Archbishop Cautions Texting, Email Could Lead to Suicide

LONDON (Reuters) - The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales is concerned that excessive use of emails and mobile phone text messaging is creating shallow friendships and undermining community life, according to an interview published on Sunday.

Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, also said that popular social networking sites led young people to form "transient relationships" which put them at risk of suicide when they collapsed.

"Friendship is not a commodity, friendship is something that is hard work and enduring when it's right," he told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

"I think there's a worry that an excessive use, or an almost exclusive use of text and emails means that as a society we're losing some of the ability to build interpersonal communication that's necessary for living together and building a community."

The Archbishop, 63, said too much use of electronic information was "dehumanizing," leading to a loss in social skills and the ability to read a person's mood through their body language.

Furthermore social networking sites encouraged children to place an excessive importance on the number of friends they had instead of the quality of their relationships, he said.

"Among young people often a key factor in their committing suicide is the trauma of transient relationships. They throw themselves into a friendship or network of friendships, then it collapses and they're desolate," Nichols said.

[Reuters]

The UFO guy

WGN Reporter Juan Carlos was out to get some sound (reaction) on a recent alleged UFO siting at Chicago's O'Hare airport. What he got was a minute and a half of TV gold. This guy had some very interesting thigs to say about UFOs, including the graves in Arizona, and how to pronounce extraterrestrial.

Emma Watson 'related to real-life witch'

Harry Potter star Emma Watson is related to a real-life witch, according to People.

The actress, who plays schoolgirl witch Hermione Granger in the franchise, can reportedly trace her roots back to a 16th century woman who was convicted of witchcraft.

"It's not every day we're able to trace the branches of a family tree back to 16th century witch trials," said genealogist Anastasia Tyler from Ancestry.com.

"Combine that with a celebrity connection to Emma Watson and the fact that she plays a witch in Harry Potter - You couldn't script it any better."

Watson's relative was alleged to be Essex-born Joan Playle, an unmarried woman who was excommunicated from the Church of England in 1592.

The research also found that Watson's co-star Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) was descended from bakers, grocers and plumbers, while Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) is related to a gunsmith.

Watson's latest movie Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince was released earlier this month.

'Debunkers' and 'True Believers' discourage serious paranormal research

Have you ever noticed that when it comes to a reported haunting, a UFO sighting, or a cryptid sighting ( for example, Bigfoot, the Michigan Dogman, Ogo Pogo), most people tend to quickly separate into the opposing camps of Debunkers or True Believers?

In fact, reports of paranormal evens are frequently framed in terms of opposing belief systems, as in, "I believe in UFOs," or "I don't believe in UFOs."

Everybody has their beliefs, and healthy skepticism is definitely called for when it comes to extraordinary claims. Yet the tendency to reduce all paranormal claims and sightings to an instant yes/no answer before any serious investigation is conducted, is a major roadblock to understanding what is actually going on. It can even discourage or prevent good research from ever taking place.

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LINCOLN’S GHOSTS: Paranormal investigators seek out spooks at cinema

MASSILLON, OH — The next time you take in a show at the Lions Lincoln Theatre and observe empty seats, you might want to take a closer look. There just might be someone or something filling them.

Recently, Paranormal Debunking and Investigating LLC – a group of paranormal investigators that prides themselves on debunking the things that go bump in the night – investigated the historic downtown theater.
PDI founder Jim O’Brien said the group approached Lincoln officials about spending a night in the moviehouse after doing extensive research on the building which dates back to 1915.

O’Brien said the theater has a rich history, including a 1921 robbery and the possible death of a construction worker during the building phase. Besides housing the silver screen, it has also been home to doctor’s offices and a speciality clothing store.

Lynda Blankenship, a Lincoln Theatre volunteer, said to her knowledge there have been no real reports of spirits in the theater. But, after spending a night with the PDI crew, Blankenship is a little spooked herself.

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Skinwalker Activity: Black Mesa, New Mexico

Via Flickr:

Black Mesa....near the San Ildefonso Pueblo just north of Santa Fe..the Pueblo was closed today so had to skip it...photography is forbidden on the pueblo without a permit..so I will return another day....snuck this as I was returning past the pueblo on the way home...hope the Gods forgive me...but the light was sooo nice.

More on the Mongolian Death Worm

3 News New Zealand reports:

Two New Zealanders will leave for Mongolia's Gobi Desert next week on an ambitious expedition to find the fabled acid-spitting and lightning-throwing Mongolian death worm.

The worm has never been documented but some Mongolians are convinced it exists. They call it Allghoi Khorkhoi, or "intestine worm" because it resembles a cow's intestine and is about 1.5m long.

They say it jumps out of the sand and kills people by spitting concentrated acid or shooting lightning from its rectum over long distances.

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Map Mongolia also on the Death Worm:

The first time you hear about the Mongolian Death Worm you assume it has to be a joke; it sounds too much like the monster from a B-movie or an especially dire comic book to be true. A five-foot (1.5m) long worm dwelling in the vast and inhospitable expanses of the Gobi Desert, the creature is known to Mongolia’s nomadic tribesmen as the allghoi khorkhoi (sometimes given as allerghoi horhai or olgoj chorchoj) or ‘intestine worm’ for its resemblance to a sort of living cow’s intestine. Apparently red in colour, sometimes described as having darker spots or blotches, and sometimes said to bear spiked projections at both ends, the khorkhoi is reputedly just as dangerous as its alarming appearance would suggest, squirting a lethal corrosive venom at its prey and capable of killing by discharging a deadly electric shock, even at a distance of some feet.

How do I get rid of a demon?

About.com Paranormal Phenomena, is asked:

Question: How do I get rid of a demon?

I am dealing with a demon and it has been controlling my life and will not go away. It wants to be in a "real" relationship with me. I have prayed to God to remove this entity, but this deemed useless. Though I am in a healing process, I am unsure if it would ever leave me. (The psychic said he will ask the Creator for help in order that he take the demon to the Source). I have tried to ask the psychic about the free will of the demons on this Earth, the possession of unaware humans by demons, etc., but he would not tell me much. I was hoping you would tell me if you know based on your paranormal research. - A Fan

Answer: Fan, my views on demons, demonology and exorcisms are not popular, even in the paranormal community, but I feel I must continue to speak out on the subject.

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Weird Science: Girl Sees Fine With Half a Brain

A 10-year-old girl from Germany has had quite a normal life despite the fact that she was born with only half her brain. Even more surprising, she has almost perfect vision in one of her eyes.

Now, scientists have figured out why. The girl's brain rewired itself — likely in the womb — so that it's able to process information from both the right and left fields of vision even though she is missing the right brain hemisphere, which failed to develop while she was in the womb.

The child's case is the only one of its kind known in the world, researchers said.

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Do Shamans Have More Sex?

Wouldn't it be great to be back in hunter-gatherer days? Back before the human spiritual quest had been corrupted by the "relentless onslaught of Western scientific materialism" and "dogmatic male- dominated religion"? Back when there were shamans—spiritual leaders—who could plug us into "the realm of the magical," show us "the reality behind apparent reality," and thus lead us to understand "how the universe really works"?

The quotes come from Leo Rutherford, a leading advocate of neo-shamanism, which is a subset of neo-paganism, which is a subset of New Age spirituality. But the basic idea—that there was a golden age of spiritual purity which we fallen moderns need to recover—goes beyond New Age circles. You see traces of it even in such serious scholars as Karen Armstrong, who wrote in A History of God that early Abrahamic religion had created a gulf "between humanity and the divine, rupturing the holistic vision of paganism."

As the author of the just-published book The Evolution of God, about the history of religion, I'm primed to do some debunking. But before I start, I want to stress two points: 1) I think it's great for people to find spiritual peace and sound moral orientation wherever they can, including neo-paganism; 2) I don't doubt that back before Western monotheism took shape there were earnest seekers of a "holistic vision" who selflessly sought to share that vision.

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Famous LIFE Photographers' Roswell Crash Revelation

Famed Life magazine photographer Allan Grant may have provided to us his greatest "picture" just before he died. The cameraman's portrait of the Roswell crash in 1947 illustrates that the event that summer was of urgent importance to the military. It also shows that the skyfallen object was in fact of a genuine "unknown."

With his passing last year, Allan Grant has been rightly elevated to legendary status in the world of journalistic photography. For decades Mr. Grant was a permanent member of the prestigious Life photographic staff. He captured on film some of the most recognizable images in history. Grant's legacy includes such memorable work as the first-ever public picture of Lee Harvey Oswald's wife Marina (taken after Lee's capture) to the haunting, last-ever picture of Marilyn Monroe. His work's "movie still" clarity, his many Life cover shots and his photographic studies were a gift left to all of us.

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Solar Eclipse Myths and Superstitions

From Ghost Stories Blog:

Today’s solar eclipse has many afraid of what it may bring. Will an evil force attack the world? Will a birth on this day cause defects for the infant? Will food become contaminated? We now have science to ease our fears…at least for those who choose to believe in it. Science or no science, people from all over the world still give power to the superstitions passed from one generation to another from so long ago. What did those before us believe solar eclipses were or how they effected their world?

The Chinese have ancient eclipse records dating over 4,000 years old. They believed dragons devoured the sun. Ancient Chinese astronomers recorded solar eclipses in chronicles and on “oracle” bones made from animal bones and tortoise shells. These bones were most likely used divination but the records were incomplete and the dating of the bone was unreliable.

A tradition in ancient China was to bang drums and pots to make loud noise to frighten the dragon away. The Incas also tried to frighten these monsters away by immersing themselves in water. Some countries still practice these traditions today.

In the Odyssey, Homer states that, “the Sun vanished out of heaven and an evil gloom covered all things about the hour of the midday meal.” Ancient Egyptians believed the Sun God Atum the eclipsed Sun passing the second contact of a total eclipse. Ra/Re is the eclipse at second contact appearing as the Diamond Effect. The Great Sphinx was considered “Lord of Sun Eclipses”. Hathor was the goddess of Sun Eclipses. The shadow bands was the God Aten of the Amarna Revolution.

Solar eclipses represent letting go of the old and embracing the new.

Modern Grave Robbing: Chicago Cemetery stripped for profit

Chicaago Sun-Times -- At one time, Burr Oak Cemetery was the only place black Chicagoans were sure they could bury their dead.

But on Wednesday, the historic African-American cemetery became the site of a horror story.

As many as 100 human bodies — someone’s grandfather, grandmother, father, son, daughter, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew cousin or friend — were removed from their graves and the plots resold.

The manager of Burr Oak Cemetery and three gravediggers were charged this morning, accused of scheming to dig up gravesites and resell them.

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Ancient Aliens: Aliens are Nothing New

Double Eagle Restaurant Old Mesilla, NM

The 150 year-old building that houses the Double Eagle Restaurant has an illustrious history. It was where the treaty that ended the Mexican-American war in 1848 was signed, where Billy the Kid was incarcerated, and where the lovers Armando and Inez lived, died, and haunt to this day.

The legend says that the wealthy Maes or Maese family came to Mesilla during the Mexican-American War from Santa Fe. The Senora, Carlota, of the household had great plans for the family. Easily the richest family in the area, she wanted to use her eldest son, Armando, as a pawn to increase the family’s name, wealth and connections. She had already promised his hand to an aristocratic family in Mexico City. Armando, however, did not have the same lust for power as his mother. In fact, he was the type who let his heart lead him, and it did, straight into the servant Inez’s arms. It is written that Inez was a beautiful girl, with long dark hair that reached to her waist. They tried to keep their love a secret, but were not very good at hiding it. Soon, the servants were aware of the budding romance. Knowing the Senora’s lofty plans for her son and feeling no real love for her snobbish attitude, they worked at keeping it a secret. As the story of the lovers leaked out into the town, the other inhabitants of Mesilla also worked at protecting the young lovers and keeping the tryst from the Senora’s eyes.

Birdcage Theatre Tombstone, Arizona from Ghost Adventures

The Birdcage Theatre in Tombstone, Arizona. The guys from Ghost Adventures locked themselves in overnight. This is one portion of the show that aired

La Llarona

The most famous legend of the Southwest is that of La Llorona, which appears to be dominantly of southern New Mexico origin.Encounter with La Llorona A Socorro man and wife remember the summer of 1948 very well. It was July and the weather had become extremely hot. To escape the heat, they decided to camp a few days under the shade of the bosque along the Rio Grande with their neighbors. Two families, consisting of four adults and four children, camped along the river in a thick stand of cottonwood trees near Luis Lopez.On the first day, they fished, swam the river and played a variety of games.

By sundown, they had a large campfire burning and cooked hot dogs and a couple of catfish. It was a fun time for all. Later in the evening, the four children disappeared into the darkness of the bosque playing hide and seek amid the trees — with a stern warning from the parents to not go near the river.As the adults sat around the campfire, they suddenly noticed it was deathly quiet. The giggles and screams of their playful children went silent.

The Lodge at Cloudcroft and the story of Rebecca

This is a story about Rebecca the friendly ghost that haunts the Lodge at Cloudcroft, NM. The story is from Lost Destinations.

REBECCA OF THE CLOUDCROFT LODGE:
She wanders around the elegant old Lodge nightly, her flaming-red curls tumbling over piercing sky-blue eyes as she glides soundlessly through the hallways and staircases. The thing is, she's dead. Yes, the beautiful young woman that roams these halls is thought to be the flirtatious spirit of "Rebecca"... a chambermaid who reputedly disappeared from the premises sometime in the 1920's/30's. They claim her restless wraith has made her presence known here ever since...

The Lodge was originally constructed in the rustic mountain community of Cloudcroft, New Mexico in 1899, by the Alamagordo & Sacramento Mountain Railway. It was owned and operated by the railroad and intended to be a resort for workers who were the by-product of the railway's search for timber. It was immediately successful- it's breathtaking location in the lushly wooded Sacramento Mountains offered a welcome cool retreat to literally thousands of heat-punished Texans (New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Arizona were not yet states at this time). An article published in the Albuquerque Journal-Democrat near the completion of the Lodge in 1899 stated, "This beautiful building will be known as Cloudcroft Lodge and it's interior will be furnished with a lavish hand, yet in keeping with the character of the place. Fireplaces, with wide, hungry mouths, will sparkle, crackle and dart forth welcome tongues of flame to hundreds of merry guests, who will find new pleasure in life during the long, sultry summer." In 1908 the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad System- the Lodge's new owner- advertised that the hotel, restaurant, dancing pavilion, tennis court, golf links, bowling alley, billiard parlor, burro trips and children's playground were accessible for "weekend rates of $3.00 round trip," and that Lodge rates were "$12.50 and up" per week. On June 13th 1909, a raging fire blazed through the Lodge, utterly destroying it. By 1911, the Lodge was completely rebuilt and reopened on it's current site, and it's appearance has remained virtually the same since then- a historic, timeless gem suspended in time. Over the long, distinguished history of the Lodge, it has played host to numerous famous folk- including Pancho Villa, Gilbert Roland, Judy Garland and Clark Gable (in fact the last two carved their names into the wall of the Lodge's Tower, where they can still be seen to this day). But by far the most infamous guest of all at the Lodge is the specter of Rebecca.