Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum find their celebrity doppelgangers

Here’s their posting about it. Okay, Chris isn’t a perfect match for Fred Savage but Sheril found an even better one. I think it’s the dude from Twilight:

Chris went for Christina Ricci for Sheril but I think she’s a dead ringer for Summer Glau:

Has Desiree Jennings been exposed as a fraud?

It looks like the anti-vaccine community’s and my old friend “Dr.” Rashid Buttar’s favorite “victim of vaccine injury” might not have merely been a victim of psychogenic symptoms either, as her doctors believed.

It turns out that there may very well be the distinct possibility that she faked the whole thing:

And here’s the original Inside Edition story:

I don’t know about you but it looks an awful lot like a hoaxer’s been busted!

Ex-Scientologists speak out in CFI press conference

Yesterday, the L.A. branch of the Center For Inquiry held a press conference in which multiple former members of $cientology spoke out about the cult’s abuses. And of course when asked to comment, Tommy Davis gave all the standard lines about how he doesn’t know what any of these people are talking about, that they’re making it all up to get attention, and that people should check $cientology out themselves to find out. Riiight. And you shouldn’t knock being shot in the head until you’ve tried it either. The one interesting thing about Davis’ response was that he admitted that employees are not paid and are “volunteers,” precisely what one former member at the press conference (as well as many others over the years) claimed was part of the manipulation that the cult uses to avoid paying its employees. But no one has the right to volunteer themselves into slavery.

News From Around The Blogosphere 2.12.10

Happy Darwin Day everyone!

Also save the date June 21 because it will Global Atheist Solidarity Day!

1. Secular Coalition for America receives a gift of $500,000 from philanthropist Todd Stiefel

2. Need information to counter global climate change deniers in a hurry? Don’t worry. There’s an app for that.

3. Creation Science Fair? - It’s not very fair to science.

4. Measles outbreak in South Africa -

The cause of a measles outbreak sweeping South Africa has not as yet been determined, but initial suspicions point to religious objections and unfounded fears that immunizations against the disease increase the risk of autism in children.

Thank’s Jenny McCarthy!

Kevin Trudeau just pissed off the wrong judge

I’ve blogged about Trudeau before. He’s the professional murderer who used to sell bogus medical cures “they don’t want you to know” until he was legally barred from selling any such products and so has moved onto a whole new set of non-medical-related scams. Well also he’s responsible for inciting a legion of fans to email bomb U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman, who had previously forced Trudeau to cough up more money in court.

Word of advice to Kevin:  never piss off a federal judge.

A furious U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman gave Trudeau three hours’ notice to show up in his federal courtroom Thursday and then found the Internet host in criminal contempt of court for the e-mail attack.

Trudeau sat with a bit of a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face as the normally mild-mannered Gettleman lectured his lawyer about the e-mail onslaught — all the while being interrupted on the bench as new messages continued to hit his inbox.

“Just got another one,” said the judge, who earlier had turned his computer screen so attorneys in the case could see the incoming barrage for themselves. “Every time you hear that little bell.”

Now Trudeau can add a contempt of court charge to his rap sheet:

Gettleman ordered Trudeau to turn over his passport, pay $50,000 bond and warned he could face future prison time.

Gettleman, on his own authority, can sentence Trudeau to up to six months in prison. In addition, the judge referred the matter and the emails to the U.S. Marshals Service, which investigates threats to judiciary.

Couldn’t happen to a more deserving individual.

News From Around The Blogosphere 2.11.10

1. Judge suspends assault conviction because defendant was a “religious man” – As far as I’m concerned, this is grounds for Judge Cherie Blair’s disbarment. It’s discriminatory and disgraceful.

2. Disturbing religious billboard going up in Minnesota -It reads:

GOD IS THE GOD OF TWIN TOWERS, HURRICANES, AND BRIDGES

Many are talking, few are listening

READ THE BIBLE

Lovely.

3. Catholic school student makes Facebook page advocating “killing hookers” – Yeah, just like in the Bible when Jesus violently kills Mary Magdalene.

4. New Hampshire Rep. Nancy Elliot calls to ‘rethink’ gay marriage – Why after only being legal in the state for 2 months? Because she doesn’t like how gays have sex.

5. The history of pretty much everything:

Anne Mitchell update: justice prevails

Just yesterday I heard about this story for the first time. Anne Mitchell, a nurse who anonymously blew the whistle on an irresponsible doctor, was tracked down and penalized for speaking out.

But now I’m happy to report that justice has prevailed and Mitchell has been found not guilty of “misuse of official information.” Here’s the write-up from Orac.

An epic fail that’s closer to home

Yesterday, when I posted about several stories that I grouped under the collective category of epic fails, one commenter pointed out one that I’d forgotten to include, one within the skeptical community. The other day, Michael Shermer posted his semi-regular column on Skepticblog, a blog hosted by those involved in the yet-to-be-sold pilot episode of The Skepologists.

The problem is that Shermer used Skepticblog to once again promote his libertarian politics. Now I recognize that the skeptical community largely consists of two political persuasions, liberals and libertarians. And while I happen to belong to the former, I also recognize that some of the best skeptics I know are libertarians. However, I personally find libertarianism to be a very flawed ideology that takes a lot more on faith than otherwise rational libertarian skeptics would like to admit. And I feel that some skeptics have done an excellent job rationally dissecting and critiquing libertarianism, particularly when it seems to hinder the critical thinking of otherwise good skeptics.

But that’s not my objection to Shermer’s piece.

Not at all.

If he had posted a well-written critique of big government that included appropriate facts that were backed by evidence, I’d be a little concerned about his bringing politics into skepticism but would ultimately accept it as I too am prone to bringing abortion, gay marriage, public health care, religion, etc into skepticism when I feel that specific claims made by public figures are objectively false.

Again, while I don’t share Shermer’s politics, that is not the reason why I feel this is an inappropriate entry on Skepticblog. If he were to address finance from a science-based perspective or at least an evidence-based one, that would have been fine. However, that’s not the piece that Shermer had written. Instead, his piece on Skepticblog was an incoherent, logical-fallacy-filled rant about how much money is being spent by the Obama Administration.

One commenter using the name Ebenezer Clipperlock did a great job pointing out Shermer’s fallacies:

“Well, I am a skeptic, and I can find “appeal to emotion”, “a.o. incredulity”, “pulling out of context”, “association / causation” and “comparing apples with oranges”. I wonder if there are more. Interestingly, three of those are not on the oft cited list at http://www.theskepticsguide.org/resources/logicalfallacies.aspx.”

But sadly, many commenters have sided with Shermer. Though I couldn’t find one that supported the entry but said they disagreed with its subject matter. In fact, at least most of those supporting the piece not surprisingly happen to agree with his position. I’m not making an argument here. It’s just an observation, a depressing one considering one would expect readers of a skeptical blog to be more objective in their assessments.

Shermer’s rant is not a skeptical article and does not belong on a skeptical blog. Skeptics could sit around and argue politics till the apocalypse but that’s counterproductive and not the purpose Skepticblog is supposed to serve. It’s supposed to be promoting critical and evidence-based thinking.

I’m all for critiquing religion in skepticism from an evidence-based perspective and I’m all for critiquing political claims from an evidence-based perspective, whether it’s a position I agree with or not. But inserting one’s subjective political diatribes unbacked by evidential claims hurts not only Shermer’s own reputation but also hurts the credibility of the entire blog because if Shermer turns people off with his politics, the site might lose some readers entirely.

And lastly, to those who are cheering Shermer’s piece who happen to also share his position, please explain to me precisely how turning this forum into a political shouting match furthers the cause of skepticism? I really would like to know.

How Andrew Wakefield Tried To Censor Opponents

This Week in Epic Fails 2.10.10

1. Utah passes bill allowing women to view heartbeat of their 3-week-old fetus before abortion – Hope the anti-choicers are happy with the result because 3-week-old fetuses don’t have heartbeats:

Before HB200 cleared the chamber in a 53-15 vote, Minority Leader David Litvack, D-Salt Lake City, unsuccessfully attempted to amend the bill to delete language he believed to be flat-out false, referring to viewing the heartbeat of a fetus at three weeks.”It is not medically accurate,” Litvack said. “It’s not possible. It does not exist.”

Litvack read from a physician’s e-mail that said you could expect to see embryonic cardiac activity at about six weeks from the woman’s last period.

Rep. Carl Wimmer, the bill’s sponsor, disputed Litvack’s claim.

“There are arguments on both sides of the issue,” Wimmer, R-Herriman, said.

I’m sure there are, Carl. The problem is that reality is only on ONE side, the side that says that there isn’t a human fetus on Earth that has a heart at 3 weeks, let alone a heartbeat.

2. Left Brain/Right Brain demolishes J.B. Handley’s latest moronery – Yup, Handley trots out the old “too much too soon” gambit and gets a detailed response explaining precisely why it’s complete garbage.

Oh, and speaking of anti-vaccine lunatics. . .

3. The Australian Vaccination Network (AVN–that’s really their acronym, hehe) is being audited – It couldn’t happen to more deserving folks:

THE BANGALOW-BASED Australian Vaccination Network will undergo a full audit by the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing following complaints it has been unlawfully fundraising.

Charity inspectors are expected to soon visit the organisation’s office to examine records and interview staff to check if it has been operating in breach of the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991.

Awwwwwwww! That’s a shame, a damned, damned shame.

4. Evolution Fucked Your Shit Up: The World’s 50 Freakiest Animals – Step right up, folks. And welcome to the greatest show on Earth. See the Sea Pig, the snake with legs, the Aye-Aye (which I called the MonkeySquirrelRodent a year and a half ago), the Hairy Frog, the Human-Faced Carp, the Axolotl, the Chinese Giant Salamander, the Thorny Devil Lizard, the Hagfish, the Seadevil, the Goblin Shark, the Purple Frog, the Pygmy Marmoset, the Sea Dragon, the Tarsier, the Angora Rabbit, the Blobfish, the Wrinkle-Faced Bat, the Dumbo Octopus, the Liger, and many more–they’re all here!!!!

Mother nature is a mad scientist!

Made of pure cute