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Read Between The Lines: Hollywood Mogul Buys 2,600 Acres Of Farmland; Moving To New Zealand Mac Slavo February 1st, 2012 James Cameron, the Hollywood producer responsible for blockbuster films like Terminator, Titanic and Avatar, is reportedly preparing to exit stage left. While the move for the Canadian born Cameron may initially be perceived as a rejection or denouncement of American policies and ideals, Cameron, who has made campaign donations to the Democrat Party in the past, most notably during the 2004 Presidential election where he supported democrat John Kerry, may have ulterior motivations, as evidenced by where he’s planning on...

Filmakers and researchers on Monday unveiled two ancient stone boxes they said may have once contained the remains of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, but several scholars derided the claims made in a new documentary as unfounded... ...Stephen Pfann, a biblical scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem who was interviewed in the documentary, said the film's hypotheses holds little weight... Pfann is even unsure that the name "Jesus" on the caskets was read correctly. He thinks it's more likely the name "Hanun." Ancient semitic script is notoriously difficult to decipher... William Dever, an expert on near eastern...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Archaeologists and clergymen in the Holy Land derided claims in a new documentary produced by the Oscar-winning director James Cameron that contradict major Christian tenets. “The Lost Tomb of Christ,� which the Discovery Channel will run on March 4, argues that 10 ancient ossuaries — small caskets used to store bones — discovered in a suburb of Jerusalem in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family, according to a press release issued by the Discovery Channel. One of the caskets even bears the title, “Judah, son of Jesus,� hinting that Jesus may have...

I'm sure that by now all of you have heard about the claim that the ossuary of Christ's family has been found. I would like to open a thread that will help us develop answers to friends, both Christians and atheists who might come to us with questions about it all. Please feel free to post your rebuttals for others to use! Biblical, rational, scientific, philosophical, whatever you can come up with is more than welcome!

The Israeli-born, Canadian-based filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici is reigniting claims, first made over a decade ago, that a burial cave uncovered 27 years ago in Talpiot, Jerusalem, is the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth and his family. [...] But Bar-Ilan University Prof. Amos Kloner, the Jerusalem District archeologist who officially oversaw the work at the tomb in 1980 and has published detailed findings on its contents, on Saturday night dismissed the claims. "It makes a great story for a TV film," he told The Jerusalem Post. "But it's impossible. It's nonsense." Kloner, who said he was interviewed for the new film...

New scientific evidence, including DNA analysis conducted at one of the world's foremost molecular genetic laboratories, as well as studies by leading scholars, suggests a 2,000-year-old Jerusalem tomb could have once held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth and his family. The findings also suggest that Jesus and Mary Magdalene might have produced a son named Jonah. The DNA findings, alongside statistical conclusions made about the artifacts--originally excavated in 1980--open a potentially signficant chapter in Biblical archaeological history. A documentary presenting the evidence, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," will premiere on the Discovery Channel on March 4 at 9 pm...

Brace yourself. James Cameron, the man who brought you 'The Titanic' is back with another blockbuster. This time, the ship he's sinking is Christianity. In a new documentary, Producer Cameron and his director, Simcha Jacobovici, make the starting claim that Jesus wasn't resurrected --the cornerstone of Christian faith--and that his burial cave was discovered near Jerusalem. And, get this, Jesus sired a son with Mary Magdelene. No, it's not a re-make of "The Da Vinci Codes'. It's supposed to be true. Let's go back 27 years, when Israeli construction workers were gouging out the foundations for a new building in...

In a scene worthy of a Dan Brown novel, archaeologists a quarter of a century ago unearthed a burial chamber near Jerusalem. Inside they found ossuaries, or boxes of bones, marked with the names of Jesus, Joseph and Mary. Then one of the ossuaries went missing. The human remains inside were destroyed before any DNA testing could be carried out. While Middle East academics doubt that the relics belong to the Holy Family, the issue is about to be exposed to a blaze of publicity with the publication next week of a book. Entitled The Jesus Tomb and co-written by...

The cave in which Jesus Christ was buried has been found in Jerusalem, claim the makers of a new documentary film. If it proves true, the discovery, which will be revealed at a press conference in New York Monday, could shake up the Christian world as one of the most significant archeological finds in history. The coffins which, according to the filmmakers held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother Mary and Mary Magdalene will be displayed for the first time on Monday in New York. Jointly produced by Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and Oscar winning director...

The Jesus Dynasty Excerpt: 'The Jesus Dynasty' by James D. Tabor New Book Challenges Christian Philosophy April 7, 2006 -- James Tabor is the chairman of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His book challenges many of the beliefs that Christians hold dear, maintaining that Jesus is neither the son of God nor the son of Joseph but most likely the child of a Roman soldier named Pantera. Jesus, Tabor maintains, became the head of the household when Joseph died and looked after his six half-brothers and sisters. When Jesus died, his brother James took over...

Scholars, clergy slam Jesus documentary By MARSHALL THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer 35 minutes ago JERUSALEM - Archaeologists and clergymen in the Holy Land derided claims in a new documentary produced by the Oscar-winning director James Cameron that contradict major Christian tenets. "The Lost Tomb of Christ," which the Discovery Channel will run on March 4, argues that 10 ancient ossuaries — small caskets used to store bones — discovered in a suburb of Jerusalem in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family, according to a press release issued by the Discovery Channel. One of the caskets...

r at least he's trying to kill the story of Jesus' resurrection. An upcoming 90-minute documentary directed by Jewish Canadian filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and produced by Titanic director James Cameron makes the startling assertion that Jesus was never resurrected -- a cornerstone of Christian faith -- and that his burial cave was discovered in the Jerusalem suburb of Talpiyot some 27 years ago. One more thing, Jesus fathered a son with Mary Magdelene. Cameron and Jacobovici claim they have DNA tests, archeological evidence and Biblical studies on their side. And on Monday, Cameron will hold a press conference in...

The Lost Tomb of Jesus on the Discovery Channel was followed up by a panel discussion moderated by Ted Koppel. Koppel and two professors who are not affiliated with the documentary totally eviscerated the director of the film and one of his consultants. Koppel seemed particularly offended by the film maker's claims of being a journalist. If you get the chance to see this review of the documentary, watch it. It is very funny.

Scorn poured on James Cameron's 'coffin of Christ' theory Archaeologists and biblical scholars have poured scorn on a Hollywood film director's sensational claim that he has discovered the coffin of Jesus Christ. Oscar-winning 'Titanic' director James Cameron's assertion that the bones of Jesus and his family were hidden for centuries in a Jerusalem tomb caused an outcry in the Holy Land. Even a British archeologist who worked with Cameron, Dr. Shimon Gibson, admitted he's "sceptical" about the claims that challenge some of the central tenets of Christianity. The very fact that Jesus had a grave would contradict the Christian belief...

Archaeologists, scholars dispute Jesus documentary POSTED: 2151 GMT (0551 HKT), February 26, 2007Filmakers and researchers claim these stone boxes may have once contained the remains of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. JERUSALEM (AP) -- Filmmakers and researchers on Monday unveiled two ancient stone boxes they said may have once contained the remains of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, but several scholars derided the claims made in a new documentary as unfounded and contradictory to basic Christian beliefs. "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," produced by Oscar-winning director James Cameron and scheduled to air March 4 on the Discovery Channel, argues that 10 small...

Jesus 'Tomb' Controversy Reopened Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2008 By TIM MCGIRK/JERUSALEMThe Talpiot tomb. Discovery / EPA When the Discovery Channel aired a TV documentary last year raising the possibility that archeologists had found the family tomb of Jesus Christ in the hills behind Jerusalem, it caused a huge backlash among Christians. The claim, after all, challenged one of the cornerstones of Christian faith — that Jesus, after his crucifixion, rose bodily to heaven in his physical form. The Lost Tomb of Jesus, made by Hollywood director James Cameron and Canadian investigative journalist Simcha Jacobovici, was shown only once on Discovery....

Several prominent scholars who were interviewed in a bitterly contested documentary that suggests that Jesus and his family members were buried in a nondescript ancient Jerusalem burial cave have now revised their conclusions, including the statistician who claimed that the odds were 600:1 in favor of the tomb being the family burial cave of Jesus of Nazareth, a new study on the fallout from the popular documentary shows. The dramatic clarifications, compiled by epigrapher Stephen Pfann of the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem in a paper titled "Cracks in the Foundation: How the Lost Tomb of Jesus story...

Israeli authorities say they are prepared to consider opening to the public a 2,000-year-old burial tomb in Jerusalem's East Talpiot neighborhood which is said by the makers of a new documentary to have likely been the final resting place of Jesus of Nazareth, his mother, partner Mary Magdalene, son, and other members of his family. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), responsible for the tomb - which was first uncovered during construction of the neighborhood in 1980 - said it would be up to the Jerusalem Municipality to make such a decision. And municipality spokesman Gidi Schmerling told The Jerusalem Post...

Oscar-winning director James Cameron defended on Monday his controversial new documentary, which claims that Jesus may have been buried with a wife and son, against charges the film was trying to undermine Christianity. Instead, the documentary that claims the discovery of the tomb of Jesus Christ and his family celebrates their existence, Cameron said at a press conference announcing the documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus." The message that Jesus delivered 2,000 years ago resounds even today, Cameron said. "My feeling is that his message of compassion, humility, love and forgiveness is every bit as much needed now in this...

The Lost Tomb of Jesus, made for the Discovery Channel, will be shown in the U.S. this week and later in Britain by Channel 4. Today, Cameron is holding a press conference on what he describes as 'one of the greatest archaeological finds of all time'. Crucially, he is not denying the resurrection - as there were no bones in the caskets. But the £2million film still strikes at the foundation of Christianity in the same manner as the novel The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, in claiming that Jesus married and had a family. His theory, which has...

We saw the documentary yesterday thanks to an advance copy from The Discovery Channel, and our Amy has read the book released in conjunction. We've seen all their evidence. Simcha Jacobivici, the documentarian, has been saying in interviews that they’re just connecting the dots. I’d say it’s more like first arranging the dots to get a certain picture and then connecting them. Their reasons for arranging the dots in their particular order is full of speculation at each step. They tell a coherent and affecting story to account for the information, but there’s no rationale for why that story is...

"Simcha, if what you're purporting here is true, not as a pun, is this the end of the Easter Bunny?"

A group of scholars posted a statement rejecting the identification of the Talpiot tomb as belonging to Jesus, a week after a conference in Jerusalem revisited evidence on claims presented in the controversial film "Lost Tomb of Jesus." In a statement posted Monday on the Duke University Religion Department's blog site, key figures in the discovery of the 1980 Talpoit tomb and other experts who attended the conference agreed that most scholars in attendance rejected the claims that the tomb belonged to the author of Christianity, despite the consensus being represented by the media as otherwise. "We wish to protest...

During the initial weeks of Lent 2007 in early March I avoided commenting on the sensational story of the alleged discovery of the tomb of Jesus in a Jerusalem neighbourhood. While it is true that tombs were found in Jerusalem's Talpiot section and the names of Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Matthew seem to have been engraved on the tombs, few people spoke of how common such names were during the first century. The media hype, though short lived, certainly put the theme of the resurrection front and centre of our Lenten and Easter journeys this year. James Cameron's documentary The...

Roman Catholics in the metropolis Friday called off their protest against the proposed screening of a controversial documentary on Jesus Christ after broadcaster Discovery Channel decided not to telecast the programme in India. The Catholics in the city had earlier sprung into action against the worldwide premiere 'The Lost Tomb of Jesus' that claims to show the burial place of Jesus challenging the basic tenets the Christian faith. 'The Lost Tomb of Jesus' is a feature documentary, directed by Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and produced by Oscar-winning director James Cameron of the 'Titanic' fame, Flex Golubev and Ric...

JERUSALEM - Archaeologists and clergymen in the Holy Land derided claims in a new documentary produced by the Oscar-winning director James Cameron that contradict major Christian tenets. "The Lost Tomb of Christ," which the Discovery Channel will run on March 4, argues that 10 ancient ossuaries — small caskets used to store bones — discovered in a suburb of Jerusalem in 1980 may have contained the bones of Jesus and his family, according to a press release issued by the Discovery Channel.

By Luis Sergio Solimeo It just does not stop. Following in the footsteps of The Da Vinci Code, the Gnostic offensive against Christianity is forging ahead with new pretexts, and, once again, with massive media coverage. The New Onslaught: Archeological FictionThis time, it is not a pseudo-historic novel,1 but a pseudo-scientific Discovery Channel documentary, titled: The Lost Tomb of Jesus, which was directed by James Cameron and Simcha Jacobovici.  The two are well-suited for the task.  Mr. Cameron is a science fiction2 fan, while Mr. Jacobovici could be considered an archeological fiction aficionado. Four years ago, he produced another...

James Cameron and Simcha Jacobivici claim to have raided the lost tomb of Jesus. Proof? There are related people in a graveyard with the uncommon names Joshua, Mary and Martha! Oi vey! Despite the faith of a millions of people in the Gospel (I Corinthians 15:3,4—the death, burial and resurrection of Christ for our salvation) and despite the fact that the resurrected Christ was seen and touched by his disciples, all twelve Apostles, over 500 hundred witnesses—at one time; and, despite the fact that devout Jews changed the day of worship from the seventh day to the first day of...

Talpiot tomb Remember the tale of the Titanic? How it was supposed to be impregnable, and nothing could poke holes in it? How it would never be sunk? Well all I can say is that human hubris knows no bounds, and that hasn’t changed in the last century. On April 15th 1912 the supposedly leak proof Titanic rammed into an iceberg and sank—sank like a giant stone. Sank quickly, with great loss of life. Why do I bring this up? Because in one of the interesting ironies in recent memory, James Cameron the movie director who made the enormously successful...

You hear it in every little encampment in every city that has a franchise in the current “Occupy” protests: The righteous tent-and-yurt people are against “greed.” They see greed as the demonic dynamo of a rapacious capitalism (and its maidservant, “income inequality”). And what represents greed better than mega-payoffs, dazzling bonuses and stock options, for very little actual work, and sometimes even when performance is far below par? It is only to be expected that the high-flying brokers, bankers and CEOs that cluster like flies around the honey pots of Wall Street, who waltz off with payoffs that would shame...

In the second part, he lists what he says are my so-called "discoveries." You would think that the good professor knows how to use the rewind button on his DVD player and confirm statements that he attributes to me. You can find a copy of the transcript of my film at "Simcha's explorations": www.theexodusdecoded.com. A word search can confirm that I claim to "reveal" the meaning of other people's discoveries by providing a new context for looking at various artifacts, inscriptions, mountains etc. The fact is that I never once claim to "discover" anything..

There is a saying that when it comes to the Bible, "for those who believe, no explanation is necessary, while for those who don't believe, no explanation is possible." But what of the many people who fall somewhere between these two certainties? Such people owe it to themselves to see The Exodus Decoded, a 90-minute documentary by Canadians James Cameron (the director of Titanic, Aliens and The Terminator) and investigative journalist and producer Simcha Jacobovici. The film will be screened at 6 p.m. this evening as part of the Jerusalem Film Festival at the Jerusalem Cinematheque. The Exodus Decoded claims...

Your 2011 Iowahawk Grand Champion Carbonator Another Earth Week Cruise-In completed, another awe-inspiring cornucopia of carbon. This year's edition was another record breaker with over 100 entries covering land, sea, air and even space. And now, for the most difficult task of all: deciding who will wear the crown, and the 1 Trillion official Iowahawk Carbon Credits thereto appurtaining.After painstaking alcohol-fueled deliberation, the jury has made its selection. Without further ado, it is my pleasure to present (drumroll please) the 2011 Iowahawk Earth Week Cruise-In Grand Champion Carbonator: James CameronContinued

There are too many of us already, and we must not let our numbers grow even further beyond what Earth's resources can provide. If we want to keep/improve our current standard of living, those who are able should take precautions. A few of the more extreme ideas (i.e. killing off "unnecessary" members of a population), while theoretically efficient, seem elitist and unnecessarily drastic and cruel from a human standpoint. Then there are people who believe in the ideal that either nature or an all-powerful being will eventually "balance out" our growing numbers (Eywa?). Yes, people die every day, but lives...

Prop 23 would suspend California's AB32, Global Warming legislation which would require energy companies reduce their carbon output to 1990 levels. James Cameron has donated $1m to oppose Prop 23, even though he hypocritically lives a carbon intensive lifestyle.

- Another week, another CBC hatchet-job against Alberta. The government-owned 'broadcaster' (I use that term very loosely) ran another one-sided, biased segment in their quest to paint our oil sands with a negative brush. The far-left network has a history of bashing the West using misinformation or outright deletion of facts. The best thing for Canada? A majority Conservative government with the stones to end the one billion dollars per year in funding this farce of a network receives annually. Ezra Levant has a great take on the issue here. - I have been contemplating why the recent warning of...

When all was said and done, when the paparazzi with their cameras had left after covering the one of the worst public relations gambles ever taken by a premier of Alberta, the James Cameron oil sands tour ended up being more buzz then progress.  And a complete waste of thousands of taxpayer dollars. The whole mess could have been easily avoided if Ed Stelmach had shown any kind of real leadership. Our oil sands industry has come under increasing scrutiny by the enviroNazi movement, who has chosen Alberta’s energy sector as their latest cause célèbre. Using misinformation and lies,...

Gloria Stuart, the 1930s Hollywood beauty who gave up acting for 30 years and later became the oldest Academy Award acting nominee as the spunky survivor in "Titanic," has died. She was 100. Stuart died of respiratory failure Sunday night at her Los Angeles home, her daughter, Sylvia Thompson, said Monday. The actress had been diagnosed with lung cancer five years ago and had beaten breast cancer about 20 years ago, Thompson said. "She did not believe in illness. She paid no attention to it, and it served her well," Thompson said. "She had a great life. I'm not sad....

Next week Albertans could be witness to the most glaring of many examples of leadership failures by our own premier, Ed Stelmach. Hollywood director James 'Avatar(d)' Cameron is scheduled to make a visit to our vitally important (and equally vilified) oil sands operations. Cameron, who previously referred to our oil sands as '...a black eye for Canada', then followed up with the admission that he didn't really know anything about the subject, received a letter from Premier Stelmach inviting him to tour northern Alberta. The Hollywood director has taken up the offer - but on his schedule. Now we see...

Hollywood director James 'Avatar(d)' Cameron is scheduled to make a visit to our vitally important (and equally vilified) oil sands operations. Cameron, who previously referred to our oil sands as '...a black eye for Canada', then followed up with the admission that he didn't really know anything about the subject, received a letter from Premier Stelmach inviting him to tour northern Alberta. The Hollywood director has taken up the offer - but on his schedule. Now we see the so-called 'leader' of the province doing his best impression of a jellyfish by kowtowing to the self-proclaimed 'king of the world'.

Movie maker James Cameron has called people who don’t believe as strongly as he does that the end is nigh “boneheads”, which, as insults go, isn’t particularly inventive. You would have expected a guy who thought up the Terminator would have devised a slur better than one considered hackneyed on elementary school playgrounds. But of course, Hollywood directors rarely write their own material, and instead rely on the talent of others. Here’s the full quote (which is now a few months old, but I only heard it on its echo): I want to call those deniers out into the street...

"I want to call those deniers out into the street at high noon and shoot it out with those boneheads." James Cameron on global warming skeptics in March.In March of this year, famed director and amateur hole stuffer James Cameron threw down the green gauntlet, stating in an interview that he wanted to debate global warming skeptics in a most public way, the better to expose them for having their heads "deeply up" their, um, abysses. Cameron doesn't like global warming skeptics. Or the military. Or mining. Or, you know, Americans. So in the post-orgy afterglow following the success of...

As the last American combat troops left Iraq last week, Oil-tycoon-turned-clean-energy-innovator T. Boone Pickens was at the American Renewable Energy Day conference in Aspen, lamenting that the U.S. didn’t take hold of the rich oil fields in the war-torn Middle Eastern nation before they left. Pickens at first elicited laughs from an audience at the Paepcke Auditorium on Saturday night, as he bluntly made the case for America’s right to Iraq’s oil. Those laughs subsided as he recalled how he personally lobbied Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to seize Iraq’s natural resources. “I’ve heard people accuse President Bush...

The Economy: As if the latest measly numbers on our jobless recovery weren't bad enough, along comes the administration to pile disaster upon disaster by slapping a six-month ban on deep-water drilling. When President Obama visited Louisiana on May 1, he talked about the possibility that the oil gushing from BP's Deepwater Horizon well could "jeopardize the livelihoods of thousands of Americans who call this place home." Now the administration's response could jeopardize the livelihoods of tens of thousands more. In a letter sent to Obama on Wednesday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal challenged the president's decision to suspend deepwater drilling...

Cameron Says Offer to Help Stop Oil Leak Spurned By BP "Morons" Acclaimed director says he has worked with robots and subs at much greater depths than Gulf well By GREG WILSON Updated 6:17 AM CDT, Thu, Jun 3, 2010 Mark Fellman Blockbuster king James Cameron's offer to help BP stem the flow of oil from a leaking Gulf of Mexico well was spurned by the oil giant, even though the director says he knows his way around the ocean's depths. "Over the last few weeks I've watched, as we all have, with growing horror and heartache, watching what's happening...

Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron and another Canadian who built submersibles for the director's 1989 thriller "The Abyss" joined talks on Tuesday in Washington on innovative ways of capping the Gulf of Mexico oil spill... Cameron made two documentaries about the wreck of the ocean liner Titanic prior to filming his 1997 blockbuster Hollywood movie "Titanic." He used a small fleet of specially designed remotely operated underwater vehicles and is regarded as an expert in the field.

Upon learning that federal officials have solicited help from Titanic and Avatar director James Cameron to brainstorm solutions for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, I was reminded of the closing track from William Shatner's under-appreciated 2004 spoken word album Has Been. I have saved the world in the movies So naturally there's folks who think I must know what to know But just because you've seen me on your TV Doesn't mean I'm any more enlightened than you And while there's a part of me In that guy you've seen Up there on that screen I am...

WASHINGTON — Film director James Cameron may have another blockbuster on his hands. Federal officials are hoping Cameron can help them come up with ideas on how to stop the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, officials said today. The “Avatar” and “Titanic” director was among a group of scientists and other experts who met Tuesday with officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies for a brainstorming session on stopping the massive oil leak. The Canadian-born Cameron is considered an expert on underwater filming and remote vehicle technologies. “Avatar” and “Titanic” are the two highest-grossing...

The 1991 spill into the Persian Gulf, which began on January 21, was purposely caused by the Iraqis in order to delay or prevent a threatened US-led invasion of Kuwait, including possible landings by US Marines. On February 23, American forces, including the 1st Marine Division, 2nd Marine Division, the 1st Light Armored Infantry, overran Iraqi defenses quickly, but expressed shock at the extent of the environmental disaster surrounding them. The US lost 148 service members in combat, 458 were wounded in the First Gulf War which lasted from August 2, 1990, to February 28, 1991, when America and its...

It is being called one of the most brazen attacks on civilians by Maoists. India's government blames the rebels for planting explosives below the pavement of a rural road that destroyed a passenger bus in the central part of the country. On board were about 50 people, and authorities say most of them were killed. The bus attack is the latest to be blamed on Maoist rebels in Chhattisgarh, a mineral-rich state. Authorities say the bus exploded while traveling in the Dantewada district, mainly home to agricultural tribal people, in the Maoist heartland. Passengers included police and specially recruited officers,...