The Men Who Stare At Goats - In Theaters Today

Read The Men Who Stare at Goats on Google Books

Now a major motion picture! I haven't seen the film as of yet but I did read the book and I have watched the Channel 4 miniseries Jon Ronson: The Crazy Rulers of the World and my own opinion is that, given the kind of production values I've seen from the advertising and trailers and so-forth, it would be very difficult to mess up such an: intriguing, amusing and entertaining story. I do plan to watch the film tomorrow afternoon and I will report back Monday to let you know if it sucks.


www.themenwhostareatgoatsmovie.com


THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS - HD Trailer -- 2 min 23 sec
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC2TzspJn5A

Of course it is easy to get carried away and the folks on the other side of this discussion have set the intertubes abuzz with claims ranging from that Ronson's Revelations proves the legitimacy of PSI phenomenon to claims that the world is secretly run by a "Luciferian Illuminati" or even "Shape-Shifting-Transdimentional-Reptoids."



For instance DailyMotion user neverknwo put together this EXCELLENT montage from Ronson's wonderful 2004 Channel 4 series CRAZY RULERS OF THE WORLD and then had the discourtesy of titling his production "Krazy Rulers of the NWO - The Rat Masters who Stare at Goats." I have but three words: "pot meet kettle."

Krazy Rulers of the NWO - The Rat Masters who Stare at Goats -- 14 min 45 sec
Krazy Rulers of the NWO - The Rat Masters who Stare at Goats

It is interesting to note that Jon Ronson came to no such conclusion while investigating this, admittedly embarrassing, story and one really does need to take SOME OF THE OTHER OUTLANDISH CLAIMS made by some of these claimants into consideration before jumping the skeptical ship into a sea of half-truths and unfounded speculations.

Lt. Col Jim Channon, Ret., with whom this (very odd) story seems to have originated, claims that the application of New Age "Human Potential" strategies to the arts of war was less about "training soldiers to have magical powers" and more about "getting soldiers to reach for the impossible so that they might achieve the possible along the way." That strikes me as a bit of a cop out from a story that is quite an embarrassment for the US Military and the United States as a whole but it remains a, very plausible, possibility.

FIRST EARTH BATTALION The Real Story By Jim Channon -- 6 min 29 sec
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1baz3TkPw68

On a final note, I never turn down an opportunity to remind my rational stistren and brethren that there have been instances where folks on our side of the discussion have gotten things wrong. I cannot speak for everyone but when well-known paranormal shams like Uri Geller first started claiming that the CIA, FBI, etc were using Psychics to facilitate very serious matters of national security and law enforcement in the United States my personal, sort of knee-jerk, response was to disbelieve the Psychics and trust in the rationality of the US Government rather than to be outraged at the waste of resources and threats to my safety. Upon this very blog (and the links contained within it) there are numerous examples of behaviors which indicate that "just because someone SHOULD know better does not necessarily mean that he or she DOES know better." That is not to say that there are not claims which can be dismissed without investigation but there really is a "fuzzy border" between skepticism and denial which underscores the need for: honest, open and civil discussion of these sorts of topics whenever possible ... But not with the "Illuminati-Space-Lizard" folks ... They're just weird.

See also:

Skepticality - Interview: Jon Ronson
The Skeptics Guide to the Universe - Interview with Jon Ronson
Jon Ronson on Coast to Coast AM
Point of Inquiry: Ray Hyman - The Elusive Quarry

The Men Who Stare At Goats - In Theaters Today