An Interesting Story from Trump's Past Should Serve as a Warning to the CIA

by Nomad

In my pursuit of something new, I often go back to something old. In this case, to May 1991. I found an article written by the late Christopher Byron, a veteran financial writer of Wall Street and all of the 1990s shenanigans that went on. In this piece published in New York Magazine (May 1991), Trump plays only a cameo appearance.

The piece is, in fact, about a New York investigative agency, Kroll Associates. Based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City the firm had specialized in digging up dirt in the world of finance.

In the 1980s, corporations would consult Kroll regarding in investors, suitors and takeover targets. "with special attention to any perceived connections to disreputable organizations, suspicious business practices, personality and integrity issues, or any kind of corporate malfeasance " The CIA of Wall Street, you could say.

Its founder, Jules Kroll, recalled a short tale of his encounter with businessman Donald Trump. 

Byron wrote:

Donald Trump.. told me that he had once used Kroll for "a certain matter" and that the investigator's work had been "superb."

"You can quote me on that," said Trump.

A week or so later, however, Kroll himself supplied an unexpected reason for Trump's thumbs-up endorsement. According to Jules, Trump hired Kroll Associates four or five years ago to investigate whether Atlantic City's Plaza casino which Trump was negotiating to buy, had become "mobbed up."

"It was a tough assignment," said Kroll, shaking his head. "One of the people we interviewed was murdered three days after we spoke to him."

How Rudy Giuliani is Keeping His Poisonous Legacy Alive with Donald Trump's Campaign

by Nomad

The other day, the New York Times gave this warning to former New York City mayor and avid Trump supporter, 72-year-old Rudy Giuliani:
Rudy's ardent support for Mr. Trump could come at a cost to his legacy.

That's what happens, I suppose, when you attempt to defend indefensible things. Former Giuliani aides, the article claims, are concerned about their ex-boss' unquestioning loyalty to the Republican nominee.

They cited his unsubstantiated questioning of Hillary Clinton’s mental and physical health.  He has also championed Trump's promise to build an “impenetrable physical wall” on the country’s southern border and to severely restrict immigration from Muslim countries. (When Trump was pressed for specifics, he began to sound more and more supportive of what is presently being done by the Obama administration.) 

So strident - some would say delirious- has been Giuliani's support for Trump, the editorial boards of some newspapers have raised the possibility that Rudy is "unhinged."

But then, in this election, how on earth could you know? 

Mob Control: Do Trump's Mafia Connections Reflect His Lack of Ethics and Accountability?

by Nomad

Any presidential candidate should expect some in-depth scrutiny about his business relationships. In Donald Trump's case, his past contact with the Mafia opens up a lot of questions.

As a rule, front-runner presidential candidate Donald Trump likes to denigrate reporters who report things he doesn't like. Or things he doesn't want the public to become aware of.
As an egomaniac, he likes to be in control of the message. And the message must always display the positive side of the Trump story.

For instance, when New York journalist Wayne Barrett published an unauthorized biography of Trump, Trump blasted the author and his reputation.
Insinuating that the author was on some kind of personal vendetta, Trump called Barrett “a second-rate writer who has had numerous literary failures" and his book "boring, non-factual, and highly inaccurate.”

In fact, Barret has been an investigative reporter and senior editor for the Village Voice for over 20 years. Trump might try to paint Barrett as some kind of tabloid columnist but Barrett is currently a Fellow at the Nation Institute and contributor to Newsweek.

Barrett's bio reads:

He has been an adjunct at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism for years, teaching courses on investigative and political reporting, as well as advising students on investigative projects.

In addition, Barrett was awarded the 1990 Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Alumni Award as well as numerous other journalism prizes.

As far as the book, James B. Stewart, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, has called it "exhaustively researched"a penetrating portrait" and "the definitive account of how Trump got ahead and why he fell." If Trump fell, he was not too badly bruised or otherwise traumatized.

Trump might think otherwise or he might wish the rest of the world to think Barrett is "second-rate" but Barrett is no hack. Not any more than Trump is a failed real estate mogul.

Of course, the tycoon-turned presidential candidate has every reason to consider the author a threat and was apparently ready to silence him. 

Here's How Trump Dealt with Little People Who Stood In His Way

by Nomad

A 27-year-old exposé about Donald Trump sheds some light on the character of the man who is today running for president.

Back in 1989, real estate mogul, Donald Trump worked extremely hard to keep the public from seeing the expose film, Trump: What's the Deal?
He did everything in his power to suppress its release.
It's easy to see why he thought it would damage the image he had spent years crafting. 

The battle between Trump and the producers of this documentary included public insults and threats of lawsuits and involved PR firms and dozens of attorneys. The primary financier of the project was business mogul Leonard Norman Stern, so it was something of a war of Manhattan titans. For the full story of that war, click here.

Fascism Made in the USA: The Night Nazis Fought on the Streets of New York City

by Nomad

The United States has had its share of fascist groups that have come and gone. One of those was the American Nazi Party, the Bund Party. Here's the story of its 1939 rally and how it led to its collapse. 

A "Pro-American" Rally

On The night of 20 February 1939, something occurred that became an interesting footnote in American history. Today it is mostly a forgotten bit of the history of New York City. And for many, it could be a period they would rather not recall.

That evening, Madison Square Garden was the venue for the American- German Bund party Washington's Day celebration, hosted by American-German Bund party. 

You may not be familiar with the Bund party, it was better known as the American Nazi party. 

Advertised as a "Pro-American Rally" it was attended by somewhere between 17,000 and 22,000. It was one of the largest gatherings of American Nazis of its time.

From the photographs of the event, there were the usual Nazi rally fixtures, flags, the swastikas, and uniforms. In order to establish its brand as true blue American, a forty-foot portrait of George Washington graced the stage. That was more than just window dressing. The organization had declared that Washington was "the first Fascist" who did not believe democracy would work. 

The meeting opened with a salute to the flag and the playing of the "Star-Spangled Banner." (It was to end with the Nazi anthem, however.)

Here's Why Rudy Giuliani Would Rather Talk about Black-on-Black Crime than Ferguson

by Nomad

Remarks on the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri by Rudy Giuliani have caused a bit of a stir in the media. Some have charged him with showing his racist side. For those who know Giuliani's record as mayor of New York, nothing he has said is much of a surprise.

Rudy's Rude Remarks

As the former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani  earned a reputation as a hard-as-nails tough guy who cleaned up the city of crime. It's an image he likes to promote and it plays well with his conservative base. So when he was asked to comment on the recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, his remarks were bound to be blunt and to hit a nerve with some people. If that was his intention, then he certainly succeeded. 

On a TV news show, he told a black reporter that white police officers wouldn't be in black communities if "you weren't killing each other" and that "there is virtually no homicide in the white community." The word "you" is presumably short for "you black people."

The fact is that I find it very disappointing that you're not discussing the fact that 93 percent of blacks in America are killed by other blacks.

The Atlantic Monthly thoroughly decimated Giuliani's contention that police officers are the saviors of the black community. Journalist Ta-nehısı Coates wrote with a full helping of sarcasm:

It's almost as if killers tend to murder people who live near them. Moreover, it seems that people actually hold officers operating under the color of law to a different standard. This is an incredible set of insights, which taken together offer a revelation so profound, so far-reaching, that it must not be wasted on our shiftless minority populations.  

Unable to stop himself, Giuliani made other thoughtless statements. Following the decision not indict the police officer Darren Wilson, Giuliani said that he'd prosecute witnesses whose stories contradict Wilson's account. As if the police officer's account of the event - the defendant, in this case- was a standard by which all other eye-witness accounts should be judged. 

To be sure these were offensive remarks and they came at the wrong time. Yet, as any New Yorker will tell you, statements like this are pure Giuliani. 

Actually, as they would also tell you, the remarks hide an ugly truth about Giuliani.

The Mysterious 1942 Death of Dr. Foster and Tesla's Healing Rays

by Nomad

Unearthed from the archives here is the curious death of Dr. Foster, a young and promising Manhattan physician. Was his sudden breakdown and mysterious death in 1942 linked to the suppression of a revolutionary medical discovery by Nikola Tesla.

Some might consider one of my hobbies to be a little eccentric. I like to go through the old newspapers and find odd news or snapshots of long-forgotten drama. To me, it's fascinating how often you find little treasures or peculiar mysteries that have long been buried in the past.
While the following post is not technically a "political" issue, I thought it was interesting enough to pass along. I will admit that there is a great deal of speculation involved and possibly there are no connections to the events in the post.

The Foster Mystery

With that said, hop into my time machine and we will return to January 1942 to investigate the death of a young Manhattan doctor.

Doctor's Mystery Death 

Opens 3 Investigations

Son of Late Boro Pastor Had Fractured Larynx, Autopsy at Bellevue Reveals

( January 19, 1942) 
A triple investigation was under way today into the death at Bellevue Hospital, Manhattan, of Dr. Allyn King Foster, Jr. 37 of E. 96th St. Manhattan, son of the late Rev. Dr. Allyn King Foster, pastor of the Washington Avenue and Marcy Avenue Baptist Churches.

The doctor was taken to Bellevue last Monday after a policeman had found him without hat or overcoat in a dazed condition at W. 56th St. and 6th Ave. Manhattan. His office was at 136 E. 57th St. Manhattan. He was placed in the psychiatric division. It was said that because he was uncooperative" forcible feeding had to be resorted to several times. He died Saturday evening while a friend of his family was arranging his transfer to another hospital.

Wife Asks Autopsy

Dr. Foster's wife, Elsa, requested an autopsy. As a result of the findings by Assistant Medical Examiner Philip Goldstein, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner ordered an examination. Assistant District Attorney Jacob Grumet of the Homicide Bureau of the New York County prosecutor's office, started an inquiry. 

A third was begun by police of W. 54th St. Station, the precinct in which he was found., and by the police of the E. 35th st. Station, the Bellevue precinct, because of the possibility of his having been injured in the hospital. 

Larynx Fractured

It was stated that Dr. Foster was found to have a fractured larynx, foreign matter in his bronchial tubes, and evidence of asphyxiation. Police said a fractured larynx was frequently an indication of a mugging- a holdup in which one bandit, standing behind the victim, throws an arm around his throat, choking him and forcing his head back while a second goes through his pockets.

Born in Cornwall, N.Y., Dr. Foster  was educated at Brooklyn Poly Prep. Colgate University, Rush Medical School of the University of Chicago and interned at St. Luke's Hospital. He was a junior assistant surgeon in his outpatient department, assistant surgeon at Broad Street Hospital and clinical assistant surgeon in the outpatient department of Laying -in- Hospital.

This tragic story echoes another unsolved mystery: the 2010 death of Jack Wheeler. 

So to sum up, a young Brooklyn doctor is found on the streets of Manhattan, wandering lost and incoherent. It's a little unusual that alcohol or drugs are not mentioned. At least it was not reported. Added to that, no injuries were reported at the time. Prior to that moment, there had been no sign of mental issues according to his widow. Police pick him up and he is placed under observation at a mental facility.
There, five days later, he is found dead. 

While the cause of his death suggests either hanging or strangulation of some sort, that possibility is never expressed in the newspaper item. Additionally, (and rather, surprisingly) the possibility of suicide is not mentioned, suggesting that it was obvious that he did not hang himself.