Please send as far and wide as possible. Thanks, Robert Sterling Editor, The Konformist http://www.konformist.com http://www.konformist.com/1999/jbarib.htm Date: Tuesday, April 20, 1999 05:59:59 AM From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To the editor: Another look at Sweeney's web page, titled "My answer to the bizarre 'Flatland' claims about the Judi Bari bombing. Alien abductions, pseudo-science and an old political feud." (http://www.saber.net/~sweeney/) Sweeney begins with a predictably snide comment about the alleged credibility of Flatland. "Leading the campaign is an obscure one-man magazine, Flatland, which says it specializes in books on 'alien abductions, UFOs, fringe science and conspiracy theories.' I've never been abducted by aliens myself, but now I know what it must feel like," Sweeney writes. Sweeney quotes me here, but falsely. The only book about alien abduction in Flatland's list is _Abduction_ by Harvard Professor John Mack, founder of Cambridge Hospital's Psychiatric Unit. He's a man of subtantial real-life achievement who tackled an unusual, difficult subject, so it's a natural choice for a Flatland listing. Having dispensed with Mendocino "craziness," Sweeney has bigger fish to fry. He doesn't refute any of the evidence presented by Ed Gerhman. He spends the bulk of his complaint attacking the credibility of an expert witness in a trial that hasn't happened yet: Don Foster, the country's leading attributional scholar. So Sweeney dredges up old quarrels by Shakespearian scholars with a bone to pick with Foster. In that effort, Sweeney cites Stephanie Caruana ("Funeral Elegy Update" at http://www.everreader.com/elegyupd.htm) as an authoritative reference on Shakespeare. Caruana is a former editor of _Playgirl_ magazine, but she's best known as the author of "The Skeleton Key to the Gemstone File," a veritable touchstone of JFK conspiracy literature. Variants of the Gemstone Files were circulated hand-to-hand throughout the late seventies, eventually being published in Larry Flynt's _Hustler_ magazine. The "Gemstone File" is Caruana's synopsis of 1,000 pages of allegatations by a San Franciscan, Bruce Roberts, who claimed to have invented the synthetic rubies that gave birth to laser technology. (Thus, the monikker, "Gemstone.") Roberts, via Caruana, claimed that his invention was stolen by Hughes Aircraft. Then Aristotle Onassis kidnapped Howard Hughes, replaced him with a "double" and spirited Hughes to a Greek island. Later, Onassis ordered the hit on JFK. I'm simplifying here, but you get the idea: the Caruana/Roberts material is controversial. I don't dismiss Stephanie Caruana's article about Foster on the basis that she is a conspiracy researcher, but it is hypocritical of Sweeney to cite Caruana as an authority, while ridiculing Flatland for selling books like hers. Sweeney has cited Stephanie Caruana, one of the world's more famous conspiracy-theorists, as a major source on Shakespeare. I've never been abducted by Aristotle Onassis and taken to a Greek island, nor do I know "what it must feel like." No less than five books are in print on the Gemstone Files. The newest one will be Kenn Thomas' forthcoming book from Adventures Unlimited Press. Caruana and the late, grand dame of conspiracy research, Mae Brussell, co-authored an article called "Is Howard Hughes Dead and Buried Off a Greek Island?" in Playgirl (December, 1974), and also "Is 'Cinque' the First Black Lee Harvey Oswald?" (Berkeley Barb, 1974). Of course this has nothing to do with identifying Judi's bomber. Learning Sweeney's actual whereabouts on May 23, 1990, could help. -Jim Martin Flatland If you are interested in a free subscription to The Konformist Newswire, please visit http://www.eGroups.com/list/konformist/ and sign up. Or, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject: "I NEED 2 KONFORM!!!" (Okay, you can use something else, but it's a kool catch phrase.) Visit the Klub Konformist at Yahoo!: http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/klubkonformist ------------------------------------------------------------------------ @Backup - #1 Online Backup Service Free for 30 days INSTALL now and win a Palm Pilot V! http://clickhere.egroups.com/click/137 eGroup home: http://www.eGroups.com/list/konformist Free Web-based e-mail groups by eGroups.com
