Believers in conspiracy theories are usually written off immediately as weirdos and idiots, but as a new survey by YouGov for Statista reveals, in some cases, these are actually widely-held beliefs and far from the bizarre, fringe opinion that you might have come to expect.
You will find more infographics at Statista
Continue reading “The Most ‘Believed’ “Conspiracy Theories” In America”
Guest Post by The Zman
I was listening to the TDS boys yesterday and they had on Ryan Dawson to talk about the latest development in the “Dancing Israelis” story. If you just put that term into your nearest google machine, you will know why this is now a hot topic in the conspiracy community. For a long time there has been a sub-group of 9/11 conspiracy people, who focused on the hundreds of Israeli nationals picked up in sweeps following the attack and the subsequent silence by the government on the issue.
Hat tip David E.
Guest Post by Brandon Smith
The phrase “conspiracy theory” is often used by establishment agencies, the mainstream media and useful idiots as a tool to dismiss legitimate evidence or viewpoints that disagree with their predetermined version of events. This method of propaganda was not always as widespread as it is today. The phrase was not “created” by the CIA, but it was in fact weaponized by them in the 1960’s after the assassination of John F. Kennedy with the express purpose of shutting down rational debate.
CIA memo 1035-960, circulated within the CIA in 1967 and exposed through a freedom of information act request by the New York Times in 1976, outlines strategies the agency would use to shut down critics of the Warren Commission Report. Specifically, they suggested the accusation of “conspiracy” with negative connotations attached, predominantly in mainstream books and articles. This was indeed done through the CIA’s many puppets in the media, and the concept of “conspiracy theory” as a pejorative was born.
Continue reading “Are “Conspiracy Theories” Tearing Society Apart Or Saving Us From Destruction?”
Guest Post by Fred Reed
The appeal of conspiracy theories is strong. They seem to provide the believer a sense of esoteric understanding, of elevation above the limited grasp of moiling herd. They may make life less boring. Yet to many people, including me, they seem borderline delusional. How come?
The curious thing is that CTs–Conspiracy Theorists–seldom seem to be crackpots. I have friends who are CTs, have known others. They have been otherwise sane, not unsophisticated, and intelligent, sometimes very intelligent. Apparently to be twisted you have to start with enough string.
There are common threads. Believers in one theory usually believe in several. Choose from JFK, RFK, black helicopters, Nine Eleven, various plane crashes, FEMA camps manned and ready to hold thousands of political prisoners, and fluoridation of water to soften our brains.
Continue reading “Conspiracy Theories: Among the Illuminati”
Guest Post by Caitlin Johnstone
The US State Department has issued a statement accusing the Syrian government of having carried out a false flag chemical weapons attack in northwestern Aleppo with the intent to blame it on the jihadist factions in the region, citing “credible info” that the public has not been permitted to see. Never mind the known fact that there are actual, literal Al Qaeda affiliates who have admitted to using chemical weapons in Aleppo, and who are known to have used chemical weapons throughout Syria even by the State Department’s own admission: the Official Narrative is that only the Syrian government uses chemical weapons, so the chemical weapons usage must necessarily be a false flag staged by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Continue reading “The Largest Conspiracy Theory Peddlers Are MSM And The US State Department”
By Doug “Uncola” Lynn via TheBurningPlatform.com
Whenever anyone uses the term conspiracy theory or calls someone a conspiracy theorist in any debate, they are, in most instances, revealing their own contempt prior to investigation. This is, in fact, an exemplification of prejudice even by those claiming their minds are open. In truth, they are not willing to consider any evidence that might challenge what they have previously decided to be untrue, or unproven; these, of course, being two very separate prospects.
If people were intellectually honest they would acknowledge, at the very least, the POSSIBILITY of SOME truth behind what they designate as “conspiracy”. Or, should they wish to engage in the discussion, they would debate using opposing facts; or any additional contravening corroboration behind their perspectives and ideological positioning.
Continue reading “Cliché Series # 5: Perceiving Profiles Confined Within Certain Configurations”
You regulars know that I generally am not a big fan of conspiracies.
But, then again ….. this is one of the most succinct and thoughtful articles I’ve read about questioning everything … and coming up with alternate theories (often disparaged as a “conspiracy”).
That being said, I still ain’t buying into that “we didn’t land on the moon” or “the Earf is flat” bullshit.
But, Building 7? Hmmm … why DID it collapse into its own footprint at free fall speed when nothing hit it? Might have to check into that ……
The media says, “Jump.” And the public responds in unison, “How high?”
“As high as you ever have jumped before, except maybe after 9/11, or the Kennedy assassination.”
Of course, when there is news, it should be reported. Today it is reported sensationally, as entertainment. Is it meant to inform, or induce?
Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts
In the United States “conspiracy theory” is the name given to explanations that differ from those that serve the ruling oligarchy, the establishment or whatever we want to call those who set and control the agendas and the explanations that support the agendas.
The explanations imposed on us by the ruling class are themselves conspiracy theories. Moreover, they are conspiracy theories designed to hide the real conspiracy that our rulers are operating.
For example, the official explanation of 9/11 is a conspiracy theory. Some Muslims, mainly Saudi Arabians, delivered the greatest humiliation to a superpower since David slew Goliath. They outsmarted all 17 US intelligence agencies and those of NATO and Israel, the National Security Council, the Transportation Safety Administration, Air Traffic Control, and Dick Cheney, hijacked four US airliners on one morning, brought down three World Trade Center skyscrapers, destroyed that part of the Pentagon where research was underway into the missing $2.3 trillion, and caused the morons in Washington to blame Afghanistan instead of Saudi Arabia.
“Why do we love the idea that people might be secretly working together to control and organise the world? Because we don’t like to face the fact that our world runs on a combination of chaos, incompetence and confusion.”
Jonathan Cainer
“Never join a conspiracy that you could possibly betray, because if you could, someone else will.”
Peter J. Carroll
“I believe conspiracy theorists are creating a conspiracy to distract us from the real conspiracy that is going on”
Chuck Bridges
“I can’t shake the feeling that all these conspiracy theorists are in on it.”
Wynne McLaughlin
Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts
Years ago James Jesus Angleton left me with the impression that when an intelligence agency, such as the CIA, pulls off an assassination, bombing, or any event with which the agency does not wish to be associated, the agency uses the media to control the explanation by quickly putting into place a cover story that, along with several others, has been prepared in advance. I suggested that the new story that “the Saudis did 9/11” was put into play to take the place of the worn and battered first cover story. http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2016/07/20/is-the-saudi-911-story-part-of-the-deception-paul-craig-roberts/
Continue reading “Cover Stories Are Used To Control Explanations”
Authored by Jake Anderson via TheAntiMedia.org,
Generally speaking, conspiracy theories form where there is a vacuum of verifiable facts associated with a controversial, usually tragic event. The concept has evolved over the years and is a part of our popular culture. There are legions of conspiracy theorists and “truthers” who have devoted their lives to certain theories, and there are legions of skeptics who have devoted their lives to debunking those theories. All the while, conspiracy theories of every stripe and variety festoon the footnotes of history. Even the origin of the phrase itself is subject to conspiracy theory, as some researchers have argued that the CIA invented and promulgated the term in order to marginalize fringe thinkers and neutralize investigations.
Continue reading “10 Crazy Conspiracy Theories That Became Conspiracy Facts”
Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts
Unable to provide an ounce of evidence that a Trump/Putin conspiracy stole the presidential election from Hillary Clinton, the corrupt US “intelligence” agencies are shifting their focus to social media and to Internet sites such as Alex Jones and Breitbart. Little doubt the FBI investigation will trickle down to Glenn Greenwald at The Intercept, Zero Hedge, the Ron Paul Institute, Nomi Prins, Naked Capitalism, Lew Rockwell, Global Research, antiwar.com, and to others on the PropOrNot, Harvard Library, and Le Monde lists, such as top Reagan administration officials David Stockman and myself. It is extraordinary that the FBI is so desperate to protect the budget of the military/security complex that it brings such embarrassment to itself. Who in the future will believe any FBI report or anything a FBI official says?
Continue reading “The FBI’s Conspiracy Theory of a Trump/Putin Collusion Has No Clothes”
Guest Post by Fred Reed
Proof of extraterrestrials. This space alien in suspended animation floated up in the Caribbean after an earthquake opened a crack in Atlantis. The CIA told me that she didn’t exist, ordered me to FedEx her to Roswell, and threatened to make me drink fluoridated water if I refused.
I am in hiding. Write me care of general delivery, Tierra del Fuego.
Recently I wrote a column about the variegated conspiracy theories that surround accounts of Nine-Eleven. Friends warned me against it. They said that the resulting attack on me would make the Normandy Landing look like a church picnic. It did. I believe that if you drew and quartered a conspiracy theorist’s children and even shot his dog, he would behave civilly. Question his theory, and you better run like hell.
Continue reading “Space Aliens!: More Undocumented Immigration”
Conspiracy theories hold charm for such as I, who regard them as we might a species of rare insectivorous marsupials who glow in the dark, and for the conspiracy theorists themselves, who seem to derive from their conditions a satisfying sense of esoteric penetration. Yet they become wearisome by constant repetition. Some have. In particular, Nine/Eleven. In the following wew will ignore the more abundantly silly theories, such as that there were no Jews in the Towers on the day of the attacks. Some thoughts::
The Pentagon
At the time of Nine/Eleven, I was living in Colonial Village in Virginia, a few hundred yards from the Virginia terminus of Key Bridge. The bike path ran from there parallel to the Potomac past the Pentagon and National Airport to the Washington Sailing Marina. On the wooden deck overlooking the water a concession sold snacks and Budweiser. A mixed group of oddballs foregathered daily to socialize.
One was Dave Winslow, whom we called Broadcast Dave to distinguish him from a couple of other Daves, Winslow having been involved in radio broadcasting in an earlier life. We often swapped journalism stories. His apartment was nearby. The day after the Pentagon blew up, he recounted being at home, hearing a plane coming in unusually low, looking out the window, and seeing the tail flash by, boom.
Continue reading “Legion of the Tinfoil Hat: Fred Reveals His Martian Loyalties”
Guest Post by Paul Craig Roberts
In a few days it will be the 15th anniversary of 9/11, and this November 13 will be the 53rd anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. These two state crimes against democracy destroyed American democracy, accountable government, and the Constitution’s protections of civil liberty.
Years after the damage done by these events the American people no longer believe the official stories. Neither does the government, but the government will never validate the distrust that Americans now share of the oligarchs’ government by acknowledging the truth.
The official explanation of the assassination of President Kennedy never made any sense. Videos of the assassination contradicted the official story, as did witnesses, and many credible people challenged the government’s story. The CIA was faced with the official explanation becoming unglued and launched its media program stigmatizing doubters as “conspiracy theorists.” See:
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2016/08/31/are-you-a-mind-controlled-cia-stooge-paul-craig-roberts/
The CIA’s psych warfare against the public succeeded at the time and for a number of years during which witnesses had mysterious deaths and the trail grew cold. But by the late 1970s there was so much public skepticism of the official story that the US Congress took the risk of being labeled “conspiracy kooks.” The House Select Committee on Assassinations reopened the inquiry into JFK’s murder. The House Committee concluded that the Warren Commission’s investigation was seriously flawed, that there was more than one person firing at President Kennedy and that there was a conspiracy to assassinate JFK.
Continue reading “The Tide is Turning: The Official Story Is Now The Conspiracy Theory”
Guest Post by Hardscrabble Farmer
“In many nations, rational people end up believing crazy things, including (false) conspiracy theories. Those crazy thoughts can lead to violence, including terrorism. Many terrorist acts have been fueled by false conspiracy theories, and there is a good argument that some such acts would not have occurred in the absence of such theories. The key point—and, in a way, the most puzzling and disturbing one—is that the crazy thoughts are often held by people who are not crazy at all.”
Cass Sunstein- White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
If you don’t know who Cass Sunstein is, or what he does now would be a good time to do some research. Not only because of his position with the White House and the power that entails, but because he understands quite clearly what problems are posed by people who, in his own words are, “…neither ignorant, not ill-educated. On the contrary they can be spectacularly well informed…”
Conspiracy theories are, in short, the belief that others conspire in secret to commit criminal acts. They do, no secret there. In fact the majority of prisoners in Federal Penitentiaries are serving time not for a specific crime, but for conspiracy to commit a felony, more simply discussing their intentions with another person in secret. It must be difficult indeed to simultaneously prosecute large numbers of people for the very activity that you are assigned to debunk and then somehow explain to people that it’s dangerous to believe in them. Yes, yes, you can imagine them saying, other people do engage in conspiracies, but we never would and you’d have to be crazy to even consider it.
Point taken, Mr. Sunstein.
