Jim Douglas-’JFK and the unspeakable’

Robert Kennedy in Palestine

 

Linked here is an article about Boby Kennedys visit to Palestine in 1948 as a reporter for the Boston Post.

Link

 

 

‘One minute to midnight’ -The Cuban missile crisis

The most interesting part of this Washington Post article is the online discussion with the author. We have linked to it, as it is too long to keep in its entirety.

Book World: ‘One Minute to Midnight’
Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro On the Brink of Nuclear War

Michael Dobbs
Author and Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 24, 2008; 3:00 PM

 

“In One Minute to Midnight, Michael Dobbs sets out to ‘help a new generation of readers relive the quintessential Cold War crisis’ and, in particular, its harrowing climax on ‘Black Saturday,’ Oct. 27, just before the Kremlin leader lanced the tension by agreeing to withdraw the missiles. In this he succeeds brilliantly, marshaling diverse sources to relate an intensely human story of Americans, Russians and Cubans caught up in what the late historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. termed ‘the most dangerous moment in human history.’”

Washington Post staff writer Michael Dobbs was online Tuesday, June 24 to discuss his new book about the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro On the Brink of Nuclear War, which was reviewed in Book World. He also wrote about the Cuban missile crisis and its lessons for today’s leaders in the Post Outlook Section.

Dobbs awards Pinocchios to exaggerating and prevaricating politicians and pundits in his Washington Post column, The Fact Checker. He is also the author of Saboteurs: The Nazi Raid on America and Down with Big Brother: The Fall of the Soviet Empire.

A transcript follows.

Join Book World Live each Tuesday at 3 p.m. ET for a discussion based on a story or review in each Sunday’s Book World section.

INTERVIEW

“JFK assassination documentary analyzes conspiracy theories”

By Jessica Young
GateHouse News Service
Posted Jun 19, 2008 @ 02:18 PM
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/entertainment/x222991600/JFK-assassination-documentary-analyzes-conspiracy-theories

Christopher Andersen remembers devouring the Warren Commission Report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as a 9-year-old.

“I sat down with it with my dad. How many kids are riveted by something like that?” the Westmont, Ill., resident said. “But the JFK assassination just mesmerized me. It changed the country entirely — our innocence was lost.”

That fateful day in Dallas stuck with Andersen as one conspiracy theory after another surfaced over the years. So much so that it became the subject of his production company’s latest documentary nearly 45 years after the assassination.

“Frame 313: The JFK Assassination Theories,” which was just released, is a 114-minute video that uses rare footage, new testimonials and expert interviews to explore the five most credible hypotheses surrounding the events of Nov. 22, 1963.

“One thing we’re very proud of is that we don’t have an angle. We present evidence that supports multiple arguments and leave it up to the audience to decide who was behind the murder,” said Andersen, executive producer at Sundown Entertainment in Westmont. “It’s the first complete, objective overview of the most controversial, unresolved murder case in U.S. history.”

The educational film, which soon will get a distributor, lays out substantiation for the Warren Commission’s “Lone Gunman” findings, a CIA/mafia plot, a strictly mafia scheme, a Soviet Union/KGB maneuver and a CIA/anti-Fidel Castro Cuban exiles conspiracy.

Interview clips bolster, refute and even acknowledge question marks in the convoluted theories. Viewers must then weigh testimony and piece together the puzzle.

Although “Frame 313” doesn’t take sides, Andersen personally doesn’t buy the Warren report’s conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald single-handedly killed the president. Especially since the House Select Committee on Assassinations later disputed the commission’s acoustic analysis and decided Oswald “probably” murdered Kennedy as a result of a conspiracy.

“I think JFK was also shot from the front, and we talked to an emergency room doctor who stood above the head wound, which was corroborating proof to me,” he said. “In my opinion, the CIA and mafia have their fingerprints all over it. I mean, the strongest thing I’ve heard is (CIA pilot) Tosh Plumley admitting that he was sent to Dealey Plaza to abort an assassination attempt but that they were too late.

“When you look at who was there, it was like a Batman gallery — there were rogues and villains crawling all over the vicinity that day,” Andersen said.

While conducting research for the DVD, Lynn Sanders, a co-writer from Winnetka, Ill., actually feared for her life.

“Over 100 people who knew something about the assassination have been killed, and I truly did worry about my safety,” she said. “So many people doing research on it had an unusual accident or died mysteriously. To me, that points to a cover-up.”

The undetermined cause of death for reporter Dorothy Kilgallen, who interviewed Oswald’s assassin, Jack Ruby, was forefront in Sanders’ mind as she was reading documents and editing footage over the course of more than a year.

“Frame 313” was an intensive, 19-month-long project. Andersen traveled extensively to do background research and record new interviews with investigators, authors and former agents and operatives to add to original archival footage from bystanders, local breaking newscasts and Oswald’s public appearances. The film also includes clips from a JFK symposium of historians and government bigwigs. Sanders calls the documentary an encyclopedia of information.

Andersen said he doesn’t believe interest in the assassination will dissipate any time soon, especially because many records still are classified, fueling some people’s assumptions of a conspiracy.

“If the government thinks this was such a straightforward murder case and Oswald wasn’t connected to anyone else, why are files from the investigations sealed?” he said. “The powers that be didn’t want something to come out. And we wanted this film to get more information out there.”

Suburban Life Publications

Committee for an Open Archives 1992

Here is a video of John Judge speaking at American University in 1992 about Oliver Stone’s ‘JFK’. John is here representing the Committee for an Open Archives, one of the organizations that originally comprised COPA.

Report on L.A. conference

Friends,
Our regional meeting in Los Angeles was a great success. Wonderful speakers,
new evidence and information, and a real researchers’
conference. We were able to pay all our bills and our past debts, and have
funds for Dallas now. Due to a hotel venue cancellation, we were unable to
overcome technical problems with broadcasting it livestream,.
but the video will be uploaded and available on our website very soon.
Please visit www.politicalassassinations.com. John Geraghty, our webmaster,
has been doing a great job in posting new information, videos, etc. there
and at our YouTube site. The presentations by Dr.
Robert Joling, Philip van Praag and Paul Schrade were eye opening, and COPA
is working closely with them to get a new investigation on the presence of a
second gunman in the pantry based on new, hard evidence on an audio tape.
Dr. William Pepper, formerly the attorney for James Earl Ray in his last
appeal, and the King family in their civil suit, is now Sirhan Sirhan’s
attorney, and working to get legal review based on evidence that Sirhan was
under hypnosis and programming at the time of the shooting. Two new films,
“RFK Must Die” produced by Shane O’Sullivan and “RFK” by Marc Sobel were
shown, and the filmmakers spoke and took questions. The 92-year old Secret
Service agent who had been assigned to Bobby Kennedy and his family right
after the shooting spoke as well about his autobiography, Dar’s Story. Ted
Charach, producer of “The Second Gun” was with us for two sessions and spoke
from the audience.
Summer Reese helped get KPFK-FM, the local Pacifica affiliate, to sponsor
our event, and spoke about Larry Teeter’s case file records from his work as
Sirhan’s attorney and their status. Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney,
now a presidential candidate vying for the Green Party ticket, spoke about
her focus on political assassinations, starting with Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. Researchers Lisa Pease and Michael Calder presented their latest work
on the RFK case as well. Recently released books include An Open and Shut
Case (Joling and van Praag), Who Shot Bobby (O’Sullivan) and RFK Must Die
(Robert Kaiser, updated edition). DVD’s of the whole conference will be
available soon for a donation to COPA.

Four stalwarts came to our annual commemoration of President Kennedy’s
inaugural speech given June 10, 1963, calling for an end to the nuclear arms
race and testing, disarmament and detente with the Soviet Union and a real
peace, not a “Pax Americana” based on mutual interest for the future. We
gathered in the hot sun under an isolated monument to his talk at American
University campus in Washington, DC, and read out parts of his speech, as
well as the words of Robert Kennedy the night of the assassination of Dr.
King, given impromptu in Indianapolis, IN in 1968.
At lunch afterwards, we talked about the future work of COPA.

We will mark the 45th anniversary of the assassination of President John F.
Kennedy at our annual regional meeting in Dallas this year, from November
21-23, with our customary moment of silence at the Grassy Knoll, 12:30 pm on
the 22nd. We will stay at the Hotel Lawrence, just off Dealey Plaza. Here is
the basic information:

November 21-23 (Friday - Sunday)
*The Assassination of John F. Kennedy: The Death of Democracy* 45th
anniversary of his assassination in Dallas Regional Meeting of COPA in
Dallas, TX Hotel Lawrence, 302 S. Houston St. (at Jackson, off Dealey Plaza)
COPA rate: Single or double rooms for $79 per night for the 21st and 22nd.
Use the group code COPA08 when you call.
Call 214-761-9090 or 877-396-0334 toll free Registration on site

I am still lining up the best speakers for the event. Our keynote will be at
the nearby Adolphus Hotel at 7:00 pm on Friday, following dinner at their
Cafe Bistro restaurant in the lobby at 5:30 pm. We will end at 12:00 pm on
Sunday. Hope to see you there.

Also be aware that Dr. Cyril Wecht, our first COPA president, is organizing
a conference at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA from October 3-5
called Making Sense of the Sixties, regarding the major assassinations, with
major speakers. Flyer is attached.

COPA continues to support passage of a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Records Act, and we are pursuing it with Rep. William Lacy Clay, the
chairman of the House Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and
National Archives. Jim Lesar of the Assassination Archives and Research
Center in DC has recently written to House Committee on Government Reform
chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman to call for the legally mandated oversight
hearings on the JFK Assassination Records Act that have yet to happen. I am
working to combine the two issues into a discussion about using the JFK Act
model for future release of files of historical significance and broad
public interest. Please call or visit your Congress Member in the House,
especially if they sit on these two committees, and push for new law and
hearings.

Another recent development based on my work has been the introduction of
35 Articles of Impeachment or President George W. Bush by Rep. Dennis
Kucinich under House Resolution 1258. I helped to draft much of the bill and
hope to continue to work with him on future bills. You can see the text at
http://kucinich.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=93581. It
should be widely read and discussed. His floor reading took up 4 1/2 hours
on C-SPAN. The theme is that a pattern of abuses make clear Bush constantly
violates his oath of office and his Constitutional duty under Article 2 to
protect the Constitution, insure the faithful execution of the laws, and
execute the duties of his office. The resolution was overwhelmingly voted to
be referred to the House Judiciary Committee where it is expected to die
without hearings under Rep. John Conyers.
However, a groundswell of public support has been organizing petitions,
calls and visits to the Members on the committee, and others to demand
hearings and ask for co-sponsors for H Res 1258. A video of the reading of
the bill can be seen at
http://www.c-spanarchives.org/congress/?q=node/77531&id=8583196. I have
initiated a petition at www.onlinepetition.com/HR1258/hr1258/htm and more
information can be seen at www.groundsforimpeachment.com, a website created
my Mike Zmolek and myself, who worked on these articles from 2006. Even if
they are never given a Congressional hearing, they deserve a public hearing.
Don’t forget the role of the Bush family in assassinations ranging from
President John F. Kennedy, to Orlando Letelier and attempts on Fidel Castro,
as well as President Ronald Reagan. For most people, this well documented
list of charges against the current Bush president will be an eye-opener.

COPA continues to work to release all files concerning all major political
assassinations or plots, as well as bringing forward the best current
information and new evidence. We are not allergic to donations, though they
are not tax-deductible. Some send us monthly donations to keep us going all
year. Donations of $50 or more will get a copy of the
2007 Dallas meeting on DVD.

John Judge

Letter to the editor

Here is a letter to the editor from long time COPA member Susan McLucas to the Boston Globe in light of their publishing of an article by Priscilla Johnson McMillan.

Dear Editors,
I was very surprised to see the editorial by Priscilla Johnson McMillan in the Globe June 4. Any student of the first Kennedy assassination knows that she was one of the handlers of Lee Harvey Oswald, the person who is commonly considered to be the killer of President John Kennedy. McMillan, who worked for the North American News Alliance, a front for British and American intelligence, helped establish Oswald’s status as a defector, an important element in the effort to frame him for Kennedy’s killing. In documents released as a result of the JFK Assassination Records Release Act, it came out that she was a “witting asset of the CIA.” You may remember that in the 70’s, the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that there was probably a conspiracy in the assassination of Kennedy, but the government has never seen fit to follow up on this very interesting open question.

Similarly, the killing of Martin Luther King is not clearly the work of James Earl Ray, the drifter ex-con who is normally considered the assassin. In 1999 the King family helped Ray conduct a civil lawsuit which concluded that he was not King’s killer. So, in your editorial, you have one of the people involved in the cover-up of the killing of JFK writing about the motivations of people who were not even the killers in question. Not very useful, I would say.
If you’d like to get some real information about the crucial assassinations of the 1960’s, tune in to the 40th anniversary conference in Los Angeles of the Robert Kennedy assassination this week-end. It is being organized by the Coalition on Political Assassinations and much, if not all of it, will be shown on their website, www.PoliticalAssassinations.com. They will be reviewing the well-known evidence in this case - the fact that more bullets were fired than would fit in Sirhan Sirhan’s gun and that the bullet that killed RFK was shot at point blank range from the rear, whereas Sirhan was always in front of Kennedy - and also presenting newly released information.
History is hard to understand in the best of circumstances. When people who are actively trying to confuse the public are given space in reputable newspapers, it is even more difficult.
Susan McLucas
Citizens Action Team

COPA conference promoted in USA today

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/06/looking-ahead-3.html
Coming Friday:

• Got jobs? The Labor Department releases the report on May unemployment, along with the monthly figures on manufacturing payrolls, average hourly earnings and weekly hours. The government also will report on wholesale inventories and sales in April, while the Federal Reserve updates how deep consumers are in credit debt.

• With six months left for the Bush administration, Stephen Preston will be sworn in (ceremonially) as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. President Bush will participate.

• Vice President Cheney flies to Houston to help raise money for a GOP congressional candidate.

• It’s the 64th anniversary of D-Day, the massive, bloody Allied assault on Nazi-occupied France.

• In Los Angeles, on the day after the 40th anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy’s slaying, the Coalition on Political Assassinations hosts a conference. New evidence about a purported second gunman will be presented.

Posted by Michael Winter at 08:39 PM/ET, June 05, 2008

William Pepper at RFK fundraiser

Dr William Pepper discusses his plans for the pursual of a civil trial on behalf of Sirhan Sirhan. He talks with confidence of his ability to get some legal remedy for the case. COPA will be assisting Dr Pepper in every capacity in his work.

Video (wordpress seems unwilling to allow us to embed youtube videos of late)

New LAFD assassination photos released

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/06/content_8318266.htm
Photos taken after Robert F. Kennedy assassination released
www.chinaview.cn 2008-06-06 04:10:28

LOS ANGELES, June 5 (Xinhua) — The Los Angeles Fire Department(LAFD) on Thursday released new photos taken moments after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, 40 years after the death of the former senator and younger brother of President John F. Kennedy.

Kennedy was shot to death in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968 during his presidential nominating campaign. He had just finished a speech at the Ambassador Hotel after winning the California primary when he was shot in a crowded passageway by assassin Sirhan Sirhan.

The newly released photos were taken by Harold Burba, a photographer of the LAFD who was in the Ambassador Hotel pantry after the shooting.

The photos, showing a struggle involving several men and the assassin, were sent to a Los Angeles grand jury on the morning after the assassination and have been in the LAFD’s possession since 1968.

Burba reportedly requested that the photos be released after his death. The photos were published in the latest issue of the Los Angeles Firefighter newspaper.