INWO Concordance
Assassins
Resources
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.
The Big Prawn
A "prawn" is a shrimp; the Australians seem to prefer
this word to "shrimp", and are known to be fond of prawn jokes (God only
knows why).
The Big Prawn is an actual tourist attraction in Ballina,
New South Wales. There are large animal and plant statues all over Australia,
especially in NSW and Queensland (including the Big Merino at Goulbourn and
the Big Banana at Coffs Harbour);. They are very weird, and prompted at least
a couple of cards to the Australian card-design competition that spawned
No Beer! and The Big Prawn and inspired the Australia card. [SDO,GB]
Black Helicopters
Black helicopters are, well, black, and lack any identifying
markings or numbers (which violates air traffic regulations). These mysterious
helicopters are associated with space aliens, cattle mutilators, and/or
secret government projects (often all
of the above get into the act). Some witnesses report that the helicopters
sprayed the ground with some mysterious substance; others report the helicopters
firing upon people who attempted to follow them.
Black helicopters figure prominently in conspiracy theories
about plans to place the United States under martial law as part of the United Nations/New World Order world conquest
agenda (see Back To The Salt Mines).
The official explanation is that ordinary dark green
helicopters with relatively small markings look like unmarked black helicopters
in poor light. [OS,SMB,SDO]
Blivit
The "blivit" is the forked object sticking out of
the dome. This classic optical illusion is full of mutually exclusive cues
for interpreting the two-dimensional image as a three-dimensional object.
[SMB]
Killer
Satellite
A satellite designed to destroy or disable enemy satellites
(such as a hostile Spy Satellite). An outgrowth of the
US Strategic Defense Initiative (aka "Star Wars") program of the 1980s. [SMB]
Lenin's Body
Preserved on public view in Moscow since his death,
as a sacred relic of the Revolution.
In 1991, Forbes FYI published a spoof (written
by editor Christopher Buckley) claiming that the faltering Soviet Union was
selling Lenin's body to raise funds. This was briefly picked up by the media
as an actual news item.
Lenin is also seen on NWO:Don't Forget to Smash The State
and International
Communist Conspiracy. [RLM,SMB]
Orgone Grinder
Reference to the theories of Wilhelm Reich, who claimed
to have discovered a form of "life energy" called "orgone". Reich ran afoul
of the FDA on several occasions in the 1950s; the Feds went so far as to burn
his books and imprison him. Reich died in prison in 1957.
Whatever one thinks of the merits of Reich's theories,
it is clear that the government's actions were both excessive and unconstitutional.
The gizmo on the card vaguely resembles Reich's "cloudbuster",
which supposedly caused rain and dispersed clouds.
Also a pun on "organ grinder". [OS,SMB,RLM]
Power Satellite
Refers to proposals to build large (several square
kilometers) solar collectors in orbit. Power would be beamed down to Earth
via microwave, providing a 24-hour stream of solar energy. [SMB]
Screaming
Meme
A "meme" is a basic idea that spreads through the
population in a manner analagous to a gene (though more quickly, of course).
The name is a pun on "Screaming Mimi", which is the name of a type of firework
that produces a loud shriek but little or no pyrotechnic light display. [OS,SMB]
Spy Satellite
A staple of modern military intelligence. Modern spysats
are capable of [FNORD]. [SMB]
X-Ray Specs
Comic books
often included pages of ads for various silly practical jokes and gimcracks
such as "X-Ray Specs". A typical X-Ray Specs ad featured a drawing of a guy
looking at the bones of his hand and a pretty girl in the background to suggest
what the guy is really using them for. [SMB]
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 April 1997
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