Maybrick--a Problem in Logic

[Iconoclast]

You are indulging in the most blatant ex-post facto reasoning one can possibly imagine.

Well you would say that dear boy, would you not?

By the way, what did Barrett's medical records say about his 'stroke'?

[Observer]

Now that hurt.

I'm not bragging by the way, I'd tell you who I support but you'd only laugh

[The Baron]

I have to say that the evidence points very strongly towards Bongo Barrett being

a complete idiot.


Therein lies the potential solution to your quandary. If

a complete idiot

thinks they'd like to know what an actual 1888 diary might look like, they might pay good money to purchase one. If a similar (perhaps the same)

complete idiot

thinks they might make a copy of their scrapbook to take to London (in case they lose possession of the original in the process)

How on earth can anyone write such an excuse!

only one thing:

Despair!



The Baron

[rjpalmer]

I should say 'impulsive' behavior, not so much 'compulsive.' I would like a serious answer to Mike's alleged stroke, however. Are people suggesting this was faked? That it wasn't real? I am genuinely curious.

[rjpalmer]

they might simultaneously ask that the diary they purchase contain at least 20 blank pages.

Ike - I grant you that three is a mystical number. Seven is also a mystical number; it has great traditions behind it. Nine is another mystical number.

Twenty is strictly utilitarian. It has no mysteries attached to it whatsoever. Twenty is a shovel. Twenty is a work mule. When a person asks for twenty blank pages (40 sides) odds are he has a typescript at home that is 29 pages in length. "And so it was revealed in time, as time reveals all." Even Barrett knew that 20 blank rectangles of white couldn't tell him anything he couldn't see in one rectangle of white, and without dishing out twenty-five pounds!

As for Barrett's alleged stupidity, Shirley Harrison has written that Mike was "far from stupid." In Caz's book, Anne Graham tells how she had been charmed by Mike's intelligence when they first met at the Catholic Club.

I would never challenge the opinions of two earnest ladies.

There is a well-known photograph of Barrett, cane in hand, standing next to Paul Begg at the site of Maybrick's grave. We are told that Mike has suffered a stroke. One of the symptoms of stroke can be compulsive behavior (source: The American Stroke Society) and compulsive behavior (and lying) can also be a symptom of Korsakoff's Syndrome.

Why should I not conclude that Barrett's erratic behavior in 1995-1997 was anything other than a medical event? Why does it allow me to conclude anything about his behavior and abilities in 1992? (I feel a visit from Caz coming on! Got to run!)

You are indulging in the most blatant ex-post facto reasoning one can possibly imagine.

Cheers.

[Iconoclast]

You could pose that exact same question to the pro-diarists. Why are they here? The case has been closed (in their mind).

Well, in my case I've never had any friends so this place is perfect. It's why I love the Great Lockdown so much - 50+ years of social isolation and suddenly everyone else is at it …

(I started stocking-up in 1974.)

[Iconoclast]

Why do you suppose Mike Barrett bought the maroon coloured leather diary in March 1992?

I have to say that the evidence points very strongly towards Bongo Barrett being a complete idiot. Therein lies the potential solution to your quandary. If a complete idiot thinks they'd like to know what an actual 1888 diary might look like, they might pay good money to purchase one. If a similar (perhaps the same) complete idiot thinks they might make a copy of their scrapbook to take to London (in case they lose possession of the original in the process), they might simultaneously ask that the diary they purchase contain at least 20 blank pages.

Back atcha Observer: Why do you suppose Mike Barrett bought the maroon coloured leather diary in March 1992 and was willing to accept one from 1890?

[Iconoclast]

I'll tell you what, the next time the jokers playing at Sid Jame's Park win a piece of silverware I'll ask you

Now that hurt.

[Iconoclast]

Really. Strange that, I would have thought that you would have considered it an also ran. By the way forget Bongo Barrett, if the late great Mama Cass was on it's back it would still romp home

In fairness, I said I would consider it. Leaves the door open to not doing it.

[Observer]

Oooh dear....a phrase containing the words 'touched' and 'sore point' springs to mind. I wish a 'debate' would begin, because thus far from the Barrettites we've had only statements.

Graham

Why do you suppose Mike Barrett bought the maroon coloured leather diary in March 1992?

[Graham]

My God, RJ, take it easy, man! You'll do yourself a mischief, the way you carry on!

Graham

[Observer]

Oooh oooh, I know - ask me sir, ask me!!!

I'll tell you what, the next time the jokers playing at Sid Jame's Park win a piece of silverware I'll ask you

[Observer]

I'd be willing to consider investing a proportion of Ms Iconoclast's inheritance on the self-same nag were it to be ridden by anyone other than Bongo Barrett.

Really. Strange that, I would have thought that you would have considered it an also ran. By the way forget Bongo Barrett, if the late great Mama Cass was on it's back it would still romp home

[rjpalmer]

Oooh dear....a phrase containing the words 'touched' and 'sore point' springs to mind. I wish a 'debate' would begin, because thus far from the Barrettites we've had only statements.

Graham

Not in the least, Graham. I welcome your suggestion. But the chance of Ike and Caz going toe-to-toe is roughly similar to the chance of Italy and Germany going toe-to-toe in late 1944: slim and none. They perceive a common enemy and have an unspoken non-aggression pact. And when a Diary disbeliever does not take the field, the battle goes deadly silent: all becomes Quiet on the Western, Eastern, Southern, and Northern fronts for weeks on end--for the same metaphysical reasons outlined in Post #177. You can't debate with someone who has no position. Ike might be able to debate an agnostic, but it is unlikely a true agnostic would debate Ike. Why would she, or he? They are seeking enlightenment, not war.

[Harry D]

To those posters who are totally convinced that the Diary was a merry money-making jape conceived and executed by Mike "Fitzgerald" Barrett and no other - why do you still post here if your minds really are made up? What are you trying to acheive, if anything? Why don't you leave the debate between those silly people who believe that Jim really did write it and that he really was the Ripper, and those even sillier persons who think that it might just be an old creation that just may have been passed down through the Graham family? Trying to convert us, or what? I mean, it's not as if you're prepared to actually debate the issue - you just make statements and not much else. Or is it that most of you are not quite as convinced about Barrett as you'd have us believe?

You could pose that exact same question to the pro-diarists. Why are they here? The case has been closed (in their mind).