Rather a shame. If he had a few more screws, he could have become a wonderful novelist.

Some Japanese will buy anything that tells them they are the victims of a Western, preferably Jewish, conspiracy.

Issues?

There are no issues to discuss. Absurd and ridiculous statements don’t require addressing in any sane society.

I say aliens are inseminating the world’s banana supply in an attempt to interbreed with humans

Now, are you going to waste your time arguing against that on its merits?

I suppose one could say that, if large numbers of people start to believe an absurd claim (9/11 truthers, anyone?), then we would obligated to
argue against it.

But, on the other hand, the suspension of all logic and inquisitive thought required to believe these things would make them impermeable to reason.

By the way, I watched the first video, and also got the impression that he is suffering from mental illness. He’s probably a very smart guy, and it’s a shame that the media is using him for an easy story.

I hope all of you realize that your names probably will be added to the list of victims that is handed out to the secret society death squads.

This is what happens to the newsies. Look at Dan Rather.

As the only moderator here, I would suggest that moderation of the comments be left up to moi. . .

In the above interview, Fulford makes the same claim about the devil ring, with horns that can kill you with a touch.

Oooh, I’d love to jump in here and debate 9/11 with you guys, but I think Edward has a policy about keeping it Japan-related. With that in mind, about two years ago, Benjamin Fulford was on a popular Sunday afternoon talk show in Japan, claiming that 9/11 was an inside job. As you would expect, he was laughed off by the “expert” panel of Japanese “talento”. However, in January this year, broadcast live on NHK, the DPJ presented unanswered questions about 9/11 to the prime minister and his cabinet in the Japanese Diet. They were trying to establish whether Japan had done a criminal investigation into the attacks in New York that killed 24 Japanese citizens. This was on the eve of the LDP renewing the oil refueling mission in the “war on terror”, arguing that since there is no evidence connecting Afghanistan to 9/11, the mission is unjustified. Anyway, they discussed the usual hole in the Pentagon and World Trade Center 7, and everyone agreed that they had no answers. You can watch the whole thing on YouTube.

The “collapse” of World Trade Center 7 has never been satisfactorily explained (the 9/11 Commission didn’t even mention it in their report), and no-one in their right mind can deny that it “looks” like a demolition, and no-one can deny that it is still the only steel building to have ever collapsed by fire (without an airplane involved), and no-one can deny that the BBC reported its collapse before it even fell, and no-one can deny that it was home to the IRS, CIA and Secret Service, and the owner Larry Silverstein said that he told the fire fighters to “pull it”.

Add all these things up, together with hundreds more anomalies about the events of that day, and you may find yourself going down the rabbit hole like Benjamin Fulford.

I don’t suppose this will help, but Tofu seems like a nice guy so….

When you start to believe these conspiracy theories, first take a deep breath.

Then, sit down for a minute, and ask yourself how they pulled it off. Concentrate. Don’t turn on the TV or let your mind wander. Imagine you are actually planning the conspiracy yourself.

Specifically lay out the plan for your conspiracy (decimating Asians through SARS, 9/11, whatever). Ask yourself how many people would have to be involved. In most cases, you will find it adds up to thousands of people in on your plan. And they must all remain silent.

Now, remember, this is not a Hollywood movie. These business leaders, politicians and even journalists are real people, like you and me. Think of the ones you actually know. Do you imagine they have this terribly evil and efficiently cruel side? And that they then go off to their kid’s soccer match with Mom? In fact, can you think of even one person you know who was exposed to be this sort of man? Or woman?

Just start there. Really, the mental gymnastics required to stand by these conspiracy theories are astounding, as there are so many facts that need to be explained.

On the other hand, the simpler explanations work pretty well.

I understand why you like conspiracies. In the absence of any spiritual beliefs, they make you feel that someone is actually in charge of things - even if they are evil. An evil mastermind is still better than chaos, which is really scary.

I said Mr. Fulford is mentally ill, not so much because of what he says, but simply by watching his mannerisms on video. And, frankly, that makes me feel sorry for him.

It’s the perfectly sane people who choose to propagate obviously insane, offensive and even dangerous paranoia that bother me.

Just bloody think about it.

Thank you for the post Nick, but I think you’ll find that once you do a bit of research into skeptical takes on the “truth movement,” almost all of your points fall apart. I’m definitely opposed to the war in Iraq, and worked as a political journalist in America before getting sick of the state of things and deciding to come over here to work in education. I used to believe the conspiracy too, but once I actually started looking at the evidence and where it was coming from, it all became obvious for what it was; inexpert and unscientific ramblings coming from people not qualified or motivated to examine the relevant evidence. If you’d like to investigate the opposing arguments, you might enjoy the articles in Rolling Stone by Matt Taibi, the articles in Sketpic Magazine, or the BBC documentary on Loose Change. All of those can be found for free online.
A good example of Mr. Fulford’s personality can be seen if you look at his websites and the tracks he leaves behind online. He is clearly of a delusional paranoid mindset, and is also proudly racist. My favorite bit was the article of his titled “Anti-semitism is anti-satanism.” How lovely. The man has quite obviously lost all ability to perceive reality from fiction. His wife divorced him (I suspect) after his psychotic break caused him to lose his job. He has absolutely nothing to live for except these patently absurd ghost stories of his, and to be quite honest, I rather strongly suspect that anyone who is strongly defending his wacko-claims on this thread is just Fulford himself, writing from his laptop and wishing he had a real job.

Well Nick, I don’t want to sound like I’m making a personal attack here, but it sounds to me like you’re not willing to look into the opposing viewpoint. As of now, I have three sides of the argument: the governments, the “truthers,” and the scientists/skeptics. By your comment, I’m assuming that you haven’t actually bothered looking in detail at that last set of claims, especially by your use of scare quotes around “evidence” and you claims that “no-one ever wins.” The simple fact of the matter is that none of the issues you brought up hold ANY water at all. That’s right, NONE. Every single claim you made is resolved conclusively in the scientific (or otherwise) literature freely available on the net. I have no compulsion to respect Fujita’s request because it is completely inane.
It’s patently obvious that Iraq had no connection with 9/11, and even the government readily admits that most hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, not Afghanistan. In that respect, a request for an investigation would be logical, but once you start introducing ridiculous pseudo-facts such as the building 7 collapse and the issue of the pentagon hole, it loses any relevancy.
The answers to those questions are sitting there waiting for you, and they’re both obvious and satisfying. As for the larger conspiracy issue, I strongly suggest you take Chomsky’s words to heart; he’s far more proficient in politics than you are, I imagine.
Nevertheless, I thank you for your input on this thread, as it’s proven to be quite an interesting discussion for me.

@ Tranzic, I have looked at both sides, it’s just that my conclusions differ from yours.

@ Edward, yep, that’s the gist of it, except the guy who Kennedy removed later became Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.

On that note, I’ll try to refrain from dragging this discussion out any longer.

What’s sad is that a conspiracy theory like this numbs people into not engaging in actual problems and solutions because it presents the “enemy’ as insurmountable. Japanese politics is Byzantine at best. Making real social change requires something other than believing in mumbo jumbo. It requires actual effort . . . and actual change.

I agree that many of Fulford’s theories sound bizarre, but the economic and political assumptions underlying them are sound. I don’t know if there are really 6,000,000 Red and Green Society members with assassins poised to kill Western Illuminati etc. But his perception of economic power and his tracing of influence through Western institutions rest on a large volume of credible knowledge that most people are not exposed to.

Ok, I have to admit that some of the language he uses to describe certain things is quite bizarre BUT when he starts getting into current events he brings a wonderful sense of clarity and reason to them.

We can all agree that hes somewhat eccentric but judge a tree by its fruits. Also please don’t attack 9/11 truther or attempt to assassinate his character. Hes different. Lets not fall into the judgemental culture. Hes not doing anything wrong and he seems like a very nice person.

“The web of interrelated causes that keeps us trapped is called karma … But in conceiving karma as a conspiracy, we are overlooking one very important point: nobody is in charge of karma. Karma is what happens in the absence of a conscious intention or deliberate plan. The supposed beneficiaries of the whole thing are just as bewildered as its victims. In fact, it would be truer to say that every one of us is sometimes a beneficiary and sometimes a victim.”

Quoted from: On Becoming An Alchemist, by Catherine MacCoun

“JAPUNDIT is a site about Japan”..not the Looney-Toon Theoritician’s from the United States Of America..(an objective non-funny,non-pointing scoring,non-insubordinate,not anything!)..comment..let’s see how that floats - cut-some-slack-JP..ease off

with respect

remora

“is”? As linguistics and meaning were introduced, so (I hope)will be this “Science and Sanity’ by Korzybski as well as the concept of ‘isness’
Derisiveness appears to me to be the first resort in the prevention of actual investigation.
The anal retentive amongst humanity hold on to beliefs requiring deeper thought. By a r’s I mean those who attach the word ‘theories) to conspiracy.
It become safe to assume that long lines behaviour patterns once established will point, with some accuracy, to the likelihood of similar happenings now and in the future.

believing or not believing does not make a thing so or not so. Evidence does that.