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I am a woman, aged 54. I am speaking of something that happened a few times when I was pre-teen and into early teen years. First just a little background. I come from a old deep south family, and my mother and father were closely related…the families had been related for over a hundred and fifty years in one way or another. Second, my family was violent and my mother was diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic by the same doctor who treated the woman in the true story ‘Three Faces of Eve’.
Although he had a different name in the movie, his real name was Dr. Thigpen. Third, we were the black sheep tribe in that family–my father set steel on bridges, so we moved plenty and often. I was very socially outcast when we finally settled down enough for me to go to high school, and for my mother to recover from shock treatment. I did not fit in in high school. I would not have fit in during a more normal time, but it was the time that the high school was integrated. I got beaten up often by both black and white kids. Once a big girl, wearing her boyfriend’s initial ring, hit me so hard that the impression of a ‘D’ remained on my cheek until the bruises faded. My father hit us often and not just spankings, but really hit us.
Okay, background over.
I began to wake up, thinking myself under attack. A hand would be grabbing at me…grabbing my hair and tearing my clothes, and grasping to catch hold of my throat and choke me. I never immediately knew that it was my hand. I was busy fighting with my other hand to pull it off me. It was my left hand that attacked. I am right handed. I would be rolled out of bed on the floor and fighting for my life I thought. Eventually, I would be holding on to the wrist of that hand, and I would view it and realize, and say to myself…’that’s my hand.’ And the attack would stop. The hand would stop trying to hurt me. My mother and father never saw these attacks. They heard me screaming and fighting, but I always had the door locked and barricaded. I was afraid of both my violently insane father and my crazy as a loon mother, who slept with a shotgun under her mattress, no lie. I didn’t want to come in when I was asleep. So they thought it was a nightmare. Eventually, they took me to a shrink. I was crazy like a fox. I knew that a psychiatrist had put my mother in an institution. I didn’t want to go there too. I told that doctor I had trouble with boys and zits. I didn’t even mention being a punching bag at school. I certainly didn’t mention that I was choking myself.
To myself there seemed to be 2 explanations. I thought maybe I could be possessed by Satan, but even back then it didn’t seem too likely. The explanation that I gave myself and believed is more sad than that: I decided that I was so miserable that I wanted to kill myself, and because I was too chicken to do myself harm while awake, I was trying to kill myself while asleep.
I do not remember how many times this happened. Not over 10, and maybe not as many as 5. But definitely more than once or twice–and enough to make my extremely negligent parents concerned enough to get me to the doctor about those ‘bad dreams’. My mother also blamed the daytime soap opera ‘Dark Shadows’ which featured a vampire called Barnabas Collins.

Needless to say, I married very early, by the end of my 16th year. By then it had stopped happening, but until I was 20 I had periodic episodes of sleep paralysis, the last time being when I was pregnant with my first child at 20, and never again after that. Except for physical abuse I was a healthy child and not sick or hurt, except for a near death experience after a timber-rattler bite.

I told my story through out my life to different people, but never knew about Alien Hand Syndrome until I was watching a episode of 20/20 back in the mid nineties. Then I realized what had happened to me all those years ago, and how fortunate that it was a passing thing. But I have some curiosity left…could it have been caused by all the knocks in the head I got? Could the rattlesnake bite have caused it? Could it have to do with the fact that my grandparents were double first cousins and my parents second cousins? Could I pass this along to my daughter and grand kids? And can it return.
I am now diabetic and some times see things when I wake up at night, but these things are benign, not scary, but I have a niece who thinks she is possessed and often has to be restrained to keep from doing physical damage to herself. Basically, I am okay now, and am a lucky woman really. I just would like some answers, and almost all the websites about AHS are filled with medical jargon that eludes me.

Hey Alan,

Just wanted to thank you for all the time and effort you’ve put into this website. I’ve pretty much read through the entire site and really appreciate what you’ve done and that you’ve had the courage to keep this website advertisement free (even though you probably could have made a bit of money from this thing).

There are not many people with principles left; it’s rare to actually find one.

I hope you feel better soon, mate.

It would seem the 10-15 megaton estimate is comparing to a stationary nuclear detonation. It was discovered back during above-ground nuclear testing that the velocity of a warhead is added to the velocity of its explosion. This was the suprising result of the only live-fire test of a nuclear artillery shell when the 15kt shell did far more damage than a 25kt warhead that was test-fired on a stand. So the links here showing a much lower yield are probably correct.

On the previous version of this site, all the article IDs were numeric and you could change them in the URL. There are a pile of articles that are either ready or near-ready from several authors. I read the killdozer and banana articles back during Alan’s last long hiatus. Dunno why it takes 4 months to finish one….

Sealed habitats for farming projects have a variety of problems. They are incredibly expensive. A complex and challenging example showing the scope of the problem would be Biosphere 2. This project did go on for more than two decades, and admittedly the goals were considerably more ambitious and challenging than isolating one particular crop endangered by disease.

But the enclosure of Biosphere 2 was only a little over three acres. First, that would not produce many bananas compared to demand. Perhaps one slice of banana per consumer per year, at a possible cost of $2 per slice. You can play with the numbers if you want. Figure about $10,000,000 per year for construction and maintenance. Then figure out the upper limit of production if everything worked out ideally. Then recognize that it is exceedingly unlikely that things will work out anything close to ideally.

Biosphere 2 failed in a whole lot of interesting ways. But still, it failed. Hermetically sealed farming of food crops in high worldwide demand is never likely to become a viable approach.

Ive got a way we could keep the destruction of these bannanas, we put them in sealed greenhouses. We take a large field like say stadium size and put a dome over it. Then we make certain anyone with the plantation disease upon thier body does not eneter this area. We may also need animals inside of the dome to use up the oxygen that is created by the massive amount of trees, or find another way to convert the oxygen to carbondioxide without having to bring new air into the system. Also i was wondering if the previous type of bannanas has gone completely out of existance. If so thats too bad i would have like to try it, if not why dont we use this idea of a closed environment to create more of these bannanas :?

tunapez said: “How’s about you show your support by going out and buying the book? It is a great volume of the humorous ilk found on the site, IRL! I’m bummed the cyber-edition has slowed considerably, but I would be remiss to think I am ENTITLED to a new article every week or month. Go into the archives and read the past articles, can anyone say they’ve read them all? If so, how about twice? Surely they are DI enough to read again if you need a fix that bad? I’m sure these guys have lives, families, jobs … until there’s a subscription required, I think we get what we get and like it. Period.

BTW, a future article on Thomas Midgely, Jr’s arch-nemesis, Clair Patterson, could be DI!
Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.”

Great call on the Clair Patterson article. He’s a hero of mine. There should be a holiday in his honour.

How about some international translations? I know a quite a few people in Switzerland and Germany that would be intersted in the book. I’d offer to translate, but I’m too lazy for 320 pages. Maybe translations from multiple readers could help.

Hyperion’s height is 115.55 meters not 155.5 as mentioned in the article. I am a little surprised that this mistake was not fixed for the publication of “Alien Hand Syndrome.”

I am now raising meat rabbits on Shmooo, banana’s with the skin, mixed grains with molasses, grass, weeds and clover. Each of the rabbits eat roughly a half banana per day. It took them a few days to warm up to the idea, since they had been raised prior to my getting them on nothing but rabbit pellets. They also eat orange peels with pulp and the cores of a variety of fruits with varying enthusiasm. The staple of their diet is Shmooo.

Mirage_GSM said: “Heard a DI report on the radio today. Here is the link to a written version:http://www.kansascity.com/451/story/1404978.htmlLaura Dekker (13 years old) from the Netherlands wants to make a round-the-world-trip in her sail-boat – alone. Her parents gave her permission, but the dutch government went to court to stop the endeavour.Their arguments are that the parents would not be able to carry out their duty of caring for her during the two years the trip would take and that she would miss too much of her school’s curriculum.The decision is expected for friday. No matter how this turns out, it is bound to make an interesting story for this site.”

Latest ruling in this case is another slap at freedom: http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/news/story?id=4608269
Not only can she not sail, but the court has now turned over control of the child to the government. Complete control? No. But now “her parents must consult [with the government] about all major decisions in her life.” So, a 14-year-old Dutch girl can’t sail because of the government, while a 16-year-old Australian girl pursues her dream. I think the difference is that Australians are a bit less inclined to allowing the government such ridiculous control over the lives of their citizens, and not the two years of age.

kissaki:

kissaki said: “Just bought the book, can’t wait to read it! Thank you DI crew for some of the most fascinating SFW content on the web. I am patiently looking forward to the next article. In the meantime Alan, I wish you lot’s of luck as you “peel away this bleak reality that has cocooned” your psyche. For that, I recommend a slice of pie with a Thorazine chaser.”

kissaki: Blessings be upon thee for supporting this site, for not complaining, and for showing concern for Mr. Bellow.

Just bought the book, can’t wait to read it! Thank you DI crew for some of the most fascinating SFW content on the web. I am patiently looking forward to the next article. In the meantime Alan, I wish you lot’s of luck as you “peel away this bleak reality that has cocooned” your psyche. For that, I recommend a slice of pie with a Thorazine chaser.

Isn’t there a shelf life for banana articles?

Tarlev said: “Thank you Allan, for this DI! feast of science for All Hallows Eve!

For more info about true crime forensics in use, check out the Crime Library.com. Great stuff if your looking for gore with an educated twist. Look up your “favorite” criminal, past or present and find details of their crimes and how the cases were solved.
(I especialy enjoyed the criminal study of the canibal, Hannibal Lector, and the beasty boys from whome his story was drawn. The psychology of the character is another fascinating read also).
Happy Halloween, wishing you all unpleasant dreams and a lot of screams this spooky night. ;-) (loljk)”

This sounds eerily familar!

How’s about you show your support by going out and buying the book? It is a great volume of the humorous ilk found on the site, IRL! I’m bummed the cyber-edition has slowed considerably, but I would be remiss to think I am ENTITLED to a new article every week or month. Go into the archives and read the past articles, can anyone say they’ve read them all? If so, how about twice? Surely they are DI enough to read again if you need a fix that bad? I’m sure these guys have lives, families, jobs … until there’s a subscription required, I think we get what we get and like it. Period.

BTW, a future article on Thomas Midgely, Jr’s arch-nemesis, Clair Patterson, could be DI!
Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

Agh! I pre-ordered via donations way back when the book was first announced and I still haven’t gotten my copy yet.

Damned media mail…

THIS ANIMAL IS THE LEVIATHAN!!!!
It lives on the depths of the ocean.
It lives on the dark
It also spits fire, probably to keep worm knowing that the temperature of the water bellow 6 miles is darn cold.
Its supposed to be a terrific animal in length, and the king above all beast.
Plus its says in the bible that his “faith will be mocked” because nobody will believe in it.
Well unfortunately for scientist, the bible happens to the depict the king of animals at the depth of the sea, rather than on land.
Too much coincidence. Richard Dawkins must be nervous.

Love the site and I’m more than happy to sponsor you by buying the book and advertising it on my website. I’ll buy the next one you release too. I’ve enjoyed reading it so far and am looking forward to reading the rest of it over the next few weeks.

Excellent book, thank you for producing it.

I’d like to put in another vote for ads. Yes, they’re not the ideal solution, but it’s something to work with right now. I also feel as though it can be done tastefully, and doesn’t have to be overly intrusive.

Two thoughts on this subject by someone who has read Illig & Co. in German:
1. On radiocarbon dating: It doesn’t matter how exact it is. The point is, it’s relative. If you determine the age of something by radiocarbon dating as, let’s say, 1.250 years, you might say it’s from 759. But if the numbering of years has leaped in between, e. g. in 600 everybody decided it should be 900, the correct year of your something is 459.
2. A similar problem arouses comparing datings of different cultures. It is not quite easy to find events or persons from the Middle (or older) Ages that can be dated in two or even more cultures. So there is very little in christian sources that corresponds with the arab ones about islamic expansion. A lot of deduction is made by simply declaring both timelines as complete and correct and then comparing them. But we know that there is a lot of, well, fiction within the chronicles of both cultures. Almost worse is the case when the chronicles of different cultures have influenced themselves among each other. Arab historians might have read christian or jewish sources and vice versa.

Is it better to be right handed than left handed? And would it make a difference if you were left brained or right brained. Or wet brained when it is really from dehydration? and does it even apply

omg, you guys don’t get it.

Alan Bellows said: ”

Putting ads on a site it is akin to beating it with an ugly stick. But that stick’s not just ugly, it’s distracting and information-diluting. I don’t like seeing ads on other sites, so I can’t put them on this one in good conscience.

So far donations have covered our hosting bills most of the time, and we have some plans to get something back for our efforts without resorting to the obnoxious. Thanks for caring enough to make suggestions, but for this project, ad-based revenue is not an option.
“

everything you’ve read here is mirrored somewhere else on the internet, but it’s so very rare to find a decent site that provides quality content without compromising their standards – the neat format and interesting articles are what made DI great in the first place.
So be patient and have faith in the site you still visit on a regular basis…

I agree with the ad idea, it will bring in revenue and can be done tastefully. Though I would prefer they only advertise for online porn sites to give me some eye candy while I read.

There’s a video on this site of the Ariel Atom experience http://www.drivingexperiences.com/category/supercars/ariel-atom/ on the right hand side. As a Brit I’m really proud of this car!

I live near the coast of California, where it’s pretty dry most of the time, and dead things decompose very differently here. If I leave them exposed, they just dry out and turn into mummies not long after they start to ooze. Since I’m more interested in nice clean bones than in observing the effects of decay, I have learned that keeping the bodies – mine are just roadkill, not volunteer humans – under a tarp is fairly effective in keeping moisture in and scavengers out, while allowing the decomposers to do their work. My backyard always stinks for a few days after I add a new body to the pile. I generally don gloves to dig through the (by then mostly innocuous) decayed matter after all the flies and beetles have emerged from their pupae. My point is, I’ve seen decay firsthand and am not “grossed out” by it, but have not really taken the time to watch how it works, so I found this article especially Damn Interesting.

I agree that they need to put some advertisements on the site. It is silly to be throwing away all of this traffic.

Eduardo said: “Kapuski said: “2) We, the readers and critics, do nothing about that. (Other than complain about the site, or defend it.)
Why not either submit articles ourselves, or vote with our cyberfeet? Enough apathy.
Either submit an article, or cease and desist. Put up, or shut up.
And to the Bellows’, is this where you want your site, and fans, headed?”

From what I have seen in posts from Jason Bellows it sounds like they have a collection of articles ready to go, they are just waiting for Alan’s approval to post them to the site…

Hmmm, I find the lack of new articles very frustrating and have done for about a year now. From the comments a lot of people agree with me. Well, at least all the grumbling must be very encouraging for the authors and owners of the site as it is confirmation they write excellent content.

Also, they should monetize the site in some small way. I’m not taking flashing, dancing banner ads, but maybe some subtle google ads down one side might help pay for more updates.

Kapuski said: “What I don’t understand is that how come there are not more writers on this site? I don’t know how this site is managed but I bet there are hundreads of people here who could have something interesting to tell.”

I agree. Whichever side of the ongoing debate you follow; you cannot deny either of these points.

1) The site is woefully maintained.
and;

2) We, the readers and critics, do nothing about that. (Other than complain about the site, or defend it.)
Why not either submit articles ourselves, or vote with our cyberfeet? Enough apathy.
Either submit an article, or cease and desist. Put up, or shut up.
And to the Bellows’, is this where you want your site, and fans, headed?

just got this as today’s random article… i do indeed love teh tag picture, and find myself sad that the Norwegians are not taking care of those seeds in particular… after all, whatever there is left to eat post-apocalypse would be far tastier. I vote we petition the Spitsbergen vault for a few sq. feet of space.

I think anybody foolish enough to donate money to this webpage should feel outraged at the lack of willingness of the creators/authors to update it.

What I don’t understand is that how come there are not more writers on this site? I don’t know how this site is managed but I bet there are hundreads of people here who could have something interesting to tell.

An elementary FLT proof (16 pgs, using semigroup Z(.) mod p^k, odd prime p)
was published in the Acta Mathematica of Univ. Bratislava (Nov.2005) see : http://pc2.iam.fmph.uniba.sk/amuc/_vol74n2.html (pp 169 – 184).
For some intro : http://home.claranet.nl/users/benschop/marg-abs.htm

Honestly, having read The Never War (and actually only looking this up because of that book), I am compelled to think there is no truth in it at all. Sure, Max Rose and Winn Farrow might have existed, but I don’t believe that Winn Farrow set off any rocket. It’s just too far fetched. Just a theory to me (and one that has to include crazy time travel and that sort of thing). In the book, Winn Farrow sets off the rocket, but though that may have happened, it’s more likely there was lightning or another natural cause.

nukebass said: “If would exist a “Clever Nobel” prize, these doctors really would deserves it!”

Indeed there should be a Nobel Prize in Cleverness. Cleverness is something of which the world has a lot already but could use even more, and it frequently has incredible effects.

As to the article, my great-aunt got an extra ration of butter because she tested positive for tuberculosis in Nazi-occupied Holland. I don’t think anybody infected her with fake tuberculosis though. And it didn’t stop the Nazis from living in her home.

Partario said: “It would be nice if all the selfish whining people went away and stopped demanding more content from the good folk at Damn Interesting. DI owes you nothing. Stop whining like spoiled brat kids. How about showing some appreciation for the free content you’ve had for so long, and getting off the Bellows’ backs? They’ll get around to publishing more content when it suits them, and not when a bunch of whiny jerks tell them to. Kee-rist. If I was a Bellows brother, I’d be sorely tempted to throw in the towel after reading some of the garbage demanding more content. How about acting like adults and cutting them some slack?”

I couldn’t agree more. I will wait for as long as it takes to get new articles….in the meantime the “random article” button is a wonderful thing. DI you are great, don’t let the people who expect everything to be just as they want it, when they want it get you down.

There are many of the older articles that I have not read. When I need a fix, I hit the random story button and it is new to me. The history of this site is usually about 1 new article every 4-6 months. I enjoy what there is and if the site was to go away, I would miss it. What I want to know is what can be done to improve the server (I get unable to connect error often these days)? If a payment of $15 year would keep the site going with a new article every month, then I would pay.

I may be wrong but i thought that at quantum levels a particle had more than two states, wouldn’t this imply that the gun fires yes, no model wasn’t accurate. Should it not be yes no maybe maybe not etc, this would give you many more variations than dead not dead including maimed slightly injured etc.
On another level i have just been told that some senior scientist at the Hadron collider experiment thinks it won’t work because it doesn’y want to, if it carrys on not wanting do does that mean that in universes where
it did work it had catastophic consequences, and does this make it a practical experiment of schrodingers cat theory.

SIMDUDE said: “It’s funny that you don’t hear of people killing because Buddha told them to. “

The aum folks, who orchestrated the sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway, were a Buddhist faction. ANY religion can – and will, I’d argue – be subverted, misinterpreted, and generally scrunched up to fit people’s own ideas and plans.

jude3500 said: “…I can no longer deal with that bananna which laughs and taunts me!”

I scowl at that picture almost every day…

Partario said: “… How about acting like adults and cutting them some slack?”

It’s killing me that this site is not kept up… I understand what others are saying about the creators, their time and it being free is very nice. But, before I click on my favorites on “damn interesting” I say a little prayer that a new image populates instead of that damn aweful bananna! For about a year I was itching for a new article, read all the others already posted that interested me already, and now I’m teased with just a handful articles all posted in a short period of time… and then nothing again for over 2 months. Please make a decision- I don’t mind if you shut down the site… it will save my sanity since I can no longer deal with that bananna which laughs and taunts me!

It would be nice if all the selfish whining people went away and stopped demanding more content from the good folk at Damn Interesting. DI owes you nothing. Stop whining like spoiled brat kids. How about showing some appreciation for the free content you’ve had for so long, and getting off the Bellows’ backs? They’ll get around to publishing more content when it suits them, and not when a bunch of whiny jerks tell them to. Kee-rist. If I was a Bellows brother, I’d be sorely tempted to throw in the towel after reading some of the garbage demanding more content. How about acting like adults and cutting them some slack?

agooga said: “Can’t decipher the ancient texts???
“Shaka! When the walls fell!””

An interesting point. Perhaps the difficulty lies not in interpreting the symbols but in interpreting the way they are used. Bizarre grammar, references to a culture we don’t understand, that sort of thing. Also I was delighted to recognise the reference.

where did that page go that listed everyebody who donated i think i donated money to you guy s acouple of years ago but i’m not certain

anyways the lack of updates for articles is quite annoying

Anonymousx2 said:
And exactly how many articles have you submitted for their consideration, and exactly how much money have you donated to the Brothers Bellows so that they can continue this site?

I have done both. You need not know how much I have donated or how many articles I have submitted. All you really need to know is that I have done both. However, irrespective of that fact, I still must maintain the authors of this site has an obligation imposed by the motion they have set before themselves to live up to the integrity of this site. Why create something only to keep it in a suspended state of disrepair? I find it is incipiently at least and often explicitly irresponsible. However, that being said, I do respect them and I do understand that things are not always as easy as they seem. But why have they not reached out to the hundreds of supporters who COULD offer their time or skill which would greatly benefit the site?

Thank you so much for the wonderful articles! Hope you’ll be able to write again soon. I look forward to a new article!

To the people who complain about the lack of updates: just remove the bookmark, go live your life. Maybe one day someone will send you an article from DI and you’ll go, “Oh, I used to visit that site.” DI isn’t supported by advertising, so it doesn’t matter if you don’t visit. No one owes you a DI article.

toxicroach said: “The months and months and months between articles is just ridiculous. What is the holdup? I love this site, but at this point it’s been what, a year since the site was properly tended too? And that with trying to hawk products.
Ya’ll need to get it together or just retire the site altogether.”

And exactly how many articles have you submitted for their consideration, and exactly how much money have you donated to the Brothers Bellows so that they can continue this site?

No matter what country you call home, I hope that you do not represent the average person in your age group, and I hope that the rest of your family is not like you.

Free site. I just enjoy what I get. Can’t get greedy when I am not paying. :)

Doug, I hate to burst your bubble, but “the light” at Tomoka state park was simply the headlights of an uncoming car. As you remember, the road was miles and miles long, straight as an arrow, and completely surrounded by trees. This caused the phenemon of an oncoming light to appear very bright, even though it was 4 or 5 miles away. I drove this road many times during my teen years when my parents and I vacationed in Daytona Beach in the late 50’s and early 60’s. If we had girls in the car, we’d get some mighty close hugs when that light appeared! It was especially frigntening if the oncoming car turned on a side road and “the light” suddenly and unexplainedly went off!