Comments on: Conspiracy Conference: ‘Patriots,’ Others Tout Tales of Government Evil

By: DC

DC — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 00:49:36 +0000

Well, you should hear Douglass Dietrich speak, or go to coast to coast Am radio site and listen to his last 4 hour show.
He was a kid who was paid to destroy many redundant records at the Presidio in SAN Fransisco.
If you listen many things that should never had made sense, in all the wars that the US has allowed itself to be involved in, are somewhat explained by his research and backed up by other sources. Or of course we could all remain ignorant, or useful idiots to I party or faction.and bend over and take it like we are expected too.
My .02 worth

By: Lex

Lex — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 11:50:44 +0000

Whats “Arab Dna” and how is it different from “American Dna”

By: Lex

Lex — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 11:43:51 +0000

If hundreds of antigovernment conspiracy buffs gathered under one roof
No but it would be a spectacular event of craziness well worth paying for to see

By: Jonas Rand

Jonas Rand — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 00:02:41 +0000

My first post contained an error : I meant to say Rick Snyder, not Scott.

By: James Hutchings

James Hutchings — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 06:10:49 +0000

But do we REALLY know whether this convention took place?

By: Difluoroethene

Difluoroethene — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 04:07:48 +0000

Honegger says that 9/11 was an inside job “because no Arab DNA was found at the ruins”.

Um….that is SO ridiculous:

1. The hijackers’ DNA would almost certainly have been damaged beyond recognition by the blast.

2. Even if some hijacker DNA remained intact, it would have been extremely difficult for any investigators to locate. Indeed it would probably make finding a needle in a haystack seem like an easy task.

3. While DNA tests can guess ethnic origins, these tests can never be 100% accurate, due to individual variation, DNA damage, and the fact that lots of people are actually of mixed ancestry and don’t realize it.

4. Finding identifiably Arab DNA wouldn’t mean anything either; most of the Arabs who died on 9/11 were _victims_ of the attack, not the hijackers.

By: Jonas Rand

Jonas Rand — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 22:27:45 +0000

As for the rest of the stuff discussed in this article, it seems like a paranoid nuttery convention. All that is missing is dowsing and mediums conjuring up spirits. Brian Hall perfectly exemplifies Poe’s Law; his ideas are so bizarre and over-the-top, they seem like farcical parodies of conspiracy theorists. I have some conspiracy theories, and know of some actual conspiracies that the US government was involved in (such as multiple coup plots over the last half century); to believe some unproven theories is not an inherently paranoid or crazy thing. But the superstitious, paranoid silliness of constantly looking under your bed for 666 (d)Evil Satan coming to take over the world is nonsense. Ordinarily, it would be resisted by anyone who is rational, but since most Americans are undergoing economic trouble, and regular people find ourselves atomized, without a real means of expression, these theories spread. Vulnerability to belief in nonsense without critical examination spreads during times of crisis and poverty, where some people know that it is ridiculous to accept the conventional wisdom about a “recovery”, but treat any nutty theory that decries the system with uncritical acceptance.

By: Deep Ecology

Deep Ecology — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 22:15:41 +0000

Isn’t this a “hate” blog? Neo-whatevers are much more interesting than people who just gave up on their medication a little too soon.

I have always been fascinated by conspiracy buffs, whatever their political flavor. A friend of mine in the teaching business went so far as to write a book about them plus societies and cultures that seem to spawn more than their fair share of cranks plus followers.

Really moderators, this post was tongue firmly in cheek, right?

By: Gregory

Gregory — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 22:13:33 +0000

She knew that, she said, in part “because no Arab DNA” was found in the ruins.

After I stopped laughing over the obvious stupidity of this remark, I would have to ask her, “What of the victims who were of Middle Eastern descent?” Surely their “Arab DNA” would have been in the rubble.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:57:25 +0000

Jonas,

Why couldn’t the gov. also use the data on regular bills without using smart meters?

By: Leslie

Leslie — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:46:02 +0000

skinnyminny,

That is the reason that PG&E spent 40 million dollars on misleading advertising of a ballot proposition that would make it illegal for city governments to set up their own publicly run power companies. They lost because most voters could see through the ruse. None of this is a secret conspiracy though–it is pretty out in the open.

By: Jonas Rand

Jonas Rand — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:44:59 +0000

re: smart meters. Yes, there is nothing wrong with being worried about their defectiveness or fearful that they might endanger your privacy. “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.” Leslie, you are correct in that PG&E is a private company and is independent from the government, but the distinction between government and private industry is becoming more and more blurred, due to the considerable influence corporations have on the government. The government has become somewhat of a shill for corporations, and big business is like a shadow government. Politicians are “bought off” and then get campaign contributions from the corporations with which they have cozy relationships. They pass anti-union legislation to protect the rich CEOs and prevent workers from having a voice, they contract government services out to businesses, etc., and just look at what Rick Scott, Michigan governor, did not very long ago in Benton Harbour! Scott appointed what was, in essence, a private dictatorship, a junta who would do private industry’s bidding, and stripped the mayor and city council of all their power. The divide between public and private power is being gradually erased, as fewer and fewer people are controlling information and wealth (though it’s been happening for decades).

PG&E being a private company does not stop it from giving the government information about power usage, which itself could cause paranoia about “terrorists” . There is a possibility that the government intel apparatus (which, after warrantless wiretapping, FBI harassment and many other controversies, is known to have been spying on its own citizens) would use “smart meter” data about power usage to confirm, in their eyes, a suspicion that someone is a “terrorist” experimenting with bomb plots or some ridiculous nonsense. Concerns about paranoid “patriots” should not stifle other concerns about government violation of citizens’ privacy.

By: Ruslan Amirkhanov

Ruslan Amirkhanov — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:26:15 +0000

I like the idea of conspiracy cons because it actually shows other people why conspiracy theories are so ridiculous. After all, it can’t be the Illuminati, Jews, Masons, Communists, at the same time. Get enough conspiracy theorists to tell their story and what you get is a circular firing squad. For example, one time a person was shocked that I didn’t believe 9-11 was an inside job, so they provided me with sources from Stephen Jones(who claims, ridiculously, that it was thermate), and Judy Wood, who says some kind of secret “death ray”. It didn’t matter to her that their hypotheses were mutually exclusive.

By: Shadow Wolf

Shadow Wolf — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:25:02 +0000

Actually, some of the stuff in there are quite true, like some of the comments above(like the 1st & 2nd posters). But not all of it are factual. Most blathers at these sort of events is nothing more than hype, such as the one where Obama was born in Kenya.

By: The Prisoner

The Prisoner — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 21:04:55 +0000

You never know, could be true.

By: skinnyminny

skinnyminny — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:56:58 +0000

Leslie,
this is how a private company can be a government conspiracy – you have all of these candidates from the tea party that came from the private industry that says government should be run like a business. Local government officials are getting bonuses – i.e. housing authority…there are corporations with advertisements in national parks and schools and say it is ‘government speech.’ The corporations and teas are saying that unions are illegal and people shouldn’t have to pay to be in a union – notwithstanding, the people that have a govt-union job have a choice to not work for govt and get a private sector job.
I personally think there should be a balance of small-mid-large businesses with government being independent from private sector. Meaning, government jobs should not be privatized, and government should be able to regulate private businesses. I am tired of businesses trying to tell the public that government is bad when they are the ones who brought damage to all of us – i.e. medicines they said was safe, people have suffered side effects. Once tobacco companies said cigarettes were cool, people have suffered and/or died. Cell phones were said to be safe, the industry denied it caused brain cancer. The new houses built during the W adminstration, builders used cheap drywall from China that made people sick, the builders initially denied it was the drywall. So, turning everything over to private sector would be a disaster because the little rights we have now would probably be wiped out.

By: Linnea

Linnea — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:12:05 +0000

This sounds more like “Nutcase Con”…

By: LilBite

LilBite — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 19:11:25 +0000

It’s hard to take someone seriously when they britstle about being “cute” or “fun” and then say “doo-doo”. This is soooo middle school.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:55:26 +0000

As a customer of PG&E (pacific gas and electric) I am familiar with the smart meter controversy. Some PG&E customers have seen their rates rise significantly after they were installed. PG&E later issued an apology and said some of the meters were not installed correctly resulting in higher bills. http://preview.tinyurl.com/3k6ke3c However, PG&E is a private company and not part of the government. I don’t understand how a private company’s mistakes can be considered a government conspiracy by anyone.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:11:28 +0000

Honestly, there are enough verifiable discernable cases of abuses of power and abuses of the constitution by recent US administrations – such as warrantless wiretapping under Bush and the current failure of Obama to get congressional clearance within the mandated 60 days for the military action in Libya – without anyone having to make anything up to hang on them.