Phi for All

One of the things you must learn to do is look for the fallacious logic. When the issue is low dosage levels of fluoride and the argument against refers to ingesting huge amounts of fluoride, which is clearly a strawman fallacy, it should tell you that the argument is intellectually dishonest. Why would they do that? Part of it is misunderstanding and fear. Another reason is these people have alternative products they want you to buy. Note that while the "natural" movement is telling you how evil chemicals and vaccinations and synthetic products are, scientists, pharmacologists and synthetic manufacturers aren't telling you the same thing about "natural" products. Organics and natural products are perfectly fine, they'll tell you, but they're generally not sustainable for the whole planet. When you start making products for an immense market, you find that you need modern ways of quickly producing what you need. Organics and naturals are meant to appeal to people who are easily frightened of things they don't understand. And believe me, there is A LOT to understand when it comes to science. And the knowledge is all layered, so in order to understand one thing, you have to understand four other things first, and those four things really require a basic understanding of even more things. I get it, it's a daunting challenge to educate yourself in science when it's so much easier and seemingly intuitive to believe the con men handing out candy bits of pop sci "wisdom". They make it very appealing and a lot less time-consuming. People will tell you all kinds of things to sell you on their products and services. They'll tell you they can remove bodily toxins through your feet if you'll buy their Energy Field Osmosis Detox Foot Bath session. Or they'll tell you they can remove built-up earwax using their Holistic Pressure-Differential Ear Candling technique. It's up to you to find out that there are no physiological mechanisms in the body that would draw toxins to a single part (there's really not a consistent definition of toxin; the body needs a variety of chemicals to do what it does). You're the one who has to discover that the Ear Candles are made of cloth impregnated with the very wax that seems to get pulled from your ears. You're the one who has to decide what to believe. We have a whole planet full of a growing population that doesn't seem all that docile or sick from chemtrails or dying from pesticides or fluoride poisoning. @ellementcollector1: We have no reliable methodology or equipment for measuring how much of an asshole a person is. I googled "asshole probe" and believe me, it's not what you'd expect.

This is a very good point. It's far too easy to claim the other guy is crazy, and indeed it has been my kneejerk reaction to the majority of Republican actions of late, and it bothers me greatly. I know it clouds objectivity to dismiss a whole group of people because of the unreasonableness of the most vocal fringe elements. In my most objective moments though, I still conclude that it's the religious right that is causing such jarring dissonance within the GOP. Their insistence on sexual control and their hyper-conservatism is completely at odds with a platform of less government intervention, personal privacy rights and supporting great schools. There must be some way they can stop allowing so many extremist ideas to overcome the good things they want to accomplish, and I hope the president can help them find that path, being a more sensible religious man himself.

First, the first $40M in taxes collected don't just go to general education, it will go to our public school capital construction assistance fund. The money will build new schools and renovate old ones rather than be used for teaching (a fine point, but one that was made clear to voters; this is for education infrastructure). Second, and I think more importantly, this will allow us to grow industrial hemp. I would think most of the US should be thanking us for this. When we can show that it's really easy to tell the difference between cannabis for recreation and hemp for rope and oil and paper and biofuel, I don't think the Feds can get away with busting us for industrial use. This will force them to reconsider the use of hemp as a SMART way to grow our economy using sustainable, practical means. And third, of course, we'll be saving law enforcement from having to conduct and prosecute on the 10,000 yearly cases of marijuana possession that clog the system and make it harder to investigate more meaningful crimes. All the laws that govern alcohol use will apply to marijuana. The only thing I'm unclear on is how they'll be rating "under the influence" when it comes to driving impaired. Blood alcohol levels are fairly well understood, and afaik before legalization if you registered ANY traces of marijuana on a roadside test you would be arrested. I don't know if they really have an acceptable level of cannabis intoxication the way they do alcohol.

OMG that's funny! I shalt be breaking the 8th Commandment with this all day long. Thank you very much!

Could you give us an overview, please? It will be difficult to get anyone to read your book (even if you actually attached a copy), especially since it's not conventional physics. Perhaps start with an excerpt so we can see the foundations you've laid and how they differ from accepted theory.

So you really believed Romney when he said he wouldn't raise taxes on anyone, that he could pay for his plans with closing millionaire loopholes in the tax structure? Even after he admitted in September that he'd have to raise taxes on the middle class? That's your class, isn't it? That's what I couldn't believe from my middle class Republican friends, they kept saying Obama would raise their taxes but Romney wouldn't. And that's not what either candidate said.

You said it better than I did. But I'm still a better asshole.

I don't know much about why Puerto Rico remains a territory instead of a state. I would think we would welcome more taxpayers and a full state in Latin America, and I would think the increased taxation on the population and businesses would be offset by the same kind of economic surge that Hawaii felt when it became a state. I love the similar climate of the Yucatan peninsula, and with the crime surge in Mexico I would prefer vacationing in a US territory. ' I have a milestone anniversary coming up. I'll check out Puerto Rico as an island getaway.

In other words, read the same pop culture, paranoid, fringe-appeal, time-wasting novelties you're reading? The ones that have references to other pop culture, paranoid, fringe-appeal time-wasting books so you know they're true? Word of advice, if the information these books contain is treated like it's sacred, that means it can't stand up to much scrutiny. Do better research before you buy into them.

This is a science discussion forum. It's just so assholes like me can share accepted, meaningful, scientifically supported ideas and have them analyzed by other assholes who are interested in reality.

Nope. Probability of 1. Probability of 1. Monkeys and humans evolved from an earlier common ancestor. Humans did NOT evolve from monkeys. And since it happened that way, probability of 1. At what point do you decide that a total lack of evidence to support the existence of these creatures might lead you to believe they don't exist at all? Again, alien life is much more highly probable than supernatural life.

Really? I'm hoping, since he's not angling for re-election anymore, that he either gets a new head of the DEA who can read the memos, or he reminds Ms Leonhart that the Attorney General asked Justice Dept officials to commit to "efficient and rational use of its limited investigative and prosecutorial resources".

I feel like imatfaal, my good mood refuses to be dampened. I'm running on about 5 hours of sleep, 3 tall coffees and the elated knowledge that we won't have to watch DC dig out the eight-year hole we spent four years filling in. I feel like building something!

Corollary to Skitt's Law: Sarcasm relating to someone else's intelligence will always backfire. Happens to the best of us.

Wouldn't you see plenty of difference between townships that compete with each other in high school sports if what you say is true about fluoridation? Wouldn't it be really bloody evident that one town's kids were much more docile? And how exactly does it benefit the government to pay to have docility that's not really measurable? OK. Here's an unreserved endorsement for fluoridation from the American Dental Association, which comprises over 157,000 practicing members, and concludes that fluoridation is safe, well-monitored and THE BEST THING EVER DONE to prevent dental caries. Here's a good article that shows how good dental health can affect overall health as well. Btw, beware of saying "end of story". In science, you learn why theory is better than proof. Well, every post you've made so far seems to carry the same note, that science and modern chemistry are evil and unnatural, while organic farming and natural water without fluoride are better for the whole world. I get it, the whole "natural" movement is very persuasive in its conservatism, but it's not very rooted in reality and seems to want to drag us backwards into the past when things are remembered to be much better. I understand why people fear progress, but the fact is, humans are part of nature, so everything we do is natural too. It's the way we choose to affect nature that defines us. We can be top-shelf predators with the most cooperative and communicative set of tool-using, opposable thumb wielding, high-intelligence brains on the planet and ALSO kill our prey more humanely than any other predator. And we can choose to adopt practices that benefit everyone effectively, even if the result also gives us a whiter smile.

In Denver, you're always a mile high. I can take you to the highest paved road in the US and a Broncos game in the same day (if it's a pre-season game, before Trail Ridge Road closes). Mesa Verde is in the far southwestern corner about 7 hours from Denver, and you can still explore them if you go on one of the ranger-guided tours. Awe-inspiring, truly. And Elway is a cool guy. 30+ years ago I did a Jeep commercial with him, before he owned his own dealerships. In between scenes, he tossed a football around with me and some other actors. We got to see the amazing awesomeness of the "frozen rope". It was bizarre to see a football go so far with no arc to it. Come on over. If Obama gets rid of Michele Leonhart as head of the DEA (and since she's not very effective as an expert in her field, this would be the smart thing to do), you may be able to smoke, and you can definitely enjoy our beer, whiskey and mountains. We just turned blue, so we'll probably still be too conservative for you, but you can show us what a true lefty is like.

I'm also happy to report that my county voted for a property tax increase to help fund our schools. Tea Party detractors strongly objected to the tax hike that would invest in our children at a cost of $47 per year on a $300,000 home, but enough sane people prevailed and the measure passed. Go Colorado! Go Smart!

My objection to our response to voter fraud is more practical. Even if you assume our real numbers are a whole order of magnitude greater, the Republican measures in the states that adopted the voter ID laws were vastly out of proportion with a problem that happens .000003% percent of the time. That's usually my first clue that there's a realer reason for those actions.

This is part of the problem, imo, thinking that it's always good to be fiscally conservative, or always good to be socially liberal. We need a different paradigm to use in analyzing every issue and every legislative response to it. I recommend we adopt "smart". And hang the representatives who vote against smart just because it didn't come from their party. Nixon got the southern states to switch parties by appealing to their fears of the civil rights movement. Maybe it's time for the Republicans to cast back to the Eisenhower days and be more progressive than the Democrats, using "smart" as their gauge instead of conservative. They might even get my vote if they start embracing the 21st century and vow to help America reassert itself in an increasingly scientific-minded global community. Truly, what they should do is flip the bird to the religious extremists and start working to fund American education around the globe. Investments in a smarter workforce will outlast any gains made from the arbitrage of cheap labor which will eventually run out.

In Denver, one of our main water sources, the South Platte River, has naturally occurring fluoride. It usually falls right in line with accepted amounts, but we sometimes supplement with a little more, and sometimes have to remove a bit. This is NATURALLY OCCURRING, so I know you'll be pleased that nature agrees with the practice, at least near the Rockies. Dental health affects the rest of the body too. Preventing cavities at the cost of an average of $1 per person per year (for those of you who don't have rivers like the South Platte) is considered to be extremely helpful in keeping overall healthcare costs lower. This should be enough of an answer to your question. And just in case you're still unclear about dosage levels, the same solubility that allows fluoride to enter streams and water systems naturally also means it doesn't build up in your system. So just like many things that are basically poisons, like alcohol and the other substances mentioned earlier, low doses aren't going to affect you adversely in the long run, and in this case may make you healthier. What a bunch of crap. Show me some studies that show communities that don't fluoridate their water are less docile (more aggressive?) or have other personality disorders manifested by the community as a whole.

Ask yourself this, please. Why would anyone want to cause health problems on that kind of scale, in a manner that would seem to affect every living thing on the planet? I have to say, it's easy to think in terms of organic = natural, but the fact is that organic farming isn't as sustainable as you seem to think. There's no way we could feed everyone on the planet if all farming were done organically. And while some types of chemicals may be more harmful than others when used in modern agriculture, to say that all chemicals are unnatural is ludicrous. It's also ludicrous to assume that all organic methods are non-harmful. Rotenone, nicotine, pyrethrum and neem are all considered OK for organic gardening, and they're worse than most other pesticides modern farmers use (rotenone is six times more toxic than carbaryl, a synthetic product used for the same things). The fact that they break down quickly (always considered a plus by organic supporters) means they are more of a danger to life in the immediate vicinity when and where they're used. I've bought lots of organic food in my time, but the more I learn, the more I realize that the assumption that it's always better is not true. Because chemicals make up everything.

And now we see the true danger of confirmation bias and conspiracy theories. When the investigation has been completed, even to the satisfaction of the entire Congress and all legal agencies, if the POTUS isn't found culpable rigney will always assume it was covered up. I, for one, am totally disgusted that this obvious aggrandizement of the death of Chris Stevens was used by the Republicans as an election ploy against the president when it's so obviously a series of small mistakes that combined to allow a larger tragedy to happen. The mid-level decision not to increase security, the slow response of the secret CIA team charged with emergency security for the compound, the Pentagon's inadequately reconfigured quick-reaction force, Ambassador Stevens own decision to stay despite his misgivings, the failed February 17 brigade response, the Libyan government's basic security failures, all these things taken together opened the doors for this attack to happen. But seeing as how embassy security is hardly a cabinet-level decision, I have to conclude that the Republican fingers pointing at the POTUS were doing so not only to diminish him in the eyes of the voters, but also to cover up their own culpability for budget cuts enacted by the Republican-led House that made beefing up security at the Benghazi Embassy impossible. Shifting blame away from themselves, historically, is a favored ploy of these dishonest, deceitful, untrustworthy and corrupt extremist conservative representatives of half the United States of America. I shudder to think how close we came to giving them more power yesterday.

But there are far more things in the past that were thought to be true that have turned out to be false. There is no evidence to support a gap in our spatial comprehension where activity takes place that create meaningful phenomena. Everything some people attribute to the supernatural can be explained in real world, natural terms. Possibility doesn't trump probability, and most probably there are no ghosts, spirits, demons, angels or gods hiding from our observation in a similarly hidden and conveniently inaccessible space.

Congratulations, Mr President. Sorry we couldn't give you the House. I sincerely hope you can get more cooperation from Congress so we can progress. And please, don't send any Feds to Colorado for a while. Just give us time to work this out and show the rest of the country that schedules should change.

Since there is no evidence at all for paranormal activity that stands up to minimum standards for rigorous scientific scrutiny, it's much more likely that the supernatural things many people wish to believe in reside only in their minds. Plenty of ants, plenty of fish, but most likely no demons, ghosts or angels. Aliens are a different matter, but again the lack of evidence to support present and current involvement with them suggests we haven't actually encountered any. Yet.