Applied Epistemology

The dig for Obama-Dirt comes up short at Oxy. Professors Anne Howells and Roger Boesche contribute quotes for a piece that (unsurprisingly) discovers that Obama was a fairly typical academic achiever with a streak of political activism.

Here's the link to Gary Taubes' article on how so much epidemiology flunks basic reasoning.

Finally, someone is speaking out against junk science writing. I look forward to the NYT Magazine article (not up yet).

NPR has the story on the restored childhood home of Bush 43. While listening, when the museum docent says, "and we tell children that you too could become President," don't forget to add "...provided your grandpa's name is Prescott Bush."

The Washington Post could use some historically literate proofreaders. From an opinion piece:

"the "Dirty South" (the original Confederate states, minus Missouri and Kentucky)"

Um, neither Missouri nor Kentucky were Confederate states.

Readers may recall my earlier bafflement that multiple students would defend the patently false doctrine that "if you believe it, then it will come true". I had chalked it up to the lingering cognitive rot left behind by asshat films such as What the Bleep Do We Know? But apparently the ultimate engine behind The Secret is the same crackpottery kiln which inflicted Dr.

Today's LA Times features an article about the British monarch's upcoming visit to Jamestown, Virginia. The odd part comes near the end:

After the queen tours some of the new discoveries this week at Jamestown, she'll head east to watch the 133rd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday.