Was there a hidden agenda behind the recent Big Foot hoax? – Steven Novella speculates on the role Tom Biscardi may have played in this incident. Biscardi is considered even by the “mainstream” Big Foot hunters as a conman. But has he made a monkey out of us all?
Interview with “pet psychic” dumbfounds Rebecca Watson – It never ceases to amaze me as well as others in the skeptical community how the media can treat such obvious tin-foil-hat-level nonsense so uncritically as part of a mere fluff piece to kill time. You can’t find a real news story? Really?
Pastor makes IRS mad by misusing pulpit – “An activist group has filed an IRS complaint against Cornerstone Church, accusing the megachurch’s pastor of endorsing three Sumner County school board candidates from the pulpit.”
“If an IRS investigation determines Davis violated federal rules, it could jeopardize the Madison church’s tax-exempt status. Since 2007, the IRS has revoked the tax-exempt status of about 190 organizations nationwide, according to its Website.”
That’s a shame.
PZ Myers compares and contrasts the words of Darwin with a repulsive fear-mongering Christian evangelical site: The Surretts concerning the idea of damnation.
Another classic Creationist quote mine – One of the most common techniques Creationists use to trick people is to take quotes out of context to suggest specific great minds were Creationists. (For example, on the top of this page here). And some great minds really were believers in a creator god. But of course, it’s all irrelevant as it’s an argument from authority. Even smart people can be wrong and in the end ideas stand or fall on their own merits, namely what the evidence shows. In this instance, Douglas Theobold demolishes creationist Berlinski’s claim that the famous mathematician John Von Neumann rejected Evolution.
Presidential Candidates on space policy – Find out where Obama and McCain stand…or rather how they currently claim to stand. Still no word on Paris Hilton’s space policy.
Stephen Colbert on the impacts of commodity markets focusing on oil – …and proves himself to be a formidable opponent!
When “Big Pharma” REALLY is lying to us – Obviously “Big Pharma” has become a popular scapegoat for the grand conspiracy theorists in recent years. And while those accusations are mostly unfounded, sometimes the pharmaceutical companies prove they really are like every other corporations by using clinical trials designed by the marketing department to sell product. Here’s another skeptical blogger’s take on this issue. Sadly, this is just the sort of news story that the “Big Pharma” grand conspiracy theorists will latch onto and invoke constantly because it just so happens to be a rare news story that is in line with their agenda and seems to validate their every suspicion. That might be the biggest tragedy of this whole thing. But I’m reporting it, so let it never be said by the conspiracy theorists that I’m just a “sheeple” who blindly accepts authority. Big Pharma is wrong in this instance, wrong, wrong, wrong.
Science blogger and Skeptologist Dr. Kirsten Sanford on Science Channel website – She’s conducting an interview at the World Science Festival.
And now for a moment of science:
Skepacabra 