A News Skeptic

      Even the most skeptical among us have had this happen: A friend or relative forwards an e-mail from an organization with a safe-sounding name (“The Clean Air Initiative,” “The Center for Consumer Freedom”), but the e-mail is filled with scary assertions, usually of a political nature. If the Obama-care health bill is passed, Grandma will face a “death panel” that will decide if she lives or dies; if Barack Obama is re-elected, America will soon become a Marxist or Muslim nation. Some of the chain-emails are obvious partisan propaganda. But some are more subtle . . .

      This is the opening paragraph of How To Be a Skeptical News Consumer by Donna L. Halper.  Since it overflows with her biases and tends to ramble, I have paraphrased the important content below.  You can read the article in its entirety at http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/13-06-12/.

Theory of Everything.

The following video, Athene's Theory of Everything, offers thought provoking insights into belief systems, cognitive dissonance, and quantum physics.  The interpretations are based on facts, but they are the interpretations of the author. 

The Whorehouse Sues the Church

This story is all over the internet, but is it factual?

MT. VERNON, TEXAS . WHOREHOUSE SUES LOCAL CHURCH OVER LIGHTNING STRIKE

      Diamond D's brothel began construction on an expansion of their building to increase their ever-growing business. In response, the local Baptist Church started a campaign to block the business from expanding -- with morning, afternoon, and evening prayer sessions at their church. Work on Diamond D's progressed right up until the week before the grand reopening when lightning struck the whorehouse and burned it to the ground!

      After the cat-house was burned to the ground by the lightning strike, the church folks were rather smug in their outlook, bragging about "the power of prayer." But late last week 'Big Jugs' Jill Diamond, the owner/madam, sued the church, the preacher and the entire congregation on the grounds that the church ... "was ultimately responsible for the demise of her building and her business -- either through direct or indirect divine actions or means."

      In its reply to the court, the church vehemently and voraciously denied any and all responsibility or any connection to the building's demise.

      The crusty old judge read through the plaintiff's complaint and the defendant's reply, and at the opening hearing he commented, "I don't know how the hell I'm going to decide this case, but it appears from the paperwork, that we now have a whorehouse owner who staunchly believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that thinks it's all bullshit!"

Positivity Effect

I lead bicycle rides around middle Tennessee.  Often, I have a ride started and not too far into the route the grumbling starts.  I hear, "I thought you said this route was flat."

Well, I thought it was.  I honestly didn't remember all the hills, but sure enough.  We got hills.  My comrades don't except my excuse of "these hills weren't here the last time I rode it."  Finally, I just tell them, "I'm old.  I no longer have space in my database to remember the bad things.  So I triage my memories.  Good stays; bad is out."

I have recently learned, while studying cognitive biases and why people believe idiotic things, that I am hardly alone in my bias.  It even has a name "Positivity Effect."  Wikipedia explains it  as follows:

Is it REAL or a Myth?

For a myth to persist it must inspire, it must capture the imagination, and most important it must capture a person intellectually enough that they commit "body and soul" to the concept no matter how improbable or irrational giving rise to cognitive dissonance.  To see what I mean watch this video

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=4146234873383&set=vb.1809138075&type=2&theater 

Are you amazed?  Have you figured it out?  Is it possible for a staircase to violate the laws of physics.and basic logic by looping back on itself?

Imagine what one could do given decades, centuries, or millennia to fashion a myth with stories built upon stories upon stories.  We detail one such myth in this blog -- the Bell Witch Legend.  Was it real? Of course not, but that has not stopped hundreds of people to believe in or even claim to have personally experienced the Bell Witch.  Want to know more? Then you must continue to read this post.

Religious Hypocrisy

How often have we been told, "Love the sinner; hate the sin? Then how does that explain "Baptist Plan Mass Exodus from Boy Scouts."  The Boys Scouts aren't endorsing homosexual life style.  They aren't teaching it.  It's not a new merit badge.  They are just following "What Would Jesus Do?  The answer is quite obvious. 

This explains EVERYTHING!

Liars Figure and Figures Lie

      The debate surrounding Obamacare emphasizes the importance of checking the "source" rather relying simply on someone's interpretation   Failure to check the facts can lead to misinterpretation.
- Ref: http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/29/opinion/carroll-obamacare/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7 

      Those that still know Obamacare is around remain divided on how they feel about it. A recent poll from CNN found that only 43% of the public "supports the health care law." This might lead you to think that most of the country wants it repealed. But, as with so many things related to health care reform, there's more than meets the eye here. A full 16% of Americans, about a third of those who "oppose the health care law," do so because it's not liberal enough.
      It's important to remember that in many ways Obamacare was a "centrist" solution. Many don't like to hear that, believing that it's socialism-writ-large, but a sizeable chunk of America supported something like Medicare-for-all, a single-payer solution more like what Canadians, or our elderly, enjoy. Many of them still think that's a better choice for health care reform.
      In other words, it might be fairer to say that 59% of Americans support a system that is as liberal or more liberal than Obamacare, while 35% don't. That's a much different interpretation than what many are repeating.

Everyone Hates the IRS

      Everyone hates the IRS, so it is an easy target to fire up the political "base," especially if the latter are the non-thinking type who throw around innuendo as if it were facts.  We have had a lot of experience debunking Tea Party claims, probably because they have managed to be in the news far more often than other non-mainstream political organizations and have claimed more absurdities.
      We have commented earlier about their most recent ploy (attacking Obama Administration about IRS actions) to stay relevant.  Action by the IRS in reviewing 501c4 applications hardly seemed unusual and the recent article "When the IRS Targeted Liberals" confirms what we suspected.  For those of us who have the misfortune to deal frequently with the IRS, what the Tea Party was whining about seemed IRS SOP.  As we said in our earlier post, "Been there; done that."
      We have nothing against the Tea Party and support their efforts to get spending in control.  The current course of government spending should have everyone concerned. Not since Reagan ballooned the federal debt have things financial gotten so far out of control.  Anybody remember Ross Perot and his charts?

Media Climate Hype

      With the recent tornadoes I knew it was coming. The climate zealots would claim global warming. They are not necessarily those with a science background, but most likely the media types. The "real" climate scientists already stated they couldn’t predict the impact global warming on tornadoes. Whereas the higher temperatures increased atmospheric energy, the resulting sheer winds reduced the potential for formation. The balance was uncertain. Nevertheless, that didn’t dissuade NBC evening news on May 25, 2013. They linked a “claimed” a worsening of tornadoes and hurricanes in recent history due of course to global warming. It's total media misinformation.

The Federal Budget

      It’s remarkable the number of times we have to explain the Federal Budgeting process.  Lately, it has been primarily to Republicans who repeatedly state that President Obama has not submitted a budget since he has been in office.   That statement is wrong on two counts and generally demonstrates a serious lack of understanding of how the Federal government works, aka Civics 101.

37 and Counting

      Michele Bachmann who makes the following claims about Obamacare

The IRS is going to be "in charge" of "a huge national database" on health care that will include Americans’ "personal, intimate, most close-to-the-vest-secrets.

 Pants on fire lie.

The IRS is "going to be in charge of our health care.

Plain-old lie.

 The IRS will have the ability potentially" to deny or delay health care.

Mostly a lie

led the House for the 37'th wasted time on a vote to repeal Obamacare.  Good law or bad law, it doesn't matter this vote was going no where.

Here We Go Again - Cold Fusion

      In a previous job with a major technology company I reviewed submitted ideas and patents for heating and cool inventions.  Never got a submission for cold fusion device, but got a lot for devices that pulled free energy out of the air, ground, power lines.  Many came with their "university experts," of course many cleared the patent office, and many had a list of newspaper and semi-tech magazine endorsements.  However, it generally took minimal effort to demonstrate how all violated the Second Law of Thermodynamics.  Of the hundreds of submissions, we pursued none. Deja Vu!

GOP Whine

      The specter of the IRS is certainly foreboding and has been used in the past, most notably by the GOP under Nixon to threaten “enemies.”  However, the GOP does protest too much.  The issue is not whether the TEA party was unduly mistreated, but that liberal organizations apparently got considerable less scrutiny than they should have received.

Energy Boondogles

      The "greenies" continue to push the misconception that competitive forms of alternative "green" energy are just around the corner. It's just a matter of pouring money on them until volume makes them economically feasible. That is simply not true.  If a potential market existed, major energy companies, such as BP wouldn't be shutting down operations even after significant investment. Also consider reading The EU Green Hell.

Infamous Psychic Gets it Wrong

      Even after Sylvia Browne, infamous psychic, appears in 2004 on the Montel Williams show and told Amanda Berry’s distraught mother Louwana Miller that her daughter was “in heaven and on the other side” and that her last words were “goodbye, mom, I love you,” it is reported that Sherry Cole, Amanda Berry's cousin, said that her family in no way blames Sylvia. They still love her and believe in her in classic cognitive dissonance fashion.  Ms Miller died the following year.

The Liberal/Conservative Theater.

      After having been involved with advocacy and the public sector for the last decade, I have gained a new appreciation for the factors that shape so many social debates, such as the Gun Debate.  The measures of success used by the liberal and conservative protagonists aren’t the same and often not even closely related.  Consequently, as each presents its case, it is not likely to achieve its goal even with the most logically sound argument. 

Bible Quotes for the Literalists

Old Testament scripture condemning homosexuality,
Leviticus 18:22 - “If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.”
New Testament scripture
Romans 1:26-27 - “… Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men. …”

Denying a woman’s ability to preach in church
Timothy 2:11-12 - “… I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.”

Justifying slavery
Titus 2:9-10 – “Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything. …”

Justifying anti-Semitism
Matthew 27: 25-26 - “Let his blood be on us and on our children.”

The Global Warming Debate

      Science is best performed in an apolitical fashion.  However, that has hardly ever been the case when dealing with social policy.  From the time when one of the most notorious cases in history, a single scientist Galileo Galilei challenged the teachings of the largest institution of his time the Catholic Church; from the time when the most prominent scientist of our time, Einstein challenged one of the most successful theories of our time quantum mechanics to now; scientific debate rages on critical scientific issues.  Most notable is the debate on Global Warming.  As in the case of past times, those with benefit of the majority strive to silence the minority.  But fortunately, that is not how science is supposed to work.

The Inconvenient Truth About Global Warming

      The most serious inconvenient truth about Global Warming is that the conclusion advanced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the primary culprit for planet warming is not a consensus of the scientific community.  A significantly qualified group of climate scientist disagree.  For example, read "No Need to Panic About Global Warming: There's no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to 'decarbonize' the world's economy," from the Wall Street Journal.