As part of my work at the Shedhalle Tübingen Artists and Researchers in Residence program, I gave a lecture concerning the topics of my current research.

It was a packed and very small room, but a nice atmosphere. One audience member told me that it felt like being in a "homemade spaceship."
Also as part of the event, I will be continuing to work on a visual component that consists of a large wall-sized flowchart describing the connections and relations that I am uncovering between various systems and concepts related to extraterrestrial life, pre-human civilizations, neurology, UFOs, and more. The final results will be presented to the public here in Tübingen on Saturday, June 22nd.

    Special Thanks to Ignite Baltimore for an inspirational eventing and everyone who attended the event. Here's the video of my presentation and I encourage you to check out the other talks.

    Last month, a poll by Public Policy Polling sought to measure American's attitudes towards certain conspiratorial topics and some other, tentatively related, issues. The poll can be found here: http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2013/04/conspiracy-theory-poll-results-.html

    Some of the answers were unsurprising. For example, 51% of those polled believed that Lee Harvey Oswald was acting in some sort of conspiracy. Also unsurprising that only 4 percent said they believed that Reptilians are active agents in society (but as a friend pointed out, 4% of the population is still 14 million).

    Some questions are more troubling. For example, for the question "Do you believe aliens exist, or not?", a full 47% responded with an absolute no, while 29% said yes. I can understand a "not sure" answer on this one, but a hard "no" is just plain anthropocentrism. What could be more selfish and small-minded than being absolutely sure that we are the only intelligent beings in the universe, and that earth is the only home of life? Of course, it's possible that the question itself is flawed. The term "aliens" already alludes to little green men abducting hillbillies, not bacteria on Europa or civilizations in Draco. I think "Do you believe that life exists outside of Earth?" is much fairer.

    Even more disturbing is that, according to the poll, 26% of Americans think that President Obama is the anti-Christ. Besides giving foreign press a field-day for article titles, this statistic completely baffles this American. Either the poll sample was extremely flawed or a disproportionate amount of Revelationists answer any polling service that calls them (doesn't phone polling already have an intrinsic bias?). Or--and I hate to think this--I am really living in a country where 1/4 of the population believes that we are living in the Biblical End-Times.

    Let's get one thing straight: I'm willing to tolerate an extremely wide range of beliefs. Every day I read what many people would consider utter nonsense, and I'm willing to agree that there's a lot of nonsense out there. But for some reason, there's some nonsense that's been around for a very, very long time, and so I suppose this is what gives it credence. Because regardless of how you feel about the president's decisions, I really don't see how the idea that America has elected Satan himself and that the world will soon come to an end can be that much more popular than the contention that extraterrestrials are involved in our world affairs.

Ok, the title is a little sensationalized, forgive me. "Photograph of Me With Live Terrestrial Reptilian" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Last weekend I attended a local reptile expo with a friend. I talked to a couple of vendors who seemed open to the possibility of advanced extraterrestrial life taking reptile forms.

Just as human beings evolved from less-advanced ape creatures (cousins of which still swing in the earth's trees), it is perfectly possible that beings of extraordinary technology and intelligence could have evolved from any number of animal origins, including the class Reptilia.

I attended this expo because study of these lower forms of terrestrial animals may lead to discoveries relevant to their extraterrestrial relatives. Now, don't flush your little Lizzy down the toilet any time soon, fearing her advancement into a full-blown shapeshifter. These semi-domesticated critters seemed harmless, although they seemed to lack the kind of mammalian warmth exhibited in the personalities of fur-covered pets. Perhaps if I spent more time with them I would change my mind.

Reptile researcher or pet owner? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Regardless of how I feel about certain aspects of his theories, here's some sage advice from someone who's been damn persistent and is certainly onto something, as the ridiculous reaction from mainstream news sources has proven. See 7:34 to skip the house tour.

ICKE. Love him or hate him, David Icke is the foremost proponent of the theory that reptilian extraterrestrials are running things here on earth. This brilliant British documentary, 'David Icke, The Lizards, and The Jews', follows him on a book signing/speaking tour.

A large portion of the film's runtime is given to opponents of Icke, who accuse him of antisemitism and attempt to thwart Icke at every turn. These "culture warriors" no doubt have good intentions, but it is rather interesting to watch their frustrated attempts to convince business owners and radio hosts to cancel Icke and, when that plan meets limited success, lamely "pie" the author in a public setting. They consider this a small victory, yet they only serve to hurt their own position. Icke, despite his seemingly strange views, is open to rational debate and defense of his position. The young protesters resort at last to what is essentially a public spectacle topped off by an immature practical joke.

Many who are new to the idea of reptilian incursions on earth quickly dismiss the proposition as preposterous. As the documentary shows, Icke has been laughed at for decades. Laughter is possibly even natural at such a original and alternative idea. Yet if Icke's and other's theories are only good for a good laugh, why has Icke become an international superstar? And more telling, why would "legitimate" groups organize in order to attack his ideas? There is something dangerous about Icke's ideology, and it's not just the possible antisemitism.

As far as the antisemite claim goes, Icke does often attack the Rothschilds and other powerful families in history, yet he doesn't give anyone in power a free pass. The Bushes and the British Royals are certainly far from Jewish, and they are his favorite targets. Opponents of Icke cite attendance at his lectures by neo-Nazi organizations. But we cannot judge an idea based on its supporters. If we are to be logical, we must take on the idea itself. Even simple ideas can be twisted and used for the purposes of alternate ideologies.