John Simkin
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Larry, a few remaining questions:
(1) On page 203 you point out that Fred Black was on trial for illegal activities concerning Howard Foundry Company. Was this in 1963? Do you have any more details? Was he found guilty? Did he face any other charges later?
(2) Do you know when Fred Black died?
(3) Do you know anything about Grant Stockdale? I was recently told that he had considerable knowledge about the assassination. According to William Torbitt, Stockdale was President of Serve-U-Corporation (Black and Baker’s company involved in the LBJ scandal).
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I would like to explore further the relationship between Richard Russell and Lyndon Johnson.
Russell was elected to the Senate on 12th January, 1933. He held extreme right-wing views and told his constituents during an election campaign against Eugene Talmadge in 1935: "As one who was born and reared in the atmosphere of the Old South, with six generations of my forebears now resting beneath Southern soil, I am willing to go as far and make as great a sacrifice to preserve and insure white supremacy in the social, economic, and political life of our state as any man who lives within her borders."
Russell developed a reputation as the leader of the white supremacists in the Senate. Russell participated in his first filibuster of a civil rights bill in 1935 when he stopped an anti-lynching bill (Costigan-Wagner Act) with 6 days of non-stop talking.
By the end of the Second World War Russell was the acknowledged leader of the Southern bloc in the Senate. In 1950 it was suggested that Russell should become head of the Democratic Party in the Senate. Russell declined the offer and instead gave his support to his great friend, Lyndon B. Johnson, the recently elected senator from Texas. Russell's decision enabled Johnson to become the most powerful man in the Senate.
On the surface this seems a strange decision. Johnson had only been elected to the Senate in 1948. Was Russell using Johnson as a front man for his own policies or did Johnson have something on Russell. Whatever the answer, the two men remained close friends.
A lifelong bachelor, Russell spent most weekends with Johnson. He was such a regular visitor that Johnson's daughters affectionately referred to Russell as "Uncle Dick".
Russell continued to lead the white supremacists in the Senate and was the main figure involved in blocking John Kennedy’s civil rights legislation. Russell told the Senate: "We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would have a tendency to bring about social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our (Southern) states." Russell organized 18 Southern Democratic senators in filibustering this bill.
It was during this struggle that Johnson forced Russell to join the Warren Commission. This was one of the main reasons why Russell attended so few of the WC meetings.
On the 15th June, 1964, Russell did something very strange. He privately told Mike Mansfield and Hubert Humphrey, the two leading supporters of the Civil Rights Act, that he would bring an end to the filibuster that was blocking the vote on the bill. This resulted in a vote being taken and it was passed by 73 votes to 27.
Most historians take the view that Lyndon Johnson forced Russell to let the bill go through. But why? Johnson had like Russell always been opposed to civil rights legislation. It went further than that. LBJ had been involved in a smear campaign against liberal Democrats such as Ralph Yarborough (the only member of the Senate representing a former Confederate state to vote for every significant piece of civil rights legislation). In fact, one of the main reasons why JFK was in Dallas was to try and bring an end to the conflict between Yarborough and the right-wing members of the party).
The traditional explanation for Johnson’s behaviour is that he wanted to go down in history as the man who got through legislation on civil rights. This was clearly the view that LBJ tried to promote. However, I don’t buy this version. LBJ was not only a racist, he represented the views of racists like Haroldson L. Hunt and Clint Murchison. Why should LBJ betray these people? Why did LBJ go as far as to pressurize Russell to let the 1964 Civil Rights Act to go through?
To my mind something very dramatic must have happened to make LBJ to change his mind on this issue. Could it be that LBJ was being blackmailed? That someone who favoured civil rights legislation had discovered LBJ’s role in the assassination. As much as they hated LBJ they knew if would be very difficult to get him ousted as president (could you imagine the impact this would have on the American political system). However, one possible act of revenge was to blackmail LBJ and his friends to do the very thing that made them want to kill JFK. If so, my bet was that the person behind this was Ralph Yarborough.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/JFKrussell.htm
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Paul Fischer was the presidential projectionist for 33 years. Now aged 75, Fischer has revealed what the American presidents since Harry Truman liked watching. Is it possible that this might provide clues about the assassination of JFK?
According to Fischer JFK favourite movie was Spartacus. Could this be politically significant? The film Spartacus was based on the book written by Howard Fast. The screenplay was written by Dalton Trumbo. Both men were former members of the Communist Party who had been blacklisted as a result of McCarthyism in the 1950s.
Dalton became the first blacklisted writer to use his own name when he wrote the screenplay for the film Spartacus. The film examines the spirit of revolt. Trumbo refers back to his experiences of the House of Un-American Activities Committee. At the end, when the Romans finally defeat the rebellion, the captured slaves refuse to identify Spartacus. As a result, all are crucified.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAtrumbo.htm
LBJ used to watch the same movie over and over again. It was in fact a 10-minute homage to himself, narrated by Gregory Peck, and made on the orders of the White House staff soon after the assassination. As Fischer puts it: “LBJ was his own favourite movie star”.
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In chapters 15 and 16 you mention Fred Black and point out that he was a friend of John Roselli. Black was also involved in setting up Serve-U-Corporation with his close friend, Bobby Baker, and mobsters Ed Levenson and Benny Sigelbaum.
You claim that Black “was positioned to destroy Lyndon Johnson with his personal testimony”. I assume there is no evidence that he did do that. However, he does seem to have talked about some of his activities.
William Torbitt (Nonmenclature of an Assassination Cabal) claims that “Fred Black has confirmed the connection between (Clifford Jones), (Louis) McWillie, (Bobby) Baker, (Jack) Ruby and ex-Cuban President, Prio.”
Torbitt goes on to add: “After November 22, l963, Black publicly told many people in Washington, D.C. he had informed J. Edgar Hoover that an income tax conviction against him must be reversed or he would blow the lid off Washington with revelations of the assassination conspirators. Lobbyist Black prevailed upon J. Edgar Hoover to admit error before the Supreme Court where his case was reversed in 1966. Hoover did well to rescue Black from the conviction. Fred Black, while socially drinking with acquaintances in Washington has, on numerous occasions, been reported to have told of J. Edgar Hoover's and Bobby Baker's involvement in the assassination through Las Vegas, Miami and Havana gamblers. He named some of these as the Fox Brothers of Miami, McLaney of Las Vegas, New Orleans, Havana and Bahamas, Cliff Jones of Las Vegas, Carlos Prio Socarras of Havana, Bobby Baker and others. He stated there was also a connection in that some of the gamblers were Russian emigres.”
There is also an article entitled Drug War: Covert Money, Power & Policy: Neocolonialism on the web. It includes the following passage:
Colonel Trinidad Oliva was also the key CIA contact in the Guatemalan government, working under his half-brother, the defense minister. Trinidad Oliva coordinated all "foreign aid" coming through the CIA conduit ICA, the International Cooperation Administration, the forerunner of the Agency for International Development, AID.
Rosselli and Trinidad then helped the murderous old Gen. Miguel Ydígoras Fuentes, one of Úbico's assassins with close ties to mob partner Trujillo, to become head of state. Mario Sandoval Alarcón. "the father of Latin America's death squads," organized the right-wing of Castillo's party into the National Liberation Movement and hired himself out to Trinidad and Rosselli.
The same year that Johnny Rosselli helped the CIA engineer the change in the Guatemalan government, he was asked by his Syndicate associates to put together Giancana in Chicago, Costello in New York, Lansky in Miami, and Marcello in New Orleans for the huge $50 million Tropicana construction project in Las Vegas. According to Fred Black, a political fixer who was close to Rosselli, Bobby Baker and Lyndon Johnson, Rosselli's influence was such that he gave orders to the Dorfmans, who controlled the Teamsters' huge Central States Pension Fund. During the 50's and 60's, it was Johnny Rosselli who "set up protection" in Las Vegas.
The writer goes on to comment:
“This means, operationally, that Johnny Rosselli's interests became the CIA's interests. "Throughout Latin America," notes Frank McNeil, a junior political officer in the Guatemalan Embassy in 1960, "there were two American governments - one intelligence and one official." McNeil's boss, Ambassador John Muccio, learned of the Bay of Pigs invasion force being trained in Guatemala only after the story broke in The New York Times. As John Kennedy found out to his chagrin, Rosselli, his Syndicate and Batistiano allies, had more operational clout than the State Department.”
Have you read the interview with J. Leland Atwood of North American Aviation about Fred Black (24th June, 1989)?
On page 203 you point out that Fred Black was on trial for illegal activities concerning Howard Foundry Company. Was this in 1963? Do you have any more details? Was he found guilty? Did he face any other charges later?
Do you know when he died?
You will find links to the material I have found on the web at:
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John Simkin, aged 16, apprentice bookbinder in a printing company in Barking, Essex.
Erich Honecker ordered the blocking off East Berlin from West Berlin by means of barbed wire and antitank obstacles. Streets were torn up, and barricades of paving stones were erected. People living in East Berlin and the German Democratic Republic were no longer allowed to enter West Berlin. This included 60,000 people who had been working in the city.
The wall was 166 km long cut through 192 streets, 97 of them leading to East Berlin and 95 into East Germany. Over the next few months construction workers began replacing the provisional barriers by a solid wall. A new wall was built four years later. This consisted of concrete slabs between steel girder and concrete posts with a concrete sewage pipe on top of the Wall.
I was not very interested in politics in 1961 but I saw the coverage on the news. This included scenes of people being killed trying to cross the wall. The message I got from these pictures was that life must be pretty bad in East Berlin if people were willing to risk getting killed in order to get to West Berlin.
As far as images go, the building of the Berlin Wall was a terrible propaganda blow against communism. I suppose it had a similar impact on people who witnessed Soviet tanks going into Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968.
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I'll keep this thread on top untill I get fair answers on fair questions!
I'll make you a fair deal: Email the honorable professor right here:
http://edwardjayepstein.com/asked.htm
and tell him there is a guy from Holland on your forum calling him an outright xxxx and he should come over here to refute Wim Dankbaar's claims in order to protect his reputation, which in your eyes he obviously still has.
If he does not respond, you are going to remove his LIE from the biography of James Files. Is that fair or not?
As you already know I do not express my opinions about the various theories in the narrative on my various entries in my JFK assassination website. Unlike, many websites on the assassination, if I am informed that I have made a factual mistake, I will correct it. In the narrative on the entry on James Files I refer to the claims made by Edward Epstein and John R. Stockwell about Files’s story. You might well think that both men are lying, but until I see evidence that this true, I will continue to include their comments.
On my pages I try to show students that people disagree strongly about aspects of the JFK assassination. I do this by having a sources section. For example, on the Files page I include quotations from James Files, Edward Epstein, John R. Stockwell, Martin Shackelford, David B. Perry and yourself. Are you happy with your quotation? Do you want to change it?
I have invited Edward Epstein several times to join this forum. He has not replied to these emails so far. However, he is not alone in refusing to join this forum. Other researchers have also declined the right to join the forum. Some have given me reasons for this decision. In a couple of cases they have claimed that the main reason they have not joined is because of you. They dislike they way you make abusive comments about the people you disagree with.
I am not sure why you do this but I cannot see how it helps your case. My experience of life is that people only resort to these tactics when they run out of intellectual arguments. Anyway, people are unlikely to be bullied into changing their mind about who they believe were involved in the conspiracy.
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My most scarey moment in Moscow was at Lenin's mausoleum where I was frisked at gunpoint for ambling in with my hands in my pockets - not showing enough respect!
I had a very similar experience. It was a cold day and I had my hands in my overcoat pockets. This is apparently unacceptable while waiting to see Lenin. Two very tall soldiers told me that it was a sign of disrespect. To me it was just another example of an authoritarian state trying to make everybody behave in a set manner (in fact it took me back to my schooldays when I was told to take my hands out of my pockets while I was waiting to enter my prefabricated classroom).
A very old Russian woman (dressed like a peasant) in front of me actually began crying once we got inside and saw Lenin’s body. I read in the paper before hand that one of Lenin’s ears kept falling off. However, they were both in place when I got to the body.
Like you I was shocked by the corruption in the Soviet Union. Waiters in our hotel frequently offered to sell as stolen goods such as jars of caviar. Guests were buying these goods as well. They then complained later on in the week when the hotel appeared to be running out of food.
Walking along the streets of Moscow was slow going as you were constantly being stopped and asked if you wanted to change money. What struck me about this was that people did not seem to be scared of the authorities (this was in stark contrast to China where people seemed to be petrified of the police). I suppose it was just a sign that law and order was breaking down.
You make an interesting point about mistaking “Russian nationalism for a commitment to communism”. I am sure this was a common mistake. Yet, should we be surprised by this. Is British nationalism seen as an endorsement of capitalism?
The most powerful experience I have had of nationalism took place in Hungary. I was In Budapest on their “National Day”. There was a procession around the streets of the city. Every conceivable organization one could imagine was represented in the march. There was about 50 people for each organization and many of them carried flags and banners that I assumed had links with the group they were representing. As they marched they sung a series of patriotic songs. I did not understand the words but fully comprehended the emotions that were being expressed. It was one of the most moving experiences of my life. It created a tremendous feeling of unity. There is a saying in Britain that people from the same organization “rarely sing from the same hymn sheet”. Here was an example of people from a wide variety of different organizations singing the same songs. I came away feeling that these people had something very special going for them.
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One of the most controversial battles that took place during the Vietnam War was the one fought for 'Hamburger Hill'. For ten days 600 men attempted to take this hill from the NLF. By the time they had obtained their objective, 476 of the US troops had been killed or wounded. After holding the hill for a day, Lieutenant-Colonel Weldon Honeycutt, the commander responsible for the operation, ordered the men to withdraw.
US soldiers were so angry about these unnecessary deaths that money was raised to pay for the assassination of Honeycutt. Shortly after the assault on 'Hamburger Hill', the soldiers' underground newspaper in Vietnam offered a $10,000 bounty on Honeycutt. Despite several attempts on his life, Honeycutt survived.
It has been admitted that between 1969 and 1971 there were 730 attempts by US soldiers to kill unpopular officers, of which 83 were successful. However, these figures only take into account the cases that were reported and investigated. It has been estimated that the actual figures were very much higher than this.
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It would seem that extremist parties (left and right) will do well in the European Elections.
One poll suggests that the anti-European UK Independence Party will win 18% of the vote. The BNP will also do well in run-down industrial areas that in the past have voted for the Labour Party. Respect and the Greens could do well in university towns.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,...1229424,00.html
I currently can’t make up my mind whether to vote for the Liberal Democrats, Green or Respect.
European members might be interested in this article by Polly Toynbee on the elections in the UK.
What is likely to happen in your country?
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This looks an interesting project. You say:
We are looking for possible collaboration with technically minded and up to date schools, college, universities companies or individuals.
The site could either be a commercial venture or offered free as a learning tool to all. This would require backing.
It seems you have yet to develop an economic model for your venture. This has been a problem for all those teachers who have created websites (mine started in September, 1997). I have managed to make it pay but that is mainly because I started so early. I think you will have difficulty starting in 2004. The problem is that most of what you appear to be offering is available for free on the web. It is difficult to persuade people to pay for these services.
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Interesting article in today’s Guardian by David Clark (former Labour government adviser) about the state of democracy in Britain and the rest of the world.
Clark points out that only 59% of the electorate voted at the last British General Election. Only the United States has a poorer voting record (49.3% at the last presidential election). The fact that both use a first-past the post system is obviously the main reason for this. However, as Clark points out, in the past the British electorate voted in much higher numbers.
Clark suggests that there is another reason for this situation. He quotes surveys to show that the British public distrust its politicians more than any other European country. This trust has declined even further over the last year. The latest Eurobarometer survey shows the British government’s trust rating has slumed to –44% (it was –27% at the last election). Apparently, only the people living in the former East Germany trust their government less.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,...1230138,00.html
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I remember just before the Iraq War started reading an interview with Rupert Murdoch in the Guardian. He argued the main reason for the war was that it would result in lower oil prices. This was based on the idea that the USA would gain control of Iraq’s oil fields and would be in a position to increase production. Murdoch added this was stimulate the economy and one result would be a dramatic increase in share prices. At the time it was suspected that this was the real reason for the invasion. This was especially important to Bush as he did the economy to perform better if he was to be re-elected.
The first few weeks of the war appeared to be proving Murdoch/Bush right. Oil prices did fall and share prices shot up. However, since George Bush declared the end of the Iraq War oil prices have gone up by 50%. The reason for this is that the invasion has destabilized other Middle Eastern countries such as Saudia Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer. The real threat is that countries like Saudia Arabia (the main supplier of terrorists in the 9/11 attack) will experience a fundamentalist revolution. Experts have forecast that the result of this will be oil prices to reach $80 a barrel and a long and damaging recession.
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It might interest you to know the top 15 obstacles to teaching (ranked in order of importance).
1. Poor pupil behaviour.
2. Lack of time for discussion and reflection.
3. Large class sizes.
4. Too many national initiatives.
5. Overloaded curriculum content in own subject.
6. Pressure to meet assessments targets.
7. Poor resources, materials and equipment.
8. Inclusion.
9. Lack of parental support.
10. Inadequate pay.
11. Preparation for appraisal/inspection.
12. Poorly maintained buildings.
13. Prescribed methods of teaching.
14. Limited professional opportunities.
15. Insufficient pastoral support.
My own choice would be:
1. Overloaded curriculum content in own subject.
2. Lack of time for discussion and reflection.
3. Inclusion.
4. Large class sizes.
However, I think that some pressures are more subconscious than conscious and I suspect the following have the main impact on teachers.
1. Prescribed methods of teaching.
2. Pressure to meet assessments targets.
3. Too many national initiatives.
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I have started three possible Virtual School Projects on the forum. If they are successful I will then transfer the best contributions to the VS website.
International National Curriculum for History
http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=822
An attempt to develop an International National Curriculum for History. I thought might create a good debate on what we teach and how we teach it.
The Olympic Games Oral Project
http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=830
The plan is to start threads where people can post their recollections of previous Olympic Games.
The second part of this project will involve people posting their impressions of the 2004 Olympic Games. This would make a good project for students with a desire to become a sports journalist.
Cold War Project
http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/index.php?showforum=140
The plan is to start threads where people can provide first-hand accounts on important Cold War events (experiences and opinions). This will include people’s accounts of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, 1956 Hungarian Uprising, 1968 Prague Spring, the building and pulling down of the Berlin Wall, the reunification of Germany, the Fall of Communism, Communism in the Soviet Union, Communism in China, etc. It is hoped that people will post their recollections from all over the world. This is something that students could get involved in by interviewing parents or grandparents about these events. This material could then be used as a teaching resource. For example, I plan to create some teaching activities based on the material that is produced.
I have so far managed to get two Vietnam Vets and a Red Army officer to contribute. I am in the process of begging other people to get involved.
I know everyone is busy but would be grateful if you could find time over the next few weeks to make contributions. I think it is a good way of persuading people to contribute to our new website. As I said earlier, the best ones (with permission) will be transferred to the VS website.
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I have seen this from several sides, as a creative and fulfilled primary teacher for 30 years, a firm believer in drawing out a child's strengths and talents, being flexible and giving children truly memorable learning experiences, as a teacher now in special education, partly and also a tutor in a college. The constraints of the tightened curriculum and standardised tests began to make that impossibly difficult even for the most rebellious among us. Does David M. want us to go full circle and resume where we left off? Would we be trusted?That makes me very sad because so many resources have been wasted along the way, human ones too.
Great posting Belle. You highlight the dilemma of child-centred teachers in the UK. I have seen many of them take early retirement rather than compromise their educational ideology. They taught with a passion that did not fit into any set formula. If fact, it was because they had such a unique style that they were such good teachers.
I was not against the introduction of a National Curriculum (as long as it was not too prescriptive) but was always opposed to the idea of creating a national blueprint of how to teach. This has been disastrous and as well as forcing so many creative teachers out of the profession, but is also influencing the type of people entering the profession.
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In the case of Dresden, it is pretty clear that the fire-bombing had no noticeable effect on our war aims.
Strategic bombing in Vietnam did not have the effect people like McNamara thought it would. What about aerial bombing in the Gulf War? Did that make the subsequent land battle less costly? Probably....
The bottom line is that war IS a crime and when you get into it, you WILL use criminal methods to attain what you believe to be your aims. Like most other crimes, the fact that it is a crime doesn't mean we'll stop doing it.
During the Second World War there were very few people in the UK who were opposed to the bombing of Germany. Those that did were mainly pacifists. The most notable of these was Vera Brittain. From September 1939 she published Letters to Peace Lovers, a small journal that expressed her views on the war.
There were two other public figures who regularly criticised the government for its strategy of area bombing (also known as saturation or terror bombing). Richard Stokes, MP for Ipswich, was a Christian Socialist who considered it immoral to bomb civilian areas during the war and constantly raised this issue in the House of Commons.
The third figure was George Bell, Bishop of Chichester. His case raises important issues about modern warfare. He was one of the first people in the UK to criticise the government of Adolf Hitler (he was told off for interfering in politics at the time). Although in favour of the war, he thought it was only morally acceptable if you adhered to certain rules.
Bell got into trouble as early as 1939 for criticising the internment of enemy aliens (something that resulted in a large number of anti-fascist refugees from Germany and Italy being imprisoned).
Bell also criticised Winston Churchill and Arthur Harris for the policy of area bombing. On 10th May 1941, Bell made a speech where he described the "night-bombing of non-combatants as a degradation of the spirit for all who take part in it".
Bishop Bell called for negotiations to take place between Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler to bring an end to the policy of bombing civilian areas. This idea was dismissed by Cosmo Lang, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who claimed that such an offer would suggest to Hitler that the Blitz on Britain was being successful.
During the war Bell also complained about the British economic blockade of Europe. He established the Famine Relief Committee and attempted to raise money in order to send dried milk and vitamins to mothers, children and invalids in countries such as Belgium and Greece. However, the government took measures that made sure very little relief was actually sent to the people of Europe.
In 1941 Cosmo Lang decided to retire as Archbishop of Canterbury. For many years Bell had been seen as the likely successor but as Bishop Henson pointed out, Bell's prospects had worsened "as his sympathies with Jews and Germans have been more openly declared". William Temple was appointed to the post and when he died in 1944 Bell again failed to get the post.
I share Bell’s view of war and believe that governments should do everything possible to keep civilian casualties as low as possible.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Jbrittain.htm
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William Manchester died earlier this week. Most of the obituaries mention the disputes over the publication of Manchester’s Death of a President.
In 1964 Jacqueline Kennedy commissioned Manchester to write an account of the assassination of JFK. However, she was unhappy with the manuscript and managed to get Manchester to make several changes. The story goes that Jacqueline was particularly upset by Manchester's portrayal of Lyndon B. Johnson. One change she insisted on concerned the opening of the book where Johnson is seen bullying JFK into going on a deer hunt. Despite the author's willingness to tone down his criticisms of Johnson (including the changing of the opening scene) she was still not happy with the final version on the book. Jacqueline tried to stop the book being published and even offered Look Magazine $1m to kill its serialization (the magazine had paid $665,000 for the right to serialize the book).
This is indeed a strange story. Manchester made few comments about the matter but in interviews he did back up the Kennedy family view that he had been killed by a lone gunman.
Maybe, Manchester gave us a clue to what really happened with his next book (a book that he claims the authorities tried to stop him writing) was The Arms of Krupp (1968). The book was a look at the two German arms manufacturers, Gustav Krupp and Alfried Krupp. The book explored the Krupp family's links to Adolf Hitler and his government. Although Krupp, was convicted of war crimes at the Nuremburg trials he was released in 1951 by the Americans because he was considered essential to the Cold War effort.
What was the connection between this and the assassination of JFK? Well, the man who ordered Krupp’s release was John J. McCloy, the high commissioner in American occupied Germany. Yes, the same man who sat on the Warren Commission. McCloy was also an arms advisor to JFK and was largely responsible for the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in 1963.
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I have added the word “speculated”. I am unwilling to remove my reference to Edward Jay Epstein's research into Files. Here is an email sent by Epstein to Barb Junkkarinen on 24th April, 2001.
In brief, NBC retained me as a consultant for their planned story on Files. I hired the detective firm of Jules Kroll. JK established from telephone records Files was in Chicago, not Dallas, on November 22,1963. We then placed a call to Files from Dick Clark's office (DC was producer), and I interviewed Files about Kroll findings. He said he had a twin brother, who no one knew about, and whom he met shortly before November 22, and who he murdered after November 22. He said it was his twin brother in hospital with his wife, not him. His wife, however, said there was no twin, and Kroll confirmed there was no twin. My view then and now is that Files invented the story for the money it would earn him.
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George Galloway is the leader of the new Respect Party and is standing in London in the European elections. In today’s Guardian he argues that people should use their votes to punish those political parties that supported the Iraq War.
But where are the tumbrels for those who actually voted for war, dispatching other people's sons and daughters to kill and be killed on a hoax? No minister on either side of the Atlantic has lost their job over the war or the subsequent shameful conduct of the occupation. Not a single British parliamentarian who voted for it has said, like Aaronovitch, "Mea culpa, if that's what you want".
This is why next week's elections are so important. If our politicians are so unrepentant we must punish them. Not just because people should be punished for mendacity, incompetence, or crimes and blunders as big as this, but because if they are not they or future generations of leaders may do the same again.
Condign punishment for Blair will ensure that neither Brown nor any other New Labour leader will venture down this path in future.
Three questions:
(1) Is George Galloway right to argue that people should use their vote over one issue?
(2) Is the Iraq War having an influence in the way people are voting in other European countries.
(3) What are the main issues in the European election in your country?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,...1229422,00.html
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Research conducted for the National Association of Head Teachers by Durham University's Curriculum, Evaluation and Management Centre has found that the new value-added league tables introduced by the Department for Education and Skills last year, are very misleading and contain "fatal flaws". This report claims that the information is skewed by school size, pupil turnover and children's social-economic background. As a result of this research the NAHT general secretary, David Hart, has urged the government not to publish value-added results for tests taken by pupils this term.
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With many grateful thanks for any help you can give to the project.
Joel Josephson – Founder and Executive Director
Web : http://www.kindersite.org
Email : joel_Josephson@kindersite.org
Where Children Play and Teachers Learn
Your website has been included in today’s Education on the Internet. The newsletter currently has over 51,840 subscribers.
You can find it at:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/internet123.htm
It has also been listed in our web directory.
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Last week a group of academics from Cambridge University, led by professors Maurice Galton and John MacBeath, published a report based on the study on questionnaire responses from 233 teachers in 65 schools. The report says that bad behaviour was the worst obstacle to teaching, followed by a lack of discussion time and large class sizes. The sharp decline in behaviour during the past 15 years was blamed on the "overloaded" curriculum, parental attitudes, large class sizes, inclusion strategies and the lack of time teachers had to talk to pupils and to each other. The report says that teachers work between 45 and 70 hours per week. Outside lessons and "directed time" they spent an average 22.1 hours on other work-related activities such as preparing materials and displays (6.1 hours) and marking (5.3 hours).
The report adds that the Department for Education and Skills would be better off if it spent the millions of pounds used to help schools meet test targets for 2006 on investigating ways to improve pupil behaviour.
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I see that the work that we did in Gothenburg has still not been uploaded. Has anyone got any news of this?
We were originally told this website would go live in May. It is now June. What is the new date for it going live?
Ronald Reagan and the Cold War
in Cold War
Posted
Following the death of Ronald Reagan last night I thought it might be a good idea to discuss the role he played in the Cold War. After all, some political commentators have said that he was the man responsible for “winning” the Cold War.
There is no doubt that as president he took a firm stance against communism and went as far as to describe the Soviet Union as the "evil empire". Although he avoided direct conflict with the Soviet Union and China, he did send paratroopers against the Communist regime of Grenada in 1983. Reagan was also unwilling to criticize anti-Communist government and refused to support economic sanctions against the undemocratic government in South Africa.
Reagan argued that the United States needed to increase its military spending in order to prevent Soviet expansion. Although there was a federal deficit of over $100 billion by 1981, Reagan managed to persuade Congress to pass a plan for a three-year reduction in income tax rates. This was followed by cuts in domestic spending. During the 1980s Reagan's policy of reducing income taxes and federal domestic budgets became known as Reaganomics. By the time Reagan left office he had tripled the national debt to $3 trillion.
Reagan had considerable problems trying to balance the budget during his second term in office. This was partly caused by expensive military programs such as the MX missile and the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars). In 1985 he supported the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act that enabled large annual budget cuts to be made but it had little impact before being declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1986.
In late 1986 Reagan became embroiled in in what became known as the Irangate Scandal. It was discovered that the Reagan administration had been selling arms to the Islamic fundamentalist government in Iran in order to gain the release of American hostages in the Lebanon. The profits of the deal were then used to supply the ant-Marxist Contra guerrillas fighting in Nicaragua.
The scandal was damaging to Reagan because he had told the American public he would never "yield to terrorist blackmail". As a result of the scandal, the White House chief of staff, Donald Regan and his National Security Adviser, John Poindexter, were forced to resign. Reagan survived but the case damaged his image and gave the impression that he was not in full-control of his administration.
In 1987 Mikhail Gorbachev met with Reagan and signed the Immediate Nuclear Forces (INF) abolition treaty. He also made it clear he would no longer interfere in the domestic policies of other countries in Eastern Europe and in 1989 announced the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan.
Aware that Gorbachev would not send in Soviet tanks there were demonstrations against communist governments throughout Eastern Europe. Over the next few months the communists were ousted from power in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and East Germany.
All these events took place while Reagan was president and has therefore got the credit for the fall of communism in Eastern Europe (he was far less successful in destroying it in China and Cuba).
However, it seems to me that it was Gorbachev rather than Reagan who brought an end to the Cold War. This is why the fall of communism only took place in Eastern Europe rather than in other parts of the world.