Victronix's blog

Cass Sunstein: Still Plagued by his Imaginary Conspiracy Theorists

A story had came out the other day, based on a study published in JAMA, about how lots of Americans believe in nutty medical conspiracy theories (i.e., flouride is bad, cell phone radiation is bad, etc) --

You're Not Alone: Medical Conspiracies Believed By Many
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/18/us-medical-conspiracies-idUSBREA2H22K20140318

I found it nauseating to read and ending up commenting on multiple locations out of frustration, wasting time. But then I noticed that Voice of America was running the story (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_of_america#VOA_as_a_propaganda_tool) and that Cass Sunstein was also writing about it, and it was even more nauseating, yet also, made sense. They are trying so hard to hold onto their control of things that their propaganda is practically glowing.

The good news is that about half of Americans see through it. The comments on these news articles indicated the views went about 50-50 -- half the people understood that being skeptical of every official claim is healthy and normal, and half the people were automatically defending authority without question

Judge Hellerstein: "strange, improbable" events in WTC7 lawsuit

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"Hellerstein said it was not reasonable for Silverstein and Citigroup to foresee the 'strange, improbable, and attenuated chain of events that led to 7 World Trade Center's collapse and the crushing of Con Edison's substation.' He added: 'Nothing in common experience of history could give rise to a reasonably foreseeable risk relating to the chain of events flowing from the terrorists and their hijackings to the destruction of the Con Edison substation.'"

Citing scope of 9/11, NY judge tosses 7 WTC suit
September 23, 2011 7:21 PM

(AP) NEW YORK — In tossing out a negligence lawsuit, a judge on Friday cited the "strange, improbable" events that destroyed a 47-story World Trade Center building a decade ago on Sept. 11, several hours after the 110-story twin towers fell.

The claims by the Consolidated Edison Co. of New York were "too farfetched and tenuous" to survive, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said.

Wikipedia's 9/11 ‘Edit Wars’

[An interesting factoid: "Wikipedia, created in the year the Sept. 11 attacks took place, was profoundly shaped by those events."]

Link by Link
On Wikipedia, Echoes of 9/11 ‘Edit Wars’
By NOAM COHEN
Published: September 11, 2011

AS the nation marked this terrible anniversary, people invariably turned to Wikipedia to learn about the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Nearly two million page views were registered last September for the article “September 11 Attacks,” a typically Wikipedian effort with exhaustive, even picayune, details of the events, bolstered by nearly 289 footnotes. This September, the total page view number could be something like six million.

Likewise, readers have repeatedly turned to the article “9/11 Conspiracy Theories.” The article — similarly detailed with 299 footnotes purporting to explain accusations of faked video footage or controlled demolition of the two buildings — had 400,000 page views last September, and is on pace to have more than a million views this year.

One thing is certain, however. Not one of those visitors got to the conspiracy theories page by making a hypertext leap from a link in the main article about the Sept. 11 attacks. There is simply no mention of these theories, deemed fringe ideas, which have been repeatedly and officially discredited. They are written up in a variety of articles on Wikipedia, but they are kept on the fringe of the site.

This is no accident, but rather a Wikipedia policy concerning a topic as fraught with emotion as the Sept. 11 attacks. Thus the so-called gatekeepers of the media world — prominent newspapers, television news programs, newsweeklies — have an unlikely ally in Wikipedia, which bills itself as the encyclopedia anyone can edit.

Post a comment on this one

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[This may be the only piece the NYTimes does on the "truthers" this anniversary -- please consider posting a comment. They are moderated, but worth a try. It's an opportunity to speak to the many NYers who read that paper.]

September 9, 2011, 2:20 pm
9/11 ‘Truthers’ to Tone Protests Down, for a Day
By COREY KILGANNON

Benjamin Norman for The New York Times A meeting of people at a cafe in Greenwich Village on Thursday night of people who have alternate views of what happened on 9/11.

John Williamsburg from Niles, Ohio, chats by the protest signs.Benjamin Norman for The New York TimesJohn Williamsburg from Niles, Ohio, chats by protest signs.

“No bullhorning during the memorial.”

That’s always been the rule of thumb among “truther” demonstrators at ground zero on Sept. 11, out of respect for relatives of victims of the terror attack, said Mike Skuthan, 32, a Web designer from Long Island who attends the demonstrations every year.

ERROR: 'The Phone Calls were Fake'

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[The most recent 'Error' page in a series which documents errors in the 9/11 literature. One of the goals of 911review.com is to highlight these errors and improve the quality of analysis in the community of skeptics.]

ERROR: 'The Phone Calls were Fake'

The idea that phone calls from passengers on the targeted flights were fake and actually created with voice-morphing technology has been promoted by several "no Boeing" advocates and in particular detail by author David Ray Griffin in his numerous books, talks, interviews, and essays.

The case for the 'fake phone calls theory' as articulated by Griffin has become ever more nuanced and complex as government and airline disclosures have undermined the simplicity of the original set of claims surrounding the calls, and other researchers have pointed out flaws in that case. However, the theory remains rooted in the premise, seemingly calculated to be offensive attack survivors, that the last voices heard from victims on the planes were faked.

Origins

Guardian UK: Crap Debunking Job Posing as an Article

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[Talk about a crappy debunking piece (especially that last one -- all of one line). He must have written this in all of 15 minutes, just for the sake of having a title claiming "debunking", but which does nothing of the sort. And he clearly knows little about the history of the movement or the evidence, cites very old claims that disappeared long ago. Maybe the Guardian is going downhill.]

9/11 conspiracy theories debunked

See also:
September 11 conspiracy theories continue to abound
and
The 9/11 decade

For the past 10 years 'truthers' have claimed 9/11 was part of a bigger conspiracy – but does the evidence stack up?

Chris McGreal in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 September 2011 16.17 BST

The twin towers were destroyed by controlled explosion

New Paper Refutes Pentagon 'Flyover' Claims

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The Pentagon Attack on 9/11: A Refutation of the Pentagon Flyover Hypothesis Based on Analysis of the Flight Path

Frank Legge
(B.Sc., Ph.D., Chemistry)
and
David Chandler
(B.S. Physics, M.S.,Mathematics)

September 2011

Introduction

The legal and political implications of 9/11 have turned scientific research in this area into a high stakes competition for the minds of the public. Pertinent information has been kept secret, the corporate media has systematically kept "damaging" information (such as video images of the World Trade Center Building 7) out of public view, 9/11 research has been marginalized, and the official investigations have failed to answer, or in many cases even address, the most troubling questions. One development that appears to be a tactic in the ongoing cover-up is the high profile promotion of transparently false theories, "straw men," the only purpose of which appears to be to allow the 9/11 Truth Movement to be ridiculed.

Pacifica Radio's 10th Anniversary Coverage

Pacifica Radio Broadcast

911's Footprint on America: A Decade Later

All 5 of Pacifica's stations, the Pacifica Radio Archives and Democracy Now will offer 9 hours of broadcast. Affiliate stations are also invited to simulcast via KU or Audioport stream.

Please find below the first draft of the schedule.

Broadcast airs September 11, 2011
Time: noon EST - 8pm EST (8 hours)
11am-7pm Central time
9am- 5pm Pacific time

THE CLOCK:

9am - Democracy Now !

10am - Pacifica Archives - Reflections from the People

11am - KPFK - U.S. Impact on Foreign Policy in the aftermath of 911

12pm - WBAI - Casualties of 911 - The Loss of Civil Liberties

1pm - KPFT - From the Bible Belt - The Rise of the Religious Movement, Post 911

2pm - WPFW - The Pentagon: People Who Lived It and Still Unanswered Questions

3pm - KPFA - The Twin Towers Debate - 911 Commission Report

4pm - KPFA- The Twin Towers Debate - The Science

5pm - KPFA - Listener Call-Ins (nationwide)

2011 Anniversary showings of Brett Smith's Film "Hypothesis"

I was looking around to see if it was possible to buy the film Hypothesis, a film about Steven Jones, done by Brett Smith, but could not find any place to get it. Instead, it looks like it will be showing at a few places on this upcoming Anniversary again, including the Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival.

Hypothesis
http://www.docutah.com/film_schedule.htm
Director/Producer: Brett Smith
Country: USA Time: 46min. Genres: SOC/BIO

Showtimes:

Sat. 9/12 1-4 p.m. – Red Cliffs Cinema Theater 2
Thur. 9/15 1-4 p.m. – Red Cliffs Cinema Theater 1
Fri. 9/16 7-10 p.m. – DSC Eccles Main Stage
Fri. 9/16 4-7 p.m. – Red Cliffs Cinema Theater 3

Synopsis:

A documentary about Steven E. Jones, a professor of physics at BYU who made a conspiracy theory regarding the September 11 attacks. His theory resulted in everything from hate mail, bribes and threats to end his research.

It will also be showing in San Francisco, CA on the Anniversary for the 9/11: Reclaiming the Truth, Reclaiming Our Future conference:

September 11, 2011 - 1:15pm
The Herbst Theater

Another call for your 9/11 experience

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[There seem to be a lot of these out there by news organizations and seem like a good opportunity to show them how many of us are out there who don't buy the official story. You can write one response and then keep sending it out or posting it as a comment on all of the requests like this that you see. "Tumbling down" . . . heh, I guess they don't remember the details that well.]

Readers invited to contribute to 9-11 anniversary coverage
By: Tucker Mitchell
Published: August 19, 2011
http://www2.scnow.com/news/pee-dee/2011/aug/19/readers-invited-contribute-9-11-anniversary-covera-ar-2294047/

FLORENCE, SC --

Where were you when Kennedy was shot, when the Neil Armstrong walked on the moon?

Where were you when the Twin Towers came tumbling down?

Some events are etched into the memory.

Others are seared.

The day that will forever and be known simply as “9-11” falls into the latter category. It is iconic, it was a watershed. The world was not the same after it happened. It will never be the same again.

As the 10th anniversary of that day approaches, the Morning News and SCNow.com are planning special coverage. We’d like our readers to be a part of that.

AP Releases Style Guide for 9/11 & Timeline of Events

[Only a few years ago the last line of the timeline below would never have been included . . . but thanks to the many activists, family members, researchers, professionals and supporters, today, ten years on, it's there.]

By John Sellers at TheWrap
Wed Aug 10, 2011 3:30am EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/10/idUS221159963020110810

The AP has issued a style and reference guide for reporters to follow when writing about 9/11 and the tenth anniversary of the attacks.

Many of the terms already appear in the AP Stylebook, but the organization thought it prudent to compile a complete list of words, phrases and proper names to help journalists develop consistency of coverage over the final month leading up to September 11, 2011.

As you might expect from the standard-bearer, the guide does contain a hint of imperiousness, as when it chides those journalists who might be considering conjuring up their own terms:

"Do not make up names, however. There is no Boston Airport, for example. The Boston airport (lowercase airport) would be acceptable if for some reason the proper name, Logan International Airport, were not used."

CBS to Broadcast "9/11 10 Years Later"

By Robert Seidman
– August 1, 2011Posted in: Network TV Press Releases
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/08/01/cbs-to-broadcast-911-10-years-later/99297/

via press release:

CBS TO BROADCAST “9/11: 10 YEARS LATER,” MARKING THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER ATTACK,

SUNDAY, SEPT. 11, 8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT

The Update of the Critically Acclaimed, Multi Award-Winning Program, “9/11,” Will Feature New Interviews with Many of the Firefighters Featured in the Original Presentation

Robert De Niro Hosts this Historic Broadcast from Inside Ground Zero 10 Years Later, Showcasing Exclusive Footage inside the Site and Looking Back at Its History, with a Look Forward to the Future

The CBS Television Network and filmmakers Jules and Gedeon Naudet and James Hanlon will present “9/11: 10 YEARS LATER,” an update of the critically acclaimed, multiple award-winning film, “9/11,” to be broadcast on CBS as a special presentation Sunday, Sept. 11 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT), the 10th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center.

Not Going There: Predictable "What Was Learned From 9/11?" Stories

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In the ongoing quest to define reality about the events of 9/11/01, the MSM is pretending to ask the public what they "learned" about 9/11, or as in the case with NPR, using the official story mouthpieces to simply tell the public their version. In response, so far, one person on a list I'm on wrote this:

"Yesterday NPR did a program on 9/11. The program’s title was “What We’ve Learned Since 9/11.” Being the dope I am, I called in and to the screener, I said that what I’ve learned is that 1,000 foot buildings can’t come down in 10 seconds. His response was, “We’re not even going to go there.” I hung up. What’s new?"

I wonder how many times that screener had to say that.

Drawing Lessons From 9/11, Ten Years Later
Talk of the Nation, June 28, 2011

Michael Chertoff, former secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Jane Harman, former chair, U.S. House Intelligence Committee
Amb. John Negroponte, former Director of National Intelligence
Thomas Friedman, columnist, New York Times

excerpt:

JANE HARMAN: What have I learned? Here are a few things. I was in Congress on 9/11, headed toward the dome of the Capitol where the intelligence rooms were then housed. They've since moved underground to a bunker that's called the National Visitors Center. But at the time we had no evacuation plan.

Richard Gage Talk at Royal Institute of British Architects Ignites Firestorm

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RIBA comes under fire for hosting ‘bonkers’ 9/11 talk
24 June 2011 | By Will Hurst, David Rogers

Institute reviews policy after controversial event booked by Zaha Hadid Architects associate

The RIBA is reviewing its policy on hiring out 66 Portland Place following a storm of criticism over its hosting of a group claiming that New York’s Twin Towers were brought down through a controlled explosion.

Leading architects on both sides of the Atlantic hit out at the institute this week after American architect Richard Gage, part of the group Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, delivered a lecture at RIBA HQ on Monday night.

The venue was booked by fellow American and RIBA member Craig Phillip Kiner, an associate at Zaha Hadid Architects.

WTC7: Diesel Fuel Tanks Claim Still Worth Millions in NY Courts

Circuit Revives Negligence Suit in 9/11 Substation Destruction

Mark Hamblett, New York Law Journal, June 22, 2011

The insurer for Con Edison can sue the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for negligence in connection with the destruction by fire of 7 World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday.

Reversing a lower court's grant of summary judgment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said the Port Authority can potentially be held liable in the $314.5 million suit for the installation of diesel fuel tanks at 7 World Trade.

Aegis Insurance, Con Edison's insurer, claims the presence of the tanks accelerated and ultimately caused the destruction of the building, which housed an electrical substation that powered the World Trade Center.

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