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Douglas Caddy

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    MAINSTREAM COOLER - For those who believe mainstream contemporary facts.

    in Water Coolers

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Matt Allison said:

    I mean, this really isn't a surprise to me. For a while it has been obvious that foreign leaders that don't want Biden to win have been working together to make the border crossing problem as bad as possible. They know it hurts Biden.

    They know this issue presents the U.S. with an almost insoluble problem that is tearing the country apart. They also know that they can send in hundreds of sleeper agents who will at some point engage in domestic terrorism on a mass scale that will frighten Americans in a way never felt before.

    Gaza and JFK

    in JFK Assassination Debate

    Posted · Edited by Douglas Caddy

    On 12/30/2023 at 9:43 AM, W. Niederhut said:

    Doug,

         Based on your educational background at Georgetown, and your knowledge of American diplomacy and U.S. foreign policy, do you think JFK was the last POTUS who ever said, "No," to Israel?  Ben Gurion was furious at JFK about the Dimona nuclear project, which LBJ later greenlighted.

         LBJ also suppressed the U.S.S. Liberty incident.

         I'm not that familiar with the Middle East policies of Nixon, Ford, and Reagan.

         Cheney and Rumsfeld stacked George W. Bush's administration with PNAC Neocons.

         Bob Woodward reported, in Plan of Attack, that Dubya called Poppy Bush before his Inauguration in January of 2001 and asked, "Dad, who are the Neocons?"

          Poppy replied, "In a word, son-- Israel."

    I have to think about this more before answering.

    This fairly recent interview of General Wesley Clark raises the question who would benefit most from taking out the seven counties. It would be Israel. 

     

    Gaza and JFK

    in JFK Assassination Debate

    Posted

    2 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

    Jim,

         Your thread and essay are entitled, "JFK and Gaza," and your essay did include references to the Neocons and 21st century U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East-- including Operation Timber Sycamore and the murder of Ghaddafi.

         And the issue of JFK's opinions about the Israeli-Palestine conflict is, obviously, relevant to the geopolitical history of the past 60 years, and to the current crisis in Gaza.  Highly relevant.

         So, it's a bit specious to accuse people of going "off topic" on this thread by discussing the history of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, the Neocons, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

         Is it unacceptable for the forum to discuss the implications of JFK's thwarted policies for the 21st century -- the "betrayal of destiny?"

         In fact, Edward Curtin specifically mentioned JFK's peace initiatives in his recent "Epistle to RFK" about the Gaza disaster.

         The truth is that no U.S. President since JFK has really been willing to stand up to the CIA and the U.S. military-industrial complex, or to Israel. 

         Ariel Sharon bragged in 2000 that, "Israel controls America, and the Americans know it."  Benjamin Netanyahu has made similar comments in at least one taped interview posted on Professor Juan Cole's website.

        

     I want to tell you something very clear: Don't worry about American pressure on Israel. We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it." Ariel Sharon, October 3, 2001, to Shimon Peres, as reported on Kol Yisrael radio.

    MAINSTREAM COOLER - For those who believe mainstream contemporary facts.

    in Water Coolers

    Posted

    The real Frank Sinatra as revealed on Facebook

    Frank Sinatra's self-inflicted tough-guy-party-animal-Rat-Packer image was not only childish and tiresome, it belied the fact that he was well-read, thoughtful, and a committed free thinker. In this 1963 interview with Playboy magazine, Sinatra speaks frankly (sorry) about the hypocrisy and dangers of "the witch doctor in the middle"--his term for organized religion.

    Playboy: All right, let's start with the most basic question there is: Are you a religious man? Do you believe in God?
    Sinatra: Well, that'll do for openers. I think I can sum up my religious feelings in a couple of paragraphs. First: I believe in you and me. I'm like Albert Schweitzer and Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein in that I have a respect for life — in any form. I believe in nature, in the birds, the sea, the sky, in everything I can see or that there is real evidence for. If these things are what you mean by God, then I believe in God. But I don't believe in a personal God to whom I look for comfort or for a natural on the next roll of the dice. I'm not unmindful of man's seeming need for faith; I'm for anything that gets you through the night, be it prayer, tranquilizers or a bottle of Jack Daniel's. But to me religion is a deeply personal thing in which man and God go it alone together, without the witch doctor in the middle. The witch doctor tries to convince us that we have to ask God for help, to spell out to him what we need, even to bribe him with prayer or cash on the line. Well, I believe that God knows what each of us wants and needs. It's not necessary for us to make it to church on Sunday to reach Him. You can find Him anyplace. And if that sounds heretical, my source is pretty good: Matthew, Five to Seven, The Sermon on the Mount.
    Playboy: You haven't found any answers for yourself in organized religion?
    Sinatra: There are things about organized religion which I resent. Christ is revered as the Prince of Peace, but more blood has been shed in His name than any other figure in history. You show me one step forward in the name of religion and I'll show you a hundred retrogressions. Remember, they were men of God who destroyed the educational treasures at Alexandria, who perpetrated the Inquisition in Spain, who burned the witches at Salem. Over 25,000 organized religions flourish on this planet, but the followers of each think all the others are miserably misguided and probably evil as well. In India they worship white cows, monkeys and a dip in the Ganges. The Moslems accept slavery and prepare for Allah, who promises wine and revirginated women. And witch doctors aren't just in Africa. If you look in the L.A. papers of a Sunday morning, you'll see the local variety advertising their wares like suits with two pairs of pants.
    Playboy: Hasn't religious faith just as often served as a civilizing influence?
    Sinatra: Remember that leering, cursing lynch mob in Little Rock reviling a meek, innocent little 12-year-old Negro girl as she tried to enroll in public school? Weren't they — or most of them — devout churchgoers? I detest the two-faced who pretend liberality but are practiced bigots in their own mean little spheres. I didn't tell my daughter whom to marry, but I'd have broken her back if she had had big eyes for a bigot. As I see it, man is a product of his conditioning, and the social forces which mold his morality and conduct — including racial prejudice — are influenced more by material things like food and economic necessities than by the fear and awe and bigotry generated by the high priests of commercialized superstition. Now don't get me wrong. I'm for decency — period. I'm for anything and everything that bodes love and consideration for my fellow man. But when lip service to some mysterious deity permits bestiality on Wednesday and absolution on Sunday — cash me out.
    Playboy: But aren't such spiritual hypocrites in a minority? Aren't most Americans fairly consistent in their conduct within the precepts of religious doctrine?
    Sinatra: I've got no quarrel with men of decency at any level. But I can't believe that decency stems only from religion. And I can't help wondering how many public figures make avowals of religious faith to maintain an aura of respectability. Our civilization, such as it is, was shaped by religion, and the men who aspire to public office anyplace in the free world must make obeisance to God or risk immediate opprobrium. Our press accurately reflects the religious nature of our society, but you'll notice that it also carries the articles and advertisements of astrology and hokey Elmer Gantry revivalists. We in America pride ourselves on freedom of the press, but every day I see, and so do you, this kind of dishonesty and distortion not only in this area but in reporting — about guys like me, for instance, which is of minor importance except to me; but also in reporting world news. How can a free people make decisions without facts? If the press reports world news as they report about me, we're in trouble.
    Playboy: Are you saying that . . .
    Sinatra: No, wait, let me finish. Have you thought of the chance I'm taking by speaking out this way? Can you imagine the deluge of crank letters, curses, threats and obscenities I'll receive after these remarks gain general circulation? Worse, the boycott of my records, my films, maybe a picket line at my opening at the Sands. Why? Because I've dared to say that love and decency are not necessarily concomitants of religious fervor.
    Playboy: If you think you're stepping over the line, offending your public or perhaps risking economic suicide, shall we cut this off now, erase the tape and start over along more antiseptic lines?
    Sinatra: No, let's let it run. I've thought this way for years, ached to say these things. Whom have I harmed by what I've said? What moral defection have I suggested? No, I don't want to chicken out now. Come on, pal, the clock's running.

    Me and Billie Sol Estes

    in JFK Research

    Posted

    On 9/7/2022 at 5:13 PM, Allen Lowe said:

    coming late to this, but there is so much that makes no sense here - JFK found out about Sol Estes ripping people off with goats etc and got him convicted? No, the president of the USA is not going to be going after local criminals. And then you say Sol Estes' conviction was overturned because of cameras in the courtroom? No such constitutional issue. B.S. And if his case was overturned, he would not have had to be paroled. And I am just scratching the surface of this silliness. This is all fiction.

    Wikipedia shows how wrong you are.

    Billie Sol Estes - Wikipedia

    MAINSTREAM COOLER - For those who believe mainstream contemporary facts.

    in Water Coolers

    Posted · Edited by Douglas Caddy

    16 hours ago, W. Niederhut said:

    Doug,

    I've been listening to this terrific old Sinatra recording all month-- the only time Sinatra ever sang with Bing Crosby.

    (From the 1956 film, High Society, which also features Louis Armstrong's band and Grace Kelly in Newport, Rhode Island.)

     

    From Facebook today: In early 1943 Frankie Sinatra’s manager tried to book him at the elite Copacabana night club in New York City. He was turned down. So he settled for a three week engagement at the lesser known Riobamba Club in New York City in April 1943 for $750.00 dollars a week. There were three shows in the evening into the next morning and Sinatra did all three to standing room only crowds. 8:30pm, 1200am, 2:00am. By the end of the third week it was standing room only for his shows even at 2:00 am. His salary rose to $1,200.00 a week and the Copacabana begged for his services. This is an account of Sinatra’s performance at the Riobamba club. Three times an evening, Sinatra ... steps into the baby spotlight that splashes on to the dance floor. In a come-hither, breathless voice, he then sings such songs as 'You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To', 'That Old Black Magic', 'She's Funny That Way', and 'Embraceable You'. As he whispers the lyrics, he fondles his wedding ring and his eyes grow misty. A hush hangs over the tables, and in the eyes of the women present there is soft contentment. The lights go up and Sinatra bows, slouches across the floor and is swallowed up by the shadows.
    –George Frazier, Life magazine, May 3, 1943.
    Dean Martin in September of 1943 was a last minute substitution for Sinatra at the Riobamba club. That’s where they both met each other. As 1943 progressed he became increasingly incredibly popular and was in demand by most everyone and by the end of that year he was unbelievably followed and loved by millions of people especially teenage girls and young women.

    Important book by Max Boot, "The Road Not Taken" about life of General Edward Lansdale

    in JFK Assassination Debate

    Posted

    7 minutes ago, Michael Griffith said:

    Holy cow, you must have a read a drastically misprinted version of Boot's book. You could not have read the same version I read. I cannot fathom how you could conclude that Boot's book explains why Lansdale would have wanted JFK dead. Boot just does the opposite and explains why the far-left fantasies about Lansdale as a JFKA conspirator are downright obscene. We could not have read the same book. 

    I, too, recommend Boot's book, but not for the same reasons you do. 

    I have never read Boot's book. If you read what I posted on 8/20/23, it starts with "Message I received today from Robert Morrow:" Robert has a new posting not far above in this topic. Your conversation should be with him, not with me.

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