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A look back at Natural News' 20 Predictions for 2013
Author: Clock
Date: Dec 03, 2013 at 12:04
By: Clock
At the beginning of this year, website Natural News made a list of predictions about what the year 2013 would look like. Well, it is December 1st, and I think that it is the right time to see if any of this is exact!
Now, Natural News have removed the article from their website, because, well, it's embarrassing. Luckily for us, Prison Planet copy pasted the article, so it is still up on the interwebs in some fashion.
As usual, the conspiracy quotes are in green and mine are in black.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013 will be 1984 on steroids
-fail. Have they even read 1984?
#1) The global debt collapse arrives
-No it didn't. We had the fiscal cliff, but nothing really happened.
#2) Obama administration attempts to gut the Second Amendment
-Really? Is this why guns buyrates are at an all time high? That doesn't seem like gutting to me.
#3) Martial Law declared across America
-Never happened.
#4) Extreme shortages of guns, ammo, magazines as their barter value skyrockets
-No they didn't, the complete opposite happened, gun sales are a all time high.
#5) Tactical weapon strikes target Iran
-Never Happened. Actually, we struck a pretty good nuclear deal with them, which is good news.
#6) Massive false flag attack carried out in USA and blamed on patriots
-No false flag attack really happened, unless of course you count the Boston Marathon bombing, but that wasn't really a false flag attack, but Alex Jones and friends will believe anything is false flag anyway.
#7) DHS arms the TSA and begins insane abuses of Americans on roadway checkpoints
-False. Yes, the unions working at the TSA made a demand to be armed, but this order never really got into place.
#8) The rise of the Resistance: Secret resistance groups begin to form across America
-Where? Facebook groups?
#9) Attacks on the First Amendment accelerate as government seizes websites
-Never happened, I mean, Infowars is still up, right?
#10) The rise of violent rhetoric among the population as disagreements turn to threats
-Never happened. The worst thing that has happened so far are the tons of hate-mail.
#11) Global government makes its move
-Never happened. What's taking them so long anyway?
#12) Accelerated mainstream media attacks on patriots, preppers and veterans
-Never happened. Actually, CNN made an article about the idea of some prepping being reasonable.
#13) Disagreement with the government characterized a "mental disorder"
-False. Actually, Obama has stated in a speech that government disagreement and lack of 100% faith in government is totally reasonable.
#14) Continued rise in unemployment, food stamps, welfare as Obama accelerates deliberate destruction of U.S. economy
-False. Actually, Unemployment rates have decreased as of September 2013.
#15) Criminalization of preparedness activities as government outlaws ammo storage of private citizens
-Never happened
#16) Riots in the streets, followed by Martial Law
-Never Happened
#17) Deliberate food shortages used as a weapon of government control
-False
#18) Weather becomes even more radicalized, with droughts, floods, freezes
-Kind of subjective, but in the 1970's you can say that the weather was extremely radical due to the fact there were many many tornadoes going on in that decade. However, this is kind of right considering what happened in the Philippines a couple of months ago.
#19) Solar weather gets nasty: Solar flares threaten communications, causing massive population collapse
-Yes, 2013 was a Solar Flare year, as NASA states in the following quote:
Increased numbers of flares are quite common at the moment, since the sun's normal 11-year activity cycle is ramping up toward solar maximum conditions. Humans have tracked this solar cycle continuously since it was discovered in 1843, and it is normal for there to be many flares a day during the sun's peak activity.
However, we are in 2014 right now, and nothing extraordinary of such magnitude happened. If I remember correctly, the only time solar flares had effect on my daily life was that it could cause some slight interference in radio signals. I believe that this was in July 2013, and yet here I am typing this statement in 2014 and the world is fine. Go figure.
It's amazing someone would want to make a prediction like this. It's almost as if they want shitty things to happen.
#20) You will be told the answer to all our problems is "MORE government!"
-Like I've stated before, Obama has said that if you do not have 100% trust in the government, then it is totally reasonable. Need I say more?
--------
As we can see, this was another year of
What did you think of this article? Discuss it in the official discussion page!
On The Conspiracy Circuit: Fukushima is gonna kill us all!!!!!!11!11 (not really)
Author: Clock
Date: Nov 04, 2013 at 12:20
On The Conspiracy Circuit
Episode 3
Fukushima = apocalypse?????//?/?
from contributor Robert Dobbs (Agent Matt)
If most of you have been following the news in the past few weeks, you may have known about the recent Fukushima radiation leaks going on in Japan. If you don't here's a recap:
(thanks wikipedia)
This information of course has shocked everybody, but has hit hard not only on the prime minister of Japan, Shinzō Abe, who desperately wants the Olympic Games to come to the country in 2020, but also Fearmongers.
These are the people that take information and blow it completely out of context. A good example is from independent news outlet Russia Today, who claim that "the worst has yet to come". (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me1ov9YoA1g)
Now, let's get one thing clear: Russia Today is not a reliable news source. They have been known for pushing conspiracy theories and passing them off as legitimate. (and here)
The biggest shock of the week was that Activity Post article written on October 22nd 2013 by Michael Snyder. The article is entitled; "28 Signs That The West Coast Is Being Absolutely Fried With Nuclear Radiation From Fukushima"
A science blog, Southern Fried Science made an article describing the fallacies with the original 28 signs article. It is only typical that people make complete exaggeration of certain news to scare people. But what else is new in conspiracy writers?
Episode 3
Fukushima = apocalypse?????//?/?
from contributor Robert Dobbs (Agent Matt)
If most of you have been following the news in the past few weeks, you may have known about the recent Fukushima radiation leaks going on in Japan. If you don't here's a recap:
It was an energy accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, initiated primarily by the tsunami of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011.The damage caused by the tsunami produced equipment failures, and without this equipment a loss-of-coolant accident followed with nuclear meltdowns and releases of radioactive materials beginning on March 12.It is the largest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 and the second disaster (along with Chernobyl) to measure Level 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, releasing an estimated 10 to 30% of the radiation of the Chernobyl accident.
(thanks wikipedia)
This information of course has shocked everybody, but has hit hard not only on the prime minister of Japan, Shinzō Abe, who desperately wants the Olympic Games to come to the country in 2020, but also Fearmongers.
These are the people that take information and blow it completely out of context. A good example is from independent news outlet Russia Today, who claim that "the worst has yet to come". (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me1ov9YoA1g)
Now, let's get one thing clear: Russia Today is not a reliable news source. They have been known for pushing conspiracy theories and passing them off as legitimate. (and here)
The biggest shock of the week was that Activity Post article written on October 22nd 2013 by Michael Snyder. The article is entitled; "28 Signs That The West Coast Is Being Absolutely Fried With Nuclear Radiation From Fukushima"
A science blog, Southern Fried Science made an article describing the fallacies with the original 28 signs article. It is only typical that people make complete exaggeration of certain news to scare people. But what else is new in conspiracy writers?
Loch Ness Monster history and myths discussed and debunked!
Author: Clock
Date: Sep 11, 2013 at 15:47
This page is a representation of many myths surrounding the Loch Ness Monster(s). This article was created because there still are many people that still believe in this theory.
Why I'm Doing This
The Loch Ness Monster theory is one of the most interesting ones around, and one of the very first myths that most people ever knew of. As a kid, the idea of the Loch Ness Monster sounded terrifying but at the same time very interesting, since the only evidence that was available at the time was the infamous Surgeon Photograph, which I cover later in this article. Not only that, but in the FAQ section of Skeptic Project website, we advertise that
It just feels good to not have to look at various conspiracies all the time, and look at a very fun urban legend. Let's get started.
Origins
The origin of the Loch Ness monster dates from the 6th century, by writer Andoman in his book Life Of St. Columba. Scotland was the home of the Picts society. St Columba could not help but notice that they were burying someone in the ground, near the River Ness. When asked why, they responded that the man, while swimming, was attacked by some sort of "water monster", who dragged him under. They tried to rescue him by boat, but only managed to get to a corpse. Columba decided to see if this theory was true by having one his followers swim the entire river. Upon coming back, the beast came after him, but luckily for the follower, Columba showed the sign of the cross and told it: "Go no further. Go back at once." The monster halted, and swam away in terror.
Modern Interest with photographs
Hugh Gray's Photograph (1933)
History
On November 12th, 1933, Hugh Ray was walking along the loch when he saw a strange figure inside of the water. The figure rose up from the water. Ray took many pictures of the thing, and sadly only one picture turned out after being developed.
Study
Ray has said that the four stumpy-looking objects on the bottom of the creature's body might possibly be a pair of appendages, or flippers.
Many people have called this picture a hoax or that this is a picture of a dog swimming, however, researcher Roland Watson rejects this interpretation, as seen below:
Here is his conclusion on the dog theory:
He then alternatively suggests that it might just be some sort of Loch Ness.
The researcher suggests that this is the best and most accurate picture of a the Loch Ness, or at least a similar species such as a Parabodia. I've not seen any other information on this photo, and Roland Watson has proved that it is not a dog. However, this does not necessarily mean that we have a case of Loch Ness here, after all, it is a very grainy picture.
Conclusion:Unknown.
Surgeon's Photograph (1934)
Origins
This is probably the most popular photo of the Loch Ness to ever be released, just like that Patterson-Gimlin bigfoot film.
The story goes that Dr. Kenneth Wilson was simply looking over at the lake and then suddenly, saw the monster. He grabbed his camera and immediately snapped 5 pictures. Sadly only 2 of these pictures came out properly. Here's the 2nd photo:
He published the picture in a local newspaper, and Wilson, refusing to be associated with this picture, led to it being entitled the "Surgeon's Photograph"
Study
No real study had been made of the picture until 1984, when Stewart Campbell analyzed the photo for an article in the British Journal of Photography. Campbell concluded that the animal depicted in the photo could only be around 2-3 feet long, and that it was an otter or a marine bird, which was likely that Wilson knew about this.
However, this turned out to be wrong as well, as finally in 1994, the whole story was spilled out. Christian Spurling, age 90, confessed his entire story. Spurling had been confronted by Marmaduke Wetherell, his step father and a big shot hunter who had been ridiculed publicity in the Daily Mail, to make a convincing serpent model. The model was made, and then attached on top of a toy submarine, and then photographed. They decided to make Wilson as the front man to this plan, since he was a Surgeon, in order to make the story seem more convincing. This was covered in the 1999 book Surgeon's Photograph: Exposed!
Conclusion Debunked!!!
Dinsdale film (1960)
The .GIF provided above is a sample of what the film looks like. There also contains a nice zoom which helps us to better understand what is the object.
History
Tim Dinsdale an aeronautical engineer, filmed a hump crossing the water leaving a powerful wake in 1960. Dinsdale supposedly spotted the animal while hunting for it, and described the object as reddish with a blotch on its side. When he mounted his camera the object started to move and said that he shot 40 feet of film.
Study
In 1965, the Photographic Interpretation Report - Loch Ness analyzed the contents of this film. The report was created and produced by the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Center. This investigation gave us the conclusion that the Dinsdale film had an object that was "probably animate". It was revealed later that
In 2006, Adrian Shine, for his book Loch Ness, (ISBN 978-0-9553115-0-5) analyzed this film. The original 16mm film roll contained lots of grain, which made studying of the image to be very difficult. However, there is a technique we can use that is called Image Stacking. A website can explain this better than I can:
Now that you know what Image Stacking is, we can now view the results obtained:
As we can see, this object really looks like some sort of boat object, not really a type of animal. It is said that the pale object at the front of the boat is the licence disc, which is usually yellow or orange and so is often the brightest part of the boat. Loch Ness Investigation says that
The following is a picture of the boat and the disk, mentioned above:
Conclusion Debunked!!! (To me, it all makes sense, and the explanation provided is proven.
Why I'm Doing This
The Loch Ness Monster theory is one of the most interesting ones around, and one of the very first myths that most people ever knew of. As a kid, the idea of the Loch Ness Monster sounded terrifying but at the same time very interesting, since the only evidence that was available at the time was the infamous Surgeon Photograph, which I cover later in this article. Not only that, but in the FAQ section of Skeptic Project website, we advertise that
We are willing to discuss pretty much anything there is, conspiracies, misconceptions, and so forth, it really depends on the specific contributor writing the content.
It just feels good to not have to look at various conspiracies all the time, and look at a very fun urban legend. Let's get started.
Origins
The origin of the Loch Ness monster dates from the 6th century, by writer Andoman in his book Life Of St. Columba. Scotland was the home of the Picts society. St Columba could not help but notice that they were burying someone in the ground, near the River Ness. When asked why, they responded that the man, while swimming, was attacked by some sort of "water monster", who dragged him under. They tried to rescue him by boat, but only managed to get to a corpse. Columba decided to see if this theory was true by having one his followers swim the entire river. Upon coming back, the beast came after him, but luckily for the follower, Columba showed the sign of the cross and told it: "Go no further. Go back at once." The monster halted, and swam away in terror.
Modern Interest with photographs
Hugh Gray's Photograph (1933)
History
On November 12th, 1933, Hugh Ray was walking along the loch when he saw a strange figure inside of the water. The figure rose up from the water. Ray took many pictures of the thing, and sadly only one picture turned out after being developed.
Study
Ray has said that the four stumpy-looking objects on the bottom of the creature's body might possibly be a pair of appendages, or flippers.
Many people have called this picture a hoax or that this is a picture of a dog swimming, however, researcher Roland Watson rejects this interpretation, as seen below:
Here is his conclusion on the dog theory:
The Hugh Gray "dog" appears to be missing half of its face on the right. There is no recognisable eye or ear to fill in the complete picture. There is a splash to the right where the ear should be. I don't see how they can be accommodated in the Gray image even by my over zealous visual cortex.
The other problem is that there appears to be nothing recognizable as a stick. There is a very sharp shadow line where the creature meets the water which does not compare well with the actual dog/stick picture. The other problem is the "snout" in the Gray image is more elongated. Note that the real dog has his muzzle raised and spread out to accommodate the stick. In fact a dog will tend to raise its muzzle above the water to aid breathing. The "dog" in this picture appears to have its mouth too close to the water
He then alternatively suggests that it might just be some sort of Loch Ness.
The researcher suggests that this is the best and most accurate picture of a the Loch Ness, or at least a similar species such as a Parabodia. I've not seen any other information on this photo, and Roland Watson has proved that it is not a dog. However, this does not necessarily mean that we have a case of Loch Ness here, after all, it is a very grainy picture.
Conclusion:Unknown.
Surgeon's Photograph (1934)
Origins
This is probably the most popular photo of the Loch Ness to ever be released, just like that Patterson-Gimlin bigfoot film.
The story goes that Dr. Kenneth Wilson was simply looking over at the lake and then suddenly, saw the monster. He grabbed his camera and immediately snapped 5 pictures. Sadly only 2 of these pictures came out properly. Here's the 2nd photo:
He published the picture in a local newspaper, and Wilson, refusing to be associated with this picture, led to it being entitled the "Surgeon's Photograph"
Study
No real study had been made of the picture until 1984, when Stewart Campbell analyzed the photo for an article in the British Journal of Photography. Campbell concluded that the animal depicted in the photo could only be around 2-3 feet long, and that it was an otter or a marine bird, which was likely that Wilson knew about this.
However, this turned out to be wrong as well, as finally in 1994, the whole story was spilled out. Christian Spurling, age 90, confessed his entire story. Spurling had been confronted by Marmaduke Wetherell, his step father and a big shot hunter who had been ridiculed publicity in the Daily Mail, to make a convincing serpent model. The model was made, and then attached on top of a toy submarine, and then photographed. They decided to make Wilson as the front man to this plan, since he was a Surgeon, in order to make the story seem more convincing. This was covered in the 1999 book Surgeon's Photograph: Exposed!
Conclusion Debunked!!!
Dinsdale film (1960)
The .GIF provided above is a sample of what the film looks like. There also contains a nice zoom which helps us to better understand what is the object.
History
Tim Dinsdale an aeronautical engineer, filmed a hump crossing the water leaving a powerful wake in 1960. Dinsdale supposedly spotted the animal while hunting for it, and described the object as reddish with a blotch on its side. When he mounted his camera the object started to move and said that he shot 40 feet of film.
Study
In 1965, the Photographic Interpretation Report - Loch Ness analyzed the contents of this film. The report was created and produced by the Joint Air Reconnaissance Intelligence Center. This investigation gave us the conclusion that the Dinsdale film had an object that was "probably animate". It was revealed later that
"that their measurements were flawed by inaccurate height data for the camera site and inaccurate timings for the speed calculations. Their conclusion that the object was "probably animate" was based on the fact that a non-planing boat hull around 14 feet long could not achieve their calculated speed of 10 mph, but tactfully avoided the problem of how an aquatic animal could do so on the surface with a substantial part of its body above the water, for a period of several minutes."(Link of this in the next paragraph)
In 2006, Adrian Shine, for his book Loch Ness, (ISBN 978-0-9553115-0-5) analyzed this film. The original 16mm film roll contained lots of grain, which made studying of the image to be very difficult. However, there is a technique we can use that is called Image Stacking. A website can explain this better than I can:
Remember that the grain in each image is random, but "real things" in the image will be in the same place (more or less) in successive frames of a movie film. The grain is termed "noise", the real things are termed "signal", and Image Stacking improves the signal to noise ratio - the "SNR". In its modern, digital, process it is done like this: A number of consecutive frames are scanned into a computer and then laid on top of each other in a program like Adobe Photoshop, with each frame made almost completely transparent. These images are assembled in "register", which means some object clearly visible is always in the same place in the new image. As more and more frames are "stacked" on top of each other the random film grain blends into a mid grey tone, but "real things" which are darker or lighter and present in all frames will build up in intensity.
Now that you know what Image Stacking is, we can now view the results obtained:
As we can see, this object really looks like some sort of boat object, not really a type of animal. It is said that the pale object at the front of the boat is the licence disc, which is usually yellow or orange and so is often the brightest part of the boat. Loch Ness Investigation says that
[It is] a similar disc on a similar boat is shown below - photo reproduced courtesy of Adrian Shine. At 9 a.m. the sun is in the south-east, directly behind Tim Dinsdale's filming location, and the licence disc would have been acting almost like a mirror.
The following is a picture of the boat and the disk, mentioned above:
Conclusion Debunked!!! (To me, it all makes sense, and the explanation provided is proven.
CCP: Anticultist
Author: Clock
Date: Sep 08, 2013 at 19:27
Anticultist
Current Status: Active
Basic Info: A former Zeitgeister and follower of the Venus Project, who abandoned the group after doing his research that many of the ideals promised by the Venus Project are not capable to be done in this present day and age, despite the project leaders constantly saying otherwise. When attempting discussing their "facts" that are not exactly true, the leaders deemed the discussions as "a waste of time". He eventually left because of the group focusing fanaticism and having cult like tendencies, which led to the creation of his famous blog "Zeitgeist Is a Mind Heist" or also known as the "Anticultist Blog". He is also the reason to why Zeitgeist became a common subject on this website. Recently his blog went down due to conspiracy theorists being mad about it, but the blog was reuploaded onto Skeptic Project by contributor Burger King here.
CCP: Agent Matt
Author: Clock
Date: Sep 06, 2013 at 19:09
By Clock (with contributions by member The Burger King)
Agent Matt
also known as Robert Dobbs
Current Status: No longer active on main site, but still active on Skeptic Project Facebook under Robert Dobbs
Basic Info: He was never really a 'debunker' per say, but he was a skeptic, and was probably one of the only members on this website that would not shy away from telling a CT believer what he really thinks of him, and despite the fact that he would insult most of these CTers, he would back most of his claims with evidence, as any good skeptic would. A re-known practical joker. He is the perfect representation of the Skeptic Project 'About' page: The community's lax rules, yet ironically high standards for reviewed content, has helped it stand out in the broader skeptic and debunking communities, but also of course made it quite despised in conspiracy communities.
Note: He is even despised by some in the skeptic community, See the forum posts Character Profile: Ed and Brian Dunning banned sp member Agent Matt for questioning him about his requests for donations.
He's an administrator of the Skeptic Project Facebook group.
Articles
Project Blue Beam
Starred Forum Posts (the best of the best)
Dear Edward: Where is my paycheck?
lulz
Congratulating Nanos on his solar car
I ate mcdonalds for lunch
I used to think drug legalization was a good thing
Zeitard wants to kill your dog and your grandma
macdonalds prices may rise
Character Profile: Ed
I actually have no clue how the hell Matt got 70 points... but it must be:
Edit 1:
Quote from The Burger King
Thanks for the info, King.
Agent Matt
also known as Robert Dobbs
Current Status: No longer active on main site, but still active on Skeptic Project Facebook under Robert Dobbs
Basic Info: He was never really a 'debunker' per say, but he was a skeptic, and was probably one of the only members on this website that would not shy away from telling a CT believer what he really thinks of him, and despite the fact that he would insult most of these CTers, he would back most of his claims with evidence, as any good skeptic would. A re-known practical joker. He is the perfect representation of the Skeptic Project 'About' page: The community's lax rules, yet ironically high standards for reviewed content, has helped it stand out in the broader skeptic and debunking communities, but also of course made it quite despised in conspiracy communities.
Note: He is even despised by some in the skeptic community, See the forum posts Character Profile: Ed and Brian Dunning banned sp member Agent Matt for questioning him about his requests for donations.
He's an administrator of the Skeptic Project Facebook group.
Articles
Project Blue Beam
Starred Forum Posts (the best of the best)
Dear Edward: Where is my paycheck?
lulz
Congratulating Nanos on his solar car
I ate mcdonalds for lunch
I used to think drug legalization was a good thing
Zeitard wants to kill your dog and your grandma
macdonalds prices may rise
Character Profile: Ed
I actually have no clue how the hell Matt got 70 points... but it must be:
Edit 1:
Quote from The Burger King
People get votes by points. Matt hasn't written any debunks but there are a few friends that stand out that he contributed various insults in that are note worthy. For instance when VTV came onto SP Agent Matt do some serious LULZ there.
Thanks for the info, King.