White Coat Underground
Archives for July, 2010
Confound it!
Posted by PalMD on July 8, 2010 This article is going to be about sex. I promise. But first, some reflections. Well, Pepsipocalypse continues. The Management pulled the ill-conceived PepsiCo nutrition blog, which is a Good Thing. This doesn’t change my misgivings about what has happened. As many other bloggers have already stated, the Pepsi fiasco is a single, highly-public event, but…
Update on Pepsipocalypse
Posted by PalMD on July 7, 2010 The crack SEED management team has made some significant changes on the new Pepsi nutrition blog. They have placed a small, grey band on the banner that says “Advertorial” (a word I abhor, but whatever). They have also placed the Pepsi logo everywhere and made it fairly clear that it is Pepsi content. This is…
Rethinking blog networks and ethics
Posted by PalMD on July 6, 2010 One of the wonderful things about blogs is their independence. Most are hosted by wordpress or blogger and there isn’t much advertising or sponsorship. Notable exceptions are blog collectives, such as ScienceBlogs and the Discover Magazine blog network. These networks have significant advantages, including technical support, increased reach, and collegiality (your results may vary). One…
Quack-busting is dangerous work
Posted by PalMD on July 6, 2010 First, I’d like to thank you all on commenting on the weekend’s de-lurking post. I really appreciate your taking the time to leave a note. While I write what I feel like, it’s nice to get an idea about what sort of things people are reading. For various reasons, I’ve preferred to write on diverse…
In Congress, July 4th, 1776
Posted by PalMD on July 4, 2010 It’s worth re-reading this remarkable document from time to time, especially given that it says something very different from what many on the Right and in the Tea Party seem to think. It does, for example, give special importance to representative government; that is, in fact, one of the main purposes of the document. It…
Who are you again?
Posted by PalMD on July 2, 2010 DrugMonkey has revived a blog meme that originated with uber science writer Ed Yong. It is basically a request for readers to “de-lurk”. On any blog, the majority of readers never comment, and the people who do comment tend to so over and over again. Writers are inherently narcissistic. As bloggers we can get an…
Cowpox as a sexually transmitted disease?
Posted by PalMD on July 1, 2010 In February, a young woman visited an urgent care clinic complaining of painful vaginal ulcers. The differential diagnosis of genital ulcers is interesting. Common sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhea and chlamydia don’t cause ulcers, but syphilis, herpes, chanchroid do (as do other diseases, but they are not common in the U.S.). Syphilis is typically…
The Great Zombie Hoax
Posted by PalMD on July 1, 2010 ZombiePal, thanks to Ataraxia Theatre Scene: Harpo Studios, Chicago, IL, under heavy guard Dramatis personae: Oprah Winfrey, talk show host; Jenny McCarthy, famous person; Erica Turner, un-dead North Sider Oprah: Jenny, you have been such a maverick. It takes a brave person, one with great inner strength, to say things that are unpopular. How is…