Of Charles McVety and Homosexuals

I just heard Charles McVety on the Oakley show this morning talking about the teaching of gay issues to school children.

He had lots of fancy talking points about how this will corrupt the children and cause confusion.

But that is just smoke and mirrors, the real issue McVety has is that he doesn't want to normalize homosexuals.

Sure he wants them to be loved and respected, but he never wants them to be seen as normal.
Its the very fact that children will be taught that being gay is ok that McVety has the issue with. He wants gays to feel remorse and want to change their ways, and that won't happen if they don't know they should be ashamed.

The part that drives me nuts is that we won't admit this. He cloaks himself in parental rights, but that is easily seen as smoke and mirrors

He has no issue with schools teaching religious values to kids, no issues of parental rights there.

He has no issue with kids being taught that being black is normal and being disabled is normal, but he can't stand the fact kids will be taught being gay is normal.

I have no respect for McVety or his cause, but what saddens me the most were the callers I heard on the air.

"My friend in school was a tomboy and if she was taught being gay was ok, then she would be in therapy forever"

Arg.... The ignorance is scary in this world some days.

- Sent From My Blackberry

Of "Dr." Oz and Apple Juice

When I heard Oz was reporting that apple juice contained arsenic, my red flags went off.

It reminded me of the BPA scare a few years back, which turned into so much nothing.

Both issues are related in that the facts are true, but hugely distorted to spread FUD

With BPA, it is true that exposer to it can cause help issues. What was left out of the news reports is that if you microwave a plastic disk with BPA, the BPA will go away after a minute ot two.

So instead of throwing tupperware away and freaking out, spending a minute to sterilize it would have been effective, but that story doesn't get worried parent's butts in seats.

So much of the BPA story and this apple juice story is simply selling fear.

I'm not afraid, and you shouldn't be either
- Sent From My Blackberry

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I find you very interesting, and I would like to talk more. Would you like to come to my hotel room for coffee?“= "makes me uncomfortable when men sexualize me in that manner"?

Quote 1

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I find you very interesting, and I would like to talk more. Would you like to come to my hotel room for coffee?“

Quote 2

“I was a single women in a foreign country in a hotel elevator with you, just you, and I—don’t invite me back to your hotel room right after I finish talking about how it creeps me out and makes me uncomfortable when men sexualize me in that manner.“

I have a hard time putting these 2 facts together and having it make sense. Is the mere act of asking a woman for coffee sexualizing her or does it need to be asked in a confined space?

This reminds me of a scene I saw in The Big Bang Theory

Penny and Stuart are home from the gallery, mainly because Captain Sweatpants showed up and touched all the cheese. Penny invites him in for coffee, but Stuart thinks it's a little late for coffee. ("Oh, you think "coffee" means coffee. That's so sweet.") She covers by saying she has decaf.

 I honestly believe that many guys would think coffee means coffee, I would think coffee is coffee, but maybe I'm just a creep.

Of elevators and coffee

By now, elevatorgate is old news, but its effects will ripple thru the skeptic and atheist community for months to come.

And I believe it all boils down to, who is responsible to make you feel safe?

It is your responsibility or is it societies responsibility?

Let's look at it from both sides

If its my responsibility, then no one is to blame for my feelings but myself. I would be required to take ownership of my fears and take steps to ensure I feel safe in my environment.

If it is the job of society to make me feel safe, I then have the right to blame everyone else for my feelings of fear. If the man on an elevator scares me, its his fault. If some black guys are standing in front of a store and I'm scared to walk in, it would be the black guys fault and the stores fault for failing to make me feel safe.

I can't accept that my feelings are not my own. We can't blame society for our fears.

If someone makes you feel uncomfortable, it is not their job to change their behaviour to make you feel better. They can change if they choose to, but that is their personal choice and they cannot and should not be forced to change for your sake.

I feel uncomfortable around women in many circumstances, should those women be compelled to act in a way that makes me more comfortable?

If they choose to act in a way that enhances my comfort, that is perfectly fine, but they should never be compelled to do it against their will.

We are not snowflakes that need to be protected at every turn, we are not going to nerf the world so no one gets hurt.

Life can be rough, and being scared doesn't help that, but if you believe your fear is societies responsibility, be prepared to be scared your entire life.

But if, like me, you believe your fear is your own, you can change it.

You can make yourself strong, you can carry a weapon, you can learn how to fight.

So don't waste your time saying "guys, don't do that it makes me uncomfortable". Just get up and do something about it!
- Sent From My Blackberry

Cannabis and Skepticism

I am very skeptical about the claims my government makes about Cannabis. I don't see any compelling evidence that it is any more harmful the alcohol (In fact most reports have it that cannabis is safer then alcohol in most respects)

So why do I hear so little from the skeptical movement about the prohibition of cannabis?

The government information regarding cannabis prohibition is built up with logical fallacy upon logical fallacy.

Yet, outside the legalization movement, skeptics remain silent on this issue.

I wish I knew why
- Sent From My Blackberry

Testing Ghosts

Near my house is a road that has been dubbed Ghost Road by the locals.

The story goes that a man on a motorcycle had an accident on that road. The details of the accident change with who tells it, but the most popular story is that the motorcycle rider fell off his bike and hit his head on a large rock need the end of the road.

This rock has seen been painted bright colours and I believe the words ghost road on written on it as well.

The story goes that if you go there at midnight you can see the head light of the ghost motorcycle. Some reports say you can hear the motorcycle as well.

I was thinking of going to this road one night at midnight and bring a camera to see what I could see and this got me thinking.

Is there any way to really test for a ghost?

Would a ghost set off a motion sensor? Would a ghost motorcycle leave tire tracks?

If the ghost can be seen it must either emit light or reflect light, which means it must have some kind of substance.

Furthermore, if the ghost motorcycle makes sound, then something must be vibrating the air molecules in order to create the sound wave.

If a ghost really does interact with the environment in that way, then it must be testable.

But other then a camera and a microphone I don't know what else I could do to test it.

Any ideas?

- Sent From My Blackberry

You visit illegal websites?... I'm Skeptcial

I received this email today:

"Sir/Madam, we have logged your IP-address on more than 40 illegal Websites. Important: Please answer our questions! The list of questions are attached. uh drg oc"

and the email had an attachment of Documents.zip

On the face of it, I can stop 4 red flags with this email

First Red flag is "Sir/Madam". The email author claims to have my IP address and the obviously have my email address, but they don't know my name? Very suspcious

Second, Why would the FBI contact my by email? Isn't that just inviting a person who did view so-called illegal sites to delete all browser history and perhaps even destroy the computer before the evidence can be collected? This would be tantamount to a police officer calling you and saying, we will be by in an hour to arrest you so don't go anywhere. 

Third, why does the email end with "uh drg oc". Those are not initials or anything else understandable, so why is it on the email message at all?

Lastly, why would a questionnaire be attached as a zip file? If this was an official email by the FBI, at the very least it would give you a link to the FBI website or perhaps a phone number. There is no good reason to send a questionare in this way, especially in reguards to illegal activity.

This analysis took me all of 5 minutes, yet I have had people mention to me they got this email and were considered about why the FBI was watching them. Just use a little skeptical thinking and you will be fine.