Space is fake I tells ya!

SciManDan's Tinfoil Tuesday vid. I thought Flat Earthers were nuts.


http://https://youtu.be/AczntG70upY

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2VBPDHt

Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman

These clowns are at it again.

Far-Right Smear Merchants Try to Slime Pete Buttigieg with Bogus Sex Assault Claim

Quote:

A pair of right-wing provocateurs are being accused of attempting to recruit young Republican men to level false allegations of sexual assault against Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. The details of the operatives’ attempt emerged as one man suddenly surfaced with a vague and uncorroborated allegation that Buttigieg had assaulted him. The claim was retracted hours later on a Facebook page appearing to belong to the man.

Quote:

“It's important for everyone to know that I was not sexually assaulted and would never falsely accuse anyone,” he wrote. “To keep it brief for now, I was approached by a political figure to come to DC to discuss political situations from the standpoint of a gay Republican. When I arrived they discussed Peter Buttigieg and started talking about how they would be working a campaign against him.” “I went to bed and woke up to a fake Twitter @RealHunterKelly and an article that I in no way endorsed or wrote. I have since left and am working on a formal statement to give to everyone including the Buttigieg family.”

Another source apparently has an audio recording of Wohl trying to talk him into making false allegations against Buttigieg. Read the whole story.

You may recall that the same duo tried to smear Mueller with similar tactics.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2ZLRjNR

CONDEMNATIONS OF NEW YORK TIMES FOR ANTISEMITIC CARTOON

https://m.jpost.com/Diaspora/Antisem...cartoon-588044

"The growing list of global condemnations from different sides of the political spectrum and from politicians and journalists illustrate the wide-ranging impact the cartoon has had. Published in Thursday’s print edition during the end of Passover, it was not widely noticed until Friday night. The paper removed it online on Saturday."

And I'm sure every member here will condemn this as well no doubt.:thumbsup:

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2GK5uui

Indian Army Discovers "Yeti" Footprint

They're right up there in credibility with our current leader, who was the infamous "general who mentioned that sniffex didn't find bombs but it's the only thing we've got so we're working with it".

Any footers out there have any tables on hominid footprints. 32 x 15 inches seems rather large for a purportedly 8 foot individual.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/30/a...ntl/index.html

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2PBW9bS

Sucking or Blowing

Okay, this may be a really dumb question, but what the hell, I'm going to ask it anyway.


Concorde's four Olympus engines outputted 169 kN each (wet), pushing fuel and air out the back at an enormous rate and therefore pushing the craft forwards rather quickly.

In order to achieve this it's dragging in (I have no idea how much but it must be lots of) air at the front of the engine.


In what sense, if any, can Concorde (and other jets) be said to have been propelled by the suction in front rather than the exhaust behind. Are they secretly the same thing? Is the question meaningless? Am I missing something terribly obvious?

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2VAKoI3

Have I crossed the line into curmudgeon?

I am a vigorous supporter of the New York Giants NFL football team. The Giants recently drafted a small school corner back with their 6th pick. What a day for him. That night he goes to an off-campus party and gets shot and his best friend who also is on the football team gets killed. I post on a Giant supporter website very similar to this forum. I felt appalled that a few people posted to the affect that the Giants should have vetted him better without having any knowledge of the details of the shooting.

Today the kid posted this on twitter.

Quote:

God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers. I love you forever. Thank you for being a true friend who uplifted me, corrected me when i was in the wrong, and accepted my flaws. Thank you for being a brother to me. Thank you for letting me experience your life

My initial reaction is does god need soldiers? Soldiers don't use reason as their weapon. Soldiers use weapons as their weapons. When I think of myself in a potential firefight I see god's army as standing opposed and the believers in the first amendment standing at my side. This guy's tweet angered me for using a warlike metaphor for his dead friend. Not that long ago this tweet wouldn't have bothered me in the least. I had a more forgiving philosophy. Stuff has happened to me I will share sometime but I'm curious if I've become ******* crazy.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2ZJcMqP

Sam O' Nella's video on corrupt popes

Sam O' Nella's latest video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfaIM7Ybwj4 isn't that funny. I feel he's sold out by this point, with all the sponsorships, and he's just repeating crazy stories he heard elsewhere. I've heard most of these ones before. Heck, his one on Michael Malloy- that one is on the website of NOTDOT.

He's not that funny, anyway. And this video on Popes is boring, considering that they're perfectly feasible given that they took place within the Middle Ages. What do you think?

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2UO0bin

Terrorist plot broken up

Looks like we're lucky that this guy is a moron and didn't realize who he was talking to.

Quote:

Mark Steven Domingo, 26, of Reseda, California, was arrested Friday night after he received what he thought was a live bomb, but in fact was an inert explosive device that was delivered by an undercover law enforcement officer as part of an investigation by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Link

More from the article was that he bought 3 inch nails because it would penetrate the skin and hit vital organs. He also loved al-Baghdadi because of his actions. We're lucky the FBI caught this, and that this guy will go to prison. He was a military man, I'm not sure if it's relevant.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2ZGcX6l

al-Baghdadi is still alive and leading ISIS, new propaganda video claims

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is still alive and leading ISIS, new propaganda video claims

Quote:

The roughly 18-minute videotaped propaganda message, which comes on the heels of the Islamic State losing valuable ground in Syria and Iraq, purportedly shows Baghdadi seated among other ISIS militants, whose faces are blurred. In it, he acknowledges the loss of territory while also celebrating the horrific attacks in Sri Lanka that killed 253 people on Easter Sunday. The remarks suggest the video was recorded recently.

The DW news comment was that he has some brain damage, but not enough that he is disabled. They described it as he wasn't his old self but he does appear to be in charge of ISIS.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2UL2N0w

Michael Peterson 'staircase' murder.

For some reason, I wasn't interested enough in the case to follow it at the time, but recently heard part of an interview with Peterson, and have some questions.

I only saw about 10 minutes of the interview, but formed some opinion on Petersons character.


He has the charming-sociopathic thing down. A good writer, his speech was full of description and easy banter, and went into detail about how 'look at me - you don't think I could harm a soul', do you looks. I thought he could be an excellent actor.


As far as the death (following another of his partners also dying from a staircase fall), without viewing forensics, I formed an immediate opinion he was a murderer. Of at least one, possibly two.


That, I admit, is not the way I usually look at a case, it is just a gut instinct that may be wrong. Does anyone recall this case, and could you share some viewpoints. Thank you.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2ZJ7tro

Storage requirement increase for Windows 10

It probably won't come into play for most people, as storage is so cheap. We run a bunch of those Azule stick PC's so this hit us a bit hard. It's not much of an increase in size requirements but both 86x and 64x windows OS's are increasing in base size.

Link

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Working on updates ...

Working on updates 5%

Don't turn off your PC. This will take a while.


Your PC will restart several times

This began 5 hours ago ;)

Mea culpa - it's a baby laptop only used for surfing, Netflix via TV etc, and the SSD hasn't got room for a Win10 update full download and I've just ignored it. For several months :o Today there happened to be a chunky USB drive plugged in and it offered to use that. Bets on how long it might take?

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2PD5XCv

Melbourne doctor who called for women to be raped stood down during investigation

Glad to hear this guy got what he deserved...

Quote:

The health district responsible for the hospital which employs an emergency doctor who said “some women deserve to be raped” has ordered the doctor be stood down while they investigate. Earlier in April Dr Christopher Kwan Chen Lee was suspended by the Tasmanian health practitioners tribunal for six weeks after he admitted to posting a series of sexist and racist remarks online. While Lee previously worked in Tasmania, in 2018 he began work at Box Hill hospital in Victoria as an emergency doctor, and the suspension bars him from working anywhere in Australia.

https://www.theguardian.com/australi...-investigation

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2XWCC93

Norwegian Fishing Boat Encounters Weaponised Whale

Whale with harness could be Russian weapon, say Norwegian experts

Quote:

Fisherman raised alarm after white whale sporting unusual strapping began harassing their boats Marine experts in Norway believe they have stumbled upon a white whale that was trained by the Russian navy as part of a programme to use underwater mammals as a special ops force. Fishermen in waters near the small Norwegian fishing village of Inga reported last week that a white beluga whale wearing a strange harness had begun to harass their fishing boats. “We were going to put out nets when we saw a whale swimming between the boats,” fisherman Joar Hesten told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. “It came over to us, and as it approached, we saw that it had some sort of harness on it.” The strange behaviour of the whale, which was actively seeking out the vessels and trying to pull straps and ropes from the sides of the boats, as well as the fact it was wearing a tight harness which seemed to be for a camera or weapon, raised suspicions among marine experts that the animal had been given military-grade training by neighbouring Russia. Inside the harness, which has now been removed from the whale, were the words “Equipment of St. Petersburg”. The fisherman said the whale was very tame and seemed used to human beings. “If this whale comes from Russia – and there is great reason to believe it – then it is not Russian scientists, but rather the navy that has done this,” said Martin Biuw of the Institute of Marine Research in Norway.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2PzvJHQ

Taxation through inflation? Price is right says yes!

I could buy a brand new car for $2500 in 1972 lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veNF--8CunM&t=263s

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How can social media tackle more false news more quickly?

Yeah, yeah, everyone loves to moan about Facebook and social media, but if Facebook (or Twitter, Instagram, etc) shut down, they'd just moan about the next biggest thing.

If you think the big social media platforms are doing it wrong, what can you suggest would make good rules and methods for platforms for sharing information with friends and groups that wouldn't spread harmful or false information?

I thought I'd ask in here, since we have a rather special group of people with mostly a long education in online discussion, and in combatting false news and harmful behaviour.

I'm aware that I may be asking a group biased against "social media" because many choose to post in here instead, but I have no data to reflect actual numbers/opinions.

I think "social media" is a buzzword people often use to get a negative reaction. I also think that online discussion forums are the "social media" in comparison to email, which was the "social media" before telegrams, snail mail, stage coach, etc.

I think ISF is a valuable part of the global critical thinking community, and our members' experience could reveal suggestions that may not have reached the wider public's consideration.

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Xenon-124 half-life is trillion times universe age

I wonder what it would take to actually find the tellurium daughter atoms?


http://www.sci-news.com/physics/half...124-07132.html

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Synagogue shooting in San Diego

Little surprised nobody's posted this yet. Apparently there are 3 critically injured and one dead so far. They've detained someone but they're being very mum on details. According to CNN, he called the police and surrendered to them, and there's been mention of an "open letter".

They're calling it a hate crime "because of statements that were made when the shooter entered."

The way they're tiptoeing around makes me think it's another right-wing shooter, otherwise they'd be trumpeting his nationality or ancestry.

What a horrible end to Pesach.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2IWMlrw

Science 2.0 Episode By Episode

I already made a thread on Science 2.0, but it was derailed. THIS thread will be more stringent, with an episode-by-episode overview for anyone who wants to follow the satirical webseries Science 2.0. Anybody who does not like Science 2.0 or finds him boring can go to the other thread. THIS thread is strictly for discussion of Science 2.0 We'll start with Episode 1. What are your thoughts? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmKNKZN9l9w&t=567s

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Hope. The latest on ketamine.

Ketamine seems to be the new, evolving treatment for depression.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/l...392-2/fulltext

About 2 years ago, my doctor gave me a ketamine infusion for chronic pain and depression. I only had one because of the price. But what I noticed right away a great relief of depression.

The treatment itself is almost hallucinatory, with a rush of positivity and peace, a floating sensation, and I couldn't stop smiling.

In the past 2 years since my treatment, I am hearing more and more about ketamine; approval from FDA, highly recommended by many in the medical field, used for intense, chronic pain. My sister recently started using a ketamine nasal spray for her unbearable pain. She says the drug has prevented her from being bedridden or in the hospital, and has her no longer thinking about suicide.

The issue, for me, is the expense.

I would be interested on opinions. Thanks.


I'm interested

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Why isn’t there an equal/opposite force from gas moving due to pressur gradient force

There is none. I checked. But why. They said it does?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AubIFUsq7Ss

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Islam. How Do We Cope?

Having just listened to Sam Harris podcast: "What Do Jihadists Really Want?", I find myself struggling to see a clear way forward for us in the West, as Islam becomes more and more prevalent.

Sam has given this talk before as he reads directly from an issue of the IS publication Dabiq, but has decided to precent it again in the wake of the recent bombings in Sri Lanka.

Reading the words of Jihardists Sam manages to dispel any misconceptions about the real motives driving the conflict. The words "We will never stop hating you until you embrace Islam" are a daunting excerpt.

Once again, (as was found in the investigations following 9/11), we find well of and educated, middle to upper class, muslims as the perpetrators and suicidal bombers. This must mute the claims of those who continue to bleat that social disadvantage is the motivation. The question about the isolation of Jihardist extremists from mainstream Muslims must also be brought into question.

Sam reads the words of a woman convert to Islam, who is exulted that her infant son was killed and hence martyred in the conflict. How can we begin to deal with people who have this degree of belief? It makes the most fanatical of Christian devotees look limp by comparison.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2DAksSB

Wealthy guys more likely to BS than other folks

Rich guys are most likely to have no idea what they’re talking about, study suggests

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Washington Post Researchers attempt to measure how often people oversell themselves in society Researchers embarked on a novel study intent on measuring what a Princeton philosophy professor contends is one of the most salient features of our culture — the ability to play the expert without being one. Or, as the social scientists put it, to BS. Research by John Jerram and Nikki Shure of the University College of London, and Phil Parker of Australian Catholic University attempted to measure the pervasiveness of this trait in society and identify its most ardent practitioners. Study participants were asked to assess their knowledge of 16 math topics on a five-point scale ranging from "never heard of it" to "know it well, understand the concept." Crucially, three of those topics were complete fabrications: "proper numbers," "subjunctive scaling" and "declarative fractions." Those who said they were knowledgeable about the fictitious topics were categorized as BSers. Using a data set spanning nine predominantly English-speaking countries, researchers delineated a number of key findings. First, men are much more likely than women to master the art of hyperbole, as are the wealthy relative to the poor or middle class. North Americans, meanwhile, tend to slip into this behavior more readily than English speakers in other parts of the globe. And if there were a world championship, as a true devotee might appreciate, the title would go to Canada, data show...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...ut-study-finds

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Anti vaxxers and measles

I thought we would take a moment to laugh at people that refuse to get vaccines and look at startling statistics about measles.

Measles kills 12,000 - 79,000 Americans annually.

Meanwhile, the CDC estimates only 38% of adults get their measles vaccination.

https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html

Wait...I'm being told this isn't measles. This is flu. Measles killed 600 people a year before the vaccine.

Why do 60% of adults not count as anti vaxxers?

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Help with Einstein quotes please

I have seen the following two books referred to and although the writer of the post on the forum concerned will carry on believing that Einstein was not an atheist, I would like to cite references or a link or two which show that the books will almost certainly be misquoting !

[

Quote:

The books: Albert Einstein, The Human Side: Glimpses from His Archives Revised ed. Edition, Kindle Edition by Albert Einstein (Author), Helen Dukas (Editor) Einstein and the Poet--In search of the Cosmic Man Kindle Edition by William Hermanns (Author), Adolph Caso (Editor)

If anyone has an instant answer, or who has the time to do the searching for me, I would be most grateful.

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Illegal to call police on 'innocent while black' people

It may soon be a crime in Grand Rapids, Michigan to call the police on people of color for 'participating in their lives'

Quote:

Originally Posted by CNN In Grand Rapids, Michigan, it may soon no longer be just unfair to call the police on people of color who have done nothing wrong. It may be downright illegal. The City Commission held a public hearing Tuesday on a proposed human rights ordinance that would make it a criminal misdemeanor to "racially profile people of color for participating in their lives," the city said in a statement. The charge could result in up to a $500 fine, according to CNN affiliate WOOD. "I am appalled that I live in a city I grew up in that has to have an ordinance to tell people not to call the police on people because of the color of their skin," said one citizen at the hearing. Another said that while the intention is good, the ordinance is redundant given existing laws against discrimination. The commission will vote on the ordinance sometime after May 14, WOOD reported. Grand Rapids experienced racially biased 911 calls first hand, according to the station, when a neighbor falsely reporting a shooting in the neighborhood and a 12-year-old girl was handcuffed as a result. But stories of police being called when people of color engage in fairly mundane activities have arisen all over the country...

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/25/us/gr...rnd/index.html

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False child abuse allegation and bad policing torment Albuquerque family.

Robby Soave at Reason has just published a very interesting article about a baseless child abuse allegation that devastated a Albuquerque family. Even as it became clear that the allegations were unfounded, local police continued to hound the family using the sweeping discretionary authority granted in these kinds of cases. Well worth the read, here: https://reason.com/2019/04/25/adam-lowther-child-services-police-abuse/

The issue of CPS power to intervene on families is one issue where I find the libertarians have got it right. Many states have granted wide authority to these agencies to remove children and conduct investigations with little due process or judicial oversight in the interest of protecting young children. While well intentioned, the granting of such sweeping authority allows for gross abuses, such as this case, to occur.

The conclusion of the article is the most concerning. This family happened to be fairly well off and in a good position to fight the long battle against the system, incurring over $300,000 in legal costs and losing jobs after being publicly accused of being child molesters. Many families of lesser means would not be able to fight such an abuse and probably would have plead out or been crushed by the system.

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California's Solution To Minorities Causing Trouble At School

If this bill passes, Cali schools will be severely limited in enforcing "Willful Defiance" rules in California schools because it looks bad.

Quote:

Under the new version (Senate Bill 419), students in grades 4-8 wouldn’t be suspended for disrupting school activities or willfully defying school authorities, including teachers and staff. The bill would also ban schools from suspending students in grades 9-12 for the same thing until January 1, 2025. The law would apply to both public and charter schools.

Gov Brown vetoed a similar bill.

I can't find the thread, but I mentioned recently that cities in CA are not prosecuting certain crimes due to political correctness (too many minorities in jail). Same thing here, and it doesn't get any clearer. Gotta bring those numbers down somehow!

Quote:

Research has shown the category of willful defiance was disproportionately used to discipline minority students, specifically African-Americans. Assembly Bill 420 was signed into law by Governor Brown in 2014, eliminating the expulsion option for schools. It took effect on January 1, 2015.

California is so full of baloney. This fixes nothing, which is how Cali rolls (see gun control). Changing laws and rules to even out the demographics? Man that is some stupid stuff. We hired these people? My gawd...

If you can't fix the problem, fudge the numbers! Brought to you by the infamous 9th Circuit!

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Where Do You Land on this Bigotry Index?

Source:
https://twitter.com/DanWeldonFL/stat...-bigots-pic%2F

You can find me near* the intersection of capitalists, cis-men, heteros, zionists, polluters, cultural appropriators, and people who stop at yellow lights.

---
*I don't always stop at yellow lights, which is why you'll find me near the intersection, but not necessarily at the intersection.

Also, is it just me, or does "Nazis" seem to be an afterthought?

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OMG a Ghost!

Just found on Yahoo News
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/ghos...101331057.html

Pretty weak

https://twitter.com/i/status/1120105697411129345

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Texas school implements dress code for visiting parents

Quote:

HOUSTON - A Houston high school, like many schools, has a dress code for students, but now the parents of the teens who attend James Madison High School must also abide by a dress code. Principal Carlotta Outley Brown outlined what is not allowed when visiting the campus, KHOU reported. The list includes: Satin caps Shower caps Hair rollers House shoes Pajamas Ripped jeans Leggings when worn with a shirt that allows areas of the body to be seen Low-cut, revealing tops Sagging pants Undershirts Daisy Dukes Low rider shorts Short dresses

Article with full text of the memorandum sent out to parents:https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/t...nAU71jQLd5lkVU

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“Using the Science of Superhero Origins to Track Real Life Pseudoscience”

“Using the Science of Superhero Origins to Track Real Life Pseudoscience”

Presentation by Russ Dobler

Sponsored by CNY Skeptics

Time: Wednesday, May 15, 2019, 7:00 PM

Where: Manlius Library, One Arkie Albanese Ave, Manlius, NY, 13104, USA

Event is Free and Open to the Public

Light refreshments will be served

Please contact 1-315-636-6533 or email info@cnyskeptics.org for more information

Presentation Summary:

We lost the Man last year, so let's take a look at Stan Lee's comic book creations and notice they reflect the fact that no one really knew what the heck "radiation" was in the '60s, despite the word being everywhere. As time goes on, other "sciencey" words become either scary or overhyped, great for both new superhero origins and for conniving hucksters. "Quantum"? "Toxin"? Like Stan said, “if it sounds good, use it!”

Presenter Bio:

President of the New York City Skeptics, Russ Dobler has a degree in geophysics and a certificate in journalism, which he combines in his role as Science Editor for the pop culture website, “AiPT! Comics,” where he writes about not just the science of superheroes, but the portrayal of skepticism in media and how to apply skepticism to media. His favorite thing, though, is to help other people refine their voices and craft work on topics they care about.

Central New York Skeptics (CNY Skeptics) is a community organization dedicated to the promotion of science and reason, the investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims, and the improvement of standards for science education and critical-thinking skills.

Attached Images

doblerheadshotwide.jpg (73.0 KB)

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But why is the rum... err... nitrogen gone?

So it occurred to me that all the "Venus was once like Earth" and "Mars was once like Earth" people are essentially wrong. Those never were ANYTHING like Earth. Namely, everything except Earth and Titan seems to be missing one thing almost entirely: Nitrogen.

Incidentally, this would also explain why Mars has such a thin atmosphere. Because it should be able to hold onto N2 just fine... if it had any to start with. As I was saying, Titan holds a thick atmosphere of N2 at lower gravity than Mars.

The problem with N2 vs O2 is one that doesn't even have anything to do with having a magnetic field. O2 is broken into atomic oxygen by just UV light from the sun, and then it either reacts with something or escapes into space. The same gravity that would allow you to hold onto O2, is nowhere near enough to hold the half weight of just O atoms. N2 is holding together much tighter, and needs higher frequency UV to break apart. The sun isn't producing very much of those frequencies, at its current temperature, and even less of it in the distant past when it was a cool young star.

This also ties in with the old terraforming thread, btw: yeah, well, just bringing water to Mars won't really cut it. We'd need to bring N2 from somewhere, ideally. And we have no real idea where.

This also has strong implications for life. We had some news recently about Phosphorous being rare in other nebulas. But Nitrogen is even more essential for anything even vaguely resembling life, as well as for holding onto your atmosphere, and down here having any seems to be an exception.

And I would say it has a pretty strong implication that Venus never was like Earth. We just never had nearly as much carbon in the atmosphere to start with, so I'm betting that Venus started its runaway greenhouse transformation long before Earth, and long before it could have any chance at a life that could give it an O2 atmosphere.

So anyway, this all gets me wondering: so where is all the Nitrogen? Just one planet and one moon in the whole solar system having any quantities worth talking about is making them rather an odd exception. What happened to N2 in other places? Or didn't they have any to start with? Probably didn't. But then where did WE get ours?

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Help with demon ID

My boy found this on the beach:



Cleaned up, it looks like this:



The closest I can get to who it is, is Pazuzu, the Babylonian demon from The Exorcist. I've found images of similar statues that have been made and sold as Pazuzu, and that would fit the facts of the story.

Found at a beach, but it obviously isn't flotsam, because it's brass.
It was in a position that looked like it had been thrown out of a car on the way past.
It wouldn't surprise me to find someone scared of having Pazuzu around and deciding to get rid of it.

It's now taking centre stage on our weird articles display, and if anyone can shed light on who it actually is, go ahead!

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2KYWHtN

Thou shalt not have sex with a boat anymore

Bit left field

Museum decides calling a vessel "she" is bad, so they need to be gender neutral.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...gns-referring/

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2IENcxH

Recognising a Ponzi Scheme

Nifty link with information I hope I don't ever have to break to a loved one.

https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/scams/.../ponzi-schemes

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Saudi Arabia holds mass execution of 37 people, including one crucifixion.

CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/23/middl...ntl/index.html

Quote:

(CNN)Saudi Arabia has executed 37 men convicted of terror-related crimes, the kingdom's official news agency said Tuesday. One of the convicts was crucified, according to an interior ministry statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). "The death penalty was implemented on a number of criminals for adopting extremist terrorist ideologies and forming terrorist cells to corrupt and disrupt security as well as spreading chaos and provoking sectarian strife," SPA said in a tweet.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2Guwr56

Federal response to hurricanes

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cabbage (Post 12672702) No, you're the one failing to understand: You asked which positions are relevant for a catastrophe and I said it depends. Then I mentioned Katrina, which is merely and example of how FEMA would be the position in question for this specific catastrophe. This specific example of "Which Positions for Which Catastrophe" merely happened to occur under GWB's watch and was never intended as a comment on Trump's competency, since that wasn't addressed in the question you asked.

But there have actually been serious hurricanes under Trump. And Trump's FEMA apparently handled them better than Bush's.

So that's contradictory evidence (and not speculative either) to the assertion that Trump is uniquely unprepared to handle catastrophes.

Quote:

No, unlike you I was paying attention to the question I was answering:

But ignoring why that question was relevant in the first place.

Moved from here

Posted By:kmortis

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YouTube, Better Dead Than Red

Is it my imagination? Or, are there more ads on YouTube now?

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Man arrested for shooting person who tried to steal the man's car

This may contribute to the debate over the use guns by civilians in response to crimes. On social media I have already noticed facts getting mangled in discussions of this particular incident.

Affidavit: Man arrested for murder after confronting car theft suspects with AR-15, firing at their vehicle

Quote:

Brice Fitch is accused of firing that shot following a confrontation that occurred at around 4 a.m. Friday in the 300 block of South Jasmine Street in Denver. According to the affidavit, Fitch told police he “heard rustling” when he was letting his dogs outside, and noticed the door to his vehicle was open and the lights were on. This led Fitch to confront the suspects he said were breaking into his vehicle, and to yell “hey, get out of my car,” the affidavit says. Fitch told police he went back inside to get his AR-15 and told another person who was home to call police. The affidavit says he then walked toward the suspect’s vehicle and that he could see a man and woman trying to get inside “The victim observed the driver reached for the console area and drive off, [swerving] in the direction of him, and the gun went off,” the affidavit reads. Fitch told police that the gun went off when he fell, and that he had his hand on the trigger, pulling it by accident. He said the driver’s side door of the vehicle – which was still open – “went over him.” The suspect’s vehicle, according to the affidavit, then stopped in the middle of the block, and Fitch said he shot at the back of it twice, hitting it in the rear.

In particular, I keep seeing people saying that Fitch fired at the people to try to stop them from stealing his car. This is not true - he saw them in his car, but by the time he got his gun, the thieves were in their own car, not his. It seems likely that Fitch's legal defense will push the idea that the first shot may have been accidental and the next two because he thought they were going to run him over.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2IQ1wTB

Comedian who plays president on TV wins presidential elections in landslide

Where? Of course that can happen only in the dark tragicomedy that is post-Maidan Ukraine.

Nearly three in four voters just made Volodymyr Zelenskiy the next president of Ukraine. So what’s next?

Quote:

Originally Posted by meduza.io With 99.72 percent of all second-round ballots counted, the actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy has defeated incumbent President Petro Poroshenko with 73.22 percent of the votes — the largest victory margin in Ukraine’s history as an independent nation. In terms of absolute numbers, however, Zelenskiy received just 13.5 million votes — fewer than any of his predecessors, except Poroshenko in 2014 (who got 9.8 million, but won in the first round) and Viktor Yanukovych in 2010 (who received 12.4 million votes). The only region Poroshenko won this weekend was Lviv (in the first round, he’d also won in the Ternopil region). Additionally, it's important to remember that neither Crimea nor the two separatists “republics” in the Donbas participated in Ukraine’s last two presidential elections. Roughly 6 million people live in these areas. [...]

So "The West"'s darling, the horrible, ultra-corrupt Petro "Porky" Poroshenko will be stripped of his immunity soon and likely will end up in Israel before that happens and he would have to face the several criminal investigations against him. The man who he accused of being behind Zelenskiy, fellow oligarch Kolomoiski who owns the TV network that hosts the presidential comedy series, has already fled to Israel years ago. Zelenskiy, himself Jewish as well, has denied the accusation and said that unlike Porky, he is at least not an oligarch himself.

Well, things can almost only get better for Ukraine, so here's hope that the guy is sincere and capable.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2UQLdwI

Kavanaugh's follies

This is the official thread for every bad choice Kavanaugh makes during his career as a Supreme Court justice. We may not be able to remove him, but at least his bad choices will give him notoriety.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2GtughZ

Mueller Investigation pt 6

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minoosh (Post 12672319) I hope we will have at least wised up to the dark side of social media. Actually, all media, MSM included.

Yes, and it seems to me that we're seeing a particularly toxic combination of social media and large strongly-partisan news sources. Calm, balanced reporting rarely seems to be linked in my Facebook feed, but I have friends who regularly link outraged articles from The Blaze or the Palmer Report (etc, etc), and other friends who then assume that the articles are credible.

Facebook friend circles often seem to evolve into little echo chambers, each seeing mostly outrageous stories about the other side and cutting themselves off from dissenting or even moderate views.

Now I've made myself sad.

Continued from here. You can quote or reply to any (on topic) posts from that thread here.

Posted By:kmortis

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2UQa3gu

Sam Parnia new interview

Here is a new interview of Sam Parnia:

http://www.iheartradio.ca/newstalk-1...7?mode=Article

There are again no mentions of a hit but he claims he has heard several typical stories of NDE where someone was dead and even returned back to life after one hour he was declared death and that he described everything around himself. That story starts around 6:50.

The story he claims is proof of a afterlife has holes:

- He does not describe anything concrete.

- The staff if it even happened like the doctor described would be talking about it and with the patient to know what happened making the story even more unreliable.

- There are other people who were flat lined and returned back to life with no report of a NDE or anything paranormal: https://emj.bmj.com/content/18/1/74.full

- At 7:52 Parnia says that the doctor could not remember how much adrenaline he has given the patient and adrenaline is one of the factors that can cause a Lazarus Phenomena if the medication has a delayed action:

Quote:

Another theory is the delayed action of medication used as a part of resuscitation efforts, such as adrenaline.

Source: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/317645.php

- The patient was pumped full of drugs Parnia mentions at least adrenaline and phenylephrine.

If someone wants to add something more he is welcomed.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2DrJjbc

'I'm either too black or not black enough': One teenager's experience

I read the article linked below because I wanted to but the second-to-last paragraph disturbed me to the core, is this where epigenetics pseudoscience has led.

Quote:

And though I was not boarded on a ship from the 1500s to the 1800s, nor did I have to fight for my rights during the 1900s, I am here in the 2000s and the trauma in my DNA...

(Emphasis mine.)


https://www.bbc.com/news/world-47866741

It's bad enough that white supremacists claim that violence is an inherent genetic trait of Africans (or that Eirich vonDaniken claims that 'musicality' is an inherent trait of Africans for that matter.)


Inherent racial anything is a bad notion, no matter what the skin color of the person spouting it.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2IvAZeN

Easter bombings kill over 100 in Sri Lanka

According to the BBC, bombings of several churches and hotels took place just a couple of hours ago in Sri Lanka. The targeted churches were Catholic, and holding Easter services at the time of the attacks. Fewer seem to have been killed or wounded at the hotel locations.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack; but there is an extremist Muslim presence in Sri Lanka, and the country's Muslims and Buddhists have long been violently at odds with each other and that has including bombings of each other's religious institutions.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2Xwhd6l

FBI arrests New Mexico border militia leader

FBI arrests member of armed civilian group that detained migrants

Quote:

An FBI release said agents and Sunland Park police arrested Larry Mitchell Hopkins, 69, of Flora Vista, who is also known as Johnny Horton Jr., “on a federal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.” Shortly before 4 p.m. the United Constitutional Patriots declared an "emergency" on their Facebook page, stating that their commander had been arrested at their camp near the Mexican border, and asking for donations to a fundraising account.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2IvPmQr

A universe without logic

Could a universe exist and support advanced civilizations where our systems and forms of logic don't hold?

Like a universe where modus ponens doesn't hold.

I assume you couldn't have mathematics, and without mathematics could you have any type of advanced civilization? Or even life at all?

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2XrMfw7

De Niro says he's a better Mueller than Mueller

Last night on Colbert (April 19) Robert De Niro says he's better at playing Mueller than Mueller himself. If Mueller played himself on SNL, would he be better than De Niro? I can always tell it's De Niro playing Mueller, so it's not that convincing, but I don't think Mueller would be as good. That's what we saw when trump guest starred on SNL. Alec Baldwin was better, of course.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2vfPFGl

Urban not-so-legend: razor blades found in gas pump handle

I was surprised to find out this actually happened earlier this week at a gas station in Michigan. It's one of those kinds of stories that tends to make the chain-email rounds.

Quote:

Coloma Township Police say a woman first noticed a razor blade Monday night. The woman wasn't hurt, but police found more razor blades Tuesday. Chief Wes Smigielski went to the Speedway on Ryno Street. That's where the manager told him they found a second blade in the same handle and six more on top of the pump. He's now reviewing video to see when and who may have put them there. The last thing people think they'd encounter is a razor blade when reaching for the pump handle. Two were lodged in the plastic covering, but Chief Smigielski says there were six more. “They may have been there trying to do more, but then maybe someone may have saw them and they ran off. I’m not sure what happened,” said Smigielski. Looking at how rusted one is, Smiegielski says it could have been there for a few months. He says he's heard of this before but has never seen it in Coloma. “It’s kind of shocking and unsettling to say the least that someone would actually put that there or try to do that intentionally,” said Smigielski.

Not sure about the time period; I think razor blades tend to rust very quickly when left out in the rain, so I don't think it's necessarily been months since the assailant left them. But I suppose that ultimately matters little.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2UIQ0R0

Lorraine Warren dead

Golly, I hope they have enough material for more Conjuring documentaries!

https://deadline.com/2019/04/lorrain...or-1202598956/

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2VX2CjR

A Jolly Easter To All

It is with amusement that I listen to the bleatings of the religious each year, when this time comes around. Cries of dismay about "the true meaning of Easter" being overlooked, as we see chocolate eggs and chocolate bunnies, commanding large areas on supermarket shelves.

Hot cross buns are there as well of course, (since December 26 I think), giving us a vague hint about the significance of a cross at this time. I quite like the fruity buns myself although the cross itself is not so palatable.

Now someone is seriously messing with the buns:


https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-...-show/11028590

Quote:

Food is a key feature of Sydney's Royal Easter Show, however one vendor's experiment this year with a tried-and-true recipe has a few patrons feeling a little cross. Tony Ngo is a member of a family-run business that has courted controversy with its baking of rainbow-coloured hot cross buns.

Given that many Christians are not quite in step with the rainbow thing I suppose it's not that surprising.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2VWsDQk

Science 2.0 is almost certainly a joke

His latest video, episode 25, challenges AronRa to a debate. Not that Aron wouldn't accept, but I doubt he will, and I think Science 2.0 knows this as well. he said the same thing back in November about SciManDan in January.

Then again, he could be serious. I still haven't decided.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2DrIkb7

Leave a buffer for your car's bumper

Study contradicts practice of traffic light tailgating

When pulling up to a traffic light, most drivers get pretty close to the car in front of them, leaving just several feet of space between their bumper and the next.
The practice of packing tightly at traffic lights is widely accepted. Traditional thinking says the closer a car is to a traffic light, the more likely that car will be to pass through the intersection before the light turns red again.

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-11-buff...ailgating.html

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2IHberb

Snakes force Liberian President out of office

BBC News: Snakes force Liberian President George Weah out of office

"Snakes have been found in Liberian President George Weah's office, forcing him to work from his private residence, the BBC has learnt.

Press secretary Smith Toby told the BBC that on Wednesday two black snakes were found in the foreign affairs ministry building, his official place of work.

All staff have been told to stay away until 22 April."

In other news: BBC journalists writing deliberately ambiguous headlines for fun on slow bank holiday....

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2UqhHZH

Facebook bans far right groups

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...-britain-first

Quote:

Facebook has permanently banned a number of far-right organisations and individuals including the British National party (BNP), the English Defence League (EDL) and Britain First under its “dangerous individuals and organisations” policy. The ban, which came into effect at midday on Thursday, extends beyond the groups and individuals specifically cited as hate organisations: posts and other content that “expresses praise or support” for them will also be banned, as will users who coordinate support for the groups.

Not sure if this is a UK only thing; all the organisations and people referred to are UK based. Is this happening in other countries too?

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2IGBQbP

Scientists restore some functions in a pig's brain hours after death

Quote:

Circulation and cellular activity were restored in a pig's brain four hours after its death, a finding that challenges long-held assumptions about the timing and irreversible nature of the cessation of some brain functions after death, Yale scientists report April 18 in the journal Nature. The brain of a postmortem pig obtained from a meatpacking plant was isolated and circulated with a specially designed chemical solution. Many basic cellular functions, once thought to cease seconds or minutes after oxygen and blood flow cease, were observed, the scientists report.

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0417132805.htm

A nail in the coffin of the claim of NDE proponents that the brain functions are completely dead after mere seconds or minutes without oxygen and therefore NDEs are a proof of a afterlife.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2GqIosx

haveibeenpwned

I just became aware of this web service recently. As far as I can see, it is from a reputable source and safe to use.

Over the years there have been many data breaches that have been reported. Some are system intrusions, and others are lists that just popped up on hacker websites. These lists include information such as user name, email addresses, passwords (sometime plain text, sometimes encrypted), real addresses, bank info, etc...

The website https://haveibeenpwned.com/ will tell you if a particular email has appeared in any of these lists, and if so, which ones and when the breach took place.

My gmail account is clean, but my very old hotmail account shows up in 10 of those lists. :(


I did have an incident around 6 years ago. A charge for a purchase in the Microsoft store was on my Paypal account. I requested ip@ info for the transaction from Paypal and since it showed the purchase was made from Rio De Janeiro and all my other Paypal transactions originated in Toronto, they reversed the charge.

Pretty sure that issue started with my hotmail account being compromised.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2VXWI2g

Words you seldom use suddenly pop into yur head

Some years ago a guy on PCP started screaming near me. The word lunatic sprang into my head and as far as I can recall I had never previously used that word. Anyone ever have a similar experience?

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2VdOGF2

The most Bats**t insane channel on YouTube

The craziest conspiracy theory channel on YouTube is called Science 2.0. If you watch one of his video, be forewarned- there's an endless rabbit hole you're about to descend into. This guy has covered everything from religion to bigfoot. is he a joke? Please somebody explain what he is. can anybody find out who he is and what his whole deal is? His videos unsettle me.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2PkNbzK

Entire SNL sketch on Momo

I recently noticed that SNL has made a sketch on Momo. How did SNL get to this point? Why is there a sketch on Momo but none on Slenderman? I didn't find the sketch very funny.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2ULCJXN

What science fiction stories will...

...be popular in 2100? Which ones do you think will age well and still be relevant 81 years into the future?

I was thinking Dune might age well but what other ones - in the opinion of the august personages on this forum?

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2GjIdix

Who is Tony Heller

I was referred to this video by a meteorologist.

[yt]6kUAtt2pXlc[/yt]

Since it is clearly biased, I tried to find Tony Heller's credentials and found this site, which looks extremely suspicious to me. Finally, I searched for "Tony Heller" on ISF and found only one post that mentions him. (Now I cannot even find that post. It was by Trakar)

So is he a real denier who actually believes what he says or is he a big phony?

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2Gt38Rs

John Ford and “Mandalay”

Back in October of ‘79, I was subscribing to Asimov’s science fiction magazine. That issue had a story by John Ford called “Mandalay”, about a group of survivors of the collapse of a reality-bending commercial venture called “Alternities, Inc.”.

Basically they arranged to take you to any of a variety of “alternate universes” to live out your fantasies.... I had a flash recently and wanted to re-read the story.

Ford had died in 2006 of a fast-moving cancer.... And his one collection of short stories was no longer in print. Could not find the story anywhere on the ‘net.

So I started looking for the back issue. Tried 3 times on Amazon... First guy sent me the wrong issue, second guy just cancelled my order, but 3rd time was the charm.

Story held up well, and I had quite forgotten the twist ending!

I think Ford had managed a couple more stories in this setting, but the collection is apparently hard to get.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2V558r7

What Earth's gravity reveals about climate change

https://m.phys.org/news/2019-04-eart...s-climate.html
...between April 2002 and June 2017, Greenland lost about 260 billion tons of ice per year, Antarctica about 140 billion tons.
The first monthly gravity field maps should be available to international users by the end of July this year.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2DgEwt8

Could someone help explain these silly terms?

Lately - perhaps over the past year or so, I keep coming across the term, "twin flames".

What. What in heavens name is a twin-flame? I surmise it is a term familiar amongst 'believers'. I even asked on Quora, and received an answer calling me "ignorant", and "in need" of "being educated".

Bummer. That didn't answer my question. Perhaps it has been around forever, and I'm just now catching up.

So please, can someone "educate" me?

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2IpG4Fo

UK's new internet porn law

Couldn't find a thread on this.

https://www.theguardian.com/technolo...k-from-15-july

Quote:

The UK’s age verification system for online pornography will become mandatory on 15 July, the government has confirmed. From that date, commercial providers of online pornography will be required to carry out “robust” age verification checks on users, in order to keep children from accessing adult content. Websites that refuse to implement the checks face being blocked by UK internet service providers or having their access to payment services withdrawn. [...] Some campaigners have criticised the laws’ potential effectiveness. The government was forced to exempt large social media sites from the ban owing to fears that a strict implementation would result in sites including Twitter, Reddit, Imgur and Tumblr being blocked for adult content.

As an alternative to giving porn sites your credit card details you can buy a pornography card in a shop and then activate it with an app on your mobile phone.

Quote:

Additionally, concerns have been raised that the laws could result in the creation of a database of the UK’s porn viewers, which would pose a privacy problem if it were to ever leak. Unfortunately for the government’s attempts to calm fears on the privacy issue, the news was announced by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport in an email that exposed the contact details of almost 300 recipients. DCMS was also responsible for implementing the new GDPR laws in the UK, which mandate large financial penalties for breaches that expose personal data.

I expect a booming business in VPNs and proxy sites.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2UGZjB4

Rockets cannot propel in the vacuum of space.

They ASSUMED incorrectly (on purpose), that there is an equal and opposite force from gas movement due to pressure gradient force. Escaping gas needs something to push off of



Mathematical proof that the thrust equation is false

Attachment 39978

Attached Images

308053F1-9673-4230-ACBD-27616D0428EE.jpg (114.2 KB)

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2DdWZGD

Researchers create "lifelike" material with artificial metabolism

http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2019...ial-metabolism

Quote:

Using what they call DASH (DNA-based Assembly and Synthesis of Hierarchical) materials, Cornell engineers constructed a DNA material with capabilities of metabolism, in addition to self-assembly and organization – three key traits of life. “We are introducing a brand-new, lifelike material concept powered by its very own artificial metabolism. We are not making something that’s alive, but we are creating materials that are much more lifelike than have ever been seen before,” said Dan Luo, professor of biological and environmental engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The paper, “Dynamic DNA Material With Emergent Locomotion Behavior Powered by Artificial Metabolism,” published April 10 in Science Robotics. For any living organism to maintain itself, there must be a system to manage change. New cells must be generated; old cells and waste must be swept away. Biosynthesis and biodegradation are key elements of self-sustainability and require metabolism to maintain its form and functions. Through this system, DNA molecules are synthesized and assembled into patterns in a hierarchical way, resulting in something that can perpetuate a dynamic, autonomous process of growth and decay. Using DASH, the Cornell engineers created a biomaterial that can autonomously emerge from its nanoscale building blocks and arrange itself – first into polymers and eventually mesoscale shapes. Starting from a 55-nucleotide base seed sequence, the DNA molecules were multiplied hundreds of thousands times, creating chains of repeating DNA a few millimeters in size. The reaction solution was then injected in a microfluidic device that provided a liquid flow of energy and the necessary building blocks for biosynthesis. As the flow washed over the material, the DNA synthesized its own new strands, with the front end of the material growing and the tail end degrading in optimized balance. In this way, it made its own locomotion, creeping forward, against the flow, in a way similar to how slime molds move.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2KU76qK

Climate protestors threaten London mass transit disruption

After several days of blocking roads in central London, resulting in around 300 arrests, Extinction Rebellion are threating to disrupt the London Underground, including using the tactic of gluing themselves to Tube trains.

Quote:

London Evening Standard: Extinction Rebellion activists set to cause Tube chaos for millions of commuters Extinction Rebellion climate protesters have confirmed plans to cause Tube chaos for millions of commuters on the London Underground. The Extinction Rebellion group, which has been blocking roads and bridges in the capital this week, confirmed it would “non-violently disrupt Tube services to highlight the emergency of ecological collapse” on Wednesday morning. Transport for London warned bus users to expect disruption in central London during the morning rush. It tweeted: "Central London / Extinction Rebellion - Bus routes which usually serve central London are, again, diverted / curtailed due to on-going protest which are blocking several roads." In a statement the Extinction Rebellion said: "Participants will peacefully break the law in order to stop the Tube and then will wait to be arrested. "We sincerely apologise to all those who may suffer as a consequence of this disruption. In any other circumstances we would never dream of disrupting the Tube but this is an emergency. "We request that workers do not intervene in the protests to ensure that they go as smoothly and safely as possible for all involved."

Whatever one thinks about the protestors' declared aims, it seems that disrupting a mass transit system that actually reduces the numbers of vehicles on the road is dumb with a capital "D." I would also predict that after what appears to have been days of fairly violence-free protest, that will certainly change if they start screwing with the commutes of hundreds of thousands of people, and it won't be the police or Tube staff attacking protestors.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2UIe3zi

Columbine High School in lockdown

Columbine High School in lockdown over threats just days before shooting's 20th anniversary

Quote:

Authorities are hunting an "armed and dangerous" teenager suspected of making threats against Columbine High School, just days before the 20th anniversary of a mass shooting that killed 13 people. The information prompted a lockdown at the high school and several others outside Denver in the United States. All students were safe, school officials said. The suspect, 18-year-old Sol Pais, travelled to Colorado on Monday night (local time) and made threats against the schools, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and the FBI said. Authorities said the teenager was "infatuated" with the Columbine school shooting, the Denver Post reported. Ms Pais was last seen in the foothills west of Denver, the sheriff's office said, and is considered "armed and dangerous" and should not be approached. She was last seen wearing a black T-shirt, camouflage pants and black boots. Officials did not provide further details about the threats or say where she was from.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2XbIpXQ

CSICon 2019: A Skeptical Conference with the Top Minds in its Guests and Attendees!

Registration is now open: https://csiconference.org/

October 16 to 20, 2019, at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas

Special Guests Include:

• Brian Greene: Physics author and WSF founder. You probably know of him.
• Julia Sweeney: Everyone wuvs her!
• Leighann Lord: Another Very Funny Lady!
• John de Lancie: You know him as "Q", but he also happens to be an active skeptic nowadays
• Michael Mann: That climate change scientist every denier likes to pile on.
• David Mikkelson: Founder and CEO of Snopes.com. Look it up!
• Britt Marie Hermes: A former naturopathic "doctor", who now exposes its problems
• Banachek: He IS a freakin' mind reader, you know!
• Piff the Magic Dragon: His act is WAY better than the stupid costume he wears!
• Kurt Andersen: Author of witty and satirical things
• Jann Bellamy: Attorney and former fighter of chiropractic-favoring laws
• Kenny Biddle: Investigator of paranormal claims, and workshop runner on the subject
• Janice L. Boynton: Former believer in facilitated communication, now a critic of it
• Troy Campbell: Former Disney Imagineer
• Jen Gunter: The antidote to Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop.
• Bailey Harris: Author of the Stardust books, exploring science stuff (NOT related to Neil Gaiman's book)
• Jeff Hawkins: Early smartphone designer
• Nathan Lents: Author of Human Errors, a very nice book, if I say so, myself!
• James Alcock: A professor at York University in Toronto, and executive at CSI.
• Ray Hyman: Founding member of CSICOP.
• Scott Lilienfeld: Another CSI Fellow. This conference is full of them!!
• Nick Little: An attorney for CFI who lead the lawsuit against CVS for their homeopathy stuff.
• Chip and Grace Denman: I think they're here every year.
• Mark Edward: Another perennial face.
• Loren Pankratz: A man with a masterful Skeptic's Toolbox!
• Susan Gerbic: Founder of Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW), and also there every year.
• Ray Hall: The Papers Guy!
• Elizabeth Loftus: Writes about the fallibility of human memory. I don't remember much else about her.
• Jonathan Jarry: Man, this list is getting long. I might not have enough time, anymore, to describe all of these people!
• Gordon Pennycook: Seriously, though, this IS a very long list of people, isn't it?
• Ben Radford: If you weren't interested in anyone on this list, up to this point, then I suppose you're not going to get much more interested in the conference in general.
• Seth Shostak: So, you might as well stop reading the list of people, at this point, either way. I am including everyone on it, just to try to be fair, that's all.
• Jim Underdown: His last name is very redundant, I think. And, yes, he is another CFI person.
• Richard Dawkins: But, you can ignore him if you prefer. He generally keeps to the sides.

But, it's not just the guests that make CSICon great! It's the attendees, like me and hopefully you! Sharing a convention with likeminded independent minds is an awesome experience to behold! So, join us for that reason, alone!!

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2XhqAqs

Aerial structural firefighting

During the Notre Dame fire, President Donny Scheissdipff made a characteristically boneheaded suggestion about using water bombers. Somebody in France took the time to answer publicly, explaining why that wouldn’t work; probably other people had had the same idea; perhaps it was worth someone’s time to post a reply.

But even a dolt can have the germ of an idea. I once had the luck, quite a few years ago, to see a Sikorsky Skycrane making trial runs over the California coast, filling its tank at sea and then dumping water onshore. This technique, using the Skycrane and other copters, works well against brush and forest fires.

Could firefighting helicopters be used against structural fires? The advantage of a copter is its ability to hover. I don’t think hovering is much used against wildfires, where wide coverage is important, but against a more circumscribed blaze in a building, it might be feasible; I leave that question to the chopper pilots to answer.

Hovering over a burning Notre Dame while dumping water would have to be done from just the right altitude: low enough to cool and damp flames, but high enough for rotor wash to disperse the water and prevent battering of the structure; the method for releasing the water might have to be adapted to that specialized purpose. Updraft from the fire would be a serious factor, possibly defeating a first application, and also threatening the aircraft. Again, I leave practical evaluation to the pilots who would have to fly such a mission.

It’s wonderful to think of relays of copters attacking that heart-breaking fire with water gulped seconds before from the Seine. Would it be possible?
 

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2UELKCb

Here come the Notre Dame Fired Conspiracy Theories....

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/16/tech/...ire/index.html

Never takes them long....

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2ZhOB2g

Religious upbringing associated with less altruism, study finds

Religious upbringing associated with less altruism, study finds

Quote:

Children from religious families were less likely to share with others than were children from non-religious families. A religious upbringing also was associated with more punitive tendencies in response to anti-social behavior. The results were at odds with the perceptions of religious parents, who were more likely than non-religious parents to report that their children had a high degree of empathy and sensitivity to the plight of others.

Having grown up LCMS Lutheran this does not surprise me in the least.

via International Skeptics Forum http://bit.ly/2GkoPlj

Hydrino (?) and real Raman spectra

Hi everybody,

I'm Marco Marchesi from Italy, a chemist. I got interested in Mills' theory because of the CP approach, so also about the hydrino-related work and the Suncell. Sorry for opening another thread about the topic but I found closed all the previous Brilliant Light Power and/or Mills- related threads and I just had my account activated. I'm quite fascinated about the theory and the possibility to finely calculate all the numbers of atom and molecule physics, but I'm also quite disturbed about the big late in the so-called "hydrino" energy technologies.

So, my question.

Look at the registered Raman spectra (attached, sorry, I can't post URLs yet)
And look at the calculations (attach 02).

My own results are that the showed spectra is related to something biatomic, with a bond length of circa 0,36 Ångström, very like the half of a "normal" hydrogen molecule (so also the smallest known molecule).

Had anyone done this calculation yet?
Do you maybe have an other "classical" explanation for this results or the origin of this spectra?

Thank you in advance for any help.
Hope you like my contribution.
* sorry for the italian in the excel frame :)
Kind regards,
M.M.

Attached Images

	Raman Spettroscopy 02.jpg (41.5 KB)
	Raman Spettroscopy 01.jpg (35.0 KB)

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What would be the ideal global population in terms of sustainability?

Here are the issues that I would like to address:

1) Sustainability
2) Minimizing harmful impacts on the natural environment
3) High standards of living for everybody
4) Minimizing greenhouse gas emissions
5) Minimizing the depletion of exhaustible resources
6) End the destruction of natural habitats like rain forests, grasslands, wetlands, and lakes, rivers and oceans
7) Fishing should be sustainable
8) Minimize the extinction of other species due to human activity (possible exceptions for harmful species).
9) Minimize pollution

Population control should be humane, using tools like family planning, and ideally voluntary. In most advanced economies, the rate of reproduction has fallen below replacement rate, so I believe that the population could be gradually reduced to a sustainable size without using any inhumane methods. Just give women and men control over their own bodies and reproductive choices. The tools for this already exist. I believe that all forms of birth control should be free and/or affordable and easily accessible for those who want it.

I don't know if there's an ideal number, but I suspect that it's much fewer than what we have now. Maybe 1 or 2 or 3 billion? And could such a population be maintained for thousands or tens of thousands of years or more, and still achieve the above goals?

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Bernie Sanders at the Fox News town hall

Bernie Sanders at the Fox News town hall Monday evening.

I'm impressed with his crowd control there, something I haven't seen too much of, let alone in an event hosted by conservatives. He knows the stakes this time around.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sanders "I guess the president watches your network a little bit, right? "Hey President Trump, my wife and I just released 10 years, please do the same...."

:D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sanders ...if we spend all of our time attacking Trump, you know what? Democrats are gonna lose

[yt]p4ozAACcc8I[/yt]

I do wish he did better explaining the false socialism/capitalism dilemma. They seem to be hammering that into the discussion every time he's on any media.

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The 'psychics hired by LE' nonsense.

It is my understanding that, in the US, there has never been a psychic who solved a crime by volunteering tips that led to solving a crime, or location of persons/objects. I also recall that no Law Enforcement Agency employees, or seeks psychics to employee.


(The facts I recall came from this sub forum, but I couldn't locate them.) I am looking for links to support this. Recently I came across a long discussion about this on, I believe, Reddit or Quora. It seems to be a popular topic, and the responses are interesting.


And, of course, those with some silly anecdote, retelling how a 'friend of a friends sisters neighbor knew a girl who was missing, and the cops hired a psychic who took them to her body and said the husband did it, and he did.'


OK, a bit of an exaggeration, most are just trying to gather information and facts.


I am wondering if anyone could provide a helpful link? Thanks so much.

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Notre-Dame de Paris - cathedral on fire!

World-famous church suffering a massive fire in roof and spire. Live coverage:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGbmWOfdXcQ

Apparently, there is renovation going on, scaffolding is visible above the roof.

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Satellite IS29e "anomaly" on video (!)

Ars Technica has posted remarkable video from a ground-based telescope of a GEO satellite having a very bad day.

The video is about halfway down the page, and the interesting part starts at about 24s in the video (it's only 52s long).

If I'm reading it right, the incident in the video happened on Thursday (April 11).

For the moment, I don't have anything useful to add to the speculations about what happened, but I know there are (or were) at least a few of us here from the satellite business so I thought I'd share it.

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Third Eye Spies

A 2019 documentary attempts to open your mind to the possibility of unexplained physics... and perhaps becoming psychic yourself.

Call it paraphysics, remote viewing, ESP.... Recently declassified documents now let us investigate why the government (taxpayers) have spent so much money on psychics over the years.

Director Lance Mungia has a list of clips on his YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdG1...4UKWzTwfjL9jLM
..but the film will cost you $9.99 on Amazon. I just watched it.

https://thirdeyespies.com/

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBokQomPr_g

Banned TEDTalk about Psychic Abilities | Russell Targ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBl0cwyn5GY

Russell Targ's ESP Trainer app for iOS devices:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/esp-trainer/id336882103

Is the answer quantum nonlocality, entanglement? "Spooky action at a distance" invoked by our brains?

Or has dogma got you, as 1973 Nobel Prize in Physics and ESP/consciousness researcher Brian Josephson PhD suggests?

If you bypass the urge to hold up your hand in denial or to giggle, you can begin researching with the 2017 book by Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen, Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis. Buy it at Powell's. You can learn a few things about this website's founder, too. JREF....

Mr. Randi would urge you to disregard this topic because his nemesis Uri Geller is involved. His feats of psychokinesis aren't expressly validated in the film, but his remote viewing is, as seen in this Stanford Research Institute video from 1972:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ajipw8LrNo

Geller's work with Israel's Mossad is openly stated (a fact sidestepped in Phenomena), though the film doesn't go much into his life and work map dowsing for one million pounds a pop for petroleum and mining companies (for a sum of roughly $35.75 million in 2017 dollars according to Jacobsen, p. 332).

Numerous proofs of remote viewing are offered. Will you accept the data and investigate, or turn away until the topic is socially acceptable for open discussion?

How do you guys ignore remote viewers Pat Price, Joe McMoneagle, and Ingo Swann?

Quote:

'A large body of reliable experimental evidence points to the inescapable conclusion that extrasensory perception does exist as a real phenomenon,' the CIA concluded in 1975.

- Annie Jacobsen, Phenomena, p. 6, quoting the author's FOIA, CIA: "An Overview of Extrasensory Perception," Jan. 27, 1975.

:boxedin:

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