The Truth is Out There (Maybe)

I am a close personal friend of Taylor Swift and last week I played the piano for her. She is so impressed by my progress over the past couple of years that she has asked me to perform on her next album and accompany her on her next world tour.

How incredible is that? 

It is totally incredible and it is, of course, totally false. 

Nevertheless it is more believable than some of the bullshit that has been spread across the planet in the past decade or so. This explosion of lies has increased exponentially with the rise of social media. 

Coincidence? I think not. 

Two things surprise me about the spread of lies as “truth”. The first thing is that the lies are becoming more and more outrageous. The second thing is that people actually believe them despite the evidence to the contrary. 

It isn’t surprising that there are now far more conspiracy theories out there and that more and more people believe them. Nor is it surprising that a lot of politicians are blatantly lying to the world. 

Take Donald Trump for example. This man is the worst person ever to have held the position of president of the United States. He had four years of power and it was a total disaster. And yet he won the last election and today he will be back in office for yet another four years. Some of the lies he told in his campaign are breathtaking. 

Such blatant lying isn’t limited to just the United States. In Britain we have Boris Johnson who has given Trump a run for his money in the past.

BBC news has a “fact checker” where they analyse statements by prominent politicians and indicate the veracity of some of these outlandish statements basically indicating whether they are true, exaggerated or simply blatant lies. Yet I have read comments from people online who refuse to believe that their politician of choice is lying and say mad things like “The BBC is totally biased against the Conservative Party and is lying!”

One of the things I’ve noticed about such people is that they simply refuse to admit that people like Trump and Johnson are capable of telling lies. The same is true for conspiracy theorists. 

I’ve mentioned “Flat Earthers” before and this applies doubly to them. They refuse to believe that the Earth is a sphere despite the overwhelming evidence to support it. They believe that the Earth is a giant frisbee and although scientists can prove that it is not, such people seem to thrive on this and tell scientists that they are liars and part of a global conspiracy to fool the people. 

I mean WHY?

What would be the advantages of denying that the Earth is a pancake? And I’ve found that the more you try to convince such a person that the Earth is a globe, the more entrenched they become in their views, the more angry they become and they more they think that you are an idiot for believing that the planet if a sphere. It’s like they are digging themselves in and will never ever admit the folly of their views. 

Such people claim that there is tons of “evidence” out there – and they are right. The “evidence” is on social media sites and comes from nutcases who believe that Terry Pratchett’s Discworld is based on the shape of our own planet. 

Here is an amusing rant from comedian David Mitchell about this:

What he says is exactly true. The rise of the internet and social media makes it easy for kooks to get a voice and spread disinformation as if it is gospel. In the past certain conspiracy theorists have struggled to get their weird views to the world, having to resort to being interrogated on mainstream TV or having to write books about their views. 

One of the best examples of this is David Icke, who I have mentioned on this blog before. Back in the 1980s he was a footballer and became a sports presenter on TV. But something happened and in 1991 he appeared on a chat show and claimed that he was the “Son of the Godhead” and wore turquoise to “channel positive” energy. 

He was ridiculed for it. 

Yet now, over 30 years after that ill-fated interview, he is a full blown conspiracy theorist and talks to thousands of people who are willing to believe him about things like interdimensional reptilian beings who can shape-shift and have been manipulating humanity through fear so that they can feed off our negative energy. He thinks that The Matrix is based on fact.

He has written loads of books on this and many other weird fantasies that he claims to be true. And his army of followers is growing. If you are so inclined you can check some of his nonsense on You Tube. I’ve watched a couple of interviews with him and they are hilarious. 

The reason for actually writing this post was because of recent events in the UK that involve Elon Musk using his Twitter account (I refuse to call it X) to launch attacks on the UK government based on lies. And of course liar number one is becoming President today. 

I wonder where this is all going to lead us in the future? 

Imagine if I suddenly became an “influencer” on social media and started my own conspiracy theories. Do you think that people would believe me? Do you think I could get away with telling blatant lies and peddling them as if they were the absolute truth? 

I couldn’t do it – I am genuine about this. There is a filter in my head that would prevent me from inventing a story, say, about the royal family being descended directly from dinosaurs, no matter how much I would love it to be true. 

In fact, I couldn’t do it because somebody has already beaten me to it. Apparently, according to Mr Icke, the royal family, including King Charley boy, are all shape-shifting lizards. In fact it’s not just them – it’s most famous people. In fact, according to this video – you and I might be reptilian-human hybrids:

Who would have thought it? 

Mr Denial

I have been watching Leah Remini’s documentary about the aftermath of her split with Scientology and have been fully absorbed by it. One episode in particular struck me because it discussed the true beliefs of this so-called religion and covered how a Scientologist would advance to a state of “Clear” and effectively become something more than just your average human.

Scientology claims that you can heal yourself, just like its mad founder L. Ron Hubbard claims to have done, and that every human is possessed by an alien called a Thetan, that is used to push people along something called “the Bridge”, via OT Levels (“Operating Thetan”) to powers that are beyond belief thus making Scientologists super humans.

When L. Ron Hubbard died of a stroke, unable to cure himself of death itself, the new Scientology “pope”, David Miscavige, said this:

So L. Ron Hubbard didn’t die! He merely discarded his body so that he could leave Earth for God knows where and explore the upper OT echelons.

What an absolute pile of crap!

Yet, practising Scientologists believe this. – and every single word that Hubbard wrote and that David Miscavige continues to preach about – no matter how utterly absurd they sound.

Similarly, members of the Flat Earth Society are absolutely convinced that the Earth is a massive frisbee, that gravity doesn’t exist and NASA and all governments of the planet have been lying to us for centuries.

These are yet another truly amazing group of people who have dug their heels in and simply refuse to believe what the rest of us know.

But can we be wrong? These people are so convinced they are right that sometimes, for a brief microsecond, I have actually begun to doubt myself – but only until my inner brain kicks in and says:

“DON’T BE SO STUPID! OF COURSE THEY ARE WRONG!”

And then common sense prevails and I realise that they are – I’m trying to find the right word here but I can’t. Are they idiots or gullible or brainwashed or stubborn or crazy?

I honestly don’t think they are crazy or stupid but I believe there is an element of brainwashing going on – certainly in the case of Scientology. In a sense, you could argue that a lot of religions are the same, I guess.

As a Catholic, for example, I was brought up to believe in a God I have ever seen and told that if I didn’t dedicate my life to him then I would be sent to meet the devil, another being I had never met, and spend the rest of eternity having hot pokers shoved up my arse by Piers Morgan while listening to modern jazz on an eternal loop and being force fed rhubarb while Satan chuckles on his diabolical throne.

Obviously again common sense prevailed and I questioned it.

Yet if you talk to somebody who believes the crap that Flat Earthers or L. Ron Hubbard tell us they are absolutely astounded that you don’t think the same way that they do.

Another favourite of mine is David Icke who also has an army of fans and listen to him witter on about his major conspiracy theories for hours at a time.  He has written loads of books and people actually buy them. Whether they encourage him for a laugh or not, I don’t know but he certainly appears to captivate audiences with speeches about his mad thoughts about aliens, reptiles and the Illuminati.

Here he is trying to convince anyone who is listening that aliens are treating us a batteries, just like the machines did to us in the movie The Matrix:

In 2016, for example, people in Sydney queued to listen to him give a 12 hour seminar – 12 HOURS!!!

Were these people just there out of a morbid curiosity or do they truly believe the rubbish that he is blithering on about?

I ask all of these people three questions:

(1) Why do you believe what you do?
(2) Where is your evidence?
(3) Why do you not trust the reams of evidence that contradicts your arguments?

I honestly believe that the more you try to convince them they are wrong, the more they dig their heels in – almost as if their pride forces them to prolong the myth and they don’t want to appear to be seen as wrong.

Of course, some people see the light (so to speak) – people like Leah Remini. In her case, she was a Scientologist from childhood so had the bizarre teachings of Hubbard forced on her from an early age, when she was susceptible to this nonsense – she had no other points of reference until later life.

But what about David Icke? Does he see himself as a sort of L. Ron Hubbard character? Does he truly believe that inter-dimensional beings are using our emotions as energy to feed them and that there are reptilian shape-shifters running the world’s governments and waiting to enslave us?

I don’t know but to me it sounds utterly ridiculous.

And when questioned, Icke basically calls disbelievers naïve sheep who don’t see the bigger picture.

I’ll leave you with a video of an Australian news presenter questioning David Icke about his beliefs as he was promoting his 12 hour seminars Down Under. When pushed – he gets very defensive and slightly aggressive. It’s worth a watch.

Don't you just love Australians?

To be honest, I also like David Icke – aka Mr Denial – because I am fascinated with how he has managed to get where he is based on absolutely groundless rubbish.

I wonder what he thinks of Flat Earth theorists and Scientology? That would be a cracking three way debate to watch.

I’m even tempted to read one of David Icke's books – I love a good comedy.

Living In The Past

I’m a sceptic and like to judge things based on evidence and not just a belief.

There is one exception to this – and that is God – and the reason for that is fear. I was raised in a Catholic environment with a Catholic priest and teachers who basically told me that if you I dismissed God then I would burn in Hell for eternity with Satan himself using me his demonic plaything.

So let me just say this up front: God exists (I think) and I want to apologise to him (or her) for anything I have done or said against him (or her).

But I digress. For this post, I want to discuss reincarnation.

Believe me, I would absolutely LOVE it if we are incorporeal beings who occupy a human body from the moment of your inception to the moment it gives up, at which point it releases you ready to find another unblemished embryo to occupy.

While I find the idea of reincarnation fascinating, I simply cannot bring myself to take it seriously.

I can imagine that there may be a person reading this who actually believes in reincarnation to the point where they are looking forward to their next life with enthusiasm. If you are such a reader then I welcome your belief and I genuinely hope you are right.

I was reading about a form of hypnotherapy that allows people to regress to past lives, basically accessing the memory of your soul that remembers your previous incarnations. People have, apparently been kings, queens and emperors in past lives and described their lives to such detail that others are convinced of their authenticity.

I tried this.

I was so curious about the idea that I found a past life regression video on You Tube, lay on the bed and followed the instructions.

I fell asleep.

I did have an idea in my head that I was wondering around a village with weird shoes in medieval England and sitting by a blazing fire in a shit-filled hovel.

No fucking throne and palace filled with gold for me. How disappointing!

I woke up and realised that I had actually had a dream. I don’t believe for a second that I was a medieval tramp, living in a flea-ridden squat with only shit and a fire for company.

I then realised that I had been watching an episode of Blackadder II the night before and my dream had cast me in the role of Baldrick, a dumb dolt from Elizabethan times:



If I had watched Braveheart no doubt I would have been William Wallace, a skirt-wearing England-hating vagabond.

A young Plastic Mancunian?

Usually when you hear tales of people somehow tapping into their hidden soul-memory, there is always a something wonderful. They were princesses in Egyptian times or advisors to King Henry VIII. Such people rarely confess to being slaves clearing out the latrines in the middle of a dark-age forest in the pissing rain or native Americans wandering the plains of America or even simple carpenters living in a small town in 18th Century Ireland.

Nevertheless, I live in hope. I am fascinated by the future and I would love to be reborn in fifty years’ time and grow up in a world of technology.

What proof is there that reincarnation is real? Here’s what I found.

(1) 50% of the world’s population believe in reincarnation. The problem I have with this fact is that, really, this means that 50% of the world’s population don’t want to die and, like me, love the idea that we will all be reborn. Belief in something doesn’t make it fact.

(2) People have given names and dates of previous lives, having somehow tapped into their soul-memories, and that evidence has proved to be true. Is this coincidence? Or is it something to do with the fact that the people have somehow “cheated” or, like my hypnotherapy experiment, are really tapping into something they have seen or read? I think the latter. I believe that people are simply remembering something from their past about a person they have encountered in a book or in a movie. As was the case my Baldrick memory above.

(3) One American child, who was two years old, had nightmares about a plane crash, stating that he had been shot down by the Japanese during World War 2. He named the aircraft carrier from which he had taken off and lots more information about the pilot from whom he was reincarnated. When investigated, the two year old boy’s claims were proven to be correct and a person was discovered who fit the description. The boy’s father was an evangelical Christian who simply didn’t believe in reincarnation. Wow! Compelling, eh? But is it just a con or an elaborate hoax?

(4) Still with children – some have been known to speak in languages that they have never learned, supposedly because they spoke that language in a past life.

(5) Children have been born with bullet wounds, supposedly inflicted on the previous human who accommodated their soul.

To be honest, cases (2) to (4) above do make me think that there might be something in it and there are thousands of similar cases. Yet I am still sceptical. If we are all reincarnated, then surely our minds will be full to overflowing with our past lives, including what happened when we died, no matter how horrific that was.

The more I think about this, the more questions I have. For instance, our souls that have travelled through time for centuries, finding a new body every so often, must have been “born” somehow – and by the same token must “die” sometime, unless our souls are immortal.

Presumably, before humans existed we must have lived in the bodies of animals.

Do you think I could have been a Tyrannosaurus Rex in a previous life?

I really hope so. That would have been a fantastic adventure.

However, the thing that has convinced me more than anything that reincarnation is impossible is the belief of one person.

Yes – that’s right. David Icke believes in reincarnation and he is as mad as a bag of badgers. He believes that reincarnation is a slavery program and our souls are transferred from one slave to the next by “gods”. His view is that we are like the batteries in the Matrix with these nameless “gods” feeding off our souls.

Trust Mr Madman to apply his lunacy to reincarnation. Perhaps he took the Matrix too seriously. Perhaps he thinks he is Neo – or “The One”. Who knows?

Over to you, dear reader.

Do you believe in reincarnation?

If you do I would love to hear from you – either in this life or the next.

Progressive Thoughts - Day 22

Today’s song is another by British prog rockers  Arena. The song is called The Butterfly Man and is the song that introduced me to the band.

When I first heard this song, a cold shiver ran down my spine and I was struck by its spooky nature. 

My mind ran amok because the subject matter fits perfectly within the darker recesses of my imagination, the menacing section where I conjure up weird monsters that would scare me shitless should I ever be unfortunate enough to encounter them.

Such a creature is The Butterfly Man, presumably so-called because he (or it) is a collector.

Unfortunately, rather than gathering insects, the target of his collection are human souls, imprisoning them in a place from where there is no escape. 

Nobody is safe.

The implication is that the creature is not human and waits in the dark catching people when they least expect it.

I love this kind of stuff and it pushes all the buttons that put me on edge. Ironically that kind of excites me because although I am scared, I love the concept of a monster kidnapping people and effectively locking them away forever.

It’s a terrifying prospect and it would make a great book and/or movie.

I have a bit of a love hate relationship with creepy films to be honest. I love to watch them and be terrified by them but later, when I go to bed, they have ingrained themselves in my subconscious mind and consequently I sometimes struggle to sleep as my weird imagination elaborates on an already terrifying premise. 

Even if I do eventually sleep, my dreams are invaded by the monsters I have witnessed, only this time they are magnified to the point where I wake up in a cold sweat.

Basically they induce nightmares and I hate that.

“You’re looking tired,” people will say.

“Yes – I watched  scary film last night and didn’t sleep very well.”

“You utter wimp!”

One of my favourite wacky conspiracy theorists, David Icke, believes in a variation to The Butterfly Man. If you listen to the lyrics of the song, the Butterfly Man lies in wait in the dark on the edge of your consciousness, waiting to strike like a snake.

According to Icke, there are interdimensional beings that can exist just outside of our perception. If you have ever been alone and suddenly had an intense feeling that someone or something is there with you then the chances are that you have encountered one of these beings. Icke says that sometimes these creatures accidentally reveal themselves to us.

So if you are alone and have a crawling sensation something being present and, maybe, catch a glimpse of something as you turn around, just before it vanishes, then you have met one of David Icke’s interdimensional, alien, illuminati lizards.

Or it could be a ghost.

Or it could be The Butterfly Man.

Or, most likely, it could just be your vivid imagination having just read this post. If I cause this to happen, dear reader, then I apologise.

The truth is that David Icke is just a crackpot or, quite possibly an amazingly clever con man who has somehow identified something within his fans that he can exploit to pander to their own wacky conspiracy theory ideas.

As I’ve said, I am a weird fan of David Icke but not because I believe his crackpot theories. As far as I am concerned, he is a walking novel, a talking creepy horror story, a man who is entertaining most of us with an elaborate and totally incredible plot, set in the real world, embracing existing conspiracy theories in a way that entertains me.

He is not telling the truth; he is spinning a yarn – and a very entertaining one. In many ways, I believe he is just a prolific story teller and long may he continue to do so.

I love crazy, weird stuff like this.

Actually, I am alone as I type this and I have a feeling I am being watched.

Ah – I am being watched.

My big fat cat wants his dinner!

Reptiles And Aliens

I have a revelation for you, dear reader. You may be shocked.

We are being ruled by reptiles and aliens.

Actually, that statement is utter nonsense and one of the most bizarre conspiracy theories currently circulating the internet.

According to David Icke, a former footballer and sports presenter here in the UK, a race of humanoid reptiles runs the world. I think he must have taken the science fiction series V a little too seriously.

For those of you who have not heard of V, basically the story involves a large number of aliens, visiting Earth in the name of friendship but in reality, instead of being the beautiful humanoid creatures offering to assist our evolution, they are evil carnivorous reptiles bent on wiping us all out.

In the early 1990’s David Icke appeared on a BBC chat show called Wogan where, dressed in a turquoise track suit, he claimed to be the son of God and invited universal ridicule as a result.

Now, David Icke has recovered from that moment of madness but in the last 20 years has embarked upon a crusade to inform us all about a global conspiracy theory that embraces and supports most other conspiracy theories.

Basically, David Icke believes that humanity is being ruled by a hidden society that has been around since the dawn of mankind and has manipulated humanity throughout the centuries. Our governments are all puppets and the real rulers are an elite group of families who pull the strings and herd us like sheep.

My imagination is pretty weird so I love the idea that we are governed by an unseen elite. I don’t actually believe it, but it would make an absolutely cracking series of novels or movies. In fact, there are quite a few authors who have used this very idea; that a clandestine political movement are trying to influence global politics by infiltrating governments with their operatives and strategically assassinating politicians and influential people, replacing them with their own agents.

I love stuff like that, which is one of the reasons I find David Icke’s conspiracy theory so intriguing. Even better, is his assertion that we are already in this situation and have been for centuries.

In his view, the bad guys have already won.

He has now written quite a few books on the subject and there is an audience for his ideas.

What’s more David Icke has added an amazing twist to his theory as I alluded to earlier. The global and secret elite are alien reptiles and can shapeshift to human form.

Such a hypothesis would make an even better novel or series of novels. An alien race of reptiles that came to Earth when humanity was just evolving, took control of our species and has been in control ever since. The aliens can take on human form and evolve themselves by only breeding with other alien reptiles. Over the centuries they have dictated the course of our lives, ultimately allowing to spread globally and now they are responsible for the society we live in today with all of its faults. And they have a plan to take us further.

We do not actually know about the alien reptiles because they exist in a light frequency that we cannot perceive - so we can't see them. Furthermore, due to mistakes and lapses in judgement, these reptiles have occasionally lost their ability to shapeshift, albeit temporarily, and allowed the world to see their true form – just for a few seconds.

It is a great idea for a science fiction epic – but nothing more.

In real terms it is utter poppycock.

Yet people actually believe it.

David Icke travels the world and lectures to a willing and believing audience about this conspiracy and his lectures on the subject are extremely popular – as are his books and DVDs.

If you look on YouTube you will see quite a few interviews with him including excerpts from the original interview with Wogan in the early 1990s when his outrageous claims made him a laughing stock.

What is incredible to me now is that although his new theories about the alien reptilian agenda are equally, if not more, outrageous, he seems to have acquired a large number of followers. You will find a large number of these people also posting video evidence on YouTube that these reptilians really do exist.

I’ve watched a few of them and chuckled. We see celebrities, presenters and politicians on TV who have apparently been slightly flustered, lost a touch of self-control or whatever, and allowed their true nature to be visible to the camera; their eyes have become reptilian, their skin has become slightly green and scaly and their teeth have morphed.

Basically, it is just a trick of the studio lighting. If you believe what you see on YouTube you will be convinced that the British Royal family are really reptiles.

David Icke is a very eloquent guy; after all, he was a TV presenter before his turquoise phase. For this reason, his arguments seem to have substance until you take a step back and think:

“Hang on! Alien reptiles? What the bloody hell are you talking about?”

I can’t decide whether David Icke is a massive wind-up merchant or whether he genuinely believes what he is saying. The problem is, he has the ability to manipulate facts to support his arguments. And the very idea that there is a massive global conspiracy is something that I find fascinating. By adding alien reptiles, for me anyway, he has made his arguments ridiculous – though a part of me would love it to be true (a weird part of me that is).

One of the problems with this and other conspiracy theories is that there is very little evidence to support them – and what evidence there is, is largely circumstantial. David Icke and other like-minded individuals blame the governments they warn us against by accusing them of “covering up”.

How convenient.

Yes – I am a sceptic – but I also have an open mind. If we really are being ruled by alien reptiles and the horror of V has been with us for centuries, then I want to know all about it.

Until then, I will laugh at the ideas, while secretly wishing that I had thought of it and written a serious novel.

Of course, if David Icke is right then next time you sense a presence in your home and turn around to find nothing there, it could be an alien reptile that exists outside the realm of your perception.

Or it could be your imagination.

Or it could be a ghost.

Don’t get me started on psychics!