trentmkelly/rationalwiki huggingface dataset:
Prius rebound effect

{{enviro}}The '''Prius rebound effect''', called the '''Prius fallacy''' by its detractors, is an assertion that savings accrued by owners and drivers of [[hybrid]] or electric [[automobile]]s are lost by increased energy consumption through increased driving or by other high-[[carbon]] purchases, thus negating any benefits of purchasing a [[Japan]]ese car fit with regenerative braking.

==Origin==
The term was coined by David Owen, an author for ''The New Yorker'', in his book ''Conundrum'',<ref>[http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Conundrum.html?id=9yU_ccHWEeMC The book] on [[Google]] books</ref><ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/book-review-the-conundrum-by-david-owen-02092012.html A somewhat centrist book review]</ref><ref>[http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/02/book-review-conundrum-owen A more liberal book review]</ref> which details the [[Red Queen's race]] between advancements in [[energy]] efficiency and increasing energy consumption.  It fairly is a moderate piece, despite the fact that the ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'' lapped up every word because it decried attempts to kickstart [[renewable energy]] development and the abandoning of [[fossil fuel]]s (since they ain't all been used up yet!) as expensive and premature.<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203889904577198922867850002.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_News_5]</ref>

==Criticism==
Unsurprisingly, [[scientist]]s and statisticians greeted Owen's assertions (on just the Prius rebound effect) with [[skepticism]].  One analysis, later republished in ''[[Scientific American]]'', thoroughly debunked the Prius rebound effect through examination of the actual driving habits of hybrid and non-hybrid drivers.<ref>
[http://co2scorecard.org/home/researchitem/23 "Non-Conundrum of the Prius Fallacy"], CO2 Scorecard.
</ref>
The results showed that Prius drivers were not more likely to drive farther because of their increased gas mileage and that Owen (or anyone else for that matter) did not have any way of showing that Prius drivers took their savings and spent them on higher-carbon purchases, the conceivably worst of which would entail having a charcoal-grilled steak dinner every evening of the week.

==References==
{{reflist}}
Pro-family

{{politics}}
'''Pro-family''' is a [[code word]] coined by the [[religious right]]. It is a subset of [[family values]] and is used by politicians wanting to earn points with the families that they are supposedly for.

==Interpretation==
What they ''really'' mean by this is pro-one particular configuration of the family. It is quite best summed up by the words of [[Dan Quayle]]:

{{cquote|'''''Don't forget about the importance of the family. It begins with the family. We're not going to redefine the family. Everybody knows the definition of the family.''''' [Meaningful pause] '''''A child.''''' [Meaningful pause] '''''A mother.''''' [Meaningful pause] '''''A father. There are other arrangements of the family, but that is a family and family values.'''''}}

[[Homosexual]]s, [[feminist]]s, [[divorce]]es, widowed parents, confirmed bachelors, hippy communes, and uppity punk kids disrespecting their elders need not apply, apparently.

It is also interesting how the same people who claims to campaign for family value are awkwardly silent (or even supportive of) the separation of family occurring at the US border.<ref>https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/KIND%20-%20Betraying%20Family%20Values.pdf</ref> [[Hypocrisy|Family for me and not for thee]] would be a better description, one can presume.

==Other uses==
This concept is also used, for example, in religious right claims that the "family" is the fundamental unit of society. This can even be found in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which has almost global coverage, where it says that "The widest possible protection and assistance should be accorded to the family, which is the natural and fundamental group unit of society".<ref name="icescr">[http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CESCR.aspx Text of the ICESCR], Article 10(1). Wisely, the Covenant does not say what constitutes a family.</ref> This is in opposition to other ideas that perhaps the individual is the fundamental unit and that larger groupings also have a key impact. For example, [[Hillary Clinton]]'s book ''It Takes a Village'', which focused on individuals outside the family and their effects on how a child is brought up, was met with ire from the religious right. Shortly after the book was released [[Bob Dole]] publicly disagreed, stating that "it takes a family to raise a child" and in 2005 [[Rick Santorum]] countered the argument with the book ''It Takes a Family''.

==See also==
*"[[Pro-life]]"
*[[Family values]]
*[[Conservative correctness]]
*[[Vichy France]]: Work, Family, Fatherland was its motto.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Misnomers]]
[[Category:Neologisms]]
[[Category:Political terms]]
[[Category:Euphemisms]]

Categories: Misnomers, Neologisms, Political terms, Euphemisms
Professors World Peace Academy

The '''Professors World Peace Academy''' (PWPA) was founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the controversial leader of the [[Unification Church]]<ref>[http://www.pwpa.org/2012/09/rev-moon-pwpa-founder-dies-at-92/ PWPA: Rev. Moon, PWPA Founder, Dies at 92]</ref><ref>[http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=%22moon+the+controversial%22&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 Google News: "Moon the controversial"]</ref> as part of the Unification Movement<ref>[http://www.oocities.org/unificationism/projects.html Projects and Activities Founded by Unificationists]</ref>.

The PWPA runs Paragon House, a publisher of scholarly books.<ref>[http://www.paragonhouse.com/ Paragon House Publishers]</ref>

In 1992, following the longest faculty strike in United States academic history, the University of Bridgeport agreed to an arrangement with the Professors World Peace Academy whereby the university would be subsidized by PWPA in exchange for control of the university. The initial agreement was for $50 million, and a majority of board members were to be PWPA members.<ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE6DC153DF930A35753C1A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all A Rev. Moon Group Offers to Take Over Ailing Bridgeport U.], ''The New York Times'', William Glaberson, October 3, 1991.</ref> The next University of Bridgeport president was PWPA president and [[holocaust]] [[theologian]] {{wpl|Richard L. Rubenstein}} (from 1995–1999),<ref>[http://www1bpt.bridgeport.edu/~rlr/CVNOT2003-June.htm Richard Rubenstein: A Brief Biographical Note]</ref> and subsequently former U.S. Unification Church president Neil Albert Salonen (2000–present).<ref>[http://www.theamericanchiropractor.com/articles-ask-the-president/5614-featuring-neil-albert-salonen.html The American Chiropractor: Featuring Neil Albert Salonen] in ''The American Chiropractor'', July 30, 2005.</ref><ref group=note>Financial agreements with PWPA have been terminated and the University has been financially independent since 2004. The University is a licensed and accredited Connecticut nonstock, non-profit corporation with an unpaid Board of Trustees.</ref>

==External links==
*[http://www.pwpa.org/ Professors World Peace Academy] official web site
*[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7DA1E30F933A25756C0A964958260 Moonie U. in Bridgeport?], ''The New York Times'' Opinion, May 10, 1992.
*[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7D81339F933A05756C0A964958260 Bridgeport U. Closes Deal to Cede Control], ''The New York Times'' New York and Region,  May 30, 1992.

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

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Crank schools]]
[[Category:Publishers]]
[[Category:Unification Church]]

Categories: Crank schools, Publishers, Unification Church
Progressive creation

{{crenav}}
'''Progressive creation''' is a form of [[old earth creationism]] proposed as an attempt to find a [[shoehorn | middle ground]] between scientific fact and Biblical [[creationism]]. It holds that the world is billions of years old, and that the universe began with the [[Big Bang]], but that the entire process was controlled by a [[YHWH|God]], who had a direct and active role in the whole affair. This is different from [[theistic evolution]] because in progressive creation the God explicitly creates many of the new forms, rather than allowing them to develop through [[evolution]]. In particular, in progressive creation, God came down and took two hominids and literally breathed a soul into them, to create [[Adam]] and [[Eve]].

==Creationist backlash==
[[Young Earth Creationism|Young Earth creationists]] (YECs) have been treating this as a Trojan Horse of evolution and just about the worst assault on Christianity since Darwin. Most of the criticism comes from a [[theology|theological]] rather than a scientific perspective. One interpretation of the "[[Original sin|Fall of Man]]" is that it introduced ''spiritual'' death into the world, as distinct from physical death, but YECs do not make this distinction, claiming instead that there was no physical death before the Fall (which leaves them in a bit of a tricky position when it comes to creatures like [[Snake Carnivory Origin|venomous snakes]]).

Progressive creationists maintain that there was physical death prior to the Fall, which to YECs is tantamount to believing that death and suffering are not explicitly the fault of [[human]]ity, hence that the mission of Jesus to redeem the world is unnecessary. As they find this unacceptable, they condemn progressive creationism.

YECs also claim that progressive creation contradicts "science," but rarely bother to explain that part (presumably they're referring to [[Creation science|creation]] [[Pseudoscience|"science"]]). Instead, they just castigate progressive creationists for wanting to fit in with the [[Reality|"world"]], using that particular [[fundamentalism|fundamentalist]] definition of the word that means "all that is evil and wicked" and disagrees with them.

==Rationalist backlash==
"Oh, the usual creationist [[Bullshit|bollocks]]. Any good quotes for [[Fundies Say the Darndest Things|FSTDT]]?"

==See also==
*[[Theistic evolution]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{crebox}}

[[Category:Types of creationism]]

Categories: Types of creationism
Project Blue Book

{{ufology}}
:''This page is about the UFO study done by sane people. For frothing lunacy, see [[Project Blue Beam]].''
'''Project Blue Book''' was a United States Air Force study into [[unidentified flying object]]s, conducted from 1952 until 1970.<ref name="NARA">[http://www.archives.gov/research/military/air-force/ufos.html '''Project Blue Book, UFOs'''] at the US National Archives</ref>
The Air Force summary of the results is
#No UFO reported, investigated, and evaluated by the Air Force was ever an indication of threat to our national security;
#There was no evidence submitted to or discovered by the Air Force that sightings categorized as "unidentified" represented technological developments or principles beyond the range of modern scientific knowledge; and
#There was no evidence indicating that sightings categorized as "unidentified" were extraterrestrial vehicles.

By the time Project Blue Book ended, it had collected 12,618 UFO reports, and concluded that most of them were misidentifications of natural phenomena (clouds, stars, etc.) or conventional aircraft. 718 were not conclusively identified, but did not defy the science or technology of the time.

Also, the whole archive of reports (minus names and similar personal information) is available through the [http://www.foia.gov Freedom of Information Act] and, of course, online.<ref name="NARA"/>

Faced with the overwhelming evidence, all of which they could review themselves, conspiracy theorists the world over realised they were wasting their time on this rubbish, turned over a new leaf, and did sane things instead — [[Cognitive dissonance|ah ha ha ha ha who are we kidding?!]]{{fact|joke}}

==TV adaptation==
Jack Webb, known for producing cop shows like ''Dragnet'' and ''Adam-12'' in the 1960s, turned to Project Bluebook as his inspiration for the 1970s TV series ''Project UFO''.

Although the incidents portrayed in ''Project UFO'' were based on real incidents described in Project Bluebook, the series took a ''lot'' of liberties with the cases. For example, the pilot episode showed a jet fighter chasing after a UFO and having its engine "mysteriously" conk out; in the real incident, the plane was a propeller-driven fighter whose engine conked out because its pilot flew it far above its service ceiling and starved the engine of air.

In the case of The "Sighting 4020: The Island Incident", the show goes totally off the rails, as the reveal at the end is a close-up of the "scalpel" given by the aliens as the native witch doctor talks about it: "5081 A.D." One has to ask just what was real in that episode and what came out of the writer's imagination.

==See also==
*[[Majestic 12]]
*[[Unacknowledged]]
*[[Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force]]

==External links==
*[http://www.bluebookarchive.org/ Blue Book Archive] - all the Project Blue Book microfilm, scanned and downloadable.

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Ufology]]
[[Category:Documents]]

Categories: Ufology, Documents
Project Stargate

{{psychic}}
{{hatnote|Not to be confused with the ''[[wikipedia:Stargate|Stargate]]'' science fiction franchise, which is usually understood to be complete fiction. Usually.<ref group=note>You can probably guess where this is going — yes, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070423070725/http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread256723/pg1 there are people out there] who believe that the ''Stargate'' franchise is a cover for a real-life program of similar purpose. To their credit, the producers of ''Stargate SG-1'' parodied this conceit by having that conspiracy theory be true within the show's universe; at least two episodes were devoted to a fake sci-fi series created in consultation with the main characters.</ref>}}

'''Stargate''' or '''Star Gate''' is the umbrella name<ref group=note>Different sources use different forms of the name. They also don't agree whether it was an "Operation", a "Program" or a "Project" and whether "Project" should go before or after the code name.</ref> of a series of secret projects investigating [[remote viewing]] that were run by various intelligence agencies of the [[US]] government from the 1970s to the mid-1990s.  What few first-hand documents on the subject are available indicate that the projects were at absolute best no more accurate than random chance - the predictions given by remote viewers did, on some occasions, happen to vaguely resemble reality, but these instances were rare, seemingly random, and impossible to replicate.

The series of projects was instigated during the [[Cold War]], when claims of Soviet advances in "[[psychic]] research" started circulating in the West.  If the Soviets were performing similar research it appears to have been even less effective than American forays into the field.

==See also==
*''[[The Men Who Stare at Goats]]''

==External links==
*[http://www.skepdic.com/remotevw.html Remote viewing], The Skeptic's Dictionary
*[http://www.csicop.org/sb/show/remotely_viewed_the_charlie_jordan_case/ Remotely Viewed? The Charlie Jordan Case], the [[CSI]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070209085903/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983829,00.html The Vision Thing], ''Time Magazine'', 11 December 1995
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20060501072612/http:/www.parascope.com/en/articles/starGate.htm Operation Star Gate] (WebArchive mirror; includes an archive of documents)
*[http://newsblaze.com/story/20070626101644tsop.nb/topstory.html Operation Stargate, The CIA and Psychic Spies], ''News Blaze'' (notable mostly for the e-mail exchange with skeptics)
==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}


[[Category:Parapsychology]][[Category:Government incompetence]]

Categories: Parapsychology, Government incompetence
Prokaryote

{{Sources needed}}{{biology}}
The structure of a '''prokaryote''' is very much simpler than that of a eukaryote. There are no endomembranes, endosymbionts, nucleus or cytoskeleton. The [[DNA]] is carried on the genophore, a circular chromosome, in an ill defined area of the cytosol called the nucleoid. The chromosome is attached to the cell membrane during cell division (fission), frequently at a point called the mesosome. The name comes from πρό-καρυον (pro-karyon) - before kernel (which refers to the nucleus).

==Prokaryotic characteristics==
#No nucleus - free circular genophore. 
#'Simple' rotating motor-type flagellum. 
#Cell division by fission, genophore attached to plasmalemma by mesosome. 
#Few membrane-bound organelles, no double-membrane bound organelles. 
#They are 'small' because diffusion limits the rate of transport across the cell - 1 μm. 
[[Image:Bacterial_cell.png|center||Prokaryotes are characterised by the lack of a nucleus and membranes bound organelles.]]
The cytosol contains oil droplets, food reserves and the 70S ribosomes, and is surrounded by a plasmalemma. In Gram negative bacteria, a further outer membrane surrounds the plasmalemma, with a thin cell wall and periplasmic space trapped between them. In Gram positive bacteria, there is no outer membrane, and the cell wall is thicker. The cell wall is composed of peptidoglycan and various organic acids in Eubacteria. Bacteria have flagella, but they are simple proteinaceous strands attached to a rotary motor, completely dissimilar to the complex eukaryotic undulipodium. Membranes may be present in the cell, as in the thylakoids of the Cyanobacteria. The cytosol may also contain various episomes (small circular chromosomes), some called plasmids, and others called (bacterio)phages, which are bacterial viruses.

Prokaryotic DNA lacks histones (packaging [[protein]]s), although other packaging proteins are present, and molecules have easier access to DNA compared with eukaryotes. They generally have efficient genomes, with little sequence other than coding sequence or regulatory sequence. Transcription is by just one class of RNA polymerase. Transcription leads to translation with no intermediate processing, which allows several genes to be encoded in a single transcriptional unit (a polycistron). They have small (70S) ribosomes.

==Prokaryotic diversity==
Prokaryotes are extraordinarily diverse and account for a very large proportion of the biomass on earth. Some important groups are:
*''Proteobacteria'' - Gram-negative, two cell membranes, hugely diverse, ''Escherichia coli''.
*''Firmicutes'' and ''Actinobacteria'' - Gram-positive, thick peptidoglycan cell wall. 
*''Spirochaetes'' - helical bacteria. 

[[Category:Molecular biology]]
[[Category:Organisms]]
[[Category:Articles needing RWification]]

Categories: Molecular biology, Organisms, Articles needing RWification
Proll

{{internet}}
:''Not to be confused with [[Prole]]s''.
{{cquote|If you chose to make a career out of provoking people, you should at least [[RationalWiki|do so in service to humanity]].|||{{wpl|Peter Boghossian}}<ref>https://twitter.com/peterboghossian/status/834168716510138368</ref>}}
'''Proll''' is a neologism coined by blogger Steven Baxter that refers to a "'''professional [[troll]]''',"<ref>http://enemiesofreason.co.uk/2009/12/29/the-prolls-creak-into-life/</ref> or a person who makes money from [[Manufactroversy|creating controversies]], usually by saying [[Argumentum ex culo|outlandish]] or [[Asshole|offensive]] things, perhaps in the most "[[politically incorrect]]" way possible. They are typically considered politically [[extremist|extreme]] and like to pander to a [[fringe]] audience, are usually (but not always) [[wingnut]]s (or in some rare cases, [[moonbat]]s), and may be quite obscure and unheard of by most people. The ultimate goal of the proll is to land on the news by saying something just outlandish enough at the right time so it can't be ignored. This usually means the proll will say something offensive every other week just in the hopes that ''something'' will create a large enough controversy for them to become a household name. Fortunately, they usually fail and just end up getting mocked by bloggers.

If the proll is smart, they will usually say something offensive [[deceit|in an ambiguous way]] or leave an "[[escape hatch]]" for themselves so that when a controversy does start, they can weasel out of it, while pretending they're being "[[Persecution complex|persecuted]]."

Coincidentally, in [[German]], ''Prolls'' (shortened from "Prolet" or the plural "Proleten") are lower-class people who behave and dress in boorish ways, and usually display [[sexist]] and [[racist]] tendencies, somewhat analogous to chavs in the United Kingdom or bogans in Australia.

[[Russia]] has created a [[business]] [[Internet Research Agency|model]] out of this.

==Examples==
*[[Ann Coulter]]
*[[Milo Yiannopoulos]]
*[[Alex Jones]]
*[[Candace Owens]]
*[[Michael Knowles]]
*[[Matt Walsh]]
*[[Steven Crowder]]
*[[Paul Joseph Watson]]
*[[Michelle Malkin]]
*[[Gavin McInnes]]
*[[Mike Cernovich]]
*[[Rush Limbaugh]]
*[[Fraser Anning]]
*[[Ben Shapiro]]
*[[Katie Hopkins]]
*[[Food Babe|Vani Hari]]
*[[PETA|Ingrid Newkirk]]
*[[Germaine Greer]]
*{{wpl|Takashi Tachibana}}
*Everyone at Fox News

==See also==
*[[Edgelord]], the amateur internet version.
*Very Serious People, the opposite of this.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Neologisms]]
[[Category:Shysters]]
[[Category:Trolls| ]]

Categories: Neologisms, Shysters, Trolls
Prometheus Books

{{skepnav}}{{cquote|Provocative, progressive and independent, Prometheus Books is committed to testing the boundaries of established thought and providing readers with thoughtful and authoritative books in a wide variety of categories.|||company website<ref>https://www.prometheusbooks.com/?main_page=page_2</ref>}}
'''Prometheus Books''' is an American book publisher which has mostly published books on topics related to [[freethought]], [[skepticism]], [[atheism]], and juicy exposés of the netherworld of [[televangelism]], as well as [[libertarian]] books. The founder [[Paul Kurtz]] also founded the [[Council for Secular Humanism]] and co-founded the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]].

They have more recently branched out into a [[science fiction]] imprint (Pyr), scholarly texts under the Humanities Press International which they acquired, and a series of seminal writings on philosophy, science, and economics (everything from [[Marx]] to [[Nietzsche]] to [[Darwin]]).

== Recommended reading ==
Some examples of the books they have published include:
* ''The New Atheism, Taking a stand on science and reason'', Victor Stenger
* ''Unintelligent Design'', Mark Perakh
* ''The Sky is Not the Limit'', [[popular science|Neil DeGrasse Tyson]] 

*  ''Science and Religion'', Paul Kurtz
* ''Science Under Siege'', Kendrick Frazier, Editor 
* ''Hot Issues, Cool Choices, a teen's guide to bullying''
* ''[[Urantia Book|Urantia]]: The Great Cult Mystery'', [[Martin Gardner]]
* ''Salvation for Sale'', Gerard Thomas Straub - former insider's exposé of [[Pat Robertson]]
* ''Don't Call Me Brother'', Austin Miles - former insider's exposé of [[Jim Bakker]]
* ''The Faith Healers'', [[James Randi]]
* ''Mostly on the Edge'' - Karl Hess' autobiography
* ''The Human Cougar'', Lloyd Morain - not about what you think

== External links ==
* [http://www.prometheusbooks.com/ Prometheus Books official website]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Publishers]]

Categories: Publishers