A friend, who leans Ron Paul libertarian, was recently trying to convince me that anthropogenic global warming is largely a myth. A central part of his argument was his claiming that there was recently a petition signed by 40,000 independent climate scientists saying that, in his words, "so-called global warming is bullshit." More inside.
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posted by Ash3000
on Nov 17, 2009 -
38 answers
InsectBiteFilter. Help! Last Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona I was chilling outside and then some insect stung/bit/injected my neck. It was not a bee/wasp/spider/ant. It was a tannish brown color and I think it had transparent green wings but I can't recall for sure. It was about half an inch long. I tried to just forget about it but each day the sting gets more painful. I just hope there's no brood in my neck. Anyone know what kind of critter this could be? And, yes, I know I should go to the doctor but I wanted some hive-mind reassurance that I'll be fine. Thank you so much! Dang bugs.
posted by m_lazarus
on Jul 16, 2009 -
13 answers
What resolution would the Hubble Telescope be able to discern, if we pointed it at my back yard instead of into the stars? Would it be able to pick up individual blades of grass? Would it be able to see bacteria or anything not visible to the naked eye? Could it see the illuminated dial of my watch at night?
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posted by crazyray
on May 12, 2009 -
19 answers
LadyFilter: I found a lump where there should not be a lump. (And it's not on my breast.) I do not have health insurance. What to do?
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posted by anonymous
on Mar 10, 2009 -
17 answers
My friend suddenly believes that everyone he knows is a police informant. This includes me. How can I help?
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posted by anonymous
on Mar 10, 2009 -
34 answers
Facebook Security: Are there reliable security settings for Facebook so that I can talk about my job to my friends network without worrying about others seeing it?
[more inside]
posted by scaryblackdeath
on Feb 26, 2009 -
11 answers
The company I work for is behaving very strangely. Am I being paranoid, or should I start looking for a new job? (Posted anonymously for job security reasons.)
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posted by anonymous
on Feb 18, 2009 -
18 answers
I started a new job a couple months ago at a small company, and since then, there has been some theft of company property.
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posted by anonymous
on Jan 5, 2009 -
9 answers
Help me not descend into extreme paranoia. Last night a male intruder approached me in my back yard. Police came and "caught" him. I have always been on the fairly cautious/paranoid side of personal security so I am afraid this incident may spiral downward to a place I do not want it to go. Any thoughts? (Longer story below)
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posted by murrey
on Dec 21, 2008 -
31 answers
I see the world, and
all in it, as something vicious and ready to attack me, and that influences far too much stuff in my life. Help.
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posted by anonymous
on Dec 8, 2008 -
30 answers
I smoked marijuana early this morning and had terrifying experiences. What happened, why, and what should I do now? I could use some reassurance.
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posted by elektrotechnicus
on Dec 1, 2008 -
48 answers
Recommendations for a cognitive behavioral therapist in the Houston area for my mother? He/she is going to have to deal with a
lot, especially because she is irrational and suspicious.
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posted by anonymous
on Oct 22, 2008 -
4 answers
I'm trying to figure out how to be less paranoid and obsessive and how to not replay past and future negative scenarios in my head constantly – eventually getting myself in trouble. Often, I go over negative things that I've overheard or have suspicions about, and negative recent occurrences (like getting fired recently or conversations that might have left me in a bad light in someone else’s view). I feel paranoid about anything I cannot control and have ever had problems with perhaps. I was recently fired from a job for generally being too confrontational with my boss about things I saw going wrong and things I was feeling paranoid about. The thing is -- the paranoia is somewhat justified, and I have a hard time believing that it's possible not to worry about stuff all the time. And now at my new job I feel that I’m at risk of the same behavior, feeling jaded already about my new work situation and worrying constantly about everything in my life (and about not having a life, and even about worrying too much itself!) – how can I feel more relaxed and just chill out?
[more inside]
posted by albatross5000
on Jun 23, 2008 -
10 answers
What is this mysterious process that hijacked my shortcut? I was using Photoshop CS2 and entered the shortcut key for "Save for Web" (Alt+Shift+Ctrl+S) and instead of getting the Save for Web dialog, a very minimalist login box appeared. Intrigued, I brought up the Task manager, right-clicked on the "Login" entry in the list, and selected "Go To Process." The process turned out to be C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\vidifker.exe.
[more inside]
posted by Optimus Chyme
on Jun 4, 2008 -
9 answers
[ParanoiaFilter] How can I tell if someone has accessed or opened a file on my computer?
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posted by mehmet
on May 5, 2008 -
10 answers
Is Cox cable spying on us? My husband was mesmerized one morning by the miracle manna preacher on our Cox cable. The next day, there was a pre-recorded voice mail on our phone from Mr Miracle Manna himself telling us to press 1 now if we wanted our own miracle manna. This seems to be too much of a coincidence. Does Cox have a way of tracking what we watch and then informing their advertisers?
posted by TorontoSandy
on Apr 4, 2008 -
7 answers
I have been searching the site but have not found my specific situation. I would like to know if there is a way to tell that you are being video or audio recorded at work. Not on the computer, just in general.
[more inside]
posted by anonymous
on Mar 28, 2008 -
13 answers
A friend of mine, who is highly educated (married with two kids, accomplished medical researcher), is absolutely convinced that September 11 was a huge conspiracy initiated by members of the US government. She has a detailed complex explanation for everything. She takes it deeply personally when I scoff at her, telling me I should read the evidence before forming an opinion. I see her as gullible and she sees me as ignorant. Is there an analysis available comprehensively somewhere addressing the conspiracy theorists to the satisfaction of the leading academics in the relevant areas (material engineering, aerodynamics, media relations, architecture etc)? How do you deal with people like this?
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posted by vizsla
on Mar 19, 2008 -
62 answers
Someone bought a telescope in my name on Nov 7th. That's all I know. How do I protect myself even though I don't know what store, or more importantly, what method of "payment" was used to complete the transaction?
[more inside]
posted by JakeLL
on Dec 4, 2007 -
11 answers
I've been depressed on and off for 20 years but this is new, and scary. (Contains probably too much information but I'm trying to cover any potential questions)
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posted by anonymous
on Oct 22, 2007 -
50 answers
Does anyone else live with the constant feeling things are about to take a turn for the worse?
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posted by hansbleep
on Oct 12, 2007 -
32 answers
iButton work bathroom conspiracy. Sometime ago I noticed a small silver object blue tacked to the wall high up in one of the executive bathroom cubicles at my workplace.
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posted by numberstation
on Sep 20, 2007 -
13 answers
Hi AskMe! I don't spend much time looking at msconfig, so this might be nothing. But I'd like to be sure, and Google isn't up to snuff.
[more inside]
posted by EatTheWeak
on Aug 11, 2007 -
7 answers
New ISP offers static IP addresses. Should I take 1 or 8? What can I use them for? Should I be concerned about the RIPE database?
[more inside]
posted by boosh
on Mar 1, 2007 -
7 answers
Does Veteran's Administration medical treatment information get to the insurance world?
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posted by Mom
on Feb 11, 2007 -
1 answer
I feel like I'm losing my mind but I'm too worried about my medical records to do anything about it.
[more inside]
posted by anonymous
on Feb 10, 2007 -
31 answers
How do I stop myself from being affected by my friends' relationship problems?
[more inside]
posted by divabat
on Nov 20, 2006 -
9 answers
Small problems or worries that are nothing during daylight, seem huge and insurmoutable during the hours of darkness, bordering on paranoia. Is this some form of mild depression, or a SAD related thing?
[more inside]
posted by anonymous
on Sep 22, 2006 -
23 answers
ShippingParanoiaFilter: How often does online package tracking show items going astray at the outset of their journey, and how often do they arrive without packing slips?
[more inside]
posted by anonymous
on Sep 4, 2006 -
5 answers
Tinfoilhatfilter: There seem to be several designs for DIY RFID-blocking (read: duct-tape-and-foil) wallets (
e.g.). Is there a comparable product available for purchase pre-made (preferably more elegant- / conventional-looking)?
[more inside]
posted by grobstein
on Jan 15, 2006 -
7 answers
Let's say, hypothetically, that you are a victim of a man-in-the-middle attack, perhaps via the handy arp-spoofing feature of the somewhat creepy program known as
ettercap. How could you tell? What are the telltale signs?
posted by Astragalus
on Jan 4, 2006 -
10 answers
