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]]>The post Did SARS-Cov-2 start in a Chinese lab? – YouTube | Potholer54 appeared first on Rationally Thinking Out Loud.
]]>The idea that the virus was engineered in a lab by the Chinese I have always rejected first becuase I just doubted it as right wing anti-Chinese scare tactics rumor and then early on reading about what scientists were saying regarding the genetic fingerprint of the virus lead them to say the virus came from the wild and not a lab,… I chose to trust the geneticists and scientists instead scuttlebutt on Facebook and the web.
What I didn’t rule out until now was that the virus may have been released accidently from a Chinese lab studying the virus. Thanks to Peter Hatfield (aka Potholer54) a science journalist and arguably one of the best fact researchers and debunkers there is I no longer think that is a possibility (at least not that way the rest of the press reporting on this is describing it).
Potholer54 utterly destroys the conspiracy theory that SARS-Cov-2 came from a Wuhan virus lab.
The world really needs a lot more Peter Hatfields.
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]]>The post Latest claim: The Greenland ice sheet is growing | Potholer54 appeared first on Rationally Thinking Out Loud.
]]>Potholer54 (science journalist Peter Hadfield) takes a look at the spin, distortion, and outright deception (lies) that professional global warming denier like Christopher Booker puts on a real scientific study so that the right-wing blogosphere can spread his propaganda around thinking and/or climing it has a scientific basis..
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]]>The post What I’m Reading, Friday, May 11, 2012 appeared first on Rationally Thinking Out Loud.
]]>Anthony Fox Watts and FoxWattsUpWithThat.com chicken out hiding from Peter Hadfield aka Potholer54.
- Correcting misinformation about a face-to-face debate.wmv – YouTube
- TC and DW | Open Mind
- Jerk | Open Mind
- Rabett Run: A New Blog on the Blogspot
- First Post | ClimateChangeFork On “Deniers” entitled Climate Change and the Holocaust
- Hansen: It’s time for the politics to follow the science on global warming | Climate Science Watch
Religion
- An Accurate Genesis – YouTube
What if there really was an omnipotent, omniscient god responsible not only for the creation of the universe, our solar system, our planet and the life upon it, but also for the narrative of Genesis 1? Certainly there are those who already think this is the case. But, in The Bible Skeptic series, “What Genesis Got Wrong,” we know that the biblical tale of creation in Genesis 1 got virtually every detail of origins wrong. So what would a scientifically and historically accurate version of Genesis look like if it really had been inspired by a deity which truly was responsible for the creation of all we see as such origins have been discovered by the methods of modern science?Want to discuss this video’s topic? Feel free to visit the Bible Skeptic Forum at http://bibleskeptic.iftopic.com/ and invite other viewers to join you there! - God is not good – Part 3 – with Josef Fritzl and William Lane Craig – YouTube
The Culture Wars
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]]>The post The National Memo » How Ralph Nader’s Sins Set Trayvon Martin’s Killer Free appeared first on Rationally Thinking Out Loud.
]]>- The National Memo » How Ralph Nader’s Sins Set Trayvon Martin’s Killer Free.
- The conservative grip on power – Republican Party – Salon.com
A ruthless GOP power grab, centered around the Supreme Court, has cemented conservative control in Washington
Clarence Thomas, George W. Bush and Antonin Scalia (Credit: AP)
Writing in Salon, Natasha Lennard proposes that with the warm weather we can again expect the Occupy movement to shoot up. Arab Spring, American Spring. She’s right about one thing: Like in the decades before the Arab Spring, it has been a long, cold, American winter. In the 30 years since coming to power here, Republicans have used their initial ascent to power to seal themselves into office as tightly as the pharaohs. Smart commentators have noted how lawless the conservatives are in making substantive decisions, but that’s not the worst of it. The worst of it is how they use their tenure to make it increasingly impossible to oust them.
- Obama Calls On Congress To Pass ‘Buffett Rule’ Tax
The Health Care Debate
- The Promise and Peril of A Single-Payer Comeback
- Those Who Believe In Limited Government Had Better Hope ObamaCare Is Ruled Constitutional – Investors.com
- Kucinich: Single-payer healthcare on its way regardless of how Supreme Court rules – The Hill’s Healthwatch
- Single-Payer or Bust
- If Obamacare is overturned, will that lead to single payer? And would that be a good thing? – The Washington Post
- We have universal healthcare — by default – Other Views – MiamiHerald.com
America, the richest country in the world, is the only advanced country without some form of universal healthcare for all its citizens. While countries such as Great Britain have a government-run, single-payer (or “socialized medicine”) system; others, such as business-friendly Switzerland, have a totally private system.
Switzerland utilizes private health insurance companies and requires all of its residents to purchase health insurance through an individual mandate. It reformed its system several decades ago to a fashion similar to what is included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
So, how has the Swiss form of the Affordable Care Act fared? According to the World Health Organization, quality of care is high, everyone has access to care and Switzerland spends only 11 percent of its GDP on healthcare. (The United States now spends around 18 percent of its GDP on healthcare — the highest in the world.
- The Move to Single-Payer Health Care « Commentary Magazine
Climate & Climate Politics
The Culture Wars (Health, Fitness, Diet, Beauty)
- Naked models offer a body image reality check – Body Image – Salon.com
- Eating Disorders and Media Influence – Body Image from Anorexia Celebrities to Athletes – Rader Programs
- PLUS Model Magazine’s Katya Zharkova cover highlights body image in the fashion industry | Mail Online
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]]>The post What I’m Reading Tuesday, February 7, 2012 appeared first on Rationally Thinking Out Loud.
]]>- Obama Backs Super PAC : Roll Call News
In a switch, President Barack Obama is backing a super PAC — and directing senior government officials to appear at its fundraisers — over fears his re-election campaign could be derailed by an “avalanche” of money flowing into Republican super PACs.
Obama Campaign Manager Jim Messina announced the decision in a Monday night email titled: “We will not play by two sets of rules.”
“We decided to do this because we can’t afford for the work you’re doing in your communities, and the grass-roots donations you give to support it, to be destroyed by hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads. It’s a real risk,” Messina wrote. [read on…]
- Obama super PAC decision: President blesses fundraising for Priorities USA Action – Glenn Thrush – POLITICO.com
- The Immoral Minority: Tea Party coordinator says “The Tea Party movement is dead, it’s gone!” How’s that for some good Tuesday morning news?
- Bruce Bartlett On The GOP Attempt To Make Sure Tax Cuts Don’t Count | Stan Collender’s Capital Gains and Games
- Chinese Fascism’s Global Consequences | Truthout
- The Maddow Blog – Optimism has a well known liberal bias
- The Non Sequitur » Too timid too object
- —
Politics — Mitt Romney
Climate & Climate Politics
- Monckton responds to Peter Hadfield aka “potholer54″ – plus Hadfield’s response | Watts Up With That?
- Santorum: I never believed global warming ‘hoax’ – POLITICO.com
Science
- Lawrence Krauss: Kicking God out of Physics.
My latest hosted episode of Point of Inquiry, with Lawrence Krauss, is now up.
Krauss is always a great guest, and this was no exception. To me, the most memorable part of the interview came when I tried to get at what kind of meaning audiences were were deriving from his new book, which is clearly striking a chord.
And what became clear (at least to me) is that the book is flying off shelves because it finally “kicks God out of physics”–or at least, gives a fully plausible account of a universe coming to exist, and something coming from “nothing,” without anything supernatural about it…[read on…]
- Epic creationist fails of our time — Population and magnetic fields proves young Earth — YouTube
The Culture Wars
Business
- Mark Zuckerberg’s Real Genius: Building The Walmart Of Social Networks
- Mark Zuckerberg, the Hacker Way and the Art of the Founder’s Letter | Epicenter | Wired.com
Health
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]]>- Monckton responds to “potholer54” | Wott’s Up With That?
- Scientists say global warming can be slowed and millions of lives saved by cutting down emissions of methane and soot – NY Daily News
Social Morality
- With a big strong hat tip to Camels with Hammers: What It’s Like To Be Transgendered (A Response To The Anti-Transgender Girl Scout) | Camels With Hammers
This is a tour de force reply to the Girl Scout who was protesting the GSUSA’s openly welcoming incorporation of transgendered girls into their programs. Thanks to Trickster Goddess for sharing it in the other post’s comments section.
- Watch: Dan Savage Savages GOProud as ‘Gay Quislings’ and ‘Useful Idiots’ Helping to Window-Dress the Homophobic GOP |Gay News|Gay Blog Towleroad
GOProud isn’t a pro-gay rights organization, they’re an organization of gay quislings and useful idiots that help to window-dress the Republican Party which is really still rabidly anti-gay to it’s core. It’s a little window dressing, a little gay window dressing, that allows them to appeal to moderates perhaps and independents as being less bigoted than the Republican party actually is.
(A big hat tip to GOProud isn’t a pro-gay rights organization,…)
Science (and Education)
- A hat tip to: Math: It’s How Plants Work | Friendly Atheist
Vi Hart‘s math videos just keep getting better. In case you missed Part 1 of her Fibonacci series (Ha! Math humor!), check this out.
Part 2 is here and it’s even better than the first:
Wow! this is great fun. Great stuff! Who knew math could be so exciting and entertaining. Let’s take a look at…
- Part One
- Part Three, ‘can’t wait…
- And here is the author/videographer’s web site: Vi Hart: Blog reading her About Vi page there I can see she is now “now a full-time mathemusician at Khan Academy!” I first heard and learned about The Kahn Academy via this TEDTalk video:
- Salman Khan: Let’s use video to reinvent education | Video on TED.com
Politics
- Super PACs Keep Zombie Candidates Alive | National Memo | Breaking News, Smart Politics
- 3 billionaires who’ll drag out the race – Kenneth P. Vogel – POLITICO.com
- Democurmudgeon: Jobs charts…How Obama is Doing. (a great collection of charts from John Peterson over at Democurmudgeon)
Politics — Mitt Romney
- Opinion: You can blame Mitt Romney, but not for Bain Capital – Steven Rattner – POLITICO.com
- Hey Mitt? Remember that time you put your dog…
Hey Mitt? Remember that time you put your dog Seamus in his carrier, then strapped the carrier to the roof of your car for a 12-hour, non-stop drive (during which you ignored Seamus’ repeated barking and crying)? Remember how he pooped and peed in his carrier and it all ran down onto the car, coating it in waste? Animal cruelty Good times, huh?
- The Immoral Minority: Romney’s mistreatment of his dog Seamus is now referred to as “Crate-gate.” Can I tell you how much I love that?
Economics & The Economy
- Warren Buffett Strikes Back at GOP Critics, Bashes Private Equity – Deal Journal – WSJ
Warren Buffett has taken some potshots for his push for the wealthiest Americans to pay more in taxes. Now, the ultra-billionaire is returning fire.
In a new Time magazine interview, Buffett said he would match any Republican Congressmen’s donations towards the national debt, after some critics said Buffett should simply write a check to Uncle Sam if he thinks the rich don’t pay their fair share. (See updated comment below.)
And then Buffett takes on the hot political/financial topic of the moment: whether the private-equity business destroys or creates jobs. Time writes:
“Buffett says that while businesses shouldn’t have around people they don’t need, ‘I don’t like what private equity firms do in terms of taking out every dime they can and leveraging [companies] up so that they really aren’t equipped, in some cases, for the future.’”
- Buffett Challenges McConnell, Republicans on Tax Policy | Swampland | TIME.com
- Warren Buffett Challenges Republicans To Put Their Money Where Their Mouth Is On Deficit Reduction | ThinkProgress
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