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Rational Alchemy 09/05/2009
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Rational Alchemy Podcasts
Written by Brian Walsh
Monday, 07 September 2009 17:22
Rational Alchemy 09/05/2009
News:
Twitter I'd like to point out for the live listeners that they can comment during the show. I'll be checking twitter throughout the hour during every show. You can send in comments and questions by direct messaging @rationalalchemy all one word. I’ll be doing this every show from now on so I’m going to repeat it throughout this hour until it’s drilled into everyone’s head.
Good News In Kentucky Good news in Kentucky. For the last three years Homeland Security officials had been forced to use the quote, “The safety and security of the Commonwealth cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon Almighty God,” on official documents and on a plaque in the Emergency Operations Center in Frankfort.
A lawsuit was brought by American Atheists in which the judge, Thomas Wingate, did the obvious thing and struck it down as unconstitutional. The religious in Kentucky, including state Sen. Tom Riner, who inserted the language, are naturally upset that laws are actually enforced in this country. And Pat Robertson will no doubt blame whatever natural disasters may occur in Kentucky from now on those who turned their backs on God, instead of whatever the real cause may have been. Math Zombies “An outbreak of zombies is likely to be disastrous, unless extremely aggressive tactics are employed against the undead. It is imperative that zombies are dealt with quickly, or else we are all in a great deal of trouble.” This quote is from When Zombies Attack!: Mathematical Modeling of an Outbreak of Zombie Infection,” by Philip Munz, Ioan Hudea, Joe Imad and Robert J, Smith?.
The authors, students at University of Ottawa and Carleton University, were given an assignment on statistical disease modeling. Apparently, that’s a really boring topic so they hit on zombies to liven things up. In this case they meant modern Romero inspired zombies, not the voodoo kind. Taking into account the slow irregular gait, insatiable appetite and method of infection (saliva from a bite) among other things they found a way to curb a zombie outbreak. Without going into too much detail, the answer is to hit hard and often and aim for the head. Every horror movie fan already knew that but the paper goes into much greater detail. I’ll post links to the paper and to other relevant information on the site.
Organic Eaters Are Idiots Have you ever felt, as I have, that those who insist upon organic foods, or raw foods, or foods that are in some way pure are out of their minds? Well, it turns out we’re right! Orthorexia nervosa is a term coined by a Colorado physician named Steven Bratman. He describes orthorexia as an unhealthy obsession with what the sufferer considers to be healthy eating. It’s symptoms may include obsession with healthy eating, emaciation, and death by starvation. It’s not yet an official diagnosis and not listed in the DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,) however it is gaining in support. Help Wanted Rational Alchemy is looking to expand, even as it shrinks. Jamie, for personal reasons, will be leaving the show soon, prompting my search for a new co-host. In addition to this, I’d like to invite listeners to become more involved with the show by contributing to the forums and comments on rational-alchemy.com as well as possibly adding some new bloggers.
As for the radio show, I need a co-host. As you are no doubt aware, all topics on this show work best as a conversation, and I’d like that to continue. I’m looking for a person, or a rotating panel of people, who want to take an active roll in skeptical activism and join Rational Alchemy. All you need is a scientific, skeptical mind and a desire to speak out. Don’t be afraid if you haven’t been on the radio before, I hadn’t been before starting this show. E-mail
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to get in touch with me or if you’re a really clever listener, find me. You already know where.
Interview:
We are joined by Jeric Harper, Seth Yoder, and Cassandra Yoder, the founders of the CSU chapter of the Secular Student Alliance. We discuss the founding of the orginization, its plans, and future. We also took the first live listener questions via our twitter account, @rationalalchemy. Though I was asked to keep it secret at the time, all of the questions came from Vanessa Guttormson, the president of the Metro State Atheists, and friend of the show.
The use of the English libel laws to silence critical discussion of medical practice and scientific evidence discourages debate, denies the public access to the full picture and encourages use of the courts to silence critics. The British Chiropractic Association has sued Simon Singh for libel. The scientific community would have preferred that it had defended its position about chiropractic through an open discussion in the medical literature or mainstream media.
