Saturday, April 30, 2005

School Mistakes Huge Burrito for a Weapon 

A call about a possible weapon at a middle school prompted police to put armed officers on rooftops, close nearby streets and lock down the school. All over a giant burrito.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:08 PM

Wales' Da Vinci Code tome awaits valuation 

THE DISCOVERY in Wales of a mysterious 17th century manuscript called The Genealogy of Jesus Christ has caused a storm in church, collecting and academic circles.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:57 PM

Friday, April 29, 2005

The bamboo bicycle! 

I want one.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:35 PM

Political Wire: Wellstone Campaign Fliers Appear 

What the hell?

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:14 PM

Italy, U.S. Disagree on Agent's Iraq Death  

That's a shocker.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:53 PM

Scientists Say Everyone Can Read Minds  

In 1996, three neuroscientists were probing the brain of a macaque monkey when they stumbled across a curious cluster of cells in the premotor cortex, an area of the brain responsible for planning movements. The cluster of cells fired not only when the monkey performed an action, but likewise when the monkey saw the same action performed by someone else. The cells responded the same way whether the monkey reached out to grasp a peanut, or merely watched in envy as another monkey or a human did.

Because the cells reflected the actions that the monkey observed in others, the neuroscientists named them "mirror neurons."

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:52 PM

Men Who Claimed to Find Treasure Arrested  

A group of men who made national headlines by claiming they found a buried treasure worth up to $125,000 was charged Friday with stealing the collection of old currency from a barn where they were working.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:49 PM

Have you seen the beast of Green Drive? 

Sightings have been made of a creature the size of a labrador, but resembling a rabbit, along the popular beauty spot's walk.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:33 PM

Thursday, April 28, 2005

Doomsayers Say Benedict Fits World End Prophecy  

Booga booga!

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:22 PM

Mystery of Jack the Ripper may finally be solved  

More on the Welsh Ripper.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:27 PM

Another Lost Opportunity  

A convicted terrorist was providing U.S. officials with very specific information about a terrorist attack three months before 9/11.

In the spring of 2001, one of the U.S. government’s most valuable terror informants gave the FBI a far more alarming account of Al Qaeda plans to attack inside the United States than has ever been publicly disclosed, according to newly available court documents.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:17 PM

IRAQ: Doctors warn of increasing deformities in newborn babies 

Doctors in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, have reported a significant increase in deformities among newborn babies.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:12 PM

Tessie pops up for an afternoon appearance 

Each Tahoe Tessie sighting adds to the mythology of the lake's beloved legendary creature.

The legend is so prevalent that Beth Douglas, of Sacramento, thought Tessie sightings happen everyday in Tahoe.

That's why Douglas didn't blink at her friend Ron Talmage's reaction last Friday afternoon to a dark shape undulating at the lake's surface about 100 yards off Tahoe Park Beach.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:56 PM

MIND READING MACHINE? 

What am I thinking now?

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:49 PM

Do you believe in fairies? 

If you had asked your great-great-grandmother if she believed in fairies, she would have looked at you askance. Believe in fairies? Of course she did!

Ninety-five per cent of Scots continued to believe in fairies right up until the middle of the 19th century. These were not the diminutive, be-winged fairies of 1800s children's books. No, these were strange folk who bewitched you, killed your cattle and kidnapped your wives and daughters.

Link found at the Anomalist.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:12 PM

Ancient Manuscript Discovery has 'Da Vinci Code' Touch 

An ancient document likened to something which could have been featured in best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code was being analysed at a top auction house for its significance today.

The manuscript, believed to date from the 17th century, contains biographical details of every person in the Bible.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:09 PM

Pabst Blue Ribbon Condenser Mic Microphone 

Very cool.

Link found at the Make Zine Blog.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:27 PM

MAKE: Blog: Hacking in Iraq, Interview with Jake Appelbaum 

Very interesting.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:21 PM

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 'Extinct' woodpecker found alive 

The spectacular ivory-billed woodpecker, which was declared extinct in 1920, has been found alive in North America, Science magazine reports.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:10 PM

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

How to make a Coin Ring 

Cool little how-to for all you crafty people out there.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:41 PM

This is the Dead Land...(Zodiac/Joseph Newton Chandler III) 

Good article on the Zodiac from the Dark Side.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:51 PM

Bigfoot video sold to TV! 

Relatives say a northern Manitoba ferry operator has sold an unnamed U.S. television show his video footage of a large, dark figure that some are describing as Bigfoot.

See also this press release: Michigan Author Declares Bigfoot Real.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:46 PM

Putting a Face to the Yeti 

Storyteller Media Group, producers of the cult animal mystery investigative series Animal X, say they have on tape the face of a Big Foot - also known as Yetis or Sasquatch. The elusive 2-metre tall apes claim to have been seen by many people but have never been documented on film.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:39 PM

Bush's X-Files 

From the X-files of political conspiracy theory, here's a nasty thought: What if Bush and Karl Rove aren't really expecting to win on Social Security?

What if this whole campaign and road show is a grand diversion designed to keep Democrats, and especially progressives and the labor movement, all worked up and focused on saving Social Security, while the White House and congressional Republicans (and their quizling Democratic supporters like Joe Lieberman) do major damage in myriad other areas.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:34 PM

Monsters, Myths and Mystery: Great Canadian Legends  

A potpourri of Canadian weirdness.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:27 PM

The Mystery of Hollywood's Dead Republican 

Gay Republican drug addict election rigger . . .family values in action!

Thanks to Hex Correspondent Ian for the tip.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:25 PM

2 want to find GOP mystery man 

From the description -- short, stocky, bald -- he sounds like George Costanza..

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:00 PM

Monticello man finds gravestones in backyard 

You just never know what might turn up underneath the backyard of a 100-year old house.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:54 PM

Great Polar Mystery Solved 

One of the greatest mysteries of polar exploration—whether American Robert Peary was really the first person to reach the North Pole—has been solved.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:43 PM

UCLA Researchers Produce Nuclear Fusion 

A tabletop experiment created nuclear fusion - long seen as a possible clean energy solution - under lab conditions, scientists reported.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:42 PM

'Radar Anomaly' Prompts Bush Protection 

UFO perhaps?

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:20 PM

Black Student Confesses To Sending Hate Mail 

Police say an African-American female student has confessed to sending threatening letters targeting fellow minority students at her small Christian university, apparently to convince her parents the school was too dangerous for her to stay.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:29 AM

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Flesh chunks found in Iowa water lines 

Ewwwwwwwwwwwww . . .

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:34 PM

Flesh chunks found in Iowa water lines 

Ewwwwwwwwwwwww . . .

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:33 PM

British Gardener Unearths Major Bronze Age Hoard 

A man landscaping his garden in eastern England has unearthed a major hoard of tools and weapons dating back nearly 3,000 years, an archaeologist revealed on Tuesday.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:00 PM

Men Dig Up Buried Treasure Worth $100,000 

Two Massachusetts men digging around a tree have uncovered buried treasure.

They found the loot in a wooden box. It contained $100, $1 , $2 and $20 bills, all dating as far back as 1899.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:58 PM

Rice changed terrorism report 

A state department report which showed an increase in terrorism incidents around the world in 2004 was altered to strip it of its pessimistic statistics, it emerged yesterday.
The country-by-country report, Patterns of Global Terrorism, has come out every year since 1986, accompanied by statistical tables.

This year's edition showed a big increase, from 172 significant terrorist attacks in 2003 to 655 in 2004.

Much of the increase took place in Iraq, contradicting recent Pentagon claims that the insurgency there is waning.

Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, ordered the report to be withdrawn and a new one issued minus the statistics.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:31 PM

Monday, April 25, 2005

DeLay woes prompt rush to refile forms  

Members of Congress are rushing to amend their travel and campaign records, fearing that the controversy over House Majority Leader Tom DeLay will trigger an ethics war that will bring greater scrutiny to their own travel and official activities.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:19 PM

A Big, Hairy, Wild Idea: Bigfoot 

My heart leapt into my mouth. I slammed my car into gear and hit the gas. As soon as I came into phone range, I called one of my friends and choked out a conversation that went something like: "You ... I saw ... I don't know ... It was big and hairy and it smelled ...''

I was hyperventilating and laughing and frightened so badly I was crying. The diagnosis: I had just seen bigfoot.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:06 PM

Cleopatra’s demise investigated 

Queen Cleopatra, celebrated for her love affairs with Roman rulers Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony, inherited the throne of Egypt at age 17 and dodged assassination to rule for over 20 years. But to this day, her death on Aug 12, 30 BC, at the age of 39 remains shrouded in mystery.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:50 PM

Washington's pistols 

Two eightenth century saddle pistols never before seen by the public, which France's Marquis de Lafayette presented to George Washington and were later owned by President Andrew jackson, were unvelied April 24.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:48 PM

Question remains of Wendy's finger origin 

Authorities who allege a Las Vegas woman planted a human finger in her Wendy's chili may have a difficult time convicting her of an illegal hoax, experts said Monday.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:44 PM

The Rational Shaman 

This is a 2002 interview with writer Alan Moore but still a great read.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:32 PM

A "volunteer" police state 

Why were we forced out of Bush's Social Security talk? And why won't the White House identify that fake Secret Service agent who stopped us?

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:22 PM

DeLay Airfare Was Charged To Lobbyist's Credit Card 

The airfare to London and Scotland in 2000 for then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was charged to an American Express card issued to Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist at the center of a federal criminal and tax probe, according to two sources who know Abramoff's credit card account number and to a copy of a travel invoice displaying that number.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:12 PM

Bath Bombs! 

Something for the kiddies.

Link found at boing boing.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:15 PM

German crooner's megaphone-style covers of modern rock 

Freaking hysterical.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:12 PM

Ancient Treasures for Sale 

Do antique dealers preserve the past or steal it?


As you read this, criminals somewhere in the world are destroying portions of mankind's past. With backhoe and shovel, chainsaw and crowbar, they are wrenching priceless objects from sites in the mountains of Peru, the coasts of Sicily, and the deserts of Iraq. Brutal and uncaring, these robbers leave behind a wake of decapitated statues, mutilated temples, and pillaged trenches where archaeologists were seeking clues to little-understood civilizations. The results of this looting include disfigured architectural monuments, vanished aesthetic objects, and an incalculable loss of information about the past. And it shows no signs of diminishing.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:20 PM

Bobby Clarke Bigfoot Video - Don't Believe the Hype!? 

It seems some news services are scrambling for updates on the recent Bobby Clarke Bigfoot video, and a statement on the case made by James Hare, a zoology professor at the University of Manitoba is apparently the best they`ve found. Mr.Clarke is refusing interviews for the time being.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:05 PM

Chicago U Prof to Lead Volunteers in Search of Genghis Khan Tomb 

Press release.

L. Orgil, President of Skybrite International announced today that Prof. John E. Woods of the University of Chicago has agreed to be the lecturer for a tour of Mongolia this summer that revolves around the search for the tomb of Genghis Khan.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:02 PM

Former Amityville Officer Recalls Massacre  

Ken Gosline saw the genuine horror of Amityville, and it had nothing to do with swarms of flies, walls that dripped blood or toilets that gurgled black goo. Nor did it appear on a movie screen.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:57 PM

Mystery airships over Illinois!  

Book review of Weird Illinois.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:56 PM

Evidence of Mountain Lions Still Sparse in Missouri  

The Conservation Department is committed to documenting cougar sightings, but in most cases the evidence just isn't there.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:49 PM

"Novak lied" theory apparently gathering strength 

For some time, the big mystery in the Novak-Plame-gate scandal has been why douchebag of liberty Robert Novak has not been forced to reveal his source.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:25 PM

How to Survive a Zombie Attack  

I finally saw Dawn of the Dead (2004), and I just have to wonder, did these people even think about how they would survive a zombie attack? Since we've had a rash of zombie movies lately - 28 Day, Shaun of the Dead - I think someone needs to publish a zombie survival guide to help these people out. And that someone is me, because I for one don't welcome our new zombie overlords.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:49 AM

Fake GOP letters 

The next time you read your letters to the editor page, remember this.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:48 AM

Mind-reading machine knows what you see 

Okay, what am I looking at now?

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:18 AM

Secret Service records raise new questions about discredited conservative reporter 

In what is unlikely to stem the controversy surrounding disgraced White House correspondent James Guckert, the Secret Service has furnished logs of the writer’s access to the White House after requests by two Democratic congressmembers.

The documents, obtained by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) through a Freedom of Information Act request, reveal Guckert had remarkable access to the White House. Though he wrote under the name Jeff Gannon, the records show that he applied with his real name.

"Jeff Gannon" apparently came and went at the White House as he pleased, with little or no oversight. In our supposedly security-minded media culture you would think this would be a big story. Now type in "Jeff Gannon" into Google News and see how many hits you get concerning the FOIA documents. I got three, one from France. Kudos to the Raw Story for doing what our media seems unwiling or unable to do.

The question remains: why did "Jeff Gannon" have such remarkable access to the White House?

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:14 AM

Exploding toads baffle experts 

That headline just about sums it up.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:40 AM

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Inventor Creates Soundless Sound System 

Elwood "Woody" Norris pointed a metal frequency emitter at one of perhaps 30 people who had come to see his invention. The emitter - an aluminum square - was hooked up by a wire to a CD player. Norris switched on the CD player.

"There's no speaker, but when I point this pad at you, you will hear the waterfall," said the 63-year-old Californian.

And one by one, each person in the audience did, and smiled widely.

Norris' HyperSonic Sound system has won him an award coveted by inventors - the $500,000 annual Lemelson-MIT Prize. It works by sending a focused beam of sound above the range of human hearing. When it lands on you, it seems like sound is coming from inside your head.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:39 PM

Exploring Tai Chi -- Author Details History, True Purpose Behind Popular Form of Exercise 

Press release.

In recent years, the ancient Chinese martial arts have seen a revival with a resurgence of concern over good health. Many practice Tai Chi, a breathing exercise, but few realize it is a fighting method, an ancient secret divulged by Peter Jaw in his new book, Tai Ji Quan: Theory, Practice & Fighting Methods (now available through AuthorHouse).

Known as a widely practiced form of breathing that is known to help arthritis, Tai Ji Quan or Tai Chi was actually created as new method of combat. Developed by Chen Wang Ting, a Chinese general from the 1600s, the method was brought to Beijing by Yang Lu Chan, who remained an undefeated warrior. His success made Tai Ji Quan widely popular.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:12 PM

Swara Yoga: how to harmonise breath 

Research has shown that air flow in the turbinates in the nose triggers neuronal responses that set up reflexes throughout the body.

See also Yoga: the new wonder(?)drug.

And Dogs get the yoga treatment.

Pope admires Indian culture, yoga.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:46 PM

Cabinet to get report on lost city in August 

The Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry will submit to the Cabinet in August a report on the initial findings of its expedition to the lost city of Kota Gelanggi in Johor.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:09 PM

Treasure found on Haddiscoe Island 

When Roger Cole stepped out of his Land-Rover on Haddiscoe Island, near Yarmouth, he put his foot on what he thought was a pile of old Co-op dividend tokens.

On closer inspection, the foreman of the flood defence work site realised they were silver coins and quickly picked up around 200 of them.

An expert from Norfolk Landscape Archaeology (NLA) was called in and found a further 100 in the tracks made by a bulldozer.

The coins are dated between 1550 and 1646, and the theory of NLA finds liaison officer Dr Adrian Marsden, based at The Castle Museum, Norwich, is that they were buried for safety during the English Civil War.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:06 PM

Satanic letters in Olean don't have high priest's backing 

The high priest of the Church of Satan denounced letters left in Olean last week, which asked for new Satanists to "interrogate the laws of man and of God."

An unknown person affixed several page-long, 632-word manifestoes - denouncing God and praising Satanism - to the doors of Olean High School, Olean Middle School and near the Olean City School District athletic fields on April 15.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:02 PM

Reporter out to explain the paranormal 

Seated in the passenger seat of a Kia station wagon, waiting for the ghosts of a slain Boy Scout Troop to emerge from the woods, I couldn't help but reflect on how I'd arrived in this position.

Ghost-hunting, after all, does not appear in the job description for most entry-level reporters.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:58 PM

Child brides and vampire names: Bizarre the norm in mass murder trial 

The tale emerging from the trial of Marcus Wesson rivals an Anne Rice novel, with testimony of incest, child brides, vampire aliases, coffin beds and an apocalyptic obsession that led a one-time bank teller to turn his extended family into a reclusive cult.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:56 PM

Comic Book Superheroes Hit Six Figures  

Jon Berk will admit it straight off: He has a thing for Spider-Man. In fact, the 53-year-old civil trial attorney in Hartford, Conn., has been enjoying comics and superheroes since the age of 7. But it was not until his law school days that he began seriously collecting them. Over 30 years, he has amassed some 18,000 comic books and 200 pieces of related original artwork now valued between $3 million and $4 million.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:53 PM

Vietnam's 'Professor Turtle' Keeps Lake Legend Alive 

Meet "Professor Turtle," keeper of The Lake of the Returned Sword and its mysterious giant reptile.

Zoologist Ha Dinh Duc, one of Hanoi's best-known characters and world famous in his field for tracking the huge turtle living in the center of Vietnam's capital, is retiring soon.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:38 PM

Fake Hospital Inspectors Probed 

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies are looking into incidents in which people masquerading as unannounced inspectors were found poking around three hospitals in Boston, Detroit and Los Angeles.

In each case the impostors were stopped by security guards or hospital staff, and then either left or were expelled. No one has been arrested, and neither the identity of the intruders nor their motives are known.

posted by Prof. Hex at 5:27 PM

"Jeff Gannon" agrees to take a DNA test 

To prove he's who he says he is . . or was, or still is. Oh hell, I don't know.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:26 PM

Love Garden says goodbye to a friend  

Cayenne, R.I.P.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:36 PM

The man who went to search for America 

Thirteen years before the 'Mayflower' set sail, Captain Bartholomew Gosnold helped to establish an English-speaking colony in Virginia.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:56 AM

Shakespeare portrait is a fake 

The mystery surrounding a famous portrait of William Shakespeare has been solved, say experts. Historians have disagreed about the origins of The Flower Portrait, which bears the inscription 1609.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:48 AM

Friday, April 22, 2005

Weather info could go dark 

Do you want a seven-day weather forecast for your ZIP code? Or hour-by-hour predictions of the temperature, wind speed, humidity and chance of rain? Or weather data beamed to your cellphone?

That information is available for free from the National Weather Service

But under a bill pending in the U.S. Senate, it might all disappear.

The bill, introduced last week by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., would prohibit federal meteorologists from competing with companies such as AccuWeather and The Weather Channel, which offer their own forecasts through paid services and free ad-supported Web sites.

Of course, these companies get their forecasts from the NWS, so taxpayers would be supporting their businesses with no renumeration.

If anyone would like to contact Senator Rick "man-on-dog" Santorum his number in Washington is 202-224-6324. Give him a call and tell him to stop supporting corporate welfare. AccuWeather is one of his supporters.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:52 PM

US arrest over chilli finger case 

A culprit has been fingered.

posted by Prof. Hex at 3:08 PM

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Is 'Laocoon' a Michelangelo forgery? 

A scholar has suggested that "Laocoon," a fabled sculpture whose unearthing in 1506 has deeply influenced thinking about the ancient Greeks and the nature of the visual arts, may well be a Renaissance forgery - possibly by Michelangelo himself.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:52 PM

Ancient Chinese secret combats stress and aging 

After a day of being pounded on by children, the wooden gym floor at Jane Addams Elementary School in Royal Oak gets a chance to relax as the plaintive sounds of violin and flute in Chinese music soothe the air. The music is a calming soundtrack for the 24 Oakland County residents, many seniors, as they glide slowly across the floor practicing a form of decades old Chinese martial arts.

The instructor, 54-year-old Han Hoong Wang, moved to Royal Oak in 1986 in order to give her daughter educational opportunities she didn't have in China. That's when Wang began teaching Yang Style Tai Chi here.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:46 PM

Pre-Pharaoh necropolis found 

Archaeologists have found a sprawling necropolis in southern Egypt thought to be more than 5,000 years old and containing evidence of an early form of mummification, Egypt's antiquities chief said yesterday.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:44 PM

Another look at Hunter Thompson's death 

The recent slam of articles on Hunter Thompson's death has brought new information and a new question as to its cause. One article by Tim Schmitt, "Death of a Conspiracy - Johnny Gosch, Jeff Gannon, Hunter Thompson and the unraveling of a troubling tale," is truly troubling. It comes from an alternative paper called Pointblank, no less, in Des Moines, Iowa, whose doors were shut and Schmitt fired the day after publication.

What's more, if I found Thompson's suicide hard to believe originally, this article was ringing bells, reporting that Hunter Thompson directed a snuff film involving Satanic, homosexual adults and children. Yet Schmitt admittedly culled this information from the 1994 edition of John DeCamp's The Franklin Cover-Up - Child Abuse, Satanism, and Murder in Nebraska, which led me to read the updated 2005 edition.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:42 PM

WEB SEARCH FOR LOST 'WATER MONSTER' BOWL  

Historians have launched a hi-tech search for an ancient bowl which was found in Lincolnshire but has been missing for 130 years.

The Royal Society of Antiquaries is posting a 19th century drawing of the eighth century Witham Bowl on its new website, being launched tomorrow.

The silver artefact was found in the River Witham, at Washingborough, near Lincoln, in 1816.

It is a hanging bowl from the Middle Saxon period and features a mysterious animal at its centre - thought to be a dog or a water monster.


Link found at the Anomalist.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:27 PM

MK ULTRA - Bid to sue over LSD rejected 

A federal judge has tentatively ordered dismissal of a $12 million lawsuit against the U.S. government, filed by a former deputy marshal who said he was unknowingly drugged with LSD as part of a CIA mind-control program before trying to hold up a San Francisco bar nearly a half century ago.

In earlier rulings, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel rejected the government's attempts to dismiss Wayne Ritchie's suit and said he had shown that a CIA mind-control experiment code-named MKULTRA was operating in San Francisco in December 1957, when Ritchie says he was drugged.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:26 AM

Priest named in lawsuit that alleges ritual abuse 

A Toledo Roman Catholic diocesan priest charged in the 1980 slaying of a nun was accused yesterday in a civil lawsuit of repeatedly torturing and raping a young girl in ritual abuse ceremonies at a north-side church.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:20 AM

England's Mysterious Patron Saint 

St. George, bacon salesman.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:14 AM

Skunk ape movie debuts at Bombay Club 

Inquiring minds wanted to know, so they came from near and far to satisfy their curiosity, have a little cheer, and meet the man who has seen the skunk ape.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:09 AM

Bigfoot tape thrills northern community 

Hundreds of residents of Norway House First Nation in Manitoba are convinced the Bigfoot legend is real after a local man captured a strange creature on videotape.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:08 AM

Ratzinger: Grand Inquisitor & Pedophile Protector 

With all this talk of the prophecies for the next pope, I’d like to make a little papal prediction of my own. My money happens to be on Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - mainly because his name has come up time and again in unrelated research over the past year, and he just so happens to be a very scary candidate.

Theres also a nice essay on the new Pope over at Rigorous Intuition.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:06 AM

More Questions Surfacing in the 30 Year Murder Mystery of BTK 

After Dennis Rader's first appearance in March, one of his lawyers talked with KAKE about filing motions.

"A competency motion is going to have to be filed and at this point. There's no telling when that trial is going to take place. A lot of things could change between now and then, but we will certainly be asking for a change of venue," said Jama Mitchell.

That was then, this is now.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:56 AM

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Was Jack the Ripper Welsh? 

A NEW book has claimed that Whitechapel serial murderer Jack the Ripper was a former Swansea GP who killed his victims in a crazed attempt to cure infertility.

And the author of the new work, Uncle Jack, Tony Williams, is a relative of surgeon Sir John Williams, who he claims was behind the orgy of bloody killings.

Sweet.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:33 AM

The Lost City of Atlantis - an act of blasphemy 

And speaking of Atlantis, check out this letter to the editor.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:29 AM

Canadian discovers Atlantis Using Personal Computer  

It's a press release but you can visit his personal site at Atlantis Uncovered.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:26 AM

'Ape-man' meets Glades showman 

David Shealy's life mission is singular, a little lonely, and sometimes jinxes him with the ladies. None of this may be surprising, given that for more than a decade Shealy has tried to convince the world that outsized, lumbering ape-men call the Everglades home.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:22 AM

Big cat fear after foxes torn apart 

MYSTERIOUS beast behind the mutilation of foxes is raising speculation a big cat is on the prowl.

Laura Downes, 47, of Westmount Road, Eltham, discovered a dead fox in her back garden and thought there was nothing sinister involved.

But when she looked out an hour later nothing was left except clumps of fur, scattered around the garden.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:17 AM

Gyllenhaal, Downey Align for 'Zodiac' 

David Fincher's Zodiac killer film looks like a go.

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:15 AM

Monday, April 18, 2005

Missouri company makes/restores organs old-fashioned way 

At 6 a.m. on Dec. 18, 2001, a lone custodian at New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine smelled smoke and quickly called security. By 7 a.m., the world's largest cathedral was the scene of a five-alarm fire.

Firefighters squelched the fire by 9:30 a.m., but by then the church had more than $40 million in damage.

Everything, including priceless statuary, paintings and tapestries, was burned, obscured with grime or covered with soot, including the church's four organs.

The organs were smoke-encrusted and unplayable. One, an Ernest M. Skinner organ from 1910 that was revised by Aeolian-Skinner in the 1950s, is one of America's most important pipe organs, widely admired for its color and mixtures and superbly maintained by the church's staff.

It was a $3 million job.

To bad my friends Kris and Shelly didn't get this job. They could have retired.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:29 PM

'Mystery stone' unearthed at Fort Knox  

Fort Knox is the state's most visited historic site, but the thousands of people who walk the grounds of the 150-year-old fort never realize that there is a hidden Fort Knox, quite literally beneath their feet.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:24 PM

Supreme Court to Hear Appeal on Hallucinogenic Tea 

The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it would decide whether the federal government must allow the U.S. branch of a Brazilian-based religion to import a hallucinogenic tea for use as a sacrament.

posted by Prof. Hex at 9:20 PM

Rome judge to deliver ruling on killing of 'God's banker' 

As the cardinals go into conclave tomorrow a Rome judge will begin delivering his verdict on the murder of Roberto Calvi, the banker whose spectacular financial collapse cast a shadow over the early years of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II. Judge Orlando Villoni must decide whether there is sufficient evidence to justify a full trial for four defendants charged with conspiring to murder Calvi and suspending his body from scaffolding under Blackfriars Bridge in London in what appeared to be a macabre symbolic warning to the controversial banker's associates.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:39 AM

1987 finger mystery just a lot of tripe 

A finger-in-the-menudo mystery from 1987.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:11 AM

Friday, April 15, 2005

He talks to Edison 

"I converse with Thomas Edison pretty regularly. I do it telepathically and through a Ouija Board. Did you know one of his favorite poets was Edgar Allen Poe? That's one of things I liked about tonight. This is called 'Nevermore' and that's a line from one of Poe's poems."

Borri ran his right hand through his hair. He leaned close.

"Edison is not happy with current technology. He really doesn't like the pop industry. He thinks there are too many fakes being passed off as artists."

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:04 PM

At 101, Former Ziegfeld Girl Plans Return 

She began dancing on Broadway while the doughboys were still fighting in France. In the 1920s, she was Al Jolson's leading lady, and later was the first to perform "Singin' in the Rain" years before Gene Kelly.

On Friday, 101-year-old Doris Eaton Travis, a former Ziegfeld Girl, was back on a 42nd Street stage, rehearsing for Broadway's 19th annual fund-raiser to fight AIDS.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:01 PM

Nevada woman's finger doesn't match one found in Wendy's chili 

Uh, yeah . . .

posted by Prof. Hex at 10:56 PM

All in the family 

Conservative values in action!

For conservatives, Hillsdale is meant to be a model for how higher education should work.

But Lissa Roche's suicide has ruptured the college, guaranteeing that Hillsdale will long be known as the school whose prominent president, George Roche III, allegedly conducted a 19-year affair with his daughter-in-law, who was the mother of his grandson and an employee of the college.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:21 AM

Thursday, April 14, 2005

Man wants to exorcise Mt. Diablo 

A deeply religious Oakley man has petitioned the federal government to rename Mount Diablo, calling the current name a profane salute to Satan.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:10 AM

CLASSIFIED DEFENSE SPENDING CONTINUES TO GROW 

Classified spending in the proposed 2006 defense acquisition budget totals about $28 billion, according to an analysis by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA).


That is nearly double the amount in real dollars that was spent in fiscal year 1995, which was the post-Cold War low for classified defense spending.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:21 AM

Finger in Wendy's chili may be linked to leopard attack 

This story just gets weirder and weirder.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:13 AM

Secretive ritual prompts uproar, controversy  

Marianne Edwards had received her song from the other world, and now, up on Mount Newton, she stripped and backed into the black, frigid pond to purify her body and cleanse the human odors that would offend the spirits.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:00 AM

Arab world is getting its own comic-book heroes 

He's a mild-mannered philosophy professor who wears button-down shirts, lives in a drab, anonymous apartment and pronounces maxims such as "There is no glory without virtue" and "Free will pushes toward creativity." But beneath the meek, pedantic exterior lies a buff, masked fighter in tights. He is endowed with supernatural strength and a mission to "fight evil until the end of time."

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:58 AM

First 'unexplained healings' come to light 

According to the Scotsman newspaper, the Italian press is already discussing various alleged miracles which should help Pope John Paul II gain sainthood in record time.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:55 AM

Mysterious appearances a warning 

The mysterious appearance of clams in two locations in the country has been interpreted by experts as portending a natural disaster, two Bahasa Malaysia dailies reported.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:51 AM

Savetoby.com | Only YOU have the power to Save Toby! 

$50,000 by June 30th or the bunny gets it.

Link found at Cruel.com.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:27 AM

Monday, April 11, 2005

Is Mozart the mastermind behind mysterious music? 

The Musikverein, one of Europe's most renowned concert houses, is investigating whether it has discovered a score by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian state television reported.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:50 PM

Build your own car! 

I have no idea if these are street legal but they sure are cool.

Link found at Jalopnik.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:54 PM

Bionic suit offers wearers super-strength 

A ROBOT suit has been developed that could help older people or those with disabilities to walk or lift heavy objects.

Dubbed HAL, or hybrid assistive limb, the latest versions of the suit will be unveiled this June at the 2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan, which opened last month. A commercial product is slated for release by the end of the year.

Video is available here.

Link found at Sploid.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:46 PM

Eisner's Spirit on Film 

Regular readers of this blog will remember that I'm a big Will Eisner fan. His seminal creation, the Spirit, is coming to the big screen. After seeing Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's Sin City this weekend, I have high hopes.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:35 PM

Found: Hitler's horrors in full colour 

"We believe Hitler was the most filmed person in the world up to his death."

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:15 AM

THE BRAD BLOG: "CLINT CURTIS PASSES POLYGRAPH EXAM!" 

The Brad Blog is reporting that Clint Curtis, the Florida whistleblowing software designer who has charged in a sworn affidavit that he was asked by U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) to create an electronic vote-rigging software prototype in 2000, has passed a polygraph test regarding his allegations.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:38 AM

Friday, April 08, 2005

Loch Ness Monster Finally Identified 

This is press release, but an interesting one.

According to American Forensic Artist and private investigator William McDonald, the famous lake monster known as "Nessie" is neither a plesiosaur or prehistoric reptile, but a real, predatory species of water animal possessing the ability to hunt on land.

In the winter months of 2004, McDonald photographed tracks left by a large animal on a mud-covered Loch Ness shoreline in an area south of Invermoriston, just off the A-82 highway. Weeks later, McDonald was contacted by two American university students who had just returned from a Spring Break trip to Britain. The students provided McDonald with video tape footage of the remains of a 200-pound Highland red deer carcass, found in a boat-only accessible area known to local fishermen as a “Kill Zone.” The deer appears to have been torn in half, its pelt ravaged. (there are no bears in the Scottish Highlands). But the most shocking find was a shed animal tooth – found wedged between the deer’s exposed ribcage. The tooth is barbed, well-rooted, and measured nearly four inches in length!

Be sure to check out the picture of "Nessie's lost tooth". The tooth was allegedly impounded by a "local water bailiff."

You can check out pictures of Nessie's footprints and the tooth at www.lochnesstooth.com.

It's really one wicked looking tooth.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:39 AM

Illegal organ trafficking 'not a myth' 

Countries like South Africa and Brazil are being preyed upon by a new form of slavery, Nancy Scheper-Hughes said at the 2005 Anthropology Program Spring Lecture on Thursday night in the Architecture Building’s auditorium.

"Whole and [partial] body parts are being traded," she said.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:08 AM

Get em Johnny Boy!  

Johnny Gosch, Jeff Gannon, Hunter Thompson and the unraveling of a troubling tale.

Noreen Gosch sits in a booth at the West Des Moines Village Inn, nursing a cup of coffee and managing, despite her larger-than-life personality, to blend into the surroundings and keep a low profile in the almost empty restaurant. She is open with her thoughts and willing to share what information she can, yet she remains guarded - cautious and thoughtful in a manner often mistaken as cold and standoffish. She thinks carefully as she speaks about her son, Johnny, and the players in a bizarre conspiracy surrounding his disappearance in 1982 that continues to evolve, and may finally be on the verge of breaking down.

"Just because you don't want to believe something is true," says Noreen slowly, "that doesn't mean it's not true."

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:54 AM

Darth Rader 

Wade Hampton superimposed the jailhouse mug shot of BTK suspect Dennis Rader onto an image of "Star Wars" villain Darth Vader, making his e-mail attachment an instant hit as it was countlessly forwarded around town.

In Manhattan, Kan., about 150 miles northeast of Wichita, Grant Reichert, a columnist for Kansas State University's student newspaper, the Kansas State Collegian, turned the state's recently adopted slogan, "Kansas: As Big As You Think," into this suggestion: "Kansas: BTK-free since February!"

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:47 AM

Ten weird and wonderful health facts 

It is estimated that approximately 120 million acts of heterosexual sex takes place on earth every day. Of these, about 910 000 end in pregnancy.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:43 AM

Mother Has Son Committed For "Vampire Behavior" 

A Brownsville, TX mother said she had to have her son committed after he practiced vampire behavior.

The mother said her son is involved in a teenage "vampire cult" that was planning to kill and bathe in their victim's blood.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:38 AM

Authorities search home of woman who found finger in chili 

The saga of the mysterious finger found in a bowl of Wendy's chili continues.

posted by Prof. Hex at 12:21 AM

Thursday, April 07, 2005

Creator of 'Brenda Starr' cartoon dies 

Dale Messick, whose long-running comic strip "Brenda Starr, Reporter" gave her entry into the male world of the funny pages, has died at age 98.

Young women looked at Brenda and dreamed of adventure. Young men liked the strip, too, and quite a few, thinking they were dealing with one of the boys, asked "Dale" for private sketches of Brenda in sexier poses than a family newspaper could bear. Messick obliged once by sending back a saucy picture of Brenda in a barrel going over Niagara Falls. Attached was a note: "Is this daring enough?"

I found it interesting that the name "Brenda Starr" came from a '30s debutante. Where is she now?

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:01 PM

ROADSIDE RIDDLE: Mystery artifacts showed sense of humor along I-96 

It was a mystery worthy of crop circles or Stonehenge. A stretch of I-96 in Livington County became the palette for a series of bizarre artifacts nailed to roadside trees -- textiles so mundane they were quirky, posted by a prankster (or pranksters?) with humor so banal it might have been genius.

"Boots" announced block letters on a sheet of plywood nailed to a gnarly oak tree just east of the Dorr Road overpass near the Howell exits. Tacked below the word was, sure enough, a worn pair of Brahma work boots. Color: Black. Size: 10 1/2 . Explanation: None.
Love it.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:49 PM

Does Best Buy hate customers? 

Best Buy has customer arrested for using $2 bills. Welcome to America.

Think it's outrageous? Send them a comment at NewsCenter@bestbuy.com or use their online form.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:05 PM

'The Men Who Stare at Goats': True Tales Odd Enough to Stop a Farm Animal's Heart 

A review of Jon Ronson's The Men Who Stare at Goats, a book about the shadowy world of psychic military intelligence. Sounds fascinating. Be sure to visit Ronson's website. The forums are very interesting.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:15 AM

Last dive for Lake Toplitz's Nazi gold 

It has inspired numerous expeditions, several mysterious deaths and plenty of books. But 60 years after Nazi officers hid metal boxes in the depths of Lake Toplitz, a new attempt is being made to recover the Third Reich's fabled lost gold.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:01 AM

Abundant artifacts--Rosicrucian Museum invests in Egyptian history 

A trip to the museum in San Jose.

posted by Prof. Hex at 1:58 AM

Tuesday, April 05, 2005

‘Michigan Triangle’ may be to blame for weird occurrences 

The strange and mysterious from the Wolverine State.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:10 PM

Outsourcing War 

The tales of war, profit, honor, and greed that emerge from the private military industry often read like something out of a Hollywood screenplay. They range from action-packed stories of guns-for-hire fighting off swarms of insurgents in Iraq to the sad account of a private military air crew languishing in captivity in Colombia, abandoned by their corporate bosses in the United States. A recent African "rent-a-coup" scandal involved the son of a former British prime minister, and accusations of war profiteering have reached into the halls of the White House itself.

posted by Prof. Hex at 8:02 PM

Is he Johnny Gosch? 

A rare mention of the Gannon-Guckert-Gosch theory in the mainstream media.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:23 PM

Adventurer's book relives '80s ordeal in Vietnam prison 

As a teenager in 1983, Frederick "Cork" Graham packed his camera bag and headed to Southeast Asia looking for photos, adventure and, eventually, buried treasure.

The treasure Graham was looking for, Captain William Kidd's, was allegedly found by his partner, Richard Knight. His story is chronicled in the book Richard Knight's Treasure! : The True Story of His Extraordinary Quest for Captain Kidd's Cache.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:18 PM

Confederate gold in the High Desert 

A nice article on the Knights of the Golden Circle gold and possible treasure in the Mojave River Valley.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:02 PM

Tarot workshop dispels myths  

All cards were on the table, but this was no poker tournament for the unenlightened.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:50 PM

Engineers Resurrect a 900-year-old Technology  

The last Chinese potter who knew how to create a translucent, blue-green glaze known as "Ru glaze," died more than 900 years ago.

The secrets of this highly prized glaze died with him.

Today, fewer than 100 Ru-glazed ceramics exist. Not many were made because Ru ware was reserved for the 10th to 12th century imperial court, and none have been made during the past 900 years because no one has been able to reproduce the technology that created this delicate, opalescent finish.

That may soon change.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:46 PM

Murdered banker is laid to rest 

The funeral of banker Alistair Wilson, who was shot dead on his doorstep, is due to take place in Nairn.
Mr Wilson, 30, who was married and had two young sons, was gunned down on Sunday, 28 November.

Despite a massive police investigation, detectives have so far been unable to track down his killer.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:38 PM

Soviet and German war dead found 60 years after battle 

The remains of thousands of Soviet and German soldiers killed in a climactic World War II battle outside Berlin are still being unearthed and identified 60 years after the fighting ended.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:36 PM

Monday, April 04, 2005

Rabbis sent to India-Burma border to redeem "lost tribe" of Menashe 

Israel has decided to adopt about 6,000 Indians who claim Jewish ancestry, and plans to send a team of rabbinical judges to formally convert them to Orthodox Judaism, the Haaretz newspaper reported Friday.

The mass conversion, ordered by Israeli Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, will enable members of the group, called the "Bnei Menashe," or children of Manasseh, who claim descent from one of the lost tribes of Israel, to immigrate to Israel, the paper reported.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:21 PM

Keeping an ancient craft alive 

For Hong Seok-hyeon, a maker of Korean traditional swords, the work "seems to be my destiny."
Mr. Hong, 50, who has a studio in Paju, Gyeonggi province, has been making the swords for more than 20 years. He is one of the few people in Korea to make the weapons by hand.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:14 PM

Ancient Mayan entrepreneurs made salt 

Newly unearthed evidence suggests ancient Mayan entrepreneurs working along the coast of what is now Belize distilled salt from seawater and paddled it to inland cities in canoes, all without government control.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:09 PM

Seattle mothers band together to keep the punk spirit alive 

When a purple-haired, tattooed, night-scene-loving punker has a baby, what's a gal to do? Trade her rocker threads and late-night life for khakis and a minivan? Hell no! She finds like-minded ladies raising children.

One such alternative parenting group is Seattle Punkymoms, a Yahoo! group of about 40 that interacts mostly in the virtual world. The group is an offshoot of a national Punkymoms Web site started by Jessica Seymour of Dallas.

posted by Prof. Hex at 7:02 PM

First task of next pope will be to choose a name for himself 

Whoever the next pope is, his first task will be to choose the name he wants to carry during his pontificate, with history and personal faith guiding him in making a choice suitable for the head of the Roman Catholic Church.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:51 PM

Treasure hunter drowns in cave 

A treasure hunter looking for Japanese World War II booty was found dead in Tuburan town last Wednesday, five days after he entered a submerged riverbank cave, officials said.

Nicodemo Yntong dived into the cave last Friday in search of a Buddha statue believed to have been buried by Japanese soldiers during the war, district official Editho Montecalvo said.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:44 PM

All bottled up: Collectors itch to find glass treasures beneath the earth  

Among antique bottle collectors it is a well-known fact that you should never "tunnel." But a few just can’t help themselves.

Spellbound by the prospect of finding the Bottle, the collector digs so frenetically he eventually finds himself in a tunnel. Last year the walls caved in and buried two collectors in Hawaii and Texas.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:41 PM

Using Candles for Magic  

Just don't burn down the house.

posted by Prof. Hex at 6:33 PM

Archaeologist finds 'oldest porn statue' 

And it's not Vanessa Del Rio.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:16 PM

'Eerie' Wick House in Youngstown still holds mystery 

From the outside, Wick House looks like any other restored historic home.

posted by Prof. Hex at 2:05 AM

Saturday, April 02, 2005

'45 jail escape tunnel located 

The 1945 nickel jumped out at archaeologists digging just beyond Eastern State Penitentiary's hulking walls, posing an obvious question: Could one of the 12 inmates who emerged from a carefully dug tunnel in the spring of that year have come up five cents short?

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:50 PM

Novel Raises Awareness of Juarez Deaths 

Occasionally there are news reports of the killing of yet another poor, young woman whose body was found in the desert outside of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
Since 1993 in the border city more than 350 women have been killed- many raped and dismembered- and hundreds more have gone missing, according to author-poet Alicia Gaspar de Alba.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:49 PM

Statistics on Pope John Paul II's Papacy 

In case you were curious.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:47 PM

Festival aims to scare up ghosts in Close 

It is reputed to be one of the most haunted places in Scotland, drawing thousands of amateur ghost-hunters into its dark tunnels every year.

Now a massive scientific experiment is set to find out just how haunted Mary King’s Close really is.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:44 PM

Friday, April 01, 2005

Temple traces in tsunami zone 

The Archaeological Survey of India has unearthed traces of two more temples of the Pallava era near the Shore Temple in Mamallapuram.

posted by Prof. Hex at 4:58 PM

The RIOT Wheel - Single-Wheeled Vehicle 

Very cool. Check it out.

Another cool find from Militant Platypus.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:33 AM

The Horror of Holopaw 

Well, Elisabeth, you wanted a skunk ape, you got a skunk ape.

Link found at The Anomalist.

posted by Prof. Hex at 11:07 AM