Theory

...but, but, it's what we do, we make up stories :-)
sharp as ever. atb Lena

I always think that if the Nixon administration could fake the Moon landings then how did they make such a cock-up of covering up Watergate :)

To show that there was no conspiracy we shall hold an inquiry behind closed doors.

Yea, nice one and about time; but hey if you can't write a story, it's a great way to get published. There is always someone willing to believe anything - especially if it is unbelievable and without a shred of evidence.

Chris ;)

Hear hear Chris. Liked this and would like to be on the committee with Luigi please:) sarah x

I've got to say this one has got me stumped! (not the first time I know but hey! At least I'm having a crack at it. ;))
When I saw the title I was expecting a set of statements which would explain something but then I looked up the word and it could simply mean 'speculation', so I was off to a poor start before I started if you know what I mean ;)
Then I read the piece and it is written in a way that with a little imagination it could mean so many things that I don't quite know what to take from it. It seems to be calling for responses given the "well...?" trailer but I have no idea how to respond as I'm unsure what it's asking of me. I was waiting to see what the rest of you guys made of it but so far only two different viewpoints so I'm still confused. Am I missing the plot here?

HELP!! What are you saying with this one about Ewan?

It means that I think conspiracy theories are bollocks.

If you read it carefully enough, you'll see references to some of the most popular ones.

Hi Ewan. Thanks for replying. An interesting viewpoint and given your bio one that might be fun to explore further with you on another type of website. I spotted all the pointers, I think, (although I hadn't heard of the Elvis footprints one ;-)) I guess it was perhaps more what you weren't saying that caused my confusion.
eg. Yes the planes were hi-jacked but I think the main conpiracy theory was who knew they were going to be? Yes there are drunk chauffeurs but was Louis Paul actually drunk?
Anyway, now I see what you meant so thanks again for explaining it. :-)
I'm so pleased I didn't tell you what I actually thought you were saying before you explained it. ;D ha! ha! lol. Really must get my imagination in check ;-). Cheers

Elvis on the moon is a very famous National Enquirer headline.

Saying the footprints weren't Presley's was a way of connecting the two myths:
a) no moon landing
b) Elvis is still alive.

The best quote about intelligence (think agencies, not brains) is not actually about intelligence; it's about Hollywood,

'Nobody knows anything.' (My italics)

William Goldman.

Because nobody does, actually know anything.

I have never seen any report which did not contain some modifier:

Imagine a report:

Duck spotted near Teheran Duck Pond:

the subsequent text would contain one of the following.

probable/probably = Looks,walks,quacks according to reliable sources
possible/possibly = one or two feathers on the ground according to sources
reported/reportedly = one conversation about selling poultry overheard by a deaf-mute .

No I hadn't heard of that one. Perhaps too young at the time.

Ha! Ha! Funny stuff ;-)

Aha, so you've already covered conspiracy theory. Might have known. What about Cherynobyl meaning I can't remember the word, something with a lord of the rings tone to it...dogwood or something... and this is the important bit. It was predicted by Nostradamus.

Well, Celtic, you drove me to my dictionary at last; unfortunately My two volume edition from MOCKBA Russian Language publishers (1977) has no entry at all. Perhaps the place name is derived from Ukrainian? One thing that is almost certain: the Cherno part of the name means 'Black' in most slavonic languages. So that is nicely resonant, but no more than coincidence surely? Unless we are due a cataclysmic event in the Black Forest (or indeed outside Wolverhampton) sometime soon.
Moreover, Nostradamus seems to have predicted almost everything if you employ your imagination in the interpretation.

Here is a surprisingly good summary -from Wikipedia of all sources- of my opinion of Nostradamus.

"Most academic sources maintain that the associations made between world events and Nostradamus's quatrains are largely the result of misinterpretations or mistranslations (sometimes deliberate) or else are so tenuous as to render them useless as evidence of any genuine predictive power. Moreover, none of the sources listed offers any evidence that anyone has ever interpreted any of Nostradamus's quatrains specifically enough to allow a clear identification of any event in advance."

Sounds like Wikipedia describing themselves ;)

Well, unfortunately that is so. However, old Nosser is no more than a bad French poet, even so.

Haha! OK, some things are universal.

ewan if everyone agreed with you about conspiracy theories being bollocks the world would collapse. most documentary makers would lose their jobs, many writers would starve, several newspapers would be left with blank pages, and millions of people would lose an interesting hobby that currently keeps them off the streets. Are you willing to have all this on your conscience?

I did like reading it though

Oh yes, I'm quite the megalomaniac in my spare time.

'wormwood' that's what I meant Ewan, for the word for Chernoybl. My mind works sometimes. Not in straight lines.

Ahh... Tolkien, the Inklings, C.S. Lewis, the Screwtape Letters -> that's quite a straight line really.

Nope, Russian for wormwood is Polyn' gor'kaya/ Полынь Горькая or Gorech'/Горечь. It must be Ukrainian.

emmm it's been an interesting diversion, but I'm sure I read somethng/somewhere and that was the word used? Well, maybe not so sure now. Quite sure. Could be. Maybe not?

I'm sure you've seen something: like I say it could easily have been Ukrainian. I just don't think it's Russian.