WWMD?- My co-worker thinks the Vegas shooting was a hoax

[old goat]

Depending on who you ask, either 63 million or 66 million people in this country are idiots. Is it any wonder that a lot of people are dumb enough to believe conspiracy theories?

[Core Shot]

I doubt many people think it was a “hoax”
People got shot, wounded and died

But was there something more? Could be. The narrative sucks and makes no sense.
Saudi
Weird

[KQ]

I have a friend who believes the coronavirus is the fault of Bill & Melinda Gates and that it's part of China's "covert biological weapons programme" and may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Outbreak 'planned'
As the United States reported its first case of the coronavirus last week, several patent documents started to circulate on Twitter and Facebook that at first glance appear to suggest experts have been aware of the virus for years.

One of the first users to float these allegations was conspiracy theorist and YouTuber Jordan Sather.

In a lengthy thread that has been retweeted thousands of times, he shared a link to a 2015 patent filed by the Pirbright Institute in Surrey, England, that talks about developing a weakened version of coronavirus for potential use as a vaccine to prevent or treat respiratory diseases. The same link has also been widely circulated on Facebook, mainly in conspiracy and anti-vaccination groups.

Sather used the fact that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a donor to both Pirbright and vaccine development to suggest that the current outbreak virus has somehow been deliberately manufactured to attract funding for the development of a vaccine.

"And how much funding has the Gates Foundation given to vaccine programs throughout the years? Was the release of this disease planned? Is the media being used to incite fear around it?" Sather tweeted.

But Pirbright's patent is not for the new coronavirus. Instead, it covers the avian infectious bronchitis virus, a member of the wider coronavirus family that infects poultry.

As for the speculation about the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Pirbright spokeswoman Teresa Maughan told Buzzfeed News that the institute's particular work with the infectious bronchitis virus was not funded by this foundation.

'Bioweapon' conspiracies
Another baseless claim that has gone viral online suggests the virus was part of China's "covert biological weapons programme" and may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Many accounts pushing the theory cite two widely-shared Washington Times articles both of which quote a former Israeli military intelligence officer for the claim.

However, no evidence is provided for the claim in the two articles, and the Israeli source is quoted as saying that "so far there isn't evidence or indication" to suggest there was a leak.

The two articles have so far been posted to hundreds of different social accounts to a potential audience of millions.

The Daily Star published a similar piece last week, claiming the virus might have "started in a secret lab". However, it has since amended the piece to add there is no evidence for the claim.

BBC News approached the Washington Times for comment.

[old goat]

For a bioweapon to be effective the user must have an effective antidote that the enemy lacks, since there's no way to contain a bioweapon so that it only affects one's enemies. Chemicals, or nuclear weapons, or old fashioned conventional weapons are much more practical.

[KQ]

For a bioweapon to be effective the user must have an effective antidote that the enemy lacks, since there's no way to contain a bioweapon so that it only affects one's enemies. Chemicals, or nuclear weapons, or old fashioned conventional weapons are much more practical.

Yeah... whatever... can't believe it. I always knew she was on the edge but this, to my mind, pushes her right into the full blown conspiracy theorist category. Must be exhausting.

[old goat]

Yeah... whatever... can't believe it. I always knew she was on the edge but this, to my mind, pushes her right into the full blown conspiracy theorist category. Must be exhausting.

The hard part of being into conspiracy theories is that there are so many to choose from, so it's hard to know which ones to pay particular attention to and which ones to keep in the back of one's mind. (I use the term "mind" in its broadest sense.) And then the worst part is--every once in a while a conspiracy theory turns out to be true. The CIA really did try to assassinate Castro with an exploding cigar. The FBI did have a dossier on MLK's sex life. Johnson really did make up the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Some of the true stuff is as weird as the fake.

[MakersTeleMark]

I have a friend who believes the coronavirus is the fault of Bill & Melinda Gates and that it's part of China's "covert biological weapons programme" and may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Outbreak 'planned'
As the United States reported its first case of the coronavirus last week, several patent documents started to circulate on Twitter and Facebook that at first glance appear to suggest experts have been aware of the virus for years.

One of the first users to float these allegations was conspiracy theorist and YouTuber Jordan Sather.

In a lengthy thread that has been retweeted thousands of times, he shared a link to a 2015 patent filed by the Pirbright Institute in Surrey, England, that talks about developing a weakened version of coronavirus for potential use as a vaccine to prevent or treat respiratory diseases. The same link has also been widely circulated on Facebook, mainly in conspiracy and anti-vaccination groups.

Sather used the fact that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a donor to both Pirbright and vaccine development to suggest that the current outbreak virus has somehow been deliberately manufactured to attract funding for the development of a vaccine.

"And how much funding has the Gates Foundation given to vaccine programs throughout the years? Was the release of this disease planned? Is the media being used to incite fear around it?" Sather tweeted.

But Pirbright's patent is not for the new coronavirus. Instead, it covers the avian infectious bronchitis virus, a member of the wider coronavirus family that infects poultry.

As for the speculation about the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Pirbright spokeswoman Teresa Maughan told Buzzfeed News that the institute's particular work with the infectious bronchitis virus was not funded by this foundation.

'Bioweapon' conspiracies
Another baseless claim that has gone viral online suggests the virus was part of China's "covert biological weapons programme" and may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Many accounts pushing the theory cite two widely-shared Washington Times articles both of which quote a former Israeli military intelligence officer for the claim.

However, no evidence is provided for the claim in the two articles, and the Israeli source is quoted as saying that "so far there isn't evidence or indication" to suggest there was a leak.

The two articles have so far been posted to hundreds of different social accounts to a potential audience of millions.

The Daily Star published a similar piece last week, claiming the virus might have "started in a secret lab". However, it has since amended the piece to add there is no evidence for the claim.

BBC News approached the Washington Times for comment.

How can you have a friend like that and think that you are a rational human? You have said similar things before as well. You are the problem. You rationalize the idiocy in which you live. You even bitch about it.
Pathetic.

[GiBo]

We all have people we call "friends" that are weird in some ways. My co-worker is a nice guy. Super generous, funny and great at his job. I would call us "friends". I'm not going camping with him our having him over for dinner, but we're friends.

He believes this is all a conspiracy somehow connected to 160,000 sealed indictments. He says the indictments have some connection to the Vatican, that's why they shut Italy down. I just tell him he's a kook and we move on. Still like the guy, though. Maybe I'm just pathetic.

[XXX-er]

I got a buddy with a doctorate, a smart guy and he thinks 911 was planned and the world trade center was brought down with dynamite and actualy alot of people believe that conspiracy theory

[AK47bp]

Having a degree does not mean you are smart.

It means you can memorize, retain, and recall information.




Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[Dantheman]

If I was stuck working with a guy like that and he was good at his job I'd tolerate him, but sure as hell would not say that I "like" him.

[muted]

How can you have a friend like that and think that you are a rational human? You have said similar things before as well. You are the problem. You rationalize the idiocy in which you live. You even bitch about it.
Pathetic.

Says the guy a ton of asshole late night drunk posts who always seems a bit off.

[ex-powderbroker]

Obviously depends on the degree. You can also be smart in some ways and a complete moron in others, like Ben Carson.

And yeah, we all have stupid friends. I have one that completely hustled in a kind of smart way after barely passing HS. started a business that he sold for half a million in cash over a decade ago and has since lost it all in three pyramid schemes. People are crazy and weird.

[GiBo]

If I was stuck working with a guy like that and he was good at his job I'd tolerate him, but sure as hell would not say that I "like" him.

Well, I liked him before he revealed this weird part. I do not like the weirdness, but I must admit that I still like the guy. Not sure how to just turn that off.

[XXX-er]

well yeah I know a doctorate just means you like to go to school alot where you completed like grade 23 but it would also indicate you likely have an IQ on the higher end, have some critical thinking skills and the ability to reason/draw logical conclusions from data presented to you

15 yars ago when i came here I hung out/worked with a bunch of masters & PHD types at a research center, I would have a rough idea understanding what they were talking about most of the time cuz I was the only one who hadn't made it past HS but i was retired