So, who is running this forum now?

[Benjamin Cole]

8 hours ago, Michael Griffith said:

I really don't care about someone's political views when it comes to the JFK case. I just wish the moderators would not allow people to post non-JFK-case-related threads in this forum.

I disagree.

I like to see posts about the modern "Deep State" or globalism, the national security state, using perspectives and insights we have gained from the JFKA research. 

Posts about censorship, and media collusion with authority. 

You have made many interesting comments on the Vietnam War in this forum, for example, most of which I disagree. The VW is not directly connected to the JFKA. (I rather suspect it was Cuban exiles and the Miami Station of the CIA that did JFK in, possibly using mafia-Cuban gunsels and operatives. The mobbed-up Ruby of course was used also.) 

I do wish moderators would prohibit ad hominem commentary. But hey---a thick skin helps. 

 

[John Cotter]

On 11/27/2022 at 3:32 PM, Joseph Backes said:

Forgive my ignorance, but who is running the forum now? Are there moderators, and if so who are they?

Or are we just hoping everyone can be civil? 

I ask because we're actually seeing young knuckleheads trying to gain internet attention for themselves by behaving openly, even cartoonishly, as a National Socialist Idiot [ This forum automatically deletes the real word I want to use but that undermines the whole point I'm trying to make. Oddly, the singular noun is not allowed, but the plural is. How stupid. ] We have an idiot in his 20's having dinner with Trump. There's video circulating of another young goon having a childish meltdown in an airport. We've had the horror of Charlottesville, etc. There's a lot of idiots openly idolizing Nazis with little or no consequence since The Count of Mostly Crisco gained and lost the presidency. 

But, being sane, I think we should all be on board with the idea that Nazis are bad.  I don't have to explain World War II to anyone do I? 

What I don't understand is why anyone would repeat what I consider to be a Russian talking point, let's just call it what it is, a lie, that there's anyone in power in the Ukraine that actually is a National Socialist Idiot and therefore Putin had good cause to invade and bomb the Ukraine.  

The President of the Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is Jewish.  Everybody understands that, right? 

So, posts that the Ukranians are being led by Nazis is a stupid thing to say that discredits the entire forum.  Right? So, there's moderators who don't allow that junk on here, right? At least I hope so. 

Joe Backes

I think the forum is very well run, and posters’ behaviour is generally respectful and civil. However, I agree with Benjamin that ad hominems – or at least persistent ad hominems – should be prohibited. I would add that most of these ad hominems seem to be committed not by the alleged “young knuckleheads” mentioned in the opening post but by their adversaries (as illustrated, ironically, by the term “knucklehead” itself).

It's good that the forum allows a wide diversity of views, because we’re supposed to be adults who are capable of assessing for ourselves the validity or otherwise of the various views and arguments presented in the forum.

All our political leaders who have presided over the censorship and suppression of open debate and the vilification and punishment of dissenters over the past three years and all their supporters should be forced to listen to Christopher Hitchens’s brilliant oration on the subject of free speech and acknowledge their own authoritarian perversity.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Christopher+Hitchens%2C+free+speech&oq=Christopher+Hitchens%2C+free+speech&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512l2j0i22i30.9485j1j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:62dfe3f1,vid:4Z2uzEM0ugY

Edited November 29, 2022 by John Cotter

[Joe Bauer]

25 minutes ago, John Cotter said:

I think the forum is very well run, and posters’ behaviour is generally respectful and civil. However, I agree with Benjamin that ad hominems – or at least persistent ad hominems – should be prohibited. I would add that most of these ad hominems seem to be committed not by the alleged “young knuckleheads” mentioned in the opening post but by their adversaries (as illustrated, ironically, by the term “knucklehead” itself).

It's good that the forum allows a wide diversity of views, because we’re supposed to be adults who are capable of assessing for ourselves the validity or otherwise of the various views and arguments presented in the forum.

All our political leaders who have presided over the censorship and suppression of open debate and the vilification and punishment of dissenters over the past three years and all their supporters should be forced to listen to Christopher Hitchens’s brilliant oration on the subject of free speech and acknowledge their own authoritarian perversity.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Christopher+Hitchens%2C+free+speech&oq=Christopher+Hitchens%2C+free+speech&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512l2j0i22i30.9485j1j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:62dfe3f1,vid:4Z2uzEM0ugY

HERE HERE!

[Guest]

18 hours ago, John Cotter said:

I think the forum is very well run, and posters’ behaviour is generally respectful and civil. However, I agree with Benjamin that ad hominems – or at least persistent ad hominems – should be prohibited. I would add that most of these ad hominems seem to be committed not by the alleged “young knuckleheads” mentioned in the opening post but by their adversaries (as illustrated, ironically, by the term “knucklehead” itself).

It's good that the forum allows a wide diversity of views, because we’re supposed to be adults who are capable of assessing for ourselves the validity or otherwise of the various views and arguments presented in the forum.

All our political leaders who have presided over the censorship and suppression of open debate and the vilification and punishment of dissenters over the past three years and all their supporters should be forced to listen to Christopher Hitchens’s brilliant oration on the subject of free speech and acknowledge their own authoritarian perversity.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Christopher+Hitchens%2C+free+speech&oq=Christopher+Hitchens%2C+free+speech&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i512l2j0i22i30.9485j1j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:62dfe3f1,vid:4Z2uzEM0ugY

Agree. 

[Pat Speer]

I've been on the Ed Forum almost since its beginning. I'm not sure if any other member has been as active as long as I have. Oh scratch that, I think. David Healy and Kathy Beckett were already here. In any case, I must say this is a relatively quiet time here, at least from my perspective. There are some heated exchanges, and some wacky comments, but nothing like we have had in the past, where long time members (including a certain college professor) would start thread after thread about other members being disinformation agents, or actual CIA agents. While the word l-i-a-r was controlled, for that matter, it was hard to make it through a thread without someone's claiming someone was "intellectually dishonest." I was a moderator at that time, as was Kathy, and my recollection is that there was one or more complaints a day, with two or more members being on moderation (meaning their posts needed to be approved by the moderators before they would be allowed to appear) at any given time. 

So, in short, today's forum is a church meeting compared to the riots of the past. 

Edited November 30, 2022 by Pat Speer

[Benjamin Cole]

39 minutes ago, Pat Speer said:

I've been on the Ed Forum almost since its beginning. I'm not sure if any other member has been as active as long as I have. Oh scratch that, I think. David Healey and Kathy Beckett were already here. In any case, I must say this is a relatively quiet time here, at least from my perspective. There are some heated exchanges, and some wacky comments, but nothing like we have had in the past, where long time members (including a certain college professor) would start thread after thread about other members being disinformation agents, or actual CIA agents. While the word l-i-a-r was controlled, for that matter, it was hard to make it through a thread without someone's claiming someone was "intellectually dishonest." I was a moderator at that time, as was Kathy, and my recollection is that there was one or more complaints a day, with two or more members being on moderation (meaning their posts needed to be approved by the moderators before they would be allowed to appear) at any given time. 

So, in short, today's forum is a church meeting compared to the riots of the past. 

Glad I wasn't involved in the old days.

That said, I wish moderators would try to dial down ad hominem comments. 

Encourage people to present their views...but not denigrate other commenters. 

Yes, I understand a person making ad hominem comments only shrinks smaller. 

But it is still annoying. 

[David G. Healy]

3 hours ago, Benjamin Cole said:

Glad I wasn't involved in the old days.

That said, I wish moderators would try to dial down ad hominem comments. 

Encourage people to present their views...but not denigrate other commenters. 

Yes, I understand a person making ad hominem comments only shrinks smaller. 

But it is still annoying. 

 

Yes the old days, quite moving concern, this place. In fact, I was warned of my upcoming expulsion from the Ed Forum, 3 times... I will be signing off from the forum at the end of this week... who'd of thought in 2004 that I'd be one of the last old-timers here in nearly 2023... and if Len Colby showed here again, I'd take him to task anew.... of course there were disinfo agents hereabouts, image shifter I liked to call them back then -- and .john mcmadman had entire university classroom(s) full of them... fighting with the best of them, the 'LHO did it all by his lonesome' bunch... mod's insisting we have a clean discussion of the facts, like we were going to determine where the next JFK investigation was going, and an obvious conclusion.... and there hasn't been one person join this forum without a pre-determine assassination conclusion in their mind... so "keep an open mind" is pure BS....

Present and future authors bounced book ideas off this forum membership, some good stuff, some trash the result over the years.... But always someone had some concept to sell, most of it nonsense... Glad I witnessed it... it's no-wonder fascism has poked its nose out....the unknown history of JFK assassination investigation: a waiting game, the au contraire crowd will die the WCR truth will stand... the best I have seen over the years regarding assassination evidence is: Oliver Stone/Jim DiEugenio latest -- the Doug Horne's Series -- And a guy that still posts to alt.conspiracy.jfk, one Ben Holmes who keeps every single .john mcmadam acolyte toes to the flames... using Mark Lanes Rush to Judgement, Holmes has been devastating when it comes to debate concerning JFK assassination case evidence. Not one lone nutter has had success against Holmes including .John who was needless to say outmanned in debating Holmes.......

So I bid you adieu, go in peace, but don't go silently... and Pat, I got here April 2004 (an invite from John Simkin (not Andy - we didn't get along), after Rich DellaRosa's JFK assassination research website shut down, at which I was the film/photo site moderator -- which,  by-the-way spawned many other photo assassination archives)

David Healy -- 11-29-2022

Edited November 30, 2022 by David G. Healy

[Steve Thomas]

David 

I joined in April, 2004 as well.

Sorry to see you go.

One of the things I liked most about this Forum is that there was an awful lot of original research that went on.

Steve Thomas

[Bob Ness]

1 hour ago, David G. Healy said:

 

Yes the old days, quite moving concern, this place. In fact, I was warned of my upcoming expulsion from the Ed Forum, 3 times... I will be signing off from the forum at the end of this week... who'd of thought in 2004 that I'd be one of the last old-timers here in nearly 2023... and if Len Colby showed here again, I'd take him to task anew.... of course there were disinfo agents hereabouts, image shifter I liked to call them back then -- and .john mcmadman had entire university classroom(s) full of them... fighting with the best of them, the 'LHO did it all by his lonesome' bunch... mod's insisting we have a clean discussion of the facts, like we were going to determine where the next JFK investigation was going, and an obvious conclusion.... and there hasn't been one person join this forum without a pre-determine assassination conclusion in their mind... so "keep an open mind" is pure BS....

Present and future authors bounced book ideas off this forum membership, some good stuff, some trash the result over the years.... But always someone had some concept to sell, most of it nonsense... Glad I witnessed it... it's no-wonder fascism has poked its nose out....the unknown history of JFK assassination investigation: a waiting game, the au contraire crowd will die the WCR truth will stand... the best I have seen over the years regarding assassination evidence is: Oliver Stone/Jim DiEugenio latest -- the Doug Horne's Series -- And a guy that still posts to alt.conspiracy.jfk, one Ben Holmes who keeps every single .john mcmadam acolyte toes to the flames... using Mark Lanes Rush to Judgement, Holmes has been devastating when it comes to debate concerning JFK assassination case evidence. Not one lone nutter has had success against Holmes including .John who was needless to say outmanned in debating Holmes.......

So I bid you adieu, go in peace, but don't go silently... and Pat, I got here April 2004 (an invite from John Simkin (not Andy - we didn't get along), after Rich DellaRosa's JFK assassination research website shut down, at which I was the film/photo site moderator -- which,  by-the-way spawned many other photo assassination archives)

David Healy -- 11-29-2022

Sorry to see you go David. Be well. You will be missed.

BN

Edited November 30, 2022 by Bob Ness

[Kirk Gallaway]

2 hours ago, David G. Healy said:

 

Yes the old days, quite moving concern, this place. In fact, I was warned of my upcoming expulsion from the Ed Forum, 3 times... I will be signing off from the forum at the end of this week... who'd of thought in 2004 that I'd be one of the last old-timers here in nearly 2023... and if Len Colby showed here again, I'd take him to task anew.... of course there were disinfo agents hereabouts, image shifter I liked to call them back then -- and .john mcmadman had entire university classroom(s) full of them... fighting with the best of them, the 'LHO did it all by his lonesome' bunch... mod's insisting we have a clean discussion of the facts, like we were going to determine where the next JFK investigation was going, and an obvious conclusion.... and there hasn't been one person join this forum without a pre-determine assassination conclusion in their mind... so "keep an open mind" is pure BS....

Present and future authors bounced book ideas off this forum membership, some good stuff, some trash the result over the years.... But always someone had some concept to sell, most of it nonsense... Glad I witnessed it... it's no-wonder fascism has poked its nose out....the unknown history of JFK assassination investigation: a waiting game, the au contraire crowd will die the WCR truth will stand... the best I have seen over the years regarding assassination evidence is: Oliver Stone/Jim DiEugenio latest -- the Doug Horne's Series -- And a guy that still posts to alt.conspiracy.jfk, one Ben Holmes who keeps every single .john mcmadam acolyte toes to the flames... using Mark Lanes Rush to Judgement, Holmes has been devastating when it comes to debate concerning JFK assassination case evidence. Not one lone nutter has had success against Holmes including .John who was needless to say outmanned in debating Holmes.......

So I bid you adieu, go in peace, but don't go silently... and Pat, I got here April 2004 (an invite from John Simkin (not Andy - we didn't get along), after Rich DellaRosa's JFK assassination research website shut down, at which I was the film/photo site moderator -- which,  by-the-way spawned many other photo assassination archives)

David Healy -- 11-29-2022

Nice  memoir Dave!  Good luck!

[Sandy Larsen]

2 hours ago, David G. Healy said:

I will be signing off from the forum at the end of this week...

 

You can't go David... you're a forum fixture.

(Jeez I hate good byes. Seriously, my eyes are tearing up.)

 

[Douglas Caddy]

14 hours ago, David G. Healy said:

 

Yes the old days, quite moving concern, this place. In fact, I was warned of my upcoming expulsion from the Ed Forum, 3 times... I will be signing off from the forum at the end of this week... who'd of thought in 2004 that I'd be one of the last old-timers here in nearly 2023... and if Len Colby showed here again, I'd take him to task anew.... of course there were disinfo agents hereabouts, image shifter I liked to call them back then -- and .john mcmadman had entire university classroom(s) full of them... fighting with the best of them, the 'LHO did it all by his lonesome' bunch... mod's insisting we have a clean discussion of the facts, like we were going to determine where the next JFK investigation was going, and an obvious conclusion.... and there hasn't been one person join this forum without a pre-determine assassination conclusion in their mind... so "keep an open mind" is pure BS....

Present and future authors bounced book ideas off this forum membership, some good stuff, some trash the result over the years.... But always someone had some concept to sell, most of it nonsense... Glad I witnessed it... it's no-wonder fascism has poked its nose out....the unknown history of JFK assassination investigation: a waiting game, the au contraire crowd will die the WCR truth will stand... the best I have seen over the years regarding assassination evidence is: Oliver Stone/Jim DiEugenio latest -- the Doug Horne's Series -- And a guy that still posts to alt.conspiracy.jfk, one Ben Holmes who keeps every single .john mcmadam acolyte toes to the flames... using Mark Lanes Rush to Judgement, Holmes has been devastating when it comes to debate concerning JFK assassination case evidence. Not one lone nutter has had success against Holmes including .John who was needless to say outmanned in debating Holmes.......

So I bid you adieu, go in peace, but don't go silently... and Pat, I got here April 2004 (an invite from John Simkin (not Andy - we didn't get along), after Rich DellaRosa's JFK assassination research website shut down, at which I was the film/photo site moderator -- which,  by-the-way spawned many other photo assassination archives)

David Healy -- 11-29-2022

David: I am glad you did not go silently into the night but instead gave forum members the opportunity to wish you the very best on your life journey. You are departing at a crucial time in history because next year will be the 60th anniversary of JFK's assassination (or in Howard Hunt's prescient words, "The Big Event",) and who knows what new and illuminating revelations may be forthcoming. 

Doug

[Douglas Caddy]

Posted today by David Talbot on Facebook:

The Art of Death... David Bowie turned everything into art, even his own death. I was put in mind of that again while watching the recent documentary "Bowie: Moonage Daydream," which is kind of a sound and vision, well, daydream. The documentary puts you in Bowie's strange and beautiful head (was there any human creature so immensely variable, switching looks and musical styles on artistic instinct?), down to his very end, which was NOT bitter. "Life is fantastic," Bowie's disembodied voice tells us near the end of the documentary.

Did Bowie, who died of cancer in January 2016, believe in an AFTERlife? It seems that way. He left us an album ,"Blackstar," released the same month of his passing, that contained these lyrics:

"Something happened on the day he died

Spirit rose a meter

then stepped aside

Somebody else took his place, and bravely cried

(I'm a blackstar, I'm a star star, I'm a blackstar)"

The album also contained a song called "Lazarus," after the man whom Jesus miraculously raised from the dead, that featured these lyrics:

"Look up here, I'm in heaven...

Dropped my cell phone down below

Ain't that just like me?"

The man always had a sense of humor. He played with life... and death. I get it. As I wrote in my stroke memoir, "Between Heaven and Hell," getting in touch with the great unknown heightened my sense of the absurd.

Bowie's songs on "Blackstar" comforted and discomfited me. That's what great art does. It's also what the onrush of our finality -- at least on this earthly plane -- does to us.

As I get closer to the end, I dwell more on death. It's not morbid -- although our youth-oriented, acquisitive culture drums that idea into us. Death is the great mystery. The looming Blackstar. Maybe it's the ultimate extinction, in which case we don't have to fret any longer. But, like Bowie, I choose to think, to FEEL, it's the beginning of a new mystery.

I don't exactly look forward to it. After all, life is still "fantastic," even in my debilitated state. But I'm more and more ready for whatever comes next...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Paul Brancato]

Thanks Doug - I needed that.

 

[Joseph McBride]

Ad hominem insults only reveal the

lack of credibility of the person

lobbing the insults. They show

an inability to argue factually.