Tessellation of the Elementary School

The word "geometry" comes from the Greek γεωμετρία; geo = earth, metria = measure. As such it deals with questions of size and shape and the properties of space. It thus a way not only of defining space but an invented way of seeing.

This way of seeing the world has been with us so long that we've forgotten that we created it ourselves; when we see perfect geometrical forms they often don't register. They are taken for granted; they become like trees and rocks on the plane. The cultivated field seems as natural as the forest glen and people can say without irony that or going to the park or the golf course is a little taste of "nature."

That is why the jungle gym pictured above seems so discrete, hardly noticed in passing. But one day, when the moment is right, it registers.

The way we educate our children, even in play, prepares them for their place in the pyramid of society. There's nothing necessarily conspiratorial in this; it's just so integrated into our way of thinking we don't question it.

But in this particular jungle gym, perhaps with tongue and cheek, slightly bulging, a little cluck of the mother hen, we see an example of how we teach our children to climb the pyramid ladder. They unconsciously know exactly what this represents for them later in life. They will move in artificial stages towards an illusory goal, first reinforced on the playground and thoroughly beaten into them by the drudging "progress" "upwards" in a system of grades. This is called education.


"Reseau Pyramid" is the Réseau régional de formation à distance for the Midi-Pyrénées. (Regional distance-learning network). This is a network of centers which offers training and e-learning components designed to help the under or unemployed get back into the workforce with new training. Anything to help the masses find their proper place in the pyramid.

Just to keep us on our toes we are informed that there are 13 training locations....reminds of the thirteen layers of the Le Temple de la Sagesse Suprême or the unfinished pyramid on the dollar bill. There is an implication of progress to an unfinished goal in this latter. Development is assured. Nature can be perfected. The subdivision is a taxonomy of the land; geometry of the mind's eye; one hand washes the other, and with that, the mind. Perfect Thunder dissipated into a fart upon dessicated soil.

In representing a specific form of "natural" social organization, the pyramid implies a certain "natural" division of land. It's worth noting that there are at least three real estate companies in France called Keops (1, 2, 3). We found this out with a quick Google after seeing the following eye-popper on a sign in a vacant lot.

And since we're dealing with questions of real estate, we've finally got a place to put this next photo. Promologis is another real estate company whose signs feature a prominent pyramid. Metering the geosphere indeed....

Which brings us to a final point. Once a French friend told us that Freemasons in France were deeply entrenched in the real estate business in France. This may or may not be true. But it's interesting that in the real estate context, the pyramid shines forth. This is known as development.

Washington: First in War, Peace -- and Accounting

This article by Joel Achenbach in the Oct. 12 edition of The Washington Post is an interesting read and fits nicely with our ongoing look at the rise of capitalism, the tessellation of the plane and Enlightenment revolutionary doctrines. The most pertinent passage is quoted below:

As thoroughly researched as the life of Washington has been, his career as a warrior and statesman has largely overshadowed his entrepreneurial history. He was the CEO, in effect, of a farming, manufacturing and real estate operation that by the end of his life encompassed more than 50,000 acres of field and forest. Farms, fisheries, weavers, smithies, a grist mill, a distillery -- these were just part of the Washington empire.

Washington came of age as a backcountry surveyor of relatively modest means. His business sensibilities, innovative thinking and willingness to take chances are all part and parcel of his evolution as a revolutionary.

By the end of his life, Washington was one of the richest men in the nation he had helped create. But he knew the frustrations of doing business in a land that lacked banks, roads and industry, where there was little capital, and where he had to depend on transatlantic commerce using information moving at the speed of a sailing ship. Washington was so cash-strapped in 1789 that he had to borrow money from a neighbor in order to travel to his presidential inauguration.

The Curious Case of the Barefoot Burglar

Here's an odd little tale about a clever juvenile delinquent with a Facebook fan club.

America--Fuck yeah!!

The saga of the American Police Force story began to unravel last week but the unraveling appears to be on hold for the weekend. We expect things to accelerate tomorrow. Maybe all won't be revealed but certainly more details will emerge, theories will be proven untrue and stupid rumors will be laid to rest.

So far the speculation-o-sphere seems to be divided into a few camps. What we call the knee-jerk conspiracy theorists, or the reactionaries, are convinced that this is a nefarious scheme by Xe (formerly Blackwater). We here at LoS believe that the privatization of the police and penal system are indeed grave threats to civil liberties. That is why the rampant and unfounded linking of this affair to Blackwater is so offensive. Cry wolf enough and sensible people will begin to write you off.

Dig this bit from Prison Planet by Paul Joseph Watson on 1/10: "APF web page admits it runs Blackwater-controlled U.S. Training Center, proving that the two organizations are one and the same."

The article then goes on to "prove" that Blackwater (actually Xe) runs the U.S. Training Center. The problem is, there is nothing to prove. Xe openly admits that the USTC is their operation.

But more importantly, how does claiming to run anything make it true? If you were going to hire a guy to be your security director and on his résumé he listed experience with the CIA as a qualification, you'd probably be inclined to check it out. And if the CIA said there was no record of this guy ever working for them, what would you think?

a) Wow this guy was in so deep the CIA won't acknowledge his employment! or
b) This guy is full of shit

A second camp proposes that the APF may in fact be a real company with links to the private security establishment, but has simply bitten off more than it can chew. We tend to think even this gives the APF too much credit. Their argument has the benefit of restraint and not jumping to conclusions before all the facts are in. Versions of this theory have APF linked to Allied Defense Systems or other less well-known groups, such as Vance Security USA. ADS has in fact admitted meeting with ADF but says their background check persuaded them to avoid working with them.

A third camp thinks that the APF is an elaborate scam. They cite the founder's extensive criminal background and the fact that the APF claims to have years of experience despite being founded in February 2009, just after it became known that the facility they are to take over was up for grabs. They note that the APF website steals images from other private security firms' websites. This You Tube collection of news reports is pretty convincing that this is a boondoggle of large proportions.

To Prison Planet's credit, they've put up an article by Felix Barbour on 02/10 supporting the scam theory. Mr. Barbour has actually done some basic journalism and found that the APF is unlicensed to act in the capacities they advertise. They cannot act as private investigators or security operators.

And then there's the logo. A bit over-the-top, to say the least. Odd too that the APF's website seems to have changed it's name since yesterday from the American Police Force to the American Private Police Force. Perhaps hoping to avoid being charged with impersonating a police officer when the charges are filed....

Last we've heard, APF honcho Michael Hilton, or should we say Miodrag Dokovich, has left town, probably before being run out of it on a rail covered in tar and feathers.

We at LoS think this a scam. Perhaps it will come to light that APF is working in concert with another, more established company but we'll reserve judgment until more facts come out. There has been talk of a parent company but who knows?

We're actually interested in the possibility that the APF is more than just a clever con. Could they be a front for some kind of nationalist Serbian group? Dokovich claims to be from Montenegro, which only a few years ago was linked with Serbia as the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006). In 2006 Montenegro went independent and the bond was dissolved.

Is Dokovish a bitter nationalist who'd like to see that union renewed? Why would a Montegrin use the Serbian coat of arms for his corporate logo?

Anyway, all this is fascinating, no matter which of the theories turns out to be true. We're merely getting our speculations in before more of this tale unfolds....

For more on the situation as it stands as of 03/10, see this good synopsis from The Missoulian.

Also, this guy certainly got on the bus rather early with his site http://www.americanpoliceforce.net which takes the APF story as its centerpiece but also deals with the privatization of the military and the police. And hey, he'll sell you three APF domain names for $100,000!

Monarchists and Mercenaries: Say hello to the American Police Force

Remember them militarized police explorers? If that worried you than this'll surely get your (pet) goat: "residents of Hardin, MT, were alarmed last week when executives from the firm, American Police Force, showed up in the town, which does not have its own police department, with Mercedes SUVs bearing "City Of Hardin Police Department" decals." The company is close to closing a deal which would give it control of a jail in the small Montana town in order to build a police training facility. APF's own website links itself to the U.S. Training Center operated by Xe--the private military security firm formerly known as Blackwater--but the link has been denied by Xe spokespeople. Ditto APF's claims to have worked with the U.S. government. Founder Michael Hilton, a U.S. citizen apparently originally from Montenegro, has a long criminal record which includes real estate scams, misdirection of funds and writing bad checks. A shady character indeed. Xe is almost certainly being truthful on this one. The Raw Story blog studied Burke's Peerage and came across the fact that the APF coat of arms seems to be very similar to Serbian Prince Aleksandar Karageorgevich. (Born in White Lodge, England!) In fact, save the yellow border on the shield, replaced in the APF coat with two yellow fleurs-de-lis, and some variations in the crown, they are identical. The coat of arms also figures on the national flag of Serbia. Although the coat of arms of Montenegro is very different, its flag and coat also feature a crowned double-headed eagle. 

Blackwater itself has been linked to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a link strenuously dismissed as conspiracy theory by both Blackwater (Xe) and the Knights of Malta. An official European Parliament report claims that Blackwater used Malta as a base of operations in support of CIA-rdered rendition of suspected terrorists. The SMOM coat of arms also bears a resemblance to the APF/Alexander K. coats--ermine cape, crown, white cross, but then again, many other share these elements as well. It appears as there is a rather tangled history between the Yugoslav royal family and various Orders of St. John, and the SMOM, as a descendant of the Knights Hospitaller are also called the Order of St. John. The patron of Freemasonry is St. John and the double-headed eagle is used as the symbol of the Scottish Rite. It is suggested that this is an alchemical symbol of the union of male and female elements in the personality. In Orthodox countries it symbolizes the dual sovereignty of the Emperor--religious and political--or his dominance over East and West. Which would lead chilling resonance to its use by APF...if it were indeed a Xe front. Blackwater is accused of having a secret crusader doctrine and a goal of establishing Christian supremacy in the Middle East. Former Blackwater exec Joseph Schmitz is an honorary member of the SMOM. Blackwater was named by a wealthy scion by the name of Eric Prince. Evocatively named, reclusive, ultra-conservative, convert to Roman Catholicism, Prince has donated generously to Republican and conservative Christan organizations. It has been said that Prince "“views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe...To that end, Mr. Prince intentionally deployed to Iraq certain men who shared his vision of Christian supremacy, knowing and wanting these men to take every available opportunity to murder Iraqis. Many of these men used call signs based on the Knights of the Templar, the warriors who fought the Crusades”." Xe strikes us as an unusual name. We can only find one other use--it the abbreviation for Xenon--a noble (haha) gas. It is colorless, odorless and heavy. Not a bad symbol for a covert police force! The name is Greek and means "foreign(er)", "strang(er)" or "guest." But the claims made by APF which link themselves to the U.S. Training Center and Xe appear to be perfidious. Their use of Yugoslav royal heraldry remains a mystery. Not knowing where to go with this info, we emailed both Xe about their name and APF for some clarification about the coat of arms.

While we're waiting also though we'd post this nifty image from the APF of an earth tessellated for use as a giant chessboard because it meshes nicely with recent posts. While we are eagerly awaiting a response to our inquiries, we hope it's not a jack-booted mercenary parachuting through the skylight. A simple email will suffice! We're not so worried though, APF appears to be a clever scam rather than some far scarier Xe shenanigan. But with Mr. "Hilton's" Montenegrin background, there may be some other weird Byzantine politics at play. But long after the wool comes up and the APF exposed, Xe will still be lurking out there, odorless, transparent, heavy. Even scarier still, people like those in Montana will find nothing wrong in welcoming them with open arms, as long as some jobs are involved.