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Hello all,
Theories,ideas, thoughts. We have had them all. Or have we? After having turned this case upside down, inside out, around and around, with words to encompass the globe a few thousand times over, where are we exactly?
Yes, the last 20 years has seen a remarkable interest leading to some extraordinay finds in research. Facts, hitherto unknown, have appeared through the dedication of many. Possibilities have arisen, some fading almost without trace from the word go, others peaking at a murmur, a whisper, others lasting a little longer, keeping the flames of possibility burning enough to warrant more thought, discussion and reasoning.Some ideas, a few, even reached the higher echelons of all in participation. Then the rarer ones above that, causing us to look at possibilities that have stood the test of time.
A general look back on those 20 years yields much recrimination also. A war of words, a war of such intensity that on a few, thankfully rare occasions, the intervention of talk of legal buffs has wafted through the air. It is not warranted to mention individual cases here, and that is not the intention of this piece either. But there has been much bickering and even boiled tempers in this Whitechapel stew.
So what to do? Where exactly are we? It is 2010. What possibilities do we have? Investigation into the Whitchapel murders, is as ever, ongoing. On these boards alone, we have some of the best minds the WORLD community can offer. Snippets of a golden nutmeg appear and delight...albeit far more rarely these days...or are they? Because of the instancy of the internet, discoveries are made almost on a weekly basis. This piece, written in the early morning hours of a Sunday morning, will relay itself around the world in an instant, and thought processes will become engaged once more by enough people to have commented on it, that by the corresponding date in one month's time, 10, 20, perhaps a hundred responses will have been born before our eyes, ever dividing and transgressing into other formulations, other tangents, other ideas.
Tiny fractions of news, interlinked possibilities, jaded connections and long forgotten, thrown away crumbs are unearthed. The catalogue of these crumbs are now so revealing, that anyone needing to write an overview of the situation at any given time, must have a hell's own job of shouting "hold the press!" time and again. Even in an apparent time of general lull, the activity beneath the surface is bubbling away, and the stew simmers gently on.
That stew has been in the pot over 121 years. That is approching 1,500 months. Infact, nearly 150,000 days after the disgusting and totally awful glut of madness. that stomach-convulsing sight of a woman in 13, Miller's Court, the hunt for the killer goes on. The speculation continues. The theories , with each merit and counter merit, are spread with hopeful abandon in front of our eyes. And still it goes on.
"A fresh approach is needed" ... that must have been said so many times during the 121 years... is it actually possible to identify this maniac, or these maniacs, so long after the crimes themselves? The vast majority of Ripperologists the world over, although secretly hoping, know that realistically, it is almost impossible. The younger generation, enthused by the instant access media and famous names upon the silver screen, jump headfirst into the task of finding Jack the Ripper, and identifying him.
So what sort of fresh approach CAN be used? Is it possible to realistically turn the page and start afresh? It would be a Herculean task indeed. For to do it, one must totally ignore EVERY previous theory. For no new approach can consider the weight of meanings, from many given sources. An example starts of course with, how many victims was Jack the Ripper responsible for.
That discussion has continued almost from the very start. It is probably an impossible task for anyone to be totally objective. Do we believe in a limited, canonical group of victims? Do we allow for the list to be extended? Do we for-shorten it? No, a fresh appraisal is probably impossible. Or is it?
Dividing the series of happenings into sections, sub-sections and groupings, we can concentrate on those, smaller sections, as we do today, in the modern approach that is to similar to our forebearers methods, but not the all encompassing methods used by the investigators at the time. We have the advantages that those worthy men and women did not have...we have an almost unlimited quanity of detectives on the case. The only thing we lack, infact, is resources of material gathered at the time. We know where some of them are, and we know that some are in private hands. We also know that some pieces of documentation may spring from an unlikely and unknown source. Getting to these pieces of historical fact, is, in some cases, like trying to winkle out a tiny shellfish with the needle from the preverbial haystack. Given that we are allowed to approach the haystack in the first place. It is almost like Area 51. Off limits. And that leads to more speculation. It is an endless circle. Perhaps the time has come to stop the rot, cut through the ice and attempt to rescue this Titanic ship of doom from permanently lying on the sea floor.
The state of play in this cricket linked, all conquering, internet fed never ending game is that we are progressing. It may seem slow. It may seem worthless at times. It may seem pointless even. But we are progressing.
To use cricketing analogies from the motherland of the case, rain has not stopped play, we are out in the field, and for those who are batting, we are watching carefully for the nick to the awaiting field of slips, square legs and the use the art of the dextrous googly tossed with guile into the air. We are ready for the clever tickle down the leg side, and are clear in our minds to call "no-ball" should we see an out-and-out falsity. We are unlikely to see many swash-buckling innings, but are likely to be in for a torrid time of bouncers aimed at us. And Old Father Time sits upon his perch at Lord's, ready to take off the bails, when we are finally stumped, and call close of play.
However, what Old Father Time doesn't know, is that some refuse to give in. And that number is growing. For when one person leaves the batting crease, there is always another coming in to attempt a rescue.
Across the water, the bases are loaded too...yet another batter will have his three swipes and be out... but the innings is never over.
I am an optimist by nature. I believe. I am also a realist.... and I DO know how and where we stand, and what chances we have. Minimal.
Above all, I am a dreamer. Like, I suspect, we all are. And somewhere, that tiny, never-burned out candle is flickering away inside me, calling me to carry on.. and look in it's direction. I would be a fool not to take a peek.
That is the state of play. We are all peeking at a dimming light far away in a darkness. And we stumble as we try to reach our goal. For there are traps and obstructions that litter our paths.
So tread with belief and hope where angels fear to tread...come to the table, sit and be welcome. Together, we may one day find that proof of the pudding. Let us continue to eat.
best wishes
Phil
Theories,ideas, thoughts. We have had them all. Or have we? After having turned this case upside down, inside out, around and around, with words to encompass the globe a few thousand times over, where are we exactly?
Yes, the last 20 years has seen a remarkable interest leading to some extraordinay finds in research. Facts, hitherto unknown, have appeared through the dedication of many. Possibilities have arisen, some fading almost without trace from the word go, others peaking at a murmur, a whisper, others lasting a little longer, keeping the flames of possibility burning enough to warrant more thought, discussion and reasoning.Some ideas, a few, even reached the higher echelons of all in participation. Then the rarer ones above that, causing us to look at possibilities that have stood the test of time.
A general look back on those 20 years yields much recrimination also. A war of words, a war of such intensity that on a few, thankfully rare occasions, the intervention of talk of legal buffs has wafted through the air. It is not warranted to mention individual cases here, and that is not the intention of this piece either. But there has been much bickering and even boiled tempers in this Whitechapel stew.
So what to do? Where exactly are we? It is 2010. What possibilities do we have? Investigation into the Whitchapel murders, is as ever, ongoing. On these boards alone, we have some of the best minds the WORLD community can offer. Snippets of a golden nutmeg appear and delight...albeit far more rarely these days...or are they? Because of the instancy of the internet, discoveries are made almost on a weekly basis. This piece, written in the early morning hours of a Sunday morning, will relay itself around the world in an instant, and thought processes will become engaged once more by enough people to have commented on it, that by the corresponding date in one month's time, 10, 20, perhaps a hundred responses will have been born before our eyes, ever dividing and transgressing into other formulations, other tangents, other ideas.
Tiny fractions of news, interlinked possibilities, jaded connections and long forgotten, thrown away crumbs are unearthed. The catalogue of these crumbs are now so revealing, that anyone needing to write an overview of the situation at any given time, must have a hell's own job of shouting "hold the press!" time and again. Even in an apparent time of general lull, the activity beneath the surface is bubbling away, and the stew simmers gently on.
That stew has been in the pot over 121 years. That is approching 1,500 months. Infact, nearly 150,000 days after the disgusting and totally awful glut of madness. that stomach-convulsing sight of a woman in 13, Miller's Court, the hunt for the killer goes on. The speculation continues. The theories , with each merit and counter merit, are spread with hopeful abandon in front of our eyes. And still it goes on.
"A fresh approach is needed" ... that must have been said so many times during the 121 years... is it actually possible to identify this maniac, or these maniacs, so long after the crimes themselves? The vast majority of Ripperologists the world over, although secretly hoping, know that realistically, it is almost impossible. The younger generation, enthused by the instant access media and famous names upon the silver screen, jump headfirst into the task of finding Jack the Ripper, and identifying him.
So what sort of fresh approach CAN be used? Is it possible to realistically turn the page and start afresh? It would be a Herculean task indeed. For to do it, one must totally ignore EVERY previous theory. For no new approach can consider the weight of meanings, from many given sources. An example starts of course with, how many victims was Jack the Ripper responsible for.
That discussion has continued almost from the very start. It is probably an impossible task for anyone to be totally objective. Do we believe in a limited, canonical group of victims? Do we allow for the list to be extended? Do we for-shorten it? No, a fresh appraisal is probably impossible. Or is it?
Dividing the series of happenings into sections, sub-sections and groupings, we can concentrate on those, smaller sections, as we do today, in the modern approach that is to similar to our forebearers methods, but not the all encompassing methods used by the investigators at the time. We have the advantages that those worthy men and women did not have...we have an almost unlimited quanity of detectives on the case. The only thing we lack, infact, is resources of material gathered at the time. We know where some of them are, and we know that some are in private hands. We also know that some pieces of documentation may spring from an unlikely and unknown source. Getting to these pieces of historical fact, is, in some cases, like trying to winkle out a tiny shellfish with the needle from the preverbial haystack. Given that we are allowed to approach the haystack in the first place. It is almost like Area 51. Off limits. And that leads to more speculation. It is an endless circle. Perhaps the time has come to stop the rot, cut through the ice and attempt to rescue this Titanic ship of doom from permanently lying on the sea floor.
The state of play in this cricket linked, all conquering, internet fed never ending game is that we are progressing. It may seem slow. It may seem worthless at times. It may seem pointless even. But we are progressing.
To use cricketing analogies from the motherland of the case, rain has not stopped play, we are out in the field, and for those who are batting, we are watching carefully for the nick to the awaiting field of slips, square legs and the use the art of the dextrous googly tossed with guile into the air. We are ready for the clever tickle down the leg side, and are clear in our minds to call "no-ball" should we see an out-and-out falsity. We are unlikely to see many swash-buckling innings, but are likely to be in for a torrid time of bouncers aimed at us. And Old Father Time sits upon his perch at Lord's, ready to take off the bails, when we are finally stumped, and call close of play.
However, what Old Father Time doesn't know, is that some refuse to give in. And that number is growing. For when one person leaves the batting crease, there is always another coming in to attempt a rescue.
Across the water, the bases are loaded too...yet another batter will have his three swipes and be out... but the innings is never over.
I am an optimist by nature. I believe. I am also a realist.... and I DO know how and where we stand, and what chances we have. Minimal.
Above all, I am a dreamer. Like, I suspect, we all are. And somewhere, that tiny, never-burned out candle is flickering away inside me, calling me to carry on.. and look in it's direction. I would be a fool not to take a peek.
That is the state of play. We are all peeking at a dimming light far away in a darkness. And we stumble as we try to reach our goal. For there are traps and obstructions that litter our paths.
So tread with belief and hope where angels fear to tread...come to the table, sit and be welcome. Together, we may one day find that proof of the pudding. Let us continue to eat.
best wishes
Phil