In the name of honesty...

[Cap'n Jack]

And, Silver, I still offer you my full support and encouragement to publish your findings, although I would also encourage you to publish them here on the message boards.
Trouble is I think you will find that they have already been published more than a hundred years ago.
No matter though. I don't think I would ever post private messages that you sent to me, simply because I regard them as intrinsically private, so I think you broke the code of honour before I did.
You sacrificied a ear.
Honour is done, I am no longer in your debt.

[Ally]

If the information was already in public domain and AP has already posted about it previously, then it would seem wise for him to point to that information so as to save Silver the embarrassment of publishing something he thinks is groundbreaking only to discover it is not.

I don't understand why he's railing at Silver for not publishing something and getting the truth out there, if it's ALREADY out there??

This is why people shouldn't drink. This kind of thing could however, lead them to start!

[Nurse Sarah]

Too late Ally, the wine is flowing a la maison!

[jdpegg]

Hi,

my brain really hurts now. Can we go back to discussing something important, like say....cheese
?

Jenni

[Tom_Wescott]

Thanks, Monty. Yes, I remember the Gill thread now. AP posted all about it. The kid was torn to pieces.

Sounds like this is a ruckus between AP and Silverstealth. Since nobody outside of this thread has heard of the Gill murder, I can't imagine AP's posting about it will hurt the sales of Silver's book. But at the same time, I completely understand Silver's concerns and I empathize with him.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Phil Carter]

Hello all,

As you all have read, the question of the Special Branch Files, as yet, unseen, remain exactly that, in "perpetuity".

"In perpetuity" is a rule, it seems, that covers all Special Branch Files. Whatever the subject....Forever...and ever and ever and ever...

I previously have stated that I fail to understand, call me green, naive, whatever... where the protection of the names and reputations of the people involved 121 years ago, relates directly to today and their descendants, 4 or 5 generations down the line.

Yes, I repeat, all this comes along 121 years after the murders, as it is 4 or 5 generations down the line since then. And adding to this, I stated that even the national census, is available only 100 years after having been taken and documented, is reserved and protected for 100 years because of exactly the same reason I have been given re the Special Branch Files.

We live in a modern world, where the speed of information is lightening fast. Historians have never previously been so fortunate in having access to material, at the touch of a finger. Yet still, we have some clearly archaic sets of rules living and breathing in the best of health amongst us.

In the USA, douments are "blacked out" upon release, should they still be considered to be potentially harmful in any way. These documents are released under the "Freedom of Information Act", I believe.

The Home Office in Great Britain, is, unless I am entirely mistaken, responsible for the rules regarding release of Special Branch Documents. There can be little doubt that there is material within the Special Branch Files that relate directly to the Whitechapel murders.

Ladies and Gentleman, perhaps it is time for us all to lobby the Home Office, in clear yet polite tone, to relax the rule and put a time limit upon the documents release instead of never ever having access to them.

I again repeat, if they remained closed in perpetuity, we have the ridiculous situation of in 79 years, when JTR is 200 years old, of the generation 8 notches down the line being protected, or their ancestors being protected by this frankly silly rule.

Thats the same, ladies and gentlemen, of nobody able to find out the secret details of who said what to whom about things related to the Battle of Waterloo! Thank heavens the Special Branch wasn't around at that time too! As Mr. Homer Simpson says... "doh".

If anyone has any suggestions as to how to actually DO something about this, I welcome the comments.

Because, ladies and gentlemen, if we suceed in getting these files opened, it could open up research for us all for many years to come. And COULD be a ground breaking rule change.

It is noted, that ALL historians trying to research anything, get the thumbs down. It must be time to stop this nonsense.

Nobody, surely, really cares what Great Great Uncle Bulgaria got up to when he snitched about x or y to z 121 years ago... Great Great Uncle Bulgaria may well have been very happy his notes and comments etc were secretly saved for prosperity, but I suggest that he didn't quite mean forever!... err... why??? Just because its a principle? Nothing gets released, whatever???


That, in my view is plainly ridiculous.

I leave you all to ponder.

best wishes to you all,

Phil

[Archaic]

Hi, Phil, getting back to your thread topic ( ), here are some of the US National Archives web-links that I mentioned to you.

The problem of missing and stolen historical documents is clearly explained, including why the theft of such documents is in fact a theft directed against the national heritage of every American citizen- and by extension, a theft perpetuated against the shared History of all people.

The website explains how individual citizens can be of help in achieving their safe return. Live links are provided for anyone requesting assistance or more information.

There is also a list describing specific documents which are missing and believed stolen, in the hope that if there are attempts to sell these documents either publicly or privately someone will notice and alert the authorities. (One man was actually convicted of selling numerous pilfered Civil War documents on Ebay, I kid you not!)


>>U.S. National Archives, main site: http://www.archives.gov/

>>"Help Find Missing Documents" Public Appeal By U.S. National Archives: http://www.archives.gov/research/recover/


At the moment I'm not sure if the UK National Archives has similar appeals and instant-access links on their website.
I'm looking into this question, but perhaps another forum member already knows and can tell us more?

Best regards, Archaic

[silverstealth]

Deleted

[Supe]

Jen,

A bit off topic, but: Double Gloucester, Red Leicester, Wenslydale, Cheshire and Durham Gold. How's that for a sampler?

Don.

[The Good Michael]

Originally Posted by Supe

A bit off topic, but: Double Gloucester, Red Leicester, Wenslydale, Cheshire and Durham Gold. How's that for a sampler?

Don,

Because I am in Korea where cheese is neither made nor imported to (aside from bulk quantities of useless brands), I would do a John Gill on someone just to smell the first two cheeses on your sampler.

Mike, bringing it back on thread