The Dallas Murder Mystery Club

First topic message reminder :

The Dallas Murder Mystery Club

Each of us lives in a city or town that will have many hundreds of people who are interested in this case in some form or another.  The idea outlined below makes an assumption that we can attract a small percentage of them to meet once a month.

Having been a long standing member of The Sons of the Desert (the Laurel & Hardy Appreciation Society) for a couple of decades I have direct experience of how committed groups of people can be when they come together in person and rally around an interest that excites and intrigues them.

My proposal is for each of us to start a chapter of The Dallas Murder Mystery Club.  A club that would meet monthly and its members would be introduced to the problematic evidence of the case and the reasons why the official investigation was completely and utterly wrong.

Each chapter’s very first club meeting will take place on the very same day all around the world with a well-defined and orchestrated launch.  Subsequent meetings will also coincide on the same day.

The structure of each meeting will be identical in every single chapter.  The talks and presentations will be put together by a small group of us using PowerPoint/Keynote and they will be sent out to chapter Directors.  Information relevant to the presentation will be handed out and members will be put into working groups after the presentation to further understand why the information in the presentation is accurate.

Materials could include:

• Witness testimony segments
  
• FBI/CIA/Secret Service/Dallas Police reports
  
• Photographs
  
• Diagrams
  

Each presentation will be easy to understand, informative, and creative in its approach and design.  We keep it simple.  The first twelve meetings will be designed and rubber stamped by a select group of us (voted onto a panel) before any meetings are scheduled and advertised.

Initial ideas for meeting topics could be:

• Assassination Motives
  
• Assassination Mechanics
  
• Assassination Witnesses
  
• Assassination Folklore
  
• Assassination Cover-Up
  
• Assassination Documents
  
• Lee Oswald’s Life
  
• Lee Oswald’s Arrest
  
• Lee Oswald’s Murder
  
• Warren Commission Lies
  
• HSCA Lies
  
• The JFK Act
  
  

Each club meeting would last approximately 2.5 hours.  The initial presentation that starts each monthly meeting lasting no more than thirty minutes and is followed by a twenty minute Q&A. 

Following the opening hour we could introduce some audio-video segments from the library of resources available to us to help us hammer home our points from the initial presentation.  Segments could include filmed interviews with witnesses, short segments from Oliver Stone’s JFK, home movies from the actual day and days following, etc.  This would last twenty minutes.

The next hour would introduce a problem based upon the topic.  The full group would be split into smaller groups and they would be given a pack of evidence related to the problem.  This will include logistics/timings, maps, testimony, key witnesses, reports, photographs, statements, etc.  They are then to come up with a conclusion/answer to the problem based upon the available evidence.  There will be rules of evidence applied to its use.  There doesn’t have to be a consensus, but they will have to outline at the end the agreements they have as well as the disagreements.  They will be given an hour.

At the end of the hour they present their agreements/disagreements from the discussion to the other groups.  We would document this as a group and we can publish them on the DMMC webpage alongside all of the agreements and disagreements from other clubs around the world.  From this we can begin to establish what, if any, consensus exists amongst wide groups of individuals (hopefully from many different backgrounds) that we can publish and begin to understand on a different level.

Reading resources will be advised before the conclusion of the meeting based upon the meeting topic.

We finish on an audio recording segment of an appropriate JFK speech and all raise a glass…

Audio/visual presentation will run photographs of him and his brother.  Music playing – Thousands are Sailing by The Pogues.

End of meeting.  Each meeting ends the same way but with different speech and different photographs.  Perhaps a different song at the end of each meeting?

The entire project needs to have a mission statement and a defined and documented purpose.  Solving assassination related problems could be one main purpose.  Each member has to feel an emotional connection to the overall purpose – they have to feel important but we have to avoid at all costs any allusions to this being an activist group.  Nothing will scare people aware more than this.  Regardless of our own thoughts on the matter we have to understand other people’s fear at being labelled in way that they may feel uncomfortable.  This has to be a club – it has to be fun – it has to be a pastime – it has to be important – but not so important that people may believe they could get into trouble in any way by coming along.

Funding

The initial outlay of funding this would have to be taken by us as a group but the costs are minimal.  Mostly paper, printing, and time.  Many businesses related to the alcoholic drinks industry such as hotels, bars and public houses these days will, throughout the week, give a function room to parties in the hope that they will sell some beer.  Libraries are another option.  If initial costs do exist concerning materials we would, as individuals, have to find some way to absorb them but if we attract members then a nominal joining fee (£2, $4) per month could quickly begin to cover overheads.  We would therefore need treasurers for each club and an overall executive treasurer to publish finance figures and all associated activities.

Additional Thoughts

As with any club people can feel proud of being a member.  Buttons/badges could be issued and t-shirts could be sold to build extra revenue.  DMMC files and folder to hold paperwork could be sold.

The branding needs to be considered as a win-loss factor.  Great branding will be a win --- poor branding will lead to failure.

Coordination is vital to this proposal.  Passion when presenting is essential.  Sharing the member’s thoughts worldwide can create a real buzz and a feeling of being part of a worldwide initiative.  A DMMC forum can be created as part of the DMMC website.

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and other social media platforms could be utilised for members.

Local media interest in our events could be pursued.  Advertisements for the club in local newspapers could be priced. 
A DMMC book could be published using information from the group’s agreements at the end of the first year.  E-publishing could be a considered option.  Any revenue of book is to be used in year two to build membership base of club.

Summary

This is a very basic outline of what would be a fascinating and exciting worldwide venture.  Getting something of this magnitude off the ground will take effort, willpower, determination, hard work and highly organised coordination.  The materials would take time to prepare but if prepared right, with a disciplined structure we can encourage members to be free thinking in helping themselves and others make sense of a very complicated case.

Fleshing out this proposal with specifics could be the next step.

It has to be a social occasion for people.  If we are expecting to individuals to use their spare time to come to this then it has to be fun. It has to lend itself to creating new friendships and associates.  It has to have a purpose and set objectives.  It has to be interesting.

Any thoughts?

terlin wrote:The club would have to be run as un-democratically as possible.

A benevolent dictatorship.

Stan Dane wrote:

A benevolent dictatorship.

Yeah, basically. And they're the best kind, right?

Anybody got a problem with that?

(if so, get a loyer)

I've got a bad chest infection.  Be back soon.

Get better soon, Lee!

Lee, please take care.  I caught the same thing two weeks ago while I was in Hamburg, Germany, and it turned into pneumonia.  It was four days of hell.

Ouch!

Sorry to hear that, Al. Hope you're back to normal now ( or soon will be).

Lee, get well soon. We need you here.

I hope you're feeling better soon, Lee.

I agree with those who are sceptical about the mystery club idea. I can just imagine the energy sapping frustration of trying to reason with the unreasonable.
 
I have worked in an organisation that avoided mandatory staff meetings by subdividing the staff into randomly selected discussion groups that would report back to the plenary staff meeting. It was a very effective means of outnumbering and marginalising the anti-authoritarian minority.
 
So what’s left?
 
Unfortunately, the Kennedy clan seems to have turned its collective back on the search for truth about JFK’s assassination.
 
They recently honoured George HW Bush no less, a suspect in the assassination, with the 2014 John F Kennedy Profile in Courage award. That the award was specifically for Bush breaking his presidential election promise not to raise taxes adds a touch of farce to this travesty.
 
And the fact that the clan matriarch Caroline Kennedy holds an important position in the Obama administration as Ambassador to Japan indicates that she’s not interested in rocking the boat.
 
It’s hard to blame her, I suppose, having lost a father an uncle and a brother to the ‘Kennedy curse’ and not wishing to invite any more of that kind of ‘misfortune’ upon herself.
 
It was previously suggested by some, including me, that it might be worthwhile contacting Oswald’s daughters about the PM thread. One would think they would be interested in evidence that shows their father’s innocence. Any active interest by them would be likely to spark something big in the mainstream media.
 
But then again their lack of interest to date suggests that they, like the Kennedys, have been to Room 101 in some guise or other somewhere along the line. I say this because they seem to have disowned Oswald as their father.
 
However, there’s still the chance that the PM evidence might elicit some modicum of filial responsibility in Oswald's daughters. That’s the only possibility I can think of to break the mainstream media omerta on the JFK assassination.

Goban Saor wrote:I agree with those who are sceptical about the mystery club idea. I can just imagine the energy sapping frustration of trying to reason with the unreasonable.
 
I have worked in an organisation that avoided mandatory staff meetings by subdividing the staff into randomly selected discussion groups that would report back to the plenary staff meeting. It was a very effective means of outnumbering and marginalising the anti-authoritarian minority.
 
So what’s left?
 
Unfortunately, the Kennedy clan seems to have turned its collective back on the search for truth about JFK’s assassination.
 
They recently honoured George HW Bush no less, a suspect in the assassination, with the 2014 John F Kennedy Profile in Courage award. That the award was specifically for Bush breaking his presidential election promise not to raise taxes adds a touch of farce to this travesty.
 
And the fact that the clan matriarch Caroline Kennedy holds an important position in the Obama administration as Ambassador to Japan indicates that she’s not interested in rocking the boat.
 
It’s hard to blame her, I suppose, having lost a father an uncle and a brother to the ‘Kennedy curse’ and not wishing to invite any more of that kind of ‘misfortune’ upon herself.
 
It was previously suggested by some, including me, that it might be worthwhile contacting Oswald’s daughters about the PM thread. One would think they would be interested in evidence that shows their father’s innocence. Any active interest by them would be likely to spark something big in the mainstream media.
 
But then again their lack of interest to date suggests that they, like the Kennedys, have been to Room 101 in some guise or other somewhere along the line. I say this because they seem to have disowned Oswald as their father.
 
However, there’s still the chance that the PM evidence might elicit some modicum of filial responsibility in Oswald's daughters. That’s the only possibility I can think of to break the mainstream media omerta on the JFK assassination.

I agree wholeheartedly, Goban. Marina, June and Rachel are the key to reopening this thing. Not the Kennedy family. They've moved on it seems.

Thanks for the appreciative response, Paul, though I share the reservations expressed by Albert in the forum recently about Marina’s credibility.

Goban Saor wrote:Thanks for the appreciative response, Paul, though I share the reservations expressed by Albert in the forum recently about Marina’s credibility.

Marina's credibility,or lack there of, actually could be an advantage in reopening this case. It would reveal just how compromised she was at the time. I can forgive Marina if she lied. It is understandable that a mother would do what she did in order to protect her daughters. It is clear to me she was coaxed with her testimony.

The thing I like best about this club idea is that it treats the death of JFK as a murder rather than assuming it was a monstrous political (i.e. governmental) assassination.

Greg's show idea is based on the same premise: investigate it for what it was, a murder.

Any conspiracy will become apart in the investigation, of course, but the crime itself was simply a murder and there seem to be very few investigators treating it as such, IMO.

Hopefully we can get more people to embrace it as a murder case. If it can be viewed in that light only, we might have a shot at getting the case reopened because it was never really investigated as such.

Another thing about the club:

The Members could be known as the Dealey Plaza Irregulars... like the Holmesian acolytes.

terlin wrote:Another thing about the club:

The Members could be known as the Dealey Plaza Irregulars... like the Holmesian acolytes.

I tell ya, Terry, I've certainly been "irregular" due to these meds. A few times I felt like using blasting caps to get things moving. But the prunes are helping a lot. Those and a few brewskies I'm not supposed to have. Slowly getting back to normal.

Pharmaceuticals are a fickle beast to be sure but I - among others - have always lauded the medicinal properties to be found in the juice of the hops... the ocassional brewsky.

I hope your recovery is complete in record time.

Has a facebook page for the DMMC been set up? I really think we should have one.

Hasan Yusuf wrote:Has a facebook page for the DMMC been set up? I really think we should have one.

Absolutely! How better to test the waters if something like this is going to fly.

Of course, I think Lee was trying to hammer out the idea more completely before going there...
But it might be good to widen the conversation somewhat, maybe?

terlin wrote:

Hasan Yusuf wrote:Has a facebook page for the DMMC been set up? I really think we should have one.

Absolutely! How better to test the waters if something like this is going to fly.

Of course, I think Lee was trying to hammer out the idea more completely before going there...
But it might be good to widen the conversation somewhat, maybe?

I think Frankie Vegas volunteered to do it, but is waiting on Lee to give the go ahead.

Okay. Thanks for that, Greg.

I've been giving this some thought over the last few weeks which is why I haven't posted anything concerning the idea.

I was very interested in the proposal from Greg about the TV show idea and also want to comment on that over the next few days.  I think it is an exciting proposition that could result in something really interesting -- but also brings with it a lot of hard work to get it fleshed out.

I find that once I have an idea I like to let the opinions from others settle and churn over for a while to see where it eventually takes me.  I have considered some of the pros and cons written on the thread and do have some ideas that will limit the cons and accentuate the pros but I'd like to get them down on paper before posting them for your further consideration.

Be back on the thread soon...