Its easy to laugh at conspiracy theories. After all they are often so ridiculous you can't imagine anyone taking them seriously. But they can be dangerous. Reportedly conspiracy theories being spread in parts of Africa about vaccination programs against polio are causing many to avoid the vaccines, the result being a rise in polio cases. But don't get all smug and pontificate about the guillibility of African and other Muslims. There are lots of folks in the industrialised world who hold equally foolish beliefs about vaccination, and some of them probably are as quick to see an evil conspiracy at work.