RationalWiki:What is going on in the blogosphere?/December 2021

December 2021
A critique of the 1619 Project Woo pushers prey on desperate people who think they may be suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), an Alzheimer's-like fatal brain disease believed to be caused by repeated hits to the head. CTE is incurable and cannot be diagnosed until after death, but that hasn't stopped snake oil salesmen like Daniel Amen from taking advantage of people to build a lucrative empire selling medically unsound procedures and expensive supplements. Financial "guru" William Neil "Doc" Gallagher, who shamelessly exploited Christian media, is exposed as a scam artist who ran a Ponzi scheme targeting elderly Christians. His reward: three life sentences in prison in Texas. The ultra-violent cult that became a global mafia. The Great (Fake) Child-Sex-Trafficking Epidemic. Dispatches from a moral panic The Week in Patriarchy: Radicalized Christian nationalism is a growing threat to American democracy The antivax assault on state medical boards has begun. Increasingly, antivaxxers and antimaskers have been targeting state medical boards. In Tennessee, it has been political. In California, it has been more physical. Conservatism: An Elegy Conservatism has been "reduced to Fox News and voter suppression... How did a movement built on sympathy and wisdom lead to a man who possesses neither? How did a movement that put such importance on the moral formation of the individual end up elevating an unashamed moral degenerate?" Marilyn Manson: The Monster Hiding in Plain Sight January 6 was practice. Donald Trump’s GOP is much better positioned to subvert the next election. The death of televangelist Marcus Lamb highlights a different network of misinformation that has nearly as broad a reach in conservative circles but receives far less attention in political media: conservative Christian broadcasters