NEFARIOUS NEWS
~ IV ~
with Draconis Blackthorne
Country Gripped By Four Lucky Nines
7:49 AM ET September 9, 1999
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Women rushed to give birth, filmmakers grabbed their clapperboards and new
businesses flung open their doors as "four nines" fever gripped Thailand Thursday.
The ninth of the ninth of ninety-nine may spell potential disaster for old computer systems, some of
which were initially programmed to shut down when they read "9999."
But in Thailand, where "Khao" -- the Thai word for nine -- literally means "step forward" or "progress,"
the day is a seriously auspicious time for new projects. Including babies.
Hospitals reported an unusually large number of women rushing in to request Caesarian births.
"I will name my son as Khao (nine)," a mother recovering from the operation told a local television
station.
Chalong Pakdivichit was one of 10 Thai filmmakers to start shooting a new film Thursday.
"We performed religious rites at nine minutes past nine today to mark the start of my new film," he told
reporters.
In central Bangkok several new businesses hung out signs announcing grand openings, while opposition
politician Chalerm Yoobamrung chose the day to announce that his two sons would run as candidates in
Thailand's next general election.
For dissidents from Myanmar living in exile in Thailand, the day had a different significance -- it was the
one they chose for a popular uprising against military rule in their homeland.
At nine minutes past nine they burned their national flag in front of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok.
Nine is known to be the lucky number of Myanmar's aging and officially retired military strongman Ne
Win, but dissidents have been hoping to turn it against him and his successors.
Soothsayer Says 9-9-99 Will Be Good Day For Thais
8:50 AM ET September 8, 1999
BANGKOK (Reuters) - The date September 9, which has sparked fears of a 9-9-99 computer bug, will
actually be a lucky day for Thailand's people, the country's most sought-after fortune teller told Reuters.
"The number 9 has been the number for Thais for all along. It is a good omen and holy number which
would bring good luck to people," soothsayer Attaviroj Sritula said Wednesday.
The date was also an auspicious one for performing of religious rites by worshippers, he said.
"The figure 9 represents the spike on the head of Rahu (the Hindu god of darkness) which throws a flash
of light and represents prosperity," he added.
"So people should take the 9-9-99 as the date on which they should make merit and the auspicious time to
do so is at 9:09 a.m.(local time)," he said.
He cited Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is also dubbed King Rama 9 in the Chakri
dynasty, as an example of a product of the number nine and who has worked hard to bring peace and
prosperity to the country.
Some fear that, in a dress rehearsal for the dreaded millennium or Year 2000 (Y2K) bug, certain older
computers could read the four nines in their internal clocks as a cut-off code, freeze and perhaps even
destroy data.
SATANIC RITUAL ENDS WITH STABBING
Florida Teen Faces Attempted Murder Charge
May 28, 1999
By Valerie Kalfrin
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (APBNews.com) -- A 17-year-old accused of repeatedly stabbing a friend
he asked to participate in a satanic ritual pleaded not guilty today to a charge of attempted first-degree
murder, authorities said.
Darrel Wayne Harris will be tried as an adult and faces up to life in prison for the attack, which caught the
alleged victim, Robert Menendez, 22, and the ritual's other participants by surprise, officials said.
"The victim thought he was involved in one level of activity and became an unwilling participant in
another," Broward County Assistant State Attorney Alex Urruella told APBNews.com. Became friends
through e-mail
Authorities said the two struck up an acquaintance through e-mail and an interest in satanic Web sites,
which they frequently visited at public libraries.
They met in a wooded area along S.W. 20th Street around 4:15 a.m. to perform the ritual along with
Harris' unidentified girlfriend and at least one other person, Detective Mike Reed, a police spokesman,
said.
Investigators said the two sliced their hands, mixed their blood and drew a pentagram in the dirt while
chanting. Harris then allegedly took the bloodshed one step farther and turned the butcher knife on
Menendez, striking him as many as nine times in the neck, Urruella said.
During the attack, Menendez later told police, "he was convinced he was going to die," Reed told
APBNews.com.
Injured boy abandoned
Although the group left Menendez lying on the ground, he managed to find help. "He banged on a
neighbor's door, and the man called 911," Reed said.
Paramedics transported Menendez to Broward General Medical Center, where he was treated for several
days and released, authorities said.
"He was very lucky to have survived," Urruella added.
Charges upgraded
Arrested at the downtown public library on May 13, Harris was initially charged with aggravated battery.
But Urruella said he upgraded to the more serious offense when the evidence revealed "a clear intent to
kill someone."
Harris has been held without bail at the Broward County Jail since his arrest and will likely be represented
by a public defender, though one has not yet been assigned to the case, officials said.
Attempts to reach his and Menendez's families in Fort Lauderdale were unsuccessful.
Urruella does not intend to charge the ritual's other participants in the attack. "There's been no evidence
presented that anybody else knew this was going to happen," he said.
SUSPECT IN SATANIC KILLING CAUGHT
Tips From TV Show Led to Capture
July 22, 1999
By Todd Venezia
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (APBNews.com) -- A fugitive who allegedly helped strangle a 13-year-old girl
in a 1998 satanic ritual has been found hiding out in Alabama, police said.
Dennis Ronald Scott, who is among three people accused of killing Shevawn Geoghegan in a deserted
mental institution in February last year, was found after a television report inspired a flood of tips to Santa
Monica police.
"The tips came in after the show [America's Most Wanted] last weekend," said Lt. Gary Gallinot of the
Santa Monica Police Department. "They told us that he was in Birmingham, Ala., and we contacted
police there."
Birmingham police found the 24-year-old Tuesday, hanging out near a fountain in a section of town
known as Five Points South, a popular spot with youth who are into alternative culture. Police said Scott
had been hard to capture because he lived under numerous aliases, including the name of a dead friend,
Jimmy Ronald Turner.
Victim strangled with belt
Scott is being held on a murder warrant issued in California. Gallinot said that he had waived extradition
but that the details of the transfer to the West Coast are still being worked out.
The body of 13-year-old Geoghegan was found Feb. 26 wrapped in a blanket in the basement of a vacant
mental hospital that police said was frequented by teens who were into their own brand of satanic
worship. She had been strangled with a belt.
Geoghegan was a friend of the three suspects and voluntarily went to the hospital on the night of her
slaying. Detectives found dead animals and satanic symbols near the scene of the crime, police said.
The other two suspects in the killing have already been caught by police and brought to trial. Glen Mason,
23, was convicted last week of murder, and Elizabeth Ann Mangham, 17, pleaded no contest to
manslaughter charges just this week.
Monday August 23 7:53 AM ET
Priest Charged With Stealing Church Items
NEILLSVILLE, Wis. (Reuters) - A Catholic priest has confessed to stealing church items including
candelabra and an antique incense burner, then returning them after apparently becoming stricken with
guilt, police said Friday.
Rev. Glen Gardner, 38, and an accomplice, church organist Kurt Schione, 41, were charged with burglary
and theft and were set to make a court appearance in Clark County Circuit Court next week.
Police said Gardner gained access to three churches earlier this month and, aided by Schione, filled a van
with items that included a $9,000 monstrance used to display Eucharistic bread, a ciborium used to hold
communion wafers, two candelabra, altar candlesticks, a missal stand, an antique incense burner and
antique linens.
The pair later became overwhelmed with guilt and left many of the items in boxes outside a Milwaukee
church's garage, Clark County Sheriff's Capt. Mark Cattanach said.
Cattanach said Gardner had confessed to police.
``It's a very strange case. It's pretty much of a shock,'' Cattanach said.
Monday August 16 8:13 AM ET
Do You Believe In Magic?
ROME (Reuters) - Nearly a quarter of Italians believe in magic, fortune-telling, astrology and spiritualism,
spending a total one billion lire ($547,000) per year on them, according to a poll released Friday.
The survey by retailers' body Confesercenti and polling institute SWG found 22 percent, or more than 10
million people, believed in mystical practices in a country boasting 70,000 magicians, astrologers,
clairvoyants and faith healers.
Confesercenti said respondents turned to the supernatural to solve problems of love, health and work but
that not all were happy at the results, with 2.5 percent or 1.2 million people declaring themselves victims
of fraud.
``While there is an understandable need for a touch of magic in life ... action is needed to stamp out
abuses, illegal behavior and fraud widely linked to these practices,'' Confesercenti said.
Thursday August 12 3:37 PM ET
Nun Admits Scrawling Racist Graffiti
JOLIET, Ill. (Reuters) - A 66-year-old Franciscan nun has confessed to scrawling racist graffiti on the
bathroom walls of the hospital where she was a chaplain, police said Thursday.
Sister Dorothy Toman confessed when confronted about the graffiti written with a black marker found on
two separate days late last month in five bathrooms at Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center.
``She said she did it to see how the hospital would react,'' Joliet Police Sgt. Terry Mazur said.
``She admitted to writing the words 'white supremacy','' Mazur said, adding he was not equipped to offer
a comment on Toman's mental state.
Security cameras showed Toman was among those who entered a women's bathroom late last month
where graffiti was found, and she admitted her actions when questioned by a detective.
Toman, who had worked at the hospital for about a year and was one of 10 chaplains offering solace to
patients, was charged with two counts of criminal defacement of property and released on $100 bond.
Hospital spokesman Clint Giese said Toman was not a suspect in the distribution of pamphlets and flyers
espousing racial hatred that were found on the desks of some black employees earlier this year.
July 10, XXXIV
Former Manson Family Cult member Leslie Van Houten goes up for parole, but requests postponement
for reasons of exploitation.
July 9, XXXIV
Florida Vs. Ferrell: The Vampire Cult Slaying Case update.
June 7th, XXXIV
COLUMBINE: Who's Fault Is It? by Marilyn Manson in the current issue of Rolling Stone
Tuesday May 4 8:09 AM ET
Amway Spread Satan Rumors, P&G Claims In Court
By Jeff Franks
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Along with soap and vitamins, those friendly Amway salesmen have been pushing
something else for years -- false rumors that rival Procter & Gamble Co. is in league with the devil --
attorneys charged in opening arguments of a lawsuit Monday.
Procter & Gamble lawyers said Amway Corp. had tried to take away sales by fomenting the mistaken
belief, prevalent in some religious circles, that Procter & Gamble's venerable trademark incorporated
satanic symbols such as the number ``666'' and devil's horns.
``They (Amway) know full well the malignant, cancerous effect of associating someone with a satanic
cult,'' Procter & Gamble attorney Mike Gallagher said. ``It incorporates everything that is bad and nothing
that's good.'' The lawsuit is the culmination of years of bitterness between Procter & Gamble and
Amway, which has filed a counter-suit charging that Procter & Gamble is conducting a smear campaign.
Procter & Gamble attorneys said Amway might have encouraged the rumors since they first surfaced in
the 1970s. The lawsuit asks for $595 million in lost sales from 1995 to 1997, plus an unspecified amount
for damage to the company's reputation.
An attorney for direct marketer Amway denied the charges and said Procter & Gamble had sued because
it was concerned about Amway's strong sales growth in Asia.
The trademark, which dates back to the 1850s, shows a bearded ``man in the moon'' looking over 13
stars, one for each of the original 13 American colonies.
Procter & Gamble says the trademark ``remains an important company identification'' but removed it in
1985 from the company's more than 300 products. These include such well-known brands as Tide
laundry detergent, Crest toothpaste, Ivory soap, Pampers disposable diapers and Folgers coffee.
In an audio tape played in court Monday, an Amway distributor said in an April 1995 voice mail to other
distributors that Procter & Gamble's president had admitted on the Phil Donahue television show that a
percentage of the company's profits went to the ``Church of Satan.''
But Amway attorney Charles Babcock, who successfully defended talk show hostess Oprah Winfrey
against a 1998 lawsuit brought by Texas livestock producers who said she had defamed beef, said Amway
did not approve of the distributor's message and had quickly ordered him to send out a retraction.
``We've bent over backwards to help Procter & Gamble stop this rumor,'' he said.
Babcock said the Satanism rumors emanated not from Amway but from religious groups unhappy about
Procter & Gamble's sponsorship of controversial television programs. He charged that the company had
handled the problem badly from the beginning.
He showed a videotape of comedian David Letterman joking about the rumors on his television show to
make the point that the firm's botched public relations efforts had spread the Satanism rumors far and
wide.
``They're not mad at us. They're mad at themselves, and they're trying to blame us,'' Babcock said.
The real reason for the lawsuit, Babcock argued, was Procter & Gamble's concern that Amway was
growing rapidly in Asia because of its direct-sales strategy.
The company sells its 450 products through 3 million independent distributors worldwide, not through
stores, and is known as much for its aggressive recruiting of new distributors as it is for its products.
T.C.M.A.
Code Word: Stupidity
Apr 20 XXXIV
This "Trechcoat Mafia" coverage is getting very old very fast. People should get over it already! DO
people honestly think that becasue I choose to wear a trenchcoat that I Am somehow related to these
people?
I can see it now --- some organization created called "Trench Coat Mafia Anonymous"..... "My name is
______, & I wear a trenchcoat."
It seems these characters in Colorado became the product of their environment. Not Individuals, but
manufactured as much as those they purported to despise. They were not pro-active, but re-active. I
Myself put no stock in others' opinions of Me, anyway. They should get a life of their own, instead of
attempting to butt in on mine.
Sure, I happen to own a couple of guns, so what? Does that mean that I will go on a killing spree?
What will that accomplish? In the end, these two became what others made them out to be ----- did they
REALLY want to "fit in" that bad? And "fit in" with what? Those petty, visceral, & air-headed
jockstraps? Please.
Ultimately, it's only clothing. Prejudice based upon one's attire has got to be the shallowest form of
discrimination I have ever come across. Stratification has once again taken precedence. I cannot feel sorry
for those suicidal morons, nor for the insensitive lot they exterminated. The only question I have to ask is,
"30? 40 dead? Is that all?"
Now that this new phobia & paranoia is in the air, I say, make the most of it. Have fun. (
geocities.com/paris/bistro) (
geocities.com/paris)