# Ask the conspiracy theorist **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 27, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012 "2012-10-27T05:07:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/281 "2012-12-08T03:28:57Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Say what you mean Fine. > [@](#): > > Many said the speech had echoes of his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, who always saw “hidden hands” behind public unrest. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/282 "2012-12-08T03:36:47Z")
So Mubarak was paranoid. When you hold power for thirty years you get a lot of frustrated persons in your country who think they could do a better job. There is no need to imagine any other entity above domestic opponents. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/283 "2012-12-08T04:33:32Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > It does not follow, though, that one’s _understanding_ of the “world out there” is messy, complex, confusing, contradictory. This thread makes it seem quite likely. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/284 "2012-12-08T05:16:20Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > So Mubarak was paranoid. When you hold power for thirty years you get a lot of frustrated persons in your country who think they could do a better job. There is no need to imagine any other entity above domestic opponents. Yeah, as a rule of thumb, conspiracies catch on really, really quickly in the Middle East. Who knows why, but I’ve heard many laughable things catch on and get reported as the god’s honest truth. I seem to remember things like believing that tasers are actually instruments to render Arab men infertile. Also, the Iraqi military spent millions of dollars on useless metals rods which were supposed to be used like dowsing sticks to find bombs, drugs, smuggled goods, unicorns, and optimism. Saying that there is a conspiracy theory going around the Middle East about shadowy powers doing something is evidence of nothing. It is like saying that snow in Alaska proves that global warming doesn’t exist, or warm temperatures in Arizona proves that it does exist. Here’s proof from the best source possible: > **[Conspiracy Theories Fuel Anti-Western Sentiment in the Middle East](https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/09/12/does-mideast-democracy-complicate-diplomacy/conspiracy-theories-fuel-anti-western-sentiment-in-the-middle-east)** > > Citizens justify sacking an embassy because they believe the U.S. to be part of a network of manipulation and evil machination. Who can change that? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/285 "2012-12-08T10:05:16Z")
When and what was the first conspiracy? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/286 "2012-12-08T12:56:58Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > When and what was the first conspiracy? Exactly what _did_ happen to the dinosaurs? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/287 "2012-12-08T15:14:21Z")
What, you’re just going to ignore all those millions of trilobites, crying for justice from the rocks? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/288 "2012-12-08T18:33:47Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Here’s proof from the best source possible: > [Conspiracy Theories Fuel Anti-Western Sentiment in the Middle East - NYTimes.com](http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/09/12/does-mideast-democracy-complicate-diplomacy/conspiracy-theories-fuel-anti-western-sentiment-in-the-middle-east) From that article\*: _"Skepticism is usual and healthy, but conspiracy theories inspire a generalized, knee-jerk cynical mistrust – and keep a populace primed for panic and violence against the West._ That fostering of knee-jerk distrust is one of the major reasons I loathe the conspiracy-theorist mindset (others are its fostering of bigotry, time-wasting and sheer mind-numbing stupidity). \*You do know that the exact same story appeared previously on drudgereport? 😕:eek::(:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/289 "2012-12-13T07:08:51Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > When and what was the first conspiracy? If David Icke is to be believed, Mesopotamia, 6000 B.C. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > This thread makes it seem quite likely. Yesterday I read in _The New York Times_ about Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signing bills limiting unions. In the front page article, it was reported that > [@](#): > > Mr. Snyder signed the bills without fanfare on Tuesday afternoon, alerting reporters of it after the fact. [Except](http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/12/michigan_right_to_work_in_nati.html) that > [@](#): > > The governor spoke with CNN’s Poppy Harlow moments before signing the right-to-work legislation into law. I watched it on CNN and the next day I read about it in _The New York Times_. I noticed that inconsistency. > [@Marley23](#): > > “Newspaper of record” means “respected newspaper,” and that’s all it means. This does not mean everything they print is true. Right, not everything they print is true. (See above.) I use _The New York Times_ as a reference point. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/290 "2012-12-13T07:15:28Z")
What do you think of the Santa conspiracy? Shouldn’t children be told the truth rather than raised to first believe in the lie and then later as adults to perpetuate the conspiracy? ---
**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/291 "2012-12-13T23:59:25Z")
Kozmik: Genuine Q?, not a snark… Outside of the macro-view (Illuminati, JFK, NWO, etc) and down to the personal level…Do you believe that your family has told you things that are counter-factual about your own family. E.g., family tree? TMI: I dated a CT for awhile who tried to convince me my Aunt was really my mother’s mother. (Aunt was 18 years older than my mother). Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/292 "2012-12-15T05:06:12Z")
Do you believe there was a second shooter in the Newton massacre? Why did the government decide to make the massacre take place, and how did the government go about arranging it? ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/293 "2012-12-16T04:37:21Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > What do you think of the Santa conspiracy? > > Shouldn’t children be told the truth rather than raised to first believe in the lie and then later as adults to perpetuate the conspiracy? I am not aware of any Santa conspiracy. There is a historical Santa - Saint Nicholas - who may or may not have given out gifts. Children should be neither told the truth nor lied to. I would tell my children about Santa Claus and direct them to Wikipedia - and let them draw their own conclusions > [@phxjcc](#): > > Do you believe that your family has told you things that are counter-factual about your own family. E.g., family tree? No. > [@Muffin](#): > > Do you believe there was a second shooter in the Newton massacre? No. I read _The New York Times_ today (like I do every day) and there was no indication that there was a second shooter. The only thing that opens the possibility of there being a second shooter was that it was reported in NYT that the gunman had guns in various locations. > [@Muffin](#): > > Why did the government decide to make the massacre take place, and how did the government go about arranging it? I do not believe that the government decided to make the massacre take place. I do not believe that the government arranged it. I believe that a gunman shot and killed his mother and then shot and killed 20 children and 5 adults. Unless something comes up, those possibilities are ruled out. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/294 "2012-12-19T05:49:34Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > I am not aware of any Santa conspiracy. There certainly is. Justin Trudeau is a Member of Parliament who is running for the leadership of his party (which if it wins the election will make him the Prime Minister.) When he was a child, his father Pierre Eliot Trudeau, who was the Prime Minister, took him to Santa’s workshop at the north pole, where he learned that his father was in control of Santa, and that he would eventually take over from his father. Worst yet, both Castro and Carter were there when all this came out, so now we know not only who Santa’s puppet master is, but we also know who pulls the strings of that puppet master. [http://www.cbc.ca/archives/on-this-day/justin-trudeaus-eulogy.html](http://www.cbc.ca/archives/on-this-day/justin-trudeaus-eulogy.html) > [@](#): > > I was about 6 years old when I went on my first official trip. I was going with my father and my Grandpa Sinclair to the North Pole. It was a very glamorous destination. > > But the best thing about it, was I was going to be spending lots of time with my dad. Because in Ottawa he just worked so hard. > > One day, we were in Alert, Canada’s northernmost point. [A] Scientific, military installation that seemed to consist entirely of low, shed-like buildings and warehouses. > > Let’s be honest: I was 6. There were no brothers around to play with. And I was getting a little bored because Dad still somehow, had a lot of work to do. > > I remember a frozen, windswept Arctic afternoon. And I was bundled up into a jeep and hustled out on a special, top-secret mission. > > I figured I was finally going to be let into the reason for the existence of this high-security Arctic base. > > I was exactly right. > > We drove slowly through and past the buildings, all of them very gray and windy. And we rounded a corner, and came upon a red one. > > We stopped. I got out of the jeep and started to crunch across toward the front door, but I was told – no, to the window. > > So I clambered over the snowbank, boosted up to the window, rubbed my sleeve across the frosty glass to see inside, and as my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I saw a figure, hunched over one of many worktables that seemed very cluttered. > > He was wearing a red suit with a furry white trim. And that’s when I understood just how powerful and wonderful my father was. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/295 "2012-12-19T05:52:02Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > Children should be neither told the truth nor lied to. I would tell my children about Santa Claus and direct them to Wikipedia - and let them draw their own conclusions So children should be condescended to and have their time wasted. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/296 "2012-12-19T05:53:12Z")
Kozmic, why is the French Government sending out police to prevent people from saving themselves from the end of the world on the 21st? I don’t think that it is fair that they are saving space in Bugarach for the Illumanati while the rest of us are left to die. [http://www.thelocal.fr/page/view/french-apocalypse-village-begs-stay-away](http://www.thelocal.fr/page/view/french-apocalypse-village-begs-stay-away) ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/297 "2012-12-21T04:31:20Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > So children should be condescended to and have their time wasted. No, I’m saying that children when asking about Santa Claus should be directed to Wikipedia or something equivalent and allowed to think independently and not be told about Santa Claus one way or the other. In the movie The Polar Express, the main character apparently wondering whether Santa Claus could live at the North Pole looks up “North Pole” in the World Book encyclopedia. > [@Muffin](#): > > Kozmic, why is the French Government sending out police to prevent people from saving themselves from the end of the world on the 21st? I don’t think that it is fair that they are saving space in Bugarach for the Illumanati while the rest of us are left to die. [http://www.thelocal.fr/page/view/french-apocalypse-village-begs-stay-away](http://www.thelocal.fr/page/view/french-apocalypse-village-begs-stay-away) They are doing that simply for control. The only thing that I can predict about tomorrow is that there will be snow, a blizzard. The end of the world? We’ll see. Recently, the President of France [spoke](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/business/global/france-details-plan-to-shrink-banking-risk.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0) about the Illuminati: > [@](#): > > “My real adversary has no name, no face, no party; it will never be a candidate, even though it governs,” he told supporters in the town of Le Bourget, near Paris. “It is the world of finance.” ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/298 "2012-12-21T05:02:05Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > Recently, the President of France [spoke](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/business/global/france-details-plan-to-shrink-banking-risk.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0) about the Illuminati: No he didn’t, he’s speaking about the financial interests. You’ve rarely posted a link that supports any of the points you’re attempting to make and this is no exception. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/299 "2012-12-21T05:28:55Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > You’ve rarely posted a link that supports any of the points you’re attempting to make and this is no exception. From the same newspaper, in the obiturary for Robert H. Bork: > [@](#): > > In an interview in The American Spectator in 2002, he repeated his view that a liberal elite had hijacked the nation. “Churchgoers aren’t very powerful, given their numbers,” he said. “And the intelligentsia is powerful, far beyond their numbers, because they control the hype of television. They control Hollywood. They control the newspapers. They control the foundations. They control the universities.” ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2012, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012/300 "2012-12-21T12:19:50Z")
Well, which is it? The “intelligentsia” or the “world of finance?” (For the record, as a person who was alive and following politica at the time, Bork got royally screwed by the “liberal media” and the Democrats of the Senate because they were set on opposing anything that Reagan did. [This is not intended to imply that I believe he would have been an asset to the court.] People do not remember how disliked Reagan was at the time by so many opinion makers.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-conspiracy-theorist/639012.md?page=16)