Cracks in the Web

A compendium of web sites that are in my personal opinion crackpot
wacko sites whose very existence is a testimonial to the gullibility of the human race.

Scientology (aka; Dianetics) — This has to be the Granddaddy of all scams, and was around even before the Internet became popular. It poses as a "religion" but is actually a cult that preys upon the innocent and gullible, and upon those made temporarily vulnerable because of a life crisis such as loss of a loved one, marital problems, etc. The cult then takes their money, destroys their lives, and after extensive brainwashing that turns people into psychotic schizophrenics, it ultimately abandons them and dumps them in the gutter as homeless beggars – except of course for those it can use for public relations purposes such as movie stars with more money than brains. Scientology promises the same things as any other snake oil – everything from curing corns to cancer while relieving stress, anxiety, depression, improving your IQ, and probably even growing hair. Take a look at the ludicrous tripe you have to believe in order to be a scientologist and ask yourself how any conscious sentient creature could believe such BS. Read about some of the down, dirty, and illegal methods scientologists use to harass and intimidate others at Scientology v. The Internet. Some other excellent resources for learning the truth about scientology are:
and of course the UseNet group that started it all alt.religion.scientology (ARS). I refuse to link to the scientology web site, but if you must have a look for yourself, copy/paste "www.scientology.org" into your browser (and be sure to have a Barf-Bag handy).

Borderlands — Bordering on the edge of insanity! It has a little something for everyone, UFO's, Black Op's, Evolution ‘‘Conspiracy’’, ‘‘Deep Waters’’, ‘‘Mysteries & Enigmas’’, and most enigmatic of all, an oxymoronic category called ‘‘Intelligence Reports.’’ A truly wacko site for idiots that probably exists only to shear the sheep gullible enough to believe in this BS, of their cash.

Colloidal Silver — This is just one of many examples of sucker sites that try to make money off people who are gullible enough to pay money for an old fashioned antibiotic that was abandoned by the medical profession decades ago. Silver still has some uses for killing bacteria, but ingesting large amounts of silver, gold, or any other metal into one's body has serious deleterious health side effects, including argyria.

Chemtrails — Unlike some other sites, I think these poor deluded people actually believe what they preach (ie; that there is some sort of evil US government plot to literally poison the entire US population from the skies). They see aircraft contrails as harmful chemicals they think are being "sprayed" onto the general population by the government to poison everyone or infect them with some kind of virus or bacteria. Another good example of the boundlessness of human gullibility.

Time Bomb 2000 — This on-line forum is composed primarily of self described "doomers" who thought Year 2000 would bring "the end of the world as we know it" (referred to as TEOTWAWKI). After the year 2000 began uneventfully, squabbles among its moderators caused fragmentation of the group as it moved around like a band of gypsies from one web site to another, until it finally ended up in the hands of a deranged avaricious autocrat who no longer allows open discussion. Though some knowledgeable and open minded members persevere, the majority are religious zealots who wait anxiously for the second coming of Christ ("The End is Near" is a favorite topic) who they think will spirit them all away to heaven and punish the wicked – which is everyone else. Most members are gullible beyond belief and look for conspiracies and plots in every nook and cranny. They believe in such bunk as the above mentioned Chemtrails, Colloidal Silver, UFO's, perpetual motion machines capable of delivering "Free Energy", and the "Illuminati" who they think rules the world and are trying to institute a "New World Order" (NWO). Below are some examples of what happened when a real crisis occurred (the terrorist attack on the NYC Twin Trade Towers on 9/11/01). Take a look at the two bilious threads below dripping with vitriol, profanity, intolerance, and religious bigotry that I've preserved for posterity.
1. [gov] Tom Daschle Just Said We'd have to GIVE UP FREEDOMS
2. [TIP] Seventh "Rules for Posting" Suggestion
The most revealing thread of all is the one below condoning genocide that resembles something Adolph Hitler might have said during the height of Nazi fanaticism. It's chilling. The thread was started by the TimeBomb2000 board owner himself, and is an excellent example of the kind of sewage that unfortunately exists on the Internet today.
1. [INTL] Afghan Taliban Warns US - Any Strikes Will Result In More Suicide Attacks

‘‘There's a sucker born every minute.’’

— W.C.Fields