Beacause there's not enough crazy in my day ...

[blamebrampton]

The trains were thrown awry by a fatality on my line, and, warned by Mr Brammers, I jumped in the first cab I found in North Sydney. I should have waited for the second.

I was willing to grant him that Australia's coal reliance and export is akin to environmental terrorism, though I did point out that the former Prime Minister, who he avowedly missed, had gutted the tax relief given to alternative energy research, engineering and production in this country, without which the sector could not compete with the coal industry.

I was even willing to grant that English people had invaded half the world and were guilty of genocide and certainly overlooking indigenous populations in many places. Though I made it clear the he was wrong to equate Australia and New Zealand, as the latter had the Treaty of Waitangi from the mid-19th century and long periods of war with the Maori, which, while not great, were certainly not the ignoring he was talking about.

But then he confidently told me that the war in Afghanistan was in response to Dick Cheney's company not receiving a contract from the Afghani government, and because of the Jews.

'No, that's just madness. It was in response to the attacks on the Twin Towers, Pentagon and so on.'

'Ah!' he exclaimed, pleased to have caught me in a common error. 'But those attacks were caused by Dick Cheney!'

'I'm not a fan of Cheney in the least, but I am quite certain that he had nothing to do with it and Mohamed Atta had a lot.'

'But no one can say that.'

'Yes, they can. There is ample documentary evidence, including Atta's own voice in radio transmissions from one of the planes.'

'Ah yes, but people can be bought.'

'I'm sure he was, by Al Qaeda, through ideology if not through money.'

'No, no, that is simply not correct. He was bought by Dick Cheney's company, with Jewish money. That is why the Jews stayed home in New York that day.'

'But that's simply not true, either. There were significant Jewish casualties among the dead and the rates of people staying home from work in both towers were normal for an average workday. This is extensively documented with actual documents, not websites, you know.'

'You do not understand how these things work. If we accept that it was Mohamed Atta, then we must consider what drove him to that point. He would have been standing in a pub, drinking quietly, and he would have been approached by someone who offered him more money than he could ever earn to go to his family. That's how the Americans work. What do you think of that?'

'I think that if he was having a drink in a pub, he wasn't a very good Muslim, and that doesn't fit with the picture of Atta that was established after his death.'

'Ah, but you cannot trust the Muslims, they say one thing and do another.'

'The radical ones generally don't drink, though.'

He pulled the cab to a halt in Blessed Erskineville. 'You seem very sceptical of what I have to say, but I assure you, I have twenty people a day in this cab and I hear many things.'

'Yes,' I said as I paid him. 'But isn't it possible that some of those people are quite mad?'

'I have an extensive education, but in this country I am forced to drive a cab.'

'Well, now here I finally agree with you, it is shameful how few qualifications from international universities are recognised in Australia. I am very sorry and hope that things improve for you.'

'Let me prove to you that I am an authority.' He dug through his wallet and handed over an identification card, with his degrees listed after his name.

As I looked at his identification, I nodded in understanding. All became clear. He was an engineer.

Comments

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Not sure it's prevailing. I think it's about the same percentage of people around the world as for the conspiracy nuts in our countries.

In much of Asia there is still a strong affection for the US, and in sub-Saharan Africa, it remains an aspirational country for the most part. Even though it might be the rhetoric taught in revolutionary countries like Iran, it's not something that you would find across the Muslim world, either. Islam had more than a thousand years of close friendship with the Jewish people and educational and legal rights for women before the last 65 years, it's not all disappeared in the dissent over Palestine.

[rickey-a.livejournal.com]

wow, you've drank the kool-aid too.
I'm very serious when I tell you that average population (not the dipolomats and upper eshelon of royalty and western educated elite) of most Arab countries believe that Israel had a hand in orchestating 9/11 and believe that Afghanastan & Iraq wars were orchestrated by American Jews, the Bush admin, and Israel. Go look at their media and see what's printed in their papers and their websites (not the radical groups/terrorist groups, but their "mainstream media") In Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan (countries that have diplomatic ties w/Israel), the mainstream media filed and distributed reports that to us seem incredulous, but is the strongly and widely believed in those countries. People shake their heads and think "oh this person's a total nutter" but the fact is he is the of the majority opinion in those countries.

some interesting reading: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6056143
based on this pewglobal poll http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=253

and just of interest type "did israel orchestrate 9/11" and you get 24,700 hits
and "jason isaacs lucius malfoy" gives you 49,900

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

More I work in media and would trust the papers of other countries no more than my own, and I have and have always had a lot of Arab friends who are more than happy to engage in robust debate with me.

Remember, too, that the Arab world is nothing like 'most' of the world. China and India are the behemoths.