Post by acptulsa on Aug 17, 2016 17:45:50 GMT -8
The quasi-scientific PBS program NOVA tackled the JFK assassination in an episode that just aired, at least in the central time zone.
They flunk.
The show opens by purporting to be a 'cold case forensic investigation' into the incident. But the sleight-of-hand begins immediately. Oswald's defection to the Soviet Union is mentioned, but no explanation of how he managed to defect and get repatriated to the U.S. could have happened is made. It is mentioned that the whole incident was a can of worms, because if the Soviet Uion somehow had a hand in it, it could have led to a very serious war. In this respect, they seem to indicate that if there was a cover-up, it could have had the highest motives behind it. What is not said is that Oswald also had known ties to the CIA, and that the CIA was disgusted with Kennedy over the Bay of Pigs fiasco. They also talked about nightclub owner Jack Ruby, but no mention was made of the known fact that Ruby was extremely active in the anti-Castro movement, to the point of smuggling guns. Admittedly, none of this has to do with forensics. But is it balanced to mention the Soviet connection without mentioning the CIA connection, and to mention all these other things without mentioning Cuba at all?
Much is made of the Carbano rifle and the bullets it fires. But the only connections between that rifle and Oswald are the fact that it was addressed to Oswald (but not sent to his home address) and certain photos of Oswald holding it. And they showed one of those photos. The photo they showed, however, has been analyzed, and is clearly a composite--in other words, it is faked. Oswald's head is not proportional to his shoulders, the shadows are clearly coming from different directions on Oswald's face and the body holding the rifle, and while his shoulders are in focus his head is not. No mention is made of this.
Considerable effort is expended in explaining how the 'magic bullet' could have entered Kennedy's back, exited his throat, passed through Texas governor Connely's abdomen, exited and injured his wrist, and wound up in the car upholstry under the divider window. And yet, the bullet which appeared on Kennedy's stretcher is more or less presented as that very bullet. Similar bullets are fired through pine boards, ballistic gel and ballistic soap, but are never fired at bone--but the 'magic bullet' is purported to have struck bone along its journey. The alleged trajectory of this bullet is shown in an animation, but that trajectory is shown as being very flat--flat enough that the only way it could have come from a sixth floor window is if the car is something like a quarter mile or more away, which is much farther away from the Texas School Book Depository than that Lincoln was that day. Later, they go to the trouble to make a 3-D model of the whole of Dealy Plaza, but that model is only used to guess what angle a bullet fired from the infamous grassy knoll would have struck Kennedy--and never used to track the trajectory of the 'magic bullet'.
They freely admitted that the Dallas Police Department were not allowed to conduct an autopsy. But though they show the casket being loaded into the very roomy 1963 Pontiac/Superior ambulance which is supposed to have taken that body to Bethesda Naval Hospital, they do not mention that this car covered a circuitous route which took hours. They mention Zapruder and his film, but do not mention that literally every civilian in that plaza that day was dead in less than a decade. They talk about the recording made by the accidental happenstance of a Dallas police motorcycle radio microphone being open throughout the incident, and the fact that it seems to indicate that there were more than three shots. As always, they do not play it--this recording hasn't been heard by the public in more than forty years. They explain it away by literally saying that the sonic boom made by the bullet moves faster than the muzzle blast does. They do not explain how, when the muzzle blast (the slower sound wave) is moving at the speed of sound--in excess of a mile and a half per per second--the human ear is supposed to differentiate the two sounds. less than a quarter of a second apart.
Best of all, they make a great deal at the top of the show about how the Carbano bullet was different from most bullets in use at the time. Then, in order to 'disprove' the theory that the fatal shot could have come from the world's most famous grassy knoll, they apply the same software and talk about the same characteristics of the Carbano bullet to show that a bullet entering Iennedy's head from that angle would have done damage that was not done to his brain. They completely ignore the fact that there were at least a hundred other types of ammunition widely available at the time, and they could have done damage in a completely different pattern.
Interestingly, however, they do admit that the facts--including forensic evidence--have been twisted to fit the prevailing theory. They admit it. But then they reassert that the theory is possible--and then they have the cheek to say everything else is impossible, therefore since this remains, this must be so.
The whitewash has gotten slicker over the decades. Watching their stooges fire an ancient Mannlicher carbine and looking at the high speed footage of the Carbano bullets is interesting. But the most revealing thing about this hour of NOVA footage is not what is shown. What's most interesting is noting what was carefully left out.
They flunk.
The show opens by purporting to be a 'cold case forensic investigation' into the incident. But the sleight-of-hand begins immediately. Oswald's defection to the Soviet Union is mentioned, but no explanation of how he managed to defect and get repatriated to the U.S. could have happened is made. It is mentioned that the whole incident was a can of worms, because if the Soviet Uion somehow had a hand in it, it could have led to a very serious war. In this respect, they seem to indicate that if there was a cover-up, it could have had the highest motives behind it. What is not said is that Oswald also had known ties to the CIA, and that the CIA was disgusted with Kennedy over the Bay of Pigs fiasco. They also talked about nightclub owner Jack Ruby, but no mention was made of the known fact that Ruby was extremely active in the anti-Castro movement, to the point of smuggling guns. Admittedly, none of this has to do with forensics. But is it balanced to mention the Soviet connection without mentioning the CIA connection, and to mention all these other things without mentioning Cuba at all?
Much is made of the Carbano rifle and the bullets it fires. But the only connections between that rifle and Oswald are the fact that it was addressed to Oswald (but not sent to his home address) and certain photos of Oswald holding it. And they showed one of those photos. The photo they showed, however, has been analyzed, and is clearly a composite--in other words, it is faked. Oswald's head is not proportional to his shoulders, the shadows are clearly coming from different directions on Oswald's face and the body holding the rifle, and while his shoulders are in focus his head is not. No mention is made of this.
Considerable effort is expended in explaining how the 'magic bullet' could have entered Kennedy's back, exited his throat, passed through Texas governor Connely's abdomen, exited and injured his wrist, and wound up in the car upholstry under the divider window. And yet, the bullet which appeared on Kennedy's stretcher is more or less presented as that very bullet. Similar bullets are fired through pine boards, ballistic gel and ballistic soap, but are never fired at bone--but the 'magic bullet' is purported to have struck bone along its journey. The alleged trajectory of this bullet is shown in an animation, but that trajectory is shown as being very flat--flat enough that the only way it could have come from a sixth floor window is if the car is something like a quarter mile or more away, which is much farther away from the Texas School Book Depository than that Lincoln was that day. Later, they go to the trouble to make a 3-D model of the whole of Dealy Plaza, but that model is only used to guess what angle a bullet fired from the infamous grassy knoll would have struck Kennedy--and never used to track the trajectory of the 'magic bullet'.
They freely admitted that the Dallas Police Department were not allowed to conduct an autopsy. But though they show the casket being loaded into the very roomy 1963 Pontiac/Superior ambulance which is supposed to have taken that body to Bethesda Naval Hospital, they do not mention that this car covered a circuitous route which took hours. They mention Zapruder and his film, but do not mention that literally every civilian in that plaza that day was dead in less than a decade. They talk about the recording made by the accidental happenstance of a Dallas police motorcycle radio microphone being open throughout the incident, and the fact that it seems to indicate that there were more than three shots. As always, they do not play it--this recording hasn't been heard by the public in more than forty years. They explain it away by literally saying that the sonic boom made by the bullet moves faster than the muzzle blast does. They do not explain how, when the muzzle blast (the slower sound wave) is moving at the speed of sound--in excess of a mile and a half per per second--the human ear is supposed to differentiate the two sounds. less than a quarter of a second apart.
Best of all, they make a great deal at the top of the show about how the Carbano bullet was different from most bullets in use at the time. Then, in order to 'disprove' the theory that the fatal shot could have come from the world's most famous grassy knoll, they apply the same software and talk about the same characteristics of the Carbano bullet to show that a bullet entering Iennedy's head from that angle would have done damage that was not done to his brain. They completely ignore the fact that there were at least a hundred other types of ammunition widely available at the time, and they could have done damage in a completely different pattern.
Interestingly, however, they do admit that the facts--including forensic evidence--have been twisted to fit the prevailing theory. They admit it. But then they reassert that the theory is possible--and then they have the cheek to say everything else is impossible, therefore since this remains, this must be so.
The whitewash has gotten slicker over the decades. Watching their stooges fire an ancient Mannlicher carbine and looking at the high speed footage of the Carbano bullets is interesting. But the most revealing thing about this hour of NOVA footage is not what is shown. What's most interesting is noting what was carefully left out.