Sunday, September 20, 2026

Review: Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country's Most Controversial Cover-Ups

Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country's Most Controversial Cover-Ups Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country's Most Controversial Cover-Ups by Richard Belzer
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

* FRANK OLSON - Fell from the thirteenth-story window of his hotel in New York City. CIA admitted doping Olson with LSD. Olson’s death was a clear-cut case of “National Security homicide.” As head of CIA bio-weapons research, he had extensive access to “state secrets.” One of those secrets was that bombs with the anthrax virus had apparently been dropped on North Korea. He’d become increasingly outraged and vocal by what he saw as an immoral use of his research. He told colleagues he was disturbed about evidence of CIA torture-to-death interrogations in Germany and bacteriological warfare on North Korea. He was deemed a security risk. Olson’s family had the body exhumed and reautopsied in the 1990s and forensic experts concluded that Olson was murdered. The second autopsy demanded by relatives confirmed ’blunt force trauma’ and that the victim was rendered
unconscious prior to his fall. Contrary to the first autopsy report, no lacerations were found upon the victim, even though he had supposedly crashed through and out of a plate glass window. The hotel room was so small that it would have been impossible for the victim to build up sufficient running
speed, then catapult over the twin beds that intersected the room and crash through a plate glass window upon impact, especially one that was not very high. See Frank Olson Project.

* HENRY MARSHALL - Five gunshots from a bolt action rifle. This investigator for U.S. Department of Agriculture uncovered vast financial scam being run by Billie Sol Estes and linked to Lyndon Johnson in Texas. Estes later testified that Johnson had ordered Marshall killed, using hit man Mac Wallace. Initial death ruling never even addressed the impossibility of a person shooting himself five separate times with a bolt-action rifle. A Grand Jury later ruled that Marshall's body be exhumed and an autopsy revealed that he had suffered a severe blow to the head prior to his death and that his body contained a carbon monoxide concentration of fifteen percent. The doctor performing the autopsy estimated that the carbon monoxide concentration at the time of death was as high as thirty percent.

* GEORGE KRUTILEK - The accountant for the financial scam being run by Billie Sol Estes and linked to Lyndon Johnson in Texas. Estes later testified that Johnson had personally ordered that
Krutilek be killed, using hit man Mac Wallace. A large bruise on Krutilek’s head indicated that he had been bludgeoned unconscious prior to inhaling the carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide poisoning was the modus operandi of hit man, Mac Wallace.

* MARILYN MONROE - Marilyn Monroe had an affair with President Kennedy and also a brief relationship with his brother, Attorney General Robert Kennedy. L.A. Police Chief Tom Reddin stated: “The Kennedy connection was a matter of common knowledge at the Police Department
level I was at. The Kennedy—I should say Kennedys’—relationship with Marilyn Monroe was pretty generally accepted.” Marilyn considered both relationships serious, not at all frivolous. Previously, she reportedly had an affair with Mob-linked Frank Sinatra and was good friends with Chicago Mafia boss Sam Giancana, Johnny Roselli (also Chicago Mob), and others, amid what one writer has
called “an astonishing array of indiscretions.” But what set off alarm bells in U.S. intelligence was her friendship with Frederick Field and other known Soviet intelligence agents. Her phones were tapped and her home had listening devices, with eavesdropping conducted by the government and (independently) by the Mob. Her home was “sanitized,” i.e., swept of bugs and sensitive materials
in the hours after her death, accounting for the “missing six hours” before anyone finally called the police. No trace of tablets were found in her stomach or intestines, even though she had enough Nembutal and Chloral Hydrate in her bloodstream to kill an elephant. Computer analysis that compiled all the pharmaceutical data concluded that, to reach those levels, Marilyn would have had to swallow a total of 77 to 88 pills (60 to -70 Nembutal and 17 -to 18 Chloral Hydrate).33 Digestion stops at death, therefore, victims who swallowed pills always have undigested tablets and refractive crystals (the active ingredient of any drug) in their stomach. So there should have been substantial residue, and there are always refractive crystals in an oral overdose. But none were found, even
using a polarized microscope. Medical Examiner Thomas Noguchi: “I found absolutely no visual evidence of pills in the stomach or the small intestine. No residue. No refractile crystals.” Dr. Noguchi also stated that her stomach was almost completely empty. She had not eaten on her last day. Her body was found lying face down, however, secondary lividity marks on her back and posterior aspects of the arms and legs indicate that at some point during the first four hours after death (when lividity occurs) her body was moved onto its back for a considerable period of time (evidenced by strong secondary lividity marks) and then placed back in the face down position before police arrived. The first officer at the death scene (LAPD Watch Commander Jack Clemmons) concluded that the death scene had been cleaned up and staged and that Monroe had actually been murdered. He said there was a major cover-up at LAPD and publicly disputed the official findings:
“It was the most obviously staged death scene I have ever seen.” Mafia sending the Kennedys a message, but they and supporters on the scene got their soon enough to remove evidence of connections between them and Monroe.

* JFK, MLK, RFK - Ballistics and other forensic evidence disproving identified single shooter and blatant cover-up evidence. (On RFK, I don't recall before hearing of the suggested Aristotle Onassis involvement.)

* FRED HAMPTON - I had recently read of the informant and political assassination of Black Panther leader Hampton in Beyond Bullets: The Suppression of Dissent in the United States.

* VINCE FOSTER - Clinton WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL found in public park on a Tuesday afternoon after the body was apparently moved. The evidence indicates he was murdered with a low-velocity weapon such as a .22, producing no exit wound. Evidence is not consistent with the official version which purports that he shot himself with a Colt .38 at point-blank range (directly into his own mouth) with high-velocity ammunition. Missing crime scene photos and magically appearing keys and a note add to a suggested coverup. (I used to think Foster was just an unusual suicide. This and other investigation has me convinced otherwise.)

* DAVID KELLY - David Kelly. Kelly was a British scientist and authority on biological warfare, employed by the Ministry of Defence and formerly a United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq. He had an off-record discussion with a BBC journalist concerning a British government dossier about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, which was cited by the journalist. Kelly's name became subsequently known and he was aggressively questioned by a Parliamentary committee. He was found dead two days later, attributed to suicide. In the book The Strange Death of David Kelly , British politician Norman Baker disputes this version of events and suggests Kelly was murdered: 'I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that this could not be suicide. The medical evidence does not support it and David Kelly's state of mind and personality suggests otherwise. It was not an accident so I am left with the conclusion that it is murder.' (This one was new to me)

It's great that in the cast of narrators here is Ice-T. This audiobook is narrated by Richard Belzer, Scott Brick, Kelli Giddish, Laurie Anderson, Stefan Rudnicki, Andre Braugher, Judy Collins, Ice-T, Danny Pino, John Lee, Tom Stechschulte, and Steve Zirnkilton. Jesse Ventura delivers an epilogue.

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Friday, September 11, 2026

Review: Out of the Woods: A Girl, a Killer, and a Lifelong Struggle to Find the Way Home

Out of the Woods: A Girl, a Killer, and a Lifelong Struggle to Find the Way Home Out of the Woods: A Girl, a Killer, and a Lifelong Struggle to Find the Way Home by Gregg Olsen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: Renaissance and Baroque

Renaissance and Baroque Renaissance and Baroque by Heinrich Wölfflin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The baroque never offers us perfection and fulfilment, or the static calm of 'being', only the unrest of change and the tension of transience. This again produces a sense of movement, though of a different kind. Tense proportional relation-ships were part of this characteristic action. The circle is for instance an absolutely static and unchangeable form, but the oval is restless and always seems on the point of change; it lacks inner necessity. The baroque sought out such free proportions as a matter of principle; everything that was self-contained and complete was contrary to its essential nature. It used the oval, not only for medallions and similar objects, but for ground plans of halls, courtyards and church interiors. The form made its appearance early, as part of an agitated composition in a painting by Correggio (1515), and this was at a time when no-one in Rome had thought of using it, either in painting or architecture. It was then taken up by Michelangelo for the plinth of the statue of Marcus Aurelius, and passed on to Vignola...


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Monday, September 7, 2026

Review: Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape

Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec Anonymous

We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec Anonymous We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec Anonymous by Parmy Olson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a detailed, fascinating account of the 2chan -> 4chan -> Anonymous -> LulzSec evolution and the actions/lives of the driving core team including the extent to which they can be identified.

There are some Anonymous culture I only sort of remember such as the shaming "shoe on head" imagery specifically demanded in Anonymous/4chan as a verification method used to prove identity. In September 2012, for instance, journalist Adrian Chen, who had exposed a controversial Reddit moderator, was forced by members of the Anonymous collective to post images of himself wearing a tutu and a shoe on his head to prove his identity and meet their demands.

There is a lot on the Anonymous DDoS activity, particularly with the Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) is a DoS-attack tool which multiple untutored volunteers used carelessly allowing their IP addresses to be discovered. All of this was not even essential as the real damage was done with a botnet and even just sharing data shared by others with Anonymous.

It is interesting from the outside the crime noir element where it all falls apart and in the rather typical way of no-honor-among-thieves. Clues are found by determined investigators after sloppily left behind, mostly because a life of crime wasn't connived from birth of course. Then court orders cause HideMyAss.com to reveal what was thought hidden and pers turn CI as in the case of Sabu: https://www.darkreading.com/cyberatta...


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Review: Outsight: A Quarter-Century of Music Journalism: Book 2: Jazzy & Bluesy

Outsight: A Quarter-Century of Music Journalism: Book 2: Jazzy & Bluesy Outsight: A Quarter-Century of Music Journalism: Book 2: Jazzy & Bluesy by Thomas Schulte
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: Class and Colour in South Africa, 1850-1950

Class and Colour in South Africa, 1850-1950 Class and Colour in South Africa, 1850-1950 by H.J. Simons
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Socialists in south Africa politics
...to collaborate with the Industrial Workers Union of Africa in compiling a leaflet in Sesutu and Zulu. It was the first serious attempt to put Marx's clarion call for unity into an African language: 'Let there be no longer any talk of Basuto, Zulu or Shangaan. You are all labourers. Let Labour be your common bond. Deliver yourself from the chains of capitalism. '14

A few months later the socialists faced more serious charges in consequence of an African strike wave on the Rand. White mechanics employed at the municipal power station came out on strike in May for £8 2s. a week, the equivalent, they claimed, of their pre-war wage of £6. They won their demand after leaving the town in darkness for several nights. Impressed at the success of this operation, Africans working in the municipal sanitary services asked for a modest rise from Is. 8d. to 2s. 6d. a day. But they were black and handled lavatory buckets, not electric generators. The council refused, some fifty men struck work, and all except fifteen were convicted. Another 152 men then came out, initially in protest against having to do the work of the arrested strikers. T. G. Macfie, the chief magistrate and a staunch ally of Crawford, sentenced the 152 strikers on 12 June to two months' hard labour for breach of contract. They would be compelled to do the same work as before, he told them, without pay and under armed guard. They would be shot if they tried to escape and flogged if they refused to work. The harsh threats and the contrast between this treatment and the concessions made to the white strikers infuriated the African public. The ANC launched a campaign for the prisoners' release which soon developed into a demand for a general wage increase of Is. a day, to be enforced if necessary by a general strike on I July.

Socialists and ANC leaders disapproved. Makgatho warned a meeting of nearly 2,000 Africans that striking was dangerous. Even socialists, being white, would join in shooting down Africans. The League retorted that it could have no part in the 'more reactionary, middle-class and religious-cum-racial tendencies' of Congress, though 'the close coincidence of native and working-class interests' might yet force it to play a useful role.


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Saturday, August 15, 2026

Review: In Search of the Maya

In Search of the Maya In Search of the Maya by Robert Levere Brunhouse
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

https://archive.org/details/cu3192408...
Queen Móo and the Egyptian sphinx / by Augustus Le Plongeon

The Mayan civilization in Central America and its connection with Egypt and Atlantis is thoroughly documented in this basic source- book, written over 100 years ago by this pioneer in Mayan archeology. Includes many of the first photos taken of the ancient temples

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Sunday, August 2, 2026

Review: A Cry from the Far Middle: Dispatches from a Divided Land

A Cry from the Far Middle: Dispatches from a Divided Land A Cry from the Far Middle: Dispatches from a Divided Land by P.J. O'Rourke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



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Review: Myths And Symbols

Myths And Symbols Myths And Symbols by Joseph M.; Charles H. Long Kitagawa
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Mircea Eliade (1907 – 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. One of the most influential scholars of religion of the 20th century and interpreter of religious experience, he established paradigms in religious studies. His theory that hierophanies form the basis of religion, splitting the human experience of reality into sacred and profane space and time, has proved influential. One of his most instrumental contributions to religious studies was his theory of eternal return, which holds that myths and rituals do not simply commemorate hierophanies, but (at least in the minds of the religious) actually participate in them.

We know from the studies of such historians of religions as Wilhelm Schmidt, Raffaele Pettazzoni, and Mircea Eliade that one of the central problems in recent study of history of religions is the problem of the High God. It was Mircea Eliade who observed that the problem of the High God among primitives became a central issue for historians of religions in the same generation that Nietzsche proclaimed the "death of God." And, Eliade continues in his observation, one of the most important elements in the structure of the High God symbol is the tendency of the High God, who is always the creator-deity, to become a deus otiosus after the world has been created. He describes this tendency explicitly in his Patterns in Comparative Religion.

What is clear is that the supreme sky god everywhere gives place to other religious forms. The morphology of this substitution may vary; but its meaning in each case is partly the same: it is the movement away from the transcendence and passivity of sky beings towards more dynamic, active, and easily accessible forms. One might say that we are observing a "progressive descent of the sacred into the concrete"; man's life and his immediate surroundings come more and more to have the value of sacred things.... Every substitution marks a victory for the dynamic, dramatic forms so rich in mythological meaning over the Supreme Being of the sky who is exalted, but passive and re-mote the supreme divinities of the sky are constantly pushed to the periphery of religious life where they are almost ignored; other sacred forces, nearer to man, fill the leading role.

And then there is this final statement which I should like to use from Eliade's work:

this slipping of the omnipotence, transcendence, and impassiveness into the dynamism, intensity, and drama of the new atmospheric fertilizing vegetation figures, is not without significance. It makes clear that one of the main factors in the lowering of people's conception of God. is the more all-embracing importance of vital values and of "Life" in the outlook of economic man.

Eliade's description of the history and structure of the High God being who created may be summarized as follows: (1) he is a the world; (2) his symbolism is related to the sky and thus he always represents transcendence, power, and wisdom; (3) after the creation of the world, the High God becomes deus otiosus, removed from the world he has created; (4) in his place are substituted the dramatic deities of fertility and creativity; (5) the High God is not completely forgotten, but he is no longer a part of the life of man and the world; he has no cult and worship is not addressed to him; (6) he is called upon or remembered in moments of strife or catastrophe when the basic structure of the world is threatened and when no help can be gained from the deities of fertility and creativity.

This pattern of elements and experiences in the structure of the High God bears a similarity to the structure of experience of the marvelously new. Subsequently there is the experience of awe and trembling fear before the wonder of the world, and finally, for Pascal there is the movement to silence. Now, I said there is a similarity, not a one-to-one relationship between the two structures, but the similarity is so marked that it might give us some insight into the religious experience of modern man; it might show us how, within the context of modernity, some basic patterns of man's religiousness may be discerned.

Pascal, unlike the enthusiasts of the Enlightenment, possesses that insight of double vision. He is able to see the infinite world of possibility which the new science makes possible, but he discerns at the same time that God has departed from this world and he is terrified by the infinite spaces, the void.


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Thursday, July 23, 2026

Review: The Decline of Pleasure

The Decline of Pleasure The Decline of Pleasure by Walter Kerr
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

May I make a small, possibly prejudiced, exception of chess? Chess moves quietly and gently a few squares away from the insistent abstraction of cards. Its pieces are not only dimensional but often different from one another: one can feel a knight in his hand, and know it for a knight, as he cannot the ten of clubs. The enemy is downed not by a count but by a physical presence that whisks him, physically, from the board. The contest is spatial and deeply satisfying; it is fought visibly on a terrain. One does not tally in his head alone the possible threats to his victory; he looks at them on the board, using first his eyesight and then his imagination. Luckier still, the game is complex enough to require quite a long time to play, long enough in some instances to encourage forgetfulness of demands lying in wait on a desk. Chess is also quiet, encouraging silence around it. A degree of surrender is implicit in its ivory bones. One cannot but be sympathetic to Gerald Abrahams' claim, in The Chess Mind, that "whereas in many intellectual processes the mind is assisted by conceptual methods-i.e. by abstract ideas-in the mental activity which is Chess such assistance is at a minimum... In Chess the mind comes as near as possible to pure vision, to that spontaneous act of intuition which apprehends and controls processes and relationships without being forced to do so."


Kitsch
https://share.google/aimode/Kujl5VZjp...
One of these is the prevalence of kitsch. We have all heard, and often lent our voices to, the cry that has gone up in the second half of the twentieth century lamenting the omnipresence of the second-rate. And we know what we mean by kitsch: brightly-colored magazines that are all eye-catching pictures and easy-to-read captions; digests of digests; films as synthetic as the celluloid they are printed on; television that has been described as "chewing-gum for the eye"; music that fakes a sentiment buried with Franz Lehár or fakes a folk-song beat in the guise of creating something contemporary, indigenous, and appealing to teen-agers. We sometimes conceive that we live in the land of the blob: blobs of color, hoots of sound, zoom lenses, what the comedians call "grabbers." Surfaces leap at us like babies begging to be picked up; when they are picked up, they have no weight and no conversation, only a smile....



The Voices of Silence https://share.google/WEy0Tajd9ytvTd14D
Adam and Eve lost for themselves and all who preceeded them the great gifts which God had blessed them with. One of these was the throne over the animals. How can we judge their sense of communication with other animals. Most certainly they were able to conferse with these lower creatures. Then we must be aware of a degree of inttelligens to which these animals were capable of inhabiting. This is necessary before we can continue in this saga. Refering again to the Bible we aknolege that God banished Adam from the Garden of paradise. Now here we admit the only flaw in our tale. I am unable to explain the manner in which Adam managed to secure such inteligent but monstorus creatures. There were five of them and their names were such: Zeta, Balt, Nappricondos who was the strongest, Lestar who was the craftiest and Bareen, leader and oldest. Some prefer to associate them by initials though I will continue to use there full names. To return to Adam we find he has lost his great knowledge and also his great memory...."


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Review: Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country's Most Controversial Cover-Ups

Dead Wrong: Straight Facts on the Country's Most Controversial Cover-Ups by Richard Belzer My rating: 0 of 5 stars...