Pair Arrested After Harassing Sutherland Springs Pastor

[Tennesseer]

What makes conspiracy theory people tick?

Pair Arrested After Harassing Sutherland Springs Pastor

Two conspiracy theorists who have pushed the idea that the mass shooting at Sutherland Springs on Nov. 5 didn’t happen were arrested Monday at First Baptist Church, the site of the massacre, after the church’s pastor accused them of repeatedly harassing the community.

The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office declined to provide charging information on Robert Ussery, 54, who founded conspiracy website Side Thorn, and his partner Jodi Mann, 56, who is referred to as “Conspiracy Granny” online. The booking process was not complete Monday evening and no information would be made available until Tuesday, a supervisor there said.

The pair believe the church shooting was staged by accomplices of the government, though Pomeroy, whose 14-year-old daughter was killed there, knows better.

“He said, ‘Your daughter never even existed. Show me her birth certificate. Show me anything to say she was here,’” Pomeroy said. “I just told him there was enough evidence already visible, so if he chooses not to see that, how would I know he would believe anything else?”

Complete article here: Pair arrested after harassing Sutherland Springs pastor

It has been said by conspiracy theorists the Pentagon was hit by a rocket and not by the American Airlines airplane with 64 passengers and crew. 

It has been said by conspiracy theorists no one was killed at Sandy Hook.  

If no one was killed in these three events cited, where are all these people?

And why do people believe there are conspiracies?

I don't get it.

[happyhoix]

Mar 6, 2018 16:53:33 GMT -5 midjd said:

And why do people believe there are conspiracies?

I have two family members who I'd classify as conspiracy theorists. My grandmother was one as well (she died when I was 7 but I still remember her talking about fluoridated water as a government mind-control device). My dad believes the government created HIV/AIDS and disseminated crack to poor black neighborhoods. My brother believes most of what Alex Jones says, including the "crisis actor" Sandy Hook hoax stuff.

I think there's an appeal to believing these sorts of things because it makes the believer feel intelligent. They can draw connections where the government wonks and ivory tower types have failed (or, in even more of an ego boost, they've been able to see through the misdeeds the government is actively concealing).  

What scares me is this: my grandmother died when my brother was an infant. My dad and brother probably haven't spoken in a decade. Yet they all have the same inclination to believe these sorts of things.

So while it would be easy to assume that conspiracy theorists beget other conspiracy theorists just by virtue of indoctrination, I think there may be a genetic component too. DH has instructions to send me off on an ice floe if I start spouting anything too crazy. 

I think you may be right. We have hoarding tendencies in my family, and OCD/Anxiety tendencies, I could see how there might be a genetic component to believing in conspiracies.

I've also told DH if I start hoarding shit it's time for the shovel to the back of the head. He's agreed.

[Tennesseer]

I am curious what these theorists believe happened to all the church goers, the airplane passengers, the school students and staff.  Do they believe they never existed contrary to proof?

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

If our brains had to process the world as it really was we'd all be drooling in a corner right now.

We are programmed to form an opinion first and look for evidence later.  That kept us alive in the jungle where you would have been eaten in the time it took you to debate if that rustling grass was really a tiger or just the wind.

 Conspiracy theories are like crack for our brains. Conspiracy theories speak to our brain's need to make connections, see patterns and make sense of this crazy ass world we live in.  Our brain
does not like randomness, our brain does not like not knowing.  Conspiracy theories make our brain happy because they can expand to fit what our brain has already decided is the truth.  No matter how much evidence you provide against it, a conspiracy theory can find a way to turn it around and use it as "proof" that the conspiracy theory is valid.

That's why they are so dangerous.  We like to think we are all enlightened rational creatures but we are not.   If you watch enough History Channel, Discovery or Destination America soon you too will believe aliens crash landed causes the Twin Towers to fall and the government covered it up by claiming it was an attack by terrorists so Bush could legitmize his war in the Middle East.

[happyhoix]

And why do people believe there are conspiracies?

I don't understand this myself. There is a video floating in the intenets where a woman is sitting watching her yard sprinkler make a rainbow in the sunlight and she goes off on how it's proof that the government is spraying chemicals into the atmosphere (the same reason you see contrails behind jets).  (Apparently, it's for solar radiation management, according to the conspiracy people).

I'm an old broad, I've worked with  lot of different organizations and work groups, and I know how hard it is to get everyone organized and working towards the same goals, even when it's a simple goal like maximizing profits or reducing scrap. Like a bag of wet cats sometimes. The idea that there are thousands of people engaged in elaborate conspiracies over many years - and no one tells anyone outside the group about it, ever, or accidentally leaves an important notebook in a cab, or emails something secret to his Christmas email list of friends - that's virtually impossible when you're dealing with humans, IMHO.

Maybe when the robots take over, but not with humans.

And like with the rainbow in the sprinkler - 100% of the time, the reality is so much simpler than the conspiracy.  

 

[happyhoix]

Mar 6, 2018 16:59:44 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

I am curious what these theorists believe happened to all the church goers, the airplane passengers, the school students and staff.  Do they believe they never existed contrary to proof?

From what I've heard I think they believe these are 'crisis actors' paid to either lay on the ground and look like a corpse, or to pretend to be bereaved.

So no - none of the dead people actually existed. It's the damn gun grabbers conspiring with the government.

[Tennesseer]

Mar 6, 2018 17:09:43 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Mar 6, 2018 16:59:44 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

I am curious what these theorists believe happened to all the church goers, the airplane passengers, the school students and staff.  Do they believe they never existed contrary to proof?

From what I've heard I think they believe these are 'crisis actors' paid to either lay on the ground and look like a corpse, or to pretend to be bereaved.

So no - none of the dead people actually existed. It's the damn gun grabbers conspiring with the government.

Or how about the medium length, brown haired woman who coincidentally shows up in fuzzy photos crying at Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Orlando, and all the other mass shooting sites. She is believed to be a crisis actor because there cannot possibly be any other medium length, brown haired women in the world.

[Artemis Windsong]

They have no reasoning and understanding.  A chance to bully people grieving. 

Accounts like this in history:

THE LARGEST MASS SHOOTING IN US HISTORY occurred on December 29,1890 when 297 Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota were murdered by federal agents & members of the 7th Cavalry who had come to confiscate their firearms “for their own safety and protection”. The slaughter began after the majority of the Sioux had peacefully turned in their firearms. The Calvary began shooting, and managed to wipe out the entire camp. 200 of the 297 victims were women and children.
Wounded Knee was among the first federally backed gun confiscation attempts in United States history. It ended in the senseless murder of 297 people.
The Second Amendment, the right of the people to take up arms in defense of themselves, their families, and property in the face of invading armies or an oppressive government. The Second Amendment was written by people who fled oppressive and tyrannical regimes in Europe, and it refers to the right of American citizens to be armed for defensive purposes, should such tyranny arise in the United States.
Wounded Knee is the prime example of why the Second Amendment exists, and why we should vehemently resist any attempts to infringe on our Rights to Bear Arms. Without the Second Amendment we will be totally stripped of any ability to defend ourselves and our families. (Quora

[steff]

My crazy aunt S doesn't believe Sandy Hook or Parkland happened.  They were just crisis actors & the kids are just in other schools now.  She does believe the church one happened because....church baby Jesus martyrs for God & America etc.... 

As to why she believes these things, no clue.  Mom couldn't carry on the conversation to dig that deep into the batshit crazy tent.  Mom kinda gave up when Aunt S said that the only indictments & guilty pleas were from Hillary people & Mueller was closing in on Hillary.   I strongly believe that she is Paul's target audience & she's all in for it. 

All I can say is thank goodness Gramma passed away & we don't have to invite Aunt S for any holidays anymore. 

[Virgil Showlion]

Mar 6, 2018 16:53:33 GMT -5 midjd said:

So while it would be easy to assume that conspiracy theorists beget other conspiracy theorists just by virtue of indoctrination, I think there may be a genetic component too.

Oh, mercy. I needed a good belly laugh.


irony (n.) proffering a dubious theory on why people so readily subscribe to dubious theories


Now the question is: Should we believe your theory, in which case you're genetically predisposed to proffering goofy theories and shouldn't be taken seriously; or should we not believe your theory, in which case we have no reason to believe you're a conspiracy goofball, and hence, in the spirit of open-mindedness, we should take you seriously.

[sesfw]

For years there have been people that swear the Holocaust never happened.  I remember reading a biography about Ike when I was in my 20s (forever ago) and he had his photographers take many pictures of the German camps when he freed them.  He told the photog to take a lot of pictures because "someday some SOB will say this never happened".

I think the theorists are on the whacky side ..... but as long as they don't hurt themselves OR ANY ONE ELSE ........ have at it.

Unfortunately a lot of them have some influence on teen minds that are 'searching'.

[Tennesseer]

Mar 6, 2018 20:57:18 GMT -5 sesfw said:

For years there have been people that swear the Holocaust never happened.  I remember reading a biography about Ike when I was in my 20s (forever ago) and he had his photographers take many pictures of the German camps when he freed them.  He told the photog to take a lot of pictures because "someday some SOB will say this never happened".

I think the theorists are on the whacky side ..... but as long as they don't hurt themselves OR ANY ONE ELSE ........ have at it.

Unfortunately a lot of them have some influence on teen minds that are 'searching'.

And some rational adults (most of the time) too.

[happyhoix]

Mar 6, 2018 17:27:33 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Mar 6, 2018 17:09:43 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

From what I've heard I think they believe these are 'crisis actors' paid to either lay on the ground and look like a corpse, or to pretend to be bereaved.

So no - none of the dead people actually existed. It's the damn gun grabbers conspiring with the government.

Or how about the medium length, brown haired woman who coincidentally shows up in fuzzy photos crying at Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Orlando, and all the other mass shooting sites. She is believed to be a crisis actor because there cannot possibly be any other medium length, brown haired women in the world.

I'm a woman with medium length brown hair.

(And no, I'm not a crisis actor).

 

[busymom]

It'd be interesting to do a brain scan on these folks, to figure out what's wrong with them.  Seriously.  Why torment these poor families who have suffered an unspeakable loss?  


The only event in US History that I have seriously considered could've been a conspiracy was the JFK assassination.

[Virgil Showlion]

Conspiracy theories help people to bring order to chaos. They're a reaction to helplessness.

There's usually a kernel of truth to them. For example, concerning "crisis actors" at Sandy Hook (which really is beyond the pale), the kernel of truth is there are many documented instances of governments--including Western governments--staging "false flag" attacks as a pretext for political action. Such attacks fall into a broad category of military/intelligence tactics called "psychological operations" ("psyops") which is a very real covert science. The now-infamous Russian ads that ran on Facebook from 2015-2017 are one example.

Of course, the mere existence of legitimate false flag attacks and psyops, or even the existence of offices devoted to perpetrating them (recall the Vault 5 leak and UMBRAGE from a couple years ago), doesn't prove that any given attack with clear political impetus is a psyop. The extra ingredients that cause the seed to take root in the mind a conspiracy theorist are, in my experience: i) a strong distrust of (and possible resentment of) large governments, and ii) fear over the decline of western society, and the desire to bring order to chaos by ascribing as many problems as possible to causes with clear solutions.

Theories also tend to blossom when people are propagandized or spin doctored enough (thank you, western media) that they simply 'snap' and adopt the attitude that any one datum is as real as any other. Because conspiracy theories have many 'outs' and many unknowns, and the facts supporting them are so fungible, they can be molded into a grand overriding design, which is highly seductive for the soul looking to bring order to chaos.

[Virgil Showlion]

Mar 7, 2018 7:46:29 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Mar 6, 2018 17:27:33 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Or how about the medium length, brown haired woman who coincidentally shows up in fuzzy photos crying at Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Orlando, and all the other mass shooting sites. She is believed to be a crisis actor because there cannot possibly be any other medium length, brown haired women in the world.

I'm a woman with medium length brown hair.

(And no, I'm not a crisis actor).

I've always wondered about your display name: happyhoix.

The 'happy' is obviously because you're so happy all the time. But what of the 'hoix'?

Is it HOIX, as in "Hidden Online Infiltration eXpert"? Perhaps "Human Operative IX"?

I think so.

If you deny it, then I'll know for sure. You'll be covering your tracks.

If you say nothing, your silence will convict you. Obviously my outing you will have you too rattled to respond.

[swamp]

Mar 7, 2018 7:46:29 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Mar 6, 2018 17:27:33 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Or how about the medium length, brown haired woman who coincidentally shows up in fuzzy photos crying at Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Orlando, and all the other mass shooting sites. She is believed to be a crisis actor because there cannot possibly be any other medium length, brown haired women in the world.

I'm a woman with medium length brown hair.

(And no, I'm not a crisis actor).

 

I used to have medium length brown hair.  I cut it because the conspiracy theorists were on to me.  

[swamp]

Mar 6, 2018 17:07:54 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I don't understand this myself. There is a video floating in the intenets where a woman is sitting watching her yard sprinkler make a rainbow in the sunlight and she goes off on how it's proof that the government is spraying chemicals into the atmosphere (the same reason you see contrails behind jets).  (Apparently, it's for solar radiation management, according to the conspiracy people).

I'm an old broad, I've worked with  lot of different organizations and work groups, and I know how hard it is to get everyone organized and working towards the same goals, even when it's a simple goal like maximizing profits or reducing scrap. Like a bag of wet cats sometimes. The idea that there are thousands of people engaged in elaborate conspiracies over many years - and no one tells anyone outside the group about it, ever, or accidentally leaves an important notebook in a cab, or emails something secret to his Christmas email list of friends - that's virtually impossible when you're dealing with humans, IMHO.

Maybe when the robots take over, but not with humans.

And like with the rainbow in the sprinkler - 100% of the time, the reality is so much simpler than the conspiracy.  

 

I've worked in government.  The government can't organize a one car funeral without fucking something up.   

[Virgil Showlion]

Mar 7, 2018 9:22:21 GMT -5 swamp said:

Mar 6, 2018 17:07:54 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I don't understand this myself. There is a video floating in the intenets where a woman is sitting watching her yard sprinkler make a rainbow in the sunlight and she goes off on how it's proof that the government is spraying chemicals into the atmosphere (the same reason you see contrails behind jets).  (Apparently, it's for solar radiation management, according to the conspiracy people).

I'm an old broad, I've worked with  lot of different organizations and work groups, and I know how hard it is to get everyone organized and working towards the same goals, even when it's a simple goal like maximizing profits or reducing scrap. Like a bag of wet cats sometimes. The idea that there are thousands of people engaged in elaborate conspiracies over many years - and no one tells anyone outside the group about it, ever, or accidentally leaves an important notebook in a cab, or emails something secret to his Christmas email list of friends - that's virtually impossible when you're dealing with humans, IMHO.

Maybe when the robots take over, but not with humans.

And like with the rainbow in the sprinkler - 100% of the time, the reality is so much simpler than the conspiracy.  

 

I've worked in government.  The government can't organize a one car funeral without fucking something up.   

The Manhattan Project at its peak was consuming a quarter of the electric power generated in the US, and few people had any clue of its existence, let alone its purpose.

The whole idea behind a "shadow government" rests on knowledge hierarchies and compartmentalization. Even if an operation is large and distributed over numerous agencies, each agency is restricted to seeing only a small piece of the total puzzle. Within the agencies, teams are only privy to the parts of the local puzzle piece that intersect their specific roles. In this way, the left hand never knows what the right hand is doing on any tier of the hierarchy except the topmost. Even if multiple leaks, blunders, etc. occur on lower tiers, observers can only speculate as to the big picture.

There's a reason the world elite perennially gather at closed-door conferences like the Bilderberg conference, and there's a reason the venues are locked down, sealed up, and guarded by legions of snipers that will shoot the wings off a fly. I guarantee you it's not because there's no such thing as real, national- or international-scale conspiracies.

Distinguishing truth from fiction is the problem.

[happyhoix]

Mar 7, 2018 8:59:06 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Mar 7, 2018 7:46:29 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

I'm a woman with medium length brown hair.

(And no, I'm not a crisis actor).

I've always wondered about your display name: happyhoix.

The 'happy' is obviously because you're so happy all the time. But what of the 'hoix'?

Is it HOIX, as in "Hidden Online Infiltration eXpert"? Perhaps "Human Operative IX"?

I think so.

If you deny it, then I'll know for sure. You'll be covering your tracks.

If you say nothing, your silence will convict you. Obviously my outing you will have you too rattled to respond.

D'OH! The jig is up!

(Now I sneak off with all the super secret highly valuable secrets all you suckers have wantonly left all over your anonymous postings).

[happyhoix]

Mar 7, 2018 9:55:58 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Mar 7, 2018 9:22:21 GMT -5 swamp said:

I've worked in government.  The government can't organize a one car funeral without fucking something up.   

The Manhattan Project at its peak was consuming a quarter of the electric power generated in the US, and few people had any clue of its existence, let alone its purpose.

The whole idea behind a "shadow government" rests on knowledge hierarchies and compartmentalization. Even if an operation is large and distributed over numerous agencies, each agency is restricted to seeing only a small piece of the total puzzle. Within the agencies, teams are only privy to the parts of the local puzzle piece that intersect their specific roles. In this way, the left hand never knows what the right hand is doing on any tier of the hierarchy except the topmost. Even if multiple leaks, blunders, etc. occur on lower tiers, observers can only speculate as to the big picture.

There's a reason the world elite perennially gather at closed-door conferences like the Bilderberg conference, and there's a reason the venues are locked down, sealed up, and guarded by legions of snipers that will shoot the wings off a fly. I guarantee you it's not because there's no such thing as real, national- or international-scale conspiracies.

Distinguishing truth from fiction is the problem.

Actually there is a really interesting Netflix documentary series called Wormwood about a man who, in the 60's, either jumped or was pushed from a hotel window and killed. His son has spent decades trying to find out the truth. His dad was a government employee and initially the government admitted, during the Ford administration, that his dad had participated in a secret LDS experiment the government was running - but in fact, what really happened was much worse.

So I don't doubt shitty stuff goes on and gets covered up (the VD experiment where the government deliberately failed to treat a bunch of black men to watch the progression VD took is another one) and there have been times that, for national security (like the Manhattan project) the government has been able to appeal to patriotism to get large numbers of people to stay silent about their activities.

However, the government getting hundreds of thousands of people to collude in a massive deception in order to outlaw guns, in a country where the majority of the population thinks responsible gun ownership should be legal? And no one outside the deception finding out about it? Nope.  So you're right, it does come down to distinguishing truth from fiction.

[steff]

Mar 6, 2018 17:03:44 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

If our brains had to process the world as it really was we'd all be drooling in a corner right now.

We are programmed to form an opinion first and look for evidence later.  That kept us alive in the jungle where you would have been eaten in the time it took you to debate if that rustling grass was really a tiger or just the wind.

 Conspiracy theories are like crack for our brains. Conspiracy theories speak to our brain's need to make connections, see patterns and make sense of this crazy ass world we live in.  Our brain
does not like randomness, our brain does not like not knowing.  Conspiracy theories make our brain happy because they can expand to fit what our brain has already decided is the truth.  No matter how much evidence you provide against it, a conspiracy theory can find a way to turn it around and use it as "proof" that the conspiracy theory is valid.

That's why they are so dangerous.  We like to think we are all enlightened rational creatures but we are not.   If you watch enough History Channel, Discovery or Destination America soon you too will believe aliens crash landed causes the Twin Towers to fall and the government covered it up by claiming it was an attack by terrorists so Bush could legitmize his war in the Middle East.

The only things I've learned from Destination America is that apparently there are "packs" of Bigfoots pretty much everywhere.  And 3 black guys make much more entertaining ghost hunters than all the white guys put together. 

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

DH said considering how much Bigfoot seems to get around you'd think someone would have seen him hitchhiking on the interstate and snapped a photo with their phone by now.

[dezii]

Mar 6, 2018 20:57:18 GMT -5 sesfw said:

For years there have been people that swear the Holocaust never happened.  I remember reading a biography about Ike when I was in my 20s (forever ago) and he had his photographers take many pictures of the German camps when he freed them.  He told the photog to take a lot of pictures because "someday some SOB will say this never happened".

I think the theorists are on the whacky side ..... but as long as they don't hurt themselves OR ANY ONE ELSE ........ have at it.

Unfortunately a lot of them have some influence on teen minds that are 'searching'.

If they were really interested in the truth of that event, all I would have to do is introduce her to my next door neighbor, Lil....a survivor, her late husband too...they met in England after the war...but of course those types are not interested in knowing such things....

The ones who believe them though...those are the ones who really p me off...

[NastyWoman]

Mar 7, 2018 7:46:29 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

Mar 6, 2018 17:27:33 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Or how about the medium length, brown haired woman who coincidentally shows up in fuzzy photos crying at Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Orlando, and all the other mass shooting sites. She is believed to be a crisis actor because there cannot possibly be any other medium length, brown haired women in the world.

I'm a woman with medium length brown hair.

(And no, I'm not a crisis actor).

 

So am I - that is after I colored my hair. Otherwise I would be a woman with medium length white/gray hair  

(and I am too lazy to be a crisis actor)

[kadee79]

Mar 6, 2018 17:27:33 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Mar 6, 2018 17:09:43 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

From what I've heard I think they believe these are 'crisis actors' paid to either lay on the ground and look like a corpse, or to pretend to be bereaved.

So no - none of the dead people actually existed. It's the damn gun grabbers conspiring with the government.

Or how about the medium length, brown haired woman who coincidentally shows up in fuzzy photos crying at Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Orlando, and all the other mass shooting sites. She is believed to be a crisis actor because there cannot possibly be any other medium length, brown haired women in the world.

Tenn., the woman in that picture has come forward and has spoken that someone(s) keep posting her pic supposedly at all these places, but she hasn't been there.  She has tried to get the pic taken down but I don't know how successful she has been with that.  And her speaking about it didn't get much coverage either.

[weltschmerz]

Mar 6, 2018 17:03:44 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

If our brains had to process the world as it really was we'd all be drooling in a corner right now.

We are programmed to form an opinion first and look for evidence later.  That kept us alive in the jungle where you would have been eaten in the time it took you to debate if that rustling grass was really a tiger or just the wind.

 Conspiracy theories are like crack for our brains. Conspiracy theories speak to our brain's need to make connections, see patterns and make sense of this crazy ass world we live in.  Our brain does not like randomness, our brain does not like not knowing.  Conspiracy theories make our brain happy because they can expand to fit what our brain has already decided is the truth.  No matter how much evidence you provide against it, a conspiracy theory can find a way to turn it around and use it as "proof" that the conspiracy theory is valid.

That's why they are so dangerous.  We like to think we are all enlightened rational creatures but we are not.   If you watch enough History Channel, Discovery or Destination America soon you too will believe aliens crash landed causes the Twin Towers to fall and the government covered it up by claiming it was an attack by terrorists so Bush could legitmize his war in the Middle East.

Apophenia and Pareidolia in full swing.