Mystery at the museum solved...

I’ve been catching up on episodes of one of my favorite Travel Channel shows, “Mysteries at the Museum,” and I was definitely not disappointed by their JFK assassination special. So we’re finally getting more of these mystery-solving type reality shows take the route of logical, evidence-based conclusions to supposedly “unsolved” mysteries, even though the more sensationalistic approach might probably get more attention and please the conspiracy crowd out there. The “Mysteries at the Museum” episode focused in on the major lynchpin arguments of conspiracy theorists and very elegantly debunked all of them. The conclusion on the end of the program was an unequivocal “no” to conspiracy. Very well done, in my opinion. Endorsing convoluted, unproven conspiracy fantasies might be the easier route to take when it comes to the Kennedy assassination. Standing by the truth, however, is the right thing to do. 

Except they forgot about Elvis...

...Elvis was also a part of the JFK assassination conspiracy!

OK, some childish humor in the middle of the night as I wanted to share this link to a very good piece CBS News did on conspiracy beliefs. The story focuses on the psychology and appeal of extreme paranoia. It is good to see the media's and academia's approach to the issue taking this turn. Whether or not conspiracy theories about JFK, the Freemasons, the New World Order, and the Illuminati are real are no longer questions fit for constructive discussion. They have all been disproven beyond a shadow of a reasonable doubt. All right? Deal with it! Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, the Illuminati don't exist, and neither does the new world order. What both the social sciences and psychology need to probe at this point is why do people keep believing in things that are unprovable?

This story has some great information and excellent links to understanding the psychology of the conspiracy theorist.

The latest in conspiracy fashions

Another great part of the Philcon 2018 sci fi conference was finding the latest in (anti)conspiracy fashion. Even among people who like very imaginative, out-of-the box entertainment that encourages imaginations to run very far away, today's conspiracy culture has become a theater of the absurd.

All good things...

Well, the Philcon 2018 science fiction convention might have come to an end, but I’m still impressed by how much benefit can be gained for writers starting out in fiction, those working on staying in touch with their fans or establishing their fan base, or just networking with other writers, editors, an people in various positions in the publishing industry. As one of the panels on the marketing of one’s work – no matter how big or how small one’s publishing house is, a writer today MUST be ready to do a lot of selling – some 80% of book purchases are made by people based on the recommendation of their friends. So writers really do need to get out among the fans, make a good impression, sign autographs, and tell some good stories and give good advice on panels.

And yup, that’s yours truly, signing an autograph for someone who will hopefully become a devoted fan.

And she did say that the “dark side of conspiracism” premise of CONFIRMATION was indeed intriguing!

My activity schedule at Philcon 2018

Now that I was able to finally get out of Jersey City after a night of being stranded in my office by a really nasty noreaster, I'm heading off to Cherry Hill, NJ, for the Philcon 2018 science fiction conference. The following is my schedule of panels, readings, and book signing.

Barna William Donovan

• Fri 6:00 PM in Executive Suite 623—Readings (3330)
Samuel Delany (mod), Barna William Donovan, Mark Wolverton
• Fri 7:00 PM in Autograph Table—Delany, Donovan (3343)
Samuel Delany (mod), Barna William Donovan
• Fri 10:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Three—Room Discussion: Westworld (3161)
  Have a theory about season two's timeline? Speculation about where the show will go next? Want to discuss what it means to be human in a world that we now know can [REDACTED], or whether or not you're ready to welcome our new android overlords? Because we do!
Barna William Donovan (mod), Paul Levinson, Anastasia Klimchynskaya
• Sat 10:00 AM in Plaza IV (Four)—DCEU: A Light at the End of the Tunnel? (3177)
  We all know that Warner Brothers has had a bit of the problem with their DCEU movies. But the latest trailers for Aquaman & SHAZAM look like they’re finally turning the page to a Brand New Day...
Barna William Donovan (mod), Marshall Ryan Maresca, Andre Lieven, Orenthal Hawkins
• Sat 2:00 PM in Plaza III (Three)—The Robot "Other" (3087)
  Creating empathy for humanity's not-quite-human creations was groundbreaking with Frankenstein, but now, stories told from the perspective of A.I. are common enough that they've become their own sub-genre. How do these stories affect how we perceive ourselves? Have we reached the point where we have more empathy for robots than we do for other humans?
Joan Wendland (mod), Anastasia Klimchynskaya, Barna William Donovan, Neil Clarke, David Walton
• Sun 11:00 AM in Plaza V (Five)—Writing A Film-Friendly Novel (3134)
  What elements should you keep in mind while writing a novel if you're hoping to eventually see it onscreen?
Richard Stout (mod), Elizabeth Crowens, Barna William Donovan, Marshall Ryan Maresca, Carl Paolino, Michael D'Ambrosio
• Sun 2:00 PM in Plaza V (Five)—The Planet of the Apes (3128)
  Is the reboot of the franchise a deserving successor to the original series? Do the modern-day "prequels" reflect a change in how we view our world- and humanity's place in it?
Ken Altabef (mod), Barna William Donovan, Kim Kindya

A Call For An Uprising?

Yeah, maybe it should be a call for an uprising by everyone offended by ignorance in the modern world and possibly the most absurd supernatural-conspiracy-theory channel on YouTube.

Recently I have been talking with some friends who asked me to compile some of the most insane, counterintuitive, and laughably illogical conspiracy theories circulating in cyberspace today. Perhaps they could be good tools to use in my Conspiracy Films class, they said. So I thought that would be an interesting exercise…

…and I found an extremely prolific conspiracy channel on YouTube that could make for an entire class on its own. 

So check out a channel called “A Call For An Uprising” right here. This is one of a growing genre of conspiracy-theory purveyors dedicated to arguing that every celebrity and almost every prominent person in the world is a Satanist and a member of the Illuminati. And yes, this sort of thing we can call an entire genre of conspiracism, since a there is a depressingly large number of them all functioning on the same narrow set of premises and arguments attempting to “prove” that a global Satanic conspiracy is running the world and about to usher in the end of days and the Antichrist. Scary stuff! I think I will need to work these YouTube channels and websites into my in-progress book about the Apocalypse in popular culture. 

But here is a quick overview of some the oft-repeated arguments “A Call For An Uprising” cranks out in its daily videos (yes, DAILY!! Someone in a basement somewhere is putting these things together seven days a week, with each episode running anywhere from about 10 minutes to almost a half an hour).

Every single celebrity – from actors to singers, models, and even WWE wrestlers – is a member of the Illuminati and made a deal with the devil himself for their fame and fortune. And yes, "A Call For An Uprising" takes “a deal with the devil” quite literally. The origin of that term, you know, is but a metaphor. It refers to compromising one’s principles for some kind of financial or material - most often superficial and short lasting – gain. According to “A Call For An Uprising,” celebrities literally made a pact with an actual supernatural creature for fame and fortune. I would like to see some kind of proof of this pact of course. Like, hmm…I don’t know…maybe a video? Can I see footage of the dark lord of hell rising from a pit or something? Can I see the signing ceremony? A copy of the contract, perhaps? And how are these contracts negotiated? Does the devil have a cadre of lawyers hammering out the deal, or is it just the devil himself? Is the deal brokered by the celebrities’ agents? Their lawyers? So many questions! So few answers!

These Satanic Illuminati celebrities are perhaps the worst conspirators in the history of evil global conspiracies since none of them can help but keep giving the details of their diabolical plans away. According to “A Call For An Uprising,” the signs are everywhere. Movies, music videos, advertisements, TV shows, cartoons, comic books are all – yup, you guessed it, just rife with clues to how the Antichrist will take over the world. So these evil conspirators, apparently, like to operate the same way the Riddler always did in the Batman comics; they must always drop clues to their next big criminal plot. Why they would do this I’m not sure, but “A Call For An Uprising” has a catch phrase it loves repeating over and over again:

“Predictive Programming.” So whoever manages “A Call For An Uprising” just LOVES the phrase “predictive programming.” I guess it sounds very clandestine and mysterious and cool. It’s basically the Riddler principle, that evildoers for some reason don’t plot their evil deeds in secret but first need to trumpet it to the whole world by putting signs and codes and hidden phrases in their movies and music and TV shows and so forth. It makes as much sense as you plotting to rob the local bank but first going about and casing the place in the most obvious way. Imagine being that bank robber and walking into the bank, staring at the security cameras in the most conspicuous way, and perhaps even as you’re wearing a T-shirt with a huge sign on it saying “Bank robbery being planned right now.” Doesn’t make much sense, does it?

“A Call For An Uprising” also seems to have an obsession with witches. Numerous videos are about witchcraft and how TV shows are promoting witchcraft by real life, practicing, spell-casting, supernaturally powered witches. The most demented of these videos claims that Brett Kavanaugh’s problems with sexual assault allegations stemmed from his falling victim to a witch’s curse. The video even offers "proof" of this curse! And what proof, you might ask? Well, the hearings were often attended by the actress Alyssa Milano, who played a witch in the “Charmed” TV show. Clear cut proof, isn’t it?

The channel also seems to have an obsessive hatred of formal schooling. Now the American educational system, from elementary schools all the way to the halls of higher education might have its fair share of problems, but “A Call For An Uprising” claims the real dangers of schools lie in the way they are indoctrinating students in…you guessed it, Satanic Illuminati ideologies. The real reason schools require kids to study geometry, “A Call For An Uprising” argues, is to expose them to Illuminati and Freemasonic symbolism. Calculating the areas or triangles and hexagons, I suppose, is somehow brainwashing kids into becoming followers of demonic secret societies.

Now reading this, one might be tempted to shrug the whole thing off as the rantings of an obviously very sick, very delusional mind, someone still stuck in the 1980s and its oddball Satanic conspiracy theories. That, I think, is very far from the truth. Whoever is running this ridiculous web page, I am certain, functions the same way that Alex Jones does. The person—or people—behind “A Call For An Uprising” probably know how laughably insane every moment of every single one of their videos is. However, they also know that the United States in the early 21^stcentury is full of enough of the disenfranchised, the unsophisticated, the ignorant and those sadly lacking in any kind of critical thinking abilities, people so alienated from a consensus reality, that they will swallow every word of every single video on this channel as some kind of a gospel truth. Just check out the channel and see how it has—as of this writing—353,000 subscribers. Then read the disjointed, paranoid ramblings of those offering feedback. 

Very sad, indeed.

My big reveal!!

So I need to take the opportunity on the public forum to finally reveal my true identity to the world. I am the Antichrist!

Yes! And that is why I took the role of a college professor when I came to Earth. This is the profession that gives me the greatest opportunity to corrupt the most minds. Young, innocent, impressionable minds!

OK, so I’m kidding. But this is actually part of my introduction to the Do It Yourself Conspiracy exercise in my Conspiracy Films class. Through the reverse scientific process, by cherry-picking facts, making spurious connections, anyone can “prove” that just about any event in the world is but a part of a massive conspiracy. Even the most ridiculous of the supernatural, Antichrist and Satanic conspiracy theories can be proven true through the deceptive presentation of actual facts. The exercise is designed to help students develop critical thinking skills and help them understand how unethical communicators can manipulate the into believing the most patently absurd claims. In the age of fake news spreading through the internet and YouTube channels claiming to prove that the Earth is flat and that all entertainers are Satanic Illuminati conspirators plotting to take over the world (completely nuts, isn’t it? The only Satanic Illuminati conspirators around are teaching on college campuses) through the use of chemtrails and tainted vaccines that cause autism, I do believe that this is one of the most important exercises I give any of my classes.

But here is the proof that Barna William Donovan is the Antichrist himself:

The name! “William Donovan” was the founder of the CIA, the organization behind the biggest conspiracies of the late twentieth century. Assassination – from JFK to RFK, Martin Luther King, Jr., John Lennon, Tupac Shakur, Princess Diana, and Michael Jackson – coverups from the Moon landing to the Roswell crash. And 9/11 anyone? Who but the CIA could have pulled that off?

Take a look at my books! Doesn’t all that violent imagery make you wonder? Blood? Guns? Testosterone? “A thirst for violence?” Who but the Antichrist would write such things?

Look at my blog posts arguing that there is no connection between media violence and real world violence? Is that not part of the most vile of Satanic deceptions??

Check out all the positive references to Lucifer, Satanists, and Baphomet. The work of the great deceiver himself!

Then let’s check out the fact that I teach at a Jesuit university. The Jesuits have also been accused of some of the biggest conspiracies in history. Check out this link to Jesuit conspiracies.

And let us not forget that Adam Weishaupt, the founder of the Illuminati, was trained by…wait for it…the Jesuits!!

And how about the location where I teach? Saint Peter’s University is on John F. Kennedy boulevard in Jersey City.  So a link between the CIA, the Jesuits, and JFK? Coincidence, right? Well, I’ve got a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn if you believe that!

And how about the Satanic numerology of Saint Peter’s University’s location. You, I’m sure, are familiar with the oft-proven Satanic symbolism of the number 13. So guess where Saint Peter’s University is located…?

2641, John F. Kennedy boulevard!

And 2641 adds up to…13!!!!

So can any of this really be a coincidence?

Of course it can. This is a simple parlor trick that can be used to prove anything anyone wants to prove. Some of my students have “proven” that they had relatives who took part in the JFK assassination. 

And hopefully they all walked away from the class wiser to the ways of all the deception spreading through the Internet and social media today like a malignant virus.