HYPING TERROR

One of the topics that I followed at O Net is terrorism. One of the issues that emerged in this subject was how often terrorist cases were hyped.

QUI BONO

Many of the cases I looked at were so clearly contrived that it became incumbent upon me to look for 'manufactured' cases, i.e., cases that showed indications of being produced by overzealous or corrupt government officials. The justification for looking for these types of cases has less to do with my personal political beliefs than with theoretical predictions from political science, namely -- the Rally effect, which leads to the prediction that government officials can gain power by using the perception of a threat against the public.

THE DIX SIX

One of the cases that I covered on O Net was the "Dix Six," which only emerged in the final days of the Omidyar Network. Much about this case was suspicious, and a recent investigation by Time magazine confirmed some of my suspicions.

Playing Tricks with the Fort Dix Six