What Is Coming From Space on June 3rd?

Does this individual know something we don't?

The media captured a recent moment with an oft-heard phrase, "a history of mental health issues."

Let's look behind the quick burying of a recent story as yet another "lone nut" distraction from day-to-day life.

Psychiatric disorders are no laughing matter, and are a burden to family and loved ones. But what if there are twilight messages being transmitted, not through magical thinking, but via prophetic moments?

The man above, in a weird costume, threatened a television station on Thursday, April 28, 2016.

This occurred north of Druid Park Drive and south of Rockrose Avenue, in the midst of several television stations.

The progressively bizarre scene unfolded when the young man walked into the lobby of Fox affiliate WBFF, known as Fox45, on Baltimore's TV Hill, just blocks away from CBS Baltimore and NBC affiliate WBAL-TV.

At 1:20 p.m. the suspect barricaded himself in the building. Police were unsure how far he made it into the building in the 2000 block of West 41st Street.

The man, wearing what Baltimore Police Department spokesman T.J. Smith said was a panda suit and what employees described as a hedgehog costume, gave a flash drive to a security guard and told him he wanted the station to broadcast its contents.

In the vestibule, the man in the onesie displayed that flash drive and said he wanted to air information comparable to the Panama Papers, FOX45 News Director Mike Tomko told reporters. The Panama Papers are leaked documents that alleged some world leaders used secret offshore companies and accounts to hide billions of dollars.

Smith said police don't know what was on the drive, but the security guard told CBS Baltimore, "It pretty much had to do with anything with astronomy -- black holes, the sun, about it being liquid and gas, and he just wanted to say that the government was wrong in thinking about the way they do when it comes to anything in space."

Shortly afterward, Alex Michael Brizzi, 25, of Elkridge, Maryland in Howard County. was shot and wounded by police in Thursday's incident. He was treated in a Baltimore hospital for injuries that are not life threatening, Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said at a news conference Friday.

Brizzi wore an animal onesie, surgical mask, and did carry what appeared to be explosives. A panda? A hedgehog? "This outfit appears to be associated with Japanese anime culture," Davis said.

A bomb squad robot was brought in. "The robot was able to disarm and disrobe Brizzi," Davis said.

Brizzi claimed he was carrying explosives. But the "bomb" turned out to be a life preserver outfitted with wires and chocolate candy bars wrapped in aluminum foil. He was not wearing a real bomb.

The suspect's father Edward Brizzi, who spoke to CNN affiliate WBFF Thursday, said his son had lost his job, had broken up with his girlfriend, and appeared to have a nervous breakdown.

"Just talked with the dad of the 25-year-old who made the threats against WBFF FOX 45 today. The dad says his son was convinced the world was ending on June 3rd. He says his son does not have a history of mental health issues, but two weeks ago had what he called a break. Video starts with him describing that moment two weeks ago when his son was found sleeping in a neighbor's yard," tweeted Shelley Orman, a reporter for FOX45 News in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 28, 2016.

The name Brizzi is of Italian origin, from a short form of the personal names Albrizzo (a diminutive of Alberico) or Fabrizio, or from an unattested Germanic personal name, Berizo, or from the ethnic name from Latin Brittius “Breton” (of the Imperial Roman Army).

A special recent tattoo added by Brizzi, meaning as yet unknown. But probably a "fallen angel."

Police are ruling out terrorism, and say mental illness may have played a role. 

“How long shall they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look?” – Bob Marley

Mental health is a complex subject. With a background in psychiatric social work, having studied under Sophie Freud (born 1924, Sigmund Freud's granddaughter) at Simmons School of Social Work, I take this subject seriously. But what if yesterday's prophets are some of today's mental health patients?

We’re weeding out our geniuses. We’re killing off our prophets. We’re drugging our messiahs.
Were she alive today, Sylvia Plath would be on anti-depressants. Salvador Dali would be on anti-psychotics. Beethoven would be on Lithium. Newton would likely be committed as well as heavily drugged for his multiple, pervasive mental illness symptoms.
Don’t even get me started on Jesus Christ. ~ Vironika Tugalenva, Rethinking Mental Illness: Are We Drugging Our Prophets and Healers?

Why would Alex Bruzzi target "something" dealing with space as "happening on June 3rd?" or even that he was "convinced the world was ending on June 3rd"?

Let's look at what others are saying about June 3rd? What has happened on June 3rd? And why "space" and June 3rd?

On June 3, 1769, the British navigator, Captain James Cook, British astronomer Charles Green and Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander observed and recorded a transit of Venus across the sun on the island of Tahiti during Cook's first voyage around the world.

On June 3, 1948, the 200" (5.08 m) Hale telescope was dedicated at Palomar Observatory.

On June 3, 1965, astronaut Edward White became the first American to "walk" in space, during the flight of Gemini 4.

On June 3, 1966, Gemini 9 launched; it was the 7th U.S. 2-man flight, with American astronauts Stafford and Cernan.

On June 3, 1969, saw the last episode of Star Trek airing on NBC ("Turnabout Intruder").

On June 3, 1980, the crew of Soyuz 36 returned to Earth aboard Soyuz 35.

On June 3, 2002, NASA launched the $159 million Contour space probe to study the composition of comets. Scientists lost contact on August 15, 2002.

On June 3, 2010, in Russia, a male crew of three Russians, a Frenchman, an Italian-Colombian and a Chinese began a 520-day experiment in a windowless capsule, to simulate a 250-day journey to Mars, a 30-day surface exploration phase and 240 days return trip.

Intriguingly, in limited release on June 3, 2016, is a new film entitled Approaching the Unknown. Captain William D. Stanaforth (Mark Strong) is on a one-way solo mission, taking humanity’s first steps toward colonizing Mars. Although the entire world is watching him, he is completely alone in a dark and distant sea of stars. Stanaforth rockets bravely through space facing insurmountable odds, but as the journey takes a toll on his life-sustaining systems, he is forced to make impossible choices that threaten his sanity, mission and very existence.

Also, there is the claim, found online, that the Mayan Calendar is "off by 3.5 years" and the date to watch is June 3, 2016! (See here.)

Remember the predictions for the end of the world in 2012? Wrong year, wrong month, wrong day?

Under these new calculations, December 21, 2012 (Gregorian) is actually June 3, 2016 (Mayan Haab calendar). December 21, 2012 plus 1260 days = June 3, 2016.

Watch the skies on June 3, 2016.

If A Mayan Knocks...

"Just to be safe, don't let any strangers wearing feathered headdresses into your home for the next 24 hours," tweeted, on Thursday morning, by a Mexican friend going by the handle Red Pill Junkie (RPJ).

Okay. That's worth a nervous bit of laughter. 

So I searched for an appropriate image to go with RPJ's comment. Though not colorful, this first one I found (below) struck me. But I had not visualized a dwarf when I read RPJ's line. So why a little person, I asked myself?

Mayan Dwarf, AD 550-850 (Late Classic), Walter Arts Museum:

Dwarfs were important members of royal Maya courts. They are portrayed serving food, playing musical instruments, holding sacred objects for the ruler, and as diviners and scribes. Their elevated social roles were steeped in cosmology and religious mythology, especially that of the maize god, who was assisted by a dwarf when the deity set the Three Stones of the cosmic hearth at the beginning of Creation. The Classic Maya viewed dwarfs as the living embodiment of the maize god's supernatural helpers, who continued their sacred duty in the regal court. Maya peoples today believe that earlier creations were populated by a race of dwarfs who now reside inside the earth, living below the ruins of the ancient cities. The ornate turban worn by this dwarf is typical of the courtly garb of key individuals serving the ruler. This so-called spangled turban headdress is especially connected to gods and humans associated with Creation and scribal duties. A curious feature of this dwarf is what may be a halved cacao pod held in his right hand. His cheeks are covered with what appears to be a thin, woven fabric; this recalls other figurines, many of which are dwarfs, with an unidentifiable material plastered to the lower half of their face. These features suggest the depiction of a formal rite. The graceful rendering of this figure and the exceptional attention to detail reveal the work of a master artist.

I pasted in the above paragraph, because this public domain image definitely needed explanation. Then I went back to Twitter to double-check RPJ's exact "headdress" wording, to make certain I had typed it correctly.

I don't know why I should be surprised, but here's what RPJ also posted soon after his first one, but I had not seen it: "In case a weird dwarf knocks on the door, have a pen in hand...."

That's sync-linking working on parallel planes, I'd say. (For more on the twilight language of suicidal dwarfs, see here.) At the top is a Yaxchilan ballplayer shown with two dwarfs.

During my undergraduate college years, I actually worked with Robert L. Rands, Ph. D., one of the first modern era archaeologist to work at Palenque. Hundreds of sherds later, I had great respect for what he would find there, even though it was not as exciting as what Mayan conspiracy theorists see in his results.

What do I really think about the supposed Mayan calendar business, with all the melodrama about the end of the world coming tomorrow? This morning, my interview on the topic, with Dangerous Minds' columnist Thomas McGrath, appeared in "The Eve of Destruction? DM Talks 'End Times' with Loren Coleman, America's Unlikely Cassandra."

And finally, if you missed it, check out Boing Boing friend David Pescovitz's December 20th contribution, "The Future, As Imagined by Hollywood."

If you are going to go Mayan, you might as well do it in style, a la' The Blade Runner.

Okay. Everyone seems to be tired of the Mayans. Time to move on the Olmec?

A Vera Cruz Olmec figurine holding a skull and wearing an eagle headdress associated with the Olmec death cult and human sacrifice rituals. 

And, won't you know it, here is an Olmec dwarf.

Source.

What's Next? Beyond Newtown and the Mayan Calendar

As we all creep towards Friday, and the first week anniversary of the Newtown, Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the alleged end of the Mayan calendar, it is time to pause. To look back and forward.

Counting Victims as Victims, Not Killers' Body Counts

First off, what is wrong with the general ability of people to count? Twenty-six wreaths, twenty-six candles, even twenty-six flares.

But, at Newtown, on that horrific day of violence, 28 people died. Twenty children at the school, six teachers and staff at the school, the shooter's mother at her home, and the shooter by his own hand at the school. Twenty-eight. 28. There is no reason to de-humanize Nancy Lanza and Adam Lanza by not counting them.

Adam Lanza, 20, Death #28.

Adam Lanza, sixth grade.

Bretton Woods

Breaking news today was that Adam Lanza was alone in the days leading up to the Newstown shooting, when his mother had traveled to Bretton Woods Resort, New Hampshire, to take a mini-vacation. Adam Lanza was was unsupervised for two and a half days with his mom’s guns before Friday’s massacre, according to a new report from HLN.

"Nancy Lanza had only just arrived back at her home Thursday evening, following a two-night trip to Bretton Woods, New Hampshire," according to CNN.

HLN reports "that Lanza checked into the Omni Mount Washington Resort at 12:10 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11, and checked out at 12:27 p.m. on Thursday. The drive between Bretton Woods, NH and Lanza’s hometown of Newtown takes nearly five hours and clocks in at just under 300 miles."

The Mount Washington Hotel and Resort is one in the last surviving New Hampshire grand hotels.

The Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, was recently mentioned on Olive Stone's The Untold History of the United States. Preparing to rebuild the international economic system as World War II was still raging, 730 delegates from all 44 Allied nations gathered at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, for the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference. The delegates deliberated during 1–22 July 1944, and signed the Agreement on its final day. This historic Bretton Woods conference in 1944 that laid the groundwork for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The hotel was featured in an episode of the television series Ghost Hunters, when it was searched by the TAPS paranormal investigation team on February 6, 2008. I was a guest of Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson at two TAPS conferences held at this elegant hotel, and I spoke in the same grand ballroom where the 1944 Bretton Woods conference occurred. (In 2011, George Soros convened Bretton Woods II.)

Video Games Debate...Again

How about the video games played by Adam Lanza? Over-the-top comments have been posted on the web about Lanza playing various video games nonstop. But the recent concentrated discussion of his alleged obsession with one specific game, according to my consultant CCCC, fails to take into account that "Starcraft is a strategy game and only one of the races even uses guns (the other two are insectoid and psionic). That's the media though."

Coming Copycat Incident At A Sporting Event?

My friend and research associate Jerome Clark passed along the following from Esquire's   Daily Politics Blog by Charles P. Pierce:

Since 9/11, more than a few administrators, coaches and athletes have expressed to me the concern that one of their events may be used for a statement by one of our many sociopaths with a motive, political or otherwise. (This has a little to do with the fact that so many of our athletes have armed themselves.) After all, these are people whose lives depend on regularly scheduled mass events. And, while major events like the Olympics and the Super Bowl are thick with security, the average major college football or basketball game is not, and an incident at one of those would be just as devastating. (Boeheim's teams average over 30,000 people per game.) The people involved in our games have been talking among themselves about this for years. [Syracuse coach Jim] Boeheim wasn't just talking gun policy there. He was talking about workplace violence, and good for him.

I have had similar thought. It does seem fortunate that the USA has not suffered a "Black Sunday"-type terrorist incident, to date, especially after Black Sunday appeared as a novel by Thomas Harris in 1975, and a successful film directed by John Frankenheimer in 1977.

On a smaller scale, I too have been quietly cautioning that the copycat shooters appear to be moving from school, workplace, and postal shootings to church, mall, and theater violence, then returning to school venues, often, as their captive "fishbowl" theaters of murder. These, of course, are frequently followed by the actual purpose of the shooting - the suicide or suicide-by-cop of the shooter. 

I have been aware that sporting events - baseball games, football contests, and other large audience confined stadium events - may be the next "target."

It was especially disturbing to see that in The Dark Knight Rises, it was at a football game where Bane declared the beginning of the chaos that would destroy Gotham City. And then it began there.

I have wondered if a self-fulfilling agent of the media-driven sensationalistic interest in the alleged "End of the World" on Dec. 21 will result in chaotic events on Friday, or blowback frustrated incidents on Dec. 22-23, needless to say, at sporting events, as well as other locations?

I certainly hope not, but I would warn all public safety agencies be on the alert.

Be safe, be aware.

The Copycat Effect Continues

"Suicides, murder-suicides, and murders – the events that are at the core of the most negative projections of the copycat effect -- will remain newsworthy in the eyes of the media in the foreseeable future and will continue to be reported." ~ The Copycat Effect, 2004.

Here is one of my seven recommendations in The Copycat Effect:

The media must cease its graphic and sensationalized wall-to-wall commentary and coverage of violent acts and the details of the actual methods and places where they occur. Photographs of murder victims, tapes of people jumping off bridges, and live shots of things like car chases ending in deadly crashes, for example, merely glamorize these deaths, and create models for others – down to the method, the place, the timing, and the type of individual involved. Even fictional entertainment, such as the screening of The Deer Hunter, provides vivid copycatting stimuli for vulnerable, unstable, angry, and depressed individuals.

History and Hope Again

I am not about to pick sides in a debate that appears to not understand that the solution to lessen future violent incidents like what happened at Newtown will be multifaceted. But it is intriguing to look back at another "Newtown" massacre, and see what happened.

There once was another Newtown in the news. The another New Town is on the other side of the globe. On April 28, 1996, a gunman from New Town, Australia, opened fire on tourists in Port Arthur, Tasmania, killing 35 people and wounded 23 more. It only took the government of Australia less than two week to announce a bipartisan deal to enact gun control measures. There have been no mass killings since then. Source.

The Wall Street Journal for December 18, 2012, published an article entitled, "Guns, Mental Illness and Newtown" by David Kopel. In that article that mentioned the historical context of the focus of my book:

Loren Coleman's 2004 book The Copycat Effect: How the Media and Popular Culture Trigger the Mayhem in Tomorrow's Headlines shows that the copycat effect is as old as the media itself. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's 1774 classic The Sorrows of Young Werther triggered a spate of copycat suicides all over Europe. But today the velocity and pervasiveness of the media make the problem much worse.

For Critics of My Book and This Blog

In my book I spoke to the future critics who would question why I would gather a collection of copycat events:

I know that the copycat effect does not propagate well in an environment in which the hidden is made manifest. Now that we understand and know there is a problem, the protective factor is the realization that there are things that can be done to stop it.
My hope, of course, is that [my] book [and blog] might stir up a much needed debate on the subject and hopefully lead to social change, to a change in how the media handles these stories, to put the brakes on the copycat effect. Our future—our children’s future—is at stake.
It is not too late to change what is going on. In the end, the point of the copycat effect does not lie in the details of the individual incidents but in its spread....
The time has come for someone to say, stop it. Stop sensationalizing the violence. Stop triggering violent behaviors now.