Weird Scientology

Tom Cruise is bad for your mental health
by Steven Novella - September 22, 2005

(...)Scientology's real dogma is that we are all suffering from the traumatic memories of aliens, called thetans, who were murdered on Earth millions of years ago by the evil overlord Xenu, who trapped them in a volcano and then blew them up with nuclear weapons (hence the volcano reference on the cover of Dianetics ). So what we all need to be cleared of are parasitic alien ghosts haunting us with bad memories.

This quasi-religious, sci-fi belief system has been widely mocked for being silly (which of course it is); but it also puts Scientologists directly at odds with the mental health profession, in the exact same way that religious creationists are at odds with natural historians and evolutionary biologists. Scientologists are the creationists of mental health. This casts them in the role of deniersdenying a vast and growing body of scientific evidence in the field of behavioral neuroscience.(...)
http://newhavenadvocate.com/gbase/Lifestyle/content?oid=oid:126922

Jornalismo tradicional brasileiro

Assim, espanta o comportamento do programa da Globo, o Globo Repórter, que desconhecedores do mínimo do que significa isto, façam uma apologia irracional (por ser uma prática anti-científica) e espetacular da Medicina Tradicional Chinesa no Brasil. Se por tradição cultural ela possa ser usada como uma opção para mais de um bilhão de pessoas que não possui condições de acesso na China de uma prática científica, não faz parte da tradição ocidental e não existe comprovação de eficácia fora da crendice (tradicional).
http://www.ateus.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4024

James Randi, September 23, 2005

Northern Nonsense, Scary Numbers, Sagan Remembered & Revisited, Scruples for Psychics?, Bad Advice, Netflix Bargain, The BBC Stumbles – Again, Hard-Headed News from New England, The Truth Is Out There – I Think, Super Super Magnets, A Gift of Questionable Value, and In Conclusion...
http://www.randi.org/jr/200509/092305northern.html

Primeira Conferencia Iberoamericana sobre Pensamento Critic

A Primeira Conferencia Iberoamericana sobre Pensamento Critico foi un
sucesso.
Vao 3 links para ler acerca do evento.

http://www.lanavedeloslocos.cl/conferencia.html

http://www.perspectivas.com.mx/noticias/index.php

http://www.region.com.ar/productos/semanario/archivo/727/critico727.htm

Ilusões Populares

Os homens, já se disse muito bem, pensam em bandos; e se verá que eles enlouquecem em bandos, ao passo que só recobram a lucidez lentamente e um a um.
http://obruxodesantos.blogspot.com/2005/09/iluses-populares.html

A arte de se ter razão

José Colucci Jr.
Mais doído do que ouvir um oponente defender mal a idéia que combatemos é ouvir um aliado defender mal a idéia com a qual simpatizamos. Felizmente para a simetria dos debates, as patologias do raciocínio não tem preferência partidária, profissional, de gênero, credo religioso ou classe social. Vindas da direita ou da esquerda, de políticos ou professores, de religiosos ou ateus, as agressões à lógica são sempre golpes baixos.

Freqüentar a escola ajuda, mas não muito. A educação tradicional não imuniza contra as falácias e conclusões pouco científicas. Para isso é preciso treinamento no chamado "pensamento crítico" – o exercício de formar crenças a partir de observações e decisões racionais sobre a realidade.
http://observatorio.ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/artigos.asp?cod=347AZL004

"MILAGRE DO SANGUE"

Mistura à base de ferro, cálcio, água e sal de cozinha explicaria o mistério de são Genaro

Químicos questionam sangue de santo
JEAN-JACQUES BOZONNET
DO "LE MONDE", EM ROMA

"Dissolva 25 gramas de cloreto de ferro em cem mililitros de água, acrescente dez gramas de carbonato de cálcio. A reação química fará a solução ficar marrom escura. Passe a solução para um recipiente de gargalo fino, acrescente sal de cozinha, agite e deixe descansar por duas horas." Essa é a receita sacrílega proposta na internet aos interessados em reproduzir em casa o sangue de são Genaro, o santo cujo 1.700º aniversário de morte, por decapitação, a cidade de Nápoles comemorou no último dia 19.

O gel, cujo modo de fabricação figura no site do Comitê Italiano para o Controle dos Fenômenos Paranormais (Cicap), se liquefaz quando é ligeiramente sacudido. "O processo pode ser reproduzido à vontade", diz o site.

Para a astrofísica Margherita Hack, do Cicap, não é preciso procurar mais longe a explicação do suposto "milagre do sangue", pelo qual o sangue seco do santo fica líquido três vezes por ano na catedral de Nápoles -no primeiro domingo de maio, a cada 19 de setembro e a cada 16 de dezembro -, em um fenômeno descrito pela igreja como "acontecimento prodigioso".

http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/mundo/ft2109200508.htm

acb109m3m3

Instructions:
Simply copy and paste this post to your own blog, replacing my survey answers with your own, as appropriate, and adding your blog to the Link List.

Important (1) Your post must include the four sections: Overview, Instructions, Link List, and Survey. (2) Remember to link to every blog in the Link List. (3) For tracking purposes, your post must include the following code: acb109m3m3

Link List (or 'extended hat-tip'):
1. Philosophy, et cetera
2. Pharyngula
3. Ciencet (http://ciencet.blogspot.com)
4. Add a link to your blog here

Survey:

Demographics
Age - 30
Gender - Male
Location - Porto Alegre, Brazil
Religion - No way
Began blogging - 03/2002
Academic field - chemist
Academic position [?] - Associate Professor [yes please]

Approximate blog stats
Rate of posting - several times a day
Average no. hits - about 8/day
Average no. comments - 0/day
Blog content - skepticism and science

Other Questions
1) Do you blog under your real name? Why / why not?
- Yes. Because I didn't think of doing otherwise, and since I'm my own host, I'm eminently traceable anyway.

2) Do colleagues or others in your department know that you blog? If so, has anyone reacted positively or negatively?
- No.

3) Are you on the job market?
- No.

4) Do you mention your blog on your CV or other job application material?
- Yes.

5) Has your blog been mentioned at all in interviews, tenure reviews, etc.? If so, provide details.
- I wouldn't know.

6) Why do you blog?
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ActionBioscience.org: SEPT. 2005 UPDATE

NEW ARTICLES POSTED ON ACTIONBIOSCIENCE.ORG:

BEACH CLOSINGS: SCIENCE VERSUS PUBLIC PERCEPTION
Erika T. Jensen and Sandra L. McLellan, University of
Wisconsin, illustrate that beach closings are on the rise
and suggest that the public is not being given accurate
information to help them get involved in solving the
problem.
http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/Jensen_McLellan.html

THE STATE OF ECOSYSTEMS
Christian Samper, director of the National Museum of
Natural History, Washington DC, talks about the recent
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. The assessment shows that
humans have changed ecosystems dramatically over the past
50 years.
http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/samper.html

EVOLUTION'S IMPORTANCE TO SOCIETY
Massimo Pigliucci, State University of New York at Stony
Brook, is interviewed about how evolution influences
everyone's life today.
http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/pigliucci.html

USING CASE STUDIES TO TEACH SCIENCE
Clyde Freeman Herreid, University of Buffalo, State
University of New York, examines the role of case studies
in science education and offers suggestions on variations
on the methodology.
http://www.actionbioscience.org/education/herreid.html

LESSONS FOR THE CLASSROOM:
Two new lessons are available, both written by John Ausema
of Gonzaga College High School, Washington, DC:
- How Much Is an Ecosystem Worth?
- Evolution in a Ring
All lessons can be accessed from the lesson directory:
http://www.actionbioscience.org/lessondirectory.html

NEWS: KATRINA SUPPORT NETWORK FOR BIOLOGISTS
The American Institute of Biological Sciences launched the
Katrina Support Network for Biologists as an online forum
for biologists affected by Hurricane Katrina to exchange
messages, share professional resources, and learn of other
scientific organizations' efforts.
http://www.actionbioscience.org/announcements/12-sept-2005.html

EN ESPAÑOL
Nuevos traducciones al español de artículos seleccionados:
- La Dosis Hace al Veneno ¿Cierto o No? por Nancy
Trautmann
- Servicios de los Ecosistemas: Una Introducción por ESA
- Las Patentes del ADN Crean Monopolios en los Organismos
Vivos por CRG
- Diseñando Insectos por Thomas A. Miller
- La Selección Natural: Cómo funciona la Evolución con
Douglas Futuyma
- Las Especies, la Especiación y el Medio Ambiente por
Niles Eldredge
- Biocomplejidad: La Nueva Frontera de la Biociencia con
Rita Rossi Colwell
- ¿Cómo Afectará la Sexta Extinción a la Evolución de las
Especies? por Myers y Knoll
- El Error y la Naturaleza de la Ciencia por Douglas
Allchin
- Evite los Conceptos Erróneos cuando Enseñe sobre las
Plantas por David R. Hershey
http://www.actionbioscience.org/spanishdirectory.html

ActionBioscience.org is an education resource of the
American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS).

Csicop Online

- Achau Nguyen Test
James Underdown

- Skeptical Inquirer Articles online:

http://www.csicop.org/list/listarchive/msg00491.html

Radionics

Radionics is a form of energy medicine created by Dr. Albert Abrams (1863-1924), the "dean of twentieth century charlatans."* Abrams claimed that he was able to detect distinct energies or vibrations (radiation) being emitted from healthy and diseased tissue in all living things. He invented devices that allegedly could measure this energy (vibration, radiation) and he created a system for evaluating vibrations as signs of health or disease.
http://www.skepdic.com/radionics.html
(nova entrada no SkepDic)

One side can be wrong

Accepting 'intelligent design' in science classrooms would have disastrous consequences, warn Richard Dawkins and Jerry Coyne.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1559743,00.html?gusrc=rss

James Randi, September 16, 2005

Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, It’s Back, Choose Sponsors More Carefully, Ghosts on Trial, Truth Revealed, A Twice-Told Tale, Questions to Be Answered, New Hope, Epiphany Department, A Justified Complaint, Railing at the Raelians, We Sure Can Test This, Case Closed, Boots Revisited, Asimov Speaks, Picky Readers, and In Conclusion...
http://www.randi.org/jr/200509/091605church.html

The Seventeenth Skeptics' Circle: Ask a Random Skeptic!

"It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers." --James Thurber
http://decorabilia.blogspot.com/2005/09/seventeenth-skeptics-circle-ask-random.html

Dawkins e Randi

Arquivos de som e vídeo
http://www.reitstoen.com/randi.php
http://www.reitstoen.com/dawkins.php

Follow-Up Study on Prayer Therapy May Help Refute False and Misleading Information About Earlier Clinical Trial

by Nathan Bupp,
Director of Public Affairs,
Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health
http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/index.html

(caso esta notícia não esteja mais disponível no link acima, procurar pela data de 2 de setembro de 2005)

microacupuncture

http://www.skepdic.com/microacupuncture.html

James Randi, September 9, 2005

These Boots Are Not For Talking, Sounds Like a Poor Excuse, Bibles vs. Pizza, Orgone & Bions & Boring – Oh My!, Progress Report, Ghosts on Parade Unquestioned, Popular B*llsh*t in Portugal, and In Conclusion...
http://www.randi.org/jr/200509/090905these.html

The 16th Skeptics Circle

Welcome to the 16th Sceptics Circle: A biweekly carnival for bloggers who apply critical thought to questionable stories, such as Urban Legends, the Paranormal, Quackery, Pseudoscience, Historical Revision. Posts dealing with the meta-analytical process behind sorting reason from the misinformation – Critical Thinking – are also welcome.
http://redstaterabble.blogspot.com/2005/09/16th-skeptics-circle.html

Bent Spoon Award

he Australian Skeptics announced the winner of their annual Bent Spoon Award about three weeks ago. Good news travels slowly, I guess.

http://www.skepdic.com/refuge/funk47.html#bentspoon