63 Documents the Government Doesn't Want You to Read

by Jesse Ventura, Dick Russell

The official spin on numerous government programs is flat-out bullshit, according to Jesse Ventura. In this incredible collection of actual government documents, Ventura, the ultimate non- partisan truth-seeker, proves it beyond any doubt. He and Dick Russell walk readers through 63 of the most incriminating programs to reveal what really happens behind the closed doors. In addition to providing original government data, Ventura discusses what it really means and how regular Americans can stop criminal behavior at the top levels of government and in the media. Among the cases discussed:

     • The CIA’s top-secret program to control human behavior
     • Operation Northwoods—the military plan to hijack airplanes and blame it on Cuban terrorists
     • The discovery of a secret Afghan archive—information that never left the boardroom
     • Potentially deadly healthcare cover-ups, including a dengue fever outbreak
     • What the Department of Defense knows about our food supply—but is keeping mum

Although these documents are now in the public domain, the powers that be would just as soon they stay under wraps. Ventura’s research and commentary sheds new light on what they’re not telling you—and why it matters.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, Conspiracy Theories, Government, American History, Reference

312 pages, Hardcover

First published March 31, 2011

About the author

Jesse Ventura is an American politician, actor, author, veteran, and former professional wrestler who served as the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003.

Ventura served as a U.S. Navy Underwater Demolition Team member during the Vietnam War. He had a long tenure in the World Wrestling Federation, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004.

In 1951, James George Janos, later known as Jesse "The Body" Ventura, was born in Minneapolis to George and Bernice Janos. Janos joined the U.S. Navy and spent time in the Vietnam War. He was briefly a bodyguard for the Rolling Stones. Janos developed a rigorous workout routine, and his newly muscular physique attracted the attention of famous Midwest wrestling promoter Bob Geigel. He began wrestling professionally in the mid-1970s and changed his name to the one that made him famous, Jesse "The Body" Ventura. He continued wrestling in the national spotlight until 1984, when emergency hospitalization due to blood clots in his lungs made him miss a title match against Hulk Hogan, and ended his professional wrestling career. He spent the next five years as a wrestling commentator for various television and radio programs. He acted in a handful of films, including several Arnold Schwarzenegger movies: "Predator" (1987), "The Running Man" (1987) and "Batman & Robin" (1997). In 1990, Ventura ran against and defeated the 18-year incumbent mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minn., serving until 1995. He campaigned for governor as a third-party candidate, and was one of the pioneering politicians who reached out to new voters via the Internet. He was elected as Minnesota governor in 1998, and proved to be a progressive politician, strongly backing gay rights, abortion rights, funding higher education, third-party politics, mass transit, property tax reform and opening trade relations with Cuba. Ventura Decided not to run for reelection because he wanted his family to regain their privacy.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation awarded the former governor the 1999 "Emperor Has No Clothes Award" for his "plain speaking" on religion and, as governor, for rejecting proposals to entangle state and church, including refusing to proclaim for Minnesota a "Day of Prayer." As governor, Ventura vetoed a bill that would have required students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. Ventura, on refusing to sign a National Day of Prayer in 1999, said: "I believe in the separation of church and state. We all have our own religious beliefs. There are people out there who are atheists, who don't believe at all. They are all citizens of Minnesota and I have to respect that" (Minnesota Independent, "Despite court decision, National Day of Prayer will endure in Minnesota," by Andy Birkey, April 20, 2010). In his 2009 book Don't Start the Revolution Without Me! (co-authored with Dick Russell), Ventura writes: "I was the only governor of all fifty who would not declare a National Day of Prayer. I took a lot of heat for that, and my response was very simple: Why do people need the government to tell them to pray? Pray all you want! Pray fifty times a day if you desire, it's not my business! . . . If I declare National Day of Prayer, then I've got to declare National No-Prayer Day for the atheists. They are American citizens too" (p. 58). "For me, the lines between church and state seem to become more blurred by the day. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, thought — and religion. Nowhere is it mandated that we're the Christian States of America. . . . That's made us, I think, a stronger and more democratic nation. . . . It's abundantly clear that our Founding Fathers wanted to prevent our government from establishing a 'national church'" (p. 59).

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Ve...

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001818/

Reviews

[Kimber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ventura produces documents - some of which are more interesting than others.

The important stuff:
-MKUltra
-Operation Northwoods
-Gulf of Tonkin
-Chemical & bio warfare
-CIA "Propaganda Notes"
-Noriega
-Rwanda
-U. S. Military experiments on own troops
-civilian detention camps
-FDA
-FBI knowledge of terrorists training at U. S. flight schools
-anticipation of 9/11
-State Department on drug money in Afghanistan

Ventura's prologues to each chapter are brief but of especial interest is his thoughts on the election rigging of 2004. Ventura speculates on how it is too easy to rig an election when all you really need to do is to simply hack the vote. And he further expounds on the media's role in elections- the media projects a winner when 10% of the vote is in discouraging others from going out to vote. We have no objective media guaranteeing fair elections, let alone a Voter I.D. law. And the only ballot you can trust is paper.

Ventura's recommended sources:
-Wikileaks
-Cryptome
-National Security Archive
-Government Attic
-Public Intelligence
-The Mary Ferrell Foundation
-Open the Government
-Openleaks
-Document Cloud
-CIA, Crest archive
-Open Secrets
-The Federation of American Scientists
-The National Archives

[8stitches 9lives]

Thoughts right now: governments are evil.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ventura could have no doubt listed more (likely many, many more) than just the 63 documents within this book.

Amazing the evilness behind closed doors in Washington: be it the Pentagon or the White House.

Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Baby Bush have made billions of dollars for themselves and their friends and I feel they knew about 9/11 before it occurred. The most horrible documents are the tale of massive Stock purchasing that went on in the days leading up to the Twin Tower impacts. The 9/11 investigation didn't bother following through on this, nor how Building #7 just fell on its own and that (strangely enough?) the offices of one of those current Stock transactions had to do with a particular company located there (besides branch locations of both Secret Service and the CIA). Overall somebody made 16 Billion and it was never truly investigated and that the key investigators were told to drop the searching for further information! Smacks of a coverup to the greatest degree and a vast majority of the public swallowed it hook, line, and sinker. In fact, they swallowed the whole boat.

The Government is the most dangerous on things they cannot control. And knowledge is a dangerous thing when the public obtains it outside what the Government wants them to know.

Also read: Towers of Deception: The Media Cover-up of 9/11

[Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the most conclusive anti-government books I have ever read. That's because it's not a book of someone's opinion, it's a book filled with actual documents and some opinion to go with it. The documents cover many things, like the 2000 Florida vote crisis, the Gulf of Tonkin incident (or lack thereof), the CIA's assassination manual, the experiments we ran on our own troops in Iraq, the blind eye we have to genocide when we can't gain anything from it, the war on terror, and what really happened on 9/11. I always like to learn more about the things the US government does behind the scenes, and this is a great book to do so.

[Spike · Rating 3 out of 5]

DIdn't actually finish it, I'll go back someday. I can't take it all in at once, moving on for now.

If you're into scrutinizing actual documents that will make your head spin over the US government's most controversial decisions from the past century, this book is for you. If want more of a narrative, other books would be better.

One quote that caught my eye though: "I'd rather face the terrists everyday than give up any of my freedoms." Compelling stuff.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Lots of revealing information about our government that you'd have no idea was happening behind the scenes if not for this book.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting collection of government documents that deal with the many unethical actions continually perpetrated by elected officials, the military, and intelligence agencies.

[Paul Belanger · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book follows on the coattails of "American Conspiracies." While some of the documents were interesting to read, and shocking, many were completely unreadable to my tired eyes. Eventually I began either skimming or just skipping them. The most interesting part was Mr Ventura's commentary on the documents. The format in "American Conspiracies" was much better, in my opinion. I wish he had done the same thing here.

Growing up I had always heard, "If you don't vote, you don't have the right to complain about the government." Interesting, especially when you read the articles on voter fraud. I agree with Mr Ventura; ditch electronic voting completely. Leave a paper trail so it can be hand counted. Although, documents disappearing has happened before. So, do our votes really count? Are our voices being heard? Honestly, I doubt it. I think the entire system is rigged and has been rigged for decades. Do away with two party politics. Do away with the electoral college. Do away with media election predictions. Force the media to maintain silence until after Hawaii has voted.

Once again, this is a book that every American should read. Don't walk around this country with blinders on. Wake up and see what the powers that be have been shoveling all these years.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul this unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of statesmanship."
-- Teddy Roosevelt

Former Governor Jesse Ventura is getting to be the go-to guy for conspiracies in this country. Not the crazy conspiracies of guys wearing tinfoil hats or Tea Party birthers.

No, he presents actual misdeeds by the US government. And actually provides documentation. Many of the horrible misdeeds are things I knew something about like MKULTRA and the waterboarding of Al Zubaydah. Many of the others were new to me.

All in all, a good book. Keep them honest, Jesse!

[Ietrio · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's easy to find fault with Jesse Ventura without reading him. It's a conspiracy theory. Yes. Yet, the redacted pages show precisely that "the Government Doesn't Want You to Read". Is it bad? I don't know. But Ventura is right: hiding these acts from the public makes these acts immoral from the beginning.

[Kʜᴀɴ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn't that kind on which you apply rapid reading(what I exactly did). This books is that kind when you have plenty of time to research and digging.

[Thiago S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

63 doc... é um livro que garimpei por semanas pois achei sua premissa interessante: o autor, Jesse Ventura, é ex-governador de Minnesota, esteve no Vietnã, foi lutador de WWE...de maneira louvável , se mostrando um "verdadeiro patriota" se voltou (pelo menos aparentemente) contra as mentiras do governo norte-americano e lançou a obra com 63 (em homenagem a JFK, assassinado em 1963, muito provavelmente pela CIA) documentos "sensiveis" que, mesmo estando disponiveis na internet, não são tao conhecidos do publico geral. Vou expor algumas observacoes favoraveis e depois algumas criticas ao livro

Pontos Fortes:
- Cópia dos planos da Operação Northwoods, de surpreendente criatividade e maquiavelismo;
- Trecho do interrogatorio de Traudl Junge (secretaria de Adolf Hitler, ver "A Queda") descrevendo os momentos finais de Martin Bormann;
- Sinistros detalhes das experiências de Controle da Mente pela CIA;
- Evidências de Implosão do prédio 7 do World Trade Center em 11/9 (com gráficos e demonstrações), argumento este que tem muita força dentre engenheiros e especialistas, de dificil negaçao pelo governo;
- Operaçoes incomuns na bolsa de valores nos dias que antecederam o 11/9 (ainda que esse item figure mais no campo das suspeitas)
- Governo americano querendo retaliar a França para defender a Monsanto;
- A propria ideia do livro, de reunir varios documentos diferentes que, ainda que nao sejam mais "classificados", dao trabalho para serem encontrados pelo cidadao comum.
- Uma lista de sites no fim do livro para o leitor se aprofundar em pesquisas deste tipo de informacao.

Pontos Fracos
- A leitura de alguns documentos é dificil. Varios usuarios deram 1 estrela ao livro na Amazon alegando nao conseguir ler absolutamente nada na versao ebook. No aplicativo Kindle do ipad consegui maximizar bem as imagens e portanto ha um certo exagero, mas algumas imagens realmente tem qualidade baixa (fotocopias datilografadas de documentos de 60, 70 anos atras e entao digitalizadas) e dificultam a compreensao. O autor poderia ter transcrito todos os documentos, pelo menos na versao digital que nao ha tanta preocupacao com a quantidade final de paginas);
- Alguns documentos realmente impressionam pouco, pareceres disponiveis em sites governamentais, nada de muita novidade;
- Certos assuntos abordados sao obviamente interessantes e poderiam ser mais profundamente abordados. Outros, menos impactantes recebem mais paginas;
- Ler paginas de relatorios e pareceres na integra é entediante, pelo menos pra mim que ja lido com um imenso papelório burocratico no meu trabalho. Talvez quem nao esteja acostumado com memorandos internos de instituicoes governamentais possa ter algum tesão em se deparar pela primeira vez com isso, mas alguns trechos sao de dar sono.
- O autor parece ter feito um "catadão aleatório" de documentos que por vezes so tem em comum o fato de que ha algum embuste, truque ou omissao por parte do governo. Salta-se de Noriega para Ruanda e daí para testes em soldados. Nao ha muita coesao ou uma linha de raciocinio pra seguir.
- A parte sobre JFK é insignificante e decepciona. Imagino que o autor tenha guardado as melhores partes para uma obra especifica sobre Kennedy, de quem é admirador.

VEREDITO:
63 documents é uma leitura leve, indicada para uma viagem ou uma sala de espera de consultorio. Acredito que a maioria dos leitores vai pular várias paginas como eu fiz, pois dificilmente vai se interessar por todos os assuntos explorados. É mais um "Guia dos Curiosos" para alimentar discussoes em mesa de bar, embora suas informacoes sejam certamente merecedoras de credibilidade. Daria um razoavel presente de amigo secreto (melhor que um par de meias) mas "para abrir os olhos da populacao" ha trabalhos bem superiores.

[Ash Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike in his previous book, American Conspiracies, this time around Ventura actually provides documentation in support of his conspiracy theories. Unfortunately, in most cases his conclusions simply don't follow from the documents he presents, and in some cases are outright contradicted by them.[return][return]Also, some of the documents that he seems to think are the most shocking and to which he devotes a lot of space are really pretty tame, unless you're incredibly naive I guess...for instance, he includes a lengthy transcript of a senate committee hearing with an army doctor about the U.S. military's use of biological and chemical agents (including defoliants) during the Vietnam war---and about the worst thing that actually comes out in the interview is that the army accidentally killed a few sheep in Utah (for which they compensated the owners).[return][return]He also includes some things that hardly qualify as "documents the government doesn't want you to read"...for instance, the schedule of a conference of free-market advocates, the only really scary thing about which is that Glenn Beck was one of the speakers.[return][return]Ventura is also rather inconsistent at times. For instance, in American Conspiracies he argued that we should have state-run healthcare---pointing to, as his shining example, the VA system. "If it's good enough for veterans, it should be good enough for the rest of us," he writes...and yet here, after Obamacare was rammed through the Senate, he provides actual documentation of how inefficient and ineffective the VA really is to show what a raw deal the veterans are getting (the document he provides concludes that "the VA is killing veterans slowly through bureaucratic processes," even driving some to suicide...this is what we have to look forward to under Obamacare, folks!). Nice work, Jesse! You can't have it both ways.[return][return]Despite these and other flaws and shortcomings, however, many of the documents presented here are interesting, and some outrageous, in their own right. For that reason, this book is much better than his previous one, and perhaps worth a read.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK,wow just doesn't begin to cover it and what the @#%$ doesn't even begin to release the emotions.This book made my eyes bulge, my heart hurt, and my head shake in disbelief and hang in shame.

I'm one of those people that takes most conspiracy theories with a grain of salt...look at the leaves the forest seems huge, but step back ten paces and its really two trees growing closely. This book provides the info and lets you come to your own conclusions.

My conclusion: Our government is a back-door baller, just waiting for someone to turn around so they can swipe something.

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them ~ Patrick Henry

Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible government, to befoul this unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of statesmanship.
~ Theodore Roosevelt, 1912

From the quotes I have listed above the feelings and sentiments of the people have for too long been that their government is neither 'their' government nor working for 'their' best interests.

[John Mabbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another typically excellent book from Jesse Ventura and Dick Russell.
The declassified documents from the Joint Chiefs of Staff regarding Operation Northwoods in 1962 make compelling and disturbing reading. That plans were laid out to deliberately and falsely accuse Cuba of having attacked US cities, sunk ships in Guantanomo Bay, lobbed mortar rounds into the base, exploded a drone aircraft over international waters, filed fake casualty figures that a helpful media would publish in order to arouse suitable public indignation, leaving fabricated evidence which would justify a full scale military invasion of the island and overthrow Fidel Castro's government, sounds ominously like more recent events that have been used to justify foreign invasions: with devastating consequences for the whole world.
If this wasn't enough, there are 62 other documents detailing mind control programs, the CIA's assassination manual, the deliberate infecting of civilians with virulent diseases all makes the reader ask themselves, " who in the hell actually makes these decisions and why are they not in jail for the rest of their miserable lives?!"

[Scott Lupo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotta' love Jesse. His previous book, American Conspiracies, had a lot more Jesse commentary on each subject. This book is mainly the actual documents that back up his commentary. I have to give him credit for doing his research and sifting through the immense amount of data out there. If you have never been to WikiLeaks you should check it out. It's not easy going through tens of thousands of documents. While Jesse may go overboard or exaggerate at times, he really does bring the dark, underbelly of politics and power to light. So many things happen behind our backs that are contrary to democracy and what we should believe in as a country. It's not glamourous work but Jesse and everybody else trying to get the truth out there (Julian Assange and Ron Paul comes to mind) are providing a service to those who care.

[Gabe Hawkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is “American Conspiracies” all over again, but with some added context courtesy of allegedly official government documents. Once again, credit where it’s due, some of the documents are interesting. But the conclusions that Ventura develops are a quantum leap at their most rational.

The whole time I was reading this, it felt like Ventura just badly wanted the government to be behind everything from 9/11 to the Twinkie debacle from a few years ago. The target audience for the book is likely folks that think along those same lines, I imagine.

For reasonable people out there interested in examining some of the topics covered in either this work or “American Conspiracies” are likely to find an equal amount of quality information upon a cursory Google search, so the book isn’t worth the time.

[E.J. Cullen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Like a soft-hearted jury member, I decided to give this convicted literary offender another chance at rehabilitation. Mistake. This one is worse than the last one. How one can make a book with this title disinteresting calls for major effort, and Jesse provided it (along with help from someone named Dick Russell, who along with the ex-governor, can't put two lucid sentences together.

[Mary Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was not enamored of this book. I was expecting something different and this was nothing more than someone unhappy with the government writing a book and I can look up the wikileaks on my own. I did not enjoy this book at all. Glad I had not spent money on it.

[Richard Croner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and scary! I have no idea whether or not what is in the book is accurate fact or opinion. The book on Kindle is very hard to read due to format issues but I did stick it out to the end.

[Tim Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who is the authors referring to when referring to "the government"? How were the documents that "the government" doesn't want you to read selected? How does the government express it desires? These are the questions that came to mind after reading the book and after reflecting on the title. After reading the book, I cannot recommend it. It seemed dated (published in 2011 and much of the information has be made public elsewhere in the last ten years). Still, the topic interesting and I intend listen to the audiobook, American Conspiracies: Lies, Lies, and More Dirty Lies that the Government Tells Us, since it available thru my local library.

[Shoshanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

i know of someone who recommended me to read this book. he just told me for some people to stop involving millions of
dollars for unnessecary means (i use this term).

thank you, jesse, for informing me and many others in regards to knowing the truth. the truth is not easy to swallow. that's why people just go about their regular daily lives, and focus on what they choose to.

i think before people get into a job title of power, they need to have extensive examinations covering mentally, emotionally, etc, before they get the job - so they can actually help the people. it's always about the people. its always about the money. they need to be f*cking interrogated. basic philosophy: find out what they value, how they treat everything and everyone, and what gets them up out of bed and continue living their f*cking lives.

[EarthBull · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of well known things in the book and somethings that could have been overlooked seems to be facts with some of the cases since most of the topics are declassified and widely available online and even on YouTube discussing the subjects in this book. However it's a nice refresher for those who are seeing they missed anything in regards to the discussed topics in this book. Most of these things I was aware of maybe not into deep details. Sure there is better books covering the wide spectrum of this genre. This is a nice read for those who want to get primed on the popular conspiracy topics.

[Mike Lisanke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wouldn't call Jesse Ventura a credible source but as a commentator on Government Conspiracy he does an OK job. The biggest problem is/was my copy of the book contains many words unprocessed by OCR and unreadable as ecopy. The book authors just dumped images of corraborating evidence into the book's pages. IMO this is not how tell all research is reported. That makes this one of the poorest books on the subject which might otherwise be a decent book. I'm going to attempt to reprocess with best OCR I have and see if sections from reports are comprehensible.

[Davino Nascimento · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is essentially a poorly edited collection of documents—some of them quite old—both classified and non-classified. While some of the material serves as a valuable source, the book ultimately feels like little more than a compilation.

I had expected a more engaging read with some insightful commentary from the author. But nope, it remains essentially a collage, nothing else.
-ab-

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was full of a lot of interesting information. I just wish there was more pages of what he had to say about the documents. Also some of the documents were really hard to see so I had to skip them.

[fran · Rating 2 out of 5]

63documents the publishers don't want you to read

I have seen Jessie Ventura on his now defunct TV show and thought this book would be interesting,but it is so VERY poorly edited as to be almost totally unreadable. What a shame.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but ultimately an often difficult read due to reproductions of original documents that have degraded over time or were not that clear to begin with. This forces the reader to struggle when it would have made more sense to provide transcripts in addition. Maybe this is better with the print edition. I am pretty sceptical about some of the claims in here too.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ventura & Russell did their research. Thankfully they provided ways to read the originals because the copies in the book have small print & can be hard to read. This book is dated considering all that's happened in our recent history on US soil.

[Eric Tremblay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eyes opener

Democracy is in danger and US government is responsible for a great deal. I thought that Jesse is a real patriotic hero and he is a genuine person who put him self in line of fire in order to help people rebuilding our democracy. A truly American hero.