Monday, October 8, 2012

Mega Ancient Aliens Takedown

Ancient Aliens Debunked: the movie



Written and produced by Chris White and featuring commentary from Dr. Mike Hesier, (an expert in ancient astronaut debunkery), Ancient Aliens Debunked, is the mother of dismantling the brainless series that is History Channel's Ancient Aliens.

Ancient Aliens Debunked is an incredibly thorough and well researched critique of the outright falsities that Ancient Aliens propagates. Although it is by no means comprehensive, even in the three hour time span, it IS the most comprehensive, step-by-step, video take-down of the ancient astronaut theory, and its major proponents, that currently exists. I am personally hoping for a sequel, I mean, there are four seasons of this show! How much more can this network decay?!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Governor Jesse "the body" Ventura is back on TruTV with more Conspiracy Theory

Jesse Ventura plays the roles of Governor, pro-wrestler and paranoia addled "truth seeker" in this amped up reality tv show. As the video below shows, the Jesse Ventura's Conspiracy Theories is pasted together with rock music, bad acting, fear and FEAR.




The show returns for a third season on TruTV (formerly Court TV) this November. In it's past two seasons, the show has touched on all the major conspiracy theories (from JFK to Area 51), and almost always lends credence to even the most far fetched ones, including the FEMA death camps and HAARP conspiracies. Possibly one of the lowest points of the series came in season one, in which Ventura and his "investigators" propagated the "global warming hoax" theory. I have a feeling that all there is left for this show to tackle are ancient aliens and morgellons.

However, this sort of outrageous programming is nothing new to TruTV, as it has been demonstrated that TruTV executives (along with higher ups from it's parent company, Turner Broadcasting) do not care that many of the network's "reality" programs are indeed faked. As TruTV's motto says, "Not reality. Actuality." Most viewers with a discerning mind may already realize that "reality" TV is not an accurate depiction of the real world. However, shows, including Jesse Ventura's Conspiracy Theories, that are framed as "reality" shows do set up the expectation that the people, events and characters are real and that there is something factual to Ventura's approach to truth seeking. And of course, those who already buy into the idea that some antennas in Alaska cause earthquakes, likely will not be fazed in the least by the cheesy, over-the-topness of the show and fusion with the "reality" genre.

Friday, September 7, 2012

UK's Most Haunted to do "Psychic Science" tour

The idea is to "educate the public on the realities of the paranormal."




The US's Ghost Hunters don't have shit on the Most Haunted crew. They can get a ghost to whistle on command! But that's not all,  they also sound "sciencey." Show stars, Derek Acorah and Richard Felix, are holding a "psychic and science" tour on September 15 that includes a psychic fair, audience participation in "experiments" with the duo and conjuring a ghost out of concrete in old York Prison.

It's doubtful that science will have anything to do with this tour, as the MH team are known fraudsters.  Acorah is also known for his frankly embarrassing performance, in which he claimed to have communicated with Michael Jackson's ghost during a live seance broadcast on Sky TV.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Why Conspiracy Theorists believe in more than one conspiracy


Conspiracy theories tend to run in packs, suggests research published in January by University of Kent psychologists. Perhaps most surprising is the finding that conspiracy theorists often hold beliefs in conspiracies that are mutually incompatible. The study looked at conspiracy theories relating to the deaths of Princess Diana and Osama bin Laden. For example, people who believed that Osama bin Laden was dead, even while videos of him surfaced, were as likely to believe that Osama bin Laden was still alive after his execution under the Obama administration.

Michael Shermer explains:

Conspiracies are a perennial favorite for television producers because there is always a receptive audience. A recent Canadian Broadcasting Corporation documentary that I participated in called Conspiracy Rising, for example, featured theories behind the deaths of JFK and Princess Diana, UFOs, Area 51 and 9/11, as if there were a common thread running throughout. According to radio host and conspiracy monger Alex Jones, also appearing in the film, “The military-industrial complex killed John F. Kennedy” and “I can prove that there’s a private banking cartel setting up a world government because they admit they are” and “No matter how you look at 9/11 there was no Islamic terrorist connection—the hijackers were clearly U.S. government assets who were set up as patsies like Lee Harvey Oswald.”

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Kentucky: the new center of Creationist tourism

Plans are in the works for a theme park and Creation science Hall of Fame, the latest additions to a growing tourism industry.

It's exactly what it looks like.

The Creationist Museum of Kentucky, established in 2007, is in the process of turning a stretch of interstate into multi-stop brainwashing/unlearning tour of Biblical proportions.
The Guardian:

Online-only institution the Creation Science Hall of Fame hopes to establish a real-life creationism center located between the Creation Museum and planned creationism theme park Ark Encounter.
The hall of fame website was launched in February and honors "those who honored God's word as literally written in Genesis." Any scientist who the institution believes furthers the scientifically inaccurate idea that God created the world 6,000 years ago can be included.
"We honor these people, not because we believe everything they say, but because they made critical contributions to creation science and to the explanation of the Genesis story," secretary/treasurer of the hall of fame Terry Hurlbut told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
There are several creationism institutions in the US, including another creation museum in Texas and a mobile museum that takes fossil exhibits to churches and schools. The hall of fame would solidify northern Kentucky as the center for creation-tourism.
The Creation Museum opened in May 2007 and was built by Answers in Genesis, the Australian ministry that is also behind Ark Encounter.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Bill Nye the Science Guy: why Creationism isn't appropriate for children

Who doesn't love Bill Nye the Science Guy?! The wacky figure I remember from my formative years in the 90s is still spreading the knowledge and wearing his signature bow-tie.





Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Bad medicine: Dr. Oz continues promoting dodgy "radical cures" and pseudoscience



Doctor Mehmet Oz has become a household name of sorts since Oprah helped him land his own show. In that relatively short period of time, Oz has become one of the worst TV doctors out there, propagating bad information about supposed natural cures for cancer and new age 'medicines' which are said to treat any number of maladies, when they infact, do not. A recent episode entitled, "Dr. Mercola's Radical Cures," is made up entirely of this sort of nonsense, and goes to show why he earned a Pigasus award from JREF for the past two years in a row:
The Media Pigasus Award goes to Dr. Mehmet Oz, who has done such a disservice to his TV viewers by promoting quack medical practices that he is now the first person to win a Pigasus two years in a row. Dr. Oz is a Harvard-educated cardiac physician who, through his syndicated TV show, has promoted faith healing, "energy medicine," and other quack theories that have no scientific basis. Oz has appeared on ABC News to give legitimacy to the claims of Brazilian faith healer “John of God,” who uses old carnival tricks to take money from the seriously ill. He's hosted Ayurvedic guru Yogi Cameron on his show to promote nonsense "tongue examination" as a way of diagnosing health problems. This year, he really went off the deep end. In March 2011, Dr. Oz endorsed "psychic" huckster and past Pigasus winner John Edward, who pretends to talk to dead people. Oz even suggested that bereaved families should visit psychic mediums to receive (faked) messages from their dead relatives as a form of grief counseling.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

The Travel Channel scores new paranormal reality tv show

From the channel that brought you men who scream like complete bitches in the dark comes another show by one of the men who screams the most at ghosts nothing: "Paranormal Paparazzi." There isn't much information about the program which will air 28th of September at this time. But we do know that "Ghost Adventure's" Zak Bagans is a producer. Keep in mind that while there are plenty of these types of shows out there, The Travel Channel caries some of the absolute worst: Ghost Adventures, The Dead Files (where a psychic and detective team up), and Paranormal Challenge (not as cool as it sounds and also starring Zak Bagans). The show is also hosted and co-produced by Aaron Sagers, the founder of Paranormal Pop Culture website. This site is less about spreading woo and more about reporting on Twilight or other TV and film monsters. However, with Bagans behind the drivers wheel, we might expect cheap and deceptive editing tactics ... and possibly more useless screaming.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The not-so-secret 'Secrets of the Psychics'



It's amazing what you can find on youtube these days. Consider this gem: Secrets of the Psychics, a PBS Nova episode from 1993. James "the Amazing" Randi, conjurer, arch-skeptic and founder of JREF (and the million dollar paranormal challenge), sets about debunking psychic claims including faith healing and spoon bending. As always, Randi sheds light on the deceptive tactics "psychics" use to make their abilities seem unworldly to the untrained eye. For more recent Randi action check out this segment of ABC's 2011 series "Beyond Belief." (below the fold)

Friday, July 20, 2012

Squatchin' with Saget

"Strange days, strange days. Seemed like a good idea at the time ..." sings Bob Saget in the opening credits of "Strange Days," a short-lived series on A&E. The show documents Saget's journey across America where he gains insight into "different and unusual" subcultures. A full year before "Finding Bigfoot" began airing on Animal Planet, Saget spent a week with the Bigfoot Field Research Organization in Washington's Olympic National Park searching for the elusive creature.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

National Geographic is riding the alien crazed reality tv wave ... Woo!



Not National Geographic, too! I first thought after I actually managed to sit through the pilot episode. Yes, there is more woo than ever on my TV. From the History Channel to the Travel Channel, there are teams of so-called "experts" scouring haunted houses and the forrest for anything that goes bump in the night. Bigfoot, ghosts, aliens, Hollow Earth inhabitants and just all-around monsters are being tracked down as we speak. Well, sort of. This brings me to the latest rock music infused reality TV series that makes big promises, yet delivers nothing: Chasing UFO's.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

No to the Status Quo! Blogs

Blogger Widgets