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squierbypetzl
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Apr 17, 2012, 3:49 AM
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Only rule: this thread is meant to be light-hearted; JFK, Illuminatti, global warming, and such topics are not welcome unless approached in a humorous, comedic, extravagant or whimsically insightful point of view.
I was reading a list-based humor article about the tragic ends of beloved comedy series, when I began thinking about the power of tv and cinema. This lead me to the following realization:
Persons who owned a TV during the 90's will likely remember puppet-centric series "A.L.F." (Alien Life Form). In the 1st episode we're introduced to sadistic A.T.F. (Alien Task Force), a federal agency charged with finding ALF. The show is the story of how your average American family adopts ALF and, even though they weren't harming anybody, the ATF tries relentlessly to take ALF away from them, because screw freedom.
Seems to me that the whole series was a veiled message from pro-gun lobbyist groups.
Anybody care to chime in with their own mad theories?
(This post was edited by squierbypetzl on Apr 17, 2012, 3:53 AM)
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pinktricam
Apr 17, 2012, 6:01 AM
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squierbypetzl wrote: Anybody care to chime in with their own mad theories?
You mean like the way the mainstream media always manages to present the US public only 2 viable candidates every presidential election cycle? And there's really very little tangible difference in policies between the two?
Well, okay, the past two elections one is white one is black. So, there is that.
LMAO...that's hysterically funny!
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squierbypetzl
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Apr 17, 2012, 6:08 AM
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The media is just that, a medium, a channel for those who control the media to send information to those who watch the media. It's only logical that their messages would serve primarily to advance their agenda (maintain the economical and political status quo, for example).
Here's another that I don't believe is at all far-fetched: the attempted recolonization of Latin America by Spain. No, seriously, even the present kings father recognized in his diary that "if Spain is to regain her colonies in the Americas, she must do so through her private enterprises.", read: economic colonization.
But not only that. There was an "iberoamerican university summit" recently. My problem with that is that we American countries should not allow ourselves to be defined by our past links to Spain, especially in a way that defines us as theirs.
It's an easy theory to shrug off, but I'll bet dollars to dust bunnies it's dead on the money. Spain was an world spanning empire before, there's no reason to believe they don't see our times as a transitional period until they return to dominance.
(This post was edited by squierbypetzl on Apr 17, 2012, 7:00 AM)
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pinktricam
Apr 17, 2012, 6:17 AM
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Spain is weak. The economies on the Iberian Peninsula are going to fold like the economy of Greece.
BTW, you know what I think is a crazy, mad conspiracy theory? When you once stated that the whole gun-walking, Operation Fast and Furious scheme that that fecker Eric Holder's Justice Dept carried out was a plan to destablize Mexico.
That's just crazy talk! Where'd you come up with that anyway???
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squierbypetzl
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Apr 17, 2012, 6:33 AM
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Hahaha, sorry but I couldn't help but laugh. A great many reports from academia, investigative reporters, government agencies, scholars with international expertise, etc. have said that or indirectly acknowledged the idea. It's not my concoction, but do you really believe that allowing thousands of assault weapons to flow into the hands of a faction that's hostile against the government of a neighboring country is not conducive to to destabilizing that country?
I agree it sounds pretty out there, but it's a pretty fecked up world and in many cases it's more incredible than fiction. There's a book, Confessions of an economic hitman, which makes for a good read. It'll let you give your imagination a whirl and at the same time it does provide some concrete, verifiable information.
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squierbypetzl
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Apr 17, 2012, 6:42 AM
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pinktricam wrote: Spain is weak. The economies on the Iberian Peninsula are going to fold like the economy of Greece.
I know, and dammit if that doesn't just make things worse.
A higher-up at BBVA (bank) stated last year (I think) that aprox. 30% of their corporations earnings come from Mexico. I believe this year it's the same %. Do you know where most of that cash is going? Spain!! Bloomin' Spain! They refuse to reinvest proportionately in their most important market, and instead just pump more funds into the money pit that is Spain (where another bailout will soon occur, allowing the super rich to keep their winnings and letting them off the hook of their debt, which will be prompty be declared a public debt).
Why couldn't we have been colonized by England? Heck, I'd even take France over Spain.
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pinktricam
Apr 17, 2012, 6:44 AM
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I'll put Perkin's book on my reading list. If it is indeed true though, I'm surprised he hasn't been neutralized.
This is my last post tonight. I'm getting up in a few hours to watch history; the Space Shuttle flyby happening later this morning.
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squierbypetzl
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Apr 17, 2012, 6:52 AM
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pinktricam wrote: I'll put Perkin's book on my reading list. If it is indeed true though, I'm surprised he hasn't been neutralized. This is my last post tonight. I'm getting up in a few hours to watch history; the Space Shuttle flyby happening later this morning.
Cool. Gotta enjoy that program while it lasts.
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sungam
Apr 17, 2012, 12:25 PM
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My current favourite conspiracy thingy is the scummy-as-fuck switcharoo EA just played. There was a large call for a boycott of EA due to scummy customer service, unwarranted bans (The only way to get around these bans is to re-purchase the game), built-in spyware ("Origin is not spyware, even though it scans your entire computer"), etc. etc.
So EA has launched this big anti-homophobia campaign against all these people who are calling for a boycott of EA due to the fact you can choose a gay romance ark in one of their games if you so desire. Now there is a big petition against boycotting EA on AllOut etc. and the people who were trying to stand up against this shitty company have all been branded militant homophobics. It worked surprisingly well.
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Gmburns2000
Apr 18, 2012, 1:10 AM
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your mom's a conspiracy theory.
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squierbypetzl
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Apr 18, 2012, 4:33 AM
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Huh, didn't know about that one. Sounds plausible. Southpark covered EA very well.
Speaking of videogames, what if deja-vu's are really save point reloads? Is it true that the military developed games like Call o Duty and Medal o Honor in order to study how humans instictively move about in a combat environment? And is it true that antivirus makers are the primary producers of bothersome but otherwise innocuous computer viruses?
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bill413
Apr 18, 2012, 2:46 PM
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squierbypetzl wrote: Huh, didn't know about that one. Sounds plausible. Southpark covered EA very well. Speaking of videogames, what if deja-vu's are really save point reloads? Is it true that the military developed games like Call o Duty and Medal o Honor in order to study how humans instictively move about in a combat environment? And is it true that antivirus makers are the primary producers of bothersome but otherwise innocuous computer viruses?
Urban legend emails
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petsfed
Apr 18, 2012, 6:46 PM
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If I still watched television, I'd be able to back this up a bit.
Consider that most news shows on TV are affiliated, sponsored, or owned by a large corporation. Historically, large corporations have been stridently anti-union. Labor day was created to celebrate the considerable positive good unions forced in the late 19th and early 20th century. Now think back to the last time unions rallys were covered on Labor day on a news show.
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petsfed
Apr 18, 2012, 6:58 PM
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I don't know that studying human response to battle is necessarily true.
It is definitely the case that games like Full Spectrum Warrior, Operation Flashpoint/ArmA and a few others had military-specific builds for battle simulation. Doom and a few others were also used to train combat response.
Another: the Unabomber was probably a victim/test subject of the CIA's experiments with mind control. The program, MK ULTRA, would later use LSD on its subjects, but in Kaczynski's case, the researchers limited themselves to verbal and psychological abuse.
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squierbypetzl
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Apr 19, 2012, 8:37 PM
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Niiice. Must admit that never crossed my mind.
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squierbypetzl
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Apr 19, 2012, 8:42 PM
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You're right. I don't think I've ever seen coverage of a Labor day event on TV. It's not just television that's susceptible to that kind of pressure, I remember when Charlie Slim formalized his investment in the NY Times: the day before the deal went public the times online had a "frontpage" story about violence in Mexico. A few hours later, it was buried, and none of the other stories had been touched.
The media business is just that, business, and the number 1 rule of business this day and age is "do not lose any of your shareholders' money".
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squierbypetzl
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Apr 19, 2012, 8:51 PM
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Grade A conspiracy material right there. It's the whole package: billionaire geniuses scheming to create a distopian society in which they answer to no one. Add in a dash of advanced artificial intelligence and ominous sounding terms like "the Singularity". Then make us all sheep powering the machines of own demise, all while the plans are right in front of everyone's noses...
How hasn't somebody gotten a book deal out of this idea?
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Gmburns2000
Apr 19, 2012, 11:20 PM
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squierbypetzl wrote: Grade A conspiracy material right there. It's the whole package: billionaire geniuses scheming to create a distopian society in which they answer to no one. Add in a dash of advanced artificial intelligence and ominous sounding terms like "the Singularity". Then make us all sheep powering the machines of own demise, all while the plans are right in front of everyone's noses... How hasn't somebody gotten a book deal out of this idea?
Yeah, but really, it's kind of true. It's not meant to do anything in today's world; more to do with 100 years from now (quite reasonably longer). Still, when you consider breaking news from protests in Iran are broadcast on Twitter and FB, it kind of makes you realize how formalized power structures are being eroded, and i think it more than just a coincidence.
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donald949
Apr 25, 2012, 10:07 PM
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Gmburns2000 wrote: squierbypetzl wrote: Grade A conspiracy material right there. It's the whole package: billionaire geniuses scheming to create a distopian society in which they answer to no one. Add in a dash of advanced artificial intelligence and ominous sounding terms like "the Singularity". Then make us all sheep powering the machines of own demise, all while the plans are right in front of everyone's noses... How hasn't somebody gotten a book deal out of this idea? Yeah, but really, it's kind of true. It's not meant to do anything in today's world; more to do with 100 years from now (quite reasonably longer). Still, when you consider breaking news from protests in Iran are broadcast on Twitter and FB, it kind of makes you realize how formalized power structures are being eroded, and i think it more than just a coincidence.
*Must update to timeline now.*
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notapplicable
Apr 25, 2012, 10:13 PM
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Sungam and his ponies are conspiring to ruin our RC.com experience. He should be stopped by any means necessary.
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squierbypetzl
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Apr 26, 2012, 3:40 AM
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A female friend of mine who worked in the Milan fashion scene once told me that womens pants have fake or near-useless pockets in order to force women to buy purses (the pants that do have adecuate pockets are severely frowned upon by the in crowd, which in turn influences the rest of the market).
No ladies have posted up so far, but statistically speaking at least 1 of you guys wears girl-pants, so what do you think?
(This post was edited by squierbypetzl on Apr 26, 2012, 3:49 AM)
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sungam
Apr 26, 2012, 7:02 AM
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notapplicable wrote: Sungam and his ponies are conspiring to ruin our RC.com experience. He should be stopped by any means necessary.
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Gmburns2000
Apr 26, 2012, 12:07 PM
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squierbypetzl wrote: A female friend of mine who worked in the Milan fashion scene once told me that womens pants have fake or near-useless pockets in order to force women to buy purses (the pants that do have adecuate pockets are severely frowned upon by the in crowd, which in turn influences the rest of the market). No ladies have posted up so far, but statistically speaking at least 1 of you guys wears girl-pants, so what do you think?
lipstick fits just fine in those pockets, and that's all any woman really needs.
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sungam
Apr 26, 2012, 12:24 PM
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squierbypetzl wrote: No ladies have posted up so far, but statistically speaking at least 1 of you guys wears girl-pants, so what do you think?
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