Rabbit-Hole News: Pat Robertson's Illuminati Theories, Bagram Batman, Bigfoot

THE ILLUMINATI:

Televangelist Pat Robertson decided yesterday that the public needed more of his pearls of wisdom, blaming the Bavarian Illuminati for gay marriage:

"It has been said that those who do not learn the lessons of history are doomed to live them again. If you go back in history to the French Revolution, there was a thrust spurred by the writings of the group called the Illuminati to destroy the family, to destroy the state, to destroy capitalism and to destroy the church."

Robertson's rantings will in no way be used by the media to make all alternative news/history enthusiasts look like raving lunatics. Oh wait, they totally were.


ALEISTER CROWLEY:

Along similar lines as the Robertson piece, conservative site Big Hollywood has picked up the OTO/Peaches Geldof/Jay-Z story from the Daily Mail -- though never mentioning the word "Illuminati." Crowley cited as sex-crazed maniac, though; cool to see that media still buys Uncle Al's press after all these decades. Makes you wonder if the "mainstream" conservatives (and I know that's a stretch when referring to Robertson) are starting to overtly adopt the Illuminati/Satanist narrative.


THE DARK KNIGHT:

Because our soldiers really need more of the blending of fantasy and reality in order to keep a healthy mindset on the field and back at home, a series of Army PSAs called "The Bagram Batman" teach soldiers how to be more prepared. Because there is nothing less "triggering" than the Chris Nolan version of Batman.


BIGFOOT:
Is this Bigfoot's foot? Or a bear paw?

If it was Bigfoot's foot that would be really cool. Let's all hope it's Bigfoot.


META-NARRATIVE:
This podcast by The Higherside Chats, interviewing author Kent Bain, contains a little something for everyone: 9/11, Sandy Hook, Hunger Games black magick, Baphomet, and, of course, The Dark Knight. I'll be looking at Bain's (Bain/Bane sync LOL) theory about "The Great Gatsby" in a future post.

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Boston Bombing Suspect Cited Dark Knight Movie, 9/11 Coverup, Marine Meet-Up

Here is a collection of Tweets from what is believed to be the account of Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev -- who was known to his friends as "Jahar." I am publishing these -- anticipating that the whole account will soon be taken off of Twitter -- with some commentary.

1. Zombie apocalypse dreams

Dzhokhar cites a number of "zombie apocalypse" dreams. As I will point out later, I believe some of these dreams cited by him to be prophetic in nature of the horror to follow.

2. Dark Knight Rises

He watched "The Dark Knight Rises" when it came out, noting that it was "too real." TDKR was key to the Aurora shootings; it also has a plot that, in some respects, strongly resembles that of what happened in Boston.


3. Believed 9/11 was an inside job

Not playing into the "Boston was an inside job" theories, but just posting the Tweet. Also didn't trust the media:

And:

4.  The Marine

Again, not playing into the conspiracy theories, but apparently he did meet up with a Marine who said his name was "classified." Why and how did this happen?


5.  The Prophetic Tweet

I am of the opinion that prophetic dreams can and do happen. Dzhokhar and his brother (allegedly) carried out the bombings on April 15, the day Abraham Lincoln died, April 15. He "killed" Lincoln/killed on Lincoln's death day.

6. Various Tweets

The following messages reflect a number of things about what Dzhokhar felt about life, terrorism, death, and so on. They, and the whole of his Twitter account, paint a very complex picture of a young man.







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"Olympus Has Fallen" And The New Patriotism Narrative

It's sometimes so bizarre that I can't help think there is something more to it.

Just as "Olympus Has Fallen" -- a movie about evil Koreans bombing and taking over the White House -- does gangbusters at the box office, North Korea suggests, through a conveniently placed bulletin board in a war-room photo, that they are readying missiles for Washington, D.C.:

How weird is that? Does art represent life, or does life reflect art?

What is the psychological impact on an American citizen from watching "Olympus Has Fallen" and then having this news plastered all over our media right afterwards?

"Olympus Has Fallen" took in $30.5 million in its opening last weekend

Some might theorize that this makes the American people more fearful and paranoid -- but I would offer that the prevailing feeling throughout the public, at least according to social media, is one of gung-ho patriotic jingoism -- of the "well then we'll just bomb them into the stone age" variety.

I might also humbly suggest that such an instinctual and joyously defensive appeal to said patriotic impulse distracts the populace from such domestic issues such as financial crisis -- instead, giving people a shared threat to rally against. Some say that Kim Jong-un looks as if he just stepped out of central casting for a James Bond movie.

Let's look at the cast for "Olympus Has Fallen," for there are several actors involved who have subtextual meaning as it relates to discussion and their previous movie roles.

The film's protagonist is played by Gerard Butler -- who of course played the mighty warrior King Leonidas in "300." Leonidas is the ulitmate macho war-dude, rallying the "troops" to battle.

The president is portrayed by Aaron Eckhart, part of the symbolically-loaded Christopher Nolan "Dark Knight" trilogy. POTUS has the name Benjamin Asher, which has very Biblical overtones; both Benjamin and Asher are part of the Tribes of Israel.

One person the president in "Olympus Has Fallen" does NOT seem to allude to is our current president, Barack Obama. Often, movies such as this will choose an "analogue" to the sitting president. But this does not seem to be President Benjamin Asher's function. Asher seems to function as some sort of idealistic character straight out of the Good Book; functioning in what is essentially an Apocalyptic film as the representation of the United States as a "promised land" that needs defending from the Philistines.

HOWEVER, when Asher is incapacitated in the Korean takeover, Morgan Freeman's character, Speaker Allan Trumbull, is made Acting President. Freeman also played the U.S. president in "Deep Impact," alluding to the recent spate of asteroid paranoia that has recently filled the news.

While Freeman resonates both the President-During-The-Apocalypse symbol as well as a possible "stand-in" for our own president, I would also suggest that in the bigger scheme of things, he also resonates a paternalistic, transcendent, "God" figure (as he literally was in "Bruce Almighty).

And Freeman, of course, was also a figure in the Nolan "Dark Knight" movies, especially the third one in which his character was the creator of a bomb that Bane hijacks and threatens to use on Gotham; as Kim Jong-un threatens to do to the U.S. as present.

All-in-all, rather than being a true eschatological movie as "Deep Impact" or "2012," "Olympus Has Fallen" is more a narrative designed to rally the American public against the outside Enemy -- as the successful "Red Dawn" remake has done (featuring the North Koreans), as the upcoming movie "Iron Man 3" will do (with the Asian Mandarin as villain), and as the immanent movie "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" will do (swapping out a specific ethnic group for the generic evil of "Cobra").

In truth, we have moved out of the end-of-the-world cycle of films, spurred on by the 2012 prophecy, and are travelling into a "we can win this war dammit we are Americans!" phase; the phase of "let's bomb them into the stone age!"

And why is this? As I've mentioned before, this appeal to patriotism distracts the public from economic turmoil at home. It also more helpfully "defines" what it means to be a Patriot; taking control of the word and concept from various Constitutionalist groups etc. labelled as "fringe."

In short: this narrative, running through both news media and entertainment, attempts to push the United States out of the "paranoid," untrusting-of-government periods of the 70s, 90s, and 10s and into something more manageable. Witness the 80s and "Aughts" -- both eras where the U.S. have been threatened with, in the latter even hit by, attacks from abroad.

And if "Olympus Has Fallen" doesn't float your boat, you can check out the #1 movie in America, about cavemen.

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Joseph Gordon-Levitt Warns Of "Larger Movement That Is Currently Dragging Us Down"

Very interesting words from Joseph Gordon-Levitt made in relation to his 2006 short film "Pictures of Assholes." The context: the film involves Gordon-Levitt turning the tables on paparazzi and shooting video of them as they shoot pictures of him.

The quote in question is from Gordon-Levitt's introduction on YouTube to the "Pictures Of Assholes", and seems to speak not just of the paparazzi, not just of Hollywood, but of something bigger -- what the young actor refers to as "a larger movement":

"The only other thing I'll say is (and I had trouble deciding whether or not to be so blunt with my opinion, but here goes) I do believe that the myth of 'Celebrity' is not just innocently shallow entertainment, but a powerful and fundamental part of a larger movement revolving around greed, apathy and hierarchy that is currently dragging us down, down, down, lower and scarier, and perhaps weaker than we've ever, ever been. Smile!"

What could Gordon-Levitt mean about how "Celebrity" is part of this powerful "larger movement" that is scarily dragging us down and making us weaker?

A very young Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Certainly, nobody is shedding tears for the actor -- he continues to participate in Hollywood productions big (such as "The Dark Knight Rises") and small. But he's also been in the industry since age six. One would imagine that he has seen a lot during that time.

But would that younger Gordon-Levitt -- currently one of the most bankable names in Hollywood -- insinuate the same things now as he did in 2006?

I'll end this post with a quote from "Dark Knight Rises," in which his character, "good cop" John Blake notes ruefully to Commissioner Gordon:

"You were right, about the structures becoming shackles."

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Superbowl Blackout Blamed On "Dark Knight Rises" Villain Bane

In just another example of how deeply embedded our pop-culture is in our collective psyche, the temporary blackout at the Superbowl yesterday was attributed to "The Dark Knight Rises" character Bane by hundreds of people on Twitter.

The pivotal scene in "TDKR" involved Bane taking over a football stadium and holding the attendees as hostages. The profound resonance this movie has had with Americans is evident in these messages, only a small portion of which have been screen-captured below.

And yet, along with the quips and joking, there is also an underlying nervousness. Who sitting in that stadium didn't immediately think, at least for a second, that terrorism might be to blame for the sudden darkness? With Bin Laden dead (perhaps as much as twice), what bogeymen do we have to haunt our national subconscious? It is up to Hollywood to fill in the gaps:

Besides Bane, there were two other...entities, if you will, which were also evoked as possibly causing said blackout.

One was, of course, the "ghosts" of Hurricane Katrina, as the game was played in the rebuilt Superdome -- the Superdome in which so many huddled masses were abandoned after the flooding of  Katrina, some dying or suffering sexual assault. The Superdome is also believed by some to be "cursed" because of its proximity to Girod Street Cemetery; some Ravens fans blaming their team's largely unsuccessful history on the curse.

But, thanks to sponsorship by Mercedes-Benz, the Superdome was supposed to be redone and rebranded -- all that dark history behind them. Which reminds me of this Superbowl ad by Mercedes featuring a man making a deal with the devil (played by Willem Dafoe):

If that Masonic ring Dafoe is wearing in the last screengrab puts you in a conspiratorial mood, then you've found the last "culprit" for who could have possibly pulled the plug on Superbowl XLVII:

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Aaron Swartz Wrote His Last Blog Post On "The Dark Knight"

I haven't even been able to pull together coherent thoughts about the recent suicide of this Internet activist who was literally harassed by the Feds to death, but I was shocked to find that the last post on his blog was a review of "The Dark Knight". Here are the last two paragraphs of "What Happens In The Dark Knight" (emphasis mine):

"The movie concludes by emphasizing that Batman must become the villain, but as usual it never stops to notice that the Joker is actually the hero. But even though his various games only have one innocent casualty, he’s much too crazy to be a viable role model for Batman. His inspired chaos destroys the criminals, but it also terrorizes the population. Thanks to Batman, society doesn’t devolve into a self-interested war of all-against-all, as he apparently expects it to, but that doesn’t mean anyone enjoys the trials.

Thus Master Wayne is left without solutions. Out of options, it’s no wonder the series ends with his staged suicide."

It is always quite interesting to me how iconic and primal this Christopher Nolan trilogy of Batman films are -- how they impact people in such a deeply profound way, and have captured the zeitgeist of our world in such an uncanny fashion.

As for what happened to Swartz -- all the harassment that was done to him will no doubt make him a martyr to the cause, and only inspire more people to become Internet activists.

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From Aurora To Sandy Hook: The Nightmare Is Real

On December 5th I wrote a post called "Requiem For The Doomed" in which I discussed two rather gruesome and disturbing news stories -- as well as larger issues involving our society and violence in the news and media. I also recounted a dream I had the night before of a disturbed young man and a scene of mass violence; this dream was prophetic.

On December 11, 22-year-old Jacob Tyler Roberts shot up the Clackamas Town Center in Portland, Oregon; two of the shoppers he opened fired at died, and Roberts himself apparently expired by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

On December 14, 20-year-old Adam Lanza killed 26 people at a Connecticut elementary school, twenty of them children. Lanza also apparently committed suicide, as well as murdered his own mother at their home before the massacre.

Both Roberts and Lanza were dressed in military gear. in my dream, I assumed the disturbed young man was in the military.

In my original post I asked:

"What is the accumulated mental impact on the populace as the result of being exposed to such horrors?"

People talk a lot about gun control -- and I certainly support tighter restrictions on purchasing firearms. But how many of these same vocal gun-control advocates would support taking another look at the constant messages of violence in our contemporary pop-culture? And let's go a step beyond blood and gore, and put our focus instead on just plain disturbing, manipulative imagery and symbolism: in our entertainment, advertising, public events, etc.

I am by no means advocating censorship. But I am advocating educating the populace to Consume Content Consciously. To be aware when deep, primal symbolism is being used, whether it's in a movie or a sneaker ad. Because there's nothing wrong with you or I watching a violent film or playing a violent video game -- if we consciously consume that content.

But how much of the masses are just soaking it all in? For how many children is TV or video games the babysitter? How many parents are involved in their children's lives enough to keep tabs on what content they consume?

What is the cumulative impact of this constant stream of content "flashed" on children as they grow up? What is the impact on the more psychologically vulnerable of those children, ones who experience this content (entertainment/advertising/news) in a far more intense way -- the way Adam Lanza, who had emotional problems as well as autism, might have experienced it?

And what is the impact on the populace of news stories containing unimaginable horror such as that coming from Sandy Hook elementary school yesterday? What is the psychic toll?

I'll end this post with words from Marion Cotillard, star of "The Dark Knight Rises" -- a movie that, in some strange, elemental way, seemed to have "set off" a constant stream of mass shootings since this Summer:

"I’ve never felt good about guns. Especially when it’s out of control. Sadly, I guess, it's in America’s culture. And I believe it’s going to be hard to change that because some people can’t be secure without it. It’s creating at the same time this insecurity. It’s a vicious circle."

Read Also:
"It Was Like A Chris Nolan Scene": The Case Of The "Times Square Ninja"
The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning: From San Diego To Aurora
So. There's Apparently A James Holmes Fan Community.

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More Aqua-pocalypse With "Oblivion" Poster; Plus, "Star Trek Into Darkness"

The just-released poster for Tom Cruise's upcoming movie "Oblivion" features yet ANOTHER "New York Underwater" Aqua-pocalypse:

I also didn't want to let the new poster for "Star Trek Into Darkness" go without a mention:

Both the image and the new trailer feature the destruction/attack of a New York-type future world. Also, compare with the poster for "The Dark Knight Rises":

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Requiem For The Doomed (And All The Mummified Cats)

Two horrible news stories competed for my attention yesterday -- soul-crushing, hideous, gory news stories in which the actual "newsworthiness" to me was debatable.

In the first, a man was pushed to his death in front of a New York City subway train (the train line I use, just for an added fillip of dread). According to an MTA public service poster I noticed coincidentally the same day I later found out about the death, about 40+ people died from being struck by subway trains last year. But what made this particular item of such visceral impact is the way our humor paper, The New York Post, reported the story on its front page:

The altercation that proceeded this poor man's fall onto the tracks was also filmed by one type of mobile device or another -- the important thing is, it was recorded. Recorded, another trifle on the iPhones and tablets and other gadgets. As I've pointed out in a previous post on a knife-wielding man who was shot in Times Square, the citizenry always are sure to record such anomalous events and tragedies on their devices, watch through lenses and screens at the gory drama about to unfold.

Then the Media covers the event, replicates and magnifies certain images for mass consumption. But the NYP cover is probably one of the most blood-curdling, "bread and circuses" tableau I've ever seen.

What is the accumulated mental impact on the populace as the result of being exposed to such horrors?

The second, barely "news" story was a segment on the show "Hoarders," about essentially the Ed Gein of cat hoarders. Cat owners, I will spare you the details, but it was the most disgusting, soul-ripping situation you can possibly imagine. This, coupled with an obviously deeply emotionally ill woman crying, cradling a mummified cat/cat-head in her arms and admitting she has lost all control.

If there is any real news about these two stories, it's about the inadequate mental health services provided to people in this country -- meager resources that are constantly in danger of being cut from governmental budgets. But you'll never see such items framed in such a way. That would be boring.

I write this in the context of a horrible nightmare I had last night. It started with a man, possibly a veteran, returning from war. He looks at all the giant ads and billboards surrounding him, and the symbolism really disturbs him -- triggers off deep post-traumatic stress issues. These are ads and signs not just containing violent imagery, but just deep, symbolic stuff that creates a sense of vertigo and cognitive dissonance.

As the dream continues, the man turns to me and tells me that I am the only one who can unlock the mystery of what has happened to men like him -- people who have been purposely fucked-up and mentally destroyed in these sorts of "experiments." These experiments involve the use of repeated imagery and sound -- I suppose MK-Ultra type stuff. He says the answers are "locked in his head," though there are books and other notes around the room I might be able to get more information from.

Then the scene switches to a room full of people -- regular people you'd find anywhere. A tone is played, and a certain light is flashed, and these people turn on each other, trying to kill each other with their bare hands and anything they find in the room. They become like complete animals. It's like something out of "The Manchurian Candidate," but with regular people not soldiers, and far more brutal.

Which reminds me of "The Walking Dead," and of this recent news story of a man who shot his girlfriend in the back with a rifle over an argument regarding the show. The substance of the argument? The suspect was convinced that a zombie-apocalypse type scenario might happen:

"...he felt very adamant that there could be some type of military mishap that would result in some sort of virus or something being released that could cause terrible things to happen."

I'm going to wind this all up with mentioning once again the "Summer of Shootings" that just passed, starting with the "Dark Knight" one in Aurora and quickly escalating to almost one a week. After a while, we still got those shooting stories...but they weren't big news anymore, barely a Twitter Trend.

Bored again. What will be the new Hotness? The Royal Messiahs? Junk Food Shortages?

Anyway, I also write a blog on Wellness, and really try to focus on strategies to shield oneself -- or at least purge the toxins -- from being exposed to all this. I don't believe in being sheltered. But we need the critical thinking ability to put what we see in context. And we need to Consume Content Consciously.

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