Rok E II: The Aftermath

In wake of the overwhelming (LOL!) accolades for my post on Ragnarok and Manson -- and by popular nondemand! -- here are a few assorted "hits" since I published the most current version (about 10/16).

Yahoonews has carried quite a few sea-monster type pop-science stories in the past year; here's one from today

Again, the "otter" mention is interesting -- as mentioned in the Ragnarok post, I call autistic people "otties" and have compared them in essays to otters


Investigators Search for Canadian Lake Monster

Joe Nickellfrom the Skeptical InquirerLiveScience.com

Mon Oct 17,12:00 PM ET

Canada's Lake Simcoe, some forty miles north of Toronto, supposedly holds a monster known as Igopogo (after its more famous relative Ogopogo, in Lake Okanagan, British Columbia) as well as other appellations. Residents of Beaverton, on the eastern shore, call it Beaverton Bessie, while others refer to it as Kempenfelt Kelly, after Kempenfelt Bay, which has the lake's deepest water and claims the most sightings.

Sources refer vaguely to early "Indian legends" of the monster and sporadic reports of a "sea serpent" in the lake during the nineteenth century. Important sightings occurred in 1952 and 1963, and a "sonar sounding of a large animal" in 1983 was followed by a videotape in 1991 of "a large, seal-like animal."

Significantly, according to John Robert Colombo in his book "Mysterious Canada," "No two descriptions of Kempenfelt Kelly coincide."

Nevertheless , writer George M. Eberhart, in his book "Mysterious Creatures," attempted a portrait:

Physical Description: Seal-like animal. Length, 12–70 feet. Charcoal-gray color. Dog- or horse-like face. Prominent eyes. Gaping mouth. Neck is like a stovepipe. Several dorsal fins. Fishlike tail. Behavior: Basks in the sun.

In August 2005, supported by Discovery Canada television's science program "Daily Planet," and by the tourism department of the city of Barrie, investigator Benjamin Radford and I went in search of the elusive creature. We conducted interviews and searched Kempenfelt Bay using a boat equipped with sonar and an underwater camera.

We first visited the home of local retired businessman Arch Brown, who told us he coined the name "Kempenfelt Kelly" and himself had had four sightings of the legendary monster. He acknowledged that he was predisposed to believe in the existence of the creature. His Scottish father had told him of the Loch Ness Monster, and, since he himself formerly resided in British Columbia, he well knew of Ogopogo there. When he moved to Barrie many years ago, he said, he was prompted by local reports to be "on the lookout" for the monster, spending many hours at the task.

Over the years he had no fewer than four sightings—all from a distance, unfortunately. Once he saw the creature from an estimated quarter of a mile away, but nevertheless described it as being ten feet long and having a dark-gray, serpentlike body and a dog-shaped head. It swam, he told us, with an undulating, up-and-down motion. Less seriously, he added that it had "an impish look" and a kind disposition that kept it from frightening children.

Like many of the other sightings, his could be reasonably explained as otters swimming in a line, diving and resurfacing. Our boat captain, Jerry Clayton, specifically mentioned otters as a likelihood for some sightings. Brown himself acknowledged that there are otters—as well as beavers, mink, and other animals—in the vicinity, although he did not believe any of these were responsible for his sightings.

As to the 1983 sonar report, Clayton showed us on his sonar screen what were clearly individual fish, as well as occasional larger forms that he attributed to schools of small fish being "read" by the sonar as a single unit. The underwater camera showed only non-monstrous fish. Clayton told us he had been on Lake Simcoe for eighteen years
.
"I've dragged a lot of lines for a lot of miles here on this lake, and—nothing," he said.

Our search for Igopogo ended without finding good evidence for the monster, but the sightings will surely continue as long as people believe it exists in the cold waters of Lake Simcoe.


here's a story from last Sunday, related to the "race-war" aspects of my Ragnarok post

Toledo, Ohio, might be considered a quintessential American town/small city, a location no doubt considered stategically by US Nazi Party leaders -- whose point, unfortunately, was proven by their "opponents," some of whom consider themselves Victims and extended that excuse into justification for assault

strange: for the past few decades, much of white culture has been despertely trying to Be Cool -- to be black, essentially, Easternizing and Africanizing itself, trading WASP elements for tribal elements

an alchemist would call the West's cultural fold-back -- which is by no means strictly "racial" -- a collective regression, a nigredo, while an artist or shaman might call it descent to the underworld or matrix

Larry Charles and Bob Dylan's "masked and anonymous" visualizes on film some of the negative fallout from the Identity Revolution and the scapegoating of the white males (and maleness in general) -- how the Sixties "revolution" ended up betraying its own principles (and principals too!)



Neighbors: Neo-Nazis Had No Right to March

By JOHN SEEWER, Associated Press Writer

Sun Oct 16, 6:01 PM ET

TOLEDO, Ohio - In the days leading up to a white supremacist march, ministers pleaded with residents to stay calm and community leaders organized peace rallies. Authorities even delayed releasing the route so protesters wouldn't know where the group planned to march.


It wasn't enough to stop an angry mob that included gang members from looting and burning a neighborhood bar, smashing the windows of a gas station and hurling rocks and bottles at police on Saturday. Twelve officers were injured, one suffering a concussion when a brick flew through her cruiser window.

In all, 114 people were arrested on charges including assault, vandalism, failure to disperse and overnight curfew violations.

"We knew during the preparation that it was going to be a tremendous challenge," Police Chief Mike Navarre said Sunday. "Anyone who would accuse us of being underprepared I would take exception with that."
Much of the anger boiled over because people were upset that city leaders were willing to allow the supremacists to walk through the neighborhood and shout insults, residents and authorities said.

"You can't allow people to come challenge a whole city and not think they weren't going to strike back," said Kenneth Allen, 47, who watched the violence begin near his home.

Authorities said there was little they could do to stop the group, because they did not apply for a parade permit and instead planned to walk along sidewalks.

"They do have a right to walk on the Toledo sidewalks," said Mayor Jack Ford, who at one point confronted leaders of the mob and tried to settle them down.

A gang member in a mask threatened to shoot him, and others cursed him for allowing the march, the mayor said. He said he didn't know if the man who threatened him was actually armed, but he blamed gangs for much of the violence. The march had been called off because of the crowds, and the white supremacists had left.

If the Nazi group tries to come back, Ford said he would seek a court order to stop them.

Navarre said the riots escalated because members of the National Socialist Movement took their protest to the neighborhood, which is predominantly black, instead of a neutral place. "If this march had occurred in downtown Toledo, we wouldn't have had the unrest," he said.

The neo-Nazi group, known as "America's Nazi Party," said they came to the city because of a dispute between neighbors, one white and the other black.

Police began receiving word midweek from officers on the street that gangs were going to descend on the neighborhood in protest, the police chief said. The disturbances were confined to a 1-square-mile area, but the crowd swelled to about 600 people, overwhelming police.

The crowds were eventually dispersed by police in riot gear after about four hours, and the mayor declared a state of emergency that remained in effect through the weekend.

About 200 officers patrolled the neighborhood overnight after the riot, Navarre said. Police reported no problems Sunday, but an 8 p.m. curfew was in effect for a second night.

Neighbors were divided about the city allowing the march.

"They don't have the right to bring hate to my front yard," said Terrance Anderson, who lives near a bar that was destroyed.

Other neighbors said the group had a right to have their say. "Too bad the people couldn't ignore them," said Dee Huntley.