Author Archive | quatermass

Glenn Beck Sez, “The Jews Killed Jesus”

By on July 16, 2010 in News 47

Yes, it’s another day and another piece of drivel from the mouth of Glenn Beck. This time it’s one of the bedrocks of antisemitism — that the Jews killed Jesus. How much longer until this guy overstays his welcome? Does his audience have an infinite capacity to absorb this stuff?

Here’s the story at Gawker:

Dream presidential candidate Glennifer Beck was on his television program last night talking about liberation theology and religion and stuff and he dropped some theological-historical knowledge on us: The Jews killed Jesus! Haven’t you missed that old saw?


Yeah, the “Jews killed Jesus” thing is one of the bedrock “arguments” of antisemitism and Glenn Beck, known Mormon, just up and said it…

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Texas Board of Education Says Thomas Jefferson Didn’t Contribute Much to America’s Intellectual Origins

By on March 16, 2010 in News 16

Thomas JeffersonThe Texas Board of Education is seeking to rewrite certain portions of their state’s history books with their version of conservatism.

Among the proposed changes are reducing the scope of Latino history and culture, removing hip hop music from a list of important cultural movements, portraying Joseph McCarthy in a more positive light, and downplaying Thomas Jefferson’s influence in the intellectual origins of America.

Yes, Thomas Jefferson.

In his place, they want to highlight St. Thomas Aquinas, John Calvin, and William Blackstone.

Read more about it on Yahoo News.… Read the rest

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Republicans Who Like Stalin

By on October 20, 2009 in News 0

When someone quotes someone, the quote itself may be fine even if the person who said it was less than a perfect human specimen. For example, when the White House communications director recently quoted Mao Zedong, the roar of protest from conservatives was predictably deafening. Yes, Mao was responsible for the deaths of perhaps 50 to 60 million people, which is a crime which cannot be defended.

However, the quote itself — “You fight your war, and I’ll fight mine” — doesn’t seem all that controversial. If anything, the Mother Theresa quote, “Go find your own Calcutta,” spoken in response to someone asking how they could help her, sounds positively snippy. And unless the Republicans have forgotten, it was Richard Nixon who went to China, hung out with Mao, shook his hand, and engaged in diplomacy with this mass murderer. What would their reaction be today if President Obama personally went to talk with a leader responsible for tens of millions of deaths?… Read the rest

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Pioneering Fortean Investigator John Keel Dead at 79

By on July 25, 2009 in News 0

John A. Keel, famed investigator of Fortean strangeness, died on July 3, 2009 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Keel was the author of several classic books on Fortean phenomena, including Disneyland of the Gods, Operation Trojan Horse, The Eighth Tower, and Jadoo.

However, it is for his legendary book The Mothman Prophecies that he is best known and for which he will forever be remember by fans of Forteana. The Mothman Prophecies chronicled Keel’s investigation into the terrifying encounters experienced by the people of Point Pleasant, West Virginia during 1966 and 1967.

Mr. Keel’s influence on the field of UFOlogy was enormous. He was among the first to reject the extraterrestrial hypothesis, concluding instead that these phenomena have always been a part of the earth. He was fond of quoting Charles Fort himself who said, “We are property.” John A. Keel had come to the same conclusion.… Read the rest

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Marilyn Chambers Dead at 56

By on April 17, 2009 in News 0

Marilyn Chambers, the legendary adult movie queen who was the wholesome model on Ivory Snow detergent boxes in the early 1970s when she made her adult movie debut in the X-rated classic Behind the Green Door, has died. She was 56.

Chambers was found unconscious Sunday evening at her home in Canyon Country, said Los Angeles County coroner’s spokesman Ed Winter.

The cause of death is under investigation, but foul play is not suspected and an autopsy is pending.

Throughout the ’70s and ’80s, Chambers was one of the biggest names in the porn industry, ranked by Playboy magazine as one of the top 100 sex stars of the 20th century and named one of the top 10 adult film stars of all time by Adult Video News.

GO TO FULL STORY… Read the rest

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Utah Reforms Bizarre Liquor Laws, Adds a Few News Ones

By on March 10, 2009 in News 0

Getting a drink in Utah is going to get a little easier. New legislation will eliminate the private club membership requirement. It will also retire the so-called “Zion Curtain,” a wall — often made of plexiglass — that separates the server from the customer, preventing the server from handing the drink directly to the customer and forcing the server to walk around the wall.

However, there are also some new twists. For instance, new restaurants must have a separate room where drinks must be mixed out of the view of the public. Really.

GO TO FULL STORY… Read the rest

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Chinese Sailors in Underwear Harass United States Ship

By on March 9, 2009 in News 0

Five Chinese vessels sailed to within twenty-five feet of an American surveillance ship in international waters, and the sailors aboard those ships engaged in actions the Pentagon calls illegal, unprofessional, and dangerous. The Chinese sailors waves flags, dropped pieces of wood in the path of the American ship, and tried to hook cables towing the ship’s sonar equipment. The crew of the American ship responded by spraying the Chinese sailors with a fires hose. In response, the Chinese sailors… stripped to their underwear.

GO TO FULL STORY… Read the rest

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Bobby Jindal — Exorcist!

By on March 5, 2009 in News 0

While everyone was comparing Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal to 30 Rock‘s Kenneth the Page following his awkward delivery of the Republican response to Obama’s address to congress, there is another pop cultural comparison one could make that might be even more valid.

Instead of “Boddy Jindal is Kenneth the Page,” maybe “Bobby Jindal is Father Merrin” would be a better comparison. After all, it’s not certain if Bobby Jindal was ever any sort of page.

It is, however, certain that he is some kind of part-time exorcist, having participated in at least one exorcism.

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FBI Takes Sudden New Interest in ‘Tylenol Man’

By on February 5, 2009 in News 0

In 1982 seven people who took cyanide laced Tylenol in the Chicago area died. It trigged a national scare and recall, eventually resulting in the tamper-proof packaging of drugs we have today. Authorities have long suspected that James W. Lewis was the man responsible for the tampering, but he was only ever found guilty of trying to extort the manufacturer of Tylenol. He said he was trying to exploit the crisis.

Lewis, however, has had a very odd life. In 1978 he was charged with murdering and dismembering a man in Kansas City, MO. That case, however, was thrown out. Decades later he was jailed on rape charges, but was freed when the victim refused to testify.

Now the FBI has suddenly taken a new interest in Lewis’ possible connection to the decades-old Tylenol case.

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‘Famous Monsters’ Editor Forry Ackerman Dies at 92

By on December 6, 2008 in News 0

Legendary science fiction fan Forrest J Ackerman died Dec. 4 of heart failure at the age of 92.

Best known for editing the hugely influential Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, Mr. Ackerman was also a literary agent for Ray Bradbury and L. Ron Hubbard among others.

Although he is best known for Famous Monsters magazine and coining the term “sci-fi,” Ackerman was also fluent in Esperanto, a collector of science fiction and horror memorabilia, a friend of Anton LaVey’s, an atheist, and an honorary lesbian.

Though this NYT obituary doesn’t cover all of this, a simple web search should find more information.

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