Comments on: Psycho alert (and a mea culpa)

By: Catherine

Catherine — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 04:49:18 +0000

People like this are the reason why Christian kids are too scared to buy condoms, have sex and then sneak of to have abortions.

By: Tracy Quan

Tracy Quan — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:18:02 +0000

Thanks! I just saw this! Well, I find Bennet’s column nearly unreadable. Perhaps that is a blessing.

By: elizabeth

elizabeth — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:16:11 +0000

Bill Bennet, who now hosts a very popular talk show called Morning in America, was Secretary of Education under the first George Bush. He saw data that showed that condom use has climbed dramatically in countries with high HIV prevalence. From that, he concluded that condoms don’t work. As I say in The Wisdom, that’s like saying that we should get rid of hospitals. They are full of sick people, so obviously they don’t work…
You can check out his reflections here.

By: Tracy Quan

Tracy Quan — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 16:50:00 +0000

Hi Elizabeth. Please say more about your Bill Bennet reference – I’m interested (and don’t remember much about Bennet)- thanks. Or, if you don’t feel like posting it here, wd love to hear from you.

By: David Hackney

David Hackney — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 15:25:22 +0000

The late Senator Patrick Moyhihan of New York once made the following comment: “You are entitled to your opinion, but you are NOT entitled to your own facts.” Every time I read a blog with “studies have shown” or “statistics show” with no citations my BS alarm goes off. Roger is correct. The Internet’s full potential for communication has not yet been realized because anyone can write anything and claim their opinion is supported by “statistics.” If ZSUZSANNA wants to see the real “monster” in this debate she should look in the mirror.

By: Roger

Roger — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:36:46 +0000

That’s the problem with the Internet. Anybody can write absolutely anything and it will be available for ever without never been challenged. It doesn’t matter if you, I or anybody else write about it, as those kind of writers rarely agree to open their posts/blog to discussion.

Worst many people will just take the information at face value, because they “read it on the Internet” or in Wikipidedia. Unfortunately, Internet does not come with critical sense.

Misinformation is not limited to the blogosphere. For example this news from Reuters wrongly reports that vaginal microbicides (a potential new way to protect women against HIV infection) can be absorbed into the body through the vaginal wall and then, like any other drug, could cause the AIDS virus to mutate . The last part is completely inaccurate, and despite writing to Reuters, it is still online.

http://tinyurl.com/6yoyuk

So please everybody, take everything you read with a pinch of salt, and that also applies to the writer of this comment! Nobody is perfect.