The Certainty Illusion: What you don’t know and why it matters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an interesting 2025 book by Timothy Caulfield on separating nonsense from sense titled The Certainty Illusion: What you don’t know and why it matters. A preview is at Google Books. This book is divided in three parts:

Part I: The Science Illusion

Part II: The Goodness Illusion

Part III: The Opinion Illusion

 

In Part I, in a section on The Predator Problem on page 63 he discusses predatory journals:

 

“Predatory journals profit by charging researchers a fee to publish – which many legitimate publications also do (sometimes the fee is more than $10,000!), especially journals that are open access. But predatory journals have a lax peer-review process or almost none at all. They’ll publish just about anything. Their editorial boards – the entities meant to apply rigorous standards to decide what gets published – are often padded with questionable ‘experts.’ For example, Dr. Olivia Doll sat on the editorial board of seven academic journals. She is, or so it has been claimed, a celebrated authority in ‘avian propinquity to canines in metropolitan suburbs’ and ‘the benefits of abdominal massage for medium-sized canines.’ No surprise, as Dr. Olivia Doll is a Staffordshire terrier named Ollie. Chasing birds and belly rubs are central to her career agenda. Despite these passions, she has found time to review manuscripts for journals like Global Journal of Addiction & Rehabilitation Medicine and Psychiatry and Mental Disorders. She did that. Good doggie! And she has published a few articles herself, including co-authoring a piece with Alice Wuenderlandt from Lutenblag University in Molvania…

 

Ollie’s career as an editor was the brainchild of professor Mike Daube, a public health researcher at Curtin University in Australia. He wanted to demonstrate how these journals lacked credibility. Mission accomplished. The credentials of Dr. Olivia Doll, also known as Ollie the dog, were accepted by all these publications, despite the fact that, as Professor Daube has noted, ‘it would take a five-year-old one click to expose this. In fact, one journal told Ollie that they were ‘delighted to have such an eminent person as yourself.’ Woof.”

 

Dr. Doll is discussed by Ryan Cross in a Science article on May 24, 2017 titled Australian dog serves on the editorial boards of seven medical journals and another article by Kelsey Kennedy at Atlas Obscura on May 25, 2017 titled This Dog Sits on Seven Editorial Boards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And in Part II: The Goodness Illusion, starting on page 101 he discusses The Devious Dozen buzzword terms, which are: Natural, Holistic, Healthy, Organic, Non-GMO, Gluten-Free, Chemical-Free, Toxin-Free, Locally Grown, The Colour Green, Immune-Boosting, and Personalized. Another three honorable mentions: are Low-Fat, Sugar-Free, and Protein.

 

The cartoon was adapted from this one at OpenClipArt.  

  

Brain freezes while giving TED talks taught two speakers about vulnerability

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a useful article at Fast Company on May 6, 2025 by Jamie Woolf and Scott Simon titled We both froze while giving TED talks. Here’s what it taught us about vulnerability.

 

Jamie forgot her meticulously researched open line and instead whispered an expletive right into the microphone.

 

And Scott was a minute and fifty seconds into his talk when he realized that he’d left the presentation remote backstage. He did a sideways slide off of the red circle to retrieve it.

 

Because they began with high credibility their unplanned moments became strong points of human connection with their audiences. They discuss these five points:

 

Create intentional “vulnerability loops.”

Transform mistakes into growth narratives.

Create structural support for imperfection.

Create equitable spaces for vulnerability.

Know your audience.

 

The cartoon ice block and brain came from OpenClipArt.  

 

Kendrick Frazier’s outstanding book - Shadows of Science: How to uphold science, detect pseudoscience, and expose antiscience in the age of disinformation

 

 

 

 

 

Kendrick Crosby Frazier (March 19, 1942 – November 7, 2022) was a science journalist who edited Skeptical Inquirer magazine from 1978 until his death. In 2024 his outstanding book titled Shadows of Science: How to uphold science, detect pseudoscience, and expose antiscience in the age of disinformation was published.

 

The Introduction begins as follows:

 

“Misinformation swirls around us like a hurricane that never ends. It is constant, ever-renewing, resilient, overwhelming. It seems that we might never escape the maelstrom. Falsehoods have always flown like the wind, while truth does a slow walk, as Jonathan Swift and others have long noted. But something seems different these days Way back in 1987, my organization held a conference titled ‘The Age of Misinformation.’ That theme was both topical and prescient because today, in this third decade of the twenty-first century, studies show that misinformation spreads faster, farther, broader, and deeper than accurate information. The algorithms of social media sites, the bots of bad-actor nations, and the current political-cultural climates of divisiveness all actively encourage the spread of misinformation. These and other toxic social forces amplify the abuse exponentially and poison our own sense of reality and the trust in others necessary for societies to cohere and for democracies to function.

 

When that misinformation and disinformation seek to nullify facts and evidence about the science of nature, life, and ourselves and present false and unsupported views as true, the result is something we can likely call pseudoscience. Pseudoscience is everywhere, following real science like a shadow, never quite revealing itself for what it is. Pseudoscience is pervasive, potent, unrelenting. It confuses people and impedes the public acceptance of good science. It advances powerful countercurrents contrary to common sense and good science, making truth constantly swim upstream against cascading headwaters of misguided information designed to appeal to our deepest fears, wants, and wishes. What can be done? The first thing is to recognize it….”

 

 Titles of chapters in this book are as follows:

 

Science and the Frontiers of Discovery

Pseudoscience and Unfounded Ideas

What the Heck is Pseudoscience?

What’s the Harm? Why Does It Matter?

The Subjects of Pseudoscience

Pseudoscience in Medicine or SCAM

The Values of Science

The Demarcation Problem: Philosophers and Pseudoscience

Climate Antiscience and Denial

The Rise of Organized Skepticism

Skepticism Goes Global

Final Thoughts, Future Hopes

 

Pages 61 and 62 list the following representative topics that attract pseudoscience, which could also be what you expect to hear on the late-night Coast-to-Coast-AM radio show:

 

Archeology and Earth Sciences

Ancient astronauts, ancient inscriptions, the Bermuda Triangle, dinosaur and human footprints together, dinosaurs contemporary with humans, dragon hoaxes, fire-breathing dinosaurs, global flooding in human history, a hollow Earth, lost ancient technologies, lost continents (Atlantis), psychic archaeology, psychic earthquake predictions, undersea “pavements”, unverified early visitations to the New World

 

Astronomy and Space Sciences

Alien abductions, alien artifacts, alien visitations, astrology, big bang rejection, cities on the Moon, crashed saucers, an electric universe, end-of-the-world apocalypses, a face on Mars, full-Moon effects, Moon-landing denial, neoastrology (‘Mars effect’), recovered saucers, rogue planets, UFOs, Velikovskyian ‘Worlds in Collision.’

 

Biology and Anthropology

Antievolutionism, birth-date-based biorhythms, bogus fossils (the Piltdown man), cattle mutilations, chupacabras, creationism, cryptozoology, or undiscovered large animals (bigfoot, yeti, Loch Ness monster, or lake monsters, etc.), intelligent design.

 

Cognitive Science and Neuroscience

Mind-body dualism, near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, pop psychologies about the brain, seeing Heaven, split-brain exaggerations, visiting Heaven.

 

Medical Sciences (Pseudomedicine)

Acupuncture, alternative medicine, anthroposophic medicine, antiaging creams, applied kinesiology, aromatherapy, ayurvedic medicine, chelation therapy, chiropractic (other than for treating back pain), coffee enemas, colonics, complementary medicine, cleanses, crystal healing, cupping, detoxification, ear candling, electrodermal screening, energy healing, energy medicine, essential oils, fad diets, faith healing, feng shui, flower remedies, food supplements, herbal remedies, homeopathy, integrative medicine, iridology, jade eggs, magnet therapy, meridians, natural remedies, naturopathy, oil pulling, oxygen therapy, performance-enhancing bracelets, psychic surgery, quackery, quantum medicine, quantum quackery, reflexology, spontaneous human combustion, therapeutic touch, unproven medical remedies, weight loss schemes.

 

Physics and Chemistry

Accelerators creating mini black holes, anthropic principle misinterpretations, antimatter pseudoscience, Bible codes, blood of Januarius, bomb-detector devices, cold fusion, dowsing, energy catalysis (e-cat), energy healing, faster-than-light travel, free energy, human-presence-detector rods, Kirlian photography, magnetic healing, misapplications of quantum mechanics to the macroworld, New Age physics, perpetual motion, psychic photography, quantum mysticism, relativity denial, the shroud of Turin, water with memory, weeping statues, young-Earth creationism.

 

Psychology

Aura reading, bogus self-help schemes, Dianetics, divination, eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), facilitated communication, fringe psychotherapies, fortune telling, ghosts, graphology, hauntings, hypnotic age regression, mass hysterias, mediums, multiple personalities, parapsychology, past lives, pop and fad psychologies, premonitions, psychic claims, psychic detectives, psychic powers (ESP, precognition, psychokinesis) psychics, rebirthing, recovered memories, reincarnation, repressed memories, remote viewing, Rorschach inkblot tests, Satanic-ritual-abuse rumors, spirits, thought-field therapy, transcendental meditation.

 

The looney looney looney title was adapted from here at Wikimedia Commons.

 

The Scout Mindset is an interesting book by Julia Galef which discusses why some people see things clearly and others do not

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently I have been reading an interesting book from 2021 by Julia Galef titled The Scout Mindset: Why some people see things clearly and others don’t. There is a Google Books preview of it and a Wikipedia page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A table (shown above) from page 14 describes how there is a large difference between a soldier mindset and a scout mindset.

 

Chapter 4 in the book is titled Signs of a Scout. It has the following headings:

 

Feeling Objective Doesn’t Make You a Scout

 

Being Smart and Knowledgeable Doesn’t Make You a Scout

 

Feeling Objective Doesn’t Make You a Scout

 

Actually Practicing Scout Mindset Makes You a Scout:

  Do you tell other people when you realize they were right?

  How do you react to personal criticism?

  Do you ever prove yourself wrong?

  Do you take precautions to avoid fooling yourself?

  Do you have any good critics?

 

In 2016 Julia gave two twelve-minute TEDx talks about this subject. One in February is titled Why you think you’re right - even if you’re wrong. The other in April is titled Why “scout mindset” is crucial to good judgment. There also is an hour and a half seminar at the Long Now Foundation on October 18, 2019 titled Soldiers and Scouts: Why our minds weren’t built for truth.

 

There is an article by Benjamin J. Lovett in Psychological Injury and Law magazine for 2022, Volume 15, pages 287 to 294 titled Objectivity or Advocacy? The ethics of the scout mindset in psychoeducational assessment.

 

The image of a woman with binoculars is from Wikimedia Commons.

 

How old is the phrase ‘conspiracy theory’?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s a century older than you might think.

 

Between 11 PM and 3 AM I sometimes listen to the Coast-to-Coast AM radio show for entertainment rather than information. It’s a conversation piece for victims of insomnia. The January 17, 2025 show was titled Decoding Dreams/Conspiracy Culture. The webpage says:

 

“In the second half, David Samuels, the editor of County Highway, explored the rise of conspiracy theories in contemporary society and their detrimental effect on public trust. He pointed to the rumors swirling around during the COVID-19 pandemic as a prime example, remarking, ‘COVID did more to destroy public trust in institutions than any other single event of my lifetime.’

 

Samuels highlighted the stark decline in society’s trust in the media, mentioning that it had plummeted from over 50% to a mere 22%. He also insisted on having a critical mindset in today’s information-saturated world, stating, ‘You got to kind of question everything in this day and age.’

 

The conversation touched on the origin of the term ‘conspiracy theory.’ Samuels explained that its roots are found in the Warren Commission report following President Kennedy’s assassination. According to him, ‘This country is founded on a conspiracy theory,’ noting that the American revolution was sparked by the perceived tyranny of King George III.”  

 

Did ‘conspiracy theory’ really first come out in the 1964 Warren Commission report? I thought it might be much older, and looked up that phrase both in the EBSCOhost databases at my public library, and at Google Books.

 

At EBSCOhost I found an article by Howard J. Graham in the Yale Law Journal for 1938 (Volume 47, pages 371 to 403) titled The “Conspiracy Theory” of the Fourteenth Amendment.

 

At Google Books I found an 1881 book by James D. McCabe titled Our Martyred President: The Life and Public Services of Gen. James A. Garfield. On page 556 it specifically says that:

 

“There is more and more doubt of the conspiracy theory.”

 

What about another obvious source, which you would expect the show to have consulted?  The Wikipedia page on Conspiracy theory has a section on Origin and usage which points to a January 11, 1863 letter in The New York Times. And it also explains:

 

“Whether the CIA was responsible for popularising the term ‘conspiracy theory’ was analyzed by Michael Butter, a Professor of American Literary and Cultural History at the University of Tubingen. Butter wrote in 2020 that the CIA document Concerning Criticism of the Warren Report, which proponents of the theory use as evidence of CIA motive and intention, does not contain the phrase ‘conspiracy theory’ in the singular, and only uses the term ‘conspiracy theories’ once, in the sentence: ‘Conspiracy theories have frequently thrown suspicion on our organisation (sic) for example, by falsely alleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us.’ “

 

The surprised cartoon came from Openclipart.

 

Nine red flags of pseudoscience

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How can we tell if our research is finding just pseudoscience rather than real science? At my friendly, local public library I recently found, and am enjoying reading, the 2024 book by Jonathan N. Stea titled Mind the Science: Saving your mental health from the wellness industry. He is a clinical psychologist in Calgary. There is a preview of it at Google Books. In a section titled Mind the Takeaways on pages 200 and 201 he describes the following Nine Red Flags of Pseudoscience:

 

Explain away negative findings (i.e., overuse of ad hoc hypotheses)

“Your horoscope didn’t work this time because you didn’t think positively enough when you read it.”

 

Absence of self-correction

“Sure – maybe Scientology hasn’t changed much since L. Ron Hubbard’s writings, but it still has undiscovered potential!”

 

Evasion of peer review

“They don’t publish their results in top-tier, peer reviewed scientific journals because Western medicine has brainwashed us to believe that randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the only kind of evidence.”

 

Emphasis on conformation rather than refutation

“I don’t care if you think the Amazing James Randi has thoroughly debunked telekinetic spoon bending. Those people at the workshop swear it isn’t a magic trick.”

 

Reversed burden of proof

“No! YOU prove to ME that it isn’t an alien-operated UFO.”

 

Claims divorced from the broader scientific literature (i.e., absence of connectivity)

“Science doesn’t have all the answers! It can’t explain how past life regression therapy uses ideas about reincarnation to help treat posttraumatic stress disorder.”

 

Elevation of anecdotal evidence

“I received energy healing and happen to feel better afterward; therefore, it works.”

 

Use of science-y sounding language

“Once the diagnosis using quantum mechanics is completed, current treatments revert to biochemistry instead of using treatments involving the subtle energies that made the original diagnosis.” (From an actual published article on energy medicine that is now retracted)

 

Absence of boundary conditions

“Why, of course, detoxification diets can treat depression, anxiety, addiction, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, chronic pain, marital conflict, glaucoma, Covid-19, laziness, and heartburn – and it can do so in adults, children, infants, dogs, cats, and horses.”

 

The preceding quote is typical of homeopathy. For example, in the Homeopathic Materia Medica by William Boericke there is a web page about Natrium Muriaticum – chloride of sodium claiming that rather than just being edible salt (the shaker on your dining table) it is:

 

“A great remedy for certain forms of intermittent fever, anemia, chlorosis, many disturbances of the alimentary tract and skin.”

 

On January 4, 2016 I blogged about Will homeopathic Natrium Muriaticum reduce stage fright? How could that work?

 

An image of a red flag came from Openclipart.

 

“Brain Rot” is a phrase; Brainrot is a portmanteau word.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On December 2, 2024 there is an article from Oxford University Press titled ‘Brain rot’ named Oxford Word of the Year 2024. But those two words are a phrase. We could either hyphenate them to brain-rot, or make a single a portmanteau word – brainrot. Another article by Casper Grathwohl about the Oxford Word of the Year has a section titled Celebrating 20 years of Oxford Word of the Year. There were six other years where they had two words:

 

2007: carbon footprint

2008: credit crunch

2010: big society 

2011: squeezed middle

2019: climate emergency

2022: goblin mode

 

And there were two more with hyphenated words:

2006: carbon-neutral

2016: post-truth

 

A third article by Bill Chappell at NPR on December 2, 2024 is titled Writer Thoreau warned of brain rot in 1854. Now its’s the Oxford Word of 2024.

 

The terminal version of brain rot apparently is a ‘brain cloud.’ The Wikipedia page for the 1990 movie Joe Versus the Volcano describes it as follows (and see this YouTube video):

 

“Joyless, listless and chronically sick, Banks regularly visits doctors who can find nothing wrong with him. Finally, Dr. Ellison diagnoses an incurable disease called a ‘brain cloud’, which has no symptoms, but will kill him within five or six months.”

 

My cartoon was adapted from this one and that one at Openclipart.

 

 

How to present to an audience who know more than you do

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Harvard Business Review on May 8, 2024 there is an article by Deborah Grayson Riegel titled How to Present to an Audience That Knows More Than You. She says to:

 

Choose self-affirmation over self-doubt

Be intellectually humble without undermining your credibility

Acknowledge and invite their expertise and experience – without letting them take over

 

Another recent article by Minda Zetlin at Inc. on April 22, 2024 is titled With 1 Sentence, Wharton Psychologist Adam Grant Just Revealed a Quietly Powerful Truth About Communication.

 

For introducing himself to an audience of generals, Adam said:

 

“What could I possibly learn from a professor who’s 12 years old?”

 

In reply one of the generals piped up with:

 

“Ah, ridiculous. You gotta be at least 13.”

 

The stepladder image came from Openclipart.

 

Dr. David Gorski is fighting for science-based medicine and against nonsense

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an article by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling at The New Republic on February 28, 2023 titled A Doctor’s War Against the Right-Wing Medical-Freedom Movement. It is about Dr. David Gorski, whose long-running blog is titled Respectful Insolence. He also is the Managing Editor of the Science-Based Medicine web site. Dr. Gorski blogged about that magazine article on March 2, 2023 in a post titled The New Republic on a two decade war against medical quackery.

 

I ran across his blog when I was trying to make sense of dubious information about COVID-19. Then I blogged about him in a post on March 24, 2020 titled Phony coronavirus remedies, a post on April 8, 2020 titled Going on a wild goose chase by treating coronavirus with an unproven malaria drug, a post on May 4, 2020 titled Sifting through misinformation, and a post on May 23, 2020 titled Simplified images either can clarify or confuse.

 

Dr. Gorski writes long, detailed posts and articles, which include lots of medical terminology. I admire and often read (or just skim) his writings. He is excellent in explaining why things do or do not make sense. For example, an article on March 20, 2023 titled Ivermectin is now fast becoming the new MMS explains:

 

“As I’ve written many times before, despite its ability to inhibit the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, in cell culture, well-designed randomized clinical trials have failed to find any efficacy for the drug. There’s a reason why I’ve referred to ivermectin as the acupuncture of COVID-19 treatments because of its extreme implausibility based on basic science alone. The reason for that implausibility is that the concentration required to inhibit viral growth in vitro is 50- to 100-fold higher than what can be safely achieved in humans, meaning that, from strictly a pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics standpoint, ivermectin was always a highly implausible treatment for COVID-19.”

 

Another article on May 22, 2023 titled Evidence-based medicine vs. basic science in medical school discusses randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and homeopathy as follows:

 

“As I like to ask: Which of the following is more likely, that a 30C homeopathic solution of…something…that has been diluted on the order of 10³⁷-fold more than Avogadro’s number and thus is incredibly unlikely to contain even a single molecule of that something has a therapeutic effect or that the RCTs concluding that it does reveal the problems and biases in clinical trials? As I also like to say, given the usual p-value of 0.05 designated for ‘statistically significant’ findings, under ideal circumstances, with perfectly designed and executed RCTs, by random chance alone 5% of these RCTs will be ‘positive.’ Of course, in the real world, RCTs are not perfect, either in design or execution, and the number of ‘false positives’ is therefore likely considerably higher than 5%. Yet, basic science alone tells us that a 30C homeopathic remedy is indistinguishable from the water used to dilute it, which means a placebo-controlled RCT is testing placebo versus placebo and ‘positive’ results show us nothing more than the noise inherent in doing RCTs.”

 

The image of a boxer was modified from this one at the Library of Congress.

 

The Lori Vallow Daybell murder trial media circus finally is over

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Friday we finally got the guilty verdicts in the Lori Vallow Daybell murder trial held at the Ada County Courthouse here in Boise. It had run for six weeks and been a media circus that involved sixty witnesses testifying. The prosecution closed with the same theme they had started with – Money, Power, and Sex – which could have been the title for a long Russian novel – maybe the sequel to War and Peace.

 

An article by Rebecca Boone at AP News on May 13, 2023 is titled Doomsday plot: Idaho jury convicts woman in murders of 2 children, romantic rival. A previous article on May 11, 2023 is titled A look at who’s who in the murder trial of slain kids’ mom, and one on April 1, 2023 is titled Doomsday plot? After 3 years, slain kids’ mom to stand trial. The May 13 article described defense claims not found credible by the jury:

 

“Defense attorney Jim Archibald countered that there was no evidence tying his client to the killings, but plenty showing she was a loving, protective mother whose life took a sharp turn when she met her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, and fell for the ‘weird’ apocalyptic religious claims of a cult leader. He suggested that Daybell and Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox, were responsible for the deaths.”

 

This trial was extensively covered by both local TV (KTVB7 and 2IdahoNews) and national TV, but without cameras in the courtroom, except for reading of the verdict. But later there will be another trial of her husband, Chad Daybell. At various times it looked like either he would be tried first, or they would be tried together, or she would be found not competent for trial.

 

The circus tent cartoon was modified from this one at Wikimedia Commons.

 

Donald Trump lost the lawsuit by E. Jean Carroll because he just was not a credible witness

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today ex-president Trump had a multimillion dollar worst moment. An article by Adam Reiss and Dareh Gregorian at NBC News on May 9, 2023 reported that Trump found liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll in civil trial and is ordered to pay $5 million. An earlier article by the same authors on May 4, 2023 about his prior deposition being played is titled E. Jean Carroll rests case in civil trial after jurors see video of Trump confusing her with his ex-wife (Marla Maples). He complained the photo Carroll’s attorney showed him was ‘blurry.’ Another article by Philip Bump at The Washington Post on May 5, 2023 is titled Did Trump’s anti-glasses vanity doom his E. Jean Carroll defense? Donald’s refusal to wear reading glasses (and see clearly) demolished his claim that Carroll just “wasn’t his type.”

 

Of course, in the aftermath of that unanimous verdict (in less than four hours). the May 9, 2023 NBC News article also reported:

 

“A Trump campaign spokesman said in a statement, ‘Make no mistake, this entire bogus case is a political endeavor targeting President Trump because he is now an overwhelming front-runner to be once again elected President of the United States.’

 

‘This case will be appealed, and we will ultimately win,’ the statement said.”

 

I don’t think the case was at all political – that sexual assault took place long before Trump entered politics. And I don’t see good reasons for an appeal, since Trump’s lawyer didn’t put on a defense (or call him in person).

 

The gavel image came from Wikimedia Commons. 

 

UPDATE

 

 

At a CNN town hall just a day after the jury verdict, Donald ‘Blurry’ Trump verbally attacked E. Jean Carroll, as was reported by Ewan Palmer at Newsweek on May 11, 2023 in an article titled Donald Trump just opened himself up to being sued again.

  

 

 

 

SpaceX Starship rocket has a "rapid unscheduled disassembly"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The SpaceX Starship is a very impressive, 390-foot-high, super-heavy launch vehicle. Minutes after its test launch on April 20, 2023 the first, unmanned Starship exploded. Rather than simply say exploded, SpaceX used the public relations euphemism ‘‘rapid unscheduled disassembly.” It was described in an article by Tariq Malik and Mike Wall at Space.com titled SpaceX’s 1st Starship launches on epic test flight, explodes in ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’.

 

On April 22, 2019 I blogged about them previously using another euphemism for a Crew Dragon problem in a post titled Incident and anomaly just are weasel words for failure.

 

When I saw a video of the SpaceX Starship explosion, I immediately thought instead of a plain English description repeatedly used by John Candy and Joe Flaherty in a comedy routine on SCTV called the Farm Film Report. While dressed in overalls, they proclaimed the punchline that:

 

“He blowed up. He blowed up real good!”  

 

A three-minute SCTV video example has Catherine O’Hara playing Brooke Shields.

 

The Starship image was adapted from one at Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

Demonizing Dietary Oxalate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my last post on January 16, 2023 I blogged about Should you believe The Plant Paradox book? No. It’s already out-of-date. At the McGill Office for Science and Society there is an article by Jonathan Jarry on January 6, 2023 titled The Demonization of Dietary Oxalate Has Begun. That new demon is described in a just published book by Sally K. Norton titled Toxic Superfoods: How Oxalate Overload Is Making You Sick—and How to Get Better. But Mr. Jarry calls her identification of that demon wishful thinking.

 

The image of a blank medal came from Openclipart, and was finished using PowerPoint.

 

 

Should you believe The Plant Paradox book? No.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on October 9, 2017 I blogged about a book in a post titled It must be true, since I read it in a book. Several months ago, at my friendly local public library, I saw the different 2017 book by Steven R. Gundry titled The Plant Paradox (and subtitled The Hidden Dangers in “Healthy” Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain) on the new books shelf. Amazingly there are 21 copies in the Treasure Valley libraries union catalog - six in the city of Boise, six in Ada County, etc. He opens by stating:

 

“Suppose that in the next few pages I told you that everything you thought you knew about your diet, your health, and your weight is wrong. For decades, I believed those lies as well. I was eating a ‘healthy’ diet (after all, I’m a heart surgeon). I rarely ate fast food; I consumed low-far dairy and whole grains.”

 

My reaction was about the same as when I saw the cover of the 1974 Firesign Theatre comedy album Everything You Know Is Wrong. While I am ready to be amused, it will take an awful lot more to persuade me. I just shook my head, put the book down and walked away.     

 

At Science-Based Medicine on October 25, 2022 Harriet Hall reviewed that book in an article titled The Plant Paradox: Steven Gundry’s war on lectins. She concluded he was peddling nonsense. The Cleveland Clinic on May 22, 2022 has another article titled Plant Paradox diet: Does it work for weight loss? which says to try something else. And, back when the book came out, James Hamblin at the The Atlantic had yet another article on April 24, 2017 titled The Next Gluten.

 

It gets worse though. Dr. Gundry also is selling supplements. Joe Schwarcz at the Mcgill Office for Science and Society has an article on February 1, 2018 titled What’s a ‘Vital Red’ supplement and should I be taking it? Joe’s answer is heck no.

 

The image is edited from an old poster at the Library of Congress.

 

In their New York criminal trial for tax fraud, Trump’s attorneys tried to throw both their CFO and their former accounting firm under the bus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the recent trial for criminal tax fraud, attorneys for the Trump Organization tried to blame Allen Weisselberg, their own Chief Financial Officer (CFO), since he already had entered guilty pleas. They also tried to shift blame to their former accounting firm, Mazars – saying they should have caught the fraud. (On February 18, 2022 I blogged about how Donald Trump’s Organization got fired by his accountants). An article by Matthew Chapman at Salon on December 2, 2022 is titled Trump Org lawyers throw Allen Weisselberg under the bus after he spilled the beans at trial.

 

But the jury didn’t think any of that was credible. There were 17 counts. Another article by Kara Scannell and Lauren de Valle at CNN on December 7, 2022 reported Trump Organization found guilty on all counts of criminal tax fraud.

 

Merriam-Webster has yet another article on Where does the expression ‘throw someone under the bus’ come from? Their thesaurus explains that ‘spill the beans’ means to make known information previously kept secret.  

 

I created an ‘under the bus’ cartoon from modified versions of this bus  at Openclipart and this man at Wikimedia Commons.  

 

Another statement from an arrogant blowhard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some writers are careful. They double check numbers before using them. But other arrogant blowhards do not. At the Gem State Patriot News on October 2, 2022 there is an article by Dr. John Livingston titled Has America Lost Its Roots? His second paragraph contains the following gem:

 

“… In Genesis, the material –dust and the transcendental-spirit, were joined together. With the Incarnation ‘the word became flesh’ and dwelt amongst us.’ That idea has been the basis of Western Civilization for over 8000 years. Cosmology—anthropology—Christology all connected. The physical and the spiritual. No other religion and no other political models including the ‘isms’ make this connection. Only in the Christian-Judeo tradition is the importance of the individual person so important. That is because we were made by God and for God.”

 

But 8000 years is way too long, as shown above via a PowerPoint timeline. According to the Hebrew calendar (which begins at Creation) we just started the year 5783. If you had been paying any attention to recent news, you would have heard that. For example, another article from CNN published by CBS News Baltimore on September 26, 2022 titled 5 things to know about Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year begins:

 

“Sunday is the start of Rosh Hashanah, also known as the Jewish New Year, which marks the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days. The millennia old holiday is an occasion for reflection, and is often celebrated with prayer, symbolic foods, and the blowing of a traditional horn called a shofar. This year’s Rosh Hashanah marks the start of year 5783 in the Hebrew calendar.”

 

On July 20, 2022 I blogged about a previous article from John in a post titled Unsupported statements from an arrogant blowhard.