Scott Wolter Attacks Me in Epic Rant: "The Guy Got What He Had Coming to Him"

6/19/2021

Apparently, the only thing that onetime America Unearthed host Scott Wolter hates more than me criticizing his work is me ignoring him. I’ve been too busy working on serious, important things to care about the former TV star’s frequent radio rants, so Wolter went on The Family with Tom Barnard to spend 15 minutes badmouthing me. Lest anyone be confused, at one point he slipped and said my name instead of “the blogger.” Odd, though, that he calls me “the blogger” since my publication history, in national magazines, university press books, academic journals, etc., far outstrips his self-published books and freebie Blogspot blog.

But, that, of course, is the problem. In his mind, I am a poseur looking to steal the fame that rightly belongs to him by parasitically attacking his work. Wolter criticizes me for “wanting to be somebody,” alleging that I am driven by a desire to be on TV, to be a writer, and “to be paid for it.” He took credit for getting me “fired” from the Atlantic magazine this spring when the editors elected not to go forward with a planned piece about cable TV programming strategy after Wolter complained to the magazine’s editor-in-chief: “The guy got what he had coming to him,” Wolter said. “That felt really good.”

He alleges that I am driven by the desire for fame and money, and he asserts that I live in a basement. He repeats many times the false claim that I called Wolter a racist. I very clearly and frequently said that I did not believe that he is personally racist; instead, I have consistently said that the claims he makes about European colonization of the pre-Columbian Americas and the Old World origin of secret knowledge are rooted in Victorian era racism and carry with them racist implications. It is impossible for him to believe that someone might disagree with him on principle.

Now the thing is that Scott Wolter misrepresented what I said in our email exchange, and he misrepresented the correspondence between us. He might do well to remember that I have copies of all of the emails, too, and would be happy to publish them. In those emails, I am entirely polite and professional. I won’t characterize his side of the conversation because I value others’ dignity. I can’t comment on the Atlantic’s opinion of him because the NDA I signed with them prevents me from relaying their thoughts after reading his emails to me. Suffice it to say they would not agree with his characterization of events. It never did occur to him that that he wasn’t the subject of the article.

“I don’t think any of my Native friends would want to hang out with this guy,” Wolter eventually says, egged on by Barnard to new heights of pique. “Can I use the word ‘dick’?” Oddly enough, I studied Native cultures in college, worked with Native people, and was good friends with a member of the Seneca nation. That’s really neither here nor there, except to remind Wolter that Native people are not monolithic, and a diversity of viewpoints within their communities accommodates many perspectives.

After crowing a bit more about how Wolter allegedly damaged my career, he tells Barnard that he was pleased with the outcome. “That had a happy ending,” Wolter claims. Yes, it did—because I went on to the New Republic, where I published a piece that was much more widely read and distributed than my aborted minor piece about cable TV programming strategies ever would. I can’t imagine that piece would have garnered coverage in the New York Times or the Washington Post like my New Republic piece did. Ironically, all Wolter really accomplished was to keep his own name out of a major American magazine, where he might have had a bigger and more prestigious audience learning about him than at any time since his show was dropped from one network and then the next. But, hey, local Minnesota radio is the same thing, right?

As I said when I started my current round of projects in service of my new book, I do not want this for me. I am pushing myself into the national media conversation because I need to prove to publishers that I have the national profile to effectively promote the book I recently wrote. I don’t want to be famous. I have no desire to be on TV. (I have, as they say, a face for radio.) I was ready to quit public life forever last year, and that wouldn’t have bothered me at all. But I have something I believe in and believe needs to be said, and I will do what I must to get it in print.

And the next time Wolter tries misrepresenting himself as a hero for withstanding the horrible “gotcha” question of “how do you feel?”, he best remember that emails are copied in two directions.

70 Comments

Jim

6/19/2021 03:54:44 pm

Wolter went off on you again when someone on Twitter pointed out his fake honorary degree.

https://twitter.com/RealScottWolter/status/1405704597319135235

"The honorary degree was given by my professors, not the University. It was an atta’ boy for publishing my first book in 1986 after a personal difficulty. A troll twisted it through harassing my then retired, now deceased professors, to try to undermine my credibility

6/20/2021 09:21:03 am

And hilarity ensued.
It would seem that Jason's points about Wolter's bogus Honorary Masters Degree are being folded into some sort of conspiracy theory involving Susan Gough who actually works for the DoD.

"Susan Gough is behind this eh. Warfare / doubt / disinformation she literally wrote the book on this"

https://twitter.com/UFOTORONTO/status/1405564123287625731

This is more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

Machala

6/20/2021 01:22:37 pm

Scott Wolter HAS NO CREDIBILITY!! The man is a complete fraud and a self-delusional wanna-be.
Being a Hysterical Channel talking head is more of a claim to shame than a claim to fame.

Kent

6/21/2021 07:59:29 am

Honorary degrees are given by universities not "my professors" and do not come in the form of a cup of coffee.

Lyin' Scott put this on his resume and later removed it.

Sorry you lost your dive buddy Scott. In a royal family there would be an obvious question.

Doc Rock

6/21/2021 07:54:59 pm

I will probably regret this, but after a long leisurely happy hour what the heck.

Honorary degrees are awarded by institutions and are awarded for very high achievements, often after a long distinguished career. The one time I witnessed it happening was at a small college where it was given to an alum that was the first woman to reach upper crust management at a major corporation. I guess that sometimes it can happen for someone young doing something very, very big. Publishing a first book through a local press wouldn't get it unless maybe the book won a metric buttload of major awards.

Another issue is that honorary degrees tend to be doctorates, even when conferred by institutions that do not offer actual graduate degrees. That was the case with the woman I mentioned above, and is the case in most instances that I am personally aware of. Awarding someone an honorary MA/MS degree would be like awarding someone an honorary silver olympic medal. Just doesn't make sense although I'm not saying that it can't happen.

So, someone claiming to have been awarded an honorary M.S. should have the BS meter leaning toward the red. Throw in the fact that it occurred at a young age and simply for publishing a book and the BS meter should be pegged out. At least that would be my impression if I saw it on a Vita.

6/23/2021 04:53:32 pm

Don't overthink it Doctor Korsakoff. A story about a cup of coffee is not an honorary degree even if you put it on and subsequently remove it from your resume. See how short that was?

C.V.'s are for academics. Wolter has a resume, just like anyone who works at Temps 'R' Us.

6/23/2021 08:28:31 pm

Sorry there J.F., but someone who went on a tangent about diving in a discussion of Wolter's alleged honorary degrees and then posted a second time, and who will most likely hit us with a third round of blah, blah, blah probably shouldn't be lecturing others on word economy.

Scoutmaster obvious

6/25/2021 07:55:58 am

This reminds me of the time that Joe Kent called someone out for a spelling error but made even worse errors while doing it.

CV and Resume are sometimes used interchangeably even though the tendency is for the CV to be associated with academic positions. However, people working in non-academic private or government research positions and some other industry positions often use the CV rather than a Resume or they use both depending on particular situations.

https://icc.ucdavis.edu/materials/resume/resumecv

6/26/2021 07:32:28 pm

I'm not sure which member of Clan Obvious that I am addressing, but anyway. I taught an undergrad/M.A. Applied Anthropology class. I had to teach the students how to develop both a resume and a vita since the seniors who weren't applying to grad school were planning to apply for a wide range of largely non-academic positions at independent research centers, non-profits, and state and local government agencies. Some required a resume and others required a vita. I've been involved in reviewing applications for entry level and mid-level research staff positions at a non-academic research center. Applicants were required to submit a vita. But if my memory serves me correctly, administrative staff applications only required a resume.

People working in non-academic positions who apply for grants may be required to submit a vita rather than a resume depending on the funding agency and the nature of the grant.

If I was in charge of inviting Wolter to give a presentation at a college it would be expected that he would provide a vita. In my experience invited speakers are generally given an introduction that includes an overview of their education, experiences, and accomplishments and would get into information beyond what would be provided on a resume. But that ain't gonna happen.

Now I need a nice double Jack and Coke to try to rid myself of that horrific mental image.

CEO obvious

6/27/2021 01:17:07 pm

There are literally countless professional services and websites that describe themselves as assisting people in the business world in writing CVs. The site TopCV is one such example. The idea that the term CV is limited to academics is patently false.

6/29/2021 09:40:16 am

REO Obvious

I don't know how this stuff works in the business world. But since you are:

A. Not E.P.

B. Contra an assertion by TiC (Toddler-in-Chief) of the Kiddie Table.

I'm going to play the percentages here and assume that you are correct, suh.

This horse is clearly dead and decomposing. Time to move.

6/20/2021 07:27:22 am

It's good that things are happening for you but you'll (both) want to think twice before publishing emails written by someone else.

Paul

6/20/2021 03:47:10 pm

Ah, Scottie Wolter, ye ole narcissistic jackass. Book sales have tanked, can not get slotted on cable. Lost in the nether world of minimally viewed podcasts. Scottie, can’t you take a hint, just go away already.

Patrick Leary

6/20/2021 04:09:01 pm

Scott Wolter is easily triggered to the point of becoming irrational. This is very apparent when reading through the comments section of his blog, which he often heavily censors. After he wrote about the vandalism of the "American Stonehenge" site I took issue with his false characterization of the site and his characterization of archaeologists' indifference to it. I politely pointed out that there is no evidence to support it as a pre-contact site, archaeologists have worked all over the surrounding area and have found no supporting material, and that archaeologists have more pressing concerns about authentic sites that are in danger of destruction. Wolter did not post my comments but then addressed me on the blog claiming that I had made false and incendiary statements and that my comments had been turned over to law enforcement for investigation. I then told him that if that was the case he should post my comments and let the readers judge the merits of my comments for themselves. He refused to post those comments as well.

Wolter either deserves an Academy Award for his decades long performance as a drama queen persecuted by the world for seeking the truth or he is suffering from a legitimate psychopathological persecution complex.

6/21/2021 10:22:33 am

Remember at least two things: The owner of "America's Stonehenge" REARRANGED the rocks. So the "alignments" were not made by Phoenicians/fish people.. And... Scott Wolter was grandfathered in to get his license, didn;t have to take a test like other people. That could account for his dodgy knowledge of agates.

doc rock

6/22/2021 08:06:51 am

Mr. Leary

My pet theory is that Wolter tends to censor less when his career is at a low point and therefore he is willing to sacrifice a little bit of ego for the sake of generating some hype on a public forum. But then again, no matter the circumstances he tends to crack down heavily on posts that clearly demonstrate that he is wrong. I know that on one or two occasions when I tried posting some links to published sources that quite clearly refuted a position that he was taking he refused to allow them. That was quite some time ago when I was still trying to give him the benefit of the doubt in terms of possibly being someone who is not particularly bright or educated but who might be open to some alternative perspectives to broaden their own understanding of a given topic. Unfortunately, Wolter never passed up an opportunity to take a pass on a teachable moment.

As for his interaction with you; I did notice that his comments about the case rather quickly fizzled out. My guess would be that he got some communication from the police telling him to STFU because he was drifting toward interference with an ongoing investigation.

6/23/2021 07:10:27 am

Mr. Wolter thinks QAnon started in 2012. I say it was started by rogue Templars.

He calls WWG1WGA a "logo". It's really more of a motto.

Mr. Wolter said the FBI got invokved in the America's Rearranged Fake Stonehenge vandalism case because it was "a hate crime". Isn't a stone table with blood gutters for human sacrifice kind of a hate crime? So someone committed the crime of vandalizing a stone table with blood gutters for human sacrifice. Based on Mr. Wolter's characterization of the stone table with blood gutters for human sacrifice I am hard pressed to see a crime.

Then they "extradited" the fellow who may or may not have done it. Federal authorities have to extradite? Mkay...

And it was NO COINCIDENCE that a Masonic lodge burned down the same day.

And because I listen to a New York radio station people are still yapping about 9/11. As the JFK assassination had the Magic Bullet 9/11 had the Magic Passport. And Shanksville and the Pentagon were hit by what in Frank Herbert's Dune Universe would be callled No Planes.

P. Leary

6/22/2021 09:19:59 pm

Skeptic sites are known for permitting open debate and discussion even on occasions when the host is proven to be in error. I'm thinking of Carl Feagins and Andy White and obviously Jason Colavito as some examples. People like Wolter are known for not permitting posts, deleting posts, and blocking posters who present logical arguments and facts. The respective camps' actions speak for themselves.

I understand that various stones and structures at American Stonehenge site have been moved or altered. I don't remember if I raised that issue or not. My main points were that subsurface testing in and around that area by professional archaeologists has not produced anything indicative of a pre-contact non-Native American presence. Archaeologists working in that area have many legitimate sites that are endangered that require work. They simply don't have the time and resources to continue biting into a nothing burger. In Wolter's warped reality these constituted incindiary comments that required police scrutiny.

Would add that if Wolter was actually involved in the investigation and felt that I was involved the common sense reaction would have been to continue the discussion in the hopes that incriminating information could be revealed. That is why I suspected that his public comments were intended to manufacture drama and appeal to his partisan readership.

Harold Edwards

6/20/2021 04:46:50 pm

Scott Wolter began his career as an “archaeologist” by defending the authenticity of the Kensington Runestone in 2000. Through the years he has claimed his geology expertise is superior to that of professional runologists who have consistently since 1899 judged the artifact a 19th Century fake. I am also a geologist and have just published a paper in the 2020 issue of The Minnesota Archaeologist, “The Kensington Runestone: Geological Evidence of a Hoax.” The abstract is:

The Kensington Runestone is a sandstone tablet purported to have been unearthed in 1898 near Kensington, Minnesota. Its inscription in runic and Latin letters self-dates to 1362 C.E. Analyses of the geology, geological provenance, fabrication, and lack of weathering show it consistent with an 1898 date and not a 1362 date. The flagstone that was used as the raw material is not native to the Kensington area. Tool impressions and other features of its fabrication are consistent with nineteenth century practice, not fourteenth century practice. All of the letters are virtually unweathered. A calcite-rich coating covers the lower left corner of the front. This coating is consistent with stucco applied to the surface of the sandstone. This coating is less weathered than the calcite in 61-year old marble tombstones found in Minnesota, so it could not have been exposed for 536 years. It is well established from karst geology that calcite weathers at least one and a half times faster below ground than at the surface, so if the artifact were buried for any length of time, its calcite-rich coating, including its inscription, would have been obliterated. This artifact was created near the time of its discovery, and is a late nineteenth century hoax.

You can read and/or download it here:

https://www.academia.edu/45218145/The_Kensington_Runestone_Geological_Evidence_of_a_Hoax

Draw your own conclusions.

6/21/2021 01:55:29 pm

Thanks for the link Harold, I will save that for this evening.

So, would it be accurate to say, using Wolter's beloved "hard science" that the calcite proves the KRS is a modern fake and that Professor Emeritus Paul Wieblen's report on the KRS core sample showing no evidence of biotite in the interior of the KRS whatsoever shows Wolter"s incompetence/dishonesty/ fakery ?

( Wolter claims the biotite on the exterior of the runestone weathered away completely proving it's great age, but there was no biotite in or on the stone to begin with. lol )

6/21/2021 05:08:12 pm

Your question on Wieblen’s lack of finding biotite is answered in my paper pages 9-10. I am not sure even Wolter knows what he means when he says (your paraphrase) “the biotite on the exterior of the runestone weathered away completely proving it's great age.” To a layman it sounds like technical geology. To geologist it is gibberish, geobabble. Obviously the exterior of the runestone has not weathered away or we would see empty air. Therefore what is it that we are looking at? Wolter dose not identify what material is in the surface.

The explanation about biotite is technical, but I will give it a try. Rocks are made of minerals which are inorganic substances with fixed crystal structures and chemical compositions. The minerals in rocks weather by dropping off the surface of the rock to form sediments which end up in the rivers and oceans, or they weather by dissolving in rainwater which is a weak acid. However before these mechanisms happen some minerals alter into other minerals. This the case of biotite. As it weathers it alters into clay minerals, often the clay mineral vermiculite. This is a continuous process so weathered grains can range from pure biotite to pure vermiculite depending on the stage of weathering. Material that is neither pure biotite nor pure vermiculite is called hydrobiotite. The important feature of hydrobiotite is that it looks superficially like biotite when viewed in thin section under a petrographic microscope. That is why Winchell in 1910 and Ojakangas who actually performed Wolter’s identification work both identified biotite in thin sections.

However the chemistry of biotite differs from vermiculite by the amount of potassium present. Biotite has about 8% potassium oxide and vermiculite only trace amounts. During weathering as biotite changes to vermiculite the potassium is leached from the mineral and replaced with water. Weiblen identified the minerals in the runestone by their chemistry and found the biotite-like grains contained little potassium oxide, so they could not be the mineral biotite. The rock that makes up most of the Kensington Runestone is a graywacke, a variety of sandstone, which is made of previously weathered particles of sand and mud. Hence the “bitotite” grains in these sediments would have actually been hydrobiotite grains. That is why there is no biotite in the artifact.

For more on these minerals see: An Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals, 3rd edition 2013 by Deer, Howie, and Zussman. Biotite is actually a family of minerals, see pp. 189-194 with examples of biotite chemistries on page 179. Vermiculite see pp. 239-241. On the latter page is a discussion of the alteration of biotite to vermiculite. Example of its chemistry is on page 225.

For a discussion of the misidentification of biotite in graywackes, see: Aldahan and Morad “Chemistry of Detrital Biotites and Their Phyllosilicate Intergrowths in Sandstones,” You can download a copy here:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sadoon-Morad/publication/255615366_Chemistry_of_Detrital_Biotites_and_their_Phyllosilicate_Intergrowths_in_Sandstones/links/57ad8c0508ae0932c975a8bc/Chemistry-of-Detrital-Biotites-and-their-Phyllosilicate-Intergrowths-in-Sandstones.pdf

will

7/28/2021 06:17:41 pm

I might be wrong, but didn't Wolter ruin it by putting some chemical on it during one of his "tests"?

Lyn McConchie

6/20/2021 05:27:28 pm

Kent is right about that. The person who wrote the letters/emails holds copyright to them. You can physically own the print copies, but not the publishing rights.

Darold knowles

6/22/2021 05:26:53 pm

Wolter is publicly discussing (and misrepresenting) the content of the email exchange and therefore he has explicitly waived any copyright or confidentiality rights. Jason, as a party to the email exchange, has every right to publish the emails to correct the public record to protect his own reputation. Kent is talking out of his ass as usual.

6/24/2021 06:43:09 am

No you are flat wrong. Talking about emails doesn't waive copyright.. The Salinger case might edumacate you.

Since you didn't say "I am not a lawyer" I will say it for you. You are not a lawyer.

6/24/2021 03:41:40 pm

I’m flat right and you know it. You can’t publicly misrepresent the content of an email exchange and then claim copyright to stop the aggrieved party from publicly correcting the record. He’s obviously waived his rights in a blatantly explicit manner.

kent

6/27/2021 12:41:26 pm

Three days later, still not right. Absent say, discovery opoena or a warrrent or ..., in a legal process Wolter can't be required to reveal the text of his own emails even if he has talked about them. I think you have a bit of a dreamworld thing going on. Educamate yourself Sir.

R. Goslin

6/27/2021 05:18:41 pm

Unless someone can cite specific case law that it could be argued applies to this specific case, the principle of Fair Use would supersede copyright considerations. That is, if Mr. Colavito elected to reproduce the material in a manner appropriate to Fair Use in the form of critical commentary or setting the record straight in the face of claims that can be demonstrated to be false and potentially actionable.

The burden of proof is on those asserting potential guilt on the part of Mr. Colavito. Absent a strong argument backed by citations of specific relevant case law any further comments to the contrary can be discounted

6/27/2021 05:32:25 pm

A “discovery opoena or a warrrent” huh? Well, thanks for clarifying that for me! lol

Nick Danger

6/28/2021 10:08:05 am

Perhaps I have been misled, but I perceived the argument to concern whether Mr. Colavito may publish the emails, not whether Mr. Wolter may be forced to reveal their contents...

7/6/2021 01:31:56 pm

@Darold Knowles: I am sorry my dishonorable typo offended you. I have truly brought shame upon my ancestors.

@Mr./Ms. Danger: See Mr./Ms. Knowles' earlier post:
"Wolter is publicly discussing (and misrepresenting) the content of the email exchange and therefore he has explicitly waived any copyright or confidentiality rights."

7/7/2021 04:44:13 pm

“Absent say, discovery opoena or a warrrent or ..., in a legal process Wolter can't be required to reveal the text of his own emails even if he has talked about them.”

Why on earth would an “opoena” or a “warrrent” be necessary when Jason already has possession of the emails? Your statement is dumb on its face. The question is whether Wolter would have a claim for damages if Jason published them. You seem to be confusing two completely different matters.

6/20/2021 05:44:40 pm

15:35 "No one supports and appreciates their experience, the genocide that they've experienced, and how beautiful a culture the natives have." Maybe that could have been said better.

No mention of intra-Indian genocide? Mkay. Let's start with the Aztec human sacrifice then work north.

Our Scott repeated the canard that Freemasonry is thousands of years old and the host trotted out a lame "proof" of the existence of God, you can't control the oceans therefore God exists.

And he's roadtripping to Texas to buy gravestones. You can't make this stuff up.

6/21/2021 11:52:08 am

Scottie says he purchased some of these new carvings found in a cave in Texas. Supposedly written in various languages including Egyptian and Portuguese wording written in Latin. (????) He claims they were likely left by Portuguese crypto Jews who were dropped off on the coast of Texas by Christopher Columbus whom he claims never landed on continental America.
History being written and rewritten at a furious pace.

He has also has said that he bought a passel of the ancient alien glue carvings marketed by a transplanted Russian down in Jalisco Mexico.

Looks like he may be in the early running for the prestigious Sucker of The Century award.
For a guy who preys on the gullible, he sure opens up his wallet to whatever con he is getting sucked into.

6/28/2021 07:31:01 am

No, he said the Portugese text was written in Hebrew letters, like Yiddish (thought he didn't say *that*).

The real problem with the scenario is people became crypto-Jews to *stay in Spain*. Were there crypto-Jews in Portugal? Very perhaps. I am uninformed on that question.

Historically the Hebrew alphabet has also been used to write Arabic.

It's Sabateans all the way down.

Hilda Hilpert

7/12/2021 10:09:56 am

Wait what's this on him buying carvings found in some cave in Texas.Where in Texas? There are plenty of caves all over the place, especially in this area. You have the Bracken Bat Cave, home the world's largest colony of mexican free tail bats.The cave is more near the area of Garden Ridge, as the actual town of Bracken is along the Old Kings Highway or Camino Real as the spanish called it. There is also Natural Bridge Caverns, and out near Boerne is a couple of caves, Plus Wonder Cave near San Marcos and the Devil's Backbone.If you drive FM1863 which runs along in one place Cibolo Creek, you can see caves. There are some in the New Braunfels area, not open to tourists, and all around this area east and north of San Antonio, and they are mainly limestone caves.. I haven't seen anything on any of the San Antonio local Tv channels about this, nor in the San Antonio Express News, so I think the story is made up.

Brian

6/21/2021 11:15:16 am

It's a sad comment on humanity that the sane have to work so hard to achieve any recognition or acknowledgment, while all the loons have to do is open their yaps and spew whatever inane nonsense dribbles out from their two barely functioning synapses and boom, they're featured on television, radio, and in the Times.

Keep up the good work. You will at least be able to say to your family and friends that you never wittingly worked to delude anyone for fame or fortune, and that's quite an achievement these days.

T. Franke link

6/21/2021 12:59:13 pm

Scott Wolter has put forward so many wrong claims, under certain perspectives, etc. etc. that his case is quite clear.

Something else can be learned here.

Scott Wolter puts the accusation of being racist to the front. And suddenly, all the other criticisms are not discussed anymore. According to my own observation, Jason's accusation of racism is often quite subtle though often correct (but sometimes also beyond being justifiable, generalizing things which may not be generalized). The main thing, that certain claims are simply wrong from a merely facutal perspective, becomes hidden by this claim of being racist, whether right or wrong.

And this is not good.

I would plead for putting the emphasis on claims being wrong, not on political conclusions, not because they are necessarily wrong, but because they harm the case to be made. First it has to be pointed out that something is wrong. Simply wrong. And discussions about further conclusions come only second, and are a completely different discussion.

And I would have an eye that the political observations made are not one-sided. Otherwise credibility is undermined. Also Liberals make politics with history, no doubt, and much could be written about it.

6/21/2021 02:45:35 pm

"Jason's accusation of racism is often quite subtle though often correct (but sometimes also beyond being justifiable, generalizing things which may not be generalized)."

I don't think you quite get it. Jason often criticizes people not for being racist but for propagating existing racist inspired theories which support their individual pet pseudo-history garbage thus popularizing, expanding and supporting the original racist tropes.

6/21/2021 03:51:28 pm

Get ready America: Jim is correct here.

6/21/2021 05:09:05 pm

Jim, to assume that the senders (broadcasters, authors, presenters, whoever) of racist messages are completely not racist themselves is rather naive. Of course, money is the main driver, but making money with racist messages is ... racist. Surprise, surprise! And the intelligence of the senders is sufficient to understand this, so they do it intentionally. At least after they had been informed by Jason :-)

A completely different discussion is the question whether theories are inherently racist or not. One of the typical transgressions of Jason is that he sometimes calls for treating a theory as if being inherently racist, although it was only abused by racism, or even just could be abused by racism, but is not racist itself and is not presented as racist. This leads to the consequence that innocent persons dealing with innocent theories in an innocent way are called racist or supporters of racism, which is wrong and very counterproductive and heavily undermining credibilty.

And finally, there is the question whether certain theories are pseudo-science at all. Searching evidence which potentially could exist in order to support an idea for which there is no proof, yet, is not pseudo-science, as long as it is clear what the balance of evidence currently is. Calling legitimate ideas pseudo-science is very counterproductive. And last but not least, academic scholarship itself is not free from producing pseudo-science itself, as history teaches. They do not get the balance of evidence right, all the time, they are not infallible. Universities are notoriously known for their political bias, in all times, with the direction of the bias always depending on the time.

I repeat:

First and foremost it has to be demonstrated that a pseudo-scientific claim is wrong. Simply wrong. This is the main part, and since it is not a political message, everybody can accept it. The political discussion is legitimate too, but a separate discussion, and if not handled with care, it has the potential to eclipse the fact that it is demonstrably pseudo-science.

And I see too less care invested in handling this discussion. Too quickly is the statement made that this or that idea is racist, or your "associated with racism", whatever this means, and therefore shall not be touched anymore. This results in a kind of evil cultural cleansing and destroys credibility, which is needed for the real cases of racism.

IMHO pseudoscience and racism should be the target without any collateral damages. And radical leftist ideas should be the target, too, of course, for all lovers of the human being.

6/21/2021 07:13:01 pm

T. Franke, I was right, you just don't get it.

Moving on:
"First and foremost it has to be demonstrated that a pseudo-scientific claim is wrong. Simply wrong. This is the main part, and since it is not a political message, everybody can accept it."

The Phoneticians were the first white people to inhabit America, Prove me wrong,,,, you can't !
The Native Americans killed all the Phoneticians, thus we are justified killing all the Native Americans, Prove me wrong,,, you can't !

The core of Mars is made out of pure milk chocolate: Prove me wrong,,, you can't !

6/22/2021 03:59:28 am

Jim, thank you that you stop the argument here.

And I talked of the "balance of evidence" and of "demonstrated", not of "prove". Please consider the difference.

6/22/2021 04:58:40 am

Once again Jim is right! Phoenecians WERE the the first whites in America but sadly we've done a pisspoor job of killing the Indians. There are still majestic herds of height-gene-expressing Indians roaming the massive American veldt.

Prove me wrong.

6/23/2021 08:23:25 am

Jim, just a question, in order to understand this.

The official Atlantis scepticism of the Spanish state was obviously driven by colonialist motives. It is safe to say that Atlantis scepticism has been abused to justify colonialism. Atlantis scepticsim was pushed through in order to avoid the undermining of the right of the first discoverer, on which all Spanish claims were based.

Furthermore, the Atlantis scepticism of this time was based on the Biblical chronology, i.e. that the 9,000 years of Atlantis contradict the 6,000 years age of the world according to the bible. Thus, Atlantis scepticism was "associated with" anti-scientific dogmatism.

Now, does this mean that all Atlantis sceptics should stay silent, or even believe in Atlantis, just because the narrative of Atlantis scepticism had clearly been used to justify colonialism and anti-scientific dogmatism? I clearly "associated with" these evil things?

I would be interested in your answer.

Rock Knocker

6/21/2021 02:47:24 pm

I am routinely embarrassed to be in the same profession as Scotty…but to be clear, I’m not in the “forensic” concrete-testing “expert witness” part.

6/21/2021 07:51:42 pm

Hey, I have same planet same species same race embarrassment. He's a shanda for everybody. And a really bad advertisement for Freemasonry.

6/25/2021 12:22:33 am

As a bit of an aside, Scott Wolter's "Finders Keepers" amigos who helped him look for the Holy Grail in season 1 episode 13 of America Unearthed are now duking it out with the FBI over Civil War Gold.

https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/review-of-america-unearthed-s01e13-hunt-for-the-holy-grail

Apparently these "Finders Keepers" characters convinced the FBI that they had found Civil war gold and that the FBI should mount some sort of operation to recover the gold before it fell into the evil clutches of the State of Pennsylvania.
The FBI dug up the area, claimed to have found no gold, and subsequently the "Finders Keepers" wackos cried foul and accused the FBI of finding gold and cutting "Finders Keepers out of their fair share.

This is Hilarious:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-feared-pennsylvania-would-seize-fabled-gold-court-docs-show-n1272322

6/27/2021 07:15:52 am

Jim, please don't forget to answer my question above! I am really interested in your opinion.

The official Atlantis scepticism of the Spanish state was obviously driven by colonialist motives. The official Spanish solicitor to justify the claims of Spain in the New World, Juan de Solórzano Pereira, explicitly rejected the idea that America was Atlantis in 1629. So did the official Spanish historian of the Spanish conquest in the New World, Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas in 1601. The reason is easy to see: They based their claims on the right of the first discoverer. If America was Atlantis and had been known before Columbus, then this claim had no basis any more.

It is safe to say that Atlantis scepticism has been abused to justify colonialism. Atlantis scepticsim was pushed through in order to avoid the undermining of the right of the first discoverer, on which all Spanish claims were based.

Furthermore, the Atlantis scepticism of this time was based on the Biblical chronology, i.e. that the 9,000 years of Atlantis contradict the 6,000 years age of the world according to the bible. Thus, Atlantis scepticism was "associated with" anti-scientific dogmatism.

Now, does this mean that all Atlantis sceptics should stay silent, or even believe in Atlantis, just because the narrative of Atlantis scepticism had clearly been used to justify colonialism and anti-scientific dogmatism? Just because it is clearly "associated with" these evil things?

I would be interested in your answer.

Earl of Atlantis

6/27/2021 10:32:37 am

Franke has gone from denying any use of the Atlantis Myth to support colonialist and imperialist narratives to crafting a carefully worded statement specifying official statements. Colonialist or imperialist refers to anyone who supports or advocates colonial or imperial endeavors. Franke's English probably isn't sufficient to fully grasp this meaning. Colavito was correct in his discussion. Franke wasn't and he will stay here until doomsday pursuing an argument against an imaginary assertion.

The goalpost is now moved outside of the stadium into the parking lot. By this time next week the goalpost will be moved into the next county.

6/27/2021 12:35:09 pm

I don't know what the problem is. The idea that Atlantis was used by the Spanish in a racist fashion has already been established. Jason as far as I know didn't put any specific time on this. You are mentioning a specific time when perhaps it wasn't in vogue, but the fact that it did happen has already been established here.

"So did the official Spanish historian of the Spanish conquest in the New World, Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas in 1601. The reason is easy to see: They based their claims on the right of the first discoverer. If America was Atlantis and had been known before Columbus, then this claim had no basis any more."

No no no,,,,," They based their claims on the right of the first discoverer. " and some more no no nos.

The claims were based on the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, a treaty which was ratified by the Pope a year later with slight amendments regarding the Line of demarcation.
The claims were not decided on the right of first discoverer but by the Treaty of Tordesillas !

Stop rewriting history based on your own imaginings and pet theories about Atlantis.

6/27/2021 04:34:58 pm

Thank you, I have seen enough.

You will never admit your political bias, which is affecting severly your view of history. In the previous posting, Jason clearly made the case that the theme of a real Atlantis itself would be a problem, just because it was abused, once, and not how the theme is presented today:

"Hunting Atlantis generated controversy online after critics (myself included) pointed out that the Atlantis myth has long been used in support of colonialist, imperialist, and racist narrative, including the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the Anglo-American expansionist colonialism the Age of Empires, and Nazi searchers for the Aryan homeland. Pavlou also attracted attention for a series of tweets, now deleted, defending his views in intemperate language."

Note well, how the mere fact that the Atlantis-is-real theme had been abused is the reason why it should be avoided. No goalpost has been moved by me. Only by you.

According to this logic, also Atlantis scepticism would be a theme to be avoided. I just wanted to reduce the argument to absurdity.

The treaty of Tordesillas decided only the partition of the New World between Spain and Portugal. The right of the first discoverer is time and again explicitly mentioned in the original sources. Even Wikipedia writes in the article on the Treaty of Tordes....... but alas, it makes no sense. Let me stop here.

6/28/2021 07:36:22 am

Columbus was named by the king (queen?) "Admiral of the Ocean Seas" and more importantly, Viceroy of all the lands he discovered.

Obviously this predates the Treaty of Tordesillas of which much incorrect has already been said here, especially in relation to the Newport Tower.

6/30/2021 03:18:52 pm

T Franke:

"Juan de Solórzano Pereira, explicitly rejected the idea that America was Atlantis in 1629. So did the official Spanish historian of the Spanish conquest in the New World, Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas in 1601. The reason is easy to see: They based their claims on the right of the first discoverer."

Also T Franke:

"The treaty of Tordesillas decided only the partition of the New World between Spain and Portugal."

Make up your mind already Franke. Have some cake and eat it too.

T Franke:

"Even Wikipedia writes in the article on the Treaty of Tordes....... but alas, it makes no sense."

It makes no sense because you don't understand English, or German , or whatever language you are reading it in.
It is you who make no sense.

7/7/2021 11:21:37 am

Jim,

Spain's claims on the "New World" were soon being disputed by the likes of Sir Francis Drake as well as the French no matter what the claims were based upon. The Spanish hold was starting to crumble by the mid-17th century which is about the time that there were clear examples of the Atlantis story being utilized to support Spanish interests. I'm no Latin American historian but a quick look at some of the sources mentioned here would indicate that there could be some pretty clear logic in terms of why some Spaniards might be compelled to draw on the Atlantis story during particular phases of the colonial era.

Kal

6/30/2021 03:42:01 pm

The KRS is as fake as Scotty. It was carved in the 1800s by an ancestor cousin of mine Ohlmann.whose descendants joked about it in 2011 at a party in Minnesota. They knew it was a fake.

Scotty seems obsessed with you., Creepy. Your little blog could not have caused his show to be cancelled, nor could he have cancelled your appearance on another. He's demented. That's not how it works. The producers didn't come after your editor. Why would they bother? Fringe shows are about making money and ratings make money and advertisers like that. They wouldn't bother with a skeptic blog at all. Small potatoes.

Having been to those CA walls Scotty was hammering on years ago bear Berkeley, I can say he's about as much an archeologist as Fred Flintstone. Now he will be scrambling to find out who this Flintstone is! Ha. (Scotty, he's a fictional character, like you).

Well at least he's persistent.

7/7/2021 01:38:19 pm

There is no land claim in the text of the Kensington Runestone. Anyone thinking otherwise should seek the advice of a mental health professional. Here is a translation of the text. Read it and find the land claim!

8 Götalanders and 22 Northmen on (this?)
acquisition/exploratory journey from Vinland
west of. We had a camp by 2 shelters
(?) one day’s journey north from this stone.
We was fishing one day. After we came
home we found 10 men red from blood and
death. Ave Maria save from evil. (There)
is 10 men by the sea/lake to look after our
ships 14 days journey from this island/peninsula.
Year 1362

In 1362 Magnus Eriksson was king of Sweden and Norway. All official correspondence used the Latin alphabet, not runes. Furthermore, any runes used in Sweden and Norway at that time do not match those on the Kensington Runestone. Here is a review article on them, Svensk medeltidsrunologi Av Elisabeth Svärdström :

https://journals.lub.lu.se/rig/article/view/8466/7607

Norse in the Kensington area would hardly have used runes that could not be read by the people back home.

Unlike the Spanish, Portuguese, English, and French, the Swedish Crown did not make land claims in North America. The King’s Instructions to Governor John Printz, of New Sweden
dated at Stockholm, August 15th, 1642 stated that that he "must bear in mind that the wild inhabitants of the country" are "its rightful lords." Any land obtained from the natives had to be purchased from them.

7/10/2021 04:09:12 pm

You misunderstand. Wolter does not claim that the Swedish Crown made land claims in North America, he claims that the Templars made one.

Keep your eye on the sparrow.

Jarl Obvious

7/14/2021 12:20:08 pm

By identifying themselves in writing and providing the date the explorers would be readily identified as subjects of the Swedish Crown of that time. Therefore, double top secret Templars or not, the stone would be a defacto claim of territory for Sweden. That is, if one wishes to make the leap in logic that the stone is in fact a claim.

It would be like explorers identifying themselves as English and Cornish in the year 1600 on a stone left on an island in the south Atlantic. Whatever secret organization they might have belonged to, or their intent in leaving the stone, it would be a defacto recognition of English ownership if it came down to a matter of arguing for ownership.

7/16/2021 03:57:44 pm

That don't befront me. You missed the obvious: I said "Wolter...claims." Take it up with him.

You didn't keep your eye on the sparrow.

7/23/2021 11:01:39 am

I did take it up with Wolter since my comments were obviously directed toward his claim.

Reading is FUNdamental

An Over-Educated Grunt

7/14/2021 06:05:08 pm

Hilariously, the ever inscrutable DoD filter categorizes this post and (of the current front page posts) ONLY this post as racist hate speech.

7/21/2021 01:36:06 pm

Wolter Interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWXHQF6Lr5A

Hooked X, blah blah blah,,,Sinclair, blah blah blah, precession of the equinox, blah blah blah,,,, Holy bloodlines/ Mary Magdalene, blah blah blah,,,,,

45 minute mark: E.Ts:

The US Governments disclosure of UFOs was apparently a non disclosure as a result of the Catholic Church's interference.
No explanation on how they poo-pooed this given, he just blames the Catholic church for this because he blames the Church for everything he can.

Says we can all communicate with the aliens through "collective consciousness" which we all can do, but apparently nobody yet has figured out how to do it.
He seems to think the aliens are talking to the rocks and whatnot through "collective consciousness" because soil is made up of decomposing rocks.
Rocks weather, organic matter decomposes. How in the wide world of sports (football) did he ever get a University degree in Geology ?

Mostly wild assed nonsense which, of course, he doesn't elaborate on very much.

7/23/2021 12:05:11 am

Some of soil, as is well known, is composed of rocks. Sand is rock. Sandy soil. Where does the weathered part of the rock go? What does the fox say?

7/28/2021 03:45:32 pm

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE WACKADOODLE KIND
Or Scott Wolter explains the technique for communicating with aliens.

Another Interview for Scotty.

https://player.fm/series/podzilla-1985-1853138/i-want-to-believe-scott-wolter-janet-wolter-interview

Same old, same old, routine for the KRS, Templars, Sinclair etc. Wolters usual shtick.
The difference being that Wolter and his wife turned it into a duet with him and his wife taking turns repeating Scotty"s nonsensical screed.

20 minute mark for aliens.

21 minute mark
Wolter claims Holden, his fake named government contact, proved to him that he is indeed a member of "a shadow branch of our government".
Wolter then starts pushing politics into the conversation, Fox news spewing "bullshit", covid etc.
The aliens don't like climate change, racism, misogyny, how we are treating Mother Earth,,,,,
25 minute mark:,,,
"Trees eat elements as food to survive, elements from rocks. The earth is part of the human organism."
The ETs have interceded multiple times to stop humans from using nukes. They will not allow us to use nukes.
28:30 mark
The host gives Elizondo and Tom DeLong some loving with Scott mentioning Stephen Greer for more loving.
29:30,,,
All the alien crashes (Roswell etc.) were accidents caused by our radar and radio waves etc, we never shot any UFOs down.
"We have Treaties with them"
"We" are not telling people about aliens yet because of the Roman Catholic Church.
" I just have no love lost for the Catholic Church, they are the antagonists in our Templar story"
The church has infiltrated the government, they have infiltrated the narrative.
The Roman Catholic Church are responsible for the Columbus narrative, they wanna control it, the Columbus was first narrative.
34:00ish
After saying the aliens stopped various nukes, Wolter contradicts himself saying they will not interfere with us if we are destroying the planet.
Gene Roddenberry was in on it (all the alien contact), because Scottalot and Dammit Janet Wolter are both big fans of Star Trek.
Yikes, claims to have accidentally filmed a tic tac UFO in one of the America Unearthed episodes. (Montezuma's Treasure)
43;50,,
Wolter says we need a Muslim cleric and the Pope to clue people in on UFOs.
"Organized religion is BS"
49:00,
Calls Trump a "Jackwagon" gets angry,starts yelling: "they took his platform away because you don't deserve it." Yells at Trump for a while longer.
Rags on the Republicans and Marjorie Taylor Greene for a while.
Says if Trump sacrifices a child on TV many will still vote for him.,,,,,,,politics, blah, blah, blah.
1:01:00:
Promotes Stephan Greer again and Greer's film:
‘Close Encounters of the Fifth Kind’

https://rogersmovienation.com/2020/04/14/documentary-review-meditating-meetings-with-e-t-close-encounters-of-the-fifth-kind/

"Dr. Steven Greer, a onetime Lenoir N C emergency room physician turned widely-read and followed UFO expert, figures this is the perfect time to spike the ball in the end zone and double down on his increasingly far-out claims — that he and his followers can meditate and in essence “summon” “trans-dimensional” alien space ships, almost at will."

1:02:00:,,
Wolter starts explaining how to contact aliens using some sort of telepathy/ Ouija board/ seance sort of telepathy.
Had the whole fandamily sitting down collectively trying to communicate with E.T.
Wolter: E.T.s are not experimenting with us, they are around because 'THEY PUT US HERE!"

Wolter claims the Oak Island boys are horning in on his new fake artifacts from Texas scoop. Might see it on an Oak Island episode fall or winter.

Looney Tunes, that's all folks.

7/29/2021 10:17:50 pm

Someone finally figured out and tipped Scott off to the "Scott you suck" in Swedish posts and all the followup posts. So they've been pulled. He should put "Huge Dick" on his resume since he doesn't have a Master's Degree. Or a huge dick but that's not my problem.

8/12/2021 11:20:45 pm

As Wolter likes to say "stay tuned".

In the latest and last episode of season two of The American Runestone, Fargo wood chipper guy and his trusty sidekick Elroy are in contact with a former Wolter associate and geologist who strongly disagrees with Wolter's analysis of the KRS. ( I wonder who that is ?, lol)
Anyhoo this is at the very end of the episode making it somewhat of a tease for season three.

Wolter is not happy !

"There isn’t going to be a season 3 and this former colleague is a know nothing."

https://twitter.com/RealScottWolter/status/1425978926015340547

Or maybe he is just jealous that Woodchipper Guy might get a third season. I'm just going to assume that both of his ears have steam coming out of them.

Stay Tuned.

8/13/2021 07:50:37 pm

#@**!#&##!!!!!

8/15/2021 05:23:27 pm

Wolter's Twitter feed is still a riot.

Here, he "guesses" that yes, people have the ability to time travel but of course it's kept secret by the government.

https://twitter.com/RealScottWolter/status/1426783140253732865