Larry Jackson, who was with the CIA from 1946 to 1978, was the first club member to give a re-classification talk, and to tell of his years with “the Agency” while being careful to confine it to declassified portions.

It all began when he was drafted into the Army and sent to Germany assigned to the Third Division and G-2 intelligence. There followed a succession of assignments starting with using PT boats to launch balloons over Russian barracks where they would be housed.. It worked in the face of skepticism, In the early 1950s he was sent to Berlin to take charge of German scientists returning from the States. His duties included writing orders, some assignments more dangerous, all potentially so.

At the close of his talk, Larry expressed his current view of intelligence as follows: “We should abolish the apparatus and save $15 billion a year. We do not have a clandestine service. The CIA has become a political punching bag.”

David Fitzwilliam was last week’s breakfast speaker, and (in his words)  “compared BOTTOM UP market fixes with TOP DOWN Progressive Big Gov fixes to U.S. economic recessions. In 1921 Pres Harding reduced the top tax rate from 70% to 25% and Gov spending by 50% (in a BOTTOM UP market fix) and unemployment went from 11% to under 3% by 1923.

Hoover (1931-33) and FDR TOP DOWN fixes produced unemployment at 23% (in 1933) and 15% (1939). Oboma’s TOP DOWN stimulus of $8008, that much of which went to Dem special interest cronies, was ineffective.

After 3 years unemployment is more than 8% and GPD growth is less than 2% in spite of the Fed flooding the market with QE1, QE2& QE3 plus Twist printing more than $3T.”

Last week’s breakfast speaker was our own Claes Ryn, Professor of Politics at Catholic University, who has recently returned from his sixth trip to China where he delivered a major address and was named an Honorary Professor at Beijing Normal University. Claes had wondered why an invitation would be extended, but realized that America is the subject of universal attention and that his ideas and his writings would surely command attention.

China is a land with an ancient culture that may be lost or endangered by a new Chinese identity. He expressed the view that communism is gone but its mechanism for governing may remain. ”There is horror on the horizon” he said, “that China and the U.S. may find themselves in an unbelievable war, to be avoided if highly civilized people can work out their differences.