John Berry wrote:
Ok, then explain. Why did they get rid of the bomb sniffing dogs after the mysterious powerdown?
No one can explain every damn urban myth that pops out the minds of confused people. You should explain to me why Toyota runs their factory fork lifts on cold fusion, yet they refuse to sell it to the world.
I will tell you the answer to the latter: They have no such fork lifts. Toyota never developed cold fusion. They abandoned the research and kicked out Fleischmann and Pons, then for good measure they broke into Fleischmann's house and stole his information. Does that mean there is a lurid conspiracy to suppress cold fusion? Is this not an example of your worst conspiracy-theory come to life?
No, this is just plain ordinary garden-variety stupidity. I have met the decision makers at Toyota and in the Japanese government who did this. Martin Fleischmann is well acquainted with them and I discussed the matter with him and others over many hours. I know what these leaders say, and what they are thinking. They think that cold fusion does not exist. They put more stock in idiotic statements by Time magazine reporters than in scientific evidence produced by their own researchers. These are profoundly stupid and dysfunctional people but unfortunately such people are often in charge of large, influential organizations, such as governments and major corporations. That is the usual reason why terrible things happen -- not because of arcane conspiracies, or smart people plotting, but because people are often catastrophically stupid and incompetent. And also small-minded and malicious, and when you combine stupidity with maliciousness, disaster awaits. Read the book "The March of Folly" for details. That may sound less romantic and exciting than the notion that people are engaged in some kind of arcane thriller novel-style conspiracy, but it is how life really works.
If you want another example, take the statements made yesterday in the Japanese Parliament by the Foreign Minister of Japan, Taro Aso, regarding the Korean sex slaves abducted by the Japanese army during World War II. On February 18, the U.S. House of Representatives condemned Japan for not admitting this horrible chapter of its own history, and for not apologizing to or compensating the victims. The Japanese government responded yesterday by saying that the events never occurred and the U.S. resolution is "extremely regrettable and definitely not based on objective facts." Since hundreds of the victims are still alive and hundreds of Japanese ex-soldiers have testified to the events, this as if the German foreign minister was to deny that the Holocaust occurred. Not only is this a grotesque and odious lie, it is bound to infuriate Korea, China and the other nations victimized by the Japanese in World War II. The Koreans feel roughly the way Americans would feel if the Japanese were to deny that the Bataan death March occurred. They claim the Korean women were volunteers, which is like saying: "Those happy-go-lucky Americans POWs were just out for a stroll! Ten thousand of them asked us to beat them, bayonet them, cut off their privates, and bury them alive! Such funny people . . ."
Ask yourself: Why would the second most powerful official in a government stand up and make statements that are bound to infuriate neighboring countries, and which everyone knows are lies? What could motive him, other than the usual mix of racism, sexism and xenophobia? The answer is that Aso is a stupid fool. There is not more profound reason than that: he is a fool. Most racist xenophobes know better than to say things like this in public, but Aso did not think twice. Granted, he is pandering to own political base -- conservative, elderly Japanese men who think they should have won the war and Emperor is a God -- but he is the Foreign Minister for crying out loud! He is supposed to have a modicum of diplomacy.
- Jed
