OVO

Stuart Swezey is co-editor with Brian King of the AMOK Fourth Dispatch, an essential guide to extremes in print. This interview was most kindly granted on the 23 May 1991, after many hours of miscalculation of time-zone differences between Knoxville and Los Angeles. I offer much thanks to Stuart for his patience and interest.

OVO: The next issue of OVO is not about multiple murderers but about people who follow them, either as sociological studies or evil heroes or somewhere in between, especially in print, like the MAYHEM section of the AMOK catalog. ls there an an average type of person who buys the books in that section?

SS: I don’t know. It could be everybody from people who are into it on an industrial music level to people who are Marines. We get so many different types of people its hard to say what the average is. This stuff is getting more and more popular. Every week there is a new TV movie about a murderer. Last Gasp carries true crime stuff and they never used to. So I guess it’s getting trendier than it used to be.

OVO: What about at the store, are a variety of people buying it there?

SS: We had a woman who worked for the coroners office come in when we had the John-Wayne Gacy paintings up. She thought that was pretty neat. I can’t really classify it at all. You should really talk to Brian, because he’s much more into this stuff than me. He’s working on a compilation of work by murderers writing and artwork that we‘re going to be putting out in a year or so.

OVO: Are there more mayhem books coming out now than ten year ago?

SS: There are definitely more of them. We’re not interested in many of them. A lot of them are in the genre of inter-family murders or the mob. Compilations from True Detective magazine and magazines like that. Definitely not good writing or good journalism. A lot of good stuff is coming back into print like the book on Albert Fish called Cannibal. It seems they’re reprinting more of the classic stuff.

OVO: Is this increasing in the small press as well?

SS: Maybe very peripherally. We carry a book called They Called Him Mister Gacy, which we think is put out by his attorney in Illinois, which is basically a photostat compilation of letters to Gacy. There was the Mansonfile book that Amok Press put out. There’s not a lot. I don’t see a lot of small press stuff put out along those lines. But something like Silence of the Lambs has become big business.

OVO: I was thinking of something more like PURE, something tiny and photocopied.

SS: On a Factsheet Five level.

OVO: Right.

SS: We don’t see a lot of that.

OVO: I just put out a few feelers out for that and it’s not stopping. There’s more of it out there than I ever wanted to know about.

SS: So what do you think of this stuff?

OVO: I think its indicative of what Colin Wilson was talking about when he said we’re entering the age of the psychopath. These people feel alienated and more aware than the people around them but they’re making a mistake when they think that these serial killers are “getting things done” and “manifesting their will.” l think they’re confusing random outbursts with a cognitive critique. Things that show up in the small press tend to come out in mainstream later, and I’ve seen so much of this in the small press – and in the mainstream media – that it indicates to me that it’s going to get even more common and acceptable.

SS: I never know but sometimes I feel like this serial killer stuff is going to be almost passé as a cultural thing, a rebellious stance. You better back it up by either killing somebody or cotton to the fact that it’s as trendy as anything else within a year or two. After Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer that’s not going to happen to every movie that comes down the line that deals with this subject mater. They’re not always going to praise what I think was a glorified student film as brilliant. The room for that is going to be gone. That won’t really effect the murderers. We’re really interested in the interplay between culture and the criminals. How Ed Gein could have inspired the Psycho book, which leads to a great film like Psycho, and how these murders do in certain ways have repercussions that are felt by everyone.

OVO: The success of Psycho led to the film Dementia 13, which was blamed for some murders.

SS: There’s a lot of that happening, but what about Catcher in the Rye inspiring Mark David Chapman to kill John Lennon? Who hasn’t read Catcher in the Rye?

OVO: What do you think the effects are of the increased accessibility of true crime books and other books formerly considered too graphic and horrendous to be read as entertainment?

SS: I think its pretty reasonable. I don’t think its necessarily unhealthy. People are fascinated with violence and to a certain extent the books are slanted in a way that something like PURE isn’t, in that they’re very moralistic. Cops are glorified, cops solve the crime, there are a lot of things the writers do to distance themselves and the reader from the murderer. People like the reassurance of that, that they didn’t do it. It gives them this titillation and a raw experience even if it is once removed. Kind of an “I can take it” thing. I think its weird that it’s cropping up at the same time as we‘re blowing up whole populations like in Iraq and you don’t even see it. I think that that’s a strange state of affairs that people are going out of their way to find this graphic violence and yet we’re not allowed to see as a national policy the kind of havoc that we wreak.

OVO: Do you think there are any trends that can be used to spot what kinds of books and magazines are going to come out in the future on this topic?

SS: Obviously there are some murderers that haven’t been completely covered. It took so long for a book to come out on Richard Ramírez. I think the idea of looking at the actual artwork and writing of these murderers as we’ll be publishing in Lustmord, that’s what a lot of these supposed experts have that you and I as individuals don’t have access to. It’s going to be an interesting twist to give people these actual crazed writings, to look at them as art brut, I think a lot of people will respond to looking through an alien mind in terms of their writing. Sometimes it’s insightful and sometimes it isn‘t but that‘s all you have to go on because no matter how many of these fanzines come along or how much violent fiction is sold the average person can’t even begin to understand the psychopath. This is just an attempt to try on people’s part, whether they do it in a sarcastic way or idealistic way or moralistic cop-loving way, it still shows the vast chasm between someone who can perform these kinds of things and someone who can’t.

OVO: Somebody who can buy a magazine about it.

SS: Right, and that’s all they’re doing. Violence is at the root of so much literature… Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, some violent act usually occurs. Somebody gets murdered in most of our supposedly great works, so there’s got to be something in this catharsis that we need as a culture. I find true crime is more informative than fiction but that doesn’t mean you have to identify with these people. It’s more tragic. If people enjoy that its not necessarily bad at all. It is mind boggling the extremes a human being can go to.

OVO: And survive.

SS: And justify to themselves in some bizarre manner.

I’ve been compiling photos from forensic journals for the AMOK Journal that I’m working on. I want to use them in the form that they’re found. I stayed away from murders to cover other terrains of really graphic bizarre shit like auto-erotic fatalities and things about amputation and self-mutilation, things people do to themselves. I find that is more disturbing for people to look at and talk about than murder for some reason. l’m very intrigued with what Ballard called the hidden literature of medical and psychiatric journals. There are great stories in there that will never see the light of day in an actual book. That’s why you get to the point of collecting medical books. We used to sell a lot of copies of The Color Atlas of Forensic Pathology, considering it’s a $70 book. Some do want to see more and more and more but I don’t know that the average true crime reader does. We just got a promo from a publisher about a murderer who was picking up Marines in Orange County and murdering them. In the book they used actual police forensic photos and I don’t remember seeing that in a regular true crime book before. You can’t get much more graphic than that. I don’t even begin to project where things are going. I just see things peek at some point, then people are saturated and they look for something else. A lot of people who are heavily committed to this will back off and say they weren’t really into it.

AMOK Books
1764 N. Vermont Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
United States

Fax: 323-550-8833

http://www.amokbooks.com/

(from OVO 10 MAYHEM July 1991)

American Renaissance: About American Renaissance (31 January 2011)

American Renaissance is a monthly magazine that has been published since 1991. It has been called “a literate, undeceived journal of race, immigration and the decline of civility.” We consider it America’s premiere publication of racial-realist thought [...] Race is an important aspect of individual and group identity. Of all the fault lines that divide society – language, religion, class, ideology – it is the most prominent and divisive. Race and racial conflict are at the heart of the most serious challenges the Western World faces in the 21st century. The problems of race cannot be solved without adequate understanding. Attempts to gloss over the significance of race or even to deny its reality only make problems worse. Progress requires the study of all aspects of race, whether historical, cultural, or biological. This approach is known as race realism.

Southern Poverty Law Center: Intelligence Report, Summer 2006, Issue Number 122 (2006)

American Renaissance, based in [editor Jared] Taylor’s home in Oakton, Va., also publishes frequent articles on the discredited field of eugenics – selective breeding to improve human genetic stock. The foundation has hosted biannual conferences since 1994, and its website, featuring stories on black crime and the like, recently rose to one of the top 20,000 in the world after a makeover. In recent years, Taylor has added several budding racist intellectuals to his staff, including Ian Jobling, the website editor and E-list moderator, and Stephen Webster, assistant editor of American Renaissance. Even before he started the New Century Foundation, Taylor wrote on race, penning a 1992 book, Paved With Good Intentions, that argued because sterilizing welfare mothers would not be publicly accepted, authorities should instead provide such women with “five-year implantable contraceptives.”

Wikipedia: American Renaissance (Magazine) (31 January 2011)

American Renaissance is a monthly racialist magazine published by the New Century Foundation. The magazine and foundation were founded by Jared Taylor, and the first issue was published in November 1990. A main theme of the magazine is a claim that non-white minorities pose a demographic threat to the United States and other Western nations. The magazine argues that the United States’ major social problems are due to racial diversity and a weakening of the country’s white racial heritage by increased non-white immigration.

Charlotte Observer: White Nationalists’ Conference Stymied (26 January 2011)

When a white nationalist magazine announced a conference in Charlotte, anarchists and other groups vowed to protest or disrupt the gathering. But behind the scenes the conference apparently met an unexpected obstacle: Charlotte City Council member Patrick Cannon. On Wednesday, American Renaissance magazine said plans for its annual conference are now in limbo because the hotel where it was scheduled to take place canceled the reservation. An e-mail Cannon sent to a constituent early this week suggested he was lobbying local hotels to refuse to book American Renaissance. Cannon wrote that he had contacted hotels and that “they seem to be cooperating. An attempt was made for accommodations at another hotel but based on what I ask to take place they were denied again,” the e-mail said.

The Jewish Defense Organization: Death to Nazi Scum! (31 January 2011)

Charlotte City Councilman Warren Turner, Charlotte City Councilman Patrick Cannon and the NAACP plus other anti-racist groups have had the meeting of the American Renaissance Party cancelled. Councilman Turner sent out an email to all of the hotels in Charlotte informing them to alert the police if AmRen booked space with them. Councilman Cannon also advised these hotels to be in compliance with the law. When the Airport Sheraton Hotel checked its convention bookings it found that AmRen had booked under a different name for the dates in question. The Sheraton returned the deposit that the Shockleyite scum had put down to reserve the meeting room where the Nazi meeting was to be held. JDO is warning other hotels in the area to be on the lookout for anyone who tries to book for the same dates. JDO believes preaching racial inferiority can lead to lynchings, cross burnings and murder and mayhem.

The American Independent: White Supremacist Group American Renaissance Forced to Move Location of Annual Conference in Charlotte (26 January 2011)

Rev. William J. Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP, said of the planned visit to Charlotte by American Renaissance, “Racial hatred, and those who promote racial animosity, has no place in our American society. Certainly people have a First Amendment right to have their views, but we think people should stand up. We stand opposed to any groups that promote white supremacy.”

One People’s Project: Here We Go Again! (27 January 2011)

This time, it wasn’t us who mounted the campaign against AmRen. Sure, we were the ones who alerted the Southern Anti-Racism Network, who took the lead in opposing the 2011 American Renaissance Conference, which was slated to take place Feb. 4-6 in Charlotte, NC. And yes, we have been meeting and planning for our opposition since November (we were actually in one of those meetings when news of the Tuscon shooting broke – which Fox News tried to connect to AmRen). And yes, our plans are still going forward at this time, even though AmRen’s plans seem to be meeting the same fate as in DC last year – squashed. Nothing is etched in stone, however. Jared Taylor & Co. have not officially announced a cancellation (probably trying to see if a TGI Fridays would hook them up with a back room or something), so we are still waiting to see what comes of this. But while we sounded the initial alarm, this was all due to the efforts of the community saying no to Taylor and his New Century Foundation. It is now being reported by local press that the hotel that Taylor tried to keep under wraps had been discovered, the hotel bounced them out, and other hotels won’t accomidate [sic] him! And before you say it, everyone who opposes AmRen has freedom of speech and association too. People had a right to alert area hotels that this was going to take place and they might not want to have this going on. Hotels have the right to close their doors to unwelcome elements. And we have the right to say that it doesn’t matter where AmRen goes. We will always be there to sound the alarm.

American Renaissance: An Appeal to the City of Charlotte and to Mayor Pro-tem Patrick Cannon (31 January 2011)

On July 29, 2010, New Century Foundation signed a contract with the Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel to host the biennial American Renaissance (AR) conference. (New Century Foundation is the non-profit organization that publishes the monthly magazine, American Renaissance.) We explained to the Sheraton that many people think the ideas discussed in AR are controversial. We explained that in 2010 a hotel that had agreed to host our conference came under pressure and broke its contract with us. The Sheraton agreed that it was therefore important to keep the location of the conference confidential. Our contacts said they understood what was at stake and that they believed in free speech. On January 25, the Sheraton sent us a one-line e-mail message saying that because of “recent disclosures as to the nature of your event” they were breaking their contract. Since then, they refuse to speak to us. The pretence that it did not know what might be discussed at an AR conference is a pathetic, embarrassing lie. Perhaps what the Sheraton actually found out was that Patrick Cannon, Mayor Pro-tem of the city of Charlotte, does not want AR to come to Charlotte. In an e-mail message to a constituent he wrote: “I have all hotels, motels, and gotels [sic] on notice and they seem to be cooperating well still.” The date of this e-mail was January 25, the very day the Sheraton canceled its contract. We can only imagine that the Sheraton must have come under very heavy pressure to walk away from tens of thousands of dollars in revenues – 100 hotel rooms for two nights, a formal banquet, bar and meal tabs – and to subject itself to a five-figure cancellation fee. [...] At an AR conference, middle-aged men in suits give speeches to other middle-aged men in suits. We have nothing to hide. Our speeches are videotaped and made available on our website, amren.com. If our ideas are hopelessly wrong, they should be easy to refute. They should be a threat to no one. Why is Charlotte in a panic about this conference? It is because we disagree with certain prevailing views and we have the courage of our convictions. Your city is not even attempting to understand our views, much less debate them. You are trying to silence us and drive us away. Are your citizens proud of what you are doing? In an era that claims to value “tolerance and diversity,” why do you have no tolerance for the most precious kind of diversity of all: the diversity of ideas? [...] We think better of Charlotte than this. We call on Patrick Cannon and Warren Turner to consider how their actions soil the reputation of their city. We believe they should support free speech. We believe they should take a stand for genuine tolerance of a genuine diversity of ideas. We call on them to issue an apology to American Renaissance and to make a city-owned property available to us to rent for our conference. It is still not too late to encourage the qualities that made America great, not the totalitarian impulses that Americans – at least traditionally – have always despised.

Articles continue at links.  You know, it was only a few decades ago when I was the anarchist tearing down posters of groups I didn’t like from telephone poles.  I made collage art (that’ll learn ‘em!) from the posters I tore down.  And I was the anarchist preventing groups I didn’t like from marching in the streets.  I thought of myself as a champion of freedom and as a protector of the people.  But I wasn’t.  I was (very, very slightly) lessening the amount of freedom in the world.  If such a thing as “the people” exist, I did nothing to protect them.  Protecting people from ideas is not something I advocate today, although I confess I did decades ago.  I was (albeit with nearly no effect) close to the opposite of the person I thought I was.  And so today I take some pains to do penance.  I advocate freedom of thought and speech and assembly and association.  And I try to advocate these freedoms for those I disagree with with as much rigor as I advocate these freedoms for those who think like me.  Not as a natural right or as an American or as a Western man, but out of basic civility.  Don’t want to go?  Keep away.  Want to air your differences?  I’m guessing Mr. Taylor would be happy to debate you.  Vigorous protest are entirely appropriate, for or against the Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel and for or against American Renaissance, if you have some vigor in you.  Boycott or bankroll any group you see fit.  But don’t do like I did decades ago and be the bully you think you’re beating.

It is annoying to attend religious services and annoying not to. One who has had deep feelings for some organized religion finally gives up on its extant and visible self, usually after bouts of non-involvement, aggrieved attendance, and conquering indifference.

“It is the evil of the age,” explains the voice of tradition. “It is the self-judgment of an illusion,” comes the modern explanation. Have we really no slicker attitudes to cop than these: a sour sense of personal purity or an embittered belief in our rational integrity?

The real culprit is the whole idea of organized religion, which ought to be stacked next to military intelligence, public education & jumbo shrimp in a museum of dizziness.

How could we have believed that we could walk into any mosque / church / temple – the spiritual equivalent of a waiting room – and find our undiscovered and secret desires? Shame shame shame on us for having tried to share our spirit with less care and precaution than we would ordinarily exercise in sharing our sperm.

The people with whom one can do religion are as rare as those with whom one can make love – and not always the same persons!

Better to make religion a beautiful personal solace, like masturbation, than to rely on paid priests / rabbis / imams, licensed by the state to practice unsafe spirituality and spread mental diseases, especially those which undermine the mind’s natural defenses and immunities against silliness.

Anyone will tell you that religion is a private thing – but I teach you that religion must be a secret thing! Fools, guard your dreams! The wise have none so beautiful as yours!

Therefore, Moorish Orthodoxy. Because the title is less cumbersome than Anarchopaganzen – Hebreaochrislam.

Moorish Science Monitor. Volume 2 Number 6. Winter 1987.

My Struggle is a book of 280 pages measuring 5.25 x 4.5 inches, written in 1975 and printed in a single edition of one hundred copies in 1978. These small thick books have red covers to make them look the same as Chairman Mao’s Book of Quotations. Some red cover copies had red ribbon page markers, and some had yellow covers and no ribbon. The pages of the book book are bound by two large staples and the cover is glued to the spine and inner edges of the first and last pages.

Almost every page of My Struggle has an illustration with a numbered caption, usually having nothing to do with the surrounding text. Most of these illustrations are clip art but some are collages or drawings by Mothersbaugh. There are also a few photographs of DEVO. The text of the book is a continuous flow of words, occasionally knotting itself into an essay but usually stream of conscious rambling. The text is presented without hyphens and in full justification. It reads as the work of someone who doesn’t understand what the bell on a typewriter is for.

My Struggle has the same concerns as the lyrics, music and films of DEVO: mutation, medicine, eugenics, potatoes, de-evolution, tyranny, corporate culture and sex. The chicken-winged chimponaut seen on the dust jacket to Duty Now for the Future and in the film Love Without Anger appears here, as does the beaker / man / atom logo. The warty-faced man described in the film The Men Who Make The Music as the work of “God in his Picasso period” is in My Struggle. Boojie Boy appears throughout the book, as does Chinaman. Chinaman is seen stroking a coathanger in the film Secret Agent Man, is described as giving the papers to Boojie Boy in the film Jocko Homo, and is mentioned in the song All of Us. The Chinaman’s glasses, minus their ‘velly clevah’ slanted eyes, are the glasses Mothersbaugh is wearing on the cover of Oh No It’s Devo. These words, images and concepts show a continuity of work by Mothersbaugh that lasts decades.

Some of what appears in My Struggle didn’t appear in any other form for many years. On pages 108 and 109 are the lyrics of the song All of Us, a song which was distributed only in bootleg form for decades. In 1977 the song was performed in Minneapolis as Soft Core Mutations, and in 1981 the song was renamed Going Under for the LP New Traditionalists. Only in 1990, on the CD Hardcore DEVO Volume 1, was the original All of Us released. fifteen years after appearing in My Struggle.

My Struggle gives much attention is given to the Huboon, a type of low-grade Beautiful Mutant. Hardcore Devo Volume 1 mentions the Huboon in the song Soo Bawls. The song Huboon Stomp was performed in the first few years of DEVO but was not released until the 1998 CD Chef Aid. The lyrics to The Last Time I Ever Seen St. Louie and My Frauline Done Told Me (the first song performed at the first DEVO concert) are found in My Struggle but have yet to be released. My Struggle is written in a sing-song style and many more lyrics may yet be harvested from it.

My Struggle was published in a format that was made to last, and proves an unbroken line from the earliest DEVO to the DEVO of today. This book is nearly impossible to find. I’m fortunate to have a copy signed by Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Mothersbaugh, Jim Mothersbaugh, Gerry Casale and Bob Casale (the original line up and the band as represented in the book), General Boy and (separately) a signature from Chuck Statler, the primary director of DEVO’s earliest video work.

from OVO 8 (May 1991)
re-written December 2010

Amnesty International has made its name as a champion of free speech, campaigning on behalf of prisoners who have spoken out against oppressive regimes around the world. But when it comes to speaking up about the organisation itself … well, that seems to be a different story.

Last week [February 2010] Gita Sahgal, a highly respected lifelong human rights activist and head of Amnesty’s gender unit, told The Sunday Times of her concerns about Amnesty’s relationship with Cageprisoners, an organisation headed by Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo internee.

Since his release in 2005, Begg has spoken alongside Amnesty at a number of events and accompanied the organisation to a meeting at Downing Street last month. Sahgal felt the closeness of the relationship between Amnesty and Cageprisoners — which appears to give succour to those who believe in global jihad — was a threat to Amnesty’s integrity. “To be appearing on platforms with Britain’s most famous supporter of the Taliban, whom we treat as a human rights defender, is a gross error of judgment,” she wrote to Amnesty’s leaders following the Downing Street visit.

Feeling her concerns were not being addressed, she decided to go public. Hours after our story appeared she was suspended. Sahgal’s phone started ringing off the hook with news organisations seeking interviews. The story also lit up the blogosphere, partly because of Amnesty’s importance — it has some 2.8m members and a raft of glamorous supporters — but also because what Sahgal was talking about touched that raw nerve, the naivety of white middle-class liberals in dealing with Islamic radicals.

To say the past week has been a difficult one for Sahgal would be an understatement. She fears for her own and her family’s safety. She has — temporarily at least — lost her job and found it almost impossible to find anyone to represent her in any potential employment case. She rang round the human rights lawyers she knows, all of whom have declined to help citing a conflict of interest. “Although it is said that we must defend everybody no matter what they’ve done, it appears that if you’re a secular, atheist, Asian British woman, you don’t deserve a defence from our civil right firms,” she says wryly.

So no one in the human rights world wants to cross swords with Amnesty: that’s no surprise and least of all to Sahgal. “I know the nature of what I’m up against,” she says. “I didn’t do what I did lightly.” [...]

If the men incarcerated in Guantanamo were white fascists, she says, “I hope we would defend them. We would have to defend them — but we wouldn’t necessarily put them on 50 or 100 platforms after that”.

Article continues.

I place small value in knowing a person by the company they keep. Using myself as an example, what could you learn about me by way of my facebook friends? There you will find many men and women who have only myself in common. Were they ever to meet, they would surely wonder about the wretched company I keep. They are Christians and atheists, occultists and skeptics, anarchists and fascists, regular folks and weird artists, feminists and anti-feminists, gainfully-employed and work-free, family-types and libertines, and perhaps even yourself. I will gladly call all of them friend and count myself fortunate for being able to do so. It is also the case that (with luck and effort) people grow and change, old beliefs and identities no longer apply, and (with luck and effort) we can be forgiven for past mistakes. I certainly appreciate when I have been forgiven for my past mistakes, of which there are a few. When Ms. Sahgal questions Amnesty International for the company they keep, I can see some merit in the question but not much. I hope that Mr. Begg has turned the corner and abandoned the more loathsome aspects of Islam, and am willing to give him a chance to demonstrate this is true.

When Ms. Sahgal hopes that Amnesty International would defend white fascists as well as Muslims, she expresses a hope that was closed off years ago. Since February 2006, Amnesty International has adopted the policy that ‘freedom of speech carries responsibility for all.’ In September 2005 the newspaper Jyllands-Posten published twelve cartoons depicting Muhammad in rejection of the self-censorship the editors saw among publishers afraid of Muslims. Muslims around the world protested in exactly the way they did not protest against 9/11. As quiet as the Muslim world was after 9/11 in which thousands were murdered, they rioted after the publication of twelve cartoons. Hundreds died and great economic damage through arson was done. Rather than commit itself to freedom of speech and the separation of state and superstition, Amnesty International gave the rioting Muslims what they wanted: submission.

Events of recent weeks have highlighted the difficult question of what should be the legitimate scope of freedom of expression in culturally diverse societies. [...] Newspaper editors have justified the publication of cartoons that many Muslims have regarded as insulting, arguing that freedom of artistic expression and critique of opinions and beliefs are essential in a pluralist and democratic society. On the other hand, Muslims in numerous countries have found the cartoons to be deeply offensive to their religious beliefs and an abuse of freedom of speech. In a number of cases, protests against the cartoons have degenerated into acts of physical violence, while public statements by some protestors and community leaders have been seen as fanning the flames of hostility and violence. [...]

The right to freedom of expression is not absolute — neither for the creators of material nor their critics. It carries responsibilities and it may, therefore, be subject to restrictions in the name of safeguarding the rights of others. In particular, any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence cannot be considered legitimate exercise of freedom of expression. Under international standards, such “hate speech” should be prohibited by law.

There’s the universal human right of free speech, and then there’s the publication of twelve cartoons in a newspaper. Don’t confuse the two.

Hate speech laws are a funny thing when it comes to religion. The United Kingdom’s Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 is an example. According to this Act, an offence has occurred if “a person who uses threatening words or behaviour, or displays any written material which is threatening if he intends thereby to stir up religious hatred.” But if the “hate speech” is interpreted in the light of the Human Rights Act 1998, which guarantees freedom of religion and expression, then no offence has occurred. Consider the Criminal Code of Canada. It prohibits ‘any writing, sign or visible representation that advocates or promotes genocide [against] any section of the public distinguished by colour, race, religion, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.’ But if the “hate speech” is made ‘to establish by an argument an opinion on a religious subject or an opinion based on a belief in a religious text’ then the “hate speech” is exempt.

That’s right: religion is exempt from laws protecting religion, and “hate speech” done in the name of religion is allowed while “hate speech” critical of or outside religion is forbidden. This exemption is necessary to preserve and protect the “hate speech” found in the Bible and the Quran. This exemption suggests “hate speech” laws exist to protect religion from criticism, not combat genocide or uphold the universal human right to Not Have Your Feelings Hurt.

I was a member of Amnesty International for many years. I paid annual dues and held fund-raising events. I supported AI because I support freedom of speech. I support the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscious. AI began as a support system for prisoners of conscious, and some measure of that mission remains in place. But over time, AI has abandoned the success found in doing one simple thing very well in favor of doing a number of exciting things poorly. A few years ago the board of AI was populated by a group that supported adding “economic, social and cultural rights” to the mission of the organization. I will not argue the merits or demerits of these claims here, nor the merits or demerits of AI having a ‘gender unit’ (of which Ms. Saghal was a leader). I will say that advocacy of economic, social and cultural rights are adequately addressed by other organizations and by many millions of individuals. I wrote AI saying that these new goals were at odds with being able to offer support to some prisoners of conscious. I was told that I could get my donated money back but that the decision had been made by a vote to adopt these goals. I replied that the same vote that brought about these changes might bring other changes later on – but apparently not, as I got no reply, AI continues to list left, and with the support of “hate speech” laws AI has abandoned its original mission of supporting prisoners of conscious.

I’m not a believer in natural rights, but I do support laws respecting freedom of speech. Freedom of speech includes the freedom to be mistaken, the freedom to offend, the freedom to criticize, the freedom to inquire. Let Mr. Begg speak, and just as much let Jyllands-Posten publish. I do not claim Ms. Sahgal has been censored, as Amnesty International is not a government organization and did not use the force of law to enforce its way.

All that having been said, Amnesty International has erred by dismissing Ms. Sahgal. Any effort to defend freedom of speech must include a sound criticism of Islam and a record of its crimes. Ms. Sahgal touched the raw nerve, the naivety of white middle-class liberals in dealing with Islamic radicals. For that, she was dismissed from Amnesty International. I still get requests for money from AI. I consider bleeding them of the postage and printing it takes for them to send me these requests to be a small protest against what AI has become.

There is no context for the man whose name is tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE calls himself a mad scientist, a neoist, a SubGenius – Tim Ore, Karen Elliot, Monte Cantsin – a krononaut. One of the many publications by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE was titled DCC#040.0 – dewey decimal classification number 0 (generalities) 4 (not used) 0 (no subject) 0 (miscellany)… just as a book with this dewey decimal classification number would stand entirely apart from all the other books, so does tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE stand entirely apart from all other people.

Re/Search magazine requested a photograph of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s tattoos for their ‘Modern Primitive’ issue, but the photographs were not used. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE does not fit the profile for a modern primitive. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has not modified tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s body to attach it more firmly to a tribal past – tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has propelled it forward to a sixth-finger future. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s earlier tattoos consisted of a red and green brain over the greater part of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s head (creating the 3-D effect of actually seeing into his skull), crossed thigh bones over tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s chest and a DNA coil from navel to penis. Later, tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE made a tattoo index of the various scars on tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s body. Using white ink, the scars were numbered according to when they were received and created a representational icon to go next to it (a tree on the forehead, razor on the right arm, window shade on the left thigh, etc.). tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has appeared in public wearing a shirt that reveals his chest. It is not a normal chest, but one with six small sow-like teats. Forbidden only by economic circumstance from actual advanced genetic engineering, tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has advanced tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s evolution in other ways.

tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE does not look like anyone else. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE fashioned a suit of clothes made from zippers, which can be unzipped into a single, long strip. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE made a frightening suit of long-hair wigs of many colors and fashions, and shoulder bags of giant globes with leather shoulder straps and hinged openings. With the understanding that ‘mustaches make a man,’ tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE shaved twelve mustaches onto tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s head to be twelve times a man (or twelve times more accessible to normals). At another point, tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE shaved a ring of hair from the top of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s head, in front of one ear, under the chin, behind the other ear (by gluing hair behind the ear) and back up to the top of the head: the effect was someone with their face on sideways. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has worn displaced false eyelashes and adhesive stickers instead of ‘clothes,’ peanut butter instead of makeup.

tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE does not live like anyone else. His home defies convention. For extended periods of time the majority of what would normally be open space in tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s room was occupied by eight-foot diameter weather balloons; to navigate, one had to work around them. I had the rare opportunity to visit his laboratory in 1987. The front door opened to the back of a metal shelf, forcing one to walk sideways along a wall to enter the room. And to enter the room, one had to walk across his bed which was lying on the floor. Inside the room were shelves and drawers and cabinets full of experiments, documentation and equipment, all cobbled together from the least expensive of sources.

The biological processes of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE do not appear to be fully human. For five months as a teenager tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE did not bathe, brush the hair or clean the teeth, urinated outside whenever possible and often refrained from wiping the anus after elimination. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has been a ‘professional asshole’ in medical schools, serving as a model in genital / rectal examinations, and taken untested drugs for pay during medical trials. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has been known to ingest toxins and receive profound physical injuries without apparent long-term damage. No child co-created by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE is known to have survived.

Perhaps because tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE is more, less or other than human, t tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has demonstrated on several well-documented occasions the ability to interact with animals to a degree suggesting a special affiliation with them. One film shows tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE in a dog mask, walking on the hands and knees through the streets of London serving as a guide dog for a blind companion. When the two board a bus, tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE is not charged a fee – tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has, in the context of the bus, become what tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE appears to be. A videotape from the same European expedition has a nude tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE wearing a ‘Donald Duck’ mask to increase the animal appearance as tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE communes with seals on the coast of Scotland. These otherwise timid animals appear entirely at ease near tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE; they are intimidated by the camera operator more than the animal / scientist.

tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE is a magician, but of no previous school. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has demonstrated, time and again, that with only an application of thought and effort the marvelous can erupt in the mundane. In December 1979 tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE and several collaborators took two boxes of live crabs to a shopping mall in Baltimore, Maryland, where Santa Claus was meeting children. Prior to arrival they had tied the arms and legs of plastic babies to the crabs’ backs. They released the crabs around Santa’s cottage and stood back, watching the reaction of the crowd that gathered around the confused and weak crabs. “I’m glad someone’s doing this,” a woman was heard to say. The introduction of a random / magical element into the mundane world of Santa’s cottage at a shopping mall brought forth an even more random, even more magical response. The wizard gave a public demonstration of powers, and spontaneously a member of the crowd found herself ‘understanding’ it more, perhaps, than the wizard himself.

Mathematics has been advanced by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE. Using stencils, tentatively a convenience initiated ‘folk math’ on the walls of public buildings in Baltimore. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE engineered a perpetual pataphysical calendar, and has performed music on synthesizers by reading the parameters of a patch created by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE (the mathematical information holding more potential for the listener than its application). Grammar and diction have also been accelerated by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE: here is an example of his own script:

i 1st met gayle at a halloween party in t he apt building turned commune
in wch she resided in wash d c wch was temporarily housing
a suggestion box i made t he ntrance 2 wch was made
from a simulated cunt made from rubber.
t he friend i’d given t he suggestion box 2
was wearing a dildo on his head like a unicorn horn
& gayle (wearing a black leotard) was sucking on it.
later t ha t nite i wsa playing w/ a computer connected keyboard & CRT
when gale came in2 t he room w/ an approximately 8″ in diameter
frozen wad of actual bulls’ eyes
& placed them next 2 t he keyboard at wch i was seated.
i was impressed.
t he computer room had a couch in it
& i later learned t ha t some1 had spent t he nite in t he room
w/out having noticed t he eyeballs
& upon awakening in t he morning 2 find them no longer frozen
& scattered about on t he floor of t he small room
ran screaming in terror thruout t he commune..

tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE injects humor into his reports by revealing the hidden laughter in words – the becomes ‘tee hee,’ that becomes ‘tee ha (t).’ tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has transmitted information via telephone, television, radio, audio and video cassette, vinyl and computer – no medium is outside the parameter of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE, but the use each medium is put it is always at the parameter of its abilities.

The most common mistake made by those attempting to classify tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE is that he is an ‘artist.’ tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE understands art and has created art, but he is not an artist. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has used paint, film, video, sound and words in his research, but the process of the research and its results are science. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s attention to detail, tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s willingness to carry out the research far beyond any hope of personal gain or safety, and the quality of his documentation, give credence to the title tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE gives tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE: mad scientist.

Over the course of sixteen years, tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE wrote down the word and phrases that appeared in the mind of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE while half-asleep. The resulting text was gathered into a book titled ‘telepathy receptivity training,’ and includes

blinkey modeling
i can’t see washing my hands in cake
something backwards, you have to have one of those things and two of everything
i call upon the rules and the grey moving sand…

For sixteen years work, the results are only ten pages of large-typeface text – not unlike the notebook of a botanist who searches for plants so exotic they are found only once in a lifetime. Few artists would be willing to present such a small return for so many years work, while any scientist would be proud of such dedication.

Another of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s projects is ‘mike film.’ In the late 1970s tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE conceived of a way to transmute a certain number of artifacts he had created into a context easier to transport and store and which lent itself readily to further research by others. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE made a Super-8 film of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s possessions, processed the film, gave away or destroyed tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s possessions, and proceeded to cut the cells of the film into individual photographs… approximately 46,800 photographs. The ‘mike film’ (mike as an abbreviation for microscopic and suggestive of microfilm) was then bundled in small packets and distributed to individuals and organizations all over the world. The recipients were then encouraged to distribute the film in the most creative way they knew, document the distribution and return the results to tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE. Every few years tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE publishes a ‘mike film distribution form’ which serves as a scientific journal on the dissemination of mike film. Mike film has been deposited in art brut museums, launched from balloons, consumed, worn as pasties, hidden in national monuments, smuggled into prisons and dropped in the ocean. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE dreams (with advance knowledge of the future?) of an archaeologist discovering mike film and examining it under a microscope.

No fringe group will accept tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE – neither will any reputable institution. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has petitioned the international museum of the extreme, Ripley’s Believe it or Not, to exhibit tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE. So far, they have refused. A very small amount of advance funding or sales has supported tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s research, but for the most part tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has invented (that is, created from discarded or stolen items) the majority of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s life support systems.

What evidence is there that tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE comes from the future? tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has in the past affiliated himself with the Krononautic Society, an international and informal society of time travelers. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE seems exceptionally unable to assimilate into normal society while being entirely familiar with its customs – and yet year after year, tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE survives and continues the research without funding, a steady income, and sometimes without a home. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has exhibited the ability to change tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE and tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s environment in ways that appear magical but are in fact based on a superior technology of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE own creation.

tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE is outside normal definitions of benevolence and wickedness, although tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE does have a highly articulated definition of both as applied to tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE. There have been reports of violent tantrums and theft by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE, of indifference to others and cruelty. It is difficult to evaluate the behavior of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE by any but tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s own standards.

tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE lived in Baltimore for many years: after an unsuccessful experiment in creating a book and record store (called NORMALS), tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has left Baltimore and is currently in perpetual transit in North America. tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE has been spotted in several cities, each time sending out a progress report just before the circumstances of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s residence are suddenly altered (sometimes by tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s design, other times by a host’s intolerance of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s experiments). While the rest of us advance backwards towards the future, tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE is simply returning from whence he came. What will happen when the present and the future intersect, and the world of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE and our world become one?

- 1997, previously unpublished.

See also:
OVO 12 Science (November 1991)
OVO 7 Information (October 1989)
OVO 2 (July 1987)

I was a used and rare bookseller in much of the 1990s. Selling books was a life-long goal and I am glad I was able do it. In January 1995 I had the chance to catalog a wonderful collection that disappeared soon after. This is that weird tale.

When I arrived at work that morning my boss said he had a project for me. Someone had brought in a major collection of works by and about Clark Ashton Smith, and I was to catalog what they were for sale. I spent several days doing nothing but that, each item more exciting than the last.

The day after I finished my catalog my boss said that the police had come asking about the collection. The seller, it seems, had stolen them from the rightful owner. The books disappeared back into the collection from whence they came. I have no record or memory of who the rightful owner was, I have no way to get in touch with him, and anyone who asks me to do so will be charged a five hundred dollar consultation fee.

What I do have is the catalog I prepared. This catalog has never been published, and I’m guessing that some of the items listed here have also never been published. Here is the catalog, errors and all, one of the many weird tales of my days as a bookseller.

- – -

I – ART

LOVECRAFT/GARCIA by MIKE GARCIA – OUT OF PRINT
Ken Krueger North Hollywood 1975, 1st thus 4to wraps np, fine condition. HPL-inspired artwork from The Library Lovecraftian, reissued & enlarged in an edition limited to 995 copies.

HALLOWEEN IN ARKHAM by HARRY O. MORRIS – SIGNED COLOR PRINTS
Portfolio of fifteen 11″ x 8.5″ color prints in glossy folder with numbered matching envelope. Small stain to cover, smudges to envelope. There is an ocean of bad collage; these are not among them. Good use of color and perspective, very high quality prints.

MAGIC LANTERN by CHRISTINE PASANEN & HARRY MORRIS – OUT OF PRINT
Esoteric Order of Dagon APA Albuquerque 1981, 1st edition 8vo oblong wraps np, fine condition. Story by Pasanen, collages by Morris, color cover, very dreamy.

ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY CLARK ASHTON SMITH
Eleven original drawings by Clark Ashton Smith, generally 4″ x 3″, individually mounted. Profiles of human heads, some Arabesque, some portraits, some grotesques, all signed. ‘A Slave,’ ‘The Gorgio,’ ‘A Gentleman of the Renaissance,’ ‘Leopardi,’ ‘Parisians,’ ‘Alastor’ and five untitled drawings.

THE FANTASTIC ART OF CLARK ASHTON SMITH by DENNIS RICKARD – OUT OF PRINT
Mirage Press Baltimore 1973, 1st edition 4to wraps @ 48 pp, fine condition. Published in a single edition of approximately 15,000 copies, this book concentrates on the weird sculpture of C.A.S.: tiny stone fetishes with names like ‘Tsathoggua’ and ‘Mysteriarch.’ Accomplished, wish I had one. Introduced by Gahan Wilson.

GROTESQUES AND FANTASTIQUES by CLARK ASHTON SMITH – OUT OF PRINT
Gerry de la Ree, Saddle River 1973. 1st edition, 8vo wraps 40 pp, very good condition. Previously unpublished drawings and poems by C.A.S. from the personal collection of Gerry de la Ree. Printed in a first edition of 600 copies, of which this is #241.

CLARK ASHTON SMITH – ARTIST by GERRY DE LA REE – OUT OF PRINT
Hyperborian League, nd. 4to wraps 12 pp, very good condition. An appreciation of Smith as an artist, commercial and not-so-commercial. Illustrated.

CLARK ASHTON SMITH DUST JACKETS
Dust jackets for Lost Worlds, The Abomination of Yondo, Genius Loci and Out of Space and Time from UK publisher Neville Spearman. Folded once along spine, light wear else very good.

II – MAGAZINES

THE ARKHAM COLLECTOR – COMPLETE RUN AND DUPLICATES
Announcements of present and coming publications, bibliographical notes, art, poetry, letters, photographs, reproduced manuscripts, recommended reading, etc. Each 16mo issue contains a great deal of uncollected Arkham lore. Duplicate copies of Numbers Seven through Ten.

Number One – Summer 1967 – 24 pp – some underlining.
Number Two – Winter 1968 – 52 pp – some underlining.
Number Three – Summer 1968 – 88 pp.
Number Four – Winter 1969 – 124 pp – light smudging.
Number Five – Summer 1969 – 156 pp – light smudging.
Number Six – Winter 1970 – 180 pp – light smudging.
Number Seven – Summer 1970 – 220 pp – light smudging.
Number Eight – Winter 1971 – 256 pp.
Number Nine – Spring 1971 – 300 pp – light smudging.
Number Ten – Summer 1971 – 348 pp – light smudging.

FROM BEYOND THE DARK GATEWAY ISSUE FOUR
Silver Scarab Albuquerque 1977, 4to wraps 36 pp. HLP-ish fanzine with contributions and reprints from Campbell, Bloch, Morris and others.

INSIDE ISSUE TWO
Jonathan White New York 1963, 16mo wraps 54 pp.
Science fiction magazine including Maya by Clark Ashton Smith.

NYCTALOPS
Edited & with art by Harry Morris, high quality printing and lots of color art. All issues 4to size. Cockcroft, Garcia, Lumley, Morris, Sidney-Fryer, Wilgus – und Lovecraft, Lovecraft, uber alles. Scholarly, not just cheerleading. Watch the gothic aesthetic being born in these nine issues.

#9 – 1974 49 pp – errata page, rear page detached.
#11/12 – 1976 122 pp – good condition.
#13 – 1977 45 pp – very good condition.
#14 – 1978 52 pp – very good condition.
#16 – 1981 52 pp – very good condition.
#17 – 1982 63 pp – fine condition, duplicate, promotional card.
#18 – 1983 68 pp – fine condition, duplicate.

WHISPERS
Bloch, Campbell, Drake, Garcia, Howard, King, Lieber, Lumley, Russell, Wilson and plenty of HPLphilia. All issues 16mo.

V1 #2 December 1973 64 pp – very good condition.
V2 #4 December 1975 68 pp – duplicate, errata sheet, color plates, very good condition.
V3 #1 December 1976 67 pp – very good condition.
V3 #3-4 October 1978 132 pp – square bound, color plates, very good condition.

III – BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS

FANTASY COLLECTOR’S ANNUAL 1974 – MAKES YOUR JAW DROP
Gerry de la Ree Saddle River 1971, 4to wraps 64 pp, very good condition. ‘In the 36 years I have been active as a reader and collector in the fantasy and science fiction fields, I have amassed a great quantity of rarities and unique material. These are, of course, part of the joys of collecting. But to let such things merely collect dust in file cabinets or on bookshelves seems rather pointless.’ So de la Ree published this volume of glimpses into his truly astounding collection: unpublished letters, poems and art by E. A. Poe, Mahlon Blaine, H. P. Lovecraft – get the idea? Number 232 of a limited first edition of 500 copies.

INDEX TO THE VERSE IN WEIRD TALES by THOMAS COCKCROFT – OUT OF PRINT
Thomas G. L. Cockcroft, Lower Hutt NZ 1960, 1st edition, 8vo sq. wraps 16 pp. Arranged by title, then by author, as well as verse included in fiction, Virgil Finlay’s poetry series, Oriental Magic, a magazine index and The Thrill book. Signed by the author, limited to 500 copies.

A HISTORY OF THE NECROMOMICON by H. P. LOVECRAFT – SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION
Necronomicon Press West Warwick 1977, 16mo wraps np, fine condition. The first edition of this title was limited to a printing of four hundred and fifty copies, fifty copies of the original five hundred being lost by the U. S. Postal Service. This edition, the second, consists of five hundred numbered copies, of which this is #113.

H. P. LOVECRAFT: A SYMPOSIUM – OUT OF PRINT
Riverside Quarterly Los Angeles, 1st edition, nd 16mo wraps 17 pp. Robert Block, Arthur Jean Cox, Fritz Leiber, Sam Russel and Leland Sapiro on HPL, transcribed from the 24 October 1963 meeting of the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society. Annotated by August Derleth.

THE OCCULT LOVECRAFT by H. P. LOVECRAFT
Gerry de la Ree Saddle River 1975, 1st edition 8vo wraps 40 pp, fine condition. First appearance anywhere of two essays on the occult by HPL, with stellar artwork by Stephen Fabian, introductions by Frank Belknap Long and Samuel Loveman, and occult commentary by Anthony Raven. Limited to an edition of 990, of which this is #182. Just try and find this one anywhere else. Buy it before I do, please.

THE LAST OF THE GREAT ROMANTIC POETS by DONALD SIDNEY-FRYER – OUT OF PRINT
Silver Scarab Press Albuquerque 1973, 1st edition 4to wraps @ 26 pp, very good condition. An attempt to define the romantic tradition from its beginnings in the Middle Ages to modern times, firmly placing the Smith / Lovecraft / Howard circles therein. Illustrated by Herb Arnold.

THE FANES OF DAWN by CLARK ASHTON SMITH – LIMITED EDITION
The Fugitive Poems / Second Series – Fourth Volume / Xiccarph Edition 1976, 8vo wraps with special envelope, np. Book in as new condition, envelope very good. A total of 303 copies of this edition were printed, of which this is #28. Eight poems. Errata sheet.

SEER OF THE CYCLES by CLARK ASHTON SMITH – LIMITED EDITION
The Fugitive Poems / Second Series – Fifth Volume / Xiccarph Edition 1976, 8vo wraps with special envelope np. Book in as new condition, envelope lightly smudged. A total of 325 copies of this edition were printed, of which this is #28. Eleven poems.

THE BURDEN OF THE SUNS by CLARK ASHTON SMITH – LIMITED EDITION
The Fugitive Poems / Second Series – Sixth Volume / The Burden of the Suns. Xiccarph Edition 1977, 8vo wraps with special envelope np. Book in as new condition, envelope very lightly smudged. A total of 295 copies of this edition were printed, of which this is #28. Eight poems.

SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY PUBLISHED BY ARKHAM HOUSE AND MYCROFT & MORAN 1939 – 1976 by DICK SPELMAN – OUT OF PRINT
Institute for Specialized Literature, North Hollywood nd, 10 pp 4to wraps, very light wear. Indexed by author and title, date, pages, copies and original price of the two publishing houses listed, cross-indexed by title.

IV – MANUSCRIPTS

ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPTS OF CLARK ASHTON SMITH
Predominantly poems, some translated prose and poetry; one page of English language text with date unless noted. Includes typed and mimeographed manuscripts, some with tape repairs. Dates range from 1915 to 1929.

ONE
Artemis – poem, signed, tape repairs.
Autumn Twilight – poem with corrections, signed.
Baillement – poem, signed, tape repairs.
The Barrier – poem with corrections, signed.
Beauty – poem with corrections, signed, tape repairs.
Beauty Implacable – poem, signed, notation at bottom, tape repairs.
Chance – poem with corrections, signed, tape repairs.
The Chimera – poem with corrections, signed.
Connaisance / Similitudes – two poems, signed, tape repairs.
Dead Love – poem with corrections, signed.
The Desert Garden – poem with corrections, signed.
Desolation – poem with corrections, signed.
Enigma – poem with corrections, signed.
En Sourdine – poem with corrections, tape repairs.
The Ennuye – poem with corrections, signed.
Exotic Perfume – poem, signed, tape repairs.
Faun-Lilies / Plum-Lovers – two poems, signed, tape repairs.
The Garden of Dreams – poem with corrections, signed.
Impression – poem with corrections, signed.
Incognita – poem, signed, tape repairs.
The Incubus of Time – poem with corrections, signed.
Inheritance – poem with corrections, signed.
Laus Mortis – poem, signed.
Le Mauvais Moine – poem with corrections, signed, tape repairs.
Les Aveugles – translation with corrections, signed.
Les Hiboux / Le Coucher d’un Soleil Romantique – two translations w/corr., signed.
Loss – poem, signed, tape repairs.
Maya – poem, signed, tape repairs.
Memorial – poem with corrections, signed.
Mirage – poem, signed.
Mirrors – poem with corrections, signed.
Mystery – poem, signed, tape repairs.
Necromancy – poem with corrections, signed, tape repairs.
Nocturne – poem with corrections, signed.
Moon-Dawn – poem with corrections, signed.
Nightfall – poem, signed.
A Prayer – poem with corrections, signed.
Psalm – poem with corrections, signed.
Query – poem with corrections, signed, tape repairs.
Reclamation – poem with corrections, signed.
The Refuge of Beauty – poem, signed.
The Remorse of the Dead – poem, signed, tape repairs.
Satiety / Song – two poems with corrections, signed, tape repairs.
Secret Love / Forgotten Sorrow – two poems, signed, tape repairs.
Solution – poem with corrections, signed.
Suggestion – poem with corrections, signed.
Vaticinations / The Autumn Lake / Harmony – three poems on a single page.
hall Meet / Brumal – two poems, signed.

This collection also includes envelope to Samuel Loveman from C.A.S. dated 5 March 1919 and 8 February 1980 letter from publisher / collector Gerry de la Ree to ‘John’ regarding the sale of C.A.S. poems.

TWO
Alexandrins – poem, French, signed with notation.
Canticle – poem, signed.
Clair De Lune – poem, correction.
Cumuli – poem, signed.
The Denial of St. Peter – translation, signed.
En Sourdine – translation, signed.
February – poem, signed.
L’Amor et le Crane – translation with notation.
L’Amour Supreme – poem, signed.
Le Faune – poem.
L’Imprevu – translation, two pages, signed.
Madrigal of Evanscence – poem, signed.
Paiennerie – poem, French, signed.
Solvet Seclum – translation.
Sonnet Lunaire – poem, French, signed.
Spectral Life – poem.
Sufficiency – poem- signed.
Une Vie Spectrale – poem, French, signed.
The Vampire – translation, signed.
Vaticination – poem, signed.

Fortean content in the first five years of OMNI Magazine.  Compiled October 1997, previously unpublished.

Including notations for articles relating to accupuncture, alchemy, alternative energy sources, the Amazing Randi, ancient astronauts, artificial intelligence, astral projection, astrology, the Bermuda Triangle, Bigfoot, cargo cults, cattle mutilation, communication with non-humans, creationism, cryptozoology, Dianetics, dinosaurs, dowsing, earthquakes, firewalking, Uri Geller, gravity research, hidden planets, hoaxes, hypnosis, killer clowns, kirilian photography, lake monsters, life on Mars, mind control, mystery boats, Muzak, near death experiences, Nostrodomus, parapsychology, perpetual motion, planetary alignment disasters, psychic phenomenon, pyramid power, reincarnation, the Rosicrucians, SETI, the Shroud of Turin, spontaneous human combustion, teleportation, TM, test-tube babies, the Tunguska explosion, UFOs, vampires, volcanos, voodoo, weather control, Velikovski, weird science, yellow rain and zombies.

V1#1 10/78
p 12 / letter [UFO] Melinda Moore
p 14 / letter [dowsing] Ted Kaufman
p 14 / letter [astral projection] Martha Fotinos
p 28 / The Sciene Conflict [UFO] James Oberg
p 44 / Life In Vents [czoo] ?
p 46 / Kirilian Photography [k.p.] ?
p 48 / Electricity & Weather [ e. & w.] ?
p 49 / quote ["The universe is... queerer than we can suppose."] J.B.S. Haldine
p 49 / Magnetic Sense of Sharks [czoo] Kenneth Rose
p 50 / Birds [czoo] Jeff Cox
p 63 / Listening for Life [in outer space] Alton Blakeslee
p 92 / The Turin Shroud [t.s.] Barbara Culliton
p 149 / advertisement [Project Blue Book] Blue Book Coordinator

V1#2 11/78
p 24 / Moonglows [mg] Patrick Moore
p 31 / Betty Hill [UFO] James Oberg
p 41 / Talking Bird [czoo] Barbara Ford
p 105 / Communicating with Dolphins [czoo] John Lilly
p 113 / Lifetides [para] Lyall Watson

V1#3 12/78
p 10 / letter [UFO] Barry Goldwater
p 12 / letter [UFO] Sam Piazza
p 12 / letter [UFO] Charles Labbe
p 12 / letter [UFO] Al Porterfield
p 12 / letter [UFO] R. Brown
p 12 / letter [UFO] James Irwin
p 20 / Star of the Magi [s.o.t.m.] Mark Chartrand
p 32 / Queen of the UFOs [UFO] James Oberg
p 40 / Einstein’s Brain [where is it?] ?
p 108 / PSI Burn: A Study of Psysiological Deterioration in Parapsychological Experimentation [satire] David Searles
p 146 / Man Will Never Fly [m.w.n.f. society] Lawrence Maddry

V1#4 1/79
p 8 / article [UFO] Frank Kendig
p 12 / letter [UFO] Terry Hansen
p 12 / letter [UFO] Robert Barrow
p 32 / The Coyne Incident [UFO] James Oberg
p 71 / intv: I. J. Good [weather control, UFO, more] Christopher Evans
p 117 / advertisement [Dianetics] Church of Scientology
p 125 / advertisement [Project Blue Book] Blue Book Coordinator
p 130 / letter [Velikovsky] Garry Tillery

V1#5 2/79
p 6 / article [text-tube baby hoax?] Frank Kendig
p 10 / letter [Einstein's Brain] Gerard der Leun
p 12 / letter [czoo] William Bond
p 32 / Astronomy and the Flying Saucer [UFO] James Oberg
p 39 / Flippant Earth [magnetic pole switching] ?
p 42 / More Ancient Astronauts [A.A.] ?
p 103 / Nutrition Fads and Fallacies [N.F.a.F.] Daniel Greenberg
p 110 / advertisement [Love of the Two-Armed Form] Dawn Horse Press
p 137 / letter [Betty Hill map] Charles Atterberg

V1#6 3/79
p 10 / letter [PSI Burn comments] Alan Vaughan
p 32 / UFO’s at the U.N. [UFO] James Oberg
p 117 / advertisement [Other magazine; a little of everything] Other
p 127 / advertisement [The Discovery of the Wingstars; fossils found in meteorites] Wingstar Research Society
p 137 / letter [g.r.] Peter Singelakis
p 137 / letter [w.s.] David Hargrave
p 137 / letter [all mathematics prooven wrong, mathematically] H. Murker
p 140 / next issue [static gravity hoax] ?
p 140 / next issue [loch ness] ?

V1#7 4/79
p 6 / article [parapsychologists accused of sloppiness] Frank Kendig
p 12 / letter [UFO] Ben Price
p 16 / Turning the Crank [crank science] Mark Chartrand
p 27 / New Scandal in Psychic Research? [para] Scot Morris
p 52 / First Encounter [UFO] E. Speigle
p 77 / Static Gravity [w.s. April-Fool] Christopher Priest
p 115 / advertisement [Undreamed-of Possibilities] Self-Realization Fellowship
p 121 / advertisement [Dianetics] Church of Scientology

V1#8 5/79
p 10 / letter [religious birds] Eugene Marquis
p 12 / letter [anti-gravity, incl J. R. R. Searl] Allan Grise
p 32 / * Global Disclosures [UFO] Harry Lebelson
p 92 / Return to Loch Ness [czoo] J. Chesternan and M. Marten
p 117 / advertisement [Dianetics] Church of Scientology
p 125 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 128 / letter [UFO] David Travis
p 128 / letter [UFO] David Schroth
p 128 / letter [czoo: Loch Ness M.] B. Goldman
p 130 / letter [PSI Burns commentary] Charles Honorton
p 146 / The Gulibility Factor [UFO] Thomas Monteleone

V1#9 6/79
p 12 / letter [UFO] Jeff Henry
p 22 / A Hidden Earth [new planets in our solar system] Patcick Moore
p 32 / Saucer-Eyed Spies [UFO] Art Gratti
p 36 / Clarke’s 1st Law ["When a distinguished scientist says something is impossible... he is very probably wrong."] Arthur Clarke
p 40 / Ignored Prediction [earthquake] Tony Fusco
p 41 / Magic Stone [bezoar protects against arsenic poisoning] Don Fabun
p 42 / Medical Milestones [2nd heart discovered, more] K. S.
p 96 / Flight of the Dragon [czoo] Peter Dickinson
p 134 / letter [czoo] David Edelshick
p 134 / letter [cargo cults] Tully Scott
p 136 / letter [stacic gravity hoax commentary] Anthony Blokzyl
p 146 / Vampires Revamped [V as a form of rabies] Bruce Wallace

V1#10 7/79
p 10 / letter [static gravity hoax commentary] Robin Carpenter
p 10 / letter [static gravity hoax commentary] Norman Mclead
p 10 / letter [para] Gerry Erberich
p 14 / letter [U. Geller] Arthur Clarke
p 14 / letter [UFO] Harry Lebelson
p 14 / letter [para] G. Dew and L. Hillshafer
p 18 / A Bit of Lunacy [moon in language and legend] Mark Chartrand
p 32 / Trance Figures [UFO] Allan Hendry
p 37 / Loch Ness Dolphins [czoo] O.D.
p 41 / Year of the Atom [nuclear hijinx] Douglass Colligan
p 41 / quote ["The most beautiful experience... is the mysterious..."] Albert Einstein
p 42 / The Earthquake Boom [e.b.] Dan Ross
p 126 / letter [UFO] John Harding
p 127 / letter [para] Vickie Lloyd
p 127 / letter [turning the crank commentary] A. Abajian
p 127 / letter [UFO] Paul Krause
p 129 / next issue [ancient astronauts evaluated] ?
p 133 / advertisement [Dianetics] Church of Scientology

V1#11 8/79
p 10 / letter [UFO] Jon Stone
p 12 / letter [para] Brenda Thomas
p 30 / UFO Over Iran [UFO] James Oberg
p 40 / UFO Tips [UFO] Terrence Dickinson
p 44 / White Dwarfs and Green Men [a. a.] Carl Sagan
p 128 / letter [a. a.] John Tran
p 128 / letter [UFO] Janice Tonietto
p 135 / letter [UFO] Philip Klass
p 135 / letter [UFO] Jeffrey Benner

V1#12 9/79
p 12 / letter [Flight of the Dragon commentary; czoo] Eugene Marquis
p 32 / True UFOs [UFO] James Oberg
p 37 / Quake Lights [earthquake lights] Tom Kovach
p 41 / Animal Trivia [weird animal facts] S. D.
p 42 / Viruses from Outer Space [v. as "messages" from o.s.] O. D.
p 112 / advertisement [What is Scientology?] Church of Scientology
p 113 / advertisement [Undreamed-of Possibilities] Self-Realization Fellowship
p 129 / advertisement [The Cycles of Heaven] Avon paperback
p 135 / advertisement [Dianetics] Church of Scientology
p 142 / letter [czoo] Jason MacCallum
p 142 / letter [cargo cults] Alan Vaughan

V2#1 10/79
p 18 / letter [vampires] Count Dracula
p 44 / Tunguska [Tunguska event] James Oberg
p 57 / Yogis [y. exhibit amazing body control] D. S.
p 58 / quote ["We think so because other people all think so... "] Henry Sidgwick
p 108 / Unseen Yeti [czoo] John Hunt
p 140 / advertisement [I am magazine] I am
p 163 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 165 / advertisement [Metascience Quarterly] Metascience
p 165 / advertisement [Nebulon Gazette] Nebulon Gazette

V2#11 11/79
p 10 / letter [astrology debunked] Philip Ianan
p 12 / letter [Sagan anc. astro. article commentary] Stan Stephenson
p 12 / letter [Sagan anc. astro. article commentary] Don Peterson
p 30 / Alien Metals [UFO] Harry Lebelson
p 36 / Pregnant Men [p.m.] Dava Sobel
p 38 / Gay Vaccine [gay men used in hepatitis vaccine trial (AIDS
conspiracy?)] Joel Davis
p 44 / Antimatter Revealed [ws] Robert Forward
p 80 / interview: Carl Sargent [para] Christopher Evans
p 84 / Illegal Aliens [extraterrestrials and the law] Robert Freitas
p 128 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosecrucians
p 142 / advertisement [The UFO Handbook] Doubleday
p 142 / letter [para] James Bobula

V2#3 12/79
p 10 / letter [czoo: yeti] John Hunt
p 10 / letter [UFO] Giles Guthrie
p 16 / letter [UFO] John Warren
p 16 / letter [UFO] David Hofer
p 18 / letter [anc. astro] Gena Davies
p 28 / Syncronicity [s.] Bernard Dixon
p 40 / Alternatives [UFO] Robert Wilson
p 45 / quote ["Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought."] Albert von Szent-Gyorgyi
p 46 / Fossil Footprints [f.f.] Alton Blakeslee
p 49 / quote ["Scientists, especially when they leave the particular field in which they have specialized, are just as ordinary, pig-headed, and unreasonable as anybody else."] H. J. Eysenck
p 50 / quote ["Science has become adult; I am not sure whether scientists have."] Victor Weiskopf
p 108 / Prizes [Klass anti-UFO prize] Scot Morris
p 130 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosecrucians
p 134 / advertisement [UFO: The Documented Evidence] Methuen Publications

V2#4 1/80
p 12 / letter [Viruses from Outer Space debunked] Deborah Katz
p 28 / Death on the Range [cattle mut.] Harry Lebelson
p 40 / Urban Legends [u.l.] D. C.
p 42 / quote ["Everyone is ignorant, only on different subjects"] Will Rogers
p 62 / interview: Jacques Vallee [UFO] Christopher Evans
p 88 / Talk to the Animals [signing apes] Eugene Linden
p 116 / advertisement [Mystery Stalks the Prairie; c. mut] Niagra Sales Company
p 117 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 122 / erratum [Yogi, 10/79] editor of OMNI
p 126 / letter [Dracula debunking] Andras Rozsa

V2#5 2/80
p 10 / letter [czoo: yeti] Bill Tabit
p 32 / Alone Again [UFO] James Oberg
p 41 / Wildlife Trivia [weird animal facts] S. D.
p 41 / quote ["Due to unforseen circumstances, we must postpone the Psychic Fair...] Tamara Rand Institute
p 42 / Psychic Cops [para] D. C.
p 109 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 120 / letter [Illegal Aliens commentary] Jane Morgenstern
p 120 / letter [Illegal Aliens commentary] Gabrielle Davis

V2#6 3/80
p 14 / letter [synchronicity] Sebastian Foti
p 36 / Phantom Moonlight [UFO] James Oberg
p 45 / Invisibility Lessons [TM debunking] James Randi
p 48 / Eyeball Flora [plants grow in eyeballs] S. D.
p 49 / Psychic Scoreboard [para] Joel Davis
p 128 / letter [Randi, Dixon commentary] Steven Yates
p 129 / letter [Unseen Yeti commentary] James Justus
p 132 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 141 / letter [Talk to the Animals commentary] Eugene Linden
p 146 / Thinking out Loud [para] Martin Pitt

V2#7 4/80
p 10 / letter [Talk to the Animals commentary] Edd Doerr
p 12 / advertisement [czoo: tube worms discovered with RCA camera] RCA
p 14 / letter [Talk to the Animals commentary] Jim Stone
p 14 / letter [Death on the Range commentary] Alan Bingham
p 32 / Close Encounter [UFO] Harry Lebelson
p 39 / Space Oddities [weird things spotted by Brittish satellites] Douglas Colligan
p 76 / interview [James Randi] Scot Morris
p 120 / advertisement [Haiti ("Voodoo, you can feel it in the air...")] Haiti Gov’t Tourist Bureau
p 128 / advertisement [Undreamed-of Possibilities] Self-Realization Fellowship
p 130 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 131 / advertisement [two Genesis-as-science books by R. Jastrow] Warner Books
p 138 / letter [Jaques Vallee commentary] D. Anderson

V2#8 5/80
p 10 / letter [UFO] Arlan Andrews
p 20 / Galactic Germs [germs from space] Bernard Dixon
p 32 / Honest Illusions [UFO] James Oberg
p 40 / quote ["Heaven and Earth were created... Oct. 23, 4004 BC..."] John Lightfoot
p 41 / Nature Trivia [czoo] S.D.
p 41 / quote ["Rail travel... is not possible..."] Dionysys Lardner
p 137 / advertisement [Crystal Pyramid Pendant] Cosmic Connections
p 137 / advetisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 138 / letter [cattle mutilation] Rod Faust

V2#9 6/80
p 10 / letter [telepathy, interspecies communication] David Palter
p 12 / letter [TM, levitation] Roane Dantzler
p 20 / Jupiter’s Noneffect [planetary allignment disasters] John Gribbin
p 32 / The French Connection [UFO] Charles Berlitz
p 39 / Life on Mars [l.o.m.] L. D.
p 42 / quote ["Science is the topography of ignorance"] Oliver Holmes
p 122 / letter [TM, levitation] Gregory Trulen
p 124 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 130 / Save the Toad! [giant flying vampire toad hoax] Norman Spinrad

V2#10 7/80
p 10 / letter [Shroud of Turin] Sandy Shakocius
p 12 / letter [Amazing Randi, Sagan] Richard Currey
p 12 / letter [Amazing Randi] M. Stone
p 12 / letter [Amazing Randi] Immanuel Chin
p 12 / letter [Amazing Randi] Peter Schwartz
p 12 / letter [reply to above] James Randi
p 14 / letter [UFO] Ronald Berends
p 14 / letter [cattle mutilations] Michael Albers
p 24 / Ghost Story [para experiments] Morton Schatzman
p 30 / The Russian Connection [UFO] James Oberg
p 35 / Mutilation Madness [cattle mutilation] James Randi
p 125 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V2#11 8/80
p 16 / letter [planetary alignment disasters] Mary Boland
p 32 / Repeaters [UFO] James Oberg
p 36 / Blow to Creation Myth [scientific creationism] Joel Davis
p 38 / Nastiness by Degree [weather and social unrest] Peter Evans
p 39 / Narwhal Mystery [why the tooth?] Barbara Ford
p 40 / Scientists and Monsters [czoo] D. C.
p 41 / quote ["If the scientist doesn't start with a sense of mystery, he doesn't start."] Rene Dubos
p 111 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V2#12 9/80
p 10 / letter [electronic mind control] Laura Collins
p 10 / letter [giant flying vampire toads] Athens Friends of the Toads
p 10 / letter [giant flying vampire toads] Ray Hermann
p 10 / letter [giant flying vampire toads] Steve Conklin
p 10 / letter [giant flying vampire toads] Suzanne Helder
p 10 / letter [reply: giant flying vampire toad article was a hoax] editor
p 14 / letter [TM] Edd Doerr
p 14 / letter [TM] Marvin Minsky
p 18 / Sea Serpent Survey [czoo] Bernard Dixon
p 32 / Jung Ideas [UFO] Harry Lebelson
p 36 / quote ["No quackery is ever rejected by the American public until a more scientific-sounding but inherently less plausible quackery is ready to take its place."] H. Mencken
p 39 / quote ["Sciene is nothing but trained and organized common sense."] Thomas Huxley
p 41 / quote ["For the people liable to be killed by earthquakes, quake prediction is certainly significant."] Gordon Taylor
p 42 / Animal Vibrations [animals and earthquakes] S.D.
p 113 / letter [Amazing Randi] C. Anderson
p 113 / reply [to above] James Randi
p 113 / letter [UFO] Mike Bucker
p 113 / letter [UFO] Peter Adams
p 113 / letter [UFO] Richard Bridges
p 120 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V3#1 10/80
p 10 / letter [Which is hotter, heaven or hell?] M. Eckard
p 10 / letter [Shroud of Turin] John Wagner
p 12 / letter [electronic mind control] Bill Katz
p 30 / Minnesota Attack [UFO] James Oberg
p 35 / The Creationist’ “Equal Time” [scientific creationism] Ben Bova
p 37 / ESP and the CIA [psychic spies] Judith Hooper
p 38 / quote ["Sciene is not a sacred cow. Science is a horse. Don't worship it. Feed it."] Aubery Eben
p 40 / Wildlife Tales [weird animal stories] S. D.
p 42 / quote ["Like a mutation, an idea may be recorded in the wrong time, to lie latent like a recessive gene and spring once more to life in an auspicious era."] Loren Eiseley
p 155 / UFO Unemployment Insurance [UFO] D. T.
p 155 / Astrology Defense [a. in the courts] D. T.
p 156 / Face From Space [face on Mars] Harry Lebelson
p 156 / Psychic Healer [psy healing] Allan Maurer
p 158 / Sumerian Astronauts [a. a.] ???
p 158 / quote [exerpt from "backscrewing theory of gravity"] George Gillette
p 158 / quote ["Apart from the known and the unknown, what is there?"] Harold Pinter
p 163 / letter [cattle mutilations] C. Harper
p 163 / letter [planetary alignment disasters] Terry Fischer
p 182 / Calendar [UFO, dowsing, man will never fly society meetings announced] Geoffrey Golson
p 188 / advertisement [Autobiography of a Yogi] Self-Realization Fellowship
p 188 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V3#2 11/80
p 10 / letter [creationism] Michael May
p 32 / More Soviet Encounters [UFO] E. Speigel
p 36 / Death on Mars [simulated life on m.] Nick Engler
p 39 / Hoku Point [ice on hands cures headaches] Allan Maurer
p 40 / Mokele-Mbembe [czoo: contemporary african dinosaurs] Douglas Colligan
p 42 / Maligned Squid [czoo: giant s. sightings] S. D.
p 121 / letter [planetary allignment disasters] Terry Fischer
p 123 / advertisement [The Necronomicon] Necronomicon
p 126 / article [volcanic prediction by Janet Cullen-Tanaka] Dick Teresi
p 134 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V3#3 12/80
p 36 / Target: Denmark [UFO] Harry Lebelson
p 41 / Kudzu [weird k. facts] Stuart Diamond
p 41 / quote ["The effort to reconcile science and religion is almost always made, not by theologians, but by scientists unable to shake off altogether the piety absorbed with their mother's milk."] H. Mencken
p 42 / Life From the Clouds [l. originated in c.] Alton Blakeslee
p 44 / quote ["Science is built of facts the way a house is built of bricks, but an accumulation of facts is no more science than a pile of bricks is a house."] Henri Poincare
p 136 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V3#4 1/81 : missing, but contains perpetual motion article by James Randi

V3#5 2/81
p 12 / letter [god in science fiction] David Bowring
p 14 / letter [electronic mind control] Sidney Weinstein
p 24 / Hypnotic Witness [h. memory recovery] R. McColm
p 32 / Space Encounters [UFO] James Oberg
p 36 / Horned Wonder [czoo: mystery fossil skull] Douglas Colligan
p 37 / Chorus Girl Hypothesis [thought-transferance among birds disproven] Barbara Ford
p 42 / Killer Wave [k.w. responsible for bernumda triangle?] Tom Summer
p 45 / In Through the Out Door [subliminal mind control] Eric Lander
p 120 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V3#6 3/81
p 35 / Useless Animal Slaughter [vivisection] Brandon Kuker-Reines
p 40 / quote ["Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened."] Winston Churchill
p 42 / quote ["The future is beyond knowing, but the present is beyond belief"] William Thompson
p 95 / Interview: Donald Symons [scientific proof: women exist to serve men!] Claire Warga
p 100 / Postmarks [stamps of the world, incl. Grenada UFO stamp] Marc Kaplan
p 140 / Washington Debate [UFO] E. Speigel and K. Ehrlich
p 144 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V3#7 4/81
p 12 / letter [Amazing Randi, perpetual motion] William Watkins
p 12 / letter [god in science fiction] Susan Saltiel
p 26 / The New Biofeedback [biofeedback] Bob Kall
p 35 / The Stealth Affair [stealth planes hype, debunking] Paul Nahin
p 40 / Animal Trivia [weird animal facts] Stuart Diamond
p 40 / Death Blow from Space [asteroid killed dinosaurs] Joel Davis
p 41 / quote ["Nothing is rich but the inexhaustable wealth of nature. She shows us only surfaces, but she is a million fathoms deep."] Ralph Emerson
p 42 / quote ["The religion that is afraid of science dishonors God and commits suicide."] Ralph Emerson
p 76 / Psychic Search [psy] Stephan Schwartz
p 118 / People [Uri Geller section] Dick Teresi
p 135 / advertisement [booklet on "space aliens"] American Raelian Movement
p 140 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 141 / advertisement [The Necronomicon] Necronomicon

V3#8 5/81
p 10 / letter [subliminal mind control] Craig Waller
p 12 / letter ["right to life"] Sandra Seipke
p 36 / Mainland Mysteries [UFO] Paul Dong
p 45 / quote ["Kids get ideas about UFOs where I learned about sex: the tabloids and the sleazy press."] J. Hynek
p 45 / Whistling Air Crashes [80% pilots whistle before crash] Allan Maurer
p 50 / Psychic Fools [psy debunk experiment] Kendrick Frazier
p 93 / advertisement [books incl. Stonehenge and Mystery of the Pyramids] Natural Science Book Club
p 120 / People [incl. Tut curse debunk] Dick Teresi
p 128 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 131 / letter [hypnotic memory retreival] The Amazing Kreskin
p 131 / letter [Amazing Randi, perpetual motion] Edward Cheesbrough
p 138 / Last Word [psy] James Randi

V3#9 6/81
p 16 / letter [Sumerian Astronauts] Zecharia Sitchin
p 44 / Gossamer Wings [UFO] Daniel Cohen
p 48 / Soul Gun [kirilian search for soul] Minael Jeffries
p 50 / Mammary Madness [photos of women in stuffed bras judged "less intelligent" in study] Ellen Bilgore
p 53 / Brain? Who Needs It? [hydrocephalus students with literally no brain and 120 IQ] Judith Hooper
p 54 / quote ["There is more religion in men's science than there is science in their religion."] Henry Thoreau
p 129 / advertisement [Three Mile Island Creamy Mushroom Dressing] The Catalyst Company
p 134 / People [psychic tattoo consultant Jamie Summers] Dick Teresi
p 147 / Gravity Watch [g. is not a constant?] David Lynch
p 148 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V3#10 7/81
p 12 / letter [perpetual motion, Amazing Randi] Dave Martell
p 12 / letter [perpetual motion, Amazing Randi] Paul Nahin
p 27 / Music [Muzak] Scott Cohen
p 32 / Hoax [UFO] James Oberg
p 35 / Feminism and the Brain [men's brains are superior] Judith Hooper
p 37 / Animal Revenge [a. getting r.] Stuart Diamond
p 39 / Pet Neuroses [animal psychiatry] Douglas Colligan
p 41 / quote ["In the final analysis, randomness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder"] R. Hamming
p 42 / quote ["Religions die when they are proved to be true. Science is the record of dead religions."] Oscar Wilde
p 69 / interview [Albert Hofmann] David Monagan
p 109 / advertisement [catalog incl. alternate energy, biofeedback] Edmund Scientific
p 110 / Competition ["rumors" of the choking doberman / conspiracy sort] Scot Morris
p 119 / letter [Stealth questions] John Price
p 123 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V3#11 8/81
p 10 / letter [psy. archeology] Ed Starkins
p 14 / letter [mystery spots] James Swan
p 41 / Hunger Cues [looking at food can make you fat] Stuart Diamond
p 41 / Reasonable Chimp [animal intelligence] Alton Blakeslee
p 69 / Project Tesla [Tesla research continued] ?
p 101 / letter [octopus intelligence] Linda Palter
p 108 / advertisement [UFOlarm UFO detecter] Tucker Scientific
p 108 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 116 / letter [mystery spots] Ray Hyman

V3#12 9/81
p 12 / letter [big breasts and intelligence] Paula Siddens
p 12 / letter [new religion: Random Factor Faith] Eugene Shelby
p 14 / letter [early mystery airships] Carl Baumann
p 34 / The Pine Bush Adventure [UFO] Harry Lebelson
p 45 / Half a Brain [is all we need] Douglas Colligan
p 45 / Human Tidal Waves [human rhythms & behavior linked to moon] Norbert Lempert
p 48 / quote ["A great truth is a truth whose opposite is also a great truth."] Thomas Mann
p 48 / Shock Treatment [is useless and traumatic] David Cohen
p 50 / Surprise Sight [woman born blind, corrective surgery, knew colors anyway] David Colligan
p 50 / quote ["I think and think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, and the conclusion is false. The hundreth time I am right."] Albert Einstein
p 71 / advertisement [books incl. mysteries of pyramids, stonehenge] Natural Science Book Club
p 81 / The Healing Bran [think yourself healthy] Douglas Garr
p 127 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 133 / letter [animal IQ] Cameron Stante
p 133 / letter [creationism] N. Spencer
p 146 / Last Word [amazing collection of science quotes... they ain't so smart] Bernard Dixon

V4#1 10/81
p 12 / letter [acupuncture, Amazing Randi] K. Chan
p 12 / letter [NY White sewer pot rumor expounded] S. Wishevsky
p 14 / letter [psy slurs] Ray Hyman
p 14 / letter [psy defence] Stephan Sscwartz
p 20 / Shape Shapes Shape ["morphogenic fields" effect form & behavior] Bernard Dixon
p 26 / Man Bites Man [human bite attacks] Patrick Huyghe
p 46 / Binge Disorder [bulemia study] Douglas Colligan
p 47 / Sleep-Wake Biofeedback [b. to stay awake, go to sleep] Robert Kall
p 70 / Ghosts and Goblins [waiting for hard para evidence] ?
p 73 / Intelligent Machines [coming soon] ?
p 133 / Mobius Psi-Q Test [para test] S. Sschwartz and R. Mattei
p 169 / UFO Update [UFO] Stella Iner
p 170 / Unicorn [goat w-horn by Glory and G'zell] Harry Lebelson
p 170 / quote [about "heresy"] Isaac Asimov
p 170 / Stalking Anomalies [Center for Scientific Anomalies Research in MI] Douglas Colligan
p 170 / quote ["There is no ox so dumb as the orthodox"] George Gillette
p 170 / Mystery Ship [1976 mystery boat photo] Harry Lebelson
p 171 / Soviet Psychics [s. p.] Allan Maurer
p 171 / quote ["Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."] Albert Einstein
p 172 / Emotional Alarm Clock [hypnosic monitor] Robert Kall
p 172 / Coincidence [maybe not so rare or odd] Kendrick Frazier
p 172 / Fang Count [vampire census] Allan Maurer
p 183 / advertisement [catalog incl. biofeedback and alt. energy] Edmund Scientific
p 184 / Burroughs at the Bunker [WSB on women as "genetic mistake"] Regina Weinreich
p 192 / letter [UFO] Dean Kurath
p 196 / calendar announcement [International Fortean Organization meeting Oct. 17-18] Geoffrey Golson
p 196 / calendar announcement [International Conference on Alternative Energies Dec. 14-16] Geofrey Golson
p 205 / advertisement [The Necronomicon] Necronomicon
p 208 / Cosmic Dangers [asteroid strikes] Patrick Moore
p 212 / advertisement [Autobiography of a Yogi] Self-Realization Fellowship
p 212 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V4#2 11/81
p 12 / letter [Tesla] Edson Johnson
p 16 / letter [n.d.e.] Debra Shotwell
p 39 / Parent of the Apes [human/ape genetic cross] Barbara Ford
p 44 / Gay Disease [mysterious "decreased resistance"] Judith Hooper
p 80 / Witches [w.] Erica Jong
p 111 / Anti-matter [UFO] Allan Hendry
p 112 / Transsexual Reincarnation [r. as cause of t.] Allan Maurer
p 112 / Global Cryptozoology [International Society of C. established] Douglas Colligan
p 113 / Feminist Hex [witches hex trailside killer] Allan Maurer
p 114 / Magnetic People? [magnetic sense?] Carol Johmann
p 114 / Psychic Better Business Bureau [The Association of P. Practitioners established] Allan Maurer
p 114 / Placebo Horoscopes [prepared and placebo h. equally accurate] Kendrick Frazier
p 124 / advertisement [catalog incl. alt. energy, biofeedback] Edmund Scientific
p 147 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V4#3 12/81
p 10 / letter [lunar madness] Richard Ornberg
p 45 / Noisy Vegetables [plants makes noises when in need of water] Judith Hooper
p 131 / Anti-Matter [UFO] Jeff Hecht
p 132 / French Flying Saucer [built by Jean-Claude Ladrat] Philip Black
p 133 / ESP Believers [parapsychologists are] Kendrick Frazier
p 133 / Human Combustion [Jack Angel, SHC survivor] Harry Lebelson
p 133 / quote [meat and snake showers in Scientific American, 1877] ?
p 133 / UFO Ports [UFO] Margaret Sachs
p 134 / Russian Sleeptalk [Gene Sutherland speaks r. in s., hounded by parapsychologists] Mark Teich
p 161 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 161 / advertisement [catalog incl. biofeedback] Edmund Scientific

V4#4 1/82
p 10 / letter [mystery ship of 10/81 issue SOLVED #1] Mark Epling
p 10 / letter [mystery ship of 10/81 issue SOLVED #2] Anthony Romain
p 10 / letter [second sighting of mystery ship?] W. Krohn
p 12 / letter [phantom-limb sensations] Donald Eisner
p 12 / letter [goat-unicorn of 10/81 issue explained] Draper Kauffman
p 33 / Near Death [n. d. e.] Judith Hooper
p 35 / Whistling Ears [ears that make noise] Judith Hooper
p 37 / SETI Axed [SETI funding cut] Michael Michaud
p 39 / OM Swat Team [TM team's mere presence stops violent crime] Judith Hooper
p 40 / quote ["Thoughts, like fleas, jump from man to man. But they don't bite everybody] Stanislaw Lem
p 67 / interview [Martin Gardner] Scot Morris
p 89 / UFO Update [UFO] Lee Speigel
p 90 / Mermen and Mermaids [explained] Douglas Colligan
p 90 / quote ["That which is incapable of proof itself is no proof of anything else."] Percy Shelley
p 90 / Voodoo Traffic [Brittish motorists use v. dolls to curse cops] Allan Maurer
p 90 / quote ["We are waiting for the UFOs. We know they exist."] Grahm Parker
p 90 / Dogu Space Suits [a.a.] Madeline Lebwohl
p 91 / Sole on Fire [firewalking] Harry Lebelson
p 91 / Uri Geller, Where Are You? [Uri-bating by Randi and OMNI] ???
p 92 / Nostradamus Interpreted [by Jean de Fontbrune] Mark Teich
p 92 / quote ["An abnormal number of all reported paranormal phenomena appear to have happened to holy idiots, fools or crooks."] C. Snow
p 92 / Remembering Birth ["the fact is we do."] Marc McCutcheon
p 119 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V4#5 2/81
p 10 / letter [Tesla] Michael Milanovich
p 10 / letter [UFO] Allan Hendry
p 12 / letter [creationism] Les Brown
p 12 / letter [creationism] James Milton
p 12 / letter [creationism] Keith Croes
p 24 / Cheap Talk [modern myths, ala "Paul is dead"] Gary Fine
p 35 / First Earth Battalion [Army goes new age] Michelle Bekey
p 37 / quote ["The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious... "] Albert Einstein
p 38 / Ancient Recordings [in pottery] Allan Maurer
p 58 / Recollections of Death [n.d.e.] Michael Sabom
p 62 / interview [Candace Pert: sex relations hardwired in brain?] Judith Hooper
p 93 / UFO Update [UFO] Jack Thornton & Pamela Weintraub
p 94 / Raging Skeptics [pick on each other] Irving Lieberman
p 94 / King Tut’s Shroud [just like J.C.'s only we have the body too] Sandra Dorr
p 95 / Nutrition for Psychics [psy] Robert Sheaffer
p 95 / Discojet [UFO-like jet by Paul Moller] Margaret Sachs
p 95 / Killer Clowns [k. c.] Pamela Weintraub
p 96 / Modern-Day Voodoo [belief makes it work] Eric Mishara
p 96 / Time Tripping [by Association for Past-Life Research and Therapy] Margaret Sachs
p 96 / China’s Armpit Savants [psychic readings or frauds?] James Randi
p 96 / quote ["Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep insights can be winnowed form deep nonsense."] Carl Sagan
p 121 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V4#6 3/81
p 10 / letter [satirizing anti-choice legislation] Audrey Glickman
p 10 / letter [n.d.e.] D. Amaral
p 14 / Yellow Rain [y.r.] Douglas Starr
p 22 / Gay Origins [g. o.] Judith Hooper
p 36 / quote ["There was never an idea started that woke men out of their stupid indifference but its originator was spoken of as a crank."] Oliver Holmes
p 36 / Cruelty to Monkeys [in the name of science] Sandra Dorr
p 37 / quote ["In a way, science might be described as paranoid thinking applied to nature: we are looking for natural conspiracies, for connections among apparently disparate data."] Carl Sagan
p 38 / Loch Ness Monsterlings [czoo] Michael Jeffries
p 40 / quote ["Science has proof without and certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof."] Ashley Montague
p 41 / Grass Intelligence [pot studies] Judith Hooper
p 45 / Cool Immortality [life extention] Roy Walford
p 75 / interview [Francis Crick: life on earth was planted by intelligence from beyond] David Rorvik
p 91 / UFO Update [UFO] Jeff Wells
p 92 / Haitian Zombies [zombies] Pablo Fenjues
p 92 / Phantom Animals [animal teleportation] Pamela Weintraub
p 93 / Haunted Personalities [some p. more condusive to h.] Dave McNary
p 94 / Dracula Revisited [tour of Ducharest] Margaret Sachs
p 94 / Demons of Brookfield [inspire multiple murderer Arne Johnson] Peter Rondinone
p 123 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V4#7 4/82
p 10 / letter [sound in pottery] Robert Mest
p 10 / letter [UFO] Janina Leeds
p 12 / letter [Nostradomus] Everett Bleiler
p 12 / letter [n.d.e.] Walter Isenhour
p 12 / letter [UFO] Steven Soter
p 36 / Music [DEVO] Michael Shore
p 51 / quote ["Ignorance is the womb of monsters."] Henry Beecher
p 52 / quote ["The wallpaper with which men of science has covered the world of reality is falling to tatters."] Henry Miller
p 101 / UFO Update [UFO] Peter Rondinone
p 102 / Voices from Beyond [on tape] Allan Maurer
p 102 / Joan of Arc: Genetic Male [j.o.a.:g.m?] Eric Mishara
p 103 / Deadly Dreams [monsters become real] Peter Rondinone
p 103 / Huge UFO [UFO] Katherine Jason
p 103 / quote [UFO] Woody Allen
p 104 / Nuclear Premonitions [n.p.] Peter Rondinone
p 104 / Champlain Monster Meeting [czoo] J. Greenwell
p 104 / ELF-Wave Antidote [extreme low frequency mind control] Eric Mishara
p 115 / advertisement [Autobiography of a Yogi] Self-Realization Fellowship
p 130 / letter [sound in pottery, Seth] Dona MacVicar
p 137 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V4#8 5/91
p 10 / letter [animal experimentation] Richard Snedeker
p 10 / letter [shroud] Ann Smith
p 12 / letter [n.d.e.] Mary Flood
p 12 / response [n.d.e.] Michael Sabom
p 12 / letter [n.d.e.] Jerry Stockton
p 12 / letter [n.d.e.] William Reynolds
p 12 / letter [n.d.e.] Ira Marvin
p 12 / letter [n.d.e.] Bill Horne
p 12 / letter [n.d.e.] Michael Jackson
p 12 / letter [n.d.e.] John Kogut
p 12 / letter [n.d.e.] Anthony Klotz
p 40 / Barley Cure [tribal remedies ahead of science] Sy Montgomery
p 43 / Hypnosis on Trial [h. maybe not reliable] Yvonne Baskin
p 45 / Tunguska and Ozone [t. explosion] Joel Davis
p 111 / UFO Update [UFO] Al Furst
p 112 / Past-Life Skiing [p.l.s.] Margaret Sachs
p 112 / Mummy’s Curse [Tut] Robert Sheaffer
p 112 / Examining Bent Metal [burned by Uri] D. Rogo
p 112 / quote ["Logic is neither an art nor a science but a dodge."] Stendhal
p 113 / The Jerusalem Cover-up [The City of David was really Edinburgh, Scotland] Pamela Weintraub
p 114 / quote ["Men are most apt to believe what they least understand."] Montaigne
p 114 / UFO World Record [UFO] Peter Rondinone
p 114 / Satellite Seances [se. by way of sa.] Rachel Basch
p 137 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 154 / Last Word [psy., para., Uri, Dowsing,] James Randi

V4#9 6/91
p 12 / letter [UFO] Travis Walton
p 12 / letter [humans were planted] Mark Baisley
p 12 / letter [humans were planted] Z. Sitchin
p 12 / letter [increase in gay men caued by favorable female wiring] Robert Hyre
p 14 / letter [gay origins] Nathan Daniels
p 14 / letter [self-contempt is the root of homosexuality] Pamela Goren
p 14 / letter [earthquake prediction] Steven Montgomery
p 14 / letter [firewalking] James Randi
p 36 / Deadly Intercourse [sperm allergy in women] Eric Mishara
p 39 / Biten by Love [psychosomatic arthritis in abused women] Charles Craig
p 41 / quote ["If triangles had a god, he would have three sides."] Clarles de Secondat
p 100 / Creationist Comics [c.ism] Bill Lee
p 109 / UFO Update [UFO] Carol Johmann
p 110 / Jesus Insurance [estate willed to Jesus] Peter Rondinone
p 110 / quote [psy.] Trevor Hall
p 110 / Time Foils ESP [psy.] Dava Sobel
p 110 / quote ["It is curious what unlikelihoods people - particularly scientists - will accept in order to 'save appearances...'"] Martyn Skinner
p 111 / Integraton [alien-inspired technology] Margaret Sachs
p 111 / Loc Ness Worms [czoo] Ivor Smullen
p 111 / quote [para] Trevor Hall
p 112 / Monster on Ice [Frank Hanson's "Big Foot Creature" exposed] Kendrick Frazier
p 112 / quote ["Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature."] St. Augustine
p 137 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V4#10 7/82
p 12 / letter [creation of gays] Ned Flaherty
p 14 / letter [yogis] Melvin Carter
p 14 / letter [yogis] Selene MacKenzie
p 14 / letter [yellow rain] Robert Levi
p 14 / letter [yellow rain] Timothy David
p 14 / letter [yellow rain] Fred Greene
p 35 / Good News for Lab Animals [vivisection] Douglas Starr
p 37 / Keeping Quiet about Earthquakes [predicting e.] Eric Mishara
p 39 / quote ["There are no facts, only interpretations"] Friedrich Nietzche
p 41 / Mystery Lake [unfrozen water near S. Pole] Madeleine Lebwohl
p 41 / Whole-Mind Predictions [use both halves for success] Judith Hooper
p 46 / Butterflies in the Dark [psy] Les Ericson
p 91 / UFO Update [UFO] Pamela Weintraub
p 92 / Bubbling Blood [St. Januarius miracle] Kathrine Jason
p 93 / Ghost Hunt [g. poll -- seen one?] Allan Maurer
p 93 / UFO Counseling [UFO Contact Center] Joel Davis
p 94 / Pyramid Wine [w. made in a p.] Peter Rondinone
p 94 / Hieroglyphic Hoax? [about Jewish exodus] Carol Johnmann
p 123 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V4#11 8/82
p 10 / letter [psi, czoo, UFO] Tom Pyzdek
p 12 / letter [astrology] Land Fleming
p 20 / Sudden Death [from fright or imagination] Patrick Huyghe
p 36 / Fetus on the Couch [personalities formed in utero] Eric Mishara
p 37 / Talking Computer for Dolphins [t.c.f.d.] Owne Davies
p 39 / Fateful Names [n. determine your future] Dava Sobel
p 91 / UFO Update [UFO] James Oberg
p 92 / Psychic Sleuths [p.s.] Marcello Truzzi
p 92 / American Triangle [Bermuda T. shifts west] Robert Sheaffer
p 93 / UFO Auto Accidents [UFO] Bethany Campbell
p 93 / Aroma Therapy [a. t.] Eric Mishara
p 94 / Suburban Pyramid [James Onan built one] Mark Teich
p 94 / quote ["The unknown always passes for the marvelous."] Tacitus
p 94 / Out-Of-Body Survey [University of Kansas findings] Tom Kovach
p 121 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V4#12 9/82
p 10 / letter [Jerusalem Cover-Up commentary] Robert Stephanos
p 10 / letter [Jerusalem Cover-Up commentary] Ken Turnbull
p 10 / letter [Randi mistake noted] Marcello Truzzi
p 22 / Foresight Saga [precog] David Loye
p 46 / quote ["When you collect the ten wisest men of the world and ask them to find the most stupid thing in existence, they will not be able to find anything stupider than astrology."] David Gilbert
p 47 / quote ["If a minister believes and teaches evolution, he is a stinking skunk."] Billy Sunday
p 53 / OOPArts [out-of-place artifacts] Robert Patton
p 99 / UFO Update [UFO] Bethany Campbell
p 100 / Big Foot Fraud [by Rant Mullens] Douglas Starr
p 100 / Pet Telepathy [psi] Owne Davies
p 101 / Living Neanderthals [crypto-anthropology?] J. Greenwell
p 102 / Messages for the Dead [carried by terminal patients] Eric Mishara
p 102 / Vampire Hall of Fame [v. museum in NY] Herny Packer
p 127 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians

V5#1 10/82
p 12 / letter [Loch Ness Worms commentary] Robert Huffman
p 14 / letter [Creationist Comics commentary] Sharon Lunsford
p 14 / letter [Creationist Comics commentary] Bill Melancon
p 14 / letter [Creationist Comics commentary] Roger Thrasher
p 49 / quote ["Never argue with a man who buys ink by the barrel."]
Bill Greener
p 52 / Subliminal Diet [s. tapes] Allan Maurer
p 72 / Mind Tripping [altered states lead to health] Judith Hooper
p 108 / advertisement [Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard] St. Martin’s Press
p 112 / Fetal Thought [does it exist?] ???
p 129 / interview [Karl Pribram] Judith Hooper
p 135 / advertisement [The Mastery of Life] The Rosicrucians
p 136 / Psi-Q Test 2 [psi] S. Schwartz and R. Mattei
p 151 / UFO Update [UFO] Alvin Lawson
p 152 / Bigfoot at Walla Walla [czoo] Owen Davies
p 152 / … And on Film [bigfoot, that is] Owen Davies
p 153 / The Alchemist’s Curse [a. really works] Moria Anderson
p 154 / Blond Mummy of Sinkiang [caucasian mummy from 2000 BC China] Douglass Starr
p 154 / Phantom Hitchhiker [para] Mark Teich
p 167 / advertisement [Autobiography of a Yogi] Self-Realization Fellowship
p 190 / Sun Shakes [may disprove Einstein's theory of relativity] Allan Hendry

The Anarchist’s Guide to the BBS
Keith Wade
Port Townsend: Loompanics 1990
8vo paperback 90p

There were two main reference points I used to evaluate this book. First, as an anarchist [1982-1994], did this teach me anything about BBS? And second, as someone with a little knowledge of computers, did this teach me about anarchy? The results were mixed but worth the read to find out.

The Anarchist’s Guide to the BBS is written for the novice to computers, containing several chapters of introduction to terms and procedures that are well written and build on each other nicely. The book centers on computers as telecommunication devices but I learned more about computers in general than I’d known before. In this respect the book is exactly what it claims to be, a guide to the BBS, and does its job well.

But as an anarchist’s guide to the BBS I found it lacking. Like The Anarchist’s Cookbook (which Loompanics dropped from its catalog many years ago as dangerous and misleading), The Anarchist’s Guide to the BBS confuses anarchism with criminality. The reasoning something like this: anarchists oppose government, governments write laws, therefore to break a law is an anarchist act. This reduces anarchism to the loyal opposition of the state, dependent on authority to tell it what not to do rather than a movement that could create an alternative to the state. There is little or nothing in the Guide about breaking into government or corporate computer networks for fact-finding or sabotage purposes, the decentralized nature of BBS communication and its relevance to anarchist theory, or the debate on the role of technology in the anarchist struggle in the future. Not only are these ideas not explored in a book about anarchy and computers but there is no exploration or analysis of anarchism at all. There is plenty of information on use of credit card numbers that aren’t yours and running a prostitution service over your BBS but not even these ideas, which have been debate in the anarchist press for years, have any theory behind them. It is enough to scam the state; no need to use that power to achieve anything other than increased wealth and power for yourself. If I read this book as a computer user with no background in anarchism there would be nothing to contradict the state (amass wealth at the expense of others) nor the state perspective on anarchists (those who amass wealth at the expense of others without going through the proper channels). A change of title to “The Criminal’s Guide to the BBS” would bring the book more in line with its content and improve the ability of the book to be what it claims to be.

(from OVO 9 July 1991)

Trevor Blake: Struggle! Digital images, 3 September 2010.

OUTLAW CHRISTIANITY! DEATH TO ALL CHRISTIANS!

The above does not reflect the intention of OVO, and in fact stands opposite to it. The above is provided to feed the presuppositions of those who will not actually read this issue of OVO. Any review of this issue that quotes the words above is likely to have been written by someone who never read beyond them to learn what OVO actually states. This issue of OVO has a purpose, but the likelihood that it will be misrepresented is great enough that a clear statement of what the purpose is not is in order.

OVO does not advocate the criminalization of Christianity. Existing criminal law suffices to address what is harmful, and law is among the least appropriate means of addressing what is merely mistaken. Christians deserve equal sanction by the law, and voluntary and informed activities among consenting adults (including religion) should not be outlawed.
OVO does not advocate the murder of Christians except in self-defense. Because of the potential for legal error, capital punishment is immoral in all cases. War and murder are immoral in all cases except in self-defense. Except in self-defense, it is always immoral to kill (including killing Christians).

OVO does not advocate the replacement of the Christian God with another God, a Goddess, a pantheon of deities, nature worship, or similar substitution. OVO does not advocate worship, be it of the Christian God or any other. To any reader who uses OVO to build up their own superstition: your faith is equally contemptible.

OVO does not criticize Christianity because it does not understand it. Many years research went into this issue, and along the way misunderstandings about Christianity (whether in its favor or against it) were abandoned. OVO criticizes Christianity not because it does not understand it, but because it is worthy of criticism.

OVO does not criticize Christianity because the editor had a traumatic experience with Christianity. The editor had a generally positive experience with Christianity while growing up and has Christian friends today. It is a silent admission of defeat that Christians use this psychological, secular explanation for why someone might criticize their superstition. The editor came to reject Christianity the old fashioned way: by reading the Bible.

OVO is not critical of Christianity because the editor is possessed by Satan, demons or evil spirits. Such ghosts have never existed.

OVO does not criticize Christianity because it is a socialist publication. OVO is not a socialist publication.

OVO does not criticize Christianity because Christianity is false. Christianity is false, but that is not in itself sufficient reason to advocate that it wither away. There are many non-fiction books, films, plays, poems and recordings that are also false but serve to inspire humanity. But these false stories do not claim to be true, are not taught to impressionable children as true, and are not used to support legislation that meddles in the affairs of non-Christians. No one is arguing that the epics of Homer be taught as history; no one is legislating that Aesop’s fables be posted in courtrooms. These stories, though false, serve to inspire those who seek them out and are rightly preserved. It is the secular power of Christianity that is the problem, not merely its falsehood. Christianity does not attempt to identify and lessen its falsehoods: it revels in them as ‘tests of faith.’ Christianity is holding back science and art, culture and philosophy, tools that actually can and actually have improved humanity’s lot in an indifferent Universe.

OVO does not criticize Christianity because it is a good religion perverted to bad ends. It is much more the case that a few good people (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, perhaps) have perverted the bad religion of Christianity to good ends. All the good done in the name of Christianity could and does occur through entirely secular means. What remains distinctly Christian if such duplication of labor is removed? Threats of eternal damnation, denial of the pleasures and wonders of this short life, confusion and deception. When Christianity has supported individual rights it has done so only after a ‘revelation’ that (a) goes against its own history and (b) miraculously is in harmony with contemporary public opinion. For example, many Christians opposed slavery in the United States; but many more supported slavery and did so for much longer. Even today the Bible contains many passages supporting slavery and not one passage condemning it. Christianity is a slave religion, a misogynist religion, a queer-killing religion, a nonsense religion, but good people keep twisting their bad faith to good ends. Wouldn’t it be better to just do good deeds without wasted efforts to placate an invisible monster that lives in the sky?

OVO does not criticize Christianity to criticize individual Christians. It is often the case that an attack on a person’s unconsidered beliefs is perceived as an attack on their person. If a person’s beliefs are profoundly unconsidered, to merely state that one holds differing beliefs is perceived as an attack. For example, Christians who see other superstitions get equal time in the eyes of the law sometimes complain that their freedom of religion is under attack. Those who hold considered beliefs are secure when challenged and (hopefully) willing to admit error. Those who hold unconsidered beliefs, who repeat what they have been told without deliberation, are more likely to confuse who they are with what they believe. Christianity, like all religions, encourages strong belief but also encourages a lack of consideration. Posturing, bullying and stubbornness are substitutes for consideration of belief among most Christians.

OVO does not criticize Christianity because its claims contradict the evidence of our senses, science, history, archeology, astronomy, mathematics, common sense and the like. It is true that Christianity is incompatible with all of these, but science progresses by way of challenges to all our claims. If Christianity challenges the evidence of our senses, all the better: let the challenges be considered and considered again. If the Bible contradicts science, science can be tested to see if the Bible has a better explanation for reality. Where the Bible holds true, the Bible holds true. Where the Bible is found to be false, it should either be re-written or re-classified as folk tales. Resolving contradictions between the Bible and the evidence of our senses can be of value to us all, and so the contradictions between the Bible and the evidence of our senses are not in themselves why the Bible should be criticized. Internal contradictions in the Bible, and holding on to falsehood when falsehood has been identified, are worthy of the greatest of criticisms.

OVO does not criticize Christianity as an argument for atheism. The editor is preparing an argument for atheism that is distinct from this argument against Christianity.

OVO does not criticize Christianity because Jesus Christ was a good person whose followers have gone astray, or because we do not have the secret teachings of Jesus, or because Jesus was a complex person with both good and bad qualities. Jesus never existed.

In 1991, the editor published A Call to Heresy on a BBS in Knoxville, Tennessee USA. The document found its way onto BBS’ around the world as well as other formats, including an Internet domain in Hong Kong and a CD-ROM of public domain texts published by Palm Computers. Various editions of the text can be found on the Internet today. Some of the research done for that text has found a new home here in OVO 16 AntiChrist.

OVO criticizes the Bible. Some Christians say that it is an error to overly attend to what the Bible says, and one should rely on the Bible as inspiration rather than fact. But the Bible itself makes claims of perfection, and so taking it at its word in claims of perfection are as justified as any other perspective; perhaps more justified than some ‘inspired’ interpretations. If any interpretation of the Bible is as good as any other, then Christians in no way can distance themselves from the worst among them. Having failed to amend the contradictions, atrocities and absurdities in the Bible with over two thousand years to do so, it is reasonable to conclude that the Bible is considered factual among Christians. Some Christians (called Dominionists or Fundamentalists or Conservatives or the Christian Right) are explicit in their claim that the Bible is factual, while the rest hold it to be factual but requiring ‘interpretation’ (often by way of asking the reader to simply ignore parts of the Bible).

But this issue of OVO does not limit itself to criticisms of the Bible. The Roman Catholic Church claims a history pre-dating the Bible. Martin Luther, founder of Protestant Christianity, wrote inspired texts. The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints and the Watchtower Society claim to have Christian revelations in modern times. All of these Christians are well deserving of criticism and contempt.

There are a set number of responses offered by Christians when confronted with their own beliefs. The first and most common is to be told that these Bible verses have been taken out of context. It is claimed that the verses surrounding these quotes give them a meaning other than their apparent meaning. If this is the case it will be easy to demonstrate; full citations for each quote are given throughout. The reader is encouraged to read the Bible. There is no more sure path to rejecting Christianity than understanding it. Some claim that the contexts of the times change how we should understand the Bible. But does the Bible say it is relevant only until the time of Job (the last time God speaks directly to humanity), or does it claim to be relevant to all times? Some claim that one translation of the Bible offers a more accurate account than another, but existing fragmentary early Christian texts contain their own contradictions, atrocities and absurdities.

The second common reply made by Christians when confronted with their own beliefs is that the Bible, God, Jesus and the rest are not to be understood by reason in the way math or science is. Christianity is to be understood by faith, by the heart, by the spirit, by the soul. Therefore any apparent contradictions, atrocities or absurdities should be ignored because those are all ‘reason’ and not ‘faith.’ But there is no ‘alternative to reason’ as faith is said to be. One can hope, one can wish, one can pretend and ignore, one can scream or run away or kill one’s critics, but none of these are alternatives to reason. Even if there were an alternative to reason, how is the ‘feeling’ that Christianity is true (and all other religions false) different from the ‘feeling’ that Islam is true (and all other religions are false)? Why is it that Christian ‘feelings’ are so regional – does God not inspire such ‘feelings’ everywhere equally? Why don’t children have that ‘feeling’ until an adult tells them to say they do, and why do adults spend so much effort making sure that ‘feeling’ is planted in children?

All religions claim to be the only true religion. Even the ecumenical religions claim to be the only true religion, by claiming that the non-ecumenical religions are false. But since all religions contradict each other at most only one can be the only true religion. Since all religions by definition put themselves outside what can be demonstrated as true, it would be unjust to establish any religion as secular law because the likelihood of error would be too great. Suppose Mithrism became the law of the United States when actually it was Ah Pook that was the real living God? Those countries that have a legal assumption of atheism serve freedom the most. At times this has been the case in the United States, where OVO originates. Christianity threatens the legal presupposition of atheism in the USA, necessitating this issue of OVO. Christianity is the superstition behind the US support of Israel, the war in Iraq, lack of access to Plan B and a vaccine for two strains of cancer-causing HPV, the removal of science from public education, the ongoing imprisonment of the West Memphis Three (among others), blue laws, laws forbidding atheists from holding elected office and more. Reform from within should occur in Christianity. Civil discourse should occur between Christians and non-Christians. But should Christianity elect to ignore the opportunities of positive reinforcement, let it learn the sting of negative reinforcement. OVO is not reforming Christianity from within, nor is it a civil discourse. It is an attack – using only Christianity’s own beliefs as weapons. When Mithrism or the faithful of Ah Pook establish their superstition as law in the USA, they will be equally worthy of criticism. Readers in countries where Islam or Judaism are the majority superstition are encouraged to make similar efforts.

This issue of OVO advocates the withering away of Christianity through reason and scorn. Reason alone withers Christianity to a hostile party guest that has long overstayed his welcome; scorn provide us with laughter and satisfaction as we show him to the door. Perhaps reason alone, or reason and compassion, might be a more noble endeavor. But any belief that cannot withstand a little mockery is perhaps not worth holding in the first place.

Subject religious organizations to the same requirements as secular non-profit organizations: demonstrate they perform a quantifiable public good to receive tax-exempt status. Do not donate any funds, labor or resources to Christian organizations: there are secular equivalents to any Christian organization for those who seek to aid others. Do not vote for politicians who make their Christianity a part of their platform. Oppose ‘faith based’ funding and theocratic laws. Learn more about Christianity than the Christians themselves. Confront Christians with their own claims and history.

OVO is fortunate to originate in the United States, where Christianity and other superstitions may be legally practiced and criticized. The United Kingdom, Holland, Sweden, Italy, Turkey, Norway, Canada and other countries forbid criticism of religion as a form of ‘hate crime,’ while China, North Korea and other countries forbid religion as a form of ‘thought crime.’ In the United States religion may be both practiced and criticized – for now. If Christianity continues to become the state religion of the United States, this may not be the case much longer.

OVO is a tool kit to disabuse the reader of Christianity.

(from OVO 16 ANTICHRIST January 2006)

This essay makes the case against tax exemption for religious organizations in Oregon. The amount of revenue lost as well as the harm caused by religious organizations is not compensated for by the social good they are alleged to provide (this alleged social good being the justification for their tax exempt status).

Tax exemption for religious organizations in Oregon brings about three problems for Oregonians. First, there is no definition of religion to differentiate ‘real’ religious organizations from ‘fake’ ones, thus making any decision for or against tax exemption on the part of the government arbitrary. Second, religious organizations are not compelled to make contributions to their community that are comparable to the amount they are awarded in taxes breaks, nor is there any effort or means to hold them accountable for aiding the community. Third, the revenue needs of Oregon could be met by taxing religious organizations at only a fraction of the rate other organizations are taxed.

It is helpful to delineate what is under discussion in any argument. In this case, the topics under discussion are Oregon, taxes exemption and religion. Oregon is the state to the North of California and Nevada, to the South of Washington, to the West of Idaho and with a Western boundary of the Pacific Ocean. Tax exemption means that the agencies in question are not compelled to pay taxes. The definitions for Oregon and tax exemption are easy to find, confirm, and understand. But the search for a definition of religion is doomed to failure.

There is no legal definition of what a religion is, be it on the international level, the national level or the state level. Although many nations define religion as something deserving of political protection, there is no legal definition of what a religion is in international law [1].

There is also no legal definition of what a religion is in United States law. The First Amendment of the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The Civil Rights Act of 1964 states that the religion of a US citizen cannot be used to deny them public accommodation, equal protection under the law, segregation in public education or college education, the right to vote, or employment [2]. While the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ensure protection of religion, neither define what it is they are protecting. The United States has never offered a definition what a religion is, although it has offered a definition of what a religion is not. In Thomas vs. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division, the Supreme Court determined that “religious beliefs need not be acceptable, logical, consistent, or comprehensible to others in order to merit First Amendment protection [3].” In the eyes of the law, a religion is anything that declares itself a religion.

There is no legal definition of what a religion is in Oregon law. ORS 128.620 (4) states a “religious organization means any organized church or group organized for the purpose of divine worship, religious teaching, or other directly ancillary purposes [4].” ORS 307.140 states property owned or being purchased by religious organizations is exempt from taxation [5]. ORS 65.001 (39) states that a religious group “is designated a religious corporation by a statute or is organized primarily or exclusively for religious purposes.” The Department of Revenues states that exemption from property tax is available for any religious group that has a constitution, bylaws, or charter which states its mission and purpose [6]. Religious organizations in Oregon are clearly given exemption from property tax, and are clearly expected to ‘be religious.’ But there is no legal definition of what a religion is or how to ‘be religious’ in Oregon law.

Whether it be international law, United States law or Oregon law, there is no legal definition of what a religion is. What if legal sanctions and prohibitions for other issues were left similarly vague? For better and for worse, there are legal definitions to who is and is not a Native American; what is and is not an endangered species; which chemicals are and are not legal to ingest. If there were no definition of who is a Native American, anyone could collect federal benefits reserved for Native Americans. If there were no definition of what an endangered species is, any species could be declared no longer endangered and hunted to extinction. If there were no definition of who is authorized to sell morphine, anyone who would like to make some fast money would do so. The reason legal definitions exist is so that laws may be fairly applied to all, and so that exemptions from the law may be justified. But a religious group is a religious group merely because it claims to be a religious group. Religions exempt themselves from definition, aside from the definition of ‘that which is tax exempt.’

Because there is no legal definition for religion in Oregon, there is no way to determine if religious tax exemptions are being fairly applied. Some religious organizations may be tax exempt but not deservedly so, while other religious organizations may not be tax exempt and deserve tax exemption. There is no way to determine if religious tax exemptions are being fairly granted to all applicants because there is no way to determine which applicant is ‘being religious’ and which is not. Whatever ‘being religious’ means, religious organizations are exempt from paying taxes. This includes taxes related to their property, businesses, income, and donations.

The justification offered for religious tax exemption is similar to that of secular groups that qualify for non-profit status (501c3). Secular non-profit organizations earn their tax exempt status by providing services that might otherwise be provided by the state, such as housing or medical care. Since the state does not have to pay for these services, no taxes are gathered from organizations that offer such services. Since the perceived need for taxes is thereby reduced, secular non-profit organizations can justify their tax-exempt status.

But there is an important difference between the tax-exempt status of secular organizations and the tax-exempt status of religious organizations. Secular non-profit organizations are held accountable for their work. They must demonstrate that the service they provide is necessary, that they have provided that service, that the service they provided was taken advantage of, and that the cost of lost taxes is less than the benefit of the services provided. If a secular non-profit organization cannot demonstrate each of these characteristics, they do not retain their tax-exempt status.

The standards that secular non-profit organizations are held to makes them very different from religious tax-exempt organizations. Religious tax-exempt organizations are not held to these standards or to any other standard. A religious organization may deliver food to the hungry, offer shelter to the homeless and counseling to the troubled – or they may do none of these things, or it may do these things to a standard far outside accepted norms (such as offering “prayer” as a substitute for medical care or counseling). Religious groups are exempt from taxes whether or not they serve their community and lessen the tax burden. There is no legal obligation on a religious group’s part to demonstrate they have delivered food, shelter or other tangible services; there is no legal obligation on a religious group’s part to do anything to retain their tax-exempt status other than filing or re-filing the proper forms. It is not possible to measure measures how much religion Oregonians need, how much religion religious organizations provide, how many people take advantage of religion, whether one form of religion is more beneficial than any other, or whether or not religion is cost effective. While is it possible to state how many people claim religious affiliation, it is not possible to state what that means. It is not possible to determine if a two-year-old just as religious as an adult. It is not possible to legislate how often or in what way a group must be religious to qualify for tax exempt status. Because there is no oversight to determine how much a religious group serves its community, there is no justification for tax exempt status for religious organizations in Oregon.

Oregon law does not state what religion is. Oregon law is also not consistent in when individuals are exempt from legal punishment due to religion. Sometimes activities are forbidden by law irregardless of religion, other times they are allowed if religion is said to be involved. In the case of Employment Division Department of Human Resources of Oregon vs. Smith it was determined that the state of Oregon is not compelled to allow the use of peyote [7]. Although peyote has been a part of Native American religions for centuries, and although the plaintiffs were themselves Native Americans and were using peyote for what they claimed were religious reasons, the state Supreme Court determined they were not entitled to unemployment compensation after being fired due to using peyote. The legal injunction against peyote use trumped their religious claims. This is an example of an activity being illegal whether or not it was ‘religious.’

Conversely, Oregon law provides immunity to many charges if the crime occurred as religion. These crimes have included homicide by abuse or neglect, first and second degree manslaughter, criminal mistreatment, requirements for children to wear a bicycle helmet, and nonsupport of children. Until recently, all of these crimes could be excused if the defendant claims they were committed as religion [8].

All newborns in Oregon are given a drop of vitamin K by law, but parents can prevent their children from receiving protection against spontaneous hemorrhaging for religious reasons.

The Followers of Christ Church in Clackamas County took advantage of religious exemption for murder by allowing nearly eighty children to die since the 1950s from treatable medical conditions. In over half of these deaths, the state did not attempt to establish the cause of death, the record was lost or their deaths were listed as due to ‘natural causes.’ Even when an Oregon medical examiner brought these deaths to the attention of the District Attorney’s office, the prosecutor declined to file charges. In the words of Rita Swan, “a parent may be beating or torturing a child, but if he or she can show that the child was prayed for, criminal charges must be dismissed [9].” Oregon House Bill 2494 revised criminal exemptions for parents who treat children only with prayer in 1999, after hearing opposing testimony by Oregon churches [10]. While child sacrifice in Oregon now carries some consequences, other criminal exemptions such as not requiring a religious child to wear a bicycle helmet remain [11]. These are examples of an otherwise illegal activity made legal by calling it ‘religious.’

One of the larger religious organization in Oregon is the Archdiocese of Portland. The Archdiocese of Portland is under the direct orders of the Roman Catholic Church, led by the Pope of Rome. In 1962, Pope John XXIII gave his approval to a document outlining the policy of the Roman Catholic Church in the event of child abuse by clergy. The policy was to keep child abuse by clergy secret and to transfer abusive priests to new parishes. The policy itself was to be kept secret but was revealed in 2003. The policy has never been retracted [12]; in fact, the current Pope stated in 2001 that the policy was still in effect [13]. More than one hundred and sixty nine victims of clerical child abuse have sued the Archdiocese of Portland for child abuse, and more than $53,000,000.00 has been assigned to settlements so far. While the Archdiocese of Portland filed for and received permission to delay paying its victims, it did have the funds to make building upgrades costing $1.6 million dollars [14]. The Archdiocese of Portland is estimated to own between $300,000,000 and $500,000,000 in property, none of which is taxed. It also owns special-purpose funds, investment funds, and loan funds, none of which are taxed. In 2003 its revenue was no less than and perhaps greater than $8.2 million, none of which was taxed [15]. The Archdiocese of Portland is only one out of 6,862 religious organizations claiming ORS 307.140 tax exemption in the state [16]. To quote the Oregonian, “The Catholic Church operates not by secular law, but by church law [17].”

Religious organizations in Oregon are not compelled to follow the same standards of education and employment as any other educator or employer in the state. Fundamental facts of nature which are part of the basic curriculum for any other school in the state may be omitted or deliberately misrepresented in religious schools. Any secular employer who hires and fires based on gender, ethnicity, sexuality, marital status or beliefs is subject to legal sanctions, but if the employer is religious they may hire and fire at will are protected by law in doing so.

Non-profit organizations (both secular and religious) are forbidden from endorsing political candidates. But some religious tax-exempt groups want to have their cake and eat it too. The Sonrise Church of Hillsboro lost its tax exempt status after partisan campaigning on its property [18]. The Christian Coalition has published the same sort of voting guides that cost the Sonrise Church its tax exempt status [19]. The New Hope Community Church of Clackamas has held partisan campaign meetings on its property [20]. The campaign to elect George W. Bush solicited the support of hundreds of religious organizations [21]. To further blur the line between state and superstition, the House of Representatives has initiated a bill that will merely fine religious organization that engage in partisan politics rather than revoke their tax exempt status [22]. Religious organizations can now avail themselves to federal funds through George W. Bush’s ‘faith based initiatives’ law – but apparently this money is made available mainly to Christian organizations, as few other religious organizations that have applied have received such funds. Under faith based funding, tax dollars can go to agencies that refuse to hire or serve minorities, women, homosexuals or anyone else for any reason.

In 1998 the Audits Division of the State of Oregon Department of Revenue conducted an audit of property tax exemptions. It determined that among religious organizations claiming tax exempt status under ORS 307.140, the sum of $2,010,492,000.00 was lost in tax year 1995-1996 [23]. This figure represents only revenues lost from property taxes, and does not include other lost forms of revenues connected to employment, businesses, museums and other sources of income for religious organizations. The audit states that 41 of the 154 organizations audited that were granted tax exempt status did not even meet the minimal state standards for tax exempt status (whatever those might be). The audit does not specifically state how many of these organizations were tax exempt under ORS 307.140. But the fact that one third of the organizations that claimed (and were granted) exemption totaling seventeen percent of $170.9 billion dollars in property taxes [24] were not qualified to do so suggests that Oregon religious tax exemption law is in dire need of supervision and revision [25]. Among other recommendations, the audit suggested that Oregon needs a clear definition of what a religion is to be able to fairly evaluate applications for ORS 307.140 tax exempt status [26]. This recommendation was not mentioned in the Department of Revenue’s reply [27] nor in a 1999 report on their progress in implementing 1998 audit [28]. Religion continues to go undefined, but religious tax exemption continues to be granted.

At what cost does Oregon grant tax exempt status to religious organizations? The state deficit for fiscal year 2004 was between $950,000.00 and $1,267,000.00 [29]. If religious organizations were taxed only for their property and only at half the rate of any other organization, the state budget would be all-but balanced within a single year.

Being religious, the defining trait that has no definition, is in the main an excuse to do as one pleases without consequence in Oregon. The majority of religious organizations in Oregon do not abuse and sacrifice children. Instead, they do nothing. Doing nothing and ruining childrens’ lives should not be rewarded with tax exemption.

Notes:
[1] Gunn , T. Jeremy: The Complexity of Religion and the Definition of “Religion” in International Law. Harvard Human Rights Journal Volume 16 Spring 2003. http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/hrj/iss16/gunn.shtml
[2] Civil Rights Act of 1964. Document Number: PL 88-352. http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/laws/majorlaw/civilr19.htm
[3] Thomas vs. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division. 450 U.S. 707. http://laws.findlaw.com/us/450/707.html
[4] ORS Chapter 128 http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/128.html
[5] ORS Chapter 307 http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/307.html
[6] Property Tax Exemptions for Special Organizations. http://www.dor.state.or.us/InfoC/310-664.html
[7] Employment Division Department of Human Resources of Oregon vs. Smith http://laws.findlaw.com/us/494/872.html
[8] Children’s Health Care. http://www.childrenshealthcare.org/
[9] Swan, Rita. Letting Children Die for the Faith. Free Inquiry, Volume 19, Number 1. http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/swan_19_1.htm
[10] Larabee, Mark. Shield-law bills face easy win in House. Oregonian, March 5, 1999 http://www.rickross.com/reference/foc/foc9.html
[11] Children’s Health Care. http://www.childrenshealthcare.org/
[12] BBC News. Excerpts: Vatican document. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3157859.stm
[13] Pope ‘Obstructed’ Sex Abuse Inquiry. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1469055,00.html
[14] Funds are Released to Florence Parish http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/111813879118220.xml&coll=7
[15] Sunday Oregonian, May 23, 2004, Page A-14.
[16] State of Oregon Department of Revenue Property Tax Exemptions. March 24, 1998. Page 51. http://www.sos.state.or.us/audits/audreports/1998_year.html
[17] Sunday Oregonian, May 23, 2004, Page A-14.
[18] Americans United Reports Eight Churches to IRS for Distributing Christian Coalition Voter Guides During November Elections. December 10 1998. http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6112&abbr=pr&JServSessionIdr012=i6cieg36h2.app1b&news_iv_ctrl=1502
[19] Christian Coalition of Oregon http://www.coalition.org/
[20] Dobson speaks to NW pastors about same-sex debate. KATU April 5 2004. http://www.katu.com/news/story.asp?ID=66042
[21] Bush Campaign [...] To Forge Church-Based Political Machine. Americans United, June 2 2004. http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6692&abbr=pr&security=1002&news_iv_ctrl=1241
[22] House steps into church-politics debate. USA Today, June 8 2004. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/2004-06-08-church-politics_x.htm
[23] State of Oregon Department of Revenue Property Tax Exemptions. March 24, 1998. Page 51. http://www.sos.state.or.us/audits/audreports/1998_year.html
[24] ibid. March 24, 1998. Page 56. http://www.sos.state.or.us/audits/audreports/1998_year.html
[25] ibid. March 24, 1998. Page iii. http://www.sos.state.or.us/audits/audreports/1998_year.html
[26] ibid. March 24, 1998. Page 44. http://www.sos.state.or.us/audits/audreports/1998_year.html
[27] ibid. March 24, 1998. Page 55. http://www.sos.state.or.us/audits/audreports/1998_year.html
[28] State of Oregon Department of Revenue Status of 1998 Audit Recommendations as Reported by State Agencies. November 17, 1999. http://www.sos.state.or.us/audits/audreports/1999_year.html
[29] State Budget Shortfall Map http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/budgetmap.html

(from OVO 16 ANTICHRIST January 2006)

The Watchtower Society, also known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, have predicted the end of the world no less than five times. According to their founder Charles Taze Russell, their second President J.E. Rutherford, and their official magazines The Watchtower and Awake!, the world was to end in 1914. But 1914 came and went without the world ending. So the date changed to 1915. But 1915 came and went without the world ending. So the date changed to 1918. But 1918 came and went without the world ending. So the date changed to 1925. But 1925 came and went without the world ending. So the date changed to 1975. But 1975 came and went without the world ending. So they stopped making public predictions about the end of the world and purged members (nearly 30,000 in 1978 alone) who questioned these false prophecies. Making failed predictions is a sure way to look stupid, but looking stupid isn’t so bad. Where the Watchtower Society really stands out is denying medical care for their children, based on fickle revelations from God to their leadership. Sometimes they ban medical procedures such as blood transfusions or organ transplants, sometimes they do not ban them – too bad if your child died while the ban was in effect. Maybe it wasn’t the end of the world, just the end of your child, that the Jehovah’s Witnesses were able to bring about.

THE WORLD WILL END IN 1914
“And, with the end of A.D. 1914, what God calls Babylon , and what men call Christendom, will have passed away, as is already shown from prophecy.” Charles Taze Russell, Studies In The Scriptures, Vol. III
“…we consider it an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world, and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God, will be accomplished by the end of A.D. 1914″ Charles Taze Russell, The Finished Mystery.

NO, WAIT, THE WORLD WILL END IN 1915
“In the coming 26 years [1889+25], all present governments will be overthrown and dissolved.” Charles Taze Russell, Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. II
“The Gentile Times prove that the present governments must all be overthrown about the close of A.D. 1915.” Charles Taze Russell, The Time Is At Hand.

NO, WAIT, THE WORLD WILL END IN 1918
“… in the year 1918, when God destroys the churches wholesale and the church members by millions, it shall be that any that escape shall come to the works of Pastor Russell to learn the meaning of the downfall of Christianity.” The Finished Mystery (1917 edition).

NO, WAIT, THE WORLD WILL END IN 1925
“… there will be a resurrection of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and other faithful ones of old … we may expect 1925 to witness the return of these faithful men of Israel from the condition of death, being resurrected and fully restored to perfect humanity and made the visible, legal representatives of the new order of things on earth… Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the Apostle in Hebrews 11, to the condition of human perfection.” J.E. Rutherford, Millions Now Living Will Never Die.
“Fulfilled prophecy shows beyond a doubt that (Christ) did appear in 1874. Fulfilled prophecy is otherwise designated the physical facts; and these facts are indisputable… We understand that the jubilee type began to count in 1575 B.C.; and the 3,500 year period embracing the type must end in 1925… It follows, then, that the year 1925 will mark the beginning of the restoration of all things lost by Adam’s disobedience.” J.E. Rutherford, The Watchtower, November 1 1922
“Our thought is, that 1925 is definitely settled by the scriptures. As to Noah, the Christian now has much more upon which to base his faith than Noah had upon which to base his faith in a coming deluge.” The Watchtower, April 1 1923

NO, WAIT, THE WORLD WILL END IN 1975
“[...] according to reliable Bible chronology Adam was created in the year 4026 BCE, likely in the autumn of the year, at the end of the sixth day of creation.” [...]  “According to reliable Bible chronology, Adam and Eve were created in 4026 BCE.” [...] “Are we to assume from this study that the battle of Armageddon will be all over by the autumn of 1975, and the long-looked-for thousand-year reign of Christ will begin by then? Possibly, but we wait to see how closely the seventh thousand-year period of man’s existence coincides with the sabbathlike thousand-year reign of Christ… Our chronology, however, which is reasonably accurate (but admittedly not infallible), at the best only points to the autumn of 1975 as the end of 6,000 years of man’s existence on earth.” The Watchtower April 1, 1968; Awake! October 8, 1968; The Watchtower August 15, 1968.

BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS FORBIDDEN!
Watchtower September 15 1961 pp. 563-564
Watchtower February 15 1964 pp. 127-8

BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS NOT FORBIDDEN!
Watchtower November 15 1964 pp. 680-3
Watchtower June 15 2000 p. 31

ORGAN TRANSPLANT FORBIDDEN!
Watchtower November 15 1967 pp. 702-4
Awake! June 8 1968 p. 21

ORGAN TRANSPLANT NOT FORBIDDEN!
Watchtower March 15 1980 p. 31

(from OVO 16 ANTICHRIST January 2006)

Those Mormons sure are friendly. But are they friendly to all of God’s children? The following quotations from Nephi, Jacob, and Alma are from the Book of Mormon. In modern editions of the Book of Mormon the word ‘white’ (skin) is often changed to ‘pure’ (character); the original text is quoted here. As the Book of Mormon is said to be inspired by God, dictated by angels and faithfully transcribed by Joseph Smith, any modern changes are less accurate than these original quotes. Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Bruce McConkie, Mark Peterson and Orson Pratt were or are all leaders of the LDS. African-American men were not allowed to be clergy in the LDS until 1978, nor were African-American men allowed to lead LDS Boy Scout troops. Like the Mormon revelation that polygamy was not to be practiced on Earth (only in Heaven), the revelations to white-wash the Book of Mormon and allow African-American leadership came at exactly the same time as human discontent (and lawsuits) arose against them. What a miracle!

• And the angel said unto me: Behold these [Native Americans] shall dwindle in unbelief. And it came to pass that I beheld, after they had dwindled in unbelief they became a dark, and loathsome, and a filthy people, full of idleness and all manner of abominations. – 1 Nephi 22:23
• And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, and they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance; and I beheld that they were white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful, like unto my people before they were slain. – 1 Nephi 13:15
• And I beheld the Spirit of the Lord, that it was upon the Gentiles, and they did prosper and obtain the land for their inheritance; and I beheld that they were white, and exceedingly fair and beautiful, like unto my people before they were slain. And thus saith the Lord God: I will cause that they shall be loathsome unto thy people, save they shall repent of their iniquities. And cursed shall be the seed of him that mixeth with their seed; for they shall be cursed even with the same cursing. And the Lord spake it, and it was done. And because of their cursing which was upon them they did become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, and did seek in the wilderness for beasts of prey. – 2 Nephi 5:21:24
• And then shall they [Native Americans] rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be a white and delightsome people. – 2 Nephi 30:6
• Behold, the Lamanites [Native Americans] your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness and the cursing which hath come upon their skins, are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father – that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them. [...] O my brethren, I fear that unless ye shall repent of your sins that their skins will be whiter than yours, when ye shall be brought with them before the throne of God. [...] Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, which is the word of God, that ye revile no more against them because of the darkness of their skins; neither shall ye revile against them because of their filthiness; but ye shall remember your own filthiness, and remember that their filthiness came because of their fathers. – Jacob 3:5,8-9
• And the skins of the Lamanites were dark, according to the mark which was set upon their fathers, which was a curse upon them because of their transgression and their rebellion against their brethren, who consisted of Nephi, Jacob, and Joseph, and Sam, who were just and holy men. [...] And this was done that their seed might be distinguished from the seed of their brethren, that thereby the Lord God might preserve his people, that they might not mix and believe in incorrect traditions which would prove their destruction. [...] And it came to pass that whosoever did mingle his seed with that of the Lamanites did bring the same curse upon his seed. – Alma 3:6,9
• “Had I anything to do with the negro, I would confine them by strict law to their own species and put them on a national equalization.” – Joseph Smith
• “Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so.” – Brigham Young
• “…after the flood we are told that the curse that had been pronounced upon Cain was continued through Ham’s wife, as he had married a wife of that seed. And why did it pass through the flood? Because it was necessary that the devil should have a representation a upon a the earth as well as God… ” – John Taylor
• “The negroes are not equal with other races when the receipt of certain spiritual blessings are concerned [...] As a result of his rebellion, Cain was cursed with a dark skin; he became the father of the negroes [...] Cain, Ham, and the whole negro race have [been] cursed with a black skin, the mark of Cain, so they can be identified as a caste apart, a people with whom the other descendants of Adam should not intermarry.” – Bruce McConkie
• “At least in the cases of the Lamanites and the negroes we have the definite word of the Lord Himself that He placed a dark skin upon them as a curse – as a punishment and as a sign to all others. [...] If there is one drop of negro blood in my children, as I have read to you, they receive the curse. There isn’t any argument, therefore, as to intermarriage with the Negro, is there? Now we are generous with the Negro. We are willing that the Negro have the highest kind of education. I would be willing to let every Negro drive a Cadillac if they could afford it.” – Mark Peterson
• “The Lord has not kept them in store for five or six thousand years past, and kept them waiting for their bodies all this time to send them among the Hottentots, the African Negroes, the idolatrous Hindoos, or any other of the fallen nations of the earth.” – Orson Pratt

(from OVO 16 ANTICHRIST January 2006)

Protestant Christianity was founded by Martin Luther. What did Luther have to say about Jews? Maybe Luther wasn’t such a great moral leader after all. Maybe these proposals bore fruit in Luther’s country four hundred years later.  The following are quotes from Luther’s book The Jews and Their Lies (1543).

I had made up my mind to write no more either about the Jews or against them. But since I learned that these miserable and accursed people do not cease to lure to themselves even us, that is, the Christians, I have published this little book, so that I might be found among those who opposed such poisonous activities of the Jews who warned the Christians to be on their guard against them. I would not have believed that a Christian could be duped by the Jews into taking their exile and wretchedness upon himself. However, the devil is the god of the world, and wherever God’s word is absent he has an easy task, not only with the weak but also with the strong. May God help us. Amen

My essay, I hope, will furnish a Christian (who in any case has no desire to become a Jew) with enough material not only to defend himself against the blind, venomous Jews, but also to become the foe of the Jews’ malice, lying, and cursing, and to understand not only that their belief is false but that they are surely possessed by all devils. May Christ, our dear Lord, convert them mercifully and preserve us steadfastly and immovably in the knowledge of him, which is eternal life. Amen.

What shall we Christians do with this rejected and condemned people, the Jews? Since they live among us, we dare not tolerate their conduct, now that we are aware of their lying and reviling and blaspheming. If we do, we become sharers in their lies, cursing and blasphemy. Thus we cannot extinguish the unquenchable fire of divine wrath, of which the prophets speak, nor can we convert the Jews. With prayer and the fear of God we must practice a sharp mercy to see whether we might save at least a few from the glowing flames. We dare not avenge ourselves. Vengeance a thousand times worse than we could wish them already has them by the throat. I shall give you my sincere advice:

First to set fire to their synagogues or schools and to bury and cover with dirt whatever will not burn, so that no man will ever again see a stone or cinder of them. This is to be done in honor of our Lord and of Christendom, so that God might see that we are Christians, and do not condone or knowingly tolerate such public lying, cursing, and blaspheming of his Son and of his Christians. For whatever we tolerated in the past unknowingly – and I myself was unaware of it – will be pardoned by God. But if we, now that we are informed, were to protect and shield such a house for the Jews, existing right before our very nose, in which they lie about, blaspheme, curse, vilify, and defame Christ and us (as was heard above), it would be the same as if we were doing all this and even worse ourselves, as we very well know.

Second, I advise that their houses also be razed and destroyed. For they pursue in them the same aims as in their synagogues. Instead they might be lodged under a roof or in a barn, like the gypsies. This will bring home to them that they are not masters in our country, as they boast, but that they are living in exile and in captivity, as they incessantly wail and lament about us before God.
Third, I advise that all their prayer books and Talmudic writings, in which such idolatry, lies, cursing and blasphemy are taught, be taken from them.

Fourth, I advise that their rabbis be forbidden to teach henceforth on pain of loss of life and limb. For they have justly forfeited the right to such an office by holding the poor Jews captive with the saying of Moses (Deuteronomy 17 [:10]) in which he commands them to obey their teachers on penalty of death, although Moses clearly adds: “what they teach you in accord with the law of the Lord.” Those villains ignore that. They wantonly employ the poor people’s obedience contrary to the law of the Lord and infuse them with this poison, cursing, and blasphemy. In the same way the pope also held us captive with the declaration in Matthew 16 [:18], “You are Peter,” etc, inducing us to believe all the lies and deceptions that issued from his devilish mind. He did not teach in accord with the word of God, and therefore he forfeited the right to teach.

Fifth, I advise that safe conduct on the highways be abolished completely for the Jews. For they have no business in the countryside, since they are not lords, officials, tradesmen, or the like. Let they stay at home.

Sixth, I advise that usury be prohibited to them, and that all cash and treasure of silver and gold be taken from them and put aside for safekeeping. The reason for such a measure is that, as said above, they have no other means of earning a livelihood than usury, and by it they have stolen and robbed from us all they possess. Such money should now be used in no other way than the following: Whenever a Jew is sincerely converted, he should be handed one hundred, two hundred, or three hundred florins, as personal circumstances may suggest. With this he could set himself up in some occupation for the support of his poor wife and children, and the maintenance of the old or feeble. For such evil gains are cursed if they are not put to use with God’s blessing in a good and worthy cause.

Seventh, I commend putting a flail, an axe, a hoe, a spade, a distaff, or a spindle into the hands of young, strong Jews and Jewesses and letting them earn their bread in the sweat of their brow, as was imposed on the children of Adam (Gen 3[:19]). For it is not fitting that they should let us accursed Goyim toil in the sweat of our faces while they, the holy people, idle away their time behind the stove, feasting and farting, and on top of all, boasting blasphemously of their lordship over the Christians by means of our sweat. No, one should toss out these lazy rogues by the seat of their pants.

(from OVO 16 ANTICHRIST January 2006)

Imagine that you meet someone who offered you a magic pony, a bag of candy, and to be your best friend forever. The generous stranger promised thirty times they would do these things for you within your lifetime, and then disappeared. They never came back in your life, or the lives of your children, or your children’s children, or any of your descendants for over two thousand years. Would it make sense to keep waiting for the generous stranger who made such amazing promises, or would you admit that he told a nice story but didn’t deliver the goods? Jesus said thirty times that He would establish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth within the lifetime of those who saw Him speak. Two thousand years later, Christians are still making excuses for their lying Messiah.

• The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. – Zephaniah 1:14
• For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land; And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts. – Haggai 2:6-8
• But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I [Jesus] say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. – Matthew 10:23
• Verily I [Jesus] say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. – Matthew 16:28
• Verily I [Jesus] say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. – Matthew 23:36
• And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. – Matthew 24:14 [Romans 10:18 states: But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.]
• Verily I [Jesus] say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. – Matthew 24:34
• Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. – Matthew 26:64
• And he [Jesus] said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. – Mark 9:1
• Verily I [Jesus] say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. – Mark 13:30
• And Jesus said, I am: and ye [“the high priest”] shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. – Mark 14:62
• But I [Jesus] tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God. – Luke 9:27
• Verily, verily, I [Jesus] say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. – John 5:25
• And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. – Romans 13:11-12
• But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none. -  1 Corinthians 7:29
• Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. – 1 Corinthians 10:11
• Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. – Philippians 4:5
• For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. [...] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. -  1 Thessalonians 4:15, 17
• That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. -  2 Thessalonians 2:2
• God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. – Hebrews 1:1,2
• For then must he [Jesus] often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. – Hebrews 9:26
• For yet a little while, and he [Jesus] that shall come will come, and will not tarry. – Hebrews 10:37
• Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. – James 5:8
• Who [Jesus] verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. – 1 Peter 1:20
• But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. – 1 Peter 4:7
• Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. – 1 John 2:18
• Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. – 1 John 3:2
• The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John [...] Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. – Revelation 1:1, 3
• Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown [...] Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. – Revelation 3:11, 22:7, 12
• And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. – Revelation 22:12

(from OVO 16 ANTICHRIST January 2006)

The Bible sure likes the number twelve: twelve sons of Jacob, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve golden dishes for the dedication of the alter, twelve baskets of bread, twelve Apostles, twelve stars on the woman’s head, twelve gates and foundations of new Jerusalem, the tree of life bears twelve manner of fruit, and the twelve apostles of the Lamb. What an amazing coincidence that the ancients also held that there were twelve signs of the zodiac. The Bible states clearly that there were more than twelve apostles, but echoes of the twelve houses of astrology are what people remember when counting the apostles. The Bible supports astrology: God made the stars “for signs” (Genesis 1:14), a star was the sign of Jesus’ birth (Matthew 2:1-2), and Jesus condones the use of stars for divination (Luke 21:25).

Who Were the Twelve Apostles?

• Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. – Matthew 10:2-4
• And He [Jesus] ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: and Simon He surnamed Peter; and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and He surnamed them Boanerges, which is, the sons of thunder: and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed Him: and they went into an house. – Mark 3:14-19

No, Really, Who Were the Twelve Apostles?

• And when it was day, he called unto Him His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also He named apostles; Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor. – Luke 6:13-16

Wait, Say That Again, Who Were the Twelve Apostles?

• And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. – Act 1:13

Were there maybe Thirteen Apostles?

• Am I [Paul] not an apostle? – 1 Corinthians 9:1

How About Fourteen Apostles?

• Other of the apostles I saw none, save James the Lord’s brother. – Galatians 1:19

Do I Hear Fifteen?

• He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures: and that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. – 1 Corinthians 15:4-5

Could There Be Seventeen Apostles, Including a Woman?

• Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. – Romans 16:7

Should We Count Judas’ Replacement? Make it Eighteen, Then.

• And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. – Acts 1:26

(from OVO 16 ANTICHRIST January 2006)

Christianity often presents itself as “Jew 2.0” – a yummy chosen people treat with a Messiah in every bite. But what does the Bible have to say about its parent superstition, Judaism? Kind of makes those ‘Hitler was an atheist’ arguments fall flat.

• [Jesus said:] But the children of the kingdom [the Jews] shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. – Matthew 8:12
• [Jesus said:] Wherefore ye [the Jews] be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. – Mathew 23:31
• Then answered all the people, and said, His [Jesus'] blood be on us [the Jews], and on our children. – Mathew 27:25
• And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. [...]
• Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. – John 5:16,18

• After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him. – John 7:1
• Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews. – John 7:13
• [Jesus said: ]Ye [the Jews] are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. – John 8:44
• His [Jesus'] disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? – John 11:8
• The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he [Jesus] ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. [...] And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. [...] And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.- John 19:7, 12, 14-15
• Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. – John 20:19
• But ye [the Jews] denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. – Acts 3:14-15
• The God of our fathers [the Jews] raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. – Acts 5:30
• Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye [the Jews]. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers. – Acts 7:51-52
• But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.
• And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him. – Acts 9:22-23

• And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree. – Acts 10:39
• Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. – Acts 12:1-3
• But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. [...] But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. – Acts 13: 45-46, 50
• But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren. – Acts 14:2
• But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. [...] But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people. – Acts 17:5, 13

(from OVO 16 ANTICHRIST January 2006)

Ask your preacher about the Secret Gospel of Mark this Sunday, won’t you?

Mark 10:46 states: “Then they came to Jericho. As He was leaving Jericho with His disciples…” This verse is puzzling: why mention that Jesus and His disciples went to Jericho and then left Jericho? Did something happen in Jericho that isn’t mentioned in the modern Bible? A discovery made in 1958 may provide the answer.

In 1958, Morton Smith (a theology graduate student from Columbia University) went to the Mar Saba Monastery near Jerusalem to catalog their library. While he was there, Smith discovered a transcription of a letter written by Clement of Alexandria to “Theodore” laid into the back of the 1646 edition of a book called Epistolae genuinae S. Ignatii Martyris. The letter claims that in earlier editions of Mark there was a passage that described what Jesus and His disciples did in Jericho. Here is the missing passage:

[Then they came to Jericho.] And they came into Bethany. And a certain woman whose brother had died was there. And, coming, she prostrated herself before Jesus and said to Him, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me.’ But the disciples rebuked her. And Jesus, being angered, went off with her into the garden where the tomb was, and straightway a great cry was heard from the tomb. And going near, Jesus rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb. And straightaway, going in where the youth was, He stretched forth His hand and raised him, seizing his hand. But the youth, looking upon Him, loved Him and began to beseech Him that he might be with Him. And going out of the tomb, they came into the house of the youth, for he was rich. And after six days Jesus told him what to do, and in the evening the youth came to Him, wearing a linen cloth over his naked body. And he remained with Him that night, for Jesus taught him the mystery of the Kingdom of God. And thence, arising, he returned to the other side of the Jordan. [As He was leaving Jericho with His disciples...]

The Secret Gospel of Mark is missing from all modern versions of the Bible although it is as credible as any other work to be found there. But other accounts of God-sanctioned nudity remain. A naked young man was with Jesus and the disciples when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:51-52). Saul prophecies naked (1 Samuel 19:24), as does Isaiah (Isaiah 20:25) and Micah (Micah 1:8).

Early Christianity clearly included a nude ritual of initiation; this is what Jesus means when He says we must be ‘born again’ (we are born naked). The world might be a different place indeed if Christians still considered observing the naked body sacred rather than a sin.

(from OVO 16 ANTICHRIST January 2006)

No way, no way, nowhere in the Bible does it say that God demands human sacrifice. That’s utterly false. You’re just making stuff up because you’re mad at God for not existing. What a lie! Nobody can take you seriously when you publish nonsense like that. Have you ever even read the Bible? Prove it, show me where it says God demands human sacrifice – you can’t! Go on! Show me, show me where it says that!

• And He [God] said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. – Genesis 22:2
• Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto Me [God]. Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with his dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it Me. – Exodus 22:29-30
• No devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast… shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD. None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death. – Leviticus 27:28-29
• And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation: And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation: And levy a tribute unto the Lord of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep: Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for an heave offering of the LORD. – Numbers 31:25-29
• And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, and toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. Moreover He will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God. – Deuteronomy 28:53-62
• Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah… And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands… And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child… And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back. And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth… And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. – Judges 11:29-40
• Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites… The king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul… And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD… And after that God was intreated for the land. – 2 Samuel 21:1,8-9,14
• And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee. – 1 Kings 13:2
• And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men’s bones upon them. – 2 Kings 23:20
• Wherefore I [God] gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live; And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD. – Ezekiel 20:25-26

(from OVO 16 ANTICHRIST January 2006)