Steve Thomas

Cliff, For me, the best line of the evening was said by Steve Schmidt, I think. "Watching Trump's rally was like going to a fat Elvis concert." Steve Thomas

I can't remember if I am a protester exercising my First Amendment rights as an American, or a lowlife. I keep getting them mixed up. Steve Thomas

Kirk, It was a 57 page memo, so I can't quote it to you, but you can read about it here. It was back in April: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/24/gop-memo-anti-china-coronavirus-207244 "“Don’t defend Trump, other than the China Travel Ban — attack China,” the memo states." Can you imagine the hundreds of thousands of dollars for TV buy ads that just went down the toilet? Steve Thomas

https://boingboing.net/2020/06/19/donald-trump-threatens-protest.html Donald Trump threatens protesters while promoting Oklahoma campaign rally during pandemic <QUOTE> He seems eager for violence. In a Facebook post Thursday evening, Tulsa police announced that an area of downtown will be off limits from 10 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Saturday ahead of the rally. The curfew will again take effect after the rally until 6 a.m. Sunday. The people camped outside the BOK Center waiting to get into the rally were being moved out. <ENDQUOTE> Steve Thomas

Kirk, You gotta love it. Do you remember a couple of months ago when the Republican National Committee send out a long memo giving instructions to Republican candidates who were running for office? And they said, Don't mention Donald Trump's name, instead, build your campaign around bashing China? And all these candidates started running TV ads that never mentioned Trump, but lambasted China for intellectual property issues and spreading disease all around the world. And it turns out, Trump was asking China for help all the time. Trump just cut the legs out from under the entire Republican Party. Disinfectant Don. Steve Thomas

Paul, Speaking of drilling rights, I loved this part of Jack Todd's HSCA testimony: Q. That will be done in the near future. Okay. Mr. Todd, what is the nature of your business Todd Oil Company? A. I drill wells and operate wells. Q. Uh-huh. And how many employees do you have? A. I only have one employee. Q. Okay. Is it also known as Todd Investment Company? A. J.R. Todd Oil and investment Company I is another separate entity. Q. Okay. And would you please describe that for us? A. Well, I drill wells and operate wells under that name. Q. Okay. And how many employees do you have under that company? A. Just one. Q. Okay. Do you contract out? A. Contract everything out. Q. I see. Okay. And how long have you had this business? A. Since back in the 40's. Q. And has it been at the same address? A. No, at one time I was at 1022 National Bankers Life Building. Q. Here in Dallas? A. Yes, sir. Q. Okay. Do you have any partners in this -- Do you have partners in these businesses? A. No, sir. Q. You are the sole proprietor? A. My children and myself are, yes. One man band that guys is, yes sir. Steve Thomas

North American Aviation seems to be an interesting place. http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg Subject Index Files/B Disk/Boxley Memos Miscellaneous/Item 06.pdf (page 2). 4. J. CARLIN BRANDT, chief, accounting clerk for Mobil Oil, moved from 601 N. Ewing St. in 1963 to 223 S. Ewing, Jack Ruby’s apartment house. Brandt is the name of the prime suspect in the Minute Man recruitment effort in the Matamorros bar six weeks before the assassination who told Alan Dale’s informant that the Minute Men had a contract to kill JFK. The latter Brandt - one John Brandt, combination gunsmith and Minute Man from the Ray Brantley circle in Dallas, a former employee of Brantley’s, dropped out of directory listings after the assassination, and Penn Jones advises via Mary now that John Brandt is living covertly at 2960 Colfing Green, Farmers Branch, Texas, another widely recognized residential area of Dallas, which was a hot-bed of anti-castro speeches and activities prior to the assassination. At the time of the killing, JOHN 3RANDT was living at 801 Rindie, Irving. He was given a job by LING-TEMPCO-VAUGHT, than disappeared about a year ago, ostensibly for an operation, and went into his present hiding in Farmers Branch. History of Aviation in Grand Prairie https://www.gptx.org/about-us/history/history-of-aviation-in-grand-prairie Just southeast of Curtiss-Wright, Hensley Army Air Force Base opened in 1932. Although technically in Dallas, the base (which in 1943 was renamed Dallas Naval Air Station) would forever change Grand Prairie. In 1939, North American Aviation, an industry giant, chose a site west of Hensley Field for its new production plant. On Sept. 28, 1940, North American broke ground on the new plant. North American’s plant was constructed of concrete and steel and was the first windowless, fully air-conditioned and artificially lit aircraft production facility in the U.S. The plant was dedicated on April 7, 1941. By the war’s end in 1945, employment had dropped to 15,000, all of whom lost their jobs on Aug. 14, 1945 when the government cancelled its contracts for war planes. North American returned the Grand Prairie facility to the government, which immediately began the task of finding a tenant. Post War Era 1946-1960 Two former North American executives leased part of the vacant facility and created Texas Engineering and Manufacturing Company (Temco). By late 1946, the company employed 2,500. John Simkin in the Education Forum December 2, 2006. http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/topic/8715-david-harold-byrd/ “In 1944 Byrd founded Byrd Oil Corporation and B-H Drilling Corporation. In 1952 Byrd established the Three States Natural Gas Company. Byrd later sold Byrd Oil to Mobil and Three States to Delhi-Taylor. Byrd used this money to invest in aircraft production and established Temco. A company that employed Mac Wallace after he was convicted of killing John Kinser.” HSCA Deposition of Jack Todd July 11, 1978 https://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/m_j_russ/todd.htm Q. Well, do you remember what you did during the early '40's? Do you remember what you did during the war? A. I worked at North American. Q. North American? A. Aviation. Q. During the entire war years? A. I was working there in '41 when the war broke out. Q. And how long did you work there? A. Quite awhile. Q. Two, three years? A. Could have been. Q. Okay. Q. (Mr. McDonald) Okay. Mr. Todd, have you ever heard of the Lois Green gang? A. Yes, sir. A. Lois Green was my personal friend. Q. Uh-huh. When did you first meet Mr. Green? A. About ' 39. Q. Did you know an individual by the name of Benny Binion, B-I-N-I-O-N? A. I know the name, yes, sir. Q. Okay. Do you know an individual by the name of Joe Campisi? A. I know Joe Campisi. Q. How about Joe Civello, Joseph Civello? A. I met Joe Civello, yes, very casually. Q. Okay. How about Johnny Grizzaffi, G-R-I-Z-Z-A-F-F-I? A. Yeah, I know Johnny. Q. Joe Ianni? A. Yeah, I knew Joe. Q. I-A-N-N-S? A. Yeah, I know Joe. Q. And what's your relationship with him? A. He had a restaurant and I would go in there and eat. Q. What was the name of his restaurant? A. Iann's. Q. Isn't he related to you by marriage? A. Pardon? Q. Is he related to you by marriage? A. No, my son is married to his daughter. Steve Thomas

On September 4, 1959, Oswald applied for a passport to attend the Albert Schweitzer College. He said that he would be leaving on the Grace Lines on September 21, 1959. A week later, he booked passage on the Lykes Lines. Why? Affidavit of Billie Joe Lord: http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/lord.htm 3. On September 20, 1959, I boarded the freighter S.S. Marion Lykes at New Orleans. Upon boarding the ship, I was shown to my room, and when I got there, Lee Harvey Oswald was already there and moving in. Steve Thomas

Bill, Who was it that Oswald was talking to when he said something like, "At all times I was under the protection of..." and then he stopped himself and re-phrased his answer. The radio program in New Orleans? Steve Thomas

John, To the best of knowledge, people who have looked into it have not found any connection between the Richard Stovall, who was a Detective in the Dallas Police Department's Homicide and Robbery Bureau, and the Robert Stovall, who was the President of Jaggars-Chiles-Stovall. Maybe they were distant, distant cousins or something, but I'm pretty sure they had different parents. Steve Thomas

This idea is not as far fetched as I originally thought. The HSCA undertook a study of defectors and published their results in Volume XII beginning on page 435. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=84#relPageId=439&tab=page Of the dozen or so defection cases they reviewed, at least two involved American servicemen. They had this to say: HSCA vol. XII p. 442 https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=84#relPageId=446&tab=page Page 442 Page 448 513th Military Intelligence Group? Blackmailed by whom? An Eric Scheinkopf did an analysis of the HSCA;s Defector Study and as far as the Soviets utilizing the defectors for propaganda purposes,: https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=205090&search=defectors#relPageId=7&tab=page Page 7 A likely scenario for me is that Oswald was approached by the Russians while he was in Japan. He informed his superiors about this approach, and ONI decided to play along and allow the Russians to think they had succeeded. Was Oswald sent to Language School after his return from Japan? And was his language proficiency test administered after his return from Japan? Was he being prepped? Steve Thomas

Bill. I was struck by the phraseology here. He uses it twice in that letter: "Return to any other country"? He doesn't say he didn't want to return to the United States. He says he doesn't want to return to any other country. How many countries was he talking about here? Steve Thomas

Bill, Taking your second question first: That's one of my biggest suspicions. Of all the documents Dobrynin provided to the Americans in 1964, what was not included was Oswald's application for Soviet citizenship, nor any written reasons from the Soviets to Oswald on why it was denied. As far as your first question, Oswald met with the American Embassy officials in Moscow on July 8, 1961 asking them what the holdup was in getting a visa to return to America. Current Section: CE 977 - Foreign Service dispatch from the American Embassy in Moscow to the Department of State, dated July 11, 1961. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1135#relPageId=392&tab=page p. 378 “He exhibited Soviet internal “stateless” passport... No. 311479 issued by the Moscow City Government on January 14, 1960, which is prima facie evidence that he is regarded by the Soviet authorities as not possessing Soviet citizenship.” “Oswald stated that despite the wording of the statement which he handed to the Embassy on October 31, 1959 (Embassy dispatch 234, November 2, 1959), he never in fact actually applied for Soviet citizenship.” Current Section: CE 950 - Report of the Department of State on Lee Harvey Oswald, submitted to the Commission in January 1964. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1135#relPageId=307&tab=page p. 293 “In 1961, he showed a United States consular officer a document issued by the Moscow City Government on January 14, 1960 which indicated that he never was declared a Soviet citizen.”* See also letter from Walter J. Stoessel, Jr. of the Embassy in Moscow to the Director's Office of Soviet Affairs of the United States Department of State. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=95609&relPageId=53&search=%22Walter_J.%20Stoessel,%20Jr%22 He talks of meeting Kudryavtsev of the American Section of the MFA in the airport, who told him that, “Oswald had applied for Soviet citizenship but that ,after considering the application, the Soviet authorities had decided not to approve this application since Oswald seemed to be so unstable.” “I found this reference to the Soviet handling of his application for citizenship of interest, since I have not found any record of this aspect in our files.” Oswald's “Historic Diary": Warren Commission Exhibit 24 Vol 16, Pg 94-105 http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/historicdiary.htm Jan 4. (1961) One year after I received the residence document I am called in to the passport office and asked if I want citizenship (Russian). I say no simply extend my residential passport to agree and my document is extended until Jan 4, 1962. Steve Thomas

I've been mulling something over, so I'll just throw it out there. I'll say up front that I don't have anything to back this up, so if if you jump all over me, you'll probably win; but... What if Oswald's defection was a Russian operation, and not an American one? That would explain his knowledge of and ease in entering the Soviet Union by way of Finland, and how he he knew that the only way to get back to Russia in 1963 was by way of Cuba. It would also explain the Soviet's willingness to allow him to return to the U.S. with a new Soviet wife. Somehow, I just can't reconcile the smiling, happy person in the pictures below being the surly, uncommunicative, anti-social person encountered by Billy Joe Lord, and Oswald's foreman in the Minsk factory. Something just doesn't feel right. Steve Thomas

Bill or anyone else for that matter, Did Oswald receive any press from Russian sources on his defection? Was he in the papers or anything? If he wasn't, that seems kind of odd to me. Did they never believe that he was a genuine defector, and so, kept it quiet? What would be their reasons for keeping it quiet? Steve Thomas

Which Oswald went to Russia in 1959? Other than the Bolton Ford incident in 1961, is there any evidence, or any sightings of an Oswald (any Oswald) in the United States between the years 1959 and 1962? This goes back a question I asked in another thread: Whose application for Soviet citizenship was denied? According to the Soviet Government, the citizenship application for Harvey Lee Oswald was denied. https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=7986&relPageId=111&search=Dobrynin_December%2011,%201963 p. 111. In that letter, Dobrynin lays out why the Soviet Government rejected the citizenship application of Harvey Lee Oswald. The character reference memo which accompanied this denial dated 12/11/61 presents Harvey Lee Oswald as surly, anti-social, and performing unsatisfactory, careless work: https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=1135&relPageId=447&search=%22Harvey_Lee%20Oswald%22 Plant Director: D. Yudelevich Personnel Department Chief: M. Tishkevich This sounds an awful lot like the man Billy Joe Lord described as accompanying him on the S.S. Marion Lykes in 1959. He described the Oswald he traveled with for two weeks as "unfriendly, standoffish, and the two of them didn't hit it off". https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=10898&search=%22Billy_Joe+Lord%22#relPageId=38&tab=page Lee Harvey Oswald on the other hand, denied that he ever applied for Soviet citizenship. Steve Thomas

Cliff, Reading a speech on race relations written by Stephen Miller while dozens and dozens of people in the audience are waving Confederate flags like they do at all his rallies. Who in the world is giving this guy political advice? Steve Thomas

Larry, Naw, you're too young to have been involved. Though they did need a spotter that day. You got an alibi? Steve Thomas

Chuck, Those Colonels just keep popping up, don't they? Steve Thomas

You can't make this stuff up. It has been reported that Donald Trump will soon give a speech on race and equality in America. White Nationalist, Stephen Miller is said to be the one who is drafting the speech. https://www.democracynow.org/2020/6/11/headlines/white_nationalist_white_house_adviser_stephen_miller_drafting_trump_speech_on_race What could go wrong? Steve Thomas

Donald J. Trump tweeted out, "The protesters, agitators, anarchists (ANTIFA), and others, were handled VERY easily by the Guard, D.C. Police, & S.S. GREAT JOB!" Now, I'm sure he was referring to the Secret Service, but it gave me the willies nevertheless. Steve Thomas

Ron, I would like to respond, but I just spit coffee all over my keyboard. Steve Thomas

Jim, I haven't studied the Harvey and Lee theory enough to make an intelligent decision yet, but yes, I believe these are photographs of two different people. Back when I was in college, I took an anthropology course and spent some time looking at different skull structures. In the various photos taken of LHO, I've tried to look beyond the facial features and tried to analyze the skull structure underneath. I'm also trying to correlate the surly, uncommunicative, anti-social Oswald with the pointy-chin guy, and the gregarious, outgoing Oswald with the broader-chinned guy. I wish Billy Joe Lord had been asked to describe the Oswald he took a trip with on the S.S. Marion Lykes. I get mixed up. Is the pointy-chin and narrow nose guy Harvey, or is it vice versa? Steve Thomas

Kirk, You said, "You know I was thinking. Here were are having all these problems, with all this civil strife---and we have all these guns bombs and soldiers overseas, maybe we should declare peace abroad, and let's bring it all back home where it's needed." Do you find it coincidental that Trump just said that he wants to reduce the American military presence in Germany by a third? I wonder what he plans on doing with all those guys just laying around? Or is that too conspiratorial? Steve Thomas

John, It's uncanny how much alike these two individuals looked. It's no wonder so many people got them mixed up. I saw a couple of things though: the shape of the nose, the shape of the chin, the bony (or supra orbital) ridge above his left eye socket. I think I know where that square chin in the backyard photos came from. Steve Thomas