Ten Most Haunted Places on Earth

October 31, 2017 Markosun Paranormal

Want to have the best chance of experiencing the paranormal? Join us at one of our paranormal events in some of the most haunted and creepy places in the UK!

Although our specialty here at Haunted Rooms is the UK and Ireland’s most haunted places, we’re fascinated by any haunted place, and there are definitely lots of them about. So, we have decided to put together what we think are the most haunted places in the world. See our sister site for the most haunted places in America.

Below you’ll find a list of 21 of the scariest places on earth, some of which you will most likely of heard of, and some of which you may have not. What is for sure though, is that you’ll likely want to read some of these creepy stories with the lights on!

1) EASTERN STATE PENITENTIARY, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES

By Davidt8 (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Built in 1829, Eastern State Penitentiary is a former prison in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It’s known for being the very first prison of its kind to introduce solitary confinement, or what they used to call, the Pennsylvania System. Prisoners were sent to solitary during this time as a form of rehabilitation. They would be completely isolated, living alone, eating alone, and even exercising alone in their own individual yards. Whenever an inmate left his cell, a black hood would be placed over his head to assure he remained in confinement.

Due to Eastern States’ harsh approach, many prisoners were driven to insanity, and as a result, the Pennsylvania System was scrapped in 1913. From then until 1970 it was used as a regular prison and held the likes of Al Capone and the bank robber, Willie Sutton.

Reports of the paranormal have been going on since the 1940’s, but ever since the stone prison was abandoned in 1971, paranormal experiences have seemingly increased.

Reports include:

Shadowy figures that seem to quickly turn away when approached
a dark figure that is occasionally seen in the guard tower
an evil cackling is heard coming from cell block 12
shadowy figures have been seen sliding down walls in cellblock 6
ghostly faces have been witnessed in cellblock 4
and strange sounds such as disembodied footsteps, distant talking, and banging of cell doors have also been heard.

2) WAVERLY HILLS SANITORIUM – KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES

Waverly Hills

Waverly Hills was originally a two-story wooden building that was opened in 1910, however, the building you see today was constructed in 1926. It served as a tuberculosis hospital throughout the early to mid 20th Century, a time when the disease was at its worst. It is believed that as many as 63,000 patients died there. The death toll as well as the supposed mistreatment and questionable experimental procedures on patients are all recipes that may be behind one of the most haunted buildings in the whole of the US.

The Waverly Hills Sanatorium has built quite the reputation over the years as more and more people are allowed to investigate the premises. This has thrown up some incredible evidence over the years. It has featured on shows such as Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters (TAPS), and our very own Most Haunted. TAPS captured a figure on their thermal imaging camera that seemed to be walking across the hall. The figure was about 3ft tall, they later found out that the ghost of a young boy named Tim has been spotted there before.

There are vast amounts of varying reports, including full bodied apparitions, fleeting shadows, screams from empty rooms, footsteps, sudden cold spots, and disembodied voices among many others.

3) MONTE CRISTO HOMESTEAD – NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA

Monte Cristo Homestead

The historic Monte Cristo Homestead in Junee, New South Wales is regarded as the most haunted location in Australia. Its reputation is believed to stem from a number of tragic events that have occurred there since it was built in 1885. From the time of its construction up to 1948, the Crawley family owned and resided in the property. During this time the family laid witness to many deaths, including the tragic death of a young child who was dropped down the stairs. A maid to the family is believed to have fallen from the balcony, and a stable boy apparently burned to death on the property.

There was also a mentally ill man named Harold (the son of a caretaker) who was chained up in the caretaker’s cottage for 40 years. He was found curled up next to the body of his dead mother and sent to a mental institute where he died shortly after.

The tragedy doesn’t end with the Crawley’s. After the house was left in 1948, it was taken over by a group of caretakers, one of whom was murdered in the caretaker’s cottage.

4) CASTLE OF GOOD HOPE – CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

The Castle of Good Hope, South Africa

The Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town, South Africa was built in the 17th century by the Dutch East India Company. It’s the country’s oldest colonial building, originally serving as a replenishment station for ships passing the treacherous waters of the Cape.

The first reported paranormal occurrence was when the apparition of a tall gentleman was seen in 1915 on one of the castles’ ramparts. The man wasn’t seen again until 1947 when he was seen on a regular basis over a two week period. He would be seen jumping off the side of one of the castle walls and walking between the bastions Leerdam and Oranje.

One of the most popular stories associated with the Castle is the former governor Pieter Gysbert van Noodt. He died on 23 April 1728, the same day he had sentenced to death seven soldiers who were caught attempting to desert the military. It’s believed one of the soldiers placed a curse on him and demanded he came to watch the execution, which he didn’t. Later that day, Van Noodt was found dead slouched over his desk with a look of terror on his face.

Another famous haunting is the Lady in Grey. She has been witnessed running through the castle holding her face and crying hysterically. However, since a woman’s body was found during recent excavations her ghost hasn’t been reported.

Sometime in the 1700’s, a soldier was found hanging from the bell rope in the bell tower, which overlooks the entrance to the castle. After his death, the bell tower was sealed off, however, to this day the bell has been known to strike off its own accord. There’s also the ghost of a black dog who has been known to pounce on unsuspecting visitors, then simply vanish into thin air.

5) THE TOWER OF LONDON – LONDON, ENGLAND

The Tower of London

With a history of torture and execution going back over 900 years, the Tower of London is regarded by many as one of the most haunted places in the UK. It was originally built in 1078 by William the Conqueror and has served a major role in the history of England ever since.

There have been many reports of the paranormal at the Tower of London over the years. The most famous of all the ghosts that live within its walls, is Anne Boleyn, the wife of King Henry VIII. She was beheaded in 1536, and her headless body has been seen walking the Tower’s corridors and often near the spot of her demise.

Other full bodied apparitions have also been seen including Lady Jane Grey, who was spotted by a guardsman in 1957. In the White Tower, the White Lady has been seen, often standing at the window, where she once stood waving to her children on the other side of the building.

Perhaps the most spine chilling of all reports includes the mysterious appearance of two children. They have been witnessed throughout the rooms of the castle. They’re often seen in their nightgowns, holding hands and with a look of terror on their faces. It is believed these are two former Prince’s, who was sent to the Tower after they were deemed illegitimate by Parliament. They vanished one day and it was assumed that they were murdered by order of their uncle, the Duke of Gloucester. Apparently, two small skeletons were exhumed beneath a staircase in the White Tower.

6) ANCIENT RAM INN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND

Ancient Ram Inn

Built in 1145, the Ancient Ram Inn is believed to be the most haunted house in the entire British Isles, and perhaps the most haunted house in the world. The tales of child sacrifices, devil worship, and evil spirits are believed to be behind the terrifying happenings in this building. The Inn was built on the intersection of 2 ley lines, what many people believe is a conductor for spiritual activity. In addition, an ancient Pagan burial ground is said to have resided in the property over 5,000 years ago.

During its time as a bed and breakfast, people would often flee in the middle of the night, often seeing full bodied apparitions in their rooms, the feeling of being touched/pulled, disembodied voices, and the just the general feeling of evil.

John, the current owner, and resident of the Ram Inn, has reported that on his first night in the house in 1968, he felt a presence grab his arm, before being dragged out of bed and across the room! John has since found evidence of devil worship and ritual sacrifice. He found two child skeletons underneath the staircase, as well as broken daggers. He continues to experience the hauntings and the attacks to this day.

7) FORT GEORGE, THE CITADEL, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA

Citadel Halifax - Nova Scotia

Labelled as Canada’s most haunted historic site, the Halifax Citadel has received hundreds of reports of ghost sightings over the years. Situated at the summit of Citadel Hill in the town of Halifax, Nova Scotia, this star shaped fort is almost 300 years old, with the original foundations being built in 1749, and reconstructed in 1856.

Staff and visitors have reported several apparitions walking the grounds here, with one particular visitor witnessing a soldier in uniform walk into one of the rooms in the old prison area and simply vanish. This is a common theme with many reports centered around apparitions. Other ghostly figures that have been witnessed include an old man, a woman, a man in a red cloak, and an older lady who has been known to show herself in mirrors.

A little girl is said to follow the groups taking part in the ghost tours, with group members often experiencing her holding their hands. Other reports include disembodied voices, unexplained bangs, and knocks, mists captured on film and with the naked eye. The feeling of being watched is a common complaint, as is the sudden feeling of nausea, sudden gusts of wind in closed off rooms, furniture moving, doors banging, and on occasion, people have been pushed by an unseen force.

8) BANFF SPRINGS HOTEL, ALBERTA, CANADA

Banff Springs Hotel

The Banff Springs hotel in Alberta Canada, was built over 125 years ago by the Canadian Pacific Railway, as a luxury stop off point for train travelers. Don’t let its picturesque surroundings fool you though, it’s rumoured to be one of the most haunted in the country.

Terrifying reports include the sighting of a bride who fell down the staircase breaking her neck after panicking when her dress caught fire. Her apparition has been seen on the staircase and in the ballroom dancing, with many reporting the flames from the back of her dress.

The main story that is told by locals is that of the family that was murdered in room 873. The door to this room has since been bricked up, but the family that lost their lives in this room are still seen to this day, often in the hallway outside the room.

Perhaps the most popular of all the reports is the former bellman, Sam Macauley. He served at the hotel during the 60’s and 70’s, and is still seen to this day. He likes to help guests up to their rooms, dressed in his 60’s uniform, often turning on lights and opening locked doors. If you try and make conversation or tip Sam, he vanishes.

9) CHÂTEAU DE BRISSAC, MAINE-ET-LOIRE, FRANCE

Château de Brissac

Originally built in the 11th century as a castle by the Counts of Anjou, Château de Brissac was rebuilt in 1502, by Charles II, Duke of Brissac, who gave it its name. This noble castle is the tallest in France, and it exudes old world charm, but one of its past residents has shocked more than one visitor.

A double murder that occurred sometime in the 15th century within the walls of the castle, has resulted in one of the more popular ghosts of the Château de Brissac, that of the la Dame Verte, or “Green Lady”. The current residents (the current Duke of Brissac and his family) have become accustomed to her roaming the rooms, but she has scared many a guest. She is often seen in the tower room of the chapel, wearing her green dress. What’s terrifying, however, is her face. If she looks at you, you’ll see that her face has gaping holes were her eyes and nose should be, resembling what a corpse would look like. As well as her sighting, her moans are also often heard throughout the castle in the early hours.

10) BORGVATTNET (THE HAUNTED VICARAGE) – SWEDEN

Borgvattnet

Borgvattnet is a small village in Jämtland County, Northern Sweden. It’s renowned for having one of the most haunted houses in Sweden, The Old Vicarage, which was built in 1876.

The first ghost ever documented at the vicarage came in 1927 when the chaplain Nils Hedlund resided. He reported many strange happenings including one particular encounter with something paranormal. He was on his way up to the attic to gather his laundry when he witnessed his laundry being torn down from the line by an unseen force.

Rudolf Tangden, a priest who lived at the vicarage during the 1930’s, saw an old woman dressed in grey appear in a room. He followed her as she walked away, but she vanished in front of his eyes. In the 1940’s Tangden’s successor, Otto Lindgren, and his wife said they had several paranormal experiences including unexplained sounds and moving objects.

On one occasion a woman who was staying in the guestroom was awoken in the middle of the night to see 3 old women sitting staring at her. She quickly turned on the light and they were still looking at her, however, they now appeared blurry.

In 1945 the chaplain, Erick Lindgren moved into the vicarage, and he began a journal recounting many of his own experiences in the house. He reported being thrown out of his chair regularly by an unseen force.

The current building is serving as a restaurant/cafe, as well a guest house. If you dare to stay the entire night you’ll receive an overnight-stay-certificate to prove it!

JFK Assassins

October 27, 2017 Markosun Bizarre

The JFK assassination persists as one of the most widely believed conspiracy theories in history. I believed it was the CIA, Cubans and finally the New Orleans mob that did it. I believed this for years. Then one day my friend told me to read a book on the assassination that came out in the mid nineties titled “Case Closed” by Gerald Posner. My friend said it will change your mind, that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, and it did. Every other person I know who read the book has also discarded the conspiracy theory.

Posner’s research into the movements of Oswald is truly astounding, he follows him minute by minute. And Oswald was a very strange, yet highly intelligent character. He was in the U.S. Marines, all Marines learn to be very good shots. But nothing will make the believers change their minds.

As the very good article below by Slate Magazine states, conspiracy theories are very powerful ideas indeed.

Killing Conspiracy

Why the best conspiracy theories about JFK’s assassination don’t stand up to scrutiny.

By Fred Kaplan

Fifty years after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, 59 percent of Americans still believe it was the work of a conspiracy. I was once among them. Back in the early 1970s, as a high school senior and college freshman, I read Mark Lane’s Rush to Judgment, Richard Popkin’s The Second Oswald, Penn Jones’ Forgive My Grief, and other tomes, some of them best-sellers, that argued the case for a dark plot.

Then, one day, I looked up the footnotes in those books, most of them leading me to the multivolume hearings of the Warren Commission. I was shocked. The authors had taken witnesses’ statements out of context, distorted them beyond recognition, and in some cases cherry-picked passages that seemed to back their theories while ignoring testimony that didn’t. It was my first brush with intellectual dishonesty.

There’s no space to launch a full rebuttal of the conspiracy theorists. (It took 1,632 pages for Vincent Bugliosi to do that in his 2007 book Reclaiming History.) But it’s worth recounting the conspiracy buffs’ arguments that I found most persuasive—and why they collapse under scrutiny.

The Magic Bullet

The basic facts are these. On Nov. 22, 1963, President Kennedy, Texas Gov. John Connally, and their wives were riding in a slow, open motorcade through Dallas. At 12:30 p.m., as the car turned onto Dealey Plaza, three gunshots rang out. Kennedy and Connally were both shot. The car sped to a nearby hospital, where the president was pronounced dead and the governor treated for wounds. Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested as the suspected gunman and was himself shot to death days later. President Lyndon Johnson appointed a commission, chaired by Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, to investigate the assassination. The Warren Report concluded that Oswald had fired all three shots from a window on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, where he worked.

But the case was far from closed. A man named Abraham Zapruder, one of thousands of people standing along the motorcade route that day in Dallas, captured the shootings on his 8mm home-movie camera. At 26 seconds and 486 frames, it would come to be the most thoroughly examined snuff film in history—and a prime piece of evidence for the Warren Commission and the subsequent “conspiracy buffs.”

At first, it was assumed that Kennedy and Connally had been hit by separate bullets. But the Zapruder film threw a wrench in that notion. The Warren Commission’s analysts concluded that JFK was shot sometime between Frames 210 and 225 (a street billboard blocked Zapruder’s view at the crucial moment), while Connally was hit no later than Frame 240. In other words, the two men were hit no more than 30 frames apart. However, FBI tests revealed that Oswald’s rifle could be fired no faster than once every 2.25 seconds—which, on Zapruder’s camera, translated, to 40 or 41 frames. In short, there wasn’t enough time for Oswald to fire one bullet at Kennedy, then another at Connally.

The inference was inescapable. Either there were at least two gunmen—or Kennedy and Connally were hit by the same bullet. The Warren Report argued the latter. The “single-bullet theory,” as it was called, set off a controversy even among the commissioners. Three of them didn’t buy it. Under political pressure to issue a unanimous report (preferably one reassuring the American public that there was only one gunman and he was dead), the skeptics stifled their dissent, at least publicly; in exchange, the report’s authors toned down their assessment of the single-bullet theory from “compelling” (the first draft’s term) to merely “persuasive.”

That section of the Warren Report drew the most biting attacks. Critics drew diagrams tracing the absurd path that a bullet would have had to travel—a midair turn to the right, followed by a squiggly one to the left—in order to rip through Kennedy’s neck, then into Connally’s ribs and wrist.

For many years, long after I’d rejected most of the conspiracy buffs’ claims, the “magic bullet”—as critics called it—remained the one piece of the Dealey Plaza puzzle that I couldn’t fit into the picture; it was the one dissonant chord that, in certain moods, made me think there might have been two gunmen after all.

Then, in November 2003, on the murder’s 40^th anniversary, I watched an ABC News documentary called The Kennedy Assassination: Beyond Conspiracy. In one segment, the producers showed the actual car in which the president and the others had been riding that day. One feature of the car, which I’d never heard or read about before, made my jaw literally drop. The back seat, where JFK rode, was three inches higher than the front seat, where Connally rode. Once that adjustment was made, the line from Oswald’s rifle to Kennedy’s upper back to Connally’s ribcage and wrist appeared absolutely straight. There was no need for a magic bullet.

The Grassy Knoll, Part 1: Frame 313

Kennedy was shot twice: first through the neck (by the bullet that went on to pierce Connally), then in the head. The Zapruder film captured this shot too, in Frame 313. The image was deemed so horrifying that it was excised from public viewings of the film until 1975, when President Gerald Ford (who’d served on the Warren Commission) ordered it released. I remember watching the fully restored film on TV. It really was horrifying. You saw the top of President Kennedy’s head literally blown off. But it was creepy for another reason: the blown-off piece of his head blew backward. In other words, it looked like that fatal bullet was fired not from behind Kennedy, like the first bullet, but from in front of him. Were there two gunmen after all—Oswald in the book depository and someone else perched in the area known as the “grassy knoll”?

I went back to the library and scoured the Warren hearings. There I found neurologists testifying that a nerve ending can explode when hit by a bullet and that the two trajectories—where the bullet came from and which way the nerve fragments fly—are not necessarily related. Experiments from the 1940s, in which bullets were fired into the heads of live goats, revealed this fact. So, the evidence of Frame 313 was at least ambiguous; it said nothing, one way or the other, about the plausibility of a second-gunman theory.

However, in 1975, CBS News, which was doing a documentary on the assassination, hired a tech firm to conduct a high-resolution analysis of the Zapruder film, using instruments that hadn’t existed in the Warren Commission’s day. The firm discovered that, on Frame 312, Kennedy’s head slammed a tiny bit forward, and much more quickly than it jolted backward an instant later on Frame 313. The implication: The bullet hit his head from behind, pushing him forward, then a nerve exploded, which happened to push him backward.

The Grassy Knoll, Part 2: The Acoustical Analysis

In 1976, the House of Representatives formed a special committee to reinvestigate the Kennedy assassination. After many hearings and extensive analysis, the panel concluded that there had been a second shooter after all. This surprise conclusion was based on a newly discovered piece of evidence—an audiotape from a radio transmission from a Dallas policeman who’d been escorting JFK’s motorcade. According to the House report, an acoustical analysis of the tape revealed that four gunshots were fired—and that, given the echo patterns and the officer’s location, one of those shots came from the grassy knoll.

The report stirred such commotion that the National Academy of Sciences conducted its own analysis of the tape—and concluded that the House report was hooey. First, it turned out that some of those four gunshot-like sounds were not gunshots. Second, the motorcycle cop in question was not where the House report claimed, so even if the sounds had been gunshots, a revised echo analysis put them someplace other than the grassy knoll. Third, some of the sounds on the tape occurred a minute after the assassination.

Case closed.

The Appeal of Conspiracies

Conspiracy theories thrive—about every big event in history—for several reasons. First, there’s a natural human instinct to fantasize about the hidden. As my Slate colleague Ron Rosenbaum (who’s plumbed these depths as immersively as anyone) put it in his brilliant collection, The Secret Parts of Fortune, “The search for the hidden hand, the hidden springs, the hidden handshake behind history attracts a certain kind of glory seeker, Ancient Mariner, mad scholar, Wandering Jew.”

Second, there is comfort in this search for unseen mainsprings. If horrible events can be traced to a cabal of evildoers who control the world from behind a vast curtain, that’s, in one sense, less scary than the idea that some horrible things happen at random or as a result of a lone nebbish, a nobody. The existence of a secret cabal means that there’s some sort of order in the world; a catastrophic fluke suggests there’s a vast crevice of chaos, the essence of dread.

As the old adage has it, “Big doors sometimes swing on little hinges.” John F. Kennedy’s murder was a big door—had he lived, the subsequent decades might have looked very different—and Lee Harvey Oswald was a preposterously small hinge. The dissonance is wildly disorienting. It makes for a neater fit, a more intelligible universe, to believe that a consequential figure like John Kennedy was taken down by an equally consequential entity, like the CIA, the Mafia, the Soviets, Castro … take your pick.

Finally (and this is a point that some defenders of the Warren Report ignore), there are conspiracies. There’s a reason so many serious people started to reinvestigate the Kennedy assassination in the mid-1970s: that was when Sen. Frank Church’s committee unveiled a long dark history of CIA conspiracies—coups, killings, and other black-bag jobs—that only extremists had ever before imagined possible. What other extreme theories might turn out to be true?

The killing of JFK emerged as an obvious source of renewed curiosity. Back in 1971, not long before he died, a retired Lyndon B. Johnson told the journalist Leo Janos that the Kennedy administration had been “running a damn Murder Incorporated in the Caribbean.” Nobody knew what he was talking about at the time. A few years later, the Church Committee revealed the details of Operation Mongoose—an intense plot by the Kennedy White House and the CIA to assassinate Fidel Castro. Revelations also emerged of the Mafia’s cooperation in Mongoose, of JFK’s affair with a Mafia moll, and of his brother Robert Kennedy’s crusade against the same Mafia kingpins. Could Dallas have been a revenge shooting, mounted by either Castro or the Mafia? Even if Oswald had been the lone gunman, could he have been a recruit in some larger power’s plot?

New suspicions also arose about the Warren Commission. The CIA, it turned out, had accumulated vast files about Oswald’s time in the Soviet Union (he had briefly defected in the late 1950s before returning to the United States) and his visit to the Cuban consulate in Mexico—but the agency turned over none of this material to the Warren staff.

No wonder that even as sober-minded a soul as Secretary of State John Kerry, who was a college student at the time of the assassination, recently told NBC’s Tom Brokaw, “To this day, I have serious doubts that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone” or that the Warren Commission “got to the bottom” of his “time and influence from Cuba and Russia.”

Yet history plays strange games. The Warren Commission was a compromised outfit from the get-go—and yet, despite a half-century of scrutiny, the report’s central points hold up well. The only remaining mystery, really, is Oswald’s motives—and yet, here too, no convincing evidence has emerged that links his action to the Mafia, the CIA, the Cubans, or anything of the sort. The most persuasive theory I’ve read—first put forth in a New York Review of Books article by Daniel Schorr (later reprinted in his book Clearing the Air)—is that Oswald killed Kennedy, believing the deed would earn him favor with Castro. But who knows? The mystery at the heart of the matter (why did Oswald do it?) remains unsolved. And that of course makes conspiracy theories all the more satisfying.

1955 Lincoln Futura: the concept car that would become the original Batmobile

October 27, 2017 Markosun Transportation

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The Lincoln Futura is a concept car promoted by Ford’s Lincoln brand, designed by Ford’s lead stylists Bill Schmidt and John Najjar, and hand-built by Ghia in Turin, Italy — at a cost of $250,000 (equivalent to $2,200,000 in 2016).

Displayed on the auto show circuit in 1955, the Futura was modified by George Barris into the Batmobile, for the 1966 TV series Batman.

The Futura’s styling was original by 1950s standards — with a double, clear-plastic canopy top, exaggerated hooded headlight pods, and very large, outward-canted tailfins. Nevertheless, the Futura had a complete powertrain and was fully operable, in contrast to many show cars. Its original color was white, and was one of the first pearlescent color treatments, using ground pearl to achieve the paint effect. The Futura was powered by a 368 cubic inch Lincoln engine and powertrain; the chassis derived from a Continental Mark II.

The Futura was a success as a show car, garnering favorable publicity for Ford. It was released as a model kit and a toy, and in a much more subdued form its headlight and tailfin motifs would appear on production Lincolns for 1956 and 1957, such as the Lincoln Premiere and Lincoln Capri. The concave front grille inspired the grille on the 1960 Mercury Monterey and the 1961 Ford Galaxie.

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The Futura played a prominent part in the 1959 movie It Started with a Kiss, starring Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford. For the movie, it was painted red, as the white pearlescent finish did not photograph well.

The concept car was subsequently sold to auto customizer George Barris. Having originally cost $250,000, the Futura was sold to Barris for $1.00 and “other valuable consideration” by Ford Motor Company. As the car was never titled and was therefore uninsurable, it was parked behind Barris’ shop, sitting idle and deteriorating for several years.

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In 1966 Barris was asked to design a theme car for the Batman television series. Originally the auto stylist Dean Jeffries was contracted to build the car for the show in late 1965, but when the studio wanted the car faster than he could deliver, the project was given to Barris. With the short notice, Barris thought the Futura might work well, and using Jeffries’s initial car, decided that its unusual winged shape would be an ideal starting point for the Batmobile. Barris hired Bill Cushenberry to modify the car’s metalwork. Barris went on to build three fiberglass replicas using the frames and running gear from 1966 Ford Galaxie cars for the show circuit, three of which were covered with a felt-like flocking finish in the 1970s. Barris later acquired a fourth replica, a metal car built on a 1958 Thunderbird.

Barris retained ownership of the car, both after its conversion to the Batmobile, leasing it to the TV studio for filming and after production of the TV series ended, displayed in Barris’ own museum in California. It has also been displayed in the Cayman Motor Museum on Grand Cayman Island.

Barris sold the Batmobile to Rick Champagne at the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction on Saturday, January 19, 2013 in Scottsdale, Arizona for US4.62 million dollars.

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New Theories Suggest Kennedy Wasn’t Shot

October 27, 2017 Markosun Fake News

DALLAS—A controversial new book about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy has raised questions not about the role of a lone gunman or a conspiracy of shooters, but about whether the late president was even even shot at all.

While the book, Outside the Crosshairs, does not dispute the fact that a massive portion of Kennedy’s skull was separated from his head during the 1963 Dallas visit, it maintains that the president suffered fatal explosive- cranial trauma through means completely unrelated to gunshots.

“Certainly extreme force was involved in this tragic death,” said Dr. Horace Musashi, the book’s author and a professor of computer science at Mount Union College in Alliance, OH. “However, none of the available photographs or recorded footage provides even a shred of evidence that an actual bullet did anything to Kennedy’s body. As scientists, therefore, we must consider all other possibilities, no matter how much they challenge the status quo.”

Musashi himself favors an explanation known as the single-massive-spike-in-blood-pressure theory.

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After 11 years of painstaking research, Musashi uncovered testimony from anonymous eyewitnesses who claimed that unopened packets of duck sauce and soy sauce were hastily removed from Air Force One after the assassination. According to the book’s findings, the extremely high levels of monosodium glutamate combined with the stress of mediating an intense international ballistic-missile crisis caused Kennedy’s systolic pressure to mount to the point where the right rear quarter of his cranium “shot clean off.”

“Case closed,” Musashi said. “Mass hysteria accounts for everything else.”

The book has also sparked popular interest in a number of related theories. Retired police officer Joseph Czyz, who in 1991 was on the scene at Dealy Plaza for JFK-Fest, an assassination-reenactment weekend, claims Musashi and adherents to the single-massive-spike-in-blood-pressure theory have been led astray by carefully placed red herrings.

Theonion.com

CNN the most trusted name in news according to Darth Vader

October 25, 2017 Markosun Media

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The CNN slogan has been around for eternity it seems. The voice in the promotion is that of actor James Earl Jones. Jones did the voice of Darth Vader in the early Star Wars movies. Darth was not to be trusted, he was a practitioner of the ‘Black Force’. A very evil thing. Jones has a great voice, but using an actor that is synonymous with Darth Vader is no longer such a good idea maybe.

CNN has been under attack from the right and conservatives for years now. They claim CNN preaches ‘Fake News’. They say the news network doesn’t do proper research and relies on too many anonymous sources, leakers. All news organizations rely on anonymous sources. These sources are vetted diligently by the reporters who communicate with them. If they lack credibility they are dropped.

During the Washington Post Watergate investigation ‘Deep Throat’, the source that provided some of the most integral information to the Post reporters Woodward and Bernstein, remained anonymous for decades. This anonymous source helped bring down Richard Nixon!

And then ignorant Star Wars fans who believe that it really is Darth Vader voicing the promo may get the wrong idea. How could a news network have real news when the evil master of the Empire is in cahoots with them?

darthx

I watch CNN, and I believe they do their due diligence when it comes to investigating stories. They do have many excellent journalists. In my humble opinion they do hound Trump with a little too much zeal from time to time. But Trump is like shooting fish in a barrel, he is so full of crap and so impetuous that he begs for criticism.

Trump loves Fox news, Fox news comes across as being run by Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda chief. They are so slanted and biased that it’s amazing how they continue to get millions of dotards to watch them. Fox is a conservative right Republican party advocate with no guilt. They pump out bullshit 24/7, any common sense is out the window. They lie about as much as Trump, well maybe not quite. Fox News is the real ‘FAKE NEWS’!

Fats Domino Gone to the High House

October 25, 2017 Markosun Music

Antoine Dominique “Fats” Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017) was an American pianist and singer-songwriter of Louisiana Creole descent. He had 35 records in the U.S. Billboard Top 40, and five of his pre-1955 records sold more than a million copies, being certified gold.
From 1955-60, he had eleven top 10 hits and his record sales were reportedly surpassed only by Elvis Presley. During his career, Domino sold over 65 million records. His musical style was based on traditional rhythm and blues, accompanied by saxophones, bass, piano, electric guitar, and drums.

fats

Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, the eighth and final child of Antoine Caliste Domino (1879–1964) and Marie-Donatille Gros (1886–1971). The Domino family was of French Creole background. Louisiana Creole was his first language.
Antoine was born at home with the assistance of his grandmother, a midwife. His name was initially given as Anthony on his birth certificate but was later corrected. His family had newly arrived in the Lower Ninth Ward from Vacherie, Louisiana. His father was a violin player.
He attended the Louis B. Macarty School for less than four grades, leaving to start work as a helper to an ice delivery man. Domino learned to play the piano from his brother-in-law, the jazz guitarist Harrison Verrett, while studying shipping management at his local community college.
The artist was married to Rosemary Domino from 1947 until her death in 2008 and was the father of eight children. Even after his success he continued to live in his old neighborhood, the lower Ninth Ward, until after Hurricane Katrina, when he moved to a suburb of New Orleans.

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My favourite Fats song

Snake Island: A Place That I Will Never Set Foot On

October 25, 2017 Markosun Animals

In this part of Canada the only snakes we have are harmless garter and green snakes. However, here in Manitoba we do have the Narcisse Snake Pits, see below. Although harmless, when I stumble upon a snake, I still jump and my heart rate goes up 50 percent. I can’t imagine being in a place infested with killer vipers.

Ilha da Queimada Grande, The Snake Island

Ilha da Queimada Grande, nicknamed Snake Island, is a 430,000-square-meter island located about 33 km off the coast of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The island is home to a variety of snakes including an endemic species called the Golden Lancehead Viper (Bothrops insularis), which is one of the most venomous snakes in the world. According to a 2015 estimate, there are between two and four thousand snakes on the island, which equates to an average of one snake per 75 square meters over the entire island. Exaggerated claims suggest there are as many as five snakes per square km. Local folklore is also filled with stories of horrible deaths suffered by those who wandered onto the shores including that of a fisherman who landed onto the island in search of bananas, and the family of a lighthouse keeper who lived there.

Hope this guy has heavy boots and Kevlar pants.

Officially, there never has been any report of a human being bitten by the golden lancehead viper, so the toxicity of its venom on humans couldn’t be tested, but other lanceheads are responsible for more human morbidity and deaths than any other group of snakes in either North or South America. A bite from a lancehead carries a seven percent chance of death, and even with treatment, victims still have a three percent chance of dying. Death usually results from intestinal bleeding, kidney failure, hemorrhage in the brain and severe necrosis of muscular tissue. The venom actually melts flesh and tissue making it easier for the snake to digest. Tests have found that the venom of the golden lancehead viper is the fastest acting in the genus Bothrops.

The snakes on Queimada Grande were originally the same species as those on the mainland, when the island and the mainland were a connected landmass. Between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago when the sea level rose, Queimada Grande was isolated from mainland Brazil and the snake population was marooned. With no small mammals to hunt, the snakes adapted to life to the trees because their main source of food were the birds that passed over the island on their migration. The islanders learned to hold it high in the trees by the tail, and pluck birds who rested on the branches. Their venom also evolved to become five times more potent as that of their brethren on mainland. This was required to kill the birds faster, otherwise they would fly away. When there are no passing birds, they filled themselves with lizards, centipedes, slugs and frogs.

The island is currently off-limits to human, and the Brazilian government strictly controls who visits the island and when. Visitors are mostly biologists and researchers, who are granted special permission to visit the island in order to study the golden lanceheads. The Brazilian navy does make an annual stop on the island for maintenance of the lighthouse, which, since the 1920s, has been automated.

Despite the dangers, wildlife smugglers sneak into the island to trap the golden lanceheads which fetch a high price in the black market.

Mean looking SOB

Family photo

Bush whacker

This is one badass serpent

The Narcisse Snake Pits are located 6 km north of the rural settlement of Narcisse in the province of Manitoba in Canada. Fifty kilometres north of Winnipeg. These pits harbour the largest concentration of Red-sided Garter Snakes in the world. During winter, the snakes hibernate inside subterranean caverns formed by the area’s water-worn limestone bedrock. Shortly after the snow melts in late April and early May, tens of thousands of these snakes slip out of their limestone dens and hang out on the surface of the ground performing their mating rituals in great tangled heaps.

The male snakes are usually the first to awaken from the long winter hibernation and reach the surface where they wait patiently for the females to come out. As the females slither out of the caves, the males pounce on the helpless females eager to mate with them. As many as 50 or more males attack a single female forming a writhing, moving “mating ball” of snakes. These massive snake balls are everywhere – on ledges, tree limbs, on plants and on the ground. Some mating balls slowly roll down rocks like tangled balls of twine. Professor Mason, a professor of zoology from Oregon State University estimated that there were 35,000 snakes at one pit alone and more than 250,000 in the general area.

There are four active snake dens at the Narcisse Wildlife Management Area. The dens are connected by a three-kilometer self-guiding interpretive trail. Tourists come from all over the world to view this spectacle from observation platforms built next to the dens, as do many scientists to study these non-venomous creatures.

The population of red-sided garter snakes around Narcisse was roughly 70,000 until terrible weather in 1999 killed tens of thousands of them before they could reach their winter dens. This tragedy triggered concern about the snakes’ biannual migratory path, which cuts right across Highway 17. Every year, ten thousand snakes trying to get to or from their winter dens had been crushed under the wheels of vehicles. This had not been a problem before, because the vast population compensated for the losses. After the winter of 1999, however, the population of garter snakes was dangerously low, causing Manitoba Hydro and volunteers to intervene.

Foot-high snow fences were built to force snakes into 15-cm tunnels that went under Highway 17. Since some snakes still managed to squeeze under the fence and onto the road, signs were put up during the migratory season urging motorists to slow down to avoid accidentally driving over snakes. These measures worked, and now less than a thousand snakes per season are killed on the highway.

Even though I live near this place, I’m never going anywhere even close to those pits.

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Is it worth taking a chance with this drug considering the possible side effects?

October 24, 2017October 24, 2017 Markosun Health

If it works it works. But these side effects are off the charts.

Otezla (apremilast) is a phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) inhibitor used to treat adult patients with active psoriatic arthritis. Common side effects of Otezla include:

diarrhea,
headache,
nausea,
upper respiratory tract infection,
vomiting,
runny or stuffy nose,
abdominal pain,
fatigue,
indigestion/heartburn,
decreased appetite,
insomnia,
back pain,
frequent bowel movements,
depression,
bronchitis,
tooth abscess, and
sinus headache.
Other side effects of Otezla include hypersensitivity, weight loss, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), migraine, cough, and rash.

The recommended maintenance dosage is 30 mg twice daily taken orally starting on Day 6, after 5 days of an initial schedule of titration dosing. Otezla may interact with CYP450 inducers (such as rifampin). Tell your doctor all medications and supplements you use. During pregnancy, Otezla should be used only if prescribed. It is unknown if this drug passes into breast milk. Consult your doctor before breastfeeding.

Bill O’Reilly points finger at “God” after accusations of sexual harassment

October 24, 2017 Markosun Bizarre, Religiousness

Bill O’Reilly has seemingly run out of options for blaming others after a series of sexual harassment allegations canned the former Fox News host. From accusers to the news media, the only logical scapegoat left would surely be his Almighty.

During a recent episode of his web series “No Spin News,” O’Reilly spoke candidly about his anger toward God for not protecting him, as more details surrounding allegations have surfaced, according to CNN.

o'reilly

“You know, am I mad at God? Yeah, I’m mad at him,” O’Reilly said. “I wish I had more protection. I wish this stuff didn’t happen. I can’t explain it to you. Yeah, I’m mad at him.”

He also admitted people have it “much rougher” than him and that he’s a “bigmouth.”

The New York Times reported Saturday that O’Reilly paid $32 million to settle accusations with former Fox News contributor Lis Wiehl. Six other agreements have been made by either O’reilly or the network on his behalf.

With this latest rant under his belt, his New York Times bestseller Killing Jesus: A History is beginning to look more like a manifesto.

Rock Stars and Musicians that died at age 27, very bizarre

October 24, 2017 Markosun Bizarre, Music

The number of rockers who were taken from us too early in life — whether by accident, violence or misadventure — is obviously far too large. The fact that so many of the biggest and most influential talents in rock history died at the age of 27 is even more bizarre, and when you think about it, downright creepy.

Over the years, the stories behind the deaths of the members of this so called “27 club” have grown more and more inflated and outrageous, with everything from legal cover-ups to elaborate hoaxes and even deals with the devil trotted out to try and make some sense of these tragic losses.

Together with our friends at Loudwire, we try to distinguish fact from fiction regarding these sad stories on the following list of Rockers Who Died at Age 27.

Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison all died at the age of 27 between 1969 and 1971. At the time, the coincidence gave rise to some comment but it was not until the death of Kurt Cobain, about two and a half decades later, that the idea of a “27 Club” began to catch on in public perception.

According to Hendrix and Cobain biographer Charles R. Cross, the growing importance of the media—Internet, television and magazines—and the response to an interview of Cobain’s mother were jointly responsible for such theories. An excerpt from a statement that Cobain’s mother, Wendy Fradenburg Cobain O’Connor, made in the Aberdeen, Washington newspaper The Daily World—”Now he’s gone and joined that stupid club. I told him not to join that stupid club.”—referred to Hendrix, Joplin, and Morrison dying at the same age, according to Cross. Other authors share his view. On the other hand, Josh Hunter and Eric Segalstad, writer of The 27s: The Greatest Myth of Rock & Roll, assumed that Cobain’s mother referred to the death of his two uncles and his great uncle, who all committed suicide. According to Cross, the events have led a “set of conspiracy theorists [to suggest] the absurd notion that Kurt Cobain intentionally timed his death so he could join the 27 Club”.

In 2011, seventeen years after Cobain’s death, Amy Winehouse died at the age of 27, and there was a large amount of media attention devoted to the club once again. Three years earlier, she had expressed a fear of dying at that age.

People identified as being in the 27 Club

Name	Date of death	Official cause of death	Fame	Age
Levy, Alexandre	January 17, 1892	Unknown	Composer, pianist and conductor	27 years, days
Chauvin, Louis	March 26, 1908	Neurosyphilitic sclerosis	Ragtime musician	27 years, 13 days
Johnson, Robert	August 16, 1938	Poisoning (Strychnine)	Blues singer and musician who recorded a very influential set of 29 songs.	27 years, 100 days
Nat Jaffe	August 5, 1945	Complications from high blood pressure	Swing jazz pianist	27 years, 216 days
Jesse Belvin	February 6, 1960	Traffic collision (car)	R&B singer, pianist and songwriter	27 years, 53 days
Lewis, Rudy	01964-05-20-0000May 20, 1964	Drug overdose	Vocalist of the Drifters	27 years, 271 days
Henderson, Joe	October 24, 1964	Heart attack	R&B and gospel singer	27 years, 183 days
Hale, Malcolm !	01968-10-31-0000October 31, 1968	Poisoning (carbon monoxide)	Original member and lead guitarist of Spanky and Our Gang	27 years, 166 days
Pride, Dickie	March 26, 1969	Drug overdose (sleeping pills)	Rock and roll singer	27 years, 156 days
Jones, Brian	01969-07-03-0000July 3, 1969	Drowning(coroner’s report states “death by misadventure”)	Rolling Stones founder, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist	27 years, 125 days
Wilson, Alan “Blind Owl”	01970-09-03-0000September 3, 1970	Drug overdose (barbiturate), possible suicide	Leader, singer and primary composer of Canned Heat	27 years, 61 days
Hendrix, Jimi	September 18, 1970	Asphyxiation	Pioneering electric guitarist, singer and songwriter for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsys	27 years, 295 days
Joplin, Janis	October 4, 1970	Drug overdose (probable, heroin)	Lead vocalist and songwriter for Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Kozmic Blues Band and Full Tilt Boogie Band	27 years, 258 days
Arlester “Dyke” Christian	March 13, 1971	Murdered	Frontman, vocalist and bassist of Dyke and the Blazers	27 years, 273 days
Morrison, Jim	01971-07-03-0000July 3, 1971	Heart failure	Singer, lyricist, and leader of the Doors	27 years, 207 days
Jones, Linda	March 14, 1972	Complications from diabetes	Soul singer	27 years, 91 days
Harvey, Leslie	May 3, 1972	Electrocution	Guitarist for Stone the Crows and brother of Alex Harvey	27 years, 233 days
Ron “Pigpen” McKernan	March 8, 1973	Gastrointestinal hemorrhage	Founding member, keyboardist and singer of the Grateful Dead	27 years, 181 days
Roger Lee Durham	July 27, 1973	Fell off a horse and died from the injuries	Singer and percussionist of Bloodstone	27 years, 163 days
Yohn, Wallace !Wallace Yohn	01974-08-12-0000August 12, 1974	Plane crash	Organ player of Chase	27 years, 212 days
Alexander, Dave	February 10, 1975	Pulmonary edema	Bassist for the Stooges	27 years, 252 days
Ham, Pete	April 24, 1975	Suicide by hanging	Keyboardist and guitarist, leader of Badfinger	27 years, 362 days
Thain, Gary	December 8, 1975	Drug overdose (heroin)	Former bassist of Uriah Heep and the Keef Hartley Band	27 years, 207 days
Cecilia	August 2, 1976	Traffic collision (car)	Singer	27 years, 296 days
Köllen, Helmut	May 3, 1977	Poisoning (carbon monoxide)	Bassist for 1970s prog rock band Triumvirat	27 years, 27 days
Bell, Chris	December 27, 1978	Traffic collision (car)	Singer-songwriter and guitarist of power pop band Big Star and solo	27 years, 349 days
Miller, Jacob	March 23, 1980	Traffic collision (car)	Reggae artist and lead singer for Inner Circle	27 years, 324 days
Boon, D.	December 22, 1985	Traffic collision (van)	Guitarist, lead singer of punk band the Minutemen	27 years 266 days
Bashlachev, Alexander	February 17, 1988	Fall from a height, probable suicide	Poet, rock musician and songwriter	27 years 266 days
Basquiat, Jean-Michel	August 12, 1988	Drug overdose (Speedball)	Painter and graffiti artist; formed the band Gray	27 years, 234 days
de Freitas, Pete	June 14, 1989	Traffic collision (motorcycle)	Drummer for Echo & the Bunnymen	27 years, 346 days
Zapata, Mia	July 7, 1993	Murdered	Lead singer of the Gits	27 years, 316 days
Cobain, Kurt	April 5, 1994 c.	Suicide by gunshot	Founding member, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for Nirvana	27 years, 44 days
Pfaff, Kristen	June 16, 1994	Drug overdose (heroin)	Bass guitarist for Hole and Janitor Joe	27 years, 21 days
Edwards, Richey	February 1, 1995	Disappeared; officially presumed dead November 23, 2008	Lyricist and guitarist for Manic Street Preachers	27 years, 41 days
Pat, Fat	February 3, 1998	Murdered	American rapper and member of Screwed Up Click	27 years, 61 days
Tah, Freaky	01999-03-28-0000March 28, 1999	Murdered	American rapper and member of the hip hop group Lost Boyz	27 years, 318 days
Kami	June 21, 1999	Subarachnoid hemorrhage	Drummer for Malice Mizer	27 years, 140 days
Bueno, Rodrigo	June 24, 2000	Traffic collision (car)	Cuarteto singer	27 years, 31 days
Sean Patrick McCabe	August 28, 2000	Asphyxiation	Lead singer of Ink & Dagger	27 years, 289 days
Maria Serrano Serrano	November 24, 2001	Plane crash (Crossair Flight 3597)	Background singer for Passion Fruit	27 years, 363 days
Ward, Jeremy Michael	May 25, 2003	Drug overdose (heroin)	The Mars Volta and De Facto sound manipulator	27 years, 20 days
Ottoson, Bryan !Bryan Ottoson	02005-04-19-0000April 19, 2005	Drug overdose (prescription medication)	Guitarist for American Head Charge	27 years, 32 days
Elizalde, Valentín	November 26, 2006	Murdered	Mexican banda singer	27 years, 297 days
Winehouse, Amy	02011-07-23-0000July 23, 2011	Poisoning (alcohol)	Singer-songwriter	27 years, 312 days
Richard Turner	August 11, 2011	Cardiac arrest	Trumpet player, collaborator with Friendly Fires	27 years, 12 days
Nicole Bogner	January 6, 2012	Undisclosed illness	Singer for Visions of Atlantis	27 years 290 days
Soroush “Looloosh” Farazmand	November 11, 2013	Murdered	Guitarist for the Yellow Dogs	27 years, 11 days
Monkey Black	April 30, 2014	Murdered	Dominican rapper and singer	27 years 278 days
Slađa Guduraš !	December 10, 2014	Road accident	Bosnian pop singer and actress	27 years, 121 day