Woodward and Bernstein wrote another book, Nixon, the Final Days, that covered the period up to the resignation.

Legendary New York Times writer and reporter, Jack Anderson, believed that the Mafia killed Kennedy.

Joe Kennedy, JFK's father, had an old mob pal from his bootlegging times, Sam Giancanna, Chicago Mafia boss, fix the election for JFK but JFK was not to to know anything about it. Then, after he won the election, JFK, with RFK, came after the Mafia trying to break the organization and put its leaders in jail. Because the Mafia got JFK elected - which JFK or RFK, according to Joe Kennedy's wishes, knew nothing about - they considered the Kennedies' campaign against them a double cross.

The CIA, either by Eisenhower or JFK, was given a presidetial order to assasinate Castro. When they were given that order the CIA did what they always did from when they were the OSS. When the OSS needed a domestic intelligence network in WW II they went to and partnered with the Mafia because they already had one in place and when they needed some thuggery done - some sabotage or assasinations or what have you - they went to the Mafia as well. Similarly, when they needed to kill Castro the Mafia was their hired gun.

By Jack Anderson's account, the Mafia then, instead of carrying out their orders, approached Castro, told him of what they were hired to do and offered to, instead of kill Castro for Kennedy, to kill Kennedy for Castro. Then, by the same account, came Castro's famous speech in which he said, "It has recently come to my attention that the President of the United States is trying to have me assasinated. Two can play at that game." The rest, as they say, is history.

Another investigator of the assasination, who I heard interviewed by Tom Snyder but whose name I don't recall, also concluded that the Mafia killed JFK. Initially he thought that was an outlandish idea and that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. As the investigation progressed, however, he became ever increasingly convinced that the Mafia was behind it until, as he said, he became afraid to start his car in the morning.

In the 70's I was a member of the Teamsters for a Democratic Union or TDU. We fought a very uphill battle against very pervasive union corruption in the Teamsters' international and locals. It was not until the government put the international into receivership that that really began to remit. It was not until then that the rank and file members could vote for the international's president. Only local presidents did that at a convention. The corrupt local officials kept control of their unions with a very Weyerichian strategy of keeping the vast majority of rank and file members unaware, oft times, that a union election was even taking place while their own flunkies showed up and voted.

After the international was placed in receivership and rank and file members could vote TDU was able to get Ron Carey elected. The first time James Hoffa jr. ran for international president he chose as his running mate a very corrupt local president from Chicago, Bill Hogan. Hogan eventually got banned from union activity for life by the IRB for taking kickbacks to use temporary workers from a temporary staffing service that his brother had a stake in rather than Teamster members for a job in Las Vegas.

For a good description of the Teamsters up until the 70s - which includes a description of Hoffa jr. - I recommend The Teamsters, the Men, the Money and the Mob by Stephen Brill.

The uber-rich..ie: those who have over $33 million...shelter their money in offshore tax-avoidance havens. About 100,000 wealthy US citizens and even many of those who aren't quite as wealthy...who have anywhere from $21 trillion to $32 trillion stashed away in those overseas banks hiding money from the IRS. The IRS loses about $100 billion in taxes every year because of these people. And that $21 trillion to $32 trillion is just deposits in offshore bank accounts...that doesn't even include the hidden assets in other offshore investments. But did you know that wealthy people in other countries also us the US banking system to hide their money from their government's tax system?

And while corporations refuse to pay their fair share of taxes, other corporations are going around trying to fleece people out of what little money they have left.

There is one corporation that buys old debt, and much of that is way beyond the 7 year SOL, at 3 cents on the dollar and pesters the heck out of people by robo-calling and then by making all kinds of threats and pumping you for personal information (so I hear-tell...I have never actually answered any of these calls but have learned about them on the internet).

I have never defaulted on a loan or payment to anyone and they obviously have a wrong number...and I won't confirm or deny who I am..whether or not they have called the wrong number...nor will I even listen to anything they have to say..nor give them any information at all....it is just not their business and many scam operations try to squeeze out any little bit of information about you that they can.

I am not a legal professional by any means and I am not giving you legal advise but...Give them nothing...nada..unless you ask them to not call anymore otherwise you will report them for harassment...in fact, if you are pestered by these people...you might want to think about getting a new number, unlisted, id-blocking, and get a phone that displays the telephone number of the incoming caller..and some also display the name of the caller. But if you get a new number...remember that the new number was probably used by someone else before you got it and this might be the reason why you are getting strange calls from these people...they think you are that someone else. But, don't help these corporate maggots out...don't even confirm or deny anything just hang up or not answer at all. In fact, you would be the least committal in not even answering or have dialog with them....there is no law that says you have to be home to answer your calls.

And another reason why it is a good idea to have id-blocking...criminals often call to see if anyone is home before they try to break in. If you answer...they know you are at home...if you never answer...they never really know and if they try to break in....you will be there to call the police.

Frys sells a small device that costs $19.95 made by AT&T that you can hook up between your telephone line and the phone and it saves any attempted calls (the phone numbers and names of the caller) you get. Before the device works you have to call the phone company and ask for that service for which they will charge you a small extra amount each month....it is well worth it....and it has been such a relief.

When someone calls, before picking up, just look at the device and verify that it is from someone you know. Have a list of all phone numbers of people you want to talk to..and just don't answer the phone from someone you don't know. Don't worry..no one is ever going to call you and tell you you have won a million dollars unless it is a scam. It just doesn't happen. And if you really did win they would not stop at just a phone call to notify you.

And never answer from any caller called "Portfolio Recovery"....do a search on the internet to verify who they are and just how they operate....and do a reverse telephone number lookup on that number and you will see that this organization calls from area codes all around the nation and many people are complaining about being harassed by these people. Since the device records something like up to 50 numbers...you can always call someone back later if you realize that you really did want to talk to them.

We were taught to be nice to people...to answer the phone politely...to be civil. But, the crooks and criminals who would empty your bank account count on you being polite and civil...they count on you being gullible. If you want to protect yourself...trust no one...and stop being so nice. Don't say "please" or "I'm sorrry but..." just don't say anything and just hang up on those sorry scamsters. If they ask "is this so and so?" Don't confirm it...instead ask "Who are you or who's calling?" Try to confirm their identity before you confirm yours. If it is a valid call then you are ok...if it is not...and you confirmed that you are, in fact, so-and-so then you have just given the enemy..the potential criminal after your money...a piece of information that could be used against you. The Social Engineers are alive and well and pump you for the tiniest bits of information that they can eventually put together to screw you over.

Lori Wallach fills in peices of the complicated puzzle that confounds most Americans. With corporte control of most of the media, and the propaganda that divides us as a people, I am not optimistic that most Americans will ;ever understand what has happened. It may be too late.

Yeah and keep off the ocean and waterways with your leaky engines and bilgewater and Norwalk virus cruises.

When I first read this blog subject I was a little taken aback by the apparent slight on the term "social groups" thinking... what are Thom and/or Louis doing here..joining the right-wing propagandists? But these "social groups" are made up of both left-leaning and right-leaning supporters. And it is the very wealthy right-leaning supporters of the right-wing social groups that are outspending the left-leaning groups by quite a lot.

Beware of names or titles of organizations that sound liberal, or progressive, or even Democrat...many of these organizations are front groups for right-wing groups.

501(c)(4) — Civic Leagues, Social Welfare Organizations, and Local Associations of Employees
501(c)(6) — Business Leagues, Chambers of Commerce, Real Estate Boards, etc.
--wikipedia

" 47 individuals gave more than $ 1 million to Super PACs, which accounted for more than half of the amount raised from individuals.
Ninety-four percent of donations came from less than 0.00035% of the population.
Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam have donated $36 million to Super PACs. According to Lioz, this is just 0.15% of their net worth, and middle class individuals would need to give just $113 to contribute the same percentage. That means it would take more than 321,000 middle class individuals giving at that same percentage to donate as much as the Adelsons."

".. though Super PACs have garnered significant attention in the 2012 race, groups that are not required to disclose their information to the FEC may significantly outspend Super PACs. According to estimates collected for the report, these nonprofits are expected to spend up to $900 million on this year's election. Super PACs thus far have raised $312 million for this election."

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2012/08/demos-us-pirg-rep...

"In terms of party allegiance, conservative "social welfare" groups outspent liberal groups $78 million to $16 million, nearly 5-to-1, according to the analysis."

"Three of these Republican-leaning C4 organizations made up for the bulk of the campaign money spent, including Crossroads GPS, which is run by former Bush administration operative Karl Rove. Crossroads GPS spent $17 million alone in the 2010 midterm election cycle where there weren't presidential candidates on the ballot."

"...Crossroads GPS emphasized that they were a grassroots organization with language that made them look like a "social welfare" advocacy group that hadn't spent huge sums on Republican-based political attack ads and were gearing up for the 2012 elections with more undisclosed money for more attack ads. Yet, the IRS rules strictly say that a C4 organization can be involved in "some political activities, so long as that is not its primary activity." Is the public really supposed to believe that Mr. Rove and his associates do not plan to spend the rest of this year, as they did in the election of 2010, running political advertisements as their "primary" activity?"

http://truth-out.org/news/item/10162-thumbing-their-noses-at-us-election...

Your tone is offensive sir.maybe if you had a brain you would understand what this blog is about.!

There's the "if only" again! If only capitalism were we'll regulated, then it would work. Well, IT WAS well regulated for decades and look where it gotten us. Accelerating unfettered destruction of the planet's resources and atmosphere. Violations of human rights so numerous even in our own country that we may never undo them while fear-mongering lamestream media instills suspicion and hatred at an unprecedented pace. Concentrated Animal Farming Operations (CAFO's) abusing livestock, spewing out toxic waste and superbugs faster than we can comprehend, let alone combat, all in the name of "cheap food" to fuel our mindless gluttony and make more obscene profits for the greedy.

We are long overdue for an egalitarian system that focuses wise and sustainable use of resources while intelligently curbing population growth through the best quality education for all.

If well regulated, capitalism can work. But as economist Richard Wolff has said, corporate big business will just resume their campaign to turn back regulation again as they always do. That being true, the regulation needs to be in stone!

Since we probably won't have regulation in stone, we need some other economic system.

If a company pollutes our natural resources without our consent then they are guilty of environmental damages at the very least. Bigger yet is that these companies use waste management companies to deal with the waste and that means contracts, legal signed contracts only signed by two parties and not three, which makes them all illegal and unbinding contracts since they fail to include the real owners of the air, water, environment, animals, land, us the 99%ers. So where are the lawyers, politicans, cops because these actions are criminal and someone needs to go to jail besides the non violent tax paying pot smoking voters.

Gordon Lightfoot Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

Wreck Of The U.S. Postal Service

Our Postal Service was founded in 1775 with Benjamin Franklin being our first Post Master.

The Postal Service is in trouble because of a 2006- law that requires the Postal Service to pre-fund the cost of retiree’s benefits for the next 75 years in 10 years time.

o other company or agency in America is required to do this.

n June 2011 legislation was introduced which will be the Wisconsin of the Postal Service if it becomes law. It will dismantle collective bargaining and forbid payment of severance pay to retirement-eligible employees. And reduce delivery services and close plants and post offices.

Another bill which would prevent the financial collapse of the USPS – without closing thousands of post offices, eliminating hundreds of mail processing facilities, delaying mail delivery, laying off 120,000 workers, cutting postal workers’ pay, or ending collective bargaining rights.

We are in the fight of our lives but people have voted wrong for too long and done nothing to help preserve their jobs over the years. People tell me it doesn’t matter what we do as we are doomed anyway.

Their mind is made up even before the studies are done.

All we can do is say we went down trying to keep our Eagle from drowning to keep service for the American people and jobs and benefits for the workers.

Many people will never give up until all services that help us including the Postal Service are bled and dead. Common sense is not in the makeup to improve the economy, only the rich get richer and the poor poorer.

Private companies will not deliver to the rural areas or inner cities and the elderly will not get their medications.

We will have a museum of our defunct Postal Service.

Many of those people seeking a mortgage were encouraged to lie...the mortgage brokers suggested amounts to put down on the forms. I know, because they were doing this back 30 years ago when I applied for a mortgage loan. I also have a relative who worked as a loan officer who said that pressure from up the corporate chain was put on them to do this even though he had a guilty conscience about it...but, in order to keep his job, all he could do is keep his mouth shut about people applying for loans, who really couldn't afford it, and sell them on getting the loan...even if it meant fudging the income and debt figures. And it is common knowledge, now, that many loan officers were fudging figures in order to get the loans approved. Plus they had very deceptive loans that squeezed many people into the loans fully knowing that the rates would go up making people lose their homes. This was a big scam, and people up the corporate ladder knew exactly what they were doing. Gangsters have taken over this country and the politicians can't, or won't, do anything about it.

So, you can't really blame most of the people who relied on the expertise of getting a mortgage loan..the mortgage companies used high-pressure psychology to make people believe that there would never be any ceiling to the value of houses..and that they had better "buy now"..."never a better time to buy"...etc....the blame should be solidly placed on the mortgage companies and the politicians (Republican and Democrat) who allowed this to happen.

You very well may be right in theory, but you have left out one factor in your presentation. The main problem is not which theory to use on utilizing a Gaussian Bell curve or other type of mathematical formula, the real problem lies in the fact the information provided in applying for a mortgage was not accurate, and therefore the outcome would still have been incorrect using the Bell curve or any other mathematical theory. The numbers were "cooked" on most of the information submitted by the people applying for the loans, therefor would not have given an accurate graph to base any increments upon to foresee the future analysis. Many of the people who applied for the loans that failed did not have the capital to pay the higher interest payments as the rates matured (they lied about income) and were counting on perpetual borrowing as time passed and the debt payments increased. The middle men and the banks on Wall St. knew the scheme would eventually self-destruct, and that is why they hid the truth from the world by creating complex derivatives that nobody understood. Thus creating a worldwide catastrophe in the financial world. People all over the world were duped into buying these derivatives under the p.o.v. Wall St. must know what they are doing, and they did! They were going for a quick profit and to hell with tomorrow. Millionaires were made over night; the Wall St. boys actually hit the road(s) and flew all over the World selling these unsound derivatives as quickly as possible. And it worked for their scheme to get "richer quicker". A mathematical formula is only as good as the information used to calculate the Bell curve or graph. In this case the information was generally false. And, the good old boys on Wall St. are at it again with buying up the titles on leased vehicles and hiding them in more derivatives to sell to the public and possibly create another disaster. Will we never learn these bastards can never be trusted?