The City Of Portland's Green Illogic

A few months ago, the City of Portland, Oregon, in its continuing series of "green" initiatives, slashed curbside garbage pick-ups to every other week and gave everybody a compost bin about the size of a breadbox. The idea was to increase recycling and decrease garbage going into landfills. There was the usual hue and cry about pestilence and plague because, apparently, large rats would begin to invade our fair city; but, by and large, sheeple in Portland went along with the idea.

Well, lo and behold! Portland has dropped the amount of garbage going into the city's landfills by a staggering 44%! The City of Portland asked for it and by god the citizens responded.

So, how did the City of Portland respond to such an overwhelming success? Why, they raised the garbage rates of course! Why? Because the price of gas has gone up and bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla. Yes, it is Green Illogic once again rearing its ugly, garbage infested head. Take something that actually worked as intended and then give the citizens a nice deep screw by raising their garbage rates. If the amount of garbage going to landfills has decreased by 44%, then shouldn't the amount of garbage trucks and their miles traveled to said landfills also have been reduced? It therefore makes no sense then to raise the garbage rates.

The City of Portland: the city that works to screw you.

FIVE Wrong Ways To Bum A Smoke From Me

WARNING: explicit language

Look, I'm as pleasant as the next smoker, in spite of the continual second class treatment of smokers by the nanny state. However, here are five wrong ways to attempt to "bum a smoke" from me.

1) When I'm talking on the phone. Really, you would interrupt somebody's phone call for any reason? Seriously, you'd walk up to a complete stranger on the street who is talking on the phone and ask them for a cigarette? How fucking rude!

2) When I'm crossing the street in one direction and you are crossing in another direction. Really, I should stop in the middle of a crosswalk and roll you one?

3) When you're a pretty woman, batting your lovely eyes and cooing your voice, asking, "Please, can I bum a smoke?", when your Ramones looking reject of a boyfriend flits about nearby. I know who the fucking smoke is really for!

4) Just as I'm about to board the bus or train. Sure, let me miss my damn bus or train so you can bum a smoke. Makes perfect fucking sense to me, you fucking moron.

5) And last, but certainly not least, when I'm at a bar and you're one of those "I only smoke when I drink" type of smokers, "not like you". Give me a good golly god damned break! You can afford those endless shots of Bushmills but can't afford to buy a fucking pack of smokes? I'm just a working class hero after all.

No Jake Brakes!

I am currently in a living situation that can be best described as temporary. Well, it is in a garage. It is right next to a very busy street and major route for large trucks. And it is trucks I have come to you today to discuss. Oh, nothing to do with commerce or Wall Street, but the use of Jake brakes.

Jake brakes are loud, window rattling, teeth chattering and earthquake inducing (well, maybe not that). In some communities, Jake brakes are banned. Alas, here in enviro-concious Portland, such is not the case. In fact, over the years, the once popular movement to do something about noise pollution appears to have waned.

With concerns these days centered more on such things as the economy, fracking, the Occupy movement, endless war and how dreamy and wonderful President Obama is, it is perfectly understandable that noise pollution has taken a seat way in the back. However, noise pollution affects everybody, everyday; whether it is Jake brakes, jet airliners, unmuffled motorcycles, obnoxious students on a bus or constant road construction. Apparently, we have learned over time to just shrug our shoulders and deal with it. Yet, fear not! There are still groups out there dealing with this problem (here is an example) and there is something you do about it. If you so desire.

"What's that?", you say over the din.

I said, "IF YOU SO DESIRE!"

WAKE UP!!! Facebook Censorship!!!

Tonight, dear readers, I attempted to post a photo with a comment on Facebook. It was a satirical jab at a recent promotion within the Portland Police Department. You see, recently, the Portland Police Department tapped Mark Kruger, a captain within the department, to provide leadership training. Yawn, you may say, but not until you know that in 2010 he was suspended because he posed in pictures wearing Nazi uniforms and such. Now, two years later, he is part of leadership training!

So, what happened with the posting? I decided to post a picture of a Nazi march (see below), with a caption that read: "Ladies & Gentlemen: Your Portland Police Department". When I hit the post button, I was immediately taken to a page that said unless I removed the offending picture (for violating Facebook's policy against promoting violent organizations) my account would be terminated!

Original caption: "LADIES & GENTLEMEN: Your Portland Police Department". The picture that got me "temporarily blocked" on Facebook. Well, I got news for those motherfucking bastards, I shall terminate my Facebook account myself...well, as best I can!

Well, I did as I was told and removed the "offending" picture. The result? I am "temporarily blocked" from posting anything on Facebook. The due process? There is none! If for example, I post a video to You Tube and there is a question of copyright, I can actually exchange information with a person, somewhere, and the issue is usually resolved within 48 hours. Not so with Facebook, because I cannot find any button to push that would allow such a thing!

And so will end my Facebook experience. I've used it as a social networking device to promote my videos or blog posts. I shall now seek out a replacement. A replacement, I hope, which will not summarily, without due process, censor my posts!

WAKE UP! WAKE UP! Facebook practices censorship!

And you call yourself liberals!

Do something about it! Because, right now, being "blocked" I can not!

UPDATE: After 96 hours my "temporary" block has been lifted! I'd like to thank you all for your support and encouragement and hope you had something to do with this turn of events.

Blacks SHOULD Be Outraged Over Trayvon Martin Killing

I have been writing this over and over for the last few days. It seems 24 hours cannot pass without another piece of new information emerging. Through it all, however, I cannot shake this creeping sense of dread.

I wanted to look at the facts in the case and comment and come to a conclusion about why no one has been charged in the shooting. But, the dread I felt creeping about had to do with that passage from the 5th Amendment:

• "No person shall...be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law..."

In a sense, the on-line petitions, websites, et al, calling for the shooters' arrest are depriving him of due process; something which the black community has been fighting for itself for hundreds of years. Yet, that was only half the dread; the other half was the continuing injustices perpetuated against the black community, which this case shines a blinding light upon. Because unlike so many other cases, this man has actually admitted to shooting another person dead and claimed it was in self-defense and is walking around a free man. He had deprived someone of their life without due process.

(photo: Roberto Gonzalez/Getty Images)

On February 26th, 2012, in the 50,000 or so population city of Sanford, Florida, a seventeen year old named Trayvon Martin met a completely unnecessary tragic end to his life from the 9mm bullet admittedly fired by George Zimmerman. These facts are not in dispute. As we know, the police department of Sanford believed Zimmerman's cry of self defense and did not arrest him.

JFK Assassination - The Correct Conclusion Regarding William Greer

On November 22nd, 1963, Secret Service Agent William Greer was the driver of the Presidential Lincoln Continental convertible as it made its way through downtown Dallas, Texas. In the car, of course, was President Kennedy, his wife Jackie, Texas Governor John Connally, his wife Nellie and SA Roy Kellerman, who was sitting next to the driver, William Greer. For nearly 50 years, Greer has been unfairly maligned in many articles and books over his actions (or lack thereof) as the driver of the Presidential limousine.

With SA William Greer at the wheel, the limousine makes its fateful turn onto Elm Street.

Here is a list of the major incorrect conclusions made over the years about SA Greer:

• He panicked and hit the brakes instead of the accelerator
• He was staring at Kennedy waiting for the kill shot and then he sped away
• He shot Kennedy with a revolver.

JOHN LENNON - A Conspiracy Of Silence

©2010 by Rod Harrel

Author's Note: This is the original script for the documentary of the same (see link to video below).  

            Thirty years later there remains the accepted history of John Lennon’s death: a lone nut Beatle fan gunned down the pop culture hero. The songs, the tributes, the articles, the videos rarely mentioned the killer, and when they do, he was always alone. Or, perhaps, he did have company, but it was in the form of his demons, his misconceptions of Christianity, or his craving for infamy. A lone nut, a fan no less, had gunned down our dear, beloved, ex-Beatle John. It would seem all sewn up, except for what Sean Lennon said in 1998.

 

            “He was a countercultural revolutionary, and the government takes that shit really seriously historically,” Sean Lennon said of his father’s death. “He was dangerous to the government…These pacifist revolutionaries are historically killed by the government, and anybody who thinks that Mark Chapman was just some crazy guy who killed my dad for his personal interests is insane, I think, or very naïve, or hasn’t thought about it clearly. It was in the best interests of the United States to have my dad killed, definitely. And, you know, that worked against them, to be honest, because once he died his powers grew. So, I mean, fuck them. They didn’t get what they wanted.”1

Photo: Bob Gruen

The quote, from an interview, was an amazing thing to see in print: Sean intuitively lays out the groundwork for further investigation of his father’s death. Unfortunately, perhaps predictably, less than two weeks after the interview there was some serious backpedaling by Sean. Older half-brother, Julian Lennon, had publicly chastised Sean, saying that his remarks were “ill-advised” and that “if you’re going to say something like that, you need to have your facts.” Through a spokesman, Sean said that he regretted saying what he did immediately after the interview.2 In the world of celebrity, the word regret is apparently a synonym for “sorry that I told the truth.” All that is left is a brotherly debate, in public no less.

            Incredibly, in the conspiracy-strewn landscape of American pop culture, the Lennon brothers’ statements represent only the second public contradiction of the accepted history their father’s assassination. Only Fenton Bresler’s groundbreaking 1989 book, Who Killed John Lennon? stands as the first. The book caused nary a ripple in the mainstream media, the press corps, America’s fourth estate.

Attention Whores - What???

WARNING: strong language herein

All those Native American movie characters played by white men? You remember! Seems like such a perfectly OK idea that in the 21st century it's damn well time to cast a white guy as Tonto in the upcoming film of the Lone Ranger! But not just any white guy, but the richest most popular white guy in the form of Johnny Depp. Sure, sure, makes perfect goddam sense to me! I mean it's not like there are any actual Native American actors out there! Don't forget!

How?

And please remember that Depp has somehow got it in his head that he can correct the horrible portrayals over the years of Native Americans....by having another white guy portray a Native American! Wheeeee!!!

Kony 2012!
Man, where the hell were you SoCal youngsters say, oh, EIGHT FUCKING YEARS AGO?

Tre Arrow. The thorn in Portland's side. You remember? Arrow perched himself on a ledge many years ago to protest some environmental cause. Then he was sent to jail for many years for something the Feds made a new name for: eco-terrorism. Now he's out and back in Portland and running for mayor! Wait? What did I forget? Right, he climbs up a tree and for apparently three hours yells, "Portland! I am Tre......Arrow! Are you willing to love and protect your earth mother?" Over and over; lest we forget. One would probably not have the guy living in the neighborhood let alone be the mayor.

Portland's future mayor?

OF MEME, MARKLAR & SHAKESPEARE

To meme, or not to meme, that is the marklar
Marklar 'tis meme in the marklar to meme
The Marklar and Marklar of outrageous Meme
Or to marklars Marklars against a Meme of memes,
And by memeing meme marklar: to meme, to meme
No meme; and by a meme, to marklar meme end
The marklar-marklar, and the marklar Meme marklar
That Meme is marklar meme? 'Tis a marklar
Marklar to be meme. To meme to meme,
To marklar, marklar to Marklar; Marklar, there's the meme,
For in that marklar of meme, what marklar marklar marklar,
When meme have marklared off this memed coil,
Marklar give marklar marklar. There's the marklar
That makes Marklar of so marklar marklar:
For meme would bear the Meme and Meme of meme,
The Meme's marklar, the meme marklar's Meme,
The marklar of despised Meme, the Marklar’s meme,
The meme of Marklar, and the Marklar
That marklar meme of the unmeme marklars,
Meme marklar marklar might marklar Meme make
With a marklar Meme?

Of "Honest Rapes" And Abortions

These male politicians running around wanting to control women's bodies have said and/or done some pretty inhumane things over the years, but this election cycle has brought out perhaps the most inhumane statements.

The latest comes from Ron Paul, who is the darling of some because he's so anti-war; yeah, well so what? During an interview recently, Dr. Paul, who is decidedly anti-abortion, actually said this regarding abortion and rape:

"If it's an honest rape, that individual should go immediately to the emergency room, I would give them a shot of estrogen."

An honest rape? What the fuck does he mean? Later we find out, when he offers a straw man story about a woman who is seven months pregnant and wants an abortion because she was raped, well, that's a "different story". Different perhaps, but definitely what Dr. Paul considers a dishonest rape! Luckily, there are still some folks who haven't fallen under the Dr. Paul spell and can call this sort of talk for the inhumanity it is.

Another inhumane and down right dangerous comment comes from the Right's frothiest candidate, Rick Santorum. He has a plan when it comes to abortions:

"I believe that, that any doctor who performs an abortion--that--I would advocate that any doctor that performs an abortion should be criminally charged for doing so. I don't--I've never supported criminalization of abortion for mothers, but I do for people who perform them."

Apparently, Santorum makes no distinctions between honest and dishonest rapes.

The current occupant of the White House, President Obama, while a devout Christian, has tossed a few bones to his liberal admirers when it comes to abortion. While he doesn't believe that federal money should be used for abortion except in cases of rape, incest or health of the mother, he did sign an Executive Order removing barriers to responsible scientific research involving human stem cells. In his capacity as a democratic president, of course, he is obligated to uphold the Constitutional right to abortion.

And we don't know where he stands on honest or dishonest rapes.

12 Years Later Gore-ites Still Won't Let Go

This fall marks the 12th anniversary of the stolen election of 2000. Stolen, what? Well, officially, there were a lot of Gore vs. Bush and Bush vs. Gore court cases and ultimately it was the court, in this case the Supreme Court, which finally gave a ruling and ended our second long national nightmare. But that's pure obfuscation, because the election was stolen in Florida and there's little a thinking individual can do to ignore that piece of history.

In 2000, I voted for Ralph Nader and twelve years later I still get shit from Gore-ites who blame me and all others who voted for Nader as the true cause the 2000 election debacle. They ignore not only the stolen election but the fact that Al Gore lost his own home state (Tennessee) which would have made the machinations in Florida moot in regards to Gore winning the required amount of electoral votes. Did you just read that last sentence over again? Yeah, all he had to do was win Tennessee. Makes you wonder if the Republicans didn't see the Tennessee writing on the wall.

From Nader's website and I don't know the photographer.

It's YOU ARE, Stupid!

If Facebook has taught us anything, it is that people posting on the social networking site have real difficultly figuring out which words to use in certain common sentences. "Your" and "you're" may be the most often misused words. Now, for your edification and possible amusement, is a list of the most misused words.

YOUR - use: Is that YOUR gun?
YOU'RE - use: YOU'RE not going to use that gun!

COARSE - use: Don't use COARSE sandpaper to clean your gun.
COURSE - use: Of COURSE you may use my gun.

TO - use: You better go TO the gun store.
TOO - use: I will use your gun, TOO!
TOO - use: It's not TOO often you let me borrow your gun.

THERE - use: I keep my guns over THERE.
THEIR - use: It's THEIR gun you drunken fool!
THEY'RE - use: Let's rob my friends because THEY'RE not home and don't have guns.

We here at Random Thoughts... hope the preceding has been useful and informative. Otherwise, the grammar police will show up at your house and you may wind up looking like this:

 

Things We've Forgotten - What?!?

EXTRAORDINARY WARNING: Profane language used in this blog post.

(photo by Tammy Harrel-Fraley)

BP Oil Spill - oh shit! That is soooo yesterday! We all know that the ocean is so vast that it can swallow anything we cram into it like a cheap whore paid $150 to do a bukkake scene. And I'm being polite here. Have you forgotten what the fuck really happened there? Have not you seen the public service announcements paid for by BP extolling you to, please, please, please, come back to the Gulf and spend, spend, spend your enormous tourist dollars???? Oil? What oil? There's no oil in the Gulf!!!!
Why?
Because it is at the bottom of the Gulf! Bwahahahahahaa!
Please!

IT'S THE ❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚!!!

As I'm sure you have heard by now, the interweb is under attack by sinister forces which ❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚ ❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚ ❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚.

❚❚❚❚❚❚❚, ❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚ ❚ ❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚ ❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚. ❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚ ❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚❚ ❚❚❚ ❚❚❚❚❚.


< This blog post has been removed by SOPA >

Rod's Top Ten Blog Posts For 2011

The author contemplates a glass half full! (Photo credit: Tammy Harrel-Fraley)

And so we scamper toward another end of the year. If there's something more Americans like at the end of the year than reading lists, it is creating lists. Although I only started blogging last July, here are the top ten blog posts from Random Thoughts Of A Random Guy From A Random Place Up In The Sky for 2011:

1. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/10/obama-extrajudicial-mass-murderer.html
"Obama: Extra Judicial Mass Murderer" was by far the most popular blog in terms of page views. I'm pleased as I feel it is one of my best works.

2. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/11/jfk-conspiracy-proof-is-in-warren.html
"JFK CONSPIRACY-The Proof Is In The Warren Report" was one of two postings concerning the 48th anniversary of JFK's assassination.

3. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/08/strange-deadly-journey-of-navy-seal.html
"The Strange And Deadly Journey Of Navy Seal Team 6" while placing third was certainly first in the amount of comments it generated. It is one of my best on-the-spot postings.

4. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/09/in-short-stark-raving-theatre-brief.html
"In Short, A Stark Raving Theatre Brief" is my theatre memoir about the halcyon days of Stark Raving Theatre. Informative and historical, as they say.

5. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/08/presidents-who-owned-people.html
"Presidents Who Owned People" was my personal favorite. Pictures and history! I got the idea after reading a well researched article about our Presidents.

6. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/09/wall-street-protests-news-blackout.html
"Wall Street Protests News Blackout Disinformation" was one of those "I can't believe people are falling for this" postings. The interweb was abuzz with how MSM was blacking out the Occupy protests, which was completely untrue. So, this was my most informative essay toppling nasty rumors.

7. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-i-wont-vote-for-barack-obama-again.html
"Why I Won't Vote For Barack Obama Again" now here's a posting that will be used for the next 11 months!

8. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-if-there-was-book-about-you-and.html
"What If There Was A Book About You And You Didn't Know It?" oh, by far the most surprising thing to have found on the interweb. Yes, Big Brother is watching you and he wants to make a few bucks off of you, too.

9. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/11/random-thoughts-of-random-guy.html
"Random Thoughts..." is the only fiction posting to have made the list (which tears a little bit at the original writer in me).

10. http://rod-harrel.blogspot.com/2011/08/shooting-on-shoestring-budget-part-2.html
"Shooting On A Shoestring Budget, Part 2" was part of a series of postings I wrote regarding the shooting of that fabulous new short film, "Our Neighbors"!

Why Obama Wants To Veto The NDAA And Won't

There has been a great hue and cry, mostly from the left, over last week's Senate vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The usual Facebook petitions and calls to your congressperson sprang up rather quickly after the passage in the democratic controlled Senate by an astounding 93 to 7 vote. Most of these were imploring President Obama to veto the bill; which he said he would when it reaches his desk. As usual, when it comes to Obama, there is more to this story than meets the eye.

(photo via: usahitman)

Senator Lindsey Graham (Republican from South Carolina) declared: “If you’re an American citizen and you betray your country, you’re going to be held in military custody and you’re going to be questioned about what you know, and you’re not going to be given a lawyer if our national security interests dictate that you not be given a lawyer.” Yeeeee-ikes! Thankfully, there are plenty of articles which point out the real reason for the Obama veto threat and that reason is the matter of the continuing battle between the Judicial and Executive branches and has nothing to do with protecting your precious freedoms.

President Obama has already staked out his claim as extra-judicial mass murderer-in-chief and the proposed legislation is infringing upon his territory. In essence, Congress wants to codify the Executive branch illegalities which would place Obama and Company under legal restrictions it does not want! His veto is merely a threat because it can be easily overrode unless, of course, he chooses to use the pocket veto.

So, there you have it. What you don't have: any debate or statements in Congress, by the President or in the MSM defending the Constitution! They certainly don't want the American public at large to realize that they truly want to destroy the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments.

Don't you Obama loyalists realize he takes your blind, ignorant, apologist support for granted? Obama gives you loyalists no credit for the intellectual capacity to realize the true nature of his decisions. The folks at Reader Supported News (RSN) are all over the true nature of this so-called fight and point out the craven nature of both the Obama administration and Congress.

UPDATE:
Obama did not veto the bill since there was some mild language changes. So, buckle up, America! It's time to drive into the abyss of no Bill of Rights!

Walter Cronkite Was The Source Of The Core "JFK Conspiracies"

President John F. Kennedy was killed, Texas Governor John Connally and James Teague were wounded during an assassination ambush in downtown Dallas on November 22nd, 1963. The shooting occurred at approximately 12:30pm Central Standard Time (CST). CBS-TV broke into regular programming with a bulletin about ten minutes later. Since television cameras back in 1963 took nearly thirty minutes to cold start, all audiences saw were a CBS News Bulletin card and heard the voice of Walter Cronkite. He reported from the Associated Press that three shots had been fired at the motorcade and that Kennedy was "seriously wounded." Cronkite advised, to what was probably a stunned audience, "stay tuned to CBS News for further details".

Well, the "further details" that Cronkite reported during the next thirty minutes are the source material for the core "conspiracy theories" about the assassination. Yes, and not without a definite caveat dolloped on at the end! These reports, of course, disappeared from the broadcasts as the story became the arrest of the possible assassin.

Iconic Polaroid photograph taken by Mary Moorman.

Below, I have transcribed the relevant portions from a recording of the actual broadcast.

12:40pm CST (all times approximate)

CBS breaks into regular programming with a special report by Walter Cronkite, voice only over a “CBS Bulletin”  logo.

Only twenty minutes after the assassination, Cronkite is reporting about the discovery of two possible assassins: a man and a woman! Rarely reported in pro-conspiracy books and articles and not at all in the anti-conspiracy one, this odd imagery, as it were, would be repeated five years later with the assassination of Robert Kennedy. Also, the infamous grassy knoll makes its first appearance.

12:50pm CST

CRONKITE: After these three loud bursts of gunshot, Dallas motorcycle officers escorting the president quickly leaped from their bikes and raced up a grassy hill. At the top of the hill a man and woman appeared huddled on the ground. In the turmoil it has been impossible so far to determine whether the Secret Service and Dallas Police returned the gunfire that struck down Kennedy and Connally, or whether this couple at the top of the hill, crouched down in their inert forms as the police rushed them were the would-be assassins.

This report contains the first overt mention of shot(s) coming from the grassy knoll and automatic weapon fire. Also, he is reporting "a crowd" surrounding the previously mentioned couple.

12:57pm CST

CRONKITE: Some of the Secret Service Agents thought the gunfire, however, was from an automatic weapon fired to the right rear of the Chief Executive’s car. Possibly from a grassy knoll. And that’s that knoll to which motorcycle policemen were seen racing and where the huddled figures of a man and a woman were seen on the ground with a crowd surrounding them. Which suggests of course, that perhaps, this is where the shots came from. This we do not know as yet positively.

The CBS network now switches to its local affiliate in Dallas. The first report of a Secret Service agent in the President's motorcade being killed is aired.

1:03pm CST

Reporters from Dallas station KLRD-

EDDIE BARKER: One of the Secret Service Agents who was riding with the President was killed. Is that correct?

DICK ?: That is the report at this moment.

BARKER: Dick, has there been any report as to whether or not the assassin was apprehended?

DICK ?: Nothing on the apprehension as yet…

1:06pm CST

Still from Dallas station KLRD.

BARKER: Uh, the report is that the attempted assassins, we now hear that it was a man and woman, who fired the shots, were on the ledge of a building near the Houston Street underpass. Uh, just from memory, that would put…

After this interesting bit of news, a major confirmation of what Cronkite had reported less than twenty minutes earlier, Barker is cut off and the image returns to CBS news headquarters in New York and Walter Cronkite.

CRONKITE: That was a report from Eddie Barker at our affiliate KLRD in Dallas, Texas.

1:11pm CST

Back to Dallas and the caveat of unconfirmed stories, however the reporting of the death of a Secret Service agent continued.

BARKER: As you can imagine there are many stories that are coming in now as to the actual condition of the President. One is that he is dead. This cannot be confirmed. Another is that Gov. Connelly is in the operating room. This we have not confirmed. Another is, and apparently this is correct, that one of the Secret Service Agents, whose job it was to guard the life of the President was killed in his line of duty. The President was whisked from the scene of the attempted assassination, or assassination, depending upon his condition of course at this hour, by bus to Parkland Hospital…

Walter Cronkite reads the official bulletin of JFK's death. (photo source: obrag.org)

As these initial reports quietly disappeared, even the reports about the heroic dead Secret Service agent, Cronkite eventually reported the awful, obvious news about Kennedy.

1:38pm CST

CRONKITE: From Dallas, Texas, the flash, apparently official: "President Kennedy died at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time." 2 o'clock Eastern Standard Time, some 38 minutes ago.

We Hold These Truths...

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

THAT Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin who killed John F. Kennedy and wounded Governor John Connally and James Teague; in spite of the fact "he" stayed at the assassin window for several seconds, ran in a direction away from the exit to secret "his" rifle, ran to the exit, down five flights of stairs, go into the lunch room, buy a coke from the machine and then be confronted by a Dallas Police officer only 90 seconds after the last shot.

THAT the Gulf Of Tonkin Incident, which got us in a shootin' war with them Viet Cong, actually happened; in spite of the fact, revealed years later, that it did not happen.

THAT Sirhan Sirhan was the lone assassin who killed Robert Kennedy and wounded six other people; in spite of the fact that he was standing in front of Kennedy, whose wounds were all from the back.

THAT James Earl Ray was the lone assassin who killed Martin Luther King; in spite of the fact that King's son doesn't believe it is true.

THAT Watergate was just a third rate burglary.

THAT the United States had nothing to do with the hostage crisis in 1979-80.

THAT the John Lennon shooting was the work of a lone gunman.

THAT the Ronald Reagan shooting was the work of a lone gunman.

THAT all the wars of the Reagan/Bush era were merely unending coincidences that had no relation to each other at all, step away nothing to see here.

THAT the Waco fire was a mere tragic accident.

THAT lying about who sucked your cock is a high crime and misdemeanor.

THAT the presidential election of 2000 was fair and balanced.

THAT September 11th was achieved by box cutter wielding terrorists hired by Saddam Hussien, no wait, Osama bin Ladin, well you get the idea.

THAT the presidential election of 2004 was fair and balanced (see above).

THAT it is okay for a private corporation called the Federal Reserve to print worthless money and sell it to the United States government and charge interest.

THAT we must pepper spray peaceful protesters.

THAT we must pepper spray peaceful protesters who think Wall Street is corrupt.

The Portland Police/Occupy Portland Lament

[with apologizes to Lennon-McCartney]

I'm so tired
I haven't slept a wink
I'm so tired
My mind is on the blink
I wonder should I get down
Pepper spray another fink
Yeah, yeah, yeah

I'm so tired
I don't know who to berate
I'm so tired
My club is set on you ape
Thanks to you filthy hippies
I was late to another call of rape
Yeah, yeah, yeah

The Mayor he's been putting you on
Well it's no joke
He's doing you harm
You know I can't sleep, I can't stop my brain
You know it's three weeks, I'm going insane
Funny how the media don't notice we cover our badges and names

I'm so tired
I'm feeling so upset
Although I'm so tired
Put out that cigarette
And curse Sir Walter Raleigh
You deserve everything you get
Yeah, yeah, yeah

The Mayor he's been putting you on
Well it's no joke
He's doing you harm
You know I can't sleep, I can't stop my brain
You know it's three weeks, I'm going insane
Funny how the media don't notice we cover our badges and names
Funny how the media don't notice we cover our badges and names
Funny how the media don't notice we cover our badges and names

Portland Mayor Sam Adams walks with members of the police. (photo source: seattlepi)

THE JFK CONSPIRACY: The Proof Is In The Warren Report

I believe it is safe to say that no one will ever be arrested, let alone tried and convicted, of deed or complicity, in the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22nd, 1963. Mainly because almost all of them are dead. It is unlikely that a notarized document from Oswald or a member of the military/industrial complex exclaiming, "Yes, I shot that son of bitch Kennedy dead!" will suddenly be discovered. Yet, even a cursory examination of the available evidence reveals that a coup d'état was accomplished in America that day.

It is easy to forget, given the distance in time of almost 50 years, that almost every conspiracy theory began with the publication of the very document created to refute conspiracy: The Warren Report.
More importantly, even though the Report's conclusion was that a lone assassin fired three shots from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository building, the evidence included in the Report completely refutes its own conclusion!

What I would like to do is focus on three examples of evidence which explicitly show that the official version is incorrect and hence a conspiracy in the truest sense of the word did exist. With this knowledge we can see that a coup did happen and we as a people and as a nation have suffered from the repercussions that reverberate to this day. To begin, let us look at the well worn official version of the assassination in Dallas, Texas. President Kennedy, his wife Jackie, Texas Governor John Connally and his wife Nellie were riding in an open air convertible as part of a motorcade through downtown Dallas.

The presidential motorcade in downtown Dallas. Left to right: Texas Governor John Connally, his wife Nellie, President John F. Kennedy, his wife Jackie.