47th Anniversary of JFK Assassination: Who Eliminated JFK?

(November 22, 2010 marks the 47th anniversary of the assassination of U.S. President Kennedy in Dallas Texas. The following item first appeared in the July 22, 1992 issue of the now-defunct Lower East Side alternative weekly newspaper, Downtown).

On October 13, 1964 the ex-wife of former CIA Covert Action Head Cord Meyer--Mary Pinchot-Meyer--"was shot twice, once in the head and once in the chest, with no apparent motive" and she and President Kennedy had been "involved at the time of the president's assassination," according to The Encyclopedia of American Scandal by George Kohn.

Coincidentally, in his book The Senator Must Die, former CIA contract agent Robert Morrow stated that shortly before Mary Pinchot-Meyer was eliminated, he met with a former Deputy Comptroller of the U.S. Treasury, Marshall Diggs, at Paul Young's Restaurant in Washington, D.C. According to Morrow, Diggs told him that Mary Pinchot-Meyer "claimed to my friend that she positively knew that company-affiliated Cuban exiles and the Mafia were responsible for killing John Kennedy." After speakingg with Diggs, Morrow "drove to New York and met with [then-Cuban Exile Leader] Kohly" and "after I told him the story of Mary Meyer, he looked very concerned."

According to Morrow, Kohly then said "just tell Diggs I'll take care of the matter" and "Then he told me to stay away from him and not tell anyone I had seen him or where he could be found." Coincidentally, a week after Morrow's meeting with Kohly in New York, Mary Pinchot-Meyer was eliminated.

Also, coincidentally, in his 1980 book, Conspiracy, Anthony Summers wrote:

"In 1978 I interviewed the son of the late Mario Kohly...The younger Kohly recalled opening a bottle of champagne at the news of President Kennedy's death and then calling his father. According to Kohly, `My father seemed elated and quite relievedl; he seemed more pleased, I would say, than surprised. I am sure he had knowledge of what really happened in Dealey Plaza. But, if you recall, everyone that has had knowledge ended up dead."

The same book also observed that Kohly's son quoted the deceased Cuban Exile Leader as saying "John Kennedy was a traitor...He was a Communist."

Former CIA contract agent Robert Morrow's book about RFK's elimination, The Senator Must Die, also stated the following:

"Bobby Kennedy suspected that a conspiracy involving CIA/Mafia-related people killed his brother.

"...On Aug. 19, 1977, I would seemingly have some confirmation of the Company's involvement in the President's assassination. I received a mysterious phone call to meet with the son of a former high-ranking member of the intelligence community.

"We met the following day for lunch. In our initial conversation, the young man claimed his father, an ex-Air Force colonel and others working for the Central Intelligence Agency had prior knowledge that President Kennedy was going to be assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963.

"He also claimed that through his father, he learned that the CIA hierarchy had done everything in their power to thwart the Warren Commission investigation, including the suppression and destruction of evidence--evidence that could prove that a conspiracy existed.

"The intelligence officer's son...asserted that his father had been tied into organized crime and had been a bagman for at least one of the payoffs relating to the presidential assassination, transporting a large sum of money to Haiti for payoff purposes during the Summer of 1963...

Former CIA contract agent Morrow also included in his book an affidavit signed by former Reagan White House staff member Diane (Didi) Hess in Sept. 1977 in which Hess stated that she submitted to a taped interview with Morrow on Sept. 27, 1977 in order "to describe the circumstances surrounding the admissions" of a former Air Force Colonel to her "of his personal participation in the assassination conspiracy of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963" and "to state the desire" of this Air Force intelligence officer "to convey this information directly to the prooper authorities upon being granted immunity from prosecution."

According to Morrow, Hess "had lived with the intelligence officer's son over an extended period of time" and "she also told her story to the House Select Committee On Assassinations (HSCA)" during the late 1970s.

(Downtown 7/22/92)

George Bernard Shaw: On Using Writing & Poetry To Change Society

In 1895, the socialist writer and dramatist George Bernard Shaw indicated why great writers and great poets often attempt to use their writing as a tool for creating a new society:

"...If people are rotting and starving in all directions, and nobody else has the heart or brains to make a disturbance about it, the great writers must. In short, what is forcing our poets to follow Shelley in becoming political and social agitators, and to turn the theatre into a platform for propaganda and arena for discussion, is that whilst social questions are being thrown up for solution almost daily by the fierce rapidity with which industrial processes change and supersede one another through the rivalry of the competitors who take no account of ulterior social consequences, and by the change in public feeling produced by popular `education' cheap literature, facilitated travelling, and so forth, the political machinery by which alone our institutions can be kept abreast of these changes is so old-fashioned, and so hindered in its action by the ignorance, the apathy, the stupidity, and the class feuds of the electorate, that social questions never get solved until the pressure becomes so desperate that even governments recognize the necessity for moving. And to bring the pressure to this point, the poets must lend a hand to the few who are willing to do public work in the stages at which nothing but abuse is to be gained by it..."

NYU Law School Prof Who Sentenced Lynne Stewart: His U.S. Attorney's Office/Columbia/Debevoise & Plimpton Connection

In July 2010, an NYU Law School adjunct professor named John Koeltl unconstitutionally sentenced U.S. civil rights attorney Lynne Stewart to 10 years in prison in the Southern District federal courtroom where Koeltl also is employed as a federal judge. Coincidentally, an Assistant U.S. Attorney since June 2000 in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District that prosecuted Lynne Stewart--a Columbia University Law School lecturer-in-law named Jonathan Kolodner--apparently worked for Judge Koeltl as his law clerk between August 1997 and August 1998.

Prior to being appointed to the federal judicial bench by U.S. Secretary of State Clinton's husband in 1994 (on the recommendation of a now-deceased former AIPAC-backed U.S. Senator named Daniel "Pat" Moynihan), NYU Law School Professor Koeltl worked for years as a corporate lawyer at the Debevoise & Plimpton corporate law firm in Manhattan. While working at Debevoise & Plimpton, Judge Koeltl apparently wrote, for example, legal briefs for Mobil Oil in the Raymond vs. Mobil Oil case, after Mobil Oil was sued for its alleged age discrimination policies. In addition, while working at Debevoise & Plimpton, Judge Koeltl also apparently attended a June 18, 1987 board of directors meeting of The Council for Tobacco Research--along with the top executives of tobacco companies like American Tobacco and Phillip Morris who sat on this apparently then-tobacco industry-dominated board.

Coincidentally, a member of Debovise & Plimpton's Litigation Department (whose aviation industry practice apparently handles litigation arising out of the September 11, 2001 collapse of the World Trade Center buildings)--a Debevoise & Plimpton Counsel named Suzanne Grosso--also used to work as a law clerk in the late 1990s for the judge who sentenced Lynne stewart to 10 years in prison.

Black Female Worker Jobless Rate: 12.7 Percent Under Obama

Between September and October 2010, the official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Black female workers over 20 years-of-age in the United States increased from 12.6 to 12.7 percent under the Democratic Obama Administration; while the unemployment rate for Black male workers over 20-years-of-age was still 16.3 percent, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The official unemployment rate for all Black workers over 16 years-of-age was still 15.7 percent in October 2010; while the jobless rate for Black youths between 16 and 19-years-of-age was still 48 percent in October 2010. Between September and October 2010, the number of officially unemployed Black female workers over 20-years-of-age increased from 1,143,000 to 1,168,000; while the number of jobless Black youths between 16 and 19-years-of-age increased from 298,000 to 334,000.

Between September and October 2010, the official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Latino or Hispanic workers in the United States also increased from 12.4 to 12.6 percent; while the official “not seasonally adjusted” rate for Latina or Hispanic female workers over 20-years-of-age increased from 11.1 to 11.7 percent between September and October 2010. The “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Latino or Hispanic youths between 16 and 19-years-of-age also increased from 31 to 31.6 percent between September and October 2010; while the “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for white youths increased from 23.4 to 23.6 percent during this same period. Between September and October 2010, the number of Latino or Hispanic workers with jobs in the United States decreased from 20,070,000 to 19,939,000, according to the “seasonally adjusted” data; while the number of officially unemployed Latino or Hispanic workers increased from 2,840,000 to 2,865,000.

The total number of officially unemployed workers in the United States increased from 14,767,000 to 14,843,000 between September and October 2010; while the “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for all U.S. male workers over 16-years-of- age was still 10.4 percent in October 2010. The official jobless rate for white male workers over 20-years-of-age in the United States was still 8.9 percent in October 2010, while the unemployment rate for white female workers over 20-years-of-age increased from 7.2 to 7.3 percent between September and October 2010. The official “seasonally adjusted” number of unemployed white female workers in the United States increased from 3,949,000 to 4,010,000 between September and October 2010; while the number of white male workers over-20-years-of-age with jobs dropped from 59,755,000 to 59,431,000 during this same period.

Between September and October 2010, the official jobless rate for all white workers over 16-years-of-age increased from 8.7 to 8.8 percent; while the unemployment rate for all U.S. workers remained at 9.6 percent. The total number of white workers with jobs decreased from 114,500,000 to 113,974,000 between September and October 2010; while the total number of unemployed white workers in the United States increased from 10,904,000 to 10,933,000 during this same period.

The official jobless rate for all Asian-American workers also increased from 6.4 to 7.1 percent between September and October 2010, according to the "not seasonally adjustated" data; while the total number of unemployed Asian-American workers increased from 463,000 to 519,000 under the Democratic Obama Administration during this same period.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ November 5, 2010 press release:

“…The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was about unchanged over the month at 6.2 million. In October, 41.8 percent of unemployed persons had been jobless for 27 weeks or more…

“Both the civilian labor force participation rate, at 64.5 percent, and the employment-population ratio, at 58.3 percent, edged down over the month…

“About 2.6 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in October, up from 2.4 million a year earlier…These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey…

“Among the marginally attached, there were 1.2 million discouraged workers in October, an increase of 411,000 from a year earlier…Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them….

“Employment in manufacturing changed little in October (-7,000)…

“…Employment in construction, wholesale trade, transportation, information, and financial activities showed little change in October…

“…Employment in local government, excluding education, decreased by 14,000 over the month…The number of temporary decennial census workers fell by 5,000 in October…”

ZNet Editor Michael Albert: `Money Matters On The Left'

In his autobiography, Remembering Tomorrow, ZNet Editor Michael Albert indicated how foundation money and ultra-rich donors apparently exercise a special influence on the U.S. left's alternative media and Democratic Party-oriented political agenda:

"...We know that money matters in society, but we don't seem to realize that money matters on the Left...

"...The area I have some experience with, alternative media, is graphically if not universally donor, and donor dynamics, dominated. For example, The Nation was begun and financed by large donors who, at most points, occupied the key decision positions in the periodical. The same holds true for Monthly Review, Mother Jones, Utne Reader, In These Times, and New Left Review. In cases where the big donor didn't come abroad, it was generally the best fund-raiser or most financially connected participant who had the corner office. With our activist hats on we decry mainstream media for being owned and thus beholding to big money in its motivations and structural choices, but then, when we don our media hats, we construct operations no less beholden to big-money interests, but now via the largesse of donors rather than direct owners.

"When leftists I have known have talked about a major nonprofit--say the Ford Foundation--they...certainly haven't described an institution free of constraint...

"Mother Jones magazine was financed into existence by Adam Hochschild. Adam's money allowed MJ to do massive mailings over and over, to build up and maintain a readership. It turns out that Adam's money came from African mining...

"...Adam not only put his money into MJ but put himself into MJ too, in the corner office...But the salient point about Adam was the amount of cash he had available versus the amount that he made available. It seemed that Adam was richer than Adam would admit to himself. What he was giving, which was quite considerable by Left accounts, wasn't even denting his capacity. He was doing a fraction of what he might have done, given his actual resources...

"David Hunter...managed the Stern Foundation...I got an invitation to see David Hunter in New York City at the Stern Foundation offices...

"The meeting was held over lunch at the Harvard Club. We chatted a bit and Hunter asked to see our financial statement...

"Hunter told me...that he paid no attention to the actual numbers in such documents because he took it for granted that everyone asking for donations lied. He required the documents but he looked at them only to see if they were done prooperly...

"...You got Hunter's aid, and even more, you got aid from other donors, if they liked you, pure and simple...

In his autobiography, ZNet editor Albert also indicated how he apparently initially attempted to increase reader traffic on his ZNet website:

"...In the ZNet forum system, at its outset, I felt I had to do something to engender participation...To prod participation, I logged on with numerous false names, writing messages under each name, giving the system a flow of content that seemed to come from diverse people. I would engage in long debates, not only under my name, but also under four or five other names--including masquerading as two women..."

George Bernard Shaw: `On Newspaper Drama Critics'

As long ago as 1891, a socialist UK playwright and former UK drama critic named George Bernard Shaw indicated why many newspaper drama critics may not be really that qualified to evaluate the quality of the plays they review. In his 1891 appendix to The Quintessence of Ibsenism, for example, Shaw wrote:

"...In fact, the `dramatic critic' of a newspaper, in ordinary circumstances, is at his best a descriptive reporter, and at his worst a mere theatrical newsman. As such he is a person of importance among actors and managers, and of no importance whatever elsewhere. Naturally he frequents the circles in which alone he is made much of; and by the time he has seen so many performances that he has formed some critical standards in spite of himself, he has also enrolled among his personal acquaintances every actor and manager of a few years' standing, and become engaged in all the private likes and dislikes, the quarrels and friendships in a word, in all the partialities which personal relations involve, at which point the value of his verdicts may be imagined. Add to this that if he has the misfortune to be attached to a paper to which theatrical advertisements are an object, or of which the editor and proprietors (or their wives) do not hesitate to incur obligations to managers by asking for complimentary admissions, he may often have to choose between making himself agreeable and forfeiting his post. So that he is not always to be relied on even as a newsman where the plain truth would give offence to any individual...

"All this does not mean that the entire Press is hopelessly corrupt in its criticism of Art. But it certainly does mean that the odds against the independence of the Press critic are so heavy that no man can maintain it completely without a force of character and a personal authority which are rare in any profession, and which in most of them can command higher pecuniary terms and prospects than any which journalism can offer. The final degrees of thoroughness have no market value on the Press; for, other things being equal, a journal with a critic who is good-humored and compliant will have no fewer readers than one with a critic who is inflexible where the interest of Art and the public are concerned. I do not exaggerate or go beyond the warrant of my own experience when I say that unless a critic is prepared not only to do much more work than the public will pay him for, but to risk his livelihood every time he strikes a serious blow at the powerful interests vested in artistic abuses of all kinds (conditions which in the long run tire out the strongest man), he must submit to compromises which detract very considerably from the trustworthiness of his criticism. Even the critic who is himself in a position to brave these risks must find a sympathetic and courageous editor-proprietor who will stand by him without reference to the commercial advantage--or disadvantage--of his incessant warfare. As all the economic conditions of our society tend to throw our journals more and more into the hands of successful moneymakers, the exceeding scarcity of this lucky combination of resolute, capable, and incorruptible critic, sympathetic editor, and disinterested and courageous proprietor, can hardly be appreciated by those who only know the world of journalism through its black and white veil..."

Black Male Worker Jobless Rate: 17.6 Percent Under Obama

Between August and September 2010, the official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Black male workers over 20 years-of-age in the United States increased from 17.3 to 17.6 percent under the Democratic Obama Administration; while the unemployment rate for Black female workers over 20-years-of-age was still 12.6 percent, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The official unemployment rate for all Black workers over 16 years-of-age was 16.1 percent in September 2010; while the jobless rate for Black youths between 16 and 19-years-of-age jumped from 45.4 to 49 percent between August and September 2010.

Between August and September 2010, the official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for Latino or Hispanic workers in the United States also increased from 12 to 12.4 percent; while the official “not seasonally adjusted” rate for Latino or Hispanic male workers over 20-years-of-age increased from 10.4 to 11.1 percent between August and September 2010. The “not seasonally adjusted” unemployment rate for Latino or Hispanic youths between 16 and 19-years-of-age was still 31 percent in September 2010; while the “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for white youths was still 23.4 percent in September 2010.

The official “seasonally adjusted” jobless rate for all U.S. male workers over 16-years-of- age was still 10.5 percent in September 2010; while the unemployment rate for all U.S. male workers over 20-years-of-age was still 9.8 percent during this same month. The official jobless rate for white male workers over 20-years-of-age in the United States was still 8.9 percent in September 2010, while the unemployment rate for white female workers over 20-years-of-age increased from 7.1 to 7.2 percent between August and September 2010.

The official “seasonally adjusted” number of unemployed workers in the United States was 14,767,000 in September 2010; while the official jobless rate for all U.S. workers was 9.6 percent in September 2010. According to the “not seasonally adjusted” data, the number of Asian-American workers who had jobs also dropped by 49,000 between August and September 2010.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ October 8, 2010 press release:

“Nonfarm payroll employment edged down (-95,000) in September…Government employment declined (-159,000), reflecting both a drop in the number of temporary jobs for Census 2010 and job losses in local government…

“The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over), at 6.1 million was little changed over the month…In September, 41.7 percent of unemployed persons had been jobless for 27 weeks or more…

“The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) rose by 612,000 over the month to 9.5 million. Over the past 2 months, the number of such workers has increased by 943,000. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job…

“About 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in September, up from 2.2 million a year earlier…These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey…

“Among the marginally attached, there were 1.2 million discouraged workers in September, an increase of 503,000 from a year earlier…Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them…

“Employment in construction edged down (-21,000) over the month…

“Government employment fell by 159,000 in September…Employment in local government decreased by 76,000 in September with job losses in both education and noneducation…

“The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for July was revised from -54,000 to -66,000, and the change for August was revised from -54,000 to -57,000…”