S(no)w class

 I had an extremely jam-packed snow week. I started off weary of the snow due to my planned long run on the Saturday before snow week. I decided to move my long run to Friday instead and had a great 24 mile run with my girlfriend.  The snow did not affect me much besides the fact that my car couldn't handle it and I couldn't drive anywhere. The people who live above me had lost hot water, which was sad. 

 I believe the snow also helped my dog walking business take off. Before this week, I had zero bookings and I started to lose hope. Then, out of nowhere, I received 3 bookings! One of them was to walk two dogs twice in one day, another was to dog sit over the weekend, and the last starts 2/4 and is to watch two Irish setters for two weeks. I was extremely excited about all of this because I love dogs and it has been fun to meet new dogs. 

Lastly, I had the chance to see Zootopia 2. I thought this was a great movie and I think I liked it more than the first one. I had the option to pick between Housemaid and Zootopia, overjoyed that I picked Zootopia. 

Overall, it wasn't too bad of a week. The worst part was the overcrowded rec center. I hope I live in an area with no snow in the future. 

Nature observations

After our class today, I decided to walk part of the TCU tree walk and visit the pollinator garden. I have observed these areas and enjoyed them since my freshman year. I appreciate that they are deliberate conservation and nature space efforts.

The environment has always been a passion of mine. Because of this, I’ve tried to take steps to make a tangible difference, and I’ve experienced environmental issues firsthand.

The first that comes to mind occurred during my time as my high school’s environmental club president. The club was mainly focused on building air gardens, recycling, and other small projects. My goal was to educate our members on real issues and expose the hard topics. Unfortunately, this led to a decline in membership that only came back when we did “fun” things. Here, I realized that it’s hard to get people to change their habits and focus on real, difficult issues.

A more recent example has come to me in the last few days. I just started reading “The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America.” This book has opened my mind to the history of conservation efforts and the backlash they have faced. I think a large issue with protecting the environment is that it often becomes political, which can cloud people’s judgment. I believe this is one of the largest issues facing conservation movements, as it restricts them from making progress.

This is a class I’ve looked forward to since sophomore year, and I am looking forward to the semester.

Student Survey

 

Here are the results from our on-campus survey. I found this to be fun and interesting. My favorite part was talking to people about the conspiracies that they believed. While I only recorded the ones we talked about as a class, I entertained people's opinions. I think a lot of people tend to say they believe in a conspiracy, but they don't with their full heart. People tend to say "well it just makes sense" and don't necessarily have the facts to back it up. I would love to do a survey like this again with short answers to see what people truly believe or to hear their rational. A survey like this is difficult because people have differing definitions of things like cheating, so it is hard to standardize answers. I would also like to see what wild conspiracies people truly "believe" in or will talk about when given the opportunity. 

If I were to do this again, I would try to find a way to send this to people completely anonymously.  People may feel a bit awkward saying the truth to a stranger on campus. While I didn't include them in this survey, I took the time to talk to some of my family and friends about these questions. I seemed to get more "realistic" results as I had less people say "Not sure" or related answers. I also got exposure to some crazy and funny conspiracy theories because I think they felt more comfortable sharing with me. 

Wristful Thinking

 Our final discussion over swindlers reminds me of a time that I was tricked as a kid. 

While attending a race expo for a nearby marathon, I came across a Power Balance Bracelet booth. This silicone wristband with a small hologram claimed it could “improve balance, strength, and flexibility” by interacting with the body’s natural energy field. As a 6-year-old, this blew my mind. I walked on balance beams, jumped on one foot, and did other balance exercises to prove that the bracelet worked. I will never forget falling off the beam then putting the bracelet on and successfully navigating it. After, I turned to the salesperson and told him that it really worked. He gave me a look like I was a complete idiot. I have never forgotten this because it seems like he would be ecstatic that he claimed another victim, but maybe his conscious caught up with him. My mom laughed the company off and we moved on, much to my dismay.

This ended up becoming extremely popular, with celebrities and athletes endorsing it. This hype only lasted a couple years before independent studies showed zero performance difference between the bracelet and a plain rubber band. In 2011, the Australian government forced Power Balance to admit publicly that there was no credible scientific evidence behind any of their claims. The company faced multiple lawsuits for false advertising and eventually filed for bankruptcy. What I didn't know until just now is that their famous “balance tests” were revealed to be done using subtle shifts in pressure by the demonstrator. 

I think this is such a funny example because they were forcing results in these tests! Thousands of people took these balance tests and felt the "real" improvement. Looking back, this is extremely dumb, and I cannot believe I fell for it. I think this experience shows that if something is too good to be true, it probably is. 

Link to their site: About Us - Power Balance

You Cannot Have Your Diamonds and Wear Them Too

 This week in class we discussed "famous" swindlers and their effect on history. In this blog post, I wanted to talk about a swindle that we didn't hit on. I find this to be one of the most insane swindles I have ever heard due to the money involved and due to the fame of the people involved.   

This is... The Affair of the Diamond Necklace!

    The Affair of the Diamond Necklace was a major political scandal in 1785 centered on a diamond necklace worth about 2 million livres, or roughly $15–20 million in modern U.S. dollars. The incident involved Jeanne de la Motte, who manipulated Cardinal de Rohan into believing that Queen Marie Antoinette secretly wanted to purchase the necklace. Using forged letters and staged encounters (with a Marie Antoinette look alike), Jeanne convinced Rohan to obtain the necklace. In forged letters, Jeanne told Rohan that he needed to take out lines of credit and purchase the necklace. Jeanne then took the necklace explaining that as the Queens best friend she would give it to her, in order to avoid suspicion from the King. Jeanne then dismantles it to sell the diamonds. After sending hundreds of thousands of dollars in modern USD and through pressure from aggressive creditors, Rohan became suspicious and eager for repayment from the Queen.  When payment was demanded, the court discovered that the queen had never ordered it. Better yet, the Queen hadn't talked to Rohan in over a decade! What gave Jeanne away? She signed the letters as Marie Antoinette de France! Any half-educated noble knows the Queen would NEVER say "de France", it is obvious who she is!  The resulting investigation led to public trials, the humiliation of Rohan, and Jeanne’s conviction. During her conviction and whipping, people wept and yelled their support to Jeanne. After she was convicted, branded, and sentenced to life in the Salpêtrière prison, she escaped within two years. She reportedly accomplished this by disguising herself as a boy and slipping out a window using a rope of knotted bedsheets. This was done through the aid of a sympathetic guard who was a loyal admirer of hers. She then fled to London, where she published memoirs attacking Marie Antoinette and portraying herself as the target of a royal conspiracy. Though the scam was exposed, the queen’s reputation suffered the most. The scandal reinforced existing public resentment toward the monarchy and contributed to the erosion of trust that preceded the French Revolution. 

    I think this story is so interesting and there is so much more to it. I encourage you all to look deeper into this. In terms of takeaways, first of all, this necklace is extremely ugly. I think this also shows the power of swindlers using famous people for their gain. It also reinforces the idea that we must question everything that we come across. Why did Rohan trust this random girl? Why would the Queen want anything to do with him if they haven't talked in a decade? This shows how taking advantage of greed and lust is a way swindlers achieve their twisted goals. I also find it interesting that people instantly trusted Jeanne because the Queen had become such a hated figure. 

Area 52

 In the nearly 200 hours I have spent running this year, a solid amount of time has been spent listening to conspiracy theories. They always keep me engaged because more often than not, they are quite interesting. I have always enjoyed listening to deep research and cherry-picked facts that supports theorists' ideas. While most of these are laughable, some of them have great backing and could genuinely be true. Today, I want to explore my favorite conspiracy on top of one o the most popular ones I could find. 

The Gate Program

What is believed: The GATE program, intended for gifted children, was not just an enrichment program. It was used by U.S. Intel communities and other covert programs to identify and train children for special operations or remote-viewing programs. Some children claim that they were given strange prompts such as code breaking, cryptography, or foreign language studies. 

How it evolved: The GATE program has been publicly visible for decades as an ordinary gifted education track. In the 2020s this theory gained traction online after many people who were apart of this program in the 90s-00s started to discuss odd assignments or tasks. This was picked up by podcasts and broadcasted at a larger level. 

Who believes it: Mainly adults who attended elementary school in the 90s-00s. They reflect on their time in this program and express that they feel like they were given weird tasks. Those who did well on these tasks felt that their schooling experience was heightened from that point, with the opposite also being true. People well versed in other programs such as stargate, remote-viewing, and MK-Ultra see this as a continued effort by the government to find "psychic" children.

How it is spread: This has primarily been spread through videos and discussions on platforms such as Reddit, TikTok, and Instagram. Once the theory gained traction, podcasts started to pick it up. Lastly, word of mouth through GATE members. This is the podcast I listened to:

Episode 161 : The Gate Program – Theories of the Third Kind

John F. Kennedy assassination

What is believed: The Warren Commission produced a rushed and faked report that identified Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone shooter in the JFK assassination. Many believe that possibly the CIA, Mafia, anti-Castro Cubans, or the KGB organized the murder. Claims include there were multiple shooters, evidence was suppressed or tampered with, the motive may involve Kennedy’s policy on Cuba/Vietnam/Cold War, the CIA or other agencies felt betrayed by Kennedy and orchestrated his death.

How it evolved: The speculation occurred immediately after the assassination due to the fact of how public and horrible it was. Around this time the Cold War and Bay of Pigs had occurred, which left many Americans skeptical of the government. The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone but many critics found issues in their claims and conclusions. In the following decades, this speculation has only grown through released documents, declassified CIA files, and audio recordings. 

Who believes it: While sources differ, many claim that a majority of Americans believe that JFK's assassination involved a conspiracy. Many researchers focus on discrepancies from the Warren report while others just distrust the government and think there is more going on. 

How it is spread: This theory has been picked up by countless books, documentaries, and podcasts making it one of the most popular conspiracy theories today. Recent government files were released which stirred up new interest on social media and internet forums. The mystery behind this event leaves so many unanswered questions that popular TV and semi-academic papers will likely continue to cover this event.

Overall, I find both of these theories interesting. I am not quite sure if I believe either, but they make for quality entertainment.  

Save The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus!

 The presentation on hoaxes reminded me of one of my favorite books as a child, Weird Washington: Your Travel Guide to Washington’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets.

While this book isn't necessarily centered around hoaxes, it does cover many urban legends in Washington State. Outside of that it covers hauntings, mysterious occurrences, and general oddities. While it was never stated as an influence, this book also reminds me of the Disney Channel show Gravity Falls which is set in Oregon.  

For this post, I want to shed some light on some of my favorite lesser known "legends" based in WA. 

J. Z. Knight - Wikipedia

J. Z. Knight is a spiritual leader known for claiming to channel a 35,000-year-old warrior spirit named Ramtha. She founded the Ramtha School of Enlightenment in Yelm, Washington, which teaches followers about consciousness and creating reality through thought. Critics have called her teachings pseudoscientific and the organization a cult. Supporters, on the other hand, praise it as a path to personal empowerment. This path to empowerment comes at the fair price of thousands of dollars and a yearly retreat to Yelm. Knight appeared on The Merv Griffin Show in the 1980s, bringing “Ramtha” into mainstream pop culture.

Maury Island incident - Wikipedia

The Maury Island Incident happened in 1947, when two men near Tacoma, Washington, claimed to have seen six flying saucers and recovered strange metal debris. They reported the event to the Air Force, but it was quickly dismissed as a hoax after investigators found inconsistencies and the "interstellar debris" turned out to be industrial waste. The case gained new life when “men in black” allegedly visited the witnesses, one of the first times that concept appeared in UFO lore. It’s now seen as one of the earliest examples of UFO conspiracy myths blending mystery with fabrication.

Pacific Northwest tree octopus - Wikipedia

Save The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus may be one of my favorite internet hoaxes. It is a famous internet hoax created in 1998 by Lyle Zapato, describing a fictional amphibious octopus living in the rainforests near Mount Rainier. The site detailed the “endangered” creature’s habits and threats from logging and climate change, citing photoshopped pictures. It became a viral tool for teaching digital literacy as many students believed it was real until learning it was satire. The site still runs today, and teachers use it to demonstrate the importance of verifying online sources.

Washington State has a rich? interesting? laughable? history of odd events and weird occurrences. While some of them are obvious hoxes, like The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus, some are serious and unsolved mysteries,
like D.B Cooper. 

I accessed this book via: Weird Washington : your travel guide to Washington's local legends and best kept secrets : Davis, Jeff, 1962- : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive if you would like to read it you can make an account and borrow the book for free. I highly recommend doing so!