MetaFilter posts tagged with conspiracies

This post is just in time for the annual spaghetti harvest.

zarq — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 10:28:43 -0800

In the late 1970s the UK's Anglia Television ran a respected weekly documentary series: Science Report. But when the show was cancelled in 1977, the producers decided to channel Orson Welles in their final episode. The result was Alternative 3. Over the course of the hour, the audience would learn that a Science Report investigation into the UK "brain drain" had uncovered shocking revelations: man-made pollution had resulted in catastrophic climate change, the Earth would soon be rendered uninhabitable, and a secret American / Soviet joint plan was in place to establish colonies on the Moon and Mars. The show ended with footage of a US/Soviet Mars landing from May 22, 1962. After Alternative 3 aired, thousands of panicked viewers phoned the production company and demanded to know how long they had left to change planets. Background * WFMU * Museum of Hoaxes * Mental Floss * Wikipedia Conspiracy Theorists Who Claim It's All True * ZetaTalk * Above Top Secret * Thule.org * Bibliotecapleyades Alternate Video Link * Google Video The Book "Alternative 3" was written and published by Leslie Watkins. Free download in multiple formats from archive.org.

In the name of Defense.

zarq — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:32:55 -0800

In December 1974, New York Times reporter Seymour Hersh's front-page account (paywall) of the CIA's MK-ULTRA program documented their illegal domestic intelligence operations against the antiwar movement and other dissident groups in the United States. The article eventually prompted investigations by the Rockefeller Commission and the Church and Pike committees. "There have been other reports on the CIA's doping of civilians, but they have mostly dished about activities in New York City. Accounts of what actually occurred in San Francisco have been sparse and sporadic. But newly declassified CIA records, recent interviews, and a personal diary of [George H. White,] an operative at Stanford Special Collections shed more light on the breadth of the San Francisco operation." SF Weekly: "Operation Midnight Climax: How the CIA doped San Francisco citizens with LSD." MK-ULTRA: Previously on Metafilter. (Via)

How to make sense of Conspiracy Theories

McLir — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:22:44 -0800

"How to make sense of Conspiracy Theories" [Part 1 of 9 from YouTube] Rob Ager is best known for his very thoughtful analyses of films such as The Shining [see also this analysis of the Overlook's geometry, previously], A Clockwork Orange [and supplement], Psycho, Pulp Fiction, Aliens, Taxi Driver and others. He has recently completed an analysis of the subject of conspiracy theories. "All of us, from time to time, will believe that two or more people in a particular context have conspired to achieve a mutual aim – be it cheating in a card game or engineering an international war. It isn’t by definition a lapse in logic to believe that a conspiracy has or is going to occur in a given situation. Conspiracies do happen and it is a natural facet of healthy thinking and self-preservation to seek out awareness of conspiracies that may affect our lives." [Text version, Ager's Collative Learning site]

Something Still Stinks in New Orleans

saulgoodman — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:00:09 -0800

New Orleans detective pleads guilty to major coverup of police shootings in aftermath of Katrina. Among other things, Lohman has admitted involvement in planting a handgun at the scene, drafting fake police reports, and lying to federal agents as part of a conspiracy to cover up the truth about a shooting incident in which six unarmed civilians were shot by New Orleans' police. With news of Lohman's guilty plea announcement coming amid a renewed DOJ push to investigate allegations of police abuse in New Orleans, some are wondering who'll be next in front of a jury. (Via TPM.)

Wonder what this will do for book sales?

up in the old hotel — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:08:44 -0800

Bin Laden's Reading List for Americans “After you read the suggested books, you will know the truth, and you will be greatly shocked by the scale of concealment that has been exercised on you:"

The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. Previously on Metafilter.
Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid by Jimmy Carter
According to the translation, “The Apology of a Hired Killer.” The book is said to have been written by “a former CIA agent who lived in two cultures, whose conscience was awakened in his third decade and decided to say the truth despite threats.” While there seems to be no book of that title and description, bin Laden may have been reading Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins.

The Pope with the Robotic Head

Iridic — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:16:11 -0800

Gerbert D'Aurillac: mathemetician and engineer, Pope, ghost, and meddler with dark forces. The superstitious and rather insulting assumption that Gerbert's intellectual achievements could only be supernatural in nature has survived to the present day. More modern mythmakers have outed him as a disciple of The Nine, the enigmatic circle of savants and scholars who have custody over science's more dangerous secrets. Apparently they were the ones who gave him his robotic brass head.

October Surprise

augustweed — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 14:44:43 -0800

Something wicked this way comes. There are a huge number of October 6th put options for the big indexes, just like the massive put options that took place just prior to 911. Fear the "October Surprise."

What Really Happened

srboisvert — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 02:03:38 -0800

What Really Happened. The history the government hopes you DON'T learn!

A stunning vaccine cover-up

spock — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 07:45:54 -0800

A "stunning" link between an ingredient in childhood vaccines and autism leads to a cover-up conspiracy. "But instead of taking immediate steps to alert the public and rid the vaccine supply of thimerosal, the officials and executives at Simpsonwood spent most of the next two days discussing how to cover up the damaging data. According to transcripts obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, many at the meeting were concerned about how the damaging revelations about thimerosal would affect the vaccine industry's bottom line." An earlier post (concerned only with fish) asked, "Got mercury?" Why, yes you do - and fish is the least of your problems. Interestingly, hints of this story surfaced in the media in the Spring/Summer of 2005. There may also be a link between thimerosal and Alzheimer's, A.D.D., and Asperger's Syndrome. A thimerosal resource guide. Maybe we'll take notice this time around?

Tony's Rap

TimothyMason — Sat, 30 Apr 2005 10:24:58 -0800

Tony's rap. Blair, Bush, Blunkett and co, with a little help from Michael Jackson. By way of Counterpunch, where Alexander Coburn has unearthed a woodpecker conspiracy. Someone is being kept out of the news, he says, because it doesn't make a good story to have an extinct bird discovered by a member of the NRA.

500th For The Record

hortense — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 03:16:02 -0800

Anti-fascist researcher Dave Emory: George Seldes was inspiration to Mae Brussell,whose first computer was donated by conservative Frank Zappa. Dave Emory continues the tradition of investigative muckraker in his weekly program on the great WFMU. Key to the for the record material:Paul Manning. annotated program descriptions here Dave's 500th show real&mp3

Elvis is probably in charge

borkingchikapa — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 12:16:31 -0800

What is going on in Dulce, New Mexico? The federal government is apparently working in tangent with several species of extraterrestrials in a gigantic underground base the size of Manhattan. This came to light with the release of the Dulce Papers, a set of documents explaining the whole conspiracy. An alleged former guard at the base has also spoken out against it and revealed more information. Of course, a lot of this relates back to the shadow government and Jesus having been genetically engineered by the Greys, but really, what doesn't these days. Want to take a relaxing holiday to Dulce Base? Well, you'll probably be shot, but there's always this nice video footage.

9/11: Debunking The Myths

jenleigh — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 06:09:36 -0800

9/11: Debunking The Myths is a study from the March issue of Popular Mechanics in which the 16 most prevalent 9/11 conspiracy theories are scrutinized by aviation experts, engineers and military analysts. "In the end, we were able to debunk each of these assertions with hard evidence and a healthy dose of common sense."

elegant universe

superposition — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 21:41:20 -0800

Yikes! In light of approaching finals do you find yourself excogitating WTHHIBD (what the hell have I been doing) over and over, and wondering if your lost time may have been due to circumstances beyond your control? While the vindicating qualities (obviously you would have been more productive if you hadn't been somebody else's science experiment) of this alibi are usually ephemeral, it is still curious to think is all this talk of sightings/abductions/misplaced keys just a hoax, an elaborate cover up, or some yin yang amalgamation of the two? Is the mystery surrounding Area 51 nothing more than conspiracy, (even if well positioned)? To what extent are we inexorably skeptical or prepared to sort through the overflowing, spooky coffers of galactic mystery?

These microwaves... they vibrate?

Masi — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 06:21:20 -0800

Best Conspiracy Site Ever. It covers just about everything, from microwave mind-programming to aliens who want to assimilate us and, of course, the Matrix. Also, a guest article about why Arnold Schwartzenegger might just turn out to be the Antichrist.

The

skallas — Thu, 03 Jun 2004 21:19:39 -0800

The "Bilderbergs" meet today. Participant list and more info (slightly tin-foil hat-ish) here.

Nicholas Berg

thedailygrowl — Thu, 13 May 2004 13:45:15 -0800

The Orange jumpsuit, couch potato Al Quida members, flawed timelines, the freepers connection, and the outspoken father. Nicolas Berg conspiracy theories abound on the Internet.

conspiracy theory 911

thedailygrowl — Sun, 25 Apr 2004 23:48:58 -0800

September 11th panel working to overcome conspiracy theories.

George Bush Conspiracy Generator

mojohand — Mon, 19 Jan 2004 11:28:17 -0800

The George Bush Conspiracy Generator ...is long overdue, and will make the lives of certain Mefi'ers just a little easier. Still, I think it needs some work. It's nowhere near as clever as an old favorite, Web Economy Bullshit Generator, the output of which I've actually inserted in proposals.

September 11th And The Bush Administration

acrobat — Thu, 04 Sep 2003 07:30:55 -0800

«Clearly, one of the most critical questions of the twenty-first century concerns why the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were not prevented. As I outline below, there are numerous aspects regarding the official stories about September 11th which do not fit with known facts, which contradict each other, which defy common sense, and which indicate a pattern of misinformation and coverup. The reports coming out of Washington do very little to alleviate these concerns.» 22 questions to chose from and decide which ones are nightmares of a conspiracy theorist and which ones must be answered.

How to lose a never-ending war against nothing

Ignatius J. Reilly — Tue, 13 May 2003 12:03:11 -0800

Graham Alleges a 9/11 'Coverup' Long a favorite issue of alternative (and tinfoil-hat-oriented) media, now this is getting picked up by a prominent Democrat. It would appear that Graham is the only moderate Democratic candidate to even approach topics that reflect negatively on the Bush administration. Certainly, when even the US military speculates that yesterday's attacks in Saudi Arabia were started by Al Qeada, and people in Chicago and Seattle are reminded of the reality of ongoing threats, it is reasonable to ask if the "War on Terror" is indeed being won. Is Graham someone with the power and place in the spotlight to make that a serious issue for voters?

Feds Anticipated (Different) OKC Attack?

subgenius — Tue, 11 Feb 2003 22:00:58 -0800

Did the Feds bungle intelligence on the 1995 OKC Bombing? FBI officials feared that white separatists might lash out on April 19, 1995 -- the day McVeigh chose. They were so concerned that a month earlier they questioned a reformed white supremacist familiar with an earlier plot to bomb the Murrah federal building, the one McVeigh selected. Does this affect earlier theories on OKC? Does it make the current advisories more significant?

nick.a — Sat, 12 Oct 2002 14:00:35 -0800

While scientists like Einstein and Heisenberg are familiar names, others like Nikolai Tesla have been largely forgotten by history, despite the fact that some of his work with electricity still cannot be replicated to this day. Despite this, claims of governmental conspiracies are probably fairly far from the truth.

DID YOU

JonnyX — Thu, 10 Oct 2002 17:28:51 -0800

DID YOU EVER WONDER HOW THE FBI KNEW ALL THESE NAMES FIVE MINUTES AFTER THE ATTACK ON AMERICA? I know its just another anonymous site about 9-11 but it does highlight some interesting facts and prompts some questions about what the US government knew prior to the attack.

interrobang — Tue, 17 Sep 2002 11:42:34 -0800

If you find the events of the Lindbergh kidnapping too convoluted and confusing (since Bruno Hauptmann may have been innocent), clear up the mystery by reading this really biased series of contemporary comic strips. And on a semi-related note, did you know that Norman Schwartzkopf's father was the main policeman in the case?