Conspiracy Theory: A Magical 9/11?

Don't we all love conspiracy theories? I do. Conspiracy theories never fail to amuse me, especially ones that are well documented. Did man land on the moon? Well I don't think so - the proof of the theory against that theory is killer. Call me easily swayed and naive - but have you seen the proof against it? Anyway, lets put that aside. Through the progression of time, new conspiracy theories arise, and this new one will, definitely, 100%, blow you away.

September 11, 2001 - the annihilation of the twin towers by a couple of airplanes. A hoax? Maybe! Maybe.

I would like to thank TIME magazine once again for this. 'Loose Change' is a 90 minute documentary made by a couple of college students on why 9/11 was a well rehearsed show for a few government officials, on why it was a 'cover up'. It debunks the fact that 9/11 was a terrorist act completely. In a nutshell it states that the always controversial United States of America hoaxed the collapse of the twin towers and blamed it on Al Qaida as an excuse to invade the Middle East, and foil the evil that "terrorism" would eventually bring along. Can you believe that? What the hell did the US of A really want from Middle East, the oil?

The documentary 'Loose Change' might have been made by amateur college students on a Laptop, but it's one hell of a professional video. With unbelievable footage, and even more illusionary concepts and ideas, this might just change the way you think as to what happened on the morning of 9/11.

Loose Change 2nd Edition, Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGEb40o17yE

Loose Change 2nd Edition, Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOVWBQKUpsU

Loose Change 2nd Edition, Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtV1uxYnu0w

What's even more amusing is that there is another documentary made debunking 'Loose Change'. It falsifies most, if not all, theories put forth by "Loose Change".

Screw Loose Change - Not Freakin' Again Edition
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_
videos&search_query=loose%20change%202nd%20edition
&search_sort=&search_category=0&page=1

However this other video just does that, it just falsifies some theories put forth by "Loose Change", but it doesn't completely prove that 9/11 was a terrorist act. The footage researched and showed by "Loose Change" is far more, well, convincing. But then again, I am still confused. I don't know what to believe. Do you?

by Anish Malpani

A Tribute To 9/11...?

This is the first of a couple of posts on the infamous, tragic and literally unbelievable 11th of September, 2006.

Above is a picture of firefighter, Tiernach Cassidy of the United States of America, who took 9 months to complete that illusory tatoo. Yes, NINE months! Why? "The pain in my back was good for the pain in my head, " - that's why. The trauma of losing five of his firehouse's men will be imprinted on his back. The 'burning' towers, the five close friends and the memory - that's what the tatoo stands for, a tribute indeed.

Also, he got full news coverage for his pain. Even TIME covered his story, and that's how I got to know about this. But, wow.

Now imagine if 9/11 was a hoax.

by Anish Malpani

Thailand - KEANE!

After fighting it out with my parents, I "convinced" them that I had to go for this concert. And it was the best way to end a vacation.

Impact Arena - that's where the concert was held, some 30 km from my hotel and this was what bothered my parents. Anyways...

I arrived some 2 hours before the concert began, and was praying that tickets the tickets would be available. However, getting a ticket was not a problem, not at all a problem, in fact it was no where close to being sold out. I bought far standing tickets for about 1000B, which is like dhs 100 - quite cheap for a concert compared to Dubai.

Half an hour left for the concert to start, no one was lining up, no hullah ballah, everyone was in their own world, eating, drinking, laughing, sitting..:S. I was the lone person in the line, and the security was laughing at me - mumbling away in their complex language. Just then some news came in that all far- standing ticket holders had to move into the front-standing line - well because you don't want to have an empty front standing pit! So there I was, right in front, watching one of the best concerts I have ever seen.

Some Thai band opened the show, and the nervousness on their faces was more than evident - they were average, and funny - nothing can beat Thai singing.

Right in front of me, on the other side of the railing, were 3 girls and this one long haired guy - who were also in their own worlds. They came off really pretentious with their American accents and heavily made up faces. One was crazy, one was medium crazy, and the third girl felt she was the most beautiful girl in the world. The guy was high, and these people were really loud and seemed to be having a great time - so well kudos to them - but hell, the artificial-ity (if that's a word)...lord! The reason for the above paragraph is that, for the entire period of waiting for Keane to come on stage, these four characters really entertained me.

Next to me was this 10 year old girl, Nicola (i think), who had an English father and a Thai mum. She was fluent in both of her parents' languages, which was really cool. She loved Keane, and I was really fascinated by her, really innocent and down to earth, she was an opposite of the 3 girls in front of me.

Finally Keane began, and blew the hell outta Bangkok. Keane comprises only 3 members, one drummer, one AWESOME keyboardist, and one BLOODY AWESOME singer. Performance wise, they were perfect. Their music is awesome, and their stage presence was even better. The arena was three-quarters full, but the audience were amazing. It was unbelievable, Thai people who could hardly speak english, mouthing every single word of almost every single song. I was quite awestruck. "Somewhere Only We Know" was a sing along. But the song I enjoyed the most was "Bedshaped". They ended with it, and well I kind off dropped off into oblivion. It was really really well performed and the light arrangements made it even better.

After Robbie, Keane is the best concert I have been too. So if any of you get a chance to see them, don't miss out - they really rock!

by Anish Malpani

Thailand - Phi Phi: A Conversation With A Tsunami-Surviving-English-Speaking Thai-Scuba-Dive-Master

Aeg.

He is only 26 years old.

He started scuba-diving at the age of 13, and is now a renowned Dive Master (the highest Scuba Distinction)

He survived the Tsunami. What could be worse is that he witnessed it.

He, along with his friends saved 3 lives, from the rubble. Here's the fascinating story...

It was a 26th December, the day after Christmas. Half of Phi Phi (which basically means all the foreigners, which means all the back-packers from the west) was hung over from what was probably a drunken, late, late "Celebrating Jesus" night. Aeg was one local included in that list.

Aeg worked as a Scuba Diving/Snorkeling Tour organiser, and was damn good at his work. He was so good, that the local people held mini-rebellions to stop him from doing well, and taking away all the 'business'. Business there is tourism. It is the only source of income, and Aeg was taking most of it away. So the Village Chairman called a special meeting comprising all the locals and they reached a conclusion - Aeg needed to cut down on his brilliance to allow others to reap at least some benefit. He followed orders, and won the respect of the town, and well everyone knew him.

However, 26th December, 2004 was a day off for Aeg, and God indeed blessed him with that.That day, at approximately 10 A.M. two monstrous waves, one 12 metres high, the other 4 metres high crashed, crushed and crunched the neck-like heart of Phi Phi. Imagine, these two beaches were like two boomerangs stuck together forming a holy-grail-like structure. Both the beach-sides were exposed to the ocean, and hence both sides were exposed to this monster. But the 12 metre wave got the lion's share of the spoil as all the rummage it caused was transferred towards the other end. Imagine, again, you are sitting on the beach, calm, observing the waves. Then, quite out of the blue, you see, this large unorthodox wave from a distance, and get amused. It then processes and this confusion turns to nervousness, 'What the hell is that wave doing?' and then sheer panic engulfs you, just as the wave is going to engulf you. You run, but there is no where to run. You cry for help. You start looking for help. You see the wave coming at you. You try to hide? Ha Ha. For 4 minutes this monster hunted its prey. Aeg was not on the beach, he was asleep, in his house, on the hill, away from this. Thank God.

But when something like shakes the hell out of your island, you don't sleep for much longer. This earth-shattering Tsunami opened Aeg's eyes in more than one way. He stepped out into the open, and what he observed shook him up just like the Tsunami had shaken the life out of the village. He saw dead people hanging from trees, lifeless, but with eyes wide open, with glaring death written all over them. There were piles and piles of wood, beneath which, lay people, with their hands, ears and feet sticking out. The wave sucked bodies back into the ocean, and it was no longer a salty blue ocean, but a bloody reddish one. People mourned the loss of their loved ones. Shrill cries that can tear your ear-lobes open not because of the sound, but because of the agony that comes in chorus, resonated in the air. Aeg saw destruction at its prime. Trauma, rage, anger, distress, sorrow, pain, hopelessness, helplessness, defeat and death buzzed in his mind. He couldn't take it. He rushed back home, one place that was safe. He needed to recollect himself, needed to find his friends - he needed to know what to do. After locating his friends, they started a mini-operation of their own. Pull out any damn thing that breathes or moves from the rubble! This was not easy. Aeg, along with his friend, saved two human lives. They gave two living, breathing souls another opportunity to live.

But he lost almost everything. 4 of his close family members were missing and still are. His shop, his work all taken away by the wave. As he was a Professional Dive Master, he had videos and pictures of his exploits. All of it was taken away in those 4 minutes. His laptop, his scuba-diving gear which is shit expensive - everything the wave took away. 3,000 people lost their lives that day in Phi Phi, and a major chunk of that number were foreigners.

From that day on, Phi Phi was almost deserted. There was no major help coming in from the Government. Yes, some World Aid did drift in, but that takes time, and Phi Phi wasn't the only place affected. Aeg, and his friends started a recovery mission. Everyday they went to Phuket, got some medical supplies from the hospital, mainly gloves and masks, and started the ‘cleaning’ process. What Aeg found most useful, was not the Government, but the international contacts he had made from his Scuba Diving clients. They came from all over the world, and donated large sums of money to help Aeg set up his business again, and to restore some order in the chaos that the Tsunami had left behind.

It took 6 months for Phi Phi to recover from this disaster. The problem Phi Phi was facing was that, due to this catastrophe, none of the locals wanted to do business there. So Aeg and his friends, started building shops from scrap, to forcefully welcome these locals back on to the island. This recovery was a done collectively by all the people of the islands. It was a time of mourning, but also a time of unity and fraternity among the people there.

For Aeg, it was one of those major events that occur in our lives, that changes us completely. The Tsunami changed him, for the better. Before the Tsunami, yes he was married, but he had this youthful exuberant arrogance, which he admitted openly. But the Tsunami taught him responsibility. It taught him to look beyond materialism and money, and into the people around him, to care, to love. It made him, in his words, a 'man'. That, to me, says a lot. Experiences like the Tsunami can be devastating, but the education through something as colossal as that cannot be taught in school. Also, it's how much we suck or draw out of these experiences that shape our entirety. Aeg is still some what recovering from trauma. At times when he thinks about it, he can't sleep for days. After the Tsunami, Aeg could not sleep for 2 days, not because he did not want to, but because he couldn't. Could you have?

Aeg was our Phi Phi Island Sunset Tour guide/organiser/leader/boat-owner. He is a lovely guy, my mum fell in love with him, and wanted him as her second son. The service he and his crew gave us was excellent and genuine.

Thailand was great because of people like Aeg. The people I met, taught me so much, and fascinated me and opened my eyes to different aspects of life. It made me realise that I live in this bubble, this bubble in which I have a bunch of good friends, but that's not all. Those are not the only people. There is so much out there, so much to do, so many people to meet, almost 7 billion. The back-packers I met were all young, between 18 and 25 years of age, and not one was Indian. All of them were fascinating and had so much to offer. It exposed me to this other side, which I had never been properly exposed too, which I knew existed, which I yearned for, but never really got. It's true isn't it; most of us Indians don't do things like back-packing. Most of us end up with paunches to be proud off, if we don't already have one. Yes, there are numerous complications and parent/permission issues, but it's high time I burst out of this bubble. I don't know about you.

by Anish Malpani