Dueling
DC Conferences
Two
Warren Commission Conferences in DC this September – so far – more are
expected.
By
William E. Kelly, Jr.
Sept. 24, 1964 - Earl Warren presents the Commission's Report to LBJ, who said, "It's heavy."
Friday, September 26 - Saturday, September 27 - Sunday, September 28 2014
Sept. 24, 1964 - Earl Warren presents the Commission's Report to LBJ, who said, "It's heavy."
Friday, September 26 - Saturday, September 27 - Sunday, September 28 2014
Just
when we thought that the 50th anniversary of the JFK Assassination
would put an end to the public interest in the subject, along comes the September
2014 anniversary of the release of the Warren Commission Report, which will
surely drum up more media attention and revive the debates once again.
With the
apparent end to JFK Lancer November in Dallas [http://www.jfklancer.com/]
and annual COPA Dallas regional conferences [http://politicalassassination.com], but here we go again with two conferences on the
Warren Report – 50 years later.
Only the location has changed from Dallas to D.C. and rather than the assassination itself, the new focus will be on the continuing cover-up, which should make things relevant today and not just stale history.
Only the location has changed from Dallas to D.C. and rather than the assassination itself, the new focus will be on the continuing cover-up, which should make things relevant today and not just stale history.
The two
conferences announced so far, and there may be more, were organized separately
by different people without apparent knowledge of each other – the JFK
Historical Group (JFKHG) and the Assassination Archives and Research Center
(AARC).
These
two conferences will be held at the same time in the same city a few miles
apart by different people, but are joined at the hip by the distinguished
Pittsburgh forensic examiner Dr. Cyril Wecht, who will serve as a keynote
speaker at the JFKHG conference and a primary speaker at the other.
JFK Historical Group Conference
The
first conference announced is being organized by the JFK Historical Group, led by David Denton and Ed Tatro and called:
“The Warren Report 50 Years Later: A Critical Examination - What we know now,
that we didn’t know then,” and will be held at the Crowne Plaza East Hotel,
Alexandria, VA. Their web site is at: http://changehistjfk.blogspot.com/.
[Conference
fee is $115 before August 1 - $125 thereafter and rooms are $119 single - $129
double per night plus Banquet and Keynote $53. David Denton, JFK Historical
Group, 1305 Hall St., Olney, Il 62450]
David
Denton is an Olney, Illinois history teacher who gave a 2013 JFK LANCER
conference presentation [http://changehistjfk.blogspot.com] on the topic of the
significance of the 50th Anniversary of the assassination, and he organized
an academic conference on the assassination at Olney Central (Illinois) College
last fall.
Denton
works closely with Ed F. Tatro, a long time Boston high school teacher and
respected JFK researcher who testified before the ARRB [ARRB Testimony of Edgar Tatro: http://jfkassassination.net/arrb/index9.htm] and served as a consultant
to Nigel Turner’s TV documentaries “The Truth Shall Set You Free” and “The Men
Who Killed Kennedy.”
Other
than Dr. Wecht [http://www.cyrilwecht.com/about.php],
there seems to be only a few overlapping speakers - Russ Baker and Bill Simpich, so each conference should be
pretty unique and appeal to a different audience, and if presentations at both
conferences are properly streamed live over the internet, recorded and archived
on line, as they should be, people can pick and chose which conference to
attend and catch the online taped video of anything they missed.
Among
those confirmed for the JFK Historical Group conference are a number of people
I have worked closely with - Doug Horne, the Chief Analyst for Military Records
for the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB) and author of the five volume
“Inside the ARRB,” [http://www.amazon.com/Inside-Assassination-Records-Review-Board/dp/0984314431 / http://insidethearrb.livejournal.com/]
and Russ Baker, a detail oriented researcher, journalist and Bush family
biographer who is always digging and working on some significant newsworthy angle
on history. [Russ Baker’s web site: http://whowhatwhy.com/author/russ-baker/]
Phil
Nelson, author of “LBJ – Mastermind of JFK’s Assassination” [http://www.lbjmastermind.com/]
is part of the continuing drumbeat of conspiracy theorists biased enough to
believe LBJ was capable of “masterminding” the Dealey Plaza operation (See: Joe
Green’s review at www.CTKA.com ). They nonetheless have a place at the JFKHG conference
and I’m sure there will be others along shortly.
More
important than those who espouse a conspiracy theory are the witness to
history. A number
of important witnesses are also on the JFKHG agenda including Gary Powers, Jr.,
the son of the U2 pilot [http://www.coldwar.org/education/powers_testimony.html],
James Wagenvoord - former Life Mag editor and whistleblower [http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKwagenvoord.htm],
and Peter Janney, the son of a CIA officer who wrote a recent book on the
murder of JFK paramour Mary Pinchot Meyer.[http://www.marysmosaic.net/bio.htm].
The JFKHG conference will also include Brian Edwards, who will talk about the 26 Volumes of Warren Commission Testimony and Exhibits that were published with the report, Russ Baker, who will talk about evidence of cover-up, Richard Bartholomew on the conflicts in the official accounts, Patrick Nelson, who will give his presentation on James Jesus Angleton, David Scheim on the Mob connections, and I am particularly looking forward to Casey Quinlan's talk on the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time of the assassination.
There’s
also Rick Russo [http://johndelanewilliams.blogspot.com/2010/12/interview-with-dennis-david-regarding.html], who was also a key consultant on the Nigel Turner documentary, and not to be
confused with Gus Russo, the CIA-Disinformation asset, who continues to promote the original cover-story that Castro was behind the assassination , which will certainly be propagated by Frank
Wisner’s Wurlitzer over this upcoming 50th anniversary Warren
Commission media blitz. [Gus Russo’s Disinformation can be found at: http://www.amazon.com/Live-By-The-Sword-Against/dp/1890862010]
Although
confirmed to give a presentation, it’s sad to learn that former FBI agent Don
Adams recently passed away, so he definitely won’t be there, but we should pay
renewed attention to his book “From An Office Building With A High-Powered
Rife” – A Report to the Public from an FBI Agent Involved in the Official JFK
Assassination Investigation.” (Trinday 2013 http://www.amazon.com/From-Office-Building-High-Powered-Rifle/dp/1936296861).
Professor
Gerald McKnight, who helped save Harold Weisberg’s papers and wrote one of the
best retrospective books on the Warren Commission “Breach of Trust: How the Warren Commission
Failed the Nation and Why” [http://www.amazon.com/Breach-Trust-Warren-Commission-Failed/dp/0700613900],
is temporarily tentative, and we hope he can make both conferences, as any
symposium on the Warren Report would be remiss without him.
Assassination Archives and Research Center Conference
While
the JFKHG conference is underway at the Crown Plaza in Alexandra, Virginia, the
AARC conference will be getting underway on the other side of the river at the Bethesda
Hyatt Hotel in Northwest Washington, not far from the Bethesda Naval Hospital
where President Kennedy’s controversial autopsy was conducted.
THE
WARREN REPORT 50 YEARS LATER is a major conference being organized by Jerry
Policoff, the Executive Director of the Assassination Archives and Research
Center – AARC [www.aarclibrary.org 962 Wayne Ave. Suite 910 Silver
Spring, Md. 20910 (717) 295-0237 jpolicoff@comcast.net].
Among
those confirmed for AARC Conference are the lead FOIA attorney on the JFK case
- AARC Director Jim Lesar, Mary Ferrell Archivist Rex Bradford
[http://www.maryferrell.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page],
medical evidence specialist Dr. Gary Aguilar, widow of reporter
and congressional investigator Gaeton Fonzi - Marie Fonzi,[https://www.maryferrell.org/wiki/index.php/Featured_Gaeton_Fonzi_1935-2012],
HSCA attorney Dan Hardway, and the Unsinkable Molly Brown of the
JFK Assassination Joan Mellen [http://joanmellen.com/wordpress/].
Highly
anticipated are updates on the continuing work of DC journalist Jefferson Morley
[“Our Man in Mexico” / http://jfkfacts.org/] and former Army intelligence analyst John Newman,
author of “Oswald and the CIA” and “JFK and Vietnam” [http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKnewmanJ.htm], who has been working diligently
on some more extremely reveling details of intelligence related aspects of the
assassination that will knock our collective socks off.
South
Carolina teacher Mel Hyman may give a talk on the media and the assassination, which is also a favorite topic of conference organizer Jerry Policoff.
Andrew
Kreig, author of “Presidential Puppety” will
focus on Operation Northwoods and Dr. Randy Robertson, MD, a Tennessee
radiologist looks at the medical evidence.
Also confirmed is David
Wrone, professor of history and author of “The FOIA and Political Assassinations – Legal Proceedings of Harold
Weisberg v. General Services Administration" (1978) and “The Assassination of
President John F. Kennedy – A Comprehensive Historical and Legal Bibliography," 1963-1979 (1980); “The HSCA, The Zapruder Film, and the Single-Bullet Theory”
(1993) and “The Zapruder Film: Reframing the JFK Assassination" (U. Kansas, 2003).
Dr. Ernest
Titovets, M.D. [ http://www.etitovets.com/Titovets_dream.html],
Ph.D. Professor (1953-1963 Minsk State Medical Institute, Minsk, Belarus,
recorded Oswald reading literature when they were socializing together, which can be heard
here: http://politicalassassinations.com/2013/08/recorded-voices-of-lee-oswald-and-ernst-titovets/.
Author of
“Oswald: Russian Episode” Titovets had
trouble getting a visa to make a presentation at the last Dallas COPA, was
probably Oswald’s oldest and closest friends behind the Iron Curtain, portrays Oswald as a
human, rather than demonizing him as others try to.
One
highlight of the AARC conference should be the message of Nancy Soderberg the
chair of the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) who recently spoke
out on the release of the still secret CIA assassination records. [Public
Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) [http://www.archives.gov/declassification/pidb/members.html]
John
Newman has a lot of new information on Oswald and the CIA, Joan Mellen will
talk about her recent research and trilogy of books and Dan Hardway will discuss
his HSCA work, which received a lot of attention at the Wecht Conference in
Pittsburgh last October.
My
presentation will be an update on the latest developments in the on-going forensic
analysis of the Air Force One tapes, and the release to the public a new
high-fidelity FM broadcast quality recording in which dead air was removed so
that the entire tape contains useful information and is edited down to just
under 2 hours and sectioned into fifteen minute parts for broadcast purposes.
Jerry
Policoff, who has monitored the media’s reporting on the assassination, is the
primary point man in the coordination of the AARC conference and he promises to
keep the presentations at a high level and provide some newsworthy revelations.
His specialty is the mainstream media coverage of the assassination and will
make a presentation on that subject, which is not history but ongoing today.
Among those
who are said to have been invited but have yet to confirm are “Six
Seconds in Dallas” author Josiah Thompson, Deep Political thinker Peter Dale
Scott and Bill Simpich, whose recent and remarkable work “State Secret” is
posted at the Mary Ferrell Archives site.[https://www.maryferrell.org/wiki/index.php/Featured_State_Secret_Preface
]
Also invited are Larry
Hancock, author of “Someone Would Have Talked” and more recently a book on the
MLK assassination with Stu Wexler [http://larry-hancock.com/someone_would_have_talked.html]
Longtime
assassination researcher and photo specialist Robert Groden, as well as Robert
Kennedy, Jr., son of the Senator slain in 1968, wowed the world when he
announced on a TV special that his father believed the President was slain by
more than one gunman and the mob and CIA were somehow involved. [http://jfkfacts.org/assassination/rfk-jr-on-his-uncles-legacy/]
Philadelphia
attorney Vince Salandria, whose landmark speech at the 2003 Dallas COPA
conference [http://spot.acorn.net/jfkplace/09/fp.back_issues/27th_issue/vs_text.html'] still rings true today.
Former
HSCA Chief Counsel Richard Sprague was also invited to the Wecht Conference in
Pittsburgh but couldn’t make it, but it would certainly make big waves if he
puts in an appearance here.
“Who
Killed JFK and Why It Matters” author James Douglas, also gave a landmark
Dallas COPA speech [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwECsq459d4] and his book, promoted by Oliver Stone and
RFK, Jr., is the first conspiracy book to resonate with the
common man and not just history buffs
Tony
Summers, author of the definitive “Not In Your Lifetime,” [http://www.anthonysummers.com/portfolio.html],
has moved on to other projects but keeps an eye on whatever new information
comes out about the JFK case and may show up to promote his popular book.
Original
whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, who released the Pentagon Papers, and inspired
others to do the same is also invited, along with former
Senators Gary Hart and Richard Schweiker, whose Church Committte Subcommitte
investigated some aspects of the JFK assassination and sparked the House Select
Committee on Assassinations. They have both spoken out publicly about the
assassination, denouncing the official investigations as inadequate and compromised.
One of
their most trusted investigators, Gaeton Fonzi, was also hired by the HSCA and
his widow, Marie Fonzi will undoubtedly
speak about her husband’s work and she may be accompanied by two of Fonzi’s
prized and trusted sources Sylvia Odio [http://www.jfk-online.com/odiohsca.html
] and Antonio Veciana [http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKveciana.htm
/ http://jfkfacts.org/tag/antonio-veciana/
], who were persuaded to testify before Congress in 1977 but were prevented
from doing so.
Former
Cuban G2 chief Fabian Escalante [http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKescalante.htm], who had access to the Cuban files on the
assassination, and wrote a number of books on the subject, participated in the
two conferences between researchers and Cuban intelligence officials may also be there, if the State Department lets him in.
Also invited is Wayne
Smith [ http://spartacus-educational.com/JFKsmithW.htm], the former State Department attaché assigned to the Havana embassy at the
time of the Cuban revolution, personally knew and worked with both David Atlee
Phillips and David Moralles, and organized the two conferences with the Cubans.
Citizens
for the Truth on JFK Assassination (CTKA http://www.ctka.net/) founder and publisher of Probe Jim
DiEugenio and renowned researcher Lisa Peasae [ http://realhistoryarchives.blogspot.com/]
should each make passionate and convincing presentations, as they did in
Pittsburgh.
If they all accept the invitation to speak, Hollywood will be well represented with actor Ed Asner, Z – director Costa Gavras [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z_(1969_film)], Oliver Stone of JFK fame, his researcher Jane Rusconi and former Minnisotta Governor, Navy SEAL and wrestler Jesse Ventura and his Mexican bar pal Dick Russell, author of The Man Who Knew Too Much and On the Trail of the JFK Asssassins. [ http://www.dickrussell.org/man.htm ].
Also
invited are FOIA attorney Dan Alcorn, researcher Brenda Brody, Pamela Brown, who
has done extensive research into the history of the limo, Walt Brown, author of
a number of JFK books and the mammoth JFK Chronology, along with Barry Ernest, author of “The
Girl On The Stairs” [http://www.amazon.com/The-Girl-Stairs-Missing-Assassination/dp/1460979370
], and Sherry Feister – professional forensic crime scene investigator whose
blood splatter analysis precludes the fatal head shot from originating from the
TSBD [http://www.sherryfiester.com/].
Longtime
researcher Larry Happenen, who adds a clear head to the proceedings, Gail Nix
Jackson, grand -daughter and author of “Orvil Nix: The Missing JFK Assassination Film,”
David Kaiser, former Naval War College professor and author of “The Road To Dallas,” HSCA
attorney Ed Lopez, Dr. Grover Proctor, former University Dean who is best known
for his investigation of the phone call Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly made from
the Dallas jail to Raleigh, North Carolina, should all be there.
Also
invited are Nina Rhodes-Hughes, witness to RFK assassination and Ben Rogers, W.R.
Poage Legislative Library Director at Baylor University Dallas Baylor University || Poage Library, where many of the assassination records of chief researchers are ending up.
To be
fair and balanced, and to present the official side of the cover story will be Warren
Commission defenders and apologists John McAdams [JFK / The Kennedy Assassination Home Page] and Max Holland and [Washington Decoded: RFK OK’d Sabotage Against Cuba in November 1963; Overruled by JFK ] possibly
Warren Commission attorney Burt Griffith.
The AARC
Conference in Bethesda is expected to have a pricing scheme similar to the
JFKHG Conference, and will soon have a dedicated web site with much more
information at: AARC - Assassination Archives and Research Center.
Hopefully
both conferences will be different, and not just present the same old, stale
information, and be live streamed over the internet, filmed, recorded and
archived on line so people can view the presentations at their convenience, as
I suspect these conferences and this anniversary will have a more important
impact on the legal status of the case and significant ramifications on the disposition
of the remaining sealed government records on the assassination.
BK
1 comment:
That's Patrick Nolan, not "Patrick Nelson," at the JFK Conference.
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