JFK Time Line

[Marlene Zenker]

This is the Dallas/timeline (re: Harvey, Lee & Tippit) map in my app with annotations - I would like to add more info to the maps. I have maps for Mexico City, Washington DC, New Orleans and Chicago as well. All maps are annotated and clicking on the arrow brings the user to an explanation of the annotation. The Dallas map shows the routes of H, L & JD. see below for screenshots.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5086[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]5087[/ATTACH]

can see the timeline image, even when clicking on it it's much to small to read... perhaps Magda can get hi-rez images of same loaded on this sites server

If Magda wants the images I can send them to her. thanks.

[Brian Castle]

Aha. Found this thread. Bookmarking.

(my first post, just joined)

I have some interest in timelines. What's the holy grail here? What do people really need?

How about a searchable database where you can ask questions like, "show me everything Jack Ruby did between 11am on 11/22 and 11am on 11/24", and then you get a printable web page with results containing references (links, whenever available)?

Would that be helpful, or does that already exist?

[Peter Lemkin]

Aha. Found this thread. Bookmarking.

(my first post, just joined)

I have some interest in timelines. What's the holy grail here? What do people really need?

How about a searchable database where you can ask questions like, "show me everything Jack Ruby did between 11am on 11/22 and 11am on 11/24", and then you get a printable web page with results containing references (links, whenever available)?

Would that be helpful, or does that already exist?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe a good and comprehensive JFK timeline exists. The best ones [and there are several that no one has tried to merge] are on paper or exist as html, at best [which are somewhat searchable in limited ways]. Putting all that [and more] into a database format is a LOT of work. Once done, if done properly, then you can ask the kinds of questions you posed and many more complex ones. Many have suggested doing this, but to my knowledge, this has not yet been done in a comprehensive way. It is a lot of work and likely a collaborative work. I think it should be done....just as the 911 timeline should also be put into Database software, along with other such deep political timelines.

[Brian Castle]

Aha. Found this thread. Bookmarking.

(my first post, just joined)

I have some interest in timelines. What's the holy grail here? What do people really need?

How about a searchable database where you can ask questions like, "show me everything Jack Ruby did between 11am on 11/22 and 11am on 11/24", and then you get a printable web page with results containing references (links, whenever available)?

Would that be helpful, or does that already exist?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe a good and comprehensive JFK timeline exists. The best ones [and there are several that no one has tried to merge] are on paper or exist as html, at best [which are somewhat searchable in limited ways]. Putting all that [and more] into a database format is a LOT of work. Once done, if done properly, then you can ask the kinds of questions you posed and many more complex ones. Many have suggested doing this, but to my knowledge, this has not yet been done in a comprehensive way. It is a lot of work and likely a collaborative work. I think it should be done....just as the 911 timeline should also be put into Database software, along with other such deep political timelines.

Hi Peter, it's a pleasure to meet you, thank you for your post.

I agree, it's a lot of work. The IT piece is trivial (more on that later), but the data entry is a humongous task.

Can we talk about this for a minute?

First - let's take the simple stuff. Existing timelines can be easily imported into a usable database form. And, there are already very complete compilations of most of the "official" proceedings, like WC and HSCA and so on. These latter entries would have to be annotated and cross-referenced, and that is an enormous amount of work just by itself. For instance, in the Batchelor exhibit CE-5002, we'd want individual entries for each person's name, so if you search on the name you find the entry in CE-5002.

And then of course, in addition to the "official" stuff, there are 1500-some-odd books, many of which contain vital information.

So, it seems to me, that the data-entry piece of this, would of necessity have to be a collaborative effort. I do not believe I could do it alone, for instance (at least, not in my lifetime).

And, in a collaborative data-entry environment, the concept of moderation becomes critically important. (Especially considering some of the threads I've just been reading here, which describe events occurring on the forums and so on - my observation so far is, there are plenty of people who'd be interested in sabotaging such an effort). Therefore some concept of user roles and privileges would be important in the software, and that could also be used to benefit in terms of some kind of "peer review" of the data that's being entered.

But this concept, IMO, "could" be very helpful in terms of bringing a lot of the CT side of the research community together. I mean, there is no "unified response" to the Warren Commission, even though that seems to be the one thing that all the CT'ers agree on - that the Warren Commission was wrong (or... some stronger word...). And, if you surf the JFK forums you'll find an amazing amount of bandwidth being rehashed on age-old questions... "can I have a link please" and stuff like that.

Mary Ferrell starts down this path, by providing a searchable text, but the information isn't organized in a usable form. To build a timeline we want Events, consisting of People who participate in them, in its simplest form we'd like to correlate the people with the events. And once this body of work is realized, it becomes valuable intellectual capital, because a n00b like me can go straight to the scuttlebutt instead of wasting time battling the noise.

And, it could also help a n00b like me discern what's real and what's not - because there's a whole lot of claims on the internet and most of them are somewhat laughable, although seductive enough to merit some passing attention perhaps. In other words, the "simple" concept of a timeline could certainly be expanded on in several useful directions.

Seems to me, like there would be a big benefit in something like this.

[Matt Grantham]

I am not sure what database software means exactly Since i am new, pardon me if I state some obvious things. The two best informational databases seem to be the McAdam's searchable WC testimony page, and the Mary Ferrell search engine. The latter includes an alphabetized data base of individuals related to the JFK assassination. I have been at another JFK board recently where we had gathered a list of individuals known to have been at the TSBD on the 22nd, and I thought a timeline of individuals at TSBD might be a worthy exercise. We had a small list of individuals, who were known to have been there, but the exact time of the arrival of each individual arrival is often difficult to discern.

[Peter Lemkin]

Database software is just that - it is designed for input and RETRIEVAL of complex questions / intersections of data / et al. of large amounts of data. These are specialized and the best are usually quite expensive. Some open source ones exist, as well. As mentioned above, it is the data input that takes a LOT of work in a big database. Once it is in, a good database program will allow you to ask complex 'questions' - such as a timeline of a place or person - or comparing two or more people in time and place, etc. Deciding on the fields and how the data is input is also important and needs to be thought out carefully from the beginning. Going back and changing it is about the same as starting all over again. Timelines are powerful tools and many I have constructed by hand or on just a list in a word processor - but if you really want a big one and one you can ask complex and changing questions about, you need database software. Some of these can even draw affinity diagrams [who knows/interacts with whom] and other interesting details and bells and whistles. On such big events as JFK's assassination or 911 et al., the input would likely take many persons several years to have it quite complete. As new information came available, it can always be added to. The 911 database is NOT database software, and is just chronological and separated into a few categories. It is very good, but having it on a database would have been better and made it more flexible. It is a LOT of work and differs from just a chronology - but they too are helpful.

[James Lateer]

JFK Assassination Timeline Chart -- 100 Year Special of JFK's birthday May 29, 1917 -- seller is bruce adamson This Timeline Chart presents facts. No one listed in the Timeline Chart is to be presumed guilty of assassinating John F. Kennedy, Adamson is the Sole Distributor so do not purchase from others who claim to be selling "New." Support me in my 21 years of selling.solely upon his or her association, direct or indirect, to George De Mohrenschildt, Oswald's closest friend. Any such conclusion is for the reader to make. The Timeline Chart contains an enormous amount of unpublished material. Its preparation contains results of the author's thorough examination of personal papers of Allen Dulles, Senator John Tower, George Crew McGhee, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson, Dimitri Von Mohrenschildt, Nelson Rockefeller, Hamilton Fish Armstrong, William Henry Chamberlin, Mary Bancroft and de Mohrenschildt's FBI and CIA files, just for starters. Some, but not all, of the information is published in the report of the Warren Commission and House Select Committee on Assassination Investigations. In order to gather this information in the Timeline Chart, I have made three trips to Texas and the East Coast. One trip lasted eight months. Unless you are an assassination buff, it is doubtful that you have ever heard of De Mohrenschildt. It took me about four months just to learn how to properly pronounce his name. De Mohrenschildt did not become a central figure in the JFK assassination conspiracy until 1976 when he began telling the press that wealthy Texas oilmen, including H.L. Hunt were behind the assassination. If indeed Texas oilmen were in on it, then H.L. Hunt may not have been the only Texas oilman, for, like LBJ, De Mohrenschildt seemed to know all of the wealthiest Texas oilmen. For a more in-depth look at the timeline, go to internet for Bruce Campbell Adamson.

This is info on amazon about this timeline. I have a pdf scanned copy of this but have not yet used it. It is about 150 pages of fine print so it seems to be more or less complete.

James Lateer