Weird News Thread ....

[Jolie Rouge]

How to spot a sociopath - 10 red flags that could save you from being swept under the influence of a charismatic nut job


Friday, June 08, 2012
by Mike Adams

One of the more offensive duties of being an investigative journalist is taking out the trash -- exposing liars, fraudsters, con artists and scammers for the people they truly are. Each time we investigate a sociopath, we find that they always have a little cult group following of spellbound worshippers who consider that particular sociopath to be a "guru" or "prophet."

Sociopaths are masters at influence and deception. Very little of what they say actually checks out in terms of facts or reality, but they're extremely skillful at making the things they say sound believable, even if they're just making them up out of thin air. Here, I'm going to present quotes and videos of some legendary sociopaths who convinced everyday people to participate in mass suicides. And then I'm going to demonstrate how and why similar sociopaths are operating right now... today.

Why cover this subject? I've seen a lot of people get hoodwinked, scammed or even harmed by sociopaths, and it bewilders me that people are so easily sucked into their destructive influence. I want to share with Natural News readers the warning signs of sociopaths so that you can spot them, avoid them, and save yourself the trouble of being unduly influenced by them.

Much of this information is derived from the fascinating book, The Sociopath Next Door, which says that 4% of the population are sociopaths. The book is a fascinating read.


10 signs for spotting a sociopath
#1) Sociopaths are charming. Sociopaths have high charisma and tend to attract a following just because people want to be around them. They have a "glow" about them that attracts people who typically seek guidance or direction. They often appear to be sexy or have a strong sexual attraction. Not all sexy people are sociopaths, obviously, but watch out for over-the-top sexual appetites and weird fetishes.

#2) Sociopaths are more spontaneous and intense than other people. They tend to do bizarre, sometimes erratic things that most regular people wouldn't do. They are unbound by normal social contracts. Their behavior often seems irrational or extremely risky.

#3) Sociopaths are incapable of feeling shame, guilt or remorse. Their brains simply lack the circuitry to process such emotions. This allows them to betray people, threaten people or harm people without giving it a second thought. They pursue any action that serves their own self interest even if it seriously harms others. This is why you will find many very "successful" sociopaths in high levels of government, in any nation.

#4) Sociopaths invent outrageous lies about their experiences. They wildly exaggerate things to the point of absurdity, but when they describe it to you in a storytelling format, for some reason it sounds believable at the time.

#5) Sociopaths seek to dominate others and "win" at all costs. They hate to lose any argument or fight and will viciously defend their web of lies, even to the point of logical absurdity.

#6) Sociopaths tend to be highly intelligent, but they use their brainpower to deceive others rather than empower them. Their high IQs often makes them dangerous. This is why many of the best-known serial killers who successfully evaded law enforcement were sociopaths.

#7) Sociopaths are incapable of love and are entirely self-serving. They may feign love or compassion in order to get what they want, but they don't actually FEEL love in the way that you or I do.

#8) Sociopaths speak poetically. They are master wordsmiths, able to deliver a running "stream of consciousness" monologue that is both intriguing and hypnotic. They are expert storytellers and even poets. As a great example of this in action, watch this interview of Charles Manson on YouTube.

#9) Sociopaths never apologize. They are never wrong. They never feel guilt. They can never apologize. Even if shown proof that they were wrong, they will refuse to apologize and instead go on the attack.

#10) Sociopaths are delusional and literally believe that what they say becomes truth merely because they say it! Charles Manson, the sociopathic murderer, is famous for saying, "I've never killed anyone! I don't need to kill anyone! I THINK it! I have it HERE! (Pointing to his temple.) I don't need to live in this physical realm..."

Watch Charles Manson saying this at the 3:05 mark of this YouTube video.


How to dispel illusion and get to the truth
Sociopaths are masters at weaving elaborate fictional explanations to justify their actions. When caught red-handed, they respond with anger and threats, then weave new fabrications to explain away whatever they were caught doing.

A sociopath caught red-handed with a suitcase full of cash he just stole, for example, might declare he had actually rescued the money from being stolen by someone else, and that he was attempting to find its rightful owner. He's the hero, see? And yet, in reality, he will simply pocket the money and keep it. If you question him about the money, he will attack you for questioning his honesty.

Sociopaths are masters are presenting themselves as heroes with high morals and philosophy, yet underneath it they are the true criminal minds in society who steal, undermine, deceive, and often incite emotional chaos among entire communities. They are masters at turning one group of people against another group while proclaiming themselves to be the one true savior. Wherever they go, they create strife, argument and hatred, yet they utterly fail to see their own role in creating it. They are delusional at so many levels that their brains defy logical reasoning.

You cannot reason with a sociopath. Attempting to do so only wastes your time and annoys the sociopath.


Tip for exposing sociopaths: Start fact-checking something they claim
One simple method for dispelling sociopathic delusion is to start fact checking their claims. Do any of their claims actually check out? If you start digging, you will usually find a pattern of frequent inconsistencies. Confront the suspected sociopath with an inconsistency and see what happens: Most sociopaths will become angry or aggressive when their integrity is questioned, whereas a sane person would simply be happy to help clear up any misinformation or misunderstanding.

Beware of fact-checking the sociopath by asking other people under his or her influence. A sociopath will usually have a small group of cult-like followers who not only believe their fictional tales, but who actually internalize those fictions to the point where they rewrite their own memories to be consistent with them. If a guru-style sociopath talks about his "levitation sessions" over and over again, some of his believers will sooner or later start to form false memories in which they imagine seeing him levitate off the floor. So if you ask those people, "Did you actually ever see this person levitate?" They will enthusiastically say, "Yes!" Because in their own minds, that illusion has become something indistinguishable from a vivid memory.

Much the same thing is true with sociopathic politicians. If a particularly charismatic politician claims he has "created millions of jobs" even though his economic policies have actually destroyed jobs and caused widespread unemployment, his cult-like followers will repeat his lie and publicly proclaim how many jobs that person has created.

That's why fact-checking a sociopath requires evidence from outside his circle of influence. Does anything he say actually check out in the real world, outside his sphere of direct control? If not, you've probably spotted a sociopath.

http://www.naturalnews.com/036112_so...#ixzz41l3T0RNW

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[Jolie Rouge]

Quote Originally Posted by Jolie Rouge View Post

Hunt for Killer Leads to Ex-FBI Agent
By KELLY KURT

http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news...=20031017MH101

TULSA, Okla. (AP) - The sun had yet to rise over Miami Shores, Fla., but the Oklahoma lawman at H. Paul Rico's front door wasn't waiting any longer. After 22 years, it felt good to interrupt the retired FBI agent's sleep with a knock. ``I'm Sgt. Mike Huff,'' the detective told Rico before informing him he was under arrest for the 1981 murder of a Tulsa businessman.

After decades of pursuit, neither one needed the introduction.

Huff's mustache had gone salt-and-pepper since he was first assigned the case and his marriage had buckled under the strain. But the tangle of false leads, wrecked vacations and outside efforts to thwart him had finally come undone that day in early October. If it hadn't been him, Huff says, some other Tulsa police detective would have trailed Roger Wheeler's murder into the depths of the Boston underworld and its cozy relationship with the FBI. Huff's tenacity, however, has stood out, even as mobsters and corruption stood in the way. ``Mike was a bulldog,'' said Robert Fitzpatrick, a former assistant chief of the FBI's Boston bureau. ``He never let this go.''

Tulsa Police Chief Dave Been believes Huff and the threat of Oklahoma's death row helped break mob kingpin Stephen ``The Rifleman'' Flemmi, who pleaded guilty last week in 10 murders, including that of Wheeler. ``Sgt. Huff just kept the pressure and kept the pressure,'' Been said. ``I think that's what made Flemmi roll over.''

Spared the possibility of lethal injection, Flemmi is cooperating with investigators and has told them Rico and others wanted Wheeler killed. A confessed triggerman said Rico, who denies any involvement in Wheeler's death, aided the hit by providing information about Wheeler.

On May 27, 1981, kids in the pool at a Tulsa country club heard the shot from the parking lot. Wheeler, the 55-year-old chairman of Telex Corp. and owner of Miami, Fla.-based World Jai Alai, had been shot in the head after playing a round of golf.

Huff was 25 and undaunted when his supervisor told him the investigation into that afternoon's murder likely would change everything he'd thought about police work. ``Damn, I wish I hadn't been on duty that day,'' Huff would later say, after the case had consumed his life.

The investigation Huff led went cold at the start. Investigators eventually focused on Wheeler's suspicions that money was being skimmed from World Jai Alai. Rico, who retired from the FBI in 1975, was the company's chief of security.

In 1982, a member of Boston's Winter Hill Gang was gunned down after reportedly telling the FBI that he'd rejected an offer to kill Wheeler. Another person of interest to Huff, World Jai Alai executive John Callahan, was found dead in the trunk of a car. ``We were chasing leads all over the place,'' Huff said. ``We very naively thought that as far as the Jai Alai angle, the FBI would bring us into the loop.''

A year after Wheeler's murder, though, Huff's naivety was wearing off. He began to suspect Rico, who had cultivated Flemmi as an informant in 1965 when Rico was a rising star in the Boston FBI's war on the Mafia. As the investigation went on, federal agents accused Huff of jumping to conclusions, he said. Tulsa detectives were led on wild goose chases when Boston FBI reports validated false leads, Huff later learned.

Former Boston FBI Agent John Connolly was convicted last year of protecting gangster informants, including James ``Whitey'' Bulger, a fugitive since being tipped off to his pending indictment in 1995. Huff delivered 60 pounds of documents in 1995 to East Coast authorities investigating the Winter Hill Gang, warning them they were ``stumbling into a load of corruption.''

Five years later, he named Flemmi, Bulger, confessed triggerman John Martorano and Rico in an affidavit in Tulsa County. District Attorney Tim Harris brought murder charges against all but Rico, wanting more evidence to take to court. ``When you see somebody who is clearly in your sights, it's very nagging,'' Huff said of his frustration. ``But in retrospect, the case (against Rico) is much better with Flemmi.''

Huff interrupted vacations to chase leads. He called Wheeler's son, David, sometimes in the early morning hours. His dedication gave Wheeler's family hope that someone would eventually be brought to justice. ``He defines the word `relentless,''' David Wheeler said.

Meanwhile, Huff led a homicide division in making arrests in more than 90 percent of Tulsa murder cases, a figure that compares with 62 percent nationwide. Still, the stress of the unsolved Wheeler case wrapped tighter around him, and Huff's marriage fell apart. When the 78-year-old Rico opened the door in his undershorts Oct. 9, Huff found the moment bittersweet. ``What I was really thinking,'' he said, ``was `Can I get past this and reclaim some normalcy?

' ``
Rico and Huff, who'd met face to face many times over the years, exchanged words, but Huff won't say what they were. Even with Flemmi's plea and Rico's arrest on a charge of first-degree murder, the Wheeler murder investigation isn't over. Bulger remains at large, and the detective says without elaborating that Flemmi's confession ``has opened a can of worms.''

Rico, meanwhile, is being held in Florida and faces an extradition hearing Tuesday. No trial date has been set in Oklahoma. ``It always comes down to the last man standing,'' said David Wheeler. ``Rest assured, Mike Huff will always be the last man standing.''

10/19/03 16:58

Cyanide killed potential Bulger witness
Stephen Rakes was an alleged extortion victim of James "Whitey" Bulger and a potential witness at his trial, but his poisoning was unrelated to the Bulger case.
22 hr ago | By Associated Press


Stephen Rakes, an alleged extortion victim of James 'Whitey' Bulger, was killed by cyanide poisoning, a medical examiner concluded.




BOSTON — The Massachusetts medical examiner's office determined that cyanide poisoning killed an alleged extortion victim of Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger who had hoped to testify at Bulger's trial, prosecutors said Sunday.

The medical examiner's office concluded that Stephen Rakes, 59, of Quincy, died of acute cyanide toxicity in July and ruled his death a homicide, according to MaryBeth Long, a spokeswoman for the Middlesex district attorney's office.

Authorities said Rakes' death wasn't related to the Bulger case.

Rakes' business associate, William Camuti, 69, of Sudbury, is charged with attempted murder and other crimes for allegedly poisoning Rakes' iced coffee. Camuti has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors said Camuti owed Rakes money and lured him to a meeting where he poisoned his drink then drove Rakes around for hours before dumping his body.

Long said the district attorney's office intends to file additional charges against Camuti based on the new findings by the medical examiner.

A phone message for Camuti's attorney, Stanley Norkunas, was not immediately returned Sunday.

Rakes' body was found in a wooded area of the Boston suburb of Lincoln on July 17, just a day after he learned he wouldn't be called as a witness against Bulger. Rakes openly despised Bulger and blamed him for seizing control of his South Boston liquor store to use as headquarters for Boston's Irish mob in 1984.

Bulger was convicted in August of 11 killings and dozens of other gangland crimes. He is set to be sentenced next month.

http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/cy...ness-officials

'Whitey' Bulger New Trial Rejected By Appeals Court
http://video.bostonherald.com/Whitey...Court-30443384

On Friday an appeals court refused to grant a new trial to notorious Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger. The 86 year old is serving two life sentences after being convicted in 2013 of racketeering. The court rejected arguments that a jury should have heard a claim that he had immunity. Bulger claimed that now-deceased former prosecutor Jeremiah O'Sullivan promised he wouldn't be prosecuted for his crimes. Judges ruled, however, that he couldn't prove the immunity agreement and it was unenforceable. According to court documents, Bulger argued the alleged immunity agreement thrown out prevented him from testifying in his own defense.

[Jolie Rouge]

March 6, 2016 - Updated at 7:30 PM


Clock winding down on charging more ‘Whitey’ Bulger helpers

If prosecutors don't bring charges soon, the only person to be accused will be his longtime girlfriend.

BOSTON — Investigators who spent years building a criminal case against gangster James “Whitey” Bulger have long believed he had multiple helpers when he fled Boston and went on the run.

But if prosecutors don’t bring charges within the next few months, the only person to be charged with actually assisting the notorious crime boss during his 16 years as a fugitive will be his longtime girlfriend.

The statute of limitations for harboring a fugitive is five years. The clock began ticking when Bulger was captured in Santa Monica, California, on June 22, 2011, and runs out on June 22, 2016.

Catherine Greig, who accompanied Bulger on his long flight from justice, was sentenced to eight years in prison for helping him.

Greig faces additional prison time after pleading guilty last month to contempt for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating who else may have helped Bulger.

Now the question is, without Greig’s help, will anyone else ever be charged?

“I don’t think the chances are great. I’d be happy to see it, but I’d be surprised to see it,” said retired state police Col. Thomas Foley, who spent two decades pursuing Bulger.

Bulger, now 86, is serving a life sentence after being convicted of a litany of crimes during a 2013 racketeering trial, including participating in 11 murders.

Over the years, investigators suspected Bulger received help from his family, and attention focused on his brother, William Bulger, a powerful political figure who was president of the state Senate for 17 years.

But William Bulger has denied helping his brother while he was a fugitive and has never been charged. In testimony before a federal grand jury in 2001, William Bulger acknowledged that he and his brother spoke by phone shortly after he fled Boston in late 1994. William Bulger also acknowledged that he did not encourage his brother to surrender.

“I don’t feel an obligation to help everyone catch him,” he said, according to leaked transcripts of testimony published in The Boston Globe.

Another brother, John “Jackie” Bulger, pleaded guilty to perjury and obstruction of justice in 2003 for lying to federal grand juries. Jackie Bulger admitted he had spoken to his brother while he was a fugitive. He also admitted lying when he testified he had no knowledge about a safe deposit box owned by his brother.

Greig’s twin sister, Margaret McCusker, pleaded guilty to lying to a grand jury about having contact with her sister after she fled Boston with Bulger.

Kevin Weeks, a key Bulger henchman, admitted that he provided Bulger with fake identification while he was on the run. Weeks served five years in prison for being an accessory to five murders, but was not charged with helping Bulger as a fugitive.

Another key question: Where is the money Bulger hid? The FBI seized cash from safe deposit boxes in Florida, London, Canada and Ireland. But investigators believe that was just a fraction of the money Bulger made through his gang’s illegtal activities.

http://www.pressherald.com/2016/03/0...ulger-helpers/

[Jolie Rouge]

The 6-Wheeled Monster Convertible From "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" Is on eBay

​It could be yours, for a few hundred thousand dollars.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars...emen-car-ebay/

Ken Freeman is the best custom car builder you've never heard of. The owner of a body shop in West End, North Carolina, Freeman is the man behind Spirit of Nemo, his take on possibly the most challenging movie car of all time: Captain Nemo's 24-foot-long convertible from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. And guess what? Nemo is for sale on eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/162016417586...c=1&rmvSB=true


Normally, when someone builds a movie car, the result is a lot like a typical concept car—good from afar, but far from good. (Why not? It just needs to look good on camera.) Freeman's Nemo, though, stands up to close scrutiny. The details are impeccable and, amazingly, the car drives way better than you'd expect of a six-wheeled convertible with quad front steering and the width of a Peterbilt. It tracks just fine, the 425-cubic inch V8 happily thumping away like it meant to propel this leviathan. You could drive it on the street, provided you have a plan for where to turn it around. And I can vouch for that, since I'm one of the few people to drive it.

The car is loosely based on two Cadillac limousines, but it's not like this is a re-bodied Caddy. The frame, for instance, is based on steel I-beams from a dismantled bridge because the low-slung ride height wouldn't allow for the underbody bracing of a typical convertible. The hood and various other structural areas are reinforced with carbon fiber or Kevlar. The mammoth hood rises on struts—no prop rod necessary. The car's ornate details, from the elephants to the interior trim, were carved in reverse by Freeman and cast in molds. There were no shortcuts on this car.

So what's it gonna take to get Nemo and its custom trailer aboard your personal submarine? Well, reserve is met, and the reserve is $165,000. As I told Freeman the day I drove it, wealthy people covet an object that nobody else can have, and there's only one of these. It's a beautifully executed car, but it took him 6,500 hours. He's not building another one.

[Jolie Rouge]

Discovery Could Rewrite History of Vikings in New World
Guided by ancient Norse sagas and modern satellite images, searchers discover what may be North America's second Viking site.
By Mark Strauss
PUBLISHED March 31, 2016

POINT ROSEE, Canada—It’s a two-mile trudge through forested, swampy ground to reach Point Rosee, a narrow, windswept peninsula stretching from southern Newfoundland into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Last June, a team of archaeologists was drawn to this remote part of Canada by a modern-day treasure map: satellite imagery revealing ground features that could be evidence of past human activity.

The treasure they discovered here—a stone hearth used for working iron—could rewrite the early history of North America and aid the search for lost Viking settlements described in Norse sagas centuries ago.

To date, the only confirmed Viking site in the New World is L’Anse aux Meadows, a thousand-year-old way station discovered in 1960 on the northern tip of Newfoundland. It was a temporary settlement, abandoned after just a few years, and archaeologists have spent the past half-century searching for elusive signs of other Norse expeditions.

“The sagas suggest a short period of activity and a very brief and failed colonization attempt,” says Douglas Bolender, an archaeologist specializing in Norse settlements. “L’Anse aux Meadows fits well with that story but is only one site. Point Rosee could reinforce that story or completely change it if the dating is different from L’Anse aux Meadows. We could end up with a much longer period of Norse activity in the New World.”

The site of the discovery, hundreds of miles south of L’Anse aux Meadows, was located by archaeologist Sarah Parcak, a National Geographic Fellow and “space archaeologist” who has used satellite imagery to locate lost Egyptian cities, temples, and tombs.

Last November, TED awarded Parcak a $1 million prize to develop a project to discover and monitor ancient sites. This latest discovery in Newfoundland—supported, in part, by a grant from the National Geographic Society—demonstrates that her space-based surveillance can not only spy out artifacts in barren desert landscapes, but also in regions covered by tall grasses and other plant life.

Parcak led a team of archaeologists to Point Rosee last summer to conduct a “test excavation,” a small-scale dig to search for initial evidence that the site merits further study. The scientists unearthed an iron-working hearth partially surrounded by the remains of what appears to have been a turf wall.

The archaeologists don’t yet have enough evidence to confirm that Vikings built the hearth. Other peoples lived in Newfoundland centuries ago, including Native Americans and Basque fisherman. But experts are cautiously optimistic.

“A site like Point Rosee has the potential to reveal what that initial wave of Norse colonization looked like not only for Newfoundland but for the rest of the North Atlantic,” says Bolender.

Location, Location, Location

“Who’s your daddy?!?” Parcak shouts at the ground as her muddy boot pushes down on a shovel, cutting its way through thick turf to the soil beneath. It’s a joyous sound, the primal yell of an archaeologist in her natural habitat, doing fieldwork. “Digging makes us better people,” she tells me.

Parcak is far afield of her usual stomping grounds in Egypt. But this project has clearly captivated her imagination, drawing her into Viking history and lore.

One afternoon, we cautiously make our way down a steep path—created by a small landslide and gully—to a narrow beach. As we stroll along the shoreline, Parcak speculates on why this tiny peninsula would have made an ideal Norse outpost.

“They were quite nervous about their safety, threats by locals,” she says. “They needed to be in a place where they could have good access to the beaches but also a good vantage point. This spot is ideally situated—you can see to the north, west, and south.”

After studying the area and researching prior land surveys, the archaeologists have identified other characteristics that would have made Point Rosee an optimum site for Norse settlers: The southern coastline of the peninsula has relatively few submerged rocks, allowing for anchoring or even beaching ships; the climate and soil in the region is especially well-suited for growing crops; there’s ample fishing on the coast and game animals inland; and there are lots of useful natural resources, such as chert for making stone tools and turf for building housing.

Iron Men

And then, of course, there was the most valuable resource of all: bog iron. It’s a type of ore that forms when rivers carry dissolved particles of iron down from mountains and into wetlands, where bacteria leach the iron from the water, leaving behind metal deposits.

The Norse didn’t do much mining. Most of their iron was harvested from peat bogs, and their very way of life depended upon it. Metal nails held their ships together as they sailed west—expanding their realm across the North Atlantic—and south, establishing trade routes throughout Europe and the Far East. A modern-day reconstruction of a Norse longship, built by the Viking Ship Museum in Denmark, required 7,000 nails made from 880 pounds (400 kg) of iron—which means that a blacksmith would have had to heat and process 30 tons of raw bog iron ore.

Bog iron prospectors knew what telltale signs to look for, such as an oily looking microbial slick on the surface of stagnant water. In fact, three historians authored a study making the case that iron was a prerequisite for Viking settlements. L’Anse aux Meadows, they observe, was a site used for iron production and ship maintenance, providing evidence “that the explorers, knowing their ships needed repair, actively sought out a location where they could acquire bog iron and produce new nails.”

Searching For Signs

Up until now, Parcak has predominantly used her eyes in the sky to gaze upon Egypt, where she has been able to spot geological anomalies that indicate the presence of ruins beneath the barren, mostly undisturbed sands.

But, whereas the ancient Egyptians left behind stone edifices that have endured for thousands of years, Viking structures were hewn mostly from wood and earth. So when Parcak uses satellite imagery to search for signs of Norse settlers, she’s not looking for actual ruins. Instead, she’s scrutinizing the plant life.

The remnants of structures buried at Point Rosee alter the surrounding soil, changing the amount of moisture it retains. This, in turn, affects the vegetation growing directly over it. Using remote sensing, variations in plant growth form a spectral outline of what was there centuries earlier. The Point Rosee images were taken during the fall, when the grasses in the area were particularly high, making it easier to see which plants were healthier, drinking more water from the soil.

The archaeologists found 28 pounds of slag in a hearth that they believe was used to roast iron ore prior to smelting it in a furnace.

In one area, a magnetometer survey reveals a hot spot that, according to the satellite imagery, is partially surrounded by straight lines indicating the possible ruins of a small structure. Excavation reveals the remains of what appear to be turf walls and an iron-working hearth.

To an untrained eye, the hearth doesn’t look like much: a boulder in front of a shallow pit, surrounded by smaller stones. But traces of charcoal and 28 pounds of slag found in the pit suggest to the archaeologists that this hearth was used for roasting ore.

This was the first step in the iron-working process. Before the metal could be smelted and forged by a blacksmith, the ore needed to be dried out—otherwise, it would explode when placed inside a furnace. The roasting process also removed some of the impurities, in the form of discarded metal slag.

The discovery of this hearth makes Point Rosee the southernmost and westernmost known iron-working site in pre-Columbian North America.

[Jolie Rouge]

The Stuff of Legends

Was Point Rosee a Viking outpost a thousand or so years ago?

The evidence thus far is promising. The turf structure that partially surrounds the hearth is nothing like the shelters built by indigenous peoples who lived in Newfoundland at the time, nor by Basque fishermen and whalers who arrived in the 16th century. And, while iron slag may be fairly generic, “there aren’t any known cultures—prehistoric or modern—that would have been mining and roasting bog iron ore in Newfoundland other than the Norse,” says Bolender.

Very few artifacts have been found at Point Rosee, but that’s actually a good sign. Most Norse possessions haven’t preserved well; they were typically made from wood, which decayed, or iron, which either decayed or was melted down to make something else. Archaeologists conducted seven excavations at L’Anse aux Meadows, from 1961 to 1968, before they had sufficient evidence to confirm it was a Norse outpost. And even then they found only a handful of personal items, such as a bronze pin, a needle hone, and a stone lamp. If the archaeologists had found many artifacts at Point Rosee, then it probably wouldn’t be a Viking site.

One theory is that Point Rosee was primarily an iron-working camp, a temporary facility supporting exploration and exploitation of resources within the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Bolender, however, believes it might have been part of a more substantial settlement somewhere in the vicinity.

If so, then how does this discovery fit into history’s bigger picture?

Much of what we know about the Norse exploration of North America is gleaned from the Viking sagas, oral stories passed down across generations that were eventually transcribed.

“We’re looking here because of the sagas,” says Bolender. “Nobody would have ever found L’Anse aux Meadows if it weren’t for the sagas. But, the flipside is that we have no idea how reliable they are.”

Archaeologists have found sporadic evidence suggestive of Viking explorers who traveled beyond their settlements in Greenland. Artifacts from the 11th century, including a copper coin, were discovered in Maine, possibly obtained by Native Americans who traded with the Norse. Canadian archaeologist Patricia Sutherland has found ruins on Baffin Island, far above the Arctic Circle, which she claims were a trading outpost—though the evidence remains inconclusive. (Read about Sutherland’s discovery. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/20...s/pringle-text )

The confirmed discovery of a Norse camp at L’Anse aux Meadows proved that the Viking sagas weren’t entirely fiction. A second settlement at Point Rosee would suggest that the Norse exploration of the region wasn’t a limited undertaking, and that archaeologists should expand their search for evidence of other settlements, built 500 years before the arrival of Christopher Columbus.

“Vikings Unearthed" premiers on Monday, April 4, on BBC One (at 8:30 p.m. in the U.K.) and streams online at 3:30 p.m. ET at pbs.org/nova.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...t&sf23480148=1

[Jolie Rouge]

Was Antikythera Mechanism A 2,100-Year-Old Computer?
12 June 2016, 7:42 am EDT By James Maynard Tech Times



The Antikythera mechanism was discovered by sponge divers in the waters off the coast of Greece in the year 1900. The device, manufactured by ancient Greeks, is composed of interlocking gears and dials. For years, scientists believed the mechanism was used to calculate the positions of planets, eclipses and other astronomical phenomena. New research suggests, however, the device may have been used as a primitive computer.

Advanced imaging techniques were utilized to decipher thousands of characters printed on the mechanism that have remained a mystery until now. After 10 years of investigation, researchers believe the mechanism was a primitive computer designed to predict the future. Investigators are comparing the ability to read these characters to obtaining the operating instructions for a mechanical device.

Roughly 14,000 characters are engraved on the device, of which approximately 3,500 are now deciphered.

"Now we have texts that you can actually read as ancient Greek, what we had before was like something on the radio with a lot of static. It's a lot of detail for us because it comes from a period from which we know very little about Greek astronomy and essentially nothing about the technology, except what we gather from here. So these very small texts are a very big thing for us," said Alexander Jones of New York University.


Some of the newly-deciphered texts, printed on the front and back of the devices, along with the inside of the covers, are just 1/20 inch in height.

Over the last century, investigators theorized that the Antikythera mechanism was a form of astronomical tool. Setting a date and a time with a hand-driven crank, it is possible to read the positions of several objects in the night sky. However, new analysis reveals this was less an astronomical tool than a device meant to predict future events of the land and people of Greece. In some ways, the mechanism may have also been used as a teaching device, acting as a demonstration of the timing of celestial bodies.

The Antikythera was likely fashioned sometime between the years 200 and 70 B.C. When divers came across the device, it was broken into two pieces, and it is possible that other fragments of the mechanism are still hidden on the floor of the Aegean Sea. Along with the mechanism, divers found several small statues, ceramics and glassware. The ancient computer was named after the island nearest the location where it was found, more than 100 years ago.


http://www.techtimes.com/articles/16....FP4iBgQZ.dpuf

The Antikythera mechanism was an ancient computer of sorts, designed and built 2,000 years ago, during the height of the ancient Library of Alexandria. The device was first discovered by divers searching for sponges in the Aegean Sea in the year 1900.

Marine archaeologists are donning Exosuits, metal swimsuits with a range of robotic functions, in order to find fragments left over from the device. These outfits weigh 530 pounds and allow divers to sink to 1,000 feet without fear of decompression sickness, popularly known as the bends. Aquatic field workers are able to stay at these depths for hours at a time, significantly increasing the amount of time available for exploration of the wreck. The spacesuit-like water gear was designed and manufactured by Nuytco Research, located in Vacouver, in Canada.

"It's likely that sediment will hold the kind of stuff we can't even imagine. Our eyes light up thinking about it. It's the kind of thing that wakes you up in the middle of the night. These are artifacts that have never been seen since the time of Caesar," Brendan Foley, a maritime archaeologist from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), and co-director of the 2014 Antikythera mission, said.

The Antikythera mechanism is able to determine future moon phases and planetary positions, as well as predict eclipses.

When divers discovered the mechanism 114 years ago, the shipwreck from which it was recovered also contained gold jewelry and marbles. During the 1950s and 1970s, famed diver Jacques Cousteau visited the wreck, where he found human remains, as well as additional artifacts. His mission to the wreck in 1976 was the last time the archaeological site was visited by researchers.

The shipwreck is located 400 feet underwater and perched dangerously close to deep precipice. During the first dive to the site at the turn of the 20th century, the ship nearly fell over the underwater cliff.

A pair of robotic explorers will soon conduct a survey of the site, creating a 3D model of the ancient wreck. This will be followed by human divers, carrying metal detectors and plastic flags. They will plant a flag next to any area where the detectors record the presence of metal deposits. The robotic explorers will then map the locations of each flag. "All we really want to know is roughly where things are, where concentrations of things are, then we can start the excavation," Foley told the press.

Pieces of the Antikythera mechanism could still be hidden in the wreck at 400 feet, as divers in 1900 could only reach 150 feet underwater, staying there for just a few minutes at a time.

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/15....RdAFRdtY.dpuf

[Jolie Rouge]

Man finds 22-pound chunk of butter estimated to be more than 2,000 years old in Irish bog

Finding buried treasure is a dream as old as stories themselves. Treasure chests overflowing with gold doubloons, shiny lamps containing genies, gargantuan lumps of thousand-year-old butter.



OK, maybe most don’t dream of unearthing enormous chunks of butter, but that’s exactly what Jack Conway discovered in the Emlagh bog in County Meath, Ireland, at the beginning of June, Atlas Obscura reported.

Conway is a turf cutter, meaning he harvests “turf” or peat — it’s similar to moss — from a bog to later burn for warmth during the cold winter months. He was chopping turf at the bog when he came across a 22-pound chunk of butter, The Irish Times reported. Researchers at the Cavan Museum estimated it to be more than 2,000 years old.

Bog butter is just that: butter made from cow’s milk that’s been buried in a bog, though, after thousands of years, it often has the consistency of cheese.

It’s actually not that uncommon of a find for turf cutters in Ireland, either. As Smithsonian magazine noted, a 3,000-year-old, three-foot-wide barrel stuffed with 77 pounds of bog butter was found in 2009. Even more shocking, turf cutters found a 5,000-year-old wooden “keg” containing 100 pounds of the butter in 2013.

People have actually been stumbling upon bog butter for at least two centuries. In the 1892 edition of The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Rev. James O’Laverty recounts finding a lump “which still retains the marks of the hand and fingers of the ancient dame who pressed it into its present shape,” and which he noted “tastes somewhat like cheese.”

In her article “Bog Butter: A Two Thousand Year History” in The Journal of Irish Archaeology, Caroline Earwood wrote, “It is usually found as a whitish, solid mass of fatty material with a distinctive, pungent and slightly offensive smell. It is found either as a lump, or in containers which are most often made of wood but include baskets and skins.”

The earliest discoveries of bog butter date back to the Iron Age, but she wrote that it may have existed earlier.

No one is sure exactly why the butter was buried in bogs — some think it was sometimes an offering to the gods — but evidence strongly suggests it was a method of preservation.

Most bog butter doesn’t contain salt, which was often used as a means of preserving food before modern refrigeration. The bogs, which are essentially cold-water swamps, and their native peat do a fine job keeping food fresh. A University of Michigan researcher found that meat left in a bog for two years was just as preserved as meat kept in his freezer, the University Record reported in 1995.

Peat is compressed plant matter, which Nature reported is both cool and contains little oxygen while remaining highly acidic, allowing it can act as a sort of refrigerator. It seems to work — Savina Donohoe, Curator of Cavan County Museum who sent Conway’s butter lump to the National Museum of Ireland, said it smelled just like, well, butter.

“It did smell like butter, after I had held it in my hands, my hands really did smell of butter,” Donohoe told UTV Ireland. “There was even a smell of butter in the room it was in.”

In fact, peat bogs are such wonderful environments for preserving organic matter, they’ve been known to almost perfectly mummify corpses.

Hundreds of “bog bodies” have been found during the past two centuries, according to the USA Today. The oldest one ever unearthed is a preserved skeleton that’s been named the Koelbjerg Woman, which dates back more than 10,000 years to around 8000 B.C.

Other bodies, though, retain their skin and internal organs. The Tollund Man, for example, still had his leathery skin intact when he was found in the Bjældskovdal bog in Denmark and is considered by some to be the most well-preserved body ever found from prehistoric times. He was so well-persevered that the men who found him thought they had stumbled upon a modern murder scene, PBS reported. He was actually about 2,400 years old.

Given that level of preservation, most of the butter is actually edible. Irish celebrity chef Kevin Thornton, who owns the Michelin-starred Thornton’s Restaurant in Dublin, claimed to have tasted a 4,000-year-old sample of bog butter.

“I was really excited about it. We tasted it,” he told the Irish Independent in 2014. “There’s fermentation but it’s not fermentation because it’s gone way beyond that. Then you get this taste coming down or right up through your nose.”

Andy Halpin, assistant keeper in the Cavan Museum’s Irish Antiquities Division, said one could probably eat the butter, though he’s not sure why one would.

“Theoretically the stuff is still edible, but we wouldn’t say it’s advisable,” Halpin told the Irish Times.

Curious what it might taste like, Ben Reade, head of Culinary Research and Development at Nordic Food Lab created his own bog butter, albeit one aged for a bit less time than the aforementioned.

Echoing the lines from James Farewell’s 1689 poem “The Irish Hudibras” — “butter to eat with their hog, was seven years buried in a bog” — they buried one large birch barrel of butter in the ground, where it will remain for seven years. The other only remained in the ground for three months, before it was tasted at the Nordic Food Lab in Copenhagen and the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2012 in Oxford, England.

He wrote of the flavors:


In its time underground the butter did not go rancid, as one would expect butter of the same quality to do in a fridge over the same time. The organoleptic qualities of this product were too many surprising, causing disgust in some and enjoyment in others. The fat absorbs a considerable amount of flavor from its surroundings, gaining flavor notes which were described primarily as “animal” or “gamey,” “moss,” “funky,” “pungent,” and “salami.” These characteristics are certainly far-flung from the creamy acidity of a freshly made cultured butter, but have been found useful in the kitchen especially with strong and pungent dishes, in a similar manner to aged ghee.

Even so, if you happen to find a lump of butter buried in the back yard, it might be best to forgo it for the store-bought variety.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrin...d=ansmsnfood11

[Jolie Rouge]

Google Earth: YouTube User Posts Video of Object on Map Near Antarctica Resembling Sea Monster
Kraken rumors rife as giant ‘sea creature’ spotted off Antarctica by Google Earth (VIDEO, POLL at link )
Published time: 17 June, 2016 16:44



The mysterious image captured near Antarctica by Google Earth has sparked a frenzy of speculation online with theories about its source ranging from the mythical ‘Kraken’ sea monster to an aquatic UFO.

The image of the elusive being was first spotted off the coast of Deception Island in the South Shetlands on Google Earth on April 9 and shared through a video on YouTube in an effort to solve the oceanic mystery.

http://giphy.com/gifs/14o59KiFiW2XDi

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https://giphy.com/gifs/14o59KiFiW2XD...aign=tag_click



It’s estimated the creature measures up to a massive 120 meters in total, prompting some to believe the legendary

Legend has it the sea monster, similar in form to the giant squid, roamed the waters of Norway and Greenland attacking ships by wrapping its tentacles around them.

Another theory is that the creature is in fact a plesiosaur, a now-extinct marine reptile common during the Jurassic Period. “When I saw it, it immediately made me think of a plesiosaur fin,” the YouTube user who uploaded the video wrote.

“That's one massive disturbance in the ocean down there and who knows what really caused it. Maybe now we know the source of ‘The Bloop’,” the post continues.

‘The Bloop’ was an ultra low-frequency sound detected by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 1997. It sparked theories that perhaps its was an unknown sea creature. The NOAA later said it was satisfied that the noise actually came from an ‘icequake’, caused when a huge iceberg cracked.

Other suggestions for the cryptic Antarctic image include a giant squid attacking a whale, while some even go as far as to propose it could be an underwater UFO.

The image can be viewed on Google Earth using the coordinates 63° 2'56.73"S 60°57'32.38"W.

https://www.rt.com/viral/347175-krak...und-antarctic/

[Jolie Rouge]

'Lost Colony' at last found? Fort clue on historic map examined
January 20, 2015
6:07 PM MST

Is North Carolina home to a historical “Lost Colony?” A clue found only several years ago on an ancient map is being examined, and has experts looking to a new location that might very well yield a big discovery in our nation’s past. WRAL News reports this Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, that if this map’s indication proves correct, it might be the area where many families settled years ago.

Are answers arriving at last? An investigative team member has stated that because this is "new" territory being explored, it raises a few serious questions. After all, this is not necessarily Roanoke itself. "If we were finding this evidence at Roanoke Island, which is the well-established site of Sir Walter Raleigh's colony, we would have no hesitation to say this is evidence of Sir Walter Raleigh's colonies," said Phil Evans, president of the First Colony Foundation. "But because this is a new site and not associated with Sir Walter Raleigh, we have to hesitate and ask questions and learn more. It's not Roanoke Island. It's a new thing, and a new thing has to stand some tests."

Back in early 2012, scholars associated with the British Museum and the First Colony Foundation confirmed news of this interesting historical clue. According to News Oxy, the antique North Carolina map is believed to possibly hold secrets on the fortunes of the Lost Colony. This mystery might include answers explaining just what happened to the settlers who vanished toward the end of the 1500s from Roanoke Island.

The clue revolves around a “Virginia Pars” map that highlights North Carolina and Virginia. John White, traveler and explorer, is credited with helping shape the map in the late 16th century. His work has since been featured in the British Museum since the mid 1800s, adds the source site. The area itself was named in honor of the Carolina Algonquians who dwelled there in the burgeoning years of English expansion. The territory measures nearly eight miles long and a couple miles wide. The fate of its eventual settlers remain unknown, with some people thinking they moved, others saying they died, and still others under the assumption they were abducted by extraterrestrials.

Numerous symbols on the freshly examined map are still in the process of being inspected by researchers. Noticeable are two distinct patches, with one point seemingly fixing a previous error on the plots of land. The second — set in the Bertie County region of North Carolina — showcases what looks like a fort. This fort image may play a key role in uncovering the “Lost Colony” of the settlers.

In fact, both British and American experts think this map's mark could designate the settlers’ location at one time. Based on this map’s clues and the potential for big discovery within those boundaries, archaeologists are taking a closer look at land situated on the site. Nicholas Luccketti, one of the team's leading excavators, has been supporting the organization for almost a decade now, and been involved in Virginia-based digs since 1974.

"It's fair to say it's a site of very great interest to us," said Luccketti. No fort has been found in the region, but many artifacts from the era nonetheless have historians thrilled. Though the items themselves are quite commonplace, they could be a clue to something much more from the time of this “Lost Colony” in North Carolina. "That's why domestic wares are interesting to us," Evans added. "It tells us people were there long enough to break stuff. ... We're getting these types of [historic wares] in sufficient numbers that we think people are there and they're doing something and they're there for a good bit of time.”

The man did acknowledge that it is likely no breakthrough discovery serving as concrete evidence of the settlers will be made right away. Nonetheless, little steps can yield great results over time. Finding real verification would encompass "taking lots and lots of little pieces of information, analyzing and evaluating them against other colonial sites, the history we know, the map evidence we know and then building it piece by piece," Evans concluded. "I'd be very surprised if we hit any one thing and said, 'This is it.'" Researchers will continue to scrutinize what evidence they can find, and slowly but surely, it is hopeful more secrets of the past Roanoke people will be brought to light.

http://www.examiner.com/article/nort...-big-discovery

Artifacts found that could be linked to Lost Colony
Associated Press - 1 day ago

MANTEO, N.C. — Archaeologists on North Carolina's Roanoke Island found pottery pieces that could have been part of a jar belonging to a medicine maker of the Roanoke Island voyages and perhaps a member of the "Lost Colony."

Two quarter-size fragments, colored blue, white and brown, were discovered buried in the soil near an earthen mound believed to have been a 16th century fort, The Virginian-Pilot (http://bit.ly/28LXEO5) reported.

"It was an exciting find," said Eric Deetz, an archaeologist with the First Colony Foundation who was part of the dig earlier this month. "That pottery had something to do with the Elizabethan presence on that island."

"Lost Colony" settlers disappeared from Roanoke Island in the late 16th century after English explorer Walter Raleigh sent three groups to the coast of North Carolina in 1584, 1585 and 1587.

Artifacts have been uncovered throughout the years in and around the areas where the settlers are believed to have built forts.

And while archaeologists have yet to discover the fate of the colony, discoveries such as the pottery offer glimpses into the colonists' lives.

According to Deetz, the recent pieces found are part of a jar that might have been used by members of the colony to mix salves and medicines.

___

Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://pilotonline.com

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/art...d=ansmsnnews11