The John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection has been released

President Donald Trump is making good on his promise to release all the documents pertaining to the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.  This has been a LONG time coming for many, many people.  It bothered me in high school when I realized how much my government was holding back and it made a lot of my classmates mad too (this was right at the time the movie JFK was out).

But after sixty-two years since this collection began to coalesce, we're finally getting a look at it all.

Here's the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection's main page at the National Archives.  A lot of stuff had been made public already.  But what you're probably most interested in is what has been released because of Trump's executive order.  That stuff started getting dumped a few days ago: more than thirty-three thousand pages across nearly twelve hundred PDF documents.  Here's the link to that newly-released material, and word on the street is that there's more still to come.

What do I think so far?  I've only had time to peruse a little bit of it but there is some interesting stuff in there, a lot of it having to do with anti-communist activities on the part of the American government in the early Sixties, especially in regard to Cuba.  I found one document describing how a ballerina dancer was actually a communist agent.

But most people are going to want to home in on the meaty stuff pertaining to the assassination.  And they are finding some interesting things.  Among the more fascinating come upon so far: Gary Underhill, a CIA agent who stated the day after the killing that there was a clique within the agency that was responsible for carrying it out.  A few months later Underhill was found dead, it was ruled a suicide.  Just one more mystery among the pile of the biggest enigma in American history.

Back in 2016 when I was traveling across America with my dog Tammy, we spent a few weeks in Texas and during that time I got to visit Dealey Plaza in Dallas.  This was it: the most analyzed patch of land in the annals of man.  This is where all the theories span out from and where many more converge again.  And after a lifetime of wanting to see it for myself I was finally there.

Here are some of the pictures that were taken...

Behind the picket fence atop the grassy knoll.  This is the spot that several witnesses said they heard the sound of gunshots coming from.

Tammy and me atop the grassy knoll.

The spot where Kennedy was when the fatal shot hit is marked by a small white X on the road (click to enlarge)

The former Texas School Book Depository, from a window on the sixth floor of which is where Lee Harvey Oswald presumably fired the shots as the presidential motorcade passed by on the street below.

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This was today's verse on the Bible app...

 

How often do we ask God for things like money, or mere things like cars?  Or even healing?  Then He doesn't give us that, and we get angry and embittered.

That's not what God promised us though.  He can grant us those things in His time.  But He gives us wisdom EVERY time we ask for it.  And really, isn't wisdom more often than not what we need the most?

It's ironic: wisdom is one thing we can be sure God will give us but yet it's seemingly something we very rarely want.  I would even say that the desire for wisdom is at an all time low.  And that's a tragedy.

I would do well to take this verse to heart, especially.  I don't seek after wisdom nearly enough.  I've become frustrated with God, especially when it comes to having bipolar disorder.  I get upset at Him for not taking it away or alleviating it even a little.  When I should really be asking Him for wisdom to live in spite of my diagnosis.  God gives us wisdom and strength to face our obstacles, and I need to rely on Him even greater.

But mostly, when the verse popped up on my Bible app, it made me think about how wisdom is such a neglected virtue in this time and place as ours.  We could certainly be in a better place spiritually, and culturally and even politically, if we sought wisdom more.

God can give us that.  All we have to do is ask for it.

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Fiftieth anniversary of "Genesis of the Daleks"

It was fifty years ago today, on March 8th 1975, that the BBC transmitted part one of the Doctor Who story "Genesis of the Daleks".

It has since gone on to be regarded as one of the very best Doctor Who tales in the history of the franchise and one of the greatest science-fiction stories ever committed to the visual medium.  "Genesis of the Daleks", written by Terry Nation, packed a lot!  The part that I most often think about is when The Doctor (the Fourth, played by Tom Baker) is agonizing over the choice that is his to make: to either destroy the Daleks before they can become the universal menace he knows them to be, or to save them and let history run its course.  It was pretty strong stuff for a show still considered to be made for young audiences.

So it is that today is the fiftieth anniversary of the debut of Davros, the genius-but-insane creator of the Daleks.  Personally, I think that Davros is one of the greatest villains in fictional history.  When you consider that he has only one hand but that hand is stained with the blood of trillions of innocent lives... that is incalculable evil.

And to celebrate, here is a video that I discovered many years ago that someone very brilliant compiled and posted to YouTube. This predates Davros's appearance in the series that has been running since 2005, so it's almost all from the classic productions.

Here is "Davros Versus The Universe":

EDIT: 03/10/2025:  A reader of this blog has informed me that the complete "Genesis of the Daleks", all six episodes, is available to watch on the official Doctor Who YouTube channel!

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What might be the best way to end the war in Ukraine (that I can see)

 C'mere. Siddown.  I've got something to say.

One person has accused me of siding with Putin.  And that's one person too many.

To this person and others who think that of me: "***** you".  Because I am the FURTHEST thing from being a Putin apologist.

NOBODY'S hands are clean in this affair.  Not Russia.  Not Ukraine (as much as many of us want to believe otherwise) and not the United States.  We are involved too.  We sent a LOT of money and war materiel to Ukraine, and it's been questionable whether it was used by that country to fight Russia or if it was diverted and sold to other interests.  It's quite possible that some of the arms we sent wound up in the hands of drug cartels in Latin America.  I love the people of Ukraine, but the matter remains that they allowed their country to be one of the most corrupt in Europe and ultimately that's on them.

What do I think the U.S. should have done?  America should have led international sanctions against Russia.  In time I believe those would have had an effect.  Russia isn't playing nice by the rules of polite international behavior and they should suffer for that.

But that is not what we did.

Ukraine is not Afghanistan.  Afghanistan has defeated invaders for thousands of years.  It is perhaps the worst geography on Earth for an army to come in and try to control.  Alexander of Macedonia learned this.  So did the Soviets.  And in time so did America.  During the Afghanistan conflict with the invading Russian the U.S. did provide the Afghans with Stinger missiles, among other things.  In time that aid did did compel the Soviets to give up and go home.  But the Afghans had the layout of the land, the mountains of their home turf, on their side.  There is no such advantage that Ukraine has.

If we try to do with Ukraine what we did with Afghanistan, we are going to widen the war into something beyond the confines of Eastern Europe.  Zelensky came to the Oval Office yesterday and made clear his ultimate demand: that American armed forces and personnel be brought into Ukraine.  And that would be a terrible, terrible mistake for us to commit.  If we did that we would be turning Ukraine it into a quagmire far worse than Vietnam was.  And this time there will be a belligerent with his finger on a nuclear button.

What do *I* see in these circumstances?  What does Chris Knight the American citizen, the historian, the man just trying to do the right thing, perceive in this matter?

The last thing that Robert Christopher Knight wants to see is any one die.  Scrape everything else away from him and that's what you're left with.  And right now I don't see Ukraine's leadership being serious about that.

So it's left to a third party, someone other than the two sides in the conflict, to try to negotiate something. Right now the best party to do that is the United States.

There are three suggestions I would make, if anyone's interested...

1.  The U.S. and Ukraine should agree to the minerals deal.  The one that was about to be signed yesterday before the dipolomacy fell apart with all the world to see.  Enacting the minerals agreement would result in an active American presence in Ukraine *without* bringing United States armed forces into the war.  Russia would hesitate - and tremendously so - to endanger lives of American civilians.

2.  Work out a deal between Russia and Ukraine to end hostilities.  End armed conflict.  Stop the killing, by both sides.  They have each drawn blood.    Ukraine has also, by way of its drone aircraft.

3.  Negotiate the borders between Russia and Ukraine.  There are many areas in Ukraine that are ethnic Russian and have long expressed a desire to be within Russia.  If Putin wants to prove that he's true to his word he will agree to annex these areas.  But Russia is going to have to give over some territory to Ukraine also.

I have never been a fan of Putin.  I think he is a despicable excuse of a supposed leader.  His soul is a dark one, no matter how much George W. Bush looked into his eyes and claimed to see a good man.  Putin wants a return of the old Soviet empire.  He has never stopped being KGB at heart.  The day he finally dies will be a good one for the world, unless he repents of his wrongdoing and tries to make right what he has done.  But that's between him and God.

But neither have I been a wholehearted fan of sending hundreds of billions of American dollars - that we can't really afford - to Ukraine, without accountability for how it's being used.  Zelensky is not the squeaky clean leader of his country that many of us want to believe he is.  He did not come into office honestly and he has demonstrated many times that he turns a blind eye to the corruption in Ukraine.

So what are we to do?

The three suggestions I just made, provided that the United States pushes them forward, is the best alternative to prolonging the war that I can see.  It's NOT perfect.  It's NOT what either Ukraine or America wants.  In a perfect world Russia would be forced to withdraw and have to make reparations.  But it's not a perfect world and the United States did play a part in exacerbating the situation.

That's the best deal that I see us making that will end the war and stop the killing.  It's the only thing I can imagine will finally end this conflict.

But don't ANYONE dare declare that I'm a supporter of Putin.  Because that only demonstrates how much of a fool that person is.

Just my .02

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I watched the meeting between President Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky

And I mean I watched the entire meeting, not just the final ten minutes that descended into diplomatic chaos.

(Here it is if you want to see it for yourself.)

The war in Ukraine is perhaps the damndest Gordian Knot of foreign relations that I've seen in my lifetime.  I am and always have been against Russia's aggression into what should be a sovereign nation recognized as such by all.  I despise Russian dictator Vladamir Putin as much as anyone can.  The sooner he dies or is somehow overthrown will be a happy day for the world.  He had no right to plan and execute the invasion of Ukraine.

But what can be done about that?  More to the point, what should the role of the United States be?  We've already given hundreds of billions of dollars in funding and war materiel to Ukraine.

It's now an open and very serious question: what has become of all of that support that our politicians in the past few years have cheerfully given Ukraine?

Russia isn't going to withdraw from Ukraine while Putin sits in the Kremlin.  It's doubtful that if and when the war ends that Russia is going to cede over the territory they've won back to Ukraine.

I believe that President Trump is trying to make the best of the situation in the best interest of America: end the war and stop the loss of life.

Back to the matter of yesterday's meeting between Trump and Zelensky and their respective delegations in the Oval Office...

For the first forty minutes things are going as well as this kind of thing could.  Trump is being very gracious to his guest.  In fact, it could even be said that things are going in Zelensky's favor.  And then right around the forty minutes mark Vice-President J.D. Vance breaks in from where he's been sitting and brings up what is, I think so anyway, a good point: that on Joe Biden's watch the official United States rhetoric didn't match the United States's actions.  That there was never any real attempt at diplomacy on the part of the United States government.  Instead the U.S. became something that pumped billions upon billions of dollars into Ukraine's war effort and apparently this was not good enough for Zelensky, who Vance accused of not being thankful enough.

It's pretty clear that Zelensky wants something that the United States and other countries in Europe cannot provide without bringing about a larger conflict with Putin's Russia.  And Zelensky isn't budging about that.

I've had time to contemplate what happened yesterday and the larger scope of things.  And from where this blogger is sitting, it does seem as though Trump's strategy is the best one.  I'm not saying it's the most likable.  But it will bring about an end to hostilities sooner.  The minerals deal that was almost signed yesterday at the White House, before relations broke down between Trump and Zelensky, wouldn't put "boots on the ground" in Ukraine.  But it would put American interests firmly in place in that country, something that could be just as effective at giving Putin pause about furthering his aggression.

It's not a solution that makes anyone happy.  It certainly does not me.  In my perfect world Ukraine would kick Russia out on its ass, retake the captured territory and sue for reparations.  There would be international sanctions against Russia for invading a sovereign country.  But that perfect world does not exist in real life.

Maybe someday, after Putin is gone, there can be a return to Ukraine's intended borders.  Perhaps a Russia without leadership hellbent on bringing back the glory days of the Soviet Union's vast empire will be fully ready to join the family of nations.  But that day isn't in the foreseeable future.  We've got to take what we can get.  

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