Talk:9/11 conspiracy theories/Archive 4

Proposal to split this article

I'm hereby officially proposing that this article be split. It is now 77 KB, which is over twice the reccomended article size of 32 KB, so I don't think that there can be any reason (other than POV) for keeping all this stuff in one jumbo article. The two general areas discussed in the most depth here are allegations regarding Jewish/Israeli complicity and allegations regarding U.S. government complicity - so I propose that the discussion of those areas be moved to Allegations of Jewish or Israeli complicity in 9/11 and Allegations of U.S. government complicity in 9/11 respectively, with a summarized discussion and wikilink remaining at this article, as is standard practice. The latter article may eventually need to be split too, but before we deal with that, they both need to be split off from this bloated mess of an article. I can see no legitimate reason for maintaining this super-sized jumbo article in its current form. Blackcats 21:16, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

Seems reasonable to me. I think we should leave a significant synopsis or overview of each new article's subject in this article. The section involving the collapse of the 3 WTC buildings is also quite large, perhaps it should be split off as well? zen master T 21:36, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

ZM - I think all the stuff about the WTC collapses would fit within the scope of Allegations of U.S. government complicity in 9/11, since allegations of controlled demolition always allege that people in the US goverment were at least complicit in a coverup. But it could also make sence to have a separate article specifically to address Allegations of controlled demolition of the World Trade Center buildings. Blackcats 03:33, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I wasn't aware you were going to include criticisms of the official explanation of the WTC towers collapse in the proposed allegations of U.S. government complicity article, ok with me. Are you planning on keeping content in this article that is not directly related to the two split proposals? zen master T 04:49, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I would think it would make sense for the main article to still include the intro, the overview, the summaries of the split off articles, the "Less common theories" section, and much (if not all) of the "See also" and External links" sections. Blackcats 05:09, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Good idea - especially since it would also eliminate the inherent povishness of the conspiracy label from the title; the 'official' theory, promoted rabidly by the mainstream (corporate) media, is rarely denigrated that way. Ombudsman 21:46, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

I think it's a good idea. I would take the word 'Jewish' out and leave in 'Israeli,' for clarity, so that it would be, maybe: Allegations of government complicity in 9/11: Israel and Allegations of government complicity in 9/11: U.S., etc., a way to keep the idea itself the same across governments. Bov 22:02, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

I wouldn't support the Israel title because its scope is less complete. Neutral between your other title and mine. Blackcats 03:21, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Neutral on splitting of the article, strongest possible oppose on the titles suggested above. Over many months it's been decided that "conspiracy theory" should remain in the title. Carbonite | Talk 23:25, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

I second Carbonite. Arkon 23:28, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

No, absolutely do not split the article. We've already been through this at great length, with Kevin Baas trying to find every variation of the phrase "US domestic complicity theory" 'etc. The decision, a sound one then and a sounder one now, was to unify them into one coherent article, and cut out the crap and tin-foil-hat crackpottery. If the article is too long, it's because that garbage has been allowed to creep back in. Raul654 23:39, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

Excuse me Raul, I was trying to stop obstinate deletion of related pages without a vote or even discussion, which at one point involved Snowspinner abusing his administrator priveleges. At the same time I was trying to start a discussion. I'm glad that this has finally been achieved, and hopefull that this subject area will return to a state less taken-over by POV-pushers who don't respect other people's positions. I believe I was perfectly justified in tdoing what I can as a wikipedian to enforce the guidelines, policy, and cooperation, and I do not appreciate your mischaracterization of my actions. Kevin baas 23:56, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

Raul - your POV, personal attacks, and ad hominem arguments not withstanding, if content is notable and verifiable then it deserves to be in the article. And the article is by no means more coherent when it's this long. Propper sorting and categorization into articles of reasonable length make the material much easier for readers to understand. Also, I'm not clear on exactly what proccess happened when the decision was made to merge everything into one big article (you might post a link to that discussion or vote), but in any event, that took place quite a while back, so it's fair to propose a split now in light of the new circumstances. Blackcats 03:27, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I oppose the split for the reasons Raul cited, and I strongly disagree with the proposed names too. SlimVirgin ^(talk) 23:48, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

I oppose the split and the suggested names. We just finished going through this. --Cberlet 04:41, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

To clarify the record, this has been 'gone thru', but that was a long time ago. (Before I became involved in these articles.) However, the outcome of that was recently reversed without discussion by a couple of mavericks, which is why we are in our present situation. (They blanked pages that were split/daugther articles of this one and made them redirects to this one - effectively equivalent to deleting them without a VfD.) Predictably enough, the article has therefore returned to a state of dispute. The reversal was not "gone thru", it was done without any real discussion. Kevin baas 00:10, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm okay with splitting the article, but I do not think US/Israel is where it most obviously breaks. It might be more natural to have three: maybe Economic, Political, and Social 9/11 Conspiracy Theories; Or maybe 'They let it happen' and 'They made it happen.'

We should not choose a title that mis-describes (unintentionally) the nature of the material. I think subsuming Jewish under Israeli glosses over the elements of anti-semitism that are present in some of (by no means all of) the better-known conspiracy theories, and takes them out of their historical context.

This is not the place to decide whether conspiracy theory is appropriate for article titles. I think a proposal for that is on the table at Wikipedia:Title Neutrality. Tom Harrison ^(talk) 00:59, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I agree Wikipedia:Title Neutrality is the place to debate overall whether "conspiracy theory" is appropriate for article titles but that doesn't mean people can't criticize a specific pejorative title on its discussion page. I also agree somewhat with Tom's proposed distinctions, size concerns are a good impetus for a split but that shouldn't trump organization. zen master T 01:29, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

In response to Tom harrison's comments above, as much as a few people here might like it, there is no policy or guideline stating that every Wikipedia article that deals with something commonly labeled a "conspiracy theory" must include "conspiracy theory" in its title. And the fact that ZM's proposal to ban all such titles has not yet been approved does not mean new articles cannot be created which do not include those words in their title. In fact a good number of such articles already exist, including the frequently cited Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda. As I stated above, I agree that "Jewish" should not be subsumed under "Israeli," since those are two different groups of people and this would unduely limit that article's scope. Regarding your other proposed splits, the "let it happen" vs "made it happen" might be a good idea in the future, but both are subsets of allegations of US gvt complicity. I haven't seen anyone alleging that Jews/Israelis "let it happen" (but didn't make it happen). As for your idea to split into "Economic, Political, and Social," I'm not sure I understand what that would look like - other than perhaps different alleged motives (and motive is only a small fraction of what the article discusses). So please ellaborate on that one. Thanks. Blackcats 03:50, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

As Raul654 points out, the articles were merged for good reason, and should stay merged. If there is nonsense in the article, it should be pruned. As for the title, community consensus is that the titles are completely neutral, and that conspiracy theories should be called conspiracy theories, regardless of Zen-master's failed "Title Neutrality" proposal, which isn't about "Title Neutrality" at all, but rather simply about getting the word "Conspiracy theory" out of article titles; it is completely unconcerned with so-called "neutrality" in any other titles. Indeed, if the "Title Neutrality" title actually had a neutral title, it would be "A proposal to remove the phrase Conspiracy Theory from article titles made by those who promote conspiracy theories, and therefore don't like having them accurately labelled". Jayjg ^(talk) 01:43, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Your title for Wikipedia:Title Neutrality is actually orders of magnitude less neutral. zen master T 01:56, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Jayjg - your demagoguery aside, you have not given any good reason why the article should not be split. If someone wants to object to the significance or verifiablility of any specific piece of content then they're welcome to do that, but an artificial should not be imposed based on some people's desire to have everything fit in one article. And it's circular reasoning for you to then argue that the article should not be split because the large size was due to too much content, which should not have been because the article shouldn't be split. At any rate, like I said before - what may have happened several months ago does not pre-detirmine what should happen now, as the circumstances have changed. In addition to the fact that more quality notable and verifiable content has been added to the article, the notability of this entire subject has also increased. Professor Steven E. Jones's announcement this fall of his publication of a peer-reviewed paper has recieved a good deal of media attention (along with the accompanying increased public interest in these issues). So there's no good reason why Wikipedia's coverage of these issues should not increase. Blackcats 04:32, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I see little that has changed; certain editors prefer to highlight the conspiracy theories they personally promote/support, and shunt the ones they don't like onto side pages, but the page should nevertheless take a holistic view. If you want to make this a summary page, with links to sub-articles on the various conspiracy theories, that might be more workable, but simply insisting that the page focus one particular set of conspiracy theories is not reasonable. Also, the titles of the articles should match the contents; if the articles about conspiracy theories (and they are), then the titles should reflect that. And finally, statements like "your demagoguery aside" are violations of WP:CIVIL; please refrain from these kinds of comments. Jayjg ^(talk) 06:34, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

"If you want to make this a summary page" That's exactly what my proposal calls for. Perhaps you should read it again...

"if the articles about conspiracy theories (and they are), then the titles should reflect that" It's interesting that I haven't seen you campaigning to have Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda renamed so as to include the words "conspiracy theory." Perhaps you feel that in some cases having a simple and descriptive title is more important?...

"And finally, statements like "your demagoguery aside" are violations of WP:CIVIL" If you're indeed concerned with civility, then perhaps you should criticize Raul654's use of the phrase "tin-foil-hat crackpottery" above. Demagoguery is a rhetorical style which I felt was an apt description of your comments above. Criticizing someone's rhetorical style in a particular passage is not a violation of civility guidelines. Blackcats 07:01, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Raul654's comment wasn't directed at any editors here, whereas your comments were directed at me. Also, claims that "but it's true" are never an excuse for violations of WP:CIVIL. Please use this Talk: page to discuss this article, not others, and avoid further violations of WP:CIVIL. Thanks. Jayjg ^(talk) 23:48, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I did feel that Raul654's comments were personally insulting to a lot of people who have contributed to the article. My comment was not "directed at" you. It was a commentary about your comments. Dictionary.com defines "demagoguery" as "impassioned appeals to the prejudices and emotions of the populace." [1] Stating my opionion on the content of your writing is very different than a personal attack. I therefore feel that your accusation here is completely without merit. Blackcats 03:23, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

By the way, I noticed you've contacted most of the people who, like you, voted to remove the phrase "conspiracy theory" from the title of this and similar articles (Wikipedia_talk:Conspiracy_theory/archive2#Rename_.22conspiracy_theory.22_and_similar_titles); are you also planning to contact the even larger number of people who voted to keep the phrase in the title? Jayjg ^(talk) 06:40, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Who I choose to notify about this discussion has no bearing on the issue. I'm sure that you and others opposed to the proposal will do a very adaquate job of getting the word out (though messages on talk pages, irc, email, etc.) without any assistance from yours truely! Blackcats 07:01, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

The problem with this article is not that it has so much encycopedic material that it needs to be split. The problem with this article is that it contains sheer gossip and trivial pointless speculation that even gossip weeklys would be embarassed to print. Take Military personnel were photographed carrying a large light-weight object shrouded by a blue tarp in the vicinity of the crash site. Some conjecture the tarp was needed to hide its contents from the public. Others suggest this was merely one of the many temporary structures, such as tents, being placed on the site. for example. How is this encyclopedic? Why move it to another article when it can and should be simply deleted? I suggest every trivial piece of unencyclopedic speculation be deleted and the seemingly encyclopedic claims without a source be provided with a source or {{fact}}. Then again we could simply keep this as Wikipedia honeypot.WAS 4.250 08:49, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I agree the article is too long, but I would rather separate it along the sections, leaving synopses in this article and making new ones for:

• Government foreknowledge
• World Trade Center towers
• World Trade Center Seven
• The Pentagon
• United Flight 93 (maybe not this one as it is not especially long)
• Claims related to Jews and Israel

In any case this article is in sore need of a major split, it is way too big. --Orzetto 12:04, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Sure, you can create an article that does not have conspiracy theory in the title. I just don't think the titles proposed describe the content; They have been chosen to avoid calling the content a conspiracy theory. When the content plainly is a conspiracy theory, bending over backwards to avoid saying so, even if well-intended, isn't neutrality; it promotes a point of view.

An example of an economic c.t. might be that the corps engineered it so they could build their pipeline. A political c.t., that Karl Rove orchestrated it to make people forget about the 2002 election. Social, that it was part of the Illuminati's long-term plan to make people accept the imposition of rule by an elite. You could probably have a fourth page of religious c.t.'s.

Of course, I'm making all these up (I hope); they're just examples without the detail and depth necessary for an actual conspiracy theory. I just mention those three or four possible pages as an example; I don't know that they are the way to go; There is something to be said for breaking on the sections, as Orzetto suggests above. I do think the break into two pages as mentioned is not the best idea. If the page is broken up, I'm not even certain that we should limit the resulting pages to only 9/11. There are several lists of c.t.'s already. Maybe they could be incorporated into the resulting pages. Excuse me if I don't reply promptly. Tom Harrison ^(talk) 12:31, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

If a section title within this article is titled simply as "Government foreknowledge" why can't the new article be titled similarily? Even if all this theoretical speculation is someday proven beyond everyone's doubt to be false we still should encourage a factual analysis rather than be inappropriately dismissive by using the "conspiracy theory" label, see here and Wikipedia:Title Neutrality and here. zen master T 18:02, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

If a "9/11 conspiracy theories" article's subtitle section is called "Government foreknowledge" then "Government foreknowledge in 9/11 conspiracy theories" is the representation of its content. Shortening it is undoubtedly worth discussing if such an article is to be created, but taking the subtitle out of context misrepresents its contents. WAS 4.250 20:32, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Ignore for a moment that various critics of 9/11 are theoritizing conspiracies -- call the various criticisms "X", wikipedia should at least neutrally report on the existence of "X", right? Why must they be labeled dismissively as "conspiracy theories" if our job is just to report on them (and report on counter critics too)? It is a historic fact that some people believed the earth was flat, yet the Flat Earth article's title only describes the issue, it does not convey any judgement or conclusion... zen master T 20:58, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

"Flat earth is a single coherent point of view based on specific facts. But it is also wrong as proved by even more facts in an even more coherent point of view (or theory). This article is a list of whatever has popped into the head of anybody anywhere that questions the authorized interpretation. If there is any subset of it that can stand alone as a coherent point of view or theory backed up by evidence rather than quoting people who are quoting people who are speculating of the top of their heads, then such an article would not be a mere conspiracy theory but be a specific alternative theory. Simply a category like "the government knew" is not a coherent theory. Of couse the government knew something. What, when, why, are much debated. Powers in charge from babysitter to parents to boss to government all lie. Evidence of specific lies, specific coverups backed by evidence and not idle speculation make for a great many wikipedia articles not titled with "conspiracy". Which theory in this article is up to the challenge of not being mere speculation or category of speculation? (Not a rhetorical question.) WAS 4.250 21:45, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Reply to T.H. - "I just don't think the titles proposed describe the content." How is "allegations of U.S. government complicity in 9/11" not descriptive? It's obvious from that title that the article deals with allegations that have been made against people the US gvt. regarding their alleged complicity in 9/11. "When the content plainly is a conspiracy theory..." Lots of things are plainly theories of conspiracy - like the official account that some guy living in a cave in Afghanistan hatched a successful scheme to catch the world's most powerful military completely off guard - or the version where Saddam Hussein was involved - which is even commonly labeled a "conspiracy theory," but still does not have those words in its title. So apparently there's a precedent that those words are not necessary in the titles of articles discussion ideas which many have labeled "conspiracy theory."

"[Avoiding "conspiracy theory" in titles] isn't neutrality; it promotes a point of view." On the contrary, it's bending over backwards to make sure those words are always included that promotes a point of view. "Allegations" is very neutral and accurate. It simply states the fact that people have made allegations. It doesn't imply that the allegations are likely true or that they're likely false. And the intro can clearly state (and cite) the fact that many have labeled such allegations "conspiracy theories."

"An example of an economic c.t. might be that the corps engineered it so they could build their pipeline...[(and so on...)]" Like I had expected before, all of those deal motives. And if our section on the alleged motives was bulging to the breaking point then I'd likely agree to some kind of split along those lines. But as it stands, the motives section is among the article's smallest. And I think it’s interesting that you had to make up hypothetical “conspiracy theory” narratives.

Of course such in depth narratives exist for 9/11, but the bulk of the work by most of the Researchers questioning the official account of 9/11 has been more that of debunkers than that of theorists. If you read through a website like Jim Hoffman’s, you’ll see that far more of content is devoted to arguing against the official accounts than to laying out any sort of elaborate scheme as to how the plots were supposedly carried out. And professor Steven E. Jones hasn’t even made any allegations as to who carried out 9/11 – even when he was asked about that. All he said was that it was probably not carried out by a Muslim conspiracy. From a Utah newspaper:

As for speculation about who might have planted the explosives, Jones said, "I don't usually go there. There's no point in doing that until we do the scientific investigation." [2]

So I think the real POV-pushing would be to insist that anything opposing the 9/11 Commission’s account of what happened be labeled by Wikipedia as “conspiracy theory” – even if (as is the case with Steven Jones) there’s no clear case that it is. Blackcats 21:43, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

As far as the original discussion on the split, I'm wondering what aspects of "Jewish" are necessary to this article, as opposed to Israeli - wouldn't Israeli or Zionist be better? I don't see how having the title be one of those then means that issues around Jewish involvement couldn't occur within the article, if there is a case for that. My personal experience has been that discussions specific to Jewish people and 9/11 often leads to big problems (creates a magnet for actual racists to come and scream until they are banned or blocked) and is generally inaccurate, given that not all Jewish people are Zionists or Israelis. So making statements about Jewish people in general around 9/11 becomes an easy way to target those questioning the official story as promoting 'anti-semitic nonsense.' We've seen this a number of times in the media. So I'd like to know what is specific to Jews around 9/11 that couldn't be called Zionists or Israelis, which are not such loaded terms. Bov 22:48, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

The problem is that the people spreading those particular conspiracy theories often use the term "Jew", "Zionist", and "Israeli" interchangeably, and so their own terminology must be reflected here. Jayjg ^(talk) 23:48, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

In response to Bov above - there are some theories which allege "Jewish" complicity, and some just "Israeli" or "Zionist" complicity. I think for now it would make sense to discuss them both in the same article - unless perhaps it ends up growing to the point where it would need to be split. Neither view is the prevailing view of the 9/11 Truth Movement, whose members generally believe that any role the gvt. of Israel may have played would have been subservient to people in the US gvt. Though people in this movement do commonly believe that the Israeli gvt., like many other governments around the world, had prior knowledge. I do agree though that some people would like to discredit any questioning of the official account of 9/11 by having it associated with anti-semitism. I believe that's likely why some editors here are so adamant that the discussion of allegations of US government complicity remain in the same article with allegations of Jewish or Israeli complicity - even though they are very distinct and different from eachother. Blackcats 23:57, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I agree the article is too long, but I would rather separate it along the sections, *leaving synopses in this article and making new ones for:

• Government foreknowledge
• World Trade Center towers
• World Trade Center Seven
• Claims related to Jews and Israel
• The Pentagon
• United Flight 93 (maybe not this one as it is not especially long) --The Brain 00:38, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

Sounds alright to me - although WTC7 and the Twin Towers could probably be just one article... Blackcats 01:41, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

I agree that the daughter articles of this article should not have been merged and/or deleted without consent or discussion, and furthermore that administrator Snowspinner should not have exceeded his authority in his involvement. I am all for renormalization. Kevin baas 23:56, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

^^ What he said. Archival McTannith 18:13, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't have time to wade through all of the above, so I'll just reply to Blackcat's proposal "to split the 9/11 conspiracy theories article, with the two most in depth areas being moved to separate articles at Allegations of Jewish or Israeli complicity in 9/11 and Allegations of U.S. government complicity in 9/11." The problem with the Israeli complicity claim is that there is not much good evidence of this, merely suggestive evidence. An encyclopedia is not the place for presentation of conjectures, but unfortunately there is actually little hard evidence (since evidence was destroyed or confiscated). What evidence there is is mainly video. This sort of evidence has to be interpreted, and for every person interpreting it one way there is another interpreting it a different way. Even so, any "reasonable" person will "surely" concede that the Towers fell in about the time of free fall (how to explain this?) and that the photographic evidence of the Pentagon attack is not consistent with the hypothesis of a Boeing 757 impact. But these are pieces of the puzzle which must be assembled to come to a conclusion based upon a preponderance of the evidence. Certainly we all (apart from the trolls) have an interest in doing this. But, again, an encyclopedia is not the place for this sort of thing. But considering that 9/11 was the (so far) defining event of the 21st Century, it's understandable that we have a Wikipedia article trying to explain it. But to return to the proposal: It's also not accurate to say (as some do) that 9/11 was the work of "the U.S. government", or that it was complicit. Rather, what is plausible is that it was the work of elements within the U.S. government, individuals in positions of influence (one or more cabals, perhaps) who were able to use their knowledge and authority to pull this off. This is plausible because, for sure, it wasn't the 19 Arab patsies who did it. And if not them, then who? Who has knowledge of demolition? Remote control of aircraft? Fuel-air bombs? Cruise missiles? So I'd suggest a small section on 'Allegations of Israeli Complicity' and a large section on 'Allegations of Complicity by Elements Within the U.S. Administration'. But there's a lot wrong with this article (such as stupid assertions about the 'credibility' of someone proposing an idea with which some editor disagrees) and it would be a lot of work to fix it. Leon Ehrlich 00:43, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Remember we are here for the users not for ourselves and not to make the articles as “wikipidia“ as possible although in most cases making the articles as wikipidia as possible is best for the users this is not the case 100% of the time. Our "customers" like any customers "shopping" for anything be it a big screen TV or in this case information wants a "one stop" solution. We do not know or should care if the "customer" wants to shop for information about a "controlled explosion" or an "Israeli conspiracy" or just general information on this topic. Once the user gets used to this format the “hyperlinks” on top is intuitive enough solution and if the user is looking for all the information possible he/she will not care if the topic goes over the suggested article size. 12:23, 3 January 2006 Edward Kollin

When is a consiracy not a conspiracy?

Evidence of specific lies, specific coverups backed by evidence and not idle speculation make for a great many wikipedia articles not titled with "conspiracy". Which theory in this article is up to the challenge of not being mere speculation or category of speculation? (Not a rhetorical question.) WAS 4.250 21:55, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

WAS - I find your comments here interesting, because they seem at odds with what the official line has been of those who have insisted that "conspiracy theory" was not a loaded word. They have maintained that it was simply descriptive of any allegations that a conspiracy had taken place, but that it did not represent a judgement by Wikipedia. But your comments here seem to clearly imply that it is indeed a judgement on the part of Wikipedia, which would of course violate NPOV - as it's not Wikipedia's job to decide how compelling or not compelling any analysis is - but meerly to present the arguments from both sides. To answer your non-rhetorical question - I think Steven Jones's paper is a perfect example, but like I said - it's not Wikipedia's job to decide how compelling an analysis is. (And perhaps you've come to the conclusion that the Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda "conspiracy theory" is "backed by evidence and not idle speculation"?...)Blackcats 22:14, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Its going to take a while to get to all that. Bear with me. WAS 4.250

1. I only speak for myself. I like to learn a little, write a little, with goals of learning, teaching, planting seeds of knowledge that grow into more when I return to them. I love wikipedia. Some people help out wikipedia by "keeping it down to a dull roar", i.e. keeping the peace. Were I to have that as my sole goal here on this page, I too would follow the "party line" you identified. Not that those who do, do so for that motive. How would I know?
2. It does not violate the rule against being biased (NPOV in Wikispeak) to discriminate between theories with less evidence and theories with more evidence.
3. You conclude with two cites that I'll now go look at. WAS 4.250 22:46, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda is about issues concerning allegations of pre-invasion links between Iraq and al-Qaeda and is backed up with many facts. The administration used a lie to justify a war and help win reelection. How is this a conspiracy theory? Anyway, on to your other cite. WAS 4.250 22:58, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I don't think the article should be titled "conspiracy theory," but if others articles about alleged consparacies are labed that way, then it would only be consistent for this one to be so labled too. Blackcats 00:56, 29 December 2005 (UTC) (belated signing)

On the one hand "Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds" (or some such quote) and when a conspiracy theory has sufficient evidence, people stop calling it a conspiracy theory. Sometimes its called facts and evidence about the concpiracy. But usually real conspiracies are part of larger known efforts and organizations and can be covered as poart of that. Instead of pretending all theories are equally valid, try gathering evidence for what you object to being called a "conspiracy theory". WAS 4.250 00:06, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

That paper according to google is widely distributed (and I would guess cited). I sugest you start an article on that paper, its notability, its claims, its evidence, and critics response to the claims and evidence. Without reading it further, I would guess there will be issues with the fact bachground is physics rather than engineering. Also, I keep hearing about how remarkable it was that they fell straight down. I could swear that in a TV program I saw decades ago said that it was built to be able to be brought straight down - that was part of the design. Possibly those design elements contributed to its falling and that was covered up, but I never could find an on line source to back up waht I thought i remembered. By the way, I live in Newark, NJ and I saw the aftermath with my own eyes from the top floor of my building. When the wind direction changed at some point we could smell it. So I have tiny pieces of it in my lungs. Ha! WAS 4.250 23:16, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Hey WAS - thank you for keeping an open mind and browsing through that paper. I'm sorry to hear that you were exposed to the dust cloud (with pulverized concrete, asbestos, etc.). That is a good idea to have an article specifically about Jones's paper. I'm about to post a new section below that you may find interesting. Regards. Blackcats 23:35, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

>>in a TV program I saw decades ago said that it was built to be able to be brought straight down - that was part of the design.

Even if they were designed to fall straight down, they 1) never should have fallen in the first place and 2) exhibited many more bizarre features than just the symmetry. But I suspect you will not find a citation for them being designed to fall a certain way. Some people have tried to say that highrises have bombs already placed in them to make sure they come down correctly - but just couldn't find the sources for those claims. I pointed out that highrises would quickly empty of tenants worldwide if this were true. The claims eventually dissapeared after no citations could be found.

The fact remains that the collapses were unprecedented in the history of architectural structures and that evidence relevant to the analyses remains hidden, such as the modelling used by NIST, the contents of the black boxes, or even just the blueprints for the floor plans! The demolition hypotheses has not been shown to have been examined at all, even though demolition is the only precedent for the collapse of a steel framed high rise building in history. This is not science, this is politics.Bov 23:41, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

100% of all buildings with the size and design of the twin towers that have been struck with a fully fuel loaded transcontinental jumbo size plane have colaped exactly like the trade towers. That you lack data does not prove data is lacking. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. All of the purported reasons people might have brought the towers down on purpose could be better achieved with other means. Conclusion so far: this claim is speculation lacking sufficient evidence. WAS 4.250 00:15, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

WAS - that's sort of like saying that 100% of the times that Joe Dingleberry arrived at a party wearing underwear on his head he ended up getting laid (if such an occurance had only happened one time). As Steven Jones points out in his paper, a scientific theory needs to be able to be repeatable, and none of the physical models that the NIST used in their tests collapsed as a result of impact and kerosine fires. So they then had to rely on computer models. Blackcats 00:37, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

>100% of all buildings with the size and design of the twin towers that have been struck with a fully fuel loaded transcontinental jumbo size plane have colaped exactly like the trade towers. One could also apply this rule to all buildings that have fires - if 100% of each structural member of each building that catches fire is not 100% exactly the same as all other buildings, then there can be no precedent for any building fires. But as it turns out, there are things called 'building codes' and these exist so that common standards can be applied to building events like fires and other loading situations which might lead to failures, like snow and wind loads and even plane impacts. That's how engineers are able to figure out how to make buildings work. A plane impact sounds unique and mysterious, but the reality is that it can be broken down into vectors and loads, and the fires can be examined just like other fires based on what the known facts of the situation are. There are also the laws of physics, and plane impacts don't do away with those. Etc. Bov 01:53, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

Well put Bov, though you might want to switch the wording on your last sentence there. Also, building 7 wasn't even hit by a plane. Blackcats 04:17, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

Let's get down to brass tacks, you know actual facts. I assert that this is fairly unique. You make fun of that assertion. OK, name your best three similar events for us to compare. WAS 4.250 04:47, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

This page lists and discusses a number of large fires in highrise buildings. Blackcats 05:08, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

NONE of those were "struck with a fully fuel loaded transcontinental jumbo size plane". Forgive me if I think that makes a difference. WAS 4.250 05:20, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

First of all, WTC7 wasn't hit by a plane either, so there's no reason why it can't be compared to those buildings. Second of all, the planes were not fully loaded - they actually were less than half-way loaded, as they were not embarking on intercontinental fights. To briefly address your point about the Twin Towers though, declaring "they were hit with planes!" can have a strong emotional effect, but the effects of the planes hitting can be broken down into two basic areas which can be scientifically analyzed. One is the physical impact of the planes striking. Buildings are designed to be highly redundant, and all the available evidence shows that the loads redistributed and that the occilation rate immediately after the impact was about the same as that for strong wind gusts. More discussion of this here and in Steven Jones's paper. The other basic area is of course the fires. It's important to note that jet fuel is not some sort of super fuel - it's basically a type of kerosine - less explosive than gasoline. There was a lot of it to be sure, but most of it burned off in the first minute or so after each crash. (In the case of the South Tower, there was a large fireball outside the buildiing, which made quite an impression on TV, but actually meant that much less fuel burned inside that building.) After the first couple minutes, most of what was burning was the carpetting and furniture ignited by the kerosine flames. The smoke was dark and sooty, indicating a lack of oxygen (thus a cooler burning fire). More discussion of this [here] and [here] and of course in Jones's paper, but suffice it to say that there's no good evidence that the fires progressively got hotter and hotter to the point where they could bring the buildings down. The official investigations have simply started with the assumption that the planes hitting brought down the buildings, and their analysis never strayed from that assumption. This is a clear case of circular reasoning and a closed information system. Blackcats 06:18, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

What I have read is different than what you have read. But the points you bring up are exactly the right points that matter, so the issue is the evidence for exactly the points you mention. Let's talk further at your talk page. WAS 4.250 07:52, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

"Dominant view"??

Out of courtesy to Morton I will ask him to explain how he thinks "dominant view" is neutral? Why must one person's or another's view be presented as somehow having "won" or being the "most powerful" explanation? The official explanation of 9/11 is most certainly not "unmistakably ascendant". The 9/11 commission pretty much refers to itself as the "official view" so "official" is their language even. Our job is not to judge or rank one view over another but merely to signify who holds it, which in this case is many (but not all) of our elected officials and their 9/11 commission representatives for example. "Official" may be slightly suggestive itself but it is orders of magnitude better than "dominant". zen master T 21:30, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I'm not sure our friend Morton will see your question, as he seems to think that the standard place for new comments is on the top of the page, which is ironically analogous to his misconceptions about what constitutes neutrality. Blackcats 21:48, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

So how should we go about fixing (or someone justifying) the "dominant view" phrase in the article? zen master T 21:57, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Be as accurate as possible. "Dominate" is not accurate without a poll supporting that claim. "Official" is inadequate as there are more than one official positions since this is a democracy. The position indicated by xxx paper, xxx pary, xxx administration are far more accurate. WAS 4.250 22:31, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Well put WAS - at least we agree on this one :-) -+-Blackcats 22:45, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Not trying to be disrespectful here, but could you give me a chance to explain things before doing a revert. Seems like Blackcats, Bov, Ombudman, Zen-master and WAS 4.250 "dominate" : ) the board here, and don't allow others to make edits. It's impolite to simply undo all of my edits.

I object to the term "Official", because it sets up a conspiracy theorist's strawman, the "Government." Yes, those are scare quotes, aren't you scared? : ) It may be the official position of the US government, or it may not be, I don't know. I don't recall ever seeing the Whitehouse endorse the 911 report. However, my main point is that "Official" is just too narrow -- the prevailing/dominant/predominant view of the facts have been investigated and reported on by thousands of disinterested journalists and have been accepted by most of the non-Islamic world. The theories presented on this page are accepted by a relatively small number of people. Is there a way to express that and still remain neutral in your eyes? Morton devonshire 23:05, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

You are agreeing with us, dude. (and us with you) WAS 4.250 23:19, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

More on speculative theories

On the topic of speculative theories, I wanted to point out a little more about the 911 research site. On their main page they say “9-11 Research focuses on the facts of the attack and analysis of the official explanation.” Their about page says:

9-11 Research critically examines the official government explanation of the attack and concludes that many of its key assertions are impossible. We do not pretend to know exactly how the attack was carried out or exactly who the perpetrators are, but there are plausible scenarios of how the attack could have been executed by insiders. (See our Frequently Asked Questions.)

And the only page I found on the site that engages in any sort of speculative theorizing is a page with a hypothetical theory entitled “Attack Scenario 404: How the Attack Might Have Been Engineered (But Probably Wasn't)” It was simply written to illustrate one of many plausible theories that could be made.

Its intro states the following:

The case that the 9/11/01 attack was an inside job can be made quite apart from any specific theory as to how it was accomplished, by simply demonstrating that only insiders had the means and opportunity to execute key elements of the attack. The true nature of such an operation is undoubtedly hidden behind layer upon layer of cover story, and its details may never be discovered. Speculative theories of the operation, while not verifiable, nonetheless can be useful in answering important questions about the attack, such as the size of the conspiracy required to carry it out.

The conclusion states:

Why "Scenario 404"?

We chose this name for several reasons. First, it emphasizes that this is but one of hundreds of possible hypotheses that could be devised to explain the known facts. Its purpose is merely to show that the attack could have been executed by a small number of operatives using off-the-shelf technology. Second, it echoes the HTTP response code 404 issued by a web server when it cannot find a file requested by a client. Similarly, the evidence indicating exactly how the attack was executed will probably never be found, because part of the attack's design was to destroy that evidence.

So I would think that by WAS’s criteria, the rest of this site (other than this one page which they themselves say is speculative) would not be considered “conspiracy theory.” They do come to a conclusion – based on their analysis of the available evidence – that 9/11 was carried out by people within the US gvt., but they don’t engage in idle speculation or assert speculative narratives about how the specifics of the plot were allegedly carried out. Blackcats 23:42, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

That is a good point, pointing out flaws in an explanation while not theorizing motivation can not be considered a "conspiracy theory". This article is more accurately described as alleged flaws and shortcomings in the 9/11 commission report or the mainstream media explanation. Though there is probably a more scientific and better way of saying "alleged flaws and shortcomings". I remember a documentary of sorts I think on PBS a few months to a year after 9/11 that pretty much offered up the "official" or straightforward explanation for the towers collapse (WTC 7 was conspicuously absent I just realized). How about WTC towers collapse irregularities and controversies for example? zen master T 00:10, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

What a site says about itself is not evidence of anything except that the site claims so snd so. Criticism about a government report should go on an article about that government report. WAS 4.250 00:20, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

That's true that you shouldn't just take the site at its word, so I would invite you to look around that site for yourself and see whether or not it matches your preconcieved notions. Can you find any examples of "idle speculation" (other than the one page with the hypothetical theory)?... Blackcats 01:31, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

The WTC towers collapse irregularities and controversies article would be a collection of various (all) things relating to the collapse of the 3 WTC towers, not just criticisms of the 9/11 commission report. The article would contain counter criticisms too. What do you think? zen master T 00:25, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

wtc7.net is noteable enough to have its own wikipedia article. The credibility of its claims could be dealt with there. WAS 4.250 00:38, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

So then at least the three of us agree on this one?... Blackcats 01:31, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

I think the allegations themselves should get their own article (though the website maybe should have an article too). zen master T 01:55, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

Or WTC towers collapse irregularity and controversy may work better, the singular tense hopefully conveys abstract issue conceptualization. zen master T 02:58, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

For simplicity sake, I think the wording should be "WTC collapses" (with the "towers" ommitted). I'll post again when I think of a good one. Blackcats 04:57, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

So just WTC collapses covering everything (the official, the irregularities, the critical, and the counter critical)? Or something like WTC collapses irregularity and controversy? zen master T 05:30, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

ZM - Actually, now that I'm looking at it, it looks like Jones's analysis is already fairly well covered at Collapse of the World Trade Center, under a section titled "Controlled demolition theory." So I think that the best solution would simply be to move discussion of the Twin Towers' collapses to that article, and if that section got too big then it could be spun off to a new article called something like Controlled demolition theories of the WTC collapses. But I think the most important thing is to remove most of that content from this article - except for analysis of specific narratives about who allegedly placed explosives or conspired to cover it up. There's simply no reason to have scientific analysis like Dr. Steven Jones's or Jim Hoffman's discussed in a "conspiracy theories" article - other than say that their work has been cited by some theorists and to give a brief summary and a link to the more indepth discussion. Blackcats 06:43, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

Great point, I agree, that is a very appropriate location. zen master T 15:27, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

Well, except that consensus was and is that the name should be "9/11 conspiracy theories". Jayjg ^(talk) 04:58, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

We are talking about splitting off well cited and researched allegations. Blackcats pointed out above the section does not theorize possible motivations, it only points out what appear to be irregularities in the "official" explanation, so "conspiracy theory" is inapplicable. zen master T 05:22, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

Challenging the Neutrality of the Entire Article

According to Wikipedia official policy, Wikipedia is not a place for original research, but strangely enough, this page seems to try to advance the idea that there is any independent corroboration for any of these theories. A more NPOV perspective would be to describe these conspiracy theories, without directly challenging the widely-reported facts. While there may be an "official explanation" advanced by the US government of the 911 facts, the facts don't rest solely on Whitehouse spokesman -- the facts have been investigated by and reported on by thousands upon thousands of professional journalists -- the "official explanation" comes from them, not from politicos. Contrasting, the conspiracy theories are just theories, and don't rest upon any credible journalism -- they are concocted out of thin air, with no actual investigation or reporting done by their adherants. To explain that these theories exist, and their genesis, can be done by relying upon mainstream media sources, and is a NPOV. To try to give credence to these theories by describing the reported facts as anything less than facts widely recognized by thousands of journalists, is to adopt the non-NPOV position that the conspiracy theories have some basis in fact, and that the widely reported facts are somehow not credible. That's not neutral, it's advocacy.

• The article is simply biased, expressing viewpoints as facts (see Wikipedia:POV)
• While each fact mentioned in the article might be presented fairly, the very selection (and omission) of facts makes the entire article biased.
• The text and manner of writing insinuate that one viewpoint is more correct than another.
• The authors (multiple transgressions) own viewpoints are mentioned and obvious.Morton devonshire 21:00, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

As I understand it the neutral point of view perspective would be to cite and accurately characterize who and how a person or group is directly challenging the widely-reported "facts". Your use of the word "facts" in reference to the official explanation of 9/11 seems presumptive? Isn't it your own original research or POV when you claim above that the 9/11 conspiracy theories "don't rest upon any credible journalism"? If counter critics have stated that then we should include that information in this article, rather than exclude the critic's view. Wikipedia's job isn't to definitively determine or advocate a conclusion, each article simply should be a superset of viewpoints and sources. If this or any article presents any viewpoint as fact then we should correct that without excluding it, please list any examples here or simply re-word them. zen master T 07:44, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

Everything Morton Devonshire just said is complete BS. And that is a fact. He might as well have written a research paper on the type of cheese the moon is made out of. Sorry-SK

You can explain what the conspiracy theories are, without asserting that they are factually true -- that would be a NPOV. It's non-neutral to assert that the theories are actually true, as they are not supported by investigative reporting by mainstream media. Please address the issue of NPOV, rather than trying to blow holes in my argument -- my argument is not the important thing -- NPOV is. Also, we could do without the name-calling, especially by one who hides behind an anonymous ISP address. Wikipedia has a rule against Sockpuppeting. Morton devonshire 20:02, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

If a viewpoint is being stated as factually true that should be re-worded. However, your argument above seems to be implying the critical view should be excluded or downplayed from this article which would violate NPOV. Why did you use the excessively presumptive word "facts" in reference to the mainstream explanation for 9/11 above? zen master T 20:11, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

It's simple: Facts are things which can be independently verified, without resort to ideology. Reporting by thousands of independent news organizations helps establish what facts are, because all of the reporters are competing with one another to get the real story, and their reporting is subject to peer review because other reporters will check and report on facts developed by the original story writer. Through this process of investigation, reporting, peers reporting on other peers' work, re-investigation and re-reporting, we arrive at something which has a very good chance of being true (i.e. "facts"). To assert that these peer-reviewed facts are anything other than true, is to assert the non-NPOV position that the facts are somehow in dispute. Of course, not everything that's been reported has been subject to this exhaustive peer review process, but some things have (e.g. airplanes flew into Tower 1, Tower 2, and the Pentagon -- all three of these facts have been investigated by and reported by thousands of independent journalists). The theories presented on the 9/11 conspiracy theories page are interesting, highly entertaining, and are relevant because their existence reveals a crucial cultural phenomenen -- i.e. that there are people out there, motivated by ideology, religion or some other power, that doubt the stories reported by thousands of journalists. I find that extraordinarily interesting -- I want to know what motivates the conspiracy theorists.Morton devonshire 20:31, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

Many of the "facts" of 9/11 are in dispute. Wikipedia's job is not to conclude whether something is objectively true or not, we simply report on and cite all sources and viewpoints. It is your point of view that makes you say "The theories presented on the 9/11 conspiracy theories page are interesting, highly entertaining, and are relevant because their existence reveals a crucial cultural phenomenen -- i.e. that there are people out there, motivated by ideology, religion or some other power, that doubt the stories reported by thousands of journalists" which is not something that this article should state as an objective fact, because it's not. zen master T 21:04, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

Yes, and my POV is on the Talk page, where it belongs, not on the main page of the article. The 9/11 conspiracy theories page is full of non-NPOV (e.g. "commonly accepted theories"). A more NPOV would be to say that the theory is one that is "commonly advanced by 9/11 conspiracy theorists" or "commonly advanced by those that doubt the widely-reported facts". It's disingenuous to say that any of these theories are commonly accepted, or for that matter, supported by objective journalism. The widely-reported facts (including the 3 I cite above), on the other hand, are supported by objective journalism. This is an encyclopedia, and hopefully some day people may be able to rely upon it in their research, and not have to verify who said what in order to determine whether the article is reliable enough for such research. It's not a debate society. According to Wiki's own NPOV policy, stating viewpoints as facts is non-NPOV. Unfortunately, Wikipedia isn't very good at enforcing the neutral point of view. Instead, it's become what the New York Times reported in a quote by Wikipedia Co-Founder Sanger (quoting the NY Times): "Mr. Sanger left Wikipedia, he said at the time, because it gave too much power to "difficult people, trolls, and their enablers."" He has since left Wikipedia in order to launch a professionally edited on-line encyclopedia. Morton devonshire 21:16, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

Stating something as a "fact" even if partially caveatted with "widely-report" is still needlessly suggestive. The 9/11 commission report did not objectively conclude any facts, they offered their explanation and interpretation of events. At least one poll found that a majority of New Yorkers believe that some segment of the U.S. government was complicit in the attacks, so I think "disingenuous" is inaccurate. Why do you keep using the word "journalism"? some structural engineers for example are the people criticizing the official building collapse explanation. zen master T 21:43, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

In our culture, it's mainstream journalists who do the fact-sifting, that's why we can rely upon them. If we can't use the word "facts" in Wikipedia, then why bother calling it an encyclopedia? It's supposed to be an encyclopedia, not an index of opinion pieces.Morton devonshire 21:53, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

I am all for reporting "facts" but they are allegedly contradictory in this case. It is a fact that various groups and individuals dispute the official explanation of 9/11 for a variety of reasons. I hope you aren't saying journalists are the ones we should rely on to conclude things for us? Are you arguing we should just ignore or downplay the fact actual scientists, structural engineers, are the ones challenging the official WTC towers collapse explanation? zen master T 22:01, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

And no, I'm not suggesting that we ignore scientists, engineers, etc. What I'm saying is that journalists interview multiple engineers, multiple scientists, etc., contrast their view, and end up reporting the prevailing and best supported conclusions of these folks. Good journalism doesn't rely upon the journalist's point of view, but the objective journalistic practice of testing multiple analysis and reporting the prevailing opinion as fact.Morton devonshire 22:14, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

It is only the "best" conclusion or reporting according to you or their POV, people dispute that conclusion too. I think we should follow the scientific method to present this, and all, subject(s) on wikipedia rather than framing an article around some sort of "journalism knows best" mantra. zen master T 22:21, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

Please don't mis-state my position. I'm not saying that journalism knows best. What I am saying is that the journalistic process of sifting facts is superior to relying upon the opinion of one or two persons with an alternate point of view, because it sifts through all of the competing explanations to arrive at a consensus.Morton devonshire 22:36, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

True consensus is not analogous to "a small group choosing one conclusion out of many viewpoints" and wikipedia should not adopt that (corrupted) definition. I prefer the scientific method over the journalistic process, making do with the information we have available while working under the principle of preserving all other information and viewpoints. Are journalists even trained to understand, let alone judge, the allegations of say structural engineers? zen master T 00:16, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Here's an example of what would be a neutral point of view, taken from another Wikipedia page: "In November 2001, U.S. forces recovered a videotape from a destroyed house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan which showed Osama bin Laden talking to Khaled al-Harbi. [6] In the tape, bin Laden admits to planning the attacks. The factuality of the tape is questioned in the Muslim world: "But the BBC's Middle East correspondent, Frank Gardner, says that at street level in the Arab world, many believe the tape is a fake, a PR gimmick dreamed up by the US administration." [7]. The tape was broadcast on various news networks in December 2001." My suggestion is that this page should follow a similar pattern -- state the widely-reported version, then state the criticism/alternate theory, and where it comes from. That's neutral.Morton devonshire 22:05, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

Morton, the example you cite is actually problematic. The phrase "The factuality of the tape is question" errantly implies the tape is objectively factual, it would be more accurate and clear to say "the origin of the tape is questioned" or "some have alleged the tape is not authentic". Also, this article was specifically created as a place for 9/11 criticisms, the "widely-reported" explanation of events is already covered in the September 11th attacks article so it would be inappropriate, redundant and POV to present criticisms in the manner you suggest. zen master T 22:21, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

I disagree -- each article needs to be NPOV on its own. Rather than continuing to play ping-pong, I'm going to step away from this for awhile and allow others to express their opinions on the subject.Morton devonshire 22:36, 27 December 2005 (UTC)

I agree every article should be NPOV but we disagree over whether this article is NPOV or not. Your position is basically we must present 9/11 "conspiracy theories" as downplayed or dismissed which I believe is inappropriate given the scope of the criticisms and irregularities. Journalists even significantly disagree with each other over 9/11, perhaps you are arguing we should just unquestioningly accept the mainstream media's portrayal? They are not infallible even if not complicit. zen master T 00:16, 28 December 2005

I agree that ignoring the information presented on this page would suggest complicity or at the very least apathy on the part of the mainstream media. I can't think of any reasons to take them seriously, and it occurs to me that their purpose is more to mold or sway opinion than report "facts". But thats just my POV. - SK

Can we hear from others that are not banned elsewhere? Thanks. Morton devonshire 19:42, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

Why? What is it about my interpretation that you don't like? zen master T 20:50, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

It's not about you. You've said your piece, and we disagree. Can we hear from others please? Just a reminder to all that Wikipedia has a rule against Sockpuppets. Thanks. Morton devonshire 20:53, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

To what sockpuppets are you referring? How do we disagree exactly? I want to understand your interpretation in case you are right. zen master T 21:18, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

I agree that ignoring the information presented on this page would suggest complicity or at the very least apathy on the part of the mainstream media. I can't think of any reasons to take them seriously, and it occurs to me that their purpose is more to mold or sway opinion than report "facts". But thats just my POV. - SK

Sorry, can't take you seriously. Your POV is: "Everything Morton Devonshire just said is complete BS. And that is a fact. He might as well have written a research paper on the type of cheese the moon is made out of. Sorry-SK"Morton devonshire 19:37, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

OK Morton "If there is doubt, a developer or checkuser user can check to see whether accounts are related. Experience has shown that on article talk pages, including polls, the linkage is usually not supported by the information available to developers, so self-restraint in making such accusations is usually the right course." Often, acussations of sock puppetry are thinly veiled personal attacks. On the other hand, I apologize for being rude. But I have trouble taking you seriously becuase you seem like a [shill] with your insistance that we can "rely" on the mainstream media and your approach in challenging the neutrality. "shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services, who pretends no association to the seller and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. The intention of the shill is, using crowd psychology, to encourage other potential customers, unaware of the set-up, to purchase said goods or services." I haven't been around Wiki for very long and I'm not familiar with anything you've done here before. I'll quit saying your full of BS and you quit accusing me of being a sock puppet. I think that would be fair. - SK

I am not a journalist, nor do I have any financial interest in journalism. Journalists can be relied upon to seek the truth, because they act out of self interest and seek to one-up other journalists -- that's how they get noticed and promoted. Conflict is the driving force of journalism -- if you can find conflict, you have a story. A story which conflicted with the 9/11 commission report would be golden. Any journalist who could find evidence that the US government was somehow responsible for 9/11 would be heralded as the next Bob Woodward, and showered with cash and position. I don't trust journalists, I trust their ambition and greed.

"If called by a Panther, don't anther." Ogden Nash Morton devonshire 00:24, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

If a journalist was concerned for his health it is possible he would keep that kind of information to himself. And there can be other[motives] for the mainstream media to establish an "accepted theory". An individual journalists' greed and ambition doesn't mean much when they are playing in a field like this one. More reasons I don't take them seriously. - SK

Are you suggesting that thousands of journalists, from all over the world, have had their lives threatened? Now that would be a story! Morton devonshire 04:03, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

SK - Of course you have every right to just edit as an IP user, but I would suggest you sign up for a user account (you can do that at the "create account/sign in" link at the upper right corner of every Wikipedia page). This will both allow you to take part in votes and such and to be better able to make sure that nobody tries to impersonate you. Blackcats 01:34, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

>>*The article is simply biased, expressing viewpoints as facts

I disagree. The WTC collapse is documented all over the internet. You take those pictures and you apply measurements, like how long it took for the collapses to occur. This can be independently verified because the documents are available to everyone online. Then you ask how a structure like this (with steel up to 4" thick in some areas) provides virtually no more resistance to slow that collapse than air -- based on the speed of the collapse, which you measured. That's not just 'viewpoint,' the speed of the collapse is a verifiable fact with a margin of error, like other scientific measurements of events. The questioning of how the NIST explanations and speeds of the collapses are reconciled with the laws of physics is what is going on here. The questions aren't conspiracy theories, they are questions. The proposal that a demolition took place is a hypothesis, nothing more. The way that those protective of the the official story on wikipedia deal with hypotheses they don't like is to call everything a conspiracy theory that isn't the explanation associated with the US government -- thus, scientific theories that the Bush Admin doesn't approve of are at risk of being seen as 'conspiracy theories' (i.e., evolution). As it turns out, 9/11 is political, so anyone who questions the official story is immediately ostracized and attacked or entirely ignored by mainstream media, not showered with flowers and fame (name one person who has questioned the official explanation of 9/11 who has been showered with fortune). That's not science, that's fascism. So there is no incentive for 'professionals' to lose their careers by going public with questions, much less hypotheses about what happened to the towers. Indeed, those who have asked questions related to their own professional jobs - Kevin Ryan, Sybil Edmonds - have been fired.Bov 01:40, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

SK's new account is SkeenaR Thanks Blackcats.

Yes, ostracized and attacked, because the theories are not credible. That's what happens when your stories are not well researched or supported. Morton devonshire 20:23, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

What theory of Sybil Edmonds? Sybil Edmonds was a translator. He came forward with information that the Admin knew about the nature of upcoming attacks. What theory?SkeenaR 21:58, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

>>Yes, ostracized and attacked, because the theories are not credible.

You mean, evolution, don't you?Bov 16:57, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Huh? Morton devonshire 17:39, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Official Story Challenged

I think stating that all types of people and groups have challenged the official story as something along the lines of "people from across the political spectrum" is accurate, adequate and preferable over including specific groups. There are too many. The 9/11 Truth Movement is probably the best known group in this regard and it probably isn't necessary to mention them in that section unless qualified by something like "one of the best known groups to challenge the official story is". Also, including one group in that section and excluding other groups is one thing that might make the article seem less than NPOV. It's my feeling that the section should be reworded again with that in mind and perhaps we can eliminate the disputed neutrality tag soon.SkeenaR 07:28, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

Will change the word "common" back to "official". Zogby poll says half of New Yorkers say some thing extremely fishy with the situation, so that is also common. "Common" seems more POV than "official". The story reffered to in this section is undeniably OFFICIAL.

Definition of official:

Of or relating to an office or a post of authority: official duties.

Authorized by a proper authority; authoritative: official permission.

Holding office or serving in a public capacity: an official representative.

Characteristic of or befitting a person of authority; formal: an official banquet SkeenaR 20:27, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

Who is this "Official" you keep referring to? Does the US Government have an "Official" news agency like the Soviets did (i.e. TASS)? The story is a news story. If we can get rid of this "official" stuff, then I'll take down my NPOV banner. Morton devonshire 21:18, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

The 911 Commission Report is official.

It was:

Authorized by a proper authority; authoritative: official permission.

Holding office or serving in a public capacity: an official representative.

It couldn't be any more official than that. "Official" is by far the most accurate description and the best in terms of brevity. We can do without lame edit wars, and if the use of the word official is the primary thing that compels you to keep your tag up I would consider that disruptive. SkeenaR 21:37, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

I'd argue that accuracy is more important than brevity. Arkon 21:39, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

As I have pointed out, there is nothing more accurate than to call it the Official Explanation. SkeenaR 21:47, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

It is more accurate to show what that account is, who it comes from etc. Which linking to the people who issued the report does. Arkon 21:54, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

If the US had an official news agency, like the Soviets did, then official would be accurate. But in the US, the mainstream media is independent and combative. They report the 9/11 Commission Report version and their own reporting. Morton devonshire 21:57, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

So the objection to using "9/11 Commission Report" is that the mainstream explanation consists of more than just that report, and includes press accounts and independent research. The alternative theories stand against not just the commission report, but also against (at least some) mainstream journalism and academic research. I think that is a fair point. Tom Harrison ^(talk) 22:06, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

Yes, bravo, you understand. Peace out! Morton devonshire 22:09, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

Morton, now that we have gotten rid of this "Official" stuff will you please take your tag down like you said you would? SkeenaR 22:11, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

Yes, but if Bov, Blackcats, Ombudsman, Zen-master or others start up with this "Official" stuff again, then I will put it back up. Morton devonshire 22:20, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

Thanks Morton. SkeenaR 22:23, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

People on this board keep throwing around that "50% of New Yorkers think that [insert conspiracy theory here]" -- please look it up people before repeating that. Read the actual survey and you'll find that the question is basically asking "did someone in the US government have fore-knowledge of 9/11?" I don't believe any of these theories, but I would still answer yes to that question, the main reason being U.S. White House briefing on terror threats of August 6, 2001. So please stop mischaracterizing the results as evidence that these conspiracy theories have gone mainstream. --Quasipalm 23:51, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

I still think "official" is better. Using 9/11 Commission is not a broad enough term. But as well as the Commission(which is an official commission), the officials in the official administration also have an official story that is given in official radio and television addresses by the official president of the country of which you are an official resident, and that official story is also challenged from places across the board. Using 9/11 Commission is too narrow to describe what is challenged. "Official" is the perfect word to use. SkeenaR 00:15, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

It is only the perfect word if we ignore mainstream journalism and academic research. Tom Harrison ^(talk) 00:40, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Are you saying that is because some mainstream journalism and academic research has been in dissaccordance with what I call the official story? When Fox reports news that is in accordance or in dissaccordance with the official story, that is not official, just as Prof. Jones' paper on the WTC collapse is not official either, at least at this point. But the government and the commision both are. SkeenaR 01:25, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Another thing. What are we gonna about that cleanup tag? SkeenaR 01:29, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Like I said to Morton above (and it is really his point; I had not thought of it before), the mainstream explanation consists of more than just that report; it includes press accounts and independent research. Tom Harrison ^(talk) 02:19, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Ok, maybe we can get back to that later, but in the meantime I'm thinking it might be a good idea to try and get that cleanup tag down. Who put the tag up? What's the reason for the tag at this point? Any suggestions about getting rid of it? SkeenaR 02:31, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

". . .get back to that later" Heh, you agreed, so I removed the POV tag. Morton devonshire 20:19, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

It looks like User:Zhiago added the tag. As I see it, the writing could use some work. Not that it's especially bad, but there is some duplication, and some awkward wording - hard to avoid, since much of the language is the result of compromise. There is no section for References; That could be added. External links should probably go to notes at the end rather than being linked inline. Still, the mechanics aren't too bad, and can be dealt with. The real problem is the page is full of writing like this:

Interestingly, not a single photograph or video or most of these claims - such as severe fires and buckling wall - has yet been found. Most of these quotes also confirm another claim: that those in charge knew when the building was going to come down, and firefighters were told explicitly that it was going to come down. Many wonder how -- when no steel framed highrise buildings in history outside of the 2 WTC towers had ever collapsed from anything besides demolition -- the firefighters were able to be told just when to evacuate so that the building could collapse with no one inside...

Interestingly? Really? Why not just write "suspiciously?" And think about it: not a single photo or video of most of these claims. What does that mean? Not a single photo has been found, except for those that have been found? And "Most of the quotes confirm..." Well, except for those that don't confirm. And isn't that rather conclusive? Who says they confirm? The Wikimedia Foundation? "Many wonder how..." Do they? How many? And who specifically?

There is too much innuendo, too many loaded words and sly hints of complicity, and too little substance. But if I rewrote this paragraph, how would I say it? About all I could say is, "X, Y, and Z say the authorities blew it up on purpose. They say that statements by [these guys, linked] prove that." But hasn't that already been said a couple of times? Tom Harrison ^(talk) 03:12, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

This will be good to go on. SkeenaR 03:56, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Sorry, that's my bad paragraph -- it's a learning process, so this is helpful. The purpose behind the paragraph was twofold - 1) to point out that there is not a single photograph that verifies these observations (which some people do find very strange) and 2) that the content of the quotes themselves -- that they knew the building was going to come down, so then got out of there and it came down -- is a *first* in history for knowing when a steel framed building was going to collapse! So the fact that they knew it was going to collapse is unprecedented behavior from firefighters on the scene of a skyscraper fire. But I like your rewrite. Bov 17:05, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Morton, thats ok. I agreed to a compromise. I'm not going to change it, but I still think it merits further discussion. That's all. Right now I think it would be more constructive if we tried to bring it up to quality standards. SkeenaR 20:33, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Thanks. I stay posted. Morton devonshire 20:42, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Quality Standards

Tom Harrison, do you mind if I post your reply here? SkeenaR 22:06, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

HAVE FUN TONIGHT-SEE YOU NEXT YEAR SkeenaR 23:44, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

It looks like User:Zhiago added the tag. As I see it, the writing could use some work. Not that it's especially bad, but there is some duplication, and some awkward wording - hard to avoid, since much of the language is the result of compromise. There is no section for References; That could be added. External links should probably go to notes at the end rather than being linked inline. Still, the mechanics aren't too bad, and can be dealt with. The real problem is the page is full of writing like this:

Interestingly, not a single photograph or video or most of these claims - such as severe fires and buckling wall - has yet been found. Most of these quotes also confirm another claim: that those in charge knew when the building was going to come down, and firefighters were told explicitly that it was going to come down. Many wonder how -- when no steel framed highrise buildings in history outside of the 2 WTC towers had ever collapsed from anything besides demolition -- the firefighters were able to be told just when to evacuate so that the building could collapse with no one inside...

Interestingly? Really? Why not just write "suspiciously?" And think about it: not a single photo or video of most of these claims. What does that mean? Not a single photo has been found, except for those that have been found? And "Most of the quotes confirm..." Well, except for those that don't confirm. And isn't that rather conclusive? Who says they confirm? The Wikimedia Foundation? "Many wonder how..." Do they? How many? And who specifically?

There is too much innuendo, too many loaded words and sly hints of complicity, and too little substance. But if I rewrote this paragraph, how would I say it? About all I could say is, "X, Y, and Z say the authorities blew it up on purpose. They say that statements by [these guys, linked] prove that." But hasn't that already been said a couple of times? Tom Harrison ^(talk) 03:12, 31 December 2005 (UTC)

Section title

A section was retitled "9/11 Commission Report challenged." T.H. said this was a good compromise. That would be true if it weren't inaccurate and misleading. The fact is that the 9/11 Commission was not created until more than 2 years after 9/11, and only after considerable pressure from victims families. And people started questioning the offical account (as the article says) "before the sun had set on the evening of September 11." So I think it's fair to simply use "9/11 Commission" in place of "official" to describe the official view currently and for everything after the summer of 2004, but not for before the report was issued. Blackcats 06:52, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

I concur. Can't argue with that.SkeenaR 03:15, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

Clarify discussion from a few days ago

It seems we had quite a number of editors a few days ago discussing splitting off the WTC tower collapse controversies from this article to its own new article, about half of the people claimed the collapse hypotheses were "conspiracy theories" and should remain titled as such while the other half argued they did not theorize motive and just noted irregularities and criticized the official collapses explanations' science so shouldn't be titled dismissively. Just to clarify, did that discussion drop off suddenly because someone pointed out the WTC collapses controversies were already covered in the Collapse of the World Trade Center article? Is there a plan to merge the content either there or here or keep it in both places? Separately, it sure would be nice if the same level of discussion would just suddenly spring up over on Wikipedia talk:Title Neutrality, though I get the sense that the "title neutrality" proposal still needs some tweaking (or the timing just isn't right for some reason) so I'd like to solicit comments, suggestions or boldness, please let me know. zen master T 01:21, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

Surprise surprise, no responses. zen master T 19:29, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Few editors have the patience to respond to your posts, zen master, perhaps you could spend a moments reflecting on why.--Cberlet 19:31, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Nice emotional effect cliche canned response. Though you are probably right about a censorship loving majority having little patience. Assume good patience. Please clarify what, if anything, in my above paragraph is in anyway possibly patience lessening? Requesting clarity is always reasonable and should not be discouraged. zen master T 19:46, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

I believe that promoting logic and serious research is what provides clarity, rather than crackpot conspiracy theories and mythic folkore narratives that demonize and scapegoat. Thst's not a "censorship loving majority" view, but a claim that democracy requires informed consent, not hysteria generated by demagogues and charlatans. Just my opinion. --Cberlet 20:30, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Labeling anything "crackpot conspiracy theories" is your point of view and does not promote logic nor serious research, if you want to disprove a subject point people at facts rather than try to portray it negatively. zen master T 22:12, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Accountability?

How can the keepers of Wikipedia, in clear consicence, get away with advocating so many bald faced lies? I just don't get it.

I concur, but don't worry about it. These theories are so poorly supported, or presented for that matter, that nobody could really take them seriously. Their presence, however, is instructional for all of us, because it tells us that some people hate our country and the Jewish people so much that they are willing to believe any baloney so long as the US or Israel gets blamed. Isn't it extraordinary that people would allow their ideology or their hatred to hijack their ability to reason? Morton devonshire 01:44, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

I disagree. It seems people like to make statements like you make but I don't see you backing it up with any details. If you think something mentioned here is wrong why don't you just say so. Rather, I find that most of the official stories have holes or unanswered questions where I can mention many facts that are wrong. For instance, don't you find it interesting that the Official 9-11 Commission Report doesn't even mention building seven? Some websites may be weak in their research, but others, such as wtc7.net or the Complete 911 Timeline are very thorough, with hundreds of citations. Kaimiddleton 01:54, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

At 3 minutes after 9:00 on September 11, 2001, millions of us watched in horror as the second plane flew into the second tower. There is simply no credible evidence that suggests that our government or "the Jews" had anything to do with it. There is, however, plenty of credible evidence to suggest that those who believe these conspiracy theories are motivated by ideology, hatred, and greed in their advancement of these theories. There is also plenty of scientific research debunking these conspiracy theories, including notable refutations by both The Scientific American and Popular Mechanics, among others. Morton devonshire 02:28, 8 January 2006 (UTC)

Wikipedia is corret in documenting this intriguing aspect (i.e. conspiracy theories) of beliefs regarding a major event. That is one of the main functions of Wiki as I see it. Origen 16:48, 6 February 2006 (UTC)Origen

There is too much labeling and outright venom here and it's not in the article, it's on this discussion page. Apparently it's offensive and provokes harsh words to ask questions or point out anomolies. SkeenaR 02:14, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Dude! Fancy words from someone who called me a shill for mainstream journalism. Oh, and said that everything I say is "bull****". First take the plank out of your own eye. Morton devonshire 03:33, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Please do not feed the troll.

Please do not feed the troll.

SkeenaR 21:32, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

You use a double-standard, calling people names, and when someone disagrees with you you call them more names. If you want to engender real debate here, then please allow it to happen without the name-calling. See Wikipedia:No personal attacks. Peace out. Morton devonshire 01:23, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

I already apologized to you once. Either let it go or don't but you can stop reminding everybody because we have heard this already. And I'm not necessarily trying to engender debate either. There are legitimate questions concerning the events of Sept 11 that have given rise to various theories. There is no reason why those theories should not be covered here without it being insinuated that people who might consider them are unpatriotic, racist, and of having their ability to reason hijacked by hatred. That does not engender good debate, it provokes hostility. I don't necessarily believe any particular one of these theories but I find it an interesting topic and I think it's a decent article. We might disagree on that but that's OK. If you want to continue insulting people, and enjoy fighting like a little bitch, you should do it where someone might like it because I don't and I doubt anyone else here does either. PEACE SkeenaR 02:20, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

My comments are about the motivations behind the ideas (i.e. why people would sacrifice reason for myth). It's not about SK, SkeenaR, Ombudsman, Blackcats, Bov, WAS 4.250, Zen master, Dschor, Jmabel or any of the other advocates for these theories. I'll start working on a section about the motivations of those who are the believers in these theories, as the motivations may be more important than the theories. Also, I don't want to be your little bitch.  : ) Truce? Morton devonshire 02:36, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Morton, I think your point of view is coming a little more clear to me. I think you view 9-11 conspiracy theorists (e.g. myself) as having a general mindset that precludes being able to see the big picture properly. So that we "rat hole" on phenemona that we see as conspiracies, sort of the paranoid approach, when these are just complicated situations/events that can be broken down logically if one wants to go to some stupendous effort. I think Noam Chomsky has a sort of similar viewpoint; Peter Dale Scott, a 9-11 conspiracy theorist, said that he has argued many times with Chomsky about 9-11 as an inside job. He said that Chomsky thinks looking for conspiracies is a counter-productive activity, and that the over-arching systemic problems are more important to address, that Chomsky sees 9-11 as blowback. Kaimiddleton 02:34, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

9/11 conspiracy should be a subject category not a single page

There is clearly a vast amount of material about 9/11 that just makes no sense at all. Hijackers not listed on the passenger manifests. Buildings falling down with no rigorous scientific explanation as to why. Silverstein even went on TV and ADMITTED he ordered building 7 demolished! $3m allocated for an investigation, compared to $40m for Clinton's sexual antics. NORAD standing down for first time in history, etc, etc.

There is going to be constant pressure for 9/11 'conspiracy pages' until more space is allocated to it. Constant WIKI war. Why not just give over a 9/11 conspiracy category, state 'This page is a conspiracy theory rejected by the American government and all reputable commentators' at the top, and be done with it? Can we sort out a template tag to that effect? I don't see the issue with a page grounded in fact reported from mainstream press articles, SO LONG as it is properly tagged up front. Timharwoodx 13:57, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Right. The objections to the American government's conspiracy theory are so many, and fall into so many different categories, that a single page cannot accommodate them. The major pages might be:

• Controlled demolition of the North and South Towers
• Controlled demolition of WTC Building 7
• Incompetence of the alleged Arab hijacker pilots
• Was 9/11 America's biggest insurance scam?
• The pre-9/11 put options
• Whatever hit the Pentagon was not a Boeing 757
• Bush's strange behavior on the morning of 9/11

etc etc etc Adam Adler 20:49, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

Link hijacking

I note that on 9 January SkeenaR added two links:
Scientific American 9/11 Article
www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000DA0E2-1E15-128A-9E1583414B7F0000
and
Scientific American 9/11 Article Analyses
www.serendipity.li/wot/sciam_reply.htm

12 minutes later 204.50.98.171 came along and changed the URL of the second link to:
911research.wtc7.net/essays/sciam/
without changing the text.

I'll let SkeenaR revert the page to correct this case of link hijacking, unless someone else does it first.

I think the term "link hijacking" is an appropriate description of this. It is clearly an attempt to remove a link to a page that some editor dislikes and to replace it with a link to a page that that editor favors, without informing anyone of the switch.

I note also that the 9/11 pages are full of links to 911research.wtc7.net. A particularly obnoxious example is the section on Jim Hoffman in Researchers questioning the official account of 9/11 which, in six lines, has four links to 911research.wtc7.net and two links to wtc7.net (another of Jim Hoffman's sites), including a link to a page for ordering Hoffman's book. Links to 911research.wtc7.net are all over the 9/11 pages. Could this be an attempt to spam Wikipedia's 9/11 pages? Adam Adler 20:49, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

I changed the link from serendipity to wt7.net within just a few minutes, because it was then that I remembered the wt7.net link which I feel is a better article. FYI I have had nothing to do with changes regarding any other wtc7.net links anywhere. If someone likes the serendipity link better or thinks it should be included for whatever reason then add it. SkeenaR 21:11, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

After reading that page properly I see that it actually rebuts the entire Scientific American article paragraph-by-paragraph, and provides links giving evidence for the claims that the author of that article debunks. The debunking debunked. Adam Adler 12:51, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing that out though. SkeenaR 21:44, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree that wtc7.net is a superior website. Having spoken with Jim Hoffman many times and seen him make public presentations, I'm always impressed with the thoroughness of his work and his ability to have intelligent discussions with people from different ranges of the 9/11 Truth Movement. Kaimiddleton 21:37, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

It appears that Jim Hoffman has done an excellent job of promoting his views, but his work is not universally respected. Here are links to some pages whose authors do not count themselves among his admirers:

Joe Quinn: Jim Hoffman — Booby Trap For 9/11 Truth Seekers

http://www.signs-of-the-times.org/signs/hoffman_rebuttal.htm

Gerard Holmgren: Hoffman the Plagiarist

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/06/320469.shtml?discuss#186867

Victor Thorn: Jim Hoffman's Pentagon Put-on

http://69.28.73.17/hoffman.html

Things (and 9/11 researchers) are not always what they might at first appear to be. Adam Adler 10:00, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Hey Adam, thanks for the help, but how come no user page? SkeenaR 20:21, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Since the above links are posted, for the sake of balance, here are Jim Hoffman's refutations:

• The Pentagon No-757-Crash Theory: Booby Trap for 9/11 Skeptics

http://911research.wtc7.net/essays/pentagontrap.html

• ERROR: 'The Pentagon Attack Left Only a Small Impact Hole'

http://911review.com/errors/pentagon/smallhole.html

• Another* Cowardly Attack by "Victor Thorn"

http://911review.com/wingtv/markup/hoffman.html

• Personal Attacks Against Jim Hoffman

http://911research.wtc7.net/re911/adhominem.html

Most Prominent Alternative Views

I deleted the sentence by Tom Harrison that mentioned missile pods and holograms because as it is explained in the first paragraph of the article, this article deals with the most prominent alternative views. Neither missile pods or holograms are mentioned anywhere else in the article. We have previously decided that "including one group in that section and excluding other groups is one thing that might make the article seem less than NPOV" in regards to the official account challenged section. Deleting the sentence in the introductory paragraph is analogous to that decision. SkeenaR 02:10, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

I also think mention of Meyssan's book should be left out in that section too, but maybe somebody can explain otherwise. Just thinking. SkeenaR 02:18, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

When exactly was this decided, and by who? If there are decisions like this to be made, maybe the intro should be restored while we make them. Tom Harrison ^Talk 02:20, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

I assumed this was agreed upon here:

I think stating that all types of people and groups have challenged the official story as something along the lines of "people from across the political spectrum" is accurate, adequate and preferable over including specific groups. There are too many. The 9/11 Truth Movement is probably the best known group in this regard and it probably isn't necessary to mention them in that section unless qualified by something like "one of the best known groups to challenge the official story is". Also, including one group in that section and excluding other groups is one thing that might make the article seem less than NPOV. It's my feeling that the section should be reworded again with that in mind and perhaps we can eliminate the disputed neutrality tag soon.SkeenaR 07:28, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

The entire discussion is above SkeenaR 02:23, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

I think in fact that acknowledging the existence of these less-mainstream alternative theories, and then explaining that this page is not about that, is an informative way to put the article in context. Tom Harrison ^Talk 02:25, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

I think it's unnecessary and redundant, because less common theories are mentioned at the bottom of the page. SkeenaR 02:27, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

It's possible that it could be placed elsewhere on the page, though I do think usefully marks out the scope of the article. Tom Harrison ^Talk 02:39, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Why don't you put them in the Less Common Theories section with the other ones? Not only do I think it in no way helps mark out the scope of the article, the way the wording is it almost seems to imply that those ARE the main theories to be covered in the article. It also seems more magazine-like the way you have it.

"Conspiracists have speculated on possibilities ranging from missile pods on the airplanes to holograms, rather than airplanes, hitting the Trade Center. What follows is an examination of the most current and most prominent alternate views of explanations, and anomalies of that tragic day."

SkeenaR 02:49, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Lots of people if not reading carefully would totally think the article was about "things other than planes". The appropriate place is in the Less Common section. SkeenaR 02:54, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, let's see if anyone else has thoughts. I'll catch up with the discussion tomorrow morning. Tom Harrison ^Talk 03:03, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

I feel that this sentence is misleading and taints by association. Much the same as the previously deleted reference to white supremacists in the Official Story Challenged section. SkeenaR 05:12, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree with SkeenaR. Pods and holograms are really minority theories. --EyesAllMine 08:58, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

I too agree with SkeenaR. There is some possibility that the pod(s) was/were real (perhaps one or more incendiary devices attached to the plane that hit WTC2) but the evidence is inconclusive, so mention is best made in minority theories.

As regards holograms, I believe they were first proposed as an explanation of why the plane that hit WTC2 appears to melt into the building (rather than disintegrating into many parts which ricochet). See: http://www.gallerize.com/What_Is_The_Hologram_Theory.htm (In that page Gerard Holmgren is said there to have supported the theory; but currently he does not do so, favoring instead, if I understand him correctly, the hypothesis that the videos of both WTC impacts were faked with the aid of flight simulator software. See: http://members.iinet.net.au/~holmgren/salter.html) So I think the hologram theory should also be consigned to minority theories, since as far as I know there are only a couple of people who support it. Adam Adler 13:51, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

SkeenaR; Please assume good faith. Saying in the edit summary "removed attempt to taint article with references to pods and holograms" suggests that I am trying to do something other than improve the article. Tom Harrison ^Talk 15:40, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

If this is to be a comprehensive description of the alternate views, and not just those of the Truth movement, then all of the alt theories should be described. Other views held by a small number of persons are also described in this article (e.g. Jim Hoffman's views), so why not the others? Morton devonshire 17:01, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Tom, I had stated it was an attempt to taint the article in my last post in this section too, but I changed it to the above because I decided that I should assume good faith and give you the benefit of the doubt, so I take that back. But it does seem odd to me that someone who claims to be concerned with clarity and readability would even consider placing that sentence in that spot. Of course it is acceptable for theories like these to be described in this article, but as most of us agree, the right place is in the Less Common section. So what we say we put it there? SkeenaR 20:35, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Also, as an administrator can you tell me why the article history page is lying to me? It tells me I was the last to modify the article when I deleted the sentence but the sentence has been restored and there is no record of it. SkeenaR 20:40, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree that pods and holograms were only ever accepted by a minority of people within the movement and were primarily promoted by people who are often extremely vicious to other researchers, i.e., Phil Jahyan, of letsroll911 (pod promoter), called for everyone who visits his site to harass a researcher who disagreed with him at his own home, and the Webfairy (hologram promoter) is well known for personal attacks on others.

I am not aware that the claim that "the Webfairy ... is well known for personal attacks on others" has any basis in fact. As for her being a "hologram promoter" (this is apparently almost as bad as being a "holocaust denier"), it's true that the Webfairy did support this hypothesis in the past, but apparently no longer, since she does not say anything about holograms on her site at http://www.webfairy.org/ If I am mistaken, and she does, then Bov should provide a URL, otherwise he should retract this claim also. Adam Adler 18:45, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

Most believe that those promoting pods and holograms are disengenuous, at the least. Some have made money off of these theories - i.e., von Kleist - but currently, virtually all 9/11 researchers discount pods and holograms. I'm not saying they shouldn't be mentioned, only that there needs to be a context and the correct location on this page. Bov 21:12, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

If there is a general consensus to have the pods/holograms only in less-common, I can live with that as a compromise. I'd like to still leave open the possibility of in the future having some wording at the beginning that suggests the range of theories, without giving any undue prominence.

When I view the article history it tells me that Bov was the last to modify. Maybe refresh your browser cache? Tom Harrison ^Talk 21:37, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

No, there's something funny Tom. I deleted the sentence when I posted the mention about the taint by association in the edit summary, but there is no record of any other edit between when I deleted it and Bov deleted it. Glitch? (now might be a good time to break out our tinfoil hats)http://people.csail.mit.edu/rahimi/helmet/ SkeenaR 21:45, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Okay, I think this is it; I put back the pods twice, in two different places:

• SkeenaR removes pods

• Bov removes pods

• Bov puts pods in Less common theories

Here was my mistake: I somehow put in two references to pods. I think Bov has it straightend out now. Tom Harrison ^Talk 22:03, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Got it. Everybody can take their hats off. SkeenaR 22:28, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

How is the quality of the article now in regards to the standards tag with all the work Doctor9 has done towards improvement? SkeenaR 23:56, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

The Contradictory Assumption?

The major assumption behind the 9/11 conspiracy theories is that the United States government, in the manner of Stalinist Russia, is totalitarian and will kill its own citizens en masse. Regardless of the fact that the attack was at the heart of the very elite that supposedly planned it, isn't our ability to discuss this issue indicative that there's no government involvement in 9/11? While the mainstream media does not address it, there's tons of (overpriced) books and (overpriced) DVD's on plenty of websites that operate without government interference and *none* have been subject to government-ordered shutdowns (as opposed to what the Chinese government does when their citizens criticize it). My point is that if the government can kill thousands of people in an elaborate circus, surely it should be able to shut down a few sites that use $5/month hosting. I'm pretty sure Stalin wouldn't have allowed books about his purges to float freely around in the 1930's. Can this logical point be addressed anywhere in the article? Andkon 15:38, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

The Illuminati let those websites flourish, both to lead you to draw that very conclusion, and to discredit conspiracy theories by associating them with the lunatic fringe. Or maybe that's what they want me to think...

Seriously, from Conspiracy theory: "When experts do respond to the story with critical new evidence, the conspiracy is elaborated (sometimes to a spectacular degree) to discount the new evidence, often incorporating the rebuttal as a part of the conspiracy." Can the point be addressed in the article? Maybe to some extent. Much of that kind of analysis is at Conspiracy theory and Conspiracism. Tom Harrison ^Talk 19:47, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

Would it be appopriate to answer some of the charges here or are there plans for a "rebuttal of the 9/11 conspiracy theories" article? I find that Conspiracy theory and Conspiracism are general articles that don't go into detail about 9/11. Andkon 15:50, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't think it's a good idea to break up wikipedia articles by POV. I think the two sides need to reside on the same page. --Quasipalm 21:59, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

It's never been proven that the USG was involved of course. But hypothetically speaking a government with the type of character described above would still be impeded by the Constitiution and the Bill of Rights unless of course there was a state of emergency deemed high enough to justify instituting martial law. Simple huh? An American government at this point in history would not be confident that they could boot stomp over an armed American populace unless there were extreme circumstances. It's that "goddamned piece of paper" again! I will say though that I agree the phenomenon described by Tom Harrison probably isn't rare.SkeenaR 06:49, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

But why would the government do a giant circus of planting bombs in a building that's virtually open 24 hours a day when they could just as easily try to do what happened in 1993 with a car bomb below the building? Andkon 15:55, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Theoretically, it would be desired to create an atmosphere of massive crisis, and spectacular attacks would help in creating that perception in the population. You could also ask yourself why terrorists would go to the trouble of simultaneously hijacking four airliners, flying them on complicated flight routes and attacking multiple targets including one that should have (in theory) been heavily defended. To create terror. SkeenaR 23:35, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

I think it would be informative to include/expand critiques of the theories proposed, both from the mainstream and from the 'alternative' 'alternative' side. I would be wary of having the page devolve into a "Yeah, but..." tit for tat, or a contest for the last word. Tom Harrison ^Talk 16:06, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

There are criticisms of the alt-theories mentioned in the links, so with that precedent, I vote that we create a new section critical of these alt-theories. Not a point-by-point debunking, which would encourage edit-wars, but a few general debunking perspectives, such as those described by the ADL, for example. That way, all perspectives can be addressed, which might be enough to push this article out of the POV realm Morton devonshire 20:58, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

Hey you guys, look at this. Anyway you slice it it's really interesting. http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/printer_7986.shtml SkeenaR 21:07, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

This article says the USG now considers Capitol Hill Blue author an enemy of the state. SkeenaR 22:13, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Morton, what would you consider a good NPOV title for your proposal? SkeenaR 21:27, 16 January 2006 (UTC)

>>The major assumption behind the 9/11 conspiracy theories is that the United States government, in the manner of Stalinist Russia, is totalitarian and will kill its own citizens en masse.

While some researchers make explicit charges, i.e., Ruppert against Cheney, there is no such explicit reference in most of the theories. Most of the theories say that it didn't happen as the official story tells, but that insiders must have been involved for some of the events to have happened the way they did, i.e., demoliton. This does not mean that the 'US Government' is behind it and thus is totalitarian, only that elements on the inside were probably involved.

>>My point is that if the government can kill thousands of people in an elaborate circus, surely it should be able to shut down a few sites that use $5/month hosting. You need to read up on this elsewhere and look at history. This is complex subject and cannot be applied only to 9/11. Do you know the term 'Limited Hangout'? If not, you need to do more reading. Look here and here. There are far more effective and long term ways to disrupt than 'shutting down' a few websites.

So let me guess: The conspirators are taking their chances by not cracking down on something so simple as taking a few websites offline? Stalin said it best, "Ideas are more powerful than guns. We do not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas?" Andkon 01:57, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes, but Mao said "Political power comes from the barrel of a gun". :) I'm joking around, but he really did say that. You see, the first Amendment is the right to free speech, the second is the right to bear arms. Again, theoretically, the second should guarantee the ability to preserve the first. Like when Archie Bunker was holding a rifle and said "With this here I can make any kind of speech I want". SkeenaR 02:09, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

According to this article by Kurt Nimmo from Jan 11,2006 the USG considers free speech a weapon of mass destruction SkeenaR 04:47, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm posting this comment by Kurt Nimmo from Jan 16, 06 soley because of it's relevance to this discussion. It's possible that this discussion page is veering away from its stated subject matter, but I figured I would post this anyway.

"I'm sorry to respond in boilerplate fashion to those of you who have emailed to ask why I have decided to stop posting on the Another Day in the Empire blog. I wish I could answer all of you personally, but the response to my decision has been overwhelming. In lieu of a personal response, please accept the following explanation.

"The primary reason I have decided to stop posting the blog has to do with threats. I have received many of them, including death threats. Usually, I am able to brush aside threats, since most are not of a serious nature, but lately I have received several that are not to be taken lightly, especially considering the fact somebody has taken the liberty to post my address and telephone number (information easily attained from the domain registry) in various places on the internet. First and foremost, I have a responsibility to my family and posting political commentary obviously comes in a distant second.

"Earlier today, due to the above, my wife asked me to take down the blog. Her name is being used to post libelous and hateful messages on various forums and this disturbs her immensely (over the last two years, somebody has also hijacked my name to post hateful and threatening comments; as well, a writer, who shall remain anonymous, complained last year that he had received threatening phone calls by somebody claiming to be me). Moreover, I have received threatening phone calls at my place of work, thus jeopardizing my livelihood. I can no longer allow any of this to continue." nimmo

SkeenaR 02:22, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Senate bill 742 in Oregon which was slimly defeated by just three votes would have classified terrorism as a plethora of completely unrelated actions. Downloading music, blocking traffic, writing a hot check or any form of protest. All these would be punishable by life in prison unless you agreed to attend a "forest labor camp" for 25 years of enforced labor. SkeenaR 22:53, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Tom, how is the quality of the article now in regards to the standards tag with all the work Doctor9 has done towards improvement? SkeenaR 03:45, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

I think it's much improved. Doctor9 and others have done some good writing. Everything's always a work in progress, but I'm removing the tag. Tom Harrison ^Talk 04:38, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Rumsfeld's admission that a missile was used in 9/11

Donald Rumsfeld admits that a missile hit the Pentagon and "similar" devices contributed to the WTC attacks as well. This admission can be found in the official Defense Link Government Website.

• http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/2001/t11182001_t1012pm.html

"They [find a lot] and any number of terrorist efforts have been dissuaded, deterred or stopped by good intelligence gathering and good preventive work. It is a truth that a terrorist can attack any time, any place, using any technique and it's physically impossible to defend at every time and every place against every conceivable technique. Here we're talking about plastic knives and using an American Airlines flight filed with our citizens, and the missile to damage this building and similar (inaudible) that damaged the World Trade Center. The only way to deal with this problem is by taking the battle to the terrorists, wherever they are, and dealing with them."

Read what other people had to say about Rumsfeld's admission:

• http://www.democrats.com/node/5056

Admission? Come on, be serious. How many times do you think he used the word "plane" and "airline" and "jet." One foible does not a conspiracy make. --Quasipalm 13:24, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Plus, a passenger airline used as a weapon is, in fact, a "missile." For example: "An object or weapon that is fired, thrown, dropped, or otherwise projected at a target; a projectile." [www.answers.com/topic/missile]--Cberlet 14:00, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

I figured it would make sense to put this in the Less common section, so I deleted the Rumsfeld section and stuck it in Less common. SkeenaR 21:14, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Some speculate that Rumsfeld made those statements precisely to fuel what a number of researchers consider 'nonsense theories' (pods and missiles) within the 9/11 movement, to incite division and make it look loony to the public.

Oilempire.us makes this observation, yet another 'coincidence' in timing:

[The "no Boeing hit the Pentagon" claim] was first floated in early October 2001 by French author Thierry Meyssan and US War Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Monsieur Meyssan started a webpage that suggested a plane did not hit the Pentagon on October 7, and Rumsfeld gave an interview to Parade magazine on October 12 where he said a "missile" hit the Pentagon. That "missile" quote was then used by many no plane advocates as part of the campaign to draw attention to this claim. Meyssan went on to create the "Hunt the Boeing" website and then published two books "The Horrifying Fraud" (published in English as "9/11 The Big Lie") and Pentagate. These books have been translated into a total of 28 languages, which ensures that they are the dominant version of the claim suggesting complicity or conspiracy that is seen around the world.

On September 4, 2004, two months before the pseudo Presidential election, Parade magazine claimed that this quote was a mis-statement and the sole source for the no plane hoaxes, thus dismissing 9/11 "truth" to an audience of millions of voters."[3]

And one has to wonder, if the public face of the US DoD is mixing up phrases of "missiles" with "jets" -- regardless of how someone can fashion a convoluted linguistic sense of it -- why is he being used as the public image for that department? It strikes even average people as an unusual mistake to make. Bov 22:27, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Rumsfeld was speaking, and it was transcribed. Did he say "...citizens, and the missile" or "...citizens as a missle?" If it was a mistake, it's common enough to have a name, Mondegreen. So it could be an accidental admission against interest, or it could be strategic disinformation concealed as an admission, or they might want us to think it's strategic disinformation; or it could be the transcriber misheard. Tom Harrison ^Talk 22:52, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Yup, that settles it!:) But I see your point Bov. SkeenaR 23:08, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Video

What's a good link to video showing this 'crimp?' Tom Harrison ^Talk 20:21, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

I'm kinda busy at the moment, but I have seen good video of the collapse that clearly shows this crimp and I'll do my best to find it and provide a link. What network does Dan Rather work for? It was from that station on Sept 11. Rather actually commented that this reminded him of a controlled demolition. Quote "where well placed explosives were used to deliberately knock a building down". SkeenaR 22:42, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Dan Rather worked at CBS before he retired in March of 2005, after the Killian documents incident. Not that he retired because of that. I'd be willing to cite and quote Dan Rather in this article;) Seriously, I would like to see the video sometime if you find a link. No rush though, I'm kind of busy myself. I'll post a link myself if I find a good one. Thanks, Tom Harrison ^Talk 22:58, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Here Tom. This is the best I can do at the moment. If you go to the Conspiracy Central Tracker, Alex Jones' 911-Martial Law video is available for free download. About a third of the way through the video the actual CBS footage of the collapse with Rathers comment is available there. SkeenaR 23:12, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks! I'll check it out. Tom Harrison ^Talk 23:13, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Here is the clip from the Martial Law video www.prisonplanet.com/articles/march2005/180305groundzero.htm WTC 7 Collapse and Analysis] including Rathers comment. 22 minutes.SkeenaR 07:30, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Tom, any thoughts on the video of the collapse or analyses of the building? SkeenaR 21:39, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

I couldn't get some of those files. If I use bittorrent they come and take away my AARP card. Maybe I can find a documentary at the library. I did see some videos called wtc_7_cbs.mpg, wtc7_collapse2.mpg, wtc7_collapse.mpg, and an animated gif. I couldn't really see any crimp, but maybe the angle was wrong. Tom Harrison ^Talk 21:56, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Check out this link and look at the still photo. See a crimp now? SkeenaR 22:25, 20 January 2006 (UTC)www.prisonplanet.com/articles/march2005/180305groundzero.htm]

My apologies Tom. It's www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2006/050106silversteinanswers.htm this one]. Second from the top. SkeenaR 03:23, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

I love you guys like I love Art Bell. Keep it coming dudes! Morton devonshire 03:25, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Ha ha Mort! Sorry to disappoint you though dude. I haven't bought any lizard people stories. Or Vast Sock Puppet Conspiracies. You and Bell work for the Illuminati to discredit conspiracy theorists. Or maybe that's what they want me to think... SkeenaR 03:32, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Dude, I am soooo busted. Morton devonshire 03:56, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Please vote

• Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Whatreallyhappened.com
• Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Prisonplanet.com

--Striver 06:35, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Mechanics of controlled demolition

Does anyone have a reference on how long it takes to set the charges for a controlled demolition? Tom Harrison ^Talk 17:11, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

I know that they are very careful and take their time. I believe it could take weeks. I will try and find a reference. SkeenaR 20:45, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Right under our nose. Demolition SkeenaR 21:04, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Images SkeenaR 21:12, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Question from wtc7.net and reply from Implosionworld. [4] Jan 6, 2006-very recent. SkeenaR 21:20, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Close up of WTC 7 from video appears to show www.prisonplanet.com/articles/november2004/281104unmistakablecharges.htm squibs]. SkeenaR 21:36, 21 January 2006 (UTC)

Photo of www.prisonplanet.com/articles/january2006/050106silversteinanswers.htm crimp]. SkeenaR 21:38, 21 January 2006 (UTC)