A NEW BEGINNING

Well friends it has been a while since I have blogged. My website did not allow the use of this BlogSpot blog, but my new website incorporates it. I have a lot to talk about. Now we have published 80 books and several videos. The Ken Hudnall Radio Show is still going strong and as of March 1, 2017 we will commence webinars where we will discuss the contents of the books and other topics of interest. For the first time many of our books will be downloadable e-books. So join us at Youtubelive.com and watch for our webinars. I assure you that this is the beginning of many more blog interests in the future.

Sorry For The Delay

It has been sometime since my last posting and I am sorry for the delay. I was finishing up mu education (my 5th degree) at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and getting a education in the fact that this institution of higher learning does not like disabled veterans. It would seem that in our new liberal political environment those who have served in the military are pariahs and must be watched with suspicion though government money associated with allowing those evil veterans to attend the university are grabbed with both hands.

I will tell you more in future posts, you just simply will not believe what has happened. Also bear with us as everything is being overhauled and we will add internet television to the offerings from kenhudnall.com.. Until next time, have a great day.

President Barack Obama Visits Fort Bliss

I was fortunate to be selected to cover the speech by President Barack Obama at Fort Bliss. The following story appeared at http://www.borderzine.com.

Obama visits Fort Bliss to praise the sacrifice and dedication of U.S. troops after a decade of war

By Ken Hudnall on September 7, 2012

EL PASO – President Barack Obama returned to Fort Bliss two years after his first visit at the end of the Iraq war to tell the troops that after a decade of war America has not forgotten its wounded warriors.
He promised the troops on August 31 more counselors, more clinicians, more care and more treatment. “Today we’re taking another step. I’ve signed a new executive order to give our troops, our veterans, and our families better access to mental health care,” Obama said.
The president said that he was here for a simple reason, but it was clear that his reasons went far beyond that. He was here with a plan to address the wounds of the decade of war that has sapped this country’s strength and of course, to try and sway as many military votes his way in the upcoming election.
As befits a man who has been called the rock star president, Obama received a warm welcome from the crowd of an estimated 2,000 soldiers and their families. Whatever their political leanings, there was no doubt that the personality of the Commander in Chief made a distinct impression on this group of men and women.

The event was not open to the general public, rather the audience included selected soldiers and significant others, Gold Star Families, a cadre of pre-credentialed media, and elected officials. Major General Dana J.H. Pittard opened the event with some remarks followed by General Lloyd Austin, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army who introduced the President of the United States.
The president initially made it clear that he had returned to Fort Bliss to mark the sacrifice and achievements of the U.S. military. “Two years ago, I was here to mark a historic moment in the life of our nation and out military – the end of major combat operations in Iraq. It was a chance for me to say on behalf of the American people to you and all who served there – welcome home and congratulations on a job well done.”
Two years ago, he stressed the need for more work to be done even though the war in Iraq was over. He had spoken of taking the fight to Al-Qaeda and he stressed the fact that in regard to this he had kept his word and, with allies and partners, more top Al-Qaeda terrorists had been taken out than at any time since 9/11 including Osama bin Laden.
Though he spoke of victories and achievements, he also had words for the many fallen and wounded warriors. Before the remarks, he had taken time from his schedule to meet with some Gold Star families and left them with the message that “their loved ones live on in the soul of our nation and we will honor them always.”
He said that the war in Afghanistan would continue until the U.S. turned over operational control to the Afghan military. We would end this war responsibly, he said, bringing to a close a full decade of war, but he stressed that the work would not end when the last soldier came home.
The next battle would be healing the wounds of war, he said. He made a pledge that, as president, he would insist that America serve the soldiers and their families as well as the soldiers and their families had served America.
The wounds of war would be addressed and, as much as possible, healed, he said. Just as America gave soldiers the best equipment and technology on the battlefield, it would also give soldiers the best support and care available when they return home.

Prior to his official remarks, Obama said that he had taken part in a roundtable with some soldiers and their families, talking about the struggle of coming home, especially for the wounded warriors.
The government has poured a tremendous amount of resources into this effort, giving unprecedented support to the soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury and PTSD.
Finally, he reiterated another promise that he made at Fort Bliss two years ago – that when a soldier takes off the uniform for the last time that he, or she, will be helped to fully participate in the economy. Every single soldier deserves his or her chance to live the American dream, he said.
In support of this pledge, the Transition Assistance Program has been overhauled, creating a kind of reverse boot camp. As soldiers transition through this program, they will receive help finding a job, pursue a degree or start a business. Soldiers and their families will be helped to pursue their education under the Post 9/11 GI-Bill.
He also stressed that the government would be cracking down on those schools that have been trying to take soldiers’ money and then rip them off by not giving them the education that they paid for.
He pledged that the government would keep hiring the newest veterans in the federal government and in communities as police officers and firefighters and first responders. As a result of tax credits more businesses can hire veterans and wounded warriors. He also spoke of new regulations that would make it easier for veterans to transfer their military skills to the licenses and credentials that are needed to get a civilian job.
After all, he said, if a veteran has been a medic in theater, he or she should not have to start at Nursing 101. He spoke of a challenge he had made to the private section to hire 100,000 veterans and he revealed that patriotic companies had hired 125,000 veterans to date.
Finally, in support of his plan for aiding returning veterans he called on Congress to pass the Veterans Jobs Corps that provides tax credits to businesses that hire vets.
He finished his remarks by describing a wounded warrior he met the last time he was in Afghanistan – Sergeant Chase Haag, then 22. This past spring, Haag and his team were hit by an IED shortly before the president landed.
So when Obama arrived at the hospital room, Haag and his team were in pretty bad shape. Haag’s injuries were extensive and the President did not want to intrude. However, Haag’s physician insisted that the president should speak to the young man even though he appeared to be sleeping.
Obama said a few words and then turned to go when the young man’s hand slowly came up from under the blanket that covered him giving the president a firm Army handshake. After a pause, the president said that the actions of that wounded soldier captured the spirit, the resilience, the tenacity, the discipline, the resolve, and the patriotism of all soldiers.

22 YEARS ON THE AIR

This year is something of a milestone for me. It was 1989 when I aired my first radio show, called "Adventure Radio" on KORG in Anaheim, California.. I was just learning the business and I have to say it was a blast. I began to talk about unsolved mysteries, last treasures, unidentified flying objects and of course, ghosts on that first show and the audience loved it. I began my radio journey during afternoon drive time doing a one hour show each afternoon, Monday through Friday. The problem was that the audience wanted ore stories and guest interviews and the station had no additional time to give to me. As a result, I switched to 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM in the evening. The response was overwhelming.

I began my career with a co-host, a lovely young lady who I thought could help me build the show into something that I could syndicate nationally onto other stations. In the beginning, a show is not profitable, hard work is required to make an income stream from such a venture. Of course to even do a show on one station requires an enormous amount of work and unfortunately, she believed that as "talent" she was not required to work outside the studio, selling ads or getting guests for example, but she most assuredly expected to have ownership of half of the show handed to her as her due. Well, it did not work like that. She did take me to the labor board claiming ownership of half of the show. They laughed at her demands.

My second full time co-host was a remarkable young lady who wanted to use the show as her springboard to Hollywood fame and fortune. She also began to play politics with various power players in the area, and worst of all, she began to  decide which advertisers I should do business with in order to enhance her own personal image. To her the show came second and her potential Hollywood career came first. She was a superb manipulator, but in the end, her manipulation brought that first show to an end.

My next radio venture was creating what we might call a podcast today for broadcast on various stations. This venture opened up an entirely new world for me. I began to understand how best to create shows and how to use those shows in order to develop a stream of income. I also first saw the potential of internet radio.

Since those early days, I have been on a number of stations and witnessed why radio was surpassed by television/ It was not the fascination with the visual imagery, but rather it was the attitude of the station managers that treated radio like a toy. On a daily basis, the average listener is in range of a radio much more than a television. The American fascination with radio is still a powerful factor, but when left in the hands of complete jackasses, this medium is still in danger of fading away.

Now I do an internet radio show at http://www.kenhudnall.com (this is my website and a link there takes you to the show). I broadcast from 6:00 PM Mountain time - 9:00 PM Monday through Friday. Come and join us.

PLAZA CLASSIC FILM FESTIVAL TO WELCOME AL PACINO

Oscar Winner Al Pacino

EL PASO - Nostalgia is a wonderful thing when you are well along in life. The memories of youth many times built around classic films are resurrected during the very rare film festivals held from time to time. Well, more than 80 classic films will be shown in El Paso in August.

The Plaza Classic Film Festival will be held August 2 – 12 at the historic Plaza Theater. The festival was created in 2008 to celebrate this country’s rich cinema history and rekindle the joy of going to the movies. Movie going in El Paso was a special time as the historic Plaza theater was an integral part of culture in El Paso for many years and seeing a movie there was a special event.

The Plaza Theatre, located in downtown El Paso, just up the street from the iconic Camino Real Hotel, was built during the Great Depression begun by Louis Dent and finished by Paramount-Publix of New York, at a cost of $1 million. In its youth the Plaza was referred to as one of the most beautiful theaters in the country and heralded as the “Southwest’s most perfect theater”. When it opened on September 12, 1930, crowds swarmed the theater, enjoying its “atmospheric” architectural style. The design of the main auditorium was such that it made you feel that you were sitting in the courtyard of a Spanish hacienda. There was little argument that the Plaza Theatre was the grandest of the region’s movie palaces and the crown jewel of El Paso’s theater district.

Eva Marie Saint

The Plaza was originally intended to accommodate road shows and grand opera but it was primarily intended to show motion pictures, However all things must come to an end and after a continuous run of over four and a half decades, the Plaza closed for good in the late 1970s. In a move toward modernization, there was even a plan in the works to demolish the grand old theater. However, the plan to do away with what had long been part of El Paso life for over 4 decades angered a number of residents and grassroots efforts arose to save the Plaza from the wrecking ball. In answer to the demands of the community, the El Paso Community Foundation stepped in to take up the challenge of saving, preserving and finally restoring the Plaza Theatre to its original grandeur. After many years of effort and almost $30 million in renovation costs, the Plaza Theatre once again reopened as the Plaza Theatre Performing Arts Center on March 17, 2006.

Mary Badham

The Plaza Theater is now the home of the El Paso Symphony Orchestra and El Paso’s finest venue for music concerts and Broadway shows, however, movies have not been forgotten. The El Paso Community Foundation took the lead to fully restore this venerable movie palace to its historic glory: in the spring of 2008 the Foundation purchased and installed a state-of-art film and digital projection system and an enormous 50’ wide screen.

For generations of El Pasoans, going to the movies, meant going to the Plaza Theatre. It was the first public building in El Paso to have air conditioning and refrigerated water fountains. Such things are long remembered by the older movie going public. So it was with great anticipation that people looked forward to going to the movies at the Plaza once again. Thanks to the overwhelming community and corporate support during the Plaza Classic Film Festival’s first year, the festival has become one of the most anticipated events in the region’s cultural calendar.

The Plaza Classic Film Festival is more than a nostalgia trip down memory lane for older El Pasoans. One of the goals of the festival is to educate audiences about the history and art of the cinema and reawaken the joy of watching great films. With the help of special presenters and through educational outreach programs and film talks, the festival provides many opportunities to expand your knowledge and appreciation of these “classics”.

Tippi Hedren

The Plaza Theatre is, without a doubt, once again one of the finest movie palaces in the country. It is also interesting to note that the Plaza Classic Film Festival is a non-commercial, all-volunteer effort and a special project of the El Paso Community Foundation. All proceeds from the festival go to the Plaza Film Fund to be used to provide grants to local filmmakers, underwriting for alternative film festivals and to support educational film initiatives in the area.

This year the Plaza Classic Film Festival will include more than 80 films including Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Duck Soup, To Kill a Mockingbird, American in Paris and many others. Among the presenters will be such luminaries as Tippi Hedren, star of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic “The Birds”, Eva Marie Saint, star of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic “North by Northwest”, Mary Badham of “To Kill a Mockingbird” and last but not least, the one and only Oscar winning actor Al Pacino. Mr. Pacino will perform an intimate evening detailing his illustrious career in Al Pacino: One Night Only at the historic Plaza Theatre in El Paso, Texas, on August 4, 2012 at 7:30 pm.

During this 10 day festival, the Plaza Theater, the gem of the southwest will once again shine as brightly as she did almost 80 year ago. Come be a part of the brilliance as once again, we go down memory lane during a night at the movies.

Galaxy Fest

            This year was the 65^th anniversary of the alleged crash of an Unidentified Flying Object at Roswell, New Mexico. As has been the custom for many years, around the fourth of July, a dual celebration of this event was held in Roswell, one sponsored by the town and the other by the UFO Museum and Study Center.

            The Galaxy Fest, the event sponsored by the UFO Museum and Study Center, held its opening ceremonies in the UFO Museum at 9:00 AM, Friday, June 29^th. Each year the Museum invites stars from the world of science fiction as well as the leading researchers and authors in the field of UFO phenomenon. Attending this event was Denise Crosby, the actress that played Tasha Yar on the first season of the television program Star Trek: The Next Generation. She signed autographs and talked with the fans of that long running show.

            There were also a number of UFO researchers and authors present, including Tom Carey, Diana Perla Chapa, Stanton Friedman, Paola Harris, Frank Kimbler, Kathleen Marden, Steve Pierce, Kevin Randle, David Rudiak, Robert Salas, Freddy Silva, Don Schmitt, Derrel Sims, Yvonne Smith, abductee Travis Walton, Larry Holcombe, myself, Sharon King, Tom Kirkbride, K. Lorraine, Jull Amariah Mara and Linda Mooney.

The event attracted visitors from as far away as Australia and introduced a large number of people to the various aspects of the UFO mystery through displays, books and lectures. As might be expected, the lectures covered the gamut of topics related to the alleged crash of a craft from another planet. Additionally, since UFOs tend to be lumped in with what are referred to as “new age” subjects, there were talks regarding other “new age” subjects that were not directly related to UFOs, such as Freddy Silva’s talk on “The Coding of Earth: Crop Circles, Sacred Sites and the Coming of Human Evolution”.

Kathleen Marden, the niece of abductees Betty and Barney Hill spoke on “The E.T. Agenda: Why Don’t they land on the White House Lawn?” and “Captured: The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience”. Larry Holcombe spoke on “The Nixon Administration and the TV Documentary UFOs: Past, Present and Future” and “The History of Modern Presidents and the UFO Enigma”. David Rudiak spoke on “The Ramey Memo”. Travis Walton and Steve Pierce discussed Walton’s abduction by aliens which became a book and a movie entitled “Fire in the Sky”. Stanton Friedman, the “rediscoverer” of the Roswell Crash discussed “Man’s Place in the Universe”. Linda Mooney discussed “How to Love an Alien”. Frank Kimbler presented a talk on “Roswell Artifacts”. Diana Perla Chapa talked about “The Mayan Predictions: Extra Terrestrial Input” and “The Mayan Predictions and the Importance of the Pyramid Shape”. Don Schmitt and Tom Carey presented two talks, one entitled “Deathbed Confessions: The Truth of Roswell Finally Revealed” and the other was “Roswell Generals Talk: What They Said Really Happened”. I spoke on “UFOs and the Supernatural”. Paola Harris presented “A UFO Update – The International Perspective”. Kevin Randle presented “Reflections of a UFO Investigator”. Yvonne Smith presented “Chosen: Recollections of UFO Abductions through Hypnotherapy”. Derrel Sims talked about “Alien Implants: New Secrets Unveiled and Cases on the Horizon” and “Who Is the Alien?” K. Lorraine presented talks on the “Lonely Alien” and “The Apple Trick”. Robert Salas presented “UFOs, Nuclear Weapons and Extreme Secrecy”. Jill “Amariah” Mara presented talks entitled “Meet Benevolent Extraterrestrials” and “Telepathic ET Contact”. Tom Kirkbride presented “Science Fiction Heroes and Today’s Politics” and “Freedom and Science Fiction”.

Lest readers begin to think that Roswell is just known for an alleged UFO crash, the area also has a tremendous amount of history. A group of pioneers from Missouri attempted to establish a settlement, called Missouri Plaza, about 15 miles southwest of what is now Roswell in 1865 but were forced to abandon the site because of a lack of water. Cattleman John Chisum had his famous Jingle Bob Ranch, the largest ranch in the country, about 5 miles from the center of Roswell, at South Spring Acres. The first buildings to be established in Roswell were two adobe buildings built in 1869 by Van C. Smith, a businessman from Omaha, Nebraska, and his partner, Aaron Wilburn. The two buildings became the settlement's general store, post office, and sleeping quarters for paying guests.

In 1871, Van C. Smith filed a claim with the federal government for the land around the buildings, and on August 20, 1873, he became the town's first postmaster. Van C. Smith was the son of Roswell Smith, a prominent Indiana lawyer and Annie Ellsworth, daughter of U.S. Patent Commissioner Henry Leavitt Ellsworth. Smith named the town Roswell, after his father's first name.

During World War II, a prisoner of war camp was located in nearby Orchard Park. The German prisoners of war were used to do major infrastructure work in Roswell, such as paving the banks of the North Spring River. Some POWs used rocks of different sizes to create the outline of an iron cross among the stones covering the north bank. Later, the iron cross was covered with a thin layer of concrete. In the 1980s, a crew cleaning the river bed cleared off the concrete and revealed the outline once more. The small park just south of the cross was then known as Iron Cross Park. On November 11, 1996 the park was renamed POW/MIA Park. The park displays a piece of the Berlin Wall, presented to the City of Roswell by the German Air Force. In the 1930s, Roswell was a site for much of Robert Goddard's early rocketry work. Roswell was a location of military importance from 1941 to 1967, at which time Walker Air Force Base was decommissioned. After the closure of the base, Roswell capitalized on its pleasant climate and began to gain a reputation as a retirement community.

There are always questions as to how Roswell became so well known in regard to UFOs, to the following is quick synopsis of the Roswell Incident. On July 8, 1947, the Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF) public information officer Walter Haut in Roswell, New Mexico, and the father of the current director of the Roswell UFO Museum and Study Center issued a press release stating that personnel from the field's 509th Bomb Group had recovered a crashed "flying disk" from a ranch near Roswell, sparking intense media interest. The following day, the press reported that Commanding General of the Eighth Air Force Roger M. Ramey stated that, in fact, a radar-tracking balloon had been recovered by the RAAF personnel, not a "flying disc." A subsequent press conference was called, featuring debris said to be from the crashed object, which seemed to confirm the weather balloon description.

The Roswell incident was quickly forgotten and almost completely ignored, even by UFO researchers, for more than 30 years. Then, in 1978, physicist and Ufologists Stanton T. Friedman interviewed Major Jesse Marcel the former intelligence officer at RAAF who was involved with the original recovery of the debris in 1947. Marcel expressed his belief that the military had covered up the recovery of an alien spacecraft. His story spread through UFO circles, being featured in some UFO documentaries at the time. In February 1980, The National Enquirer ran its own interview with Marcel, garnering national and worldwide attention for the Roswell incident.

Additional witnesses added significant new details, including claims of a huge military operation dedicated to recovering alien craft and aliens themselves, at as many as 11 crash sites, and alleged witness intimidation. In 1989, former mortician Glenn Dennis put forth a detailed personal account, wherein he claimed that alien autopsies were carried out at the Roswell base.

In response to these reports, numerous questions from the media and after congressional inquiries, the General Accounting Office launched an inquiry and directed the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force to conduct an internal investigation. The result was summarized in two reports. The first report, which was released in 1995, concluded that the reported recovered material in 1947 was likely debris from a secret government program called Project Mogul, which involved high altitude balloons meant to detect sound waves generated by Soviet atomic bomb tests and ballistic missiles.

The second report, released in 1997, concluded that reports of recovered alien bodies were likely a combination of innocently transformed memories of military accidents involving injured or killed personnel, innocently transformed memories of the recovery of anthropomorphic dummies in military programs like Project High Dive conducted in the 1950s, and hoaxes perpetrated by various witnesses and UFO proponents. The psychological effects of time compression and confusion about when events occurred explained the discrepancy with the years in question. These reports were dismissed by UFO proponents as being either disinformation or simply implausible. However, numerous high-profile UFO researchers discount the possibility that the incident had anything to do with aliens.

In 1978, nuclear physicist and author Stanton T. Friedman interviewed Jesse Marcel, the only person known to have accompanied the Roswell debris from where it was recovered to Fort Worth where reporters saw material said to be part of the recovered object. Over the next few years, the accounts he and others gave elevated Roswell from a forgotten incident to perhaps the most famous UFO case of all time.

By the early 1990s, UFO researchers such as Friedman, William Moore, Karl T. Pflock, and the team of Kevin D. Randle and Donald R. Schmitt had interviewed several hundred people who had, or claimed to have had, a connection with the events at Roswell in 1947. Additionally, hundreds of documents were obtained via Freedom of Information Act requests, as were some apparently leaked by insiders, such as the disputed "Majestic 12" documents. Their conclusions were that at least one alien craft had crashed in the Roswell vicinity, that aliens, some possibly still alive, were recovered, and that a massive cover-up of any knowledge of the incident was put in place.

Of course there are also an equal number of investigators who believe that until a UFO lands on the White House lawn the entire story is a hoax. The intent of Galaxy Fest is to present the story to the world and let each visitor make up their own minds. Whatever may be the end result, the event is a fun way to spent four days and it gives people the opportunity to meet television stars, well known researchers and authors. As Mr. Spock used to say “Live Long and Prosper!”

Power For Power's Sake

It is a heady intoxication that once achieved is always craved. People jump when you snap your fingers, kowtow to you in all the little ways that make you feel above the crowd, better than anyone else. That is the feeling of power.

            Once again, we have public officials in El Paso caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Dr. Lorenzo Garcia, Superintendent of the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in August of 2011 for alleged corruption. The indictment charged Garcia with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, two counts of mail fraud and one count of aiding and abetting theft from programs receiving federal funds. However, the specifics of the indictment are not really germane to this article. What is germane is the underlying cause of this debacle – the good ole boy (and girl) system that is rampant in El Paso.

            The interesting thing is that, in regard to Dr. Garcia, while he was the superintendent, he had a Board of Directors that he had to answer too. In theory, the Board was there to make sure that he followed the rules. The same was true in regard to Robert E. (Bob) Jones, the President/CEO of the National Center for Employment of the Disabled (NCED). In both cases the Boards were made up of prominent individuals who were local powers in their own right. In the case of EPISD, the Board members were elected by the voters of El Paso County. So the question to be asked is how did such improper conduct happen with the eagle eyed members of their respective Boards watching both of these men? The answer is greed and ego.

            In the case of NCED, though each board member was well aware of their fiduciary duty to the Company, they were also aware of Bob Jones’ world famous temper as well as his unending generosity to those that could help him achieve his goals. A phone call from Bob Jones could open doors beyond the imagining of most of us. Keep in mind that the Board members were not average individuals but well off, well educated, powerful people in their own right. Yet none of them dared question what Bob Jones wanted and therein lay the problem that led to prison for Mr. Jones and several others. None of them dated question the President of NCED because he was El Paso’s Entrepreneur of the Year and had the ear of the Mayor, the Governor and even the President of the United States. His ego and success in some odd way became their ego and their success. They felt even more powerful that than actually were because they were directors of a powerful company. The one individuial that did question him was considered a disloyal and disgruntle employee and literally shunned.

            In the case of Dr. Garcia, he ruled as a benevolent despot. He committed EPISD funds and gave out contracts without the mandatory bid process because he was so entrenched in the system that no one dared to question him. In spite of the contractual requirements that any contract over a certain dollar amount had to go out for bid he gave a $40,000.00 contract to a local individual to be a morale booster for the students. This contract, according to my sources never went out for bid nor was it approved by the Board. However, the Board did nothing about it when it became public. After all, to question Dr. Garcia was to question their own judgment since their job was to make sure he followed the rules. If he failed to follow the rules then it reflected badly on them, thus his decision to grant that contract for a morale booster was rubber stamped. The good ole boy system kicked in and, as usual, the game became, look innocent and stay quiet, which is something that most Boards of Director excell at. In El Paso negative publicity blows over really fast, the public quickly forgets.

            Currently, there is a call in the El Paso Times for the EPISD Board to resign, but the President of the Board is standing her ground. She knows that in six months or so, if she can hold, out everyone will forget what happened and it will business as usual. She has experienced that heady wine known as power and she has no intention of giving it up and she will get away with it though she and the rest of the Board certainly have questions to answer. Such is politics in El Paso.