Today, I have a monumental task before me–getting past writer’s block. This has not typically been a problem for me since I started blogging. I have a feeling that writing is a skill that becomes easier when you make a habit of it.
In this particular case, I am writing about literature and technology and war and humanity. It will be a chapter in a book edited by a colleague, but it has been like extracting teeth from an elephant. Through its ear. The intended audience is high school and undergrad, so I have tried to be direct, avoid “theory-speak” (which I secretly disapprove of anyway), and look at a couple of books that are still read at those levels, including Slaughterhouse-Five and Catch-22. My original intent was to write about them as tales of the Cold War, in which conventional aerial bombing was being used as a metaphor for atomic bombing. And both of those novels are about the Cold War, though they are either largely or entirely set during the Second World War. But that original line of questioning, while there, seems to have petered out a bit. I lost enthusiasm for that particular line of reasoning, and enthusiasm is key to keeping up momentum.
I have changed tact a little, writing about the concept of a “war machine” and its effect on free will, and I am bringing in another novel that more thoroughly examines this concept, though it is not as widely read by high schoolers.
But it’s better now. I really need to finish a draft today, so that I can get my syllabus into shape for Monday, when my class on conspiracy theories begins. I am quite excited about that and a little anxious. I’ve yet to hit upon that perfect final project that will synthesize everything that the kids will have learned. It will come to me, I’m sure, but it has not quite become obvious to me.
Any ideas for a final writing project on project on conspiracy theories? Digital or otherwise? Let’s crowd source this sucker!
Welcome. This week, the 9/11 Truthers were proved right about everything. Everything. Except the stuff that they were talking about. And yet they are crowing about Richard Clarke’s speculation about any relationship between the CIA and 2 of the 9/11 hijackers, unsubstantiated by evidence by his own admission, as if it was vindication of some sort. He just has questions, and when the stakes are this high, questions are not enough.
So, let’s break this down. Clarke wonders why the names of 2 known al-Qaida members were not known to the White House until 9/11 itself. He speculates that the CIA was trying to “turn” them into spies, which would give them access to intelligence about al-Qaida. Even if that is true, it clearly didn’t work. The entire premise of Clarke’s speculation is that the CIA was unable to get them to work with them. Failure all around then.
OK, I’m going to dwell on Vigilant Citizen for a minute because I see it every week, and it doesn’t get any less weird or any more reflective as time passes. Just more pictures of people covering one eye, triangles or pyramids, and robot-people. Also, he has discovered that some advertisers use sex to promote whatever they are promoting. (Jaw hits floor.) For all the hysterics over there, I just don’t get what all the occult symbolism is supposed to be for, other than for him to yell, “See! Triangle!” and his readers to go, “I am sooo disappointed in triangles.” The one-eye thing, apparently, is supposed to be Illuminati/Masonic. Therefore, every time that you see only one eye of a subject being photographed, the Illuminati is sending a secret message, “Hi! We’re the Illuminati. Or possibly Masons.” Maybe I’m just a sheeple (I guess the singular is sheeperson), but I just don’t get the why.
And another thing. VC has a whole “sex-kitten” thing. If there’s a woman in a cat suit or with cat-eye mascara, what? Looking at the OED, I’d say that the earliest use of “sex kitten” is around the early 1950s. (Their first entry is 1958, but as a precaution I usually extend the phrase back a bit to allow for unrecorded oral usage of a word or term.) The Illuminati is making a Hefnerian sexist visual pun? Really? Again, to what end? Yeah, sex sells records (VC is especially concerned with the music industry), but it also sells car polish and Q-tips. I really don’t understand the impulse behind the interpretations and premises of the behind the Vigilant Citizen website.
By the way, when I was looking at the compound words/phrases that have sex in them, my favorite was a “sex mosaic”. I thought it was something you found in Pompeii’s frisky frescoes, but no, it is “an individual having some cells that are genetically of one sex and the rest of the other sex.” You learn something new every day.
Aaron Dykes, the least charismatic presenter in the history of changing the channel, promises that the globalist extermination list is out, but then doesn’t give it up.
Of course, over at Before It’s News, they said that recent raids on raw food clubs (which are violating federal health laws–yes, people who buy unprocessed milk are putting themselves and their kids at risk, whether they think they are or not) are part of the eugenic plan, presumably the same one that Aaron was talking about. Or another one. He didn’t mention unprocessed milk.
For some reason, the Atlantean Brotherhood Cult (the “About Us” page misleadingly does not say “We’re nuts!”), which I’ve never heard of, has been switching babies in Hollywood: “Emma Watson is now known to secretly be the daughter of actors Brian Dennehy and Bonnie Bedelia.” This is just the craziest thing that I have seen all night.
This is a close second, however:
On Hiroshima Day (cla-aaaaasy), the Centre for Research on Globalization scrounged up “America’s Planned Nuclear Attack on Libya.” When this does not happen, will they grovel and apologize for being so utterly and catastrophically wrong? Or doubt themselves? At all?
Here’s one that really seemed like a logical fallacy, but when Eve and I looked at it, it wasn’t exactly a non sequitor and it wasn’t exactly a false analogy:
When it comes to condemning theft, however many trainers, mobile phones and designer clothes have been stolen by the London rioters, they are petty crooks compared to the thievery that has BP, with the aid of the western powers, quite literally stealing control of Iraq’s most valuable resource: the oil which was the main motivation for the invasion in 2003.
We decided to christen this one a “false sequitor.”
Hey! New a theory about bin Laden. Get this: Bin Laden was guarded by Pakistan in exchange for Saudi cash! What, where are you going? You know what, I’m not convinced that bin Laden was being housed by Pakistan. He was an enemy of Pakistan. He was smart enough to never use a phone and only communicate by trusted courier. He was clearly smart enough to STAY INSIDE. What do the people in the neighborhood who don’t believe that he was there think, that he would be outside mowing the lawn, waving and issuing death threats to the infidel children in the neighborhood?
Speaking of 9/11, an international hearing on 9/11 will begin in Toronto in September. It will have all the respect and legal authority of a model UN session. From 911Truth.org.
Well, the first Republican debate was hosted ahead of the Iowa primary. Ron Paul was
Well, after the debate, I got this tweet from FederalJack:
FederalJack
HELP RON PAUL WIN THE FOXNEWS POLL ON THE DEBATE. LET THEM TRY TO COVER THIS ONE UP… foxnews.com/opinion/2011/0…
2 minutes ago
Then a little later:
FOXNEWS MADE A SECOND DEBATE POLL, VOTE FOR PAUL IN THIS ONE AS WELL. topix.com/issue/fox/gop-…
1 hour ago Favorite Retweet Reply
Of course, FederalJack clearly illustrated why Paul will never win a national election:
FederalJack
Ron Paul: I Think The Feds Real Goal Is To Depreciate The Currency #RonPaul #RonPaul2012 #IowaStrawPoll
#GOP2012
The Ron Paul movement is getting too culty for comfort:
In related news, NPR the strange obsession with the gold standard that dogs the Paulite movement made national news as the price of gold went ever higher amid market concerns. And, honestly, the Planet Money reporter could only say, “Yeah, it makes no sense,” which is what I thought. Gold does not hold intrinsic value, like gold investors/merchants tell you. The fact that it is so high right now proves that it is valued like every other commodity, relative to other commodities. This, of course, is not what Dr. Mercola is saying. Yeah, apparently he gives out economic advice. What do you think the chances hare that he has gold interests? The current gold craze is an American Tulip boom, and people who are scared now are buying high, which will bite them when the price plummets, leaving them even worse off than they are now. Of course, in the strange media landscapes I wander, gold is pushed by a huge number of advertisers. Alex Jones, Glenn Beck, all these conspiracy theorists are getting paid to push gold. Who do you think is going to come out ahead? Not the investors, that’s for sure.
But back to the primary, Michelle Bachmann, who came to prominence a few years ago when she suggested that there should be investigation into members of Congress for being un-American (at about the 9:30 mark), appalling, well, the world, won. She recently signed an anti-Sharia document (which, for some reason, went out of its way to mention that black families were more stable under slavery–?!?!?!), which takes as an object of fear the exact same thing that Anders Breivik was worried about when he went on his rampage a few weeks ago. Well, Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker looked into her beliefs as evidenced by her book recommendations and what she has said are the most influential books in her life. The reading list is scary (NPR interview with Lizza), people, and she just won Iowa. She cited Francis Schaeffer’s series, “How Should We Then Live?” (which deteriorated into screeds about how the government was dumping chemicals into the water supply) and David Noebel, whose bizarre take on the country’s history has become popular in homeschooling circles [I believe he was an advisor to the Texas school board’s history committee] , even though he penned a classic conspiracist tract that accuses the Beatles of being part of a communist plot to to exert mind-control over teens by using rhythmic beats. (It’s called, “Communism, Hypnotism, and the Beatles,” and I’ve taught it.) Brannon Howse’s Worldview Weekend republished something of Noebel’s this week: “National Association of Evangelicals Pro-Communist?” Really? She won Iowa? If she wins the whole thing, I’m Splitsville.
That, my friends, is something that I recorded with my new guitar. Now that I have reached guitar gear Nirvana/Valhalla/Candyland/Playboy Mansion, what with my Gibson, Rickenbacker, Vox AC30, Keeley Modded Tube Screamer 9, and Korg A3 signal processor, and with a little help from GarageBand on my new Mac, I can record things that only I would ever want to hear.
The backing, non-guitar track was downloaded –oh, years ago–from the web. There are live soundboard bootlegs that take out the original guitar, but, you know, I had this.
This’ll only be up for a little bit. I just wanted to hear what my new Rickenbacker sounded like. Also, I needed to de-stressificate tonight and this seemed healthier than most other options. About 30 seconds in, you can hear me stop to do some adjusting. It didn’t work. Meh.
…the Blessed Professor Acker, who is currently in England. Hopefully he’s looting something nice for us. Oh, also that he remembers to steal an adapter since the plugs are different over there. He apparently picked up an Annunciation for himself:
I came across the David Mitchell Soapbox series while working my way through the complete QI catalog. David Mitchell is funny and quick on QI, which smacks of intelligence. Couple that with indignation, and you have a great little web series:
Another week, another shipment of conspiracy theory arrives. This week, conspiracy land was all abuzz over a few stories.
The biggest story in the wackosphere was by far the crash of the American helicopter with members of SEAL Team 6 aboard. Some conspiracy theorists said that they thought the military was covering its tracks regarding what they believe is a false bin Laden assassination story. Turns out, not that it will make any difference to the hardcore delusional, none of those killed seem to have been on the raid. I look forward to the apologies and corrections–ha! However, I think that a new chapter in the strange alternative history of 9/11 that the paranoid are writing has been outlined with this one. I tried to look up how big a unit SEAL Team 6 is to see what the odds would be that the same team would have perished, but that’s classified–you don’t tell the Samurai how many ninjas you have, I guess. My favorite take was from late 19th-century pugilist Finian Cunningham, pictured below:
"'Tis a cover-up, you rapscallion! Now come here so I may box you soundly about the ears!"
If you don’t see how badly mangled and contradictory the presuppositions underlying this series of questions, you have what it takes to be a Truther–very little indeed.
“Why do people believe in conspiracy theories?” asks Annie Jacobson. Because people like you produce sentences like with a straight face: “Then, of course, there was Roswell – believed by some to be where the government has long sequestered evidence of alien life. In researching my book about Area 51, I spoke to a credible source who told me that, in 1951, he worked on a program to reverse-engineer an odd shaped aircraft that had crashed in New Mexico in 1947, and that it was a Soviet propaganda hoax.”
Does anyone ever die accidentally in the conspiracist world? No. Georgie Patton whacked. This one is in my area of expertise. 🙂
Yeah, I have to mention the wide coverage of new Jackie O. tapes. I don’t know why people think she would have any special insight into the assassination. It’s like taking Latoya’s word for it.
Yes, yesterdays’ stock market crash was clearly George Soros’ fault. And the proceeds are going to go into traditional liberal causes, like aborting nuns or something.
John Wallace starts his article called: “THE TEA PARTY MESSAGE TO THE DEMOCRAT-SOCALISTS: WE ARE COMING FOR YOU!” with the sentence: “The Democrat-Socialists in Washington have been stepping over each other trying to get in front of the TV cameras to call Tea Party members terrorists and mean-spirited, right-wing extremists.” Irony meter blown.
You know, Alex, some people who are alone at home at night with a computer watch porn. Try that. Although, let’s face it, you do whack to misery. “Bankers Have Abolished Congress.”
Oh! Nazi conspiracies! The Nazis mapped the hollow Earth! (Although, then again, I believe that one of their early rocket engineers thought that we lived on the inside of the earth. Could someone find that reference for me?)
That’s it. I’m done for now. Stay tuned, I’m sure for the “double dip recession conspiracy theories” next week, I’m sure. The next few weeks are going to be bonkers for me. Classes starting up. I have 2 Dragon*Con panels to organize (conspiracy theories and skepticism and the humanities) and a good deal of IIG-Atlanta work to prepare before the Con. Yikes! Oh, and a book chapter to finish tomorrow. Don’t take any wooden nickels.
I was flipping through a website, “Happy Place,” that collects photos of amusing signs/graffiti, etc., and I came across a photo I took! It’s the Walk This Way/Talk This Way sign that was on Georgia Tech’s campus about 2 months ago! Haha!
I’m so proud of me. That site, by the way, will suck away all of your time and life and before you know it you will be dead, so be careful. Heheh.
Last night, a person at FederalJack.com who goes by the name Popeye “called me out” to debate him on his radio(? internet?) show over my most recent “This Week in Conspiracy.”
See? My reply follows. Enjoy.
I’ll post my sources in the morning in an update. Bob is tired because he was hanging out with interesting, clever people tonight.
Posted by Bob 
Skeptical Humanities 