Categories
Politics Skepticism/critical thinking

RFK Jr. is at it again, just not about autism this time

I’m probably going to regret posting this article, as I normally don’t venture much into these areas. Chalk it up to its being 6/6/06 and say that the Devil made me do it, but I plan on diving in. Besides, I feel the need for a brief change of pace. Regular readers of this blog […]

Categories
Evolution Holocaust denial Skepticism/critical thinking

A crank’s favorite gambit: Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus

Science and history deniers love to misapply legal principles to arguments over scientific and historical evidence, for example, falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus (false in one thing, false in all things). It’s a useful principle to apply to witness testimony in a court, but it’s not how evidence is evaluated in science and history.

Categories
Medicine

Justify my existence?

Our Seed overlords demand a response: Since they’re funded by taxpayer dollars (through the NIH, NSF, and so on), should scientists have to justify their research agendas to the public, rather than just grant-making bodies? Ooh, boy. That’s a loaded question that depends a lot on how you interpret it. My first reaction was similar […]

Categories
Anti-Semitism History Holocaust Holocaust denial

More Holocaust denial from the Iranian President

Watch how a Holocaust denier (in this case, the President of Iran) dances around the question “Did the Holocaust happen?” You can see the very same techniques when a denier like David Irving or Ernst Zundel is questioned about the Holocaust: SPIEGEL: It concerned your remarks about the Holocaust. It was inevitable that the Iranian […]

Categories
Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine

Too much sciency-ness for the vitamin industry?

Damn if PZ didn’t beat me to this one: A federal panel concluded yesterday that there is not enough evidence to recommend for or against use of multivitamins and minerals — the popular dietary supplements taken by more than half of American adults in the hope of preventing heart disease, cancer and other chronic illnesses. […]