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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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This is freaking my friends out on Facebook

In the past few days there's been something of a challenge on Facebook: post a picture of yourself at age 17 along with a photo of what you look like now.  It just so happened that I had my high school senior pic in storage a short distance away from where I was sitting.  Juxtaposed with a modern photo and it's startling a number of people.At left is me in August...

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In memory of Gene Hackman

The sad news came out this morning that Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead in their home in New Mexico.  An investigation as to what happened is underway.My first exposure to Hackman was his portrayal of Lex Luthor in 1978's Superman: The Movie.  I've seen most of his films.  My favorite film of his was the 1992 western Unforgiven: he played the evil sheriff "Little Bill" Daggett and it earned him an Academy Award for Best...

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Popcorn Sutton: A Hell Of A Life is now on YouTube

The legend of Popcorn Sutton lives on.  The man was already larger than life when he was with us.  Sixteen years after he tragically passed away, Sutton seems even bigger than ever.  Not long ago I saw a guy wearing a shirt with Popcorn's image on it.  And memes featuring him continue to populate the Internet.  I am forever going to regret that...

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It's below freezing here in South Carolina...

 ...and Tammy is staying warm with three blankets.She is as snug as a bug in a rug :-)We had a dusting of snow in the past two days but nothing significant.  My friends and family in North Carolina got enough to cover the ground and cancel school.  I doubt those of us in the Upstate are going to get any more at this point in the season.  But I've been...

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Welcome home Sergeant Hardy

Came upon this obituary on the website of a funeral home that is back where I'm from originally.  I find this fascinating, on so many levels. Official Obituary ofDavid Eugene HardyNovember 1, 1928 ~ February 28, 1951 (age 22)SGT David Eugene Hardy was born on Nov 1, 1928 and died on Feb 28, 1951 as a POW at Camp 5, Pyoktong, North Korea. ...

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J.D. Vance is right: Europe is becoming totalitarian

Okay, I watched Vice-President J.D. Vance's speech at the Munich conference.  And he was absolutely spot-on.  The same European countries we fought for and lost lives for are now becoming as oppressive as the Soviet Union was.  There is for all intents and purposes no more freedom of speech in places like England and Germany.  Dare to speak against the government and you're declared "far right" and subject to arrest and imprisonment....

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After backers burned by Mythic, Privateer Press has news about Monsterpocalypse

Over the years I've expressed my fondness for Monsterpocalypse: Privateer Press's game of giant kaiju battling it out in cities that players put together before thrashing them to smithereens.  It's an awesome game that has a lot of appeal and when it first came out a decade and a half ago it enjoyed quite a dedicated fan base.Then some decisions were made.  And...

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I'm starting to feel like this guy...

And hey, I've got a dog too.The Tramp.  Charlie Chaplin's classic character.  Seemingly forever making his way from one set of experiences on to another.  A life of un-sedentary misadventures.  And that's where I've wound up once more, also.I've had to find out the hard way that my training and experiences in regard to working with adults in the mental...

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Movies I've Never Seen finally returns with EVENT HORIZON!

Almost exactly ten years ago I launched a new series on The Knight Shift: Movies I've Never Seen.  It's just what it suggests.  I would watch a movie that until now I've not beheld before and write about it.  It would be an attempt to fill in the many gaps that exist in my personal motion picture database.  It would be contributing to the cultural dialogue....

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How Elon Musk and DOGE did it (and are still doing it)

The past three weeks in American life have been extraordinary, to put it mildly.  There hasn't been this much history made in my lifetime since the collapse of communism.  In some ways there are parallels between the two.  The Soviet Union fell because of Gorbachev's reforms in the face of that country's unsustainable bureaucracy.  And what some are calling...

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I started a new career today!

Over the two decades of this blog's existence there have been times when I've landed a new job.  Sometimes, like the TV master control operator and the vocational instructor and the mental health peer support specialist, I've shared about here.  Guess I couldn't resist holding back on the good news.  Other jobs (like the part-time one I had recently that... nah, nevermind) were quietly not mentioned.  That part-time job was mostly...

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Book status for early February 2025

It's been over a month and a half or so since I've posted an update about the manuscript I spent a decade of on and off work on, that I finished writing a few days before Thanksgiving.  As with a lot of other things in my life since I began this blog, some chronicling is in order.  Because this site is all about documenting the human condition and also for sake of anyone who might come across it and find themselves likewise wanting to write...

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