RationalWiki:What is going on in the blogosphere?/June 2011

June 2011
Educated idiocy: Chris Mooney notes that research on belief about climate change shows that more education makes Republicans less likely to believe it's happening while the reverse is true for Democrats. The Conversation wraps up an excellent two-week series called "Clearing up the Climate Debate" Baron Robert Skidelsky on the embattled status of free speech in Britain. The Hampture is near! Countdown to hamsternaut deployment has started. A new Pew poll shows evangelicals don't like evolution...or yoga. Miss USA contestants answer the question: Should math be taught in schools? Okay, not really, but it's a hilarious spoof. A "religious atheist" lists five things atheists have wrong about religion. Michele Bachmann uses just about every Republican budgetary PRATT in the book, Salon issues a good debunking. Ron Paul wants to know: Where's the gold in that thar fort?  P. Z. Myers writes beautiful open letter to a nine-year old suggesting that "how do you know?" is a better question than "were you there?". The dribbling idiot who came up with the "were you there?" question complains. Mom weighs in without reading the letter. Michael Egnor has started his own blog called "Egnorance." No shit. Robert Nozick's libertarianism. Darryl Cunningham explains evolution in an excellent comic. Too bad that's about 5 orders of magnitude more text and information than an average creationist is able to absorb without going crosseyed and lolling their tongue. Medical professionals launch Science-ish, a fact-checker on medical journalism. Shorter Hillary then: Hey Dubya, stop terrorism-baiting! Shorter Hillary now: You're either with us or against us. With Expelled going under the hammer, the TalkOrigins Archive Foundation plans to put in a bid. The foundation is raising money for this bid. But, caveat emptor: warns that "if you’re donating money, be aware that you’re simply lining the pockets of these guys." <vote poll=blog1570 closed="yes">This is what happens when you fail to apply the KISS rule to cheating. <vote poll=blog1569 closed="yes">Bad Science: Kids who spot bullshit, and the adults who get upset about it. <vote poll=blog1568 closed="yes">All 51 Miss USA contestants answer the question "Should evolution be taught in schools?" Make sure your head and desk are well-rested before watching. <vote poll=blog1567 closed="yes">Daniel Loxton traces the history of the "don't be a dick" arguments in the "skeptical movement" - from the mid-19th century to Phil Plait's speech at TAM 8. <vote poll=blog1566 closed="yes">VIDEO: An early 1990s singalong wif teh L. Ronnies. Update: Orac thinks uber-crank Mike Adams might have been in the video. <vote poll=blog1565 closed="yes">It's not just Andy: Using facts on conservatives makes them cling to their beliefs even more firmly. <vote poll=blog1564 closed="yes">Wait, who is it that's "subverting the peer review process" in the global warming "debate" again? <vote poll=blog1563 closed="yes">An amazing brain injury recovery. <vote poll=blog1562 closed="yes">It's a shit sandwich...literally. <vote poll=blog1561 closed="yes">CIA official admits to attempts to illegally spy on Juan Cole. Surely they will be held accountable for this, right? <vote poll=blog1560 closed="yes">Ah, the glorious advantages of privatization! Prior to 2006, the then-publicly owned Indiana Toll Road hadn't seen a rate hike in two decades. Since the toll road was privatized in 2006, the toll has doubled, with most of that increase going to line the pockets of foreign investors rather than to the maintenance of the highway. (And yet the majority of Hoosiers would still rather cut off their right arms than vote for a Democrat.) <vote poll=blog1559 closed="yes">As a result of Fukushima, natural gas may begin to replace nuclear in Europe. Joe Romm has recently detailed some of the ups and downs of natural gas and fracking. <vote poll=blog1558 closed="yes">Apparently, not only is the Syrian lesbian blogger who was recently "kidnapped" by her government actually a straight man, but now it comes out Paula Brooks, a supposedly deaf lesbian blogger is also a straight man. <vote poll=blog1557 closed="yes">You too can have your own expert for hire.

<vote poll=blog1555 closed="yes">Daniel Ellsberg (leaker of the Pentagon Papers) claims that if Richard Nixon were alive today, he would feel vindicated for all the dirty tricks he committed against Ellsberg because the Patriot Act and other laws passed since 9/11 have made those dirty tricks legal. <vote poll=blog1554 closed="yes">Creeping Sharia: Not coming to a courthouse near you. <vote poll=blog1553 closed="yes">New study confirms existing prejudice: (G)Libertarianism is about freedom from taxes and regulation. <vote poll=blog1552 closed="yes">It's peer-reviewed! A new anti-vax study citing the likes of the Geier family and Russell Blaylock is making the rounds. <vote poll=blog1551 closed="yes">Slate ponders how to convince people who believe a man named Babu can cure AIDS with herbs to go with western medicine instead. <vote poll=blog1550 closed="yes">Canada's election explained. <vote poll=blog1549 closed="yes">Wegman: The copypasta never stops. <vote poll=blog1548 closed="yes">A victory for sanity: Psychology Today shitcans major evo psych asshat Satoshi Kanazawa. <vote poll=blog1547 closed="yes">Andrew Breitbart's long history as a liar. <vote poll=blog1546 closed="yes">The "true" self. <vote poll=blog1545 closed="yes">Whither Elizabeth Warren? <vote poll=blog1544 closed="yes">Village idiots in wonderland (as usual). <vote poll=blog1543 closed="yes">Financial "reform" was shot full of loopholes. Hoocoodanode? <vote poll=blog1542 closed="yes">The nonsensical "Obama misery index." <vote poll=blog1541 closed="yes">Goldman gets served but "dodges" the Gaddafi bullet. <vote poll=blog1540 closed="yes">No True Libertarian... <vote poll=blog1539 closed="yes">Economic outlook: It stinks! <vote poll=blog1538 closed="yes">Stuck on a boat with a doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Includes a scientifically accurate reflexology chart.