Could Mermaids Encourage us to Pay More Attention

I'm used to reading that the US Government has denied that any it has any evidence of life outside of our universe. I am also used to reading that the US CDC says there is no zombie apocalypse.

However, when I read that the US Government said that, "No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found," I wondered exactly what had happened that I had so obviously missed.


I mean, no UFOs, zombies, chupacabra, vampires or werewolves and now no mermaids? Then, to make matters worse National Ocean Service spokeswoman Carol Kavanaugh told The BBC, "We don't have a mermaid science program."

Gutted!

But seriously though, where did all this come about?

Well last week Animal Planet had their 'Monster Week'. As part of the week of shows they had a 2 hour mock-umentary, complete with CGI and fake scientists, called 'Mermaids: The Body Found'.

Now, don't get me wrong, it wasn't 100% fake, there were some real facts in there too, like the mass beachings of whales in 1990s and the unexplained 'bloop' sound that marine biologists found in 1997.

So it was more using fiction to explain fact.


Anyway, I watched it yesterday and I have to say that it was brilliant. It was wonderfully done. The pieces of fact merged well with the storyline that when apes came out of the trees, some stayed on land and some went into the sea.

As I said, its loosely based on fact, but does point out some interesting points.

Like for example, Polar bears evolved from brown bears and are now marine mammals. Babies can hold their breath under water easily. Humans and Dolphins will naturally help each other hunting and that some new species of sea mammals have only recently been discovered. Probably the most interesting piece of evidence is the amount of stories about mermaids in different cultures and civilisations spread about the world.

Hmmm......

I'm not sure who said 'never let the truth stand in the way of a good rumour', but this is fiction based on fact, a bit like Oliver Stone's 'JFK' not actual real fact.


That leaves us with a great conspiracy theory, a Roswell for mermaids.

I recommend that you watch it if you get a chance, it's awesome and does give you many more questions than answers, just like a great mystery should do. I just hope that it encourages more people to have an interest I the ocean and conservation.



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All The Presidents Men: The Kennedy Detail

At the weekend I watched a TV programme called ‘The Kennedy Detail’ it was on the Discovery Channel and based on the book written by one of the special agents that had been assigned to the Kennedy family, Jerry Blaine.


Usually at this point when I’m writing I would give a bit of background information about my subject matter. Though even after a short bit of research I couldn’t find anyone at work that had not heard of the Kennedy’s, America’s answer to the royal family.


The Kennedy Detail was a fascinating insight into the lives of the men who put themselves in the line of fire. Some of these guys were ex-servicemen who had fought in the Korean War, others came from an intelligence background and one was even an expert marksman so they were used to tactical fighting, combat situations and all familiar with how detached they would have to be in order to be professional.


I could write for decades on the subject of JFK, his wife Jackie, the Kennedy clan and all sorts of controversies and conspiracies that goes along with the subject but that is not what this blog is about. It is about the President’s men and how close they became to the Kennedy family.


In 1963 when John F Kennedy was assassinated there were only 34 agents responsible for his protection and as a result the documentary was based around the stories of eight of them. Some were assigned to the President, some to Jackie and some to the kids, but the purpose of the job was the same.


It became evident throughout the documentary that these guys had become emotionally invested in the Kennedy clan. These hardened and trained professionals were so upset when re-living the stories of death of Patrick Kennedy in the August of 1963 at 2 days old that by the time it came round to sharing the events of Kennedy’s assassination in November of the same year you could tell how much they thought they had failed the family.





It is widely accepted that the world changed when Walter Kronkite announced From Dallas, Texas, the flash apparently official: President Kennedy died at one p.m. Central Standard Time, two o’clock Eastern Standard Time, some thirty-eight minutes ago.


America went from having and living the dream to living the nightmare, like a loss of innocence.


There isn’t a person I spoke to who was alive at the time of Kennedy’s death that can’t tell you where they were or what they were doing at the time when they heard.


This documentary was about the men who still to this day consider themselves to blame for America’s fall from grace.


That’s a bit harsh in my opinion but to be honest if I give you my reasoning for that then you’ll never attempt to read the book of watch the documentary and I really think you should.