Skepticism/Critical Thinking
oracknows | February 24, 2009I realize that PZ seems to have all the fun when it comes to entertaining e-mails from cranks, but that doesn't mean I don't sometimes get my share of such amusement. For example, yesterday, waiting for me in the morning in my e-mail in box was this delightful gem:
From: jockdoubleday@hotmail.com
Subject: the dark force behind the global crisis
Date: February 23, 2009 12:29:07 AM GMT-05:00
To: jockdoubleday@hotmail.com
To friends of life on Earth,
There is a dark force working to undermine all ecosystems on Earth.
This force is a trans-century cult that calls itself the Illuminati -- because…
oracknows | February 19, 2009Unfortunately, as we have been dreading for the last four months or so since her relapse was diagnosed, my mother-in-law passed away from breast cancer in hospice. She died peacefully, with my wife and the rest of her family at her side. As you might expect, I do not much feel like blogging, and even if I did my wife needs me more. Because I foresaw this coming, however, I do have a series of "Best of" reposts lined up. If you've been reading less than a year or two, they're new to you. If not, I hope you enjoy them again. I don't know when I'll be back, other than maybe a brief update or two…
oracknows | February 18, 2009Unfortunately, as we have been dreading for the last four months or so since her relapse was diagnosed, my mother-in-law passed away from breast cancer in hospice. She died peacefully, with my wife and the rest of her family at her side. As you might expect, I do not much feel like blogging, and even if I did my wife needs me more. Because I foresaw this coming, however, I do have a series of "Best of" reposts lined up. If you've been reading less than a year or two, they're new to you. If not, I hope you enjoy them again. I don't know when I'll be back, other than maybe a brief update or two…
oracknows | February 12, 2009Last night, I lambasted Countdown host Keith Olbermann for having been played by the antivaccine movement and having unjustly slimed British journalist Brian Deer. Clearly, Olbermann was so blinded by his hatred of Rupert Murdoch that all chief apologist for the antivaccine movement, former freelance journalist David Kirby, had to do was mention that The Times of London, the newspaper that published Brian Deer's excellent investigative report nailing anti-MMR guru Andrew Wakefield to the wall for falsifying data, is owned by Rupert Murdoch, and it was like waving the proverbial red cape in…
oracknows | February 12, 2009Today is Darwin Day. But, more than that, it is a very special Darwin Day in that it is the 200th anniversary of the birth of evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin. This day is meant to celebrate not just the life, but especially the discoveries, of Charles Darwin. His theory of evolution by natural selection, is one of the most elegant examples of science in history. Darwin's theory was so robust that subsequent discoveries did not invalidate it. Rather, many were either predicted or easily accommodated in evolutionary theory, and many more complemented it, such that, in the early 20th…
oracknows | February 11, 2009Stick a fork in Keith Olbermann. He's done.
He has now officially degenerated into a liberal version of Rush Limbaugh, except that Rush Limbaugh is occasionally funny. Maybe he's more like Sean Hannity, particularly in his apparent dedication to the truth, or, rather, lack thereof. Hannity detests liberals and will immediately attack on the slightest pretense, even if the information given to him of "liberal wrongdoing" is dubious or outright wrong. Like Hannity, Olbermann will never turn down an opportunity to attack Bill O'Reilly or his paymaster Rupert Murdoch. Somtimes it's justified, but…
oracknows | February 10, 2009Because of the fallout from the revelation by Brian Deer that very likely Andrew Wakefield, hero of the antivaccine movement but, alas for his worshipers, one of the most dishonest and incompetent scientists who ever lived, had almost certainly falsified data for his infamous 1998 Lancet paper that launched a decade-long anti-MMR hysteria that shows no signs of abating, I ended up not coming back to a story I was very interested in. Although this story is about Holocaust denial, the questions raised by it are applicable not only to history and Holocaust denial, but to any area of science or…
oracknows | February 9, 2009I should have seen this one coming.
After all, the economy's been in the crapper for several months now. Things are bad and getting worse, with the bottom not yet in sight. So who could prosper in this environment, except for repo men and liquor stores?
Psychics, of course:
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The housing crisis will deepen, the country could fall into a depression and laid-off workers may need to start their own business.
New York psychic Roxanne Usleman says the bad economy had been good for her business.
If this sounds like the advice of a financial planner or an economist, think again. It's…
oracknows | February 9, 2009Not again.
I have no way of knowing if the media in my hometown happen to be more credulous when it comes to pseudoscience than average, but, given the number of stories referred to me emanating from Detroit and its surrounding suburbs, you'll forgive me if I'm very depressed right now. For instance, we have "investigative reporter" Steve Wilson of WXYZ Channel 7 Action News, who, although claiming the title of "Chief Investigator" for that station, clearly couldn't investigate his way out of a paper bag--at least when it comes to medical stories--given that he is known for routinely…
oracknows | February 7, 2009Sometimes, woo makes the news.
Does anyone remember "Professor" Bill Nelson, the cross-dressing "inventor" who created a most amazing woo machine? I've written about it three times before:
Your Friday Dose of Woo: Miraculous quest for the quantum
Your Friday Dose of Woo: Serious woo from Down Under
The SCIO, Quantum Xrroid Consciousness Interface, and Bill Nelson: Better late than never--or maybe not
This guy sells his device for $20,000 a pop and claims he sells 40 machines a month.
Now, check out this Marketplace episode, Miracle Makers or Money Takers? Watch the whole thing.
It never…
oracknows | February 6, 2009
I realize that I've been neglecting my woo. Indeed, yesterday I noticed that it's been a month and a half since I did a real Friday Dose of Woo. Of course, that particular installation of my long-running blog series (over two and a half years!) was some incredibly powerful woo. In fact, it was titanic, mind-bogglingly amazing woo. We're talking Lionel Mllgrom-grade woo. Actually, we're talking Lionel Milgrom himself, a level of sheer looniness that few, if any, can match, much less surpass. Once you've experienced the sheer power of his quantum homeopathic madness, it's hard not to become…
oracknows | February 2, 2009I love Tim Minchin.
I also totally understand where he's coming from when it comes to confronting woo, though, as I've described here. In any case, see Tim in action (parts may be NSFW due to profanity):
Enjoy, as I'm running a bit late in producing my usual content for Monday. Fear not, it's coming later today!
oracknows | January 30, 2009
Sometimes I come across something so bizarre, so utterly wrong, that my mind reels in confusion and amazement, not to mention horror, that anyone can actually think or write something something like it. In fact, for a moment I considered offering up this one bit of horrifically inspired craziness up as an installment of Your Friday Dose of Woo, but I decided against it. The reason, I'm afraid, is the same reason that I've considered some bits of woo previously for this "honor" but then ultimately declined and covered them as normal posts, dripping with my usual brand of Respectful and not-…
oracknows | January 29, 2009Sorry I'm late announcing it, but better late than never.
Right on schedule, the 104th Meeting of the Skeptics' Circle has arrived at Space City Skeptics. In fact, it's the sort of thing that will test your mind and cleverness in that it's...well, a test. But don't worry. It's not one of those nasty tests that you took in school and perhaps later in college. It's a fun test. So go forth and enjoy.
And don't forget to join us again two weeks hence, when the 105th Meeting of the Skeptics' Circle will be held at It's the Thought That Counts.
oracknows | January 25, 2009Well, it's frigid indeed this weekend around Castle Orac. I need something to warm the cockles of the circuits in the deepest, darkest depths of winter, and I know just the thing: A heapin' helpin' of the best skeptical blogging out there. Fortunately, the next meeting of the Skeptics' Circle is just around the corner, scheduled to hit the blogosphere on Thursday, January 29 over at Space City Skeptics.
So, skeptical bloggers (or bloggers who want to dip their toes into the skeptical pool), fire up your computers, start tapping those keyboards, and provide the material needed to make this a…
oracknows | January 21, 2009I got home from work rather late last night; so for once I'll spare you my typical Orac-ian level of logorrhea today. Yes, I know how much the ravening hordes of my fans thirst for every bit of wisdom that flows from my keyboard to Seed Magazine's servers and from there to the world, but fear not. I didn't say I wouldn't quench that thirst. I just won't be taking as long as usual. Maybe a couple of quickies instead of the epic post.
My vastly inflated sense of self-importance, bloated beyond all reasonable sense of scale, aside, if there's one thing I've taken an interest in and written about…
oracknows | January 19, 2009This was so good that I just couldn't resist.
Yesterday, I did a quick post about an amusing bit of pareidolia, in which the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus were seen in a Lava Lamp. Apparently, an Australian man going by the pseudonym of John Smith noticed the shape in the wax as he fired up a brand spanking new Lava Lamp, recognized it for the Holy Miracle that it was, and shut off the lamp before Satan's heat could melt the apparition. He then stayed quiet for over a year and then announced his discovery to all the world. Naturally, I and other skeptics, particularly you, my readers, were not…
sa smith | January 19, 2009If there is one constant ever present in anti-science groups, whether its Creationists, anti-vaxers, anti-wireless-interneters, whatever-- its the groups ignorance on the very topic they are 'anti'.
HIV Deniers are no exception. One of my favorite HIV Deniers, a blonde bimbo named Rebecca Culshaw ('I IZ NUT BIMBOS I HAS DEGREE IN MATHS! THAT MEANS HIV IS A LIE!'), is a god damned idiot that doesnt even know the difference between an 'endogenous' retrovirus, and an 'exogenous' retrovirus, but feels she is in a position to lecture to the scientific community about HIV.
Orac has a great post…
oracknows | January 18, 2009Let's see.
We've seen the Virgin Mary on trees, under a freeway overpass in Chicago, a window in Perth Amboy, NJ, and even in the brain. We've seen Jesus himself show up on toast, on a piece of sheet metal, on a potato chip, on a pierogi, on a ceiling tile, and even on a cat. Heck, we've even seen Elvis Presley on a rock and Pope John Paul II in a flame.
What could be left?
Stupid Evil Bastard tells me it's Lava Lamps, maaaan:
AN Australian man says the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus have appeared in his lava lamp and ever since the "miracle" his life has been blessed.
The man who identified…
oracknows | January 15, 2009Here we go.
It's a new year, and, now that the festivities of the holiday season are now clearly a couple of weeks in the past and the deepest darkest depths of winter have descended upon huge swaths of the U.S., what can warm the cockles of a skeptical heart better than a fresh hot blast of great skeptical blogging, courtesy of the Skeptics' Circle? Ringing in 2009 is Bug Girl at Bug Girl's Blog with the 103rd Meeting of the Skeptics' Circle, the LOL bug edition.
Next up is Space City Skeptics, where the Circle will--if you'll excuse the term--take off (or maybe I should say "land") two…