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Michael Ruppert

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Not to be confused with Michael Rupert.
Michael C. Ruppert
Michael C. Ruppert
Born(1951-02-03)February 3, 1951
Washington, D.C.
DiedApril 13, 2014(2014-04-13) (aged 63)
Calistoga, California
Occupation(s)Author, activist, radio talk show host, retired LAPD narcotics investigator
Known forWhistleblower and author of Crossing The Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil

Michael C. Ruppert (February 3, 1951 – April 13, 2014) was an American author,[1][2] a former Los Angeles Police Department officer,[3] investigative journalist,[4] political activist[1] and peak oil awareness advocate.[3][5][6][7][8]

Until 2006, he published and edited From The Wilderness, a newsletter and website covering a range of topics including international politics, the C.I.A., peak oil, civil liberties, drugs, economics, corruption and the nature of the 9/11 conspiracy.[9][page needed] He served as president of Collapse Network, Inc[10] until he resigned in May 2012, when he gave 35 percent of his 55 percent share back to the company's founders.[11][12] He hosted The Lifeboat Hour[13] on Progressive Radio Network until 2014.[14] He has been described as a conspiracy theorist by numerous mainstream media outlets.

Ruppert was the author of Crossing The Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil. He was the subject of the 2009 documentary film Collapse, which was based on his book A Presidential Energy Policy and received the New York Times' "critics pick".[4][2][5] In 2014, VICE featured Ruppert in a 4-part series titled Apocalypse, Man.[15]

Activism

On November 15, 1996, then Director of Central Intelligence John Deutch visited Los Angeles' Locke High School for a town hall meeting. At the meeting, Ruppert publicly confronted Deutch, saying that in his experience as an LAPD narcotics officer he had seen evidence of CIA complicity in drug dealing.[16] The confrontation was handled poorly by Deutch, resulting in Deutch's termination from the CIA.

He went on to become an investigator and journalist[17] and established the publication From The Wilderness, a watchdog publication that exposed governmental corruption, including his experience with CIA drug dealing activities.[18]

Ruppert is the author of Crossing The Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil,[19] published in September 2004. Crossing The Rubicon claims that Vice President Dick Cheney, the US government, and Wall Street had a well-developed awareness of and colluded with the perpetrators of 9/11.

Numerous documentary films have featured Ruppert, including the The 911 Report You Never Saw - The Great Conspiracy, Peak Oil - Imposed by Nature,[20] Zeitgeist: Moving Forward, The End of Suburbia, American Drug War: The Last White Hope, Collapse and Apocalypse, Man.[15]

Ruppert correctly predicted the financial crisis in the US five years before it happened.[21] [4]

He has been termed a "conspiracy theorist",[22][23][3][5][6][7][8] to which he has said he "deals with "conspiracy fact" rather than theory."[24] His book Crossing the Rubicon was a "favorite among conspiracy theorists", according the The Wall Street Journal. After writing it, and subsequently moving on to peak oil, he said "I walked away from 9/11 five years ago," he says. "I have nothing to do with the 9/11 truth movement."[25]

From The Wilderness

From The Wilderness was a newsletter published from 1998 to 2006 by the media company From The Wilderness Publications. The newsletter covered political and governmental issues. It was published eleven times per year but featured weekly updates online. Critics such as David Corn[26] and Norman Solomon argued that Ruppert on occasion veered off into making unsubstantiated conspiracy theory claims.

In the summer of 2006, claiming government harassment and fearing for his life, Ruppert with Raul Santiago left the United States for Venezuela, vowing not to return.[27]

The Ashland Daily Tidings would later report that, in June 2006, Ruppert had accused a former female employee of burglarizing the offices of From The Wilderness, a case in which Ruppert himself was considered a potential suspect. Around the same time, the former female employee accused him in turn of sexual harassment. Ruppert would later in 2009 be ordered to pay a $125,000 fine by the Oregon labor board in the case. The female employee claimed Ruppert fired her after she refused his sexual advances, Ruppert denies this and claims he fired her for "disruptive behavior, poor work performance and wearing inappropriate clothing". The former employee further claims Ruppert approached her in her office "wearing only his underwear and a smile", something Ruppert doesn't deny.[28][29][30]

The end of From The Wilderness was announced in a post at the website on November 7, 2006. Reasons for the closure were detailed in the article. Ruppert claimed his bad health, glitches that disabled their web store, "problems of human origin" and his departure to Venezuela had led to the demise of From The Wilderness.[31]

Later that year, Ruppert flew to Toronto, Canada, for medical treatment. The following statement was posted on the From The Wilderness website on November 26, 2006:

"Personally, I am through forever with investigative journalism and public lecturing. I am leaving public life. It is my hope that by continuing to repeat this sincere position that many of the inexplicable difficulties which have dominated my life over the past months will ease. It is time to move on. I spent twenty-seven years as a dedicated public activist and that is something which I am no longer able or inclined to do. The price was ultimately too great."[32]

After shutting down, From the Wilderness was sued by their landlord for unpaid rent owed on their Ashland office space.[28]

Further activities

A posting from Ruppert on the From the Wilderness Web site said he was back in New York, receiving treatment from "sympathetic physicians" for a variety of ailments.

Ruppert still occasionally contributed to the Collapse Network news desk, run by former From the Wilderness associate and longtime friend, Jenna Orkin.

As recently as 2010, Ruppert lived in Los Angeles, California and launched Collapse Network to build sustainable communities across the world. In 2011 he announced on his Lifeboat Hour radio show that he was relocating to Sonoma County, California, because he thought that it would be a safer location in the event of societal collapse. Ruppert left the Collapse Network in May 2012.

Reception

The New York Times, in its review of Collapse, wrote "the majority of his premises are verifiable, any weakness in his argument lies in inferences so terrifying that reasonable listeners may find themselves taking his advice" and that in it, Ruppert "emerges finally as an authentic human being, sympathetic even when the film that embraces him is not."[4]

Criticism

Columnist Norman Solomon has argued that Ruppert has a flawed analytical model. "Some of the problem is in how he characterizes news reports. These citations can be narrowly factual yet presented in a misleading way. Yes, such-and-such newspaper reported that thus-and-so claim was made by so-and-so. The paper reported on the claim, but that doesn't mean the claim is true."[33]

Columnist David Corn has also criticized Ruppert's methodology, and dismisses the idea that conspiracy theorizing is useful: "In fact, out-there conspiracy theorizing serves the interests of the powers-that-be by making their real transgressions seem tame in comparison."[34] Ruppert responded with an open public letter to Corn saying that Corn is not able to disprove any of Ruppert's claims.[35]

Death

On April 13, 2014, Ruppert was found dead of an apparent suicide. According to his business partner, Ruppert shot himself in the head after taping his final broadcast of The Lifeboat Hour.[1]

Bibliography

  • Ruppert, Michael C., Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil, New Society Publishers, 2004. ISBN 0-86571-540-8
  • Ruppert, Michael C., A Presidential Energy Policy, New World Digital Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-1-61539-257-5
  • Ruppert, Michael C., Confronting Collapse: The Crisis of Energy and Money in a Post Peak Oil World, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-1-60358-264-3

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Todorov, Kernana. "Sheriff: Author Michael Ruppert dies of self-inflicted gunshot wound". Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Crossing the Rubicon". New Society Publishers. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  3. ^ a b c Tobias, Scott (September 14, 2009). "Toronto Film Festival '09: Day 4". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d Catsoulis, Jeannette. "Collapse (2009)". NYT. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "Collapse Director Chris Smith on His New Doc and the Impending Fall of Civilization". New York Magazine. June 11, 2009. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  6. ^ a b ""Collapse" Director Chris Smith: "It was all an attempt to get the audience inside Michael's head."". indieWIRE. November 6, 2009. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  7. ^ a b Gleiberman, Owen. "Toronto: The buzz film 'Collapse' showcases a gripping pundit of economic doom". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  8. ^ a b Nelson, Rob (September 17, 2009). "Collapse (Documentary)". Variety. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  9. ^ "From The Wilderness: Information on Peak Oil, Sustainability, and the events surrounding 9/11". From The Wilderness Publications. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  10. ^ http://www.collapsenet.com
  11. ^ Ruppert, Michael. "Evolve or Perish". Collapse Network, Inc. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  12. ^ Schortgen, Kenneth Jr. (December 31, 2010). "2011 economist predictions – Michael Ruppert". Examiner.com. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
  13. ^ http://prn.fm/category/archives/lifeboat-hour/
  14. ^ "Michael Ruppert "The Lifeboat Hour"". Progressive Radio Network. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  15. ^ a b "Apocalypse, Man - Part 1". VICE special. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  16. ^ Steve Lowery, "A CIA Infomercial", New Times Los Angeles (21 November 1996) p. 6.
  17. ^ "Who Is Michael C. Ruppert?". 2005. Retrieved 2007-02-27.
  18. ^ C.I.A. & Drugs
  19. ^ Michael Ruppert (2004). Crossing The Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil. New Society Publishers. ISBN 0-86571-540-8. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ Peak Oil - Imposed by Nature, Tropos Dokumentar website
  21. ^ "Top Documentary Films - Collapse". Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  22. ^ Stahl, Jeremy (6 September 2011). "Where Did 9/11 Conspiracies Come From?". Slate. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  23. ^ Jenkins, Mark (5 November 2009). "Michael Ruppert, Explaining The Coming 'Collapse'". NPR. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  24. ^ "Michael Ruppert, Explaining The Coming 'Collapse'". NPR. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  25. ^ "Sounding an Alarm on Oil". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  26. ^ Corn, David (2002). "The September 11 X-Files". The Nation. Retrieved 2006-05-28.
  27. ^ Michael C. Ruppert (August 19, 2006). "By the light of a burning bridge". From the Wilderness. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  28. ^ a b Robert Plain (December 4, 2006). "From the Wilderness taken to court". Ashland Daily Tidings. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  29. ^ Sanne Specht (September 25, 2009). "Businessman fined in sexual harassment case". Ashland Daily Tidings.
  30. ^ Sanne Specht (September 24, 2009). "Man says he's innocent of sexual harassment". Ashland Daily Tidings. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  31. ^ Michael C. Ruppert (November 7, 2006). "Evolution". From the Wilderness. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  32. ^ Ray Kohlman (November 26, 2006). "Mike Ruppert In Canada". From the Wilderness. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  33. ^ Norman Solomon (2002-03-07). "Letter From: Norman Solomon". Retrieved 2007-02-27.
  34. ^ David Corn (2002-03-01). "When 9/11 Conspiracy Theories Go Bad". Alternet. Retrieved 2007-02-27.
  35. ^ Michael C. Ruppert (2002-03-01). ""Nation" editor David Corn attacks Mike Ruppert with bad information./Read Mike's reply to corn". Retrieved 2007-02-27.

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