Douglas Caddy

David -- you pose profound geopolitical questions of the first order. You are the type of person the National Security Council needs.

I prefer not to comment on this: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/arts/luis-elizondo-ufo-book-1235012266/

Somebody is making a bundle of this. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/arts/luis-elizondo-ufo-book-1235012266/

That is CAPA speaking. I had no hand in drafting its announcement.

CAPA Conference Update CAPA UPDATE As everyone knows who has been studying political assassinations for any length of time, things happen very slowly, then a lot happens at once. Sometimes we can predict the events, sometimes not. Now we know every November 22 anniversary there will be news and special media reports, but this year, we also know that something big will occur on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, as that is the deadline for the president to decide whether to continue with holding JFK assassination records or release them in full as required by the JFK Act of 1992. Either way it will be a big news day and covered by all the major media networks and there will be commentary in the Washington Post and New York Times as well as by anyone interested in this case. I will be writing a preview and a review after the fact. Therefore something will happen, and we can at least prepare for it. Towards that end I am working with CAPA, David Talbot’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee, the Assassination Archives and research Center, Mary Ferrell, JFK Facts and others interested in this subject. At first we sent letters to the Chairwomen of the House Oversight Committee Rep. Carolyn Maloney, and President Biden, requesting they hold oversight hearings and release the records in full. But at this point in time I don’t think either will happen, unless the public can be generated to contact their representatives in Congress and demand it, as they did after the release of Oliver Stone’s movie JFK. [ https://jfkcountercoup.blogspot.com/2021/03/free-thejfk-files-during-sunshine-week.html ] Attorney Mark Zaid put together a letter that received a positive response from the Public Interest Declassification Board, a branch of the National Archives. He got a number of others with a variety of viewpoints to co-sign on, emphasizing the fact that this is not about conspiracy but about releasing all of the records as the law requires. [ https://jfkcountercoup.blogspot.com/2021/06/letter-to-public-interest.html ] I tried to lease a room at the JFK Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC in order to hold a press conference on October 26, but it now appears that if we do hold such a press conference it will be done virtually. November 22, 2021 is a Monday, and as far as I can tell there will be three conferences, one in person conference sponsored by Judith Vary Baker at the Magnolia Hotel in Dallas. Randy Benson, the college film professor and director of the award winning documentary The Searchers, about independent researchers focusing on John Judge, will be the keynote speaker. JVB has also announced that this will be her last in person conference in Dallas, and I assume she will also conduct the memorial service at 12:30 pm at Dealey Plaza that Monday. Debra Conway and Larry Hancock will be hosting a virtual on line conference though the dates have yet to be announced. I have been asked to make a presentation for them, and will probably do so, the topic of which has yet to be determined. I will report on this as the information becomes available. Last March, as things seemed to be getting better, and looked like they would continue in that direction, the CAPA board decided to hold an in person conference in Dallas in November, but the Marriot Courtyard, where we held a successful conference two years ago, was already booked. We then reserved the Sheraton, where a lot of JFK Assassination activities occurred. But that didn’t work out and the third hotel we reserved had a pipe leak and will not be ready in time. So with all that in addition to the rise in COVID cases, and the fact that Texas is one of the nation’s hot-spots, the CAPA board decided to not have an in person conference in Dallas this year because of the problems with the hotels and COVID, so we will be having another virtual conference that is shaping up nicely, as CAPA secretary Glenda Devaney explains here: GREETINGS FROM CAPA! We hope all of you are in good health and doing well. We regret to announce that CAPA will be having a virtual conference instead of an in-person one this year. So far only a handful of people have registered for the conference. We suspect that most people wanted to wait until closer to the time of the conference because of all the confusion and unpredictability. But we fear that things will probably get worse, not better - too much uncertainty and too many obstacles in our way. We are extremely disappointed about this as we were looking forward to seeing all of you. Our online schedule and registration will be available soon. We believe we have an excellent program lined up and hope you all can access it. If, for some reason, you are not able to access the program on the days it will be streamed, we will have a package of the presentations available after the conference. We will provide information on how to register for the conference soon. Here is the program for the virtual conference: Since the JFK/Media Panel was so successful last year, we are planning on having it again with some new participants. We are planning to have a half-day on the subject of “The JFK Assassination and the Media,” a topic that has not been discussed and investigated by the mainstream media. Andrew Kreig will chair the panel. Participants in the panel will be Dr. Cyril Wecht, Russ Baker, James Wagenvoord, and Jacob Hornberger. Tink Thompson and Gary Aguilar will speak about Tink’s new book, “Last Second in Dallas.” Dr. Cyril Wecht will be our keynote speaker – topic to be announced closer to the conference. James Wagenvoord will speak about his experiences working at Life magazine in 1963. He has much to share since he was at the epicenter of the magazine responsible for much of the news about the assassination. Title of the talk is “My LIFE Story and LIFE’s Life Story.” Russell Kent, who spoke last year about the House Select Committee on Assassinations Forensic Pathology Panel, will speak about his new book, “JFK: Medical Betrayal.” Stephen Jaffe is the last living investigator on the staff of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison in the 60's. Jaffe was also one of the producers of the feature film “Executive Action” in 1973. And, for the first time, for the CAPA audience, Jaffe will show a new documentary that he produced with his late partner, author and attorney Mark Lane. It’s entitled, “A Rush to Judgment,” after Lane’s best-selling book and includes some rare interviews with witnesses Lane interviewed in 1966. It also includes historic new interviews. Jaffe will also show a brief, almost never seen documentary film about the making of “Executive Action” with interviews of the stars (Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan and Will Geer, as well as the executive producer Edward Lewis). Jaffe will take questions about his time with Garrison. David Montague was head of investigations for the United States JFK Assassination Records Review Board and will speak about his time in that position. Andrew Kiel will speak on J. Edgar Hoover, LBJ, and the Secret Service presenting additional information not included in his previous talk. We will also have a panel on the history and status of withholding of the JFK assassination records. David Montague will chair the panel; participants so far are Michael Nurko, Bill Kelly and Jacob Hornberger. We are again planning a special day for high school, college, and law school students. This will be held online, as it was last year, on Friday, November 19. We want to get more young people interested in this tragic event that changed the course of our country and hopefully enlist them in our cause. We are planning a program that will give them the opportunity to see what President Kennedy was like as a person and a president and educate them about the truth of the assassination. The event will be free to students attending high schools, universities and law schools. If anyone has suggestions for schools or national organizations you think might be interested, please let me know and I will send out invitations. Thank you all for your support of CAPA and its worthy cause - Pursue the release of withheld records - Find the Truth - Seek Justice. Best regards Glenda de Vaney CAPA Program Chair In addition the CAPA Research Committee, that I head, will be presenting some of the most advanced research on a number of topics, including General LeMay on 11/22/63, Valkyrie and Pathfinder at Dealey Plaza, and synopsis of the inter-related stories of Gene Wheaton and Carl Jenkins, including reports on recent interviews with Jenkins. In addition, CAPA is already preparing for an in person conference in Dallas next November, and has reserved the Marriott Courtyard, where we held the successful 2019 conference, and if JVB lives up to her word and will not be in Dallas next year, CAPA will try to obtain the permit for Dealey Plaza for 11/22/22 and hold a traditional 12:30 memorial service in the Penn Jones-John Judge style. In the meantime there’s a lot to be done before this year is out, especially in regards to October 26 and November 22, and I will be in the thick of it.

Kirk and N.W: U.S. Senator Biden voted for the U.S. to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. He was present at the creation of the geopolitical disaster that we now face. As I wrote in this topic earlier, the Trump Surrender Treaty plan was devised some time ago by Putin and his think tank in Moscow. It was presented to President Trump for implementation with the Taliban, which he as their faithful agent successfully undertook to accomplish. However, no one, not even Putin, foresaw that Biden would ratify the Trump Surrender Treaty or that his plan for Americans to evacuate Afghanistan would be so ineptly devised and carried out in such a disastrous way. He and his incompetent Secretary of State Blinken bear the responsibility for this. The latter should be forced to resign immediately. Elon Musk twitted when Biden’s fiasco first emerged that world war is now likely, maybe even inevitable. The commentator in the Sky News video also implied that this could occur and that the U.S. might initiate a nuclear was when we realized all was lost and that we had been cornered. The assassination of President Kennedy was a seminal event that had the effect of America slowly sliding to self destruction. JFK, although burdened with personal flaws, understood what was at stake and unilaterally tried to enlist the Soviet Union in a common cause that was supremely important to the whole world and for that reason was murdered by elements in the U.S. government who jealously resented that JFK had acted without their authorization. JFK allegedly said to Jackie in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis that “better Red than dead.” Today I think many American would say “better dead than Red” although there are also many who think highly of Putin and of authoritarian government. America appears to be in a slow motion slide into oblivion. Such a slide could quickly accelerate if Biden makes another disastrous judgment. Doug

Overnight report from The Hill: The days-long war of words over charter flights stuck in Mazar-i-Sharif continued Wednesday as Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on the Taliban to allow the flights to leave. Speaking at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Blinken said other countries and the United Nations were working on resuming commercial flights to the Afghan capital of Kabul. But in the meantime, Blinken said the Taliban can "demonstrate its willingness to respect freedom of movement … by allowing the departure of charter flights with properly documented passengers.” Earlier: Over the weekend, Rep. Michael McCaul (Texas), the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, leveled the charge in a Fox News interview that the Taliban were essentially holding Americans and Afghans hostage by not allowing the flights to leave. On Tuesday, Blinken said he was “not aware of anyone being held on an aircraft or any hostage-like situation” and that anyone with “valid” travel documents is being allowed to leave. But he also acknowledged some flights have stalled. But Blinken’s comments only further frustrated lawmakers in both parties, as The Hill’s Laura Kelly reported. ID fight: A particular flashpoint was Blinken saying the administration could not verify the identities of passengers on the planes. The remark that drew swift pushback from Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee whose office is vouching for at least two planes full of American citizens, at-risk Afghan allies and their families, including small children. “The information we provided the State Department is above and beyond what is usually required for travel in Afghanistan,” Maria McElwain, a spokesperson for Blumenthal, wrote in an email to The Hill in response to the secretary’s remarks in Qatar. McElwain said the senator’s office provided the State Department with the planes’ manifests as early as Aug. 30, with continual updates through Monday, and that Blinken was “not correct” in saying passenger identities cannot be verified. She further called it “clearly problematic” for the State Department to rely on the Taliban to individually verify “extremely vulnerable Afghans on these flights.” AIDES FRUSTRATED, TOO Congressional aides are also fretting that the administration appears to have lost its sense of urgency to get people out now that the airlift has ended, as The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch reported. The aides voiced their frustration following a briefing in which they said the State Department provided few details about any plans for assisting the more than 100,000 vulnerable Afghans who remain in the country. “The impression I got was the urgency is gone,” said one source on the call. “And it’s this tacit admission that while we did a big evacuation, we’ve gotten out our real priorities.” Awaiting approval: Left behind in Afghanistan are 550 Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holders who worked with the U.S. military for at least two years. But many more Afghans have applications awaiting final approval. “That’s a ton of people. That’s people who are approved but don't have the visa; people who the embassy had to destroy their passport; people who didn't have everything or are somewhere in the process, somewhere in the pipeline,” said another aide on the call. “But if you don't have a visa in your passport, you're dooky out of luck.” Priority groups?: Adding to the number of Afghan allies seeking evacuation are those who qualify for the Priority 1 and Priority 2 programs created by the Biden administration but who never made it out on a flight. Those individuals assisted the U.S military for less than two years or worked on democratization efforts or with nonprofits aligned with the U.S. The number of Afghans in the two priority groups could surpass 145,000 when including family members, according to an estimate by the Association of Wartime Allies. “They don't have a plan on how they’re going to get more P1 and P2 people out. They’re focused principally on U.S. passport holders and people in their immediate families,” the second source said. State’s response: When reached for comment, a State Department spokesperson said: "Despite the perilous conditions on the ground and immense security challenges, the United States and our Allies were able to evacuate safely tens of thousands of Afghans at risk. This heartbreaking reality is that many of our longtime partners were unable to leave over the past two weeks, given the security conditions, including the heinous August 25 attack that killed 13 servicemembers and over 100 Afghans." The spokesperson also pointed to recent comments by Blinken, who said, “We’re not stopping our work to help Americans and at-risk Afghans in Afghanistan. We’re going to do everything we can moving forward to continue this mission and also to learn from it."

It's 'hard to exaggerate' how 'dangerously bad' US President Joe Biden is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KYzf-88lZk

Another Failed Presidency at Hand Sept. 7, 2021 Credit...Kenny Holston for The New York Times By Bret Stephens Opinion Columnist This Sept. 11, a diminished president will preside over a diminished nation. We are a country that could not keep a demagogue from the White House; could not stop an insurrectionist mob from storming the Capitol; could not win (or at least avoid losing) a war against a morally and technologically retrograde enemy; cannot conquer a disease for which there are safe and effective vaccines; and cannot bring itself to trust the government, the news media, the scientific establishment, the police or any other institution meant to operate for the common good. A civilization “is born stoic and dies epicurean,” wrote historian Will Durant about the Babylonians. Our civilization was born optimistic and enlightened, at least by the standards of the day. Now it feels as if it’s fading into paranoid senility. Joe Biden was supposed to be the man of the hour: a calming presence exuding decency, moderation and trust. As a candidate, he sold himself as a transitional president, a fatherly figure in the mold of George H.W. Bush who would restore dignity and prudence to the Oval Office after the mendacity and chaos that came before. It’s why I voted for him, as did so many others who once tipped red. Instead, Biden has become the emblem of the hour: headstrong but shaky, ambitious but inept. He seems to be the last person in America to realize that, whatever the theoretical merits of the decision to withdraw our remaining troops from Afghanistan, the military and intelligence assumptions on which it was built were deeply flawed, the manner in which it was executed was a national humiliation and a moral betrayal, and the timing was catastrophic.

Senator Graham says U.S. will be going back into Afghanistan https://wapo.st/3haus8V

Inside Skunk Works, Lockheed’s super-secret weapons facility The world's largest defense contractor opens the gate to its aircraft factory in the desert. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/06/skunk-works-lockheed-martin-facility-509540 https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42568/skunk-works-boss-says-he-cant-comment-on-video-of-mysterious-stealth-shape-at-radar-test-range?fbclid=IwAR0_wIrtzm_bCuVIfs9zcMGT5zYSpM9dcHHpZoPBuSHXYTDWkPBUUHykC70

Thanks, Matt, for this important article.

In The End, Bin Laden Won He couldn’t have done it without us By Michael Moore https://www.michaelmoore.com/p/bin-laden-won?token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjo5NTk5NDEyLCJwb3N0X2lkIjo0MDk3NTU3OSwiXyI6InB0Y2hmIiwiaWF0IjoxNjMxMDIyMzIxLCJleHAiOjE2MzEwMjU5MjEsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0zMjA5NzQiLCJzdWIiOiJwb3N0LXJlYWN0aW

What settling the galaxy looks like https://singularityhub.com/2021/06/27/fermi-paradox-heres-what-an-alien-civilization-settling-the-galaxy-looks-like/?fbclid=IwAR0BMUrT3BYWnwTl_-mveqZAgvqBwiz-qxcmFxx0kVNOD7fjD5lezNOLzj0

Fermi Paradox: Here’s What an Alien https://singularityhub.com/2021/06/27/fermi-paradox-heres-what-an-alien-civilization-settling-the-galaxy-looks-like/?fbclid=IwAR0BMUrT3BYWnwTl_-mveqZAgvqBwiz-qxcmFxx0kVNOD7fjD5lezNOLzj0

Biden’s Long Trail of Betrayals Why is the president so consistently wrong on major foreign-policy matters? https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/08/biden-afghanistan-record/619799/

Here's how the Justice Department could sue Texas for violating civil rights: Harvard law professor https://www.rawstory.com/how-justice-department-can-sue-texas/

U.S. Citizens and Afghans Wait for Evacuation Flights From Country’s North The Taliban have left hundreds of people stranded in Afghanistan awaiting approval for departure. In this satellite image taken on Friday, planes can be seen near the main terminal of the airport in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan.Credit...Maxar Technologies/Reuters By Melissa Eddy and Thomas Gibbons-Neff Sept. 5, 2021 The New York Times Around 1,000 people, including dozens of American citizens and Afghans holding visas to the United States or other countries, remained stuck in Afghanistan for the fifth day on Sunday as they awaited clearance for the departure from the Taliban. The holdup reflects the challenges of foreign governments working with the group, which has yet to form a government. Negotiations to allow the planes to depart, involving officials of the Taliban, the United States and Qatar, have dragged on for days, leaving the evacuees in an increasingly precarious limbo, according to representatives of organizations trying to get them to safety.T The Biden administration has faced criticism for leaving Americans and Afghan allies behind after the final troops left on Aug. 30. The confusion surrounding the departure of the chartered planes from Mazar reflects the chaos in Afghanistan resulting from the departure of the United States and its Western allies and fears that the Taliban will fail to come good on their promises to respect human rights and not persecute Afghans who cooperated with the American-backed government. “The reason the Taliban wants to prevent these people from leaving is likely because they intend to punish them for their cooperation with the U.S.,” said Mick Mulroy, a former senior Pentagon official who has been working with the group Task Force Dunkirk to help evacuate Afghans from the country. If the Taliban really are using people as a bargaining chip, Mr. Mulroy said, that “is unacceptable.” Representative Michael McCaul, Republican of Texas and the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, suggested during an interview on Fox News Sunday that the Taliban were preventing six airplanes from leaving Afghanistan, effectively holding Americans hostage. “State has cleared these flights, and the Taliban will not let them leave the airport,” Mr. McCaul said, adding that he believed the problem was “turning into a hostage situation.” Mr. McCaul said the Taliban wanted “something in exchange” for approving takeoff of the planes. He said he believed they were seeking “full recognition from the United States of America.”

Wall Street Journal article released today on Biden's decision making on Afghanistan https://www.wsj.com/articles/inside-the-biden-administrations-push-to-exit-afghanistan-11630855499?reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Why the Taliban could not be defeated

From the Overnight Defense Report from The Hill: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which Biden has tasked with leading the resettlement efforts, has sent 300 personnel to the sites to assist the State Department and others with rigorous vetting of those seeking to make it to the U.S. Their appointment was welcome news to many frustrated by a lack of communication from the State Department. “They are still trying to figure out what to do with people across the world basically that have been strung out to the four corners of the earth,” said one source who sat in on a recent call with DHS. “It was clear they were trying to come up with a solution.” But it’s unclear how long the Afghans will be there. “We’re concerned about the length of time people will be in these countries. There hasn’t been a real answer to that. We don't want people staying in Qatar for five years,” the source said. What about the charters?: What is also unclear is how the U.S will address those who left the country on charter flights to a number of other countries and who are not staying in facilities overseen by the government. “Wherever had visa-free travel for Afghans to go, these charter flights ended up going. That is a logistical nightmare. Where did these people end up? Where did they go? What are the legal processes to get them into the U.S.?” said the source familiar with the DHS call. DHS told stakeholders that it planned to use existing immigration pathways for that population — a lengthy and complicated process that advocates fear could leave Afghans in other countries for years on end. Operation Allies Welcome: Speaking of DHS, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas detailed Friday what’s now being called “Operation Allies Welcome,” the DHS-led effort to continue extracting people from Afghanistan, vetting them and resettle them. "Our mission is not accomplished until we have safely evacuated all the U.S. citizens who wish to leave Afghanistan, all lawful permanent residents, all individuals who have assisted the United States in Afghanistan," Mayorkas told reporters Friday. Mayorkas appointed Robert Fenton, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) career professional who briefly led the agency in an acting capacity, as head of the Unified Coordination Group (UCG) to lead the inter-agency effort. "This initiative requires us to call on the resources, expertise and authorities of every part of the federal government. DHS possesses vast operational expertise and a long record of leadership, bringing different agencies together to execute a single mission," said Mayorkas.

From the Overnight Defense Report by The Hill: Biden moves to declassify, release 9/11 docs Biden on Friday signed an executive order directing the Justice Department and other agencies to review and release certain documents related to the FBI's investigation of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Biden touted the move as the fulfillment of a campaign promise, and it is likely to provide some solace to families of victims of the attacks who have for years pushed the government to declassify and make public more information around the events of 9/11. "My heart continues to be with the 9/11 families who are suffering, and my administration will continue to engage respectfully with members of this community," Biden said in a statement. "I welcome their voices and insight as we chart a way forward." What the order does: Biden's order directs the Justice Department and other federal agencies to begin a review of documents and requires the attorney general to release declassified information over the next six months. Congressional oversight: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said the panel would oversee the review "to ensure that all agencies adhere to the president’s guidance to apply the maximum degree of transparency allowed by law when conducting the review.” Family efforts: The issue of the classified documents has been an ongoing cause for many families of victims of the attacks. A group of those families issued a statement last month urging Biden not to attend any memorial events this Sept. 11 unless the administration released documents surrounding a potential link between Saudi Arabia and the attacks. The group 9/11 Families United issued a statement Friday praising Biden's executive order. "We are thrilled to see the President forcing the release of more evidence about Saudi connections to the 9/11 Attacks," Terry Strada, whose husband was killed in the World Trade Center, said in a statement. "There is much more work to be done to secure justice for our murdered loved ones and to rectify the immense damage the 20-year shroud of secrecy has caused, but we now are optimistic that President Biden will be helping us achieve those goals," Strada added.