A Progressive on the Prairie

Conspiracy-debunking… or conspiracy?

Conspiracy theories abound, many of which involve the federal government acting alone or in conjunction with others. Now I admit I love to read about conspiracy theories. My bookshelves contain plenty of works on this or that theory (the JFK assassination or 9/11, for example) or compilations of them (Everything Is Under Control or The Sixty Greatest Conspiracies of All Time, to name two). Yet I also try to apply a bit of rational skepticism to them. Still, I don’t know that the website Conspiracy Theories and Misinformation is going to succeed its goal of debunking many of these theories.

You see, the website is produced by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs, as was a “Rumors, Myths and Fabrications” blog that was active from May 2008 until September 11, 2009. (Could that date alone be conspiratorially significant?) But why would anyone take a government at its word when its trying to debunk claims of government conspiracies? And the rationale for the site won’t suggest a different conclusion to those inclined toward these theories. “Conspiracy theories exist in the realm of myth, where imaginations run wild, fears trump facts, and evidence is ignored,” it announces. “As a superpower, the United States is often cast as a villain in these dramas.”

The site lists nine “popular conspiracy theories” with very brief summaries in each area containing links to additional information. The most specific summary by far is 9/11. Not only does it have the longest summary, one of two large links on the site is to debunking911.com, a site whose owner is unknown and who recognizes that alone “is evidence to conspiracy theorists that I’m a ‘government shill’.” (Give the government credit, though, for making the other large link to Snopes.com.) The State Department site also offers a photo gallery of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. The other conspiracy theories are more broad: health, military, outer space, economic, “U.S. Domestic,” U.S. and Islam, U.S. and Latin America and, of course, “Others.” The site also has three short videos on conspiracy theories, “Debunking,” “What, Why and How” and “Consequences.”

As it is produced by the State Department, the site certainly would seem aimed at a foreign audience. But are those inclined toward jihadists, for example, likely to believe what the government says about whether it is waging a war on Islam? Likewise, is anyone outside or in the U.S. who wonders if the government was involved in 9/11 going to rely on this site for information?

I think I have it figured out, though. The site is part of a deeper conspiracy. It must be the work of the Bilderberg Group, the Trilateral Commission and their fellow travelers as part of a masterful disinformation campaign to direct attention away from themselves and the shadow government that actually runs the country and the world. And, of course, we all know these groups are themselves only fronts for the evil shape-shifting lizard-people from the 4th dimension that actually control the world.

…the biggest conspiracy has always been the fact that there is no conspiracy. No one’s out to get you. No one even gives a shit whether you live or die. There. You feel better now?

Dennis Miller, I Rant, Therefore I Am

Afghanistan books email gives a Priceless feel

Just before Memorial Day this year, I did something different. As I noted at the time, I shipped some books off to military personnel in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Early Wednesday morning, I got an email from the soldier in Afghanistan, a staff sergeant originally from Pennsylvania who’s been in the Army for 17 years. Through Books for Soldiers, he’d requested books, magazines and DVDs for his battalion. I sent off six relatively new novels and a copy of To Kill A Mockingbird. Here’s his email (with two deletions I made and some typos repaired):

I received your box which contained all the novels. Thank you very much. I do not have regular internet like in the US because this base camp is extremely new. We do have the tents to live in but there is not electricity yet. Everything takes a little time here. The US mail comes regularly but it all depends on the weather from departing bases to our base. ….

…This is my 4th deployment into the Middle East (3 previous deployments in Iraq theater total of 48 months -18, 15, 15 months). This is my shortest deployment of 12 months. I have been in Afghanistan since [deleted]. I will leave Afghanistan around [deleted]. I’m in the extreme northwest of Afghanistan where no American troops had ever been in this region. According to the Push (Surge) from President Obama, 30,000 more American troops will come into Afghanistan to spread their influences over the country. I’m a part of this surge.

Now what I or anyone thinks about the advisability or strategies of the war in Afghanistan (or Iraq) is beside the point. Here’s a guy who will have spent five years of his life in those countries, away from the safety and comforts of home and family. Here’s a group of soldiers living in tents without electricity who are happy to get books and magazines. Knowing that ranks this as perhaps the best book “recycling” I’ve ever done.

This isn’t a pat myself on the back deal. I want people to get an idea of what programs like Books for Soldiers and Operation Paperback really mean. Although actions like this go beyond supporting the troops by putting a decal on your car, what is more important is that these organizations transcend personal or political views. Granted, giving someone a book may not be the most altruistic or important act in the world — but it’s still human being to human being. And we can always use some of that.

So, if you’re boxing up or needing to get rid of good slightly used books, magazines or DVDs, consider signing up with Books for Soldiers, Operation Paperback or a similar group. The end result is, in fact, priceless.

Being a soldier, fighting for this country, is neither Republican nor Democrat

Max Cleland, April 1, 2006

FTC to help “the reinvention of journalism”?

No one disputes the impact the digital age has had on journalism, particularly newspapers, so there’s a variety of ideas floating around to keep newspapers alive. The Federal Trade Commission’s staff just released a draft discussion report as a result of the FTC saying last year that it wanted to consider the challenges faced by journalism.

The FTC points out that the report, titled “Potential Policy Recommendations to Support the Reinvention of Journalism in the Internet Age,” is not made up of its proposals but, rather, is a collection of suggestions from a series of workshops it hosted and from reports and articles about the future of journalism. There are some interesting concepts. Here’s a few:

Limiting the “fair use” doctrine to address issues posed by news aggregators and search engines.

Amending the Copyright Act to create “hot news” protection. While you can’t copyright facts, this doctrine recognizes some quasi-property interest in the value of having the news first, before there is widespread public dissemination.

Establish a “journalism” division of AmeriCorps to help “ensure that young people who love journalism will stay in the field.”

Collecting fees from telecom users, broadcast licensees or ISPs to create a national fund for local news.

Creating “citizenship news vouchers, which would allow taxpayers to allocate some amount of government funds to the non-profit media organization of their choice.

In conjunction with the latter, using a non-profit model for new organizations or explore other types of business structures. (A bill that would allow newspapers to qualify as nonprofit entities was introduced in the U.S. Senate in March 2009 and still sits in committee.)

These are just a few of the ideas discussed to one degree or another in the report. As a former newspaper reporter and a readere, I want newspapers and print magazines to survive. At the same time, I am more than a bit leery of government being involved with the funding or structure of news organizations. Just like with churches, I think we are all better served by separation of state and news media.

Still, the only way for newspapers to survive is to explore, discuss and debate a wide range of ideas. Or perhaps I’m just a Luddite unwilling to recognize that the dead tree-based form of journalism will inevitably disappear. If that’s the case, it looks like the FTC is in the same boat.

In sum, newspapers have not yet found a new, sustainable business model, and there is reason for concern that such a business model may not emerge.

Potential Policy Recommendations to Support
the Reinvention of Journalism in the Internet Age

Microreview: The Passage by Justin Cronin

Okay, I’ve read THE novel of the summer. I’m still trying to figure out why it’s THE novel.

Justin Cronin’s The Passage has plenty of hype. But when you get right down to it, it’s really an over long post-apocalyptic SF novel. (Although for some reason the local library stuck a “Mystery” tag on the spine.)

I don’t want to take anything away from Cronin. After all, I did read the nearly 800 pages over the course of about four days (although they were mainly rainy and dreary ones). Yet it isn’t a book I would call “unputdownable.” The storyline isn’t anything new: U.S. Army experiments with virus on a dozen murderers on death row to create vampire-like super-soldiers. They escape and eventually infect almost all the U.S. population, turning 10 percent into creatures like them. Some 90 years later, a small group of survivors leaves their protective colony and battles against all odds to see if they can combat the creatures, accompanying a mysterious young girl who became the 13th test subject and has barely aged over the decades.

Admittedly, Cronin does a good job not only with the backstory but with describing survival in the aftermath and developing the characters. Yet parts of The Passage simply drag on a too long and, especially for this type of book, slow the pace. While many will find it an enjoyable read, it needed more blue pencil work. I know that will keep it off my books of the year list.

Of course, with all the hype, this is just the beginning. Two more volumes are planned and the film rights have already been sold. Given the recent popularity of post-apocalyptic and vampire lit and we may well be looking at a new franchise.

…the world beyond the Colony was an open grave of history no one even remembered.

Justin Cronin, The Passage