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The Loom
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Teach The Lizard Overlord Controversy

Who says there aren’t any disagreements over human origins? Not this guy.

[hat tip the Twitterati]

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October 29th, 2009 4:24 PM by Carl Zimmer in Uncategorized | 11 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

11 Responses to “Teach The Lizard Overlord Controversy”

  1. 1.   Oroboros Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 4:59 pm

    *sigh*

    This calls for the Star Trek Double FacePalm AND a Bear Double FacePalm.

    I didn’t see any mention of Icke’s name, but that’s what it sounds like to me.

    I liked this part at the end:

    Though he is not a UFO expert, Chambers said he considered the speakers legitimate due to the scope and organization of the convention.

    “It’s not like a couple of yahoos sitting in their van.”

  2. 2.   Romeo Vitelli Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 5:03 pm

    I always liked Icke. He has a way of making his crazy ideas sound plausible. Especially when he accused George Bush of secretly being an evil reptilian alien seeking to dominate the Earth. I can’t be the only to suspect that Icke may be right about that.

  3. 3.   Joshua Zelinsky Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 5:17 pm

    Hmm, he got his PhD at Yale. Seems a bit similar to Jonathan Wells, the ID advocate.

    Why does my alma mater keep churning out these people?

  4. 4.   Oroboros Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 5:19 pm

    My problem with Icke is the vaccine scaremongering. If these were just private beliefs that didn’t affect public health, I probably wouldn’t care about him as much.

  5. 5.   Ben Zimmer Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 5:38 pm

    Wasn’t Icke also responsible for Balloon Boy?

  6. 6.   Kitty'sBitch Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 6:34 pm

    The first time I stumbled across this reptilian thing, I naturally assumed that it was a joke.
    To be honest, my brain still won’t allow me to accept that people believe it. I know that some do, but I’m not strong enough to confront that fact. I just bury the knowledge in the dark recesses of my mind and let it fester.
    There’s no place like home…there’s no place like home…

  7. 7.   Joseph J. Steinberg Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 9:28 pm

    Aside from the whack factor here – and, thanks for the laugh – I wondered how a married man could seriously decide to quit his prestigious job and become a professional crackpot. So, I ask, anyone, just how lucrative is a career in woo these days? I’m not talking about what James Randi does, but rather 100% crackpot charlatans.

    I also have to wince at the references to Asian woo. Americans have the silliest notion of anything that’s not Christianity.

  8. 8.   Noel Says:
    October 29th, 2009 at 11:26 pm

    Reminds me of when the ‘girlfriend’ joined up with the guitarist in SpinalTap; just so much woo, inspired by the love of a woman…

  9. 9.   Matt Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 11:35 am

    It’s a hobby of mine to stay up to date on all the latest conspiracy nut-cases. I’ve spent untold hours reading this stuff, and I have to say it makes for some fantastic storytelling. The lizard-overlord people are kind of a minority fringe themselves, even within the fringe community. But having immersed myself in their “theories”, it’s a *little* less absurd than it appears on the face of it. Certainly doesn’t hold a candle to, say, scientology. Not sure if that’s a comfort to you, Kitty, but, these people at least do volumes of, I hesitate to say “research”, but I can’t find a better word. I mean, hours and hours looking into historical myths and gods, drawing connections between Quetzacotl and Egyptology and Grendl and whatnot. I kind of have a grudging respect for that. I mean, at least they’re reading, right?

  10. 10.   Oroboros Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 2:44 pm

    Good point there Matt. If schools should teach all the theories of creation, then Sitchin gets his slice of time too, and that means the kids have to learn a bit of Sumerian history.

    Of course, that wikipedia article claims his translations have been generally found wrong. I haven’t seriously followed up on the citations yet, but someone felt strongly enough to register a whole domain to point out how wrong he is.

  11. 11.   skinman Says:
    October 30th, 2009 at 3:02 pm

    Ugh. Why does my state accumulate so many loons? Balloon Boy’s Parents, Ward Churchill, Horn, Ted Haggard. The list goes on but it is too depressing for me to continue.

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