Hudson OTBL Bloggers Address New Richmond School Board & Pedal Junk Science Propaganda
Over at the www.ontheborderline.net blog site in Hudson, the name Steve Milloy and the term "junk science" are often used inCONjunction with phrases like "global warming," "green house effect" and various other terms related to understanding the challenges facing our global environment. Being pro-profit and anti-regulation, the OTBL'ers are regular lackeys for the likes of Steve Milloy who runs a web site (junkscience.com)and is a FOX News science "expert."
Who really is Steve Milloy? Here's a quote from the web site Info Pollution.com:
"Unsuspecting visitors might think that Milloy’s site is devoted to criticizing shoddy science, but they would be wrong. If you look at what he “debunks” you will find that the real criterion for deciding what is “junk science” is not the quality of the work, but the political agenda that it might support. Studies that support a right-wing agenda are endorsed, while studies that don’t are harshly criticized."
OTBL'ers swallow everything Milloy spits up. I counted 12 posts concerning Milloy and junk science. One of the large heads, I mean big thinkers, over there, Dr. Bil Danielson had this to say: "Just to make matters clear, we have this today from none other than Steve Milloy of Junk Science (the guy is right 99.75% of the time)"
Real scientists who practice the scientific method have reason to disagree with Milloy. He's heavily funded by large chemical and tobacco companies. For a look behind the smoke and mirrors of the junk science junk check out the May/June 2005 issue of Mother Jones. Also, the site mentioned above has some excellent, in-depth journalism correcting myths from Steven Milloy .
Isn't it interesting that two of the bigger contributors to the OTBL blog, Curt Weese and Chris Kilber, came up to New Richmond to address the school board. Almost daily I'm reading articles in the paper and news magazines about the need to more rigorous math and science curriculum and yet we have Chris Kilber's blog site insulting and demeaning the science community by publishing corporate-sponsored propaganda aimed specifically at undercutting the dedicated, rigorous work of scientists around the world. This is the same Chris Kilber who is a signer on a petition calling for the separation of school and state. This group believes:
"We believe parents, and not the state, should be in charge of their children's education. That control may take many forms and levels of involvement, but the state will never be part of the picture."
Does one really wonder what this group from Hudson is up to? Like Steve Milloy, the visitors from Hudson have an agenda. Their agenda has nothing to do with fixing anything related to the public school system. Like their hero Grover Norquist, they want to drowned public education. They are the sand in the Vaseline. Maybe the reason they are showing up in New Richmond is that Hudson ain't buying what they are trying to sell...
I don't think New Richmond is in Kansas yet...but we certainly don't want to go there either!
8 comments:
JPN:
I don't know anything about Bill Brennan, but I have a hard time believing that he would appreciate the vocal support of Curt Weese and Chris Kilber. As a school board member, Mr. Brennan has a fiduciary duty to support the New Richmond public schools. Weese and Kilber are outsiders who are dedicated to the destruction of public education. What self-respecting New Richmond school board member would want to be associated with them? I think it is time for a letter to the New Richmond News detailing this Brennan/Weese/Kilber connection - so that all New Richmond citizens get the picture.
One suggestion for next month's meeting. Make sure the New Richmond police are standing by to drag the intruders out by their ears and take them to the woodshed. That technique was very effective in Hudson last year.
I'm sorry I didn't see anything in the article in regards to intellegent design/creationism. What purpose does the cartoon serve other than to misinform? Your headline is:
" Hudson OTBL Bloggers Address New Richmond School Board & Pedal Junk Science Propaganda "
And immeditely following it shows a cartoon that labels intellegent design as "junk science" (I would hardly clasify it as science in the first place, but still).
Cato:
I was trying to display the hypocritical blend of public fronts that are on display by those partaking in the OTBL blog site. I find it an interesting contrast to be preaching a desire to improve the public education system out of one side of the mouth and slamming the value of hard science praticioners out of the other side.
The purpose of the cartoon is take make people think and to weave an assortment of related ideas together in an individual's thought pool. If works for some people and it doesn't for others. When you get a chance, check out the Mother Jones issue mentioned. It's full of interesting facts and insights about the junk scientists. Have you ever read Mother Jones?
Yes I know of Mother Jones. No I do not read it, although I have in the past.
I do not see what is wrong with slamming science if it is wrong. In fact, isn't that trying to help the public education system? I could not see how you could possibly think that keeping propoganda around in the school "helps the children." For example, www.junkscience.com has a very long list of experiments and documentation regarding DDT that is very informative. However, we teach kids that Rachel Carson is a saviour of birds, when the data doesn't support that conclusion at all. All it supports is the fact malaria has killed millions since the DDT ban, when during the hayday of DDT usage a mere handful of cases were reported.
http://www.junkscience.com/ddtfaq.htm
Banning DDT did save birds. How is RAchel Carson tied to malaria in Africa? There seems to always be milions of people dying in Africa. The US didn't ban DDT in Africa. I would say the Africans were practicing a former of libertarian government by letting this happen. I'm surprised that you would trying to taint the Africans for practicing what you've been preaching here for the past few days.
Also, Steve Milloy practices the confusion from of science slander that is paid for by corporate interests that believe the profit motive is more important than the individual's right not to be innocently poisoned to death. Likwise, Ann Clouter barfs up the same kind of rethoric the American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell spewed. She just replaces the words "Jews" and "niggers" with "liberals."
If you were to read the scientific studies tregarding the birds her conclusions cannot possibly be made from actual studies. This is because she didn't even do studies; she presented half truths from other people's studies. There was some eggshell thinning, but it was uncontrolled experments and not linked to any long term defects. As for Africa, I believe the UN is trying to stop the usage of DDT in total by 2007, since potential side effects outweigh the deaths of one million africans a year. Novus ordo seclorum.
Do you have a source for your charges against Rachel Carson?
DeWitt, James, "Chronic Toxicity to Quail and Pheasants of Some Chlorinated Insecticides," Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, Vol 4, 1956, p. 863.
Stickel, L. 1966. Bald eagle-pesticide relationships. Trans 31st N Amer Wildlife Conference, pp.190-200
Marvin, PH. 1964 Birds on the rise. Bull Entomol Soc Amer 10(3):184-186; Wurster, CF. 1969 Congressional Record S4599, May 5, 1969; Anon. 1942. The 42nd Annual Christmas Bird Census. Audubon Magazine 44:1-75 (Jan/Feb 1942
Cruickshank, AD (Editor). 1961. The 61st Annual Christmas Bird Census. Audubon Field Notes 15(2):84-300
White-Stevens, R.. 1972. Statistical analyses of Audubon Christmas Bird censuses. Letter to New York Times, August 15, 1972
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