Thoughts on Two Years

This blog was started on May 1, 2006, so this is our two-year bloggiversary. In that time we've seen the rise and fall of many a "Truther". Remember when Judy Woods was considered the engineer the movement had been waiting for? When Uncle Fetzer was emerging as the leader and spokesman? When Loose Change IISE and 9-11 Mysteries were considered breakthrough movies? When the Final Cut was going to premiere on 3,000 screens? When Rosie, or Daniel Sunjata, or Christine Ebersole, or Michelle Phillips was going to lead the Troof into the mainstream?

As the old saying goes, for the Truth Movement it's always jam tomorrow, plain bread today. I'd like to think that we're responsible for a little of that, but let's face it, the Troofers have always been their own worst enemies. They have always focused on the kind of evidence that cannot stand up to any scrutiny at all. "North of the Citgo", "Seven hijackers are alive," "Cellphones don't work at altitude," etc. At times I feel like I've won the gold medal in chess.

At the Special Olympics.

Kudos to everybody who's been working on this debunking project, especially James, who really does a terrific job. I won't do a roll call because I'll probably forget somebody who deserves to be mentioned. We do have a great community of people working together to defeat this pseudo-history.

One of Alex Jones' lead-ins says "We're on the march! They're on the run!" As with everything the fat man says, the evidence indicates to the contrary.

PrisonPlanet on Alex Jones' BBC Appearance

Alex Jones' PrisonPlanet website posts an article on his recent appearance on BBC radio (which Pat has mentioned a few times). I am just stunned that this savvy group of investigators hasn't broken 9/11 wide open by now.

After Guy Smith announced that the BBC would soon be releasing a new documentary devoted to Building 7, presumably given that they completely omitted the topic in their last hit piece, a strange new debunker was introduced as "Ronald Wick".

Mr Wick was introduced as a broadcaster in New York and "a well known 9/11 conspiracy theory debunker", yet having written about the 9/11 truth movement and the attacks for over six years, I have never heard of the man, neither has Prisonplanet editor Paul Watson and neither has Alex Jones. Furthermore, a Google search produces no related results. Seemingly then "Ronald Wick" is either not a "very well known" debunker or is hiding behind a pseudonym.

"Wick" attempted to counter revelations that the BBC had reported the collapse of building 7 a full 26 minutes before it's actual fall by suggesting that everyone had expected the building to collapse from fire damage for hours before it did. This claim does not hold up when put into context with statements from firefighters, reporters and first responders on the ground who have stated that they had to literally run for their lives when a 20 second demolition countdown began and the building suddenly fell.

"Wick" and the other debunkers also attempted to suggest we believe the BBC were somehow "in on the conspiracy" and were specifically approached and fed with a "script of events" on 9/11 because, according to Guy Smith, laughable though this opinion is, it is the media outlet most opposed to George W. Bush.

And you have got to love the ending:

Any rational person who listened to this chaotic exchange will have gone away wanting to hear more from Alex Jones, who draws his knowledge and discussion points from the study of history, declassified government archives, expert analysis and mainstream reports, rather than take heed from the total lack of any insight whatsoever from the two studio guests and the strange accusatory tone and debate framing of the mysterious "Mr Wick".

It is Wieck, genius. Geez, we know you read the blog. You just mentioned us yesterday.

No-Planer Fest

Judy Wood, Nico Haupt, the Web Fairy, and Paula Gloria. Awesome production!

Hat Tip: Walter Ego

Newt, Newt, Newt!

It is a shame that the two politicians who have been the most forthright in denouncing the "Truthers" are not running this time around: Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich. Note that Newt has no doubt about what he's facing, unlike most of the other politicians:

On Alex Jones Threatening to Sue... Everyone

Pat already mentioned this, but I thought this was bizarre enough to discuss in more detail. I find it ironic how the first thing they want to do is rely on the institutions they find so corrupt.

Jones: And again, Michele Malkin... I might just take the money and give it to you. She needs to be dragged into court. She needs to be in interrogatories. She needs to enjoy being deposed. Her lies need to be brought to justice! She wants to write books about how we all need to be put in camps. I have had enough of it! Fox News and that pack of criminals. I say pack of criminals, it is illegal and they take money for fake newscasts. It is illegal when they got Pentagon propaganda on their channels in backroom deals. All of Congress said it was illegal. Alright let's go back to Luke. Luke, instead of me ranting and raving, I should have asked you during the break. So how many different lawyers have contacted you?

Rudkowski: We have talked to 5 lawyers. Some of them are good, some of them are worth some money. But we are going to make this a huge deal no matter what. We are looking to countersue the New York Post, Hannity , Michele Malkin, everybody that slandered and libelled and is trying to destroy our name will be sued for their action.

Jones: I mean listen, you got to be sued when they say that you attacked a woman in a wheelchair viciously. Go ahead.

Rudkowski: It is ridiculous because it is accidental assault, assault 3, look at the police report, that is what the New York Post should have done is just look at the police report and seen exactly that. And the next day the father called the New York Post and said that we assaulted his daughter and then his daughter is on Hannity, and then Michelle Malkin is talking about, and then the Wall Street Journal libelled and slandered our name. This is disgusting, and we will stand for this, and we will
rise up.

Jones: You hear that, you are getting sued! Guaranteed. We're suing... some of these people. Understand that neo-cons. Hey go ahead and laugh over at the Free Republic. Go ahead and laugh. You are going to find out.

And then he rants on from there. I could type more, but I got a racquetball game with Robert Gates in a few...

The first point is how do you "countersue" all these people, when they have not sued you in the first place. Secondly, how do you sue people for merely honestly reporting what other people have said? Ironically they leave out the only people who they could theoretically have a serious case against, the family who said that their daughter was assaulted. Michelle Malkin did not create that claim.

Alex Jones & Ron Wieck Recap

Ron gets in a great point about how the BBC would be the least likely network to take a script from the Bush administration. Excellent job, Ron!

Spanish Al Qaeda Leader and Suspected 9-11 Co-Conspirator Charged

I have to admit, this is the first I've heard of him:

The suspects in the latest case are Syrian-born Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, 44, who was sentenced in 2005 for leadership of al Qaeda in Spain; and Syrian-born Muhamed Galeb Kalaje Zouaydi, 47, and Bassam Dalati Satut, 48, both sentenced in the same trial in 2005 for membership in a terrorist group, according to a judge’s indictment order, viewed by CNN.

The National Court sentenced Yarkas in 2005 to 27 years in prison — 12 years for al Qaeda leadership in Spain and 15 years for conspiracy in the 9/11 attacks.

But in June 2006, Spain’s Supreme Court overturned the conviction of conspiracy in the 9/11 attacks, leaving Yarkas with just the 12-year sentence for al Qaeda leadership

Troof Weak Recap

Maybe Jon Gold can update his mixed feelings about the success of the troofers attempt to get the Shell Game in the NY Times top 10. I haven't seen the rankings for last week yet, but it has dropped like a rock on-line. After artificially peaking at 62, it is now at a rather less impressive 2,735 on Amazon, and 3,883 on Barnes and Noble. Apparently the few truthers that bought it last week are stocked up for awhile.

It could be worse though. David Ray Griffin's even more recent Contradictions book is ranked at an off-the-charts, 23,946. Well, hopefully this will spare us a 6th book on the subject from the retired theologian.

Alex Jones Claims We're a Pentagon Operation

As Troy pointed out in the comments section, Alex was hating on us and everybody spreading that German Talis story. He wants lawsuits filed against Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity the New York Post, the Lovetros, etc. He notes the defense fund:

"Since they've put it up, they've gotten a couple hundred bucks and the Loose Change, uh, Screw Loose Change operation and others make sniveling jokes about it, from their Pentagon operation..."

Yeah, Alex, we're working at the Pentagon. We're right next to the anti-aircraft batteries.

We found out a little more about the various court cases involving WAC-jobs:

We Are Change Ireland: Members accused of assaulting an Irish member of the EU Parliament.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said the MEP was confronted by a group of men who screamed abuse at him before knocking him over and pinning him down.

Police confirmed the attack which left Mr de Rossa bruised and shaken.

We Are Change LA: Member (Bruno) accused of assaulting security guards. "Parts of it are on video." Hoo-boy, where have we heard that before.

Alex promises ten thousand dollars for the lawsuits out of his own pockets, but wants to direct the effort. But hilariously, he undercuts the whole case with his own blatherings. He notes that in order to sue for libel, you have to prove that the claims were false and that the libeler knew they were false. And later he notes that most of the people spreading the story thought it was true:

"Well, a lot of the leading neocons, they really believe that we beat up a girl in a wheelchair. They really believe their wicked mother, Fox News."

DOH!

He also has career advice for Luke: Drop out of college. Luke claims that he's not learning anything at college, but he's teaching his professors. Jones is saying that Luke has to make these lawsuits his full-time job.

Alex Jones Versus Ron Wieck

On right now, sorry that I didn't link earlier. They're talking about several different topics, so keep listening.

Was There Ever A Just War?

When I was a teenager, I was very much against the Vietnam War. And when people would ask me if war was ever justified, I could point to WWII. Certainly defeating the Nazis represented a cause worth fighting for.

But the Troofers don't believe even that. Roosevelt ignored the warnings, and let the Japanese attack us at Pearl Harbor, according to Hustler Magazine (it must be true!) World War I? The Lusitania was an inside job! The Spanish American War? Remember the Maine was a Hearst tool to sell newspapers!

The first Persian Gulf War? The conspiracy theorists claim that Bush gave Saddam approval to invade Kuwait. I haven't heard any good CTs about Korea, but I suspect there are a couple.

It's kind of odd when you think about it. What do Alex and Luke constantly talk about? How the New World Order will fail, and national sovereignty will prevail. They claim to love their country so much, and yet at the same time they believe America (or its government) to have provoked or ignored every threat since the 1860s.

The funny thing too is that the one admitted false-flag event in the history of the country is one that founded the USA: The Boston Tea Party. Remember, the colonists dressed up as Indians.

So the whole reason for the country's existence is a false-flag terrorist attack on the British. And not only that, but the Truthers celebrate that false-flag attack annually, by (mistakenly) dressing up as colonists.

Amazing!

Troofer Porn

As Pat mentioned earlier, 9/11 Blogger was expanding their mission to include other conspiracy theories, besides the eponymous 9/11 ones. This is not surprising though, as we have pointed out (and was a point of the book on conspiracy theorists I just read) conspiracy theories do not exist by themselves, but rather tie their entire world together.

So in this spirit 9/11 Blogger is now posting on Pearl Harbor conspiracies. From that paragon of journalism no less, Hustler magazine.

On March 28, WhatReallyHappened.com posted a photograph of the front page of The Honolulu Advertiser, November 30, 1941. At the very top of the page is the headline: "Japanese May Strike Over Weekend!". The only reason that the headline exists is due to the effort of one Joseph Leib, who told his story in the January, 1984 Hustler magazine. Thanks to Larry Flynt Publications, 911blogger.com has permission to share the text from this piece of hidden history. Hustler has been quite friendly to 9/11 skeptics, and continues to be so. Bearing in mind that Hustler is a magazine that contains erotic imagery for adults, visit Hustler Magazine.com to see what is in the latest issue, including journalistic content from Thom Hartmann and Larisa Alexandrovna. -rep.)

Well if Larry Flynt endorsed it, it must be true!

We Are Idiots Harass David Frum... Again

These guys are bizarre, they follow people around filming them and accusing them of murder, and then whine like little girls when they get annoyed at them. Fortunately there weren't any women in wheelchairs for them to beat up on.

A Culture of Conspiracy

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was reading A Culture of Conspiracy, by Michael Barkun, and now that I have finished it, I thought it merited a more in-depth review. It is rather appropriate since Pat mentioned the Holocaust denying fruitcake earlier today, and one of the themes of the book is the intersection of conspiracy theories among their proponents.

While Barkun, in a somewhat oversimplified view, focuses on what he calls right-wing conspiracies, he still manages to mention many of the same fruitcakes that we cover here. Alex Jones is mentioned prominently, on the first page no less, although in his defense it is way down on the first page. David Icke is actually a focus of the book. I had always pictured him as a completely fringe character, but apparently he is actually a major figure among the New World Order/UFO/Reptilian cult types. A select group of course.

On this note I was actually rather surprised to find out how widespread UFO cults were, and how intertwined with other conspiracies, even anti-Semitic ones. Barkun points out that in a poll 46% of Americans believed in UFOs, and even at one point 30% of college graduates. An amazing 2% responded that they believed they had been abducted by aliens. This kind of puts in perspective the 4.6% who believe in MIHOP.

While the book at times seemed rather too academic (read, stiff) it was helpful in that the author defined his terms rather meticulously, even the term, "conspiracy theory". Since the truthers are constantly misunderstanding the term, hence the laughable use of "official conspiracy theory", I thought it would be helpful to quote his definition:

For our purposes, a conspiracy theory is the belief that an organization made up of individuals or groups was or is acting covertly to achieve some malevolent end. As I indicate later in this chapter, such a definition has implications both for the role of secrecy and for the activities a conspiracy is believed to undertake.

A conspiracist worldview implies a universe governed by design rather than by randomness. The emphasis on design manifests itself in three principles found in virtually every conspiracy theory:

Nothing ever happens by accident. Conspiracy implies a world based on intentionality, from which accident and coincidence have been removed. Anything that happens occurs because it has been willed. At its most extreme, the result is a "fantasy[world].... far more coherent than the real world."

Nothing is as it seems. Appearances are deceptive, because conspirators wish to deceive in order to disguise the identities or their activities. Thus the appearance of innocence is deemed to be no guarantee that an individual or group is benign.

Everything is connected. Because the conspiracists' world has no room for accident, pattern is believed to be everywhere, albeit hidden from plain view. Hence the conspiracy theorist must engage in a constant process of linkage and correlation in order to map the hidden connections.

Tucson Fruitcakes

I like the guy in the meeting with the congresswoman's staffer, asking for evidence that Al Qaeda attacked us, and the guy who says that even after Bush leaves office he's going to be calling for impeachment. It's the usual nutbar crowd; 20-something Goths and 50-something hippies:



Note: Contrary to the Troofers in the video, Gabrielle Giffords is a Democrat, representing a fairly liberal district. Although the Troofers tie their arguments into areas where they might find agreement with liberals and Democrats, they are still nutters piggy-backing their cause on more mainstream causes. Hence all the honking going on; "Honk to Impeach Cheney" would be very popular in Tucson.

Scratch a Truther....

Find a Holocaust Denier underneath. Rachel from North London has the details on the termination of an honorary research fellow at the University of Central London. Nicholas Kollerstrom, a British "Truther", has also done quite a bit of "research" into the Holocaust, utilizing the usual suspects (Zundel, IHR, etc.).

Rachel is a survivor of the 7/7/05 London subway bombings who has been harassed by the British kooks for daring to tell her story. Discussion of Kollerstrom's views here.

He wrote: “Let us hope the schoolchildren visitors are properly taught about the elegant swimming-pool at Auschwitz, built by the inmates, who would sunbathe there on Saturday and Sunday afternoons while watching the water-polo matches; and shown the paintings from its art class, which still exist; and told about the camp library which had some 45,000 volumes for inmates to choose from, plus a range of periodicals; and the six camp orchestras at Auschwitz/Birkenau, its theatrical performances, including a children’s opera, the weekly camp cinema, and even the special brothel established there.”

Jeez, sounds like a cruise ship! As Rachel notes, it's not so disgusting that people like this exist, but that they are welcomed into the 9-11 and 7-7 Truther camps until they become too much of an embarrassment.

Why all the fuss? It's not the one man, Kollerstrom and his horrible views that bothers me. There will always be nutters, after all.

It's the fact that Kollerstrom - and people like him, with similarly extreme views fit so very comfortably into the so- called '9/11 Truth/7/7 Truth Movement'. They post on their forums. They come to their meetings. They fit right in.

And that's scary.

No surprise, the British "Truthers" are standing by their man:

Having heard about all of this tonight from a phone call from Tony, may I remind everyone what Voltaire is attributed to have said:

'I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it'

We must stick by Nick - our freedoms are under attack and the actions of UCL are disgraceful and ill thought through. Spread the word - Rachel North is our equivalent to Richard Warman in Canada (See www.davidicke.com). She must be exposed for the very sick, spiteful and possibly controlled person she is.

Justin
Retiring 9/11 Co-Chair

Countdown to 9-11 "Truthers" denouncing this man in three, two,--err, wait a minute! Countdown to 9-11 "Truthers" denouncing us for publicizing this in three, two....

Update: Rachel notes in the comments that the "Truthers" have focused their ire on her, despite the fact that this story was originally broken by BlairWatch. Let me add too that Rachel has written a book about her harrowing experiences. She is an inspiration to us all.

Ron Paul Fruitcakes Attempt to Steal Nevada Republican Caucus

But they failed. Video of the Ronulan nutters here:



Part II:

A Great Week for the Truth...

A bad week for the "Truthers". Mikey Metz pointed out in the comments the other day that this might have been one of the worst weeks ever for the nutbars. Certainly the week or so leading up to 9-11-07 was pretty tough, with Truther Burn at Burning Man, then the History Channel dropped the bomb on them, the 911truth.org poll that set MIHOP at 4.6% of the population, then the disappointing turnout at the anniversary. But this week, we have multiple arrests of the WAC-jobs, The Shell Game fiasco, and the long-anticipated peer-reviewed paper from Dr Jones, et. al., which simply consisted of areas of agreement with the official story.

Wall Street Journal "Reports" on Truther Assault

The truthers are constantly claiming that the Wall Street Journal reported on the Pakistani ISI connection to 9/11, thus verifying the claim, despite the fact that this "reporting" was nothing more than a link to the Indian newspaper report on the Best of the Web blog.

Well now guess what the Best of the Web is reporting on:

First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna put in an appearance at Manhattan's 92nd Street Y earlier this week to promote their children's book, "Read All About It." Among those in attendance were 18-year-old Maureen Loverto, who suffers from cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair, and a brave dissenter named German Talis, 22. The New York Post tell us what happened:

Well, then I guess that proves the story is true. Case closed.

Maureen Lovetro On Sean Hannity

Let me stress here that the We Are Change dolts are not "Democrats"; they're anti-corporatist so there is some overlap with liberals, but they're off on their own planet with the Ronulans.

Hat Tip: Walter Ego's 9-11 video blog, which I have been meaning to highlight for awhile. Go check it out!



Update: The WAC-Jobs are starting a defense fund:

Our first priority is the criminal defense of Gary Talis, now facing trumped up and completely liable 3rd degree assault charges. Additionally, those individuals and/or organizations who willingly submit falsified testimony must be litigated in civil court for liable, slander, defamation of character, etc. Matt Lepacek is also facing charges for disorderly conduct for expressing his 1st amendment right to publicly question Laura Bush in the last minute of the event as she walked off stage, and Sabrina Rivera has a upcoming court date with a provocateur harasser from ground zero after being clearly caught on video with Sabrina Rivera and Luke Rudkowski. In the past we have missed opportunities to defend our selves due to financial limitations; this is no longer an option when faced with public persecution by slander and the very serious false assault charges pending against Gary Talis.

Sounds like they've been listening to Boris the lawyer. Yesterday, Alex Jones had Officer Jack McLamb on his show, giving advice to Gary. One piece was particularly good; he recommended getting an out-of-state attorney. Although it might be a tad difficult to get even Lionel Hutz given the current size of the defense fund:

The Web Fairy Speaks

!

Alex Jones Subtitled in Arabic

From an upcoming Iranian Truther Film.

The "Babes" of Troof

You know that things are rough when the fourth woman featured is Bev Harris. Some of these gals are "Troofers" about other things than 9-11. I hadn't heard of Christie Czajkowski before, but she's quite a character; she was apparently drummed out of the Minuteman Movement because she was too controversial, heh. Here's a video of her being interviewed:



When she dies, she'll no doubt bring down the IQ level of the cemetery in which she's buried.

Update: Our commenter Dean Malenko Eats Dogs points out that one of the "women" in the first video, Liz Michael, had her equipment installed after the factory.

Arizona Senate Kook Karen S. Johnson to Retire

According to the local paper:

The senator gave details about her theories. The World Trade Center buildings could have been rigged with thermite to melt girders. The aircraft could have been drones rather than the commercial airliners most of us thought we saw crashing into the Twin Towers. As to what became of the missing passengers in the aircraft that (theoretically) did not explode against the towers: "That's what I would like to know," she said.

Now, we take no issue with private citizens believing whatever fever-swamp nonsense, however outlandish, they wish about their government.

We do take serious issue, however, with a public official affecting public policy on such grounds.

If Johnson truly maintains mere "questions" about the events surrounding the 9/11 attacks, she should have declined to vote. The likely truth of it, though, is that she really does believe her government capable of destruction of the highest order and is happy to express her delusions not just as a private citizen but as an elected official.

Johnson reportedly will not seek re-election this fall. After hearing her 9/11 fantasies, we heartily approve.

But, but, 84% of the people agree with her!

The WAC Job Speaks

This guy is a fruitcake of the highest order. I love the part where he claims the Secret Service told him to move out of their security zone, "without any authority". Uhh, genius, the Secret Service is the authority. He then claims they abandoned him, like it was their responsibility to protect him or something. Notice that his version of the story has changed every time he has told it.

Latest on the WAC-Jobs

No "Truth" to the rumor that this is their new banner:



Hat tip to JREFer mrbaracuda.

We Are Changing Diapers doesn't know when to bail:

The main stream media says Gary of WeAreCHANGE shouted obscenities at the 1st lady please feel free to watch the video of Gary expressing his freedom speech not cursing once then and at the end stating "get out of my face" to the guy who raised his fist at Gary the first time. Gary was asking the secret service and NYPD to help him and get this man away from him before he rammed his daughter with a wheel chair into him and beat him while Gary did not even defend himself. The secret service and NYPD ignored Gary's plea of help only arresting him after being pummeled and assaulted by a 6 foot 400 pound guy.

Yes, of course, you're being assaulted by Hulk Hogan's bigger brother, and he doesn't just do the flying dropkick on you by his lonesome, he whacks you with his daughter in the wheelchair. I saw it on RAW one time, dude! It totally makes sense, and America won't fail to believe it!

A Real Opportunity for Hilarity

Okay, as I've grumbled quite a bit lately, my local Troofers have been pretty much inactive for the last several months. But at last they have come through with a real opportunity for fun. Next month the Phoenix 9-11 Questions Meetup group is going to hold a truly unique event starting on Monday, May 26th at 5:00:

First Ever "HUNGER STRIKE" for 911 Truth !!!

Join us for an unprecedented event and support Blair Gadsby as he starts his hunger strike for 911 Truth. GOP Presidential hopeful John McCain has endorsed the official story of 911. Given the many anomolies (sic) and un-answered questions surrounding that fateful day it's time he is confronted and allowed the opportunity to change his position. Hopefully media attention can be garnered by this bold move to break through the veil of silence. Nation wide support for this event is highly anticipated as attention surrounding McCain becomes heightened the closer we get to the presidential election. Steps are being taken for a possible multi-city protest. Chicago and New York activists are being contacted to join Phoenix in solidarity and conduct protests for 911 Truth in front of Barak (sic) Obama's office in Chicago and Hillary Clinton's office in New York.

Oh, my. This is Blair's photo from the meetup website:



Doesn't look like Blair could miss many meals before wasting away. That's not a knock on him, by the way; I wish I was his weight. Blair is apparently a college professor, and member of A&E for 9-11 Denial. And yes, he's a structural engineer.

Just kidding. In fact, Blair's yet another religious studies scholar.

Anyway, you can probably guess where I'm going with this. Cookout! Wouldn't it be great to set up a little barbecue upwind from the hunger strike? Considering his profession, we could make sure to have a couple of tofu burgers as well. I'm pretty sure I can get approval.

Anybody in the Phoenix area interested?

Troof Week: The Whimper

Kudos to Jon for not sugar-coating it:

Jon Gold
Joined: 29 Apr 2007
Posts: 167

We failed. FYI. Thanks to everyone that helped to try and make it successful.

Wow, actually he did sugar coat it in this post. Check out the totals:

I'm sorry to say that the first "Week Of Truth" was not successful as far as getting "The Shell Game" on the NYTimes Best Sellers List. We managed to sell roughly 1000 books when the amount needed was between 10k and 12k.

So, 8-10% of the goal.

Moron the WAC-Job Arrests

The NY Post has details about the incident that are shocking and disgusting:

A man heckling First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna outside the 92nd Street Y was arrested after he punched a wheelchair-bound girl whose parents had told him to shut up, authorities said yesterday. German Talis, 22, was shouting obscenities at the Bushes, who were leaving the building Tuesday, when he crossed paths with Wendy and John Lovetro and their daughter Maureen, 18, who has cerebral palsy.

Here's a picture of Maureen with Mrs Bush:

"I heard my daughter hysterical yelling, 'He's hitting me!' " said Wendy Lovetro.

"He punched her on the shoulder blades, but that wasn't enough," she said.

"My husband pushed the wheelchair away from him and he reached beyond my husband and began pounding my daughter in the thigh."

The two men fought as the president's family drove off. Cops broke them up and busted Talis on charges of assault and resisting arrest.

What kind of a sleazeball would hit a girl in a wheelchair? Answer: A 9-11 Truther sleazeball.

Hat Tip: Nico's Bloglines.

Here's some inspiration for Germany, from the 1947 film noir classic, Kiss of Death:



Hat Tip for the Kiss of Death comparison: Dudalb at JREF.

Update: The WAC-jobs respond:

John Lovetro, the girl’s father, struck Gary leaving a flesh wound under his right eye. Gary, aware of his rights, did not at any time defend himself and yet remains the victim, now facing charges of 3rd degree assault. We Are Change will pursue legal action against all individuals and organizations that violate our civil rights. We will not be physically assaulted, and we will not stand for slander and lies. Help us prevail, if you are a civil rights attorney and willing to donate or offer reduced rates please contact Matt Lepacek at pursuitofliberty@gmail.com.

We Are Change is a peaceful non violent activist organization.

Yeah, peaceful, non-violent (Profanity, NSFW):



Update II: Talis' version of events:

Gary Talis also appeared on Jones’ show. He emphatically stated he did not assault the handicapped girl. In fact, he said, John Lovetro used his daughter “as a weapon” against him, ramming the wheelchair into his kneecaps and accusing him of attacking the girl. Talis told Bermas he believes the attack was coordinated.

LOL! Yeah, that's very credible, that a man would attack a 22-year-old nutbar using his daughter in a wheelchair as a weapon.

Update III: Reactions elsewhere. Remember that many of these bloggers are just going from the NY Post story, which doesn't note the 9-11 Troofer connection:

A Second Hand Conjecture: Search for Truth About 9/11 Leads to Beating Up Handicapped Girl.

Ace of Spades: Jagoff Who Attacked Girl In Wheelchair a Truther.

Say Anything: Leftist Bush-Basher Shows the Depth of His Courage.

Michelle Malkin: BDS Outbreak: Anti-war nut attacks wheelchair-bound girl.

Update IV: Well, that didn't take long. One of scumbag Troofers posted address and phone number information for the Lovetros in a Digg comment.

I think John Lovetro needs to be confronted about his out of control lying behavior. A little public humiliation works wonders but don't get to close, he is an attack dog! You can contact him at: ###-###-### (number has been temporarily disconnected) and you can write or visit him at XXXX Street, XXXXXX, NY XXXX. What a piece of filth! I'm sure his wife and daughter are very proud of him today!

I have anonymized the information and not provided a link. But isn't that charming? These gentle, non-violent "activists" have already pestered the family enough that they've had to disconnect their phone!

How retarded are these dolts? This is absolutely only going to backfire against them, big-time. They have no idea what it's like to be at the center of a media firestorm, but they are about to find out.

Update V: I listened to the Bermas/Gary Talis interview on Alex Jones show. Here's a You Tube Video:

Bermas: Did you hit a girl in a wheelchair?

Talis: Mmmm-mmmm (Unclear). I couldn't believe as I read that in the Post. It's very strange what the person did, he actually used, uh, I believe it was his daughter, he actually used it as a weapon and shield at the same time, very shocking, though, the girl was crying, I was trying to walk away from the incident because it was getting pretty violent, and as soon as I try to walk away, this guy runs at me and hits me in the kneecaps and starts screaming, "Assault, he hit my daughter!" at the same time I'm trying to keep my balance, and I hear a right and a left coming at me, you know this 500-lb, 6 foot something guy, trying to attack me, the next thing I know the police come and handcuff me left and right, swinging me around, trying to get handcuffs on me, actually it kinda looked like they were trying to abuse me, they were really angry, they heard that I hit somebody in a wheelchair (unintelligible) this was the only way the guy could have framed me and it seemed like it was coordinated--

Bermas: Let me get this straight, this is a much bigger guy than you?

Talis: Yeah, he was a much bigger guy, he's like around 400-something pounds.

Bermas: Yeah because I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but you're not a physically intimidating guy, you're a skinny young, who again, you didn't scream any obscenities, did you? I mean you were talking about 9-11 and the Bush crime syndicate.

Talis: Yeah, I was actually intellectually screaming out my statement, what do they want me to do, they're saying I was hackling (sic), I can't really whisper to somebody 20 feet away. They were keeping me away from her, I don't see that as hackling."

Bermas: They're saying you used obscenities and I just want to clear that up as well, you didn't scream any curse words, did you?

Talis: Of course not.

"Shield?" Pardon me for pointing out the obvious, but if Mr Lovetro needed a "shield", it doesn't sound like the claim that Gary wasn't hitting back at all is true. And if he was walking away, how did Lovetro hit him in the kneecaps?

At Least They Are Glass Half Full Types of People

Apparently the Loose Change boys have revamped their blog. It is indicative of how much attention the Final Cut is drawing that even we haven't noticed this. Let's just face it, the WAC-Jobs chasing around celebrities and getting arrested have just been more interesting. Maybe Dylan should start chasing around Paris Hilton around Beverly Hills screaming "9/11 was an inside job" until her bodyguard throws him in a dumpster or something?

Anyway, I was amused to see this post by young Mr. Avery, commenting on the success of their recent Troofstock event:

Here I am, in sunny San Diego. Lots of things are going on. Where should I start?

TruthStock 2008 went extremely well, in my eyes. We managed to half-pack a 800-seat auditorium at San Diego State University. Here’s footage of some of the turnout:

Of course you should never post the footage unless it backs up your story, because the footage shows nowhere near 400 people, even the rows up front are nowhere near half full. No more than 40 people are shown in the frames. Unless they are all conveniently hiding out of camera shot at the back of the auditorium.

We Are Idiots Harass the Govuhnator

In this bizarre video We Are Change chases Arnold Schwarzenegger around Yale University calling him a Nazi and demanding he explain his relationship with controversial Austrian politician Kurt Waldheim, although I doubt he has much of a relationship at all with Waldheim now, considering that he died last year. Hey, harassing the first lady is one thing, but should these WAC-jobs be taunting an unstoppable killer cyborg?

Still Moron Alex Jones and the Jooos

Our buddy Edmund Standing is doing a great job with these posts.

The very same day the last comment was posted, I discovered that the people over at the biggest white racist forum on the internet, Stormfront, were very pleased with Alex Jones. Why? Because in a recent edition of his radio show, Jones discussed the Khazar theory at length and gave it, and some 'Christian Identity' pseudo-history, his scholarly seal of approval.

We mostly focus on Alex's 9-11 nuttery over here, but you gotta remember, he's got a wacko theory about everything under the sun.

WAC-Job Video of Laura Bush Event

"How do you feel about the majority of Americans think your father did 9-11?"

Sounds like "Gary" picked a fight with a man wheeling his daughter in a wheelchair. Granted, that's not how the We Are Change bat describes it, but Gary's the one facing assault charges. Matt apparently got a disorderly person citation.

Gary's apparently the guy in the beginning who thought he could talk constitutional law with a Secret Service Agent.

The World's Stupidest Dare

I am so tired of these lists that troothers are putting together of people they claim support them, when so many of them don't. Alex Floum, posting on 911 Blogger makes yet another example of this dishonesty.

Are You Willing to Call These All-American Patriots "Iran Dupes" To Their Face?!

The number 2 honcho from Al (nudge nudge wink wink) Qaeda supposedly said that Iran is behind questions about 9/11 (he was apparently only referring to Israel, although most Americans will only read the headline).

So let me ask you something. Are you saying that these all-American high-level military leaders, intelligence officials, Congress people, 9/11 Commissioners and other patriots are dupes for Iran?

Are you willing to say that to their FACE?
I didn't think so . . .

Of course when you look at the list, the first people who are listed, are the 9/11 Commission, the very people who wrote that al Qaeda was behind the attacks:

9/11 COMMISSIONERS
The co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission (Thomas Keane and Lee Hamilton) said that the CIA (and likely the White House) "obstructed our investigation".

The co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission also said that the 9/11 Commissioners knew that military officials misrepresented the facts to the Commission, and the commission considered recommending criminal charges for such false statements, yet didn't bother to tell the American people (free subscription required).Indeed, the co-chairs of the Commission now admit that the Commission largely operated based upon political considerations.

Yes it would be stupid to get in their faces and accuse them of being dupes of Iran, because they quite clearly are not on the side of the conspiracy theorists, no matter the flavor.

WAC-Jobs Busted at Laura Bush Book Event

According to We Are Change:

Two of our We Are Change members Matt Lepacek and Gary were arrested tonight during the Laura Bush & Jenna Bush truth squad. Gary was physically assaulted by an unknown man. That unknown man was released, but Gary is still at the precinct awaiting charges. The charges are still unknown for Matt Lepacek. This is unlawful and outrageous.

Lepacek of course was the goofball who was busted for trespass when he was kicked out of a debate spin room in New Hampshire after haranguing a representative of Rudy Giuliani. This makes twice he's been arrested for his Truther activities, compared to how many times for Luke Rudkowski? Heck, even Luke's girlfriend Sabrina's been charged. Yo, Luke! You're slacking off. Matt's rapidly becoming the face of We Are Change.

Update: Forgot to give credit to Mikey Metz for finding this. Thanks, Mikey!

Troofer Wars Continue

This will probably be decried as too much inside baseball, but after two years of doing this, I find the personalities much more interesting than the endlessly recycled claims. Here's footage of the Nico Haupt/Luke Rudkowski dust-up that's been getting attention at Prison Planet and elsewhere. (Profanity, NSFW):



Apparently Nico was trying to place a Hitler mustache (black piece of tape) on Sabrina, although he never really comes closer than about six inches to her face. Luke goes ballistic. Oddly, the cops watched this video (taped by Paula Gloria) of the incident and charged Sabrina and Nico, but not Luke.

Note too the bizarre situation at the start with Gloria and Sabrina filming each other.

The State Senator Is a Troofer

Since Jesse Ventura hasn't been a governor for several years, I'm going to guess that Karen S. Johnson, a State Senator from Mesa, Arizona, is the highest-ranking elected Troofer. And no, she's not a Democrat, a Green or a Libertarian; she's a Republican.

This one requires a little background. A few years ago, Arizona decided to have a little memorial built to 9-11. It's a circular steel monument with holes cut in it to reveal phrases on the concrete below when the light hits it. Most of the phrases are non-controversial, but some are a little annoying, such as "You don't win battles of terrorism with more battles." Another claims to tie 9-11 to the Gulf of Tonkin incident. So the memorial has been something of a cause celebre in Arizona for the last several years. But it hasn't been changed, so far, which is fine with Karen Johnson:

But legislators who voted against altering the memorial said they believe it needs to represent various viewpoints and feelings about the events leading up to and following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. And that, according to Sen. Karen Johnson, R-Mesa, includes the still-open possibility that Americans have yet to learn the full story.

"There's many of us," she said, "that believe there's been a cover-up," ranging from who was really behind the attacks to questions about whether what flew into the World Trade Center towers were pilotless drones and the passengers had been taken off beforehand.

"And there's a lot of statements on that 9/11 memorial that reflect a lot of our views that we have about it," Johnson said. "And I think all of those need to be represented."

What a maroon! Johnson's what I would call a paleo-conservative of the Pat Buchanan ilk; in fact, she chaired Buchanan's campaign in Arizona in 1996. She's also a North American Union fruitcake, and is very concerned that gays are ruining marriage. And she's a big believer in the sanctity of marriage, having exchanged eternal vows with five different men so far. And yes, she supported Ron Paul this year.

It's been a while for the old Nutbar-O-Meter, but if Karen Johnson doesn't deserve it, who does?



Hat Tip: Mr Right and National Review Online.

Zawahiri on 9/11, "Yes We Did"

The troofers like to talk about how Osama bin Laden is dead, a CIA stooge, or a myriad of other theories, but they always ignore other members of al Qaeda.

Al-Zawahiri also denied a conspiracy theory that Israel carried out the September 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S., and he blamed Iran and Shiite Hezbollah for spreading the idea to discredit the Sunni al Qaeda's achievement.

Al-Zawahiri accused Hezbollah's al-Manar television of starting the rumor.

"The purpose of this lie is clear -- (to suggest) that there are no heroes among the Sunnis who can hurt America as no else did in history.

Iranian media snapped up this lie and repeated it," he said.

"Iran's aim here is also clear -- to cover up its involvement with America in invading the homes of Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq," he added.

Truther Week--Not a Bang, But a Whimper?

The Shell game never got above #62 or so that I saw on Amazon; as predicted early in the week the sales are collapsing. Right now Shell Game is at #151 and collapsing into its own footprint at freefall speed.

I would love to see all the Truthers who bought it forced to answer trivia questions about this astonishingly boring novel.

(Change to better analogy suggested by eromitlab in the comments).

Jon Gold Asks Another Stupid Question

I would respond over on 9/11 Blogger, but I have been banned, along with everyone else who tries to point out reality to them. Ironic, since they are always claiming they just want their questions answered, but then ban anyone who does.

Ironically I mentioned this just last night in my Steve Alten post, as Gold is asking "What Is The Proof That Dick Cheney Was In Charge Of The Wargames On 9/11?", something that Alten brought up in his press release.

The answer is of course, there is none, as this myth was created by Michael Ruppert, among others, who obviously failed the reading comprehension portions of their SATs, and has been passed along unquestionably among generations of truthers. As 911 Myths explains, in their usually excellent manner:

To review, then, these claims seem based on two ideas: the first being that the Office of National Preparedness could take charge of NORAD exercises, the second that Cheney being given oversight of the ONP meant he was "solely in charge of the overlapping NORAD drills and wargames on the morning of 9/11". Big ideas, then, but look at the details and you see there's minimal or no supporting evidence. They just don't stand up to scrutiny.

So read that whole article Jon, and get back to us if you have any more stupid questions.

Actually, to save us both time, why don't you read the entire site?

Shakespeare and the Troofers

I believe William Shakespeare was talking about the troofers when he famously observed, "Life is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Are you still reeling from the last time the 9/11 truth movement declared a general strike? Was service at Burger King interminably long as a result of their 5 minutes per day strike idea. Well, they are striking back (no pun intended) against the New World Order. Although I am a bit mystified, if the country is on the verge of disaster and imminent fascism, why they are waiting another 5 more months, just to have a convenient date to do it on?

GENERAL STRIKE 9/11/08
Why spend our time protesting in DC to be ignored? Unless we get in the streets outside our rep.s personal residences- who is going to care?
We need to mobilize locally- & demand national action. Few of us could go to Washington- but many of us- can go to our city halls or state legislatures- or local Congressional offices.
Tell the government that we're fed up with war, torture, corruption, & special interest funding our elections & our media.
Strikes have brought civil rights in the U.S. & around the world. Help make our voices louder than the mainstream media & corporate dollars.

9/11/08 to ?
HOWEVER LONG IT TAKES!!

Go ahead, take all the time you need...

Moron Alex Jones' Anti-Semitic Friends

Longtime commenter Edmund Standing has another great piece on one of Alex Jones' good buddies, Texe Marrs:

Looking further into Marrs' online shop, we find the Nazi links don't end with his slanderous words about Israelis. Among the books on sale, Marrs offers the notorious anti-Semitic forgery The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, which purports to be the record of a meeting of high ranking Jews, setting out their plans for world domination.

Disgusting.

The Bentham Journals

Some of the guys over at JREF have dug up some interesting information regarding the Bentham Journals, the company that Steven Jones is all proud published his letter to the editor, for $600 of course. Some highlights:

Chris Reed, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry (University of California, Riverside), offers the following modest proposal on CHMINF-L:

Colleagues:In last week's interesting CHMINF-L discussion on Nature's proliferation of new journals, faculty habits, and the serials market, I saw no mention of an ongoing parallel onslaught by Bentham. In the past month, I have received no less that three invitations to join the editorial boards of new Bentham journals -- "Current this", "Frontiers of that" -- none in areas of my real expertise.The same old tactics are being used: exploiting a faculty weakness for seeing one's name in print, offering a career advance by having Editorial Board appointments on one's CV at promotion time, flattering authors with invitations to contribute papers in special issues, etc. All this effectively silences faculty from speaking out, or even caring about, the issues librarians understand so well. It is one of the reasons I am advocating that promotion policies at the University of California specify that appointments to the editorial boards of low quality, overpriced journals should count against promotion. The idea may not be so outrageous in five or ten years time.

And this one:

I was particularly pleased with the following:

Based on your record of contributions in the field of Education, I would like to invite you to submit to me your CV with current list of publications so that we may consider you as a possible *Editorial Board Member* for the journal.

Since I my record in the field of Education is nil, I feel particularly well-qualified. I have never written a thing in an Education journal. I don't know whether or not to be honored to be invited to contribute to the Open Journal of Sleep.

If you look at the web page of the "Open Journal Advisory Board" http://www.bentham.org/open/toeconsj/EBM.htm
you will find something remarkable. There is a list of about 40 economists who are "members of the advisory board," all but one of whose last names start with the letters A-C and only one of whom I have ever heard of. I suppose these are the top of the list of people who responded to the spam letters. What an embarrassing list to have one's name on.

Check out the thread for some more great info by Lashl, TAM and more.

Steve Alten Begs Press to Pay Attention To Him

As if pimping yourself out to the troofers to promote your career wasn't lame enough, now the guy is begging talk show hosts to pay attention to him:

New York Times best-selling author Steve Alten, whose recently released novel, The SHELL GAME has served as a rallying cry for tens of thousands of 9/11 truth activists, has issued a public challenge to conservative talk show hosts Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and anyone else who still believes the official story of September 11th, 2001.

“I am not a liberal democrat, nor am I an activist or conspiracy theorist," says Alten, "I am a proud American who loves his country. I was the last person ever to believe our own government was involved in September 11th. Now that I have looked at the evidence...I’d have to be a 'pinhead' to believe such outlandish lies!”

Alten’s novel, The Shell Game, is about the end of oil and the next 9/11 event – a false flag attack using a nuclear suitcase bomb that will give the neoconservatives the excuse they seek to launch an attack on Iran. Paul Craig Roberts, a former Wall Street senior editor and the father of Reagenomics says the book is an absolute “must read.” Activists challenging the official story of the Bush Administration have rallied around Alten’s novel, calling it a cautionary tale in the same vein as 1984.

Alten appeared as a guest on Mike McConnell’s radio show last Thursday morning and by many accounts “whipped” the conservative talk show host into a corner using facts about the 9/11 wargames, overseen by Vice President Dick Cheney, that simulated hijacked commercial jetliners.

I am not sure who thinks he whipped Mike McConnell, by my account he came off looking like a complete idiot. The idea that Cheney oversaw any exercises is a complete lie he picked up from Michael Ruppert, and Alten knows it is a lie, because I explained it to him in an e-mail exchange I had with him over a month ago.

Weird Science

For years now the debunker community (for lack of a better term) has been pointing out that despite their arguments to authority the truthers have yet to produce anything of scientific or academic merit. Because of this Steven Jones, who seems to be more concerned about the actions and opinions of JREF members than those of Dick Cheney, has been trying to get their work published in a journal, or at least onethat he did not set up himself. Well they have finally succeeded, but missed the point. The point is not that they are incapable of getting anything published, hell David Ray Griffin has certainly succeeded on that point, but in gaining acceptance in the scientific community by getting some significant research of theirs noticed by the scientific community at large.

So in this aspect they have failed miserably, by only getting, not a research paper, but a sarcastic letter-to-the-editor opinion type piece, thinly veiled as 14 points of agreement with NIST. This has not stopped the truther community from hailing this as a grand achievement though. From OpEd news for example, with the headline:

14 Point Destruction of the NIST & FEMA 9/11 WTC Reports

Of course this is the exact opposite of what the letter pretends to accomplish, with its title:

Fourteen Points of Agreement: World Trade Center Destruction

So either the content of the letter completely failed to agree with its purported conclusion, usually considered a sign of failure in the academic community, or the truther writing this completely misunderstood it.

He continues later:

With publication in a mainstream, peer-reviewed scientific journal the debate about 9/11 WTC controlled demolition has reached a new level. AE911Truth.org has 317 architectural and engineering professionals and growing, so the debate has not been insignificant thus far. Also, the NIST FAQs show the public debate has not gone unnoticed by NIST. However, now, with the publication of this article, the scientific community has been invited, and NIST defenders are challenged, to debate the true meaning of these 14 points that the NIST Report and/or FEMA Report have acknowledged as fact.

What debate? Yes, AE911truth has managed to sign up a lot of names, although well short of their September 2008 goal of 1,000, but what work have they produced? To my knowledge, none. Not a single peer-reviewed article by a single structural engineer, nor a single media appearance, or even a new argument posted on a webpage. Heck, has any member of this organization, other than Richard Gage ever done anything? I follow the movement on a daily basis, and I could not name a single other active member. Merely stating on a website that you disagree with something hardly ranks as scientific proof, or counts as some sort of debate.

Truth Weak Watch

Well I am relatively impressed, the troofers spending their pizza delivery tip money actually managed to get the Shell Game to peak at 62 on Amazon yesterday, before falling to 87 currently. This is higher than I expected. It is currently ranked at 869 on Barnesandnoble.com though, suggesting it may be a local phenomenon, unlikely to garner a top-10 NY Times ranking. Regardless, the odds of the truthers replicating their own little one hundredth monkey experiment, causing some massive 9/11 truth awareness, zero.

The NWO is in My Basement!

I bought a shredder for my office, to get rid of old bills and such. I know the normal procedure to get rid of incriminating documents is just to blow up the entire building, but the wife complained. Anyway, the shredder wasn't working too well so I pulled it open and looked at it.
Apparently the thing had become jammed to the point that some of the blades had actually partially melted. So using the scientific method, and knowing that fire (or in this case a lack of fire) doesn't melt steel, the only conclusion I could come to was that the NWO used super nano-thermate on my paper shredder! The bastards. I am putting this on my expense report.

Steven Jones Gets His Paper Published

I know Pat already mentioned this briefly, but this subject is just too bizarre not to talk about further. After years of hype they finally get something published somewhere other than their own website, and they had to water it down so much that the title of the article was "Fourteen Points of Agreement with Official Government Reports on the World Trade Center Destruction". Wow, after 3 years, all they could come up with was the stuff that they agree with other people on. This has got to be the biggest letdown since Geraldo broke into that vault, or the release of Loose Change Final Cut for that matter.

Jones is, of course, going on like he won the Pulitzer:

With publication in an established civil engineering journal, the discussion has reached a new level – JREF’ers and others may attack, but unless they can also get published in a peer-reviewed journal, those attacks do not carry nearly the weight of a peer-reviewed paper. It may be that debunkers will try to avoid the fourteen issues we raise in the Letter, by attacking the author(s) or even the journal rather than addressing the science – that would not surprise me.

Why would anyone attack the "14 issues"? The only issues they brought up were items that people were largely on agreement with, such stunners as:


8. WTC Fires Did Not Melt Steel

Of course if you read the footnotes, you will notice that the number one source is Jones' own Journal of 9/11 Studies, without noting that this journal is run by the very people who are writing the paper itself. Undoubtedly, future JONES papers will now reference this paper, in an incestuous cross reference, pretending that this is actually open debate.

I could not help but think of this quote from, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America by Michael Barkun, which I am currently in the process of reading.

At the same time that stigmatization is employed as a virtual guarantee of truth, the literature of stigmatized knowledge enthusiastically mimics mainstream scholarship. It does so by appropriating the apparatus of scholarship in the form of elaborate citations and bibliographies. The most common manifestation of pedantry is a fondness for reciprocal citation, in which the authors obligingly cite one another. The result is that the same sources are repeated over and over, which produces a kind of pseudoconfirmation. If a source is cited many times, it must be true. Because the claims made by conspiracy theorists are usually nonfalsifiable, the multiplication of sources may leave the impression of validation without actually putting any propositions to the test of evidence.

Update: This is what I am talking about as far as their incestous self-referential claims. Let's take this paragraph from their "peer review" paper.

Published papers have argued that this negligence by NIST (leaving the near-free-fall speeds unexplained) is a major flaw in their analysis [13, 14].

Well, this has been argued in "published papers" so there must be some legitimacy to this claim to back up their argument, right? They were published after all.

Well let's look at the footnotes:

[13] S. E. Jones, “Why indeed did the WTC buildings completely collapse?”, Journal of 9/11 Studies, vol. 3, pp. 1-47, September 2006. [Online]. Available: www.journalof911studies.com [Accessed March 17, 2008].

[14] F. Legge and T. Szamboti, “9/11 and the twin towers: Sudden collapse initiation was impossible”, Journal of 9/11 Studies, vol. 18, pp. 1-3, December 2007. [Online]. Available: www. journalof911studies.com Accessed March 17, 2008].

Well, these papers were published by Jones, Legge, and Szamboti, who were 3 of the 5 authors of this paper in the first place, and it was published in the Journal of 9/11 Studies, which Jones founded, and whose editors are, you guessed it, Steven Jones and Frank Legge!

How to Get a Peer-Reviewed Paper Published

Jones tries a pretty buffoonish approach: List the areas where you agree with the experts. No kidding, that's how they got their paper published.

9-11 Plotters' Trials To Be Shown to Victim's Families

A superb decision by the military.

The trials will be beamed to closed-circuit television viewing sites on military bases at Fort Hamilton in New York, Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, Fort Meade in Maryland and Fort Devens in Massachusetts, Morris said.

One of the Jersey Girls is mentioned:

U.S. federal courts normally ban cameras. But through an act of Congress, Moussaoui's 2006 court hearing in Virginia was shown by closed-circuit television to victims' families at courthouses in Boston, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

"We got much more information from those hearings than we ever got from the 9-11 Commission," said Lorie Van Auken, whose husband Kenneth died in the World Trade Center, referring to the investigation the U.S. Congress launched into the attacks.

I would love to see the trials broadcast on CourtTV, but this is the second-best option.

Jason Bermas on with Paranoid Alex

Just what the world needs, new movies from both Alex Jones and Jason Bermas. Jones unbelievably still brings up the prepositioned troops in Central Asia thing.

Journalists for 9/11 Truth?

One of the troofers over at 9/11 Blogger asks:

we have..............

Scholars For 9/11 Truth..............

Architects and Engineers for 9-11 Truth..............

Artists for 9/11 Truth..............

Etc , ...
but when are we going to have.............. Journalists for 9/11 Truth ?

Don't hold your breath. The problem is that with the exception of racist nutjobs like Chris Bollyn, most journalists understand at least the basics of concepts like evidence, sourcing, burden of proof and having a consistent narrative. None of those characteristics go along well with the 9/11 conspiracy movement.

Troof Week Day Two

They got him up to #79.

It might just happen. Short Pizza Hut, go long Shell Game!

Another Holocaust Denier Joins the Troofers

Actually it was my impression that Ahmadinejad had gone Truther on us previously, but I couldn't find any record of it in our archives.

Earlier Wednesday, Ahmadinejad called the 9/11 attacks a "suspect event" in a speech at a public rally in the holy city of Qom.

"Four or five years ago a suspect event took place in New York," Ahmadinejad said, in an address carried live on state television.

"A building collapsed and they said that 3,000 people had been killed, whose names were never published."

Update: A bit of this even made it into last night's debate between Hillary and Obama. Hillary notes:

I certainly would not meet with Ahmadinejad because even again today he made light of 9/11, and said that he's not even sure it happened and that people actually died.

Ron Paul's New Plan to Win the Presidency

I haven't been listening to much fruitloop radio lately, and so I listened to an hour of Hang 'Em High Kevin Barrett tonight. It's all about the upcoming Truther confab at Keene State, where apparently Daniel Hopsicker is one of the headliners. Barrett mentions that's a real "get"; apparently Hopsicker used to be too respectable to hang around with the controlled demolition nuts, heh.

Hopsicker, of course, is responsible for much of the goofball claims about Mohamed Atta living with a stripper and snorting cocaine. Of course, as we have pointed out a million times, the stripper in question (Amanda Keller) has long since admitted it was another guy named Mohamed she dated.

Barrett says that he may be announcing a run for Congress this year, and notes that he attended a local libertarian convention. Jackman, the junior guy at Student Scholars, expresses admiration for Mike Gravel, who's still in the race, but now as a libertarian himself.

But the real kicker was a Ron Paul ad. Some guy selling some Ron Paul products claims that Ron Paul could still win the election if you come to his website. I won't link it but he claims that they could steal enough delegates if they just get tricky like some of the nutbars in Minnesota:

There was controversy at Minnesota's 6th Congressional District Convention. The district covers part of the Twin Cities metro area and extends to the west and into nearby St. Cloud, Minn. Paul supporters were accused of dirty tricks.

"They hijacked the convention," said Jeff Johnson who serves as Minnesota's Senate District 15 co-chairman.

Two out of three national delegates elected were Ron Paul supporters and all three of the alternates supported Paul. After the election results were announced at the convention, they were immediately disputed when it was discovered that the candidates had agreed to support John McCain in pre-screening questions.

The usual nutty attempts by the Ronulans.

Steve Alten Starts Off "Promote Me Week" Poorly

Steve Alten starts off his week of trying to get troofers to bail out his flagging career by appearing on Mike McConnell's radio show. To sum it up, he gets spanked like a red-headed step-child. The whole interview is pretty good, but this part left me shaking my head, about 16:15 in.

Mike: The normal rate of speed for those buildings to have come down would have taken 9 seconds. It took 15. Now if in your mind 15 is less than 9 than you are right it did fall faster than gravity, but 15 is more than 9.

Steve: Who said that 15 seconds is the normal speed that a building that's on fire would collapse?

Mike: It's not. Nine seconds it how long it would take in free fall.

Steve: If it was imploded...

Mike: In a free fall for those buildings to come down.

Steve: Yeah, but why?

Mike: Instead, it took 15.

Steve: But Mike, why were those buildings falling at free fall speed? There's never been in the history of steel structures...

Mike: Wait a minute. You're having a problem with this. Fifteen seconds is not free fall speed. They did not do what you say they did. Fifteen is not 9.

Steve: The buildings fell in 10 seconds, if you go back... even if they fell in 15, which is a matter of semantics at this point...

Mike: No, no, they are not semantics, they are real numbers.

Steve: Mike, why are you determining that the World Trade Centers should have fallen in 15 seconds?

Mike: I didn't say it should.

Steve: Why are you determining?

Mike: I said it did, not that it should.

Steve: And what I am saying is that World Trade Center 7, which was a 50 story building which wasn't hit by any plane fell in 15, 10 to 15 seconds, at free fall speed.

This guy should give up on thrillers and become a comedy writer.

Cui Bono?

Yeesh, the anti-semitic wing of the "Truth" brigade gets a bone from Netanyahu:

The Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv on Wednesday reported that Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu told an audience at Bar Ilan university that the September 11, 2001 terror attacks had been beneficial for Israel.

"We are benefiting from one thing, and that is the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, and the American struggle in Iraq," Ma'ariv quoted the former prime minister as saying. He reportedly added that these events "swung American public opinion in our favor."

Let me say here that of course the Israelis benefited from 9-11. A Jewish friend of mine said only a few hours after the attack, "Well now you know what Israel goes through every day." He immediately apologized, noting that "every day" is a ridiculous overstatement. But we certainly discovered what it was like to be targeted by Arab terrorists.

And the Brits benefited from Pearl Harbor, and the Poles probably benefited from the Gulf of Tonkin.

Update: Well, whaddya know; one of the first people ranting about how Israel was involved in 9-11 is our old buddy, Jon Gold:

America has always been in Israel's "favor". You know Ben, one might think Israel may have had something to do with 9/11. Oh, guess what? There's reason to think so.

The post that Jon points to includes mention of supposed Mossad warnings to the US about a terrorist attack. Let's imagine how this warning went down:

Mossad Agent: Hey just want to let you guys know that we're getting buzz of a terrorist attack in the US.

CIA Agent: Are you referring to the terrorist attack that we're cooperating on next week?

Mossad Agent: Yeah, we'll have our guys filming the attacks and celebrating. Nobody will notice them.

Alex Jones: Profit of Doom

You'll no doubt be shocked to hear that Alex Jones is running ads for a "Christian" hate group on his website.

Why do they advertise on Jones' site? Because, to paraphrase Willie Sutton, that's where the kooks are. Excellent job of investigative blogging by our longtime commenter, Edmund Standing!

Troof Week Day One

Alten's book rockets up to #322 on the Amazon Best-Seller List.

That's not going to do it. My estimate is that Shell Game will have to at least hit #1 or #2 temporarily in order to make it into the NY Times Top Ten, because there will undoubtedly be a sharp dropoff in sales as the week goes on. They needed a big start, and it appears that they have not gotten it. Could this be a bigger fiasco than Truther Burn?

Update at 6:00 PM Pacific: It seems to have topped out at #161; as of now it's at #175. Not with a bang, but a whimper.

The Three Stooges at Troofstock

Dylan Avery posted this video of him, Steven Jones, and Richard Gage at Troofstock in San Diego, bizarrely thinking it would make him look good. It starts out with Jones going on with his thermite fetish, which he describes differently every time he mentions it. It gets most interesting about halfway through when the audience (what little there are, the place is mostly empty) starts turning on them. One guy starts screaming the middle of the aisle, "Stop! Please, you are killing the left!" Before getting on his knees begging, and finally leaving. A couple of other audience members ask how such a complicated plot could be brought off, to which they get little answer other than "Hey, we don't have the details, we are investigating". It is worth watching just for that.

Mahmoud Ahmed, Redux

One of our commenters is bringing this up yet again, so I thought I'd run through it as a little exercise:

Why didn't the 9/11 Commission bother investigating Lt. General Mahmood Ahmad of the Pakistani ISI? They were told about him two times. Once in the form of a question from the families, and once in the form of testimony from Sibel Edmonds. Yet, they didn't think him important enough to investigate, or mention in their report. He was only alleged to have ordered Omar Sheikh to wire transfer $100,000 to Mohammad Atta, the alleged lead hijacker of the 9/11 attacks as reported by the Times of India and Agence France-Press.

I replied that the $100,000 wire transfer existed in the mind of one journalist with the Times of India.

Really, then why did Agence France-Press, the Press Trust Of India, India Today, and the Daily Excelsior report on it as well without mention of the original Times of India article? If it was based on the "imagination of one reporter", they would have cited the reporter, and they didn't.

Unfortunately no links to the other stories, but here's the Agence France-Press account as archived at a Troofer site. Like all Troofers, our commenter appears unable to read:

Former Pakistani intelligence chief Lieutenant General Mahmood Ahmad was sacked after arch rival India said it had provided evidence linking him to the US terror attacks, a report said Wednesday. The Times of India newspaper reported the general lost his job after India said he had ordered money to be wired to Mohammad Atta who hijacked one of the planes that crashed into the World Tade Center in New York on September 11.

(Bolding added for emphasis).

AFP does, as the commenter notes, claim to have done some original reporting on the piece:

A highly-placed government source told AFP that the "damning link" between the general and the transfer of funds to Atta was part of evidence which India has officially sent to the US. "The evidence we have supplied to the US is of a much wider range and depth than just one piece of paper linking a rogue general to some misplaced act of terrorism," the source said.

You know how it is; getting some Indian government source to (anonymously) say something negative about Pakistan is not exactly difficult. But we'll talk about this at the end of the post.

And later:

Let's also not forget Dawn which the Wall Street Journal cited.

He links to this post from the Wayback Machine. It appears that Dawn itself has disappeared. It does mention the supposed $100,000 wire transfer to Atta.

But note the attribution:

The FBI team, which had sought adequate inputs about various terrorists including Sheikh from the intelligence agencies, was working on the linkages between Sheikh and former ISI chief Gen Mahmud which are believed to have been substantiated, reports PTI website.

Not sure what the PTI website is; P____ Times of India?

But curiously, the original Wall Street Journal post that mentions the Dawn site notes only the following:

The Pakistani newspaper Dawn reports that Islamabad has replaced the head of its Inter-Services Intelligence agency, Lt. Gen. Mahmud Ahmed, "after the FBI investigators established credible links between him and Umar Sheikh, one of the three militants released in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane in 1999."

Somehow they missed this huge scoop about Ahmed sending the dough to Atta. But the next day they catch it in (you guessed it):

Yesterday we noted a report from a Pakistani newspaper that Lt. Gen. Mahmud Ahmad had been fired as head of Islamabad's Inter-Services Security agency after U.S. linked him to a militant allied with terrorists who hijacked an Indian Airlines plane in 1999. Now the Times of India says Ahmad is connected to the Sept. 11 attacks:

(Bolding added for emphasis).

And I've always felt this was an odd argument for the MIHOP or even LIHOP crowd. Remember the original Times of India piece claimed:

the us authorities sought his removal after confirming the fact that $100,000 were wired to wtc hijacker mohammed atta from pakistan by ahmad umar sheikh at the instance of gen mahumd.

Why exactly would the US authorities demand his removal if they were in on the plot, or at least knew about it and let it happen?

Details on the financing of the terrorist operation is here. As you can see, there is pretty extensive detail on dates and amounts.

So to reiterate, the original source for the story remains one report in the Times of India; all other accounts start from this. Agence France Press claims to have confirmed the story, but the piece is not bylined and the source is undisclosed. This is rather typical of the "proof" that Troofers come up with.

9-11 Myths has a much more exhaustive treatment of this issue.