Psychic Source

Psychic Source is a Psychic reading service that provides "authentic, amazing, affordable" and "easy" psychic readings. The website posts telephone numbers and extensions for psychic readers within their network. The site offers several psychics to choose from to meet the unique needs of each individual and the site also stresses that each psychic has been tested to insure that they are an expert in their field. The service has been around since 1989 and boasts itself as "The most respected psychic service", though it doesn't say by who. What Psychic Source claims makes them better than other psychic services is that they offer access to a proven community of readers, they screen prospective readers with their "proven" readers, and they have "discovered that the real deal can always recognize the real deal". The variety of psychics that Psychic Source offers allows customers to pick and choose their favorite one, the website gleefully states, "it’s like sampling good desserts! Sometimes it takes a few tries until you find your favorite." The readers on the site range from naturals to people who have studied tarot and astrology. There is a steep cost, $10 for ten minutes of psychic reading.

Bonsai Kittens

In 2000, a group of MIT undergrads perpetuated a hoax that caused animal rights groups to throw up there arms in protest. The students set up a website that was a tutorial on the creation of Bonsai Kittens. Bonsai is the Japanese art of pruning trees in a way that they remain small and visually pleasing. The website created by the students sought to apply the ancient Japanese are to kittens. Bonsai Kittens are grown in a sealed glass container, given food and water through a tube, and eventually the kittens bone structure would conform to the glass container and the kitten is removed from its glass sanctuary. The result is a house pet in the shape of your choice. "The kitten essentially grows into the shape of the vessel! Once the cat is fully developed, it is removed (or the vessel broken to remove it!), producing the lovable, furry pet you've always wanted, but it remains in the shape you've always dreamed of! There is virtually no limit to the eventual shape of your pet", the sight declares.
This site created an uproar amongst animal rights activists who lobbied to have the sight shut down. MIT shut down the site as soon as the school discovered the site was hosted by its server. The site simply began relocating to other servers until it found its home at rotten.com. The animal rights activists simple grew angrier to the point that the sites creators came forward under the name Dr. Michael Wong Chang, stating that the site was created to satirize "the human belief of nature as a commodity". This didn't calm the activists and soon the FBI got involved and subpoenaed the site. No evidence was ever found of animal abuse or the sale of bonsai kitten yet to this day chain letters calling for action against bonsai kittens still exist and continue to circulate. As recently as last year, I overheard people discussing this animal rights violation.

Source

The Monkey-Man of New Delhi

The CNN Report
In 2001, a mass hysteria swept New Delhi, India. The nations capital was plagued with reports of a mysterious night stalker. The "Monkey-Man" of New Delhi attacked people who were sleeping on the roof tops too escape the heat of their homes. Over a 100 people were allegedly attacked or bitten. The descriptions of the monkey man ranged from that of a bigfoot like wild beast to a cyborg. One women claimed her husband lost 2 teeth when the monkey man smacked him with his "metallic hand". This nocturnal ape-like creature caused hysteria so intense that two people died while attempting to flee to escape when warned of his presence, a pregnant women fell down the stairs and a an industrial worker jumped from a building. A crowd of people beat a 4 foot tall wandering Hindu mystic who matched the description of the monkey-man before turning him into police. A month later it was determined that the monkey man was the product of the collective imagination of New Delhi.

The Gemstone File

http://www.carpenoctem.tv/cons/gemstone.html

In 1975, a 23 page summary of thousands of pages of letters written by the mysterious Bruce Roberts was crafted by a freelance journalist named Stephanie Carauna entitled The Skeleton Key to the Gemstone File. The theory claims that Aristotle Onasis, the shipping tycoon that later married Jackie Kennedy after she was widowed was a major player in an elaborate conspiracy. Aristotle Onassis, claims the Gemstone File, was the head of the American Mafia; the Mafia and Government were tightly interconnected.
The Gemstone File starts in 1932, Onassis then just a humble "Greek drug pusher" makes a deal with Joseph Kennedy (JFK's father) and his bootlegging cronies. The Kennedy's would remain in debt to him for the following years. In 1957, Onassis orders billionare Howard Hughes kidnapped and drugged; Hughes and his subordinates are now pawns of Onassis and Hughe's fortune lies at the finger tips of Onassis.
In 1963, John F. Kennedy makes the mistake of backing off on the Bay of Pigs operation, which was in fact a Mafia operation to gain control of the "Cuban cash cow". Kennedy, already indebt to Onassis due to his father's deal 30 years earlier, is killed by a Mafia style hit. Onassis takes Kennedy's gun (The pentagon) and his girl (Jackie). Onassis preceded to coerce Lyndon Johnson to accept the truth: "There was no conspiracy. Oswald was the lone nut assassin. Get it Lyndon? Otherwise Air Force One might have an unfortunate accident on its way back to Washington."
The site goes on to explain that Onassis was also running the Nixon White House. Onassis was connected to the leak and the 18 minutes of missing tape. The story ends in the Gerald Ford era when both Onassis and the author of the Gemstone file, Bruce Roberts, die.
The underlying assumptions that need to be true in order for this conspiracy to stay afloat are:
1. Onassis has a desire to be in control of the government and he is extremely power hungry.
2. There was a conspiracy behind the Kennedy assassination and Howard Hughes behavior.
3. The Kennedy's and Onassis were connected prior to Onassis' marriage to Jackie Kennedy.
4. Onassis had connections to powerful people and people respected him as more than just a wealthy individual.
5. Bruce Roberts is a real person with real connections to people in power and he was mentally stable at the time he wrote the Gemstone File.