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Life Magazine, LBJ and the Assassination of JFK


John Simkin

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I thought researchers would be interested in reading this email I received last night:

I've been reading through you web site and believe that I can add one of the final jigsaw puzzle pieces that affect the timing of JFK's Dallas trip and the nervousness of LBJ during the weeks preceding the killing At the time I was the 27 year old Editorial business manager and assistant to Life Magazines Executive Editor. Beginning in later summer 1963 the magazine, based upon information fed from Bobby Kennedy and the Justice Department, had been developoing a major newsbreak piece concerning Johnson and Bobby Baker. On publication Johnson would have been finished and off the '64 ticket (reason the material was fed to us) and would probably have been facing prison time. At the time LIFE magazine was arguably the most important general news source in the US. The top management of Time Inc. was closely allied with the USA's various intelligance agencies and we were used ofter by the Kennedy Justice Department as a conduit to the public. Life's coverage of the Hoffa prosecution, and involvement in paying off Justice Department Memphis witesses was a case in point.

The LBJ/Baker piece was in the final editing stages and was scheduled to break in the issue of the magazine due out the week of November 24 (the magazine would have made it to the newsstands on Nov.26th or 27th). It had been prepared in relative secrecy by a small special editorial team. On Kennedy's death research files and all numbered copies of the nearly print-ready draft were gathered up by my boss (he had been thetop editor on the team) and shredded. The issue that was to expose LBJ instead featured the Zapruder film. Based upon our success in syndicating the Zapruder film I became Chief of Time/LIFE editorial services and remained in that job until 1968.

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I thought researchers would be interested in reading this email I received last night:

I've been reading through you web site and believe that I can add one of the final jigsaw puzzle pieces that affect the timing of JFK's Dallas trip and the nervousness of LBJ during the weeks preceding the killing At the time I was the 27 year old Editorial business manager and assistant to Life Magazines Executive Editor. Beginning in later summer 1963 the magazine, based upon information fed from Bobby Kennedy and the Justice Department, had been developoing a major newsbreak piece concerning Johnson and Bobby Baker. On publication Johnson would have been finished and off the '64 ticket (reason the material was fed to us) and would probably have been facing prison time. At the time LIFE magazine was arguably the most important general news source in the US. The top management of Time Inc. was closely allied with the USA's various intelligance agencies and we were used ofter by the Kennedy Justice Department as a conduit to the public. Life's coverage of the Hoffa prosecution, and involvement in paying off Justice Department Memphis witesses was a case in point.

The LBJ/Baker piece was in the final editing stages and was scheduled to break in the issue of the magazine due out the week of November 24 (the magazine would have made it to the newsstands on Nov.26th or 27th). It had been prepared in relative secrecy by a small special editorial team. On Kennedy's death research files and all numbered copies of the nearly print-ready draft were gathered up by my boss (he had been thetop editor on the team) and shredded. The issue that was to expose LBJ instead featured the Zapruder film. Based upon our success in syndicating the Zapruder film I became Chief of Time/LIFE editorial services and remained in that job until 1968.

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I thought researchers would be interested in reading this email I received last night:

I've been reading through you web site and believe that I can add one of the final jigsaw puzzle pieces that affect the timing of JFK's Dallas trip and the nervousness of LBJ during the weeks preceding the killing At the time I was the 27 year old Editorial business manager and assistant to Life Magazines Executive Editor. Beginning in later summer 1963 the magazine, based upon information fed from Bobby Kennedy and the Justice Department, had been developoing a major newsbreak piece concerning Johnson and Bobby Baker. On publication Johnson would have been finished and off the '64 ticket (reason the material was fed to us) and would probably have been facing prison time. At the time LIFE magazine was arguably the most important general news source in the US. The top management of Time Inc. was closely allied with the USA's various intelligance agencies and we were used ofter by the Kennedy Justice Department as a conduit to the public. Life's coverage of the Hoffa prosecution, and involvement in paying off Justice Department Memphis witesses was a case in point.

The LBJ/Baker piece was in the final editing stages and was scheduled to break in the issue of the magazine due out the week of November 24 (the magazine would have made it to the newsstands on Nov.26th or 27th). It had been prepared in relative secrecy by a small special editorial team. On Kennedy's death research files and all numbered copies of the nearly print-ready draft were gathered up by my boss (he had been thetop editor on the team) and shredded. The issue that was to expose LBJ instead featured the Zapruder film. Based upon our success in syndicating the Zapruder film I became Chief of Time/LIFE editorial services and remained in that job until 1968.

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I suspect the article concerned the claims made by Don B. Reynolds.

Reynolds told B. Everett Jordan and his committee on 22nd November, 1963, that Johnson had demanded that he provided kickbacks in return for him agreeing to this life insurance policy. This included a $585 Magnavox stereo. Reynolds was also told by Walter Jenkins that he had to pay for $1,200 worth of advertising on KTBC, Johnson's television station in Austin. Reynolds had paperwork for this transaction including a delivery note that indicated the stereo had been sent to the home of Johnson.

Reynolds also told of seeing a suitcase full of money which Bobby Baker described as a "$100,000 payoff to Johnson for his role in securing the Fort Worth TFX contract". Reynolds also provided evidence against Matthew H. McCloskey. He suggested that he given $25,000 to Baker in order to get the contract to build the District of Columbia Stadium. His testimony came to an end when news arrived that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated.

As soon as Johnson became president he contacted B. Everett Jordan to see if there was any chance of stopping this information being published. Jordan replied that he would do what he could but warned Johnson that some members of the committee wanted Reynold's testimony to be released to the public. On 6th December, 1963, Jordan spoke to Johnson on the telephone and said he was doing what he could to suppress the story because " it might spread (to) a place where we don't want it spread."

Abe Fortas, a lawyer who represented both Lyndon B. Johnson and Bobby Baker, worked behind the scenes in an effort to keep this information from the public. Johnson also arranged for a smear campaign to be organized against Reynolds. To help him do this J. Edgar Hoover passed to Johnson the FBI file on Reynolds.

On 17th January, 1964, the Committee on Rules and Administration voted to release to the public Reynolds' secret testimony. Johnson responded by leaking information from Reynolds' FBI file to Drew Pearson and Jack Anderson. On 5th February, 1964, the Washington Post reported that Reynolds had lied about his academic success at West Point. The article also claimed that Reynolds had been a supporter of Joseph McCarthy and had accused business rivals of being secret members of the American Communist Party. It was also revealed that Reynolds had made anti-Semitic remarks while in Berlin in 1953.

A few weeks later the New York Times reported that Lyndon B. Johnson had used information from secret government documents to smear Reynolds. It also reported that Johnson's officials had been applying pressure on the editors of newspapers not to print information that had been disclosed by Reynolds in front of the Senate Rules Committee.

John McClellan, the chairman of the Senate subcommittee investigating the F-111 contract said that he wanted to interview Don Reynolds. However, for some reason the subcommittee did not resume its investigation until 1969, after Johnson had left office.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKreynoldsD.htm

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Friday, Mar. 12, 1965

The "FBI Report"

Last Dec. 1, in closed hearings held by the Senate Rules Committee investigating the Bobby Baker case, Mary land Insurance Agent Don B. Reynolds leveled a barrage of charges against Democrats in high office, testified to parties where "beauties and whisky and money flowed freely." Only last week was the substance of Reynolds' testimony made public — along with the release of a 30-page document rebutting Reynolds' charges, one by one, which the Rules Committee chairman, North Carolina's Democratic Senator B. Everett Jordan, pretentiously called "the FBI report."

Among the charges and rebuttals:

> Reynolds said that Bobby Baker had told him that "the leader" —meaning then Vice President Lyndon Johnson— had "interceded" to make sure that the controversial $10 billion TFX fighter-bomber contract was awarded to General Dynamics Corp. The so-called FBI report quoted Defense Secretary Robert McNamara as saying that any claim of official pressure brought to bear about the TFX contract was "definitely and categorically" wrong.

> Reynolds said that a Grumman Aircraft official, anxious to land a fat TFX subcontract, visited Baker's Capitol office, left behind a bulging blue flight bag containing $100,000 in "hundred dollar bills that were bound in brown paper or some sort of thing." The report quoted the Grumman official as saying that he had never been in Baker's office and had never paid Bobby so much as a penny "for any purpose whatsoever."

> Reynolds said that in 1949 Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, then a Democratic Representative, while on a European junket used counterpart funds—local funds accumulated by the U.S. abroad and often used to meet official Government expenses—to buy "many articles," including a statue called Dawn. The report quoted Mansfield as saying that if he had indeed spent counterpart funds, it was only for such legitimate expenses as hotel bills, and that his wife had bought the controversial statue with $110 of "her own personal funds."

>Reynolds said that in 1961 Vice President Johnson, while in Hong Kong, spent 150,000 Hong Kong dollars in counterpart funds "in a period of 14 hours in buying personal gifts for people." The report says that at the time Johnson was there, the counterpart fund was down to 37,642 Hong Kong dollars.

The Rules Committee's six-man Democratic majority promptly seized upon the report to try to bring an end to the Baker investigation. "I think it's over," said Chairman Jordan, explaining that the report "makes it obvious beyond a doubt that the testimony of Don B. Reynolds is unworthy of belief."

But did it? In fact, the report was not written by the FBI at all, but rather by a team of Justice Department functionaries who boiled down hundreds of pages of raw FBI interviews. Unlike Reynolds, none of the persons interviewed by the FBI were under oath. The only part of Reynolds' testimony that has at any time been tested by a sworn statement from an adversary witness turned out to be true: that was Reynolds' claim that he had purchased advertising time on a Johnson-owned Austin TV station in return for selling insurance on Johnson's life. The claim was recently corroborated in substance by former White House Aide Walter Jenkins.

Click to Print

Find this article at:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/...,839360,00.html

Edited by Bernice Moore
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Friday, Mar. 12, 1965

The "FBI Report"

Last Dec. 1, in closed hearings held by the Senate Rules Committee investigating the Bobby Baker case, Mary land Insurance Agent Don B. Reynolds leveled a barrage of charges against Democrats in high office, testified to parties where "beauties and whisky and money flowed freely." Only last week was the substance of Reynolds' testimony made public — along with the release of a 30-page document rebutting Reynolds' charges, one by one, which the Rules Committee chairman, North Carolina's Democratic Senator B. Everett Jordan, pretentiously called "the FBI report."

Among the charges and rebuttals:

> Reynolds said that Bobby Baker had told him that "the leader" —meaning then Vice President Lyndon Johnson— had "interceded" to make sure that the controversial $10 billion TFX fighter-bomber contract was awarded to General Dynamics Corp. The so-called FBI report quoted Defense Secretary Robert McNamara as saying that any claim of official pressure brought to bear about the TFX contract was "definitely and categorically" wrong.

> Reynolds said that a Grumman Aircraft official, anxious to land a fat TFX subcontract, visited Baker's Capitol office, left behind a bulging blue flight bag containing $100,000 in "hundred dollar bills that were bound in brown paper or some sort of thing." The report quoted the Grumman official as saying that he had never been in Baker's office and had never paid Bobby so much as a penny "for any purpose whatsoever."

> Reynolds said that in 1949 Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, then a Democratic Representative, while on a European junket used counterpart funds—local funds accumulated by the U.S. abroad and often used to meet official Government expenses—to buy "many articles," including a statue called Dawn. The report quoted Mansfield as saying that if he had indeed spent counterpart funds, it was only for such legitimate expenses as hotel bills, and that his wife had bought the controversial statue with $110 of "her own personal funds."

>Reynolds said that in 1961 Vice President Johnson, while in Hong Kong, spent 150,000 Hong Kong dollars in counterpart funds "in a period of 14 hours in buying personal gifts for people." The report says that at the time Johnson was there, the counterpart fund was down to 37,642 Hong Kong dollars.

The Rules Committee's six-man Democratic majority promptly seized upon the report to try to bring an end to the Baker investigation. "I think it's over," said Chairman Jordan, explaining that the report "makes it obvious beyond a doubt that the testimony of Don B. Reynolds is unworthy of belief."

But did it? In fact, the report was not written by the FBI at all, but rather by a team of Justice Department functionaries who boiled down hundreds of pages of raw FBI interviews. Unlike Reynolds, none of the persons interviewed by the FBI were under oath. The only part of Reynolds' testimony that has at any time been tested by a sworn statement from an adversary witness turned out to be true: that was Reynolds' claim that he had purchased advertising time on a Johnson-owned Austin TV station in return for selling insurance on Johnson's life. The claim was recently corroborated in substance by former White House Aide Walter Jenkins.

Click to Print

Find this article at:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/...,839360,00.html

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I thought researchers would be interested in reading this email I received last night:

I've been reading through you web site and believe that I can add one of the final jigsaw puzzle pieces that affect the timing of JFK's Dallas trip and the nervousness of LBJ during the weeks preceding the killing At the time I was the 27 year old Editorial business manager and assistant to Life Magazines Executive Editor. Beginning in later summer 1963 the magazine, based upon information fed from Bobby Kennedy and the Justice Department, had been developoing a major newsbreak piece concerning Johnson and Bobby Baker. On publication Johnson would have been finished and off the '64 ticket (reason the material was fed to us) and would probably have been facing prison time. At the time LIFE magazine was arguably the most important general news source in the US. The top management of Time Inc. was closely allied with the USA's various intelligance agencies and we were used ofter by the Kennedy Justice Department as a conduit to the public. Life's coverage of the Hoffa prosecution, and involvement in paying off Justice Department Memphis witesses was a case in point.

The LBJ/Baker piece was in the final editing stages and was scheduled to break in the issue of the magazine due out the week of November 24 (the magazine would have made it to the newsstands on Nov.26th or 27th). It had been prepared in relative secrecy by a small special editorial team. On Kennedy's death research files and all numbered copies of the nearly print-ready draft were gathered up by my boss (he had been thetop editor on the team) and shredded. The issue that was to expose LBJ instead featured the Zapruder film. Based upon our success in syndicating the Zapruder film I became Chief of Time/LIFE editorial services and remained in that job until 1968.

I believe this information is of great significance. The subject that dominates LBJ thinking in the weeks following the assassination is the testimony of Don Reynolds. LBJ knows that if he had not been president he would almost certainly been forced to resign. However, as president, he was able to keep the information from the public for several months. In the meantime he began a smear campaign against Reynolds (using information supplied by J. Edgar Hoover). By the time the information was published, the US media decided it was not a good idea to impeach the new president and Reynolds' testimony got very little coverage. As Reynolds only testified on the day JFK was assassinated, it is possible that Life had other information on LBJ.

The other interesting aspect of this story is that the leaks against LBJ were coming from Robert Kennedy (this information originally came from Carl Curtis in his autobiography published in 1986). Curtis was a Republican member of the Senate committee looking into the Bobby Baker case. Therefore, in November, 1963, JFK was trying to get rid of his Vice-President. This is confirmed by JFK's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln.

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I thought researchers would be interested in reading this email I received last night:

I've been reading through you web site and believe that I can add one of the final jigsaw puzzle pieces that affect the timing of JFK's Dallas trip and the nervousness of LBJ during the weeks preceding the killing At the time I was the 27 year old Editorial business manager and assistant to Life Magazines Executive Editor. Beginning in later summer 1963 the magazine, based upon information fed from Bobby Kennedy and the Justice Department, had been developoing a major newsbreak piece concerning Johnson and Bobby Baker. On publication Johnson would have been finished and off the '64 ticket (reason the material was fed to us) and would probably have been facing prison time. At the time LIFE magazine was arguably the most important general news source in the US. The top management of Time Inc. was closely allied with the USA's various intelligance agencies and we were used ofter by the Kennedy Justice Department as a conduit to the public. Life's coverage of the Hoffa prosecution, and involvement in paying off Justice Department Memphis witesses was a case in point.

The LBJ/Baker piece was in the final editing stages and was scheduled to break in the issue of the magazine due out the week of November 24 (the magazine would have made it to the newsstands on Nov.26th or 27th). It had been prepared in relative secrecy by a small special editorial team. On Kennedy's death research files and all numbered copies of the nearly print-ready draft were gathered up by my boss (he had been thetop editor on the team) and shredded. The issue that was to expose LBJ instead featured the Zapruder film. Based upon our success in syndicating the Zapruder film I became Chief of Time/LIFE editorial services and remained in that job until 1968.

I was surprised this posting did not have much impact with members. However, I sent the information out to selected researchers who did see the significance of this information. Several will be using this information in books they are working on. Unfortunately, it came too late for Doug Horne to include it in his book (due out next month).

The information comes from James Wagenvoord, the editorial business manager and assistant to Life Magazines Executive Editor. He has supplied me with a lot more information about this story but I am not at liberty to publish it at the moment.

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I thought researchers would be interested in reading this email I received last night:

I've been reading through you web site and believe that I can add one of the final jigsaw puzzle pieces that affect the timing of JFK's Dallas trip and the nervousness of LBJ during the weeks preceding the killing At the time I was the 27 year old Editorial business manager and assistant to Life Magazines Executive Editor. Beginning in later summer 1963 the magazine, based upon information fed from Bobby Kennedy and the Justice Department, had been developoing a major newsbreak piece concerning Johnson and Bobby Baker. On publication Johnson would have been finished and off the '64 ticket (reason the material was fed to us) and would probably have been facing prison time. At the time LIFE magazine was arguably the most important general news source in the US. The top management of Time Inc. was closely allied with the USA's various intelligance agencies and we were used ofter by the Kennedy Justice Department as a conduit to the public. Life's coverage of the Hoffa prosecution, and involvement in paying off Justice Department Memphis witesses was a case in point.

The LBJ/Baker piece was in the final editing stages and was scheduled to break in the issue of the magazine due out the week of November 24 (the magazine would have made it to the newsstands on Nov.26th or 27th). It had been prepared in relative secrecy by a small special editorial team. On Kennedy's death research files and all numbered copies of the nearly print-ready draft were gathered up by my boss (he had been thetop editor on the team) and shredded. The issue that was to expose LBJ instead featured the Zapruder film. Based upon our success in syndicating the Zapruder film I became Chief of Time/LIFE editorial services and remained in that job until 1968.

I was surprised this posting did not have much impact with members. However, I sent the information out to selected researchers who did see the significance of this information. Several will be using this information in books they are working on. Unfortunately, it came too late for Doug Horne to include it in his book (due out next month).

The information comes from James Wagenvoord, the editorial business manager and assistant to Life Magazines Executive Editor. He has supplied me with a lot more information about this story but I am not at liberty to publish it at the moment.

I found this posting fascinating and shared it with a non-member of the Forum who at one time was a key executive at LIFE.

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I thought researchers would be interested in reading this email I received last night:

I've been reading through you web site and believe that I can add one of the final jigsaw puzzle pieces that affect the timing of JFK's Dallas trip and the nervousness of LBJ during the weeks preceding the killing At the time I was the 27 year old Editorial business manager and assistant to Life Magazines Executive Editor. Beginning in later summer 1963 the magazine, based upon information fed from Bobby Kennedy and the Justice Department, had been developoing a major newsbreak piece concerning Johnson and Bobby Baker. On publication Johnson would have been finished and off the '64 ticket (reason the material was fed to us) and would probably have been facing prison time. At the time LIFE magazine was arguably the most important general news source in the US. The top management of Time Inc. was closely allied with the USA's various intelligance agencies and we were used ofter by the Kennedy Justice Department as a conduit to the public. Life's coverage of the Hoffa prosecution, and involvement in paying off Justice Department Memphis witesses was a case in point.

The LBJ/Baker piece was in the final editing stages and was scheduled to break in the issue of the magazine due out the week of November 24 (the magazine would have made it to the newsstands on Nov.26th or 27th). It had been prepared in relative secrecy by a small special editorial team. On Kennedy's death research files and all numbered copies of the nearly print-ready draft were gathered up by my boss (he had been thetop editor on the team) and shredded. The issue that was to expose LBJ instead featured the Zapruder film. Based upon our success in syndicating the Zapruder film I became Chief of Time/LIFE editorial services and remained in that job until 1968.

I was surprised this posting did not have much impact with members. However, I sent the information out to selected researchers who did see the significance of this information. Several will be using this information in books they are working on. Unfortunately, it came too late for Doug Horne to include it in his book (due out next month).

The information comes from James Wagenvoord, the editorial business manager and assistant to Life Magazines Executive Editor. He has supplied me with a lot more information about this story but I am not at liberty to publish it at the moment.

I found this posting fascinating and shared it with a non-member of the Forum who at one time was a key executive at LIFE.

Douglas,

Did he comment?

Dave

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Bill Kelly has chastised me for posting this on the Doug Horne thread, when it really belongs here:

Peter Fokes has just posted this over on the the McAdams forum:
I have a copy of the Nov. 22, 1963 issue of LIFE, and the issue

contains an article, "The Bobby Baker Scandal. It grows and grows as

Washington shudders. By Keith Wheeler (and a LIFE task force)."

The task force was headed by William Lambert and Keith Wheeler, and

also included Russell Sackett, Mike Durham, Mike Silva, Bill Wise,

Audrey Jewett, Kenneth Reich and Hal Wingo.

I am curious how Horne will explain why none of these people spoke up.

Did none of them know about this secret article?

Here is a link to the story. Perhaps John Simkin could ask James Wagenvoord to comment. Was this the first article in a planned series?

http://books.google.com/books?id=SVIEAAAAM...;q=&f=false

Are any of these reporters still alive?

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While Doug Horne quotes from John Simkin's correspondence with Life Mag editor in his latest blog, he does not mention this issue in his book, which confronts a dozen other, similar and equally important issues.

I think it is important that those who want to discuss the LIFE Mag issues should do so here, and not under the heading of Doug Horne, which should focus on is own work, five volumes and 2000 pages worth of material, rather than on his quoting of the LIFE Mag in his blog because it supports his work.

They are two different topics and should be considered separately.

Of course, if you want to refrain from discussing the more important issues of Doug Horne's work and instead debate the Life Mag stuff, then that would effectively eliminate the proper discussion of a much more important work.

Life Mag should be discussed here and Doug's book should be discussed on his thread, but I'm sure that's not the way it will turn out.

BK

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Bill Kelly has chastised me for posting this on the Doug Horne thread, when it really belongs here:
Peter Fokes has just posted this over on the the McAdams forum:
I have a copy of the Nov. 22, 1963 issue of LIFE, and the issue

contains an article, "The Bobby Baker Scandal. It grows and grows as

Washington shudders. By Keith Wheeler (and a LIFE task force)."

The task force was headed by William Lambert and Keith Wheeler, and

also included Russell Sackett, Mike Durham, Mike Silva, Bill Wise,

Audrey Jewett, Kenneth Reich and Hal Wingo.

I am curious how Horne will explain why none of these people spoke up.

Did none of them know about this secret article?

Here is a link to the story. Perhaps John Simkin could ask James Wagenvoord to comment. Was this the first article in a planned series?

http://books.google.com/books?id=SVIEAAAAM...;q=&f=false

Are any of these reporters still alive?

Hi JRC,

I am not one to chastise anyone about anything, but Doug was kind enough to share some of his book with me and I intend to write a review and discuss his book at length, though none of it has anything to do with Life Magazine.

And I'm sure Horne will not explain anything about why these people spoke up.

I think the Life Mag editor's story is an important new lead, but it has nothing to do with Horne's ARRB work or his book, though it does support his ultimate thesis.

If you want to carry on about Life Mag under the Doug Horne banner go right ahead, and I will start another thread about his book Inside the ARRB.

As Dean Hagerman pointed out in another thread, tailing off onto other subjects is the nature of the beast.

BK

Edited by William Kelly
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Life Mag should be discussed here and Doug's book should be discussed on his thread, but I'm sure that's not the way it will turn out.

I agree. I am sure Doug will be willing to discuss his book next month on the Forum.

I have read some of Doug's book and understand why he is very excited by the testimony of this witness. That is why I sent him this information because it does support his ultimate thesis.

I have also been in email contact with someone (Will Emaus) who questions the truth of this story. I have invited him to join the forum in order to discuss these issues here:

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=14996

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