Column: Conspiracy theories are actually laughable myths
Jacob Caporaletti, CT regular columnist
Wednesday, February 27; 12:00 AM
It's all a conspiracy. The government, big business and the Freemasons are all out to get us. They want to use their influence to control world affairs. Scary, isn't it?
Thankfully, it isn't true. But a growing sub-culture has emerged in recent years, and thanks to the power of the Internet it's easier than ever for these outlandish ideas to spread. Conspiracy theories are no longer relegated to isolated communities of crackpots. Now they're endorsed by world leaders such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and actor Charlie Sheen.
As laughable as some of these theories are, there is a sizable portion of the population that believes there's some big secret being kept by the powers that be. Whether it's UFOs, the JFK assassination, the 9/11 truth movement or untold secrets about the life of Jesus Christ, there is always something to rally around. The most popular theories used to be the JFK assassination and UFOs. But since 9/11, an entire movement has spawned, and their mission is the supposed truth about what happened.
The truth, however, is never as grand as we would like it to be. What seems more exciting? That 19 men armed only with box cutters and extreme determination were able to strike at the heart of American pride? Or that a shadowy group of power mongers orchestrated the attacks in an elaborate conspiracy to pursue its agenda? It's only natural to assume that such a big event must have an equally big cause. But more often than not, the claims of the conspiracy theorists don't stand up to the facts.
Most crackpots trying to push their theories rely on crafty arguments and deceptive presentations. As Creationists who try to prove their faulty beliefs, conspiracy theories are riddled with ad hominum attacks, shaky foundations, straw man arguments, over-generalizations and outright falsehoods.
Just look at the best selling 9/11 conspiracy film "Loose Change." While their presentation seems slick and legitimate, it's worth noting that the makers are not experts. The people they find to support their claims may have credentials, but they pick and choose the details and ignore key facts that disprove their claims.
This film, coupled with many other 9/11 conspiracy theorists, caused such a stir that the magazine "Popular Mechanics" devoted an entire issue to debunking every one of their claims. And what did the makers of "Loose Change" do in response? They did what all conspiracy theorists do and ignored it.
So why do people devote themselves to these beliefs when the facts directly contradict their theories? It usually has to do with the level of emotional investment people put into these theories. It becomes like a religion to them, and anybody who questions their beliefs is a heretic in their eyes.
Nobody likes to be proven wrong, and nobody likes to accept a less fanciful version of their world. Others, however, hold onto their beliefs for more personal reasons.
The heart of all conspiracy theories revolves around a public wary of the people in power. It's not a coincidence that the government bears the blunt end of every major theory. Often, the theorists will portray anybody in a position of power as a tyrannical despot.
Even in our democratic system there is an innate fear that we live in a sort of neo-fascist state. And nothing short of a flat-out admission of the truth will satisfy conspiracy buffs.
Now that's not to say we shouldn't be skeptical of the government, but not everyone in a position of power is a tyrant. Most are honest civil servants. There is an exception every now and then, but by and large those in power do have the people's interests at heart. They have to or they don't get voted into office. That's the beauty of our democracy despite its many shortcomings.
Most other theories rely on governments keeping secrets. And this, by far, is their most laughable assumption. Governments, especially ones such as ours, are terrible at keeping secrets. The second something big comes up, people rush to the nearest newspaper to talk about it. And whenever the government does try to keep a secret, it rarely lasts.
Even the ones kept during wartime eventually get out. To think that any part of the government is capable of covering up something as big as 9/11 or the JFK assassination is grossly overestimating their competence. Just look at the Watergate scandal. If the government couldn't cover that up, do you expect them to be capable of covering up something big such as 9/11?
Most people who believe in these conspiracy theories genuinely believe they're right. No amount of evidence to the contrary will convince them otherwise.
Even if they do great harm in turning great tragedies like 9/11 into an agenda, they'll keep doing what they do until they choose to accept the facts over fanciful myths.
Posted by: grarneks at Aug 2
I agreed with you
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Posted by: medicis at Mar 2
CB_Brooklyn's tediously repetitious postings about 'No planes' hitting the World Trade Center buildings on 9/11 are more destructive of the 9/11 truth movement's credibility than any possible editorial by Jacob Caporaletti.
Spreading of disinformation is a clear sign of complicity and/or agreement with the government's efforts to undermine 9/11 truth as well as the efforts of many other dedicated patriots to reveal the actual workings of the police state.
A comment made on the Democratic Underground forum to CB_Brooklyn:
"Edited on Tue Jun-05-07 05:11 PM by softwarevotingtrail:
cb_brooklyn, I noticed that there are 6,740 returns for the search term "cb_brooklyn" on Google. And virtually all your posts are not merely about 9-11 conspiracy theories - they concern the most outrageous, bizarre, and unlikely 9-11 conspiracy theories imaginable: "energy beams" and "directed energy weapons" taking down the twin towers, accusing William Rodriguez of being part of a "fakery" conspiracy; "fake" video of the planes hitting the towers.
You are so busy polluting the well with this garbage that it almost seems like it's a full-time job for you. Perhaps it even IS a full-time job. I hope you are getting paid accordingly."
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Posted by: CB_Brooklyn at Mar 2
Court Cases in the US District Court,
Southern District of New York,
with Attorney Jerry Leaphart:
** Dr Judy Wood, suing on behalf of the United States of America and demanding a Trial by Jury, has evidence that Directed Energy Weapons were a causal factor in the destruction of the World Trade Center:
http://drjudywood.com/articles/NIST/Qui_Tam_Wood.html
Docket No. 1:07-cv-03314-GBD
Title: Wood v. Applied Research Associates, Inc. et al
Judge: George B. Daniels
** Dr Morgan Reynolds, suing on behalf of the United States of America and demanding a Trial by Jury, has evidence that the Media broadcasted cartoons of an airplane hitting the South Tower:
http://nomoregames.net/index.php?page=911&subpage1=federal_case
Docket No. 1:07-cv-04612-GEL
Title: Dr. Morgan O. Reynolds v. Science Applications International Corp. et al
Judge: George B. Daniels
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Posted by: medicis at Mar 1
NIST's 10,000 page report has been thoroughly studied and, interestingly, it's conclusions ignore the data derived from its own empirical studies as well as reams of testimony and data from other sources that did not fit into the official government conspiracy theory.... and not only does NIST not make the case for collapse initiation, it purposefully avoids discussing the mechanism of the collapse itself.
However, others have looked at it. For example, Perhaps you should read:
Collapse Time Calculations for WTC 1 (May 9, 2007)
Dr. Kenneth Kuttler, Professor of Mathematics, in which he considers two models of collapse. The most interesting is the:
"The floating floor model: The towers had columns which supported the floors. These were on the outside and on the core. The idealized problem I will consider is to remove all the columns and consider only the floors, pretending they are floating in the air and do not move till struck. I will consider the collapse of this idealized tower of floating floors under the assumption that all collisions are inelastic. If only gravity is involved in collapse and if both the real tower and the idealized tower fall in the same manner, this idealized tower of floating floors should fall faster than the actual tower because in the idealized tower there is no vertical support whatever, and in the real tower, there were many columns. It is assumed the floors fell in such a way that they encountered a succession of lower stationary floors as described in the above quote from the NIST report."
…..and finds that even when one ignores all of the structural steel framework and merely imagines all those floors just hanging there in the air without any structural support whatsoever, calculated collapse times far exceed actual measured collapse times (both low and high estimates). In other words, structural supports, concrete and all the rest had to be blown out of the way to achieve the actual recorded collapse times. And indeed, that is precisely what you see when you watch recordings of the events. Huge beams blown out laterally. Other material being blown upward. Hundreds of millimeter-long human bone fragments blown on to the top of the Deutche Bank roof. (Gee, just how does that happen in a gravity driven collapse?) Thick pulverized concrete dust deposited all over Manhattan.
One might also consider that well over 200 architects and engineers at Richard Gage's (architect) site agree that the government's 'official conspiracy theory' doesn't hold water and are calling for a new investigation.
The apologists for the government's 'official conspiracy theory' can't account for these phenomena nor can they show where the requisite energy came from. Even NIST ignored the conservation of momentum (and of the conservation of angular momentum) just as some folks ignore conservation of momentum and energy requirements. Those arguing in support of the 'official government conspiracy theory' choose to ignore the laws of physics so I'm not sure what reality they're operating in. I guess it's 'Their Own Little World'.... devoid of the laws of physics but replete with their own silly imaginings and delusions.
However, focusing on the WTC demolitions ignores the huge mass of other data, other events (such as FOUR successful hijackings occurred - in each of which establish protocols had to be violated and which seasoned pilots state is an absolute impossibility) - occurred on that date that all point to complicity of some elements of the government and perhaps forces from other nations as well.
Part 2
And the issues of simultaneous war games going on, exactly mimicking the real events... I wonder at the odds.….. a few trillion to one? Hey, I'll go right out and buy the lotto ticket.… And Dick Cheney's lies about his actions during the attacks.…. And there was that lack of plane debris at the Shanksville crash... of course there was debris --- within a miles' long radius - beyond - the crash scene... I wonder, when planes crash, do they leave debris fields miles' away? …. OH.… I thought not... Hey, again, is it of curious note that the highjackers obtained some training from the U.S. military? Or that Al qaeda was created by the CIA and the ISI? And always thereafter, kept 'in touch'. Oh.… I thought you would ignore that. (btw way, in Persian Al Qaeda means 'the base' [a CIA name] or, alternatively, the toilet …. in slang.… more fitting I think.
9/11 was simply another in that long long list of false flag -- 'psyop' operations (see the 'wannabe' Operation Northwoods, Operation Gladio, the Gulf of Tonkin deception, FDR and Pearl Harbor, the Reichstag fire, etc., etc. )that governments have used to terrorize their own populations into supporting increased militarization, wars against other nations and, in most cases, increased fascism within their own borders.
That last, for example, has certainly been the case in the U.S. with the treasonous destruction of Constitutional rights via the obscene Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, the Warner Defense Authorization Act, Presidential Directives (esp. #51), creation of FEMA detention camps and now the new 'thought crimes' bill sitting in the senate.
Remember, as well, that military and logistical forces had already been put in place to invade Afghanistan -prior - to 9/11. The plans for the invasion were on Bush's desk - prior - to 9/11, other countries were aware (such as Australia) months - prior - to 9/11 that the U.S. intended to invade Afghanistan in Oct. '01.
U.S. interests met with the Taliban several times before 9/11 to make their 'offerings'. But the Taliban refused to allow Cheney, Enron and the oil companies to build the pipeline across Afghanistan to carry the recently discovered 500 billion barrels of oil and natural gas out of the Caspian Sea basin... too bad for the Taliban, eh? What we can't buy, we'll invade, murder and steal to obtain. Ironically, that amount of oil and natural gas was downsized to 50 billion barrels.…..later on.… 'chuckle'
While peaking oil (and other natural) resources were certainly driving the desire to fabricate an excuse for invasion and war, it must be noted as that the CIA certainly did not like the Taliban's curtailing the opium crops... profits from which had supported CIA black ops for years (also well-documented).
The government also wished to move the bases that had been in Saudi Arabia into Iraq (and thus avoid the ire of the Wahabists) in order to set the stage for the next big international war crime - aggressive war to steal Iran's and Central Asia's resources. Unfortunately for the neocon/neolib middle managers, Russia, China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization now stand firmly against Imperial America's goals of conquest. But war with Russia and China were always the Neocon's endgame.
Oh, and also regarding 9/11, the Patriot Act was written before 9/11 as well. And the 2 senators' offices to receive mail containing U.S. military grade anthrax were those of Tom Daschle and Patrick Leahy.... both objecting to the Patriot Act and standing in the way of its passage. Go Figure.
Part 3
All of this information is well referenced and available for perusal. You might begin with Paul Thompson's timeline and/or many other journals (e.g. journalof911studies dot com, ae911truth dot org (architects and engineers for 911 truth), Jim Hoffman's excellent site, 911research dot com, etc.) There is so much well-documented information available that it is no surprise that many avoid addressing that data and the physics. And purposefully mislead.
There will always be those who hesitate to look because they are afraid to see. Cognitive dissonance is a powerful psychological force supporting denial. But interestingly, millions upon millions of people in the U.S. and even more world wide are beginning to open their eyes and actually look around themselves.... and what they are seeing about the U.S. and it's allied transnational corporate and financial powers and the military industrial media complex ain't a pretty sight.
Mostly Mockingbirds (remember the CIA's Operation Mockingbird - it hasn't gone away you know) and Pentagon operatives (see Mike Whitney's and BBC FOIA obtained data in - 'The Pentagon's War on the Internet') are always available to argue in support of the government's 'official' conspiracy theory.
For those of you who do not know, from 'The Pentagon's War on the Internet': [Information Operations Roadmap (IOR) recommends that psychological operations (Psyops) "should consider a range of technologies to disseminate propaganda in enemy territory: unmanned aerial vehicles, "miniaturized, scatterable public address systems", wireless devices, cellular phones and the internet." "No idea is too costly or too far-fetched that it escapes the serious consideration of the Pentagon chieftains. The War Dept. is planning to insert itself into every area of the internet from blogs to chat rooms, from leftist web sites to editorial commentary. The objective is to challenge any tidbit of information that appears on the web that may counter the official narrative; the fairytale of benign American intervention to promote democracy and human rights across the planet. "] And finally, about 9/11. Always ask, cui bono? There is only one answer...it don't include Al Qaeda. (and it don't include you or me).
The folks who get so upset when anybody challenges their pleasant little consensus trance world just strike me as terribly naive and woefully uninformed. And worse.
medicis
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Posted by: Mike M at Mar 1
And to someone who referenced all the surveillance cameras at the Pentagon that didn't record the crash, let's do the math. The field of view in the farfield is perhaps 200 feet (most are aimed at closer targets, thus have a smaller FOV). Most cameras were not aimed at the point where the plane impacted, so would have no useful information. A typical surveillance camera takes a snapshot about once per second. The stall speed of the Boeing 757 is about 235 fps. Slower than that and it falls out of the sky. So, a camera with a 200 foot field of view would AT MOST capture one frame with the plane in view, and very likely would not capture a picture of the plane at all. The plane is moving too fast, and would enter and exit the FOV between frame captures. But again, I'm a member of the evil M-I complex, so I'm probably beaming my mind-inhibiting ray at you so you'll be taken in by my obviously faked mathematical formulas.
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Posted by: Mike M at Mar 1
I love this! I've never had such great entertainment on a Saturday morning. "I read it on this blog, and they even wrote a book about it! And this other group made a video! It MUST be true!! They even call themselves the TRUTHERS!" Folks, if you really think something sinister happened, why don't you try getting an education that will allow YOU to research and analyze the evidence, instead of relying on what someone else wrote or said. You slam people for believing the "evil government lies" and then turn around and believe what the truthers tell you. Tell me, exactly what is the difference? Is your internet search engine more pure than mine? Do you have a magic BS filter installed? "These guys did their own analysis and said the government lied!" just doesn't hold water. Unless you are so deluded as to believe every physics, chemistry and engineering textbook has been corrupted by the government conspirators, I suggest you get an education and do your own analysis. I've seen what explosives do to buildings, and I've seen what happens when a plane hits the ground or other solid structure. But don't take my word for it, go learn about it first hand. Quoting some kook's blog isn't very convincing.
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Posted by: Tim at Mar 1
There is a big difference between inside job and letting it happen. Loose change believes that there was NO PLANE at the Pentagon or Shanksville. They have the balls to claim that the phone calls were faked and they have said this to the victims families! Now I don't argue that the government might have known something was going to happen on 9/11 or even that they new the exact plan and decided to let it happen, but the crap that loose change spews is just utterly ridiculous. Chris's statement "Science is the bane of those who don't believe in it." applies to everything in that loose change video.
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Posted by: Eugene Martin at Mar 1
First things first you can not claim that this administration is "honest" can you back that up with any evidence the president himself presented facts he knew to be lies about Iraq 260 times to the press!They knew they had no weapons we had destroyed them all throughout the 90's Before that he claimed no one in this administration or the last could have predicted plane being used as weapons! Now in case you are not familiar there was a report given to him directly on Aug/6/01 telling exactly that! There were numerous other reports made by many other countries to our intelligence agencies that they knew we were to be attacked they were not acted upon! Not to mention able danger the FBI unit who were tracking certain hijackers inside the U.S. which was subsequently dismantled and covered up by people who were then promoted!There is a cover up the only question is to what extent and what exactly are they covering up! SEE 9/11 PRESS FOR TRUTH!By the way someone mentioned 25 military people question the official story the number is much higher than that!
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Posted by: at Feb 29
Popular Mechanics Debunks 12/25 Santa Claus Truthers
In March 2005, Popular Mechanics published an article called Debunking The 9/11 Myths, that denigrated all unofficial 9/11 conspiracy theories while exalting the official 9/11 conspiracy fairy tale.
Since then, the Popular Mechanics article has been thoroughly exposed as hogwash, and Popular Mechanics has loosed its inferior and wanting investigative experts on another growing community of U.S. citizens who hunger for the truth about a different event: What Really Happened on 12/25? :-)
The full article is reprinted below…
Debunking 12/25 Myths
FROM THE MOMENT the first gifts were spotted beneath millions of U.S. Christmas trees on the morning of December 25, the world has asked one simple and compelling question: How could it happen?
Seven months later, not everyone is convinced we know the truth.
Go to Google.com, type in the search phrase "Santa Claus conspiracy" and you'll get links to thousands of Web sites. It will baffle and surprise most Americans to discover how many of these sites reject the official consensus that nine reindeer flew Santa Claus and a sleigh onto U.S. rooftops in the early hours of 12/25.
Healthy skepticism, it seems, has curdled into paranoia. Wild conspiracy tales are peddled daily on the Internet, talk radio and in other media. Blurry photos, quotes taken out of context and sketchy eyewitness accounts have inspired a slew of elaborate theories:
There was no "red-nosed" reindeer, or there were only eight reindeer. Some claim there were no reindeer at all.
Some U.S. parents actually had advance knowledge that Santa and the elves were determined to break and enter on 12/25, but these parents let it happen on purpose anyway.
The Santa gifts were only one facet of a vast marketing scheme perpetrated by parents with additional help from Toys "R" Us.
(Not surprisingly, this theory's proponents fail to address why parents would scheme to rid themselves of their own hard-earned cash. "Follow the money," one PM expert suggested, "and it all goes to the children." Simply put: there is no motive.)
Perhaps most outlandish of all, some theorize Santa Claus doesn't even exist. Instead, they say, the immortal magic elf was perpetuated by one or more actors who somehow managed to show up and be photographed at every shopping center in every city in every state almost every single day between Thanksgiving and Christmas!
As outlandish as these claims may sound, they are increasingly accepted abroad and among extremists here in the United States.
The Santa Claus Truth movement
The Santa Claus Truth movement is a very troublesome development in American society. What was once a laudable attempt to encourage the public into critical thinking about Santa Claus has devolved into religious devotion to a Santa Clause conspiracy cult that makes a living peddling nonsense and exploiting ignorance.
Perhaps most troubling of all is the fact that most of these "Truth" cults are increasingly targeting America's youth.
Of new converts who have, in the past month, rejected the official 12/25 Santa Claus explanation, over 90% were youth under the age of 13. "These are our children, our future," says an anonymous high-thinking war lemming. "They are being targeted, mostly, by children their age who've already succumbed to popular delusions, when critical thinking should make it clear that Santa Claus brought down those presents."
Let's take a closer look at some of the most popular 12/25 delusions…
Omniscience of Parents
Many theories espoused by Santa Truth members purpose parental facilitation or complicity in the 12/25 Santa Claus gift event.
These theories, by definition, assume that U.S. parents are competent, all powerful, all seeing entities. But U.S. parents are obviously none of these things. Yet Santa Truth theorists would have us believe a nation full of incompetent parents can be totally competent when it comes to organizing a massive gift event and keeping information about the conspiracy totally sealed shut.
A radical analysis of 12/25 that is ignored by leftists and activists in the Santa Truth movement is the fact that the 12/25 gift event itself illustrated how disorganized, incompetent and weak U.S. parents really are. Surely, if these parents could plan and execute a conspiracy on such a massive scale, they would not fail to provide batteries for the very toys they are purported to have secretly purchased in advance!
Further analysis reveals a high percentage of gift clothes that did not fit intended recipients — in most cases, close relatives. An anonymous, but high-ranking member in the Vice President's office offered this:
That a caring, loving parent could pull off a secret operation of 12/25 magnitude, and yet fail to acquire the correctly-sized camouflage hunting cap for their small loved one…whom they know intimately and share a trailer and bowling ball with…that's categorically preposterous beyond my drunk fool turkey imagination.
Summary
There is no better explanation for 12/25 than the official Santa Claus story.
Don't think for yourself. Don't open your mind to reason. Don't check the facts. If it's broken let your grandkids fix it.
Go back to sleep.
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Posted by: Adam Syed at Feb 29
Yet another mindblowingly ignorant hit piece from someone who has not familiarized himself with the facts.
Did this author get a personal coaching from the Popular Mechanics crack staff on how to construct a smear article against the truth movement? Last time I checked, a conspiracy is simply an agreement between two or more people to do something illegal/immoral.
But as far as "conspiracy theories" in the pejorative sense of the term, Caporaletti does correctly state the characteristics of such theories: cherry-picking, quoting out-of-context, and ignoring evidence that doesn't support one's preordained conclusion.
Unfortunately, it is the OFFICIAL CONSPIRACY THEORY which is guilty of these traits, in spades. Caporaletti is dead wrong about truthers ignoring Popular Mechanics' "rebuttals." We have studied their answers at length, to see if they are real answers or BS ones. As another commenter said, read David Ray Griffin's "Debunking 9/11 Debunking: An Answer to Popular Mechanics and Other Defenders of the Official Conspiracy Theory."
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Posted by: Mike M. at Feb 29
Wow, this thread proves out the point rather vividly: half the population is dumber than average, by definition. But then, I'm a member of the great military industrial complex, so you shouldn't believe anything I say. It's probably another government conspiracy.
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Posted by: pw at Feb 29
Twenty-five U.S. Military Officers Challenge Official Account of 9/11
Official Account of 9/11: "Impossible", "A Bunch of Hogwash", "Total B.S.", "Ludicrous", "A Well-Organized Cover-up", "A White-Washed Farce"
January 14, 2008 – Twenty-five former U.S. military officers have severely criticized the official account of 9/11 and called for a new investigation. They include former commander of U.S. Army Intelligence, Major General Albert Stubblebine, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Col. Ronald D. Ray, two former staff members of the Director of the National Security Agency; Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, PhD, and Major John M. Newman, PhD, and many others. They are among the rapidly growing number of military and intelligence service veterans, scientists, engineers, and architects challenging the government's story. The officers' statements appear below, listed alphabetically.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_alan_mil_080112_twenty_five_u_s__mil.htm
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Posted by: Leif the Skullsplitter at Feb 28
1) If we shouldn't listen to the makers of "Loose Change" because they're not experts, why should we listen to you? You're not an expert either.
2) Your hit piece preys on the prejudice of uninformed readers and keeps them uninformed by omitting all significant facts.
3) Every day we see evil little plots hatched around us and carried out in secret by small groups of people. Are you so naive that you think this form of human behavior stops at the government's edge?
4) If 9/11 skeptics are the demented crackpots you claim they are, why then do you not publish the evidence they present -- in its entirety -- and let readers decide for themselves how silly their suspicions are?
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Posted by: Ben at Feb 28
Please read Debunking 9/11 Debunking by David Ray Griffin, which rips apart the Popular Mechanics debacle you seem to think has done your job in protecting your mainstream belief system for you. I hate to use the tired cliché, but it really is time for everyone to wake up from the manufactured paradigm you are so attached to, luckily people are doing so in droves.
If anyone has turned the great tragedies of 9/11 into an agenda so successfully, it's the government you seem to think can't keep any secrets from the people (million dead in Iraq because of it, not to mention Afghanistan, this seems much worse in my eyes than trying to stop these people in government from bombing more innocents), and whatever happened to the missing minutes of the Watergate scandal you mentioned, they kept them secret didn't they? I accept that you are proponent of incompetence theory and coincidence theory, but to me many of the conspiracy theories (obviously not all of them) seem closer to the truth from what I have read and what I see daily in the news and in the world around me.
Just yesterday for example, there was a big push in the media for the whole country (UK) to be forcibly put onto a DNA database, things like this show me that my current belief system is correct as such things are known to us whacky conspiracy theorists as being an integral part of "the agenda", so when they happen our belief system is affirmed. So I respectfully disagree with your article and encourage you to look, with an open mind at all the many different aspects of the conspiracy theories, and start connecting the dots yourself, enjoy!
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Posted by: Chris at Feb 27
The weight of a plane has nothing to do with a hole size. I could take 40 million tons of water and fit it into a 2 foot hole. Aside from that the planes diameter was 12 feet and indents for the wings were around the hole. 12 feet does fit in 20 in case you can't add. There is also a video that shows what happens when a jet hits a solid wall, you'd be unhappy to know that it pretty much disintegrates into little pieces. I'll find a link for you if you like. Mourn the victims and stop making crap up.
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Posted by: Ron Soldwish at Feb 27
You dont need science to understand that a 100 ton plane doest fit into a hole 20 ft wide. When a building collapses within itself you should be left with 100 floors of concrete and steel, not a pile of dust. Do you know who Kevin Ryan is? Work for a company that tested the steel for the NIST report. He was the project head untill he wouldnt agree to the report, and the offical theorie of what happend. How come when the NIST report investaged the steel, the were not given full access? Why did they only look at 200 pices of steel? Why didnt they even test for explosives only to rule them out?
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Posted by: Chris at Feb 27
Science always was the bane of people who don't believe in it. This applies to loose change, how do you think all these families feel when they go to a 9/11 memorial only to see people using the lost loved ones as a tool to push their agenda?? Conspiracy theories are just that, conspiracy. When science proves it wrong they say the science is wrong, if you say the science is wrong I say you are a fanatic close-minded fool.
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Posted by: Ronald Soldwish at Feb 27
how about this, how come now Kean and Hamilton are coming out and saying they think The CIA lied to them,(Kean even wrote this in his book). How come there are only 3 videos of the plane hitting the pentagon but there are over 200 cameras known to have filimed the plane hitting the building? How come there was only $8 million spent to investagate 9/11 but over $40 million to investagate Monica Lewinsky??? How come nobody cares that 2,967 people died on 9/11 but since then over 4000 us troops, 1000 1st responders, 100,000 iraqi civilians have died since, more people have died because of 9/11 then on 9/11. My biggest problem is for the famlies who lost someone, how come not 1 person was held responsiable for 9/11, fired, put in jail, publicly humilated??? You mention in this article how it like religion to the 9/11 conspiracy therorists, more like the other way arround, when you challange what happened on that day you challange every person that sheded a tear, or felt pain that day
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Posted by: Rosie O'Donnell is a Moron at Feb 27
Hey conspiracy theorists. Guess what? Steel structures (like those in the WTC) can melt if subject to intense heat (i.e. several thousand pounds of aviation fuel.) Take a look at the effects of kamikazes against US ships in WW2.
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Posted by: Nick at Feb 27
Jacob,
Popular Mechanics is a tool. Popular Science is a tool. And so it seems you too are just a blind tool of the state. If you can't see that, you are a hopeless sheep.
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Posted by: Chris Hackman at Feb 27
Have a look at my new conspiracy DVD website. I have a wide variety of DVDs available covering variety of topics. Any feedback would be appreciated...
www.conspiracydvds.co.uk
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Posted by: Gabe McVey at Feb 27
What, no one's going to pimp Alex Jones' new movie Endgame, in which the doyen of the conspiracy movement (i.e. intellectual bowel movement) ties it all together? The Bilderburg Group, JFK, 9/11 it's all run by a cabal of international Communists/Capitalists that have the technology to live FOREVER...but first they have to kill YOU!!!!!!
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Posted by: Don at Feb 27
Jacob, It is amazing that you would pick three topics that are all fact and not theoretical at all .Unless you mention these topics to the average american citizen who cant find his own country on a map. Its a very sad reality that our once great nation has fallen into such ill repair. once we were the most admired, educated and loved nation in the world . But alas oh how the mighty have fallen. To rebut your claims of myth and theory is not needful , these other people are spot on. and something tells me that you know the truth also . but if you started writing the truth you would not have your present job very long . Right ? What a shame there truthful objective journalism has bowed to the jackbooted tyrannical government . But just as the one you say you deny ( JESUS CHRIST ) foretold two thousand years ago " TRUTH IS FALEN IN THE STRETS " ALSO TO PARAPRASE ANOTHER VERSE < IT IS NESASARY THAT OFENCES COME < BUT WOE UNTO WHOM THEY COME . Jacob , why dont you be the hero and buck the corprate media ? God knows we need people like you. Think about it ???
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Posted by: Chip at Feb 27
OK, Tech is a school with a deserved reputation for its strong engineering department. I was a German major at Tech (they exist, albeit in the single digits) so this is way out of my league, but... Would any engineer out there care to offer an assessment of the WTC collapse?
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Posted by: Ric at Feb 27
So....you are the last person who thinks JFK was shot by a lone gunman. Look into that a bit further and then look into WTC 7. That might help to bring you up to speed.
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Posted by: Truth at Feb 27
To Hans......Have you ever seen a building being prepared to be imploded on history channel or some other network? The building is gutted, wired, and charged with explosives. The process takes months at least. One would think that the ten of thousands of employees in the World Trade Center towers would have noticed hundreds of people (US gov or terrorists or whatever) working on getting their office ready for demolition.
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Posted by: Hans at Feb 27
9/11 was not committed by Muslim extremists, it's clear to anyone who looks at the evidence with an open mind. Steel-framed buildings (all 3!) don't spontaneously collapse; the evidence at the Pentagon looks like a missle rather than a plane; our air defence would normally have intercepted the stray planes; there was no airplane wreckage in Pennsylvania.
In Sept. 2000, PNAC (comprised of leading neocons in top positions of government) called for aggressive American military action around the world, but said it would be difficult without a catastrophic new Pearl Harbor. On 9/11, W said, the Pearl Harbor of our century happened today.
The media have been complicit. Many people don't want to believe such a terrible thing could have been committed by our own government. Wake up folks, there's a long history of false-flag operations. Who stood to gain? W needed a war, defense contractors needed money.
To all the people who believe the official account, have you seen videos of the towers exploding? Do you know about the explosions in the basements? Do you think with the fires out or dying, the buildings would suddenly collapse at free-fall speed, leaving molten steel throughout the rubble?
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Posted by: Engrish at Feb 27
Wow. I don't know which posting was harder to read, the one in all caps or the one that was completely devoid of punctuation. Steve, sir, any point you might have had is completely lost in your, um, style. It appears that you believe not on one or even two conspiracy theories but all of them. Incidentally, I think you might want to do a little more research on the USS Liberty incident. There was a cover-up, all right, but it was to hide the fact that it was a good friend, Israel, that killed 34 US servicemen and wounded over 170.
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Posted by: STEVE at Feb 27
75 to 80 percent of the american people want the trops home!( gallup ) the democrats were put in to end the war , what happened to all the concern for what the people want ? 85 to 90 percent of the american people think kenndy was killed by other elements of the loving government.why do you think esienhower warned of the milatary industrial complex. e. howard hunts confessed to running the operation called the "big event ". he did this last year on audio and video tape as a death bed confession to his son st. john hunt, this was carried by many radio statins and rolling stone mag .controlled mainstream media is a joke.popular mechanics is known for its "yellow journalism "cand the laws of physics did not suspend themselves on 911 ! i have read all the historicl evidence for the lord jesus christs life as if i needed to .real christianity ( not catholism )made this nation what it WAS . you threw it out in the 60s from the schools , now look at this moralally bankrupt nation the founding fathers said that this form of government could only work with a moral people , bush says the constition is just a GD peice of paper ! the majority of the government only does enough for their constituients only to stay in office .i dont need scientist who contradict the laws of physics by saying something can come from nothing ( thermodynamics ) evolution , to tell me ufos are real , i have seen a few myself .were is all the trillions missing from the pentagon ? oh yea , a real caring government that staged the gulf of tonkien for veitnam and tried to sink its own ship (uss liberty ) just declassified . my friend , your column may be loved by the majority of tv watching ,dumbed down ,will not think for themselves sheeple . but it just makes someone who does check out facts from a critical thinking perspective do that much more to try and wake up a dying nation.thank you sir !
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