The Agents of F.L.A.S.K.

[Tiki Tom]

I am Holy Dublin Catholic and believe in spirits; double barreled served over rock ice.

Personally, I’m waiting for someone to correctly solve the combination lock test.
Famous reincarnation researcher Dr Ian Stevenson (U of Virginia) devised a “test” whereby people would make up their own unforgettable six word jingle which they could then convert into a combination lock combination using a standard code. They would set the combination lock code themself and give the locked lock to the U of Va. Theory being that, after they died, they would remember the jingle and somehow pass it on to the living/family/friends. The code would be used to decipher the phrase and, voila, the lock could be opened and the existence of the afterlife proved! Simple. It’s my understanding that the University of Virginia has a cabinet full of these locks. None, however, has been successfully opened. As far as I know.

https://themorningnews.org/article/the-combination-lock-test

https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual...9/Combination-Lock-Test-for-Survival-1968.pdf

 

[FOXTROT LAMONT]

It’s my understanding that the University of Virginia has a cabinet full of these locks. None, however, has been successfully opened.

A PHI BETA KAPPA key case. A key unable to open any lock. And locks impervious any pick.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Here at the Fedora Lounge Adventure Speakeasy Klub (F.L.A.S.K.), we love a good historic sword that is purported to have magical powers.

Any other legendary blades that we should add to the list?

Oh, no! The legendary sword of Roland has been stolen from a French village!

https://nypost.com/2024/07/03/world...d-vanishes-after-1300-years-lodged-in-a-rock/

I can only imagine that some nefarious arch villain needs the enchanted blade to fulfill a task that will have earthshaking evil consequences. Is there no hero ready to step forward and rescue the sword of Roland???

Quote: “Police are trying to determine how someone could have scaled 100 feet of sheer rock face to snatch the sword.”

 

[GHT]

One morning in the summer, early starters for work in the City of Coventry, were amused to find a set of footprints, the size of Lady Godiva's foot, from the plinth of her statue to a nearby public convenience.

The newspaper were also into their share of originality with the headline: "The Lady's Bladder Could Hold It No Longer!"

My neighbour was amused by the above story, he gave me a link to the local Coventry newspaper which reads:

"Following the recent news of vandalism to our iconic St Michael and the Devil statue, an individual came forward to the police and has since made a face-to-face apology with staff at Coventry Cathedral.
Coventry Cathedral, decided not to press charges, but wanted to speak to the 20-year-old as part of a restorative justice process.
Revd Mary Gregory, Canon for Arts and Reconciliation at the Cathedral, said: “It was not easy for the person who damaged the statue to come to the Cathedral to apologise. They, and their friends who chose to accompany them for this conversation, were clearly ashamed by their actions and wanted, not only to apologise but also to contribute towards the cost of making good the damage they had caused."

To explain "the vandalism" in that news article I need to explain that the building is known as: The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael. On the wall beside the entrance is the statue of St. Michael the Arch Angel, standing over a defeated Lucifer.


My neighbour's Grandson either attends a college in the City, or he went to some function there, I'm not sure, it's not relevant. What the Grandson did do though, was the reported vandalism. This picture of the statue of Lucifer doesn't show how very well endowed The Old Devil is.

Grandson's crime? He and others managed to climb on one another's shoulders and stretch a condom over Lucifer's, ahem, appendage.

 

[Tiki Tom]

LOL. Youth and their silly pranks.
Too bad the poor young man will now have to go through life with the nickname “he who touched the devil’s thingamabob.”

 

[Tiki Tom]

To me, it is amazing that we live in a world where there are still uncontacted tribes. I’m also imagining that there are also likely to be undiscovered animal species living in the territory of these uncontacted tribes.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...rom-rainforest-as-loggers-move-in/ar-BB1q7SNN

 

[Tiki Tom]

Another sailing yacht sunk by killer whales near the straights of Gibraltar. Definitely a trend. Do they do it for fun? Or (crazy talk warning!) is this part of the earth‘s immune system kicking in to rid the planet of an infectious virus known as humans?

https://nypost.com/2024/07/26/world...28k-yacht-in-2-hour-mediterranean-sea-attack/

 

[Tiki Tom]

This has gone viral. What the heck is it?
I know FLASKers are a cynical group (so am I), but —seriously— what is this?
My mantra has always been “there is no way that a breeding population of such a large creature could have escaped detection for so long.”
So what is this? A bear? Doesn’t look like one.
A hoax? If so it’s very elaborate. Not just a guy in an ape suit.
I hope experts weigh-in in coming days.
I am happy to say that it is a strange and mysterious world out there.

 

[Benny Holiday]

The legs and musculature are the most compelling features. Weird. If it's just a still photo, I guess it could be fake, as in a mannequin. Would be interesting to see moving footage from the trail camera.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Another interesting true case…
U.S. warship attacked by a massive unknown sea creature.
Experts believe it was likely a giant squid… but far larger than any specimen ever seen.
The ocean is 80% unexplored. Strange things lurk in the uncharted depths.
How cool is that? When I was about 12 years old, I wanted to be an oceanographer; precisely because of weird, mysterious stuff like this.

https://www.iflscience.com/the-uss-...avy-frigate-shredding-parts-of-its-hull-65325

(Unfortunately, my dad talked me out of the oceanography idea by arguing that I was crappy at math and the sciences require a lot of math. Way to go, dad!)

 

[Tiki Tom]

Bizarre news of the day.
An expert on serial killers discusses the vampire subculture.
Okay, admittedly she is talking about stuff she witnessed 20+ years ago. And it was probably more prevalent back then because of the popularity of the Anne Rice Vampire books. But it begs the question “does such a subculture still exist Today?”
Strange goings on.
It must also be noted that she says of the new Netflix show that proof is needed.
Lately I’m feeling like Kolchak, the Night Stalker. Now that is a series that Netflix should reboot.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Now, this is a true head scratcher.
On-the-air and a day before it happened, a popular psychic in Brazil predicted that plane crash in Sao Paulo that killed 62 people. She essentially told everyone in San Paulo to start praying because a plane was going to fall out of the sky with people on board. This was 24 hours before the accident.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/brazilian-psychic-predicted-so-paulo-33463677

What say you? Are some people simply born with better developed psychic powers than most of us? Is it a blessing or a curse? Or is this simply impossible? Seeing into the future, for heaven’s sake! That raises all kinds of questions about the nature of reality. Or… Was it all just a vaguely worded coincidence?

I want to believe, but the implications go way beyond the incident itself.

 

[GHT]

Are some people simply born with better developed psychic powers than most of us? Is it a blessing or a curse? Or is this simply impossible? Seeing into the future, for heaven’s sake! That raises all kinds of questions about the nature of reality. Or… Was it all just a vaguely worded coincidence?

I want to believe, but the implications go way beyond the incident itself.

In the introduction of his 1931 Essays in Persuasion, British Economist John Maynard Keynes described his works as “the croakings of a Cassandra who could never influence the course of events in time.”

Like Priamus’ daughter condemned to issue warnings destined to go unheeded, in 1919, Keynes was also frustrated with his attempts to convince the world leaders of the dangers of imposing harsh peace terms on Germany. After resigning from his position at the Paris Peace Conference, Keynes decided to share his concern about the precarious postwar order in The Economic Consequences of Peace.

In his most famous (and debated) work, Keynes correctly predicted how the “Carthaginian” Treaty of Versailles would cause financial and political instability, eventually leading to World War II.

 

[Tiki Tom]

The Shroud of Turin is back in the news. Who doesn’t love the Shroud? Who doesn’t want it to be authentic?

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/jesus-shroud-of-turin-b2600646.html

In short, scientific techniques have improved over the decades. Remember that study from the 1980s that concluded that the cloth was from the Middle Ages? Well, now updated scientific methodology has targeted the cellulose in the fabric and dated the material as being roughly 2000 years old. Apparently, moving the cloth to a cooler, damper climate in the distant past had a misleading effect on those 1980s results. The debate goes on! (Play Indiana Jones theme music in your head right now!)

 

[Tiki Tom]

More strange stuff that also happens to be true.
Remember that Nun who was buried in Missouri? After four years they dug her up to rebury her elsewhere, and it was found that her body had not decayed in the normal manner? Well, here is the update.
Scientist studied the body and found that it is unexplainable.
A miracle?

 

[Hurricane Jack]

More strange stuff that also happens to be true.
Remember that Nun who was buried in Missouri? After four years they dug her up to rebury her elsewhere, and it was found that her body had not decayed in the normal manner? Well, here is the update.
Scientist studied the body and found that it is unexplainable.
A miracle?

While technically not part of the wind blown Loess Hills of Nebraska, Iowa , & northern Missouri where she was first buried & exhumed from, Gallatin, MO is rich with Loess soil. I would think any scientific research would factor that in along with how the remains were prepared for burial & what they were buried in.

 

[Tiki Tom]

Well. This is just freakin’ weird.
Probably a natural cloud formation, but still very crazy!
At that distance, if it was a “being”, it would have to be about 200 feet tall!
The footage comes From China.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Wow that is really freaky!

 

[Tiki Tom]

Turn up the Indiana Jones Theme Song!

If true (I’m a little bit skeptical) this story is a great mix of exotic location, creepy mystery, and lost treasure. A centuries-old ship found in the African desert, laden with gold!

https://greekreporter.com/2024/07/15/ship-desert-gold/

I hope someone on the scene was wearing a fedora.

Additional material Added: it seems that my skepticism is perhaps not warranted. CNN also ran the story, with some additional details…

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/namibia-shipwreck-bom-jesus/index.html

Adventure lives!

 

[Tiki Tom]

Speaking of spies. The plot thickens.

Remember that super yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily a few weeks back? Well, now it turns out that the owner of the yacht (who died during the sinking. R.I.P.) was working with several western intelligence agencies and had founded a cyber security firm named “Darktrace”. He also worked closely with the British government. The sunken yacht supposedly contains watertight safes that contain lots of highly classified secrets on “two super encrypted hard drives.” (See paragraph 5). The Italians are belatedly putting the wreck under lockdown.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/21/europe/bayesian-yacht-watertight-safes-intl/index.html

The super yacht supposedly sank during a freak storm. Do we believe in coincidences? My guess is that whatever was in those safes is long gone.