “Katulis is a senior fellow for the Center for American Progress, funded by the Financier. In the interview he stated…”

  The Muslim Brotherhood today wants to enter politics…let them be part of the Egyptian politics.

  He scrolled down and cited another collaborator. “Marwan Muasher is the former prime minister of Jordan and currently the Vice President of Studies at another enterprise underwritten by the Financier, the Carnegie Endowment of International Peace. In an opinion piece for the Guardian, Muasher stated…”

  Governments use the fear of Islam to justify closed political systems that clamp down on all forms of discontent.

  “Muasher was also interviewed by ABC’s correspondent Christiane Amanpour. In that interview he stated…”

  The Muslim Brotherhood has been used for a long time as a scare tactic. This is not to say that they don’t have designs, but I think that in closed systems, protest votes will only go to the Brotherhood.

  “What is curious is that Amanpour let the statement go unchallenged and didn’t even ask what he meant by the word designs. These are examples of the media glossing over the issue.”

  Max, with an index finger to her temple, pondered, “Each person you cited gives the impression of downplaying the impact of the Muslim Brotherhood. But by all accounts, the Brotherhood has stated emphatically that their goal is to move in and replace the disposed leaders in the Middle East to create a Sharia caliphate.”

  “Their plans for the U.S. are even more devastating according to Frank Gaffney, Founder and President of the Center for Security Policy. He cited from an internal document crafted by the Muslim Brotherhood where they refer to the Ikhwan, meaning brotherhood or an Islamic religious militia. One paragraph states…”

  The Ikhwan must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and God’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.

  Max was stunned. “Are you linking the Financier to the Muslim Brotherhood?”

  “Only stating the facts ma’am.” Noble remained solemn. He further described the International Crisis Group, and stated, “They claim to be ‘an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization committed to preventing and resolving deadly conflict.’ The Financier who is on their executive committee heavily funds the group. He uses his investments to push for globalization. Mohamed ElBaradei is also a board member along with Kofi Annan and other luminaries.”

  “ElBaradei!” Max knew Mohamed ElBaradei was the former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, and a U.N. organization. She also was aware he played a significant role in ousting Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak and his successor, Mohamed Morsi. However, she was not making the connection.

  “Remember in 2013, ElBaradei was sworn in as the Vice President of Egypt. Then one month later, he resigned after a violent crackdown of Morsi supporters that left five hundred and twenty-five people dead in its wake. He cited his reasons in his resignation letter saying within the text something about, ‘…I always saw peaceful alternatives for resolving this societal wrangling…’”

  Max pondered a moment and then asked, “What does he have to do with this web you are spinning?”

  Noble chimed in. “Conversely, prior to his short stint as vice president he entertained running for the presidency, but retracted after the Islamic Nour Party opposed his candidacy. However, before renouncing his candidacy ElBaradei stated, ‘If Israel attacked
Gaza we would declare war against the Zionist regime.’ Rather contradictory in nature, I would say.”

  Max was agape.

  Noble continued. “What is more shocking is that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood nominated the liberal, secular opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei as their spokesperson.” Noble put his fingers to work again and tapped on his tablet to retrieve a newspaper clipping. “Here it is—an opinion piece in The Washington Post written by the Financier. He stated…”

  The best-organized political opposition that managed to survive in that country’s repressive environment is the Muslim Brotherhood. In free elections, the Brotherhood is bound to emerge as a major political force, though it is far from assured of a majority…The Muslim Brotherhood’s cooperation with Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel laureate who is seeking to run for president, is a hopeful sign that it intends to play a constructive role in a democratic political system.

  “However, the Financier neglected to mention his long-standing, personal association with ElBaradei.”

  Noble raised an eyebrow. “And there’s more.” He tapped a few more times on his tablet to retrieve his notes. “In 2008 the International Crisis Group, at which both the Financier, ElBaradei and Annan have a seat, released a report titled, Egypt’s Muslim Brothers: Confrontation or Integration? It stated in the opening summary…”

  The Society of Muslim Brothers also has altered its approach. It is using its sizeable parliamentary presence to confront the government and present itself as a major force for political reform…One of the first recommendations made to the Egyptian government was, ‘to set guidelines for the establishment of a political party with religious reference.’