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A John Gray Dossier
by
Brian Salter
questionsquestions.net, 9 September 2004
Update,
29 September 2004:
More information continues to circulate among 9/11 researchers
who have been following the John Gray - Ramy el Batrawi - Adnan
Khashoggi connection. The following two articles are examples of
more direct proof from mainstream media sources of the el Batrawi
- Khashoggi partnership extending back years before the Genesis
Intermedia affair. Even more alarmingly, the events in question
involve a company funded by el Batrawi and Khashoggi which was caught
engaging in illegal arms shipments to Iran. (note that the first
article uses an alternate spelling, Ramy El Batrawi = Remy Al Batswani).
Copyright 1992 UMI Inc.;
Copyright South Florida Business Journal, Inc. 1992;
Business Dateline;
South Florida Business Journal
May 4, 1992
Int'l Airline Support Sued Over Jetborne Deal
Melinda Zisser
Miami; FL; US
BODY: MIAMI--Garrick Overseas International, a company once owned
by international arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, claims Miami's International
Airline Support Group failed to live up to a contract giving Garrick
70,000 shares of its stock.
Garrick also invested in Jetborne International, which was indicted
for illegally shipping arms to Iran last year. Garrick claimed it
met its part of the deal --to deliver Jetborne's London business
in exchange for stock in International Airline Support Group.
But in a suit filed in U.S. District Court in Miami last month,
Garrick claims Airline Support Group Acquisition Corp. failed to
issue the stock.
"Whatever it takes, we're not going to let them cheat us a second
time," said Garrick President Remy Al-Batswani.
Attorney Myles Tralins, representing International Airline Support
Group, has a different story: "It's our position that the case has
no merit and we expect the claims to be dismissed.
"We're surprised a frivolous lawsuit has been brought when there
was a lack in performance on Garrick's part," Tralins said.
Miami attorney Thomas Farrar with Holland & Knight is representing
Garrick. He expects attorneys for International Airline Support
to respond to the suit in the next two weeks.
"They've refused to issue the stock and they believe Garrick hasn't
lived up to its end of the bargain," Farrar said.
International Airline Support was supposed to issue Garrick 70,000
shares in exchange for Jetborne's U.K. operations, according to
a deal signed last year. At the time, the shares were trading for
$ 5.50 a share.
The stock, which is traded over the counter under the symbol IASG,
closed at $ 4.88 a share April 28 after trading in a 52-week range
of $ 8.63 to $ 2.75 a share.
Early in 1991, Khashoggi paid $ 100,000 for a 2 percent stake
in Jetborne International, a Miami company that sold aircraft parts.
He also received warrants to buy 1 million more Jetborne shares
between $ 3 and $ 3.30 a share that would have given him a 16 percent
stake in the company.
According to the suit, Garrick began arbitration proceedings in
Paris last August against Jetborne, relating to a shareholders agreement
between Garrick and Jetborne. At the time, Garrick owned an option
to buy Jetborne U.K., a Jetborne subsidiary.
Later that month, Garrick entered into an agreement that gave
International Airline Support the right to buy Jetborne U.K. shares
at the option price.
International Airline Support then agreed to register its stock
to Garrick, the suit said. The agreement called for 42,000 shares
of International Airline Support to be assigned to Garrick either
when Garrick won its Paris arbitration, or when Jetborne recognized
Garrick's option and consent to sell Jetborne UK shares.
The balance, 28,000 shares of International Airline Support, was
to be transferred when the company completed its acquisition of
Jetborne U.K. shares.
In connection with the agreement, Garrick said in the suit that
it transferred 111,111 shares of Jetborne stock to International
Airline Support. Those shares were to be held in a trust account
for Garrick until the Paris arbitration was completed. If International
Airline Support acquired Jetborne, the shares would be returned
to Garrick.
In December, Garrick secured Jetborne U.K., but International
Airline Support believed it had too much liability: about $ 2 million
worth, the suit claimed.
The deal also called for Garrick to retain Iain Sturrock, a key
Jetborne U.K. employee. Garrick retained Sturrock, the suit said,
but the International Airline Support stock never materialized.
What's more, Sturrock also delivered orders for aircraft parts
to International Airline Support, orders that went unfilled, according
to Garrick official Al-Batswani.
Khashoggi is no longer formally involved with Garrick.
When Jetborne was charged with illegally shipping arms to Iran
and forced into involuntary bankruptcy, Khashoggi lost his investment.
{end}
------------------
Copyright 1991 Forbes, Inc.
Forbes
February 18, 1991
Adnan is back (did he ever go away)
EDITED BY JASON ZWEIG
BODY: WITH BOMBS RAINING down on the Middle East, it's no surprise
that arms merchant Adnan Khashoggi has popped up again, this time
with an investment in a tiny aircraft parts company. Khashoggi,
a Saudi national who was acquitted last summer of charges that he
had helped Imelda Marcos hide her wealth, recently paid $ 100,000
for a 2% stake in Jetborne International, a Miami-based firm that
refurbishes and sells aircraft parts. Khashoggi also got warrants
to buy 1 million more Jetborne shares at a price between $ 3 and
$ 3.30; if exercised, the warrants would give him 16% of the company.
Jetborne trades, thinly, over-the-counter (recent price: 1/2)
and has 5 millions shares outstanding. Sales were $ 23 million in
fiscal 19990 ending in April, up nearly 40% from 1989. But without
the capital from Khashoggi's Panama-based Garrick Overseas International,
Jetborne might have crashed. The firm lost over $ 500,000 in fiscal
1990, pinched by increased competition and sluggish business. In
April Jetborne parted ways with Peat Marwick Main, after the auditors
threatened to question Jetborne's future as a going concern (the
new accountant is Norman Eliot & Co.). When Jetborne pondered spinning
off one of its subsidiaries, one of the few investment banks reportedly
interested in the underwriting was the malodorous penny-stock promoter
Stuart-James.
With the cash from Khashoggi, Jetborne has the money to expand
its office in Hamburg and to finance a joint venture with the well-connected
Khashoggi that will broker aircraft parts to customers around the
world. All in all, this deal looks timely for both parties.
UMI-ACC-NO: 9239516
{end}
----------------------
Another Khashoggi — 9/11 connection:
KHASHOGGI'S ATTY. MENTORED GIULIANI
Robert G. Morvillo
http://www.crimlaw.org/defbrief281.html
He is the name partner of Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason &
Silberberg, a
40-lawyer firm he established in 1973. Among his other well-known
clients
was Rep. Robert Garcia, convicted of extortion in the 1989 Wedtech
scandal.
In another bribery case, he won acquittal in 1987 for John Zaccaro,
husband
of former Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro.
He also
represented the Saudi financier Adnan Khashoggi, alleged to have
siphoned
money from the Philippines for Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos but acquitted
with them in a federal case. Two years ago he represented Robert
Iler, who
played the son of Tony Soprano of the HBO series "The Sopranos,"
on a
robbery charge (he got probation).
In the 1960s and 1970s, Morvillo served in the U.S. attorney's office
for
the Southern District of New York. He was a chief trial assistant
in the
fraud unit there, and then chief of the criminal division, where
he mentored
a young assistant U.S. attorney named Rudolph Giuliani.
--------------------
A partial list of El-Batrawi business fronts registered in Florida:
Mars
& Venus Counseling Centers [!!]
Genesis
Media Group
Genesis
Aviation
Genesis
Aviation II
Genesis
Studio & Production Corp.
Genesis
Diversified Instruments, Inc.
Genesis
Properties
The records of the following two businesses established by Adnan
Khashoggi's daughter Nabila show the same address used by El Batrawi:
In
Motion Pictures, Inc.
Plum
Picture, Inc.
-----------------------
Just as I was finishing this update, Daniel Hopsicker published
a new article entitled "Cointelpro 9.11", available at
www.madcowprod.com.
Without yet commenting either way on its content, I'll note that
he is promising more documentation concerning John Gray:
"Next Monday in Part II of COINTELPRO 9.11 we'll learn the
truth about cultish involvement in 9/11 flourishing under the
not-so-invisible hand of corrupt Saudi billionaire Adnan Khashoggi,
as well as a few closely-guarded secrets of controversial
author John Gray, including his bizarre connection to uber-UFO
Cult Leader Marshal (“Just DO it”) Applewhite, leader
of the Heaven’s Gate cult which committed suicide in Rancho
Santa Fe, Ca. in March of 1997."
-----------------------
quote of the week: "...pathetically shoddy research,
and paranoid assumptions..." — Bill Douglas
of 911truth.org, commenting on critiques of John Gray by 9/11 activist
Nico Haupt and others, on the 911 Truth Alliance list.
[end of update]
[Original article continues, posted 9 September 2004:]
Earlier this year, a controversy erupted over the participation
of John Gray, "Ph. D" in the 9/11 Internation Inquiry
held in Toronto. Gray is famous as a "relationship guru" and the
author of "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" series. Researchers
Michel Chossudovsky and Matthias Broeckers discovered an alarming
connection between Gray and the notorious Iran-Contra conspirator
and international con man Adnan Khashoggi. The latter had been deeply
involved in running a spectacular stock scam through Genesis Intermedia,
a company with which Gray had been associated for years and was
a part owner.
The story of the Genesis Intermedia (GENI) affair and its aftermath
are summed up in this article from Businessweek:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_19/b3832095_mz020.htm
New York 9/11 researcher Nico Haupt also played an important role
in pursuing this connection, and in pressing for disclosure of information
concerning Gray's funding of the Toronto 9/11 Inquiry as well as
a 9/11 activist organization, 911truth.org. Those involved with
Gray, including the Toronto Inquiry organizer Barrie Zwicker (who
has disclosed that Gray is helping him finance and produce a new
9/11 video project), Nikos Levis, Bill Douglas of 9/11truth.org,
and others, were quite defensive and asserted that Gray was a victim
of Khashoggi's GENI scam and that the two did not have any relationship
of importance (Some of these denials reached the point of outright
ridicule towards those raising questions about Gray, which is disturbing
in itself).
Mike Ruppert interviewed Gray in Toronto. He wrote:
"I spoke personally with John Gray in Toronto. He was extremely
forthcoming and open and was grateful that someone just came to
him directly and asked about Khashoggi. "He said that he had never
met Khashoggi and that he had lost a great deal of money as a
result of Khashoggi's manipulations of the company which had been
handling his products. He said that Khashoggi was a late-comer
in that K's arrival in the company happened AFTER Gray had started
doing business with the company.
This great furor over him seems "much ado about nothing" and
it would all have gone away immediately had someone gone to him
directly at the instant the concerns first surfaced, asked him
questions, and then immediately published his response within
the relevant and appropriate circles."
Barrie Zwicker had this to say:
"I asked John personally about what connection, if any,
he has or had with Adnan Khashoggi. Khashoggi, I have been aware
since the early 1980's is one of the most disgusting international
con men, and there is plenty of competition in that category.
K is clearly a "merchant of death." John satisfied me that he
is aware of the anti-life nature of Khashoggi's activities, that
he has not associated with him and would never want to, that he
was caught up in the aftermath of dirty dealings by Khashoggi
and other dot com crooks and in fact was one of their victims.
I studied a court document and an article from Business Week and
some other materials that were sent to me and could not see how
John was in league with Khashoggi or the others."
A quite different story was later presented in a provocative article
by Daniel Hopsicker, who is actually being sued by Michael Roy Fugler,
who was involved with GENI.
9/11's Big Dirty Secret
http://www.madcowprod.com/mc6312004.html
"To say that John Gray is in business with Adnan Khashoggi
doesnít portray the relationship in quite the right light,"
stated another observer, asking to remain anonymous. "Khashoggi
owns John Gray. He bought his whole Mars-Venus shtick, his company,
and now Gray works for him."
In order to try and sort these conflicting stories out for myself,
I set about seeing what I could find out about Gray and Khashoggi.
As it turns out, it didn't take long to collect a large amount of
information from the variety of legal complaints and other official
documents from GENI-related court cases that are available on the
web. After carefully sifting through these, I found what I think
is more than sufficient documentation to counter the claims by Ruppert,
Zwicker, and others that Gray was an innocent victim with no real
connection to Khashoggi. Instead, the connection appears to be quite
real, and obviously a matter of serious concern.
Concerning Hopsicker's work, there are some claims for which I
am not personally aware of any direct evidence for, and these are
Hopsicker's claims alone. Among these are: a) that Gray is currently
'working for' Adnan Khashoggi or serving as a money conduit. b)
that Gray is controlling any aspect of 911truth, the Toronoto Inquiry,
etc. c) that anyone working with Gray is operating on bad intentions.
I am also not aware of any GENI-related case where Gray is named
as a defendant (but also, i did not read all of the court complaints,
of which there are quite a few).
I won't get into speculations about what Gray is or isn't doing
and what his agenda is, which I don't have any specific knowledge
for. But I can say that I think his background stinks to high heaven.
There have been some complaints that Hopsicker was not fair in the
way he has portrayed the role of the organizers of the Toronto conference,
which I can't comment on either way given that I don't have the
relevant inside knowledge, but I have found little reason to doubt
what he has to say concerning Gray and Khashoggi themselves.
The following is an edited version of a post I made to the 911TruthAlliance
list in mid-July of this year (note: if any of the links are no
longer active, I can provide archived versions of these pages upon
request):
[21 July 2004]
the story we have on the table about gray's past run-in with the
GenesisIntermedia (GENI) fiasco and khashoggi goes something like
this: gray hooked up with genesis early on and made a deal with
them to develop and market a video & audio product line based on
his books. then, years later, international con man khashoggi moved
in on genesis and more or less hijacked the company late in the
game, running various scams manipulating the company's stock and
victimizing many including gray, who lost a lot of money though
all this, including his sale of his genesis stock to khashoggi (whom
he apparently never even met).
now this really seems to put everything in the clear, but actually
it's not the whole story. as a kind of litmus test for how this
matter is being handled by gray's defenders, i have been waiting
for someone to mention a certain name: ramy el-batrawi. and explain
his role. but no one has. and i find this the most perturbing part
yet, because it is el-batrawi who was the lynchpin and connector
between genesis and khashoggi.
who is el-batrawi? he is a long-time business partner and friend
of khashoggi. the two first worked together in 1988, and had already
done several business deals together when el-batrawi formed genesis
in 1993. he was with the company from its inception and served as
its chairman and CEO from 1993 until 2001 when he stepped down as
a result of the stock scandal.
GenesisIntermedia Chief Executive Ramy El-Batrawi told Bloomberg
News that he has worked with Kashoggi on deals dating back to
1988 and speaks with him "almost every day." http://www.larta.org/pl/NewsArticles/9January01LATimes.htm
21. At relevant times, defendant Ramy El-Batrawi (ìEl- Batrawiî)
was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for the Company. El-Batrawi
has known defendant Khashoggi for fifteen years and worked with
him on deals for years before the events alleged in this complaint.
During the Class Period, he and Khashoggi spoke almost every day.
http://securities.stanford.edu/1021/GENI01/20011025_o01c_0109125.pdf
4. Defendant Ramy El-Batrawi ... served as Chairman of the Board
and as the Company's Chief Executive Officer from its inception
in October 1993 until his resignation in October 2001.
http://corporate-law.widener.edu/documents/complaints/19222-001.pdf
[note: hopsicker alleges that attorney michael roy fugler was
involved with the incorporation of the company.]
in addition, genesisintermedia was apparently just one of several
el-batrawi / khashoggi joint projects which were launched in the
early to mid-90s. from research previously posted by nico:
Genesis is a code used by Khashoggi associated with a number
of businesses he and Rami El-Batrawi created in the Tampa, FL
area (I think of Tampa as home of Sami Al-Arian) in the mid-1990s,
including Genesis Aviation.
thus it is amply documented that genesisintermedia was closely
within khashoggi's orbit from the very start.
with this fact in mind, consider the version of events communicated
by gray to mike ruppert in their face to face conversation in toronto,
quoted here from ruppert's email:
"He said that he had never met Khashoggi and that he had lost
a great deal of money as a result of Khashoggi's manipulations of
the company which had been handling his products. He said that Khashoggi
was a late-comer in that K's arrival in the company happened AFTER
Gray had started doing business with the company.
the fact of khashoggi being a "late-comer" is almost meaningless
-- in fact, it is outright misleading -- without mention of el-batrawi's
role in the stock scam -- but gray has apparently left it conveniently
unmentioned based on what we've seen so far. nor does he mention
that he had been doing business for years with el-batrawi, who had
FOUNDED genesis, and that this business had occured during a period
where el-batrawi and khashoggi were working actively together on
other projects. in fact, at some point, gray had become a part owner
of genesis[!]. (i have not been able to find out when this occured
but tentatively i think it's reasonable to assume it was early on,
when gray and batrawi first made the licensing / marketing deal).
this leads obviously to the question, what kind of relationship
did gray have with el-batrawi when he was working with genesis?
first, observe that el-batrawi was the dominant figure in genesis'
day-to-day business activities:
50. Prior to June 1999, GENI was a privately held California-based
marketing and promotions company controlled by Defendant Ramy
El-Batrawi, which was trying to break into the market for interactive
multimedia technologies and the internet. As the Prospectus for
its Initial Public Offering dated June 14, 1999, disclosed, however,
GENI had achieved little success from its efforts and most of
its revenue was derived from related-party transactions. In essence,
it was little more than its founder, Mr. El-Batrawi, and some
ideas.
http://www.mjktrustee.com/pdf/Amended_Complaint.pdf
the media division of genesis, set up by el-batrawi, created and
published gray's new video series, which was hit the market in 1994
(which is when genesis really began its business activities).
el-batrawi was an also an executive producer of gray's 1997 CD,
"Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus - Songs for Loving Couples"
http://www.artistdirect.com/store/artist/album/0,,250796,00.html
gray's products were a critical revenue source for GENI:
33. Incorporated on October 28, 1993, GenesisIntermedia.com,
Inc. did not commence substantial operations until 1994. From
inception through June 1997, the Company devoted substantially
all its resources to selling products the Company owned or had
purchased rights to sell through conventional marketing methods.
The Company sold these products to the general public through
the use of infomercials, radio advertisements, print media and
retail outlets. A substantial portion of the Company's product
revenue has come from its Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus
product series authored by John Gray, Ph.D.
http://www.wyca.com/complnts/geni-com.htm
thus, it is amply documented that gray and el-batrawi had a close
working relationship, that this was central to genesis business-wise,
and they must have known each other well during this period.
it is also interesting to note that the relationship between gray
and el-batrawi went beyond "just business" -- in the acknowledgements
of his 1997 book "Mars and Venus on a Date", gray credits el-batrawi
in a section which begins: "I thank the following family members
and friends for their suggestions and valuable feedback to the ideas
in this book..."
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/5206/venusonadate.html
note that this book was not a genesis product -- it was published
by harper-collins. therefore, it is documented that there was a
positive personal relationship between gray and khashoggi's partner
el-batrawi, over and above their business relationship at genesis.
this brings us to the next stage in the story -- the genesis IPO
and the entry of khashoggi soon after. khashoggi did not come into
the picture as a con-man out of the blue who ruined a perfectly
good, successful company. in fact, genesis was already on the rocks
after a trumped-up IPO in july 1999, desperate for cash and with
its stock price down to $1.33 from an initial offering of $8.50.
khashoggi saved the company with an infusion of cash loaned to his
friend el-batrawi, and his assistance in bringing in resources for
the scam which would inflate genesis stock to over $25.
a good summary of this stage is christopher byron's july 2001
article from the new york observer:
http://www.observer.com/pages/story.asp?ID=4640
note especially how byron shows how gray's friend and confidante
el-batrawi was already playing games with the funds raised from
the july 1999 IPO, BEFORE khashoggi came in and began his active
involvement at the end of 1999.
the entire affair and its aftermath are summed up in this businessweek
article:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_19/b3832095_mz020.htm
now, to return to gray's assertion of being a victim of khashoggi:
"He said that he had never met Khashoggi and that he had lost a
great deal of money as a result of Khashoggi's manipulations of
the company which had been handling his products. He said that Khashoggi
was a late-comer in that K's arrival in the company happened AFTER
Gray had started doing business with the company."
there are two problematic issues here. first, gray is saying that
he lost money through lost sales of his products, allegedly as a
result of khashoggi's manipulations. however, numerous sources confirm
that genesis had not met with success in diversifying its revenue
sources at the time of its IPO, and did not add any new revenue
sources of any significance in the subsequent period. but overall
revenues remained relatively steady during the 2000-01 period, which
can be verified here:
http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/compinfo/CompanyTearsheet.jhtml?tkr=GENI
thus, since gray's products were a main revenue source for genesis,
but its overall revenues did not decline, i would hope we could
see some real documentation of what gray said he lost. i think this
is reasonable to ask. for example, his royalties should show a clearly
anomalous decline in sales of his CDs and videos marketed by genesis
during the relevant period. (note also that by 1998 at the latest,
gray was working with other publishers for his new videos, and there
were no new genesis products that i could find).
the second issue is that gray was also a PART OWNER of genesis,
thus the rise in the stock price engineered by el-batrawi and khashoggi
beginning in late 1999 was in his interest insofar as his stock
ownership was concerned. we need to know how many GENI shares he
owned, when he aquired them, and when he sold them and for what
price. the victims of el-batrawi and khashoggi's scam were those
who were left holding GENI stock after 9/11, when its value finally
collapsed (which also ties in to the important fact that the GENI
scam has been implicated in connection with pre-9/11 INSIDER TRADING).
this included individual stockholders as well as the brokerages
which had borrowed GENI stock in exchange for cash collateral, which
was the central mechanism of the scam. GENI part owner john gray,
on the other hand, was one of the lucky ones who cashed out early,
as noted in reserach posted by nico haupt:
John Gray was paid by Adnan Khashoggi a significant amount for
all of his stock in GenesisIntermedia the month before the attack
on America.Ý He has remained close to Michael Roy Fugler (another
B Team player) who filed a lawsuit against Daniel (Hopsicker)
to attempt to have his book on Barry Seal "Barry & the boys" snuffed...."
so, i can see why gray would mention alleged problems with his
product revenues but not mention his ownership and sale of GENI
stock. if the info above is not correct, then let's see a documented
refutation asap.
on top of this, one of the legal complaints contains a very alarming
disclosure.
the suit filed by ruined broker MJK indicates that SOME STOCK
PURCHASES IN THE EL-BATRAWI / KHASHOGGI SCAM WERE MADE THROUGH AN
ACCOUNT IN JOHN GRAY'S NAME!
94. For example, in August 2001, Mr. El-Batrawi himself bought
more than $23 million in GENI stock,[9] and Mr. D Angelo that same
month bought $30 million in GENI stock, at the same time he was
selling about $27 million in GENI stock. In fact, from June through
September 2001, Mr. D Angelo cumulatively bought more than $67.2
million and sold $68.7 million in GENI stock.10 On more than one
occasion during that time, Mr. D Angelo proudly maintained that
he alone was the market for GENI... [footnote] 9 This number includes
purchases made through accounts in Mr. El-Batrawi s name, in the
name of GenesisIntermedia.com, in the name of Genesis Diversified,
and in the name of John Gray, a part owner of GENI.
http://www.mjktrustee.com/pdf/Amended_Complaint.pdf
now this requires some explaining. and gray certainly hasn't explained
it, because all he has mentioned is losing money through mismanaged
product sales, but this has nothing to do with product sales. futhermore,
since el-batrawi was totally involved in the illegal activities
which supposedly victimized gray, the latter should have had plenty
of opportunities as both a licensor of genesis' main product line
and stockholder to seek legal remedy for this betrayal. but i've
not been able to find any indication that he has done so. if this
is the case, then why?
and indeed, if gray was truly relieved and eager to talk about
how khashoggi came out of the blue and ruined his business relationship
with genesis, why isn't he also chomping at the bit to mention how
the person who really would bear the guilt for conning him was not
so much khashoggi as his longtime friend and business partner ramy
el-batrawi, who had been with genesis from the start and had run
the show all along? if gray was eager for this to be known and understood,
then why has he put forth the technically true but misleading story
that khashoggi was a "latecomer" whom he had never met, when in
fact it was his longtime partner el-batrawi who was running most
of the nuts and bolts of the stock scam AND USING GRAY'S ACCOUNT
TO MAKE SOME THE TRANSACTIONS?
and so, why haven't any of gray's defenders given an explanation
which accounts for his relationship with khashoggi's henchman, el-batrawi?
anyone who wants to work with gray should have had this answered
already.
one thing is for sure, we're not going to hear much from gray's
supposedly "ex" friend and business partner el-batrawi himself.
as noted in the businessweek article, he's just as elusive as khashoggi:
"El-Batrawi could not be located and has not responded to the suits.
One of his attorneys declined to comment."
what it looks like to me is that no one has really done "due dilligence"
on gray before deciding to work with him. i certainly see no evidence
of this being done. all we have been offered are word-of-mouth assurances
which have not been verified. now, mark my words -- i can certainly
imagine possibile explanations where gray still comes out being
the innocent victim, and i'm still completely open and ready to
hear a credible and COMPLETE explanation. and i don't see any evidence
that anyone who is working with gray is operating with ulterior
motives, so i'm not implying such an accusation. i just see extreme
lack of effort to check him out -- and a very weird defensiveness
at the same time.
at this point, blind faith and verbal assurances are not going
to be adequate. this needs to be looked at seriously, and documented,
third-party-verifiable proof of gray's version of the story ought
to be presented. those who insist that an issue like this must be
settled on "trust" are actually the ones violating the trust we
need in this movement. sometimes, trust requires verification. of
course this will take some effort so i wouldn't expect such a thing
to happen immediately while we all have so many things on our plates
and are busy with various urgent projects. but at some point, it
needs to, and i will continue paying close attention to what is
being said, and if further explanations about gray's background
manage to address all the facts, or continue to be full of holes.
Addendum:
The following is part of an earlier post of mine to the 911TruthAlliance
list which has some additional peripheral information about Gray
that might be of help in understanding what he's about:
From: Brian Salter
Subject: Re: [911truthalliance] The 911Truth.org Secret Team
Date: June 30, 2004 1:01:09 AM GMT+07:00
To: Nico Haupt , 911 Truthalliance
... Gray has deep past associations with the world's quintessential
shady huxter guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. he also holds a very sketchy
"Ph.D." which was exposed a few years back (as well as previous
degrees from a Maharishi "university"). Gray is not simply a "self-help"
author, he is a major figure in the "new age" scene (his books are
subtly but heavily laden with new agey ides; more obvious in his
recent stuff) and gets around in the same circles as the usual social
engineers / agents like Barbara Marx Hubbard (Club of Rome), Robert
Muller (Temple of Understanding, Lucis Trust), Marilyn Ferguson
(SRI, Willis Harmon), etc etc. this should be kept in mind by those
who would associate with him. now, i'm not bashing people who are
into new age stuff on their own but the fact is that that field
is completely overrun with intel fronts, agents, mind control projects,
and the sort of cult-promotion that the 'NWO' elites have been doing
full-time since the late 19th-century, and i think caution is due
especially with any mass-promoted celebrities.
[...]
A Newsweek article reports that Gray spent nine years as a celibate
monk and secretary to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (October 2, 1995,
Page 96.) Surely if you're a Beatles fan you'll remember the Maharishi
Mahesh Yogi!Ý Time ran an article in 1997 wherein it was revealed
that Gray earned himself a B.A. and M.A. in the Science of Creative
Intelligence from the Maharishi European Research University in
Switzerland.Ý And just what is the "Science of Creative Intelligence?"Ý
According to a timeline of chronicling the highlights of the Maharishi's
campaign to establish heaven on earth, in 1971 "His Holiness"
formulated the Science of Creative intelligence as the "scientific
theory for the development of higher states of consciousness,
which naturally develop through the practice of Trascendental
Meditation."Ý Yeah, I hear all your Harvard Medical School graduates
are doing this now.ÝÝ Cripes!Ý No wonder Najarian was eso vasive.
Oh, and the "University?"Ý Well, that's been rumored to be evidenced
by the existence of a few desks in the a hotel run by the movement
in Seelisberg, Switzerland.
With this puzzling foundation established, I wondered where
Gray received a Ph.D. Ý On Gray's book jackets and WWW sites,
we are told that he received a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia
Pacific University. Now, I won't profess to know every school
that dots the landscape of the United States, but I became concerned
when I was unable to find a reference to Columbia Pacific University
in any volume of Dissertation Abstracts.Ý After all, Gray acts
quite the authority throughout his publications and on talk show
appearances; I fully expected the man to have a degree from an
esteemed and widely respected institution. As a result, I did
some checking on Gray's alma mater and here is what I found. ï
One master's-degree student was given credit for "a learning contract
describing how he would continue taking dance lessons and watch
dance demonstrations in order to improve his skills as a Country
Western dancer." ï A Ph.D. dissertation written in Spanish was
approved by four faculty who cannot speak the language. ï One
dissertation "had no hypothesis, no data collection, and no statistical
analysis. A member of the visiting committee characterized the
work as more like a project paper at the college freshman level."
The dissertation, The Complete Guide to Glass Collecting, was
61 pages long. ï At least nine students who received Ph.D.s in
1994 had been enrolled less than 20 months, four of them less
than 12. [Point Reyes Light, December 24, 1997]
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/women_rebuttal_from_uranus/school.htm
John Gray attempted some legal heavy hitting against a blog which
discussed his "Ph.D." background: http://www.gavinsblog.com/mt/archives/000936.html
more results of Gray's legal actions:
http://mensnewsdaily.com/archive/h/hernan/03/hernan102703.htm
gray answers his critics (amazing quotes...):
http://www.insideedition.com/investigative/johngray.htm
John Gray headlining a recent New Age conference alongside John
Hagelin, a leading figure in Maharishi's Natural Law Party:
http://www.newageexpo.com/speakers.html
Maharishi gets around...
The Maharishi International University (MIU) [MUM] was established
at Iowa in the US in 1971. The group of students and professors
who were meditating at a converted apartment building in Santa
Barbara, California, found that they needed more space. About
that time Parsons' College went bankrupt; and the Maharishi bought
it for about $2.5 million in 1973.
Soon after, in 1976, the `world government of the age of enlightenment'
was established at Seelisberg, in Switzerland. Styled in the manner
of a spiritual United Nations, its hierarchy is punctuated with
ministers for information and inspiration, education and enlightenment,
health and immortality... This vast organisation claims sovereignty
in the domain of consciousness and 1,600 capitals of the age of
enlightenment around the world'.
Periodically, the 'world government' inserts full-page advertisements
in some of the most expensive newspapers and magazines all over
the world, offering help to all countries in solving their problems.
A massive sum is sunk in this propaganda exercise.
Among the yet to be substantiated tall claims of the Maharishi's
followers is the high sounding claim that 'the Maharishi unified
field-based education, health. government, economics, defence,
rehabilitation and agriculture will perpetuate unified field-based
ideal civilisation generation to generation'. All the same, it
goes to the Maharishi's credit that there have been a lot of buyers
for his philosophy. it is believed that some countries like Brazil,
had responded to the Maharishi's world government's offer to help
solve their problems free of cost. Even the Philippines, during
Ferdnand Marcos's reign, had wooed the Maharishi to set up shop
in his country.
http://www.trancenet.org/news/weekly/zutopia.shtml
http://trancenet.org/news/weekly/index.shtml
10 Things About the Natural Law Party's $3-Billion Transcendental
Meditation Empire You Don't Know:
* In 1984, TM guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi crowned tinpot dictator
Ferdinand Marcos ``President of the World Government of the Age
of Enlightenment in the Philippines,'' saying Marcos was ``rising
to be the guiding light in the family of nations.''
* In 1991, two English doctors who follow TM were barred from
practicing medicine after they prescribed to AIDS patients TM
herbal products containing feces.
* TM poster boy and Natural Law Party of Canada Vice President
Doug Hewing embraces TM beliefs that include life-long celibacy
and the stricture that anyone who ejaculates will never encounter
the divine. Henning's former wife, Barbara DeAngelis, left the
magician (tired of being sawed in half, surely?) for a gig in
Los Angeles as a radio and TV sex therapist.
* In 1991, the Maharishi persuaded Zambian strongman Kenneth
Kaunda, who had ruled for 27 years, to undertake the ``Maharishi
Heaven on Earth Development Project,'' a multimillion agrarian
utopia theme park for the country's six million poor. The project
was to take up one-quarter of Zambia's land mass. The ``giggling
guru'' claimed the project would disperse a ``wondrous aura of
calm and anti-negativity.'' In Zambia's first multi-party election
in 15 years, voters rejected Kaunda and the Maharishi's scheme.
Both fled the country.
* U.S. federal tax returns indicate that between 1985 and 1989,
two of the Maharishi's companies transferred a total of $54-million
out of the country to his secluded fortress at Vlodrop, Netherlands.
* Ever the entrepreneur, the Maharishi offered to rid Washington,
D.C. of ``the problems of crime and all behavior that brings unhappiness
to the family of man.'' If local government or private donors
would pay him $29-million. Baltimore, Md., would cost $88-million
(at $36,000 for each of the 2,400 meditators needed.) So far,
no takers.
* In 1989, a German court, basing its decision on West German
governmental studies of TM, concluded that the movement ``could
cause psychic defects or destroy personality.''
* Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa, where
the Natural Law Party was founded in 1991, is the source of many
of the party's ``scientifically-validated studies.'' MIU has the
highest student loan default rate for colleges in the entire state
of Iowa.
* In 1989 the Maharishi decided to settle out of court with
ten former TM members who sued him for fraud and negligence.
http://minet.org/TM-EX/n93fall.dtp.0.html
speaking of Marcos, it's a small world...
Even Imelda Marcos and Adnan Khashoggi, the Saudi arms dealer,
have a guru--India's Shri Chandra Swamiji Maharaj. In addition
to providing spiritual counsel to the fabulously wealthy and hobnobbing
with Elizabeth Taylor, the guru, who's been called a "one-man
jet-set-introduction service" apparently greases the wheels in
weapons transactions and was implicated in the Iran-Contra arms
deal. The vastly rich swami was arrested by the Indian police
in 1987 on charges of currency fraud.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/ramtha/ramtha1.html
ÝÝÝÝA rich and mysterious Indian guru is emerging as another
key figure in the Harrods deal.Ý It was he, Shri Chandra Swamiji
Maharaj, who arranged the introduction of Mohammed Fayed to the
Sultan of Brunei in 1984. ÝÝÝÝThe Swami, a giant bearded figure
in flowing white, claims to advise a number of leading political
figures around the world, including King Hussein of Jordan, President
Mobutu, Rajiv Gandhi and Richard Nixon.Ý He is currently on his
way to visit ex-President Marcos in Honolulu.Ý He has met Mrs
Thatcher several times. ÝÝÝÝThe Swami is always accompanied by
his business adviser Mamaji, Kailash Nath Agar Vall, who relieves
him of any unpleasant commercial transactions which may happily
occur in the course of his spiritual interviews. ÝÝÝÝFayed was
asked for two million dollars for the introduction to the Sultan.Ý
Eventually Fayed paid the Swami half a million dollars plus a
percentage of any future deals, which might result from the meeting.Ý
These turned out to be substantial.Ý
http://www.guardianlies.com/Pre-DTI%20press/page44.html
Some research notes forwarded to the 911TruthAlliance list by
Nico Haupt, related to Hopsicker's investigations:
"...John Gray ...would cite his PhD from Columbia Pacific Institute
(an organization that was literally a false PhD mill by mail based
in Novato, CA that was shut down by authorities).Ý Gray worked with
Adnan Khashoggi years ago.Ý Gray then helped Khashoggi frame "Genesis"
around Gray's book.Ý The company was renamed GenesisIntermedia with
yet another hyped merger and is a defendant (together with Khashoggi
and El-Batrawi) in a class action lawsuit filed in Minnesota.Ý Genesis
is a code used by Khashoggi associated with a number of businesses
he and Rami El-Batrawi created in the Tampa, FL area (I think of
Tampa as home of Sami Al-Arian) in the mid-1990s, including Genesis
Aviation. Ý John Gray was paid by Adnan Khashoggi a significant
amount for all of his stock in GenesisIntermedia the month before
the attack on America.Ý He has remained close to Michael Roy Fugler
(another B Team player) who filed a lawsuit against Daniel (Hopsicker)
to attempt to have his book on Barry Seal "Barry & the boys" snuffed...."
Part of Gray's question-and-answer session at the Toronto Inquiry,
where he expresses his opinion that we should be preparing to "forgive
the government" (thanks to Angie D'Urso for this transcript):
Question from an audience member:
"John, in conclusion of your speech, I understood you to
say that we could heal ourselves by forgiving the government
for letting the terrorists commit the attacks. My question to
you is what makes you believe this long after 9/11 that
the terrorists who committed the attacks weren't within
the U.S. government?"
John Gray's Answer:
"I've written several books on forgiveness, and whenever
anybody
talks about forgiveness they always think, it's like if you have
a good excuse, then I forgive you. Like, let's say I'm late for
dinner, my wife's upset with me, and I say, but honey there was
a fire on the bridge and I rescued a child, and she say's oh,
okay, that's a great excuse, I forgive you. That's not what forgiveness
is. That means she doesn't need to forgive me because I have a
great excuse. The government doesn't have a great excuse. These
are murderers. The people we really
need to forgive are the Congress that allowed them to do it, because
they know a lot of the details. And they're kind of like on the
edge and they don't know ALL the information. So finding forgiveness
for a government doesn't mean that you say that they had good
reasons for it. They didn't have good reasons for it, they're
killers and there's murderers and there's a few of them, there's
not a whole lot of them. So, we want to forgive the
whole government because they were fooled just like we've been
fooled. And for those people we forgive them as mentally ill and
we put them away and we make a big show of it. I would personally
like to even, I'm always out of the box a little bit, but I think
that I would like to make a big show of it and demonstrate through
brain scans the problems with their
brains. My research in the last 10 years is about brain research,
differences between men and women and brain research. And I bet
every penny I have that if we could do live brain scans, that
these men who run that will have very inactive prefrontal cortex
which is associated with people, and this is a fact, there's people
who can't feel happy unless there's violence in front of them,
unless they're dropping bombs. And let me give you one brief example
of that, in America, I know the statistics there, 1 out of 5 boys,
1 out of a 100 girls, and 1 out of 5 boys is taking Ritalin for
ADD symptoms, which is an inactive prefrontal cortex. But, you
put 'em on a videogame with bombs and immediately the brain starts
producing more dopamine which
is pleasure and their brain begins functioning in a cogent, clear
way. So what happens is these are smart guys, some of them, some
of them aren't (George Bush), but they're smart guys, but they're
unable to experience pleasure in their lives without some sort
of stimulation. And I believe that before anybody could ever be
elected to a high authority position that we should do brain scans
on their brains, make sure that their brain chemicals are normal
because these people don't have normal brain chemicals."
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