FCC to Investigate D-Block Auction

eweekhickins writes "Feds and public interest groups are taking seriously accusations that someone tampered with the wireless spectrum auction process. The block of spectrum that was supposed to go to emergency responders failed to get close to the reserve price, raising suspicions that someone was trying to make money off the Sept. 11 national tragedy. But that would never happen, right?" This is a follow up to last week's allegations.

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Pen & Teller are Bullshit [in non-magic]

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Feel free to mark this off-topic, but Pen & Teller are bullshit. For those unaware, Pen & Teller had a several year running program called "Bullshit", where they went out of their way to debunk things they perceived to be bullshit. Now, most of the time, they argued on points I agree with, but it didn't take long for them to discuss two of my sacred cows, evolution and global warming.

Okay, really, it's not that they're sacred cows. It's that both are confirmed and tested under the same system, the scientific method. So, imagine my surprise when on the one hand Pen & Teller would gladly mock those who disagree with the consensus of science, having dared to argue as if there was room for debate; yet, on the other hand, Pen & Teller painted a conspiracy cloaked in the words of science, arguing that there was always room for debate and there never really was a consensus in science (only possibly very strong majorities) nor could go off of such majorities anyways.

Now, I rather subscribe to the latter view, as I don't consider science as intrinsically infallible (if it was, there'd be little point in testing scientific theories) or hold the people of science as some sort of single-minded body (let alone would I trust such a single-minded organization without debate). But, Pen & Teller spent more time issuing ad hominem attacks than bothering to actually prove what was bullshit. Their discussion of 9/11 conspiracists was no different.

So, I really wouldn't rely upon Pen & Teller for political, scientific, etc views. But, if you really want to know magic, they'll put on a great show.