Category: Scepticism

Wear a Seatbelt.

I wince subtly whenever I hear someone say that nuclear power is dangerous. The last major nuclear disaster was 22 years ago. It was a poorly designed, poorly built and poorly managed plant. Saying that nuclear power is dangerous because of Chernobyl is like saying cars are dangerous because you can be thrown through the windshield in a crash. The issue is moot. Continue reading Wear a Seatbelt.

A sceptical White House?

Here’s an interesting bit from a recent interview with president-elect Barack Obama:

JIM ANGLE: He was asked what he’s been doing to get ready for office and whether he talked to any previous Presidents.

PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA: I have spoken to all of them, that are living, obviously, President Clinton — I didn’t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any séances. [emphasis added]

Obama later apologized for apparently mocking the supernatural belief system, but that doesn’t remove two facts:

  1. It was Hilary Clinton who did séances, Reagan used astrology, either way, superstition. (I imagine Laura and George just used good ol’ fashioned prayers).
  2. Obama is willing to make fun of superstitions. People who generally buy this stuff don’t do that. This means there is potentially a sceptic in the White House. Imagine the ratifications of that – a president who consults knowledgeable advisers before acting. It’s the most promising thing I’ve heard about him so far.

Exciting times.

I care how my name is spelt

I just noticed that in the thread on an older post about 9/11 troofers, one of the other commenters misspelled my name in a thread. I’m certain the irony is completely lost on Mr Parks. In a single post, he was able to misspell my name(which was right in front of him), mischaracterize my politics(which should have been a tad obvious given where it was written), get my living situation wrong(which is just kinda weird), lie about what kind of investigation have been done (and really bring on the stupid in his alternate story) and implicitly dismiss a document that takes the better part of a few hours to read. This poor logic and academic laziness is everywhere in pseudoscience. Everywhere.

I used to get angry when people dismissed arguments that were poorly written “address the content!” I’d say. “sift through and try to ignore the illogic!” I’d say. You want to know what I say now?

“If you aren’t paying attention to what you’re writing, why should anyone else?”

Seriously buddy, its my fucking name.

My letter made it

Unfortunately, I was in Toronto over the weekend and was unable to pick up a copy of the Journal, which featured my letter, blasting their psychic on the cover. This one appeared mostly unedited (save for formatting). (Thanks to Brian)

Clairvoyance
The Edmonton Journal
Published: Saturday, October 18

Re: “Can’t wait for results? Ask Nadia,” and “The hand we’re dealt in city’s close races,” The Journal, Oct. 14.

I was impressed by the obvious clairvoyant talent of Nadia Mitchell, and The Journal’s willingness to promote her to the front page of the election-day issue. Specifically, I find it nearly unbelievable that she predicted, in Edmonton-Strathcona, for us to “look forward to a male kind of taking the lead.”

Perhaps Rahim Jaffer took this advice into account while giving his early acceptance speech.

Unfortunately, the cards were a bit misleading in this case and, in the end, Nadia didn’t tell us anything the day’s polls could not have. If Nadia wants to truly prove her talent, perhaps she could have given us a vote breakdown or overall seat total as opposed to wild speculations.

I expected more from The Journal.

Ian Bushfield, Western Canadian regional director, Centre for Inquiry, Edmonton

The Journal’s sources are a bit muddy

I submitted another letter to the Journal.

This time I had to call out the fact that they gave claimed-psychic Nadia Mitchell front page and a bonus article for coverage to make such deep electoral predictions as (actually I’m just going to post both entire articles since they’re so ridiculous):
Continue reading The Journal’s sources are a bit muddy

Choosing a Canadian wireless plan

Choice can suck sometimes. Especially when you want to be sceptical about new purchases.

Canada is notorious for having horribly over-priced cellular telephone rates, so when faced with the prospect of having to purchase a new cell plan, I would almost rather resort to smoke signals.

Nevertheless, I tabulated a chart that picks the best deals for myself which require: Continue reading Choosing a Canadian wireless plan

Humanist Symposium – from the highway edition

Sorry for the late edition posting of this symposium, I’m typing this on a bus from Calgary to Edmonton after a successful inaugural event for the Centre for Inquiry – Community of Calgary, the new home for freethought, humanism and scepticism in Alberta. We have some great posts this edition, so let’s get to them.
Continue reading Humanist Symposium – from the highway edition