conspiracy theories...

Commenting on the previous post, Kurt said "...one needs to be careful about carrying this into the conspiracy theory territory regarding political motives."

Political motives and conspiracies...

American (and other) govenments have never manipulated the public perception of events to further their political agenda?

They have never stage-managed events to create pretexts for military interventions or wars?

They have never misrepresented events to the public in order to get public approval for military interventions or wars?

Things like this never happened?

These things were not conspiracies?

To suspect a conspiracy is to be automatically deemed "loony"?

Is there any conspiracy surrounding the events of 9/11? If there is, then I think it would be something along the lines of some deliberate intelligence "blindness" to signs and warnings that al Qaeda was planning a massive terrorist attack involving the multiple hijacking of airliners and flying them into iconic buildings.

How one would prove/disprove such a theory is another matter altogether.

Could the US military leadership be brutal enough to countenance such deliberate "blindness" in order to further their agenda? I would say "yes".

There is now quite a bit of debate that Pearl Harbour was just such an event.

And then there was Operation Northwoods. Kennedy killed the plan, but woud someone like George W. Bush have killed it?

Liquid bombs a load of bullshit?

A friend with a doctorate in chemistry sent me the following:

"According to the official government story, TATP (triacetone triperoxide) was the explosive these conspirators were planning to manufacture aboard the airliners.

"This story is not plausible for a number of reasons, but let's take a quick look at just enough of the science so as not to provide anybody with a guide to making an actual bomb: TATP is made from hydrogen peroxide solution, acetone and sulfuric acid. The reaction can be carried out with just about any concentration, but is best done with concentrated solutions of both peroxide and acetone.

"The peroxide and acetone can be pre-mixed, but the acid must be added, a drop at a time, to the solution, all the while continuously stirring it and keeping it continuously chilled. This step of the process will take several hours, during which the fumes given off will be substantial and quite overpowering, thus a lab-quality air evacuation system is required. (ES: right here, the whole idea of a TATP bomb becomes ludicrous. Difficult in a lab, but impossible in an airplane due to the environment - the toilet - and the time requirement.)

"One then must let the resulting solution stand for an extended period at temperatures above the freezing point, but definitely below 10 Celsius (50 Fahrenheit). Above 10 Celsius, the TATP does not form; instead, diperoxide forms, which is so unstable it cannot be worked with. The time required for the reaction to go to completion is at least 24 hours and often several days.

"Once the TATP forms, it crystallizes as snowflakes from the solution and must be harvested by filtration and the liquid discarded. The TATP then is dried and carefully stored until needed. It must be stored below 10 Celsius or it converts spontaneously to the unstable diperoxide.

"There is neither the time, the workspace nor the other materials required to make TATP on an airliner. The time required, the temperatures required, the workspace required and the need to dry the chemical prior to use preclude this story being reasonable. This chemical process is much more sensitive than making, for example, nitroglycerin."

The technically proficient reading this will recognize that a necessary step has been omitted and some others have been altered in critical ways. None of these purposeful camouflages alter the ingredients or the time, care and equipment required. Nor will I describe how TATP can be fabricated beforehand and then detonated aboard an airliner in flight. After all, though we want to demonstrate the impossibility of what has been claimed, we don't want anybody actually trying this at home - and there really are some genuine whack jobs out there. After all, we elect some of them to public office.

* The entire text above is from a Nickel Rant (tm) by Edgar J. Steele. Thomas C. Greene's article (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/flying_toilet_terror_labs/) is also worth a read.

** The links above were provided to me by Satanical Susan, lurker extraordinaire, who emails me stuff from time to time. BTW, Diogenesian Surfer, if you're reading this, your contributions are welcome too.

Antony's book...

Sydney bloggers, be there, or be square:

Thursday, September 07, 2006 / 6.30 for 7pm
My Israel Question
Antony Loewenstein
Panel: Stuart Rees, Prof Ahmad Shboul and Antony Loewenstein

Venue: gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe
Cost: $9/$6 conc. gleeclub welcome
Book: gleebooks - 9660 2333 or Request a place
Buy My Israel Question

Antony Loewenstein Panel: Stuart Rees (participating Chair) Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, Prof Ahmad Shboul (Dept. of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Uni of Sydney), Tim Palmer (Former ABC Middle East Correspondent, Antony Loewenstein.

Following the enormous interest in My Israel Question by Antony Loewenstein, this panel will discuss Antony’s book in light of the current conflict in the Middle East. Whose story will prevail? Will the ceasefire hold? Where to now for the Lebanese, the Palestinians & the Israelis?

The undeclared war in the Middle East is the abiding conflict of our era, with little apparent hope of resolution despite years of peace talks. On one side of the conflict, in the face of suicide bombings and international criticism over its military aggression, Israel asserts the right of the Jewish state to exist in Palestine. On the other, the Palestinian people struggle, some peacefully, some violently, for survival

In My Israel Question, a young Australian Jew, Antony Loewenstein, asks how much Zionism—the ideology of Jewish nationalism—is to blame for this intractable conflict. He fearlessly investigates the ways in which the Jewish diaspora in Australia and elsewhere have campaigned on Israel’s behalf, in the media and in political and business spheres. He also considers the historical rationale for Zionism—including the centuries of virulent European anti-Semitism from which it grew—and asks how relevant and sustainable Zionism is today. A searching discussion from a significant new voice in one of the most important debates of our times.

you know you're getting up their nostrils when...

This shows up on your blog stats:

Domain Name		pentagon.mil ? (Military)
IP Address		141.116.10.# (Army Information Systems Command-Pentagon)
ISP		Army Information Systems Command-Pentagon
Location		Continent : North America Country : United States (Facts) State : District of Columbia City : Washington Lat/Long : 38.8933, -77.0146 (Map)
Language		English (United States)

What can I say???

"Think outside the Pentagon" ???

the president blogs...

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran, has a blog.

Pity he doesn't offer an English language version and let us offer our comments about what we think of his idea of wiping Israel off the face of the earth... Update: You can view the English version by clicking on the second flag from the left.

He's more than welcome to drop by here to offer us a means of debating with him...

Yo Ahmad!!!

mirtazapine...

I've finally surrendered to the government-sanctioned drug pushers and started ingesting government-subsidised anti-depressants. It's week three.

Other than a dry mouth in the mornings exacerbating my long-existing chronic unexplained cough and a general emotional flat-lined kind of beingness, I don't know what to say...

Oh yes, today I felt really, really down. What a novel experience... [yawn]

Just as soon as I can give a shit about something, I'll rant about it...

At this rate, this will be the world's most boring blog in no time flat...

Don't forget to tell a friend about this blog...

back again...

OK, time for a fresh start, I think.

Some contentious posts have been removed.

It's come to my attention that there is a blogger out there sending poison pen emails about me to other bloggers. If you have been on the receiving end of any of these, I'd very much appreciate copies of such emails.

Now, as soon as I can think of something to rant about, I'll resume "normal" transmissions...