I can't defend myself anymore, even if I don't quite understand it.

You don't have to defend yourself.
Just stop using these types of patterns, that is all of it.

Assuming that your fear is real, then using this way of thinking is actually causing your fear to materialize. Your own thinking cause your own fear.

You might have picked up this way of bad thinking because you have visited too many conspiracy sites. So you have to invert your thinking pattern.

Instead of "what else is Geryl right", revert to "what else is Geryl wrong"!
Instead of listing all Geryl claims, just call them "Those claims" and tell about the one you are really bothered with. (Constantly repeating means it gets stuck harder in your brain since that is how you memorize stuff. Especially when you write them down)

Don't concentrate what you don't want, concentrate on what you do want: get rid of your fear. E.g. tell us where Geryl fails, how and why?

First, an apology

And, of course, I accept. But you also have to accept mine. I didn't realize saying, "I'm sorry I upset you" would make me look like a proponent of woo. I haven't studied woo artists long enough to know their tactics. In fact, I spend much time staying away from them in order to keep my imagination from playing games. This is also probably the same reason you believed I wasn't going to Geryl himself just so I could come here and ask questions. I wasn't going to him, because I was afraid of his answers. I just needed constant reassurance, I am sorry.

I lost your posts at the bottom of this forum due to the placing. I also just read Jason's post. It was my reaction to defend myself, because I didn't believe the accusation was fair. Now that I see that there are several people who believe that I was intentionally posting woo here on the forums, I can't defend myself anymore, even if I don't quite understand it.

Well his response to me was "what do you want me to say?". Ugh! Can we say jackass.

Worried, he was probably just frustrated. Dealing with the explosion of hysteria cause by recent media behavior is outside the expertise of most of these scientists.

JamesJJlm

JamesJJlm

Nevertheless, I gave him a reasonable answer: "You're unlikely to get the answers you need here, so you'll probably remain unsatisfied. You might want to contact Geryl himself, then get back to us."

Only after that post did I pay attention to the pattern obaeyens had mentioned. What I saw was familiar to me, because I live in city that's pretty much of a Wooville.

One of the first things I noticed was when JamesJJlm replied to obaeyens's observations by saying, "I am sorry to upset you, ...". That's the first tactic the so-called shamans and woo artists here employ when anyone dares to question them. The purpose, of course, is to put the questioner on the defensive.

From that point onward, JamesJJlm used considerable emotional blackmail, as I describe here. Again, a familiar tactic where I live.

In case anyone doubts that obaeyens's scenario is realistic, I assure you it is not. Two years ago, to get to know the "woo" crowd better, I sat through a course of four, two-hour sessions run by a lady who used the sorts of techniques obaeyens describes. The effect upon the class (about 15 somewhat-insecure young people) was remarkable. The course was given during the height of the panic over the H1N1 flu here, and by the end of the second class she had everyone convinced that viruses don't really exist: we only believe them into existence, and can avoid getting the flu by refusing to believe in them. As I recall, things only got more bizarre as the class went on.

A very instructive experience. I've never underestimated the 2012 crowd's psychological prowess since.

You misunderstood my posts. Look on the Geryl page for more info. Much of the "has to" things I said here, meant more along the line of, "must provide". I was typing how I would say it, with an emphasis on "has".

Level 1

I do not intend to scare people with my observations from Geryl. I personally take the Anthony Aveni approach to debunking claims. He believes that in order to "debunk" a claim, you have to understand it fully. He reads all the "woo" books, communicates with authors, and even attends conferences on the subjects. I don't have the time to do that all with Geryl's claims, and am more fearful of the 'pole shift' idea in general then the specifics. However, I have annoyed some of the people here at 2012hoax because I am persistent in asking questions.

Level 2

I have learned a lot about physics overall here, but still very little about how each author provides mechanisms in order to make their claim plausable. Geryl assures everyone that he is 100% correct in his final conclusion. That is a pretty big claim that mainstream scientists don't make. If he has 100% confidence, then he must have mechanisms for everything.

Level 3
Deepest level, people ignore this part consciously, but subconsciously it stays stuck.

He has to have a lot of evidence to back up his claims: that the Maya believed this would happen, that the Maya and Egypt were linked, that Atlantis existed, that they knew of sunspots, that they survived the last one, that the last one happened, that the magnetic field reversed in such a short time only 11,500 years ago, that the rotational poles shifted during that time, that the magnetic field influences the inner core, that the core can be flipped, that the Earth could have undergone transitions and still bear life, that he can predict CME's, that the sun can produce a CME 100 times bigger than we've seen, what causes this, that newton's laws are incorrect, that tidal waves can be 2km high, that continents can move substantially, that he can survive all this with a survival center on a mountain, that he can survive after it happens, and that the inner core being flipped can overcome the mass of the outer core, mantle, and crust to make it turn in the same direction, and to top it all off that it can happen in one day.

Level 3 end
Level 2 again

There are probably more. I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out what evidence he provides for this stuff, and how crazy it really is. Someone here always says, "he doesn't provide mechanisms" which is probably true. BUT, that goes against my way of thinking because I know the posters have not read his books or made contact with him to ask the questions. Most probably haven't even visited his site. So, what makes me worry? I am afraid of what he would respond with, if someone were to actually ask him some of these questions. Someone so sure, must have the answers. He knows that the mainstream science is going to laugh at him, he knows that he can't peer review it because of that, and he believes that he has a short time frame to get this information out there. So he wrote books about it and got them published.

Level 2 end
Level 1 again

Sometimes what I wish for more than anything else, is to have a political-style debate between Geryl and Bill Hudson here. I think I know what the results would be like, but it would put me at ease once and for all. Unfortunately, thats wishful thinking.

Most people will only remember consciously level 1 since level 2 and 3 appears to be not that important but is implanted into the brain as suggestions.

This would be enough in the complete post:

So, what makes me worry? I am afraid of what he would respond with, if someone were to actually ask him some of these questions.

I would change it to:
So, what makes me worry? I am afraid of what he would respond with, if someone were to actually ask him details about his claims.

JamesJJlm

I think obaeyens has a point.

In the post to which I'm replying, you've just said,

In none of my posts do I make an attempt to direct someone to a certain website, to sell the idea that the world will end, or to even say "this is right because".

However, you previously said,

Geryl assures everyone that he is 100% correct in his final conclusion. That is a pretty big claim that mainstream scientists don't make. If he has 100% confidence, then he must have mechanisms for everything.

He has to have a lot of evidence to back up his claims …

and

Someone so sure, must have the answers.

What's the difference between this, and saying, "This is right because…?" What you seem to be saying is "Geryl's right because he's so sure."

So, I suspect that obaeyens is right: you're promoting Geryl while pretending to help debunk him.

As for asking questions, please note that you were already asked by one moderator (TheGreatJuju) to tell us exactly which of your questions you think have not been addressed, and what points of yours you think have been ignored. You were also asked to respond to him in the Geryl discussion. The reasons he gave for that request make very clear that he doesn't want you posting any more Geryl stuff in the present thread. I'm a moderator, too, by the way, and I'm seconding JuJu.

As for your comment

I'm sorry for being afraid obaeyens, but if the moderators here feel that I am deliberately scaring other people, then they have the right to tell me to stop asking questions.

You won't be told to stop asking questions, but you will be warned about asking the same questions. You'll also be warned about making repeated, unsubstantiated accusations that we're ignoring you, or that we're too afraid to ask those same questions ourselves. As a moderator, I now advise you, strongly, to answer TheGreatJuju's questions, in detail, in your very next post, and in the Geryl discussion.

I see a pattern. A pattern that appears to be promoting a 2012 idea while pretending it is to help debunking.

This is ridiculous. I am being accused of promoting my biggest fear.

If your fear is real then just change the pattern instead of making other scared ones here scared again. Change the wording in such a way that it does not appear to promote 2012 as real.

Why? In none of my posts do I make an attempt to direct someone to a certain website, to sell the idea that the world will end, or to even say "this is right because". I come here to get answers, and quite possibly ask a question that someone else was too afraid to ask, or didn't know how to ask it. I am not asking the same question, I am gathering more data, coming back, and asking someone with more knowledge to test the data against what he knows is true. Just because I don't misspell every other word, or capitilize all my letters, and am over the age of 18 doesn't give my questions any less merit.

No, you keep on repeating the same pattern over and over again. Stuff that are already debunked many times over and over again. You already know all answers.

You don't seem to be reading my posts clearly. Not only are the questions different, or have different "what if" scenarios, they are all stemming from different sources that Geryl is at the top of. You've answered my different questions with the same answers, which is fine if the question was about a CME or about how much energy it would take to flip the core, but sometimes my questions dont even mention Geryl and talk about the idea that the Mayan's believed this disaster took place or even that this disaster took place at all. If there is a "pattern" at all in my posts, then its because the question wasn't understood correctly and I didn't get an answer or the answer I got wasn't clear for me.

I really can't explain to you how offended I am by this. I'm an extremely normal person, who goes to work everyday, who has a family, and just wants to know whether he will continue to live past 2012 and be able to meet his lifelong goals that he had been working so hard for until he found out about 2012. I'm sorry for being afraid obaeyens, but if the moderators here feel that I am deliberately scaring other people, then they have the right to tell me to stop asking questions. I refuse to sugar coat my questions, and its absolutely ludicrous that you would ask me to do so.

Talk about a claim with no evidence. I am sorry to upset you, but this isn't true at all.

I am not upset. I see a pattern. A pattern that appears to be promoting a 2012 idea while pretending it is to help debunking.

If your fear is real then just change the pattern instead of making other scared ones here scared again. Change the wording in such a way that it does not appear to promote 2012 as real.

If you think I am adding fuel to the fire, then you must think I am bringing up points that are not being addressed.

No, you keep on repeating the same pattern over and over again. Stuff that are already debunked many times over and over again. You already know all answers. You already know all numbers, you already know the effect of a 1000 times CME. You already know that a polar shift has no noticeable influence except magnetic compass pointing another way, you already that a CME is nice light-effects called polar lights and bad reception for your car stereo.

How can you call yourself a scientific thinker

No where do I claim that I am a scientific thinker or a sceptical thinker.

Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg is who I am referring to.

Charles is this "Academic" guy? That one who claims, without any evidence, that the maya knew about pole shifts?

You need to examine the individual claims. Jenkins may be wrong about the galactic alignment, but he knows a hell of a lot more about the Maya then Adrian Gilbert and Maurice Cotterell. Gilbert admitted that his books were more of an entertainment read then that of enlightening.

"I'm not qualified in any of those fields."

That was straight from Gilberts email in regards to his knowledge about archeology and other sciences.

Did you read the exchange between Gilbert and Jenkins? Gilbert had no answers.

I posted a few times a couple of days ago and didn't receive responses in regards to other author's who aided Geryl in his conclusions. Orion correlation theory, sunspot cycle theories from various authors, and the overall starting point of the idea that the Maya knew about past global disasters.

An early mention of a shifting of the Earth's axis can be found in an 1872 article entitled "Chronologie historique des Mexicains"[7] by Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg, an eccentric expert on Mesoamerican codices who interpreted ancient Mexican myths as evidence for four periods of global cataclysms that had begun around 10,500 B.C.

Just be careful not to use the word "myths" against the idea. Its possible that these myths were based off of true events that the Maya experienced.

Maurice Cotterell and Adrian Gilbert wrote about how the Maya knew cycles from the sun. The only debunking i've seen of that is from Jenkin's, whose review was criticized for cherry picking data and misunderstanding the concepts that the author's were stating.

I was hoping also that someone understood the electric motor claim that Geryl said everyone knows. And if it has any relation to how the Earth spins, and what is different about the two.

There were a few posts but I can't go through all of the forums right now to find them. I figured I was just getting ignored because you guys felt that I was unwilling to accept your conclusions. However, thats not the truth, I take them into perspective against Geryl's ideas. There are just too many connections, that I can't distinguish fact from fiction.

I can read all about how Geryl's physics are wrong, but if I look up the pole-shift concept in wikipedia I can find easily that the idea was first brought up in the 1800s by a Mayan scholar who translated the Popol Vuh into French.

Charles Étienne wrote an article in 1872 claiming that, according to a mayan codex, a Pole Shift devastated the world in 10,500 BC. Perhaps you didn't realize that there were proponents with some weird theories about how this could happen. Geryl just made his wrong claims based on other wrong claims. There is no way to a solar flare shift the poles, because the solar flares are not so strong (massive) as he is thinking.

I listed all the things Geryl needs to provide evidence for in the post further up, and he may not have it, but that would just be an assumption. I can't live the next 2 years on purely assumption.

Don't you think that Geryl just want to sell his books?
He doesn't know what he is talking about and cannot prove anything he says. I know you fear the possibilitie of Geryl be right, but you can't live with this possibilitie in mind. Just think: what is more probable? Geryl be right or the astronomers be right? Just think about it, read the page about Geryl, read another threads about this, but we can't do anything else.

Peace!

I think that part of the problem is made clear in your earlier post:

Geryl assures everyone that he is 100% correct in his final conclusion. That is a pretty big claim that mainstream scientists don't make. If he has 100% confidence, then he must have mechanisms for everything.

and

I am afraid of what he would respond with, if someone were to actually ask him some of these questions [about not presenting mechanisms]. Someone so sure, must have the answers.

You assume that because he's so confident, he must have the answers. But I'm sure you've already read, on our Patrick Geryl page, the answer he's quoted as having given when he was asked the sort of question that worries you:

When asked what would happen if December 2012 were to come and go without the earthquakes and tsunamis of his predictions, Geryl fell silent.

"I don't really contemplate that possibility," he said. "[My predictions] are so spectacular, they can't possibly be wrong.

For me, at least, that clinches it: he believes he can't possibly be wrong, so why would he have bothered to do the hard work of developing and validating a mechanism? I can safely assume he has none. His catastrophes are shriekingly anti-scientific, so I can safely ignore them. It's safe to say that everyone else here sees it the same way as I do. But you see it differently. As TheGreatJuju once told someone else, you'll probably just have to go away unsatisfied: there's nothing we can say that you haven't already read here.

Of course, you could ask him your questions yourself, and report back to us.

I believe your fear is real. However, you must also understand that Astro, JuJu, Obaeyens etc. are doing this at their own cost of both money and time.

Dr. Aveni published a book in which he will get some of the proceeds if I'm not mistaken. That gives him more leadway in order to accomplish research on the 2012ers.

You need to put everything that has been said about Geryl into context.

You've seen why the inner core cannot be flipped by even the most massive solar flare. You've seen that even if the core flipped, there would still be drag from the crust and mantle. You've seen that even if a pole shift happened, nothing would have made it from the last due to the melting of the surface. You've seen that the biggest part of his theory(Orion loops) is incorrect.

You've seen that if the earth stopped rotating instantly that nothing would survive due to everything that's not attatched to bedrock going flying into the atmosphere.

You know that the end date for the LC might not even be this century. You know that the Dendera Zodiac isn't even ancient Egyptian and is actually either Greco-roman or New Kingdom dated.

You know that his "decoding" cannot be right since the Maya did not use any decimal places let alone 10. This is just touching the surface James.

I understand your fear of Geryl, because I've been there.

I am only trying to get moderators here to understand why some people are scared of Geryl, and what needs to be looked at in order to help others get over it. If I accept everything you say about one aspect of his theory, am I supposed to believe its all bunk?

If one or two points that Geryl's entire claim hinge upon are shown false or impossible (as is the case), then yes.

What exactly do you think has not been addressed?

Because some of my questions require a bit of additional thinking, they sometimes get ignored.

What exactly do you think has been ignored?

Edit: Please respond over in the Geryl thread. Let's get this away from the dead birds and fish. There's enough hysteria over this without people like Paige, Lexie and Anxious having to look at Patrick Geryl's b.s. too.

The background is filled with people saying that the Maya "knew" that there were previous disasters in the year Geryl states. Were they all crazy? Perhaps. Do I know for sure? No. But this is the only 2012 claim that has roots back that far, and while not all author's mention 2012 specifically, the claims are all linked together. It requires a lot of research to debunk it.

I listed all the things Geryl needs to provide evidence for in the post further up, and he may not have it, but that would just be an assumption. I can't live the next 2 years on purely assumption.

I think a lot of people who have a fear of Geryl's stuff is going to want more analysis of the theory overall.

So, why here is a page debunking Patrick Geryl claims and tens of threads on this forum with 'analysis', anyway? The people who are have fear of Geryl claims should search for the explanations, that are in the whole web and here in this site. The problem is that they always think "what if?", while in fact they know the truth: Patrick is wrong

I just wanted to say this. The rest of your post, I believe that is not for me.

Peace!

However, I don't believe any other moderators of the site would agree with Obaeyen's accusation. At least I hope not. I would think not answering my questions or ignoring them adds more "fuel to the fire" than simply asking them because I fear it.

BS, he even doesn't understand basic science.

I was talking about Anthony Aveni, not Geryl. Please re-read it more closely.

And somehow I have the impression that you are here promoting 2012 undercover. I see a distinctive pattern by you by adding more 2012 fuel in these forums. To keep people in doubt.

Talk about a claim with no evidence. I am sorry to upset you, but this isn't true at all. I care a lot about hurting other people here, and NEVER intend to add fuel to this fire. Jason and I have conversed through private messages about Geryl's theory, so there is evidence that my fears are real. This is absolutely and completely offensive. I have a family to care about, and I want to make sure they will see past 2012. I am not just going to lie down and accept that everyone here is absolutely correct, I want to know for sure. How would you possibly come to the conclusion that I am intentionally adding fuel to the fire by asking questions? How can you call yourself a scientific thinker by making wild assumptions and insulting posters who are scared?

If you think I am adding fuel to the fire, then you must think I am bringing up points that are not being addressed. I am only trying to get moderators here to understand why some people are scared of Geryl, and what needs to be looked at in order to help others get over it. If I accept everything you say about one aspect of his theory, am I supposed to believe its all bunk? Degrasse said basically to not go and tell people its wrong just because he said its wrong, go do the additional research yourself. Well I did that, and now I have questions about it. Because some of my questions require a bit of additional thinking, they sometimes get ignored. If you want to discuss it with me through private messages, then fine, but its not benefiting others who are worried about him.

If this is not a forum that I should go to ask questions about 2012, and get help about my fears, then please let me know. I will be gone, and continue to be afraid.

"I was walking by the street, and I saw 6 white dogs, 6 black cats and 6 yellow birds. Exactly: 666. So, I thought: damn, the apocalypse is coming. I need to warn the Pope right now!"

This is how it works, most of the time. But the first rule to debunk those predictions is: did he count the misses? Maybe one of the white dogs was a wolf, or one of the yellow birds, in fact was a chicken. Or, the simplest way: this is a coincidence. If we relize every huge coincidence that happens every day and is a sign of the end, I could make hundreds of predictions in all my life.
It's that simple.

The Bible fanatics will always be making predictions for the end. Guess what? The world is still there.

There's a nice list of end-of-the-world predictions. It can make you feel better: http://www.bible.ca/pre-date-setters.htm

Peace!

He believes that in order to "debunk" a claim, you have to understand it fully

BS, he even doesn't understand basic science.

And somehow I have the impression that you are here promoting 2012 undercover.
I see a distinctive pattern by you by adding more 2012 fuel in these forums. To keep people in doubt.

I have learned a lot about physics overall here, but still very little about how each author provides mechanisms in order to make their claim plausable. Geryl assures everyone that he is 100% correct in his final conclusion. That is a pretty big claim that mainstream scientists don't make. If he has 100% confidence, then he must have mechanisms for everything.

He has to have a lot of evidence to back up his claims: that the Maya believed this would happen, that the Maya and Egypt were linked, that Atlantis existed, that they knew of sunspots, that they survived the last one, that the last one happened, that the magnetic field reversed in such a short time only 11,500 years ago, that the rotational poles shifted during that time, that the magnetic field influences the inner core, that the core can be flipped, that the Earth could have undergone transitions and still bear life, that he can predict CME's, that the sun can produce a CME 100 times bigger than we've seen, what causes this, that newton's laws are incorrect, that tidal waves can be 2km high, that continents can move substantially, that he can survive all this with a survival center on a mountain, that he can survive after it happens, and that the inner core being flipped can overcome the mass of the outer core, mantle, and crust to make it turn in the same direction, and to top it all off that it can happen in one day.

There are probably more. I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out what evidence he provides for this stuff, and how crazy it really is. Someone here always says, "he doesn't provide mechanisms" which is probably true. BUT, that goes against my way of thinking because I know the posters have not read his books or made contact with him to ask the questions. Most probably haven't even visited his site. So, what makes me worry? I am afraid of what he would respond with, if someone were to actually ask him some of these questions. Someone so sure, must have the answers. He knows that the mainstream science is going to laugh at him, he knows that he can't peer review it because of that, and he believes that he has a short time frame to get this information out there. So he wrote books about it and got them published.

Sometimes what I wish for more than anything else, is to have a political-style debate between Geryl and Bill Hudson here. I think I know what the results would be like, but it would put me at ease once and for all. Unfortunately, thats wishful thinking.

Believe me I get what you are saying, is anything he predicts as far as the "doomsday" stuff really possible?

No.

Believe me I get what you are saying, is anything he predicts as far as the "doomsday" stuff really possible?

NO!

Then I see that he supposedly made predictions for solar flares that were a day off a couple times, so that makes me worry all over again.

Chances of you, me, or Patrick Geryl correctly guessing a certain day an event happens in any given month: About 1 in 30. That's all it is, probability.

Solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections are even easier to randomly guess a correct date when you approach periods of high solar activity, as we are over the next few years. More activity means more of these events, even to the point of multiple events per day, and so your odds of 1 in 30 are slashed to more favourable odds, 1 in 10 say.

What Geryl does is what anybody can do. Try it yourself some day. Predict an earthquake, for example. As long as you don't specify the magnitude of the Earthquake, you pretty much have a 1 in 1 chance of picking a correct date for an earthquake to strike, because earthquakes are that common. Geryl is doing the same, but for the Sun. And then ignoring every piece of known science about the Sun in favour of wild impossibilities.

He can't even predict the direction it is going, the mass it will be and the escape speed it will get.

And the worst thing is that even he has a lucky guess, NO CME can actually cause any harm to earth itself except for a good light-show and some local annoyances.

i was just kinda hoping someone would talk to me striaght and make me feel better instead of sending me a link.

Well, Paige, we can tell you things directly, but we provide links to support what we're trying to get across. I can tell you that all the dead wildlife isn't unusual, but if I can also provide you a link to these reports that show you for sure that such things happen all the time, then you're in a much better position to learn about the situation.

the only new thing that bothers me is this tribulation stuff.

People have been claiming for thousands of years that the end of days is upon the world. To date, every single person who has said such things has been wrong. So-called "prophets" and doomsayers rely almost exclusively on being vague, so they can twist whatever they want to fit their beliefs and backpedal later on when their prophecies don't come true.

Preachers aren't there to scare their flock, though cynically, tribulation can be interpreted as 'follow God or you'll be left for dead' - quite a scare tactic should you believe in it. But if you don't take the Bible to be literal truth, then there's no real worry. People have been predicting the date of tribulation, rapture, the second coming of Christ from thousands of years, and all of them have been wrong.

i don't want to talk to a precher i'm afraid of what he may say.

Maybe he wouldn't say anything scary, but don't take the risk, anyway.

Many people are scared too. You are not alone, and we can help you. Many threads were created lately (since new year party) about this matter, and you can see: nothing weird is happening, as your sister told you.
There's a page, under construction still, called "Animal die-offs", made by the user rushang, some days ago (you can see the link in the sidebar).
This page will be increased, and soon you can read it.

Peace!

We've been discussing this a lot here, recently. You'll see the discussions in our forums, but you might want to start in these places. (1, 2) Several people have been helped by Darren's post (the first link given).

Stop press:
Dead Ducks Found All Over USA
AP. 2200 Tuesday 11th Jan 2011
In another bizarre wildlife event, large numbers of dead ducks have been found in various locations around the country. "It was the durndest thang", said Mr. Earl E. Bird of Looneyville Texas. "The newspaper delivery boy came by and suddenly they were all over the place."
On closer examination, the dead ducks were found to be newspaper stories about mass wildlife die-offs. A spokesperson for the USGS said, "We've now examined a number of these stories and we can confirm that they are definitely dead ducks. There's absolutely no life left in them now."
Many of the stories were known to have been roosting at the headquarters of The Examiner and were being despatched to all parts of the country, boosted by continuous waves of hot air. The Editor of The Examiner, Mr. R. McGeddon said, "We thought we could prolong their life by feeding then with religious flavored baloney, but we'll now have to go back to our usual stories about UFOs, Bigfoot and dead flying pigs."

Reporters:
Harry VaDerci
Alf Wiedersehen

Birds in Cali were hit by a Semi! :0) Feeling a little better. I think they need to quit reporting on this now.

Examiner.com has been criticized for its lack of verification and fact-checking of stories published on the site.

Well that's all I really need to know about the credentials of that website - a platform to allow pro-am contributors to write whatever articles they want, who can earn money each and every time their page is viewed (we're not talking wads of cash, but that's the incentive; write what sells)

The reason that I'm giving then as to why the lesser 'news outlets' still churn this stuff out is because there is money to be made, not directly (as in selling a DVD or book), or in large amounts, but making money from page views and advertising. And endless searching for bird deaths on Google and clicking links to the Examiner or other news aggregates are only going to keep the cycle going.