Yet another bogus anti science "watchdog" group rears its very ugly head

This seems to be another case of an immature snot-nose sociopath using the leveling power of the Internet to be important-seeming, and accusing stem cell researchers of fraud with highly dubious evidence that reflects more on the accuser's low level of training and inadequate knowledge than anything else. ERV, spotting the parallels with the "Your Not Helping" fiasco, nails it. Here.

More like this

It's not uncommon for groups that are trying to ban something to frame themselves as "watchdog groups". The National Vaccine Information Centre must be the classic example, one that Orac has fisked on several occasions http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/10/november_1-6_to_be_vaccine_aw…

Another good examle is the animal rights group SAEN, which is a one man outfit rrun by Michael Budkie, which almost always describes itself as a watchdog group in presss releases.

http://speakingofresearch.com/2009/08/13/federal-agencies-rebut-budkies…

Like "Stem Cell Watch" Budkie often makes allegations of fraud against research institutions, based on his misrepresentation of the contents of official documents he obtains by FOI.

What is worrying is how often journalists fall for the lies told by these faux-watchdog groups, though to be fair the limp responses by some of the research institutions targeted doesn't help (see http://speakingofresearch.com/2010/09/08/speaking-up-who-does-%E2%80%98…).

Perhaps it's not that surprising that other marginal causes are adopting the same tactics.