Skeptic Talk's topics - tribe.net

skeptics: document the dangers... cool guy.

2008-07-24T07:04:32Z

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=5420631&page=1

posted in Skeptic Talk - 0 replies

Skepticism vs. Cynicism

2008-06-30T02:28:10Z

any thoughts?

posted in Skeptic Talk - 9 replies

Debunk please

2008-06-29T00:56:32Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V94shlqPlSI

All I can think is that they got the most annoying people so that we actually want THEIR heads to pop.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 27 replies

Has anyone seen the documentary 'The god who wasn't there'?

2008-06-28T21:30:11Z

And what did you think?

posted in Skeptic Talk - 3 replies

It's Friday 13th .. you know what that means..

2008-06-28T11:17:03Z

Friday the 13th..

what does it mean to you?

for me.. it means nothing other than TV referencing "scary" stuff..and since I hardly watch TV.. it's just another day.

But maybe you got better stories to share..

posted in Skeptic Talk - 12 replies

2012 Stuff

2008-06-23T01:02:52Z

After the year 2012 comes and goes with no dawn of a new age or doom what will be the next date the the woo crowd tries to cash-in on?

I recall first hearing about the year 2012 as it became evident that year 2000 predictions would fail. Have they come up with a date beyond December 23, 2012? According to this fable the Mayans foresaw the end of some cosmic cycle happening on 12/23/12 (not sure what time) Strange how the Mayans never saw the end of their own civilization looming.

My guess is they will amp-up a close pass of an astroid and try to retrofit it into some earlier prediction.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 24 replies

Jack Bernstein...Anybody?

2008-06-18T08:05:29Z

Anybody have anything on this guy. Jack Bernstein. An article of his, including a discussion of his book, was tossed out on a Middle East politics forum. I've done a bunch of web searches, and all I get are a bunch of blog/forum "discussions" rehashing the same unsupported "facts" over and over. Classic circular logic. He was supposedly assassinated by Mossad a few years back, so he is personally unavailable for comment. There are websites dedicated to him, which provide no links to any evidence in support of, or contrary to his revelations. If you dig far enough, you will find him applauded and widely quoted on far right Christian conspiracy, anti-Catholic, and anti-Semitic sites, including David Duke's and biblebelievers.au. I can't even find any evidence that this guy actually existed, other than as the ghost-writer of a conspiracy text.

Anybody?

posted in Skeptic Talk - 1 reply

A SERMON?

2008-05-23T23:50:25Z

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXdwcIWIB_o

posted in Skeptic Talk - 13 replies

what do you think of hypnotherapy for smoking cessation?

2008-05-18T17:25:03Z

what do you think of hypnotherapy?

hypnotherapy:
Therapy which employs hypnosis, often used for the treatment of illnesses and emotional problems

in regards to smoking cessation.. would you be more skeptical on the efficacy of hypnotherapy or that of nicotine replacement therapy? why?

posted in Skeptic Talk - 8 replies

BBC Newsnight on UFO's...

2008-05-14T17:09:15Z

Watch for yourself --- I found it amusing:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/7399717.stm

posted in Skeptic Talk - 2 replies

Environmentalism? Global climate change, species extinction, etc.

2008-05-13T19:44:29Z

I just watched one of Penn & Teller's DVDs of "Bullshit," where the focus was on the environmental movement.

Here's my question: in the battle of the talking heads, how are we supposed to evaluate scientific claims if we're not experts in that particular science? Everyone has his or her own axe to grind, and dismissing one set of statistics simply because it comes from a government source seems a bit paranoid. Dismissing another set simply because it comes from a self-proclaimed "tree-hugger" seems arrogant.

I've read well-written reports that say global climate change IS occuring. I've read equally well-written reports that deny it's happening, and other reports that say it's happening but it's no big deal.

No one can seem to agree on the annual rate of species extinction, if it's occurring more rapidly now, or even if it matters to humans at all.

While I appreciate Penn & Teller's entertaining approach to the problem, I'm not convinced they addressed the real issue -- when faced with conflicting expert opinions, how do you go about finding the truth? Or is that there IS no truth -- just data to be interpreted?

Does that make any sense?

posted in Skeptic Talk - 13 replies

the singularity

2008-05-13T18:02:12Z

woo or solid prediction?

for newcomers to the idea, the concept is that technology is progressing at an exponential rate. eventually on an exponential curve the line goes vertical, or asymptotic. in the context of technological change that would mean that what had taken fifty years to change, then ten years to change, then five years to change, then a year to change, could change in hours, or even less. and it's in some ways difficult to see why it wouldn't get even shorter, particularly in the context of a robust artificial intelligence technology.

the point being that when the line goes asymptotic what will happen is totally unpredictable, and even "unknowable" in a sense, which is why vernor vinge coined the word "singularity" for it.

it's an interesting mixture of apparently solid reasoning and "end of the world" narratives of transcendence that are so common.

here's the wiki on it with more info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity

what do you guys think?

posted in Skeptic Talk - 3 replies

New moderator?

2008-05-13T11:30:24Z

Looks like our moderator is MIA. Shall we pick a new one?

I'll happily throw my hat in the ring, to see if we can bring more activity (and fun) to these pages.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 76 replies

what do you think of kundalini?

2008-05-13T01:50:34Z

kun·da·li·ni (knd-ln)
n. Hinduism
Energy that lies dormant at the base of the spine until it is activated, as by the practice of yoga, and channeled upward through the chakras in the process of spiritual perfection.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 10 replies

Distorting the meaning of the word "skeptic"

2008-05-10T18:53:50Z

MIckey wrote:

"well maybe we can resurrect this tribe. someone post an interesting topic. not me, i'm horrifically uncreative."

OK, then! Why not touch on something that's been raised in the moderator tempest in a teapot (which may or may not be orbiting between the Earth and Mars, c.f. Bertrand Russell.)

I've noticed that sometimes people from the Land of Woo (sometimes geographically coterminous with California but generally more of a state of mind) will lay claim to being skeptics: They'll say, "I'm skeptical of Science" (or the scientific attitude, whatever they conceive that to be.)

As if science (as in the hypothetico-deductive method or however else one chooses to describe it) weren't generally self-correcting within its area of applicability - and also as if it needed something from outside rational discourse to supervise it. As if ethics weren't also part of rational discourse. And as if emotion and reason weren't already intimately linked (I'm thinking of Dr. Antonio Damasio's work - his book "Descartes' Error", in particular - and also some of Marvin Minsky's recent stuff), so that the frequent criticism that logic is "too cold" is off the mark. (Something which makes Star Trek's Vulcans unintentionally hilarious in their implausibility.)

To be critical of blind spots in the thinking of particular all-too-human scientists, or to point out that the links from "is" to "ought" either aren't inherent in reality or are subtle enough to require some hard thinking (ethical "heavy lifting", in other words), is one thing, but I often see a more explicitly anti-scientific and anti-logical ("Oh, you and and your limited Logic! Just feel!") attitude in place of that, one that rejects scientific and logical thinking wholesale.

Calling an anti-scientific and anti-logical attitude "skepticism" reminds me of theists who try to characterize atheism as just another religion(!) No, no, no!, I want to yell; You're missing the basic point!

<pedantique>
BTW, Fifi, though I'm a transplant to Canada, by now I've read enough philosophy papers (by Canadians) here to note that "skeptic" is spelled either way - "sceptic" is more British, but unlike "colour" vs. "color", and like "-ise" vs. "-ize", the American usage is at least equally prominent here.

From the Wiki:

"The American spelling, akin to Greek, preferred by Fowler, and used by many Canadians, is the earlier form.[104] Sceptic also pre-dates the settlement of the US and follows the French sceptique and Latin scepticus. In the mid-18th century Dr Johnson's dictionary listed skeptic without comment or alternative but this form has never been popular in the UK;[105] sceptic, an equal variant in Webster's Third (1961), has now become "chiefly British". Australians generally follow British usage. All are pronounced with a hard "c", though in French the letter is effectively silent and so confusible with septique."

Hmm, wouldn't want to be confused with "septic", now, here in La Belle Province, would we!
</pedantique>

posted in Skeptic Talk - 8 replies

What's the Harm?

2008-05-10T14:04:23Z

Consequences of woo woo

www.whatstheharm.net

posted in Skeptic Talk - 6 replies

The Four Horsemen

2008-05-09T14:28:07Z

Some interesting viewing here

http://richarddawkins.net/article,2025,THE-FOUR-HORSEMEN,Discussions-With-Richard-Dawkins-Episode-1-RDFRS

"On the 30th of September 2007, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens sat down for a first-of-its-kind, unmoderated 2-hour discussion, convened by RDFRS and filmed by Josh Timonen.

All four authors have recently received a large amount of media attention for their writings against religion - some positive, and some negative. In this conversation the group trades stories of the public's reaction to their recent books, their unexpected successes, criticisms and common misrepresentations. They discuss the tough questions about religion that face the world today, and propose new strategies for going forward. "

posted in Skeptic Talk - 2 replies

Let's Keep the Current Moderator

2008-05-07T05:32:54Z

Unless there is some stated reason to change, what is the issue with the current moderator?

posted in Skeptic Talk - 17 replies

Shamanic Interests

2008-05-05T12:13:08Z

I'll take a stab at this here. I am skeptical of many of the "new age" claims of shamanic powers. I think the shamanic tradition is worthy of some investigation, but (at the very least) the anthropological study of the tradition on the whole can tell us a lot about ourselves. As to whether or not shamans can heal, astrally project, commune with other dimensions--I remain skeptical. I think someTHINGs happen, I'm just not sure what. If someone tells me they're a shaman, I'll ask them to prove it. But for lack of my own, formulated thoughts on the matter, here's the one book on the matter I've read which makes some sense to me:

http://www.amazon.com/Native-Healing-Sacred-Paths-Health/dp/1887896392/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209943636&sr=1-1

posted in Skeptic Talk - 1 reply

are skeptics party poopers?

2008-05-04T20:40:58Z

whenever I am skeptical of someone elses claim, i sense that I am being seen as a party pooper..perhaps even seen as being negative..for not sharing their enthusiams of a certain claim..

..a certain vibe starts building about being a skeptic..methinks..

Do any of you get what I am getting at?

Do you think skeptics have a bad wrap as party poopers?

posted in Skeptic Talk - 52 replies

Gems

2008-05-03T21:35:53Z

So what of carrying gemstones around for their alleged properties? Gems for healing? Gems for protection?

posted in Skeptic Talk - 10 replies

slamming the arrogant evolution loving atheists and failing?

2008-04-17T18:24:33Z

or just being completely baffling?
This video starts out with it seems a clear agenda, especially with the "EXPELLED" reference...it then goes into this rap song that I think is supposed to be dissing Dawkins and his "crew" but ends up shooting itself in the foot by having a chorus that is not only catchy but kinda like....yeah, and?
If having a science degree is a put down, then yes they are smarter than you.
I know that Dawkins' style of delivery gets some people's backs up, even people on his side (Hitchens trumps everyone in pompous arrogance so I don't really understand) but this video somehow ends up reinforcing the awesomeness instead. The lyrics are posted alongside this version, and I'm still confused about what the agenda of the person who made it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFXIALf9zDA

posted in Skeptic Talk - 5 replies

How to detect a lie?

2008-04-03T00:49:36Z

Check out this video:
http://www.maniacworld.com/How-To-Detect-a-Lie.html

posted in Skeptic Talk - 9 replies

A new tribe dedicated to humor

2008-03-30T17:28:02Z

This tribe is dedicated to comedy. Whether just good humor, funny statements, jokes, video clips, audio tracks, people who like to laugh, adult jokes, humorous moments in life(Even if they didn't seem that way, at that moment), funny shows, books and movies, etc.
I have been finding, entirely too much seriousness on tribe.net, so..... I created a place for people to come laugh, share humor and relax after a stressful day, night, a nap, lol.
Personally, I am tiring of all the "deep thoughts", argument tribes and tribes that don't follow their main purpose.
Life's too short to spend dedicated to battling.
Life is never too short, for a good laugh.
http://tribes.tribe.net/laughingwithlife

posted in Skeptic Talk - 2 replies

Medications in tap water

2008-03-20T11:53:00Z

A recent EPA report says there are traces of medications in some of the nations drinking water. According to the report ibprofuen, antibiotics and others appear in parts per billion to a trillion. This is beginng to sound a lot like homeopathy. How long before someone sells tap water as a homeopathic cure-all? That's all that homeopathic preperations are in the first place.

And don't forget to take your Gulli-Go www.gulligo.com

posted in Skeptic Talk - 10 replies

New Tribe check it out

2008-03-19T20:06:37Z

http://tribes.tribe.net/ufodebate

posted in Skeptic Talk - 0 replies

Project Chanology, Anonymous hackers, and taking down Scientology

2008-03-02T00:33:53Z

Taking down Scientology isn't just important... it's fun!!!!!

http://www.partyvan.info/index.php/Project_Chanology
the hackers have a lot of explanation above.....

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10609174
the economist article about the DOS attacks on Scientology, and the real world protest 10th Feb.

Guys... you could be part of bringing a religion down during your lifetime. You can help destroy a dangerous cult. Read up, think about it, and offer your services where you can.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Text of Economist Article:

Scientology
Fair game

Jan 31st 2008
From The Economist print edition
An online onslaught against Scientology

A VICIOUS cult run by cynical fraudsters, or a sincerely held religious belief persecuted by zealots? That is the long-standing row about Scientology, founded by the late science-fiction writer, L. Ron Hubbard. In some countries, such as Germany, the group is watched by the security services. In others, such as America and Australia, it has won charitable status as a religion.

Until now the fight could mostly be seen as one-sided. Scientology's lawyers are vigorous litigants. The group argues that its internal materials (which claim, among other things, that expensive courses of treatment can help rid people of infestation by alien souls from an extinct civilisation) are commercially confidential and protected by copyright. They react sharply to any perceived libel.

As a result, public critics of what they derisively term “$cientology” risk expensive legal battles. For example, a new unauthorised biography of Tom Cruise by a British author, Andrew Morton, contains detailed and highly critical material about the film star's involvement in Scientology. It is a bestseller in America but has not been published in Britain. The publisher, St Martin's Press, has even asked internet booksellers not to ship it to foreign customers. Though Scientology representatives vehemently deny breaking any laws, critics have claimed that they experience intensive harassment and intimidation.

Now Scientology is under attack from a group of internet activists known only as Anonymous. Organised from a Wikipedia-style website (editable by anyone) and through anonymous internet chat rooms, “Project Chanology”, as the initiative is known, presents no easy target for Scientology's lawyers. It is promoting cyberwarfare techniques normally associated with extortionists, spies and terrorists. Called “distributed denial of service attacks”, these typically involve using networks of infected computers to bombard the target's websites and servers with bogus requests for data, causing them to crash. Even governments find this troublesome.

Anonymous is also hoping to galvanise public opinion with a mass “real-world” protest outside every Scientology office worldwide on February 10th. But its best weapon may be ridicule. The group got going in reaction to efforts to ban an internal Scientology video of Mr Cruise that leaked onto the internet. The star appears to discuss his beliefs with a degree of incoherence and exaggeration that might lead some to question Scientology's effects on its adherents' sanity. A Scientology spokesman says it has been selectively edited. Several internet sites have taken it down after threats of lawsuits. But it keeps popping up.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 17 replies

Antioxidants - The good, the bad and the completely useless...

2008-02-23T06:47:09Z

One of my new fave blogs for all things medicine related had an interesting article on antioxidants and how little we still know about whether they're good for us, harmful or just more irrelevant and expensive promises of immortality and health in a magic pill....

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=38#more-38

I started doing a bit of research on antioxidants because I got into an ugly tit for tat recently about a rather dodgy organization called Centre for the advancement of cancer education (sounds all good, doesn't it?) at www.beatcancer.org which led to the even sketchier JuicePlus supplements which are promoted by the head of CACE. I figured the skeptics here might appreciate the info. And, well, I take real issue with people who exploit the ill.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 9 replies

Atheist sees Big Bang in toast

2008-02-16T19:36:52Z

http://duggmirror.com/comedy/Atheist_Sees_Image_of_Big_Bang_in_Piece_of_Toast/

This is simply brilliant.

Forget that religious shyster with her toast.

Which shyster is that? All of them!

posted in Skeptic Talk - 4 replies

New Age Anonymous

2008-02-05T02:57:32Z

It's a pretend (or is it?)12 step program for new age aholics, that concentrates on finding your lower self, eating hamburgers, tossing out your crystals and realizing you're another tiny person just like everyone else....with plenty of snark to go around.
It's very long, the person who wrote this was really dedicated...or really had a vendetta, or was copying the whole AA book thing as well. There's even a new age glossary.

http://snakelyone.com/12step.htm

One of the bits I enjoyed was the reversal of the whole part of AA where you have to contact people you think you've hurt by your addiction and reconcile or whatever with them..
Although I also think it's funny merely that they chose the Twelve Step model, as it's not exactly a way out of the sort of thinking they're fighting against and has it's own problems. But maybe that's also part of the joke.

(x-posting to astrology is stupid)

posted in Skeptic Talk - 2 replies

Stonehenge

2008-01-31T16:58:07Z

Forgive me the crosspost. I cannot remember which tribe we'd discussed this in before. It's been a while, I haven't the time to go searching:

Totally plausible ideas on how Stonhenge was built. No aliens, telepathy, or heavy machinery involved:

http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/moving_big_rocks

posted in Skeptic Talk - 1 reply

brains! and spinning

2008-01-31T16:48:26Z

which way do you see it first?
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22535838-5012895,00.html

AND
does it matter?

posted in Skeptic Talk - 15 replies

hackers take down scientology site...

2008-01-31T16:24:20Z

"For the good of your followers, for the good of mankind and for our own enjoyment, we shall proceed to expel you from the Internet and systematically dismantle the Church of Scientology in its present form," a creepy computerized voice states in the video. Anonymous followed up this dispatch with a second video blasting the media for failing to completely report its criticisms of the church. This video was taken down on Friday by YouTube Inc., which cited a "terms of use violation."

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9059338
http://www.knbc.com/news/15132220/detail.html
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/012608-hackers-hit-scientology-with-online.html?fsrc=rss-security
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23107591-2,00.html
http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;166801983

Apparently they are going to bring it down. All of it. This excites me to no end.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 5 replies

Top Ten Unexplained Phenomena

2008-01-26T20:47:33Z

Forgive me the crosspost:

Very interesting list here:

http://tinyurl.com/2ch8jx

posted in Skeptic Talk - 1 reply

Efficacy of anti-depressant medication over stated by drug companies

2008-01-20T17:51:57Z

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/health/17depress.html

"The makers of antidepressants like Prozac and Paxil never published the results of about a third of the drug trials that they conducted to win government approval, misleading doctors and consumers about the drugs’ true effectiveness, a new analysis has found.

In published trials, about 60 percent of people taking the drugs report significant relief from depression, compared with roughly 40 percent of those on placebo pills. But when the less positive, unpublished trials are included, the advantage shrinks: the drugs outperform placebos, but by a modest margin, concludes the new report, which appears Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine. "

posted in Skeptic Talk - 0 replies

Michael Schermer at Powell's

2008-01-17T07:40:13Z

Michael Schermer will be at Powell's in Portland at 7:30 PM on January 21st!

posted in Skeptic Talk - 0 replies

let's debunk the new secret? Imagining 10 dimensions....

2008-01-16T00:30:00Z

http://www.tenthdimension.com/flash2.php

Zero offense, but this may be the new "Secret". It isn't working with anything "real". It is like the conjecture of someone who sounds good, but there is no depth.

He is violating laws within String Theory, and that is becoming a vestige in light of it's inconsistencies. I know that Superstring suggest 10 dimensions, but it only *suggests* 10 dimensions because for the math to work, consistency needs string theory to hold 10.

Science does not *try* to prove anything. Science interprets data and arrives at the most plausible theory until a new set of data or more plausible theory comes long. It is revisionistic, and it is not an argument on authority. That being said (I know that is an ideal concept, without human ego interfering):

Scientists *have* been trying to prove string theory for a long time, and frankly... it is like trying to cement together the loose ends of an incomplete theory. Quantum Mechanics is a young field, and it will be much more elegant than Superstring. Gravity will be explained in a much more beautiful way. Frankly... I think it *will* look something like this.... and I *DO* think E8 math is a plausible place to start.

(I think the below is one of the most elegant and stunning concepts in the history of man)...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/E8_graph.svg

But String *ONLY USES 10 DIMENSIONS BECAUSE THE MATH IS FLAWED AND IT COMPENSATES FOR THE ERROR*

And.... There are four dimensions... anything after that quickly becomes untestable and way too abstract to consider science. This falls into a new age paradigm of quantum quackery.

As for the 10th Dimension dude......

Be wary here. Very slick presentation of absolutely nothing. The author is a musician, and no science background at all. The reviews flashing on the screen are from random shmoes on amazon and barnes and noble.com... yet representing them as if they were legitimate peer reviews.

I understand a little quantum mechanics. Not the new age redefined hokum quantum mechanics but the proper discourse. 10 dimensions is a little bizarre.... it is very arbitrary. We are working in something like 26 dimensions with certain physic/mathematician philosophers, but there aren't more than 8 in our physical plain. And I don't even believe that. When you are talking.. ARGH!

How is it possible that we move from infiniity to a finite as we progress through each dimension? Really, it doesn't make sense. And the idea of folding really .. uhh... seems... uhh.. totally made up and arbitrary. You don't move through dimensions by folding. That is way out there.

I need more time with this, but on first glance I am not sure there is reason too.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 2 replies

Mind-body medicine

2008-01-15T21:29:48Z

An interesting book review on Slate:
http://www.slate.com/id/2182017/pagenum/all/#page_start

posted in Skeptic Talk - 0 replies

tom cruise indoctrination video

2008-01-15T21:03:04Z

http://defamer.com/344987/the-tom-cruise-indoctrination-video-scientologists-dont-want-you-to-see?autoplay=true

posted in Skeptic Talk - 0 replies

Yah, right!

2008-01-15T08:02:07Z

Oh sure!... Sure! Sure! Sure! Like that could happen, right! Yah I'll believe it when I see it. That never happens. NEVER. NEVER EVER EVER. I don't believe it, and you're stupid if you do! Like what is your problem? IT'S FAKE. EVERYTHING IS. Nothing is real, WE ALL KNOW THAT! You should stop these crazy beliefs. Can we convince you that you're wrong? You know you are, and we know you are. Admit it, just admit nothing is real. Do yourself a favor.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 21 replies

Defeat House Resolution #888 -

2008-01-10T20:54:58Z

Whether new age, popular, or arcane.... all of your religion is fettering and binds your mind.

http://ga1.org/campaign/HR888?rk=a73zPZ91MAxeW

Defeat House Resolution 888

Pending before the House of Representatives is H. Res. 888, which proposes to designate the first week of May as “American Religious History Week.” The title is ironic because the resolution distorts the history of religion in the United States by citing various events out of context in order to create the misleading impression that this country’s foundation was religious in nature.

For example, the resolution mentions the fact that the constitutions of the various states refer to God, while neglecting to point out that the United States Constitution contains no reference to God and expressly forbids any religious test for public office. After pages of misleading statements about our history, the resolution then proposes that the House of Representatives expressly recognize “that the religious foundations of faith on which America was built form the inseparable foundation for America’s representative processes, legal systems, and societal structures.” The resolution thus repudiates the secular foundation for our nation.

Moreover, the resolution states that its distorted version of history should be reflected in “our Nation’s public buildings and educational resources.” Although the resolution will not have the force of law, it will undoubtedly be cited by those who are continually seeking to undermine the separation of church and state and to suppress the rights of the nonreligious.

Paul Kurtz, Chair of the Council for Secular Humanism, has stated that “House Resolution 888, through its Orwellian rewriting of history, represents another effort by religious fundamentalists to subvert religious freedom and deny equal status to nonbelievers. It provides official recognition for the falsehood that law and society are based on religion. This resolution would set a dangerous precedent.”

We urge you to contact your representative and ask him/her to vote NO on this religiously-inspired measure.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 0 replies

Aware Environmentalists..

2008-01-10T04:23:06Z

It is short.. http://www.idkwtf.com/videos/latest-videos/penn-and-teller-h20-water
(thanks to Bill D for showing me this in Rogue Mammals)

posted in Skeptic Talk - 6 replies

HUCKABEE!!!!! Yes... if you believe in creationism, it's important

2008-01-09T08:41:21Z

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/01/evolution-is-no.html

I don't say this about guys who have slept with Ann Coulter... but go BILL MAHER!

posted in Skeptic Talk - 0 replies

9-11 Debunking

2007-12-24T14:58:14Z

Nice debunking quicklist found here

http://www.debunking911.com/quick.htm

and a very long but thorough debunk of the popular documentary "Loose Change" called "Screw Loose Change" (and a wonderful double entendre IMHO). Though it is almost 3 hours long, it covers every aspect of the conspiracy even showing how quotes are taken out of context.

tinyurl.com/2xubd5

---
rodent (putting the eek in geek)

posted in Skeptic Talk - 3 replies

THE STORY OF STUFF

2007-12-23T00:16:41Z

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

this is the most concise, complete, and incredible explanation of our mindless consumption, our massive consumerism, and out sad brainmushed ambling towards a lifestyle that is all about shopping and trying to feel better and complete with material items. And this panic towards therapy shopping is what is destroying EVERYTHING.

Incredible... and it is peaceful, pleasant, and a nice lady uses some mellow cartoons to let you know. Great production value.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 4 replies

More on HIV denial

2007-12-19T07:46:12Z

http://www.csicop.org/si/2007-05/nattrass.html

Some exerpts... greatly resonates with the debates that have happened here:
(see full article for more detailed explanation and references)

AIDS denialists are eccentric but not irrelevant, because they campaign actively against the use of ARVs and promote the dangerous view that HIV is harmless (and some say not even sexually transmitted). South African president Thabo Mbeki took the AIDS denialists so seriously that he delayed the introduction of ARVs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV and invited the leading AIDS denialists to serve on his “Presidential AIDS Advisory Panel” (Nattrass 2007). They recommended that ARVs be avoided and that all forms of immune deficiency be treated with vitamins and “alternative” and “complementary” therapies including “massage therapy, music therapy, yoga, spiritual care, homeopathy, Indian ayurvedic medicine, light therapy and many other methods” (PAAP 2001, 79, 86).

This leap—from the critique of mainstream biomedical science on AIDS to the promotion of unproven and unregulated alternative therapies—is a replay of the classic quack-marketing strategy of promoting belief in alternative remedies by sowing disbelief and skepticism about the medical establishment (Hurley 2006, 216). It is thus not surprising that AIDS denialism has been used by vitamin salesmen (notably the Dr. Rath Health Foundation), self-styled alternative healers, and some traditional healers to promote their worldviews and products (Nattrass 2007). One of South Africa’s current health-policy failings is that, instead of cracking down on those making unsubstantiated health claims and creating markets for their wares, the health minister (Manto Tshabalala-Msimang) has provided cover and support for them.

AIDS denialists downplay their links with the purveyors of alternative therapies, preferring instead to characterize themselves as brave “dissidents” attempting to engage a hostile medical/industrial establishment in genuine scientific “debate.” They complain that their attempts to raise questions and pose alternative hypotheses have been unjustly rejected or ignored at the cost of scientific progress itself.

Dissent and critique are, of course, central to science, but so, too, is respect for evidence and peer review. While it was intellectually respectable to dissent diametrically from mainstream views in the early days of AIDS science when relatively little was known about AIDS pathogenesis, this is no longer the case. In the 1980s, it was understandable that AIDS dissidents were uneasy about the claim that one virus could cause so many different diseases. But, once it was shown that HIV worked by undermining the immune system, thereby rendering the body vulnerable to a host of opportunistic infections, their concerns should have been put to rest. Similarly, the wealth of data on the successes of ARV treatment should have alleviated their initial worries about its overall therapeutic benefit. Thus one of the early AIDS dissident doctors, Joseph Sonnabend, had, by 2000, welcomed the life-saving capacity of ARVs, describing them as a “wonderful blessing” (Sonnabend 2000). However, this did not deter today’s AIDS denialists, who continue to cite his dated views on their Web sites in support of their unchanged views.1

Given their resistance to all evidence to the contrary, today’s AIDS dissidents are more aptly referred to as AIDS denialists. This stance may be attributable, in part, to a genuine misunderstanding of the science of HIV. For example, in his affidavit to the Australian court in the Parenzee case, a member of the Perth Group, Valendar Turner, testified that HIV had not been isolated because it had been identified only through the detection of reverse transcription (the process of writing RNA into DNA), an activity not unique to retroviruses (Turner 2006, 4). In subsequent testimony for the prosecution, Robert Gallo (the discoverer of retroviruses and codiscoverer of HIV) pointed out that HIV had been identified as a retrovirus through the detection of reverse transcriptase, which is an enzyme unique to retroviruses, not the activity of reverse transcription, per se. He added that “only a fool” would mistake the two (Gallo 2007b, 1310, 1313–1314).

Misunderstanding the science of AIDS may be part of the story, but it does not explain why AIDS denialists are so hostile to and disbelieving of AIDS science. Part of the answer probably has to do with the belief that AIDS science cannot be trusted because the “scientific establishment” has been corrupted by the pharmaceutical industry (see, e.g., Farber 2006). This resonates with what Jon Cohen (2006, 1) calls “pharmanoia,” or “the extreme distrust of drug research and development that’s sweeping the world.” John le Carré’s novel (and subsequent hit Hollywood movie) The Constant Gardener, which provides a conspiratorial account of unethical medical trials in Africa, is a classic in this genre (Le Carré 2001). This book was cited approvingly in a South African AIDS-denialist document coauthored by President Mbeki as being “well researched” and “illuminating” about the way the pharmaceutical industry influences academic research (Mbeki and Mokaba 2002).

All “debates” with AIDS denialists end up in a stalemate simply as a consequence of their refusal to play by the rules of reasonable debate. This is evident in the “rapid-responses” Web pages of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), where AIDS denialists such as Papadopulos-Eleopulos and Rasnick accounted for a disproportionate amount of space before the BMJ revised its rules and excluded this “shouting match of the deaf” (Butler 2003). Typically, the denialists would paste large amounts of convoluted text into their rapid-response submissions and then argue at length with anyone who responded. After trying to engage with the denialists, Peter J. Flegg, a physician from Blackpool Victoria Hospital, finally erupted with the following:

What is taking place on this forum is a farce, not a debate . . . . Good scientists are meant to accept new evidence and incorporate this into their hypotheses. The denialist approach is to ignore new evidence that is contradictory to their predetermined stance. After comprehensive rebuttal of any point of view, the denialist tactic is to quickly switch to a different topic. Then later, when no-one is looking, they can switch back to the original theme, hoping no-one will realise that these points were completely discredited on an earlier occasion. (Flegg 2003)

Exactly the same tactics are evident on science blogs when AIDS denialists enter into “debate.”

posted in Skeptic Talk - 8 replies

Article from a few years ago in the Skeptical Inquirer

2007-12-03T04:32:37Z

This is a great article:

www.csicop.org/si/2004-05/new-age.html

--------------------------------------------------------------

A former leader in the New Age culture - author of nine titles on auras, chakras, "energy," and so on - chronicles her difficult and painful transition to skepticism. She thanks the skeptical community and agonizes over how the messages of scientific and critical thinking could be made more effective in communicating with her former New Age colleagues.

Karla McLaren

-------------------------------------------------------------
" I've been studying the conflict between the skeptical community and the metaphysical/new age community for a few decades now, and I think I've finally discovered the central issue that makes communication so difficult. It is not merely, as many surmise, a conflict between fact-based viewpoints and faith-based viewpoints. Nor is it simply a conflict between rationality and credulity. No, it's a full-on clash of cultures that makes real communication improbable at best.

I know this firsthand, because as a former member of the New Age culture, I struggled for years to decipher the language, the rules, the attitudes, and the expectations of the skeptical culture. Yet for a great while, all I could hear from the skeptical culture was noise-and confusing noise at that...."

That's the beginning. Read the rest.

I have been struggling with this myself. I'm a scientist who strongly believes in reason and a critical approach, but many of my friends are invested to some degree in the "New Age" mindset. There are no earthshattering answers in the article, but it frames the dilemma in a more constructive light than such discussions usually get.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 4 replies

LSD causes DNA damage?

2007-12-01T09:07:03Z

Fact or Fiction DNA causes genetic damage?

I have heard this information. That they were handing out pamphlets back in the '60's that said DNA messes up your kids DNA. I had a girlfriend, who, in my opinion was intelligent and well informed who discontinued our relationship based upon the fact that I had taken LSD (not right then and she only became disinterested in me -- she finally dumped me because she had become a lesbian).

So is the joke on her? Or is there something very, very wrong with me?

posted in Skeptic Talk - 4 replies

e8 math, clowning on superstring, a new GUT, a soul surfer, and a theory for everything

2007-11-16T01:40:27Z

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/E8_graph.svg
if you look at this and aren't tripping out, you beat me.... cause I is tripping out.

It's the the most elegant form in all of mathematics!!!!! Why does it matter?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/11/14/scisurf114.xml&site=30&page=0

he did it without superstring, and used e8 math... .. AND....

GRAVITY IS COMPENSATED FOR!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E8_(mathematics)

http://arxiv.org/abs/0711.0770

you can download it the abstract.

Science has rigours of peer review that no other field does.... this will make the go arounds for a bit, and possibly get blown out of the water. One thing about science is that it is wholly revisionistic... you take the best answer the data currently provides, and then patiently wait for the theory to be revised with better data, or fall into the category of "best answer for now", and then be the dominant theory (like evolution versus ID).

Anyhoo... this SERIOUSLY brightened my day.... a surfer physicist doing a G.U.T. without string theory that also deals with gravity among the other natural forces. I know superstring is a framework, right? But still.... why not throw the framework away!

Too early to take it seriously, but very interested nonetheless!!!!

posted in Skeptic Talk - 0 replies

Jesus was a zombie.... so are the kids... JESUS CAMP!

2007-11-14T22:55:16Z

saw this last night, and at the point I saw them screaming "Righteous Judges" I realized, for the first time in my entire life.... admitted to myself that rationalism and logical discourse really will not solve these problems.

A friend of mine truly believes the final war will be between the secularists and the believer's of every crazy sect of religion. I thought that would be ridiculous. Then I realized....

It will be the final SECULAR war. The religious nuts have enough brainwashing and credulity to outlast the most even of people.

Anyhoo.. I am scared. Atheists gotta start fighting dirty. I don't mean that of course.... but sort of do. I would never endorse it, as it is illogical.... but maybe that is what Col. Kurtz was talking about in the Hearts of Darkness... who has more "strength". I am not endorsing this idea... but I now understand the below quote a bit more. Why he saw it as a thing of beauty... being able to be ammoral in times of war.

"I... I... I cried. I wept like some grandmother. I wanted to tear my teeth out. I didn't know what I wanted to do. And I want to remember it. I never want to forget it. I never want to forget. And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God... the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure. And then I realized they were stronger than we. Because they could stand that these were not monsters. These were men... trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love... but they had the strength... the strength... to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men our troubles here would be over very quickly."

in the end ethical relativism doesn't fly, but still..... we need to regroup.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 6 replies

Herbal Sex Pills

2007-11-13T02:37:12Z

Does this mean these pills may actually work?

==============================
LOS ANGELES - Many of the pills marketed as safe herbal alternatives to Viagra and other prescription sex medications pose a hidden danger: For men on common heart and blood-pressure drugs, popping one could lead to a stroke, or even death.

“All-natural” products with names like Stamina-RX and Vigor-25 promise an apothecary’s delight of rare Asian ingredients, but many work because they contain unregulated versions of the very pharmaceuticals they are supposed to replace.

That dirty secret represents a special danger for the millions of men who take nitrates — drugs prescribed to lower blood pressure and regulate heart disease. When mixed, nitrates and impotency pharmaceuticals can slow blood flow catastrophically, leading to a heart attack or stroke.

An Associated Press investigation shows that spiked herbal impotency pills are emerging as a major public health concern that officials haven’t figured out how to track, much less tame.

Emergency rooms and poison control hot lines are starting to log more incidents of the long-ignored phenomenon. Sales of “natural sexual enhancers” are booming — rising to nearly $400 million last year. And dangerous knockoffs abound.

At greatest risk are the estimated 5.5 million American men who take nitrates — generally older and more likely to need help with erectile dysfunction.
Herbal appeal
The all-natural message can be appealing to such men, warned by their doctors and ubiquitous TV commercials not to take Viagra, Cialis or Levitra.

James Neal-Kababick, director of Oregon-based Flora Research Laboratories, said about 90 percent of the hundreds of samples he has analyzed contained forms of patented pharmaceuticals — some with doses more than twice that of prescription erectile dysfunction medicine. Other testers report similar results, particularly among pills that promise immediate results.

While no deaths have been reported, the AP found records of emergency room visits attributed to all-natural sex pills in Georgia, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Diego and elsewhere.

An elderly man in a retirement community north of Los Angeles took an in-the-mail sample and landed in the hospital for four days. A Michigan man sued the maker of Spontane-ES, blaming it for the stroke he suffered 20 minutes after taking a freebie that was advertised as “extremely safe.” Tim Fulmer, a lawyer representing Spontane-ES, said the pill did not contain any pharmaceutical and was not responsible for the stroke.

Mark B. Mycyk, a Chicago emergency room doctor who directs Northwestern University’s clinical toxicology research program, said he is seeing increasing numbers of patients who unwittingly took prescription-strength doses of the alternatives, a trend he attributes to ease of purchase on the Internet and the desperation of vulnerable men. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if there’d been undetected deaths from bad herbal pills.

Some herbal labels warn off users with heart or blood-pressure problems if they have taken their medicine within six hours; some doctors say 24 hours or more would be safer.

The AP often couldn’t determine from records whether incidents reported to tracking systems of the federal Food and Drug Administration and state poison control centers involved mixing herbal alternatives with nitrates.

Some men in their 30s who went to emergency rooms after taking herbal sex pills were presumably otherwise healthy, but they showed the transitory side effects of the active ingredients in regulated impotency pharmaceuticals, such as difficulty seeing clearly or severe headaches, records show.

While public health officials don’t know the extent of the problem, they agree that incidents are vastly underreported, with national tracking systems capturing perhaps as little as 1 percent of them. Victims may be embarrassed, and doctors rarely ask about supplements.

Since 2001, sales of supplements marketed as natural sexual enhancers have risen $100 million, to $398 million last year, including herbal mixtures, according to estimates by Nutrition Business Journal. Some legitimate herbal mixtures claim to work gradually over weeks; it’s the herbals marketed for immediate trysts that often are the problem.

Tight budgets, weak regulations and other priorities limit the FDA’s ability to police the products, often promoted via blasts of e-mail spam and fly-by-night Web sites.

“The Internet poses many enforcement challenges,” said Dr. Linda Silvers, who leads an FDA team that targets fraudulent health products sold online. “A Web site can look sophisticated and legitimate, but actually be an illegal operation.”

In many cases, the ingredients used to alter herbal pills come from Asia, particularly China, where the sexual enhancers are cooked up in labs at the beginning of a winding supply chain. The FDA has placed pills by two manufacturers in China and one from Malaysia on an import watch list.

Pills like Cialis generally retail at pharmacies for between $13 and $20, while herbals can cost less than $1, up to about $5.

Many health insurance plans provide limited coverage for prescription sex pills, especially for those with health-related difficulties. Few over-the-counter treatments are covered, and herbals aren’t likely to be among them, in part because they’re classified as foods not pharmaceuticals, said Mohit M. Ghose, spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents major health insurers.

Spiked pills have turned up in Thailand, Taiwan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to testing done by Pfizer Inc., the New York-based pharmaceutical giant that developed Viagra. The company said that 69 percent of 3,400 supplements it purchased in China contained sildenafil citrate, the main ingredient in Viagra. Pfizer didn’t check for the patented ingredients of its rivals.

Limited regulation
Under U.S. law, because such pills are “dietary supplements,” they’re far less regulated than pharmaceuticals and face few barriers to market. Viagra, by contrast, underwent years of testing before it was publicly available.

While herbal alternatives often contain exact copies of the patented drugs, some makers tweak the molecules to keep the effect of the original pharmaceutical while avoiding the scrutiny of the FDA and outside testing labs.

Federal officials have only recently stepped up investigations and prosecutions, and in any case, the FDA’s recall power is limited. Last week, in response to safety concerns about imported toothpaste, dog food and toys, President Bush recommended that the FDA be authorized to order mandatory recalls of dangerous products.

Currently, recalls are voluntary, and even if the agency determines that a product poses a “significant health risk,” a firm may refuse to cooperate. Plus, recalled products are widely offered on the Internet and pills are hard to round up.

Before a product called Nasutra was recalled a year ago by its manufacturer, the FDA had received a 30-year-old man’s report of a raging headache and an erection that wouldn’t go down. Following the recall, a 32-year-old man reported having spontaneous nose bleeds after taking the pill, records show.

E-mails requesting comment from Nasutra LLC, the company that voluntarily recalled the product in September 2006, were not returned. The FDA says the firm is located in Los Angeles; there is no listed phone number in the region.

Recalls of herbal pills
During the past year, the FDA has orchestrated eight recalls of “herbal” pills that contained the ingredients found in Viagra, Cialis or Levitra, or their unregulated chemical cousins. Many of the firms were based around Los Angeles, their offices ranging from an unsigned door in a grungy hall on the fringe of downtown to a gated complex near Beverly Hills.

One recall involved a pill called Liviro3.

The current owner of the drug’s marketing and distributing firm said that after he tried the product, he quit his job at a car dealership and bought the brand name and stock of several thousand pills in 2004 for $450,000. In January, he said, FDA agents seized his stockpile after an agency lab found that Liviro3 contained tadalafil, the main ingredient in Cialis. The man told the AP he’d had no idea the pills were drug-laced.

One prosecution involved V. Vigor Corp., the Long Island-based maker of Vigor-25. While the product was advertised as containing Asian ginseng, lycium fruit and Chinese yam rhizome, FDA testing indicated that the pills contained Viagra.

Company executive Michael Peng had agreed to stop selling Vigor-25 following an FDA agent’s visit in late 2004, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. But between then and his arrest in September, at least 4.5 million pills were packaged for distribution, the affidavit said. According to prosecutors, Peng thought he could evade tests simply by switching from the sildenafil citrate he imported from China to Levitra’s active ingredient, vardenafil — a shipment of which U.S. Customs intercepted from Thailand.

Peng, who said through his attorney that he was “unaware that there was anything other than natural supplements” in Vigor-25, faces a charge of misbranding — in this instance, claiming that a pharmaceutical is a dietary supplement.

Two other pills, Spontane-ES and Stamina-RX, were made by companies run by Jared Wheat, who’s facing federal charges in Atlanta that he peddled knockoff pharmaceuticals cooked in a Central American lab. Prosecutors tried to keep Wheat from posting bail by asserting that he contemplated killing an FDA investigator and bribing a prosecutor.

Fulmer rejected those assertions, which did not lead to charges, saying Wheat is hardworking and nonviolent. Fulmer said Wheat’s two businesses are legitimate and continue to be successful.

Wheat was granted bond after pledging approximately $7.5 million in cash and property; he’s free under home confinement.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 0 replies

Phenomenon,Criss, Uri, Jim

2007-11-08T16:16:35Z

Once again we see all the old saws being put forth by Uri and Jim on why we should believe and not ask for proof.

Jim and Uri are both catalog magicians asking us to believe that they are the real deal. Chris did what he has always said he would do - he called their bluffs.

Now we get treated to the same old tired ad hominem and straw man arguments they put forth when they can't meet a simple challenge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkyh0ePXqOM

You go Chris

posted in Skeptic Talk - 0 replies

A true case of Mass Hysteria

2007-10-13T06:08:34Z

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070927/sc_space/meteoritecrashbreedsmasshysteria

'Meteorite' Crash Breeds Mass Hysteria
Andrea Thompson

ADVERTISEMENT

SPACE.com

On what started as a normal Saturday night one week ago, residents of a small, remote Peruvian town saw a bright light streak across the sky, heard a resounding bang and suddenly found themselves at the center of a media frenzy.

Initial suspicions of an airplane crash quickly spiraled into widespread reports that a meteorite had plummeted to Earth and left a smoking, boiling crater whose supposedly noxious fumes were reported to have sickened curious locals who went to peer at the hole.

Despite doubts expressed by geologists that the crater was actually caused by a meteorite and firm explanations that a meteorite would not even emit fumes and that the "sickness" was likely a case of mass hysteria, numerous onlookers far and wide were fascinated by the idea that this event could be some real-life "Andromeda Strain" (the 1969 novel by Michael Crichton), where a mysterious rock falling to Earth from outerspace made anyone who went near it ill.

So what is it about things falling from the sky that fills us with such fear that we can make ourselves sick with panic?

Mass hysteria

Media reports of the number of locals afflicted by a "mysterious disease"--with symptoms such as nausea, headaches and sore throats--after visiting the crater figured in every news article about the Aug. 15 event, with some reporting that as many as 600 people had fallen ill.

But doctors who visited the site told the Associated Press they found no evidence that the crater had actually sickened such a large number of people.

If noxious fumes did emanate from the crater, they were most likely the result of a hydrothermal explosion that could have actually formed the crater, or were released from the ground when the meteorite struck, if in fact one did, according to many geologists.

Arsenic is found in the subsoil in that area of Peru and often contaminates the drinking water there, according to Peruvian geologists quoted on Sept. 21 by National Geographic News. Arsenic fumes released from the crater could have sickened locals who went to look, said one geologist who examined the site.

Some health officials suggest that the symptoms described by the locals, the large number of people reporting symptoms, and the apparently rapid spread have all the hallmarks of a case of mass hysteria.

"Those who say they are affected are the product of a collective psychosis," Jorge Lopez Tejada, health department chief in Puno, the nearest city, told the Los Angeles Times.

This psychosis could have begun as a result of fear of the meteorite and the mysterious "disease" on the part of the residents and spread as official and media reports seemed to confirm it and give it credence.

"The Peruvian event seems to be a rare case where we may be witnessing collective anxiety that is approaching near hysteria," said Benny Peiser, a social anthropologist at John Moores University in England. "The major[ity] of the affected Peruvian town hinted that some of the mass anxiety is due to fear of imminent impacts and psychological stress which is not surprising given the premature speculation and media hype."

Fear of outer space

Fear of a meteorite impact is nothing new--humans have long looked to the heavens with a wary eye.

"The fear of cosmic disaster, in particular cometary impacts, has existed in all cultures for millennia," Peiser told SPACE.com

But the space age revealed just how many dangers, including comets, meteors, asteroids, and cosmic rays, await us in the final frontier.

"Only since the late 20th century, humankind has become aware of the risk posed by asteroids and comets," Peiser said. "Unfortunately, this risk has been wildly exaggerated by popular culture."

Our curiosity and fear of impact events has increased their coverage by the world media, Peiser says, which in turn has increased the number of meteorite impact reports, even when the evidence doesn't point that way.

"In recent years, there have been numerous cases where alleged meteorite falls were linked to mysterious explosions on the ground--only to be proven wrong," Peiser said. "One of the main reasons for the significant increase of such claims is almost certainly due to the growing media interest in the cosmic impact risk. It is part of human nature-- and extremely tempting for the news media--to hype any event that initially looks mysterious."

While this fear is normal and understandable, it's been blown out of proportion so that the public thinks that impact risks are higher than they are, Peiser argues.

"Most people are simply not aware that we are making enormous progress in finding and identifying the population of Near Earth Objects and that the impact risk is thus diminishing year by year," Peiser said.

And when meteorites have struck, they have never carried any hint of some mysterious space disease.

"I don't know of any known record of a meteorite landing that emitted odors so noxious that people got sick from it," said geologist Larry Grossman of the University of Chicago.

So much for the Andromeda Strain.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 2 replies

Zeitgeist-The Movie?

2007-09-21T17:53:43Z

Someone on my friends list just posted with this link
http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com
and were very strongly urging everyone to watch it even though it's 2 hours long, and even though it might freak us out. In the comments someone mentions it being about 9/11 conspiracy theory so thankfully I was forewarned.
At least they waited until 9/12 to post it.

I started watching it and it has lots of groovy light patterns in the beginning (actually brought to mind Derren Brown and all that flashy light brain wave stuff he purports to be doing) and the first part is all about Jesus not existing which was already covered in the much more entertaining and fascinating film (if a bit sensationalist) "The God Who Wasn't There". Then there was something about astrology but I started skimming...I guess the point was to define myth?

Then it starts getting into the 9/11 bit and there was all this stuff about how there was no plane debris in the pentagon, and that tapes were confiscated from some hotel that had recorded the now "alleged" crash....
And of course the whole thing about the towers having been expoded demolition style and I had to stop watching for a while because it makes my head explode when people say that. They collapsed that way because they were built to collapse that way _if indeed_ they had to collapse! Sure I always imagined them just toppling over like dominos (and you do imagine it , growing up there...you just never actually think it's going to happen.) but I'm not an architect.

I was going to post a comment with a link to the bullshit episode that's up on youtube about it, but I kind of wish that they didn't choose the most complete wackos to interview, because they're such easy targets to insult.
Penn and Teller's Bullshit (if you haven't seen it already.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcrF346sS_I

I think the message gets lost with all the bombastic name-calling.

Anyway, I wanted to share my frustration. I'd like to see some refutations of the specific claims this zeitgeist movie makes concerning the 9/11 conspiracy.
(/rant)

posted in Skeptic Talk - 3 replies

Chupacabra--gotta be a hoax

2007-09-17T02:08:05Z

Thiis has got to be a hoax:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-myth1sep01,0,6115900.story?coll=la-home-center

From the Associated Press
September 1, 2007

CUERO, TEXAS -- Phylis Canion lived in Africa for four years. She has been a hunter all her life and has the mounted heads of a zebra and other exotic animals in her house to prove it.

But the roadkill she found last month outside her ranch was a new one even for her, worth hiding in a freezer: Canion believes she may have the head of the mythical, bloodsucking chupacabra.

"It is one ugly creature," Canion said, holding the head of the mammal with big ears, large fanged teeth and grayish-blue, mostly hairless skin.

Canion and some neighbors discovered the 40-pound bodies of three of the animals over four days in July outside her ranch in Cuero, 80 miles southeast of San Antonio. Canion said she saved one of the heads so she could get to the bottom of its ancestry through DNA testing and then mount it for posterity.

She suspects that a chupacabra may have killed as many as 26 of her chickens over the last couple of years.

"I've seen a lot of nasty stuff. I've never seen anything like this," she said.

What tipped Canion to the possibility that this might be the vampire-like beast, is that the chickens weren't eaten or carried off; all the blood was drained from them, she said.

Chupacabra, which means "goat sucker" in Spanish, and it is said to have originated in Latin America. "I think it could have wolf in it," Canion said. "It has to be a cross between two or three different things."

What folks are calling a chupacabra is probably a strange breed of dog, said veterinarian Travis Schaar of the Main Street Animal Hospital in nearby Victoria.

"I'm not going to tell you that's not a chupacabra. I just think in my opinion a chupacabra is a dog," said Schaar, who has seen Canion's find.

The three dead animals could have all been part of a mutated litter of dogs, or they may be a new kind of mutt, he said. Schaar said this particular canine may have a preference for blood, letting its prey bleed out and licking it up.

Chupacabra or not, the discovery has spawned an international craze. Canion is selling $5 T-shirts that read: "2007, The Summer of the Chupacabra, Cuero, Texas," all over the world.

"If everyone has a fun time with it, we'll keep doing it," she said. "It's good for Cuero."

posted in Skeptic Talk - 6 replies

Shamanism Enjoys Revival in Korea

2007-09-15T19:19:09Z

SEOUL, South Korea — Yang Soon-im says she began communicating with the spirits of mountains and ancient warriors more than 50 years ago, when she was only 7. But it was decades after that, when her son miraculously survived a knife wound, that she decided she had no choice but to become the spirits’ full-time channel with the living — a mudang, or shaman.

There are an estimated 300,000 shamans, or one for every 160 South Koreans, according to the Korea Worshipers Association, which represents shamans. They are fiercely independent, following different gods, sharing no one body of scriptures. And they are highly adaptable. When the Internet boom hit South Korea, shamans were among the first to set up commercial Web sites, offering online fortune-telling. Many younger shamans maintain Web logs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/07/world/asia/07korea.html

posted in Skeptic Talk - 12 replies

Video: Michael Shermer on bloggingheads.tv

2007-09-10T03:33:48Z

http://bloggingheads.tv/video.php?id=390

This diavlog's topics include:

Michael's conversion from Christian to skeptic (12:19)
Skeptics catch flak over global warming, ESP, etc. (06:38)
Is godless Michael just preaching to the choir? (08:10)
Wanted: new name for atheists (10:20)
The sensuality of science (06:06)
Scientists John doesn't like (cont'd) (08:03)
Reasons to hope for the end of war (10:13)

posted in Skeptic Talk - 1 reply

Just When Even I Thought It Could Not Get Any Stranger - Salem Again

2007-08-24T13:49:51Z

Just as my morning coffee was beginning to take effect I stumbled on this in my morning paper.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/08/23/witches_charged_after_raccoon_entrails_left_on_doorsteps/

My favorite parts are;

"Graham also was charged with intimidating the witness, allegedly telling him she would "make him pay" if he didn't keep quiet."

"Watson told police Graham hoped to frame a local Wiccan who had fired the woman from his psychic telephone business last spring."

"Watson also said Graham had a disagreement with the owners of the businesses over proposed regulations that would limit the number of psychics who come to the city during the Halloween season."

Funny that no one was psychic enough to divine the perps in this.

The cops solved it the old fashioned way - a stool pidgin.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 1 reply

Essential reading on HIV/AIDS denialism

2007-08-24T04:01:01Z

Essential reading on HIV/AIDS denialism

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2007/08/essential_reading_on_hivaids_denialism.php

---

This blog post above references this article:

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0040256&ct=1

posted in Skeptic Talk - 0 replies

Derren Brown Tonight

2007-08-22T05:21:17Z

Derren Brown starts his run on SfiFi tonight.

Derren is one of the most talented practitioners of mental magic today. He is able to show how easily fooled people can be. Fortunately he has enough scruples to not become a grifter like Sylvia brown, Jonathan Edward and the rest of that lot.

Watch and be amazed.

http://www.scifi.com/derrenbrown/

posted in Skeptic Talk - 43 replies

More Psychic Woo Woo In Salem

2007-08-18T15:37:21Z

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/07/22/mixed_forecast_for_fortunetelling_rules/

Again in addressing to licensing of "psychics" the authorities have missed the point by a mile.

>The June 14 ordinance was designed to provide equal opportunity for psychic readers operating in the Witch City, rather than try to identify those who might have the ability to forecast the future.

"It's complicated and tough to quantify," said City Councilor Joan Lovely. "Some psychics claim it's an innate ability with no real schooling requirement. Who's to decide?"<

Innate or learned if people have such abilities and expect to be paid for them (sometimes large sums of money) then these abilities should be clearly demonstrable.

If one wants to be a Lawyer, Doctor, even a plumber the law requires that one demonstrate a level of knowledge and ability. Under the Salem ordinance it seems all that is needed is that you submit a resume and meet a residency requirement.

But then requiring that they actually be able to do what they claim would radically cut back the number of practicing "psychics" in Salem.

At least they kept the criminal background check - one of the stumbling points earlier on for the "psychics" already practicing in the city. Then again I suppose it would be hard to explain why the guy selling hot dogs to tourists needs to pass a background check while the one giving psychic advice does not.

So once again it is the gullible who will pay for this kind of thinking. I guess its OK as long as Salem gets its cut in taxes and licensing fees.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 0 replies

Greening the Burn? Nah.. I don't think so.

2007-08-14T12:47:31Z

stepping onto my soapbox <shuffling feet>:

IT IS NOT WHAT YOU BUY, but what you do NOT buy. It isn't offsetting carbon... it is NOT expending it. Buying a hybrid doesn't make you green. Not buying another car when your first one works makes you green.

The nature of advertising and marketing is to make us feel us feel deficient of a product. And however green, it is still a product. The idea of consuming our way to a better world is asinine.

I think it is so important not to blindly ignore the duality and hypocrisy, but become aware of it.

I don't mean to be dower, or a downer... but this is the way I am taking in the world. It is a lot more complex than feeling like buying an organic stamped apple is saving the world, or that I can jet all over the world and $10 in carbon credits will absolve me of my guilt.

FIRST:: THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT ARTICLE YOU WILL READ. Organic, fair trade, and local produce is WORSE for the environment (possibly.. but very difficult to refute):

http://www.decal.org/file/396

It is a very typical, and VERY American (not Canadian necessarily, guys) concept that we can "consume our way better"..... That we can actually consume electricity, and make it all better by buying wind credits, or buying certain types of veggies; all organic is doing is making something as prosaic as shopping for food denote your cultural, social, and educational class. Most people are simply trying to eat and feed their families.... let alone worry about these issues. Or afford the priviliged lifestyle that lets one "be green".

"the green debate is for white people"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/5074214.stm

as if zombie like consumption and shopping for good or consuming natural resources could ever be considered forward thinking, green, or saving the world.

Consume to save! good luck.

Lorin Bassnectar had an article about wanting (and being) more than a club DJ.. being more about raising awareness and conciousness... you know?

ANYHOO... he mentioned our culture of consumption. AND....

The culture of drugs* coupled with consumerism is very interesting to me... hence why I love zombies (mindless consumption, massive consumerism in the form of impending, inevitable onslaught.. you cannot get away, they will eventually consume you.. society consuming itself)...

... and why I am having so many problems with the playa. And why this year is REALLY REALLY irking me. REALLLLLLY.

Does anyone find it sort of.... well.. frankly... disgusting about the concept of "greening the burn"???

I mean.... I dig raised consciousness, but with the "clients" at the burn, you are probably preaching to the choir about being green...

the simple fact is that Burning Man is possibly the MOST CONSUMPTIVE AND GLUTTONOUS EVENT ON THE PLANET.

And the idea of greening that is ludicrous. It bothers me a lot.

Like carbon credits. Carbon credits DO NOT WORK. It is well documented at this point....
two reports here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6378471.stm
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-dorsey1apr01,0,7611817.story

for some humour.. think of paying for a credit if you cheat on someone..
http://www.cheatneutral.com/

biofuels hurt the rainforests - not to mention 300,000 acre organic cattle farms that they are CLEAR CUTTING THE RAINFOREST to make way for.....

"the green delusion"
http://tribes.tribe.net/organicdebate/thread/17614a74-090b-4470-9284-1acd82cc76ad

CASTRO SLAMMING BIOFUEL... it impoversihes third world economies.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6505881.stm

This is in light of some of the most complex, interconnected, and important political, environmental, and social aspects of our day.

You heard about the tortilla protests? (I talk about them all the time!)
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6319093.stm

organic food, local food, and fairtrade may be BAD for the planet...
http://tribes.tribe.net/organicdebate/thread/dcb5f316-2382-48d4-a9f4-68a4b15cb799
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2003645399_astrid01.html
salon article on organics not being sustainable - http://tribes.tribe.net/organicdebate/thread/ba63d73a-6e41-4ff5-8413-2f19fd8b3d8f

easy facts on why organic, local, and fairtrade is worse than better for the environment
http://tribes.tribe.net/organicdebate/thread/85907a51-0b39-4e23-b996-b5f5c919b8b8

and food miles emit more carbon offload

I URGE ALL OF YOU TO JOIN THE TRIBE, and offer debate, data, information... ANYTHING to RAISE CONSCIOUSNESS!!!!!
http://tribes.tribe.net/organicdebate

It is time to truly care about fixing the world... and not buying into the bullshit marketing that has destroyed the positive environmental impact of our attempt to fix the world.

Instead of blindly letting ourselves be happy about consuming our way to a better world... let's talk, understand, and work towards understanding the complexity...

*AND* that is why the green is cool. Corporate sponsored technology, using the event as a sounding board world wide...

It is about raised consciousness... and this is what our wonderful friend angela is demonstrating. And carrying that awareness into every step and breath... is where it's at.

Let's end with one of the most important people ever, saying one of the most important things ever

It is about being skeptical.. and taking that raised consciousness... and discussing some more. In our effort to heal the world, this green movement may be making it more unstable. SO... let's get more data. Let's be skeptical... and let's sit on the fence together.

"In any organization there ought to be the possibility of discussion... fence sitting is an art, and it's difficult, and it's important to do, rather than to go headlong in one direction or the other. It's just better to have action, isn't it, than to sit on the fence? Not if you're not sure which way to go, it isn't."
-Richard P. Feynman

Well... now I am all down. I am going to plant a tree. Anyhoo.. if you grow your own veggies, ride your bike... etc... you are gold. Cheers to you.
Fishbits aka skeptichumanistatheist

posted in Skeptic Talk - 1 reply

What a tool.

2007-08-14T02:43:48Z

http://www.lamathunderbolt.com/
At first I thought this might be a comedy.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 3 replies

'Baby Einstein' makes kids retarded, or Einstiens? Or both?

2007-08-07T09:21:41Z

A study found that babies shown 'Baby Einstein' and 'Brainy Baby' videos actually end up with worse vocabularies than kids not shown the videos. To be fair to 'Baby Einstein' and Walt Disney Co. Albert Einstein didn't learn to talk until he was 8 years old. So maybe they are literally making babies into Einsteins.

Be careful which marketers you listen to--or not, maybe you'll end up with a child who can't talk but grows into a serious paradigm shifter.

=====
'Baby Einstein': a bright idea?
Infants shown such educational series end up with poorer vocabularies, study finds. Researcher says 'American Idol' is better.
By Amber Dance, Times Staff Writer
August 7, 2007

Parents hoping to raise baby Einsteins by using infant educational videos are actually creating baby Homer Simpsons, according to a new study released today.

For every hour a day that babies 8 to 16 months old were shown such popular series as "Brainy Baby" or "Baby Einstein," they knew six to eight fewer words than other children, the study found.

Parents aiming to put their babies on the fast track, even if they are still working on walking, each year buy hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of the videos.

Unfortunately it's all money down the tubes, according to Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle.

Christakis and his colleagues surveyed 1,000 parents in Washington and Minnesota and determined their babies' vocabularies using a set of 90 common baby words, including mommy, nose and choo-choo.

The researchers found that 32% of the babies were shown the videos, and 17% of those were shown them for more than an hour a day, according to the study in the Journal of Pediatrics.

The videos, which are designed to engage a baby's attention, hop from scene to scene with minimal dialogue and include mesmerizing images, like a lava lamp.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no television for children under 24 months.

The Brainy Baby Co. and Walt Disney Co., which markets the "Baby Einstein" videos, did not return calls from the Los Angeles Times.

Christakis said children whose parents read to them or told them stories had larger vocabularies.

"I would rather babies watch 'American Idol' than these videos," Christakis said, explaining that there is at least a chance their parents would watch with them — which does have developmental benefits.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 0 replies

Psychic Scam Busted In Australia

2007-08-07T09:08:10Z

This is the type of story you almost never see in the USA but Australia seems to take a different view.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ih2CbttEMrg

Unfortunately this is the same sort of scam run by so many here from televangelists to psychic mediums. If only the media and authorities in the USA would grow some balls when it comes to these heartless frauds.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 1 reply

Video: Conspiracy theories (JFK assassination)

2007-08-05T17:17:50Z

http://www.booktv.org/program.aspx?ProgramId=8329&SectionName=History&PlayMedia=Yes

This is a talk given by the author of the new definitive book 'Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy', Vincent Bugliosi.

It's an excellent talk not only about why the JFK Conspiracy theories fail but about good skepticism in general. I highly recommend watching it.

posted in Skeptic Talk - 2 replies