The Reader's Digest Conspiracy

[Columbia]

I was flipping through in old Reader's Digest I had and I found something that may put to rest the "We never thought of an airplane being used as a missile" talking point for good.

Here is an excerpt:

"Assault in the Cockpit"
Reader's Digest
August 1997
p. 66-72

August Calloway might have worried that the guitar case would arouse the suspicion of FedEx security guards. But they'd waved him through their checkpoint. Lifting the lid, he looked at the weapons he'd selected to accomplish his objective: four hammers, a spear gun and a sheathed diver's knife.

...

Calloway had recently come under scrutiny at FedEx. His managers suspected he'd lied on his employment application about his naval flight experience and problems with previous employers. They had scheduled a displinary hearing for the next day.

Calloway decided to commandeer a DC-10 in flight. He could dispatch the captain, co-pilot and flight engineer - who would be seated with their backs to him virtually the entire time the plane was airborne - with a blunt instrument.

A fully loaded DC-10 with 20,000 gallons of fuel on board would make an awesome statement. Calloway would plunge it into the FedEx package-sorting hub and instantly turn the sprawling complex into an inferno. He had flown hundreds of simulated bombing missions in Navy jets. By coming in fast and low, on about a three-degree dive angle, he could knock out the entire FedEx facility. In an instant, the logo recognized worldwide for efficiency and teamwork would become synonymous with an unexplained disaster, massive loss of life and unprecedented destruction.


This is over 4 years before 9/11 so there is no way intelligence officials can claim it had never been thought of before, BECAUSE IT HAD ALREADY BEEN TRIED IN THE UNITED STATES.

There are other articles in this issue as well that is eerily similar to events that have transpired in the last 4 years:

"The Global War on Christians" - an article that discusses Muslim militants and worldwide persecution against Christians.

"Can We Trust the FBI?" - an article that discusses the scandal, misconduct, and general ineptitude of the FBI.

"They're Stealing the Election" - an article about election allegations in the Mary Landrieu vs. Louis Jenkins Louisiana Senate race in 1996.

[alarimer]

1. Reader's digest is so right wing

I am not sure any of those things are actually true.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. This one is absolutely true.

Even though Readers' Digest is a right-wing rag, they got this one right. I remember when this happened, which is one reason I nearly puked when Condi Rice said nobody could imagine using an airplane as a weapon. Here's the decision in Calloway's criminal trial, which describes what happened. I figure a court opinion is a more credible source than Reader's Digest. http://www.law.emory.edu/6circuit/june97/97a0184p.06.html

[jdj]

2. This is awesome.

Readers Digest is a propaganda outlet, I think.

Which means this is probably valid, straight from the FBI.

[Solon]

4. Reader's Digest....so right wing, it supported Hitler. n/t

[Columbia]

5. Ok, folks

I know Reader's Digest is right-wing, but please look at the substance of the article and how it debunks current administration stances about how no one could have thought about using airplanes as missiles when someone had actually tried to do it 8 years ago.

[jdj]

6. My point was

that BECAUSE Readers Digest IS a propaganda outlet is why I think this is true.

I'm sure this can be documented elsewhere.

And of course Condi lied about the airplane thing, I just did not know that it went all the way back to '97.

I think of Reader's Digest as just a kinder gentler worldnetdaily, their ultimate purpose is furthering conservatism in an undetectable way, so THEY would know where to get info like this.

[Columbia]

7. Ok

Ok, I think I understand what you are getting it now.

Yeah, I used to get a free subscription until I started to notice the underlying trend towards conservative issues and stances. I use them for bathroom reading material now and just for the jokes sections at that.

Here is another source which includes a transcript of the cockpit voice recorder:

http://www.tailstrike.com/070494.htm

[AwakeAtLast]

8. Just read a recent article in RD

about how outsourcing of jobs to India was a good thing. Couldn't believe my eyes. I never knew.

[nosmokes]

9. FCOL, tom clancy used it as a plot device in a best selling

novel, or whatever term you wanna apply to what he writes, and he had it crashing into the capitol. rice's statement that no one could have foreseen an airliner being used as a weapon was asinine at best.

but i'm thinking we have a bigger problem here, namely that columbia is reading back issues of the reader's digest. for the love of all that's decent, use the public library! my god, have you no shame? do we need to contact your friends and loved ones and arrange an intervention...

[Columbia]

10. What can I say, I'm a packrat

And I pretty much rely on the Internet now for research. No more subscriptions to anything at all.

I do buy and read books frequently, but I'm more into actual literature than political writing. Gotta escape from the madness every once in awhile.

[nosmokes]

11. well, as long as it's not a problem. denial ain't a river in

egypt, ya know. ;)

[Eric J in MN]

12. is that fiction or a true story? (nt)

nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. A true story.

See posts above.