Curse You Meddling Kids!! (And Your Dog, Too)

Charles Van Onselen, historian, claims to have identified Jack the Ripper.

I love a good mystery as much as the next guy. I really do. But I can't help thinking it's a teensy bit retarded to go around saying "I know who Jack the Ripper was!" when there is absolutely no way to prove it. The name of the game is 'circumstantial evidence that's over a century old'.

Even theories, at this point, are little more than shots in the dark. A book was published a few years ago theorizing that an artist of some renown at the time was behind the slaughter; since (among other things) he claimed to have painted Jack the Ripper's picture-- referring to his self-portrait. (Kinda clever, that.)

In any case: short of a time machine or a signed confession w/ explicitly accurate details of the events (ew); we're never going to know for sure who was behind it all. Which is fine. People like an unsolvable mystery, provided it's interesting/confounding enough. It doesn't hurt that "Jack the Ripper" is the single greatest name for a mystery man, ever.

That's all I've got for now. Ciao, folks.