Skeptics Weekly Newsletter - Thursday, November 27, 2014

Top new questions this week: Have prior U.S. Presidents used executive actions to change immigration policy I only caught 2 seconds of it on the TV news, but I heard President Obama claim that what he was doing with respect to Immigration Policy was not novel and in fact X-number of prior presidents had ... [ united-states ] [ immigration ]   asked by Peter Turner 16 votes answered by Larian LeQuella 21 votes Was the Emancipation Proclamation an Executive Order? This should be an easy one, but I wanted to ask so we have confirmation or refutation. This image is making the rounds on facebook: So, how factual is this statement? [ history ] [ politics ]   asked by Larian LeQuella 13 votes answered by ChrisW 20 votes Can eating human hair cause a blockage in the digestive tract? I have met the idea in conversation on multiple occasions that human hair is dangerous to eat in moderate to large quantities as it will build up in the digestive tract causing a blockage in the ... [ medical-science ]   asked by Reluctant_Linux_User 12 votes answered by Michael Borgwardt 15 votes Will criticizing immigration be illegal in Sweden? There's an article titled Sweden passes law to criminalize any criticism of immigration which says, A new law will come into effect in Sweden after Christmas 2014, that will allow people to be ... [ government-policy ] [ immigration ] [ sweden ]   asked by JohnEye 10 votes answered by Tor-Einar Jarnbjo 7 votes Is this a ship-shipping ship, shipping shipping ships? This image has been making the rounds on the internet, with the caption: This is a ship-shipping ship, shipping shipping ships. The obvious question being: is this true or a photoshop? And ... [ transportation ]   asked by David Mulder 6 votes answered by Oddthinking 7 votes Does the installation of blue lights at specific locations on railway station platforms reduce the incidence of suicide? Does the installation of blue lights at specific locations on station platforms reduce the incidence of suicide... at that location? using that particular method ('suicide by train')? overall? The ... [ suicide ]   asked by A E 6 votes Does wetting your toothbrush have health effects? Today I read a tweet from @Funny_Truth: "Don't wet your toothbrush after you put toothpaste. Water will reduce the healthy benefits of toothpaste." Is it true? If it is what does actually ... [ environmental-health ] [ chemistry ] [ water ]   asked by AaKASH 5 votes answered by Lobotomy -4 votes Greatest hits from previous weeks: Has the cure to cancer been hidden by pharmaceutical companies? I've heard a theory that given the widespread incidence of cancer, a cancer cure probably already exists but has been hidden by major pharmaceutical companies to maximise revenue from expensive cancer ... [ medical-science ] [ cancer ]   asked by Huey 83 votes answered by Michael Borgwardt 148 votes Did the Nazis maliciously fluoridate drinking water? Firstly, I think this is a stupid unbelievable question. However, for the sake of getting on S.SE, is there any evidence to for the Nazis using fluoride maliciously for example, to make prisoners more ... [ water ] [ fluoridation ] [ fluoride ]   asked by Evan Carroll 22 votes answered by LindaRosaRN 25 votes Can you answer these? Is some better technology suppressed in favor of profits? The Conspiracy in Question: I have heard from different sources (crazy people), that certain companies suppress better technology in favor of profits. For instance car tires and light-bulbs that last ... [ conspiracy ]   asked by Tyler Durden 1 vote To get husbands, pastor undresses and kisses female church members behinds at beach I came across this article from Facebook where this site (Warning: Site contains nudity) claims a pastor asked his female members who are spinsters to a beach where they were asked to undress and were ... [ news ]   asked by Mr. Tea 3 votes Do 3% of the Swiss eat dogs and cats? There have been stories lately of a petition presented to the Swiss government asking them to outlaw the eating of cats and dogs. This BBC article includes a claim from Tomi Tomek that 3% of the ... [ nutrition ] [ dogs ] [ switzerland ] [ cats ]   asked by Ladadadada 2 votes

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