Comments on: You are Lee Harvey Oswald.

You are Lee Harvey Oswald.

emelenjr — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 14:36:54 -0800

12:30 p.m., November 22nd, 1963. The weather is fine. You have a rifle.

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 14:37:34 -0800

Scotland-based computer game company Traffic reportedly created the game out of respect for Kennedy and for the findings of the Warren Report, which concluded only one gunman was responsible for Kennedy's assassination. Traffic provides more links to more information about the assassination—a goodwill gesture, considering Traffic is also sponsoring a $100,000 competition to see which game player can come the closest to recreating the Warren Commission's version of the day's events.

By: dash_slot-

dash_slot- — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 14:45:25 -0800

Ugh, bad taste alert. A competition to win a fortune based on an assassination? Pass the sickbag, Alice.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:00:19 -0800

Wake me when the "Sleep With Marilyn Monroe" simulation has been perfected.

By: jenovus

jenovus — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:02:23 -0800

For some reason this reminds me of those people who re-enact Civil War battles. The addition of prize money removes any good faith, though. This seems inappropriate.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:08:08 -0800

The Kennedy family has already denounced this. I don't blame them. Next on the list... "Grand Theft Auto, Princess Di Edition"? just plan bad.....

By: Balisong

Balisong — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:09:58 -0800

Well, I HAVE been working on my sniper skills with "Call of Duty".... Will this be the first installment of a whole "President's Collection"? Or does the Secret Service frown on that sort of thing....

By: bob sarabia

bob sarabia — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:11:41 -0800

Balisong: I've actually been thinking about that idea for a while. Care to help me round up some venture capital?

By: xammerboy

xammerboy — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:12:28 -0800

I think this is an interesting recreation of the event. What's all the hype about? Could it have happened the way stated or not? A virtual recreation is a great way of exploring this question.

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:18:09 -0800

We have the technology.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:24:13 -0800

I'm wondering if our individual response to this is related to each of our ages.. I'm betting that those of us that watched this on tv for days back in '63 have more of a problem with it than those for whom it is a comment in a history book... it bothers me... I was 15 when it happened....

By: page404

page404 — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:29:56 -0800

Now if only emelenjr's link had an option for GWB. . .

By: fatbobsmith

fatbobsmith — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:30:15 -0800

I'm waiting for the Reagan special edition expansion pack. I hear it comes with a free poster of Jodi Foster!

By: matteo

matteo — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:30:55 -0800

Next on the list... "Grand Theft Auto, Princess Di Edition"? pffft. Madonna did that years ago. i just wanted to state for the record that I visited Dealey Plaza with thomcatspike & met UfezJones there. and you guys haven't. neener neener

By: billsaysthis

billsaysthis — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:34:52 -0800

Why is this worse than any other violent video game, particularly ones based on other historical events? Personally I find the popularity of all of them depressing but not in the least, sadly, surprising.

By: matteo

matteo — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:37:59 -0800

and anyway, if you guys are talking about creepy/tasteless, check this out, instead: The Madonna-Pamela Anderson Prophecy also good: HILLARY DIANE RODHAM UPDATE (1/17/04): The significance of John Hinckley's "release" from a state mental hospital he has been a long-term patient of since his attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981 may not be immediately obvious. It is a fact, one reported not only in newspapers but on televised news programs at the end of March 1981, that the Hinckley and Bush families were very close ... both as friends and in the oil business. They still are. What better person for the current Bush administration to use for an assassination of Hillary Clinton than their own pet zombie, John Hinckley? If he isn't caught, they'll blame it on Muslim extremists. If he is, he'll be made a patsy ... again. UPDATE (3/5/04): I should add that even if Hillary is on the ticket as a running mate, she will still remain in danger. A Kerry/Clinton ticket would be a more threatening one to the Bush camp than, say, a Kerry/Edwards ticket. But it also opens up the possibility of the presidential candidate, John Kerry, dying under mysterious circumstances, placing Hillary out as frontrunner but also as lead suspect in what would truly be an extraordinary scandal. This is discussed on The U.S. Election of 2004 and Signature of Death for the U.S. President in 2005.

By: jenovus

jenovus — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:39:19 -0800

Why is this worse than any other violent video game Hey, yeah! They should totally make a Lincoln assassination game. I'd wager it'd be a hit with the "War of Northern Aggression" demographic. (What to call it? My vote is for Hitman: Sic Semper Tyrannis.)

By: joelf

joelf — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:42:50 -0800

No rocket launcher...

By: DirtyCreature

DirtyCreature — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:44:37 -0800

There's been a lot of good analysis of the JFK assassination show on cable TV lately including simulations and spatial analyses based on all known photographic information. Oswald was obviously not the lone gunman. And the world has a lot to thank LBJ and the sensibility of the US government at the time for commissioning a poorly trained team and closing the book so suddenly on this. No I am absolutely not being sarcastic. Can you imagine how a shocked, proud, uninformed American public would have reacted if it was proven the assassination had direct Cuban and/or Soviet connnections? Sometimes telling the truth to a democratic citizenry is just far too dangerous.

By: Sticherbeast

Sticherbeast — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:46:19 -0800

Wow. Sort of reminiscent of that 9/11 game from whenever back. Except with a prize. And I was more willing to allow it when I thought the prize was being offered in the conspiracy-minded spirit of, "what they say happened that day was clearly impossible, so go on and take our money if you can actually pull it off." But looking at the site itself, it seems more glib. Which is too bad. Still, I find it interesting that it even exists. Wish I could try it out on this iMac...

By: The White Hat

The White Hat — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:52:03 -0800

Sometimes telling the truth to a democratic citizenry is just far too dangerous. What a noble lie. Strauss agrees.

By: gubo

gubo — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:53:36 -0800

I was a JFK geek in my younger days, and I find this pretty disturbing and tasteless. I mean, crosshairs on the guy's head? If you really want to get your kicks playing around with computer simulations of the day's events, I'm sure there are other options than taking part in this shooting contest.

By: chrid

chrid — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:58:15 -0800

12:30 p.m., November 22nd, 1963. The weather is fine. You have a roffle.

By: jmccorm

jmccorm — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:20:06 -0800

And I was hoping it was an Infocom game. say "Hello, shooter."

By: ehintz

ehintz — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:22:16 -0800

Eh. I'm keen on the manhole theory myself. Makes a lot more sense than Oswald.

By: Jart

Jart — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:29:41 -0800

When I went to the 6th Floor Museum, this is what I was looking for.

By: frenetic

frenetic — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:32:44 -0800

Like jmccorm, I was more excited by this when I thought it was a text adventure.

By: neckro23

neckro23 — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:46:30 -0800

> SHOOT KENNEDY It isn't as simple as that, kid. > TAKE RIFLE, AMMUNITION Rifle: Taken. Ammunition: As you pick up the shells, you see the motorcade come around the corner in front of the Depository. You'd better hurry. > PUT AMMUNITION IN RIFLE Done. > SHOOT KENNEDY You pull the trigger but nothing happens. > LOCK BOLT Done. The rifle is now ready to fire. > SHOOT KENNEDY Shouldn't you take aim first? The motorcade goes past your window. You see Kennedy in the back seat. Jackie is seated next to him. > AIM AT KENNEDY Through the rifle sight, you see the President's head in your crosshairs. > SHOOT KENNEDY You pull the trigger. Oops! You've shot the Governor instead!

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:50:32 -0800

The Kennedy family has already denounced this. I don't blame them. Yes, because when I think "moral fiber," the Kennedys spring immediately to mind.

By: dougunderscorenelso

dougunderscorenelso — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 17:04:22 -0800

SHAME ON NECKRO FOR MAKING ME LAUGH

By: foxy_hedgehog

foxy_hedgehog — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 17:06:59 -0800

Far more low-tech, but far more interesting, is "The Eternal Frame," the 1975 re-enactment of the Kennedy assassination by the Bay Area-based Ant Farm art collective. Shot (sorry!) on location in Dealey Plaza and featuring frame-by-frame choreography and Jackie in drag, the film was an early milestone in video-based art and features the appalling and hilarious reactions of tourist/pilgrims gathered on the grassy knoll. JFK was also prominently featured in Ant Farm's 1975 "Media Burn" spectacle at San Francisco's Cow Palace, which featured artists (in ensembles that were equal parts Evil Knieval and George Jetson) driving a reconstructed Cadillac through a pyramid of flaming televisions. For all Metafilter New Yorkers, the International Center of Photography has a great show up now on Ant Farm, the perfect complement to their exhibit of more...um...conventional JFK photographs by Cornell Capa.

By: Busithoth

Busithoth — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 17:10:42 -0800

Yes, because when I think "moral fiber," the Kennedys spring immediately to mind. That's funny, because when I hear assholes preach about morality, I think of a bit of the old ultraviolence myself.

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 17:12:55 -0800

> FUCK THE WALL That's not the least bit funny - aren't you aware that there are some things which shouldn't be done in Dealy Plaza? This is supposed to be serious. A man, the President of the United States of America, is about to be murdered in cold blood. In spite of that, you seem preoccupied with your sub-juvennile preoccupation with tastelessness. Try showing a bit of class for once in your shallow little life, and show some proper respect for history. Looking once again through the rifle sight, you begin to line up your target. > FUCK THE WALL

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 17:15:01 -0800

Busitoth, I grew up Irish Catholic, hearing all the time about how fucking wonderful they are. So whenever I see them deified, I have to pipe up with the truth, that they're basically the Democrat version of the Bush family. And I spare nobody based on politics.

By: pmurray63

pmurray63 — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 17:46:24 -0800

Oswald was obviously not the lone gunman. It's not obvious at all. Show us some real evidence, please. Anything. Oswald was a trained sharpshooter who was good at 200 yards, more than twice the distance in Dealey Plaza. The time was sufficient to get off three shots. And the angles line up perfectly with the 6th floor (don't believe those "it must have been a magic bullet" claims). And the world has a lot to thank LBJ and the sensibility of the US government at the time for commissioning a poorly trained team and closing the book so suddenly on this. The Warren Commission's biggest error was attempting to define the order of the shots. They debated about whether they should even try, and decided that they would. That doesn't invalidate their other work. People don't want to accept that a lone nut with a gun can kill a president, even though it's happened before and could still happen again.

By: angry modem

angry modem — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 18:28:26 -0800

idspispopd

By: Balisong

Balisong — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 18:46:50 -0800

I think that's the catch on the "Up to $100,000" challenge.... It can't be done. The Warren Report assumes a single gunman, but the bullets do some pretty eratic, unusual behavior... One of those once-in-a-lifetime, lucky, crazy shots.. The challenge is to re-create the the incident that leads to the Warren Report's conclusions, but you'd really need another vantage point (grassy knoll)... Unless the $100k will be given to the contestant who COMES CLOSEST... In which case, I'm in!!

By: emelenjr

emelenjr — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 18:59:22 -0800

I thought I remembered reading that Oswald wasn't as good a shot as you're saying, pmurray63. It's been a while since I read High Treason (the second link apparently the sequel, which I didn't know about) and I have not scoured the Warren Report recently. And I definitely do remember there being an issue with witnesses in the TSBD seeing Oswald in a break room a few floors (?) below the 6th floor, sometime after the shootings, drinking a Coke. Not out of breath, etc. I don't know how many shooters there were, but I do think there's something to the theory that Oswald took the fall for someone else when he was arrested and later murdered. Oh well, I wish I'd titled the post "Back and to the left."

By: Busithoth

Busithoth — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 20:16:40 -0800

jonmc, I hear you. I'm from Mass., and heard plenty of laudations about them. Also plenty of nasty accounts. I loved the Dead Kennedys, but I didn't begrudge the family for resenting their name.

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 20:23:44 -0800

neckro23, that was awesome. (Long-time Infocom fan)

By: DirtyCreature

DirtyCreature — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 20:43:10 -0800

People don't want to accept that a lone nut with a gun can kill a president "People" couldn't really care either way. Don't let your own prejudices about how you want "people"s minds to think get in the way of the ballistic, eyewitness, audio and physiological evidence that fits very poorly with any lone gunman scenario. As a matter of fact, I don't believe there was a conscious conspiracy at all by anyone involved in the examination to hide what was known to be the truth. The government wanted a particular answer, those involved were chosen and then encouraged to give that answer. There was enough doubt at the time to be satisfied with that and for the country to move on without having to think of the uglier consequences of the alternatives. They'd recently narrowly escaped nuclear war in the Cuban Missile Crisis and weren't about to face the prospect of the public demanding punishing Cuba militarily. Actually a second gunman isn't even needed to accept that some Cuban or Soviet elements were involved in the assassination planning. The Warren Report was rushed and sloppy, witnesses and examiners were coerced into accepting a story and the government wanted to move on for the good of the country. I don't think many informed Warren Report-supporters would dispute that. But let's say you don't even accept that there was more to the assassination planning than just Oswald's. Try convincing "people" that the government could have been beyond doubt about that conclusion at the time, and that they were willing to accept the prospect of a military strike on Cuba demanded by an outraged public.

By: Krrrlson

Krrrlson — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 21:38:58 -0800

YOU ARE ALL EDUCATED CUBELESS STUPID, TIMECUBE KILLED KENNEDY

By: Planter

Planter — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 21:39:23 -0800

Neckro, that's awesome, but you're going to have to share the prize with Smart Dalek, since he made the Infocom experience complete.

By: jefbla

jefbla — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 23:31:13 -0800

Dammit, I have a Mac.

By: thatwhichfalls

thatwhichfalls — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 04:27:39 -0800

The Assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Motor Race by J.G.Ballard

Oswald was the starter. From his window above the track he opened the race by firing the starting gun. It is believed that the first shot was not properly heard by all the drivers. In the following confusion, Oswald fired the gun two more times, but the race was already underway. Kennedy got off to a bad start. There was a governor in his car and its speed remained constant at about fifteen miles an hour. However, shortly afterwards, when the governor had been put out of action, the car accelerated rapidly, and continued at high speed along the remainder of the course.

By: dougunderscorenelso

dougunderscorenelso — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 06:54:54 -0800

I love that GoogleNews has 246 articles about this. "Here's something we can be morally outraged about that doesn't affect or alter our lives one iota!"

By: Fuzzy Monster

Fuzzy Monster — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 09:38:43 -0800

A buddy of mine once sent me a post card he made by taking the image of JKF's head exploding from the Zapruder film and photoshopping it. When he was done it looked like the JFK assassination was taking place inside a vodka bottle. Above this he added the words ABSOLUT ASSASSIN. That's called Using a National Tragedy to Parody Consumer Culture. I'm not sure what to call this.

By: pmurray63

pmurray63 — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 10:21:32 -0800

emelenjr: Try Gerald Posner's Case Closed. the ballistic, eyewitness, audio and physiological evidence that fits very poorly with any lone gunman scenario DirtyCreature: Again, such as...?

By: buddhanarchist

buddhanarchist — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 13:00:22 -0800

Can I mod a level where theres scary chains and machinery hanging from the ceiling? Can we pimp out his ride? COMING SOON: " 'The Passion' : can you navigate the Crucifixion the way the King James version depicted it?"

By: Zed_Lopez

Zed_Lopez — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 16:44:32 -0800

Washington Post article from 2001:

A new, peer-reviewed article in Science and Justice, a quarterly publication of Britain's Forensic Science Society, says the NAS panel's study was seriously flawed. It says the panel failed to take into account the words of a Dallas patrolman that show the gunshot-like noises occurred "at the exact instant that John F. Kennedy was assassinated." In fact, the author of the article, D.B. Thomas, a government scientist and JFK assassination researcher, said it was more than 96 percent certain that there was a shot from the grassy knoll to the right of the president's limousine, in addition to the three shots from a book depository window above and behind the president's limousine.

By: buddhanarchist

buddhanarchist — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 17:15:46 -0800

Whats more important: naming who actually pulled the trigger, or naming the forces at work that it benefited? Does the game cover this part?

By: DirtyCreature

DirtyCreature — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 20:26:36 -0800

pmurray63 : Plenty of research out there for you to examine. The magic bullet theory is still one of the major problems contrary to what you claimed above. The key is shut out the tone of the author's explanation - an author's conviction in one explanation can make the improbable sound probable and the rational appear deluded.

By: Sir Mildred Pierce

Sir Mildred Pierce — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 21:02:56 -0800

I can't figure out why everyone thinks this is in poor taste. Computer reenactments of crimes and accidents are commonplace in today's world. Why is it this one that garners the "bad taste" label? It's not even the first time the Kennedy assassination has been done on computers. Of course... it's the first time control of the simulation has been put in YOUR hands, but how does that translate in to "bad taste" as opposed to "extremely valuable forensic tool"?

By: jbielby

jbielby — Tue, 23 Nov 2004 18:02:20 -0800

This isn't bad taste in comparison to the Zapruder game a buddy of mine made in college. He programmed a (not so sophisticated graphically) game of Dealey plaza where you could change perspective (be in the grassy knoll or across the way in the park), weapons (e.g. instead of a rifle you could have a flame thrower or rocket launcher) and change victims in the car. For some reason you could not only slot out JFK for Elvis, but you could slow out JFK/.Jackie for a huge cow (literally) in the back seat. He was so afraid it would get uploaded to the Net and ruin his (hypothetical) law career, he refused to let anyone play it beyond his desktop so they couldn't upload it. Dammit.