Jörg Haider and Talk:Michael Shermer: Difference between pages
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{{Recent death|date=October 2008}} |
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{{Infobox Officeholder |
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|importance= |
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|name = Jörg Haider |
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|needs-infobox=yes |
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|image = JoergHaider Sep07.JPG |
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|listas=Shermer, Michael |
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|caption = |
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|order = [[Carinthia (state)|Governor of Carinthia]] |
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|term_start = 1999 |
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|term_end = 2008 |
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|predecessor = [[Christoph Zernatto]] |
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|successor = |
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|term_start2 = 1989 |
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|term_end2 = 1991 |
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|predecessor2 = [[Peter Ambrozy]] |
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|successor2 = [[Christoph Zernatto]] |
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|birth_date = [[26 January]] [[1950]] |
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|birth_place = [[Bad Goisern]], Austria |
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|death_date = [[11 October]] [[2008]] (aged 58) |
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|death_place = [[Köttmannsdorf]], Austria |
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|constituency = |
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|party = [[Freedom Party of Austria|FPÖ]], [[Alliance for the Future of Austria|BZÖ]] |
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|spouse = <!--2 ...name/names?--> |
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|children = |
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|profession = Law |
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|education = [[law degree|Dr. iur. (law degree)]] |
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|religion = |
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|signature = |
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|footnotes = |
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}} |
}} |
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{{Rational Skepticism|class=Start}} |
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== His worldview == |
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'''Jörg Haider''' (26 January 1950 – 11 October 2008)<ref>http://news.orf.at/?href=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.orf.at%2Fticker%2F304770.html</ref> was an Austrian politician. He was [[Landeshauptmann|Governor]] of [[Carinthia (state)|Carinthia]] and Chairman of the "[[Alliance for the Future of Austria]]" (Bündnis Zukunft Österreich, BZÖ). |
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He's an atheist (a negative one): [http://www.science-spirit.org/article_detail.php?article_id=520] |
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== Schizophrenia == |
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Haider was a long-time leader of the [[Austrian Freedom Party]] (FPÖ). When he stepped down as the FPÖ's chairman in 2000, he remained its major figure until 2005, when he founded the BZÖ in April. He was subsequently expelled from the FPÖ by its interim leader [[Hilmar Kabas]]. |
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Why is he listed in the "people with schizophrenia" category when their isn't any mention of his having the disorder in the article? |
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[[User:Treybien|Treybien]] 17:35 15 November 2006 (UTC) |
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== |
== Here's a question == |
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the paragraph here: |
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"When it comes to the question regarding the possibility of telepathy in Folie a deux through emotional contagion, Shermer has stated psychiatry is out of his field. This is inconsistent with an authoritive author recognized for writing books on how and why people things. He defines Folie a deux, a medically documented altered state, as an anomoly." |
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===Haider's parents=== |
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Haider's parents had been [[Nazism|Nazis]] and early [[NSDAP]] party members. They were from different backgrounds; Haider's father, Robert Haider, was a shoemaker, while his mother, Dorothea Rupp, was the daughter of a wealthy, noted, medical doctor and head of the general hospital of [[Linz]].<ref name="WienerZeitung">{{cite web |url=http://www.wienerzeitung.at/linkmap/personen/haider.htm |title=Jörg Haider Biographie |first= |name= |work=Wiener Zeitung |accessdate=2008-05-05 |coauthors= |format= |year= |month= |pages= |date=2004-09-10 |language=German |publisher= |quote=Seine Eltern, die 1945 heirateten, kamen aus unterschiedlichen Bildungsschichten. Der Vater war Schuhmacher, die Mutter, eine geborene Rupp, die Tochter eines Gynäkologen und Primararztes am Linzer Allgemeinen Krankenhaus.}}</ref> |
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This seems to contain a great deal of opinion. Shermer is not a psychiatrist and his book "Why People Believe Weird Things" is not a book on pyschiatry, but rather an analysis of psychology as it blurs closely with the philosophy of skepticism. His authorship of the book marks him as an authority on skepticism, surely, but certainly not psychiatry, which is the subject of Folie a deux. I have removed the sentence beginning "This is inconsistent..." under that consideration. Please discuss. |
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Robert Haider joined the NSDAP in 1929 as a fifteen year-old boy, four years before [[Adolf Hitler]] came to power in Germany. He remained a member even after the [[Austrian National Socialism|Austrian Nazi Party]] was banned in Austria and after [[Engelbert Dollfuss]] had dissolved the Austrian parliament and established a ''[[Austrofascism|Ständestaat]]'', a [[Fascism|fascist]] [[dictatorship]]. In 1933, Haider senior moved to [[Bavaria]] but returned to Austria the following year after the failed Nazi attempt to overthrow the Austrian government. He was arrested and chose to move back to Germany where he joined the Austrian Legion, a division of the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]''.<ref name="Peri2001">{{cite web |url=http://sicsa.huji.ac.il/acta18.htm |title=Jörg Haider's Antisemitism |first=Anat |name=Peri |work=Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism |accessdate=2008-05-05 |coauthors= |format= |year=2001 |month= |pages= |date= |language= |publisher=[[Hebrew University]] |quote=}}</ref> |
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== Here's another question == |
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Haider senior completed a two-year military service in Germany and returned to Austria in 1938 after it was [[Annexation|annexed]] by Nazi Germany (the ''[[Anschluss]]''). From 1940, he fought as a junior officer on the Western and Eastern Fronts in Europe during the [[Second World War]]. Having been wounded several times, he was discharged from the ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' with the rank of lieutenant. In 1945, he married Dorothea Rupp, at that time as a leader in the ''[[Bund Deutscher Mädel]]'' (''BDM''). |
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Hey! For some reason Wikipedia won't let me edit right now, but could someone try making this change: in the second paragraph from the bottom, it states that "Shermer, with a Ph.D in psychology, has stated psychiatry is out of his field." As the article earlier correctly states, Shermer's PhD is iin the history of science, NOT psychology. Cheers! Jason |
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Following the end of the war, legal proceedings against both Haider's parents were conducted to determine what measures should be taken against them because of their NSDAP membership (proceedings against all former Nazis{{ndash}} NSDAP members and collaborators{{ndash}} were undertaken as a matter of law in both Austria and Germany after the war ended).<ref name=Peri2001/> They were labelled as "''Minderbelastet''" (meaning only low-ranking in the NSDAP structure), and Robert Haider was forced to work in a shoe factory. Dorothea Haider, who had been a teacher, was prohibited from working for a couple of years following the end of the war.<ref name=WienerZeitung/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/464260.stm |title=Profile: Controversy and Joerg Haider |first= |name= |work= |accessdate=2008-05-05 |coauthors= |format= |year= |month= |pages= |date=2000-02-29 |language= |publisher=[[BBC News]] |quote=After the war they were punished for their affiliations and forced to take up menial work.}}</ref> |
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:I commented out the line, as per Jason's comment. Can anyone fix this inconsistency (and please supply a source, while you're at it, if possible). [[User:Guettarda|Guettarda]] 03:26, 31 August 2006 (UTC) |
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===Haider's youth=== |
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[[Image:University of vienna.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Jörg Haider graduated from the [[University of Vienna]] in 1973, receiving a law degree.]] |
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== == |
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Jörg Haider was born in the [[Upper Austria]]n town of [[Bad Goisern]] in 1950, a time when his parents' finances were rather moderate, and his elder sister, later [[Ursula Haubner]], five years old. He was a good student in primary school and attended high school in [[Bad Ischl]] despite his parents' financial situation. Haider was reportedly always top of his class in high school (see [http://www.smoc.net/haiderwatch/bioen.html]). During his time in [[Bad Ischl]] he had first contacts with nationalist organizations, such as the ''[[Burschenschaft]] Albia'', a right-wing student group. |
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I'm wondering how much more of Shermer's writings on cryonics there are than the brief account of the very commonly known problem of freezing cells included here. Anyone who looks at the [[cryonics]] article on Wikipedia can read the discussion on the possibility of non-destructive cryonics based on [[vitrification]]. If Shermer wanted to write a serious critique of cryonics then it certainly looks like he would have to have taken vitrification into account, and not just freezing. (Assuming, that is, that the research into vitrification was done ''before'' Shermer's 2001 article - as the Cryonics article states that this discovery was made at the "turn of the century". It's not clear to me if it was). But whether Shermer did discuss this or not is not clear from the brief quote here. What is quoted here does not seem to me to necessarily be representative of a serious criticism of cryonics, as it simply states a basic physical phenomenon without taking into account the fact that cryonicists have come up with scientifically plausible ways of overcoming this problem. ([[User:Hippogriff|Hippogriff]]) |
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== Shermer's Fundamentalism == |
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After he graduated with highest distinction in 1968, he moved to Vienna to study law. During his studies he was affiliated again with a [[Burschenschaft]] such as ''[[Silvania]]''. After graduating from the [[University of Vienna]] with the title of [[law degree|Dr. iur.]] in 1973 he was drafted into the Austrian Army where he voluntarily spent more than the mandatory nine months (called 'the voluntary one year'). In 1974 he started to work at the [[University of Vienna]] law faculty in the department of constitutional law. |
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I do remember him saying that at one time he was "evangelical" and a strong believer in religions. I beileve he says that at some time during Science Friction. Was he actually a "fundamentalist" as the word is usually used (as in, a young or old earth creationist who takes everything in the bible literally) or was he merely a devout Christian? Some further clarification is needed, and would be greately appreciated! :D --[[User:131.104.138.14|131.104.138.14]] 01:32, 28 September 2005 (UTC) |
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===Haider's rise to power in the FPÖ=== |
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The Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) was founded in 1955, and initially was a mixture of various political currents opposed both to the political catholicism of the [[Austrian People's Party]] and the [[social democracy|socialist]] views of the [[Social Democratic Party of Austria]]. With its roots in the [[Pan-German]] movement, it included both German-[[nationalist]] and [[Liberalism|liberal]] political views. In 1970 Haider became the leader of the FPÖ youth movement and headed it until 1974. Haider rose rapidly through the party ranks. In 1972, at the age of 22, he was already a well-established leader and was made party affairs manager of the Carinthian FPÖ in 1976. In 1979 he was the youngest delegate among the 183 members of parliament, at age 29. From 1983 his policies became more aggressive, when he rose to party head of the Carinthian FPÖ and started to criticise the leaders of the FPÖ, which at that time was still a minor political movement in Austria, usually winning only about 5–6% of the vote (see [http://www.smoc.net/haiderwatch/bio.html]). |
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The decisive point of his career came in 1986 when he defeated Austrian [[Vice Chancellor of Austria|Vice Chancellor]] [[Norbert Steger]] in the vote for party leadership at the party convention in September in [[Innsbruck]]; many delegates feared that Steger's liberal political views and his coalition with the Social Democrats threatened the party's existence. |
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---- |
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== Carinthia == |
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Re: Shermer's Fundamentalism, [[User:131.104.138.14|131.104.138.14]] 01:32, 28 September 2005 (UTC) |
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[[Image:Austria ktn.svg|right|thumb|300px|Carinthia is a state in the South of Austria.]] |
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I edited the main page to provide a more objective language to two phrases. My edits are in italics, here. The first is, "Shermer is the author of several books that attempt to explain the ubiquity of ''what in his opinion are'' irrational or unsubstantiated beliefs." The second, pertaining to your own concern, is, "Shermer, who ''claims he'' was once a fundamentalist Christian, is now..." |
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===Bärental=== |
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Throughout his career Haider had concentrated his politics on Carinthia. In addition, Haider's personal life was heavily connected with this part of Austria: Haider became wealthy when he inherited the estate of his uncle Wilhelm Webhofer in 1983, who had owned a large parcel of land in Carinthia commonly known as 'Bärental' (bear valley). This estate has a history that came up in the 1990s in the [[Media in Austria|Austrian media]]. The land had been owned by an Italian Jew until 1941. At that point in time the Nazis still hesitated to take possession of "[[Jewish property]]" owned by non-German nationals without any compensation. Thus when the estate was "sold" in 1941, Haider's great-uncle Josef Webhofer (a resident of [[Province of Bolzano-Bozen|Bolzano-Bozen]], Italy) paid 300,000 [[German reichsmark|Reichsmark]] (about 1.5 million dollars today) to obtain title to the land. After the war Mathilde Ruifer, the widow of the former Jewish owner of Bärental demanded compensation and was paid an additional 850,000 schilling (around 400,000 dollars today). In 1955 Josef Webhofer's son Wilhelm Webhofer inherited the estate and later bequested it to Jörg Haider. Today the land is estimated to be worth about fifteen million dollars (see [http://projects.brg-schoren.ac.at/Nationalsozialismus/arisierungen.html]). |
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Due to the overt bias of Mr. Shermer, I think these more objective renditions are justified. |
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===Political struggle in Carinthia=== |
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Until 1989, the socialist/Social-Democratic party SPÖ held an absolute majority in the Austrian province of Carinthia; when it received less than 50% of seats in 1989, ÖVP and FPÖ formed a coalition and elected Haider as ''[[Landeshauptmann]]'' (or governor) of Carinthia. |
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--[[User:70.115.222.81|70.115.222.81]] 06:57, 25 December 2005 (UTC) |
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In 1991, in a debate in the regional parliament, a speaker attacked Haider's plan of reducing unemployment payments for people seen as "freeloaders", calling it forced work placement reminiscent of Nazi policies. Haider replied, "It would not be like the Third Reich, because the Third Reich developed a proper employment policy, which your government in Vienna has not once produced." The remark caused an uproar, Haider had to resign his governor post, and the FPÖ-ÖVP coalition was replaced by an SPÖ-ÖVP coalition. |
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:I don't understand the second change. Do you think that he is lying? Why? That's how the word "claims" sounds. (BTW, you seem to use "bias" as a synonym for "deviation from my own position", a very common usage of the term.) --[[User:Hob Gadling|Hob Gadling]] 12:56, 11 January 2006 (UTC) |
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In 1999, Haider again was elected governor of Carinthia by the Carinthian parliament, where the FPÖ now held a plurality of more than 42%. Even after the [[FPÖ]] fell to only 10% from 27% in the national elections in 2002, Haider's support in Carinthia did not diminish and he succeeded in the 2004 elections receiving a slightly higher percentage (42.5%) than in 1999. |
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==Jack Sarfatti apparently is again violating his permaban== |
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== FPÖ chairman == |
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On Aug 24, 2006, at 7:18 PM, ****** wrote to Jack Sarfatti |
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===Haider as opposition leader=== |
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under Subject heading: "Swine: Take me off your Kook list" |
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Under Haider's leadership, the FPÖ moved to the [[far right]], reflecting Haider's [[nationalist]], [[anti-immigration]], and [[Euroscepticism|anti-EU]] views. Haider relied primarily on populism (see below) to advance his interests. From 1986 when Haider became the FPÖ's chairman the party's share in elections rose from 5% in the [[Austria legislative election, 1986|1986 elections]] to almost 27% in [[Austria legislative election, 1999|1999]]. |
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"How many times do I have to tell you asswipe?" |
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With Haider practically leading the FPÖ single-handedly, he was able to unite the scattered, divided extreme-right in Austria and establish a party that was not so much founded on leading personalities or an ideology but on just one leader - Haider himself, who used to change his opinions frequently. His style of governing the party became authoritative in the following years, however his followers did not challenge his ultimate authority in the party, especially because Haider was able to gain one victory after another in elections (see [http://www.doew.at/information/mitarbeiter/beitraege/fpoeenglbn.html]). |
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Michael Shermer AKA ****** essentially calls top physicist Freeman Dyson of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies a kook for endorsing scientific research into the paranormal. |
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An exception was the split off by the [[Liberal Forum]] in the mid-1990s headed by Heide Schmidt, a long-time political supporter of Haider and the FPÖ's candidate for presidency in 1992. The liberals initially gained the support of about 6% of the voters nationwide, but Schmidt was not able to uphold this support and the Liberal Forum subsequently dropped out of parliament in 1999. |
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http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/04-05-04.html#freeman |
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{{unsigned|68.121.151.244}} |
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The party's mixture of populism, anti-establishment and nationalist themes steadily gained support over the years. In addition to far-right voters, the FPÖ was able to attract protest voters from both the Social Democrats and the Conservatives in both the national and regional elections of the 1990s. Along with those who were fed up with decades of government by the 'Great Coalition' (see also: [[Proporz]]), Haider always had the unconditional backing of the core far-right voters due to the lack of any more outspoken far-right parties (which are forbidden under anti-Nazi laws). |
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:The IP address {{userblock|68.121.151.244}} corresponds to the ''snfc21.pacbell.net anon'' (SBC Internet in the [[Bay area]]). This domain has been frequently used in the past by user {{userblock|JackSarfatti}}, IRL [[Jack Sarfatti]], who was permabanned 14 December 2005 by Jimbo himself for repeatedly making legal threats against numerous users (including myself), among various other offenses. |
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===Coalition government with [[Wolfgang Schüssel]]'s [[ÖVP|People's party]]=== |
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:Sarfatti is known to mailbomb and otherwise harrass persons he doesn't like, including Jimbo Wales, and from his previous edits and other evidence he is known to dislike Shermer as well. Posting Shermer's email address is of course an invitation to spammers to spam Shermer; I have removed the email address from this talk page. |
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In 2000, Haider's Freedom Party and the People's Party joined to form a coalition government. This caused widespread outrage both in Austria and the rest of Europe. The heads of government of the other fourteen EU members decided to cease cooperation with the Austrian government, as it was felt in many countries that the [[cordon sanitaire]] against coalitions with parties considered as right-wing extremists, which had mostly held in Western Europe since 1945, had been breached. For several months, other national leaders refused to shake hands and socialize with members of the Schüssel government. This was described as "sanctions" by representatives of the [[ÖVP]] and [[FPÖ]], and supporters of the government often blamed social democrats and President [[Thomas Klestil]] for them, and questioned their loyalty to the country. |
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:In another edit, this anon committed a [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Calton/Watchlist&diff=71825080&oldid=46664283 violation] of [[WP:NLT]] (see last line). Sarfatti has previously threatened and harassed [[User:Calton]]). |
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:Sarfatti should not be editing the Wikipedia at all, and this activity has been reported. ---[[User:Hillman|CH]] 19:12, 9 September 2006 (UTC) |
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== List == |
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The EU leaders soon saw that their measures were counterproductive and returned to normality during the summer of 2000, even though the coalition remained unchanged. (See [[Austria legislative election, 1999]].) Nevertheless it is not easy to measure effects of these "sanctions". |
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I find the list of published columns a bit tacky the way it is currently. Is there a reason for formatting it this way? I'll use a normal list. - [[User:Anas Salloum|<font color="Black">'''Anas'''</font>]] <sup>[[User talk:Anas Salloum|<font size="-4"><font color="DodgerBlue">Talk'''?'''</font></font color>]]</sup> 14:22, 22 February 2007 (UTC) |
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At the end of 2000, Jörg Haider stepped down from the leadership of the Freedom Party. This was widely regarded as a cynical move to appease foreign criticism, as he appeared to continue to control the party from behind the scenes, with [[Susanne Riess-Passer]] who was the following party chairwoman being only pro-forma in charge. Haider proclaimed that his move was just the fulfillment of his promise to Carinthian FPÖ voters he gave prior to the election that had been held in the same year.(see[http://www.guardian.co.uk/austria/article/0,2763,191346,00.html]) |
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:I think it looks much better now. - [[User:Anas Salloum|<font color="Black">'''Anas'''</font>]] <sup>[[User talk:Anas Salloum|<font size="-4"><font color="DodgerBlue">Talk'''?'''</font></font color>]]</sup> 14:29, 22 February 2007 (UTC) |
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== Middle name "Brant" == |
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== Collapse of the (first) coalition and decline of the Freedom Party == |
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According to the listings in [[Amazon.com]], Dr. Shermer was credited as "Michael Brant Shermer" in the forwards of [[Arthur T. Benjamin]]'s math books. |
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--[[User:AdjustablePliers|AdjustablePliers]] 21:30, 3 October 2007 (UTC) |
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In September 2002, after a special party convention ("Sonderparteitag") in [[Knittelfeld]] ([[Styria (state)|Styria]]), the so-called [[Knittelfeld Putsch]], [[Susanne Riess-Passer|Riess-Passer]] lost the support of many party members. This meeting is also sometimes considered as a rebellion against the members which are currently involved in the government, which was thought to be started or at least supported by Haider. Thus Riess-Passer resigned as Vice Federal Chancellor and Party Chairwoman and with her went Karl-Heinz Grasser, the finance minister, and Peter Westenthaler, the head of the Freedom Party's Parliament Club. This resulted in new [[Austria legislative election, 2002|general elections in November]]. |
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:He was also recently on the History Channel program about Nostradamus. [[User:Fuzzform|Fuzzform]] 19:14, 2 November 2007 (UTC) |
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They resulted in a landslide victory (42.27% of the vote) of the conservative [[ÖVP|People's Party]] led by Federal Chancellor [[Wolfgang Schüssel]]. Haider's Freedom Party, which in 1999 was slightly stronger than Schüssel's party, was (see |
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[http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1469609]) reduced to 10.16% of the vote. |
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==Photos== |
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In response, Haider stated that he had demanded that the leader of the FPÖ must step down to allow him to be leader, and on being refused, stated that he would leave federal politics permanently. |
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The reader gains no benefit from seeing three portraits by the same photographer at the same session. One is enough. I'm deleting two of them. If someone wants to use a different one that's fine but please don't add them all back without discussion. [[Special:Contributions/Will_Beback| ·:· ]][[User:Will Beback|Will Beback]] [[User talk:Will Beback|·:·]] 20:01, 26 May 2008 (UTC) |
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:Agreed. Wikipedia is not one editor's personal photo portfolio, it's an encyclopedia. The Image "ShermerGodOut" was added to replace the prior image, which, while a nice image of him, cropped off the top of his head. This new one that [[User:Loxton]] added is also nice, but also cropped off his head. Loxton noted in his Edit Summary that it was a "new portrait", but we do not replace images simply because they're several months newer. I actually like the lighting in Loxton's photo, but if he can upload a version of it, or another one, that doesn't truncate Shermer's head, I'd prefer that one. |
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In October 2003, a cabinet reshuffle instigated by Haider took place. [[Herbert Haupt|Haupt]] had to step down as Vice Chancellor to be replaced by [[Hubert Gorbach]]. |
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:As for the caption, which originally described it as having been taken of Shermer at the Great American God-Out, [[User:24.69.97.156]] changed it, saying in his/her Edit Summary, "Updated photo caption. The previous caption was specific to atheism and may have been misleading. The breadth of Dr. Shermer's is not limited to atheism." First of all, I don't see how this is an "update", since an update implies that some real-life status has changed. It is also not "specific" to atheism, it simply describes where it took place. It took place at the Great American God-Out, and thus, that's what the caption describes. User24 says the breadth of Shermer's (I assume they meant to say "the breadth of his '''work'''") is not limited to atheism. The only one interpreting the caption to mean or imply that it is is User:24. No intelligent reasonable person would assume, from the caption, that that's all he is, when the rest of the article, including the Lead, is right in front of him. User:24's replacement caption is also inaccurate, as it stated that he was "speaking" in Manhattan. In fact, he had already finished speaking, and was not posing for the camera. Does he look like he's "speaking" in that shot? The fact that User:24 interprets the accurate caption wildly does not mean that we '''censor''' it. [[User:Nightscream|Nightscream]] ([[User talk:Nightscream|talk]]) 07:35, 11 October 2008 (UTC) |
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On 7 March 2004 the FPÖ won a plurality (42.5%) of the vote in the elections for the Carinthian parliament. On 31 March 2004 Haider was re-elected Governor of Carinthia by the FPÖ and [[SPÖ]] members of the state parliament. |
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==Criticism section== |
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However, outside Carinthia, Haider's charisma seemed to have largely lost its appeal among voters. The FPÖ incurred devastating losses in several regional elections, the [[European Elections of 2004]] and in elections for the Austrian Chamber of Commerce. In each of those elections, it lost between one half to two thirds of their previous voters. |
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The text in this section seems to be one man's rant against Shermer on the specific topic of complexity and determinism. Perhaps only a brief mention is warranted, along with the many other criticisms Shermer has faced in his role as a public intellectual. |
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== Creation of a new party == |
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As a consequence, the FPÖ, whose chair was Haider's sister, Ursula Haubner, was riven with internal strife. On 4 April 2005, Haider, Haubner, Vice Chancellor Hubert Gorbach and other leading figures of the [[FPÖ]] announced the creation of a new party called [[Alliance for the Future of Austria]] (Bündnis Zukunft Österreich, BZÖ) with Haider as leader. In effect, this split the FPÖ into two parties. |
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In the following months, the [[BZÖ]] tried to establish itself within the Austrian political landscape, but met little success. Haider and his new party remained in the coalition with the People's party, leading to fierce fights between the FPÖ and BZÖ following the split-up. Subsequent polls showed that both parties were losing voter approval and in danger of failing to reach the critical 4% of the national vote barrier required for representation in parliament. |
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In the 2006 general elections, the BZÖ received 4.1% of votes, thus narrowly securing its representation of 7 seats in parliament. The [[FPÖ]], now led by [[Heinz-Christian Strache]] surpassed initial expectations, receiving 11.0% of the vote, 532 votes behind the [[Austrian Green Party|Greens]]. |
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From June 2006 to August 2008, the BZÖ was lead by [[Peter Westenthaler]]. On 30 August 2008, shortly before the [[Austrian legislative election, 2008|legislative election]], Haider re-assumed the party chairmanship. Subsequently, the BZÖ received 10.7% of votes. |
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== Haider's political views == |
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===Political views=== |
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Haider had been a critic of Austrian politics since he began his political career in the 1970s, using simple sentences and blunt logic to highlight issues the general public perceived as unjust or self-motivated politics of the big parties politics the [[SPÖ|Austrian Social Democrats]] and the [[ÖVP|Austrian People's party]] (see [http://www.doew.at/information/mitarbeiter/beitraege/fpoeenglbn.html]). |
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Haider opposed immigration, although in early 2005 he publicly supported [[Turkey]]'s bid to enter the [[European Union]]. |
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The FPÖ and Haider's new party, the BZÖ, declined to voter approvals of not more than 3% each in 2005 on the national level. In the 2008 general election, however, the BZÖ received 10.7% and the FPÖ 17.5% of votes. |
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===Accusations of Nazi sympathy=== |
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Haider made statements that seemed to imply support for some ideas of [[National Socialism]]. His first stint as governor in 1989 ended abruptly when he praised the employment policies of Nazi Germany and was forced to resign (see [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/464260.stm]) A few years later, he described World War II concentration camps as "punishment camps" and said the SS were "a part of the German army which should be honoured" (see [http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/2000/214/haiderquotes.html]). He also compared the deportation of Jews by the Nazis to the expulsion of Sudeten Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II (see [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/464260.stm]). He associated publicly with Waffen-SS veterans, including attending at least one major remembrance ceremony (see [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2000/oct/02/austria]). On one occasion, he insulted [[Ariel Muzicant]] by saying "I do not understand how someone named Ariel [the name of a popular laundry detergent] can catch so much filth."<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1235950.stm</ref> Haider's critics claimed the remark was anti-Semitic.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1235950.stm</ref> |
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==Personal life== |
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On 1 May 1976 Haider married his wife Claudia <ref>http://members.magnet.at/sabidussi/charts/haider.html</ref> The couple had two daughters, one named Ulrike.<ref name=WienerZeitung/> In March 2000, an article in ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that a number of Austrian and German newspapers had claimed that Haider was homosexual. While Haider refused to comment on the matter, the Freedom Party's parliamentary leader, Peter Westenthaler, described the assertions as "sleaze-mongering".<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2000/mar/24/austria.kateconnolly</ref> |
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==Death== |
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Haider was killed in a car crash in [[Köttmannsdorf]] near [[Klagenfurt]], in the state of Carinthia, in the early hours of 11 October 2008. Police reported that the [[Volkswagen Phaeton]] that Haider had been driving came off the road, rolled down an embankment and overturned, causing him "severe head and chest injuries". Haider, who was on his way to a family gathering in honour of his mother's 90th birthday, was alone in the car and no other vehicles were involved.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7664846.stm</ref><ref>http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jnhrKIkZtbp1GqyfoqTMsmwoh1WA</ref><ref>http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1011/haiderj.html</ref> |
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== See also == |
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*[[Carinthia (state)|Carinthia]] |
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*[[Alliance for the Future of Austria]] |
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*[[Freedom Party of Austria]] |
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== References == |
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{{morefootnotes}} |
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{{reflist}} |
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== External links == |
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{{Commons|Category:Jörg Haider|Jörg Haider}} |
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*{{de icon}} [http://www.ktn.gv.at/?siid=108 Landeshauptmann Dr. Jörg Haider (Kärnten)] |
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*{{de icon}} [http://www.parlament.gv.at/WW/DE/PAD_00490/ Dr. Jörg Haider at the Austrian Parliament website] |
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* {{PND|118854208}} |
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{{start box}} |
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| width="25%" align="center" | Preceded by:<br>'''[[Peter Ambrozy]]''' |
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| width="25%" align="center" | '''[[Carinthia (state)|Governor of Carinthia]]'''<br>(First period of office)<br>1989{{ndash}} 1991 |
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| width="25%" align="center" | Succeeded by:<br>'''[[Christoph Zernatto]]''' |
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|- |
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| width="25%" align="center" | Preceded by:<br>'''[[Christoph Zernatto]]''' |
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| width="30%" align="center" | '''[[Carinthia (state)|Governor of Carinthia]]'''<br>(Second period of office)<br>Since 1999 |
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| width="25%" align="center" | Succeeded by:<br> --- |
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|- |
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| width="25%" align="center" | '''[[Norbert Steger]]''' |
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| width="30%" align="center" | '''[[Freedom Party of Austria|FPÖ Party Chairman]]'''<br>1986–2000 |
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| width="25%" align="center" | '''[[Susanne Riess-Passer]]''' |
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{{end box}} |
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{{CarinthiaGovs}} |
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{{Current Austrian Governors}} |
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{{FPÖ party chairs}} |
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<!--Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]--> |
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{{Persondata |
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|NAME = Haider, Jörg |
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|ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Haider, Joerg |
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|SHORT DESCRIPTION = Austrian politician |
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|DATE OF BIRTH = 26 January 1950 |
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|PLACE OF BIRTH = [[Bad Goisern]] |
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|DATE OF DEATH = 11 October 2008 |
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|PLACE OF DEATH = [[Klagenfurt]] |
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}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Haider, Joerg}} |
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[[Category:Austrian politicians]] |
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[[Category:University of Vienna alumni]] |
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[[Category:1950 births]] |
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[[Category:2008 deaths]] |
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[[Category:Road accident deaths in Austria]] |
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[[bar:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[br:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[cs:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[cy:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[da:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[de:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[es:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[fr:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[it:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[he:ירג היידר]] |
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[[ka:იორგ ჰაიდერი]] |
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[[la:Georgius Haider]] |
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[[nl:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[ja:イェルク・ハイダー]] |
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[[no:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[pl:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[pt:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[ro:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[ru:Хайдер, Йорг]] |
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[[simple:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[sl:Jörg Haider]] |
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[[sr:Јерг Хајдер]] |
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[[fi:Jörg Haider]] |
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Revision as of 07:35, 11 October 2008
| This article must adhere to the biographies of living persons (BLP) policy, even if it is not a biography, because it contains material about living persons. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libellous. If such material is repeatedly inserted, or if you have other concerns, please report the issue to this noticeboard.If you are a subject of this article, or acting on behalf of one, and you need help, please see this help page. |
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His worldview
He's an atheist (a negative one): [1]
Schizophrenia
Why is he listed in the "people with schizophrenia" category when their isn't any mention of his having the disorder in the article? Treybien 17:35 15 November 2006 (UTC)
Here's a question
the paragraph here:
"When it comes to the question regarding the possibility of telepathy in Folie a deux through emotional contagion, Shermer has stated psychiatry is out of his field. This is inconsistent with an authoritive author recognized for writing books on how and why people things. He defines Folie a deux, a medically documented altered state, as an anomoly."
This seems to contain a great deal of opinion. Shermer is not a psychiatrist and his book "Why People Believe Weird Things" is not a book on pyschiatry, but rather an analysis of psychology as it blurs closely with the philosophy of skepticism. His authorship of the book marks him as an authority on skepticism, surely, but certainly not psychiatry, which is the subject of Folie a deux. I have removed the sentence beginning "This is inconsistent..." under that consideration. Please discuss.
Here's another question
Hey! For some reason Wikipedia won't let me edit right now, but could someone try making this change: in the second paragraph from the bottom, it states that "Shermer, with a Ph.D in psychology, has stated psychiatry is out of his field." As the article earlier correctly states, Shermer's PhD is iin the history of science, NOT psychology. Cheers! Jason
- I commented out the line, as per Jason's comment. Can anyone fix this inconsistency (and please supply a source, while you're at it, if possible). Guettarda 03:26, 31 August 2006 (UTC)
I'm wondering how much more of Shermer's writings on cryonics there are than the brief account of the very commonly known problem of freezing cells included here. Anyone who looks at the cryonics article on Wikipedia can read the discussion on the possibility of non-destructive cryonics based on vitrification. If Shermer wanted to write a serious critique of cryonics then it certainly looks like he would have to have taken vitrification into account, and not just freezing. (Assuming, that is, that the research into vitrification was done before Shermer's 2001 article - as the Cryonics article states that this discovery was made at the "turn of the century". It's not clear to me if it was). But whether Shermer did discuss this or not is not clear from the brief quote here. What is quoted here does not seem to me to necessarily be representative of a serious criticism of cryonics, as it simply states a basic physical phenomenon without taking into account the fact that cryonicists have come up with scientifically plausible ways of overcoming this problem. (Hippogriff)
Shermer's Fundamentalism
I do remember him saying that at one time he was "evangelical" and a strong believer in religions. I beileve he says that at some time during Science Friction. Was he actually a "fundamentalist" as the word is usually used (as in, a young or old earth creationist who takes everything in the bible literally) or was he merely a devout Christian? Some further clarification is needed, and would be greately appreciated! :D --131.104.138.14 01:32, 28 September 2005 (UTC)
Re: Shermer's Fundamentalism, 131.104.138.14 01:32, 28 September 2005 (UTC)
I edited the main page to provide a more objective language to two phrases. My edits are in italics, here. The first is, "Shermer is the author of several books that attempt to explain the ubiquity of what in his opinion are irrational or unsubstantiated beliefs." The second, pertaining to your own concern, is, "Shermer, who claims he was once a fundamentalist Christian, is now..."
Due to the overt bias of Mr. Shermer, I think these more objective renditions are justified.
--70.115.222.81 06:57, 25 December 2005 (UTC)
- I don't understand the second change. Do you think that he is lying? Why? That's how the word "claims" sounds. (BTW, you seem to use "bias" as a synonym for "deviation from my own position", a very common usage of the term.) --Hob Gadling 12:56, 11 January 2006 (UTC)
Jack Sarfatti apparently is again violating his permaban
On Aug 24, 2006, at 7:18 PM, ****** wrote to Jack Sarfatti under Subject heading: "Swine: Take me off your Kook list"
"How many times do I have to tell you asswipe?"
Michael Shermer AKA ****** essentially calls top physicist Freeman Dyson of the Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies a kook for endorsing scientific research into the paranormal. http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/04-05-04.html#freeman
— Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.121.151.244 (talk • contribs)
- The IP address 68.121.151.244 (talk · contribs · block log) corresponds to the snfc21.pacbell.net anon (SBC Internet in the Bay area). This domain has been frequently used in the past by user JackSarfatti (talk · contribs · block log), IRL Jack Sarfatti, who was permabanned 14 December 2005 by Jimbo himself for repeatedly making legal threats against numerous users (including myself), among various other offenses.
- Sarfatti is known to mailbomb and otherwise harrass persons he doesn't like, including Jimbo Wales, and from his previous edits and other evidence he is known to dislike Shermer as well. Posting Shermer's email address is of course an invitation to spammers to spam Shermer; I have removed the email address from this talk page.
- In another edit, this anon committed a violation of WP:NLT (see last line). Sarfatti has previously threatened and harassed User:Calton).
- Sarfatti should not be editing the Wikipedia at all, and this activity has been reported. ---CH 19:12, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
List
I find the list of published columns a bit tacky the way it is currently. Is there a reason for formatting it this way? I'll use a normal list. - Anas Talk? 14:22, 22 February 2007 (UTC)
Middle name "Brant"
According to the listings in Amazon.com, Dr. Shermer was credited as "Michael Brant Shermer" in the forwards of Arthur T. Benjamin's math books. --AdjustablePliers 21:30, 3 October 2007 (UTC)
- He was also recently on the History Channel program about Nostradamus. Fuzzform 19:14, 2 November 2007 (UTC)
Photos
The reader gains no benefit from seeing three portraits by the same photographer at the same session. One is enough. I'm deleting two of them. If someone wants to use a different one that's fine but please don't add them all back without discussion. ·:· Will Beback ·:· 20:01, 26 May 2008 (UTC)
- Agreed. Wikipedia is not one editor's personal photo portfolio, it's an encyclopedia. The Image "ShermerGodOut" was added to replace the prior image, which, while a nice image of him, cropped off the top of his head. This new one that User:Loxton added is also nice, but also cropped off his head. Loxton noted in his Edit Summary that it was a "new portrait", but we do not replace images simply because they're several months newer. I actually like the lighting in Loxton's photo, but if he can upload a version of it, or another one, that doesn't truncate Shermer's head, I'd prefer that one.
- As for the caption, which originally described it as having been taken of Shermer at the Great American God-Out, User:24.69.97.156 changed it, saying in his/her Edit Summary, "Updated photo caption. The previous caption was specific to atheism and may have been misleading. The breadth of Dr. Shermer's is not limited to atheism." First of all, I don't see how this is an "update", since an update implies that some real-life status has changed. It is also not "specific" to atheism, it simply describes where it took place. It took place at the Great American God-Out, and thus, that's what the caption describes. User24 says the breadth of Shermer's (I assume they meant to say "the breadth of his work") is not limited to atheism. The only one interpreting the caption to mean or imply that it is is User:24. No intelligent reasonable person would assume, from the caption, that that's all he is, when the rest of the article, including the Lead, is right in front of him. User:24's replacement caption is also inaccurate, as it stated that he was "speaking" in Manhattan. In fact, he had already finished speaking, and was not posing for the camera. Does he look like he's "speaking" in that shot? The fact that User:24 interprets the accurate caption wildly does not mean that we censor it. Nightscream (talk) 07:35, 11 October 2008 (UTC)
Criticism section
The text in this section seems to be one man's rant against Shermer on the specific topic of complexity and determinism. Perhaps only a brief mention is warranted, along with the many other criticisms Shermer has faced in his role as a public intellectual.