January 7th 2004
The Devil and Laura Bush
January 12th 2004 Heroic
Resolutions
January 19th 2004 Voodoo
Hoodoo
January 22nd 2004 Erich's
World
January 27th 2004
Religious News
January 31st 2004 Sharia
Shames Sudan
February 2nd 2004
Red Sea Pedestrians
February 6th 2004 Fair
Play Activist
February 9th 2004 Two
New Sciences
February 13th 2004 Georgia
and the Dragon
February 16th 2004
Cardinal Babble
February 18th 2004
Caring for their Flock?
February 20th 2004
Modern Delusions
February 22nd 2004
Heaven for Dummies
February 24th 2004
Left Hand
February 26th 2004 Clone
Arrangers
February 28th 2004
Deaf Ears
March 1st 2004
Lancet Retraction
March 2nd 2004
Not Just Now, Dad
March 4th 2004
The God Show
March 6th 2004 Killer Pouffes
March 8th 2004 To
See Ourselves
March 10th 2004
Heavenly Promises
March 12th 2004 Satan's Computer
March 15th 2004 Hoagland's
Fantasy Factory
March 18th 2004
Ironic?
March 23rd 2004
AFA Poll Time Again
March 26th 2004 Strange Bedfellows
March 29th 2004 Chiro
Dogma
March 30th 2004
A Word In Your Ear
March 31st 2004
Lies Damned Lies and...
January 7th 2004
The
Devil and Laura Bush - there has been one question driving everyone
nuts over the holiday season. "WHY DID LAURA BUSH
SEND OUT CHRISTMAS CARDS FEATURING THE EGYPTIAN SATANIC PHOENIX BIRD?"
What do you mean, you have heard nothing about this and please stop
shouting? 80 is not shouting but merely repeating the way this burning
question
appears on the Cutting Edge website. Who
they, you may well ask? In their own words, "We
believe our site represents the most complete, concise and comprehensive
source of information available which deals with the Biblical prophecy of
The New World Order." They, and similar sites are devoted to
interpreting world events through their somewhat deranged reading of the
bible - and if it ain't in the good book then just use any old thing -
hence the Egyptian Satanic Phoenix Bird. It appears that the First Lady
sent Christmas cards out with, in the background, a wall decoration in the
likeness of a bird. This was enough to set the conspiracy loons off and
running - surely this bird was an evil Phoenix? Then it was remembered
that Hillary Clinton had been snapped wearing a bird lapel pin, as had
others in the Clinton administration. What did Cutting Edge do with this
information? In their quiet and rational way this was proof enough "The
Phoenix Bird is one of the foremost symbols of the Illuminati, according
to former Satanists. Therefore, since Hillary Clinton was wearing this
symbol, we can know conclusively that she is an Illuminist. Since this
Illuminist lapel pin was worn by two people very close to President Bill
Clinton, we can know for certain that he is an Illuminist, too." So
worried are they about the "Phoenix Conspiracy"
they have filled a page with this paranoid babble. It seems to have passed
these clowns by that in the Middle Ages the death and rebirth of the
Phoenix was a popular allegory for the the resurrection of Jesus. (a
surprising range of animals also served
this purpose.) The references they have used for the Phoenix story come
from just the sort of works you would expect, such as
Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated. Using
such works of scholarship, Cutting Edge have concluded that George W Bush
is a "Black Magick practitioner" and likely a
leader of the Illuminati. And Laura Bush has confirmed their surmise "We
believe the Laura Bush Phoenix Bird has now proven this point. Only a
practicing occultist will send out an occult Phoenix Bird Christmas card."
The Cutting Edge website may appear to many as a complete waste of
time and space but it has a hidden value not perceived by the uninitiated.
80 believes it is useful as a compendium of crackpot conspiracy theories
and also as a primer for those who are interested as to how the bible can
be reinterpreted to fit just about any nutcase's agenda.
Trust
or Tolerance - they are not the same thing. The Archbishop of
Canterbury, Rowan Williams, made the centerpiece of his
Christmas sermon the theme of tolerance.
Not that unusual a subject except that in this case the tolerance which he
seeks is that of the "secular world" for
religion. He refers to the mistrust of religion by managing to lump
together the views of "an educated liberal"
and "the unthinking violence of an anti-Semite"
and claiming the effects of these unconnected groups can be "similar" to a
believer. Thanks Rowan - but you may have missed the point, the educated
liberal often has no religious belief and the anti-Semite is usually full
of it. (Whenever did an "educated liberal"
burn down a synagogue?) If this distinction is not obvious to believers it
is a sad reflection of their own ignorance. Williams also seems to be
confusing trust and tolerance. 80 is tolerant of religion - so long as it
is a matter of personal belief, but trust- no. He goes on to talk of
multifaith unity "All our great religious traditions
say something of this - which is one reason for Christians, Muslims, Jews
and others to stand with each other and speak out for each other in times
of stress or harassment." This may sound sensible but the
scriptures upon which these faiths are based are full of the most
incredible violence that God says you can visit upon those of other faiths
or none. Williams seems to forget that the Old Testament of his
own bible is full of the Almighty egging
on the likes of Joshua to slaughter his enemies while taking a revolting
glee in the proceedings - why should we trust people whose holy book is
full of such horrors, many of which are perpetrated by the "good guys" at
the instigation of their God? Williams also called upon Christians to show
their faith was "on the side of humanity".
This would be the same humanity to which the Vatican denies birth control
and
lies to about
the efficacy of condoms in preventing the spread of AIDS. Now some may
rightly say that Williams is an Anglican and not a Roman Catholic - but he
himself made no such distinction. In fact he refers to Christianity, Islam
and Judaism as though they are great monolithic structures when in fact
they are riven by dissenters and sects. Catholic and Protestant, Sunni and
Shiite, Orthodox and Reform, and oh so many others, each fragment believes
that they alone have things right. (Even the comparatively wishy-washy
Anglican Christians are considering the setting up of
heresy courts. What penalties will be
imposed are not clear - the last time this sort of thing was popular
burning at the stake seemed like a good idea.) So as far as 80 is
concerned tolerance is the way to go - but trust is out of the question.
(That old Reaganism comes to mind - "trust but verify" - verifying a
religion has yet to be achieved - hence all their emphasis on faith and
80's distrust. Basically all religions come down to "take my word for it".
It is all they can do in the absence of proof) Perhaps the best answer to
Williams' appeal lies in two quotations from
Mark
Twain which 80 makes no apology for repeating.
"You believe in a book that has talking animals,
wizards, witches, demons, sticks turning into snakes, burning bushes, food
falling from the sky, people walking on water, and all sorts of magical,
absurd and primitive stories, and you say that WE are the ones that need
help?"
"Man is a Religious Animal. He is the only Religious
Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion - several of
them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts
his throat if his theology isn't straight."
Trust? Not bloody
likely.................
They Asked
For It - The American Family Association is "America's Pro-Family
Online Activism Organization" who keep themselves busy combating the lax
morals of - well, of just about anyone who doesn't fit their narrow
criteria. They have now launched an
online survey of attitudes to what
they term "homosexual marriage". The problem
with soliciting opinions in this way is you may not get the answer that
you want (if you play fair). The AFA did the best they could by putting the
poll page only on their website - which
as you can imagine is not that popular a port of call for most websurfers.
Somehow the news leaked out and currently the option "I
oppose legalization of homosexual marriage and "civil unions" is at
35.26%. This is dwarfed by the response to "I favor
legalization of homosexual marriage" which is at 56.45%. (the third
option "I favor a "civil union" with the full benefits of marriage except
for the name" is at 8.29%.) Any US citizen can register their opinion so
if you qualify do please
let them know what you think. As the AFA state
that the results are to be presented to Congress 80 feels, as a public
service, that the poll should be made more widely accessible. (Figures quoted December 22nd - although they do not appear
to be independently audited)
January 12th 2004
Heroic
Resolutions - did you make your New Year resolutions yet? How about
becoming a superhero? Here are suggestions for some easy goals attainable
through self-help books and websites,
reviewed in The Wave magazine. First up
is Invisibility & Levitation: A How-To Keys To
Personal Performance written by Commander X. Here is a snippet of
what reviewer Seanbaby thought of this tome, "The
book shows many different ways to achieve invisibility. The first has
nothing to do with optics; it’s just not being noticed. As you walk
through crowds, be careful to not think too loudly or bump into people.
Then no one notices you and you’re invisible! This is a garbage version of
invisibility that made it in on a technicality, and it was so not going to
work for me." Less than impressed with this, the next item is
called Yellow
Bamboo.com (more on YB from James Randi
here). YB claim that you can learn to
generate "forceblasts" with devastating
effect when attacked. Seanbaby seems more kindly disposed this time "I’ve
completed the training for Yellow Bamboo, and for reasons known only to
mystery, I’m not going to tell you how powerful my unseen forceblasts are.
But tell you what, run at me screaming and see what happens. I just hope
you bring a jar with you so there’ll be something to carry you home in."
Now that sounds more like it......The third book, called
Practical Psychic Self-Defense: Understanding and
Surviving Unseen Influences has indispensable tips and hints "The
author warns you 18 times during the course of this book that battling
deadly astral spirits can cause skin blemishes. Now you have two choices:
Explain to your friends that these are battle scars from dream combat, or
as the author recommends, draw on them with a ballpoint pen to make them
disappear." The last of these invaluable contributions to human
knowledge is How to Travel to Other Dimensions: An
11-Lesson Course On What You Will Find There - for Seanbaby's
thoughts on this one and his take on the co-author Dragonstar, "a
member of a cult of secret magicians who have been secretly doing magic
since the time of Atlantis." do read the
original reviews - hilarious stuff.
Heartening Tale - a grandmother had a stroke of
good fortune following a heart attack on
a plane. Cabin staff put out a message for help from the passengers and 15
cardiologists, en route to a conference in Florida, stood up. The
grandmother, Mrs Dorothy Fletcher, after a short stay in hospital was able
to attend her daughter's wedding which was the purpose of her trip. It
could have turned out very differently if the 15 were, say, homeopathists
or chiropractors..........
Kitchen Barbie - that icon and role model Barbie is back in the
news. Last time it was the plastic doll's effect on the morals of Saudi
Arabians - although 80 suspected other motives for the confiscations of
the little blonde mannikin (see
Barbie in Bondage). Now Mattel, the
ever-so-touchy manufacturers, have lost a court case against Thomas
Forsythe of Utah, USA. Forsythe produced a series of photos called Food
Chain Barbie, featuring the unclad Barbie in various confrontations with
kitchen appliances. (its true -
look) According to the
San Francisco Chronicle Forsythe claims
it was a critique of "the conventional beauty myth
and the societal acceptance of women as objects.'' This did not sit
well with Mattel who went to court only to have the photos judged as "artistic
parodies" and therefore perfectly legal. Mattel, a huge toy
manufacturer, had done its research before the case "saying
that it had shown Forsythe's photos to some shopping mall customers, who
had mixed opinions on whether they were parodies of Barbie". But
apparently even these expert witnesses failed to win the day. (Update
- Both sites that feature Food Chain Barbie seem to be have been swamped,
this one as well as that mentioned above
- such is the popularity of naked plastic dolls)
Late
Move - the US Food and Drug Administration has finally moved to ban
the herbal supplement
ephedra. The substance is described as "simply
too risky to be used." The FDA wasn't exactly fast on the ban - the
dangerous effects, including strokes and heart attacks, have been known
for a long time but successful lobbying by manufacturers stymied any
government action, although some responsible
sports organizations barred its use.
According to the
New York Times (reg rq'd) the ephedra
market was worth a staggering $1.28 billion in 2002. The likely turning
point was the death of a young baseball pitcher Steve Bechler, who had
been using ephedra to lose weight while training. With this adverse
publicity sales dropped to $510 million this year, likely accompanied by a
drop in industry pressure as the market shrank. So, after a decade of
concern the FDA acted. Dietary supplements are still not subject to the
same testing and controls before marketing with which drugs have to
comply, even though some of these substances can be quite as powerful as
prescription drugs. For example the active ingredient in ephedra and ma
huang is ephedrine. This same substance, if produced in synthetic form was
subject to FDA regulation, unlike the equally dangerous herbal supplement.
These dual standards make little sense from a health and safety point of
view but suit the supplement industry nicely. How many deaths will it take
to change this crazy state of affairs? According to Billy Tauzin, the
chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, "During
the course of our investigation, we learned that some ephedra supplement
makers had engaged in highly questionable behavior, such as producing
products without any safety testing. These shady practices will no longer
be tolerated." It will be interesting to see whether these words
are translated into action.
January 19th 2004
Voodoo
Hoodoo - Here is an
article from the UK Daily Telegraph about
the role that voodoo can play in a federal Miami courtroom during a drug
money laundering case. So much "Santeria dust"
(apparently a good luck charm) had been scattered around that the
presiding judge had to order the place cleaned. This was after the
prosecuting lawyer complained that his dry cleaning bill had become "worryingly
onerous" with the frequent need for removal of the offending dust.
If the good luck dust had been spread with the aim of securing the
accused's acquital it was a complete failure - he was convicted. The piece
goes on to note Miami's reputation as "magic city"
on account of the many weird beliefs espoused there and that the attempt
to use voodoo to influence the outcome of a trial is not all that unusual
although it is the state courthouse rather than the federal one that
attracts this kind of attention. Handily for those of a supernatural bent
the state building sits at the intersection of 13th Street and 13th Avenue
and sports a janitorial team known as the "Voodoo
Squad" who clean up various sacrificial offerings such as chickens
and goats. In a recent murder case the influence of magic was used as a
defence tactic. The accused tried to lay the blame for the crime upon the
victim's first husband "a Haitian who allegedly has
the ability to turn himself into an armed but headless donkey. This
remarkable feat is achieved by, as one of the doctors delicately put it,
"expelling three flatulents"." Unsurprisingly he is undergoing
psychiatric assessment..............
Rope Faker
- one of the "mysteries" of the East that has entered the public
consciousness is the Indian Rope Trick. Even an old cynic such as 80
assumed that there was some basis for the story if only as part of the
repartee of conjurors and tricksters who are popularly called "godmen" in
the subcontinent. None of the stuff they do is beyond the ability of a
good stage magician and 80 for one thought the Rope Trick fitted in with
the rest. Then along came
this review in the UK Guardian of a book
entitled "The Rise of the Indian Rope Trick: A
Biography of a Legend" by Peter Lamont which tells of the true
origin. It has nothing to do with India beyond the name, being the
invention of an American newspaper reporter for the Chicago Tribune back
in 1890! This is an interesting review by Peter Preston who makes the
point that the Rope Trick is still so well known because of many folks
wish (need?) to believe in such things. Preston's penultimate paragraph
makes the point well, "Are we 21st-century types too
modern, too sophisticated to be taken in now? Read about the fakir at the
court of Ranjit Singh buried alive for a month without food, water or air
and think of David Blaine. Human nature doesn't change, nor human
credulity, eternally available for exploitation."
Good News
- perhaps for those purveyors of quackery known as chiropractors. A recent
report from researchers at Duke University Medical Center claims the
medical cost of back pain in the US amounts to a thumping $90 billion.
This article from The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution does not mention how much of this huge expenditure
ends up in the bank accounts of the bone-bending charlatans but 80 reckons
they must do pretty well out of it. Particularly in view of their practice
of informing people that they need to return for regular chiropractic "adjustment"
to maintain health. (80 has looked at these quacks before (see
Manipulate This) and intends to do so
again in the near future. Chiropractic has little or nothing to do with
healthcare and a lot to do with irrational anti-vaccination propaganda,
gobbledegook about the elusive phenomenon of subluxation and making money
from the ill-informed. Paul Lee's excellent
Quackfiles shows that chiropractic has
all the hallmarks of a
religious belief rather than an
evidence-based medical system.)
Miniskirts and
Morality - 80 has said before that if
you have a religious belief you are welcome to it - but don't insist that
others follow the rules dictated by your delusions. The authorities in the
Malaysian state of Terengganu are planning to
ban non-Muslims from wearing clothing
that will offend their stuffy sensibilities. In a drive against what they
term "indecency" these guardians of public
virtue will prohibit women wearing miniskirts and figure-hugging apparel
(whether men would be banned as well is not mentioned). It seems odd that
such devout people are so lacking in ordinary self-control that they
cannot be exposed to such incitements. PAS or Parti Islam se-Malaysia
(PAS) who govern Terengganu state and one other, out of Malaysia's total
of 13, would like to see sharia law adopted in this muli-religious
multi-ethnic country and hope to win seats from the current multi-racial
coalition government in the forthcoming elections. If they win the rest of
the populace can look forward to innovations already enforced by PAS where
they hold sway, such as separate supermarket checkouts for men and women.
These guys (and it has to be guys) have obviously never been shopping
otherwise they would realize the chances of hanky-panky at a checkout is
pretty remote - even for people whose morals are so weak they need
protecting from a glimpse of a women's legs.
Shermer Scoop - the SciScoop website, "a
science news source and discussion forum for anyone interested in
cutting-edge science and technology", has a very interesting
interview with Michael Shermer of the
Skeptics Society, in which he answers various questions posted by members.
Most of these queries are well thought out with only a few outraged "true
believers" making their views forcefully known. Shermer, author of "Why
People Believe Weird Things", and columnist for Scientific American (see
the latest -
Bunkum!) also has his own website,
Skeptic.com
which is well worth your time. One eye-opener from the SciScoop session is
Shermer's contention, based upon response to his Scientific American
Skeptic articles, that many of the readers of that august journal are
creationists! Now that is a weird thing to believe.......
January 22nd 2004
Erich's World - the idiot fantasies of
Erich von Daniken have found their
perfect setting in Switzerland. The writer and spinner of tales is best
known for his ancient astronaut books in which he, unable to believe that
our ancestors were capable of building pyramids and other massive
structures claims that assistance of aliens from space was required. Apart
from the insulting condescension to the ancient builders and engineers
there is not a
shred of evidence to support his ideas.
In fact he himself is on record agreeing that he invented some of his
so-called evidence. Like many in the world of cult or fringe archaeology
his attitude to evidence does not meet any standards acceptable to
science. He has succeeded in one thing however and that is making plenty
of money from the folk that fall for his line of claptrap. Now he has
another nice little earner - a theme park in his homeland dedicated to his
work. Here, at Mystery Park can be found miniature pyramids and an archive
of von Daniken's output. There are seven pavilions, displaying movies
illustrating his "theories". It is no surprise to learn that these were
designed by amusement park professionals as von Daniken is so primitive he
could not have achieved anything without outside assistance. This piece on
Mystery Park in Archaeology magazine does
not say that the designers were aliens but the notion is as worthy of
serious consideration as any of von Daniken's other ideas. (For masses of
information on real and pseudo-archaeology see
Doug's
Archaeology Site)
Martian Mystery Mud - early images
from the Spirit rover in Gusev Crater on the Red Planet are reported to
show a
strange substance right next to the
vehicle which has puzzled scientists. It has been described as a "strangely
cohesive" mud-like material with "alien
textures". The Washington Post quotes Steve Squyres of Cornell
University "I don't understand it. I don't know
anybody on my team who understands it. . . . It looks like mud, but it
can't be mud." Squyres and the other scientists need puzzle no more
for 80 has realized exactly what this substance is - a face pack for the
Face on Mars.......
Surprise Surprise - a recent poll of
the citizens of Minnesota, USA reported in the
Star-Tribune (reg rqd), showed
that they think religion plays a role in causing war and many think that
certain religions are more likely to "encourage
violence among their believers". This belongs in the category of
knowledge called the blindingly obvious.
Incompatibility - here is a quote
from an
interesting article in The Ledger on
science and religion from Craig Spearman, president of Science Speaks (a
bunch from Florida who are apparently unable to see that the term
Intelligent Design is nonsense when applied to life, the universe and
everything) "The Bible is not a science book. I
agree that God can't be proved scientifically". So far so good, and
then he goes and ruins things, "However, a number of
us believe God has to be approached from a rational basis. There's
sufficient circumstantial evidence that would bring any reasonable man to
conclude we're not here by accident." Everyone is entitled to their
own point of view but 80 inclines toward that espoused by Nobel Laureate
Steven Weinberg and quoted in the same piece "I
think one of the great things science has done for the world is to
gradually weaken the force of religious enthusiasm, and I'd hate to see
that compromised by any sort of reconciliation." He also referred
to religiously inspired violence "I think the world
would be better off without all that, and I think science can play a role
in getting rid of it."
Princess Probe - at long last the
British investigation has been launched
into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in a car wreck in Paris all of
6 years ago. In a
very good piece in the UK Guardian, Simon
Hoggart describes it as "... the most eagerly
awaited inquest since Anne Boleyn". Hopes that the results of the
Scotland Yard inquiry will put to rest the huge number of competing
conspiracy theories, particularly on many
websites, are unlikely to be fulfilled. A
tragedy like the death of the Princess to many people must have a cause
beyond the obvious. The fact that the French inquiry found that the driver
was drunk and may have been distracted by reporters pursuing the car and
that the Princess was not wearing a seatbelt seem to many to be too
trivial a reason. Hence all the chatter about death plots involving the
British security services, other members of the Royal family because they
feared she would marry a Muslim, and for all 80 knows, aliens from Planet
X. This one will run and run......
Pressure Drop - currently in many countries there is a heated
debate raging over the benefits and
safety implications of the use of gun-toting sky marshals aboard
commercial airplane flights. Discharging a firearm in such a location ie a
pressurized cabin at high altitude, is a pretty risky business even using
weapons with a very low muzzle velocity. 80 cannot get the image out of
his mind of
Goldfinger's ample backside disappearing
through a shattered plane window. It is less than comforting. With
concerns like these now might be the time to buy some
taser shares..............
January 27th 2004
Religious News - a friend recently accused 80 of featuring too many
items on the malign effects of religion, most particularly the
fundamentalist kind. Taking this to heart the site now has a faith-based
news page (see left hand margin) which is merely a list of links, with no
further elaboration, to news items about humankind's least attractive
invention. But now and again some religious news items absolutely demand
closer treatment. World attention recently has tended to dwell on the
situation in Iraq but the
newly adopted constitution for
Afghanistan (that was the previous war, remember?) looks to be in trouble
almost immediately. It is supposed to guarantee equal rights for men and
women but obviously the country's supreme court has other ideas. They have
complained to the government about the
shocking appearance on TV of a woman singing. "This
has to be stopped " Deputy Chief Justice Fazel Ahmed Manawi said in
a BBC report. The broadcast lasted for all of 5 minutes but this was too
much. Manawi went on "We are opposed to women
singing and dancing as a whole." What do these miserable puritans
find so threatening? Perhaps they forsee a return of the county's previous
rulers, the Taliban, who appear to enjoying something of a
resurgence ,and feel they may have to
answer to them for allowing such lax behavior. Talking of the Taliban, it
appears they are so admired by an Islamic sect in
northern Nigeria that they have taken the
same name and have been aping the same harsh, repressive behavior as the
Afghan originals. Meanwhile in Pakistan a woman, Shaista Almani, aged 22,
had the temerity to marry a man from a different tribe. She had the
permission of her parents but not the tribal elders. So how did these wise
men react to this perceived transgression? They want to take her life in
the barbaric practice of
honor killing. Her new husband even
divorced her in a futile attempt to appease the would-be murderers. Even
President Musharraf has become involved, telling the authorities in her
home province of Sindh to protect her. Reasons for such killings, of which
450 occurred in Pakistan last year alone, include committing adultery,
marrying outside of their parents' consent, failing to meet their
partner's dowry demands or otherwise offending Islam. Such disgusting
retribution can do nothing but bring shame on any religion that treats
women as less than human. So, sorry to my friend for writing about
religion yet again but remaining silent is not an option.
Darwin
Day - here is one for your diary, February 12th is the birthday of
Charles Darwin. On this day and throughout the month, people from all over
the world are honoring the life, work and influence of Darwin with events
and activities which celebrate science and our shared humanity. His work,
and the work those who have followed on, has performed a great service by
dethroning humankind and showing that the conceited idea that we are above
all the animals and just below the angels, in some Great Chain of Being is
false. We are a species of African primate and are as much a part of the
fauna of planet Earth as any other creature. Do go along to the
Darwin Day
website and see what is happening in your area. To quote
Richard Dawkins "Along with Shakespeare and Newton,
Darwin is Britain's greatest gift to the world. He was our greatest
thinker." (It may also be of interest to regular readers that the
Darwin Day site was designed by none other than Dave Feroe of
Heresy House. 80 looked at the
Heretic Feroe some while back.)
Martian Tool Time
- at the top of this page it states in the introduction, referring to the
websites reviewed, that "The View from Number 80
tries to give them critical attention and, in many cases, a certain amount
of ridicule." But now and again this is not really possible,
especially when one comes across something so toweringly daft that the job
is already done. The particular page in question equals 80's fatuous face
pack suggestion below,
and in fact surpasses it by a large margin.The website in question is that
of Richard Hoagland (popularly called Hoaxland) and his
Enterprise Mission and in particular
this page full of images returned by
Spirit, the rover currently sitting in Gusev Crater on Mars. According to
Hoaxland these show not rocks of various types as foolishly assumed by
NASA but tools and metal-cased objects. This is, of course, treated as
evidence of a past
Martian civilization and NASA's
inevitable cover-up of this astounding information. In fact the only
thought that occurs to 80 when viewing the images as interpreted by
Hoagland is that either he is an even more gullible fantasist than ever,
or he badly needs to consult an optician. Or, much more cynically, perhaps
his motivation is connected more closely with banging the drum for
donations because "For This Research To Continue
Your Support Is Critical" This is obviously a meaning of the word
"research" of which 80 was, until now, blissfully unaware.
The Astrology Racket - is a very lucrative business to be in. It is usually assumed that
real newspapers deal with getting at the truth and publishing the facts -
some may make a better job of this than others but that is the general
idea - except in one area, astrology columns. This is down to one very
simple reason - money. What is revealed in
this piece from the UK Guardian is just
how profitable this business is, not just for the newspaper publishers but
for the astrologers themselves, who often earn more than well-known
columnists. (They also make a nice bundle from those who call their
astrology hotlines at exorbitant rates. Sadly it is often those least able
to afford such phone readings who are the biggest consumers of this
"service".) The editors of these papers are particularly hypocritical as
they generally acknowledge that the astrologer's output is garbage but are
more than happy to enjoy the financial benefits of the circulation figures
they deliver. What is totally unbelievable is that the astrological
charlatans claim their high pay is justified. Shelley Von Strunckel, who
supplies two papers with her brand of profitable nonsense, the London
Evening Standard and the Sunday Times says "It looks
easy, but the astrologers who survive work hard. When it comes to getting
copy out we're as hard-nosed as journalists reporting from a war. We can't
be late with copy. If it's lucrative, trust me, none of us is sitting back
filing our nails and eating bonbons." How hard can it be to churn
out the same bland, nonsensical drivel day after day? To compare yourself
to a real journalist reporting from a war is absurd. What an inflated view
of their own importance these peddlers of claptrap have.
Quote of the Week - from Former
Treasury Secretary
Paul O'Neill describing George W Bush in
meetings with his entourage "He is like a blind man
in a room full of deaf people". He's that good?
January 31st 2004
Sharia
Shames Sudan - how many times have non-believers been asked to show
respect for the religious beliefs of others? (Or even to
trust them?) This may give offence but 80
no more respects religious faith than any other delusion. An adult that
says that there is a Creator who is responsible for the world we see
around us deserves no more respect than if their imaginary friend/overlord
was the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. If any more were needed here is
another damn' good reason for that stance. Intisar Bakri Abdulgader is 16
years old and friends describe her as "shy and gullible". She was seduced
by an older man and became pregnant and now has a baby boy to care for.
This sad little tale is all too commonplace and in Australia, Denmark,
Netherlands or the UK for example some people would shake their heads
perhaps but the girl and her child would receive help and support.
Tragically Intisar does not live in a "decadent" Western democracy - she
lives in the Sudan and can expect 100 lashes across the shoulders with a
leather or plastic strap for her crime of "adultery". Such is the barbaric
sharia law code applied to this vulnerable teenager. The alleged father
has reportedly not been charged but will have a blood test to establish
paternity. This is disgusting and far from an isolated case. If you wish
to help by protesting and showing the Sudanese authorities that such
medieval practices are unacceptable please go to the
Amnesty International page to find out
what you can do. Amnesty International UK Media Director Lesley Warner
said: "The Sudanese authorities must not carry out
this vicious sentence on a young girl. It is a cruel punishment which
completely contravenes basic international human rights law, to which
Sudan is a party. The authorities should abolish all these cruel
punishments now." Owing to Intisar's poor health the flogging was
postponed from from 20 December to 23 January. How compassionate of the
religious authorities to wait until the girl is fit before inflicting
injuries upon her. She has reportedly been eating and sleeping very
little, terrified of the ordeal she must face. Respect religion? You must
be bloody joking.
Bias
- as an example of the unfair treatment women receive from the world's
major religions the above horrible story is hard to beat. For a view on
Christianity's hostility to women see
this piece by Karen Armstrong in the UK
Guardian.
Google
Hijack? - far and away the most popular search engine is Google -
so much so that the word has entered ordinary language as a term to
describe searching on the web, googling. This has caused Google to become
concerned about the dilution of their
trademark but it is likely not something
they can stop. There is another worry about Google and its ubiquity as a
preferred search engine and that is the
possibilty (New York Times - reg rq'd) it
may be open to manipulation. This would apply not only to Google itself
but also to all the many other, seemingly independent, engines that use
Google technology of
page ranking. What has caused this worry
is the phenomenon of "Google-bombing".
This hijacks the page ranking system for comic, satirical or political
effect by linking a search term through subsidiary websites to give a
false ranking. One of the most recent and popular examples was that when
you entered the phrase "miserable failure" and searched, the first hit on
the list was none other than George W Bush's official autobiography page.
Bush partisans and others have now climbed on the bandwagon as
this page illustrates giving answers to
the same query, in order, Michael Moore, Bush, Jimmy Carter and Hillary
Clinton. But could this game be hijacked for nefarious or misleading
purposes? Google themselves think not, but they would say that wouldn't
they? Anything else would be damaging for business. Others
tend to agree that the effects are in
fact very limited, partly by the need for a phrase that is obscure enough
not to bring up many other sites before the one intended in the ranking.
It is unlikely to be a real problem but merely another source of geeky
amusement and political comment - any larger scale attempts at
manipulation would be detected and the relevant sites deleted from Google
- an action that has already been taken in some cases. For those of you
still concerned you can always try an engine that uses a different
methodology such as Teoma as used by Ask Jeeves, but the real answer is something
that should always be applied and that is common sense. It is relatively
easy to spot skewed results and anyone should be wary of errors in results
and for important searches use more than one search technique. The
infallible, faith-based search engine has yet to arrive.
Update
- to the above, as of January 26th put the word "unelectable"
into Google and up pops Dubya..........
Wesley
Clark - the Democrat presidential contender had this to say on
"family values", the mantra repeated ad nauseam by right-wing
conservatives and bible-bashers "We have a
Republican Party and president who use the term 'family values,' but they
don't have the slightest idea of what they ought to be talking about when
they talk about family values."
Talking Turkey - on a not entirely unrelated note the runners in
the presidential race in the US could learn something from the Prime
Minister of Turkey, Tayyip Erdogan. In this item from
Zaman he said his party " regarded
religion as a social value and rejected the idea of conducting politics
according to religion, or formulating a state ideology based on religious
values." He promotes the concept of laicism, which he defines as "......
an institutional attitude and approach that enables the state to remain
neutral before all religions and opinions; it maintain an equal distance
from all; and promotes the peaceful coexistence of different religious
sects and thought groups." This is an admirable stance which US
politicians would do well to emulate in the forthcoming electoral fun and
games. Wearing your faith on your sleeve may garner you votes but means
little to people of other faiths or none, and does nothing to promote
harmony, even if you can score the odd point or two. Howard Dean, until
Iowa the Democrat front-runner, had this
to say about Jerry Falwell "Don't
you think Jerry Falwell reminds you a lot more of the Pharisees than he
does of the teachings of Jesus? " Dean should be careful with this,
for as 80 has been told more than once when turning the biblical tables,
even the devil can quote the scriptures. Religion is a two-edged weapon
and you could easily cut yourself.
February 2nd 2001
Red
Sea Pedestrians - latest in a long line of attempts to explain Old
Testament miracles as real historical events is
this effort from a couple of Russian
mathematicians who obviously have far too much time on their hands. On the
basis of their calculations they believe "a stormy
night and a strategically placed reef" helped the Israelites cross
the Red Sea when fleeing the pursuing armies of Pharaoh. Naum Volzinger, a
senior researcher at St. Petersburg's Institute of Oceanology says "I
am convinced that God rules the Earth through the laws of physics."
(Yeah right, 80 can't wait for his Burning Bush rationalization - or the
curse of the
hemorrhoids.) According to the Moscow
Times "The six-month study, published in the
Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences, focuses on a reef that runs
from the well-documented starting point of the Jews' escape to the north
side of the sea. In biblical times, the reef was much closer to the
surface." Six months! Time well spent in their opinion no doubt. By
the way there is no well-documented starting point and no evidence the
whole escapade ever took place. But, and it is a very big but, if the
event did happen what was it like to cross the sea dryshod? According to
our Russian friends pretty darn difficult- picture the poor old
Israelites, 600,000 of them, men, women and children, walking, at night,
along a reef, in winds of 30 meters a second (approx 68 mph) chased by
Pharaoh's finest. On balance the
miraculous version as espoused by Cecil B deMille seems more
likely.............
Annual
Cloning - in what is likely a reaction to grandstanding
Dr Panos
Zavos' announcement that he had transferred a
cloned embryo into a woman's womb, Lord
Robert May president of the British Royal Society said "maverick
scientists" attempting to clone humans should be outlawed around
the world. Zavos' claim had been greeted skeptically by most scientists. A
pointer to how realistic his announcement was is the very way it was
presented with no peer reviewed research in any scientific journal and by
means of a press conference. Zavos' apparent love of the limelight and
attention could not have helped. Perhaps such dodgy claims about human
cloning are to become an annual event, after all it was a year ago that
the Raelian cult
announced the actual birth of human
clones. No clones or any kind of evidence has been seen since. This
article on Zavos from Crosswalk by Albert
Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (was there
ever a more pointless pursuit than theology?) uses the opportunity to
inform us that "his announcement should be a wake-up
call as civilization stands on the brink of moral catastrophe."
Holy Mohler - also from the prolific
theologian is a
piece (scroll way down the page) on an
article in the New York Times by Nicholas Kristof in which Kristof
displays amazement that more Americans believe in the virgin birth than
the theory of evolution. To Mohler "It is as if
Kristof has been told that a majority of Americans believe in the Tooth
Fairy and deny the existence of gravity." For once Mohler has
actually gotten something right. If you worry for the future of an
increasingly religion-obsessed USA read the rest of what he has to say on
Presidential contenders, homosexual marriage, abortion and liberals for a
strange, twofold reaction. First you laugh at the obvious inanities the
man is spouting (he seems to have a real bee in his bonnet about
homosexuals - perhaps he protesteth too much?) then depression creeps in
when you realize not only does Mohler actually believe the drivel he
writes but so do a large number of his compatriots.
Sleepy
Jugglers - according to a couple of reports from the BBC health
pages there are two ways of "boosting your brain
power". Firstly German investigators
report that you can solve problems while
sleeping. There has been anecdotal evidence for this but now their work
strongly indicates it to be true. "...experts say it
is the first hard evidence that creativity and problem-solving may be
assisted by the activity of the brain during sleep." The
other method, again from German research,
is that learning to juggle increases the size of certain areas of the
brain. This has been confirmed by scans, the "Jugglers
had more grey matter - which consists largely of the nerve cells - in the
mid-temporal area and the left posterior intraparietal sulcus, which both
process visual motion information." So if sleep and juggling are so
apparently beneficial to brain development 80 is awaiting the results from
those superbrains who have perfected the the tricky feat of juggling in
their sleep (don't try this at home folks) - the results should be
literally mind-expanding.
What
Goes Up - Steve Mirsky in his current
Antigravity column in Scientific American
puts the case for a "clear and present need for
better math and science education in this nation." (This applys to
every nation on the planet) One of his examples features the botched Ku
Klux Klan initiation that 80
mentioned a short while back, accompanied
by a (very) slightly guilty chuckle. Mirsky's account of a subsequent
radio show attempting to grasp the gravity of the situation is hysterical.
February 6th 2004
Fair
Play Activist - it seems that 80 has unwittingly joined a group
called "homosexual activists". Foul play by the aforementioned bunch has
skewed the results of an online marriage survey by the very uptight
American Family
Association (AFA). It seems that various websites, less than
enamoured with their holier than thou attitude, called attention to their
poll which was displayed only on the AFA website and might have escaped
notice otherwise and only attract "Christian activists". In this article
from
MLive.com Gary Glenn, director of the AFA
of Michigan is quoted as saying "Homosexual activist
groups went to the trouble of skewing this particular poll. Perhaps it is
some comfort to them." Sorry Gary, but you got it wrong, at least
in one case - 80 is part of no "homosexual activist group" but merely
wishes to see fair play. To run a survey in the manner the AFA did with
the intention of presenting the results to Congress was just plain
underhand. 80, along with many
others, merely wanted to keep things
balanced. (One wonders why the AFA feel so threatened, there does not seem
to be any suggestion that homosexual marriage would be compulsory.) Here
is 80's original report,
They Asked For It. By the way,
just over 60% in the survey favored
homosexual marriage - a result the AFA would like to bury.
Telepathetic - here is a
report from Nature on a debate that took
place in London recently arguing the pros and cons of telepathy. Speaking
for, and according to Nature finding most favor with the audience was
Rupert (Who are you staring at?) Sheldrake. In the other corner, and very
much against "pathological" science, was Lewis Wolpert, a developmental
biologist at University College London. One wonders at the caliber of the
Royal Society of the Arts' audience if Sheldrake's point of view carried
the day. Sheldrake's evidence included his work on whether pets can
psychically tell when their owner is about to arrive home and "the
allegedly telepathic bond between a New York woman and her parrot".
Sheldrake is quoted as saying "Billions of perfectly
rational people believe that they have had these experiences." This
is jolly interesting but as an ex-scientist he ought to know that the
plural of anecdote is not data - it proves nothing. Still, apparently
Sheldrake carried the day according to this perceptive observer "For
Ann Blaber, who works in children's music and was undecided on the
subject, Sheldrake was the more convincing. "You can't just dismiss all
the evidence for telepathy out of hand," she said." Besides he has
such nice eyes, a neat haircut and a voice to die for, she did not go on
to say. For a critical look at some of Sheldrake's daft claims see
this report from Robert A Baker and read
Sheldrake's
response.
Talking Dick - if what may be charitably
described as a mistaken perception is repeated over and over in the face
of all evidence it becomes something else - a matter of pure faith or a
downright lie. Which is which can be hard to ascertain for often they can
appear be the same thing. If someone has personally identified strongly
with such a perception it can be emotionally almost impossible to reject
it. Here is a
report from the Los Angeles Times (reg
rq'd) commenting on US Vice President Dick Cheney's
interview on NPR, where he yet again
asserted that "There's overwhelming evidence there
was a connection between Al Qaeda and the Iraqi government, I am very
confident that there was an established relationship there." This
when the rest of the administration appears to be backpedalling on the
idea. Also repeated by Cheney was his belief that weapons of mass
destruction are waiting to be found in Iraq, insisting that "the
jury is still out", citing the now largely debunked "bioweapons
trailers". This sits oddly with President Bush's reference in
his
State of the Union address to "weapons
of mass-destruction-related program activities" a phrase that is
about as watered-down as you can get. Cheney looks more and more like a
man with an obsession, one he managed to share for a while, but now
everyone else has moved on (even his protege George) leaving him to repeat
the same increasingly stale assertions. (Here is an overview of the
administration's Iraq WMD claims and how shaky they have proved to be from
Information Clearing House and for a less than kindly view of Cheney read
Mark Morford's take on the man and his
"sporting" activities.)
Update
to the above item - David Kay, the man leading the hunt for WMDs in
Iraq has quit. Sources say that the action is for a "mixture
of personal reasons and his disillusionment with the search."
according to the
BBC news.
February 9th 2004
Two
New Sciences - just like that! US Attorney General John Ashcroft is
apparently more intelligent than 80 thought he was. It is not often given
to someone that they can create two whole new sciences at a stroke.
Ashcroft was in Vienna, Austria, trying to justify the most recent Gulf
War (remember, the one that is still killing people?) when he
came out with this little gem "Weapons
of mass destruction including evil chemistry and evil biology are all
matters of great concern, not only to the United States but also to the
world community." It almost sounds like a line from an Austin
Powers'
villain. One wonders how evil chemistry
and evil biology differ from the regular ones. In Europe this kind of
fundamentalist jargon, evil this, evil that, does not impress. Someone
really ought to write Ashcroft some better material - or stop him from
speaking off the cuff. (And while they are at it can they please explain
to John that science is neither good nor evil, it is amoral, whereas
people are rather more complicated.) Such terminology merely stereotypes
the current US administration as a bunch of hicks - which is as inaccurate
as it is dangerous.
Update
- from
Amnesty International to the story of
Intisar Bakri Abdulgader (see
Sharia Shames Sudan) the 16 year-old has
had her sentence of flogging suspended, temporarily. So, another wait and
more uncertainty about her fate - what kind of God would want his laws to
subject a kid to this? Sadly, Intisar's is far from an isolated case.
Another Broken Illusion - two religions, both of which claim to
espouse peace, are in a headlong rush to violent conflict in Sri Lanka.
The two belief systems involved are Christianity and Buddhism. Christians
maybe, but Buddhists, surely not? What, Buddhist Bhuddists? Aren't they
non-violent? Apparently not - there goes another vain illusion. Somehow 80
thought they were different. Just goes to show you where ignorant
assumptions can get you. The BBC says in one instance these were
drunken Buddhists so maybe that's the
reason - or is it more the case as examined in this article from the India
Times that "Religion
makes people fanatics"? Some say the Buddhists were reacting to
evangelicals arriving and making "unethical
conversions". When could persuading someone to shift from one
superstition to another ever be called ethical? Religions, even if
some are totally pacifist, do one thing well, they allow you to attach a
label to someone as different, as others, be they threat or scapegoat. It
is not necessarily any theological differences that matter, but just being
able to treat others as less than human. It is not a mother, a daughter, a
son that was murdered, but a Christian, a Muslim, a Jew.
Military Skeleton - do take a moment to read this
interesting
piece by Michael Moore (Bowling
for Columbine) on the effect his recent introduction to US
presidential contender, Gen. Wesley Clark, had on the surrounding press.
This was in Moore's familiar boisterous style, sounding like the intro to
a wrestling bout. It ended with him yelling "The
Generaaal Versus The Deserterrrr!!". Now the mainstream press are
usually quite bright and managed to work out who the General was - so the
deserter must be none other than President George W. Bush. What did this
mean? Moore offers some answers other than the one the press immediately
assumed. What is intriguing is that of all the possibilities, including
desertion of " the 43 million Americans who have no
health coverage " or maybe he "had deserted
our constitution and Bill of Rights as he tries to limit freedom of speech
and privacy rights for law-abiding citizens " the one that the
press immediately thought of was the President's very dodgy, intermittent
National Guard service, which handily kept him out of Vietnam. The thought
occurs to many folk that if you want to start wars and put others in
harm's way you had better have no military service skeletons in your
closet. (The mainstream press have in the past been reluctant to report
much on this subject. Perhaps the current fuss may change their minds.
Until then, try looking
here and
here and finally
here. For a detailed explanation of the
terms deserter and AWOL see
this from Slate.)
Beauty
and Obese - beauty, it is said, may well be only skin deep but it
certainly goes a lot deeper than that with the girls of Mauretania, North
Africa. In a country where traditionally, slim equals poor, what we would
call obese is the shape to be in the marriage market. Girls from the age
of seven are effectively force fed to achieve the rotundity considered
attractive in these parts. The aptly named Fatematou, a woman who runs a
"fat farm" told the BBC that "We grab them and we
force them to eat. If they cry a lot we leave them sometimes for a day or
two and then we come back to start again. They get used to it in the end."
She claims her charges will thank her eventually, "They
are proud and show off their good size to make men dribble. Don't you
think that's good?" Maybe for their aesthetics perhaps, but the
Mauretanian government has described the excessive weight achieved as "life-threatening".
Which gives a new meaning to the phrase "a figure to die for". Meanwhile,
a
new study estimates obesity cost the US
around $75 billion. Over half of this tab was picked up by taxpayers.
Still, look on the bright side, the slimming industry is making lots of
dough - by a strange coincidence it is worth $40 billion a year - matching
the tax dollars spent on combatting obesity quite nicely. But remember
this industry does not want its customers to lose weight permanently - it
relies on the repeat business too heavily. (For the effects of the
McDonalds' diet read about the movie
Super Size Me and have your fast food
prejudices confirmed)
Update
- to the above. The
World Health Organization (WHO) has
drafted a "global strategy on diet, physical
activity and health." This New York Times
op-ed (reg rqd) shows that the reaction
of the powerful US food industry, and in particular the
Sugar Association (SA), is less than welcoming to such
commonsense recommendations for "more physical
activity, a reduction in sugars, fats and salt and an increase in fresh
fruit, whole grains, legumes and nuts." which the SA
news page describes as misguided. Well,
they would say that wouldn't they? There is nothing that your doctor would
find objectionable in the WHO guidelines but then, of course, he is not
trying to sell you unhealthy junk foods. Never mind the health of the
consumer, taking care of that all important bottom line is the order of
the day.
Quote of the Week
- "The potential threat posed by Iraq's stockpiles
of chemical and biological weapons and Iraq's nuclear weapons program was
central to the case for war. In light of Dr. Kay's statement, the
president owes the American public and the world an explanation."
Representative Jane Harman of California, Democrat, quoted in the
New York Times (reg rqd) on former chief
weapons inspector Dr David Kay's doubts about the likelihood of finding
WMDs in Iraq. Also see Talking Dick
below. Meanwhile Britain's
Tony Blair and Australia's
John Howard are sticking to their
(non-existent?) guns over whether Iraq's WMDs exist and still citing them
as a pretext for war. Howard should count himself lucky that he doesn't
have Blair's additional worries over the
Hutton report.
February 13th
2004
Georgia and the Dragon - that is evolution. Most of the rest of the
world is, in turns, puzzled, amused and dismayed by the continuing
American dalliance with the frankly nutty idea of
Creationism. Now it is Georgia in the news with the issue of a
set of educational guidelines that include the removal of the word
"evolution" and a general avoidance of subjects such as the age of the
earth and speciation. That will certainly help the kids deal with the
modern world. The
New York Times (reg rqd) quotes David
Bechler, head of the biology department at Valdosta State University, "They've
taken away a major component of biology and acted as if it doesn't exist.
By doing this, we're leaving the public shortchanged of the knowledge they
should have." Georgia's schools' superintendent, one Kathy Cox,
gives an insight into the thinking, or lack of it, that went into the
guidelines. She describes the term evolution as "a
buzz word that causes a lot of negative reaction." and goes on to
say people associate it with "that monkeys-to-man
sort of thing." The scale of her ignorance is frightening. Surely
if there is such a negative attitude to a well established scientific
theory isn't it up to the educators to overcome this by, dare one say it,
education? Cox had shown her colors before this, saying at a public debate
"I'd leave the state out of it and would make sure
teachers were well prepared to deal with competing theories." Much
as Cox will not like the idea there are no competing theories. There is
discussion about some of the mechanisms involved but evolution itself is
as solid as Copernican theory (although here Cox may well believe the Sun
goes around the Earth). What Cox thinks is a competing theory is not
science but theology which has no place in a science classroom - not even
in disguise, as
Intelligent Design (ID). This pretends to
be a scientific theory but is merely Creationism in everything except
saying the G word. This is a transparent ploy to get the daft idea into
science classes by the back door. Keith Delaplane, a professor of
entomology at the University of Georgia, and a proponent of ID, says the
wholesale rejection of alternative theories of evolution is unscientific.
What he fails to understand is that ID is not a scientific theory. He goes
on to say of his "alternate theories" (he doesn't tell us what they are) "They
deserve at least a fair hearing in the classroom, and right now they're
being laughed out of the arena." As well they ought. By all means
discuss these things in philosophy or theology classes but, to labor the
point, not in science class. According to the NYT article "Educators
say the current curriculum is weak in biology, leading to a high failure
rate in the sciences among high school students across the state."
This should be deeply worrying to anyone who wants to know where the next
generation of scientists are coming from - because it sure as hell won't
be Georgia. (Or
Missouri for that matter.)
Update
- Georgia's and Cox's foolishness has attracted some high-level attention
in the shape of former President Jimmy Carter "As a
Christian, a trained engineer and scientist, and a professor at Emory
University, I am embarrassed by Superintendent Kathy Cox's attempt to
censor and distort the education of Georgia's students." (This
information is courtesy of the excellent
North Texas
Skeptics website news page - recommended. The NT Skeptics are
members of the
Skeptic WebRing as is 80.)
Holy War - for
more on the threat from the dumbing down of the US school system and the
attack on science by fundamentalists do read "Onward
Christian Soldiers: The Holy War on Science" by Robert Carroll,
author of the outstanding Skeptic's Dictionary. For a Number 80 view of
one particular Creationist website see
Creationist Cartoon Capers and more
generally in
Dinosaur Hell Ark.
No,
Thanks - here is
an item about the continued sparring over
whether the new European Constitution should mention God or religion. 80
has firmly expressed opposition to what would surely be a huge backwards
step (see
No Religion Required). Pressing for
inclusion of a religious (preferably Christian) reference are,
unsurprisingly, the Roman Catholic nations, Italy, Spain, and Ireland plus
newbie Poland, the Pope's homeland. Naturally the Pope himself is in favor
even though he is the undemocratic head of a state that is in Europe but
is not even a member of the European Union (EU). This pressure does not
sit well with some observers such as Graham Watson, the European
parliamentary leader of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party. "I
thought we had agreed 250 years ago with Montesquieu and Jefferson that a
separation between church and state was one of the fundamentals of
democracy." a position in accord with the French, who strongly
believe religion has no place in government. And then on the other side of
the question you have someone like the Swedish Christian Democrat, Lennart
Sacredeus, (who changed his last name to Sacredeus, sacred God? Sounds
like the adjective is redundant here) whose attitude is more than a
little loony. Turkey, a Muslim country with a secular government has long
applied to join the EU gets this response "It's up
to them if they're interested in joining the union. If their ambition to
enter the European Union is for it to not be a Christian club, I think
they have the wrong attitude about joining the European Union." No
Sacredeus, it is you that have the wrong attitude for wishing to bar
membership to different faiths - it was that kind of divisive idiocy that
made Europe a battleground for hundreds of years and for which the
European Common Market, forerunner to the EU, was designed to prevent ever
happening again. It is a fool, and a dangerous one, blinded by their
faith, who ignores the lessons of history. Sacredeus, get your head out of
your prayerbook and see what religious and ethnic divisions brought to the
former Yugoslavia in recent history.
February 16th
2004
Cardinal Babble - ah, the wisdom of these great churchmen - it is
so unworldly that at first, second and every subsequent glance it looks
like prejudiced homophobic gibberish - and that is a mild assessment. Take
the Belgian Roman Catholic Cardinal, Gustaaf Joos apparently a protege of
the Vicar of Rome, Karol Wojtyla, better known as John Paul (80 wonders
will the reactionary old Pole's successor also be a Beatles fan? Pope
George Ringo sounds pretty classy). Joos gave an interview to a Belgian
soft porn magazine and came out with some odd statements even by the
standards of a Cardinal. "I am prepared to sign here
in my blood that of all those who say they are lesbian or gay, at most
five to 10 per cent are effectively lesbian or gay. All the rest are
sexual perverts." said this holy man, showing a great understanding
of his fellow humans. That's gays dealt with so what next, democracy? "Politics,
democracy. Don't make me laugh. The right to vote, what is that all about?
I find it strange that a snot-nosed 18-year-old has the same vote as a
father of seven. One has no responsibilities whatsoever, the other
provides tomorrow's citizens." You can really feel yourself warming
to this guy, he is so full of charity and kindness. The only thing quoted
in
this article from The Age about Joos that
is not entirely loony is his apparent tolerance of prostitution, "If
a man thinks he needs sex or is going to explode, it is better to find a
prostitute than seduce or rape a girl." Unless he is a Catholic
priest, of course, who has trusted access to young members of his flock.
Empty
Vessels - make the most noise. Things lapse into a weird kind of
parody when an astrologer says "It's bizarre, people
are so prejudiced against anything new age." In 80's view the exact
reverse is the case, far too much credence is given to this
unsubstantiated drivel. Besides, astrology is "old age" surely. The above
remark was made by
Elizabeth Barton, about the business
licensing fee for "astrologists, psychics and other
new-age businesses" in San Mateo, California where she peddles her
particular brand of bunkum. She feels that the amount asked for, $500, is
excessive. It sounds pretty cheap to 80, surely it can't take more than a
few hours of forecasts to the gullible or ignorant before she could make
the necessary amount. It is not as though she does anything like real
work. Barton is a member of
The Association for Astrological Networking
(AFAN) who feel such fees unfairly restrict their business. She, and the
Network, ought to count themselves lucky. If these people had to prove
that their business actually worked, and could be reliably demonstrated to
do so, before a license to practice was issued you would see no
astrologers, soothsayers, mediums or any of the rest of the pack of frauds
and charlatans. Make too much fuss Barton and you could find the attention
you attract would be less than beneficial if someone checks the accuracy
of your forecasts - but of course you will have already foreseen
that........
Hogwash Correlation - by the way AFAN do not restrict themselves to
astrology - they are conducting a "Homeopathic Research Survey" on the "correlation
between cell salts and sun signs". Brilliant idea - test one load
of irrational hogwash by "correlating" it with another. A nice little game
of pretend science. What 80 doesn't understand is why can they not forsee
the outcome anyway - it would save a lot of time. Or do they still have to
conduct the test otherwise there would not be an outcome to foresee in the
first place? This new age stuff can be tricky. Tell the Nobel Prize
Medical Committee not to wait up.
Intelligence Redesign - with the Hutton report giving, in the view
of many, a
biased view of the British government's
conduct, there are now calls for a
wider inquiry into the intelligence that
was used as a pretext for war with Iraq. The BBC, which has admitted
making
mistakes, does not deserve to be the
whipping boy for the shortcomings of
government and the spy services. The ex-Director General, Greg Dyke, who
was effectively sacked, is not
going quietly and is talking about
legal action. Meanwhile, in the US, it is
announced that there will be a commission
to probe into the intelligence failures over Iraq. The White House is keen
to broaden (dilute?) the scope of the investigation and the man in the
frame is George Tenet, CIA boss. During his tenure not only was there the
Iraq WMD intelligence failure but also 9/11, and the failure to forecast
Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests. (N Korea and Libya spring to mind as
well.) Perhaps he will be the whipping boy for the US administration. How
involved Vice President Dick Cheney will be in the proceedings should be
interesting to watch as he was still
droning on
about discredited claims on Iraq's WMDs and non-existent al-Qaeda
connections only a week ago. He is described as being in on the inception
of the commission but he is likely just following the old strategy of
watching his back - his influence has been discerned in what in Britain
has been called the "sexing-up" of intelligence to make a stronger case
for invading Iraq, a project he (and his protege, George) has had in mind
for a
long time. The investigation may well
push British PM Tony Blair, still grinning after the Hutton whitewash,
into a
similar action. Whatever happens either
side of the pond one thing is certain, there will be a lot of doubletalk,
fingerpointing and squeals of indignation before the dust settles. All the
stuff flying around has yet to hit the fan in
Australia but it can't be long.
Hubble
Murder -
is the charge NASA may have to answer, according to Robert Zubrin, founder
of the Mars
Society and tireless advocate of human missions to Mars, "If
the first thing this new space policy does is murder Hubble, then it's
born with the mark of Cain on it." (from an
article in Wired) If anyone wants humans
to be on Mars it is Zubrin, but not at the expense of the Space Telescope.
NASA is under
increasing pressure from many directions
to rethink the plan for dumping Hubble. For those readers who are US
citizens and want NASA's decision reversed you can add your name to the
petition at
Savethe Hubble.org. Some see a darker
motive on the administration's part in this decision. Space policy analyst
John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org had this to say
"I think it is sort of symptomatic of this
administration's orderly dismantling of the American space program."
Michael Paolucci, president of
Slooh.com, an online service providing live links to
telescopes, is behind the Save Hubble campaign. He does not mince his
words about the sense of the scrapping the telescope "There's
no political risk in saying you'll put a man on Mars in 30 years. It's so
bold-sounding, but at the same time we're afraid to fly 350 miles to the
Hubble to fix it? I won't use the word cowardly, but we're stepping away,
we're retreating." He goes on to point out "Most
astronauts want to be the tip of the arrow. It's a privilege, and they'd
line around block to take that risk for the Hubble." (Do read the
whole article from Wired
here)
Bob
Wars - as noted above Robert Zubrin is a major advocate for the
human exploration of space and in particular Mars. Robert Park, of the
American Physical Society and writer of the
What's New
weekly newsletter is just as strong in his support for a purely robotic
exploration of the Solar System. They will be debating each other's
positions Thursday February 6th, at the
Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1015
15th Street, NW, Suite 900 Washington, D.C. 20005, starting at 6 PM. Given
the fervor of the advocates it should be a lively affair. Just for the
record 80 sees no problem with a mix of robotic and human spaceflight - in
the case of Mars with the robots as precursors to landing "a geologist
with a hammer". (Disclosure - 80 is a member of the Mars Society and in
this ageing
magazine article from 2001 you can read
the reasons. 80 also subscribes to What's New. You can always find the
latest edition in the left-hand column of this page.)
Update
- the above debate is reported by Jeff Foust in
The Space Review.
February 18th
2004
Caring
for their Flock? - not bloody likely. Take a look at this
desperately sad and worrying
report from BBC news which tells how "Illegal
abortions are a major cause of death among mothers in many countries in
Latin America." according to a report from the World Health
Organization. Abortion in any shape or form is illegal in most of these
countries. heavily influenced by the Roman Catholic Church which also
forbids any form of contraception. Read about the girl who nearly died
after a backstreet abortion that utilized hydrochloric acid. Her uterus
was perforated but purely by luck she was treated by a sympathetic doctor.
Doctors often report such patients to the police which can then lead to
jail. Contrast and compare this story with another BBC
news item about Mexico's Catholic church
leaders who have criticized the government for allowing use of the
so-called "morning after" pill. Archbishop of Mexico City, Cardinal
Norberto Rivera Carrera is quoted as saying "Although
they may be called contraceptives, when they produce an abortion, it is
called murder. It is forbidden to kill the innocent." A fertilized
human egg is apparently more important to these holy men than the young
women who are driven by desperation to the abortionists. One story is from
Peru, where it is estimated that "50,000 women a
year either die or suffer serious complications after an illegal abortion."
The other is from Mexico "40% of the 2.1million
pregnancies a year are unplanned". The common factor is the cruelty
of the Roman Catholic Church.
Anecdotal Tosh - the Sun tabloid newspaper in the UK demonstrates
its hard-nosed journalistic attitude to the truth in this unbelievably
gullible
article about a Russian girl, who, it is
claimed, can see broken bones using some kind of psychic x-ray vision. If
this is as true as they say, The Sun could do her a favor and put her in
touch with the
James Randi Educational Foundation who
have a million dollars waiting for her. If she is true to the form of
previous Russian and other folk with "paranormal" abilities, these powers
will disappear the moment a proper test is conducted. A
proper
test, just to let the Sun journalists know, does not consist of
breathlessly related anecdotes or appearances on morning TV chat shows.
They're Here - but nobody's talking. The US presidential race
doesn't just involve the various candidates reported on ad nauseam by
press and TV - there are others who run as independents who seem to get
little coverage. The campaign run by one of them, Sterling D. Allan,
perhaps shows why. Looking at his website, one page in
particular drew 80's keen attention.
Allan is one of many Americans that believe humankind, or more exactly,
the US government, has been in contact with advanced alien races for years
and, more astounding than that, has actually managed to keep it pretty
much a secret (but obviously not from sharp cookies like Allan). To quote
the man himself "Any thinking person can see that
the U.S. government conceals the extent of its knowledge about and
involvement with extraterrestrial visitors to this planet." Leaving
aside Allan's worrying idea of what constitutes a "thinking person" why,
is likely the first question that occurs, why do they come here of
all places in the galaxy? Allan reckons he has the answer - he believes "that
the government of the United States and other nations have actually formed
compacts with certain extraterrestrial visitors, including such terms as
trading of technology for rights to minerals as well as abductions for
research or needed genetic material." Don't get too excited at this
revelation, he also believes in the biblical flood, crop circles and also
some sci-fi variant of the rapture. One thing he does not believe in is
the UN (something he has in common with the present White House incumbent)
and, nothing if not ambitious, has already started laying plans for his
world government. "In December of 2001, Allan
founded a world body (
http://www.rsicc.org ) to begin forging
the documents that would comprise the constitution of a world government
based on principles of freedom." (80 can't help thinking he could
have chosen a better verb than forge to describe how his documents are
produced. In his
list of members for Remnant Saints
Inter-Continental Congress, RSICC, there is at least one familiar name,
David Oates, the
Reverse Speech nitwit.) As if further
proof of Allan's fitness to govern is required it is noteworthy that his
site links to The Disclosure Project, run by Steven Greer. 80 has looked
at
Greer's project, and its
predecessor before. It hardly needs
saying that if Allan's campaign takes off he has a perfect running mate in
Greer. They could form a third force in US politics, the Fantasy Prone
Party.
Quote
- from the
leader column in the UK Guardian "
Blaming only the spooks, like blaming only the BBC,
is like beating the waiter about the head because the chef has overcooked
the joint." This is on the news that Tony Blair, apparently caught
on the hop by his "close ally" George Bush's decision to investigate
intelligence failings over the Iraq invasion, has announced an inquiry in
the UK. The Guardian also makes the astute observation "That
intelligence-gathering, like reporting, is an imperfect business is
probably already widely understood. What needs explaining, in contrast, is
how military pre-emption can be justified in future when threat
assessments are so very unreliable." Which of course has
implications for the way in which the world, and in particular the US,
deals with "rogue states". If you have the time, do read the whole column.
Waste
of Space - why bother to print a rundown of the Democratic
presidential hopefuls based on astrology? This
op-ed from the New York Times (reg rqd)
written by Erin Sullivan is an insult to the intelligence. Hoping it was a
spoof of some kind 80 scoured the article for some trace of irony or
parody - in vain. The "readings" are the same bland pap that appears in
astrology columns day after day all around the world, vague enough to be
deniable and general enough to fit the subject - in that they would fit
most human beings. Here is an example from the forecast for Howard Dean "born
on Nov. 17, 1948, with a Scorpio Sun and Gemini Moon. Thus, Dr. Dean's
character contains a paradox: he is both deep and shallow. He can be cool
and distant or passionate and intense." My, it is spooky how
accurate Sullivan is. How about Dennis Kucinich? He "desires
serenity but is willing to spar for it." What little here that
actually makes a statement about the candidates, as opposed to the
generalized nonsense quoted above, could easily be gleaned from TV and
press coverage without dressing it up as astrology. Wesley Clark is
described as having " a warrior signature: when
civilized it indicates a master strategist; at its most martial, it is
ruthlessly determined and messianic." Wow, what amazing insight, a
General who has a warrior signature, how likely is that? Note that even
this reading still covers itself by being twofold - if one bit misses the
other will hit. The regular reader of astrology columns only tends to
remember the "hits" so this dual statement is typical of the astrologer's
methods. (this is reminiscent of the cold reading techniques used by
psychics and other frauds.) Who is Erin Sullivan, the author of this
claptrap? She, according to her
website, specializes in "
in depth astrological counselling and interpretive
work in individual consultations, collective psychology and the analysis
of global social trends." Furthermore " her
Classical Studies background and ten year training in archetypal analytic
psychology add a unique depth and breadth to her work." Not on the
evidence of the NYT piece which is no more than the usual old drivel - and
a complete waste of space.
Poor
George - maybe he just can't help himself, it has become such a
habit. Or perhaps it explains his desire to widen, and perhaps weaken, the
focus on the (still running) Iraq episode to include much else. (Not that
widening things is necessarily a bad thing - but there is a danger that
the WMD = invasion equation that ruled at the time may be obscured or
forgotten and could get "lost in the noise".) When
announcing the commission to investigate
the failures of intelligence about WMDs, used as pretext to invade Iraq,
Bush still linked it with the war on terror. Saddam Hussein,
revolting and cruel dictator that he was, did not have any proven
connection with the terrorists of al-Qaeda, the presumed principal target
of the war on terror. Yet Bush put the announcement like this "I'm
putting together this independent, bipartisan commission to analyze where
we stand, what we can do better as we fight this war against terror."
Perhaps grumpy old
Uncle Dick said to add that bit. Bush
also added that he will "sit down with Mr. Kay"
and get a briefing from him, when more likely he would like to bury him
after his recent
press coverage. 80 would like to be a fly
on the wall at that meeting. And how will all this
affect Bush's major ally, Tony Blair? (If
you wonder what the cost of invading and occupying Iraq here is a
running total
of what the US taxpayer has to stump up.)
February 20th 2004
Modern
Delusions - courtesy of the UK Guardian two extracts are now online
from
Francis Wheen's latest book,
How Mumbo-jumbo Conquered the World: A Short History
of Modern Delusions. The first is entitled "Would
you buy a way of life from a guru?" and looks at the updated
phenomenon of seeking advice on how to conduct your life, be a success, be
healthier etc etc. He details how a modern "sage" such as
Deepak
Chopra can earn a nice price for their charlatanry, and which
politicians and others have sought his expensive advice. The second
extract,
Quack Addicts, reveals little-known gems
(at least not known to 80) such as "Even the
no-nonsense Margaret Thatcher was a devotee of mystical "electric baths"
and Ayurveda therapy." which leads him to examine the New Age
predilections of the current inhabitants of 10 Downing Street, Tony and
Cherie. The pair went through a Mayan rebirthing experience in Mexico "Within
the Temazcal, a type of Ancient Mayan steam bath, herb-infused water was
thrown over heated lava rocks, to create a cleansing sweat and balance the
Blairs' 'energy flow'." This does little to bolster any faith in
Tony Blair's judgement whatsoever. If he can believe this drivel then a
few non-existent WMDs are no effort. "The Blairs
were offered watermelon and papaya, then told to smear what they did not
eat over each other's bodies along with mud from the Mayan jungle outside."
This image should be borne in mind next time Blair stands up in parliament
asking the nation to trust him. (It also makes one wonder what his
evangelical
Christian buddy George would make of it
all.) Wheen's book is definitely on 80's shortlist - on the basis of these
two extracts it is a must-have. (80 has looked at Mrs Blair's New Age
interests before - see
here and
here.)
Prejudge The Findings? - perish the thought. "The
president of the United States, I believe, did not manipulate any kind of
information for political gain or otherwise." Thus spoke Arizona
Senator John McCain before the announcement of a commission to investigate
intelligence errors prior to the invasion of Iraq, on which he will serve.
This BBC
report describes him as "maverick
Republican" and notes that he "will lend a
streak of independence to the commission." In the light of his
statement quoted above, just how accurate is that assessment?
Choudhury Fried Yoga - or CFY, is big, very big business. In our
ultra-litigous age it seems that
almost anything can, and most likely
will, end up as the center of a courtroom wrangle. Bikram Choudhury,
apparent inventor of his
own brand of "Bikram" yoga derived from
traditional techniques has been running a profitable business for many
years. His system involves a set of exercises in a room heated to a
punishing 105 degrees F (40C) which he has
made sure are his, and his alone.
According to the
San Francisco Chronicle. "He
has copyrighted, trademarked and franchised his poses, breathing
techniques and dialogue, creating the first chain of its kind." and
since opening for business in San Francisco in 1973 he now has 900 studios
worldwide. He is obviously your sharp-nosed business type of yogi and not
the highly spiritual, detached from the material world kind. Now he is
flexing his legal muscles threatening anyone teaching his system or one
derived from it "if they haven't graduated from his
$5,000-per-person training program and are not paying a studio franchise
fee. His letters threaten a penalty of $150,000 per infringement."
Heavy stuff - which has not gone down well with a bunch of yoga
enthusiasts who are counterattacking with a federal lawsuit saying that
yoga is a "5000 year-old tradition" that
cannot be owned. This is a bigger deal than you might imagine as yoga "has
become big business, drawing an estimated 18 million practitioners in the
United States and accounting for $27 billion in annual sales, according to
the Yoga Journal." With that kind of money involved you can easily
see why the spiritual side of things might decline. Defending Bikram's
action, Lynn Whitlow, a Bikram teacher and studio operator in San
Francisco put her finger right on the real meaning of yoga and big bucks
when franchised in this way, "It's like Starbucks.
You go in knowing what you want.'' Or CFY.
Pandora's Box - the one country that was attacked for having
undisclosed WMDs, including nuclear weapons, apparently did not have them
after all. Still, the list of countries supplied with nuclear know-how by
the West's ally in the war against terrorism, Pakistan, may well be a lot
longer than is known right now. This will surely provide some new
preemptive targets for the hawks. Mohammed El Baradei, head of the
International Atomic Energy Agency,
quoted in today's UK Guardian, described
the nuclear supermarket run by Pakistan's (already
pardoned) Abdul Qadeer Khan as "the
tip of the iceberg". Evidence is emerging that Dr Khan has spread
his expertise
far and wide. (Here is a
transcript of Khan's apology) Libya has
come clean but who else has benefited from Khan's reckless dissemination
of bomb-making information and parts? Iran, North Korea, and ......? (Malaysia?)
This is not to say Khan was a one man show - many others were involved
including the Pakistani military, who provided transport planes for
equipment. How far knowledge of these exports went up the chain of command
has yet to be
established. Meanwhile, the genie has
been well and truly let out of the bottle and Dr El Baradei has no words
of comfort. "This supermarket is the most dangerous
we have seen in years. It is not just Dr Khan. There are many, in many
countries. "The spread of nuclear technology and knowledge is out of the
tube. We won't be able to put it back. I am not optimistic, frankly."
In the
legend of Pandora's Box all the evils in
the world were unleashed by her curiosity - but at least hope was also
freed. Dr El Baradei seems to think that, in the world we have made for
ourselves, hope is completely outnumbered. Last year he said that the
number of countries believed to be able to create such weapons "....is
estimated at 35 or 40."
Giant
Step - backwards for Iraqi women. It is worryingly likely that
instead of remaking Iraq as a moderate, secular democracy, a model for
surrounding states, the US and allies will only succeed in helping
establish an Islamic theocracy. Iraq has had, since 1959, a personal
status law which is basically a set of secular rules which, among other
things, made polygamy difficult, requiring permission of the first wife
before it could go ahead, and also decreed equal inheritance between male
and female offspring. Now the Interim Governing Council (IGC) has decided
to revoke the personal status law - previous Iraqi governments have
tampered with the law's provisions but had not repealed it. The IGC's
decision would likely lead to the imposition of sharia law in these
matters - a legal system which, despite assertions to the contrary, does
not treat women as equal to men. There have already been demonstrations
for and against the change. Paul Bremer, the occupation's chief
administrator has yet to make the decision that would give the IGC's
decision the force of law but religious groups are ready to scrap any
secular family laws and place them under
sharia.
Did the invasion, the ousting of Saddam, and the loss of life take place
so that Iraqi women could be dragged back into a medieval past? There are
signs of hope - Waad Hashem Lufta, a member of the coordinating committee
for the Iraqi Women's League had this to say. "Women
suffered as much if not more than the men under Saddam. Now democracy
comes and this happens? We'll take our rights with our own hands, we don't
need the Americans to protect us from these people." Let us hope
Lufta is right. (information taken from
aljazeera.net and
Al-Ahram)
February 22nd 2004
Heaven
for Dummies - ".... when it comes to the
whole subject of life after death, the answers that are offered by
traditional Christianity are infinitely more compelling and uplifting than
any of this New Age nonsense." So says Anthony DeStefano, Knight of
the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (the oldest existing Order in the
Catholic Church), executive director of
Priests for Life (a "pro-life" group, to
use their own misleading description) and author of "A Travel Guide to
Heaven". How he manages to differentiate between Christian nonsense and
New Age nonsense is something of a mystery. As a Catholic he must have had
plenty of practice at believing in the ridiculous - such things as the
Miracle of
Transubstantiation and the
Assumption of the Virgin, let alone
heaven. It seems to 80 such beliefs are easily on a par with any New Age
ideas of an afterlife and just as incapable of proof. DeStefano is as
irrational and gullible as any New Age adherent and the subject matter of
his new book, A Travel Guide to Heaven, confirms this. Here he is
interviewed about his latest work and
reveals his musings on heaven - which add little or nothing to the sum
total of human knowledge. His comparison of attaining paradise with
everyday and somewhat boring aspirations he touts as a way of appealing to
the "mainstream". His idea of the
mainstream's tastes seems more than a little patronizing. DeStefano's
breakthrough was to "compare the afterlife to an
eternal, five-star, celestial resort. Because everybody understands the
thrill and fun of getting away from it all and going on vacation."
The inception of this stunningly banal idea he describes thus, "It
was as close to a grand moment of inspiration as I've ever had.".
It would appear that he does not set his sights very high. DeStefano is
matched in his trivialization of ideas (to appeal to the mainstream,
remember?) by the questions his interviewer, Kathryn Jean Lopez, puts to
him. "How is heaven like The Wizard of Oz?"
and "How is marriage like tennis?" and "Is
Christmas celebrated in heaven?" and, to finish, "Dogs
go to heaven?". These samples illustrate just how incisive her
interview technique is, merely giving cues to DeStefano in order that he
may plug his book all the easier. Sadly, the book will sell well, as
DeStefano's view of heaven is the kind of juvenile wish fulfillment that a
large number of uncritical believers want from their time in Eternity. As
a final illustration here is this unbelievable description from the
A Travel Guide to Heaven website "If
heaven is anything at all, it's fun. It's a place of unlimited pleasure,
unlimited happiness, and unlimited joy. It's Disney World, Hawaii, Paris,
Rome and New York all rolled up into one. And it's forever." To 80
this sounds much more like Hell.
Update
- to the item (see
Telepathetic) on the telepathy debate
between Lewis Wolpert and Rupert Sheldrake. Here is a
piece in the UK Independent by Wolpert, "If
telepathy existed, the effects could be dramatic; just consider the
benefits to bridge partners or friends in an exam. At present there is
nothing for scientists to investigate other than why people have such
beliefs."
Princely Fatalism - here is an illustration of the caring face of
the Saudi Arabian brand of Islam. Every year at the annual
Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca there are deaths
amid the tumult that passes for organization at this event. On the
official
information page the toll this time was "244
pilgrims, including 133 men, 111 women and one child." trampled to
death in a stampede surrounding a stoning ritual. This event has been the
scene of lethal mayhem for years. One might wonder what the Saudi Interior
Minister thinks of the whole affair as it happens on his patch. Oddly, he
does not seem too bothered according to
this BBC report. "Saudi
Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul-Aziz has said that the 251
pilgrims trampled to death during the Hajj "met their fate". Speaking to
officers responsible for security at the annual event, Prince Nayef said
the pilgrimage season had been "a great success. Those who say otherwise
are ungrateful or hate this country," he said. Those killed "met their
fate because their place and time of death has been decided the moment
they were born"." That must make grieving relatives feel a whole
lot better. With such fatalistic beliefs at government level expect more
carnage next year. It is not just at the top such callousness rules.
Prince Nayef is quoted as saying that he saw pilgrims step on bodies to
throw stones. "What happened was the will of God and
we do not want to blame pilgrims," he said. If events are
foreordained why bother to try and avert fate?
(A discussion on whether the Hajj can
be made safer is
here. Some of the emails posted are sad,
some enlightening. And many are also depressing, reflecting the fatalism
of the Interior Minister quoted above. "One thing
people forget is the principle of performing the Hajj is to cleanse one's
soul, thus aiding entry into heaven. If you die while performing the Hajj
you automatically gain entry thus fulfilling your overall goal in life.")
Mindsight, Sixth Sense? - half the
battle publicising a theory or discovery is thinking up a suitably
memorable and snappy name for it. When Ronald Rensink, a psychologist at
the University of British Columbia in Canada, found what could be a newly
discovered
mode of conscious visual perception, as
reported
here in New Scientist (NS), he cleverly
dubbed it mindsight. Rensink found during tests that when a previously
viewed image was altered, about a third of subjects reported on a repeat
view that they felt the image had changed, even before they could say what
that change was. To quote the article in NS, Rensink says that "Our
visual system can produce a strong gut feeling that something has changed,
even if we cannot visualise that change in our minds and cannot say what
was altered or where the alteration occurred." He then added what
was a gift to many headline writers "I think this
effect explains a lot of the belief in a sixth sense." A good
example is the Times of India's excited squawk "There's
science behind the sixth sense." Interesting as the reported
phenomenon undoubtedly is, that is going over the top. Dan Simons of the
University of Illinois told NS that Rensink's finding "suggests
the existence of an interesting and previously unknown attentional
mechanism" but also pointed out the fallibility of human
perception. Just as interesting are those subjects that do not seem to
experience mindsight - Rensink suggests they may be overruling their "gut
reaction" in favor of rational information while those that do "are
happy to trust their instincts." This suggests another test
comparing results between rational skeptics and devout believers to see
if the results correlate with the subjects' outlook. Even more interesting
is the suggestion of an auditory equivalent, which may offer clues to
Rupert Sheldrake's claimed "staring
effect" without recourse to pseudoscience. (If, in fact, it is
not merely
an artifact of the method of
investigation.) Instead of some uncanny irrational sense alerting someone
to the presence of another person looking at them, it may be partly
triggered by tiny auditory cues - "mindhearing" if you like. As for the
claims that mindsight is a sixth sense, 80 reckons it is, if confirmed, a
tenth sense - count 'em. Sight, touch, hearing, taste, smell, pain,
thirst, hunger and balance. (Balance is a combination of sight and the
vestibular system)
Wanna
Buy a War? - "The intention was to dramatise
it, just as the vendors of some merchandise are trying to exaggerate the
importance of what they have. But from politicians or our leaders in the
western world, I think we expect more than that. A bit more sincerity."
This was from
Hans Blix, the former UN chief weapons
inspector, on the quality of intelligence and the manipulation it received
(45 minutes to doom!) in order to scare up support prior to the invasion
of Iraq. He went on to say "They say some WMDs can
be ready to be used within 45 minutes. Well, which ones? It certainly
wasn't nuclear, because the report says that they were not developing
nuclear, so they didn't have them. And what is meant by being ready? Is it
a phial of anthrax that can be tossed at somebody? I mean, one can
interpret it in different ways." Unhappily for both Bush and Blair
the press, and others, show no signs of moving on to pastures new. The
whole sorry mess gives Democrat hopeful John Kerry a big stick with which
to bash Bush and in the UK, former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, continues
to put the boot into Blair. Tony and George are both going to need all
their skills as salesmen to talk their way out of this lot.
February 24th 2004
Left
hand - and right hand. The idea of joined-up government in Britain,
whereby policy would be consistent throughout various departments, appears
to have been dealt a blow. Two news items, one from the UK National
Secular Society (NSS) and the other from the Guardian illustrate this
nicely. On the one hand the NSS
reports the disturbing intention of the
Blair government to hand over much of the Academy program to church
control. (Academies
are a "new" type of school set up in disadvantaged areas.) This is part
and parcel of the bizarre and retrograde step of promoting the role of
"faith groups" in education. Yet the Guardian headline
informs us, "Children
to study atheism at school". This actually means that moves are
afoot to modify what formerly were the compulsory religious education
classes so that "Non-religious beliefs such as
humanism, agnosticism and atheism would be covered alongside major
faiths..." These are as yet draft plans, but the reason given for
the proposal seems very much at odds with the Academy news mentioned
above, and that is they are "to reflect the decline
in churchgoing in Britain." So, the idea is to increase church
involvement in education even though it is acknowledged that "While
19 per cent of Britons attended a weekly religious service in 1980, by
1999 that had fallen to 7 per cent." Joined-up? Consistent? In the
words of that great philosopher B. Simpson, "Yeah, right".
Valentines and Fatwas - ever keen to religiously police the
activities of its citizens a
warning has been issued in Saudi Arabia "against
celebrating Valentine’s Day or selling gifts related to the feast".
The sinister sounding Fatwa Committee states "It is
a pagan Christian holiday and Muslims who believe in God and Judgment Day
should not celebrate or acknowledge it or congratulate people on it."
As 80 noted in a piece about
Valentine's Day last year the Christian
religious link is increasingly tenuous. Even the saint-obsessed Roman
Catholic church
no longer honors Valentine and is not
even sure which of several Valentines he was. It seems the Saudi religious
authorities acknowledge the saint more than the Christians - a very odd
state of affairs. Talking of fatwas it was on February 14th in 1989 that
Ayatollah Khomeini, hardline clerical leader of Iran, issued a murder
warrant on author Salman Rushdie. It is not clear whether this threat is
still in force as conflicting messages,
official and unofficial, often contradict each other. (The disapproval of
Valentine's Day is not restricted to Islamic authorities - some Hindus are
out to prove they are
equally bigoted.)
Unholy
Smoke - given the information revealed in a report (Smoking
and Reproductive Life) from The British Medical Association, 80
confidently expects the Vatican to treat tobacco and cigarette
manufacturers with the same condemnation that it reserves for birth
control and abortions. As reported
here, in the Guardian, research has shown
that cigarettes are responsible for "the impotence
of 120,000 young men, 1,200 cervical cancers, up to 5,000 miscarriages and
for many couples' fertility problems." It is that figure of 5,000
miscarriages that should make the old men in the Vatican sit up and take
notice. If they are at all consistent in their attitudes this should count
as abortion by tobacco and be dealt with appropriately. Expect a battle
between those devoted to propaganda and callous manipulation of the facts,
responsible for blighting countless lives, and the tobacco giants.
(Perhaps in the US
ayotollah Ashcroft can lend a hand - he
seems to spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about women's
reproductive freedom - and how to stifle it.)
Update
- Yanar Mohamed, founder of the Organization for Women's Freedom in Iraq,
has received a
death threat via email, days after
protesting to the Governing Council about the proposed imposition of
sharia family law with all that implies for women's rights. The e-mail
stated, "We warn you and offer that you repent.
Otherwise then you are an apostate ...who should be killed so that you
would go to hell." (see
Giant Step). 80 is not surprised at the
threat but wonders what took the reactionary religious bigots so long. US
administrator Paul Bremer has yet to sign the proposal into law but he
will be under much pressure from the fanatics on the Council. If he caves
in this would be very worrying and dismaying news. Should one be needed,
this is yet another reminder how ill-prepared the coalition were for the
turmoil in Iraq following the successful invasion.
The above unwelcome piece of news came via the very
welcome weekly
Humanist Network News - subscription is
free. Do read the whole piece in their newsletter but this quote is
representative. " So, in a nutshell, the response of
the Bush administration to the September 11th attack on
the United States by a group of radical Islamist extremists has been to
abolish secular law for Iraqi women, and impose a fundamentalist reading
of Islamic law on them."
Further Update
- to the above item. Paul Bremer, US administrator, said the current draft
of the constitution would make Islam the state religion of Iraq and "a
source of inspiration for the law" - as opposed to the main source.
Here is
a report from Aljazeera. "I
think it is very important that women be represented in all the political
bodies," Bremer said. At least until the coalition pulls out is the
unspoken corollary.
No
Hero - but a crook. Here is a detailed article from the
New York Times (reg rqd) about the
activities of Abdul Qadeer Khan and his sales of nuclear weapons
technology to the likes of Iran, Libya and N Korea. It reveals his network
of contacts and businesses in Europe, Dubai and Malaysia. (See
Pandora's Box). The NYT also looks at the
motives of the man that Pakistan views as a national hero. According to
investigators he had three motives. Firstly he was keen to defy the West
and to pierce the "clouds of so-called secrecy"
as he himself put it. Secondly he was keen to spread the technology to
Muslim nations, something, it is said, he did not view as a crime. Thirdly
was the accumulation of large amounts of money - Khan has "acquired
homes and properties, including a tourist hotel in Africa." This
third motive has the real truth of it - the man is a criminal, in the
business for personal gain - any attempt to attribute his irresponsible
activities to higher motives is just a smokescreen. Khan wasn't, in the
words of the Tom Lehrer song, "doing
well by doing good" - he was just doing well. It should not be
forgotten that while at home in Pakistan he may be seen as the respected
father of the nuclear bomb, he in fact stole the technology for "his"
centrifuge designs when he was working in the Netherlands. These are not
the actions of a hero, but a crook and a thief who has succeeded, through
personal greed, to make the world a much more dangerous place. (The UK
Guardian has a
good article on the network involved in
the proliferation business. Get ready to hear a lot of talk of being
framed, or ignorant, or whatever, from those fingered as part of Khan's
machinations. The New York Times (reg rqd) has an
op-ed with a different angle on this
subject "It's not whether President Musharraf and
his army knew of Dr. Khan's activities — but why they didn't.")
Do as
I say - not do as I do. This could well be the epitaph for Robert
Atkins, pioneer of the currently fashionable Atkins Diet. It appears from
various press reports, this one is from the
Guardian, that the 6 feet (1.8m) tall
doctor weighed in at 256 pounds (116kg) when he slipped on an icy sidewalk
and died last year. This apparently puts him firmly in the category of
obese. (Surely a case for "physician heal thyself") His widow strongly
denies this "I have been assured by my husband's
physicians that my husband's health problems late in life were completely
unrelated to his diet or any diet." The cynic in 80 thinks she
would say that, wouldn't she? (The royalties on the Atkins diet book must
be pretty substantial.) The obesity story comes hot on the heels of
concern about the
long term health effects of the diet. The
UK tabloid, the Daily Mirror, has the best headline - "Fatkins".
February 26th 2004
Clone
Arrangers
- to many people the recent
cloning success reported from South Korea
is excellent news, as it holds very great promise for the future of
medicine. Yet there are two, dismayingly large, groups of people who have
greeted the news with horror. (Some
sad
individuals are members of both groups and are likely to be the
unhappiest of the lot.) Group A believes, on the basis of no evidence
whatsoever, that the tiny ball of cells involved holds a divine spark
called a soul, put there by an equally evidentially-challenged God. The
other group, B, has either read far too much trashy sci-fi or listened to
ill-informed pundits - there is no danger of some maniacal scientist
producing a test tube full of Saddams. The art of reproductive cloning
(besides which, here we are talking about
therapeutic cloning) is still very
primitive - as the ill-health and premature death of Dolly the sheep
indicates. For an excellent essay on the subject 80 recommends "In
defence of stem-cell research" by Johann Hari - and when you
have read it please get your friends to do so. Hari's no-nonsense piece is
a breath of fresh air compared to the alarmist babble that is flying
about. It should also make people in the US ask why therapeutic stem cell
research in their own country is hobbled by the would-be theocracy in the
White House. (Johann
Hari's site and archive is well worth some of your time -
highly recommended. Also see Wired's
The Truth Behind Fear and Cloning)
Plan B
- is always ready if Plan A fails. The recent
banning of ephedra by the US Food and
Drug Administration was a sensible, if long overdue, move - but it may be
the equivalent of trying to plug leaks in a failing dam - once you seal
one, another springs up. The health food industry, to quote
this article in Time by Leon Jarrof, "has
hardly skipped a beat. As a substitute for ephedra in its weight loss and
energy boosting supplements, it has begun using such stimulants as green
tea extract and bitter orange." These two substitutes are possibly
as dangerous as ephedra, "green tea extract,
especially combined with caffeine and other stimulants, can cause a host
of minor and possibly major ills. Even worse, bitter orange can have
effects similar to those caused by ephedra, which elevates blood pressure,
stresses the nervous system, and has been responsible for a hundred-odd
deaths and thousands of strokes and heart attacks." In light of
this, two questions immediately spring to mind. Firstly what is the FDA
going to do about it? Jaroff points the finger at the Dietary Supplement
Health and Education Act (DSHEA), a piece of legislation which came into
force in 1994 after a huge lobbying campaign by the supplements industry.
The DSHEA gives free rein to the industry to peddle their products until,
it seems to 80, enough complaints and a
high profile death trigger a response -
as happened with ephedra. Until this occurs it seems there is little the
FDA can do. The second question is do the people in the food supplement
industry give a damn about the health of those who consume their products?
On the evidence of the swift adoption of the unsafe ephedra substitutes,
no, not at all. Greed beats out responsibility every time.
Barbie
Latest - as regular readers will know 80 is keen to keep them
informed of the twists and turns in the life of a modern icon - yes, we
are talking about Barbie. Recently she was in the news when her
overly-sensitive and humor-free manufacturers tried to sue Thomas Forsythe
over his
Food Chain Barbie photos - a case they
lost. Now Barbie's plastic life is in the headlines again - she has
broken up with long time partner Ken (a relationship that
lasted an amazing 43 years) and is now single. Although gossip reports her
to have a new companion, Blaine, an Aussie surfer boy, 80 cannot confirm
another story going around at the moment and Mattel is being tight-lipped.
Apparently sources report that the moment the news leaked out about the
plastic doll's new single status the manufacturers were deluged with
marriage proposals from the Saudi religious police, the Committee for the
Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. It has been
known for a long time they have a "thing"
about her and skilful net detection reveals they are frequent visitors to
the
Bondage Barbie page. Sadly they may be
disappointed as yet another rumor says that she ditched Ken because her
tastes have changed.
February 28th 2004
Deaf
Ears - in the White House. The
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is no
fly-by-night outfit or political lobbying group. It was founded in "1969
by faculty members and students at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology who were concerned about the misuse of science and technology
in society. Their statement called for the redirection of scientific
research to pressing environmental and social problems." according
to the UCS website. With 100,000 members, described as "concerned
citizens and scientists" what it has to say should be listened to
with respect and should not be dismissed lightly. On February 18th more
than 60 leading scientists—including 20 Nobel laureates, issued a
statement that "the
Bush administration has, among other abuses, suppressed and distorted
scientific analysis from federal agencies, and taken actions that have
undermined the quality of scientific advisory panels." This is
deadly serious stuff and not just for the US and its citizens. To take
just one example, decisions made on how to react to global climate change
by the world's largest producer of CO2 affect everyone on the planet. How
does the Bush administration react to accusations of "
repeatedly censoring and suppressing reports by its
own scientists, stacking advisory committees with unqualified political
appointees, disbanding government panels that provide unwanted advice and
refusing to seek any independent scientific expertise in some cases."
to quote the
New York Times (reg rqd)?
By claiming that "I think there are incidents where
people have got their feathers ruffled, but I don't think they add up to a
big pattern of disrespect." This dismissive comment is from Dr.
John H. Marburger III, science adviser to President Bush. That is
ridiculous - the report is a damn' sight more than a few ruffled feathers
or the partisan issue that Marburger also tries to suggest it is. The
Executive Summary or the entire report are
downloadable as PDF files and make for
depressing reading. Kevin Knobloch, president of the UCS, vividly
illustrates the problems with the Bush administration by this analogy "This
is akin to the White House directing the National Weather Service to alter
a hurricane forecast because they want everyone to think we have clear
skies ahead. The hurricane is still coming, but without factual
information no one will be ready for it." The real world, does not
care how much ideology, spin, wilful ignorance or faith is brought to bear
on unpalatable information - the facts don't just go away. The problems we
all face today cannot be dealt with by putting your fingers in your ears
and saying "I am not listening." like some fractious infant.
Quote
of the Week - "Tinkering with scientific
information, either striking it from reports or altering it, is becoming a
pattern of behavior. It represents the politicizing of a scientific
process, which at once manifests a disdain for professional scientists
working for our government and a willingness to be less than candid with
the American people." Roger G Kennedy, former Director of the
National Parks Service responding to the doctoring of findings on
Yellowstone National Park. (Quoted from the UCS report)
Intolerable Cleric - Mario Conti, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Glasgow, Scotland obviously likes his targets to be off-balance when he
attacks. The whiny cleric is accusing the BBC, still shaken by the Hutton
report, of
anti-catholic bias. This is preposterous.
In particular he criticized the BBC over the timing of a documentary that
highlighted his
church's lies about condoms and AIDS.
(Dangerous misinformation should be countered as soon as possible when
lives are at stake.) He also accused the BBC of hounding the Archbishop of
Westminster, who "naively"
moved a priest from one parish to another upon learning that he was a
pedophile. (Nice of him not to alarm the parents and children in the
priest's new flock by telling them.) Conti would do well to remember the
old adage that people in glasshouses should be wary of throwing stones,
and shut up. Even a cursory look at his church reveals what the military
would call a "target-rich" environment. One person who has taken aim at
the pompous and petulant priest is journalist Muriel Gray, in a piece
called "The
intolerable cleric and his indefensible cohorts" in the Sunday
Herald. Gray takes no prisoners and says that "....
while religion continues to tear the world apart, ruin lives and stifle
human progress and self examination, it’s never been more important for
broadcasters to investigate and uncover the duplicitous canker at the
heart of these organisations wherever they find it. Those who have
unshakeable faith will always welcome such a cleansing process, and only
those who are vain, proud and power hungry will shudder with indignation."
Recommended.
"Trust
Me - I am an anti-virus software vendor." The fact that you are
reading this means you are very likely a computer user. Along with nearly
every other user you are worried about the effect of viruses, on your
system and on the wider network. (If you are not you should be.) But
should you be worrying equally about the anti-virus software vendors? This
article, by Richard Forno, called "Anti-virus
industry: white knight or black hat?" from The Register looks
at the industry and wonders if they are making matters worse, not better.
From the confusing nomenclature, whereby each firm coins its own name for
a threat, to virus alerts that are thinly-disguised adverts for their
particular product, Forno finds much to cause concern. If the good guys
turn out to be bad guys where does that leave the computer user,
individual or corporate? (Forno's own site, with archive, is
here)
Update
- to the above item. The latest online threat is called I-Worm Bagle-B or
Tanx-A or W32.Beagle.B or WORM_BAGLE.B - it all depends on which firm's
virus alert you read. Confused?
March 1st 2004
Lancet
Retraction - the story of the Measles Mumps and Rubella (MMR)
vaccine and the controversial (and unsubstantiated) claim that this jab
can cause autism and inflammatory bowel disease has taken another turn. 80
has covered this subject before (see
here and
here) and mentioned research published in
the prestigious UK medical journal,
The Lancet.
This research was seized upon by the anti-vaccination crowd as an aid to
their scaremongering in the press, TV and the web. Now The Lancet's
editor, Richard Horton has
told the BBC news that a researcher
involved had a "fatal conflict of interest"
and has said that if this had been known at the time, the research would
never have been published. It appears that Dr Andrew Wakefield, one of the
report's authors, who is still a regular in the media casting doubt on the
safety of MMR, was also being paid for another study on whether whether
children allegedly damaged by the MMR injection could sue. This certainly
calls Wakefield's impartiality into doubt and has led to calls from the
Health Minister for an
independent inquiry. The original paper
and Wakefield's subsequent comments have led to a massive drop in the
number of parents having their children vaccinated, with the
concomitant threat of a measles epidemic.
Here is the UK
National Health Service page on MMR and
to learn more of the threat from the anti-vaccination lobby take a look at
the
Green Light - a mine of information and,
like 80, a member of the
Anti-Quackery Ring.
Help
Wanted - here is something useful that can be done by those readers
who are UK citizens. The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee
is holding a public consultation on its website - the subject is "Human
Reproductive Technologies and the Law". Input is very much
needed from the rational, humanist position for it is a stark certainty
that religious groups will be clamoring for their superstitious world view
to be enshrined in any eventual legislation. This must be countered by
other, saner perspectives. The influence of various faiths is already far
too strong on the British Labour government, which seems determined to
involve them in the government and administration of the country, despite
the fact that modern British society is effectively secular. So if you
don't want further developments in reproductive technologies to be hobbled
by the application of beliefs more suitable for an Iron age
middle eastern tribe rather than a
rational world view, please make yourselves heard.
Circular Symptoms - the human mind is a wonderful and powerful
thing. Just consider, it can make you believe in something so fervently
that, even if it doesn't exist, your body can show a physical reaction to
it. This may well be the case with two folk who run a "ghost detection
agency" in Swansea, Wales. (A singularly pointless pastime) Apparently
they were investigating an ancient stone circle's claimed healing
properties and positive energy, whatever that is. One of the couple was
thrown to the ground by a "force" that was also felt by her companion.
They now both say that since then they have "suffered
severe headaches, stomach problems, lethargy and general illness. It was
almost as if our energy was completely sapped by whatever was in the
centre of those stones." according to
icWales. There are three (at least)
possible explanations for this. Firstly the stones emit some energy
undetectable by normal means. This energy was somehow out of whack, hence
the intrepid pair's symptoms. Or there is no power involved except the
power of the mind, which affected two suggestible people in the grip of an
illusion. Or they are both lying about the whole thing in order to obtain
publicity for their ghost agency. If this last suggestion is correct their
ploy obviously worked - their story is on icWales and they have now
cunningly duped 80 into spreading it further........
Damned
Lies - it would appear that the
flagrant lies told by the
Roman Catholic church about the inability
of condoms to protect against AIDS has now spread to
Croatia. (Africa, South America and now
the Balkans - this is so very obviously official propaganda sanctioned by
Wojtyla himself) The holy bigots have
said that the use of condoms "encourages promiscuity
and raises the chances of HIV infection while not being fully successful
in preventing pregnancy". A stupid, irresponsible, dangerous lie is
still a stupid, irresponsible, dangerous lie even when spouted by a
cleric, of whatever persuasion. "This is outrageous
misinformation," said Zagreb Children's Hospital head of
reproductive health and epidemiologist Vlasta Hirsl-Hecej. "The
Church may say that in accordance with Christian morals condoms are not
acceptable, but their lies are dangerous. We are talking about a lethal
disease." (quoted by the
National Secular Society)
Safe? - a right-wing member of the
Norwegian parliament has
nominated George W Bush and Tony Blair
for the Nobel Peace Prize. Jan Simonsen justified her action saying "Even
though they haven't found those weapons they got rid of a dictator and
made the world more safe." Obviously Simonsen's definition of the
word "safe" is radically different from the one 80 knows. Yes, Saddam was
toppled, (undoubtedly a very good thing) but at the cost of turning Iraq
into a hornet's nest and a fertile recruiting ground for Islamic
terrorists with knock-on effects around the planet. Experts say that the 2
Bs have a snowball's chance in hell of winning but some are so concerned
at even the remote possibility of success that they have set up an
online petition opposing the nomination.
March 2nd 2004
Not
Just Now, Dad - With exquisite timing, even as Mel Gibson's latest
movie, Lethal Passion, is about to be released, his dad
pops up again with his
bizarre views, such as Holocaust denial "It's
all — maybe not all fiction — but most of it is," Hutton Gibson
told an interviewer, "They claimed that there were
6.2 million (Jews) in Poland before the war and after the war there were
200,000, therefore he (Hitler) must have killed 6 million of them. They
simply got up and left. They were all over the Bronx and Brooklyn and
Sydney and Los Angeles." He also believes that there is a
Jewish/Masonic plot to take over the Vatican and denies al Qaeda's role in
the 9/11 atrocity. His son, when asked about his dad's views and whether
he shared them, would only say he loved his father and will not speak
against him. Perhaps he is hoping the extra publicity will benefit his
movie on the grounds that any publicity is good publicity - even when it
is obviously offensive, deluded, nonsense.
Darth
Nader - is how Slate's Today's Papers
introduces the news that Ralph "Ego" Nader is to run as a US
presidential candidate. Many blame him for the presence of George W Bush
in the White House, by drawing votes away from Gore in the last fiasco.
This time though, he is
running as an Independent candidate not a
Green. Many of his former supporters begged him not to throw his hat in
the ring but of course Ralph, in his highminded way, knows better.
Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe said of the
decision, "You know, he's had a whole distinguished
career, fighting for working families, and I would hate to see part of his
legacy being that he got us eight years of George Bush."
Oz
History Twisted - it is remarkable the number of rabid Islamic
clerics who spend all their time
denouncing Western democracies yet choose
to live in them all the same. Of course it can't be due to the rule of
law, social security systems, modern health care and free speech rights,
things that are noticeably missing in Islamic republics. Australia's
version of the viper in its bosom is called Taj Al-Din Hamed Abdallah
Al-Hilali and rejoices in the title Mufti of Australia and New Zealand. In
amongst his rants against pretty much everything that offends his medieval
mindset (the usual torrent of fundamentalist Islam rhetoric that is so
familiar it does not bear recounting. If you must know, take a look
here.) the Mufti has made a claim that
would, if true, rewrite the history of Australia. It is his contention
that Afghan muslims were in Australia before Captain Cook in 1770, the
usually acknowledged "discoverer". He cites various customs of Australia's
indigenous population, the Aborigines, as being similar to Islam and a
number of mosques in central Australia. Oddly, he fails to address how the
Afghanis, whose country is landlocked, managed to acquire the vessels and
the seafaring skills to reach Australia. (On consideration perhaps it is
not really odd at all, considering how little part, if any, logic plays in
the thoughts of a religious fanatic.) The answer lies, in fact, in
comparatively recent history. The Afghans were
definitely there, arriving in the 19th
century, imported, along with their camels, to explore the arid interior
of the country. (In fact these camel herders came from many countries,
such as Egypt and Turkey, not just Afghanistan but, in a typically
colonialist way, the name Afghans was indiscriminately applied to them
all.) These "Afghans" made a great, and generally unacknowledged,
contribution to the settlement of Australia. So, what appeared to be the
Mufti's daftest claim is after all rooted in fact. Sadly he does history
no favors by posthumously enrolling these cameleers and explorers in his
jehadic rants and delusions, they deserve better than that.
Health
Spin - hot on the heels of the White House's attempted
brush-off of accusations that it has "
suppressed and distorted scientific
analysis from federal agencies" comes this
item. "The Bush administration says it improperly
altered a report documenting large racial and ethnic disparities in health
care, but it soon will publish the full, unexpurgated document. Experts
say the changes distorted the focus of the document." This
article from the Seattle Times quotes
Tommy Thompson, Health and Human Services Secretary, telling Congress "There
was a mistake made, it's going to be rectified." Lines excised from
the original report include statements such as "We
aspire to equality of opportunities for all our citizens. Persistent
disparities in health care are inconsistent with our core values."
and "Compared with whites, blacks experience longer
waits in emergency departments and are more likely to leave without being
seen." And this one, "Disparities come at a
personal and societal price." The excuse offered is that the report
needed to be more "balanced". What the hell does cutting out the above
lines have to do with balance? This is disgustingly underhanded but, given
the administration's record, is it really that much of a surprise? (Quotes
have also been taken from the
New York Times)
Quote
- from the First Lady in the
New York Times (reg rqd) "talking to
ABC's Terry Moran. Mrs. Bush harshly responded to Terry McAuliffe's
AWOL charge: "I
don't think it's fair to really lie about allegations about someone."
She stated flatly that W. was pulling Guard duty in Alabama. When Mr.
Moran asked how she knew, she replied, "Well,
because he told me he was."" Proving she is one of the dwindling
number of people that believe anything Bush says.
March 4th 2004
The
God Show - the BBC is launching a 90-minute show called What the
World Thinks of God with contributions from all over the world. This
article from the Guardian bemoans the
fact that the very format adopted tends to trivialize any discussion. The
inclusion of such characters as tireless self-publicist and conjuror
Uri Geller
and David "Beware of the
Lizard Men" Icke would seem to indicate the Guardian writer,
Catherine Bennett, is right. It also does not bode well that modern day
renaissance man,
Jonathan Miller, walked out of the
proceedings. He later said "About 20 minutes into
the thing, I just thought: I must get out of this, I'm drowning in shit."
He later asked for his contribution to be cut out but , "They
said it would deform the programme. I can't think how - the programme was
deformed from the start." The show's accompanying
website is depressing enough, asking such
infantile questions as "Can
Religion be Blamed for War?". With both sides in the "War on
Terrorism" invoking their respective gods at every opportunity like Old
Testament warriors, how can anyone doubt it? As has been
pointed out by Richard Dawkins, it wasn't
atheists that flew the airliners in the 9/11 atrocity.
Capsule Review 1 - of Mel Gibson's magnum opus,
extracted from the San Francisco
Chronicle, "There are some flashbacks and a handful
of brief conversations, but for the most part the movie consists entirely
of James Caviezel, who plays Jesus, getting beaten to a bloody pulp. "The
Passion of the Christ'' is a two-hour-long murder scene." Which, to
80, raises one vital question - when is the
Life
of Brian going to be re-released? At least that had plenty of
laughs and was no less authentic............
Capsule Review 2 -
Operation Iraqi (Women's) Freedom - 80 recently mentioned the
plight of Yanar Mohammed, head of the
Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (OWFI) and the Editor
in Chief of the only progressive women’s newspaper in Iraq called
Almosawat (or Equality). She has recently received two death threats by
Islamists in Iraq because of her effective activities against the
violations of women’s rights and for equality and secularism. (See
Giant Step and the
Update). Now there is an
online petition that you can sign
protesting against the death threats and
another where you can register support
for the OWFI. Both links are also available at the
OWFI website. It only takes a couple of minutes of your time
and is of great value to those who are fighting for rights that many of us
tend to take for granted.
Undead
Graft - this BBC piece
looks at Romania and its aspiration to
join the European Union (EU). The theme of the article is that many
changes will have to be made to comply with the terms of membership, and
asks whether the loss of "ancestral customs" will leave the new Europe the
poorer for their disappearance. Such customs, says the article, include
digging up suspected vampire corpses and driving a stake through the
heart, forced weddings of 12 year-old girls, selling children, and
widespread graft and corruption. It seems to 80 these are a few ancestral
customs that Romania, and Europe, could do well without. The writer, Tom
Mulligan, asks "Will efforts to ensure human rights,
stamp out graft and enhance the legal system to EU standards result in the
smothering of the "old Romania": its legends, folklore, its mix of
religious and secular traditions?" Given the examples that he
cites, such a "smothering" cannot happen soon enough.
Horse
Sense - did anyone really doubt that George W Bush would try to
capitalize on the 9/11 atrocity for his
own, narrow, electoral purposes? It would only have been news if he hadn't
done so. It is ironic that while he wraps himself in the flag and shows
scenes (admittedly short) of the Twin Towers in electoral ads, he and his
staff have been
stonewalling the inquiry into how that
tragedy occurred in the first place. In the coming campaign you will hear
a lot of banging the drum about Bush as a "war president" in the struggle
with terrorism, pushing the idea that it would not be safe to change
horses in midstream. Looking at how his invasion of Iraq not only
distracted attention from the hunt for al Qaeda, but also provided, in a
chaotic and splintered country, the perfect recruiting ground and arena
for these selfsame fanatical murderers, changing horses looks like a damn
good idea.
Insider Info - here is an
enlightening perspective of Mel Gibson's Passion movie by
someone who was very much at the center of things.
A Sure Thing? - in the same way that NASA's
current Mars mission's plan was to follow the water, a British bookmaker's
plan was to follow the money. With reports that the Opportunity rover has
found evidence for liquid water in Mars'
past this was enough for Ladbrokes, the bookies, to
announce they are no longer taking bets
on the question of whether there was ever life on Mars. A spokesman said
that the latest odds in favor of past life on Mars were 16-1. Back in the
'70s, when the first bets were placed, the odds were 1,000-1. It seems
that NASA's announcement came as no surprise to Richard Hoagland and his
fellow fantasists at
The Enterprise Mission - it merely
confirms their "chief researcher's" theories. To gauge how seriously they
should be taken, look
here at their "proof" that NASA conspires
to hide evidence of life on Mars. And a look
here confirms NASA is hiding nothing.The
contrast between the real Mars researchers at JPL and elsewhere and these
clowns' ludicrous assertions could not be greater. By the way, 80 wonders
if they have permission from Paramount Pictures to use an obvious, and no
doubt copyrighted, USS Enterprise in their logo. (see
Aliens About Face for more on the
Enterprise Mission.)
March 15th 2004
Hoagland's Fantasy Factory - regular readers will already be aware
of the low regard 80 has for Richard Hoagland and his fantasy factory, the
Enterprise Mission. (see
A Sure Thing? and
Aliens About Face for more). As there is
no evidence to support the contention that humans have been on Mars
before, nor any that NASA is hiding the fact, the Mission have set up
quite a little industry manufacturing their own. One thorough trashing of
Hoagland's nonsense is by
Gary Posner and now here is
another from Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy
fame. Plait has previously demolished the
Apollo Moon hoax silliness and now takes
a look at the Enterprise Mission's claims. A common reaction to
pseudoscience is to merely dismiss it as ridiculous and far too time
consuming to refute. It is fortunate that Plait, like Posner, has made the
effort. He not only looks at the Mars stuff but also examines Hoagland's
past claims of scientific priority and finds nothing to justify his
inflated idea of his own importance. Plait's final conclusion is utterly
damning "His claims are grossly wrong, and generally
easy to show as such. His analysis is flawed, his conclusions faulty, his
claims of conspiracy unfounded and unsupported, and his style pure
flummery." The work of Posner and Plait leaves Hoagland and his
fellow conspiracy theorists without a leg to stand on. Will that stop them
peddling lies? The chance of that happening is as unlikely as finding a
giant human face on Mars. (Plait's
Bad Astronomy site is full of much more
good stuff. His look at astronomical errors in the movies is not to be
missed. Also see
Hollow Fox Abduction)
Update
- to the above is
this piece about all the other trash the
uncritical and the just plain deluded among us, good old Joe Public, think
is cluttering up the Martian landscape - and all of it concealed by NASA,
naturally. But obviously not concealed well enough. Note that the
Enterprise Mission and other conspiracy nitwits are using publicly
available NASA images upon which to base their "discoveries". Question, if
NASA was conspiring to suppress all this, why publish any images at all?
And if they have to publish them, why don't they run them through
Photoshop to remove any of these telltale clues? (Much like the nitwits do
to "enhance" them?) Not all amateur Mars image interpreters are out there
on the fringe, these
enthusiasts are very different.
Elite
Yogi - a while back 80
looked at the so-called George W Bush "Elite
Force Aviator" action figure, or Dubya Dolly, and, somewhat
uncharitably, speculated as to how many of them would end up full of pins.
Now someone has come up with a more creative use for these frankly
unsettling homunculi. At the
Bush Yoga page you can "find
the leader of the free world posed in a variety of ancient positions"
- some of which look, to say the least, anatomically challenging. It is
fun to see Bush twisted like a pretzel as opposed to choking on one.
Talking of which, for those with a moment to spare/waste, here is the
President Bush Pretzel Shell Game.
Godly
Womanhood - March 8th was
International Women's Day, commemorated
here in pictures by the BBC. Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi
gave a speech on the failure of Islamic
governments around the world to respect women's rights. Events were staged
around the world with rallies against domestic violence, sexual harassment
and demands for equal rights. Compare such activities to
this page promoting the role of women as subservient creatures,
taking verses from the Christian Bible (Titus
2:5) as its inspiration. They must "..To
be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own
husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." The creator of
this site, Ginny Ingram, is plugging a 7-year program, "Training
Our Daughters to be Keepers at Home " whereby girls aged from
11 - 18 years old are schooled "... in homemaking
skills, enabling them to serve God as "keepers at home"". Whether
the girls might want to be scientists, pilots, lawyers or doctors does not
seem to merit consideration. The contrast between women such as Shirin
Ebadi and Yanar Mohammed,
struggling for women's rights at some considerable risk and Ingram's cosy
little world of willing servility with its Godly Womanhood, basketry,
knitting and rug-braiding could not be starker. Or more desperately sad.
(For an eye-opening look at how women are treated in the bible you can do
no better than to see
this page.)
Shove
It - In the latest
Bad Science from the UK Guardian, Ben
Goldacre takes a skeptical look at the strange business of
ear-candling. Basically this claims to be a Hopi therapy
whereby a lighted candle is inserted in the ear, (not the burning end!)
which then draws out all that nasty toxic wax. The candle is hollow and
usually made of cloth and beeswax. The only problem with this wonderful
and widely promoted therapy is that it doesn't work - tests have shown the
candles create no suction. This does not stop the business of keeping the
uncritical supplied with these useless candles. This
website covers itself with the usual
weasel words often associated with junk medicine. "We
do not feel qualified to make any specific claims about these other than
to say it is an ancient practice, and there are thousands of users who
swear by the benefits." They are obviously unaware that the plural
of anecdote is not data. To their credit they do tell people to consult a
doctor if you have a medical problem. You would certainly have to have
some kind of problem (galloping gullibility?) to think of buying the
things in the first place.
Here is a more
detailed look from Skeptical Inquirer
back in 1998. No doubt literally acting upon the advice as to where they
could shove their product, is the evocatively named
Buttcandle.com. The instructions for use are
here, along with the manufacturer's
comment "We've made a conscious decision to not
include any drawings or photographs of actual ButtCandle ® usage on this
site. Our fear is that a few bad apple pranksters would make a mockery out
of those images." They needn't worry about pranksters - they are
doing a pretty good job of being ridiculous all by themselves and need no
outside help.
March 18th
2004
Ironic? - or just good timing. Even
as the decision has been made to let the Hubble space telescope die of
neglect one of the most stunning images it has ever produced is made
public. Called the
Hubble Ultra-deep Field (HUDF) it is what
you get if you point an instrument of this quality at one tiny patch of
sky for a million seconds. The image shows an estimated 10,000 galaxies of
all shapes and sizes. Not just a picture of Deep Space, it is also a
picture of Deep Time, showing galaxies that may well have been some of the
first to form after the Big Bang and will be
eagerly studied. Pleading safety concerns
following the Columbia disaster, NASA plans to cancel a vital servicing
mission to the telescope, which would have replaced failing gyros and also
included an upgrade in the form of a new wide field camera and
spectrometer. Political and scientific pressure have now made NASA agree
to an
independent assessment of the service
mission cancellation. Understandably after Columbia, safety is paramount,
but some suspect a political dimension, in that funds saved could be
diverted to President Bush's "Moon Mars and Beyond" space exploration
plan. One group that you would think to be in favor of Hubble's demise is
the Mars
Society, who have been lobbying and working hard for years to
promote the human exploration of the Red Planet, but this is
not the case at all. Their stance is that
as the shuttle is to be returned to flight duty anyway but only for
International Space Station flights, these would in fact be no safer than
a Hubble service flight. Also financially far from negligible is the
amount already spent on the upgrade equipment, which is money down the
drain if the gear never reaches the telescope. Robert Zubrin, President of
the Mars Society sums up the position thus "The
desertion of Hubble is an offense against science and civilization. It
represents a departure from the pioneer spirit, and its ratification as
policy would preclude any possibility of a human future in space. It is an
inexcusable decision, and it needs to be reversed." (also see
Hubble Murder)
(80 is a member of the Mars Society)
Deep Field Reflection - download the
largest image of the
HUDF that you can, and take a moment to
sit quietly and look at it. You are peering nearly 13 billion years into
the past of the Universe, at a field of galaxies, each one containing
countless billions of stars. Many of these will have planetary systems and
likely life. Science and technology like the Hubble gives us a glimpse of
the sheer size and age and above all, beauty of the cosmos. To 80 this
engenders a feeling of awe at the sheer glory of it all. Some say it makes
them feel insignificant. but this reaction is quite wrong. We are a part
of all this, we are made of star stuff. Born in the unimaginable violence
of a nova and shaped by millions of years of evolution, we are not little
mannikins, made in some god's image that we may worship him, we are more,
much more than that.
Prove It - one diagnosis for Sudden
Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) otherwise known as cot death, has
concentrated on the mother, and not the child. Many children have been
taken into care in the UK after expert witnesses have claimed that a
mother caused injury and death to her child as a way of seeking attention.
This diagnosis, called
Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy (MSbP,
also known as Fabricated or Induced Illness) is now being called into
doubt and the first of many
appeals
against past court rulings are appearing. MSbP is one of many psychiatric
theories that badly need re-examination and even justification. In the US
a group of researchers, have set out to challenge many psychiatric
theories, including not just MSbP but also
Multiple
Personality Disorder and
Repressed Memory and diagnostic tools like the
Rorschach
Inkblot Test. According to this
article from the New York Times (reg rqd)
the researchers, headed by Dr. Scott Lilienfeld, perceived that the
American Psychological
Association, (APA) the main professional body, was not
scientifically rigorous and so formed the
American Psychological Society (APS). Lilienfield also founded
The Scientific
Review of Mental Health Practice, a journal whose stated goal
is to present "objective investigations of
controversial and unorthodox claims in clinical psychiatry, psychology."
Their actions have led to insults and hate mail. Amazingly, the
president-elect of the APA has accused them of being overly devoted to the
scientific method. If ever there was justification for the foundation of
both the APS and the journal, that daft charge is it. The APA seems happy
to have less science and more intuition in their work. The lack of
evidence-based evaluation of therapeutic techniques is dangerous and opens
the door to all sorts of mumbo-jumbo. In a way typical of some alternative
medicine methods, any criticism is not answered by facts, but by abuse.
Lilienfeld's assessment, with two others, of the Rorschach test, which has
been
shown elsewhere to be little more than a
form of cold reading, led to "an irate therapist,
Dr. Lilienfeld recalled, wrote in an Internet posting that the the authors
deserved "one bullet for each of the three assassins." " Not a very
reasoned response, but a familiar reaction from those who feel their
cherished theories and methods are threatened by evidence of their
ineffectiveness. This paragraph from the Times says it all "Like
medicine, these experts contend, psychology should have clinical practice
guidelines, and psychotherapists should favor treatments that are backed
by evidence from controlled clinical trials over treatment whose
effectiveness is supported by anecdotes and case histories only."
(The APA currently has 155,000 members and the APS about a tenth that
number.)
March 23rd 2004
AFA
Poll Time Again - a while back 80 mentioned an online poll by the
American Family Association (AFA) canvassing opinions on what they termed
"homosexual marriage". (see
They Asked For It and
Fair Play Activist) Worried that the
survey was not reaching a large enough audience, 80 and many others drew
attention to the fact that the poll page was not in a frequently visited
area of the web, but on the AFA's own site. The AFA's intention was to
present the results of their poll to Congress, an idea they dropped after
"homosexual activists" as they like to put it
"skewed" the results. 80's view is that the
poll became more genuinely representative. Now they are doing it again
with a
survey on voting intentions (this URL
seems to work only intermittently*) but it looks like that notion has
backfired too. The natural home for the AFA members is the Republican
party, yet the results so far are as follows: John Kerry - 89%, Ralph
Nader - 6% and trailing third, George W Bush - 4.22%. Either the AFA has
had a Damascene conversion to the Democrats or those damned "activists"
have been at it again.
* It seems the next target of the
AFA's spluttering outrage is MTV. A fleeting glimpse of Janet Jackson's
breast has got them all hot and excited and triggered a crusade against
the music video channel. The fact that the same Super Bowl Show had ads
for viagra seems not to bother them. On the
poll page they kindly provide a link to MTV material with the
warning "This contains extremely offensive material."
That should get the uptight puritans clicking away like mad - nothing like
a bit of one-handed surfing. See
here for George Carlin's take on the the
Super Bowl fuss. (Thanks for the link,
Al)
Of
Security and Syntax - 80, in common with just about everyone who
uses the internet and the Web, is a regular, almost reflexive, user of
Google.
This article by Scott Granneman at
Security Focus takes a look at the dark
side of Google, and how it can be used to find information that many
people would think inaccessible - when they think of it at all. One
example given is how to phrase a Google search to access the password
files of users of Microsoft's popular website software, Front Page. But
Granneman's piece is not about scaring the pants off website owners, but
making them aware of vulnerabilities, and along the way shows how the
syntax of a search engine request can be tweaked to provide more accurate
and relevant answers. So, as well as a warning it is a mini-tutorial that
will repay the short time spent reading it many times over with faster and
more apposite results. Recommended. (To search
the Number 80 site scroll down to the Google search link further down this
page.)
Time
To Spare - for the important stuff. The same sex marriage hoo-hah
continues with California's high court putting a halt to them - for now.
Meanwhile George W Bush assured a convention of the National Association
of Evangelicals of his support for a constitutional amendment banning the
practice. The association boasts a membership of 45,000 congregations,
with 30 million members
according to the New York Times (reg
rqd.) So smug and sure of their political clout "a
slogan on the back of the convention program reads: "What Can 30 Million
Evangelicals Do For America? Anything We Want." " So much for the
separation of Church and State, as the nightmare possibility of a
theocracy creeps ever closer. Apart from the religious reasons Bush offers
in condemning same sex unions, he also claims male female marriage is "one
of the most fundamental, enduring institutions of our civilization."
Here he would seem to fall foul of those who, unlike Bush, have done their
homework. The executive board of the 11,000-member
American Anthropological Association
issued this statement "The results of more than a
century of anthropological research on households, kinship relationships
and families, across cultures and through time, provide no support
whatsoever for the view that either civilization or viable social orders
depend upon marriage as an exclusively heterosexual institution".
Dan Segal, a professor of anthropology and history who proposed the
statement, put it rather
more succinctly in the SF Chronicle "If
he (Bush) were to take even the first semester of anthropology, he would
know that's not true." This will not worry Bush, who has a record
of putting faith before facts every time. With the ever present threat of
terrorism, soldiers dying every day in Iraq and a crushing financial
deficit, is the marriage row that important? It is interesting to note
that a President who cannot spare more than
one hour for the committee investigating
9/11 has plenty of time to court the evangelicals on what, in the real
world, is a very trivial issue.
No Way - to
develop a missile defence system. "Ever since the
president made his decision, the priority of the program has been on
deployment, not on understanding whether the system works. Most people
don't appreciate how complicated this system is, nor how much all of the
tests so far have been artificially scripted to be successful."
Philip E. Coyle, formerly director of the Pentagon's operational test and
evaluation office and now a senior adviser at the Center for Defense
Information, a private research group,
quoted in the New York Times (reg rqd).
Even in the unlikely event of the system working as advertised, just how
good would it be at stopping a nuke driven over the border in a truck?
(For more on this read this week's
What's New by Bob Park)
March 26th 2004
Strange Bedfellows - what can be so incredibly important at the
United Nations that it is opposed by an unlikely coalition of the Bush
administration, 50 plus Islamic states and the Vatican? Don't get excited,
this is not about an end to the cruelty and violence that oppresses the
inhabitants of planet Earth, this is far more important. It seems the UN
wishes to extend spousal benefits to partners of gay employees, but, and
this is important, only to those who hail from from countries that
already provide such benefits. (Incidentally the UN already allows those
in Islamic polygamist marriages to dispense their benefits accordingly.)
What is so frightening to the unholy alliance in acknowledging an existing
legal situation in such countries as the Netherlands and Belgium? As
mentioned in the San Francisco Chronicle
this is not the first time the Vatican, Bushco and Islamic governments
have cosied up to push a religiously biased agenda "on
a range of "family values" issues, including initiatives to restrict
abortion rights and curtail the rights of children." Shame they
can't get together for something other than restricting the rights of
others who don't necessarily share their irrational belief systems. All
they really have in common is the togetherness of bigotry.
Windy
Spirits - a while back 80 looked at a report on very low frequency
sound, which can produce inaudible, but physical effects upon a listener.
(see
Awesome Bass) In a controlled experiment
researchers found they could induce a range of "strange feelings" in an
audience at will, from shivers down the spine to coldness. It was
suggested that such an effect could help explain some of the feelings
associated with haunted places, among other things. Now here comes a twist
on that idea from the UK Yorkshire Post. It is
suggested farms of wind turbines could
generate not just green electricity but also very low frequency sound. A
doctor has done a very limited study of this and claims that of those
people she queried some have blamed the turbines for headaches, nausea and
depression. As her survey was tiny and seems to have had no controls, the
British Wind Energy Association quite rightly described it as
"unscientific" claiming other work had not shown there was a problem. The
Post article goes on to mention the link between low frequency sounds and
its relation to so-called hauntings. "Vic Tandy, a
Coventry University researcher who solved a "haunting" by tracking down a
faulty ventilation fan which was causing temperature drops, said: "I have
wondered if more wind farms might mean more ghosts. It is a difficult area
to research. If you ask about ghosts, you tend to pre-empt a response.""
Oddly enough the word
pneuma, that in Greek means wind or
breath is also used in the New Testament and elsewhere to mean spirit.
English still has an echo of such usage in words like respire and inspire.
Play
On - the old game of pretending the "war on terrorism" and the
invasion of Iraq are the same thing continues to be played by the US
administration. This time it is with reference to the new Spanish
government's decision to withdraw its troops from Iraq. (Although full UN
involvement could yet change that stance) The involvement of Spain in the
invasion was unpopular
from the start with Spain's population,
and their democratic will was shown by the election result. (The fact that
the outgoing government mishandled the aftermath of the Madrid atrocities
by its attempts to blame ETA merely
added to the mix.) Spain is not appeasing terrorists by
withdrawing from Iraq. Al Qaeda still has unfinished business with that
country. By bin Laden's twisted view of history, vengeance has yet to be
taken for the expulsion (reconquista)
of Spain's Islamic conquerors in the Middle Ages. The declaration of a
so-called truce by the terrorists in
Europe as a "reward" to Spain is obviously a ploy to stir up American
indignation and fragment the one alliance that really matters, the one
against Islamic fundamentalist murderers wherever they are.
Science Education - is sorely
needed in Aliso Viejo, Orange County,
California after " City officials were so concerned
about the potentially dangerous properties of dihydrogen monoxide that
they considered banning foam cups after they learned the chemical was used
in their production." Then they also learned they had fallen for an
old hoax - as anyone knows who was listening in science class all those
years ago, the malevolent chemical dihydrogen monoxide is water. See
here for
the website warning of this insidious chemical threat to our health.
Odd
Omission - here is a
piece from the UK Guardian about the
ordeal undergone by three British captives held at Guantanamo Bay. Now
released, they tell of torture, interrogation and hardships that they
underwent, including the involvement of British MI5 in the prceedings. It
all sounds pretty harrowing stuff, but the article is entitled "Revealed:
the full story of the Guantanamo Britons". For what claims to
be a full story there seems to be one item of information missing from
David Rose's report. 80 has read through the accounts thoroughly but can
find no mention of what these individuals claim to have been doing in
Afghanistan in the first place. It seems an unlikely spot for a vacation.
A recently released Afghani captive had a very different experience,
reported in the UK Daily Telegraph (reg
rqd), saying his time at Gitmo compared favorably with life in rural
Afghanistan.
March 29th 2004
Chiro
Dogma - here is an
interesting piece from the New York Times
(reg rqd) which highlights the self-correcting nature of modern scientific
medicine. New studies are casting doubt upon some accepted medical
procedures, such as artery-opening methods, like bypass surgery and
stents, used to help avoid heart attacks.
These studies show that the obstructive narrowing of arteries does not
initiate the majority of heart attacks and will lead to a change in
medical practice. In acknowledging this cardiologists and others accept
that "they were wedded to the wrong model of heart
disease." Compare this attitude to that of the chiropractor
quoted on Planet Chiropractic News (and
brought to 80's attention by the Healthfraud discussion list). "Chiropractic
in its entire life span of 108 years has never changed. The removal of
vertebral subluxation, by hand only, to restore normal nerve flow from the
brain above to the body below, remains the same. Chiropractic will never
change! The truth cannot change! It is a law." The author, a Dr.
Jim Dubel, also states what is wrong with conventional medicine "In
contrast, medicine guesses with each prescription and has changed many
times in its approach toward health care. Over the years medicine has
contradicted itself on almost every chemical cure it is administered. In
all its years, it has not cured even one disease process." 80 and
others have contended that practices such as chiropractic are in fact
religions rather than medical therapies, being faith-based as opposed to
evidence-based (see
Faith-Based Medicine). It is good of Jim
Dubel to make the point so loudly and clearly. Given an unbending view
such as his, incapable of change or improvement, and that of modern
medicine, which embraces and adapts to advances in knowledge, it is
blindingly obvious which is of benefit to the health of humankind and
which is only of benefit to the practitioner's bank account.
Mystic
Monarch - an
obituary in the UK Daily Telegraph (reg
rqd) tells the story of Princess Juliana of the Netherlands, who died on
Saturday aged 94. She had reigned over her country for 32 years before
abdicating in favor of her daughter Queen Beatrix. Two strange incidents
mentioned are worth repeating. Even though Juliana had been well educated
it did not stop her from falling into the Rasputin-like clutches of a
faith healer whose advice she followed for 8 years. The healer, Greet
Hofmans, had been engaged in the hope of curing the near blindness of one
the royal princesses. It was then said that Hofmans tried to obtain
government posts for friends and wielded an undue influence over the
Queen, and in 1956 these matters attracted the attention of the Dutch
press. This led to a committee of elder statesman recommending an ending
of the relationship, and their advice was accepted. Hofmans disappeared
from the royal scene and died in 1968. This
article from Radio Netherlands suggests
that Hofmans was something of a scapegoat and that Juliana and her mother
had "been interested in the mystic and occult all
their lives." It also claims that at the height of the furor there
was even a plan to commit her to a psychiatric ward. The Hofmans business
certainly did not damp her interest in the irrational, for in 1959 she
invited
George Adamski, a classic early flying
saucer fantasist "to visit her privately to tell her
about what he described as his flight around the moon in a space-ship from
Venus." This time, it seems the Queen was not impressed by the
self-proclaimed professor and former burger vendor's
tall tales. (A regal interest in nonsense
is not confined to the Dutch, the Windsors in the UK famously embrace
homeopathy and other "alternative" therapies and Charles Windsor in
particular seems to believe anything that's going - and then bangs on
about it in the press in an attempt to have public money spent on his
enthusiasms. Perhaps Queen Elizabeth is quite right not to abdicate in
favor of her eldest child, as Juliana did, looking at Charley's
track record.)
Hint
- if you are contemplating suicide, crucifixion is not the way to go. A
man with a delusional belief that he was Christ attempted suicide by
nailing himself to a homemade cross on his living-room floor. He ran into
the old problem that, having successfully nailed one hand to the cross,
how was he going to manage the other one? Unable to do so, he dragged
himself to the phone and called emergency services. The calvary, sorry
cavalry, in the form of the fire department, arrived soon after to free
him. According to
this report he had not seen Mel Gibson's
Passion of the Christ "at least in part because of
its prolonged and violent crucifixion scene." Go figure......
Hush,
Hush - whisper who dares. Soon, even muttering under your breath at
life's inequities could bring you grief if NASA's Ames research Center's
latest gizmo catches on. They have developed sensors that can pick up
speech you thought you had kept to yourself. According to Chuck Jorgensen,
a scientist involved in the development "What is
analyzed is silent, or sub-auditory, speech, such as when a person
silently reads or talks to himself." Currently the sensors are
attached to the subject and there is no mention of a remote version - not
yet. Read more
here.
March 30th 2004
A Word
In Your Ear - about candles and comfrey, from Health Canada. The
first word deals with the useless practice of
ear-candling which 80 looked at recently
(see
Shove It). They mince no words about the
daft practice "The practice of ear candling has
recently become popular as an alternative therapy. Some promoters say it
is an ancient treatment that can cure a number of medical problems. Don't
listen: ear candling is dangerous, and has no proven medical benefits."
It can't get plainer than that - don't do it. If anyone suggests or
promotes the practice they are either a quack or a clown (or both). The
second
advisory is about herbal health products
that contain comfrey. As we hear so often, surely herbs are safe because
they are natural, as opposed to nasty modern pharmaceuticals? Wrong - such
treatments in most countries still do not have to comply to the same
safety standards as modern medicines. There are several different types of
comfrey, some of which Health Canada tells us contain "
a compound called echimidine, which may cause liver
damage." The problem is that a lot of herbal products do not say
which type they contain. Health Canada helpfully list all the names by
which comfrey is known in the herbal world, 14 of them. An amusing note is
that they also say comfrey is used in "homeopathic
preparations". Considering the massive dilution process used to
make such preparations, 80 reckons there is no danger, and a comfrey based
homeopathic medicine will have the same medical benefits as any other
homeopathic medicine, ie none whatsoever.
Hope That Fools
- quote from Steve Squyres, principal science investigator for the US Mars
rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, in an
interview on the BBC news website, when
asked whether he was hopeful that life may be found. "I
wouldn't use a word like hopeful. One of the worst things you can do in
science is to hope for a certain outcome, because if you start doing that
you can start to skew your judgement and threaten your objectivity."
Those who conduct flawed tests on claimed instances of the paranormal, or
so-called alternative medicine, would do well to bear that in mind. For,
as Richard Feynmann put it, "The first principle is
that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool."
God's
Gunslingers - Mel Gibson, actor, director, producer and religious
atavist has made known his
interest in other biblical material, to
wit the
Book of Maccabees, which tells how the
Jews threw off the yoke of the Hellenistic king, Antiochus IV of Syria.
Bringing his film making genius to bear, Gibson gave his take on the story
"The Maccabees family stood up, and they made war.
They stuck by their guns and they came out winning," he said. "It's
like a Western." Lesser minds can only gasp at the depth of
perception displayed. Others, such as Anti-Defamation League National
Director Abe Foxman, were less than impressed by the multi-talented
thespian's penetrating analysis of Jewish history. "My
answer would be 'thanks but no thanks. The last thing we need in Jewish
history is to convert our history into a Western. In his hands we may wind
up losing." he joked. Which, given the quality of historical
accuracy displayed by Gibson's movies so far, may be much nearer the truth
than even Foxman realizes.
Water
Fall - update to the recent piece by 80 about Coca Cola's foray
into the UK's lucrative bottled water market with their filtered mains
water product called Dasani. (see
Liquid Asset). As mentioned in the
previous piece, Coke's over-zealous filtering method removed too many
beneficial minerals, necessitating that they be replaced after filtration.
Quality control issues over this process have now led the global giant to
recall the
product in the UK. This must have them spitting blood as the
markup on the water was literally astronomical "Dasani
retails at 95p for 500ml; the same amount of tap water, 99.9% of which
meets stringent EU safety rules, would cost 0.03p." 80 has no
sympathy for Coca Cola over the recall - the pure greed displayed by such
profiteering, even after production costs, rules out any emotion except
perhaps a certain satisfaction at the way the company have tripped
themselves up. (There again, as mentioned below, dihydrogen monoxide is dangerous stuff.)
Trillion Dollar Whisper - in this week's
The Space Review Dwayne A Day looks at a
media phenomenon that is reminiscent of the old game sometimes known as "chinese
whispers". This was often played by children, who form a circle
and whisper a sentence from one to the other so that it passes around the
circle. When it reaches the starting point the original sentence is
compared to the version that was passed on, revealing the distortions and
inaccuracies created by the imperfect copying process of the whispers. Day
looks at the cost figures that have been bandied about concerning
President Bush's recently announced space exploration plans, and shows how
one erroneous estimate, repeated by those journalists too lazy or too
rushed to check the facts, can be perpetuated over the years and change
into "common knowledge". This is the trillion dollar cost figure that has
attached itself to just about every mention of Bush's plan, although it
has no factual basis. Even if you have no great interest in space
exploration, Day's article makes a fascinating study in media distortion
and repetition. It also makes you stop and wonder in how many "facts" in
other fields that we consider to be "common knowledge" are, to use Day's
term, "Whispers
in the Echo Chamber".
March 31st 2004
Lies,
Damned Lies and - here is a
report about Jessica Utts, a professor in
the University of California, and her search for the paranormal. Instead
of ghosthunting, medium testing and spoon bending she is looking at
statistics obtained from US government tests of clairvoyance or telepathy,
and she comes to a remarkable conclusion. "Using the
standards applied to any other area of science [that uses statistics], it
is concluded that psychic functioning has been well established."
This result was obtained by comparing predicted probability with actual
probability, derived from the results of the experiments. It is worth
noting that Utts, at least according to this article, did not examine the
test protocols, but based her calculations on the results obtained. Should
any of the testing methodology prove to be flawed, then her conclusion
would be without value. It is interesting to compare this with a piece by
Ronald Bailey in Reason
looking at various methods by which
evidence of the paranormal is sought, including the Star Gate remote
viewing program, attempted influence on a random number generator using
psychokinesis and Ganzfeld tests for ESP. His final paragraph deserves to
be quoted in full and has relevance for Utts' studies, "Until
experimental replication without a lot of fancy statistical massaging
occurs regularly, research on the paranormal will and should remain on the
fringes of science. Besides, normal science produces real miracles
everyday. Who needs remote seeing when we have satellites and handheld
video cameras, or telepathy in a world filled with cell phones?"
Lamb
of God? - what would you consider to be convincing evidence for the
existence of God? For some a simple-minded little anecdote will suffice,
like
this guy. Others need something more
physical, more concrete, something you can see and touch. If you live in
the Palestinian town of Hebron on the West Bank of the Jordan it seems a
lamb does the trick. Born the day of
militant leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin's assassination, the creature has a "birthmark
spelling out the Arabic word for God, "Allah", in its coat"
according to BBC news. The owner, Yahya Atrash, believes that "the
timing was "clear evidence of God's existence". A lamb is certainly
more impressive than other
earlier manifestations of Allah's name
such as in a tomato or a plate of egg and beans. It seems to 80 that such
reports are more proof of the human ability to resolve random markings
into a meaningful pattern rather than any evidence for a creator. For more
on this and the strange business of pareidolia see
The Miracle of St Rorschach.
Church
Sinister - 80 has described the so-called Church of Scientology
(CoS) as sinister yet clownish. The sinister side is going on display in a
Marin County courtroom when, for the
sixth time, the Church sues one Gerry Armstrong, a former member. It seems
there is little that they dislike more than a turncoat, epecially one who
"became one of the movement's harshest critics"
as the San Francisco Chronicle puts it. Scientology, which is "the
only major new religion established in the 20th century" according
to their own view (is that really something to crow about?), is described
very differently by Armstrong as " a flagrant human
rights destroyer, and consequently a societal danger, and indeed a willful
pariah.'' A ruling from an earlier courtroom tangle, back in 1984,
resulted in the judge in that case referring to L Ron Hubbard, the cult's
founder as "virtually a pathological liar when it
comes to his history, background and achievements." Which is spot
on, well, all except the "virtually" bit. (Hubbard's history has been
shown elsewhere to be a farrago of lies.
Also see
Hubbard's Bare Cupboard) The
current case revolves around an earlier agreement that Armstrong return
some CoS papers (he did) and to "maintain strict
confidentiality and silence with respect to his experiences with the
Church of Scientology.'' (he didn't, allegedly). The church asserts
he broke the latter agreement a mere 201 times and they want $10 million.
Armstrong, now in Canada to evade arrest, in his turn, asserts that the
CoS have harrassed him for years, using assault, threats and burglaries.
Church agents have "terrorized him for 22 years and
have subjected him to a vicious global black propaganda campaign.''
None of which sounds very surprising given the history of this bunch.(see
Operation Clambake
for much more)
Bent
On Fairness - Benton County, Oregon, USA has found a
novel way of ducking the current
ridiculous fuss over same sex marriages. In a near Solomonic decision the
county has ceased issuing marriage licences - to anyone at all. "It
may seem odd, but we need to treat everyone in our county equally,"
said county commissioner Linda Modrell. The move has perplexed groups such
as the
Defense of Marriage Coalition, but this
is hardly surprising. Any application of equal rights to those who do not
share their blinkered, religious world view, is bound to baffle these
bigots.