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Robert Capa’s famous photograph, Falling Soldier.

After nearly three-quarters of a century Robert Capa’s “Falling Soldier” picture from the Spanish Civil War remains one of the most famous images of combat ever. It is also one of the most debated, with a long string of critics claiming that the photo, of a soldier seemingly at the moment of death, was faked. Now, a new book by a Spanish researcher asserts that the picture could not have been made where, when or how Capa’s admirers and heirs have claimed.

In “Shadows of Photography,” José Manuel Susperregui, a communications professor at the Universidad del País Vasco, concludes that Capa’s picture was taken not at Cerro Muriano, just north of Córdoba, but near another town, about 35 miles away. Since that location was far from the battle lines when Capa was there, Mr. Susperregui said, it means that “the ‘Falling Soldier’ photo is staged, as are all the others in the series taken on that front.”. . .

From NYT: New Doubts Raised Over Famous War Photo.

Photo from The Passion of Joan of Arc by Carl Theodor Dreyer

Joan of Arc is the ultimate icon. For French patriots she is the inspirational heroine who, against all the odds, raised the siege of Orléans, crowned the Dauphin and saved France from the English. For feminists she is the woman who triumphed in a man’s world, challenging gender stereotypes by adopting male clothing and becoming not merely a soldier, but a victorious leader of men. For the Catholic church, she is a virgin saint, a simple country girl called by God to become the saviour of her country and to pay the ultimate price at the hands of its enemies when she was burned at the stake in Rouen. Celebrated in books, paintings and films, she is probably the most famous woman to have lived in the Middle Ages.

Neither Sinner Nor Saint, a review of The Virgin Warrior: The Life and Death of Joan of Arc by Larissa Juliet Taylor, in the Literary Review.

Robert S. McNamara, Architect of a Futile War, Dies at 93.

He had spent decades thinking through the lessons of the war. The greatest of these was to know one’s enemy — and to “empathize with him,” as Mr. McNamara explained in Errol Morris’s 2003 documentary, “The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara.”

“What makes it immoral if you lose and not immoral if you win?” he asked. He found the question impossible to answer.

Photo: The assassination of Julius Caesar in HBO’s Rome.

‘The murder of Julius Caesar was a messy business. As with all assassinations, it was easier for the conspirators to plan the first blow than to predict what would happen next – never mind to have an exit strategy in reserve, should things go wrong. At a meeting of the Senate on the Ides of March in 44 BC, Tillius Cimber, a backbencher, gave the cue for the attack by kneeling at Caesar’s feet and grabbing his toga. Then Casca struck with his dagger; or tried to. Clumsily missing the target, he gave Caesar the chance to stand up and defend himself by driving his pen (the only instrument he had to hand) into Casca’s arm. This lasted just a few seconds, for at least twenty reinforcements were standing by, weapons at the ready, and quickly managed to dispatch their victim. But they had no time to take careful aim, and several of the assassins found themselves wounded by the ancient equivalent of friendly fire. According to the earliest surviving account, by the Syrian historian Nicolaus of Damascus, Cassius lunged at Caesar, but ended up gashing Brutus in the hand; Minucius missed too, and struck his ally Rubrius in the thigh instead. “There must have been a lot of blood”, as T. P. Wiseman crisply remarks in Remembering the Roman People.’

Mary Beard reviews T.P. Wiseman’s Remembering the Roman People in the TLS.

Ran into Imee Marcos. You can’t not talk to her, she is too interesting and funny. In any case I have stopped forming conclusions about people based on their political affiliations or those of their gene pools. Otherwise I would be severely limiting my conversational options and depriving myself of material.

So I no longer lump people into Elves and Orcs, Empire and Rebellion, Fremen and Harkonnen. I simply classify them into Boring (B) and Not Boring (N.B.). Within each category there are sub-classes; for B there’s Mildly Anaesthetic, Comatose, Flee With All Possible Haste, and Kill Yourself Now. Granted, some people who should be in the B group sometimes land in N.B. due to stunning good looks or an excellent cook, but life is not suddenly going to be fair just because you changed the categories.

Back to my story. Imee Marcos asked me whether I thought reviving the Metro Pop competition was a good idea. If you were not yet an embryo in the mid to late 70s, the Metro Pop was an annual songwriting contest. In the televised grand finals, the songs were interpreted by well-known professional singers. The winner of the very first Metropop was Ryan Cayabyab for “Kay Ganda Ng Ating Musika”. The competition produced songs now recognized as Pinoy pop classics. True, those were very different times: radio stations played mostly foreign artists, people bought music on vinyl, and the idea of downloading music from a worldwide network was science-fiction.

I said I thought bringing back Metropop was a good idea, but I would ask around. Now I’m asking you. Do you think the Metropop would be beneficial to the Filipino music and entertainment industry? Do we need it?

Current offices of the Knights Templar

From the Times of London: Knights Templar hid the Shroud of Turin, says Vatican

Medieval knights hid and secretly venerated The Holy Shroud of Turin for more than 100 years after the Crusades, the Vatican said yesterday in an announcement that appeared to solve the mystery of the relic’s missing years. . .