The cattle mutilation phenomenon is an ongoing mystery that has endured for almost 50 years. What have we learned, if anything, from the countless reports filed? Who or what is behind the death and disfigurement of livestock reported as mutilated around the globe? Are black helicopters or UFOs related to the cattle mutilation phenomenon as many witnesses have claimed? This book addresses these questions in depth and, also, offers an objective look at the history of our venerated relationship with cattle, the first domesticated livestock.

The coronavirus pandemic struck the world in a very distinctive way: experience from past pandemics or from more recent outbreaks could give us only a limited understanding of how the situation was likely to unfold. In this context, and with cyberspace being increasingly used to support health-related decision making and to market health products, potentially harmful behaviours have been carried out by individuals propagating non-science-based health (mis)information and conspiratorial thinking. This includes, among other actions, boycotting the use of masks and physical distancing, proactively opposing the use of the COVID-19 candidate vaccines, and promoting the use of useless or even dangerous substances to prevent or resist the virus. By relying on a virtual ethnography approach carried out on Italian-speaking alternative lifestyle and counter-information online communities, this book shows how the nature of personal interactions online and the construction of both personal and group identities through the development of an 'us vs. them' narrative, are central to the creation and propagation of medical misinformation. This book is essential reading for researchers in the social, health, and data sciences and also professionals interested in scientific communication.

Praise for Unsolved Mysteries of American History

"The facts are presented clearly and concisely, and the answers have been thoroughly researched using the most up-to-date sources."
-Newark Star Ledger

"Everything that would make a great detective story. It has intellectual twists and turns, alleyways and dead ends; it has politics, espionage, intrigue, murder, cowardice, greed, courage, battles, liars, and frauds."
- New Strait Times

"Stimulating and pleasurable, fair and objective . . . recommended for both the history buff and the fan of true-life mysteries."
-Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Unsolved Mysteries of History

"Draws intelligently and entertainingly on respected-and disputed-primary volumes. . . . Reading a chapter aloud to a group would almost guarantee a lively evening."
-Baltimore Sun

"Unerring good sense and . . . well-paced prose."
-Petersburg Monitor

"Solid speculation . . . full of clever advice."
-Associated Press

"Aron's latest offering proves again that history can be fun and as strange, at least, as fiction."
-Booklist

Why do people accept ideas that are contradicted by science or logic? In Implausible Beliefs, Allan Mazur offers a comparative look at the nature of irrational belief systems, their social roots, and their cultural and political impact. He begins by providing standards for judging beliefs implausible and assessing the impact of such belief systems onpolitics and social policy in the US. Mazur describes and defends commonsense criteria for establishing that certain views should not be sustained in the face of present-day understanding. He presents a statistical portrait of implausible beliefs rampant in the US, and who tends to accept them.

Mazur applies criteria for implausibility to the Bible, astrology, and visitation to Earth of intelligent beings from other worlds. Pointing out that everyone "knows" the Bible but few actually read it, the author scrolls through the first five books of the text, noting points that undermine the scripture's natural history and moral guidance. Working on the assumption that implausible religious views are fundamentally no different from implausible secular views, he critiques secular beliefs in astrology and UFOs. Mazur concludes the volume with an attempt to explain why most people accept implausibility--some more than others--despite evidence and logic that refute them.

Looking to mainstream sociology and psychology, Mazur shows how children are socialized into such beliefs, and how adults are influenced by spouses and friends. Personality is also a factor, sometimes abetted by stressful or lonely life situations. Lucidly written, this is a provocative and informative contribution to social psychology, sociology, religion, political science, and American studies.

New updated and expanded edition of the groundbreaking book that ignited a firestorm in the scientific world with its radical approach to evolution
- Explains how past forms and behaviors of organisms determine those of similar organisms in the present through morphic resonance
- Reveals the nonmaterial connections that allow direct communication across time and space
When "A New Science of Life" was first published the British journal "Nature" called it "the best candidate for burning there has been for many years." The book called into question the prevailing mechanistic theory of life when its author, Rupert Sheldrake, a former research fellow of the Royal Society, proposed that morphogenetic fields are responsible for the characteristic form and organization of systems in biology, chemistry, and physics--and that they have measurable physical effects. Using his theory of morphic resonance, Sheldrake was able to reinterpret the regularities of nature as being more like habits than immutable laws, offering a new understanding of life and consciousness.
In the years since its first publication, Sheldrake has continued his research to demonstrate that the past forms and behavior of organisms influence present organisms through direct immaterial connections across time and space. This can explain why new chemicals become easier to crystallize all over the world the more often their crystals have already formed, and why when laboratory rats have learned how to navigate a maze in one place, rats elsewhere appear to learn it more easily. With more than two decades of new research and data, Rupert Sheldrake makes an even stronger case for the validity of the theory of formative causation that can radically transform how we see our world and our future.

What does the good life mean in a "backward" place? As communist regimes denigrated widespread unemployment and consumer excess in Western countries, socialist Eastern European states simultaneously legitimized their power through their apparent ability to satisfy consumers' needs. Moving beyond binaries of production and consumption, the essays collected here examine the lessons consumption studies can offer about ethnic and national identity and the role of economic expertise in shaping consumer behavior. From Polish VCRs to Ukrainian fashion boutiques, tropical fruits in the GDR to cinemas in Belgrade, The Socialist Good Life explores what consumption means in a worker state where communist ideology emphasizes collective needs over individual pleasures.

Conservative journalist Allum Bokhari examines how the liberal-leaning elites of Silicon Valley have completely overtaken social media, creating a crisis for privacy and freedom of expression. In the beginning, the entrepreneurs who created the internet wanted to disrupt an old, oppressive system. They wanted to ensure that everyone -- no matter their social standing or level of education -- could have a voice. Today, those same entrepreneurs are in control, and they've created an oppressive system of their own. Companies like Google, Facebook, and Twitter are more powerful than most governments. They censor conservative voices. They ban content they don't like. They hide the profiles of users whose views don't align with their own. In #DELETED, Allum Bokhari tells the story of how this happened, and taps sources from deep in the government and several social media companies who are willing to speak out about it. The book includes several never-before-reported stories about censorship in big tech, and serves as a warning about what could happen if we don't do something about it.

Unlock Supernatural Power"This is definitely a fun read and shows small ways you can try and change your life for the better." Nerdy Girl Express #1 Best Seller in Crystals Practice Practical Magic. Did you know that wearing an amulet of green jade during an interview will help you get the job? Have you heard that an amethyst ring can help break bad habits and even encourage sobriety? Anyone looking for love can place two pink quartz crystals in the bedroom; you'll not be alone for long! These are just a few of the hundreds of secrets shared in The Magic of Crystals and Gems. Semi-precious stones and gems have long been known for their magic as well as their beauty. In this book of charms, readers learn everything there is to know about the powers of crystals from birthstone magic to gem divination to jewelry spells. This is a fun, entertaining, and enlightening book that will appeal to everyone who's ever worn a birthstone, kissed the ring of a lover for luck, or bought a crystal for good energy. Learn Amazing Things About Crystals. The Magic of Crystals and Gems is a treasure chest filled with the ancient wisdom of crystals. It is also a handy how-to filled with little-known lore along with the myth, meanings and specific magical qualities of hundreds of crystals, both common and very rare, including many meteorites. Author Cerridwen Greenleaf shares secrets to how and why crystal balls work, scrying with obsidian, crystal astrology, divination, healing, psychism and connections between the stars in the sky and gems of the earth. This one-of-a-kind work on the power of crystals belongs on the bookshelf of everyone interested in the magical gifts of Mother Nature. Learn: Which crystals are right for you How to unlock the mystery of sacred stones Ways to improve your life with changes as simple as putting new crystals in your room If you like The Crystal Bible or Crystals for Healing, you'll love The Magic of Crystals and Gems

Why do people and groups ignore, deny and resist knowledge about society's many problems? In a world of 'alternative facts', 'fake news' that some believe could be remedied by 'factfulness', the question has never been more pressing. After years of ideologically polarised debates on this topic, the book seeks to further advance our understanding of the phenomenon of knowledge resistance by integrating insights from the social, economic and evolutionary sciences. It identifies simplistic views in public and scholarly debates about what facts, knowledge and human motivations are and what 'rational' use of information actually means. The examples used include controversies about nature-nurture, climate change, gender roles, vaccination, genetically modified food and artificial intelligence. Drawing on cutting-edge scholarship as well as personal experiences of culture clashes, the book is aimed at the general, educated public as well as students and scholars interested in the interface of human motivation and the urgent social problems of today. -- .

This is a remarkable look into the intrigue surrounding the mysterious death of Rudolph Hess and why hundreds of millions of pounds a year were spent to keep him from having any communication with the outside world. This not only includes his association with the Vril flying saucers and Antarctica but other aspects of his legacy that have gone unnoticed. Told in the context of a historical novel, Peter Moon also fills in missing pieces of the Montauk saga by adding time travel to the mix and connecting dots that have previously been overlooked. This includes a look at three notable people who all lived in Egypt at the same time: Noble Drew Ali, Aleister Crowley, and Rudolph Hess. Directed by Tibetan elders, the Germans sought to harness the Vril, an energy so powerful that it can change the very nature of the elements themselves. To succeed, however, a major change was required in the evolutionary development of the human species. A dramatic scenario of events unfolded, however, which not only ensured that this endeavour was sabotaged but included an undertaking designed to prevent humanity from ever discovering its ancient heritage and the secrets of the Vril. It was against this backdrop that two of the most colourful characters of World War II, Rudolph Hess and George S. Patton, became immersed in an age old battle involving the legions of light and darkness. The end of World War II precipitated more intrigue and struggle for power than the war itself. Much of this centred around the secret projects sponsored by Rudolph Hess which included not only the Antarctic project but the construction of Vril flying saucers. Patton's job, as the war came to a close, was to recover the secret technology of the Germans and safeguard it for American use. After accomplishing his mission and compiling a German history of the war, General Patton was killed in a dubious accident, the mystery of which has never been solved and has been magnified by government refusal to declassify the file on the investigation of his death. Far more conspicuous and powerful than Patton was Rudolph Hess, the Deputy Fuhrer of Germany, who flew to England in 1941 as an envoy of peace and was imprisoned for life and suspiciously killed just before his imminent release. The current of intrigue and power which permeated these two individuals and led to their downfall was the same current which led to a repatriation of the U.S. Government and an undermining of a constitutional government that is run by and for the people. Besides technology, much of this intrigue centred around the banking files the Nazis confiscated from the Freemasons. The effort to keep this secret is still a factor in today's politics. It was thus that Patton and Hess wore different uniforms but shared common interests and held within their grasp a force so powerful that, if harnessed, it might raise the ancient civilisation of Atlantis itself. It was for this power that both were killed and so begins our mystery.

How were the hunter-gatherers of Goebekli Tepe able to build a series of stunning stone monuments six thousand years before Stonehenge? Was the so-called 'Wow!' Signal a radio transmission from deep space, or the ambient resonating frequency of a passing comet? What happened mid-Atlantic to the passengers and crew of the Mary Celeste, leaving the abandoned ship to sail on by itself? Wonderful and weird, here are twenty incredible mysteries that continue to enthral and perplex. Each unexplained mystery, whether ancient or modern, presents the reader with its own unique challenge.

Mount Desert Island has attracted scoundrels and scandals for more than 100 years. Steady as the tide, every summer brings a rush of summer residents from eastern cities to the island and nothing thrilled them so much as a good scandal. In its heyday, Mount Desert was a wild oasis where the summercators could carry on in comparative privacy. Today, unfortunately, unlike Las Vegas, what happened on Mount Desert doesn't always stay on Mount Desert. The scandals that were the talk of the picnics and outings that filled the summer visitors' days are brought back to life in Bar Harbor Babylon. Murderers, thieves, cheaters and scammers have all made their mark on the tiny towns of Mount Desert. This book will take the reader on a tour of the misadventures and misfortunes that punctuate the island's wealthy and privileged past.

There is a war on truth. And the liars are winning. There is an increasingly large number of weapons in the arsenal of the rich, the powerful and the elected to prevent the truth from coming out - to bury it, warp it, twist it to suit their purposes. Truthteller exposes this toolbox of lies and deception, and reveals how governments and corporations have covered-up mass murder, corruption and catastrophe. In a world where Putin and Trump have successfully branded journalists as traffickers in fake news, while promoting the actual creators of fake news, investigative reporter Stephen Davis shows the tools that are used to deceive us and explains why they work. He draws from over three decades as an award-winning reporter, editor, foreign correspondent, television producer, documentary filmmaker, and journalism educator to analyse exclusive documents and interviews. Discover shocking details of deception in media across the globe and learn how to recognise and decode the lies we are told by those in power. Truthteller is an essential guide for understanding the modern media world - for teachers, students and concerned citizens who want to know the facts, not fake news and conspiracy theories. It takes you inside the world of investigative reporting in an intimate history of a reporter's battles, won and lost, the personal and professional costs and the lives damaged along the way.

Since earliest times, human beings have pondered the incomprehensible questions of the universe, life . . . and the afterlife. Where did mortal man go to join the immortal Gods? Was the immense and complex structure at Giza an Egyptian Pharaoh's portal to immortality? Or a pulsating beacon built by extraterrestrials for landing on Earth?

In this second volume of his trailblazing series "The Earth Chronicles," Zecharia Sitchin unveils secrets of the pyramids and hidden clues from ancient times to reveal a grand forgery on which established Egyptology is founded, and takes the reader to the Spaceport and Landing Place of the Anunnaki gods--"Those Who from Heaven to Earth Came."

Incredible Stories of the Prophets, Vagabonds, Fortune-Tellers, Hermits, Lords, and Poets Who Shaped New England New England has been a lot of things-an economic hub, a cultural center, a sports mecca-but it is also home to many of the strangest individuals in America. Wicked Weird & Wily Yankees explores and celebrates the eccentric personalities who have left their mark in a way no other book has before. Some folks are known, others not so much, but the motley cast of characters that emerges from these pages represents a fascinating cross-section of New England's most peculiar denizens. Look inside to find: *Tales of the Leather Man and the Old Darned Man, who both spent years crisscrossing the highways and byways of the northeast, their origins and motivation to remain forever unknown. *The magnificent homes of William Gillette and Madame Sherri, famed socialites who constructed enormous castles in the New England countryside. *William Sheldon's apocalyptic prophecies and wild claims including that the American Revolution had hastened the end of the world and that he could-through his mastery of the "od-force"-prevent cholera across the eastern United States. *The mysterious fortune-teller Moll Pitcher whose predictions, some say, were sought by European royalty and whose fame made her the subject of poems, plays, and novels long after her death. Stretching back to the colonial era and covering the development and evolution of New England society through the beginning of the twenty-first century, this book captures the rebel spirit, prickly demeanors, and wily attitudes that have made the region the hotbed for oddity it is today. *All Royalties Donated to the Education and Youth Programs at the Connecticut River Museum*

Web of Lies is a fascinating and far-reaching examination of the rising threat of far-right extremist thought in Ireland and internationally, and looks at how these movements utilise the online world to spread disinformation, polarising society in the process. From the Illuminati to the Red Scare, Save the Children to QAnon, research analyst Aoife Gallagher shows that there are many pathways to radicalisation - most of them benign and unassuming - and demonstrates that we are all susceptible to conspiratorial thinking and at risk of falling down the rabbit hole. In an accessible and entertaining style, Web of Lies presents a history of conspiracy theories and their roots in anti-Semitism, xenophobia and white supremacy; the role social media plays in spreading these theories; how they can proliferate during times of crises; and what we can do to protect ourselves and others from falling victim to these messages. 'Ever wondered how good people get trapped in their worst nightmares? Web of Lies is an unforgettable journey through the upside-down world of conspiratorial thinking. Aoife Gallagher has written the definitive account of how global lies have changed Irish lives, in a book full of personal empathy, unrivalled expertise and captivating storytelling. It shines a light on the real-world harm of our darkest online fantasies and it shows how each of us can fight back.' Mark Little 'At a time of fractious discord in discourse, Gallagher provides a vital context to and education in the strange and alarming world of conspiracy theories. Anyone interested in truth and facts should read this book.' Una Mullally 'Aoife Gallagher can plumb the depths of the internet and come up to the surface to explain what she's found with levity, empathy and humour. Wise without lecturing; sharp but always maintaining compassion for those caught up in misinformation. A fantastic global overview of trends while having one eye on how these things have come to Ireland.' Brianna Parkins

*THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* *ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2019* *WITH NEW & EXCLUSIVE AFTERWORD* 'Addictive ... a jaw-dropping read' STYLIST 'Explosive ... Definitely one for the beach' ELLE 'Paints a fascinating picture of an eccentric egomaniac who rails against all authority ... gripping stuff' SUNDAY TIMES ___________ How does it feel to be betrayed by your closest friend? A close friend who turns out to be the most prolific grifter in New York City... This is the true story of Anna Delvey (real name Anna Sorokin), the fake heiress whose dizzying deceit and elaborate con-artistry deceived the Soho hipster scene before her ruse was finally and dramatically exposed. After meeting through mutual friends, the 'Russian heiress' Anna Delvey and Rachel DeLoache Williams soon became inseparable. Theirs was an intoxicating world of endless excess: high dining, personal trainer sessions, a luxury holiday ... and Anna footed almost every bill. But after Anna's debit card was declined in a Moroccan medina whilst on holiday in a five-star luxury resort, Rachel began to suspect that her increasingly mysterious friend was not all she seemed. This is the incredible story of how Anna Sorokin conned the high-rollers of the NYC social scene and convinced her close friend of an entirely concocted fantasy, the product of falsified bank documents, bad cheques and carefully edited online photos. Written by Rachel DeLoache Williams, the Vanity Fair photography editor who believed Anna's lies before helping the police to track her down (fittingly, deciphering Anna's location using Instagram), this is Catch Me If You Can with Instagram filters. Between Anna, Fyre Festival's Billy McFarland (Anna even tried to scam Billy) and Elizabeth Holmes, whose start-up app duped the high and mighty of Silicon Valley, this is the year of the scammer.

The shocking history of the espionage and infiltration of American media during WWI and the man who exposed it. A man who was not who he claimed to be... Russia was not the first foreign power to subvert American popular opinion from inside. In the lead-up to America's entry into the First World War, Germany spent the modern equivalent of one billion dollars to infiltrate American media, industry, and government to undermine the supply chain of the Allied forces. If not for the ceaseless activity of John Revelstoke Rathom, editor of the scrappy Providence Journal, America may have remained committed to its position of neutrality. But Rathom emerged to galvanize American will, contributing to the conditions necessary for President Wilson to request a Declaration of War from Congress-all the while exposing sensational spy plots and getting German diplomats expelled from the U.S. And yet John Rathom was not even his real name. His swashbuckling biography was outrageous fiction. And his many acts of journalistic heroism, which he recounted to rapt audiences on nationwide speaking tours, never happened. Who then was this great, beloved, and ultimately tragic imposter? In The Imposter's War, Mark Arsenault unearths the truth about Rathom's origins and revisits a surreal and too-little-known passage in American history that reverberates today. The story of John Rathom encompasses the propaganda battle that set America on a course for war. He rose within the editorial ranks, surviving romantic scandals and combative rivals, eventually transitioning from an editor to a de facto spy. He brought to light the Huerta plot (in which Germany tied to push the United States and Mexico into a war) and helped to upend labor strikes organized by German agents to shut down American industry. Rathom was eventually brought low by an up-and-coming political star by the name of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Arsenault tracks the rise and fall of this enigmatic figure, while providing the rich and fascinating context of Germany's acts of subterfuge through the early years of World War I. The Imposter's War is a riveting and spellbinding narrative of a flawed newsman who nevertheless changed the course of history.