Conspiracy Theories, Skepticism, and Critical Thinking

The titles for these chapters are quite something, I've never paid attention to them before, but they are quite revealing. Here is the beginning of chapter 9: " Anatomy of An Alliance The Logic for the New World Order The Glue that Binds That Alliance of Power  and The Consequences 'All that is necessary for evil to triumph  is for good men to do nothing.'    -Edmund Burke 1729-1797 As a quick aside: in my research, I discovered something very interesting, Irish Philosopher Edmund Burke never said this quote , even though it is widely mis-attributed to him.  Back to the task at hand: what the chapter title reveals is a lack of discipline in the writer. Writing instruction repeats a mantra so often it has become a cliche, show don't tell. If you are unfamiliar, it means that the writer should rely on the reader to understand what is going on. If "Bill" is angry, it's better writing to let the character's actions reflect his anger than to state ...

Coincidentally my wife purchased a new cell phone, and while she was busy tooling around with it, I read through the several little booklets that came with it. We can't call them manuals really because they are just warranty information, a picture that tells you where all of the buttons are, tucked into that booklet was the FCC warning regarding electromagnetic radiation (EM hereafter). The warning states that the phone is compliant and safe to use, gives a caution that the phone may get warm if pressed against the face, and that it shouldn't be used constantly against the skin. Interestingly, it leaves out why. The movie, "Thank You For Smoking" (2005), the protagonist ends the film having set a meeting with some cell phone executives and reminding them of the mantra that there is no proven link between cell phones and cancer. This being his long time advice for cigarette companies, who historically have spent billions throwing the science that linked cigarette smo...