The Weekly Poll
Results
The 'Conspiracy Theory... or Fact?' Edition...
"The Vietnam War was fought over a bet that Howard Hughes lost to Aristotle Onassis."
--Jerry Fletcher (Mel 'Sugar Tits' Gibson) - Conspiracy Theory
As you will see at the following website... Conspiracy Planet - The Alternative News & History Network
There's no end to the topics covered. Some are new, some not so much. Some are interesting. Some are outrageous. Some are frightening. Some are merely entertaining... but, make no mistake, each one is believed by someone, somewhere.
Do you have a favorite 'Conspiracy Theory' that you believe in, find hilarious or just would like to know more about?
The ever reliable Adam in Noho was first with...
The whole UFO thing: If there was really something happening at 'Area 51', do you really think our government/military could keep THAT SECRET for 60 YEARS? 60 whole YEARS?
Just in the past 3 month we saw that the military can't keep their own massive slush pile of Iraq war reports off the Internet. 60 yr old extraterrestrials would have surfaced long before this.
(Well, Adam, you may be right about the 'Roswell Incident', but I believe that ETs have been comin' 'round Ol' Terra for quite some time.. and they walk among us this very minute, haha!)
Also, the Bush Administration did not engineer 9/11. They seemed to know about it and were very happy to let it happen, but they did not blow up two massive sky-scrapers. (we saw in the subsequent election cycles that they did gin up false terrorist threats, but you saw how small-scale yet successful it was. The Republicans don't not need to bomb Manhattan to fool mouth-breathing voters).
(Hoo ha! 9/11? There's a veritable 'Industry' out there over that one, I'm tellin' ya!)
mj has a Whopper!
As an audition for the Enquirer. About fifty years ago, there were rumors flying about Marilyn Monroe and various members of clan Kennedy. She and Jack were especially close. So close that Marilyn got preggers. What to do? To help cover up the scandal, they hired body doubles who both tragically died, one by assassination and another by "overdose". They decided to run off and start anew, but the baby would make it difficult. Neither wanted to terminate the pregnancy, but the usual adoption route was also untenable. As they were driving to Canada before taking off for parts unknown, Marilyn went into labor in Detroit. In the hospital where she delivered, a young couple had just suffered the heartbreak of a stillborn girl child. This couple agreed to take the baby of the star and the politician and raise her as their own. That baby grew up to be Madonna.
(Ah, mj... Yer breakin' the hearts of my hometown folk here in Bay City, MI... Madonna being born here is one of three claims to fame that Bay City has. The other two are:
Annie Taylor, a school teacher, who at the age of 63 was the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel...
and... This is so embarrassing, but must be told... The namesake of... Ack... The Bay City Rollers... I'm sorry... Madonna's recollections of Bay City reportedly are few as her family moved down state nearer Detroit when she was quite young. She does say that she recalls it being stinky. That's because her family lived in a lower-middle class area near the Saginaw River appropriately called 'Banks' and there was a small oil refinery nearby. That refinery no longer exists and Bay City actually is a very nice place overall these days...)
MD quoted...
"
Mankind was invented by water as a means of transporting itself from place to place."
- Tom Robbins
(LOL... When I read this the first thing that came to mind was the episode 'Home Soil' from the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation where a microscopic silicon life form calls the humans, "Ugly bags of mostly water!"... and, no... I'm not a Trekkie... I just enjoy the Sci-Fi genre.)
Joe S. (from Manistee-by-the-Lake) averred...
I have no conspiracy theories. All my conspiracies are fact!
(A name, Joe... we need a name fer this beastie!)
And now for myself... My favorite is that Fort Knox doesn't contain any gold...Gold Bars in Fort Knox Are Fake! The reason why it's my favorite is that when I went through Army Basic Training there in 1971 they pumped up the recruits feeling of self-importance by telling us that we would be called upon to defend the Depository in case of attack or attempted theft of the gold. Yeah, right... Fort Knox also was the Armor Training Center and there were a bazillion tanks with crews available. Highly unlikely they'd want a bunch of half trained 18-19 year olds running around getting in the way. But, it was still fun then to think that we had such an important responsibility...
So, there it is... Thanks to the responders... As ever was, Yer the Best!
BadToTheBoneBob
~~~~~~~~~~~
New Question
The 'Pelosi Problem...' Edition
The new year will begin with a new Speaker of the House (No doubt, 'Tan-boy' Boehner, R-Orange). Nancy Pelosi, the outgoing Speaker, has announced her intention of running for Minority Leader of House... Some Democratic Representatives think this is not such a good idea. Rep. Albio Sires (D-NY) said, "We need some new direction, and I think the best way is for her to move on."... Others support Pelosi, "I am confident that under her leadership we will never abandon our principles," said Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ).
Speaker Nancy Pelosi to seek minority leader post
What say You?
A.) Pelosi should be Minority Leader...
B.) Pelosi should step aside...
C.) Get back to me after the holidays...
Send your response to
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: The Fed - Doing It Again (The New York Times)
As Ben Bernanke, the Fed chairman, tries to use monetary policy to aid the economy, he is getting the Obama treatment - and making the Obama response.
Josh Marshall : Those Internal Polls (Talking Points Memo)
By and large, looking across the entire country, the verdict has to be that the public polls got it pretty much right. A bit underestimating Democratic strength on the Senate side and a bit overestimating it on the House side. Overall, what the polls told us to expect is what we got. But perhaps it points to growing problems cropping up on the margins with all the different forces conspiring against accurate public opinion data -- pervasive cell phone use, discount robopolling and all the rest of it.
Connie Schultz: Real Work Doesn't Sit Behind a Desk (Creators Syndicate)
Last Monday, Darwin Cooper looked out at a crowd of several hundred fellow retired autoworkers in Youngstown, Ohio, and started shooting questions.
"How many of you have had surgery for carpal tunnel?" he shouted into the microphone.
Mother Madness (Wall Street Journal)
Spend every moment with your child? Make your own baby food and use cloth diapers? Erica Jong wonders how motherhood became such a prison for modern women.
Lucy Mangan: University challenge (guardian.co.uk)
I'm glad I went to university years ago. If I were doing UCAS now, the only way I could stand out from the crowd would be by telling the truth. And that wouldn't be clever.
Diane Ravitch: The Myth of Charter Schools (New York Review of Books)
There was a time-which now seems distant-when most people assumed that students' performance in school was largely determined by their own efforts and by the circumstances and support of their family, not by their teachers. There were good teachers and mediocre teachers, even bad teachers, but in the end, most public schools offered ample opportunity for education to those willing to pursue it.
NOAM CHOMSKY: Outrage, Misguided (inthesetimes.com)
The grievances are legitimate. For more than 30 years, real incomes for the majority of the population have stagnated or declined while work hours and insecurity have increased, along with debt. Wealth has accumulated, but in very few pockets, leading to unprecedented inequality.
Bill Moyers: Howard Zinn Taught Us That It's OK If We Face Mission Impossible
"If you go and do the right thing NOW, and you do it long enough good things will happen -- something's gonna happen."
Terry Savage: Currency Battles Cheapen Dollar, Deepen Fiscal Hole (creators.com)
Because we're so greatly in debt, the balance of power has shifted. We're hardly in a position anymore to tell China how to set its currency policy. The United States is belatedly learning that "beggars can't be choosers." And that's The Savage Truth.
A Suitcase of Secrets, Good and Bad (Wall Street Journal)
Ted Gup's "A Secret Gift," chronicles his grandfather's kindness and the hidden history of the Great Depression. Tom Perrotta reviews.
George Varga: Gorillaz Swing Across the United States (Creators Syndicate)
Many musicians strive for success, artistically and commercially. Damon Albarn is one of the few who places a greater value on failure.
Roger Ebert: "Jill Clayburgh: In Memory"
I don't believe Jill Clayburgh would have approved of the headline over her obituary in 'The New York Times,' which said she "starred in feminist roles." They were roles. They were real roles, for a real woman. How did that make them feminist?
David Bruce has 39 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $39 you can buy 9,750 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," and "Maximum Cool."
Hubert's Poetry Corner
"Ghost Soldiers of McLennan County"
took another day off.
responded:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Some Guy
Middle School Trick Play
Middle School Trick Play
Thanks, Guy!
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
BadtotheboneBob
Edmund Fitzgerald
Ghostly views of the Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck
The bluish-green beads look like pearls scattered across the floor of Lake Superior. But this is Great Lakes treasure -- iron ore pellets, discolored by water and age since they went down with the SS Edmund Fitzgerald 35 years ago Wednesday...
Ghostly views of the Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck | freep.com | Detroit Free Press
See rare photos of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Mysterious orbs are captured on never-released images
S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald Online
A personal anecdote... On the 5th anniversary of the 'Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald', I was a deck seaman aboard the
Coast Guard Cutter Bramble (WLB-392, Radio Call Sign - 'NODK'). We were moored at our home berth in Port Huron, MI and I was on 'duty' that night. Shortly before the reported time of the Fitz's foundering, I went all the way up to the uppermost deck where the cutter's mast is and where the 'Ship's Bell' is mounted. I stood there in the darkness and a frigid breeze was coming off Lake Huron. With the clapper lanyard in hand and at the precise minute (7:25 pm) when "... it's lights went out of sight" (Thanks, Gordon), I began to slowly toll our bell, "...29 times for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald". The peals echoed across the St. Clair River to the Canadian side, Sarnia, Ontario and back... I had many memorable experiences during my years in the Coast Guard, but that one is, without a doubt, the most emotional one. They were 'Lake Sailors' and so was I. It was the very least I could do... and you have no idea at all how glad I am I did it.
BadtotheboneBob
Thanks, B2tbBob
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Clear, cold and windy.
Hit Record High
Political TV Ads
That relief you're feeling now that the midterm elections are over could be due to this: American TV viewers were exposed to almost 1.48 million political ads in October.
According to Nielsen Media Research, that's an all-time record high for what's traditionally the busiest month of the year for political advertising.
Nielsen reports that TV viewers in the Cleveland market were exposed to the highest proportion of political TV ads (23.4%) over the last month (which is nothing new, Ohio is often a political battleground). Columbus, Portland, Sacramento, and Seattle rounded out the top five.
TV viewers in Jackson, MS were exposed to the lowest proportion of political TV ads (1.0 percent) in October. Four of the ten least saturated markets were found in Texas.
Political TV Ads
Apologizes To Fans
Keith Olbermann
Keith Olbermann is apologizing to his fans - but not NBC News - for the "unnecessary drama" surrounding his two-day suspension for making political donations.
Olbermann is due to return to work Tuesday night on MSNBC's "Countdown" show. In a statement issued Monday, he says he wanted to apologize to viewers "for having precipitated such anxiety and unnecessary drama."
He was suspended for donating money to three Democratic candidates in violation of NBC News rules. Olbermann says it was an inconsistently applied rule that he had known nothing about before making the donations. He says he was suspended without a hearing after being told that no suspension was contemplated.
Keith Olbermann
Auctions Art
Playboy
Pamela Anderson and Marilyn Monroe may be names that come to mind when one thinks of the art of Playboy, but how about Salvador Dali?
A Dali watercolor of a reclining nude that hung in Hugh Hefner's bedroom is among 125 artworks being auctioned by the magazine known for baring all for nearly 60 years. The Dec. 8 auction at Christie's is dubbed "The Year of the Rabbit."
Founder and editor-in-chief Hefner said the magazine that has entertained, titillated and informed with its commissioned art has blurred the lines between fine and popular art.
The sale includes 80 photographs, more than a dozen contemporary works and 24 cartoons.
Playboy
Wins France's Top Book Prize
Michel Houellebecq
France's best-known writer Michel Houellebecq has won its top literary prize Monday for a best-selling satire of art and celebrity, fans hailing it as an overdue honour for his edgy, sex-charged writing.
Houellebecq came close to winning in 1998 and 2005 but has divided readers and critics with dark tales that have drawn accusations of obscenity and racial provocation.
He won the Goncourt Prize for his best-selling satire "The Map and the Territory", the jury announced at the chic Drouant restaurant in Paris after voting seven to two in his favour.
"La carte et le territoire" (The Map and the Territory) satirises the Paris art and celebrity world in the tale of Jed Martin, an artist who gains global fame by photographing old Michelin maps.
Michel Houellebecq
AMC Renews
'Walking Dead'
AMC network is rewarding its new zombie drama "The Walking Dead" with life for a second season after just two episodes have aired.
The series premiered Halloween night as an instant hit, drawing 5.3 million viewers. The second episode, which aired Sunday, was seen by 4.7 million viewers.
Set in the Atlanta area, "The Walking Dead" stars Andrew Lincoln as a small-town police officer leading a group of survivors after a zombie apocalypse. It is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman.
"The Walking Dead" takes its place as AMC's fourth original drama series, joining veteran dramas "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad." The fate of "Rubicon," which recently concluded its first season, remains unclear.
'Walking Dead'
Settles Lawsuit
Nancy Grace
The parents and estate of a young woman who shot herself after she faced harsh questioning from talk-show host Nancy Grace have dismissed a lawsuit against CNN and the host.
According to court records, the settlement calls for Grace to establish a $200,000 trust dedicated to finding Melinda Duckett's missing son, Trenton, who was 2 when he disappeared.
The lawsuit accused Grace, whose show airs on CNN's sister network HLN, of inflicting emotional distress on the 21-year-old mother with her questions about the missing boy. Grace accused the woman of hiding something because Duckett did not take a lie-detector test and answered vaguely about her whereabouts when the boy disappeared from her apartment.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Ocala four years ago. The settlement agreement between Grace and the Duckett family lawyers was filed Friday and still needs a federal judge's approval. The trial was scheduled to begin next month.
Nancy Grace
Author Seeks Shutdown Of Broadway Musical
'Fela!'
The author of a book about the late Afro-beat Nigerian superstar Fela Kuti (feh-LAH' KOO'-tee) has sued the producers of the award-winning Broadway musical "Fela!" to stop performances, saying they stole his work.
The lawsuit by Charles Moore was brought in federal court in Manhattan on Monday against the producers and others associated with the production. Moore says he rejected an offer of $4,000 in 2007 from the producers for his help. His lawsuit seeks at least $5 million in damages.
A spokesman for the show's producers says he's "really shocked at this turn of events" because Moore is on the show's website endorsing it.
"Fela!" tells the life story of musician and political activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. The international music legend fought corruption and injustice. He died in 1997 at age 58.
'Fela!'
Weapons Charges
Jonathan Shaw
Noted tattoo artist Jonathan Shaw cultivates an outlaw image, and now prosecutors say it's for real: He was charged Monday with stashing a horde of guns, knives and ammunition in a storage locker.
Shaw, a son of the late jazz giant Artie Shaw, was trying to ship a loaded AK-47 assault rifle, three other firearms, 96 knives and more than 2,800 rounds of ammunition to his Los Angeles home when a mover called authorities, prosecutors said. He was charged under state laws that require permits for certain guns and generally bar people from having loaded guns outside their homes or workplaces, among other restrictions.
Defense lawyer Brian T. Pakett said Shaw has receipts to show all the weapons were bought legally 15 or more years ago, and the artist had "no intent to use" them.
"We are confident this case will be cleared up," Pakett said. "Mr. Shaw is a very peaceful man. He's a very caring man."
A self-described "world-traveling outlaw artist," Shaw, 57, was a figure for years in what was then a semi-underground New York tattoo scene. Tattoo parlors were illegal in the city for more than 30 years until the ban was lifted in 1997. In the meantime, Shaw made a name for himself and his Fun City tattoo shop, in Manhattan's bohemian East Village.
Jonathan Shaw
Buying Leavesden Studios
Warner Bros
The U.S.-based entertainment company Warner Bros announced on Monday plans to buy and expand the English studios where the Harry Potter films are made.
Warner Bros said it will invest roughly 100 million pounds ($161 million) in a major expansion of the Leavesden Studios.
Chairman and chief executive Barry Meyer said the investment will give Warner Bros a full-time production base in Britain.
The purchase price was not announced. Further details are expected to be released Wednesday. The enlargement program is set for completion in 2012.
Warner Bros
Increase In Northwest
Beak Deformities
Scientists have observed the highest rate of beak abnormalities ever recorded in wild bird populations in Alaska and the Northwest, a study by two federal scientists said.
The U.S. Geological Survey study on beak deformities in northwestern crows in Alaska, Washington and British Columbia follows a trend found earlier in Alaska's black-capped chickadees.
"The prevalence of these strange deformities is more than 10 times what is normally expected in a wild bird population," said research biologist Colleen Handel.
Handel and wildlife biologist Caroline Van Hemert published their findings in The Auk, a Quarterly Journal of Ornithology. They captured Alaska crows in six coastal locations and used documented reports and photographs for birds elsewhere.
The cause of the deformity - called "avian keratin disorder" - hasn't been determined, Handel said. An estimated 17 percent of adult northwestern crows are affected by the disorder in coastal Alaska.
Beak Deformities
Secret Show
Underground Art
It's the hottest, most talked about art show in New York -- and almost no one even knows where it is.
With a huge space and 103 of the hippest contemporary artists participating, "The Underbelly Project" sounds like a powerhouse production at the Met or MoMA.
Illegally located somewhere deep underground in an abandoned station of the New York Subway system, "Underbelly" consists of graffiti art by a who's who of the street genre's leading exponents.
Starting in 2009, they worked clandestinely, with almost military discipline, to elude the authorities, navigate pitch-black tunnels, paint, and resurface.
Underground Art
"Degenerate" Art
Art believed destroyed by Nazis found in
BERLIN - Nearly a dozen sculptures considered by the Nazis to be "degenerate" artwork and believed to have been lost or destroyed after World War II have been unearthed during construction near Berlin's city hall and were shown to reporters Monday.
The terra-cotta and bronze statues were found during a dig to lay down a new subway line. They belonged to a collection of 15,000 works condemned by Hitler's regime for containing "deviant" sexual elements, anti-nationalistic themes or criticizing Nazi ideology.
One of the pieces, an Edwin Scharff statue of the actress Anni Mewes, was found in January but thought to be unique. Subsequent digs in August and October, however, turned up the remaining pieces.
While Nazi's often attributed the "deviant" characteristics of degenerate art to Jewish corruption, only two Jews were among the avant-garde artists who created the sculptures on display.
Otto Freundlich, whose large, elongated 1925 terra-cotta statue of a man's head was left partially standing, was murdered in the concentration camp Lublin-Maidanek in 1943. Naum Slutzky, a member of the Bauhaus school, fled to England in 1933, where he taught art and lived until his death in 1965. His work "Female Bust," was originally a glinting bronze, but has been left only partially restored to reflect the damage of time and fire.
"Degenerate" Art
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