Rationally Thinking Out Loud
Just one guy thinking out loud on a the issues in religion, atheism, politics & science The Blog ArticlesFeatured Pages TOCPizzagate: Are Democrats Harvesting Children’s Blood? – Jordan Klepper Fingers the Conspiracy – YouTube
And there is more…
Reflexology: Science or Superstition? – YouTube
Modern Reflexology: Still As Bogus As Pre-Modern Reflexology | Science-Based Medicine
Reflexology is an alternative medicine system that claims to treat internal organs by pressing on designated spots on the feet and hands; there is no anatomical connection between those organs and those spots. Systematic reviews in 2009 and 2011 found no convincing evidence that reflexology is an effective treatment for any medical condition.
And for more on Reflexology I might suggest this collection of articles and commentary on the Science Base Medicine website: Reflexology | Science-Based Medicine
30 Things Donald Trump Did as President You Might Have Missed – POLITICO
I think the only policydecision or group of policy devcisions Trump made that I am okay with are the refocusing of the military budget towards the threats from Russia and China.
…As a result, the military is changing how it trains personnel, which technologies it buys, and the geographic areas of the world where it prioritizes its forces.
The impact: Already it has led to a reordering of the Pentagon budget and new investments supported by a bipartisan majority in Congress, including billions of dollars to beef up the U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific.
The upshot: Despite differences in tone and rhetoric, this is a refocusing of the United States’ military posture that is expected to continue in the Biden administration.
30 Things Donald Trump Did as President You Might Have Missed
Trump’s presidency may be best remembered for its cataclysmic end. But his four years as president also changed real American policy in lasting ways, just more quietly. We asked POLITICO’s best-in-class policy reporters to recap some of the ways Trump changed the country while in office, for better or worse.
How America Changed During Donald Trump’s Presidency
Donald Trump stunned the political world in 2016 when he became the first person without government or military experience ever to be elected president of the United States. His four-year tenure in the White House revealed extraordinary fissures in American society but left little doubt that he is a figure unlike any other in the nation’s history.
These 4 Factors Can Explain Why So Many People Are Rejecting Science
These 4 Factors Can Explain Why So Many People Are Rejecting Science
Distrust of science is a massive problem. In our current environment, it’s directly leading to people’s deaths. Much of the misinformation we face is intentional and organized, and even worse, research has found lies seem to spread faster online and
Here’s how Fox and Newsmax tried to spin the January 6 committee’s first prime-time hearing – CNN
Here’s how Fox and Newsmax tried to spin the January 6 committee’s first prime-time hearing
A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter.
Gun-rights activists remade the Second Amendment over past 40 years – The Washington Post
Perspective | Gun-rights activists remade the Second Amendment over past 40 years
Placeholder while article actions load The Second Amendment looms large in the grim ritual that follows mass shootings like the massacre at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Tex. Conservatives cite the amendment to justify their opposition to any new form of gun control – positing that unfettered gun rights are a fundamental freedom.
The National Debt and Other Red Herrings | Real Progressives
The National Debt and Other Red Herrings | Real Progressives
Discussions of inflation are often laden with an air of superstition and moral panic. Like all such things they can only persist in the face of misunderstanding and rumor.
Economics for the Clueless Scientist – How Do We Pay For It? – Stephanie Kelton and Fadhel Kaboub – YouTube
Dr. Joe Dispenza a Pseudoscientist and Not Even Wrong
So I was speaking with an acquaintance/friend and she made some pretty sensational wild recommendations to me about my health and I ask her: “Says who?… Where id you learn that?”
So be a natuaral skeptic as soon as the conversation was over I went and googled “Dr. Joe Dispenza skeptical” and discovered this:
“…Dr. Joe Dispenza’s teachings: according to him, we can heal anything with the placebo effect (even fractured cervicals and cancer, and really anything as long as you really want it), and we can create our own reality with our mind.”
WTF?
What does it mean to be “Not Even Wrong“? It describes an argument or explanation that purports to be scientific but uses faulty reasoning or speculative premises, which can be neither affirmed nor denied and thus cannot be discussed rigorously and scientifically.
The rise of fake scientists
Yesterday at lunch time, while I was sipping tea and casually going through Instagram stories to see what my friends were up to (not the best kind of work break, but we are human after all), I was shown an advert for a website I had never heard about before.
Ask the Skepdoc: Pancreas miracle and Dispenza’s thought healing
The JREF is pleased to bring you Dr. Harriet Hall to answer your health-related questions about alternative treatments, questionable claims and science-based medical information. This edition: A seemingly miraculous healing of a pancreas injury and the self-healing claim of Joe Dispenza. By Harriet Hall, MD Question: My mother claims she experienced a miracle 25 years ago.
Joe Dispenza’s Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Being Misled | Skeptical Inquirer
“Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense.”-Carl Sagan I began reading Becoming Supernatural by Joe Dispenza with an open mind. But I’m afraid that the more I read, the more critical I became of his references, inter …
I am trying to learn as much as I can about the Ukraine crisis,…it’s complicated
I am trying to learn as much as I can about the Ukraine crisis,…it’s complicated for sure.
Russia’s at war with Ukraine. Here’s how we got here
As Russian forces begin an all-out assault on Ukraine after months of troop buildup and failed diplomatic efforts by the U.S. and its European allies to head off conflict, the situation for Kyiv is the most high-stakes in the country’s 30-year history.
Video published Sep 25, 2015