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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
 Posted - 10/18/2009 : 06:10:24 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Dave W.
Holy cow. From Orac (yes, again), I've learned that Maher took the opportunity presented by his season finale to defend himself against the accusations that he's anti-science-based-medicine, and was taken to school this time by Chris Matthews, who had the good sense to compare Maher to Tom Cruise.
Unbelievably, Maher used the "it's not settled science" gambit, insisting that there's less evidence for the efficacy and safety of vaccines than there is for anthropogenic global warming, and further insisting that he's not as "crazy" as the people who argue against AGW or evolution. Yes, Bill, you are. When it comes to vaccines and "Western" medicine, you're every bit as nutty as our own Bill scott.
I can't even watch the clip that Orac's posted. I really liked the guy. But if he's parading his ignorance around, claiming that vaccination is giving someone "a little bit of the disease," I'm not going to give him even the itsy-bitsy amount of "support" that comes with an increased-by-one YouTube view count.
And what's he got against Jell-O?
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Yeah, it was embarrassing to watch. I'm a fan of his HBO show (and him, mostly), but he has really put his own head on the block with vaccines, food, and drugs.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 11:50:30 [Permalink]
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Well, I suppose it isn't right for me to do this, but I have have been saying for years that Bill Maher is a prime example of a guy who thinks he is smarter than he is. His show may be entertaining, but I doubt there has been a single episode that I have watched and didn't have to winced at something he has said that was anti-science or misogynistic or whatever... I don't care if he is an atheist. His movie wasn't even that good, unless you enjoy cheap shots and watching some smug asshole smoking a joint while trying to teach us a lesson. Brilliant it wasn't. So I don't even get the award on the grounds that his (sophomoric) movie mattered in any way.
Sigh... |
Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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@tomic
Administrator
USA
4607 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2009 : 14:29:58 [Permalink]
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I watched the Politically Incorrect finale and it was painful to watch Bill talk about vaccinations as if he was well read on the subject yet still considers the subject controversial. When he muttered something about "western medicine" yadda yadda my ears perked right up at those woo woo keywords. I think Bill's lived in LA too long.
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Gravity, not just a good idea...it's the law!
Sportsbettingacumen.com: The science of sports betting |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2009 : 05:59:31 [Permalink]
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| Martin Gardner's column in the Nov/Dec 2009 Skeptical Inquirer is titled "Bill Maher: Crank and Comic." Amusingly, Gardner's criticism of Maher's ideas about vaccines and the germ theory is just about all sourced from (guess who?) Orac. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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astropin
SFN Regular
USA
970 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2009 : 11:38:29 [Permalink]
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Seems that just about everyone has a weak spot somewhere......what's yours?
Mine is wanting to really buy into Kurzweil's Technological Singularity.
That and the feasibility of cryonics. |
I would rather face a cold reality than delude myself with comforting fantasies.
You are free to believe what you want to believe and I am free to ridicule you for it.
Atheism:
The result of an unbiased and rational search for the truth.
Infinitus est numerus stultorum |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2009 : 17:09:57 [Permalink]
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I like Kurzweil's idea... but it can't really be anything but interesting conjecture. It's certainly an interesting idea, I just don't know if it's realistic.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
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ThorGoLucky
Snuggle Wolf
USA
1487 Posts |
Posted - 11/28/2009 : 15:43:45 [Permalink]
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Well said, Mr. Shermer!
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Bill Maher opposes vaccines?!
