BEHIND THE CURTAIN: THE ROTHSCHILDS, POLITICAL ELITES, AND THE SPIRIT OF COMPROMISE. Explore how political elites like Al Gore and the Clintons rose to power and fortune through Rothschild ties, media protection, and spiritual compromise.

Spiritual Corruption Disguised as Progress 

In the political arena, alliances often form along lines of wealth, influence, and ambition. Yet behind these relationships lurks a far deeper issue—a spiritual compromise rooted in a willingness to submit to the principalities of this world for the sake of power. Scripture speaks of the “sons of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2), those influenced by the Evil One, who exchange their conscience for fortune, and their convictions for convenience. This exposé explores how such influence is visibly at work in the entanglement of prominent political figures like Al Gore and the Clintons with the Rothschild family, whose name has long been synonymous with power and global finance.

 Al Gore: From Defeated Politician to Climate Billionaire 

After narrowly losing the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore’s trajectory did not decline—it soared. Within a few years, he reinvented himself as the prophet of climate alarmism, authoring "An Inconvenient Truth" and co-founding Generation Investment Management, a firm that capitalized on carbon credits and green tech investments.

Gore’s estimated net worth: from under $2 million in 2000 to over $300 million today.

One of his key allies in the climate crusade is David de Rothschild, the eco-conscious heir of the Rothschild banking dynasty. Their shared vision of a carbon-restricted, ESG-driven world order isn’t merely about environmental stewardship—it’s about monetizing guilt and institutionalizing control. Carbon trading, climate conferences, and international accords have become billion-dollar vehicles that benefit those who shape the rules.

This is not to say Gore doesn’t believe in climate change, but that his financial benefit from global fear campaigns undermines the moral neutrality of his advocacy. The larger question remains: How does a political figure rise to wealth so rapidly without systemic support?

The Clinton Wealth Mystery: From Broke to Billions 

When Bill and Hillary Clinton left the White House in 2001, they were reportedly millions in debt due to legal expenses. Fast-forward two decades and their combined net worth has soared to over $200 million, largely through speaking fees, book deals, and the activities of the Clinton Foundation—an organization that has moved billions of dollars globally, with little transparency.

Their transformation into mega-elites coincided with deep ties to the Rothschild family, particularly Lynn Forrester de Rothschild and her late husband Evelyn de Rothschild, who honeymooned at the White House during the Clinton presidency. Lynn later became a major fundraiser for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 and 2016 campaigns.

The Clinton Foundation has faced scrutiny from watchdogs and governments for:

• Soliciting foreign donations while Hillary was Secretary of State.

• Allegedly operating a "pay-to-play" influence scheme.

• Channeling vast sums into international initiatives with questionable effectiveness.

Despite widespread allegations and documented inconsistencies, the Clinton network has remained largely insulated from legal consequence. Why? Because those who pull the levers of media, finance, and law are often the same ones funding these figures.

 Lynn Rothschild and the 2016 Election Media Firewall 

During Hillary Clinton’s 2016 run for the presidency, Reuters and the Associated Press—two of the world’s most powerful news wire services—were frequently accused of media bias, selective coverage, and willful omission of damaging stories.

• Wikileaks revelations were downplayed or discredited.

• Hillary’s health concerns—including a public collapse at the 9/11 memorial—were treated as conspiracy.

• Foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation were almost entirely ignored in mainstream coverage.

Lynn Rothschild, a vocal Clinton supporter, had open access to media and financial elites. Her involvement in high-level fundraising, dinner parties, and backroom coordination placed her in the unique position to shield Hillary Clinton from scrutiny while promoting her as the globalist candidate of choice.

This convergence of power—money, media, and politics—reveals not just favoritism but the systemic protection of elite assets. In this worldview, truth becomes malleable, and accountability is reserved for outsiders.

The Spirit of the Age: Sons of Disobedience and Elite Control 

Behind all these stories lies a spiritual current. The apostle Paul described the "course of this world" as being governed by "the prince of the power of the air" (Eph. 2:2), a reference to Satan’s temporary dominion over worldly systems. The “sons of disobedience” are those who willingly submit their will to temporal rulers, sacrificing truth for advantage.

• Al Gore preached climate apocalypse while investing in the very industries he warned against.

• The Clintons amassed wealth while laundering public trust through a foundation.

• The media insulated both by refusing to investigate—or even acknowledge—legitimate concerns.

This is not simply corruption. It is a spiritual deception—a calculated partnership between compromised human ambition and the principalities that govern in darkness.

Patterns, Not Coincidences The linkage between Gore, the Clintons, and the Rothschilds may seem circumstantial to the casual observer. But to the discerning eye, these are not coincidences—they are patterns. Patterns of influence, reward, and protection:

Figure	Post-Government Rise	Rothschild Link	Outcome
Al Gore	Green economy, investments	David de Rothschild	$300M+ wealth, media darling
Bill & Hillary	Foundation, speeches, books	Evelyn & Lynn Rothschild	$200M+, billions funneled
Hillary Clinton	2016 Presidential campaign	Lynn’s fundraising/network	Protected from full investigation

The interconnectedness of wealth, narrative control, and spiritual compromise is too deliberate to dismiss.

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Wake Up and Discern 

The Bible warns believers to "test every spirit" and to "be wise as serpents and harmless as doves." In this present age, spiritual deception does not come dressed in red horns, but in tailored suits, philanthropic slogans, and environmental causes.

The issue is not merely what these elites do, but what they represent: a system that rewards moral compromise and punishes truth. A network where corruption is cloaked in diplomacy, and where those who submit to global overlords are handsomely rewarded—while those who resist are silenced.

“The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” — 1 John 5:19

It is time not just to expose corruption, but to understand its spiritual root—and to respond not with blind rage or passive apathy, but with informed discernment and unshakable truth.

Gülen Network & Western Covert Islam Ops Exposed. Explore how the West may have weaponized moderate Islam through the Gülen network, with insights from FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds and global intelligence links.

Strategic Islam? The Gülen Network, Sibel Edmonds, and the West's Hidden Hand

Introduction: When Conspiracy Becomes Strategy For decades, any suggestion that the West—especially the United States—would sponsor Islamic networks has been derided as fringe conspiracy theory. Yet mounting testimony, whistleblower evidence, and geopolitical patterns point to a troubling question: What if the West has deliberately supported certain Islamic movements for strategic gain? One of the most striking examples of this possibility lies in the curious rise of Fethullah Gülen—a once obscure Turkish cleric whose multibillion-dollar religious-educational empire spans continents.

Former FBI translator and whistleblower Sibel Edmonds has been one of the few voices publicly connecting the dots. Her firsthand knowledge of operations in Central Asia, her testimony about diplomatic misuse, and her persistent warnings about Gülen's movement offer a rare glimpse behind the curtain of covert statecraft.

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1. The Enigma of Fethullah Gülen Fethullah Gülen was a relatively unknown preacher from Turkey who moved to the United States in 1999, ostensibly for medical treatment. From modest beginnings, he built an educational and religious movement known as Hizmet, which now claims millions of followers, operates hundreds of schools, and has access to vast financial resources.

Estimated assets: $20 billion globally. Reach: Over 350 mosques, madrassas, and charter schools—particularly in Central Asia, the Balkans, the Middle East, and the United States.

This rapid rise prompts a fundamental question: How does a financially struggling preacher amass this kind of global influence in less than a decade—particularly in strategically sensitive regions of the post-Soviet world?

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2. The Diplomatic Passport Anomaly Sibel Edmonds, while working as an FBI translator, uncovered internal documentation suggesting that teachers associated with Gülen’s schools were traveling under U.S.-issued diplomatic passports.

"These are English teachers going to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan—not ambassadors. Why are they traveling under diplomatic protection?" — Sibel Edmonds

Under U.S. law and diplomatic norms, diplomatic passports are issued strictly for official government employees conducting official business. The use of such credentials by private religious educators is not only irregular—it strongly suggests government sponsorship or intelligence cover.

Edmonds contends that this arrangement was not accidental, but part of a covert influence operation designed to install Western-friendly ideological networks in former Soviet Muslim republics.

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3. Gülen's Strategic Utility in Central Asia Central Asia represents a critical geopolitical flashpoint. Following the collapse of the USSR, these newly independent, largely Muslim nations became a contested zone of influence between Russia, China, and the West.

Through the Gülen network:

• Western-aligned educational institutions were rapidly implanted.

• Youth were exposed to moderate Islamic teachings mixed with Western civic ideals.

• Local elites were cultivated via scholarships and soft-power outreach.

This is consistent with CIA historical precedent—using religious and cultural institutions as instruments of soft penetration:

• Mujahideen in Afghanistan (1980s)

• Operation Gladio (Europe, post-WWII)

• Ties to Muslim Brotherhood offshoots in Egypt and Syria

In this context, Gülen’s rise was not an anomaly—it was a feature of Western strategy.

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4. Sibel Edmonds: Gagged but Not Silenced Sibel Edmonds’ credibility is not in question:

• She worked as an FBI translator post-9/11.

• She raised concerns about espionage, bribery, and infiltration involving high-level officials.

• The U.S. government placed a state secrets gag order on her—one of the rarest and most extreme legal tools available.

• The DOJ Inspector General later found her allegations credible.

She has testified that:

• U.S. agencies shielded radical or “useful” Islamic networks.

• The Gülen movement had deep ties to elements of U.S. intelligence.

• Money laundering and trafficking were occurring through NGOs connected to these operations.

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5. Turkey's Reaction and the Coup Connection In 2016, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Fethullah Gülen of orchestrating a failed military coup. Turkey declared the Gülen movement a terrorist organization (FETÖ) and demanded Gülen’s extradition.

The U.S. government refused.

This refusal, along with the protective bubble surrounding Gülen’s compound in Pennsylvania, only reinforced suspicions that he was more than just a religious leader—he was an asset.

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6. The Bigger Picture: Islam as a Strategic Tool The question is not whether the West opposes radical Islam—but rather which forms of Islam it uses as levers of control.

By sponsoring “moderate” networks:

• The U.S. gains influence in Muslim-majority regions without direct military presence.

• It shapes elite educational channels and future leadership classes.

• It contains potential rival ideologies, like nationalism or pan-Eurasianism.

This is not conspiracy theory—it’s geostrategy.

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Conclusion: Unmasking the Hidden Hand The case of Fethullah Gülen—and the whistleblowing of Sibel Edmonds—reveals a pattern of state behavior that hides behind NGOs, religious networks, and educational fronts.

The Western support for selected Islamic movements is not about theology—it’s about influence, destabilization, and silent war. What the public sees as religious outreach, the intelligence community often sees as a delivery system for ideology, recruitment, and control.

The question we should be asking is not whether this happened—but how much of what we call "spontaneous religious movements" are in fact designed operations? And if so, who is behind the curtain, and to what end?

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Sources for Further Review (suggested for article citation):

• Sibel Edmonds, Classified Woman: The Sibel Edmonds Story

• The American Conservative, “Sibel Edmonds’ Secret”

• Judicial Watch, FOIA on Gülen’s visa and movement

• Wikileaks: US State Department cables referencing Gülen schools

• Michael Rubin, AEI: "The Rise and Fall of Fethullah Gülen"

• Turkish government indictment: FETÖ and the 2016 coup

THE SPIRIT OF ELITISM: Breeding, Babylon, and the Beast. Discover how elitism, globalism, and religious compromise form the scaffolding of end-time Babylon. A prophetic warning for the Church in the last days.

Throughout history, the idea of an elite ruling class has pervaded empires, kingdoms, and ideologies. Whether through aristocratic lineage, intellectual pedigree, or economic monopoly, some have considered themselves inherently superior—born to lead while others follow. In the modern world, this attitude often hides behind polished philanthropy, corporate language, or globalist vision. But beneath the surface lies a spirit the Bible has long warned about.

Breeding and the Illusion of Superiority

In elite circles, the concept of "breeding" is not merely biological but social and psychological. It defines a class identity passed down by inheritance and reinforced by rituals, education, and networks. Those born into such environments often internalize a sense of security and destiny, even if they rebel against the lifestyle itself. One may leave the ballroom and the polo field, yet still carry the instinct to feel superior to the "plebs."

This attitude, whether overt or disguised as compassion, often reveals itself under pressure. A correction, a disagreement, a challenge—and suddenly the mask slips. The response: "I know better," or more subtly, "I will help you because you cannot help yourself." It is not kindness grounded in equality but pity born of condescension. And it is spiritually dangerous.

David Rockefeller and the Confession of a Global Architect

David Rockefeller embodied this elite spirit without apology. In his memoirs, he wrote:

"Some even believe we are part of a secret cabal working against the best interests of the United States... of conspiring with others around the world to build a more integrated global political and economic structure—one world, if you will. If that's the charge, I stand guilty, and I am proud of it."

He didn’t deny the accusation. He affirmed it with pride. To Rockefeller and his peers, managing the world was not conspiracy but stewardship—a necessary burden for those deemed worthy by breeding, education, and position. What others feared as a New World Order, he considered visionary leadership.

But in God's eyes, such pride is ancient.

The Biblical Pattern: Babel, Babylon, and Beasts

This drive to centralize power and unify humanity apart from God is as old as Babel. The builders of that tower were not merely stacking bricks; they were erecting a spiritual system to "make a name" for themselves and avoid being scattered (Genesis 11). It was rebellion through globalism.

Babylon, later in Scripture, becomes a prophetic archetype. A luxurious, merchant-rich system intoxicated with self-glory (Revelation 18), it seduces kings and crushes the souls of men. It is the mother of harlots, the very emblem of corrupted religion, false unity, and elite-driven empire.

And in the final book, Revelation reveals the culmination: a beast system, empowered by the dragon, demanding conformity. Only those with the mark may buy or sell. The masses are managed. The faithful are marginalized or killed. And at its center is not democracy, compassion, or liberty—but control, surveillance, and worship of the elite's chosen image.

The False Humility of Modern Elitism

The most dangerous elites today do not wear crowns or robes. They smile in conference halls, speak of "sustainability," and call themselves servant leaders. They may even support church programs or humanitarian causes. But the language of "vision casting," "transformation," and "partnerships" often masks a dialectical method of control. Consensus is not sought for truth but for submission. Individual conviction is eroded by groupthink. Compassion becomes a tool for conformity.

This is why the Church must be discerning. Not all unity is holy. Not all collaboration is righteous. The spirit of elitism is seductive. It may help the poor, but it will never regard them as equals. It may partner with churches, but only to steer them into a managed system. And ultimately, it will persecute the saints, not for their failure to comply with worldly agendas, but for their loyalty to the unchanging Word of God.

The Kingdom of God: A Radical Inversion

In contrast, Jesus said:

"The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Matthew 23:11-12)

The Gospel demolishes elitism. The cross is not a token of global unity but a death blow to pride. The poor, the meek, and the outcast are not the managed class of the Kingdom—they are its pillars. God's order is not hierarchy based on wealth, education, or bloodline. It is a family, where all are adopted and equal before the King.

In these last days, the spirit of elitism will rise. It will masquerade as peace, offer safety, and promise prosperity. But it will demand submission. True believers must recognize it, resist it, and remain loyal to the Lamb, even when the whole world marvels at the beast.

Let the Church be warned: The spirit of elitism is not merely a social problem. It is the scaffolding of the final Babylon.

THE WAR THAT NEVER ENDS: Martin Armstrong, Cycles of Conflict, and the Profit of Perpetual Crisis. Explore Martin Armstrong’s insights on perpetual war, global instability, and why markets and geopolitics follow the same human-driven cycles.

Gold to hit $5000 and silver to rise to $50 is forecast by the maverick maven Martin Armstrong. 

     

In a world teetering on the brink of regional upheaval, with wars in Eastern Europe, tensions in the Middle East, and global markets roiling with uncertainty, many wonder if we are approaching another World War. Economist and forecaster Martin Armstrong offers a sobering yet clarifying framework for understanding this global disarray—not through ideology or emotion, but through the predictable cycles of human nature. His message: war is not the exception; it's the pattern.

Armstrong’s controversial but compelling worldview rests on seven interwoven themes, each grounded in data, history, and lived experience. From financial crashes to geopolitical gambits, his forecast is less about the apocalypse and more about the pendulum swing of civilizations—repeating, reverberating, and rarely learning.

Markets and Mobs: The Pendulum of Panic

Armstrong argues that markets behave like pendulums, not engines of reason. Investors swing wildly from euphoria to despair, driven by sentiment, not fundamentals. Crashes occur not because of shadowy saboteurs, but because everyone rushes to the same side of the boat, and when it tips, there’s no bid left to catch the fall.

This same pendulum logic applies to geopolitics. Nations don’t stumble into war because of singular events, but because pressure builds, alliances entangle, and irrational overconfidence overtakes cooler judgment—until something snaps.

Cycles Repeat Because Human Nature Doesn't Change

Armstrong’s AI system, Socrates, catalogs patterns in human behavior across centuries and continents. It recognizes that despite technological advancement, the core impulses—greed, fear, pride, revenge—remain constant. Whether it’s the 1929 crash, the 1987 Black Monday, or the 2008 meltdown, the underlying behavioral script is the same.

Applied to foreign policy, this explains why Russia has been targeted repeatedly across history—by Sweden, Napoleon, Hitler, and now NATO expansionists. The motive? Power and resources. The method? Manufactured fear. The result? Predictable escalation.

War Is Business by Other Means

Armstrong’s most scathing critique is reserved for neoconservatives and globalist actors who, in his view, keep the world in perpetual conflict not to win, but to profit. He argues that wars like Ukraine and Iraq were never about freedom or democracy, but about regime change, defense contracts, and natural resources.

He recounts the scuttled peace deal in Ukraine—allegedly shut down by Boris Johnson on behalf of Western interests—as proof that peace is bad for business. War keeps the machinery turning. Lives lost are collateral damage in the pursuit of economic dominance.

The Myth of Inflation: Gold Rises with Geopolitical Risk

Contrary to popular belief, Armstrong says precious metals like gold and silver don’t rise with inflation, but with geopolitical instability. In other words, when trust in governments evaporates, people hedge with tangible assets—not because bread is more expensive, but because civilization is more fragile.

Thus, his forecast for gold at $5,000 and silver at $50 isn’t rooted in CPI indexes, but in the likelihood of military escalation, civil unrest, and the collapse of monetary credibility in Western governments.

Civilizations Collapse from Within

Armstrong highlights how Europe, not just the battlefield of war, but the womb of its causes, is heading toward internal collapse. He blames mass migration, cultural fragmentation, and economic stagnation for a growing tide of unrest. Cities are powder kegs, not due to poverty, but because of irreconcilable worldviews, religious tensions, and leadership failure.

As with Rome, revolutions often start with bread and end with ideology. His concern is not just for the borders of Europe, but for its cities and streets, which may become battlegrounds of a new kind—civil wars within once-stable societies.

The "Contagion Effect": War Is Never Contained

From Ukraine to the South China Sea, from Israel to Iran, Armstrong insists conflict is not compartmentalized. Like a virus, it spreads—militarily, economically, and psychologically. The Balkan powder keg of 1914 needed only an archduke’s assassination to ignite a world war. Today’s tripwires are more numerous, more complex, and far more explosive.

He observes that historical rivalries—Greece vs. Turkey, India vs. Pakistan, China vs. Taiwan—are all flaring simultaneously. These are not isolated quarrels; they are symptoms of a deeper global dislocation, like tectonic plates grinding toward a mega-quake.

False Flags and Manufactured Consent

Armstrong doesn’t shy away from pointing to the historical use of false flags to justify wars—from Operation Northwoods to Pearl Harbor, from WMDs in Iraq to recent whisperings about Ukrainian plots involving Soviet torpedoes. His claim is not that every war is a conspiracy, but that leaders frequently exploit fear and deception to gain public support for aggression.

He argues that "truth" is often a narrative weapon, not a fixed reality. And those who control the narrative—mainstream media, intelligence agencies, and aligned corporations—can make war palatable, even virtuous.

Final Reflection: A War Without End

Armstrong’s forecast is not one of doom, but of sobering realism. The dream of global peace, he suggests, is naïve unless human nature itself is reformed—which history shows no signs of happening. As long as fear is profitable, truth is malleable, and governments remain unaccountable, wars will continue—not as exceptions, but as the default setting of fallen empires.

In his view, we are not heading for Armageddon as a singular apocalypse. We are already living through it—slowly, region by region, headline by headline. It is not mushroom clouds we should fear, but the unrelenting erosion of sovereignty, sanity, and the sacred value of life.

While many dismiss Armstrong as a provocateur or outlier, his track record and model speak volumes. Whether or not we heed his warnings, one thing is certain: the pendulum always swings back, and it often knocks down empires when it does.

THE RULE OF CRIMINALS IS UNKNOWN FOR MOST, UNTIL THEY ARE CAUGHT. Yet Even Then There Are Names That You Probably Never Heard Before With Material Wealth Beyond Imagination. The reality being that while they may have thought the champagne wouldn’t stop flowing, eventually it does.

This exposé on the world’s richest mob bosses presents more than just a chronicle of crime and excess—it reveals the evolution of organized crime from street-level brutality to sophisticated global empires that rival governments and how timid corrupt officials allow environmental degradation, while expressing outrage that it takes place. 

Below is a critical analysis of its key themes, narrative tone, and cultural implications:

🔍 1. Narrative Structure & Tone

The storytelling adopts a sensationalist documentary style, emphasizing shock value and cinematic grandeur. Every paragraph is packed with details designed to evoke awe, envy, or horror—from “diamond-encrusted pistols” to “private zoos with exotic animals.” The structure moves rank by rank from the lesser rich to the wealthiest, escalating both wealth and wickedness.

• Effect: This escalating structure mirrors the viewer’s psychological journey—curiosity turns to disbelief, then to moral reckoning.

• Tone: The language is vivid and visual, often glamorizing criminal wealth even while pointing to its brutality (“lavish parties,” “blood money,” “swimming pools shaped like Colombia”).

💰 2. Wealth as Power: Crime’s Infiltration into High Society

These mob bosses amassed billions not just through brute force but by integrating crime into legitimate sectors:

• Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno dominated New York gambling and loan sharking.

• Griselda Blanco turned Miami into a cocaine capital.

• Susumu Ishii invested in stock markets, real estate, and legitimate corporations.

• Francesco Schiavone used construction and waste management to launder billions.

Observation: What begins with vice often ends in white-collar camouflage—criminals learn to wear suits, attend golf clubs, and host diplomats.

Implication: It suggests that the deeper evil lies not in street-level crime but in the invisible merger between criminal wealth and institutional legitimacy.

🧱 3. Criminal Architecture: Palaces, Islands, Fortresses

Each figure described lives in almost mythological surroundings:

• Capone’s fortress in Miami had bulletproof walls and secret passages.

• El Chapo had homes with escape tunnels, mountain hideouts, and a tunnel-built prison break.

• Schiavone had palatial compounds, private zoos, and art stolen from museums.

This isn't just about luxury; it's about dominion—controlling space to secure power, escape detection, and entertain allies. These environments function both as status symbols and tactical strongholds.

⚖️ 4. The Illusion of Invincibility & Inevitable Fall

Despite their empires, all of them fall:

• Salerno, Zaza, Blanco, and El Chapo all land in prison or die in captivity.

• Dinaro evaded capture for decades before cancer and the law caught up with him.

• Sharich and Schiavone were ultimately dismantled through international cooperation.

This arc reinforces the classic rise-and-fall narrative: even the most extravagant empire is built on foundations too corrupt to endure.

But the real takeaway is this: while the individuals fell, their structures, influence, and money laundering techniques often live on, absorbed into larger systems or taken over by successors.

🌍 5. Geographic Spread & Globalization of Crime

The list spans continents:

• 🇮🇹 Italy (Zaza, Dinaro, Schiavone)

• 🇺🇸 USA (Salerno, Capone, Blanco)

• 🇯🇵 Japan (Ishii)

• 🇲🇽 Mexico (El Chapo)

• 🇷🇸 Serbia (Sharich)

• 🇨🇴 Colombia (Blanco again)

This international roster shows how organized crime transcended local borders, adapting to the global economy. Cocaine from South America funded villas in Europe. Yakuza investments penetrated Western stock markets. Waste management scams polluted ecosystems while enriching criminals.

Insight: Crime evolved into a global enterprise, mirroring multinational corporations, with diversified portfolios and international logistics.

🧠 6. Intelligence, Strategy, and Brutality

These mob bosses weren’t just thugs—they were strategic masterminds:

• Ishii’s Yakuza turned a crime syndicate into a stock-investing conglomerate.

• El Chapo’s tunnels and prison breaks were feats of engineering.

• Schiavone’s empire used environmental crime to rake in billions.

Yet, brutality was never absent. These bosses used fear as currency—murder, torture, and terror were operational tools, not moral dilemmas.

This tension between intellect and violence is central to the modern mob archetype: well-dressed, business-savvy murderers.

⚠️ 7. Cultural Glorification vs. Moral Warning

The video, designed to fascinate, walks a fine line between glorification and condemnation.

• On one hand, it marvels at their wealth, lifestyle, and cunning.

• On the other, it acknowledges the cost—murder, corruption, and societal decay.

But the language leans heavily toward spectacle, which risks desensitizing audiences or even glamorizing the very evils it reports.

Example: The phrase “champagne never stopped flowing” is used for effect, not critique.

📌 Conclusion: What This Tells Us About Power

This exposé is more than a roll call of notorious crime bosses. It's a revelation of the blurred boundaries between criminality and elite society, where crime becomes commerce, violence becomes negotiation, and wealth sanitizes sin.

Key takeaways:

• Organized crime evolves, adapts, and embeds itself within legal frameworks.

• Wealth gained from vice rarely ends well—but often outlives its founder.

• The true power of crime lies not in bloodshed, but in its ability to replicate corporate, political, and cultural legitimacy.

In the end, these stories reflect back on us—a society where criminal brilliance can be admired, even envied, and where justice comes slowly, if at all, to those who wear wealth like a shield.

The—“the champagne never stopped flowing” is poetic, but misleading.

✅ In reality: The champagne did stop.

Every single one of these mob bosses—no matter how powerful, wealthy, or untouchable they seemed—lost everything in the end. Their luxury faded, their networks collapsed, and the flow of champagne was replaced by prison food, sickness, or a bullet.

That line—though dramatic—reflects a deeper cultural tension:

We’re fascinated by the illusion of endless pleasure, but history always tells a different story.

So yes, the champagne stopped.

And with it, the parties, the wealth, the bravado—all of it proved temporary.

If there's a better summation of criminal power, it's probably this:

The fall is always quieter than the rise, but it is just as certain.

Most people know names like Al Capone or El Chapo, but figures like Darko Šarić, Michele Zaza, Matteo Messina Denaro, Francesco Schiavone, Fat Tony Salerno, and Susumu Ishii operated in less publicized but equally dangerous and influential circles.

Here’s why they might have escaped broader recognition—and why they matter:

🔍 1. Darko Šarić – $27 Billion

• Why Unknown: Balkan politics and regional crime receive less international media attention.

• Why Significant: He built one of the largest European cocaine pipelines from South America. His scale of wealth ($27B) rivals Fortune 500 CEOs. He turned Serbia and Montenegro into narco-trafficking hubs.

🔍 2. Michele Zaza – $700 Million

• Why Unknown: Operated in post-war Italy under the radar, and was part of the Camorra, not the more famous Sicilian Mafia (Cosa Nostra).

• Why Significant: Innovated cigarette smuggling at a time when it was incredibly profitable in Europe. Later expanded into heroin. Helped professionalize Camorra operations.

🔍 3. Matteo Messina Denaro – €4 Billion

• Why Unknown: A fugitive for 30 years, avoiding cameras and digital trails. Only caught in 2023.

• Why Significant: Believed to have run the Sicilian Mafia's post-Toto Riina empire. Connected to political corruption, terror bombings in Italy, and international drug/arms trafficking.

🔍 4. Francesco Schiavone (Sandokan) – $47 Billion Clan

• Why Unknown: Italian media focused more on the Sicilian mafia and 'Ndrangheta.

• Why Significant: Led the Casalesi Clan (a Camorra faction), which essentially controlled the construction and waste industries in southern Italy. His clan illegally dumped toxic waste across Italy—profiting billions while causing a public health crisis.

🔍 5. Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno – $600 Million

• Why Unknown: Overshadowed by flashier figures like John Gotti in popular mafia lore.

• Why Significant: Head of the Genovese crime family, considered the most powerful of NYC’s Five Families. Ran high-level gambling, loan sharking, and racketeering operations that influenced city politics.

🔍 6. Susumu Ishii – $1 Billion

• Why Unknown: Westerners rarely hear about Japan’s Yakuza in crime retrospectives.

• Why Significant: Head of Inagawa-kai, one of Japan's largest Yakuza syndicates. Ishii professionalized organized crime by heavily investing in real estate and the Tokyo stock market during Japan’s economic bubble.

📌 Takeaway:

These aren’t Hollywood gangsters—they’re corporate-criminal hybrids who used influence, business acumen, and systemic corruption to build empires. Many operated in quiet, strategic, and long-lasting ways that eluded international spectacle.

You hadn’t heard of them because:

• They weren’t as theatrical

• Their crimes blurred the line between “illegal” and “political”

• Their media exposure was localized, censored, or complicated by geopolitics

But make no mistake—they shaped entire regions, and in some cases, entire economies.

***

What can we say about this corrupt elite and the empires of ashes they ruled.

They built empires not with laws, but with bullets and bribes. Their wealth dwarfed that of corporate titans. Their influence reached from back alleys to parliaments. And yet—every last one of them fell. This is the story of the world’s richest mob bosses—men and women who bathed in wealth, corrupted systems, and devastated lives, only to discover that power built on blood and deception inevitably crumbles into dust.

Wealth Beyond Imagination

We often hear of tech billionaires and oil magnates, but the criminal underworld has quietly birthed fortunes just as vast—if not larger. Take Darko Šarić, a Serbian drug lord whose estimated $27 billion empire pumped South American cocaine into Europe like an industrial pipeline. Or Francesco Schiavone, the feared head of the Casalesi clan, whose criminal holdings—spanning waste disposal, construction, and retail—were valued at $47 billion.

These weren’t backroom hustlers. They were financiers, landowners, and untraceable shareholders in sprawling networks of "legitimate" businesses. Susumu Ishii, head of Japan’s Inagawa-kai Yakuza group, invested mob money into Tokyo's real estate and stock market boom in the 1980s, mingling with bankers, politicians, and CEOs. By the time police even recognized his economic reach, he was living in million-dollar mansions adorned with Zen gardens and tea ceremony chambers—untouchable, or so it seemed.

Even infamous names like Griselda Blanco, the “Cocaine Godmother,” who earned a $2 billion fortune smuggling drugs into the U.S., flaunted their wealth shamelessly: diamond pistols, gold-plated fixtures, speedboats, and island getaways. The American public never knew her by name until her arrest—and by then, the damage was done.

Influence That Rivaled Governments

It’s easy to dismiss gangsters as thugs with money. But that’s only half the picture. These individuals exercised a level of influence and control that often rivaled, or directly manipulated, elected governments.

El Chapo Guzmán, head of the Sinaloa cartel, had operatives in nearly every layer of Mexican law enforcement. He escaped not once but twice from maximum-security prisons—once in a laundry cart, once through a mile-long tunnel with lighting and ventilation—thanks to well-placed bribes and systemic corruption.

Schiavone’s Casalesi clan dictated the terms of infrastructure contracts in southern Italy. If a building went up, they got paid. His organization didn’t just "infiltrate" the construction and waste sectors—it effectively owned them. Politicians, public officials, and business leaders either bowed to the clan or were removed—sometimes violently.

In Japan, Ishii sat at the intersection of tradition and capitalism, using the Yakuza’s historical status as "outlaw gentlemen" to justify protection rackets and deeply entrenched political connections. His group’s operations included stock trading, insider manipulation, and land speculation, all behind the veil of Japanese respectability.

Harm That Spanned Generations

Behind every gold-plated faucet or silk suit lies a trail of destruction. These aren’t just stories of flashy wealth—they are chronicles of profound societal harm.

Šarić’s European cocaine network helped flood cities with drugs, sparking addiction crises from Serbia to Spain. His profits came directly from human suffering—families destroyed, lives lost, entire neighborhoods destabilized.

Griselda Blanco’s reign in Miami turned the city into a war zone. Drive-by shootings, assassinations, and bombings were routine in the 1980s. Hundreds died as a direct result of her bloody turf wars. Her wealth grew with every kilo moved, and every body dropped.

Matteo Messina Denaro, the elusive Sicilian boss, orchestrated bombings in Florence, Milan, and Rome in the 1990s that killed innocent civilians and damaged priceless cultural landmarks. He was linked to dozens of murders, including judges and journalists, yet remained on the run for nearly 30 years, sending hand-written notes to orchestrate operations while undergoing plastic surgery and blending into civilian life.

Schiavone’s environmental crimes may be the most insidious of all. His illegal toxic waste dumping across Italy’s Campania region caused spikes in cancer and birth defects. For billions in profit, he poisoned land, water, and generations of human lives.

Corruption Without Borders

These criminal titans didn’t just corrupt men—they corrupted systems. Justice systems. Political institutions. Financial markets.

Corruption wasn’t an accident of their rise; it was their most essential tool. With it, they bent governments to their will.

Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno, boss of the Genovese crime family, made New York’s judicial and political elite dance to his tune. His influence extended into construction unions, city contracts, and federal protection rackets. Even after his conviction in the 1986 Commission Trial, many of the corrupt officials he worked with escaped scrutiny.

Bribery was an operating expense. El Chapo paid millions to prison guards, police, and even politicians. Zaza, the Italian cigarette smuggler, ran a shadow state in Naples through his web of bribes and threats, outmaneuvering investigators for decades.

And Ishii? His real estate holdings were so intertwined with government infrastructure projects that authorities hesitated to move against him, fearing economic fallout.

This level of rot shows a disturbing truth: in many places, organized crime is not outside the system—it is inside it.

The Futility of It All

Yet for all their wealth, power, and influence, every one of them fell.

Fat Tony died in prison. El Chapo will never leave a U.S. federal cell. Griselda Blanco was gunned down in Medellín. Denaro, who evaded capture for 30 years, was caught dying of cancer. Schiavone, once Italy’s most feared man, now rots in prison—his once-mighty empire shattered. Ishii died before full prosecution, but his operations dissolved in the economic crash.

Their fortunes—often in the billions—are mostly gone. Seized. Lost. Hidden. Their legacies are not dynasties, but case files and crumbling estates.

And perhaps that is the bitterest irony: despite all their cunning and cruelty, they were never building anything permanent. Their lives were like palaces made of sand—grand to behold, but unable to withstand the tides of justice and mortality.

Conclusion: Power Without Peace

These crime lords built worlds where the law was irrelevant, morality optional, and wealth unlimited. But what they gained in gold, they lost in peace, legacy, and freedom.

Their empires harmed millions, corrupted thousands, and enriched only a few—briefly.

And in the end, the champagne stopped flowing. Death had its say: what has begun lasts longer than anyone's imagination.

BEE POPULATIONS AREN’T DECLINING; THEY’RE RISING. But We Were Told They Were Dying. Not according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, honeybee populations in the United States, Canada and Europe have been stable or growing for the two decades.

Crisis shift? Bees may not be facing apocalypse but what about beekeepers?

Jon Entine | September 24, 2015 | Genetic Literacy Project

Beekeeping tends to be more on the commercial side.

Scientists are now in agreement that we are not facing a beepocalypse as many in the media environmental activists and journalists have been predicting. Bee populations aren’t declining; they’re rising. According to statistics kept by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, honeybee populations in the United States, Canada and Europe have been stable or growing for the two decades

But the latest statistics have not stemmed the tide of dire warnings. The focus has shifted from the pollinators themselves to beekeepers. Tim Tucker, president of the American Beekeeping Federation recently said: “It’s not the bees that are in jeopardy. …. I believe we’ll always have bees. … [But] unless things change, what’s in jeopardy is the commercial beekeeping industry.”

University of Maryland bee researcher Dennis van Englesdrop echoed the sentiment: “We’re not worried about the bees going extinct …. We’re worried about the beekeepers going extinct.”

Beekeeping is challenging

“Beekeepers are indeed “working nearly twice as hard as ever,” as Tucker has said. Beekeepers report having to split their hives more often to make up for losses, entailing more work than in previous decades.  And for commercial beekeepers maintaining thousands of bee hives, all of this additional work means more employees, more salaries, and more expenses.

The major driver of these challenges is the near-global spread of parasites like the varroa mite and the dozens of other diseases that beset commercial honey bees, which require a great deal more work and expense for both commercial and hobbyist beekeepers. Varroa mite counts must be carefully monitored, and mite control preparations applied at precisely the right times.  Otherwise, mite infestations can get ahead of beekeepers, propagate and devastate the hives.

But the hard work and increased challenges of beekeeping today don’t necessarily translate into economic calamity — especially for the more sophisticated beekeepers who have modernized their operations and kept abreast of changing conditions.

As beekeeper and independent researcher Randy Oliver, who runs the well regarded Scientific Beekeeping blog, points out, “In beekeeping today, many progressive beekeepers are finding beekeeping to be more profitable than ever.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s economic statistics bear this out.  Demand for honey has almost doubled over the past quarter century to 468.3 million pounds by 2013. Per capita honey consumption in the U.S. is up nearly 50 percent over the same period.

When demand is high, prices go up. The retail price of honey has risen more than 50 percent in the last decade, (about the same as beeswax), with total revenue from honey production reaching $2.835 billion in 2012.

Farm gate and retail honey prices and total value, 2006-122015 Almond Forecast

Source: USDA-NASS Quick Stats

Commercial beekeepers have also prospered from a parallel boom in the market for almonds, which is critically dependent on bees for pollination. In fact, as much as 75 percent of all U.S. commercial beehives are committed to almond growing, the bees trucked into California in the first quarter of each year to pollinate the to 870,000 acres of almond groves (which have more than doubled in size since the mid-1980s).

With rising pollination services demand, hive rental fees for almond pollination have risen to record levels, with prices up a staggering 428% (or about $150 extra per colony) since the 1990s.

Source: California State Beekeepers Association Annual Pollination Surveys

Together with other pollinated crops, including sunflowers, canola, grapes, apples, cherries, watermelons, and blueberries, total revenue for pollination services added up to $655.6 million in 2012, the most recently available data.

Stress problems

While the cross-continent pollination treks made by beekeepers are highly profitable, the huge stresses imposed on the bees themselves helps explain the less than optimum health of many commercial bee colonies.

One result is that despite the fact that we now have more bee colonies than we have had in 20 years, the volume of U.S. honey production and the per-colony honey yield — as opposed to the price per pound of honey — has been on a general decline. United States honey production in 2013 is about 35 percent lower than in 1989.

While a number of factors contribute to this trend, USDA notes, “With proportionally more colonies being sent to pollinate almond orchards—as opposed to crops that are more valuable for honey production — a lower average volume of useable honey per colony can be expected.”

The downward trend in U.S. honey production means that U.S. beekeepers now satisfy less than 1/3 of total U.S. honey demand. The difference is made up from imports from other nations – chiefly Argentina, Vietnam, India, Brazil, Canada, Uruguay, Mexico, Ukraine, Turkey and Taiwan.

Despite all this foreign competition, however, high U.S. demand has continued to exert upward pressure on U.S. honey prices, which have more than doubled to $2.12 per pound since the Colony Collapse Disorder crisis of 2006.

All this is economics, not catastrophe. Consumers may not like the higher prices for honey, but higher prices are certainly sweet news for beekeepers. As beekeeper and researcher Randy Oliver has commented,  “the market for honey is offering opportunity for those not involved in pollination.  And the market for bee sales is ravenous.”

Oliver sums up the beekeeping’s economic outlook this way: “The free market has solved the problem of beekeeping being more difficult and costly these days by better compensating beekeepers.  The law of supply and demand is working just fine.”

Jon Entine, executive director of the Genetic Literacy Project, is a Senior Fellow at the World Food Center Institute for Food and Agricultural Literacy, University of California-Davis.

Many Australian men are seeking love from overseas women and are scammed out of their life savings. Here is some great advice from an attempt to scam Happy Riches.

Happy Riches was contacted by a Filipina Angelle (pronounced, “Angel”) Gonzalez two weeks before Easter. She told him that she liked him and would like to visit him. She had no money, of course, and was at the end of her nursing contract. Before entering her next contract, she said she would like to come to Perth and have a holiday. Only she did not have the money, but she did have a current passport and a visa would be no problem for her because she holds a master’s degree in nursing.

Happy says he detected a sting, having been involved in an attempt to set him as a mule to transfer funds overseas that were deposited into his bank account. Information provided by Happy helped authorities break a $30 million bankcard fraud in November, 2012.

 This current sting was the usual set up that occurs when overseas grifters set up a mark.

First Angelle claims she is interested in his personality. She sets up phone calls and seeks information about her mark. Then sends photos of herself at different locations. Sends a letter expressing how depressing her life is without someone to love and take care of, and someone who would love her. Angelle then tells her mark how she has just come to the end of her nursing contract and will be off for a month or until she can get a new contract for five years. While she has the month off she would love to visit her mark but has not got the money. She hopes that she would be able to sleep with him to see if the chemistry is right. Just to show that she is an honest and reputable girl she emails copies of her passport and a police clearance stating she does not have a derogatory record. Now if only she had the $150 to get her visa and medical for immigration purposes. Angelle provides a dodgy receipt from Australia Post for her visa from the immigration dept.

The mark forks out the $150 sending it by Western Union, as it is faster than bank transfer and can be  done in minutes and there is not much time to waste as she needs to get everything done by Wednesday 12 noon if she is to get the cheap airline ticket. All she now needs is the $750 for the tickets. The mark usually obliges, but Happy, for fun, says that he will go you halves and tells her how generous he has been in the past and about how the girl in Azerbaijan is spending time in jail for trying to con him. Angelle, has only eyes on the money. Happy sends her $400. Angelle contacts him saying she cannot raise the other $350. After four hours, with phone calls between them and other matters, Angelle claims she is $50 short and cannot come over if she doesn’t get the money, even though she has put the rest on deposit on the ticket. Happy decides to send her $200 more to pay for incidental expenses airport taxes and a bite to eat and drink for the trip. More alarm bells ring when Happy is provided with dodgy receipt for an airline ticket and copies of tickets with incorrect dates from Brunei Airline that does not fly to Perth. Happy points this out.

On Good Friday, Angelle provides two more copies of dodgy airline tickets with incorrect dates, and insists that she needs $1000 for show money, so immigration will permit her to leave the Philippines. While Happy is speaking to Angelle on skype, he receives a phone call from a man claiming to be from the Immigration Dept, but the call drops out. Then Angelle provides a mobile number for the Immigration Dept., to confirm that she need to show the $1000.

Happy went as far as he was prepared to go. He had sufficient details to send to authorities for fraud, impersonation of immigration officials, and forgery. However, the next step would have been I have lost the money and need another $1000 or I have lost both the traveler's cheque and tickets and missed the plane. Now I will need to do it all again, and because my visa to depart was only until Easter Sunday the 20^th and the ticket was non-fundable, I cannot get a refund. If you want me to come over, you will have to help me. I will need another two grand.

People like Angelle Gonzalez (if that is really her name) see nothing wrong in scamming old men out of their life's savings.

THE USUAL TELL TALE SIGNS OF A CON

The woman makes contact through a dating agency, or claims she found your name at a dating agency and she is seeking marriage. Emails are sent to unsuspecting victims and a case is presented to capture a person’s curiosity in the hope of a reply. The people who lose the most are older men who are lonely and vulnerable to solicitation.

Typically, the vixen will be from a third world country or ex-communist country, but there are the exceptions. Naturally, the woman is looking for help. She appeals to her victim’s sense of compassion. She suffers from a lack of resources that are always  Financial, but are the result of a lack of education due to:

• Childhood poverty
• Broken family
• Abusive parents
• Alcoholic or drug addicted parents
• Death of father or mother, or both parents

An aborted education due to:

• Illness
• Illness of parents
• Death of parents
• Having to look after younger siblings
• Insufficient money
• Persecution because of race or religion or culture.

Being a woman seeking a man, she will naturally appeal to his sexual desires.

Explicit sexual pornography is not a part of this deal. The woman is after money, without being a common prostitute. She is suggestive of:

• Romance
• Intimacy
• Life-long relationship

And she will always tell of a relationship that she feels she has to confess of when she had this boyfriend who was cruel to her and someone to whom she could not say no, but who has now left the country, is in jail, or is died in an accident.

She obtains finance from her mark by:

• Claiming lost birth certificate
• Need for registration of new identity documents
• Costs of obtaining passport and visa
• Cost of airline ticket which has to be a return ticket
• Airport costs
• Travel costs to airport
• Traveler’s check for living expenses to be provided on departure to demonstrate she has the capacity to pay for living expenses and is not thought to be a prostitute or do something immoral or illegal
• Delays and the unexpected expenses
• Stolen tickets, passports and money that has to be replaced.

And of course there is always a sense of urgency because she only has a week or two take this window of opportunity and be with her mark.

When the scam is done well, the process cleans some men out of their life savings.

In most cases authorities are helpless to anything, but at least there is always the memory of what could have been.

Nothing left but one sofa and the memory of the pain.