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In the original hearings on the role of this new post-war intelligence agency in 1947, President Truman and his advisors were wary of a new intel agency becoming an "Executive Branch/Wall Street hit squad". He saw the CIA's role as intelligence gathering, to inform Executive decision making--and NOT become a spy vs spy covert operations agency. The ruthless John Foster and Allen Dulles, with their accumulated Nazi "assets" from their time running the OSS in Europe as mediators between Nazi industrialists and Wall Street caretakers of their money, had other plans. The Dulles brothers would be appointed to run the State Dept & the CIA, John Foster and Allen respectively, merging the two agencies into covert killing machines & countless coups, running parallel to their overt diplomatic chores. Analysis was done by people with multiple language, research skills and insights for policy, while the guys who disappeared for weeks at a time at the next desk over did the kill job, only to return quietly with stories they were not supposed to tell--but tols anyway to some of their colleagues who were sworn to secrecy for fear of prosecution. People who couldn't keep their mouths shut ended up dead i some alley. Decades passed, and coups and killings happened, but the analysts were never called upon to inform executive decisions. Hence, the CIA not only failing to predict 9/11 but failed to stop it even though they were flooded with "chatter" that it was about to happen up to the the very morning of September 11, 2001. Furthermore, the CIA failed to predict the fall of the USSR--even though they were engaged in the operations to assure that it it did. Meanwhile, at no time was the CIA NOT engaged in "black ops", including the massive torture and war crimes--all exposed by the press of the horrors at Abu Graibe Prison. How does this NOT beg the question: Should our tax dollars be financing the CIA at all? Also: THe host and producer of MEGATRENDS, yours truly, has been chosen as one of 12 educators internationally to participate in the Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassadors Program (ACEAP). This Summer, 2024, The ACEAP team will travel to Chile for a nine-day expedition. Ambassadors will visit ALMA, CTIO, and Gemini facilities for a “once in a lifetime” behind the scenes experience. During the visits, observatory personnel will share an overview of observing facilities, discuss current science and engineering taking place at the facilities, and show Ambassadors how to access the observatory data archives for research projects and other purposes. An informed citizenry is important to the success of any national endeavor, including those focusing on the advancement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The U.S. has invested $1.5 billion into astronomical observatories in Chile, yielding incredible new discoveries and advancements in science & technology. Thanks to support from the National Science Foundation, ACEAP will develop a core group of individuals with a deep understanding of NSF-supported facilities in Chile, and enhanced STEM communication skills needed to share this knowledge with a diverse public. And your host on MEGATRENDS is one of those individuals! So let's dig in to today's show!