Ineffective Website Is Ineffective

So, in keeping with all the usual stereotypes of the libertarian gun-nut, it should surprise none of you that I am a fan of conspiracy theories. Not a believer, mind you, but a fan. I've spent long enough out in the weeds with the crazies and the paranoids to have a fairly exhaustive grasp of the subject. For me, it's amateur cultural anthropology to watch the ideas mutate and recombine with new names slotted into the same old ideas.

As I think I've mentioned before, The Con is really a religious belief for the people who truly believe. Conspiracy theories are a way of making sense out of what is an essentially senseless and uncaring universe. Like all religious beliefs, they're hard to argue against. If you present the theorist with the conventional wisdom, they're likely to reply with "that's what they want you to think".

Having said that, I can now present to you a website which authoritatively states what they want you to think. The official US government debunking of various conspiracy theories! Yay!

After all, when you suspect an organization of killing 3,000 people and lying about it to start a war, you're certainly going to believe them when they tell you they didn't. Right?

I'm sure the government wastes more time and money on dumber things, but I'm equally sure very little the government does has a lower probability of success.

Dare Call It

A side interest of the larger and lumpier half of YPS has always been the study of the various and sundry conspiracy theories wafting through the breeze. My interest comes and goes, because my grip on reality is tenuous enough. Start wandering in the weeds out where the hardcore whackos live, and you run the risk of some of the crazy rubbing off. If you're like me, you already have a lifetime supply of paranoid suspicions and don't need anybody else's.

I bring this up because a couple of posts over at H&R recently have brought conspiracies back up. Both posts are worth reading, as are the linked articles. The brain tries very hard to impose order, even on things that have no order. Use this knowledge wisely. Or start a cult. Whatever works.

And since it was brought up in the comments, I bring you one of the greats of the Internet, still as crazy as ever: TimeCube!

Monsters Everywhere

So, I bought The Fame Monster a week or so ago. Little did I know the nefarious scheme my money unwittingly supports.

Yes, sadly, Lady Gaga is a willing agent of the Illuminati.

I leave it to you, gentle reader, to draw you own conclusions.

Many Call It Conspiracy

The CFR comes and goes as a conspiratorial organization. Yesterday, Timmy the Tax Cheat was speaking to them and apparently endorsed a one world currency approach. Oh noes! The Obamanauts will sell us out to the UN! Novus Ordo Seclorum! FEMA Takeover! Internment Camps! National Sovereignty loss in 3... 2... 1...

Well, maybe not so much. Here's the transcript. As an aside, it's hard to be conspiratorial when you're posting transcripts on the web. As I read this, somebody is asking a question about the Chinese central bank's proposal for... something. I lack the background to know exactly WTF is being discussed. Geithner, not wanting to piss off the guy who's holding the largest amount of US debt, says there may be something useful in the proposal, but I haven't read it. Strangely, this statement triggered the buttons of the paranoids. Nobody seems to give a damn about his multiple statements that the government is going to do whatever it takes for however long it takes to get us out of this crisis. Which one worries you more? The thought that the Chinese may have some thoughts on the current crisis which may contain some utility, or the thought that the government is going to fix this crisis by any means necessary?

I know which one disturbs me more, and the Chinese are by far not my biggest concern.

For another take on the effectiveness of the bailout, try here.