1980's Fire Investigators Not Much More Than Dust Kickers

a reply to: Kester

This simply confirms my suspicion that you have not got the faintest idea how the academic community operates.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
a reply to: Kester

Arson investigators essentially have their own cultural mythos that they project into the world of science as if it were science, despite it being pure pseudoscience..

Cameron Willingham not only lost his wife and children, but he got to rot in jail for burning them alive, and then be executed for it. It is all but conclusive that he was innocent. Only the obtuse argue for is guilt at this point.

Yes. We put an innocent man to death. All because of the pseudoscience of arson investigation

And now we have the FBI forensics labs being brought under closer scrutiny, too. I don't pay attention too much to the techniques used in forensics...but it appears that the reality is just as lame and silly as an episode of Bones (really, Bones....uploading a computer virus because of code etched into bone???)

I still get the feeling that about half of it all is made up. And I am more firm than ever in my belief that the Death Penalty is the ultimate act of barbarism from a superstitious culture. Our superstition tends to believe more in science than ghosts...but its the same thing.

Is Cameron the man whose last words were used as definitive proof by Rick Perry that the man was, in fact, guilty? A pardon was out of the question because governors who hear reprieves do not get re-elected, in Texas.

This is the case wherein there were 'pentagrams' found in the dust, most likely caused by open windows? And these dust swirlings were used as proof of his intent? To incriminate him?

I wonder how much Texans give Israel each day of each year just to keep their bible wet dreams on fire. Makes sense.
Keep screwing up, everyone, then Jesus will have to return, just to straighten all this corruption out. That seems to be how it is being perceived.

# 431

Most peer review is performed by exactly that... peers

So your review panel for a paper is not performed by one person typically, depending on the journal. It can be 5 or more people.

Also, why send it to British Universities? Would that not be frowned upon? Why not send it to Universities in the US, this seems a bit like a exaggerated tale. Seriously every story of a conspiracy to can 'humanity saving' research has a couple of these ingredients

1) Someone I trust said
2) Tried to get the word out but failed
3) Got snuffed out
4) Had the equipment impounded

So from my experience let me tell you what this sounds like to me, now this is my opinion, speaking as a scientist, who has been around academics for 10 years thus far.

Two scientists who worked there asses off where undermined / lost out on research because someone with more political clout as a scientist got the funding/support of the lab. Said two scientists, bitter about this, when talking about work have the same rhetoric as a arm chair foodball player who, could have gone pro if it wasn't for his bad knee.

This isn't supposed to be insulting, but, after 10 years I do see the way people get shuffled around, have their projects changed and the jobs cancelled depending sometimes on who their affiliates are. We have a saying and that is "Who has the holy water" The example currently is that in the US, if you are looking for a faculty job in non-HEP particle physics, if you are not from EXO, LUX, FermiLab, or Berkely or one of the top uni's then don't bother applying, no matter how good you are.

This is obviously frustrating, and wrongly favours peoples 'political' connections. BUT it is a totally different thing to what most people describe and science being taken over by politics.

How it has been hijacked by politics, is the fact that almost all politicians are business and law majors, and dont care at all about science. So they view it as a business, "Can it make me money?" if it cant obviously, then it gets less/no funding. Which has been extremely damaging.

a reply to: ErosA433

British universities because he was a British scientist working at the British nuclear research facility.

I'll ask for more details but my source is frail and expected to die long ago.