- In the prologue of James Morrow's apocalyptic masterpiece
'This is the Way the World Ends,' the reader is introduced to a fictional
version of one of history's most revered prophets. Michel de Nostradame
(or Nostradamus, as he is commonly known) sits comfortably in his work
room, doing what he supposedly does best - envisioning the future. Spread
across his desk are paintings of great cataclysms - cities of stone aflame,
struck by "self-propelled spears" fired from the bellies of "iron
whales."
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- Into Nostradamus' study walks a 14-year old Jewish boy,
a lad who has heard of the seer's propensity for prophecy. He asks Nostradamus
what he foresees.
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- "Myself? Writing a large book. One hundred prophecies,
in ill-phrased and leaden verse. Gibberish, every last line, but the mob
will eat it up. From now until the end of the world, booksellers will make
prophecies out of vapid and dishonest commentaries on these stanzas. I
shall mention the river Hister, and my interpreters will claim that I was
referring to Hitler."
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- "Who is Hitler?"
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- "You don't want to know. More bad news for Jews."
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- "If your book will be gibberish, why write it?"
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- "Fun and profit."
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- Morrow's depicition of an intentionally misleading Nostradamus
may seem like sacrilege to some, but given events of the last few years,
this might actually make sense. Although some Nostradamus scholars have
credited the "seer" with predicting everything from WWII, to
the rise and fall of communism, to the attacks of 9/11, at the very least,
his predictions are ambiguous and nearly impossible to definitively prove.
And "fun and profit" certainly seems the impetus for the vast
majority of contemporary doomsayers. Most of these folks lack Nostradamus'
good sense to leave all future predictions open to interpretation with
a lot of vague, metaphoric language. These people repeatedly stick their
necks out on the chopping block...yet somehow, the blade keeps missing
the mark.
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-
- Everyone who follows the world of the "paranormal"
is familiar with today's self-described prophets: stalwarts of late-night
radio like Gordon Michael Scallion, Ed Dames, Sean David Morton, and most
recently, David Booth, "author" of the book 'Code Red" The
Coming Destruction of America, 2004.' Booth claimed to have a series of
identical dreams over a period of 10 nights where he envisioned an enormous
cataclysm devastating the USA. Thanks to the efforts of talk-show host
Jeff Rense and independent journalists Theresa de Veto and Penelope Periwinkle,
it has been proven that Booth's book is mostly a collection of articles
and essays written by other people. Whether he made the effort to properly
"reference" his "sources" is still a matter of dispute.
(Source: http://www.rense.com/general51/plagiar.htm)
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- Some people are still wondering if Booth actually had
the series of cataclysmic dreams he described. This is just my opinion,
but I think a more appropriate question might be, WHO CARES? Let's say
Booth ACTUALLY DID have the same vision 10 nights in a row, and let's further
speculate that he did speak with Sister Lucia, one of three girls who allegedly
received future visions from the Virgin Mary. Again, the only question
I can ask is, why should I care? What reason has David Booth ever given
us, other than a lot of scary talk and big claims, to make us believe that
he has the "inside scoop" on the future our planet?
-
- As someone who prides himself on remaining open-minded
to the most extreme possibilities until all the facts are in, you'll have
to forgive my "cynicism." I'm facing a handicap of disbelief
when it comes to this business of psychic prophecy, because I've made the
mistake of actually PAYING ATTENTION for many, many years. I am cursed
with a good memory and a desire to see people held accountable when they
are repeatedly wrong and/or intentionally dishonest. I've observed and
kept a record of predictions by Scallion, Dames, Morton, and a few other
of our most "noted" self-described prophets. To say that their
"accuracy" leaves something to be desired is a colossal understatement.
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- How many times does a "doomsayer" have to be
wrong before people will stop taking him or her seriously? If the track
record of Gordon Michael Scallion is any indication, the answer is...many,
many, MANY times...perhaps to infinity. I have tracked Scallion's predictions
going back to as early as 1994, and I still say that I have NEVER ONCE
found an instance when he has accurately predicted anything. I'm sure that
Scallion's supporters can probably manage to scrape up one or two vague
predictions out of literally THOUSANDS that can be twisted into a "hit,"
(he's taken "credit" for every earthquake to strike on the San
Andreas fault line since 1989) but would that excuse his outragenous number
of misses?
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- Let's review the very SPECIFIC predictions that Scallion
gave in his 1994 interview with David Sunfellow (Source: www.v-j-enterprises.com/scalpred.html:
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- 1. In December of 1995, an 8.3 (or greater) magnitude
earthquake would strike LA and initiate the BREAKING UP OF AMERICA.
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- 2. Between 1998 and 2001, a series of earthquakes would
totally devastate the west coast, and DENVER and SEDONA, AZ would become
COASTAL REGIONS.
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- 3. While the coast was being devastated, the east coast
would undego a similar series of earthquakes, causing MASSIVE TIDAL FLOODING.
Manhattan would lose 50% of its land, most of Rhode Island would become
submerged, more than half of Connecticut would go into the sea. 50% of
Florida would vanish. After this devastation, Scallion predicted that THE
LOST CITIES of ATLANTIS would rise off the east coast of America. Again,
all of this was said to happen by 2001.
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- 4. Alaska would lose 25% of its land.
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- 5. Hawaiian islands of Kaui, Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii would
lose approximately 25% of their land.
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- 6. Japan would be COMPLETELY SWALLOWED BY THE OCEAN.
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- 7. Between 1998 and 2001, Earth's poles would shift,
causing ice to cover most of the land in the Pacific. This would drastically
alter the weather in the US, with an average temperature of 75 degress
across the contiguous states.
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- 8. Mt. Rainier would explore in an eruption greater than
Mt. St. Helens.
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- 9. At the same time Rainier erupted, a magnitude 9 earthquake
would strike Mexico City.
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- 10. Between 1994-2001, SEVEN PLAGUES would ravage the
planet. Verbatim from www.v-j-enterprises.com/scalpred.html: 1. Metastic
Melanoma Cancer; 2. A new virulent TB; 3. A different strain of the AIDS
virus, which can be transmitted through the air, or even electromagnetically;
4. The failure of the optic system; 5. The failure of the thymus; 6. The
failure of the pancreas; 7. A disorder of the Astral and Etheric bodies,
wherein they meld, making the victim susceptible to interference from the
"borderland" beyond death (which would create psychic disturbances).
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- 11. Before 1999, WATER WOULD BECOME AS VALUABLE AS GOLD.
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- 12. The US would restructure as 13 colonies.
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- 13. As a result of all the catastrophes, the American
government and economy would totally collapse.
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- 14. By the TURN OF THE CENTURY, a NEW SUN would emerge
in the sky.
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- Aye, mama mia. I mean, CRIPES! How many of these things
ACTUALLY HAPPENED? Wait, don't tell me...The answer is...NONE! Yet this
guy Scallion has more lives than Freddy or Jason. He is STILL MAKING APPEARANCES
on the same late-night radio show that has always catered to the doomsday
ilk. But WHY? Why should anyone with more than a few working brain cells
CARE what Scallion has to say?
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- Another oh-so lamentable "prophet" who is still
hanging on the scene is self-described remote viewer, ED DAMES. Dames achieved
his greatest "fame" when he predicted that by the spring of 1999,
the vast majority of the human population would be WIPED OUT by a killer
Solar Flare. He also predicted in '98 that before the turn of the century,
North Korea would nuke South Korea and initiate world war. Oh, and by 2012,
an alien species, including "robot fetuses" under the surface
of Mars, would visit the earth and lead us into a new age.
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- Let's take a look back at Dames' predictions issued in
1998. Source: http://www.ufomind.com/misc/1998/feb/d18-001.shtml
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- 1 A drastic increase in diseases, we're going to be totally
ravaged globally. These microbes (etc) become so virulent so rapidly, the
CDC (& other centers akin to that) unable to keep up w/ these diseases.
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- 2 Next North America volcanic eruption - Mammoth Mountain
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- 3 A 'plant pathogen' cylindric object from space to impact
in/near Burundi or Lake Victoria (actual remnants will impact/crater there)
by/around end of Feb. Contains spores that cause plants (palm,evergreen,shrub,etc)
to die - from African continent outward. (Algaes not affected.)
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- 4 Before end of winter, North Koreans will use a missle-mounted
nuclear weapon against the South Koreans
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- 5 Shortly thereafter, on the Iberian peninsula, in northern
Spain, another (smaller)nuclear incident in which a group uses a nuclear
reactor as a weapon
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- 6 In late spring/early summer, global economic collapse
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- 7 Clinton(quote)"I don't think he's going to make
it to the end of the year"
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- 8 Increase in deaths of young children/infants from diseases
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- 9 Bigger/stronger tornado in US Midwest so big (quote)"it
scares the bejesus out of you" with so much force it rips people apart
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- 10 In US: unable to make it thru a season without crop
damage/detroyed in many places, & food prices skyrocket
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- 11 reports of cannibalism in Eastern Europe (due to food
shortages)
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- 12 PLO/Israel: The peace process was great & probably
held off war for as long as (it) could but it's over, we're going to war.
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- 13 A large coronal mass ejection/solar flare hits Earth,
w/ only couple days notice, a precursor to 1999 'Killer Flare'. When this
precursor hits, people looking directly at sky blinded, we'll feel it in
terms of light & heat
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- Another self-described prophet who is apparently immune
to accountability is Sean David Morton. Recently, Morton attempted to sue
UFO Watchdog proprietor Royce J. Meyers III, because of Meyers' published
investigation into Morton's claims. It was Meyers' finding that numerous
"credits" in Morton's bio (including his claim to have worked
directly with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry) were patently false.
Morton's attorneys could not produce evidence that a single word on UFOwatchdog.com
was false. The suit was immediately dismissed, and Morton was ordered to
pay $16,000 in restitution to Meyers.
- Here is a list of Morton predictions, also originally
issued in 1998 (From http://www.ufowatchdog.com/morton4.html):
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- 1.Tombs of Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan found.
Billions of dollars in gold and treasures will be found in Khan's tomb
which will be used to finance dangerous Chinese aggression.
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- 2.Federal Reserve will crash
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- 3.Paper money replaced by smart card. Card will contain
all financial info for individuals
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- 4.IRS gone by end of 1998
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- 5.Clinton scandal forces him to leave office. Al Gore
resigns before Clinton leaves office as a result of either distancing himself
from Clinton or being blackmailed by Clinton
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- 6.Clinton names Ted Kennedy as the new Vice President
to keep Republicans from impeaching Clinton as Republicans won't want Ted
Kennedy to replace Clinton as president
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- 7.Clinton suffers a heart attack
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- 8.Castro is overthrown in Cuba
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- 9.A sexually transmitted disease is cured, "probably
AIDS"
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- 10.During the day, a "UFO mothership" is caught
on film over a major southwest city (in CA, AZ, NM or TX)
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- 11.Madeline Albright is attacked by terrorists and is
either hospitalized with injuries or killed
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- 12.Scores of dams break open in California
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- 13.Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber", is sentenced
to the electric chair.
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- Morton, Dames, and Scallion have each used the all-purpose
excuse that...well, gosh, it's really really HARD for even the best psychic
to identify the exact TIMING of a future event. But by DEFINITION, isn't
that the whole POINT of psychic prophecy?
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- If I tell you every year for 50 years that southern California
will be ravaged by an earthquake, if and when it finally happens...will
that make me a bona fine "prophet?"
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- Mankind has been anticipating the end of the world since
the beginning of time. Immnuel Velikovsky was the first to argue that the
real source of doomsday anxiety can be found in the PAST, when the earth
may have experienced cataclysmic events not yet accounted for by mainstream
science. Every culture in the ancient world retained the memory of celestial
chaos, and doom from the heavens. Velikovsky theorized that the source
of recurring doomsday "myths" in the ancient record was planetary
instability - the earth suffering near collisions with other planetary
bodies. Velikovsky's thesis, long-ridiculed by the mainstream, has been
carried on by David Talbott, whose work was featured in the aptly titled
documentary, Remebering the End of the World. If Velikovsky and Talbott
are correct, it would go a long way towards explaining our continued fear
of terrible judgment from the heavens. (See www.thunderbolts.info)
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- What I find most puzzling about people who are fascinated
with doomsday prophecy is that most of them are clearly HOPING that something
terrible happens! Ask yourself, how did you feel when you learned of David
Booth's severely damaged credibility? If you were DISAPPOINTED, then I
can only conclude that you were EAGERLY ANTICIPATING the terrible events
Booth outlined for our future. If this describes you, I dare say you are
in dire in need of psychiatric evaluation. Catastrophes of the sort that
Booth predicted are not anything that you would find DESIRABLE, even if
you were one of the "lucky" few who survived.
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- Many doomsday proponents seem to believe that a great
cataclysm striking the earth (asteroids, nuclear war, solar flares, climate
changes) would have a wonderful "cleansing" effect on our species,
ridding the world of societal "evils" - namely technology and
government. Many funademntalist Christians are waiting with baited breath
for the moment of "final Judgment", when God's "vengeance"
will rain upon the "evildoers" and the righteous will be lifted
to Heaven in the glory of the Rapture. This is not meant as a slur against
anyone's religious beliefs, but I can only assume that people who think
this way are TERRIBLY unhappy with their lives - so much so that they are
actually willing to see millions of people killed if it will mean an end
to their unhappiness.
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- I find it sad that so many people seem unaware of truly
stupendous things that are happening in the world. New revelations in science
and discovery, including experimental proof of life after death (see Michael
Roll's investigation, at http://www.rense.com/general51/socal.htm), astonishing
findings in crop circle research, including crystalline structures within
effected crops (see the report on the BLT research, by Nancy Talbott
www.rense.com/general38/blt.htm), and incredible photographs from the surface
of Mars (see Tom Van Flandern's Meta Research, metaresearch.org). What
a tragedy it would be to see these wonderful revelations cut short by some
stupid, mindless catastrophe!
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- We are facing some very real problems as a species, to
be sure. But instead of wishing our problems away like the fool who tries
to solve the Gordian knot by hacking the rope down the middle, perhaps
we can go about the novel task of actually solving them. Like it or not,
we just might be stuck here for the long haul!
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- http://www.trueskeptic.com/trueskeptic.htm
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