Month: May 2007
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Al Jazeera’s conspiracy-mongering
Has anyone else seen that Al Jazeera’s mainpage has a section devoted to conspiracy theories? It prominently features 9/11 conspiracy garbage about WTC7 which has been debunked. This is something that is neglected about 9/11 conspiracy mongering. When 9/11 denialists like William Rodriguez encourage anti-American sentiments in foreign countries by suggesting Islamic radicals weren’t behind…
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My question for Luskin again
With nothing of any substance to actually talk about, like bench research, original ideas etc., the evolution denialists continue to harp on Guillermo Gonzalez, the ISU professor who failed to get tenure. However, my question for Casey Luskin remains unanswered. They have accused science of a conspiracy (surprise surprise) because we don’t accept ID as…
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Who are the denialists? (Part III)
Who are the global Warming Denialists? A tougher question is, in a discipline as complex as climate science, how do you tell who the legitimate skeptics (those that ignore the reporting at the Independent for instance) are versus who are the denialists? Again, it’s simple, because denialism is about tactics. Which global warming critics are…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The 9 of Spades, “Exploit Others’ Ignorance”
The 9 of Spades is different than previous confusion tactics. Remember that most legislative staffers handle many different issues, and often are not expert in any one of them. This tactic leverages incomplete information to promote confusion. Here, the denialist simply does not offer information, or allows others to hold misconceptions if it benefits the…
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I guess this was inevitable
“Heliocentrism is an Atheist Doctrine”. I’ve just got to say, wow. I read it at first thinking, “hey, this is hysterical satire”, then I read the comments and thought, “wow, these guys are dedicated – this is pure performance art!” Finally, I started going through the archives with a sinking feeling, “holy crap, these guys…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The 9 of Diamonds, “Poison the Well”
You should all be familiar with this tactic–poisoning the well. You know the trick: provide derogatory information about your opponent to undermine her arguments. And here’s a great example: In defending Channel One, Jack Abramoff’s lobbyist Dennis Stephens proposed that Peter Ferrara pen an oped that “hammered the ‘anti-technology’ crowd:” “When I talked with Peter…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: Nit Pick, and Muddy the Waters
Two more tactics for those of you who want to be an industry lobbyist, or for those who want to recognize their two-bit tactics. With nit picking, the denialist finds one problem with a fact asserted or the proposal for reform, and then harps on the problem incessantly. A variation on the 8 of Clubs…
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Denialists’ Deck of Cards: The 8 of Spades, “Duh!”
“Duh!” is one of my favorite lobbyist tactics. I’ve seen it used many times. With “Duh!,” the denalist deliberately misunderstands, misinterprets, or plays dumb when presented with others’ questions or proposals. One is sometimes amazed at how smart an industry lobbyist can be until they’re asked a question they don’t want to answer! In the…
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How to write consistently boring scientific literature
As I sit here, trying to write a paper, I found this article entitled “How to write consistently boring scientific literature” very interesting. (via The Annals of Improbably Research” I’m afraid it’s behind a paywall, so I’ll summarize their findings.
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Anne Coulter is a mole
There is no other explanation for her eulogy for Falwell entitled, I kid you not, “Jerry Falwell — Say Hello to Ronald Reagan!” In her impassioned defense of Falwell’s most egregious statements, from blaming 9/11 on atheists and gays, to accusing Tinky Winky of being a gay recruiter, she proves she’s really a Democratic agent…