The Skeptocrats Attack!

Background articles: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2008/04/god-delusion-by-richard-dawkins.html
And: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2011/04/paranormality-by-prof-richard-wiseman.html
And: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2010/10/tam-london-2010.html
And: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2010/07/at-least-you-can-trust-skeptics.html
(Apologies for yet another Skepticological article; hope you’re not getting bored of them, dear HPANWO-readers! I will have articles on other subjects coming soon.)

This is partly a follow-on article from one I wrote a couple of months ago called What if the Skeptics Had their Way? See: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2011/06/what-if-skeptics-had-their-way.html The themes I include therein have become more relevant because one of my favourite Youtube subscriptions, TreVelocita (http://www.youtube.com/user/TreVelocita?blend=2&ob=5) has thrown down the gauntlet! TreVelocita’s vids are mostly on Skepticistic, Atheistic and Humanistic issues. I occasionally comment of his or her videos, as I do on the JREF Forum, as I said in the What if The Skeptics… article. But now history has repeated itself! TreVelocita has posted this recording of the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj_Wd2Dm6W4 . The question being asked is the same one that got me involved on the JREF Forum thread. I invented the words “SkeptiNazi” and “Skeptocrat” to describe the Philadelphia City Council in this case; and I also use them to describe the person in the programme who wants to ban paying mediums and everybody who has commented in support of her. I apologize not.

It wasn’t long ago that Jack of Kent (See Links column) took on the case of Simon Singh, the famous science correspondent, when he was sued by the British Chiropractors Association for libel. Jack is currently campaigning for a reform of the Libel Laws. As I’ve said in my review of Ben Goldacre’s book, see: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2009/03/bad-science-by-ben-goldacre_25.html , I support Jack and Simon Singh 100%. It’s very destructive to use legal tyranny to shut down criticism by Skeptics. However I’m sad to say that with some Skeppers the cries for Freedom of Speech, Human Rights and Civil Liberties swiftly go silent when they move to the prosecutor’s bench. As you can see from the comments box on Part 2 of the video, most of the Skeptic commenters have no problem at all with the authorities stepping in to prevent mediums from charging customers for their trade. I’ve shoved my oar right in as you can see; I’m “benthejrporter”! The argument used by the pro-ban commenters is that psychics are all frauds who are unable to prove what they do and so contravene Trading Standards legislation. The most vocal in the box, “briansbannister”, contradicts my suggestion that this issue is related to Freedom of Speech and Freedom to Worship. I must admit he’s literally correct, but however this is still related to individual economic and social freedom, as opposed to Nanny State imposition. Briansbannister gives the analogy of dodgy builders and other conmen. I don’t think this analogy is a fair one; as I say, the same laws which protect Mediums from persecution allow the Skeptics to challenge everything they say. It’s rather like a dodgy builder being followed around by a Trading Standards officer countering every claim he makes to every customer. Here’s a list of my comments. Brian’s are inbetween; they’re transcriptions, I won’t reproduce them verbatim for copyright reasons:

(benthejrporter- 2 days ago) OK, technically this is not "Freedom of Speech" as it says in the US Consistution's First Amendment, but this is still a major intervention into our civil liberties by the Skeptic Movement. It means that I, a free British adult of sound mind, would be unable to consult a professional medium and pay her with MY OWN money, which I EARNED. I disagree with your statement that mediums are charlatans conning the vulnerable and why should this kind of rhetoric be translated into law?

(briansbannister- 2 days ago) There’s nothing that’s related to civil liberties in this issue. It’s just asking mediums to prove they can do what they say they can so that they can charge a customer for their wares.

(benthejrporter- today) But I think some Mediums HAVE proved their skill. The idea that they are all charlatans is not an established fact; it's just a viewpoint with many naysayers. What's more I don't have a problem with Skeptics putting their side of the argument across and countering that. Sometimes the Skepti-pundits are not necessary because Spiritualists themselves quickly blacklist anybody caught cheating.

(benthejrporter- 6 days ago) CSportmaria is right. This is not about whether psychics can or cannot prove what they do (I think they CAN, but that's not the point) This is about Freedom-of-Speech and Freedom-to-Worship. these are laws that exist in every civilized country. If you want to breach them then we descend into a Atheo-Skeptocratic Tyranny! If you're concerned about people "getting conned" then take comfort from the fact that the very same Freedom-of-Speech rights that I champion in this case to PROTECT the psychic industry, you can also use to put your side of the story across: that psychics are dishonest and delusional. Who will win? The truth. But the truth doesn't need censorship, only lies do.

(briansbannister- 6 days ago) I’m not advocating censorship. It’s not about Freedom of Speech or religious rights, it’s about quality of commercial standards.

(benthejrporter- 6 days ago) I differ. Firstly the idea that mediums are all cold-reading con-artists is simply an opinion of some scientists who've studied it. Not all scientists are agreed on that. The majority are, I concede, but there is a small but credible minority who are not. "Scientific opinion" in this case has never been translated into Parliamentary legislation. However Spiriualism IS legally recognized as a religion, so this is far more than just an issue you can call Trading Standards about. (I later retracted the point that this issue was literally one about Free Speech, as I said above)

(briansbannister – 6 days ago) It’s not about religion it’s about proving what you’re selling is real. And who are the members of this “credible minority” of scientists who think Spiritualism is real?

(benthejrporter- 1 week ago) If you equate mediums with dodgy builders and bent double-glazing salesmen then this is a false analogy. A more accurate one would be a TV studio with Alister McGrath on one side and Christopher Hitchens on the other. Or a dodgy builder who MIGHT be bent going round with a trading standards officer constantly at his side countering every claim he makes to a potential customer. Remember this is the economic freedom of sane adults. Contrary to Skeptic propaganda, most people who seek the services of psychics are NOT recently bereaved. They are on the whole no more vulnerable than a regular attendee of Skeptics-in-the-Pub! As for naming scientists who disagree with the prevailing view of science regarding psychics: there's Rupert Sheldrake, Gary Schwatz, Peter Fenwick...the list goes on!

(benthejrporter- 1 week ago) Remember that the Skeptic Movement is NOT science. It is a socio-political tendency that often lobbies authorities claiming to speak for all science, or to be the ultimate expression in pure science. This is a slogan, not a description! It would be an act of tyranny for the views of the Skeptic Movement to be enforced into law. If mediums could not charge it would decimate the entire industry, and I'm sure many Skeppers are aware of that!

I’m sure that this conversation will go on and on. Brian may well fall back on the old tactics of Skep-Debating, see: http://hpanwoforum.freeforums.org/the-hpanwo-guide-to-being-a-forum-skep-dick-t912.html I hope we can remain civil to each other; I’ve got every intention of doing so and I bear him no personal ill will.

As I said in the What if the Skeptics Had their Way? article, just look at what the world would be like under a Skeptocratic Atheocracy. I’ve summed up my feelings in this stand-alone comment in the box:
I'm a "Woo-Woo" so can I ask a question to all those who want paying psychics banned? If this law is passed then you can also ban religion, paranormal investigation, UFOlogy and many other things, a "Skeptocracy" if you wish. In this New Utopian Scientific Skeptical Atheist Republic what rights will I have? Will I be allowed on busses? Will I have to wear an armband with a "W" on it? Seeing as I'm going to be one of the have-nots in this new Randi-istic Dawkinsian Idyll I'd like to know. Thanks.

One issue that I’ve not yet raised in the comments box is that the heart of this matter might lie with the political concerns related to the Paranormal. As Barry Gervaise, the character from my novel Rockall, (See: http://hpanwo-bb.blogspot.com/2009/05/rockall-chapter-6-spanner-vs-works.html) says: "…there may be a deeper more fundamental reason. I’ve found, in my experience, that governments seem to have an almost knee-jerk aversion to all the things that you might describe as ‘paranormal’ or ‘out-of-the-ordinary.’ Things like ghosts or UFO’s, or events like this one, which rock the boat of conventional worldviews. They will attempt to deny, reject and suppress information on any phenomenon that could lead people to question the reality of the banal, three-up-two-down existence which we live in." I think Barry is oversimplifying the matter a bit (I should have made him shut up!), but this is the point: Why is it such a big deal politically whether we have an Afterlife or not? I asked this question in my review of Paranormality by Richard Wiseman (See links at the top) and I really need to address it in more detail. Conventional Illuminati-engineered society basically gives us The Two Choices: The conventional scientific view that when you die, that’s it! You’re nothing but an animated piece of meat and with death comes the end of that animation. The only alternative proposed to that is the conventional religious worldview that the universe has an external personal God who judges people and you have an Afterlife, yes, but it’s either in eternal Heaven or eternal Hell depending what kind of mood He’s in. Also it helps if you pay lots of cash to the priest and turn a blind eye when he rapes your children! It’s one or the other; you’re either for one and against the other, or vice versa. There is no inbetween, there is no Third Way. Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion (See links at the top) is almost completely focused on countering the second choice in favour of the first. It is incredibly important to the Illuminati that you subscribe to one of The Two Choices; it doesn’t matter which one it is so long as you do it! You must subscribe to your choice wholeheartedly at the exclusion of all and any alternatives. It's very revealling to see how these so called "opposites", conventional science and conventional religion, will not hesitate to stand side-by-side in condemantion of anybody who rebels against The Two Choices. The Loomies extend an enormous amount of effort on preserving this social structure. Many people, when asked what the biggest secret those behind the New World Order keep from us is, will say: “Aliens”, “9/11”, “Free Energy”, “The Reptilians”. I’d say that the reality of Life-After-Death is the absolute biggest secret of all. If it became accepted as real in mainstream culture it seems that it would be disastrous for the New World Order. It would be far, far worse than Barack Obama making his hypothetical Disclosure speech, see: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/08/disclosure-is-here-president-admits.html . We all know the level of deceit that the Illuminati-occupied governments have stooped to keep the truth about 9/11, UFO’s and the fake moon landings etc secret; are we to suppose for one second that they’d not take steps to ensure that the truth about Life-After-Death remains under wraps? The Loomies are well aware that Life-After-Death is real, but they just don’t want us to know! I’m still not sure why; that’s a subject for another article perhaps. I can speculate that this cover-up would include the flaming and debunking of Paranormal researchers, the destruction of the careers and the smearing of the characters of scientists who deviate from the official line. I can also imagine that those who take the Second Choice, religious believers who develop unorthodox viewpoints, would get the same treatment; like the former Bishop of Durham Dr David Jenkins did. I’m not accusing people like James Randi and Susan Blackmore of being part of this conspiracy; the chances are that they’re just “useful idiots” who think that they are being honest in their opinions. As I’ve said in my review of Andy Roberts’ book, see: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2011/01/ufo-down-by-andy-roberts.html, “useful idiots” are far more effective than knowing shills because they don’t have to be briefed into the secret, and so prevent the conspiracy from becoming too top-heavy. They can’t develop a conscience and swap benches at an inconvenient time, like Fyfe Symington did; they can talk complete bullshit and be 100% sincere! I’m wondering at the moment whether I should raise this point in my discussion with Brian. We'll see how it goes!

Latest HPANWO Voice article: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/08/street-cleaning-computer-game.html
And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/08/bnp-youth-shop-window.html
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And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/07/fake-muslim-posters.html

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And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/08/disclosure-is-here-president-admits.html
And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/08/rioters-beware.html
And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/08/leeds-exopolitics-expo-2011.html

Exopolitics Leeds 2011

Well, a week has gone by since the very successful Exopolitics Leeds 2011 conference and I’ve more of less adjusted to my normal life. Here’s my HPANWO TV reportage of the entire event: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/08/leeds-exopolitics-expo-2011.html . As I said in the film, I don’t have time to do a full written review of the conference in the way I have done in the past, see the HPANWO Index.

Media coverage of the event has been extensive but mostly poor. Thanks to Nick Pope a reporter from The Sun came along; sadly her coverage of the conference was a novelty story; see: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3738573/At-UFO-conference-in-Leeds-its-claimed-Olympics-will-be-Independence-Day-style-bloodbath.html I know there’s an old saying that goes: “The only bad publicity is no publicity” and I take comfort from that, and I suppose we should thank Popey for arranging it; however the article is misleading and insulting. The last sentence suggests that the entire Exopolitics community is merely a money-making scam by Anthony Beckett. £99 is actually fairly reasonable for a three-day event and the accommodation at the University is very cheap. At the end of the day this hit-piece was hardly unpredictable; the article may have been bad, but it was not as bad as I was expecting it to be. My expectations of The Sun cannot be undercut! Nick’s own comments did not help I must say; the word “Militant” has a lot of negative baggage in Britain. For many Sun-readers it may well refer to the “Liverpool Revolution” in the 1980’s when the far-leftist Militant Tendency, named after their Militant newspaper, almost took over the Labour Party. I was not interviewed, but if I had been I’d have stated my definition for the word Exopolitics as “UFOlogists who’ve finally made up their mind”. Rather than continue with the scientific investigation over the question of whether UFO’s exist we’ve decided that the answer is undoubtedly “Yes” and now we want to do something about it.

This article actually pales into insignificance compared to what came next. This radio interview, about which I’ve complained to the BBC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpY0eO2Y0IM was the absolute nadir. Liz Green should feel ashamed of herself for this hatchet-job. What makes me more upset is that Liz did an interview with the UFOlogist Timothy Good a short while ago which she handled quite professionally and respectfully (The full interview is no longer available, but here’s a clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUIy8e1siPc ); why change now?

As with most of the conferences I attend there’s a lot of differing opinion and I welcome this because covering all the bases means we get a more informed view of reality. It also makes the conferences far more interesting! In the aftermath of Exopolitics Leeds 2011 there has been some controversy; particularly over how the UFO Disclosure issue fits in with the other machinations of government. Some delegates and speakers are dismayed at how many of us along with believing in UFO’s also believe that the 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks were really inside jobs. The opponents of this seem to fall into two camps; some think that those terrorist attacks were not inside jobs and so it’s false to say so, others that linking the two together will repel the general public from getting involved in the Disclosure movement. This position is similar to Plato’s theory of the Noble Myth. I disagree with both. Firstly I think that 9/11 and 7/7 were indeed inside jobs and that to understand that these atrocities are part of the same agenda as the Truth Embargo over UFO’s is very healthy and progressive.

I’ve really enjoyed Exopol and want to go to as many events as I can on this subject. I find the whole concept of the possibility of UFO Disclosure intoxicating! But I wonder if it’s really possible, as I say in the film. I decided to make a satirical film of a Presidential Disclosure speech: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/08/disclosure-is-here-president-admits.html . This film illustrates the magnitude of the political explosion that Disclosure would cause. I’ve also taken the quite controversial step of wearing blackface make-up. However I despise political correctness! If I were impersonating Barry Manilow I’d wear a false noise; if I were impersonating Ronnie Corbett I’d sit on a low stool to make myself look shorter; if I were impersonating Esther Rantzen I’d wear fake teeth… so when I impersonate a black man why not wear blackface? The hypersensitive aversion some people have about this issue baffles me. The US President, at the time of writing, happens to be Barack Obama, this is the only reason I wore this make-up; what other colour was I supposed to be?

It was a great conference. Thanks to all the organizers, speakers and everybody else involved. I’ve made lots of friends and caught up with many of old ones. See you all next year!

Latest HPANWO Voice article: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/08/bbc-reporter-sees-ufo.html
And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/07/fake-muslim-posters.html
And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/07/one-of-best-911-debates-ever.html
And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-nation-freedom.html

Latest HPANWO TV films: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/08/disclosure-is-here-president-admits.html
And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/08/rioters-beware.html
And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/08/leeds-exopolitics-expo-2011.html
And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/07/bill-gates-and-north-pole.html
And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/07/destroying-my-passport.html

The Skeptic Renaissance

Unlike most of my fellow believers in the Paranormal and researchers into, and rebels against, Government cover-ups and Conspiracies; I take a keen interest in all things Skeptical. I regularly attend Skeptic meetings and conferences; I have a few Skeptic friends and acquaintances. See: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2010/10/tam-london-2010.html and: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2010/05/dr-brian-deer-at-westminster-skeptics.html . I was chatting on the HPANWO Forum the other day (See links column) when I came across a post by one of the members, username “Reflex”, see: http://hpanwoforum.freeforums.org/good-article-on-the-web-about-belief-systems-t1789.html The post has developed into a very fertile thread and it gave me the idea to write this article; thanks, Reflex! The article he links to seems to combine two very disparate notions into one, two seemingly contradictory views; however both views are views common to people within what I shall call without apology The Skeptisphere. Here’s the article: http://www.alternet.org/story/151426/why_do_people_believe_stupid_stuff%2C_even_when_they%27re_confronted_with_the_truth . Can you spot the contradictory element?... Let’s come back to that later; I want to examine the details of it when I discuss another event that happened soon after I read it. For now I’m going to explore the theme of the article and how much of a revelation it has been to me. The article challenges the idea that if a person is confronted with evidence that calls into question one of their strongly-held beliefs that the person will alter those beliefs to take into account the new evidence. The article claims that in this situation the believer will come down with what it calls “the backfire effect”. This is a process through which the believer will actually use the evidence to make their belief stronger! As you can see the article gives some examples in the world of politics and media as well as science. The moral of the story is that it’s impossible to argue with a believer no matter how strong your evidence is that proves them wrong; you will only reinforce their opinions.

With that amazing synchronicity that Skeppers themselves deny and call “delusion” but I’m convinced is real (And as you’ve seen, you’ll never persuade me otherwise!), soon after reading the article Reflex posted I attended an Oxford Skeptics in the Pub event; see: http://oxford.skepticsinthepub.org/ . The speaker was the philosopher Stephen Law doing a speech about his new book with the very eye-catching title Believing Bullshit , see: http://stephenlaw.blogspot.com/ (Incidentally I think it’s a crime against the English Language that Skeppies like Law, and Penn and Teller etc, have stripped the wonderful expletive “bullshit” of all its vulgar power!) He gave a speech, that was also an outline of his book, which complimented what I had just read in Reflex’ link perfectly. He claimed that some people get trapped in what he called an “IBH-Intellectual Black Hole”. IBH’s are very like black holes in outer space because they have interiors behind their event horizons which are entirely isolated from the rest of the intellectual universe. Behind that “Intellectual Schwartzschild Radius” a person can think in a way that seems very sensible to themselves and to others inside the IBS, but to those observing from outside the IBH they appear very obviously to be thinking nonsense. But, as with Reflex’ article, a person inside the IBH cannot be easily persuaded into changing their way of thinking into a form that allows them to escape from their IBH, in fact in most cases it’s impossible. He gave a list of how IBH’s are formed and the pitfalls to look out for to avoid falling into one.

It was a member of the Oxford SiTP audience gave me the greatest insight into what I was observing and help me put the pieces of the jigsaw together. He asked Law: “I’m worried that I might be trapped in an IBH.” he said and gave details. “Don’t worry” responded Law confidently. “If you’re able so much as to formulate that question in your mind then the answer is invariably ‘No!’.” So presumably Stephen Law himself, along with the author of Reflex’ article, don’t think that they are in an IBH. But I wonder if they are. The clue lies in the title of both the article and Law’s book: Why do People Believe Stupid Stuff even when they’re Confronted with the Truth? This sounds very similar to Michael Shermer’s crypto-masturbatory rant: Why do People Believe Weird Things? Law’s book is called Believing Bullshit. This means that there is an unspoken premise, a foundational assumption to the entire piece. This is why, as I explained to Reflex on the forum thread, they have internal contradictions in intellectual depth. What I mean by that is that their content involves some sophisticated philosophy, of the type I wrote about here: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2010/11/meaning-of-life.html . But when Law gave some examples of what he thought were IBH’s he replied in the tone of a Skepticistic bar-room blusterer: “Well obviously these include belief in ghost, fairies, UFO’s, unicorns. Religions and Conspiracy Theories like 9/11, aliens building the pyramids and faces on Mars!” So the unspoken basis of his viewpoint is: “Well, the Skeptics are always right of course!” In the same way the article assumes, from the very title, that what constitutes “Stupid Stuff” and what constitutes “Truth” has already been settled and is not open to further negotiation. As I explain in my review of his book, see: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2008/04/god-delusion-by-richard-dawkins.html , Richard Dawkins does exactly the same thing. The way Law uses the word “bullshit”, even in the very title of his book, (I wonder if he had a battle with the publishers over that!) shows the same self-decided premise. Socrates said: “He who seeks the truth must question everything.” Many modern heroes of the Skeptic Movement say: “He who seeks the truth must question everything... except things that other Skeptics say are true.” This leads me back to the thoughts I had when I went to TAM London, that the definitions Skeptics use to describe themselves are mere slogans, not descriptions, see: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2010/10/tam-london-2010.html . So does this mean that Stephen Law has fallen head-over-heels into one of his own Intellectual Black Holes? Maybe. I’ll have to read his book to be sure; I’ll review it on HPANWO probably. At the moment I’m reading a book called Randi’s Prize by Robert McLuhan, It has a fascinating and very heart-warming subtitle: What Skeptics say about the Paranormal, Why they’re Wrong and Why it Matters. See: http://www.skeptiko.com/randi-prize-exposed-in-new-book/ Books like this are important to read too because they remind you that there is another side to the story, the simplified story that Skeptics like to tell you about the world, the one which they claim has no other side. I’ll probably write an article on that as a companion to my review of Richard Wiseman’s Paranormality, see: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2011/04/paranormality-by-prof-richard-wiseman.html .

On the great HPANWO Forum thread about this subject I wrote a semi-satirical counterpoint to Reflex’ post, as a way to illustrate exactly what I meant by the foundational premise fallacy I identified in the article, and I expect to find in Stephen Law’s book; I hoped it would neutralize the fallacy on the thread and maybe it will here. I quote it in its entirety, slightly revised and edited:
Reading this makes a lot of pieces of the jigsaw fall into place. I've often wondered about the cause of the emergence of the Skeptic Movemnent that has taken place over the last few years. Skeptics in The Pub only began in 1999. The original one was in London and now there must be hundreds! There are five or six in Britain alone, including my local one in Oxford. There are Skeptic conferences galore, Skeptic celebrities making a blooming career etc. This has all emerged within the last decade or so. This parallels the New Atheist Movement which has made people like Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett household names. Perhaps, using the clues in the article, we can trace the rise of the Atheo-Skeptic milieu to events in the area that these people criticize, namely the world of Paranormal research and Conspiracy Theory. 9/11 caused a revolution in Conspiratorial Awareness that has never been seen since the Kennedy Assassination! I actually suspect that the perpetrators now regret doing it and would not have done so if they'd known what would happen as a result. Also there have been breakthroughs in Paranormal Research with a series of explosive revelations in the area of UFO's especially, but also other fields. There has been an increase in more Gnostic religious beliefs that are harder to discredit than the conventional churches'. To adapt the opening lines of the article:
The misconception: The Skeptic Community would, having its beliefs challenged with facts, alter its opinions and incorporate the new information into its thinking.
The Truth: It's deepest convictions have been challenged by contradictory evidence so its beliefs get stronger. The "backfire effect" begins! The Skeptics become more and more certain that there are no Conspiracy Theories and that the Paranormal does not exist! They close ranks to concentrate their firepower, form organizations and support groups, they write books and the rest is history.

James Randi is actually the perfect product of the Skeptic "backfire effect" which is why he's today enjoying unprecedented fame and success. For people who don't know any better, you'd think Randi was the first and only Paranormal investigator on Earth! Oh, he very occasionally refers to other investigators, but he always portrays them as kind of wide-eyed flower-children, gliding around haunted houses like Tolkienian elves. It's Randi and Randi alone, who has ever done any real Paranormal research I can hardly express to you what a load of bullshit that is! But it fits in perfectly with the "backfire effect". Randi creates such a convincing delusion that it allows his disciples to live in a completely false world: "Come in." he invites you. "Come into my parlour and you need never be troubled by these worrisome thoughts again."
Could it be that the rise... nay Renaissance of the Skeptic Movement in virtually just the last decade could be “the backfire effect” against the successes and increasing profile people like me on the Woo-Woo side have had?

I know now that you’ll want me to answer a question that you’ve all got on your lips right now: “Ben, have you ever wondered if you are trapped in one of Stephen Law’s Intellectual Black Holes?” (Yes! Yes! yell the Skeppies) My answer is: No, absolutely not!... But then if I were trapped in an IBH I would say that, wouldn’t I?...

Latest HPANWO Voice article: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/07/one-of-best-911-debates-ever.html
And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-nation-freedom.html
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And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/06/long-lost-ufo-photo-update.html

Hospital Porters who Changed the World!

It’s not a commonly known fact, but Hospital Porters have help shape the world! In fact I reckon that the world would be an incredibly different place without us. I often think about the famous Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life (See: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/). In this film James Stewart’s character is deeply depressed and about to commit suicide when an angel visits him and shows him what the world would be like if he had never existed; it is such an awful place that Stewart’s character realizes that his life is wonderful, hence the title, and regains the will to carry on with it. I've often felt I’d like to do the same with Hospital Porters. What would the world be like without us? Well firstly there’d be no hospitals or medical care of any kind. Doctors and nurses would be completely impotent and ineffectual. Hundreds of millions of people would die of preventable illnesses and as a result of injuries. But there are other differences too. The world would have had to get by without one of its most famous philosophers from one of the world’s foremost universities. A charismatic singer and songwriter would never have graced the stages of the world, inspiring and delighting millions. And the most famous science fiction film of all time would have flopped because it was absent its most loveable character. So let’s examine the contribution that our Noble Portering Profession has given to all our lives in more detail:


Jimmy Savile
Service: Broadmoor Hospital and the Leeds General Infirmary 1950-1960
Jimmy Savile has enjoyed a long and a healthy retirement from when he decided to step down from the Hospital Portering Service. He became a full-time disc-jockey and TV presenter, best known for hosting Top of the Pops which he did on-and-off from 1964 until 2006. His other main TV appearance was in the famous title role of Jim’ll Fix It. Between 1975 and 1994 this programme made viewers’ dreams come true, mostly children. He also enjoyed a long radio career with Radio Luxembourg and the BBC. He’s a great philanthropist and charity fund-raiser, regularly taking part in sponsored events. He’s very fit and athletic and many of these events involved him running in marathons of up mountains, even into his old age.
(Important addendum 10/11/13: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/jimmy-savile-correction.html.)

Peter Mayhew
Service: Kings College Hospital London- 1963-1976
Peter Mayhew must have entered civilian life with some trepidation. As he hung up his gas-spanner and walked out of the gates of Kings for the last time I can only guess what was going through his head! He wanted to be an actor, but the show business profession is incredibly competitive and with a height of 7 feet 3 inches he knew that there were only a limited number of parts he could play. It’s a wonder Kings had a uniform his size! But as luck would have it he got a job playing a Minotaur in one of the Sinbad movies and then his definitive role: Chewbacca in Star Wars. George Lucas was looking for two very tall actors to play both Chewie and Darth Vader. He picked David Prowse, “The Green Cross Code Man” to play the Sith lord and Mayhew to play the gentle giant Wookie pilot of Han Solo’s spaceship. Mayhew won an MTV Movie Award for this, even though nobody saw his real face until the ceremony. Today he is a welcome celebrity at Star Wars fan conventions and spends most of time touring all over the world to visit these events.

Ludwig Wittgenstein. Service: First period: Austrian Army field hospital- 1914-1918. Second period: Guys Hospital London- 1939-1945
This particular Porter is different from the others in that he came into Portering comparatively late in life after a successful civilian career. He was born in 1889 in Vienna, Austria which makes him by far the oldest in our Portering Hall of Fame. He was from one of the city’s richest families, one of the last of the ill-fated Austrian aristocracy. After the traumatic death of all three of his brothers to a suicide pact, Wittgenstein studied philosophy at Trinity College, Cambridge and ended up as professor of philosophy where he made great friends with other famous philosophers like Bertrand Russell and GE Moore. Like myself, he was interested in language and how it applied meaning to the world. He spent his career studying it, changing his mind quite starkly several times; but he never lost the admiration of his readers and students. For a subject in which most participants are renowned for the quantity of their literary output, Wittgenstein wrote very little. Unlike his fellow philosophers who tend to pour out an epic doorstep of a book every 6 months or so, he only published two books, one posthumously; and a bare handful of papers. Nevertheless his ideas circulated widely and were extremely influential on later philosophical schools. I’m interested in philosophy, see: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2010/11/meaning-of-life.html and I have a book about Wittgenstein: Culture and Value, see: http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=3SOjrAgrlx0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=culture+and+value+wittgenstein&ots=wBxxAdsSJF&sig=8Nf7jgLtxKFp_DS6aXw7j4uGyVc#v=onepage&q&f=false How can I not read it and find out what my Extremely Proud and Dignified Brother Porter Ludwig thought about the world!?

Mick Jagger
Service: Unknown (Source: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/220918_before-they-were-stars)
I was pretty disappointed to find that Mick Jagger’s Wikipedia bio doesn’t mention his time in the Hospital Portering Service and portrays him as a life-long civilian. I hope he hasn’t had thoughts of the most misplaced shame possible! See: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2007/12/dont-tell-em-were-porters.html Mick Jagger is one of the most famous rock stars and music celebrities of all time. His turbulent lifestyle was almost a self-caricature, filled with drugs, wild parties and sexual hedonism. He was born in Kent in 1943 and at school first met his lifelong friend Keith Richards. Along with Ronnie Wood, Bill Wyman and Brian Jones they set up the Rolling Stones, one of the most famous and definitive bands of the entire rock-‘n-roll era. Despite his reputation as the ultimate bon viveur Jagger is first and foremost a lyrical and musical genius and never lets his personal life get in the way of that. He has a rebel philosophy and was a hero of the 60’s counter-culture. His contribution to all human culture is a credit to the Hospital Portering Service; he truly is one of our favourite sons.

Latest HPANWO Voice articles: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/07/charlie-veitch-911-u-turn.html
And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/06/diabetes-cure.html
And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/06/milly-dowler-killer-should-he-be-hanged.html
And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/06/crop-circles-ikea-and-dreams.html

Latest HPANWO TV films: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/06/long-lost-ufo-photo-update.html
And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/06/quitting-my-statute-law-self.html
And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/06/heres-to-small-local-shops.html
And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/06/fake-alien-videos.html

New Blog- the HPWA

I've started a new HPANWO blog! The Hospital Porters' Welfare Association blog. See: http://hpanwo-hpwa.blogspot.com/

This is a project that's been milling around inside my head for some time. It's something that is very noticably lacking in ther world of Hospital Portering, and it's very much needed indeed! Well, now that has been remedied!

The purpose of the HPWA is best described in the Mission Statement:
The Hospital Porters’ Welfare Association is a new charity and support community established to provide care and support for the approximately 9000 serving Hospital Porters in the UK and the even greater number of retired and former Hospital Porters. Today thousands of Hospital Porters and ex-Hospital Porters live under the pressure of poverty, isolation, indignity and social violence leading to suffering, a poor quality of life and increasing mental and physical health problems stemming from their sacrifice to the Hospital Portering Service, the National Health Service and private health practices; and the patients whom they play such a vital part in caring for. Our mission is to build a better present and future for Hospital Porters across Britain and eventually throughout the world by giving financial support, counseling and comradeship. In doing so we hope to also raise the public profile of Hospital Portering and increase awareness of this noble profession.

I've now got a basic plan for the organization; I now need to register it as an official charity and then come up with some rough ideas for action, fundraising and publicity. I might need to start another website as the HPWA becomes more complicated. I've got some thoughts already and I'll let you know as they take form. I'm going to tinker with the blog design a bit too. Pride and Dignity to you all!

Latest HPANWO Voice article: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/06/diabetes-cure.html
And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/06/milly-dowler-killer-should-he-be-hanged.html
And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/06/crop-circles-ikea-and-dreams.html
And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/06/clarks-chemtrails.html

Latest HPANWO TV films: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/06/long-lost-ufo-photo-update.html
And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/06/quitting-my-statute-law-self.html
And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/06/heres-to-small-local-shops.html
And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/06/fake-alien-videos.html

What Next for Nick Pope?

Here’s the official website of Nick Pope: http://www.nickpope.net/ Also see the HPANWO Links column.

I was at a conference last year and the cheer went out: “WE WANT POPEY!... WE WANT POPEY!... WE WANT POPEY!” just before Nick Pope’s speech began. It struck me that this man has become an essential and elemental figure at any UFO-themed event, alternative or mainstream. He is one of the world’s best-known UFOlogists and is probably the most recurrent of speakers whom I encounter on the Conference Circuit. In a way, since the departure of J Allen Hynek, he’s probably the world’s only “official" UFOlogist. I’ve got to know him reasonably well and we usually have a good chat when we meet up. In his professional capacity he is very dapper and informative. Unlike many UFOlogists he wears a smart suit and has well-groomed hair; he looks and sounds every bit the Government agent that he was. With accusations of people being Government agents almost endemic and internecine in the Paranormal investigation community, Nick Pope is unique in actually being one, open and publicly. He spent 21 years in the Civil Service, including a stint during the Gulf War of 1990. His UFO work began in 1991 and ended in 1994, but these were three years which changed his life. He was initially a sceptic... even a Skeptic... when he took over the MoD UFO Desk, but after he had examined the evidence he changed his mind and concluded that UFO’s were indeed not man-made objects from this Earth. However he no longer works for the government. He has retired from the Ministry of Defence and now operates as a freelance journalist and media pundit. He gets called up by newspapers and TV stations across the globe to comment on anything UFO-related, on the rare occasions the media discusses UFO’s in anything other than a comedy/novelty story just before the weather forecast and traffic reports. His role in the media began while he was still in the Civil Service. Here’s an old speech he makes where he gives the audience the disclaimer that he is appearing at the conference, X-Con 2004, as a private individual and not in his official capacity: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3130636278818597541# He sometimes comments on the views of his colleagues at the Ministry; as I suspected many consider him something of a pariah! The MoD’s UFO investigation team has been running in one form or another since the 1940’s and tends to err away from the “believer” camp. Sadly in 2009 the UFO Desk, Secretariat AS-2a, was disbanded, much to Nick’s chagrin. In fact I only just got my own sighting report in time: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-ufo-sighting-281208.html Nick has told me to look out for it in the UFO files when they’re declassified. Nick takes a great interest in the ongoing project to declassify the confidential files collated by the UFO Desk over the 60 years it operated. This project is almost complete and you can download the declassified files from the National Archives by following the link on Nick’s site: http://www.nickpope.net/mod-ufo-files.htm . These files are massive PDF documents containing hundreds of thousands of reports. I recommend Nick’s highlights file because the vast majority contain little of interest; they take the stereotypical form of: “Man out walking dog at night on Cannock Chase, saw light in the sky” etc. Contrary to popular belief these are not “Top Secret” files, but merely confidential. They appear less closely guarded than the medical records at my hospital. If there are any Top Secret files out there then they won’t be included in the current UFO project. He’s also a fiction writer, like me, and has written a couple of novels inspired by his UFO research: http://www.nickpope.net/books.htm

For many years Nick Pope has become a household name, going under soubriquets like: “The Man from the Ministry” and “the Real (or Britain’s) Fox Mulder”. UFO experts usually achieve fame, of sorts, only within the limited social circles that people who are interested in UFO’s cruise. Names like Timothy Good, Stanton Friedman and Richard D Hall are ones many UFO-people I know are familiar with, but none of my Brother and Sister Porters have heard of them. However they all know the name Nick Pope! Some see this as ironic, and even suspicious. This is because Nick is renowned for being one of the most cautious UFOlogists in the business. He has gone out on a limb within Government circles by stating that UFO’s are not all weather balloons and marsh gas etc, but he totally rejects any notion that the Government knows more than it is saying. Roswell, Rendlesham Forest and Berwyn Mountains (See: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2011/01/ufo-down-by-andy-roberts.html ) are all incidents in which there is either a rational non-ET explanation, a mistake of some kind; or secrecy for other reasons, like weapons system details or the case being overlooked within declassification procedure etc. This has inevitably led to accusation of him being a disinformer, somebody still secretly working for the Government to quell public distrust or curiosity into their role in UFO incidents. I doubt very much that Nick is a knowing disinformer. He just doesn’t have the right personality; he’s not reserved enough, and he loves to party and let his hair down, like many Civil Service types are wont to do. When the cameras are off and the auditorium deserted, the suit and coiffure usually gets messed up as he props up the bar laughing, swearing and joking with the other speakers and delegates. There are individuals I do suspect of being paid shills, but they exhibit unusual behaviour in their private and social lives too. These individuals will remain nameless at this point, but I can confirm that Nick is not among them. However Nick’s sincere belief that the Government has been perhaps closed-minded and bureaucratic, but nevertheless open and honest about the information it has, that there is no “saucer in a hanger”, suits the agenda of those who might know that Britain does have a saucer in a hanger, or even aliens on ice at Porton Down. This could explain why he has become the media’s first port-of-call on occasions when UFO's cannot be kept off the front pages. If I were a man in Government who knew secret information about UFO’s and aliens then Nick Pope would be the last man on Earth I’d tell!

At the present time I’ve had an indication that Nick Pope’s career is about to take another new turn. This time he’s becoming interested in the very Conspiracy Theories that have so often been levelled at him. I’m a regular reader of the excellent journal UFO Matrix magazine, see: http://ufomatrix.com/ . Nick has a column in it and in the last issue he used it to give a report on the latest UFO Congress in Arizona (Sadly it’s moved from its traditional home in Laughlin, Nevada). In a comment related to Paul Hellyer’s speech he described how the speaker discussed “the banking system... There are many people in the Conspiracy Theory community who cover this subject... some are borderline racists who use the phrase ‘conspiracy of international bankers’ in an attempt to mask their anti-Semitism”. Oh dear! This is an old and very unoriginal line and I must say I’m disappointed to hear it come from Nick. I must concede that he is right in a few cases. There are Conspiracists who believe that what I call the Illuminati are Jews, and they’re hell-bent on exterminating white people, Neo-Nazis for example. But the problem with bringing up this subject is that it has a level of controversy that inevitably descends into hysteria and injustice. Anybody who talks about a global conspiracy, of any kind, is automatically branded anti-Semitic. If we protest our innocence then our accusers will claim that our denial is further proof of our guilt. We’ve seen this with Richard Warman and David Icke in Canada, see: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2912878405399014351# . If somebody accuses you of anti-Semitism then there is no defence; their case is unfalsifiable: In their eyes you are guilty no matter what you say, think or do. I cover this subject in more detail here: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2010/07/how-anti-semitic-are-you.html . Nick has also written about 9/11 and even debated 9/11 Truth Campaigners on TV, see: http://www.nickpope.net/911.htm . I’ve written to Nick to explain that I know that Jews are not the Illuminati "bad guys". But I do however worry about the way international finance behaves towards Planet Earth and the ordinary people who live here. As far as I'm concerned whether the bankers and Jews or Gentiles (And there are more of latter than the former in banking) is irrelevant. If anybody hears me talk about "International Bankers" they'll know that I mean it literally, not as code or a euphemism for "Jews". He’s acknowledged my email politely.

Nick’s interest in general Conspiracy Theories is increasing in pace; in September when he appears at the Weird 11 Conference, see: http://www.weirdwiltshire.co.uk/weird11_ufo_paranormal.htm . You can see that his talk is going to be entitled Lizards and Lies- the Truth about Conspiracy Theories. I’m going to that conference and I’ll be hearing that speech first hand, and I withhold judgment until I’ve seen it in its entirety; however the title Nick has given it, based on previous statements he’s made, makes me guess that it’s going to be a debunker. I’ll write another article afterwards assessing what Nick actually says, but if I disagree with him, which I suspect I will, I’ll do it politely and professionally.

Latest HPANWO Voice article: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/06/milly-dowler-killer-should-he-be-hanged.html
And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/06/crop-circles-ikea-and-dreams.html
And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/06/clarks-chemtrails.html
And: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/06/relative-madness-online.html
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And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/06/heres-to-small-local-shops.html
And: http://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2011/06/fake-alien-videos.html

What if the Skeptics Had their Way?

Background articles: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2008/04/god-delusion-by-richard-dawkins.html
And: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2011/04/paranormality-by-prof-richard-wiseman.html
And: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2010/10/tam-london-2010.html
And: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2010/07/at-least-you-can-trust-skeptics.html

There’s a joke that goes: “Why do dogs lick their bollocks? Because they can.” Believe it or not there’s a thought-provoking message behind this piece of bawdy witticism. How many things do people only choose not to do because they cannot? What would happen if they could?

I tend not to make this common knowledge, but I’m a member of James Randi’s JREF Forum. I go by the soubriquet Porterboy and so far nobody has guessed my true identity (At least that is not until this article is published, because right now an infuriated member of the HPANWO Forum is frantically contacting the administration of the JREF Forum to warn them that they have a mole in their midst. Yes, by the time you read these words I will have been “outed” as an illicit Woo.) I only post occasionally in a “hit-and-run” style, but a subject came up a couple of years ago which compelled me to get more involved in the discussion. This is the subject-thread: The topic concerns a new law introduced by the local authorities in Philadelphia, USA, to curtail the activities of psychic mediums from operating in the city. The Skeptics on the JREF, who will tell you that they believe in civil liberties, almost to a man support this new ruling. This is disappointing, and very sinister; and I’ll explain why in a moment. Sometimes in the Theocratic regions of the United States there will be a case in which an Atheist or Skeptic will be discriminated against by the fundamentalist Christian authorities. For example, a teacher was once persecuted in his school for teaching the children Darwinian Evolution, when he’d been ordered to teach them only Creationism: Adam and Eve, Noah etc. Another example in Britain is Simon Singh, the science journalist who was sued by Chiropractors for calling them “bogus”; see: http://jackofkent.blogspot.com/2009/05/bca-v-singh-astonishingly-illiberal.html The Skeptics were up in arms about these actions and I actually agreed with them for being so too. For me it was not a matter of whether or not so-and-so was right or wrong, it was about the rights of Free Speech. However when it came to a case where non-Skeptics were on the wrong end of the law the Skeptical clamours and firebrands went suddenly silent.

I’ve read books and listened to lectures by the most famous Atheists and Skeptics, or maybe we should combine to two, because they usually go together, and call them Atheo-Skeptics. Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett; there are quite a few nowadays, part of the “New Atheist" Movement. The things they say are very unequivocal and ruthless: Religion is totally worthless and destructive, in their view. Here are some quotes: “Religion poisons everything” (Hitchens) “Our society is impoverished by superstition and lack of reason!” (Dawkins) “Psychics are either lying or mentally ill!” (Tim Minchin) The issue is totally polarized. There is no "other side of the story", as far as they’re concerned; Dawkins even lambasts Agnostics for not having made their mind up about a question that seems so obvious to him! The most extreme statement made by a radical Atheo-Skeptic must surely be James Randi’s claim that it’s either his way or “back to the caves!” With so much at stake, what lengths would these crusaders-without-a-cross go to? At the moment they’re pretty harmless, even beneficial because they do a good job of breaking through the Church’s power; but at the moment they’re a non-partisan lobby group, a union of individuals with similar interests who hold conferences and meetings and write to MP’s about homeopathy etc. They meet, like old ladies and drink tea and eat biscuits, or get together in informal pub gatherings (See: http://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2008/12/skeptic-in-pub-81208.html) But what if that situation changed? What if the Atheo-Skeptic Movement ever got hold of some real political power?

I want you to imagine for a moment that a Skeptical Revolution takes control over a part or all of the country you live in. Richard Dawkins or James Randi becomes president, or somebody like them, and they appoint similar people into their Government. The United Skeptical Atheist Republic is born! What would happen? Well there’s an optimistic scenario and a pessimistic one. The optimistic one says that basically people are left to believe in whatever they want, but all the unjust laws that promote and give immunity to religion are abolished in favour of Secularism. The Church of England would be disestablished, the House of Lords Church-based members would need to go through the same elections as the other representatives, faith-based schools would be abolished and blasphemy laws repealed. A few disclaimers on homeopathic or organic products, and that’s it. I’d actually support all those measures. That kind of Skeptocracy would be a great improvement on what we have now.

However there is the pessimistic line, a darker and fairly nightmarish scenario: Religion is banned, all churches either demolished or converted into public buildings. Children forcibly sent to “Science Camps” away from their parents. Religious parents having their children taken into care. Spiritualism and psychics criminalized by a new and harsher version of the Fraudulent Mediums Act. Paranormal investigations banned and believers in the subject declared psychologically unstable. Spiritualist Churches and Gypsy fortune-tellers’ tents burned. Organic food banned. Alternative medicine banned. You think that’s too extreme? You think Richard Dawkins and Jams Randi would never do that because they’re so nice and diplomatic now? History is replete with examples of how small “pressure groups” and even movements for genuine liberation mutate into tyrannies once they achieve the clout to bring their visions to fruition. Feminism is a good example. What was originally a very noble cause to liberate women from genuine oppression has become a regime in which men are now taking women’s former place as second-class citizens. My own town has “Man-Free” zones everywhere. We are prohibited from some shops, public buildings and events, like dogs or tramps! In South Africa today it is the white people who deserve our pity! Whites are finding it hard to get jobs because of Orwellian “positive discrimination” and “reconciliation” movements. They are being increasingly targeted by criminals. More and more people are being deluded into the dangerous fallacy that injustice can be fought by cancelling it out with another injustice; it can’t. All you get is a double-dose of injustice. In whatever Skeptocracy this hypothetical revolution takes, I think I have a right to demand answers because I’m going to be one of the have-nots. In the worst-case scenario, I’d probably end up dead or in an insane asylum. The Skeptics might well say: "It's for his own good. What would be the use of letting him think something so obviously incorrect and immoral!"

So we need to ask ourselves if the reason this hell-hole has not yet emerged is because there is something inherently good-natured and opposed to tyranny that is a fundamental ingredient to Atheism and Skepticism, or is it simply because like in the joke about the dog, they’re simply not able to yet? I ask all Skeptics reading this to look deeply into their own souls... OK you believe you don’t have souls... well, your minds then. Which are you?

I welcome all comments in the boxes below and posts on the HPANWO Forum about this subject.

Latest HPANWO Voice articles: http://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2011/06/clarks-chemtrails.html
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