Apr 7, 2008

Princess Di - Maybe Dead, Maybe Not

There really are very few conspiracies in life. Most things are just what they appear to be. What makes successful conspiracies rare is that they involve people, lots of people and people cannot keep their yaps shut. Conspiracy theories like those that claim the 9-11 attacks were fake or planned by the evil genius Bush, that Oswald didn't shoot Kennedy or at least had an accomplice, that Elvis isn't dead, and that the Air force has a fleet of alien spacecraft in the Nevada desert, all involve too many folks to keep them under wraps. However, that observation is lost on tin foil hat crowd, which seems to get bigger in numbers, not smaller. Despite the amazing feats of science in the last century which have gone a long way explain how our world works, a sizable portion of the public continues to believe in the unprovable. Many believe that we are regularly visited by extraterrestrials. Others fervently believe the stars hold some sway over our lives, that we can communicate with the dead, that the dead are among us in spirit, and that if we believe in the right way, we will have a life beyond this one. All with no tangible evidence to support their beliefs. Let me repeat that, there is no evidence that confirms any of these beliefs. The next positive test that proves the existence of the paranormal will be the first. Yet a sizable portion of the citizenry holds tight to these things. I wonder why life comes up short for so many? Or as Peggy Lee asked in song, Is That All There Is? On August 31, 1997, Diana Princess of Wales along with her suitor, Dodi Al-Fayed, died in a tragic traffic accident. The circumstances of her death seemed fairly straightforward. She got into a car with a driver who was drunk, failed to fasten her seatbelt and was sped across Paris, being pursued by crazed and reckless paparazzi, when the driver lost control and wrecked the car. The result was tragic, but foreseeable. It seemed to be your run-of-the-mill, drunken driving fatality at the time and nothing has changed in the intervening years. The conspiracy theorists quickly assembled three possible alternate explanation for the accident. All far less likely that the obvious explanation, but plausible enough to gen up interest from the fringe. They theorize that Diana faked her own death and is living somewhere with Elvis. Okay not Elvis, but at least Al-Fayed. Scenario two has Diana murdered by rogue forces within MI6, the British secret service, for sullying the name of the Royal Family. As if they don't do that themselves on a regular basis. Lastly, some figured that enemies of Al-Fayed killed him in revenge for something he or his father had done. After months of testimony, millions of pounds and hundreds of witnesses, the Coroner's Jury concluded today that Diana and Al-Fayed got into a car being driven by a drunk, didn't wear their seat belts and died in a crash caused by the driver's impairment and recklessness in trying to avoid the paparazzi. The sad part is that this won't faze the conspiracy folks one wit because the inquest was just a part of the conspiracy. Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky

7 comments:

Kurt said...

The conspiracy theories often involve backward reasoning, i.e., one fact is singled out from all the known facts as "proof." In the real world, conclusions are reached by looking at all the facts, then determining what most probably happened.

Bobby D. said...

Yeah, what Kurt said.

ps. There's some sort of Loch Ness type monster in the Hudson River.

Unknown said...

No, no. That's just too reasonable. It can't be true. ;)

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, what Kurt said.

Seriously, it's like people who walk into the doctor's office and think they have cancer, when they actually have a cold. They focus on one or two symptoms and take them to extremes, whereas the doc knows the simplest explanation is most likely the correct one.

Steve Reed said...

P.S. -- Not that I always believe doctors.

Coffee Messiah said...

I think there's a conspiracy about this post! ; (

Bobby D. said...

There's been another sighting of "Hudsie"