Hot Lava Mama Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 I ran across this article: http://www.infowars.com/homeland-security-funded-exercise-portrayed-homeschoolers-as-terrorists/ This is by Alex Jones, who I have heard is a bit of a nut-job. Has anyone else seen anything like this anywhere else or is this a "fanning the flame" sort of thing? Interested to hear from the Hive's wisdom! :) Hot Lava Mama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChocolateReignRemix Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Alex Jones and reality have been strangers for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Lava Mama Posted May 13, 2013 Author Share Posted May 13, 2013 I haven't really read any of his stuff before, but I have heard some friends talk about him and he seems kind of "out there." I was just wondering if anyone has read anything like this on a legitimate source before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 I stopped reading at the paragraph that began with "According to the Muskegon Chronicle . . ." and then went on to link to some homeshool site as a source. If a reputable source (the Chronicle) had actually said homeschoolers were being portrayed as terrorists, then why wasn't a link given to the article? Alex Jones is a whackadoodle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyDays Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Alex Jones and reality have been strangers for years. That's probably the most concise way to put it! HLM, I did scan the article, and it looks like it was covering several different "simulated attack" scenarios, including the one with "homeschoolers" posing as the bad guys. The event was from 2004, so not that current, but it did happen at the time and was reported in a Michigan paper. Here's a link from a homeschool magazine (link from the Alex Jones article) that talks about it and the responses of those in charge: http://www.home-scho...terrorists.html So, like many of these things... sensationalistic, to be sure, but with a kernel of truth. ;) Pawz, we were posting at the same time. I noticed that too... I went to the Chronicle's webpage, but the archives don't appear to go back that far, so I posted the summary on Homeschool World. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Lava Mama Posted May 13, 2013 Author Share Posted May 13, 2013 Thanks for the replies. I figured it was some sensational type of thing because I had not heard that anywhere else. Also, what is "According to the Muskegon Chronicle"? I have never heard of that before. It's good to know there is wisdom to tap when I need it! :) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeritasMama Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Muskegon is a town in Michigan, so I'm assuming the Chronicle is the local paper there. So, this appears to be a local law enforcement blunder, they just happened to be using training funds they recieved from HLS. I don't think Alex Jones is crazy, I personally think he is a snake oil salesman. He knows exactly how sensational his show is, and he is cashing in on other people's paranoia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMamaBird Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 If my kids volunteer to be simulated terrorists for a police exercise, do I count that as PE, drama, socialization? I knew a gal who volunteered as a plane crash victim for an emergency exercise and had a blast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 I don't think Alex Jones is crazy, I personally think he is a snake oil salesman. He knows exactly how sensational his show is, and he is cashing in on other people's paranoia. I don't know if he believes what he's saying or not, but he's certainly gifted at working people into a tizzy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 If my kids volunteer to be simulated terrorists for a police exercise, do I count that as PE, drama, socialization? I knew a gal who volunteered as a plane crash victim for an emergency exercise and had a blast! The real question is, does the bulletproof vest go on over or under the denim jumper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 The real question is, does the bulletproof vest go on over or under the denim jumper? Over, but you should bedazzle it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Over, but you should bedazzle it. That will make you look like a stripper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa in SC Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 That will make you look like a stripper. Only if the vest is clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 (edited) nm Edited May 13, 2013 by Moderator That was potstirring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Isn't this old news? Something that happened 3-4 years ago? Or has someone done it again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsBasil Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Isn't this old news? Something that happened 3-4 years ago? Or has someone done it again? The article is kind of a crappy mish mash of information and paranoia. The portraying homeschoolers as school shooters they reference happened once in Michigan in 2004. The school district apologized. The lead is a police training exercise for school shootings that happened recently in Washington, but that nothing to do with homeschoolers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Also, what is "According to the Muskegon Chronicle"? I have never heard of that before. Sorry my post was so fuddled. I was posting from my phone and dealing with the clunkiness of that. Here's the paragraph I was referring to from the Infowars article: According to the Muskegon Chronicle, the exercise was a simulated “attack by a fictitious radical group called Wackos Against Schools and Education who believe everyone should be homeschooled,†Homeschool World reported in September, 2004. He references the Muskegon Chronicle, which we can assume is the local newspaper and would be a legitimate, trustworthy source. But instead of linking to the Chronicle article he (supposedly) quoted from, he links to some homeschool website as his source for the statement. Which basically turns it into hearsay and makes no sense at all. If you reference a newspaper article as your source, why would you not link to the original article? Unless that article does not, in fact, say exactly what you claim it does. That has red flags all over it. Now maybe it's simply an archiving issue and the article isn't available for linking. But then you wonder why he mentions the Chronicle at all rather than linking to the Homeschool World report as the source. A good journalist likely wouldn't cite a source that he couldn't link to. So I have to assume he mentions the Chronicle only as an attempt to give his article a hint of legitimacy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Butter Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 They use all sorts of different groups as potential terrorists. See, the thing is, sometimes it could be who you least expect so by getting it into the responders heads that it could be "normal" people, they are less likely to overlook something. This happened ages ago, though, and precisely because people get all up in arms no matter what title you assign the "terrorist" group in these drills, they did one recently using zombies. Yes, zombies. They figured no one would get offended because their groups was being named since there is no such thing as zombies. Instead people got all up in arms because zombies don't exist and the government was spending money learning to deal with a zombie attack. Never mind zombies was used to substitute for any and all possible terrorist group (they didn't do anything like say you couldn't kill a zombie coming after you since they are undead - it was simply a title assigned to represent any other group). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 It's not uncommon around here for home schoolers to be invited to participate as "actors" (usually victims) in emergency response drills practicing incidents with mass casualties. Mainly because of their flexible schedules/availability during week days, of course. I suspect Mr. Jones would love to twist that around and attempt to turn it into something ominous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 He references the Muskegon Chronicle, which we can assume is the local newspaper and would be a legitimate, trustworthy source. But instead of linking to the Chronicle article he (supposedly) quoted from, he links to some homeschool website as his source for the statement. Which basically turns it into hearsay and makes no sense at all. If you reference a newspaper article as your source, why would you not link to the original article? Unless that article does not, in fact, say exactly what you claim it does. That has red flags all over it. Now maybe it's simply an archiving issue and the article isn't available for linking. But then you wonder why he mentions the Chronicle at all rather than linking to the Homeschool World report as the source. A good journalist likely wouldn't cite a source that he couldn't link to. So I have to assume he mentions the Chronicle only as an attempt to give his article a hint of legitimacy. While this is generally good reasoning, it doesn't account for the realities of local newspaper publishing. My own local paper keeps things on their website for two weeks. After that they disappear or you have to pay for them. Other papers put not much at all online for free, the Wall Street Journal requires a paid account to read their articles. In this case, I found the Chronicle's website and searched on wacko (name police used for the fictitious group). It appears that 2008 is as far back as their online archives go. According to the mash up this took place in 2004. (And as aside, it is amazing how many times the word wacko occurred in their paper.) I'm mainly posting because I've seen in the past that folks want links to be able to prove things online. Unfortunately that is really not the best evidence, the best evidence continues to be in print resources which because of the cost of producing them are better vetted (on average). I suspect that even as we go more online this will continue as good news sources will need to monetize their articles to pay their costs in producing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 A friend linked this story on my FB page yesterday, it is all very strange. I am curious why it is getting a buzz now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChocolateReignRemix Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Because it is how Alex Jones and his ilk work. They understand that their followers are not very bright, which it makes them easy to fool by linking unrelated "facts" together to push the infowars agenda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahW Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 So bizarre... I have run into homeschoolers who ALSO believed in secret black helicopters and ALSO had militia sympathies...so the idea that a group who "homeschooled" could be terrorists is theoretically valid, BUT I think almost everyone thinks that the most "terrorist" thing most homeschoolers would do is walk around reciting spelling words SO, why is the sky falling again? Wackos Against Schools and Education - lol. Did the person who think of this name just run into a bunch of radical unschoolers? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.