Dear friends,
I am noticing with some dismay that some (many?) of you are still firmly the mental clutches of the “conspiracy theories” logical fallacy. The reactions to Koenig’s articles about Ebola and HIV are typical of that kind of logical derailment. So it is hight time that I state a few basic assumptions of this blog.
1) A “conspiracy theory” is, a priori, a good thing. Why? Because the world is chock full of conspiracies. What is a conspiracy? It is a secret plan of a group of people. Does any of you really believe that with 16+ “intelligence” agencies in the USA there are not thousands of conspiracies hatched every day by tens of thousand of professional people just here, in the USA? Don’t you know that corporations conspire too? What do you think antitrust laws are all about? Do you know that the criminal code is also full of conspiracy crimes? So here is the deal: if you want to understand what happens behind the smokescreen thrown before you by the corporate media and government official you HAVE TO spend most of your time looking into conspiracy theories. Put simply – if you reject conspiracy theories you are blind. Period.
2) I don’t give a damn about my “credibility” or the “credibility” of my blog. I don’t deal in “credibility”. “Credibility” is an “argument of authority” which assumes that something coming from “A” is credible because it comes from “A”. This is not what I want for this blog. In the Saker community I want everybody to be critical of everybody and everything and to only judge an arguments in its own merits (or lack thereof). If tomorrow Poroshenko or Joe Biden write a good piece I would not hesitate to publish it. Not because I endorse it (I only endorse what I write!), but to foster an intelligent discussion. In other words, “credibility” is something attached to an argument, not a person.
3) In order to reject a hypothesis we have to first look into it. Unless we develop an 1984-like automatic rejection without analysis capability, there is no way for your to evaluate a thesis without being exposed to it. A hypothesis is just that – a “maybe” or “what if”. If it passes a preliminary stage of acceptance, and if it becomes formalized, it becomes a theory. Then, that theory can be tested, in particular in its ability to predict. Only then can it be proven false. In the case of Ebola and HIV all I hear is side “A” claiming that it was created by the US government while side “B” says that this is not so. In the meantime, NOBODY is offering any kind of halfway intelligent discussion of the hypothesis. Instead the hypothesis is dismissed prima facie as a “conspiracy theory”. Those who do that apparently fail to realize that if, as this hypothesis states, the US government had something to do with the creation of HIV or Ebola then by definition this was a conspiracy and, again, by definition only a conspiracy theory could help prove that.
What is wrong with you guys?! Has basic logic just become extinct?!
4) Last but not least – this blog is about *freedom of thought*, something sorely needed in our single-thought and completely monolithic society. I feel that freedom implies the freedom to make up you own mind and therefore to be exposed to something which is wrong or untrue. All of the media and 95% of the blogosphere is busy trying to establish “credibility” like a dog peeing in the four corners of a room to establish its territory. I say let them aspire to “credibility” if they so chose – I aspire for *freedom*. I want this blog to be a place where people can present odd, “heretical”, rejected, crimethink and otherwise persecuted ideas. Let them come here, present them, and if you disagree with them – tear them apart with facts and logic, be ruthless, don’t leave them a place to hide from your merciless analysis. But don’t rejected them without that, without this “trial by comments” in which all of us are jurors.
It just so happens that I remember some very well informed people telling me in the late 1980s early 1990s that HIV had all the signs of having been engineered. Is there a reason to reject such a hypothesis prima facie? Not if you know anything about the history of biowarfare research, especially by the US government. That I know for sure. But I personally have no opinion about HIV and no opinion about Ebola. Frankly, I don’t have the time to form an opinion about them (oh yes, I don’t consider having an opinion a “right” of some kind. Having an opinion is the result of a painstaking and long process of analysis at the end of which you sometimes, not always, end up with an opinion). To be very honest, I don’t particularly care. But I care that others care and that is why, I posted these articles by Koenig because I know for a fact that others (which shall remained unnamed) have chickened out from posting them, probably for reasons of “credibility”.
I don’t care much about this specific topic, but I do care, immensely, about the intellectual freedom of this blog. And I will never, ever, let considerations of “credibility” stand in the way of this blog’s intellectual freedom. There are plenty of really, truly, totally “credible” and “respectable” blogs out there. Somebody got to be free and non-respectable and I very deliberately chose to be part of that “fringe lunatic conspiracy theorist” with “zero credibility” which does not let the society’s doxa tell me what I should, or should not, post.
:-P
The Saker
Dear Saker
Have you had a nice holiday and a good break? We really missed you and hope you are well and
refreshed,
Kind regards,
pb
Scientific study reveals conspiracy theorists the most sane of all
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/11/22/scientific-study-reveals-conspiracy-theorists-sane/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23847577
Clarified by one of the authors.
How CIA invented “Conspiracy Theory” term
Stigmatizing truth seekers
http://failedevolution.blogspot.gr/2014/10/how-cia-invented-conspiracy-theory-term.html
Something I wrote to “commemorate” the first anniversary of the start of EuroMaidan and the mess in the Ukraine.
EuroMaidan – One Year Later. A Trip Down Delusion Lane…
http://bread-circuses-today.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/euromaidan-one-year-later-trip-down.html
Paul Craig Roberts cites a study on conspiracy theories.
When the theory of conspiracy becomes a conspiracy theory? When marked as such by the very conspirators. :)
When the theory of conspiracy becomes a conspiracy theory? When marked as such by the very conspirators.:)
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This comment has been removed by the author.
Wow! Saker, you cut right through it all. Many of us have been accused of being a “conspiracy theorist”, a term – if what I read was correct – that was coined decades ago by the U.S. government to discredit those raising such questions and possibilities.
You just stated how I view this in a manner I could never do. Thank you so much!
There is no source that is a “bible”for me, but a very few come pretty close. Your blog is on this short list.
Wow! Saker, you cut right through it all. Many of us have been accused of being a “conspiracy theorist”, a term – if what I read was correct – that was coined decades ago by the U.S. government to discredit those raising such questions and possibilities.
You just stated how I view this in a manner I could never do. Thank you so much!
There is no source that is a “bible”for me, but a very few come pretty close. Your blog is on this short list.
Wow! Saker, you cut right through it all. Many of us have been accused of being a “conspiracy theorist”, a term – if what I read was correct – that was coined decades ago by the U.S. government to discredit those raising such questions and possibilities.
You just stated how I view this in a manner I could never do. Thank you so much!
There is no source that is a “bible”for me, but a very few come pretty close. Your blog is on this short list.
Regarding Ebola -and I have no expertise on the subject other than noting that it was big news around 20 years or more ago.
It has been suggested that because it was an African disease that there was no Big Pharma business case to develop a vaccine. After all, they couldn’t afford to pay for the vaccine.
Now if it was a western disease then that would be an entirely different matter -lots of money for the taking.
Regarding HIV, we are talking about a ‘virus’ that has NEVER been isolated. There are no real world images of HIV, only computer models which are theoretical impressions of what it ‘should’ look like. Peter Duesberg is the authority (the original researcher) with regards to HIV, please see the book ‘Oncogenes, Aneuploidy, and AIDS: A Scientific Life & Times of Peter H. Duesberg’.
All determinations of HIV are based on antibody tests, and can be mimicked by conditions such malnourishment or suppressed immunity due to various autoimmune diseases. The tell tale signs of ‘AIDS’ – sunken cheeks, loss of appetite, and basic slow organ death result ONLY after the treatment of AIDS drugs begins. It is the AIDS drugs which creates the ultimate spiral towards death. There are hundreds of individuals diagnosed with ‘AIDS’ who refused the drugs and remain healthy decades later (see Magic Johnson as the most famous), where the medical establishment considers these anomalies as instances where the HIV has yet to develop into full blown AIDS….
HIV is a hoax, most of the diseases under the blanket of HIV/AIDS are the result of vaccine programs designed as forms of population control combined with systemic malnourishment, and/or chemical poisoning. Covert sterilization programs also run under the auspices of the WHO and various health NGO’s.
With regards to a previous post of mine regarding covert pedophilia rings, please see this story for a glimpse of what is rightly called ‘just the tip of the iceberg’ – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11248683/Historic-Westminster-child-abuse-and-murder-claims-only-tip-of-the-iceberg-in-scandal-Theresa-May-warns.html
The practice of child abduction and various nefarious underground activities continues to this day at the very highest levels of society. I think if people knew just how morally destitute the power elite were, and just what their beliefs truly were (kabalistic satanists) there would be an uprising.
The truth will prevail, and in Christ there is glory.
Full agreement with the saker. Too many people in contemporary society express an opinion without any serious study of the issue. And when you seriously study an issue, you have to check every hypotesis.
This said, a question for Serbian friends, if some of them is reading.
The Voice of Russia informs that the EU (which according to the optimists should be tired of sanctions) is ready to increase pressure on Russia and is threatening Serbia to halt her Euro-integration process if she does not take part in sanctions. VOR guesses Serbia will grudge but comply.
Now, dear Serbians, why the heck are you so eager to become a part of EU? To all “old members” but Germany and her closest minions the EU has brought a mad bureaucracy, enormous and useless expenses, a wide loss of sovereignty, the devastation of agriculture, the imposition of the dummiest and strictest “politically correct” and ultimately a worsening of general life conditions.
You have already experienced the joys of European intervention, stay out of this!
Thanks, Saker. Your view on sonspriracy works for me. Much better than, ‘move along, nothing to see here’…
@Saker
In regards to Ebola and HIV.
I think the question of how it came to be isn’t as relevant as how to effectively protect oneself from it without frying your brain without the medical abomination of modern vaccines.
From my understanding a deficiency of selenium is what allows viruses such as ebola and HIV to take root. If you ever feel like forming opinion in this regard check out these links as they provide concrete science to backup this theory. I would also urge everyone here to start supplementing with selenium to protect themselves from possible such contagions.
http://www.drpasswater.com/nutrition_library/selenium1.html
http://www.whale.to/m/selenium.html
IMHO a good direction to take this blog would be to recommend practical suggestions on what to do to further the causes purported here. We could devise ways to help out and form coordinated efforts.
“There is no more exquisite method of silencing dissent, or shutting down inconvenient inquiry, than to charge someone with conspiracy theory.”
—Mark Crispin Miller
——————
See also:
http://works.bepress.com/ginna_husting/3/
Dangerous Machinery: “Conspiracy Theorist” as a Transpersonal Strategy of Exclusion
Ginna Husting, Boise State University
Martin Orr, Boise State University
Abstract:
In a culture of fear, we should expect the rise of new mechanisms of social control to deflect distrust, anxiety, and threat. Relying on the analysis of popular and academic texts, we examine one such mechanism, the label conspiracy theory, and explore how it works in public discourse to “go meta” by sidestepping the examination of evidence. Our findings suggest that authors use the conspiracy theorist label as (1) a routinized strategy of exclusion; (2) a reframing mechanism that deflects questions or concerns about power, corruption, and motive; and (3) an attack upon the personhood and competence of the questioner. This label becomes dangerous machinery at the transpersonal levels of media and academic discourse, symbolically stripping the claimant of the status of reasonable interlocutor—often to avoid the need to account for one’s own action or speech. We argue that this and similar mechanisms simultaneously control the flow of information and symbolically demobilize certain voices and issues in public discourse.
I doubt that Serbian people want to be in the EU, their politicians who wan to be in power do what the U.S. wants and not what the people desire just like politicians almost evrywhere
Full marks to Angelo for bringing up the AIDS fantasy.
Dr Nancy Banks has written “Aids, Opium, Diamonds, Empire” which is a must-read. Banks connects the dots between AIDS, starting from the British East India Co, hence the “Opium”, through to diamonds in Africa and the Anglozionist Empire, from the perspective of an Afro-American and the peoples of Africa.
Engdahl NOV23 on Orban
The controllers are worried that this could turn into a repeat of 1956, of sorts.
That was detailed in a book “Uprising” by David Irving, still available to read on his site.
http://www.voltairenet.org/article186004.html
The refusal of Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his ruling Fidesz party to join the new US and EU Cold War against Russia, notably by agreeing to build the South Stream gas pipeline, in addition to the stinging policies adopted against the foreign owned banks and energy companies, has set off alarm bells in Western capitals.
Bravo Saker bravo! Thank you for taking this stand. I applaud you for posting the ebola article. It was gutsy and a testament to your commitment to freedom of thought. Completely agree with what you have said so eloquently. People who attack conspiracy theorists out of hand are basically giving the likes of George “let us not tolerate outrageous conspiracy theories” W Bush a free hand. Seriously, how can any one imagine that the CIA director George Tenet got his presidential medal of freedom for screwing up the intelligence leading up to 9/11 and weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? No, that he was awarded such a thing would suggest he did a “good job” for the president, meaning those “screw ups” were deliberate. At minimum, these suspicions should be thoughtfully investigated, rather than categorically rejected. And we should take the same approach with all other suspicious activities (Ukraine being merely the most recent of many). Keep up the great work.
@Saker
In regards to Ebola and HIV.
I think the question of how it came to be isn’t as relevant as how to effectively protect oneself from it without frying your brain without the medical abomination of modern vaccines.
From my understanding a deficiency of selenium is what allows viruses such as ebola and HIV to take root. If you ever feel like forming opinion in this regard check out these links as they provide concrete science to backup this theory. I would also urge everyone here to start supplementing with selenium to protect themselves from possible such contagions.
http://www.drpasswater.com/nutrition_library/selenium1.html
http://www.whale.to/m/selenium.html
IMHO a good direction to take this blog would be to recommend practical suggestions on what to do to further the causes purported here. We could devise ways to help out and form coordinated efforts.
Becoming and staying ‘credible’ means becoming and staying ‘politically correct’, which in turn means streamlined, becoming dependent on the opinions of others and in the end totally assimilated.
The Saker: “But I personally have no opinion about …” This is the key. People are being raised to not be able to say “I don’t know”. They are ashamed to say that. This in turn makes them try to form an opinion about things they don’t know. They feel better then and have an answer to questions so as not to appear dumb. You can identify these people really easily, usually they are the fastest to shout out their opinion and then they defend it vigorously.
To accept to not know everything and not have an opinion is a mindset one needs to develop which then enables this person to really think through the bullshit. Because only if you not already have an opinion, it’s possible to keep an open mind and be as objective as possible. YOu can identify these people as well. Usually they keep critical to their own findings and thus are able to add more facts to them.
-yt
Now that was a great post that more people should take to heart :-)
That is exactly the intelligent aproach to the phenomenon of “conspiracy theories”. Personaly I never form an opinion of any such theory until I have done some research.
Dear Saker,
Figuring that you might be multi-lingual, I wonder if you have read either “Circus Politicus” or “L’Arnaque”?
I would submit that all this business about “conspiracy theories” could be put to rest if these two books had any readership.
If we want to qualify conspiracy theories as the writings of nut jobs, etc, then why, for instance, are the new trade deals, to say nothing of the deliberations of the all the Euro Commissions, so secret?
All the best,
Steve
Logic is not a strong point with Americans, perhaps not with most other people as well. You refute a hypothesis either by showing step by step, like in mathematics, that the implications derived from the asserted hypothesis are absurd, or by showing empirical evidence that is contrary to what the hypothesis predicts. Ah, but that is painful, requires some brain power. Far easier to dismiss your opponent by calling him a ‘conspiracy theorist’, ‘commie rat’, ‘socialist pinko’, ‘right- wing nut’, ‘extremist’, ‘controversial’, etc,. 99% of political debate in the US and its media is conducted in these terms.
“When I use a word it means what I want it to mean”. “The question is who is to be master, you or me”.
If “Alice in Wonderland” and “Through the looking glass” could be made compulsory reading all over the world, in grades 4 through Ph.D., we might end up in a less absurd world, one in which ‘Emperors without clothes’ will be called out more often without the callers being shut down by classifying them as conspiracy theorists.
But then, how will some maintain their position of being ‘more equal’ than others?
Hi Saker ! Great post as usual…I’m surprised that you had such a negative response to Koenig’s article. Peter Keonig is a great person, because he worked within the system for many years, and so knows the “real deal”… I can’t believe how much small-mindedness there is in the world today…as opposed to broad mindedness. They are everywhere….
And you should add Saker that pretty much all serious crimes are conspiracies. From bank robberies, mortgage scams by the banks, JFK’s assassination, 9/11, to color revolutions, coups and wars.
One thing you can say about so called conspiracy theorists is that they are very thorough. They do a much better job than the police or commissions of inquiry in uncovering all the dots. Whether or not you agree with how a particular theorist connects the dots is another matter.
I don’t know much on Ebola. But on HIV/AIDS I think the matter is pretty much settled. Its a sociopolitical disease used to impose the West’s will and control on other countries, particularly in Africa. The disease itself will completely fade away as Africom takes over its function.
I would urge all who want to learn more on the HIV/AIDS conspiracy to visit:
Virusmyth.com
HIVSkeptic.wordpress.com
Duesberg.com
The seminal tome on the subject is Prof Peter Duesberg’s Inventing the AIDS Virus
Ebola I suspect is a second order conspiracy, where there is an original natural/random event which is then hijacked and used to launch a criminal/imperialist conspiracy against those originally affected as well as others.
There are millions of Americans who think that anyone who disputes the official narrative of 9/11 is a conspiracy theorist.
I have personal friends who like to think of themselves as smart (they are indeed amongst the top ten percentile) who believes in the 9/11 official narrative despite much debate.
Just let that sink in for a moment. 9/11, the most blatant, in your-face conspiracy, is not acknowledged as what it is because people are too afraid of questioning the mainstream consensus, of going down the rabbit hole, of being labelled as ‘conspiracy theorists’.
Tacu,
you obviously do not know Serbian people, my friend ! :-)
There is 0.00% chance that Serbia will introduce sanctions against Russia.
The reason?
Any government that would do that would face an explosion of popular revolt and would lose power in very short period of time.
It is the matter of Slavic pride, I would say. As Šešelj said once during his trial in Hague, all the Slavs are descendants of Eastern Slavs, that is – Russians, but only Serbs are NOT ashamed of it!
Regards from Serbia,
The Wend.
p.s. As for EU, nobody takes seriously in Serbia that we would become a member. Everybody knows it is a joke.
re: possible… In the genre of Sci-Fi everything is possible so, yes, that the government of the US or Russia ( they both had viral research labs with ebola among other “stuff” in the 1990s) could take a naturally occurring virus and mutate it into a diabolically deadly form. But to argue from the possible as if it is probable because of X, Y, Z ( e.g.the nature of capitalism or greedy pharmaceutical companies or government bureaucrats repressing natural medicine as they have been doing for years) makes for an existential world or an interesting screen play.
OK. political realism: The American people will allow the government to put them under martial law if: 1. they feel that there is good reason 2. if they feel that the government is competent and the measures required 3. if they see results. Remember they are an armed populace.
On the American ruling class: they do meet in formal council ( National Security Council does before any big move) and informally and even if there are various black ops sections of various departments of the CIA and Dept of State and part of military intelligence how far these guys can go is
monitored. What I have seen over the last few months is a consolidation in their ranks and it looks like they have wide spread tacit or otherwise agreements to take on Russia directly because they keep pushing their agenda one step more and then again more–getting their ducks in a row. No conspiracy: it looks bad.
This recently revealed troop increase in Afghanistan is important–Afghanistan flanks Iran and the erstwhile Muslim republics of the USSR and sits atop Pakistan which is making military agreements with China. lately. I expect the Iranian nuclear negotiation to be conveniently sabotagued ( by the way Lavrov intends to show up in Vienna).
Time will tell.
Very good post and some excellent comments, especially the reference re origins of the term “conspiracy theory”
“If you reject conspiracy theories you are blind,” says Saker. But of course many conspiracy theories are just ridiculous, knee-jerk paranoia, while others are more creditable. You have to display a little common sense in filtering all the dreck humanity spouts. Under the umbrella term “conspiracy theories” there’s a lot of garbage and a certain amount of gold. Sure, people conspire, but to see conspiracies everywhere is mentally ill. “Manufactured Ebola” is just nuts in my book, but show me your proof and I’ll at least listen.
In reply to Angelo
The government of South Africa previously bought into AIDS denialism like that of Peter H. Duesberg. The health minister advocated eating garlic, beetroot and lemon to stay healthy.
Guess what it didn’t work.
Before large scale ARV treatment was available the average life expectancy in the country fell dramatically as HIV / AIDS spread.
NGOs e.g. Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) took government to court and forced them to provide ARVs.
Now that large scale ARV treatment is available it’s made such a difference that the average life expectancy has started to climb.
While Anti Retro Virals (ARVs) are nasty cocktails of chemicals they do have the effect of keeping HIV under control.
In South Africa there are about 2 million people on ARV treatment for HIV. If it was making people sick then it would be very apparent.
Don’t take my word for it. Please check all of the above. If you still don’t believe this then come to South Africa and see for yourself.
It’s a human right to think and speak freely.
It’s a moral duty to allow others to do so, too.
Humanity needs to be honest, intellectually rigorous and defy authority’s domination of mind, spirit and body.
The nature of human social behavior is secretive, shameful and conspiratorial. That’s what the fall from grace was all about.
Other than Cain killing Abel, most other societal crimes and nearly all government tyranny is conspiratorial before, during or after the fact. That is why the law is written with those co-perpetrator designations.
To wit, black ops, black budgets, closed hearings, sequestered testimony, redactions, et al., are manifestations of conspiracies in the workings of organizations, groups and governments.
Wake up!
Spasibo Saker
I concur, some thoughts:
The Buddha taught to question everything (his teachings) and only when you had thoroughly investigated them for yourself to you come to accept them.
“In the mind of the beginner there are many possibilities, in the mind of the expert there are few” Shunryu Suzuki-roshi
I endeavor to be a beginner in all matters and to question everything, as soon as a thought or concept become fixed in my mind all future learning is closed off. I remain open to all that I read on this blog, that does not mean that I like or approve of everything I read. I/we should be free to express any thought or idea with one caveat, that being that in doing so I do not cause harm to another (flaming, derogatory remarks, personal attacks).
Take what you need and leave the rest.
Blessings.
Rik
To Tacu,
I too don’t understand Serbian desire to join the EU. Wasn’t it this past summer, during the floods that they were begging for EU help and the only country helping them was Russia?
Saker,
Have you seen this latest interview from Putin?
http://en.itar-tass.com/russia/761152
© Mikhail Metzel/TASS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Back Next
In the TASS special project Top Officials, Vladimir Putin talks about healthy lifestyle, the “fifth column” and oil prices “plot” and argues with Russian philosopher Nikolay Berdyayev
Saker
So shouldn’t Peter Koenig (an “economist and geopolitical analyst”) supply some evidence that backs up his theory?
Kind of how if the USA wants to accuse a country or group of people of shooting down a plane then it should provide evidence and not just hollow words.
Any crackpot (individual or government) can come up with a theory. Finding and providing evidence however is a whole other ballgame.
As for all the germ-lab conspiracies, I’m inclined to call BS.
The reason is that HIV and Ebola and flu are all lousy bioweapons. HIV takes ten years to kill its victims, so what good will that do in a military campaign? And the others are far too volatile. If you turn loose a new-improved flu bug, you’re more likely to kill yourself than any target population.
And if you think Ebola is supposed to reduce population numbers, remember that (so far at least) it hasn’t killed even 0.01% of the people that flu does every year. And flu pretty much just runs wild, sweeping the planet every year out of control. But still, it isn’t noticeably reducing the pop count.
They are lousy bioweapons. The military weapons labs study them because the non-military labs prefer to leave such crap in the freezer. As for the famous Ebola patent, that was from a time when anyone who had done the hard work of sequencing a genome would always patent it. Currently, there’s a project at Harvard to sequence dozens of Ebola samples from all over so they can watch its evolution.
Ebola and flu and HIV are simply nature’s way of saying you humans aren’t as smart as you think…
Anthrax, OTOH, can definitely used as a bioweapon. And there’s still no satisfactory explanation for that clumsy botched attack with it in 2001.
On the subject of ‘Conspiracy Theories’ in the words of Dr. Michael Parenti:
“[…] but in fact brothers and sisters, conspiracy is a very real thing, in fact, it’s a ‘concept in law’!
‘Conspiracy’ means; people go to jail for it. It means: planning or acting together in secret, especially for an unlawful or harmful purpose, often with the use of illegal means. It comes to mean in fact; any machinations, plot or concerted deception. […]”
^ there you have it. Conspiracy Theory – emphasis on the ‘conspiracy’ part – doesn’t mean: crazy, tinfoil hat wearer, ‘fringe’ opinion (etc)….
Conspiracy (forget the theory part of it) it means; a group of people getting together for the purpose of conspiring in a concerted effort against the interest of a rival/competing/enemy group.
Btw, for those interested, here’s Parenti’s speech link on: ‘Conspiracy and Class’ > http://www.tucradio.org/081015_ConspiracyONE.mp3
And here’s part two > http://www.tucradio.org/081022_ConspiracyTWO.mp3
;-)
-TL2Q
Hi Saker , OT but there is a video on Russia Insider that is called “the saddest video so far” … its pretty sad…a man, a grandfather is standing in a completely demolished yard, and his 10 year old granddaughter and his wife have just been demolished along with his entire house…he is ok, but the granddaughter and wife are dead. Its unbelieveable, and yet true. How is his life ever to recover ? Once the soldiers are gone…what is he going to do with the rest of his life ? With tomorrow ?
It would be hard not to go insane.
Dear The Saker,
Welcome back, I hope you had a good break in the wilderness :).
I think you should carry on posting on the site what you want – the idea is to stimulate other thoughts, discussions and ideas.
Rgds,
Veritas
lotsa stuff out there on the net only a Search away.
i like this one, since it’s active all these years & the link is still up, meaning it’s good!
also, it preambles with info on the H1N1 autumn 2009 orchestrated hysteria & hoax.
http://preventdisease.com/news/10/081010_everything_is_a_lie.shtml
Eight Traits of the Disinformationalist
1) Avoidance
2) Selectivity
3) Coincidental
4) Teamwork
5) Anti-conspiratorial
6) Artificial Emotions
7) Inconsistent
8) Time Constant
Remarkably, even media and law enforcement have NOT BEEN TRAINED to deal with these issues. For the most part, only the players themselves understand the rules of the game.
Logic, boolean or rational, that is part of the question. I’ve have noticed in this current era of massives use of computers that there is a trend for people to use boolean logic where it is not applicable. They should be using rational logic or reason, things are measure in shades of gray or color or a change in pitch, or just more or less. Boolean is 1 or ,on or off, yes or no, right or wrong. You can’t successfully resolve things of a granularity of more than one, using boolean logic.
G W Bush made the comment, “you are with us or you are against us. This boolean logic, only two choices. In reality there are more choices but you are only given two to chose from. This leads to poor resolutions. The real world is an analog world out there and the day is not divided into just day and night, we have morning, afternoon, evening, nigh, 3:00, break time, etc.
Conspiracies theories are a way rationalize and resolve suspicions of malevolence. Conspiracies do exist, theories exist therfore conspiracy theories exist. Some theories are better than others, like opinions.
Dear Saker
Thank you. This is a breath of fresh air. People who don’t believe in ‘conspiracies’ can’t possibly believe in politics, or history for that matter. People get together, talk things over, make decisions and then they do things. That’s life.
But what’s really going on here? You’ve mentioned the CIA as the source of this clearly derogatory phrase, perhaps in conjunction with the murder of the Kennedy’s and MLK. I can think of two other contextual frames that have a bearing on the significance of the saying. There’s a Marxist line of criticism which disdains conspiracies, usually understood as governmental coups as wrongheaded, as though mere seizure of state power constitutes a proper revolution. No. Since the nature of the beast is the system of capitalism it follows that class struggle must be primary. This cluster of definitions is relevant because ‘conspiracy theory’ resonates very strongly with the left, as, say Noam Chomsky (who I otherwise have considerable respect for). So there’s this. But more pertinent is ‘conspiracy theory’ suggesting that the target of criticism is an anti-semite. After all, the granddaddy of all major league conspiracy theorise was, and remains, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. It should be mentioned here that the large majority of people who field this phrase are not sufficiently historically minded to understand where the contextual reference is coming from; they just follow the media leaders and mouth it on cue. But still, they intuitively get the sense. A conspiracy theorist (ie., and anti semite) is beyond the pale of rational discussion. They should either be incarcerated or forced to undergo some suitable therapy. Therefore the use of the magic phrase is actually a gesture of authority. The authoritative centre arises when confronted with an instance of the intolerable, a la Bataille, an exemplary line drawing exercise.
But on this matter it’s hard to miss the Zionist character of the folks who have the greatest investment in the use of this phrase. So that leads to the last point, regarding the evident projection which accompanies the shrill denunciations directed against anybody who presumes to use the head on their shoulders to surmise hypothetical theories – such as the possibility of Mossad involvement in the nasty business of bringing down the big Trade Towers (not to mention Bldg. 7). As Lenin might have put it: ‘conspiracies, conspiracies, of course, happens every day. But .. whose conspiracy?’
If you want to dig more into the conspiracy about HIV and also Ebola, Jon Rappoport on his http://www.nomorefakenews.com blog is the go to guy.
Here is another conspiracy which you probably haven’t thought about but which secretly kills hundred thousands of people every year while increasing the profits of big pharma and big cosmetics.
Sunshine, Russia and the Bilderberg Group
It makes sense to consider events in the context of possible conspiracies, but those who interpret an event in terms of conspiracy need to offer a rational evaluation of the available evidence, otherwise they will inevitably be lumped with the paranoid crackpots.
It is the tendency of many to naively advance or accept nonsensical or poorly rationalized theories that gives conspiracy theorists a bad name.
So, yes, the hell with arguments from authority. But evidence and cold hard logic are the only valid alternative.
This is good news.
The Real Reason Why The Netherlands Repatriated Its Gold
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-23/real-reason-why-netherlands-repatriated-its-gold
Seems they had better luck than their cousins in Germany at getting their gold back!
All-Out War in Ukraine: NATO’s ‘Final Offensive’
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40305.htm
agriculture, for example. Ukraine has big, effective agricultural production. But agricultural goods from Europe are cheaper, because they get very big state subsidies from the EU — between 40 and 50 percent in some cases. The Ukrainian state simply cannot give such money to farmers, and they will go bankrupt.
It’s the same for industry. Ukraine will be flooded with cheap imports from the EU. At the same time, it will lose the market of Russia and other countries of the Customs Union.
Countries like Greece, Spain and Portugal, which are today living under austerity regimes, are the periphery of the central European Union countries. Ukraine will be the periphery of the periphery, like the developing countries of the Third World.
It is bad for Ukraine’s economy, but good for some branches of industry and the big oligarchs. Because of the capitalist crisis, they want the support of the West and guarantees for the safety of their capital. They were very active in the promotion of Euro-integration.
http://www.workers.org/articles/2014/11/07/class-forces-ukrainian-civil-war/
To Digital Forensics
Please take the time to carefully read nancy Banks’ book “AIDS, Opium, Diamonds, Empire” to acquaint yourself with the fiction of the AIDS “virus”.
As a health practitioner, I have treated people with AIDS and not one could ever quote evidence of the existence of the virus – and these people were more conversant with the AIDS syndrome than most medical practitioners.
The RICO law is a law built to fight organized crime, specifically, the Sicilian Mafia. It has since been used to break other criminal orgs. or groups.
However, it is on the face of it totally unConstitutional.
Combined with the forced granting of immunity (you must take it), your right to not testify against yourself and your right to speak to and whomever, wherever you want, to meet, to discuss things are totally abridged under “conspiratorial prosecution” laws.
So, you can clearly see that conspiracy is a subject for which government has abridged and shredded the first and fifth amendments in order to control.
As a kid growing up, I asked my father what was a conspiracy. He said it was whenever ‘two or more Sicilians met’.
So. on Sundays, after Mass, we always had a great ‘conspiratorial’ meal. Some of them at my grandmothers house. Tasty meatballs and sausage to make the FBI drool while they collected license plate numbers off the cars outside her home. My uncles, you know, were Sicilian-Americans, too.
You should have seen them swarm her funeral and the burial at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. There were hundreds of license plates for them to write down.
Makes you think about conspiracies, doesn’t it?
I have wondered for some time if someone produced AIDS. William Blum has written on this topic; one article is here:
http://www.unz.org/Pub/CounterpunchWeb-2008may-00021
A very suspicious plague that “credible” western journalists refused to discuss was the screw-worm parasite that made an appearance in Iraq and Libya during the 1990’s. This parasite is only native to North America and yet it somehow miraculously found its way to an isolated country on the other side of the planet.
Also, no discussion of “credibility” is complete without mentioning the late Gary Webb’s expose on the CIA-crack connection and what happened to Webb afterwards.
I basically agree with you that conspiracy theories need to be looked at carefully but I also think there is a lot of junk out there– some of it not accidental. Conspiracy theories can be used to manipulate people. There was a conspiracy theory after 9/11 that Jews were warned to avoid the World Trade Center prior to the 9/11 attack. I suspect that this goofy theory was introduced by the MOSSAD to discredit a similar but much more credible theory that the Israeli spy ring which followed the hijackers for months prior to 9/11 was aware of what was planned. Israel did not warn the U.S. because they wanted the attack to succeed.
DPR to Lay Claims Over Whole Donetsk Region’s Territory: Deputy PM
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20141123/1015064535.html
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/11/23/war-ukraine-natos-final-offensive/
German Foreign Minister Says Ukraine’s NATO, EU Membership Impossible.
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20141123/1015064845.html
Dear The Saker,
They just couldn’t resist interfeering in P5+1 talks:
http://en.itar-tass.com/world/761282
Shows how the Saudi’s and Israelis are behind the Iran issues…..not even hiding it. They are not in the security council or part of the talks but couldn’t resist to show their hand…
Rgds,
Veritas
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-11-23/real-reason-why-netherlands-repatriated-its-gold
In what could definitely be called a stunning move, the Netherlands has announced it has repatriated in excess of 120 tonnes of gold from the vaults of the Federal Reserve in New York to the Dutch Central Bank in Amsterdam. Officially a move made to rebalance the locations where the gold is being stored, one cannot ignore the fact that the Netherlands only repatriated a large part of the gold which was stored in New York and it did not touch the gold stored in Canada and London.
Additionally, it’s not just ‘some’ gold being brought back home, no, the total amount is 122.47 tonnes or almost 4 million ounces with a market value of $5B. This will reduce the exposure of the Dutch Central Bank to the US financial system as now just 31% of its gold is being stored in the vault of the Fed, coming down from 51%. We have the impression this won’t be the last repatriation as the Dutch Central Bank is keeping its shipping route secret ‘in case more gold needs to be repatriated’.
Maybe the Dutch found out the truth about MH17 and want to get their gold back and reduce their exposure to the US before she blows up in the face of the US/UK/NATO/Ukies?
Hope this does not show up twice.
Becoming and staying ‘credible’ means becoming and staying ‘politically correct’, which in turn means streamlined, becoming dependent on the opinions of others and in the end totally assimilated.
The Saker: “But I personally have no opinion about …” This is the key. People are being raised to not be able to say “I don’t know”. They are ashamed to say that. This in turn makes them try to form an opinion about things they don’t know. They feel better then and have an answer to questions so as not to appear dumb. You can identify these people really easily, usually they are the fastest to shout out their opinion and then they defend it vigorously.
To accept to not know everything and not have an opinion is a mindset one needs to develop which then enables this person to really think through the bullshit. Because only if you not already have an opinion, it’s possible to keep an open mind and be as objective as possible. YOu can identify these people as well. Usually they keep critical to their own findings and thus are able to add more facts to them.
-yt
Another plea from Strelkov for unity. Translated by Kazzura.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKxebLK92UI
Back in the day, psychiatrists were laughed at for various reasons.
1) Wtf do they really know about the trillion-fold, intrinsic workings of the, vastly unexplored regions of the human brain?
2) They were not allowed to prescribe drugs…
Things changed though and now they’ll happily prescribe a hole slew a ‘senses enhancing stimulants’ to combat any abbreviations or acronyms you can assemble out of the illustrious human alphabet.
Most are based on ‘recreational drugs,’ hence the ‘outbreak’ of entire communities getting hooked up to ‘prescription drugs.’
As to theories: If they are ‘a coherent group of tested general propositions, commonly regarded as correct, that can be used as principles of explanation and prediction for a class of phenomena’ one may conclude that the US’ explanation wrt the 9/11 collapse of WTC 7, can be tagged as the biggest ‘Conspiracy Theory’ of the 21 century.
@ J R,
Q: BS.
R: Yeah, that plan to dissolve military buttons [back in the day] never took a hold either…
Thank. You. Saker.
Maybe half of the most effusive commenters are paid disinformation trolls. Normal people are too busy to continuously slap them down and they’re gonna keep coming so it’s best we got used to it.
This is a war fought for the space between your ears. You should carry yourself accordingly.
On the matter of central concern:
How to prevent the coming war.
by Sergei Glazyev
http://www.anna-news.info/node/26096
The Anglo-Zionists need a credible external threat — and all the additional powers of repression that come with. Russia cannot create or impose a solution in Ukraine wthout the use of force. It has always been thus and frankly Russia’s own strategy for over two decades in Ukraine is to blame. Putin will have to hold his nose and sever Novorussia from Banderastan, as the Anglo-Zionists correctly calculated he must do from the begining. It is and always has been a question of timing: of when to attack; arising moments after the closing ceremonies at Sochi.
Those who worry about Russian isolation, most of them residing in the West, should get over themselves. Let’s not forget that AZ oligarchs made regular visits to Moscow all throughout the Cold War. Nothing will change and people are greedy. Money, goods and technology will move far more easily than you or I. The world is a plaything for globe trotting gangsters, as it has always been. Russia will only be off limits to commoners. Elite Anglos and Zionists will continue to worship it secretly. Again, technology transfers will continue, as they did to the Soviet Union and China before, during and after the Cold War, although the price has gone up.
Putin has done well to position Russia as an international ‘good guy’ in this latest iteration of a manufactured M.A.D. standoff but the returns on the strategy of reasonable compromise are rapidly diminishing. The Anglo-Zionists need this war so ultimately they will get it. All of the players are aware.
Russia has yet to find herself as the pathetic propaganda on RT consistently demonstrates (or do you think it’s only propaganda if it appears on CNN and BBC?). All this will change when Putin takes the fateful step. The task before Russia is enormous but a rejuvinated people under steady but not overwhelming pressure can do miraculous things. Think of Russia during World War 2 but imagine this as a psychological struggle rather than Tigers againsts T-34’s. Think in this way and you will begin to detect a way forward.
It is now a question of timing and I will stick to my prediction that January/February is the best time for Russian forces to move in and sweep away the Nazi scum. I defer to Putin on this because of his marvellous timing but it would be helpful if everyone in the West got ahead of this and prepared themselves to confront the well planned follow-on wave of repression that awaits all fixed residents of Zion. Your continuing aquiesence has bought our Luciferian elites plenty of time to make sure they keep their jack boots firmly planted on your necks for the forseeable future.
So now Russia will face off against the West in an official Cold War II only this time, thanks to Putin and unlike the situation we had with the Bolsheviks, Russia’s greatest strength — the spiritual resourcefullness of her people, will not be supressed. The current leadership of All Russia’s do not fear and despise their people as did their Marxian-Neocon predecessors.
Recall Putin’s comment that the destruction of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century, or words to that affect. He now has an opportunity to reinstate a reconstituted version of same (an Empire of the Soul) only this time Russia will get to fight with both her fists forward.
Thank you for this.
Dear Saker
I hope you had a good time in the wilderness and could regain new strength.
Of course, you can write and publish in your blog whatever you want. You don’t want to convince us of a certain way of thinking. Instead applies to each of us, like you said, “you take what you want and simply leave the rest”. That’s okay for me.
Just today I found a small picture in a German forum on the topic of “Conspiracy theory”.
http://david.farmnet.com.au/files/2009/03/sheepdog.jpg
Two comments above need to be BOLDED and HIGHLIGHTED (it basically sums up what the Saker took the time to write about):
[1] The quote on “conspiracy theory”:
“There is no more exquisite method of silencing dissent, or shutting down inconvenient inquiry, than to charge someone with conspiracy theory.”
—Mark Crispin Miller
[2} The talk by Michael Parenti on “Conspiracy and Class”:
http://www.tucradio.org/081015_ConspiracyTWO.mp3
http://www.tucradio.org/081022_ConspiracyTWO.mp3
Hard to say at the moment about Ebola, though a conspiracy would have a lower probability than just a screw up or a natural event. Time will tell.
The DNA mapping and tracking of HIV though has been well sorted out. It was natural, had existed for a long time in the natural world (eg chimps). Low level infection rates of people have happened for at least a century, quite possibly longer.
Other animal variants exist, like in cats (FIV).
Societal changes in Africa and the rest of the world gave it an environment that it could thrive in and it took off. This is not uncommon with many diseases. They are there at a low level for ages, then an environmental/ societal change happens that makes for an epidemic.
I with you all the way on this! A conspiracy is just two or more coming together to plan an illegal act. It happens all the time in real world power struggles.
Being nice is bull shit. Rigorous investigation is called for when we see the array of various atrocities.
The Cass Sunsteins of the world prefer we view obvious conspiracies through the lens of a coincidence theory. Those in charge are more than happy to tell us the real story as though we believe in Santa Claus.
The Second Holocaust: How the AIDS Epidemic Was Created in a CIA Black Operation by Michael Meiers
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Second-Holocaust-Epidemic-Operation/dp/1457525038
Paul Rigby, UK
Afghan Orphan Who Is Fighting for Russia and Novorossiya: To Be Truly a Russian Is a Peculiar State of the Soul, It Is Not Nationality
http://vladimirsuchan.blogspot.be/2014/11/afghan-orphan-who-is-fighting-for.html
Saker thanks for publishing this particular blog.
There is a sizeable “educational” gap, or to put it another way (and this is high praise though it may not sound it), nothing you said was the least extraordinary, or should raise a hair with any sensible person.
Many thanks
Van de ene Nederlander naar de andere. Ik ben heel trots op jouw!!!
When I was 13 I told my best friend, “People don’t have authority for me, only ideas do.” It was one of those moments when you know you’re being true to something, even if you can’t name it. Years later I learned about the logical fallacies, one of which is called an “ad hominem attack on an argument”. It’s not good enough to just attack the person (hominem) making the argument. Argumentum ad Verecundiam (appeal to authority) isn’t good enough either. You actually have to look at the argument and its evidence. You have to assert yourself as a mind competent to judge.
I think the most difficult obstacle we all have is in remaining open-minded when an item of potential new knowledge is dissonant with things that we think we already “know” are true. Encountering and mastering the “pain” of that is what makes us able to understand the “pain” which we cause others whom we would persuade when we challenge their entire worldview.
Thanks for letting me share.
Go on a search engine and search Plum Islamnd and Lyme Diseases. If was a bioengineered weapon created at Plum Island which is close to Long Island, NY. There they created weaponized diseases using animals. This is what the USA does. The diseases supposedly got off the island from birds.
Here is one site with info. Apparently it was ticks or fleas from birds on the island and it got to Old Lyme, CT.
Ukrainian general:the Ukraine is under sionist occupation
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2arxtp_general-ukrainien-l-ukraine-est-sous-occupation-sioniste_news
Who is really bombing Donetsk and other Donbass cities?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9qtgiYZVdg
http://www.mondialisation.ca/pourquoi-leurope-demeure-t-elle-lalliee-de-la-puissance-fasciste-dominante-devenue-nazie/5414837
“In reply to Angelo
The government of South Africa previously bought into AIDS denialism like that of Peter H. Duesberg. The health minister advocated eating garlic, beetroot and lemon to stay healthy.
Guess what it didn’t work.
Before large scale ARV treatment was available the average life expectancy in the country fell dramatically as HIV / AIDS spread.
NGOs e.g. Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) took government to court and forced them to provide ARVs.
Now that large scale ARV treatment is available it’s made such a difference that the average life expectancy has started to climb.
While Anti Retro Virals (ARVs) are nasty cocktails of chemicals they do have the effect of keeping HIV under control.
In South Africa there are about 2 million people on ARV treatment for HIV. If it was making people sick then it would be very apparent.”
It is making them sick, and it is apparent. I’ve been through this discussion several times over the years, the situation is clear. Follow the medical histories of those who are now undergoing treatment, determine which vaccines and/or drugs they have been exposed to, and who administered them. The ARV’s are simply a money cycle designed to generate profits while destroying the health of those who take them.
If the South African government was of the opinion that AIDS was a hoax, they should have taken the next logical step and considered the role of vaccines in the process. People are sick, they do have suppressed immune systems, but why? Is it due to HIV or was there another factor behind their immune issues?
Take a severe drug addict who has had no sexual contact with an ‘AIDS’ diagnosed person, test them for HIV and often the tests will come back positive, how is that?
There’s no problem with believing whatever you choose to believe.
However, if you are unable to take specific effort to attempt to disprove your belief, then the belief is a result of faith, not logic.
Ebola as a plot, for example. While it is certainly possible, at the same time the major upheaval in Africa due to the post Libya and post Tutsi/Hutu conflicts have unquestionably created an even worse public health environment than normal. Couple this with Africans apparently desiring to be buried in their hometowns after dying – which means Ebola dead being shipping long distances even as they drip contagion all the way – is a perfectly reasonable explanation for why Ebola is worse this time around.
As for HIV: again, the epidemiology is very well researched. In Africa, truck drivers are upper middle class. They travel long distances and served as perfect vectors to spread HIV – besides which the extremely long incubation time for HIV assisted this process. Equally the explosion amongst the gay male community also showed that it is a specific pattern of behavior underlying the spread.
Now, if a smoking gun can be produced such as a government document or an existing/former employee confession, that would be a different case.
But all I see are arguments and extrapolations – this is exactly what a conspiracy theory thrives on.