DOCSLIB.ORG

Qanon • 75 Years of the Bomb • Vaccine History • Raising

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Qanon • 75 Years of the Bomb • Vaccine History • Raising SQANON • K75 YEARS OF ETHE BOMB P• VACCINE HISTORYT • RAISINGI CTHE DEAD? Extraordinary Claims, Revolutionary Ideas & the Promotion of Science—Vol.25Science—Vol.25 No.4No.4 2020 $6.95 USA and Canada www.skeptic.com • WHAT IS QANON? • HOW QANON RECYCLES CENTURIES-OLD CONSPIRACY BELIEFS • HOW QANON HURTS THEIR OWN CAUSE • QANON IN CONSPIRATORIAL CONTEXT watch or listen for free Hear leading scientists, scholars, and thinkers discuss the most important issues of our time. Hosted by Michael Shermer. #146 Dr. DonalD Prothero— # 130 Dr. DeBra Soh—the end # 113 Dave ruBIn— # 106 Dr. DanIel ChIrot— Weird earth: Debunking Strange of Gender: Debunking the Myths Don’t Burn this Book: you Say you Want a revolution? Ideas about our Planet about Sex & Identity in our Society thinking for yourself in an radical Idealism and its tragic age of unreason Consequences #145 GreG lukIanoff—Mighty # 129 Dr. Mona Sue WeISSMark Ira: the aClu’s controversial involve- —the Science of Diversity # 112 ann Druyan—Cosmos: # 105 Dr. DIana PaSulka— ment in the Skokie case of 1977. Possible Worlds. how science and american Cosmic: ufos, # 128 MIChael ShellenBerGer civilization grew up together religion, and technology #144 Dr. aGuStIn fuenteS— —apocalypse never: Why environ- Why We Believe: evolution and the mental alarmism hurts us all human Way of Being # 127 Dr. WIllIaM Perry and #143 Dr. nICholaS ChrIStakIS— toM CollIna—the Button: the apollo’s arrow: the Profound and new nuclear arms race and Presi- enduring Impact of Coronavirus on dential Power from truman to trump the Way We live # 126 Sarah SColeS—they are #142 Dr. PhIlIP Goff— already here: ufo Culture and Galileo’s error: foundations for a Why We See Saucers new Science of Consciousness # 125 Dr. BJorn loMBorG— #141 rICharD kreItner— false alarm: how Climate Change Break it up: Secession, Division, Panic Costs us trillions, hurts the and the Secret history of america's Poor, and fails to fix the Planet Imperfect union # 124 Dr. DavID J. halPerIn— # 140 Dr. reBeCCa WraGG Intimate alien: the hidden Story of SykeS—kindred: neanderthal life, the ufo love, Death and art # 123 GeralD PoSner— # 139 Dr. Shelby Steele—Shame: Pharma: Greed, lies, and the how america’s Past Sins have Poisoning of america Polarized our Country & the film What killed Michael Brown? # 122 Dr. Walter SCheIDel— escape from rome: the failure of # 138 DouGlaS Murray— empire and the road to Prosperity the Madness of 2020 # 121 Dr. MarIa konnIkova— # 137 Marta ZaraSka—Growing the Biggest Bluff: how I learned to young: how friendship, optimism, & Pay attention, Master Myself, and Win kindness Can help you live to 100 # 120 Dr. anDreW raDer— # 136 Dr. GaD SaaD— Beyond the known: how explo- the Parasitic Mind: how Infectious ration Created the Modern World Ideas are killing Common Sense and Will take us to the Stars # 135 Dr. Paul halPern— # 119 hoWarD BlooM—einstein, Synchronicity: the epic Quest to Michael Jackson, and Me: a Search understand the Quantum nature for the Soul in the Power Pits of # 111 Dr. SCott Barry kaufMan # 104 JuDIth fInlaySon— of Cause and effect rock and roll —transcend: the new Science you are What your Grandparents of Self-actualization ate: …nutrition, experience, # 134 Dr. JoSePh henrICh— # 118 Dr. Stuart ruSSell— epigenetics and the origins of the WeIrDest People in the human Compatible: artificial Intelli- # 110 Dr. Bart ehrMan—heaven Chronic Disease World: how the West Became gence and the Problem of Control and hell: a history of the afterlife Psychologically Peculiar and # 103 Dr. roBert frank— # 117 Dr. Matt rIDley— Particularly Prosperous # 109 Dr. neIl ShuBIn— under the Influence: Putting Peer how Innovation Works: and Why Some assembly required: Pressure to Work # 133 Dr. MIChael e. It flourishes in freedom MCCullouGh—the kindness Decoding four Billion years of life, of Strangers: how a Selfish ape # 116 Dr. hoWarD Steven from ancient fossils to Dna # 102 Dr. ChrIStoPher ryan— Invented a new Moral Code frIeDMan—ultimate Price: Civilized to Death: the Price of the value We Place on life # 108 Dr. BrIan Greene— Progress # 132 Dr. leonarD MloDInoW until the end of time: Mind, —Stephen hawking: a Memoir of # 115 Dr. MattheW CoBB— Matter, and our Search for # 101 Dr. huGo MerCIer—Not friendship and Physics the Idea of the Brain: the Past Meaning in an evolving universe Born Yesterday: The Science of Who and future of neuroscience We Trust and What We Believe # 131 Dr. Stuart rItChIe— # 107 Dr. freD kaPlan— Science fictions: how fraud, Bias, # 114 katherIne SteWart—the the Bomb: Presidents, Generals, # 100 Dr.MIChael SherMer— negligence, and hype undermine Power Worshippers: Inside the Dan- and the Secret history of 100th episode Special: Ask Me the Search for truth gerous rise of religious nationalism nuclear War Almost Anything #6 millions of downloads Hear leading scientists, scholars, and thinkers discuss the most important issues of our time. Hosted by Michael Shermer. # 99 Dr. BoBBy Duffy—Why We’re # 91 JaMeS trauB—What Was Conversations: A Very Practical Guide #66 Dr. ChrIStIan lISt— Wrong About Nearly Everything: A Liberalism?: The Past, Present, and Why Free Will is Real Theory of Human Misunderstanding Promise of a Noble Idea # 82 Dr. PhIl ZuCkerMan— What It Means to Be Moral: # 65 Dr.JareD DIaMonD-- # 98 Dr. roBert PennoCk— # 90 Dr. Mel konner—Believers: Why Religion Is Not Necessary for Upheaval:Turning Points for Nations An Instinct for Truth: Curiosity and Faith in Human Nature Living an Ethical Life in Crisis the Moral Character of Science # 89 Dr. rICharD DaWkInS—out- # 81 Dr. BruCe hooD— # 64 Dr. MIChael toMaSello— # 97 aMBer SCorah—Leaving growing God: A Beginner’s Guide Possessed: Why We Want More Becoming Human: A Theory of Than We Need Ontogeny # 80 Bryan WalSh: End Times— # 63 Dr. heCtor a. GarCIa— A Brief Guide to the End of the World Sex, Power, & Partisanship: How Evolutionary Science Makes # 79 Dr. anthony kronMan— Sense of Our Political Divide The Assault on American Excellence ask Me anything # 5 Dr.MIChael # 78 Dr. DonalD hoffMan—The SherMer—“Are the Miracles of Case Against Reality: Why Evolution Jesus Unbelievable?” Debate Hid the Truth from Our Eyes Postmortem # 77 Dr. lee MCIntyre—The # 62 Dr. Mark Moffett— Scientific Attitude: Defending Science The Human Swarm: How Our from Denial, Fraud, & Pseudoscience Societies Arise, Thrive, and Fall # 76 WIllIaM PounDStone— # 61 Dr. rICharD WranGhaM— The Doomsday Calculation: The Goodness Paradox: The How an Equation that Predicts Strange Relationship Between the Future is Transforming Everything Virtue and Violence in Human We Know About Life and the Evolution Universe # 60 Dr. nICholaS a. ChrIStakIS # 75 CharleS fIShMan— —Blueprint: The Evolutionary Ori- One Giant Leap: The Impossible gins of a Good Society Mission that Flew us to the Moon #59 CaSS r.SunSteIn— # 74 Dr. ShaIlI JaIn— On Freedom The Unspeakable Mind: Stories of Trauma and # 58 Ben ShaPIro—The Right Healing from the Frontlines Side of History: How Reason & Moral of PTSD Science Purpose Made the West Great # 73 anDreW SeIDel— # 57 Dr. franS de Waal—When The Founding Myth: Why Christian Animals Weep (& laugh, love, fight, Nationalism is Un-American are afraid, get angry, seek revenge, & other human-like emotions) # 72 roBert ZuBrIn—The Case the Witness: Exiting a Religion and # 88 DanIel oBerhauS— for Space: How the Revolution in # 56 Dr. tyler CoWen— Finding a Life Extraterrestrial Languages Spaceflight Opens Up a Future of How an Economist Views the World Limitless Possibility # 96 Dr. CatherIne WIlSon— # 87 DouGlaS Murray—The ask Me anything #4 Dr.MIChael How to Be an Epicurean: Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race, # 71 Dr. MIChael SherMer— SherMer—The Problem of Evil The Ancient Art of Living Well and Identity What is Truth? # 55 Dr. DavID Sloan WIlSon— # 70 Dr. BrIan keatInG—Losing # 95 Dr. John MartIn fISCher— # 86 Dr. neIl DeGraSSe tySon This View of Life: Completing the Death, Immortality & Meaning in Life the Nobel Prize: A Story of Cosmol- Darwinian Revolution —Letters from an Astrophysicist ogy, Ambition, and the Perils of Sci- # 94 Dr. DavID leISer—How We ence’s Highest Honor # 85 Dr. DeePak ChoPra— #53 aDaM hIGGInBothaM— Misunderstand Economics and Why Metahuman: Unleashing Your Infinite China Syndrome II: The True Story it Matters # 69 Dr. BarBara tverSky— of What Happened at Chernobyl Potential Mind in Motion: How Action Shapes # 93 Dr. Geoffrey MIller— Thought Virtue Signaling: Essays on # 84 Dr. ChrIStof koCh— # 52 BruCe SChneIer—Hacked! Darwinian Politics and Free Speech The Feeling of Life Itself: #68 Dr. MIChael ruSe— Security and Survival in a Hyper- Why Consciousness is Widespread The Meanings of Life Connected World # 92: tIM SaMuelS— but Can’t Be Computed Future Man: How to Evolve and #67 Dr. ChrIStIan SMIth— # 51 GreGG hurWItZ—Into the Thrive in the Age of Trump, # 83 Dr. Peter BoGhoSSIan— Atheist Overreach: What Atheism Light: Myths…Archetypes, and Mansplaining, and #MeToo How to Have Impossible Can’t Deliver Trump PO Box 338 SKEPTICS SOCIETY & SKEPTIC MAGAZINE Altadena, CA, 91001 626-794-3119 (phone) 626-794-1301 (fax) Promoting Science and Critical Thinking [email protected] About the Skeptics Society Skeptics Society Officers Michael Shermer The Skeptics Society is a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) educational organization that promotes Pat Linse science literacy and critical thinking, and investigates fringe science and paranormal Publisher & Editor-in-Chief claims. Supported by leading scientists, scholars, journalists and magicians, we Michael
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Paleontograph______
    __________The Paleontograph________ A newsletter for those interested in all aspects of Paleontology Volume 5 Issue 1 March, 2016 _________________________________________________________________ From Your Editor Welcome to our latest issue. I hope you enjoyed the holidays. If you are anything like me, you are looking forward to Spring. We've had a mild winter here in CO. Weather is different than the east coast. While the nights are colder, the days are warmer. It's a nice change for me. I finally have my fossil lab up and running and I am spending my days, or part thereof, working off my backlog of fossils. It has been a couple of months since our last issue but Bob has kept writing and so we have an interesting issue for you to enjoy. The Paleontograph was created in 2012 to continue what was originally the newsletter of The New Jersey Paleontological Society. The Paleontograph publishes articles, book reviews, personal accounts, and anything else that relates to Paleontology and fossils. Feel free to submit both technical and non-technical work. We try to appeal to a wide range of people interested in fossils. Articles about localities, specific types of fossils, fossil preparation, shows or events, museum displays, field trips, websites are all welcome. This newsletter is meant to be one by and for the readers. Issues will come out when there is enough content to fill an issue. I encourage all to submit contributions. It will be interesting, informative and fun to read. It can become whatever the readers and contributors want it to be, so it will be a work in progress.
    [Show full text]
  • John Stuart Mill Y La Cuestión Sobre El Paternalismo* John Stuart Mill and the Paternalism Issue
    FECHA DE RECEPCIÓN: 04/01/16 FECHA DE APROBACIÓN: 18/01/16 John Stuart Mill y la cuestión sobre el paternalismo* John Stuart Mill and the paternalism issue Leandro Cornejo Amoretti** Resumen: La presente investigación estudia el pensamiento de John Stuart Mill y su posición alrededor de la justificación del paternalismo, tomando en consideración el principio de daño elaborado en su obra “Sobre la libertad”. Dos son los objetivos de este trabajo. En primer lugar, se analizarán las tesis anti-paternalistas sostenidas por este autor para 8 identificar sus deficiencias y limitaciones. En segundo lugar, se busca determinar hasta 4 qué punto dichas tesis realmente se opusieron a dichas intervenciones, para verificar la exactitud de aquella creencia algo extendida que considera a Mill como un fuerte opositor del paternalismo. Se concluye que los defectos de las tesis de Mill se explican en buena cuenta debido a un exceso de optimismo en las capacidades de los seres humanos para la auto-regulación, un fuerte escepticismo sobre la capacidad del Estado para lograr medidas paternalistas efectivas, el otorgamiento de un peso excesivamente fuerte e irrealista a la autonomía individual, entre otras consideraciones erróneas. Asimismo se concluye que no es correcto afirmar que John Stuart Mill haya sostenido una tesis anti-paternalista sumamente amplia o casi absoluta. Si bien su famoso principio de Asociación Civil Asociación daño permite excluir de validez a muchas medidas de dicha naturaleza, una revisión Derecho & Sociedad más detallada de toda su obra permite mostrar que Mill admitió la validez de muchas 13 intervenciones en adultos. Abstract: The present investigations study the John Stuart Mill thinking and his position towards paternalism justification, taking into account the harm principle elaborated in his book “On Liberty”.
    [Show full text]
  • Proof That John Lennon Faked His Death
    return to updates Proof that John Lennon Faked his Death Mark Staycer or John Lennon? by Miles Mathis This has been a theory from the very beginning, as most people know, but all the proof I have seen up to now isn't completely convincing. What we normally see is a lot of speculation about the alleged shooting in December of 1980. Many discrepancies have indeed been found, but I will not repeat them (except for a couple in my endnotes). I find more recent photographic evidence to be far easier and quicker to compile—and more convincing at a glance, as it were—so that is what I will show you here. All this evidence is based on research I did myself. I am not repeating the work of anyone else and I take full responsibility for everything here. If it appeals to you, great. If not, feel free to dismiss it. That is completely up to you, and if you don't agree, fine. When I say “proof” in my title, I mean it is proof enough for me. I no longer have a reasonable doubt. This paper wouldn't have been possible if John had stayed well hidden, but as it turns out he still likes to play in public. Being a bit of an actor, and always being confident is his ability to manipulate the public, John decided to just do what he wanted to do, covering it just enough to fool most people. This he has done, but he hasn't fooled me. The biggest clues come from a little indie film from Toronto about Lennon called Let Him Be,* released in 2009, with clips still up on youtube as of 2014.
    [Show full text]
  • Economics of Business
    Draft notes for Bob Wayland’s Economics of Business Class 1 Notes, Part 1: Economics: The Delightful Science1 Objectives: Part I of these notes sets out a framework of four economic concepts found in Adam Smith’s work and introduces the class readings within that context. The readings are noted in bold face as they are introduced. There really is a story line to the course beginning with what is a firm and ending with the origins of new firms through entrepreneurialism. After the story line is set out there follows a very short history of business to convey its scale, ancient origins, and the often under-appreciated sophistication of early markets, especially in finance. The second set of notes sets the stage for our discussion of Ronald Coase’s seminal contribution to the study of firms that describes how entrepreneurs choose to organize and conduct complex activities by combining resources from either the market or through firms. I. Economics: the Delightful Science2 Adam Smith’s monumental 1776 book, The Wealth of Nations is the foundation work of modern economics. Smith changed the way people thought about markets and the creation of economic value. His ideas also changed the intellectual environment within which political and economic theory and policy were debated. Smith, a Scottish professor of moral philosophy, created a coherent discipline based in part on four notions: (a) The beneficial power of self-interest 1 My friend and colleague Jim Mulcahy, also a business economist, has served as a sounding board and contributor to these notes. He has suggested many improvements and corrected my errors.
    [Show full text]
  • Guide for the Selection of Commercial Explosives Detection Systems for Law Enforcement Applications
    U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice National Institute of Justice ABOUT THELaw LAW Enforcement ENFORCEMENT and Corrections AND CORRECTIONS Standards and Testing Program Guide for the Selection of Commercial Explosives Detection Systems for Law Enforcement Applications NIJ Guide 100-99 U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs 810 Seventh Street N.W. Washington, DC 20531 Janet Reno Attorney General Raymond C. Fisher Associate Attorney General Laurie Robinson Assistant Attorney General Noël Brennan Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jeremy Travis Director, National Institute of Justice Office of Justice Programs National Institute of Justice World Wide Web Site World Wide Web Site http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij ABOUT THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CORRECTIONS STANDARDS AND TESTING PROGRAM The Law Enforcement and Corrections Standards and Testing Program is sponsored by the Office of Science and Technology of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), U.S. Department of Justice. The program responds to the mandate of the Justice System Improvement Act of 1979, which created NIJ and directed it to encourage research and development to improve the criminal justice system and to disseminate the results to Federal, State, and local agencies. The Law Enforcement and Corrections Standards and Testing Program is an applied research effort that determines the technological needs of justice system agencies, sets minimum performance standards for specific devices, tests commercially available equipment against those standards, and disseminates the standards and the test results to criminal justice agencies nationally and internationally. The program operates through: The Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Advisory Council (LECTAC) consisting of nationally recognized criminal justice practitioners from Federal, State, and local agencies, which assesses technological needs and sets priorities for research programs and items to be evaluated and tested.
    [Show full text]
  • Romeo and Juliet from Multiple Critical Perspectives™
    Multiple Critical Perspectives™ Teaching William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet from Multiple Critical Perspectives™ by Eva Richardson Multiple Critical Perspectives Romeo and Juliet Other titles in the Multiple Critical Perspective™ series include: 1984 Hamlet Our Town Animal Farm Heart of Darkness Picture of Dorian Gray, The Anthem House on Mango Street, The Pride and Prejudice Antigone I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Raisin in the Sun, A Awakening, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Richard III Brave New World Invisible Man (Ellison) Romeo and Juliet Catcher in the Rye, The Jane Eyre Scarlet Letter, The Comedy of Errors, The King Lear Separate Peace, A Crucible, The Life of Pi Siddhartha Cry, the Beloved Country Lord of the Flies Slaughterhouse-Five Death of a Salesman Macbeth Tale of Two Cities, A Doll’s House, A Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew, The Ethan Frome Metamorphosis, The Tempest, The Fahrenhiet 451 Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Things Fall Apart Frankenstein Much Ado About Nothing Things They Carried, The Grapes of Wrath, The Oedipus Rex To Kill a Mockingbird Great Expectations Of Mice and Men Twelfth Night Great Gatsby, The Old Man and the Sea, The Wuthering Heights P.O. Box 658, Clayton, DE 19938 www.prestwickhouse.com • 800.932.4593 ISBN 978-1-60389-441-8 Item No. 302929 Copyright 2008 Prestwick House, Inc. All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced without permission in writing from the publisher. 2 P RESTWICK HOUSE , INC . Multiple Critical Romeo and Juliet Perspectives A Message to the Teacher of Literature P EN YOUR STUDENTS ’ EYES AND MINDS with this new, ex- Ociting approach to teaching literature.
    [Show full text]
  • CFI-Annual-Report-2018.Pdf
    Message from the President and CEO Last year was another banner year for the Center the interests of people who embrace reason, for Inquiry. We worked our secular magic in a science, and humanism—the principles of the vast variety of ways: from saving lives of secular Enlightenment. activists around the world who are threatened It is no secret that these powerful ideas like with violence and persecution to taking the no others have advanced humankind by nation’s largest drugstore chain, CVS, to court unlocking human potential, promoting goodness, for marketing homeopathic snake oil as if it’s real and exposing the true nature of reality. If you medicine. are looking for humanity’s true salvation, CFI stands up for reason and science in a way no look no further. other organization in the country does, because This past year we sought to export those ideas to we promote secular and humanist values as well places where they have yet to penetrate. as scientific skepticism and critical thinking. The Translations Project has taken the influential But you likely already know that if you are reading evolutionary biology and atheism books of this report, as it is designed with our supporters in Richard Dawkins and translated them into four mind. We want you not only to be informed about languages dominant in the Muslim world: Arabic, where your investment is going; we want you to Urdu, Indonesian, and Farsi. They are available for take pride in what we have achieved together. free download on a special website. It is just one When I meet people who are not familiar with CFI, of many such projects aimed at educating people they often ask what it is we do.
    [Show full text]
  • Studying Political Bias Via Word Embeddings
    Studying Political Bias via Word Embeddings Josh Gordon Marzieh Babaeianjelodar Jeanna Matthews Clarkson University jogordo,babaeim,[email protected] ABSTRACT 1 INTRODUCTION Machine Learning systems learn bias in addition to other patterns In 2016, Bolukbasi et al. [1] published an influential paper demon- from input data on which they are trained. Bolukbasi et al. pio- strating a method to quantify and remove gender bias that a ma- neered a method for quantifying gender bias learned from a corpus chine learning (ML) model learned from a corpus of human text. of text. Specifically, they compute a gender subspace into which This is important for revealing bias in human text as well as re- words, represented as word vectors, can be placed and compared ducing the impact biased ML systems can have on hiring, housing, with one another. In this paper, we apply a similar methodology and credit. In this paper, we explore how we might use a similar to a different type of bias, political bias. Unlike with gender bias, methodology to model other kinds of bias such as political bias. it is not obvious how to choose a set of definitional word pairs to As with gender, we begin as Bolukbasi et al. did with attempting compute a political bias subspace. We propose a methodology for to model political bias as simply two binary extremes along a single doing so that could be used for modeling other types of bias as well. axis. Neither gender nor political bias is as simple in the real world We collect and examine a 26 GB corpus of tweets from Republican as two points on a single axis, but we wanted to see how useful and Democratic politicians in the United States (presidential candi- this model could be in the case of political bias.
    [Show full text]
  • Mapping the Creation-Evolution Debate in Public Life
    MAPPING THE CREATION-EVOLUTION DEBATE IN PUBLIC LIFE by ANDREW JUDSON HART (Under the Direction of Edward Panetta) ABSTRACT Evolution versus creation is a divisive issue as religion is pitted against science in public discourse. Despite mounting scientific evidence in favor of evolution and legal decisions against the teaching of creationism in public schools, the number of advocates who still argue for creationist teaching in the science curriculum of public schools remains quite large. Public debates have played a key role in the creationist movement, and this study examines public debates between creationists and evolutionists over thirty years to track trends and analyze differences in arguments and political style in an attempt to better understand why creationism remains salient with many in the American public. INDEX WORDS: Creation; Evolution; Public Debate; Argumentation; Political Style; Bill Nye MAPPING THE CREATION-EVOLUTION DEBATE IN PUBLIC LIFE by ANDREW JUDSON HART B.A., The University of Georgia, 2010 B.S.F.R., The University of Georgia, 2010 M.A.T., The University of Georgia, 2014 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS ATHENS, GEORGIA 2016 © 2016 Andrew Judson Hart All Rights Reserved MAPPING THE CREATION-EVOLUTION DEBATE IN PUBLIC LIFE by ANDREW JUDSON HART Major Professor: Edward Panetta Committee: Barbara Biesecker Thomas Lessl Electronic Version Approved: Suzanne Barbour Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2016 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would not have been possible without Dr. Ed Panetta pushing me down the path to study the creation-evolution debates and his work with me on this through the many drafts and edits.
    [Show full text]
  • 7.6 Prevention of Insurance Fraud
    7.6 PREVENTION OF INSURANCE FRAUD Fraud is of course ‘dishonesty’ or ‘cheating’. Since insurance is a process involving a high element of trust, there is ample scope for the dishonest person to take advantage. Insurance fraud may take any of a large number of forms. Usually, we tend to associate the term with dishonest claims, from relatively ‘small’ matters, such as having a cheap watch stolen and saying that it was an expensive one, to elaborate swindles involving arson or faked death certificates. There have even been examples of large life insurance being arranged and then having the person concerned murdered for the insurance money. Fraud, however, may arise at other than the claims level. Obtaining insurance by the deliberate falsification of material information, or knowingly hiding bad features, is equally fraud. Of course, this is a form of breach of utmost good faith (see 3.2 above), but often it is difficult to prove such things later. Although fraud may be committed by anyone involved with insurance (policyholder, insurance intermediary or even the insurer), we shall concentrate on the customary understanding of the proposer or insured seeking an illegal advantage against the insurer. The comments below refer specifically to the role of the insurance intermediary in this subject area. 7.6.1 Beware of Becoming Partners in Crimes Undoubtedly all of us know that we must refrain from carrying out criminal activities, or we may face criminal prosecution and even civil action. For instance, an insurance intermediary who misappropriates premiums that have been collected on behalf of his principal is liable to prosecution for theft, and to civil action by the principal to recover the stolen money and for damages such as loss of interests.
    [Show full text]
  • Consumer Behaviour During Crises
    Journal of Risk and Financial Management Article Consumer Behaviour during Crises: Preliminary Research on How Coronavirus Has Manifested Consumer Panic Buying, Herd Mentality, Changing Discretionary Spending and the Role of the Media in Influencing Behaviour Mary Loxton 1, Robert Truskett 1, Brigitte Scarf 1, Laura Sindone 1, George Baldry 1 and Yinong Zhao 2,* 1 Discipline of International Business, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; [email protected] (M.L.); [email protected] (R.T.); [email protected] (B.S.); [email protected] (L.S.); [email protected] (G.B.) 2 School of Economics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 24 June 2020; Accepted: 19 July 2020; Published: 30 July 2020 Abstract: The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic spread globally from its outbreak in China in early 2020, negatively affecting economies and industries on a global scale. In line with historic crises and shock events including the 2002-04 SARS outbreak, the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and 2017 Hurricane Irma, COVID-19 has significantly impacted global economic conditions, causing significant economic downturns, company and industry failures, and increased unemployment. To understand how conditions created by the pandemic to date compare to the aforementioned shock events, we conducted a thorough literature review focusing on the presentation of panic buying and herd mentality behaviours, changes to discretionary consumer spending as defined by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and the impact of global media on these behaviours. The methodology utilised to analyse panic buying, herd mentality and altered patterns of consumer discretionary spending (according to Maslow’s theory) involved an analysis of consumer spending data, largely focused on Australian and American markets.
    [Show full text]
  • Martin Gardner's Last Column | Our Neandertal Cousins | Nostradamus | an Unlikely Séance
    SI Sep/Oct 2010 v1_SI JF 10 V1 7/22/10 4:24 PM Page 1 MARTIN GARDNER'S LAST COLUMN | OUR NEANDERTAL COUSINS | NOSTRADAMUS | AN UNLIKELY SÉANCE THE MAG A ZINE FOR SCI ENCE AND REA SON Vol ume 34, No. 5 • September / October 2010 A Tribute & Celebration Ray HYMAN James RANDI Paul KURTZ James ALCOCK Kendrick FRAZIER Joe NICKELL Robert SHEAFFER ADDITIONAL TRIBUTES FROM Robert CARROLL TreatingTreating Heart Bryan FARHA Disease & Stroke: John Allen PAULOS A Skeptic’s Evaluation Scott O. LILIENFELD Christopher C. FRENCH Neil DEGRASSE TYSON Should ChiropractorsChiropractors Jay PASACHOFF TreatTreat Children? Martin BRIDGSTOCK Luis Alfonso GÁMEZ Benjamin RADFORD Timothy BINGA SI Sept/Oct pgs_SI MJ 2010 7/22/10 4:40 PM Page 2 FORMERLY THE COMMITTEE FOR THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF CLAIMS OF THE PARANORMAL (CSICOP). AT THE CEN TER FOR IN QUIRY /TRANSNATIONAL. A Paul Kurtz, Founder Joe Nickell, Senior Research Fellow Richard Schroeder, Chairman Massimo Polidoro, Research Fellow Ronald A. Lindsay, President and CEO Benjamin Radford, Research Fellow Bar ry Karr, Ex ec u tive Di rect or Richard Wiseman, Research Fellow James E. Al cock, psy chol o gist, York Univ., Tor on to Thom as Gi lov ich, psy chol o gist, Cor nell Univ. Robert L. Park, professor of physics, Univ. of Maryland Mar cia An gell, M.D., former ed i tor-in-chief, New Eng land Jour - Sus an Haack, Coop er Sen ior Schol ar in Arts and Sci en ces, pro- Jay M. Pasachoff, Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy and nal of Med i cine fessor of phi los o phy and professor of Law, Univ.
    [Show full text]