I have been researching the Kennedy assassination since the year 2000 with mixed success. Along the way, I've made some friends and many many more enemies.
In 2009 I established the premier forum for new (often collaborative) research with the forum slowly evolving from a passive discussion group to a group determined to take action to reach the ultimate goal - the reopening of the case.
My research has been used (and sometimes abused) by a number of authors and I have written 2 of a proposed 4 volumes on the life and times of Lee Harvey Oswald (Lee Harvey Oswald's Cold War: Why the Kennedy Assassination Should be Reinvestigated).
Then in the middle of 2016 I had one of those life-changing moments - a near fatal heart attack requiring a quintuple bypass. Never mind that after 2 days in a post-op coma, I was hearing storms that never happened, watching TV shows on a heart monitor and seeing Pokemon outside the window that (probably) weren't there!
It was time to reset priorities.
I had to close down my business. No more 15 hour days, researching and writing about this case in the spare time between customers and late at night, long after my family were snug in bed. In all honesty, the business was doing poorly anyway, dragged down by a punitive tax regime on certain products as a means of social engineering and a failing local economy hurting from mining and manufacturing closures.
The reality: both my father and older brother died at 60. I am only a few months away from 59, and my heart attack came from out of the blue. No hints. No clues. No nothing prior.
Don't get me wrong. I am optimistic about living to see my twin boys grow into men (they are about to turn 13). But I am pragmatic enough to tidy up all my loose ends now, just in case...
One of those loose ends is indeed, winding up work on the assassination, while ensuring I have a "home" for all future projects. This site is that "home" as it can easily be adapted for other passions and pursuits.
So... this year is dedicated to
getting the best copies possible of the Weigman and Darnell films. As those familiar with ROKC will know, we are convinced that the figure dubbed "Prayer Man" in these films was correctly identified by Sean Murphy as being none other than Lee Harvey Oswald.
Getting out the remainder of my research in a manner that will have some impact. This will be via book, or via our proposed November conference, or both.
The former will unequivocally show that Oswald could not have been the sniper - the latter will provide new evidence pointing to at least some of those involved. This package of evidence would get any other case reopened. It should be the same here. On of the major hurdles facing anyone with new evidence was highlighted recently by author/journalist Russ Baker who said at a recent conference:
The community of researchers itself is plagued by problems such as sloppiness in its own work, too many marginal books being produced (and certainly too many for a relatively small core of enthusiasts), too many feuds, and too much ego among the “stars” — all of which diminishes the potential and the high-mindedness of the undertaking.
Baker was being brave, speaking as he was to some of the very people he was referencing. But he also held off from going full Monty. Some in this "community" are either paid to spread discord, or simply do it out of some sort of perverse pleasure, while others are driven by personal agendas and belief systems, and others still, simply have psychological issues.
Which is why those oft-heard calls of a united front in the community are patently ridiculous. Would you really want to hold hands and sing Kumbaya with someone claiming Jackie did it? Or that it was done to cover up aliens in our midst? It is why we are ridiculed by the media and why, when real evidence is presented, it will be almost impossible to get a hearing over this sometimes rabid cacophony.
But that is no excuse not to try.
This is the year.