Constant Skeptic Daily Updates

SITE MOVED

2006-07-03T14:12:00.000-04:00

THE CONSTANT SKEPTIC UPDATE SITE HAS CHANGED TO WORDPRESS:

http://www.constantskeptic.com/wordpress

sorry for the inconvenience... but self hosting is a lot better than blogger hosting

Alberto Strengthens, Networks Salivate

2006-06-12T13:06:00.000-04:00

Alberto strengthens, but I'm still skeptical about this
one, probably just a lot of rain... wind speeds are right
around 85... it has strengthened and regained it's center,
which was not expected to happen... I predict Category 2
when it hits sometime tomorrow on the northern gulf coast.

The longer it lingers over the gulf, the greater chance it
has of strengthening to a Cat 3 or even 4, which of course
the news media is hoping will happen. They are salivating
in their mobile new units right now waiting and watching
for any sign of destruction.

Take my advice, shut the doors, lock the shutters, unplug
the TV and hope for a tidal wave to wash away all the evil
networks out there. Don't forget your scuba gear and
canned food.

The threat posed by bad television and misinformation is
way worse than any destruction a hurricane could
muster.... for misinformation destroys the fabric of
rational free thinking which is the only hope we can have
for humanities sustainable progress in the coming years.

Oldest book to be deciphered using same technique as Judas Gospel

2006-06-11T21:25:00.000-04:00

Associated Press Athens, June 1, 2006
A collection of charred scraps kept in a Greek museum's storerooms are all that remains of what archaeologists say is Europe's oldest surviving book - which may hold a key to understanding early monotheistic beliefs. More than four decades after the Derveni papyrus was found in a 2,400-year-old nobleman's grave in northern Greece, researchers said Thursday they are close to uncovering new text - through high-tech digital analysis - from the blackened fragments left after the manuscript was burnt on its owner's funeral pyre. Large sections of the mid-4th century B.C. book - a philosophical treatise on ancient religion - were read years ago, but never officially published.

Now, archaeologist Polyxeni Veleni believes U.S. imaging and scanning techniques used to decipher the Judas Gospel - which portrays Judas not as a sinister betrayer but as Jesus' confidant - will considerably expand and clarify that text.

The scroll, originally several metres of papyrus rolled round two wooden runners, was found half burnt in 1962. It dates to around 340 B.C., during the reign of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great.

"It is the oldest surviving book, if you can use that word for a scroll, in western tradition," Veleni said. "This was a unique find, of exceptional importance."

Greek philosophy expert Apostolos Pierris believes the text may be a century older.

"It was probably written by somebody from the circle of the philosopher Anaxagoras, in the second half of the 5th century B.C.," he said Thursday.

Anaxagoras, who lived in ancient Athens, is thought to have been the teacher of Socrates and was accused by his contemporaries of atheism.

"I believe some 10-20 percent of new text will be added, which however will be of crucial importance," said Veleni, director of the Thessaloniki Archaeological Museum where the manuscript is kept. "This will fill in many gaps, we will get a better understanding of the sequence and the existing text will become more complete," Veleni told The Associated Press.

Meteor evidence found in Antarctica - 250 million years old

2006-06-11T21:21:00.000-04:00

A massive crater in Antarctica may have been caused by a meteor that wiped out more than 90 percent of the species on Earth 250 million years ago, a geologist said. The 300-mile-wide crater lies hidden more than a mile beneath a sheet of ice and was discovered by scientists using satellite data, Ohio State University geologist Ralph von Frese said WednesdayJUne 7, 2006. This image shows the thickness of the Earth's crust across Antarctica . Thicker crust appears red. The location of the Wilkes Land crater is circled (below right of center). (AP Photo/Ohio State University) (AP)

Cholesterol Myths exposed? Or wackos?

2006-06-11T21:11:00.000-04:00

Uffe Ravnskov's The Cholesterol Myths - Exposing the Fallacy that Saturated Fat and Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease (2000) is the bible of cholesterol contrarianism. (Henceforth, the author will be referred to as UR.) These contrarians call themselves skeptics but their goal is not to examine all the evidence and think critically about it in the large context of our medical knowledge. Their goal is to cherry pick data to support their contention that low cholesterol is bad for you and high cholesterol is positively good for you. A diet high in saturated fats is never unhealthy, in their opinion. Not everything they say is false. Much of it is true. But everything they say is taken out of context to support their contention.

Joel M. Kauffman, a cholesterol contrarian, exemplifies the claims and methods of these folks. He wrote in Skeptic [vol. 12, no. 2]: "Cholesterol is highly protective against cancer, infection and atherosclerosis" and "high TC [total cholesterol] and LDL levels are beneficial at all ages." These are extraordinary claims and could be deadly, if taken seriously. It is hoped that no reader of Skeptic will throw away his or her cholesterol-lowering medications after reading these claims. Kauffman's source for this claim is a paper by UR: "High Cholesterol May Protect Against Infections and Atherosclerosis." Kaufmann changes UR's "may protect" to "are beneficial" and adds "cancer" for good measure. This kind of looseness with the facts is something to look for when reading the cholesterol contrarian literature.

This is the first installment of a "review" of UR's book. I use scare quotes because I do not plan to point out the good and the bad in the book. I plan to focus only on the bad. Part 1 of this review will cover the foreword, the introduction, and chapter one. But first let me assert that I agree with the contrarians that there is not a strong body of peer-reviewed published research that shows that a person who eats a low-fat diet is guaranteed to have low cholesterol which will prevent that person from getting atherosclerosis which in turn will prevent that person from getting a heart attack. Nor is there strong evidence that a person who eats a high-fat diet is guaranteed to have high cholesterol and get atherosclerosis and die of a heart attack as a result.

all of this taken from The Skeptic's Dictionary:
http://www.skepdic.com

Tropical Storm Alberto

2006-06-11T17:06:00.000-04:00

Tropical Storm Alberto is expected to remain a tropical
storm or weaken when it hits the Gulf Coast, thanks to
lots of wind shear tearing apart the storms center. As of
right now there is only a 5% chance of it strengthing to
hurricane force.

Quote of the Weekend

2006-06-11T16:42:00.000-04:00

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to
our liberties than standing armies. " - Thomas Jefferson

First Hurricane of season heading for Gulf Coast

2006-06-10T23:03:00.000-04:00

First tropical storm of the season.. looks like it is going to strength to a hurricane by Monday, for right now its sustained winds are around 35 mph. read more about it here: http://www.weather.com

Fixing United States perception in the world

2006-06-10T20:59:00.000-04:00

Arab-American Corporate Summit - An initial Arab-American Exchange will take place in New York in Fall of 2006, bringing together 50 YAL members with top executives from the U.S. private sector, to establish growth opportunities for qualified interns from the Middle East. This is the first summit of its kind, intent on building international bridges of mutual understanding and respect through business-led actions and initiatives.

from - Keith Reinhard

http://www.businessfordiplomaticaction.org

Scientists can't identify mysterious alien red cells

2006-06-09T23:16:00.000-04:00

As bizarre as it may seem, the sample jars brimming with cloudy, reddish rainwater in Godfrey Louis's laboratory in southern India may hold, well, aliens.

In April, Louis, a solid-state physicist at Mahatma Gandhi University, published a paper in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Astrophysics and Space Science in which he hypothesizes that the samples -- water taken from the mysterious blood-colored showers that fell sporadically across Louis's home state of Kerala in the summer of 2001 -- contain microbes from outer space.

Specifically, Louis has isolated strange, thick-walled, red-tinted cell-like structures about 10 microns in size. Stranger still, dozens of his experiments suggest that the particles may lack DNA yet still reproduce plentifully, even in water superheated to nearly 600 degrees Fahrenheit . (The known upper limit for life in water is about 250 degrees Fahrenheit .)

So how to explain them? Louis speculates that the particles could be extraterrestrial bacteria adapted to the harsh conditions of space and that the microbes hitched a ride on a comet or meteorite that later broke apart in the upper atmosphere and mixed with rain clouds above India.

World Controllers Hire Elite Security Firm To Guard Top-Secret Meetings

2006-06-09T23:08:00.000-04:00

The highly secretive session will cover global issues such as the direction of oil markets, whether or not to attack Iran, and who the next president of the United States should be. The list of attendees at last year's conference in Germany is believed to have included the queens of Spain and the Netherlands, former U.S. secretary of defence Henry Kissinger, World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz...Read Article

New technologies being thwarted by armed thugs?

2006-06-09T23:05:00.000-04:00

VENTURA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, USA -- On May 16, a technician who was one of a team of garage experimenters investigating a hydrogen-on-demand technology was run off the road near a rural intersection and accosted by four white, middle-aged males in black suits, carrying Glocks and Mac tens. The assailants were driving a late model, black Lincoln Town Car.

This comes just one month after Bill Williams was similarly threatened because of his alleged experimentation with running a vehicle on a Joe cell.The victim in this latest incident is an associate of New Energy Congress member, Ken Rasmussen, who had been working together with him on the project. Rasmussen also runs an alternative energy news service at http://www.commutefaster.com/Energy.html

A week before the incident, Rasmussen learned of the work being done by Professor Kanarev in Russia. Both use a pulsed signal, and both were seeing similar performance rates. Kanarev holds multiple patents, and is widely published.

A day before the incident, a person who was interested in funding the project of Rasmussen et al., and who had been trying to reach him since November, had finally made contact.Rasmussen reported the incident for the first time publicly in his news today. He said, "As editor of this page, my life has now been threatened by 2 loaded guns pointed in the face of a good friend."

"Using information which could only have been obtained by monitoring digital cell phones and e-mail, the assailants portrayed to the victim that they had total control over his personal life, and was told to remain silent and to not talk to government authorities." He was told that if he did not comply, a family member would be killed. The assailants produced extensive details about this target family member. The threat also included himself, his family and all associates if he did not stop work on the process immediately.

The threats made actually applied broadly to anyone working on overunity."I'm breaking the story to warn others who might be involved in similar technologies," said Rasmussen.Obeying the threats made to him, the person threatened has stopped all work on the project.

"When happy people start acting silent and paranoid, friends get suspicious," said Rasmussen, who waited to publish this account until the necessary measures had been taken to protect the lives of those directly threatened in the incident.

At the time of the assault, Rasmussen had been in discussion with several pre-screened, suitable investors, who were waiting on Rasmussen's team to fix a final detail before attending a live demonstration.

Recent Human History suggests ecological patterns altered

2006-06-09T12:34:00.000-04:00

Las Cruces NM (SPX) Jun 09, 2006 - A new study published in the Journal of Biogeography provides some of the first evidence that ecological patterns at large spatial scales have been significantly altered within recent human history suggesting a role for human activities as potential drivers.

read the rest here...

Indonesia's volcano ready to blow

2006-06-09T12:32:00.000-04:00

Mount Merapi, Indonesia (AFP) Jun 09, 2006 - Indonesia's Mount Merapi roared back to life Thursday, belching its largest clouds of hot gas and ash yet and sparking panic among residents already jittery from last month's quake. Television footage showed stunning clouds spewing from the volcano's crater against a clear blue sky just after 9:00 am (0200 GMT).

read more here...

Bio-Ethanol progess

2006-06-09T12:29:00.000-04:00

Delft, The Netherlands (SPX) Jun 09, 2006 - Research conducted by Delft University of Technology has brought the efficient production of the environmentally-friendly fuel bio-ethanol a great deal closer to fruition. The work of Delft researcher Marko Kuyper was an important factor in this. His research in recent years has greatly improved the conversion of certain sugars from agricultural waste to ethanol.

read the full story here...

Bookies bet on monsoon season in India

2006-06-08T14:01:00.000-04:00

New Delhi (AFP) Jun 08, 2006 - Bountiful early monsoon
rains are raking in millions of dollars for Indian bookies
taking bets on the amount of rain that will drench the
country between June and September, a report said Monday.
read more here:

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Indian_Bookies_Raking_In_Millions_Thanks_To_Heavy_Monsoons.html

Indonesia Defense Minister Warns US of being too overbearing in fighting terrorism

2006-06-08T13:29:00.000-04:00

Jakarta (AFP) Jun 08, 2006
Indonesia's defense minister bluntly warned US Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Tuesday that an overbearing US
approach the war on terrorism has led many in the world to
view US power as a threat.

http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Indonesia_Warns_Rumsfeld_Over_US_Approach_To_War_On_Terror.html

Quote of the Day - June 7th

2006-06-07T23:00:00.000-04:00

"The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting." - Charles Bukowski

HIllary Clinton called "Satan"

2006-06-07T22:55:00.000-04:00

Echoing MSNBC host Don Imus's repeated references to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) as "Satan," CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck referred to Clinton as the "Antichrist" on the June 6 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck program.

During a segment about author Anne Karpf's theory that women's voices have become deeper over the past 50 years, Beck said he "wanted to see if there was anything to this." He proceeded to play two video clips of Clinton, one from 1993 and the other from "today." During the first clip, Beck interrupted Clinton as she stated "I'm not looking for any particular role or position," and said "OK, OK. Bringing back too many memories. Please, stop with that." Beck then presented a second clip of Clinton with her voice artificially deepened, at which point Beck remarked: "I think we may have found our Antichrist and our next president."

Earlier in the broadcast, Beck also considered actress Bea Arthur, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, and actress Angelina Jolie as candidates for the "Antichrist," before concluding that he had "found our Antichrist" with Clinton.

Strange - women of 73 dies from falling banana

2006-06-07T22:04:00.000-04:00

"I can't believe after all this time it was a bloody banana that killed me." It wasn't long after she spoke these words that 73-year-old Ivanka Perko took her last breath in an Australian hospital. "She had tried to open a banana and dropped it," a friend said. "The pointy end scraped down her leg and she died from complications."Perko's migration to Australia from Slovenia began with "nothing but the clothes on her back and a pocket full of pepper to ward off the guard dogs," said her son Izzy.i guess son may think Perko's death under such circumstances an unfitting end to a brave woman's life. But by all accounts, she is described as tough, with a good sense of humor, and I think it's pretty cool way to exit. It is, at least, much better than death by guard dog.

Thirsty? Try sour horse milk...

2006-06-07T21:59:00.000-04:00

If your thirsty, I mean really thirsty, you might be tempted to chug down a cup of koumiss. But even if you manage to get the fermented sour horse milk down your gullet without blowing chunks, you'll probably still be thirsty. The American Beverage Association has placed koumiss at the top of its list of beverages least likely to quench your thirst.

According to the report, "Asian beverages were also high on the list, notably mango puree carbonated drinks, guava juice, and 'liquid breakfast cereals' made from sweetened soy and wheat, all of which leave a variety of strange and alarming after tastes, notably soapy syrupy. Many popular American drinks scored badly as well, such as prune juice, tomato juice, Red Bull, grape soda, chocolate flavored kids drinks such as Yoo-Hoo, and heavy, dark malted beers. While occupying a wide niche in the beverage market, and crossing the line into liquid food, these drinks hardly can be considered refreshing.

Koumiss, It's What's for Dinner!

Britain to appoint climate envoy

2006-06-07T21:07:00.000-04:00

The government is to appoint a climate envoy... read more here:
Britain to appoint climate envoy

New lava flows from volcano in Java

2006-06-06T13:43:00.000-04:00

MSNBC Breaking News: 11,000 evacuated as new lava flows spurt from Java volcano.

China world leader in artificial rain

2006-06-06T13:39:00.000-04:00

BEIJING (Reuters) -- Drought-plagued China has used an arsenal of rockets, artillery and aircraft to seed clouds and produce enough artificial rain to fill one of the country's biggest rivers four times over, Xinhua said. China has created "the world's leading force" in artificially inducing rain to relieve droughts and fight fires, the official news agency said, citing the National Meteorological Bureau.

"Its aircraft alone have undertaken enough missions to fill four Yellow Rivers, the country's second longest river, in the past five years," it said.

Engineers "seed" clouds by burning chemicals such as silver iodide to induce rain to ease droughts, prevent hail and help extinguish fires, Xinhua said.

Cloud seeding helped put out three major forest fires that raged in north and northeast China for 10 days before they were subdued on Friday. And rain was induced in Beijing in early May to help cleanse the capital after a series of sandstorms.

In 2,840 flights from 2001 to 2005, cloud seeding by aircraft brought down 210 billion cubic meters of water over an area making up nearly a third of China's territory, a bureau official said.
The scheme employed more than 3,000 people with an arsenal of 7,000 cannon and 4,687 rocket launchers, the official told a meeting in Jinan, capital of the eastern province of Shandong.

Lake Tahoe Monster?

2006-06-04T22:39:00.000-04:00

If you talk to anybody who's spent some time on Lake
Tahoe, you'll hear the stories - tales of monstrous
creatures that lurk in the depths. There are stories of
encounters with strange, unidentified beasts. In fact, you
may have already heard of "Tahoe Tessie" - the dinosaur
like critter that is rumored to live in the lake.

Well, I think the Tessie deal is more of a product of the
Lake Tahoe area Chamber of Commerce's marketing director
than anything else, but there have been enough accounts of
strange things in the lake that make me think that there
could be something out there.

Every charter boat skipper on Tahoe has had at least one
run-in with something big - really big. I've talked to a
captain who had a 15-pound mackinaw trout hooked, only to
have something gigantic grab it on the way in. When they
eventually got the mack, it had huge teeth marks in it.

Imagine how big something would have to be to try to make
a snack out of a 35-inch fish! Another skipper I talked to
was reeling in a small fish when some leviathan grabbed it
and immediately dove to the bottom of the lake - 600 feet
down. He never saw it, never even got it close.

I've also heard the rumors of giant fish remains washing
up on the shore during winter storms; stories of fish-like
creatures as big as eight feet long jumping, and tales of
huge shapes seen swimming around pier pilings late in the
evening.

Who knows how many of these stories are true but with a
lake as big and deep as Tahoe (more than 1,600 feet), the
mind reels at the possibilities.

Furthermore, consider that Tahoe was once part of an
ancient, immense body of water - Lake Lahontan - which
also covered what is now Pyramid Lake. The gigantic lake
had all kinds of strange and unusual critters in it. Could
something from the prehistoric days survived in Tahoe?

Perhaps. After all, a fish living in the depths of the
lake (say below 500 feet) would be able to escape
detection from anglers, who rarely drop their gear below
300 feet. Subs and test nets have been deployed in the
lake over the years to unlock its mysteries, but there's a
lot of water out there and it would be impossible to see
all there is to see.