Thursday Thirteen

For some reason I was thinking about conspiracy theories this week (maybe it was murmurs of BP not capping the well to get at the oil or something like that; I've heard a lot of theories about that incident of late). Certainly I could not find thirteen . . .

1. The Shadow Government. Some people think that there is a second government that really runs things. This group of elite people control everything - the banks, the governments, corporations, and the media. These people want to create a new world order, one which, I suppose, would make them richer and wealthier. Seems to me like they are winning or have already won, if that is the case. Certainly they are not out to make things better for the likes of us.

2. JFK. This is a famous one. Who killed this president and why? Many conspiracy theories believe the shooter could not have acted alone. According to Wikipedia, (and we all know how accurate that is), more than half of the population do not believe the gunman acted alone. Assassinations of popular figures tend to lend themselves to conspiracy theories.

3. Presidential Hit List. Apparently a lot of people believe that presidents kill off people they consider enemies. Clinton supposedly has a body count in the 50s or 60s, as does the Bush family (who have also been implicated by some in the JFK assassination), according to Wikipedia.

4. No electric cars. One conspiracy theory states that oil and gasoline companies have suppressed the technology for electric cars in order to sell more oil and gasoline. Sound plausible?

5. Nuclear weather. Many conspiracies surrounding cataclysmic events claim that earthquakes, tsunamis, and other large weather phenomena are really the results of secret government nuclear tests. The 2004 tsunami allegedly was a result of secret tests, as was the Haiti quake, the conspiracy theorists claim.

6. Herbs, not drugs. Some conspiracy theorists claim that big drug companies work hard to keep herbal supplements out of the hands of people because they know they work. If the FDA approved herbs and things and allowed them to make claims of cure, then people would not buy the expensive pharmaceuticals. I first heard of this theory with tryptophan, which I was taking to help me sleep. It worked very well for that, and then it vanished from the shelves, ostensibly after a over 1,000 people were sickened by the pills. Apparently the pills were all made in one facility that did something wrong but according to the conspiracy theorists it was only a contaminated batch and the whole drug was banned because it was so effective. Tryptophan remained unavailable until the mid-2000s, when it returned to the marketplace.

7. Epidemic by Government. Has the government made us ill by dropping germs on us via airplanes? Some conspiracy theorists believe that to be the case. I first heard this several years ago from a chiropractor, who insisted that the reason so many people in the Roanoke area are on thyroid pills is because of something the government dumped on our heads. Appalachian regions are prime areas for that kind of testing, that conspiracy theorist said.

8. Kill, not cure. Some conspiracy theorists believe that drug companies will not come up with cures for illnesses because they would not make money once the diseases are cured. Chiefly, some conspiracy theorists believe the FDA is in league with drug companies and that its food guidelines are in place solely to keep people obese and unhealthy. I confess I do not believe that companies will ever cure cancer; there is too much money to be made in the treatment of it.

9. Peak Oil and Climate Change. Many people believe these two things do not exist. Conspiracy theorists believe there is plenty of oil - somewhere - and that climate change is something made up (I guess created by people who like to breath clean air and drink clean water).  The benefit of making up these two things has to do with money, but then, doesn't everything?

10. Aliens among us. Some people believe that extraterrestrials are here and walking among us. On Wikipedia, one theorist claims that the Bush family are a bunch of reptiles and that Princess Diana knew about it - that is why she died. Apparently some people will believe anything. And then of course there is Area 51 and alien abductions. Vaseline, anyone?

11.  Elvis is in the building. Many people could not accept the fact that Elvis died in 1976. For years he was sighted at various fast food places all over the United States. The conspiracy theorists said that he was tired of being in the spotlight and faked his own death in order to live in peace. Sightings have not been in the news for a very long time, I guess since people realized he would be very, very old had he lied. I imagine there are many people who think the same thing about Michael Jackson, that he is really out moon walking through Walmart somewhere.

12. Man never left earth. Some people believe that the moon landings were faked and that Armstrong actually was in a TV studio pretending to be weightless. Conspiracy theorists site a number of reasons why they think this never happened, including the flag flapping in the breeze (are there breezes on the moon) and the creation of flame when the space ship took off from the moon's surface. On the flip side, some people believe that Germany landed on the moon in the early 1940s.

13.  Big Brother's Watching. Some conspiracy theorists believe that bar codes and ID chips, those little tags on all the things you buy at the store and bring in the house, are methods of controlling people. At the very least, someone with a machine could drive by and tell how many pairs of undies you have in your drawer, the theorists say.  Additionally, digital TV was put in place so that people would have to buy the converter boxes, which in turn spy on you, as do new TVs and, one would assume, computers and maybe cell phones.

And what, pray tell, do I believe? I think there is an elitist class and I do believe that many of those folks will do whatever it takes to ensure that they remain wealthy and you and I do not. Do they run the government, the corporations, the banks, etc? Well, those are the wealthiest people. But I do not believe that they are reptilian aliens who are going to eat us in our sleep. Mostly they will just work hard to ensure that they and their loved ones are rich while the rest of us live off bread and circuses.

I have no idea who killed JFK other than the man charged with the crime, nor do I know if presidents have hit lists. However, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there were others involved in any assassination or that presidents have people killed. Mostly I don't think about it.

Corporations may not be evil but they aren't nice, either, and I daresay that in the matter of money things are shuffled to the side, whether that be technology for electric cars, herbs that cure, or using hay to absorb oil from the ocean in a natural way. Remember when there were many different types of computers and browsers and there were anti-trust lawsuits over that? And look who is left. Isn't it kind of the same thing? It's about the corporation, not what happens to humanity.

I do think we are probably running out of oil. It cannot be an infinite resource; nothing on this earth, including the earth, is infinite. As for climate change, it certainly is changing and I for one want to breathe clean air and drink clean water, so I am all for making sure that happens regardless of the reason. Pollution stinks. I don't want to see humanity growing gills. Hence, regulate and make sure industries don't pollute anymore than they must. It is a no-brainer to me but apparently not so much for others.

Are there aliens out there? On some planet somewhere, flowers grow, or bacteria, or something. I do not believe we're the only planet with what we call life. Maybe there are alien spaceships and things but I strongly think they are not what we think. And they certainly are not our presidents. And I do believe that we landed on the moon; look at the technology that came from that endeavor. Tang, if nothing else. What would the 1970s have been without that yummy orange drink?

Big Brother is watching but not through my computer or my TV - most people are decent and honest and there is nothing to see. It would be a vast waste of resources to try to watch us all when many of us don't do anything worse than have a glass of wine! Besides, they have the IRS and the Internet for that, right?

As for Elvis ... He's left the building.


Thursday Thirteen is played by many people; you can find a listing of them here. This is my 144th week of playing. Which is a very long time.