Skeptical Humanities

We had snow this week in Wisconsin, but I didn’t see it because I was working on a bunch of different projects–job apps, a piece for Disinfo (which got picked up at Boing Boing, thanks to Xeni Jardin), and a couple of other things that are in the works. My job is never done, whatever that job may be.

We’re through the election. Mitt Romney’s kids did not manipulate the electronic voting, or whatever, unless they strongly dislike their dad (which is a real possibility considering who he is). The proposed Benghazi conspiracy fell mostly on deaf ears. L’affaire Petraeus is blowing up right now, and we need to see how that pans out, but I’m mostly completely uninterested in it. It’s like a bad soap opera.

But I have miles to go before I sleep, and things aren’t getting any less crazy!

• This would have been funny if it weren’t Mark Dice, who is just as silly and is acting a bit like a jilted lover:

• I like the nurse with leprosy.
• When I saw this, I was positive that there would be a lot of conspiracy theories about it: “Marines prepare for zombie invasion.”
• Apparently, I’m not the only one who prefers picking earwax to hearing anything from Donald Trump.
• ZOMG! It’s alive! The zombie drone is alive!
• The White House finally, FINALLY comes clean on UFO disclosure: “There are no aliens. Grow up.”
• Montana legislator asks to be paid in gold. Because of the coming crash. Seems not to realize gold is horribly inflated right now.
• OK, Georgia’s legislature is more messed up than I thought. First they had a woman testify that the government had put a mind control chip in a very delicate place and that her co-workers were calling her taint on their cell phones torturing her, and now the Senate Leader is spewing Agenda 21/UN mind-control conspiracy theories.
• The IntelHub asks, “Were tectonic weapons deployed during Sandy?” This is not reporting, people. This is brain damage. They took a graph they did not understand and made up a fairy tale around it.
• Also according IntelHub, FEMA (probably death) camps are opening up in New Jersey.
• Megaachurch megapreacher opens his megamouth: “Obama’s reelection will pave the way for the antichrist.” Duh. That’s why I voted for him!
• Why would Romney use the Andy 2016 campaign slogan unless he was using TiMe TrAvEl!!!1
• Also from Exopolitics, “Who Built the Moon?“
• Should anyone who associates themselves with Anonymous basically agree with FoxNews?

Anonymous 4thEstate (@OpMediaEngaged)

11/2/12, 1:41 PM #Benghazi Reveals Obama-Islamist Alliance goo.gl/ojTF7

• Was Hurricane Sandy planned for as far back as 1997? WELL WAS IT?!?!
• David Icke, understated as ever, “SCREAM BLOODY MURDER!”
• Almost as good as this tweet:

Godlike Productions @glptweets
BREAKING!!!! LINK…80% of N.J. gas stations WITHOUT GAS!!!! DOOM ON!! http://bit.ly/TiZeZX

• Calm down, Mr. Doom On! The government just wants you to think there was a hurricane.
• Ed Asner is still alive.
• Remember when martial law was declared all over the country for Hurricane Sandy? Me neither.
• Yeah, I don’t agree with Fenster on this (or at least the gloss they give one his comments). Conspiracy theories don’t turn out to be “right” because by their nature they are bad methodology itself. Even if the conclusion happens to correspond with reality, the theory itself is still deeply flawed. But I’m a nitpicker. Ooh! There’s a nit! (scampers off):
• Chris French and Tony Sobrado on the psychology of conspiracy theory. Bathe in their dreamy accents:

• As the Christian Right loses power, they start kicking back hard.
• Flat Earthers suspicious of “Big Oblate Spheroid” conspiracy.
• Aaron Klein claims Osama bin Laden donated to Obama’s campaign.
• Sandy manufactured. Also, derp. No really:

• @bug_girl sent forwarded the SPLC’s round-up of Sandy conspiracy theories.
• It should be noted that the SPLC is also continuing to monitor the radical right’s response to Obama’s reelection, which was a lot like this:

• This is what happens when Birther nutjobs get their hands on word processing: “Obama charged with treason by the military. AGAIN!“
• A teaching resource about conspiracy theories from the Smithsonian. Awesome!
• A-do-it-yourself conspiracy Mad Lib.
• Mo Rocca covers the first Birther conspiracy: Chester A. Arthur.
• Jesse Ventura’s Conspiracy Theory returned to the air this week. No link. Just sadness.
• From The Onion: “Ron Paul Elected Ruler Of Planet Inhabited By 1 Billion Tiny Ron Pauls“
• From Doubtful News comes a report that some pilots are afraid that chemtrail conspiracy theorists will try to take down airliners.

This Week in Mark Dice is a Horrible Person:

His love letter to the veterans:

Mark Dice @MarkDice Thanks for getting your legs blown off for the Illuminati banking elite! Happy Veterans Day! http://youtu.be/AR4bBnHeQL0

His love letter to Tony Sobrado:

Mark Dice (@MarkDice) tweeted at 4:23 PM on Sun, Nov 11, 2012:
@TonySobrado do you have ANYTHING else to tweet other than the same 3 tweets every single day? #Loser (https://twitter.com/MarkDice/status/267754571479281664)

Twits of the Week:

This was a favorite from the Borowitz Report:

Attention parents: if you give your children even the tiniest bit of attention now, maybe they won’t grow up to be Donald Trump.

Perhaps that had something to do with this:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Obama lied 100% about Libya and the killings–emails are absolute. He
must release his records on Wednesday and stop the lies.

Possible POE, but makes me happy to think it’s not:

Stephen Lee @CaptainSLEE
If space has no oxygen, then how the fuck is the sun on fire? It’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s just science.

There’s also this:

Top Conservative Cat (@TeaPartyCat) tweeted at 4:25 PM on Thu, Nov 01, 2012: Rush Limbaugh: “Obama only had FEMA help New Jersey so Chris Christie would embarrass Romney. It’s blackmail!”

And this made me happy:

Conspiracy Theory of the Week:

• By far the best thing that came out recently was a graphic about Obama-related conspiracy theories at Mother Jones. Widely forwarded. I didn’t even know of a couple them!

That’s all. I’m hoping for things to settle down here in the next few weeks, but you never know.

RJB

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