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As I recently learned, it is a bad idea to joke about conspiracies. They are serious business to some people. But if you are interested in inventing your own conspiracy theory for fun or profit, there is a time-tested formula:

1. Pick bad thing X that happened (it doesn’t matter what or when).

2. Postulate a conspiracy was behind it* (it doesn’t matter who or why). This is all you need to get going, but there are a few techniques you can use to fill in the blanks about what really happened during X.

3. Cherry pick factoids, take details out of context, mine quotes from public figures, elevate obscure minor incidents to center stage, juxtapose unrelated events, obsess over coincidence, point to suspicious lack of evidence that (if it existed) would support your theory, and always, always have pictures with big red arrows pointing to nothing in particular.

The general rule is: stitch together everything that vaguely supports your theory or calls into question the mainstream explanation, and ignore or deny everything that does not fit.

4. In later stages, once your campaign to uncover the truth is well-developed, create a really poorly-produced internet “documentary,” set it to scary music, and have your college roommate narrate it.

5. Denounce skeptics and scientists who debunk your claims as tools of the conspiracy, and make it clear that anyone who doubts your theory is a Moreaun human-sheep hybrid creature afflicted with narcolepsy. Tell them they need to, “Wake UP, SHEEPLE!”

6. Compile a list of a tiny number of “experts” that support some of your claims, and use it to lend a veneer of scientific credibility to your theory. Wherever possible, use misattributed, unsourced, and quotes taken out of context from experts who do not support your theory to imply they do.

7. Create lists of “unanswered questions” that, regardless of how well-answered, will always remain “unanswered.”

Events ripe for potential conspiracy theories:

• The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster
• The Lusitania
• World Trade Center Building 6
• The Titanic
• The Tangshan Earthquake or any natural disaster
• The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic
• AIDS
• Death of Ronald Reagan

Potential conspirators:

• Jews. Always the Jews.
• The President (any president)
• United Nations
• Pentagon/military-industrial complex
• CIA
• British royal family
• HAARP
• Federal Reserve (and bankers generally)
• Robber barons
• Council on Foreign Relations
• Trilateral Commission
• The Bilderberg Conference

Mythical groups potentially behind anything:

• Ancient aliens. Always ancient aliens.
• New World Order
• Illuminati
• Free Masons
• Reptilians

* Or, if a conspiracy really was behind it, add some unnecessary elements or another layer of conspiracy on top of what is generally accepted to have happened, just to blunt Occam’s Razor.
For example: the Black Hand really did assassinate Archduke Ferdinand...but there was a second shooter on the roof of the cafe!
Or: yeah, Mohammad Atta did it...but the CIA helped him!

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ORIGINAL: Marc2b
I have a simple rule for judging conspiracy theories (well, aside from dubious physics, and belief in ancient secret societies, etc)... how many people are alleged to be involved in the conspiracy? The truth of the matter is, people are lousy secret keepers. People like to blab... mostly because it is so much fun to have a secret. It gives you a sense of power over those who are not in on the secret. Of course, you have to tell at least one other person otherwise no one knows. The more people who blab, the more likely the conspiracy will be exposed. Given this propensity of people to blab we come to Marc2b's Law of Conspiracy theories: The more people alleged to be involved in a conspiracy, the less likely the conspiracy actually exists.

NOTE: I do not fancy myself possessed of so unique an intelligence that I was the first person to formulate this law. However, I have never seen or heard it expressed anywhere else. So, until someone shows me conclusive proof that someone else came up with this before me... I will continue to consider it as Marc2b's Law of Conspiracy Theories.

Of course, there might be a conspiracy against me to subvert the truth and rob me of my due credit.

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ORIGINAL: tazzygirl

Fox seems to be taking lessons from this primer...

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/02/white-house-puts-out-photo-obama-shooting-at-camp-david/

"The president is holding the shotgun as one would hold and aim a rifle," said John H. Josselyn, legislative vice president for the Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore Inc. "If the president were actually shooting on a skeet or trap range, he would have been wearing a belt with a shell bag or a shooting vest. This is a poorly staged publicity photo intended to deceive the public by portraying the president as something he is not."


Yes, they went to Camp David, melted all the snow from the trees and grounds, put the president in a t-shirt and had a photo made of him shooting a gun.

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ORIGINAL: Fellow

There is a serious problem in the US today: using "conspiracy theorist" label to dodge and push back legitimate questions. Simply questioning the official version may end you in "conspiracy nut" category. 9/11 is a perfect example.

Yes, the President will come and take your guns, no conspiracy there.

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ORIGINAL: Level

*buying shares of tin foil*

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ORIGINAL: Real0ne

like shooting ducks in bondage in a barrel, with animated gifs of the foia releases.