Skeptical Humanities

Now that Dennis Markuze has been re-arrested, I am opening up the blog to comments again without restrictions. Sorry about the last several months’ inconvenience. I would do it again in a heartbeat. 🙂

RJB

After a few beers at TAM, I introduced myself to Maynard. This is the horrifying chronicle of what followed.

Thanks to Maynard and Richard (SAWN-DAAAS)!

RJB

We had snow this week in Wisconsin, but I didn’t see it because I was working on a bunch of different projects–job apps, a piece for Disinfo (which got picked up at Boing Boing, thanks to Xeni Jardin), and a couple of other things that are in the works. My job is never done, whatever that job may be.

We’re through the election. Mitt Romney’s kids did not manipulate the electronic voting, or whatever, unless they strongly dislike their dad (which is a real possibility considering who he is). The proposed Benghazi conspiracy fell mostly on deaf ears. L’affaire Petraeus is blowing up right now, and we need to see how that pans out, but I’m mostly completely uninterested in it. It’s like a bad soap opera.

But I have miles to go before I sleep, and things aren’t getting any less crazy!

• This would have been funny if it weren’t Mark Dice, who is just as silly and is acting a bit like a jilted lover:

• I like the nurse with leprosy.
• When I saw this, I was positive that there would be a lot of conspiracy theories about it: “Marines prepare for zombie invasion.”
• Apparently, I’m not the only one who prefers picking earwax to hearing anything from Donald Trump.
• ZOMG! It’s alive! The zombie drone is alive!
• The White House finally, FINALLY comes clean on UFO disclosure: “There are no aliens. Grow up.”
• Montana legislator asks to be paid in gold. Because of the coming crash. Seems not to realize gold is horribly inflated right now.
• OK, Georgia’s legislature is more messed up than I thought. First they had a woman testify that the government had put a mind control chip in a very delicate place and that her co-workers were calling her taint on their cell phones torturing her, and now the Senate Leader is spewing Agenda 21/UN mind-control conspiracy theories.
• The IntelHub asks, “Were tectonic weapons deployed during Sandy?” This is not reporting, people. This is brain damage. They took a graph they did not understand and made up a fairy tale around it.
• Also according IntelHub, FEMA (probably death) camps are opening up in New Jersey.
• Megaachurch megapreacher opens his megamouth: “Obama’s reelection will pave the way for the antichrist.” Duh. That’s why I voted for him!
• Why would Romney use the Andy 2016 campaign slogan unless he was using TiMe TrAvEl!!!1
• Also from Exopolitics, “Who Built the Moon?“
• Should anyone who associates themselves with Anonymous basically agree with FoxNews?

Anonymous 4thEstate (@OpMediaEngaged)

11/2/12, 1:41 PM #Benghazi Reveals Obama-Islamist Alliance goo.gl/ojTF7

• Was Hurricane Sandy planned for as far back as 1997? WELL WAS IT?!?!
• David Icke, understated as ever, “SCREAM BLOODY MURDER!”
• Almost as good as this tweet:

Godlike Productions @glptweets
BREAKING!!!! LINK…80% of N.J. gas stations WITHOUT GAS!!!! DOOM ON!! http://bit.ly/TiZeZX

• Calm down, Mr. Doom On! The government just wants you to think there was a hurricane.
• Ed Asner is still alive.
• Remember when martial law was declared all over the country for Hurricane Sandy? Me neither.
• Yeah, I don’t agree with Fenster on this (or at least the gloss they give one his comments). Conspiracy theories don’t turn out to be “right” because by their nature they are bad methodology itself. Even if the conclusion happens to correspond with reality, the theory itself is still deeply flawed. But I’m a nitpicker. Ooh! There’s a nit! (scampers off):
• Chris French and Tony Sobrado on the psychology of conspiracy theory. Bathe in their dreamy accents:

• As the Christian Right loses power, they start kicking back hard.
• Flat Earthers suspicious of “Big Oblate Spheroid” conspiracy.
• Aaron Klein claims Osama bin Laden donated to Obama’s campaign.
• Sandy manufactured. Also, derp. No really:

• @bug_girl sent forwarded the SPLC’s round-up of Sandy conspiracy theories.
• It should be noted that the SPLC is also continuing to monitor the radical right’s response to Obama’s reelection, which was a lot like this:

• This is what happens when Birther nutjobs get their hands on word processing: “Obama charged with treason by the military. AGAIN!“
• A teaching resource about conspiracy theories from the Smithsonian. Awesome!
• A-do-it-yourself conspiracy Mad Lib.
• Mo Rocca covers the first Birther conspiracy: Chester A. Arthur.
• Jesse Ventura’s Conspiracy Theory returned to the air this week. No link. Just sadness.
• From The Onion: “Ron Paul Elected Ruler Of Planet Inhabited By 1 Billion Tiny Ron Pauls“
• From Doubtful News comes a report that some pilots are afraid that chemtrail conspiracy theorists will try to take down airliners.

This Week in Mark Dice is a Horrible Person:

His love letter to the veterans:

Mark Dice @MarkDice Thanks for getting your legs blown off for the Illuminati banking elite! Happy Veterans Day! http://youtu.be/AR4bBnHeQL0

His love letter to Tony Sobrado:

Mark Dice (@MarkDice) tweeted at 4:23 PM on Sun, Nov 11, 2012:
@TonySobrado do you have ANYTHING else to tweet other than the same 3 tweets every single day? #Loser (https://twitter.com/MarkDice/status/267754571479281664)

Twits of the Week:

This was a favorite from the Borowitz Report:

Attention parents: if you give your children even the tiniest bit of attention now, maybe they won’t grow up to be Donald Trump.

Perhaps that had something to do with this:

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
Obama lied 100% about Libya and the killings–emails are absolute. He
must release his records on Wednesday and stop the lies.

Possible POE, but makes me happy to think it’s not:

Stephen Lee @CaptainSLEE
If space has no oxygen, then how the fuck is the sun on fire? It’s not a conspiracy theory, it’s just science.

There’s also this:

Top Conservative Cat (@TeaPartyCat) tweeted at 4:25 PM on Thu, Nov 01, 2012: Rush Limbaugh: “Obama only had FEMA help New Jersey so Chris Christie would embarrass Romney. It’s blackmail!”

And this made me happy:

Conspiracy Theory of the Week:

• By far the best thing that came out recently was a graphic about Obama-related conspiracy theories at Mother Jones. Widely forwarded. I didn’t even know of a couple them!

That’s all. I’m hoping for things to settle down here in the next few weeks, but you never know.

RJB

Today Disinfo put up an essay I wrote about Stanislaw Burzynski. You should head over and join the conversation. Also, Camron Wiltshire showed up in the comments, which is always hilarious. 

RJB

A very special, extra scary Virtual Skeptics this week! The few of us who survived the zombie apocalypse (more or less) teamed up with another band of survivors and we are now making our way toward Fort Benning.

RJB

Blake, Karen, and Ben interviewed Eve for MonsterTalk. That episode is up now. Go there. Go there now. They are talking about creationist interpretations of Beowulf.

RJB

Been away. Very busy. Grading. Job hunt. I apologize. Still really busy. But also feeling guilty.

But you know I’ve been on the prowl for the latest and greatest in conspiracy, right? Because I have some sort of masochistic compulsive disorder!

• When the Republicans depend on unemployment numbers for their election, a jobs report that shows unexpected growth spawns conspiracy theories about Obama manipulating the jobs numbers.  Worldview Weekend showed their usual discernment in running with the story. The article they reprint makes the cui bono error, that the person who benefits from X must have caused X. Lots of conspiracy theories are built on that misguided premise. Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, tweeted about it, and Newt Gingrich said that it “Rings true,” though David Axelrod says it’s as goofy as birtherism, which is apt because the worthless billionaire Donald Trump thinks it’s true, even though Joseph Stiglitz things it’s “literally absurd.”  Speaking of ringing, some Republican ding-dong is thinking about launching an investigation into the jobs numbers, to which the correct reply was a tweet:

@GoAngelo Truth. RT @KuraFire: @emokidsloveme @AriMelber @GoAngelo What a tremendous waste of taxpayer dollars.

• Al Jazeera finds American conspiracism baffling, though to be fair, the Muslim world has it’s unsinkable rubber ducks too.
• Vigilant Citizen finds a horror movie scary for all the wrong reasons. This time it’s an occult interpretation of A Cabin in the Woods. And for the 120th week in a row it’s the Illuminati apparently trying to tell us that they exist or something. Fancy that.
• In related news, a conspiracist documentary about The Shining is on its way.
• I think it would be great if the secret hidden in the new $100 bill was that it was worth $200.
• Never do this.
• Doddering old coot Ed Asner makes fool of self on several TV shows over 9/11.
• Are chemtrails hiding Nibiru? And with that I’m going to find something high to jump off of. Sigh.
• David Icke takes scary words out of context and is scared: “FEMA Bill HR6566: Ordering National Preparation for Mass Death.” Anything involving mass death is entirely appropriate for FEMA to prepare for.
• Is a Nigerian singer a member of the Illuminati and part of a scheme to turn Nigeria gay?
• We are being blasted with electromagnetic evil, says Zen Gardner.
• A review of Ancient Aliens Debunked, which I used in class yesterday. The last two sections are unnecessary and undo a lot of credibility in what is an otherwise very useful film.
• “Sideshow” Bob Tuskin is an HIV denier. Jesus.
• Finally, they found one of the FEMA camps. On Google Earth. Not by going and asking. Sigh.
• The Vatican has leaked that a dwarf star threatens Earth!
• The Conspiracy gets a dismal review.
• Gay? In the FBI? Sounds like they are pitching a new crime series.
• Canada is being invaded by splotchy pictures of things in the sky.
• Why, BBC, why?
• Why are heads of state around the world cancelling trips and meetings? Armageddon? Irritating tacked-on baggage handling fees? I’M LOOKING AT YOU, DELTA!
• When you see an article on Above Top Secret that begins, “Look I could be way off base here,” it’s likely that you have just read only reliable statement in the whole piece.
• No, Romney did not have a cheat sheet during the first debate.
• Was Obama the unholy spawn of a Communist poet and a porn star?
• Guy with camcorder offers amnesty to pilots spraying chemtrails, while guy with editing software issues a threat to them.
• Susan Lindauer, who was found unable to assist in her own defense at trial for spying on the US for Iraq, is still taken seriously by We Are Change. When will people stop exploiting her illness?
• There is a lot wrong with this story from London about a mural being defaced.
• GAIS! GAIS! The Chinese have invaded Texas. They can have it.
• The plan is afoot to microchip the entire population says someone who thinks he’s an expert in Bible prophesy but doesn’t realize that it’s all, you know, not real:

• Ah, a new twist on the Bilderberger conspiracy theory. They are building a floating city off of California.
• Ugh. Abe Lincoln was a Marxist war criminal? Really?
• I’d rather not swear, but supreme Truther and mustache pornographer Joseph Farah and his little monkey boy Jerome Corsi are nuttier than extra crunchy squirrel shit. This week, Obama is a secret Muslim because Corsi imagines his ring says, “There is no God but Allah.” There are many ways in which the folks at WorldNetDaily are not quite complete people.
• Was Neil Armstrong threatened to keep secrets about the UFO presence on the Moon? They cite Stephen Greer, who is known to embellish his encounters with people of actual import.
• The Tea Party and Agenda 21, two bad things that go worse together.
• Came across what looks like Judy Wood’s site about the Twin Towers. The book it’s promoting is called Where Did the Towers Go? Down, Judy. The Towers went down.

Twit of the Week:

Jonathan Kay @jonkay
WND is now combining islamophobic paranoia with something resembling Aspergers wnd.com/2012/10/were-o… Ring collage = unintentionally hilarious.

The American Muslim site does a little debunkery of this claim.

Bill Corbett, however, made me laugh:

@BillCorbett
Rabid anti-Semites are gonna have a hard time explaining the bacon shortage.

That’s all. I’m trying to keep up, folks! This week, I am going to be attending the Paradigm Conference on behalf of Skeptical Inquirer. Follow me as live tweet on #paradigm!