having troubles

I'm havin some trouble, I'm just making sure this works, yes I'm an idiot

Ben's Proposal

Ever since the organized mob was formed, government has tried to break them up... or have they?  Organized crime in America has been used by our government to enforce rules amongst the unruly.  The high authorities in our government have had, and still have connections with the mob.  They use the mob to control the people whom the feds can't touch.  Take Jimmy Hoffa for example, as he becomes more and more powerful in the teamsters union and with the connections he had with the mob, we sent him to jail.  However our government knew that this wouldn't stop Hoffa.  Nixon pardons Hoffa, Hoffa goes home, then suddenly dissapears.  The public later learns that during Hoffa's time in prison his relations with the mob go down as "co-workers" start telling the mob of how he's screwing them.  Hmm... did Nixon know Hoffa was gonna die?  Let's find out.

Sleep Deprived Students

Over years and years universities and in the past few decades grammar and secondary schools have been using sleep deprivation techniques in order to make students more docile and susceptible to ideas that they would otherwise not readily accept as "correct." This has resulted in generations of apathetic zombie-esque graduates, as evidenced in declining voter participation/activism, artistic achievement and overall individualism. Such a trend has allowed for things ranging from incorrect text books in lower levels to the production of incorrect texts at higher levels of education in a seemingly circular progression toward ambivalence. Despite the interesting results my main focus will be on proving that learning institutions have actively worked toward creating sleep deprived students via increased homework, early morning and late night classes, the emphasis on stretching oneself beyond all normal parameters in order to get into the best schools and then the best jobs (which coincidentally will obviously be filled by the most exhausted and therefore permeable minds.)

Drugs

I really don't know....but I think I'm going to do my paper on how drugs from abroad are not truely drugs and would not pass testing on their percent composition. I might change this topic, so it's not set in stone yet.

Cigarettes Are Not that Bad

It is said that every year, 400,000 + people die from cigarette related deaths. However, this number is a slanted, politically manipulated estimate. In fact, examination of those 400,000 "cigarette-related" deaths will show that the deceased, in many instances, actually die "premature" deaths much later than non-smokers. According to anti-tobacco groups, dying at 85 is premature, as over 70,000, or 17%, of the alleged 400,000 were over 85 in one given year.
Roughly 2000 smokers died before the age of 35, or .5%, while 143,000, or 8% of non smokers, died at or before 35.
In addition, cigarette smoking has actually been shown to have certain health benefits. According to the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, smoking can reduce the risk of breast cancer in certain women by 50%. There is even stronger evidence connecting smoking and Alzheimer's. Most studies show that the more one smokes, the less chance they have of getting the disease.
While the sale of ciagrettes continues to go up, death rates continue to go down. Cigarette manufacturers have noticed that even with all the "required" information they now have to list on cigarettes, their sales have increased. Are they practicing some sort of psychological experiment on the public? Have the realized that the more "dangerous" they make their product out to be, the more intriguing it becomes to the most succeptible of minds- those of teenagers; the ones who will begin smoking at an early age and most likely continue the habit the rest of their life?

Wellstone!

My conspiracy theory centers around the untimely death of Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone several days before the senatorial election in 02. He was killed in a plane crash in northern Minnesota, and the conditions surrounding this incident are very sketchy. I believe that paul wellstone may have been assassinated-he was by far the biggest threat on the left side of congress, and would have made an incredibly charismatic leader for Liberal America, re-empowering a much-weakened democratic party. With wellstone out of the way, one of the only democrats out there with a brain and a spine, the democratic party hardly made a strong showing with their nomination of the questionable presidential candidate of John Kerry. I have yet to point a fingure at who exactly would fit as a culprit for this crime...big oil? extreme fundamentalist groups? the GOP? hmm....

conspiracy theory idea(s)

Due to an alarming drop in percentage of voters over the past elections, officials in the government decided something had to be done. In a top secret propsal to both the Democratic and Republican parties the worst, or maybe second to worst, candidate was chosen for the 2000 pesidential race. Ensuring that no matter which side became victorious there would be much outrage. An emphasis on the power of voting would be acheived along with the addition of a smaller scandal, several states were delivered as proposed with only a few thousand votes deciding the election. All this results in an overwhelming turn out for the next election. But perhaps it is a cycle with those truly in power deciding with the flip of a coin. Only investigation will clarify.
OR
Because of a declining inspirational drive within the people of the nation, secret operatives in the government took action. Forcing the rise of one of the dimmer bulbs to be ever be in the white house. Their use of a man that barely had a 2.0 average in college, makes up nonsense words and can see "imaginary WMDs" was hope to inspire those dealing with feelings of inadequacy and no hopes of success, that they too could overcome. The backlash however was unexpected and their secret is on the verge of being exposed. Who did it? How did they do it? Will they be able to prevent tehir exposure? Can there truly be trust in the system?

conspiracy theory

Ok, I haven't fleshed out my conspiracy theory completely, but here are the basics. I'm going to focus on the developing conspiracy whereby pharmaceutical companies scheme to sell drugs to doctors, pharmacists, and the public for large profits over legitimate health concerns. The companies are able to do this through increased marketing and a speed-up of the approval process for new drugs through the FDA. In some cases, symptoms of new drugs are not caught or identified through this quicker process. Cases of doctors and other medical professionals accepting bribes from drug companies and HMOs have also been documented....does this work?

ARE THEY DRUGGING US

English Paper Idea—Conspiracy Paranoia

IS THE GOVERNMENT DRUGGING US?

The most basic compound of the human body is water, without water for extended periods of time (such as a week) human life ends. As a pure compound, the simple molecule maintains itself through hydrogen bonding. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates what co-exists with in our drinking water with pure water. The most simple question to ask, is why does our water need to contain anything but water… The more potent question is, if bodies of water naturally exist with other compounds than water, why do we need a purer version of water, assuming that the water is not excessively contaminated. The EPA complied a list of 60+ compounds that exist in watersheds and existing bodies of water that could be termed contaminates.
Why are so many contaminates allowed to exist? The government answers this question through the broad field of health advantages or disadvantages. I would rather suggest that the EPA, a government run agency, is making decisions about hazardous levels of naphthalene (a moth repellent and intermediate manufacturing product) for reasons beyond health. The Safe Water Drinking Act was amended in 1996 (remember amendments take x amount of legislation time prior to actually being an amendment) interestingly enough soon after the riots of 1994. The amended act takes on a certain urban focus as well. I intend to prove that the EPA in association with other government agencies is trying to calm and regulate the behavior of urban populations by allowing certain contaminants to exist in drinking water. As some of my supporting evidence I will call upon the fact that fluorine, an element that does not exist naturally by itself is added to water to help prevent tooth decay. However, fluorine is only added to city water supplies in the amount of 1 part per million. I will further call on evidence that suggests some of the chemical interactions between elements such as fluorine and hydrogen when ingested have side effects including being lethargic.

If anyone has any suggestions please let me know :)

Con. theory

Okay, I'm going to have to do some more research for this one, but here it goes:
The Bush administration actually knew 9/11 was going to happen before it did, for all the reasons we've already heard a million times, and they used it as a reason to invade Iraq. But the part I'm really interested in is comparing it to how Roosevelt knew about Pearl Harbor before it happened, but needed American support to get into WWII. Also how our government has a history of invading other cultures despite popular anti-war sentiment (Vietnam, etc...) So I'm thinking my paper would be more focused on the government cover-up angle than the very tired "Bush sucks" topic.
If I come up with anything better before Tue, can I change it? Let me know if you don't think this is interesting enough.

conspiracy "theory"

we're supposed to post our conspiracy theories here, right?
here's an idea:
Certain people in the U.S. government (especially President George W. Bush and his administration) had plans to invade Iraq before September 11th. The sanctions levied on Iraq (and much of the middle eastern region) were a barrier to trade between the US and Iraq. Iraq is an oil rich country and the US had money to gain if it could secure these much needed resources. The US used 9/11 as an exuse to invade Iraq. The US government lied to its people, stating that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, while knowing that these weapons did not exist.
The war in Iraq is an imperialist war.

If this is too old of a theory, or too obvious, I will change it.

team up?

Hey class. . . just wondering if anyone in class would like to team up for the current writing assignment. I have an idea as to a possible topic, but would definitely be open to revision or a completely new direction. If interested either e-mail me (wsattler@wisc.edu) or talk to me in class.

F.B.I (Full Blown Idiots)

First words I saw: "Here you will find one-stop shopping to request information that may be found in the FBI’s Central Records System" One stop shopping huh? THIS ISN'T TARGET! Lets take this a bit more serious!

Very pro F.B.I., I guess thats ok, since it is thier website, but they have really screwed up before and I didn't find anything on those issues. Read the history page! "Cointelipro" was mentioned but then they said this, "Wiretapping and other intrusive techniques were discouraged by Hoover in the mid-1960s" Uh huh. The point is if you want to find dirt on a group, don't go to their website. Also, checkout the short video on the "The War on Terrorism link" It's like a poltical ad, I half expected Robert Mueller to pop up and say "I'm Robert Mueller and I approve this message!"

I also checked out the electronic reading room which seemed like it was more for entertainment (What do all of the these people have in common? Thats right Timmy! They've all been investigated by the good ol' F.B.I.!) Whoever wrote this site was a genius, its like some sort of novelty, something Maxim magazine would point you to whenever your bored at work. I picked a couple of people from the "Famous Persons" list and pretty much every time it was related to their suppossed communist involvement, extortion threats, or in the case of MLK no synapisis was provided just the number of pages availible (alot). Maybe the reason for F.B.I. files on MLK is a bit embarrassing?

The importance of this website is that it allows avilibility to information via a federal law that requires them to disclose materials. Open records laws are vital to democratic government. Even though documents are still withheld for "national security" we now have access to way more than ever before. Carefull though, laws like "The Patriot Act" doesn't directly aim to keep us in the dark (or maybe they do?) but it does allow for broad, unspecific, (i.e. dangerous on the slippery slope) laws to take these rights away from us.

As a disclaimer to make sure the gov doesn't mark me for extinction, the F.B.I has probably saved us from world destruction many times but nobody's perfect and never will be. Unfortunutly, the tendency is for the destruction of our rights because it easier to power play people than it is to work with them.

Rhoads
Oh, yea. I'm going to do some crazy configuration of the fluoride conspiracy for the paper. Thoughts?

Chicago 8

Where was the media during this trial? What would today's media do with a trial and judge like this?

Do you think the verdict was based on the facts, or do you think it was a direct response to the bias from the bench? And could the contempt sentences acquired during the trial for the defense have also influenced the jury's decision?

What about the comment that judges are supposed to "have ice water in their veins." Do you think that is true of most judges? Is it even possible?

Finally, think about the "Anti-Riot Act" in relation to our Halloween traditions here in Madison...

Chi Town Debauchery

Can you find some of these "Anti Riot Act" laws around nowadays? I mean, anyone could have been convicted under its stipulations, hell....even I'm gulity. Intentions are a muddy subject, what is clear is that the "defendents" need not be defended.

Perhaps we give too much power to judges these days? Can trails be fair and impartial? Is it all possible?

Must there be respect for a flawed system? How best to change the status quo dictated by the majority? We've seen many approaches lately, must we be extreme? From the outside in or the inside out?

What were these guys smokin'? Cause I've got to get some of that!

cointelpro papers

how do you feel about your govt and the authorities knowing that they lie to everyone to ensure their ideas remain in power

what importance did any of the mocking comics have

was the black panther party smart to continue on knowing they would be prosecuted and convicted of crimes no matter what

does this story remind you of anything that is happening present day america

is police brutality and govt deception something that existed before the bpp movement and has anything changed to stop these problems

Cointelpro Papers

The COINTELPRO Papers

Some questions to start thinking about...

What was your immediate reaction after reading about the counterintelligence activities of the FBI against the Black Panther Movement?

What kind of revolution were the Black Panthers after? How is it similar to or different from others in American history?

What about the BPP revolution stimulated such subversive activity on the part of the FBI? Was it primarily fear of the dissident movement itself or motivated by a combination of other factors?

How is the justice system portrayed in the text? What effect does this system have on the BPP?

What kind of exposure and implications do you see this writing having on American public opinion, political policy, and social justice today? Does the writing suggest activism? Is it effective?