A new occasional column devoted to celebrating the dedication of the recent ‘Proclamation Initiative’ signatories to their stated ethos of “trust, respect, integrity and friendship”…
“We are taking the high road in all aspects of our studies and associations with this phenomenon. We hope to inspire trust, respect, integrity and friendship with all of those who arrive in the fields to research the circles”
THE PROCLAMATION INITATIVE
In the summer of 2004, a document, created by Colin Andrews and signed by many other prominent crop circle researchers, was issued stating the above, in an effort to bring peace and harmony to the sometimes fraught crop circle research arena.
Though we have decided not to put our names to this well-intentioned document, we at Swirled News, along with all right-thinking people, clearly welcome anything that aspires to “trust, respect, integrity and friendship”.
With this in mind, we think it only right to check in occasionally to see how the stated ethos of the Proclamation is going, so that we can encourage and support the initiative. We hope readers will enjoy hearing how its signatories are living out its high ideals.
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JUNE 2004
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INTEGRITY
A press release has been issued by the US-based ‘Maize Quest’ organisation, which reads:
“Located Central Pennsylvania, Maize Quest is the world's largest collection of people-sized mazes and entertains families and groups throughout the summer months. This year, in our quest to explore mazes and maze-like phenomenon, we joined with Colin Andrews to create The Crop Circle Experience.
The Crop Circle Experience is based around our creation of a "Julia Set" crop circle in one of our wheat fields. Visitors to Maize Quest have the opportunity to walk around and through the crop circle, explore the evidence presented at our information stations, and even cast their ballot regarding their level of belief in the crop circle phenomenon.”
As part of the ‘Experience’, Colin Andrews, founder of the Proclamation, will be giving two presentations. However, the biography issued with the press release does appear to contain an error, stating:
“Andrews was a senior official in the British government”
Clearly a misunderstanding has crept in here, as Colin himself has never claimed to have been a senior official in the British government, and presumably a correction will be issued soon. The biography does, however, mention that Colin “advised Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher”, which is a newly-revealed and fascinating episode that we look forward to hearing more about.
The biography also reveals that “Later this year his presentation will be heard by 250,000 attendees at the Para-World Expo in Los Angeles”. Technical thinking reveals that there may be another misunderstanding here, as few auditoriums hold 250,000 people. This is, however, the number of people who are expected to attend the whole event over the course of its several days, and Colin will be one of the speakers in one of the rooms there.
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RESPECT
Proclamation signatory Freddy Silva, on his own website, has recently stated:
“A new proclamation for ethics in research has been launched. It is hoped that a number of popular figures in crop circle research will stop profiteering from lies and deceit”
We too share his concern that anyone might be profiteering from any lies and deceit, and look forward to hearing just where such people might be lurking, who they might be and what their lies and deceit are, for it is plainly very important that such accusations are made crystal clear, with full details and evidence, so that these scoundrels can be exposed for the good of all.
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RESPECT #2
Proclaimer and human circlemaker Matthew Williams has recently shown his respect for other people’s opinions with this sparkling statement in response to having read publicity for a forthcoming lecture by Swirled News editor Andy Thomas:
“Andy Thomas is havin' a laugh or doing a very good job of pretending he doesn't know who makes the circles. How many books is it now Andy?”
It’s always nice to see humour making the world a better place!
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FRIENDSHIP
On the original document, researcher, human circlemaker and Proclamation signatory Peter Sorensen made clear his dedication to “trust, respect, integrity and friendship” with this heart-warming statement:
“It's time to kick the liars out of the White House, and the bull****ters off their thrones in Crop Circle Country. It's time for truth and honesty to regain the upper hand!”
However, Peter has now replaced this statement on the latest version of the Proclamation with something a little less lively:
“The famous cartoon philosopher Pogo Possum once said, "I have met the enemy, and he is us." The worst thing about the crop circle field is the way we are divided into factions attacking one another. We must have peace and co-operation if any lasting good is to come from this wonderful phenomenon.”
Well, we couldn’t agree more. This is true spiritual evolution at work and we congratulate Peter.
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We will continue to support and encourage the integrity and well-being of all the signatories to this welcome initiative.