Michael Griffith

Yes, it is sad that green extremists have so severely distorted the facts about nuclear power. I give Oliver Stone full credit and great praise for making this documentary. I hope it reaches a wide audience. I also hope it will change at least a few minds among radical environmentalists.

Oh my goodness. Well, you know, no one can stop you from floating such abject nonsense, even though Jackie is plainly and clearly looking straight at JFK in Z204 and is still doing so, even more obviously, in Z221. She is not looking off beyond the right side of the limo--she is looking straight at JFK, and she is still staring straight at him in Z221. But you cannot bring yourself to admit this self-evident fact because it destroys the SBT. Moreover, Jackie's head seems to be locked into the same position from Z204 through Z226--naturally, since she is fixated on her husband and trying to figure out what is wrong. And, just on a point of logic, given the loud noises being made by the police motorcycles alone, not to mention by other bystanders, it is doubtful that Jackie even heard the girls on the North Elm sidewalk. However, if she had turned her to head in response to their calling her name, one would logically expect that she would have waved to them or at least smiled at them. And, one would not logically expect her head to freeze in the same position from Z204 through Z226 if she had merely turned to look at some girls who were calling to her. Anyone with two functioning eyes can see that Jackie's attention is fixated on JFK by Z204. It is just a matter of being willing to admit it.

Are you really making this argument? Really? Seriously? I know you are determined to see the emperor's new clothes, but this is a new level of silliness. Do you deny that by Z204, Jackie has clearly turned her head to the right and is looking at JFK? Do you deny that in Z221 she is still staring intently at JFK? Researchers have long recognized that Jackie was totally, abjectly, thoroughly confused about the timing of events in the limousine during the shooting. The first time I read her testimony, I realized it was worthless as far as the shooting sequence was concerned. To give the reader some idea of just how confused Jackie was, if we were to believe her WC testimony, we would not only have to believe that she did not start to turn to the right until after she heard Connally say "no, no, no," but we would also have to believe that by the time she turned to look at JFK, he had already been hit in the head because she saw a piece of his skull "just as" she turned and looked at him! She said, And just as I turned and looked at him, I could see a piece of his skull and I remember it was flesh colored. (5 H 180) Obviously, she severely truncated and jumbled the shooting sequence and omitted most of it in the process. Her testimony is one clear case where the Zapruder film is more reliable than the person's memory.

That's a gross exaggeration and really rather ridiculous. Just because most CTers reject the HSCA's specific shooting sequence does not mean that "CTers throw out the HSCA findings too." Virtually all CTers accept and cite the evidence that the HSCA developed on Ruby's Mafia ties, on how Ruby entered the DPD basement, on Oswald's association with David Ferrie, on the Clinton Louisiana witnesses who reported seeing Oswald with Ferrie and Clay Shaw, on Silvia Odio's credibility, on the WC's failure to pursue conspiracy-indicating leads, on the eyewitness evidence of a grassy knoll shot, on more than three shots having been fired, on the presence of two gunmen in the plaza, on the indications that Oswald was being impersonated in Mexico City, on a shot being fired at or before Z190, etc., etc. CTers have also made extensive use of the released HSCA interviews with the autopsy personnel and with others who were present at the autopsy. Those interviews have revealed a mountain of crucial, historic information. If the HSCA had not done those interviews, the ARRB could not have released them in the 1990s because they would not have existed.

Alright, I finally got around to reading your excellent article. I think you are correct. I have long suspected that Oswald was telling the truth when he told the police that the only thing he brought to work that day was his lunch and that he brought in a large bag. As I've said before, I used to use the old standard brown grocery bags to bring my lunch to work. I did so because they were free and plenty big enough. And we should remember that Marina corroborated Oswald's claim that he took his lunch to work that day. Did Lee Harvey Oswald Carry Curtain Rods? : The JFK Assassination (22november1963.org.uk)

Sill's two-part article is worth reading. It contains a lot of good, important information. I disagree with a few of his arguments, but overall I find the article worthwhile and informative.

I think Jackie's reaction is irrefutable proof that JFK was hit many frames before Z223-224. The fact that she is already staring at him in Z221 can only mean that his reaction had already begun and that she had already noticed it. She starts to turn her head to the right at around Z193, and by Z204 she is already looking intently at JFK, and she is still looking at him in Z221 when she comes back into view from behind the road sign. Willis slide 5 provides impressive evidence that the shot that caused JFK's pre-Z221 reaction was fired at or before Z190. Willis said he snapped the photo in a startle reaction to the sound of a shot. As many experts have noted, Willis slide 5 corresponds to Z202, which means that the shot that startled Willis was fired at or just before Z190. It would have taken Willis 12-16 frames to process the sound, become startled, and click his camera to take the picture. (And, of course, this shot was fired while the sixth-floor gunman's view of JFK would have been obstructed by the oak tree.) I also find it very impressive that there is a strong blur episode that starts at Z189 and ends eight frames later. I might add that this blur episode is even stronger than the one that starts at Z312, i.e., the blur episode for the head shot. Yes, I agree that the bullet that hit Connally was not tumbling. The size and shape of his back wound argue strongly against the tumbling theory, as do the rear holes in his shirt and coat.

To give you some idea of what we are talking about regarding the astounding blunder posited by WC apologists and one conspiracy theorist, here is an HSCA diagram on which I have placed the low and high fragment trails. As you can see, the two trails are nowhere near each other and can be readily distinguished in relation to reference points such as the EOP, the coronal suture, the sagittal suture, and the right orbit. Again, just try to fathom how even a first-year medical student could have mistaken either trail for the other.

The most popular version of the single-bullet theory (SBT) among WC apologists says that Governor John Connally was hit at Z224, based mainly on the fact that his lapel appears to flip up in Z224. If so, then JFK must have been hit by the SBT bullet no earlier or later than Z223-224. Even allowing for a reduced speed for the bullet of around 1400 fps, the bullet would have reached Connally's lapel only 2 milliseconds after striking JFK. Thus, this SBT scenario actually requires a simultaneous strike on JFK and Connally at Z224. However, to be as generous as possible to the SBT, we will say Z223-224. Based on the Zapruder film, here are some questions that must be answered by those who posit this scenario: 1. How could JFK have been hit with the alleged magic bullet at Z223-224 when Jackie is already staring intently at him when she reemerges from behind the freeway sign in Z221? Does not her Z221 reaction clearly and obviously prove that JFK began reacting many frames before Z221? 2. If JFK was not hit until Z223-224, why does he have his right forearm bent inward and his right hand in front of his mouth in Z206, just before he disappears behind the freeway sign? Is this not a clear, obvious indication that he was already reacting to being wounded, just as the HSCA Photographic Evidence Panel (PEP) noted? 3. If JFK was not hit until Z223-224, how is it that in Z224, JFK has already brought his left hand inward and has it just below and in front of his throat? Is this not a clear, obvious continuation of the reaching-at-throat reaction he began by no later than Z206? 4. Is it not much more likely, if not certain, that the Z224 Connally lapel flip was caused by the wind that was gusting in Dealey Plaza and not by a bullet, given the fact that the bullet exited Connally's chest at a point several inches away from the point of the lapel flip, and given the fact that Dr. Lattimer's own experiment proved that if a bullet had hit Connally at Z224 it would have produced a number of other visible results, none of which are seen in Z224-233? Here is a good article by Dr. Cyril Wecht and Wallace Milam that refutes the claim that the lapel flip was caused by the SBT bullet: The Great Lapel Flip Here is an article by Jeremy Bojczuk that also refutes the SBT-lapel-flip claim: What Caused Connally's Lapel Flap? : The JFK Assassination (22november1963.org.uk) Veteran researcher David Wimp argues that the lapel flip is an optical illusion created by reflected light: The "Lapel Flip" as Reflected Light 5. If Connally was hit at Z224, why is his right shoulder not slammed downward until Z238? Connally said the bullet's impact felt like someone punched him hard in the back. He also insisted that he was not hit before Z231, and he chose Z234 as the moment he was shot. Does not the Zapruder film powerfully confirm Z234 as the frame of the bullet strike, given the fact that his right shoulder is slammed downward just four frames later, i.e., just 218 milliseconds or 4/16ths of a second later? I will conclude by quoting from the HSCA PEP's finding that JFK was hit before he disappears behind the freeway sign, i.e., at least 17 frames before Z224: At approximately Zapruder frame 200, Kennedy’s movements suddenly freeze; his right hand abruptly stops in the midst of a waving motion and his head moves rapidly from right to his left in the direction of his wife. Based on these movements, it appears that by the time the President goes behind the sign at frame 207 he is evidencing some kind of reaction to a severe external stimulus. (6 HSCA 17) The PEP correctly and convincingly concluded that this shot was fired at or just before Z190.

1. I was accepting his assumption for the sake of argument. However, the record is clear that someone destroyed or suppressed a number of x-rays, and the Secret Service is a plausible suspect. 2. Oh, come on. Humes had his autopsy notes when he wrote the report, so he did not have to rely solely on his memory. Furthermore, in just two days, Humes could not have forgotten seeing the plainly obvious high fragment trail with its snowstorm of fragments concentrated in the upper right front. That trail is nowhere near the low EOP-to-right-orbit trail that he described in the autopsy report and in his WC testimony. We now know that Humes correctly identified the rear head entry point. If Humes could do this, he surely could have remembered the high fragment trail and not have confused it for a trail that started 4 inches lower and that ended at a point 2 inches lower in relation to the reference points of the EOP and the right orbit. Come on.

Oh my goodness. I've seen it all. So now you're whitewashing Vladimir Putin and taking his lies at face value. Unbelievable. And let's be clear about Russia. The only real difference between 2023 Russia and the old Soviet Union is that Russia allows a degree of free enterprise. The government still has total power. There is no freedom of speech. Other basic rights are likewise solely at the mercy of the government. There are no checks and balances. Open dissent is dangerous. Journalists who dare to deviate from the party line risk jail, assault, and/or death. Untold thousands of Russians are sitting in prison for purely political reasons. Are you going to post a video of some Russians having fun on a street and say, "Gee, you see! Russia isn't such a bad place to live! Do those people look like they're oppressed"? (I ask this because you posted a video of some Vietnamese having fun on a street and then, incredibly, cited the video to deny that Vietnam is one of the most repressive regimes on the planet. You even dismissed the numerous highly critical Human Rights Watch reports on Vietnam.)

This makes no sense. This does not even directly address the problems. The pathologists and the radiologist had the skull x-rays on view boards for much of the autopsy and had ample time to examine them, not to mention that they had the skull in front of them and could compare what they saw on the x-rays with what they saw in the skull. Humes took extensive notes and wrote the autopsy report based on those notes and on his fresh recollection of what he had seen, so any autopsy materials destroyed by the Secret Service later on have no bearing on the issue at hand: Not one of the extant skull x-rays shows the low fragment trail, yet the autopsy report describes it in some detail and Humes described it in his WC testimony. Also, what do the x-rays that the Secret Service destroyed have to do with the fact that the autopsy report says nothing about the high fragment trail that is brazenly obvious on the extant skull x-rays? How does the destruction of some x-rays explain the autopsy report's failure to say anything about the high fragment trail, given that this trail is readily apparent on the extant skull x-rays, and given that the pathologists reviewed the autopsy materials in 1967 and stated that those materials confirmed the conclusions stated in the autopsy report? As for the two separate cavitation wounds, see Dr. Joseph Riley's articles on the subject. Dr. Mantik has also talked about these two wounds.

One, we can't see JFK from Z210 through Z223. Two, there is strong evidence that the Zapruder film has been altered (such as the fact that the film does not show the limo stop or marked slowdown described by over 40 witnesses from all over the plaza). Three, from Nellie's vantage point, JFK may indeed have appeared to be grabbing his throat. Four, he was certainly reaching for his throat, whether or not he actually touched it. Regardless of how you want to describe JFK's action with his hands, it is crystal clear that he begins to react many frames before Z224. In Z206, his right hand is clearly in front of his mouth. Moreover, anyone who peddles the fiction of a Z224 SBT hit on JFK needs to explain Jackie's reaction from Z202 onward. When she reemerges from behind the freeway sign in Z221, she is already looking intently at JFK. Surely no honest person with decent eyesight can deny this fact. So obviously JFK had begun to react many frames before Z221, and obviously Jackie noticed her husband's reaction and rapidly turned her to the right and began to stare at him to try to see what was wrong, just as the HSCA PEP observed. JFK was reacting to a shot fired at or just before Z190, as the HSCA PEP also concluded. In addition to JFK and Jackie's reactions that start in Z200, there is additional evidence of a Z186-190 shot: -- There's a strong blur episode from Z189-197. -- At Z207, Howard Brennan snaps his head to the right. -- George Hickey, in the follow-up car, starts to turn his head to the right at Z195. -- Phil Willis said he took Willis slide 5 in a startle reaction to hearing a shot, and Willis slide 5 was taken at Z202. As HSCA PEP member William Hartmann noted, "So that is very nice, consistent evidence that something happened, say, at 190 or shortly before 190" (2 HSCA 15). Finally, I think it is worth repeating the fact that this shot was fired while the sixth-floor gunman's view of the limo would have been obstructed by the intervening oak tree (Z166-210).

I ask again: Are any WC defenders going to try to explain why the low fragment trail described in the autopsy report is nowhere to be seen on the autopsy skull x-rays, and why the high fragment trail is not mentioned in the autopsy report? Just try to imagine how two professors of anatomic pathology (Humes and Boswell) and a forensic pathologist (Finck) could have mistaken the high fragment trail, which is near the very top of the skull, for a fragment trail that was at least 5 cm/2 inches lower and that started 10 cm/4 inches lower than the alleged entry point for the high fragment trail. Remember, too, that the high fragment trail is above the alleged high entry point. Try to fathom how even a first-year medical student could make such an unbelievable error. Either (1) the pathologists somehow "missed" the high fragment trail (impossible), or (2) they somehow mislocated it by at least 2 inches and mislocated its starting point by 4 inches (equally impossible), or (3) they purposely ignored the high fragment trail because they knew it indicated a second bullet to the head, since there was no connection between the two fragment trails. A fourth possibility, one that does not rule out the third option, is that the skull x-rays have been altered--not faked, but altered. Related to the issue of the fragment trails is the issue of the cavitation wounds. As Dr. Joseph Riley has noted, the two cavitation wounds in the skull indicate two bullets, since there is nothing that connects the two wounds.

As chance would have it, just this morning Fox News did another segment on RFK Jr., this time on how well he is polling in New Hampshire and Iowa and on the possibility that he could win the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary. RFK Jr. may in fact believe that if he appears to have a real shot at winning the Dem nomination, he may become a target for assassination. However, I think it is unwise for him to voice that belief because most people will view it as extreme and a bit paranoid. I would support closing some overseas military bases, but not all. I would definitely not close our bases in South Korea, not with a maniacal North Korean regime in power. I would also certainly not close our bases in the Pacific, which are vital to protecting key shipping lanes and to providing a deterrence to Chinese aggression against Taiwan and Japan.

Actually, Fox News has been giving RFK Jr. quite a bit of coverage lately, especially regarding his challenge to Biden to debate and Biden's refusal to do so. RFK Jr. needs a good campaign manager to steer him away from saying things like "I'm aware the CIA might assassinate me, and I take precautions." That kind of talk comes across as extreme and paranoid. I doubt that today's CIA would harm him. If RFK Jr. wants to appeal to a wide audience, he needs to stop making those kinds of comments.

Relying on where Harper said he found the fragment is shaky ground to begin with, given that he did not even witness the shooting and only found the fragment the next day, and given the marked conflicts in the reenactments and in other evidence about how many head shots there were and where they occurred. It is even shakier ground to rely on Harper's recollection 34 years after the fact. Also, many FBI reports were accurate but then witnesses later changed their stories, willingly or under pressure, to make them conform to the official version. However, the reverse also happened, where FBI reports were inaccurate but then the witnesses later gave the correct account. Thus, it is not necessarily unreasonable to rely on Harper's FBI statement. Everyone must read the evidence and make up their own minds. I find Mantik's anatomical arguments and his observations about the Harper Fragment x-ray convincing. I think he refutes Angel and Riley's placement of the fragment. I think he shows that the fragment x-ray alone refutes placing it in the parietal bone. I also find it convincing that the only three pathologists who actually handled the fragment, one of whom was a chief pathologist, all concluded that it was occipital bone. Now that you've sidetracked my thread again (!), I will wait a while and then repost my attempted bump to get WC apologists to explain the problems posed by the two fragment trails.

So, are no WC defenders going to try to explain why the high fragment trail is not mentioned in the autopsy report and why the low fragment trail described in the autopsy report is nowhere to be seen on the autopsy skull x-rays? Think about it. In an anatomic region with several reference points, i.e., the human skull, how could two professors of anatomic pathology (Humes and Boswell) and a forensic pathologist (Finck) have mistaken the high fragment trail near the very top of the skull for a trail that was at least 5 cm/2 inches lower and that started from a point--the EOP--that was 10 cm/4 inches lower than the alleged entry point for the high fragment trail? And keep in mind that the high fragment trail is above the alleged high entry point. Try to imagine how even a first-year medical student could make such a jaw-dropping error. Either the pathologists somehow "missed" the high fragment trail (unbelievable), or they somehow mislocated it by at least 2 inches and mislocated its starting point by 4 inches (equally unbelievable), or they purposely ignored the high fragment trail because they knew it indicated a second bullet to the head, since there was no connection between the two fragment trails. Similarly, as Dr. Joseph Riley has noted, the two cavitation wounds in the skull indicate two bullets, since there is nothing that connects the two wounds.

Wow. Well. I hope you're right.

I was only talking about hitting Russian ships that are in the war zone, not ships that are docked or operating farther away. We could give Ukraine long-range missiles with the stipulation that they could not be fired at targets farther than XXX miles away. I'd certainly hope we would at least allow them to hit Russian missile sites that fire missiles at Ukraine, and also hit rear bases, rear staging areas, and transportation nodes and lines within 150 miles of Ukraine's border. I am thrilled that Biden is finally authorizing the transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine. News reports say we are now training Ukrainian pilots to fly those jets. Assuming we give Ukraine a decent amount of fighter jets, and assuming we train the pilots adequately, the jets will make a huge difference by enabling Ukraine to take meaningful offensive actions.

Can you give us the Cliffs Notes version?

This is the tip of the iceberg. Fox News and Newsmax TV have been carrying some great reports about the Chinese scientist who defected because she realized what the Chinese government wanted her to do with the Corona virus. And, not to be partisan, but surely no one believes that the current occupant of the White House is going to do anything about this stuff.

And let's not forget that Jackie told the WC that she was trying to hold JFK's hair and skull on "from the back" of his head, that "from the back" she could see where she needed to hold hair and skull on: I was trying to hold his hair on. From the front there was nothing -- I suppose there must have been. But from the back you could see, you know, you were trying to hold his hair on, and his skull on.... I could see a piece of his skull sort of wedge-shaped, like that, and I remember that it was flesh colored with little ridges at the top. And then he sort of did this [indicating], put his hand to his forehead and fell in my lap. (5 H 180, deleted testimony released later) She is clearly describing a defect in the back of the head, a defect at which she was trying to hold hair and skull in place. No wonder the WC deleted this segment from the published transcript. Jackie described the same back-of-head wound that Clint Hill observed up close for several minutes on the way to Parkland Hospital.

Nellie Connally, who got a close look at JFK's reaction, said he was grabbing at his throat ("he had both hands at his neck," "clutch his neck with both hands"). This was no "reflex action." That myth was debunked years ago. When you reach for an area where you're feeling pain, you may not actually touch the area, or only touch it briefly and then pull away slightly. JFK is definitely reaching for his throat, because he has just been shot in the throat. The back shot comes quite visibly in Z226, when he is suddenly jolted forward and his hands and elbows are flung upward and forward. Though studiously ignored by WC apologists, this is one of the most obvious, visible reactions in the entire Zapruder film. In Z221, Jackie is already looking intently at JFK, obviously because she has realized something is wrong with him. You can see JFK's right hand in front of his mouth in Z206. So obviously, JFK's reaction began well before Z224 and Jackie noticed it and began staring at JFK well before Z224, just as the HSCA PEP noted.

Joan Baez was the rare exception. As I have said several times, there were a few, a precious few, anti-war liberals who condemned North Vietnam's reign of terror after Saigon fell. Also, notice the date on that article: 1979. That was four years after the brutal subjugation had begun. Still, kudos to Joan Baez for speaking out in 1979. Better late than never.