World’s Largest Ouija Board to be Unveiled This Weekend
October 11, 2019
By Tim Binnall
An organization dedicated to preserving the history of ‘talking boards’ said to communicate with spirits on the ‘other side’ will unveil what they say is the world’s largest Ouija Board at an event on Saturday. Dubbed ‘Ouijazilla,’ the enormous piece was produced by Rick Schreck, vice president of the Talking Board Historical Society, (https://tbhs.org/) over the course of the last year as his home in New Jersey.
Although the specific dimensions of the giant board have yet to be revealed, the group says that it is “heavier than an elephant, longer than a brontosaurus” and could comfortably fit “five full-size eighteen-wheelers” atop the enormous piece. The massive wooden construction is also said to be two-and-a-half times bigger than the current record holder for the world’s largest Ouija Board, which is on the roof of an allegedly haunted hotel in Pennsylvania.
The monstrous Ouija Board will be revealed to the public on Saturday at an event in, appropriately enough, Salem, Massachusetts, where it will cover the city’s common. And, for those wondering, the huge hand-painted piece is “fully operational” as Schreck also build a corresponding planchette for the device. It’s uncertain as to whether or not the mighty Ouija Board will be used to conjure any spirits on Saturday, but one assumes that, if it is, the ghosts could wind up being pretty sizeable.
In the latter half, journalist Linda Godfrey, an authority on anomalous animals and paranormal phenomena in Wisconsin,
discussed her new work on urban legends and ancient lore. Modern-day eyewitnesses describe creatures not known to exist in our time but which show up in ancient cultures such as in the Egyptian pantheon, where there was a dog-headed upright creature named Anubis that correlates with recent sightings of ‘Dogman.’ Godfrey has concluded that the strange sightings of anomalous creatures are not mass hallucinations– “it’s something that is happening to people in all walks of life,” she said, and “usually unexpectedly.”
Indigenous people have characterized the strange creatures as spirit beings that take physical form to procreate and demonstrate different qualities. While they can leave tracks and claw marks, Godfrey pointed out that when people have fired upon them or hit them with their vehicles, the creatures seem amazingly resilient, picking themselves up and dashing off into the woods. She delved into beings such as Slender Man, who first took off as a fictional meme on the Internet, leading to a case where two Wisconsin girls stabbed a schoolmate as a way to please Slender Man. The idea of a tall, stick figure actually dates back to the Native American lore of “Deer People,” she cited. Godfrey also talked about persistent sightings in central Wisconsin of panthers– animals that wildlife officials claim cannot be there. (https://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2019/07/15)
Dedicated to Georgia Chess Association President Scott Parker
200,000 UFO Fans Plan to Storm Area 51?
July 09, 2019
By Tim Binnall
A bizarre online campaign suggesting that UFO enthusiasts storm Area 51 in search of alien secrets hidden at the infamous base has seemingly garnered the support of nearly 200,000 people. The wild idea is reportedly the brainchild of a group of online agitators who created a Facebook event titled ‘Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us.’ Although the proposed gathering appears to have been just a joke, the concept captured the imagination of the masses online.
To date, a whopping 181,000 people have declared that they are ‘attending’ the event and another 200 thousand individuals have expressed interest in joining in on the action which is set to take place on Friday, September 20th at 3 AM. Of course, as anyone who has haphazardly accepted an online invitation to a distant relative’s art gallery opening or dance recital can attest, the vast majority of the people who indicated plans to join in the horde almost certainly will not be in attendance when the big day arrives.
That said, there’s a very real possibility that some foolhardy individuals may genuinely make an effort to storm Area 51 on September 20th when organizers allegedly plan to “meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry.” Aside from the installation’s incredibly stringent security measures which prevent unauthorized visitors, the very fact that the date and time of the planned surge is public knowledge is a pretty good indication that the daring gambit will prove futile. It could also wind up being criminal should would-be trespassers push the proverbial envelope and really try to gain entry to the base.
C2C’s George Knapp, who famously broke the story that Area 51 existed back in 1989, responded to the idea on Twitter by noting that “this plan has been proposed multiple times over the last 30 years. Then, as now, it’s a really bad idea.” To that end, he stressed that “there are no aliens at Area 51, no alien tech either” and that “base security is more than capable of handling Winnebago trespassers.” With that in mind, it would undoubtedly be wise for the idea to remain in the daydreams of UFO enthusiasts sitting at their computer rather than being put into practice.
Coast to Coast AM host George Noory and author and afterlife researcher Rich Martini http://www.richmartini.com/
argues that upon death no one really dies. In the latter half, he presented his research and information that he says he obtained by interviewing folks (including many celebrities) after they have passed away such as Bill Paxton,
Anthony Bourdain,
and Tom Petty.
He contacts the deceased by working with the medium Jennifer Shaffer, and this includes the late hypnotherapist Michael Newton, whom he studied with and documented his work on the life between lives. From the after-death state, Newton shared advice with Martini for those who wish to converse with the departed. He suggested simply saying the name of a loved one, and addressing them in the present tense as though they are there with you. “When you hear the answer before you can form the question, then you’ll know you have a connection,” Newton offered.
Through Shaffer, Bourdain revealed that rather than food, he misses the interpersonal connections he had with people, and he recommended the practice of meditation (something he did not engage in when he was alive). Martini often starts his communications with the departed by asking who was there to greet them when they crossed over to the Other Side. The recently deceased Microsoft founder Paul Allen
told him he was met by a football player who had taken his own life. Among the many celebrities Martini says he’s communicated with, JFK
revealed to him that the Mafia was the most to blame for his assassination, and rather than planning it, the CIA simply looked the other way.
On the eve of the 55th anniversary of the assassination of JFK, various experts and scholars weighed in on their theories of who was really behind the assassination and how it was carried out. Christopher Fulton
led off the first hour with his story of receiving evidence originating with the president’s brother Robert F. Kennedy. Fulton said that RFK believed that the public was given evidence about the crime “based on the best truth, but not the whole truth.” He continued with his contention that in the hours after the assassination, RFK secured evidence that pointed to a conspiracy, and entrusted that evidence (a Cartier watch that was given to JFK by his wife) to JFK’s longtime secretary Evelyn Lincoln. The watch eventually ended up in Fulton’s possession. Years later, he was told by the Department of Justice that he would be considered an accessory after the fact if he did not surrender it. Fulton spent a period of time in prison related to his possession of this object, which he said provides material evidence of a second shooter.
In the second hour, author and researcher Mark Shaw
described explosive transcripts from the trial of Oswald killer Jack Ruby which prove his involvement in a conspiracy to kill JFK, which he said “have been hiding in plain sight for 50 years or better.” Shaw believes that famous 1960s reporter Dorothy Kilgallen
was murdered because of her investigation into Ruby’s activities. He related a section of the trial where a witness testified that he heard Ruby on a pay phone saying that he “would be there” when Oswald was transferred from the jail, a fact that, for obvious reasons, was not public knowledge. Shaw said of Killgallen that he believes he has “become her voice and she has led me to these transcripts.”
In hour three, Vincent Palamara described his research into the actions of the Secret Service the day of the assassination and in the days leading up to it. Palamara has spoken to both medical personnel who were on duty in Dallas that day, as well as retired agents. He emphasized that “people that were actually there” are convinced that there was a conspiracy based on forensic evidence as well as the breakdown of security logistics. He believes that there were at least three Secret Service agents who “crossed the line” past simple laziness or incompetence and either cooperated with a conspiracy or allowed it to happen.
In the last hour, Paul DeBole led off by stating that the best we can hope for at this time in any investigation of the assassination would be evidence that would “prove to a reasonable degree of likelihood” that the conclusions of the Warren Commission were wrong. DeBole downplayed the role of the Secret Service and pointed out that “presidential protection was really in its infancy” in 1963. He referred listeners to something called the “Nix film” shot from another angle in Dealey Plaza, which DeBole says reinforces the idea that the first shot at JFK came from the “front right” and not from behind, if the “lone gunman” theory is to be believed. De Bole concluded that “the Warren Commission basically acted as a rubber stamp for the FBI.”
“Minister Lindsey Williams obtained executive access to oil company documents as a chaplain to the workers building the Alaskan oil pipeline in the 1970s. In the first half, he shared his insider knowledge (through a contact he’s maintained from that era) of what the Global Elite have planned for the world. The Elite or New World Order (NWO), he said, were quite confident that their candidate Hillary Clinton would handily defeat Donald Trump, and were shocked when she lost. His victory was due to an intervention from God, Williams asserted, and because of this, the NWO has been set back years from their agenda.”
Needing a picture of God to go with this post I wondered if such a thing existed, so I went to startpage.com and discovered Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/en/photos/god/), where there are thirty six pages of pictures of God!
This picture of ‘God’ reminded me of a song we sang as children:
This one caused me to recall a song first heard when a friend, Gentleman Jim Kraft, made a compilation of songs cassette tape for me:
The thing about writing a blog is that one never knows what an email will bring. After spending an inordinate amount of time in front of Toby, the ‘puter, yesterday learning how to insert diagrams, and then putting together the post in order to have something in which to insert them, I determined that today I would spend time with the Daniel Gormally book, Insanity, passion and addiction: a year inside the chess world, while playing over Chess games on an actual board with pieces one can feel, and possibly “working” on the openings intended for the Senior Championship of the Great State of South Carolina, which is only ten days away, by going to the CBDB and 365Chess. Wrong, Ke-mo sah-bee! An email from my friend Mulfish arrived at 11:42 am, upsetting the Bacon cart…
“Looking forward to the AWs take on AlphaZeros stunning win over Stockfish,” was the message. “What’s this?” I thought, wondering if Mike was referring to the TCEC Computer Chess Championship that is in the final stretch. “But Stockfish is not participating in the Super Final,” I thought. I therefore fired off an immediate response: “To what, exactly, are you referring?” His reply was, “Look in the all things Chess forum.”
Although there are not as many incoming as there were before taking a long break from blogging, I have received several emails directing my attention here and there, and they are greatly appreciated. Checking the AW stats today showed many people in countries other than the USA reading the AW. In particular I noticed that today, as every day, there is one, and only one, reader in the Maldives. Thank you, whoever you are, and feel free to send an email, as I am curious by nature.
Keep ’em coming: xpertchesslessons@yahoo.com
This is the post found on the USCF forum that prompted Mulfish to fire a salvo at the AW:
Postby billbrock on Wed Dec 06, 2017 9:16 am #321974
“AlphaZero learned to play chess by playing against itself. After just FOUR HOURS of self-learning, it was able to decisely (sic) defeat Stockfish 8.0! (EDIT: this statement is slightly misleading. See downthread.) (100 games match: +28 =72 -0)
What’s really impressive: Stockfish was calculating far more deeply than AlphaZero (at least in terms of nodes per second). AlphaZero is just “smarter.”
After reading only this I thought, “Whoa! This will change not only my day, but possibly the future course of history!” The more I read the more convinced was I of the latter.
Bill Brock provided a link to a PDF paper, Mastering Chess and Shogi by Self-Play with a General Reinforcement Learning Algorithm
(https://arxiv.org/pdf/1712.01815.pdf) which I read immediately, blowing my mind…
Every morning I read while drinking my first cuppa coffee, and today was no exception. Toby is not fired-up until time to sit down and eat breakfast. I check my email, then the quotes of the day, followed by the poem of the day, which was The Writer’s Almanac, by Garrison Keillor, but it has been discontinued, so I’ve moved on to Poem-a-Day (https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem-day) & The Poetry Foundation’s Poem of the Day (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/). Next I click on the Drudge Report in order to understand what the enemy is thinking, and doing. Then it is the newspapers in digital form, the NYT, WaPo, and AJC. For you readers outside the USA, that would be the New York Times, the Washinton Post, and the Atlanta Journal & Constitution. Then I check out the word of the day (https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day), before heading to check what was on the nightly radio programs broadcast while I am sleeping, Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis (http://www.groundzeromedia.org/), and the Granddaddy of them all, Coast to Coast AM (https://www.coasttocoastam.com/). You may think that Chess comes next, but you would be mistaken. I check out The Hardball Times at Fangraphs (https://www.fangraphs.com/tht/). Then I check out what’s happening in the world of Go (http://www.usgo.org/).
Then it is time for Chess! My routine is to check in at Chess24 (https://chess24.com/en) first in order to learn if there is a new article I will want to return to after checking out Chessbase (https://en.chessbase.com/), where there is usually something interesting to peruse. (Today is no exception because the lead article is, How XiangQi can improve your chess, which will be read. https://en.chessbase.com/). During the TCEC Championships it is then on to Chessdom (http://www.chessdom.com/), where I click onto TCEC (http://tcec.chessdom.com/). And then it is on to the Chess Granddaddy of them all website, TWIC, aka The Week In Chess (http://theweekinchess.com/), which is Mark Crowther’s wonderful website which contains a Daily Chess Puzzle, which I attempt to solve, in hopes it will keep my mind sharp. Why was I writing all this?…Just kidding!
The point is that I read so long this morning (Why Bob Dylan Matters, by Richard F. Thomas; Cover Me: The stories behind the GREATEST COVER SONGS of all time, by Ray Padgett, who has a wonderful website (http://www.covermesongs.com/); and Murder on the Death Star: The assassination of Kennedy and its relevance to the Trump era, by Pelle Neroth) in order to finish the latter. The point being that by the time I got to the email by Mulfish I would ordinarily have already seen the momentous news.
The excellent article by Colin McGourty begins: “20 years after DeepBlue defeated Garry Kasparov in a match, chess players have awoken to a new revolution. The AlphaZero algorithm developed by Google and DeepMind took just four hours of playing against itself to synthesise the chess knowledge of one and a half millennium and reach a level where it not only surpassed humans but crushed the reigning World Computer Champion Stockfish 28 wins to 0 in a 100-game match. All the brilliant stratagems and refinements that human programmers used to build chess engines have been outdone, and like Go players we can only marvel at a wholly new approach to the game.”
Colin ends with: “And where do traditional chess programmers go from here? Will they have to give up the refinements of human-tuned evaluation functions and all the existing techniques, or will the neural networks still require processing power and equipment not easily available? Will they be able to follow in DeepMind’s footsteps, or are there proprietary techniques involved that can’t easily be mastered?
There’s a lot to ponder, but for now the chess world has been shaken!”
“Shaken?” More like ROCKED TO ITS FOUNDATION!
If games people play are to survive they will be something like that described in the novel I consider the best I have read, Das Glasperlenspiel, or Magister Ludi, aka, The Glass Bead Game, by Hermann Hesse. (http://www.glassbeadgame.com/)
Or maybe a book, The Player of Games, by Iain M. Banks, which is not only one of my favorite Sci-Fi books, but also one of my favorite book about games.
The stunning news also caused me to reflect on a Canadian Sci-Fi television program I watched, Continuum, in which mega-corporations dominate the world in the future as time-travelers fight one of the largest corporatocratic entities, SadTech, which sounds an awful lot like Google. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1954347/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_6)
The Brave New World is here. The Science Fiction books I read as a youngster are no longer fiction.
