Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]


Add Reply
WTC and conspiracies; a day late
Topic Started: Sep 12 2007, 04:38 PM (77 Views)
Dominic Guglieme
the human MICROscope!!



Sorry, I meant to cross-post this yesterday. My mistake. -Dom


To be honest, I really had no intention of blogging about the WTC, or anything related to it today. I posted a bit about terrorism last week (more relating to current news than the '01 attacks), and saw no reason to revisit the topic this week.

Really, aside from being a bit more nervous than usual today (as it is the anniversary, down to the day), and being happy to reach Boston with nothing having gone wrong, I had no real thoughts about today.

When I checked my page today, I actually saw fewer "Remember 9/11" type posts than I expected. This was slightly out of order, but nothing I worried too much over.

Earlier this afternoon, I saw one of the obligatory conspiracy theory posts. I recall that in the months following the initial attack, there were many who thought the country would grow up. Partisanship would decline. We would spend less time worrying over celebrities and their foolishness. And, the "black-helicopter" conspiracies of the 90s would fall out of the inexplicable fashion they had enjoyed.

Sadly, that has no happened. I am not going to try to enumerate every conspiracy theory. The one form the bulletin I saw today basically sought to perpetuate the myth that the WTC was brought down by pre-placed explosives more than the air-craft that crashed into it.

I do not know what is more astounding about this theory. The unwillingness to accept over-whelming expert testimony and opinion that said crashes would ruinously damage a bulding, or the need to wildly cast rumors that only distract from the seriousness of the situation.

I actually emailed a physical professor today. Professor Van Domelen, who has a talent for explaining things in plain language, explained that the buring fuel from a fully loaded aircraft would in fact be enough to destroy the buildings. The specific steel used in the original constuction was not fit, nor intended, to resist the heat generated by burning jet fuel. Said fuel poured down the insides of the bulding (through stair-well and other channels), burning and melting what it touched, leaving the buildings unable to support themselves.

Some theorize that the north tower may not have collapsed had the south tower remained intact. (The impact of the second tower collapsing would have been the fatal damage to the first tower.) This may or may not be the case. Either way, the north tower would have required extensive repair, or ever replacement, had it survived.

Of course, an ignorance about engineering can hardly be the decisive factor in explaining the popularity of conspiracy theories. I have heard other theories that assume somebody (Uncle Sam riding in a black copter) took remote control of the planes, and forced them to crash. Others assume missiles hit the buildings.

For whatever reason, perhaps nationalist arrogance, perhaps innate paranoia about the Feds, people refuse to beleive that a well-monied group (and al Qaeda was well-monied) that had consistently declared an intent to attack us could actually manage to do so. (The fact that UBL and co had attacked us before is also ignored.)

Despite well publicized examples of ineptitude by Federal authorities, both before and since 2001, the idea that we blundered so badly is alien. It should also be noted that other countries that would realistically have no interest in such a conspiracy publicly condemned the US for ignoring previous warnings about the (then pending) attacks.

Maybe it is a childish preference for a recognizable (if conjured) and wholly controllable devil. I know I much prefer vague and imagined bogey men to devoted and quite real terrorists. After all, the bogey man is a product of my imagination, and bound by my will. The terrorist has a troublesome habit of deviating from expectations and doing what he likes on his time-table. (This is to say nothing of the comparitive damage each can do.)

Is the Federal Government perfect? Far from it. In the last 6 years, I we have seen inexusable ineptitude from them. We do not need deliberate action to cause tremendous damage. All we need are big enough mistakes. (Really, does anyone think that the Feds caused the '05 storms?)

Chasing phantoms, specters and fairies makes as much sense as plunging a country into an avoidable war in the hopes of either finding WMD or spreading universal democracy.

Both distract from, and ultimately trivialize, both the loss of life ("the first genocide of the 21st century" as Gary Kasparov put it) and the real danger, (that we should have recognized before), presented by an enemie that is willing to use modern technology to recreate the dark ages.

Given the complexity and danger of the modern world, the ability to sort information (both for accuracy and utility) is perhaps one of the more important skills one can have. Hiding one's head in the sand, or in a conspiratorial security blanket, makes the world no easier to understand.



Keep it local.


The healthiest leper in the colony is still very very sick.

www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Offline
 
Superiorraw
Member Avatar


I really do my best on a daily basis not to get dragged into debates about 9/11 or 7/7.
Both are recorded terrorist attacks on two cities. However it never surprises me how much the "media" have control in influencing and swinging peoples opinion's over what happened.

I distinctly remember both Hurricane Katrina and The Boxing Day Tsunami had huge coverage.. both of which I believe to my own knowledge to be Natural Disasters.

One thing I will say is that looking back throughout history.. and regardless of age, race or whatever.. Mankind is a destructive person. We hurt bad when we hurt ourselves yet the media has us forgetting The great Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.

Soon as a new UBL video is posted all the media channels go beserk over it.. and all because they know it sells their channel or their paper. I firmly believe the future of this planet doesn't lie in our own hands.. through natural disasters this planet will be destroyed.. maybe not in my own lifetime. . however what baring does this have on Terrorism and the governments and 9/11?

Well I think man as a race being self destructive will continue to contribute to it's own downfall. People will always hold varying opinions over articles they've read or from what people have told them. History of the planet and discovering our own universe and learning nature will learn you far more than listening to the media moguls.

I don't disrespect what happened at 9/11. I fear greatly for the future. Partly for the reasons outlined above. I applaud anyone willing to stop terrorism. But at what cost is this going to be achieved? What happened on 9/11 makes me extremely depressed. What happened on 7th of July saddens me. What saddens me more is knowing on a current consistent basis the earth is under threat from the people that live here.. and everyone ignores it.. that is until the media tells us about it. :/ :'(
Offline
 
Dominic Guglieme
the human MICROscope!!



I recall there being some conspiracy gibberish about the '05 attacks, if a bit less than the '01. (Be this because the attacks were smaller in scale, or the US media just reported fewer of them, I am not sure.)

I agree that people can be monumentally foolish and destructive. '01, '02, '05, and countless other examples can be found throughout history. (Pretty much the entirely of the last century's first 4 decades come to mind.)

But, there is a huge difference between accepting that and assuming massive shadowy conspiracies.

All of the perils you list are controllable and avoidable. Natural disasters can often be predicted, or at least mitigated with preparation and/or intelligent reactions. If we worked at it, we could solve, or at least mitigate, most any peril.

Of course, that does not mean we will. True, being reflective about the world/universe is important. But, how many people actually *are* reflective? I know many people who fancy themselves smart because they can read and regurgitate information. They might even use the best possible sources. But, processing is different from using. Large organizations compartmentalize information as on operational necessity. People do so out of laziness.

And, that is perhaps the gravest threat to us.




Keep it local.


The healthiest leper in the colony is still very very sick.

www.theanimalrescuesite.com
Offline
 
Superiorraw
Member Avatar


I grant that theres much more work to do in the human race.. and i totally agree with what you say Dom.
However I wanted to try and put across that it seems the Media only turn our attention to natural disasters as it suits them. As for conspiracy theories.. I really only see them as discussion points.. and what if's.. some of them are born from the media moguls I refuse to listen to.. again.. its not that I don't care for 9/11 but some natural disasters we can't do anything about.. if it's going to happen we can evacuate etc..

I'd just rather see people in power be more self aware of what we can do.. and the world in general stop fighting for pieces or land or resources.. most of what man as a race causes.. only acts as a catalyst for future disruption.
I'm glad you posted on this to be honest, it certainly made for better reading than my local newspaper... which will be lining the chips from the chip shop come monday morning.
Offline
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Create a free forum in seconds.
« Previous Topic · XTRA! XTRA! · Next Topic »
Add Reply

Aquös by tiptopolive of the ZB Theme Zone