Mark Knight

Paul, I'd rather not assume anything. Would the bubbletop have distorted an assassins's view? Maybe, and maybe not. Certainly the potential for distortion exists in every bend in the Plexiglas. But trying to determine whether the use of the bubbletop might have aborted an assassination attempt is akin to attempting to nail Jell-O to the wall. (If the Jell-O has an excess of gelatin in the mix, making it the consistency of ballistic gelatin, then even nailing it to the wall MIGHT be possible.) We simply don't have sufficient information to make that assumption.

How a bullet responds when striking an object such as Plexiglas depends quite a bit on the bullet. Mass. Velocity. Bullet composition and jacketing on the bullet. Type of point: round nose, pointed nose, hollow point. A round nose solid lead bullet would react differently upon striking Plexiglas than a jacketed hollow point. A 240 grain .44 caliber bullet would react differently than a 40 grain .223 caliber bullet. To decide whether the bubbletop would or would not have deflected "that bullet" fired at "that angle" without performing an actual test is worthless speculation, IMHO... and since no testing was done [and why would they? JFK was already dead, so "woulda-coulda-shoulda" saves ZERO lives], no conclusions can be drawn.

Ron, that sounds quite reasonable. You don't route the President of the United States through the "rougher" parts of a city if there is an alternative route, IMHO. Every city wants the President to see their best side, not their worst. Basic human vanity at play here more than anything sinister, IMHO. YES, I fully understand that this point of view like the legs out from under the point of view that "the plotters" put Oswald "in place" at the TSBD specifically to kill Kennedy. So be it.

Once again, Mr. Walton drags me into his fantasy...the one in which I believe in body snatchers. I have NEVER subscribed to such a theory. But that little fact doesn't stand in the way of Mr. Walton's fantasy. Truth is powerful. I would advise Mr. Walton to stick to the truth, rather that projecting me into his straw-man fantasies.

Absolutely.

That, my friend, is a great question. I'd love to see a legitimate answer.

That enters into the discussion as well, if we're being honest. But would these same people not also turn a blind eye to "someone else" doing the actual murder, so that they could "devoutly" claim it was "God's will"?? Seems plausible to me.

I would theorize that Premillennialists who buy into the idea that a Catholic Church-led acceleration into "end-times" prophecies might have seen the JFK presidency as a "trial balloon," an effort to place the nominally Catholic Kennedy into a position of world power, to see if the Catholic Church-led United States of Europe, might be eventually viable. In fact, during the 1960 campaign the issue was raised more than once of a JFK presidency becoming a Papal government by proxy. To Premillennialists of this sort, then, the ending of the "Catholic government experiment" would become an urgent priority. Even though JFK denied over and over the idea that the Vatican would run his administration, a percentage of Americans (and others) were not convinced. In that respect, a look at the assassination through a Premillennialist lens MIGHT prove interesting. Does it have legs? Too early to tell.

Much of the premillennialism preached by Armstrong warned of a coming "United States of Europe," which would be eventually run by the Catholic Church...but a version of the church that performed contrary to biblical teachings. Eventually that "unholy Roman empire" would bring about a true Armageddon, fought in the Middle East, in concert with "end-times" prophecy. The premillennialists would then be of the opinion that the killing of JFK would bring us closer to that "end of times," and the prophesied age of peace. That's the abridged CliffNotes version.

Merwin Hagger brought up the subject of premillennialism and connection, peripheral or otherwise, to the intrigues that led to the JFK assassination. He may be onto something. (Or he may not.) The Kennedy administration and the Kennedy assassination didn't occur in a vacuum. World events shaped the Kennedy administration as much as the Kennedy administration shaped world events. Even today, a "United States of Europe" is only a few nationalist movements away from reality. Conservatives today preach against a UN-led "one-world government," even as they turn a relatively blind eye to the economic union of a major portion of Western Europe. Mr. Hagger mentioned Herbert Armstrong and his seemingly worldwide religious broadcasts, and that a unified Europe was seen by Armstrong as being in the cards over 50 years ago. I have read many of Armstrong's books, pamphlets and brochures over the years, and I listened to some of his broadcasts as a youth. Mr. Hagger is not misrepresenting Armstrong's message, in my opinion. There may be legitimate grounds to take this aspect further, even as distasteful as many people find investigating religious angles to be. In today's world, lives being taken to further one religious perspective or another occurs daily. Sure, this may be a minor aspect of the assassination investigation. But it may be a larger factor than most of us realize.

I believe Mervyn Hagger may have opened my eyes a bit. Quick: Who was General Walker's financial sponsor? Most would say H. L. Hunt, as a reflex action. But what if it WAS McLendon...Gordon and his father? Would that not be a twist in the supposed plot? McLendon's KLIF is the tie between the assassination and Ruby...the heretofore "missing link," so to speak. Prior to the assassination, Ruby mentioned the phrase "watch the fireworks" referring to the JFK visit to Dallas while at the offices of the Dallas Morning News on the 22nd of November. Was that a slip-up, a clue to some foreknowledge of a plot? So who did Ruby speak with between the assassination of JFK and the murder of Oswald? Perhaps it wasn't his Mafia connections; perhaps it was a broadcasting connection. (Yes, that's speculation...but he DID show up at KLIF in the wee hours of Saturday morning.) Food for thought, and one thing IS certain: Ruby is more easily connect to McLendon than to Walker and the John Birch Society.

I'm beginning to believe that the "cult" consists of anyone not named Mervyn Hagger. Interesting to be lumped into the same "cult" as David Von Pein and others whose views are so different from my own.

Mr. Hagger, I've been an armchair researcher of the JFK assassination for most of my life. I have yet to find a biography of Oswald not filled with supposition rather than facts, and filled with indisputable fact instead of personal opinion. Including the Warren Commission report. So I don't understand your anger at the forum members for not delivering a biography which, to the best of my knowledge, has never existed. Please explain how this nonexistent biography is the fault of the forum members. I'm all ears. Take all the space you need to explain how that works.

General Edwin Walker attempted to resign from the Army on August 24, 1959. President Eisenhower refused to accept his resignation, and offered him command of the 24th Infantry, then stationed in Augsburg, Germany. Walker accepted the offer. Can anyone tell me the date Walker arrived in Germany? Is there even a TINY possibility that he crossed paths with Oswald in September of 1959?

What "others have concluded" is that we know NEXT TO NOTHING about Oswald's time and associations between clearing British customs in Southampton until his arrival in Helsinki. So what part of "what others have concluded" does this conflict with?

You totally misinterpreted my post. If you can effectively rebut the research these people are doing, that would be LEADING. BUT if you won't lead and you refuse to follow, you are only obstructing. Show me YOUR OWN RESEARCH that disproves what Andrej and Chris are doing...not just "I disagree, so they're wrong,wrong, wrong." Show me something beyond mere argument. Rebut them with research. Otherwise, it's nothing but obstruction.

Unertl Optical Company

..."obtuse abuse"... An apt description. I don't think we will know conclusively who Prayer Man/Woman [PMW] was unless some new evidence comes forth. I believe Chris and Andrej, who believe differently about the identity of PMW, are headed in the right direction to bring a degree of clarity to the topic. And so I applaud their work, and I have little regard to those who belittle their experiments in trying to get body dimensions in the photos to match known norms. That's a WHOLE lot more complicated than simply sitting back and belittling them without actually doing any similar experiments yourself that might refute their work. In other words...lead, follow or get the heck out of the way. I'm following their work with great interest because it MIGHT clarify some unknown. I have no investment in whether PMW is Oswald, Stanton, or Hamilton, Joe Frank or Reynolds...or anyone else.

I think Mervyn and I are somewhat on the same page about Oswald and his travel to/time in England. It appears he was influenced by someone [person/persons or institution] during this period. While someone in the intelligence community comes to mind, we have no idea [and few clues] whether it was CIA, MI-5/6, military intel, or some other person(s)/entity(entities). He applies to and is accepted at some obscure college in Switzerland. By all indications, he has intentions of attending said college in Switzerland. But when he arrives in France, he changes his direction of travel. When he enters England, he seems to still be intent on attending college in Switzerland. A day later, he's in Helsinki and talks no more of attending college in Switzerland. Now, I have trouble believing that Oswald could hang onto a cover story for the entire period from his departure from America to his arrival in England if his actual intentions were to do something else. I don't think his brain was wired for that [personal opinion]. Odd that no one save British customs had contact with him between Southampton and Helsinki. VERY odd.

They did and do exist..and have a Facebook page:Albert Schweitzer College Or perhaps it truly no longer exists: Albert Schweitzer College

Exactly. Wow. You and I are in agreement once more. How well do you like extra crispy and potato wedges? (Might make it 3 times....)

So how did he pay the cab driver?

1) Warren Commission Exhibit CE-228 is Oswald's application to attend Albert Schweitzer College in Switzerland. 2). Albert Schweitzer College in Switzerland accepted Oswald as a student. 3) Oswald told some people he was going to attend college in Switzerland. 4) To date, some 58+ years since Oswald's application to, and acceptance by, Albert Schweitzer College in Switzerland, no other application to any other colleges in Switzerland by Oswald has been discovered. This is not 100% certain, bulletproof PROOF that Oswald was talking about Albert Schweitzer College in Switzerland when he spoke of attending college in Switzerland. But I find it to be a DAMN good indication that the odds are favorable that Albert Schweitzer College in Switzerland was the institution of higher learning to which he referred. You may accept or refuse to accept that my conclusion is correct as you choose.

And of course you failed to address your intentional misquote. As if it never happened. NOTHING you have cited entitles you to intentionally misquote people with impunity. NOTHING. False statements and faulty logic do not strengthen your arguments. Last time I checked, David Von Pein is still posting here. So your "vast echo chamber" claim is demonstrably false as well.

I am following your logic here. My SWAG (" scientific wild-a**ed guess) is that you ARE correct. Perhaps Oswald actually had plans on going to Albert Schweitzer College when he left Texas. He possibly believed he was going on an adventure, and perhaps he thought at first that attending college was going to part of it. Gordon McLendon had a part in my past, although he was never aware of it. He purchased radio station WGRC in Louisville, KY in 1958, and proceeded to change it from a stodgy-but-respectable adult format to a rock and roll station with call letters WAKY, pronounced "wacky." The station made the format change announcement by playing Sheb Wooley's "Purple People Eater" over and over continuously for 24 hours. McLendon sold the station for a considerable profit in the 1960's, and I was fortunate enough to work there as an assistant to a blind DJ in the late 1970's, before FM kicked the AM rockers off their pedestals. If McLendon hadn't bought the station and changed the format, I might never have aspired to work in radio in my younger days. What Oswald did in London and particularly who he was I contact with is still a mystery to most researchers. Did he meet General Walker during that time? Jim Root thinks it's possible. "Possible" may not translate to " probable." Passenger lists on flights from 1963, I am told, no longer exist, so discovering who might have seen or spoken to Oswald on his flight(s) may be nearly impossible at this late date. But it doesn't mean we should stop looking for information, nor does it give us license to jump to conclusions.