W. Niederhut

Kirk, Aspen and the Maroon Bells are only 40 miles (as the crow flies) from my family's old cabin in the former ghost town of Tincup, Colorado, but separated by an almost impassable wagon road (Taylor Pass) and HUGE differences in socio-economic status-- middle class families (Tincup) and billionaires (Aspen.) The last time I camped out for a few nights in the remote wilderness of the upper Taylor River valley with my daughters a few years ago, we heard Lear jets flying into the Aspen airport, non-stop, all night on Friday, and flying out on Sunday. The temperatures up there were dropping down to the low 40s in the evenings, with daytime highs ranging from 60 to 70 last week.

It was refreshing to get away from the smog and 90-100 degree F heat of the city, and equally refreshing to get away from the grim daily COVID news in Trumptopia. My only complaint is that the area where our old family cabin is located has been overrun in recent years by people driving dirt bikes, ATVs, and weird-looking RZR vehicles* that remind me of that post-Apocalyptic Mel Gibson movie The Road Warrior. (The main difference is that the RZR drivers don't have Mohawk haircuts and shoulder pads.) 🤥 *

Ron, I just returned to Denver from a two week fly fishing trip to Tincup. No internet or television-- a refreshing break from the daily Trump and COVID news. At 10,000 feet altitude it was nice and cool-- even had to build a fire in the evenings to warm up the cabin. Befriended a guy from Weatherford, Texas who owns a cabin near my family's old place, and we had a lot of fun playing guitars and drinking beer. (He drove from Weatherford to Tincup non-stop in 13 hours.) The newly paved Cottonwood Pass is now a breeze to drive -- similar to Independence Pass.

So, it sounds like possible explanations for Col. Corso's book boil down to; 1) He was telling the truth-- i.e., recovered UFO technology was actually shared with U.S. corporations. 2) He was falsely claiming that some sort of Nazi technology came from UFOs-- i.e., covering up Operation Paper Clip. 3) He was a huckster trying to sell books. 4) He was nuts.

Indeed. Who can forget Paul Ryan, John Boehner, and the Koch's Tea Party House turning down Obama's "Mother of All No Brainers" debt ceiling deal in July of 2011? Now these guys are pouring trillions into Wall Street to keep asset bubbles inflated for Trump's 2020 re-election. A related issue is that Trump's Treasurer and Fed are printing and borrowing money hand over fist, deflating the value of the dollar, (and bonds) and rendering over-priced stocks more attractive, in comparison to cash and bonds.

As I've been saying for the past few months, stock prices in 2020, generally, have been completely disconnected from economic fundamentals-- GDP growth rates, earnings, etc. Even in 2019, (and 2018) during the so-called "booming Trump economy," GDP growth rates in the U.S. were nothing to write home about-- only 2.1% in the 4th quarter of 2019, with record high market capitalization! The situation is so bizarre that, at times, I've doubted my own sanity-- although it's reassuring to know that the greatest stock picker on the planet, Warren Buffet, has also been sitting on the sidelines in 2020, waiting for this absurdly inflated Trump Stock Bubble to finally burst. The last time I checked, the "Buffet Index"-- market capitalization divided by GDP-- was at an all-time high. Historically, this may be somewhat similar to what happened on Wall Street after the Great Crash in October of 1929. After the Crash, the markets experienced some brief surges before completely bottoming out in the early 1930s. Like every bally hoo-ed "success" in Trump's career, his "booming economy" is largely an illusion-- and that was true even before the COVID disaster of 2020, IMO.

Sting mentioned Kirk's TAMI Show in one of my all-time favorite work out songs by the Police-- from the Zenyatta Mondatta album-- "When the World Is Running Down, (You Make the Best of What's Still Around.")

One of the best lines I read about Trump and COVID was from an alleged inside source in the Trump White House a few weeks ago. The "insider" (possibly Hawaiian?) said that trying to talk to Trump about the COVID science data was like, "carrying fruits to the volcano." Instead of listening, he would erupt.

If this information about JFK, Galbraith, and Vietnam can't go mainstream in the U.S. media, nothing should. Move over, Ken Burns. I liked the line in the NYT interview where Stone wonders why he has to do the investigative reporting on JFK and Vietnam, instead of the "investigative reporters" in the M$M.

Thanks for the references. Any thoughts about why Corso wrote the book, in the first place? (I still haven't read my copy of that book.) For example, was it part of a broader MIC psy op regarding claims about "UFO" technology?

Ugh...not one of your better one-liners, Ron... 🤥 On the flip side, the food fight between Kirk and Jeff here is cracking me up.

I really admire Oliver Stone as a script writer and feature film maker, but I admire him even more for his incisive political/educational documentaries during the later years of his career, including the Untold History. I think I've now watched every film Oliver Stone ever made, including (finally) the Showtime Putin interviews. As for the Putin interviews, my impression is that Oliver Stone was a bit exasperated (or, at least, incredulous) about Vlad's prevarications in the final interview, after reports had surfaced about GRU meddling in the 2016 elections. I also thought that Putin seemed far less forthright and credible in that final interview, when he repeatedly denied to Stone (with sideways glances and a faint, sly smile) that Russia had conspired to put Trump in the White House. Far from looking like a "useful idiot," Stone looked visibly disappointed with Vlad for pulling his leg. Just my impression.

Ron, I vaguely recall reading years ago about a psychiatrist from Cambridge Hospital, (affiliated with Harvard Medical School) named (?) John Mack, who had studied alien abductions, and believed they were real. It surprised me, because one of my faculty advisors in med school worked at Cambridge Hospital, and it was a reputable, prestigious place. That said, I never went down the UFO/alien abduction rabbit hole. Thanks to you, Larry Hancock and Douglas Caddy for the feedback.

My question. What are the 27% smoking? In related news, the National Academy of Sciences just published a study showing that non-compliance with COVID public health measures like social distancing is strongly correlated with stupidity... 🤥

After studying the lengthy "Unacknowledged" thread on the forum this weekend, (and watching that Netflix documentary) I have a question for the forum. What are the best books (articles, etc) about Roswell and the UFO data? I realize that the topic is not about the JFK assassination, per se, (unless, of course, E. Howard Hunt was telling Mr. Caddy the truth about JFK and the "alien presence"!) but I'm asking because I had stumbled around in the dark for a few years reading the JFKA literature before I gradually learned to distinguish the good stuff from the ubiquitous disinformation. As an example, when I retired two years ago, a former patient of mine gave me a copy of the 1997 book, The Day After Roswell, by Col. Phillip J. Corso. I haven't read it yet, mainly because I wasn't interested in going down the UFO rabbit hole. (Also, Corso was a military-industrial complex insider.) But, after watching, Unacknowledged, I'm curious.

Let me guess... Do Wilbur Ross, Steve Mnuchun, Erik Prince, and Betsy DeVos want to buy Puerto Rico and build a Soylent Green factory on the island? 🤥

I've probably been watching too many movies but, surely, Ghislaine Maxwell must have some sort of back up plan with files -- one of those schemes where she tells Bill Barr and Associates, "Look, fellas, if anything happens to me, I'm taking Donald and a lot of other very important people down with me."

Trump may accomplish the impossible-- for the first time in the 35 years that my wife and I have been together, my mother-in-law and I may be voting for the same presidential candidate... 🤪

I just found out today that my staunchly Republican in-laws in Texas will not be voting for Donald Trump in November. It sounds like the last straw for them was the recent Never-Masker Trump rally in Tulsa.

Pamela, From the standpoint of Newtonian physics, a central issue is the near free fall collapse of the 100+ steel floors of WTC1 and WTC2. The observed free fall acceleration is evidence no significant resistance to collapse by the entire steel exo- and endo-skeletons of those massive towers. Something synchronously demolished the massive lower steel sub-structures. Jet fuel (or office fires) on some upper floors could not possibly have done that. Finally, there is ample evidence of explosive demolition -- on film, audio, and the suppressed testimony of scores of witnesses.

Wow! What a truly fascinating Education Forum thread about a subject (UFOs and the U.S. military-industrial complex) that I have always ignored! As is often the case, I have arrived here after the party is over, after the lively banter and bitter squabbles have subsided, and after everyone has moved on to the next million dollar Mysteries of Modern History bash. I finally watched the Steven Greer documentary, Unacknowledged, last night. For me, Werner von Braun's prediction about the military-industrial complex using UFO type aircraft to stage a False Flag attack was the most interesting comment in the film. I don't have an informed opinion about the UFO phenomena, but, for a False Flag attack of this kind, it makes no difference whether the aircraft are of extra-terrestrial or Nazi origin, does it? (BTW, kudos to Mr. Montenegro and Larry Hancock for the references.)

An epidemiologist, an ICU doc, and a scientist walk into a bar. Just kidding. They know better... 🤥

What doesn't fit with the "restaurant" narrative is that Cohen was shackled and taken back to jail only after a meeting in which he refused to sign the gag agreement.

I'm still incredulous about Trump's recent Never-Masker rallies in Tulsa and Phoenix. In a shout out to Jim DiEugenio's least favorite Hollywood actor, Tom "Parkland" Hanks, I must admit that I did appreciate Hanks' comments this week (on NPR) about masks and the COVID crisis. Hanks, diplomatically, said that he was "mystified" as to why some Americans were not cooperating with basic public health measures like wearing masks and social distancing. IMO, the solution to the "mystery" is orange. https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/07/entertainment/tom-hanks-covid-19-interview-trnd/index.html

Here's Friedman's account. The sequence of events sounds sort of Banana Republican to me. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/07/michael-cohen-prison-gag-agreement-book-confinement/