Instantly debunked

 

 

This rogue Yogananda copycat claims that the Kalki has already been born and is 14 years old. Amazing, since that means he will be 427,000 years old when the Kali Yuga finally ends. I mean, who knew?

On a more serious note, Yogiraj Siddhanath (who seems to spend more time in affluent American suburbs than in the Himalayas) claims that the Kali Yuga has been shortened by "Babaji" and will come to an end in...you guessed it...2032. That date seems familiar somehow, although I can´t place it right now. Anyhow, this in itself means that Yogiraj can´t be taken seriously, since (of course) no such thing will take place in 2032.

And probably not in 427,000 years either...

FEMA is the secret government

 

Since when do American conservatives support FEMA? 

September surprise

 

What happened to "Nude Africa"? That scandal (?) seems to have disappeared just as fast as it appeared. LOL. 

 

Ironic lawfare?

 

The shenanigans around Robert F Kennedy Jr never end. After first trying to keep him off the ballot, the Democratic Party now tries to keep him *on* the ballot in certain states. The irony.

And yes, I know that the GOP threatened to keep Joe Biden on the ballot in some other states. 

Democracy, American style! Ever new since the 19th century... 

DNC tries to keep RFK Jr *on* the ballot in swing states

Feral fauns

 

Another urban (or rather rural) legend...hopefully. Are there FERAL HUMAN CANNIBALS in the US national parks? Do they ATTACK and EAT hikers? The federal government denies knowledge... 

Tri-racial isolates?

A review of "Strangers in Their Own Land" 

This is a somewhat controversial book about Native American (Indian) groups in the state of South Carolina. Some of them are unrecognized by the proper authorities, others have eventually become recognized by the state but not by the federal government. Only the Catawba are recognized at the federal level.

A large part of the controversy is caused by the mixed race origins of the groups involved. Unless I'm mistaken, only the Catawba are “pure” Indians, while the others have mixed Indian, White and Black ancestry. The Black component was particularly contentious in the Jim Crow South. Often, the South Carolina groups (except the Catawba) were regarded as “tri-racial isolates”, “Free People of Color” or “Mulattoes”. One group, the Cheraw, have at least some Arab ancestry through a certain Yusuf Ben Ali (alias Joseph Benenhaley). It also seems that all the groups mentioned in the book, once again with the Catawba as the sole exception, are distantly related to each other, all of them being descendents of mixed race immigrants from North Carolina. The author argues that the Lumbees in NC are related to these migrants, perhaps another controversial question?

“Strangers in their own land” could be of some interest to those doing research on bi-racial and tri-racial groups, and of course those interested in American Indians. There are still many unresolved identity issues on the Indian front, especially in regards to so-called Black Indians. There's also the entire problem of “Pretendians”. Personally, I have no particular opinion either way on which groups should be recognized. Of course, in a genuinely color-blind society, the problem wouldn't even come up, but that's probably utopian…

The phantom cats strike again

A review of the MonsterQuest episode "Vampire Beast" 

This episode of "MonsterQuest" takes us to North Carolina and a small farming community actually named Bolivia. Sturdy guard dogs in the village have been killed by a mysterious creature, known in local folklore as the Beast of Bladenboro or the Vampire Beast. Apart from Bolivia, the bizarre creature (which looks like a dog but sounds like a tiger) has struck in Lexington, Greensboro and Bladenboro.

"MonsterQuest" eventually reaches the conclusion that the killer is a stray cougar, an animal not normally found in the Tar Heel State.

Maybe. And then, maybe not. Apparently, it's a common trait of a certain kind of ghosts to look like a cross between a black dog and a (big) black cat. The Vampire Beast doesn't seem to kill for food, but for sport. Also, one of the eye-witness episodes sound ghostly: in the dead of night, the creature supposedly exhumed the dead body of a dog, and brought it back to exact spot of the killing! Typical cougar behaviour? I don't think so, Mr. Hajicek. THE VAMPIRE BEAST WILL STRIKE AGAIN.

Addendum 23/11 2012. According to "Varmints" by Chad Arment, a mysterious carnivore sometimes described as dog-like, sometimes as feline, has been stalking North Carolina ever since the 1890's. It used to be called the Santer. Obviously, the Beast of Bladenboro and the more recent Vampire Beast are modern variations of *this* creature, the identity of which remains unknown. How many stray cougars can there possibly *be* in NC? And yes, the Santer also had a penchant for attacking sturdy dogs...

I prefer Bobo to Bubba

If you like turkey movies, ultra-independent films or off-off-off Hollywood productions, you will probably love "The Long Way Home: A Bigfoot Story". If you are more partial to normal entertainment, you probably won't...

A successful reporter living in Miami returns to his home county in backwoods North Carolina to investigate Bigfoot sightings. The creature is scarier than usual, stealing chicken, attacking people with the intention of feasting on their fresh carcasses, even sexually assaulting females (of our species, presumably). At first, it seems that the Bigfoot sightings are hoaxes perpetrated by a group of locals, but then it turns out that their gorilla suit was destroyed weeks earlier... Ooops! Brace yourself for some further plot twists. I didn't know they had gay bars in the Tar Heel State, LOL.

But no, it's not a good movie. Not really. All the actors are amateurs from the area where the film was shot, the director and the lead actor are the same person (Bubba Cromer), the dialogue is lousy, and the dancing transvestite doesn't look very convincing either. Even the low-budget classic "The Legend of Boggy Creek" feels far above this production. A long way home indeed! I'm surprised they actually showed this on UFOTV, but then, maybe they are running out of James Fox documentaries?

"The Long Way Home" is really only worth one star, but since *somebody* with a penchant for turkeys or a strange sense of humour might actually find it funny, I'm willing to give it two for the effort. Personally, though, I prefer Bobo to Bubba...

Jerry Springer, come back, all is forgiven

Credit: Nrbelex 

"Lizard Lick Towing" is apparently a spin off to "All Worked Up". Whatever that means.

The series supposedly re-enacts real life repossession scenarios from the small town of Lizard Lick, North Carolina. The mayor of the town, Ronnie, runs a repossession business together with his wife Amy. Ron is supposedly an evangelical preacher, as well. Let me guess, Emergent Church? Naturally, the hard-working citizens of NC don't want their cars and monster-trucks repossessed, and frequently fight back. Mud wrestling, food fights and boxing are some of the ingredients in this extremely silly series. At one point, the good preacher is stalked by four armed hunters in camo, and another episode shows that dogs in the Carolinas aren't necessarily god-fearing.

The series reminds me of good ol' "Jerry Springer Show", minus...minus Jerry Springer, I suppose. If you like fat Middle Americans bouncing into each other, you might find this an enjoyable experience. If not, well...it's a free country with 10,000 TV channels.

You can always watch "All Worked Up".