Skeptics Examine Sept. 11 (San Jose Mercury News)

[paulthompson]

Skeptics Examine Sept. 11

About 100 Gather in S.F. for Alternative Inquiry

By Dana Hull
San Jose Mercury News
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/8291466.htm


High-level advisers from the Clinton and Bush administrations testified before the commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Washington, D.C., this week. Now a growing subculture of skeptics, amateur sleuths and independent researchers of all stripes are questioning the ``official narrative'' of Sept. 11, and about 100 people are gathering in San Francisco this weekend for a three-day inquiry of their own.

It's easy to dismiss the self-proclaimed ``911 Truth Movement'' as little more than conspiracy theorists gone overboard. But the movement, which until recently largely lived on the Internet, is increasingly holding public forums and attracting attention from the mainstream media.

The weekend event, at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, includes panel discussions about Al-Qaida's links to the CIA, the history of covert operations, and the role of Pakistan in Sept. 11. Some of the more incredible theories say that the planes never hit the World Trade Center towers but that the towers were destroyed by remote control; others insist that some of the hijackers are still alive. The Internet is filled with Web sites like www.911 review.org and www.911 sharethetruth.com, many of which argue that Sept. 11 was an elaborately planned hoax.

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Note: this is a generally decent story, except for the fact that there were closer to a 1000 than 100 people at the conference yesterday (I think this journalist just attended the small press conference and didn't see the big crowd in the main theater). People here at DU may know me as the maker of the 9/11 Timeline. I'll be giving a speech on Pakistan and 9/11 at this conference at 10:30 AM this morning. Lots of good speakers generally, so if you live in the S.F. Bay Area, come and check it out. It's still going today and tomorrow (Saturday and Sunday), $20 attendance per day.

[T Roosevelt]

1. You guys in SF have ALL the fun!

[revcarol]

2. Those "dead" hijackers who are still alive...

ignored by the 9/11 commission?

[JohnyCanuck]

3. Way to go Paul.

I hope to be able to make it when the 911 Truth Conference comes to Toronto in June. And BTW many thanks for all your efforts in putting together that 911 timeline at www.cooperativeresearch.org. It's an invaluable resource for anyone needing information on the events surrounding 9/11.

http://www.911inquiry.org/

[SpiralHawk]

4. MegaThanks Paul T.

The Nation owes you a debt of gratitude for all your good work ferreting out the truth.

keep on keeping on.

[Spazito]

5. Johnny, do you have a schedule for the conference coming to

Canada? Do you know if it will be held in Vancouver? If so, I would definitely go!

[JohnyCanuck]

8. Sorry no info on a Vancouver Conference.

So far the only ones they've anounced are the one Paul's at in SF and one in June for Toronto. See this link for details http://www.911inquiry.org/

[Spazito]

11. Thanks for your response, I will keep checking the link you provided

*

[paulthompson]

6. Coverage in the Oakland Tribune, too

This is a better article on the conference:

S.F. meeting brings out Sept. 11 theories

Conference-goers demand 'truth' about U.S. government's role

By Josh Richman
Oakland Tribune
http://www.oaklandtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,82~1865~2045861,00.html


SAN FRANCISCO -- Days after current and former government officials testified before the official panel probing the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, dozens of activists, independent journalists and others from around the world convened Friday for their own inquiry.

These are people who believe the government is lying on a grand scale, and that the Bush administration at least passively let -- and at most, actively helped -- the attacks happen.

They believe that the independent commission now probing the matter is in no way independent, and that neither it nor the corporate-owned, government-beholden mass media can be trusted to ask the right questions to get at the truth.


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This is a much better article in that it actually goes into some of the 9/11 skeptic ideas without treating them like X-file UFO looniness, but what's with the "dozens" of attendees? Are mainstream journalists completely unable to count?

Thanks for the compliments. Wish me luck - it's my first public speech.

Oh, and by the way, here's the conference schedule. It's been changed all around, but this gives the general gist:

http://www.deceptiondollar.com/Inquiry911program.htm

The Canada one will be in Toronto.

[paulthompson]

9. Here's another one - the SF Chronicle

Looks like this conference is getting some decent local coverage:

With 9/11 in the news, conspiracy buffs gather

3-day conference draws critics of official version for films, speakers, chat

by Harriet Chiang
SF Chronicle
March 27, 2004
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/03/27/BAG525SD161.DTL


Conspiracy theorists, anti-war activists and those with healthy doses of skepticism about the official version of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks converged in San Francisco on Friday for a three-day conference to try to figure out what really happened in the worst act of terrorism on American soil.

The gathering includes a hodgepodge of writers, filmmakers, and activists peddling their own version of what they claim was a cover-up by the Bush administration. In essence, they believe the administration knew about the attacks ahead of time but failed to act so that they could go to war against Afghanistan and Iraq.

[jmcgowanjm]

10. paul, could you nail this down for me please

Alex Diamandis, VP of sales and marketing,
confirmed that workers in Odigo's research and
development and int'l sales office in Israel received
a warning from another Odigo user approximately 2
hours prior to the first attack.

By Brian McWilliams, Newsbytes(WashPost)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA.,
27 Sep 2001, 11:48 AM CST

Thank You,
James

[Occulus]

7. I happened across your timeline last night

and was immediately impressed. My 'cool' meter was up in the red; really a great resource.

Oh, and I love the way your color-coded categories branch off to timelines of their own. Kudos!

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. Thanks to you

all the evidence needed to convict these criminals is compiled on your site.

Thank you for all your hard work documenting and compiling all of this invaluable information.