uninett.no!Norway.EU.net!not-for-mail

From: Stig Bull <stig.bull@no.spam.cds.no>

Newsgroups: sci.astro

Subject: I spoke to Nancy online and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!

Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 08:40:10 +0000

Organization: Commercial Data Servers AS

Lines: 24

Message-ID: <9vk7l0$oam$1@oslo-nntp.eunet.no>

Reply-To: stig.bull@no.spam.cds.no

NNTP-Posting-Host: sol1.cds.no

Mime-Version: 1.0

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit

X-Trace: oslo-nntp.eunet.no 1008574944 24918 193.71.216.18 (17 Dec 2001 07:42:24 GMT)

X-Complaints-To: abuse@KPNQwest.no

NNTP-Posting-Date: 17 Dec 2001 07:42:24 GMT

User-Agent: KNode/0.6.1

Xref: sn-us sci.astro:356901

I went to the Zebratalk channel on IRC Saturday to see what was up. It was

actually quite amusing, I asked why "they" so obviously flunked in

astronomy and physics and wham, the channel got moderated and I (as the

only one), was not allowed to speak. So, either "they" were extremely

cranky (perhaps it was that time of the month?), or critical questions were

not tolerated.

Anyway, Nancy thought I was a Michael Cunningham (why didn't the almighty

Zebras foresee who I was?) after I asked the question.

The interesting part, however, was when I talked to other people in there

on a private chat. I had the impression they were a bunch of single-minded

disiples who believed any single word she said. That was not the case, the

people I spoke to, were what-if'ers, not die-hard believers.

Still, an amusing evening as Nancy even asks the Zebras questions herself -

and then in the next moment answers her own questions.

--

Stig Bull

No animals were hurt or killed in the process of creating this electronic

message. To reduce download time, this message is made of 100% recycled

bytes.

colt.net!dispose.news.demon.net!news.demon.co.uk!demon!albedo.demon.co.uk!not-for-mail

From: "Fin Fahey" <fin@albedo.no-spam.demon.co.uk>

Newsgroups: sci.astro

Subject: Re: I spoke to Nancy online and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!

Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2001 16:31:55 -0000

Message-ID: <1008606718.13121.0.nnrp-01.c2decd89@news.demon.co.uk>

References: <9vk7l0$oam$1@oslo-nntp.eunet.no>

Reply-To: "Fin Fahey" <fin@albedo.no-spam.demon.co.uk>

NNTP-Posting-Host: albedo.demon.co.uk

X-NNTP-Posting-Host: albedo.demon.co.uk:194.222.205.137

X-Trace: news.demon.co.uk 1008606718 nnrp-01:13121 NO-IDENT albedo.demon.co.uk:194.222.205.137

X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net

X-Priority: 3

X-MSMail-Priority: Normal

X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4133.2400

X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4133.2400

Lines: 56

Xref: sn-us sci.astro:356923

"Stig Bull" <stig.bull@no.spam.cds.no> wrote in message

news:9vk7l0$oam$1@oslo-nntp.eunet.no...

> I went to the Zebratalk channel on IRC Saturday to see what was up. It was

> actually quite amusing, I asked why "they" so obviously flunked in

> astronomy and physics and wham, the channel got moderated and I (as the

> only one), was not allowed to speak. So, either "they" were extremely

> cranky (perhaps it was that time of the month?), or critical questions

were

> not tolerated.

>

> Anyway, Nancy thought I was a Michael Cunningham (why didn't the almighty

> Zebras foresee who I was?) after I asked the question.

>

> The interesting part, however, was when I talked to other people in there

> on a private chat. I had the impression they were a bunch of single-minded

> disiples who believed any single word she said. That was not the case, the

> people I spoke to, were what-if'ers, not die-hard believers.

>

> Still, an amusing evening as Nancy even asks the Zebras questions

herself -

> and then in the next moment answers her own questions.

>

> --

Just checked out the transcripts. Nice try, mate. In any case, this is

comedy of a high order. What is fascinating about the Zebra Crew is the

sheer banality of their cultishness - there's something very old-fashioned

and middle-class about it all, and not at all like the Heaven's Gate lot. So

they'll still be with us after their comet/planet/brown dwarf/nova/doofus

fails to show up - with a new set of dates, of course...

Philip K Dick wrote a mainstream novel (Confessions of a Crap Artist, I

think), which describes a similar bunch, back in the 50s/60s, that was

hugely entertaining. Nothing has changed - Zebras adhere to all the same

elements - big catastrophe, government cover-up and some sort of salvation

for a limited few, courtesy of the Space People (though the generous Zetans

appear to be prepared to 'Lift' up to a billion people - an improvement on

the Jehovah's Witnesses).

For further fun check out the Troubled Times meeting transcripts

(http://www.zetatalk.com/nonproft/home.htm ) - this reads like a parish

council arguing about the church steeple fund, though there are veiled

references to embezzlement of funds by someone called Diana earlier this

year, and a recent resignation is causing trouble among the faithful.

There's all the makings of a great sitcom here. 2003 - bring it on!

--

Fin

---------------------------------------

fin@albédo.demon.co.uk

---------------------------------------

(please Tippex out the acute accent to reply)

From: sarahmac@hotpop.com (Sarah Mc)

Newsgroups: sci.astro

Subject: Re: I spoke to Nancy online and all I got was this lousy t-shirt!

Date: 18 Dec 2001 03:32:37 -0800

Organization: http://groups.google.com/

Lines: 182

Message-ID: <3c09ad3.0112180332.1f1b9f0c@posting.google.com>

References: <9vk7l0$oam$1@oslo-nntp.eunet.no> <3c1e955d_1@news2.prserv.net>

NNTP-Posting-Host: 172.153.141.236

Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

X-Trace: posting.google.com 1008675157 30716 127.0.0.1 (18 Dec 2001 11:32:37 GMT)

X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com

NNTP-Posting-Date: 18 Dec 2001 11:32:37 GMT

Xref: sn-us sci.astro:357155

"Ian" <ian@home.com> wrote in message news:<3c1e955d_1@news2.prserv.net>...

> "Stig Bull" wrote:

>

> > I went to the Zebratalk channel on IRC Saturday to see what was up. It was

> > actually quite amusing, I asked why "they" so obviously flunked in

> > astronomy and physics and wham, the channel got moderated and I (as the

> > only one), was not allowed to speak. So, either "they" were extremely

> > cranky (perhaps it was that time of the month?), or critical questions

> > were not tolerated.

>

> Or maybe because your question was not submitted in advance? Those sessions

> are for questions already posted, and follow-up questions to the answers

> only. Also, they are intended to provide information, not start any arguing

> with anyone obviously only wanting to disrupt the session. This has got

> nothing to do with not tolerating critical questions, but staying within the

> premise of the session.

It has *everything* to do with not answering critical questions. No

cult leader will answer critical questions, they just attack the

person being critical instead. In this case, since the cult had

control of the situation, Stig was forcibly quieted. Just like on her

TT-watch group - no criticism allowed or you'll be banned. That's why

she won't post any other questions on her website that arise here in

sci.astro, other than her own. And she has the nerve to call the

section "sci.astro debates". It's not a debate if you only show one

side of the argument. It's not a discussion when you forcibly quiet

people with questions, or refuse to answer them.

It's for questions already posted? SO, you mean the Cult Leader gets

to think about how to answer them first? So, she copies and pastes her

answers to IRC from questions previously asked in her own moderated

Yahoo group. How utterly convienient for the Cult Leader. If you read

the log, you'd see that she really doesn't answer any questions, just

babbles on with new age BS and completely undocumented statements.

>

> If you turn up at the local fur dealer association's yearly meeting only to

> protest against the killing of innocent animals (ref your sig), how long

> time will last? At a whalers meeting, maybe they would try their "hakapigg"?

> Or if you stand up protesting at a Nobel price ceremony (as people have),

> exactly how many nano-seconds will it take before you are outside the

> building?

However, all these people will answer questions when posed by people

opposing them. Not the same, you're comparing apples to oranges. Nor

do the fur dealers and whalers invade their opposer's newsgroups and

spam the death out them. As far as I know, no fur dealer's or whalers

claim to have implants from outer space either. Besides, those

meetings are closed - if you intentionally go there to disrupt, that's

one thing. STig asked a direct question in the IRC chat that the cult

leader could not answer. That's why he was banned from talking. Those

IRC sessions are open to the public until you ask a question that the

cult leader can't answer, or a question that may have overtones of

skepticism.

You should also note that the Cult Leader didn't ban him, one of her

operatives did. The Cult Leader was trying to answer him and then he

was banned so as to not show the Cult Leader as a kook. It was to

protect the Leader and the Cult, no other reason than that.

>

> (Disclaimer: I wasn't participating in the IRC chat at the time, nor have I

> read the log. This is only general observations & comments.)

Then like the cult leader, you're speaking without knowledge. Maybe

you should take the time to read it before you comment.

>

> > Anyway, Nancy thought I was a Michael Cunningham (why didn't the almighty

> > Zebras foresee who I was?) after I asked the question.

>

> The Zetas don't "run" Nancy, and don't "foresee" things she doesn't ask

> them, according to the info at the ZetaTalk site. Nor does Nancy claim to be

> psychic.

Thats absolutely correct, because the "Zetas" don't exist. Please

supply proof if you disagree. The cult leaders statements are NOT

proof.

>

> > The interesting part, however, was when I talked to other people in there

> > on a private chat. I had the impression they were a bunch of single-minded

> > disiples who believed any single word she said. That was not the case, the

> > people I spoke to, were what-if'ers, not die-hard believers.

>

> Good observation.

>

> There are no ZetaTalk "followers" or "cult", but a group of people that from

>

>

> various parts of the world and various backgrounds have found that today's

> sciences, religions etc. are only giving part of the answers, and have been

> searching for better explanations.

No, there's a large number of people that find the Cult extremely

humourous - and there's a large number (about 130) that are devout

followers of the cult leader. There are cult members (those who defend

her, since she won't defend herself) and there are those of us with

intelligent open minds that have yet to see a single shred of

evidence. And there are those that just find her antics to be on the

same par as "Lost in Space".

>

> Astronomy with its concepts like escape velocity between two bodies, that

> our universe's origin was a singularity, is infinite & expanding, curved

> space etc. is not the only example.

>

> (Question 1: How many will now try to reopen these discussions?

Escape velocity is a known fact, the origin of the univere is not, and

therefore open to new ideas and theorems. Zetabable on the other hand,

is not science, but sci-fi.

> Question 2: How many will now (again) claim that I'm a nut or a cult

> member?

I for one will as long as you continue to tell us that your cult

leader is correct, and as long as you continue to defend your cult.

> Question 2: Have you ever tried to apply logic to any of these

> inconsistencies? And the results of such logic?

What inconsistencies? Define your parameters first before you make a

statement like that. Show us the inconsistencies that you refer to

and then someone will surely reply. As with many other discusions here

on this newsgroup.

> Disclaimer: Answers are not required, Dave.)

Who is Dave? There is no "Dave" in this thread that I can see. Are you

attacking someone who has yet to reply to your nonsence?

>

> Egyptology tries to explain that the pyramids were built with manual labor,

> yet we have today no technology that can lift the top stones in place, and

> we would have to use laser to get the same precision on the stones etc.

What the hell does this have to do with sci.astro? And secondly,

that's only your opinion from watching Leonard Nimoy on TV. Are you an

engineer specific to civil technology? What makes you think we don't

have the technology to build an exact duplicate of the great pyramid?

Wait, I'm sorry - I'm sure we could build one with much more exacting

tolerances, and it would probably last much longer.

>

> The ZetaTalk "crowd" is everything from carpenters to farmers, students,

> lawyers, business people, consultant etc. One of the previous members and

> founders of Troubles Times Inc., and very active for a number of years, was

> ex-CIA & ex-military.

All cults are comprised of a wide variety of people. What makes you

think the ZetaCult is any different?

>

> > Still, an amusing evening as Nancy even asks the Zebras questions

> > herself - and then in the next moment answers her own questions.

>

> Again, if you read ZetaTalk, she communicates (or claims to communicate) via

> telepathy. That she asks the questions (i.e. repeats the questions she has

> received via e-mail) is for the benefit of the listeners. She has earlier

> been participating on radio shows, where the questions have been sent in

> via e-mail to the host, or by callers to the program.

"Claims" is the operative word here. Being on shows like the Art Bell

show hardly qualify her as being honest or truthful, or better yet,

correct. I can answer questions too - any way I like. That doesn't

mean my answers are correct - I can lie just like everyone else on

this planet. In the Cult Leader's case, everything that says

"ZetaTalk" under it is a lie.

> Ian

>

> PS.

> Which design T-shirt did you get? I like the ones with the Grays on best,

> myself :-)

I doubt you'll find very many people on sci.astro buying T-shirts to

promote a doomsday cult's finances.