Saddam’s Ghost Haunts Baghdad

From the India Daily: In a most bizarre stories ever heard, some people in Baghdad are claiming that they are seeing Saddam’s ghost in Baghdad public areas. Sources say, this may be a plot by the Baathists to keep Saddam ‘alive’ among the Sunni communities. Some claim he is seen in restaurants, markets and so on. It is possible many Saddam look-alikes are now more prominent and people are mistaking these look-alikes as possible Saddam. It is also possible that Saddam was such a threat that people just cannot believe he is dead and not coming back. None of these possible ghost sightings are confirmed by any reliable sources or Iraqi authorities. Saddam Hussein was buried before dawn on Sunday in his native village of Awja, near Tikrit in northern Iraq, the head of his tribe and a family source said. Ali al-Nida, head of the Albu Nasir tribe, told Reuters the burial in a family plot took place in the early morning, less than 24 hours after the former president was hanged for crimes against humanity. He gave no further details. A source close to Saddam’s family confirmed his remains were interred at Awja, where his sons Uday and Qusay, killed by US troops in 2003, also lie in a family plot. The family had said he might be buried in the western city of Ramadi.Arab television stations broadcast new video images of Saddam’s hanging, apparently shot on a low-quality camera by guards or other officials at the execution, taken from a different angle from footage shown on Iraqi state television.

Iron Mountain Revisited

A few months ago, I wrote a small piece on the disappearance of the Iron Mountain Steamboat here. 

Bill Pitts, the creative director of
The New Southern View ezine just let me know that he wrote an article on the subject.  It’s wonderful!  Larger– more in-depth.  The New Southern Review looks to be an informative and fun ezine for lovers of Mississippi.  And what southern publication would be complete without a section devoted to ghosts? 

Check out the Creaking Floorboards… 

Germ Theory.

You probably do not think of germs as a theory. Ever since you were little and asked your mom why you have to wash your hands or cover your mouth when you cough, she said “Germs.” At first you didn’t believe her. You couldn’t see the germ, so how did you know it was there? But eventually, you were brainwashed into belief.

I would like to point out now, that you still haven’t seen them. And even if you did, through a microscope or on television, you still looked at it through some kind of contraption. Truly, germs could be just as real as UFo’s, the moon landing, or the loch ness monster.

Even if they do exist, who is to say that germs are “bad” and make you sick, anyway? There are supposedly billions of germs living inside you right now, and you may or may not be sick. Consumption of germs are even marketed to us in the form of yogurt. [More] Also, if germs are the cause of illness, why do some people get sick, and some not?

Theories abound. At one point, the Catholic Church believed that illness was sin, and did not allow doctors to heal people, because sickness was “the will of God.” A great-great grandchild of that idea is the New Age claim that illness is due to unhappiness for one reason or another. [Read more.] Personally, I feel that is materialist and shallow viewpoint, especially if the illness is severe.

The huge pharmaceutical industries have been built up around the theory of germs. It is in their interest to keep the belief going. They have even made sure that children are not allowed in school without “proper” vaccinations of strange goo which will be sure to kill the tiny monsters, but may also make the young children ill.[More.]

A great deal of ill health can be blamed on poor diet, exercise, sleep/rest, and stress levels. But the giant pharmacorps can’t make money on selling carrots and pom juice and a shorter work day, so germs are pushed instead.

Louis Pasteur disavowed his own germ theory before he died. [More.] I, for one, am not ready to stop washing my hands. But I am ready to eat more carrots and possibly try some pom juice.

My Prophecy Comes to Pass, Sort Of

In early January 2004, a bunch of us at happy hour were discussing the usual crap like rock & roll, pop culture, current events. We talked about the upcoming Superbowl half-time show, which we all dissed as being retarded and Nuremberg Rally-like. I said at the time, “I predict that within a couple of years Britney Spears will perform topless at half-time.” Well, not a couple of years but a mere coupla weeks later it wasn’t Ms. Spears but Janet Jackson who let it all loose at the Superbowl spectacle. This past weekend, Britney finally got her turn to let it all loose in public, and in a big way. It wasn’t a big event like the Superbowl, but there it was nonetheless, Britney getting out of a car baring her uncovered private region (aka “snatch”) for all the world to see. (Talk about your media distractions–see previous post).

Killer Whale Attacks!

I was just down at the pantry at work, getting my morning Coke, and on the TV was CNN spending about five minutes on yesterday’s old news of a killer whale attacking its trainer during a show at Sea World in California. Does this warrant so much coverage? The guy didn’t even croak. Another distraction/head game the cryptocracy is pulling, trying to get us not to think about really important things? Killer Whales, The New Sting Rays! (and sting rays were the new alligators, which in turn were the new sharks). As James Shelby Downard would say, ‘It’s an aaah-cult charade!”

Cornwall Can Be a Strange Place

Sally described what they had seen: “It was like a big owl with pointed ears, as big as a man. The eyes were red and glowing. At first, I thought that it was someone dressed up, playing a joke, trying to scare us. I laughed at it, we both did, then it went up in the air and we both screamed. When it went up you could see its feet were like pincers”

For more on the Owlman of Cornwall, click here.

The Dwarf God

How things have changed: nowadays, dwarfs, or little people as they like to be called, have a hard time getting someone to look them straight in the eye. But back in the day, in Ancient Egypt, dwarves and pygmies were looked upon as lucky, had their own dwarf-god, Bes, and were held in high esteem by the rulers. They often danced and otherwise entertained the court. To get the same attention these days, dwarfs sometimes grease themselves and hit the wrestling mat. I hope the pay is just as good (adjusted for inflation, of course).

Drunk With the Lord

You gotta see this clip. Why do they think it’s the Lord and not some demon possessing them?

Top 10 Reasons for Cryptozoology Hoaxes

Money, notoriety, and general knuckleheadedness, obviously. Full list is here at Cryptomundo.

Snake-Handling Mishap in Kentucky Church

Woman bitten by snake at church dies
SERPENTS ARE HANDLED THERE, NEIGHBORS SAY
By Shawntaye Hopkins
A London woman is dead after being bitten by a snake during a Sunday church service, the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said yesterday.

Neighbors near East London Holiness Church on Smith Brewer Road, which officials said the 48-year-old attended, said the church practices serpent handling.

The name of the woman was withheld yesterday as the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office investigated the death, which police described as accidental.

Friends escorted the woman to a local hospital Sunday afternoon, Lt. Ed Sizemore said.

“She said she was bitten by a snake at her church,” Sizemore said.

The woman was taken to University of Kentucky Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 11:30 p.m., almost four hours after the bite was reported.

Sizemore said he thinks the woman was bitten by a timber rattlesnake. He did not know if the woman practiced snake handling.

Snake handling is based on a passage in the Bible, in the Gospel of Mark, that says a sign of a true believer is the power to “take up serpents” without being harmed.

It is illegal in Kentucky to handle reptiles as part of religious services. Snake handling is a misdemeanor and punishable by a $50-$100 fine.

Opal Wagers lives near the church on Smith Brewer Road and said it’s been two or three months since she last visited the church, but said she’s witnessed snake handling there.

“I don’t have no dealings with those snakes,” Wagers said. “But they seem to handle them pretty good.”

She said people fill the church at least one Sunday each month to handle snakes. Wagers said members from Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia bring in the snakes.

Police said they had not received reports about snake handling at the church.

No church officials could be reached for comment last night.

In 2000, the Herald-Leader reported that the last person to die in Kentucky from a snakebite sustained during a religious service was in 1997.

The death of Daril R. Collins, 23, of Barbourville, was the sixth such death in the state since 1980.