What Are Seven Percent Of Americans Doing Believing In Werewolves?
Also vampires, but we knew about those people already.
People believe some weird shit. Really, really weird shit. In fact, one could perhaps, ungenerously, describe my entire beat as "people believe some weird shit." And perhaps that is why I feel the need to bring a recent YouGov poll to your attention. Because according to this poll, seven percent of Americans believe in werewolves.
Perhaps even more disturbingly, Democrats (10 percent) are more likely to believe that werewolves exist than Republicans (4 percent). That concerns me, although it perhaps has more to do with the fact that belief in werewolves seems to skew younger, with 14 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds believing and only 2 percent of those 65 and older believing in them. Also Democrats are slightly more likely to believe in werewolves than in vampires, and what the hell is that even about?
Now, seven percent of Americans also believe in vampires, but we know who those people are. Some of us went to high school with them and the rest have at least seen them on talk shows. I mean, have you truly lived until some dude in a crushed velvet cape calling himself Lestat tries to get up on your shit at a New Wave night you didn't even want to go to?
Teen by day vampire by night with Jenny and her pals www.youtube.com
To my knowledge, there is not a subculture of people who believe in literal werewolves. Even the otherkin people who believe they are wolves are not like "Oh no, the moon is full! Better lock myself up in a cage like Seth Green on Buffy so I don't accidentally murder anyone!" At least as far as I know. I admittedly haven't read up on them in years, there could be new developments.
Belief in werewolves was very much once a thing — there were full-fledged werewolf trials all over Europe, in conjunction with witch trials, but you really just do not hear about people believing in them now. That being said, I did find a website (werewolves.com, natch) made by someone who apparently believes in them and fully plan on spending the rest of my day catching up on this shit.
The other findings in the poll were disappointing but less shocking. When I posted it to Twitter, people seemed surprised that Protestants (52 percent) were more likely to believe in demons than Catholic people (34 percent) were, although it makes total sense to me. Evangelicals are a lot more literal across the board, whereas there are Catholic people who think demons are simply meant to symbolize evil as well as those who believe there are literal demons that sometimes possess people, Linda Blair style.
There are also way too many people who believe in psychics (37 percent overall), which I would argue is more damaging than belief in ghosts or demons or even werewolves and vampires, simply because it is more likely to lead to those people being scammed. Sure — there are ghost hunters and exorcists scamming people — but those are a lot less common than psychics who promise to help people find their missing children or let them communicate with their deceased spouse all the while taking every dime they ever had.
Of course, we all have our things. I don't believe in anything explicitly supernatural, I do kind of believe in the malocchio (evil eye) to the extent that I think if you go around being secretly jealous of other people or trying to make others feel jealous of you by bragging a whole lot, it's going to eventually cause problems for you and those around you — just not in a mystical way.
Werewolves, however, ought to be a bridge too far for any of us.
Warren Zevon - Werewolves Of London (Official Music Video) www.youtube.com
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Joni Mitchell To Show Spotify They Won't Know What They've Got Til It's Gone
She is joining Neil Young in protesting Spotify until they do something about Joe Rogan's COVID nonsense.
A whole bunch of jerks were laughing and laughing yesterday over Barry Manilow supposedly saying that he was joining Neil Young in taking his music off of Spotify in protest of Joe Rogan spreading lies and misinformation about vaccines. This turned out not to be true, and was probably some kind of prank played by someone who has been telling the same jokes since the 1970s, which I assume was the last time that making fun of Barry Manilow was new and original. The goal was likely to try and make it seem like this is something only dorks would do, despite the fact that Neil Young is awesome.
Now, after the Neil Young thing, there were a bunch of "Heart of Gold is a good song, but Spotify isn't going to choose Neil Young over Joe Rogan, because they are almost entirely financially dependent on Joe Rogan" explainers going around. Nevertheless, one other person has said they will follow Young's lead, and that person is Joni Mitchell, who is the best.
On Friday night, Mitchell posted a missive on her website, announcing that she would be taking her music off of Spotify as well, in solidarity with Young and against the misinformation being spread by Rogan.
I’ve decided to remove all my music from Spotify. Irresponsible people are spreading lies that are costing people their lives. I stand in solidarity with Neil Young and the global scientific and medical communities on this issue.
Look, Neil Young is great and everything, but Joni Mitchell is everything. Everyone who is not a heartless monster loves Joni Mitchell. That is just a fact of life that is currently being proven by all of the assholes on social media who are making gross ageist comments about her and Young.
It's very likely that part of the reason Young and Mitchell are both so pro-vaccine is that they both had polio as children, which is why Mitchell tunes her guitar in an unusual way — the disease made her hands weak and has suffered polio-related pain her entire adult life.
Mitchell taking her very substantial catalog and leaving Spotify is a pretty big deal and it's likely that others will follow in her footsteps. Or they should. While it's unlikely that a few artists pulling their catalog from Spotify will change anything, a lot of major artists doing so might spur them to some kind of action.
It seems like there should be a compromise that can be reached, here. People aren't necessarily even that mad about Joe Rogan being terrible and wrong in the way he is usually terrible and wrong they're mad because he's literally putting us all in danger by spreading misinformation about COVID and the vaccine.
Here\u2019s Joe Rogan saying the risk of young people getting myocarditis from the vaccine is > than the risk of getting it from COVID itself. He\u2019s fact-checked on air & proven wrong. \n\nDoing your own research doesn\u2019t work if you use untrustworthy sources.pic.twitter.com/m3kFE58Iq5— Ed Greenberger (@Ed Greenberger) 1643378653
I don't know, maybe he could stop doing that? That would be nice. Like, he can take all the Ivermectin he wants at home, pretend VAERS is a reliable source at home, talk to crazy ass doctors who don't believe in vaccines at home, but maybe just not take that act on the road given the fact that he apparently has a very large audience full of equally swift people who tend to do what he says. That seems fair. Because at this point, Spotify is paying him to make us less safe, and that is some bullshit.
This is now your open thread, but I feel obligated to leave you all with my favorite Joni Mitchell song.
All I Want - Joni Mitchell (original) www.youtube.com
Fun fact, by the way — if you look up any of Joni's songs on her website, there is a list of everyone who has covered them and there are some interesting surprises there.
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Some Old White Idiot Pretty Sure YouTube Hypnotizing Him. (It Is Eric Clapton.)
Is Eric Clapton's brain working?
You probably have heard that Eric Clapton is a shithead anti-vaxx COVID skeptic idiot. He's a 76-year-old white man, so demographically we're not surprised. And yeah, he may be a "rock star," allegedly, but nobody's holding him up as some kind of paragon of coolness.
He sucks like Van Morrison sucks. And of course, Clapton and Morrison made a shitty song together, which compared COVID lockdowns to actual slavery. You know, like the 76-year-old white men they are. If you hit that link, you can read a whole Washington Post thing on all the ways Eric Clapton sucks. It's good journalism.
Or you can just stay here and read about how Eric Clapton thinks YouTube is hypnotizing people into getting vaccinated.
The 76-year-old musician went on the Real Music Observer YouTube channel to discuss how his life has changed since reluctantly taking AstraZeneca’s therapy in 2021. Clapton has since become outspoken about his anti-vaccination stance.
He claimed that he’d been duped into getting the COVID-19 jab by subliminal messaging in pharmaceutical advertising — and urged others not to fall for it.
Hard same. Whatever you do, don't watch the commercials backward. HOO BOY. Spin around three times and uh oh, Dr. Fauci is in the mirror!
“Whatever the memo was, it hadn’t reached me,” he said, referring to the “mass formation hypnosis” conspiracy theory, which gained traction in 2021 as part of anti-vaccine propaganda.
No, that's not a thing, but you'll be shocked to learn it became more popular as a conspiracy theory after it showed up on Joe Rogan's podcast. And Eric Clapton thinks he sees it everywhere now:
“Then I started to realize there was really a memo, and a guy, Mattias Desmet [professor of clinical psychology at Ghent University in Belgium], talked about it,” Clapton continued. “And it’s great. The theory of mass formation hypnosis. And I could see it then. Once I kind of started to look for it, I saw it everywhere.”
Clapton recalled “seeing little things on YouTube which were like subliminal advertising,” he said.
OK, buddy. Is the computer whisperin' atcha? Is it telling you to put in your password?
By the way, Eric Clapton is very upset about the critics who are making fun of him right now and calling him a 76-year-old white man idiot. He says he's just for "freedom of choice." He thinks spreading these conspiracy theories is his "purpose" right now.
Clapton also said his critics on the matter were “monsters.”
Rawr.
“They know who they are and they like being monsters,” he said. “They’re always going to be after people who are looking for truth or seeking something, a way forward."
Why oh why won't we allow Eric Clapton to Do His Own Research?
In related news, y'all hear how Neil Young is having Spotify take down his catalog because Spotify apparently cares more about all the bux it gets from its deal with that shithole Joe Rogan than it cares about protecting people from the dangerous COVID disinformation he spews?
Now that is a 76-year-old white guy guitar player who's cool.
(Seriously, all these guys are exactly 76.)
Fuck that other one, he's canceled.
[New York Post / American Songwriter]
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Dr. Oz Challenges Dr. Fauci To Brain Duel Outside Saloon At High Noon, SHUT UP HE'S SERIOUS STOP LAUGHING
OK it's funny.
Don't know if y'all saw this the other day, but Media Matters had a big report featuring all the times Dr. Mehmet Oz, the quack silly guy doctor who thinks he should get to be a Republican senator from Pennsylvania, pushed colloidal silver on his old show. Yes, the stuff that turns people literally blue. He's just a really good doctor.
Anyway, he went on Newsmax and demanded Dr. Anthony Fauci, a good doctor, debate him.
Mehmet Oz challenges Anthony Fauci to a debate, calling him a "petty tyrant." Newsmax host Eric Bolling offers to moderate.pic.twitter.com/IALaKQ5Vc4— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1642108522
Ridiculous. He sounds like Ben Shapiro climbing onto a stepladder and craning his neck to shriek "DEBATE MEEEEEEEE!1!1!1!" at normal height person Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
We've discussed this many times, how wingnuts scream "DEBATE ME1111!1!!1!!!" at people they know won't waste their time, because they're better and smarter than the wingnuts shrieking. Often they're screaming it at women. Sometimes, if it's the host interviewing Dr. Oz right there, they're screaming it at Muppets. Lately they've been gripping their peeners between their thumbs and forefingers and whacking it furiously to the idea that Rachel Maddow is scared to have Madison Cawthorn on her show because she's scared to DEBATE HIM111!!!1!!!
It's all so sad.
And so here is Dr. Oz, literally just a fucking quack and an airhead, going on Newsmax and challenging Dr. Fauci to a debate. Host Eric Bolling frames it as breaking news, that this pissant has a "throwdown" challenge for Fauci. "You have something to announce, breaking, exclusively on the show," said Bolling. "The challenge is a debate!" said Oz. "I'm challenging him! Doctor to doctor!"
You know, like real doctors do.
Oz wants Dr. Fauci to DEBATE MEE!1!1!!1 about vaccine mandates and natural immunity and therapeutics and whatever else. "I think Dr. Fauci is basically the J. Edgar Hoover of public health, he's a petty tyrant!"
We just can't even type this post anymore. It's too stupid.
Bolling said he would love to moderate the debate, and also said he would get Fauci's answer about whether Fauci accepts Oz's challenge to do brain wizard games with him outside the saloon at high noon, so that's gonna be pretty funny when Fauci doesn't respond. And then we'll be treated to probably a week of dumb fucking conservatives congratulating themselves because they think Dr. Fauci is scared to debate Dr. Oz.
That's right.
Dr. Fauci.
Scared to debate Dr. Oz.
As a great man once said this week, "What a moron. Jesus Christ."
These are the people in this post:
Crap Words From Dr. Oz's Senate Announcement, Or Crap Medical Advice He Gave On His Show? A QUIZ!
Ben Shapiro Offers Woman $10,000 To Talk To Him
Dr. Fauci Goes Rand Paul's Neighbor In Senate Hearing
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