and report?

I wish I could be there to hear how he could possibly fill an hour talking about evidence that doesn't exist, and on top of that, trying to make it fit the timeline of the BofM. Does anyone live in Cedar City and have the time and stomach to attend? Here is the info:


Friday February 17 - Cedar City, UT - Free!
Date Night Presentations by Rod Meldrum, Steven Smoot and Dean Sessions
6:30 - 9:30 pm
Ramada Inn
1575 W. 200 North
Cedar City, UT 84720

6:30 pm Steve Smoot - The Silencing of America's Ancient Civilizations and the North-South Connection
7:30 pm Rod Meldrum - Book of Mormon DNA Evidence: Dating It's Arrival to America
8:30 pm Dean Sessions - The Universal Model: A New Millennial Science

Just another one of many money grubbers rolling the flock! As Always, tnurg (GRUNT)

"The field is white, ready to harvest"
=
"There's a sucker born every minute"

Sorry. You could not DRAG me to this even though I live close to Cedar City. I would have to shower for days to get all the cooties off if I went. Talk about encephalitis for the Morgbot heads. Yuck, yuck, yuck. Now if anyone else has the skin of an Elephant and chooses to go and report, (and shower) and return and report, I am all ears. LOL

I might crash his party, but only if he doesn't charge admission (which he does). I'm doubtful he'll accept my "press credentials."

Over a year ago, our own Simon Southerton asked me to look over Meldrum's show here in Salt Lake (at Southtown, actually). What I saw was a combination of "Heartland Model" apologetics along with network marketing (food storage and survival stuff), first aid gear, and some other products designed to separate the sheep from their hard earned wool.

You can find Meldrum's videos online; it's the same shinola, and I confess, I'm a little troubled using my regular "caustic approach" because he's generally so gratuitous and mild-mannered. Simon manages to get under his skin like no one else I've seen.

http://simonsoutherton.blogspot.com/2016/01/response-to-rodney-meldrums-incredible.html

Unfortunately, I can't get YouTube to finishing loading right now, but if you go over there and simply use Rodney Meldrum as your search parameter. you'll find plenty of material.

Bring some spare bullchip filters, preferably the extra-strength Cosco brand...

I see before Meldrum's presentation that a Steve Smoot--there's a Mormon name for you; Google Ogden Nash "Senator Smoot" for a great giggle--is "playing the persecution card" and whining about the "silencing" the "America's Lost Civilizations" claims. There's a good reason for that one: Meldrum and his co-conspirator, Wayne May, selectively edited some sound bites by authentic scientists, including my friend Brad Lepper, the Ohio State Archaeologist, and Deborah Bolnick, a world class molecular biologist, to make it appear as though they supported the nonsense they were promoting.

http://www.csicop.org/si/show/civilizations_lost_and_found_fabricating_history_-_part_one_an_alternate_re

Okay, I see Smoot is mentioned as one of the producers; I hadn't noticed his name before. Parts Two and Three are easily linked.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2017 10:31PM by SL Cabbie.

I thought that the event was free.... But then, this morning, I also left the house without my billfold, discovered the fact at the store, went home, changed coats, and left without my billfold again. So maybe this is just my day to be not quite on top of things.

It would be so nice to have someone who is up-to-date on reality attending.

I imagine that there will be nothing different from what is on YouTube, though. I am always wondering if the nonsense ever is reconfigured or if, even, some especially ridiculous idea is finally abandoned. But the latter is just wishful thinking.

The gig here was $35 for two or three days, but I managed to slip in during lunch the first day and take some pictures. When I tried to return on Day Two, I couldn't.

What will be consistent is that Rodney Meldrum is a "young Earth Creationist," and the junk science he cites--an irrelevant paper that identifies when humans "split off from chimpanzees"--is silly. As as been said many times, Meldrum has no scientific education and is strictly a former used car salesman.

As a tool wielding ape, I resent the phrase "split off from chimpanzees".
Humans never split off from chimpanzees.

Meldrum is a fucking moron.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/19/2017 06:53PM by Dave the Atheist.

C2NR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 8:30 pm Dean Sessions - The Universal Model: A New
> Millennial Science

Oh, brother.
If you want to see how ridiculous these folks are, head on over to Dean's "Universal Model" web page.

https://universalmodel.com/

There you'll find absolute nonsense pretending to be "science," leading to such marvelous "discoveries" as the one describing the Arizona meteor impact crater as not an impact crater at all, but a "steam explosion." All in favor of supporting a 6,000 year-old Earth and Noah's flood, of course.

Looks like Dean is aiming to be the Ken Ham of mormonism. He merits the same amount of ridicule.

I just became aware of the Universal Model and Dean Sessions the other day so I searched RFM to see if it had been discussed here and found this post. I also found that BYU professors and students spoke out against it. See page 4 http://newsnet.byu.edu/pdf/du20170404.pdf

Meldrum and his partners are actually suckering in followers who willingly give them money, I suppose so they can feel like they have evidence that the Book of Mormon is true. Sad. Truly sad.

Another day, another racket.

My bet is they know what they're promoting is rubbish. It's the audience they're selling it to that doesn't know better.

It would make Joseph Smith proud.

Quote from "A Brief Introduction to the Universal Model:"

The UM [Universal Model] is written to inspire a different thinking about science and about how to apply scientific principles during the coming years, destined to provoke thought and arouse the curiosity of not only the science minded, professional and amateur alike, but every individual who simply wants to know how Nature works and why we are such an important part of all the beauty that surrounds us.

--------------

Inspire a different thinking about science? WTF? Science is science. There can be no other type of thinking about science except pseudoscience, which is exactly what this is.

First of all, this was a thread from over half a year ago asking if anyone could report on a lecture that was about to happen back then. Gets a little confusing.

Second, the comment you felt so strongly about that you had to resurrect an old thread is seriously misleading about science. "Science is science. There can be no other kind of thinking about science except pseudoscience."

Seriously??? Yes, pseudoscience is a problem, but scientists are constantly looking at alternate ways to decide what is worth researching, and how to conduct research. Alternatives to scientific orthodoxy should be based on their merits, not on you stomping your feet and declaring there are no alternatives.

I resurrected the thread because I recently became aware of the so-called Universal Model.

Brother Of Jerry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> First of all, this was a thread from over half a
> year ago asking if anyone could report on a
> lecture that was about to happen back then. Gets a
> little confusing.
>
> Second, the comment you felt so strongly about
> that you had to resurrect an old thread is
> seriously misleading about science. "Science is
> science. There can be no other kind of thinking
> about science except pseudoscience."
>
> Seriously??? Yes, pseudoscience is a problem, but
> scientists are constantly looking at alternate
> ways to decide what is worth researching, and how
> to conduct research. Alternatives to scientific
> orthodoxy should be based on their merits, not on
> you stomping your feet and declaring there are no
> alternatives.


Stomping my feet??? My point was that non-scientists are trying to put across scientific points based on their own ideas. Isn't that pseudoscience? When I said science is science I'm saying that scientific research can only be done by those who have attained a high level of education in science. Pseudoscientists are those who, like Rod Meldrum, spout their views without regard to established scientific fact. Is this still me stomping my feet?

No. Science is a method. It does not change. How one views, alternatively included, is just observation.

It costs about $140 for volumes 1 and 2 of his book. I wonder how useful his Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Psychology from Brigham Young University is to explain Newton's laws and man-made satellite orbits with the reduced mass of the earth.
https://www.monticellocollege.org/about/who-we-are/dean-sessions

Also, what about Monticello College? Is it legit?
https://www.monticellocollege.org/about/accreditation

http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=3082759&itype=CMSID



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/2017 09:27AM by mikemitchell.

Oh man, sorry BOJ, but the only thing Mike might possibly be guilty of is not putting this under its own thread, which it may well deserve. Given the connection between Rodney Meldrum and Dean Sessions, his choice of resurrecting this old one strikes me as a wholly reasonable attempt to provide "context for the nonsense/pseudo-science," since the obfuscatory tactics of these yayhoos are complex and convoluted; I'm going to have to make an emergency trip to Costco this weekend for more you-know-whats, seriously.

Mike is dead-on with his "follow-the-money" analysis; that's consistent with my "crashing" Meldrum's dog-and-pony-and-food-storage-and-survivalist show at Southtown Mall a year and a half ago. I'm in touch with RFM stalwart "Cricket," and I'm in the process of putting up my own web page on some of these subjects. Gotta keep Don Bagley on his toes :-)

Okay, I haven't seen Raptor Jesus for a while, but I'll suggest his "protocol" for visiting the ldsfreedomforum.com website is wise counsel for this one as well. Use the "buddy system," and be sure to check in after you return. It's also probably prudent to make allowances for disruptions in your personal life as you may well experience distortions in the "space-time continuum."

Yep, follow the money:

https://universalmodel.com/store/

A brief, "probably safe even for small children" intro to pseudoscience at its "superficial best":

https://universalmodel.com/

Moving forward:

https://universalmodel.com/blog-footer/um-response-defense-peer-reviewed-science/

Yeah even YBU doesn't care for the "Universal Model":

http://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=5139231&itype=CMSID

>A similar ad ran in the student newspaper of Utah Valley University, where the conference will be held between Thursday and Saturday. UVU physics and astronomy professor Joseph Jensen said he too was concerned about Sessions' assertions being legitimized through an event on a university campus.

>"This is pseudoscience," Jensen said. "It's people trying to make money on something that sounds scientific but has no basis in observation or reality, for that matter."

And oh myheck, there's even an "honest Republican scientist" out there:

https://bbickmore.wordpress.com/universal-model/

>I recently stumbled on a fascinating example of crank science, namely, the Universal Model created by Dean W. Sessions. Sessions is not formally trained as a scientist, but since 1990, he has been doing experiments and making geological field observations. He says he immediately found that standard scientific theories couldn’t explain his results, but he found that conventionally trained scientists were unaware of and unconcerned with his “evidences.” His Universal Model (hereafter UM) supposedly overturns many of the most important scientific theories developed over at least the last 150 years, which he characterizes as “the Dark Age of Science”. He has now started a non-profit organization called “the Millennial Science Foundation” so he and his followers can continue the work and spread the word, and he has written an 800-page book, Universal Model: A New Millennial Science, Vol. 1, Earth System. Two more volumes are planned.

>To get an overview of the UM, go to their website and poke around, or watch this presentation on their YouTube channel. In a nutshell, Sessions rejects the existence of magma (deeply buried molten rock) and thinks the Earth has a core of ice instead of iron.

Roadkill...

Donot fall for it. Donot use their speak.it is power you lose.
No such thing as pseudos because if it is not science, fact, etc, then it is just a lie.
This pseudo use came into popularity by people trying to seem smart, confuse issue and, mostly devalue Science.
They failed.
Another is the fakenews!
If it is news, it is, good or bad. If it is not news, it is a mistake, a lie, or fictitious. What do we care—not important!

Stop using the pseudo and fake terms— when you do that you let them define the problem....and therefore...the outcome.
Does not exist.
Peace (;-)

And it came to pass, the flock was white, all ready to fleece.

The most troubling thing about the OP is that it says: "Date Night".

Seriously?

Nothing says: "I want to take take my hot Mormon wife out for a romantic evening" like a bogus DNA lecture.

Rod Meldrum, Steven Smoot and Dean Sessions appear as superhero Arnold Friberg action figures. Rod Meldrub-drub-drub-three-men-in-tub crashes the stage mounted on a tapir wielding a flaming sword demanding donations from attendees, else he'll smite their DNA turning them dark and loathsome, yeah even unto the fourth and fifth generation.