Read The Mammoth Book of Conspiracies Online
Authors: Jon E. Lewis
Tags: #Social Science, #Conspiracy Theories
The Mammoth Book of Conspiracies
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Jon E. Lewis is a historian and writer, whose books on history and military history are sold worldwide. He is also the editor of many
The Mammoth Book of
anthologies, including the best-selling
Cover-Ups
.
Other titles by Jon E. Lewis
The Mammoth Book of Antarctic Journeys
The Mammoth Book of Cover-Ups
The Mammoth Book of Native Americans
The Mammoth Book of How It Happened
The Mammoth Book of On the Edge
The Mammoth Book of Pirates
The Mammoth Book of True War Stories
The Mammoth Book of Wild Journeys
London: The Autobiography
Rome: The Autobiography
World War II: The Autobiography
Survivor: The Autobiography
SAS: The Autobiography
Spitfire: The Autobiography
Constable & Robinson Ltd
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First published in the UK by Robinson,
an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2012
Copyright © J. Lewis-Stempel, 2012
The right of Jon E. Lewis to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication
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UK ISBN: 978-1-84901-363-5 (paperback)
UK eISBN: 978-1-84901-730-5 (ebook)
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First published in the United States in 2012 by Running Press Book Publishers,
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US ISBN: 978-0-7624-4271-3
US Library of Congress Control Number: 2011930502
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CONTENTS
Big Brother: InfraGard and ECHELON
CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research)
INTRODUCTION
These are, of course,
theories
. If they were proven beyond all doubt they would be conspiracy
facts
.
This book, a companion to
The Mammoth Book of Cover-Ups
, is a guide to the weirdest, wackiest and the most dangerous conspiracy theories around. I have, hopefully, steered a path between the Scylla of outright scepticism and the Charybdis of wide-open gullibility, the latter constantly boosted by the Internet, a self-referring universe where one blogger’s claim becomes one researcher’s proof. As a measuring stick of a theory’s veracity, I have included an “ALERT” guide, with a 1 to 10 rating, with 1 being “No way, Jose” and 10 being “It’s a cert”. A small number of cases have appeared in
Cover-Ups
, but reappear here in the light of more and new information.
There are conspiracy theories that cross the edge of madness – David Icke’s “reptilian-humanoid takeover” and Vril-powered UFOs driven by Nazis come hurtling to mind – but there are plenty out there that raise real issues about the abuse of power by secretive groups of politicos, CEOs, medicos and military honchos. Everyone should sleep a little less easy and be a little more vigilant after reading about the US Army’s “Operation Northwoods” (which proposed false-flag terrorist outrages on the American people and the sticking of the blame on Cuba) and you may want to give the bio-research facility at Plum Island a wide, wide detour.
As they say: just because you are paranoid, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t out to get you …
Jon E. Lewis
APPLE
Ever wonder how two tech geeks like Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak made their billions?
Conspiracists know the answer. Jobs and Wozniak built the first Macintosh computer in a California garage and when it failed to raise interest they did a deal with the devil, selling their souls in exchange for success on earth. The proof was on the price tag of the first Mac: $666.66. The mark of the Beast. Rounding off the evidence is the Apple logo. There’s a bite taken out of the apple, the forbidden fruit.
Alternatively, Apple did a deal with Big Brother. Take a look at an iPhone. It plays, unknown to its owner, iSpy on you. A secret file stores latitude and longitude, complete with a dater. The file is unencrypted and is transferred to any device the iPhone syncs with. Thus anyone with access to the owner’s computer can track his or her movements. Invasion of privacy anyone? Apple’s snooping habit doesn’t end with the locator file. The “Hackintosh hacker” alleged that Apple has stuck a code into the iPhone that tracks keyboard use, so every time the user taps in information this is relayed to Apple HQ. The claim has never been verified but Apple’s appetite for gathering personal information is infamous; in 2010 the company applied for a patent (“Systems and Methods for Identifying Unauthorized Users of an Electronic Device”) that could record the heartbeat of iPhone users, as well as covertly photograph them and their surroundings. If Apple collects information, as sure as God made little green apples, law enforcement agencies will one day come calling to use it. All of which has made dark rooms full of pale conspiracy theorists wonder if Apple is not doing the CIA/FBI’s job for them.
Apple justified the patent application as a security measure to prevent thieves using stolen phones, but as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EEF) watchdog pointed out the technology also enabled Apple to cut off customers who pimped (quite lawfully) their devices. Improper use would also be reported to the Orwellian sounding “proper authorities”. The EEF christened the patent “traitorware”. Apple’s inclination to control is almost as great as its inclination to spy. On prudishly deciding that cartoonist Mark Fiore’s NewsToons app was too satirical for its taste Apple rejected it. When Fiore won a Pulitzer though they installed the app. Never one to miss a commercial opportunity, Apple.