The Great Disappointment

 

Is the drone scare winding down as we speak? That was that, then. Next time: black helicopters! Or no?  

IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE

 

Not a good likeness

Or rather from a Utah ghost town. Or whatever was there 47 million years ago. A huge lake ecosystem near active volcanoes, perhaps?

A fossil plant stumps scientists, since it doesn´t seem to belong to any known family or genus, extant or extinct. Not sure why that´s news, tbh, but there you go. 

I assume it was the scientific name of the darn thing (which supposedly means "alien plant") that caught the attention of the media. Can tie-ins to the drone scare be made here...?  

"Alien plant" fossil stumps scientists 

 

"Where are the guns, Nathan?"

 

Could become a classic. Globe earther calls flat earther from Antarctica, while taping the whole thing. From "The Final Experiment" (TFE), I assume.  

I saw the sun at midnight

 

There is a lot of videos like this on YouTube just now, documenting the ongoing contretemps of the flat earthers who took a trip to Antarctica only to discover that...ooops...the Earth isn´t flat, after all. Or rather: the "predictions" (such as they are) of the flat earth "model" (such as it is) were proven wrong. In the most common flat earth model, the sun is very small and moves above the earth disk in such a way that a 24-hour sun would be impossible in Antarctica. Indeed, the Antarctic landmass itself doesn´t exist, being an ice wall all around the disk. 

But the flat earthers who bravely went to the Seventh Continent eventually realized that the "midnight sun" is real, that Antarctica is there, and that even conspiracy theorists can visit it without being zapped by NASA´s clone warriors (or whoever they think is guarding the Ice Wall). GPS tracking in real time proves they are there, not at some staged location closer to Hollywood.

Of course, the flat earth non-society will come up with all kinds of excuses for the failure of their predictions. Indeed, they already have, some prominents in this milieu declaring before the expedition even launched that there is no flat earth model to begin with (!) and hence no predictions to disprove...

Besides, we all know that flat earth itself is a conspiracy to distract attention from *hollow* earth. There!  

The final experiment

 

In a previous blog post, I mentioned that one Will Duffy, a Christian minister in California, was going to organize "the final experiment" to prove that the Earth is (surprise!) a globe. The flat earthers themselves say that if their model is correct, there can´t be a 24-hour sun in Antarctica. So Duffy offered to take the most vociferous flat earthers on an expedition to Antarctica (all expenses paid) so show them the midnight sun. Only a handful took him up on the offer, and it seems they are down there as we speak. 

One of the flat earthers even admitted a few days ago that, well, there actually is a 24-hour day close to the South Pole. The expedition also disproves at least two other conspiracy theories: that nobody is allowed to ever visit Antarctica, and that the continent is really an "Ice Wall". GPS tracking clearly shows that the expedition (including the participating flat earthers) *did* go to the icy landmass from Chile. Also, the whole thing was apparently shown live on YouTube.

So will the flat earth community change their minds? LOL. Of course they won´t. They have already accused the flat earthers who signed on of being "shills" and are coming up with various coping mechanisms in real time. For instance, that the "sun" is a hoax. Or that their model doesn´t really imply the impossibility of a 24-hour sunny day in the Antarctica. Or that it´s not important. Or whatever whenever whithersoever.

So don´t worry, the deboonking industry will stay in bizniz even after "the final experiment"...     

Flat Earthers realize they are wrong  

More and more familiar

 

Credit: Guillaume Baviere 

I already linked to these before, but here we go again. A propos the creeping (or not so creeping) demographic crisis. The implications are downright staggering!

An unfamiliar world

Deindustrial warfare

Ooops

 

It seems I forgot to make the "Third Sunday of Advent" posting. Well, whatever, here we go three days too late!

Mission to Mars

 

A call to order from Sabine Hossenfelder (again). Of course humanity can´t go to Mars, terraform it, or whatever. Elon Musk is simply bonkers. Or a grifter? Funny that comedian Bill Maher is the voice of reason on this one!

We´re stuck on this rock, guys. Deal with it. But then, it does seem to be the only rock in this part of infinite spacetime that can actually harbor life.

Imagine being stuck in a somewhat insecure dome far away on Mars. Shades of "Total Recall"...   

Coping

 

Many of the Buddha´s teachings have been lost forever. Note the reactions in the commentary section! "You never explained what was lost". Eh, cuz it´s lost, bro. "What is left is sufficient". Eh, how do you know, since many teachings *and meditation techniques* were lost? My favorite: "Nothing was lost, we have the Pali Canon". While the comments aren´t as acerbic as when Christians and atheists fight it out (maybe meditation has *some* beneficial aspects), the whole thing still sounds like a cope. 

Said with the reservation that I don´t know what this YouTube channel really stands for. Maybe in other videos *they* claim to have access to the lost teachings...

Which, I suppose, would also be a coping mechanism of sorts. 

The arrival of Siegfried

 

Our man JMG continues his analysis of Richard Wagner´s seminal opera "The Nibelung´s Ring". Note the comments on child psychology and alternative schooling!   

The Nibelung´s Ring: Siegfried 1