The West Memphis Three are three men who – while teenagers – were tried and convicted, in 1994, of the 1993 murders of three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. Damien Echols was sentenced to death, Jessie Misskelley, Jr. was sentenced to life imprisonment plus two 20-year sentences, and Jason Baldwin was sentenced to life imprisonment. During the trial, the prosecution asserted that the children were killed as part of a Satanic ritual.
A number of documentaries have explored the case. Celebrities and musicians have held fundraisers in the belief that the three young men convicted of the crime are innocent.
In July 2007, new forensic evidence was presented in the case. A status report jointly issued by the state and the defense team stated: “Although most of the genetic material recovered from the scene was attributable to the victims of the offenses, some of it…
This was more than a victory, it was the complete destruction of three Roman legions and all their commanders; the few men who survived were made slaves.
It was the greatest disaster in Roman military history. Apart from occasional raids and campaigns, the Romans never again held the Germanic land across the Rhine.
The battle began a seven-year war which ended with the Rhine as the boundary of the Roman Empire for the next four hundred years, until the decline of the Western Roman Empire.
My thoughts…..
I have long held a fascination bordering on obsession with ancient Rome and all things related to the birth and brutal uncompromising rise of one of the greatest Empires ever known to mankind.
If I could travel through time and space I would travel to the last days of the Roman Republic and witness the giants of ancient Rome , Caesar , Pompey & Crassus rule the known world and the rise of the first emperor Octavian , known as Augustus , who paved the way for the demonic Caligula and the depraved Nero.
Imagine watching as Caesar crossed the Rubicon and change the course of Rome’s history forever or witnessing his legions historic battles during the brutal Gallic Wars. Or standing on the sidelines watching general Publius Cornelius Scipio , ( Scipio ) one of the greatest generals and military strategists of all time taking on the might of Carthage and defeating Hannibal at the final battle at Zama
Sadly but unsurprisingly Caesar , Pompey & Crassus and many others met with violent deaths and the Ides of March marked a pivotal change of direction for the Roman people and those they ruled and subjugated without remorse.
The age of Emperors had arrived and Rome would never be the same.
I would like to visit Antony and Cleopatra and see what all the fuss was about and watch as the original love story unfolded and witness their sad demise and the suicides that would immortalized their love for all time.
I would watch as the Roman legions marched against countless armies opposed to the Empire’s iron rule and ruthlessly destroyed all in their paths and the dithering Claudius’s desperate attempt to conquer Britannia in his quest for eternal glory and the love of the mobs in the forums of Rome.
Imagine the sights and sounds of the legions faced with the wicked druids on the island of Anglesey, or Mona as it was then known, at the edge of the known world and I would marvel as the mother of Girl Power Boudica led the Iceni tribe in an uprising that pushed the legions to their very limits.
I could go on all day but I’ve just realized I’m boring myself stupid and gods knows what I’m doing to you.
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest was a pivotal moment in Rome’s history and has long fascinated me, hence this post.
“To Marcus Caelius, son of Titus, of the Lemonian district, from Bologna, first centurion of the eighteenth legion. 53½ years old. He fell in the Varian War. His freedman’s bones may be interred here. Publius Caelius, son of Titus, of the Lemonian district, his brother, erected (this monument).”
The Roman commander, Varus, was about the fourth most important man in Rome. He was known and feared because of his ruthless actions and his crucifixion of defeated enemies. It is certain this was known to the Germans, and may have helped the tribes come together to resist him.
The German commander was Arminius, who had been given a Roman military education. He had spent his youth in Rome as a hostage. Therefore, he knew Roman military methods: this knowledge was to be crucial.
Later, Arminius returned to Germania with Varus, and became his trusted advisor.
In secret, he forged an alliance of Germanic tribes that had traditionally been enemies. He was helped to do this by the anger over Varus’ insolence and cruelty to the people he defeated.
“…Stratagem was, therefore, indispensable; and it was necessary to blind Varus to their schemes until a favorable opportunity should arrive for striking a decisive blow…”
British historian Edward Shepherd Creasy (1812–1878)
While Varus was on his way from his summer camp, west of the Weser river, to the winter headquarters near the Rhine, he heard reports of a local rebellion. This was faked by Arminius.
“…This was represented to Varus as an occasion which required his prompt attendance at the spot; but he was kept in studied ignorance of its being part of a concerted national rising; and he still looked on Arminius as his submissive vassal…” Edward Shepherd Creasy
Recent archaeological finds place the battle at Kalkriese Hill in Osnabrück County, Lower Saxony. The Romans must at this time have been marching northwestward from the area that is now the city of Detmold, passing east of Osnabrück; they must then have camped in this area before being attacked.
Battle
Varus’s forces included three legions, six cohorts of auxiliary troops (non-citizens or allied troops) and three squadrons of cavalry. Many of them had little combat experience with Germanic fighters under local conditions.
The Roman forces were not marching in combat formation, and there were also large numbers of camp-followers. As they entered the forest they found the track narrow and muddy; according to Dio Cassius a violent storm had also arisen. He also writes that Varus neglected to send out advance reconnaissance parties.
The line of march was dangerously stretched out – estimates are that it was more than 15 km (9 miles), and was perhaps as long as 20 km (12 miles).
It was then suddenly attacked by Germanic warriors who were carrying some light swords, large lances and spears that came with short and narrow blades, so sharp and warrior friendly that they could be used as required. The Germanic warriors surrounded the entire Roman army and rained down javelins on the intruders.
The Romans were able to set up a fortified night camp, and the next morning broke out into open country, near the modern town of Ostercappeln. The break-out cost them heavy losses, as did a further attempt to escape by marching through another forest area, with heavy rains continuing. The rain stopped them from using their bows because sinew strings become slack when wet, and left them virtually defenseless as their shields also became waterlogged.
The Romans then began a night march to escape, but marched into another trap that Arminius had set, at the foot of a hill near Osnabrück. There, the sandy, open strip on which the Romans could march easily narrowed at the bottom of the hill. There was a gap of only about 100 m between the woods and the swampland at the edge of the Great Bog.
The road was blocked by a trench, and, towards the forest, an earthen wall had been built along the roadside. This let the tribesmen to attack the Romans from cover.
The Romans made a desperate attempt to storm the wall, but failed. The Germanic warriors then stormed the field and slaughtered the Romans; Varus committed suicide.
Around 15,000–20,000 Roman soldiers must have died; not only Varus, but also many of his officers are said to have taken their own lives by falling on their swords in the approved manner.
Tacitus
Tacitus wrote that many officers were sacrificed by the Germans as part of their indigenous religious ceremonies, cooked in pots and their bones used for rituals.[11] However, others were ransomed, and some of the common soldiers were enslaved.
The victory over the legions was followed by a clean sweep of all Roman forts, garrisons and cities – of which there were at least two – east of the Rhine. The remaining two Roman legions in Germany were stationed in a fort at Mainz, and commanded by Varus’ nephew. They were content to try to hold the Rhine.
Varus’s mistakes
Segestes, father of Arminius’ wife and opposed to the marriage, warned Varus about Arminius. The night before the Roman forces left, he suggested Varus arrest Arminius and several other Germanic leaders. He must have known they were plotting an uprising. Varus dismissed the advice as motivated by a personal feud. Arminius then left saying he would drum up Germanic forces to support the Roman campaign. Instead he led his troops, who must have been waiting close by, in attacks on surrounding Roman garrisons.
Even without this warning, Varus, as a matter of policy, should have been less trusting of Arminius, who turned out to be a double agent.
The choice of a march through the forest was against normal Roman military methods, because both vision and defence are limited in a forest. The march was not done in combat formation. Obviously, this route was chosen as a ‘short cut’, but Varus had no proof that such urgency was really necessary. This was doubly so as the forest caused the line to stretch so far that one part could not support another.
The lack of scouts (‘reconnaissance parties’) was almost criminal, and would probably have had Varus executed had he not taken his life.
The bad weather was another good reason for caution when going into the forest. The forest was unknown ground to Varus. New routes should always be scouted.
Though we can never know why Varus made these mistakes, his reputation for arrogance and over-confidence suggests he under-estimated the Germans. But all Rome’s previous experience, from Caesar onwards, had shown the Germanic tribes as strong in war.
Aftermath
Upon hearing of the defeat, the Emperor Augustus, according to the Roman historian Suetonius in his work De vita Caesarum (On the life of the Caesars), was so shaken by the news that he stood butting his head against the wall of his palace, repeatedly shouting:
„Quintili Vare, legiones redde!“ (‘Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!’)
The three legion numbers were never used again by the Romans after this defeat, unlike other legions that were restructured – a case unique in Roman history.
The battle ended the period of triumphant Roman expansion that had followed the end of the Civil Wars 40 years earlier. Augustus’ stepson Tiberius took effective control, and prepared for the continuation of the war. Three legions were sent to the Rhine to replace the lost legions.
Roman retaliation
The Roman commander Germanicus was the opponent of Arminius in 14–16 AD
Though their shock at the slaughter was great, the Romans began a slow, systematic preparation to reconquer the country. In 14 AD, just after Augustus’ death, and the accession of his heir and stepson Tiberius, a huge raid was led by the new emperor’s nephew Germanicus.
On a starry night he massacred the Marsi and ravaged their villages with fire and sword. That night the Germans had celebrated; drunk and asleep, they were surprised by Germanicus. The temple of their deity was destroyed.
Several other tribes were roused by this slaughter and ambushed Germanicus on the way to his winter-quarters, but were defeated with heavy losses.
battles with a large army estimated at 55,000–70,000 men, backed by naval forces. In spring 15 AD, the legate Caecina Severus invaded the Marsi a second time with 25,000–30,000 men, causing great havoc.
Meanwhile, Germanicus’ troops had built a fort on Mount Taunus from where he marched with 30 to 35,000 men against the Chatti (probably a region of villages) and slaughtered children, women and the elderly. The able-bodied men fled across a river and hid themselves in the forests. After this blow Germanicus marched on Mattium and burned the city down.
In summer 15 AD, the army visited the site of the first battle. According to Tacitus, they found heaps of bones, and skulls nailed to trees, which they buried,
“…looking on all as kinsfolk and of their own blood…”.
Burial pits with remains fitting this description have been found at Kalkriese Hill.
Under Germanicus, the Romans marched another army, with allied Germanic soldiers, into Germania in 16 AD. He was able to fight his way across the Weser near modern Minden, suffering some losses. He forced Arminius’ army to stand in open battle at the Weser River. Germanicus’s legions inflicted huge casualties on the Germanic armies while sustaining only minor losses.
One final battle was fought at the Angivarian Wall, west of modern Hanover. Again many Germanic soldiers were killed, which forced them to flee. In summer 16 AD, Caius Silius marched against the Chatti with 33,000 men. Germanicus invaded the Marsi for a third time and devastated their land.
With his main goals reached and winter coming, Germanicus ordered his army back to their winter camps, with the fleet getting damaged in a storm in the North Sea. After a few more raids across the Rhine, with the recovery of two of the three Roman legions’ eagles lost in 9 AD, Tiberius ordered the Roman forces to halt and withdraw across the Rhine. Germanicus was recalled to Rome and informed by Tiberius that he would be given a Triumph and a new command.
Germanicus’ campaign had been to revenge the defeat at Teutoburg, and also partly in reaction to signs of mutiny amongst his troops.
Arminius, who had been considered a real threat to stability by Rome, was now defeated. Once his allied Germanic coalition had been broken and honour avenged, the huge cost and risk of keeping the Roman army operating beyond the Rhine was not worth any likely benefit to be gained.
The last chapter of this story is told by the historian Tacitus. Around 50 AD, bands of Chatti invaded Roman territory and began to plunder (take everything of value). The Roman commander, with a legionary force supported by Roman cavalry and auxiliaries, attacked the Chatti from both sides and defeated them. Great was the joy when they found Roman prisoners, including some from Varus’ legions who had been held by the Chatti for 40 years.
The Lost Legions of Varus
Later German nationalism
The battle, and the histories of Tacitus, had a big effect on 19th century German nationalism. In the 19th century the Germans were still divided into many German states, but they linked themselves with the Germanic tribes as shared ancestors of one “German people”.
In 1808, the German author Heinrich von Kleist‘s play Die Hermannsschlacht aroused anti-Napoleonic sentiment, even though it could not be performed under French occupation.
Later, the figure of Arminius was used to represent the ideals of freedom and unification – as supported by German liberals, and opposed by reactionary rulers. A memorial – the Hermannsdenkmal – was begun during this period, and Arminius became a symbol of Pan-Germanism. The monument remained unfinished for decades, until after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 unified the country. The completed monument was then a symbol of conservative German nationalism.
The club was formed on McIndoe’s initiative in June 1941 with 39 patients, primarily as a drinking club. The members were aircrew patients in the hospital and the surgeons and anaesthetists who treated them. Aircrew members had to be serving airmen who had gone through at least two surgical procedures. By the end of the war the club had 649 members.
I’m finding being a father of a teenage daughter who’s just turned eighteen a little stressful. She went out with friends for a drink last night (only 2nd time ever) & I couldn’t relax or settle until she was home & safe in her bed.
Hmmmm.
I know I need to give her freedom and let her explore the world around her, but no matter how old she is she’ll always be my baby girl & I’ll always want to protect her from the evils of this world. Plus she’s a pretty girl and too many teenage boys are sniffing around her. Grrrrr
I suppose it’s a cross all loving father have to bare and I need to man up and let her go.
Dale Cregan was jailed for life for the murders of David Short, 46, and son Mark, 23, and of policewomen Nicola Hughes, 23, and Fiona Bone, 32, in a horrifying gun and grenade attack in 2012. The murder of the two female police officers shocked and appalled all right minded folk in the Uk and across the globe and I was profoundly saddened and sickened by this brutal and unforgivable crime.
Since the abolition of death penalty in UK gun crime has risen substantially year on year and yet our police forces walk the streets largely unarmed and this makes them the envy of many other police forces throughout the world. Sadly many good men and women within the forces have died at the hands of gun/knife wielding madmen and the death of these two innocent police women is testament to how dangerous the job is.
I salute you all!
See below for a list of all police deaths in the line off duty.
On 25 May 2012, Cregan shot dead Mark Short, 23, in the Cotton Tree pub in Droylsden, Greater Manchester. In the same incident, he tried to kill three other men.
On 10 August, he killed Mark Short’s father, 46-year-old David Short, at his house in Clayton, Manchester by shooting him nine times with a Glock pistol and then throwing a M75 hand grenade onto him, blowing his body apart.
On 18 September 2012, Cregan made a hoax emergency call to the police. Police Constables Nicola Hughes, 23, and Fiona Bone, 32, Greater Manchester Police officers, were mobilised to Cregan’s call in Hattersley.
He claimed that there had been an incident of criminal damage at his house.
When they arrived, Cregan ambushed the constables, shooting them and throwing an M75 hand grenade at them. Both officers were hit by at least eight bullets as Cregan fired 32 shots in 31 seconds.
He later handed himself in at a local police station, admitting to killing Hughes and Bone. He was swiftly charged with these murders, and soon afterwards charged with the murders of Mark and David Short.
During his trial, which began on 4 February 2013, Cregan was detained at Manchester Prison. The trial was held at Preston Crown Court, where scaffolding was erected to accommodate armed officers.
Police snipers watched over the building from nearby offices. The daily convoy, carrying Cregan between Manchester and Preston, included two prison vans, police cars, motorcycle outriders and a helicopter.
In total, 120 Greater Manchester Police officers were deployed daily. The total cost of the trial was in excess of £5 million.
Cregan was convicted of all four murders and of three attempted murders in the Mark Short incident. Cregan was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order on 13 June 2013.
Dale Cregan Police officer filled out own death report before killing himself
Andrew Summerscales is believed to have been one of the first officers on the scene of his murdered colleagues
A former police officer filled out his own death report before taking his own life after two of his colleagues were murdered by one-eyed gangster Dale Cregan, an inquest has heard.
Andrew Summerscales had “loved” being a police officer until fellow officers on his shift, his “very good friends,” Nicola Hughes and Fiona Bone, were both murdered by Cregan.
He is believed to have been one of the first officers on the murder scene.
Cregan, who was already wanted by police for the double murder of a father and son, lured the officers with a bogus call before killing them in a gun and grenade attack in Hattersley, Tameside, in September 2012.
I’ve been having a feckin nightmare with this laptop and am only now able to use it by the grace of the gods.
Dulse
A few days ago it crashed and since then I have been unable to use it and its driving me bloody mad. On reflection I think I may have been suffering from Social Media blackout and I was going through the bends…I wonder.
Anyways I’v ran SFC Scannow , DISM and every other bloody utility that comes with Windows and is suppose to “SAVE” /repair the computer when things go south!!
When I reboot I keep getting a message saying the PC couldn’t start properly and they are gathering information. It then tries to fix the issue and the ” Automatic Repair screen kicks in and then it keeps looping via this whole process.
its reports that a critical file is missing MSRPC.SY and I have tried everything to reinstate this bloody file.
Eventually I had to start the computer in “Safe” mode and after loading everything I couldn’t even run the windowsmediainstallation thingy on the USB stick , because it tells me that “Windows 10 can’t be run on this computer.
So again I reboot and am able to boot to the installation thingy on the USB stick and it gives me various options and I choose repair , then restore and it has two restore points (when I was in safe mode no restore points showed up) which I select one and the whole restore thingy kicks in and after a YEAR it completes and I am able get into Windows and use it, although many programs are not working properly. So I reboot and it takes me right back to the first blue screen and I have to go through the whole dragged out process again, included the restore process.
I have decided that I hate this laptop & if it wasn’t for the colossal amount of pictures,files,web backup file ect on it , I would throw out the window.
I also keep getting a message that a critical file is missing MSRPC.SYS or …
Sorry my brain is melting and I can’t write or think about this issue a movement longer. I’m going to walk away from the laptop and lay down for a bit.
Well says I and tried to explain it in simple terms that he would understand. It wasn’t enough and he still looks confused , so I pulled up Wikipedia , as you do and I patiently went through the details with him.
He’s still not sure and after a brief averous sigh he gets to the root of his curiosity and asked me:
“Do they get a lot of money? ”
Hmmm…. Says I. And return to what I was doing.
Two minutes later:
” Dad, Is it just dark when you die? ”
Time for your bath , says I!
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dictator
dɪkˈteɪtə/
noun
a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained control by force.
Dictator
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power and wields it in an oppressive or abusive manner. A state ruled by a dictator is called a dictatorship. The word originated as the title of a magistrate in the Roman Republic appointed by the Senate to rule the republic in times of emergency (see Roman dictator and justitium).
Like the term “tyrant” (which was originally a respectable Ancient Greek title), and to a lesser degree “autocrat“, “dictator” came to be used almost exclusively as a non-titular term for oppressive, even abusive rule, yet it had rare modern titular use.
Disclaimer – The views and opinions expressed in these documentaries are soley intended to educate and provide background information to those interested in the Troubles of Northern Ireland. They in no way reflect my own opinions and I take no responsibility for any inaccuracies or factual errors.
The Greysteel massacre
The Greysteel massacre[1][2] was a mass shooting that happened on the evening of 30 October 1993 in Greysteel, County Derry, Northern Ireland. Three members of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), a loyalist paramilitary group, opened fire in a crowded pub during a Halloween party, killing eight civilians and wounding thirteen. The pub was in an Irish Catholic and Irish nationalist area. The group claimed responsibility using their cover name “Ulster Freedom Fighters” and said that the attack was revenge for the Shankill Road bombing a week earlier.
belfastchildis.com 