you underestimate the strength of a fixed idea. I predict they will say it was doctored by jews or something, or that it doesn't prove anything anyway. Sort of like when people of unshakeable faith defend their religion from the obviously absurd.

Perhaps you should also enlighten these US academics. Crackpots exist in all societies: http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/worldwide/story/0,,1864657,00.html

Yeah, don't ever mistake education for intelligence and rationality. Their punchline is: 'We're academics and we're rational.' 'As they write. Bollocky bollocks and bolshy yarblockos to thee and thine. I've heard enough professors spout stupidities to not connect the two. My distrust also goes back to the marxist pseudoreality that was in vouge in the seventies with the educated masses...if you thought Stiglitz was bad. Ew. And many of these 'breakthrough claims' are sheer prolifing. An academic cannot bear to be nameless any more than an artist. Well, now these academics have a name.

Profiling, not prolifing. I don't think that's a verb...yet. Heh.

I think the Marxists are still around, but I'll find out in a year or so, when my son gets to college. I've already warned him of what he'll find. I don't think he'll fall for it, being more of a math/engineering type, who tend to skew to the right. Of course, I have to guard against that too. I don't need a Chris Wallace on my hands.

I just read Amir's article. It has to be a joke, else I will be forced to claw my eyes out.

There are still Marxists where I used to go, but apparently it's not nearly as bad as some places. I spent a lot of time with math/engineering types myself (this was the beginning of my engineer dating streak), they invariably avoided all forms of trendy activism.

I am glad this evidence came out as it will hopefully weaken the arguments of conspiracy nuts in both MENA and Europe/America.

However, the tired rant that Arabs and/or Muslims are generally so much more prone to belive these theories always seems so exagerated to me.

43% of Americans still think, in spite of even Bush's statments to the contrary, that Saddam Hussein was connected to 9/11. I don't see how this is much different.

Oh my God, Osama Bin Laden is a Mossad agent!

The dialectic will prevail.

eerie, there actually was a two-page feature on the 9-11 inside job conspiracy in the only national weekly for engineers here in Denmark just this week, and it wasn't particularly critical. If you repeat something enough times...

I left my eyes in, btw. Not worth it.

thought: I think a fair number of new engineers are slash dotters now. Conspiracy geeks, x-files aficionados. A new journalist could have carried the disease. Beware.