Metabunk.org - Conspiracy Theories

TWA 800 - back in the news

Rafterman — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:20:45 GMT

I did a search and couldn't find any previous TWA 800 threads, but wanted to throw this one out there because of a new documentary debuting in July which "questions" the official findings of the NTSB investigation. The press release distributed by the documentary's producers has been picked up by numerous news outlets in the past few hours. Here is the CNN version:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/19/us/twa...aim/index.html

This is pretty much what you'll find everywhere as none of these news organizations seem to be interested in actually investigating the group's claims, but rather they're simply regurgitating the press release.

Personally, I have yet to see any evidence that conflicts with the official accident investigation's findings, but I'll watch the documentary next month with an open mind.

US 'backed plan to launch chemical weapon attack on Syria, blame it on Assad govt'

Critical Thinker — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:31:59 GMT

This story that was published Jan 30 2013 is now making the rounds of the conspiracy circuit. I am doubtful of its authenticity, but would like to enlist the sleuthing skills of the Metabunk debunkers.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/us-backed-p...045648224.html

"US 'backed plan to launch chemical weapon attack on Syria, blame it on Assad govt': Report

London, Jan 30 (ANI): The Obama administration gave green signal to a chemical weapons attack plan in Syria that could be blamed on President Bashar al Assad's regime and in turn, spur international military action in the devastated country, leaked documents have shown.
A new report, that contains an email exchange between two senior officials at British-based contractor Britam Defence, showed a scheme 'approved by Washington'.
As per the scheme 'Qatar would fund rebel forces in Syria to use chemical weapons,' the Daily Mail reports.
Barack Obama made it clear to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last month that the U.S. would not tolerate Syria using chemical weapons against its own people.
According to Infowars.com, the December 25 email was sent from Britam's Business Development Director David Goulding to company founder Philip Doughty.
The emails were released by a Malaysian hacker who also obtained senior executives resumes and copies of passports via an unprotected company server, according to Cyber War News.
According to the paper, the U.S. State Department has declined to comment on the matter. "

Alex Jones vs. BeforeItsNews.com - conspiracy theorist infighting

Mick — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:38:27 GMT

A rather odd spectacle of one fear-based marketer spinning crazy stories about another, in something that's will likely do nothing other than drive a few more page views in both directions. It's like they are feeding on themselves:

http://beforeitsnews.com/conspiracy-...r-2452114.html

Content from external source:

SWITZERLAND, Z�rich — Based on recent news and events, it now appears that nationally syndicated radio host Alex Jones is working in concert with the Zionist run Obama administration to set-up his own audience of 3 million gun-owning Americans for future acts of domestic terror. Although there are already 10 good reasons why Jones should be tried and hung for treason, this one definitely takes the cake.

Jones himself admitted as much on his June 16, 2013, radio program when he declared, “They wanna blow something up and blame it on us so they can then have an all-out war on us”. Jones’ ominous statement is partially correct except that HE himself will attempt to provocateur an all-out war against the Obama administration in the aftermath of domestic terror attacks which will no doubt be blamed on his listeners.

Somewhat tortuous reasoning there. Apparently Alex Jones is working with Obama to set himself up as a target so that when Obama creates a false-flag terrorist attack, then Obama will blame Alex's audience. It gets even more bizarre: Alex is also going to fake his own death as the trigger event for an American revolution that will then be brutally crushed to institute a new-world order.

And then an inevitable counter-spin on all of this is that the BIN story is just government disinfo designed to discredit conspiracy theorists in general.

My initial reaction was that this was just a deliberate case of stirring the pot to drive traffic to BIN, but then looking at the web site of the author, David Chase Taylor, he seems to be the type of person who actually believes the theories he writes. His site is all about how he's a nuclear whistle-blower who stopped a Nuclear attack on the Super Bowl in 2011 and is now trying to get asylum in Switzerland.
http://www.davidchasetaylor.com/

Content from external source:

David Chase Taylor's free ebook entitled "The Nuclear Bible" is composed of over 1,000 mainstream sources that ultimately connect the dots of a nuclear terror conspiracy. The Nuclear Bible was published globally on January 28, 2011, in an attempt to stop a nuclear terror attack from transpiring at Super Bowl XLV on February 6, 2011, in Dallas, Texas.Overwhelming direct and circumstantial evidence (see below) has now surfaced surrounding Super Bowl XLV and the failed nuclear terror plot which unequivocally shows that Taylor's actions did indeed stop, or at least postpone, a state-sponsorednuclear terror attack upon America.

Based on the subsequent fallout surrounding The Nuclear Bible, Super Bowl XLV, and the sudden interest in Taylor by U.S. intelligence services, Taylor, fearing for his life, applied for political asylum in Switzerland on March 8, 2011.

So I think Taylor believes what he writes (there's no ads on his site), but then BIN is just publishing it for page views. Jones benefits either way, as for him any publicity is good publicity.

It's a reminder that there is a VAST spectrum of conspiracy beliefs, and conspiracy theories. Each individual believes that his own theory is simply common sense, and that everyone else is deluded.

2013: The Year of Alex Jones

AluminumTheory — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 01:50:26 GMT

So Alex Jones has seen an increase in his popularity since the recession and his interview with Piers Morgan 6 months ago seem to have made him a mainstream figure. Not only that but it seems like every major event now has a conspiracy theory to explain it, and the conspiracy theories are just getting weirder like the Crisis Actors theories which can conveniently be inserted into any story by finding someone who looks like someone else.

So does anybody think that this is just the Conspiracy Theorist's hey day and that this burst of popularity will soon reach a climax?

Monsanto Says Rogue Wheat in Oregon May Be Sabotage

Soulfly — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 01:50:14 GMT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-05/monsanto-says-rogue-wheat-didn-t-contaminate-oregon-seed.html

Content from external source:

Monsanto Co. (MON), the world�s largest seed company, said experimental wheat engineered to survive Roundup weedkiller may have gotten into an Oregon field through an �accidental or purposeful� act.
Monsanto and the U.S. Department of Agriculture are investigating how genetically modified wheat that hasn�t been approved for commercial planting was found growing on an Oregon farm eight years after nationwide field tests ended.
Monsanto�s genetic analyses found the variety hasn�t contaminated the types of seed planted on the Oregon farm or the wheat seed typically grown in Oregon and Washington state, Chief Technology Officer Robb Fraley said today on a call with reporters. The unapproved wheat was found growing on less than 1 percent of the farmer�s 125-acre (51-hectare) field, Fraley said.
�It seems likely to be a random, isolated occurrence more consistent with the accidental or purposeful mixing of a small amount of seed during the planting, harvesting or during the fallow cycle in an individual field,� Fraley said on the call.
Asked whether the St. Louis-based company is suggesting the incident could be an act of sabotage, Fraley said, �That is certainly one of the options we are looking at.�
Fraley said he doesn�t mean to suggest the farmer who made the discovery is responsible.

Alex Jones BBC Sunday Politics Meltdown

Mick — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 14:46:53 GMT

Alex Jones seems to be becoming a figure of fun in the mainstream media, and it really looks like he's doing it deliberately to get more exposure.

Looking at some the comments though, it does not seem to affect his base believers.

Skip to 4:30 if you want to get to the fireworks, although he rants all the way though, and occasionally just shouts "infowars.com"

Take The Money Out Of Politics. We Are The 99%. We are Too Big To Fail

Oxymoron — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 11:01:31 GMT

Democracy is an illusion, a fact which many people are now realising. Politicians of both parties are controlled by the corporations.

Corporations have one motivation, to make as much money for themselves as they possibly can.

Does that sound like good governance to you?

Santa Monica College (SMC) Shooting near Obama visit

Mick — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 20:54:24 GMT

This is just two miles away from me.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/lo...210614151.html

Content from external source:

A person believed to be the gunman who opened fire on a bus and other vehicles near Santa Monica College, just blocks from a fundraising event at which President Barack Obama is in attendance, is in custody Friday after several people were injured.Campus police at the college in Santa Monica, Calif. confirmed that there are multiple victims, but did not have details regarding their conditions. One person, believed to be the shooter, was shot and transported to a hospital, according to Santa Monica Police.
Police are checking on reports of a second subject.
A local hospital reported receiving three victims from the shooting, including two in critical condition, the Associated Press reported.
The President's Santa Monica fundraiser is several blocks north of the campus.

It's in very busy location, so I'd expect lots of photos and video.

There's also a house fire that seems related, possible dead bodies inside.

I'm posting this in "Conspiracy Theories", due to the inevitable "False Flag" conspiracy theories that will be raised.

The Government Is Pushing For a Police State

BlueCollarCritic — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 17:54:03 GMT

NY Senate Passes Bill That Greatly Broadens The Definition Of Harassments Of A Police Officer - POLICE STATE BONUS: It also makes harassment of a thug in uniform a Class E Felony.

This is one way for the thugs in blue (not the honest cops who serve and protect but the psychotic thugs) to get around that troublesome Freedom Of Speech right granted by the Bill Of Rights. How so? By broadening the definition such that the cop can claim harassment for anything you do and they get to tag you with a Class E felony as a bonus.

This is certainly one way to get the public to stop filming the police and catching them doing something they don't want to be captured on film. You can bet your back side that if this is signed into law then it won�t take long till we see another amendment that provides elected crooks (I mean representatives) with the same protection from citizen harassment. If that happens then the crooks and the bullies can get together for a night of fun on the town and not have to worry about some pesky reporter filming them.

If you�re a uniform wearing sadist with dreams of brutalizing some citizens whose looking for someone to soften up your night stick on then I'd say this just could be the best Christmas ever for you.

....excerpt from a court in the not too distant future....

JUDGE: Officer Beatmeuppis, why did you beat Mr jones down, I mean assist Mr Jones to the ground with your night stick before arresting him?
OFFICER: The perp was filming me and asking me why I beat this kid in the head with my night stick
LAWYER: ..
OFFICER: What I meant to say was that Mr Jones was harrasing me and making threatening actions with his eye movements while I was in the act of arresting another suspect
LAWYER: ...
OFFICER: Correction, I was in the act of arresting another suspect that we susepcted was guilty of planning the bombing childrens playgrounds and schools when Mr Jones begain harressing me and making physical threatening actions.
JUDGE: SOunds good to me that'll be 10 years in state prison. NEXT!

.................................................. .......

As the debunking community has assured us before, there�s no threat of any police state or organized effort to subvert the protections and rights of the people.

STORY @ http://www.infowars.com/ny-senate-pa...-cop-a-felony/

SOURCE OF BILL @ http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S2402-2013

Government Is Spying on Your Cell Phone Calls

BlueCollarCritic — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:41:32 GMT

To all the debunkers, please tell me once more how the idea that the government is illegally spying on our calls is just a conspiracy theory and please be sure to let the media know this to so that they can print a retraction to the below article about how the Feds are spying on cell phone users.

http://venturebeat.com/2013/06/06/ns...on-spying-faq/

And since I know at least one debunker is going to reply with the statement that the Feds have said that they aren't spying because they aren't listening to the content and are just collecting the meta data using the analogy of collecting the info on the outside of a mailed envelope and not what�s inside the envelope, keep in mind that the Government always denies anything and everything if it�s something that is illegal and or that would anger the public and so long as it�s only been exposed by the alternative media and not yet picked up by the mainstream media.

Heracleion, a lost city, recycling news, and profiting from Matrixism.

Mick — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:39:34 GMT

Heracleion is an ancient Egyptian port city that ended up submerged in the Mediterranean, probably due to earthquakes, over 1,000 years ago.

It was discovered in 2000, and many impressive artifacts were raised up in 2001. As seen in this BBC article:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1375708.stm

Content from external source:

Thursday, 7 June, 2001, 15:46 GMT 16:46 UK
Spectacular finds of lost city revealed
Treasures of the ancient sunken city of Herakleion off the coast of Egypt have been revealed to the public for the first time.A joint Franco-Egyptian team of underwater archaeologists displayed some of their most spectacular finds at a press conference in Alexandria.

Herakleion was Egypt's main port in the time of the pharaohs.
Until its rediscovery last year, it was known only through Greek legends and a handful of ancient history books.
Researchers believe the city was sent to the bottom of the Mediterranean after an earthquake rocked the region more than 1,000 years ago.

Very cool stuff. And the story was recently resurrected due to a new German TV documentary. Rather oddly though the story is being presented in some media almost as if these things have only just been discovered, such as in this story from the Daily mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...me%5Eheadlines

Content from external source:

An ancient Egyptian city swallowed by the sea more than 1,200 years ago has started to reveal its secrets.

Items including 16ft sculptures, gold coins and giant tablets are among some of the objects recovered from the ancient port city which lies 20 miles northeast of Alexandria in the Mediterranean.

So I suppose it was not surprising to see this crop up in my Facebook feed:

The link takes us to:
http://politicalblindspot.com/submer...nd-in-the-sea/

A site that simply copies this article from the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3178208.html

PoliticalBlindSpot.com is very heavy with ads. Clicking on anything bring up very annoying full page ads, and yet their description reads as if they are on a mission to fight the forces of evil.

Content from external source:

Political Blind Spot is dedicate to reporting and circulating newsworthy stories that have either been underreported by the media or completely ignored.In many cases – most even – articles will derive from news reports from mainstream news sites, so as to make it clear to the reader that these are not stories lacking in credibility, they have simply been swept under the rug, through either government pressure or private industry self-censorship.
In other cases there will be stories which we break, as well as editorials. In any event, we strive for excellence, fact-checking and welcome any constructive criticism or news updates to stories posted

And yet we have this very mainstream story. Essentially a puff piece promoting the German documentary, a story that only really exists because of the wonder of the buried city, and all the pretty photos. But it's not news in any way at all. There's practically nothing to the story that was not reported in 2001, or in the several TV documentaries on it since that time.

So this mainstream non-story is getting promoted as "MUST READ! Ancient Egyptian City Found in the Sea! Mainstream sources SILENT".

"Mainstream sources silent" is quite obviously untrue. But what we are seeing here is the promotion or the spreading of a particular mindset - "Matrixism". Matrixism is the belief that we are living in a constructed media reality. That EVERYTHING you see in all media is deliberately scripted for nefarious purposes. Matrixists believe that the Sandy Hook massacre and the Boston Bombing were staged. This particular post was in the Facebook group "1,000,000 people for 911 Truth" (a group with 8,829 members, not bad, but still a ways to go). The 9/11 attacks are also believed by the Matrixists to have been staged, along with every war ever and pretty much all the terrorist attacks. And once you believe all that, it's pretty easy to believe anything.

It seems like Political Blind Spot is simply attempting to profit from this mindset, by taking mainstream stories that appeal to the mindset, copying them verbatim, labeling them as having been somehow softly covered up, and then getting like minded people on Facebook to spread the message. Far from "striving for excellence", it looks more like they are striving to make a quick buck from the wide open minds of the Matrixists.

American involvement in Syria: Theory or fact?

Grieves — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 16:59:49 GMT

Months ago, when I first discovered this site, I engaged in a discussion in regards to America's growing campaign, how the 'popular uprising' in Syria is actually a NATO/America-backed military campaign, with the US and other NATO forces directly funding, equipping, and colluding with terrorist organizations, funneling foreign fighters from Libya and other nearby nations into the country through Turkey. Back then it was just a conspiracy theory, that earned a fair bit of ridicule. How are we doing now, that all of these things are confirmed?

World War 3 & the Petrodollar

Chuck — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:53:54 GMT

Perhaps the intent and contents of this video have been covered elsewhere, but I couldn't find anything specifically related to this particular video's assertions. I have a relatively large block of friends who buy into this monolithic global conspiracy theory centered around the FED and it's complicit partners. Though U.S. foreign policy seems to make more sense when viewed through the lens presented in this video, the paradigm of the video's producer (stormcloudsgathering) appears far too simplistic.

To debunk: Is U.S. military aggression in the Middle East centered singularly around the petrodollar? In other words, is the petrodollar the common denominator in all Middle East U.S. foreign policy decisions?

To debunk: As the video portends, will WW3 (which they argue is already underway) be a direct result of current U.S. foreign policy?

Following is another tenet of this video producer:

MERS Virus conspiracy theories?

Mick — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 01:02:34 GMT

The MERS virus is a potentially very serious new virus that has been discovered in the Middle East, so far 51 people have been confirmed infected, and 30 of them died. That means that over half the people who catch the virus have died. If it becomes more widespread, it could kill millions. Or it might do very little, like SARS. But right now people are sounding the alarm

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/31/op...html?hpt=hp_t5

Content from external source:

The head of the World Health Organization warned the world this week of a new virus, awkwardly dubbed MERS-CoV, found in Saudi Arabia.
"Looking at the overall global situation, my greatest concern right now is the novel coronavirus," Margaret Chan said, calling it "a threat to the entire world."
"We understand too little about this virus when viewed against the magnitude of its potential threat," the director general said in her closing speech to the 66th session of the World Health Assembly. "Any new disease that is emerging faster than our understanding is never under control.
"These are alarm bells and we must respond. The novel coronavirus is not a problem that any single affected country can keep to itself or manage all by itself."

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013...ers-virus?lite

Content from external source:

A detailed look at two cases of a deadly new respiratory virus called MERS suggests people who have the disease should be isolated for at least 12 days to avoid spreading it, French doctors reported Wednesday.
The new respiratory infection was first seen in the Middle East and so far has sickened more than 40 people worldwide, killing about half of them.

The conspiracy theories that will grow up around this are of two types:

A) It does not exist, and is just a big false flag operation to get people into quarantine, or FEMA camps.
B) It exists, but it's man made, and designed to think the population down. The elite will have the antidote.

The story also has some natural conspiracy ingredients. MERS was discovered in the Middle East, specifically in Saudi Arabia, the country where most of the 9/11 hijackers came from, and a country that is often implicated in high level conspiracies, particularly with the Bush family, but more generally in the world of corporate oil.

I'm actually surprised that there are not really any significant theories out they yet. Just a few mutterings in odd forums. I think this is simply because it has not really got the attention of the mainstream media. Only when that happens will the conspiracy theorists start to think that there's something fake, and that whatever the MSM is saying, the opposite must be true.

Who was Behind The Video Innocence of Muslims

Joe — Fri, 31 May 2013 17:09:48 GMT