Jaden Smith: "Obama Doesn't Deny Existence Of Aliens"

Jaden Smith -- star of the upcoming sci-fi movie "After Earth" and son of maybe-Scientologist Will Smith -- had a very strange thing to say about President Obama and the existence of aliens recently. He recently told Wonderland magazine:

“I like aliens! I think aliens are really cool, because they exist. I talked to President Obama about extraterrestrials. He said he could neither confirm nor deny the existence of aliens, which means they’re real. If people think we’re the only people that live in this universe, then something is wrong with them.”

Two things, here:

1) It's an odd thing for an actor -- however young -- to say in a press interview. Press interviews are very controlled affairs, with publicists hovering in the background. One could argue that perhaps he was "coached" to say this in order to create more buzz for his science-fiction movie. BUT --

2) He friggin' said that THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES DOESN'T CONFIRM OR DENY THE EXISTENCE OF ALIENS!!!!

If Obama really said this to young Jaden, it is an equally odd thing to be on-record as declaring. Even if he said this in confidence to Jaden, he must realize that nothing is really said "in confidence," especially to 14-year-old. Maybe the President was just being "agnostic" about the whole topic -- but surely he and his press handlers would have known this was a "sound-bitey" thing that would be quoted extensively by the media.

Why did President Obama say this? Is he "hinting" at something? Certainly, Presidents allegedly being in contact with, or at least believing in the existence of, aliens is nothing new -- you have tales about Eisenhower, Carter (alien bunnies!) and Reagan.

As for why Jaden might be interested in aliens...if the rumors that his dad has even a tangential relationship with Scientology are true, that explains a lot. Because ultimately, Scientologists believe in aliens (so do Mormons, in a sense -- this isn't a bash at Scientology. So please do not stalk me, Scientologists! I'm not the enemy!).

Is this all just another plank in the overall "Offworld Agenda?" Are we slowly being "prepared" for an immanent "disclosure?" And does the success of Tom Cruise's "Oblivion" suggest a public with a softer stance regarding Scientology?

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AP Obama Twitter Hack: World Panic Is Only A Tweet Away

I almost crapped myself when I first saw this "AP" tweet announcing explosions at the White House:

But luckily it turned out to be a hack by the "Syrian Electronic Army."

But not so luckily, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped immediately after the tweet:

Is this how easy it is to throw the world into a panic? One hacked tweet?

Call me Tammy Tin Foil Hat, but I really believe some of these online hoaxes (see: Joel Osteen) and hacks are designed to "test" the public -- to gauge their, and perhaps that of media/financial markets as well, reaction to this sort of "breaking news." To gauge the gullibility of the public. Isn't this what happened in Boston last week?

As if perfectly timed, the new "Thor The Dark World" trailer, released today, also features...you guessed it, explosions at the White House:

Luckily, Thor will save us.

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Sync Webs: Lincoln, Obama, and The Amazing Spider-Man

The current hot political meme buzzing through the news outlets at the moment is Lincoln/Obama, as exemplified by this Drudge Report headline:

Google Obama + Lincoln right now, and it's in every news article: "Is this Obama's Lincoln moment?"

This connection has been going on pretty much since before his presidency, but has taken a sharp uptick since the last election, and especially over the last several days or so -- weeks before Obama's inauguration ceremony. Of course, the shadow of Steven Spielberg's current "Lincoln" movie hangs over the entire thing. And it's a connection that the Obama administration and press team themselves have cultivated (much like the Superman/Obama meme).

This reflects the current zeitgeist gripping the U.S. right now -- A Nation Divided, and states wanting to secede. But you'd also have to be pretty blind to see the other subtext about this connection.

And that makes me nervous.

The Drudge Report, one of the all-time masters of matching primal symbology with headlines to subliminally influence readers and get away with the otherwise taboo, is currently running this headline:

This image/word combination can be unpacked as follows:

1. Inflame already inflamed gun-owners currently terrified about losing their guns due to tragedies like Newtown.

2. Use the iconography of the Revolutionary War to stir up the Tea Party crowd. Obama's name linked to the image of the Redcoats, enemy of the "Patriots."

3. Use the even deeper subconscious imagery of people shooting weapons + the word "Obama" + "There Will Be Resistance."

It's my belief that such image/word combinations get "shuffled" within the brains of already unstable people. It's a similar situation to the "Dark Knight Rises" phenomenon and that business with James Holmes.

Also, from a metaphysical standpoint, such a deep identification with another public figure with such a tragic story is not a good idea. While Abraham Lincoln is a potent and much-beloved icon, the fact that he was assassinated makes purposely associating with him -- especially when you are already getting regular death threats on a regular basis -- dicey.

As an added passel of syncs, a writer in the comic book community who has recently "killed" Peter Parker/Spider-Man has also been on the receiving end of an unprecidented amount of death threats, leading to him essentially going into hiding and comparing himself to Salman Rushdie:

Let's recall this recent viral photo of Obama and Spidey:

...and also this famous comic from several years ago:

The Peter Parker of a different Marvel Comics "Earth" was killed off last year, replaced with a young Spider-Man of color -- setting off another mind 'splosion among certain groups of people (some of whom claimed this was all part of a sinister "plot" by Obama):

From "The Drudge Report"

Of course, in this particular Marvel Universe this year, their President Obama analogue has perished -- along with a good chunk of Washington D.C.:

This leads to a storyline in which first some sort of education official or someone similarly down the chain of command is made president (mirroring "Battlestar Galactica"), finally to be replaced by Captain America himself in a "special election" (a.k.a. not really any election):

Lastly, let's return to the death of another icon who has been connected with Obama -- Superman. That event "happened" in 1992, at which time that George H.W. Bush was president. It was a death of a comic book hero that, like the current Spider-Man story, made national news:

Bush Senior was recently at death's door, followed by the death of his Commander of U.S. Central Command during the Gulf War, Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.:

So we currently have weird parallels to both the U.S. Civil War era, and the early 1990s/Gulf War era.

Is there one more sync or resonance I can squeeze out of all these elements? Here's just a few comic-related images:

Well, here's covers featuring Spider-Man's fellow superhero Deadpool, in a story about him fighting a zombie version of Abraham Lincoln:

This comic that will be released on January 16, about 5 days before the U.S. presidential inauguration.

And just for shits and giggles, here's a shot of Deadpool capturing Osama Bin Laden:



...and here's Obama doing the same thing in the Comics:





Here's the mutant super-group "X-Presidents," inclusing Bush Senior, fighting the menace of Communism, robots, and Reptillians:



Obama resonator Lincoln appears with both Obama resonator Spider-Man and "Obama Replacement" (in the "Ultimate" Marvel Universe) Captain America in this special Presidents Day comic:



And lastly, since I have an obsession with Astronaut iconography, I'll leave you with this:

Because icons never really die.

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Starseeds, Star Wars, And Krypton Found: The New Space Narrative

Space Ark

The only solution seemed to be a boat. A new society of  timeships, sailing the high seas. The Noah myth. Premonitory preparation for the emigration from planet earth.
-- Timothy Leary, "Starseed: A Psi Phy Comet Tale" 

Update: Immediately after publishing this post I found the following article: astronomers apparently just announced yesterday that they have found a "Super-Earth" (their term, not mine) "that may be capable of supporting life as we know it — and it's just a stone's throw from Earth in the cosmic scheme of things." The planet is nicknamed "Lenny." So start packing, folks! And expect more articles like this one filling up your news feed every week, as we're methodically "prepared" to accept the inevitable fact of off-Earth colonization.

Three rather interesting space-related items from the last week or so, all shaping one larger narrative:


Possible NASA Manned Moon Mission Announcement

Don't worry, there will be plenty of new jobs waiting for you on the moon

Space.com reports that we might soon be hearing about a manned mission to the far side of the Moon -- and that such an announcement was timed for a President Obama post-election victory. Space.com quotes their sources as saying "a big announcement may indeed be in the offing before too much longer." This announcement might include word of building a base on the moon and working toward sending people onto an asteroid and Mars.


"Krypton" Located By Famed Astrophysicist

Most of the mass media picked up this story about how Neil deGrasse Tyson "locates" the universe in which Krypton existed. Whether he has done so only in the comic book DC is set to promote, "Action Comics" #14, or in "real life" is made rather unclear...witness the story in the esteemed New Scientist website:

"Now famed astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson has used his power of scientific reasoning to help pin down a real-life red star that could have hosted the home of the Man of Steel. Red stars can scale from dim dwarfs to mighty supergiants. But as astronomer Phil Plait explains, the lifetime of a red supergiant would probably be too short for the advanced Kryptonian civilisation to emerge, while known red giants are too far away from Earth to fit with Superman's back story. That means Krypton had to orbit a red dwarf, which can be older and closer."

Note how the language here deftly mixes fact (there was a star and universe found) with fiction (THERE IS NO SUPERMAN OR PLANET KRYPTON!). Both fantasy and reality have been woven together in a meta-narrative that a respected member of the scientific community has endorsed.

Now, who am I to say that there isn't/wasn't a Krypton? Isn't this mythology-woven-into-fact happening as I write this? Don't we really want a Superman to really exist? And look: now we might have a human-friendly planet to go to...the next logical step after all those initiatives in the theoretical imminent NASA/Obama announcement is made.

Further, as I've pointed out on this blog several times -- President Obama has been "cast" as -- sometimes by his own self/handlers -- as a Superman-type icon. Heck, only a few issues back in "Action Comics" #9, there was a whole issue that (metaphorically, of course) explored this. And Obama himself quipped that he was born on Krypton:



New Star Wars Movies Announced

Lastly, to the item that kicked this whole news cycle off: hold on to your hats, fans, there is going to be a new Star Wars movie! And another one after that. And another one after that. And, as NASA sends some hapless souls to cling on an asteroid, another Star Wars movie after that.

We'll have plenty of fun space operas to keep our eyes to the stars over the next decades, thanks to Disney buying out Lucasfilm and forcing them to pump put more creations on a regular basis than the Duggar Family. "Star Wars" has also shaped our political landscape in the past, most particularly with the Star Wars Defense Initiative in the 1980s.

It will be very interesting to see what narratives these new movies spin out, and how they will both reflect and shape the larger world narrative. But the overall "message" of these films will be space travel, exploration, and planets beyond our own. Imagination-fuel for generations who will most likely witness -- and perhaps eventually train for -- these issues in real life.

"Young Jedi" at an actual "Jedi Training Academy"

So here's the story so far. A NASA announcement about a manned moon mission (among other things) might be immanent, held back only to be revealed after an Obama victory. At the same time, we have apparently "discovered" Superman's birthplace, Krypton -- this is "legit" because Neil deGrasse Tyson told us so. This newly-discovered universe might, conveniently, sustain human(oid) life. Also: Superman might be real. Lastly, our hopes for continuing the Space Program has been metaphorically rekindled now that it's been announced that -- contrary to the previous protestations by George Lucas -- there are going to apparently be new Star Wars sequels into perpetuity.

Why all these narratives now? It's because we're being prepared -- albeit very slowly and methodically -- for off-planet colonization. THIS -- this is the dominating narrative as the years and decades go by. This is it. Tim Leary was right with "Starseed" -- we have to get off the Rock. 'Cause another part of the narrative might be -- we're Krypton.

BUT

Leary also told us the real key is to travel into the universes within. Where is the official narrative for this, our map studded with friendly pop-culture landmarks for easy consumption?

Folks, that part of the journey -- there is no official plan, no NASA "innerspace" exploration announcement coming. We gotta do that ourselves. However, as always, pop-culture has many keys available to us to light up that way, as well.

(Also, is it time for news of some sort of ill-conceived "2001" reboot movie with state-of-the-art CGI effects? I'm thinking it is.)

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Revenge Of The Goddess: Athena Strikes

I only thought hurricanes got "people" names but The Weather Channel has apparently decided to name the current one smashing against my city "Athena" -- against the express wishes of the National Weather Service --

Giant Athena statue in Nashville (source)

As an added sync, the above photo was taken from a site called Trip Advisor, whose logo is an owl -- one of Athena's symbols:

Of course, Athena is a pretty prominent goddess, patroness of (quoting Wikipedia here) "wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill". She's also linked to a ton of other goddesses -- like the Libyan/Egyptian Neith (goddess of both war and the more domestic activity of weaving), who has been controversially (at least, in academic circles) been referred-to as "The Black Athena."

Neith

Neith, from "Wonder Woman"

Another goddess was invoked today, in relation to both the rather violent weather and the Election -- Mother Nature. A Twitter topic as I write this, she was apparently referred-to by the erudite documentary maker Michael Moore, who blogged the following:

"And you, Mother Nature, with all your horrific damage, death and destruction you caused last week, you became, ironically, the undoing of a Party that didn't believe in you or your climate changing powers. Perhaps they'll believe now."

Probably not the most sensitively put thing I've read at the moment, considering so many are still suffering from our previous storm. But it syncs perfectly with the idea of Athena as a storm. The revenge of the Goddess.

Yes, this is an actual comic book

Moore makes the "triumph" of women during the recent re-election of President Obama a focal point of his post, including thanking Sandra Fluke, who started the trend (by being a target) of GOP leaders and conservative pundits saying absolutely crazy-ass things about women and rape -- what was to be "branded" by the media as "The War On Women":

"Thank you Sandra Fluke for enduring the insults hurled at you and then becoming an important grassroots leader against the war on women. Thank you Todd Akin for...well, for just being you."

The real Sandra Fluke Vs. depiction by Far-Right

"The War On Sandra Fluke" Sets Off "The War On Women"

Another sync, another angry storm "goddess" -- Sandra and "Sandy."

Todd Akin, one of the out-of-touch GOPs who I believe hurt Romney in a huge way, was actually referred to as being "raped" by his female opponent: quoteth Jon Stewart: "Well it looks tonight like, in Missouri, Claire McCaskill has legitimately raped Todd Akin. Electorally speaking, obviously."

("Rape" never seems like a cool word to use in a joke, regardless of the context -- but that's just me)

Indeed, with last night's voting, more women are in the senate more than ever before, 20. Most of these women would share attributes with Athena, who is highly intelligent and a strategic "warrior."

Again: the unbelievably crass remarks by the GOP regarding females pretty much killed Romney's campaign. Suppressed Goddess energy has literally overflowed, burst out:

"When you open a flood gate, how can you undo it?...There is no undoing; it must run it's course."
-- from "The Craft," 1996 

Or maybe that wasn't the reason Obama won at all. Maybe it was, as some people wrote, "Flag Head Lady":

"Flag Head Lady"

Neith

I'm not a huge traditional feminist, but I don't want to be forced to carry my rapist's baby either (neither did Athena, after Hephaestus attempted to rape her; she "foiled" the rape and his semen fell on Gaia/"Mother Nature" instead, who got pregnant by default. Those wacky Greeks!).

Women in my field, and especially in the field of gaming, were horrifically targeted with abusive language and threats of rape and murder this year, far worse than I observed in any other year since the Internet was a "thing." As I watched this mass exodus of women from blogging -- citing feeling unsafe and unprotected in the midst of what was default stalking that made its way offline -- I wondered what set this off? Why this year? And this doesn't even count the women overseas who are getting shot in the face and acid thrown on them for daring to get an education or talk about "rights."

I go back to my post on the comic book "goddesses" Phoenix and Pandora.

These female deities "ruled" the mainstream comic book world this year -- this, in a field dominated by male characters. Phoenix in particular is interesting, as she is, in a sense, a "bird-goddess" -- as is Athena and a whole "class" of goddesses:

This whole business has a lot of personal meaning to me as well -- the violent climate change inspiring me to do everything from questioning living in NYC anymore, to questioning what my purpose is in life, to a greater realization that there is a bigger community out there that needs help (and that, in the face of this and worse situations, the city's infrastructure might not be able to withstand).

But I, also, have an energy -- mostly creative and intellectual -- that needs to burst through:

And so I'll continue analyzing and writing. I feel I shall have no lack of topics in the weeks ahead.

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