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It’s really awkward when you weren’t raised into that culture.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
What even is Qanon?
I never was able to figure out.
Can someone explain it to me please?

isnt it the holy book for one of the races in the dragon age games ?

or maybe some kind of intertubes sewer pipe spewing tin foil wackadoodle into the world

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
It’s really awkward when you weren’t raised into that culture.

Meh , it's blind faith frankly, something you can witness in most religious groups btw.

There's however a difference between cultlike structures and just regular ones.
Mostly personality cults and collective payments not propperly gathered etc.




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 Turnip Jedi wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
What even is Qanon?
I never was able to figure out.
Can someone explain it to me please?

isnt it the holy book for one of the races in the dragon age games ?

or maybe some kind of intertubes sewer pipe spewing tin foil wackadoodle into the world

An anonymus Poster having Q rank access to secrets supposedly...

Because no one's EVER tied a large-scale suffering event into being the End Times, before. While giving all due respect to the issue of religion, by all rights in the last 2,000 years we should have seen the end of the world dozens of times by that metric.

There were people who swore the American Civil War was the end times, or the years around the turn of the 20th century. 2012 came and went, only lasting as the source of a terrible disaster movie.

I remember hearing about some cult leader guy in the early 20th century who thought that society was too sick to survive. I think he built an apartment building in Manhattan.

With regards to preachers claiming to know when the end of the world is coming, I'm going to refer to this video by the Internet Historian.




These kinds of people do do real harm to the people who believe them.

Ah a man of culture

 A Town Called Malus wrote:

These kinds of people do do real harm to the people who believe them.

If you account everyone by the worst of those who believe something similar you could paint anyone as a lunatic.
I haven't even seen the video and can see a major problem already. You don't go date setting, you can reckon the season and the times, but not the day or the hour.

In any case I am making a big social risk here, come end of year if nothing of note has happened you can have another laugh at my expense, you can copy paste my comments, and I will turn up to face the music. However you may find that I was right, which oddly I do not want to be right now, frankly I would rather suffer the embarrassment.
In the meantime I have managed to usher in the warning that people need to prepare for hard times and watch for the signs of the end of the age. Maybe someone will listen. and if America has taken a nosedive and people are running around with their arses on fire (not necessarily literally), then maybe some will then listen to the next set of warnings I will then give, mostly revolving around recognising and not taking the 'Mark of the Beast'.

 Orlanth wrote:
I will put this here as a 'conspiracy theory' as it will be taken as one and loudly mocked by some. I do not care about that as the warning should be given, with respect to forum rules I will not speak directly on the subject or post links but will urge channel members to search the following keywords on YouTube and other places.
RAPTURE
TRIBULATION
I heeded the warning about a 'coming plague', which came to pass, and was prepared for that, and the same watchmen warned of other events that have happened.
The credibility is there on the grounds that these people foretold right, and many have received the same dreams.

Currently there is a crescendo of warnings about sudden destruction coming, in particular to the United States. Some will be false, you need to use discernment, however many from different people line up with each other.
The most urgent warnings are:

1. Stock up and prepare NOW because something big and bad is going to happen in September, you have a lull until then to prepare.
2. There will be massive unrest in November leading to fighting in the streets and much burning.
3. There are earthquake/tsunami warnings on both coasts.
4. There will be a war.

If these do not happen remember this and mock me if you like, but please leave this post alone so that those who want to inspect the warnings for themselves and see for themselves.
Here is a helpful start keyword.
DANA COVERSTONE

Yeah, very specific and vague prophecies are what I grew up with. There was the millennium, when Y2K would plunge us into a nightmarish technological dark age, if it didn't wipe us out when our nuclear missiles exploded. Many, many religious groups also prepared for the end of times.

In the lead up to it, Left Behind was published I think hinging on the prophecy of a thousand year reign on Earth.

Then, a few years later, there was the REAL millennium, which, although devoid of Y2K, was also supposed to end the world.

Then there was the Mayan Apocalypse, based off of a stone calendar that stopped. No one really talked about the idea that the Mayans were already on their 4th world, we were just doomed.

Then there was the Ebola Outbreak, which was going to kill us all horribly in 2014.

Then there was the Bird Flu or possibly it was before the Ebola- but it was supposed to wipe us out as well.

We were briefly worried about SARS, but I don't think it ever got to apocalyptic proportions in the West.

And then there was Coronavirus.

So to counterpoint-
1. It's a really safe bet to tell people there's going to be a terrible new illness in the fall. Usually we do get a variant of flu that gets a cool name, or circumvents our existing vaccine. Your prophet was luckier than most, this is the worst illness in a hundred years for humanity as a whole.
2. Rioting in the streets is happening now, and it is not November. If you look far enough, you can probably find a revolution going at any given time in the world.
3. There are 55 earthquakes a day. I really wouldn't rely on them as predictors. There's about 2 Tsunamis a year, so that's more unusual. Call the cities rather than the coast, and now we're getting somewhere.
4. The United States, unquestionably the most powerful country in the world, has been 'at war' since 9/11, active in multiple countries. Sadly, this is life now.

I must admit I was very worried when I lived through my first apocalypse scare- now they're just sort of entertaining.

 Orlanth wrote:

Not Online!!! wrote:

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
The end times have been upon us since humanity invented the idea of end times.

Though I will say the whole four horsemen deal does describe the fall of Rome rather nicely.

Which one are you talking about?

Look orlanth not to be mean, but we had all that, i will refer again to the Start and the list of pandemics.

No offence taken. But this goes way beyond lists of pandemics. A lot of the signs are very specific, even to name and time, given far enough back in the past that they could not have been manufactured for the current time. Take a look for yourself.
But still I heeded the warning to prepare for pandemic back in 2019, and prepared (or more like began to adapt my existing preparations). So it looks like I wasn't wasting my time.

Aaaaand I'm done with this thread too. A discussion of why conspiracy theories happen is interesting, trying to create one here just plain bores me.

Agreed, this thread is for discussion of why this kind of theory happens not to peddle ones own.

Mmm, technically "the end is nigh" isn't a conspiracy theory -no conspiracy involved in the core concept- although there is significant overlap as mentioned before in the thread.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
What even is Qanon?
I never was able to figure out.
Can someone explain it to me please?

QAnon: What is it and where did it come from?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/53498434

There’s also a decent Wiki on it which goes into more depth.

It’s essentially wish fulfilment for those inclined to conspiracy theories,

Nothing concrete is ever said by “Q”. All the bonkers theories are entirely made by the reader.

As an ever evolving CT, it’s bloody fascinating to dig into. However, due to its inherently political nature, kinda tricksy to discuss on Dakka.

Put simply, the core belief is that a Certain US Politician is working against The Machine, to bring down his Rivals and Opposing Party, all of which are of course involved in the most despicable of crimes.

It’s the rabbit hole of rabbit holes. Please exercise extreme caution when looking into it further.


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You may also wish to read up the Rational Wiki on the subject.

I’m not linking directly, because it’s not exactly an impartial source. But there’s stuff worth reading.


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Right, time for a cool off....

Penguins aren’t real, and Pandas are just drunk people in suits.

Take it away, SciManDan!

Barring my skepticism of 9/11 which is controversial I know, I do tend to take an objective almost agnostic in ways approach to conspiracies. I agree with the above, end times etc, any day can be the end times, all you have to do is have a lunatic with WMD's get into a tiff with a nation also full to the brim with them...

Do any of you remember the conspiracy about senior conservatives in the UK operating a peadophila ring, it came mostly from the Jimmy Saville scandal.... I always thought it was a little suspicious it was swept under the carpet quite quickly in the media, with a small amount of air time given to it being false allegations. Well, with the Epstein and Prince Andrew etc etc going on, I do wonder if there was actually any truth to it, as the worlds 'elite' are evidently shook about the whole thing (on a side note, some of Trumps comments of late about Ghislaine Maxwell are unbelievable - feigning knowing she is under investigation and wishing her all the best, on the flip side of that, it is Trump though... He is wild).

I've been listening and reading a fair amount about MK Ultra as of late as well, I also want to read 'Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties' which seems absolutely incredible in terms of potential to blow MK Ultra back into the spotlight if others pick up on it and can prove any of the claims. MK Ultra is one of them post it note conspiracies in that it was a theory and has been proven true (though not all of it, such as the actual creation of sleeper agents has never been confirmed, just the experiments to create them). It's why I am skeptical, but sometimes I think certain people are so against the idea of conspiracies that they will dismiss everything. You need to keep an open mind.

One thing I have found whilst looking at social media of late, and it is super interesting if somewhat anecdotal, the BLM protests and new found distrust of government (in the UK) from those in support of BLM seem to have also turned into anti-vaxers. Total distrust of government/authorities is such a dangerous ideology when consequences of it start to play out, but it is more widespread than ever it seems now.

endlesswaltz123 wrote:
Do any of you remember the conspiracy about senior conservatives in the UK operating a peadophila ring, it came mostly from the Jimmy Saville scandal.... I always thought it was a little suspicious it was swept under the carpet quite quickly in the media, with a small amount of air time given to it being false allegations.

That's an... ... interesting interpretation of the media's coverage of this particular event.

Bit it does once again emphasise that when somebody wants to see a conspiracy theory they'll ignore all the evidence put before them that contradicts their fantasy.

 Henry wrote:

endlesswaltz123 wrote:
Do any of you remember the conspiracy about senior conservatives in the UK operating a peadophila ring, it came mostly from the Jimmy Saville scandal.... I always thought it was a little suspicious it was swept under the carpet quite quickly in the media, with a small amount of air time given to it being false allegations.

That's an... ... interesting interpretation of the media's coverage of this particular event.

Bit it does once again emphasise that when somebody wants to see a conspiracy theory they'll ignore all the evidence put before them that contradicts their fantasy.

I'm not suggesting it was true, It was in the media quite heavily as the allegations were being made, then it just petered out and when it was 'debunked' it was given the same amount of space and dedication from the media that an apology would be given by them usually... Which is understandable from the media side of things, they never like to be wrong, but the conservative party themselves didn't really make a huge deal of it either, maybe because they didn't want it to keep circulating so it was a PR decision, but honestly, I only found out it had been quashed when I went looking for it when it was brought up in a conversation months later and the group talking all had no idea of the conclusion of it.

ANYWAY, in regards to Saville and how his activities were kept secret/ignored by the members of BBC, Police, NHS etc, it was plausible that members within government were also aware and maybe involved in some way (this is in regards to historical abuse BTW, not a current acting paedophile ring). Honestly though, look up the Westminster Paedophile Dossier, The Wanless Inquiry and Theresa Mays interpretation of the report made it fairly inconclusive that there was a cover up, in the sense that home office working processes could have lead to the files being accidentally destroyed or that they were intentionally to cover up, they cannot prove conclusively either way. Again, I'm not saying there was a paedophile ring and systemic abuse by those in Westminster but well, IF there was, do you think they'd want to keep the evidence around, any criminal with some common sense will destroy evidence... This then points back to why I specifically brought up MK Ultra, 50 years of 'conspiracy theories' that were laughed at by many proved to have quite a large amount of substantial truth attached to them.

I do wonder if we will ever find out the full truth about Epstein and his associates involvements and how high profile they are, but it has parallels.

endlesswaltz123 wrote:

 Henry wrote:

endlesswaltz123 wrote:
Do any of you remember the conspiracy about senior conservatives in the UK operating a peadophila ring, it came mostly from the Jimmy Saville scandal.... I always thought it was a little suspicious it was swept under the carpet quite quickly in the media, with a small amount of air time given to it being false allegations.

That's an... ... interesting interpretation of the media's coverage of this particular event.

Bit it does once again emphasise that when somebody wants to see a conspiracy theory they'll ignore all the evidence put before them that contradicts their fantasy.

I'm not suggesting it was true, It was in the media quite heavily as the allegations were being made, then it just petered out and when it was 'debunked' it was given the same amount of space and dedication from the media that an apology would be given by them usually... Which is understandable from the media side of things, they never like to be wrong, but the conservative party themselves didn't really make a huge deal of it either, maybe because they didn't want it to keep circulating so it was a PR decision, but honestly, I only found out it had been quashed when I went looking for it when it was brought up in a conversation months later and the group talking all had no idea of the conclusion of it.

My recollection is that the original allegations were covered very extensively and it didn't so much peter out as the story changed once they put the liar who accused a bunch of people of being paedophiles on trial. It was pretty big news at the time, albeit the trial seemed to last a very short time because it was pretty much open-and-closed. I'm not sure what else you would expect from a made-up story other than for it to gradually disappear because there's not actually anything to report.

In regards to Carl Beech who made some, not all of the allegations was convicted last year for making them up, which discredits the theory massively, but it still doesn't account for the historical allegations made against those in Westminster, and the dossier of evidence that went missing.

I know someone who has been following those historical allegations, and was a bit surprised when Carl Beech happened.
It does look as though a lot of the older allegations were buried when that got dismissed.

When some evidence appears and gets canned, other related stuff either gets added or removed to as the 'conspiracy' unfolds.

 Orlanth wrote:
[Yes those decades ago who said 'the end is nigh so prepare now' could be seen as overly melodramatic, even if the comments held some future truth.

Except, they werent any more melodramatic than this one is today. I'm sorry if you believe the whole biblical end times nonsense, but the simple fact is, it requires some cherry picked reading of religious texts combined with cherry picked current events. Just because you personally were living in fear of the future and made preparations, does not verify the "truth" of some prophecy.

The "boy who cried wolf" and broken clocks and all that.

 Ensis Ferrae wrote:

 Orlanth wrote:
[Yes those decades ago who said 'the end is nigh so prepare now' could be seen as overly melodramatic, even if the comments held some future truth.

Except, they weren't any more melodramatic than this one is today. I'm sorry if you believe the whole biblical end times nonsense, but the simple fact is, it requires some cherry picked reading of religious texts combined with cherry picked current events. Just because you personally were living in fear of the future and made preparations, does not verify the "truth" of some prophecy.

The "boy who cried wolf" and broken clocks and all that.

For you to have any rationality to claim I was cherry picking ANYTHING, you would have to know my arguments, and then added context, as you don't know the former and wont look at the latter you are only clutching at straws.
One of the worst means of misrepresentation is to put a false argument in the mouth of your opponent and then dumb it down further. You are making statements on what I believe without the courtesy of actually finding out what I believe.
You don't know me kiddo, I don't live in fear for a start. When I prepared it was obedience not fear and I am secure in my future.

Gents, we’ve had a Mod ask us to move on from that particular conversation.

 Skinnereal wrote:
I know someone who has been following those historical allegations, and was a bit surprised when Carl Beech happened.
It does look as though a lot of the older allegations were buried when that got dismissed.

When some evidence appears and gets canned, other related stuff either gets added or removed to as the 'conspiracy' unfolds.

This is partly my point, unless there was a conspiracy to create a conspiracy which is a possibility - it was labour (obviously) who were hounding the conservatives over it all back in 2014, maybe the concocted the whole thing - then I truly believe there is no smoke without a fire. I think the same will come to light with the Epstein case as well, it won't be as holistically engraved within the elite as it is being suggested, but there will be something there.

Again, referencing back to MK Ultra, and also the latest information releases by the pentagon in regards to UFO's. For all the discrediting of people, calling people crazy etc etc etc, there was SOME truth to it, and some people who were labelled as ridiculous fanatics were in fact done so harshly. Yeah, maybe it wasn't actual life from outside this planet, and I tend to think most who talk about being abducted are not actually telling the truth, but there have been objects in our skies that experts absolutely cannot explain.

Another thing to throw on the fire for debate, it was deemed there is no legal avenue to charged Tony Blair for war crimes, or George W Bush for that matter, domestically or internationally.... Why is that not possible? It isn't a conspiracy of such, but why would international war prosecutors not want to pursue that or even change the law so future transgressions of the like could be prosecuted. I'm not claiming an illuminati or anything, but there are very questionable ethical practices that go on at the highest levels of leadership on this planet, with favours/deals always in play.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Gents, we’ve had a Mod ask us to move on from that particular conversation.

they are clearly worried youve rumbled the penguin thing and trying to get the thread locked with out of bounds digressions

and as for q, nothing on why pickled onion monster munch is far less potent these days so ive discounted the rest

That’s probably because we’re like, old and stuff?

All I know is that Mr Brannigan’s Magnificent Roast Beef & Mustard still blast open my sinuses.

I have been (mostly) enjoying some sweet chilli pork scratchings of late. There is an RNG going on when you open the packet. Depending on where it is in the cooking vat you can get extra chilli in your portion. So I one time ended up with a nasty mouth burner that I could barely finish.

endlesswaltz123 wrote:

Do any of you remember the conspiracy about senior conservatives in the UK operating a peadophila ring, it came mostly from the Jimmy Saville scandal.... I always thought it was a little suspicious it was swept under the carpet quite quickly in the media, with a small amount of air time given to it being false allegations.

Operation Yewtree led to 19 arrests and 7 convictions and launched Operations Ravine, Hydrant, and Midland. Midland and Yewtree were massively high profile, received huge coverage in flagship news programmes, and were repeatedly tackled both in parliament and in select committees.

Wasn't there a similar pedophilia case in germany pretty recently where just a whole case of evidnce got "lost"?

nfe wrote:

endlesswaltz123 wrote:

Do any of you remember the conspiracy about senior conservatives in the UK operating a peadophila ring, it came mostly from the Jimmy Saville scandal.... I always thought it was a little suspicious it was swept under the carpet quite quickly in the media, with a small amount of air time given to it being false allegations.

Operation Yewtree led to 19 arrests and 7 convictions and launched Operations Ravine, Hydrant, and Midland. Midland and Yewtree were massively high profile, received huge coverage in flagship news programmes, and were repeatedly tackled both in parliament and in select committees.

What I am referring to was highlighted because of Yewtree and Midland, but were seperate to those specific allegations/inquires. Carl Beech was not involved as a source of the specific Westminster Dossier, though it was reported as being affiliated by the media though they were not (as it would be, both are about paedophiles operating in Westminster).