sacredchao23

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/013933.html

I'm pulling this onto the front page from the most recent political thread, because election season is coming, and I for one can't face the crap we're already slinging around in this community. Which is a pretty sucky position to be in as a moderator. So, heads up, people.

We, as a community, have become sloppy in our political discourse. We're painting with much broader brushes than is appropriate, and we're calling each other out far too quickly and too harshly. So from this point forward, in all political discussions:

1. If you wish to denigrate a group of people of whom you are not a member, do it in as constrained a way as possible, allowing space for the mistaken, the misunderstood, and the misinformed. Do not take the loudest and most obnoxious members of that group as representative without well-sourced evidence that this is accurate.

2. Before you accuse another member of this community of being "disingenuous", "dishonest", "lying", or any synonyms, broadly construed, I want the following:
(a) a clear, sourced and unambiguous trail of why you believe that this person has been inconsistent with either their own stated record or the widely-accepted facts of the matter,
and
(b) a chance already given to that person to square the account before you make this accusation

I will disemvowel violations of these rules.

I trust this is clear.

Comments are closed on this matter. If you have a problem with these guidelines, email me privately, at my comment username at this domain. On second thought, we might as well discuss it here, because otherwise it'll clog up the other thread. But make it persuasive and, if possible, pleasant to read. Respectful is a bare minimum. I've had enough crabbing already.

http://doubtfulnews.com/2012/05/if-you-accuse-this-guy-you-are-on-satans-team/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=if-you-accuse-this-guy-you-are-on-satans-team

http://doubtfulnews.com/?p=9475

FBI: Central Florida evangelist molested girls.

An Ormond Beach minister who is called “Apostle Tito” by his followers has been arrested for sexually molesting several children who are members of his religious organization.

Luis Morales is being held in federal custody without bond following an arraignment in federal court Thursday afternoon.

According to federal prosecutors, Morales repeatedly had sex with a 12-year-old Florida girl in his Ormond Beach home and while on a trip with her to Connecticut in 2009. The government also claims Morales molested a 13-year-old girl from Arizona whom he took to the U.S. Virigin Islands.

Outside the courthouse after the arraignment, Linda Morales insisted that her husband was innocent.

“Satan is the accuser of the brethren. So anybody that makes an accusation against a man or woman of God is on Satan’s team,” she said.

Tip: Fark.com

Or, you might threaten to have your accuser killed. Lovely religious folk.

In this day in age, the public mistrusts atheists but STILL trusts priests and men of God? There is simply no support for that belief.

http://doubtfulnews.com/2012/05/donna-summer-dissed-smoking-and-thought-911-toxics-caused-her-cancer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=donna-summer-dissed-smoking-and-thought-911-toxics-caused-her-cancer

http://doubtfulnews.com/?p=9479

Donna Summer Allegedly Thought 9/11 Gave Her Cancer, Not Smoking.

The Queen of Disco Donna Summer lost her battle to cancer yesterday—and TMZ reports that she felt that 9/11 was involved.

Apparently, Summer was living near Ground Zero when the World Trade Center was attacked on September 11, 2001. TMZ reports, “Donna became almost paranoid about breathing the air, which was heavy with a rancid odor. In the months and years following 9/11, Donna’s feelings intensified.

Another source says that Donna, “who was a fervent practicing Christian, believed 9/11 was an attack on Christianity and in some metaphysical way Christians like her were targets. She somehow felt that her illness was a byproduct of the attack.”

Tip: Fark.com

This story is suggestive that we see the causes of our misfortune in terms of our worldviews, not in terms of what the evidence would tell us. Sources (her friends) said she was somewhat obsessed with the idea that 9/11 toxics caused her illness.

I’m having some trouble finding statistics that either defend or dispute the idea that first responders and people exposed had a higher diagnosis of lung cancer. If anyone can cite a report, please post it in the comments.

But, the fact is that we KNOW smoking does result in a huge increase risk in lung cancer. Could both factors be at play? Potentially, yes. Ms. Summer was not convinced that smoking caused her illness but it appears her dismissal was fed by a belief that the 9/11 attack was an attack against people of her faith.

What’s not clear in these media stories is Ms. Summer’s medical history or what her doctors had actually diagnosed. However, the danger in making such things public is that people will assume that there is a direct connection and potentially make additional assumptions and erroneous conclusions because of what they read in the news.

We can’t go by anecdotes. Good, accurate studies take time.

http://doubtfulnews.com/2012/05/syfy-to-premiere-haunted-college-show-school-spirits/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=syfy-to-premiere-haunted-college-show-school-spirits

http://doubtfulnews.com/?p=9477

School Spirits Premiere.

Premieres Wednesday, June 20 at 10 PM

School Spirits travels to schools and universities all across the country to recount the true ghost stories experienced on these academic campuses.

The stories will be told in first person narratives through the testimonials of real students, teachers, parents and staff that have encountered the paranormal activity, blended with bone-chilling cinematic reenactments to further bring the haunting experiences to life.

Source: GhostTV blog

A TV show about ghosts and hauntings that rely on testimonals and cinematic reenactments instead of offering any skeptical point of views or rational explanations? How unique!

At least they’re honest about what the show is about and not trying to scientifically explain ghosts. Gagdets do not seem to be an important part of this particular ghost show. So, it’s just another ghost story show.

Here’s a teaser trailer for the show

http://doubtfulnews.com/2012/05/kids-off-to-the-congo-to-look-for-dinos-and-giant-spiders/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=kids-off-to-the-congo-to-look-for-dinos-and-giant-spiders

http://doubtfulnews.com/?p=9482

Remember the kids (sans scientists) who want to go to the Congo to look for a real version of The Lost World?

Dino Hunters Secure Necessary Funding For Congo Expedition.

Stephen McCullah needed to raise $26,700 by May 11 in order to secure enough funds through Kickstarter.com to, well, kickstart his expedition to the Republic of Congo to hunt a reported living dinosaur.

When the deadline arrived, the 21-year-old adventurer and Missouri native had received pledges totaling nearly $29,000.

He’s now packing his bags and a powerful tranquilizer rifle — to bring down a possible dinosaur during what he has dubbed the Newmac Expedition.

McCullah said that his team will end up at the southern tip of Lake Tele, where mokele-mbembe have been reported. The Newmac explorers will set up camp at the village of a pygmy tribe.

For the remainder of their three-month stay, and as long as there are no health or safety issues intervening, the men will set out every day with a variety of special cameras, searching for new species, large or small, including canine-sized tarantulas.

Tip: @HuffPostWeird

I have no hope he’ll find any living dinosaurs OR giant spiders; those are implausible ideas (that have been pushed by mostly those of the Creationist ilk with extremely poor quality and questionable evidence to support it). My concern is that they are way way over their heads by failing to consider the danger and difficult in this venture. They will be lucky to get back healthy. Also, it is troubling that there are no scientists involved. See also Ben Radford at Life’s Little Mysteries: Jurassic Lark

The latest news about pictograms that look like dinosaurs is also mentioned in this story in what seems to be a suggestion of “Hmm, could be…” We can imagine all we want but imaginative speculation doesn’t make it so.

http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2012/05/nearly-open-thread-may-18-2012.html

1) The first of teleidoplex's costume auctions are ending soon -- like, in about six hours. (Others have a bit longer to run.) Take a look, bid while you can, help her go to Clarion West!

2) I'm reading at SF in SF tomorrow night, with Ysabeau Wilce and Erin Hoffman. Hope to see some of you there!

On May 18th, 1980, student protesters against martial law were attacked by paratroopers in the South Korean city of Kwangju. This led to a generalized uprising, the repulsion of the troops to beyond the city limits, and several days of radical transformations of urban society—collective meals in the parks, the formation of a people's militia called the Citizen Army, the creation of new newspapers and organs covering both daily life and the establishment of defenses against the military. The new military government responded by sending in Special Forces troops trained to invade North Korea, and the Kwangju Uprising became the Kwangju Massacre. Amazingly, the Wikipedia entry isn't terrible. Also not surprising: the US, of course, had a role in martial law and even the crackdown—the ROK 20th Infantry Division, which had a major role in the massacre, was part of the US-led Combined Forces Command and required US approval for operations.

Over a decade ago now, my friend Kap and I translated and edited a survivor's memoir of the uprising and massacre called Kwangju Diary. It's out of print now, but will soon be available again, thanks in part to the city of Kwangju itself. More news on that soon.



At the risk of tonal whiplash, here is another bit of 5/18 history. Ninety years ago today, Proust and James Joyce met for the first and only time. There are many accounts of the meeting, but here is my favorite:

"I’ve headaches every day," Joyce announced. "My eyes are terrible."

Proust replied, "My poor stomach. What am I going to do? It’s killing me. In fact, I must leave at once."

"I’m in the same situation," Joyce said. "If I can find someone to take me by the arm...Goodbye."

"Charmé," said Proust. "Oh, my stomach, my stomach."

http://doubtfulnews.com/2012/05/if-only-i-had-listened-to-my-doctor-maybe-she-would-still-be-with-us/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=if-only-i-had-listened-to-my-doctor-maybe-she-would-still-be-with-us

http://doubtfulnews.com/?p=9466

Cancer patient dies in terrorist’s clinic – UPI.com.

A 23-year-old female cancer patient died in Yemen after checking into an alternative health clinic run by a prominent cleric and wanted terrorist.

The woman, identified only as Fatma, was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer and advised to undergo surgery and chemotherapy when a family friend informed her father that Sheik Abdel-Mageed al-Zindani, a prominent cleric and wanted terrorist, was running a cancer program at his clinic, free of charge.

Tip: @whatstheharm on Twitter

The woman underwent a month of herbal remedies and alternative health treatments. There is no way to tell if she would have survived with conventional treatment. But the odds would have been better if she had used treatments that have actually been shown to work.

Sadly, her father feels responsible:

“If only I had listened to my doctor! Maybe she would still be with us,” he said.

It’s a hard lesson. The website What’s the Harm has many more cases of people who suffered and died due to such mistakes like trusting in nonsense.

Cross-posted to my normal journal.

Yesterday I drew a seven-card spread, ended up confused, drew some clarification cards and ended up MORE confused, so then I just reshuffled and drew three cards asking "Am I on the right track?"

First card was the Spear Knight, second was Spear 6, third was the Lady of the Lake. They all have something to do with intuition and being fearless/confident. Which is precisely the problem, since I've had to make lots of internal changes and I'm pretty much feeling the opposite right now.

( And then it gets odd. )

So, I know the Morrigan deals with justice and righteous fury and all, but... it seems she's fine with playing dirty as long as the other side starts it and I make sure to "be nice" about it. And I'm really not playing that dirty at all--I just feel like it since I'm not used to putting myself out like this. (It may also be a vestige of my Catholic "forgiving is better than revenge" upbringing.)