News Professor claims Newton Ct massacre a hoax

[Evo]

This one is a DOOZY!

A professor at Florida Atlantic University claims that no one was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary school, "that trained “crisis actors” may have been employed by the Obama administration to shape public opinion on gun control."

He suggests that there were multiple shooters...that trained “crisis actors” may have been employed by the Obama administration to shape public opinion on gun control.

His blog, with 222 followers, lays out his conspiracy theory in detail, suggesting that it was a training exercise in which actually nobody was killed.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout...wn-newtown-massacre-conspiracy-183530799.html

I'm posting this because it's news about someone claiming a hoax concerning a current news topic.

I'm wondering if the professor can't be terminated dispite the absurdity of the claims?

 

[Mentalist]

I don't think he can or should be terminated as he did that on a blog. If he is teaching it, then there is a basis, but what he says in a blog should not be grounds for his dismissal from the school so as long as he is teaching in the correct manner.

Many people think crazy stuff any way, and this sort of cockamamie belief is just another 1 of many, many beliefs about things that are obviously wrong. We cannot start firing people because of thoughts they flesh out or beliefs held so as long as it does not affect how they conduct their job.

 

[phinds]

Jeez this is disgusting. I don't see how the university president can just "distance the university" from his statements by SAYING that she disagrees with him. The jerk ought to be fired immediately.

I mean, can you imagine how the parents of those dead kids must feel if they read this?

 

[turbo]

The "professor" is an idiot and a troublemaker, and should be terminated (IMO), tenure or no. I wonder what college granted him a PhD?

 

[phinds]

The "professor" is an idiot and a troublemaker, and should be terminated (IMO), tenure or no. I wonder what college granted him a PhD?

Did you read the article? It said in there.

EDIT: University of Iowa

 

[turbo]

OK, got it. I guess I skipped over it in my disbelief over his horrible statements.

 

[Mentalist]

He said something stupid and believes something stupid, however, that doesn't mean his academic work was/is as idiotic as his thoughts.

A visceral reaction is never the right action to have. Look to see if he is performing his job up to the standards of the university.

 

[ModusPwnd]

The "professor" is an idiot and a troublemaker, and should be terminated (IMO), tenure or no.

Getting fired for having marginal and/or unpopular beliefs negates the very purpose of tenure.

 

[Evo]

What about a psychiatric evaluation? Are these the thoughts of a rational mind? Can they start monitoring his classes to see if he touting his "theories" in class?

Where I worked, your behavior after work could be cause for dismissal, including personal blogs, and they could send you to the company psychiatrist if they felt that you might have "issues". I know Academia is different, so I was wondering if we have professors here that would know how these types of things are handled.

 

[Evo]

Ah, it seems a tenured professor can be fired for several reasons.

Section 1901 Dismissal Related to Conduct or Character Concerns

Section 1902 Dismissal Related to Concerns Regarding Physical or Mental Capacity

http://sogpubs.unc.edu/electronicversions/pdfs/leps19.pdf

 

[Evo]

BTW, he's an Associate professor, didn't mention tenure.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

This guy is in the retail trade. Here is a wholesaler:
Arthur Butz

 

[Skrew]

I'm not seeing the problem, it makes no sense to fire him unless you believe in firing people for believing stupid things outside of work. For private businesses I would say firing someone for what ever reason should be acceptable. FAL is a public university and given that, the personal political views of the staff are not grounds for termination so long as they are kept separate from work.

Sadly I have met many professors who often inject their personal opinions into their teaching and those opinions often have support of the administration.

 

[Evo]

According to this article

Tracy said also has doubts about the official version of the Kennedy assassination, the Oklahoma City bombing, the 9-11 terror attacks and the Aurora, Colo., theater murders.

Tracy said he knows he has sparked controversy on campus. In one of his courses, called "Culture of Conspiracy," Tracy said some students have expressed skepticism about his views.

Does it seem he can't teach objectively?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/08/fau-professor-newtown-massacre-james-tracy_n_2428898.html

From a local newspaper.

Turns out James Tracy, the Florida Atlantic University professor who theorized the Sandy Hook massacre might be a mass media conspiracy, has a history of paranoid weirdness.

Students say the guy went off in class.

Then there is the really weird piece in which the guy actually theorizes pharmaceutical companies create disease to get rich. Don't believe me? Here is a little something from the abstract: "The pharmaceutical industry acts to maximize profits through marketing efforts and the creation of diseases as platforms for the expansion of drug product markets

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2013/01/faus_james_tracy_more_media_co.php

 

[Mentalist]

I would say it reflects badly on the school and its curriculum if students are expressing that he teaches in a similar manner of his comments made.
Reflecting poorly on the school with biased teaching is, in my opinion, grounds for removal/dismissal.

If someone was teaching creationism as a suitable "theory" and a contrary view to evolution to a course dedicated to evolution in college, that professor would not be teaching there for long.

If a course permits him to speak his mind as a professor, then he has grounds, however, if his teaching style contradicts the syllabus and intention of the course, there are grounds for his removal from the institution in my opinion.

If a person doesn't like the science route, then in a philosophical course where you are supposed to be taught the history of Asian philosophy and the professor arrives to class one day and spouts rhetoric on Asian's stealing the philosophy of Europe to make themselves feel better and that European philosophy originated from reptilian Gods, you'd think he should continue teaching?

 

[StevieTNZ]

A lot of academics make controversial statements. The best we can do is ignore them, otherwise we fuel what they say, up.

 

[StevieTNZ]

If a person doesn't like the science route, then in a philosophical course where you are supposed to be taught the history of Asian philosophy and the professor arrives to class one day and spouts rhetoric on Asian's stealing the philosophy of Europe to make themselves feel better and that European philosophy originated from reptilian Gods, you'd think he should continue teaching?

If he/she can back such statements up, then its fine. And allow educational argument over it. Otherwise it is simply throwing stuff at students without them thinking for themselves.

 

[rootX]

His profession is mass communication if I read correctly. If he is spreading conspiracies, isn't he misconducting?

But, where will you find any standards or conduct rules in the communication fields . Professionals would throw any garbage to the public without being held accountable for the consequences. All thanks to freedom of speech.

A lot of academics make controversial statements. The best we can do is ignore them, otherwise we fuel what they say, up.

I was also going to bring this up. You would often comes across people who aren't rational (socially intelligent) in academia.

 

[StevieTNZ]

Its very hard to definitely prove/disprove 'conspiracies'. To be fair, we weren't in Connecticut - but as far remote as it may seem - we're simply believing what is being reported.

 

[turbo]

Well, the "professor" is calling law-enforcement, EMTs, and the media all liars trying to enable Obama's anti-gun leanings. That's a pretty big conspiracy to hold together, not to mention the funerals.

 

[rootX]

Its very hard to definitely prove/disprove 'conspiracies'. To be fair, we weren't in Connecticut - but as far remote as it may seem - we're simply believing what is being reported.

Many international press agencies visited Connecticut after the incident. Thinking all international press is sold out to governments (surprisingly many people think so) is bit too crazy IMO.

 

[turbo]

And let's not forget the "lies" by officials of the CT coroner's office, undertakers, and clergy. All complicit in the fakery.

 

[StevieTNZ]

Well if you can conclusive rule it out, by all means go ahead.

 

[edward]

And let's not forget the "lies" by officials of the CT coroner's office, undertakers, and clergy. All complicit in the fakery.

Nor shall we forget all of the fake funerals.

This type of thing has been one of the latest displays of really creepy thinking by the gun lobby.

It goes even to the point that the Auora killings were real and construed by Obama in an effort to bring about approval of gun control.

The head of a prominent gun rights group thinks Obama may have set up the Aurora shooting to pass a gun ban.

http://www.salon.com/2012/08/17/crazies_obama_staged_aurora/

These kinds of people post in my local on line newspaper everyday. Conspiracy theory or not a frightening number of people believe this line of thinking.

 

[jtbell]

BTW, he's an Associate professor, didn't mention tenure.

Associate professors normally have tenure. Assistant profs are the ones who don't have tenure.

 

[Evo]

Associate professors normally have tenure. Assistant profs are the ones who don't have tenure.

Yes, I read another article that said he had tenure, sorry, didn't go back and update, but I believe it's in one of the links I added.

 

[tahayassen]

I was shocked at first, but then I realized that his PhD is in mass communication.

 

[OmCheeto]

I was shocked at first, but then I realized that his PhD is in mass communication.

Good Company:

..earned a Ph.D. from Heidelberg University in 1921, writing his doctoral thesis on 19th century romantic drama; he then went on to work as a journalist...

Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
In office 13 March 1933 – 30 April 1945

Gotta watch out fer people who're edumatated in talkin'...
They knows how to talk them big words!

 

[Containment]

My guess is he probably thought something different then what they said happened went down (like a 2nd gunman) and then someone/s kept grilling him about it till he just snapped and figured what the heck why not go full rebel-mode. It is pretty hard to believe just one person can actually shoot that many people dead.

 

[OmCheeto]

... It is pretty hard to believe just one person can actually shoot that many people dead.

I don't find it hard to believe. Anders Breivik murdered 69.

While looking at the Breivik case today, I discovered that another academian in Poland was recently apprehended with similar intent.

Mimicking Breivik in Poland
November 29, 2012
Dr. Brunon Kwiecien, who has published multiple chemistry papers at the Agricultural University in Krakow, according to a Polish academic directory. Kwiecien openly espoused anti-government views and accused the Polish government and the European Commission of tyranny. Specifically, he condemned the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which has angered Internet freedom activists in Europe.

It does appear that the two professors stuck to their professions.

Let's just hope that Professor Tracy sticks to just talking about it.

------------------------------
And people wonder why I develop Tourette syndrome on facebook when discussing this stuff. JFCIWTCTGBOAFTTL,N

 

[StevieTNZ]

I don't understand what tenure is... I guess probably because we don't have such a thing in NZ universities - or we might but I'm oblivious to it.

 

[Evo]

I don't understand what tenure is... I guess probably because we don't have such a thing in NZ universities - or we might but I'm oblivious to it.

Tenure means that a professor can go insane or be completely worthless and they can't be fired, barring some horrendous act. IMO.

 

[nanosiborg]

This one is a DOOZY!

A professor at Florida Atlantic University claims that no one was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary school, "that trained “crisis actors” may have been employed by the Obama administration to shape public opinion on gun control."



http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout...wn-newtown-massacre-conspiracy-183530799.html

I'm posting this because it's news about someone claiming a hoax concerning a current news topic.

I'm wondering if the professor can't be terminated dispite the absurdity of the claims?

It seems to me that the guy is some sort of freaked out weirdo with a conspiracy fetish, and that the school administration might be able to build a defendable case for that claim.

If the message were only that we should remain skeptical of the motives and truthfulness of our government officials, then fine. But this guy seems to be making some absurd hypotheses. Which fits with the notion that his opinions are primarily motivated by a prior, emotionally based, agenda.

A person like that should not be in a position to influence young people (or anybody for that matter).

 

[Curious3141]

This guy's a loon, but it doesn't mean it hasn't been tried before, for real. In the UK:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hereford/worcs/8586971.stm

Although the Cracked version is a much funnier read (#2) : http://www.cracked.com/article_2018...tempts-at-teaching-lessons-creatively_p2.html

 

[BobG]

Just remember:

The problem with just about all conspiracy theories is a faith in bureaucrats to do their job flawlessly. The reality, and a pretty good indication that any extremely complex conspiracy is false, is that the more people involved, the more likely that someone will goof up (get caught breaking into the opposing political party's headquarters, for example), and, more importantly, that someone will leak to the press (Deep Throat, for example).

Heck, you can't even count on top secret wiretapping operations to be safe from leaks.

Yes, conspiracies happen (the assassination of Lincoln and attempted assassination of VP Johnson and other cabinet members, for example), but not very often and almost never happen without eventually being exposed. (I'd say never, except I guess I wouldn't know about the ones that actually were never exposed.)

 

[jim hardy]

the guy may be just a nutcase after attention

or he may be an imp who enjoys stirring up the excitable types.
Remember that "Lady and the Tramp" scene : "Ya ever chase chickens?"

If his field of study is really 'mass communications' it could be an experiment.
Eric Hoffer's "True Believer" is the classic work on how to use excitable types to political ends of starting mass movements. He could be pinging the system and somehow measuring response.
Army Field Manual also has instructions how to find and use the excitables for insurrection.

My guess is the first, fwiw

 

[BobG]

If his field of study is really 'mass communications' it could be an experiment.
Eric Hoffer's "True Believer" is the classic work on how to use excitable types to political ends of starting mass movements. He could be pinging the system and somehow measuring response.
Army Field Manual also has instructions how to find and use the excitables for insurrection.

Or, he could just be a middle aged man of at least above average intelligence that hasn't really achieved the success in life that he felt someone of his abilities should achieve. (I wonder if he belongs to MENSA - or worse yet, was rejected by MENSA as not being quite intelligent enough.)

Starting a conspiracy theory of this sort as an experiment would be psychopathic behavior. While that's a possibility, it isn't typical of the people that create these theories.

 

[jim hardy]

Or, he could just be a middle aged man of at least above average intelligence that hasn't really achieved the success in life that he felt someone of his abilities should achieve.

that's where i put him, my first category more eloquently stated by you.

 

[Evo]

Here is the damage caused by conspiracy *truthers* like this professor.

Gene Rosen, Sandy Hook Hero, Harassed By Conspiracy Theorists Who Claim He's An Actor

A good Samaritan who harbored six terrified survivors of the Sandy Hook massacre has been singled out by conspiracy theorists accusing him of being a liar and an actor.

a group of conspiracy theorists who call themselves "truthers," Salon reported earlier this month. These truthers have so far posted Rosen's personal information online, created fake social media accounts using his name and harassed him via email and phone.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...-theory_n_2481912.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

More

I don’t know what to do,” Gene Rosen told Salon.com. “I’m getting hang-up calls, I’m getting some calls, I’m getting emails with, not direct threats, but accusations that I’m lying, that I’m a crisis actor, ‘How much am I being paid?'”

Rosen, a 69-year-old retired psychologist who lives near Sandy Hook Elementary School where the shootings took place, says his inbox is filled with emails like this one:
How are all those little students doing? You know, the ones that showed up at your house after the ‘shooting’. What is the going rate for getting involved in a gov’t sponsored hoax anyway?

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/gene-rosen-sandy-hook-conspiracy-155033813.html

 

[tahayassen]

Here is the damage caused by conspiracy *truthers* like this professor.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...-theory_n_2481912.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

More



http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/gene-rosen-sandy-hook-conspiracy-155033813.html

We don't know if he acts the same way as the conspiracy theorists in that article. How are you so sure that he is like those ones?

 

[Evo]

We don't know if he acts the same way as the conspiracy theorists in that article. How are you so sure that he is like those ones?

Well, one idea might be that you go back and read what he said in my OP. Then you would know.

He suggests that there were multiple shooters...that trained “crisis actors” may have been employed by the Obama administration to shape public opinion on gun control.

His blog, with 222 followers, lays out his conspiracy theory in detail, suggesting that it was a training exercise in which actually nobody was killed.

Oh, and read the attached link, it might have more information. Just a wild guess. Not saying that he "personally" is harassing the retired psychologist that helped the 6 children, but he is responsible for putting these crazy ideas out there and encouraging them with his conspiracy blog.

tahayassen, if you are going to make such posts, you might want to read the thread first.

 

[turbo]

This "Asst Professer" is less reliable than the attendant at our town's waste transfer station, IMO. At least the attendant knows what types of waste can be safely recycled, and he doesn't come up with crazy theories for stuff that doesn't make sense to the IQ50 crowd. I'm so disgusted by this ginned up conspiracy. Children and adults died, and it should never happen again.

 

[SW VandeCarr]

To paraphrase Winston Churchill: We are sinking into "the abyss of a new dark age,...made more sinister and protracted" by the perversion of social media and abetted by those who would "educate" us.

 

[tahayassen]

Well, one idea might be that you go back and read what he said in my OP. Then you would know.

No need to jump to the conclusion that I didn't read the article.

Not saying that he "personally" is harassing the retired psychologist that helped the 6 children

That's exactly what I thought you were implying.

 

[thoughtgaze]

If it's what he believes, who cares?

 

[phinds]

If it's what he believes, who cares?

Uh ... you think maybe the parents of those dead kids might care?

 

[Drakkith]

If it's what he believes, who cares?

Because people influence other people with their beliefs.

 

[Evo]

If it's what he believes, who cares?

Because people with crazy thoughts (in denial of reality) can be dangerous in more than one way, IMO.

 

[thoughtgaze]

Uh ... you think maybe the parents of those dead kids might care?

It's a non-issue. People are allowed to, and will, have their own beliefs. If I was one of those parents, I really wouldn't care what others thought. The only thing that matters to me is that my child is gone and there is nothing that can be done about that, what do I care what some random schmuck believes? That also goes for all the people that pretend to care about those children on TV. People think they are doing good by sending prayers and saying kind words? Who cares, my child is dead, nothing can be done about that. In short, I could easily argue the grieving process is equally worsened by the mainstream media covering it day in and day out. Let these parents grieve in peace.

"Because people influence other people with their beliefs."
That sort of thinking is why some people want to ban books. Let's face it, people are responsible for their own actions, whether it's influenced by a third party or not.


"Because people with crazy thoughts (in denial of reality) can be dangerous in more than one way, IMO."
True, but that a thought is crazy is not enough to make it dangerous. What real danger could come from him stating his conspiracy theory?

 

[Drakkith]

It's a non-issue. People are allowed to, and will, have their own beliefs. If I was one of those parents, I really wouldn't care what others thought. The only thing that matters to me is that my child is gone and there is nothing that can be done about that, what do I care what some random schmuck believes? That also goes for all the people that pretend to care about those children on TV. People think they are doing good by sending prayers and saying kind words? Who cares, my child is dead, nothing can be done about that. In short, I could easily argue the grieving process is equally worsened by the mainstream media covering it day in and day out. Let these parents grieve in peace.

You can argue whatever you'd like, that doesn't mean squat. The FACT, and yes it is a fact, is that you and practically every other person ever cares about what other people think a great deal. If you think that a hundred million people praying for your dead child doesn't do anything for those parents, just imagine if it was the opposite, a hundred million people screaming that their child deserved to die or something. It would be utterly devastating.

"Because people influence other people with their beliefs."
That sort of thinking is why some people want to ban books. Let's face it, people are responsible for their own actions, whether it's influenced by a third party or not.

This has nothing to do with them being responsible for the own actions or not. It has to do with how their opinions and beliefs are formed in the first place.

"Because people with crazy thoughts (in denial of reality) can be dangerous in more than one way, IMO."
True, but that a thought is crazy is not enough to make it dangerous. What real danger could come from him stating his conspiracy theory?

The long lasting impact of convincing thousands of people that the government is lying to them and actively working towards some purpose by killing not only its on citizens, but children at that. There are an unimaginable amount of possibilities this kind of thinking can lead too, none of them good.