9-11 box cutters 11 september utility knives

[Fiona Shnapple]

Some conspiracy theories claim that Jewish workers took the day off,
September 11th, others say Arab workers took off, some say Bush told
his friends, like Osama's family members to stay away from the
Financial District....the list goes on. Why was Horst not at his
office? Why wasn't he short the Airlines? How does he know the future
prices of commodities? How does the Christer he works the pits with
explain his great fortune?

All the characters make assumptions based on stereotypes or
prejudices, and P satirizes these assumptions and prejudicial
conspiracy theories.

On Tue, Nov 26, 2013 at 6:03 AM, Kai Frederik Lorentzen
<lorentzen at hotmail.de> wrote:
>
> I'm not convinced.
>
> Especially enigmatic I find your reference to Horst's ethno-cultural
> background ("he's a Lutheran, not a Jew or a Saudi"). What does this have to
> do with his trustworthyness re the debated issue?
>
>
>
> On 25.11.2013 21:56, Fiona Shnapple wrote:
>>
>> Great. A page and passage for a change.
>>
>> Turn back to we are re introduced to Horst. On page 21. How does Horst
>> do his job so well. He makes a ton of money trading commodities.
>> Risky, rough and tumble business. He trades in the  Chicago Pits. We
>> learn he is a clam, silent type, emotionless dude from the Midwest,
>> but he fights like the devil in the pits and makes deals, and he is
>> not afraid to slam the rules into the boards to get a hat trick. And
>> he does score hat tricks.  In fact, he has some kind of magic, so he
>> knows how commodities around the world will behave (21). In other
>> words, he trades futures and he can see into it as far as the price of
>> commodities goes. Not a bad gift if you can get it and keep it. And
>> he's kept it, for he enjoys and error free history.
>>
>> Unless his gift or luck, or combination of both is so rare nobody else
>> can make bets and make a pile? But that's not true. Hell, the Dow
>> Jones Transportation Index hit a triple top. And every fool know how
>> high oil prices were and how the airlines have an inverse relationship
>> to the price of Bent and WTI.
>>
>> And, anytime a hug longshot is out there, somebody is gonna put some
>> money on it. No, Horst can't explain why he wasn't in his office that
>> day when the towers were struck. And he's a Lutheran not a Jew or a
>> Saudi.
>>
>> Pynchon debunks these conspiracy theories; these divisive theories
>> that say the Jews got out, the Arabs got out....the Bush people got
>> out. He debunks them and piles them in the landfill with the Bush
>> attack on Iraq.
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 25, 2013 at 7:00 AM, Kai Frederik Lorentzen
>> <lorentzen at hotmail.de>  wrote:
>>>
>>> Pynchon might "debunk" March to a certain degree.
>>>
>>> But Horst? I don't see that.
>>>
>>> "This is the Chicago Exchange, toward the end of last week, see? there
>>> was a
>>> sudden abnormal surge of put options on United Airlines. Thousands of
>>> puts,
>>> not a heck of a lot of calls. Now, today, the same thing happens for
>>> American Airlines." (p. 315)
>>>
>>> "HORST MEANTIME IS PUZZLED ABOUT something else. 'Remember the week
>>> before
>>> this happened, all those put options on United and American Airlines?
>>> Which
>>> turned out to be exactly the two airlines that got hijacked? Well, it
>>> seems
>>> on that Thursday and Friday there were also lopsided put-to-call ratios
>>> for
>>> Morgan Stanley. Merrill Lynch. couple others like them, all tenants of
>>> the
>>> Trade Center. As a fraud investigator, what does that suggest to you?'"
>>> (pp.
>>> 323-324)
>>>
>>> Horst emphasizes that he's trying "to keep hold of my common sense" (p.
>>> 324); in general he's portrayed as non-hysterical and intelligent.
>>>
>>> So what's your point?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 25.11.2013 11:21, Fiona Shnapple wrote:
>>>>
>>>> JT sez,
>>>>>
>>>>> So even though Pynchon, in BE does suggest some sinister possibilities
>>>>> along the lines of insider foreknowledge,  almost no one on the p->list
>>>>> wants to even think about, hear about, or talk about it in anything but
>>>>> a
>>>>> very reactionary  and fundamentally ad hominem way.
>>>>
>>>> He doesn't suggests them; his characters do; he debunks them.  Why?
>>>> That is the question. The answer is not too easy to get at. You, and
>>>> the others who attack you, ignore the book, for the most part. It's
>>>> not easy to argue that P suggests something sinister, not with this
>>>> book. Give me pages and I'll argue against such a reading.
>>>> -
>>>> Pynchon-l /http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=nchon-l
>>>>
>>>>
>>> -
>>> Pynchon-l /http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>>
>> -
>> Pynchon-l /http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>>
>>
>
> -
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
-
Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l