[Stranger Fruit]

A fascinating study has just found that hearing one person’s opinion repeated is almost as effective as hearing several different people’s opinions. Repeated exposure to one person’s viewpoint can have almost as much influence as exposure to shared opinions from multiple people. This finding shows that hearing an opinion multiple times increases the recipient’s sense of familiarity and in some cases gives a listener a false sense that an opinion is more widespread ... more

So there I am, reading an amusing couple of local comics mocking the conservative media , and my name comes up. And my picture. I must protest, it’s totally inaccurate . I would never get such a soul-satisfying introduction, and if I were on TV, I’d be sure to wear my best eyepatch, the one with the gold filigree. Read the comments on this post... ... more

Wednesday 23 May will see the Four Stone Hearth blog carnival appear in all its archaeo/anthro glory at Greg Laden’s blog . If you have read or blogged anything good on those themes lately, then make sure to submit it to Greg ASAP. (Yes, you can submit stuff you’ve found on other people’s blogs.) Read the comments on this post... ... more

Has anyone else seen that Al Jazeera’s mainpage has a section devoted to conspiracy theories ? It prominently features 9/11 conspiracy garbage about WTC7 which has been debunked . This is something that is neglected about 9/11 conspiracy mongering. When 9/11 denialists like William Rodriguez encourage anti-American sentiments in foreign countries by suggesting Islamic radicals weren’t behind the attacks it doesn’t do anyone any good. I’m not supportive ... more