Screw Loose Change

Permanent Top Post--Scroll Down for Newer Posts

2012-12-31T12:39:00.000-08:00

(Note: The date on this post is intentional; it keeps this post pinned to the top. Thanks for asking!).

11/11/07 Update: Loose Change Final Cut has just been released and so we have not prepared a full debunking. Both James and I have many comments about the movie below and I started a thread over at JREF with some examples of mistakes in the film. Much of the rest of the information in this particular post concerns the earlier versions of Loose Change.

Because this blog is getting so much traffic from Google searches and referrals from various forums and Wikipedia, we decided to put one post up top to link to information our newest visitors are apparently looking for.

First, if you have not seen the film and want to watch it, be sure to watch the annotated version, which was named after this blog, Screw Loose Change. The creator did a terrific job on this, and we strongly recommend watching this version rather than Dylan Avery's cut.

James has put together a list of major lies in Loose Change. Here's Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4.

I compiled three very easily refuted lies in the movie. I also showed three tricks and distortions that are used throughout the film.

A friend of the blog named Mark Roberts (aka Gravy at the JREF forums) compiled this amazing Viewer's Guide to Loose Change, (now HTML) which includes a complete transcript of the movie, pictures and links that refute many of the claims, and which highlights the changes between Version 1 and Version 2.

The hot new film in 9-11 Denial is called 9-11 Mysteries. One of our JREF buddies, The Doc, has put together a rebuttal video called (you guessed it!) Screw 9-11 Mysteries, and assembled a viewers' guide to 9-11 Mysteries.

Many 9-11 Deniers focus on the collapse of World Trade Center 7, which fell at 5:20 PM on September 11, almost seven hours after the North Tower. If you want a really detailed analysis of WTC 7, I recommend Mark Robert's WTC 7 and the Lies of the 9/11 Truth Movement. I also recommend the BBC's terrific video on The Third Tower.

If you'd like to discuss the ideas about 9-11 you've encountered here or elsewhere, another friend of the blog started a Screw Loose Change Forum. It's a very lively place with lots of opinion back and forth between both sides. There's also a Screw Loose Change MySpace page, with some animated commentary. Of course, we also welcome comments on our posts.

If you're looking for detailed rebuttals of other aspects of 9-11 Denial, I heartily recommend 9-11 Myths, Debunking 9-11 and Internet Detectives.

Markyx has also put together a video (note: graphic images and strong language) called 9-11 Deniers Speak. If you think Dylan Avery and Jim Fetzer have any respect for the victims of 9-11, just watch this film. There are five parts. Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V.
There's also a Google Video which is all in one part.

This should be enough to get you started debunking Loose Change to your friends. We have a lot more content below this post.

Notes on unusual terms/abbreviations: Looser (not a misspelling of Loser)=Believer in Loose Change. CT=Conspiracy Theory, Conspiracy Theorist. Truther=9-11 Conspiracy Theorist (all Loosers are Truthers, not all Truthers are Loosers). OS=Official Story. CD= Controlled Demoliton. LIHOP: Let It Happen On Purpose; theory that the government knew the 9-11 attacks were coming but allowed them to happen to further other goals of theirs. MIHOP: Made It Happen On Purpose; theory that the government planned and orchestrated the attacks. Most Truthers are MIHOP.

Update: Comments closed on this post, which is intended solely as a pointer. Because Haloscan will not let us close comments on a particular post, be forewarned: Don't leave a comment in this post or it will be deleted.

Update II: Note on comments: Because some of our commenters have chosen to act like children, we are no longer allowing comments.

Paul's Truther Buddy Franchi Gets Attention

2012-02-09T09:52:00.000-08:00

Now will the Ronulans shut up about the media ignoring their candidate?

The leader of the group, its founder, chairman and treasurer, is Gary Franchi, a promoter of conspiracy theories and sophisticated social-media entrepreneur in the resurgent movement known as the Patriots.
The 34-year-old political activist from the Chicago suburbs told msnbc.com that his goal is a "non-violent intellectual revolution, which results in a full restoration of the federal Constitution."Franchi has supported the 9/11 Truth Movement, which supports the idea that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, werean inside job to create a pretext for a reduction in American liberty, or at least involved a cover-up, with the World Trade Center brought down by a planned U.S. demolition, instead of terrorist-controlled airplanes.

No surprise, Franchi's PAC intends to cover yet another conspiracy theory:

A Super PAC supporting Paul has pledged to monitor the vote in all the remaining states, using an army of exit pollsters to fight what it calls results that are "outrageous, unacceptable and patently un-American." The group, called Revolution PAC, has spent half a million dollars supporting Paul with videos, webcasts, online ads, direct mail, billboards and radio ads in primary and caucus states.

Yep, they assume that Ron Paul has won every primary out there, but the voting machines have been stealing votes from him. After all, hasn't Ron Paul won every online primary?

Yet Another Pie-In-the-Face Ending for the Movement

2012-02-04T19:24:00.000-08:00

Remember the 9-11 Citizens' Commission?

They were a group headed up by Mike Gravel, who were trying, yet again, to get a ballot initiative on some state to demand a new, independent (but government-sanctioned) investigation into 9-11. They used to have a website, but it has been suspended. You can still see it (for now) through the Wayback Machine.Well, they raised about $30,000, but now the money's gone and the finger-pointing has begun. Quoting from an email:

Did Mike Gravel Scam the Truth Movement?Posted on February 2, 2012 by willyloman by Scott CreightonSay it ain’t so Mike!It was recently brought to my attention by an old friend that Mike Gravel pulled a bunch of funding out of his foundation that was formed to put a measure on a state ballot in 2012 to create a new investigation into the events of 9/11. The organization that Gravel himself started was called the 9/11 Citizens Commission and the intention was to create a new commission, with subpena powers, like a Grand Jury of sorts, that could re-open the case and provide a new, truly independent investigation into the events of 9/11.Largely due to the hard work of many Truth activists (networking on Facebook, petitions, ect… ) they had managed to make some real headway in their efforts. They apparently had (if you believe the letter that was sent out) collected a nifty little nest egg to use in their campaign which should have been kicking off in full swing this close to the upcoming elections in November; somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 grand or so. Not Mitt Romney or Barack Obama money, but nothing to sneeze at either.But a funny thing happened on the way to the Diebold machines… a week ago a correspondence goes out to the 9/11CC donors saying Gravel had split, taken the money and rerouted it to another foundation he had been running since 2001, and stopped responding to the other members of their organization.Did Mike Gravel scam the Truth movement from the start? There are some interesting facts that may suggest he did just that. The 9/11CC website seems to be down (at least it is at the time of writing this) and Gravel is nowhere to be seen.Hmmm… did the Truth movement get scammed… again? (can anyone say “Ron Paul”, “nanothermite”, or “9/11 Blogger”?)At first I was very skeptical as you can see from the discussion I had with that friend of mine last night. But after doing a little research I came up with some rather disturbing information about Gravel.Look, the Truth movement is full of dedicated activists who will work their fucking asses off if they think they have a shot at exposing the truth about what happened on 9/11. They will dig deep and donate, they will go long hours volunteering their time to the cause. This makes them a powerfully focused grass roots army and unfortunately that strength also makes them a target for people who want to take advantage of their networks and their energy.It takes a special kind of asshole to take advantage of people like that. At first I didn’t think Gravel could have done it. But now… well… you decide.Here’s what I found so far:In 2010 Mike Gravel got together with We Are Change in what looks like a Denny’s in California to announce his plan to create a ballot initiative for 2012 to form a Citizens Commission to re-open the investigation into 9/11. Pay attention to what he says (and doesn’t say) in this video:.. “I started with my suspicions about 9/11 really right after the event” “If it is an inside job…” “What can we do in respect to this possible crime that has taken place…” “this activity, if it was done, was done in conspiracy…” Mike Gravel 2010Gravel doesn’t seem to solid on his belief structure in that Denny’s discussion. It’s almost as if his lawyer instinct is keeping him from going too far out on that limb. A measured approach may be prudent, but when I saw this, I wondered if he had ever taken a harder line on the subject of 9/11 in the past… and I found one.On Sept. 10th 2007 Mike Gravel posted an article on the Huffington Post for reader to view the next day the 6th anniversary of 9/11. The article was called “The Real Lessons of 9/11” and this is in part what Mike had to say. Remember Mike’s words from 2010 as you read this “I started with my suspicions about 9/11 really right after the event“ As we mark the six anniversary of the 9/11 attack, it is time for Americans to face the real lessons of that horrible morning… Our government failed to protect us on 9/11 not because such an attack was unimaginable but because bureaucratic turf wars and incompetence at the highest levels impeded our counter-terrorist efforts… Let’s be clear, Bin Laden is not just a symbol — his hands drip with the blood of thousands of Americans who must be avenged… We should never negotiate with terrorists and we must hunt down Bin Laden and anyone else who attacks us… I do not believe 9/11 was a governmental conspiracy.” Mike Gravel, 2007In 2007 Gravel was already talking about a new independent investigation with subpena powers but he wanted to do so in the context of pointing fingers at who was asleep at the switch when the evil Muslims attacked us on 9/11 as a result of blow-back for our foreign policy.That is, by all accounts, the definition of the official story of 9/11.Reconcile what Gravel told We Are Change with what you just read. Does it sound like Gravel had his suspicions about the official story since the day it happened? Can you now see why he would carefully infuse his speech with qualifiers like “if” and “possibly”?When Gravel officially launched his 9/11CC project in early 2011, he did so on the Alex Jones show. The Truth movement knows full well that Alex is not a mouth piece for us, and yet there he was. Why did he go there? Because Alex can generate cash. That’s why.I feel for the people who got passionately involved in this. I remember how I first felt when I first came to understand what Steven Jones really was. But, in the end, people have to remember that even if they had succeeded, the ballots would still be counted on Diebold electronic voting machines or ES&S or some other unverifiable system. So what did we really lose?Perhaps Gravel is just being railroaded and he will pop back up with a new organization and transfer the funds into that. Could happen. I wouldn’t hold my breath.The point is, if he said one thing to the Truth activists and said another thing to the readers at Huffington Post, there is no way to avoid the fact that at some point, Mike Gravel was lying.And lying doesn’t make for a good Truth advocate.I hope this doesn’t discourage another generation of Truth activists but I know to some degree it will. Some will be more resilient, some will be toughened a bit and skeptical, some will despair and go by the wayside. But Truth activists in the movement, like those who came before them (Suffrage Movement, Civil Rights Movement, Peace Movement, Labor Movement), understand that this is not a one battle conflict and it is not something we expect to see accomplished in a day or a week or even a decade. Most people in this country understand that the official story of 9/11, the story Mike Gravel was selling back in 2007, is bullshit and their numbers grow by the day.If Gravel did this some might think it will weaken the movement but they would be wrong. To me, it just goes to show the dishonesty REQUIRED to believe and cheer-lead for the Bush/Cheney official story of 9/11.If he did this and he’s gone… good. We don’t need liars in the Truth movement. Brush off the dust, lick the wounds, and chalk it up to experience… move on.

Gravel's response:

From: Mike GravelDate: Feb 3, 2012Subject: Re: Did Mike Gravel Scam the Truth Movement?To: scott creightonScott: You might of had the intellectual honesty to have informed yourself of my side of the story; rather than swallow hole the hidden agenda "an old friend." How do you spot double agents, CIA, military industrial complex and other government implants? It's difficult, but they generally come at you under the veil of sercrecy like: "an old friend told me so." Scott, shame on you. You seem brighter than that. Here's my side:Date: February 2, 2012From: Mike GravelSubject: Response to the email sent to donors on January 21, 2012 by the Board and General Manager of 9-11ccDear Donor:Before addressing in detail my public statements and my actions with respect to the final disposition of the monies donated through the 9-11CC website to ultimately secure a new Citizens 911 Commission, let me clearly outline the legal status of our group during the entire course of 2011.In May 2011, Ken Jenkins and George Ripley were pushing me into a leadership role within the 911 movement that I was reluctant to take on. They went so far as to fill out the government forms that appointed me the Sole Principal and Treasurer of a California Recipient Committee. Either they were not willing to do the tedious work involved or they did not feel prepared or experienced enough to take an idea for a new Citizens 911 Commission from the concept stage to that of a legal initiative text that would be acceptable by the appropriate state government entity.California Recipient CommitteeThe forms creating the California Recipient Committee called the “Citizens 911 Commission” were filed on May 13, 2011 and received by the Secretary of State on May 16th. My name as the “sole principal” is the only name associated with the entity in California. I secured an EIN number from the IRS on that basis and opened an account at Wells Fargo. No other names or persons are legally associated with this California entity or its bank account. As the authorized signer who opened the account at Wells Fargo, I made provisions with the bank for Jenkins, Belitsos and Ripley to access the account only to view its activity in real time. Additionally, I authorized our accountant, Patricia Yee, to sign on the account so that she could pay our bills and invoices. She submitted each payment to me for authorization prior to payment. All of our financial activities were reported on our website. Under California law a Recipient Committee can raise up to $25,000 (only from U.S. sources) without being required to report the identity of its donors or being required to organize itself into a political organization or corporation. The temporary Recipient Committee model seemed ideal for our purposes, since we had no way of knowing if the 911 Truth Movement would fully support and sufficiently fund the concept of using the direct democracy initiative process to bring about a new 911 investigation.As a California Recipient Committee, we had no operable bylaws and none were required to be filed by the state. I subsequently drafted Articles and Bylaws in anticipation of creating an IRS C4 corporation, which was the planned next step in our logical growth, going from a working group of volunteers into a legal corporate entity.In November and December, I felt it unwise to incorporate if we were not able to demonstrate an ability to raise sufficient funds to actually fund a single state initiative. Otherwise we would be raising and using the funds of dedicated donors to perpetuate the payment of self serving fees to an employee and other members of the group and paying the costs for unproductive meetings that were essentially therapy secessions for its participants.It is very important to understand the legal limited nature of our Committee during the entire course of 2011. We were actually no more than a group of individuals working together on a voluntary basis to realize our goals expressed on our website and in my speeches and media interviews. We pledged to bring about a new Citizens 911 Commission by the legislative actions of citizens voting on state initiatives or on a national initiative if a law making that possible came into being. I spoke of the latter repeatedly publicly and privately and was the basis of the Actionable Plan I wrote for the Citizens 911 Commission.Initially, our intent was to file an initiative in California. I visited and worked with the attorneys at the State’s Legislative Council in Sacramento, drafting my concept into a legally acceptable initiative proposal. However, it became obvious that a California initiative campaign was out of the question at this time; it would take several million dollars to qualify an initiative for the ballot and more to wage a viable enactment campaign.Since we planned no political activity in California and were limited in accepting foreign contributions, it was understood by all those involved (Jenkins, Freeland and Ripley) that we would dissolve the Recipient Committee before the end of the year or face extensive and expensive reporting requirements that were irrelevant to our national and global activity. In the event of dissolution, California law is very clear; whatever monies are in the Committee’s bank account must be donated to a government recognized charity or returned to the donors on a pro rata basis. The purpose of the law is to make sure that monies collected publicly and not reported to a government entity do not covertly end up in organizations supporting political candidates or initiatives filed in California.A pro rata return to donors would have been expensive accounting-wise and of deminimous impact to all but one donor. I chose to donate all the funds in the account to the Democracy Foundation, a 501 c 3 charity recognized under federal law. The Democracy Foundation, which I founded and chaired, is the educational sponsor of the National Citizens Initiative, an initiative that when enacted into law will empower citizens to make laws in every government jurisdiction. The process to enact the National Citizens Initiative can be undertaking in any country where citizens are allowed to vote. Obviously, if we able to enact the National Citizens Initiative, it would provide an excellent opportunity to enact a federal law creating a new Citizens 911 Commission with federal powers far superior to anything we would expect to secure with a state initiative.Oregon and MassachusettsAfter foregoing a campaign in California, we looked to more affordable initiative states with politically progressive constituencies. Oregon, Colorado, Ohio, Massachusetts, Alaska, Maine and the Dakotas were considered. After visiting officials in Ohio, it proved not to be a viable choice. I traveled to Salem, Oregon and worked with their Legislative Council attorneys to improve the text we had developed in California. In Portland I met with a group of 911 Truthers. They were attentive and interested but it was apparent that the group lacked any leaders or any burning desire to undertake a campaign.I traveled to Alaska and met with a large group of Truthers and discussed the concept with government officials. The group had interest but no viable leadership prepared to secure funding for an initiative. I met with three persons in Colorado, however, nothing matured beyond that contact. In Maine and the Dakotas we could not identify a viable group of Truthers to even approach. The concept of using the initiative to create a new Citizens 911 Commission is a concept somewhat “out of the box” and many people, even in initiative states, are not all that familiar with the initiative law-making process. This direct democracy legislative innovation was also difficult to get across to the leadership of the 911 Truth Movement.Massachusetts was a different story. A group stepped forward led by Richard Aucoin and Richard McCampbell, both experienced initiative campaigners. They filed the initiative text with the Commonwealth’s Attorney General. She certified the initiative for the ballot on September 7th.. We had until late November to raise the $300,000 to pay for a professional signature gathering contractor. The task was impossible The campaign had to be halted even in the face of great enthusiasm with the state’s 911 activists, who now looked to the 2014 election cycle to renew their efforts.Our FinancesThe following overview of the Committee’s financial situation is important to understand the nature of the dispute. My personal 911 fundraising experience went back to September 2010 when I first started traveling and working fulltime on the 911 direct democracy concept. 911 groups at which I spoke would canvas the audiences for donations to pay for my travel expenses. Even at that I had to fund some of my expenses personally. Once our website was up and my speeches and media interviews, permitting me to explain the details of my initiative concept, donations began to flow starting in July 2011 and remained encouraging into mid September 2011. The highpoint of our fundraising effort was my trip to Toronto in September 2011.Donations slowed to a trickle by the end of September and surged again as a result of Manfred Petrick’s blog in Zurich Switzerland, which has great influence with the 911 Movement in Europe. Since half of our donations came from foreign sources, it made sense to plan a European tour to meet with and seek more financial support from 911 European leaders.We had the good fortune to have the support of Annie Machon, a globally known outspoken voice for peace and justice issues and a 911 activist personally acquainted with 911 leaders throughout Europe. She organized speaking and media appearances for me in the eight cities we visited. The trip was not a financial success. Nevertheless, I view the trip as worthwhile for the contacts we were able to establish through Annie and the fact that it informed me of the 911 situation in Europe. The 911 Truth Movement is as marginalized in Europe by the media and governments as it is in the U.S. The Truthers are there in significant numbers but somewhat discouraged or burnt out.Surprisingly, there was greater interest in the National Citizens Initiative process of direct democracy to bring about a new Citizens 911 Commission than the use of state initiatives. I addressed both subjects in all my presentations. 911 leaders arranged my appearances at Occupy Wall Street encampments in Zurich, Paris and Amsterdam. This experience reinforced my view that this global revolution of the grassroots could well make the National Citizens Initiative an idea whose time has come.A Realistic Assessment that Led to the DisputePutting aside the “he said, she said” arguments that prevail in all disputes or fanciful rosy interpretations of non-existent successes perrmitting you to milk donations from the uninformed, it is important to realistically understand the different opinions that caused the split within the Recipient Committee.There are two questions of paramount importance that must be addressed in assessing our progress. 1) Are there 911 volunteers in initiative states prepared to file a Citizens 911 Commission initiative and take on the liability of filing government reports? Are there 911 activists in sufficient numbers to wage a viable campaign to bring about the initiative’s enactment after sufficient petition signatures have been gathered to qualify the initiative for the ballot?2) Is there a likelihood of raising sufficient funds to contract with a professional signature gathering company to qualify the initiative? Experience has shown that signature gathering cannot be done by volunteers alone. The minimum cost for such a contract is $300,000 in a politically viable state. This does not address the costs of an enactment campaign within the state once the initiative is qualified. Nor does it consider the overhead costs of a national organization––9-11CC––to oversee and sponsor various state efforts. All told we raised around $85,000 in 2011; and more than half has been spent on travel and overhead.By November, it was obvious the Recipient Committee’s efforts did not come close to satisfactorily answering either question with respect to state activists or sufficient funding. An honest appraisal of what took place in 2011 does not come near the fanciful upbeat report sent to you by the “board.” We failed to raise sufficient funds to launch an adequate campaign in any politically acceptable state. Except for Massachusetts we were unable to identify a viable group of 911 activists prepared to undertake an in-state initiative campaign. Additionally and of extreme importance, major leaders and important 911 organizations chose not to endorse the Citizens 911 Commission campaign or help by sharing their membership lists.Our initial fund raising plans were based on securing major angel contributors to kick off our multi state initiative effort. I relied on the views of Ken Jenkins and Byron Belitsos, both longtime 911 activists, who expected to raise substantial sums from angel donors who they knew personally and who had contributed substantial sums to 911 causes in the past. Their overtures to these contacts were turned down either due to burnout or a lack of conviction that the Actionable plan would work.George Ripley indicated in May 2011 that he could and would raise substantial sums. This was not realized. He did travel with me in Massachusetts and was personally very helpful. These early-on cues should have alerted us to the burnout within the 911 community or the lack of confidence in direct democracy. The movement is far from dead but its capacity to absorb and fund innovative strategies is limited.This realistic assessment in no way negates the importance of the donation we did receive and used to communicate with the 911 Truth Movement. I would not have been able to travel throughout the U.S. and abroad had it not been for your donations. I did not have the personal financial capacity to do it without your help. I am extremely grateful for your donations and your personal support. I do not feel that we failed you. We raise the visibility of direct democracy and the 911 issue worldwide and as leaders we now have a more realistic assessment of our capabilities and a clearer vision of what we need to do to bring about a new Citizens 911 Commission. Your donations made this possible. Thank you.The Dispute and the Parting of the WaysUpon my return from Europe on November 11th I reported to the committee that for health reasons and a desire to use my energies to refurbish the National Initiative into the National Citizens Initiative and thereby capitalize upon the opportunity the Occupy Wall Street revolution offers us. Nevertheless, I was prepared to continue working with the group and consider funding any reasonable project that kept faith with our pledges to donors.However, projects like funding national and local conferences to bring 911 leaders together in hopes of charting a new direction for our committee, which I considered to be at variance with our pledges to donors, made me very uncomfortable. Only four of our group of volunteers: Ken Jenkins, George Ripley, Ken Freeland (the only paid employee of the group) and Byron Belitsos, who has since resigned from the group, took issue with my position. Many more volunteers were supporting my position, particularly so when all the facts were made known.My approach to our organizational problem was straightforward and simple (I thought). If we were unable to raise sufficient financial support or muster activists to do state initiatives then maybe we should focus our energies on the other approach that direct democracy offers us. I have been talking about the National Initiative in all of my speeches, interviews and on our website. Now with the OWS on the scene this approach seemed viable. What followed was a month of interminable discussions leading nowhere except my exhaustion.Despite my age (almost 82) and various health issues, I have worked full-time on this 911 effort since September 2010 without remuneration. I have spent about three of the last fourteen months away from my wife Whitney (almost a month on the initial California trip, two trips to Sacramento, Portland, Anchorage, Cincinnati and Denver, more than two weeks in Massachusetts and more than two weeks in Europe). During the last two trips, I became ill and had to see local doctors.My supposed friends on the Committee want me to continue to be their spokesperson making speeches and traveling the world explaining the direct democracy concept. They want to use my reputation to raise money; then they want to control those monies by a process which sounds “democratic” but, in effect, holds my reputation and responsibilities to donors and supporters hostage to their decisions and judgments and most dangerously: even when they are wrong.From mid November to December 18, we met once or twice a week, going on for many hours, discussing and arguing over our different interpretation of the facts. I spent more than 10 hours in discussion with Jenkins alone. During these debates, I was subjected to insults––being charged with a lack of integrity is the most modest of the charges. The effect of this was pushing me further and further away from any possible accommodation of ever working together.By December 18, I concluded that the only intelligent solution was to go our separate ways. They could form their own organization and raise whatever funds they needed to pursue their vision. I was free to do the same.However, they wanted to take control of the remaining funds of the Recipient Committee (around $30,000). This was not possible under California law nor was it possible morally because of the pledges I had made to donors. It was my statements that had raised these funds and it was my responsible to see to their proper use.The best way for an objective observer to judge the right or wrong of a dispute like this is to judge the conduct of the disputants. If the “board” (Jenkins, Freeland and Ripley) are truly committed to the cause of using direct democracy to bring about a new Citizens 911 Commission, then one would expect them to do their best to limit knowledge of the conflict and minimize its disruptive effects on their avowed commitment and mine. They could have chosen to disagree without being so viciously disagreeable. However, the facts are just the opposite. They are publicizing the dispute far and wide and spreading falsehoods with no purpose other than to damage my reputation, all because I chose to deny them the opportunity to hold my reputation hostage. For my case, I have chosen not to address or discuss the dispute with anyone except in response to statements and charges that are addressed directly to me or brought to my attention by persons who want to know my side of the story. I am making this response to all our donors because one donor shared with me the email he received from the “Board.” The sentences in the email they sent ––“informing the proper legal authorities regarding this unauthorized removal of funds from our Campaign. An official investigation should soon be underway…” is the same threat they made to me back in December. Now, they are making it more subtlety, inferring some illegality on my part. This is ludicrous and borders on libel. Their ugly campaign to damage my character has the real effect of damaging the entire 911 Truth Movement. The following is an example of their work: Did Mike Gravel Scam the Truth Movement? « American EverymanIt is emotionally disturbing to experience their viciousness toward me since I once considered them friends. I think Rudyard Kipling describes the situation best in his poem “If”: "If you can keep your heard when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you;....you'll be a man my son!" National Citizens InitiativeIn my judgment, the initiative process of direct democracy is the only way we will ever be able to enact a new Citizens 911 Commission, at this point in our history. It goes without saying that if we can improve on the initiative process, as I am attempting to do by launching a new campaign this spring to enact the National Citizens Initiative, then it obviously improves the likelihood of citizens creating a new Citizens 911 Commission, since the 911 issue will be one of the political issues featured in the campaign.One event this last year has changes the dynamics of all socially progressive cause-groups: the global protests of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement. An important part of their agenda is the creation of a new commission to investigate the events surrounding 911. It is my hope to persuade OWS that direct democracy is the only way to bring about the agenda they are protesting about. Existing funds in the Democracy Foundation and the new funds from the dissolved Citizens 911 Commission Recipient Committee are being used to prepare for a spring campaign to educate OWS about direct democracy and to persuade them to vote and help others to vote to enact the National Citizens Initiative into law.I am also in contact with C100, the organization of student body presidents in colleges and universities in the U.S. and abroad who indicate an interest in participating in our campaign this spring. As a result of my recent tour of Europe, there is substantial interest to pursue a National Citizens Initiative in Switzerland and in Denmark. These countries with the proper support could see the enactment of a National Citizens Initiative within a year. This would have a very favorable impact on the American enactment campaign.Please feel free to share with me your views about my actions. The 911 CC.org website is indisposed by the confusion of the dispute. However we will have a new site (www.votenci.org) up later this month, which will permit you to evaluate the new campaign, to address political issues like 911 in different languages, to register, to vote, and of course to contribute if you share our vision.Thank you. Sincerely Mike Gravel Scott: I hope you will have the sense of fair play to distribute my response to the same venues you delivered your own biased and malicious interpretation of what went on within the 911 Commission committee. mike.

The Truthers Have Their Candidate!

2012-02-03T11:46:00.000-08:00

Roseanne Barr announces that she's running for president on the ticket of the rotting husk of the Green Party.

Scott McLarty, national media coordinator for the party, said Barr and Jill Stein, the other candidate that met the qualifications, are committed to ending the influence of corporate money on politics and elections and served as active participants in the Occupy Wall Street movement.

It will be interesting to see what the Troof Action folks feel about this. On the one hand, Roseanne's obviously something of a national joke. On the other, she did endorse Jon Gold's fatuous "The Facts Speak for Themselves."As a reminder, Roseanne is also very much opposed to "the rich". Which doesn't include her; she's just a working class stiff. See, Roseanne's idea of rich is people who are worth a lot more than her paltry $80 million.

Slow Learners

2012-02-02T21:15:00.001-08:00

I have lost count of what iteration this is, but the Truthers attempting to sue on behalf of April Gallop, have lost yet again. This time at least they got a mention by Reuters.

A federal appeals court sanctioned two California lawyers on Thursday over a lawsuit they filed, dismissed as frivolous, that accused former officials in the Bush administration of allowing the September 11 Pentagon attack to occur as part of a broad conspiracy.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ordered the two lawyers to pay $15,000 total in sanctions in addition to double an unspecified amount the government spent defending the case.
Three attorneys -- Dennis Cunningham, William Veale and Mustapha Ndanusa -- filed the lawsuit in 2008 on behalf of April Gallop, a member of the U.S. Army injured in the Pentagon attack on September 11, 2001.
The lawyers accused then-Vice President Dick Cheney and then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld of allowing the Pentagon attack to occur through inaction, despite having what the suit described as real-time information that a hijacked plane was approaching.

Is Dylan Avery Luke Skywalker?

2012-01-27T00:33:00.000-08:00

I'm mostly impressed that anybody bothered to watch Star Wars 2 and 3; after the travesty that was the Phantom Menace I gave up. As usual, Truthers think that because a major event was caused by a gigantic plot in a movie somewhere, that means that all major events are gigantic plots.

A Funny Video And....

2012-01-24T10:12:00.000-08:00

A serious response. First the video:

And the reponse? I found this over at Truth Action, where a poster named Snow Job had this to say:

The folks over at SLC are extremists who hate everybody not on board with Republicanism, and have in fact declared Republicanism to be identical to a litmus test of being American, just like... basically every Republican who ever lived.

I have, in fact, never issued such a declaration, and I would find such a declaration ignorant. I am a Republican, yes, but I do not think that the GOP has a monopoly on the best ideas. I wrote one time at JREF that I think of liberals as the gas pedal, and conservatives as the brakes. Without liberals we'd never move forward, and without conservatives we'd pretty quickly drive off a cliff. It is the dynamic tension between the two parties that results in us moving forward but at a sensible pace.More important, note that Snow Job does exactly what he accuses me of doing: writing off the other side entirely.

Hollywood Fantasists for 9/11 Truth

2012-01-22T11:59:00.000-08:00

We have covered this attempt to create a 9/11 Truth movie, to go along with their assortment of DVDs and books, previously, but now it is getting increasingly fantastical.

“A Violation of Trust” (formerly titled “Confession of a 9/11 Conspirator”) is a feature film project that is willing to do what the world’s governments and legal bodies are unwilling to do – open a real investigation of 9/11 for the entire world to see. It dramatizes the first day of “The President’s New Investigation of 9/11”, with actors performing from a tightly-written, factually-accurate script that pits the 9/11 Commission Report and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Reports against the work of 9/11 researcher Dr. David Ray Griffin and the scientific research highlighted by leading 9/11 truth organizations, including Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth.

The filming of “A Violation of Trust” will be performed on a single set, depicting the investigation’s public hearing room. The single-set approach provides the most intense platform for the actors and the script to involve the audience. The film’s compelling drama, forceful images and real-time video clips will be woven into its often contentious question-and-answer dialogue to create opportunities for conflicting views that will be argued both passionately and in a scientific and logical manner.

They claim to have assembled a pretty decent cast, although mostly from the list of leftist Hollywood has beens that are normally attracted like moths to a flame to any such endeavor, such as Ed Asner, Martin Sheen and Woody Harrelson. Their shooting schedule is pretty ambitious though:

The production schedule for “A Violation of Trust” is as follows:

Pre-Production: NOW

Principal Photography: 10 days beginning March 22, 2012

Post-Production: 6 weeks

Cannes “Marche du Film” Premiere: May 16, 2012

Release Date: September 11, 2012

I am no expert in the film industry, but I think 10 days is pretty ambitious, even for a film which only has one set. This has all the potential of a really bad fact-impaired documentary.

Typical Truther Scholarship

2012-01-21T11:24:00.000-08:00

A Truther named Dr Paul Rea has written a book, apparently his second Troofer tome. Dr Rea is uniquely qualified to write such a book, possessing degrees in structural engineering, fire safety, history and aviation.

Okay, just kidding. Actually he was a professor in the humanities, which means his major qualification for writing this book is that his computer has a word-processing program. The book sells for $32.95 but is discounted on his site to only $21.00 (softcover). He's made a few chapters available online.

As usual, it's not hard to find errors. For example, discussing the Mexican cession of territory following the Mexican-American War, he says:

The war was short, but the gains were huge. As a price for halting its drive southward, the United States forced Mexico to sign over a vast area, which included all of what is now New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, and part of Colorado (E. Foner Give Me Liberty! Vol. 1 pp. 402-405).

Well, I'm not a history major, either, and yet I knew instantly that was not true. For starters, over half of New Mexico was originally part of the Republic of Texas, and came into the Union when the Lone Star State did. In addition, a large segment of New Mexico and Arizona (including the locations of the current cities of Tucson and Yuma) were added with the Gadsden Purchase. He also attributes the US entry into World War I to the sinking of the Lusitania, which appears to be something that all Truthers get wrong.

The sloppy scholarship continues into the chapter on WTC 7:

For the first two or three hours, the blazes were scattered and not immediately visible. NIST also acknowledged that the first photographs or videos of WTC-7 fires were taken at about 12:10 a.m., and that two other photos were taken at 12:28.

Fires at WTC 7 on 9-11 at 12:10 a.m. would indeed be quite suspicious, as that was more than 10 hours before the falling debris from the North Tower hit the building.

We get the usual nonsense about Barry Jennings' recollections:

Despite the evacuation order and the police presence that must have accompanied it, the mayor’s staffers did enter the WTC-7 just after 9:00. Michael Hess, corporation counsel for the city and a close friend of Giuliani; and Barry Jennings, the Director of Emergency Services for the City Housing Authority, made it up to the OEM (Independent [UK] 9/13/01). Expecting to find Giuliani at the command center, they were amazed to find “everybody was gone.” Since evacuations take time, these reports imply an evacuation order was given before 9:03.

Puzzled, Jennings called other staffers, one of whom told him “to leave and leave right away.” A superior also commanded him to “get out of there now.” But the elevators didn’t work because the power had gone out (BBC 9/6/08).

Rea ignores the evidence supplied in that final sentence, "the power had gone out." We know that the power went out when the South Tower collapsed, right around 10:00. Which of course shows that Jennings was wrong with his estimation that he entered the building around 9:00. Jenning's times are all off by about 30-40 minutes; once you adjust for that by comparing other things he said, his testimony fits perfectly with other accounts. Truthers don't make adjustments because their whole case rests on BS, like "Oooh, look this guy says it was 9:00 but X didn't happen until 9:40, so therefor the time of X must be wrong." Think Norm Mineta here; there is abundant evidence that Mineta's times are off by as much as an hour, and yet do any of them make the obvious conclusion that Mineta was wrong?

WTC-7’s relative obscurity is itself puzzling. This high-rise building wasn’t hit by an airliner, and at 47 stories it would have stood as the tallest skyscraper in 30 states. When New York Times reporter James Glanz characterized the fall of WTC-7 as “a mystery that under normal circumstances would probably have captured the attention of the city and the world” (NYT 11/29/01), he was factoring in media environment right after 9/11. But it wasn’t just a tsunami of shocking news that has caused WTC-7 to go underreported; it also posed big challenges to the Official Story.

The fall of WTC-7 should have been a bigger story because the circumstances of its demise were anything but “normal.” While the standard narrative says the skyscraper disintegrated because of fire damage, this seemingly simple hypothesis introduces more ambiguity than it dispels. Was fire really a sufficient cause, especially when one recalls that, before 9/11, no steel-framed high rise had ever come down because of fire?

The Troofers' continual amazement at the relative obscurity of WTC 7 is amusing. Granted, on almost any other day it would have been headline news all across the country. But on a day when two 110-story towers collapsed, killing over 2000 people, the collapse of a 47-story skyscraper that killed nobody is absolutely minor news that will be reported, if at all, in the 83rd paragraph of an 86-paragraph story. I forget who it was, but some baseball player had the misfortune to pass away the same day Ty Cobb did; whose death do you think was headlined and whose got a brief mention at the end of the story?

Please Read This Peer-Reviewed Paper, Which Disproves the Argument that We Are Making

2012-01-18T16:36:00.000-08:00

Things have been slow around here at the New World Order lunchroom, but the Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, in their desperate attempt to turn out new fundraising material, can always be counted on to produce some new idiocy eventually.

Now they have decided to produce a serious of FAQs addressing questions people have regarding their crackpot theories, with the second asking:

FAQ # 2: What about the planes that slammed into the Twin Towers? Wouldn’t they have disturbed the demolition devices?

They then go on to argue that the collapse started in the location where the aircraft did not have its major impact, ignoring the whole point that the fires were the primary cause of the collapse, but that isn't the major idiocy of this article, which comes to the conclusion, once again on the magical properties of thermite:

Second, a demolition using advanced nanothermite material (which has been identified in the WTC dust) may help to explain why the fires started by the planes did not set off explosive devices. As noted by Dr. Steven Jones:

It is important to note that initiating the thermite reaction requires temperatures well above those achieved by burning jet fuel or office materials -- which is an advantage of using thermite charges over conventional monomolecular explosives such as TNT, RDX and PETN. Below is a photograph of an experiment performed by the author and colleagues at BYU in which a sample of thermite was heated to orange-hot temperature (about 1700 ºF). We demonstrated that the thermite reaction would not ignite at this high temperature. Later, the thermite reaction was triggered by burning a magnesium strip in contact with the thermite. An electrical superthermite "match" could have been used and remotely triggered via radio signal.

Now the truely ironic (and moronic) thing, is although they quote Steven Jones from a Journal of 9/11 Studies paper from 2006 regarding the ignition point of Thermite, they first link to the nanothermite paper (authored by Jones and others) where they tested their alleged nanothermite sample. That paper had this to say about the ignition point of their "explosives":

3. Thermal Analysis using Differential Scanning Calorimetry
Red/gray chips were subjected to heating using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The data shown in Fig. (19) demonstrate that the red/gray chips from different WTC samples all ignited in the range 415-435 ˚C

This of course is several hundred degrees below the ignition point of Thermite cited above (1700 F = 927C), and well within the temperatures produced within a normal office fire, so their own experiment either disproves the conclusions of the article itself, or their assertion that this was Thermite, or in fact... both assertions.

H/T to NoahFence on the JREF forum for pointing out this latest bit of idiocy.

Your Conspiracy Theory Is Nutty...

2012-01-09T13:30:00.000-08:00

Ours is sane. The Journal of 9-11 Studies publishes two more papers, which again demonstrate that the real name of the publication should be The Journal of Debunking Pentagon Missiles, Flyovers and Bombs. As always, the Truthers do a spectacular job of demolishing those parts of the conspiracy theory with which they disagree, while remaining blind to the weaknesses of their pet hypotheses.

Navy SEAL Smacks Prominent Truther

2012-01-05T18:26:00.000-08:00

No, not Richard Gage, but still...

Language warning, hey, they are interviewing a Navy SEAL after all.

Donations Requested for Thermite Testing

2012-01-04T07:25:00.000-08:00

Here's an email from Chris Mohr, who so humiliated Box Boy Gage in a debate that the latter decided not to put the debate out on DVD as originally planned:

Request for contributions to WTC Dust Analysis

Here is my official request for funds to analyze the WTC dust. To summarize, after three months of investigating this, the best person I found for the job is James R. Millette, Ph.D. of MVA Scientific Consultants. He is an independent researcher with extensive experience in forensics and dust analysis. He promises an objective study: "At present, I have no opinion as to whether we will find any active thermitic material. All I can say is that to this point in time we have not found any during the general particle characterizations we have done. Because we have not focused on this particular question in the past analyses, we are proceeding with a careful, forensic scientific study focused on the red-gray chips in a number of WTC dust samples. When I present the data, it will be in front of critical members of the forensic science community... I am an independent researcher without an interest in how the research results come out. Our laboratory is certified under ISO 17025 which includes audits of our accuracy, reliability and integrity. I am a member of the American Academy of Forensic Scientists and have sworn to uphold the high ethical standards of the organization."

Dr. Millette continues to receive input from forensic experts as well as from me and my JREF companions. He has already found red-gray chips using stereomicroscopy and has created initial spectographic analyses of some of the red-gray chips in his lab's possession. He plans to do, at a minimum, a replication of many of the experiments already done in the original Harritt/Jones/Ryan et al Bentham study as well as additional testing by PLM, SEM, TEM and FTIR after sample treatment. I am thinking other tests may be added to the protocol. We will get a full report and he will also make it public.

Chemist and 9/11 Truth activist Kevin Ryan has refused to provide samples of red-gray chips he believes are thermitic, or even to sign off on the chips Dr. Millette would provide. He believes Dr. Millette's past work with the EPA and other dust studies were deceptive and that his results would not be objective. Dr. Millette has expressed confidence that he can find red-gray chips that are a scientifically valid match for the chips studied in the Bentham paper. I am confident of Dr. Millette's scientific integrity and knowledge. He has taken a strong interest in this subject and plans to do a very thorough job. He has never once hinted at any prejudice against the thermitic materials hypothesis and consistently says he has no opinion until he has thoroughly analyzed the data.

Because of his strong interest in the subject, he is charging only $1000 for several thousand of dollars worth of tests. I am now asking all people of good will on "both sides of the aisle" to make the necessary contributions to have this work move forward.

Please write a check or money order payable to Classical Guide Inc. and mail to Chris Mohr, Foothills Chapel, 1950 Ford St Golden CO 80401. This is not tax-deductible. Leave me an email address and a snail-mail return address so I can acknowledge receipt of your contribution and mail you back your check if we can't raise the necessary funds (though I believe we can). Whatever you pitch in will be kept private unless you tell others on the JREF thread how much you pitched in. Once we get $1000 in checks, I'll deposit them all and give Jim Millette the "Go" sign. If you have any questions you can send me a private message right here on JREF.

Thanks all and Happy New Year!

Chris advises that he has already received $500 in pledges so far. This is a great opportunity to put the nano/iso/super thermite/thermate theories to the real peer review, and as such the Truthers themselves should welcome the opportunity. What a surprise that Waterboy Kevin Ryan isn't cooperating; guess we know who isn't interested in the Truth.

Yet Another Sign It's Over

2011-12-27T07:40:00.000-08:00

Remember 911TruthNews, the site that was started by the Truth Action folks to be an alternative to 9-11 Blogger; the site that was going to focus on the "real" 9-11 Truth Movement, and not get caught up in the Controlled Demolition nonsense?

Last updated in mid-October. This parrot has ceased to be. It has shuffled off the mortal coil. It is an ex-parrot.

Strawman?

2011-12-24T09:50:00.000-08:00

One of the most common claims of the increasingly inaccurately named 9/11 Truth movement is that of a "strawman" argument. This claim is assisted by the fact that no two truthers can agree on much, but the fact is that a fair amount of people can be found who support even the most idiotic claim, unfortunately. This recent article on the AE911Truth site attacking Chris Mohr could be Fisked at great length, but hey, it is Christmas and I have better things to do, but I thought I would point out this "Strawman" claim. Feel free to debunk the rest of the article in the comments between opening presents and drinking hot cocoa.

• If 4500 degree nanothermites were used to pulverize almost every inch of every concrete floor, then how could there have been millions of sheets of paper with an ignition temperature of only 451° raining down on the sidewalks?

This is a strawman argument. To my knowledge, nobody has suggested that nano-thermite was used “to pulverize almost every inch of every concrete floor.” To bring the building down, the steel load-bearing columns would have to be cut and gravity would do the rest. No nano-thermite or explosives would be used on the floors at all. Any use of nano-thermite would be targeted at the connections or the columns themselves.

Unfortunately for the author, this is a common claim in the movement, for this claim we have to go no further than AE911Truth founder Richard Gage himself, here for example in a radio interview from March 2008:

Ninety thousand tons of struct... of concrete has been pulverized to a fine talcum powder, though these uhh, intense explosions, including its metal decking and the floor trusses that were supporting, it, uhh completely gone and blown outside the perimeter.

A Spot of Silly Debunking

2011-12-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga held a Truther confab recently, breathlessly reported at Flogger.

The groundbreaking event, aptly coined “The Science of 9/11”, that was held at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) on November 15, 2011, proved to be a resounding success as depicted in the local Times Free Press. The evening began with the landmark DVD from Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth called “9/11: Explosive Evidence -- Experts Speak Out”. The documentary, which assembles the startling evidence from and testimony of over 50 technical and building professionals calling for a real WTC investigation, was shown at the University Center Auditorium. Following the film, an in-depth panelist discussion was held with a lively Q&A segment.

One of the professors got rebunked by a Truther:

However, Foster continued by claiming that heat from fires could weaken columns and bar-joists enough at the impact zone to cause a sudden collapse such as a sledgehammer dropped on to a toothpick. This phenomenon, he stated, could cause an exponential chain reaction, reaching free-fall acceleration.An audience member and AE911Truth petition signer refuted Mr. Foster’s claim very eloquently. “There is not enough energy, there is a tremendous energy deficit, there is no jolt, and there is no deceleration,” he said. Another audience member brought up a good point: How did the bottom three-quarters of the building reduce its strength to a “toothpick” causing the entire 110 floors to fall in roughly 10 seconds? “That is ten floors per second!” she pointed out. “I can’t even clap my hands that fast. Can you guys?” Several audience members attempted, but were unable.

Heheh, it's clunkety-clunk all over again. So if somebody could clap their hands that fast, it would prove the official story was true?

What is Old is New Again

2011-12-18T12:24:00.000-08:00

It took several years, but now the "science" of 9/11 has returned to the early days of Sophia and "clunkity clunk". From a post on 911 Blogger all excited about a Science of 9/11 conference at the University of Tennessee:

Another audience member brought up a good point: How did the bottom three-quarters of the building reduce its strength to a “toothpick” causing the entire 110 floors to fall in roughly 10 seconds? “That is ten floors per second!” she pointed out. “I can’t even clap my hands that fast. Can you guys?” Several audience members attempted, but were unable.

They should at least cite the originator of this "scientific" experiment. Sophia from 9/11 Mysteries, from December of 2006.

Regardless, I tell people, these buildings fell in 10 seconds, they’re 110 stories. Now let’s just use our mouth to demonstrate this. If a pancake collapse can be described as “clunkity clunk” How many times can you say that in 10 seconds? And if one floor is “clunkity clunk clunkity clunk” you cannot say that 110 times in 10 seconds. So let’s even give it the benefit of the doubt, let’s just take off the “clunk”. Let’s just say “clunkity”. You can’t say that in 10 seconds, 110 times.

But remember, this is science. I am now going to go prove the Theory of Relativity wrong by turning my flashlight on and off as fast as I can in the bathroom mirror.

Flight 93 Boarding Passes

2011-12-15T20:16:00.000-08:00

Earlier we did a post on the boarding pass for Flight 93 hijacker Ziad Jarrah, now MikeW from 911Myths has obtained copies for the other hijackers and the passengers. Reading through their names, although an important part of history, was rather unsettling. Even more disturbing is the fact that there are people who think they never existed, never boarded the plane, or are living on a tropical island somewhere.

Mapping the Truther Mind (sic)

2011-12-14T16:23:00.001-08:00

A flow-chart explains it all.

Lawyers for 9/11 Tru... Oh look, a Squirrel!

2011-12-13T19:29:00.000-08:00

I have been following the April Gallop lawsuit comedy for quite a while now, and thought it had died out, but it turns out one of the lawyers involved filed another appeal of his fines, along with a pseudo-apology. It would help his case though if he could keep a consistent train of thought for more than a few pages.

From page 6 of his response:

FAA flight controllers in Boston and elsewhere gave timely notice to military authorities that the four airliners were out of contact and possibly hijacked.According to normal protocol and practice USAF-NORAD jets would have been readily able to intercept all four planes, but launchings were inexplicably delayed and misdirected, and three of the planes got through to their targets.

OK, well three of the planes hit their targets, presumably the two which hit the World Trade Center and the one that hit the Pentagon, the fourth crashing in a field in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately for the lawyer Dennis Cunningham, later in the paper... OK, well the VERY NEXT PAGE, page 7, he writes:

The evidence of one's own eyes also proves that no airliner crashed into the Pentagon, as claimed by authorities (and conspirators) in the aftermath of the bombing in which the plaintiff and her childwere injured. In view of the plain evidence, photographic and physical, and the telling, wholly implausible lack of such evidence supporting the official version,the withholding of 85 Pentagon surveillance videotapes, and the first-hand testimony of the plaintiff and numerous others, the claim that no airliner hit is certainly far from conclusory. It is entitled to be taken as true.

How hard is it to keep a consistent narrative for 4 paragraphs? Geez, hire a secretary or something.

Once again a hat tip to LashL, the Goddess of Legaltainment.

Occupy Wall Street Protestor Who Got A Job On Wall Street...

2011-12-06T10:21:00.001-08:00

Is a crackpot 9-11 Truther. Tracy Postert's story of going from Zuccotti Park to Wall Street analyst is the kind of tale newspapers love:

Down-on-her-luck protester Tracy Postert spent 15 days washing sidewalks and making sandwiches at Zuccotti Park — then landed a dream job at a Financial District investment firm thanks to a high-powered passer-by who offered her work.“I never thought I would be doing this,’’ Postert admitted to The Post.The Upper West Sider, who has a Ph.D. in biomedical science specializing in pharmacology, was unemployed and had all but given up on finding work in her preferred field of academia when she joined the movement in October.

Coverage has been split, with some people denouncing her for betraying the cause and going over to the enemy, while others are seeing it as a vindication of capitalism. I also noticed that several have wondered why a person with a doctorate in the biomedical field would have a tough time finding a job. Might it indicate that she has other issues?

Indeed, it might. Turns out Tracy Postert is a 9-11 Truther. And not just any ordinary Truther, but a space ray dustified the towers Judy Woods nutbar. Here's a video she put together:
BTW, on the smell part, Tracy likes to call herself a "nosewitness", get it? Here's some back and forth between Tracy and Uncle Fetzer (Postert's words in italics):

To my astonishment, in rereading this latest post from TracyPostert, who is a teacher in a public school of the New YorkDepartment of Education, I discovered a paragraph that I hadoverlooked in drafting my reply. Here this utterly despicableperson reiterates false, baseless, and disgusting allegationsthat I am an alcoholic and that I have abused my daughter:

Savage? Get real. I haven't savaged anyone. I made fun of you.I danced when I got proved 100%+ correct by your admissions.That doesn't qualify as "savage". Spreading rumors about youralcoholism and past as a child molester were a bit stronger,but AT LEAST I GOT THE RIGHT PERSON! You accusedme of faking my identity, etc. Besides, if you abuse alcohol,you should expect to have that follow you around forever,because it does speak to your mentality and self control.Molesting your daughter, if true, was unforgiveable.

I am a former Marine Corps officer who is both a moderate drinkerand would never molest anyone. My daughter--who is married andpregnant with her second child--is the joy of my life. Someonewho would spread such malicious and unfounded claims is despicableand has no place in the public school systems of this country. Ihave reported her to the Department of Education of the City of NewYork--and not for the first time! I hope it will result in action.This grotesque behavior by a close associate of Judy Wood and JohnHutchison raises the most serious questions of moral responsibility.Judy Wood has met my daughter. My wife has looked after her cats.I have never made any argument about her that could be compared tothe exhibition of moral decadence displayed here by Tracy Postert.If Judy Wood has a fiber of moral decency in her body, then she candemonstrate it by denouncing this extreme and despicable conduct byTracy Postert. Otherwise, Judy will impugn herself by her silence.

Are there no bounds to the corruption of the members of this cult?

We'll see if Postert can keep her job long; the craze is obviously strong with her.

And Postert (maiden name Blevins) is also another poster child for the Willie Nelson Theory:

Medical Marijuana Barbie is a character created by Tracy Blevins, comptroller for New York's Medical Marijuana Party, and is the star attraction of Blevins' one-woman "Medical Marijuana Traveling Circus Sideshow," designed to garner support for the legalization of medical pot.

Hat Tip: JREF forum member AW Smith.

Is It Over?

2011-12-03T00:08:00.001-08:00

I've usually been one to deny that the Norwegian Blues are really dead, they're just pining. But I gotta wonder. Consider:

9-11 Troof has almost no content on the front page related to September 11. The posts as of now include:

1. A bill in the Senate being co-sponsored by John McCain would apparently make Barack Obama a dictator. Who woulda thunk it?
2. A civil liberties oversight board is still dormant.
3. Some nonsense about the Oklahoma City bombing by Tim McVeigh.
4. Two tributes to Lynn Margulis, who passed away about a week ago. Our condolences to her family. She became a Truther late in life; one presumes she will be remembered more for her legitimate contributions to science involving small organisms and not 9-11 nuttery.
5. Two posts about Bush and Blair getting convicted of war crimes by a kangaroo court led by a Truther in Malaysia. Glenn Greenwald should know better than to give credence to this crap.
6. A post by Washington's blog on the similarities between OWS and the Tea Party faction.
7. Some dribblings from Peter Dale Scott about JFK, Watergate, Iran-Contra, and 9/11.8. Another post from Glenn Greenwald about the pepper spray incident at Cal-Davis.Meanwhile over at Truth Action, the hot topics are:1. Rise like Lions, a 9-11 Truther's tribute to Occupy Wall Street2. The need to keep 9-11 Truth away from Occupy Wall Street3. A post on some new BS from Robby Balsamo and his clowns which Brian Good and the rest of the "responsible" Troofers disavow.4. The Official Police Brutality Thread, which is lately dedicated to Occupy Wall Street.5. A thread on Laura Knight Jadczyk's cult.6. Nobody can predict the moment of revolution. A thread that pretends that Occupy Wall Street is America's Tahrir Square. Looking pretty silly lately.7. Walmart shoppers riot over $2 waffle irons.9-11 Flogger? Down for maintenance, but the latest posts I saw recently didn't have much to do with 9-11. Cleese was right:

Eloquence in Support of Gage's Gaggle

2011-12-01T09:11:00.000-08:00

I like what he says at about 1:45; talking about debunkers he says, "They'll make us sound like fools." Truer words were never spoken. The rest of the time he mostly babbles.

Truthers Versus Occupiers

2011-11-27T20:57:00.001-08:00

I'm not high on either group, but the Occupier definitely has my sympathy here. Love the signs.

Washington's Blog Dumps 9-11 Truth (Mostly), Starts Getting Cited

2011-11-26T07:49:00.001-08:00

You may recall Washington's blog used to get cited mostly by 9-11 Blogger. Run by Alex Floum, Washington's Blog highlighted the nuttery back in the day.

Director of the U.S. "Star Wars" space defense program in both Republican and Democratic administrations, who was a senior air force colonel who flew 101 combat missions (Col. Robert Bowman) stated that 9/11 was an inside job.

But lately, Alex has dropped the 9-11 Troof focus, purchased a website, added a few more posters (including Crackpot Carl Herman) and suddenly his blog has become respectable, at least among the wackadoodle left. For example, Naomi Wolf cites him in an article today:

In New York, a state supreme court justice and a New York City council member were beaten up; in Berkeley, California, one of our greatest national poets, Robert Hass, was beaten with batons. The picture darkened still further when Wonkette and Washingtonsblog.com reported that the Mayor of Oakland acknowledged that the Department of Homeland Security had participated in an 18-city mayor conference call advising mayors on "how to suppress" Occupy protests.

(Bolding added for emphasis)I have also seen Washington's Blog cited numerous times at Memeorandum, a major blog aggregator and traffic builder.The only evidence that Washington's Blog is run by a 9-11 crackpot is one of their links in the sidebar:

Truth (or Fiction?). 911 Blogger

Of course, that's not to say they've suddenly become sane; just good enough at feigning sanity to get linked by major sites. If you know what to look for, you can see the crazy. For example, this post:

Bush and Blair Found Guilty of War CrimesGeorge W. Bush and Tony Blair have been found guilty of war crimes for committing crimes against humanity during the Iraq war.Granted, it was not the U.S., or England or any other Western country … but Malaysia.

Malaysia, Malaysia, where have we heard of that country around here? Wasn't a former prime minister a 9-11 Truther?

Later, during a question-and-answer session, Dr Mahathir said he had doubts that the collapse of the World Trade Centre in New York was actually caused by terrorists crashing planes into the towers.He said the buildings had collapsed in an orderly manner with such military precision that it all seemed well planned.“I can believe that they (the United States) would kill 3,000 of their own to have an excuse to kill 650,000 Iraqis. These are the kind of people we are dealing with. Please don't think this is fiction.”

And yes, Dr Mahathir was part of that Malaysian panel that found Bush and Blair guilty. Glenn Greenwald was suckered into posting about it.

A tribunal in Malaysia, spearheaded by that nation’s former Prime Minister, yesterday found George Bush and Tony Blair guilty of “crimes against peace” and other war crimes for their 2003 aggressive attack on Iraq, as well as fabricating pretexts used to justify the attack.

(Bolding added for emphasis)Here's confirmation it was Mahathir:

The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal, part of an initiative by former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad - a fierce critic of the Iraq war - found the former leaders guilty after a four-day hearing.

Gage Got a Raise in 2010

2011-11-24T22:36:00.001-08:00

Not a huge raise, but then not many people got any raise at all last year.Update: As requested, here is the full page:

OK... Maybe They Aren't the 84 Percent?

2011-11-21T20:31:00.001-08:00

Damn, so close...

Truthers March

2011-11-20T19:33:00.001-08:00

As you can see, Occupy Building 7 was not quite as massive as Occupy Wall Street.

Architects and Engineers for Paranoid Texans

2011-11-16T16:11:00.000-08:00

They like to pretend that they are scientists and engineers, but after over 5 years, they have yet to produce anything even remotely scientific, unless you consider it a study on logical fallacies. Things are getting so bad, however, that they are not only producing their own unscientific material, but posting frontpage articles from Alex Jones' Infowars. Yeah, I go to them for all of my science and engineering reporting.

UK’s Daily Mail newspaper claims weakening of ‘exterior beams’ caused WTC 7 collapse
Editor’s note: In this incisive article, Infowars journalist Paul Joseph Watson refutes the illogical claims of an overambitious reporter from the UK Daily Mail, who asserts that video footage confirms the destruction of WTC Building 7 by office fires. The Daily Mail article comes in stark contrast to the easily accessible and understandable evidence of the controlled demolition of WTC 7 on the afternoon of 9/11.

But hey, remember, they are architects and engineers...

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Wasting a Decade?

2011-11-13T16:39:00.001-08:00

Jon Gold reveals that he's writing a book:

I tried everything else, so I figured I would write one. It's an autobiography, and tells about my experiences over the last decade. The title is a secret. I haven't decided how I'm going to publish it. I haven't decided if I'm going to charge for it. There are a total of 9 chapters. I'm done the first three, and am almost done Chapter 4. Some of them will contain things already written so it shouldn't take too long once 4, 5, and 9 are written. Here is the dedication:

Jon's being a little coy there, not giving away the title. So I thought, why not throw it open to our readers? Come up with a name for Jon's tome. BTW, Jon has managed to dedicate the book to about half the people in the world, and he got Cindy Sheehan to write the "foreward", which made him cry.

Ryan Mackey on Why 9-11 Truth Became So Popular

2011-11-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

Terrific and long article on the rise (and fall) of the Truthers (in PDF format) by JREF forum member Ryan Mackey. I will post my thoughts here when I've finished reading it; I'm about a third of the way through it right now.

Update: Excellent read. I have a few points that I wish he had covered, but overall his presentation is well-organized, and very well-written and argued. Quibbles:

1. Ryan discusses why certain conspiracy theories take off and endure, while others more or less wither and die. The key factor to me is the perceived consequence of the event which spawned the conspiracy theory. The reason JFK conspiracy theories endured and even flourished is the persistent belief that Kennedy would not have gotten bogged down in Vietnam. This also may account for the sudden surge in Kennedy conspiracy theories around 1968, as opposition to the war became more widespread. Indeed, the comparison (and time to critical mass) with 9-11 and the Iraq war seems nearly perfect.

2. While I agree that video sites like YouTube and Google Video were very important to pushing 9-11 conspiracy theories into the mainstream, I believe the timing is just a little off. Dylan Avery often mentioned in interviews that earlier file-sharing technologies like Bit Torrent were responsible for spreading Loose Change 1.

3. Another reason why 9-11 conspiracy theories did not take off earlier is simply that the people who were the initial researchers were, shall we say, not ready for prime-time. When you consider that some of those responsible for many of the initial bits of "evidence" that became key to the movement were socially awkward, like Rosalee Grable or Eric Hufschmid or Nico Haupt, it's hardly surprising that the movement remained stalled for years. It took someone less obviously deranged, like David Ray Griffin, to move the theories into more mainstream society.

On the other hand, there are brilliant parts that I wish to highlight. Brilliant ideas to me are those which I did not think of beforehand, but find myself agreeing with wholeheartedly after reading them:

1. I loved his discussion of the Gish Gallop, where Truthers will lob up one floater after another, never acknowledging the rapid debunking that follows, but instead moving onto the next piece of evidence. All of us who have debunked the Truthers have been frustrated by their unwillingness to accept and admit defeat on even one tiny issue. Ryan points out that this is a defense mechanism that enables them to avoid examining their entire worldview.

2. His point about personas on the internet beginning to become more important is worthy of a standing ovation. You know, one of the supposed features of the internet at first was its supposed anonymity. Now it is becoming more and more impossible to escape one's past.

Read the whole thing.

We Are the 84 Percent!

2011-11-07T17:34:00.000-08:00

The Troofers once again prove how after 10 years they have captured the heart and soul of America. Now they are starting a petition on the official White House site, where if they gather 15,000 signatures in a month, they get an official response from the government. The petition is actually pretty generic, nothing particularly controversial by Troofer standards:

Appoint and fund an independent prosecutor and impanel a public grand jury to investigate the crimes of 9/11.
Bring the questions concerning what happened on 9/11 into the judicial process where an independent prosecutor, the power to subpoena, and the risk of prosecution for lies can be used to publicly seek answers to why the first 3 steel superstructure buildings in history fell symmetrically at near free fall speed into their own footprints in New York on 9/11/2001 killing 3,000 people. In addition, notify all current/former federal employees and contractors that failure to respond truthfully and completely to questioning will--in addition to any criminal penalties--result in loss of employment, cancellation of pension benefits, and/or voiding of any employment contract. Further, prosecution for lying or refusing to testify for any reason will not be defended by the government.

Well how are they doing, a quarter of the way into the month. Let's... uhh... just say that they are a little behind schedule.

By comparison the following petition has over 7,700 signatures in only 3 days.

We demand a vapid, condescending, meaningless, politically safe response to this petition.

Since these petitions are ignored apart from an occasional patronizing and inane political statement amounting to nothing more than a condescending pat on the head, we the signers would enjoy having the illusion of success. Since no other outcome to this process seems possible, we demand that the White House immediately assign a junior staffer to compose a tame and vapid response to this petition, and never attempt to take any meaningful action on this or any other issue. We would also like a cookie.

But hey, everyone likes cookies.

Occupy Envy?

2011-11-06T17:38:00.000-08:00

There are, in my opinion, two buffoonish movements in this country that are bound to fail. But one of them is young, vibrant, growing and has captured the imagination of the media. The other one is the Truth Movement.No surprise, the Truthers are a little envious of the Occupy Wall Street crowd. "We are the 99%" has proven a more effective rallying cry than "9-11 was an inside job!" Well, if you can't beat them, join them.

Occupy Building 7November 19 and 20

I have to give them a little credit. Usually the Truthers come up with these grandiose plans that have no chance of succeeding, like getting Steve Alten's cruddy book on the bestseller list, or getting 10,000 architects and engineers to sign Box Boy's petition. This time they have actually come up with a plan that could conceivably work:

March from Liberty Plaza to WTC 7 at noon each day. Occupy the park in front of WTC 7 until nightfall.

I haven't looked at Google Maps, but I'd guess that the march is maybe a half mile. November 19th and 20th are the Saturday and Sunday after next. Nightfall in New York City can't be much after 5:00 PM this time of year. It certainly seems doable. Could this be the first successful action by the 9-11 Truthers?

Book Review: The Believing Brain

2011-11-05T08:38:00.000-07:00

All is quiet on the Truther front, at least until another one of them gets arrested, so I figured I would do a post on a related subject the Michael Shermer book The Believing Brain, which I recently finished.

The book discusses the biological reasons, mostly evolutionary, that the human brain has for believing things, in this case he mostly focuses on things which are an article of faith such as religion, superstitious beliefs and, of course, conspiracy theories. The rest are interesting, even though I consider Shermer to be somewhat self-absorbed and meandering as a writer, but outside of the scope of this blog.

Shermer, who is well known for his skepticism and criticism of 9/11 conspiracy theorists, and conspiracy theorists in general, is actually somewhat kind to them, in much of the same way that Jonathan Kay was in his book, pointing out that people who hold these fringe beliefs are not idiots, but may actually be fairly smart, it is just their brains are hardwired to act this way. Shermer's thesis is essentially that the brain is built around recognizing patterns (see Jeff Hawkin's excellent On Intelligence for an in-depth examination of this) and "conspiracies" are the ultimate patterns.

The problem, Shermer argues, is that we have to recognize patterns to survive, he uses the famous example of a caveman recognizing the rustle of grass made by an approaching predator, but we are extremely bad at detecting fake patterns. And, as he points out, this is worse among certain people, especially when they are stressed or feeling insecure, which is something that has been proven through experimentation. For example when made to feel stressed test subjects are more likely to recognize objects in a completely random pattern of dots than control subjects.

Anyway, so what the thesis basically ends up arguing is that conspiracy theorists aren't necessarily dumber than the rest of us, and some may even be geniuses, but that they have an overdeveloped sense of recognizing patterns and making connections, even when they do no exist. For example a Truther who insists that there must be a reason that Michael Chertoff, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security, and Benjamin Chertoff a former junior editor at Popular Mechanics share the last name. It can't just be pure random chance. Or that there must be a reason that Flight 77 crashed into the part of the Pentagon that was being remodeled, it is not just that this happened to be the side of the Pentagon the plane was approaching from.

This thesis makes a lot of sense, especially when you consider that the people who have absolutely no filter for being able to detect patterns, who completely detect patterns which do not exist at all, are schizophrenics. As in the famous case of the Nobel Prize winning Mathematician John Nash, this ability to recognize and create comes in handy, even though it leads to insanity and destroys their lives.

Overall, although Shermer really needs to focus as a writer, a good book. It does give an interesting insight into why otherwise intelligent people believe in weird things.

More Dramatic WTC-7 Footage

2011-11-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

I'd say that this will finally shut up Box Boy about minor office fires, but I know he'll continue to use that line because his paycheck depends on it.We've seen footage from this reporter and his cameraman before; he's the guy who made the comment about, "I've been on this earth for 36 years and I've never been in a war zone. I can only imagine this is what it's like."

Comments open.

Toronto Panel Reaches Its Consensus

2011-10-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

They release what they claim are the 13 strongest bits of evidence against "the official account".No kidding, that Osama Bin Laden's wanted poster didn't list 9-11 among the crimes he was wanted for is #1. There are eight points on controlled demolition. The tenth point basically denies the planes were hijacked. The eleventh is that Flight 93 was shot down, #12 is that Hani Hanjour couldn't have been the pilot on Flight 77, and the final point is that Mineta was talking about a standdown order.Exceptionally silly stuff.

Gage's Latest Sleight of Hand

2011-10-25T04:18:00.000-07:00

It just goes to show how gullible the 9-11 Truthers are that Box Boy thinks he can get away with this crap. In a recent appearance at Chico State University in California, Gage did his usual "let's see a show of hands" routine at the beginning and end of his performance. Here are the results:

*Show of hands results*	Before	After
Believe fires brought down buildings:	34	2
Unsure:	55	17
Believe in explosive controlled demolition:	148	218
Number of people who attended presentation: 237

Now, note carefully that the 237 figure is mathematically correct; if you add up the two columns, each sums to 237. But is it plausible that all 237 people sat there for the two-plus hours of a Richard Gage presentation? Nobody decided to leave halfway through?

It's completely implausible, and if you think for a moment, how would you count the 218 at the end or even the 148 at the beginning who believed in controlled demolition? Answer: You don't. You count the people who believe in fires and who are unsure, subtract it from the total and the remainder are the CD believers. And that's probably adequate at the beginning of the presentation. But at the end? Nope, it's pretty obvious that a lot of people who believe in the sane theory that fires brought down the buildings decided they were wasting their time and walked out.

Truther at Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-24T16:37:00.000-07:00

They Really Are After You...

2011-10-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

After years of paranoid accusations from Truthers, from Alex Jones offering to hide Pat from my murderous rampages, to Jon Gold wanting to know who really is behind this blog, now the Truthers are posting on 911 Flogger about a supposed military operation to create fictitious personas.

Most people use social media like Facebook and Twitter to share photos of friends and family, chat with friends and strangers about random and amusing diversions, or follow their favorite websites, bands and television shows.

But what does the US military use those same networks for? Well, we can’t tell you: That’s “classified,” a CENTCOM spokesman recently informed Raw Story.

One use that’s confirmed, however, is the manipulation of social media through the use of fake online “personas” managed by the military. Raw Story recently reported that the US Air Force had solicited private sector vendors for something called “persona management software.” Such a technology would allow single individuals to command virtual armies of fake, digital “people” across numerous social media portals.

On a related note, you can now find me on Facebook. I post under the names Richard Gage, David Ray Griffin, Kevin Barrett and Jon Gold. Be sure to friend me.

April Gallop Dodges Fine, Lawyers' Fines Doubled

2011-10-18T23:33:00.000-07:00

Well, here's a decision right out of Solomon:

(1) The motion of Dennis Cunningham, Gallop’s lead counsel of record, for admission to our Court pro hac vice, is hereby GRANTED. (2) Gallop is hereby ADMONISHED that the submission of future frivolous filings may result in sanctions. (3) Dennis Cunningham, Mustapha Ndanusa, and William Veale are hereby ORDERED to pay the government double costs in addition to damages in the amount of $15,000, for which they are jointly and severally liable, within 60 days of the date of entry of this order.

I suspect the obvious, which is that the court concluded that April was led astray by her idiot lawyers.Hat tip: The lovely and talented Orphia Nay at JREF.

Another Comics Creator Pans the Big Lie

2011-10-18T16:07:00.000-07:00

Writer Mark Sable, who had an amusing run-in with the authorities when he was discovered to be carrying comic books with terrorist characters on a round-the-world jaunt, gives a big thumbs-down to Rick Veitch's Truther book:

SABLE: I bought it, and I'm mad at myself for buying it, because I knew it was going to get me mad. I applaud Image for publishing it, because who else has the balls to do that? And they're both creators I admire: Rick Veitch and Gary Erskine. That said, it was just horrifying to me.

Following his encounter with the authorities (described in the interview):

I tweeted about it. That got me some press. There was some interest from Truthers in terms of doing this radio interview. That scared me. Right before I went on the air I started to look up the host and there was some really racist stuff there -- Obama with bones through his nose, and Zionist-occupied government stuff. I felt trapped into doing this interview, and it was really nerve-wracking. The point of all this being is that I'm familiar with the arguments the Truthers make, but they don't hold up to even the smallest amount of scrutiny. You can watch five minutes of Loose Change and you have enough to pick apart all their arguments.So it bothered me that this Big Lie book came out and they're propagating this argument that's pretty demonstrably false the same way the birther argument was false. I don't think you have to be liberal to feel that way. I think most thinking people agree about that.Beyond that, if you look in the back of the book it has the wall of 9/11 with all the names on it. There are names of people I know. That felt horribly exploitative. If you actually read the book, they keep hinting that Steven Spielberg is involved. I'm sure it's not what the creators intended, but somehow all these conspiracies come back to the Jews: that the Jews were warned not to be in the World Trade Center that day. I'm sure that's not what they mean, but just talking about a filmmaker named Steven, that's a signal they may not have intended but that's how I'm reading it. It gets me really mad.

That's a good point about the Spielberg mentions tying the book into all the Jewish conspiracy theories.Hat Tip: Four Color Media Monitor

Excellent Analysis of Flight 93 and Mineta

2011-10-16T16:54:00.000-07:00

There is no audio for the first 2:30 or so, but then there is some sound.Hat Tip: Miles Kara, who notes:

Even though UA 93 was reported down with an impact time of 1003 EDT the flight plan was displayed and updated in the Traffic Situation Display (TSD) system until the flight “landed” at 1028 EDT at Reagan National. It was that “landing” that was concurrently reported to National TRACON by an FAA caller who was watching a TSD display. (In context, the FAA caller was likely either Baltimore or Dulles TRACON)It was the “approach” to that landing that became the threat to the National Capital Region, as updated to Secretary Mineta by Monte Belger, according to Mineta’s interview the next year with MSNBC.

Have they Found the $2.3 Trillion Rumsfeld Stole Yet?

2011-10-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

As usual, the Truthers miss the true story. While getting all up in arms over the fake claim that Donald Rumsfeld claimed that $2.3 trillion was stolen, they missed the real scandal of just how bad Pentagon accounting practices are. As someone who works in both IT and finance, I can at least take satisfaction in the fact that none of my projects has ever blown $6 billion and still not done the job.

The DOD has already promised to clean up its accounting practices for public scrutiny by 2017, and has pledged an estimated $300 million annually to do just that. They will likely need an additional $1 billion to meet that goal, CPI reports, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is allegedly poised to announce a speeding-up of the auditing process, which might raise the cost of reigning in spending even more.
The CPI report states: "Experts say the Pentagon's accounting has never been reliable. A lengthy effort by the military services to implement new financial systems at a cost so far of more than $6 billion has itself been plagued by overruns and delays, senior defense officials say."
Just last month, the Government Accountability Office said in a report that although the services can now fully track incoming appropriations, they still cannot demonstrate their funds are being spent as they should.

Why Don't These Guys Ever Realize That They Are Innocent?

2011-10-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

Won't stop the Truthers from making claims of innocence of course. The convenient thing about non-falsifiable beliefs.

A Nigerian man pleaded guilty Wednesday to trying to bring down a jetliner with a bomb in his underwear, defiantly telling a federal judge that he acted in retaliation for the killing of Muslims worldwide and referring to the failed explosive as a "blessed weapon."

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who acknowledged working for al-Qaida and never denied the allegations, entered the plea against his attorney's advice on the second day of his trial. He stands to get a mandatory life sentence for the 2009 attack that aimed to kill nearly 300 people on Christmas Day in the skies above Detroit.

Abdulmutallab calmly answered the judge's questions and read a political statement warning that if the United States continues "to persist and promote the blasphemy of Muhammad and the prophets," it risks "a great calamity ... through the hands of the mujahedeen soon."

Dick Gregory Sighting!

2011-10-11T20:17:00.000-07:00

Talking about the Occupy Wall Street protests:

Veteran comic and activist Dick Gregory said the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations were reminiscent of the 1960s civil rights movement and police violence could catapult it into a mass protest.

Those of you who have long memories will probably recall that Gregory is a little over halfway through his 9-11 Truth hunger strike:

I was born on October 12, 1932. I am announcing today that I will be consuming only liquids beginning Sunday until my eightieth birthday in 2012 and until the real truth of what truly happened on that day emerges and is publicly known.

Only a year to go, Dick!

9-11-11 Part II

2011-10-08T11:06:00.000-07:00

JREFer 9-11 Kongen with Gary Talis, Jason Bermas, Dylan Avery and Luke Rudkowski:

Carports of the Illuminati

2011-10-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hat tip: JREFer BaaBaa

Luke Rudkowski At the Protests

2011-10-06T03:14:00.000-07:00

Definitely NSFW but entertaining:

You can tell it's him when he says "I'm a ****ing journalist, you mother****ers!"

Another Troofer at the protests:

Two Days With the Truthers

2011-10-03T14:39:00.000-07:00

Definitely NSFW due to frequent profanity. Part I focuses on Luke Rudkowski and the money that disappeared from We Are Change's accounts. Note that his accuser here is Gary Talis.

Part II is currently awaiting upload; I will post it here when it is available.

Here's Part III, featuring none other than Do-Over Dylan himself:

Note that although Dylan falls back on his "that was in 2005" defense, he does not retract his statement.

Moron Blakeney and Veteran's Today

2011-10-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

Josh Blakeney apparently scored a columnist position at the prestigious Veterans Today website. The University of Lethbridge, where Josh has a scholarship to study 9-11 Truthiness, sent out a perfunctory note of congratulations. And then the feces hit the fan:

In an article in the National Post last Friday, I wrote about the University of Lethbridge’s School of Graduate Studies’ imprudent congratulations extended to dedicated 9/11 “skeptic” , Joshua Blakeney, for taking up a position as writer with the misleadingly titled , Veterans Today. Blakeney, it will be recalled, is a protégé of Anthony Hall, professor of the U of L’s “Globalization Studies” program. Judging from the program’s website, the curriculum spends a great deal of time and effort ensuring young minds realize that all the evil in the world stems from western imperialism.
In stark contrast to many of our institutions of higher learning (the mealy-mouthed York University and the University of Toronto immediately spring to mind), the University of Lethbridge didn’t mince any words in its response to Blakeney’s new gig at Veterans Today. The U of L’s Dean of Graduate Studies, Dr. Robert Wood, in response to my article, stated, “The anti-Semitic content that is periodically published inVeterans Today is morally repugnant, and it deeply offends the core principles of tolerance, respect, and citizenship upon which the University of Lethbridge is founded.”

Now that is not to deny that Veterans Today is certainly a heckuva website. When Josh submits his articles, they will no doubt be reviewed by its impressive editorial board which includes:

Gordon Duff - Chairman of the Board, U.S. Marines, VietnamLt. General Hamid Gul – Director General ISI (Former Chief of Intelligence Services, Pakistan)Col. Eugene Khrushchev - Former Russian Army Officer and First Secretary, Soviet and Russian Embassies, Kabul, AfghanistanMajor Bobby Hanifin - US Air ForceKhalil Nouri - Afghanistan Political Expert and Military SpecialistCarol Duff - RN, BA, MSN, Veteran’s Health Issues EditorJim W. Dean – Military Order of World Wars, Association of Former Intelligence OfficersDebbie Menon - Middle East Issues Editor

Even more impressive is the fact that the editorial board has compiled that impressive resume while maintaining the physical appearances of college students:

Josh will join a young and vibrant staff at Veterans Today:

Of course, he could have joined that same young and vibrant staff at other companies:

I have little doubt that Josh will fit in well at Veterans Today.

Truther Crime Blotter

2011-10-02T09:22:00.000-07:00

At least this time it wasn't for murder or statutory rape.

Darren Pearson says he had a swell time Monday night, pushing around police officers and intimidating patrons of the Vancouver Club, each of whom had paid $500 to hear former U.S. vice president Dick Cheney speak. “It was so much fun,” Mr. Pearson said from his home Wednesday. “I can’t tell you how much fun I had. I was laughing my ass off, jumping into that mosh pit.”

And the hapless Vancouver Club employee, whom Mr. Pearson is accused of assaulting with a chokehold? Well, whatever. Mr. Pearson isn’t about to make amends, much less apologize to the man who received minor injuries. Mr. Pearson admits he is the 51-year-old male whom Vancouver police arrested and charged after his alleged attack on the employee Monday night. But he isn’t prepared to discuss that in detail; he’s waiting to speak to a lawyer before his initial court appearance, still to be scheduled.

Monday’s arrest was not the first for Mr. Pearson, a conspiracy nut and founder of the Vancouver 9/11 Truth Society.

Thermite Simile of the Day

2011-10-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

Truthers constantly amuse me with their characterization of the magical power of thermite. It is an incendiary, it is an explosive, it fights bad breath and removes stains! It is like watching those late night infomercials.

Subsequent testing of WTC dust samples established the presence of thermite, a high-powered incendiary that cuts through a steel beam like a lightning bolt through a stick of butter.

The Eleventh Day

2011-09-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

It is a measure of the respect that I have for this book that I have revised my opinion on several issues based on the evidence provided by Anthony Summers and Robbyn Swan.

The Pakistani ISI's connections to 9-11 definitely deserve more attention by the mainstream media. Don't get me wrong, I still have grave doubts about the claim of $100,000 supposedly wired to Mohamed Atta the day before the attacks, and The Eleventh Day completely ignores this nonsense. The authors make strong points about Pakistan's support for Al Qaeda and the Taliban without endorsing the more fanciful accounts.

The section dealing with Saudi support for the terrorists also seems worthy of deeper review, and I am willing to join in the call for the release of the complete 28-page section of the 9-11 Commission Report dealing with this subject. The book makes a strong case against Omar al-Bayoumi, the Saudi responsible for finding accommodations for the first two hijackers to arrive in the United States, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi.

The book also contained some surprises; I had not been aware that Osama Bin Laden had in fact visited the United States. The authors reveal that this was disclosed in a 2009 book by his wife. So whether you have a deep knowledge of the events of 9-11 or just a modest understanding of the events of that day, the book will certainly enlighten you on certain aspects.

The authors make little secret of their disdain for the 9-11 Truthers, and this section of the book will probably provide the most delight to our rational readers. Summers and Swan take a bat to such kooks as David Ray Griffin, Laura Knight Jadczyk and A.K. Dewdney. There is a reasonably accurate summary of the history of the movement, although oddly the authors ignore Eric Hufschmid's importance as the first American author and filmmaker of 9-11 Truth.

I do have a few reservations about the book. The authors repeat the canard that workers on the pile relied on the EPA's advisory that the air was safe to breathe in Lower Manhattan. I looked into this extensively and found numerous citations indicating that respirators were generally required on the pile, although the workers commonly refused them because of the discomfort and the inability to smoke cigarettes while wearing them. Here's an NPR interview from earlier this month with a journalist for the Atlantic Monthly, who talks about the respirators:

Cleanup workers themselves were rebellious. Almost no one wore respirators, Langewiesche says, except in the most extreme conditions.
"They didn't put them on, and I didn't either," he says. "And the reason was — it was sort of necessary in a weird way. It wasn't self-sacrificial. But there had to be this kind of reckless courage, even if it was nonsensical, that was part of the beauty."

If anybody can be criticized about the workers not wearing respirators, it's OSHA.

According to an e-mail message to the regional director of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Mr. McKinney said at an Oct. 7, 2001, meeting that the city wanted the respirator rules enforced because “contractors ‘fear’ OSHA’s ability to issue penalties and that would cause compliance.”

I am also concerned that the Able Danger claims and Richard Clarke's account are presented without any recognition of the problems associated with them. Able Danger was investigated by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which found that the most sensational claim, that Mohamed Atta was identified as a terrorist by the system well before 9-11 and appeared on a chart as part of the "Brooklyn Cell" was unfounded.

As for Clarke, his self-serving account of his actions before and during the events of 9-11 is riddled with inconsistencies. To give just two examples, Clarke claimed that his teleconference on 9-11 included both Donald Rumsfeld and Richard Myers, but we know that in fact neither of those two men participated. In addition, I noted something about Clarke's appearance on 60 Minutes back in 2004. When Lesley Stahl asked him about his party affiliation, Clarke gave a very curious answer:

"Last time I had to declare my party loyalty, it was to vote in the Virginia primary for president of the United States in the year 2000. And I asked for a Republican ballot."

I thought at the time that it was an odd circumlocution, so I did a little digging and discovered that Clarke could not have asked for a Democratic ballot in 2000, because the Democrats did not have a primary in Virginia in 2000:

While it's not a lie, it strikes me as an intentionally deceptive statement.Still, overall The Eleventh Day strikes me as belonging on the top shelf of the 9-11 books, right up there with The Looming Tower and Perfect Soldiers.

The New Debunker on the Block

2011-09-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

None other than Al Qaeda:

In the latest issue of the al Qaeda English-language magazine "Inspire", an author appears to take offense to the "ridiculous" theory repeatedly spread by Ahmadinejad that the 9/11 terror attacks were actually carried out by the U.S. government in order to provide a pretext to invade the Middle East.

"The Iranian government has professed on the tongue of its president Ahmadinejad that it does not believe that al Qaeda was behind 9/11 but rather, the U.S. government," an article reads. "So we may ask the question: why would Iran ascribe to such a ridiculous belief that stands in the face of all logic and evidence?"

Of course, this is just an example of life imitating art. Remember this hysterical bit by the Onion?

Meet the New Boss...

2011-09-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

Same as the old Boss!

Boss ran for the Democratic nomination for governor of New Jersey in 2010 and actually managed to get 8% of the vote. As you can see, he's a thorough kook.

Comments open.

Rockets at the WTC

2011-09-27T02:20:00.000-07:00

No, not Judy Wood and not the Web Fairy. This is David Chandler:

The object (apparently a perimeter wall unit) raced ahead of its neighboring debris, but its acceleration was about 1/3 of gravity. This is an indication that it was kicked downward initially by an explosion, after which the air resistance partially canceled the effect of gravity as it approached terminal velocity. As it fell, however, there was an outburst of white smoke, at which point the projectile changed directions, slightly, and accelerated downward for about a half second at 1.5 times gravity. It then fell back to continued acceleration a little under 1 g.

Video:

Make no mistake about it; Chander is proposing that one of the perimeter wall units actually gained acceleration (not speed) after falling from the building. Of course, supermagiconanothermite cannot do this, so they're back to hypothesizing that there were rockets on the perimeter wall units.

Rick Rescorla Honored

2011-09-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

Actually I don't like that title; in a way, any award to Rick Rescorla honors the award more than the man.

"Since the 9/11 attacks, we have seen exceptional models of resilience all around us," said Secretary Napolitano. "By honoring Richard Rescorla with the Distinguished Public Service medal, we remember his heroism and commitment to the preparedness of the thousands of employees under his watch."
On September 11, 2011, Richard Rescorla was Second Vice President for Security at Morgan Stanley headquarters located in World Trade Center Tower 2. Richard led a massive evacuation of Morgan Stanley's 2,700-person workforce located in the South Tower, contributing to the survival of many of his coworkers.

Rescorla reportedly sang this song over the bullhorn to exhort his colleagues out of the building:

"Men of Cornwall, stop your dreaming,
Can't you see their spearpoints gleaming..."

Hat tip: njslim at JREF.

Jon Gold Took the Short Bus

2011-09-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

He accuses me of writing the following:

"Truthers like to pretend there is no evidence for the 9/11 hijackers" - Pat Curley

Jon follows it up with a quote from himself which certainly indicates strongly that he himself believes in the hijackers, which is certainly to his credit. But you don't have to look far to find that a large segment of the 9-11 Troof community denies the existence of the hijackers. Just do a Google search for "alleged hijackers". On the first page alone, you'll get a collection of Truther sites like Prison Planet, 9-11 Review, 9-11 Blogger, and even Gold's much-beloved 9-11 Timeline.

Now I'm sure Jon would respond with his old reliable BS about "the 9-11 Truth Movement I belong to" being more sensible than that. It's like he worships the one true god, and all the others have false gods before them. But that gets us into the "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin" territory, and there's really a much easier way to prove what a fathead Jon is: By looking at the post in question, where we can see the following:

Exposing the Lies Believed to Be Real

2011-09-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

Absolutely brilliant. Now, I admit that the doctored video would be unlikely to fool, say, Richard Gage. But Gage still cites the ridiculous story of Kevin McPadden, which is easily as half-baked.

Hat Tip: Arcterus

Future Member of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth?

2011-09-22T19:54:00.000-07:00

The world's most famous Truther, who has not been kicked off a CBS sitcom, speaks out again, this time asserting his authority.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that as an engineer he's sure the twin towers were not brought down by jetliners.

Ahmadinejad, in an interview with The Associated Press, says it would have been impossible for two jetliners to bring down the towers simply by hitting them. he says some kind of planned explosion must have taken place.

9/11 Commission Archives

2011-09-22T18:40:00.000-07:00

The National Archives has posted a blog entry on the 9/11 Commission records which they are sorting. Truthers like to pretend there is no evidence for the 9/11 hijackers, but this is based entirely on the fact that they immediately dismiss any evidence which is produced by the government, and since they don't do any of their own investigation, well, who else would have collected evidence?

I remember paging through photocopies of the boarding passes from Flight 93. I turned a page and saw hijacker Ziad Jarrah’s name. It felt like getting punched in the stomach. I imagined the line of travelers waiting to walk down the jetway, having no idea that four of their fellow passengers were going to kill them in a few minutes. We all know that annoying guy in the line talking too loudly or grumbling about the score of last night’s game as it flashes on the terminal television. It was probably just as mundane that morning for the travelers in that waiting area. As I sat in my work space, everything in me wanted to shout to those people to walk away and not board the plane. “Go home to your loved ones and hug them or you’ll never be able to ever again,” my mind screamed.

H/T to MSP67 on JREF for pointing this out.

Shrink Rap

2011-09-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

Psychologists for 9-11 Troof want us to know that we're suffering from some form of dementia for not believing in the "scientific evidence" that 9-11 was an inside job:

Note that the second person is Fran Shure. Remember her? Here's her expert diagnosis:

Yep, Fran the Fruitcake wanted us all to know that Sean Fitzgerald was a very intelligent and sane person. Two weeks later, Sean murdered his own father because he was convinced the old man was the devil.

Update: This video is actually the grand finale of Box Boy Richard Gage's latest "straight to coaster" DVD, 9-11 Explosive Evidence, the Experts Speak Out. And Fran might not be the most flaky of the experts in this segment. For example check out Danielle Duperret's webpage on her travails with the US court system.

FBI Releases New Pentagon Photos

2011-09-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

The FBI released more photographs from their 9/11 investigation at the Pentagon, including those plane parts the Truthers insist don't exist. This won't stop the demented from denying reality though. Paging David Ray Griffin.

Looking for Updates....

2011-09-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

How did that super fund-raising drive for Remember Building What turn out? The Troofers were going to raise ONE MILLION DOLLARS so that they could saturate New York City with subway and television ads. Ref at JREF notes the curious lack of updates:

- No updates on this on the main rememberbuilding7 campaign website, just the old "donate now" buttons
- No updates on Facebook, they have moved on to other topics
- No updates on their twitter
- No updates on ae911truth.org

How much money did Richard Gage bank in 2010? Guidestar still doesn't have the 990 form for last year, even though the 2009 form was filed by June of 2010.

Whatever happened to Bruno Bruhwiler?

I am facing 3 baseless charges. 2x Felony Resisting Arrest, and 1x Felony Terrorist Threat. The prosecution only has perjured statements by an officer who is always under oath. The badge they wear means they are under oath. The judges have violated my due process rights at just about every hearing.

Hey, I'm just asking questions.

Ya Gotta Love These Idiots

2011-09-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

He moans about how New Zealand is a police state, but the moment somebody gives him a hard time, he's calling the cops. And note the bit at the end where he compares it to a scene in The Matrix.

An Answer for Jon

2011-09-15T00:59:00.000-07:00

Over at Troof Action, Gold ponders why I do this:

Pat Curley is a lying, deceptive piece of sh*t that spends all of his time concerned about something he has repeatedly said there is nothing to.

Cosmos, who's a family member, asks:

How many years has he been doing this?

Gold:

I guess for 5 years or so. Day in, and day out. About something he and his kind repeatedly say there is "nothing" to. No cover-up of any kind, etc... and so on.

Five years or so is right, give or take four months. As for all of my time, day in and day out, that's a ridiculous exaggeration. In fact, I've put very little time into SLC this year. The last couple weeks, sure, but the tenth anniversary has meant an explosion in coverage. In fact, over all, I've felt a little guilty for the infrequent updates this year, because there's so little new under the sun.

As for why I do it, it's pretty simple. I agree with the Truthers on two things: the date of the attacks and the fact that they were extremely significant events in the United States' history. Hell, three things: That it is very important for us to understand what happened that day. And therein lies the key; the Troofers are the new hijackers. They want to obscure the real facts of 9-11 for their own purposes.

Jon Gold likes to hide behind the skirts of his beloved Jersey Girls and moan about how they deserve answers to their questions. Let me ask you this, Jon-boy. Who has lied to the Jersey Girls more, me, the US Government or David Ray Griffin?

Update: Well, that shut him up.

Stalkers for 9/11 Truth

2011-09-14T17:34:00.000-07:00

Jon Gold responds to Pat's post earlier today. Apparently he thinks Pat "quote mined" him, but I am not quite understanding his complaint, so I will let him and Pat duke it out directly. Jon, of course, can post openly here and does quote often, while debunkers are immediately banned from any Truther site, so I am curious as to why he didn't just complain in the comments here.

In any case, I wanted to respond to Gold's further comments:

I have [thought about it], and I wish I knew how to find out where a person gets their money, what business affiliations they have, etc... and so on. But... I don't. Nor, is he worth the time as a worthless human being.

Scratch a Truther, find a fascist. Yes Jon, I know you wish we lived in some Orwellian society where you can find out anything about anyone so that you can harass and punish those who disagree with you, perhaps put them up on the Kevin Barrett-like scaffolds for their crimes against the 9/11 Truth Movement, but I for one am glad that we still live in a society which respects personal privacy and civil rights. I am glad that you don't know where I work, or who I associate with, as I don't want you nutjobs harassing and threatening them.

And people wonder I don't post all my personal info on this blog.

More Mohr

2011-09-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

Chris Mohr, whose debate defeat of Richard Gage was so embarrassing that the Architects and Engineers deep-sixed a plan to create a video of the event, is back with an Eskeptic piece.

WHAT ABOUT THE SULFIDIZED STEEL THAT MELTED AND THAT FEMA FOUND BUT WHICH NIST IGNORED IN THEIR REPORT? NIST didn’t ignore it. Jonathan Barnett at FEMA studied two pieces of sulfidized steel, which is not enough to explain the collapse. NIST determined that neither piece came from a supporting column in the collapse zone so it couldn’t have contributed to the collapse.⁷ Sulfidized steel melts at temperatures 1000° lower than regular steel so it could have “melted” in a regular office fire. And the “intergranular melting” FEMA discovered is not like melting as we know it anyway; it’s more like corrosion on an almost microscopic scale occurring along the boundaries between the crystals or grains of a metal. The technical description for what happened is “intergranular melting, high temperature corrosion via sulphidation, oxidation, and decarburisation leading to a liquid Iron Oxide Suflur mix from grain boundary melting.” And while Jonathan Barnett would like to see more research on this, he does not support the controlled demolition theory.

Terrific article.

Why I Don't Plan to Defeat the Truthers for All Time

2011-09-14T04:58:00.000-07:00

You may recall that Guitar Bill made some comment along those lines a week or two ago. We didn't want to defeat the Truthers forever because we got some sort of reflected glory and fame from their continued existence.

But really, it's not that. Look, the BBC probably spent tens of thousands of dollars on that Road Trip documentary, and how successful were they? They flipped one out of five Truthers to the rational cause. And that's actually phenomenally successful.

Jonathan Swift observed centuries ago that you cannot reason a man out of an idea that he was never reasoned into in the first place. Truthers do not construct their arguments rationally, building evidence and seeing where that evidence takes them. They start with the conclusion: Bush/Cheney did it and work backwards, seeking little facts that would appear to prop up that deduction. Remember the guy who compared the building collapses to the Jenga game? Well, Truthers are playing the Jenga game in reverse. Instead of pulling a piece out here or there, and seeing if the whole thing falls apart, they are putting pieces in place and marveling that the whole thing never falls over. Well, duh!

We can see this in the way the conclusion never changes, even though the evidence cited may. I pointed out awhile ago, that Jon Gold's second review on Amazon was a rave for Kevin Fenton's new book, which argues the LIHOP theory. His first review was for one of David Ray Griffin's MIHOP books, and there again, Gold was rapturous.

Of course, Gold has become much more skeptical about Griffin over the past few years, to his credit. But... the conclusion didn't change significantly. Yes, you can say that LIHOP is quite a shift from MIHOP, but it's really just a fallback position, and given what he said to Matt Taibbi on Facebook about elements in the government more than earning the title of suspect for the crimes of 9-11, it's not a stretch to believe that Gold is still clinging to the more extreme conspiracy theory, just being a little less honest about it.

For more evidence, look at Gold's reaction to Charlie Veitch's apostasy from the party line. Now remember, Veitch's rationale for supporting the Truthers was that he bought into the controlled demolition arguments, as he cited when given his chance on the Road Trip bus. And Gold has often lamented that the Truth Movement has evolved into the Controlled Demolition movement. So you might think that Gold's response would be something along the lines of "Well, that's what happens when you lead with the CD arguments."

Nope:

Whether or not he's an "infiltrator" or not, he denounced this cause using the officially designated issue that has been made synonymous with this cause through other infiltration.

I'm not even sure what the heck that means. Is Richard Gage an infiltrator? Is Steven Jones?

Jim D pointed out in a post that Gold seems to defend the Truth Movement from any attacks, even those that cite the weakest crap, like Griffin's endless claims that nine of the hijackers are alive:

You are proving that you care more about your church than the salvation of it's members. In short you truthers are promoting the cult like fringe aspects that are such a turn off to people myself included. I have seen lie after lie put out immediately by members of the 9-11 truth church in regards to this book because the authors do not worship at your 9-11 truth church. I don't either and this is why. After 10 years one might think you would have gained a little insight in what makes a movement successful. Your movement is extremely unsuccessful and you yourselves are exposing why.

Gold responds:

By the way... I love Jim's dishonest portrayal of us being apart of the "cult." Douchebag. Nah... the people here haven't spoken out against the stupidity more than anyone else... constantly writing pointers on how to approach people... constantly trying to promote the most credible information... calling out lunacy where its found... yea... we are so apart of the cult. Douchebag.

Yes, they occasionally point out the lunacy; after we rub their faces in it enough times. But where was this sensible Gold five years ago, when he wrote that review on Amazon about how one day people would be comparing David Ray Griffin to Martin Luther King and Gandhi? Answer: He's been beaten back from that crap, but not so far that he's changed any conclusions; he's just changed the evidence he cites.

Comments open.

Apparently We're Big in France

2011-09-13T06:51:00.000-07:00

During the 9/11 anniversary coverage our humble blog gets a mention by the French News Agency AFP. Unfortunately they manage to screw up our URL. I will keep my mouth shut to avoid offending any French readers.

The conspiracy theorists remain a minority and face the scorn of the counter-conspiracy movement on websites like www.debunking911.com and www.screwloosechange.blogspot.com, which claims to prove wrong almost every statement made during the film.

I don't recall making that exact quote, but then again, since Dylan Avery now pretty much disclaims his own movie, our work in that respect is pretty much done.

It's this mentality that has pushed Avery away from the movement over the last four years. "Maybe he just changed his mind," Avery said, referring to the Veitch hysteria. "I mean, people change their minds." Avery has had his own issues with Jones and his audience over the years, and speculated that some of the death threats that Veitch received came from Jones' listeners. "That kind of mob mentality [is] the very thing that we were claiming to fight, the 'You're with us or with the terrorists' mentality," he said.
"That's one of the reasons I had to back away from the movement in general," he said. "I was afraid I was becoming one of them—someone who sees conspiracy around every corner."

One of the Truther sites incidentally, comprised a handy summary of anniversary conspiracy theory coverage, or as they call it "hit pieces".

Road Trip

2011-09-12T20:54:00.000-07:00

I found it entertaining, but it seemed to me that the debunkings missed the point on more than one occasion. For example, the woman who felt it would be impossible for a hijacker to fly a jet into the World Trade Center. While it was cool to see one of the gals learn to fly a small plane, why didn't they instead have the Truther learn to fly a 767 flight simulator and see if she could hit a similar target?

And when the other gal brought up the security issue and Bush's 8-6-01 warning about hijackings, I had to wince a bit when the pilot claimed there hadn't been a lot of hijackings in the US and there weren't many metal detectors at the airports. Sorry, but neither statement is true; there were certainly metal detectors at the three airports (Logan, Newark and Dulles) that the flights on 9-11 departed from. And there were hijackings in the 1970s and 1980s, which is a major reason why there were metal detectors. The real issue is that the hijackings on 9-11 were vastly different than ones in the past as they turned into suicide flights, while in the past they had simply played out as hostage dramas.

Update: Some profanity, probably NSFW.

Mark Cuban's TV Channel Airs Loose Change on 10th Anniversary

2011-09-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

Makes me sorry I rooted for his Dallas Mavericks this year, although that was more because of my admiration for Dirk.

LOOSE CHANGE, a controversial look at the conspiracy theory that September 11th was an inside job is up next at 9:15pm ET.

Cuban of course was in negotiations to distribute Loose Change back in 2007, but backed out of the deal when news of the deal was released prematurely.

Cuban's hard news guy?

Hat Tip: Ace of Spades

Press For Truth Boys Threatened With Prosecution

2011-09-12T07:21:00.000-07:00

Remember when leaking the name of a CIA agent was considered "treason"? Jon Gold certainly does, as he used that word as a tag on a post he put over at Flogger on the Valerie Plame incident:

It will be interesting to see if he maintains that position. The lads responsible for the Truther-lite film Press for Truth have been threatened with prosecution if they release their new radio schlocumentary.

On Thursday, the CIA threatened the journalists behind Who Is Rich Blee? with possible federal prosecution if the investigative podcast is released in its current form.

I can't locate the cite right now, but I recall that in discussions about the "investigative podcast", John Duffy and Ray Nowosielski, the two "journalists" in question, mentioned that they would be revealing the names of two CIA agents who had previously been anonymous.

We are delaying that release while we consult with others and weigh our options.

Let's hope that they get better legal counsel than the clowns who put together the NYC-CAN petition. BTW, remember that whoever furnished the names of the CIA agents to Duffy and his partner are already in deep trouble.

Update: It's nuanced:

Releasing the name of a covert CIA operative in an effort to discredit her and her husband is a lot different than releasing the names of people that should have been held accountable, but weren't. Fail.

Ten Years Ago

2011-09-11T02:42:00.000-07:00

The original tribute film (with quite a bit of audio added), still the best.

Put the Options Down Already

2011-09-10T17:40:00.000-07:00

In a previous post Pat mentioned the Truther hearings (really a conference) going on in Toronto. I don't have an interest in watching the whole thing, but I saw that Paul Zarembka was giving a presentation on the whole put option thing and decided to watch that. It has always been a particular interest of mine, mostly since I studied finance in college and work at a finance firm, and I have done several posts on the subject already.

And I have to say that I was both surprised and annoyed, to watch Zarembka actually get into the investigation that the FBI and SEC did on this issue, both covered in the 9/11 Commission Report and the ensuing documents released by the Commission, and which we covered over 2 years ago. Now here is the surprising part, he concludes that the volume of put options were unusually high, mostly by referencing the Poteshman study, also covered by us nearly 5 years ago, but then determines that based on the FBI and SEC investigations having found that this was innocent investment activities, caused largely by a public newsletter, that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing.

Hello, then why have you idiots been claiming that there was for the last 6 years?

He does not, however, stop while he is ahead. He then goes on to argue that it would have been too suspicious for conspirators to profit off of the attacks merely by buying airline put options, that they would have bought into the much larger market in index funds. Gee, I wonder why that sounds familiar? Oh yeah, because that is exactly what I said over 5 years ago, only a month after founding this blog.

In actuality, if someone wanted to make money of the attacks, the best way would not be to buy puts in the companies involved, but to short the entire market, or buy oil futures. The Dow dropped over 16% in the weeks after 9/11, and buying puts on the much larger index market could have been done in larger quantities without drawing any attention, but then again the Loose Change boys couldn't put this much more complex theory into an ominous looking graphic in their movie that could be understood by their 20-something audience.

He then goes on to argue that some study I have never heard of points out that put options in the S & P 500 were at an unusually high level. This does not surprise me, as the economy was not doing too terribly well in the fall of 2001. Where Zarembka completely loses it though is he indignantly points out that the FBI and SEC were aware of high options trading in these markets, but did not look into them, for the entirely reasonable fact that there was simply too much too investigate. They can't be expected after all, to question everyone involved in the stock market in the fall of 2001, trying to find some anomalous reason that they were pessimistic. It is no more practical then investigating a murder by going door to door throughout an entire town demanding to know where everyone was on the night of the murder.

So anyway, because of this, despite having admitted that there was nothing to the airline put option theories that the majority of the movement has been pushing for the last decade, Zarembka indignantly demands an investigation into the rest of the put option market! Once again proving that their beliefs are not falsifiable. They do not want an investigation, they want an investigation which gives them the results that they desire.

New 9-11 Terror Threat

2011-09-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

ABC News:

It was only two days ago, on Wednesday in Pakistan, according to officials, that the CIA developed the information about a possible al Qaeda terror plot targeting the U.S.
Three men, including at least one and maybe two American citizens, had allegedly travelled to the U.S. in mid- August, from Pakistan through Dubai, assigned to attack New York or Washington with a vehicle bomb on Sept 10, 11 or 12

Reports are that the target might include one or more of the many bridges or tunnels into New York. Such an attack would certainly cost plenty of lives, and disrupt commutes into the Big Apple. The picture above is of Jude Kenan Mohammad, reputed to be one of the attackers. Mohammad is a home-grown terrorist who was born in Florida and dropped out of high school in North Carolina in 2006 to become a jihadi.

Truther: Cheney's Order Was Shootdown, Which Proves....

2011-09-09T13:39:00.001-07:00

Standdown! Once again we see the unfalsifiable nature of Truther delusions. Yesterday's tape releases includes at least one recording where military men mention that the Vice President had given authorization to shoot down any aircraft which persists in an attack on a major population center. But, whether due to confusion or concern that Cheney did not have the power to make that order (militarily, the Vice President is not in the chain of command), the order was apparently countermanded by an air force commander.

Most striking of all is the revelation that an order by Vice President Dick Cheney was ignored by the military, which saw his order to shoot down aircraft as outside the chain of command. Instead of acknowledging the order to shoot down civilian aircraft and carrying it out, NORAD ordered fighters to confirm aircraft tail numbers first and report back for further instructions.

So after years of hearing from David Ray Grifter and other truthers misinterpreting Norm Mineta's testimony to indicate that he overheard a standdown order, we now learn that it was, as rational people have assumed all along, a shoot-down order. So how does a shoot-down order become a standdown?

It took about 10 years, but the MSM is finally starting to understand that Cheney giving shoot down orders is the same thing as a stand down.

Explained in the comments on this post:

James argued in July 2010 that Bush and Rumsfeld (who together comprise the NCA), knowingly stayed out of the loop leaving it to Cheney to give the shootdown order, after it was too late, all three knowing it wouldn't have the force of authority if it came from Cheney, but it would look like they tried to do their job nonetheless.

One obvious question: If Bush and Rumsfeld "knowingly" stayed out of the loop, why was Cheney's order issued too late?

Munchkin At Toronto

2011-09-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

She's "testifying" right now. Her talk is solely concerned with the Pentagon. Complete fruitcake.

Update: Box Boy now. Pyroclastic. Path of most resistance (aka down).

The ATC/NEADS Tapes

2011-09-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

Compiled by the folks at the Rutgers Law Review. Absolutely gripping material and I highly recommend the MP3/transcript version. I've heard quite a bit of the tapes before (mostly in connection with the Vanity Fair article a couple years back), but it's fascinating nonetheless. Phantom Flight 11 (the persistent belief that AA11 was not the plane that hit WTC 1) causes endless confusion.

Troofer Comic Update

2011-09-07T16:44:00.000-07:00

Rick Veitch apparently is taking the title of his Troofer comic book, The Big Lie, quite literally:

Ashcroft and Willie (note the pimp outfit) Brown. Man, that crap certainly doesn't come up much any more. Veitch lets us in on his own version of the conspiracy theory:

Yeah. And the second thing that sort of came to me, which I’ve never heard this discussed anywhere, is the possibility that when they build a giant skyscraper like that, they pre-load it with munitions to take it down in case of emergency. And that what we saw after the strikes was that they were worried that the damn things were gonna tip over and so they took them straight down. And of course if it is the case that some of these buildings are preloaded with explosives then they couldn’t tell people. I’m just imagining this, of course. But in the absence of a real investigation that’s kind of what happens.

Actually quite a few kooks came up with that one, including Jesse Ventura.

Update: Okay, thanks to some contacts in the industry I was able to obtain a digital copy of the comic. Comments:

1. "Pyroclastic" clouds.
2. As she tells them about the attacks, they respond with standard Troofer talking points. Box cutters, haha, the military would intercept the planes in 8 minutes, this would only work if the government was involved, etc.
3. While she is desperately trying to convince them to evacuate the building with less than 30 minutes left, she goes into a long digression on the Iraq War, then listens to another guy (who voted for Reagan) rail on about the neocons and PNAC. Tick, tick, tick.
4. In a moment of supreme irony, her husband is a structural engineer, and makes the argument that fires never brought down a steel-framed, blah blah blah. Better yet, if he were trying to bring down the towers, he'd use one of those "low-noise thermites".
5. They're convinced that she's some sort of actor playing a role rigged up by "Stephen" (Spielberg is clearly implied) and so they don't believe her. Of course any sensible woman would tell her husband some sort of secret that only she would know.
6. Ads in the back for Press for Troof and Box Boy's clowns.

The Rise of the "Truthers"

2011-09-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

Ably covered at Slate by Jeremy Stahl.

Consider: Within hours of the planes hitting the towers, the conspiracy theories had already begun to swirl. Many used them to pin blame on their favorite pre-existing bogeyman. Days after 9/11, for example, a rumor spread that 4,000 Jews had been warned about the attacks and failed to show up for their jobs at the Twin Towers. As outlined in Part 1 of this series, this story was debunked immediately and never gained traction in the West. Career paranoiacs in America, meanwhile, were pointing the finger squarely at the U.S. government. People like libertarian radio host Alex Jones and alternative media reporter Michael Ruppert came from different ends of the political spectrum, but they both "knew" instantly that powers more diabolical than al-Qaida were behind the attacks, specifically the all-pervasive New World Order and the oil-hungry, fascistic Bush administration.

There are four parts so far with more to come. I particularly like this observation from Part IV :

In 2007 a conspiracist confronted Zelikow in public with the "fact" that many of the hijackers are still alive. Zelikow responded that the 9/11 Commission had looked into the claims and found nothing to them but could not fit every single debunked conspiracy theory into the final version of the report. The questioner's reply was to repeat his accusation. I had a similar experience on the same topic when questioning Griffin, who begins his book The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions with the "hijackers are still alive" theory. I sent him an email pointing out that this theory relied on discredited media reports—the "hijackers" they had found were just people with the same names as the hijackers. In response, he emailed me a chapter on the topic from one of his books and said he was too busy to discuss the issue further.

Yep, it's either that or they just jump on to the next factoid with no acknowledgment that you debunked their supposed point. Do-Over Dylan is highlighted, as are all the major figures in the movement: Alex Jones, David Ray Griffin, Mike Ruppert, Box Boy Gage, etc. I am looking forward to Part V, entitled Paranoia and Apostasy.

Comments open for this post.

Dylan Avery Grows Up, a Bit

2011-09-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

Slate is doing a series of articles on the 9/11 conspiracy theorists, including Dylan Avery, the seldom heard from creator of the conspiracy nutjob movie our blog is named in honor of.

What does Avery think of 9/11 conspiracy theories now? He thinks that while orchestrating the attacks was beyond the scope of the Bush administration, there was "considerable foreknowledge" within the government so that it should have been able to prevent them. Why it did not is his new focus. "Where I am now is, I've whittled it down to a very basic statement that I think a lot of people can agree on: There was a cover-up of some kind," Avery says. "The only question is what they were covering up, how far [up] it goes, how deep it runs, and how many asses would be on the line if the truth actually came out."

He says he still "support[s] the movement," but he also acknowledges getting "sucked in" deeper than he should have been, into a "hardcore mentality that it was almost too easy to get into back then, because the war had just started and everybody was just so pissed off."

"It was easy to distrust everything," he says, "because there was nothing you could trust."

In honor of this momentous occasion, I will turn the comments back on. Behave.

Shenon On the Missed Moussaoui Opportunity

2011-09-05T20:37:00.000-07:00

We are certainly getting a deluge of terrific coverage in this week leading up to the tenth anniversary. Philip Shenon, whose book on the commission I recommend, covers the blunders the FBI made in not authorizing searches of Zacharias Moussaoui's computer and personal belongings until late in the day of September 11.

Special Agent Harry Samit of the FBI’s Minneapolis field office knew he was looking into the eyes of a terrorist. It was early afternoon on Friday, Aug. 17, 2001. Across from him sat Zacarias Moussaoui, a 33-year-old French-born student arrested the day before for overstaying his visa. Moussaoui had paid more than $8,000 in cash that summer to sit in a cockpit simulator in a flight school in the suburbs of Minneapolis and learn—in a matter of days—the basics of how to fly a 747-400. Samit, a former intelligence officer at the Navy’s celebrated Top Gun flight school, felt sure the man across the desk from him was a Muslim extremist who was part of a plot to hijack a commercial jetliner filled with passengers. “The trick,” Samit wrote, in a soon-to-be-released excerpt of a book he’s written about the case, “was getting Moussaoui to admit this and reveal details and associates to allow us to stop the plot.”

Simply Evil

2011-09-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hitchens on Al Qaeda:

The proper task of the "public intellectual" might be conceived as the responsibility to introduce complexity into the argument: the reminder that things are very infrequently as simple as they can be made to seem. But what I learned in a highly indelible manner from the events and arguments of September 2001 was this: Never, ever ignore the obvious either. To the government and most of the people of the United States, it seemed that the country on 9/11 had been attacked in a particularly odious way (air piracy used to maximize civilian casualties) by a particularly odious group (a secretive and homicidal gang: part multinational corporation, part crime family) that was sworn to a medieval cult of death, a racist hatred of Jews, a religious frenzy against Hindus, Christians, Shia Muslims, and "unbelievers," and the restoration of a long-vanished and despotic empire.

And on the Truthers:

It is not only in the Muslim world that it is commonplace to hear that the events of 9/11 were part of a Jewish or U.S. government plot. And it is not only on the demented fringe that such fantasies circulate in "the West." A book alleging that the Pentagon rocketed the Pentagon with a cruise missile—somehow managing to dispose of the craft and crew and passengers of the still-missing Flight 77, including my slight friend Barbara Olson—was a best-seller in France, while another book about another 9/11 conspiracy theory was published in the United States by the publishing arm of the Nation magazine. Westminster John Knox Press, a respected house long associated with American Presbyterianism, published Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11, which asserted that the events of that day were planned in order to furnish a pretext for intervention in the Middle East. More explicitly on the Left, my old publishing house Verso—offshoot of the New Left Review—published an anthology of Osama Bin Laden's sermonizing rants in which the editors compared the leader of al-Qaida explicitly, and in the context not unfavorably, to Che Guevara.

Lost In Translation

2011-09-05T10:28:00.000-07:00

The headline at 9/11 Flogger proclaims At last the French 911 truth movement is "massively" taking to the street.

Why the quotation marks? Well, just look at the accompanying photos. How "massively"? Uhh... two guys? In one of the largest cities in Europe...

I applaud the French police for being able to handle these massive crowds without things getting out of control.

How They Did It

2011-09-04T09:55:00.000-07:00

Summarized rather nicely by Alexander Cockburn:

This doesn’t faze the conspiracists. They’re immune to any reality check. Spinney “worked for the government.” They switched the dental records. The Boeing 757 was flown to Nebraska for a rendez-vous with President Bush, who shot the passengers, burned the bodies on the tarmac and gave Spinney’s friend’s teeth to Dick Cheney to drop through a hole in his trousers amid the debris in the Pentagon.

It was only the greatest plan, ever, ever.

Money For Nothing

2011-09-02T18:26:00.001-07:00

The Village Voice covers the people who have been using the memories of 9-11 to make a buck:

And then there are the lawyers. From the victim's compensation fund to the 9/11 health litigation, a select group of law firms have reaped close to a billion dollars in legal fees, often amid sharp criticism. In the WTC Captive Insurance fiasco the city used federal funds meant to help ailing workers to pay $165 million to three law firms fighting the case. Some of those lawyers billed at nearly $600 per hour. Meanwhile, at the time, only a handful of claims had been settled for something around $300,000.

And at the memorial:

The top 11 officials of the September 11 Memorial and Museum make at least $190,000 a year, with four of them—Joseph Daniels, Alice Greenwald, Joan Gerner, and Cathy Blaney—making well over $300,000, tax records show. That's $2.8 million in salaries just for 11 people. And when former general counsel Frank Aiello left in 2009, he got a $180,000 severance payment.

Not bad work if you can find it. And, oh, yes:

Even the so-called 9/11 Truth movement is raising funds. The president of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth took in about $344,000 in contributions in 2009—substantially more than the group raised in the previously three years. The group's director, Richard Gage, of Lafayette, California, made $75,450, in 2009.

The group claims to have evidence that explosive residue was found in the 9/11 dust, suggesting that "explosives brought down the towers." Some 1,500 architects and engineers have signed a petition calling for a new investigation.

Naturally, you can even buy 9/11 Truth merchandise: baseballs caps which say "9/11 was an inside job," and bumpers stickers which read "Bush knew."

Hey Jon, Here is a Quarter, Buy a Clue.

2011-08-31T17:02:00.000-07:00

Pat made a couple of posts earlier on the article in a Philadelphia paper profiling Jon Gold. The article wasn't that fascinating, however, the entertainment continues. Jon is now all upset because 911 Blogger, a site that he helped start, won't run the article in a blog post:

Cosmos, the founder of the "Eleventh Day of Every Month Until Justice" action, as well as one of the founders of www.911truthnews.com, posted the CityPaper's article to 911blogger.com. For some reason, the post has not been allowed through. Cosmos sent an email asking why, and has not heard anything from anyone.

It's ironic that an article that made the front page of Philadelphia's largest weekly newspaper, that just happens to mention me, a co-founder of 911blogger.com, is not allowed to be posted on 911blogger.com today.

I think the truth hurts.

Hey Jon, why are you surprised? This is what happens when you have a movement based not on reality, but on a paranoid ideology and emotional fervor. One of my professors once told me that the difference between conspiracy theory and science was that science allowed for good predictions, and guess what, this was entirely predictable. In fact if you want to know how the psychology of such movements go, people have been writing about it for centuries. I suggest reading up on the French Revolution for starters, or you can try one of my favorite books.

David Ray Griffin: Stuck on Stupid

2011-08-31T09:56:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned in the past, Grifter has two new books coming out on 9-11; here's a snippet of the publisher's PR for one of them:

Turning next to debates within the 9/11 Truth Movement, Griffin reinforces his claim that the reported phone calls from the airliners were faked....

As I have pointed out in the past, Grifter knows that once you accept the phone calls as real, much of the conspiracy theory garbage becomes untenable.

Open Thread

2011-08-31T01:26:00.000-07:00

Comments allowed. Seen a good story you'd like us to cover? Want to engage in a bickerfest with Brian?

Good News! They Did Have Chain of Custody on the Dust

2011-08-30T01:42:00.000-07:00

So says Waterboy Kevin Ryan, and we all know he'd never lie:

Summers and Swann also state that well-sourced samples of World Trade Center dust, collected using completely appropriate chain of custody forms, are not good sources of information yet long-time propagandist, Gerald Posner, and Weekly Standard contributor, Thomas Joscelyn (who recently tried to link Iran to 9/11), are excellent sources.

Woot! They've even got completely appropriate chain of custody forms, no doubt filled out in triplicate and notarized. Just one question, Kevin: Have you got a 27-B Stroke 6?

How 9-11 Could Have Been Caught

2011-08-29T01:29:00.000-07:00

Over at Vanity Fair, which has published some excellent articles on 9-11 over the last few years. This one is about how inter-agency squabbling prevented the US from getting the chance to tap every call made from
Afghanistan:

Electronic eavesdropping clearly had potential in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. But in the years before 9/11, when bin Laden’s terror plot was first being discussed, that potential remained limited. The reason was simple: Afghanistan had no cell phones, no Internet, and only a rudimentary landline network, which did not work at all outside the country’s largest cities. This could be remedied, however. Indeed, by the end of 1999, the Taliban government had embraced a full-fledged American scheme to install a modern cell-phone-and-Internet system in Afghanistan. It could have been up and running within months. The Taliban had already granted an exclusive license to a U.S.-owned firm, the Afghan Wireless Communications Company.

More to the point, electronic modifications concealed within the circuitry would have allowed every call and every e-mail emanating from Afghanistan to be relayed without interference to N.S.A. headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland. “This project was a dream,” says one former senior F.B.I. counterterrorism specialist who knew about the scheme at the time. “To be able to wire up a country from ground level up—you don’t get too many opportunities like that.” No, you don’t. But at the critical moment, the Clinton administration put the project on hold, while rival U.S. agencies—the F.B.I., the N.S.A., and the C.I.A.—bickered over who should control it.

This highlights one of the central flaws in the Troofer view of the world. To them, the government is some kind of monolithic entity, while in reality it is dozens and dozens of mini-fiefdoms, each with its own chieftain. Indeed, even the individual entities have internal turf-battles:

Thus, while the C.I.A. was seeking overall control of the operation, there was also an inside fight over which of its sections—the Near East Division or the Counterterrorism Center—should take it over.

Kudos to commenter Paul W for pointing this one out.

The Comedy Continues

2011-08-28T10:29:00.000-07:00

At the Philly paper that did the write-up on Jon Gold. As usual, the comments section provides the most hilarity. David Chandler puts Jon Gold in the fringe section of the Troof Movement:

Every movement has its fringe elements. We are not a top-down organization. Some bring their expertise to the table. Others bring only their enthusiasm. It is shoddy journalism to poke fun at the fringes and ignore the solid core. (Jon ["f--k science"] Gold is not entirely on the fringe, but his comment that this is a balanced article is pretty far out there.)

Gold responds with something that I could have written, minus, of course, the profanity:

F*ck science that is sold to us as "peer reviewed," but published in a pay-to-play journal. F*ck science that is sold to us as "peer reviewed," but is partially peer reviewed by someone claiming the 9/11 victims are alive and well and living on a tropical island receiving a Government stipend. F*ck science that is originated by someone advocating man-made earthquakes and perpetual motion machines.

But even better is when Adam Syed fills in a piece of the puzzle. Chandler and Frank Legge have written an article debunking CIT's "North of the Citgo" claims for Flight 77. But they are reportedly having trouble getting it "peer-reviewed". Guess who Waterboy, editor of JONES, sent the paper to:

Kevin Ryan at the Journal of 9/11 Studies submitted the Chandler/Legge paper to the Pilots organization, and retired fighter pilot Lt. Col. Shelton Lankford reviewed the paper. Here is part of his conclusion:

"There is nothing wrong with this paper that a trip through a shredder, and a sincere apology to CIT and the 9/11 Truth community could not cure."

Oh, my, that is too rich for words. Kevin sent the paper to one of Rob Balsamo's rubber roommates at Pilots for 9-11 Troof?

Of course, being a paranoid nutter, Syed goes on:

How could Chandler do such good work on the WTC and such pseudo-scholarship on the Pentagon? Were they gotten to? Were they plants from the beginning whose job was to gain "credibility capital" by doing good work to gain the 9/11 research community's trust, in order to expend that capital later in an assignment to split and slow down the progress of the movement?

Yes, Adam, Chandler and Legge are on the payroll; Cass Sunstein suggested we hire them.

The Reflecting Pool

2011-08-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

I was flipping through movies on Netflix the other day and was amused to come across the Truther movie The Reflecting Pool. What can I say? What a piece of crap! Where do these idiots get this? Bad acting and screenplay aside, I could write a better 9/11 conspiracy plot than this. They can't even get even get the most basic truther memes correct, not to mention the actual facts of the story. The most blatant example being regarding the Pentagon crash, where they have flight 77 circling the Pentagon like a Blue Angel on amphetamines.

Anyway, the thing I always find so amusing in these fictional accounts of 9/11 conspiracies (although at their heart, all of their accounts are fictional) is they have the diligent investigator running around doing real investigating, calling up government officials, talking to witnesses to events and such. Now why can't these idiots do this in real life? Aside from the inane antics of the CIT goofballs and Kevin Barrett's vacation in Morocco, none of them have even made the most basic attempt at investigation. Why won't they call up all the firefighters and ask them about explosives? Why haven't any of them talked to these hijackers who are still alive? Why haven't they talked to the soldiers who supposedly trained with the hijackers at DLI or lived next door to them in Pensacola?

Is this too much to expect?

Jon Gold's Excellent Commission

2011-08-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

Buried in a long profile of Gold in a Philly "alternative" weekly:

"It has to be away from the government. There has to be subpoena power, people have to be put under oath, which George Bush and Dick Cheney refused to do. I don't know, maybe an international body of some kind. It can't take place in D.C."

Well, now we know why Jon and Brian never answered the question in a recent thread of what sort of new commission would satisfy them. Don't you just love that? Here's a guy who's dedicated 10 years of his life to a movement and when asked what he wants he has only a vague idea. "I don't know, maybe an international body of some kind."

Here's a clue, Jon. Subpoena power and under oath mean the government, because each comes with an explicit "or else" attached: under penalty of arrest and prosecution.

I'll allow comments on this thread.

The Next Mine

2011-08-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

According to Allahpundit, this is a teaser for a one-hour documentary featuring Bush's reminiscences about the events of 9-11. Get set for some heavy quote-mining.

Alec Baldwin, Troofer

2011-08-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

Not that it's terribly surprising; he fits in well with the Rosie O'Donnell / James Brolin / Ed Asner wing of celebrity fruitcakes. Just surprising that he took so long to come out of the closet.

It would certainly be a boost to the nutbars if Baldwin, as is speculated, runs for mayor of New York. Hizzoner the Truther would certainly be in a position to grant them their wish for a new "investigation".

Caught in Traffic...

2011-08-20T14:29:00.001-07:00

My sister called me an hour ago to report that she was stuck in traffic as a giant motorcycle progression went by. She was kind of annoyed, until she found out it was this group:

We both wondered why they were riding now, and the website has the answer. They ride annually in August so that the families can have the anniversary without being disrupted. Unlike, you know, the Troofers, who feel free to annoy everybody with their presence.

Commenting Closed for Now

2011-08-20T09:50:00.000-07:00

Satisfied?

Gage's Latest

2011-08-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

Kevin McPadden and Indira Singh make appearances. Love the bit where Ed Asner says that the newsmen recognized it as controlled demolition; apparently he doesn't understand the meaning of "it was almost as if".