Denialism

Month: November 2007

  • Uncommon Descent breaks my irony meter yet again

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    MarkH
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    BarryA at Uncommon Descent talks about a startling finding using this tool the blog readability test. Thanks to one of our commenters for pointing out this website that calculates the reading level of blogs. Just for fun I inserted UD and it came back “High School,” which means that the general discussion at this blog…

  • Two links for you

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    MarkH
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    So nothing special for today, I’m too busy with meatworld, but you might enjoy these two links: Teen sex has been wronged by a puritanical society – it appears teens who have sex earlier are less likely to become delinquents (however I suspect it ignores that they are also more likely to get knocked up).…

  • Intervention Denial

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    MarkH
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    Here’s a fun one from the archives–Modern Drunkard Magazine’s advice on how to beat an intervention. It includes this gem: Counter Attack Now that you’ve blunted their savage assault, it’s high time to launch your own vengeful attack. The only people bold enough to conduct an intervention are those who consider themselves very close to…

  • Boing Boing strikes gold – a new name for evolution denialists

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    MarkH
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    Mark at Boing Boing proposes an excellent new name for Intelligent Design creationists – “cdesign proponentsists”. It’s in honor of this wonderful observation from “Of Pandas and People” the creati … I mean cdesign proponentsists textbook: This is one of numerous examples of their dishonesty in suggesting that they’re anything but creationists in disguise. I…

  • Global warming crankery from co-founder of the weather channel

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    MarkH
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    Just watching CNN, and saw them mindlessly parrot the latest rant from a crank. In this instance it’s the founder of the weather channel John Coleman, now a San Diego meteorologist, who peels off a doozy. It is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. Global Warming; It…

  • Obesity and Overweight – what do these new studies really mean?

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    MarkH
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    Multiple news sources have been covering this recent article in JAMA (1) which provides epidemiological evidence that being overweight (but not obese) may decrease the risk of some illnesses, while not increasing one’s overall mortality from cardiovascular disease. Given that we’ve talked about overweight and obesity recently on the blog, I think it’s worthwhile to…

  • Skeptics’ Circle Number 73 – Holford watch

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    MarkH
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    Holford Watch has a form letter for us to fill out for this week’s version of the circle. My favorite from this week is Action Skeptic’s essay, which I think describes a character flaw common among cranks. That is, it’s not so important for them to operate with scientifically valid rules of evidence or inquiry,…

  • Fraud, Debt Levels & Educational Attainment

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    MarkH
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    I’m continuing to bore you with the Federal Trade Commission’s report on Consumer Fraud in the United States. Would it be surprising to hear that individuals with higher levels of debt are more likely to be victims of fraud? Yes, people in debt can be desperate, and thus be more likely to fall for scams,…

  • Could Scientific Thinking Help Curb Consumer Fraud?

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    MarkH
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    The Federal Trade Commission just released their second report on Consumer Fraud in the United States. Since it is full of interesting information, I’m going to do several posts on the Commission’s findings. First a quick notes about methods: this report presents findings from 3,888 telephonic interviews of Spanish and English speaking adults. The Commission…

  • Who’s Nuttier: Apple Fans or Ron Paul Fans?

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    MarkH
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    Kevin Poulsen of Threat Level considers who’s nuttier: Apple fans or Ron Paul fans? Complete with obfuscation, lying, and even fake posts on election sites. (Full disclosure: I am an Apple fan.)