Yesterday the Reelz network reran it’s miniseries The Kennedys, which I’d seen before, and I rewatched some of it. It reminded me of an article I read last month, which I’ll refer to in a minute. First I’ll say that for the record I don’t consider myself a conspiracy theorist. That isn’t to say that I don’t think conspiracies and cover-ups sometimes happen. There are many proven conspiracies involving governments and/or big businesses, from Watergate, to the Tuskegee Experiment, to the C.I.A.’s Cointelpro against various activist groups, and many others. Sometimes people in power do effed up stuff.

So it is good to question authority and not always automatically believe the official story. But some folks take it to the opposite extreme, and just automatically assume a massive conspiracy for pretty much everything. I do try to view events with a critical eye. I’ve previously explained why I don’t believe the U.S. government was responsible for 9/11, because the way I look at it it doesn’t make any logical sense. I always say don’t assume malicious intent where incompetence will do. And I think the above quote by Alan Moore explains the appeal of conspiracy theories. Sometimes it is more comforting to imagine that horrible events were caused by big sinister groups, rather than just random chance, because then life doesn’t seem so unpredictable.

There a few major conspiracies that I kind of believe, or at least think there’s something to them. Last month Gawker.com posted an article that asked If One Mystery Could Be Solved In Your Lifetime, What Would It Be? I posted it on Facebook and said that my answer would be: Who really killed JFK?

I don’t buy the official story that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, and killed him with one shot from behind. I admit that on the surface this theory seems to fit the Alan Moore quote. It’s almost more comforting to believe that there was a massive conspiracy to murder JFK rather than to accept that just one lone random nut could do something like this and have such a major affect on history. But I saw the film, you can clearly see the direction of the fatal head-shot. Look at Kennedy’s head.

Back, and to the left.

BACK, and to the LEFT.

BACK, AND TO THE LEFT!

Dude, he was shot from the front!

So I want to know exactly what happened, and who was involved, and WHY. That’s my first answer. My back-up would be what exactly happened in the infamous Roswell incident?

The only irrefutable facts that we know are that on July 8, 1947 the local Army branch in Roswell, New Mexico issued a press released stating that they’d found a crashed flying saucer (or “flying disc”). Which of course became a national story.

The very next day they held a press conference saying, oops, what we found was a just a weather balloon. Nevermind.

Well, that’s definitely impossible. Some later “official” stories have claimed that it was actually nuclear testing or spy satellites that were being covered up. But there’s also been a veritable industry of books and movies detailing stories of actual extraterrestrials being recovered, either dead or alive, and experiments with alien technology and so forth. I admit, as a sci-fi buff, I like the idea of secret alien contact and all that stuff. That doesn’t mean that I believe that it is true, just that I would like to know, once and for all. Not just about Roswell, but in general, is the U.S. government hiding knowledge of the existence of aliens, including contact with them, and possession of alien technology? Someone on my Facebook said he’s want to know what’s going on at Area 51, but I said Area 51 is too well-known for a “top secret” military base. I’m willing to believe that they just experiment with new aircraft there, like the stealth bombers. If the government has any alien tech or bodies they’re hidden away at some base that we’ve never heard of.

And then my last one, which I usually never talk about because it’s even more controversial than 9/11 or any other conspiracy theory. So I know I have to tread carefully here…

It’s about the anti-vaccination movement.

Yeah, yeah, I know…

Let me be clear, I’m not saying I believe that many vaccines are bad, or cause autism or anything. I’m no doctor, nor do I play one on TV, I’m just saying that it doesn’t seem so completely far-fetched that that some vaccines might possibly maybe have some unintended side-effects (like pretty much every medicine does) that could have harmful long-term effects that perhaps the medical industry is reluctant to reveal. And MAYBE it’s not that crazy to suggest people be a little cautious about it, and demand more research or investigating?

I mean, I’m never having children myself, as I’ve made clear here more than once, but if I did, yeah, I might be a little concerned about what they want to inject into them. I think CDC recommends like 14 different vaccines before the kid is even 6 years old, and then a bunch more from 7-18. But it seems like as far as the internet goes, you can’t even raise a question without being shouted down as EVIL, or simply ridiculed. So that’s why I never say anything.

And, for the record, I got my first flu-shot last month. So shut up.