I believe there are documented, well attested cases in which some opponents of cold fusion actually refused to read or consider the evidence - or said that they would disbelieve anything reported in its support. This is not unusual. Sheldrake politely reports the same sort of behavior in regard to his treatment by Dawkins on the subject of telepathy. Much the same with O'Bockris...... and Halston Arp.... and others.
I observed the same behavior in regard to Steins' movie "Expelled". I accept evolution as fact. However, observing long diatribes against such a work that admit that they had never seen the movie is beneath contempt. I believe that this lack of civility and fair play makes the 'extraordinary evidence' concept into nonsense. Keep in mind that the above doesn't even begin to account for the distortion caused by entrenched moneyed interests. Dr. Greer (of recent UFO exposure notoriety) referred to them as "Petro-Fascists" - which nicely sums them up. Anyone care to explain how an entire war costing hundreds of billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives took place when it was entirely triggered by fraud? And hardly anyone seems to care? As scientific thought moves along, the body of work that supports its conservative nature expands in volume. Any exception to "generalizations" - might always be inferior as to "weight"or "strange", given lack of funding, attention or the outright prejudice that many encounter - in this circumstance of bias. The extraordinary goalposts might always be a distant illusion, especially if the desired effect is subtle or difficult to enlarge. Whatever his flaws ( and they are many) Rossi displays wisdom by attempting an end run around the biased. Godspeed to him in that.
