But what about the REAL magic guns?

Earlier I was asked how huge earth movements like this could be blamed on Bush:

Geologist Dereje Ayalew and his colleagues from Addis Ababa University were amazed — and frightened. They had only just stepped out of their helicopter onto the desert plains of central Ethiopia when the ground began to shake under their feet. The pilot shouted for the scientists to get back to the helicopter. And then it happened: the Earth split open. Crevices began racing toward the researchers like a zipper opening up. After a few seconds, the ground stopped moving, and after they had recovered from their shock, Ayalew and his colleagues realized they had just witnessed history. For the first time ever, human beings were able to witness the first stages in the birth of an ocean.

How to blame Bush?
Easy, I said. Just ask Dr. Rosalie Bertell, huckster extraordinaire (and 1993 UN Global 500 Laureate). She maintains that the U.S. military’s various high pulse experiments, and nuclear experiments have set off earthquakes, tsunamis — the result being that the earth itself is being utilized as a gigantic military weapon. She’s written a book to this effect, appears regularly on the radio, and is all over the usual tin foil web sites. This description of a radio interview with her offers a pretty fair encapsulation of her, um, philosophy:

“Rosalie Bertell shows how the space programme, Star Wars research and electromagnetic weapons have destabilised the ecosystem, causing widespread devastation in environmental, economic and social terms. She calls for a new approach to security, rising above the national agendas, to seek global solutions to a global problem.?

She’s regularly still in the news (still spouting her usual vintage nonsense) and more recently, she’s taken to use a new word “omnicide.”
Wanna read her books? Amazon’s got ’em.
While she’s easy enough to debunk, instead of saying “Never mind” like Emily Litella, she launches personal attacks.
Imagine. An unrepentant Emily Litella! What’s the world coming to?
Sigh.
There’s more, of course. Her theories, while entertaining, have been debunked many times (especially her favorite — the depleted uranium scare). As I’m already repeating myself, I might as well actually repeat myself, because it’s easier than rewriting the post I wrote two years ago.
Sometimes it’s worth repeating that snake oil is snake oil.
So, take this, “Dr. Litella”:

Bertell blames El Nino and many other things on the US military, but a driving interest — a subject about which she has written extensively — is the supremely dangerous nature of depleted uranium.
Nonsense! For the real lowdown on depleted uranium, read Michael McNeil’s scholarly refutation of these bogus claims. (via InstaPundit.) See also these posts — by Steven Den Beste, and Robert Prather.
But who the hell reads these things? The activists certainly don’t.
What bothers the hell out of me is that this elderly female nun (er, that’s not really a redundancy, but I don’t want to get off-topic) gets away with monstrous allegations and outright lies, and no one calls her on it.
And why? The only reason I can see is because she is an elderly female nun , that’s why!
This is logic? I consider it a grotesque abuse of logic.

Serious people would call this woman a kook — and consider it a waste of time to even read her or take her seriously. Perhaps that is why she is considered a world renowned “scientist” — and why she has been awarded five honorary doctorates.

The problem is the same problem I see with so many things. Criticizing her does not make her go away. Using logic does not make her go away. Defeating bogus hucksterism does not make bogus hucksterism stop, any more than it would stop a traveling circus charlatan from continuing to travel around being a circus charlatan. As long as there are people willing to stand in line to buy snake oil, people will sell it.
Actually, it might be fun to watch her on the telly. But there I go — making fun of serious issues.
Never mind!
AFTERTHOUGHT: It occurs to me that if people like crackpot conspiracy theories, why should anyone object? Doesn’t this nice old lady just provide a little popular entertainment for the masses? I mean, even if they give her a Nobel Prize, is that any worse than handing out Oscars to crummy movies? Why am I being so uptight, and so judgmental?
Again, never mind!


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5 responses to “But what about the REAL magic guns?”

  1. Beck Avatar

    That’s actually a rather fascinating story about the breaking up of Northeast Africa.

  2. Eric Scheie Avatar

    “Fascinating” is a rather odd word to describe the latest environmental assault by Bushitler Halliburton ReChimpLicans!
    We should all be grateful that there are still a few reality based scientists like Dr. Bertell out there!

  3. Raging Bee Avatar

    Okay, that’s an interesting way to divert public attention from the less-dramatic damage done to our ecosystem by decades of pollution from a million sources worldwide. And no need to sacrifice for the common good either — just dump Bush, put the Nuncompoops in the White House, and all will be well.
    Why do I get the feeling this lady is being used by the Republicans to make Bush’s critics look stupid? Maybe the fact that that’s all she can hope to accomplish has something to do with it…

  4. Eric Scheie Avatar

    Divert public attention? Did I really do that?
    I guess I should say thanks, but I think you’re misoverestimating my powers.

  5. Beck Avatar

    Eric, you have failed to read the fine print of the bloggers’ double-standard self-exemption clause. Criticism of critics is not allowed in cases where the critic is criticizing Bushitler McChimpyburton Co. Example:
    NOT ALLOWED
    Critic: American military experiments cause plate tectonics!
    Blogger: You’re batshit crazy.
    ALLOWED
    Critic: Phenomenon caused by plate tectonics are beyond the control of any human institution.
    Blogger: Fascist!
    See the difference?