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ktesibios
SFN Regular
USA
505 Posts |
 Posted - 06/29/2002 : 19:31:12
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This rant will be a bit disconnected, so please bear with me...
One of the neat things about the entertainment industry (besides the fact that it provides me with a job) is the way in which it serves special-purpose niche markets. Whatever religious, ethnic or other group you identify with, there's a strong chance that there's a record label or division thereof, a publisher and a video production house dedicated to giving you what you want to hear. Urdu-speaking anarchist Hare Krishna evangelical crystal-fondler? We've gotcha covered. It's not the kind of thing you'll se on E!, but there are plenty of people making the car payments by producing content catering to markets most of us never notice.
As I've gotten more exposure to the professional conspiracists on the Net- the Ickes, Vialls, etc., guys with a book or a video to sell, the spider sense created by nigh twenty years of making records and doing shows has tingled more and more, scenting, improbably though it seems, my show-biz brothers.
One of the more accomplished (or egregious) of this ilk is Al Martin, of almartinraw.com. He has a habit of claiming public sources as backup for his tales, thus:
"CNN reports that the Bush Administration has finally admitted that "Internal Security checkpoints and other substantial restrictions on the free movement of American citizens within the United States" is coming, And that is quite simply "the price we have to pay for freedom.",
while somehow neglecting to provide any sort of reference that would allow his assertion to be checked.
Lately, he's changed his tack. He now tells horror stories of an entire planeload of Americans being forced by sky marshals to strap themselves into their seats and put their hands behind their heads under threat of being shot, claims that the story was covered by CNN, Fox and others, and pre-empts any attempt to check his source by claiming that the stories were suppressed by Adminstration pressure.
One recent column contained this claim:
"Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld then came out with a press release from the Department of Defense, stating that "those who ask questions could face government charges.""
"Aha!", thought I when I saw that, "there's something that can be checked!"
A press release being exactly that- an effort to release information to the public via the press- there ain't no such thing as a secret press release. Like any bureaucracy worth its salt, DOD misses no opportunity to toot its own horn, putting out press releases, news advisories, transcripts of interviews with DOD officials, speeches... and publishing them all on its Web site.
I spent over an hour downloading every DOD press release, news advisory and anything relating to Sec'y Rumsfeld for the previous month and searching each for the text string "ask questions". Naturally, the only hit I found was an interview in which Rummy's comments were diametrically opposed to those Martin attributes to him.
This was no surprise. Ever since I'd tried to verify some of his "I saw it on CNN" claims about "Homeland Security checkpoints", I'd been pretty sure that he was making most of his stuff up. But then the Imp of the Perverse paid me a visit.
I thought it would be good for at least a few giggles to write the great man and politely inquire if he could provide a reference for this "DOD press release", since I couldn't seem to locate it. So, I started looking around his Web site for some sort of contact address.
There was none. If you want to buy his book, you can do that on the site. If you want to book him as a speaker there's a convenient rate card and a mailto link for his managment company, but feedback from the great unwashed is apparently not desired.
Not easily deterred, I decided to see if a WHOIS on the domain name could turn up an email address. The name is registered to...
New Improved Entertainment Corp.
Well, well, well. I guess my old rock-n-roll soundman's instinct wasn't too far off.
Yep, irrational paranoia is now a niche market to be served by specialized content. I wonder how long it'll be before this genre of performer has fan magazines?
Ford, there's an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they've worked out.
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Piltdown
Skeptic Friend
USA
312 Posts |
 Posted - 06/29/2002 : 20:36:15 [Permalink]
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Thanks, Ktesibios, for this insight into the workings of the conspiracy industry. When the Loathesome Moon Hoax Show™ first appeared, I noted that legendary insider Richard Belzer had been pushing the moon hoax theory for quite a while and had even included a section on it in one of his books. I have always wondered if he had any role in hyping the project to Nash Entertainment.
Authority has every reason to fear the skeptic, for authority can rarely survive in the face of doubt.
-Robert Lindner
Edited by - Piltdown on 06/29/2002 20:45:17 |
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