You can't chop alcohol. Or can you?

I recommend either chopping wood or alcohol.

He had a cousin called Tesla, didn't he?

We'll see about that. I know a fella called Maui....

Yes, but nothing that humanity does (at least as far as solar radiation goes) will cause the source of those to diminish…

Ah, well, being truly practical means thinking in the long term, not mere millennia.

Weird exclusions – gravity is not particularly well understood atm, so sure, maybe infinite. Solar radiation has a pretty clear end date of the point where the sun goes boom…

mmm yes credibility

I dunno. Te Papa's entire excuse was hey, we rent rooms to anyone who has the cash*. If they rented a room to an obvious loon like Icke,…

And Justin Bieber got his hair cut last week. That can hardly be a coincidence, now, can it?

But seriously, lets just hope Icke doesn't end up talking at Te Papa like the last prominent paranoid conspiracist to visit these shores did.

proceeds going towards helping fund David's on-going research into the New World Order.

Teehee..."on-going research......" Snort.

You'll be able to ask David Icke in person about the shapechanging reptilian elites, when he tours NZ later this year.

If the intention of the John Campbell interview was to nip him in the bud, then it’s a spectacular backfire,

Leading off with people saying they thought following Kenring's advice, prophesies to my mind, saved their lives. And then too …well… now I sound as Im telling someone how to…

oh, you mean like "an economic system based on the premise that infinite exponential economic growth is desirable and possible (on a planet with finite resources (except for solar radiation and gravity))" or other such irrational delusions?

Makes your head hurt, but-

Oh. Do I score more or less points on the geek scale if I say I first thought of a particularly wonderful issue of Hellblazer rather than the V?

If the intention of the John Campbell interview was to nip him in the bud, then it's a…

Who was it who said, "If you scare people enough, they'll believe anything"?

I'm going to hold my head in my hands and weep quietly for a bit, I think.

Ah, Ms Baccarin. Only one of the things that made Firefly worth watching.

That only works if Key is as hawt as Morena Baccarin. I'm not going there.

(Spoiler warning if you have any intention of catching up with V, but seriously the show is…

I'm still working on the shape-changing lizard theory. Perhaps the bracelet is part of his transformation control system.

True 'dat. :)

aw but conspiracy was so entertaining for a while, such a nice break from reality

And a certain Philip Field isn't in prison for a fraction too much friction on a ministerial credit card. So perhaps we've had our fun, and should be a little careful about weaving elaborate scenarios about how…

Frankly, if I was next to an Oklahoma bomb and a Tsar I don't think I would care how big it was. Even 10,000 tons of TNT is…

Pretty sure the Cabinet Manual has strict rules on Ministers even appearing to endorse products, never mind actually doing so for financial gain. For one thing, if certain events transpired that could end up being classified as corruption…

I see no reason to doubt that someone gave it to him. More important fish to fry anyway.

Nah… That’s nowhere near as much fun as the worse branding exercise since Dior through…

I'd be surprised. For one, there might be rules about what the PM can endorse for pay. I know there are for…

Ssssh, I'm trying to keep up the facade!

You only think you aren't a mindless drone ...

He was asked about it on breakfast TV and was very very coy about how he got it and why he was wearing it.

My read on it (warning cynic alert) was that he'd been compensated in some way for…

That gets into some pretty tricky territory as to which incorrect beliefs we tackle and which we don't, as well as the degree and time spent on each.

A much…

It seems a very faulty correlation to me. How about we don’t air Sensing Murder?

My point was rather than simply airing shows like…

He also had a lot of time for a guy espousing the Doctrine of Signatures, amongst other nut-jobs.

Keeping up the ratio of Agnotology in the community.
Speaking of that there's this, which lead to me increasing my knowledge of obscurantism.

I try reasonably hard to not make unwarrented personal attacks on, for example, National politicians. Play the ball and all that.

But it gets a bit difficult when you see him strolling around in one of those...

Everyone keeps saying that, but actually it's not substantiated at all. People just fell over themselves to give him an out.

Yes, it may have been a present from one of the kids. If so then please, tell me the name…

And our esteemed Prime Minister has one. God help us.

They are an excellent tool…

You want an irony overdose, here's Brian Edwards’ rather less enraged and more usefully nuanced take…

He also had a lot of time for a guy espousing the Doctrine of Signatures, amongst other nut-jobs.

Loke/Loge also makes an appearance in Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen, commonly referred to as “The Ring Cycle”, which tells a story of tragedy and loss that leads to the destruction of Valhalla, and ultimately a bittersweet freedom for those left behind.

We have now come…

I so want to have your rationally impossible babies right now.

Screw both tectonics and the moon as reasons for earthquakes. We all know that they are caused by the chained Loke writhing in pain as Sigyn empties the bowl of venom held over his face to protect him, thus causing a…

On Breakfast, for several years, iirc. Drove me nuts. But even then, Ring was a very slick entertainer.

Nice simple experiment. Always the best!!!

Bit like shouting "fire" in a movie theatre. Unfortunately any such charge against Ring would simply make lawyers rich.

Umm, yeah, maybe I need to get out more in the blogosphere, but until you re-mentioned it, had never heard of him or his…

Steven who?

The Oaklahoma Bombing was the equivalent of 2,200 kg of TNT (2.2 kiloton about a 5.5 earthquake). Pretty…

Perhaps they could provide the figure in Libraries of Congress

This is pages ago, but I meant to thank you for the link – it's good to have a NZ blogosphere ranking system that is not based on flat out weird formulas, a-la…

Cheap sensationalist tv which is what he does.

Geez then why did Brian Edwards get that expensive white charger, that overblown concern troll outfit aaand get the missus all togged up as well?
If it was just a cheap John do?
Arguments about the tone of i/v's, the tenor of…

More prosaically, some people (including scientists) like to talk about earthquakes in terms of explosive power, so I suspect "kilotons" is meant as in "nuclear bomb yield".

Why they feel the…

While playing Warcraft, no less. The latest expansion couldn't be more thematic.

You want to know what the scientific method is? Try this from Feynman.

Want to know what Pseudoscience is. Try this from Feynman.

The last one is pure Ken Ring and…

4.3, centred 20km north-west of the city.

I believe that's the amount of the cheese that makes up the moon that is influencing the earth's crust.

I can't get up in arms about JC having the guy on the show. It…

Maybe it's more that Campbell is just a jerk.

He chose to do the interview and fane outrage when he – discovered – he was talking to a fraud.

Cheap sensationalist tv which is what…

That doesn't explain the free food store vitriol from before the earthquake. I remember being shocked because I thought Campbell Live viewers would be more liberal than those…

Oh dear. I haven't been back there since I managed to get the first comment on there last night. It's bad, I take it? Should I dare to venture?

...I'm gonna take a bath instead, I think.

The one thing he shouldn't have apologised for. I'd like an apology for that Barnum & Bailey parasite being booked on Campbell Live at all. And did I really hear Cambell extend Ring an invitation for a second round — can't…

Watching the Ring Cult and the rest of the conspiracy-nut pseudo-scientific community at work, would you be surprised if Campbell Live’s producers got told to piss off by every “real” climatologist, seismologist and geoscientist in New Zealand.…

Snake Oil v2.0 (TM).

I did. Now I understand why in light of the comments there, I got off lightly. What the hell are they all drinking over there?
Haven’t you got a gnome to go to?
My gnome is definitely where my heart is.

No, my observation is much broader than that. Perhaps people are biting harder because of the earthquake, but many people I talk to are far happier with credulity…

I have resolved this dilemma – by not reading Herr Dr Edwards at all ( I sneaked a look last night but that doesn't count, does it?)

Quite – when we're seen people like David and Emma and so many others in the PA whanau who've faced hell with such angelic resolution and heart-breaking humanity watching people who should know better defending a parasite like Ring... No words fit for…

or just for giggles they could have interviewed someone like a real geoscientist who could have presented a summary of the literature and had JC ask questions to clarify the bits that might be hard to understand, but…

My…

I'm sure there is an economic equation for calculating how much money you can get from stupid people by clever marketing.

BTW most of the people in public places wearing them didn't buy them and are being very coy about whether they are receiving…

As have you. I tend to pride myself on knowing that it's just-another-discussion-thread, but I've actually been struggling a bit with that one, in part…

Something there just decided to try a smear-by-false-equivalence. Yeah, my raunchy teasing of Emma around here is exactly like saying anyone who isn't damning John Campbell as the anti-Christ must be a NIWA sock puppet. Grrr...…

Bullshit.

Just wanted to be first, both in all seriousness, and for comic effect.

Now, should I wait for someone to prove me wrong?

ETA: Just not fast enough. Damn empiricists always come…

Don't make me tell the story of Niels Bohr's horseshoe, because I will.

Ah yes, I'm trying to remember who said there's a difference between being "broad-minded" and nothing ever touching the sides.

Nah, I always end up bending people to my will.

When was the last time a real scientist got that much prime time to present his REAL work?

I enjoyed Sir Robert Winston whom I thought did rather well on the Telly and Sir Peter Gluckman got a bit of airtime before JK stole him away. I think forensics have…

Apart from that, I agree with you. As unlikely as that might seem.

This too.

No, it’s really not. In order to get funded to do most science you need to have influence, and people will go to significant extents to…

Do not…

Guys I think you are missing the point about science as a “thing”. It…

So much for science.

He does not. He's just being disingenous, as he almost always is, in order to drive traffic to his blog. I understand your frustration, but you'd be best…

No, it's really not. In order to get funded to do most science you need…

Depends on what you count as science I suppose. There isn't some record keeper…

That's what they want you to think

Brian seems to believe that Ring is some kindly old man unused to the media who was startled by a "hysterical" interviewer.

Hardly.

Ring has been using the…

Surely it'd be more useful to refer to it as "trogging"? (Since troglodytes are related to trolls in classic D&D, while gnomes are small, cheerful…

But I don't even own a television.

Which is pretty much what those scientist chappies are saying.

That kind of overlooks the fact that…

While that's true, it's also not helpful. Science isn't a body of widely-held beliefs – it's the body of beliefs that have been subjected to testing and checking against evidence.…

Can I just say that Columbus actually deserved to be laughed at? He was wrong about most things and really if he hadn't bumped into America he would…

Heh, no, my point was not directed at you specifically. I've just noticed that the term seems to mean something different now than what I thought it meant. Well, either that or I've always been wrong.

That's a bridge too far, the trolls will gather.

Still no. Just don't throw the baby out with the bath water, which I gather nobody is. So we can move on now, right?

Plate tectonics,…

Point of order, Your Honour.

I'm not sure what trolling means these days. To me it means (or used to mean) a deliberately provocative statement reflecting a view not sincerely held. Today it appears to apply to any provocative statement…

Well put. And I must say that when the Edwards rant was linked to yesterday my first thought was, "look who's found yet another way of driving traffic through meaningless diatribe". The services of his media company…

If, by "carnage", you actually mean "ad views", then I agree with you.

No. But I have to insist they should pony up with some sort of evidence and a coherent case for those beliefs, same as Ring.

given time, we might…

It should be pointed out that the feedback was on the website. I think it falls under angry lonely men with keyboards.

There are many instances through history where the widely held belief…

Campbell Live did a story on free food stores appearing and then reported most of their feedback complained the starving people looked overweight and were smoking

Thats hilaarious.... Its like the ghosts of Archie Bunkerism and Alf Garnetists took to watching Campbell Live that night.

It seems a very faulty correlation to me. How about we don't air Sensing Murder?

I assume he's referring to energy-equivalent release in tonnes of TNT (as opposed to joules).

There's an appropriately harsh interview with Wakefield by CNN's Anderson Cooper linked to here.

I liked the interview at first watching, enjoying watching JC unleash his grump on an appropriate target, but in hindsight…

That seems to me to be the key issue. Kim Hill did a good job (not a great job; a good job) in her interview with 9/11 charlatan Richard Gage, but I still think that on balance she should have not had him…

It's got nice upholstery too, except for the bit the cat of skepticism keeps scratching...

Seriously dude, what I said about persuasion techniques could be deployed in the service of any belief, whether we thought…

Do you want to stand outside churches on Sunday and tell people their God is a delusion?

No, this is like someone telling the very frightened and stressed people of Christchurch that God says there's going to be an earthquake on a particular day and they'd better bug out of…

I think it's fairly well accepted that the gravitational influence of the…

I realise that the media is not usually all that brilliant at self-policing who does or does not get airtime, but it seems reasonably self-evident that he would have been better off left on some street corner shouting about how the aliens were…

Yeah, but ... there's tons of material demonstrating the failures, obfuscations and outright falsehoods in Ring's "work".

You don't have to believe the present state…

This is probably as close to trolling as I get. I don't think…

I've tried to point this out to colleagues who insist that 'disability awareness' training will change the world. Funnily enough, they resist hearing it.

That’s fine, Hilly, but you know something I keep bringing up Wakefield for one very simple reason. As Ben Goldacre has said more eloquently than I could, his…

It wasn’t an affective interview, for sure. IMHO, it should never have been done.

But having watched it again, taking…

noice #tofo

A la Dawkins, who's at least as offensive as many of the fundamentalist Christians of whom he is so dismissive, and considerably more offensive than pretty much every…

No. They were treated very gently.

Our planetary system is a huge complex system and it sounds unbelievable that the constellations of the big celestial bodies shall even have an influence on the triggering of earthquakes.
Can we get used to such an idea at all? I think we should…

Ooh, ooh. this from Te Onion (h/t @farmgeek):

During an unexpected moment of clarity Tuesday, open-minded man Blake Richman was suddenly struck by the grim realization that he's squandered a significant portion of his life listening to everyone's bullshit, the 38-year-old told reporters.

A visibly…

Hmm, boobies you say? Who has ever heard of covered boobies?

This would be like setting up a discussion between biologists and intelligent design proponents. Isn't life a bit short?

And if we're going to have that debate with people who believe tides cause major earthquakes, why not include people with think they're caused by homosexuality, or licentious behaviour, or uncovered…

Have a real discussion and see if there is any room for agreement. (Reminds me of the Big Bang Theory episode when Leonard decides he can’t have a girlfriend who believes in astrology)

It is surprising to me how many medical people I have met, turn out to be deeply…

I'm guessing he didn't shout at the people refusing to immunise their children.

Hilary, he didn't shout at people who believed in Ken Ring, either. This was the equivalent of shouting at Andrew Wakefield, and who wouldn't like to do that?

Heh, I doubt DPF would take it well to be told that he should turn his site into Public Address.