DOCSLIB.ORG

The Internet and the Logic of Conspiracy Theory

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Internet and the Logic of Conspiracy Theory http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/ Research Commons at the University of Waikato Copyright Statement: The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). The thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the thesis. Conspiratoria – the Internet and the Logic of Conspiracy Theory A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Screen and Media Studies at The University of Waikato by Dean Ballinger 2011 ABSTRACT _______________________________________________________ This thesis is a theoretical investigation of the relationships between the logic of conspiracy theory and the Internet. It argues that the Internet can be conceptualised as a technocultural space conducive to the development of conspiracy belief and practice. Critical discourses regarding the relationships between mainstream media and the Internet are discussed as constituting the main points of connection between conspiracy theory and the Internet. With reference to radical discourses of media power, the study first considers conspiracy theorist‘s conceptions of mainstream media as a site of conspiratorial control, and their configuration of the Internet as a medium which operates as a countervailing influence to mainstream media power. The study then considers cyber-cultural discourses, such as those of the second media age, that articulate the Internet as a site of democratic empowerment, and how these resonate with the democratic ideas that, in distorted forms, constitute key aspects of conspiracist belief. These two major discursive themes – the Internet as a counteractive force to mainstream media power, and the Internet as a site of democratic empowerment – are then discussed as forming the basis for radical configurations of the Internet as an alternative medium. The study then shifts into an examination of the Internet‘s configuration as an alternative public sphere, and argues that this configuration constitutes the most significant point of connection between the Internet and the logic of conspiracy theory as the alternative principles of opposition to mainstream media and radical democratic activity correspond to central ideas of conspiracist thought. This argument is developed further through a discussion of alternative news practices, and the ways in which conspiracy theorists appropriate such practices as a means of legitimating their extremist beliefs within the alternative public sphere. A case study of the conspiracy news site Rense.com is then presented as an illustration of this appropriation-legitimation dynamic in action. The study concludes by arguing that the Internet does constitute a ‗conspiratorium‘ for conspiracy theorists in relation to the ideas outlined above, and that conspiracy theory can – ironically – be seen as a major embodiment of the dominant technologically deterministic discourses that articulate the Internet as a ‗revolutionary‘ technology. The arguments presented in this study are developed with reference to direct examples of online conspiracy theory beliefs and practices. Major theoretical bases for the study include the work of Atton (2004) on alternative media; Curran‘s (2002) discussions of media power; Holmes‘ (2005) and Mosco‘s (2004) overviews of the cyber-utopian perspectives that have shaped the development of the Internet; and Keane‘s (1991) work on the media and democracy. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ________________________________________________________ This thesis would not have been possible without assistance from the following: Academically, I would most like to thank my supervisors, Prof. Dan Fleming, Dr Ann Hardy, and Dr Bevin Yeatman, for their academic guidance and moral support, enthusiasm towards the study, and pragmatism regarding its completion. I would also like to thank the rest of the Screen & Media Department at the University of Waikato, particularly: - Assoc. Prof. Geoff Lealand, who was instrumental in securing scholarship money towards the completion of the thesis, and who also kept me supplied with useful conspiracy-related news articles; - Dr Craig Hight, for fielding my endless queries on the administrative requirements of thesis study; - Head of Department, Dr Alistair Swale, for facilitating post-graduate study; - Carolyn Henson and Athena Chambers for technical assistance with areas such as formatting. Thanks to Assoc. Prof. Catherine Coleborne and the University of Waikato History Department for providing office space in which the work could actually get done. Other people related to the University of Waikato who were particularly helpful in various capacities include Euan at ITS; Josh Drummond of Nexus magazine; and Malcolm Skinner. I will also thank the University of Waikato library for letting me have the same pile of books continually re-issued for three years. Personally, I would like to thank friends and colleagues who advised or supported me throughout the writing of the study. These include: Dr Richard Swainson of Auteur House, whose sardonic take on academic matters was a grounding influence throughout; Stan Jagger, for proofreading assistance; The Hollow Grinders; Disco Volante; Roz Case and Geoff Doube; Kevin Pryor and Esther Hildebrandt; Browsers Bookstore. The support of family members was, of course, invaluable. Special thanks to my parents Joan and Ross Ballinger, and my in-laws David & Agnes Taylor, for assistance with childcare and sundry other domestic matters. The most profound thanks is reserved for my wife, Kelly Taylor, for supporting – and enduring! – her husband‘s academic undertakings in too many ways to note, and to my children Perry, Oisin, and Felix, for being my children and for keeping their father so tired that he was unable to get too stressed out about this study. Since Oisin and Felix were born during the course of this study, it is dedicated to them. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ________________________________________________________ Abstract i Acknowledgments ii Table of contents iii Tables and Figures viii Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Ideas of this study 1 1.2 Approach to subject matter 4 1.3 Chapter overview 5 Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Introduction 10 2.2 Critical approaches – Pathological 10 2.21 Pathological approaches – Hofstadter 11 2.22 Later pathological studies 13 2.3 Critical approaches – Allegorical 16 2.31 Allegorical approaches – Lyotard 16 2.32 Paralogical studies 17 2.33 Allegorical approaches – Jameson 19 2.34 Cognitive mapping studies 21 2.35 Anthologies and general studies 22 2.4 Overview of critical approaches 24 2.41 Pathological approaches – strengths and weaknesses 24 2.42 Allegorical approaches – strengths and weaknesses: Paralogy 26 2.43 Allegorical approaches – strengths and weaknesses: cognitive mapping 30 2.5 Critical position of this study 31 2.51 A typology of conspiracy theories 34 iii Chapter 3: Theory and Methodology 3.1 Introduction 39 Section 1 – Theoretical contexts 39 3.21 Public communication 40 3.22 Medium theory 41 3.23 Cultural politics 43 Section 2 – Methodological frameworks 45 3.31 Qualitative paradigms 46 3.32 Hermeneutic approaches 49 3.33 Cultural interpretation 50 Section 3 – Web research practices 51 3.41 Data-gathering – non-participant observation 51 3.42 Observation of online conspiracy material – website analysis 55 3.43 Observation of online conspiracy material – website types and conspiracy content 57 3.5 Summary 61 Chapter 4: Conspiracy Theory and Mainstream Media 4.1 Introduction 62 4.21 The mainstream media as conspiratorial control system 63 4.22 Conspiratorial control of the media – examples 74 4.31 Conspiracist ideas of information freedom – political contexts 93 4.32 Freedom – political traditions 94 4.33 Democracy – key concepts 101 4.34 Democracy and media 107 4.35 Populism 109 4.36 Libertarianism 112 4.4 Summary 117 Chapter 5: The Internet and Information Freedom 5.1 Introduction 118 5.21 The Net and discourses of the second media age 118 5.22 The Net and myths of the digital sublime 122 iv 5.3 American discourses of the Internet and information freedom 127 5.4 Summary 139 Chapter 6: The Internet as an Alternative Medium and Conspiracy Theory 6.1 Introduction 141 6.21 The public sphere – background 143 6.22 The public sphere – principles and practices 146 6.23 The public sphere – criticisms and revisions 149 6.24 The public sphere and the Internet 151 6.31 Alternative media – definitions 155 6.32 The Internet as alternative public sphere and conspiracy theory 158 6.4 Summary 162 Chapter 7: Alternative News and Conspiracy Theory 7.1 Introduction 163 7.2 News media and the public sphere 163 7.31 Mainstream news media and alternative news media 168 7.32 Alternative news media and conspiracy theory 178 7.4 Summary 183 Chapter 8: Alternative News case study – Rense.com 8.1 Introduction 185 8.2 Rense.com – background 185 8.21 The conspiracist worldview presented on Rense.com 186 8.22 The presentation of Rense.com as an alternative news site 188 8.3 Methodology 192 8.31 The address of each individual news webpage
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Reactionary Postmodernism? Neoliberalism, Multiculturalism, the Internet, and the Ideology of the New Far Right in Germany
    University of Vermont ScholarWorks @ UVM UVM Honors College Senior Theses Undergraduate Theses 2018 Reactionary Postmodernism? Neoliberalism, Multiculturalism, the Internet, and the Ideology of the New Far Right in Germany William Peter Fitz University of Vermont Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/hcoltheses Recommended Citation Fitz, William Peter, "Reactionary Postmodernism? Neoliberalism, Multiculturalism, the Internet, and the Ideology of the New Far Right in Germany" (2018). UVM Honors College Senior Theses. 275. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/hcoltheses/275 This Honors College Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Theses at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has been accepted for inclusion in UVM Honors College Senior Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contact [email protected]. REACTIONARY POSTMODERNISM? NEOLIBERALISM, MULTICULTURALISM, THE INTERNET, AND THE IDEOLOGY OF THE NEW FAR RIGHT IN GERMANY A Thesis Presented by William Peter Fitz to The Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of The University of Vermont In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements For the Degree of Bachelor of Arts In European Studies with Honors December 2018 Defense Date: December 4th, 2018 Thesis Committee: Alan E. Steinweis, Ph.D., Advisor Susanna Schrafstetter, Ph.D., Chairperson Adriana Borra, M.A. Table of Contents Introduction 1 Chapter One: Neoliberalism and Xenophobia 17 Chapter Two: Multiculturalism and Cultural Identity 52 Chapter Three: The Philosophy of the New Right 84 Chapter Four: The Internet and Meme Warfare 116 Conclusion 149 Bibliography 166 1 “Perhaps one will view the rise of the Alternative for Germany in the foreseeable future as inevitable, as a portent for major changes, one that is as necessary as it was predictable.
    [Show full text]
  • Effectiveness of Dismantling Strategies on Moderated Vs. Unmoderated
    www.nature.com/scientificreports OPEN Efectiveness of dismantling strategies on moderated vs. unmoderated online social platforms Oriol Artime1*, Valeria d’Andrea1, Riccardo Gallotti1, Pier Luigi Sacco2,3,4 & Manlio De Domenico 1 Online social networks are the perfect test bed to better understand large-scale human behavior in interacting contexts. Although they are broadly used and studied, little is known about how their terms of service and posting rules afect the way users interact and information spreads. Acknowledging the relation between network connectivity and functionality, we compare the robustness of two diferent online social platforms, Twitter and Gab, with respect to banning, or dismantling, strategies based on the recursive censor of users characterized by social prominence (degree) or intensity of infammatory content (sentiment). We fnd that the moderated (Twitter) vs. unmoderated (Gab) character of the network is not a discriminating factor for intervention efectiveness. We fnd, however, that more complex strategies based upon the combination of topological and content features may be efective for network dismantling. Our results provide useful indications to design better strategies for countervailing the production and dissemination of anti- social content in online social platforms. Online social networks provide a rich laboratory for the analysis of large-scale social interaction and of their social efects1–4. Tey facilitate the inclusive engagement of new actors by removing most barriers to participate in content-sharing platforms characteristic of the pre-digital era5. For this reason, they can be regarded as a social arena for public debate and opinion formation, with potentially positive efects on individual and collective empowerment6.
    [Show full text]
  • Urban Myths Mythical Cryptids
    Ziptales Advanced Library Worksheet 2 Urban Myths Mythical Cryptids ‘What is a myth? It is a story that pretends to be real, but is in fact unbelievable. Like many urban myths it has been passed around (usually by word of mouth), acquiring variations and embellishments as it goes. It is a close cousin of the tall tale. There are mythical stories about almost any aspect of life’. What do we get when urban myths meet the animal kingdom? We find a branch of pseudoscience called cryptozoology. Cryptozoology refers to the study of and search for creatures whose existence has not been proven. These creatures (or crytpids as they are known) appear in myths and legends or alleged sightings. Some examples include: sea serpents, phantom cats, unicorns, bunyips, giant anacondas, yowies and thunderbirds. Some have even been given actual names you may have heard of – do Yeti, Owlman, Mothman, Cyclops, Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster sound familiar? Task 1: Choose one of the cryptids from the list above (or perhaps one that you may already know of) and write an informative text identifying the following aspects of this mythical creature: ◊ Description ◊ Features ◊ Location ◊ First Sighting ◊ Subsequent Sightings ◊ Interesting Facts (e.g. how is it used in popular culture? Has it been featured in written or visual texts?) Task 2: Cryptozoologists claim there have been cases where species now accepted by the scientific community were initially considered urban myths. Can you locate any examples of creatures whose existence has now been proven but formerly thought to be cryptids? Extension Activities: • Cryptozoology is called a ‘pseudoscience’ because it relies solely on anecdotes and reported sightings rather than actual evidence.
    [Show full text]
  • Holocaust-Denial Literature: a Fourth Bibliography
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Publications and Research York College 2000 Holocaust-Denial Literature: A Fourth Bibliography John A. Drobnicki CUNY York College How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/yc_pubs/25 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Holocaust-Denial Literature: A Fourth Bibliography John A. Drobnicki This bibliography is a supplement to three earlier ones published in the March 1994, Decem- ber 1996, and September 1998 issues of the Bulletin of Bibliography. During the intervening time. Holocaust revisionism has continued to be discussed both in the scholarly literature and in the mainstream press, especially owing to the libel lawsuit filed by David Irving against Deb- orah Lipstadt and Penguin Books. The Holocaust deniers, who prefer to call themselves “revi- sionists” in an attempt to gain scholarly legitimacy, have refused to go away and remain as vocal as ever— Bradley R. Smith has continued to send revisionist advertisements to college newspapers (including free issues of his new publication. The Revisionist), generating public- ity for his cause. Holocaust-denial, which will be used interchangeably with Holocaust revisionism in this bib- liography, is a body of literature that seeks to “prove” that the Jewish Holocaust did not hap- pen. Although individual revisionists may have different motives and beliefs, they all share at least one point: that there was no systematic attempt by Nazi Germany to exterminate Euro- pean Jewry.
    [Show full text]
  • The Human Aura
    The Human Aura Manual compiled by Dr Gaynor du Perez Copyright © 2016 by Gaynor du Perez All Rights Reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without the written permission of the author. INTRODUCTION Look beneath the surface of the world – the world that includes your clothes, skin, material possessions and everything you can see - and you will discover a universe of swirling and subtle energies. These are the energies that underlie physical reality – they form you and everything you see. Many scientific studies have been done on subtle energies, as well as the human subtle energy system, in an attempt to verify and understand how everything fits together. What is interesting to note is that even though the subtle energy systems on the earth have been verified scientifically as existing and even given names, scientists are only able to explain how some of them work. Even though we do not fully comprehend the enormity and absolute amazingness of these energies, they form an integral part of life as we know it. These various energy systems still exist regardless of whether you “believe in them” or not (unlike Santa Claus). You can liken them to micro-organisms that were unable to be seen before the invention of the microscope – they couldn’t be seen, but they killed people anyway. We, and everything in the universe, is made of energy, which can be defined most simply as “information that vibrates”. What’s more interesting is that everything vibrates at its own unique frequency / speed, for example, a brain cell vibrates differently than a hair cell, and similar organisms vibrate in similar ways, but retain a slightly different frequency than the other.
    [Show full text]
  • Ouse Foreign Affairs Subcommittee On
    Testimony of Andrew Srulevitch, European Affairs Director Anti-Defamation League House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations Hearing on Anti-Semitism: A Growing Threat to All Faiths February 27, 2013 Washington, DC 1 Testimony of Andrew Srulevitch Director of European Affairs Anti-Defamation League House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations February 27, 2013 Washington, DC Let me offer special thanks on behalf of the Anti-Defamation League and its National Director, Abraham Foxman, to Chairman Smith and all the Members of the Subcommittee for holding this hearing today and for the many hearings, letters, and rallying cries that have kept this issue front and center. Your commitment to the fight against anti-Semitism and your determination to move from concern to action inspires and energizes all of us. The history of the Jewish people is fraught with examples of the worst violations of human rights - forced conversions, expulsions, inquisitions, pogroms, and genocide. The struggle against the persecution of Jews was a touchstone for the creation of some of the foundational human rights instruments and treaties as well as the development of important regional human rights mechanisms like the human dimension commitments of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). We focus today on anti-Semitism but we are mindful that, in advancing the fight against anti-Semitism, we elevate the duty of governments to comply with broader human rights commitments and norms. That is the core of ADL’s mission: to secure justice and fair treatment for Jews in tandem with safeguarding the rights of all groups.
    [Show full text]
  • Archons (Commanders) [NOTICE: They Are NOT Anlien Parasites], and Then, in a Mirror Image of the Great Emanations of the Pleroma, Hundreds of Lesser Angels
    A R C H O N S HIDDEN RULERS THROUGH THE AGES A R C H O N S HIDDEN RULERS THROUGH THE AGES WATCH THIS IMPORTANT VIDEO UFOs, Aliens, and the Question of Contact MUST-SEE THE OCCULT REASON FOR PSYCHOPATHY Organic Portals: Aliens and Psychopaths KNOWLEDGE THROUGH GNOSIS Boris Mouravieff - GNOSIS IN THE BEGINNING ...1 The Gnostic core belief was a strong dualism: that the world of matter was deadening and inferior to a remote nonphysical home, to which an interior divine spark in most humans aspired to return after death. This led them to an absorption with the Jewish creation myths in Genesis, which they obsessively reinterpreted to formulate allegorical explanations of how humans ended up trapped in the world of matter. The basic Gnostic story, which varied in details from teacher to teacher, was this: In the beginning there was an unknowable, immaterial, and invisible God, sometimes called the Father of All and sometimes by other names. “He” was neither male nor female, and was composed of an implicitly finite amount of a living nonphysical substance. Surrounding this God was a great empty region called the Pleroma (the fullness). Beyond the Pleroma lay empty space. The God acted to fill the Pleroma through a series of emanations, a squeezing off of small portions of his/its nonphysical energetic divine material. In most accounts there are thirty emanations in fifteen complementary pairs, each getting slightly less of the divine material and therefore being slightly weaker. The emanations are called Aeons (eternities) and are mostly named personifications in Greek of abstract ideas.
    [Show full text]
  • Preparatory Document
    Preparatory document Please notice that we recommend that you read the first ten pages of the first three documents, the last document is optional. • International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, Recognizing and Countering Holocaust Distortion: Recommendations for Policy and Decision Makers (Berlin: International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, 2021), read esp. pp. 14-24 • Deborah Lipstadt, "Holocaust Denial: An Antisemitic Fantasy," Modern Judaism 40:1 (2020): 71-86 • Keith Kahn Harris, "Denialism: What Drives People to Reject the Truth," The Guardian, 3 August 2018, as at https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/aug/03/denialism-what-drives- people-to-reject-the-truth (attached as pdf) • Optional reading: Giorgio Resta and Vincenzo Zeno-Zencovich, "Judicial 'Truth' and Historical 'Truth': The Case of the Ardeatine Caves Massacre," Law and History Review 31:4 (2013): 843- 886 Holocaust Denial: An Antisemitic Fantasy Deborah Lipstadt Modern Judaism, Volume 40, Number 1, February 2020, pp. 71-86 (Article) Published by Oxford University Press For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/750387 [ Access provided at 15 Feb 2021 12:42 GMT from U S Holocaust Memorial Museum ] Deborah Lipstadt HOLOCAUST DENIAL: AN ANTISEMITIC FANTASY* *** When I first began working on the topic of Holocaust deniers, colleagues would frequently tell me I was wasting my time. “These people are dolts. They are the equivalent of flat-earth theorists,” they would insist. “Forget about them.” In truth, I thought the same thing. In fact, when I first heard of Holocaust deniers, I laughed and dismissed them as not worthy of serious analysis. Then I looked more closely and I changed my mind.
    [Show full text]
  • APR 2016 Part C.Pdf
    Page | 1 CBRNE-TERRORISM NEWSLETTER – April 2016 www.cbrne-terrorism-newsletter.com Page | 2 CBRNE-TERRORISM NEWSLETTER – April 2016 After Brussels, Europe's intelligence woes revealed Source:http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/22/brussels-attack-why-europe-must-increase-terror- intelligence.html Mar 23 – Europe must improve the regional Rudd's comments are at the crux of a hot- sharing of intelligence to successfully button discourse about the encroachment on combat the rise of homegrown militants, civil liberties should governments ramp up policy experts told CNBC a day after deadly surveillance and detainment tactics in the explosions hit Brussels. global war on terror. Global terrorist organization ISIS claimed Rudd believes it's a necessary cost to bear. responsibility for Tuesday's attacks that killed "This is not a normal set of circumstances, at least 31 people, the latest episode in the we've got to give our men and women in group's campaign of large-scale violence on uniform and in the intelligence services the the international stage. powers necessary to deal with this. This is no Recent offensives in Paris and Jakarta indicate criticism of the Belgian government but a wake- ISIS is increasingly relying on local up call to all of us who wrestle with this fundamentalists, typically trained in ISIS debate." strongholds within the Middle East, to execute Others agree that European officials must suicide bombings and shootings in busy direct more investment to counter-terrorism, metropolitan areas. despite strained finances for most countries in "The key question here is closing the the region. intelligence gap," said Kevin Rudd, former The fact that the perpetrator of December's Prime Minister of Australia and president of the Paris attacks was caught in Belgium four Asia Society Policy Institute.
    [Show full text]
  • An Electromagnetic-Etheric Systems Approach to Communications with Other Levels of Human Consciousness
    r — rs — MI M-MI-M I An Electromagnetic-Etheric Systems Approach to Communications with Other Levels of Human Consciousness ....moir.■ •■■ •=mairmaimilm■ onsanimmenmeimmmommrarrmi1 COPY No. /4 TO: Director of Research, lvletascience Foundation: I understand that within 6 to 12 months following the April 6 Press Conference you may publish a. supplement to the first edition of the SPIRICOM technical manual. My check here_ indicates my desire to be notified of such a supple- ment. My check here indicates that I expect to do research in this field and would be willing to share my successes and failures with other researchers. (It is the nature of basic research that much of great value can be learned from the failures!) I would like to receive notification about the in- auguration of such a newsletter and prefer English edition German edition The number on the cover of my SPIRT OM manual is Name (Please print) Street City, State, ZIP TO: Anyone Contemplating Developing Equipment to Converse with the "Dead": A Word of CAUTION 7 • Tens of thousands of hours spent over 25 years by hundreds of EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) researchers in Europe have clearly shown that some form of supplemental energy must be utilized to permit even individual words or short phrases to reach a level of audibility detedtable even by a researcher with a highly acute sense of hearing. II Eleven years of effort by Metascience researchers has established that the energies involved in the different levels of the worlds of spirit are not a part of the electromagnetic spectrum as science presently knows it.
    [Show full text]
  • Debunking 911 Myths.Pdf
    PRAISE FOR DEBUNKING 9111 MYTHS "Debunking 9111 Myths is a reliable and rational answer to the many fanciful conspiracy theories about 9/11. Despite the fact that the myths are fictitious, many have caught on with those who do not trust their government to tell the truth anymore. Fortunately, the govern­ ment is not sufficiently competent to pull off such conspiracies and too leaky to keep them secret. What happened on 9/11 has been well established by the 9/11 Commission. What did not happen has now been clearly explained by Popular Mechanics." -R 1 cHARD A. cLARKE, former national security advisor, author of Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror "This book is a victory for common sense; 9/11 conspiracy theorists beware: Popular Mechanics has popped your paranoid bubble world, using pointed facts and razor-sharp analysis." -Au s T 1 N BAY, national security columnist (Creators Syndicate), author (with James F. Dunnigan) of From Shield to Storm: High-Tech Weapons, Military Strategyand Coalition Warfare in the Persian Gulf "Even though I study weird beliefs for a living, I never imagined that the 9/11 conspiracy theories that cropped up shortly after that tragic event would ever get cultural traction in America, but here we are with a plethora of conspiracies and no end in sight. What we need is a solid work of straightforward debunking, and now we have it in Debunking 9111 Myths. The Popular Mechanics article upon which the book is based was one of the finest works of investigative journalism and skep­ tical analysis that I have ever encountered, and the book-length treat­ ment of this codswallop will stop the conspiracy theorists in their fantasy-prone tracks.
    [Show full text]
  • New 20-Page AFP Master
    WEEKLY PAPER: DO NOT DELAY—MAILED: 6-27-08 AmericanFreePress # YOUR WEEKLY NEWSPAPER FROM CAPITOL HILL AFP Volume VIII • Number 27 July 7, 2008 americanfreepress.net $2.50 BUSH MUST BE PROSECUTED Law School Dean Says War Criminals Have to Be Punished resident Bush may think that his departure from office next Is al Qaeda January will shield him from the Losing the Pwrath of those millions of people AFP ON ZIONISM: he has harmed during his presidency. But ‘War on think again, says the dean of the Massa- chusetts School of Law, who warns the • KOSHER FOOD PLANT BUSTED – p. 12. Terror’? president that he will be hounded to the ends of the Earth • UNINTENTIONAL ANTI-SEMITISM – p. 13. for the multitude of war crimes he and his cronies have Page 6. committed since 2001. See our story. • BIBLE BURNING IN HOLY LAND – p. 13. See DEAN OF U.S. LAW SCHOOL, page 4 SHOCKING REVELATION: U.S. POWS STILL IN LAOS AFP & others have said it for years; now proof emerges U.S. soldiers Senators The Inside Scoop: still held in Southeast Asian camps • Personal from the Editor. Page 2. Outraged: • News You May Have Missed. Page 2. ohn McCain, the U.S. government and the main- • Obama and his mama: Is he eligible for office? Page 3. stream media may want to sweep it under the rug Soldiers still • Law school dean says pursue Bush for war crimes. Page 4. Jforever, but AFP is still keeping the MIA/POW being used as • Dean’s conference agenda on war crimes.
    [Show full text]