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120 of 125 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read For True Patriots, April 16, 2003
This review is from: The Assassinations: Probe Magazine on JFK, MLK, RFK, and Malcolm X (Paperback)
If you want to read the most current knowledge about the truth of the political assassinations of the 1960's this is the book to read. The Assassinations is a collection of the best articles to appear in a little know publication called Probe magazine from 1994 to 2000. These articles were written by serious citizen researchers who invested the time and money doing the work our major news media failed to do--that is to sift through the many new declassified documents about the assassinations that have become available during the past decade. With an introduction by Judge Joe Brown of TV fame the book is filled with in depth articles that you won't read anywhere else. Examples of offerings include Professor Donald Gibson discussing how de-classified telephone transcripts from the early Johnson Presidency in the days after Nov. 22, 1963 show us how the Warren Commission was created, and for what purpose. John Armstrong has spent years of his life devoted to the study of Lee Harvey Oswald. Here Armstrong shows us that there was much more to the Oswald story than we were ever told. Radiologist David Mantik has spent many more hours studying the JFK autopsy x-rays than did any offical government investigating body. Mantik has submitted the x-rays to sophisitcated tests unavailable during the 1960's and 70's and has proven that the x-rays now in the National Archives are forgeries. Lisa Pese fleshes out the details of the RFK murder that have never been published before. James Douglass explains how a 1999 civil trial in Memphis proved beyond any doubt that our very government executed a man whose birthday it honors with a national holiday. And much, much more. Perhaps the most enlightening and disturbing part of the book is the section titled, "The Failure of the Fourth Estate." Here the reader will learn why the news media never informed you about any of this information. You will learn of the all too cozy relationship that exists between our mainstream news media and the U.S. government intelligence agencies. You will learn specific names of well known journalists who got their stories cleared with intelligence agencies before writing, and who acted as government informants and "propaganda assets." The book closes with a thoughtful afterword by one of the editors, James DiEugenio, who places the assassinations in their political context and explains how they impacted our lives and changed the course of our collective history. This book is not for those who practice the superficial, shallow, "my country right or wrong", flag-waving type of patriotism so in vogue these days. This book is for true patriots who care about their country and aren't afraid to look straight into it's ugly, evil side. This book is for those who want to learn from the past and want to understand when and how the United States began to go from being a much loved beacon of democracy to becoming a loathed and feared nation. This book is for patriots who want to help ensure that we once again return to having a government " of the people, by the people and for the people."
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44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The People's Report on the Assassinations of the 1960s, March 11, 2003
This review is from: The Assassinations: Probe Magazine on JFK, MLK, RFK, and Malcolm X (Paperback)
When a concerned citizen reviews the publications of official government investigations of the major assassinations of the 1960s, they are faced with a maze of truths, half-truths, and conclusions, both reasonable and indefensible. The single consistent theme that emerges is that when Power Lies, it does so with Authority. It also does so with the full cooperation of the Media, whose livelihood depends on ready access to power. The best we can probably hope for now is the simple release of information without comment, where (most of) the documents are made available to the public, and it is left up to them to make sense out of it. This is a job that will go on for many, many years, but Probe got a running start at it. Probe Magazine was the publication of CTKA (Citizens for Truth in the Kennedy Assassinations). The group was formed in the wake of the release of Oliver Stone's movie, by a group of men and women, mostly critics from years before, but some new to the issue. I was fortunate enough to be there for some of the early meetings of this group of motivated individuals, but was little more than a fellow consumer when it came to their publication. But what a publication it was. Accomplished professionals, and individuals with highly developed and specialized knowledge of the case came together to produce articles of breathtaking depth and analysis on a bimonthly basis. Not only did they delve deeper into the JFK case, they also expanded their focus to include the other assassinations of the 1960s and events peripheral to them - the understanding of which helps to put these cases in their proper historical perspective. From one issue to the next, the material just continued to improve. Then, when Lisa Pease joined the effort, her intellectual strength, and energy of commitment helped to spark the project into heights likely not imagined during the organization's humble beginnings. Then, perhaps most amazing to me, they just sustained that greatness until they could go no longer, and stopped publication. As a result, Probe became a small monthly with wide influence, and deservedly so. I read every issue cover to cover, and saved every last one of them, but I still bought this book, not only for its new material, but perhaps more importantly, for the index that serves to convert this amazing project from great history paper to definitive reference - The People's Report on the Assassinations of the 1960s. This is a report that is rational and honest, and not written for political expediency or to cover anyone's behind, which makes it the best reference on the topic available. Probe was the product of maximum effort by a few individuals over a relatively short period that produced a result of historical proportions. If you missed it the first time, you definitely do not want to miss it this time. If you were a Probe reader the first time around, this book still demands a prominent place on your bookshelf.
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44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential Reading, July 25, 2003
This review is from: The Assassinations: Probe Magazine on JFK, MLK, RFK, and Malcolm X (Paperback)
Besides the furious establishment media counterattack, Oliver Stone's JFK lead to the release of long surpressed documents and evidence and the re-flowering of research and publishing concerning JFK's assassination. Probe was the best journal to come out of the post-JFK enlightenment. It is now, sadly, defunct but Feral House has published an anthology of Probe's best articles, some revised and expanded, along with some new work. The Assassinations is edited, as was Probe, by James DiEugenio and Lisa Pease. James DiEugenio is the author of Destiny Betrayed: JFK, Cuba and the Garrison Case, and he also provides a commentary track on a recent DVD reissue of Stone's JFK. The anthology covers the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, and Malcolm X with over half of the 677 page paperback volume dedicated to JFK. Some of The Assassinations highlights: John Armstrong's research into the "Two Oswalds." If you've been a student of the Kennedy assassination for 37 years, your mind is seldom blown. Enter John Armstrong. Armstrong's argues and offers proof of two Oswalds walking among us since childhood. Lisa Pease on the CIA's Prince of Darkness, James Jesus Angleton. James DiEugenio and Bill Davy on the Garrison investigation. Some researchers avert their eyes when Garrison's name is mentioned. No such embarrassment here. Clay Shaw's perjury and his CIA connections are revealed in detail. John Newman on Oswald and the CIA. Dr. Gary Aguilar's brilliant analysis of the magic bullet. Aguilar is your best guide through the briar patch of medical evidence. No tangles or scratches, guaranteed. An essential section on the media's complicity in the cover-up, with an emphasis on the Garrison investigation. The clear and highly readable writing in this anthology is based on meticulous research into the recent disclosures of long suppressed documents and other evidence. Although the fresh material is shocking it is also, in a sense, liberating. You see behind the lies, the propaganda, the disinformation. You don't have to be a longtime student of the bloody politics of the sixties to appreciate the many riches in this volume. The Assassinations is an essential addition to the literature on our secret history. [This review is adapted from my longer review in The Anderson Valley Advertiser (May 21, 2003)]
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