Originally posted on 9/16/2011

James Corbett's humorous take on 9/11 has gone completely viral, amassing 500,000 views in just 5 days on youtube. This 5-minute satire of the 'Official Conspiracy Theory' uses factoids and hilarious graphics to drive home its points in what can only be called a masterpiece of reductio ad absurdum.

Whatever it is, it's working. A half-million views in 5 days speaks for itself.

Transcript and sources: http://www.corbettreport.com/?p=2594

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuC_4mGTs98

Everything you ever wanted to know about the 9/11 conspiracy theory in under 5 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuC_4mGTs98

Transcript and sources: http://www.corbettreport.com/?p=2594

So Rand Paul shunned "Meet the Press" for a Kremlin-backed, 9-11 conspiracy news org?

June 01, 2010 2:09 pm ET by Will Bunch

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201006010034

Jian Ghomeshi, a normally respected and objective interviewer dropped all objectivity when he interviewed Alex Jones, then author David Aaronovich (promoting his latest book about conspiracy theories. Here is the link to his show called simply "Q."
http://www.cbc.ca/q/blog/2010/03/do_conspiracy_theories_help_or.html
Jian's tone toward Jones was mocking, yet respectful toward the author who was promoting his book.
It is easy to post comments. Podcasts are available online. It may take a day before it is posted.
Here is my response.

Prof. Kevin Howley Notes "Changing Journalistic Attitudes" Toward 9/11 Questions

Original article here: http://www.depauw.edu/news/?id=24962

March 8, 2010, Greencastle, Ind. — "If the Tea Party movement is the spoiled stepchild of the American news media, then the 9/11 Truth movement is the mad woman in the attic of U.S. journalistic culture," according to Kevin Howley, associate professor of communication at DePauw University. His Bloomington Alternative column examines a new study out of Canada which suggests that "news reports that bring up troubling questions about the official story surrounding the events of Sept. 11, 2001, are gaining traction in the international press."

The professor notes, "Significantly, these news narratives no longer frame the 9/11 Truth movement as so much conspiracy theory. Rather, independent, commercial and public service news organizations the world over are giving serious consideration to allegations that challenge the veracity of the official story that emerged in the days and weeks following the 9/11 attacks."

http://stonefruit.blogspot.com/

Good article here, quite germane to the work that we are trying to accomplish.

Michael

Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Towards a Theory of Conspiracy Theories

Cass Sunstein, confidante of Obama, Harvard Law professor, current head of the federal Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, potential Supreme Court nominee - and the latest crusader against those dastardly conspiracy theories

Recently, there was quite a hullabaloo in the blogosphere over a reprehensible academic paper Sunstein co-wrote in 2008 (available for download here), which argued for a Cointellpro-type program of government infiltration of conspiracy theorists, online and in person. Given the incredible scope and flexibility of the powers of his office, as enunciated in this September 30, 1993 executive order signed by Clinton, his proposal should certainly give us pause.

Link to article and Download- http://visibility911.com/blog/?p=1661

A Visibility 9-11 Podcast

Interview by John Bursill

Dr Stephen Juan

It is a great pleasure to welcome bestselling author, media personality and lecturer Dr Stephen Juan to Visibility 9-11 to talk about “honest” skepticism of the great American conspiracies. This is a very interesting interview as we touch on many common themes in historical events setting the climate for the 9/11 Attacks. We explore the Lincoln assassination, the sinking of the Maine and Lusitania, Pearl Harbor and the JFK assassination. It is also a little special in my view as this skepticism is being presented in a balanced and conservative way by an intellectual who is not connected to the 9/11 Truth Movement, but rather to the mainstream.

Newsweek has published a list of what it believes are conspiracy theories. Among them, naturally, is the belief that "9/11 was an inside job":

12. 9/11 was an inside job.
The truthers, holdovers from the Bush days, just won't go away. They argue that the physics of the World Trade Center collapse doesn't add up, and that the attacks were an excuse for the U.S. to launch wars abroad and enrich defense contractors. Either the government planned and executed them or it knew they were coming and turned a blind eye.
Proponents:Alex Jones, retired religion professor David Ray Griffin, Reagan administration policy analyst Barbara Honegger, British journalist Robert Fisk.
Kernel of Truth? Not even the staunchest mainstream George W. Bush bashers believe this one. Enough said.

David Aaronovitch, British author of Voodoo Histories, responds to a recent Salon.com interview question about which widely accepted conspiracy theory he finds the "most implausible" with the following:

"I think 9/11 is the most baroque. I can’t tell you what it feels like to see videos on YouTube of David Ray Griffin addressing people about it — one of America’s leading theologians expressing with absolute certainty the existence of a conspiracy so ludicrous it takes your breath away."

To offer one example of Aaronovitch's explanation of 9/11 in his book, consider this passage from page 257:

"On a more general level, the picture painted by the commission of inquiry into 9/11 was one of an Establishment taken utterly by surprise by the events of 11 September.... In the form it took, the attack was neither expected nor predicted; once it was under way it took some time to realise what was going on, and no one knew what might happen next."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123127032

Debunking Conspiracy Theories In 'Voodoo Histories'

When a co-worker told him that he believed Neil Armstrong's 1969 moon walk actually took place on a Hollywood soundstage, journalist David Aaronovitch was appalled. Aaronovitch had seen the moon landing on TV when he was a kid, and he couldn't believe anyone would think it was a hoax.

"He told me about the photographs that don't make sense, and the stars that aren't there, and the flag flapping in the nonexistent breeze, and so on," Aaronovitch tells Guy Raz.

At the time, Aaronovitch wasn't prepared with evidence to counter his co-worker's claim, but today he is. Aaronovitch spent six years looking into the details behind top conspiracy theories such as the faked Apollo moon landing and has come out with a new book to forensically debunk each of them.

Towards a Theory of Conspiracy Theories

Nice meta-summary of "conspiranoia" as a means of social control, and implications for 911 street activists

This essay doesn't support the author's conclusions with examples, or develop arguments all that much, beyond what we can glean from reading online summary articles regarding 911/left gatekeepers. However, it's worth a read, as it takes an analytical viewpoint that, it seems to me, can challenge the more intelligent reader who is, nevertheless, constrained in his/her thinking by ambient frames imposed by the societal structure which (coincidence or not?) protects the ruling class so well. Especially, I suppose, it precludes reaction against 911 as a government-assisted conspiracy, as there is no mention of 911, or any other specific conspiracy.

http://americanhistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/911_truth_movement

9/11 Truth Movement: Why America Turns to Conspiracy Theories
Jan 21, 2010 Marilyn Michaud

Conspiracy theories have a long history in American culture.This article provides a brief historical overview and an explanation for why they are rational and necessary.

The tendency to view events through the lens of deception and conspiracy has been part of American culture since the founding. Suspicion was particularly acute in the writing of the American revolutionaries; whether loyalist sympathizers, suspicious Whigs or radical democrats, Americans often adopted conspiratorial and duplicitous modes of interpretation to explain the threat to republican liberty.

From http://www.opednews.com/articles/YOUR-GOVERNMENT-APPOINTEES-by-Marc-Estrin-100110-292.html :

Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/YOUR-GOVERNMENT-APPOINTEES-by-Marc-Estrin-100110-292.html

January 10, 2010

Your Government Appointees at Work

By Marc Estrin

Cass Sunstein is President Obama's Harvard Law School friend, and recently appointed Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

In a recent scholarly article, he and coauthor Adrian Vermeule take up the question of "Conspiracy Theories: Causes and Cures". (J. Political Philosophy, 7 (2009), 202-227). This is a man with the president's ear. This is a man who would process information and regulate things. What does he here propose?

This episode of Jesse Ventura definitely does deserve to be posted and discussed here, as domestic spying is obviously directly related to 9/11 and its aftermath. Watch and discuss!