Journal of the Bizarre

In our previous post, we discussed the early January deaths of gun supporters John Noveske and Keith Ratliff, and the claims made by some on the far right that these deaths were the handiwork of "Death Squads" from the TSA and Department of Homeland Security.  JOTB has uncovered some interesting details about Keith Ratliff's life, which may shed some new light on this theory.

According to media reports, Ratliff (creator of a popular pro-gun YouTube channel), was found dead in rural upstate Georgia.  He died as a result of a single gunshot wound to the head, and his body was found at his place of employment. Police ruled his death a homicide, and his body was quickly skirted away to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations crime lab in Atlanta- which is also the home of a major Department of Homeland Security "Fusion Center".

Ratliff, an avid video game enthusiast, was the owner of FPS Industries, a company which customizes weapons (in video game lingo, FPS stands fo…

Were Ratliff and Noveske Killed by Government "Death Squads"?



Two suspicious deaths of high-profile Second Amendment activists shortly after the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting have sparked numerous conspiracy theories from the far right, with many sources claiming that deaths of Keith Ratliff and John Noveske were the result of President Obama's "Death Squads"- the fearsome sounding name which many on the far right use in reference to the Transportation Security Administration's Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response team (VIPER), an entity which takes orders from the Department of Homeland Security.

Keith Ratliff, whose wildly popular YouTube channel promoted high-power assault weapons, was found dead inside his office at FPS Industries.  He appears to have died as the result of a single gunshot wound to the head, and local authorities have ruled his death a homicide.  A pile of weapons was found next to Ratliff's body.  Many find this detail…

Does the Bible Predict the Newtown Massacre?



Since the time the Bible was written, it has been used by millions of people to search for clues that may foretell a future event.  Some scholars even point to the existence of a "Bible code", which they claim predicted horrendous events ranging from the Holocaust to 9/11.  But does the Bible have anything to say about the December 14 massacre in Newtown, Connecticut?

To resolve our own curiosity, we compiled every fourteenth verse of every chapter twelve in the Old Testament (in order to reflect the date of the shooting, 12/14) and were surprised to discover some extremely weird coincidences.

Did we say weird?  We mean downright creepy.  Not only does every single appearance of 12:14 in Scripture seem to reflect an aspect of the Sandy Hook shooting, it seems to do so in virtually the same chronological order as the details of the event that were supplied to the public by the media.




Genesis 12:14- "So it was, when Abram came i…

While hundreds of articles have been written about the aspects of the Sandy Hook saga that don't seem to add up, there is one intriguing aspect in the chain of events on December 14, 2012 which has garnered little (if any) attention.  Newspapers have confirmed that Nancy Lanza was shot in the head four times while in her bed sometime in the morning, thus becoming the first victim of the Newtown massacre.  If this is true, then why doesn't anyone remembering hearing the gunshots that killed her?

The logical response would be that, because of the distance between the homes on Yogananda Street, the gunshots would have been out of earshot of the nearest neighbor.  However, this seemingly obvious explanation doesn't hold water.  The picture below clearly shows that several homes would have been in close enough proximity to the Lanza home at 36 Yogananda. 


The "official narrative" states that Nancy was shot sometime in the morning, and that Adam Lanza's shooting …

One of the cornerstones of the Sandy Hook Truther movement is the allegation that many of the Newtown residents interviewed by the media were paid actors, perhaps hired by the government in order to sell President Obama's anti-gun agenda.  While definitive evidence proving this claim remains to be seen, it appears that one prominent Newtown figure did in fact pursue an opportunity to appear on network television- as a contestant on a popular reality show.  That man is police spokesperson Lt. J. Paul Vance.

According to a March 9, 2011 article in the Connecticut Post, Vance auditioned for the reality show Survivor during an open casting call held at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket.  The Connecticut Post states:

State Police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance is a frequent guest on local TV and radio shows. Now he wants to take his talents to a completely different type of television.

Vance announced on WPLR radio this morning that he intends to try out for the next season of &qu…

Adam Lanza's Barber Exposed as a Fraud



Much has been written about the media's inaccurate and inconsistent reporting of the Sandy Hook massacre.  Conspiracy theorists use these inconsistencies as fodder for their belief that Sandy Hook was a hoax, while others insist that the inaccuracies are the result of hasty and sloppy journalism.  Both sides, however, can agree on one thing- indisputable facts are harder to find than a needle in a haystack.

In a well-publicized CNN interview with Adam Lanza's barber, Bob Skuba, the barber stated that Adam had abruptly stopped coming in for haircuts three years earlier, even though Adam's mother Nancy took him to Skuba's shop every four weeks like clockwork.  The article's author, Wayne Drash, paints Nancy as an overbearing parent, impossible to please, who bossed her son around like a prison guard at Alcatraz.  Drash also portrays Adam as a weird and creepy kid who would sit silently in Skuba's barber chair and vacantl…

Was Robbie Parker a Crisis Actor?



According to newspaper reports, Robbie Parker- the father of Newtown victim Emilie Parker- is a physician assistant originally from Ogden, Utah, who relocated to Connecticut less than a year ago after living in Oregon and New Mexico.  Many of the Sandy Hook Truthers cite this nomadic background when making the argument that Parker is, in reality, a crisis actor hired by the government in the staging of the Newtown massacre.

Connecticut's Department of Public Health maintains a licensing verification website, which allows people to search the credentials of any service provider required by the state to be licensed- from barbers to funeral directors.  This includes Physician Assistants.

According to the Connecticut eLicensing website, Robert Parker does have a license to practice as a Physician Assistant in that state.  It appears that his license bears a New Mexico address, and his town is listed as Rio Rancho.  His license was issued on 9/28/11, and…

Who is the REAL Gene Rosen?



Out of all the key players involved in the Sandy Hook saga, few have been written about more than Gene Rosen- the Good Samaritan (according to the mainstream media) who harbored six young survivors of the Sandy Hook massacre inside his home.  Conspiracy theorists claim that Rosen was an actor, and some Sandy Hook Truthers allege that Rosen was a member of the Screen Actors Guild.  In this installment of our exploration of the "Sandy Hook Conspiracy", we'll examine the allegations made by the Truthers as well as the details provided by the media, and attempt to discover the "true identity" of this key figure.

The Official Narrative:

(As reported by the Huffington Post on 1/15/13)

On the morning of the shooting, Gene Rosen was feeding his cats when he discovered four children hiding out in his driveway. They told him their teacher was dead, and he listened to their account of the massacre still going on at nearby Sandy Hook Elementary Sc…

Analysis of the Snopes.com Debunking




In our last installment, we performed an unbiased critique of the newest YouTube video posted by a Sandy Hook Truther and, much to our disappointment, there appeared to be no hard evidence proving that Sandy Hook was a hoax.  However, we concluded that the Truthers do present a few points that are worthy of further investigation, even though most of their evidence is nothing more than innuendo and coincidence.

In this installment, we will analyze the Snopes.com debunking of the claims made by the Truthers, since this piece is often cited by those who endeavor to discredit the Truthers.

The Snopes.com debunking begins by stating that the information presented in the YouTube video was a mixture of misinformation, innuendo, and subjective interpretation, and then the author lays out several examples, beginning with the confusion in the aftermath of the shooting, which produced conflicting and inaccurate stories.  This, of course, does not provide any ev…

Analysis of the Second "Truther" YouTube Video



Earlier this week, the same poster responsible for the first YouTube video claiming that Sandy Hook was a hoax uploaded a second video.  This new video, which was posted on Jan. 19 with the title "Sandy Hook Fully Exposed - OFFICIAL PART 2", doesn't provide much more evidence than the original video, which has now garnered more than 11 million views.

For those who have not had an opportunity to watch this second video, here is a quick synopsis:

0- 0:45  Screenshots of angry comments made toward the Truthers, intended to convey the message "Look at all the mean things people are saying about the Truthers!  We must be on to something!"  To us, this comes across as a cheap stunt in attempt to discredit the skeptics.  The creator of the video does very little to gain credibility with this tactic.

1:32  Text reading "Our video clearly stated in the beginning: we are in no way saying the shooting did not tak…

The Sandy Hook truthers- a movement whose adherents insist that the Newtown massacre was a hoax perpetrated by the government in order to bolster support for tighter gun restrictions- have been gaining momentum in recent weeks, thanks in part to several YouTube videos posted by the "truthers", as well as a Florida college professor who believes that the shootings could have been staged.

According to conspiracy theorists, the grieving parents and law enforcement officials were paid actors.  In order to prove their claim, they point to a video made days after the shooting, which shows a little girl named Emilie Parker sitting on the lap of President Obama.  The funny thing, they claim, is that Emilie Parker was one of the children killed in Newtown.

Family members explain that the girl seen with Obama was not Emilie, but her younger sister Madeline.  Nonetheless, this explanation has only served to give more publicity to the "Sandy Hook truthers".  Now, we're not …