L. A. Marzulli Launching Nephilim TV Series; Plus: The Masculine Aesthetics of Fringe History TV10/21/2015 Nephilim conspiracy theorist L. A. Marzulli is asking his followers to give him more than $30,000 to buy equipment to launch his new show, Politics, Prophecy & the Supernatural, a program accessible via the Roku streaming service and YouTube that will explicitly link End Times Christianity, Enochian Watchers, and U.S. politics in a stew of fear, beginning in January. According to a recent review of one of Marzulli’s latest Watchers DVDs, Watchers 9: Days of Chaos, the Christian conspiracy theorist has taken to arguing that the U.S. government is engaged in a campaign to prepare the planet of the End Times by systematically destroying the environment. Marzulli sees the Nephilim’s influence in every current event, from the recent conservative outcry over Planned Parenthood and the conservative freak-out over Jade Helm to liberal concerns about environmental disaster, infrastructure collapse, and the disappearance of honeybees. The new show will be a regularly scheduled version of the DVD series, with planned daily End Times updates.
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Atlantis Found is the History Channel’s latest stab at trying to uncover the supposed truth behind the lost continent of Atlantis, and like its previous efforts, it relies on untenable assumptions to force Plato’s fictitious allegory into the framework of history. This version makes no bones about the fact that it intends to identify Atlantis with the island of Santorini, ancient Thera, which was destroyed by a volcanic eruption sometime around 1620 BCE. “I’m putting all my money that the lost civilization of Atlantis is right here,” says Dr. Martin Pepper, our geologist protagonist, as on-screen titles tell us that this documentary is set up like a found-footage horror movie recording an expedition to seek out Atlantis in the summer of 2015. “This is what they found,” the titles ominously conclude. “Found” is a bit of an overstatement; “recycled from earlier Atlantis claims” might have been a bit more accurate, as the show concedes at the end when the narrator explains that it was “building” on earlier claims.
Atlantis Found offers nothing much that is new, quite a bit that is old, and a selective discussion of the Platonic dialogues that suggests that the producers are either purposely looking to bolster their case through omission or genuinely don’t understand their own source material. Worse, it is slow, repetitive, and larded with low-budget reenactments that stretch less than an hour’s worth of content into two hours of air time. Last week I wrote about an article that appeared on Ancient Code describing Aztec giants. In that blog post, I noted that the author, Ivan Petricevic, was lightly rewriting content from earlier web articles by other authors, and that at least one sentence was reproduced verbatim from a book without quotation marks or acknowledgement of the source. Well, that made Petricevic mad, and he decided to contact me on Friday to express his displeasure, not at being wrong, or endorsing fiction as fact, but for having someone mention his missteps in public.
Scott Wolter Announces Belief in Coming One World Government, Calls for Population Control Measures10/18/2015 This week America Unearthed and Pirate Treasures of the Knights Templar host Scott Wolter appeared on the Conspirinormal conspiracy theory and paranormal podcast ostensibly to recap Pirate Treasure but in which he discussed a range of topics offered by a host who was most interested in 9/11 Truther conspiracies. (Host Adam Sayne is also a Christian and a believer in ghosts and demons and that Satan is battling angels for our souls.) There wasn’t much new, but there were a few tidbits about Wolter’s worldview that I don’t think we’ve heard before, at least not in this form.
The second episode of History’s True Monsters is looking for cannibals and killers, which somehow involves zombies and banshees, creatures not traditionally associated with the title monsters. But there was something much scarier during the show than monsters. A promotional spot airing during the episode for upcoming History shows depicted Jim Vieira in some unknown capacity, and announced a new show about the hunt for Atlantis on the island of Santorini. Fortunately, it’s only a one-off special. Oh, and they have a new conspiracy series, Hunting Hitler, looking for Adolf Hitler, who we all know escaped Germany in a submarine to become Father Crespi, the South American priest who collected “ancient” depictions of ancient people riding dinosaurs, most famously published in Erich von Däniken’s admittedly fraudulent Gold of the Gods.
I lost my beloved cat Durango this morning. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer on Wednesday and given less than two weeks to live. He declined very rapidly, and it was clear that he was preparing for the end. He seemed like he was hanging on just because he didn’t want to disappoint those who loved him. I didn’t want him to suffer, so the vet came to end his suffering this morning, at home, where he passed peacefully. He was seven years and four months old. He died almost exactly on the seventh anniversary of when he came to live with me. I love my kitty, and I will miss him terribly. Rest in peace, Durango. Ave atque vale.
Editor's note: I have spent most of the last day in various pet hospitals to have my cat tested and probed and shaved in search of an answer to why he is sick. Unfortunately, there is no clear cause, and the options aren’t good. In lieu of a new post today, please enjoy this encore posting of a piece that I first posted in October 2012. Since this post was first published, the story of the Ojibwa Skyman has continued to circulate in fringe circles.
You have to love the Internet. It makes it so easy to just copy and paste your way to success. Today’s example comes from the clickbait website Ancient Code, which posts recycled and repurposed content related to the ancient astronaut theory and then lards it with large amounts of advertising in order to generate revenue. The problem is that the content isn’t just recycled, or even rewritten from linked sources, but often copied nearly verbatim from previously published material belonging to other people and then resold for profit.
Sociologist Claims "Hubris" of Archaeology Resulted in Conspiracy to Silence Graham Hancock10/13/2015 Regular readers will remember Dr. Jon Epstein, the sociologist from Greensboro College in North Carolina who is a defender of Graham Hancock against the slings and arrows of an orthodox archaeology that he sees as insular and dogmatic. Epstein is back again with new thoughts on the role of Hancock and geologist Robert Schoch in exposing what Epstein has come to believe is a conspiracy to suppress the truth about human history. Epstein says that he is friends with both men.
(Disclosure: After my first blog post about Epstein, he wrote me an email to explain his position in greater detail. I replied, and there the conversation ended.) Today’s post is late and brief because my cat hasn’t been responding well to his bronchitis medicine, and it’s been a bit challenging. He’ll be going to see the vet again this week, and I sincerely hope that the vet can find the right medicine to help his cough.
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AuthorI am an author and researcher focusing on pop culture, science, and history. Bylines: New Republic, Esquire, Slate, etc. There's more about me in the About Jason tab. Newsletters
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