"A statement of fact cannot be insolent." The miscellaneous ramblings of a surgeon/scientist on medicine,
quackery, science, pseudoscience, history, and pseudohistory (and anything else that interests him)
Orac is the nom de blog of a humble pseudonymous surgeon/scientist with an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his miscellaneous verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few will. (Continued here, along with a DISCLAIMER that you should read before reading any medical discussions here.)
Orac's old Blog is archived at Archived Insolence.
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July 31, 2007
Since this seems to be the day for applying Respectful Insolenceâ„¢ to people who say stupid things about me... Everyone knows that Dean Esmay and I don't exactly see eye to eye on a lot of things. Indeed, it could...
Posted by Orac at 2:34 PM • 13 Comments
Category: Clinical trials • Medicine • News of the Weird • Politics
I was going to write about a recent study that purports to claim that smoking pot causes schizophrenia that's been making the rounds lately. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you see it), this week's host of the Skeptics' Circle,...
Posted by Orac at 12:31 PM • 25 Comments
Category: Cancer • Medicine • Politics
A couple of weeks ago, inspired by a somewhat drunken encounter two weeks prior, against my better judgment, I waded into the evidence supporting the contention that secondhand smoke is harmful to health, increasing the risk of heart disease and...
Posted by Orac at 9:01 AM • 91 Comments
July 30, 2007
If you want to know how clueless our current President is about healthcare and the uninsured, just check out this quote from a speech he gave recently: The immediate goal is to make sure there are more people on private...
Posted by Orac at 4:20 PM • 22 Comments
Category: Medicine • Politics • Pseudoscience • Skepticism/critical thinking
I've been a bit remiss about reporting an update on the Tripoli Six, six foreign health care workers who were falsely accused of intentionally infecting children at a hospital in Libya with HIV, leading to their being convicted and sentenced...
Posted by Orac at 12:01 PM • 5 Comments
Category: Bioethics • Cancer • Medicine • Politics • Surgery
Then I read the New York Times yesterday and saw this article (Cancer Patients, Lost in a Maze of Uneven Care) on the front page. Given that cancer is my primary area of interest and this article touches on a number of important problems, I decided that sparring over secondhand smoke could wait another day or two...The article in question starts out by telling a truly sad story about a 35 year-old woman who, after giving birth, was diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer as the human interest to represent a systemic problem with cancer care in this country
Posted by Orac at 8:46 AM • 25 Comments
July 29, 2007
Category: Medicine • News of the Weird • Skepticism/critical thinking
(LOL Oscar from Lauren.) While I expressed skepticism the other day regarding the media reports that a cat named Oscar could predict which patients at the nursing home in which he resides were within hours of death, some of...
Posted by Orac at 2:10 PM • 24 Comments
Category: Humor • News of the Weird
Continuing this weekend's silliness, I found a contender for Gene Simmons' throne, at least as far as the tongue action goes: I don't know why I find this video disturbing, but I do. Don't worry. I promise to post something...
Posted by Orac at 12:01 PM • 6 Comments
Category: Bioethics • Medicine • News of the Weird
Here's something that's not a good idea: Boston, MA (AHN) - The Board of Registration in Medicine, which is the governing authority issuing licenses to Massachusetts doctors, has reportedly suspended a Boston anesthesiologist from the practice of medicine for dozing...
Posted by Orac at 9:08 AM • 3 Comments
July 28, 2007
Category: Entertainment/culture • Music
Ya gotta love The Cramps. Their style of rockabilly is so bizarre that it's been dubbed by some as "psychobilly." And, if you happen to be unlucky enough to have to be hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital, I can't imagine...
Posted by Orac at 1:47 PM • 3 Comments
I guess that's where I've been thus far in my life: create your own visited states map or check out these Google Hacks. How about you? Has anyone been to 100% of the states?...
Posted by Orac at 9:37 AM • 16 Comments
Category: Uncategorized
copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy copy...
Posted by Orac at 3:11 AM • 0 Comments
July 27, 2007
Category: Uncategorized
The Brothers BleimanSince early childhood, Andrew and Ben Bleiman have shared an obsession with zoology, corresponding with the mammalogist George Schaller before puberty and memorizing more than one illustrated animal encyclopedia. Although they currently both work in the software industry,...
Posted by Orac at 8:48 PM • 0 Comments
Category: Uncategorized
Zooillogix has been invited to join ScienceBlogs and we have decided to take them up on the offer. ScienceBlogs is a unique community of science related blogs that run the gamut from highly informed and technical to... errr.... us. What...
Posted by Orac at 7:48 PM • 0 Comments
Category: Uncategorized
Harvard professor Robert Wood unveiled his newest creation recently, a robotic fly that can be used as a spy, according to this posting on engadget.com. They fly weighs only .002 ounces and has a wingspan of 1.18 inches. Due to...
Posted by Orac at 3:50 PM • 0 Comments
Category: Announcements • Blog carnivals • Blogging • Skepticism/critical thinking • Skeptics' Circle
After all this annoyance I've had lately about homeopaths doing surgery in Arizona (not to mention the licensing of quackery there), I can't forget that the blog carnival bequeathed to me, The Skeptics' Circle, is fast approaching. This week, the...
Posted by Orac at 3:19 PM •
