NOTES ON TERMS

Blatant Disinformation: Refers to that which pretends to be genuine 9/11 Truth research but contains one or more elements designed to "put-off" one or more types of people. This way, articles can be written and critiques broadcast on television that point the public to the disinformation as if it were representative of the real movement behind 9/11 Truth. It also serves as a foil for subtle disinformation. A prime example is the claim that no planes hit the twin towers--not to be confused with the claim that no plane hit the Pentagon, which is quite possible, or the claim that no plane hit WTC building 7, which is an established fact.

Subtle Disinformation: Refers to attempts to control the truth movement from within, often relying on attacking blatant disinformation and thereby establishing itself as an authority on disinformation, especially effective on "newbies" who have an incomplete impression of who is whom at first. Subtle disinformation strives not necessarily to scuttle the movement outright but to introduce any number of problems with any number of methods, including sowing discord, encouraging fear and/or apathy, shielding the real perpetrators by offering red herrings, etc.

Going Fetzal: Refers to the process whereby a subtle disinfo shill "comes out" as a shill by becoming a blatant disinfo shill. Named after Prof. Jim Fetzer of the University of Minnesota who was perceived as an eccentric but intelligent academic until he began to promote the work of Clemson Professor Judy Wood, another eccentric whose research included claims of space based directed energy weapons "dustifying" [sic] steel and concrete and "toasting cars" [sic]. Some erstwhile truthers who have gone Fetzal are Mike Ruppert (the first to actually go Fetzal, before the phenomenon was named, by declaring the truth movement dead and moving to Venezuela), David Shayler (who declared himself the messiah before making a lifestyle change to transvestism,) arguably Webster Tarpley, just to name a few.

Credibility Capital:  In the truth movement, the effectiveness of a genuine activist depends on their credibility.  This is just as true for dishonest people posing as activists, whose intent is to thwart the exposure of the truth.  If one is to mislead people, those people must believe what one is saying.  People who lie constantly are seldom believed, and people who almost never lie can get away with a lie here and there--these occasional lies amount to "spending" ones credibility capital.  In the 9/11 truth movement, there are a number of individuals who stand out as "well-known" activists, whistleblowers, or researchers because of their actual accomplishments or simply because they are heavily promoted.  At times, those who want the truth to remain hidden feel that the truth movement is coming too close to the real truth (as opposed to the "truth-like" alternatives like LIHOP) and will spend some credibility capital by having someone who is generally well regarded in the movement promote something unpopular--like a LIHOP scenario.  When these ploys backfire they can be very costly and result in an individual's credibility rating to drop, often preciptously (see Going Fetzal above.)

LIHOP/MIHOP/ZIHOP:  A continuum of progressively more damning claims as to the veracity of the established narrative of 9/11, that it was a surprise attack by "al Qaeda", a loose network of islamic terrorists led by Osama bin Laden.  LIHOP stands for Let It Happen On Purpose and suggests that the Bush administration knew that al Qaeda was planning an attack and let them carry out in order to advance their own agenda in response.  MIHOP stands for Made It Happen On Purpose which suggests that the Bush administration actually planned the attacks themselves and carried them out using al Qaeda or other assets.  ZIHOP is not a literal acronym but refers to the suggestion that American and Israeli Zionists (supporters of the state of Israel--*not* Jews per se--in fact many are not Jewish, see also the definition for Zionist below) were the primary architects of the attacks as a manner of justifying even closer cooperation from America in promoting Israeli hegemony and promoting a global political alignment on the side of and in the model of Israel (brutal suppression of human rights in the name of 'security').  It is possible that Zionists had hoped to frame Palestinians for the attacks (as evidenced by the statement of an Israeli agent arrested in the U.S. on 9/11 to his arresting officer "We are not your problem, we are Israeli.  Your problem is our problem--the Palestinians are the problem") and that unwilling to either play along OR expose the truth, the Bush administration decided to blame Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda instead.

Clapping for Tinkerbell: See definition here.

Jumping the Shark: A reference to the American television program "Happy Days". When the show's ratings began to slump, the writers tried to boost them by having one of the main characters (The Fonz) attempt to jump over shark-infested waters in his motorcycle. It is remembered as the moment at which everyone knew that the show was doomed to be cancelled. It is now used in reference to a stunt pulled off with the intention of rekindling interest in something but that is so transparent that it backfires and signals that the "something" has no credibility left. See Urban Dictionary definitions.

Shill: Someone who is selling something, usually dishonestly. In 9/11 Truth, a shill, or someone who shills (also used as a verb,) is considered to be promoting a particular idea for the purpose of covering up the actual truth. Example: Popular Mechanics are shills for the OCT (official conspiracy theory,) whereas fake truthers Jim Hoffman, Arabesque, and Victronix all shill from within the 9/11 truth movement for the idea that AA77 really did hit the Pentagon when it has clearly not been credibly established to have done so.

Sockpuppet: An online persona that one uses--overtly or covertly--to post as if one were multiple people. Sockpuppets are often used for comedic effect, but in some cases, many of them infamous, they have been misused. WTCD does not forbid sockpuppetry but will not enable or condone their misuse. All sockpuppets at WTCD will be asked upon registration to identify themselves below.

Zionist: A supporter of a (currently 'the') Jewish state in Palestine. This means that they support the seizure of Palestinian land for the creation of a state where Jewish people have more rights than people who aren't Jewish. Zionists know that most Jews in the world would never want to live in Israel so they instead demand that these Jews give unconditional financial and political support to the Zionist regime from wherever they live. Zionists are known to stage attacks against Jewish people in order to blame others and scare Jewish people into supporting them. Zionists in Germany during the rise of Nazism expressed approval of the Nazi philosophy of pure ethnic/racial states and offered Hitler their support in exchange for Germany's support of a Jewish state in Palestine. During the height of the persecution and deportation of Jews, Zionists used their political connections to ensure that the fewest Jewish refugees possible would be allowed to enter the U.S. or Britain in order to have as many as possible sent to Palestine. Prominent anti-Zionist Jews include Alfred Lilienthal, Israel Shahak, Joel Kovel, Gilad Atzmon, Morris Jastrow, and the Rabbis of Neturei Karta. For the most part, anti-Zionists (including Iranian President Ahmedinejad) think Jews currently living in Israel should be allowed to stay, that Palestinians forced out in the past should be allowed to return, and that the land currently divided between Israel and the Palestinian territories should be made into a single state where all citizens have equal rights.