Conspiracy Theory: 9/11 Attacks

Not since the John F. Kennedy assassination has a national tragedy so heavily imprinted American minds as have the events on 9/11/2001 — or given rise to so many explanations different from the official one.

World Trade Center, Sept. 11, 2001
Credit: npr.org

Videos and photographs of the two planes striking the World Trade Center towers are famous around the world, but the sheer profusion of documentary evidence has only provided more fodder for conspiracy theories.

(Source for much of the information below is Wikipedia.)

A May 2006 Zogby poll found that 42% of Americans believed the government and the 9/11 commission "concealed or refused to investigate critical evidence that contradicts their official explanation of the September 11th attacks."

This topic is too large to be fully covered in one post. Many theories have been debunked; some conspiracy buffs play loose with the facts. A web search on the subject will produce enough reading material to keep you busy for weeks.

Most prominent conspiracy theories

• Planning and execution attributed to parties other than, or in addition to, al-Qaeda, or claim there was advance knowledge of the attacks among high-level government officials.

Government investigations and independent scientific reviews have found no evidence, but proponents claim there are inconsistencies in the official conclusions, or evidence was overlooked.

• The collapse of the Twin Towers and 7 World Trade Center were the result of a controlled demolition rather than structural failure due to impact and fire.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the technology magazine Popular Mechanics have investigated and rejected these claims. The civil engineering community accepts that the impacts of jet aircraft at high speeds in combination with subsequent fires, not controlled demolition, led to the collapse of the Twin Towers. This also was the conclusion of the 9/11 Commission, chaired by Governor Thomas Kean.

The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
Credit

• The U.S. administration deliberately chose not to shoot down a plane that was heading for the Pentagon, while others contend that no plane hit the Pentagon at all, claiming that the Pentagon was hit by a missile launched by elements from inside the U.S. government or that a commercial airliner was allowed to do so. Possible motives claimed by conspiracy theorists for such actions include justifying the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq as well as interests in the Mideast, such as pipeline plans launched in the early 1990s by oil companies.

The evidence refuting the missile claims includes airplane debris including Flight 77's black boxes, the nose cone, landing gear, an airplane tire, and an intact cockpit seat found at the crash site. The remains of passengers from Flight 77 were indeed found at the Pentagon crash site and their identities confirmed by DNA analysis. Many eyewitnesses saw the plane strike the Pentagon. Further, Flight 77 passengers made phone calls reporting that their airplane had been hijacked. Some conspiracy theories say the phone calls the passengers made were fabricated by voice morphing, the passengers' bodies disposed of, and a missile fired at the Pentagon.

Popular Conspiracy Motives

Pax Americana -- A group of US neo-conservatives called the Project for a New American Century, which included Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, were set on US world dominance and orchestrated the 9/11 attacks as an excuse to hit Iraq, Afghanistan and later Iran..

Invasions -- Conspiracy theorists have questioned whether The Oil Factor and 9/11 provided the United States and the United Kingdom with a reason to launch a war they had wanted for some time, and suggest that this gives them a strong motive for either carrying out the attacks, or allowing them to take place.

New World Order -- 9/11 was initiated by a disparate variety of banking, corporate, globalization, and military interests for the purpose of creating a globalist government. Such New World Order conspiracy theories predate 9/11.

Ah, there are many others. I have barely scratched the surface. 

Just one source here for more reading about 9/11 conspiracy theories.

What are your thoughts/beliefs about this tragic day?

Tomorrow we observe the 12th anniversary of the attacks. Everyone will be remembering exactly where they were when they heard the news. What were you doing and what were your first thoughts?

Next post in this series: Secret Societies Control the World
 

Conspiracy Theory: The JFK Assassination

Why do people believe in conspiracy theories? Is there ever evidence to support the beliefs some Americans hold?

In many cases I believe it’s because people are so distrustful of government leaders. In other cases, it’s possibly because some are gullible and ready to believe anything they hear, regardless of the distortion.

But I think one reason is because people find them entertaining or exciting! Yes, sorry, but that’s what I believe.

I found a list of the 10 most enduring conspiracy theories believed by the American public. I’m going to devote the next several days to listing them. First up:

JFK
Official White House Portrait by Aaron Shikler
Credit

 The JFK Assassination

(Now I have to admit that I subscribe to this one, at least in part!) I’ll make an exception to my own rule of “entertaining/exciting,” because facts bear out there’s more to the story than we’ve been told. Otherwise, why would the National Archives continue to hold some of the records secret?

I don’t believe we know all the full truth surrounding President Kennedy’s death, but this much is certain:

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, struck by two bullets — one in the head, one in the neck — while riding in an open-topped limo through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with killing him, and a presidential commission headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren found that Oswald acted alone.

An ABC News poll in 2003 found that 70% of Americans believe Kennedy's death was the result of a broader plot. The trajectory of the bullets, some say, didn't square with Oswald's perch on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository.

Others suggest a second gunman — perhaps on the grassy knoll of Dealey Plaza — participated in the shooting.

Others believe in an even broader conspiracy. Was Kennedy killed by CIA agents acting either out of anger over the Bay of Pigs or at the behest of Vice President Lyndon Johnson? By KGB operatives? Mobsters mad at Kennedy's brother for initiating the prosecution of organized crime rings?

Just 32% of those polled by ABC believe Oswald carried out the killing on his own.

In about two months, we will mark the 50^th anniversary of Kennedy’s death. Books about the man, his administration, his death, and yes, the conspiracies, are already planned for release. There also will be numerous television programs devoted to the subject.

If you have an opinion on the subject, would you care to share it?

Next conspiracy topic:  the 9/11 Coverup

Testing 1, 2, 3 - blog Posts on iPad

I have wanted for some time to be able to do a blog post from iPad but had never got down to business of investigating how it is done

Well, tah-dah, here's my first try out of the gate. Funny thing, I already had the app downloaded and didn't even know it. So it was just a matter of taking a couple of pictures on the iPad and inserting them here:

Still more to learn because I cannot type below the pictures. So finishing up here for the post. As you probably know these are my good buds Kris and Val, who are wishing you a great weekend!

Moonflowers Without Fragrance

Late Breaking News: I have today finally "figured out" how to add the "Follow Me on Pinterest" button to my blog (see top right on this page). Please check out my boards and pins!

I've grown Moonflowers for too many years to count. I love them for their pure white, almost transparent nocturnal blooms, which last until touched by the morning sun.

That's half of it -- the other being their sweet fragrance that perfumes hot, sultry summer evenings.

So what happened to my moonflowers this year?  No fragrance. How can that be?

I must have bought bad seeds, or else this batch of seeds had been so highly hybridized that the scent has been bred out.

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement.

I got a late start this year planting my seeds in the first place, and Moonflowers blooms a bit later in summer than some other things I grow. Each year the flowing of this annual vine is much anticipated.  When the time is finally ripe, I stroll out each evening to check on progress. Imagine my disappointment when the first bloom opened and there was no fragrance.

It would have been quite comical had anyone seen me, reaching up and pulling down one white bloom after another, grabbing and sniffing. Fortunately, no one did.

Just hoping next year will be different -- that the seeds I plant will provide late summer perfume throughout the garden.

Here's a link on last summer's Moonflowers.

Many thanks to Anna at her cat's pajamas, dog's tuxedos blog for turning me on to the Fotor app that makes a college from photos.!

The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye is one of those touchstone novels for young people coming of age.

I was sorting through some old books the other day and found my copy – now tattered and worn. But it should be; it’s old like me! I'm rather amazed I still have it after all these years and through so many moves.

How well I remember the first day of school as I began my senior year of high school. In English/Literature class, Mrs. Hannah passed around mimeographed copies of the class requirements. Included was the name of our textbook for the year, as well as additional reading assignments for the semester: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger; Green Mansions by William Henry Hudson; and The Ugly American by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer.

Now I know you may be thinking, “how in the world does she remember that?” (I admit I had to look up author names of the last two books mentioned). But I do remember because of the humorous story associated with The Catcher in the Rye.

When we returned to class on the second day of school, Mrs. Hannah announced a change to the reading list: we were to delete The Catcher in the Rye. She announced the title of the book she was substituting (now that one I CANNOT recall!)

This is how the book begins

One student asked why she was removing it and she replied (something to the effect of), “it’s been determined it’s not appropriate; it’s a bit too racy.”

Well, of course, that did it. Every student sitting in class hurried out to a bookstore to buy and devour the book. It became a big joke in our class for the remainder of the year. All of us read it, so we just discussed it among ourselves.

Looking back, it seems odd, in a way. It’s certainly a novel of teenage angst and alienation and has a liberal dose of profanity and sexuality, but considering what 16-year-olds are exposed to these days, it seems mild in comparison. But the times have changed so much.

There’s a very interesting piece on the National Public Radio website about Salinger, his life and how the novel’s publication affected him.

Here's a quote from the NPR story:

"J.D. Salinger spent 10 years writing The Catcher in the Rye and the rest of his life regretting it," according to a new book about one of America's best-known and most revered writers.

The back cover of my book

Salinger died three years ago at the age of 91. He published four books, The Catcher in the Rye being by far the most popular. It has sold more than 65 million copies, has been translated into almost all of the world's major languages, and continues to sell about 250,000 copies each year.

Have you ever read it?

The Quest for Morning Coffee

We had strong storms during the night. The lightening, thunder and torrential rains didn’t awaken me, but my HB walking through the house with a flashlight at 3:30 a.m.  did. Go figure.

The storms knocked out our electric power and it was still out when I woke up at 6 a.m. 

For such emergencies, we have a little propane gadget that comes in quite handy for boiling water for coffee. I can get by in an emergency without many things, but my morning coffee isn’t one of them.

Image via Pinterest

While the water was boiling I realized that there was no ground coffee – only beans – and the grinder is, of course, electric.

I remembered that on the pantry shelf there was these coffee bags, obviously purchased some time ago. The last time I cleaned out the shelves I almost pitched them. But upon second thought, put them back in their place. Better than nothing in a pinch, I thought.

The coffee tasted quite awful, so I decided I’d borrow some from mother, as I needed to check on her anyway after the stormy night. The ground being drenched from all the rain, I thought it best that I drive down. Then it dawned on me that garage door openers don’t open without electricity. (There’s a way to manually open them, of course, but I’d never done it and I decided not to awaken HB since he’d been up half of the night watching the storms.

So off I went by foot; she was fine, I got coffee, returned home, boiled more water, stored it in a thermal carafe and walked back to take her a small thermos of the brew. Then I returned home to enjoy mine.

Just as I was settling in to enjoy mine with a granola bar (no yogurt; can’t open refrigerator door and let the cold out!) the electricity came back.

The remainder of the day was quite nice. I need to be more grateful each day for all the conveniences we have.

Later, after things were back to normal, HB pointed out we had these at the rear of the coffee filter basket:

Still not exactly fresh (2012!) but Starbucks beats Folgers 2010 any day!

How do you cope during an electric outage, or is that something you ever have to deal with?

The Big Red Store

The Big Red Store in Appleton, Tennessee, was established in 1902. During its heyday, it sold a wide array of merchandise that included everything from coffee to coffins. It closed in 1950.

The Big Red Store has many claims to fame. When opened, it was hailed as the largest country store in the world. It's been called the world's first mall, claimed to have the fanciest soda fountain in the south (still there), and is a mile away from where a Civil War skirmish involving Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest took place. 

The store was renovated and reopened in 2006 and now houses a museum containing many original items; other items have been donated.

The Big Red Store in Appleton, Tenn.

A quilt block mural on the side of the building designates The Big Red Store as a stop on the Applachian Quilt Trail.

You won't find Appleton on most maps. Located between Pulaski, Tenn., and Florence, Ala., it is deep in the heart of a valley and almost completely hidden from civilization. 

In its heyday, Appleton was known as Pinhook. It you're interested in learning more about the area and its rich history, the Hendrix family genealogy page has a very interesting article.

My grandmother and great-grandmother traveled to Pinhook to buy their "finery" back in the early 1900s (according to family legend). There, they chose their hats, fancy fabric to be sewn into Sunday dresses and shoes.

One of the ladies I spoke with there, a descendant of one of the early Appleton families and knowledgeable of the area's history, said that each spring a hat maker came to Pinhook from Nashville to custom make hats for lady customers.

Looking down from the second level of the store.

Shelves are original to the store

There are many donated items from the past.

 A few vendors came on Labor Day weekend to sell their wares.

 Displays

A miniature of a nearby house in the community.

An old photograph of the store.

Among the old papers is a Cotton Gin Record Book.

Caskets were made on the premises.

 

An old calendar.

 A nearby sign indicated a pharmacist who worked on the premises napped on this beautiful antique bed.

 

This pooch is traveling in style in a baby stroller, outfitted with food and water bowls.

Watermelons for sale.

Very tasty.

An old barn located nearby.

The Appleton Church of Christ is the only other structure in the town of Appleton.

The store is traditionally open on the Fourth of July and at Christmas. This is the first year they have opened on Labor Day weekend. The crowd was small, but is quite large at Christmas, when it is outfitted for the season.