denialism | December 19, 2007I'm flattered that Pandagon liked our post on a terrible ad campaign for diamonds.
But if Amanda thought that was bad, she should see some of the latest "reason" coming from our libertarian friends at Cato. David Boaz writes a post for Cato entitled "All Those Who'd Like to Live in Rwanda, Vietnam, or Cuba, Raise Your Hands" in response to a Parade article complaining about the lack of female representatives in Congress:
Parade magazine frets:
In the current U.S. Congress, women account for only 16.3% of the members: 16 of 100 in the Senate and 71 of 435 in the House of Representatives…
denialism | December 18, 2007So asks the copyranter over this latest example of human stupidity:
What's even funnier than the absurd notion that a "Hearts on Fire" diamond will buy you monogamy (or that diamond purchases aren't so frequently given in penitence for the sins of infidelity) is that really all it says is your man is a sucker.
Not everyone agrees that the cut is special. If you wander New York's diamond district on 47th Street and ask about Hearts on Fire, you'll hear that it's just another ideal-cut diamond, differentiated only by its marketing.
Charles Rosario, a senior vice-president at Lazare Kaplan,…
denialism | December 17, 2007I'm in DC this week working for Dr. Mom and getting my physical exam skills back up to snuff, so I'll be a little quiet. In the meantime, Cectic is keeping the dream alive:
I love these guys.
denialism | December 13, 2007Reading about the latest atrocity by KBR that is the cover up of a rape of a US citizen by its contractors (apparently one of many), I ask the lawyers a question. Surely there is enough on KBR (formerly known as the evil wing of Halliburton - now independent) now to get a RICO indictment on them, correct?
I realize they do this all overseas where they apparently enjoy complete immunity from anything ranging from fraud to cannibalism. But I have difficulty believing that they manage to keep 100% of their criminal misbehavior overseas. I mean, every time we hear some bad news about…
denialism | December 13, 2007Yes, I know, I'm stating the obvious again. But I just couldn't resist when I saw this. In his never-ending quest to attack all science that doesn't affirm his belief that vitamin D and fruit smoothies will cure all disease, he's gone after the new new induced pluripotent stem cell findings. As far as I know, he's the only one to criticize the new technology as a whole, and his reasoning?
Really I can't believe he's this stupid. Reasoning, is the wrong word for this.
Let's ask instead, what is his demented, completely ignorant, insipid, moronic justification?
While less controversial…
denialism | December 13, 2007I have to spend a few days doing anesthesiology during my surgery rotation, luckily one of the other med students forwarded this helpful video.
I had no idea it was so complicated.
I also like the drug song:
denialism | December 13, 2007I don't have the time to be anything but a jerk today so I'm going to imitate Barry Arrington of Uncommon Descent, who tried to place the blame for the most recent shootings at a church on atheist writers.
You see, yesterday, there was an attack on the New York subway. In one of those events generally embarrassing (and oddly redeeming) for humanity, a man was attacked for replying "Happy Hanukkah" when someone wished him "Merry Christmas". Oddly, the fight was broken up when a Muslim guy rescued the Jewish guy from the Christian guy.
Now, if I was a giant screaming asshole like Barry A, I'd…
denialism | December 12, 2007Reiterating our previous call for this debate, I'd like to point out two articles that have come out in the past day, that may address some of the negative commentary here.
The first is Chris Mooney and Lawrence Krauss at LA Times.
The second, by Sheril Kirshenbaum and Matthew Chapman at HuffPo. Note, I consider the Huffington Post a den of denialist iniquity, supporting the lies of Chopra, Kirby and various other conspiracy mongers. But I will consider this an act of saint-like walking amongst the sinners to spread the good word of science. Further, she does a pretty good job addressing…
denialism | December 10, 2007We must adapt to the fact that over the last few decades it has become critical that our politicians and policymakers understand science and implement policy that is consistent with scientific facts. And it is past time that we made science enough of a priority to merit a presidential debate on science. The need is clear, these days policymakers must be able to respond in an informed fashion to new technologies, new scientific findings, and potential disasters (such as climate change). Despite the need for a scientifically-literate political leadership, we have a president who says the…
choofnagle | December 8, 2007All, Mark has been busy becoming a Dr. and I've been busy doing end-of-semester stuff at UC-B. So, sorry for the absenteeism. Maybe when Mark recovers from his hangover we'll have more good content here. But until then, check out Lawrence O'Donnell (who is on HBO's Big Love) rant on Mormonism. Ouch!
I can't resist. South Park, All About the Morons.
denialism | December 6, 2007Well today is my thesis defense day. For those who are unfamiliar with the process, this is how it works at least at my university.
When you start out in a lab you do the experiments your boss tells you to do, with the goal of picking up a project. This usually involves taking up where another graduate student or post-doc left off, or reading the literature in your field and figuring out an important question to answer. Depending on how many years its been since your boss handled a pipette, he/she will suggest experiments that range from next to impossible to impossible. You spend a year…
denialism | December 6, 2007I don't need to cover this latest nonsense from David Kirby about vaccines and autism as Orac has already done so nicely.
However, I would like to point out a few examples of why anti-vax is a prime example of denialist argument.
For one, Kirby is such a promiscuous goal-post mover, I'm floored. This is the guy that said he'd remove himself from the debate if thimerosal were vindicated. Well, that's proving more and more impossible, as are his expectations:
Finally, to all those who are going to post comments about the autism rates in California not coming down, following the removal of…
denialism | December 6, 2007You guys are so damn lucky. I want Al Franken to run in my state. That race is going to be a total blast. Not to say a showdown in Virginia between Mark Warner and one of the incompetent former Republican governors that bankrupted the state in the last decade won't be entertaining, but a Franken run raises it to a new level.
I was shocked by this one statement in the article however:
"To think of him as a United States senator almost boggles anyone's imagination," said Ron Carey, the chairman of the state's Republican Party. "So much of what he has said is vile and offensive -- you can't…
denialism | December 6, 2007Speaking of libertarians, reading the JCI this week I came across this wonderful review of Richard Epstein's new book, "Overdose: How excessive government regulation stifles pharmaceutical innovation".
We've discussed Epstein, and his ilk before. The libertarians that routinely attack the FDA as some kind of bogeyman, killing kids, eating babies, blah blah blah, when the market could be making all these drug decisions for us. David Ross, writing for JCI, sees through the nonsense.
Although Epstein terms Overdose a study, it's really a legal polemic that could be subtitled "What's good for…
denialism | December 6, 2007The stupidest essay ever entitled "The Death of Main Street: Are big chains to blame, or is excessive regulation? " courtesy of Reason magazine. This stuff rivals creationist drivel for sheer stupidity.
Briefly, Balko argues small businesses fail because regulations price them out of business, not because of Wal-Mart. The evidence? Old Town Alexandria! Ha!
Old Town Alexandria is an historic, charming stretch of city just outside of Washington D.C. that features lots of shops, restaurants, parks, cobblestone streets, and a waterfront teeming with American history. George Washington was a…
denialism | December 3, 2007If anyone has been deluded into thinking HIV/AIDS denialism isn't dangerous or deadly, all one has to do is look at the fruits of their labor on the AIDS myth exposed message boards. Their latest monstrosity is to convince an HIV positive mother to refuse medical care and testing for her and her child. Momma2girls82 writes on their message board about becoming a denialist and asking for help from the denialist community:
So I've always been one to go 'against the grain'. I firmly believe that one should question everything they are told 'just is' and determine their own beliefs based on…
denialism | December 1, 2007Today is World AIDS day, and it's important to take a minute to discuss HIV and AIDS since this blog addresses HIV/AIDS denialism.
While the the UN made a mistake overestimating world HIV/AIDS statistics (it is good news and not for the reasons cranks like) Estimates of new HIV transmission in the US are rising. This is bad news. At the same time you have HIV/AIDS denialists still persisting in spreading their nonsense, cranks like Michael Fumento spreading the misinformation that heterosexual transmission of HIV is a "myth", and that the figures for Africa are a conspiracy by UNAIDS and…
denialism | November 30, 2007Let's talk about Uncommon Descent for a moment. One of the recurring complaints we've been hearing from the evolution denialists there is this refrain that whenever a evolutionary explanation for a result gets reevaluated, it's a sign that we "Darwinists" are somehow being dishonest and fitting any data to the theory of evolution. Evolution, therefore, isn't falsifiable. For example, two posts, one from BarryA, the other from O'Leary (commenting on this ARN nonsense, wrongly suggesting that results that falsify evolutionary theory have been discovered - like the recent hypothesis the…
denialism | November 27, 2007Usually Deepak Chopra's nonsensical writings at the Huffington post about mind-body healing are so vague and bland I don't bother addressing them. The mind controls the body, the mind is powerful, blah blah blah, who cares right? Well, today Chopra pulled back the curtain and we see the crank within. It's a reminder that behind the facade of all the touchy-feely nonsense of the alties is a campaign against science and legitimate medical practice. We start with the standard quack appeal to the individual, which sounds nice, but in practice basically means they have no consistent method to…
denialism | November 27, 2007I actually had thought the debate with holocaust denier David Irving and racist Nick Griffin at the Oxford Union had been canceled, but via Deborah Lipstadt's blog it turns out they made the mistake of giving the man an outlet for his nonsense. An account is offered by attendee Jonny Wright that I think supports our contention that denialists should not be debated.
Wright takes the side that free speech is always the best way to go, but the mistake here is thinking that free speech means inviting a holocaust denier to use your loudspeaker to spout nonsense. It never should have even been…