facts + logic = truth
The 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon mission is a good time to review the factoids and conspiracy theories that have been junking up the cultural atmosphere since 1969. The Daily Banter has a list of the top 11 Apollo conspiracy theories, but if you're looking for a classic examination of moonbattery, check out... Continue Reading →
Since 1996, a non-governmental organization known as AFESIP (from the French, Acting for Women in Distressing Situations) has been working to rescue and aid young female victims of human trafficking, operating three centres in Cambodia where the young women are housed and educated. The guiding light of this effort is co-founder Somaly Mam, a Cambodian-born... Continue Reading →
Now that the heartbreaking/enraging viral story about a disfigured 3-year-old being turfed from a KFC for "scaring the other customers" has turned out to be a likely sham, let's review some of the other kooky hoaxes and urban myths involving fast food chicken joints... 5. Clones and Chickenblobs/KFC name change Beginning in the late '90s,... Continue Reading →
We all know the first part of the story: Early in the morning on March 8, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, just one hour into its flight, lost radio contact with air traffic controllers. After going silent in the Gulf of Thailand, the plane unexpectedly veered west and flew back across... Continue Reading →
Part IV of Following the Chemtrails Where did it all begin? In researching chemtrail sightings and theories, I was stunned to learn that this phenomenon didn't begin with people noticing persistent contrails in the sky, wondering what they could be, and searching for explanations. Chemtrail theories actually began as a horror story about deliberate world... Continue Reading →
125 years ago yesterday, the last known victim of an unknown serial killer was found stabbed and eviscerated in her dismal rented room in London's East End Whitechapel district. Over the previous two months and ten days, this man had murdered at least four other area prostitutes, desperate and impoverished women in their forties. At... Continue Reading →
Literary fraud is an important topic at Swallowing the Camel. Whether it's middle-aged women pretending to be teen boys afflicted with HIV/AIDS (here and here), or James Cameron's BFF letting himself be snowjobbed by a lying WWII vet, or fake Holocaust memoirists, no one gets a free pass when it comes to literary misdeeds. So... Continue Reading →
Was Mafia assassin Richard Kuklinski full of sh**? I've had Richard "Ice Man" Kuklinski's claims on my mind for some time now, and with the FBI recently scouring Detroit for Jimmy Hoffa and a movie starring Michael Shannon as Kuklinski being released in May, this seems as good a time as any to examine what the... Continue Reading →
As you may know, The Altoona Bigfoot murder I mentioned in a previous Roundup (here) turned out to be merely Bigfoot tracks (see here) discovered by a Mr. John Winesickle. And the Winesickle tracks have turned out to be bear tracks. Meanwhile, in Utah, amateur fossil-hunter Todd May is very excited about the stupid rock... Continue Reading →
Think Satanic panic disappeared along with Geraldo and acid-washed jeans? Well, not quite. Welcome to the world of Jordanian Satanists conducting ceremonies in college bathrooms, panty-stealing gremlins, demonic mermaids - and the deeply misguided authorities who persecute them. We'll get to Satan, but first: Yet another alien body has surfaced, this time in China.... Continue Reading →
Swallowing The Camel 