Phantoms and Monsters

Renovation Stirs Spirits at Edinburgh Landmark
Photos: Monster Hog Killed in Southeast Texas
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Videos: Entity on Utility Pole, UFOs Recorded
Are We Clueless to What Really Went On in History?

Renovation Stirs Spirits at Edinburgh Landmark

Posted: 02 Feb 2010 12:30 PM PST

deadlinescotland - Staff at a top boutique hotel believe they may be accommodating some extra guests after hearing strange noises coming from the basement.

They also said they felt a "strange chill" while fetching linen from an underground cellar in the basement of Fraser Suites in Edinburgh.

The apartment-hotel, situated in the city's Old Town, lies just yards away from the notorious Mary King's Close network of subterranean tunnels, where it is rumoured that plague victims were buried alive.

Paranormal experts now believe the spooky site could be another example of Edinburgh's chequered past – famous for being riddled with death and mystery.

The site was once the offices of the Edinburgh Courant, one of the UK's first regional newspapers, and latterly serving as a council building until 2007.Fraser Suites Edinburgh assistant manager Laura Richardson said: "We have been using a basement storage room for linen and sheets.

Underground

"That space is fine, but there is a door in the room that leads into something that may once have been an underground coal cellar.

"Some of the housekeeping staff have reported hearing strange thumps coming from behind the door a couple of times – and when you go into the old cellar there is a strange chill at a certain spot in the room."

The 75-bedroom apart-hotel, which opened in November, only recently opened its underground cellar during the renovation.

It has old red brick walls and a narrow stone chute from the street above, which was once used by draymen to deliver coals to the building.

Mark Turner, paranormal investigator for Ghost Finders Scotland, said: "There is a huge amount of history and tales of human suffering linked to old Edinburgh. Spirits are tied to this life because of suffering or unfinished business, so this is perhaps why the city has had so many reports of ghosts.

Paranormal

"Mary King's Close and the vaults are very close to St. Giles Street and there have been several paranormal occurrences recorded in these sites.

"Our investigations have uncovered phenomena such as people feeling invisible hands pushing them in one particular vaults room nearby, or people hearing footsteps when there is nobody there.

"Considering there is quite a high amount of paranormal activity in the area, it is quite feasible that there might be something at the Fraser Suites Edinburgh hotel."

Laura added: "It was very hot at times this summer but whenever anyone went down to the old cellar there was always a spot where it was icy cold.

"It is very odd because the rest of the hotel always had an even temperature – and there have never been any other strange goings on in the rest of the building.

"It is a little bit spooky to think we may have a couple of extra, unpaying guests.

"But the door is kept locked and we don't use the space, so will be looking ensure they very much stay in the basement."
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LOCATION HISTORY

Sir Patrick Geddes

The boutique hotel, which held its official opening in November, is also just a few minutes walk from the Heart of Midlothian. The heart-shaped design of the cobble stones near St Giles Cathedral marks where the entrance to the Tolbooth was once located - and is a must-visit site for young lovers wandering down the Royal Mile from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace.

The Fraser Suites Edinburgh building dates back to the 1860s when it housed the Edinburgh Courant - one of the first regional newspapers in the UK and whose editors included Robinson Crusoe author Daniel Defoe.

Acclaimed architects Holmes restored the historic building from a derelict shell to a luxury boutique-style hotel

Renovating old buildings can often throw up some unpleasant surprises.

But the developers of a new hotel in the heart of the Capital got a more welcome surprise when they uncovered three beautiful stained glass window panels, featuring doves and roses arranged around a central Saltire.

And a Latin legend across the bottom of the central window has led experts to agree the panels are almost certainly linked to the work of one of Edinburgh's most famous citizens, Sir Patrick Geddes.

The building on St Giles' Street, which has been transformed into the Fraser Suites Hotel, was formerly used by the city council, although large parts of the building had been empty for years.

The three stained glass windows are thought to have been obscured for decades and only came to light when they were discovered partly boarded up and almost completely covered by dirt.

The central window of the trio bears the inscription "Vivendo Discimus", Latin for "by living we learn". This was the motto used by Sir Patrick Geddes, who was celebrated across the world for his innovative thinking in the fields of urban planning and education.

Part of the building was also St Giles' House, which was later used as student accommodation, providing the clearest link to Geddes and his work in Edinburgh as Geddes pioneered the first residential accommodation for university students in Scotland.

John Lowrey, senior lecturer in architectural history at the School of Arts, Culture and Environment at the University of Edinburgh, said the find was "historically very important".

"The windows are definitely a Geddes connection if the stained glass bears the legend 'vivendo discimus'," he said.

The developers of the new hotel have ensured the

Geddes panels are a key feature in one of the hotel's top suites.

Fraser Suites Scottish regional manager Heather Gilchrist said: "

When we discovered the windows we wanted to make a feature of them – and the best place for them was to use them as the centrepiece in one of our exclusive suites.

"It means that anyone staying in the room will know they are very much living and breathing an important part of Edinburgh's history."

A MAN OF MANY INTERESTS

Born in Ballater in 1854, Patrick Geddes was brought up in Perth. He started his career in banking but went on to study botany and by 24 was a biologist of great promise.

He was sent on a research mission to Mexico, but fell ill there and ended up working at Edinburgh University. His wide interests – including town planning, politics, social thinking and literature – led him into a number of innovative urban renewal projects.

In Edinburgh, he protected more than 70 sites, including Lady Stair's Close, plus many other Royal Mile closes.

He also developed and played a large part in much of the renovation of the Capital's Royal Mile including the building of Ramsay Garden next to Edinburgh Castle.

He was also instrumental in the design of Edinburgh Zoo, creating more natural environments for the animals, separating them from the public by moats rather than the usual cages typical of Victorian menageries.

THE HOTEL

The hotel, which officially opened its doors last November, is located in the heart of the city's Old Town – just a few hundred yards away from the ancestral home of Scotland's kings and queens, the site of the city's most notorious underground prison and the hunting grounds of some of Edinburgh's nefarious criminals.

The Victorian-era building also sits directly above one of the city's most haunted hidden streets, Mary King's Close – a former plague-ridden thoroughfare in Edinburgh's Old Town which has been the focus of numerous paranormal investigations and historical surveys in recent years.

Heather Gilchrist, Regional General Manager Frasers Hospitality Scotland, said: "There aren't many venues in Scotland – let alone Edinburgh – that can boast as much history as our new hotel. It's location in the heart of the oldest part of the city makes it the ideal place for visitors interested in Edinburgh's heritage to come and stay.

"The building that Fraser Suites Edinburgh is actually located in was originally the home of some of the city's major newspapers, and the street we are located on - St Giles Street - was often referred to as the Fleet Street of Scotland. It's an area brimming with historical interest and that has graced many famous figures from throughout the ages.

"For those who like to explore things a little spookier, we've also got one of the city's most haunted streets just a few yards away and our very own cellar could be harbouring a resident ghost or two. Some of our housekeeping staff have reported hearing strange thumps coming from behind the door a couple of times – and when you go into the old cellar there is a definitely strange chill at a certain spot in the room.

"I'm certain that anyone looking to explore the historical heart of Scotland's capital city will not find a better place to stay than Fraser Suites Edinburgh."

St Giles Street was initially created during the construction and subsequent remodelling of the Bank of Scotland Headquarters by renowned Scottish architect David Bryce in the 1860s.

The 12-18 St. Giles Street part of the hotel was designed by Bryce in 1871 as the head office for the Edinburgh Courant newspaper - one of the earliest regional newspapers in Britain which counted Robinson Crusoe author Daniel Defoe as one of its editors. Fraser Suites Edinburgh has now secured a rare early copy of a Courant which is to be put on display.

From the late 19th century until the middle of the 20th century, St. Giles Street was the 'Fleet Street of Scotland', hosting (over the years) the offices of not only the Edinburgh Courant and Edinburgh Daily Review, but also the Glasgow News, Glasgow Herald, Glasgow Evening Citizen, the Edinburgh Daily Mail and the Mercat Press.

During the refurbishment - in which much work was done to retain the original features, including restoring high ceilings and ornate cornicing – a number of long-forgotten features were discovered. These included a set of stained glass panels celebrating one of Scotland's most famous sons, Sir Patrick Geddes, who was celebrated across the world for his innovative thinking in the fields of urban planning and education.

Sources:
edinburghnews.scotsman.com
www.holyroodpr.co.uk
www.allmediascotland.com

Photos: Monster Hog Killed in Southeast Texas

Posted: 02 Feb 2010 11:38 AM PST

I was sent photos of a 1,800+ lb. wild boar shot and killed in Conroe, Texas near the Montgomery County Airport, East of I-45. It seems these photos were taken around the holidays. I don't know if this is a record or just a damn big hog. I posted an article sometime back that referenced how many states are being overrun by these hybrid hogs.

Click for video

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Posted: 02 Feb 2010 10:12 AM PST

smithsonianmag - Medical researchers use laboratory-grown human cells to learn the intricacies of how cells work and test theories about the causes and treatment of diseases. The cell lines they need are "immortal"—they can grow indefinitely, be frozen for decades, divided into different batches and shared among scientists. In 1951, a scientist at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, created the first immortal human cell line with a tissue sample taken from a young black woman with cervical cancer. Those cells, called HeLa cells, quickly became invaluable to medical research—though their donor remained a mystery for decades. In her new book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, journalist Rebecca Skloot tracks down the story of the source of the amazing HeLa cells, Henrietta Lacks, and documents the cell line's impact on both modern medicine and the Lacks family.

Who was Henrietta Lacks?
She was a black tobacco farmer from southern Virginia who got cervical cancer when she was 30. A doctor at Johns Hopkins took a piece of her tumor without telling her and sent it down the hall to scientists there who had been trying to grow tissues in culture for decades without success. No one knows why, but her cells never died.

Why are her cells so important?
Henrietta's cells were the first immortal human cells ever grown in culture. They were essential to developing the polio vaccine. They went up in the first space missions to see what would happen to cells in zero gravity. Many scientific landmarks since then have used her cells, including cloning, gene mapping and in vitro fertilization.

There has been a lot of confusion over the years about the source of HeLa cells. Why?
When the cells were taken, they were given the code name HeLa, for the first two letters in Henrietta and Lacks. Today, anonymizing samples is a very important part of doing research on cells. But that wasn't something doctors worried about much in the 1950s, so they weren't terribly careful about her identity. When some members of the press got close to finding Henrietta's family, the researcher who'd grown the cells made up a pseudonym—Helen Lane—to throw the media off track. Other pseudonyms, like Helen Larsen, eventually showed up, too. Her real name didn't really leak out into the world until the 1970s.

How did you first get interested in this story?
I first learned about Henrietta in 1988. I was 16 and a student in a community college biology class. Everybody learns about these cells in basic biology, but what was unique about my situation was that my teacher actually knew Henrietta's real name and that she was black. But that's all he knew. The moment I heard about her, I became obsessed: Did she have any kids? What do they think about part of their mother being alive all these years after she died? Years later, when I started being interested in writing, one of the first stories I imagined myself writing was hers. But it wasn't until I went to grad school that I thought about trying to track down her family.

How did you win the trust of Henrietta's family?
Part of it was that I just wouldn't go away and was determined to tell the story. It took almost a year even to convince Henrietta's daughter, Deborah, to talk to me. I knew she was desperate to learn about her mother. So when I started doing my own research, I'd tell her everything I found. I went down to Clover, Virginia, where Henrietta was raised, and tracked down her cousins, then called Deborah and left these stories about Henrietta on her voice mail. Because part of what I was trying to convey to her was I wasn't hiding anything, that we could learn about her mother together. After a year, finally she said, fine, let's do this thing.

When did her family find out about Henrietta's cells?
Twenty-five years after Henrietta died, a scientist discovered that many cell cultures thought to be from other tissue types, including breast and prostate cells, were in fact HeLa cells. It turned out that HeLa cells could float on dust particles in the air and travel on unwashed hands and contaminate other cultures. It became an enormous controversy. In the midst of that, one group of scientists tracked down Henrietta's relatives to take some samples with hopes that they could use the family's DNA to make a map of Henrietta's genes so they could tell which cell cultures were HeLa and which weren't, to begin straightening out the contamination problem.

So a postdoc called Henrietta's husband one day. But he had a third-grade education and didn't even know what a cell was. The way he understood the phone call was: "We've got your wife. She's alive in a laboratory. We've been doing research on her for the last 25 years. And now we have to test your kids to see if they have cancer." Which wasn't what the researcher said at all. The scientists didn't know that the family didn't understand. From that point on, though, the family got sucked into this world of research they didn't understand, and the cells, in a sense, took over their lives.

How did they do that?
This was most true for Henrietta's daughter. Deborah never knew her mother; she was an infant when Henrietta died. She had always wanted to know who her mother was but no one ever talked about Henrietta. So when Deborah found out that this part of her mother was still alive she became desperate to understand what that meant: Did it hurt her mother when scientists injected her cells with viruses and toxins? Had scientists cloned her mother? And could those cells help scientists tell her about her mother, like what her favorite color was and if she liked to dance.

Deborah's brothers, though, didn't think much about the cells until they found out there was money involved. HeLa cells were the first human biological materials ever bought and sold, which helped launch a multi-billion-dollar industry. When Deborah's brothers found out that people were selling vials of their mother's cells, and that the family didn't get any of the resulting money, they got very angry. Henrietta's family has lived in poverty most of their lives, and many of them can't afford health insurance. One of her sons was homeless and living on the streets of Baltimore. So the family launched a campaign to get some of what they felt they were owed financially. It consumed their lives in that way.

What are the lessons from this book?
For scientists, one of the lessons is that there are human beings behind every biological sample used in the laboratory. So much of science today revolves around using human biological tissue of some kind. For scientists, cells are often just like tubes or fruit flies—they're just inanimate tools that are always there in the lab. The people behind those samples often have their own thoughts and feelings about what should happen to their tissues, but they're usually left out of the equation.

And for the rest of us?
The story of HeLa cells and what happened with Henrietta has often been held up as an example of a racist white scientist doing something malicious to a black woman. But that's not accurate. The real story is much more subtle and complicated. What is very true about science is that there are human beings behind it and sometimes even with the best of intentions things go wrong.

One of the things I don't want people to take from the story is the idea that tissue culture is bad. So much of medicine today depends on tissue culture. HIV tests, many basic drugs, all of our vaccines—we would have none of that if it wasn't for scientists collecting cells from people and growing them. And the need for these cells is going to get greater, not less. Instead of saying we don't want that to happen, we just need to look at how it can happen in a way that everyone is OK with.

Videos: Entity on Utility Pole, UFOs Recorded

Posted: 02 Feb 2010 09:38 AM PST

Click for video

Click for video

I received an email late last night from a witness who asked me to look at these videos. The woman stated that she (we) was in her car sky watching and noticed the entity climbing up a utility pole. She started filming with her cell phone. As well, they started to noticed multiple lights in the sky (seen on the 2nd video). The woman seems very sincere and, from what I gathered from her YouTube channel, believes deeply in her Mormon faith. I don't know the location and the conditions. I apologize for the annoying music...just turn down the volume. What do you think? Lon

Are We Clueless to What Really Went On in History?

Posted: 02 Feb 2010 08:57 AM PST

Chris Holly's Paranormal World - It seems daily I am finding articles about how we have been wrong and a new discovery has surfaced about what really happened in history.

We are constantly changing our information and scientific viewpoint or adding new finds and insights to our thinking of what went on before we had accurate recorded history.

I tend to think we may have most of our past earth history wrong. Before we were able to correctly record the facts of history our knowledge of what really occurred in the past on earth is limited.

I do not think we have our dates lined up correctly or our understanding of what really happened in our past. Look at the feared year of 2012. As far as we know this may be 2012 or last year was 2012 or it will not happen for another 10 years. The more we discover and learn about history the less we seem to know.

I do know that there were many mistakes, renovations and changes made to the calendar systems used today. I also know that there has been an on going battle over the exact date of birth of Christ. There seems to be a give or take of at least 10 to 20 years. Many dates were lost or changed in the confusion of past civilization upheaval. Being sure of absolute fact seems nearly impossible.

Could we now be deep into the start of the 2012 area of time we were all warned of by those who lived before us? Could the horrors of Haiti along with an extremely cold winter worldwide be the hint we are now dealing with that which our ancestors tried to warn us all about?

I listen to different experts give us the findings of new cities being uncovered, new ancient camps being found and updates about the tools and way of life being far different then what we once were told. I think the facts of the past are still hidden. I also think the populations that lived before us were far less primitive then we thought they were.

I understand there are endless theories on how the people before us lived and died. I simply think we are missing many large pieces of what went on.

Many of nature's cycles are getting ready to go through their normal routines. Before the development of our modern technology we have not been able to leave a clear record of what took place on earth by those who lived through the extremes of mother natures cycles.

We know earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods along with great storms caused havoc and destruction to past civilizations. However we do not have many missing parts of what really went on. We try to fit the pieces together yet we keep finding what we thought went on really did not happen the way we thought. Our concept of past history is a ongoing changing mystery.

Many of the predictions for 2012 are linked to the special alignment of the planets during the 2012 time period. I am sure the alignment is going to happen. I am just not sure if we have dates and warnings left by those who lived before us as precise as we believe them to be.

I think we are a bit confused and still in the process of learning what happened along with what is going to happen. Trying to make sense of life before clear written recorded history seems to be a on going revelation of new and strange events that send us forever rewriting history as we go.

Look at the discovery of the Boskop species named after the place their remains were first discovered in Boskop Africa. The Boskops were human like with small frail frames and extra large heads. The Boskops were thought to have very child like small faces however their brains were about 25% bigger then modern mans leaving them with average IQ's of about 150 or higher.

Knowing this species of beings disappeared from the face of the earth goes along with our knowledge that the Neanderthals also disappeared. The fact remains we have no idea why both of these species that once walked the earth are no longer here.

It is a true mystery why the genius level species Boskops did not survive. They possessed the intelligence to compete with the earth and it s inhabitants. In fact they should have easily ruled their environment as well as other species of the time yet instead they disappeared along with their intelligence and strange looks.

It has been speculated by many that the Boskops were not native earthlings and their time needed on earth was short lived. We cannot disregard any theory about the Boskop species including alien theories. The truth is we have no idea why this group of super smart beings no longer exists. Looks like we are simply still not as bright as they were then!

As we read the new findings that keep coming to light it is evident we are truly confused on what happened as the earth populated and grew.

Discover Magazine reports that it now appears Hominids did not all walk out of Africa. They now think some left by rafts and were spreading faster by way of the sea then we thought was possible.

It is thought Homo Erectus navigated rafts across short stretches of sea in Indonesia around 800,000 years ago and that Neanderthals crossed the Strait of Gibraltar perhaps 60,000 years ago.

Recently researchers in Europe have reported finding the remains of a 7000 year old stone age man who had his arm amputated . The surgery had all the markings of a clean well done operation resulting in the man recovering to live a productive life. Other skeletons of that era have been found that also show signs of people not only preforming similar surgeries but that the patients survived. These discoveries certainly do not reflect our ideas of what we thought was happening on earth at that time in history.

Recently they discovered a lost city in the Brazil deep in the Amazon estimated to possibly date back as far as 200AD. The find of this city displays sophisticated pre-Colombian monument-building society. They feel it once held a population of 60,000 people, which were more people than in many medieval European cities.

I have to wonder what really took place during the time of many of the great civilizations that seemed to simply vanish. What truly happened to bring about their demise? Have we been able to correctly decipher history information left to us by those before us? Did we understand what we were being told?

Have we failed to realize that those living before us had a limited understanding of what was going on around them? Could it be that events happening around them that were attributed to the work of gods was instead the work of technology-based visitors?

Could the history left for us be confused or explained as divine interactions when they were intelligent beings based instead? Could many of the references to objects or beings from the sky have been our confused misunderstood reaction to other more advanced civilizations mixing with our less sophisticated earth population?

Could the advanced building complexes that have lasted thousands of years been designed and constructed by visiting advanced beings? Did the odd act of deforming human skulls to non human looking shapes have started to mimic other beings living or visiting our evolving civilizations ?Were Boskops still on earth and the ones pushing civilization forward? Are there pockets of Boskops still alive? Can the legend of advanced beings living inside our planet be Boskops that survived? Could earthlings who advanced that once roamed our land known as Boskops be the ones who man UFO's?

There are so many questions and so little solid understanding of what whom and when things took place on this earth. I think we have only started to scratch the surface of understanding our past since we have entered our present and rather new era of technology. I am sure one day we will have all the answers. For now I think we need to keep open minds and realize we really do not know what happened in history as clearly as we think we do.

It would be wonderful to one-day find that somewhere out there video technology was available thousands of years ago. It would be incredible to see history as it really happened. It is doubtful that video will be showing soon but if it did I would be first in line to see it!

I will just have to keep wondering. As we evolve as beings we will continue to sew together the finds and facts of who and what walked before us. Some day mankind may have all of the answers. Until then I keep my mind open and my eyes open to my surroundings and to the sky.

I believe that all things in this universe will unfold exactly as they are suppose to. That includes the past present and future of all things in it. One day we will realize our fate and our part in the never-ending mystery of life as part of this universe. Until then, be careful out there. One never knows when one may come face to face with a Boskop or wandering Neanderthal!

Thanks to Chris Holly at Chris Holly's Paranormal World
Copyright © 2008-2010 Chris Holly all Rights Reserved
chrishollyufo@yahoo.com

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