About the New York Times, Fox News, and Kooky Tsunami Conspiracy Theories

[Skinner]

In case some of you missed it, The New York Times and Fox News have recently highlighted DU as ground zero for Kooky Conspiracy Theories regarding the tsunami. The New York Times article is here, and here's a DU thread about Fox News.

They say that all publicity is good publicity, and that is certainly true to some extent. Many of our members found this website because of some negative publicity we got elsewhere. Still, I don't think any of us really appreciate being painted as kooks.

I just emailed a Letter to the Editor to the New York Times. I hope they choose to run it. I think it is only fair, considering that their publication did not bother to contact us about the article when they were writing it.

We probably won't directly contact Fox News. My guess is that it would be a waste of time. But we'll address their report here.

Here's what we want all of you to know about this issue.


The official opinion of the DU Administrators

This should be obvious to everyone, but I'm going to say it anyway so there is no doubt what I believe, and what the other DU administrators believe: The tsunami in Asia was caused by a massive earthquake. This earthquake was a natural result of the movement of tectonic plates, as explained by the Theory of Plate Tectonics.


How we feel about kooky tsunami conspiracy theories

We think they're a bunch of crap, and we believe most -- if not all -- DU members think they're a bunch of crap. We do not wish to see them posted on our website. If anyone posts a kooky tsunami conspiracy theory on our website, we would like to know about it so we can remove it and then investigate the person who posted it as a possible troll.


What you should do if someone posts a kooky tsunami conspiracy theory

Please click the alert link on the post so the moderators can be made aware of it. The moderators will discuss it and decide if it needs to be removed. Do not personally attack people who post such things.

You are encouraged to reply to such posts and explain why they are wrong.


About the New York Times article

As I already mentioned, I have sent a Letter to the Editor to the Times. I am not going to reproduce the letter here, because they expect their letters to be exclusive, not published elsewhere. There are a few points I would like to make, however:

1. The Times never contacted us for comment.

2. The Times failed to mention that the post was completely anonymous, and there is no way of knowing what the person's intention was. The person who posted it was not a donor, so we don't even have a name from a credit card. We have no way of knowing if the person who posted it was a misguided fellow liberal, or a conservative trolling to make us look bad. For all we know, the right-winger over at whizbang blog could have posted it himself. On the Internet, there's just no way of knowing.

3. The Times took the post out of context. If you check the actual post you will see that it has the tone of an innocent question, albeit an ignorant one. The title of the post was "One more dumb question regarding the earthquake in Asia..." In other words, the person who posted it was not claiming it to be true, but was simply proposing it as part of a "dumb question."

4. The Times gave prominent placement to the fact that we were ridiculed on "other sites," but did not mention disagreement from other DUers until much later in the article. I do not know if this was intentional, but it did downplay the fact that almost everyone on DU disagreed with the post.

5. Picking out random anonymous postings on an Internet message board is shoddy journalism. There are so many things posted on the Internet that you could literally write whatever you want and find a quote to support it. One wonders why the author did not spend five minutes over at Free Republic and instead write an article about how conservatives think the tsunami was some sort of retribution from God, or how Muslims deserved it. (More on that later.)


About the Fox News report

Another admin has been home watching Fox News today, and was able to get a video tape of their report. Not surprisingly, it was a disgrace. I am not going to write a transcript, but I'll make a few observations.

Fox News is claiming that someone on Democratic Underground has claimed that the earthquake and tsunami were caused by an underground nuclear explosion. I haven't seen such a post, but this is a big website and I certainly believe it is possible that such a post exists. (If anyone knows where it is, please hit alert so we can make it go away.)

Here's the really underhanded thing about Fox: They're maliciously and deliberately giving their viewers the false impression that this is the official opinion of Democratic Underground. Of course, they aren't coming out and saying it directly, because that would be lying. But they have prepared their report in a manner to give that impression.

They never state that the claim comes from an anonymous posting on our website. Instead, they just report that the claim is being made on the Internet, while showing screenshots from our website. Interestingly, they are showing our homepage as it looked yesterday, when we were running a large graphic with the words "The Hell That is South Asia." They also click on that article and scroll down the page while they are talking. The clear implication is that our article makes this absurd claim, when in fact our article makes no such claim. Read it yourself; no conspiracy theories there.

On a side note, the Fox News report claims that such kooky claims are hurting our international reputation. Never mind the fact that Fox News is the mass medium which is reporting these kooky claims to the world. Methinks they might have another agenda here.


So, what's going on here?

Some people have speculated that The New York Times and Fox News are attacking us because they have decided that Democratic Underground is a threat. I don't buy it.

I don't think Democratic Underground is a threat. But I do think that some people have figured out that they can use extreme posts from Democratic Underground to paint all Democrats as extremists.

This is nothing new. Right-wing websites and radio programs have been doing it to us for years: Pick out something extreme from an anonymous message board, and then post it on your own site as "proof" that liberals are nuts. In fact, if you can't find something extreme enough, then all you have to do is create an anonymous login and post some extreme stuff yourself. (To be clear, I'm not accusing the Times or Fox News of doing this. But it does happen.)

Anyway, it appears that this type of thing is no longer limited to right-wing websites. Now we're seeing "mainstream" news outlets engaging in this kind of lazy, underhanded reporting.

But as long as they're writing this stuff, here's some helpful info:


From Free Republic

If any lazy, underhanded journalist wants to write an article smearing all conservatives as insensitive racists who cheer the deaths of non-white people in the tsunami, here are some quotes for you:

"Jesus Christ would not aprove of giving money to people to build houses again in an area that is.... lets face it...prone to this activity. Nothing in the Bible does it say "Blessed are the Stupid. The government taking money from you and I and giving it away is not charity. It is forced slavery of You and I." --Radioactive

"I was looking up a map of the affected areas and Indonesia seems to have been hit hardest. From the CIA World Fact Book, Indonesia is 88% muslim. Sometimes foreign aid money is well spent (goodwill, political influence, etc), but giving it to a muslim country is a waste." --benjaminjjones

"So just give money to our "allies". Indonesia gets nothing. Let the ragheads take care of their own." --benjaminjjones

"This is what I want to give to them: (Picture me shaking my hands up in the air singing..... LALALLALALALLLLLLAAAAALLALALLALALALLL). Just like they did when they celebrated 9-11. By the way...did any countries donate anything to our hurricane funds?" --benice

Much more here: U.S. Should Not Help Tsunami Victims

And then there's this one, blaming the tsunami on, well, you'll see...

Everyone is knocking the Muslims for asking the question why God allowed this to happen, but that is actually a very good question. Though, the speculation given here cannot be substantiated.

As far as I know, there were no prophets warning of this impending disaster. If there had been, who would have listened?

They are also correct in believing that God is angry with the wickedness of fornication and sodomy that is becoming more widespread in our world. Jesus warned that in the last days, before His return, the world would be like Sodom and Gomorrah.

Unfortunately for the clerics, God is also angry with the false prophets and promoters of false religions like theirs.

I am not sure why God allowed this disaster. I know it His mercy that preserves all of our lives, but we rarely ask why about the good days. We just take those for granted.

The days are coming when God's real judgment and wrath will be poured out. And this tsunami will look like a picnic. Because of the murder (including abortion and euthanasia), theft, adultery, fornication, idolatry, witchcraft, drunkenness and drug abuse, and for shedding the blood of His prophets and saints, God will pour out His fiery wrath on this world unlike it ever has been before. In two quick strokes, half of the earth's population will be destroyed. And this will not be the end. Imagine: not tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions, but BILLIONS DEAD. Can you imagine those headlines, if anyone is left to write them? People will become a scarce commodity like gold. And for all of this, there are some who still will not repent to give God glory.

Have a nice day, everyone." --unlearner

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1313784/posts

[Worst Username Ever]

1. amen

[arwalden]

2. Hallelujah!!

May I quote and/or link to your post?

[Worst Username Ever]

3. Unintentional typo, number "5" under "About the New York Times article"

"There are so many things posted on the Internet that you cold literally write whatever you want..."

Could, not cold.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

Another Typo

What you should do if someone posts a kooky tsunami conspiracy theory

Please click the alert link on the post so the moderators can be made aware of it. The moderators will discuss it and decide if it needs to be removed. Do not personally attack people who posts such things.

"people who posts" should be "people who post"

Awesome!

DTH

[Skinner]

25. Thanks to you both.

I fixed the typos.

[newsguyatl]

4. it's become highly obvious

that several "in place" right wingers are monitoring du... folks from talk radio, to pundits, to network news outlets. the fox news hit alone is proof to this.

quite honestly i think it speaks volumes to what du has become... perhaps on the surface, they think it's fun to call it a "quack site" but you know what -- they wouldn't be monitoring it so much if they really believed that.

[yardwork]

16. I agree, and I take it as a compliment to DU

Why would Faux News bother with us if we weren't getting under somebody's skin?

Anybody who visits DU will immediately see that the Faux News version of us is wrong. They might even hang around and learn something.

There's no such thing as bad publicity for a website such as DU. The more people who visit this site the better imo.

[UltraDem]

58. Me too!!

I mean, what are we so scared of? This is a good opportunity to get our message across. After all, isn't that the reason we lost the election? Because not enough people were listening? Well, now they are!! Hooray!

Smile for the cameras, everybody!!

[ClintonTyree]

344. Precisely.....fear is their weapon of choice

They think the have the "real" solution to the ills of today's world. They use God, patriotism, nationalism, but most of all fear as their weapons. Fear, it's their mantra.

Unable to turn their fear inward, because it would drive them loonier than they are, all their fear turns outward. So they condemn, ridicule, use religious fervor, lies, patriotism....anything they can and turn their suspicious faces outward to destroy that which they do not understand. We challenge their felling of "rightness" and must be destroyed.

By labeling all of us lunatics by association with someone who may or may not be a member of this forum, they attempt to marginalize us. They're scared that we may be the ones who initiate their house of cards' collapse. If I were they, I'd be scared as well.

We may be those people. We may knock down your house of cards, maybe not. It may be some other Progressive Blogger that is sick of their lies and manipulation of the media that ultimately pricks their imagined bubble of "truth". Rest assured, we will not stop because some propaganda factory like FOX attacks us. They are the ones that should be watching over their shoulders. We're coming, and we're not that easily scared and won't be deterred by public ridicule.

One of these days, sooner rather than later, DU and our many allies on the left will expose their fear for all to see. We'll expose their seedy tactics, their lies, everything about them that reek of hypocrisy.......and fear. They'll have nothing left to hide behind.

We are not afraid of what they can do to us. They had damn well be afraid of what we can do to them.

[Mr_Spock]

468. Am I the only one that posts inflammatory stuff because these cretins are

watching us? I didn't think so. We know who are the real fools and false prophets. Their foolishness puts a smile on my face!

[janx]

20. Either that or some right wingnuts are forwarding "tips" to some

very bored and unethical journalists...

Personally, I'd love to see Harper's publish some freeper tidbits in their Readings section. It's the perfect material.

[chomskysright]

175. great idea re: Harper's Readings .....

[blondeatlast]

350. That's a great idea.

Love to see it.

[wyldwolf]

40. Agree and disagree

Here is the part I disagree on.

There is a lot of "quackery" on DU. And these rightwing monitors look for it so as to associate the DNC and all Democrats to it.

[leftchick]

46. Excellent and Thank You, Except.....

now I feel so dirty after reading freeper posts. Yuck!

[HEyHEY]

5. Well, at least I'm not the only one that thinks half of DU is fucking nuts

[ClintonTyree]

345. I resemble that remark.................

and I'm happy to see that our neighbours (see, I even put the "u" in for you) from the North are as "loony" as their money and us.
Some of us may be "colorful" but at least we don't insist that we have all the answers and we're never wrong.
Keep on keepin' on HEyHEY.

[Ian David]

6. THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

I think you should widely distribute this as a press release!


THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU !THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

[DoveTurnedHawk]

7. Amen!

Thank you for this!

DTH

[janx]

8. Good for you, man!

It deserved an official response, and that response should have come only from you.

Cheers.

[Ravenseye]

9. Nice!

good response.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

10. Nicely done.

[democracyindanger]

11. Three cheers

Hell, I'll give Skinner four.

[spotbird]

12. IMO trolls post much of the truly loony stuff.

What kills me about the repetition of the most off the wall comments posted here is that this is an anonymous board, where people post comments reflecting strong opinions. Those strong opinions, even when mainstream, anger our detractors. Anyone who wished to discredit the whole board could easily make comments, that reflect poorly on all of us.

There is nothing that can be done to prevent it, but when the MSM reports these comments as indicative of the whole place it again betrays its bias. Naturally Fox is all bias, slamming us is complement from them, but the NYT occasionally attempts to portray themselves as unbiased, unsuccessfully lately.

[wyldwolf]

45. maybe, maybe not, but regardless..

I propose that anything posted that sounds fishy face instant deletion unless it is sourced from a reputable source.

[spotbird]

60. Kos has a cool self-moderated forum.

After a while a user becomes trusted, if a certain number of the trusted vote a post as by a troll the post is removed. There are checks so it works very well. As this place explodes it becomes harder for moderators to keep up with everything, not to mention an occasional troll moderator slips through occasionally, I'm sure.

[wyldwolf]

65. sounds good but I still see a few problems with that

..being that DU is such a big tent, and one faction seems to hate the other, I could see posts being voted on as "troll" out of spite.

[spotbird]

76. There is a check for that.

A removed post can be restored by other trusted users who are allowed to view the deleted posts.

[Radical Activist]

63. Fishy by whose standard?

I think the fact that DU is very liberal about what it allows to be posted is one of the things that makes it an enjoyable and engaging forum. If nothing else it allows the conspiracies to be thoughtfully debunked. I think censorship would take away one of the best aspects of DU.

[wyldwolf]

66. By the admin's standards

since I can't delete posts, you'd never have to worry about me doing so.

Conspiracy theories being posted aren't about censorship. We often move into the realm of libel.

[tngledwebb]

485. You have seen examples of LEGALLY libelous posts on DU ?

Under what laws could a libel suit be brought against individuals posting on an internet discussion forum? Or against DU itself? That is a very far fetched scenario.

Of course DU could be shut down in a second under the Patriot Act
and all of us sent to Gitmo overnight. That'S far more plausible than a libel suit.

Of course I believe in a one of those crazy CT's. You know- two or three elections stolen by a fascist regime, and with high levels of govt and MSM complicity.

[HeeBGBz]

79. I agree. Discussion. Not censorship.

The lack of a heavy hand of censorship was what I thought was most appealing about this place. Some of the lounge topics make me cringe but I would fight for their right to exist.

Now merely supposing possibilities and asking questions and open discussion is restricted because Fox has decided to play dirty. I guess their little plan is working.



Who is the "normal" jury for judgement of post content?

[ooglymoogly]

393. for me the du is a great place because ideas can be thrown

out and people can dump on them or agree. it is in this way it seems to me that good ideas are formed in all of us. to react to idiocy like fox et al, who would like nothing more than to have a censoring effect on this site which they apparently have done is compounding the idiocy. i believed du was big enough to take criticism no matter how stupid in stride and go on searching out the truth. i am stupefied by this new idea of censorship. so toss me out if you want. i have learned many things on du. i am a natural battleship tinfoil hatter and many conspiracies have been debunked on this site and my admiration goes out to the du posters for that and furthermore i do think du is a threat to the 'mainstream' press because du can take a lot of energy and like a laser focus it on a particular place and make it stand up and take notice and not a few have been singed. and so to toss out this ability by starting to censor posters for ideas no matter how stupid. forget it.

[lady lib]

113. I agree

How can you learn if you can't ask a lousy (or good) question? This is getting blown way out of proportion. She didn't theorize anything. She asked a question.

[truthseeker1]

144. I completely agree

It was blown way out of proportion and the people who were so rude to respond to her and say it was a dumb question are the ones who should get alerted.

Does anyone know of a good progressive forum that doesn't have censorship where theories can be floated without being judged as kooks or slapped down as stupid?

[Conspirationalist]

157. "I completely agree"

I double and triple agree.

[murray hill farm]

177. If you find such a site, please let me know!!

I, for one...am very disappointed with this censorship move here...this is a bad thing..censorship! And, this is all about a post that was a question..a simple question...and now...we will get reported if we mention it...geeeez!

[truthseeker1]

190. Makes me wonder about the true nature of DU

Are the sheeple (even at DU now!?!) policing themselves?
Is this the way the CIA (or powers that be, whatever you want to call it) will control the Internet without actually killing it??

How can theories be tested and the truth be found if one doesn't begin with a hypothesis? Sorry, but most hypotheses don't have sources you can link to. They're called hunches and they're not all scientifically based.

[murray hill farm]

193. so true!!

What is happening here is more frightening than tsunamis..ha! I think that if the DU admin is asking us to report and alert them to further crackpot threads..like the question that lindashaw dared to pose in "general discussion"...note that it was not in our "scientific journal of proven facts" discussion category..and it was a question..just a simple question and it was prefaced even with something like "another dumb question"...well..scary , eh! I think it only fair that if admin is watching us and asking us to turn each other in to them if we post the forbidden subjects, then at the very least, they should post a list of what are the forbidden words and topics..so at least we will know we have done a bad thing..and maybe decide not to post it..since we dont want to get reported or sanctioned. for example, is it ok to ask a question about "global warming"...only certain questions...some question OK, but not others? It seems only fair that if this is the response of admin here, that it is only fair that they warn us in advance with a list of what is allowed in the way of discussion and what is not...clearly lindashaw had no way of knowing that her simple question would cause some many heads to explode here...and certainly she had no idea that her question would lead to such blatant cencership on the site...she certainly did not anticipate the hate and name calling that followed her question. So..i say..Admin...give us a clear list of acceptable and not acceptable discussion topics here...at least warn us in advance that we will not be discussing or question areas that are forbidden now.

[Child_Of_Isis]

246. I actually thought lindashaw

was referring to global warming. And seeing how freeps don't believe in global warming,(and freeps are controlling us now) is it considered a conspiracy theory and subject to censorship by DU?

[Conspirationalist]

306. Sounds like..

1984! The Thought Police!

[Child_Of_Isis]

238. Fox is now policing DU.

with right wingers in tow. I cannot even articulate my disappointment. They say jump and we ask how high.

[Conspirationalist]

309. Too true.

It's the worst fault of all liberals. They're too "nice", too soft in the middle, have too little courage of their convictions. Michael Moore says so. I think he is right.

(BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY! The grassroots can take its party back. It's much better poised to do that in America than the equivalent situation in Britain with the Labour party - I think. You American liberals are more numerous; you're more passionate; you're both more middle-class and more radical, more educated... Need I compliment more? Anyway, you've still got a lot going for you. Hang in there.)

[outrage]

434. Fox is now policing DU.

Fox can suck a big one. We should change nothing just because the wingnuts are watching. They are the kooks, the reactionaries, the racists, the fascists. A short tour of their site bears that out. I have never, ever read such unmitigated hatred and lunacy with perhaps the exception of the neo-nazi sites. So, Fox, if you're cruising around here bite me. You're about as fair and balanced as as Pol Pot. Kiss my shiney brown butt.

[jdj]

444. and there IS a way to deal with it.

Laugh at them. laugh our asses at them.

pooh-pooh them.

pat them on the head.

But if we change, they win.

[tngledwebb]

486. Not just Fox, the NY TIMES!

Get with the program. MSM is complicit with BushCo!

[Emillereid]

315. If you find one let me know too --

there are so many things that are great about DU, but I've been smelling the putrid hand of conformity of late. That we should let the kooky opinions of the NYT or Fox dictate what we can say or not say is a sad day indeed.

Let us not forget:

An' though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.

[marions ghost]

372. Agreed, it is the NYT and Fox that are kooky--

and the admin letter to them is appropriate and well stated.

The MSM are the problem, not us. The article was way out of line, opening with blatant disparagement and even though there was a positive "point" to be made, that point was secondary and intended to counter any objections to the main message.

Consider that if the NYT hadn't done this story, this issue would never have come up and the original tsunami thread would have faded into oblivion. We should not overreact to criticism and innuendo.
Out of thousands of excellent posts here at DU, the Times chose one of the small number that are kinda goofy--THAT is the problem!

I'm wary of people who want to do too much "cleaning up" after something like this. I urge the administrators not to change anything, and to continue to let everyone decide what is "too kooky" for them on a personal basis. DU would degenerate into hopeless infighting if you have people trying to vote on what fits on their personal scale of kooky.

I think we can all tell the difference between kooky and downright crazy. The tsunami post was not a crazy incoherent rave. It might not be to everyone's taste. A lot of things posted here are not my personal taste, but I want to read them anyway. Resist the urge to futher censorship.

[ooglymoogly]

400. i couldn't agree more

fk faux news

[Emillereid]

198. I agree -- in fact, I think the free and unfettered airing of ideas is the

best way to assure that truth will emerge. Any form of censorship is anathema -- I mean who gets to decide that an idea is kooky -- some kooky ideas have won out in history. I think people on DU often get their knickers in a knot over silly stuff -- if you consider an idea kooky, don't respond and just let the matter die of its own accord. Or vigorously argue and inform -- but don't get so overexcited that you feel some kind of self-censorship is in order. Censorship is stifling and always damaging to the real pursuit of truth. Ideas -- even strange ones will not harm you; their suppression will.

 "The growth of knowledge depends entirely on disagreement"
         (Karl R. Popper, 1902-1994)            


"Concepts which have proved useful for ordering things easily assume so great an authority over us, that we forget their terrestrial origin and accept them as unalterable facts. They then become labeled as 'conceptual necessities,' etc. The road of scientific progress is frequently blocked for long periods by such errors." - Einstein

Think out loud; think long and hard and often -- it's good exercise for the brain! Let all the wild ideas swirl and fly -- perhaps to catch a ride on a star and be seen by all -- as immutable and eternal.

[Radical Activist]

211. The biggest accomplishment of the corporate media

is to make certain ideas outside the realm of allowable discussion. Certain ideas, concepts and opinions are deemed too outrageous to consider.

The greatest accomplishment of the internet is to shatter that stranglehold on information and access to non-mainstream ideas. I don't think the corporate media is trying to hide anything about the tsunami. But I think we make a big mistake if we allow the corporate media to ridicule us into playing their game of not allowing certain ideas.

We're adults, most of us. Anyway, we can figure out what is credible and what is a crazy conspiracy theory for ourselves. I think it will be a sad day if DU becomes a place that censors itself from expressing ideas that are disapproved by the corporate media for fear of being ridiculed.

[Conspirationalist]

312. Precisely.

We can't allow the corporate media to set the agenda any more.

[Conspirationalist]

310. That's it!

That's the way.

[Donkeyboy75]

333. The growth of knowledge,

however, is never helped by complete and willful ignorance of factual information.

[Emillereid]

317. I'm sure glad that there are a few of us around who truly champion the

free flow of ideas! I am stunned that we would even contemplate censoring any ideas because of the what the NYT or Fox thinks -- they think that the idea that Bush stole the election as completely kooky and stupid -- so we should just fold our tent and go home -- the great lord of truth and veracity has spoken. HELL NO -- I'm old enough to now see once completely off the edge, kooky, conspiratorial ideas turn up in history books as proven facts. Sometimes it takes a very long time for the kooky ideas to weave themselves into a tapestry of truth for all to see. Until then, jump on a crazy idea and follow it to the end -- you just might be surprised.

[blondeatlast]

351. Agree wholeheartedly. Lots of kooks, true, but lots of really intelligent,

really insightful stuff too. I've learned to wade through the crap to get to the good stuff.

[Mr_Spock]

469. Doesn't everybody?

I mean, you'd have to be an first grade imbecile to actually honor some of the wacky stuff posted here with a response. I saw both of the silly theories here and just rolled my eyes and moved on. Apparenly the MSM isn't sophisticated enough to know a rant from an educated analysis. Fool me once...

[UltraDem]

395. Exactly!!

I don't think we can afford to start second-guessing ourselves right now. They're gonna call us "nuts" no matter what we do. I say, "screw em!" Let's just be who we are. If they don't like it, so what? I, for one, am not ashamed of who I am and I refuse to apologize for it.

I'M A LIBERAL AND PROUD OF IT!!!! YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT?

[ooglymoogly]

415. i agree

[jahyarain]

431. uh huh

Agreed. i signed up and posted on the "Free Republic". My post never made it. When i tried to find out why, i was informed i was banned. All i said was that they will all burn in the 7th ring of Hell with W, and all the other rapists, murderers, & liars. What did i do wrong?

[Renew Deal]

85. Seventhson

enough said

[WoodrowFan]

200. seventhson

and yet a CTer today linked to seventhson's posts as "proof" of some tinfoil "theory" (HEAVY SIGH)

[lib_1138]

252. It really sucks, but that is the price of Freedom

So we have to put up with the occassional FReeper troll.

Better to shut down the thread so the Outside World doesn't see this kind of nonsense. These "conspiracy" theories are just FReepers trying to make us look bad.

I have been watching for months and I can tell true Progressives vs. troublemakers!

[truthseeker1]

311. "that is the price of Freedom????"

JEEBUS, you sound like the ignoramuses who say oh I don't care if I get felt up in the airport or my grandma has to take her shoes off for security, as long as it makes me safer! DERR!

Yes, it's more important that YOU not be embarrassed than it is to have free and open debate. Stop being so paranoid and worrying about what other people think.

Glad to hear your Freeper radar is intact and you know how to sort out the "troublemakers". <sarcasm off>

[Individualist]

392. Benjamin Franklin quote:

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Misunderestimator]

14. Thanks for taking the bull by the horns on this.

I still think that the publicity will be a good thing for DU... Well, it will be a good thing for those people who come to DU out of curiosity because of this. A quick visit and read here will make them quickly realize how slanted and absurd these two accounts are and they may finally begin to understand how unliberal and biased our media really is.

Keep up the great work!

[Taxloss]

15. Hear hear.

[Renew Deal]

17. Link this to your message.

This is the wikipedia theory of Plate Tectonics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plate_tectonics

[cali]

18. Thank you for addressing this so clearly. n/t

[Cuban_Liberal]

19. Kick n/t

[La Lioness Priyanka]

21. good job skinner!!

i think 99.999 % of DU'ers know that tsunami was a natural disaster and we are all very sad that it happened. And aid should go to countries that need it regardless of race and religion.

[Radical Activist]

22. So now your censoring topics

because they bring criticism from the corporate media? I agree that its irresponsible to make accusations that the earthquake was intentionally started when there is no evidence of that. However, I'm a little bothered by the precedent this sets. Why not just denounce the opinion expressed but allow them to be discussed?

But, as the FAQ says this is a private website and there is no presumption that we have first amendment rights here.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

32. also some of us dont like to have tinfoil hatters

reflect on all of us.

[Forkboy]

123. Dont let others define you

define yourself

[tsuki]

135. Fox will try to define us (the Dean scream.) If they can't find

anything, or take anything out of context, they'll make up something. That is their MO.

They don't like the fact DU exists to ask questions.

[Forkboy]

136. Let them.

Each DUer is capable of defining themselves.Instead of saying "oh no,they're making fun of us" and being quiet,speak up.

[tsuki]

183. You're absolutely correct. Terror of committing the sin of

non-conformity has silenced quite a few voices over the years. I shall remain here with my kooky opinions and ideas and, heaven forbid, my questions.

[Old Mouse]

322. Who is welcome on Democratic Underground, and who is not

We welcome Democrats of all stripes, along with other progressives who will work with us to achieve our shared goals.

This is a "big tent" message board. We welcome a wide range of progressive opinion. You will likely encounter many points of view here that you disagree with.

from the DU rules

[La Lioness Priyanka]

370. clearly insanity is not covered under big tent!

[Old Mouse]

451. Who is welcome on Democratic Underground, and who is not

You will likely encounter many points of view here that you disagree with.

[Eloriel]

126. Congratulations seem to be in order, actually, RA

Don't you think? DU has now become not just part of the Matrix, but an enforcing arm of the Matrix all in one fell swoop.

I shudder to think what a little negative publicity about 9-11 speculation that went on here would've accomplished for the wrong side. Or, for that matter, the election fraud stuff but in 2000, 2002, and 2004 now as well.

Will the next step be a list of what are the acceptable "tin foil hat" subjects? I sure as hell wouldn't want to get labeled a troll by bringing a well-researched, science-based discussion to DU that went against the Conventional Wisdom and Official Story/Mtyh/Lie.

Edited to add: And just think about this -- the incredibly valuable lesson the rightwing or other guardians of The Official Story/Myth/Lies has just learned. If they want to shut us up about any given topic, all they have to do is apply pressure. We've been impervious to that in the past, but no more.

It's a very sad day. DU has gone mainstream. It's value is inestimably eroded.

[RandomKoolzip]

142. Oh, relax.

The tsunami-conspiracy stuff was OBVIOUS bullshit. Any tenthgrader with a basic knowledge of science could tell you that. Its only purpose was to make other, more reasonable speculation about real topics that are avoided by the mainstream for their "CT" taint (MIHOP, JFK assassination, the Plame outing, "rathergate," etc.) look kooky and thus help wipe ALL speculation of the table. Like I've said on other threads, associating off-the-wall woo-woo topics like man-made earthquakes or HAARP or mind control or chemtrails with reasoned, sober topics like CIA covert plots, assassinations, PNAC machinations is the purpose of whatever troll posted that crap. It works. It's why my wife constantly makes fun of me for my books on the JFK assassination; she thinks ALL CT research is UFO abductee/Art Bell/chemtrail nonsense, because of tactics like this.

There are LOTS of other topics we can talk about that have at least a tiny kernel of tinfoilia about them, but are nonetheless PLAUSIBLE, fer crissakes.

It ain't the end of the world.

[truthseeker1]

308. And so WHO decides which CT topics are ok to discuss......YOU?

Apparently you think you're qualified. lindashaw wasn't putting forth a CT, and she clearly wasn't a troll. I am so sick of hearing all of the "conspiracy theories" about trolls on DU. You all are drumming up the troll charge whenever someone has an idea that's different from yours!

[ZanZaBar]

503. Yeah, go ahead, tell me this is 'nonsense' again...

[JohnOneillsMemory]

158. Is 'Operation Vigilant Warrior' a tinhat topic? Get scared by a smear?

Feel a pre-emptive chill from the Eye of the Media Dragon?
'They' gonna take yer credibility badge away from you?

Just stick with the facts. They usually exonerate the 'tinfoil-hatters.'

Banning topics is creating thought-crime.
Very bad move. The worst.

[Mike Niendorff]

168. you actually answer your own objection here, El :

> I sure as hell wouldn't want to get labeled a troll by bringing a
> well-researched, science-based discussion to DU that went against the
> Conventional Wisdom and Official Story/Myth/Lie.

Fairly straightforward standard, when you right get down to it.


MDN

[Eloriel]

475. Apparently you don't quite understand

It's not clear to me that you do -- I was in the process of actually responding to a marvelous thread started by Tinoire, with some superb documentation throughout, when that thread was yanked. I thought it had a lot of science in it.

And YET -- even a thread like that is obviously verboten.

So for my money, I did NOT answer my own objection. I raised one, a very serious one.

[uncle ray]

201. exactly

way to cave Skinner.

this, this is what makes DU "look bad" yet we have a forum where equally crazy theories of missiles hitting the pentagon, and planted explosives took down the WTC towers are just hunky dorey. simply amazing.

interesting that Skinner used the phrase "theory of plate tectonics" theory, huh?

[Ian David]

244. Theory

This is what scientists mean when they refer to a "Theory of Tectonic Plates" or "Theory of Evolution" or "Theory of Gravity."

# A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.

The simplistic explanation:

A Theory describes what and how.
A Law describes the numbers.

[ashmanonar]

250. isn't that the very point of it?

a theory is just that...if it isn't discussed or attempted to be proved/disproved, then it's not truly a theory at all, is it?

would heliocentrism have been proven* if galileo, copernicus, and kepler hadn't remained open-minded and outspoken about it? would plate tectonics have been proven* if brave geologists like Bob Ballard hadn't gone out and checked it for themselves?

outspokenness is the key to either proving or disproving a theory, based on the scientific evidence that is unearthed in investigating the theory...




*: i say proven with a grain of salt, bc in the case of G, C, and K, the universe isn't just our sun and planets, but all the galaxies and all the stars...and in the case of Bob Ballard, plate tectonics has still not been thorougly vetted, there are still unexpected consequences from natural and unnatural causes...in other words, it still remains a theory.

[Radical Activist]

218. Very good point about election scandals

Those were not considered credible by the mainstream media. Without DU I would never have learned about a lot of serious arguments about what happened in '04 because that was considered to be a crazy conspiracy theory by most of the media. My conclusion is that there was fraud and mistakes made, as happens in almost EVERY election, but probably not enough to make Kerry the winner. But, at least I had the opportunity to see all the good and bad arguments and come to that conclusion for myself.

In the future, at what point do we decide something is too crazy to be discussed? Whenever the New York Times makes fun of us for it?

[Cookie wookie]

239. moved downthread

[truthseeker1]

305. May be time for a new forum Eloriel.....

I've been searching but haven't found one yet. There seem to be so many nasties now on this board - posters who seem to have the arrogance so often found on "other" boards. It's truly a sad day indeed.

[Donkeyboy75]

335. Are you aware, Eloriel,

that the Matrix trilogy was fictional? Just curious.

[shance]

405. Absolutely Eloriel. We have struck a nerve and MSM doesnt like it.

Pursuance of the truth is the casualty?

[InvisibleBallots]

517. "DU has gone mainstream"

They can't ignore the blogs any longer. Corporate Media is losing its effectiveness, so they are going to try to exert some influence.

[Child_Of_Isis]

247. lindashaw's original post didn't say anything

about an earthquake being intentionally started. Not the one that I read anyway.

[blondeatlast]

353. But the protocol has always been to give us a link or citiation.

It's a tried and true way of spotting a troll-like post and it's worked very well.

I have absolutely no problem with challenging off-the-wall theories, even if posted as "dumb questions," by asking the OPs to provide a link or answer their own questions first.

I've found some legitimate ideas out there, and also found a lot of smelly drive-bys that reek of torllism.

[Eloriel]

476. Another thread was yanked too -- a VERY well sourced and

documented one. Started by Tinoire who isn't exactly chopped liver or one of DU's least credible people. I was in the process of responding to that very thread when wooops!! it was locked. Then I tried to refresh the thread, and wooops!! it was GONE completely.

[spanone]

23. Great post Skinner. This is much ado about nothing.

The FR post says it all. You can take ANY post out of context and claim ALL posts kooky. The MSM should be fearful of any free speech sites and apparently they are. I have been a supporter of the NYTimes and I'm very disappointed in them.

[Demit]

24. I believe the Times and their MSM brothers have chosen DU as the poster

child for their defense against lost subscribers. Ergo, the discrediting campaign against bloggers and internet reporting as a source of news. I don't know if the numbers are available yet, but I'll bet dollars to donuts their circulation is down--plenty of anecdotal evidence has appeared--guess what! Here on DU!

It must sting that their traditional liberal readership has turned on them; their "liberal" cover has been stripped off; they're losing us in droves--and ha! They're still called liberal by the other side, so no pickup of readers there. Oopsie daisie.

Please let us know if your LTTE gets published, Skinner. And thanks for writing it too.

[dreamcollector]

125. YOU WANNA BELIEVE IT!

You have put your finger on it. They are losing readers and they deserve to do so.

[Redstone]

26. but, but, where's the "conspiracy theory/"

I just re-read the post linked to as the "actual post" in Mr Skinner's exposition, and have just one question: Where did the poster say anything about a conspiracy?

All I saw was a speculation about possible cause and effect,, not one word about conspiracy.

Redstone

[jdj]

98. I personally think this sucks.

I am sorry that the admins feel smeared by this.


However, this is a website on the internet, and people should be able to post what they want to speculate on within the rules.

I cringed when I read that post, and I thought surely this is a troll.

But I have seen so many things on here that are way way way above and beyond someone speculating that human activities can contribute to natural disasters.

If the two entities in question deserve a reply (and one of them definitely doesn't) then that reply should be that DU is a representation of the best aspects of living in a democracy, in that both, or rather all, sides of an issue are represented and all possibilities regarding an issue are considered and debated vigorously. This used to be the job of the media and of congress, but since we now are force-fed pre-fab partisanship, we have no debate in the public sphere anymore at all, save the internet. That is why the other side either won't even allow an opposing view (or views), like Limbaugh, or pretend to allow other view to be heard but really just interrupt, badger, antagonize, yell over and cut off their guests (like Hannity, O'Reilly, etc) that are there for the purpose of contrasting the issue.

Where were they when DUers claimed Bush caused 9/11, or when we claimed repukes killed Wellstone, or now Matsui, or that they stole the election? These things are in the same arena and many discussions have been had here about them, but now that DU has national attention we are supposed to straigten up and fly right? (Pun intended).

I don't know. I am sad that the admins feel they have to respond to this. Because, clearly the deck is stacked against DU. There is no liberal media, and the MSM is coming after this place for a reason. I DO believe people see this place as a threat, because, just like the viewers of the Daily Show, this place has a membership that is freakishly intelligent. I really hope the admins will ask themselves "How would Jon Stewart respond to this?" and respond with humor instead of allowing people to see us offended. Of COURSE people are going to post conspiracy theories here, and of course they are going to be debunked. Progressives are just not very trusting souls when it comes to government. In the words of Samuel Clemens: "Loyalty to my country? Always. Loyalty to my government? Only when it deserves it."

[Donkeyboy75]

102. The threads have been deleted,

but the woo-woos used this disaster as a vehicle to parade their crackpot HAARP theories. That's where the conspiracy comes into it.

[WoodrowFan]

214. it was in the replies

if I remember right, one of the posters replying to the original post in question suggested that the US Navy was hiding that it MAY have cause the quake through sonar experiments in the South Pacific near New Zealand. Other, related threads suggested simular ideas, that somehow the US military or some US business had "caused" the quake, either on purpose or by accident.

[shance]

408. Yep.

n/t

[Jesus H. Christ]

27. Think we could make this a sticky?

Just for a day or two?

[Skinner]

34. I'll sticky it later.

I'm going to let it float for a couple hours. Many people are blind to pinned posts.

[Conspirationalist]

326. What the heck precisely is a sticky?

And why do we have all these people talking about "frozen posts" and wanting to gum up other people's posts, anyway?? If you don't delete them (and I thought webmasters only did that for obscene words) then don't gum them up! Leave your chewing gum in your mouth!

[LiviaOlivia]

28. Amen

eom

[Kelvin Mace]

29. I agree that the article did not show DU in the best light

As I posted yesterday, there is a bit more to the story:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

I happen to know the reporter (John Schwartz) of this story and sent him a note asking about it.

While I can't go into specific details, the gist was that pieces were trimmed from it, which resulted in the current story appearing "lopsided".

The main thrust of the article, which seems to me now blunted, was that while you can find goofy/offensive people on both sides of the political spectrum, the blogsphere is, unlike MSM, self-correcting in real time. This was pointed out as the medium's strength.

I would like to add that certain "other" sites of a conservative slant
were also discussed and had their "less than laudible" comments quoted, but alas...

That's all I can say about it publicly, except for the fact that the omission of the link to DU was an error and is being corrected.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, before anyone starts in on me, I am passing along the information to provide additional background to the issue.

I *too* had problems with the crack about DU being a place for people who "hate Bush", and made that point in my email. I have aksed that the original article be shown so folks can see the entire piece and judge it on its merits, but it probably won't happen as newspapers just don't do that kind of thing.

Skinner is right to be mad, in his shoes I would be to. I do think, however, that it is high time that the NYT management woke the Hell up and started doing their job and that is reporting the news, *all* the news, in a fair and professional manner.

The taste of right-wing butt does not improve with age.

David Allen
www.thoughtcrimes.org

[eowyn_of_rohan]

515. "place for people who hate the Bush administration"

AND America, too, I suppose. How sad that NY Times has been taken over by the borg, too...

[bpilgrim]

30. can we get a filter system please?

i wish we could all collectively vote on every single post's content - like they do over at slash dot.

it would save a lot of time and make DU more valuable, imho.

the only thing this tempest in a tea-pot adds up to at the end of the day as FREE PUBLICITY for DU and i'm still celebrating.

i am a little surprised that you don't realize that the establishment media see us as a threat, not to mention the powers that be, but this INTERNET phenomenon is only going to get bigger and more and more of future generations - if we survive the neoCONs - are going to get their information from the WWW.

it's not so much DU by itself is a threat it is us collectively all wired together, as open-source has proven, they - the establishment - CAN'T keep up.

thanks for sharing your thoughts

peace

[Kelvin Mace]

39. Better yet, a rating system

Allowing folks to rate content like at slashdot?

David Allen
www.thoughtcrimes.org

[bpilgrim]

49. they go hand-in-hand

we vote, then we set our own personal filter thresh-hold, so in theory the cream - the best posts - rises to the surface - are the post that are shown in your list... saves lots of time while browsing.

yes, exactly like /.



peace

[jdj]

114. I don't want any of this. I don't like ratings wars.

I like the "information a la carte" format of DU. I don't think it will continue to be a "big tent" message board if a ratings system gets put in.

edit: on the other hand, DU will be self-diagnosing. If it becomes dominated by droll moderates with no imagination who never color outside of the lines, then it will begin to echo in here, and the admins will have to re-adjust.

I think we should shoot these media the bird, say thanks for the free publicity, and give them the Pop-eyes old axiom "I yam what I yam."

[bpilgrim]

141. thats the beauty of it...

it's up to every individual, those who want EVERYTHING will continue to get EVERYTHING and those who just want the community rated BEST POSTS can get just those.

wait till we grow to 100k regular posters, then what?

besides it will cut down on bandwidth as well ;->

peace

[jdj]

266. because it's subjective

and only repukes march in lock-step.

I shouldn't knock it til I've tried it...whatever happens happens. I want to hear all the freaky theories, so I hope DU doesn't change.

[blondeatlast]

356. It's in place at DailyKos, too, and they are very big tent.

Give it a try; I think you'll like it.

[jdj]

440. I don't read blogs.

For the express reason that I want alot of opinions not just one person's or one clique of people.

If all these other places do this, then what niche is DU supposed to fill by doing it as well?

Actually, I do read riverbend, but that is the only blog, because she has a perspective one can't get in the U.S.. I know DU just started calling itself one, but it really isn't. I actually think that that move, to put "The DU Blog" on the front page, was a mistake. A blog is a log by one person, therefore that one person takes heat for the content. This is what DU is being portrayed as in the NYT and apparently by Fox, yet DU is a message board, and now would have been a really good opportunity to point out the difference between a message board and a blog that happens to contain a message board. If this becomes "Skinner's Blog", then I probably won't visit that much, that kind of thing just doesn't appeal to me.

[Conspirationalist]

327. "Filter" systems and ratings systems -

I have personal experience of neither, but both sound like a bad idea. Free speech is what blogs should be all about. And if you want to be REALLY well-informed - and fair - you know what? If you're interested in a thread, you should jolly well read the whole thing! Even putting people on "ignore" is not kosher to me.

[blondeatlast]

355. DailyKos does this too.

I like this idea very much. Once the trolls have been ignored long enough, they just slip away into oblivion, a very nice feature.

[hunter]

59. I cut off Slashdot posts at 3 or 4.

My own posts there rarely float so high...



In any case, I think a slashdot style of moderation would destroy DU.

[bpilgrim]

67. likewise

and it serves me well.

i don't know why you think it will 'destroy DU'?

i can't read every post in most threads now as it is and as we grow it will only get WORSE.

we must do something to cut down on information overload and if we all get to vote on every post that would be fair, besides no one needs to use the filter if they think they must read every post in a thread.

very democratic and SMART for any POPULAR discussion board =)



peace

[hunter]

156. "Karma whoring" and the "herd mentality" are very real things at Slashdot

To catch the attention of all the random moderators at slashdot you've got to dangle shiny things in front of them. Often this makes the writing dishonest. You can be wildly successful at places like Slashdot writing as a witty and handsome troll, but this comes at the expense of more honest posters.

At DU people are sorted out by their interests. I contribute to the topics I am most interested in, and the topics I know something about.

Any "filtration" system should be based on that. I don't see that my usual hangouts here, say "Environment and Energy" or "Science," are all that crowded.

The growth of General Discussion is probably self-limiting. As it gets too loud and fast in GD people move away from it, and as it quiets down they come back. Mostly, like the Lounge, it really doesn't matter which threads you decide to jump into and out of. Eventually you get a pretty good feeling for where and when the discussions that are most important to you might be, and a moderation system such as Slashdot's would hurt that.

[bpilgrim]

169. like i said before, it works both ways...

you don't have to filter anything out if you don't want to or you could apply it selectively like only in GD and/or the LOUNGE or where-ever...

the main thing is it's each individuals own choice and the whole community participates in the rating system and NOTHING gets deleted.

i see it as a win-win for everyone.

peace

[hunter]

184. No, it doesn't...

Any point-value system applied to posts decreases the overall honesty of the board.

The reason television news, especially local television news, is so bad is that they are competing for television viewers.

The reason slashdot is so bad is that people are competing for the moderators attention. Too many posts that rise to the top on slashdot, your so-called "cream," are composed by people who are not writing from their hearts, or even from their heads. Instead they are on the float in Mardi Gras, throwing shiny trinkets and candy to the ladies.

[bpilgrim]

192. yes it does - it isn't MANDATORY, hello...

/. is not 'bad' sheesh, they get more post and views than all the boards combined, shoot they kicked this whole thing off.

and it certainly helps me get to the golden-nuggets much more quickly.

shoot no system is perfect but that is better than information OVERLOAD which is what we are getting now.

i take the point system to encourage more thoughtful and positive posts and i am certainly all for that.

peace

[katinmn]

31. A conspiracy thread for the sake of discussion

does no harm but multiples over several days on something like the horrible tsunami makes us look like unreasonable loonies.

Hitting alert will take care of the problem.

Thanks for letting us know about the NYT LTTE. I'll watch for it!

[txaslftist]

33. You might get something from the Times,

but don't expect Faux News to acknowledge your reply. They are so plainly Republican shills that they couldn't say a good thing about a democratic site if it meant life or death.

KKKarl Rove has to approve all of their reports anyway.

[wyldwolf]

35. I've said it before and I'll say it again

With DU getting so much attention lately, and with the rightwing spinning DU as being an official part of the DNC (I actually had a shouting match with Neal Boortz over this - he claims his sources tell him DU is funded by the DNC), DU admins and mods really must check conspiracy theories on many topics and hold posters accountable to prove them or they'll be deleted.

[ashmanonar]

254. wait a minute...

people can have threads deleted bc they're posting a "conspiracy theory", yet people who post a thread about their cats won't?

boggling my mind...

[Old Mouse]

321. Who is welcome on Democratic Underground, and who is not

We welcome Democrats of all stripes, along with other progressives who will work with us to achieve our shared goals.

This is a "big tent" message board. We welcome a wide range of progressive opinion. You will likely encounter many points of view here that you disagree with.

Copied from the DU rules

[wyldwolf]

343. who said anyone wan't welcome?

I just think there should be stricter guidelines on what is passed on as "fact" here. We just found out that.

"Points of view" have nothing to do with it. Claiming that, for example, Wes Clark caused men to grow breasts, isn't true no matter what point of view you have. And saying or implying tsunami was caused by humans fits the same criteria - a crackpot theory that the media will decree is a philosphy of the democratic party.

[Old Mouse]

452. The criteria for "fact" is opinion

not embarrassment.

[wyldwolf]

454. the criteria for fact is opinion? Really?

Explain that.

[blondeatlast]

357. DU associated with the DNC? IF ONLY; we're the redheaded stepchild.

I wish they would listen to us even if just a little.

[wyldwolf]

457. yeah, but only a little

[Frangible]

36. Well said.

However, I worry the people you sent this to have demonstrated rather, ah, selective hearing already.

[slutticus]

37. Thank you Skinner!

[Catchawave]

38. Proud to be a DUer...

Thanks Skinner and I'm nominating you for homepage

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

50. Same here.

[secedeeconomically]

41. The hypocrisy at Fox is amazing

I recently heard Tony Snow (one of there conservative hit men) on the radio. And one caller blames the Tsunami on God. Apparently according to this thespian of a caller, God wanted to punish south East Asians. Well guess what, snow said nothing just thanked her for her comments. Then that asshole turn around and quotes some left website regarding the possible reason for the Tsunami. This guy is a joke, I kick myself for wasting 20 minutes of my life listening to that joker.

[MADem]

383. Apparently, Joe "Dead Woman in my Office"

...Scarborough did a show on that same subject last night. I heard the "wrath of God" teaser at the start of the program, so I exercised my right of free association and freed myself from association with that show by picking up the remote and switching to Comedy Central!

[indigobusiness]

42. It seems clear the dialog in response is far superior at DU

as pointed out in the NYTimes piece.

What was lost in the sniping over the Democratic Underground posting was the fact that the follow-up comments were a sober discussion of what actually causes earthquakes. The first response to the posting asked, "Earthquakes have been happening since the beginning of time ... How would you explain them?"

As opposed to the FR response, ie the examples you cite.

Seems like a compliment to me, too.

[antigone382]

43. I'm impressed once again, Skinner!

You're certainly right about one thing:

They say that all publicity is good publicity, and that is certainly true to some extent. Many of our members found this website because of some negative publicity we got elsewhere.

Checking in

Some of us are smart enough to know that one or two random posts on a discussion board aren't indicative of the entire community, and some of us are smart enough to check it out for ourselves. Introducing me to DU is the one and only thing I will *ever* thank Neal Boortz for.

Edited for HTML mistake.

[Lex]

44. This has been happening for YEARS to the gay community

by main stream media.

Ever go to a gay pride parade? 95% of the people there are just like your neighbors, friends, family. But what makes the news at 6 o'clock? The few who are dressed like Carmen Miranda.

Welcome to being propagandized against.

[Bluebear]

48. Amen brother.

Men dressed like nuns in roller skates sells.

[complain jane]

51. Oh absolutely!

[SariesNightly]

80. Coordinated smears are what Replants do best

Here's how Jesus handles these bigots,

-----------------------
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. (Matt. 7:1-5)
-----------------------

Where's the NYT articles concerning the neo/crazies at freerepublic?

[MADem]

47. My God, Faux I can understand, but the NYT apparently

...has yet ANOTHER SLOPPY JOURNALIST on their rolls. Singling out a few posts on a political website and then claiming that they reflect the majority opinion is simply BOGUS JOURNALISM. They should be ASHAMED of themselves.

And they wonder why people are turning away from mainstream media outlets? It's truly disturbing. Hell, the GOP owns all branches of government, and most of the media...why do they continue to fear the left, to ridicule us and attempt to silence us, to go out of their way to corral us, like protesters in those orange nets, to paint us all with their brush of paranoia...they obviously fear us, otherwise they wouldn't be working so hard to try to marginalize us--and the irony is, we actually BELIEVE IN SCIENCE. It's the faith-based crowd that thinks the man in the sky sent this as retribution, but where is that aspect in their lameass story?

I wonder how they can sleep at night--this is truly egregious behavior, and demonstrates an appalling lack of reporting standards by any measure. Ugh!

[YankeeFan]

227. The NYT is a Very Liberal Newspaper

I subscribe to their Internet Delivery Service, mail delivery costing too much for my budget.

Believe me when I say that if the NYT was to become more liberal we could easily become a subset of the Paper.

It's reasonable to say that because of the scandals they've been on the wrong side of that they're trying to become more balanced in their reporting.

Take this from Page 2
"Online discussion can evolve toward truth, said Clay Shirky, an adjunct professor in the interactive telecommunications program at New York University and a blogger. One result is a process that can be more reliable than many new media, where corrections are often late and small, if they appear at all."

I was a Poll Watcher last November. Like I said a few times before: There was no Hankey-Pankey around where I was stationed. If you were a Registered Voter you got to vote. Even after the Poll was closed; if you were in line you got to vote.

That being said too many people around here still think that the Election was fixed.

More people voted for Kerry than they did for Bush 2000. But Bush 2004 got even more votes than Kerry did.
As I was a Dean supporter I can believe that. (I still can't believe how weak the Kerry/Edwards ticket was.)

Senator Boxer is going to make more trouble for the Democrats with Ohio and the count. A lot of borderline Democrats are going to see what she is doing as a publicity stunt more than anything else and switch to the Republican Party. True, they will become borderline Republicans, but the danger is very real that they will stay Republican for the next Elections in 2006 and 2008.

[MADem]

235. The NYT is trending rightward, and has been for some time

I read the NYT, and if that is what you call LIBERAL, you and I differ as to the definition of the term. Once upon a time, they were a liberal paper, but now they are wusses whose reporting has gotten sloppy over the years and who recycle shit that has already hit the cable networks. The real strong Pentagon Papers style reporting just is not happening with them anymore. They're all AFRAID. Occasionally incompetent, but mostly AFRAID.

And all Boxer is going to do is point out a couple of issues, like the number of Democrats who waited in line for twelve hours to vote, the number of Democrats who were sent from polling place to polling place, the number of Democrats who were told to wait or come back later because they lacked ballots, the number turned away although they had registered and were wrongfully purged....the old Karl Rove voter suppression tactics that made this election a fucking joke. The GOP districts made voting easier than taking a pee, but the Dems in many places had to climb Mt. Everest on one foot to cast their vote.

No one thinks the debate will change anything, but dammit, it needs to be said. And if "borderline Democrats" leave the party, fuck 'em, they aren't real Democrats. We are not a crew of fair weather types--and I am not scared that anyone will go anywhere. In fact, if anyone crosses the line in 06 or 08, it'll be the GOP, after they too get fucked sideways by the weecowboy. Unemployment has a way of doing that to people....!

[Acryliccalico]

296. Good post MADem

[MADem]

389. Thank you

I don't think I am the only one who is sick and tired of this "Be very afraid, do not question our authority" mentality that the GOP is pushing. It worked for a time in pre-WW2 Germany, but it cannot stand. I didn't spend more than two decades of my life "supporting and defending the Constitution of the United States" to have a bunch of rich, draft-dodging clowns tell me not to ask questions, or to be afraid of anything, except maybe my mama waving a high heel if I misbehaved as a youngster.

We earned our right to vote with the volunteer blood of our citizenry, and a bunch of greasy, fat, pomaded and perfumed old men are not going to take it from us. This discussion in the Senate is designed to make the American people, many of whom are blinded by ideological desire and a faux sense of team spirit, see that when you disenfranchise one, you disenfranchise us all.

If it ain't fair, it can't fly. That's the America I grew up in.

[truth2power]

398. thank you...

I am sick unto death of the "Oh, whatever will they think of us?" mantra.

First of all, those who are trashing liberals aren't what I would call thinkers by any definition.

Second, it's all part of the plan. Whatever we do, they'll find a reason to piss and moan. Screw 'em, says I!

[el_gato]

367. NYT is good a presenting a liberal facade but it is phoney

don't forget that they were instrumental in justifying the invasion of iraq via erroneous reporting. Judith Miller breathlessly reported every possible fear inducing scenario regarding weapons of mass destruction. The whole point was to manufacture consent for a preordained policy.

[Downtown Hound]

52. Kick and nominated

[kaitykaity]

53. I expect nothing less than this crap from a paper that

still has the likes of Judith Miller on staff.

She acts as basically a stenographer for the Bush WH WMD line
and yet she still has a job.

[knight_of_the_star]

54. Huzzah to Skinner!

Good response, that really SHOULD be as widely circulated as a press release.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

55. Thank you, and my compliments

on what looks to be an excellent letter to the NYT. I started to write one yesterday but was so wrought up that it kinda came out "pbbllllfffft, so there," so I deleted it in hopes someone would write something more elegant. If they don't publish it, will you post it in its entirety here?

Again, as always,

[GOPFighter]

74. LOL

I can't tell you how many LTTEs I've written that never get sent because after the fist civil paragraph my writing explodes into angry rants! Kudos to Skinner for keeping his cool and responding so, so ....responsibly. How unblog-like!

[Forkboy]

95. I dunno,I kind of like that LTTE myself

Of course,I've never been one for excessive verbiage

[Dora]

56. Well-written and well-timed.

I was out of the loop since mid-Dec, and it explained much to me. Thanks, Skinner!

[Shrek]

57. What are the parameters of "Kooky" ?

Can you give a few guidelines?

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

69. Here is one: The belief that humans caused the 9.0 earthquake is kooky.

Top of the list.

[gatorboy]

73. I'm interested in this as well..

9/11 pod theories? No plane hitting the Pentagon?

Should we now delete the Wiccan section, since that would also be looked down upon on Fox?

As silly as the tsunami theory is, I also don't enjoy the idea of buckling down for these people just because they post about the DU for a day. The Freerepublic bleeds conspiracy crap. I know one individual that can't stop talking about the 100's of individual's Clinton had assassinated and no one bats an eye over this stuff.

[HeeBGBz]

92. 911/Pentagon no plane is on my conspiracy theory list

Is it real or not? The difference in opinion varies with knowledge.

I do not believe either the tsunami or the earthquake are the result of any manmade device. However, I do believe nuclear blasts underground or not effect the equilibrium of the planet. Call me wacky.

I once got ridiculed by my college economics teacher. He asked the question "If 3/4 of the trees on the planet were destroyed what would be resulting problems?" I told him it would seriously depleted the world's oxygen supply. He laughed at me for several minutes in front of the class before he continued. I dropped that class the next day.

If you are going to be a free thinker, it's gonna take a thicker skin for all involved. Geez, ridicule them back. They are a hell of a lot weirder than we are. Hands down.

[YankeeFan]

212. I Hate to be the One to Tell You This, But...

While trees supply much of the earths oxygen, the Oceans supply most of the O² that the world breathes.

You can thank plankton for that.

Your Professor knew that and you didn't.
Now suck it up and learn from your mistake.
And remember: in many colleges the Professors get graded by the students. Just how good a teacher was Professor Hyena? That's something to remember.

[HeeBGBz]

226. Why do you hate to tell me?

I'm all for education. You almost taught me a fact.

Then you told me to suck it up and learn from my mistake. What mistake? I was asked a question. Obviously, my mistake was participating. If my reply was in error, I should have an explanation rather than laughter or ridicule. The difference between a teacher and a knowledge snob.

Those who Know-So-Very-Much surely must reign over those of us who are merely Inquisitive Thinkers.

Professor Hyena failed miserably in human interaction. As do many who wield their collection of obscure facts and knowledge like a golden sledgehammer upon the yet-to-be-informed masses.

The lesson is rudeness. I would forever prefer an uninformed kindhearted wacko to a bully genius.

[Donkeyboy75]

104. I can't understand why so many DUers think we are

some sort of anti-FR. We should be, and usually are, better than that. Sinking to their level only makes us look as crazy as they are.

[crispini]

61. Bravo!!!! n/t

[David Zephyr]

62. Thank You Very Much, Skinner! Really!

I am very glad to see that you did respond and there isn't a single word of what you have written above that I am not in wholehearted support of and in agreement with.

I am also very happy to see that you have pointed out what the Free Republic posters write. I tried to make this same point yesterday in this post which I titled, "Why Won't The "Liberal Media" Report on the F.R.'s Blatant Racism?" (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... )

The fact that the NY Times would single out the DU for a few kooky posts and give a pass to the scurrilous posts that fill the Free Republic every single day, posts that are poisonous with violence, racism, sexism, homophobia and extreme xenophobia signals JUST HOW INTIMIDATED THE NEW YORK TIMES is with regards to the radical right wing now.

The massive and organized e-mails and phone-ins of threats by the slavish audiences of Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and Karl Rove's minions have succeeded in castrating CBS, dethroning Dan Rather, canceling television programs and in terminating the careers of newspaper journalists around the country. The New York Times management got the message loud and clear.

Everyone in Washington, D.C. and in the media knows that prominent Republican Leaders post at the Free Republic along with some of the most sick postings imaginable. The editorial staff at the NY Times knows this and yet, cowardly chooses to go after the DemocraticUnderground. Why? Because they are afraid of the bully and so they join in with the bully in fear that they will be next.

[President Kerry]

117. thank you for your post.

Very eloquent and true. And Skinner - Man you just rock!

[The Magistrate]

64. It Will Be A Pleasure, Sir

To leave off geological combats, and repair to my accustomed Levantine haunts....

"LET' GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[bunkerbuster1]

68. Spendidly put.

There are times I'm really, really proud of this site. This is one of those times. Nice work.

Fight the power, bro.

[Beware the Beast Man]

70. Excellent refutation.

But naturally, the damage is done. Said "lazy journalists" would never retract their story based on your official statement. Such is the way with the media these days. Again, thank you for your feedback on this matter.

[MonkeyJoe]

71. Man, if that doesn't blow it out of the water. Huzzah!

[VioletLake]

72. DU rocks my world! Thank you, Skinner, Elad, and EarlG! :)

[SW FL Dem]

75. Great Post - thanks DU Admins

for standing up for the rest of us.

[LanternWaste]

77. Y'know... in all honesty

Very cool stuff, Skinner.

Y'know... in all honesty I had my doubts about you and some of the other moderators when I first registered here in Jan. of 2000 (but with the Top 10 Conservative Idiots list posted every week, how could I stay away?), yet you've illustrated yourself as an even-handed and level-headed administrator of a top notch website.

I guess I'd like to take this opportunity to say, "Thanks for a great website and the job you and the others have done in keeping it fresh, interesting and above all: Democratic!

I spend more time at DU than any other website- it's entertaining, informative and keeps me grounded in the belief that I'm not the last suriving liberal in the Western Hemisphere.

You've got my best thoughts coming atcha, baby!

[imax2268]

78. KICKING...

Well said Skinner...well said...

[Redneck Socialist]

81. Hmmm, a bit of an over reaction don't 'cha think?

Faux news doesn't like us? There's a shocker. As for the NYT, I don't think we should trouble ourselves overmuch about what any MSM thinks of DU.

Removing nutty Tsunami posts is a bit much. There is a lot of loony crap posted every day. Most of it gets rebutted quickly and well. For the most part the DU community does a pretty good job of self policing and self correcting.

If Kooky Konspiracy posts are gonna get yanked can we yank the nutty 9/11 posts that still pop up from time to time too?

[bpilgrim]

89. exactly

the whole community is greater than the sum of its parts

we demand links and we got a paper trail, which i love to bookmark and pass around - you know rove and crew HATE that

peace

[Maeve]

Once again, Boss, I have to say it

[pmbryant]

82. Thanks, Skinner. I do have one concern.

If some people are going to gravitate to off-the-wall conspiracy theories, I think it is probably beneficial to have at least a few threads here about them, so that they can be thoroughly debunked.

So I worry about the policy of simply making these threads "go away."

Certainly plenty of the people who post kooky threads are not trolls, though I suspect a few who do may be.

It is a tough situation.



Peter

[Ladyhawk]

160. I agree. I also think that people should be able to post...

...what may seem like "kooky conspiracy theories" as a way to think freely and openly about why things happen the way they do. If the theory is quickly debunked, no harm is done. But some "kooky conspiracy theories" actually turn out to have at least a little merit. Putting a strangle hold on free thought if it doesn't seem rational is a bit much. How else do we arrive at a shared concept of what is rational?

People may decide that I'm kooky because I lean toward LIHOP/MIHOP. Likewise, I may consider someone else's whole religion kooky.

Progressivism a big tent and we need self-policing in order to decide what most of us agree is rational and acceptable. We need to learn to agree to disagree on the rest of it. Certain liberal principles cannot be compromised, but other than that, hey, let us reason together!

[curse10]

83. I'm glad admin took the time to address this

We shouldn't have to put up with be represented in a false manner. I expect nothing less from Fox news, but the Times should have shown at least an ounce of journalistic integrity.

[Octafish]

466. The ball's in the Times' court.

Let's see if they print Skinner's letter.

If not, we know they are the turds of the BFEE their history shows them to be.

From my perspective: If someone has something to say that adds to what we know. Cool.

If someone writes or repeats something for the sake of spreading hatred, or confusion or even dumbing us down. That's not cool.

Either way, I don't own the place and decide what stays and what goes. That's cool, too.

[DebJ]

84. TV news is being creamed and increasingly discredited by the

internet. This is their way of fighting for their profits and even more, for fighting to be the powers that dictate 'truth'. They have to take 'us' down on the net...we are the enemy of their profits and their falsehoods, n'est ce pas?
By the way, one of the greatest functions of DU is the ability to discredit rumors. I myself have posted threads asking for verification or the discrediting of info I received. Within an hour or two, voila! Truth revealed.

[neuvocat]

88. 100% agree.

I've been of that opinion for quite some time now. It may be a slow process but it is gaining momentum.

That being said, its entirely possible that someone had deliberate intentions of trying to discredit DU and other sites from providing more comprehensive coverage than the commercial-driven networks.

[Ladyhawk]

163. And I've been set straight more than once.

It's important that we become slaves to reason and the truth. But that can't happen if information is stifled. Case in point: the mainstream media.

Why should we do what they want us to do?

Otherwise, Skinner, I thought your points were spot-on. And of course, you found the usual right-wing hypocrisy. Sigh. Where there is hypocrisy, there is a Republican.

[d_b]

86. Great post

[smurfygirl]

87. Thank you!!!

Wonderful Post.

I'm so glad to see DU on top of this. If Fox News wants to find a real kook maybe they should start with their own Bill O'Reilly. That would be to much work though. Everyone knows Fox doesn't have any real journalists. They just hire people to report what the AP and the newspapers have already reported. Since when has Fox News had a breaking story of their own? Answer that Fox.

[Jacobin]

90. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been worried that we had been invaded by trolls trying to destroy the credibility of what has been a very useful website.

In my experience, democrats, by and large, are more interested in dealing with the reality of situations as opposed to the idiotic "theories" propounded by these tsunami crackpots.

We have enough trouble with RW fundies trying to bring back the Dark Ages with their faith based science, etc. We sure as hell don't need it on the left and my suspicion is that these errant posters are either RW poseurs or truly deranged folks who don't have a rational scientific or political stance.

Many thanks

[Patsy Stone]

91. Excellent!

I don't know what the point of this whole little flurry of DU activity was today either, but good for you for responding. Thanks.

[Gelliebeans]

93. These two so-called pieces of journalism

is another example of the laziness the MSM has now reduced itself to.

FOX claims that they are responsible and truthful yet perpetuate dishonest thirty second sound bytes. Shame on them. It is typical of FOX and no one should really be surprised as they have a hard time presenting themselves as a credible news organization anyway.

As for the NYT article, apparently ethics in journalism now means throw it out there and let the truth sort itself out....tsk tsk tsk Haven't they learned their lesson from their own past when they had to apologize to the American Public for not investigating the reason George Bush took our country to war. It was so much easier to report WMD because the White House said so. I guess they have reverted back to using novice reporters to investigate their stories.

It's a shame that these organizations haven't been willing to take George Bush to task over the various inaccuracies and irresponsible behavior he has exuded since taking office.

I guess it's easier to take an anonymous post from a progressive message board and make it the root of all evil. After all who will investigate their practices?

[The Backlash Cometh]

94. Well said, Skinner.

This tells me one thing. FoxNews and even those on NYTimes who are afraid of what we represent (educated Americans who demand better news reporting) are afraid of us! So much so that they'll go through great lengths to discredit us.

[Shopaholic]

96. Face it--this is what the MSM has been reduced to-

making the progressive side look like kooks to please their media masters, all the while ignoring the down-right hatred and bigotry and lunacy of the right-wing. We should ALL contact the NY Times and demand that they highlight the "best of" Freeperville for all to see.

[Old Mouse]

97. I would respectfully voice my dissent

While I personally do not believe Bush wields a super-weapon, I find this blanket denial of all such discussion alarming.

DU is not just a counterbalance to the far right, it is a collection of opinions, intellects and people with connections and resources. Many people who are far left in thought can and do use the accumulated knowledge of the vast DU membership to test their thoughts and politics, to gain insight and education.

But to disassociate our far-left brethren by labeling them 'kooks' and trolls and to deny them a forum for discussion and feedback because we feel embarrassed by their speculations is highly un-democratic. Should we shut down the religion and spirituality forums? There's a lot of unsound science in there as well.

I truly mean no disrespect, but if confused, frightened but well meaning people cannot ask their political questions HERE without being called kooks...

[ulysses]

100. if you want to test thoughts on the DU membership

then do so, but please, accept that the tsunami was caused by a massive earthquake. Please.

[Old Mouse]

101. ?

Exactly how does that pertain to my post?

[ulysses]

103. this particular thought has been tested.

If you want to test, then test, but listen to the results.

[Old Mouse]

105. I really don't understand you

do you speak of the tsunami, or of people who post of such?

[ulysses]

109. from your original post

Many people who are far left in thought can and do use the accumulated knowledge of the vast DU membership to test their thoughts and politics, to gain insight and education.

My point is that, if you're going to use DUers for insight and education (a worthy use, no doubt), then one needs to listen to that insight and accept that education. The tsunami wasn't caused by global warming (which I do believe exists) or by a nuclear test (although I wouldn't put it past this administration to begin testing nuclear devices underwater). It was caused by an earthquake. It's just science.

This will be my last post on the topic, since I don't want to get into an argument on Skinner's thread. Besides, it's almost dinner time.

[Old Mouse]

120. You make a great assumption

I do NOT debate the disaster. I debate intellectual elitism.

[HeeBGBz]

271. Insight is better shared with a smile than with a whip

Why should any one person accept the facts of a knowledge bully?

[The Backlash Cometh]

362. As you pointed out in your post:

Now that all these supernations have seen the potential damage of a tsunami, it concerns me that what is forbidden to say today, is something that our government and/or others might consider for the future.

I do believe this particular tsunami was the result of teutonic plates shifting. A DUer had talked about it months ago and had predicted such a catastrophic event. Too bad the New York Times doesn't know how to use our archives to come up with that prediction and give DU the right kind of recognition.

[ashmanonar]

426. lol

"teutonic plates"- germanic plates?

[truthseeker1]

199. yes, sheeple, get back in line.....eom

[ulysses]

401. sheeple?

Does science make you a sheep?

On second thought, y'all go on with your bad selves. The tsunami was caused by a falafel.

[jdj]

111. I second.

and people have pet conspiracies. Some are LIHOP but don't think the election was stolen, some think the repukes had something to do with Wellstone's death but would never go so far as to support the 9/11 conspiracies. I personally hold the belief that "more will be revealed", so to speak. Conservatives like to say that some people have such an open mind that the truth just passes right through, but I'm willing to take that risk, considering that the alternative is having such a stove-tight mind that no shred of truth can get in.

But it's not my site, so I'll respect whatever decision the admins make. I'm not posting any kooky tsunami conspiracy theories (can we just say ktct's?) but I have copied and pasted all the links people have put up regarding how humans may contribute to natural disasters.

[bobbyboucher]

134. I second.

So what if a conspiracy theory or two float up to the top. The discussions that follow pretty much play them out.

Why don't we just call Faux News and ask them what topics are OK and what topics they are going to ridicule, then we won't have to feel embarrassed. Kay?

Skinner is right to call them on their bullshit. But their cherry-picking of posts and replies is a conspiracy in and of itself, no?

[HeeBGBz]

213. All's well, that's Orwell

Also, the deletion of threads makes it difficult to go over the conversation in context and in it's absence, the content is blown out of porportion.

It's like taunting a homophobe. Only with wackophobes. If you accuse a homophobe of being gay, he will overreact and do anything possible to appear Macho. While the non-phobe is not threatened by accusations. Accuse a wackophobe of being wacko and they will act out against that which they fear they see in themselves or what others see in them. Then they attack the reflection of their fears. To boost their credibility, they become the Gods of Facts and Science and denying the opinions of those who sometimes only want to ask a question and be taught something, rather than be attacked.

I hope the idea I am tryin to express is clear. I really love this place. I just become upset with holier-than-thous or brainier-than-thous and rude people. Striking out in all directions with harshness among the ranks is really detrimental to our purpose and vision. We are more than that.

[JohnLocke]

281. Self-delete. DFTT.

[Tinoire]

284. As always. Polite, refreshing and astute. Thank you. n/t

[ulysses]

99. excellent, Skinner.

[Carni]

106. Let me get this straight/-FOX &NYT's=conspirators Iraq "45 minute claim"

I believe that if you tune into FOX on any given day they are STILL insinuating that the WMD *could exist* and... and... they MIGHT have been moved to Syria (bla bla bla)because certain "sources" believe that they have been!

Let us not forget that Judith Miller (via Chalabi) in the New York Times wrote that Saddam... even though all the weapons inspectors said the bush admin was full of crap HAD the illusive weapons and he could even reign down poison on America in 45 minutes (I guess he was going to bring it by camel)

If I were to even ATTEMPT to try to illustrate all the conspiracy minded bullshit coming out of the mainstream media over the last five years I would spend the rest of my life typing this post...but someone posts something on DU titled "another stupid earthquake question" and the site gets mention on NYT's and FAUX as a hornet's nest of loons?

Now forgive me... but the NYT's and FOX are supposed to employ journalists, not Tom, Dick and Harry exchanging commentary on George Bush and what they think he has done to the country etc.

BTW the Whitehouse issued a statement yesterday stating a small group of conspiracy theorists in the Congress are trying to get a senator to contest the election--it received mention on either CNN or MSNBC (with the brief WH statement)

I personally don't think John Conyers is a tin foil hatter and the point I am trying to illustrate is that this is IMO a talking point hit job.

Now I will get called a conspiracy theorist again... but a tremendous amount of activism regarding the recounting of votes etc is coming from WHAT SOURCE? OH YEAH THAT WOULD BE DU! Gee, what a coincidence!

Even if there is no election fraud (and everyone seems to have a different opinion on that) there are people posting things on DU that are not flattering to the WH regarding the last election.

The WH certainly doesn't want issues of illegitimacy raised about the election (that's a no brainer)

After 2000 when Bush detractors were fighting for their right to a free and untampered with presidency... we were "fringe"

Now we are all *conspiracy* types and with all due respect editing out what might be construed as crap will not solve DU's problems.

If you ask me this site is on their radar (so to speak and that is not to infer that I believe the Government is using microwave technology to track the websites of progressives)

[Bouncy Ball]

130. We most definitely post things on this site

that the bush administration and most of the mainstream media don't want people to know.

[Carni]

146. That is most definitely Faux's motivation

As to the NYT's they were certainly used as the drum banger publication that lead us to war in Iraq.

Has Judith Miller faced any retribution BTW for her fabulous *reporting*??

Was she even fired?

[Ladyhawk]

167. "this is IMO a talking point hit job."

Spot on! Are we going to change DU because Faux News and the NYT made fun of a few posts? That would be caving, IMHO.

[Carni]

182. Faux has taken some heavy hits - their reputation is now really laughable

I think pious Bill O'Lielly being busted with his vibrators, loofahs etc was the nail in their coffin.

To anyone but a die hard right winger they are pretty much a joke only to be watched for entertainment value.

I agree with you...to an extent, censorship would be caving.

[hatredisnotavalue]

107. I saw the devastation at ground zero

And I mean the backlash, not the acutal tsunami.
By Tuesday morning, Dec. 27, I was aghast at the inaction of "our" government. There was little I could do for the victims except call Doctors Without Borders and make a donation. Stewing, stewing, there must be something else I could do, I thought.
Then it came to me. I do web sites and I contacted all of the web site owners and asked them if I could put a link to the "How can I help" list of donor organization on MSNBC. No problem, they said. I also asked a couple of local web designers to do the same. Wednesday morning, my suggestion on the local web page was there. No problem and it was prominately displayed on the web site. By Tuesday, this week, it had become a "suggested link from a reader" and on Tuesday it included a "Support Our Troops link, which went to a pro-fit org. Today, the web designer also added the link of the the official US effort, USAID.

[Catherine Vincent]

108. The NYTimes writer was defended on one of our threads.

I'll have to try and find it.

[Carni]

112. Yes, apparently his editor did a lot of editing

According to someone who posted that they know the writer.
(I have forgotten what the posters name was)

[Mike Niendorff]

110. Thank you!

> How we feel about kooky tsunami conspiracy theories

> We think they're a bunch of crap, and we believe most -- if not all --
> DU members think they're a bunch of crap. We do not wish to see them
> posted on our website. If anyone posts a kooky tsunami conspiracy
> theory on our website, we would like to know about it so we can remove
> it and then investigate the person who posted it as a possible troll.

This is WAY overdue, and the board already reads better for it.


MDN

[Florida_Geek]

115. I have mixed feelings about some things you say.

I do know Bush wants to re-start nuclear testing.

And IMHO, Bush would allow a nuclear test to be performed if he thought he could get away with it.

Could a badly placed nuclear weapon on a fault line trigger an earthquake early, maybe. In California they monitor the stress between the plates and when the stress builds to a point, they know an earthquake will happen within the next X years. The key is early. If the Pacific plates were at a stess level that an earthquake was only a matter of years, it would have happened with or without help from a nuclear weapon.

During the days after the earthquake, I posted and watch the Net for information on Diego Garcia AFB. But in the end, there was nothing strange going on there. Had the island been evalulated before the earthquake that would have been troubling.

An old saying "Remember there is no such thing as a dumb question--only those unasked are dumb. "


IMHO with the large number of people and posts per day, if somebody want to make DU look bad, they will be able to find something to bitch about.

[evolvenow]

150. Is Free Speech Free? I am saddened at the censorship happening as a re-

action to Faux and the NYT, who has had multiple appearances on MSM to boast about B*sh' s Stealection having been won "fair and square".

These MSM organizations support and amplify the messages of WAR Criminals.

I have been an active, relentless advocate for human rights, animal rights, environmental rights and a published author with a core of promoting the ideas of compassion and non-violence for over 30 years. I have had a site for over ten years, promoting non-violence. There are horrific and violent acts that are being perpetrated on innocent people and animals, all over the world.
These events are connected. If we do not monitor these events, then we have failed as a witnesses to unacceptable behavior. I have first-hand, witnessed things you would never believe, but these exist, and they have devastating consequences. I do not have answers, I am simply asking questions, posting articles and looking for accountability, and in the process, hopefully, we will become better prepared, have improved communications and warning systems to prevent such massive and tragic loss of life, natural or man-made.
That is why I have devoted so much time to the investigation of the hijacked Stealection, and the degradation of civil rights, and to fight the illegal genocide in Iraq. I will never stop examining the clues nor abandon the fight for justice.

I am most concerned with the way that the MSM is already making this monumental disaster a political story. It is sickening to hear Geb talking about the fact that this will not be a "quick fix", and that they will be there a very long time. The countries are unhappy about this. The hatred for America is fueled by this administrations violent choices. Again, this is not representative of the people, who are very concerned and compassionate...it is the MSM and the administration+ and that is why we must continue to ask questions.

It is alarming that I must edit questions I feel are important to look at, in terms of the larger whole. I will continue to watch these stories closely. I will continue to report and alert many people to support organizations that are doing fantastic humanitarian work, with money and promotion, on my own site. I believe that as a group, humanity has to evolve into a more intelligent society, that refuses to cause harm to anyone.

The only way that cruelty, torture and the murder and rape of people and the planet will ever lessen and transform, will be through the revealing of the truth.
What happens in secrecy, keeps these heinous actions in motion.

The ability to have discussions and consider the big, ugly questions, is one of the last rights we have in this country.

Sadly, I had hoped that I had found a forum for free speech...

[Ediacara]

427. Oh get off it!

You have been a relentless voice promoting the kookiest of the kooky concerning the tsunami. No amount of data will change your mind. You don't want a discussion, instead you just want to spam kookiness. Free speach you say! You can't call for free speach, yet refuse to engage in actual discussion.

[HeeBGBz]

245. Watch out, Florida Geek, you're thinking again.

Somebody bring in the Ruler of Rationality to measure your level of stable thought processes. "Could bees" are dangerous territory.

/sarcasm

[havocmom]

116. The old adage: "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" is worth considering.

MSM and the Corporations running it have not been able to beat the DU. Seems likely some would 'join it' when they can do so anonymously and post anything they want. There have sure been a lot of productive, helpful and well intentioned DUers who have been frustrated to the point of not posting much if at all by some of the foolishness going on of late.

They haven't beaten the DU. Thanks, Skinner, crew & mods plus the many regulars who make this place the interesting, educational place it is.

If the NYT doesn't have the sense of fair play and decency to run Skinner's letter, we need to let them know we stand by our forum and ask why they choose not to entertain opposing views. Omissions are as telling as what is said/written/published.

[Child_Of_Isis]

256. They haven't beaten the DU.

Sadly, I think that they have. When I saw the post and read this thread, I felt the same as when John Kerry conceded. The very same.

[havocmom]

407. Meant Rove's followers are joining DU cuz they couldn't stop us from

the outside. The right has long used the method of getting people inside then having them promote methods, actions not in the group's original philosophy.

The sixties have a long list of such actions.

[OneBlueSky]

118. well . . . although I see your point, the fact remains that . . .

a former U.S. Secretary of Defense confirmed that weapons may indeed exist that can cause earthquakes . . . I would hate to think that the topic is taboo just because someone accuses us of posting "kooky tsunami theories" . . . what if one of those theories turns out to be true? . . . not saying it is, mind you, but I certainly don't think we can foreclose the possibility . . . jmho . . .

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/12/307042.shtml

(snip)

SAID IN APRIL 1997 BY THE U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, WILLIAM COHEN: "Others are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves... So there are plenty of ingenious minds out there that are at work finding ways in which they can wreak terror upon other nations... It's real, and that's the reason why we have to intensify our efforts." --- Secretary of Defense William Cohen at an April 1997 counterterrorism conference sponsored by former Senator Sam Nunn. Quoted from DoD News Briefing, Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, Q&A at the Conference on Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and U.S. Strategy, University of Georgia, Athens, Apr. 28, 1997.

"In short,...the Secretary of Defense of the United States confirmed that there are indeed novel kinds of EM weapons, right now and have been for some time, which have been and are being used to (1) initiate earthquakes, (2) engineer the weather and climate, and (3) initiate the eruption of volcanoes. We wrote about those exact uses of the weaponry decades ago. Several nations now have such weapons. Three of them (two on one side and the other on a hostile side) are even firing practice shots into Western Australia, as a convenient test range." .

- more . . .

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/12/307042.shtml

[Eloriel]

137. Thank you

The more I read of this thread, the more I think of this "decision," the more aghast I am. I don't happen to think that this earthquake and this tsunami were caused by humans -- but there ARE technologies out there in development if not in use which could create such havoc. HAARP is one, as was aluded to elsewhere.

Absolutely none of the posts I've seen holding up science -- of tectonics or physics, etc., yadayada, -- as ironclad proof against these "conspiracy theories" have been at all convincing. Even Skinner's post above where he cites the science of tectonic plates (or whatever) offers no appreciation that humans CAN do and have done things with the technologies we have which trigger tectonic movement.

Shutting down this discussion realitically prevents THAT discussion as well.

Further, it's abominable that THEY are calling this a conspiracy theory and WE are buying it. Where's the conspiracy? Whose benefit? None. The worst is that there were some kind of underwater tests or other activities that may have triggered it. Where's the conspiracy?

It breaks my heart that because this seems outside the realm of the possible, I suppose you'd call it, and because DU has attracted the unflattering attention of some MSM (blech), that admin is taking this very counterproductive step.

[hunter]

187. I would be very upset if any of your threads were shut down, Eloriel.

Especially if it was done by some pompous-ass-self-righteous science geek.

(I speak as a science geek who is, at times, a very self righteous and pompous ass.)

[Mike Niendorff]

195. with all due respect, El:

Anyone can fabricate a quote and post it to indymedia. Unless you've verified this stuff for yourself, I'd be *very* wary of accepting it at face value.


MDN

[jdj]

443. but there's the rub.

that's my responsibility, to fact check or not to fact check.

I don't need a baby-sitter here.

[Mike Niendorff]

453. no rub about it.

Communities like DU don't just happen out of the blue. Skinner and the rest have worked extremely hard to create and maintain this place, and I think it's crazy to ask them to just let a bunch of nuts and vandals come in and trash the place or turn it into Art Bell Central. If that feels like babysitting to you, well, so be it.


MDN

[uncle ray]

207. and thank YOU

i agree with what you just said 100%.

thank you for having the courage to speak out. it took me a long time to have the courage to post here at DU, now to be made to feel not welcome...i just don't know.

[jdj]

442. I'm starting to feel better.

They missed LIHOP, MIHOP, the Stolen election, Wellstone, Scarborough's dead intern, etc,

But now they are drawing attention to DU for THIS?

Does anyone else not find it ironic that the one conspiracy theory they are accusing us off is the one that isn't linked to prominent republican figures??

People are missing the boat, this is the "safe" conspiracy theory to jump on, the others they didn't dare bring attention to.

So all of the doubters can kiss my tail, for the above is my conspiracy theory about the conspiracy against DU conspiracy theories.

DU had been heavily associated with Bev Harris for couple years, they could have nailed DU on that as she seems to have continued unraveling, but that one was too risky to touch...but the tsunami, theres an ace in the hole.

It really is alarming, Eloriel. I hope that this isn't a sign that DU will have increasing censorship the more attention and acclaim it gets.

[Minstrel Boy]

162. I guess William Cohen's thread would be locked. Lt Col Stanislav Lunev,

the highest ranking Soviet military-intelligence officer to defect to the United States, would be too kooky for the house. In his autobiography Through the Eyes of the Enemy he writes that the Soviet Union developed and tested seismic weapons in the 1980s.

"Watch what you say. Watch what you do."

[Tinoire]

280. You will never convince those who are "embarrassed"

but kill two birds with one stone. Post the DOD defense link instead because then the arguments fall morph from "he never said any such thing" to "that's not what he meant" to "he was speaking hypothetically".

http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/1997/t042897_t04...

But Secretary of State William Cohen is, I suppose, a conspiracy theorist and such talk must be stopped immediately lest the Democratic Party look "kooky". That was Kucinich's greatest sin- looking "kooky" by pushing for a congressional bill banning the development and testing of "tectonic weapons". Embarrassing conspiracy kooks bereft of "sound science", both of them.

[shance]

411. Exactly. Is William Cohen, ex Sec. of State a "conspiracy theorist"?

People seem to be developing Galileo complex in record numbers.

[jdj]

447. what would people talk about here anyway if we aren't

speculating on the absolute limits of the evil of the republican party?

I mean, hell I can just watch the news if I want that.

So LBN and the Lounge will survive, but GD might die an untimely death. I propose a compromise...since we can't post ktct's then the admins should make it against the rules to post any crap from FR, Lucianne, NewsMax, WND, Drudge, or any of the other embarassments.

But then GD will be empty.

[dreamcollector]

119. I THINK IT'S VERY INTERESTING THAT THE NYT

and TIME magazine have mentioned DU recently. I believe it means that you have influence and they know it. I wouldn't worry about mainstream news folk attempting to discredit important rival sources of information. They know people are turning away from them in droves if they want real news. Any intelligent person consults numerous sources for information and it is becoming obvious that the msm doesn't cut it. I wrote to the NYT last month scolding them for not printing the really important stuff and complaining that I had to get all my real news from alternate sources on the internet. But I said, "I just LOVE your recipes and book reviews and all that fluffy stuff, at least you're good for something." How many others have written to complain? Lots, I'll bet and they can see the writing on the wall. And as far as DUs reputation is concerned intelligent people very quickly discover whether they can trust a web site or not. You learn to be selective. I regularly check Rense and some other sites that have some far out questionable stuff because I often find something of value there. But I can tell the difference between nutty stuff and real information. Don't worry DU users aren't stupid and they dang well know it. You can bet the NYT thinks DU is a threat. And it is. Take what's going on in Ohio. That's the single most important issue in the U.S right now. What has the NYT got to say about it? Nothing. I am desparate to know what's happening in Ohio. The NYT goes on about the Ukraine. Get serious! Of course intelligent readers are going to DU and other places that have real news of real importance. The msm should be deeply deeply ashamed. I told them that. I don't know why they aren't blushing all over themselves. I also mentioned that what news they do print is false and that they will have to keep on apologizing. It didn't end with Judith Miller --- or whatever her name was. I never believed there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq cuz I read it online somewhere that Collin Powell said in 1998 that they had none, had destroyed what they had and had no capability. He was quoted online and the NYT blathers on about WMD. It was disgusting and completely unbelievable. But I'm Canadian. The rest of the world knew it was all lies from the get-go. I think the NYT STINKS! But as I said the recipes and stuff are fun.

[pinto]

121. Kudos, Skinner. n/t

[Miami Liberal]

122. Thank you Skinner!

[HEyHEY]

124. You know what? This is fucking stupid - as a reporter....

I think it's laughable the NEW YORK TIMES is quoting a website...A FUCKING WEBSITE... to gauge any form of public opinion.
The internet is the biggest bathroom wall in the world. And these "Journalists" pretend they can take seriously the accusations of a few people and report it as a portrayal of the whole site? Disgusting.... do you realize the kind of credentials you need to work at the Times? Most people have masters and degrees from the best Journalism programs in the world. SO how can they produce such uniformed crap?
I'll tell you, there are two possible reasons.
1: Lazy fuckers. I guess if the paper on your wall says "Columbia" automatically you don't have to do work because everything you touch turns to gold.
2: It was done on purpose, I'm the first one to scoff at conspiracy theories involving the media, I don't believe in them. But what I do think COULD have happened is some right wing dick reporter decided he was going to take a shot at us and his editor probably assumed he did his homework, when he clearly did not.

Either way.... I won't be making my trip to the newstand on Sunday to pick up my $8 weekend copy of the times for a while. It's too much money to be lied to.

[Bouncy Ball]

128. HeyHey

Very very good post, and I totally agree. What a shabby little rag the NYT has come to be. I mean FUX news is no surprise, they are the National Enquirer of TV "news" as it is. And I think I just insulted the National Enquirer.

[HEyHEY]

138. Thanks

I remember in J-School we all loved the times for it's world coverage...phfff

[Bouncy Ball]

147. Even where I live

I would pick up a Sunday Times from the coffeeshop for $5 or so and spend DAYS poring through it.

Haven't done that in a while and won't ever again.

[Pithlet]

178. "biggest bathroom wall in the world"

Very well put. Excellent post.

[hunter]

223. Slam Dunk!

New York Times and Fox caught "reading the wall" together in a bathroom stall!

Possibility one: Stupid. They really were in there "reading the wall."

Possibility two: Yech. Check into a motel guys.

Posibility three: The Beast really does have four legs.

[blondeatlast]

359. "Biggest bathroom wall in the world." Nailed it. nt

[GOPBasher]

127. Good job, Skinner.

[Window]

129. Damned skippy!

Thank you Skinner. Man, I love this place!

[go west young man]

131. It sounds like the mainstream media is definently..

at the denouncing and mocking phase to me. The fear they have been selling to the American public is now something they feel themselves. I am proud to say I have turned off my cable for good after the election. I get Reuters news clips from the internet and thats it. Nice and healthy. No mainstream news. No paying for war and lots of DU. You guys rock!!!

[Bouncy Ball]

132. I certainly hope the NYT prints your LTTE

if they do, I trust we will see a link to it here.

Excellent response, thank you Skinner and the other admins and mods. You guys do a fantastic job!!!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

133. Thank you Skinner

you have answered my prayers!

[stevedeshazer]

139. Best post ever

The check's in the mail.

I'm Steve_DeShazer, and I approve this message.

[Aristus]

140. Once again, Skinner,

my friend!

The whole filthy thing just makes you want to shake your head. Out of context or not, some anonymous post quoted out of context is worse than offering less relief money than SPAIN, for Pete's sake, and the pResident hibernating on his pig farm for three freaking days????

Sorry, does not compute.

Imagine if Bill Clinton had been silent for seventy-two hours on the subject, and then sent Roger over there to prance around magnanimously. Oh the outrage from the right then!!!

New York Times be damned. I'm counting on Jesus and the good people of DU to get us through this. Our brothers and sisters in South Asia deserve our best efforts at relief.

[oblivious]

143. Straw men. Straw men. Straw men. Straw men.

I wasn't too interested in the topic, so I just skimmed through the threads, but I got the impression that the main problem in those threads was certain posters throwing up straw men to disrupt what seemed to be a reasonable discussion: "Is it possible for nuclear testing to have an influence on earthquakes?" or something like that.

I don't remember seeing many posts that claimed a specific nuclear blast set up the earthquake that causes this tsunami, or that we had the technology to create a 9.0 earthquake, or that there were no earthquakes before nuclear testing. Most just wondered if underwater nuclear blasts could trigger an earthquake where one was already likely on a fault line, or a bigger one than nature might normally cause.

But certain posters obviously didn't feel comfortable with a discussion that underground nuclear testing might be dangerous and set up straw men to ridicule the thread. It's hard to believe that continuous use of a logical fallacy can be effective, but here you are. Discussion shut down.

As for the NYT, their readership is likely falling while DU's seems to have gone up about 50% in the last year. Can you smell panic? Which website to you go to first every morning -- NYT or DU?

[Bouncy Ball]

149. Your last question is easy! DU!

And I ride around with a DU bumper sticker so everyone who sees the back of my car knows the web address. I've talked 17 Dem friends of mine into registering and posting here (and then they curse me because it's addictive).

[uncle ray]

210. makew you wonder who the trolls really are, doesn't it?

[Rose Siding]

237. The Internets Endorse "underground nuclear testing"

Very sad.

Looking under stones is confusing and tedious. Sometimes it makes you look silly.

That MSM got nervous enough to attack is cool, but they aimed well.

[stepnw1f]

145. Is Anybody Archiving Quotes from Freeperland?

I believe it's time we do. Just in case....

[RetroLounge]

148. Thanks Skinner!

RL

[Forkboy]

151. I think if we're going to bar certain topics because MSM doesn't like it

You should just fold up shop now.

What happens when they start using other topics to smear you and DU? Do we then shut down those topics as well?

"I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." - Bill Cosby

[AntiFascist]

152. Since DU has adopted such a liberal tombstoning policy......

why not just tombstone any members putting forth new posts that propose crazy tsunami theories and lock the offending threads?? I would certainly support this and I think it would put an end to the problem quickly!

[Name removed]

166. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[AntiFascist]

170. Very clever, and welcome to DU on your 3rd post.....

ok, what about a compromise? We create a SPECIAL group for tsunami theorists and all threads talking about alternative tsunami theories are immediately moved into there?

[democracyindanger]

189. Amazing

coincidence, that "conspirationalist" just happens to have a name that sounds like the topic at hand, joined today, and seems to have posted in no other threads than this one.

Just an amazing coincidence, is all.

[TwilightZone]

230. Agreed.

Coincidence. Must be.

[Conspirationalist]

301. Serendipity!

Serendipity!

[HeeBGBz]

251. He has posted more wisdom in 3 posts

Than many of those with thousands.

Conspirationalist is a breath of fresh air.

[democracyindanger]

262. Yeah

the whole "anitfascist" bit was brilliant. Really insightful, well-thought post.

[Conspirationalist]

303. You shouldn't;

you really shouldn't! Ah.... I thank you ALL!

(I still dread to see what your moderator does when he gets back though!)

[Conspirationalist]

302. Ah, thank you, Heebz!

One thing though: This knight of the British countenance IS actually a she.... (I've had a lot of male incarnations though! Previous lives; not sex changes!)

[HeeBGBz]

463. I thought about that after I posted

Also from the gist of your posts. I know what you mean about the incarnations. My apologies for the misumption.

[Conspirationalist]

300. NO COINCIDENCE! JUST A SERENDIPITY!

I've got a name that sounds like the topic at hand because I made it up because of this forum! (And what I read about it on other sites. I actually conceived of it, and I am quite proud of it, while I was visiting - and posting - on whizbang - I was trying to annoy them; they don't seem to ban liberal posters, for some reason! Though I know this site bans conservatives; perhaps its first act of censorship. Though yes, yes, with all the Limbaughs around, I can see why...)

I joined today, because I saw the controversy... Where did it first come to my eye? Buzzflash.com, probably. Or Alternet.

And of course I wouldn't yet have posted in any other threads!

What's so coincidental?

[Conspirationalist]

298. IT WAS A TYPO, HONEST!...

That I noticed, laughed over, and turned to my advantage!

[gandalf]

329. I assume you are joking?

[AntiFascist]

421. I was being half facetious...

(I did spell that correctly) and half overreacting. Sometimes the oppressed make the worst oppressors.

[Conspirationalist]

153. "Kooky Tsunami Conspiracy Theories"

You know what I think? I think this site has too many rules. I've just read them all, my eyes started to glaze, and I think they're a little - excessive. I don't see why a Democratic site feels the need to be so prescriptive. Leave it to the Republican sites - only funnily enough, most of them don't make such prescriptions; I suppose they feel it might offend the libertarians among them!

Now, admin johnnies, before you start posting nasty replies to me, or thinking about throwing me off, 1) I am new to this forum - might have viewed it once or twice before, but only signed up today and 2) I am a Brit. So you'd better be nice to me!

I'm a VERY progressive person; only of course I can't vote for any of your lot - nor, to be quite honest, would I want to! But I'm pretty well-informed; about America too; so basically I'm claiming that you want me on your blog! (Otherwise it's back to about.com!)

Yes, all this has relevancy to the current thread! Here it comes:-

I find it VERY interesting that "mainstream" journalism such as the NYT and Fox News is finding it so fascinating; what blog sites have to say about the issues of the day. And they obviously find all the non-mainstream forums threatening; after all, if there are all these blogs around, EVERYBODY's opinion has to be electronically "printed" somewhere; they can't just edit out the opinions they don't like and only publish a few carefully selected letters on their pages from professors, etc.

So good on all blogs! Especially the big ones that bring lots of people together!

But I find it also interesting - and discouraging - that basically all they could find to comment or "criticise" re the blogging phenomenon, was that blogs such as yours supposedly allowed "kooks" a point of expression! Whoever "kooks" may be! (Well, it had to be something they could trivialise, didn't it, in the usual patronising manner of such established "organs" - that being the right word! They would never expose certain blogs such as Freeper as being something really sinister and therefore worthy of worry, would they?)

But actually I'm cross with you guys, too, now, and I'm going to tell you why! (Noblesse oblige! This, by the way, is because I was a knight in one of my previous incarnations. And I feel you have offended against the rules of chivalry. Bear with me.)

For it was a very small posting, was it not, from a woman, who I am pretty sure uses her real name (lindashaw): as I do myself on another forum, incidentally. Entitled "One more dumb question regarding the earthquake in Asia." A VERY tentative, undogmatic, non-pompous little post; as many posts by women and those who feel themselves to have "non-mainstream" theories tend to be.

It is therefore both ironic and amusing that this small posting, plus one or two others, sparked off a furore, among several groups; narrow-minded Republicans, newspapers seeking to recapture their "we are the arbiters" status and their legitimacy, and narrow-minded admininstrators on this site.

The bit about asking people to alert you if anyone came on with any more "kooky tsunami theories" was what got ME! Who are YOU to say what exactly caused the earthquake, or whether or not it didn't have any environmental aggravators - global warming, for instance?

I followed a lot of links to find the "kooky theories" on your site; (and I hope I can find the one with the Reuters reference; pity you restrict your search function!) basically because I have a close friend (female) who has much the same idea.

I think you would be surprised how many people, both in Britain and America,and indeed worldwide, think something very similar, about the bunker-busting bombs in Iraq, for example, busting into fault lines and having something to do with the disaster in Bam. (Why there's even an old Superman movie plot, that's very much like that!)

What do you lot know about it? Where are your scientific credentials? Plate tectonics is a relatively new theory - don't you know that? It doesn't explain everything about the inner earth by any means. And there are always hundreds of other factors in a real-world situation. Saying plate tectonics is the only factor in earthquakes is like saying that weather is purely caused by cloud formations!

Anyway. I wouldn't have expected censorship of ideas to be found on a Democratic site; merely because you were sensitive because some silly Republicans and their pals at Fox would paint you as "kooks"! They think everybody is a kook that doesn't bow before Bush; don't you get that yet??

No, I would have expected to find censorship of certain ideas, and hostility in particular to more "alternative" dissenting points of view, environmental theories, etc, to be found on something like a Marxist site. Those with experience will know what THEIR prejudices are. Well, guys, if I want that, I can always go to www.wsws.org ! (Quite a fine site, by the way. But no blogs!)

You're supposed to be Democrats! You're not supposed to be censoring of anybody! Think liberal! Think wishy-washy! Think environmental. WHATEVER you do - don't pander to Republicans. And don't censor! Leave it to the dogmatists. Last time I looked, no liberal had a dogma. And that goes double for Democrats.

Here's a bit of shoddy journalism:

2. The Times failed to mention that the post was completely anonymous, and there is no way of knowing what the person's intention was. The person who posted it was not a donor, so we don't even have a name from a credit card. We have no way of knowing if the person who posted it was a misguided fellow liberal, or a conservative trolling to make us look bad. For all we know, the right-winger over at whizbang blog could have posted it himself. On the Internet, there's just no way of knowing.

The post was NOT completely anonymous - the person - a woman - used a proper name, what was probably her real name! (More than this blogger is prepared to do - though if you want to know what mine is, you'll find it on my e-mail address!)

They might not have been a donor - so obviously not a favoured contributor! So - do you think that just because a name isn't from a credit card, it isn't a real name? Why not use the usual internet style alias? I feel that the intention of this poster was HONORABLE.

This lady, lindashaw, who it is my desire to defend, is not a "fellow" of any kind, as you can see - she's a woman! (This is even emphasized in the avatar she has chosen for herself; males aren't usually so cute.)

I very much doubt that it was a "conservative troller" posing in the role, nor the "right-winger over at whizbang" - not unless they're VERY persistent and prepared to spend a lot of time fabricating posts; or some kind of master hacker who can hack unnoticed into your system and make it look as if a blogger has been on there longer than they have.

For, "Sherlocks", the poster in question has previously notched up 907 POSTS!!!!

Try checking what you're talking about!

Linda, whoever you are, I raise my hat to you. You're a freethinking liberal; forget the "misguided". It was an insult by an admin of this board; HE SHOULD APOLOGISE!!

(And he would if I ever went over there and to his office.)


Well I still say it's not very surprising, that a couple of patronising mainstream organs and Republican web sites should have made a whole lot of fuss about a few tentative comments about the earth being organic and possibly having "bones" - ie, a structural framework that might be disturbed or broken, wouldn't surprise ME!

And mentions of "Gaia" in other posts ... yes, that would excite the little anti-pagan bigots and snobs and slobs... Well of course it would! This society is a patriarchy! Gaia is a goddess archetype. Male chauvinism in yet another form.

And by the way, "Gaia", referring to the Earth as a system, or organism, is also a SCIENTIFIC theory, pioneered by Dr James Lovelock, which has to this day got a lot of respect and a large following.

So. There.



PS. Why is it possible to post "Smilies" in these threads - and yet I can find nothing to put in bold, underline, or italics?

[murray hill farm]

165. You are so new and so correct!!

I am amazed that this has happened here on DU..and i totally agree with what you have said here..i raise my hat to linda, as well..unfortunately...linda has left DU..for all of the reasons that you have mentioned.

[Conspirationalist]

277. Feedback and requests to Mexicoxpat

Mexicoxpat - sorry for the delay - I wanted to get back to you immediately as you were the first person to post positive feedback, indeed feedback per se, to my first major post. Unfortunately, the(not very) old computer was on the fritz, and getting stuck: either that, or there was something wrong with the connection.

Can you give me any help with topics like italics, text formatting?

Sorry to hear Linda has left DU. Not surprised though. I tried to mail her directly twice; thinking her email connection might still be valid. But I didn't get through; not I don't think because the address has been deleted; but because it said I couldn't e-mail directly because I hadn't made enough posts! That's a strange condition/perk to have on a blog!

Mexicoxpat - you have made a lot of posts - could you try to get back to lindashaw - you will find her details on the original, now notorious, article, of course - and mail her with the news that there are now messages of support on this thread? Could you try? Seeing as I can't? Do it quickly, before Skinner (any relation to B.F.??) wakes up like a bear with a sore head and deletes my post.

[murray hill farm]

465. mission accomplished!

message sent to lindashaw..thank you for suggesting it..i hope she may be still hanging around so that she will see it. i did relay your thoughts..and i hope she does get to read it...any help that i can be to you, please just ask...and again, welcome here..i am so happy to see someone like you show up here..!!! So...thanks for showing up....and hope you enjoy hanging out at DU..check out all the fun groups and forums when you get a chance.

[GOPFighter]

496. Welcome, Conspirationalist

You presented a nice counterpoint to Skinner's original post. Take heart in the fact that it hasn't been deleted proving there is plenty of room for disagreement here.

I PM'd lindashaw soon after she posted that she was leaving DU. I asked her not to leave DU. She responded. I sent a second PM telling her she had done nothing wrong and that the NYT was way out of line in the way they handled her original post but I've not heard back from her. I doubt I will. I hope she at least read my second PM.

The point is, she did not assert her suggestion as fact. She said it was probably a dumb question. It sparked an interesting discussion. What more could anyone want?

I think the NYT's reporter and his editor owe lindashaw and DU an apology. They blew it.

[bpilgrim]

174. welcome to DU!

well said

peace

[Conspirationalist]

279. I thank you

Thank you!

[AntiFascist]

176. Fine, let's make the search capability even easier....

and move ALL the tsunami theory threads into their own little group. Bring a little tin foil hat and have a party!

By the way, why should we be kind to you just because you're a brit? Perhaps you support your leader??

[Conspirationalist]

285. Er, no, anitfascist...

WHY, anyway, do "Tsunami threads" or any other thread have to be ghettoized?!

This blog forum does the job of separating topics really well anyway; it's one of the few I've seen where people really do stay on-topic... (And don't go round the bend reciting poetry or something.)

Having said that; I will now address the topic of "tinfoil hats"!! "Tinfoilia" and so on and so forth - real ticklish additions to the lexicon! Haven't heard them before!

Well, I have heard about tinfoil hats. They're supposed to block out radio signals - and they work.

But I tell you what image the metaphor/insult constantly puts me in mind of when I see it here - and it makes me laugh! You know what image I see in my mind? A character out of Irish writer Eoin Colfer's very popular "Artemis Fowl" novels! (You see, I have this yen for fantasy fiction, particularly "crossover" - Pullman and Potter as well. I love the wit and wisdom - and non-bigotry - of "children's fiction".)

Yes; your denunciations make me think of the faery character Foaly, the centaur, out of Artemis Fowl. He works for the Lower Elements Police and wears a tinfoil hat. He's also their top technical expert. (Colfer reckons that elves have moved on a lot technologically in the past couple of hundred years, so that their technology is just a few steps ahead of ours.)

And he's no fool!

That wayout enough for you??

Any Colfer fans on this forum?? Tell me where you usually hang out, so that I can go there too and stay on-topic!

You should be kind to me as a Brit because I'm new and an outsider; like one's first day at school. Of course this is an alien environment for me; it's full of people passionately defending a party which I feel sympathy for, but cannot vote for!

I might prefer it to Labour in Britain though. Support the glorious leader? Neah, hate him! Bush's poodle.

[AntiFascist]

342. Hahaha....

Foaly, eh? I'll have to check into this character more closely (sounds intriguing to me

I apologize for my "denunciations", but you did attack my login name.

As for the tsunami theories, I'm sure you are aware from the subject matter of this thread that DU is being targeted by the MSM for its outlandish posting. As one who is interested in investigating some of the more intriguing theories surrounding the current administration, I take this personally and am wary of anyone attempting to portray DU as existing in the realm of fantasy. I suppose this works both ways as there are probably those who feel my work is counter-productive to the integrity of DU and the Democratic Party in general.

So be it! I say to those of us who are so inclined, that we don our metal helmuts as the anti-knights for truth and justice in the world. By the way, we hang out at the 2004 Election Results and Discussion Forum, usually.

[Blue Diadem]

179. Thanks Conspirationalist!

I agree with your take on this whole thing. I have heard conspiracy theories about everything including 9-11, the blackout, "the Men who killed Kennedy", even Princess Diana's death. I pick and choose which I want to believe and the ones I don't. But, I really am hooked on the DU and I never thought it would come to censorship. What if faux news made fun of us for our main topic of discussion. Would we not be allowed to talk about that either?

I know it's Skinner's forum so he has to do what he has to do. I am also not a paying customer because of unfortnuate financial situations but I feel like I belong here with like-minded people.
We democrats don't always agree on everything, but I thought that was what democrats were about...Letting everyone have their own opinion.

[Conspirationalist]

289. Don't mench...

But thank you. I love conspiracy theories too; I take many with a pinch of salt, but find them to be an excellent and mind-expanding hobby. Literally; the more different and way-out points of view you consider - assuming your brain can cope with them all in the first place - the more neural connections you will make and increase your IQ.

(There should be a study about it!)

It seems very strange to have a site called both "Democratic" and "Underground" and have it resorting to censorship, I most certainly agree. Censorship based on two very trivial and arbitrary "justifications", too: 1) Some people's yen for "conspiracy theories" - and a particular sort too - not the "who stole the election" kind, they're still encouraged, but the "alternative science" kind! Like I said: I thought it was only the fundie Christians and fundie Marxists who were against THAT!

2) the fact that these "tinfoilia" (now that's a word) speculative theories were attacked by some stupid MSM (main-stream media, yes?) organ and a corrupt TV station - mainly just because of one innocent little post someone made!! Bet she never thought she would thereby achieve "infamy"!

(I, on the other hand, am WELL up for it!! I'll even give my real name - I go by it on a couple other sites - but I'll wait awhile before I unmask!)

Democrats ARE about letting everyone have their own opinion; they're not dogmatic, like Marxists; my point precisely!! Democrats ARE freethinkers; like Tom Paine, the man who practically invented American democracy.

[qanda]

181. You are my new favorite poster

I hope you will stick around.

[Conspirationalist]

290. I thank you.

I intend to. I shall try.

[kalibex]

204. Well said. *tips hat in salute* n/t

[Conspirationalist]

291. Gramercy!

I thank you!

[Old Mouse]

224. Welcome to DU, Conspirationalist the Brit!

And no, you can't have the country back just yet, there's still a little oil left on one corner.

Thank you for your well put thoughts. I fear that people on the far left of the democratic spectrum are being repressed in reaction to negative press.

[Conspirationalist]

293. Thanks for the welcome!

Love the handle, by the way. Don't want America back - it's yours. For better or for worse. (Anyway, I'm a second generation Slavic immigrant myself!)

Yes, it's funny how a "democratic underground" could be so sensitive to something like that, isn't it? It's not supposed to be anything to do with the Democratic Party central committee or whatever you have - I forget the acronym! Yet whoever is running it feels the need to somehow protect the party from criticism that might be linked to it through this website...

(If the New York Times wrote that certain people posting on About.com were kooks - they'd laugh!!)

[HeeBGBz]

231. I think I love you

Brilliant.

I feel bad for lindashaw too. She just struck me as a regular soul who asked a question and was a bit horrified to find the subject discussed in the NYT.

What about the peeps who hear of DU who come here to seek truth and ask a question? Perhaps the question is framed from misinformation gained elsewhere. Instead of someone kindly offering a discussion of possible situations and more accurate information, here come the fact fairies- ripping and shredding. Great solidarity. Lindashaw may never be back. I can only imagine the opinion she has of her experience here.

One other thing I noticed, even though I'm still a newbie. Most of the hateful posters that are bashing every tinfoil possibility in sight are mostly usernames I haven't come to recognize. At least until the herd mentality kicked in.

[Conspirationalist]

294. Well, I love you too, HeeBGBz!

And I liked something you said on a previous post on this thread; I must go back and find it!

I don't think herd mentality should be the foremost quality of a democratic underground site either...

[Tinoire]

286. Thank you. Very well said.

And by the way, thank you for not falling for that kooky conspiracy theory about WMDs the way so many here did. A hute debt of gratitude for daring to research and think. And thank you too for that brilliant BBC documentary, The Power of Nightmares, that exposes yet another "kooky conspiracy theory". Your post rocks my world Conspirationalist.

[Conspirationalist]

297. Glad you liked the post... though I can't quite take credit

for the documentary "The Power of Nightmares". I watched it too, though, with fascination.

And no, I don't think anybody in Britain bought the tale about the WMD. Our journalists aren't as bought out by Mammon as yours are, you see! And many of your best people - Moore, Palast - have to come and publish over here!

[Acryliccalico]

307. Thank you for this post

I agree with you!

[T Town Jake]

330. You said:

"You know what I think? I think this site has too many rules"

Well, ya know what? I've got the perfect solution to that problem for you: log out. It seems to work for me whenever I decide I don't care for the "rules" of any given online forum I happen to be participating in - and every time, at that. Can it get any easier?

[sherilocks]

338. Huh? Do you mean me?

"For, "Sherlocks", the poster in question has previously notched up 907 POSTS!!!!

Try checking what you're talking about!"

_____________________________

I wasn't around last night when all of this went down. Is there a Sherlocks out there?

[gollygee]

391. I agree 100%

it's silly to not allow people to talk about conspiracy theories. There will always be conspiracy theories. Who cares? The freepers have theirs, DU has ours. Nothing to see here, move along.

[mirrera]

404. Thank You!

I like your post. I was thinking the same thing. Who is going to judge what is kooky. I think judging people b y their post counts is kooky...
Maria

[Slit Skirt]

462. welcome and thanks for posting...

..hope there is more to come

[lildreamer316]

482. Good goddess!....

..and welcome! I'm new too, but honored to be sharing this space with you. Hope to engage in some eye-opening intelligent conversations with ya soon..

[0007]

500. Excellent post!

Check your PM Box

[matt819]

154. Excellent Work

Excellent post. In retrospect, I wish I had spent as much time analyzing the article and included that in my original post about the NYT article. Your review is remarkably comprehensive, and I hope the NYT sees fit to print the letter.

[frankly_fedup2]

155. Well, I did post the following link on Jan 2 stating that the U.S. .. .

geologists were aware it was going to happen; however, no one warned the people because they "didn't have anyone's number." (some stupid remark like that.

Now it's coming out that our military that was stationed in Asia were warned. Why couldn't they warn these people to move inland a mile or two for a week or so. Yeah, everything would have been torn to pieces; however, no death toll of over 100,000+ people dying.

Don't forget . . . we are a subversive website. Who wrote that comment about a month or two ago?????

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... >

Unfortunately, this link has some of the strange conspiracy theory stuff but they name the sites they got it from.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

159. Regarding Fauxsnooze tactics.....

>>Here's the really underhanded thing about Fox: They're maliciously and deliberately giving their viewers the false impression that this is the official opinion of Democratic Underground. Of course, they aren't coming out and saying it directly, because that would be lying. But they have prepared their report in a manner to give that impression.<<


I would expect nothing less from Faux. I mean, why would they change now?? It's been working for them for years.

[Andromeda]

161. Thank you, Skinner.

I couldn't say it any better!

[RoyGBiv]

164. Thank you very much, Skinner ...

The first couple days after the catastrophe, I saw a few of these theories and dismissed them, thinking they'd easily fade away as so much nonsense. Then, I noticed another thread, then another, several of which were started by people who have been around a very short period of time. I thought, okay, we have trolls and a very few misguided people being affected by the trolls.

And then I saw a name I recognize as a long-time member take to task someone else for daring to call these theories, as you say, "crap." The person's liberalism, their sense of decency, their very intelligence were questioned simply for calling these theories what they were -- utter and complete nonsense not based in any verifiable scientific data. In most cases I've seen, in fact, the "theory" has been based on nothing more than a random "what if" thought.

This all disturbed me.

I am very happy that the DU administration decided to offer their direct opinion on this matter and even further encouraged by the fact I think it is the correct one.

[Zynx]

171. Thank you! They are an embarassment to the DU and all Democrats.

[flyingfysh]

172. Good move!

I posted replies to posts suggesting a nuclear bomb or electromagnetic radiation did it, and tried to point out that the ideas were not even remotely plausible. The posters were either stupid or were trolls.

I should have suggested this move to the admins myself, but I wasn't thinking quickly enough.

[truthseeker1]

215. Maybe you were too "stupid" to think of it

Geez, get over yourself already!

"The posters were either stupid or were trolls" - That's IT, genius! Brilliant, narrow-minded - dare I say freeper-like - conclusion. Ask what might be considered to some a dumb question and risk coming off as a troll.

Wow, DU has really changed. This was the one place that used to be a refuge where the sheeple didn't police themselves. Those days are apparently over.

[qanda]

173. Sounds to me like...

They won!

Just because someone shudders or is embarrassed by a subject raised here, doesn't mean it should be censored. Doesn't anyone believe that there is research going on to find out if excessive bombing has an impact on when earthquakes occur? Why aren't the scientists who study these types of things considered kooks? You'll never know the answer if you don't ask the question. And yes the poster was probably misguided and ill-informed but maybe they posted their question because they geniunely wanted to find out the answer and not because they were trying to embarrass Skinner and DU.

[glitch]

478. Yep - and without a fight. The curse of respectability rears it's head.

This thread embarrasses me more than any "kooky" conspiracy theories.

[Maestro]

180. Couldn't agree more

[MercutioATC]

185. Can we extend this to "Kooky 9/11 Conspiracy Theories" too?

Pretty please?

[WoodrowFan]

209. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

PLEASE yes, there is a set group of 9-11 kooks who post the same crap over and over agin, linking to the same sites that also post various RW conspiracy "theories" as well as the standard "alien-lizard-Skull and Bones" stuff. Such posts add nothing but waste matter to the discussion and make us look bad.

I don't give the south end of a north-bound rat if Faux or the NYT likes us or not, but let's NOT, please, look like kooks to the reasonable folks on the left and center who might otherwise be happy to join us.

To use an analogy, would it be unreasonable for a board for geologists to ban someone who kept posting over and over that the earth was flat and sat on the back of a big turtle named "Fred"? I say it would be reasonable to ban them as disruptors.

[spooked911]

417. You're welcome to ignore stuff you don't like

unless you find it outright offensive.

This is a big place-- you ought to give some leeway to people with some far-out ideas.

[ashmanonar]

428. indeed

seems like the only people i ignore are the ones who put up their straw men when these "kooky" posters ask their questions...

[WoodrowFan]

450. I do use ignore

whenever I see the mentally challenged, oops, I mean "conspiracy theorists" post. That doesn't solve the problem of them making us ALL look like idiots.

[spooked911]

416. Give me a break-- what is "kooky" anyway?

If you don't want to hear about 9/11, why do you spend so much time on 9/11-related threads?

If you want to give your opinion fine, but there is no reason to shut us off.

[Skittles]

186. damn

I was thinking about alerting on those kooky stories because I do suspect trolls but.......well, I wish I had.

I also don't appreciate major news outlets painting DU with a broad brush based on kooky posts.

[buddhamama]

188. Thank You, Skinner

EarlG and Elad too.

[LevelB]

191. Did I miss something here?

I read the original post when it came out - saw that some rational responses followed and decided that I could not add to the discussion.

But I notice that this thread title (subject?) and the subsequent post talk about the original post as a "kooky conspiracy theory". I read and re-read the original post and all I saw was a question posed by someone who is woefully ignorant of the science of geology. Definitely a kooky (uninformed) view of how the earth works, but nothing about a conspiracy theory. I also could not find any references to a "kooky conspiracy theory" in the NYT article. Maybe those references come from Faux and Talk Radio, but I could not bear to go those sites and find out. They are just too painful. Kudos to those who can stomach that.

I guess what is confusing me about this is, how can someone rack up 900+ posts and still be considered anonymous? This is where I am uninformed - I am still pretty new to this Forum stuff (although I do occasionally post on some non-opinion geek type sites).

B.

[rpannier]

194. Fox and the NYT lie????

They are nothing but hacks. Lazy pseudo-journalistic hacks. It's why I never read the times.

[Slit Skirt]

196. I do not believe that we should allow msm nor

the right wing to determine the "script" for which we are permitted to speak from. that has been a democratic problem for awhile...the repubs figure out a way to determine the agenda...our agenda...ie..a lot of the election was talk on Kerry and his war record...rather than the record of the president himself

I also think that voter fraud issue has become a huge thorn in their side...a threat....all that worked so hard to expose it did a great job.....now they have a vote tomorrow to deal with...

they would do anything to discredit this forum. I think we are becoming a force to contend with....and I do not think we should change anything!

[TheKingfish]

197. Im beside myself that some want to change the Format?

Thats all DU is a messageboard with a format. Really shaking my head on that one.

[Walt Starr]

202. Cool, should we react the same with other wild conspiracy theories?

Not talking anything that enters the realm of the remotely possible, just stuff like this tsunami crap. The WAY OUT THERE conspiracy theories.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

203. The enemy of propaganda is context.

How in God's name can Fox call themselves journalists? This is straight up Goebbels-style propaganda, being used to try and smear a left-wing website. It's vulgar. As far as the kooky theories themselves, I agree that the post was 100 percent ridiculous, but as you've said Skinner, he was just asking a question, albeit a foolish one. A very foolish one.

P.S. I bet everything I own that Fox will never do a story on Free Republic, and their bigoted statements against Muslims.

[HeeBGBz]

257. It was a she. Linda. Yes, she was just asking a question.

Who is the patron saint of stupid questions? I think we need protection.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

325. Oops. My bad.

[Khephra]

205. Great writing, Skinner!

Two thumbs up!

[sistersofmercy]

206. Skinner, I know people who believe in tectonic weaponry

but I do not consider them kooks by any measure. Although tectonic weaponry may be highly improbable, it is not impossible. NYT and Fox taking one or a hand full of posts out of context and labeling this site and members kooks does not bother me at all. It is expected. Of course, they are not going to report what the knuckleheads at FR have to say, it is not news to them, ergo, no liberal bashing. The message they want to send and have been trying to send, liberal= kook, unamerican, or some other scornful and laughable term. Let the numb laugh!

[Conspirationalist]

332. Well if someone in government was prepared to talk...

about it openly, why shouldn't there be such things?

This site/thread should surely be about possibilities, rather than about what we think definitely happened?

Most of the time that's a very dubious thing to determine, anyway...

I don't know why everyone on this thread is making such a big fuss. It just seems to be on this thread (so far), where the threats of "censorship because you're making us all look like tinfoil hatters" are coming out in their droves!

I far preferred the content of another thread on DU which some other site linked me to; I would have liked to have contributed, but it was closed and archived as of the 29th. Here is the address:-

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

"A majority of quakes could be manmade", started by Carl Brennan. This thread was full of punch and counterpunch; theories and counter-theories... Still a bit "snitty" in parts - but not so much "tinfoil hat" teasing or: "Waah! I'm going to tell Principal Skinner on you!"

(Isn't that, by the way, what the principal in The Simpsons is actually called??)

Yeah. We want more threads like that; not less. I don't mind if all the scientists in the Democratic Party and worldwide come and try and shoot alternative theories down.

Anyway, I've got something rather better for you lot than even tectonic weaponry; or tinfoil hats. It concerns predicting more earthquakes; and it was a site I researched over the New Year period. But it'll have to wait till later.

I'm fascinated by all this earthquake and ecological stuff.

[PittPoliSci]

208. Thank you, Skinner.

That was a very well thought out response to the attempted defamation of our group. We should be so lucky to have you and the other admins at the helm!

[earthtime]

219. Did DU ban this person...

for only asking a question???!!!

[norml]

216. And here I thought that the tsunami was caused by vibrations coming from

Bill O`Reilly's dildo.