Steve Thomas

Donald Trump is going to Mt. Rushmore for July 3rd. The Sioux nation will be protesting his visit to the Black Hills. (Shades of George Armstrong Custer). Clouds of tear gas will be wafting over the protesters under the watchful gaze of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. In the background will be plumes of smoke rising from the wildfires set off by his fireworks in the middle of drought season. *sigh* Steve Thomas

Kirk, Trump is pulling a third of U.S. forces out of Germany and shifting them to Poland. Do you think Putin has designs on Poland the way Josef Stalin did? Steve Thomas

Ron, No sane person would move to cut off health insurance to millions of people in the middle of an epidemic. Joe Scarborough is speculating that Trump does not want to be President, and he is deliberately making himself unelectable. Scarborough speculates that Trump will resign before the Republican National Convention, saying; not that he is too incompetent, but that the communistic, socialistic, media mobs made it impossible for him to serve a glorious second term. Trump fears the rejection of losing, even more than the success of winning. He would not be able to stand the thought of losing the election by the largest margin in U.S. history. It's too bad about all the sycophants he will take down with him, and I guess he will not be able to get his face on Mt. Rushmore after all. Steve Thomas

Ron, It was a "town hall". (I think there were six people there). https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-perfect-person-hannity_n_5ef59e5dc5b612083c4b8e8a. You can watch a video clip of his "friend" here: https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1276328928123195392 Some people have said that he sees this friend every time he looks in the mirror, but I wouldn't know about that. Steve Thomas

In an interview with Sean Hannity last night, Donald Trump said that he had a friend who told him that he was "the most perfect person". He then turned to the audience and asked them what they thought. Do you have any idea what it feels like, knowing that I have a President of my country who talks to imaginary friends? Steve Thomas

Seems like we've got a ways to go yet. Confederate monument anyone? https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992 Constitution of United States of America 1789 (rev. 1992) Amendment XIII Section 1 Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. Minnesota and Oho (and perhaps others) have this same wording in their state constitutions. *sigh* Steve Thomas

Bill, Don't forget Oswald's "Undesirable Discharge" from the Marines on September 13, 1960. I don't think he would have been on any Inactive Reserve's status. One of the most informative things I've read in a while is CD 852 https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=11249 DOD Bartimo Letter of 24 Apr 1964 with Attachments Starting on about the third page or so of this document is a copy of Army Regulation 195-10 which spells out how the Army was supposed to liaison with other agencies. It talks about the Army, Navy, Air Force and FBI, but interestingly enough, leaves out the Secret Service. Basically Army Regulation 195-10 is a How to Manual for conducting investigations of armed forces personnel: Who's got responsibility, who's got control, how the information flows, etc. Look at Paragraph (9)(c)(1)(a) on the bottom of Page 5 of this CD. It says how Army Commanders are supposed to establish policies to establish "effective liaison" with other agencies and specifically mentions the ATTU. The idea was not to step on each other's toes, and establish contact with an individual that some other agency was working, e.g. informants. I think in CIA jargon, it was called the “third party” rule. As I sit here, I don't know if the FBI or the ATTU has such a Regulation they were supposed to be operating under, unless, as in the FBI’s case, it would be in the FBI Manual. https://www.fbiexpert.com/fbi_manual_of_investigative_operations.php Steve Thomas

Joe, When I lived in Colorado, there were two sayings: 1) There's two kinds of people who live in Colorado: millionaires, and those who work for them. 2) By the time I moved; in Aspen, the billionaires were moving in and kicking the millionaires out. In Vail, the cost of land is so expensive, they can't afford to bury their dead. They have to truck them over to the Town of Minturn. Land in Vail was running at $1,000,000 a square foot. Steve Thomas

J. Edgar Hoover. J.Edgar Hoover's phone call with Lyndon Johnson https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=807#relPageId=3&tab=page Steve Thomas

Will Fritz Mr. FRITZ. When I started to talk to this prisoner or maybe just before I started to talk to him, some officer told me outside of my office that he had a room on Beckley, I don't know who that officer was, I think we can find out, I have since I have talked to you this morning I have talked to Lieutenant Baker and he says I know maybe who that officer was, but I am not sure yet. Mr. BALL. Some officer told you that he thought this man had a room on Beckley? Mr. FRITZ. Yes, sir. Steve Thomas

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/fritz1.htm Mr. FRITZ. I show that he was shot at 12:35, and one of the Secret Service men who was assigned the same location where we were assigned, got a little call on his, evidently got a call on his little transistor radio and Chief Stevenson, who was also assigned to some part of the building there, came to me and told me that the President had been hit at the underpass, and asked me to go to the hospital and see what I could do. I wonder what other calls went out on the "little transistor radio". Steve Thomas

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump RIGGED 2020 ELECTION: MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WILL BE PRINTED BY FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AND OTHERS. IT WILL BE THE SCANDAL OF OUR TIMES! 6:16 AM · Jun 22, 2020 I mean he did ask for China's help. Steve Thomas

Sun Tzu. The Art of War. 5th Century BC 18. All warfare is based on deception. 19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. 20. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him. Steve Thomas

Bill, The cable in question is actually a cable from Washington DC to Florida and summarizes a telephone conversation. Here's the header of that cable: The phone conversation being summarized was between a Captain Saxton, J2 at US Strike Command and a Lt. Col Fons, Deputy Chief of Staff, Intelligence. Dallas Morning News March 19, 1978. This is also from Weisberg's Collection: "Army Apparently Didn't Tell Commission of Oswald's Alias" http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg Subject Index Files/F Disk/FBI/FBI Records Release 12-7-77 News Accounts/Item 069.pdf Officer Bill Biggio was directing police intelligence communications at the Fair Grounds office the day of the assassination. He was working alongside Stringfellow that day. Col. Roy Pate, in command of the 112th in Dallas said the information in the cable quoting Stringfellow "did not originate in Dallas". I believe that Stringfellow contacted San Antonio directly and did not go through the office in Dallas. The cable says that Stringfellow contacted the 112 INTC GP this HQ. See also page 3 of this Education Forum Thread: "Stringfellow Cable" http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/topic/23493-stringfellow-cable/page/3/ 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