Espionage and The Open Society

One of the pillars of the New Age movement and the Ruling Elite’s techniques of control is the seemingly beneficial quality of OPENNESS, which manifests in different ways, such as a willingness to talk. While I’m broadly in favour of openness and less secrecy, I’m wary of openness when its’ promoted by Ruling Elite institutions. For example, the Catholic Church have long encouraged its’ followers to ‘confess their sins’, but was this to achieve a spiritual cleansing, or has there been an ulterior motive to gain information that could be used for blackmail and control in general?

Openness to change could be interpreted as yielding control to someone else, maybe a higher authority.

Psychiatry requires patients to ‘open up’ to explore one’s thoughts and feelings. Control of the subconscious mind is a pillar of the New Age movement.

Other types of openness are open borders; open trade; open source; open collaboration.

This is an ongoing article.

Traditionally secretive organisations such as military intelligence and occult societies (Freemasons, etc) have become more open in the 21st century, but I find it difficult to believe that they will have no secrets in the future.

OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS is the network of organisations established by the billionaire investor GEORGE SOROS that – to quote from their website – “…work to build vibrant and tolerant societies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people”. The name OPEN SOCIETY was taken from the book “The Open Society and Its Enemies”, by the philosopher KARL POPPER, though the idea of ‘Open Society’ has been attributed to the Nobel Prize winning French philosopher HENRI BERGSON, whose sister MINA married the occultist SAMUEL MATHERS, a co-founder of the famous occult ORDER OF THE GOLDEN DAWN. Henri Bergson promoted intuition.

“Being open is good for business” was the concluding line of a TV advert by HSBC BANK on British TV in 2018. The advert (“Mind Your Business”) continued HSBC’s apparently anti-Brexit stance in 2018. See my article on HSBC in the Business and Economics section.

A parody of a James Bond villain wearing an eye patch (more one eye symbolism!) featured in the British children’s TV show “Spy School”, first broadcast in January 2018 on the mainstream British TV channels: ITV and CITV. Espionage is going more public, more mainstream, more ‘open’, as the Ruling Elite expand their spying to include the whole population: all part of their OPEN SOCIETY. British military intelligence (MI5 and MI6) now openly recruit new members. The James Bond movies help to glamorise a rather sinister activity. The worlds of war and peace (civilian and military) are merging.

In “Spy School”, young cadets have to solve puzzles and break codes in order to guide an agent around London as she tries to stop the evil one-eyed villain GOLDFIST from taking over the world. This TV series was produced by ZODIAK KIDS STUDIOS, an arm of ZODIAK KIDS, a world leader in childrens’ entertainment. Another of their programmes is “Totally Spies!”, about a teenage girl music band who live a double life as spies working for the World Organization of Human Protection (WOOHP).

Zodiak Kids also produced the children’s TV series “LoliRock”, of which an advert includes one eye symbolism. Note the girl’s hand spread over the closed eye.

Zodiak Kids was a division of ZODIAK MEDIA, which merged with BANIJAY in 2016 to create what it described as the then world’s largest independent content creation group for television and multimedia platforms. Banijay shareholders have included the powerful AGNELLI family in Italy. The Agnellis in 2015 became the largest shareholder of the influential “The Economist” magazine, sharing control with – amongst others – the Rothschild family, another significant investor.

One Banijay employee worked for a media company with an eye for a logo: ENDEMOL. The CEO and chairman of Endemol’s North American division – DAVID GOLDBERG – left to become CEO of Banijay’s North America division. Goldberg is not to be confused with the David Goldberg who co-founded LAUNCH Media and married the FACEBOOK COO, SHERYL SANDBERG.

“Spy Kids” is a series of films about a family of spies, including the parents’ children. “Spy Kids” was created, written and directed by ROBERT RODRIGUEZ, a friend/collaborator of filmmaker QUENTIN TARANTINO.

“Spy Kids” was produced by 2 companies: one co-owned by Rodriguez and the other – DIMENSION FILMS – run by the notorious film producer HARVEY WEINSTEIN and his brother BOB, and once owned by WALT DISNEY STUDIOS. Harvey Weinstein and Quentin Tarantino collaborated together (e.g. “Pulp Fiction”). Tarantino publicly admitted that he failed to act on his knowledge of Weinstein’s sexual assaults.

The 4th “Spy Kids” movie, “All The Time In The World”, is about time manipulation, e.g. freezing time. The title is taken from the short story of the same name by sci-fi writer ARTHUR C. CLARKE, also about time manipulation.

Britain’s MI6 (foreign intelligence service) produced their first mainstream TV recruitment advert in 2018 (aired on Channel 4 on May 24th), broadening the range of suitable recruits, and targeting women and ethnic minorities in particular. They were looking for recruits who possessed ‘soft skills’ such as emotional intelligence. “Secretly, we’re just like you”, the advert concluded. Here’s a link to the advert: link to MI6 advert

Numerous national Intelligence agencies held accounts on social media platforms, e.g. Britain’s MI5, MI6 and GCHQ; America’s CIA and NSA; all have been on Facebook.

Twitter account holders included the CIA, NSA and Britain’s GCHQ, of which the latter opened an INSTAGRAM account in 2018. Instagram were owned by Facebook.

GCHQ – who collaborated closely with America’s NSA – admitted in 2014 that it was legal for British Intelligence to spy on social media accounts. A former GCHQ head, ROBERT HANNIGAN, jumped on the bandwagon when he criticised Facebook in 2018, saying that it needed greater regulation. The regulation of social media in general was inevitable and planned all along by the Ruling Elite. Hannigan (CMG honour) previously served the British PM as Security Adviser, and is credited with making GCHQ more ‘open’ and ‘transparent’ in his years as its’ Director (2014-17).

Israel’s national intelligence agency MOSSAD advertised for recruits on its’ Facebook account, but denied having a Twitter account in 2019.

The pro-Democracy website “openDemocracy”, founded in 2001, was funded by – amongst others – the following:
George Soros’ OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS; ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND; FORD FOUNDATION; the American government-backed NED (National Endowment For Democracy, which promotes democracy abroad).

openDemocracy had partnerships with the LSE; UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY; WORLD FORUM FOR DEMOCRACY.

openDemocracy was co-founded by the centre left journalist, ANTHONY BARNETT, who campaigned for improved democratic institutions. Barnett studied at Cambridge University where he lodged with the renowned post-Keynesian economist NICHOLAS KALDOR, a LSE lecturer and advisor to the Labour Party government. Kaldor worked at the UN offshoot, the ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE (as Director for Research and Planning). Kaldor’s daughter, MARY KALDOR (CBE), wrote for openDemocracy and was a LSE Professor and LSE Director of a unit. Mary Kaldor belonged to the European CFR (a European version of America’s CFR) that was funded by Soros’ Open Society Foundations.

Barnett was the first Director of the centre left British pressure group CHARTER 88, which had begun in conjunction with the centre left magazine NEW STATESMAN.

TV and radio shows have promoted more openness and a confessional attitude, such as the popular American sitcom “Friends”. The BBC radio presenter SIMON MAYO incorporated his popular CONFESSIONS feature in his BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show (1990s) and in his BBC Radio 2 show in the 21st century, in which members of the public sought absolution for their (often frivolous or humorous) “sins”. It spawned a BBC1 TV version that wasn’t as successful.

“Eye Spy Intelligence Magazine” is a British magazine sold for many years in top British magazine retailers (e.g. WH Smith). In 2019 it was available in 36 countries and read by over 100,000 people worldwide. It bills itself as “…the world’s only independent publication dedicated to espionage and intelligence”. It began just a few months before the 9/11 terrorist strike in 2001. Coincidence? Intriguingly, “Eye Spy” was established by a prominent UFO researcher – MARK BIRDSALL, who co-founded another British magazine that was once commonly available in British newsagents but ceased in 2004: UFO MAGAZINE.

“Eye Spy” in 2019 (no. 120, April) contained an article on the targeting of teenage girls by Britain’s GCHQ for their educational courses. GCHQ’s NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY CENTRE (NCSC) ran courses for all teenagers (CYBERFIRST) that were credit-rated by the SCOTTISH QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY. The NCSC ran an online CyberFirst competition for girls in December 2018.

Openness about sexual issues is being encouraged as the Ruling Elite push us towards a more sexualised society. In 2019, two British mainstream TV channels started sexual counselling shows on the same evening: April 26th 2019. BBC1 aired “Sex on the Couch”, whilst Channel 4 aired “Sex Tape”; the latter billed as an innovative social experiment.

In 2019 and 2020, Britain’s MI5 granted unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the mainstream TV Channel, ITV, for their documentary, “Inside MI5: Keeping the UK Safe” (Feb 27th 2020), as part of ITV’s “Tonight” series. It was a mostly positive portrayal by the documentary’s presenter ROHIT KACHROO, the Security Editor for ITV News, who interviewed MI5 staff such as its’ Director General SIR ANDREW PARKER.

The merger of the military world with the civilian world (war with peace) was illustrated during the COVID-19 virus ‘pandemic’ when the British military chief SIR NICK CARTER (Chief of the Defence Staff) announced that its’ psychological and information warfare division (the 77th BRIGADE) had been tackling the pandemic with its’ involvement with the UK government’s RAPID RESPONSE UNIT in order to “…quash rumours from misinformation, but also to counter disinformation”.

The 77th Brigade, in general, utilised social media and psychology to influence people, as part of their ‘information warfare’ and non-lethal warfare. It recruited from both the military and civilian worlds. 77th Brigade recruits have included:

1) A TWITTER executive, GORDON MACMILLAN ( head of Twitter’s Editorials for Europe, Middle East and Africa). When his membership got the attention of the mainstream media, his LINKEDIN profile was edited to remove his 77th Brigade membership. On Twitter, his assorted postings about the British left wing LABOUR PARTY, and in particular its leader Jeremy Corbyn, were mostly negative. Speaking of which…

2) KATE WATSON, a centre left politician who had opposed the Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and who had been selected controversially to be a Labour Party candidate in Glasgow for the 2017 national election, despite little presence in Glasgow in the preceding years, having worked full-time in London. From 2010 onwards, she worked for the pro-Tony Blair Labour Party MP, DOUGLAS ALEXANDER, in the House of Commons. Alexander had served in the UK government Cabinet under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. Alexander advised the pop star BONO for his charity ONE, of which board members have included ex-British PM DAVID CAMERON; FACEBOOK CEO SHERYL SANDBERG; ex-US Treasury Secretary LARRY SUMMERS. Bono and Alexander go back to the former MP’s time as Secretary of State for International Development in the late 2000s. Mr Alexander was even name-checked by the singer at the end of a U2 concert in Glasgow in 2009. Mr Alexander said in a statement that he had stayed in touch with Bono during his time as the UK’s Governor to the World Bank and as international development secretary. Alexander said he was looking forward to contributing to tackling poverty through his new role with Bono.

From late 2015 onwards Kate Watson continued to work in London for Douglas Alexander, this time as the Chief Operating Officer for Alexander’s consultancy company ‘Consequitur’. Watson received a Master’s degree in Terrorism Studies. She belonged to a cross-party group that opposed independence for Scotland (BETTER TOGETHER), serving as its’ Director of Operations.

3) A 77th Brigade co-founder and its’ Commander – Brigadier ALASTAIR AITKEN (OBE, CBE) – was a Military assistant to the British Military’s head (Chief of the General Staff). Aitken entered into the civilian sector when he became an executive at STORYFUL, a social media intelligence agency that was a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s NEWS CORP, and which offered services such as social news monitoring and reputation risk management tools for corporate clients. Storyful was launched as the first social media newswire, a content aggregator, verifying news sources and online content. It was created by a Twitter executive, MARK LITTLE, who was a former TV presenter/journalist with RTÉ News (Radio-Television of Ireland). At Twitter, Little was vice president of media and partnerships for Twitter in Europe, and later becoming managing director of Twitter in Ireland.

Clients of Storyful have included a ‘who’s who’ of Media organisations: Google, Facebook, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, New York Times, YouTube, ITN, Channel 4 News, CNN, ABC News and Fox News, The New York Times, the Washington Post, ABC in Australia, and all of News Corp’s own publications.

4) MARK LANCASTER – Colonel Deputy Commander of 77th Brigade. Lancaster was a military man and a Conservative Party politician who served as MP for Milton Keynes North (2010-2019). He served as a Minister in several appointments, first as Lord Commissioner of Her Majesty’s Treasury, before moving to the Ministry of Defence as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Veterans, Reserves and Personnel. He was Minister of State for the Armed Forces. At the time of the pandemic, Lancaster was
Chairman of the UK Ministry of Defence’s Reserve Force 2030 Review.

The ‘non-lethal’ activities of the 77th Brigade were anticipated in the 20th century by writers such as the influential futurist ALVIN TOFFLER, an IBM researcher and associate editor of FORTUNE magazine. Toffler and his wife HEIDI co-wrote several books including their 1993 book “War and Anti-War”, in which they explored the future of warfare, e.g. non-lethal warfare and the merger of military and civilian activities.

In “War and Anti-War” the Tofflers write of “The Knowledge Warriors”, who are “…intellectuals in and out of uniform dedicated to the idea that knowledge can win, or prevent wars.” (Page 163). One such ‘knowledge warrior” whom they discussed was the NASA Chief Information Officer, PAUL STRASSMAN (also NASA’s Special Assistant to the Administrator for Information Management), who at the Pentagon was responsible for organising and managing corporate information management for the whole of the Pentagon (There he was Director of Defense Information in the Department of Defense). At XEROX, Strassman was chief information systems executive and vice-president of strategic planning for office automation.

Strassman’s boss at the Pentagon – DUANE ANDREWS – also referenced by the Tofflers, spoke of “knowledge warfare”. Andrews had expert knowledge of the vulnerabilities that were exploited on 9/11. He was a long-time, close colleague of the US Vice-President during 9/11, Dick Cheney, and the US Defense Secretary during 9/11, Donald Rumsfeld. Andrews listed Cheney as his hero (in a 2002 interview with Government Computer News).

Andrews was chief operating officer (COO) of the company that – both before and after 9/11 – had a big impact on counterterrorism programs in the United States. That company, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), profited considerably from the events of 9/11.

Duane Andrews was CEO of the North American branch of the British defence and intelligence contractor, QINETIQ. QinetiQ had been created in 2001 when the British Ministry of Defense (MoD) split up the Defense Evaluation Research Agency (DERA), the equivalent to the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). One part of the company remained inside the MoD, but the other half was sold to the private sector and became QinetiQ. For its first 18 months, QinetiQ was run by the MoD, but in 2003, 33 percent of its shares were acquired by the CARLYLE GROUP, the powerful Washington-based private equity fund with close ties to the Bush administration.

QinetiQ North America (QNA) announced that its Mission Solutions Group signed a five-year, $30 million contract to provide a range of unspecified “security services” to the Pentagon’s Counter-Intelligence Field Activity office, known as CIFA.

“Open Skies and Open Minds” is a chapter heading in “War and Anti-War”. The OPEN SKIES plan was outlined by US President EISENHOWER in 1955 as a way to reduce suspicion and to diffuse the threat of the Cold War. It called for the United States and the Soviet Union to exchange maps indicating the exact location of every military installation in their respective nations. With these maps in hand, each nation would then be allowed to conduct aerial surveillance of the installations in order to assure that the other nations were in compliance with any arms control agreements that might be reached. While the French and British expressed interest in the idea, the Soviets rejected any plan that would leave their nation subject to surveillance by a Western power. Khrushchev declared that Eisenhower’s “Open Skies” was nothing more than an “espionage plot.”

Another example of the military-civilian merger was the seemingly odd British provider of public services (outsourcing company): SERCO, whose origins lie within the large American multi-industry company GE (GENERAL ELECTRIC) and with the pioneering British MARCONI COMPANY. Serco, they tell us,”…specialise in the delivery of essential public services, with over 50,000 people working in defence, transport, justice, immigration, healthcare and other citizen services across our four regions: UK & Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and Middle East.” Serco’s North American branch, Serco Americas, was, they said, “…a leading provider of professional, technology, and management services to every branch of the U.S. military, numerous U.S. federal civilian agencies, the intelligence community, the Government of Canada, state and local governments, and commercial clients.” During the pandemic, Serco played a central role in the UK’s pandemic response and helped in other countries. They wrote: “Our unique combination of capabilities and experience means that we are well placed to help governments address the challenges posed by Coronavirus, and to actively support them internationally to both combat the spread of the disease and to manage its impact.” Consequently, Serco was one of the firms hired by the NHS to help run the Coronavirus ‘track and trace system’. Additionally, Serco were awarded a multimillion-pound contract by the Department for Work and Pensions to provide emergency contact centre services for vulnerable people who were self-isolating during the coronavirus outbreak.

Serco’s website also said: “Serco designs, operates and maintains heavy rail, light rail, passenger ferry, and cycle hire schemes in the UK & Europe – from the Scottish Caledonian Sleeper to Merseyrail, from the London Cycle Hire Scheme to NorthLink Ferries. We are also the largest non-government operator of civilian air traffic control in the world and offer a range of airside fire and rescue services.”

Serco’s CEO during the pandemic was RUPERT SOAMES (OBE), a grandson of Winston Churchill; a nephew of the former UK Defence Secretary Duncan Sandys. Soames was educated at Eton College and then Worcester College, Oxford, where he was elected to the Presidency of the Oxford Union. Upon graduation, he worked at the UK company with shared origins with America’s GE, namely GEC (General Electric Company), a major UK-based industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering.

Serco’s historical connection to GE began with the American company RCA (Radio Corporation of America), once a wholly owned subsidiary of GE. Serco was founded in 1929 as RCA Services Limited, a UK division of RCA that initially provided services to the cinema industry. In the early 1960s the company won a piece of work that was to shape its future direction – a maintenance contract for the UK Ballistic Missile Early Warning System at the Royal Air Force (RAF) base at Fylingdales. This expanded into a contract to operate the technical facilities at the base and provide comprehensive support to the RAF – which we continue to do today. In the 1980s the UK Ministry of Defence began a programme of outsourcing and contracting for the operation and maintenance of defence installations and facilities – and it used Fylingdales as the model. Following the takeover of RCA by GE in 1985, RCA Services Limited was bought out by its local management. It changed its name to Serco in 1987.

Rupert Soames had been offered his job at GEC Marconi by the managing director ARNOLD WEINSTOCK, of whom the latter would be succeeded by the future Serco chairman (during the pandemic) Sir ROY GARDNER, a former non-executive chairman of the football club Manchester United plc.

Arnold Weinstock (Baron Weinstock) was a Jewish/English industrialist and businessman known for making GEC one of Britain’s most profitable companies. He studied at the LSE (London School of Economics) where his economics lecturer was the influential economist Friedrich von Hayek. Weinstock married into a Jewish family who set him on the road to success. He joined his father-in law’s electronics company, Radio & Allied Industries Ltd., and in 1963 orchestrated its merger with GEC, becoming the largest shareholder of GEC. Weinstock’s Jewish connections broadened as a co-founder and senior trustee of the NCF (NEXT CENTURY FOUNDATION), which had a few Jewish co-founders amongst others. NCF is a think tank and diplomacy organisation that operates in various conflict zones, primarily the Middle East. Established in 1990 to provide a forum for off-the-record discussions between Palestinians and Israelis, the organisation expanded its remit by focusing on and operating in Europe, Africa and Asia.

The NCF was started with backing from the former Tory Minister ANDREW CAVENDISH (11th Duke of Devonshire) and the then Crown Prince of Qatar. The NCF’s founding members were businessmen, politicians, journalist and diplomats including:-
1) BARON GOODMAN (ARNOLD GOODMAN) – a Jewish Zionist and British lawyer and political advisor. Goodman socialised with the Rothschilds, especially Dorothy (‘Dolly’) de Rothschild who encouraged his Zionism. Dorothy de Rothschild continued the Zionist interests of her father-in-law and husband, and was a close friend of the inaugural Israeli President, Chaim Weizmann.

2) the ex-Israeli Minister of Justice, Haim Yosef Zadok.

3) DAVID ALLIANCE (Baron Alliance, CBE) – a Jewish/British businessman and politician (Liberal Democrat). Lord Alliance served on a number of committees including Prince Charles’ Prince’s Youth Business Trust and the Israel based Weizmann Institute. He served on the Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University in Israel.

4) CLAUD MORRIS – newspaper columnist and personal assistant to the Jewish Labour MP Emanuel (Manny) Shinwell (Baron Shinwell).

5) JON KIMCHE – a journalist and historian who knew George Orwell. A Swiss Jew, Kimche emigrated to England and became involved with the left wing ILP (Independent Labour Party). In 1934–35, he worked with George Orwell in a London bookshop. As chair of the ILP Guild of Youth, he visited Barcelona in 1937, where he again met Orwell. Kimche’s very influential brother, DAVID, was an Israeli diplomat; deputy director of the Mossad; spymaster and journalist. David is believed to have been the main contact between the United States and Iran during the Iran-Contra affair. David Kimche founded the Israel Council on Foreign Relations (similar to the American CFR and Britain’s Chatham House) under the auspices of the World Jewish Congress to serve as a policy forum for visiting dignitaries and scholars. David Kimche was a member of the steering committee of the International Alliance for Arab-Israel Peace.

Returning to Serco’s CEO Rupert Soames; his brother, Sir Nicholas Soames, was a Tory MP and Minister of State for the Armed Forces. Nicholas was Equerry to Prince Charles; he remained a close friend of the Prince and publicly criticised Diana, Princess of Wales, during the couple’s estrangement. Nicholas Soames was a personal assistant to Sir James Goldsmith.

Nicholas Soames was chairman of the private military and security contractor AEGIS DEFENCE SERVICES. Aegis had a series of contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to provide guards to protect US military bases in Iraq from 2004 onwards.

The Soames brothers’ father was CHRISTOPHER SOAMES (Baron Soames, GCMG, CBE), a Tory MP and son-in-law of Winston Churchill. He held several government posts and attained Cabinet rank. Soames was Shadow Foreign Secretary under the Tory leader Edward Heath. He was a Vice-President of the European Commission. He was Lord President of the Council (Privy Council) and Leader of the House of Lords.

Serco’s investors included the Gates Foundation, although its’ investment by 2019 was fairly small.

Serco had its’ own think tank: the SERCO INSTITUTE, who said: “We are a think tank working to help governments develop the next generation of public service solutions for citizens.”

The War-Peace merger showed itself in 2019 when General MARK CARLETON-SMITH (KCB, CBE), the professional head of the British army (Chief of the General Staff), offered the view that ‘peace’ and ‘war’ are “artificial and binary characterisations of a strategic contest that no longer exists today, but which still drives much of our policy…The rules of warfare are changing and need updating.” Carleton-Smith said the army had to “update and change the rules of war” if it wants to tackle new security threats such as cyberattacks. He said high-tech weapons were useless against low-level threats like fake news and subversion and “leaves us close to a position of dominant irrelevance”. He told a conference of defence chiefs from 38 countries that the threat from cyberattacks and aggressive actions did not fit the traditional view of warfare. Carleton-Smith previously served as Director Special Forces (head of special units such as the SAS).

During the pandemic (June 2020), army chiefs launched the UK’s first ‘cyber soldier’ regiment to take on hackers and terrorists. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace described the launch of the UK Armed Forces’ first dedicated cyber force – the 13th Signal Regiment – as a “step-change in the modernisation of the UK Armed Forces.” Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith said: “13th Signal Regiment is the British Army’s brand new cyber regiment – matching cutting edge technology with cyber-fit soldiers to compete and win in the Information Age.” The 13th Signal Regiment was within 1st (UK) Signal Brigade, under the command of 6th (UK) Division, the latter responsible for conducting “information manoeuvre and unconventional warfare.” Also within the 6th Division was the aforementioned 77th Brigade.

The former GOOGLE chairman/CEO – ERIC SCHMIDT (Bilderberger and Trilateral Commission member) – moved into the military sector in 2016 when he became chairman of the US Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Advisory Board, whilst simultaneously being the chair of Google’s parent company ALPHABET. To avoid potential conflicts of interest within the role, where Schmidt retained his role as technical adviser to Alphabet, and where Google’s bidding for the multi-million dollar Pentagon cloud contract (the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI), had been ongoing: Schmidt screened emails and other communications, stating, ““There’s a rule: I’m not allowed to be briefed” about Google or Alphabet business as it relates to the Defense Department”.

Schmidt spoke of the longstanding role of the US military and US government in the history of computing and IT, when interviewed for the BBC Radio 4 programme, “The New Tech Cold War” (June 19th 2020). He said that many Silicon Valley developments had benefited from Federal science grants. Schmidt said that his early computing career had benefited from funding from the US Defense Dept’s ARPA/DARPA (who created the Internet) and from the US government’s NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION.

More to follow…