Getaway special for 9-11 conspiracy theorists

[AstroBrant]

I was shocked and saddened when I discovered that Lynn Margulis had become a 9-11 conspiracy theorist. Does anybody know if she ever retracted her position?

She also became an AIDS denier, which for a biologist was just a breath-taking position to have
"There is a vast body of literature on syphilis spanning from the 1500s until after World War II, when the disease was supposedly cured by penicillin. It’s in our paper “Resurgence of the Great Imitator.” Our claim is that there’s no evidence that HIV is an infectious virus, or even an entity at all. There’s no scientific paper that proves that the HIV virus causes AIDS. "
http://www.skepticblog.org/2011/04/13/the-linus-pauling-effect/

Ohhh, my... how sad! Another respected scientist who just went off the deep end.
William Crookes, Alfred Russell Wallace, Carl Jung, John Mack....

[Zakalwe]

And Sandy Hook and the Haiti earthquake. While I care a great deal about Apollo, I am able, at least most of the time, to maintain some degree of equanimity. But when I come across these pariahs who exploit real tragedies for their own self-promotion or cynical, anti-whatever propaganda, I can't keep my cool for very long. That's why I avoid them.

I rarely let the stupidity of others get to me, but seeing a bunch of f&%*kwit idiots dissecting the horrific Boston bombing images and trying to make out that it was all a sham, that the people screaming in pain were just actors, that it was all a false-flag incident pushed me over the edge. It goes to show just how divorced these fools are from real human interaction and just how little they have in their lives of social connections and empathy for our fellow human beings. 

[Zakalwe]

Ohhh, my... how sad! Another respected scientist who just went off the deep end.
William Crookes, Alfred Russell Wallace, Carl Jung, John Mack....

Edgar Mitchell
Not a scientist, but a confirmed member of the Woo-Woo brigade.

[twik]

I was shocked and saddened when I discovered that Lynn Margulis had become a 9-11 conspiracy theorist. Does anybody know if she ever retracted her position?

She also became an AIDS denier, which for a biologist was just a breath-taking position to have
"There is a vast body of literature on syphilis spanning from the 1500s until after World War II, when the disease was supposedly cured by penicillin. It’s in our paper “Resurgence of the Great Imitator.” Our claim is that there’s no evidence that HIV is an infectious virus, or even an entity at all. There’s no scientific paper that proves that the HIV virus causes AIDS. "
http://www.skepticblog.org/2011/04/13/the-linus-pauling-effect/

AIDS denial and anti-vaccine propaganda are the worst of the conspiracy theories. Most of them are harmless; few people are really hurt by belief in a Moon Landing hoax. Some drive people to acts of violence, but those events are rare compared to the "just asking questions, but not actually doing anything" group.

The number of people who fall for medical hoaxes and don't get treatment they need to fight dangerous diseases is staggering.

[ka9q]

Ohhh, my... how sad! Another respected scientist who just went off the deep end.
William Crookes, Alfred Russell Wallace, Carl Jung, John Mack....

Nikola Tesla, David Allan...

[Luke Pemberton]

AIDS denial and anti-vaccine propaganda are the worst of the conspiracy theories.

AIDS denial? What is wrong with these people.

The number of people who fall for medical hoaxes and don't get treatment they need to fight dangerous diseases is staggering.

I agree, with measles and mumps on the rise it is truly sad that these idiots walk the Earth.

I was suckered by the JFK conspiracy when I was in my teens, but only in the sense that it was something to talk about. Apollo is harmless, although it does irritate me that kids in their mother's basements denigrate the work of so many brilliant minds. There are some conspiracy theories that are truly harmful and utterly distasteful.

[Zakalwe]

I agree, with measles and mumps on the rise it is truly sad that these idiots walk the Earth.

Darwinian natural selection should take care of vaccine deniers. Or at least, it will help to prevent their dumb-ass genes polluting the gene-pool..... 

[Luke Pemberton]

Darwinian natural selection should take care of vaccine deniers. Or at least, it will help to prevent their dumb-ass genes polluting the gene-pool..... 

Sadly it is the children of the deniers and those gullible to believe the nonsense that are the most inflicted, and are denied vaccines at an age where they do not have the ability to make a conscious decision about what is right for them.

[Noldi400]

Mini nuclear weapons? Where do these people get their ideas from?

Still, that has to be a step up from Judy Wood's Orbital Emergy Bean Weapons.

[Zakalwe]

Sadly it is the children of the deniers and those gullible to believe the nonsense that are the most inflicted, and are denied vaccines at an age where they do not have the ability to make a conscious decision about what is right for them.

Aye, I know. Still...stops the genes from spreading 

Now if only these idiot parents could get their daft ideas BEFORE they manage to breed.....

[gillianren]

Sadly it is the children of the deniers and those gullible to believe the nonsense that are the most inflicted, and are denied vaccines at an age where they do not have the ability to make a conscious decision about what is right for them.

Not to mention people with legitimate medical reasons for not getting vaccinated, like the immunodeficient or children under one.  I was literally counting the days until Simon's MMR--and then they told me that they don't like to give MMR and varicella at the same appointment, so it got set back until his fifteen-month check-up.  I understand that he's more likely to come into contact with chicken pox, but I'm more afraid of measles.  Anyway, he's had both shots now, so he's unlikely to get either disease.  But it's also worth noting that the vaccines aren't one hundred percent effective, so people who don't vaccinate their kids might still be putting him at risk.

[AstroBrant]

  But it's also worth noting that the vaccines aren't one hundred percent effective, so people who don't vaccinate their kids might still be putting him at risk.

Yes, the weakening of "herd immunity."

[Tedward]

And Sandy Hook and the Haiti earthquake. While I care a great deal about Apollo, I am able, at least most of the time, to maintain some degree of equanimity. But when I come across these pariahs who exploit real tragedies for their own self-promotion or cynical, anti-whatever propaganda, I can't keep my cool for very long. That's why I avoid them.

I rarely let the stupidity of others get to me, but seeing a bunch of f&%*kwit idiots dissecting the horrific Boston bombing images and trying to make out that it was all a sham, that the people screaming in pain were just actors, that it was all a false-flag incident pushed me over the edge. It goes to show just how divorced these fools are from real human interaction and just how little they have in their lives of social connections and empathy for our fellow human beings.

I have a particular thing with this, that thing is I cannot put my finger on why the stupid. I dip into a few forums to look see at stuff at work, and see how it progresses and many events are dissected as "suspect", "other forces at work", "definitely something wrong here" etc. etc. They proclaim it in a fashion of some sort of expert. They know as they can type a few things on a keyboard and gat an answer. There ability ends, they fail to ask if it is the right answer or seek that answers provenance but it is the answer they want. And the hangers on reinforce that belief.

The attack on a soldier in London garners the usual from the usual (one ex footballer, ex TV show host etc. forum is a good example), the ability to stay at home and use a computer to say the blood was the wrong colour without realising how the image was made and has got to a monitor is breathtakingly cringing.

I would not want to see a confrontation with any people directly involved with any tragedy and conspiracy people unless the former sought it out. The ones harping on about Sandy Hook would never go there I suspect, easier to bash the keyboard in a warrior way. How bad must it be for the families if this lot descended even if they were to leave with their tails firmly between their legs? Not sure what the answer is. A moderated TV debate I fear would descend into farce.

[Obviousman]

It is amazing how easily you can start a conspiracy.

At the air base I work at we built some dummy "aircraft" to practice deck handling aboard a new class of aircraft carrier. Because of the way they look, I told some "targeted audience" that they were secret stealth aircraft (and backed it with images). Next thing there were rumours about secret aircraft being tested!

Now, nothing will convince them that they are dummy aircraft.

[twik]

AIDS denial and anti-vaccine propaganda are the worst of the conspiracy theories.

AIDS denial? What is wrong with these people.

AIDS, more than any other disease, has political components to its management and treatment. Many on one side see it as a punishment for a lifestyle. On the other side , you have people who hate the thought that the best solutions we have so far have come from Big Government and Big Medicine, whom they distrust and despise. So, on both sides (and all the assorted offshoots of those sides), you have people who have an emotional interest in denying that AIDS is "simply" an infectious disease.

Throw in a bit of "if I show that AIDS is not what everyone thinks, I'm a shoo-in for the Nobel Prize," and it's very tempting for some people.