Are You There Congress? It's Me, Margaret

Damn. People are still pretty bent about that Hawking's statements from the first episode of his new series Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking. I thought it might settle down once everyone actually watched the episode, instead of taking the statement out of a 45 minute context, but what the fuck do I know? I wonder what pissed people off the most -- was it painting extra terrestrial biological entities in human shades? Was it upsetting the folks who have spent an awful lot of time concocting their elaborate little universe, which has been fictionalized and knocked-up for so long that it has blurred the dividing line between perceptions of reality and make-believe? Maybe they just hate motorized wheel chairs.

Who really knows why everyone spit up their Gerber at the idea that an alien civilization could have it in for humanity and our little blue world. Sure, you can run your formulas, pour over philosophical ramblings, and imagine every scenario your limited mind allows, but when you're finished, you're still gonna know jack-shit -- until you come face to face with every alien civilization out there. So, kick back, take a pill, and STFU for a bit. There's certain to be more coming out of the science and paranormal communities to enrage and disgust you, soon enough!

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The Lost Island of Paratopia

Paratopia, the show many of us have come to love and cherish, is at an end. It's not a permanent end, but it is an end of sorts. Jeff and Jeremy have officially changed the format of the program and it will no longer feature the dynamic duo as a team. They have mentioned that in the future, they may do specials in which they both will appear, but overall, the island we set up camp at each Friday will all but disappear beneath the waves.

In it's place, a new resort -- one that is listener-driven. That's right: long time fans and listeners will now take the hosting seat, providing a voice for many who might otherwise not have one, allowing them to interview new and returning guests alike.

So stay tuned for the new wave, but for now let us pause and give thanks to Jeff and Jeremy for an often invaluable program with intelligent discourse, countless laughs, and much appreciated company once a week.

You can check out the last official episode via iTunes or here:

Paratopia - Episode 70

The message boards will remain intact, so please join us over yonder for continued discussion, fun and frivolity!

Reflections on the 2010 McMinnville UFO Fest

Well, that was unexpected! I had a great time at the annual McMinnville UFO festival, in McMinnville, Oregon! Oh, it wasn't so much the festival itself that was grand -- I mean, it was filled with your usual nutbaggery and abundant silliness complete with grey-type alien faces galore *shudder*. No, the best parts were the times Maggie and I spent with Erik Stitt, Regan Lee and her husband, James Rich.

Regan is an amazingly cool woman! I was very happy to finally meet her in person. We all had some great conversation the first night, nestled into a quiet corner in the always-overpriced McMenamin's. For those of you who aren't familiar with McMenamin's, it's a company that buys up old landmark buildings and converts them to restaurants, pubs, hotels and so on. This particular McMenamin's was a bar/hotel, but featured the same inflated prices and overrated consumables you've come to know and love from the chain. Despite this, I very much enjoyed myself.

Sadly, Maggie wasn't feeling well, so I drove her back to our hotel a couple of miles down the road and put her to bed, before I headed back to the pub to continue on with our conversations. Regan and her husband eventually called it a night and ascended up to their room, while Erik and I closed the bar -- and then some.

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Not Everything Goes Well With Cheez Whiz

I was going to write something about the Larry King Live alien debate that aired on Friday. This show came about due to the overwhelming response Stephen Hawking's 'alien statement' received. That statement was lifted from the first episode of his new series called Into the Universe on the Discovery channel, and appeared in the last 3 minutes of that program.

Having finally had a chance to watch the actual episode with the 42 other minutes no one bothered to mention, I am even more baffled by the amount of anger it has been met with.

Anyway, I realized that I really had nothing important to add regarding King's latest round-table, and so I've decided not to bang on that drum.

Nah, I'm just screwing with ya.

Seriously, what the fuck was that?

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I almost hate to say it...

... but my opinions on the Larry King Show from last night, forthcoming.

Jesus what a piece of work.

On a Long Enough Timeline...

This initially began as a response to comments on a post here, at IHW, as well as an article posted by Erik Stitt of Contact, and is in regards to Stephen Hawking's recent opinions on the nature of extra terrestrial life. But once I'd posted it thought it might make for a good piece on it's own, after elaborating on some points and cleaning it up a bit.

With Stephen Hawking's latest statement on extra terrestrial life, their arose the question of anthropomorphic tendencies among some physicists. Of course, this isn't anything particularly new. It's human nature to project human qualities on other forms of life and sometimes even on inanimate objects. These peculiar inclinations of ours provide a lot of interesting questions and has produced some awful literal representations. But when it comes to inserting our qualities into the mind of an intelligent alien life form, when does it become overly presumptuous, if not completely presumptuous from the start?

I have mentioned in past articles that labeling the possible actions of an extra terrestrial civilization with terms like 'good' or 'bad', is a bit ridiculous because it assumes that all intelligent beings would act more or less like us, portraying the same kinds of emotions and have the same ideas of what is considered 'right' and 'wrong'. So, when science speaks up and theorizes that contact with EBEs may be to our detriment because they could live a malevolent existence and seek to conquer us, it gives the general public the impression that life really is like Star Wars and that it might not be such a slick idea to set up base on Hoth.

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Stephen Hawking on Extra Terrestrials

My friend Allen just sent me this so I thought I'd post it here:

Hawking: Aliens may pose risks to Earth

Excerpt:

Hawking claims in a new documentary that intelligent alien lifeforms almost certainly exist, but warns that communicating with them could be "too risky."

The 68-year-old scientist says a visit by extraterrestrials to Earth would be like Christopher Columbus arriving in the Americas, "which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans."

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Abduction Round-Table on The Paracast

For those interested in the recent Abduction Hypnotherapy debate, The Paracast is hosting an 'Abduction Round-table' this Sunday, April 4th.

Fom The Paracast website:

Coming April 4: Gene and co-host Christopher O’Brien present an “Ultimate Abduction Round-Table,” featuring Budd Hopkins, Dr. David M. Jacobs and Kevin D. Randle. This is an episode you won’t want to miss!

Jacobs refused to come on the show if Paul Kimball was involved, which to me says that he won't field any confrontational lines of questioning. Kimball has agreed to step back for the sake of the show. I have a feeling it will be a telling interview, regardless -- if you listen between the lines. Of course, as Jeff Ritzmann pointed out, Randle will be there, so some more direct questioning may still ensue.

The Underside of Abduction Hypnotherapy II

I began writing this article in early March but had trouble with the ending. Prompted by Regan Lee, and because of the interview with Emma Woods that aired on Paratopia yesterday, I decided to buckle down and finish it up.

If you haven't caught my post from a couple of weeks ago, The Underside of Abduction Hypnotherapy, it was a brief update regarding an episode of Partaopia in which they aired a recording of a phone dialog between Emma Woods and David Jacobs. As you might imagine, it has stirred the emotions and opinions of many people on either side of the hypnotherapy argument, causing the Paratopia forum, as well as a few others, to erupt with some pretty strong opinions - the main arguments being whether or not abduction scenarios are created during hypnosis sessions by the hypnotist (in this case, David Jacobs), either intentionally or unintentionally, and whether Jacobs acted poorly in his dealings with Ms. Woods.

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Coast to Toast

I've never been much of a fan of Coast to Coast. I know that is considered blasphemy to some, but there it is. I found the show to be sometimes intriguing when I'd catch the odd episode, like the Titor one or the one where the guy calls from a payphone, claiming to have escaped from A51 saying that ETs are actually Inter-Dimensional beings. And lets not forget the guy who flew over A51 while Art repeatedly suggested he should maybe turn the fuck around.

But then came Snoory.

As interesting as any C2C episode might have been, it was mostly entertainment (to me, at least) and not so much a media in which I felt I'd receive quality info from. But I suppose that it was a staple for many before the onslaught of Podcasts, especially more of the high-brow shows like Paratopia, Paracast and Radio Misterioso (the latter of which is in dire need of an update).

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The Underside of Abduction Hypnotherapy I

More on this later, but for now:

You have to check out this episode of Paratopia. It is sort of a second part to Episode 55 where they begin to expose hypnotherapy when used in possible abduction cases.

The current episode, Episode 57, deals with the recorded phone conversation between David Jacobs and Emma Woods (both were aware the recordings were being made).

Here is the brief summary Jeremy wrote on the Paratopia Podcast page:

Alien hybrids making threats over instant messenger. Hypnosis sessions conducted over the telephone. Boisterous, arrogant men talking down to a victimized female. This story has it all and then some.

Jeff and Jeremy dissect Emma Woods’ phone conversations with Dr. David Jacobs regarding the termination of their relationship. This episode asks the important question: Who presents the bigger threat to us, aliens or the researchers looking into them? Then we examine the wrongheaded and cruel response to Emma by UFO Watchdog. For her, the hits just keep on coming.

Take a drink every time we repeat this is just our opinion or beg Jacobs to come on our show in this, our most controversial episode to date.

This is, as the hosts point out, void of David Jacobs side of the story, and because of that, they cannot confirm 100% accuracy. You'll have to judge for yourself. They have invited him to be on the show to give his version, but so far he hasn't bitten.

Warning, the recordings are pretty emotional and this could upset some people, so be mindful if you're easily triggered.

Another One Down the Rabbit Hole

I saw this film last night that was fucking awesome, called MaLice in Wonderland. It was a very unique take on the old story of Through the Looking Glass. All of your favorite characters were there, sometimes played as parts of a few different characters. It had a very Guy Ritchie feel, but still had it's own flavor, and was quite a visual and audible trip.

Anyway, in the intro credits, I noticed Danny Dyer was listed, and I was like "Hey -- I've been seeing a bunch of stuff about him and UFOs lately". So after the film I looked him up and checked out the UFO Special he did called I Believe in UFOs. I was worried, but overall, I liked it. It amused me.

Why was I worried? Because I kind of love that guy -- I never really knew his name before MaLice, so when I realized it was him, I was kind of excited to see him looking into a topic I'm deeply interested in. I had to keep in mind that unlike a lot of us, he doesn't sit at home all night reading every imaginable article on UFOs and/or Abduction. I cut him a healthy dose of slack, and was very happy to see that when he left Stan's house, he second guessed his initial feeling of the footage being legit (yes, Danny got to spend a few hours with Stan Romanek and saw the footage before it was released to the public). At first he was all kinds of amazed, but after he left and had time to process it all, he said he was skeptical because -- and I paraphrase: "He has an agent... and he is asking for 50,000 for the footage". *heart*

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The Cold, Hard Truth About French Fries

What to talk about...

I could talk about the whole James Carrion incident, but I think the rest of the UFO websites have already bludgeoned that one to death.

I could talk about how Stan appeared on Open Minds Radio to discuss the vast amount of evidence he has for his abduction case. I could also talk about the laughable and (in my opinion) staged phone interruption with a 'mysterious' voice that said: "You need to learn to keep your mouth shut".

Yes. I shit you not.

More than just the voice, the rather ho-hum reaction by everyone on that episode was a little less than convincing. If you're interested, it's the show from 1.22.10 and the voice comes in at about 29:26, but you will probably want to go a minute or two before that to get the context. Although, I'm not sure that matters.

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Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Stephen Hawking!

Stephen Hawking has turned 68 today

From Neatorama:

Born on the 300th anniversary of Galileo’s death, Hawking is a theoretical physicist who is regarded as one of the most intelligent men alive. He has published numerous papers and books on the nature and origin of the universe, the best known being A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. Hawking also had a miniseries on PBS in 1997, Stephen Hawking’s Universe, as well as a long list of TV and movie appearances. He is renowned for making difficult concepts comprehensible to the average reader or viewer.

Read more at Neatorama

Interview with UFO Caricaturist D. Rano

By The Interstellar Housewife

A few weeks ago, I posted a link to a website called The Ufologists, a collection of cartoon-art by the very talented Dennis Rano. A former political cartoonist, Dennis has taken the sacred art of the caricature and combined it with the field of UFO study & research. You won't find the same old Ex-presidents, Hollywood celebs or British royalty over at The Ufologists. No, what you will find are delightful renderings of such notable folk as Stanton Friedman, Nick Pope, Richard Dolan and even Michio Kaku, to name but a small few. And don't expect to come face-to-face with just the the usual suspects, either. Dennis has quite an extensive collection, covering damn-near everyone relating to this crazy field, proving he has done his homework!

Shortly after posting the link to his site, I was pleasantly surprised to find a letter from Mr. Rano in my email-inbox, thanking me for plugging his site. He then offered to add me to his growing body of work. I, of course, enthusiastically agreed -- though I was a little nervous. And while I do not feel that my mug belongs alongside some of the respected individuals present at The Ufologists, I certainly wasn't going to argue! I sent Dennis a few pics and the result (of which I am just thrilled with) is to the right. You can see one of the original images here.*

I expressed my interest in doing a small write-up of his work, and Dennis was kind enough to answer a few brief questions. I wanted to help promote his site a bit and thought that a small interview would be a nice addition instead of simply saying: "Oh yeah, that guy over there does cartoons of people!"

Here is the interview:

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Caricatures of Stan, Michio and More

Thanks to UFO Mystic, I found these UFO related caricatures.

Some of these are great!

Uncle Stan!

*I'm not entirely sure what Michio Kaku is doing in there, but hey, it's Michio. I'll let it go.

Jacques Vallee Goes Boing Boing

Jaques Vallee will take on the role of occasional blogger at: http://www.boingboing.net/

Jacques Vallee on Boing Boing

I'm delighted to introduce a new occasional guest blogger on Boing Boing, Dr. Jacques Vallee, who will contribute posts every so often. In the world of computer science, Jacques is best known for his pioneering database research in the 1960s at Stanford Research Institute and then, during the next decade, for leading the development of the the world's first network-based computer conferencing system for the ARPANET. He launched that project, called PLANET, in 1972 at Institute for the Future (IFTF), the non-profit thinktank where I'm a researcher.

Read more at the source

Former U.S. Military Personnel Discuss UFOs

Former U.S. Military Personnel to Discuss UFO Incursions at Nuclear Weapons Sites at the National Press Club

Former U.S. Air Force Captain Robert Salas and UFO-Nukes Connection researcher Robert Hastings are currently organizing a press conference to be held at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. in the fall of 2010. At least a dozen former or retired U.S. military personnel who witnessed one or more UFO incursions at U.S. nuclear weapons sites will participate and discuss their experiences.

Read more at the source

Who Couldn't Love a Face Like This?

Hey, Nick -

Why the long face?

Smile, love. You're a handsome guy!

Also, some chicks dig the accent.

(I'm usually not that superficial, myself).

(Usually.)

Sagan and the SETIs – Not Just a Great Band Name

By The Interstellar Housewife

Ok, first off – I am taking full credit if anyone uses the above as a band name. And any variation thereof. For instance, “Steven Greer and the CSETIs" would, by default, also be mine. Theoretically, however, I may be bought off.

Star-Stuff

Now, I want to start this post off by expressing my deep respect and admiration for the late Carl Sagan. In a sense, I grew up with him – through Cosmos, his articles, appearances... books. My father spoke very highly of Sagan and a lot of that was impressed upon me.

His voice, melodically awkward, was almost meditative – or what I assume to be meditative, as I've never been able to do whatever it is that you do to bring on meditation. Anyway, Carl was a great man, but he also had some very strong opinions about UFOs. The kind of opinions that are in conflict with so-called Ufologists. However, recently I read a piece about Sagan stating that he was very enthusiastic about UFOs when he was younger, addicted in a way, but by 1966 had maneuvered a 180 and from this point on, he would stick by the belief that alien visitation to Earth is an extreme unlikelihood. This has always disappointed me, but it didn't make any of his other theories and teachings invalid.

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