Here's some good stuff from Rich -------------------- Received: by bci (mbox telnet12) (with Cubic Circle's cucipop (v1.22 1998/04/11) Tue Feb 16 07:29:55 1999) X-From_: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tue Feb 16 00:42:09 1999 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Received: from imo26.mx.aol.com (imo26.mx.aol.com [198.81.17.70]) by burgoyne.com (8.9.1/8.9.1) with ESMTP id AAA11856 for <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Tue, 16 Feb 1999 00:42:09 -0700 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Received: from [EMAIL PROTECTED] by imo26.mx.aol.com (IMOv18.1) id WIKLa00804; Tue, 16 Feb 1999 02:30:16 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 02:30:16 EST Mime-Version: 1.0 Subject: Reality Check - Paranoia Running Rampant As We Slide To 2000 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: AOL 3.0 for Windows 95 sub 64 Forwarded to you by [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Rich Kuchinsky) Sandy, Utah Reality Check - Paranoia Running Rampant As We Slide To 2000 By Ron Bach Editorial 2-14-99 Ashes to Ashes Dust to Dust If Y2K doesn't get you Asteriods must! Grim as it may sound, the world is coming to an end. At least that is the message around the world from Hi-Tech Corporations, UFOlogy, and Conspiracy circles. Throw in the Anti-Christ and it gets real scary. Everyone knows that sex sells. But so does fear. In fact, fear has sold for centuries under the disguise of religion and insurance. Just last week, I was approached by a missionary who handed me a brochure with an image of a man burning in Fire. Join us, he said. There is no other salvation from the coming calamity. For those who are not religiously inclined, several Web Sites on the Internet claim that a huge Asteroid is on a collision course with Earth. The so-called Asteroid will impact Earth either in June 1999 or November 1999. These Web Sites urgently insist that all ground based and space based telescopes must be directed towards the Taurid Stream of Meteors, for an early warning. Prominent astronomers disagree. According to them, even if there were an Asteroid or a Meteor approaching the Earth, it would be invisible to the telescopes until too late. This is especially true for the Asteroids or Meteors in the Taurid Stream, where such large objects, say about the size of a football field, would be well hidden in the dust surrounding them. So how do these groups on the Internet know that such an Asteroid is scheduled for a collision in June 1999? Well, for starters they are not offering any proof. Even if they have proof, which is doubtful, they claim that should they disclose the proof or their sources, Black Ops would execute them within 48 hours! Millions of people around the world have caught on to this hysteria. Either they are busy storing enough food, water, and medicine or are busy purchasing the more luxurious generators, crank radios, and flashlights. Not that such precautions are totally unnecessary. For all we know, Y2K could disrupt the normal life for a couple of weeks. In that aspect the above precautions are well justified. However, if the objectives of preparations are geared towards an Asteroid hit, then it is in vain. Any one, who has recently seen Hollywood movies such as Deep Impact or Armageddon, should understand the power of such large Asteroids hitting the earth. A thousand-foot Tsunami or a devastating Earthquake could get you even if you were underground with your supplies. In a worst case scenario, such a catastrophe could probably bury you even deeper under the rubble making your escape impossible unless you carried a Bulldozer with you. Probably you would be much safer sitting with food cans and water bottles in a boat in the middle of the Ocean, provided you had enough time to row out that far! Sadly, the cans and bottles would not last for a year. Scary as it seems, the Apocalypse scenario falls apart when one steps back from the hysteria and thinks rationally. For example the same group that prophesizes the Asteroid hit, is busy studying an ancient Mayan Circle in Florida. Headed by Richard C. Hoagland, the group claims a strong connection of the so-called Mayan Circle to Stonehenge. One wonders that if this group is so sure of an Asteroid hit in June 1999, as they boldly state on their Web Site "The Enterprise Mission", then they must have nerves of steel spending two weeks in Miami taking pictures of an ancient Mayan Circle from a parking lot! However they are not an exception in making ludicrous claims. Another group CSETI (Center for the Study of Extraterrestrial Intelligence) headed by a Dr. Steven Greer goes a step further and claims they can attract Extra Terrestrials, just like you would call your friend out for dinner. This group also sells the so-called Do It Yourself kits that can attract ET's to communicate with you at a designated time and place. And if that does not suffice, Dr. Greer also claims to have hundreds of decorated military and intelligence personnel who at one time or other have worked with ET's. Reportedly, Dr. Greer also has video testimonies from these so-called witnesses who will step forward and verify their claims. That has not happened yet. Why? Well, these witnesses are apparently under an oath and are waiting for the US Government to pardon them before they step forward. Right! The question then is, if people like Dr. Greer are capable of communicating with the ET's, and if people like Richard Hoagland have proof of an Asteroid hit in June 1999, why don,t they ask the ET's to take them to a safe place? Like maybe a distant Galactic Planet? Or why doesn't Dr. Greer request the ET's to blow up the Asteroid for the good of humanity in the first place? On the contrary, when people like Robert A. M. Stephens, a NASA Sub Contractor, known as RAMS in UFOlogy circle, try to argue the validity of such claims, he is mocked at and framed as a Covert Government Operative. Although there is every reason to worry about natural and manmade calamities, think about what if these prophecies do not materialize? For financially well off families that would not pose a problem. But if you spend your last dollar on that flashlight, you certainly will be under the poverty line in the new Millenium. May be it is time for a Reality Check, Now. Copyright notice: You may reproduce, distribute, publish, or forward this article as long as the contents are not changed and proper credit is given to the author. Copyright (c) 1999. Ron Bach Hong Kong +852 2688 6231 [EMAIL PROTECTED]