Anti-Conspiracy Theories #7 Google told me, so it must be true. Sheeep!

[lamaitresse]

What a bizarre story the Alex Batty situation has turned out to be. Pair of conspiracy theorists who think the world owes them a living kidnap a young boy and drag him all over Europe and North Africa because they don’t want to live in “the system” and pay their electricity bills. What a sad and messed up childhood he’s had, he is very brave!

From FB groups to flat Earth theories - how Alex Batty ended up in commune

THE “off-grid” beliefs and conspiracy theories of Alex Batty’s mum and grandad have been revealed as the missing teen returned to the UK six years after vanishing on holiday in Sp…

www.thesun.co.uk

Bit late to comment on this one, but these snippets stood out:

It was at the Facebook anti-eviction groups that Melanie and her dad reportedly befriended a divorced father and former IT consultant, who claimed he had found a free and limitless source of energy.

According to The Times, the man invited the duo to Morocco in 2014 to see a quantum energy generator.

There, in a makeshift lab, a crowd reportedly cheered and whistled when a mysterious device switch on a dozen light bulbs without any apparent power source.

That year, Melanie took Alex, then aged eight, to live in a commune in Morocco with David.

....Some of the group the Battys were mixing in believed in conspiracy theories such as the Earth being flat, The Times reports.

From anti-eviction Facebook groups to flat Earth conspiracy theories, the duo's "off-grid" philosophy included believing a homeowner shouldn't have to pay a mortgage, council tax, electricity, gas or water bills, or for a TV licence.

In a compilation of accounts from close family sources, The Times reported how father and daughter became followers of a movement called the One People’s Public Trust.

The organisation claims to have "legally foreclosed" the global system of governments and companies, implying that all debt, including bank loans, has been wiped.

Foreclosure is the process of reclaiming property bought with borrowed funds, but the One People's Public Trust argued governments owed the people money due to years of illegal taxation and made financial demands.

All sounds similar to some QAnon thought processes - my partner's mum talks about the new Quantum Banking System* about to emerge, cure-all medbeds on the way (only for 'good people' - which can de-age and cure all ailments, including mental health issues and addictions - they don't like the government-mandated vaccine or lockdowns but believe in space age medicine??!) and how the governments all owe 'us' money because taxes, bills, mortgages / loans are 'illegal'. She also believes the banks are collapsing and they're being taken over. (Nesara-gesara).

It's amazing that Alex's mum, Melanie, was studying for a law degree yet somehow got hoodwinked by these weird beliefs. It just goes to show it's not about intelligence, but maybe a certain personality type is drawn to these utopian fantasies. We all converge on corners of the internet that are our 'echo chambers' to a degree, but surely she'd be smart enough to sense bullshit?

I've read a few interviews with Alex Batty and he seems quite level-headed and focussed for such a young lad. I wish him all the best, and I hope his family assumed they were doing the right thing by him?

The 'Quantum Energy Generator' may be loosely linked to the 'Q' Nikola Tesla theories (many CTs believe there is free and limitless energy out there already, already discovered by Tesla but 'kept from the public' - that we're being conned into paying for it by energy companies owned by governments).

As far as I know, MIL doesn't believe the world is flat, though!

Looks like another corner of society for Louis Theroux to explore, though, I get the feeling he's left oddball subject matter behind and wants to do more serious documentaries. In the US, particularly, 'Q' is about US patriots and Trump obsessives so maybe he feels he's done that to death already.

*Some believe the Quantum Banking System is overseen by Space Force - which is similar to Scientology! Maybe they cherry pick different pieces from various wacky belief systems?

 

[Moth]

Bit late to comment on this one, but these snippets stood out:

It was at the Facebook anti-eviction groups that Melanie and her dad reportedly befriended a divorced father and former IT consultant, who claimed he had found a free and limitless source of energy.

According to The Times, the man invited the duo to Morocco in 2014 to see a quantum energy generator.

There, in a makeshift lab, a crowd reportedly cheered and whistled when a mysterious device switch on a dozen light bulbs without any apparent power source.

That year, Melanie took Alex, then aged eight, to live in a commune in Morocco with David.

....Some of the group the Battys were mixing in believed in conspiracy theories such as the Earth being flat, The Times reports.

From anti-eviction Facebook groups to flat Earth conspiracy theories, the duo's "off-grid" philosophy included believing a homeowner shouldn't have to pay a mortgage, council tax, electricity, gas or water bills, or for a TV licence.

In a compilation of accounts from close family sources, The Times reported how father and daughter became followers of a movement called the One People’s Public Trust.

The organisation claims to have "legally foreclosed" the global system of governments and companies, implying that all debt, including bank loans, has been wiped.

Foreclosure is the process of reclaiming property bought with borrowed funds, but the One People's Public Trust argued governments owed the people money due to years of illegal taxation and made financial demands.

All sounds similar to some QAnon thought processes - my partner's mum talks about the new Quantum Banking System* about to emerge, cure-all medbeds on the way (only for 'good people' - which can de-age and cure all ailments, including mental health issues and addictions - they don't like the government-mandated vaccine or lockdowns but believe in space age medicine??!) and how the governments all owe 'us' money because taxes, bills, mortgages / loans are 'illegal'. She also believes the banks are collapsing and they're being taken over. (Nesara-gesara).

It's amazing that Alex's mum, Melanie, was studying for a law degree yet somehow got hoodwinked by these weird beliefs. It just goes to show it's not about intelligence, but maybe a certain personality type is drawn to these utopian fantasies. We all converge on corners of the internet that are our 'echo chambers' to a degree, but surely she'd be smart enough to sense bullshit?

I've read a few interviews with Alex Batty and he seems quite level-headed and focussed for such a young lad. I wish him all the best, and I hope his family assumed they were doing the right thing by him?

The 'Quantum Energy Generator' may be loosely linked to the 'Q' Nikola Tesla theories (many CTs believe there is free and limitless energy out there already, already discovered by Tesla but 'kept from the public' - that we're being conned into paying for it by energy companies owned by governments).

As far as I know, MIL doesn't believe the world is flat, though!

Looks like another corner of society for Louis Theroux to explore, though, I get the feeling he's left oddball subject matter behind and wants to do more serious documentaries. In the US, particularly, 'Q' is about US patriots and Trump obsessives so maybe he feels he's done that to death already.

*Some believe the Quantum Banking System is overseen by Space Force - which is similar to Scientology! Maybe they cherry pick different pieces from various wacky belief systems?

The 'Quantum Energy Generator' scam still lives on and as far as I know is still being promoted by (amongst others) someone calling themselves 'Hopegirl'. I remember seeing a video about 8 to 10 years ago which claimed to demonstrate the QEG achieving 'over-unity' i.e. more power coming out than going in. A debunking video pointed out that the equipment was actually plugged into the mains during the whole demonstration.

I think the 'One People's Public Trust' is defunct now although many of the ideas no doubt live on in various incarnations of 'sovereign citizens' etc. As I recall the last promotor of OPPT was Heather Tucci-Jarraf in the US. I think she must have been released from prison by now.

 

[Jellycat369]

Bit late to comment on this one, but these snippets stood out:

It was at the Facebook anti-eviction groups that Melanie and her dad reportedly befriended a divorced father and former IT consultant, who claimed he had found a free and limitless source of energy.

According to The Times, the man invited the duo to Morocco in 2014 to see a quantum energy generator.

There, in a makeshift lab, a crowd reportedly cheered and whistled when a mysterious device switch on a dozen light bulbs without any apparent power source.

That year, Melanie took Alex, then aged eight, to live in a commune in Morocco with David.

....Some of the group the Battys were mixing in believed in conspiracy theories such as the Earth being flat, The Times reports.

From anti-eviction Facebook groups to flat Earth conspiracy theories, the duo's "off-grid" philosophy included believing a homeowner shouldn't have to pay a mortgage, council tax, electricity, gas or water bills, or for a TV licence.

In a compilation of accounts from close family sources, The Times reported how father and daughter became followers of a movement called the One People’s Public Trust.

The organisation claims to have "legally foreclosed" the global system of governments and companies, implying that all debt, including bank loans, has been wiped.

Foreclosure is the process of reclaiming property bought with borrowed funds, but the One People's Public Trust argued governments owed the people money due to years of illegal taxation and made financial demands.

All sounds similar to some QAnon thought processes - my partner's mum talks about the new Quantum Banking System* about to emerge, cure-all medbeds on the way (only for 'good people' - which can de-age and cure all ailments, including mental health issues and addictions - they don't like the government-mandated vaccine or lockdowns but believe in space age medicine??!) and how the governments all owe 'us' money because taxes, bills, mortgages / loans are 'illegal'. She also believes the banks are collapsing and they're being taken over. (Nesara-gesara).

It's amazing that Alex's mum, Melanie, was studying for a law degree yet somehow got hoodwinked by these weird beliefs. It just goes to show it's not about intelligence, but maybe a certain personality type is drawn to these utopian fantasies. We all converge on corners of the internet that are our 'echo chambers' to a degree, but surely she'd be smart enough to sense bullshit?

I've read a few interviews with Alex Batty and he seems quite level-headed and focussed for such a young lad. I wish him all the best, and I hope his family assumed they were doing the right thing by him?

The 'Quantum Energy Generator' may be loosely linked to the 'Q' Nikola Tesla theories (many CTs believe there is free and limitless energy out there already, already discovered by Tesla but 'kept from the public' - that we're being conned into paying for it by energy companies owned by governments).

As far as I know, MIL doesn't believe the world is flat, though!

Looks like another corner of society for Louis Theroux to explore, though, I get the feeling he's left oddball subject matter behind and wants to do more serious documentaries. In the US, particularly, 'Q' is about US patriots and Trump obsessives so maybe he feels he's done that to death already.

*Some believe the Quantum Banking System is overseen by Space Force - which is similar to Scientology! Maybe they cherry pick different pieces from various wacky belief systems?

Bits in bold... this is all the stuff my in laws believe in addition to flat earth stuff and that the moon is an artificial megastructure! Apparently they're part of the group bringing down the "powers that be"

 

[Baby Giraffe]

…… and that the moon is an artificial megastructure!

Is that another way of describing cheese?

 

[Doctor_Wibble]

It seems appropriate at this point to refer hon. members to the excellent Aardman* documentary 'A Grand Day Out' though with the reminder that some segments had to be recreated because the original footage had been damaged but the photorealism is absolutely impeccable and the fake sections are hard to spot.



* this in itself a clue hidden in plain sight, being as I'm sure everyone knows, 'earth person' in Dutch.

 

[katiesmith81]

It is massively overstated imo and a very simplistic way of looking at things. Obviously shutting the country down caused issues, but it’s not solely responsible for the current state of the UK economy. Other countries had lockdowns too (which were far more severe and went on for far longer) and their standards of living haven’t fallen nearly as much as it has in the UK.

One aspect is the weakening of the £, I believe if I can remember correctly started with the uncertainty of the Scottish Referendum vote (if it didn't certainly didn't help) or could have been after when with the 2015 General Election forgot which, then the Brexit vote happened and made it even worse, where when importing goods they essentially cost more.

A lot of the financial crash was facilitated by what Thatcher and Raegan did in the early 1980s, deregulating the banks and etc, prior to then the banks and investment firms and etc could only get their revenue from a very strict tight group of sources, they removed that was I'd have thought to get the systems going again (the economy essentially). I've read a lot of people blaming Labour (evidently right wing voters) when in reality has little to nothing to do with them, they though didn't correct it or stop it from happening but has more to do with the Tories than Labour by a very long mile.

It's largely why house prices have since then continued more or less to go through the roof as a result, as banks could then offer with the deregulation loans/mortgages of up to something like 50% of the value of a property in some instances, when they could do about half of that previously (approximating of course).

With us leaving the EU is like dumping a whole load of salt onto a gaping profusely bleeding wound.

The exchange rate for years used to be about for every £1 GBP was the equivalent to about $1.90USD, lets just say the £ started weaking as far back as 2008 as I can't actually really remember when the £ started weakening against the $, is more like now about for every £1 is worth about $1.30.
---

Sorry, but it’s ridiculous. All of the problems which get blamed on “lockdown” already existed way before covid did. A global pandemic may have exacerbated things, but the government has been running the standard of living in the UK into the ground for well over a decade now. I don’t get how people can’t see that.

Feelings exactly the same here more or less.

 

[Ellelalala]

I honestly just despair of (general) people's ability to reason these days.

 

[Grifters of the Caribbean]

I honestly just despair of (general) people's ability to reason these days.

Gasp! A Satanic all seeing slipping hazard triangle!

 

[L3moning]

I honestly just despair of (general) people's ability to reason these days.

Some of the leaps they make are almost clever, if they weren't batshit insane.

 

[Deeznutslol]

I honestly just despair of (general) people's ability to reason these days.

they cannot be serious? It’s so mad that not even a few years ago, people who saw “secret messages” in things like this were treated by society as the paranoid conspiracy theorists that they are… now they’ve been given a platform where they can link up with other delusional idiots all over the world and get 100k likes and loads of praise for their bizarre ramblings 🥹.

 

[Ensay]

You just hope stuff like that is taking the piss, but with the internet it's hard to tell!

 

[Deeznutslol]

You just hope stuff like that is taking the piss, but with the internet it's hard to tell!

They’ve become impossible to even satirize anymore as well. You could invent the most senseless conspiracy theory ever, one that is just so totally improbable that you think even the most hardcore CTist wouldn’t believe it, but you just know that in 2024 chances are there’ll still be some idiot out there who would think it was genuinely real.

 

[Ensay]

They’ve become impossible to even satirize anymore as well. You could invent the most senseless conspiracy theory ever, one that is just so totally improbable that you think even the most hardcore CTist wouldn’t believe it, but you just know that in 2024 chances are there’ll still be some idiot out there who would think it was genuinely real.

Yeah and they'd happily spread it around everywhere. If Elon Musk gets wind of it, he might even retweet it himself.

I was having a chat with my brother over the weekend and the subject of flat earthers came up. He thinks only a handful of people who say the Earth is flat genuinely believe it. He's convinced most of them are wind up merchants. While I'm sure some of them are, I think more genuinely believe it than most would think.

 

[Deeznutslol]

Yeah and they'd happily spread it around everywhere. If Elon Musk gets wind of it, he might even retweet it himself.

I was having a chat with my brother over the weekend and the subject of flat earthers came up. He thinks only a handful of people who say the Earth is flat genuinely believe it. He's convinced most of them are wind up merchants. While I'm sure some of them are, I think more genuinely believe it than most would think.

I agree and I think some are defo jokers tbh, but many CTists fail to realise they’re taking the piss.
I also think that some are doing it purely for the grift too , especially those who push health related conspiracies in particular. One minute they’re telling you “don’t take conventional medicine, it’ll kill you!”, the next it’s “sign up to this pyramid scheme, buy my CBD oil and healing crystals, buy my book about wellness, pay me 3 grand for a spot on my exclusive yoga retreat - it’ll change your life!”. See also: many of the doctors on social media who push anti-vax bullshit. I think the vast majority of them do not believe a word they say about vaccines, I think they’re just morally corrupt grifters who are probably are all on their 4th dose of moderna and laugh behind closed doors at their rabid followers who hang on their every word.
A large following = infinite opportunities to monetize your platform. Some of these people are 100% making a killing off of perpetuating these theories.

 

[L3moning]

There definitely are grifters involved. Alex Jones is probably the prime example. Ironically he fell out with loads of other conspiracy theorists because they saw him as "controlled opposition"

He did also say, during his court case, that he was essentially playing a character. He never quite said that he didn't believe the tit he was spouting, but he implied that.

 

[Ensay]

You both raise good points. There are definitely quite a few grifters out there pushing CT content. Pretty much anyone with YouTube channel who pushes this kind of stuff is grifting. And when you look at their subscriber numbers it makes you realise the kind of money they're probably raking in.

I think most tattlers are more astute to that sort of thing, considering holding influencers to account is the main reason this place exists, but I'm often shocked at how many seemingly don't realise.

 

[Ellelalala]

*blink blink*

 

[MaineCoonMama]

Three new measles cases in Melbourne (from overseas travellers.) There's a pretty varied list of exposure sites including a city tram and the Aquarium. Imagine reading that realising you were on that tram or in the Sports Centre with your unvaccinated child? It's also school holidays at the moment, even worse.
One of the sites is somewhere I go at least once a week.
I had most of my shots early when my family emigrated to Australia in the early 70s, no jab no move even back then.

New measles cases in Victoria

Stay informed about the latest measles case in Melbourne. Learn how to protect yourself, monitor symptoms, and get vaccinated.

www.health.vic.gov.au

 

[Deeznutslol]

Absolutely appalling. These governments seriously need to get this under control asap.
I was thinking the other day, I wonder if the antivaxers keep the same energy when it comes to vaccinating their pets?
Or do they suddenly decide that ok yeah, vaccines probably do actually work when faced with the prospect of their dog getting a terrifying disease like rabies…

 

[Baby Giraffe]

Absolutely appalling. These governments seriously need to get this under control asap.
I was thinking the other day, I wonder if the antivaxers keep the same energy when it comes to vaccinating their pets?
Or do they suddenly decide that ok yeah, vaccines probably do actually work when faced with the prospect of their dog getting a terrifying disease like rabies…

One I vaguely know through work (a well educated, intelligent professional individual who works in a science based industry) thinks vets are all on the make and just peddling drugs for profit. To be fair there may well be some that are but I’ve never felt the one we take our pets to has anything but their best interests at heart and is an advocate of good diet to prevent the need for medical interventions.