Earth Day Festival 2014: How was the Woo?

Last Sunday, April 26, I went down to my town's annual Earth Day Festival to check out everything that was there, just like I do every year.

Last year I was appalled by the amount of pseudoscience and alternative medicine woo mixed in with all of the legitimate booths and displays promoting legitimate environmental causes and advice [read about it here] to the point where they pretty much overshadowed what the Earth Day festival was suppose to be about.

The worst offender last year ofcourse was a booth promoting Anti-GMO conspiracy theories.

Fortunately that person wasn't back this year, but still there were people back again promoting the same woo, including the Astrology and Tarot Card reader from last year,

and the chiropractors from last year are back as well,

but I have some new ones for this year, starting with this one:

Now I admit at first glance this one wasn't that bad, even through it had nothing to do with environmentalism.

Creating art can help relax a person and cut down on stress. That's the good part about what's being presented there.

Then there's the woo.

They also promote past life regression and trauma healing, clearing of curses, negative spirits, and other stuff of the like, and how to protect yourself from such things, all while using nature and spiritual energy.

In other words instead of addressing any real things that can cause stress in a person's life, they're just claiming that it's supernatural forces, and use "techniques" they claim to get from Shamanism to "cleanse" a person of these supernatural forces.

The next offender of promoters of woo that I saw there was this booth:

Yes, the stuff that's used to make fake tattoos is also apparently used to heal. Of what, I don't know, and from what I have read from these websites that promote "Healing Henna" they're not sure either. It just sounds like your basic New Age woo mixed with alternative medicine.

While I don't know how Henna tattoos are suppose to heal you, I do know that Henna can cause allergic reactions, and has been banned by the FDA for use on the skin.

So it won't heal you of anything, but it might result in you going some where that can heal you (like the hospital).

Finally, there was this:

That's right. Reiki, that alternative medicine/New Age woo that people who practice it claim they can heal people using just their energy, or the energy from the universe, or another dimension, or from wherever. They do this by  moving their hands over your body without actually touching you and "willing" this energy into you.

Atleast it's nice to know I wouldn't have been charged for this person to do nothing to me.

Over all I have to say that this year's Earth Day festival wasn't as bad as last year's. The New Age Movement stuff and other things that had nothing to do with environmentalism wasn't as bad as it was last year, and much of it was confined to one side street, although there were a couple amongst the main section, and of course there were vendors there selling clothes and jewelry and what have you, but I didn't mind those that much either, as they didn't drown out the booths that were promoting environmental causes.

The best Videos of the Week for 2013

Last year I started putting up on this page one video per week.

Now I've had a lot of videos on here that were just great, and today I've decided to have a look back at what I consider to be the five best videos of the week for 2013:

5. Alex Jones As Alien Lizard Explains Obamacare

Probably every skeptic around the world knows who Alex Jones. While many skeptic bloggers have atleast written up a couple of articles to either discredit him and/or show what kind of a fool he is, still by far the best person to discredit Alex Jones and to make him look like a fool... is Alex Jones.

This clip from Right Wing Watch's Youtube page clearly shows why that's true:



4. Debunking 9/11 conspiracy theorists part 6 of 7 - The psychology behind a 9/11 truther

From late 2012 to early 2013 Myles Power created a seven part series that is in my opinion one of the best 9/11 conspiracy theory debunking videos that I have ever seen, and the sixth video in the series, which explains the psychology and mindset of a 9/11 Truther, and infact most conspiracy theorists, could have itself been a stand alone video apart from the series.



3. Five Stupid Things About the Anti-Vax Movement

Steve Shives is one of my favorite vloggers on Youtube, and his Five Stupid Things segment is my favorite of all of his video segments, and in this video he rips the anti-vaccination movement a new one, showing not only how all of their claims are completely bogus, but also how dangerous it is not to vaccinate your child, or yourself for that matter.



2. Dumbest Anti-Gay Comments (Compilation)

How best to expose the leaders in the anti-gay movement as the homophobic bigots they really are? Actually you don't have to. They do a good enough exposing themselves by making the most vile comments about homosexuals, and do so in public for all the world to see as this clip from Secular Talk shows:



1. Psychic Char Margolis fail on WGN Morning News

I know I might sound a little bit malicious for this, but I love it when a psychic fails, and not only fails, but fails on live TV for the whole world to see! In this clip from WGN News "psychic" Char Margolis fails to make a psychic reading (or what is better known as a cold reading) and pretty much makes a fool of herself infront of the world:

The Death of Sylvia Browne

Yesterday one of the world's most famous fake psychics (I know, that's redundant) died.

Sylvia Browne, who had made many appearances on TV (most notably The Montel Williams Show and Larry King Live) died yesterday at the age of 77 (she had predicted should would die at age 88).

Now being a skeptic and someone whom believes that all psychics are frauds (apart form those that are mentally ill and really do believe that they have psychic powers) many people might assume that I am rejoicing, and perhaps even celebrating her death (especially those who believe that people can have psychic powers, or just people who don't like skeptics).

To be quiet honest I'm not sure how I should feel about her death, because there are just so many feelings I have about it that I can't seem to focus on one to just go with.

On the one hand I am sort of glad that she's gone because now she can no longer hurt people and mess with their emotions with her stage magician like "readings" while at the same time exploiting those people for fame and money.

On the other hand I'm also a bit angry, not only because of her exploitation that she basically got away with up until she died, but also because she would never would come clean about being a fake, despite the numerous failed readings and predictions she has had. Now that she's dead, she never will.

Yet on the other hand I also feel a tad bit sad for her, not only because she died having many people despise her, but also because she is leaving behind family, friends, and fans who all loved her and will miss her greatly, as well as got some inspiration from her.

Yet still I also feel a tad bit ashamed as well for being glad, and anger, and sad that she's gone.

I do infact feel ashamed for being sort of happy that she is gone, because despite the fact that she did exploit people for fame and money, I don't believe she was a truly evil person, plus you really shouldn't be happy that someone has died anyways.

I also feel ashamed for being angry that she's dead, because while she never did stop or ever come clean about her "powers" I also know that she'll never be able to hurt anyone again, and that I should let any anger for her go.

Yet I also feel ashamed for feeling sad about her death because despite the fact that she will be missed by many people, she also hurt a lot of people, and so therefore it might not be appropriate to feel sad about her death.

In the end I think it might be best that the only appropriate emotion to feel about here death is to feel no emotion at all about her death, and to let her fade from memory.

Psychics and Alternative Medicine Practitioners: Who is worse?

Psychics, and alternative medicine practitioners. Two different groups of people who peddle BS pseudoscience that wastes gullible peoples money. But which one is worse?

Now many people would say that alternative medicine practitioners are worse, because not only are they peddling something and taking peoples' money for products and services that do not work, they're also physically harming people as well, and even risking peoples lives by not only selling them products and services that makes them think they can forgo real medicine and medical services that could help them and even save their lives for the alternative stuff, but also selling them products and services that really can cause harm, and possibly even kill you.

So it sounds like a no brainer, right? Alternative medicine practitioners are selling you products and services that could harm you and possibly kill you, while psychics are just taking your money. Except... many alternative medicine practitioners might not know what they are doing is harmful, because some do seriously believe that alternative medicine does work (this is mostly due to anecdotal evidence).

People claiming to be psychics on the other hand are different, because while many alternative medicine practitioners might not know what they're doing is fraud, psychics on the other hand almost always know what they're doing is fraud.

Psychic powers simply do not exist. Every person who has ever been tested for psychic powers under controlled scientific testing conditions have always failed to prove that they have psychic powers, and the really famous so called psychics have never gone and had their alleged powers proven under controlled scientific testing conditions, so it is very safe to say that psychic powers don't exist, and that anyone who is claiming to be a psychic is most likely lying (although it is also possible that they may be self-deluded and have actually convinced themselves they are psychic, or they're just mentally ill) and therefore if they do take any money from you for their services, are knowingly committing fraud.

Besides committing fraud, psychics also screw with people's emotions as well (although it could be said that alternative medicine practitioners also do this to by selling people false hope) by making their "customers" believe that they are talking to their dead loved ones. That, or they give "customers" bad advice that results in them losing even more money.

So which type of person is really worse? Psychics, or alternative medicine practitioners?

Alternative medicine practitioners, while what they're doing is harmful, and even deadly, and also selling false hope while at the same time wasting peoples' money, they might not know what they are doing is wrong, and actually believe what they're doing is a good thing.

Psychics on the other hand while they do know that they're committing fraud, and also screwing with peoples' emotions and possibly causing them to make bad decisions, they're not physically harming anyone, just lying and taking gullible peoples' money.

So again, which one is worse?

Personally, I think alternative medicine practitioners are worse.

The reason for this is while alternative medicine practitioners might not know what they're doing is harmful, it's still harmful, and it can and has killed. Even if they really don't know what they're doing is wrong, and actually believe that they're doing something that's good, it's still not enough of an excuse to excuse what they are doing.

While an alternative medicine practitioner might not be be a bad person, the fact that they are doing something that is harmful, makes them worse than psychics.

Of course that's just my opinion. I would like yours.

Aura Cleanser: Another WTF Item

Sometimes you can find some really strange products on the internet. Some of these products honestly make me wonder how these things can even legally be sold, and why the website companies that these products are being sold off of would even allow these items to be sold using their websites in the first place. Recently I came across such a product on Amazon.com called Aura Cleanser, and the only thing I could think of when I saw this is, "why is this allowed on Amazon?"

In the product description of this spray, it first claims to do this:

• AURA CLEANSER is a highly effective patterned recipe formulated to erase negativity in and around you on many energy levels.

Okay, how exactly can a spray, whom's contents are unknown, erase "negativity" (as if that's a real thing rather than just how you perceive the world and how you allow it to affect you) and effect energy levels on any scale?

The second claim goes as this:

• This Essence was especially created to help neutralize and cleanse areas where it is sprayed.

Again, how is some simple spray going to "cleanse" an area of something that really hasn't been proven to exist, more or less yet been proven to actually affect a person's mind?

Now the third claim made says it can do this:

• This powerful essence encourages energetic responses from multi-levels of consciousness, clearing any negative threat, psychic or otherwise.

There's no such thing as psychic powers, and thus no such thing as psychic threats, negative or otherwise. Also, what exactly is this so called "energetic responses" that it is said to encourage? In my opinion that is sort of vague.

The final claim made says this:

• It also helps to heal damaged human electromagnetic energy fields (aura that have holes) resultant from destructive lower frequencies (cell phones, computers, etc.) and assists in healing, preventing or alleviating serious imbalances.

It has never been proven that humans actually have auras (and yes, this has been studied, multiple times in fact) and thus can't actually be damaged, and that low frequency waves (which is what I believe is actually being refereed to) from things like cell phones and computers are not strong enough to hurt you. If you're feeling any type of "imbalance" from sitting in front of a computer all day, it's probably not because of the computer, but probably because you've been sitting in front of a computer all day and not getting any fresh air and exercise.

Now the Aura Cleanser was invented by someone going by the name of Anthony Cooper, whom is claimed to be a "famous European alchemist", yet when I do a Google search for him, I can find nothing about him, and the only results I come up with are some New Age websites selling his products, a line of English Earls (although it appears that the first one did dabble in alchemy, which wasn't that uncommon back in the 17th century), and a character from the TV show "Lost". This lack of information about this "famous" Anthony Cooper, plus the fact that there was a famous Earl of the same name who did dabble alchemy, has led me to believe that perhaps this Anthony Cooper isn't even a real person.

In conclusion, even if it could proven that auras exist, it's highly doubtful that outside sources can even harm it, and for that matter, help it either, and that your own mind is more likely to help heal your alleged aura, rather than being sprayed with, whatever. On that note, it's also unknown what this bottle of "Aura Cleanser" contains. For all you and I know it could contain just water, or it could contain some actual harmful ingredients.

This is, in my opinion, just a big waste of money.

Still think Sylvia Browne has psychic powers?

A few days ago three women who had been kidnap from around ten years ago in Cleveland were found alive and well, and that the person who had kidnapped them the women was arrested.

This is of course a rare, but extraordinary thing to happen, as most of the time when a person is abducted by a non-family member they are, unfortunately, murdered.

In fact, the mother of Amanda Berry had been told about ten years ago that her daughter had been murdered, and the person who told her that was not a police officer...

It was psychic Sylvia Browne.

In 2004 Amanda Berry's mother came to the Montel Williams Show to ask Sylvia if she was alive:

Amanda Berry's mother asks Psychic Sylvia Browne 'Is she out there'

Sylvia Browne told the woman that here daughter was dead and that she was "in Heaven on the other side."

Fortunately, this wasn't true, and Amanda is still alive.

In fact, Amanda is being hailed as a hero because she is the one who escaped and called 911.

Sadly, her mother will never know this (at least not in this world) as she died in 2006.

Now, Sylvia Browne has commented on this, basically saying that even she is sometimes wrong, which any skeptic that has investigated her claims will tell you is greatly exaggerated. She really had no choice but to comment on this anyways because her Facebook page been flooded with people posting links to her failed psychic reading (among the people calling her an outright fraud).

This isn't the first time she has been incorrect on criminal cases like this one. In fact she has made readings for well over 100 missing persons and murder cases, and she has been correct for not one of them (which now includes this one).

I don't blame Amanda Berry's mother for going to Sylvia Browne and asking her if her daughter was alive or not. Her daughter had been missing for a over a year at that point, and she just was desperate to know what happened to her.

I know that, statistically speaking of course, that these types of missing person cases don't end well, and that Sylvia Browne knew this, and that she told Amanda Berry's mother that her daughter was dead not because of some clairvoyant viewing, but was based on what is basically an educated guess...

Of course, it doesn't even matter if Sylvia Browne was actually right and that Amanda Berry was in fact dead, the fact is that her "predication" would had been based on nothing more than a guess!

Clearly, she guessed wrong, and it's a good thing she did too.

And it's the only thing she did good in this case.

Local Earth Day festival: Oh the Woo!

On April 20 my home town held it's annual Earth Day festival.

I walked down to it (since it is near my house, and I walk down to the area where it was held everyday anyways, so that's no problem) and took a look around to see what was going.

There was of course a lot of people selling stuff (clothes, hand made jewelry, etc.), there was activities for kids, and there was the selling and promoting of woo and pseudoscience...

Now there was a lot of promoting of organic foods (which doesn't bother me that much, it's just that there are some things that are claimed about it that are simply not true) and new age stuff, but there was also the promoting of things there that honestly should not have been there.

There was of course first this:

I have no idea what this has to do with Earth Day or conservation. All I know is that you are basically wasting $10 on something that is vague and won't really tell you anything.

Next I saw this:




















It's bad enough that adults go to these fake doctors, but kids???

If your child has any of these problems, don't take them to a chiropractor, take them to a REAL doctor.

Besides, what does any of these things have to with the spine in the first place???

Finally there was this:

Yep, it's the blatant promotion of anti-GMO foods (and the basic promotion Monsanto conspiracy theories, and also thus the promoting of GMO conspiracy theories).

This of course wasn't the only things that promoted woo and pseudoscience (and in my opinion should not have been there) but these three things should never have been allowed to be there at all, because they have nothing to do with either Earth Day, nor the environment, and not only promoted stuff that not only wastes money, but also may be harmful.

There were a few booths there that really were promoting conservation and environmentalism, but they were just drowned out by the people promoting stuff that really had nothing to do with conservation and environmentalism.

Over all the whole event left me with a feeling that it was more about the promoting and selling (quite literally at that) of woo and pseudoscience, and that much of what was there should not have been there, and that the whole event was more of a promoting of the New Age movement, rather than conservation or the environment.

5 Things I've noticed about... Psychics

Ever watched a psychic on TV, or met one in real life? Well other than meeting one in real life, I sure have, and I have noticed certain things psychics that they tend to do a lot of.

So here are five things that I've I've noticed about psychics:

5. They apparently don't play the lottery.

Despite the claims of many psychics that they can predict the future and that they can use that power to help guide other people in a positive way, none of them apparently plays the lottery so that they can win lots of money and not have to charge people $50 so they can talk to their dead relatives for 20 minutes.

(Author's note: that last part is just a guess. I don't have any clue what the average going rate for speaking to a psychic is.)

4. They make lousy detectives.

There have been hundreds, if not thousands of criminal investigations in which psychics came in and either volunteered, or were actually asked by an officer on the case to use their powers to help solve a case. Currently not a one has ever solved a case.

In fact the total success rate for psychic detectives isn't even zero, it's actually in the negatives because sometimes the psychic leads the investigative officers to the wrong person, and this has even lead to some innocent people being arrested.

3. They ask a lot of questions.

For people who's powers are suppose to let them know everything, they sure do ask a lot of questions before they start to give a person answer to the question that they originally asked.

Why the heck would a psychic need to ask a bunch of questions for in the first place? In fact why would anyone need to ask a psychic a question? Shouldn't they already know what question you want to ask them?

2. None of the celebrity psychics want to be verified.

It seems that none of the famous, or celebrity psychics, ever bother to go and get their powers verified by a scientific institution that offers to test a person to see if they actually have psychic powers.

One of the most famous of these verification programs is the James Randi Educational Foundation's One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge, where upon verification of your powers, you will be awarded one million dollars!

So far the only celebrity that agreed to take this challenge was Sylvia Browne, and she backed out.

1. Anyone can be a psychic!

Yep, that's right! Anyone can be a psychic!

No, not everyone (or anyone for that matter) has the power to talk to the dead, or to see the future. What I mean is that everyone has the ability to use a technique that most (if not all) people who claim to be psychics use. That technique is called cold readings, and is basically a combination of deception and observation to make a person think that a psychic knows more than what they really do.

5 Things I've noticed about... The New Age Movement

I've made some observations about people in the New Age Movement, and that there are certain things that tend to be a common trend amongst New Agers.

Here are five things that I've noticed about the New Age Movement:

5. They love energy.

New Agers tend to believe that energy (in one form or another) is all around them, and that somehow they can somehow control this energy, and that they can somehow convert it and use it for their own personal means (such as healing, or some type of food source), or that they can use it to gain knowledge, rather than gaining knowledge the old fashion way, by reading.

Some New Agers even believe that you don't even need food, that all you need is to absorb sun light, or breathing clean air.

It should noted that last one is very dangerous and has resulted in the deaths of several people.

4. They're obsessed with crystals.

Most New Agers seriously believe that crystals are more then just pretty objects that make for nice coffee table or mantle decorations. Apparently they believe that crystals can be used for dowsing (which has not been proven to work), healing, and warding off negative energy, which apparently a small crystal being in your pocket, or hanging around your neck, is suppose to protect your entire body from all sides from negative energy that's suppose to be bombarding you from everywhere...

3. They believe they don't have to do much to alter their lives.

Apparently New Agers believe that if you just do a few good things, or if you rearrange the furniture in your house in a certain way, or you carry around some good luck charms, or if you put some plants in your house, or even if you have just positive thoughts, that you can dramatically alter your life for the better, rather than actually working hard and putting some real effort into changing their lives, which has been proven to be much more effective.

2. Talking to "other" beings.

Not only do New Agers believe in aliens (be it from another planet, or another dimension), spirits, and other super natural beings, they also believe that they can communicate with them (usually by telepathy), and gain knowledge from them. Some people even believe that they can even see the places that these beings are from, and even let those beings talk through them to other people.

They also believe they can communicate with dolphins...

1. It's pretty narcissistic.

Almost everything about the New Age Movement seems to be centered around the individual rather then others around them, and that the primary reason why you should do anything in the first place is to better yourself, even when the true heart of doing something is to help and benefit others. While there is nothing wrong with trying to improve one's self, everything New Agers tend to do is apparently to benefit themselves, and that helping others is a secondary bonus to them.

Also, New Agers tend to blame others for their problems, and that none of their problems are their own fault, or the result of unforeseen circumstances, and that those that wronged them (real or not, major or minor) will be punished in some way, some time in the future.

Pseudo-TV: Ten shows that promote non-sense

Over the years there have been a lot of television shows that promotes things that are either non-sense, or just bizarre (I myself even admit that I loved these types of shows) and even today these shows seems to be more popular then ever.

Not only has the amount of these shows seemed to have increased, the amount of topics these shows are based on has also increased as well. Everything from conspiracy theories to psychics are now covered on these shows, and not just ghosts and UFOs anymore.

Here are what I consider to be the ten biggest TV shows that promote non-sense:

10. Brad Meltzer's Decoded - History Channel

This show examines mysteries and conspiracy theories that in a way have become a part of American folklore. What makes this show unique from other shows that examine conspiracy theories is that after the investigation is over, Meltzer will sometimes comes to the real, or at least a logical conclusion.

9. Doomsday Preppers - National Geographic Channel

This show profiles people who are getting prepared for some sort of doomsday event, which they are not only certain will happen, but they are usually certain what type of disaster it will be (some even almost seem to be happily anticipating that it will occur). While some of the people on this show do appear to be some what rational, there are others that appear to need some sort of mental health treatment for their paranoia.

8. Finding Bigfoot - Animal Planet

This show follows a group of bigfoot hunters, and their attempts to find the legendary creature. The bigfoot hunters use multiple tools, such as night-vision technology and FLIR cameras, in their attempts to find bigfoot. In fact they do just about everything to find bigfoot... and still can't find him.

7. Haunted Collector - SyFy

This reality show follows demonologist John Zaffis as he travels around the country, investigating allegedly haunted homes and buildings in which the haunting may be being caused by a certain object, or objects, within the property. After Zaffis has "determined" what object is causing the haunting activity, he then usually removes object (which is usually pretty nice looking and expensive) at the owner's request, and puts it into his own private museum.

6. Chasing UFOs - National Geographic

This show profiles three people, one skeptic, one believer, and one not quite sure what to believe, as they travel the world investigating claims of UFO sitings, and trying to capture UFOs on video. Basically this show is not much more than your typical UFO hunting TV show that fails to prove that aliens are visiting the Earth.

5. The Dead Files - Travel Channel

Featuring psychic medium Amy Allan, and former NYPD homicide detective Steve DiSchiavi, this show features the two conducting two "independent" investigations, first with Allan going through a walkthrough of an alleged haunted site (after her husband Matt goes through the place prior to her arrival to remove any objects that might "influence" her). During this time it is shown that DiSchiavi is interviewing people who have had paranormal experiences at the location of the investigation. The two then meet up and share the information they got. By all appearances this show seems to be nothing more then an attempt to prove that psychic powers are real.

4. Ghost Hunters - SyFy

One of the longest lasting shows on TV about ghost hunting (and one of the longest lasting shows on SyFy) this series flows members of "The Atlantic Paranormal Society", or TAPS for short. Often times they will debunk soft targets that are easy to debunk in an attempt to seem credible, yet don't bother to debunk things that are tougher to debunk for those who don't have enough knowledge into what might be causing such activity. This show has also spawned several spin offs.

3. Long Island Medium - TLC

The show follows Thersea Caputo, a woman from Long Island, New York, who claims to have psychic powers and can talk to dead people. The show showcases her randomly going up to people when she claims to feel a "pull" towards them. After talking to that person and asking them questions for several minutes (which looks an awful lot like a cold reading) she finally gives that person a message that she claims is from one of their loved ones from beyond the dead.

2. Ancient Aliens - History Channel

This show is one of the most criticized shows on TV, and with good reason. The show and the people on it do nothing more then promote pseudoscience and suggest that our ancestors were a bunch of idiots who don't know how to build complex structures or tools. The show and the people on it uses deceptive means, misunderstandings, and shoddy research in order to try to prove their claims. Most of the claims on this show have been dis-proven and discredited a long time ago.

1. Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura - TruTV

The only show that beats out Ancient Aliens in terms of non-sense and deceptiveness. Many of the subjects on this show have also been dis-proven or discredited. The show has one skeptic on it (versus four who are not) in what I suppose is an attempt to make the show at least seem some what credible. The only thing this show is really good for is scaring people into believing things that aren't real, and making conspiracy theorists feel their paranoid beliefs are justified.

Robbert van Broeke: Now Nancy Talbott tells Chorley family to “get on with your life”

By thetruthhide via Circular State Of Mind

Now, since this whole saga started, with Robbert claiming to have contacted various dead crop circle related figures, and the general howls of disgust from the crop circle community, I was surprised that suddenly Talbott, Van Broeke and other supporters such as Suzanne Taylor, suddenly became very, very quiet. It seems that after the outrage they were keeping their heads down. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. As Colin Andrews has posted on his website, Nancy Talbott has been very vocal and very blunt by telling the complaining Chorley family to “get on with your life”. So love and light!

The Chorley family have felt very upset with the whole affair and have contacted Nancy directly. Nancy has responded thus:

“Mr. Chorley,

Please save yourself the time and trouble of any further correspondence. You have already made your viewpoint clear and I have done my best to do the same. I don’t intend to read any additional assaults on my or Robbert’s intelligence or integrity.  You must either accept what I have written as truthful, or not, and get on with your life–because I have said what I can.

Sincerely, 
Nancy Talbott”

That is about as sensitive and conciliatory as a house-brick to the side of your head.

Understandably the Chorley family have responded:

To continue this article: Robbert van Broeke: Now Nancy Talbott tells Chorley family to “get on with your life”

Pseudo... Television

Ten years ago if you watched The Learning Channel, you could actually learn something from that television channel. Ten years ago if you watched the History Channel, you would actual see some real history lessons on that channel. Now if you get something useful and thought expanding from either channel, you've caught them on a special day.

It seems like so many channels that once presented actual stuff that's worth learning about, is now presenting mostly pseudo-science and conspiracy theories.

Where once crap like this mostly only showed on SyFy, is now quickly taking over networks who's original purpose was to show real science, and real history.

Now it seems that all these channels show either "reality" shows, or shows containing fringe science that a legit scientist would not touch with a ten foot poll.

Every one of these science networks is guilty of this, from shows about psychics, ghost hunting, UFOs, conspiracy theories, cryptozoology, the Apocalypse, pseudo-history, ancient aliens, and the list just goes on and on and on...

And The History Channel is the worst offender of them all, because just about everything I listed above, is on it's main line-up, or shown in re-runs.

In fact, finding a show on that channel with real history on it is about as rare as finding music on MTV (or what's called music, since many people don't consider it to be music).

I blame us, the people for this, since these networks give us what we want instead of what we need, and what we need is to expand our minds in the right direction.

Yes, I know that history and science are boring to some people, but I've always felt that real history and real science, once you've started to really learn the stuff, is allot more interesting then the fake stuff that's pedaled as being real.