Psychology has long been the butt of jokes about its deep insight into the human mind – especially from the “hard” sciences such as physics – and now a study has revealed that much of its published research really is psycho-babble.
More than half of the findings from 100 different studies published in leading, peer-reviewed psychology journals cannot be reproduced by other researchers who followed the same methodological protocol.
A study by more than 270 researchers from around the world has found that just 39 per cent of the claims made in psychology papers published in three prominent journals could be reproduced unambiguously – and even then they were found to be less significant statistically than the original findings.
The non-reproducible research includes studies into what factors influence men’s and women’s choice of romantic partners, whether peoples’ ability to identify an object is slowed down if it is wrongly labelled, and whether people show any racial bias when asked to identify different kinds of weapons.
The researchers who carried out the work, published in the journal Science, said that reproducibility is the essence of the scientific method and more must be done to ensure that what is published can be replicated by other researchers. (Read more from “Study Reveals That a Lot of Psychology Research Really Is Just ‘Psycho-Babble'” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00kathleenhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngkathleen2015-08-27 21:24:442015-08-27 21:24:44Study Reveals That a Lot of Psychology Research Really Is Just ‘Psycho-Babble’
By Steve Helber, Pam Ramsey and Jonathan Drew. A TV reporter and cameraman were shot to death on live television Wednesday by their former colleague, a journalist who also recorded himself carrying out the killings and then posted the video on social media.
The gunman, who was fired in 2013 from WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia, fled the scene and went online, posting the video on Facebook and Twitter. He also reportedly faxed a 23-page manifesto and “suicide note” to ABC News, describing himself as a “human powder keg” that was “just waiting to go BOOM!!!!”
Vester Lee Flanagan II, 41, who appeared on WDBJ as Bryce Williams, had evidently been planning the attack for some time, authorities said. As he fled, he switched vehicles, picking up a rental car he had previously reserved at an airport. Troopers caught up with him hours later and hundreds of miles away after he fatally shot himself and ran off the road.
[WARNING: Graphic videos]
The live spot by reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward was nothing out of the ordinary: They were interviewing a local official at an outdoor shopping mall for a tourism story. Then, at about 6:45 a.m., morning show viewers saw her suddenly scream and run, crying “Oh my God,” as she fell. Ward fell, too, and the camera he had been holding on his shoulder captured a fleeting image of the suspect holding a handgun.
WDBJ quickly switched back to the anchor at the station, her eyes large and jaw dropping as she said, “OK, not sure what happened there.” The station later went live again, reporting on their own staff as the story developed. (Read more from “Live TV Murders Stun America” HERE)
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Reporter Who Gunned Down Ex-Colleagues Blames Charleston Shootings and Anti-Gay Harassment
By Chris Pleasance. A man who was fired from his job as a television reporter two years ago took revenge against the small-town Virginia news station by executing two of his former coworkers on live television, and then posting disturbing first-person video of the attack on social media.
Viewers of WDBJ, a CBS affiliate in Moneta, Virginia, watched in horror this morning as Vester Lee Flanagan II, 41, shot dead 24-year-old reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward, 27, on live TV as the two were filming a light-hearted segment at 6:45am.
After carrying out the shocking on-air execution, Ward fled and posted video of the attack on social media while also writing about his grudges against the two young journalists in a Twitter rant.
He also faxed a 23-page manifesto-cum-suicide note to a national news station outlining his motives for the attack, saying he bought the handgun he used following the Charleston Church killings, adding: ‘my hollow point bullets have the victims’ initials on them’.
Five hours later, police cornered Flanagan a three hours drive northeast in Fauquier County, Virginia where he shot himself in an attempt to commit suicide. Flanagan initially survived the gunshot wound, but died not long after at approximately 1:30 p.m. (Read more from this story HERE)
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Black, Homosexual Reporter Murders White Journalists; Media Blames the Gun
By Ben Shapiro. On Wednesday, America met a deeply evil human being: Vester Lee Flanagan II, also known as reporter Bryce Williams.
Williams murdered two people while they were live on air on WDBJ in Virginia: reporter Alison Parker, and cameraman Adam Ward. After the murders, he went on the run – and while he was on the run, he tweeted out his rationale for the killings, accusing Parker of making “racist comments” and Ward of going “to hr on me after working with me one time!!!” He then posted video to his Facebook and Twitter pages of himself shooting both at point-blank range.
Williams is black. Parker and Ward were white.
Williams is gay. Parker and Ward were straight.
None of which would be relevant, except that Williams specifically cited his identity as a factor in the killings. In a 23-page rambling letter sent to ABC News, Williams wrote that the Charleston church shooting in June should have provoked a race war: “Why did I do it? I put a deposit for a gun on 6/19/15. The Church shooting in Charleston happened on 6/17/15…What sent me over the top was the church shooting…You want a race war (deleted)? BRING IT THEN YOU WHITE …(deleted)!!!” According to ABC News, he claimed he had “suffered racial discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying at work,” that he had “been attacked by black men and white females,” and that he had been “attacked for being a gay, black man.” (Read more from this story about the live TV murders HERE)
A decorated Green Beret being forced out of the military in a matter of months was taken to task in 2011 by a top Army general for confronting an accused Afghan rapist, according to an official reprimand obtained by Fox News – bolstering claims he is being discharged over the incident.
Fox News first reported last week that Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland is being kicked out, and that his supporters suspect it is because of his actions standing up for a young Afghan rape victim. This has outraged his colleagues, as well as Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who calls it a “black mark” for the U.S. Army and wants Defense Secretary Ash Carter to reverse the decision.
The October 2011 “memorandum of reprimand” obtained by Fox News indeed makes clear that Martland was blasted by the brass for his intervention after the alleged rape.
In the memo, Brig. Gen. Christopher Haas, then-commander of Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command Afghanistan, accused Martland and his Green Beret team leader of a “flagrant departure from the integrity, professionalism and even-tempered leadership” expected of Special Forces soldiers.
“Your behavior is inexcusable and incompatible with the high standards of performance, military discipline and operational readiness of Special Forces,” the memo states. (Read more from “Memo Shows Green Beret Fighting to Stay in Army Was Severely Reprimanded for Shoving Afghan Rapist” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-08-26 21:49:152015-08-26 21:49:15Memo Shows Green Beret Fighting to Stay in Army Was Severely Reprimanded for Shoving Afghan Rapist
The recent actions of a CNN reporter who droned on by taking remarks out of context illustrated the depth of the liberal media’s commitment to sidetrack his campaign, Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said Monday.
NewsMax TV host Steve Malzberg on Monday asked Carson about a Sunday interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” during which guest host Jim Acosta focused extensively on comments Carson had made at the U.S.-Mexico border that there was a role for America’s vast drone technology in sealing the leaky border.
“Why are they badgering you?” Malzberg asked.
“Because they don’t want people to take me seriously. And they’re very afraid of my message getting out there because it flies directly in the face of the secular-progressive movement. I’m a huge threat to them. Therefore, if they can find a chink in the armor and they can concentrate on that, they can get you off of the things that are so important to our nation,” Carson replied.
In response to a question from Malzberg, who mentioned past CNN efforts he felt were designed to harass Carson, the candidate responded: “The liberal media in general, but certainly the people you just mentioned are problematic.”
Last week, at the border, Carson had predicted that after he spoke about incorporating drone technology into defending America’s borders, his comments would be misrepresented. (Read more from “Watch: Ben Carson Pulls a Trump and Launches This Scathing Attack That Has CNN Licking Its Wounds” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-08-26 21:49:022015-08-26 21:49:02Watch: Ben Carson Pulls a Trump and Launches This Scathing Attack That Has CNN Licking Its Wounds
He was slated to be second-in-command at Albuquerque Public Schools, but Timothy Martinez is instead started the year as a fugitive on the run from police in two states before being captured Wednesday after he was revealed to be facing multiple outstanding child sex abuse charges in Colorado.
Martinez, 50, was hired in June as the district’s $163,000-per-year deputy superintendent under the name Jason Martinez, but quit on Aug. 20, citing personal reasons. But the real reason for his abrupt resignation, which came after weeks of Martinez dodging fingerprinting and background checks for the new job, was likely the knowledge Colorado authorities were closing in on him. Martinez was free on bond but not allowed to leave Colorado, where he faced charges in Denver of sexual contact with a boy under 15 in 2012 and 2013, incidents authorities say were part of a “pattern of sexual abuse” . . .
The Denver District Attorney’s Office confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday that Timothy Jason Martinez was arrested in Denver around 10:30 a.m. local time by the Rocky Mountain Safe Streets Task Force. He is currently being held without bond in the Denver Detention Center, and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday morning.
The question remaining in Albuquerque is how a predator landed a job in the 95,000-pupil district.
“There is simply no explanation for exposing any of our children to an individual who has any violent or sexual criminal charges in his background,” said New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, who announced Monday his office will look into why Albuquerque Public Schools’ safety protocols were bypassed so that Martinez was hired before a background check was completed. (Read more from “Shocking Hire: Accused Pedophile Rocks School System” HERE)
James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas released undercover video on Wednesday indicating that Hillary Clinton’s campaign is skirting Iowa election law through its voter registration practices.
Time reported the Clinton campaign went on high alert last week after determining at least two women it believed to be from Project Veritas were seeking to expose illegal activity within the organization. A campaign official expressed confidence the campaign has “upheld the law.” Furthermore, regarding voter registration — the focus of the video — the campaign’s “policy is to register all voters, regardless of their preference in candidates,” claimed a spokesperson.
The video then goes back a day earlier to show staffer Sterner explaining to a PV undercover journalist the campaign’s practice regarding voter registration: first, find out whom the prospect supports.
“If you open up a conversation as like, ‘Hey, are you registered to vote?’ And they’re, like, ‘no,’ and they want to register, you have to register them,” she says.
“And so that’s why I want to keep our primary focus on, ‘Hey, are you a Hillary supporter?’ And then if not, then great move on, you know?” Sterner concludes.
The narrator, O’Keefe, states that Sterner is explaining how workers can “skirt” Iowa’s election law, citing 39A.2 (1)(b)(5), which states that “A person commits the crime of election misconduct in the first degree if the person willfully … deprives, defrauds, or attempts to deprive or defraud the citizens of this state of a fair and impartially conducted election process.” (Read more from “Journalist Releases Undercover Sting Video, Warns Hillary – More Is Coming” HERE)
Walmart has instituted a new corporate policy that bars its stores from selling semi-automatic AR-15-style rifles and semi-automatic shotguns that have a magazine capacity of seven shots or more, multiple news outlets report.
According to Walmart spokesman Kory Lundberg, the massive retailer will replace ARs and self-defense and competition shotguns with budget-oriented bolt guns, rimfire rifles and pump-action shotguns. The spokesman denied that politics had anything to do with the decision, telling the Bearing Arms blog that a slump in AR and semi-auto shotgun sales prompted the company to pull those types of guns from its shelves.
While AR-15 rifles remain the top-selling long gun nationwide, sales volume has leveled off and many manufacturers and distributors have excess inventory on their shelves.
Though Lundberg denied the company bent to public opinion, Walmart has been the target of anti-gun groups who are pushing the retail giant ban some firearms sales. In December 2013, New York City-based Trinity Church sued to force a shareholder vote on whether “Walmart should sell products that are … especially dangerous to the public [and] pose a substantial risk to company reputation and would reasonably be considered offensive to the community and family values that Walmart seeks to associate with its brand,” including products with “high-capacity magazines.”
A Federal appeals judge tossed the Trinity Church lawsuit in April. (Read more from “Walmart Bars Sales of AR-15s, Self-Defense Shotguns” HERE)
The Obama administration has punished the state of Kansas for cutting taxpayer funds for the Planned Parenthood abortion business by cutting its federal Medicaid funding by the same amount. The moves comes at the same time the abortion giant is facing intense criticism over its sales of aborted babies and their body parts.
In 2011, pro-life Governor Sam Brownback signed a bill signed into law a bill that would shift funding away from the Planned Parenthood abortion business and stops abortion funding in health insurance programs. The Kansas Senate passed the measure on a 28-10 vote and the state House followed suit with an 86-30 vote.
The measure has the state budget directing over $300,000 in Title 10 money to local full-service health clinics instead of Planed Parenthood and it places $300,000 into the Stan Clark grant-matched fund for pregnancy support and adoption counseling.
The funding cuts eventually resulted in the Planned Parenthood abortion business closing one of its centers.
Now, the Obama administration, in the wake of additional states cutting Planned Parenthood funding following the massive scandal, is going after one state that already cut tax-funding to the abortion company. According to an AP report: “The federal government reduced its Title X funding to the state by about the $370,000 annually in Title X money that two Planned Parenthood facilities in Wichita and Hays and an unaffiliated clinic in Dodge City had been receiving.” (Read more from “Obama Punishing This State for De-Funding Planned Parenthood by Cutting off Its Medicaid Funding” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-08-26 21:42:332015-08-26 21:42:33Obama Punishing This State for De-Funding Planned Parenthood by Cutting off Its Medicaid Funding
The White House clashed anew with the Koch brothers on Wednesday, as spokesman Josh Earnest griped that conservative businessman Charles Koch “chose to squeal” to a reporter after President Obama criticized the brothers for opposing clean energy programs.
“When the president decides that we’ll take on a challenge that Washington has represented for too long, the special interests, including millionaires and billionaires who have benefited, start to squeal,” said Earnest, the White House press secretary. “In this case, one billionaire chose to squeal to a Politico reporter.”
Obama said Monday at an energy summit in Las Vegas that the country has a “problem” in that “massive lobbying efforts backed by fossil fuel interests, or conservative think tanks, or the Koch brothers” are pushing for new laws to roll back renewable-energy standards or prevent new clean-energy businesses from succeeding.
Charles Koch told Politico on Tuesday that he was “flabbergasted” by the attack and suggested it was for Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat and Koch brothers critic who attended the event with Obama.
“It’s beneath the president, the dignity of the president, to be doing that,” Koch told Politico. “I was really dumbfounded. … We expect that with Harry Reid, but I didn’t expect that from the president.” (Read more from “White House Spars With Koch Brother, Says ‘Chose to Squeal’ to Reporter” HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-08-26 21:42:202015-08-26 21:42:20White House Spars With Koch Brother, Says ‘Chose to Squeal’ to Reporter
One of the biggest casualties of this presidency – one that requires more immediate attention – is the deterioration of our military and the plummeting morale of our service members. Whether it’s the endless social experimentation, the politicized generals, the lack of a defined mission, the tepid rules of engagement, the war on religious liberty in the service, or the depleting resources, there are likely a number of factors behind the demoralizing of our troops.
In what can only be described as pouring lighter fluid on the problem, Obama’s Pentagon is announcing the entry of transgendered soldiers into the military beginning next May. This sounds like a great panacea to a dejected military.
Last year, the Military Times published a riveting report, “A Force Adrift,” in which they surveyed several thousand soldiers, revealing a precipitous drop in morale just from 2009. Here are some key findings:
When Obama came into office in 2009, over 90% of those surveyed rated their overall quality of life as good or excellent. In 2014, that number plunged to 56%.
In 2009, 53% agreed that the “senior military leadership” had the best interests of the soldiers at heart. In 2014, just 27% had that confidence in their leadership.
The number of enlisted soldiers who rated their officers as excellent or good dropped from 78% to 49%.
Clearly, the military has been under stress with the mounting casualties and endless tepid war efforts of the past decade, and that is not all Obama’s fault. But for the most part, the morale held together during the Bush presidency. That has all come unglued during the Obama-era social experimentations. It’s hard to imagine anyone with a lick of common sense agreeing that female commandoes and transgendered individuals in close quarters in the barracks is what the doctor ordered.
Yesterday, USA Today obtained a memo from the Defense Department stating their intention to enact a pilot program integrating transgendered troops into the military. They absurdly estimate there are as many as 12,000 transgendered individuals in the military and plan to offer them time off for hormone therapy.
Take that, Iran and ISIS! We’ll send the new transgendered brigade after you…as soon as we get them squared away with hormone therapy.
One need not be a military expert to understand the nightmare that will ensue in terms of logistics in barracks, showers, and in close quarters. The endless gratuitous distraction of this nonsense, which defies any semblance of sanity or common sense, will invariably ensnare commanding officers in impossible situations, exposing them to accusations of discrimination and immediate threats to their religious liberty.
And most importantly, is this what we need during a time of existential threat from Islamic terror?
It’s time for the presidential candidates to step up to the plate and use their bully pulpit to restore hope to the military and speak out against their abuse at the hands of this decedent administration. They need to boldly address these issues and put forth a specific plan to restore the morale, integrity, and core mission of the military.
Concurrently, it’s time for congressional Republicans, including so-called conservatives, to finally show a willingness to combat Obama’s social engineering after six years of giving him a complete pass. Next month, the House and Senate conferees will complete their work on the FY 2016 NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act), which authorizes all military programs.
What better vehicle than the NDAA, which is viewed as a must-pass bill, to restore a sense of sanity in the military?
At a minimum, Republicans should demand the following:
A provision requiring that any reversal of the ban on transgendered persons in the military must be done with the consent and approval of Congress
A prohibition on lowering any standards for women in training and testing in order to serve in direct ground combat positions
Attach a provision allowing base commanders to grant enlisted soldiers permission to carry guns on military bases
Attach a provision banning the dismissal of any service-member for expressing his or her religious beliefs
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) are the GOP point men on the conference committee. [The other conferees include: J. Randy Forbes of Virginia, Jeff Miller of Florida, Joe Wilson of South Carolina, Frank A. LoBiondo of New Jersey, Rob Bishop of Utah, Michael R. Turner of Ohio, John Kline of Minnesota, Mike D. Rogers of Alabama, Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania, K. Michael Conaway of Texas, Doug Lamborn of Colorado, Rob Wittman of Virginia, Duncan Hunter of California, Vicky Hartzler of Missouri, Joe Heck of Nevada, Brad Wenstrup of Ohio and Elise Stefanik of New York.]
It is their responsibility to exercise oversight over Obama’s inane policies and anti-religious bigotry within the military. Unfortunately, if they sign off on a conference report for the NDAA without any of these reforms, there is no way for rank-and-file members to propose amendments because a conference bill requires an up-or-down vote.
Understandably, many members are leery about voting against a defense authorization bill. But they must remember, rubber-stamping the status quo in the military is not being supportive of the troops. We can’t afford to wait until 2017 to address the urgent problem of a demoralized military. (Re-posted with permission from the author, “Our Military Is Not a Social Experiment” originally appeared HERE)
https://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.png00Joe Millerhttps://joemiller.us/wp-content/uploads/logotext.pngJoe Miller2015-08-26 21:41:102015-08-26 21:41:10Our Military Is Not a Social Experiment
Psychology has long been the butt of jokes about its deep insight into the human mind – especially from the “hard” sciences such as physics – and now a study has revealed that much of its published research really is psycho-babble.
By Ben Shapiro. On Wednesday, America met a deeply evil human being: Vester Lee Flanagan II, also known as reporter Bryce Williams.
