2011 – Page 19 – William M. Briggs

Appeals Court Confirms TSA X-Ray Strip Search Validity

The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has confirmed that criminals and suspected criminals have more rights and more protections under the Fourth Amendment than do citizens who…

Philosophy Statistics

Some Common Global Warming Fallacies

The level of debate on global warming is shriekingly poor. Not that I have any hope of convincing the world to reject bad logic, but here are some of the…

Culture Statistics

The Horrible Dangers Of Third-Hand Smoke

All countries have been known to periodically lose their minds. France in 1789 banned religion by the point of a blade, Russia in 1917 banned freedom by the barrel of…

Culture

California Requires LGBT History In Textbooks; The Disabled, Too

The rulers of the State of California are very unhappy with their subjects and their backward and old fashioned ideas; and, darn it, the rulers are just not going to…

Philosophy

The Economic Fallacy, Greenpeace, David Suzuki, And Global Warming

"You can't believe what that guy says. He research was funded by Greenpeace!" The person uttering this sentence has committed the economic fallacy, which is the belief that the truth…

Book review

Earth Has A Fever: How Can We Cool It?

Earth Fever: Living Consciously with Climate Change by Judy McAllister, Erik van Praag, and Jan Paul van Soest With Foreword by Hazel Henderson and Preface, by Jacqueline Cramer, Minister for…

Philosophy Statistics

Bathroom Stage Fright A “Real Condition” : Scientists Again Prove What Was Already Known

In standard science-report prose, MSNBC begins: Given the choice, you probably prefer your home porcelain throne to using a public toilet. But for more than 20 million people in North…

Fun Statistics

Does Second To Fourth Digit Ratio Predict You-Know-What Length?

From the storied Halls of Science comes an important new study, here abstracted from the Asian Journal of Andrology1. I apologize for the length of this excerpt, but it is…

Lucy Tucker on How Women’s Equality In Democracies Changes Voting (And Everything Else)February 5, 2026
I’m ready to give up the right to vote.
spetzer86 on Impossible LSAT Statistics QuestionFebruary 5, 2026
Could this scenario validate (A) and (D)? (A): When living in a country with a strong, pervasive religious belief, particularly…
spaceranger on Impossible LSAT Statistics QuestionFebruary 4, 2026
I usually go with "b." or "Asia" on those multiple choice ones.
Cary D Cotterman on Polar Bears Are Doing Fine: Activists, Not So WellFebruary 4, 2026
Polar bears have existed for at least half a million years, and possibly as long as a million. They have…
Brian (bulaoren) on Polar Bears Are Doing Fine: Activists, Not So WellFebruary 4, 2026
Dr. Briggs I was afraid I'd hijacked your subject today with my, rather dark, "Walter Lantz" cartoon. Returning to your…