Jonestown massacre

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Guyana Wants to Bring Tourists to Jonestown

Opponents say 'ghoulish' plan would disrespect victims

(Newser) - Guyana is revisiting a dark history nearly a half-century after the Rev. Jim Jones and more than 900 of his followers died in a 1978 mass suicide-murder in the rural interior of the South American country. A government-backed tour operator wants to open the former commune now shrouded by lush...

Famed P.I. Was About to Retire, Now He's on Life Support

Jack Palladino had taken on last case

(Newser) - Jack Palladino, the private investigator who worked on high-profile cases ranging from the Jonestown mass suicides to celebrity and political scandals, has been placed on life support after suffering a head injury during an attempted robbery. Palladino, 70, had just stepped outside his San Francisco home on Thursday to try...

A Jonestown Witness's Plea: Don't Call It 'Mass Suicide'
A Jonestown Witness's Plea:
Don't Call It 'Mass Suicide'
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A Jonestown Witness's Plea: Don't Call It 'Mass Suicide'

It was 'mass murder,' says Rep. Jackie Speier, who'd gone to Guyana on fact-finding mission

(Newser) - This month marks 40 years since the event known as the Jonestown massacre took place in Guyana. More than 900 Americans died after the man who had led them there from California, the Rev. Jim Jones, instructed them to drink cyanide. Do not, however, refer to Jonestown as a "...

Jonestown Victims Found in Old Funeral Home

Officials identify 9 from 1978 massacre

(Newser) - Officials have uncovered the remains of nine victims from the terrifying 1978 Jonestown Massacre, which left more than 900 people dead from drinking a punch spiked with cyanide, the News Journal and Daily Mail report. Forensics investigators confirmed the find at a funeral home in Dover, Delaware, among 38 other...

Let's Stop Saying, 'Don't Drink the Kool-Aid'

Considering 900 people died, it's more than a little offensive: Meghan Daum

(Newser) - Judging by how often it gets thrown around these days, "Don't drink the Kool-Aid" seems to have become a "staple of self-righteous public discourse," writes Meghan Daum in the Los Angeles Times . It's a trendy way to ridicule people who blindly follow a particular ideology....

Top 10 Crazy Cults
 Top 10 Crazy Cults 

Top 10 Crazy Cults

Polygamists, UFOs, and apocalyptic prophesies abound

(Newser) - Experts are debating whether the polygamist sect raided in Texas last week is a cult. Meanwhile, LiveScience has cooked up a list of bona fide cults—the top 10 craziest of them all:
  1. Raëlians: Followers believe that UFOs spawned most religions and cloning can lead to reincarnation.

Jim Jones' Grandson is Basketball Star

High school forward redeeming the Jonestown leader's family name on court

(Newser) - 29 years ago, traveling to an away basketball game as part of the Jonestown team spared Jim Jones Jr. from his adopted father's mass suicide ritual. Now his son Rob is using the sport to turn the family name around, as a star forward for SF's Riordan High, who ESPN...

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