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marfknox
SFN Die Hard

USA
3739 Posts
Posted - 06/13/2006 :  21:15:03  Show Profile  Visit marfknox's Homepage  Send marfknox an AOL message Send marfknox a Private Message
Yesterday on Fresh Air Terry Gross interviewed Sharon Weinberger on her new book Imaginary Weapons. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5478373
quote:
Sharon Weinberger's book looks at some of the schemes that swallow up Defense Department money.
It's a wonderful interview. My favorite part was when she talked about "the voice of God" weapon.

Toward the end of the interview she also talks about how the different approaches of journalism (seeking a balance of differing views) and the scientific community (seeking relative consensus based on the best evidence at the time) are at odds with each other and how this helps perpetuate belief in pseudo-science not just with the public, but with government officials who decide how to spend our money.
"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong

Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com

Ghost_Skeptic
SFN Regular

Canada
510 Posts
Posted - 06/13/2006 :  22:57:12   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send Ghost_Skeptic a Private Message
This nonsense has been going on for a long time.

There is a book called the The Men Who Stare at Goats about some of the goofy parapsychological experiments conducted by the Pentagon. Here is an interview with the author Jon Ronson (Real Audio Format).

It is hilarious.
"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. / You can send a kid to college but you can't make him think." - B.B. King

History is made by stupid people - The Arrogant Worms

"The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism." - William Osler

"Religion is the natural home of the psychopath" - Pat Condell

"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter" - Thomas Jefferson
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beskeptigal
SFN Die Hard

USA
3834 Posts
Posted - 06/14/2006 :  01:57:42   [Permalink]  Show Profile Send beskeptigal a Private Message
The balancing views is an interesting take. I can see the dichotomy with science but I have a different impression on motive. It always seems to me the news media prefers controversy to agreement. If they were looking for balance you'd think they could figure out how to give the appropriate representation of both sides instead of the usual equal time. 100 protesters vs 100,000 and they show each group as if the issue was balanced. That isn't reporting news, that's reporting in a way so as the actual picture of events is distorted.
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