Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates taught his students that the pursuit of truth can only begin once they start to question and analyze every belief that they ever held dear. If a certain belief passes the tests of evidence, deduction, and logic, it should be kept. If it doesn't, the belief should not only be discarded, but the thinker must also then question why he was led to believe the erroneous information in the first place and for what purpose. Not surprisingly, this type of teaching didn't sit well with the ruling elite of Greece. Many political leaders throughout history have always sought to mislead the thinking of the masses for reasons both "good" and "bad". Socrates was tried for "subversion" and for "corrupting the youth". He was then forced to take his own life by drinking poison. It's never been easy to be an independent thinker! Today, our ruling government/media complex doesn't kill people for pursuing the truth about the world (at least not yet!) They simply label them as "extremists" or "paranoid", destroying careers and reputations in the process. For many, that's a fate even worse than drinking poison hemlock!

Every news story you are about to review in this comprehensive research paper is true and easily verifiable. This investigation represents 12 months of careful study, pain staking research, detailed analysis, source verification and logical deduction. Every event and quote presented here is 100% accurate. There are about 250 detailed footnotes which I encourage, no, urge, readers to explore and verify for themselves.

The Internet version of this paper allows users to obtain instant verification for each and every footnote by simply clicking on the footnote- links. Others can obtain verification by entering the key search words (provided at the end of paper) into the Yahoo or Google.com search engines. Because organized efforts are under way to suppress these facts, some of these links are mysteriously disappearing even as we speak. Fortunately, this information has been transcribed by many other websites and has therefore been preserved from censorship. If any links are broken, you can still find the original text for each item by using Google. These footnote searches will take you directly to news stories reported by well known media organizations throughout the world, as well as opening up doors to a world of knowledge and information that has been concealed from you.

In compiling this research, I purposely went out of my way to limit the footnotes to mostly "mainstream" national and international sources (CBS, ABC, NBC, CNN, FOX News, Washington Post, New York Times, Time, Newsweek, Jerusalem Post, Ha'aretz (Israel), PBS, BBC, London Telegraph, etc., as well as some local US newspapers and TV News stations.) Let no follower of the "mainstream media" ever accuse me of using "questionable sources".

The pattern of these unusual stories is always the same. First, a curious reporter from a major media organization will report on an amazing, blockbuster story. Then, after the story has penetrated the initial media screen, forces higher up in the media organization will then "spike" the story before it gains a wider audience. In some cases, this is done by an act of overt censorship. But more often, the cover-up is subtly achieved by simply letting the story die on its own by not "giving it legs". Because constant repetition is the foundation of all successful advertising and marketing, a story that is reported only once or twice -no matter how sensational- will quickly fade from the public memory long before it has a chance to leave a lasting impression.

Only by sifting through huge amounts of news data on a daily basis was I able to catch many of these rare "diamonds in the rough" and organize them into a coherent pattern and logical argument. With some common sense and a few mouse clicks, Google or Yahoo now enable anyone with an ounce of curiosity to become Sherlock Holmes. This is no opinion piece. Rather it is a collection of buried, but undeniable facts, events, and quotes which, when assembled in one place, will state their own conclusions. In putting together this research in a logical and sequential format, great care was taken to confirm, double confirm, and triple confirm every piece of information. Any and all questionable data which could not be independently verified to this author's satisfaction was discarded. The discriminating reader will find that this investigation meets the highest standards for meticulous and truthful research.

Taken individually, each story, quote and event is highly intriguing and thought provoking. Taken collectively, this mountain of facts weaves together a clear pattern of evidence that should hammer home the truth to even the most skeptical reader.

There are of course those who have fallen under the hypnotic spell of the TV talking-heads and "experts" whom they worship as authority figures. Unaccustomed to thinking for themselves, no amount of truth can sway them from their preconceived prejudices and conditioned reactions. They will even deny that which they see with their own eyes. Individuals that have been thusly conditioned can only parrot those opinions which have been implanted in their minds by outside suggestion. In effect, millions of American minds have been reduced to the intellectual level of a CD player, spinning an implanted disc designed by outside forces of which the intended target has no awareness. They soon become victims of a psychological affliction known as "the lemming effect". Lemmings are small rodents who have been observed to follow each other as they charge to their deaths into raging rivers or even off of cliffs. Lemminghood is an innate psychological phenomenon, present in most mammals and observable in common people as well the most sophisticated and educated elites.

Lemminghood is not an intellectual phenomenon - it is psychological. As such, no socio-economic class is immune to its strangulating effect. A grant- seeking university scientist can be a lemming just as much as a fashion obsessed teen-age girl. One blindly follows the latest trendy theory while the other follows the latest clothing style. What's the difference? Neither can resist the force of nature. The power to fit in with one's social peers can be irresistible. To a human lemming, the logic behind an opinion doesn't count as much as the power and popularity behind an opinion. Man, like lemming, behaves collectively. And it could be no other way. Naturally, the individual must be equipped with this trait. Otherwise, the smallest steps toward civilization could never have been made. Lemminghood is a necessary, sociological survival trait, an inborn instinct in the majority of people. However, as with all natural phenomena, this tendency can be manipulated and used for harmful purposes. The same lemming effect which enables the masses of a justly governed society to make progress all at the same time, can, in an unjustly governed society, cause the masses to lose their sense of judgment, all at the same time.

This research paper will likely be wasted on many lemmings. For lemmings, denial is a basic psychological defense mechanism used to not only shield themselves from unpleasant realities, but also to reassure themselves that they will still fit within the acceptable range of opinion held by their peer group. At all costs, their beliefs must always be on the "right" side of the issue and conform within the boundaries of their lemming peers. Lemmings simply cannot bear the burden of responsibility, or the social discomfort, which comes with thinking independently. They are capable only of repeating that which they hear from the talking heads and "experts" on TV. Lemmings will not only resist efforts to change their misguided beliefs with all of their mental energy, but they will usually attack anyone who dares to question their myths. Lemmings are absolutely terrified at the thought of being labeled as an "extremist" or a "conspiracy theorist". Ironically, the very same lemmings who instinctively ridicule all "conspiracy theories", are always the first ones to blindly swallow the most ridiculous conspiracy theories imaginable when the government and media present them!

We can try to open the closed minds of lemmings and free them from their self-imposed blindness, but it's not easy fighting the forces of Pavlovian conditioning and human nature. The chains of ideological conformity have too strong of a grip, and breaking them is a difficult task. With the limited resources at our disposal, it is next to impossible to compete with the media lemming-masters. Lemmings have been conditioned to obediently grovel before the "authority" of their media and government masters. For this reason, the lie of the emperor is always believed before the truth of the peasant. Nevertheless, some of us must make the meager attempt, and thus lay the foundation upon which the truth might one day rise again.

Merely being misinformed does not makes one a lemming. Anyone can be fooled. There is no shame is being misinformed. But, to persist in erroneous thinking, even in the face of irrefutable evidence and logic, is the height of lemminghood. There are those few among us who do possess the intellectual capacity to break free from lemminghood, the nobility of character to admit that we were once badly fooled, and the internal courage to then face the sad fact that we are inmates trapped in a global insane asylum. Those individuals who can muster up these moral and mental virtues will then be ready to accept the truth when it is presented in clear and logical sequence. To those open minded, independent thinkers I wish to state clearly and unequivocally. I intend to set forth in this paper an overwhelming body of evidence which should forever destroy the ridiculous notion that a Saudi caveman and his band of half-trained, nerdy Arab flight school students, orchestrated the most sophisticated terror operation in world history. The very idea is utterly laughable. And yet, due to the blithering barrage of propaganda and disinformation dished out by the government/media complex, millions of "patriotic" A sheeple now accept this fantastic fairy tale, this moronic mendacity, this silly superstition, this dangerous delusion, with a zealous conviction bordering on mass insanity.