The conspiracy theories about LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND being "predictive programming" from the Obamas for an upcoming cyberattack epitomize why conspiracy theories always fall apart - they absolutely lack even basic logic... 1/

(some spoilers ahead) The theory is that the film, showing the early stage of a massive multi-pronged electronic and kinetic attack on the US and co-produced by the Obamas, is "preparing" us for societal collapse through subliminal messages meaning the Obamas know such an attack is imminent. 2/

My latest for @dailydot: new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson helped Young Earth Creationist Ken Ham win a lawsuit that sent Kentucky sales tax to help fund a giant replica of Noah's Ark. Johnson also wrote an op-ed that appears to endorse YEC beliefs.

dailydot.com/debug/mike-joh… Young Earth Creationists believe the planet is around 10,000 years old, and that dinosaurs and humans co-existed. Even among creationists, YEC is a fringe belief - except that the man second in line to the White House has endorsed it.

dailydot.com/debug/mike-joh…

Travis Ikeguchi has been identified as the man who shot and killed Lauri Carleton over her pride flag. Based on his limited twitter activity, Ikeguchi was anti-gay, antivax, antisemitic, anti-choice, and an RFJ Jr. fan.





Among Ikeguchi's twitter follows were former president Trump, OANN, and conspiracy theorist podcast and one-time Alex Jones crony David Knight.

Just in the last few days, both Elon Musk and Jim Caviezel have referenced conspiracy theories about the Rothschilds. JEWISH SPACE LASERS, out 9/19, tells the story of the myths and hoaxes about this once-powerful family, and why they matter today.

bit.ly/spacelasers Rothschild hoaxes began in the 1840s, drove waves of antisemitic violence and panic, and are still exploited by conspiracy cranks, pundits, hate preachers, and grifters when a powerful Jewish family is needed to "pull the strings" on world events.

bit.ly/spacelasers

With a Trump indictment looming, what I'm seeing in far right/QAnon social are a few calls for civil war and violence, but much more copium and "the left is falling into Trump's trap" from bigger accounts. Plus some standard "any violence is a false flag" stuff. Things have changed since J6, and far more people on the right are just bored with Trump and tired of his antics. It could all go south, of course. But so far, it's a lot of "this is exactly what we want" and very little Fort Sumter 2.0.

Anyone considering working with Jim Stewartson should understand who he really is. These screen grabs are just the first page of blog posts he's written about me. None are photoshopped or taken out of context - all are fabricated, untethered from reality, and likely defamatory. You can see him "debate" a picture of me, accuse me of perjury, blame me for a murder, claim I helped start QAnon, and say I "protect" Mike Flynn. If that's okay with you, then okay. But this is the behavior you're platforming. And I am FAR from the only one he does it to.

Writing JEWISH SPACE LASERS (pre-order info soon!) reinforced that conspiracy theories are a continuum - you can't understand the new ones if you don't know the ones that flow into them. They build off each other, and spin away in wild directions - only to crash back together. The connections between past conspiracy theories to current ones are crucial. Why did QAnon work? Because it was built on 30 years of anti-Clinton hatred. Why did Soros hate become so prominent on the far right? Because it was built on two centuries of Rothschild theories.

I try to ignore this nonsense, but this is a sample of the insane conspiracy theories people make up about me. This goes on and on, taking facts out of context, willfully misinterpreting tweets, and linking me to companies I've never worked with and people I've never spoken to. I'm not linking to where it's posted, nor am I mentioning who wrote it. It's not worth the time or effort to push back at it.

It's hard to describe how demented this sounds to people not familiar with every plotline and character of the Fox News Cinematic Universe. This is a member of Congress screaming at former Twitter employees that they're about to be arrested for things that aren't crimes.

https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1623409452643758088

We know that this crap doesn't mean anything to most people because the GOP has run on it in three consecutive elections, and either underperformed or gotten pasted every time. Do they really think a family struggling with food prices cares about Lauren Boebert's Twitter reach?

There are Twitter accounts with massive followings that do nothing but gleefully tweet the names and ages of people who died unexpectedly, assuming that the vaccine killed them. They're ecstatic at having more data points for their crackpot conspiracy theories. It's sociopathy. In the world these accounts and their fans live in, nobody dies from anything other than the vaccine. No matter the age, the cause, or the underlying context; it's always the vaccine. 92 years old? Vaccine. Car crash? Vaccine. Just millions of dead, each one proof they're right.

In addition to Mike Flynn and David Icke getting reanimated, everyone's favorite gossip columnist turned pedo spotter Liz Crokin is now back on Twitter. And she's got videos to peddle. Most of the other big QAnon gurus are still suspended, but I fully expect them all to be let back on. Will Joe M finally return???

Free speech, huh? Just so much free speech happening tonight. We're all just saying what we want and settling it with vigorous debate, trying to one-up each other in the marketplace of ideas.

10 years since Sandy Hook, and none of the deranged conspiracy theories about it have come to pass. No guns were taken away, no patriots were put in camps, and numerous lawsuits have proven the "official story" over and over. Meanwhile, kids just keep getting shot. The parents who lost children have had the worst day of their life used against them for a decade, and it was all for nothing, other than a few conspiracy grifters making money.

More QAnon/conspiracy pandering. We're so close to M*sk dropping a "WWG1WGA" I can smell it through my phone. "Follow the white rabbit" was a big part of early QAnon, until Furber...sorry, Q...realized he could make more hay with something more original. Or at least stolen from are obscure 90s movie.

Dumping it on Twitter on a Friday night in December? Sounds like a real winner.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1598778884639653891

The real reason why many news outlets didn't touch the laptop story continues to be that the chain of custody is a mess, the people pushing it were unreliable, and there was no way to tell what on the laptop was real and what was fake. But sure, let's all do this dance again.

The public spike in antisemitism feels unprecedented, but cycles in public Jew hatred are common. The difference is that in previous spikes, there was some attempt at denial. In 1991, Pat Robertson's "The New World Order" was a bestseller despite laundering the Protocols. Robertson claimed he was merely exposing global power structures and was the greatest friend to the Jews. And there was real controversy in conservative Jewish press over whether he was or wasn't antisemitic.

Trump has had his thumb on the scale of four American elections. He squeaked out a win in 2016, presided over disasters in 2018 and 2020, and now a hugely disappointing (for the GOP) midterm in 2022. We know beyond a doubt that just Trump's base is not enough to win. The hardcore cultists will follow him down. But you can't win a presidential election - and maybe not even a primary - with only hardcore cultists. You have to get independents and casual voters on board - and they *clearly* are not.

What's left of Twitter's trust and safety team took less than a minute to determine that "shut it Jew" does not violate whatever the rules are now. "Fuck you, you piece of filth. Your family is nothing but a parasite on this earth" was adjudicated in two minutes as not violating any rules.

Elon could have spent .0001% of the price and had .0001% of the headache if he'd just bought Gab or Parler. He could have shitposted 24/7, implemented whatever goofy features he dreamed up, and done it with the full support of his cult of personality at no risk.

Instead...this.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1588538640401018880

He wants a completely open and equal public town square, total free speech allowing anyone to say anything, a robust base of major advertisers, and to do it all with a small a team as possible.

I want to ride a golden unicorn across the goal line at the Super Bowl on Mars.

Depending on the details, I'd pay for a premium Twitter with fewer ads, better curation, and access to professional tools.

I will not pay to have a little blue check that means nothing other than I paid to have a little blue check.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1587498907336118274

These two things are totally different. Premium Twitter is a safer and more useful version of the current service. That has value.

A blue check is nothing more than confirming I am who I say I am. It has no value if everyone can buy them.

Musk potentially charging for verification proves he doesn't understand Twitter. 90% of content comes from 10% of users, and virtually everyone else lurks. Why? B/c most people don't like writing. They pop in to get links to stories and see what their favs are doing. Very few people create long threads. Even fewer enjoy trolling or shitposting. The vast majority of Twitter users consume it passively. And they consume verified journalists, entertainers, brands, analysts, and personalities. Take them away from Twitter and Twitter is useless.