Yet Moron Rosie

Matt Jones covers the story well:

She makes numerous other idiotic statements, this is just one. She also challenges any physicist to come on and tell her something different. I REALLY hope someone takes her up on that offer. Until then, the fine folks at Popular Mechanics have offered up Rosie O’Donnell 9/11 Conspiracy Comments: Popular Mechanics Responds. There they shut her down.

Over at AOL, there's a poll on whether Rosie should be fired. Currently over 130,000 votes, 63% of whom voted to sack the lardbutt.

Surf Now, Apocalypse Later says:

So according to Rosie O'Donnell the British set up their own people to be kidnapped to incite another war. This nutty theory goes along with O'Donnell's contention that 9/11 was a conspiracy and that terrorists mean us no harm.

A poster over at My Pet Jawa points out that Rosie forgot about the diesel fuel tanks in WTC-7:

New York City's Emergency Control Center was located in WTC 7. The center required fuel for the emergency generators in the event of a power failure. Thus, huge fuel tanks were located on the second floor.

She also makes a point that I had not heard before:

The walkway between WTC 7 and the North Tower over Vessey street (second floor again) had huge steel trusses, about 80 feet long, that took over two weeks to put in. When the North Tower went down, these extremely heavy trusses were unsupported on one end, placing additional strain on the exterior steel columns around the second floor, which transferred the weight to the internal columns.

I'm pretty sure the pedestrian walkway just connected with the plaza level of the WTC complex; it certainly did not connect directly with the North Tower. It is however quite possible that the support on the south side of the walkway was demolished when WTC-1 collapsed and that the unsupported walkway then did put additional pressure on the building.

Best Loose Change Forum Post, Ever

Batmanchester over at the Looser Forums, goes into a bizarre rant about how "Chuck Sheen", a poster over there, is not really Charlie Sheen.

Any questions? I am sick and tired of supposed and untrue phonies claiming to speak for this movement. If Charlie Sheen were to post, which his agent has forbade, thanks for telling us DYlan, you'd know it, but chucksheen, despite what he leads you to believe, is not Chaelie Sheen, Furthermore............Anyone want me to continue?

Of course, the poster named Chuck Sheen has been around in the 9-11 Denier movement for a long time, has never (to my knowledge) claimed to be Charlie Sheen. The name is simply a tribute. And for the record, Batmanchester is not really Batman.

The guy goes off on anybody correcting him on this topic, which several, including Chuckles himself, do. Some of it is profane. Here's where he really gets mad:

Ok Neo_children. You just bit off the wrong person's nose. It is my intention to IP track every single move you make, and announce it to the world. Every move. I daresay you can'y claim the same. You do not want to press me children. I personally despise you for getting in the way of the movement, but if you want to make this a poisoned personal affair, I'll be more than happy to accomodate you. But why don't we take this to your playground, oh like say, oh, ummmm, the FBI's Home Site. Your home IP site. Get lost scumboys, do you truly think we can't track you?

He does get one thing right:

This is no longer a truth movement here. It's about who can suck Dylan's Tail longer and faster than anyone else, and maybe we can be famous also.

After about the tenth time somebody tells him that Chuck Sheen does not claim to be Charlie, it appears to penetrate through the gin:

So finally. Chucksheen admits he's not who he has pretended to be. Thank you. Oh, and by the company you keep, I can see why you'd want to be one of the elitists.

Predictably, once he recovers, he claims somebody else did it:

Obviously, some felt the same way, but regrettably, only knew the team password, and used it to go on and post whatever the Hades is posted on this and other threads. But of course, I will stand by my people, as would any of you, and ask again, Who's in charge here? Who allowed this nonsense by a bunch of children to turn into this mess?

But of course that attracts an admin:

Well, as I am seemingly one in charge here it occurs to me that if your account is being used by people other than yourself, your account is not safe to have active at this present time. I am sure that as a team leader you can appreciate the position that I am placed in.

For the safety of the forum, I am placing this account on a one week suspension which should give you ample opportunity to secure the access to your machine to prevent this utter madness from occuring again.

Descent Into Tyranny II : Anti-Military Paranoia

One of the central theses of Alex Jones and other conspiracy theorists is that the military consists of nothing more than a bunch of jackbooted thugs on the verge of taking over the country. Now as a member of the military, I am personally annoyed by this, but I also have the advantage of easily knowing when he is lying, which is pretty much all the time anyway. Here are just a few examples, from page 58:

Police chiefs went public about these bizarre military takeovers of American cities. These exercises were carried out not only by Army Special Operations from Fort Brag [sic], but included foreign troops. Czechoslovakian troops, on American soil, were terrorizing the public, running around firing automatic weapons. The operations were to condition the public, and to acclimatize them to accept the military-with foreign troops – working with our local police.

I am first of all amused by his inability to correctly spell Ft. Bragg, only the largest and quite possibly the most famous military post in the world. Jones own source, however, shows that this exercise had absolutely nothing to do with martial law, it was simply a helicopter assault exercise by special operations forces. Perhaps most amusing is the presence of Czechoslovakian troops in an exercise in 1999. The country of Czechoslovakia no longer existed beginning in 1993.

From page 94, he continues with his theme of imminent UN takeover:

A headline from the CBC on October 30, 2001 read [sic], “Military Favors a homeland Command: U.S. bill calls for continental security perimeter.” They want hundreds of thousands of foreign U.N. troops on our streets. And the shadow government wants 365,000-plus U.S. troops to “patrol the U.S.” (to patrol our highways, our neighborhoods, our communities in total violation of Posse Comitatus).

Anyone who has ever worked in multi-national operations of course would find this ludicrous. For starters, where are "hundreds of thousands of foreign U.N. troops" going to come from? The largest UN intervention ever, took place in 1995 when 60,000 IFOR troops occupied Bosnia. Out of that number though, nearly 20,000 were US forces, and this was only after 3 years of a bloody civil war.

He continues, from page 93:

In February of 2002, two Special Forces trainees were killed by a sheriff’s deputy. You ask why? They were trying to disarm him (Asheville Tribune, February 25, 2002, “Soldier killing ‘tragic’ error”). They were trying to take over local law enforcement. This is the new type of training our military are [sic] being given- to overthrow the civilian government, the elected government right here in the United States.

While he is partially correct about what happened, he is blatantly lying about why it happened. I actually remember when this occurred, and the circumstances were widely publicized, so Jones has no excuse for his dishonesty. From CNN:

ROBBINS, North Carolina (CNN) -- A sheriff's deputy mistakenly shot and killed a U.S. soldier and seriously wounded another taking part in a role-playing field training exercise, the Moore County Sheriff's Department said Sunday.

The names of the soldiers, both stationed at Fort Bragg, were being withheld until they families could be notified.

The exercise, dubbed "Robin Sage," was the final stage of the qualification course for the U.S. Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets. The drill is conducted four times a year and stretches over nine North Carolina counties.

The soldiers were on what U.S. Army officials described as a reconnaissance mission Saturday afternoon when Deputy Randall Butler pulled them over in a traffic stop near Robbins. The soldiers were driving in an unmarked vehicle and dressed in civilian clothing, the sheriff's department said.

Butler was unaware the exercise was underway, while the soldiers believed the deputy was part of the training exercise, according to the sheriff's department statement.

"One of the soldiers attempted to disarm the officer, as the other was attempting to get to a military weapon that the soldiers had in their possession," the statement said. "At the time of the incident, the deputy believed that the two individuals intended on killing him, resulting in the deputy shooting both of the suspects."

The Army, which is conducting its own investigation, concurred that Butler likely did not know the exercise was taking place.

Jones can't even get the most basic facts right, only one soldier was killed. The other, SGT Stephen Phelps, was shot but survived. The Army later took steps to prevent a recurrence of this tragedy.

Aussie Al-Qaeda Admits Guilt

And, perhaps in a sign of the times, David Hick will serve another nine months.

The sentencing followed a day of proceedings in the first case under a 2006 law that authorized military commissions to try some detainees designated as enemy combatants. Those proceedings included Mr. Hicks’s amplifying on his guilty plea, acknowledging that prosecutors had the evidence to prove that he had been a trainee of Al Qaeda who, armed with an AK-47, was prepared to fight Americans in the Afghanistan conflict of 2001.

During the hearing, the military judge disclosed an extraordinary series of concessions Mr. Hicks had made to his American captors in negotiations for the plea deal, in which he admitted material support to a terrorist organization.

The deal included a statement by Mr. Hicks that he “has never been illegally treated” while a captive, despite claims of beatings he had made in the past. It also included a promise not to pursue suits over the treatment he received while in detention and “not to communicate in any way with the media” for a year.

Not entirely 9-11 related, but it speaks to our "al-CIA-duh" claimants.

PM Takes On Rosie

Kind of a weird situation, a magazine for technical enthusiasts takes on an obnoxious talk show host:

Alex Jones: Descent into Tyranny

I came across this copy of Alex Jones' book (and I use the term loosely) "Descent into Tyranny" on the Internet and decide to give it a perusal. Now I know debunking Alex Jones is low hanging fruit, shooting fish in a barrel, pick your cliche, but as long as he is a prominent member of the 9/11 denial movement, I will not feel guilty picking on this Texas blowhard, no matter how unsporting it may be.

I was not expecting a Putlizer level work, but even Jones managed to surprise me with his level of idiocy. The book does not appear to be a final published version, it only has notes for the publisher where the pictures will go, but even for a draft it is replete with errors, typos, illogical leaps, and outright lies. I am not going to debunk the whole book, mainly because I don't have a month to spare, but I will probably make a few posts.

This part especially annoyed me. I have heard Jones and others make repeated claims that Florida Governor Jeb Bush declared Martial Law (which Jones like many conspiracy theorists usually spells "Marshall") before 9/11. Now aside from the fact that this is pretty illogical, why would he risk giving away the plot with this entirely needless act, there is absolutely nothing to substantiate the claim. Here is the section from Descent into Tyranny, page 54:

Jeb Bush Declares Martial Law on September 7, 2001
On the homefront, President Bush’s brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush signed an unprecedented emergency State Executive Order (01-261) laying out new guidelines for setting up military rule (martial law) in Florida. Governor Jeb Bush signed his Executive Order on September 7, 2001 despite the fact that there were no major natural or man-made disasters at the time of its drafting.

“I hereby declare that a state of emergency exists in the state of Florida… The
Authority to suspend the effect of any statute or rule governing the conduct of state business, and further authority to suspend the effect of any order or rule of any government entity… The authority to seize and utilize any and all real or personal property as needed to meet this emergency… The authority to order the evacuation of any or all persons from any location in the State… The authority to regulate the return of the evacuees to their home communities… I hereby order the Adjutant General to activate the Florida National Guard for the duration of this emergency.” Florida Governor Jeb Bush, September 7, 2001. (Associated Press, September 9, 2001, State of Florida Website Listing State Executive Orders)

In this book most of his claims, no matter how obscure or outrageous, have no source, making it nearly impossible to check his claims, but this time he actually does actually give a source. Since he lists the number of the Florida State Executive Order, it is a simple matter of going to the state website to look it up. Unsurprisingly, it does not say what he claims it does.

EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 01-261
WHEREAS, the Florida National Guard has the statutory responsibility to provide support to law-enforcement personnel and emergency-management personnel in the event of civil disturbances or natural disasters; and

WHEREAS, the Florida National Guard has the responsibility to provide training support to law-enforcement personnel and community-based organizations relating to counter drug operations; and

WHEREAS, the Florida National Guard must train to meet such responsibilities; and

WHEREAS, the Florida National Guard is funded for any such training by budgetary appropriation or grants before any such training; and

WHEREAS, the Florida National Guard must conduct such training in active service of the state, as defined by Section 250.27, Florida Statutes (also known as active military service and state active duty) for members of the Florida National Guard to be covered by Section 250.34, Florida Statutes; and

WHEREAS, as Governor, I may delegate the authority contained in Section 250.06(4), Florida Statutes, to order training to help respond to civil disturbances, natural disasters, and counter drug operations to The Adjutant General of the State of Florida; and

This executive order does not declare a state of emergency or martial law, it merely provides for the training of National Guardsman to prepare for the event of a disaster, a completely different thing. I have no idea where Jones got his version, it was probably passed on to him from a separate declaration of a state of emergency, and the fatman was too lazy to look it up. He lists the AP also as a source, but a Lexis/Nexis search shows the only AP article which even mentioned Jeb Bush from September 7th, to September 9th, 2001 was one titled, "Bush Orders Statewide Standards on Reading", which quite clearly has nothing to do with this.

Michael Savage Is An Idiot

We sometimes get criticized for attacking mostly far-left kooks like Rosie O'Donnell and others, but here's a chance to get in a few licks on a far-right kook named Michael Savage. I've never listened to his show, and if this is the kind of crap he spews, I'm not going to start.

On the March 27 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage complained that Americans currently live in "post-Christian times" in which "[t]he churches are emptying out, the bathhouses are filling up, the sex-change operations are speeding up, the lesbian fertility clinics are increasing around the country." Savage went on to argue that God "orchestrated the rise of radical Islam" in order to counter the "spiritual collapse of the West." He continued: "It's becoming increasingly clear to me that God wants radical Islam on this planet at this time -- that it's not actually the scourge you think it is." He further claimed that God wants to show "you boys in Hollywood and you girls in New York City" that he does "exist" through acts of catastrophe like the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001: "Down came the World Trade Centers. That was God speaking."

Mr Savage, you are an idiot and a moron. You are trying to hijack 9-11 for your own purposes, just as much as Dylan Avery and Alex Jones are for theirs. God had nothing to do with 9-11, nor did gays in bathhouses or lesbian fertility clinics.

We're Going to Harvard!

I was watching video of "The View" posted here on Little Green Footballs, and cracked up at Rosie O'Donnell's ranting about getting a physics expert on the show to explain how WTC7 could not have collapsed without explosives.

Rosie: We are going to Harvard, we are going to Yale, and we are going to ask someone from physics to explain...

One of the other women, who not being a fan of the show, I cannot identify, interrupts, "Wait a second Bush went to Yale!", apparently indicating that he has tainted his alma mater.

To which the crowd cheers and Rosie answers, "We're going to Harvard!"

Hey geniuses, let me introduce you to George W. Bush, MBA, Harvard Business School, 1975

Update: To avoid potential confusion, this is also the same video Pat posted below.

Fred Thompson on 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists

Well the Truthers have Charlie Sheen and Rosie O'Donnell, but I will take former senator, and actor Fred Thompson over them any day:

It was an interesting coincidence that their announcements hit the news just as the military released Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s confession regarding his role in planning the 9/11 attacks — and a lot more.

Of course, we didn’t really need his confession, because his career has been so well documented. But sure enough, the terrorist’s admissions instantly drew sneers, and not just from the tin-foil hat crowd. Well-placed people acted like Mohammed’s smug confessions meant nothing.

A lot of people have at least a little in common with Sheen and O’Donnell. They just don’t like to think about how much our enemies actually hate us. It’s easier to escape down a rabbit hole to a land where our own government is tricking us into thinking the world is a dangerous place.

This would be the same government that can’t even keep our most secret surveillance programs out of the newspapers.

Of course he did play an overbearing Chief of Staff in "In the Line of Fire", so he must be New World Order...

On Fictitious Peer Review and Made Up Threats

Pat pointed out previously that one of the "Scholars" debunked their previous idiotic "Elephants"paper, nevermind that the Journal of 9/11 Debunking handled this job months ago. Now one of the original authors of the paper, Robert Moore Esq., writes a letter, basically admitting what a piece of crap the original paper was (yeah, that was some peer review process).

Not only that but Moore points out that Fetzer claimed the author of the paper was threatened, which at the time I was wondering about, considering this lame paper hardly presented a challenge to the New World Order deserving of any threats. Moore states, however, that despite his name being on the paper, he never received any threats.

Needless to say, I was quite shocked at Dr. Fetzer's response to the unsubtantiated claim, especially since my answering machine and email "inbox" remained silent. There were no threats. The whole matter sounded ridiculous.

Before the matter went to far out of hand, I sent off a letter to the founders of st911, which stated that, although I was listed by name at the bottom of the article, I had not received any threats. Moreover, the origin of the threats seemed questionable at best.

They once again demonstrate why you have to use quotes around the "Scholars" for 9/11 "Truth".

Correction: Robert Moore e-mails to point out that he was not listed as an "author" of the piece, but as an "advisor", my apologies if there was any confusion.

Is There No End to Rosie's Talents?

She's apparently an artist as well:



The sad thing? This hideous piece of "art" sold for $2,501 on ebay.

Yes, I know it has nothing to do with 9-11.

Rosie Continues the Woo!

She claims that "Nearly everyone in this administration is under indictment or suspicion." Of course, it would help if she actually had the name of one person. The people she does name, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, are not, to my knowledge, under indictment. About the only significant person in the administration who has actually been indicted is Scooter Libby.

Note as well, the BS about Rosie being against the War on Terror "because it makes people into evil and good." I am comfortably certainly Rosie herself "makes people into evil and good," and the dividing line is between Republicans and Democrats.

On the other hand, Elisabeth makes the mistake of letting Rosie get away with "did Iraq have anything to do with 'blowing up' the towers?" Sadly, Elisabeth then claims that Iraq had a part in 9-11, which is not true.

They Made Dylan's Original Film!

Looks like a snooze-fest and will undoubtedly be condemned as disinformation by half the movement. Consider this shot of the supposed core of the towers:



And this shot of the supposed flight path of Flight 77 into the Pentagon:



Even John Doh of the Pilots for 9-11 Denial isn't stupid enough to present that "evidence".

More Crappy Proof of the Troof

Jeez, how pathetic can they get?

To me, Tip-off #1 is a point that I earlier blogged: "It seems ridiculously implausible that the FBI tracked down 19 mug shots of 19 hijackers, and got that to the news media the same day as the attacks!

Ah, Sherlock indeed. In fact, the FBI did not get "mug shots" of the 19 hijackers on the air on September 11, 2001.

It gets worse:

Each airplane had more than five passengers. Full investigation took less than a day, and the FBI knew precisely who among the passengers was "in" and "out" of the conspiracy.

Well, just for fun, let's play hunt the hijacker, shall we? Here are the non-crew members of Flight 175; without racially profiling, let's see if you can figure out whodunnit:

Alona Avraham
Garnet "Ace" Bailey
Fayez Banihammad
Mark Bavis
Graham Berkeley
Touri Bolourchi
Klaus Bothe
Daniel Brandhorst
David Brandhorst
John Cahill
Christoffer Carstanjen
John Corcoran "Jay" Corcoran
Dorothy Dearaujo
Gloria Debarrera
Lisa Frost
Ronald Gamboa
Ahmed al-Ghamdi
Hamza al-Ghamdi
Lynn Goodchild
The Rev. Francis E. Grogan
Carl Hammond
Peter Hanson
Susan Hanson
Christine Hanson
Gerald Hardacre
Eric Hartono
James E. Hayden
Herbert Homer
Robert Jalbert
Ralph Kershaw
Heinrich Kimmig
Brian Kinney
Robert LeBlanc
Maclovio "Joe" Lopez Jr.
Marianne MacFarlane
Louis Neil Mariani
Juliana Valentine McCourt
Ruth McCourt
Wolfgang Menzel
Shawn Nassaney
Patrick Quigley
Frederick Rimmele
James M. Roux
Jesus Sanchez
Kathleen Shearer
Robert Shearer
Marwan al-Shehhi
Mohand al-Shehri
Jane Simpkin
Brian D. Sweeney
Timothy Ward
William Weems

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you'd have to be blind or stupid not to see who the five hijackers might be in that list.

Tip-off #2 is a recent point. In late February, 2007, the 9/11 Truth Movement released BBC video from 9/11, in which the BBC reported that building seven had collapsed IN ADVANCE. That is to say that the building was still standing while the BBC reported the demise of the building. The timing of their story was off. Half an hour later, the building came down and "got on the page." It seems that Aaron Brown over at CNN made a similar report, that the building was toast before it was in fact toast. 9/11 was certainly a day of "on the ground" events happening. But Tip-offs #1 and #2 each strongly suggest that 9/11 was also a day of news being spoonfed by the media. The early report of building seven collapsing (at BBC and CNN) was not from eyewitnesses on the ground. The faulty information had to come from somewhere (A prepared plan? A press release?) other than eyeballs on the scene. Where did the media get this information, and who was spoonfeeding it to them?

It was Alex Jones, I swear! He was the one who knew about the attacks before they happened!

I guess this guy John Kusumi is somebody important, because breaking his silence about 9-11 is embarrassing--to the Truthers! At the bottom of the page we hear about his claim to fame:

John Kusumi, in 1984, was the independent "18-year-old" for U.S. President. Presidential politics has no earlier introduction of "the politics of practical idealism," which Kusumi championed with his "People Are Important" bumper stickers.

Apparently the politics of practical idealism didn't include reading the US Constitution, which provides that the president must be at least 35 years of age.

Anti-Semitism and Idiocy

I was reading this article on Rense.com on Dov Zakheim, I don't know what is more offensive, the blatant anti-Semitism and religious baiting, or the just plain idiocy:

As to Zakheim's hell-raiser lineage, Judicial Inc points out that Grandpa Zakheim was born in 1870, Julius Zakheim (Zhabinka), in the Ukraine, a Russian rabbi who married a relative of Karl Marx. He was a Menshevik/Bolshevik and played a leading role in the 1905 turmoil that paved the way for the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. The Bolshevik master plan called for the state of Israel, which was chosen for its proximity to the world's oil and an area of religious significance.

Dov's Father, Rabbi Jacob I. Zakheim was born in 1910 and reared in Poland's swarm of Zionist hard guys, read assassins and bombers. His Polish town, near Bilaystok, also brought us Yitzhak Shir, and family friends included Menachem Begin and Moshe Arens. Dov's father was an active member of Betar, formed in 1923 in Riga, Latvia. Its goal was to control the Middle East (and its oil). It was known that the Jewish people needed their own country and they chose Palestine and claimed it a Jewish state "on both sides of the Jordan."

OK, I may be a little behind in my Middle Eastern history, but exactly how important was Middle Eastern oil production in 1917?

According to Conspiracy News.net writers Shadow and 'Pax' in Dov Zakheim and the 9/11 Conspiracy, "According to the SPC website, a recent customer at that time was Eglin AFB, located in Florida. Eglin is very near another Air Force base in Florida, MacDill AFB, where Dov Zakheim contracted to send at least 32 Boeing 767 aircraft, as part of the Boeing /Pentagon tanker lease agreement.

This idiot manages to mention the Boeing 767 lease deal on at least three occasions, speculating that KC-767s where used on 9/11. Of course he fails to notice the fact that the contract was cancelled as a result of a bribery scandal, and to this day Boeing has not produced a single KC-767 for the US Air Force. Even if the deal had gone through, the first plane was not supposed to be delivered until well after 9/11. Considering he is obviously aware of the contract, how can he not be aware of this simple fact?

Idiots.

Screw Loose Change Video Mentioned In Dallas Morning News

James Raglan, apparently a local columnist for the DMN, notes:

Before I get started, let me say this column is not a critique of Loose Change, the independent Internet film that suggests some U.S. government officials may have staged the 9/11 attacks.

Nor is this about Screw Loose Change, an equally delightful documentary that responds to the conspiracy theories and speculation contained in the aforementioned flick. If nothing else, you've got to love the in-your-face title.

Heheh. I wish more people would get the double entendre of "screw loose" as much as they got the screw "Loose Change" part, but what the hey, it works.

This is pretty good:

For what it's worth, I don't consider Mr. Cuban a loose – make that looser – cannon for financing the distribution of the flick. I watched Loose Change, and its rival, on the Internet and found them both to be quite – how should I put this – amusing.

Both films address probing, provocative questions. The problem I have with Loose Change lies in its answers, many of which are based on loosely strung-together facts, speculations and inferences that, when mixed together, drive conspiracy theorists wild.

Cuban is loving this, because everybody is talking about Mark Cuban and what he's doing. But he's full of it when he says:

"I don't believe the movie. Not at all," Mr. Cuban explained. "But I do believe that lies in the shadows are far more dangerous than lies you can confront and refute. There probably will be a movie that responds to this one, and we would be more than happy to distribute it as well, for the very same reason."

Hey, Mark, James just mentioned a movie that responds to this one. Why don't you put it on the same DVD?

Possibly the Most Optimistic 9/11 Denial Group Ever

His use of the plural might be a bit of an overstatement, but you have to admire his optimism. Under "About Us" it simply reads, "Coming Soon".

Yeah, good luck with that membership drive...

Synthetic Terror Part II

The second chapter of the book is obviously the inspiration for a good part of Terrorstorm. Which is to say that it doesn't have a whole lot to do with 9-11, but a lot to do with "False Flag" operations and Operation Gladio and the like. But Tarpley is a little more cautious than Alex Jones. Note how he establishes the supposed link betwee the US and Operation Gladio:



"Information came into the public domain that...." That is a very curious and passive way of avoiding telling us who put that information into the public domain. But that's a research project for another time; for the moment it is sufficient that Operation Gladio does not tell us a lot about 9/11/01. That false flag attacks may have happened in the past does not mean that every attack is false flag, unless Tarpley wants us to believe that the French bombed Pearl Harbor.

Tarpley goes on to tell us about patsies and moles and it seems pretty tangential to 9-11 but he does get back on track with the discussion of the Phoenix memo and the efforts by Minneapolis FBI to get a warrant to search Moussaoui's computer. But where most of us see the failure of that warrant to be issued as a sad mistake by an FBI paranoid about violating rights, Tarpley is convinced that the special agent who blocked the warrant must have been one of his "moles".

Sibel Edmonds gets a long mention; she has some interesting claims but she's the usual CT "whistleblower"; she blew the whistle after she was fired, so it's an open question as to what is sour grapes and what is legitimate. I have noted in the past that Edmonds' claims as revealed on 60 Minutes were relatively tame; it's only in recent years that she has embellished them to include supposed 9-11 foreknowledge (even though she herself was hired after 9-11).

Tarpley goes on to Operation Northwoods and at this point my eyes are glazing over. You can't imagine how tedious it is to wade through this all over again, in pursuit of a claim that the US government's willingness to create an incident in which no Americans would actually die indicates their willingness to create an incident in which thousands of Americans would die.

Tarpley does a few side jaunts into British government involvement in Northern Ireland terrorism, something I may be interested in looking at in the future and Israeli involvment in Al Qaeda in the Gaza Strip. Again, mildly interesting but not related to 9-11 except in the usual, "If X government would do A, then why wouldn't Y government do B?" sense.

Tarpley also dedicates an entire page to a rundown of the way the US oligarchy controlled all the presidents after FDR. Jimmy Carter, for example, supposedly had a nervous breakdown after "being ousted as Governor of Georgia." But in fact, Carter was prohibited from serving a second term; under his successor, George Busbee, Georgia amended its constitution to allow two consecutive terms.

General comments: As noted in the discussion of the prior chapter, Tarpley does not organize his thoughts well, so we get a mishmash of stuff that is probably recycled from Tarpley's writing for Executive Intelligence Review, Lyndon LaRouche's magazine. His main point in this section appears to be that there are no real outside terror groups or if there are, they are patsies for the governments they nominally oppose.

The Conspiracy Deepens

One week Mark Cuban is a hero for supporting Loose Change, the next week, he is part of the conspiracy himself! If only we could get to the depths of this treachery.

One thing I have to ask myself is this-- does mark [sic] Cuban stand to make money or lose money if 9/11 truth comes out?

If the stock market crashes, he would stand to lose millions and millions of dollars. If everyone is worrying about "False Flag" terror, not many people would be watching his HDTV. There will be less people going to basketball games if they are worried about surviving.

The question in all this is: Was Mark Cuban directly responsible for the banishment of Halifaxion from You Tube? Why was Halifaxion singled out? More importantly, if he was, was it a deliberate attempt to dismantle the 911 Truth Movement?

And the most important question of all-- what are Mark Cuban's plans for Loose Change Final Cut?

How Stuff Doesn't Work

Jeez, our buddy Sword of Truth pointed this one out over at JREF, and it's certainly worth a gander. The website, How Stuff Works, is generally considered reliable for science and hardware explanations. How Stuff Work's homepage has a page rank of eight, which is huge (Ford Motor Company's homepage is a seven, for example). It is the 30th most commonly cited webpage on the blogs according to Technorati. But...

When it comes to explaining how conspiracy theories work, Marshall Brain, who founded the site apparently buys this completely unscientific nonsense. Get this:

In the 21st century, one event reigns supreme in the catalog of conspiracy theories: the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States. This event is seared into the nation's consciousness and significantly affected the entire planet. It seems inevitable that people would cry "conspiracy" about any event with this much impact. However, the conspiracy theories around 9/11 have been strong and consistent.

There's a good compound word for that, and the first half is bull. Conspiracy theories around 9/11 have been marginal, easily debunked, and incredibly inconsistent.

The U.S. government has offered the terrorist explanation, and that is the story that many people believe. A large number of people, however, refuse to believe this "official story." They believe conspiracy theorists when they say that the U.S. government actually masterminded and executed the attack.

We could spend a great deal of time arguing one side or the other. Instead, we'll focus on the process. Isn't it fascinating that there can be two credible explanations for such a complex event, and that both explanations can be so diametrically opposed to one another?

But, as we shall see, Marshall's Brain really finds one explanation more credible than the other.

Brain provides a timeline, of which I thought these three datapoints were illustrative:

# 9:43 a.m. - Flight 77 hits the Pentagon.
# 10:05 a.m. - The South Tower falls.
# 10:10 a.m. - Flight 93 crashes in Pennsylvania.

As our buddy Gravy would say, they got that 100% wrong. Flight 77 hit the Pentagon at 9:37, the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 and Flight 93 crashed at 10:03 (or 10:06 according to some claims).

So for a conspiracy theory to get started, there has to be something that a conspiracy theorist can use, something that doesn't make sense. In some conspiracy theories, it's something very small. But in the case of 9/11, there are four big things that do not make much sense in the official story. These things include:

# Three skyscrapers collapsed. Never has a skyscraper ever collapsed because of fire. When the North and South Towers collapsed, that might have seemed believable because of the giant airplanes that crashed into them. But when WTC 7 collapsed, that was completely unprecedented.

# The way the President and his handlers acted when the second plane crashed into the South Tower. The reaction was strange. When the first plane crashed into the North Tower, it might be possible to excuse the behavior of the President's team because maybe nobody really knew what happened. However, by the time the second jet hit, everyone knew what was happening, so the fact that the President and his handlers did not respond immediately is certainly odd.

# The Pentagon could be hit by a big, lumbering passenger jet. On the face of it, that seems completely impossible. The Pentagon, after all, is the nerve center for the largest and most sophisticated military organization that the world has ever known. So it is reasonable to assume that there would be a defensive system in place, making the building invulnerable. Surely buildings like the Pentagon would be protected by surface-to-air missiles, wouldn't they? The attack on the Pentagon happened 58 minutes after the first plane crashed into the North Tower, which was plenty of time to scramble jets and protect Washington, D.C. even if there were no missiles on the ground.

# Not one of the four hijacked planes was shot down by fighters, even though fighter interception is fairly standard. This is also strange, especially in the case of the Pentagon. For example, when Payne Steward's Lear jet went off course in 1999, more than 10 planes intercepted it over the course of its flight, with the first interception happening within 20 minutes of flight controllers noticing a problem [ref]. So why was there an apparent lack of response to these four hijacked jets?

That is jam-packed with 9-11 Denial nonsense. The steel portion of the Windsor Towers did collapse, and like all Deniers, Marshall wants us to ignore the fact that WTC 1 and 2 were not solely on fire, but had also suffered serious structural damage from the impact of the planes, and that WTC 7 had suffered serious structural damage from the collapse of WTC 1. The bit about the President and his staff is clearly lame conjecture. As for the big, lumbering commercial jet, it crashed into the Pentagon at over 500 miles per hour. No, there are no surface-to-air missiles on the Pentagon, for the simple reason that there's an airport less than two miles away. It's not 58 minutes, but 55 minutes later, and oh, by the way Payne Stewart's plane was intercepted in 80 minutes, not 20.

It does not get any better.

By concluding that, however, the theorist has to explain everything else that happened on September 11. If WTC 7's demolition was pre-planned, then all of September 11 was pre-planned. The repercussions of that realization impact every part of the "official story." For example:

* There were no terrorists. Or if there were, their actions were coordinated by the government rather than Al Queda.
* Terrorists did not spontaneously fly the planes into the buildings -- the government did.
* The North and South Towers were also rigged with explosives ahead of time, like WTC 7, and their collapses were staged events that killed thousands of innocent people.
* The crash at the Pentagon was staged as well. Or, possibly, no passenger jet was involved at all. A missile may have struck the Pentagon instead of a jetliner.
* Flight 93 may have never actually happened as described in the official story. It might have been completely staged as well, or it may have been shot by a missile.

This conspiracy story is radically different from the official story. But is it believable?

If you are willing to move past the revulsion that this story elicits, this new story is not too difficult to believe. Secretly rigging three buildings for demolition is not hard to imagine. The government has known teams of people trained to do things like this (such as Navy SEALS), and it is logical to assume that there are secret teams as well. It is easy to imagine the government taking over, or even substituting, the jets that crashed into the North and South Towers. It is easy to imagine a cruise missile being fired at the Pentagon and hitting it in exactly the way that the building was hit.

Note that along the way that the site never gives any clue that this is complete nuttery; indeed, with the use of phrases like "not too difficult to believe", and "it is logical to assume" and "It is easy to imagine", Marshall guides the reader towards belief in this crackpottery.

The article does briefly mention debunkers, but in the "Lots More Information", there are 26 links, with exactly ONE going to a debunking site and 25 going to 9-11 Denial sites.

Phryngula, a science blog, caught onto How Stuff Doesn't Work awhile ago.

Knife Fights Over At the Looser Forum

I suppose I shouldn't enjoy these outbursts of nuttiness as much as I do, but one of the great things about debunking the Deniers is that we're not their worst enemies; it's the other people in the movement. As others have noted, this is like that scene in The Life of Brian, where the Popular Front for the Liberation of Judea announces that the only group they hate worse than the Romans is the People's Front for Judean Liberation.

The Deniers went for a good part of 2006 on the Unity Ticket, but since the end of the summer they have been engaged in a good deal of internecine warfare. This dustup starts over a claim that Rob Balsamo, the space cadet who heads up Pilots for 9-11 Denial, never was a pilot, and anyway, he died a year ago (cue spooky music).

BTW, TSA=Transportation Safety Administration.

Alex Jones on Screw Loose Change

I only caught this story in passing while it was happening, but now that I have more time I am going back and researching Pat's "betrayal" of Screw Loose Change. I found the March 15th broadcast by Alex Jones that Pat mentioned previously, and had a good laugh over the idiocy of the whole thing:

I am literally torn over an article that Paul Watson wrote. And I have been wanting to attack these people, I have been wanting to expose them. There is no debating it. It is obvious as a bump on a log as the nose on your face. Just I... I mean these people running around saying no planes hit tower 1 or 2, these people saying space lasers did it. These people come out, get cred for about a year, and then they show themselves. It is pretty obvious where some of these people worked, where they came from, but then just to have it confirmed. One of the Screw Loose Change top debunkers has gone public and said that they were told to go to conferences, to try and get people to talk about anti-Semitism, to try and tie it to Holocaust denial. We know that is a government program. To try and promote and push certain individuals we know are disinfo operatives.

And now one of them has gone public with it. I mean I already knew it. I could read this and tell you, this is the real deal. This is one of their own people going "look, you know, I can't be part of this." Again, I mean its like people saying, "If 9/11 was an inside job people go public". It usually takes 10 years folks, and then a lot of people get whacked. But this individual said he is going public, and he says it got scary at the end, and he hopes he is going to be OK. See, one of these little camp followers found out, this is a lot more serious than you thought, wasn't it?

This stuff's real OK! I've been in the smoky rooms where they offered me money to sell out to them! Folks this stuff's real OK! It's real, they killed those people! They'll probably kill me! I've put my family in danger, because I love this country, and I've got to stand up for other people, and I pray God protect me! But this stuff's real, and I want it to burn into your brain, just how real it is! Just how serious it is! Just how scary it is (voice cracking)!

Uhh, sorry Alex, it isn't.

By the way, how did we end up getting lumped in with the no-planers and laser beam types? We were making fun of Judy "Keebler Elves" Wood months before any of the 9/11 deniers started wondering what was up with her. But hey, at least he called us "top debunkers". Maybe we should put that in our list of endorsements?

Don't Tell Alex Jones This...

Luke Rudkowski and Tom "How many of you here have heard of the Federal Reserve?" Foti appear on what appears to be a public access TV talk show. Rudkowski is making a film (aren't they all) about his experiences with the NY 9-11 Denial crowd. I have not watched the entire clip (it runs about an hour), but my ears did prick up a bit at what Luke says at 2:10

Luke: This was just a film about me and Dan Wallace and the NY 9-11 Truth organization, about what we have been going through with the police harassing us, with police infiltration....

Police harassing 9-11 Truthers? But I could have sworn that Alex Jones has told us that almost all the NYC police he's met agree with the Truthers?

Documentary film maker and radio host Alex Jones, coordinating today's 9/11 truth movement events in downtown New York City, says that the atmosphere around ground zero has dramatically changed, with the majority of firefighters and police officers now sympathetic to the claim that 9/11 was an inside job.

Saying that the "entire atmosphere had changed," Alex explained how police support for protesters at ground zero had gone from 20% support two years ago to around 60% support now - with many willing to affirm that sentiment on camera and many knowledgeable about Alex Jones' work and the 9/11 truth movement.

"Police just saying 'keep your investigation going, we appreciate you' on video," said Jones.

"The firemen we've been talking to - a hundred per cent are on our side and have seen the documentary films....it is just incredible what's happened at the grass roots."

The host is quite a nutjob himself. Here's his website, where he courageously proclaims himself to be against slavery:

Slavery and generally any social, political, economic injustice anywhere is a direct threat aimed at the social justice, political and economic existence everywhere.

Way to take on those controversial issues, Harold!

Update: At about 36:50 we get to see a clip from Luke's film. It's much the same as the Looser films; lots of scenes of them walking around New York City, lots of nausea-inducing rotations of the camera. No kidding, there's about four minutes of tape where the camera is just looking at the ground while Foti tries to negotiate with the cops about where the NY guys can hold their "9-11 Was An Inside Job" banner. Hilariously, one of the cops tells them not to "unfurl" their banner near the truck, which Rudkowski subtitles as "unfrail" their banner.

Truther Sources

I am continously amused by the sources truthers will use for their stories, without even a hint of skepticism or analysis. My favorite example being when the Scholars for 9/11 Truth posted a story from Pravda, most famous for being the official mouthpiece of the Soviet Communist Party for 70 years, reporting that an armed coup had taken place on Capital Hill.

Now another story is going around, started by prominent truther Webster Tarpley, that the US is going to launch a "sneak attack" on Iran, on the rather precise date of 4 A.M. April 6th.

WASHINGTON DC, -- The long awaited US military attack on Iran is now on track for the first week of April, specifically for 4 am on April 6, the Good Friday opening of Easter weekend, writes the well-known Russian journalist Andrei Uglanov in the Moscow weekly “Argumenty Nedeli.” Uglanov cites Russian military experts close to the Russian General Staff for his account.

The attack is slated to last for 12 hours, according to Uglanov, from 4 am until 4 pm local time. Friday is the sabbath in Iran. In the course of the attack, code named Operation Bite, about 20 targets are marked for bombing; the list includes uranium enrichment facilities, research centers, and laboratories.

Tarpley later complains that this story has been ignored by the US media, although this may have to do with the fact that Novosti considered this story so important, that they didn't even bother to post it in either English or Russian. Tarpley links to 2 articles written only in French.

Tarpley's main source, Andrei Uglanov, is only cited secondhand, so with a little research, I found the original article, posted here, (Translation mine):

IRAN TO BE "BITTEN" AT 4 IN THE MORNING, APRIL 6TH

An anonymous source in the Kremlin warned Iranian authorities that Moscow refuses to support Tehran, if Iran does not answer the IAEA inquiry, it is responsible for itself. For us Iran with a nuclear bomb or the capacity to develop one is unacceptable. We will not play in these anti-American games with them.

Such a warning to Tehran would not have been possible if the Kremlin did not know about the true plans of the United States in regards to Iran. And if they knew, they did not want to be in the same boat with a violator of the UN Resolution.

To begin with, the Vice-President of the USA, D. Cheney admitted that his country "Is considering all solutions to the Iranian problem", including military.

Russian military experts believe that the planning of the military actions by the United States reached the point of no return on 20 February. In Vienna, inconclusive talks ended between the Iranians and the head of the IAEA M. Al Baradei.

According to our information, military action will take place in the first week of April, just before the Catholic and Orthodox Easter (this year the dates are the same), when the "Western public" will be on vacation. Maybe this will even happen even on Friday April 6th, a holiday in the Muslim world.

According to the American plan it will be a one-day strike, which will last 12 hours, from 4 am to 4 pm. The code name of the operation currently is "Bite", which translates to "ukus". The very name indicates that it won't be big massacre, of course, it would involve about 20 sites where they are carrying out secret work on the development of a nuclear program.

Of course in the typical truther manner, Tarpley plays a "telephone game", repeating a story, based on an anonymous source to begin with, from a second article in French which repeats it. Contrary to his claim that the news of the attack was based on "Russian military experts close to the Russian General Staff", the article only mentions "military analysts", which could mean anything. Additionally Tarpley morphs the speculation as to the date, into a known fact. These are the truther standards for the truth, where anonymous speculation becomes proven fact.

I just hope they come up with a better name than "Operation Bite".

New Satirical Blog on 9-11 Denial

I like this guy's sense of humor.

"We do not know what to believe or whom to trust in the 9/11 Truth Movement," exclaims Sara Marshall of 911Blogger.com, a 9/11 Truth site specializing in 'alternative' 9/11 news. 'Trust, but Verify' no longer works for us. Neither does 'Impossible, but Plausible.' ... . We're fighting with every other 9/11 Truth group trying to protect 9/11 Truth from their lies and disinformation... There are even factions within 911Blogger.com fighting each other."

911Booger.com (not to be confused with 911Blogger.com) has received numerous complaints from 911Blogger.com members concerning the deletion of a link to yesterday's 911Booger.com breaking news about Steven Jones's appearance at a French climatology conference.

As Homer Simpson once remarked, it's funny because it's true!

The Blueprint Caper

I have to chuckle a bit at this one. Dylan Avery got copies of the blueprints to the World Trade Center (apparently Tower One only), and announced it by asking somebody to torrent and seed it, so folks could download it.

Dylan was just a tad giddy:

This is like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthdays and Valentine's Day wrapped into one.

It's something we've all wanted for a very, very long time...

As someone who has actually worked with blueprints professionally, I can tell you that the notion that the Loosers are going to discover some "smoking gun" is hilarious. Perhaps an inset which reads "place thermite auto-destruct mechanism here"?

Update: Batmanchester (I can't tell you how annoying that name is) claims to have found something:

The NIST report was a lie. Between 4 of us, we scoured over the prints, noting the fireproofing they said wasn't there, the thickness of the steel columns, the steel grid, compared it to Poopular Mechanics report, etc.

I'm going to take a wild guess here and assume that these guys don't know the difference between plans and specs, blueprints and as-built drawings.

Update: Alex points out in the comments that the AutoCad files include both temporary (i.e., useless) files and files that analyze the damage caused by the impacts of the planes. No doubt it is the latter that has them excited; now they can claim that they have "proof" that the towers could not have come down. Of course the analysis of the damage is necessarily incomplete; they didn't have a structural engineer up there checking what happened. But you know any difference between what NIST estimated will become the next piece of evidence.

Wood Takes On NIST

Well I am back in the good old USA, albeit rather jet-lagged. Many thanks to Pat for keeping up on all the news while I was gone. Things went well, although we are still trying to decide whether to disperse our mind control drugs through the usual chemtrail method, or through Starbucks Coffee...

For those of you unfamiliar with this site, that is a joke, I don't want Starbucks lawyers calling me.

On to 9/11 denier news nuttery, well you know how the truthers are always demanding answers. Now former engineering prof Judy Wood is demanding that NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which has produced a series of reports on the collapse of the World Trade Centers, officially respond to her Star Wars Beam Weapon theory:

DATA QUALITY ACT (DQA) CHALLENGES HAVE BEEN FILED WITH NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY (NIST)

EVIDENCE FOR DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPONS PUT FORWARD IN A DQA REQUEST FOR CORRECTION

PERSONS WITH SUPPORTING INFORMATION ARE ASKED TO COME FORWARD AND BE HEARD

The DQA challenges are called "Requests for Correction" (RFC). Each one asserts that NIST's reporting on the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11/01 is lacking in quality, integrity. Some challenge NIST's conclusions and evasions as being fraudulent, misleading and deceptive.

These three RFCs are the first known to have been filed with NIST that challenge the validity of the official explanations of what caused the near instanteous destruction of the World Trade Center complex on September 11, 2001.

Oh yeah, this is going to help them find legitimacy in the scientific community.

Andrea Shea-King Show Report

As always Andrea was a great hostess. People don't understand how much prep goes into a show like that; the two hours that you hear on the hour are backed up by lots of reading and thinking about the questions to ask.

I was thrilled that she mentioned Mark Roberts and I kick myself for not talking about him in more general terms (King of the Debunkers) and less in specifics about how he was a NYC tour guide who put together this early debunking of Loose Change. My bad, Gravy, I was actually caught by surprise by the question--Andrea does her research!

Earl Johnson was terrific; to hear someone describing what it was like to be caught in the North Tower was gripping. Remember, his book is called Stairwell to Heaven. Earl has the right message and a compelling story to tell. Heads up to James B, he's from your neck of the woods!

In the chatroom afterwards, Killtown and some shill of his from Pittsburgh peppered me with questions about Shanksville. But they were the usual arguments from incredulity and amounted to "Why is the crater only 80 feet wide when the plane's wings were 125 feet? Why didn't the tail section do more damage?" They thought they pwned me, and of course I didn't have any real answers for their questions other than "That's what happens when a 757 crashes into a filled-in strip mine."

But Shanksville is such a minor issue. Killtown thinks that if he can just prove this photo is off a hair, that will prove Shanksville is bogus, and then the whole 9-11 conspiracy will come tumbling down like a house of cards. It's the same argument every other sect in the 9-11 religion raises.

Screw Loose Change on the Radio!

(This post will remain pinned to the top until Sunday night. Scroll down for newer content.)

I will be on the radio Sunday night (March 25) with my good friend Andrea Shea-King on her eponymous show out of Orlando. If you're not fortunate enough to live in the WDBO area, you can listen in live on the internet. You can also participate in the live chatroom for the show by going here and typing in your nickname, city & state and clicking "Submit Query". Our segment will be broadcast at about 9:30 PM Eastern Time, 6:30 on the West Coast. We hope to be joined by Earl Johnson, a WTC 9-11 survivor who has recently lectured at the University of Wisconsin on his experiences on that fateful day and about the nuttery of Kevin Barrett. Earl has written a book about his experience, called "Stairwell to Heaven".

“It came in about 43 stories over my head,” Johnson said. “You could feel the steel in that building reverberate through the soles of your shoes. We took off running down the stairs but only made it down seven or eight flights before we came to a complete stop.”

After about 45 minutes of waiting in the stairwell and having already heard the second plane hit the south tower, Johnson said he and those around him were still only halfway down.

However, amid the fear and panic during those agonizing moments, Johnson said he remembered the incredible way in which people reached out to help one another.

“What I’m most proud to talk about is how I watched complete strangers reach out to the people next to them to help beat that fear back,” Johnson said. “Nobody asked for anything; it was just given.”

Welcome to the Nuthouse, Mr Cuban

If you ever wonder why the 9-11 Denial movement seems to be one step up and two steps back, just check out the paranoia that is greeting the news that Mark Cuban's talking about distributing Loose Change.

As usual, it starts with a little news item.

Once again, copyright holders are trying to unmask who uploaded a potentially infringing video clip to YouTube.

This time it's Magnolia Pictures, a film distributor owned by Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner, the billionaire co-founders of Broadcast.com. Magnolia released the Academy Award-nominated documentary Enron: Smartest Guys in the Room, which has a bad habit of appearing on video-sharing sites.

Hence the subpoena to Google, which a federal court in Texas issued on Tuesday. It asks for information on how to identify the person who uploaded three videos (two on Google Video and one on YouTube).

On YouTube, at least, the username of the uploader is "halifaxion," who seems to focus on uploading video clips airing alternative explanations of what happened to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Over at the Looser Forum, this has caused an endless round of finger-pointing.

i for one will lose alot of respect for you guys should this happen. i'll also be a lot more likely to beleive the allegations of being disinfo and also that you're in it for the money now. your response to this would be appreciated.

As usual, they believe that Dylan's got a lot of negotiating power with Cuban:

And as some people have pointed out, if you get US (we are all in this together) a wide theatrical release and a prominent place on DVD rental shelves, and allow us the ability to legally make copies of the DVD, then I say that would be a good trade off to a poor quality Google Video on the Internet. In fact, keeping it OFF Google Video will be helpful to the release. But in purchasing the DVD, people I think need to be given the legal right to make copies for wider dissemination.. Mark Cuban's firm of course would be opposed to that. By playing them off of someone else who's interested, you'll get what you want, and be able to close the deal, and as you realize, a deal needs to be closed ASAP now.

do you do your job better informed or ignorant? last i checked you were pro information. does it not bother you at all that magnolia had halifaxion run off google and youtube and ifilm? cuban claims it was done as an exercise in seeing how the system works, if so, couldn't a different target be chosen? it would take you just as long to address the questions as it does to dismiss them.

Nico checked out the crowd at 9-11 Blogger and found much the same:

Submitted by LUCUS on Sat, 03/24/2007:
"...I don't know if I trust this guy and he may be trying to steal the copy license so he can limit the exposure to the film.
REMEMBER MARK CUBAN JUST HAD HALIFAXION SUED FOR UPLOADING 9/11 VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE..."

Submitted by JJJames on Sat, 03/24/2007
"...You do have a point.... If Mark Cuban does get the distribution rights he can keep this off of the internet..."

Submitted by Jon Gold on Sat, 03/24/2007
"...If Mark Cuban funds a debunking movie by Popular Mechanics, than Bill O'Reilly should fund a new investigation...."

Submitted by waitew on Sat, 03/24/2007
"...This Mark Cuban guy has sued the most prolithic 911 truther on YouTube & now hundreds of 911 truth videos that were there aren't,and you're wondering if we can trust him!!.."

Submitted by CattleRustler on Sat, 03/24/2007
"...There is valid reason to NOT trust Cuban in this deal...."

Submitted by Mike Anti-Neo-Con on Sat, 03/24/2007
"...I do approach Mark Cuban with skepticism..."

Submitted by Danse on Sat, 03/24/2007
"...listening to Cuban on O'Reilly he sounds like a complete shill. He bends over backwards for the official story...."

Submitted by Phaedrus on Sat, 03/24/2007
"...Let's hope the financing has nothing to do with distribution. My head hurts. Being stoopid is so much easier..."

Yes indeed, it is.

New WTC 7 Video Surfaces

I am doing my first international SLC post, as I am stuck waiting for a plane in Seoul. If you would like a break from the Charlie Sheen nuttery, go on over to Debunking 911, where a video has surfaced showing the damage to the south side of building 7. Scroll about halfway down the page.

Except for the 20 story gash taken out of the building, and the smoke pouring out just about of every floor, it was hardly damaged at all. Nothing a little paint and spackle couldn't take care of...

If You Want to Know the Real Story Behind Mark Cuban and Loose Change

Read here. There will be a test afterwards.

Worse yet, while the nation is distracted by the spectacular trials of George Bush and Dick Cheney, the Zionists may quietly get rid of their enemies, such as Christopher Bollyn, Eric Hufschmid, Daryl Bradford Smith, and whoever else is not under their control.

What Else Do Rosie & James Brolin Have In Common?

They both promote websites that oppose much of what they stand for.

Screw Loose Change Video Mentioned on Page Six!

Kudos to Markyx for getting noticed in the gossip section! Any truth to the rumors about you and Britney?

Journal of 9-11 Studies Boldly Debunks Nutty Theory

That was originally presented in, you guessed it, the Journal of 9-11 Studies. Jim Hoffman takes apart the "elephant plane". Of course, the Journal of Debunking 9-11 Studies took on this ridiculous claim ages ago, but it's nice to see that even JONES admits that one of the first articles published in their journal was a bunch of hogwash.

Reaction to Sheen and O'Donnell

Wonkette summarizes the situation rather well, I thought:

Washed-Up Whoremonger To Lend Credibility To YouTube Nut

Right Wing News says he needs a haircut. And a shave from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, perhaps?

Allah says Rosie's getting a bad rap.

We know she’s a Truther, but a Looser? That’s the word from Access Hollywood in this link that people keep sending me, but as much as I hate to say it, I think big Ro’s the victim of a smear here. AH cites Page Six for news that Rosie’s involved in a new version of “Loose Change” bankrolled by Mark Cuban and narrated by Charlie Sheen.

Yes, I can't imagine that Rosie's going to have any real involvement in Loose Change other than pimping it on The View and her blog.

Can Sheen Come Back from Loose Change?

Since O'Reilly raises the point (over at 9-11 Blogger they're claiming that it was a threat) here's a little topic for discussion. My take? A lot of it depends on Loose Change. If it is retooled (and I don't really believe that they're just going to have Chuckles redo the voice-over for the latest version) significantly, the question is where they will come down on the bigger picture. They've already said they're dropping the morphing of the phone calls and the Cleveland Airport Mystery. But those were the two most forcefully stated parts in the original picture. Are they going to be reduced to a Jack Webb film (just asking questions, Ma'am)? Are they going to conclude "negligence"? If that's the case, Sheen will probably come out of it okay. But the more the film alleges MIHOP, the worse he will be viewed.

At any rate, it gives us all the more reason to root against Mark Cuban's Dallas Mavericks in the NBA this year!

NY Denier Group Fracture Continues

Yesterday's birthday party for Rosie O'Donnell may have marked the changing of the guard at the NY Denier group. Luke Rudkowski got on the phone with Alex Jones and claimed that Rosie was going to address the Deniers, but of course that never happened.

Over at 9-11 Blogger, there are comments from John Albanese indicating that Les Jamieson has finally gotten the axe over the URANTIA connection. The idea that Tom "How many of you here have heard of the Federal Reserve?" Foti is now leading the NY group amuses me greatly. Granted, it's probably better that they aren't being run by a cultist, but it's also really the difference between Tweedledum and Tweedleduh. Here's what Albanese had to say:

It appears that Tom Foti is the new organizer in NYC since Les Jamieson was deposed.

As some of you may remember Nico Haupt was video-taped disrupting an event at St Marks church in NYC. Many people who viewed that tape asked why Tom Foto (sic) appeared to be enabling and appeasing Haupt during that incident - as opposed to simply asking him to leave (once the obscenities started to fly).

Mr Jamieson and Father Frank Morales have now both publicly stated that they view Tom Foti as part of an organized disruption campaign - as well as claiming that Foti appears to be working in concert with Haupt.

Meanwhile, Rudkowski has broken some news over at a new blog.

I feel extremely reluctant to discuss the current situation with NY 9/11 Truth, but it needs to be addressed if we are going to move forward in this movement. This situation has been extremely divisive, and I hope we can all come to a resolution in a civil and honest manner. It should be known that I've tried to deal with this in an private setting, hoping to shield the rest of the movement from this unnecessary drama. However, Les Jamison has put me in a position where that is no longer possible. It should be also noted that Les Jamison that over the past few months, the following has occurred:

1. Les Jamison with out any reason took me (Luke Rudkowski) off the main NY911Truth list serve, preventing me from emailing the 1,093 members of NY911Truth with updates and announcements related to upcoming events. Les Jamison also publicly stated that I, Luke Rudkowski, have started my own organization, which he sees as a separate entity from NY911Truth. This is false. I started the CHANGE organization in the hopes that it would represent the younger members of NY 9/11 Truth and offer them an outlet they otherwise may not have. Les Jamison owns 100% of the NY 9/11 Truth web site and the e mail list. In fact.all donations to NY911Truth go through Les Jamison’s private bank account. It should be noted I recently planned a big event to support show support for Rosie O'Donnell. But I wasn't able to get the word out effectively, because I found myself locked out of the e-mail account. This only hurts the movement.

2. Les Jamison has confiscated all funds related to NY911Truth. Les Jamison routed all donations totaling over $5,800 to his private bank account, confiscated DVD duplicators, estimated at about $1,000 and the film projector ,estimated $1,000 which was bought with donations.

Note in particular that although the group claims over 1,000 members, only about 15 show up at the regular meetings.

No New Loose Change?

Buried in an article about Charlie Sheen and Rosie O'Donnell being nutbars is this nugget:

Sources say Sheen - whose father, Martin Sheen, has been arrested 63 times protesting on behalf of various leftist causes - is in talks with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's Magnolia Pictures to distribute "Loose Change." Sheen has called for a new independent probe of the attack, telling Alex Jones' radio show: "It seems to me like 19 amateurs with box cutters taking over four commercial airliners and hitting 75 percent of their targets, that feels like a conspiracy theory. It raises a lot of questions."

Sheen's rep confirmed his participation. Cuban e-mailed us: "We are having discussions about distributing the existing video with Charlie's involvement as a narrator, not in making a new feature. We are also looking for productions with an opposing viewpoint. We like controversial subjects, but we are agnostic to which side the controversy comes from."

It's of course interesting that Cuban is talking about distributing a "documentary" which even its creator admits does contain errors, and comes to conclusions that are not 100% backed up by the facts.

Update: Bill writes a few open letters here.

Rosie O'Donnell Harassed by 9-11 Deniers?

She may be beginning to see the downside of associating herself with these wackjobs:

A 9/11 truth organization supporting and attempting to speak with Rosie O'Donnell about her recent comments regarding the September 11 attacks outside the ABC studios were harassed and intimidated by New York City police, a scene that caused O'Donnell to prematurely leave.

O'Donnell has been attacked by Neo-Con webzines over the last few days but completely ignored by the corporate media for controversial comments questioning the official 9/11 story.

Police were out in force to harass a group of about twenty 9/11 truth movement activists, led by Luke Rudkowski of We Are Change, telling them to take down signs, turn off video cameras and cell phones, checking ID's and taking information - despite the fact that they were simply news gathering and exercising their first amendment.

Nico has more on the bizarre scene:

After a few unsuccessful attempts at the lobby entries on opposite sides of the building, finally at around 11:30 AM, 911tvfakery.net was able to get a DVD with 100 of the best 9/11 Video MashUps (incl. evidence on 9/11 TV Fakery) personally delivered to O'Donnell with help of "Freddie", a flower delivery guy, who sticked the DVD and a leaflet into a flower buquet present for Rosie and promised to hand it over...

The only thing that could make this better is if Rosie becomes a no-planer!

911tvfakery.net arrived at 9:00 AM and tried already to hand out leaflets to the waiting audience, with mixed reactions. At around 9:30 AM the local ny911 activist group around Luke Rudkowski, R Rod and Tom Foti arrived at the spot and started to deliver their leaflest and DVDS as well (911bloglines reported).

The group incl. NY911Truth and CHANGE members also tried to deliver a DVD, leaflets and a T-Shirt Birthday Present to Rosie O'Donell, but got rejected several times by security.

At around 10:00 AM ABC7 decided to call the police. 3 cars then joined the peaceful protest group, always switching between two doors of the lobbies.

Apprx. 30-40 Protestors chanted "9/11 was an Inside Job", "Stop the 9/11 Cover-Up- join Rosie's View" or sang "Happy Birthday to you, Rosie". The protest was succesfully organized withy enough leaflets, banners and DVDs.

Update: Stephen Lemons has more thoughts on Rosie.

Update II: Greg Gutfeld checks in here. Damien Penny has some good news for Ro.

Update III: Ron (Pomeroo) Wieck was there and reports (in the comments):

I made the mistake of attending the gathering of tinfoil-hatters who celebrated Rosie O'Donnell's birthday and her second coming-out-of-the-closet, this time as a 911 fantasist.

Nico Haupt was there. I asked him if he was himself or one of his impersonators. He is pretty affable and was kind enough to sort out the various factions that have emerged in Twooferdom. Somewhat ungraciously, I had made a remark about "no-planer no-brainers," and was reminded that he does not believe that commercial airliners struck the WTC, the images seared into the memories of milllions of viewers being examples of "video fakery." Again displaying my characteristic tactlessness, I commented that the thousands of New Yorkers who actually watched the second plane hit from the street and their office windows know that he isn't telling the truth. He muttered something about conflicting eyewitness accounts and liars, at which point our conversation trailed off.

The rest of the small crowd (twenty or so) contained the usual loons. These strange people cling tenaciously to their thoroughly debunked factoids, each having his or her particular favorite. One guy swallows Fetzer's nonsensical fable about the "missing" 2.3 trillions dollars. I tried explaining that there's nothing to debate: he could simply read Rumsfeld's speech for himself. But he didn't want to be confused. An attractive young woman is firmly convinced that Osama continues to deny any involvement in the attacks of 9/11. Another guy said that the suspicious trading in airline stocks proves that it was an inside job. Several believe that demolition experts are incapable of recognizing a top-down demolition. And two or three of them went on and on about the molten "steel."

Mark Roberts has made it his mission to hurl facts at some of the hardest heads since the heyday of Jake LaMotta. He has more stamina than I. The whole phenomenon is amazing--and very sad.

If I Were the Evil Genius...

R Mackey starts from that premise and proves that 9-11 was not, in fact, done by the evil geniuses at the White House, the Mossad, PNAC, the CFR, or any of the dozens of other suspects.

4. WTC 7 Collapsed, But Wasn't Hit By A Plane6

If WTC 7's demise was a requirement, an Evil Genius would have made certain that it withstood crippling damage rather than relying upon chance dispersal of flaming wreckage. A fifth plane would be the obvious solution. If one can hijack four, why not five?

Similarly, WTC 7 absolutely would not have contained explosives, for similar reasons to 1. and 2. above. There is no reason to plan for a two-stage attack when a single stage can do the job just as well, and without any risk of discovery.

Indeed, this is one of the key fallacies of the 9-11 Denial Movement; that everything that happened was meant to happen. WTC 7 collapsed not because it was hit by flaming debris from the collapse of WTC 1, but because it was meant to happen. The dumbest form this argument takes is when somebody says "What are the odds that they would hit three out of their four targets?" As if that was the objective, not to hit four targets.

Highly recommended!

Celebrity Deniers List

Okay, I thought it might be a good idea to start compiling a list of the buffoonish celebrities who have come out in favor of 9-11 Denial. The kooks picked up a new one today, Daniel Sunjata, who has been in a few movies and apparently is a regular on "Rescue Me", one of the many TV shows I have never watched. Here's the list as I have it:

Rosie O'Donnell
James Brolin
Charlie Sheen
David Lynch
Daniel Sunjata
Christine Ebersole
Ed Asner
Ed Begley, Jr.

Any others?

Deconstructing the Scholars

Kudos to commenter Debunking911 for pointing this one out. Here's a pretty good dissection of the "Scholars".

Proclaiming fellow 911 conspiracy kooks and their claims to be part of a "disinformation" campaign is one way to attempt to try to distance oneself from the people and claims. Additionally pretending that the "opposition" feels it necessary to instigate a "disinformation" campaign to flood the conspiracy camps with ever-increasingly outrageous and insane notions makes the conspiracy believers feel important and noticed by their enemies.

I don't agree with everything he has to say. For example, he claims:

Atta had been a CIA asset for many years, a man who worked for the United States government even before the Bush regime hijacked the 2000 Presidential Election.

He also says that the Bush Administration is a fascist regime, which is risible. But overall, his analysis of the 9-11 kooks is right on the money.

Field Guide to 9-11 Truthlings

I've probably linked to this before, but it came across my screen this afternoon and provided a few smiles. Nico can be merciless with his scorn for the 9-11 Truthlings. Just for fun, I thought I'd check what categories I fall into:

Blogger, boxcutter, butterhead, candidate, conspiracy theorist, Naudent Brother, passport, cave jerk, flagwaver, planehugger, Popular Mechanic... and I ain't even a "Truther"!

Being a Little Bit MIHOP Is Like Being a Little Bit Pregnant

Terrific point made by JREFer Horatius:

I'd suggest that there's one important difference between LIHOP and MIHOP: You can be just "a little LIHOP", but you can't be "just a little MIHOP".

LIHOP is based mostly on believing that some people in positions of power are more interested in their own gain than in their responsibilities. As such, it doesn't require much in the way of woo thinking, except when the question comes up of how many people would be needed to "let it happen" without others catching on.

MIHOP, however, requires a qualitative difference: you must have people taking an active role: Planting explosives, or whatever. And once you postulate an active role, there really is no limit to what you must start claiming.

I'll explain.

You suggest there was something untoward about WTC7. Let's assume you mean it was a CD, made to look like a result of fire and impact damage.

Well, then, you need to make sure that there was some fire and impact damage, right? Where does that come from? From the collapse of WTC1&2. So we'd better make sure they collapse. Since we can't just assume the planes alone will do the job, we'll have to help them along.

Superb point, well-illustrated. Read the whole post!

Giuliani's Performance on 9-11

Here's what looks like a solid job of debunking some of the criticisms of Rudy Giuliani:

No one can deny that any executive must delegate the execution of many details to subordinates. Rudy had a team of deputy mayors, as well as fire and police commissioners and their subordinates to assist him. Barrett at no time says that Rudy did anything unethical personally involving the purchase of the radios from Motorola. Barrett mentions explicitly the person responsible, the unnamed “pivotal person at the city’s information agency.” But yet the blame falls to Mayor Giuliani who should have stopped juggling the responsibilities of managing the most dynamic city in the world to get down to the warehouse to inspect the new radios, or perhaps become a radio expert himself and personally select the radios.

Bernie Kerik addressed this issue in his testimony to the 9/11 commission stating, “Show me one radio that they will guarantee you this radio will go through that metal, it will go through the debris, it will go through the dust, and you will have 100% communication 100% of the time-there is none.”

He does not get into the kooky stuff.

Happy Ending

This is perhaps the most amazing post by a 9-11 Nutbar ever:


(click to enlarge).

Cindy Points Out Flaw

In this video that the 9-11 Deniers are highlighting. She notes that Bush and Cheney were not under oath when they testified before the 9-11 Commission, but then recognizes that it would not make any difference, "Because they're liars." I disagree with her on that point, but it does seem to be a silly argument that somehow if Bush and Cheney had been forced to testify under oath, they would have spilled the beans.

Half a Million Served!

We've had 1/2 million visitors to SLC so far in a little over 10 months. We've had over 1.3 million pages viewed. We've had visitors from over 100 countries and all the United States. We've broken some stories with the MSM, including being mentioned in Time, US News & World Report, Vanity Fair and the (London) Sunday Times.

Thanks for all the support you've given us! We hope to build on the effort we've put forward with our first 500,000 visitors and beat back the 9-11 Deniers once and for all!

Aaron Interviews a Denier

Our longtime blogging buddy Aaron Arnwine, has a series of posts up about his experience during the antiwar rally, and I highly recommend the final YouTube video that he has there. Feel free to skip past the first minute or so to get to the part where he finds the truther.

Check here if you can't find it at LLP, a great blog written by a smart, young, black, gay conservative (and friends).

Tarpley Part I

His first chapter is mostly a love letter to the 9-11 Denial Movement, but as usual with the Deniers we find that his objective is not about 9-11 but something else:



Get on board the 9-11 Denial train, because 9-11 Denial will end the Republicans, once and for all!

But of course, hoping to be on the winning side of the Democrats, Tarpley can't resist poking hardest at two fellows that usually get a pass from the 9-11 kooks: Richard Clarke and George Tenet. But since Clarke was around in the Clinton Administration, he comes in for some special scorn:



Update: A commenter claimed that I said here that Tarpley was catering to the Democrats. To clarify, what I meant is that Tarpley sees 9-11 Denial resulting in the destruction of the Republicans, and that would allow the Democratic party to split in two segments--the Lieberman Democrats and the Kennedy Democrats. Since Tarpley finds "there is hope" that the split will go "in a progressive direction", I assume that he aligns himself more with the Kennedy faction, and thus he criticizes moderates.

Tarpley's point here seems to be that these guys convinced the media that 9-11 was a Muslim job.

Tarpley does come down firm on the number of 9-11 hijackers who are still alive: 7. Of course, given that he appears to buy into the "patsy" theory of the hijackers it's hard to see what he buys with this, other than the usual chance for his readers to say, "Woo!"

We get a whole section on Bush's supposed lying. Of course this is the usual "if he would lie about A, then why not about B? Non-evidence in other words.

Then we get the bit about the "Colin Powell promised us a White Paper!" Like these folks would be satisified with a report. We've seen how this goes over. But of course the fact that Powell's State Department did not prepare one after all "proves" that 9-11 was an inside job.

An aside here. Tarpley does not do a very good job of assembling his arguments. His point with this whole chapter seems to be that the 9-11 story was sold by the administration and the press. So why not say that and then present your case. Instead this almost reads like settling old scores:



Let me say here that although my politics are Republican, the notion that a magazine like the Nation, which is fairly hard left, is helping out the Bush Administration is ... well, nutty. It sort of defines fringe, like when my conservative friends insist that Bush is involved in some plot to turn the country over to Mexico.

But there is a hero in this story according to Tarpley, and you are probably not going to believe who it is:



Of course, Tarpley and Torricelli are wrong here; New Jersey did not suffer the most victims of any state; New York had 1747 victims compared to the Garden State's 697. You can guess where Tarpley goes with this; that Torricelli was forced out of his reelection run in 2002 not because he accepted expensive "gifts" from a campaign but because the "inside jobbers" needed him out of the way.

Tarpley follows with a recital of a bunch of foreigners who suspect 9-11 was a US operation. Interesting, but hardly evidence.

General comments: Tarpley doesn't organize his book very well; it flits from place to place with no apparent rhyme or reason. He could also have benefited from a good editor; for starters it's Bob Kerrey, not Bob Kerry.

Poor Man's John Conner

Right On Cue

Like I said last post, there are many different flavors of 9-11 Denial?

Over at 9-11 Blogger:

Thank you to Kevin Ryan, Mike Berger and Webster Tarpley for their great presentations, each of which brought their own flavor so it was never boring.

Howard Johnson Should Have This Many Flavors

There's not a week goes by that we don't get a commenter or an emailer saying, "Yeah, you can debunk Loose Change, but what about [insert favorite conspiracy film/book/website here]". To a certain extent, this is a fool's errand, as there are as many varieties of the 9-11 "Truth" as there are "Truthers", but they all more or less use the same methods--quote mining, acceptance of dubious sources, reliance on the one witness who saw something different....

But I did think I'd take up at least one of the challenges. I was able to download a copy of Webster Tarpley's Synthetic Terror and will be reading it over the next week or so to give you an idea of my thoughts on it.

Tarpley begins with his initial thoughts as 9-11 happened:


(click pix to enlarge)

Note particularly that Tarpley knew "immediately". This is a common theme of a fair percentage of the Deniers; our buddy Gypsy Taub, for example said in USA Today:

"Oh yeah, absolutely. On the day it happened, I thought it was the government that did it," she said.

And the second part, about what the "intention of its planners" is just plain weird.

Tarpley then delves into his claims that terrorist groups in Europe in the 1970s and 1980s were run by NATO. As evidence he points to this:



And if France had seen an upsurge in terrorism, that would also have proven that NATO was behind it, right?

Tarpley goes on to claim that Aldo Moro (a former prime minister of Italy) was killed by NATO intelligence, not the Red Brigades terror group that claimed responsibility at the time. I don't intend to get into the Moro case here; it's peripheral and even if we accept Tarpley's convoluted conspiracy theory, it amounts to the old, "If they would do X, why wouldn't they do Y" argument, which is not evidence.

There is one bit that seems a bit bizarre here:



In fact, Negri was pretty quickly cleared of being involved in the Red Brigades, and appears to have been sentenced more on the basis of his writings than on any actual actions he had undertaken; note in particular that France refused to extradite him to Italy for fourteen years. I'm not a big fan of revolutionary Marxists, but I'm also not a big fan of imprisoning them for their writings.

It's a Great Day for the Irish

Except for lardbutt Rosie O'Donnell, who finds herself in hot water for her intemperate support for the mastermind of 9-11.

Rosie O'Donnell made a big deal on "The View" of her contention that one should not believe the confession of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed when he listed all the plots he'd cooked up against America and Americans, including 9/11, and that he personally beheaded Danny Pearl. After all, Rosie said with her typical razor-sharp analysis, he was tortured, he was confessing inside the torture capital of the world, Guantanamo Bay, and he didn't have a lawyer or a witness present.

This is what happens when you hate the president and the administration so much that even the world's most evil people look to you like little angels next to George W. Bush.

But he was robbed of his humanity! And he hates Bush, just like Ro!

She finds herself in some pretty interesting company:

O'Donnell echoed the sentiments of Palestinian terrorist Abu Jihad, who told WND today, "I am sure the Americans tortured Mohammad and forced him to say these untrue things. Isn't it strange it took three years since his arrest for the supposed confession?"

Pointing out Mohammed was arrested in March 2003, O'Donnell asked, "Why hasn't he admitted it until now?" according to clips posted on the weblog HotAir.com.

In fact, he admitted it years ago, even before he was captured.

Rosie Loses It

I've never liked this gal (brassy is not my style), but this takes the cake. Rosie spends most of the time claiming KSM was tortured (on a daily basis), makes a joke out of him being involved in incidents in which we know he was involved by claiming he was involved in the murder of OJ's wife and JFK. She puts air quotes around "terrorists" and moans that we've robbed KSM of his humanity.

9-11 Building 7

I hate to admit it, but this song is pretty well-produced. The video's kinda crappy. Kudos to BG for pointing us to it.

Zebuhr's Murderer Gets 30 Years

And in a bitter irony, the folks who would like to see him freed are Zebuhr's fellow 9-11 Deniers.

A Web site at www.michael zebuhr.blogspot.com questions whether Zebuhr was a random victim. Zebuhr's work with the Sept. 11 group "led several professors, including me, to wonder if MZ was killed — not because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time during an armed robbery — but because of his participation in the effort to expose 9/11 as an inside job," wrote Morgan Reynolds, a professor emeritus at Texas A&M University and a member of the group.

Killing Zebuhr "would have a chilling effect on scholars" and others skeptical of the government's story, Reynolds wrote.

A prominent member of the Sept. 11 group, Judy Wood, was one of Zebuhr's professors at Clemson.

Daryl Bradford Smith, on his Web site www.iamthewitness.com, has another take on Zebuhr's murder: that two of Zebuhr's fellow Sept. 11 skeptics somehow helped the government kill him.

Amazingly, the piece links directly to Smith's hate site, where you can find choice tidbits like this:

Please consider that the threats come from the same gang who arrest professors for "Holocaust Denial". They are not "Liberals", "Greens", or "Environmentalists". They are Zionist Jews, and they are trying to use Global Warming to manipulate us and make money, as Hufschmid explains here

Reaction Among The Blogs Regarding KSM Confession

Our buddy Allahpundit noticed an additional item in the confession:

He offered a chilling confession to “managing and following up on the Cell for the Production of Biological Weapons, such as anthrax and others, and following up on Dirty Bomb Operations on American soil.”…

Anthrax, you say? In fairness, he does not say he orchestrated the anthrax attacks.

Power Line notes that KSM was treated rather deferentially by the tribunal:

Beyond that, what is most striking about the hearing is the elaborate courtesy and respect with which Khalid is treated by the presiding officer. It is somewhat galling to see this sadistic mass murderer chatting amiably with the President of the tribunal, complaining that his name is misspelled in one of the pleadings, and comparing himself to George Washington. I can only wonder what those who howl endlessly about America's allegedly barbaric treatment of terrorist detainees would make of it. Khalid obviously saw no reason to fear for his own well-being.

The liberal blogs are focused like a laser on the torture issue. Democrat Tayler Marsh:

Not to worry, either. Because after living through waterboarding... elcectro shock...some more waterboarding... being hung by his thumbs and other delicate ahem extremities, there's no way he could be lying. Right? He wouldn't just be telling us what we want to hear, right?

The Mahablog:

Given the nature of the, um, inducements to the confessions, we have no way to know how much is true and how much is I’ll tell you anything you want to hear. All we know for certain is that the Bush Administration is, once again, waving the bloody shirt of 9/11 to distract us from its political problems.

Heheh, Finally Got the Alex Jones Bit

I should have realized that Alex must have really done some funny stuff, but it came about 46 minutes into the first hour on Wednesday's show. He brings up my supposed renegade post over at SLC exposed, and he actually suggested that I'm now in danger and I'd better call into his show and be protected.

Thanks, Al! I know who's got my back!

It's All Over for the Deniers

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed admits he planned it:

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, confessed to that attack and a string of others during a military hearing at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to a transcript released Wednesday by the Pentagon.

''I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z,'' Mohammed said in a statement that was read during the session, which was held last Saturday.

Mohammed claimed responsibility for planning, financing and training others for attacks ranging from the 1993 truck bombing of the World Trade Center to the attempt by would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoes. And he also claimed that he was tortured by the CIA after his capture in 2003.

Well, you can probably guess what the Deniers have to say about this, right? Sure, he confessed, but he was tortured. And anyway, it's the fat Khalid Sheik Mohmammed, wearing a gold ring and wiping his butt with his left hand even though everybody knows he's right-handed.

The Blogger Is Always the Last To Know

Looks like I've repented my Debunker ways and have become a 9-11 Denier, according to this new blog:

It's a new day for this Brainster. For those of you who haven't heard already, James and I have decided to go separate ways. I wish him luck. We had a great run with Screw Loose Change, made a lot of waves, shook up the Internet, but, due a difference of opinion about approach, this is for the best.

I know this blog appears to be attacking my roots. Well, I guess it is, but not the mission of exposing the propaganda, but the MEANS we used. It seemed reasonable at first, all's fair in love and war, as they say. But then we lost our way, drifting from exposing "Loose Change" and it's distortions, that now even the creator's admit, to attacking any 911 truther for any reason whatsoever.

This comes as news to me; I guess the shrink was right when he said I have a split personality disorder. ;)

Actually, of course, this is exactly the same as the fake Nico Haupt blog; somebody's impersonating me for their own idiotic purposes.

A bunch of the Deniers have fallen for this gag, including Paul Joseph Watson of Prison Planet.

Update: We got mentioned on Alex Jones' show when a caller mentioned this post. Jones went off on a rambling talk about how he didn't want to come to the Phoenix conference but they wheedled him into it, then whined when he cancelled. Jones also claimed that we must be behind the fake blog, that this was some sort of way of getting attention. He also seemed quite depressed, which of course cheered me up to no end.

Update II: Some of the less intelligent Deniers apparently believe that we did this ourselves. Let me point out that I did not post this on 9-11 Blogger, I did not post this on the Loose Change Forum. If you're looking for the people who pulled this stunt, I'd suggest starting with them and find out where they heard about it. For more backup, I'd strongly suggest comparing the "SLC Exposed" blog to the phony "Nico Haupt" blog. Same MO--a fake blog created to apparently apologize for past "sins". Now all you have to do to prove I did it is to come up with some reason why I would have created the fake Nico Haupt blog.

More Reports From the 84%

You may recall that our buddies like to claim that 84% of America are 9-11 Deniers; if that's the case, then why do they constantly report how frustrating it is trying to convert others?

I am being badgered so much in my town when I try to explain 9/11 Truth, sometimes I feel sick.. I feel like I'm the outcast in a world full of normal people .. I know theres no such thing as normal, I think we are doing a great job.. I get so many random questions, like... why it was so long ago.. and how are they gonna do an investigation... I get so sick of people thinking we are crazy and that we are nuts.. I want to punch people in the face sometimes.. Does anyone else ever feel this way? I get so ANGRY about it when people question me.. why ask what I do.. I'm a truther and nothing will stop it..

What's even worse are youth who DON'T CARE whether or not 9/11 was an inside job. This one girl (about 20 or so) actually said to me, "who cares if it was or not, why can't you talk about something fun?"

Talk about wanting to punch someone in the face.

Same thing happened to me today.

"Do you really believe that stuff?"

Yes, absolutly.

"you think zomming in on angles and stupid shit is real?"

What is WTC 7?

"What, your an idiot...."

I pretty much want to go away to my own little island I am so disgusted with most Americans. I work with some REALLY smart people and they refuse to care about things like the Patriot act, 9/11 research. I don't go all crazy - I simply point out that I don't know What really happened prior to and on 9/11. I DO know that what the government tells us happened is a lie/distortion/false.

Anyway, this is heavy stuff. It has stressed my marriage immensely. Some friends just"tolerate" me now...whatever. Alot of people are gonna be really surprised when America ends up in the coming crises- whatever they may be. At least some of us will have a context for understanding everything and we won't be in such shock.

Update: Comments closed to maintain evidence.

Do-Over Boy Looking for Help

Dylan puts out a plea for assistance:

As you may or may not be aware, the legendary Stardust Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada will be imploded at approximately 2:30 AM on Tuesday, March 13th. The nearby main road is being closed off between midnight and 4:00 A.M, and all signs nail the demolition at 2:30 AM.

The more steady, descriptive shots the better. We'll do whatever we can to compensate those that shoot footage. If you happen to get some coverage of it, please let us know.

Also, Professor Steven Jones is requesting dust samples. Anyone who can help us both out wiil be thanked extensively. In fact, anyone who helps us will get a special credit in the Final Cut.

Of course, Dylan provided plenty of advance notice on this; he posted his request at 7:30 last night, about 7 hours before the building came down (yep, it's too late to get your name in Dylan's cruddy movie).

Here's a video of what the Stardust looked like about a month ago; amazing how much stuff they cleared out, unlike in that WTC job a few years back. This also reveals how goofy Steven Jones' request for dust is; let me guess, he's going to use this to prove that the sulfur at the WTC didn't come from drywall?



Video of the implosion here.

Update: Here's a YouTube Video:



Leave it to Las Vegas to turn it into a production number. Unfortunately, you can't actually see the building come down; you get a better view here:

Killclown's Latest

He's become the guru of the Flight 93 nuttiness, and this film exemplifies it.

Ooooh, they propped up the Flight Data recorder to photograph it? Oooh, they threw in some wires to make it look real? But they screwed up in a way that Killtown could solve the mystery? Am I the only person who thinks that KT looks up not to Sherlock Holmes as his role model, but to these folks:



Update: Nico has a tribute to Killtown here. I think we can see why KT did not provide voiceover in his silly little movie.

Tom Foti at 9-11 Accountability

As appears to be typical of these speeches, there is a ton of (dis)information about other conspiracy theories (the Federal Reserve in this case) and not so much about 9-11. Foti exemplifies the old adage that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing; he indeed appears to have a little knowledge.

Another Excellent Debunking Blog

Here's a blog by a commenter named Jay who has focused on compiling the transcripts from firefighters, EMTs, police and others. Incredible resource, and the search feature by Google works quite well. For example, if you search for "Nigro", not only do you get results from FDNY Chief Daniel Nigro, but from all the other people who mention Nigro as well. Simply marvelous!

This is an astounding job of research and compilation, and I'm going to put it both on the blog roll and in the reference material section. Kudos to Jay for putting this together for posterity!

Chemtrail Kooks Are Not Kooks

So says a poster over at Democratic Underground.

So yesterday one side of the skies is being manipulated by just a few planes. They were doing the criss cross grids, they were all over the area in which the sun was located. So they started about 12-1:00 pm and within a few hours less than half the sky was that ugly white/gray fake cloud cover. These planes were not on commercial routes. They were not ascending the skies to reach some type of flight altitude. They were systematically creating fake cloud cover in order to block out the sun. Now I am not sure whether this is being done to make the areas hotter or cooler. I am not sure whether this is done to block harmful uv-b rays from hitting us. I am not so so sure about the reasons, but I am sure this is being done in order to control the weather without coming up with new energy systems that are viable for the planet and its inhabitants. This is all about the Frankensteinian science of atmospheric manipulation. This is not about mind control, population reduction, or aliens. In a nutshell, this is about radiative forcing, yet the specifics are unknown because of the secretive nature of the program{s}.

Space Cadet

I had seen this interview over at 9-11 Blogger, and thought the morons over at the Pilots group had actually gotten themselves a real "name" with the son of the founder of the Learjet empire. Of course, I should have known better and done a little digging. Fortunately our longtime reader Sword of Truth either had the information at hand or did the necessary Googling.

Turns out John Lear might be one of the Brazil nuts in the conspiracy theory can. You can get a feel for this when he starts into his nonsense, starting about seven minutes in, when he claims that it would be very hard to hit the twin towers. Let's remember, those towers were 208 feet wide. I don't know how wide the average runway is, but it's for darn sure not that distance.

Lear also repeats the supposed October Surprise story, where the 1980 Reagan/Bush campaign supposedly negotiated with the Iranians to ensure that the embassy hostages were not released before the election. This story has been out there for years; Clock Lady Barbara "Voices in my head told me to work for Reagan" Honegger even wrote a book about it.

But let's get back to Lear. He's quite a character, with some rather fanciful notions. From the UFO Conspiracy page on Wikipedia:

In the late 1980s, John Lear became prominent in UFO circles. Citing "unnamed but well-connected sources" (Clark 1998, 157), Lear asserted that the U.S. government had in fact recovered dozens of UFOs over the decades. In exchange for advanced technology, the government allowed for a limited number of alien abductions.

This proceeded for some years, until in 1972 the government discovered that the aliens were kidnapping far more persons than their agreement had stipulated. This dispute culminated in a conflict between aliens and humans at a secret military base near Dulce, New Mexico. The aliens supposedly killed about 40 high-ranking military officials or scientists, and many more military personnel who tried to invade the base.

Following this conflict, Lear reports, the aliens have essentially gone about their schemes with no interference. Up to 10% of the U.S. population has been abducted, and the Strategic Defense Initiative was actually proposed to protect from alien invaders, not Soviet missiles.

You know, I had wondered where 10% of my neighborhood went to! Sounds like a sci-fi story reject.

Notice as well, that Lear fits a certain pattern that almost guarantees that half of the 9-11 Denial movement will turn against him. Let's see if you can pick it out of this paragraph:

Back on the Area 51 front, Casolaro was hearing rumors that Michael Riconosciuto had worked for Lear Aircraft in Reno, Nevada. This connected him to Bill Lear, creator of the Lear jet, who is often claimed by UFO buffs as having done research on anti-gravity for the government as well as John Lear, a former CIA pilot who also hit the UFO circuit with tales of saucers and aliens in cahoots with the US government. It is now becoming distant history, but back in 1989, a man named Bob Lazar went public with his claims that he had back-engineered alien spacecraft at Area 51. Lear and Lazar lectured widely on the UFO circuit in the late 1980s and early 1990s, along with other UFO lecture celebrities like Bill English and William Cooper. Cooper's classic, Behold A Pale Horse (Flagstaff AZ: Light Technology Publications, 1991), shared the title of the first draft proposal of Casolaro's manuscript that eventually became The Octopus.

Obviously, it's that he's "a former CIA pilot." This kind of "insider" status immediately grants him credibility, but solely because he supports the CT viewpoint. If he said that the 9-11 Deniers are fruitcakes, he'd immediately be dismissed much like JamesB is, as an obvious CIA tool. ;) And inevitably, he will run afoul of the No-Planers, or the No-Planers at the Pentagon, or the No-Planers in Shanksville or the people who believe the opposite of those folks but have some other element of the conspiracy theory.

Interestingly, although Lear claims to be new to 9-11 Denial, he skirted close to the edge back in a 2003 interview with Art Bell.

John called 9/11 a tremendous feat of airmanship. "This had to be accomplished by pilots with training in 757 simulator." Whoever concocted this did some switches of airplanes, but everything was still covered.

"It took about 200 or 300 hours of simulator practice time for each pilot." John Lear.

"They were doing 600 miles and hour at 700 feet! That is amazing, in air races we only do 400 miles per hour. That took skill and a long time, probably a year."

Hitting the Pentagon was a tremendous feat. The process of going down increases the airflow and the lift, and makes it even harder to continue going down and "avoid being pushed up and over."

"We don't want to get Osama... Other than that video tape, we don't have a shred of evidence" John claims.

That's it for the 9-11 stuff, but John did have some more important information to offer:

John claims we have not been going back to the moon because we were told to stay away. That's why Nasa abruptly canceled the program.

Later in the program, John Lear gave Art Bell a sample briefing that Art might receive if the Government chose him to decide to release all the information about UFO's, aliens, and related things, to the public. This briefing included talk of buildings on the moon, Venus not really having the sulfuric atmosphere we say it has (otherwise how did the space craft parachutes survive it), human mutilations, financial corrupt, etc.

The Perils of Google Ads

The Loosers are a bit upset at the ads running over on their forum.

Swastika Screen Saver?

Stephen Lemons reports that Sander Hicks noticed one on Eric Williams' computer during the 9-11 Accountability Conference.

Solid Article by a Former CT

(Note: A few commenters pointed out that the writer wasn't a real 9-11 Denier, so I changed the title slightly).

On what happens if the 9-11 Denial Movement is wrong:

The movement’s supporters ask us to think about what it would mean if their claims of a conspiracy were true. This is fair enough, but they rarely ask what it would mean if their claims are wrong. They probably don’t like to think about what the answer would be. If their claims are unfounded, this would mean that a large segment of the Bush administration’s critics, most of them on the left, have wasted a lot of time and energy chasing their own tails instead of really challenging the regime. It would mean that they had severely compromised their own credibility, and, in the eyes of the public, the credibility of the entire anti-war movement for decades to come. It would mean that the 9-11 truth movement has been the anti-war movement’s Trojan Horse.

He notes how easily many of the movements claims have been debunked:

I could go on, but I think you get my point. These are supposedly two of the most damning pieces of evidence the movement can muster, and they blow apart like dandelion fluff in a strong breeze. Maybe I haven’t looked hard enough, but so far I haven’t found any argument put forward by the movement that stands up to sustained scrutiny.

Introducing New Feature

I don't want the site to get too busy, but this was a cool feature that I wanted to add. If you look over on the right you will see a Google customized search. This is set up by the guy behind Debunking 911, to include sites of interest to those researching 9/11 issues, including this one, without having to surf through 500 copies of the same inaccurate repetition of a conspiracy theory on Google.

Jim Fetzer is a Big Fat Liar

Over at the Loose Change Forum, they are ganging up on Uncle Fetzer, because he was on a radio show earlier today proposing the no plane theory. Fetzer continues his usual intellectual flexibility, because one poster pointed out that just last week Fetzer said that he suspected it may have been military planes, at the 20 minute mark of the interview:

Well the airplanes did hit it, which I suspect may have been military versions of 767s with extra fuel. These are the types of planes that refuel fighters in the air.

Of course as usual, Fetzer is lying, because the US military did not have 767 refuelers in 2001. In fact they still don't. Even more, I know that Fetzer is aware of this, because I told him so in an e-mail exchange that I had with him on July 5th, 2006, in which I sent him this link, and a few others. He replied back to this, saying that he couldn't believe I would think the US did not have aerial refuelers in 2001.

Of course the US Air Force did, to which I pointed out that the two models of refuelers the US Air Force does have, the KC-135, and the KC-10, have 4 and 3 engines each, and could not easily be mistaken for a 2 engine 767. He pretty much gave up the argument at that point.

Do these people have any standards at all?

Dylan Avery, New World Order Pawn?

Actually you hear that fairly often in 9-11 Denial circles, but this is kind of a different circumstance:

The FBI was in on it, the CIA was in on it, the Air Force was in on it - except those who were killed at the Pentagon - and North American Aerospace Defence Command was in on it.

The security companies guarding the World Trade Centre were in on it, Mayor Rudy Giuliani was in on it, the Federal Aviation Administration was in on it, Nasa was in on it, and the Pentagon was in on it. At least 10,000 people were in on it. They had to be, or it couldn't have worked.

More than five years later, not one of them has talked. Nobody has got drunk and spilled their guts. Nobody has told their spouse, who then blabbed.

Not one of these 10,000 accomplices to mass murder has yielded to the temptation for instant fame and great wealth for blowing the whistle on the greatest conspiracy in history.

In normal times you wouldn't waste breath arguing with people who fall for this kind of rubbish. But the makers of Loose Change claim their film has already been seen by more than 100 million people, and looking at my email in-tray I believe them.

It is a real problem, because by linking their fantasies about 9/11 to the Bush Administration's deliberate deception of the American people in order to gain support for the invasion of Iraq, they bring discredit on the truth and the nonsense alike.

You almost wonder if they are secretly working for the Bush Administration.

I have to say, I haven't seen him at the monthly strategy meetings.

Hat Tip: Damien Penny

More Urantia Connections?

Nico Haupt and others keep finding more about the Urantia issue. I'll confess that at first I thought that Les Jamieson's membership in the Urantia fellowship and his work at the NY 9-11 Truthers was just an indicator that those silly enough to fall for one kooky idea will be silly enough to fall for another. But it looks like there may be more here than meets the eye.

Nico points to this post over at the Urantia Book Readers Online Network.

Author: Byron Belitsos
Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2004
MessageID: 58908
Subject: Fahrenheit 911 and new books on 9/11
Topic: Politics and Debates

I am a committed lurker, but I think it appropriate for me to post a message in reply to Colter. In three days from now, my publishing company will be shipping a brand new book about 9/11 which many on UBRON will find disturbing and challenging. The book is entitled "Inside Job: Unmasking the 9/11 Conspiracies." It is by Jim Marrs, a well-known investigative journalist whose book "Crossfire" was the basis of the Oliver Stone movie "JFK." I am also a founding member of 911Truth.org, the umbrella organization of the key activists, writers, journalists, and websites involved in the 9/11 truth movement.

So now we have another Urantia member who is a founder of 911Truth.org and who published Jim Marrs' book? Belitsos' publishing company has also published books on One World Government, a definite no-no among most of the members of the "Patriot" movement.

Out of the Office

Just a heads-up to our loyal readers, I am leaving for a 2 week trip to China on Saturday. I need to check in with the Beijing office of the New World Order regarding our plans to distribute mind control drugs during the 2008 Olympics. In any case I probably won't be able to post much, so go easy on Pat as he continues his prodigious work trying to keep you all updated on the latest 9/11 denier moonbattery.

I hear they have really good take-out....

Griffin Responds to Monbiot

Over at Information Clearing House.

If my books are moronic nonsense, then people who have endorsed them must be morons. Would Monbiot really wish to apply this label to Michel Chossudovsky, Richard Falk, Ray McGovern, Michael Meacher, John McMurtry, Marcus Raskin, Rosemary Ruether, Howard Zinn, and the late Rev. William Sloane Coffin, who, after a stint in the CIA, became one of America’s leading civil rights, anti-war, and anti-nuclear activists?

Monbiot might not wish to do so, but I'll happily call all those guys chowderheads.

The Twin Towers came straight down, which means that each building’s 287 steel columns all had to fail simultaneously; to believe this could happen without explosives is to believe in magic.

At the onset of each tower’s collapse, steel beams were ejected out as far as 600 feet; to believe that these horizontal ejections could be explained by gravitational energy, which is vertical, is to believe in magic.

Which is it, David? Did they come straight down, or did they spread debris "as far as 600 feet"?

Virtually all of the concrete in the towers was pulverized into extremely fine dust particles; to believe that fire plus gravity could have done this is to believe in magic.

And to believe that controlled demolition would have pulverized the floors (the main location of concrete in the building is to believe in magic.

He pulls a nifty little sleight of hand here:

Pools of molten metal were found under each building. Because steel does not begin to melt until it reaches about 1,540°C and yet the fires could not have gotten over 1000°C, to accept the fire theory is to believe in magic.

And this might be relevant if Griffin could prove that the "molten metal" was "molten steel".

Crackpots Fail In Burlington

I have to admit, this is something of a shock:

Burlington voters Tuesday rejected a local group's call for a new investigation of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, by a nearly two-to-one ratio.The vote was 3,150 to 1,817.

More Lefty Gatekeepers!

The Band Must Be Playing Hava Nagila

Because suddenly we've got the Dancing Jews again:



This is the Counterpunch article that got some attention a week or two ago, now available to read online. As we've discussed, there's little new here, and the author tries to fill in the gaps in his narrative with major weasel words:

Intense political pressure apparently had been brought to bear.

There is sufficient reason ­- from news reports, statements by former intelligence officials, an array of circumstantial evidence, and the reported acknowledgment by the Israeli government -­ to believe that in the months before 9/11, Israel was running an active spy network inside the United States, with Muslim extremists as the target.

What's incendiary is the idea -­ supported, though not proven, by several pieces of evidence ­- that the Israelis did learn something about 9/11 in advance but failed to share all of what they knew with American officials.

It brings up concerns not only about Israel's obligation not to spy inside the borders of the United States, its major benefactor, but about its possible failure to have provided the U.S. adequate warning of an impending devastating attack on American soil.

Who Says They Don't Have Membership Standards

While many 9/11 truthers may embrace Jim Fetzer's "big tent" idea of accepting Holocaust deniers and anti-Semites into the movement, you can't say they don't have any standards at all. Apparently a group of 9/11 deniers in Portland have ran up against behavior that they consider unacceptable, a woman who (gasp) is against gay marriage and abortion.

Laughing Horse Books—a nonprofit, collectively owned and operated bookstore that's been a resource and meeting space for left-of-center Portlanders since 1985—has been the 9/11 group's venue for more than two years. The 9/11 Truth Alliance meets at the store on Southeast 10th Avenue to discuss alternate theories about what happened on Sept. 11, 2001.

But when Laughing Horse collective members who aren't part of the 9/11 Truth Alliance learned of Starrett's strong opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage, they were just as strongly opposed to her presence at the bookstore.

Well I am glad they won't accept extremists in their ranks...

Fat Bin Laden Caused By Differing Video Standards!

It's not often that I commend the Deniers for their debunking skills, but every now and then you come across people in this movement who are really interested in the truth, as compared to the "Truth". So it is today with the Muckraker report, which reveals that the "Fat Bin Laden" is an artifact of the different tape standards used in the USA and that used in much of the rest of the world.

Basically, the reason why Osama bin Laden looks fat in the video, and in some frames particularly fat, is because of the camera angle, shadowing and lighting, and the fact that the PAL to NTSC conversion squashed the vertical by 17 percent while the horizontal proportion remained the same as the original.

Of course, the fact that the confession video shows Bin Laden is going to cause quite a ruckus in the Denial movement.

9/11 Deniers Attending Conference Sponsored by Extremist Anti-Semitic Groups

I posted earlier on the conspiracy theory conference that Dylan Avery announced he is attending this weekend, in the wake of cancelling from the 9/11 Accountability Conference because of the presence of one or more Holocaust deniers. In addition other 9/11 denial notables such as Kevin Barrett, Steven Jones, and Webster Tarpley are listed as speakers. I mentioned at the time that the conference was sponsored by a rather interesting group called the Freedom Law School, which seems to be dedicated to avoiding income taxes. I am afraid I underestimated just how extreme they are.

Upon further research it appears they are not just some fringe group, like a bunch of tax accountants on steroids, they are even on a list of "active patriot groups" compiled by the civil rights organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

The SPLC has even done news reports on their previous conferences. Let's just say they have some interesting friends:

IRVINE, Calif. -- Peymon Mottahedeh adjusted the knot of his Statue of Liberty tie and smiled broadly as he surveyed the cacophonous conference room inside the Atrium Hotel. More than 200 attendees swarmed vendors' tables as they waited for the seventh annual "Health and Freedom" tax-protesters conference to begin last March. Peymon -- who is known in tax-protest circles by his first name only, like Madonna or Prince -- had good reason to smile. At $50 a head, "Health and Freedom" in 2006 represented another substantial payday for the organizer and emcee of the annual gathering of tax protesters, which in recent years has attracted a variety of extremist speakers including Hutton Gibson, actor Mel Gibson's father, and Holocaust denier Willis Carto, founder of the Institute for Historical Review.

Slick brochures for this year's conference promised to show attendees how to "Wipe the IRS off of Americans' lives!" and provide answers to burning questions like "Is the One-World Government Coming?" and "Are The FBI & CIA Harming Americans?"

Ahh, the usual mix of Holocaust deniers and anti-NWO paranoids. The neo-Nazis at the American Free Press appear to be quite well represented, from the same source:

The real action of the weekend took place during breaks between speakers, when eager crowds formed at nearly every vendor's table, transforming the conference into a virtual swap meet of extremist and conspiracy-theory wares. Willis Carto's American Free Press needed two display tables for its revisionist history books and back copies of the Holocaust-denial magazine Barnes Review, another Carto creation. Both tables were nearly emptied by Sunday afternoon.

This association with the AFP, which we have discussed plenty of times before, is obviously continuing, as who is one of their speakers this year?

WHAT DID THE MEDIA NOT TELL YOU?



Mark Anderson
Reporter with the American Free Press, the largest independent weekly paper in America will share the major News/Events of the Year that the Major Media did not tell you! /www.americanfreepress.net

In fact, on the brochure advertising this conference, the AFP is listed as a co-sponsor.

The connection between the Freedom Law Center and Holocaust deniers is more than just incidental, last year the head of the organization, Peymon Mottahedeh, spoke at a conference year which was co-sponsored by none other than the American Free Press and the Barnes Review, the Holocaust denying publication which, as you may recall, published an article saying that Hitler should have won a Nobel Peace Prize.

The SPLC is not the only civil rights group that considers them extremists, this very event is on a list of extremist events compiled by the Anti-Defamation League:

Friday, March 09, 2007 - Sunday, March 11, 2007
Irvine, California
"2007 Justice and Freedom Conference"
Conference focusing on government conspiracies, sponsored by the Freedom Law School, a tax protest group

So Dylan, are you going to stand by your previous policy of not associating with Holocaust deniers and anti-Semites, or is the pay too good for this event?

More Doings at the NY Deniers Group

This stuff is rather amusing to me, but may be a little too "inside baseball" for general interest.

When the topic did come up, you answered the question and according to your previous email "I told you last spring after answering your questions about Urantia to free to ask again if any new questions pop up." In light of the barrage of Urantia emails from Nico, Tom brought up some more questions about the topic at a recent Wednesday night meeting, as you had previously welcomed.You clearly said to the entire group 1. you never had any position of authority in Urantia and were "only a reader" and 2. you have not been involved with Urantia since '99, when you went to South Africa to to be of just a few Urantia representatives at the 'Parliament of World Religions'. But of course we all knew this because of the emails we got from Nico.

I later spoke with Tom after that meeting, and we began talking about the questions that he had asked, and the answers that you, Les, gave. Very nonchalantly, I said to Tom "you do know he lying right" because, like I said, I researched this issue and found these links that prove that you lied to the group at the Wednesday meeting

Les, I don't know if you are CIA, COINTELPRO, or what, but it is very clear that right now you are doing more to hurt the movement than anyone else.

- Ryan Rodrigues

It is quite apparent that the infighting in the New York Deniers group will continue until morale improves.

Eric Williams at the 9/11 Accountability Conference

I tried to post this directly from You Tube, but it is not cooperating, so I will try again. Someone posted video of Eric Williams, you know that guy who had nothing to do with the 9/11 Accountability Conference, being interviewed at the 9/11 Accountability Conference.



The interviewer asks him about the controversy, to which Williams denies that he is a Holocaust denier, but insists Auschwitz had a swimming pool. I don't get that either. Anyway, he denounces "Screwloosechange.com" as an "anti 9/11 truth" site, to which the interviewer adds that it is disinformation.

Apparently without realizing the stunning irony, Williams then asks people to consider the source of information, referring to Screw Loose Change. I could not agree more, which is why we pointed out that his "book" sources neo-nazis, proven liars, and people who believe we are controlled by an alien race of lizard people.

Good advice indeed, Eric.

Another Reason Not to Fly Northwest

One of their pilots is apparently a first-class kook:

Field McConnell is convinced the 9/11 terrorist attacks are being covered up.

The Northwest Airlines pilot from rural Glyndon, Minn., said a second attack is imminent and conspirators already have aborted their plan once this year.

Those beliefs prompted him to begin writing for a Web site where like-minded people gather and to file a lawsuit in Fargo’s federal court to expose an alleged conspiracy.

The lawsuit, filed last week, claims Boeing Co. and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) can’t assure him that B747-400 planes are safe. McConnell, who is the process of seeking an early retirement from Northwest, claims the planes are rigged by Boeing and can be remotely detonated.

Update: McConnell has a website called Captain Sherlock.

Rosie Pimps Scholars for 9-11 Truth

The folks at 9-11 Blogger are elated that she's text-messaging their stupid stuff, without apparently noticing that Rosie's got top spot on her blogroll devoted to the "Scholars" for 9-11 "Truth". That's right, Rosie's in Uncle Fetzer's corner:



If you click the link, you go to the NEW Scholars for 9-11 Denial website, completely bypassing the old ST911 website, and into the land of Uncle Fetzer and Judy Wood and Kevin Barrett.

Rosie suggests "research" here:

james writes:

Ro I can see how you can hate bush but “controlled demolitions”? How many buildings ever been hit with airplanes with jet fuel? Hate fairly

scholars for 9 11
research it

Now she's a researcher?

Yet Another Conference

On his blog Dylan Avery mentions they are taking a road trip out to California. Apparently this is in connection with bringing Loose Change: The Fourth Lame Attempt at the Truth, to the masses. He mentions that they are attending another conspiracy theory conference titled "2007 Freedom and Justice Conference" at the Freedom Law School, which despite the name is not an actual law school, but appears to be a business which will teach you creative ways to avoid paying income taxes.

Aside from truthers like the Loose Change boys, Kevin Barrett, and Steven Jones, many of the speakers are making presentations with interesting titles like:

Is the Income Tax based on Fraud?

Can you live FREE of IRS fear and tyranny?

Is the IRS lying and defrauding the American people?

As they say, it is all about the money. You can buy tickets to this conference for only $50 at the door!

Sorry Dylan, They Aren't On Your Side

When the South Park episode came out mocking 9/11 conspiracy theorists, Dylan Avery bizarrely thought that the creators of the show were really on their side. Now Penn Jillette, who famously skewered the conspiracy theorists on his own Showtime series, discusses the issue with South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker.

The part on the conspiracy theorists starts about 11 minutes in. Sorry Dylan, they really do think you are retards.

Warning: explicit content on just about all of those links.

Robinowitz Tackles Griffin's Tikkun Piece

Mark Robinowitz points out some of the errors (no permalink; entry is dated March 5, 2007) in David Ray Griffin's piece in Tikkun (while of course ignoring others). Amazingly, Tikkun, which is published by a Rabbi, included the citations that Griffin makes to Holocaust Denier sources:

Worse, Griffin's article relied on several neo-Nazi Holocaust denial propagandists as alleged reliable sources -- which is especially outrageous to insert into a publication like Tikkun. The American Free Press, which Griffin considers credible, is a white supremacist publication that also publishes "The Barnes Review," the largest Holocaust denial publication in the country. (Barnes Review sells lots of titles claiming the Holocaust did not happen and praised Hitler as worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize!). Eric Hufschmid, also cited as a credible source, proudly boasts on his website that he doesn't believe the Holocaust happened, either. Rense.com, also given publicity in Griffin's footnotes, promotes the cause of Holocaust denial along with kooky stories of the paranormal that are entertaining to some but not appropriate for a serious examination of government malfeasance.

Actually I caught another source that should be embarrassing to Tikkun:

See Michel Chossudovsky, “More Holes in the Official Story: The 9/11 Cell Phone Calls,” Aug. 10, 2004) and A. K. Dewdney, “The Cellphone and Airfone Calls from Flight UA93,” Physics 911.

The Dewdney link goes to SPINE, which includes mention of how "Zionists" pulled off 9-11 and are helping to cover it up:

Third, as our own experience with the media suggests, stories that directly contradict the spin are unwelcome, to say the least, even from undercover agents. The extremely sensitive nature of the story would trigger a series of consultations up the chain of ownership to the top, from which a flat “no” would be issued. The mere possibility of Israel being involved in such a story would send owners into a panic. It is a matter of public record that all five principal owners are committed zionists for whom Israel can do no wrong. (See the MEDIA tab at the top of our index page for further information.)

Among the members of SPINE? Holocaust Denier Kevin Barrett.

Moron Kevin Barrett

Our favorite folklorist tries to put a big smiley face on the 9-11 Accountability Conference, but it sounds like the Accountability was a little overdrawn:

The downbeat analysts cite statistics, as downbeat analysts often do. The organizers had hoped that over a thousand would attend. When “only” several hundred came, they faced financial problems, as well as a problem of perception.

Yeah, they had that little problem of perception with Holocaust Deniers like Eric D. Williams and (cough, cough), Kevin Barrett being at the conference, instead of Alex Jones and Dylan Avery. Of course, that's hard to differentiate from other icebergs that the 9-11 Denial movement has run into over the course of the last several months. But any notion that this is an explosively growing market should be put to rest now.

For You Kevin Barrett Groupies

For those of you who have $5.98 burning a hole in your pocket ($14.99 if you want the paperback) Kevin Barrett has his autobiography, titled Truth Jihad: My Epic Struggle Against the 9/11 Big Lie posted on Lulu.com. I haven't shelled over the dough yet, but from reading the preview it looks like a real page turner.




















You can find out all sorts of interesting things about Kevin. Like, did you know he used to be in two punk bands? Kevin also used to host wine parties in his motor home by buying cheap spoiled wine at a local food warehouse, and he impressed women by telling them he was good friends with Francis Ford Coppola. How can you not be impressed with our truth seeking jihadist after reading such an inspiring story? The book even includes a joke section, which finally answers the question what that "9/11 humor" event involved at the 9/11 Accountability Conference. Unfortunately all the jokes appear to be nothing more than old stale Clinton jokes from the 90's with the names changed.

Does appearing once on the O'Reilly Factor really make you such a celebrity figure that your life is deserving of an autobiography? Maybe that college study I quoted the other day on narcissism should expand the study to include college professors?

And for all you loyal Screw Loose Change fans, sorry to disappoint you, but "Fighting for the Truth: The Epic Battles of a 9/11 Debunker" is still far from publication.

Deniers Try to Dig Up Dirt on Stephen Lemons

This is actually pretty funny. Turns out the kooks are trying to get Stephen Lemons fired. Utilizing their usual crack (pipe) investigative skills, they discovered that one Stephen Lemons of Clinton, Massachusetts had recently served 3.5 years for molesting a 15-year-old boy. Of course, to the 9-11 Deniers, there could only be one Stephen Lemons in the world. That the Stephen Lemons in question looks nothing like our guy (for starters, he appears to be 20 years older or so) is a mere bagatelle, a distraction to throw them off the scent. That the Massachusetts pervert story is from January 29, 2007, and that our man penned his initial column on Eric D. Williams' Holocaust Denial on February 1, 2007 simply shows that he had his escape to Phoenix planned well beforehand.

Failing in this, the Deniers have taken to writing letters to the editor regarding his treatment of Bob McIlvaine, the father of a 9-11 victim, but that isn't going to work either.

BTW, on the subject of people with the same names, an emailer sent me some information that seems pertinent in this regard. Turns out there are at least two Mohammed Attas living in Norway, one in Sweden, and astoundingly five in the United States. Boy, it must suck to have that name here in the USA!

A Reasonably Good Article

On the Deniers:

If a new investigation took place, would government agencies co-operate? Would the White House stifle co-operation? Would pro-conspiracy investigators be prepared to accept evidence they do not like from structural engineers? Are pro-conspiracy investigators then going to cherry-pick the evidence they want? One wonders if the 9/11 Truth Movement isn’t working backwards. Have they first decided the verdict, and then, second, gone about seeking the evidence to substantiate it?

Precisely, as do all conspiracy theorists. The article isn't perfect; for example, he buys into the ridiculous CounterPunch article on 9-11 foreknowledge by the Israelis:

In his superlative article of investigative journalism, What Did Israel Know in Advance of the 9/11 Attacks? (Counterpunch,Vol. 14. No.3/4, February 2007), Christopher Ketcham asks several questions:What did the U.S. government know in advance of 9/11? Why did our government do nothing with information handed to it by Israeli agents working (illegally) in the U.S? A close study of Ketcham’s article might make one wonder if the CIA (illegally) subcontracts work to the government of Israel.

A closer study would reveal that the supposed foreknowledge is a bunch of BS. Still, overall, the article is a good one.

Questioning Motivations

I've touched on this a few times, but in general I prefer combatting the Deniers on the evidence rather than on their motivations. But it dawned on me that the motivations may be more the key to understanding their beliefs than the evidence itself.

Look, for example, at Holocaust Denial. At first it is tempting to believe that Holocaust Deniers are trying to absolve the German people and especially the Nazis of their guilt in this horrific case of genocide. And some of the Holocaust Denier's surnames, like Zundel and Hufschmid give us reason to wonder if that is their motivation.

But what about Eric D. Williams? I have no particular reason to believe that he is descended from Germans. So it seems unlikely that whitewashing the Nazis is his motivation. I suspect Holocaust Denial for him has more to do with the present day state of affairs than with World War II. If we deny the Holocaust, then Israel's founding seems completely unjustified, as is (arguably) America's support for Israel.

And it seems quite possible that 9-11 Denial springs from similar motivations. Libertarians oppose the Patriot Act. But if 9-11 was an inside job, then there was no justification for the Patriot Act. Some on the far left and far right want President Bush impeached. Look, for example, at the intro to this DRG article in Tikkun:

Because we at Tikkun are aware of extensive arguments that have appeared elsewhere against the perspective presented by the author of this piece, we debated long and hard about whether to present David Ray Griffin's argument here. We decided it was still important, given that if his view is true, the position he articulates would provide adequate grounds for impeachment of the president, grounds far more substantive than those that formed the basis of the impeachment by a Republican dominated Congress of President Bill Clinton.

Essentially they are saying, yes, 9-11 Denial is kooky, but if it's true we'd be able to get rid of Bush, so we'll print Griffin's article.

Jon Gold has much the same take over at 9-11 Blogger. He tries to sell Cindy Sheehan on 9-11 Denial, but is it on the basis that it's the "Truth" or is it on the basis that this is how other things can be achieved? You guessed it:

Cindy, 9/11 Truth will end this "illegal Iraq occupation" faster than ANYTHING anyone has been able to dream up so far. Not only will it do that, but it will reverse our loss of civil liberties, our loss of the Constitution, and our loss of stature in the eyes of the world.

As George W. Bush himself said, "we went to war because we were attacked, and we are at war today because there are still people out there who want to harm our country and hurt our citizens."

9/11 was the justification for the "illegal Iraq occupation". If you take away that justification, Cindy, then all of this can end.

Cindy Sheehan, 9-11 Denier?

In fairness she does note that she hasn't really studied it, but she's seen Loose Change and read the Griffin New Pearl Harbor nonsense.

A Type of Kook We've Seen Before

The media and many others assume that the 9-11 Denial movement consists of only members of the far Left. This is a natural assumption, given that the one thing that all "Truthers" have in common is an antipathy to President Bush. But it's a mistaken assumption.

What do last year’s Constitutional Party gubernatorial candidate Mary Starrett and the largely left-wing 9/11 Truth Alliance have in common? A surprising amount, actually.

Starrett, 52, is the first to admit that she is full of contradictions. She’s an anti-war, pro-life Christian, who refers to President Bush as “a joke.” The beer drinking, gun toting, vegetarian ex-smoker also has some controversial views on the U.S. government’s alleged complicity in the terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001.

In fact, Starrett fits in well with the rest of the 9-11 kooks. She's another Devvy Kidd, another Alex Jones, another Jason Bermas, another John Conner. If you look at her writings, you can see the same paranoid thread that runs through the entire "Patriot" movement.

The government's going to bring back the draft.

RFID chips are spying on us.

SARS is a government plot.

Don't Count on the Hijackers Being Interviewed

Dylan Avery posts over at his forum in a thread titled Interviewing The Hijackers?, Don't count on it... that they may not be able to interview all those hijackers who are still alive, because the Saudi government won't let them.

Just got this from a colleague...

=====

I did inquire and at high authority.
I was basically told that there was no way that Saudi Arabia would allow any of the Saudis to talk at the present stage... considering its relationship with the US. I suggested that this relationship was not that good lately considering the Mecca Accords for example, but was told that it was still far too good to allow for something like this to happen and that Saudi Arabia wouldn't want to use such a card now. I must say..., this whole 9/11 business is a very frustrating
event... to say the least...

All the best,

C

=====

Crap.

This contradicts David Ray Griffin, who is supposedly serving as an advisor to Loose Change version 4, who earlier stated that the hijackers just weren't interviewed, because nobody had the money. Or perhaps Dylan should speak to Kevin Barrett, who has stated on several occassions, that he intends to interview one of the hijackers in a future trip to Morocco, which last I checked was nowhere near Saudi Arabia.

No, They Aren't Paranoid

From one of the truthseekers over at 911 blogger:

However, the latest BBC fiasco shows that even this term [corporate media] is inadequate, since the BBC is not owned by a private corporation. Though ostensibly independent, the BBC's ability to predict the fall of WTC 7 shows that it has covert links to the Blair government and therefore to the White House.

So the BBC is in on it too. I honestly would like to know, is there anyone that they have actually managed to eliminate from involvement in this plot?

Update: Another nutter on 9/11 Blogger speculates that Rupert Murdoch, the CEO of New Corp. was told about the plot ahead of time. OK, maybe I am too low on the New World Order pecking order, but is the best way to keep a conspiracy quiet really to notify every media company in sight?

"Hey Dick, this is Gordon, hey you know I am on my way to that office at the Watergate that we were talking about breaking into, but I was wondering if you had notified the New York Times and Washington Post like I asked you to..."

Coincidence?

From a recent report in the San Jose Mercury News:

Study links big egos in youths to programs for self-esteem
GROWING NARCISSISM COULD POSE SOCIETAL PROBLEMS, EXPERT SAYS
By Larry Gordon and Louis Sahagun
Los Angeles Times

No wonder YouTube is so popular.

All the effort to boost children's self-esteem may have backfired and produced a generation of college students who are more narcissistic than their Gen-X predecessors, according to a study led by a San Diego State University psychologist. The Internet, with all its MySpace.com and YouTube braggadocio, is letting that self-regard blossom even more, said the analysis titled ``Egos Inflating Over Time.''

From the Loose Change forum:

John Conner Invited To Speak At San Diego State U, everyone is welcome to come

Wednesday, March 14th in the North Education 60 building after the showing of Terrorstorm. Film starts at 7pm in North Education 60. I'll be there around 9:00 right when the film ends to give a SHORT speech. The screening is free and is open to all, students and non students. go to www.sdsu.edu for info about san diego state. you're a smart bunch, use google maps to figure it out. You'll have to pay for parking in the guest parking lots. Bring your zombie friends to watch the best 9/11 film to date and help enlighten them and meet others in The Resistance and 9/11 truth movement.

As of Sunday March 4th, I, John Conner will be dropping the John Conner handle and going with my real name. The real Resistance is too serious for me to be painted a nut who is obsessed with the Terminator film. And its wierd being called John when my name is actually (*#%#%@#%$)

Coincidence? We all know truthers don't believe in coincidence...

Loosers In Manhattan

According to the Times:

92ND STREET Y 1395 Lexington Avenue. Sunday at 6:30 p.m., a screening of “Loose Change,” a documentary about the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, followed by a discussion with its filmmakers, Dylan Avery, Jason Bermas and Korey Rowe: $25. Monday at 7:30 p.m.

Twenty-five bucks to see Loose Change? Oh, well, it may turn out to be a bargain; I heard yesterday that after winning his "Best Documentary", Al Gore is now charging $175,000 to give his standard speech on Global Warming.

The Flight 77 Flight Data Recorder Once More

This post popped to the top of JREF again and showed once again why Anti-Sophist is so despised by the "no-plane at the Pentagon" Deniers and so respected by Debunkers.

Deja Vu All Over Again

I was watching the video of the recent Arizona conference. It is full of rather interesting moments, including our very own Pat, but I found this part especially amusing (mostly because it proved me right once again). Jim Marrs from 26:35 in:

I interviewed Sergeant Lauro Chavez who was with US Central Command, he said that on the morning of 9/11 they were in the middle of wargame exercises. One of the exercises involved hijacker airplanes being flown into the World Trade Center. When it happened, they were flabbergasted, they turned on CNN, they were watching the same scenes we all saw, they said how can it be that what we were here wargaming has now happened in real life. And I am sure that most of those people are still in the military, most of them are still quiet. They are not sinister conspirators, but they all participated in what happened on 9/11. And that's why we haven't heard anything out of it. As long as the official position is that it was Osama bin Laden and his 19 hijackers, these people will continue to be quiet.

Uhh Jim, those people did not participate in 9/11, in fact the man you interviewed did not participate in 9/11! As I mentioned 6 months ago, even though Lauro Chavez was proven to be a total fake, that will not stop conspiracy theorists from citing him as a source. This would make no less than 3 members of the "Scholars" who have cited him as a witness AFTER it already came out that he was a complete fake. Do these people have any standards whatsoever for evidence? That is an honest question, I would really like to know. Is there anything at all they will not cite as evidence if it supports their viewpoint?

Both Sides Now

Our buddy the Bird reports further on his weekend with the Deniers:

Santa Claus-bearded geezer Jim Marrs, who could pass for a cross between Wilford Brimley and Windfall Willie (the mascot of the AZ lottery), came to Williams' defense.

"Can I lay this to rest right now?" tweeted Marrs. "Eric Williams is right here. Did people get killed in World War II as a result of state policy?" he inquired of the Holocaust denier.

Williams replied in the affirmative. To the heavily mustachioed Marrs, that ended the matter.

But as the taloned one continued his queries, the crowd grew restless with demands that this bluebird be booted. That'd be The Bird they wanted tossed, not the adored Sir Eric, who wrote a vile volume asserting there were no mass executions via gas chambers at Auschwitz. How ironic, since The Bird was the only member of the working media present.

Eventually, the pep rally turned ugly for this feathered fiend, to the extent that a security guard forced The Bird to leave the hall. Therefore, for a few minutes, there was no press at the press conference. How, um, de-press-ing! Sanity prevailed in the form of Philadelphia lawyer Phil Berg, the moderator for the event. Berg came outside and instructed that this journalistic jaybird be let back in. He then told the crowd that members of the working media (that would be moi) must be given deference, since (ahem!) it was a press conference, after all. The Bird was allowed to interrogate the panelists unmolested after that.

As you can see, Stephen really has a way with words; his column is definitely one to savor. Let me add too that Berg was quite sensible in allowing him to ask a little more than his share of questions, seeing as how he was the only real MSM representative at the confab. And he even kindly deferred to me on one question, which allowed me to have my little fracas with Uncle Fetzer (not that the Bird didn't have his own tussle with the McKnight prof, as you'll see if you read the entire article).

Devvy Kidd was also at the conference, but her quarrels were more along political lines:

On Saturday morning I attended a networking/political action workshop. After fifteen minutes I wanted to simply gag. Although I'm sure it will be denied, there was a whole lot of socialism being pushed at that conference. The instructor was a very nice lady, but her presentation, using an overhead projector, was all about social action, collectivism, working together for human rights around the world, workers rights; an endless laundry list. I'm sorry, but I have spent the past 17 years studying world history (not the bunk one gets in the public indoctrination centers called public schools or from the boob tube), but actual events. This includes understanding socialism, communism, fascism and delivery systems for these ideologies, i.e., specific dialect. I saw no reason for this type of activism to be a focus of networking to bring facts about 911 to other Americans. As Phil Berg pointed out in his flyer available to attendees: "Accountability = responsibility and that we must unite and move forward on points that we agree with and put aside our differences." That's why I was turned off with the inserting of social causes from "progressives" into this conference. It was distracting and will push people away who understand the game and how it's played.

She has somewhat of a different take on Stephen's performance at the Pep Rally--err, press conference:

Instead of reporters and media attendees asking a question and the panel returning with a response, virtually without exception, questions from the media "gallery" was endless proselytizing for their favorite cause or complaining that organizations like MoveOn.org and Cindy Sheehan have refused to join with them in the effort to get accountability regarding the events of September 11, 2001. It was quite nauseating and some of the panel members fell for it instead of simply providing crisp, concise and clear answers to questions that only arrived after endless speeches. One local reporter in attendance disrupted the press conference for a full 30 minutes by repeatedly insisting one of the organizers was "anti-Semitic." Apparently, local media were comparing those attending this conference to holocaust deniers.

This is a dodge that I've seen over at 9-11 Blogger too. For the last time, we are not accusing all 9-11 Truthers of being Holocaust Deniers. That would be almost as stupid as some of the things you guys come up with. What we are saying is that if you hang out with Holocaust Deniers, we're going to point out your obvious lack of critical thinking skills. We're going to use that against you every single time, because it's a whole lot easier than arguing whether the hijackers are alive, and it moves large quantities of folks off the fence to our side very quickly.

One thing they both agree on is Phil Berg:

I also had the pleasure of meeting Phil Berg; see here for his latest. Media hacks who get paid to promote the government's fairy tale will call people like Mr. Berg a crack pot or lunatic. Funny, I didn't get that impression from this former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania.

I'm not a big fan of Berg myself, but he handled himself extremely well at the press conference. Speaking of which, Devvy reminds me of something particularly loony that one of the supposed "press" members suggested:

During the press conference one media rep gave his speech and then said that "they" (never did find out who "they" are) intend to shut down every major freeway in this country early next year.

You want to see Troofers getting their heads handed to them, just try this freeway shutdown.

Don't Trust Any Republican Administration Insiders

Says Rigorous Intuition.

Bill Christison, a 29-year CIA Veteran and former director of the agency's Office of Regional and Political Analysis, has written that "An airliner almost certainly did not hit The Pentagon. Hard physical evidence supports this conclusion.... The North and South Towers of the World Trade Center almost certainly did not collapse and fall to earth because hijacked aircraft hit them.... These first two points provide the strongest evidence available that the 'official story' of 9/11 is not true." Retired Major General Albert Stubblebine, former director of the US Army Intelligence and Security Command and military patron of remote viewing, now says "I look at the hole in the Pentagon and I look at the size of an airplane that was supposed to have hit the Pentagon. And I said, 'The plane does not fit in that hole.' So what did hit the Pentagon? What hit it? Where is it? What's going on?" And Paul Craig Roberts, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration and former Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal, writes "I will begin by stating what we know to be a solid incontrovertible scientific fact. We know that it is strictly impossible for any building, much less steel columned buildings, to 'pancake' at free fall speed. Therefore, it is a non-controversial fact that the official explanation of the collapse of the WTC buildings is false."

But then he ignores his own advice:

Why are none of them apparently interested in talking about, say, Norman Mineta's testimony before the 9/11 Commission ("Do the orders still stand?"), and its excision from the commission's video archive and published record? Why are insiders not to be trusted, and their authority rejected, until they begin telling us what some of us want to hear? Then, suddenly, they become guileless figures in the know who do again what they did before: lead us.

Yeah, let's lift Norm Mineta up on our shoulders! You know, the guy who used to be Secretary of Transportation under Bush.

In fairness, he does make one interesting point:

I remember the giddy buzz a couple of years ago when Morgan Reynolds became the first figure who could be called a "Bush insider" stepped up as a "9/11 Truth" advocate, and not the most humble one at that. His splashy website and his speaking engagements quickly carried him to the forefront of the "movement's" second wave of leadership - which, unlike the first, is largely consumed by speculative issues of controlled demolition (Reynolds wrote that "WTC demolition is truth inviolate").