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Conspiranoia!: The Mother of All Conspiracy Theories
What do Pan Am flight 103, JFK, mercury fillings, the Mars Pathfinder, Henry Luce, The Grateful Dead, Teletubbies, and mad cow disease all have in common? The answer to this question is clearly that they are all, in some highly explosive, ultraconfidential fashion, related. Conspiranoia! does what no other conspiracy book has done before: it connects all the dots. Arranged by subject matter, it opens with "The Master Plan" and then branches off into twenty of the world's most famous conspiracy theories, showing through the use of intricate maps how everything and everyone is connected. Conspiranoia! is the perfect mixture of family tree, road map, encyclopedia, and guidebook to delight conspiracy fans and skeptics alike. It happily follows along on any and all of the paper trails, and cheekily grants license to myth as well as fact.
353 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 9, 2022
"Is America a CIA front?" Chevy Chase, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
A lot of us wondered the same thing, Chevy, back in 1975 when the Church Committee revealed CIA schemes ranging from the multiple attempted assassination plots against Fidel Castro, and successful ones against Lumumba and Trujillo, to CIA/FBI/NSA spying on U.S. citizens. (Yep, alphabet soup.) CONSPIRANOIA! opens with a disclaimer: "Are the conspiracies related in this book true or false? Fiction or non-fiction? The answer is both and neither. Conspiracy theorists see patterns and connections the rest of us miss." This is both misleading and condescending to the reader. Some of the bizarre plots retold here have been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, e.g. Lyndon Johnson staging a false flag operation in the Gulf of Tonkin to justify and legalize the Viet Nam War, and Colonel Oliver North, with the approval of President Ronald Reagan, first working with then turning against Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who sold drugs and supplied the Contras in Nicaragua as long as the U.S. let him. Other conspiracies fall under the category of agnosticism or "not proven", as in more than one gunman being involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy; and still others are for bizarros, such as UFO landings at Roswell in the New Mexico desert. (Though, in fact, Roswell was, maybe still is, a testing ground for secret U.S. Air Force/CIA aircraft.) Jackson wants the reader to laugh equally hard at all these theories, and this book is undeniably funny. Yet, this stance can only serve to further government and corporate skulduggery and cover-ups, at worst, and at best breed cynicism. By all means read this book and then do your own research. The truth is out there.
A lot of us wondered the same thing, Chevy, back in 1975 when the Church Committee revealed CIA schemes ranging from the multiple attempted assassination plots against Fidel Castro, and successful ones against Lumumba and Trujillo, to CIA/FBI/NSA spying on U.S. citizens. (Yep, alphabet soup.) CONSPIRANOIA! opens with a disclaimer: "Are the conspiracies related in this book true or false? Fiction or non-fiction? The answer is both and neither. Conspiracy theorists see patterns and connections the rest of us miss." This is both misleading and condescending to the reader. Some of the bizarre plots retold here have been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, e.g. Lyndon Johnson staging a false flag operation in the Gulf of Tonkin to justify and legalize the Viet Nam War, and Colonel Oliver North, with the approval of President Ronald Reagan, first working with then turning against Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, who sold drugs and supplied the Contras in Nicaragua as long as the U.S. let him. Other conspiracies fall under the category of agnosticism or "not proven", as in more than one gunman being involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy; and still others are for bizarros, such as UFO landings at Roswell in the New Mexico desert. (Though, in fact, Roswell was, maybe still is, a testing ground for secret U.S. Air Force/CIA aircraft.) Jackson wants the reader to laugh equally hard at all these theories, and this book is undeniably funny. Yet, this stance can only serve to further government and corporate skulduggery and cover-ups, at worst, and at best breed cynicism. By all means read this book and then do your own research. The truth is out there.
July 4, 2022
Extremely useful, if a bit incredible at times--John Tesh? The complex cross-reference system is one of the great features of this book--links between organizations and names multiply before your eyes.
Acquired Jun 26, 2003
Powell's City of Books, Portland, OR
Acquired Jun 26, 2003
Powell's City of Books, Portland, OR
June 8, 2024
It's set up like a dictionary.
April 17, 2013
Trifecta World (curious George)pg 276. GWB Hit the trifecta http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/07/opi... "Shortly after Sept. 11, George W. Bush interrupted his inveighing against evildoers to crack a joke. Mr. Bush had repeatedly promised to run an overall budget surplus at least as large as the Social Security surplus, except in the event of recession, war or national emergency. ''Lucky me,'' he remarked to Mitch Daniels, his budget director". ''I hit the trifecta.'' MISSION ACCOMPLISHED by The Son O Perdition, Man o sin, Antichrist committed the UNFORGIVABLE SIN! JUDAS! May 1, 2003 he Quoted Isaiah 61:1 and Nov 30, 2001 (Worlds AIDS DAY) CURSED DEATH PLAGUE CONTRADICTION Proclaimed Deuteronomy 30:19 ( Proclamations ACCOMPLISHED BY YESHUA HA MASHIAC!!) Therefore, GWB has committed the unforgivable sin "claiming himself god"
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. ~ 2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4 Revealed
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. ~ 2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4 Revealed
April 27, 2015
This is a fun little book that will have you either laughing, scratching your head, or closing the blinds and huddling in the corner. The author manages to show you how all the biggest conspiracy theory targets are linked in a vast web of evil. The real treat is the flowchart infographic on the first page of every chapter. This is a great reference for any modern game of conspiracy and weirdness.
September 22, 2007
If you like the X Files and distrust the government, this book is for you. It casts a broad net and comes up with all kinds of interesting ties between organizations/groups to feed even the most crackpot of theories. I loved it. A fun and sometimes disturbing read.
January 2, 2011
A fun read that helps to show the links between various people, events, and places. An ambitious undertaking, I think the author did just fine presenting such complex material. I only wish it'd been longer, and contained much more elaboration for each link.
April 29, 2011
Read the summary, t his book speaks for itself lol!
December 14, 2023
This was the worst book ever, If I could have given no stars I would have. It is so stupid.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews