UPDATE: Colin Bennett: One More Thing

UPDATE: I think I am an idiot.
In something I found while looking for references to this non-issue (sort of) I found this incredible item on Micheal Wolf.
from Bennett's Combat Diaries: Ufology and the Outsider
I recommend it. It’s all about Micheal Wolf and a real smack down, not the least of which is between Stanton Friedman and Colin Bennett. But in it, this is what Colin Bennett says about the supposed homosexuality of Wolf:

How dare he have the cheek to ask about Wolf’s homosexuality, . . .

And this:

...Turing’s almost insane preoccupation with homosexuality?

Does that sound like someone who’s homophobic?
And so ends this little episode. If I'm missing something, I'm sure there are those who'll let me know.

So I suspect Bennett’s just being his usual off the wall self, and it’s us who get on our high horses and think he’s being anti-homosexual. I think.



I might be an idiot. (Yes, I know dahlings, some of you might be rolling your eyes and saying “Might be?!

I posted yesterday here on the Orb about Colin Bennett, and sighed over his homophobic nature -- that is, if he’s homophobic. Alfred Lehmberg left a comment:

What's up with this, Regan? Link?

So I went back to Bennett’s Combat Diaries site, and found this from his introduction to the site:

As with the above pictures, there may be material on this site which is false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, unfair, nonsensical, homophobic, nationalistic, plain silly, and many more things which make life worthwhile, including lots of pictures of naked women.

(text in bold mine)

And a link and image on the left menu bar with this title:
Lambeth’s Pooftah Piggies. (Pooftah, for those who don’t know, is the British slang for gay, er, fag. You know.)

And I remember something about how awful the gay agenda is but couldn’t find it.

After taking a closer look, I realized that it’s -- as I mentioned in my OP -- possible I’m not getting it. If so, I’m an idiot. Bennett, being the over the top theatrical writer that he is, (god bless him) could be, indeed, all tongue in cheek and sarcastic. He’s not homophobic, the other guys are.

Or, he is.(It's occurred to me I can just ask him.)

Either way, (one hopes he isn’t) I certainly apologize if I’m misrepresented him. If I haven’t, sigh. As I pointed out in my OP, while that’s too bad if true, it doesn’t detract from his brilliant points regarding UFOlogy, Forteana, and pathological skepticism.

Cut and paste if link doesn't work:
http://www.combat-diaries.co.uk/diary30/diary30.htm

Colin Bennett: Homophobic?

Bennett appears to be homophobic, so it seems. Too bad, since I really admire him. I like his political views for the most part, but more importantly, I love his take on Fortean matters and UFOs; and the skeptic world. He's about the only one out there saying what needs to be said about these topics. He's one of the few that even sees these things in such a way. Too bad he's also capable of being a dickhead when it comes to sexuality.

Which brings us to an interesting point, like actors, artists of all kinds, politicians, those we might admire, how far do we go in our admiration when it comes to knowing things about them personally? Remember how many people refused to watch Jane Fonda in anything because of her opinions on Viet Nam? Of course, that's hardly the same as being homophobic. Not even close.

(I keep hoping maybe Bennett's just being sarcastic and I don't get the joke.)

So do we stop reading Bennett because he's afraid of turning gay, or whatever it is about homosexuals that disgusts him so? No. I can admire his work on Adamski or skeptics or chemtrails, even while shaking my head at his paranoia and bigotry.

Jeremy Vaeni and Humor

Great interview with Jeremy Vaeni on Tim Binnall’s podcast. So much there; but one thing I want to touch on is a question Tim brought up about Jeremy’s sense of humor. I can relate, because I share that same sense of humor, that flip or facetious attitude towards life. And we’ve both been attacked for it at times.

Really, there are a lot of stuffy ol’ researchers about.

If you haven’t figured out by now that the Trickster, which is ever present in UFOlogy, has its mischievous side (and often dangerously mischievous), you’ll never get that humor aspect. Dahlings.

I don't agree with Vaeni on some things, (as he knows) for example, I have not, and will not, come out and say I'm an abductee.


But I like Vaeni, and encourage those of you who haven't taken him seriously or really looked at his work, do so.

If link doesn't work, cut and paste: http://binnallofamerica.com/boaa12.8.7.html
Image credit: Farah Yurdozu: http://www.jerrypippin.com/Jeremy%20Vaeni%20Theatre.jpg

"Got MRSA?"

My little rant over on my blog Mating Hedgehogs: "Got MRSA?" Sheesh.

New poll at Debris Field

Lesley at Debris Field has a new poll, asking if “UFOs and “alien” visitors are:

1. A nuts and bolts phenomenon that can be totally explained by science.

2. Is an esoteric phenomenon that will never be totally understood or explained by science.

Which one do you think I choose? (the second one of course!)

Read me, click on me

And help support a starving writer. . .

I've joined AC, where you can earn a bit of money according to the number of hits you receive. So I'm shamelessly promoting myself. I'm still learning my way around the place; what the audience is like, etc. and I have only one piece up now. But that'll change, after I meet a couple of deadlines.


UFO Oregon: The Trent Case

UFO Magazine Editor Nancy Birnes on Bennett and Lehmberg

Yeah, Nancy Birnes!

Nancy Birnes is editor of UFO Magazine. In her editorial in the current issue, Nancy addresses the issue of complaints she gets regarding the magazine’s writers. Two contributors that seem to get slammed a lot are Colin Bennett, and Alfred Lehmberg.

Those two, by the way, are two of my favorite writers.

And yet, there are many who dislike one, or both, of them very much. Nancy, thankfully, doesn’t share those views and happens to think very well of them indeed.

She begins her piece by discussing the things we “hate” and that it’s helpful to turn that around. If we “hate” something so much, what does that say about the individual who hates the thing? A cliché, but a lot of truth in it; we project. (I’m still trying to figure it out in regards to my own self . . .)

Nancy suggests we hate things we fear, at times, but also things that we haven’t dealt with, that we find irritating for what it calls up within us:

“We’ve barely learned to read and we don’t cotton to fancy turns of phrases. We can’t carry a tune, so nobody had better be crying on with a loud tune-box on a busy Monday morning. “

(That last one; at first it seems just rude to blast your music on a “busy Monday morning” and it is rude. But there is also this; we’re rushing around on a Monday, much preferring that we didn’t have to at all, while the lucky bastard blasting his music gets to avoid all that rat race stuff. Irritation flung his way, if out of proportion, might say more about my anger that I’ve chosen to work a 9 -5, M-F, while music blaster man doesn’t. Or, if he does, he doesn’t take it all that seriously. Which is very cheeky, and makes one even more irritated.)

What do the Lehmberg and Bennett “haters” fear? If you dislike Bennett, Birnes suggests you

“read a little more history and a few less newsletters and you’ll come to see how eloquent and spot-on he is. We are truly honored that he’s writing for us.”

As for Alfred Lehmberg:

“Before dismissing his prose, consider adding a dash of poetry to your life, preferably of the epic variety. If you think he’s ornate and far too enthusiatic, consider the topics he tackles. He’s the loneliest voice on he planet when it comes to the sad John ford story, and yet he keeps on. He is a loyal solider standing in the eh rain like a movie samurai, and he is well - armed with an arsenal of wit.”

And then there’s this idea: don’t read them if you don't like them.

From The Heavy Stuff: Disclosure Isn’t Ready For Prime Time; Yet.

I was happy to see that this blog writer considered my Trickster’s Realm piece on disclosure (for Binnall’s site) was considered one of two worthy of mention. The Heavy Stuff.

Follow-up to TV report on chemtrails

On November 16th, I posted an item about a TV news reporter in Lousiana who did a segment on chemtrails. You can view the YouTube! video clip and read the item here.

Here's an update to that segment; what the reporter has learned since:
Lousiana TV Report Follow-Up
On Chemtrail Story
Story update by reporter Jeff Ferrell...

"I learned about U.S. Patent #: 5,003,186, titled `Stratospheric Welsbach Seeding for Reduction of Global Warming," better known by chemtrail researchers as "The Welsbach Patent."

The patent describes putting metallic particles like aluminum and barium into jet fuel. Then, exhaust from the jet engine seeds the stratosphere. In turn, those small metallic particles serve a dual purpose by: 1) reflecting incoming light back into space and 2.) helping convert the warmth below into infra-red waves, allowing them to escape from the earth's atmosphere.

George P. Hansen: Return of the Trickster

Podcast with George P. Hansen, author of The Trickster and the Paranormal. See: Return of the Trickster.

Psi, the paranormal, and the supernatural are fundamentally linked to destructuring, change, transition, disorder, marginality, the ephemeral, fluidity, ambiguity, and blurring of boundaries. In contrast, the phenomena are repressed or excluded with order, structure, routine, stasis, regularity, precision, rigidity, and clear demarcation.

Understanding the role and nature of the Trickster is fundamental to understanding the paranormal.

I'll second that!

Save these cats from certain death

This is sad and sickening, very disheartening. Please sign the petition. Read more on Siani’s Pot-Pourri; it’ll just take you a couple of mintues to do something from your computer. Please take the time.
http://sianikatts-gower.blogspot.com/2007/12/help-save-cats-from-certain-death.html

Don Williams on Russert's UFO Question

I really enjoyed this piece. I like what Don Williams, the writer, had to say, and the way he said it.
UFOs? That's a good question, Tim, but I've got even better ones

SUNDAY ORB

As always, amazing how quickly Sunday comes back around . . .

I hope your holiday was a good one. Ours was. Very nice this year.

Zorgy Awards
Well, I'm still reeling from the fact The OrangeOrb wasn't nominated. I know, it's unbelievable, isn't it? But the good news is, now you realize the importance of nominating me early on for next year. And while we're at it, nominate Vintage UFO as well. Don't forget now! (Of course, I was a dunce and didn't think of nominating myself; you can be sure I'll be so shameless as to do that for next year.)

Trickster's Realm: Binnall of America
My new Trickster's Realm should be up sometime tomorrow on Binnall of America. This week's column is something of an extension of the item I wrote on Vintage UFO about the Nick Redfern/Ray Fowler interview in the October issue of UFO Magazine, and what I call the "medley of weirdness" -- all those accounts of high strangeness that contain seemingly diverse, unconnected elements of weird.

Lesley: Grey Matters
Speaking of Binnall, Lesley's Grey Matters this week is very good, on disclosure, Hoagland, and how one presents oneself. Impressing the Press

Amazon.com
Next time you're over there, check out my Listomania Lists and book reviews. I just wrote one on Peter Guittilla's Bigfoot Files book, which I enjoyed very much.

Books
I ordered Captured! (Stanton Friedman and Kathleen Marden's book on the Barney and Betty Hill abduction) it should arrive in the next day or two. Right now I'm reading Red Moon, which so far, is very good. It's holding my attention, and the writing is good. As I told co-author Daniel Brenton, sometimes with genre fiction the writing isn't very good; the stories may be okay, but the writing isn't anything special.

Blogs
I'm having lots of fun with Vintage UFO and Women in Esoterica. But I'm changing the name of the Women in Esoterica blog to something else, don't know what yet. I'm open to suggestions. (Thanks Alfred Lehmberg, who suggested a couple.) You can go over there and vote, or leave a comment. Frame 352 is still going; just a bit slow lately but more to come soon.

Desire to Debunk
Over on American Chronicle is my recent piece: Desire to Debunk, inspired by the recent Monster Quest! Birdzilla episode and the giant bird kite routine.

Women in Esoterica Blog: Help

I'm not satisfied with the title of my blog Women in Esoterica; too stuffy. Likewise, I 've never been satisfied with the template; it was a pale, dull, academic blue, then a too girly middle school pink, now a stodgy beige. I'm thinking of the dot motif, (light) but we'll see.

But, as to the title. I have a poll up there, asking for your ideas. If you have a suggestion, or like one of the ones offered, vote and let me know, at Women in Esoterica.

More from Ed Komarek

I sent Ed my post about his email, he's responded with a link I might find of interest, or, as he put it: "This ought to get you fired up." lol. What he sent me was something from Michael Salla, who I know is one of the exopolitics "kings." Other than that, I admit I don't follow this much or know more than that. Since there's a note at the end of the piece to freely distribute this, I'll repost it here:

Sources: http://exopolitics.org/Exo-Comment-62.htm & http://www.ufodigest.com/news/1107/publicpolicy.html
Exopolitics: Discipline of Choice for Public Policy Issues Concerning Extraterrestrial Life

There is growing debate concerning 'exopolitics', which is oriented towards public policy issues concerning extraterrestrial life; and its relationship to UFOlogy, which primarily focuses on evidence concerning unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Supporters of exopolitics largely accept that the existence of extraterrestrial life has been abundantly demonstrated by a vast pool of evidence over the last sixty years provided by eyewitnesses, whistleblowers, scientists, 'experiencers' and leaked government documents. Supporters of exopolitics claim it is now time to focus on public policy aspects of this evidence, rather than maintain a myopic focus on proving to perennial skeptics that UFOs are real and a legitimate focus on scientific study. Indeed, exopolitics supporters believe that much of this skepticism is unwarranted and can be traced to the debunking recommended by the CIA appointed Robertson Panel in 1953. The panel delivered a report, the Durant
Report, that recommended debunking the 'flying saucer' phenomenon and the possibility of extraterrestrial life, for national security reasons. The Report stated: "The "debunking" aim would result in reduction in public interest in "flying saucers" which today evokes a strong psychological reaction."

Many individuals are still trying to grasp what exopolitics is all about, and many 'UFOlogists' remain highly critical of exopolitics as an emerging disciplinary approach to public policy issues concerning extraterrestrial life. UFOlogists still have difficulty grasping that exopolitics is the forerunner to a legitimate academic discipline that will soon be established in every major university. Critics of exopolitics often tend to focus on some of the pioneers of exopolitical thought in terms of their methods and ideas, rather than the identifying the merits of a scholarly approach to public policy issues concerning extraterrestrial life.
The present situation is some ways analogous to the 19th century where there was much debate on how to prepare individuals for studying public policy issues for careers in international diplomacy and public office. Historians at the time argued that efforts to establish the discipline of 'political science' was ill founded, since the best preparation for a life dealing with public policy issues was to read historical works by Arnold Toynbee, Herodotus, Thucydides, etc.

Well, political science developed anyway as an academic discipline out of the department of history since it fulfilled a functional need. The functional need was to better understand public policy issues and how individuals could be trained to professionally deal with these.
Political science is now the discipline of choice for those wanting to study public policy issues and to be professionally trained to work with these. During the 1860's, political science departments began to emerge in many universities. Similarly, exopolitics will be the discipline of choice for those desiring to study public policy issues associated with extraterrestrial life since it fulfills a functional need. The functional need is to understand how extraterrestrial life impacts on public policy issues, and to professionally train to deal with these. Exopolitics will be first established in departments of political science as a legitimate sub-field as is currently the case with 'international politics', 'foreign policy', 'comparative politics', 'political economy', etc., in many political science departments. Eventually, exopolitics will emerge as a distinct department with an interdisciplinary focus spanning public policy issues relating not only to
political science, but to exoscience, exoreligion, exodiplomacy, etc.

Debunkers and Ufologists in general are poor students of history not to have observed how academic disciplines and sub-fields develop to fulfill functional needs. They are remiss in not observing how exopolitics will fill the functional need for the systematic study of public policy issues concerning evidence of extraterrestrial life. The choice of the word 'exopolitics' to represent this nascent academic discipline has long term strategic value due to the functional need it fills. Furthermore, exopolitics is the term of choice to deal with public policy issues like the national security cover up of extraterrestrial life and technologies.
UFOlogy as a field has little academic future since the functional need it serves will quickly be settled once the existence of extraterrestrial life is accepted. The reality of UFOs will be moot once they have been publicly identified as 'extraterrestrial', 'interdimensional' or 'intertemporal' in origin. Those devoted to UFOlogy are missing a great opportunity to contribute to establishing legitimate social science parameters for exopolitical study. Exopolitics is here to stay as the discipline of choice for a new branch of knowledge that will revolutionize academic studies and the world as we know it.

***



Michael E. Salla, Ph.D
Kona, Hawaii
11/24/07
www.Exopolitics.Org

***
Forward as you wish. Permission is granted to circulate among private individuals and groups, post on all Internet sites and publish in full in all not-for-profit publications. Contact author for all other rights, which are reserved.

I agree actually with much of what is said here. I admit some of the academic stuff goes over my head; mainly because I'm tired and still reeling from eating too much dairy over the holiday, when I don't usually. More on that later. (the academics, not the dairy.)

Interesting it says this:

There is growing debate concerning 'exopolitics', which is oriented towards public policy issues concerning extraterrestrial life; and its relationship to UFOlogy, which primarily focuses on evidence concerning unidentified flying objects (UFOs)

.

I think that's true much of the time; UFOs can't be seperated, not completely, from the idea of ETs.

And there's this:

Many individuals are still trying to grasp what exopolitics is all about, and many 'UFOlogists' remain highly critical of exopolitics as an emerging disciplinary approach to public policy issues concerning extraterrestrial life

.
For some reason, it does seem that the concept of exopolitics is slippery; it shouldn't be, but I know it's been a bit difficult for me to completely "get it." Whether one gets it or not, I know a lot of UFO people are critical of exopolitics. I'm not sure why. As I've said, even if they may be misguided and assume much, at least they mean well, and are proactive. There's worse things after all.