While on the lookout for more conspiracy shows, I realized I had never recapped "Conspiracy Theory With Jesse Ventura". It ran for 3 seasons. Season 2 is available on Amazon Instant Video and YouTube.
The basic premise is Jesse and his team (Alex Piper, June Sarpong, and Michael Braverman) investigate all sorts of conspiracies. Although I really enjoyed the show, it definitely didn't present both sides of each issue. As with "Ancient Aliens" (where everything is caused by aliens), on "Conspiracy Theory" everything is caused by conspiracies.
Jesse spends a lot of time saying things like "would they shoot the Governor of Minnesota for crossing an imaginary line". That made me laugh. Yes, Jesse, yes they would because: 1. They don't know you're the governor of Minnesota when you're trying to sneak into Area 51; and 2. When they trespassers will be shot on sight, that means you too. Jesse is so anti authority I have a hard time figuring out how he took orders when he was a Navy seal. You would think he would understand why some things are top secret and off limits.
There were 15 episodes in season 2 which originally aired in 2010. Episode overviews from Wikipedia are listed below (my notes are in italics):
| 201 (8) | "Plum Island" | October 15, 2010 |
|---|---|---|
| Ventura investigates the secretive Plum Island Animal Disease Center located off the coast of Long Island, New York, which has been suspected as being a bio-weapons research center responsible for the release of Lyme disease and other deadly viruses. He also learns that the facility is to be moved to Kansas, into the heart of cattle country, which could spell disaster if a dangerous contaminant was released into the nation's food supply. One of the best episodes of CP that I've seen. I had heard of Plum Island before so was very interested in what they found. Possible scenerios for infecting large populations included via the food supply, water system or flu vaccinations are listed. | ||
| 202 (9) | "Area 51" | October 29, 2010 |
| Ventura treks into the Nevada desert to monitor the activity of Area 51, the most secretive military complex in the country and believed by many in the UFO community to be reverse engineering alien technology. He also interviews two Area 51 watchdogs who claim they were targeted by the Joint Terrorism Task Force. No conspiracy show would be complete without a trip to Area 51. Are there UFOs and aliens there or is just a top secret aerospace testing area (as I suspect). | ||
| 203 (10) | "Wall Street" | November 5, 2010 |
| Ventura interviews Goldman Sachs whistleblowers and infiltrates a group of Wall Street elitists to find out what caused the financial meltdown, and to see who has the power to manipulate the stock market and the prices of oil, and precious metals. | ||
| 204 (11) | "Police State" | November 12, 2010 |
| Ventura is joined by conspiracy-talk radio host Alex Jones and looks into the plans and procedures in place by the government for declaring martial law. They investigate new law enforcement "fusion centers" that may be in control of rumored internment camps for rounding up U.S. citizens who are deemed a threat to national security. Note: This episode was removed for a time from the second season episode list on TruTV.com after a controversy. Another very interesting episode. Every time Alex Jones shows up though I start to have my doubts. Overview of the "Police State" episode controversy from Wikipedia: The "Police State" episode investigates allegations that various prison-like facilities built around the country that are operated by FEMA will be used during martial law for the internment of citizens who are deemed a threat to national security. Officials have stated the facilities are emergency FEMA camps for the housing of civilians displaced by hurricanes or other natural disasters. Another allegation brought up in the episode focused on a private facility outside Covington, Georgia that was stockpiling thousands of plastic bins alleged to be used for mass burials. The company that runs it is Vantage Products, the country's largest manufacturer of grave liners, and the facility is their storage site. | ||
| 205 (12) | "JFK Assassination" | November 19, 2010 |
| Ventura reviews a set of supposedly classified CIA documents that connect the John F. Kennedy assassination to the Watergate scandal that brought down Richard Nixon, and possible involvement by other U.S. presidents such as Gerald Ford and Lyndon B. Johnson. He interviews Lee Harvey Oswald's widow Marina Oswald Porter to gain more insight into the theory that Oswald was a CIA operative who had been framed by his handlers. | ||
| 206 (13) | "Great Lakes (aka The Worldwide Water Conspiracy)" | December 3, 2010 |
| Ventura looks into the prospects of "Blue Gold" and why corporations and the super-rich are buying up water rights around the world in what could be a plan in controlling nations and their masses. He looks into evidence that these tactics are going on in North America in what could be a literal theft of the Great Lakes. | ||
| 207 (14) | "The Gulf Oil Spill (aka Louisiana Oil Spill)" | December 10, 2010 |
| Ventura looks into rumors that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was a staged event by companies like BP and Halliburton to reap profits from the cleanup, as well as administer toxic agents into the Gulf coast waters as part of a larger depopulation program, inspired by the Hurricane Katrina disaster, to modify the world's ocean currents and weather, and to target the Louisiana coastline to gain complete control of its oil reserves. | ||
| 208 (15) | "Pentagon" | December 17, 2010 |
| Ventura investigates the theory that a missile, and not a hijacked airliner, hit The Pentagon during the September 11 attacks. Questioned are issues such as the lack of surveillance video released by the FBI; debris and damage inconsistent with a jetliner crash; the extreme difficulty of crashing a jetliner at high speed into a specific ground target by an amateur pilot, and links to a possible cover-up of $2.3 trillion of unaccounted taxpayer money announced by then Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, just a day before the attacks. As I said when they covered "9/11" back in season 1, it's good to question what we're told but I just don't believe the conspiracies surrounding this event. | ||
Grade: 4 Monsters (out of 5). Yes the show is crazy and doesn't remotely present both sides of the issue. It's still thought provoking and great fun to watch. It you don't watch any other episodes, check out "Plum Island" and "Police State". You wont be disappointed.
No comments: