An event with the lasting effect of the 9/11 attack was bound to spawn any number of conspiracy theories. The are thousands of web sites dedicated to poring over any material related to the attacks in excruciating detail. Most of the media is happy to accept the cleansed version offered by the government, which streamlined its message to maximize impact and effectiveness in using 9/11 as a cudgel with which to whip the American people into a savage frenzy. The reality is almost certainly much more complicated than that. One of the main issues that has bothered the more scientifically-minded among the skeptics is the efficacy with which a crude demolition device like a commerical airliner was able to neatly drop the two towers with minimal surrounding damage. It's almost as if it was a carefully planned demolition job instead of a bunch of terrorists throwing a plane into a building. <a href="http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2006/200606scientificanalysis.htm" source="Prison Planet">Scientific Analysis Proves Towers Brought Down By Incendiaries</a> is one such article, which aims to lend gravitas to the skeptics' claims. <img attachment="240406thermite1.jpg" align="right" class="frame" caption="I-Beam cut by Thermite">There is quite a bit of evidence and quite a few relatively sane people to support the arguments that there is more than meets the eye. The site has videos of thermite experiments and quotes from professors and scientists. As with all conspiracy theories, some of the evidence is just a little blurry and the major news media is completely ignoring it. These days, the fact that the corporate media sees no need to cover something is a long way from saying that it's not important or not true. It simply means that most corporations wouldn't approve, so it's ignored or dropped like a hot potato in favor of breaking issues, like Katie Couric's move, Geraldo's mustache or the most recent missing blond girl in America. Or shark attacks.<fn> Instead, the theories are proposed by "crazies" railing against the government, suspecting it of wrongdoing at every turn with a paranoia that would make a tweaker proud. They weave elaborate theories involving secret agencies that plan detailed and perfectly executed propoganda attacks on the American people, but, at the same time, they crow that the government is a bunch of useless stumblebums who can't find their asses with both hands. With the last part having been proved time and again, how are we to believe that they could plan their own <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire">Reichstag Fire</a> so perfectly that, after five years, no one can prove it? The most damning evidence against any conspiracy theory is that it usually presupposes a cover-up so complete that not a single one of the thousands of people likely involved come forward to confirm the theory. On the other hand, the number of people involved in "proving" these theories---with their resolve, fervor and expertise---leaves the door open for a whole lot of doubt that there must be something more going on than the official story allows. <hr> <ft>Iit is summer after all ... shark attack news season.</ft>