Monday, January 4, 2016
Saturday, January 2, 2016
MansonBlog Tour 2016
The dates of the 2016 Tour will be April 27 - May 2. If anyone is interested in tagging along please email either myself or Deb.
The itinerary is still fluid at this point but we've got some interesting and fun ideas!
Past tour links:
Manson Tour 2016: MansonBlog Tour 2016 - Jane Doe 59
Manson Tour 2016: MansonBlog Tour 2016: The Gun Toss And Steven Weiss' House
Manson Tour 2016: MansonBlog Tour 2016: Independence, CA
Manson Tour 2016: Death Valley, The Racetrack Playa and The Michigan Loader Site
Manson Tour 2016: Nude Hippies And The Origin Of An Icon
The End Of Summit Trail
Manson Tour 2015: Earth Day at Spahn Ranch
Manson Tour 2015: A Discussion With George Stimson: Part I
Manson Tour 2015: A Discussion With George Stimson: Part II
Manson Tour 2015: Olancha - Karl Stubbs' Neighbor and Hannum Ranch
Manson Tour 2015: Goler Wash
Manson Tour 2015: Gary Hinman's Bus -- Not
Manson Tour 2015: Benedict Canyon and the Surrounding Areas: Report on Strange Sounds, Gunshots, Indications of Violence, Related by Persons who were in Hearing Distance of the Polanski Residence on the Night of 8-8-69 and the Morning of 8-9-69
Manson Tour 2014: Stoner's Spahn Ranch Hike
Manson Tour 2014: The Museum of Death and The Sounds of Laurel Canyon
Manson Tour 2014: A Day With Aes-Nihil
Holy Cross
2013 Tour - Robert Hendrickson at The Silent Theatre
2013 Tour - Cielo Drive
2013 Tour - Easton Drive / Rudy Weber
2013 Tour - LaBianca
2013 Tour - El Coyote
2013 Tour - Lotsapoppa
2013 Tour - Westchester/Venice
2013 Tour - Hanging out with Michael on his Back Porch!
2013 Tour - Spahn/Chatsworth
2012 Tour Day 1 - Vegas & Pahrump
2012 Tour Day 2 - Devil's Hole, Father Crowley Point & Olancha
2012 Tour Day 3 - Trona, Ballarat & Barker Ranch
2012 Tour Day 4 - El Coyote
2012 Tour Day 5 - Lower Topanga, Spahn, Box Canyon
Monday, December 28, 2015
A Painting, A Pinocchio, & The Manson Murders - Antiques with Gary Stover
Chris has a painting done in 1968 at the home of one of the victims of the Manson murders, Abigail Folger. He has a wooden pinocchio given to him by Sharon Tate and a book given to his brother by Abigail. You won't believe how these objects and Chris' remembrances of the victims intersect to create an improbable, but true, story set against the backdrop of Hollywood's most notorious crime, the brutal murders perpetrated by the Charles Manson Family at the home of Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate in August 1969. Chris paints an unforgettable portrait of Gibby Folger and Sharon Tate, both of whom he knew as a child. These victims turn out not to be the people you thought you knew from accounts written by the sleeze press of the 1960's. They were loving, compassionate human beings whose lives were tragically cut short. You won't want to miss one of the great untold stories of the year!
Thanks, Chatsworth Charlie!
Tex Watson's Beard
"At the same time I interviewed Linda's husband, Robert Kasabian, I also talked to Charles Melton, the hippie philanthropist from whom Linda had stolen the $5,000. Melton said that in early April 1969 (before Linda ever met the Family) he had gone to Spahn Ranch to see Paul Watkins. While there, Melton had met Tex, who, admiring Melton's beard, commented, "Maybe Charlie will let me grow a beard someday."
"It would be difficult to find a better example of Manson's domination of Watson."
-- Vincent Bugliosi in Helter Skelter, page 392
That this is the best example Bugliosi could find of Charles Manson's domination of Charles Watson shows how negligible that supposed domination really was, for the only two photographs taken of Watson during the period he lived at Spahn's Ranch with Manson show him to be bearded.
Charles Watson after his arrest for being under the influence of
Belladonna (Jimson Weed?) on April 23, 1969
Charles "Tex" Watson at the Spahn Movie Ranch in 1969
Oh, Charlie did tell him to shave, but there was really a more mundane reason for Manson's "demand" that Watson (and, indeed, all the males at Spahn Ranch) remain clean shaven beyond his alleged desire to take control over every aspect of their lives. While it might be hard to believe in a day and age where Grandma is tattooed and pierced and the guy checking your groceries has dinner plates in his ear lobes, in the late 1960s men wearing beards (not to mention long hair!) could actually be considered radical. George Spahn (the owner of Spahn Ranch) was running a business -- horse riding rentals -- that depended to some degree on drop-in customer traffic. Therefore, he wanted his ranch to be as welcoming and friendly -- and normal -- as possible to prospective riders. On top of this, Spahn was also somewhat "old school," and he equated "beards" with "bums." For these two reasons he didn't want a bunch of bearded bums lounging around when Mrs. San Fernando Valley came in to investigate the ranch as a possible place for Sally and her friends to go horseback riding.
It was George Spahn who instituted the "no beards" rule at Spahn's Ranch, not Charles Manson. Manson's directive to Watson regarding his whiskers was merely a pass down of the orders of George Spahn; it was not part of any mind/ body/soul-control agenda of his own.
Based on my forty-plus years of beard wearing I would categorize Watson's efforts as pretty scraggly. Nevertheless, he looks more bearded than he does clean-shaven, and it's apparent that at some point Manson noticed Watson's facial hair and mentioned it to him. But Watson was no more "dominated" by having to shave than are the hundreds of thousands of other males who have toned down their preferred appearances for the sake of dress code policies relative to employment opportunities. I did the same thing in 1980 when I cut my hair and shaved off my beard as a condition for working with the Fred Harvey concessionaire at Furnace Creek in Death Valley. (And as much as I enjoyed working there I would not have considered committing mass murder on the company's behalf.)
Thus, Vincent Bugliosi's "no better example" of Charles Manson's supposed domination of Charles Watson turns out to be just like so much more of the District Attorney's case against the former: It turns out to be nothing.
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Saturday, December 19, 2015
LA Beat Article: "Stoner Van Houten - Guardian of the Ranch"
Stoner Van Houten: Guardian of the Ranch
Posted on December 18, 2015 by Mike Ritchie
"I want to show the positive side of Spahn Ranch." Says ranch caretaker and history buff Stoner Van Houten.
Local Manson expert Stoner Van Houten dedicates most of his time to preserving the history and upkeep of Spahn Ranch for anyone who wants to come and see the sights for themselves. He's made numerous YouTube videos chronicling his ranch visits. He's also happy to take people on sight-seeing hikes, bestowing his knowledge with little known facts, anecdotes and his own experiences. He'll take you to places, other tours won't or don't know about, surprising even the most educated on Manson history.
He portrays a genuine love of the area, taking pride in care-taking the land. He's cleaned up graffiti in the Manson cave several times. He's even caught a supernatural occurrence on film during one of his older ranch videos with Manson expert, collector and mentor Michael Channels. He's also a history and geology teacher of sorts showing how the land has changed from time, weather and erosion.
He admits that many people think what he does is morbid and ‘glorifies' that period. He's been to the ranch thousands of times and besides two unexplained events he's never experienced any bad vibes, events, happenings or hauntings. In fact he finds the area peaceful and inspirational. After all "it is a state park" he says and has seen many people in his visits including walkers, hikers and people just coming to see the place on their own.
He encourages people to seek legit information, look up case files and find out for themselves. Not rely on sensationalistic books and movies. He has his opinions as everyone does. However he admits he's not the first to do what he does and was introduced to the Manson saga by Channels. There are things he probably doesn't know about the cases and history that others within his group and network do. He knows that even though the Helter Skelter motive is widely accepted by many at face value, the real history and motives were much different and he's trying to get that information to the public. He encourages anyone interested to pick up George Stimson's Goodbye Helter Skelter focusing on Tex Watson's involvement.
Van Houten has made numerous on location videos at the ranch along with many Manson related locations in LA and the Haight, Ashbury district in San Francisco where Manson began recruiting women after his prison release and The Russian Embassy. He's also been to the former house of Sandra Good and Lynette Fromme in Sacramento. He's filmed in front of the Hall of Justice at Temple and Broadway where the girls held their trial long vigil, and the tree where Fromme gained infamy for trying to shoot Gerald Ford. He's been to Ballarat near Death Valley and Barker Ranch where Manson and the family were arrested. More recently he received a personally signed note with photos from (Blue) Sandra Good, thanking him for his work at the ranch.
He's led the way to the Zodiac car, the baby caves and recently found the remote area where the outlaw shacks once were. A while back with help from Channels, they uncovered the truck frame laying hillside under the main area, believed to be the truck with the Spahn Ranch sign in vintages photos, later debunked by Pete Porteous.
In January, he did an on location video interview with Porteous, who as a 10-year-old boy was mentored by ranch hand Donald "Shorty" Shea, later murdered by the family. Porteous gave invaluable first-hand knowledge of life on the ranch and personal insight of the happenings and power structure between the ranch hands, bikers and Manson. He also gave insight into experiencing the ranch through the excited, magical eyes of a child, being at the ranch for the first time in over 40 years. His training with Shea turned into a 30 year career as a stuntman.
He talked about riding to the ranch on his minibike wanting to become a stuntman. Ironically, the first person he met on his first trip there was Manson. He and Shea hit it off and Porteous learned the safe way to run a chainsaw, ride a horse and do a saddle fall under his mentorship. Shea christened him "The Kid." He talked about the group barbeques, the live music and the Wild West shows. He described the ranch as a very happy place. It's a shame that no historical landmarks documenting what was there have been placed due to a short period of time at the end.
Porteous said contrary to widespread belief, Manson did not control the ranch. The ranch was a business and Charlie was not the dominating force as media has portrayed. The family was kind of a separate group in a different area occupying the same large space. As far as Manson being a dark powerful figure, he had influence over the family but not the rest of the ranch occupants. Porteous said, besides the girls, the cowboys and ranch hands didn't pay much attention to the family.
Though most of the ranch's history has been forgotten and eclipsed under the shadow of the family, their stay only lasted roughly two years. The ranch burned down in September 1970 during the Tate/LaBianca trial. The ranch itself was owned by silent film star William S. Hart and purchased by George Spahn in 1948, giving it its name. In its heyday many westerns, movies and TV shows were filmed there including Duel in the Sun, The Creeping Terror, Bonanza, The Lone Ranger and Zorro along with various cigarette commercials. By the time Manson and Co. got there Spahn was 80 and the ranch was in severe disrepair with horse rentals being the main income source.
Among lesser known local spots, Van Houten has taken people to the Munch Box where Manson ate hot dogs waiting for the girls to get off work. One of the actual ‘garbage run' grocery store back lot dumpsters dived in by the girls. The Candy Cat bar where Susan Atkins (Sadie) danced. Gypy's Waterfall, (a name bestowed years later) a ‘natured' off the path spot and hard to find unless you know exactly where to look. Seeing it up close you can imagine what the lay of the land would have looked like without modern developments as Chatsworth was considered ‘out in the woods' back then. The waterfall usually doesn't run due to the draught but you will see the exact spot where the family stood and bathed under the water from Robert Hendrickson's Inside the Manson Gang DVD.
Van Houten recently made a video standing by the 118 Freeway and De Soto talking about it. He's paid homage at the gravesites of Steven Parent and Sharon Tate. He's also visited the location where the Spiral Staircase (an early Manson haunt) once stood and Dennis Wilson's house. There are other ranch sites to be seen, depending on your love of hiking such as the Zodiac car, the Manson (stoner) caves, and the dune buggy graveyard down the road
Once at the ranch, you'll see the tree riddled with bullet holes that the family and the Straight Satans used as target practice. He'll point out a vintage tree that can be seen in some old shots of the ranch days. You will see the pile of rock, concrete and debris that was dumped over the side by bulldozers after the fire that destroyed the ranch and left to be forgotten.
The first thing seen walking up to the main area is the dirt mound where Spahn's house once stood. He will point out some vintage rocks, a piece of the concrete foundation from where a fuel tank once sat and one of the last remaining manmade remnants of the ranch days, a telephone pole burned in the fire.
Many people from around the world enjoy his videos, hoping to someday walk the trails. He has announced through Facebook that he will be going on to the next chapter of life and moving north soon. Before he leaves he's doing a "31 Days of Spahn Tour," filming a daily video and taking viewer location requests. He will try and return from time to time and hopes people will follow his example and keep the place nice for those who come to see history.
Van Houten's videos can be found on YouTube under spahn ranch worker, Michael Channels' videos under MichaelsBackporch.
Posted on December 18, 2015 by Mike Ritchie
"I want to show the positive side of Spahn Ranch." Says ranch caretaker and history buff Stoner Van Houten.Local Manson expert Stoner Van Houten dedicates most of his time to preserving the history and upkeep of Spahn Ranch for anyone who wants to come and see the sights for themselves. He's made numerous YouTube videos chronicling his ranch visits. He's also happy to take people on sight-seeing hikes, bestowing his knowledge with little known facts, anecdotes and his own experiences. He'll take you to places, other tours won't or don't know about, surprising even the most educated on Manson history.
He portrays a genuine love of the area, taking pride in care-taking the land. He's cleaned up graffiti in the Manson cave several times. He's even caught a supernatural occurrence on film during one of his older ranch videos with Manson expert, collector and mentor Michael Channels. He's also a history and geology teacher of sorts showing how the land has changed from time, weather and erosion.
 |
| Van Houten, George Stimson (Goodbye Helter Skelter), Barker Ranch |
He encourages people to seek legit information, look up case files and find out for themselves. Not rely on sensationalistic books and movies. He has his opinions as everyone does. However he admits he's not the first to do what he does and was introduced to the Manson saga by Channels. There are things he probably doesn't know about the cases and history that others within his group and network do. He knows that even though the Helter Skelter motive is widely accepted by many at face value, the real history and motives were much different and he's trying to get that information to the public. He encourages anyone interested to pick up George Stimson's Goodbye Helter Skelter focusing on Tex Watson's involvement.
Van Houten has made numerous on location videos at the ranch along with many Manson related locations in LA and the Haight, Ashbury district in San Francisco where Manson began recruiting women after his prison release and The Russian Embassy. He's also been to the former house of Sandra Good and Lynette Fromme in Sacramento. He's filmed in front of the Hall of Justice at Temple and Broadway where the girls held their trial long vigil, and the tree where Fromme gained infamy for trying to shoot Gerald Ford. He's been to Ballarat near Death Valley and Barker Ranch where Manson and the family were arrested. More recently he received a personally signed note with photos from (Blue) Sandra Good, thanking him for his work at the ranch.
He's led the way to the Zodiac car, the baby caves and recently found the remote area where the outlaw shacks once were. A while back with help from Channels, they uncovered the truck frame laying hillside under the main area, believed to be the truck with the Spahn Ranch sign in vintages photos, later debunked by Pete Porteous.
In January, he did an on location video interview with Porteous, who as a 10-year-old boy was mentored by ranch hand Donald "Shorty" Shea, later murdered by the family. Porteous gave invaluable first-hand knowledge of life on the ranch and personal insight of the happenings and power structure between the ranch hands, bikers and Manson. He also gave insight into experiencing the ranch through the excited, magical eyes of a child, being at the ranch for the first time in over 40 years. His training with Shea turned into a 30 year career as a stuntman.
He talked about riding to the ranch on his minibike wanting to become a stuntman. Ironically, the first person he met on his first trip there was Manson. He and Shea hit it off and Porteous learned the safe way to run a chainsaw, ride a horse and do a saddle fall under his mentorship. Shea christened him "The Kid." He talked about the group barbeques, the live music and the Wild West shows. He described the ranch as a very happy place. It's a shame that no historical landmarks documenting what was there have been placed due to a short period of time at the end.
Porteous said contrary to widespread belief, Manson did not control the ranch. The ranch was a business and Charlie was not the dominating force as media has portrayed. The family was kind of a separate group in a different area occupying the same large space. As far as Manson being a dark powerful figure, he had influence over the family but not the rest of the ranch occupants. Porteous said, besides the girls, the cowboys and ranch hands didn't pay much attention to the family.
 |
| Van Houten with Mansonblog.com, Michael Channels, Pete Porteous. |
Though most of the ranch's history has been forgotten and eclipsed under the shadow of the family, their stay only lasted roughly two years. The ranch burned down in September 1970 during the Tate/LaBianca trial. The ranch itself was owned by silent film star William S. Hart and purchased by George Spahn in 1948, giving it its name. In its heyday many westerns, movies and TV shows were filmed there including Duel in the Sun, The Creeping Terror, Bonanza, The Lone Ranger and Zorro along with various cigarette commercials. By the time Manson and Co. got there Spahn was 80 and the ranch was in severe disrepair with horse rentals being the main income source.
Among lesser known local spots, Van Houten has taken people to the Munch Box where Manson ate hot dogs waiting for the girls to get off work. One of the actual ‘garbage run' grocery store back lot dumpsters dived in by the girls. The Candy Cat bar where Susan Atkins (Sadie) danced. Gypy's Waterfall, (a name bestowed years later) a ‘natured' off the path spot and hard to find unless you know exactly where to look. Seeing it up close you can imagine what the lay of the land would have looked like without modern developments as Chatsworth was considered ‘out in the woods' back then. The waterfall usually doesn't run due to the draught but you will see the exact spot where the family stood and bathed under the water from Robert Hendrickson's Inside the Manson Gang DVD.
Van Houten recently made a video standing by the 118 Freeway and De Soto talking about it. He's paid homage at the gravesites of Steven Parent and Sharon Tate. He's also visited the location where the Spiral Staircase (an early Manson haunt) once stood and Dennis Wilson's house. There are other ranch sites to be seen, depending on your love of hiking such as the Zodiac car, the Manson (stoner) caves, and the dune buggy graveyard down the road
Once at the ranch, you'll see the tree riddled with bullet holes that the family and the Straight Satans used as target practice. He'll point out a vintage tree that can be seen in some old shots of the ranch days. You will see the pile of rock, concrete and debris that was dumped over the side by bulldozers after the fire that destroyed the ranch and left to be forgotten.
Many people from around the world enjoy his videos, hoping to someday walk the trails. He has announced through Facebook that he will be going on to the next chapter of life and moving north soon. Before he leaves he's doing a "31 Days of Spahn Tour," filming a daily video and taking viewer location requests. He will try and return from time to time and hopes people will follow his example and keep the place nice for those who come to see history.
Van Houten's videos can be found on YouTube under spahn ranch worker, Michael Channels' videos under MichaelsBackporch.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
THE TATE LABIANCA MURDERS - IS THE TRUTH UGLIER THAN WE THINK?
Submitted by D. LaCalandra:
The Tate-LaBianca Murders, better known as the "Manson Murders", were not what news reporter Linda Deutsch once called, "the first real cult killings this country has ever seen". They were the first major example of the increasing violence directly related to the illegal drug trade that this country has ever seen, because it was the first time it erupted in a place people didn't think things like that happened in and during a period of time when the last thing the country needed was a scandal that would have exposed corruption, criminality and a host of dirty secrets in a wide range of political and social aspects. All of which were already the target of extreme criticism. They threatened to pull the sheets off the rich and famous and their entanglement with the Mafia and so-called Counter Culture of the time. But more than that, a corrupt legal system working in harmony with the Mafia to prevent a black uprising the underworld of crime and legal system of America. Helter Skelter was coming down during the summer of 1969. But it wasn't Charles Manson who wanted to ignite it.
"If a Roman Catholic comes over here and gets in your district attorneys office...Rome! Rome, mamma! That's talking all the way back to one cross and they'll do anything in the world to put one cross back in order, because if they don't put one cross back in order, they got Islam right up their ass from Chicago bouncing that god damn fucking basketball" - Charles Manson 1997
What Helter Skelter really was:
Black dope syndicates (with the legal aid from the Nation of Islam ) would rise in power and start fighting back against the Roman Catholic Italian Mafia (with the legal aid of Italian lawyers), police and rich white dope pushers in Hollywood and upper class neighborhoods. That's what Helter Skelter was. The same Italian mafia trying to take control over the drug market, were always operating behind the scenes in the music and entertainment industry that Manson and the gang were apart of as well.
Charles Manson and The Family found themselves on the front line of Helter Skelter after the shooting of Bernard Crowe and rather than get any help or protection, they were purposely left open for an attack by local law enforcement, eager to ignite what looked like a racially motivated attack, despite knowing the drug-related nature of the crime. There is evidence that they might have been under the watch of a much larger intelligence agency too.
After the murder of Gary Hinman, Bobby Beausoleil wrote "Political Piggy" in blood on the wall, knowing fully well that the police and criminals alike were purposely covering up drug crimes to prevent any leads from being made and in some cases, getting off with the aid of mob attorneys. With the intense hatred of blacks felt by the police and knowing it was open season on them, racial motives were the best cover (ironic that after the murders, cults became the new cover). With the cops laying off Manson and his foolish kowtowing to them about his problems with a Black Panther (they knew fully well he shot Crowe and that Crowe was alive and well), he might have thought he was on their good side. Bobby figured the cops would automatically go after the Panthers for the crime, or just consider it yet another bizarre cold case like so many others in California.
For years and years, people have often demanded proof of drug transactions. They were all covered up by those involved, so as to not blow any other covers. To most of the run away kids, it might have appeared they were deadly serious about Bugliosi's fantasy version. I believe it may have been Beausoleil's purpose to get nailed, so he could establish a fake story and get a lawyer with the right connection since he murdered a rogue, small time dealer and tried to cover it, or somebody convinced him of such. Two years earlier, a dope dealer was stabbed multiple times. His killer was found on the highway with his arm in the car, speaking nonsense. His defense: a bad trip. A few months after the arrest of Beausoleil, a strange girl would be wandering around LA County Jail for the same crime, acting outrageous and confessing to have murdered Sharon Tate and drinking her blood... after seeing her two Italian attorneys, Paul Caruso and Richard Caberello. They would later tell us she was under the influence of LSD and the hypnotic trance of 35 year old petty car thief.
The Tate murders occurred only three days after Bobby Beausoleil was busted. Unable to get any help for a non-white hippie drug dealer from anyone in the system, the girls cooked up the idea that a copy cat murder might get Bobby released. We've been told that part. The rest of this ill-logical plan makes sense when one considers other aspects of research into the case. The rest has been all but hidden, revealed only in hints. Sebring and Frykowski were both dope dealers and were no strangers to Charles "Tex" Watson.
The idea that the killers and victims were strangers is perhaps the biggest lie told to conceal the truth about what happened. They did something to get on somebody's bad side, thinking they could get away with it (much like the Italian business manager of The Beach Boys), while the Family were in a state of hysteria fearing an attack from the Black Panthers they knew the cops were anticipating (and perhaps even the Mafia and FBI). A deal involving drugs and $5,000 Linda Kasabian stole had to figure into it some how, since this seemed to be something Bugliosi brushed under the rug in court.
"White man would kill white man. The black man would sort of be there, too, helping him along." - Leslie Van Houten, interview with attorney Marvin Part
Billy Doyle and gang would kill Voytek Frykowski and Jay Sebring. Black dope pushers would get the blame, then start to retaliation against rich white pushers. The idea was to cause "confusion" as to who committed the crime: The Black Panthers or three Canadian drug dealers: Billy Doyle, Tom Harrigan and William Dawson. The ropes on the body, mock hood in the form of towel over the head of Jay Sebring and the fact that Voytek Frykowski was pistol whipped repeatedly and found on the lawn with his pants down is indication this is true. The wave of horror over fear that covers will be blown and a possible wave of Black dope dealers attacking rich white dealers, would prompt the police and right attorney to act fast and link the crime to Hinman and get Bobby released. If the three Canadians weren't busted, they would then become targets in the drug underworld or at least go up the river for their dealing. The murders were to send a shock through the drug/entertainment underworld running underneath the entire state of California. The cops and Panthers would now be busting the heads of white rich dealers, not the small timers like Watson and The Family. Watson then can corner a lot of new markets and rise up, maybe even over the blacks. Parts of it worked. In other ways it backfired in the worst possible way. The farce of the Spahn Ranch raid was no doubt to save face. The only question remains: What about the LaBianca murders? For that, the possibilities are endless, but somewhere there is a strong link. Isn't interesting that Bugliosi would also write books on the drug war, JFK and OJ?
Recommended Reading:
The Manson File: Myth and Reality of an Outlaw Shaman (Nikolas Schreck)
Goodbye Helter Skelter (George Stimson)
Death to Pigs (Robert Hendrickson)
BBC Interview with Charles Manson (Bill Scanlan Murphy)
Mae Brussell interview with Preston Guillory (arresting officer of Charles Manson during the Spahn Ranch raid)
The Tate-LaBianca Murders, better known as the "Manson Murders", were not what news reporter Linda Deutsch once called, "the first real cult killings this country has ever seen". They were the first major example of the increasing violence directly related to the illegal drug trade that this country has ever seen, because it was the first time it erupted in a place people didn't think things like that happened in and during a period of time when the last thing the country needed was a scandal that would have exposed corruption, criminality and a host of dirty secrets in a wide range of political and social aspects. All of which were already the target of extreme criticism. They threatened to pull the sheets off the rich and famous and their entanglement with the Mafia and so-called Counter Culture of the time. But more than that, a corrupt legal system working in harmony with the Mafia to prevent a black uprising the underworld of crime and legal system of America. Helter Skelter was coming down during the summer of 1969. But it wasn't Charles Manson who wanted to ignite it.
"If a Roman Catholic comes over here and gets in your district attorneys office...Rome! Rome, mamma! That's talking all the way back to one cross and they'll do anything in the world to put one cross back in order, because if they don't put one cross back in order, they got Islam right up their ass from Chicago bouncing that god damn fucking basketball" - Charles Manson 1997
What Helter Skelter really was:
Black dope syndicates (with the legal aid from the Nation of Islam ) would rise in power and start fighting back against the Roman Catholic Italian Mafia (with the legal aid of Italian lawyers), police and rich white dope pushers in Hollywood and upper class neighborhoods. That's what Helter Skelter was. The same Italian mafia trying to take control over the drug market, were always operating behind the scenes in the music and entertainment industry that Manson and the gang were apart of as well.
Charles Manson and The Family found themselves on the front line of Helter Skelter after the shooting of Bernard Crowe and rather than get any help or protection, they were purposely left open for an attack by local law enforcement, eager to ignite what looked like a racially motivated attack, despite knowing the drug-related nature of the crime. There is evidence that they might have been under the watch of a much larger intelligence agency too.
After the murder of Gary Hinman, Bobby Beausoleil wrote "Political Piggy" in blood on the wall, knowing fully well that the police and criminals alike were purposely covering up drug crimes to prevent any leads from being made and in some cases, getting off with the aid of mob attorneys. With the intense hatred of blacks felt by the police and knowing it was open season on them, racial motives were the best cover (ironic that after the murders, cults became the new cover). With the cops laying off Manson and his foolish kowtowing to them about his problems with a Black Panther (they knew fully well he shot Crowe and that Crowe was alive and well), he might have thought he was on their good side. Bobby figured the cops would automatically go after the Panthers for the crime, or just consider it yet another bizarre cold case like so many others in California.
For years and years, people have often demanded proof of drug transactions. They were all covered up by those involved, so as to not blow any other covers. To most of the run away kids, it might have appeared they were deadly serious about Bugliosi's fantasy version. I believe it may have been Beausoleil's purpose to get nailed, so he could establish a fake story and get a lawyer with the right connection since he murdered a rogue, small time dealer and tried to cover it, or somebody convinced him of such. Two years earlier, a dope dealer was stabbed multiple times. His killer was found on the highway with his arm in the car, speaking nonsense. His defense: a bad trip. A few months after the arrest of Beausoleil, a strange girl would be wandering around LA County Jail for the same crime, acting outrageous and confessing to have murdered Sharon Tate and drinking her blood... after seeing her two Italian attorneys, Paul Caruso and Richard Caberello. They would later tell us she was under the influence of LSD and the hypnotic trance of 35 year old petty car thief.
The Tate murders occurred only three days after Bobby Beausoleil was busted. Unable to get any help for a non-white hippie drug dealer from anyone in the system, the girls cooked up the idea that a copy cat murder might get Bobby released. We've been told that part. The rest of this ill-logical plan makes sense when one considers other aspects of research into the case. The rest has been all but hidden, revealed only in hints. Sebring and Frykowski were both dope dealers and were no strangers to Charles "Tex" Watson.
The idea that the killers and victims were strangers is perhaps the biggest lie told to conceal the truth about what happened. They did something to get on somebody's bad side, thinking they could get away with it (much like the Italian business manager of The Beach Boys), while the Family were in a state of hysteria fearing an attack from the Black Panthers they knew the cops were anticipating (and perhaps even the Mafia and FBI). A deal involving drugs and $5,000 Linda Kasabian stole had to figure into it some how, since this seemed to be something Bugliosi brushed under the rug in court.
"White man would kill white man. The black man would sort of be there, too, helping him along." - Leslie Van Houten, interview with attorney Marvin Part
Billy Doyle and gang would kill Voytek Frykowski and Jay Sebring. Black dope pushers would get the blame, then start to retaliation against rich white pushers. The idea was to cause "confusion" as to who committed the crime: The Black Panthers or three Canadian drug dealers: Billy Doyle, Tom Harrigan and William Dawson. The ropes on the body, mock hood in the form of towel over the head of Jay Sebring and the fact that Voytek Frykowski was pistol whipped repeatedly and found on the lawn with his pants down is indication this is true. The wave of horror over fear that covers will be blown and a possible wave of Black dope dealers attacking rich white dealers, would prompt the police and right attorney to act fast and link the crime to Hinman and get Bobby released. If the three Canadians weren't busted, they would then become targets in the drug underworld or at least go up the river for their dealing. The murders were to send a shock through the drug/entertainment underworld running underneath the entire state of California. The cops and Panthers would now be busting the heads of white rich dealers, not the small timers like Watson and The Family. Watson then can corner a lot of new markets and rise up, maybe even over the blacks. Parts of it worked. In other ways it backfired in the worst possible way. The farce of the Spahn Ranch raid was no doubt to save face. The only question remains: What about the LaBianca murders? For that, the possibilities are endless, but somewhere there is a strong link. Isn't interesting that Bugliosi would also write books on the drug war, JFK and OJ?
Recommended Reading:
The Manson File: Myth and Reality of an Outlaw Shaman (Nikolas Schreck)
Goodbye Helter Skelter (George Stimson)
Death to Pigs (Robert Hendrickson)
BBC Interview with Charles Manson (Bill Scanlan Murphy)
Mae Brussell interview with Preston Guillory (arresting officer of Charles Manson during the Spahn Ranch raid)
Monday, December 14, 2015
The Old Russian Embassy
Timeline:
1928 – A group of Czarist Russians bought the home. They turned the ground-floor ballroom into a nightclub called Dark Eyes and used the upper floors for meeting rooms. The house became known informally as the "Russian Embassy".
1965 – The house was mentioned in the book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. The Calliope Company, a fifty-member collective, moved in.
1968 – Members of the Family Dog occupied the house while promoting acid rock concerts at the Avalon Ballroom. Members of the Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company were frequent visitors.
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Death Valley’s ‘Sailing Stones’
By Carl Engelking | August 27, 2014
Photo credit: Anatoliy Lukich/Shutterstock
The Racetrack Playa - a barren lakebed in Death Valley National Park - is home to one of the world's natural wonders: "sailing stones" that mysteriously meander across the dried mud, leaving tracks in their wake. Since the 1940s, these rocks have fueled wonder and speculation because no one had seen them in action - until now.
A team of U.S. scientists recorded the first observation of these boulders in motion, using GPS monitors and time-lapse photography. By meticulously tracking weather data, scientists also explained how these rocks slog across the playa. What was one of the world's natural wonders now appears to be the perfect combination of rain, wind, ice and sun.
Unraveling a Mystery
Years ago, researchers traveled to the Racetrack Playa with plenty of instruments in tow. They first installed a weather station and several time-lapse cameras around the playa. They also placed 15 GPS-embedded limestone rocks of various sizes throughout the playa. Then, it was time to wait.
"As one of the other researchers on this project said, 'Probably the most boring experiment ever,'" study co-author Jim Norris said in a video about the experiment.
However, things got interesting in November 2013. In late November, significant amounts of rain and snow created a small pond in the south end of the playa. When December came, the GPS-embedded rocks started moving, with the heaviest weighing in at 35 pounds. The rocks reached blazing speeds of 9-16 feet per minute. Most importantly, the race was caught on camera.
So what caused the rocks to drag themselves across the playa?
Getting the Green Light
Past theories attributed the rocks' movements to high winds, liquid water, or ice. But scientists discovered it's a careful balance of all these factors.
When the small pond formed in the southern portion of the playa, it cyclically froze at night and thawed under the midday sun. When the sun warmed the pond, thin layers of surface ice started breaking apart into massive floating sheets tens of meters in size. Although the ice sheets were large, they were still just a few millimeters thick.
But the freezing and thawing wasn't enough on its own. A steady, light wind of about 7-10 miles per hour was also needed, but before the ice had completely melted. This wind, timed with the midday melt, pushed massive panes of ice into the stones. When the ice accumulated behind the stones, it generated enough force to set the stones into motion. And rather than floating or rolling, the rocks bulldozed their way across the mud, leaving behind their signature tracks. Researchers published their findings Tuesday in the journal PLoS ONE.
The rocks won't move if there's too much water or ice, too much sun, or not enough wind. Everything must act in perfect harmony for the races to ensue. So, in addition to their "sailing stones" moniker, we suggest a new name for these fascinating boulders: the Goldilocks Rocks.
Photo credit: Anatoliy Lukich/Shutterstock
The Racetrack Playa - a barren lakebed in Death Valley National Park - is home to one of the world's natural wonders: "sailing stones" that mysteriously meander across the dried mud, leaving tracks in their wake. Since the 1940s, these rocks have fueled wonder and speculation because no one had seen them in action - until now.
A team of U.S. scientists recorded the first observation of these boulders in motion, using GPS monitors and time-lapse photography. By meticulously tracking weather data, scientists also explained how these rocks slog across the playa. What was one of the world's natural wonders now appears to be the perfect combination of rain, wind, ice and sun.
Unraveling a Mystery
Years ago, researchers traveled to the Racetrack Playa with plenty of instruments in tow. They first installed a weather station and several time-lapse cameras around the playa. They also placed 15 GPS-embedded limestone rocks of various sizes throughout the playa. Then, it was time to wait.
"As one of the other researchers on this project said, 'Probably the most boring experiment ever,'" study co-author Jim Norris said in a video about the experiment.
However, things got interesting in November 2013. In late November, significant amounts of rain and snow created a small pond in the south end of the playa. When December came, the GPS-embedded rocks started moving, with the heaviest weighing in at 35 pounds. The rocks reached blazing speeds of 9-16 feet per minute. Most importantly, the race was caught on camera.
So what caused the rocks to drag themselves across the playa?
Getting the Green Light
Past theories attributed the rocks' movements to high winds, liquid water, or ice. But scientists discovered it's a careful balance of all these factors.
When the small pond formed in the southern portion of the playa, it cyclically froze at night and thawed under the midday sun. When the sun warmed the pond, thin layers of surface ice started breaking apart into massive floating sheets tens of meters in size. Although the ice sheets were large, they were still just a few millimeters thick.
But the freezing and thawing wasn't enough on its own. A steady, light wind of about 7-10 miles per hour was also needed, but before the ice had completely melted. This wind, timed with the midday melt, pushed massive panes of ice into the stones. When the ice accumulated behind the stones, it generated enough force to set the stones into motion. And rather than floating or rolling, the rocks bulldozed their way across the mud, leaving behind their signature tracks. Researchers published their findings Tuesday in the journal PLoS ONE.
The rocks won't move if there's too much water or ice, too much sun, or not enough wind. Everything must act in perfect harmony for the races to ensue. So, in addition to their "sailing stones" moniker, we suggest a new name for these fascinating boulders: the Goldilocks Rocks.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
The Manson Murders review
The Times Literary Supplement began as a supplement to The Times, a London newspaper, but became a separate publication 100 years ago though they still enjoy a close association with that newspaper today. It is considered by many writers to be an indispensable source for serious and authoritative reviews. Forty years ago TLS reviewed Bugliosi's Helter Skelter and I was struck by how insightful the review was of the author at a time when most US reviewers thought Bugliosi could do no wrong.
The book was published under the title of The Manson Murders - An Investigation Into Motive in the UK.
April 18, 1975
A family and its head
by Charles Rycroft
The Manson Murders is a detailed, day-by-day account of the investigations into the Sharon Tate and La Bianca murders in Los Angeles in August 1969, and of the arrest, trial and conviction of Charles Manson and members of his "Family" in 1970-71. Its author, Vincent Bugliosi, was prosecutor at the trial.
The English, though not the American edition, is subtitled "An Investigation Into Motive", and it therefore as such that it must presumably be reviewed in this country, even though it is obvious that elucidation of Manson's motives for murdering and inciting to murder, was not Professor Bugliosi's main motive for writing this book.
If it had been, he would presumably not have written it in a narrative form, first sketching in the facts already known to police before he himself became involved in the case and thereafter describing the investigations and the court proceedings entirely in terms of a day-by-day account of his own activities. For instance, Professor Bugliosi reveals what he considers to have been the motive for the murders in two chapters, "January 1970" and "February 1970", which are the months during which he, already convinced on the circumstantial evidence that Manson must have been the prime mover behind the murders that on commonsense grounds appeared motiveless, began to understand something of the ideology and chiliastic beliefs that inspired Manson and his "Family". Although this method of presenting the case makes for lively and exciting reading, it is also bewildering, since Professor Bugliosi records events not in the order in which they happened but in the order in which he learnt about them. It also has the effect of drawing the reader's attention away from Manson and on to Professor Bugliosi, and, although prosecuting attorneys do, I presume, legitimately play star roles during murder trials, I doubt whether they should continue to steal the limelight while writing a book about the murders.
The book was published under the title of The Manson Murders - An Investigation Into Motive in the UK.
April 18, 1975
A family and its head
by Charles Rycroft
The Manson Murders is a detailed, day-by-day account of the investigations into the Sharon Tate and La Bianca murders in Los Angeles in August 1969, and of the arrest, trial and conviction of Charles Manson and members of his "Family" in 1970-71. Its author, Vincent Bugliosi, was prosecutor at the trial.
The English, though not the American edition, is subtitled "An Investigation Into Motive", and it therefore as such that it must presumably be reviewed in this country, even though it is obvious that elucidation of Manson's motives for murdering and inciting to murder, was not Professor Bugliosi's main motive for writing this book.
If it had been, he would presumably not have written it in a narrative form, first sketching in the facts already known to police before he himself became involved in the case and thereafter describing the investigations and the court proceedings entirely in terms of a day-by-day account of his own activities. For instance, Professor Bugliosi reveals what he considers to have been the motive for the murders in two chapters, "January 1970" and "February 1970", which are the months during which he, already convinced on the circumstantial evidence that Manson must have been the prime mover behind the murders that on commonsense grounds appeared motiveless, began to understand something of the ideology and chiliastic beliefs that inspired Manson and his "Family". Although this method of presenting the case makes for lively and exciting reading, it is also bewildering, since Professor Bugliosi records events not in the order in which they happened but in the order in which he learnt about them. It also has the effect of drawing the reader's attention away from Manson and on to Professor Bugliosi, and, although prosecuting attorneys do, I presume, legitimately play star roles during murder trials, I doubt whether they should continue to steal the limelight while writing a book about the murders.
Professor Bugliosi must, I think, really have had two other reasons for writing this book; first to give as full account as possible of the longest, most publicized and most expensive trial in American legal history, and, secondly, to vindicate his own role in it. He makes it clear that he insisted on establishing a motive for the murders, and a very peculiar motive at that, against the wishes of police, who would have been content with circumstantial proof; and, although it is hard for an English reviewer to be certain about this, the informality of his relations with the accused and with witnesses may well have raised eyebrows in some quarters.
His written account leaves the reader in no doubt as to which of the various besotted females in Manson's "Family" he liked and found attractive and which he found repellant or as to his opinion of individual detectives and defending counsel. Furthermore he may well have had misgivings arising from the fact that the motive he proposed for the murders is, as we shall see, extremely hard to reconcile with the idea that Manson was sane enough to be charged. I must confess, however, that both the court procedure and the moral tone of the trial were so unlike what, I hope, happens in English courts, that at times my credulity was strained; it sounds as though it was shambles from beginning to end.
It is clear, too, that Manson and Professor Bugliosi were in frequent communication with one another and each developed a reluctant respect for the other. This book is, indeed, more easily read as a confrontation between the two men than as an attempt by one to investigate the motives of the other. But, although Professor Bugliosi succeeds, accidently I suspect, in getting across the extent to which the trial was a duel between him and Manson, with Manson's life certainly at hazard- the death penalty was only abolished in California after his conviction, though before the appeals were heard- and Professor Bugliosi's possibly so, since throughout the trial many of Manson's followers were at large and known to be armed, he lacks the dramatic sense to present the trial as a contest between representatives of two opposed visions of the nature of society and the meaning of life and death.
Professor Bugliosi and Manson were both in their mid-thirties at the time of the trial, but, whereas Professor Bugliosi was a successful professional man, a district attorney and a professor of criminal law who had attended university on a tennis scholarship, Manson was a habitual criminal who had spent seventeen years of his life in reformatories and had convictions for armed robbery, burglary, car-thieving, forgery and pimping. A not unusual contrast, one might have said, between a successful professional man and an unsuccessful criminal, were it not for the fact that somewhere along the line Manson had acquired some very curious, way-out ideas, which made him, in the eyes of himself and his followers, a legitimized adversary of the established order, exempt from its laws and conventions and no more a criminal than those of his and Professor Bugliosi's contemporaries who were fighting in Vietnam.
Unfortunately Professor Bugliosi's account of Manson's religious and political beliefs is so presented that it is impossible for the reader to decide whether Manson did in fact possess a reasoned, coherent though bizarre philosophy, which could have impelled him to plan and execute political murders, or whether his mind was really a rag-bag of half baked and delusional ideas. Although he mentions that Manson had connexions with the flower-children, the drug-scene, the pop-scene, numerous groups and Scientology, and that he was an admirer of Nietzsche and Hitler and was believed by his followers to be Jesus Christ, Professor Bugliosi makes no attempt to assess Manson's philosophy seriously or to relate it to either the history of millennial Christianity or the sociology of the drop-out culture, about both of which an extensive literature does in fact exist. As a result, Manson's ideas are presented as being more confused, inconsistent and autochthonous than they perhaps were, and, it is impossible to evaluate whether he was speaking literally or using religious metaphor when he asserted that he was already dead or implied that he was Jesus Christ- or whether the sexual performances he organized were orgies or rites.
This failure on Professor Bugliosi's part is particularly marked when he discusses the fact that Manson believed in both love and the permissibility of killing. Professor Bugliosi, and apparently some of the other lawyers involved in the case, were deeply moved by the atmosphere of love that permeated the "Family". One, indeed, wishes to write "a book about the beauty I've seen in that group- their opposition to war, their truthfulness and their generosity". But they also believed in the triviality of death, and that killing was an unimportant event in the life of both the killer and the victim. Now, although no society could conceivably tolerate members who acted on such a belief, any book that really was an investigation into the motives of the Manson murders would have had to explore that thread in Christian thinking which does lead to such a diabolical conclusion, and Professor Bugliosi's does not. And it would have to explain why Manson thought it was morally justifiable to kill strangers in Los Angeles in order to provoke Armageddon but morally unjustifiable to kill strangers in Vietnam- or to commit soul murder in prisons- in order to preserve the American Way of Life. As it is, however, Professor Bugliosi's account of Manson's motive- which was, briefly, to set off Armageddon by committing murders of whites which were made to look as though they had been committed by blacks- makes Manson sound terribly mad; even though the trial was based on the assumption that he was sane and fit to plead.
This is, indeed, the central weakness and contradiction of the whole book; it sets out to investigate Manson's motive for murder, but does so in a way that suggests that he should have never been tried. It should be added that Manson, his followers, the lawyers and the psychiatrists all agreed that Manson was sane, that Manson never endorsed the motive ascribed to him by Professor Bugliosi, but that several of his followers and acquaintances attributed to him the belief that the Book of Revelations was about to be fulfilled, that the Beatles were the first Four Angels and wrote clarion-calls to revolution into their songs, and that the Bottomless Pit is just outside Los Angeles, all of which sounds very psychotic.
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