Can a tie happen?

Many of you may know that it takes the overwhelming majority of all of the electoral votes in order to become President of the United States. While the amount these votes have varied at times in our history, ever since 1961 we have had 538 electoral votes, so currently it takes at least 270 electoral votes in order to win the presidency. Also, the electoral votes are actually cast by individuals called Electors who are suppose vote for the candidate who wins the majority of the popular votes in the state in which the electors are in (although this isn't always the case).

Now there is a problem with this.

What happens when no one wins the overwhelming majority?

Well, we already know the answer, because this has already happened before.

In the election of 1824 there were four major presidential candidates, all of whom won electoral votes.

Now, Andrew Jackson actually won the most electoral votes, but he didn't have the overwhelming majority of the electoral votes. Due to our laws the election was resolved this the United States Congress. The House of Representatives voted on who would become President (mind you they only got one vote per state, rather then one vote per Representative), and the Senate voted on who would become Vice President (in this case each Senator gets one vote).

In the end John Quincy Adams was elected by the House of Representative to become the President, while John C. Calhoun was vote in by the Senate to become the Vice President.

So back to the question at hand, is it still possible that only two candidates who win all of the electoral votes between that neither one of them still not win the election?

Yes, it is possible.

As you can clearly see the electoral votes are even, and if a candidate was to win the ten states with the highest number electoral votes plus either Virginia, or any combination of states that make up 13 electoral votes, then that candidate will have only 269 electoral vote (as will the other candidate).

Of course this combination isn't actually need, this is just the fastest one I came up with. There are probably dozens of different combinations that can cause this. Plus there is what is called a Faithless Elector who chooses to vote for the candidate other then the one that the other Electors in that state have pledged to vote for (or not vote for anyone if they choose to) and thus you end up getting a tie that way, or neither candidates having enough votes that way.

Then there is of course the possibility of a third candidate (or more) capturing enough electoral votes that it causes the two top candidates to not get enough electoral votes to win.

So in theory it is possible for two major candidates to get a tie in an election (or neither get enough electoral votes) and so what would happen is that for the second time in our history is that our Congress would choose who would become President and Vice President of the United States.

Scary thought, isn't it?

The current Electoral Map of the United States

A letter to Atheism+: Don't go the way of the Religious Right

To the people and the leadership of the Atheism Plus (or Atheism+, as it is more commonly known) while I know you may have good intentions with your movement, I believe that your intolerance towards those who do not share your beliefs, even those who can express their objections to your movement and the principles behind it in a civil manner, is not good.

Already Atheism+ is being criticized by others because of this intolerance (and just simple over sensitivity towards what can be considered common internet behavior) and this criticism isn't coming from just Christians, it is coming from other Atheists, even those who's own beliefs may be similar to those of Atheism+. Some critics are even calling your movement a cult. The fact that your main online forum has published a list of banned members and are attacking people who criticize your movement by labeling them things that they are not does not help.

While I agree that you do not need to tolerate internet trolls who basically make other people's internet experience miserable, you do not need to label everyone as trolls who comes to the Atheism+ forum, or Free Thought Blogs, and does not agree with you. Removing the posts and comments of those who disagree with you, and even refusing to attend Atheism functions who's speakers include people whom have views that you do not agree with doesn't help either with the image that Atheism+ is trying to promote tolerance.

For these reasons I fear that your movement will do to the beliefs that you proclaim in, Atheism, the same as the Religious Right has done to Christianity, and making all Christians look like a bunch of intolerant and science rejecting individuals who only vote Republican, and who use shame to try to force other Christians to follow the Religious Right and it's principles and guide lines.

I am in fact a Christian, but because of the Religious Right and it's actions and intolerance towards others whom do not agree with them, or of a different belief then them, and even intolerance towards things like science, it has become increasing difficult to admit that I am a Christian amongst the skeptics community due to the negative stereotypes of Christians (especially Christians from the south, like myself) created by the Religious Right.

I don't hold many of the beliefs that the Religious Right does, and I will vote for whomever I want to, not just a straight Republican ticket, yet I don't consider myself any lesser of a Christian, but many members of the Religious Right probably do. In fact, the Religious Right may even consider me to be a faux Christian, and perhaps a bad person in general.

While not I'm saying that Atheism+ will go the same route as the Religious Right, it may in fact do so unless it changes it's policies, and acknowledges that just because a person doesn't agree with you then that doesn't mean that they are a bad person, and that they have every right to not agree with you, just as you have the right not to agree with them, but, it is not right to try to show extreme intolerance towards those whom do not share your beliefs and principles.

Ten bizarre conspiracy theories

There are a lot of conspiracy theories out there, and while most of them are pretty strange, some are truly bizarre, even to the point where a person who believes in the conspiracy theory is suspected of being mentally ill, and that the conspiracy theory itself is believed to be a hoax.

While there is no universal consensus amongst skeptics about which conspiracy theories really are the most bizarre conspiracy theories, here are what may be the ten most bizarre conspiracy theories:

10. The government can read you thoughts and control your mind

For decades now some conspiracy theorists have been claiming that the government can not only control your mind, but can read your thoughts as well, either through electronic and other electrical devices, or even through radio waves, and even light itself.

One of the most common claims by people who believe this is that tin foil hats can combat this.

This type of conspiracy theory is most often believed in by people with untreated schizophrenia, although sometimes it's just people who are very paranoid.

9. The Moon is a hologram

People who claim to believe in this claim that Moon is a hologram, either created by aliens, or the government.

Besides the fact that this conspiracy theories ignores everything we know about gravity and tidal effects (and a whole bunch of other sciences) there is speculation that the whole conspiracy theory itself is nothing more then a hoax.

8. We live in the Matrix

If you've ever seen the Matrix then you probably know what I'm talking about. This theory states that we really live in a simulated reality, and that everything we see, including ourselves, are nothing more then computer generated images.

The problem with this is that there is no proof of this what so ever.

7. No planes hit the World Trade Center towers

Literary considered the fringe section of the 9/11 Truth movement, people who proclaim these theories claim that the WTC towers were not hit by planes, and that what we saw on TV were either holograms or computer generated images, and that the towers were hit by a missile, or destroyed by lasers from space.

This conspiracy theory is considered so insane that other people in the 9/11 Truth movement have debunked this.

6. Shape-shifting aliens control the Earth

This conspiracy theory, which is primarily promoted by David Icke, states that the world is controlled by evil shape-shifting reptilian aliens from either another planet or dimension.

People who believe in this conspiracy theory tend to accuse just about everyone with just a little bit of power of really being an alien, this includes David Icke.

Many skeptics and critics of this conspiracy theory have accused Icke of being anti-Semitic, and that "shape-shifting reptilian" is a code word for "Jews".

5. The Philadelphia Experiment

The conspiracy theory claims that during World War 2 the United States conducted an experiment using the USS Eldridge to try to render the ship invisible, but instead either sent the ship backwards or forward in time, or to another dimension.

There are many claims that when the ship returned crew members were found to be embedded in the ship itself, or later developed mental problems, or just disappeared, sometimes weeks or even months after the experiment occurred, sometimes even in public places with many people around.

The problem with this is that there is no documentation of any such experiment ever occurring, or claims made by other people who said to see crew members disappear out of thin air in these public places. Plus crew members have stated that the ship never left port when this experiment was suppose to be occurring. Because of this many skeptics consider this conspiracy theory to be a hoax.

4. Obama is Osama

While there are a lot of conspiracy theories leveled against Barrack Obama, one of the most bizarre is that President Obama is actually Osama bin Laden.

Other then the fact that Obama and Osama are similar sounding names, the two are not the same person. They don't even look alike.

The conspiracy theory itself appears to be nothing more then an example Obama Derangement Syndrome, in which some people will believe anything negative about President Obama without question.

3. Flat Earth

People who believe that the Earth is flat also usually believe the there is conspiracy by government of the world (or the Illuminate, or aliens) to suppress this information, and create fake photos of the Earth from outer space as proof that the Earth is round.

While the concept of flat Earth is a more modern concept (contrary to popular belief) and has to ignore everything we know about the Earth, the people who do believe this claim the "truth" about about the Earth is being suppressed in order to subvert the Bible (even though the Bible itself says the Earth is round).

2. Project Blue Beam

In this conspiracy theory it's basically claimed that NASA and the Illuminate will use advance technology to simulate an alien invasion, the Rapture, and the Second Coming of Jesus, and that the world will be ruled by the Anti-Christ through a New Age religion, and that Islam and Christianity will destroyed within a day's time.

As I'm sure most of you can tell this is a pretty bizarre conspiracy theory. There have also been many predictions of when this is suppose to happen. All of those predictions have failed.

1. Montauk Project

This conspiracy theory claims that scientists at Montauk Air Force Base created an interdimensional portal, and also worked with aliens and Nikola Tesla. It's claimed that these things happened in the 1960's to the 1980's, years after Tesla actually died. There are also claims that there were experiments in time travel, psychic abilities, and that the alleged "Men in Black" corps was created there.

These aren't even some of the more bizarre claims, and it's even been accused of being a hoax created by Jacques Vallée and Preston Nichols as a means to sell books about this conspiracy, being that they are the only two people who claim to have knowledge of this place. Still, it is considered by many skeptics to be the most bizarre conspiracy theory out there.

Mermaids: Why they really are a myth Part 1: Why they can't hide

Recently the Discovery Networks produced a fictional movie in the form of a documentary called Mermaids: The Body Found. While the movie was indeed a work of fiction, many people thought it was real, and it attempted to present that mermaids could theoretically be real.

The reality is that mermaids are not real. If they were indeed real, we would have known about them by now, despite the fact that they would be close to intelligent as us, if not as intelligent as us.

Mermaids would most likely be sea mammals, and despite the fact sea mammals can often stay under water for long periods of time, they would still need air to breath, and thus must come up to the surface occasionally.

Mermaids would also require a viable breeding population in order to keep the species going. Even endangered animals are occasionally seen in the wild. This includes sea creatures who would have a easier time staying hidden. Sea mammals especially, because as I said before hand, sea mammals must come up air, making it harder to hide from us if they intended to do that. The amount of ships on the oceans, and even the great deal of the population that lives along coast, would make it even harder for an sea mammal to remain hidden.

Another reason why mermaids most likely do not exist is because no bodies have ever been found beached.

Sea mammals occasional swim up onto beaches and usually die for various reasons. This has been going on for as long as we can remember, and most likely even longer then that. Despite this there has never been one recorded instance of a mermaid ever beaching itself.

Also, considering how common it is to have a camera, the ability of the government to keep mermaids a secret if one or two were to ever beach themselves would be very difficult. This ability would go down year after year as more and more buy mobile devices that have inbuilt cameras that can upload photos to the internet.

Another thing to consider is that they would most likely eat fish, same as we do. They would probably even hunt for fish in the same areas as we do. It's highly unlikely that such creatures could exist into the 21st century and never been caught in a fisherman's net.

Dolphins, which are suppose to be the smartest creatures in the oceans, are caught in fisherman's nets all the time, so even a mermaid should at least occasional get caught. With the increase of commercial fishing throughout the past few decades the odds of a mermaid never being caught decrease year after year.

While there have been many alleged "sightings" of mermaids they have been few and far between, and are most likely the result of mis-identification, mass hysteria, or an outright hoax. In fact most alleged mermaid sightings occurred before the 20th century. People back then usually misidentified things if they didn't know what they were looking at, same as they do today. People also tended to embellish things back then, same as they do today.

The fact remains is that such a species, no matter how intelligent they are they are, can not remain hidden for this long of a time.

And one more thing: Our oceans have a lot trash in it. Won't an intelligent species like a mermaid have tried to do something to get us to stop polluting their homes with our garbage?

ECT Follow up: FEMA camps: American Holocaust

Note: Special thanks to Autistic Skeptic for sending me some information on this and then putting this into movie form.

In a previous Embarrassing Conspiracy Theory article I talked about how many conspiracy theorists believe that the government is going to declare martial law and place dissenters into large prison camps run by FEMA, often times called FEMA camps. These conspiracy theorist also believe that the government is stock-piling plastic burial vaults in order to place large amounts of bodies in what is suppose to be the mass killing of millions of citizens via biological weapons, or some other more violent means.

There are multiple photos floating around the internet showing thousands of these plastic burial vaults in highly visible, outdoor storage facilities. Some of these vaults are along major roads and highways, and are very easy to find and access. Many of these facilities don't even have fences around them, and would allow anyone who wanted to, to go up to one of these places and have a look around.

It seems a tad bit odd the government would have them out in the open like this if they were going to be used in a massive conspiracy to kill millions. This leads to the question that if this was part of some huge conspiracy to kill off millions of people, then why would they be out in the open like they are?

Also, if the government was planning to murder millions, then why would they bother to put the bodies in plastic burial vaults in the first place, when it would be easier and cheaper to bury the bodies without a burial vault?

The only purpose for burial vaults is to protect the casket and the body inside from the dirt outside of it, which would also explain why these vaults are so large and look like they could hold three or four people. So it makes no sense that the government is willing to protect the bodies of millions of people that it's going to allegedly murder.

Now the government does in fact buy burial vaults, but it's through the Department of Veteran's affairs, and they're to bury solders who have been killed overseas and veterans who fought in past wars and earned the right to a free military funeral.

The reality is that these burial vaults that are in these photos are not owned by the government, but are owned private companies who also manufacture these vaults, and these places that are in these photos where they store their finished product.

The reason why there is such large amounts of these burials vaults at these facilities is not because they are being stored for a future mass murder, but because it is necessary due to fact that 2.5 million people die every year in the United States.

If the government was going to kill the millions that conspiracy theorists claim they would, they would require a lot more burial vaults then whats being held at these facilities.

Another one of the claims made by conspiracy theorists is that trains will be used to transport the plastic burial vaults and the bodies within to where ever they are going to be buried, or be used to either deport people to prison camps.

One of the most common types of train cars that is claimed the government will use to haul these bodies in is called the Autorack. By the name alone most people can tell that they are to be used for hauling... cars, and that's all they're used for. In fact, that's all they're designed for, and they're quite common.

There are many videos on Youtube that show these trains with something like "FEMA train" in the title. The problem with these videos is that they never show burial vaults ever being put into them, or unloaded. Most of the time these trains going are just going by, and you can't really see into them very well.

There is simply no evidence that these "FEMA trains" exist, and that in reality they're nothing more then car transports.

With these claims shown to be nothing more then severe misunderstandings it can be easily dismissed as being nothing more then anti-government paranoia.

Gary McKinnon, threat to America, or another victim of conspiracy theories?

A British man by the name of Gary McKinnon, who ten years ago hacked into NASA and US military computers (apparently damaging some of them in the process) was spared from being extradited to the United States from the United Kingdom by United Kingdom Home Secretary Theresa May.

Now the reason cited for this isn't because the crimes he has been accused committing wasn't enough extradite him. The reason stated is because he has Asperger's syndrome (which is a mild form autism) and depression, and it has been determined that there is a high likely that if he were to be brought over here that he would most likely try to commit suicide.

Now many of you are probably asking why exactly did he hack into NASA and US military computers in the first place?

Well apparently back when he did this (which was about ten years ago) he was obsessed with UFOs and a alleged cover-up by our government, so he hacked into our government and military computers to find out any information about aliens that he believed the United States was covering up.

I have no doubt in my mind that Gary's autism caused him to become so obsessed with these UFO cover-up conspiracy theories that it caused him to do something that most people who do not have this neurological disorder, or any other type of neurological or mental disorder, would not do.

But, the existence of these conspiracy theories, and those who promote them, are also partially to blame as well.

Now most people don't take these UFO conspiracy theories that seriously. They might believe in it, but they usually don't obsessed with it to the point where they would commit a crime. Heck, I even once believed in them, but I never took it seriously enough to even buy a book on UFOs, much less do something that is as highly illegal as what Gary McKinnon is accused of doing (he admits to hacking into our computers, but not damaging them) but, if these conspiracy theories didn't exist then people who are like Gary who can become obsessed to the point where they have a great amount of difficulty controlling themselves and their actions, and thus they do stuff like this.

In my opinion this is another example of how destructive conspiracy theories can be, and how it can cause a person to rune their life.

The Slate article about this story

Gary's Wikipedia article