Rebels Believe Whatever They Want

Tara Smith and Steve Novella have a new paper (available at PLoS) in which they discuss the tactics of HIV-denial groups such as Alive and Well. Of course, despite the years of research linking HIV and AIDS, certain people still tend to disbelieve the connection, often portraying themselves as rebel intellectuals fighting a noble fight against close-minded mainstream scientists.

Interesting fact: the Foo Fighters deny the link between HIV and AIDS, and encourage their fans to donate to a denial group. What a bunch of rebels, huh?

On a somewhat related note, former Nixon speech-writer Ben Stein has a new movie coming out in which he portrays evolutionary theory as a close-minded anti-religious dogma, and poses as a rebel intellectual (you can tell he's a rebel because they consantly play the song "Bad to the Bone"). According to Ben Stein, "scientists are not allowed to even think thoughts that involve an intelligent creator." I shit you not. If you don't believe me, here is the movie's website.