NetCynics Blog

A reasonable article highlighting some of the troubles with the Roman Catholic church: Pope says condoms are not the solution to Aids - they make it worse -Times Online

I can only second the opinion that those who don’t know what they’re talking about should stay quiet on the matter; and yet it’s not as though the Pope doesn’t have advisors so one would expect a little understanding to creep in somewhere.

I notice the inconsistency in position within the hierarchy - “use of condoms could sometimes be exceptionally condoned” - make your collective minds up, either their use is a sin or not, and we don’t go in for seeing it as this “lesser of two evils” rubbish.

Reading on “condoms had tiny holes in them” and referring to condoms as a `”net”‘, complete with scare-quotes, smacks of crude urban myth

There are two ways of looking at this that come to mind:

• First, this shows a lack of refinement in collective thought. There is no attempt to say “this is the best data we have, let’s plan accordingly”; the message is unclear. The message muddies the facts: there is some merit in saying that sexual abstinence will eliminate the spread of HIV+AIDS through sexual means, of course. That doesn’t take into account the facts that people still go at it like rabbits, or that there are other means of transmission that also need tackled. The message that condoms increase instance of the disease is completely wrong; it spreads because of those who, believing the RCC’s message, do *not* use condoms, rather than those who do!
• Secondly, it shows the RCC uses sex as a vector for control rather than freedom.

Now that it’s 2008 (yes, I know, it’s April 2008, please feel free to pretend that it’s January, thanks) it’s time to check the handful of predictions for 2007 and see what happened (note that the fact that you’re even reading this probably suggests that the more extreme ones were nonsense, but you knew that anyway didn’t you?).

Unknown month

According to Armageddon Online this year will see the “Battle of Armageddon”. This will involve a nuclear war that will leave “2 billion dead”.

NetCynics says Fail!

August 2007

According to Juval Aviv “six, seven or eight cities” within the US will be hit “simultaneously to show sophistication and really hit the public“. Apparently “it could happen as soon as tomorrow, or it could happen in the next few months. Ninety days at the most“. So keep an eye out for this one until the end of October.

NetCynics says Fail!

September 2007

According to Pat Robertson the Christian God told him that there will be a “mass killing” in the United States of America. He said “The Lord didn’t say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that.” so it remains to be seen what, exactly, the attack will be. Keep in mind that for 2006 he predicted that a tsunami would hit the US coastline — it didn’t, but he did claim that heavy rains and flooding in New England in the spring were a partial fulfilment of his prediction.

Observant readers will note that the CNN story link no longer works (big surprise there). NetCynics says Fail!

Also, regarding the Juval Aviv prediction from August: NetCynics says Fail Again!

October 2007

Sorry Juval Aviv. NetCynics says Fail Yet Again!

If you have any predictions for 2008 please feel free to let us know and we’ll add them to the 2008 page.

I’m most surprised to read an item by the Daily Mail that actually looks into the advertising of common products and challenges the companies to justify the marketing claims and decisions. Wow.

Researchers name and shame 11 companies for making ‘false health claims’ | the Daily Mail:

From the Psychic Skeptic:

A psychic can claim to be ‘skeptical’, but can a skeptic be psychic?

Is psychic ability in the eye of the beholder?

 

These questions arose when I stumbled across a job opportunity for psychics, advertised at careerone.com.au. Job sharing, casual work and second, even third jobs are necessary evils in today’s world. Some replenish stock in supermarkets at night, others telemarket or work behind a bar. Only the very few can earn a few extra dollars as a psychic. That would require a specific skill, wouldn’t it? But what kind of skill? Real psychic ability or cold/warm/hot reading skills and a glib manner?

Read more at the original article, although I think I’ve given the game away with the subject :)