If the Seventies were the nursery of conspiracy theories, the Noughties were when they grew into pimply adolescents, due in no small part to the advent of the Internet.

<< Paranoia is a kind of narcissism that makes us feel important, even if at the same time we are terrified. >>

That's certainly as true today as it was in the Seventies. It's evident in the spittle-flecked ravings of the 9/11 'Truthers' and in the convoluted imaginings of AGW denialist mob, not to mention the mad purveyors of fantasies about Green politics and 'communism', who mutter darkly about 'socialism by stealth' and other paranoid twaddle.

<< Paranoia, like other forms of mass delusion, is a highly infectious mind virus. “The mixture of panic, paranoia, and pessimism that characterised the 1970s engendered a peculiar hybrid mood - gloomy yet feverish, torpid yet hysterical”. >>

So true, particularly in online forums - of which OLO is one of the more moderate, despite the feverish hysteria posted here all too frequently. Still and all, it's quite entertaining - so long as you don't take it too seriously.

ha that's so funny Cj, you post all your paranoid fears as examples of other people's paranoia - I'm surprised you didn't put up the AGW conspiracy theory that all skeptics are being funded to be so.
Yes, I saw your attempted flame-bait "deniers", never let a chance go by eh? Do you think the "deniers' are out to get you ..?

After all the hysteria and exaggeration we see on AGW here .. you find skepticism of it to be a conspiracy .. hahaha

That's absolutely classic delusional paranoia .. the skeptics are conspiring .. oooh!

The article's point proven by cj ..well flushed out Simon, some people never got over the seventies, eh Cj?

Wow! I'm so glad I spent most of the 70s out in the Pacific Islands, where I could continue my simple innocent 50s/60s life. You know the one, where we believed in truth & justice, & that it was dispensed by our authorities.

Perhaps it was. Most of what I see that is wrong with the world today, developed since those simple times.

Even the latter part of the 70s, which I spent in far North Queensland were not much different, at least up there in hicksville.

It was a great life for a hick, who was too busy enjoying life to bother to see all that was wrong with it.

rpg - I was referring to 'Climategate', i.e. the AGW denialist conspiracy theory so enthusiastically taken up by you and your fellow travellers, and so completely debunked by subsequent investigations. Also, I guess you must turn a blind eye to the garbage that's frequently posted here by those who claim that the Greens and other political environmentalists are really a front for 'communists' etc.

CJ, you are kidding,aren't you?

You must be just looking for a bite, surely.

Well, nip.

CJ,
I take strong exception to your unfair characterisation of 9/11 'truthers': clearly the CIA, under Colin Powell, planned the whole thing, fired a missile into the Pentagon (probably with Rumsfeld's connivance), wired up the towers with five thousand tonnes of explosives, hijacked two planes and drugged their crews - God, it's so obvious !

And who was he working for ? It's as plain as day that he has been working all along for the Swedes ! Why, you ask ? Clearly, to embroil the US in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan: working hand in hand with Hans Blix, playing a very clever double game between them, they skilfully drew the US into a pointless war (dependent on Swedish aircraft parts) - which is why they had to invent this concoction, 'al Qaida', when clearly there is no such thing, just CIA stings, and all orchestrated by the Swedish secret police. And what sort of name is 'Rumsfeld', or 'Rumsveld' or 'Rumsvjold' - is that Swedish or not ?

CJ, you might say, in your naivety, where's the evidence ? Exactly ! We are dealing with such a clever enemy that they hardly ever leave any traces, you have to look for just hints of evidence. For example, they have now destroyed the career of Tiger Woods with their planting of an agent right in his home ! So she walks away with half a billion dollars and their work is done. Now they have conned the Chinese into taking over the troubled operations of SAAB and Volvo. They might look dopey but boy, are they clever !

And what were their ships doing in the Indian Ocean at the time of the 2004 Tsunami, if not secret underwater nuclear testing that went horribly wrong ?

And we thought that they were only about refrigerators and clocks, chocolate and gloomy films !

If this is my last posting, don't say I didn't warn you.