Paul Brancato

29 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

@Paul Brancato

1) meaning, was Hank in the CIA?

2) Hank was concentrated on the Lafitte records: neither June nor Jerrie are apparent in that material. Had they been, he/we would have factored them into the analysis. 
 

3) Hank never discussed twins except in context of my husband’s experience and the esoteric nature of twinning. He never described Jerrie Cobb to me. Scars are easy to create; the human voice, diction, pattern and body type are more complicated.

DAP said a lot, and revealed little. 

4) Hank had intended to tell June’s personal story with a human interest approach.  Assuming he would reveal a smoking gun — based on June — in the investigation is a huge leap.

Ironic, Hank gains access to Lafitte’s datebook — the closest thing to a smoking gun in decades — and writes a book based on it that many on this forum refuse to consider. Yet here we are, chasing JUNE COBB?  @Greg Doudna

I used the word professionally to distinguish it from personally, not to imply Hank was CIA. 
What will be done with Hank’s notes on June Cobb? How many times did he meet with her? Lots. I don’t know the answer but I think you do. My conclusion from reading the book we are discussing is that Jerrie/June Cobb was an important agent, period. Do you really think there is something nefarious about wanting to know what he found out? Is our interest in Cobb somehow inappropriate because Hank wrote a book about Lafitte? 

3 hours ago, Leslie Sharp said:

@Paul Brancato  Considering what we now know, is it logical that Otto Skorzeny was dismissed as being "unsuitable"? Perhaps the author chose to highlight an isolated, one-off  incident, but for some reason, Otto and Ilse are then virtually airbrushed from AWIK. (Note: Major Ganis published in 2018; we published in late 2021.)

My preliminary take (based on a limited read of AWIK so far) is anyone who pursues the QJ/WIN programme objectively is compelled to consider Otto, and by extension his wife, far more carefully than is evidenced in this work, especially if one is writing a bombshell K. assassination book. 

Since Mary H. was not a lifelong assassination researcher (she has certainly earned her stripes now), it's obvious she would rely on seasoned experts, but did any have a particulay heavy finger on the scales?

In your view, had Hank (or Ralph) weighed in, might her pursuit of the Skorzenys been more aggresive?  She skirts on some significant events and had she read Ganis or Albarelli, I think she might better or further recognize their importance.

If Jerrie Cobb lived intermittently in Dallas during the early '60s, all the more intriguing.

 

Just before I read this I reread the small section on Otto and Ilse. Possibly she dismissed them too soon. Silver may have been purposeful in his negation. I think the most useful thing would be to start a dialog with the author. She might not have seen Hank’s work, though I agree that seems unlikely. 
have you ever wondered what was going on professionally between June Cobb and Hank? I gather it’s clear from your end that he never met Jerrie. Did he ever wonder aloud about the similarities? The author quotes David Phillips as saying June had a twin! She also says that Jerrie had scars attributed to June. What this all boils down to is this: what did Hank dig up that hasn't yet been revealed? 
The author credits Newman for showing her how to read intelligence files. She also credits Linda Pease, though less specifically. I’d be interested in what Pease has to say. 

I’ll look forward to hearing from Larry and Jim after they’ve read the book, which has two threads going, both of which I find troubling.
I start from one premise that should be completely obvious. There is no way that June and Jerrie Cobb did not know each other, if their respective bios are truthful. Jerrie denied that she knew June. Did June do the same? Is there someone here that can answer this? 
I can’t help but wonder about two Oswalds now.

Leslie and Greg - if you are both truth seekers, as I am, you could try trusting a bit. Leslie - I too want to see everything you have on June Cobb. It’s vitally important that Hank’s June story be compared to Haverstick and Jerrie. You have a different vantage point obviously. If you want to hold those cards close to your vest you could empathize with others that want to see those cards. Can we at least all agree that Ms Cobb is integral to the story? You say Hank was aware of Jerrie. She goes unmentioned in Coup, and up until now in your posts. Haverstick has done some remarkable work comparing itineraries. I consider it absolutely tragic that she and Hank never compared notes. You have the power to begin the process of comparing, and my bet is you are already doing so. Do you know whether they ever met or talked? I’ve not finished the book yet so I don’t know if she mentions Hank or his research. 

53 minutes ago, Benjamin Cole said:

I happen to agree, but I am uneasy when relative novices start making grand pronouncements about the JFKA, and in great detail. 

Rob Reiner may be a nice guy, but as an entertainer, he may have concluded that "another show that is inconclusive is not a good show." 

Or, Reiner may think the political need to frame a narrative supersedes the need for verifiable truth. That is, the political truth trumps historical truth. 

Reiner won't be the first to go down that road.

Reiner has been at this since the 1960’s. A newby? So was I when I wrote the trading cards. 
why are most of you so anxious to cast aspersions? 

5 hours ago, David Von Pein said:

Rob Reiner's 10-part podcast is most certainly not a "live" podcast. It's obviously been scripted and heavily edited prior to being broadcast. There is nothing "live" about it.

 

Yes David, I’m sure. What I meant is that it could be easily added to, not necessarily written in stone. There are 7 episodes to come I think. 

Does no one see that Rob Reiner is putting his own reputation on the line? You think he’s doing this for money? I can relate to his story because I share it. He is a year older than me, 16 at the time. Both of us witnessed the Oswald murder, and paid close attention to Mark Lane as he almost single-handedly fought for the truth. And it was Mort Sahl who got Reiner’s ear when they were both working in standup. If Reiner gets things wrong I am certain he would be open to correction. That’s the thing about podcast - it’s live. So if our resident experts feel that Reiner could use some further education why not approach him? I’m going to be searching for a way to contact him. Let’s get on board.

11 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

Please Paul, that is not like you.

DId anyone else here dig up this info on Jerri and tell us just how large a figure she was in aviation history?

That is what I am thanking him for.

Sorry Jim. My point was that the articles Larry posted do not in any way justify his statement at the end where he says Jerrie flew her plane to the Amazon when she was supposedly at Redbird airport. The book goes into great detail about Jerrie’s known history including her work in the Amazon. He could have recommended the book just on that basis. The author met Jerrie Cobb because she intended to make a film centered on her aviation career. One of the articles that Larry linked specifically mentions John Glenn, but fails to mention Glenn’s direct and vocal opposition to the idea of female astronauts. I don’t find Larry’s post helpful, I find it misleading. 

How about some of you here engaged in this discussion read the book, available in hardcover and also in Kindle. There is even a summary version of it for download. 

How about we listen first? I’m impressed, hugely, by the tone of it. Rob Reiner cares - a lot. 

3 hours ago, Larry Hancock said:

For those who decide to dig into these claims, the good news is that the history, including work history, of Jerri Cobb of aviation and potential astronaut fame is well known, very public and well documented.  That should give a good baseline for checking out the claims and proposition in the book:

https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=CO010

https://medium.com/the-vintage-space/was-jerrie-cobbs-first-female-astronaut-good-girl-image-an-act-877c94428c55

https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/remembering-geraldyn-jerrie-cobb-pioneering-woman-aviator

The final article listed has her buying an Aero Commander in 1963 but instead of Dallas flying it into the Amazon as a missionary pilot.

So in this instance we have an individual who has a substantial public record for reference, not to mention prior historical studies and research on her life -  contained in numerous other books.

 

 

 

Jim says ‘good one’, and thanks Larry. Thanks for what Jim? For saying Jerrie Cobb couldn’t have flown the plane into red bird airport on Nov 22, 1963 because she was busy doing missionary work in the Amazon? 

Looking at pics of babushka lady I don’t see a camera. Can someone point me to a better pic? 

Good questions, fascinating book. Seeing as the author’s research appears entirely original, without the usual access to the researchers who’ve been studying this for decades (other than John Newman, who she apparently knows - the extent of that relationship is unknown), I’d give her a pass on getting everything right. I haven’t finished the book, but at least by the middle it seems that her point of view is that there were two individuals, June and Jennie, by photo evidence, but operationally maybe one individual using dual or multiple identities. Have I read that wrong? 
Her research on Harvey and Silver, indicating development of a high tech weapon that Harvey even sketches, may indicate that Babushka, or someone else, was using something other than a conventional gun. 

Very good article 

I am reading ‘A Woman I know’. It is so far really interesting. 

And Noguchi was fired not long after and I believe went to court to fight it, eventually winning. Someone may know more about this. Of course he was ostensibly fired for other reasons, but I’ve assumed it was some kind of payback. 

3 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

@Paul Brancato
Alan Kent invites you to pm him re. Lifton.

 

I don’t know how to contact him

34 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

Of course I'm anxious to read this new material to determine if there are parallels and/or convergences with the names and details presented in Lafitte's records.  

as an aside, did you see the photo of JJA and Amit Meir taken in 1967 in Tucson?

Are there pics of Pugibet? The extant info says he pretended to be a cowboy.

12 minutes ago, Leslie Sharp said:

@Bill Fite thank you so much for this translation.  I'm passing it on to Alan Kent who has been in hot pursuit of Pugibet.

I too was concerned by the suggestion the confession was paid for.  I wondered if there was something lost in translation.

If the confession was given orally, and the receiver of that confession later tried to sell it without being able to authenticate it that’s a problem. 

The general level of discourse by several posters on this interesting thread is disappointing to say the least. And I’ll note that major writers like Larry Hancock and Jim DiEugenio have unfortunately stayed out of the fray completely. 
so if I understand what Leslie is saying, the Frenchman Pugibet, the subject of an essay by Alan Kent in Albarelli’s Coup is also the subject of a new French book claiming that he confessed on his deathbed to being the second gunman at Dealey Plaza. 
what I would like to know is who was FBI informer Allen Wright? 

Uh, Tracy Barnes? 

4 hours ago, John Kowalski said:

There is a new book out about Earl Anglin James who was known for his diploma mills. Book is published by Trine Day.

 

https://trineday.com/products/mad-bishops-the-hunt-for-earl-anglin-james-and-his-assassin-brethren?_pos=1&_psq=earl&_ss=e&_v=1.0

This looks interesting. Have you read it? Reminds me of some of the research and personal recollections of Peter Levenda in Sinister Forces. 

Too bad Reiner isnt consulting with top researchers. What’s the point of making another movie if the research going in is half baked? 

Speaking of Lifton, what happened to the book he was working on in his last years?

No Kirk, Jim didn’t say that, I did. 

Kirk - your distillation of the interview is so colored by your own bias as to make it useless. So I will not repost it here. You mischaracterized the exchange on the 1964 Brazil Coup, made it look like Talbot was ducking evidence that JFK wasn’t really anti-colonialist. I suppose most readers won’t bother to listen to the interview in Ben’s shorter version, much less the full one, so they won’t see what I saw, which is that the question Greenwald was posing, which Talbot did not shy away from, was the biased media coverage, then and now. The Brazil coup took place in the spring of 1964. That should be enough to cause anyone to hesitate assigning blame to JFK. We know for certain that his policy on Vietnam was immediately reversed after his death. Rather than provide evidence that JFK started this 1964 coup, and LBJ finished it, you chose via your own bias to share your intuition that he must have because Talbot didn’t go back to that subject at the end of Greenwald’s long question about media bias. Thanks for that. Now’s your chance to prove your point.