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nolabear

(41,937 posts)
Sun Aug 21, 2016, 05:35 PM Aug 2016

A great, and creepy article on going on a cruise for conspiracy theorists.

Bronwen Dickey, a really good writer for Popular Mechanics, recently went on a cruise called, I kid you not, ConspiraSea. As the subhead reads, "It ended poorly."

http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/a21919/conspiracy-theory-cruise/

(Bronwen's a woman, btw, a fact not made apparent in the article.)

45 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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A great, and creepy article on going on a cruise for conspiracy theorists. (Original Post) nolabear Aug 2016 OP
How DARE you say the voices are CIA transmissions? Everybody knows they're space aliens! Warpy Aug 2016 #1
When the gurus go completely off the rails and buy their own gu. nolabear Aug 2016 #5
So obviously the CIA and the space aliens are working in cahoots. Are you too naive to see it? (n/t) Jim Lane Aug 2016 #24
K & R GP6971 Aug 2016 #2
Sure did-- and creepy for sure. TreasonousBastard Aug 2016 #3
"Our government is run by giant lizards posing as politicians. LongTomH Aug 2016 #4
Best line, IMO... SticksnStones Aug 2016 #8
This sounds like a case for Mulder and Scully! DawgHouse Aug 2016 #11
If only! Blue_Tires Aug 2016 #19
Boats. Always with the boats. underpants Aug 2016 #6
Very interesting article, thanks for posting the link. Shrike47 Aug 2016 #7
I couldn't get through the entire article. Was Jill Stein there? n/t Buckeye_Democrat Aug 2016 #9
A couple of other write-ups of the cruise (it was earlier this year) muriel_volestrangler Aug 2016 #10
Thanks, Muriel. I like 2004's libertarian candidate for president Hortensis Aug 2016 #27
That's hilarious. yardwork Aug 2016 #28
So that's what Andy Wakefield is up to nowadays. nt msanthrope Aug 2016 #12
OMG Spectacular! ismnotwasm Aug 2016 #13
What a relief that those geniuses... Buckeye_Democrat Aug 2016 #14
I'm sure they reference string theory as "proof" of cosmic vibrations... ismnotwasm Aug 2016 #15
Lol! Buckeye_Democrat Aug 2016 #16
Wow. What a difference from "Skeptical Inquirer" cruises mainer Aug 2016 #17
There was no cruise. That's just what they want you to think, man. Nuclear Unicorn Aug 2016 #18
*snerk* nolabear Aug 2016 #23
"You are about to enter another dimension. Hortensis Aug 2016 #29
My God, that's horrible. NuclearDem Aug 2016 #20
Wait - They went on a cruise openly advertised for people who believe in government conspiracies? Oneironaut Aug 2016 #21
Clearly they ended up in the Bermuda Triangle, over the city of Atlantis Rex Aug 2016 #22
I'm shocked that serious conspiracy theorists wouldn't immediately see that "cruise" for what it is Warren DeMontague Aug 2016 #25
anyone have a link that debunks the moon landing conspiracy people brettdale Aug 2016 #26
The gloves were too big? yardwork Aug 2016 #30
Apparently the gloves on Apollo were absolutely torturous to work in. Warren DeMontague Aug 2016 #45
Oh, fuck. Well, there's no reasoning with some people, for starts. Warren DeMontague Aug 2016 #31
Basically, if the moon-landing were faked, the Commies would have noticed. DetlefK Aug 2016 #33
Thanks for all the links brettdale Aug 2016 #43
Try Phil Plait's old Bad Astronomy blog LongTomH Aug 2016 #34
We could send Buzz Aldrin to his house SwankyXomb Aug 2016 #36
I don't support violence Warren DeMontague Aug 2016 #44
First Rule of Conspiracy-Club: Don't question other people's conspiracies. DetlefK Aug 2016 #32
Oh dear Lord. Tommy_Carcetti Aug 2016 #35
I can think of quite a few DU'rs that would have fit comfortably into that crowd. nt hack89 Aug 2016 #37
Aw c'mon. Let's not spoil the fun by shooting into the audience. nolabear Aug 2016 #38
CTs are what brought me into DU in the first place hack89 Aug 2016 #39
I clearly don't get out enough. LOL! nolabear Aug 2016 #40
Holographic planes, mini-nuclear bombs, space based energy weapons - it had it all. nt hack89 Aug 2016 #41
As my people say, "Bless their hearts." But really the cruisers that I loved were the gurus. nolabear Aug 2016 #42

Warpy

(111,174 posts)
1. How DARE you say the voices are CIA transmissions? Everybody knows they're space aliens!
Sun Aug 21, 2016, 05:45 PM
Aug 2016

I honestly don't know how she did it with a straight face or without bribing the chefs to put some ground up bootleg Valium into the food.

Oh, I don't mind casual, boozy speculation about who really had JFK whacked as long as people get normal again when they sober up.

This is just a little too hardcore, though. It reminds me of cousins when they go off their bipolar meds.

 

Jim Lane

(11,175 posts)
24. So obviously the CIA and the space aliens are working in cahoots. Are you too naive to see it? (n/t)
Mon Aug 22, 2016, 01:53 AM
Aug 2016

SticksnStones

(2,108 posts)
8. Best line, IMO...
Sun Aug 21, 2016, 06:58 PM
Aug 2016
"I learned from Laura Eisenhower (yes that Eisenhower family) that Hillary Clinton may have a supernatural agenda for world domination. "She's not even human," Eisenhower said. "You don't want to know what she is."


Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
27. Thanks, Muriel. I like 2004's libertarian candidate for president
Mon Aug 22, 2016, 07:17 AM
Aug 2016

who wouldn't go ashore in Mexico because "it's a lawless society."

ismnotwasm

(41,968 posts)
13. OMG Spectacular!
Sun Aug 21, 2016, 07:47 PM
Aug 2016
"I'm so glad you made it!" said Adele McIntosh, the tour company's travel agent, when I finally located the Conspira-Sea check-in desk. She gave me a tight hug, then handed me my name tag and an orientation packet. When I wrote "Popular Mechanics" on my sign-in form, a woman to Adele's right shuffled some papers and nodded approvingly.

"Wonderful to have you with us," the woman said. "We're only now beginning to understand the quantum realm."


Buckeye_Democrat

(14,852 posts)
14. What a relief that those geniuses...
Sun Aug 21, 2016, 07:52 PM
Aug 2016

... or working on it instead of a dummy like Richard Feynman, eh?

Math? Let's use our "feelings" instead!

mainer

(12,018 posts)
17. Wow. What a difference from "Skeptical Inquirer" cruises
Sun Aug 21, 2016, 08:14 PM
Aug 2016

Wonder what would happen if the two groups ended up on the same ship. sounds like a horror film.

Hortensis

(58,785 posts)
29. "You are about to enter another dimension.
Mon Aug 22, 2016, 07:26 AM
Aug 2016

A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone!"

Thanks, Nolabear. I enjoyed reading this.

Oneironaut

(5,487 posts)
21. Wait - They went on a cruise openly advertised for people who believe in government conspiracies?
Sun Aug 21, 2016, 11:06 PM
Aug 2016

Given what they believe, wouldn't that be a dumb thing to do?

 

Rex

(65,616 posts)
22. Clearly they ended up in the Bermuda Triangle, over the city of Atlantis
Sun Aug 21, 2016, 11:08 PM
Aug 2016

which sank around the same time ancient aliens built the pyramids to hide the grain from cosmic Tribbles.

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
25. I'm shocked that serious conspiracy theorists wouldn't immediately see that "cruise" for what it is
Mon Aug 22, 2016, 05:37 AM
Aug 2016

clearly, an opportunity for the Illuminati Lizard New World Order Bohemian Grove Bilderburger Overlords to get all the dangerously awakened people who have stumbled onto The Truth™ onto a boat, to dispose of them neatly in the ocean all at once.

brettdale

(12,365 posts)
26. anyone have a link that debunks the moon landing conspiracy people
Mon Aug 22, 2016, 07:08 AM
Aug 2016

I have a life long friend, who was was recently quite patronizing,
when i told him that YES I BELIEVE MAN LANDED ON THE MOON.

He told me, I wasnt living on this planet, if I believe that, and it was
made up to beat the Russian.

He went on to say the usual, the gloves were too big, the cameras
were too clear, and it was quite obvious that it was fake.

I would really love to find a article (from a science based site) that
debunks all the moon landing is fake talking points.

Great friend, but can be quite narcissist sometimes.

Anyone know of any great links??

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
45. Apparently the gloves on Apollo were absolutely torturous to work in.
Mon Aug 22, 2016, 06:31 PM
Aug 2016

Like, try squeezing a ball for 10 minutes. Now do it for 6 hours.

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
31. Oh, fuck. Well, there's no reasoning with some people, for starts.
Mon Aug 22, 2016, 07:32 AM
Aug 2016

But that particular conspiracy theory drives me fucking bonkers.

There are tons of sites, but really the first thing to look at in my mind is the most recent incontrovertible 'evidence' (I put evidence in quotes because it's silly to even have to prove certain positions, like 'dinosaurs existed'), namely that NASA had an orbiter capable of taking high resolution shots of the lunar surface out in that neighborhood a few years ago, and they imaged several of the Apollo landing sites. (Thus debunking one old saw from that conspiracy, namely, "why aren't there any photos of the landing sites&quot . Descent stage of the LM, astronaut tracks and lunar rover tire tracks (where applicable) are clearly visible in all of them.

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/apollo-15.html#.V7rfEODr2Uk





Also, for the past 45 years scientists, etc. have been bouncing lasers off of the laser reflectors left by the Apollo astronauts, to precisely measure the Earth-Moon distance. These are not "all people in on the conspiracy", either.

http://physics.ucsd.edu/~tmurphy/apollo/lrrr.html

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2004/21jul_llr/

University of Maryland physics professor Carroll Alley was the project's principal investigator during the Apollo years, and he follows its progress today. "Using these mirrors," explains Alley, "we can 'ping' the moon with laser pulses and measure the Earth-moon distance very precisely. This is a wonderful way to learn about the moon's orbit and to test theories of gravity."

Here's how it works: A laser pulse shoots out of a telescope on Earth, crosses the Earth-moon divide, and hits the array. Because the mirrors are "corner-cube reflectors," they send the pulse straight back where it came from. "It's like hitting a ball into the corner of a squash court," explains Alley. Back on Earth, telescopes intercept the returning pulse--"usually just a single photon," he marvels.

The round-trip travel time pinpoints the moon's distance with staggering precision: better than a few centimeters out of 385,000 km, typically.

Targeting the mirrors and catching their faint reflections is a challenge, but astronomers have been doing it for 35 years.


For the "conspiracy" to hold up, NASA would have had to deliver these reflectors to each of the "fake" landing sites. They also, presumably, would be faking the LCROSS images that we got back a few years ago, etc.



Here's probably the biggest go-to site for debunking all these arguments-

http://www.clavius.org/

More:

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/debunking-myth-that-moon-landing-was-hoax-1457501

https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2014/09/18/debunked/

Rationalwiki:

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Moon_landing_hoax

("direct evidence" and "photographic evidence" in particular, which expand on some of the points I make above)



...one fun thing about this PARTICULAR conspiracy theory is that unlike ones based upon other past events, the evidence disproving it is not disappearing and getting more clouded by time but rather will only become more and more glaringly un-ignorable over the next couple decades. In fact, it's perfectly preserved. So it's a decidedly losing position your friend has taken, whether he has to face it sooner, or later.


LongTomH

(8,636 posts)
34. Try Phil Plait's old Bad Astronomy blog
Mon Aug 22, 2016, 09:52 AM
Aug 2016
http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html

Currently, he's on Slate, this site hasn't been updated in years; but, it is a good source.

Warren DeMontague

(80,708 posts)
44. I don't support violence
Mon Aug 22, 2016, 06:28 PM
Aug 2016

but honestly, I can understand why Buzz had had more than enough of that idiotic fucking bullshit.

People devoted whole chapters of their lives to the Apollo program, and to have some Alex Jones imbecile constantly shouting "liar!" in your face- fuck those people.

DetlefK

(16,423 posts)
32. First Rule of Conspiracy-Club: Don't question other people's conspiracies.
Mon Aug 22, 2016, 08:02 AM
Aug 2016
http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-i-learned-infiltrating-paranormal-convention/

These people gather around because they want mental support. None of them is publicly throwing the gauntlet down and questioning the veracity of somebody else's claim, because that would be an invitation for your very peers to cast you out just like the rest of the world has already cast you out.

They are too afraid to engage in critical thinking, out of fear of losing the very last form of community they have.

Tommy_Carcetti

(43,155 posts)
35. Oh dear Lord.
Mon Aug 22, 2016, 10:02 AM
Aug 2016

I think I'd probably be begging to jump overboard after about 10 minutes.

Being stuck at sea with a bunch of Conspiracy Theorists is near Guantanamo level of torture.

hack89

(39,171 posts)
39. CTs are what brought me into DU in the first place
Mon Aug 22, 2016, 02:30 PM
Aug 2016

the old 9/11 forum was a happening place - never a dull moment and plenty of opportunities to engage in complex technical discussions.

nolabear

(41,937 posts)
42. As my people say, "Bless their hearts." But really the cruisers that I loved were the gurus.
Mon Aug 22, 2016, 02:38 PM
Aug 2016

It's bad enough when you play people for suckers but when you're barking mad and they still follow you...oh wait; I forgot about the election.

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