SocraticGadfly: Top blog posts of 2014

January 18, 2015

Top blog posts of 2014

We're halfway into January 2015, but I'm a roundup from last year for a slow Sunday.

1. Jan. 7, 2014: I note that movement skeptics have founded their own health website, but caution the general person to also be skeptical about it.
2. Jan. 9, 2014: I question the alleged genius of some master sabermetricians who have Baseball Hall of Fame voting rights.
3. Jan. 10, 2014: I explain the reality of alleged skeptic, and later convicted wire fraudster, Brian Dunning.
4. Jan. 15, 2014: I expose the depth of past — and seemingly current — pro-life views of Texas Democratic U.S. Senate candidate David Alameel. (True Texas Dems, file this one away, as the man is threatening to run again.) I discuss this further on Jan. 26 and even call him a flat-out liar on Jan. 29.
5. Jan. 30, 2014: Younger football Manning sibling Eli gets in my gunsights after a lawsuit over Super Bowl merchandise.

6. Feb. 4, 2014: Democrats all the time Dems, in Texas, don't like me after I question the reality of Wendy Davis' fundraising numbers. Turns out I'm right, and that in November, both she and Battleground Texas are big fat flops.
7. Feb. 18, 2014: I expose the puffery behind a piece claiming scientists are as religious as the general American public.

8. March 5, 2014: Pseudoskeptical fraudster Brian Dunning is convicted. I discuss the details of the case against him.
9. March 8, 2014: Talking baseball. I wonder if the St. Louis Cardinals shouldn't trade for then-Tampa Rays lefty David Price.
10: March 17, 2014: I talk about abortion as being a "Gordian knot" for many liberals. That includes me.
11: March 25, 2014: I critique problems with Neil deGrasse Tyson's reboot of Carl Sagan's "Cosmos."
12. March 27, 2014: I expose some lunacy in the attitudes of Texas Gov. Rick Perry and other state-level GOP officeholders about the lesser prairie chicken in particular and protection of in-trouble wildlife in general.
13. March 29, 2014: I show that Carl Hart's new book on addiction is overhyped, probably driven by a mix of political libertarianism and the soft bigotry of low expectations.

14. April 4, 2014: Warren Buffett isn't so smart about newspapers in the digital age. I explain.
15. April 8, 2014: I actually defend something that looks like "social justice warrior" action, when Mozilla pushes out Brandon Eich.
16. Aprl 8, 2014: Disqus says it will push ads on its Internet commenting system. I barf.
17. April 12, 2014: I rake over the coals some Texas Greens' ideas to have Brandon Parmer "surrender" to Wendy Davis. (In retrospect, he did anyway.)
18. April 14, 2014: I take down the misuse of the word "potential."
19. April 19, 2014: I question whether Reds' rookie outfielder Billy Hamilton is "all that," and introduce the Pete Kozma Line, a sabermetric version of the Mendoza Line.

20. May 5, 2014: I critique modern health research and reporting, saying that researchers should tighten p-values and other research parameters.
21. May 12, 2014: I call for Managerial Wins Above Replacement as a needed way to better evaluate baseball managers.

22. June 19, 2014: I once again tell Boston Red Sox fans that David Ortiz is not a Hall of Famer.

23. July 27, 2014: The sad reality of modern America — big business tells explosion-damaged West, Texas to go fuck itself.

24. Aug. 9, 2014: I call out P.Z. Myers and other Gnu Atheists for creating straw men in their quest for nth-wave feminism.
25. Aug. 23, 2014: I reject the idea that non-hired academic Steven Salaita is worthy of any brouhaha on his behalf.

26. Sept. 25, 2014: Is the godfather of modern movement skepticism, James Randi, suffering from founder's syndrome? Given that I think he's overrated in some ways anyway, I have no problem saying that.

27. Nov. 17, 2014: As part of noting that atheism is just the lack of belief in the existence of any gods, I explain in detail, with examples. how atheism does not necessarily equate to political or social liberalism.
28. Nov. 28, 2014: I delve a bit into the personal and family history of Steve McQuilliams, the TeaParty type, possibly white nationalist type, Austin would-be bomber.

29. Dec. 26, 2014: I say "hasty lumbago" to Texas' departing governor, Rick Perry.

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