nyuuzyou/wikis huggingface dataset:
Pole shift

Pole shift is the hypothesis that extreme movement of the Earth's rotational axis occasionally occurs and can explain catastrophes such as earthquakes and tsunamis. This phenomenon refers to a change in the geographic location of the poles and is distinct from plate tectonics, geomagnetic reversal, and change in axial orientation. Significant shift has not occurred for at least 800 million years and often occurs over periods of thousands, if not millions, of years. A slight pole shift over time is normal and harmless; for example, the effects of precession where the angle of the rotation move around like a gyroscope over a cycle of around 26,000 years.
This, of course, is an attempt to piggyback off (and mimic) the cool science-sounding terminology related to shifting poles. The fact that most cranks willingly conflate the concept of a magnetic pole shift with the cartoonish idea of the sudden physical inversion of the Earth's rotational axis only sweetens the deal.
==Predictions==
In 1997, a rapid pole shift was predicted for 2000. Unsurprisingly, this did not happen.
In 1996 a pole shift was predicted for 2001. This did not happen either.
The 2012 pole shift didn't happen either.
See the pattern?
==Comparison to geomagnetic reversals==
The Earth's magnetic field can flip. This is called geomagnetic reversal. But these magnetic-pole reversals haven't been correlated to any widespread disasters, such as volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, or the dead rising from the grave, so it appears to be nothing worth getting that worried about. Also, they happen over a period of thousands of years, not suddenly on a given date — so whenever you hear a claim that a pole shift will occur on a specific day, you know not to believe it.
==Actual pole shift in the Solar System==
Mars is thought to polar shift, like Saturn's moon 
==See also== 
* Charles Hapgood
* Robert W. Felix
* ZetaTalk
* Crust displacement
==External links== 
* "Pole Shift Hypothesis." Crystalinks. 
* FAQ at physics.org
* An explanation of pole reversals
* Four questions about pole reversals, answered
Category:Science woo
Category:Silly "Earth" theories
Category:End of the world
Policy-based evidence making

Evidence-based policy making is a theoretical construct whereby political policy is based on sound scientific evidence. This doesn't happen a whole lot.Some notable exceptions include safety regulations and other regulations related to engineering practices.
Policy-based evidence making, by contrast, happens all the time. Politicians have an idea, realise there is no scientific support for it, so set out to produce some. 
==Methods==
The most common form of policy-based evidence making is opinion polls, which of course will always yield the result the pollsters are paid to deliver thanks to the miracle of push polling. Other forms of evidence generation exist too, including special committees set up to assess evidence and packed with the "right" people. Both of these practices have been repeatedly parodied in political shows like Yes, Minister and The Thick of It — and people have gone on record saying that both of these shows are astoundingly accurate.
Working from a conclusion to provide only supporting evidence contradicts most interpretations of the scientific method, but that doesn't bother the usual suspects: politicians and woo-merchants.
==A shift to evidence-based policy?==
The term "policy based evidence making" was referred to in a report of the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology into Scientific Advice, Risk and Evidence Based Policy Making issued in October 2006. The committee stated:
The UK government followed this advice pretty closely when, in 2009, they dismissed Prof. David Nutt from his advisory position on drugs for using objective, evidence-based standards to measure harm. Notably, this led to him stating publicly that horse riding was more dangerous than ecstasy use (1 serious incident per 350 exposures, vs 1 serious incident per 10,000 exposures).D. J. Nutt, Equasy — An overlooked addiction with implications for the current debate on drug harms, Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2009, 23(1), p. 3-5. Full text PDFThe Telegraph: Ecstasy 'no more dangerous than horse riding' Around the same time, the government also heeded advice to use evidence-based policy by reclassifying cannabis as a more dangerous drug than the evidence said it was. 
Seriously, evidence-based policy just doesn't happen.Which is why some people argue for technocracy, though that has its own set of problems (mainly that science and statesmanship are two wildly different skill-sets and occupations that are… difficult for any one person to simultaneously master and practice).
==See also==
*The Cass Review, a UK government report viewed as policy-based evidence making
==Quality polemics==
*"On the return of policy based evidence making," by the Adam Smith Institute.
==References==
==Notes==
Category:Political terms
Political Vel Craft

Political Vel Craft is a website hosting the paranoid ravings of a Minnesota-based Teabagger lunatic in the form of green ink articles and a blog. The proprietor's favorite conspiracies seem to be ones of the Obamunist, birther, Illuminati, New World Order, Federal Reserve, chemtrail, and international Jewish varieties. The site is also ragingly racist and promotes bigotry of all kinds, including homophobia, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.
==It's the Jewish banksters (who aren't actually Jews)==
In the world of Political Vel Craft, just about every political leader is a Rothschild stooge (and the British monarchy plays into this somehow, because apparently they have massive amounts of political power). The site, for all the anti-Islam and anti-Arab rambling, ironically dredges up an old anti-Semitic canard once popular among some in the Middle East (and Russia): Most Jews aren't really Jews!http://politicalvelcraft.org/rothschild/ This is the old and widely debunked "Khazar myth" which states that Ashkenazi Jews are actually descended from the Turks of the Khazar Empire. The (pseudo?) Jews, according to the site, are in bed with the commies to create the New World Order and we need to "drive the money-changers from the temple" to stop them. It appears as though Father Coughlin never really died, he's actually locked up in someone's basement in Minnesota with only an internet connection to maintain human contact.
==Pseudoscience==
As should be expected, the site promotes wingnuts' favorite forms of pseudoscience: creationismhttp://politicalvelcraft.org/evolutionism/ and global warming denialism.http://politicalvelcraft.org/category/climategate/
==Notable claims==
Aside from the normal Teabagger howlings of Obama being a Secret Muslim, radical Marxist, and/or black Nationalist, this person has also claimed that Obama is a member of NAMBLA. Which, even we have to admit, is a new one. Even most Tea Partiers know not to be so blatantly obvious when they make shit up.
==Recycling material==
The green ink is generously interspersed with images, videos, and documents ripped off from the websites of other conspiracy nuts, including Alex Jones and Lyndon LaRouche, so you know what you're dealing with here.
==External links==
*Political Vel Craft (you'll probably have to wipe the bat guano off your monitor after viewing)
==References==
Category:Blogs
Category:Internet hate sites
Category:Islamophobia
Category:Pseudoscience promoting organizations
Category:Racists
Category:Tea Party
Political action group

A political action group (also, political action committee, or PAC) is an organization formed for the explicit purpose of lobbying the government about a particular issue. Some focus on a very specific issue (like the NRA with gun control), while others are simply broadly left-leaning (such as MoveOn.org) or broadly right-leaning (such as the Club for Growth). The Citizens United ruling has led to the advent of so called Super PACs, which deal with millions of dollars.
Their methods for lobbying politicians include harassing Congressmembers by mass-mailing protest letters to them by the truckload, donating money to politicians and political parties, organizing protests, and producing ad campaigns about an issue. 
Super PACs are the mothers of all other PACs, in the sense that they can spend an unlimited amount on their lobbying, with no restrictions on whom they can raise funds from - with the caveat being that they can't directly contribute to the campaign account.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_action_committee#Super_PACs That doesn't matter, since they get around this by unloading sprees of negative ads ("attack ads", colloquially) onto a rival candidate to spread their message.
== External links ==
*FEC FAQ about PACs, kids love Alpha-Bits cereal!
*A comprehensive list of PACs.
Category:Organizations
Category:Political action groups
==References==
Political binary

A political binary system in politics is the theory or practice that all of politics can be best (or only) expressed as a binary on a single axis, with people being more "a" or "b"—and attempting to attract voters or writing laws based on that single axis.
==United States==
In the United States, for example, politics is typically portrayed as a conflict between "Left v. Right" or "Conservative v. Liberal", and only two parties (Republicans and Democrats) participate significantly in governance. The two parties identify along binary, polarized systems on several hot-button issues.
The effect of seeing politics as a polarized binary field is that any other possibility for organization is not given a strong voice, or even a place at the table, and most candidates must align themselves within the spectrum of that binary.
Simple examples as they play out in US politics, include issues such as "pro-Life" v. "pro-choice", where there is no real room to accommodate within the system someone who says "Hey, let's focus on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies".
If the discussion is about taxes, the options are "tax more" and "tax less". Creative solutions which do not fit into that system do not fit into the binary and are not heard.
In addition, any politician who does not match the binary on all hot button issues is marginalized and voters who do not match are left out. No US politician on the national level can be pro-life and support gun control.
==The rest of the West==
Many other, if not most, Western countries mitigate the extreme sense of the polarization seen in the US, by having many active parties that are not founded on a single axis, but represent different issues (e.g. Socialist Workers Party, Green Party, Front National, , and the other Socialist workers' party).
==See also==
*Axis of Evil
Category:Political theory
Politically incorrect

Describing oneself as politically incorrect is on nearly every occasion an admission on the part of the speaker that the audience is about to be sold a line of ignorant bullshit. 
==Code phrase==
"Politically incorrect" is often a code-phrase, often used by bigots when describing their ideas, which roughly translates as "now this will offend the imaginary liberals in my brain." Labelling one's self as "politically incorrect" is one of the easiest means by which to rebrand your own intolerance, racism, or homophobia as a fight against Big Government Intervention. This is done all the time by people who are fundamentally against any kind of equal rights. Their basic claim is that they must be right because people who think women are equal or that gay men should be allowed to marry too are "just being politically correct" about it. 
If you are going to use "politically incorrect" humor, remember that the best humor is thoughtful humor that challenges the power structure rather than predictably ridiculing the less fortunate.Where are all the right-wing stand-ups?George Carlin's Thoughts on Andrew Dice Clay
At least initially, users of the term insisted that the opposite term "politically correct" was in active use and they were satirizing it. In fact "politically correct" has always had a pejorative meaning in the western world and was brought into English use by moderate liberals to frame the speech of the more extreme members of their wing.Encyclopedia Britannica - political correctness
==Politically (and factually) incorrect science==
For whatever reason, "PC" has attached itself to various science produced by "liberal academia". For example, the "journalist" Tom Bethell claims to deliver politically incorrect truths about "PC science" to the masses. This "PC science" apparently includes evolution, global warming, AIDS epidemics, the theory of relativity, and much, much more! Satoshi Kanazawa, an advocate for pop evolutionary psychology that acts as a rationalization for bigotry, has asserted: "human nature is simply not politically correct."Miller, Allen, and Kanazawa, Satoshi. "Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature." Psychology Today: July 1, 2007.
==Bill Maher's show==
It was also the name of Bill Maher's television show from the late-'90s, born on Comedy Central and later picked up by ABC. It was cancelled when he argued that the 9/11 hijackers were not actually "cowards".
==Politically Incorrect Guides==
The conservative Regnery Publishing prints a series of books called the Politically Incorrect Guides or P.I.Gs, which are largely written by wingnuts living in an alternate universe.
==See also==
*Appeal to emotion
*Political correctness
*Conservative correctness
==References==
Category:Language
Category:Political correctness
Polonium

Polonium, Element 84, is an incredibly radioactive and toxic element. It has all of which are radioactive and unstable. Due to the short half-life of all its isotopes, it is rarely found in nature. It was first discovered in 1898 by Marie and Pierre Curie and is named after Marie's home country of Poland. During the Cold War, it was used to heat Soviet satellites but is now just used to Polonium is also present in tobacco smoke.Cigarette Smoking and Radiation, CDC
==Polonium-210==
Polonium-210 (210Po. Historically, Radium F) is an isotope of polonium and has the longest half-life of all naturally occurring isotopes, being about 138.376 days. Due to its radioactivity, it's extremely toxic to humans, having been used to poison in 2006(see above) and possibly having also been used to assassinate Swiss institute finds polonium in Arafat's effects. Abnormally high amounts of polonium found on Arafat's clothes and personal belongings, leading some to suspect he was poisoned. It was originally intended to be used as a neutron initiator in nuclear weapons, although later on concerns for the safety of workers handling it caused extensive studies to be taken up on its health effects.
==Polonium halos==
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Elements
Category:Science
Category:Toxins
Polonium halos

Radiohalos, pleochroic halos or, more specifically, polonium halos are minute, spherical areas of discolouration of minerals which are found in many igneous rocks. The discolouration is generally thought to be caused by alpha-particles released during the decay of radioactive elements held within the crystal structure, the size of the discoloured area being dependent on the initial isotope. However, as the size of some halos indicates that they have been caused by the decay of polonium (Po-218, which has a half-life of only 3 minutes*Snicker*) then the polonium could not have been trapped in the crystals as they formed by solidification from molten rock millions of years ago. Based on the work of young-Earth creationist Robert GentryFor what it's worth, Gentry does have a master's in nuclear physics and was a specialist in nuclear weapons research in the 1950s and 1960s, just like certain other bullshit we mention. this was claimed by creationists to be evidence for a recent creation. Gentry's theory was developed in the mid 1950s, prior to so-called modern computer science and modeling, and advanced technology.
There are several arguments against this theory:
One is that Polonium is being created all the time as it is a decay product of the radioactive gas radon (which is itself a decay product of uranium). Radon is produced in large amounts in areas of granitic rock, sometimes in sufficent concentrations to present a serious health hazard.Radon in the workplace, UK Health and Safety Executive As radon is chemically inert, it can easily move through microscopic cracks in minerals and, at some point, it will decay into polonium. Thus there is no issue with pleochroic halos being found throughout a body of granitic rock.
Another is that there is little evidence that the "halos" are, in fact, produced by polonium as opposed to other elements.
Additionally, by insisting that the halos are consistent with the observed decay rate of polonium, and therefore even COULD be caused by polonium, one must assume that radiometric decay rates have not changed since the alleged creation. If one accepts this often-maligned uniformitarianism, no explanation is given of why the halos deduced to be caused by the radiometric decay of other elements implies a different age. For those who deny all uniformitarianism in regards to radioactive decay in order to reject radiometric indications of a very old earth, no explanation is given as to why only polonium's decay rate has stayed consistent since the creation.
Even if Gentry's idea was right, while it would provide evidence for a young Earth, it would not necessarily be clear evidence for special creation as claimed above.
==External links==
*Robert Gentry's book, Creation's Tiny Mystery online
*
*Polonium Halo FAQs at the Talk Origins Archive
==References==
Category:Geology
Category:Intelligent design creationism
Poltergeist

A poltergeist (German for "noisy ghost"), when not taking time out of its busy schedule to make TV shows and movies, spends most of its time lurking in castles, ruins, old Southern plantations, attics, and basements. Anywhere people like a good story, some scary noises, and the odd wind rustle or two. 
Poltergeists are very shy, so sadly, they have been reluctant to come out and play with scientists when they are visited by lab-coated intellectuals. Nevertheless, they do exist. Just ask anyone who makes money giving tours through old war fields, slave ships and abandoned or disturbed graveyards. Tour guides will assure you that the breeze you feel coming from the dank depths of a 10 foot deep hole has nothing to do with atmospheric homeostasis, but with the disturbed or evil thoughts of the dead, near dead, and tragically murdered.
==Evidence of poltergeist activity==
All of these descriptions come from people on the web or on sites that detail what standard poltergeist activity looks like.Poltergiest wooAbout.com
*Noises, generally at night (totally not the wind, or animals, or the house settling)
*Changes in temperature (can't possibly be natural breezes)
*Illogical fear or panic in the mind of a logical person, when nothing happened to cause it (none of us has experienced that!)
*Static or "foggy" images in pictures taken by auto-focus cameras (which never mess up, don'cha'no)
*Hissing or crackling noises in the background of otherwise straightforward home videos (all cameras always hyper accurately record footage and sound)
*The "feeling" of being watched or touched. (none of this has ever been observed in clinical settings, no)
*Unusual or unexplained smells (obviously, we know every single smell and where they come from)
*Children's toys being 'out of place' or broken ('cause we all know our child would never break his or her toy).
Less standard example:
*An old transistor radio assumed to be broken unexpectedly coming to life.
==Cause==
According to scientific-sounding paranormal experts, 
Family victims of poltergeist activity Examiner.com poltergeists are caused by "an abnormal amount of energy built up" at a location:
Considering how many emotionally/hormonally-charged adolescent and teen boys and girls are gathered in secondary schools and universities all over the world on a daily basis, it's amazing that poltergeists allow any scholastic work to get done at all. 
==See also==
*Enfield Poltergeist
*Rosenheim Poltergiest
==References==
Category:Pseudoscience
Category:Paranormal
Poly-MVA

Poly-MVA (or Polydox) is a dietary supplement created by Merrill Garnett (b. 1931), a former dentist turned biochemist. Poly-MVA is an ineffective alternative cancer treatment.
== Description ==
The "MVA" in "Poly-MVA" means "minerals vitamins and amino acids". Poly-MVA contains lipoic acid, acetylcysteine, palladium, B vitamins, and other ingredients. The substance is red-brown liquid that is taken by mouth. Promoters of Poly-MVA refer to it as a "metallo-vitamin".
In 2004, a year's supply of Poly-MVA was reported as costing US$19,800.
== Alternative medicine ==
Poly-MVA is promoted with claims that it can treat a variety of human diseases including cancer and HIV/AIDS. The promotional effort is supported by customer testimonials, but there is no medical evidence that Poly-MVA confers any health benefit and some concern it may inhibit the effectiveness of mainstream cancer treatments if used at the same time.
In 2005, Poly-MVA was listed as one of the ineffective alternative cancer treatments being sold by the clinics clustered in and around Tijuana, Mexico.
==External links==
* Website of the distributors of POLY-MVA : AMARC Enterprises ... http://www.polymva.com 
* Video from Cancer Free University of CEO of AMARC Enterprises, Al Sanchez Jr, talking about POLY-MVA ... https://vimeo.com/215357706
* Apparently Al Sanchez Jr has promoted POLY-MVA since 2001
== See also ==
*Antioxidant
==References==
Category:Cancer woo
Category:Dentists
Polychlorinated biphenyl

PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls are a class of organic chemicals consisting of two joined benzene rings (hence "biphenyl") and any number of their ten hydrogen atoms replaced with chlorine (hence "polychlorinated"). They have have had many industrial uses, notably in electronics where they can act as fluids in transformers or capacitors.
==Safety==
The toxic properties of PCB compounds were noted as early as the 1930s but didn't come to prominence until the 1970s when dead seabirds were found with high concentrations of PCBs in them. Effects of exposure to humans are well known, and include skin irritation and liver damage. According to International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), "There is sufficient evidence in humans for the carcinogenicity of 2,3,7,8-tetra-chlorodibenzo-para-dioxin." 2,3,7,8-tetra-chlorodibenzo-para-dioxin, also known as TCDD or dioxin, is the most potent rodent carcinogen in the Carcinogenic Potency Database.Carcinogenic Potency Database: 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (CAS 1746-01-6) (archived from July 31, 2017). Based on this evidence and broad mechanistic evidence, 3,4,5,3’,4’-Pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB-126) is considered to be a known human carcinogen.International Agency for Research on Cancer, volume 100F: Chemical Agents and Related Occupations IARC also considers dioxin-like PCBs (numbers 77, 81, 105, 114, 118, 123, 126, 156, 157, 167, 169, and 189) to be known human carcinogens based on mechanistic data.International Agency for Research on Cancer, volume 107: Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Polybrominated Biphenyls
Generally, PCBs aren't soluble in water, are persistent in the environment (due to fat solubility), are highly volatile and quite flammable. Some types of PCBs have similar toxic properties to dioxins. Basically, this is nasty shit that you don't want to be pouring into rivers and lakes… oh, wait.
==Contamination events==
Prior to their ban in the United States in 1979, PCBs were widely flushed into rivers and waters without much thought. General Electric is believed to have flushed nearly 600 metric tons of the stuff into the Hudson river in the thirty years leading up to the ban — this also led to a fishing ban on the Hudson as health and environmental effects became known.
==In popular culture==
Zodiac by Neal Stephenson goes into great detail about the accursed stuff.
==References==
Category:Chemicals
Category:Environmentalism
Category:Human carcinogens