This site explains the claim that the French Physician and Astrologer, Nostradamus (1503-1566), predicted the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001. Apparently, people claim that Nostradamus wrote several quatrains predicting the attacks. However, one of the most revealing quatrains or poems which apparently predicts the attacks of 9/11 was penned in 1654, meaning it's impossible for Nostradamus to have written that prophecy. The actual poems / prophetic writings are listed on the web page where the author of the page attempts to completely debunk them. I cannot see how there are people out there who actually believe that a man from the 16th century could have possibly predicted an event nearly 500 years in the future, but whatever. This alleged prophecy just seems to me to be a coincidence which certain people have fabricated into something which relates to the events that took place on September 11.
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/nostradamus.asp
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Monday, November 5, 2007
Cryptozoology: The Mothman
The reports of "The Mothman" first started to surface in Virginia and West Virginia (primarily in Point Pleasant, VA) in the mid-1960's. A majority of the sightings originated from "the TNT area", an olf ammunitions plant in Point Pleasant. The Mothman is said to be gray or brown in color, does not wear clothes, has large red eyes, and has two incredibly large wings instead of arms. He is four or five feet tall and when he flies, he never flaps his wings, he just shoots straight up into the air and directs himself wherever he wants to go. The Mothman is capable of flying at high speeds which helps his "favorite activity" of chasing cars. It is said that those who witness the Mothman suffer sever psycological damage and develop extreme fears of this beast.
......"wow" is all i have to say
http://www.newanimal.org/mothman.htm
......"wow" is all i have to say
http://www.newanimal.org/mothman.htm
Supernatural Services (Last Weeks)
http://www.galactic-guide.com/articles/8R60.html
Project Galactic Guide provides a process of three distinct stages to begin communicating with the dead. This is basically a Do It Yourself tutorial to sommunicating with the dead. Apparently any single person is capable of completing these stages and, attaining the ability of crossing over and communicating with the deceased. The first step seems to be fairly obvious to the casual observer of this site: "you must first establish the the person you are attempting to communicate with is, in fact, dead." Second, you must go abouta way of contacting and communicating with them (whether it be through whispering close to the deceased person's ear, or through morse code, or through religion). The third stage is that of interpreting the deceased person's response,which "may come in any number of forms." After looking at these simple stages, I'm not too sure that this is a valid system of communicating with the other side, if that is even possible.
Project Galactic Guide provides a process of three distinct stages to begin communicating with the dead. This is basically a Do It Yourself tutorial to sommunicating with the dead. Apparently any single person is capable of completing these stages and, attaining the ability of crossing over and communicating with the deceased. The first step seems to be fairly obvious to the casual observer of this site: "you must first establish the the person you are attempting to communicate with is, in fact, dead." Second, you must go abouta way of contacting and communicating with them (whether it be through whispering close to the deceased person's ear, or through morse code, or through religion). The third stage is that of interpreting the deceased person's response,which "may come in any number of forms." After looking at these simple stages, I'm not too sure that this is a valid system of communicating with the other side, if that is even possible.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Hoax
This website that I found discusses a hoax involving "Kidney Harvesting." It warns of a newer crime trend in which the suspects usually target business travelers. This apparently occurs in most major cities nowadays. The targeted business man or women usually goes to a bar right after work or in the evening for a drink, when a complete stranger sits down next to them and offers to buy them a drink. That drink is usually the last thing these victims remember before waking up in a hotel room bathtub, submerged in ice. There is often a note next to them when they regain consciousness, instructing them to dial 911 on a cell phone that is left on a small table next to the tub. The victim obviously calls 911, when the operator (apparently many operators are familiar with this crime trend) instructs the person to feel their back to see if there are tubes protruding. The victims then affirms that there are two tubes, which means that both of there kidneys have been harvested by a sort of "organ theif." This is most likeley a hoax, as it is defined on the website. However, I witnessed a rise in popularity of this hoax in mainstream television. In the FX show, "Nip/Tuck", almost every episode in the most recent season involves a crime ring of kidney harvesters. So who knows? It would be sick to know that this is a true claim, let's hope it is an actual hoax.
http://www.bighoaxes.com/hoaxe_4_20.html
http://www.bighoaxes.com/hoaxe_4_20.html
Monday, October 8, 2007
Mass Hysteria
This article discussed a case of mass hysteria that occurred in Southern Lebanon. In January of 2007, an Israeli newspaper used dozens of green balloons as a form of advertisement. Unusually strong winds carried these balloons across the border into South Lebanon. Many of the Lebanese in the villages which saw the balloons feared that it was a form of biological warfare unleashed by an Israely warplane. This resulted in a small case of mass hysteria. Eight people were hospitalized for allegedly inhaling toxic gases which originated from the Israeli ballons. The victims were apparently suffering from systems like fatigue and nausea. The Lebanese government agency conducting the investigation reported that the Israeli forces had dropped ten large balloons containing toxic gas over the south Lebanon villages, and advised citizens to stay away from the balloons. The arguement that the article presents against the toxic balloon theory is as follows: why would Israeli forces, with greater land and air power drop just 10 balloons over South Lebanon in an act of biological warfare. It's rediculous that people can convince themselves of things like this when they are basing their diagnosis on a false report such as that.
http://adiamondinsunlight.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/mass-hysteria-israeli-balloons/
http://adiamondinsunlight.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/mass-hysteria-israeli-balloons/
Monday, October 1, 2007
9/11 Conspiracy Theory
This article, by Kevin Barrett, discusses one of the many conspiracy theories involving the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Barrett discusses and elaborates on a lecture given by a "prominent intellectual", Dr. David Ray Griffin. Both Barrett and Griffin discuss how it is a proven fact that the World Trade Center buildings were demolished by explosives planted by the United States government, as opposed to the Boeing 747's, which countless cameras recorded flying into the structures. Throughout the article Barrett makes absolutely rediculous claims along with quoting equally as rediculous claims made by Griffin. Both men have the same opinions that all possible evidence from the scene of the World Trade Centers leads to the fact that explosives took the buildings down. They attempt to back up these ignorant ideas with claims like those that follow. They claim that the core columns of the buildings were severed in identical thirty foot sections, which is suspicious because the trucks that were usued to haul them away from the scene were thrity feet long also. They also say that all of the fine dust that resulted from the concrete being pulverized, could only be explained by the power of explosives. They go on to make several other assumptions that they claim are "proven facts" throughout the article. Since September 11, I have heard many of these conspiracy theories involving the attacks, and every time I become completely astonished at the ignorance of people who believe in such things. It blows my mind to witness these individuals claim things, like this World Trade Center explosive theory, when what really happened is completely clear, and capable of being supported with countless bits of evidence. It is my personal opinion that such individuals as these should get a life, and stop blaming the largest attack ever on US soil on our own government.
http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=89&contentid=2890&page=2
http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=89&contentid=2890&page=2
Monday, September 24, 2007
Paper
My hometown, Cincinnati, is thought of as a rather conservative city in regards to the views of its people. Growing up in such an environment has led me to develop and adopt mostly conservative ideas and outlooks on the world we live in. There are several aspects involved in this broad environment, like my parents and my social setting growing up, that are responsible for my conservative outlook. Although it is not necessarily a political issue, I believe that these attitudes that have influenced me throughout my life have led me to my stance on underage consumption of alcohol.
Throughout the past four years or so, I have been growing up in an environment where my parents have declared it acceptable for me to drink. Their attitude towards this stems from several ideas that they hold on the subject of underage drinking. Some of these reasons include: the fact that most teenagers will do it regardless of what their parents tell them and that they would rather know that it is going on and attempt to control it than have no clue at all that it is happening. Some other reasons for which I think my parents have adopted this philosophy is because they did it when they were my age and thus, they know what types of behaviors are inevitable in most teenagers. My father’s personal philosophy has always been, “better let him start early so that he knows what he’s doing and is not stupid about drinking when he gets to college.” This theory is one that has been surfacing in my mind a lot lately, especially in the first few weeks here at SLU. Seeing the occasional freshman who has never had a drink in their life go out to a party and make a fool out of themselves really makes me appreciate my parent’s decision in allowing and controlling me in regards to my consumption of alcohol.
Due to the attitude that my parent’s have taken towards me drinking and underage drinking in general, I have naturally developed the same philosophy. In my personal experience, it has been inevitable for me and my peers at my high school to be involved in situations which contained alcohol consumption. Looking back, I have realized that there were often two types of teen drinkers in high school. One type was the more controlled and more intelligent person who would never make a dumb decision while under the influence. The other would obviously be the person who would go out and drink, then make completely unintelligent decisions, like driving home, and would end up getting in a whole lot of trouble for it. In most cases, I have come to realize that the teens who make controlled and intelligent decisions while drinking, were the ones who’s parents were knowledgeable of their son’s or daughter’s alcohol consumption. While in many other cases the kids who tended to make more unintelligent decisions with alcohol were those whose parents had no idea, and kept them in a strict home environment in regard to alcohol. I know that this is not the case everywhere in the world where underage drinking is an issue. However, in my own experience, I have noticed such a trend as this in almost all situations which involved underage consumption.
Along with having this attitude and philosophy on underage drinking, my parents allowed my friends and I to drink in our own house. Of course this came with the “confiscating of the car keys” policy for every night that it happened. However, I do not think that a single person in my close group of friends would ever take the stupid risk of driving under the influence. I say my “close group of friends” because that’s exactly who it was when my parents allowed such a thing to happen. They never allowed me to throw anything along the lines of an open party because they knew for a fact that there was always a possibility of just one kid who could make an unwise decision and get into trouble. However, when it was just the fifteen of my close friends who wanted a place to hang out for the night my parents had no problem allowing us to drink at my house. They knew all of us well and trusted us and our decisions with alcohol knowing that we were not the sort of kids that would attempt anything illogical or unintelligent that would cause trouble. In allowing this type of thing to take place, my parents philosophy on teen drinking has rubbed off even more on me.
Another aspect that influenced me to believe in this “warming-up philosophy,” was the other parents who allowed the same stuff to happen for the same reasons. Obviously my house was not the only place that I would drink while I was in high school. Many of my close friends also had parents who adopted the same sort of attitude towards their children drinking. In my experiences with these other parents and the same situations, I realized that my parents were not the only ones with a loose policy on the subject. By witnessing and experiencing the same exact philosophy that my parents had developed, it influenced my development of the same ideas.
To reinforce my opinion on this topic, I can honestly talk about my brief history while being in an environment where alcohol is present. I have never been in any sort of trouble while consuming alcohol, nor have I ever caused any harm to myself or others while under the influence. I have never made the extremely unintelligent decision to drive a car after drinking or, for that matter, have never ridden in a car with a driver who had been drinking. Personally, I believe that the intelligent decision making I display while drinking, is a direct result of how my parents treated such a situation. With them knowing, allowing, and controlling me in regards to alcohol, I never felt pressured to keep anything of the sort a secret from them. I think that keeping such things a secret and being sneaky while drinking is what leads to young people getting into trouble with alcohol. For example, a kid who goes to a party and has a few beers, then decides to drive home that night because his parents want him home. He agrees to make the drive because of the incapability to tell his parents that he had been drinking, and ends up getting pulled over and ends up being cited for driving under the influence. I have heard of similar situations and come to the conclusion that it is much more beneficial to be honest with your parents about teenage drinking.
I know that it is not exactly fair for me to be developing these opinions about such a topic, because it may seem that I am biased for being a sort of beneficiary. However, I really do believe in what my parents and many other parents were trying to do with such a philosophy towards underage drinking. In my experience, the confrontation with alcohol was inevitable in the high school careers of almost ever single person young person I know. In such a confrontation, there are two obvious options: one is to decline and stay away from alcohol while the other is to accept. Wherever you go in the United States, teenagers most often choose to accept when confronted with and offered alcohol. Thus, it’s fairly inevitable that many teenagers will end up drinking throughout the course of their high school career. In most cases, because of my personal experience, I believe that it is highly more beneficial and better for a teenager’s parents to be aware of such a thing as the consumption of alcohol. When the parents are knowledgeable of this, it seems that the kids are significantly more controlled when it comes to decision making with alcohol.
--------------------------------------------
My hometown, Cincinnati, is a rather conservative city. Growing up in such an environment has led me to adopt mostly conservative ideas and outlooks on the world. There are several aspects involved in this broad environment, like my parents and my social setting growing up, that are responsible for my conservative outlook. Although it is not necessarily a political issue, I believe that these attitudes that have influenced me throughout my life have led me to my stance on underage consumption of alcohol.
For the past four years, I have been growing up in an environment where my parents have declared it acceptable for me to drink. Their attitude towards this stems from several ideas. Some of these reasons include the fact that most teenagers will do it regardless of what their parents tell them and that they would rather know about it than be in the dark. Some other reasons for which I think my parents have adopted this philosophy are because they did it when they were my age and thus, they know about inevitable teenage situations. My father’s personal philosophy has always been, “better let him start early so that he knows what he’s doing and is not stupid about drinking when he gets to college.” This theory is one that has been my mind a lot lately during the first few weeks here at SLU. Seeing the occasional freshman who has never had a drink in their life go out to a party and make a fool out of himself really makes me appreciate my parent’s philosophy on letting me drink.
I feel like I have adopted my parents' philosophy about underage drinking. In high school, my peers and I could not avoid being involved in situations which contained alcohol consumption. Looking back, I realized that I knew two types of teen drinkers in high school. One type was the controlled and intelligent drinker, while the other was the person who would go out and drink, then make unintelligent decisions. In most cases, I have come to realize that the teens who make controlled and intelligent decisions while drinking, were the ones whose parents knew about their alcohol consumption. While in many other cases the kids who tended to make more unintelligent decisions with alcohol were those whose parents had no idea, and kept them in a strict home environment in regard to alcohol. This is not the case everywhere in the world, but it seems to be in my experience.
Along with having this attitude and philosophy on underage drinking, my parents allowed my friends and I to drink in our own house. Of course this came with the “confiscating of the car keys” policy for every night that it happened. Whenever I had people over it was always just my close group of about fifteen friends. They never allowed me to throw any sort of open party because they knew that there was always a possibility of one kid who could make a stupid decision and get in trouble. However, when it was just fifteen of my close friends who wanted a place to hang out for the night my parents had no problem allowing us to drink at my house. They knew all of us well and trusted us. Because I saw this attitude produce good results, my parents philosophy on teen drinking has rubbed off on me.
I have never been in any sort of trouble while consuming alcohol, nor have I ever caused any harm to myself or others while under the influence. I have never made the unintelligent decision to drive after drinking or, have never ridden in a car with a driver who had been drinking. I believe that the intelligent decision making I display while drinking, is a direct result of how my parents treated such a situation. With them knowing, allowing, and controlling me in regards to alcohol, I never felt pressured to keep anything of the sort a secret from them. I think that keeping such things a secret and being sneaky while drinking is what leads to young people getting into trouble with alcohol. I have heard of, and witnessed, situations involving teens getting into trouble while drinking. Through these experiences I have come to the conclusion that it is much more beneficial to be honest with your parents about teenage drinking.
I know that it is not exactly fair for me to be developing these opinions about such a topic, because it may seem that I am biased for being a sort of beneficiary. However, I really do believe in what my parents and many other parents were trying to do with such a philosophy towards underage drinking. Encounters with alcohol were inevitable. In such a confrontation, there are two obvious options: one is to decline, while the other is obviously to accept. It is inevitable that many teenagers will end up drinking in their high school career. In most cases, because of my personal experience, I believe that it is more beneficial and better for a teenager’s parents to be aware of such a thing as the consumption of alcohol. When the parents know this, it seems that the kids are more controlled when it comes to their decisions with alcohol.
Throughout the past four years or so, I have been growing up in an environment where my parents have declared it acceptable for me to drink. Their attitude towards this stems from several ideas that they hold on the subject of underage drinking. Some of these reasons include: the fact that most teenagers will do it regardless of what their parents tell them and that they would rather know that it is going on and attempt to control it than have no clue at all that it is happening. Some other reasons for which I think my parents have adopted this philosophy is because they did it when they were my age and thus, they know what types of behaviors are inevitable in most teenagers. My father’s personal philosophy has always been, “better let him start early so that he knows what he’s doing and is not stupid about drinking when he gets to college.” This theory is one that has been surfacing in my mind a lot lately, especially in the first few weeks here at SLU. Seeing the occasional freshman who has never had a drink in their life go out to a party and make a fool out of themselves really makes me appreciate my parent’s decision in allowing and controlling me in regards to my consumption of alcohol.
Due to the attitude that my parent’s have taken towards me drinking and underage drinking in general, I have naturally developed the same philosophy. In my personal experience, it has been inevitable for me and my peers at my high school to be involved in situations which contained alcohol consumption. Looking back, I have realized that there were often two types of teen drinkers in high school. One type was the more controlled and more intelligent person who would never make a dumb decision while under the influence. The other would obviously be the person who would go out and drink, then make completely unintelligent decisions, like driving home, and would end up getting in a whole lot of trouble for it. In most cases, I have come to realize that the teens who make controlled and intelligent decisions while drinking, were the ones who’s parents were knowledgeable of their son’s or daughter’s alcohol consumption. While in many other cases the kids who tended to make more unintelligent decisions with alcohol were those whose parents had no idea, and kept them in a strict home environment in regard to alcohol. I know that this is not the case everywhere in the world where underage drinking is an issue. However, in my own experience, I have noticed such a trend as this in almost all situations which involved underage consumption.
Along with having this attitude and philosophy on underage drinking, my parents allowed my friends and I to drink in our own house. Of course this came with the “confiscating of the car keys” policy for every night that it happened. However, I do not think that a single person in my close group of friends would ever take the stupid risk of driving under the influence. I say my “close group of friends” because that’s exactly who it was when my parents allowed such a thing to happen. They never allowed me to throw anything along the lines of an open party because they knew for a fact that there was always a possibility of just one kid who could make an unwise decision and get into trouble. However, when it was just the fifteen of my close friends who wanted a place to hang out for the night my parents had no problem allowing us to drink at my house. They knew all of us well and trusted us and our decisions with alcohol knowing that we were not the sort of kids that would attempt anything illogical or unintelligent that would cause trouble. In allowing this type of thing to take place, my parents philosophy on teen drinking has rubbed off even more on me.
Another aspect that influenced me to believe in this “warming-up philosophy,” was the other parents who allowed the same stuff to happen for the same reasons. Obviously my house was not the only place that I would drink while I was in high school. Many of my close friends also had parents who adopted the same sort of attitude towards their children drinking. In my experiences with these other parents and the same situations, I realized that my parents were not the only ones with a loose policy on the subject. By witnessing and experiencing the same exact philosophy that my parents had developed, it influenced my development of the same ideas.
To reinforce my opinion on this topic, I can honestly talk about my brief history while being in an environment where alcohol is present. I have never been in any sort of trouble while consuming alcohol, nor have I ever caused any harm to myself or others while under the influence. I have never made the extremely unintelligent decision to drive a car after drinking or, for that matter, have never ridden in a car with a driver who had been drinking. Personally, I believe that the intelligent decision making I display while drinking, is a direct result of how my parents treated such a situation. With them knowing, allowing, and controlling me in regards to alcohol, I never felt pressured to keep anything of the sort a secret from them. I think that keeping such things a secret and being sneaky while drinking is what leads to young people getting into trouble with alcohol. For example, a kid who goes to a party and has a few beers, then decides to drive home that night because his parents want him home. He agrees to make the drive because of the incapability to tell his parents that he had been drinking, and ends up getting pulled over and ends up being cited for driving under the influence. I have heard of similar situations and come to the conclusion that it is much more beneficial to be honest with your parents about teenage drinking.
I know that it is not exactly fair for me to be developing these opinions about such a topic, because it may seem that I am biased for being a sort of beneficiary. However, I really do believe in what my parents and many other parents were trying to do with such a philosophy towards underage drinking. In my experience, the confrontation with alcohol was inevitable in the high school careers of almost ever single person young person I know. In such a confrontation, there are two obvious options: one is to decline and stay away from alcohol while the other is to accept. Wherever you go in the United States, teenagers most often choose to accept when confronted with and offered alcohol. Thus, it’s fairly inevitable that many teenagers will end up drinking throughout the course of their high school career. In most cases, because of my personal experience, I believe that it is highly more beneficial and better for a teenager’s parents to be aware of such a thing as the consumption of alcohol. When the parents are knowledgeable of this, it seems that the kids are significantly more controlled when it comes to decision making with alcohol.
--------------------------------------------
My hometown, Cincinnati, is a rather conservative city. Growing up in such an environment has led me to adopt mostly conservative ideas and outlooks on the world. There are several aspects involved in this broad environment, like my parents and my social setting growing up, that are responsible for my conservative outlook. Although it is not necessarily a political issue, I believe that these attitudes that have influenced me throughout my life have led me to my stance on underage consumption of alcohol.
For the past four years, I have been growing up in an environment where my parents have declared it acceptable for me to drink. Their attitude towards this stems from several ideas. Some of these reasons include the fact that most teenagers will do it regardless of what their parents tell them and that they would rather know about it than be in the dark. Some other reasons for which I think my parents have adopted this philosophy are because they did it when they were my age and thus, they know about inevitable teenage situations. My father’s personal philosophy has always been, “better let him start early so that he knows what he’s doing and is not stupid about drinking when he gets to college.” This theory is one that has been my mind a lot lately during the first few weeks here at SLU. Seeing the occasional freshman who has never had a drink in their life go out to a party and make a fool out of himself really makes me appreciate my parent’s philosophy on letting me drink.
I feel like I have adopted my parents' philosophy about underage drinking. In high school, my peers and I could not avoid being involved in situations which contained alcohol consumption. Looking back, I realized that I knew two types of teen drinkers in high school. One type was the controlled and intelligent drinker, while the other was the person who would go out and drink, then make unintelligent decisions. In most cases, I have come to realize that the teens who make controlled and intelligent decisions while drinking, were the ones whose parents knew about their alcohol consumption. While in many other cases the kids who tended to make more unintelligent decisions with alcohol were those whose parents had no idea, and kept them in a strict home environment in regard to alcohol. This is not the case everywhere in the world, but it seems to be in my experience.
Along with having this attitude and philosophy on underage drinking, my parents allowed my friends and I to drink in our own house. Of course this came with the “confiscating of the car keys” policy for every night that it happened. Whenever I had people over it was always just my close group of about fifteen friends. They never allowed me to throw any sort of open party because they knew that there was always a possibility of one kid who could make a stupid decision and get in trouble. However, when it was just fifteen of my close friends who wanted a place to hang out for the night my parents had no problem allowing us to drink at my house. They knew all of us well and trusted us. Because I saw this attitude produce good results, my parents philosophy on teen drinking has rubbed off on me.
I have never been in any sort of trouble while consuming alcohol, nor have I ever caused any harm to myself or others while under the influence. I have never made the unintelligent decision to drive after drinking or, have never ridden in a car with a driver who had been drinking. I believe that the intelligent decision making I display while drinking, is a direct result of how my parents treated such a situation. With them knowing, allowing, and controlling me in regards to alcohol, I never felt pressured to keep anything of the sort a secret from them. I think that keeping such things a secret and being sneaky while drinking is what leads to young people getting into trouble with alcohol. I have heard of, and witnessed, situations involving teens getting into trouble while drinking. Through these experiences I have come to the conclusion that it is much more beneficial to be honest with your parents about teenage drinking.
I know that it is not exactly fair for me to be developing these opinions about such a topic, because it may seem that I am biased for being a sort of beneficiary. However, I really do believe in what my parents and many other parents were trying to do with such a philosophy towards underage drinking. Encounters with alcohol were inevitable. In such a confrontation, there are two obvious options: one is to decline, while the other is obviously to accept. It is inevitable that many teenagers will end up drinking in their high school career. In most cases, because of my personal experience, I believe that it is more beneficial and better for a teenager’s parents to be aware of such a thing as the consumption of alcohol. When the parents know this, it seems that the kids are more controlled when it comes to their decisions with alcohol.
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