My Favorite Show EP:13 Curious Squatch and The Man in The pointy Hat

New Genetic Study PROVES Bigfoot is a Thing! [SPOILER ALERT: No it Doesn't.]

Tampa Couple's Lawsuit Accuses Church of Scientology of Deception and Fraud

My Favorite Show EP:11- Baby Shower Brawls and Telecom Cults

My Favorite Show EP:09- Reptilian Overlords Ate My Baby

Alex Jones, Info Wars, and Prison Planet.com

Gangnam Style, Call Me Maybe, The Third Eagle of The Apocalypse, and Fun With Numbers

My Favorite SHow EP03: Mr. Smith Steals A Yeti Hand

My Favorite Show EP02: Poor Little Doodle

My Favorite Show EP01: Cyborgs and Beauty Queens

Captain Disillusion: Real Phaser Reverse Debunk

Neutrinos, Still Not Faster Than Light, For Reals This Time

Godless Geek Blog Year one, A shiny new Domain Name, and things to Come...

SOPA is dead, long live SOPA

Moments after publishing the last entry on the subject, I logged on to my twitter feed to discover that SOPA, had officially been declared dead. Lamar Smith, the chief sponsor of of the bill, said today he's pulling the legislation, “until there is wider agreement on a solution.” PIPA, has also been pulled off the table, for now.

Smith was also careful to stress hi s that the rampant theft of "American inventions and products" by foreign entities through online piracy was an economically crippling problem that must be addressed, saying:

“We need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products. “The problem of online piracy is too big to ignore. American intellectual property industries provide 19 million high-paying jobs and account for more than 60% of U.S. exports. The theft of America’s intellectual property costs the U.S. economy more than $100 billion annually and results in the loss of thousands of American jobs. Congress cannot stand by and do nothing while American innovators and job creators are under attack.”

"American innovators and job creators", that's politician for industry and corporations. But hey, they're people too, right?

As I pointed out before, there is no denying that online piracy, international and otherwise does exist, and should be addressed. But as far as American laws are concerned, I believe the issue of copyright protection is more than fairly addressed. And that the American innovators and intellectual property owners Smith and others who supported his legislation claim they're trying to defend would all be far better served if individuals were once again given favor over corporations by making the ability to defend intellectual property rights -like every other thing in America today- more than a matter of who can afford to purchase a better defense team.

As for international piracy, it seems fairly obvious to me that any solution in that arena is an issue of trade and international law, and not an acceptable excuse for tightening domestic penalties and walling off the Internet.

Look, I think it's great that we all managed to make enough noise to postpone the crippling of the Internet. But as I said before, I believe it's only a delay of the inevitable, as is clearly indicated by Smith's open-ended statements. So even if PIPA, or some slightly less virulent strain of the SOPA virus doesn't return, then republican Darrell Issa's OPEN Act (Ooh, OPEN, that means it's protecting an open Internet right? just like Mccain's internet freedom act sought to free us all from the tyranny of net neutrality right? Politicians are so clever.) or some other inbred sibling of the two, will. And whatever does come next, I personally believe it will come with same "unintended consequences" as these two. But I guess we'll all just have to wait and see.

-CAINE-

Source: venturebeat.com
Image credit: Getty images

SOAPA/PIPA and Wednesday's Blackout

So as you may have noticed, much of the Internet went "dark" Wednesday in protest of SOPA and PIPA, two bills set to go before congress and the senate that are, according to the entertainment industry which sponsored them, meant to be an attempt to curb online piracy of copyrighted content in other countries. As someone who once intended to create art for a living, and someone who still hopes to turn intellectual property into a source of revenue, I've got a lot to say about all this. So it looks like we'll be doing the "theme" thing again after all. But I can sum up my over all feeling about SOPA and it's ugly bastard cousin PIPA, fairly simply: it's all bullshit.

The truth about both bills, as seems to always be the case these days, is that both pieces of legislation WILL HAVE the exact opposite effect of what they claim. They are designed to stifle creativity, innovation, and free speech, to cripple independent artists and more importantly, the entertainment (old media) industries biggest competitor and otherwise soon to be replacement, the the Internet(new media). Because the independence provided by the Internet allows an artist, not only the freedom to create what they want, the way they want, and for exactly the audience they want, but the ability to actually get paid for their efforts without having to financially rape their audience to do it. Simply put, old media really is hemorrhaging money. But not because were stealing their precious content, because we, along with the creators they used to enslave, are generating our own, and making them obsolete.

Don't get me wrong, I think piracy is bad and if you support it, you should stop. Not because you're hurting the industry, fuck the industry. You should stop because the artists and performers you love, even the one's you may already perceive as rich and successful, are already getting screwed by the industry as it is, as they always have. Which is why so many of them have turned to "new media"; and if you're not already, you should be rewarding them for that. And because art and personal expression, as well innovation, all grow and progress most successfully when given the ability to do so freely, while still protecting the rights of the creators. In other words, no copyright restriction is just as bad as too much. Government intrusion into your life, on the other hand, is always bad. And giving the old media empires the ability to call on the power of the justice department to protect it's product, even in the name of an infraction as minor as simply linking to a page that contains unlicensed material, is far from providing the copyright holder reasonable protection, and opens the door to a host of further restrictions and intrusions into our lives that none of needs.

SOPA, PIPA, censorship, and the regulation of the Internet, it should go without saying, are all complicated issues. Issues that I can't even hope to fully inform anyone about in a month's worth of blog posts, much less a single entry, and really isn't my place to try. like you, I'm just some guy on the Internet who doesn't want to see the freedom and opportunity it provides us hobbled in the name of control. All I can really do, is share my personal opinions and interpretations and encourage you, if you haven't done so already, to take the time to actually read and understand as much of these bills and the clones that will follow them, and the consequences such regulations will have, as you possibly can ( and the above video isn't a bad place to start). Because, while Wednesday's protests were enough to knock a few supporters of these bills and push voting on them back a few weeks, they will return, and others will take their place. Because the government wants to control information, what you see and hear and how, and old media wants to do the same to preserve their bottom line, and they're working together to achieve that goal.

-CAINE-

And Then, I started Blogging Again...

Upon arrival at the store, I was first annoyed to discover that, once again, the science section had apparently migrated. After making several laps around the floor in search of it's new hiding place; pausing briefly to glare at the MASSIVE religious/spirituality section that had swelled to gargantuan proportions since my last visit, I decided to ask for help in my search.

More than slightly annoyed, and a little bewildered by the idea that the science section might actually be gone altogether, I approached an employee and asked,

" Um, do you not even have a science section anymore?".
"Yes, we still have a science section", the clerk replied, "it's right over here."

He then proceeded to lead me to the back of the store, where, crammed onto a few shelves facing the back wall -safely shielded from view of the casual browser, and centrally located next to the bathroom and encyclopedias- sat the tiny, sad little selection of science books seen above.To put things into perspective; remember the obscenely large religious and spirituality section I mentioned? Well, here's a photo of just the floor space this particular store has dedicated to bibles alone.

Including the section labeled, "Religious Fiction" (Ill spare you the obvious observation here), the books seen in that photo represent about 25% of the total collection of books on religion and spirituality available at this particular store. Now, take a moment to consider the rest of the credulous, pseudo-scientific, nonsensical, and superstition filled publications that we all know dominate the shelves of this, and every other bookstore in the country, and you'll start to see why this trip managed to set off something in my brain. Because, these days more than ever, brick and mortar stores like B&N have to make the most of their inventory in order to compete with online retailers like Amazon -less they suffer the same fate as Borders. Which means, the content of this, and any other store's inventory, is a direct reflection of what people actually have an interest in buying, and clearly -it ain't science.

Now, I know that this may not sound like much of a catalyst for an Epiphany. But for me, watching the selection of science books -which actually used to be fairly large at this particular location BTW- slowly shrink, and disappear from view, was a stark, and frankly depressing, reminder of just how unpopular science and critical thinking are -and just how prominent irrational thought, and supernatural belief, continue to be in the mind of the average person. so while I still harbor no delusions of grandeur where my place in the world is concerned, it did manage to remind me of why any effort to promote science and critical thinking, however small, was well worth it.

-CAINE-

George Hrab's Twitter song (Dragon Con 2011)

Posted by Youtube user:ipeeepay

Normally, I'm not much for puns. But somehow, George manages to make them funny. So, for those of you who also enjoy George Hrab (Music/The Geologic Podcast) and terrible, terrible puns, I give you both; along with Evan Bernstein (The Skeptics Guide to The universe) and Brian Brushwood (NSFW/Scam School/Weird Things).

And if you are a fellow skeptic/science geek/ETC, who is somehow unfamiliar with George, Brian, or Evan, be sure to follow the links provided to check out their various podcasts, as well as the rest of George's music.

-CAINE-

Posted by Youtube user: ipeeepay

VIA: GGB on Tumblr

The West Memphis 3

Obviously, I have been away from the computer for a while again. And while I'm not about to bore you with two week's of news you've already heard, there were at least a few stories which tool place over my absence, that I think are worth adding to the archives. Most notably, the release of the West Memphis three.

In 1993 three teenagers, Damien Echols(18), Jason Baldwin(16) and Jessie Misskelley(17)- one of whom, Damien Echols, was rumored to be a satanist- now known as the West Memphis 3, were arrested for the sexual assault and murder of three 8 year old boys, Stevie Branch, Michael Moore, and Christopher Byer. Despite NO substantiated physical evidence linking them to the crimes, by 1994, the trio was convicted of the murders based on a confession given by Misskelly -which the defense would later charge was obtained via coercion- and a statement made by a woman named Vicki Hutcheson; in which she claimed that Jessie Misskelly and Damien Echols had taken her to view a "Satanic esbat", a coven or witch's meeting associated with Wicca and Neopaganism. As a result of their conviction in the case, Misskelly and Baldwin would received multiple life sentences, while Damien was sentenced to death.

Following their convictions the boys maintained their innocence, not a particularly unique position for an inmate to maintain. But soon, they begin to draw public support. Over the years this group of supporters would eventually grow to include a variety of celebrities and musicians, as well as the parents of two of three victims, and ultimately resulted in the creation of a defense fund. A fund which allowed the Young men the ability to properly challenge the charges against them, which many believed were driven by the religiously driven hysteria dubbed the "Satanic Panic".

An examination of the evidence conducted by Echol's defense team between 2005 and 2007, not only failed to produce ANY evidence linking the Boys to the case, but actually yielded DNA evidence in the form of two hairs found at the scene which were determined to be consistent with the DNA of two other individuals sampled by the defense: Terry Hobbs, victim Steve Branch's step father, and a known associate of Hobbs, David Jacoby. Defense investigators also determined that marks on the victims body's, alleged to have been inflicted with a large knife recovered from a lake near Baldwin's home, were most likely the result of animal activity, and not the weapon in question. Finally, the team showed that Misskelly's confession, obtained after multiple hours of police interrogation of the the then 17 year old, border line mentally challenged suspect, was initially factually incorrect in every significant way -from the time of the murders, to the methods used in the killings- until police lead Misskelly into giving the "correct" answers to their questions.

As for the claim made by Vicki Hutcheson that Echols and Misskelly had taken her to witness a satanic ritual, a claim which helped to bolster the prosecution's assertion that the killings had been part of a satanic rite. In 2004, Hutcheson claimed that her testimony in the trial had been a complete fabrication, one which she claims to have told after West Memphis Police detectives threatened to take her child away and implicate her in the slayings, if she refused to testify as instructed. Hutcheson's claims of police intimidation have never been substantiated.

Armed with their new findings findings, and Hutcheson's recant, the defense made an appeal for a new trial. In 2010, that appeal was granted by the state supreme court, and a new trial was set for later this year. Seemingly convinced that the men, now all in their thirties, would likely win that trial, the state decided to make a deal. On august 19th, the West Memphis three were set free after serving 18 years in prison. They were not, however, cleared of the charges against them.

In order to gain their freedom, Echols and Baldwin were forced to enter something known as a " Alford plea", in which a defendant asserts their innocence of the charges in question, but acknowledges that sufficient evidence exists with which the prosecution could likely convince a judge or jury to find them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt; Misskelly entered a similar plea for his charges. This special plea to the charges also just happens to come with the happy side-effect, where the state is concerned anyway, of shielding the prosecution from any criminal liability, including financial damages.

Though there seemed to be little doubt from anyone that all three men would most likely have won their freedom in the new trial granted to them by the Arkansas Supreme Court, Jason and Jessie ultimately decided to agree to the plea -which also came with a 10 year suspended sentence for each defendant- in order to save the life of their friend Damien, who was awaiting execution on death row.

Given my own affinity for the music and sub-culture that was the target of the satanic-panic phenomena, not to mention my own personal dealings with it throughout my childhood, the plight of the WM3 is something I have followed for a long time. In my view, it seems clear that these men were wrongly convicted of the crimes in question, and given the lack of evidence against them; the prosecutions seeming refusal to even consider other subjects -despite even new DNA evidence implicating others in the crime- and all of the attempts that were made during the trial to tie the murders to satanic rituals, it seems equally obvious that religiously-fueled hysteria was ultimately the primary motivator behind the boys arrests and convictions. And while I'm pleased that the men were finally able to at least earn they're freedom, the idea that all of the authorities and institutions involved in their convictions are being allowed to get away with -in my opinion- deliberately ruining the lives of three innocent people in the name of their personal religious convictions, or simple incompetence- angers and disgusts me to no end. But whatever your personal opinion of their guilt or innocence may be, we should all agree that the handling of this case and the result it produced, were anything but justice for anyone, including the victims.

-CAINE-

Sources: CNN Justice, WM3blackboard ( Vicki Hutcheson's recant), The WM3 "Time for Truth" Documentary- posted by: globalgriot on Youtube.

The Sixsense Academy

What is the "Sixsense Academy" You say? And wouldn't "Sixth" sense be easier to pronounce and make more... um... sense?

Well the answer to your second question is clearly yes, though I suppose we can give them a pass and assume that they were attempting to avoid association with the crappy Shamalamadon movie. As to your first question, think of the Sixsense Academy or the, "International Academy of Spiritual Education", as Dumbledorf's castle, only for cons and the diluted. No really, the website claims the Liverpool academy is based in Leasowe castle, cute huh?

In reality, this is basically a troupe or traveling circus for psychics masquerading as an "educational organization" with no real physical hub anywhere; as far as I can tell from they're website, which seems deliberately vague and misleading on this point. Unless of course you think they might actually own a castle in Liverpool, a concert hall in Ireland, and a sanctuary in Spain. Ya, me neither. But the website does claim they have plans to "open Academies" in the south of England, as well as here in the US, and won't that be fun.

As you would expect, the list of available tutors on the site includes, psychic healers, mediums, life coaches, a "world renowned angel Channeler and soul expert" and a member of the MBE, the Most Excellent order of the British Empire, ya I don't really know what it means either. But for me, there are three tutors who really stand out from this crowd of seven.

First, There's Nina Hall, who is apparently one of the UK's leading, "Aura photographer, Aura Imaging & WinAura Live Consultant's". Now, what makes her most special to me is the "winaura" thing. Cause when I saw that word I thought, "Winaura? What is that, some kind of windows program for reading auras?" Why YES! Yes it is- this will be getting it's own entry. Oh ya, and Nina does psychic surgery too, great.

Next, there's Nicky Whittaker ( no link, she apparently doesn't even rate a profile on the page) , who doesn't do anything particularly special that I know of, since she is listed on the site solely as a, "Spain tutor". Not a Spanish tutor, not a tutor in Spain, but a Spain tutor. You know, in case you need to brush up on your...um... Spain.

But most important by far is the whole reason I found the academy in the first place, Joe "the man who sees dead people" Power. listed on the academy web page as: "International TV, Award winning, Psychic Medium, Author & Teacher".

I've written about Joe before, but in case you missed it; Joe is your standard run of the mill, "I see dead people" (oh the irony), kind of "psychic medium". His favorite pastimes include, pretending to talk to the dead, exploiting the grieving, humiliating himself on TV- with a little help from Derren Brown, and wasting the time of local authorities by claiming some special insight into murder investigations, and missing persons cases. He even managed to find some time just last year to falsely accuse members of the MSS of violent threats. Busy guy that Joe.

But hey, maybe some of the other folks are good at what they do.

Bottom line, while I freely admit that I am completely unfamiliar with most of the people on the list, and perhaps they all manage to fall into the, self-diluted believer category; Joe, in my humble non-liable opinion, does not. Joe knows exactly what he's doing, and it isn't talking to the dead. So weather you believe in any of what this so-called academy is selling or not, it seems fair to assume that any organization willing to include him on their list of trusted experts, not to mention a psychic surgeon who employs a scientifically baseless computer program in her act; knows exactly what they're doing too, and it isn't educating.

-CAINE-

Source:sixsenseacademy.com on Twitter: @SixSenseAcademy

Image credit (In order of appearance): The Sixsense Academy and Joe Power

You should also check out The Merseyside Skeptics' site for more of they're dealings with Joe.

Tim Minchin's "Storm" The Animated Movie

So if this isn't already making the rounds on all the atheist, skeptical, freethought, and science blogs around the net, it will be very shortly, and for good reason.

First, it's been a long time coming and there are undoubtedly plenty more geeks like myself who are happy to see it finally arrive. Second, it looks and sounds amazing! Third, Tim is AWESOME, and any excuse one may get to share his work is well worth taking. And finally, if Storm isn't already the official theme song of skeptics and freethinkers everywhere, it damn well should be.

I mean really, haven't we all been Tim, confronting our own personal "Storms" in various social situations throughout our lives? I know I have been, EVERYWHERE I GO, EVERY FRIGGIN' DAY!

Which is probably why I don't get invited out much anymore... Oh well. At least I still have you Internets!

Enjoy!

-CAINE-