@muertos Apparently Peter Joseph is thinking I'm you on youtube, my channel is "RonaldoDeLosMuertos".— Ron (@PjMerolalol) January 27, 2011
Mistaken Identity: The Wrong Muertos. (Updated!)
This blog was updated on January 28 and again on March 18. Scroll to the bottom for the updates.
Now here’s an interesting coincidence. I got a message today on Twitter (my feed is http://twitter.com/muertos) from a user I didn’t recognize, alerting me that Peter Joseph Merola, the leader of the “Zeitgeist” conspiracy theorist movement, had made comments on this person’s YouTube channel, or in some capacity connected to his YouTube handle, that he (Merola) had a “file” on me for “cyberbullying and harassment.” The person messaged me said his handle on YouTube is “RonaldoDeLosMuertos.”
His channel is here. It is kind of an amazing coincidence, because he also posts videos critical of conspiracy theories and has evidently spoken out against the Zeitgeist Movement as I have, and he has “Muertos” in his handle. However, it’s not me and I’ve never heard of this person before today. I haven’t watched more than a few seconds of any of his videos, so I can’t comment on them pro or con, except that they appear to be anti-conspiracy-theory.
My real YouTube channel is here. As you can see the word “Muertos” doesn’t even appear in my handle. I’m not very active on YouTube. I have posted only two conspiracy-related videos in the nearly five years I’ve been on YouTube. Both of them are parodies. “Zeitgeist” is mentioned very briefly in this video, in passing, but certainly is not the subject of it. The majority of my videos are related either to my books or to my heavy metal travels.
I’m also aware that a comment was posted about me recently on the Zeitgeist movement forum to the effect that I am supposedly a disgruntled former member of that conspiracy movement. That is not true. A lot of speculation goes on in the conspiracy underground about debunkers, and I’m no different. Like everything else, the conspiracy theorists get this wrong too.
Let me just state some things for the record.
- I am not “RonaldoDeLosMuertos” on YouTube.
- I was never a member of the Zeitgeist Movement. I have never registered or posted on their forum under any name. I have never engaged in “sock puppet” type trolling of their forum, which is a common accusation made against posters/contributors to ConspiracyScience.com.
- I have never been a member of, or participated in, the “Zeitgeist Debate” group on Facebook or anywhere else.
- I am not a member of “Anonymous” who is conducting a campaign against the Zeitgeist Movement similar to that group’s campaign against Scientology. I was/am not “Anon4AllOfUs” on YouTube and have never had anything to do with that group except watch their videos once in a while (not all of which I agree with).
- I have never engaged in “cyber-bullying” or “harassment” of the Zeitgeist Movement. The assertion to the contrary, if it was made–I admit I heard about second-hand and can’t verify it for myself–is simply ludicrous.
- I have never attempted to “friend” any member of the Zeitgeist Movement on Facebook.
Ironically, despite these facts, my name appears on a list compiled by the official spokesman of the Zeitgeist Movement (who calls himself “VTV”) which definitely appears to be an enemies list. This from an organization that claims they’re working for the better interests of all mankind.
The whole thing is silly, of course, and not very consequential in the real world; arguing with conspiracy theorists on the Internet is a hobby of mine, a somewhat perverse one I admit, although one which I believe does serve some societal good. The fact that these people monitor their “enemies” so closely is, I confess, kind of creepy, though I’m not losing any sleep over it. One of the true measures of whether someone is gaining attention for denouncing conspiracy theories is if the tinfoil hatters push back–a prime example being the numerous death threats hurled by 9/11 Truthers at ace debunker Mark Roberts. So, the fact that they squawk so loud about me must mean I’m making something of an impact.
As always, thanks for reading.
Update 1/28/11
The owner of the “RonaldoDeLosMuertos” YouTube account contacted me and provided me with screenshots of the comments made by Peter Merola, or someone evidently claiming to be him. Because the original video was deleted (in fact I never saw it) the comments aren’t still there.
Here they are:
Again, I had no part in this exchange whatsoever, and knew nothing about it until yesterday. I’ve never even seen the video they were attached to.
I have no idea whether this really is Peter Joseph Merola or someone else, and it doesn’t really matter. Either way you can see the approach used by typical Zeitgeist Movement defenders, which is to attempt to neutralize any criticism made of them and attack those who offer it.
I have never spoken with or corresponded with James Kush (though he posted briefly on ConspiracyScience.com and I might have responded to him on that forum). I’m not even entirely sure who he is, though I believe he runs a blog that accuses Zeitgeist of being involved with the occult. I don’t believe in the occult, so I think that’s a silly criticism. But that’s beside the point.
It continues to pass my understanding how the members of this movement expect to be taken seriously as a shining hope for all mankind when this is the sort of behavior they engage in.
Update 3/18/11.
I stated in this update that I haven’t posted any videos on my YouTube channel specifically related to the Zeitgeist movement. That has changed.
On March 12, I posted this video, which is a challenge to the Zeitgeist cult members to read the book Seeing Like A State and explain the glaring defect in their ideology.
As you will see from the comments, the Zeitgeisters are, for the most part, remaining true to form when confronted with criticism of their ideology.
This blog was updated on January 28 and again on March 18. Scroll to the bottom for the updates.
Now here’s an interesting coincidence. I got a message today on Twitter (my feed is http://twitter.com/muertos) from a user I didn’t recognize, alerting me that Peter Joseph Merola, the leader of the “Zeitgeist” conspiracy theorist movement, had made comments on this person’s YouTube channel, or in some capacity connected to his YouTube handle, that he (Merola) had a “file” on me for “cyberbullying and harassment.” The person messaged me said his handle on YouTube is “RonaldoDeLosMuertos.”
His channel is here. It is kind of an amazing coincidence, because he also posts videos critical of conspiracy theories and has evidently spoken out against the Zeitgeist Movement as I have, and he has “Muertos” in his handle. However, it’s not me and I’ve never heard of this person before today. I haven’t watched more than a few seconds of any of his videos, so I can’t comment on them pro or con, except that they appear to be anti-conspiracy-theory.
My real YouTube channel is here. As you can see the word “Muertos” doesn’t even appear in my handle. I’m not very active on YouTube. I have posted only two conspiracy-related videos in the nearly five years I’ve been on YouTube. Both of them are parodies. “Zeitgeist” is mentioned very briefly in this video, in passing, but certainly is not the subject of it. The majority of my videos are related either to my books or to my heavy metal travels.
I’m also aware that a comment was posted about me recently on the Zeitgeist movement forum to the effect that I am supposedly a disgruntled former member of that conspiracy movement. That is not true. A lot of speculation goes on in the conspiracy underground about debunkers, and I’m no different. Like everything else, the conspiracy theorists get this wrong too.
Let me just state some things for the record.
- I am not “RonaldoDeLosMuertos” on YouTube.
- I was never a member of the Zeitgeist Movement. I have never registered or posted on their forum under any name. I have never engaged in “sock puppet” type trolling of their forum, which is a common accusation made against posters/contributors to ConspiracyScience.com.
- I have never been a member of, or participated in, the “Zeitgeist Debate” group on Facebook or anywhere else.
- I am not a member of “Anonymous” who is conducting a campaign against the Zeitgeist Movement similar to that group’s campaign against Scientology. I was/am not “Anon4AllOfUs” on YouTube and have never had anything to do with that group except watch their videos once in a while (not all of which I agree with).
- I have never engaged in “cyber-bullying” or “harassment” of the Zeitgeist Movement. The assertion to the contrary, if it was made–I admit I heard about second-hand and can’t verify it for myself–is simply ludicrous.
- I have never attempted to “friend” any member of the Zeitgeist Movement on Facebook.
Ironically, despite these facts, my name appears on a list compiled by the official spokesman of the Zeitgeist Movement (who calls himself “VTV”) which definitely appears to be an enemies list. This from an organization that claims they’re working for the better interests of all mankind.
The whole thing is silly, of course, and not very consequential in the real world; arguing with conspiracy theorists on the Internet is a hobby of mine, a somewhat perverse one I admit, although one which I believe does serve some societal good. The fact that these people monitor their “enemies” so closely is, I confess, kind of creepy, though I’m not losing any sleep over it. One of the true measures of whether someone is gaining attention for denouncing conspiracy theories is if the tinfoil hatters push back–a prime example being the numerous death threats hurled by 9/11 Truthers at ace debunker Mark Roberts. So, the fact that they squawk so loud about me must mean I’m making something of an impact.
As always, thanks for reading.
Update 1/28/11
The owner of the “RonaldoDeLosMuertos” YouTube account contacted me and provided me with screenshots of the comments made by Peter Merola, or someone evidently claiming to be him. Because the original video was deleted (in fact I never saw it) the comments aren’t still there.
Here they are:
Again, I had no part in this exchange whatsoever, and knew nothing about it until yesterday. I’ve never even seen the video they were attached to.
I have no idea whether this really is Peter Joseph Merola or someone else, and it doesn’t really matter. Either way you can see the approach used by typical Zeitgeist Movement defenders, which is to attempt to neutralize any criticism made of them and attack those who offer it.
I have never spoken with or corresponded with James Kush (though he posted briefly on ConspiracyScience.com and I might have responded to him on that forum). I’m not even entirely sure who he is, though I believe he runs a blog that accuses Zeitgeist of being involved with the occult. I don’t believe in the occult, so I think that’s a silly criticism. But that’s beside the point.
It continues to pass my understanding how the members of this movement expect to be taken seriously as a shining hope for all mankind when this is the sort of behavior they engage in.
Update 3/18/11.
I stated in this update that I haven’t posted any videos on my YouTube channel specifically related to the Zeitgeist movement. That has changed.
On March 12, I posted this video, which is a challenge to the Zeitgeist cult members to read the book Seeing Like A State and explain the glaring defect in their ideology.
As you will see from the comments, the Zeitgeisters are, for the most part, remaining true to form when confronted with criticism of their ideology.