I had never heard of the Overton Window until I read this blog post on how Richard Dawkins had shifted this window to include atheism. Basically, the window defines what is an acceptable viewpoint in public debate: I can see how you can shift the window to include your viewpoint: with good arguments, eloquently presented (as in the recent atheist books Sean mentions). The reverse must be more difficult: how do you get certain opinions to be acknowledged as laughable and crazy? This is difficult even when they indeed are laughable and crazy! We all know these stories that, while virtually everyone knows they're false, stubbornly refuse to die. What kind of 'vigorous advocacy' can shift (or narrow?) the window to exclude opinions that are demonstrably laughable and crazy? Here are 22 examples for laughable and crazy ideas without which the planet sure would be a better place. 22 good reasons to shift the Overton Window, so that people can spend their time and efforts on less laughable and crazy ideas:

1. Obama's birth certificate is fake
2. Holocaust never happened
3. 9/11 masterminded by (insert arbitrary intelligence agency here)
4. Moon landings fake
5. Earth is flat
6. Global warming caused by the sun
   
7. CIA killed JFK
8. Vaccines cause autism
   
9. Creationism (includes ID)
10. Aliens in area 51
11. Astrology
12. Divining rods find water
    
13. Raping a virgin cures AIDS
14. Homeopathy
15. Elvis is alive
16. UFOs/alien abduction
17. Extrasensory perception
18. Talking to the dead
19. Prayer heals
    
20. Illuminati
21. H1N1 swine flu caused by homosexuality and masturbation
22. The Impact Factor is non-negotiable, reproducible, and mathematically sound