I'm disgusted by a recent resurgence of cranially challenged claims that the Apollo program moon landings were faked. First off, you won't find a bigger fan of a good conspiracy theory than this author. It's clear to me that multilayered forces at work shape conditions amenable with their interests, often in form of the proverbial slowly boiling water to the unwitting toad.

It takes little effort to tell good ones from bad ones, in that the truth has an affection for facts that bad conspiracy theories do not. And that's one reason that of all historical targets to be so challenged, this one makes the least sense. Aliens may have built the pyramids (no I don't believe that, just saying) but at least no basement dweller argues that they aren't even there.

Part of the problem has to be the disdain of the intelligent design caste reflected sycophantically by yesterday's media and their steadily dwindling market share. Another part would be shameless marketing to a sorrowfully gullible lot. (That's not evil, it's capitalism I suppose, but clearly foul in whatever system tolerates it.)

But purporting a hoax of this scale is in flagrant contradiction of evidence and common sense. The landings could not be faked, not then, not even now. Plenty of folks are quick to claim evidence can be faked but that reveals more about how flaccid their analysis is and not what the evidence actually represents. It's not like it isn't, you know, literally solid as rock. How ironic hoaxers resort to distorted or misinterpreted versions of this evidence to buttress their flimsy belief that it's unreal. At least bring something new to the table!

The primary trouble for the hoaxers is that they have no sense for science, or the magnitude of achievement. Like the poor, the ignorant will probably always be with us. Ignorance comes in different classes though and fortunately most are curable. There's the natural kind we are all graced with at birth, until the exposure of experience imprints each brain uniquely. Then there's the obstinate, rude kind that clings to a towel monkey mother belief systems to spite the notion of education.

I like to believe all errors in cognition are reparable and pardonable. I find the moon landings such a gift for all mankind, an orbiting inspiration to magnificent accomplishment in tense times, that for someone to be so callous, so crass, so cold, so cynical, to refuse such a gift is to refuse the gifts of human intelligence and perseverance themselves.