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12 Million Americans Believe Lizard People Run Our CountryBy Philip Bump | The Atlantic Wire – 19 hrs ago...About 90 million Americans believe aliens exist. Some 66 million of us think aliens landed at Roswell in 1948. These are the things you learn when there's a lull in political news and pollsters get to ask whatever questions they want. Public Policy Polling has raised weird polls to an art form. During last year's presidential campaign, the firm earned a bit of a reputation for its unorthodox questions; for example, "If God exists, do you approve of its handling of natural disasters?" Today PPP released the results of a national survey looking at common conspiracy theories. Broken down by topic and cross-referenced by political preference, the results will not inspire a lot of patriotism. If you need to defend your fellow countrymen, be sure to note that the margin of error is 2.8 percent. We took the findings and arranged them from most- to least-believed. And, just to inspire additional shame, figured out how many actual Americans that meant must believe in things like the danger of fluoride in water. (28 million, if you're wondering.) Conspiracy Percent believing Number of Americans believing JFK was killed by conspiracy 51 percent 160,096,160 Bush intentionally misled on Iraq WMDs 44 percent 138,122,178 Global warming is a hoax 37 percent 116,148,195 Aliens exist 29 percent 91,035,072 New World Order 28 percent 87,895,931 Hussein was involved in 9/11 28 percent 87,895,931 A UFO crashed at Roswell 21 percent 65,921,948 Vaccines are linked to autism 20 percent 62,782,808 The government controls minds with TV 15 percent 47,087,106 Medical industry invents diseases 15 percent 47,087,106 CIA developed crack 14 percent 43,947,966 Bigfoot exists 14 percent 43,947,966 Obama is the Antichrist 13 percent 40,808,825 The government allowed 9/11 11 percent 34,530,544 Fluoride is dangerous 9 percent 28,252,264 The moon landing was faked 7 percent 21,973,983 Bin Laden is alive 6 percent 18,834,842 Airplane contrails are sinister chemicals 5 percent 15,695,702 McCartney died in 1966 5 percent 15,695,702 Lizard people control politics 4 percent 12,556,562 Just to further inspire conversation, PPP broke down belief in each theory by whom the respondent supported in the 2012 election. This yielded some genuinely interesting results. For example, only two conspiracies were more commonly believed by Obama supporters: that Bush intentionally misled America about Iraq's WMDs (a massive 69 percent of his supporters believe that one) and that the moon landing was faked. There two theories with equal support among Obama and Romney supporters: that aliens exist and theone about fluoridation. Everything else, from lizard people to vaccines and autism to global warming being a hoax? Believed by more Romney supporters. No conspiracy was less commonly believed than one suggesting that the government is populated by lizard people. But that's mostly because only 2 percent of Obama supporters believe the theory while 5 percent of Romney supporters do.
Uno could probably make you deader...
Interesting. There's a lot in the wording.
Faked Moon Landing? Conspiracy Beliefs Fall Along Party LinesBy Benjamin Radford, LiveScience Bad Science Columnist | LiveScience.com – Thu, Apr 4, 2013...Updated at 12:26 p.m. ETA new national poll reveals that Americans differ along political party lines even in their endorsement of conspiracy theories, including the belief that President Obama is the Anti-Christ and the idea that global warming is a hoax.The poll found, for instance, just 15 percent of Democrats believe a secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian world government, or New World Order; compare that with 34 percent of Republicans and 35 percent of Independents who believe the same.As one might expect, the more far-out the conspiracy theory, the fewer people endorse it. Dean Debnam, president of Public Policy Polling, which conducted the research, noted, "Most Americans reject the wackier ideas out there about fake moon landings and shape-shifting lizards."Even so, 20 percent of Republicans believe that President Obama is the Anti-Christ, compared with 13 percent of Independents and 6 percent of Democrats who agree.Some other highlights include:— 58 percent of Republicans think global warming is a hoax, whereas just 24 percent of Democrats said the same. [The Reality of Global Warming: 10 Myths Busted]— 15 percent of the respondents believe the pharmaceutical industry conspires with the medical industry to fabricate new diseases for profit, and the same number believe that secret mind-controlling technology is added to TV broadcast signals.Democrats, Republicans and conspiracy theoristsThe difference in endorsement between self-identified Democrats and Republicans is less surprising than it may seem at first glance; many events producing conspiracy theories have important political implications that make them more or less likely to be believed depending on your worldview.For example, the recent Sandy Hook conspiracy theories were framed by believers not as merely a tragic school shooting but instead as a hoax perpetrated or coordinated by the Obama administration (or gun control groups or other powerful, unknown organizations) to scare the public into supporting gun control legislation. Similarly, conspiracies involving the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and whether or not President Obama is a legal U.S. citizen clearly have political implications.Other common conspiracies — such as whether a UFO crashed in Roswell, New Mexico (21 percent said yes), or the moon landings were faked (7 percent said yes), or that Paul McCartney died in a car crash in 1966 (5 percent said yes) — have little implications for people's everyday lives. [The 10 Craziest Conspiracy Theories Explained]The Conspiracy MentalityThe image of the bug-eyed, tinfoil-hat-wearing conspiracy believer is largely a stereotype. There is no single profile fitting all conspiracy theorists, but generally what the conspiratorial mind sees as misinformation and lies, others see as merely perfectly ordinary incomplete and inaccurate information or misunderstandings. Conspiracy believers tend to be skeptical of coincidences, instead seeing a reason or hidden purpose behind seemingly random events.Sometimes evidence showing that a conspiracy theory is false has a measurable effect on public belief; for example, soon after Obama released his long-form birth certificate proving that he'd been born in Hawai'i, the number of people believing he'd been born outside the United States dropped by half, according to a 2011 Washington Post poll.Often, however, no amount of evidence can deter true believers from conspiracy thinking. There is no shortage of documentation about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, for example, and questions from so-called "9/11 Truthers" have been repeatedly answered but to little effect.In many cases, in fact, conspiracy believers endorse contradictory theories. Recent studies by researcher Karen Douglas at the University of Kent suggest a reason why. She and colleagues asked 137 students to rate how much they agreed with five conspiracy theories about the 1997 death of Princess Diana. The results were surprising — and contradictory. As Douglas explained to LiveScience, "The more people were likely to endorse the idea Princess Diana was murdered, the more they were likely to believe that Princess Diana is alive." To many conspiracy theorists settling on one definitive theory (for example whether bin Laden or Princess Diana is alive or not — and if they aren't, how or when they died) is far less important than knowing that something has been covered up and is being kept secret.Research suggests that in some cases belief in conspiracy theories can actually be psychologically adaptive and beneficial, as the very premise of conspiracies implies a powerful, hidden force at work with some overarching grand design. Conspiracy theorists see a hidden hand behind the world's major events, including social and political changes. Even though conspiracy theorists claim to want to expose the conspiracy and thwart its goals (such as establishing a New World Order), some take comfort that the world is not merely random — that things happen for a reason. Though conspiracy believers don't feel in control of the events, they feel that at least someone is (or a small cabal of powerful "someones" are).The survey, conducted by the Public Policy Polling group, sampled 1,247 registered American voters by telephone from March 27?30 and was not paid for by any political organization.Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of "Skeptical Inquirer" science magazine and author of six books including "Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead Us." His website is www.BenjaminRadford.com.
Feral Pigs Going Hog-Wild in USBy Douglas Main, Staff Writer | LiveScience.com – 20 hrs ago...Feral pigs are becoming a wild problem in the United States.The wild hogs can now be found in three-fourths of U.S. states — and their populations are growing in many areas — and are estimated to cause $1.5 billion in damages each year, the Associated Press reports. There are currently more than 5 million wild hogs in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. By all accounts, the animals are quite intelligent. They also sport razor-sharp tusks and can be aggressive toward people and pets. They have a remarkable knack for causing trouble, ranging from eating threatened species like dune lizards and spreading invasive weeds to carrying and transmitting more than 30 different kinds of diseases to humans, livestock and other wildlife, according to the AP. Feral pigs’ habit of digging and rooting around in the ground also tears up gardens and crop fields, and creates holes in roads that serve as hazards for cars and tractors. $1 million huntBut the state of New Mexico isn't letting the pigs get away with those antics. The state recently partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a $1 million project to hunt, trap and kill the animals. The plan is to hit the animals in a single coordinated effort, because the pigs are so smart that they can learn from failed efforts to trap them and avoid the snares in the future."They're much brighter than I am," Ray Powell, a veterinarian and New Mexico's land commissioner, told the AP. "If they had the dexterity, they'd be driving vehicles around. I mean these guys are really smart."Hunters will also employ a "Judas pig." After finding and killing a hog family, officials will intentionally leave one pig alive — usually, an adult female. This "Judas pig" will then be outfitted with a tracking collar in order to lead state officials to a new set of pigs, which the surviving hog will seek out, the AP reports. [Image Gallery: The Most Destructive Invasive Species]Multiplying hogsTexas may have the most wild hogs of any U.S. state, and the situation is expected to worsen, despite the $7 million per year that Texans spends to keep the animals' numbers down, the AP reports. A recent study by Texas A&M University found that the number of feral pigs is likely to triple in five years in the state of Texas if serious efforts aren't made to reduce feral-pig populations, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal."If a feral-hog sow produces a dozen piglets, 13 survive," goes an old joke, according to the Avalanche-Journal. But feral-pig reproduction is no laughing matter. The animals may start reproducing when they’re just 6 months old, and their litters average about six sows, reports Mississippi State University. They produce an average of 1.5 litters per year.Feral pigs were introduced to North America in the 1500s by Spanish explorers and were used for hunting. In the wild, they can grow to be up to 300 pounds (136 kilograms) or more, according to U.S. government figures. Not one to shy away from controversy (or porcine genocide), the rock musician Ted Nugent killed 455 wild hogs in a recent hunting expedition in Texas. "I did it for Bill Maher and all those other animal-rights freaks out there," Nugent said, according to Mlive.com. He allegedly donated the meat to the homeless.
