from guardian: Fidel Castro has more reason than most to believe conspiracy theories involving dark forces in Washington. After all, the CIA tried to blow his head off with an exploding cigar.
Estulin offered his own views on Bin Laden: that the man seen in videos since 9/11 is not him at all but a "bad actor".
However the two men did find something to disagree on. Estulin has long argued that the human race will need to find another planet to live on because of overcrowding. Castro was not keen. He observed that man had only made it to the moon, which is entirely unsuitable as a new home, and what lay beyond that was not much better. Better to fix things on earth. "Humanity ought to take care of itself if it wants to live thousands more years," he said.
The New York Times reported on Friday that the files "involve the curious career of George E. Joannides, the case officer who oversaw the dissident Cubans in 1963. In 1978, the agency made Mr. Joannides the liaison to the House Select Committee on Assassinations - but never told the committee of his earlier role."
Joannides was the deputy director for psychological warfare at the CIA's Miami station, JM/WAVE, which was the center of anti-Castro activities in the early 60's and served as a spawning ground for figures who would later be involved in covert operations in Vietnam and in Iran-Contra. In 1963, Joannides worked closely with leaders of the the Directorio Revolucionario Estudantil and exercised a significant degree of control over the group's leaders.
Former Washington Post reporter Jefferson Morley has been engaged since 2001 in a battle to learn move about the dual role placed by Joannides, which has raised suspicions that he was part of a coverup. "I know there's a story here," Morley told the Times. "The confirmation is that the C.I.A. treats these documents as extremely sensitive."
This past July, Morley wrote, "Last week, I did my part to hold the CIA accountable. I filed my sixth (!) declaration in connection with Morley v. CIA, my ongoing lawsuit against the agency seeking records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy ... The Joannides file, say a diverse group of JFK authors, are part of the assassination story and should be made public. For six years, the CIA has refused, alleging their release would harm 'national security.'"
Morley's quest has gained prominent supporters, including even anti-conspiracy assassination scholar Gerald Posner, who believes that the CIA's secretiveness is feeding into conspiracy theories.
G. Robert Blakey, who served as staff director to the House Select Committee on Assassinations, told the Times, "If I’d known his role in 1963, I would have put Joannides under oath - he would have been a witness, not a facilitator ... How do we know what he didn’t give us?"
Before retiring in October 2007, Myers worked as a Europe analyst in the State Department's intelligence agency, known as the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. The arrests followed a three-year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the State Department's security outfit. In April an undercover FBI agent posing as a Cuban intelligence officer persuaded the couple to meet with him. Upon request, the couple agreed to provide information on US officials responsible for Latin America. They also acknowledged receiving encrypted messages via shortwave radio from Cuban intelligence agencies, and travelling abroad to meet with Cuban officials. If convicted, the charges carry up to 20 years in prison.
from huffington post: Asked to reflect upon the coming end of Fidel Castro's time and regime in Cuba, longtime ABC newsman Sam Donaldson had one last request: to be beside Castro's bedside to ask if he was responsible for John F. Kennedy's assassination. "You mentioned the assassination," Donaldson, appearing on ABC's This Week on Sunday [apr19] said in reference to early conversation about the shooting of JFK. "In his dying breath I'd like to be at [Castro's] bedside and say, did you do it? Meaning November 22, 1963." A few co-panelists expressed playful shock with Donaldson's conspiratorial yarn. "Oh, my goodness," said Peggy Noonan, sifting her fingers through her hair. "Come on, Sam," added Cokie Roberts. "Wait a moment," Donaldson responded. "I think it is still open."
3 new books offer competing versions of jfk's assassination from new york observer: What can we hope to gain from a new book about the J.F.K. assassination? Surely not that it reveal some definitive truth about the events in Dallas, since with every passing year, with each frustrating release of declassified information, it becomes clear that no such revelation will ever be forthcoming. Rather, the best such a book can offer is a narrative that is plausible and in some way resonant; a story that provides the consolations of fiction rather than fact. If we can’t have the truth, then at least give us a myth we can believe in, a story with villains and heroes, with tragedy and some sense of redemption.
Perhaps sensing this, the publishers of Brothers in Arms claim that it depicts the events surrounding the assassination “in a narrative non-fiction format, using … techniques of the most highly readable novels.” Written by veteran investigative reporter Gus Russo in collaboration with novelist and screenwriter Stephen Molton, this elegantly composed book depicts those few seconds in Dallas as being the culmination of a blood feud between two sets of brothers, the Castros and Kennedys...
Legacy of Secrecy proves, in many ways, to be a mirror image of Brothers in Arms. Written by veteran Kennedy investigator Lamar Waldron (assisted by Air America host Thom Hartmann), it asserts that Oswald was in fact an anti-Castro agent involved in a C.I.A. plot to overthrow the Cuban leader, which was slated to take place just days after Kennedy’s killing...
For its part, James W. Douglass’ JFK and the Unspeakable puts forward a scenario in which J.F.K. was cut down by a C.I.A.-administered plot that used Oswald as a patsy. Mr. Douglass, “a longtime peace activist,” believes Kennedy was murdered by shadowy forces because he was in the process of renouncing the cold war and all its toxic legacies: the arms race, Vietnam, the anti-Castro campaign, even predatory capitalism in the form of Big Steel
from miami herald: Grayston L. Lynch, a hero of the anti-Castro movement for his leadership in the Bay of Pigs invasion, where fired the first shot of the battle, died at 85 on Aug. 10... In his 1998 book, Decision for Disaster: Betrayal at the Bay of Pigs, Lynch detailed his role as CIA case officer in charge of the April 16, 1961, operation. He fired the first shot of the three-day assault - at a Jeep shining its headlights on Brigade 2506 frogmen landing at Playa Giron - then returned to his ship and shot down two Cuban fighter planes. Despite the invasion's disastrous failure, Lynch continued to direct clandestine assaults on the island from Miami until 1967. His anger at the Kennedy administration's decision to cancel air support never abated.
booz allen hamilton wins $6m biometrics bid from washington technology: Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. has won a contract worth $6.3 million to conduct a biometrics research project at the request of the Air Force, the Defense Department announced yesterday. Under the contract, the McLean, Va., company will help conduct research for a new 3-D facial recognition biometrics program, DOD said. The company will conduct the research at the Information Assurance Technical Analysis Center (IATAC) in Herndon, Va... The contracting authority for the project is located at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.
fidel castro retires after 49 years in power from reuters: Ailing Cuban leaderFidel Castro stepped down on Tuesday 49 years after taking power in an armed revolution, closing the book on a Cold War career that turned him into a leftist icon and a tyrant to his foes. Castro, 81, who has not appeared in public since undergoing stomach surgery almost 19 months ago, said he would not seek a new term as president or leader of Cuba's armed forces when the National Assembly meets on Sunday.
fda ties pneumonia deaths to infant vaccine from reuters: GlaxoSmithKline Plc's rotavirus vaccine is associated with increased pneumonia-related deaths and other adverse reactions, U.S. regulatory staff said in documents posted on Friday. The review comes ahead of a Food and Drug Administration advisory meeting next Wednesday to consider approval of the oral vaccine to prevent the most common cause of severe diarrhea and dehydration among infants and young children in the world.
scourge of scientology dies in apparent suicide from st. petersburg times: Shawn Lonsdale, whose one-man crusade against Scientology made him a public enemy of the church, was found dead at his home over the weekend in an apparent suicide... The medical examiner's office said the official cause of death is pending toxicology reports. It was a lonely end for a man who emerged out of nowhere in 2006 as a thorn in the side of the Church of Scientology.
'checkmate' for bay area pesticide spraying from san francisco chronicle: Hundreds of people whose homes and yards were sprayed in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties from September to December have filed reports that said the pesticide seems to have caused coughing, wheezing, muscle aches and headaches, among other symptoms. One Monterey family reported that a child had a first-time asthma attack... Spraying of the pesticide, called Checkmate, is expected to begin in the Bay Area in August and could continue for five years over San Francisco... Other chemicals could also be used.
ron paul for president 2.0 from time: Kissing babies, stumping on the campaign tour and meeting with the local supporters all seems so... well 1.0. Texas Congressman and libertarian Dr. Ron Paul represents the new 2.0 candidate, with his success recruiting supporters through new social media channels. But Congressman Paul's online supporters may run far afield from the typical campaign supporter.
putin dissolves russian government from ap: President Vladimir Putin has dissolved the Russian government on the request of the prime minister, the Kremlin said Wednesday, a major political shakeup that comes less than three months before crucial parliamentary elections.
from bbc: Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted the resignation of PM Mikhail Fradkov and nominated a financial crime investigator to replace him. Viktor Zubkov, head of the federal financial monitoring service, is a relative unknown in Russian politics.
russia tests superstrength bomb, military says
from reuters: Russia has tested the world's most powerful vacuum bomb, which unleashes a destructive shockwave with the power of a nuclear blast, the military said on Tuesday, dubbing it the "father of all bombs". The bomb is the latest in a series of new Russian weapons and policy moves as President Vladimir Putin tries to reassert Moscow's role on the international stage.
fidel castro says US fooled world over 9/11 from reuters: Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said the U.S. government misinformed Americans and the world about 9/11, echoing conspiracy theories about the terror attacks against the United States six years ago.
In an essay read by a Cuban television presenter on Tuesday night, Castro said the Pentagon was hit by a rocket, not a plane, because no traces were found of its passengers.
do you believe bush's actions justify impeachment? from msnbc: 89% - Yes, between the secret spying, the deceptions leading to war and more, there is plenty to justify putting him on trial.
the talk of tokyo: japan's abe resigns from abc: News this week that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will resign has sent his ruling Liberal Democratic Party into a state of confusion, and taken most Japanese by surprise. Abe's tenure has been wracked by scandal and by the controversy over the country's support of the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Abe is now hospitalized, suffering from exhaustion, one day after announcing his resignation. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party will hold an election to choose Abe's successor Sept. 23.
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from guardian: Fidel Castro has more reason than most to believe conspiracy theories involving dark forces in Washington. After all, the CIA tried to blow his head off with an exploding cigar.
