1973

Lunokhard 2 went to the moon on January 21st 1973, by Luna 21.
India 1973
Monsoon had failed for third year running. Starving people pouring into major cities.
Bihar famine of 1966/67?
USSR-Cuba 1973 - Differences on road to revolution in Latin America.
Vietnam peace talks started again on January 23rd, the 1973 peace accords, the Paris Peace Treaty became valid from 27th January., but was  immediately disrupted by the USA ;  the bombing of Cambodia continued as the US troops were withdrawn from March 1973. Eventually North Vietnam reacted to Washington’s violations of the Treaty. Nixon made repeated assertions that the bombing was to protect US lives in Vietnam, but the US had increased the bombing to keep the Khmer Rouge from coming to power. - ?

Talks went on and off during 1968 to 1973 and end led to a cease fire in the Peace Accords Jan 27th 1973.
Secret Peace meetings with Kissinger and Le Duc Tho began in Paris on October 8th.
Kissinger and Le Duc agreed to major concessions. US were to allow NV troops in SV to stay there and NV dropped demand for removal of SV’s Thieu and his government. Nixon needed to end the war before the election.

February 1973
On the 1st of February Nixon thanked UK pm Ted Heath, “What you did, did not go unnoiticed…what others did, did not go unnoticed either. It’s hard to understand when allies turn on you.” Referring to the European reaction to the illegal bombing of Hanoi in December.

Early in 1973 Helms was asked by congress whether the CIA was involved in Chile and he denied it., several months before the coup. Major media believed this for about another year – but cracks eventually appeared in the official story .
Allende announced ‘war economy’ measures. Distribution of food now controlled by the army. Harvest shortfall in Chile has been slight and food shortage is more a result of a rising standard of living, increased demand for food, and general rise of food prices on the world market. Popular Unity had been trying to build on the industrialisation of 1938 by Popular Front.
Chile couldn’t afford to import food – serious shortage of foreign exchange. Chile is 75% dependent for foreign earnings on its exports of copper – world price of copper has fallen from £72 per ton to £52 per ton in 1973.
‘Blockade’ of Chilean copper-carrying ships in European and US ports due to Kennecott Company challenging nationalisation of its copper mines without compensation. The US is supporting the company – ------ World Bank does not help .
Then the CIA overthrew and assassinated Allende. ITT offered the CIA $1m for a coup. Pinochet took over – the beginning of a bloody era for Chileans.
We know what the World Bank thinks of democracy. After Allende was deposed and murdered, World Bank resumed loans to Chile. Democracy is an investment risk – business would much rather have a safe dictatorship.
MIR (Movement of the Revolutionary Left) was on “high alert” for a military uprising. “MIR’s plan was for employees of strategically positioned insitiutions to go to their workplaces in the event of a coup and defend them. “I could see soldiers running and shooting from balconies. In the arcades there were pieces of brain on the arches.” Sergio Rueda. “There were army units staying loyal to Allende”. Supporters of Pinochet say hundreds died, opponents say thousands. Then came the arrests. Some were shot immediately, others, more usually, were held in improvised jails and interrogated. Within weeks a Directorate of National Intelligence was set up under Pinochet’s direct control, employing around 10,000, using 30,000 informers and foreign subsidiary for the arrests and assassination of opponents abroad.
The Junta was composed of Leigh, Merino, Pinochet and Mendoza. Popular Unity parties were banned and others suspended. National trade union confederation CUT was dissolved. Comite Pro Paz created by the Church to deal with victims of the repression. The army controlled defence and Lenz was named minister of the economy. USSR cut off diplomatic relations with Chile.
Pinochet became the official head of the new junta (he became President in December 1974), staunchly supported by the CIA, and with direct control of Chile’s Secret Police  DINA,  created by Pinochet.. Christian Democrat advisors left the government. A ban on union elections was introduced. Wages were frozen. General Prats was murdered in Buenos Aires. Miguel Enriquez leader of the MIR was killed in Santiago. Privatisation of banks was announced.
Pinochet knew little about how to run a country, being a military man he was more suited to good old fashioned fascist policies, the sort that South American military dictators are known for. Chile was in mess because of the sabotage carried out by Allende’s enemies and Pinochet realised that the “shock treatment” being offered by the Chicago Boys, and the major upheavals it would bring, would consolidate his own position.
He started a PR campaign to win friends from international community; the Junta paid for right wing journalists, such as Peregrine Worsthorne, to come to Chile. Worsthorne went for a 10 day all expenses tour with hospitality. He said that the murderous regime demanded “a more sympathetic” , “a more open minded” effort at understanding this country. The junta enjoyed “widespread popularity” even though the Chilean army was “everywhere to be seen”. Obviously, popular governments need to deploy troops on the streets. The soldiers appeared “relaxed and friendly”. He visited Dawson Island where the surviving members of Allende’s government were being held. It was where many Chileans were tortured, but Peregrine, who was shown round by a grandson of a Devon immigrant, a Chilean officer with a British west-country accent, thought conditions were “hard but not harsh”. He wasn’t able to speak to any detainees without the officer being present, but they said there had been no “brutality either physical or mental” which you would if your torturer was standing over you. Worsthorne thought that “they were lucky to be alive, since it is very doubtful whether a communist Chile, which they wanted to set up, would have treated its political prisoners as humanely…” This pile of steaming crap appeared in the Sunday Telegraph from March 1974 for two weeks running. It helped build up support for the fascist junta from amongst English Tory Party supporters.

The trial of the Watergate burglars began on February 8th. Senate leaders named 7 members of a select committee to investigate the scandal. On April 7th acting FBI director L Patrick Gray resigned.

John Lennon received “full and final” order to leave the US on 23rd March. Yoko Ono was free to stay indefinitely. “Mind Games” LP was released. Lennon went off with May Pang for 15 months, until February 1975, and boozing with Harry Nilson.

Kissinger’s 5 day visit to Beijing, the US and China announced their agreement to establish “liaison offices” in each others capitals. DATE?

March 1973
The last US troops left VN on March 29th.
By the end of March all of the US fighting forces had been withdrawn.

Kissinger shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Le Duc Tho for his secret negotiations to end the Vietnam War – despite the escalation in bombing which he encouraged. Kissinger replaced Rogers as Secretary of State and remained as National Security Advisor, making him extremely powerful.

1973 peace accords, the Paris Peace Treaty valid from 27th January., was  immediately disrupted by the US.  The bombing of Cambodia continued as the US troops were withdrawn from March. Eventually North Vietnam reacted to Washington’s violations of the treaty. Nixon made repeated assertions that the bombing was to protect US lives in Vietnam, but it was to keep the Khmer Rouge from coming to power.
From March to May – tonnage of bombs was more than double the entire previous year’s. Cambodia’s traditional economy had disappeared. The old Cambodia was being destroyed forever. Peace talks broke down on March 23rd - check
By the end of March all of the US fighting forces had been withdrawn.
Kissinger shared a Nobel peace prize with Le Duc Tho for his secret negotiations to end the Vietnam War – despite the escalation in bombing which he encouraged. Kissinger replaced Rogers as Secretary of State and remained as National Security Advisor, making him extremely powerful.

South Dakaota Wounded Knee Siege, Lakotas, zmag.org/crisescureuts/interventions

On April 19th as John Dean began talking to prosecutors investigating the Watergate break-in, Nixon ordered that the incriminating Watergate recordings be destroyed. Nixon is heard (on secret tape) to tell Haldermann, “well, the hell with Dean. Frankly I don’t want to have in the record discussions we’ve had in this room on Watergate.” Later that day Haldermann told Nixon that he would “pull out what we want and get rid of the rest of it.” Nixon only wanted to keep tapes concerned with national security decisions for his memoirs. But Nixon changed his mind the following week. It might have saved him if he had gone ahead and destroyed them. – Grauniad 31/10/97.

On April 27th Nixon told is press secretary Ron Ziegler that even firing his whole staff “isn’t going to satisfy those godamn cannibals. Hell, they aren’t after Ehrlichman or Haldemann or Dean. They’re after me, the president. They hate my guts”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Ziegler

Nixon ordered that his incriminating Watergate recordings be destroyed in April 1973 but then changed his mind.
The plan comes as Whitehouse special counsel John Dean began talking to prosecuters investigating the Watergate break in. April 1973 Nixon was recorded saying to Haldeman “well, the hell Dean. Frankly I don’t want to have in the record discussions we’ve had n this room on Watergate.”
Later Haldeman told Nixon that he wold “pull out what we want and get rid of the rest of it.”
But Nixon chaned his mind the following week. It might have saved him if he had. Guardian, Martin Kettle, 31/10/1997.

April 30th Nixon announced the resignation of top aides HR Halderman and John Ehrlichman, along with Attorney General Richard Kleindienst and WH counsel John Dean.
May 11th charges brought against Ellsberg for this role in the ‘Pentagon Papers’ case was dismissed by Judge William M Byrne who cited government misconduct.
Alexander Haig – the Kissinger aide who replaced Haldeman as chief of staff

Skylab was launched 14 May 1973 by a Saturn INT-21 (a two-stage version of the Saturn V launch vehicle) into a 235 nautical mile (435 km) orbit. The launch is sometimes referred to as Skylab 1, or SL-1. Severe damage was sustained during launch, including the loss of the station's micrometeoroid shield/sun shade and one of its main solar panels. Debris from the lost micrometeoroid shield further complicated matters by pinning the remaining solar panel to the side of the station, preventing its deployment and thus leaving the station with a huge power deficit. The station underwent extensive repair during a spacewalk by the first crew, which launched on 25 May 1973 (the SL-2 mission) atop a Saturn IB. If the crew had failed to repair Skylab in time, the plastic insulation inside the station would have melted, releasing poisonous gas and making Skylab completely uninhabitable. They stayed in orbit with Skylab for 28 days. Two additional missions followed on 28 July 1973 (SL-3) and 16 November 1973 (SL-4) with stay times of 59 and 84 days, respectively. The last Skylab crew returned to Earth on 8 February 1974.
View of Skylab space station cluster in Earth orbit from the departing Skylab 4 command module.
Skylab orbited Earth 2,476 times during the 171 days and 13 hours of its occupation during the three manned Skylab missions. Astronauts performed ten spacewalks totaling 42 hours 16 minutes. Skylab logged about 2,000 hours of scientific and medical experiments, including eight solar experiments. The Sun's coronal holes were discovered thanks to these efforts. Many of the experiments conducted investigated the astronauts' adaptation to extended periods of microgravity. Each Skylab mission set a record for the amount of time astronauts spent in space.[citation needed]

May17th, Senate opened its hearings into the Watergate scandal.
May 22nd Nixon confessed his role in cover-up.
June 16th during Watergate hearings former aide Alexander P Butterfield publicly revealed existence of President Nixon’s secret taping system – Xenia Daily Gazette p4A 07/16/2000.
June 17th Brezhnev was in Washington DC for US-USSR nclear summit which led to agreement signed on June 22nd. Kissinger had to assure China that the US-USSR summit did not constitute a super-power alliance against other countries.
Secretary of Defence James S Schlesinger testified before the Armed Services Committee on July 17th, that 3,500 bombing raids into Cambodia were to protect US troops by targeting NVA positions. Many in Congress angered by secret bombing and call for Nixon’s impeachment. The bombings in Cambodia were halted by congress on August 14th.
June 23rd subpoena served on Nixon for WH tapes.
June 25th WH counsel John Dean admitted Nixon took part in cover-up.
June 27th  Dean told senate Watergate Committee about an ‘enemies list’ kept by Nixon WH.
June to December 1971 104 terrorists were eliminated from June to December [as opposed to 179 people during the four years preceding that period]. Hundreds of Palestinians were detained; many others fled or turned themselves in. June 1971 in Gaza there were 34 incidents of sabotage – in December there was only one.

July 1973
Secretary of Defence James S Schlesinger testified before the Armed Services Committee on July 17th, that 3,500 bombing raids into Cambodia were to protect US troops by targeting NVA positions. Many in Congress angered by secret bombing of Cambodia and call for Nixon’s impeachment.

August 1973
August 8th V-P Agnew branded as ‘damned lies’ reports that he had taken kickbacks from government contracts in Maryland and vowed not to resign.

The bombings in Cambodia were halted by congress on August 14th.
Greater than 2,000,000 Cambodians were now homeless.
Large areas of the country are uninhabitable. Wide tracts of swamp where no wild life can now exist. 100,000 Montagnards in Central Highlands, long established farmers of that area, have died. Thirty years supply of timber have been destroyed. In one twenty day period the 984th land-clearing company scraped 6,037 acres of woodland clear of life.
Thousands of rural families have been forced into overcrowded cities. Unexploded bombs. Denuded and hardened soil.

Kissinger was made the new Secretary of State on August 22nd.

October 1973
October 6th Yom Kippur War broke out. – 1973 AKA Arab-Israeli War
“Came within an ace of producing a direct superpower confrontation to rival the Cuban missile crisis.”
By now Kissinger was in almost complete control. Nixon now reliant on the bottle. Kissinger was referring to Nixon privately as “that madman” and “our drunken friend”.
June to December 1971 104 terrorists were eliminated from June to December [as opposed to 179 people during the four years preceding that period]. Hundreds of Palestinians were detained; many others fled or turned themselves in. June 1971 in Gaza there were 34 incidents of sabotage – in December there was only one.
 “Israel became one of the most important elements on the agenda of the Neo-Con coalition that emerged as a counterforce after the 1972 victory of the McGovern forces in the Democrat Party . In 1968 the Neo-Cons backed Senator Hubert Humphrey (Minnesota) for president. In 1972 they mobilised their support behind Henry Jackson. Both Humphrey and Jackson represented staunch anti-Soviet and pro-Israeli positions in the party.” washington-report.org
Senator Jackson’s aides were Richard Perle and Elliot Abrams. They torpdoed – or tried to – Nixon-Carter attempts to ease Cold War or launch peace efforts in the Middle East, including writing the issue of Jewish immigration from USSR in to sabotage détente with Moscow. “That move not only froze the Nixon era détente but froze the emigration of Soviet Jews.
September “Black September” attacks on quarters of the Israeli Olympic team in Munich. Israel responded with attacks on Syria and The Lebanon. Kissinger?

UNSC resolution for cessation of “all military operations.” Nixon needed to oppose this resolution – Bush penned alternative “cessation and prevention of all military operations and terrorist activities.”
Bush cast the US veto, which had been cast only once before. The other had been used in 1970 on a resolution involving Rhodesia. Non-aligned states and UN Secretariat later in 1972 try to arrange the basis for a Middle East Peace settlement – withdrawal of Israel from occupied territories.

October 10th Agnew resigned as V-P after a Justice Dept investigation uncovered evidence of corruption during his years in Maryland politics; his alleged acceptance of bribes overlapped with his tenure as V-P. He pleaded no contest to the charge of federal income tax evasion. He was sentenced to three years’ probation and fined $10,000, disbarred in 1974 by Maryland Court of appeals. – Xenia Daily Gazette p4A 10/10/2000.

The payoffs began in 1962, when Agnew became Baltimore County executive and continued when he became governor in 1967; even as late as 1971, when Agnew was V-P, he received a payment in the basement of the White House. Elite Deviance – David R simon and D Stanley Eitzen page 215.

12th October Nixon nominated House minority leader Ford as V-P.
19th October Nixon rejected an appeals court demand to turn over the Watergate tapes.
20th October Saturday Night Massacre, Watergate prosecuter Prof. Archibald Cox  was dismissed by solicitor General Bork. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Dep Attorney General Ruckelshaws resigned “in protest ”. Now “Nixon has alienated the immensely powerful legal lobby – a sort of breach of constitutional rights ”. Suspicions over Nixon mount.
23rd October Nixon agreed to turn WH tapes in, to Judge John J Sirica.
1st November Robert H Bork appointed Leon Jaworski to be the new WH Special prosecuter – succeeding Archibald Cox.
Kissinger went back to China on November 11th for a 5 day visit.

During Watergate the truth about the nature and the extent of bombings in Cambodia began to emerge. Nixon had largely kept it secret from public, even falsifying military records. The US had claimed it had every right to attack Cambodia because of its use as a sanctuary by the enemy. William Shawcross pointed out that in the Algerian War of Independence the US denied France the right to attack a Tunisian town inhabited by Algerian guerrillas & in 1964 Adlai Stevenson, at the UN, condemned Britain for attacking Aden. Even Israel had been critisiced by the US for attacks outside its territory.
Pete McClosky – congressman – declared what the US had “done to the country is greater evil than we have done to any country in the world, and wholly without reason, except for our own benefit to fight against the Vietnamese.”

October 22nd Operation Linebacker I ended – US warplanes flew 40,000 sorties and dropped over 125,000 tons of bombs – effectively disrupted North Vietnam’s Eastertide Offensive.
With 100,000 casualties and half tanks and artilleries lost – the North had suffered a major setback – Giap was ousted in favour of his deputy General Van Tien Dung. 40,000 SV had died stopping the offensive. But in the process of coming to an agreement with the north, ad managed to upset the south.
On October 24th President Thieu publicly denounced Kissinger’s peace proposals.
October 26th Kissinger disclosed his nine point peace plan, which Thieu called a sell out.
November 1973
November 14th Nixon threatened ‘swift and severe retaliatory action’ if NV violated proposed peace proposals. November 30th US troops withdrawal from Vietnam was completed – although still 16,000 Army advisors and administrators remained to assist SV’s forces.

November 7th Congress passed the War Powers Resolution forcing the president to obtain support of congress within 90 days of sending troops abroad. Why 90 days?

November 17th Nixon told media “people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook.”
November 21st Nixon’s attorney, J Fred Buzhardt, revealed existence of an 18 ½ minutes gap in one of the WH tape recordings related to Watergate.
November 26th Rose Mary Woods, nixon’s personal secretary, told a federal court she had accidentally erased over 18 minutes of “Watergate tape” made on June 2nd.
November 27th senate voted 92 to 3 to confirm Ford as V-P.
December 9th Ford became the first appointed V-P and eventually America’s only completely unelected President.

December 1973
December 4th talks began again in Paris and collapsed on the 16th.
December 13th – Paris peace talks with Kissinger and Le Duc Tho collapsed after Kissinger listed 69 changes demanded by President Thieu. Nixon made an ultimatum to NV that talks must resume within 72 hours. Hanoi did not respond so Nixon ordered Operation Linebacker II. This consisted of Eleven days and eleven nights of maximum-force bombing against military targets in Hanoi, carried out by B-52 bombers. They started on December 18th, dubbed the “Christmas Bombings” and widely denounced. The USA lost 15 B-52s and 93 USAF personnel lost or captured. There are no figures for the Vietnamese.

The Beginning Of The End
During Watergate the truth about the nature and the extent of bombings in Cambodia began to emerge. Nixon had largely kept it secret from public, even falsifying military records. The US had claimed it had every right to attack Cambodia because of its use as a sanctuary by the enemy. William Shawcross pointed out that in the Algerian War of Independence the US denied France the right to attack a Tunisian town inhabited by Algerian guerrillas & in 1964 Adlai Stevenson, at the UN, condemned Britain for attacking Aden. Even Israel had been criticised by the US for attacks outside its territory.
At the same time the CIA carried out subtle psychological tactics. To spread dissatisfaction about Sihanouk amongst peasants who revered him, a CIA sound engineer fashioned an excellent counterfeit of the Prince’s voice and manner of speaking , breathless, high-pitched and full of giggles. His voice was broadcast with messages designed to offend Cambodians, eg, “Sihanouk” exhorted young women to aid the cause by sleeping with the valiant Vietcong.
September 22nd South VN troops assaulted North Vietnamese army near Pleiku.
Increasing dissent from within. In September 73 the US Ambassador to Cambodia, Emory (??) Swank, referred to “Indochina’s most useless war”.
Pete McClosky – congressman – declared what the US had “done to the country is greater evil than we have done to any country in the world, and wholly without reason, except for our own benefit to fight against the Vietnamese”.
December 3rd VC destroyed 18 million gallons of fuel near Saigon.

CIA investigations 1973
CIA began internal investigations – William Colby, the Deputy Director for Operations, orders all CIA personnel to report any and all illegal activities they know about. This information is later reported to Congress.
This is the era of an increasingly out of control CIA.
The New York Times published the first of a series of articles on December 22nd, by Seymour Hersh, which relied on leaked reports of CIA activities assembled by Director James Rodney Schlesinger. Hersh, the Pulitzer award winning journalist, exposed an operation involving domestic surveillance and infiltration of American anti-war and civil rights groups. It was called Operation CHAOS.
The CIA Chief of counterintelligence, James Jesus Angleton, was caught illegally intercepting mail and secretly spying on war protesters. After a congressional hearing, Angleton was dismissed from the CIA.
The CIA did get away with something though, cleared by the House of Representatives of any complicity in Nixon’s Watergate break-in.

Worldwide Drought
Harvests in the Third World failed or fallen short, including India and Bangladesh. In China and Russia contracts were signed for purchase of wheat from the US, Canada and Australia. The price of wheat was forced up.
In early 1972 Mrs Gandhi had announced India’s independence in grain and stopping of imports.
January 5th announced that 2/3 of India was hit by drought.
UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim. Bangladesh had had a hard time in 1972 with drought. 1973 was expected to be even worse. Inflation ran riot in 1972. No rain had fallen for a year in the rice growing areas of the North West and along the Indian border.
In Bangladesh children are already chronically malnourished in spring. Shortage of doctors. Violence – 160 Awami League Party officials murdered.
This all follows right after war of independence. Governments and programs grinding to a halt. Left wing groups gaining support.

Nelson Rockefeller proposed harshed drug laws to the NY state legislature. Winthrop died aged 60. Nelson announced his resignation.

Corporate Propaganda
Joseph Coors poured in $250,000 to start the heritage foundation. The Heritage Foundation founded in 1973 was regarded as an institution of the lunatic fringe. Corporate leaders formed the Business Roundtable and reactivated ‘moribund’ US Chamber of Commerce. “Opinion makers” were recruited. Wealthy types poured in their dosh. William Simon (former Treasury Secretary and leader of the John M Olin Foundation). Produced recipients, Allan Bloom, Irving Kristol, David Brock.

Neo-Cons formed the Coalition for a Democratic Majority (CDM) in 1973, to rally anti-soviet and pro-Israeli Democrats to oppose McGovern liberals. Neo-Cons began to drift towards the Republican Party.

“The early 70s found a substantial section of America’s corporate, political and academic elites profoundly alarmed by the seeming collapse of normal controlling mechanisms and values. Vietnam externally and Watergate internally symbolised the crisis.” Washington Babylon.

Conference Board – In 1974 and 1975 – arranged a series of meetings of top corporate officials who brooded jointly about the future for business. Assembled CEOs believed it was crucial to win over the press. Complaints that “even though the press is a business, it doesn’t reflect business values.”

The next decade was to be the Golden Age of right wing think tanks and the coming of the “Golden Rolodex”. PR reps call up ‘experts’ who happen to have an opinion constistent with the industry viewpoint and “then seek to strike a deal”.

Martin scorcese’s career began with mean streets
Dylan’s planet waves
Bowie in the US – Aladdin Sane, the US version of Ziggy Stardust.

In1973 Portugal had been fighting a war for at least 12 years to keep grip on Angola. Coffee plantations are owned by rich Portuguese and Europeans, worked by Africans. Often forced labour – appalling conditions – kept in armed compounds.
Gulf oil paid $25m to Portugal in 1972 for Angolan Oil. Africans being napalmed by Portugal.
Tensions mounted in Southern Africa – Kenneth Kaunda prime minister of Zambia.
Rhodesian blockade – racial crisis - against Zambia by Smith of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).
Smith exempted copper from blockade by Kaunda refused to accept this concession.
 Believes UK failed to take steps to stop rebellion – against the British Crown.
 Beginning of racial holocaust.
Recent decision to expel Asians from Uganda – many being murdered in Uganda today (1973).
In Burundi at least 50,000 people were slaughtered in 1972. “Humanism in Zambia” 1967.
Russian crop failure need to import from USA 72/73.
China too.
Brazil.
US stocks have cushioned the world against famine past 20 years or so (1953 – 1973).
1974 April – the collapse of dictatorship in Portugal caused crisis in Angola which was to have a long term effect on superpower relations, and lead to bloody civil war.
Civil war began. The US backed UNITA of Jonas Savimba and the FNLA of Holden Roberto fought against the Marxist MPLA.
The USSR opposed Portuguese aggression in Guinea.


NOTES 1973

Trilateral Commission
"The TC was set up in 1973 with three main objectives:
1) To foster cooperation among North America, Western Europe and Japan (the so-called advanced regions) via leading private citizens;
2) To develop external and internal policies for its members;
3) To effect a “renovation of the international system” so that the global power structure set up after World War II could become more equitable.
The impulse for the Commission came from David Rockefeller, who had hoped it would bring “the best brains in the world to bear on the problems of the future.” Initially, there were 180 Commissioners, but by 1980 the number had grown to 300.”
Maufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky & The Media – original source: Trilatralism: The Trilateral Commission and elite planning for world management, edited by Holly Sklar (Black Rose Books, 1980)

Look up that annual beano of top political and business types

NeoCons
Patrick Buchanan, then a Nixon speechwriter, complained in a memorandum to the president that conservatives desperately needed to set up a think tank to counter the malign influence of the Brookings Insitiute (wrongly) considered to be an extremely liberal outfit. The right had grown a little slack – the fierce post-WW2 corporate campaign against labour had achieved its objective and faded. AEI (American Enterprise Institute) was founded in 1943, but three decades later lacked prestige.

Sparks had formed in LA 1968 via Todd Rundgren’s attentions they made their first album “Halfnelson” in 1968 remixed under the Sparks name “A Woofer in Tweeters Clothes” & a tour of the UK. Despite being badly heckled during their residency at the Marquee they decided to relocated permanently to the UK in 1973.

The arms trade entered its second phase.
@One of Rapid growth, due to oil prices ’73 to’79. This boosted revenues for Thrid world oil-producing governments (mainly inMiddle East). Also boosted coffers of non-oil producers as western banks made huge loans to the pooreststates. Around 20% of credit doled out was used to buy arms – SIPRI 1985 US & USSR continued to grant military aid but also started selling their arms to those who could afford them. The US was starting to face financial difficulties as a result of the oil price rse, arms sales mitigated such difficulties. By mid 1970s it had become standard practice to charge the full price fr weapons regadless of government’s revenues.”