INWO Concordance
Basic Set Groups A-L
The INWO Concordance
was originally created by Colin Roald, expanded by Alan de Smet,
and is currently
maintained and edited by Steve Brinich.
Illuminati, Illuminati: New World Order,
INWO, and Assassins are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games for its trading card game of conspiracy
theory. SubGenius is a registered
trademark of the SubGenius Foundation, Inc. This Concordance quotes a very
limited amount of material from INWO (card titles, mostly) in order to stay
within the limits of fair use.
Al Gore
Vice-President of the United States. He is noted for supporting environmentalist
positions, to the point that his book on the subject, Earth in the Balance,
has been criticized as alarmist
and radical.
Gore is a popularizer of the "information superhighway" (he tends to speak
in cliches on these subjects), but not necessarily a political ally of Net
users (he has loyally supported the Clinton administration
line on issues such as the Clipper
Chip).
The card art depicts Gore as a literal "tree-hugger," which is a somewhat
derogatory slang term for environmentalists. [DC,SMB,TNG]
A.M.A.
The American Medical Association. Also the name of a rock band who
play a major part in the in the Illuminatus! trilogy.
The A.M.A. has a reputation for its resistance to radical medical
theory, and often brands proponents
of such heresy as mad scientists and dangerous quacks. [DF,TE]
American Autoduel
Association
Reference to Steve Jackson Games'
Car Wars world;
also to the ubiquitous American Automobile Association, purveyors of fine
maps and roadside assistance. [CL]
Antinuclear Activists
People who consider nuclear technology unacceptably dangerous and
want to put a stop to it. The term has been used for both opponents of nuclear
energy and opponents of nuclear weapons (the two tend to overlap heavily);
the card art and group special ability points to the former. [SMB]
Antiwar Activists
Opponents of the Military-Industrial
Complex. Note that the protestor's hair is caught.... [JM,SMB]
Bank of England
Responsible for the issue of sterling (and thus its value on international
money markets) It also controls the Base Lending Rate in the UK. A branch
of the Civil Service. The figure using the Autobank is presumably Britannia
(from the trident) who appears on British Bank Notes. [TE]
B.A.T.F.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms is a division of the
Treasury Department (as is the Secret Service). It is charged
with collecting taxes and enforcing federal regulations pertaining to (obviously)
alcohol, tobacco, and firearms -- note that the man in the card art is drinking
a beer, smoking a cigar, and carrying a rifle.
The B.A.T.F. has long been criticized for abusive tactics,
especially in the wake of the disastrous raid on the Branch Davidian
community near Waco, Texas in
1993. A bungled B.A.T.F. firearms raid (which appears to have been a "showoff"
display for the media) backfired, leading to several deaths on both sides,
a long seige, and a final assault which ended in the burning of the complex
and the deaths of over eighty occupants. (The burning building in the background
of the card art presumably refers to this event, though in fairness it should
be noted that the fiery denouement came after the F.B.I.
took over the operation). This event has served as a focus
for antigovernment sentiment. [AdS,CR,OS,SMB]
Big Media
The huge public image is reminiscent of the omnipresent image of "Big
Brother" in George Orwell's 1984, as well as the historic use of large
images of the local Leader (Stalin and Mao being the best-known examples).
[BB,SMB]
Bill Clinton
President of the United States, elected in 1992 and re-elected in
1996. He's notorious for flip-flopping between liberal positions and moderate
"New Democrat" ones.
Mainstream critics have accused Clinton of a wide range of personal and political improprieties
going back to his days as governor of Arkansas, most notably campaign finance
irregularities and sex scandals.
These charges sometimes obscure the fact that Clinton has also been
criticized on policy grounds, such as his poor civil liberties record.
Conspiracy theorists have gone farther (surprise!), describing Clinton
as a long-time C.I.A. asset -- unlike George Bush, who merely directed the Agency -- due
to the rumored drugs-for-arms ring the C.I.A. ran out of Mena, Arkansas (see
International Cocaine Smugglers).
Conspiracy theorists have also noted that Clinton is the only U.S.
President to be a member of the Council on Foriegn Relations,
the Trilateral Commission, and
the Bilderberg Group.
(Most presidents since Nixon can only claim one or two of the three.) [DF,SMB]
Bjorne
Reference to "Barney", the
purple "dinosaur" host of a show aimed at very young
children (ages 2-4). The show is so sacccharine as to irritate most adults,
leading them to wish that somebody would get rid of the pest.
There is a character named Björne, a bear, on Swedish children's
TV, though Steve Jackson was not aware of this when designing the game. [AG,DC]
Black Activists
Organizations such as the NAACP
fight racial discrimination, although the card seems to refer more to the
more radical organizations such as the Black Panthers and MOVE (Mumia
Abu-Jamal's organiztion). These groups are often the targets of smear campaigns
or blamed for unrelated shootings (such as San Francisco's Zebra killings).
[DF,SMB]
Boy Sprouts
Reference to the Boy Scouts,
Baden-Powell's worldwide youth organisation. [AdS,CR,RR]
Brazil
A South American country. The genetic engineers display a curious
obsession with the Amazon basin. Frequently in the news because of the alarming
rate of commercial deforestation. [AdS,CR,OS]
Cable TV
The pictures on the monitors are from Fratricide, Albino Alligators,
Solidarity, Volunteer Aid, AMA, Al Gore, Urban Gangs, Loch Ness Monster,
Emergency Powers, Martial Law, Japan, Saddam Hussein, Druids, Self-Esteem,
Mercenaries, The Second Bullet, Jihad and Atomic Monster. [GG]
California
American state with a reputation for eccentricity. Surf's up, dude.
Canada
The "Peaceful" reputation stems primarily from Canada's commitment
to United Nations peace-keeping operations:
multinational peacekeeping was originally championed in the 1950s by a Canadian
prime minister, Lester B. Pearson (for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize), and Canadian
forces have participated in every peace-keeping mission since.
See also England. [AdS,CR]
Cattle Mutilators
Apparently large numbers of dead cattle are found in the Western states
with their eyes and sexual organs removed. Some reports claim surgical dissection
and missing blood. Paranormalists often blame the mutilations on UFOs; conspiracy theorists tend to
pin the deed on black helicopters
or Satanist cults. A more
mundane explanation is that the cattle die of natural causes, and then insects
and other scavengers eat them (starting with the soft tissues).
The practice of divining the future by examining animal entrails is
called "haruspication", and was widely practiced in antiquity. [JY,LM]
Center for Disease Control
Federal research lab in Atlanta, GA, that collects data on diseases
and conditions, watches for and responds to epidemics, and so on. Note that
the proper name is the Centers for Disease Control. [JY,WL,WF]
CFL-AIO
Reference to AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Labor -- Congress
of Industrial Organizations, a trade union. [KB,AB]
China
Where better to start a program of world domination than with the
most populous (about 1.2 billion) country on earth? [GB]
Church of Elvis
The 24-Hour Church of Elvis is open for visitors
in downtown Portland, Oregon.
References to the Church of Elvis occasionally show up in science
fiction (e.g. Allen Steele's Clarke County, Space and Spider Robinson's
Lifehouse). [AN,SMB]
C.I.A.
Central Intelligence Agency -- the American spy service. Implicated
in many conspiracy theories (see also International
Cocaine Smugglers). [AdS,CR]
Clone Arrangers
Possibly an obscure pun of "Lone Ranger". Note that the tank is number
23. See also Clone. [AdS,CR,MIB]
Comic Books
During the 1950s, comic books were accused of corrupting the young,
most notably in Frederick Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent.
In response to this pressure, the comics industry adopted a self-censorship
code (the Comics Code Authority) in order to forestall impending government
action (see also Saturday
Morning Cartoons).
E. C. Gaines, who was driven out of the horror-comics business as
a result, went on to publish Mad magazine. [SMB]
Congressional
Wives
"Congress" is the American federal legislature. It may be worth noting
that a group of Congressional wives (led by Tipper Gore, wife of Al Gore) founded the Parents Music Resource Center to
campaign to have indecent or offensive music labelled and removed from shelves
in the US. (This activity, however, post-dates the original appearance of
the Congressional Wives in classic Illuminati.) [JA]
Conspiracy Theorists
People who believe that the world is ruled by one or more mysterious
secret conspiracies, destroying anyone who gets in the way (like JFK). If
you're reading this, chances are that you are one yourself. [Th]
Count Dracula
Reference to the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker, who drew
in part on the real Vlad Tepes, the Impaler, of 15th-century Transylvania.
Vlad's father had earned for himself the name "Dracul" (the dragon); his son
Vlad thus came to be known as "Dracula" (son of Dracul). When not murdering
dinner guests, Tepes made a name for himself as a warrior fighting against
the heathen Turks, earning the nickname "Dracul" (the Dragon). [BB,GG]
Cycle Gangs
Any one of many gangs of toughs who parade town on motorcycles, frequenting
"dives" and poetry readings. The most famous of theses is the Hell's Angels.
[Th]
Dan
Quayle
Ex-Vice-President (under the Bush administration).
Quayle was famous for putting
his foot in his mouth when speaking in public and for misspelling "potatoe"
[sic] at a children's spelling bee. [AdS,CR]
Democrats
American political party. The donkey is their traditional symbol.
The card art reflects the perception that minorities and women are Democratic
constituencies. The parallel between this card art and that of the Republicans may also reflect the
perception that there is little fundamental difference between these two
major American political parties. [AdS,AY,BB,CR]
Dentists
Unusual gases, bright lights, and drills -- anything you want to confess?
And you never know what might be in those fillings... [GB]
Deprogrammers
People who are paid to kidnap disciples/victims (usually friends or
relatives of worried rich people) away from religious cults and "deprogram"
them -- essentially brain-washing them into leaving the cult. This, of course,
is okay because no sane person would ever join a cult in the first place of
their own free will. [TNG]
Dinosaur Park
Reference to the movie Jurassic Park. [AdS,CR]
Druids
The priests of an ancient Celtic pagan religion. They're popularly
assumed to have created the ancient stone monuments (e.g. Stonehenge) scattered through Britain
and France, but in fact the monuments predate the Druids by at least a thousand
years. [SMB,SDO]
Eco-Guerillas
Note that the slashed symbol on the boat is the Greenpeace symbol
done in red. Also note that the sinking vessel is named S.S. Sealslayer,
referring to the seal hunts which arestrongly opposed by many environmentalists.
[GG]
EFF
Electronic Frontier Foundation -- a lobby group for civil liberties
and freedom of expression in the computer world. They provided lawyers for
SJG in the Secret Service case.
[JY]
Elders of Zion
Refers to a specific, long-standing hoax. The Protocols of the
Elders of Zion is a document purporting to show the nefarious plots of
the Jews planning to rule the world. It has been shown to be a fake, but
Hitler is reported to have been heavily influenced by this document as were
the Soviet secret police. It still gets some attention, and has recently
taken on a bit of a new life in modern Russia.
Andrew Hall reports: The prime source for the Protocols was
a pair of novels by Eugene Sue in which he had a character attribute the
plot to the Jesuits. In 1864, Maurice Joly published a little tract attacking
Napoleon III and, plagarizing a fair amount of Sue, attributed the plot to
Napoleon III. In 1868, a German postal worker wrote a novel in which he stole
an occult scene in a cemetery from Dumas and the scheme of world domination
from Joly/Sue, but now attributed it to the Jews. He wrote the novel under
the name Sir John Redclife. Later French and German writers reprinted the
plot as being true and cited Redclife as an authoratative source. Also at
this time a Russian re-printed the story in a pamphlet called "The Jews,
Masters of the World."
This leads to a truly INWO-ish plot. The Russian pamphlet was merely
part of a larger climate of anti-Semitism that existed then and at the turn
of the century. A Russian Okhrana head and notorious anti-Semite named Rakovsky
was searching the abode of a political rival of his patron, Witte. The rival,
named Cyon, had a copy of Joly's pamphlet which he had reprinted, replacing
Napoleon III's name with Witte. Rakovsky then re-altered the document and,
inspired by Cyon's name, made the villians of the piece Zion. This version
of the document was then reprinted with an introduction by the mad monk Sergei
Nihlus as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. (I leave it to you
to figure out exactly what INWO cards would duplicate this sequence!)
The source for this info is "Fictional Protocols" by Umberto Eco in
his book Six Walks in Fictional Woods. [AH,DC,DV,KB]
Elvis
Elvis Presley was a major rock singer in the 1950s. He's officially
dead now.
According to numerous tabloid
stories, Elvis is alive and well and living in Kalamazoo, Michigan (or any
number of other locations, depending on who reported the most recent Elvis sighting). One of the most
vocal of those claiming to be in contact Elvis was the late Major Bill Smith,
who actually sued Graceland to have Elvis's remains exhumed to verify their
authenticity. (Alas, he died before the suit could come to court -- now we'll
never know....)
World-renowned (and sometimes crackpot) Allegheny County Coroner Cyril
Wecht goes into great detail about the fishy nature of Elvis's untimely demise,
and is convinced either the cause of death was inaccurate, or the deceased
simply wasn't Elvis Presley. Elvis once received a drug enforcement badge
from President Nixon; some theories postulate that his involvement with F.B.I.
and the then-fledgling D.E.A.was more than honorary, and that his death was
faked to protect him.
All in all, it seems that the truth will remain murky unless a lost Elvis diary
or other source turns up. [DF,OS]
Empty Vee
Reference to MTV, "music television". [AdS,CR]
England
Still an important player in global conspiracy. According to Lyndon LaRouche, a secret British-Canadian
organisation, "Permindex", is right this minute conspiring with Conrad Black
of Big Media and the nefarious World Wildlife Fund
to assassinate Bill Clinton. Bonus points if you
replicate this in INWO. [AdS,CR]
Evil Geniuses
for a Better Tomorrow
Megalomanic "evil geniuses" are an old staple of pulp sci-fi, comic
books, James Bond movies, etc. The genre is neatly parodied in the animated
cartoon "Pinky
and the Brain". [OS,SMB]
Fast Food Chains
McDonalds is everywhere. Think about it.
Fast food chains are often accused of various Earth-unfriendly practices,
such as deforestation and massive pollution. [AdS,CR,DF]
F.B.I.
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the agency responsible for a wide
range of U.S. federal law enforcement. If you didn't know this one, you haven't
been watching enough Hollywood. [AdS,CR]
Federal Reserve
American central bank; coordinator of fiscal policy.
The Federal Reserve figures prominently in conspiracy theories
alleging that super-rich "insiders" are using the arcana of fiscal policy
to (further) enrich themselves and impoverish the middle class (with the
ultimate goal of reducing the masses to serfdom in the New World Order).
According to these theories, inflation and national debt are engineered by
the "insiders" for these purposes. However, skeptics have
pointed out some basic factual errors and misundertandings underlying these
conspiracy claims.
The "Fed" has an absolute monopoly on printed money in the United
States. This is slowly changing (although unofficially) in some limited areas
-- some towns print their own "exchange medium" in small amounts, and of
course, we've all heard of Disneyland . Also, alternate currencies have begun
to crop up over the Internet. [AdS,CR,OS,SMB]
Feminists
Supposedly, bra-burning was, in the 1960s and 1970s, a statement of
liberation from patriarchal oppression. Historically, this was largely the
invention of right-wing comics and commentators wanting to ridicule the feminist
movement. A few of the most radical actually may have pulled off stunts like
this, but for the most part it was a lot less frequent than many suppose.
Betty Friedan was interviewed on the subject, and claimed to know of only
two actual incidents. [KB]
Fidel Castro
Dictator of Cuba since overthrowing Batista in 1959. Castro was the
target of a series of C.I.A. assassination attempts; some
conspiracy theorists say that this provoked Castro into organizing the assassination
of John F. Kennedy. [OS]
Fiendish
Fluoridators
When the practice of adding fluoride to public water supplies to prevent
tooth decay began in the 1950s, there was much hysteria about this fiendish
Communist plot to contaminate our precious bodily fluids. In the movie Dr.
Strangelove, an insane general with this belief launches an attack on
the Soviet Union.
Some versions of the theory said that the danger was not the fluoride
itself, but rather a Commie master plan to use the fluoridation infrastructure
to poison or drug America's drinking water.
In fact, fluoridation may have been a candy-coated conspiracy by the
sugar and chocolate industries to get mothers feeding their kids more sweets
-- after all, cavities wouldn't be a problem anymore with the wide-spread
passive dental care.
Note that the tank is number 23. [DF,JN,TG,TNG,SMB,WC]
Finland
Northern European country between Scandinavia and Russia; home of
the sauna. One of the few places in the world where the biathlon makes sense
as a sporting event.
The Computer attribute is most likely due to the anonymous remailer
anon.penet.fi (now defunct, thanks to the Church of Scientology) and
the country's lax computer and telephone abuse laws. [DF]
Flat Earthers
This group really exists. They contend that the picture on the NASA card is precisely how the space
program was conducted. [FM,JY]
Fnord Motor Company
Pun on "Ford Motor Company," one of the major American automotive
companies. Detroit is a major center of the US auto industry, to the point
that people use the name of the city to refer to the industry.
Also see Fnord!. [AdS,CR,SMB]
France
Anyone else think the Eiffel Tower is suspiciously pyramidal? [AdS,CR]
Fraternal Orders
Likely a reference to the Shriners,
who are known for the funny hats. The Shriners are a subgroup of the higher
orders of the Masons, who were founded around the same time as and with similar
goals to the Bavarian Illuminati.
Note that the guy's holding a Cthulhu
statuette on the card, indicating he may be a pawn of another Illuminati.
In reality, the fraternal orders seem to be fading out; the average
age of a Freemason, for example, is around 60. Not quite the hotbed of radical
young minds that they were, say, around the time of the American Revolution.
[ANH,DV,JK,OS]
Fred Birch Society
A reference to the John Birch Society,
a right-wing extremist organisation active in the 1950s Commie witch-hunts; proponents of the slogan
"America: Love It or Leave It." Still in existence, though fading.
Also, the Fred Birch Society is mentioned in the "IST" (International Super
Teams) universe of GURPS Supers, where they accuse the Beatles of
being evil mind-controlling metahumans.[KB,AB,BB,BK,LR,LM]
Gay Activists
Advocates for gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. The card art suggests
the stereotypical androgynous look, which tends to be found more often in
street theater than in real life. [SMB,Th]
George Bush
Ex-President of the United States. Got into a famous row with the
agriculture industry after claiming, "When you're President, you don't have
to eat your broccoli."
Conservative Republicans
found Bush to be something of a letdown after Ronald Reagan, and were particularly
alienated when he reneged on his "Read my
lips -- no new taxes" pledge.
Bush has been named in any number of conspiracy theories, many stemming
from the fact that he was the former head of the C.I.A.
and a member of the Skull
and Bones Society. [AdS,CR,DF,OS]
Germany
Central European country, partitioned
after World War Two but recently reunited as one result of the collapse of
the Soviet empire. Note the Berlin Wall and Volkswagen (with the "FNORD" license
plate). The grafitti on the wall includes a phrase that translates to "Who
watches the watchmen?" [ACu,GB,SMB]
Girlie Magazines
"Pent-Ups" refers to American magazine Penthouse, with double entendre
to "pin-ups" (arousing pictures designed to be "pinned up" to a wall).
Many of the "political" articles in Playboy, Penthouse, and Hustler
are actually fairly well-researched (though too radical to make it into more
mainstream media) conspiracy
theories. (Presumably, somebody actually does read the articles.)
Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, the fathers of The Illuminatus!
Trilogy, got their start as editors at Playboy magazine. [DF,OS,TNG]
Goldfish Fanciers
The Goldfish Fancier in the card art also appears in the card art
of Nobel Peace Prize, Mass Murder, and Hoax (the card being torn in half).
[GmG,SmE]
Gordo
Remora
Reference to Geraldo Rivera, sleazy talk-show host. Note "gordo" is
Spanish for "fat", and a remora is a scavenging fish known for taking free
rides on passing sharks. [JY,AH,MS]
The Great Pyramid
Built at Giza (now a suburb of Cairo) as a tomb for the 4th Dynasty
Pharoh Khufu (or Cheops) who ruled 2551-2528 BC. It is the only surviving
one of the ancient Seven Wonders, and is on the same site as the Sphinx.
According to legend, Napoleon's army used it for artillery practice. [TE]
Gun Lobby
Organizations such as the National Rifle
Association and Gun Owners of America
support the right to keep and bear arms against the advocates of gun control. [SMB]
Hackers
Experts in getting high-tech equipment, particularly computers, to
jump through hoops.
Unfortunately, the most visible computer experts are those who have
turned their skills to vandalism, theft, and other antisocial activities.
As a result, most people associate the term "hacker" with criminality; real
hackers refer to people who break into other people's computers as "crackers"
(and some other names which I will not repeat here.) [OS,SMB]
Hawaii
Volcanic American State. Surf's up, dude.
The card art refers to the cinematic stereotype of human sacrifice in Pacific
island cultures -- whereas Europeans carve 'em up on black altars, islanders
just chuck 'em in the volcano. [AdS,BB,CR]
Hillary Clinton
Wife of President Bill Clinton. She's wielded
considerable influence in Washington inner circles, to the point of being
practically an unofficial member of the Cabinet. She has been accused of involvement
in various Clinton scandals such as the Whitewater affair
The leash and collar in the card art presumably refer to the perception
that Hillary has a considerably more forceful personality than Bill. [AdS,CR,DF,SMB]
Hollywood
The home of many major movie studios. Located in southern California, and a major contributor to that state's
reputation for oddity.
The area has excellent weather (at least 300 shooting days a year).
Supposedly, the location was also chosen to facilitate quick escape into
Mexico in case of legal trouble and for its great distance from the New York
literary agencies (back then, it was difficult to prosecute people for copyright
infringment when they lived 3,000 miles away). [DF,SMB]
Imelda Marcos
Wife of ex-dictator Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines. Owned over
2000 pairs of shoes
when deported.
Intellectuals
"Intellectuals" is a catch-all term for people who specialize in abstract
fields of science, philosophy, political and economic theory, etc. Because
they deal in matters that are often poorly understood by the general public
and command influence out of proportion to their numbers, they are often suspected
of cleverly manipulating the system for their own benefit. This suspicion
is one of the fundamental wellsprings of conspiracy theory. [SMB]
International Cocaine Smugglers
Drug smuggling is a megabillion-dollar business, with some degree
of backdoor influence over politicians and law enforcement agencies in many
countries. Since disputes arising out of an illegal business can't be taken
to court, they often lead to the sort of violence depicted in the card art.
Naturally, the illicit drug industry is a major player in conspiracy
theory.
One theory that ties together a number of INWO personalities involves
Contra supply flights
out of Mena, Arkansas in the 1980s. Allegedly, some of the pilots smuggled
cocaine on their flights from Central America back to the United States;
some conspiracy
theorists claim that this was done on a large scale with at least the
tacit acceptance of then-governor Bill Clinton,
then vice-president George Bush, and/or Iran-Contra
operation organizer Ollie North,
as well as the C.I.A. operatives handling the flights.
More recently, there have been claims (which broke into the mainstream
press in a San Jose Mercury News
article) that C.I.A. agents have facilitated the crack
trade in order to tap into drug money for various black ops. [SMB]
International Communist Conspiracy
The nebulous group allegedly behind all the communist plots of the
1950s that Senator Joe McCarthy dedicated himself to exposing. [OS]
International Weather Organization
The name is a play on the National Weather Organization, which provides
weather reports.
Secret government weather-manipulation projects occasionally turn
up in conspiracy theory. [SMB]
I.R.S.
Internal Revenue Service; the US federal income tax collection agency.
The IRS is perennially under attack, partly because nobody likes tax collectors
and partly because the agency has a extensive record of abusing its
power in order to carry out personal and political vendettas.
Some income tax opponents claim that the whole thing is illegal. The usual
arguments made in support of this thesis are: 1)The Sixteenth Amendment (authorizing
the federal income tax) was not properly ratified and 2)the term "income"
in the Sixteenth Amendment does not include wages exchanged for labor (in
addition, other arguments
are sometimes advanced). Most people ignore these notions on the grounds
that: 1)if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, and 2)realistically,
the government will make you cough up the cash whether it's legal or not.
[AdS,CR,SMB]
Israel
The pictured skyline (in the Limited Edition version) is of the Old
Quarter of Jerusalem.
Israel figures prominently in conspiracy theory. In part, this is due to
political complications resulting from Israel's interesting geopolitical situation,
surrounded by a sea of large, hostile nations which command considerable
wealth and influence due to their control of large oil supplies (see also
OPEC). Also, the Jewish homeland
naturally figures heavily in anti-Semitic schools of conspiracy theory (see
also Elders of Zion), whose adherents suspect
Jewish citizens of other nations of having "dual loyalties". [GG,SMB]
Italy
Southern European country. The Vatican is a soverign enclave within
the capital city of Rome. [SMB]
Japan
Preferred means of world conquest: bankruptcy auctions. [AdS,CR]
Jimmy Hoffa
Labour organiser and former president of the Teamsters (Truckers) Union, who disappeared
under mysterious circumstances in 1975. Presumed dead; reputed to have had
Mafia connections. His son Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. is
now a major figure in Teamsters Union politics. [AdS,CR,SMB]
Joggers
People who run around outdoors, getting excersize and blending into
the background. [SMB]
Junk Mail
Letters from people who think your name is "Occupant", calling your
attention to various products, services, and business opportunities.
Recently, junk e-mail has become
an increasingly obnoxious problem. [SMB,Th]
KKK
Ku Klux Klan, a white-supremacist organisation infamous for burning
crosses and lynching blacks who didn't take the warning. "Ku Klux" is reputedly
taken from the sound made loading a bolt-action rifle. [KB]
L-4 Society
Reference to "L-5 Society", a pro-space lobby group. The "L-4" and
"L-5" points are particularly stable regions in the moon's orbit (one trailing
the moon by 60 degrees, one ahead of the moon by 60 degrees) which were proposed
as sites for space cities by the late Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill. (The "L" stands
for "Lagrange", the mathematician who first noted this phenomenon as one
solution to the three-body problem of orbital mechanics.)
The L-5 Society has merged with the National Space Institute to form
the National Space Society.
The Unlimited Edition art may refer to the adventures of Larry Walters, a
Los Angeles truck driver who took a flight in a lawn chair lifted by helium-filled
weather balloons on 02 July 1982. He apparently intended a brief trip a few
hundred feet up, but in fact he reached 16,000 feet (and was spotted by at
least two airline pilots). This appears to be a ballooning record,
though not officially recognized.
After his flight, Walters appeared on Letterman and the Today
show. However, the FAA was not amused by
Walters' adventure. Reportedly, when the story first hit the news, an FAA
spokesman declared, "We know he broke some part of the Federal Aviation Act,
and as soon as we decide which part it is, some type of charge will be filed."
Ultimately, Walters was charged with reckless operation of an aircraft, failure
to remain in communication with traffic control, and flying "a civil aircraft
for which there is not currently in effect an airworthiness certificate",
for which he paid a $1,500 fine.
There are other versions
of the story floating around, but the above seems to be the most reliable.
Note that in the picture, the astronaut is breathing NO2 (laughing
gas), which does not figure in any version of the Walters story. [GB,OS,SMB]
Las Vegas
American city, home of the casinos.
Note that the card art includes a marquee featuring Wayne (Newton),
a performer who has made a cereer of Las Vegas shows. (Barb...I have no idea.
Barbara Streisand? She doesn't do Vegas...) [AdS,CR,AY]
Lawyers
It is worth noting that there are more lawyers/law firms in the Washington,
D.C. area than in the entire country of Japan.
Also note that the law books in the card art are festooned with cobwebs.
[Th]
Libertarians
American political movement believing in minimal government and freedom
of the individual. Perhaps because the party is composed of people too convinced
of their beliefs to join a traditional party such as the Democrats or Republicans, it's notorious for
conflict and infighting (hence the two figures yelling at each other in the
card artwork).
Robert Anton Wilson is a vocal Libertarian, and often speaks at Libertarian
functions.
Odd Historical Footnote: In truly INWO-ish fashion (Shock Jocks take over the Libertarians),
Howard Stern obtained the party's nomination for governor of New York in 1994 by flooding the party's
convention with his fans (all of whom "converted" to Libertarianism), thereby
overwhelming the relatively small number of old-time party members. After
receiving a great deal of press coverage, Stern dropped out of the race after
refusing to divulge personal financial information (which was, ironically,
the most libertarian position he took during the campaign). [AdS,CR,OS,SMB]
Liquor Companies
The pink elephant, whose trunk appears on this card, is a stereotypical
hallucination of the drunk.
The single largest contributor to the Partnership for a Drug-Free
America is Anheuser-Busch, one of the largest legal recreational drug
companies in the United States; of course, they have a vested interest in
ensuring that their particular drug doesn't have any legal competition....
[AdS,CR,OS,TE]
Loan Sharks
Shady characters who will lend you money no matter what your bank
rating is, but at very high interest and also very high risk of bodily harm
if you don't pay it back in time. [Th]
Local Police Departments
American cops and doughnuts are stereotypically inseparable. [KB]
Next Section...
CREDITS
The bulk of the entries were originally written by Alan
de Smet and/or Colin Roald (Basic Set) or Steve Brinich (Assassins). Others
have provided feedback, additional facts, and occasional entire entries; these
entries are marked with the initials of the contributor(s). The full names
corresponding to these initials are listed on the credits page.
I would like to thank everyone who provided entries and
feedback.
Last Updated May 1998
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