Posts

Cryptozoology and Arguing from Silence

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen This article was inspired while I was writing an introduction to a post about wolverines . At first, it was going to be a part of the introduction, but it needed its own place. It is expanded from that intended introduction. Wolverines are known to mostly live in the far north, but a few live further south.  Captain Meriwether Lewis saw on in 1806 and referred to it as a "tyger cat," as it was unknown to white folks. Indeed, when the first specimen of a platypus was sent from 'Straya to England, the recipients thought it was a prank. Public domain image from the National Park Service, modified at FotoSketcher I am  doing a backward approach to cryptozoology , which is a search for animals that are hidden or extinct. I spent my first forty years in Michigan, which is called the Wolverine State even though it apparently never had a large number of them. Did they ever exist there? All we have are eyewitness accounts and the fact that there are others

The Secular Science Industry is Weaponizing Science for Leftists

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People think that scientists are dispassionate and aloof, but that is the opposite of reality. There are posts on this weblog and on Piltdown Superman  showing that the secular science industry is hell-bent on supporting leftist causes. (Again, there are scientists who just want to do their work and not bother with the cultural and political wars of their employers.) The organizations are getting way out of line. Instead of doing what they supposedly stand for, their campaigning is actually harmful to the public. Leftist elites love it, though. Democrats and other leftists utilize social(ist) media to supposedly combat misinformation (essentially, uninformed erroneous statements) and disinformation (goal-oriented falsehoods). Since leftist politicians and their bedfellows in the secular science industry are elitists, they  decide what is right or wrong. They also tamper with the meanings of dis- and mis information to include truths they don't like. Secular science is rooted in ma

A Basic but Effective Internet Security Tactic

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen The most effective way to keep your identity, finances, privacy, and so on safe online is to never go online. Easy enough... Unfortunately, since internet activity is ubiquitous and even expected, it is impractical to stay offline and live in this world. There are owlhoots looking to get information and money, and many are very skilled. Software developers are constantly updating against viruses, phishing, and other hacks — which is one reason to let your operating system, virus scanner, and other software update itself. Cybercrime warning, Pixabay / Gerd Altmann (geralt) Okay, we know that most folks cannot completely avoid going online to do certain minimal things. Sneaky people still find ways of causing people harm. Education is extremely important, and I reckon a good measure of suspicion is useful. Experience is helpful but getting that also has risks because people are exposed to sites that may be harmful. Suspicious Facebook Messenger message with link (

The Devious Motte-and-Bailey Fallacy

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Way back in 1066 AD, William the First took a notion to extend his power from Normandy and conquer England. People who have been invaded are not too fond of the idea. Bill knew this, and acted quickly to keep control, so he built a passel of strongholds. These castles could be built rather quickly with available wood. (Later, castles would be made of stone.) The wide area that was protected which was known as the bailey . The nearby hill, existing or manufactured, had the top leveled off for the greater stronghold, the motte . This is where the keep , often a tower, was built. Windsor Castle with motte and bailey, Flickr / Mike McBey ( CC BY 2.0 ) The basic idea of a motte and bailey was successful , since attackers would have to get through the outer defenses first, then they would have to fight the greater defenses going uphill. When the attack was thwarted or abandoned, the people would leave the motte and return to bailey life. This layout has been applied to a particularly deviou

Atheists Must Believe Antiscience

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Those of us who have been riding the Apologetics Trail for some amount of time know that professing atheists (Rom. 1:18-23) on the internet are, for the most part, weak thinkers. While some may have a modicum of skill at philosophy, most make serious logical and philosophical errors. For example, demanding scientific proof that God exists is a category error , because God is not a material object. We also see ridiculous professing Christians used as examples to say that all religion is evil, which is a hasty generalization . (You can see more of the common informal logical fallacies that misotheists use on the logic lessons page .) Worse, though, is that atheists are forced to believe antiscience because of their worldview. Darwin antiscience, modified from a Pixnio image Examples of why molecules-to-misotheist evolution is unscientific are in many places, including Piltdown Superman  and this weblog. Evolution is foundational to their belief system. (Yeah, I know, they "lack bel

Great Baals of Fire at the Commonwealth Games!

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by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Something flew under my radar that I would have missed except for a post from WHYOutreach . So anyway, while there are some folks who imagine occult symbolism and conspiracies everywhere they turn (such as the CERN collider causing the end of the world ), this imagery is blatantly obvious. People who know their Bibles and biblical history are aware of the demon known as Baal. How do you pronounce it? On Stargate SG-1  and other places, it's pronounced ball , like bouncy. Some say bail , like what you do when the boat is filling with water (I use this one). Others insert a gap, Ba'al, making it buh-ALL . However it is pronounced, it is a generic way of saying lord. Then it became a proper name. Since I can't find a legal image, here's the Palmyra Temple of Baal-Shamin, WikiComm / Dosseman  ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) So who was this sidewinder, anyhow? Basically a fertility deity for Canaan and Phoenicia — better yet, read " Who was Baal? " Differ

Bad Science and the Climate Change Bludgeon

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Expressions resembling "Never let a crisis go to waste" have been attributed to Niccolo Machiavelli, Winston Churchill, and Rahm Emanuel. Nowadays it appears to be a motto, especially for leftists attempting to increase political power. I suspect that there is a second part: "If there is no worthwhile crisis, manufacture one or take an existing problem and magnify it." Leftists and their obedient sheeple have been finding and causing crises for years. For a while, global warming had been on the back burner (heh!), but it was brought back with a vengeance, even using brainwashed children to manipulate emotions in the public. Global Warming, Pixabay / Pete Linforth As we have seen, the secular science industry will saddle up and ride with any leftist saddle tramp that comes to DC town. They have a worldview based on atheistic naturalism, so they reject the Creator (and his promises to sustain the earth) out of hand. In addition, the secular science industry has shown