In the year 1876, medicine man Sitting Bull of the Lakota (one of the three main divisions of the Sioux) was a leader at the famous battle of the Little Bighorn River, in Montana. With 650 soldiers, Lieutenant Colonel “Long Hair” Custer thought he could easily defeat 1,000 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. This was a gross miscalculation. He was facing probably the largest group of Native American warriors ever assembled—about 3,000.
Custer split the Seventh Cavalry Regiment into three groups. Without waiting for support from the other two, his group attacked what he thought would be a vulnerable part of the Indian camp. Led by headmen Crazy Horse, Gall, and Sitting Bull, the Indians wiped out Custer and his unit of some 225 soldiers. It was a heady, if temporary victory for the Indian nations, and a bitter defeat for the U.S. Army. However, terrible revenge was only 14 years away… Continue reading The spirit of Crazy Horse ?
Life rarely turns out as we planned. As my favourite ‘fridge magnet puts it: “Life is all about how you handle plan B”. Perhaps the greatest gift we may give our children is the love and emotional strength to weather the storms that will surely come. It was ‘Living on the Seabed’ that reminded me of this.
Gene scientists claim to have found proof that the Welsh are the “true” Britons. The research supports the idea that Celtic Britain underwent a form of ethnic cleansing by Anglo-Saxon invaders following the Roman withdrawal in the fifth century. It suggests that between 50% and 100% of the indigenous population of what was to become England was wiped out, with Offa’s Dyke acting as a “genetic barrier” protecting those on the Welsh side. The upheaval can be traced to this day through genetic differences between the English and the Welsh. “English and Welsh are races apart”..(BBC News, 30 June 2002)
Starting with one simple notion, familiar motifs as used in heraldry are known to originate from early times. The question is: How early? In researching the links between Britain and the ancient near east, art and architecture, having survived, and easier to understand than cuneiform or other ancient writing forms, is an obvious place to begin.
At present, Welsh is spoken only in Wales, and Breton in Brittany, yet there was a time when it was spoken not only over the British Isles, but over parts of Continental Europe. For it has been maintained, falsely in my view, that the Celts, or ancient Gauls, were one and the same with the Britons, and making allowance for dialect, used the same language. Although most modern researchers deny this, the widespread knowledge of early Welsh must hold true.
Very many of the Celtic or Gallic words agree very well with the Welsh, both in sound and in sense. In addition, many of the names of cities, mountains, rivers etc. in France (anciently, Gaul), cannot be accounted for without a knowledge of Welsh. Here are a few examples. Arles (Latin: Arelatum) derived from Ar (upon) and Llaith (moist); because situated upon moist ground, Ysloudun, Guienne (Latin: Uxellodunum) derived from Uchel (high), and Din (fortified mound). The Cevennes comes from the root Cefn (back or ridge), and the Apennine mountains, Pen (head, top or chief, etc.). The river Arar, in French, La Saonne, from Araf (slow, soft), the Garumna, now called La Garronne, from Garw(rough, harsh)” (Thomas Richards’ Welsh &English Dictionary (1839).
Walt Disney was a man known as an escapist who made escapism his life’s work. He not only exploited fantasy, but enjoyed it with the millions who paid to see his films. He recognized early on that in the world of the fairy-tale, especially the cartoon fairy-tale, anything is possible. Animals can act, talk and behave like human beings; witches can fly, little boys can climb beanstalks and discover giants and castles in the clouds. Of course, these stories are ages old, Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. Disney always added his own imaginative touches, to the point you read the old versions and your child is likely to say, ‘that’s wrong’! He invented many other characters, from Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck onwards.
Disney had a burning ambition to succeed, but money was of secondary importance: his associates constantly complained about his reckless disregard for the enormous cost of the projects he initiated. His first venture ended in bankruptcy, but he persisted. His career is a remarkable example of courage, determination, and vision.
The Disney vision of fairy-tale love stories, benevolent nature, and classic American virtues such as hard work have remained unchanged from the beginning. However, in Disney films stereotypical characters , predictable plots and subtle racist elements have all led to criticism…
What is behind the history of dragons? Ancient peoples from all over the world spoke about unusual, reptile-like creatures (large and small) that once roamed the earth. Europeans called them “dragons,” originally from the Greek drakon apparently from drak-, strong aorist stem of derkesthai.” Perhaps the literal sense is “the one with (deadly) sight.” Scientists agree that legends are often based on facts, not just imagination. Dragon pictures are found in Africa, India, Europe, the Middle East, the Orient and every other part of the world. Dragon history is universal throughout the world’s ancient cultures. Where did this global concept originate? How did societies throughout the world describe, record, draw, etch, sew and carve such creatures in consistently similar ways?
‘The unthinkable about the unsinkable..(Oxford Times)
The comment made by the Oxford Times’ writer sums up the book nicely. Conspiracy theories don’t get more controversial than this. After reading the book, even if you cannot accept every conclusion, it was good to welcome a sideways look at a subject everyone seems to be an expert on, particularly as we near the centenary of this great maritime tragedy.
Olympic and Titanic, March 1912
One of the most controversial and complex theories is that the Titanic sinking was more than a tragic accident. It was put forward by Robin Gardiner in his book, Titanic: The Ship That Never Sank? (1998). Following on from The Riddle Of The Titanic(1995), co-authored with Dan Van Der Vat, the author includes more facts to support their theory of the switch perpetrated by the White Star line, and startling evidence of the possible collusion of the British Government in a cover-up. Gardiner draws on several events and coincidences that occurred in the months, days, and hours leading up to the sinking of the Titanic, and concludes that the ship that sank was in fact the Titanic’s sister-ship RMS Olympic, disguised as the Titanic. Continue reading Titanic: The Ship That Never Sank?
The very fact that there are so many theories, and people who believe in them, raises an important question: Amid so much evidence to the contrary, why do people believe in conspiracy theories at all?
The Third Man, Alida Valli, Joseph Cotten, 1949
Tragedy is usually the result of a randomly cruel world, ‘time and unforeseen occurrence’. That, however, doesn’t demean people who were victimized by or who are afraid of tragedy should not feel the need to blame someone or something. After all, we are uncomfortable with ‘randomness’ – we feel if something happens, it must be because ‘someone’ caused it, there’s no such thing as an ‘accident’, ‘someone’ must be to blame, and the more prominent a person is, the more in the public eye, the greater the forces needed to pull them down or kill them. Accidents and lone gunmen are for ‘ordinary’ people, not ‘special’ ones, and they certainly don’t commit suicide, do they?
The term “conspiracy theory” is frequently used by scholars and in popular culture to identify secret military, banking, or political actions aimed at stealing power, money, or freedom, from the general populace.
Today, there are more conspiracy theories and more conspiracy theory believers than ever before.In the article ‘Paranoia and the roots of Conspiracy Theories‘ for ‘Psychology Today’, Ilan Shrira wrote: “Conspiracy theories help us cope with distressing events and make sense out of them. Conspiracies assure us that bad things don’t just happen randomly. Conspiracies tell us that someone out there is accountable, however unwittingly or secretly or incomprehensibly, so it’s possible to stop these people and punish them and in due course let everyone else re-establish control over their own lives. Conspiracies also remind us that we shouldn’t blame ourselves for our predicaments; it’s not our fault, it’s them! In these ways, believing in conspiracies serves many of the same self-protective functions as scapegoating.” That is one view..
Han van Meegeren (1889-1947) painted in the style of Johannes Vermeer, but his works also include forgeries of Frans Hals, Pieter de Hooch and Gerard ter Borch. In 1937 the director of Museum Boijmans, Dirk Hannema, purchased ‘The Supper at Emmaus’ for 540,000 guilders (approximately $4million today). There was great interest in the painting, which some experts believed to be an early masterpiece by Vermeer. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam even offered Vermeer’s ‘The Love Letter’ in exchange for the painting, but Hannema rejected the offer. Museum Boijmans exhibited the work as one of the highlights of its collection and art experts praised the work’s high quality…
Han Van Meegeren ‘Supper at Emmaus’ Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
