trentmkelly/rationalwiki huggingface dataset:
Autism Research Institute

{{altmed|1}}
The '''Autism Research Institute''' is an organization that promotes the idea that [[autism]] can be "cured" through extensive [[Applied behavior analysis|behavior modification]]. They were formerly known as ''Defeat Autism Now!''<ref>[http://www.ariconference.com/index.html ARI conference homepage]</ref> They appear on [[Quackwatch]]'s list of "questionable research entities".<ref>[http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/nonrecorg.html List of Questionable Organizations]</ref> Even [[Jenny McCarthy]]'s [[Generation Rescue]] agree that they are [[quack]]s, refusing to give grants to anyone who consults them.<ref>[http://www.generationrescue.org/resources/rescue-family-grant/ Generation Rescue ''Biomedical Grant Application'']</ref> You know what they say about [[stopped clock]]s…

Nevertheless, Charity Navigator gives them 4/4 stars,<ref>[https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=8792 Charity Navigator: Autism Research Institute]</ref> proving that you should take Charity Navigator ratings with a grain of salt.

==History==
Dr. Bernard Rimland founded the Autism Research Institute, believing that autism was caused not by poor parenting but by [[Anti-vaccination movement|vaccines]],<ref>[https://www.verywellhealth.com/dan-defeat-autism-now-is-no-more-3971489 Why the Defeat Autism Now (DAN!) Protocol Was Discontinued]</ref> and autistic children needed detoxing.<ref>[https://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/Nonrecorg/dan/overview.html A Critical Look at Defeat Autism Now! and the "DAN! Protocol"]</ref>

The "Defeat Autism Now!" protocol involved bizarre biomedical "treatments" such as [[hyperbaric oxygen therapy]], [[chelation therapy]], and restrictive diets. The Autism Research Institute is also looking into behavioral curing and genetic causes of autism.

==See also==
*[[Anti-vaccination movement]]
*[[Applied behavior analysis]]
*[[Chelation therapy]]
*[[Hyperbaric oxygen therapy]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Autism woo]]
[[Category:Anti-vaccination movement]]
[[Category:Mental health woo]]
[[Category:Ableism]]

{{Stub|Alternative medicine}}

Categories: Autism woo, Anti-vaccination movement, Mental health woo, Ableism
Autodynamics

{{pseudosciencenav}}
'''Autodynamics''' was a theory designed to replace the [[Theory of Relativity]] in the 1940s. It didn't work. Its main tenet states that the Lorentz transformation equations used in mainstream science are formulated incorrectly, causing special relativity and general relativity equations to be invalid.<ref name=site>[http://www.autodynamics.org/main/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=63&MMN_position=71:70 Their site]</ref> It also holds that the [[neutrino]] does not exist, despite the fact that both neutrinos and antineutrinos have been detected,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150305160814/http://www.autodynamics.org/main/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=94&MMN_position=105:105 Archive.org (2015): Their claim]</ref><ref>{{wpl|Antineutrino | The antineutrino}}</ref> that there are other particles which have not been observed by mainstream physics such as the "picograviton" and the "electromuon", and that there are other models of decay for muons. It is ''completely'' rejected by the mainstream scientific community, mainly because not only does it not have good [[evidence]], there is very, very good evidence against it (such as the existence of something it says doesn't exist).<ref>Philipkoski, Kristen (1999-07-13). "[http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/1999/07/20663 Shedding Light in the Dark]". Wired. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.</ref>

==Grains of truth==
Autodynamics is almost certainly correct in saying that there are particles we do not know about. This is due to the [[stopped clock|stopped clock phenomenon]]. However, they are probably incorrect about the properties of these undiscovered particles.

==Light speed==
{{main|Speed of light}}
Autodynamics also contends that [[Faster-than-light travel|faster than light travel]] is possible.<ref name=site>[http://www.autodynamics.org/main/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=63&MMN_position=71:70 Their site]</ref> While many theoretical ideas exist for sneaking around the light barrier,<ref>{{wpl|Alcubierre_drive | Alcubierre drive}}</ref> autodynamics makes accelerating past light speed as easy as accelerating past Mach 1.

==Gravity==
{{main|Gravity}}
Autodynamics contends that gravity is caused by particles they call 'pico-gravitons.' This appears to be roughly analogous to the graviton. Their website says, "Even though [[Einstein]] described his 'General Theory of Relativity' which describes gravity as a warping of space and time, it like [[Newton]]'s gravity equation, does not give a mechanism to it. That is, their [sic] is no explanation for what causes gravity, just a description." This is actually true, but subsequent theories such as graviton theory have explained it.<ref name=site>[http://www.autodynamics.org/main/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=63&MMN_position=71:70 Their site]</ref>

==See also==
* [[David de Hilster]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Pseudophysics]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]

Categories: Pseudophysics, Pseudoscience
Avastin

{{Conspiracy}}
'''Avastin''' (Bevacizumab) is a [[drug]] used to treat [[cancer]]s by attacking their blood supply. It costs a ''fortune'' and doesn't work terribly well.

It was originally approved for the treatment of colorectal cancer in 2005.   Genentech (owned by Roche) has been steadily applying for approval for other cancers.  This includes breast (approved), eye (approved), renal (approved), lung (approved), and are working on many others.

Strangely it has become a lightning rod in the death panel discussions because it is not covered by public insurance.  What isn't mentioned is that it has never been covered by ''any'' insurance company.  This is largely because it is one of the most expensive medications ever approved by the FDA, running over $100,000 a year (or ~$4,000 for the shot every 14 days).  Also original studies have placed the improvement in lifespan in colorectal cancer at around 3 months, while use for other cancers have shown so little improvement the FDA and advisory panels (originally advisory panels voted against it<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/business/apee-drug.html?_r=1</ref>) are looking for additional data not to revoke their approval.  It also comes with some tremendous side effects, such as not being able to heal well from normal injuries and worsening of coronary/peripheral artery diseases.

Somehow it's a death panel only if public insurance companies do not cover it, but good business practices if private insurers don't.<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7948878/US-breast-cancer-drug-decision-marks-start-of-death-panels.html</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:Cancer woo]]
[[Category:Medicine]]

Categories: Conspiracy theories, Cancer woo, Medicine
Avicenna

[[File:ibnSina.jpg|thumb|right|thumb|165px|Portrait of Avicenna from a Tajik banknote.]]{{islam}}
{{cquote|Anyone who denies [[Logic|the law of non-contradiction]] should be beaten and burned until he admits that to be beaten is not the same as not to be beaten, and to be burned is not the same as not to be burned.|||Avicenna, being heartily sick of [[Sophistry|sophist]] idiots.<ref>Avicenna, Metaphysics, I; commenting on Aristotle, Topics I.11.105a4–5.</ref>}}

'''Abū ‘Alī al-Ḥusayn ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sīnā''' {{lived|c. 980|1037}}, commonly known in the [[Middle East]] as '''Ibn Sīnā''' and in the West by his [[Latin]]ized name '''Avicenna''', was a [[Persian]] (not Arab) polymath and scholar of damn near everything and had a brain the size of a planet. He is renowned in the Middle East the way the greatest of the ancient Greeks are in the West, as a part of the [[Islamic]] Golden Age. He was a prolific physician considered crucial in the history of medicine. 

He was considered one of the "virtuous pagans" by Florentine writer Dante Alighieri, appearing in Limbo in ''[[The Divine Comedy]]'' alongside [[Aristotle]], Julius Caesar, Ovid, and Saladin.<ref>''Inferno'', Canto IV, Line 143</ref>

==Medicine==
Amongst his 150 surviving treatises on various topics, at least 40 are on medicine. He compiled ''The Canon of Medicine'', his 14-volume medical encyclopedia, which remained a medical authority for several hundred years and was used as a set text in European medical schools until the 18th century. This was at the cutting edge of medical knowledge in his time, but is now used mostly as an excuse and an [[appeal to tradition|appeal to long history]] by [[alternative medicine]] practitioners, which is far less than he deserves.

Some consider him to be one of the founding figures of modern medicine.{{cn}}

==Religious beliefs==
Avicenna advanced the "{{wpl|Proof of the Truthful}}", which is a kind of [[ontological argument]] or [[transcendental argument for God]]. He argues that there must be something that cannot ''not'' exist, which can be identified with God. He made the {{wpl|Floating man}} argument, which argues that a man, floating in air with nothing else, would still know that he has a [[soul]], an argument-by-presence.

Avicenna remains somewhat controversial in Islam. [[Heresy|He criticized many views of Islam]] and veered from orthodox teachings. For this reason, many Muslims consider him a ''[[Apostasy|kafir]]'' (a disbeliever). At the same time, Avicenna's philosophy is influential, for which many herald him as a landmark figure in Muslim intellectualism.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|Islam}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avicenna}}
[[Category:Iranians]]
[[Category:Polymaths]]
[[Category:Physicians]]
[[Category:Muslims]]

Categories: Iranians, Polymaths, Physicians, Muslims
Axel Stoll

[[File:Axel Stoll.png|thumb|165px]]
{{nazism}}
'''Axel Stoll''' (30 October 1948 - 28 July 2014)<ref>[http://www.vice.com/de/read/dr-axel-stoll-hat-den-strafplaneten-verlassen-aldebaran-hohlerde-835 Dr. Axel Stoll hat den Strafplaneten verlassen]</ref> was an [[Far right|extreme right-wing]] (or more like [[neo-Nazi]]) esoteric German geophysicist and [[conspiracy theorist]]. He wrote many books, including "Hochtechnologie im Dritten Reich" ("High technology in the Third Reich") and "Das Wissen um die unterdrückte Physik &mdash; Ein Buch von Axel Stoll" ("The knowledge about suppressed physics &mdash; A book by Axel Stoll"), combining pseudo-science and various conspiracy theories, especially concerning the [[Third Reich]] and of course dealing in [[anti-Semitism]]<ref>[http://www.lokaltermin.eu/stoll-zitate | Axel Stoll quotes on lokaltermin.eu]</ref>.

He received notoriety through the publication of Internet videos.

==Conspiracy theories==
===Second World War===
Several of Stoll's conspiracy theories centered on [[World War II]]. He thought that Germany colonized the [[Moon]] after the defeat of the Wehrmacht. He also claimed that the Nazis secretly settled [[New Swabia]] using their massively superior technology, including [[scalar wave]]s and [[Nazi UFOs]].

===Aldebaran and the races===
Stoll thought that the [[white race]] actually are [[Extraterrestrial|aliens]] from the star {{wpl|Aldebaran}} that settled the [[Earth]] in the distant past and that the Earth is a jail planet for criminals. In his opinion, all other races are descendants of aliens sent to serve jail time on earth.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoll, Axel}}
[[Category:Antisemites]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Fascists]]
[[Category:Internet kooks]]
[[Category:Neo-Nazis]]
[[Category:Pseudohistory promoters]]
[[Category:Pseudophysics promoters]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]

Categories: Antisemites, Conspiracy theorists, Fascists, Internet kooks, Neo-Nazis, Pseudohistory promoters, Pseudophysics promoters, Pseudoscience promoters
Ayatollah

{{Islam}}
'''''Ayatollah''''' (from the Arabic: آية الله (āyatu allah), meaning "Sign of [[Allah]]") is a term for someone with a great deal of learning in the [[Shi'a]] branch of [[Islam]]. All that it implies is a great deal of study and knowledge of doctrine and of the sacred writings of Shi'ism. Ayatollahs have the power to issue edicts on matters of interpretation, as well as to teach and to act as judges. 

In Shi'ite Islamic nations, the ayatollahs are the supreme arbiters of power. For example, the Ayatollah [[Ali Khamenei]], the successor of [[Ruhollah Khomeini|Khomeini]], is the "Supreme Leader" of [[Iran]]. Iranian President [[Ebrahim Raisi]] has some influence over economic policy, but he does not command the army, nor the internal security forces, and his influence over foreign policy remains subject to the approval of Khamenei.<ref>Mehdi Khalaji, [http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/irans-leaders-emphasize-limitations-of-the-nuclear-agreement Iran's Leaders Emphasize Limitations of the Nuclear Agreement]. Washington Institute, 25 November 2013.</ref>

In Islam generally, a ''mujtahid'' is an Islamic scholar who is competent to interpret divine law (''[[sharia]]'') in practical situations using ''ijtihad'' (independent thought). The equivalent rank for a woman is ''mujtahida'', though given the… ''[[Misogyny|nature]]'' of fundamentalist Islam, it is not often seen.

==See also==
*[[Ali Khamenei]]
*[[Ruhollah Khomeini]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|Islam|Islam}}
[[Category:Islamic clergy]]
[[Category:Religious terms]]

Categories: Islamic clergy, Religious terms
Azad Ali

{{Islam}}
'''Azad Ali''' is a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Muslim]] fundamentalist involved with various Islamic organizations.

Ali is a supporter of [[sharia]], and has said that he does not agree with [[democracy]] if it comes at the expense of implementing sharia.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20101024163414/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewgilligan/100060409/britains-islamic-republic-full-transcript-of-channel-4-dispatches-programme-on-lutfur-rahman-the-ife-and-tower-hamlets-the-full-transcript/</ref> He also supports [[Anwar al-Awlaki]], commenting that "I really do love him for the sake of Allah, he has an uncanny way of explaining things to people which is endearing",<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20100925123946/http://blog.islamicforumeurope.com/2008/11/05/iman-the-new-president-and-you/</ref> and is a fan of [[Hamas]], arguing that Ismail Haniyeh deserves to become [[Caliph]].<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20120430044855/http://blog.islamicforumeurope.com/2008/09/25/amir-al-mu%E2%80%99minun/</ref>

After a documentary exposing his views was aired on [[Channel 4]], Ali threatened the program's reporter over the official Islamic Forum of Europe radio station: "We've got a picture of you and a lot more than you thought we had", he said. "We've tracked you down to different places. And if people are gonna turn what I've just said into a threat, that's their fault, innit?"<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20100728072120/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/andrew-gilligan/7908273/Police-Muslim-forum-headed-by-Islamic-extremist.html</ref>

In February 2012 he was elected vice-chair of [[Unite Against Fascism]],<ref>http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2012/02/25/report-unite-against-fascism-conference-2012</ref> further proof of just what a dog's dinner that organization has ended up as.

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{stub|Islam}}
{{DEFAULTSORT: Ali, Azad}}
[[Category:British people]]
[[Category:Islamic fundamentalism]]
[[Category:Islamic extremism]]
[[Category:Islamism]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Muslims]]

Categories: British people, Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic extremism, Islamism, Living people, Muslims
Açaí berry

[[File:Açai no Mercado do Ver-o-peso.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Berries for sale. If you don't buy some, that guy is going to make you an offer you can't refuse.]]
{{foodnav}}
The '''Açaí berry''' is an inch-long reddish, purple fruit which comes from the açaí palm tree, which is native to parts of [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]]. Like most palms, the fruit it produces is not a berry, but a {{wpl|drupe}} (it contains a single, large, hard seed 7–10 mm across which constitutes the endocarp, surrounded by a thin, pulpy mesocarp<ref>In a {{wpl|Berry (botany)|berry}} part or all of the endocarp is soft and fleshy and the mesocarp is typically a large part of the fruit. Ask a botanist.</ref>). It has very little in common with other wooful fruit like [[Superfoods|blueberries and cranberries]].

==Research into its dietary benefits==
Some studies show that açaí fruit pulp has an even higher [[Anti-oxidants|antioxidant]] content than cranberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, or blueberries. These studies, however, are ongoing and there is not yet any conclusive data on its dietary benefits. Thus far, research has concluded that açaí berries have no benefits above any other berries.<ref>[http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/acai-berries-and-acai-berry-juice-what-are-the-health-benefits Acai Berries and Acai Berry Juice -- What Are the Health Benefits?]</ref>

It tastes nice enough, if you like that sort of thing.

==Use in diet woo==
While there is still no conclusive research into the overall benefits of the açaí berry, it is often pushed as a [[New Age]] [[superfood]] for weight loss [[supplement]]s<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/Natrol-Berry-Weight-Detox-Capsules/dp/B000SHUO24 Such as in this weight loss product]</ref> and you'll hardly find an [[organic]] food store without a few rather pricey bottles of its juice. Not awful, but an acquired taste. For example, see [[MonaVie]].

The miracle [[diet woo]] also leads to it being a favourite subject for spam.

As with most woo, the fad aspect has reared its ugly head and pushed açaí out in favor of goji berries from [[South Africa]].

==External links==
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hirmpTR5rFI Pronunciation of "açaí."]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{stub|Food woo}}

{{foodbox}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acai berry}}
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Food supplement woo]]

Categories: Food, Food supplement woo
B.H. Shadduck

{{sources needed}}{{crenav|1}}
'''B.H. Shadduck''' {{lived|1869|1950}} was an [[United States|American]] [[author]] of a bunch of really weird [[creationist]] booklets.  He was born the first time in [[Pennsylvania]] and after a [[born again]] experience at the age of 18 joined the [[Salvation Army]].  He later became a [[Methodism|Methodist]] minister in [[West Virginia]].

He is best known for his creationist booklets, which are really whacked.  One of them is his best seller, ''Jocko-Homo Heavenbound'', published in 1924, the year before the [[Scopes trial]].  ''Jocko-Homo Heavenbound'' is filled with illustrations such as a [[devil]] pointing to a list of [[sin]]s which belief in [[evolution]] supposedly leads to (world war, tax, [[usury]], toil, [[suicide]], orgies, cockfighting, white slavery, alcohol...)  ''(Wait, toil is a sin??)''  It is also filled with references which any [[Devo]] fan will find instantly familiar, not only in the title but also the word "D-Evolution" and a reference to our ancestors losing their tails.  It also makes the reader aware of a [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy]] to suppress his work by some publications banning advertising of it.

By the way, has anyone else noticed that all the illustrations of the devil in 1920s [[fundamentalist]] literature show the devil having a hooked nose?  The meaning is [[anti-Semitism|pretty obvious]].

He was probably the [[Jack Chick]] of his day, and has a small fan base on the internet who peruse his work for the lulz from all appearances—although it's [[Poe's Law|sometimes hard to tell]].

==External links==
*[http://bhshadduck.tripod.com/index/id10.html Jocko Homo Heavenbound]
*[http://fw_alden.tripod.com/id24.html When Snakes Begin To Nurse Their Young] - don't miss this one!
*[http://bhshadduck.tripod.com/ More Shadduck booklets]
*[http://www.creationism.org/books/shadduck/index.htm A creationist website promoting his work] - shouldn't they rather be embarrassed about this kind of stuff instead?

{{crebox|1}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadduck, B.H.}}
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]

Categories: Authors, Pseudoscience promoters
Baal

[[File:WLA_lacma_Syrian_Warrior_God.jpg|thumb|upright|165px|Baal has been trying to get the museum guards to notice that someone put gum on the ceiling.]]{{biblenav}}
'''Baal''' is a title used in the [[Bible]] which could refer to any local [[god]]. Literally the word simply means “master” or “lord”, and consequently every local tribe would have their own “Baal.”<ref>[https://www.dictionary.com/browse/baal "Baal"] - Dictionary.com</ref>

While the ancient [[Israelite]]s were on their way from [[Egypt]] to the promised land (and after they arrived), they were constantly looking for ways to get into Baal's good books — but exactly why Baal was such an attractive deity for the ancient Israelites is a bit of a puzzle. They had ample evidence of the existence of [[God]], as he had [[Examples of God personally killing people|killed thousands of them personally]] while they were on their way to the promised land and after they arrived.

==Baal and Christianity==
He turns up in another incarnation as ''Ba‘al Zebûb'' (literally “Lord of the Flies”), and subsequently as [[Beelzebub]], again proving that [[Christians]] can't spell. It is likely that the [[Hebrew]]s corrupted the name ''Ba'al Zebul'', which means "Lord of Heaven".<ref>{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Wex||title=Born to Kvetch|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York City|date=2005|ISBN=0-312-30741-1}}</ref>

[[Glenn Beck]] and Rabbi Daniel Lapin claim that "[[secular]] [[fundamentalism]]" (whatever that is) is due to the influence of Baal.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120207153043/http://www.theblaze.com:80/stories/beck-rabbi-lapin-tackle-baal-the-rise-of-secular-fundamentalism-on-gbtv/ The Blaze: Beck & Rabbi Lapin Show Why You Should Care About ‘Baal’ & Rising Secular Fundamentalism]</ref> Assuming that they're right, of course, that ''must'' mean [[Polytheism|other gods exist besides the God of the Bible]]. ''Huh'', good to know.

==Miscellaneous bits==
The Carthaginian general Hannibal was named after Baal. His name means "the grace of Baal".<ref>[http://www.babynamewizard.com/baby-name/boy/hannibal "Hannibal"] - Baby Name Wizard</ref><ref group=note>Of course, this literally just meant "by the grace of the Lord".</ref> There was another Baal, too, this time being Baal Hammon, the chief deity of the Carthaginian pantheon.<ref>[http://deity-of-the-week.blogspot.com/2015/12/baal-hammon.html "Baal Hammon"] - Deity of the Week</ref> Yet more proof that "Baal" was just a generic word for any god or lord.

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{biblebox}}

[[Category:Deities]]
[[Category:Old Testament]]
[[Category:Mythology]]
[[Category:Mesopotamian religions]]
[[Category:Biblical figures]]

Categories: Deities, Old Testament, Mythology, Mesopotamian religions, Biblical figures