Mark Stapleton

Let me put it this way, John. The aussie goalkeeper will have an intensive course of back strengthening exercises before the Brazil match so he won't be injured retrieving the ball from the back of the net. My experience of Australia and Australians is that of an entire nation obsessed with sporting achievement. I will therefore be surprised if Australia does not do well in the World Cup... they will at least perform 'better than expected'. The modesty Mark appears to be revealing leads me to suspect that he was actually born in New Zealand New Zillind? Tikit izzy, bro.

None. Peter Crouch should play. Also John Simkin, (a self confessed lifelong admirer of Crouch), should be encouraged to participate in that robotic dance every time Crouch scores http://football.guardian.co.uk/comment/sto...1787348,00.html Eriksson gets a lot of stick in this country but this is often little more than thinly disguised xenophobia. His replacement is an infinitely worse manager but bless him he's English He deserves stick for such a tactical blunder in such an important game. England could have easily gone on to win it if they had got past Brazil in 2002. It wouldn't matter whether his name is Sven-Goran Erikssen or John Smith. He should have been given the hook, IMO. Rooney's got no chance, eh? Someone told me he was 100% certain of starting. I'll go with you. This leads me to believe England are only an outside chance now.

Let me put it this way, John. The aussie goalkeeper will have an intensive course of back strengthening exercises before the Brazil match so he won't be injured retrieving the ball from the back of the net.

I'm no expert on Engish soccer players--or Australian soccer players for that matter--but I've never understood why Erikssen is still manager after the 2002 World Cup quarter final against Brazil. Michael Owen scores a goal putting England ahead and appears to be giving the Brazilian defence trouble. So what does Erikssen do? Yanks him off the field. Brazil eventually win 2-1. What a genius. BTW, what probability do you give Rooney of being fully fit?

Sadly for history, democracy and the USA, their performance was good enough to kill JFK. Had they all missed [there were, I believe, more shooters than fired - if needed] we might have had an investigation as to who was behind it and cleaned up the rats nest that now rules the empire. Peter, That they succeeded is self-evident. What I wonder about are the things that probably will never be known: 1. Assuming that the plan was to kill JFK in the first volley, who got their tail kicked? I speculate about five shots--but I don't want to debate that. Did the conspirators rate the shooters' performance as outstanding or just adequate? How confident of success were the conspirators prior to the killing? Many feel that given the outcome, they must have been supremely confident. I doubt that, given the fact that there were so many things that could have gone wrong on the day. 2. Had the head shot missed, how many more shots were going to be made? There must have been a limit to how many shots would be fired before someone aborted the assassination attempt. Had JFK escaped from Dallas alive but injured, what would have been the reaction of the panic-stricken conspirators? If the shooters, for whatever reason, had been as competent as, say, the DPD and JFK had weaved a miraculous passage through a prolonged volley of fire, who would the conspirators have placed the blame on? Would a machine gun have been planted in LHO's possession or would an alternative group of patsies been posthumously condemned? All this is just idle musing, of course, but they are questions that perplex me.

Steve, Great post. There's real hypocrisy involved when citizens of developed countries complain about what globalisation and the corporate profit paradigm will ultimately mean to their own living standards. Third world countries have been experiencing this kind of exploitation for many years. When our only objective is profit and growth, our ride on this planet will be a fast but very short one.

Rivetting information. The CIA, DEA, Colombian drug cartels, Central American contra groups, a first class PR man named Reagan and the Bush family. One big happy outfit. All Americans should read this. So much for the "war on drugs".

Owen, Whether it's law school, journalism, or whatever, if anyone finishes ahead of you, I'd like to know their names . You possess a remarkable lucidity and clarity of expression. You nailed that brief argument about Garrison like a sharpshooter. The only thing I would add is that, despite Garrison's errors of judgement, he was the only member of the legal establishment who had the balls to stand up and say the WC and the official line on the assassination stank. He did this in the only forum that mattered--the courtroom. IMO, this is the most important fact that his detractors must "face squarely".

Fine words Mike and I'm in total agreement. I've yet to find another venue which can boast such an array of respected authors, educators, researchers and journalists. Prominent among these is John himself. John, thanks again for your time and efforts.

Perhaps it would be better for the US citizenry if the Rabbis and Jewish sages were in charge of US economic policy, but almost anyone would be better than the current coterie of criminals running the US--a fact which, despite the corporate media's best efforts, is slowly dawning on the American public. Unfortunately global capitalism has no allegiance to nations or morality but only, as Stephen points out, to the bottom line.

Joel, A very interesting post. One of the reasons that US aid to Israel is being re-examined may be that the US simply won't be able to afford it much longer. The US economy is stretched to breaking point at the moment. The price of oil, the cost of wars being waged to protect that oil, huge foreign debt and competition from rapidly emerging economies like China and India are all factors seriously threatening America's global philanthropic role. Billions in aid to a small, reasonably prosperous, distant ally may have to be given a lower priority. It might be hard to justify to the American public. Your figures regarding aid from the diaspora are interesting. I wasn't aware that the amounts were so high--nearly half that of US Government aid. If US Government aid is reduced, then this is the logical group to take up the slack, IMO. BTW, what is your opinion of the claims made by Dr. Francisco Gil-White, that examination of the US-Israel relationship shows that the US supports the PLO more strongly than it does Israel? Do you agree with this claim? It was the subject of a recent debate on the Forum. (see thread below). http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.ph...topic=6577&st=0

Yeh, right Jack ... crop off the front of the truck so no one can see the sidewalk. Well, here it is again ... Bill Miller If we could dispense with the allegations of dishonesty and stupidity this thread might progress a little further. On the issue of the pickup truck and the visibility of the sidewalk, I'm not so sure it's cut and dried. Bill, on your better frame of the Z-film it looks to me like the middle section of the 'sidewalk' ie. the middle of your three yellow arrows, might actually be the bonnet of the truck, looking somewhat shiny. It may be an illusion and I'm no photographic expert, but crop or no crop, it's a matter of interpretation. From these images, I can't tell for sure what it is. The 'sidewalk' may be partially visible but seems to lack continuity, IMO.

Joel, Great article. The era of cheap energy is over. Because of the magnitude of America's consumption of oil, it now finds itself compelled to aggressively pursue dwindling supplies of this resource. Interesting observation that America's invasion of Afghanistan may have been more about establishing a secure route for future Caspian Sea oil supplies than about chasing Osama. I fear the 'war on terror' will become the feeble pretext for all future US efforts to secure global oil supplies for itself. (I think they're already calling Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez a 'threat to peace'). Pathetic. The boss of Shell's US oil division was interviewd on NBC's 'Today' show yesterday and his attempts to justify the industry's $26 billion profit--for one quarter--were pitiful. Some nonsense about establishing a 'fund' to explore alternatives was mentioned, as well as the usual motherhood statements empathising with US motorists ('we feel the pain, too', 'our executives have to pay the high prices for gas for their cars, you know') and the patronising suggestion that motorists drive slower in order to conserve fuel. He failed to mention the fact that the industry has for decades used its financial clout to discourage research into alternatives.

Craig, Thanks for that. This is a technical point I was unaware of.

Here is the report that appeared in Pravda: http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/19...80596-Kennedy-0 Did the U.S. government cover up the details pertaining to the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy? An answer to this question will be much sought after by participants of a conference that kicked off on Monday, May 15th, in Washington, D.C. According to the report of the Warren Commission, President Kennedy fell victim to “Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone.” However, the “alternative” versions of the tragedy argue that two or more people shot at JFK in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas, on November 22nd, 1963. The above versions allege that U.S. government covered up the truth behind Kennedy’s death. Douglas Horn, the former chief analyst of U.S. Congress on the Kennedy case, took part in the conference. He was among other experts calling the official version of the tragedy into question. The participants will include the historian from Minnesota James Fetzer, and the specialist in radioactive oncology David Mantic. Thomas Lipscomb, a well-known U.S. author, is expected to unveil more data indicating discrepancies in evidence used by the Warren Commission, which was set up by President Johnson to investigate Kennedy’s murder. In particular, Lipscomb is reported to have found evidence showing that the famous amateur footage (by Abraham Zapruder who happened to witness the assassination) was obviously cropped away by some unknown party. Some of the participants of the conference have information showing that the 26-second footage filmed by Zapruder on 8 mm camera is just one of eight existing amateur documentaries on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. However, with the help of some interested party, Zapruder’s short film became the main piece of material evidence for the Warren Commission. Experts are trying to locate other documentaries. The participants will reportedly present new data to support the version about the “CIA conspiracy.” According to the theory, CIA agents might have replaced Kennedy’s brain with that of another person during the president’s autopsy. By a strange twist of fate, the plane carrying Senator Ted Kennady, the brother of the late President John F. Kennedy, was struck by lightning right on the day when the conference kicked off in the U.S. capital. No one was harmed during the incident yet the news seemed to serve as yet another reminder of grim fate controlling the Kennedys. You can discuss this story on the Pravda Forum: http://engforum.pravda.ru/ The US mainstream media--yes that's you I'm talking about-- represents the most offensive, gutless, greedy collection of shameless criminals I've ever seen.

Unfortunately! Due to the misrepsentations of the facts by the WC, the timeframe in which this could be determined based on questioning of those who were in fact closely associated to LHO, was not done. So, not unlike the timely/untimely deaths of Pawley & others just prior to being questioned, the connections which would demonstrate whether LHO was: 1. The actual lone shooter! 2. Designated scapegoat, with little if any knowledge as to the actual event. 3. Designated "Ozzie Rabbit", made to run and thus be given chase, with full knowledge. Will never be known. A "lone shooter/assassin" is nowhere near being an indicator of some "lone nut" who had nothing better than to shoot the President of the US that day. There should be little doubt in any true researchers mind that a conspiracy to shoot JFK existed. There should be little doubt in any true researchers mind that LHO played some role in this conspiracy. There should be little doubt in any true researchers mind that the WC, for whatever the reasons, is a complete mis-representation of the facts as relates to the actual assassination scenario, as well as a COMPLETE & TOTAL failure to delve into the true background and associations of Lee Harvey Oswald. Now, time has assured that we will in all probability never know the facts and truth in relationship to this matter, and in that regards we have such as the great US Senator Arlen Specter as well as the non-elected President Gerald Ford to thank. History does at least need to officially record that these persons are in great part to blame for what we will now most probably never know. Tom, The more I read your posts, the more confused I become. I know the WC was a complete failure to investigate the assassination etc, etc so don't you think they were trying to hide something? There's no point having the WC covering up and burying the records for decades if Oswald was a lone nut, with no implication of involvement from anyone else, so that's out. What's left then, assuming you are right about Oswald being the lone shooter, is that he was a part of a conspiracy. Assuming a conspiracy existed, the conspirators were powerful enough to cover it up and simultaneously silence America's mainstream media for decades. Why then, would these powerful individuals entrust Oswald, with his defective scope and extremely slim window of opportunity, with the most vital part of the plan ie.the hit, when a triangulation of fire promises a much greater probability of success? Come on Tom--it's been a great gag but it's time to let it go.

Tom, So was Ossie part of a conspiracy or a genuine lone nut?

Great stuff, Lee. I'm assuming Osborne has not gone on to name his informant in the intervening 12 years since his testimony, but his comment about "intelligence techniques" which are not known to the general public is significant, IMO. If there was a communications group (unknowingly)videotaping the assassination, there must be a chance that the tape(s) will show up one day. Sorting out shooters/spotters/bystanders/light reflections etc, from the available film and photographic record is barely possible. There's more I think. FWIW, I speculate the triangulation was from the Daltex building, the peristyle bordering Elm and the stockade fence behing the knoll, with the shot from the 6th floor of the TSBD as a diversion or signal. I hope you get some followup from your post.

Mark, I would not even posted in that thread had Jack not come out calling people 'idiots' over the black and white shoe crap he was pushing. Busted. Jack didn't enter this thread until post #11. You referred to the "film alteration cult" in post #2.

Bruce, Thanks for your report on the part of the conference you were able to witness. Dawn, I hope your observation is wrong but I think you may be right. The media agenda setters will either ignore it or paint the conference as a conspiracy theory circus. It's hard to believe they can still get away with this while roughly 80% of the population believe a conspiracy occured. That's the power of the media for you.

Here here to that. The symposium isn't just about the film alteration, although it's a major part. The main issue, as I see it, is getting this whole rotten episode to start registering on the mainstream media's radar. Bill, you were too quick off the mark in starting another brawl about the Z-film.

Exactly the reason why Iran will never strike its enemies with a nuclear weapon. If it ever does this, Iran will be a memory. The US is fully aware of this.

Q: Why did the Irishman wear two condoms? A: to be sure, to be sure.

I couldn't agree more. That's the main theme. In regards to the Tippet slaying, you don't need to become a ballistics expert to know the whole thing was a clumsy frameup by the conspirators to implicate LHO in the assassination by extension.

Perhaps the others are neither hard-headed enough nor absolutely certain of their perceptions, work, and evidence to adequately weather the frequent attacks against them which any "Lone Gunman/Lone Nut" follower receives by posting here. Tom P.S. Still only a single assassin! "It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument" William G. McAdoo And, history will, as it usually does, be the final determining factor as to "Who's Who"! Tom, I hope you don't take offense at my comments because I like you, but to me LNers are the modern equivalent of flat earthers. The LN theory has been crushed under the weight of contrary evidence for years now. To debate LNers is a waste of time and time is the implacable enemy. It's hard enough trying to establish consensus within the serious research community.