Dropping Science (AKA Spiritual Peer-Review)

There ain't no cure for stupid, and that's a fact.

But today I read:

"There are also some cases where directness works. Kuklinski’s welfare study suggested that people will actually update their beliefs if you hit them 'between the eyes' with bluntly presented, objective facts that contradict their preconceived ideas. He asked one group of participants what percentage of its budget they believed the federal government spent on welfare, and what percentage they believed the government should spend. Another group was given the same questions, but the second group was immediately told the correct percentage the government spends on welfare (1 percent). They were then asked, with that in mind, what the government should spend. Regardless of how wrong they had been before receiving the information, the second group indeed adjusted their answer to reflect the correct fact."

Ain't that nothing? Hey, Science:

Thanks for the way forward I'd already thought of, hence the name.

I suggest you guys try that experiment again.

But this time, forget about politics and ask your subjects about something of true vital importance to them, like, "Was Jesus a cross-dressing hippy?"

Then get back to me on how you got through to them:

I need solutions that work under real-world conditions,...

Our 2001 Anthrax Suspect Fit Familiar Patterns

"After the Department of Justice last month formally closed its probe of the 2001 anthrax attacks, the FBI released the first batch of documents detailing the years-long investigation that ended with officials concluding that Bruce Ivins, a government scientist who committed suicide in July 2008, was responsible for the mailings that killed five victims.

Despite being an FBI target, Ivins was often forthcoming about the details of his strange obsessions and private life. For example,...when agents executed search warrants in late-2007, an FBI supervisor asked Ivins if he was worried about those raids. Ivins said he was, noting that he did things a 'middle age man should not do,' adding that his actions would 'not be acceptable to most people.' He then noted that agents searching his basement would find a 'bag of material that he uses to "cross-dress,"' according to an interview report. During a January 2008 meeting with agents, Ivins described his bizarre decades-long 'obsession' with the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, and detailed how he broke into two KKG chapters to steal ritual books used by the group.

In a July 2008 e-mail, Ivins wrote that 'Dick Cheney scares me. The Patriot Act is so unconstitutional it's not even funny.' He added, 'I'm voting for Obama!'"

-- The Smoking Gun

That Attachment To "Mama" Was A Tip-Off

"A transvestite Mafia boss has been arrested by cops in what is believed to be the first case of its kind in the world.

Ugo Gabriele, 27, who insisted on being called KITTY, was held by armed officers in a raid which also saw 27 other mobsters arrested.

Cross-dressing Gabriele, who had long blonde hair, ran a sophisticated drugs and prostitution racket in Naples, Italy, and his clan had dozens of members."

-- Leon Watson, reporting something TMR always suspected, on The Sun.