Now I've heard everything

I've been listening to late-night shortwave radio since 1992, and I've heard every wacko in the phone book from Texe Marrs to "Brother Stair" to the überwacko himself, the late William Cooper his own self.

But it wasn't until this week that I actually heard a conspirinaut ranting at her audience in a little-girl voice.

In my current digs, shortwave reception isn't the best. On the other hand, reception in northern Ontario is superb, even on a cruddy radio. While scanning the dial a couple nights ago, I came across a program called "Divided Kingdom" on WWRB (5.085 MHz) at 11 pm EST, hosted by a woman named Elizabeth Border. I caught about the last 15 minutes of the show. She was - I kid you not - explaining chemtrails or Gulf War Syndrome or something in a series of different voices: a little girl, a deep, authoritarian "male" voice, and so forth. It was like a kid's show on acid, or something. I thought I was picking up a pirate broadcast, or a conversation on a cordless phone, it was so bad.

In other conspiracy news, I have a new candidate for the stupidest conspiracy theory ever. This week Derry Brownfield insinuated that the U. S. government was "smuggling" mountain lions into Idaho and other western states. Why? No reason given, except maybe to inconvenience people. Apparently when cougar populations go up, it's because of a gummint conspiracy (and not, say, more plentiful food supplies thanks to a decline in hunting).

One bright spot: on Sunday morning I heard Rod Hembree of Radio Weather on WWCR state that he didn't buy into the conspiracy-theory worldview. I do believe this is a first for a World Wide Conspiracy Radio broadcaster, at least in my earshot. There's a reason I'm not a total cynic.