Rating: Summary: You've Got to Be Kidding Review: Dale Griffis, with his mail-order 'university' degrees, is either an unethical mercenary who will espouse any 'scary' concept to make a buck, or truly believes this stuff and is out of his mind. The only truly scary idea here is that Mr. Griffis is considered an expert on anything at all, and that he has actually acted as a consultant to law enforcement officers throughout the country -- that truly does terrify me. I became familiar with Mr. Griffis 'work' through the Robin Hood Hills murders and the trial of Damien Echols and Jason Baldwin, who along with Jessie Misskelley Jr. were convicted of killing three little boys in what Mr. Griffis considered to be a 'satanic ritual' event, notwithstanding absolutely no evidence of either satanism or ritual in the circumstances of the murders. Three young men have been in prison for ten years, one of them on death row, for something they clearly did not do, because of the willingness of charlatans like Mr. Griffis to set himself out as an expert and make up indefensible tales that frighten jurors who don't know he doesn't have a clue with regard to what he is talking about. That men like him can garner any respect whatsoever in America is much more scary than anything the CIA will ever do (or even allegedly do).
Rating: Summary: Frolic with demented creeps Review: FOIA often brings us precious quotes like the reminiscence by Captain George White when he retired from CIA mind control work in 1966. "It was fun, fun, fun. Where else could a red-blooded American boy lie, cheat, steal, rape and pillage with the sanction and blessing of the all-highest." Where else indeed can sadists, pedophiles and satanists frolic together with total immunity under the cloak of "national security" secrecy laws. If you wonder just how much fun it was on the other side of the electrodes, you can read this book. Learn how the CIA would swap their youngest child subjects as favors to academic primate researchers to be used as "lab rats." Learn how parents were turned against their own children and were convinced to sign away their kids human rights to the foibles of government torturers. This is pretty grim stuff. What is also grim is the apologetic and flag waving tone that creeps in and out of the work as it progresses trying to give it a "balanced" perspective. The people involved in this research are clearly criminals by any legal or moral standard, demented creeps would probably be more to the point. I am sure there are hardworking sincere people in the CIA doing what they think is best for the citizens of this nation, but it would be a very big stretch to put any of the mind control crowd into that bailiwick... If you can think of anything despicable you could do to a child, it will probably be graphically portrayed in this book. Not for those with weak stomachs, on the other hand if this really turns you on, you may have a bright future on the federal payroll!
Rating: Summary: A Page Turner Review: I could not put this book down! It had my emotions go in different directions. This was a true story and I think that made me rethink about what really goes on behind closed doors.A must read for everyone. I give it a 10 A+++++
Rating: Summary: Frightening Review: I have always been aware that there are secrets that the CIA and the US Government have been hiding. However, I had no idea that children were a part of the CIA's programs, many of which were sinister. I do not doubt at all anything that these women are reporting in the book. This is a great read (I couldn't put it down once I opened it. I read it straight through without stopping) However, one might be truly offended at what tortures these women suffered due to the CIA's desire to create perfect little soldiers. I was not suprised by what I read, but I was amazed.
Rating: Summary: Reveals and analyzes "black box" operations Review: In the last half of the twentieth century the American government carried out secret, heinous experiments designed to create and perfect soldiers and spies. Cheryl and Lynn Hersha were two sisters who, as children, were caught up in some of these top secret programs of torture and mind control that went under such covert titles as Monarch, Artichoke, MKULTRA, and Paperclip. In Secret Weapons: Two Sisters' Terrifying True Story Of Sex, Spies And Sabotage, the sisters effective collaborate with Dale Griffis and Ted Schwarz to reveal and analyze these "black box" operations through previously classified CIA files, the sister's own personal experiences, as well as extensive and informative interviews with experts to document one of the most chilling and incredible aspects of American history -- and one that never made it into any American history books.
Rating: Summary: Got mind control? Review: Let's face it the general public and news media in particular are in total denial here. If Someone came before a judge and said "my CIA mind control handler made me do it, I am just an innocent victim" the courtroom would laugh. The agency has plausible deniability now, and they don't want that to change anytime soon. They have kept their finger in the dyke for decades and this book has the potential to put a major crack in it. There have been a couple other recent first person accounts, but they have been privately published and never made it into the bookstores. This book by the Hersha sisters is the stuff of which legends and movies are made. It captures the imagination with the horrors of the government sponsored torture, molestation and enslavement of helpless children as they are molded into sox toys, spies and assassins. Legal professor and mind manipulation expert Alan Scheflin has estimated that at least hundreds and probably over one thousand American children have been put through this CIA gauntlet and this book gives us a clear up front and personal depiction of how such treatment ruins lives, breaks up marriages and can end in suicide. The endless torment, sleepless nights and stolen childhoods take a tremendous toll. Such high stress induction techniques are the nuts and bolts of breaking the mind. Split personalities which are unaware of each other are the first goal of Project Bluebird. The next is to establish absolute control of the newly emerged personality so it will never reveal itself to anyone but the handler, follow orders without resistance and self-destruct if threatened with disclosure. The "best and brightest" children were chosen for subversion by this process, those with strong survival capabilities, leadership talent, photographic memories, etc. That is both the strength and achilles heel of the program. The agency has been extremely successful at keeping Projects Bluebird, MKULTRA and Artichoke out of the newspapers, but damage control is about to go out of control. The harassment techniques used by the agency to stop this book failed. The cat is out of the bag. Secret Weapons is an autobiographical account of how both sisters were brutalized both by their father and their handlers. The result was a pair of mental and physical slaves which seemed outwardly to lead normal lives, but which were on call to drop everything and pursue a dangerous agenda elsewhere with no compensation or knowledge of the event when they returned. The skilled author team brings out the best mix from all quarters, a good story, good writing, and good follow up investigation. This is an issue that belongs on the lips and in the minds of all people until it is debated in public forums and the halls of Congress. We need a housecleaning and disclosure. We need treatment and oversight. We need public understanding, trained therapists, and knowledgeable legal minds to bring an END to this perversion of the human spirit.
Rating: Summary: Frolic with demented creeps Review: My first opinion of this book was that it was sensational. Even at this time I am still skeptical of some of the events in this book. However, "Secret Weapon" does twist all thoughts a reader might have about conspiracy theories and what our government and military really do. The truth is our government does do things that we as citizens of the United States do and do not know. Everyone has heard such theories at one time or another, and some if most are very believable. This book confronts those theories in an eerie manner: Is what these women are saying true? If the answer to this question is yes, then we indeed live in scary times. My suggestion possible readers of this book is to read this with an open mind. I am sure that the actual truths of this book will be revealed either by the declassification of government documents or by more proof being publicized by the authors; who I am sure will continue their quest for truth in another book of this nature.
Rating: Summary: Skeptical, sensational and scared Review: My first opinion of this book was that it was sensational. Even at this time I am still skeptical of some of the events in this book. However, "Secret Weapon" does twist all thoughts a reader might have about conspiracy theories and what our government and military really do. The truth is our government does do things that we as citizens of the United States do and do not know. Everyone has heard such theories at one time or another, and some if most are very believable. This book confronts those theories in an eerie manner: Is what these women are saying true? If the answer to this question is yes, then we indeed live in scary times. My suggestion possible readers of this book is to read this with an open mind. I am sure that the actual truths of this book will be revealed either by the declassification of government documents or by more proof being publicized by the authors; who I am sure will continue their quest for truth in another book of this nature.
Rating: Summary: Boring read and doesn't shed light on truth Review: Ted Schwarz is an apologist for CIA mind control atrocities. His book, "Secret Weapons," is chockfull of specious reasoning, flawed logic and outright lies. Its intent is simple -- to make CIA mind control programs appear to be "science," rather than illegal Soviet/Nazi-like torture and an outrageous abuse of human rights. Schwarz writes like a hack, hired by the CIA to deliver credible-sounding disinformation on mind control atrocities by government perps. As a CIA spin doctor, Schwarz has definitely earned his blood money. The book "Secret Weapons" is well-crafted disinformation. It glosses over egregious human rights abuses, as well as the illegal activities of the CIA. The cover blurb claims that Schwarz is the "best selling author of more than 100 books and over 2,000 articles.Bogus
Rating: Summary: Celebration of the Human Spirit Review: This book delivers a firsthand account of two sisters that endured the CIA's MKULTRA mind-control program and lived to tell about it. There should be no surprise that programs like MKULTRA were a reality - their existence is a matter of public record. Indeed, similar programs existed in the Soviet Union and are still common practice in China, where children as young as 3 years old are entered into training. Given that the MKULTRA program was a reality - as hard as the fact may be to comprehend, much less accept - then the reader immediately recognizes that the sister's tale has relevance to citizens in a democracy. The book is intriguing on many levels and, like many such endeavors, does not seem to be intended as a definitive history so much as a personal account of atrocities endured and the power of the human spirit to recover from the most horrendous abuses. On that level, this book succeeds magnificently. Readers who enjoy personal accounts of a world most of us have only imagined - and who also are inspired by tales of overcoming bitter adversity - will find this book satisfying and important.
|