Phil and I have talked it over, and we feel that the Conspiracy Theory section of the forum is starting to get out of hand. If you take a look through the CT section, easily half of the stories on the homepage are about 9/11, and have nothing to do with space and astronomy.

So, effective immediately, we're instituting the same policy that we have for the Against the Mainstream Section...

... only post topics relating to space and astronomy.

We'll start closing up topics on Friday, and from this point on, any threads which aren't specifically about space-related conspiracy theories will be closed immediately.

Thanks!

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Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today - Free space news delivered by email every weekday.

It's a conspiracy, I tell ya!

Oh, joy, joy, it's back to the Apollo hoax, Planet X, Cydonia, and Area 51, and all the great space and astronomy conspiracies of old! Quality returns.

Adios, 9-11. Farewell, Warren Commission. Sayonara, Sasquatch.

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farewell spocks conspiracy of science, well after this round ends.

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If it's just us, it seems like an awful waste of space.
Contact Carl Sagan

http://davidsuniverse.wordpress.com/

Good work - there are plenty of places for those discussions already.

Of course there is still the "theory" that 911 was the work of reptile space aliens

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This is not an idea to be tossed aside lightly - it should be thrown with great force

I am LOVING this rule change!!!

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"I have this theory that the Apollo missions were faked when NASA found out that general relativity was wrong because the Earth was expanding due to the Sun's iron core being influenced by magnetic waves from the electric universe after being perturbed by Planet X and thereby causing global warming. Where should I start a thread about this?" ~ ToSeek

"Those are the people that wonder how a thermos knows whether to keep something hot or keep something cold." ~ NeoWatcher

Indeed, I prefer those topics to those of recent memory.

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This is no fantasy. No careless product of wild imagination. - Jor-El

Godspeed, John Glenn. - Scott Carpenter

And these atomic bombs that science burst upon the world that night were strange even to the men that used them.
- H.G Wells, The World Set Free

To the conspiracy crowd, radiation is a big Boogey Man that inspires terror and death in all who encounter it. - JayUtah

Quality returns?
You see more quality in the claims of Apollo CTs than in those of 911 CTs?
We just get less junk.

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"Who does not know anything, must believe everything."
Baroness Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach 1830-1916
our animal welfare board and organisation

How about also applying the other rules from ATM on this part, such as being required to back up statements, answer direct questions and to make points in more than a link?

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

That's part of the Rule 13 change. It is now entitled:

It appears to me to be reworded to include space and astronomy conspiracies as another facet of ATM:

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OK, thanks. So that means that if Spock wants to propose his "nobody ever went to the moon" idea, the thread would look a lot different than his previous threads. An encouraging thought.

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

With a little luck, we'll see some new space conspiracies come out...some of those classics are starting to feel a little retread.

Maybe WMAP or something fresh...

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

Planet X to the Z Xzibit, is that fresh (fresh, exciting) enough for you?

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

Only CT's concerning space and astronomy eh?
Well, 9/11 theories are concerning the *space* around ground zero. :-D Shouldn't that read "outer space and astronomy"?
Attack of the symantics!

But honestly, good move BAUT. I'm kinda suprised this wasn't already a rule. Just wonder how long it will take for the 9/11 CT'ers to realise that we're not part of the "conspiracy" but this just isn't the place to discuss it. It's funny that they get mad over being censored here at BAUT, as there's plenty of more suitable "venues" for thier rambling. It seems it's thier mission to convince the astro-enthusists of the world that the government is evil. Oh well, good riddance!

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

counterattack of spelling: semantics

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

Counter-counterattack of grammar: punctuation and capitalisation!

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Spread the Love!

Ouch! I've been hit! But i can't tell if it was by a 747 or by the themite det-packs that were installed at birth. Regardless I'm going down faster and slower than free-fall. AAiieeeeeee!!!

...Sorry, had to get that in before the new rule comes into effect

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I'm like one of those idiot savants...well, except for the savant part.
"In order to increase awareness of the homeless, security have been given binoculars."

Even the way he had it was right. I finally up and uninstalled Norton Internet Security because it was the most abusively controlling software I've ever used. I refuse ever again to use another software that tells me how I can use my machine.

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The last time I felt a warm fuzzy feeling, I was informed by my doctor that it was just gas.

"Symantics" is not in my dictionary. Symantec also isn't, but that is the way they spell it indeed.

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To the regular visitor of internet bulletin boards it is clear that it's an excellent idea your parents get to choose your real name.

It makes perfect sense to me, even though Bautforum and the JREF Forum are the best for debunking 9/11 conspiracy theories. I support your decision.

I assume and hope the 9/11 threads will be preserved for posterity. There is a wealth of excellent posts from many who participated here - and maybe here alone - that those who write the history and post-mortem of the 9/11 Denial Movement can make excellent use of. I think, in particular, of JayUtah's posts which are worthy of being published in toto as a book on their own merit.

I agree Sky King. I thought at least some of the 9/11 threads were pretty interesting. One could say that some of the 9/11 CTs were pretty silly and were often repetitive, but you could also say that about the moon landing hoax too. I will not, however, miss the more "philosophic" threads.

But this place is not a democracy, and we are all guests of our benevolent leaders. I can live with their decision.

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

One Earth, One Sky - IYA 2009
All moderation in purple

Smartest move I've seen yet, good call.

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So where will the CTs go now to cry we we censored debate just because they were winning?

I, too, welcome our new insect overlo....I mean, the new policies. There's plenty of web for the 9-11 junk. I do think there is some overlap, though. Sometimes to talk about a "theory" like the iron sun thing you have to get into sciences that aren't strictly astrophysics. And much of the Apollo discussion is basically engineering, with a little photography. So we may have to watch how far we let threads stray when they need to explore something like behavior of film in re the size of highlights in an Apollo photograph, and so forth.

(And speaking of grammar, that sentence above needs to be put out of its misery.)

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"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

I support the change too, though I'll miss the lunacy (pun not intended) of the 9/11 and other conspiracy threads.

However, I'd like to ask: why the "Have a nice day" remark in all the thread-closing posts? Comes across as pretty snarky to me. Sort of a "Nyahh nyahh, fun's over" kind of feel to it.

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Relight the Firefly!

"It is quite clear that Occam's razor does not sharpen in your pyramid." (Nicolas)

"Still, a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest." (Paul Simon)

Since the thread on the LHC is still open, I suppose the rules will allow for science-related conspiracies?

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What brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart

That's a bit of a grey area just now - do we allow "Einstein stole {insert favourite victim here}'s ideas!" or "We'd all have free energy today if the {insert favourite villian here} hadn't suppressed Tesla's discoveries!" or similar conspiracy theories (if that's what they are)?

Personally, I'd get rid of them too.

The LHC one is a little different, in that one can use good astronomy to challenge it (i.e. the daily rain of cosmic rays, on the Earth, millions (billions? more??) of which have more energy than the LHC will ever be able to produce).

The two, things, you were talking about are not conspiracy theories. They're baseless accusations.

EDIT: So yeah, they wouldn't have fit in here anyways.

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Spread the Love!

Is Planet X really a CT?

I mean, there are mainstream astronomers actively searching for it, no?

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"Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins. Which of the two has the greater view?" - Hugo

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened." - Churchill

Baut friggin time!

A good decision guys.

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TIME Man of the Year

No threads will be deleted; they will just be locked. Over time they'll drop off the bottom of the list, but they will always be in the database.

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Phil Plait
The Bad Astronomer
http://www.badastronomy.com
badastro@badastronomy.com

Planet X as in Zecharia Sitchin, yes.

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"I have this theory that the Apollo missions were faked when NASA found out that general relativity was wrong because the Earth was expanding due to the Sun's iron core being influenced by magnetic waves from the electric universe after being perturbed by Planet X and thereby causing global warming. Where should I start a thread about this?" ~ ToSeek

"Those are the people that wonder how a thermos knows whether to keep something hot or keep something cold." ~ NeoWatcher