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Updates. What is happening in Venezuela?. Trump and the government shutdown. The Huawei impasse – what if she had been arrested at Tullamarine? Al – Arabi and the Saudi girl State of the Union address – who was sitting behind Trump? Trump – staying in Iraq to keep an eye on Iran?
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Updates • What is happening in Venezuela?. • Trump and the government shutdown. • The Huawei impasse – what if she had been arrested at Tullamarine? Al – Arabi and the Saudi girl • State of the Union address – who was sitting behind Trump? • Trump – staying in Iraq to keep an eye on Iran? • Trump – Mueller report – not to be released to the public? • Trump – Intelligence should “go back to school”. Intel said Iran is not making a bomb and that North Korea is... • Brexit and saving the Queen
Well........ • “History is much more the product of chaos than of conspiracy,” says former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski. • But, if you’re a believer in conspiracy theories, that’s probably exactly what you’d expect him to say.
That is not to say that there have not been conspiracies • The government was stealing dead bodies to do radioactive testing. (Project sunshine) • During Prohibition, the government poisoned alcohol to keep people from drinking. • A stroke rendered United States President Woodrow Wilson incapable of governing, and his wife surreptitiously stepped in. • The CIA was testing LSD and other hallucinogenic drugs on Americans in a top-secret experiment on behaviour modification – MK Ultra project. • The Dalai Lama is a CIA agent. (He was during the 1960s) • The FBI was spying on former Beatle John Lennon. • With the advances in technology, the government is using its vast resources to track citizens. (2016 – 50,,000 requests to FB, Apple and Google). • The Gulf of Tonkin incident on August 2, 1964, was faked to provoke American support for the Vietnam War. • For decades, tobacco companies buried evidence that smoking is deadly. • The Canada government was so paranoid about homosexuality that it developed a "gaydar" machine in the 1960s
Most famous conspiracies • Secret Group Controlling World - this conspiracy proposes that a secret group called the Iluminati has been really controlling the world and is looking to create a one world government. • President Obama Wasn’t Born in the U.S. and May Be a Secret Muslim - • The Attacks on 9/11 Were an Inside Job - to justify Iraq invasion • Lizard People aka “Reptilians” Are Running the World - shape shifters. • JFK Assassination. Was Lee Harvey Oswald alone? • Aliens Are Contacting Us - Roswell – Area 51 • The Moon Landing Was Faked. • FDA is Withholding the Cure for Cancer – big Pharma • Chemtrails – not contrails – sprayed by the government to control the population. • The Holocaust Did Not Happen. Only 8% of responders in the Middle East heard of the Holocaust and believed its description was true. • The "deep state" spied on Donald Trump's campaign, and is now trying to destroy his presidency.
And here as well.... mainly harmless • Pine Gap has an underground city for the world’s elite when the world is destroyed. It is also a place where they copy alien technology and it is also believe to exist in the fourth and fifth dimensions • The Bass Strait triangle – disappearance of a number of aircraft. • The design of Canberra – based on unique geometric designs and links to mysterious groups have led to speculation that the city plan is filled with occult symbols and messages linked to everything from Freemasonry to Kabala. • Believers say Parliament House represents the all-seeing eye pyramid of the Iluminati and the double ring around Capital Hill mark the area as a consecrated temple. • Harold Holt – taken by a Chinese submarine off Cheviot beach. Unlikely says Dame Zara – “he didn’t even like Chinese food”.
The Moon landing was faked This image of Buzz Aldrin saluting the U.S. flag on the Moon in 1969 is often used by Moon landing deniers as evidence that the landing was filmed on Earth, because the flag appears to be waving in the breeze, and we all know there is no breeze on the Moon.
Who are these people....? • Why do people believe in conspiracy theories? • First of all, it’s not just a few loners on the internet— it is thought that half the American public believes in at least one conspiracy theory in any given year. • Definition - “an explanation that makes reference to hidden, malevolent forces seeking to advance some nefarious aim.” • If a Conspiracy theory is shown to be true then it becomes historical fact – some believe that it is just a matter of time before they proven to be correct. • Conspiracy theorists view all of history as a “vast and sinister” conspiracy of sorts, whose “gigantic and yet subtle machinery of influence set in motion to undermine and destroy a way of life”. This rather apocalyptic way of belief sees the world in constant turmoil, where only the one who understands the conspiracy can defend the attacked way of life, destroy the enemy and save humanity. • Not just right wing phenomenon– it allows all sorts to cope with complex emotions, often brought on by an inexplicable event. • people believe in conspiracies when they feel a lack of control
Why do they believe? • conspiracy talk is a way to bolster the status quo. Potential existence of conspiracies can allow people to have a positive feeling about the society they live in when that social system is threatened. The dispossesed. • This way if something happens that is out of line with their views (like the election of Donald Trump was for many), people can blame a few bad apples instead of coming to feel like their whole country is against them. • researchers found that reasons for believing in conspiracy theories can be grouped into three categories: • The desire for understanding and certainty. Conspiracy theories are also false beliefs, by definition. But people who believe in them have a vested interest in maintaining them. First, they’ve put some effort into understanding the conspiracy-theory explanation for the event, whether by reading books, going to web sites, or watching TV programs that support their beliefs. • The desire for control and security - conspiracy theories can give their believers a sense of control and security. This is especially true when the alternative account feels threatening.
The Psychology of conspiracy theories • For example, if global temperatures are rising catastrophically due to human activity, then I’ll have to make painful changes to my comfortable lifestyle. But if pundits and politicians assure me that global warming is a hoax, then I can maintain my current way of living. • The desire to maintain a positive self-image- Research shows that people who feel socially marginalized are more likely to believe in conspiracy theories. • say someone is on disability and hasn’t worked in years. He feels socially excluded. However, he does have plenty of time to surf the internet for information about conspiracy theories and he can chat online with others who hold similar beliefs. Thus, belief in conspiracy theories gives him a sense of community. • Furthermore, his research into conspiracy theories has given him a sense that he is the holder of privileged knowledge. He knows more than you do about climate change, the danger of vaccinations etc. • You may offer counterevidence in an attempt convince him to give up his conspiracy theories, but you’re unlikely to succeed. This is because you’re arguing facts, while he is defending his sense of security and his positive feelings about himself. And for all of us, self-image trumps facts every time.
Why do people believe • To cope with large scale moral dilemmas. • IS the economy working for good or bad? • Too complicated to grasp – it is easer to grasp that it is 20 billionaires who brainwash us and start wars to enrich themselves/ • This is to deny the true complexity of the world. No 20 billionaires, the CIA, the Freemasons or the Elders of Zion are capable of it. No ne understands the world that much. • Technology has out grown us and our understanding – who know how a TV works? Last understandable technology was the bicycle. • We know more but actually we know less.
Differences and similarities • Republicans are vastly more likely than Democrats to believe the Obama "birther" theory or that climate change is a hoax. Democrats are more likely to believe that Trump's campaign "colluded" with the Russians. • But some people are habitual conspiracists who entertain a variety of generic conspiracy theories. • For example, they believe that world politics are controlled by a cabal instead of governments, or that scientists systematically deceive the public. • some people seem to be downright devoted to conspiracy theories. This may be part of a need to feel unique. • conspiracy believers were also disproportionately concerned that the world is a dangerous place. For example, they were more likely to agree that "all the signs" are pointing to imminent chaos. • They were also more likely to say that nonhuman objects – triangle shapes moving around on a computer screen – were acting intentionally, as though they were capable of having thoughts and goals they were trying to accomplish. • In other words, they inferred meaning and motive where others did not.
Is Trump a conspiracy theorist? • He is famously untrusting of others. • He has espoused unusual ideas, including the theory that people have a limited lifetime reservoir of energy that physical exercise depletes. • He sees the world as a dangerous place - His campaign speeches warned about murderous rapist immigrants flooding across the border and black communities being in "the worst shape" they've ever been. His inauguration address described a hellish landscape of "American carnage.“ • if you are a person who looks at the world and sees chaos and malevolence, perhaps there is comfort in the notion that there is someone to blame. • Perhaps, then, even the darkest and most bizarre conspiracy theories offer a glint of hope for some people. • Take the "QAnon" theory that has recently received a flurry of media attention. This theory features a nightmare of paedophile rings and satanic cults. But some adherents have adopted a version of the theory that President Trump has it all under control. • There’s a theory online that nuclear research experiments caused the world to shift into an alternate reality where Donald Trump became president.
The conspiracies he believes in or promoted • Questions about Supreme Court Justice Antony Scalia's death. – a pillow found • Clintons and death of aide Vince Foster suicide. • Questions about whether Syrian refugees are ISIS terrorists. • Questions about whether childhood vaccines cause autism. • Questions about whether Muslims in New Jersey were cheering after 9/11. • Questions about whether wives of 9/11 hijackers fled to Saudi Arabia before the attacks. • Questions about the legitimacy of climate change. • Questions about whether asbestos is a "great con. • Questions about the legitimacy of the "Access Hollywood" tape • Claims that Obama had wiretapped Trump's phone • Claims that voter fraud in the 2016 election cost him the popular vote • Retweeting anti-Muslim conspiracy videos • Claims 3,000 people didn't die in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and that Democrats inflated the death toll.
The Q Anon story • The story began in October 2017, when an anonymous user posted a series of messages on 4chan - a very loosely moderated message board which has been a breeding ground of a number of online movements, including the alt-right. • The unidentified user, who signed off as "Q", claimed to have top security clearance within the US government. • The baseless core of the QAnon story is that the Mueller investigation into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia is actually an investigation into global elites, and that the president is masterminding a secret plan to arrest top politicians and Hollywood stars for corruption and child abuse. • Cryptic messages from an “intelligence agent” - Breadcrumbs
Q and the Deep State • many followers of QAnon believe a "deep state" took over the government decades ago and have been involved in everything from the assassination of JFK to the rise of ISIS. • Many Q fans believe that President Kennedy was set to reveal the existence of the secret government when he was assassinated, • They believe that all Presidents since Reagan, who was shot on orders of the Deep State have been agents of the Deep State (except for Trump). • Part of the Qanon appeal lies in its game-like quality. Followers wait for clues left by “Q” on the message board. When the clues appear, believers dissect the riddle-like posts alongside Trump’s speeches and tweets and news articles in an effort to validate the main narrative that Trump is winning a war against evil. • Followers talk about Q’s reference to “The Storm” - The Storm,” the day when QAnon followers believe that all of Trump’s enemies will be simultaneously arrested and martial law will be declared. • New York Time op-ed piece from the anonymous ”resistance” within the White House confirms their suspicions.
The Bakers • Among the falsehoods being spread by bakers, according to the Post, are the ideas that some Hollywood celebrities and known Democrats like Tom Hanks are paedophiles and that special counsel Robert Mueller was secretly hired to expose Democrats as a part of Trump’s larger plan. • Many in the movement also believe that J.P. Morgan sank the Titanic and that Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and George Soros are planning a coup and traffic children on the side. • Like many other Trump supporters outside of the QAnon community, bakers believe that the American media are purveyors of fake news, calling press reports “Operation Mockingbird” after the alleged manipulation of the media by the CIA in the 1950s. The Rothschild's, a wealthy Jewish banking family, are said to lead a satanic cult to which Vladimir Putin is privy. • Bakers also believe that something called a “Great Awakening” will come before the final storm once they solve the puzzle that is all of the information given to them by Q. Q’s information, once deciphered, will not only lead to an understanding of Trump’s triumph, but of the universe as a whole.
QANON and Trump • The resulting QAnon conspiracy theory - also known as "The Storm" - is a collection of these interpretations. Trump “the calm before the storm” • Despite there being no real evidence that Q has any special insight into the inner workings of the government, the conspiracy theory has been pushed by various celebrities in the US. • The actress Roseanne Barr, former baseball player and current Breitbart podcast host Curt Schilling, and Infowars host Alex Jones - who has spread other conspiracy theories, including one which claimed that a massacre at a Connecticut school was staged by the government - have all promoted the theory. • QAnon supporters tend to be older people who are "a little less sceptical about what they see on the Internet". • The timing of the conspiracy theory's origins, he says, is no accident. During the Mueller investigation, "people were really looking for reasons to not think that the president is somehow in the employ of Russia”.
The conspiracy theories of Alex Jones • After years of public pressure, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was largely barred from the world's largest social media platforms last month. YouTube has also banned him which also fuels a conspiracy theory. • The government has 'weather weapons' • Chemicals in the water are turning frogs gay as a prelude to turning everyone gay. • Robert Mueller is a demon, and also a paedophile. "Everyone's so scared of Mueller, they'd let Mueller rape kids in front of people, which he did," Jones said in July 2017. He retracted part of that later but still claimed that Mueller was in charge. • The Sandy Hook shooting was staged. Jones claimed that the shooting was "completely fake" and staged in order to promote more restrictive gun control policies. • Hillary Clinton was running a child sex ring out of a pizza parlour. • Jones has apologised for some of them and is being sued by others.
The very real dangers • conspiracy theories do matter. Conspiracy theories can diminish faith in institutions and government, lead to distrust of science and medicine, and — even worse — inspire acts of violence. And conspiracy theories can be and are being used by those with political influence to shore up their power and mitigate opposition. • The power of conspiracy theories is that they offer an explanation for why something happened, one that seems more palatable or, oddly enough, more realistic than the real explanation. • In October, a man sent pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and political figures featured in conspiracy theories, including Soros. Those bombs were then themselves deemed to be “false flags” by the conspiratorially minded — the very concept of “false flags” being, of course, a conspiracy theory. • That same month, a man steeped in perhaps the oldest conspiracy theory there is murdered 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh after ranting on social media platforms about “EVIL Jews.” • traditionally, conspiracy theories have appeared in times of turmoil or tragedy (think 9/11, or the Kennedy assassination, or the school shooting in Parkland, Florida.
Fake news the first cousin of conspiracies • Conspiracy theories used to be seen as bizarre expressions of harmless eccentrics. Not any more. Gone are the days of outlandish theories about Roswell’s UFOs, the “hoax” moon landings or grassy knolls. Instead, today’s iterations have morphed into political weapons. • they are challenging society’s trust in facts. At its most toxic, this contagion poses a profound threat to democracy by damaging its bedrock: a shared commitment to truth. • A University of Chicago study estimated in 2014 that half of the American public consistently endorses at least one conspiracy theory. When they repeated the survey last November, the proportion had risen to 61%. In the UK it is now 60% • Soon, media entrepreneurs realized there was money to be made – most notoriously Alex Jones, whose site Infowars feeds its millions of readers a potent diet of lurid lies (9/11 was a government hit job; the feds manipulate the weather etc.
The personal cost – from the Guardian • Lenny Pozner, 51, is preparing to pack his bags, again. A few weeks ago, “hoaxers” – as he calls conspiracy theorists – reproduced a map of his Florida neighbourhood with a dropped pin marking the precise location of his apartment. It will be the eighth time in five years he will have been forced to move home as he strives to keep one step ahead of the fanatics who relentlessly hound him. • Pozner’s crime, in the eyes of conspiracy theorists, is being the father of one of the 20 children who were gunned down in the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012. Noah was the youngest of all victims. He had just turned six. • Within months, conspiracy theorists, egged on by Alex Jones and Infowars, went to work. They generated thousands of web posts and a 426-page book called “Nobody Died at Sandy Hook”. • Their thesis: the shooting at the elementary school never happened. The 20 kids who died were “crisis actors”. The tragedy was a con. Noah had never even existed, he was a construct of Photoshop.
The Deep State • That’s one of the reasons conspiracy theories are attractive: They tell you that everyone is stupid and ignorant, while you are one of the few people smart and clued-in enough to understand what’s really going on. • One of the signal beliefs of the conspiracy theorist is that almost no one can be trusted, because the truth is buried under a mountain of lies. Don’t believe what you read in the newspaper and see on TV, because they’re all in on it. Or as Trump himself put it, “Just remember: What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening.” • Plotters in the deep state tried to shoot down Air Force One and foil President Trump’s North Korea summit. A cabal of global elites, including top figures in Hollywood, the Democratic Party, and the intelligence agencies, are responsible for nearly all the evil in the world. And now Trump is going to fix it all with thousands of sealed indictments, sending the likes of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama straight to Guantanamo Bay. • Pictures from a plane – is Q on AF1? Is it Trump? “tip – top” signal etc. • QAnon supporters have even claimed Trump uses his hands to make a “Q” sign as a signal to them.
The dangers • the conspiracism we see today does introduce something new—conspiracy without the theory. And it betrays a new destructive impulse: to delegitimise the government. • Often the aim is merely to delegitimise an individual or a specific office. The charge that Obama conspired to fake his birth certificate only aimed at Obama’s legitimacy. Similarly, the charge that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration publicized flawed data in order to make global warming look more menacing was designed only to demote the authority of climate scientists working for the government. • The ultimate effect of the new conspiracism will be to delegitimise democracy itself. • When conspiracists attribute intention where in fact there is only accident and coincidence, reject authoritative standards of evidence and falsifiability, and seal themselves off from any form of correction, their conspiracism can seem like a form of paranoia—a delusional insistence that one is the victim of a hostile world.
The new conspiracists – Dissent magazine • The new conspiracism we are seeing today, however, often dispenses with any explanations or evidence. Instead, it offers only innuendo and verbal gesture, as exemplified in President Trump’s phrase, “people are saying.” • Conspiracy without the theory can corrode confidence in government, but it cannot give meaning to events or guide constructive collective action. • “Rigged” was a single word that in the election of 2016 had the power to evoke sinister intentions, fantastic plots, and an awesome capacity to mobilize three million illegal voters to support Hillary Clinton for president and then to cover it up. • The baseless charge of voter fraud in New Hampshire is designed to obscure the reality that Trump lost the popular vote • Complicity by insinuation and equivocation also evades responsibility. A telling example was Mike Huckabee’s seemingly off-hand comment in relation to Obama’s birth certificate in 2011: “I would love to know more. What I know is troubling enough.” • The moon landing – at the time 5% had reservations – last count in 2004 it was 27% - Fox News programme. Fox special Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon? Youngsters mainly who were not alive then and who distrust government. NASA – “yes, we did”
