The origins of Civil Assistance? In the UK in 1974-75 a number of ‘private armies’ appeared, linked to retired senior military and intelligence figures. There were General Sir Walter Walker’s Civil Assistance, Colonel David Stirling’s GB75, and George Young’s Unison. (1) These groups formed in order to frustrate the impact of strike action in the … Read more
Rodney Stich Diablo Western Press, USA, 1994 The first thing to be said is that this is a huge (650 pages), fascinating book; and I recommend it. It is really three stories interwoven. The first section describes the author’s experience of trying to alert the American civil aviation industry, then the politicians and then the … Read more
How public relations became the cutting edge of corporate power David Miller and William Dinan London: Pluto, 2008; £45 h/b and £14.99 p/b This is big stuff, ambitious and wide-ranging with an enormous amount packed into 180 pages of text (with 50 pages of notes, tables and index). Many books are too long: this is … Read more
Books Secret Contenders Melvin Beck (Sheridan Square Publications, US 1984) The CIA Christmas party of 1958 found 48 year old all-American boy, Melvin Beck, getting the offer of overseas work with Clandestine Services. He “struck like a hungry bass” and landed in Havana in 1959, just as the first Russian freighter was arriving. Fairly early … Read more
When falsehoods are bared, we have to be alert to those that will take their place as well as the ones that remain concealed.(1) At the time of writing (October 2004), the deluge of media coverage on the false justifications for the Iraq war – now understandably giving way to greater anxieties about the well-being … Read more
Destiny Betrayed: JFK, Cuba and the Garrison Case James DiEugenio Sheridan Square Press, New York, 1992 Scott Newton The JFK industry continues to flourish. One of its most recent as well as more interesting products is DiEugenio’s study of the assassination and the Garrison Commission. The book has its flaws and recycles a good deal … Read more
Tim Rifat Century Books, London, 1999 £17.99 I was enormously disappointed to discover that this non-fiction book, which has printed on its cover, ‘The History and Science of Psychic Warfare and Spying’, not only lacks an index, it contains no meaningful references. Occasionally the reader comes across some scant footnotes; but the bulk of the … Read more
Introduction: While my piece on CIA and DoD psychic research was awaiting publication in Lobster 30, the CIA went public on its interest in so-called Remote Viewing (RV).(1) As a result much new information has been obtained. This piece should be read in conjunction with the piece in Lobster 30. At the time of the … Read more
The assassinations of the 1960s A recently discovered sound recording of the assassination of Robert Kennedy shows that there was indeed a second shooter in the room. At least 13 shots were fired according to the analysis by Philip Van Praag, an expert in the ‘forensic analysis of magnetic media recordings’. Sirhan Sirhan’s gun could … Read more
See also: Part 2 in Lobster 38 ‘In any event, and whatever certain people in a certain department in the CIA may have been after, as far as the work of the Congress was concerned the perceived need to be perpetually “of the Left and on the Left” led sometimes to grotesque intellectual contortions.'(1) The … Read more
