Reasonable Doubt (part one)
The other great general book about the JFK assassination is Reasonable Doubt by Henry Hurt. First published in 1986, this is the Owl Book Edition of '87. Unfortunately it's never been updated. It's more aggrieved in tone than The Kennedy Conspiracy, but then, Anthony Summers isn't American. 'Reasonable doubt' is 'the standard of evidence required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems' (Wikipedia). Under this standard, the defence doesn't have to provide an alternate explanation for how the crime happened, it only has to pick holes in the prosecution case. Hurt picks holes in the official (Warren Commission & HSCA) versions of the JFK assassination, and although his book isn't explicit about this, the first 7 chapters are enough to raise reasonable doubt and acquit Oswald of all charges. A second meaning to the title is that by raising so many questions and pointing out so many...
The Kennedy Conspiracy
This week, I present one of the best general books on the assassination, The Kennedy Conspiracy by Anthony Summers. The title does not 'reflect a set view by the author' (p. ix). It remains open-minded about the lone assassin and about conspiracy theories. It rigorously hunts for the 'true facts' (p.361), and although it produces 'no solutions' (p.378), it is a readable, fascinating and commendable work. Originally published in 1980, in the aftermath of the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) investigation, it has been published under various titles over the years (Conspiracy, Not in Your Lifetime), and this is the 'revised and updated' third edition, published in 1998, the year the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB) released its final report. (If you haven't heard of the HSCA investigation and the ARRB trawl for documents, they took place because over the years the US citizenry believed less and less in...
Who Shot JFK?
Here at Blather Sub-aqua HQ in the ice-caverns of Crete, we are watchful of the time, and are therefore very much cognisant of the forthcoming 50th anniversary of the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy (JFK), which took place in Dallas, Texas, on 22 November 1963. As no-one was ever tried for this violent crime, it's a murder mystery of sorts, and has been a remarkably fertile ground for conspiracy theories for decades. Indeed it was the beginning of the conspiracy culture as we know it today. A culture that Blather has fed off like a starving goat. From now until 22 November, this blog will prime you for the anniversary, and will be, in the beginning at least, a kind of literature survey of the case. This week's book is Who Shot JFK? (2002), a 'pocket essential' by Robin Ramsay, editor of the parapolitical journal Lobster. There is...
A Micronation Once Again: The Saltee Islands
ff the coast of southeast Ireland lie the two small Saltee Islands. Their simple, low-slung landscapes, four or five kilometres of the Wexford fishing village of Kilmore Quay belie their layers of history, folklore and bizarre stories.
Book: The Cold Edge
Ethereal, emotional photographs of the unforgiving wilderness, wild animals and blue icebergs that question our romantic relationship with remote, harsh and pristine environments. Images that resonate with a quiet tension; all may not be right in the Garden of Eden.
The Cold Edge: Polar Photography by Dave Walsh
From davewalshphoto.com: There comes a time in a photographer's life when (s)he finally gets to announce the Big News; a first major solo exhibition. It's unnerving, exciting, heartening, and reassuring. There's also the sense of achievement, and a feeling of "yes, I was right to hammer away so for many years on something I care passionately about".
A Book of Migrations by Rebecca Solnit – photography by Dave Walsh
’m talking about The Book of Migrations: Some Passages in Ireland, by Rebecca Solnit, which has been a joy to read, and an honour to become connected with. I was unaware of Solnit’s work until May 24th of this year, when I read her insightful article the Strauss-Kahn affair, colonisation and the IMF: Worlds Collide in a Luxury Suite. That afternoon, I received an email from Bob Bhamra, of Verso Books, asking me if he could use my image of the Burren for a new editon of The Book of Migrations. Serendipity. We cut a deal.
The Lion and Unicorn Amnesty: A Plea for the Safe Return of England
Guest writer Oliver Bayliss, gives us his unique take on the London and UK riots which have engulfed the country for the last four days.
Curious Georgia: A Curious Little Funky
Archaeological batshttery, mumbo jumbo misinformation and outright lunacy based on fringe interpretations of a couple of websites and five minutes research by ill informed amateur web 'journalists'? It must be Friday, so.
Would you rob my grave as quick?
Benito Mussolini in his characteristic attitude with a proud worker Digging on the beach of the seaside resort of Ostia near Rome. Photo from 1931. The long held and longer respected Irish nocturnal tradition of body snatching is alive and well in the 21st century, it seems. Sort of. Kinda. We're not exactly sure if it officially counts though, if you leave the body back. Kinda. Sort of. Reports reaching Blather HQ today indicate a corpse has been mysteriously (and illegally) exhumed and reburied in a separate grave under cover of darkness in Co. Limerick in recent times. Limerick (Old Irish: Liabh mé de féic alóne; take mó bhállet) is no stranger to nefarious after-hours activity, but even by its own standards, this counts as a strange one. No exhumation order was sought, nor were official graveyard authorities present at the 'removal'. It all just kind of happened by itself....