Saturday, October 21, 2006

Steven Jones Retires

Controversial Physics professor and co-founder of the "Scholars" for 9/11 "Truth" has taken early retirement from BYU.

Professor Steven Jones and Brigham Young University finalized a retirement package Friday, six weeks after the school placed the physicist on paid leave to review his statements and research about the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center.

"I am electing to retire so that I can spend more time speaking and conducting research of my own choosing," Jones said in a statement released by the university. "I appreciate the wonderful opportunity I have had to teach and serve and do research at BYU for more than 21 years."

Jones and BYU worked on the package for weeks, Jones said in an interview with the Deseret Morning News. The university abandoned its review of his 9/11-related work Friday after the agreement was reached, university spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said.


According to the same article, the "Scholars" have been rallying to try and save his job:

A member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth, co-founded by Jones in December 2005, launched a drive to get 10,000 signatures on a petition in support of Jones to send to BYU President Cecil Samuelson. As of Friday afternoon, the petition had 2,924 signatures.

I don't get it, they claim 84% of Americans are on their side, why can they only get 2,924 people to sign their petition?

51 Comments:

At 21 October, 2006 09:04, Blogger ConsDemo said...

Does anyone know if Jones got a severance. He sure doesn't deserve it.

 
At 21 October, 2006 10:05, Blogger James B. said...

It is not my job to support this nutjob. This is the one linked from the scholars home page.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/525834923?ltl=1158296504

 
At 21 October, 2006 10:10, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Huh? Do you have the link to the petition? I've never seen or heard about it.

According to Steven Jones the petition mentioned in the Deseret News article was posted on st911.com.


I feel good about this -- not angry with BYU, moving on and happy with it overall.

Thanks for all your support, especially to those who signed the petition at st911.org in my behalf.


I'm assuming they took it down since he has retired.

 
At 21 October, 2006 13:29, Blogger James B. said...

Actually this is Jones second brief run at celebrity, his first was for shoddy cold fusion research. His second is also for shoddy research, what a coincidence.

 
At 21 October, 2006 13:37, Blogger shawn said...

know their names a hundred years from now.

People won't even know Donald Rumsfield's name a hundred years from now, and more people know who he is than know who Dylan Avery or Alex Jones is.

 
At 21 October, 2006 13:40, Anonymous Anonymous said...

people who are happy to see steven jones lose his job are a disgrace

by the way i got suspended from jref, this clearly proves that people couldnt handle me and i destroyed them

 
At 21 October, 2006 13:42, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Like Dylan Avery, Stephen Jones has a place in history already. Millions of people know their names today and millions will know their names a hundred years from now. "

i agree joanbasil

avery and co will end up great filmmakers

 
At 21 October, 2006 13:46, Blogger Triterope said...

Like Dylan Avery, Stephen Jones has a place in history already. Millions of people know their names today and millions will know their names a hundred years from now.

Reality is a wonderful place. You should visit sometime.

 
At 21 October, 2006 13:47, Blogger The Artistic Macrophage said...

I wish I had never "dared" you to go over there. You did nothing only name call and insult. You had no worthwhile arguments. Had I known that is what you would do, I never would have mentioned JREF in front of you.

As for avery, he will end up going to vocational school, getting a real job, and moving on with life...as will Bermas and the rest.

TAM

 
At 21 October, 2006 13:52, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"I wish I had never "dared" you to go over there. You did nothing only name call and insult. You had no worthwhile arguments. Had I known that is what you would do, I never would have mentioned JREF in front of you."

oh dont worry ill be staying at jref

after my suspension i will make sure i say nothing offensive or personal and i will constantly report any personal things said to me

 
At 21 October, 2006 13:55, Blogger shawn said...

avery and co will end up great filmmakers

I can make better movies using FRAPS and Windows Movie Maker.

 
At 21 October, 2006 13:57, Anonymous Anonymous said...

koresh was a victim of fascist bullies, just like u want to bully avery and co, but in reality they just laugh at u

 
At 21 October, 2006 14:04, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"PD'oh get a doctor to help you!
Reality seems a long time ago for you! "

aw u cudnt handle me putting u on ignore at jref so u got me suspended u crybaby

in 3 days time i shall return with perfect conduct, reporting ur asses for all infringements

 
At 21 October, 2006 14:06, Blogger shawn said...

koresh was a victim of fascist bullies, just like u want to bully avery and co, but in reality they just laugh at u

Illegally stored guns, molested children, and when four ATF agents came to visit the compound a cultist sniper killed them all.

He set the fires in the compound.

Yup, he was really bullied.

 
At 21 October, 2006 14:25, Blogger Triterope said...

Yes I believe their names will be remembered. They will be right next to Jim Jones, Koresh, and every other loonie Cult leader!

Dylan Avery and Steven Jones may be loonie cult leaders, but you're overlooking the thing that separates them from the Jim Jones/David Koresh/Hale-Bopp class: painful, humiliating death in the name of the cause.

So there you have it, 9/11 cult leaders. Die for your cause in a spectacular way, or be forgotten. Need a match?

 
At 21 October, 2006 14:28, Anonymous Anonymous said...

dog town u couldnt handle me

i will be back and i will make sure my posts are unreportable, get over it

 
At 21 October, 2006 14:30, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Illegally stored guns, molested children, and when four ATF agents came to visit the compound a cultist sniper killed them all.

He set the fires in the compound."

ur a liar, i am glad he shot them, if i had been there i would have killed every one

 
At 21 October, 2006 14:31, Blogger Alex said...

As for avery, he will end up going to vocational school, getting a real job, and moving on with life...as will Bermas and the rest.

I think it's more likely he'll turn into the next Alex Jones....

 
At 21 October, 2006 14:33, Blogger Unknown said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At 21 October, 2006 14:35, Blogger Unknown said...

He set the fires in the compound

ur a liar, i am glad he shot them, if i had been there i would have killed every one


Your an idiot. Guess we can add pedophile to the list along with a fake degree.

 
At 21 October, 2006 14:36, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Your an idiot. Guess we can add pedophile to the list along with a fake degree. "

im still laughing at ur f=ma rubbish

 
At 21 October, 2006 14:45, Anonymous Anonymous said...

ur a liar, i am glad he shot them, if i had been there i would have killed every one

you just keep getting creepier.

 
At 21 October, 2006 14:55, Anonymous Anonymous said...

haha im being banned at jref

proves u couldnt handle me hahaha

 
At 21 October, 2006 14:57, Blogger shawn said...

ur a liar, i am glad he shot them, if i had been there i would have killed every one

I am not a liar, that's what happened. Four ATF agents came to the compound because the Branch Davidians had been stockpiling firearms illegally. A sniper killed all four.

And The Messiah, uh I mean David Koresh (nee Vernon Howell), had the fires set in the compound (they originated inside the compound, where the feds couldn't have set them).

And yes, he was a pedophile.

But you're some dumb Brit, I'm sure you know more than I, who live in the country where it happened.

 
At 21 October, 2006 15:00, Anonymous Anonymous said...

haha dog town ran over to jref to report me

this is funny

face it boys, my arguments were to good for u so i was banned

 
At 21 October, 2006 15:05, Blogger Alex said...

Must be nice to have so much ego.

I mean this is the kind of guy who would be getting pounded into a bloody mess by 5 overmuscled bikers, laughing the entire time, yelling "HAHAHA! You can never beat me! Take that! I'll kick all your asses!".

I've seen it before. Guy didn't shut up until he was unconscious. They truly amaze me. It's one of those flukes of nature that you could spend hours examining, and still be amazed, wondering how it could ever have happened.

 
At 21 October, 2006 15:09, Anonymous Anonymous said...

alex i was banned, that says it all boy

have u contacted the professor yet?#

i spoke to him and he said he never heard from u

 
At 21 October, 2006 15:11, Anonymous Anonymous said...

dog town i went to jref and won, just admit it

 
At 21 October, 2006 15:18, Anonymous Anonymous said...

dog town u cudnt handle being put on ignore

my banning shows people couldnt handle me

i win

 
At 21 October, 2006 15:26, Anonymous Anonymous said...

next year at ground zero ill be there to confront gravy about his lies

 
At 21 October, 2006 15:27, Anonymous Anonymous said...

dog town it is the only possible reason i could have been banned

i have a plan tho

 
At 21 October, 2006 15:34, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i win

nuh-uh.

 
At 21 October, 2006 15:35, Blogger shawn said...

gravy about his lies

So you won't be saying anything? Seeing as he hasn't lied, I guess you'll just stand there silently.

 
At 21 October, 2006 15:42, Blogger Alex said...

He really is a highchool kid.

 
At 21 October, 2006 15:44, Anonymous Anonymous said...

ill be there, then gravy can try lying to my face

hes a coward

 
At 21 October, 2006 15:45, Anonymous Anonymous said...

alex u pretended to contact the professor

what a loser

 
At 21 October, 2006 20:34, Blogger Sword of Truth said...

As far as I know, I'm the only member of the mormon church who posts regularly here.

Steven Jones removal from the church owned university has been largely applauded by the general membership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We cannot, and will not, do anything to "silence" him. But overall, we'tre pleased that he isn't as able to drag our reputation through the mud.

He can hang out with nazis and holocaust deniers if he chooses. And continuimng to do so may put his membership in the church itself in jeaporady, but he won't be using church property to spread his gibberish or the name of the church itself or church institutions to artificially inflate the creedence of his shoody research.

 
At 21 October, 2006 20:48, Blogger Unknown said...

Maybe people are afraid of your nutjob fascist government, maybe people are afraid of illegal wiretaps and surveillance, maybe people are afraid of being thrown in jail without recourse to Habeas Corpus - maybe the culture of hate and violence that infest the American culture; as exemplified by this website prevents people sticking their necks out.

So why the hell is Alex Jones still around? Why is Loose Change still being played? Why are there tons of conspiracy websites still up? Why are there still anti-war protests? None of them are afraid of the government nor are they being stopped by it. So I ask you who the f%@k has been stopped from saying what they feel? There aren't more people behind this "movement" because its a bunch of crap that only idiots like you believe in.

 
At 21 October, 2006 21:01, Blogger pomeroo said...

The conspiracy liar pdoherty76 is now pretending that he got barred from JREF because his arguments were so good. Excuse me, what arguments? Has anyone ever actually seen him attempt to make an argument? I have asked him six times for a specific error in the so-called official account. Why can't we assume that his refusal to respond means exactly what it appears to mean: He has nothing. None of the loons have anything.

 
At 21 October, 2006 21:16, Blogger shawn said...

WWF wrestling

WWE. Get with the times.

We are not all activists, doesn't mean that our views are worthless.

Doesn't mean they're worth jackshit either.

Why do you resort to abuse and hostility.

It gets frustrating when people believe unsupported nonsense. I'm hostile to creationists, too.

Be a good American, be a good Christian.

Contrary to what George HW said, atheists can be good Americans, too. And I'd love to punch Dylan Avery right in his smug mug. Unfortunately, he'd probably go crying to the cops like the hypocrite he is.


By the way, you didn't refute anything Richard said. Some moron says we live in a fascist nation, and he shows how we don't. People badmouth the president everyday, people protest everyday, and people incorrectly blame Bush and the other higher echelon folks of murdering 3000 Americans.

In a fascist nation Avery, Bermas, Rowe, Jones (both of them), and the rest of the moron squad would've been executed for crimes against the state.

 
At 21 October, 2006 21:25, Blogger Sword of Truth said...

KKKilltown has now been banned from JREF for attempting to use the JREF forums to continue his terror campaign against Val McClatchey thus possibly leaving JREF legally vulnerable.

And speaking of JREF, you should consider dropping by there sometime, Mr. Weick. Your "pulling" of Les Jaimeson's theories on Hardfire was well recieved over there and I'm certain they'd love to hear from you.

 
At 21 October, 2006 22:02, Blogger telescopemerc said...

he conspiracy liar pdoherty76 is now pretending that he got barred from JREF because his arguments were so good. Excuse me, what arguments? Has anyone ever actually seen him attempt to make an argument?

His arguements were 'so good' that he had to put 35 people on ignore. Then he tried to act as if that was something to brag about. That's 35 people who's arguements he couldn't face.

And what does Darat (JREF admin) say about his banning?

"pdoherty76 has been banned for trying to circumvent his suspension (see:http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=66667) by using a different account."

He tried to sneak back in, and got caught. What lame way to get banned.

 
At 21 October, 2006 22:52, Blogger Unknown said...

That's a great argument Richard. Perhaps some are braver than others, perhaps some don't have an internet connection? Perhaps they'd rather watch WWF wrestling and continue to live in a dream world. We are not all activists, doesn't mean that our views are worthless.

Why are you calling me an idiot? Why do you resort to abuse and hostility. These are ungodly responses Richard. Be a good American, be a good Christian. What's wrong with you Richard? Do you want to shoot me with your gun Richard. Just imagine what it would be like to kill a truther - just like Steven Segal, with your bare hands...there get it our of your system little man...


I'm sorry I called you and your movement idiotic. When people say stuff like:

"your nutjob fascist government"

what do you expect? If anything you should be embarrased. I hate how people throw the word fascist around. Not only is it a huge disservice to anyone who has or is living in a fascist government, it also makes you look well... like a idiot. I really can't see how on one hand the CTers say that their movement is growing then on the other hand say that were living in a fascist government. If we were people like Alex Jones and the bulk of the CT community would be DEAD.

P.S. I'm an athiest not Christian.

 
At 21 October, 2006 22:55, Blogger Unknown said...

atheist*

 
At 22 October, 2006 00:47, Blogger Elmondohummus said...

Not only did Paul D there not "win" any arguments, he barely brought any.

And Telescopemerc, didn't he actually admit to one of Gravy's arguments? I have to go back and find that thread.

Plus, if it's a badge of honor to be banned from a site, I guess I can claim the same regarding his site. He keeps deleting one of my comments. Except I don't think he's putting as much thought into his deletion as JREF is putting into their banning.

Here's the post I made at his site that he keeps removing:

""As further proof there is a guy in JREF called "kookbreaker". When I mentioned his name his response was "if your not a kook you wont break." Says it all."

You take his quote out of context and spin it to be the opposite of what it really was. That's sad; your debating style is weak.

Here's Kookbreaker's full response:


Originally Posted by pdoherty76
kookbreaker ur name worries me. one of ur crew said to me today that he does what u do to"get kicks out of mocking truthers"

If you are not a kook. You will not break. Simple? N'est pas?


Quote:
i am not anti semitic or ignorant of science

I did not say you were. I will say that the movement you are with is rife with them, as well as the scientificly ignorant.

To date I have seen no efforts to purge them or even deny them. In fact they are gleefully used as source material.


He was politely telling you that if you could back up your arguments, you'd have nothing to fear. He was also differentiating you from other 9/11 Conspiracy Fantasists who do ignore scientific reason and use antisemitic rhetoric. Now, how was he saying what he said just "for kicks"? By removing the context of his quote and saying it "Says it all", you imply that he was taunting you. Look above. He was doing the opposite.

For everyone else, here's the link to the thread:

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=66208&page=3&highlight=pdoherty76+kookbreaker.
(JREF login required). You can go see for yourselves who was being polite, and who was just posting "for kicks"."


Link

I kept waiting for a response, but he just kept deleting what I put there.

At any rate, I think that's enough of Paul's nonsense. There's no need to pay any more attention to it, since there's really nothing there but air anyway. His arguments are weak, he practically never provides support for his arguments, when he does, it's always been either a misconstruence or a pulled quote devoid of context and made out to be something other than it was, he consistently refuses to respond with reason, and he's never, ever been able to respond to factual issues. You can see this for yourselves at the JREF forums.

At any rate, why worry about what he says anymore? None of it is substantive.

 
At 22 October, 2006 05:43, Blogger telescopemerc said...

And Telescopemerc, didn't he actually admit to one of Gravy's arguments? I have to go back and find that thread.

A couple of times he came close to that, before he shut his mind down completely and became a standard issue CT'er. In the controlled debate thread he basiclly frittered out. He couldn't make his usual smokescreen of changing the subject so he lost bad:

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=66213

At any rate, I think that's enough of Paul's nonsense. There's no need to pay any more attention to it, since there's really nothing there but air anyway.

I stopped going to his blog a while ago. Since all he wants is negative attention I will not be the one who gives it to him.

 
At 22 October, 2006 06:09, Blogger Unknown said...

Jones and his ilk will surely end up in the nut job hall of fame led by their whak leader AJ

 
At 22 October, 2006 06:35, Blogger Øyvind said...

Avery and co will end up great filmmakers

Possibly. Not judging from their current work, of course, but possibly.

Heck, I suppose it's like learning to draw. Your work looks fairly terrible in the beginning, and then starts to get better and better.

Like Dylan Avery, Stephen Jones has a place in history already. Millions of people know their names today and millions will know their names a hundred years from now.

Get off the LSD. It's bad for you.

 
At 22 October, 2006 06:37, Blogger Øyvind said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At 22 October, 2006 08:48, Blogger Elmondohummus said...

Actually, Tele, I found the post I was thinking about. It wasn't the one-on-one thread vs. Gravy that you linked; it was this one:

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=66353&highlight=angular+momentum+south+tower

And here's the specific post:

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?p=2013723#post2013723

"thankyou gravy

i will consider that debunked. u really take this seriously dont you?

im started to be convinced that the towers simply fell cos the steel weakened, hate to admit it"


Unless there was a level of sarcasm there that I was missing, he was actually considering arguments and providing sources for a page of posts. That went out the window by page 2, but for a brief moment, he was actually attempting to engage rationally.

So disappointing... well, anyway, the point is that he actually accepted Gravy's argument in that thread. Doesn't quite match the "p0wnz0rrd" braggadocio he's tossing around here.

 
At 22 October, 2006 09:25, Blogger Manny said...

Why are you calling me an idiot?

Because he momentarily forgot that the preferred term of derision for you retards is "retard."

 

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