Another week, another tragedy, another conspiracy. The world around us seems to be falling apart, and I refuse to believe the government is telling us everything. In fact, I am convinced the United States government is behind a large part of this insanity.

Conspiracy theorists like myself generally have a reputation for being delusional, unhinged or paranoid. It is disappointing that a few crazy theories make the entire conspiracy community look like a gang of lunatics when most of us are focusing on the facts.

No, Bush did not do 9/11. Bigfoot is not real. These theories are nothing but annoying distractions from the real mysteries at hand. What mysteries, you may ask? Let’s get to it.

The fact that America has an entire branch dedicated to secrets has always seemed a bit too convenient. The CIA has the scoop on everything and everyone in America, which gives them the ability to do basically anything as long as they keep their mouths shut. These people have a lot to hide, and I’m determined to get to the bottom of it. Well, as close to the bottom as a student journalist can get.

According to Time Magazine, rumors linking the CIA to the AIDS epidemic have been spreading rampantly since the disease’s discovery in 1981. Many high-profile believers have spoken up about this theory, including Kenyan ecologist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai and South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Mbeki disputed claims that AIDS originated in Africa, and instead turned the tables on the U.S, claiming the disease was manufactured to rid the nation of African Americans and homosexuals. Looking at our country’s track record with the black and gay communities, Mbeki’s theory is not hard to believe.

In 1971, Time said President Richard Nixon combined the U.S. army’s biowarfare department with the National Cancer Institute. Many theorists find it suspicious this union happened just 10 years before the outbreak of the AIDS virus, explaining that Nixon could have orchestrated the infections of gay men and African Americans.

But why would Nixon poison thousands of his own citizens? Because he hated them. In a series of tapes examined by CBS News’ White House correspondent Bill Plante, Nixon shared his feelings about gay people.

“They (gay people) have a problem. They were born that way,” Nixon said. “Once a society moves in that direction, the vitality goes out of that society.”

Nixon clearly was not a fan of gay people, going so far to say that the gay community is ruining the vitality of society. I find it quite interesting that just 10 years later, thousands of gay men were dying from a previously non-existent disease.

Maybe I’m crazy. Maybe I’m onto something. Whatever the truth may be, I can say one thing for certain: I don’t trust the CIA, and nothing anyone says will convince me otherwise.