Dr. Kaveh Farrokh, professor of Persian Studies at the University of British Columbia, and author of the new "Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War" (Osprey Publishing), passes a 5 part video series along to BATR readers via Mark Dankof of the Republic Broadcasting Network.

Issued by the History Channel Program, it is entitled: Engineering an Empire: The Persians (aired last Fall - recorded in August 2006) - Dr. Farrokh appears in Part 4.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKN-gZuSH2o&mode=related&search=

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdqmdB_Sbtc&mode=related&search=

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bykHGRD_BZ4&mode=related&search=

Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNWmaMTTesI&mode=related&search=

Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFPoe06ThRU&mode=related&search=

A tussle of superpower dimension may be looming as a major Russian mining figure, Sergei Vybornov, newly appointed chief executive of Alrosa, prepares a joint gold mining investment project with officials of the Azerbaijan Government. This follows an Azeri press report of a meeting in Baku, the Azeri capital, called by local officials with representatives of Alrosa, Russia's state owned diamond mining company which has been diversifying into gold, oil, and other minerals.

The report from Baku remains unconfirmed. It is also unclear whether Vybornov, who has publicly announced his ambition to pursue gold mining acquisitions in the Caucasus, is the initiator of a gambit into Azerbaijan; whether the Azeris are attempting to embroil Alrosa in their conflict with Armenia; or whether the Russians are applying an indirect form of pressure on the Armenians. The gold assets lie squarely in the middle of this Caucasian chalk circle.

The deposits identified in a news report from Baku are (in current Azeri spelling) Gedabek, Gosha, and Ordubad, which are located in western Azerbaijan; and Soutely, Gyzilburakh, and Vejnali, located in Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan, and controlled for more than a decade by the Armenian army. A map, published in the annual report for 2006 of Anglo Asian Mining Plc, refers to this area as "occupied territories". And there's the double rub.

First of all, there is no foreseeable prospect of Azerbaijan negotiating a peaceful change of Armenian rule of Nagorno-Karabakh; and no chance whatever of a military option. Although Australian and other gold mining companies have long sought concessions for gold believed to lie in territories stretching eastward and northward from Turkey into the Caucasus, and although Soviet geologists were convinced the area holds significant gold deposits, no geologist, no outsider, is safe between the two warring armies. And that includes Russians.

The Council for National Policy (CNP) has been called the Right's answer to the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Who is known to be a member of this relatively secret society? How many of its members are pro-Zionist? Search the known online listings.

Nationalist Forum is proud to announce our No More Wars For Israel Conference, to be held over the weekend of March 24 & 25, 2007 ( Saturday and Sunday) in Southern California ( Orange County area)

Dr. Kaveh Farrokh of the University of British Columbia was recently on Mark Dankof's America on the Republic Broadcasting Network. Dr. Farrokh has a new release coming out with Osprey Publishing in April of 2007, entitled "Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia At War." Those who think war with Iran will be a Kenneth "Cakewalk" Edelman affair should read it.

Dr. Kaveh Farrokh is also a member of Stanford University's WAIS (World Association of International Studies); a member of the Iran Linguistics Society; and a consultant to the History Channel.

About Dr. Rao

Jewish Quarterly (UK), [print edition] 2005, p. 27-30 "A story little told is that of Jews in Hollywood's seedier cousin, the adult film industry. Perhaps we'd prefer that the 'triple exthnics' didn't exist, but there's no getting away from the fact that secular Jews played (and still continue to play) a disproportionate role throughout the adult film industry in America. Jewish involvement in pornography has a long history in the United States, as Jews have helped transform a fringe subculture into what has become a primary constituent of Americana. These are the 'true blue' Jews. Smut peddlers Jewish activity in the porn industry divides into two (sometimes overlapping) genres: pornographers and performers. Though Jews make up only two percent of the American population, they have been prominent in pornography. Many erotica dealers in the book trade between 1890 and 1940 were immigrant Jews of German origin ... In the postwar era, America's most notorious pornographer was Reuben Sturman, the 'Walt Disney of porn.' According to the US Department of Justice, throughout the 1970s Sturman controlled most of the pornography circulating in the country ... By the mid-80s he owned over 200 adult bookstores ... It was said that Sturman did not simply control the adult-entertainment industry, he was the industry.

How did the preaching of a peasant carpenter from Galilee spark a movement that would grow to include over two billion followers? Who listened to this "good news," and who ignored it? Where did Christianity spread, and how? Based on quantitative data and the latest scholarship, preeminent scholar and journalist Rodney Stark presents new and startling information about the rise of the early church, overturning many prevailing views of how Christianity grew through time to become the largest religion in the world.

Drawing on both archaeological and historical evidence, Stark is able to provide hard statistical evidence on the religious life of the Roman Empire to discover the following facts that set conventional history on its head:

• Contrary to fictions such as The Da Vinci Code and the claims of some prominent scholars, Gnosticism was not a more sophisticated, more authentic form of Christianity, but really an unsuccessful effort to paganize Christianity.
• Paul was called the apostle to the Gentiles, but mostly he converted Jews.
• Paganism was not rapidly stamped out by state repression following the vision and conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine in 312 AD, but gradually disappeared as people abandoned the temples in response to the superior appeal of Christianity.
• The "oriental" faiths—such as those devoted to Isis, the Egyptian goddess of love and magic, and to Cybele, the fertility goddess of Asia Minor—actually prepared the way for the rapid spread of Christianity across the Roman Empire.
• Contrary to generations of historians, the Roman mystery cult of Mithraism posed no challenge to Christianity to become the new faith of the empire— it allowed no female members and attracted only soldiers.

By analyzing concrete data, Stark is able to challenge the conventional wisdom about early Christianity offering the clearest picture ever of how this religion grew from its humble beginnings into the faith of more than one-third of the earth's population.

Excerpts from reviews of The Slaughter of Cities: Urban Renewal As Ethnic Cleansing ($40 + S&H) by E. Michael Jones, Ph.D.

"The high-rise 'projects' may have been a dismal failure, it is said, but urban renewal was done with good intentions. Not so, Jones argues in this immense volume ... . Incorporating all the details into his sweeping narrative, Jones makes gripping drama out of urban development. Unfortunately, the epic it recounts is tragic." Ray Olson, Booklist Magazine.

"If you want to understand the present and the future, you have to understand the past. This is particularly true of urban problems, which can never be detached from their history. Some provocative new reading in this area is E. Michael Jones' The Slaughter of Cities: Urban Renewal as Ethnic Cleansing." Dan Knauss, Riverwest Currents.

"This startling claim - that the breakdown of the Church in modern America had its origins in government-directed social policies of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, which originated in the government's propaganda efforts during World War I to control the 'enemy on the home front' (the Catholic ethnics from Poland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and southeastern Europe) is made by E. Michael Jones in his powerful new work ... . The Slaughter of Cities provides a key to understanding who 'broke' America's cities and why they did so. The book also indicates how the elites used World Wars I and II to 'Americanize' Catholic ethnics, used the crisis of war production to transport millions of poor blacks North for factory work and housed them in Catholic neighborhoods, branded Catholics as racists for resisting this influx, invented and employed sophisticated propaganda tools in the major media to persuade Catholics the suburban life with a car and garage was superior to a close-knit neighborhood, and that public school was superior to the parochial school, and so much more." Paul Likoudis, The Wanderer.

I have never been more excited about a conference in my life. Next June 1–4, 2007, The Future of Freedom Foundation is holding one of the most important conferences in the history of the libertarian movement, “Restoring the Republic: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties.” For 3 1/2 days, Friday morning through Monday noon, we will be addressing the two most burning issues of our time — foreign policy and civil liberties. This landmark conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency Reston in Reston, Virginia. Reston is one of the nicest areas of northern Virginia and, in fact, was recently named one of the Top 100 Best Places to Live by Money magazine.

With the ever-growing debacle in Iraq, there has never been a better time to come together to share ideas on restoring the limited-government, constitutional republic envisioned by our Founding Fathers. It is to that end that we are hosting this exciting and important conference. When you review our list of 22 speakers — libertarians, liberals, and conservatives — you will see that this is going to be one fantastic intellectual experience you are not going to want to miss.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 11/22/2006

For more information contact:

Jason Mrochek, Co-founder and National Director

FIRE Coalition

Jason@firecoalition.com

www.FIRECoalition.com

(951) 536-2036

Operation Body Count

Highlights Human Cost of Illegal Immigration

"More then 25 Americans die every day at the hands of illegal aliens"

On Saturday, November 25, 2006, the Federal Immigration Reform & Enforcement (FIRE) Coalition will conduct Operation Body Count. This one-hour presentation will occur in state capitols and major cities from coast to coast simultaneously.

The FIRE Coalition, along with Mothers Against Illegal Aliens (MAIA) and other coalition member groups in Arizona, Washington, Illinois, and North Carolina will peaceably illustrate, in a somber and dignified fashion, the daily loss of life at the hands of illegal aliens in America.

Statistically, 25 Americans die every day at the hands of illegal aliens. In one year, that equates to 9,125 dead; more than all of our military losses and civilian casualties since the Marine Barracks bombing in 1983. Operation Body Count seeks to ensure that our state, local, and federal governments, as well as our citizens, are aware of the magnitude of these losses. In order to ensure proper attention is placed on enforcing our immigration laws, we have prepared a partial list of 3,000 victims who died because of illegal immigration. This list is available electronically upon request.

The following locations will participate in

Operation Body Count: Phase I

Phoenix, AZ: Time: 1pm (Arizona Time)

Capitol Building, 1700 W. Washington, East Lawn.

Contact Rusty Childress, (602) 571-4400

Olympia, WA: Time: 12pm (PST)

Tivoli Fountain Area, Washington State Capitol Mall

Contact Bob Baker, (206) 275-2684

Chicago, IL: Time: 2pm (CST)

2741 West Montrose Avenue

Contact Ev Evertsen (815) 334-7740

Raleigh, NC: Time: 3pm (EST)

State Capitol, Union Square, near Zebulon Baird Vance monument,

Contact Jeff Lewis (252) 244-1652

The FIRE Coalition is a nationwide coalition of individuals and over 100 groups dedicated to stopping the flood of illegal immigration and promoting reasonable policies for limited, controlled legal immigration that serve to benefit the American people and safeguard our jobs, communities, way of life, public resources, environmental resources, and national security.

We believe that it is the duty of our government to vigorously enforce our immigration laws, including repatriation of foreign nationals illegally in the United States and removing incentives for individuals to illegally cross our borders. We support the enforcement and strengthening of existing laws penalizing those who employ and harbor illegal immigrants, and seek to educate those who passively accept or “turn a blind eye” to this problem as to the many destructive consequences of illegal immigration. FIRE Coalition’s efforts extend beyond federal matters to include state and local concerns as well. The coalition is most widely known for their employer enforcement database at WeHireAliens.com where nearly 2,500 employers, who reportedly hire illegal aliens, are listed.

Note: English translations of foreign language documents follow origianls.

USSR, Memorandum, A. Adzhubei’s Account of His Visit to Washington to the CC CPSU, March 12, 1962. (in original Russian with English translation)

CIA, Minutes, SECRET, "Meeting with the Attorney General of the United States Concerning Cuba," 19 January 1962 (Richard Helms)

DOD, Memorandum, TOP SECRET, "Cover and Deception Plans for Caribbean Survey Group," 19 February 1962 (Operation Northwoods).

Brig. Gen. Edward Lansdale, “Review of OPERATION MONGOOSE,” Phase One, July 25, 1962.

“National Security Action Memorandum No. 181,” Presidential Directive on actions and studies in response to new Soviet Bloc Activity in Cuba, August 23, 1962.

CIA, Minutes, TOP SECRET, "Minutes of Meeting of the Special Group (Augmented) on Operation Mongoose," 4 October 1962.

Chronology Compiled for The President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), "Chronology of Specific Events Relating to the Military Buildup in Cuba," Undated [Excerpt].

DOD, Transcripts, SECRET, “Notes taken from Transcripts of Meetings of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, October-November 1962: Dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis.”

CIA Special National Intelligence Estimate, “Major Consequences of Certain U.S. Courses of Action on Cuba,” October 20, 1962.

Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, military briefing, “Notes on October 21, 1962 Meeting with the President.”

USSR, directive, TOP SECRET, Malinovsky’s Order to Pliyev, October 22, 1962.

“Radio-TV Address of the President to the Nation from the White House,” October 22, 1962.

Dillon group discussion paper, “Scenario for Airstrike Against Offensive Missile Bases and Bombers in Cuba,” October 25, 1962.

Prime Minister Fidel Castro’s letter to Premier Khrushchev, October 26, 1962.

CIA daily report, "The Crisis USSR/Cuba," October 27, 1962.

Cable received from U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Raymond Hare to State Department regarding Turkish missiles, October 26, 1962.

DOJ, Memorandum, TOP SECRET, “Memorandum for the Secretary of State from the Attorney General,” on Robert Kennedy’s October 27 Meeting with Dobrynin, October 30, 1962.

USSR, Cable, TOP SECRET, Dobrynin Report of Meeting with Robert Kennedy on Worsening Threat, October 27, 1962.

U.S. Navy, TOP SECRET/SECRET/FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY, Charts/deck logs of anti-submarine warfare operations related to USSR submarine B-59, October 1962.

USSR, Memoir, “Recollections of Vadim Orlov (USSR Submarine B-59): We will Sink Them All, But We will Not Disgrace Our Navy,” (2002).

Aspectos importantes contenidos en los informes ofrecidos por los jefes militares reunidos el día 24 de octubre de 1962 en el Estado Mayor General con el Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro.

USSR, draft directive, Directive to the Commander of Soviet Forces in Cuba on transfer of Il-28s and Luna Missiles, and Authority on Use of Tactical Nuclear Weapons, September 8, 1962.

USSR, Directive, TOP SECRET, Prohibition on Use of Nuclear Weapons without Orders from Moscow, October 27, 1962, 16:30.

USSR, Directive, TOP SECRET, CC CPSU Presidium Instructions to Pliyev in Response to His Telegram, October 27, 1962.

USSR, Letter, from Chairman Khrushchev to Prime Minister Castro, October 28, 1962.

Cuba, Letter, from Prime Minister Castro to Chairman Khrushchev, October 28, 1962.

White House, “Post Mortem on Cuba,” October 29, 1962.

USSR, Letter, from Chairman Khrushchev to Prime Minister Castro, October 30, 1962.

Cuba, Letter, from Prime Minister Castro to Chairman Khrushchev, October 31, 1962.

Bromley Smith, “Summary Record of NSC Executive Committee Meeting,” November 2, 1962.

Bromley Smith, “Summary Record of NSC Executive Committee Meeting,” November 5, 1962.

USSR, Memorandum of Conversation between Mikoyan and Cuban Leaders, TOP SECRET, November 5, 1962 (Evening).

USSR, Telegrams from Malinovsky to Pliyev, TOP SECRET, Early November (circa 5 November) 1962.

USSR, Ciphered Telegram from Mikoyan to CC CPSU, TOP SECRET, November 6, 1962.

President Kennedy's letter to Premier Khrushchev, November 6, 1962.

General Maxwell Taylor, “Chairman’s Talking Paper for Meeting with the President,” November 16, 1962.

Cuba, Order, TOP SECRET, Authorizing Anti-Aircraft Fire, November 17, 1962.

Cuba, Order, TOP SECRET, Rescinding Authorization to Initiate Anti-Aircraft Fire November 18, 1962.

USSR, Instructions from CC CPSU Presidium to Mikoyan, TOP SECRET, November 22, 1962.

Hungary, Embassy, Havana, Telegram, TOP SECRET, “The Essence of Soviet-Cuban Divergences of Opinion,” December 1, 1962.

Great Britain, Dispatch, CONFIDENTIAL, British Ambassador in Cuba to Foreign Office, “The Cuban Crisis – Chapters I and II,” November 10, 1962 (with minutes from FO’s American Department as cover).

The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs urges all its readers to vote. We can never endorse candidates but we can provide information to help our readers make informed choices.

Remember to check candidates’ voting records in the “Halls of Fame and Shame,” September/October 2006 issue, pages 40-53.
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/Sept_Oct_2006/0609040.html

and

“Pro-Israel PAC (Political Action Committee) Contributions to 2006 Congressional Candidates” in the May/June 2006 issue beginning on page 31.
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/May-June_2006/0605031.html and
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/May-June_2006/0605031b.html

You can also look up PAC and other campaign contributions at:
http://www.opensecrets.org/

The PoliticalMoneyline Web site from Congressional Quarterly also lists PAC contributions reported to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) at: http://www.fecinfo.com/

Don’t forget: few pro-Israel PACS are named accordingly. (Names like Women's Pro-Israel National Political Action Committee; Women’s Alliance for Israel; Friends of Israel PAC; Democrats for Israel Committee; and Brown Rudnick Berlack Israel’s LLP Federal PAC are rare. Most have deceptive names like the Delaware Valley Good Government Association in Philadelphia.)

Part 2 of Tom Engelhardt's interview Andrew Bacevich, a former military man and now a vocal critic of US foreign policy

(See also Part 1, The delusions of global hegemony)

If you thought "United 93" was disturbing, it turns out the Paul Greengrass film was just the appetizer. Oliver Stone unveiled the main course last night in Cannes with a tantalizing sample of his "World Trade Center."

Presented here is the abbreviated text of a letter written by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and addressed to President George W. Bush. Although the mass media in America has mentioned the letter in passing, few Americans have actually had the opportunity to read it. It is the first direct communication between the governments since the U.S. embassy was stormed and hostages seized in 1979. American Free Press is pleased to provide this slightly edited version so that readers can draw their own conclusions about the Iranian leader.

Good evening. I have asked for a few minutes of your time to discuss a matter of national importance: the reform of America's immigration system.

The issue of immigration stirs intense emotions and in recent weeks, Americans have seen those emotions on display. On the streets of major cities, crowds have rallied in support of those in our country illegally. At our southern border, others have organized to stop illegal immigrants from coming in. Across the country, Americans are trying to reconcile these contrasting images.

And in Washington, the debate over immigration reform has reached a time of decision. Tonight, I will make it clear where I stand, and where I want to lead our country on this vital issue.

This is an extraordinary film about the creation of the American corporation, its legal organizational model, its global economic dominance and its psychopathic tendencies, and its incredible ambition to influence every aspect of culture in its unrelenting pursuit of profit.

After viewing this film, it becomes all too evident that these large corporations have too much power, whose mandate is not the common good of the people, and who will go to any lengths, legally and otherwise, in the pursuit of profit and the bottom line. Reviewer:

[Peter Brimelow spoke on “Disappearing Borders” to Vanderbilt University’s IMPACT Symposium, March 20, 2006—see Borders, Walls, Nation-States, Property Rights: VDARE.COM At Vanderbilt University. He also answered questions, after the applause, of course. If you listen to the audio (MP3), this starts at 34:19]

A measure of the effectiveness of U.S. propaganda during the World Wars is the enduring popular view that the German people are by nature submissive to authority, or worse, bent on aggression. At the lowest level, the disinformation campaign deployed the Argumentum ad Odium in widely distributed posters featuring Teutonic brutes red in tooth and claw. Only slightly more sophisticated were literary caricatures such as this one by best-selling author William Shirer in his Berlin Diary:

Mr George Bush,

President of the United States of America

For sometime now I have been thinking, how one can justify the undeniable contradictionsthat exist in the international arena -- which are being constantly debated, specially in politicalforums and amongst university students. Many questions remain unanswered. These haveprompted me to discuss some of the contradictions and questions, in the hopes that it mightbring about an opportunity to redress them.

BATR Columnist Guild Correspondent and Old Right Topic News Senior Editor Mark Dankof has joined Chase Brooke and Associates, LLC of Pasadena, California as a Zone Manager for Non-Profit Corporation clients who use Chase Brooke and Associates on-line services for the research and development of their respective organizations.

Mr. Dankof will work with Chase Brooke and Associates clients in the Hawaii and Alaska zones.

See the Donor Data web site.

Contact information for Dr. Gregory J. Gillam, CEO of Chase Brooke and Associates, is posted below.

Gregory J. Gillam, PhD

Chief Executive Officer Chase Brooke & Associates, LLC
790 E. Colorado Blvd
9th Floor - Penthouse
Pasadena, CA 91101
gregory@chasebrooke.com tel:
fax: 888.506.9269
831-851-8518

How government and big media businesses cooperate to produce an effective propaganda machine in order to manipulate the opinions of the United States populous.

In American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J Robert Oppenheimer [1], Toni, Oppenheimer's "very sweet" daughter, is described as having "acquired a near-perfect command of West Indian Calypso, the Creole English common in the islands. She loved the island's steel-band music. As a young adolescent, she was a dead-serious child, with beautiful smooth features, tragic dark eyes, long lustrous dark hair, and the condescending politeness of a princess. Extremely shy, she hated to have her photograph taken." In 1977 on the island of St John in the US Virgin Islands, Toni hanged herself. She was 33 years old.

A video by Simon Robson aka. Knife Party and friend, Barry McNamara. It's an animated look at the dogs of War Corporatism unleashed upon the world by Bush and the PNAC as stated in the September 2000 document Rebuilding America's Defenses.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Information Clearing House has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Information Clearing House endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

Andy Ramirez, the chairman of a non-profit organization supporting the U.S. Border Patrol, describes the perilous situation along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Andy Ramirez serves as chairman of Friends of the Border Patrol (FBP), a non-profit organization that was created to support the U.S. Border Patrol and defend U.S. national security. Founded in 2004, FBP works with the Border Patrol and law enforcement officials across the United States and is using surveillance cameras on the U.S.-Mexico border to serve as a "neighborhood watch" and as "eyes and ears" for the Border Patrol in high-traffic areas where the Border Patrol does not have cameras operating. With his many contacts in the Border Patrol, Mr. Ramirez also breaks important stories that have been neglected or covered up by the politicians and the major media.

Now, my topic today is disappearing borders. One of the things about journalists is—and I’m a financial journalist—is that they write what they’re told to. They also write to length, so we will get out of here within in an hour.

At a candlelight dinner on the portico of Mount Vernon, Roman Catholic ethicist Michael Novak was reluctantly persuaded by the Mount Vernon Ladies Association to write a book about George Washington's religious beliefs. Among the over one million visitors each year to Washington's exquisitely preserved estate, the request for such a book is common but largely unrequited, Novak was told.

Why Iran must aim for empire, and why the West opposes this with armed forced, I have set out elsewhere (Why the West will attack Iran, January 24; Demographics and Iran's imperial design, September 13, 2005). War with Iran is not the stuff of pulp scenario thrillers, but rather of tragedy. In tragedy, the protagonists neither desire nor anticipate the tragic outcome, although a minor character - a Tiresias or Cassandra - might warn them to no avail.

Ever since she earned a widely-expected Pulitzer Prize earlier this month for her Washington Post exclusive on CIA "secret prisons" in Europe, Dana Priest has been attacked by conservative commentators for supposedly turning classified information into a vehicle for undermining the war on terror. Bill Bennett, among others, not only said she did not deserve the Pulitzer, but should be brought up on charges and possibly sent to jail.

This article was prepared to provide a summary of the contents of a book written in 1995 which describes an entirely new class of weapons. The weapons and their effects are described in the following pages. The United States Navy and Air Force have joined with the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, to build a prototype for a ground based "Star Wars" weapon system located in the remote bush country of Alaska.

Charles Murray, by his own account, should not have written In Our Hands. He identifies a genuine problem; but he himself shows that his plan to solve it is either useless or inferior to a better plan.

Government programs spend billions of dollars to help the poor, but poverty continues. Given the inordinate waste of bureaucratic programs, why not abolish them altogether? Would we not do better instead to give the money that the transfer programs cost directly to the poor?