oracknows | July 23, 2010Even after having been at this skeptical medical blogging game for nearly six years, every so often I still come across woo about which I had been previously unaware. It's hard to believe, but it's true. In fact, I'm beginning to think that, even if I were to keep blogging until I drop dead (hopefully at least thirty or forty years in the future), as I type out my last extra cantankerous bit of not-so-Respectful Insolence (my cantankerousness merely increasing with advancing age, of course), I would come across some new and spectacular form of woo that somehow had been missed during my forty-…
oracknows | July 22, 2010As you may have heard, the strike is over. That doesn't mean the crisis is over, nor does it necessarily mean that I will be staying with ScienceBlogs, but I view management's response as a positive move that may be enough to keep me here. Now management needs to lose the Google ads for quackery, and then we have something to talk about. It seems that every time our benevolent overlords kill one set of quack ads, they disappear for a short while, only to reappear in a different guise. I think they understand that. At least I hope so.
In the meantime, I will speak no further of these issues,…
oracknows | July 21, 2010While the drama continues and interesting developments occur, I've found that I actually don't mind taking a couple of days off. Don't worry. Blogging's a bug that's gotten into me and, like PZ, I'll probably start twitching and seizing if I go too long without producing one of my patented logorrheic screeds of pure insolence, be it here, at my super not-so-secret other blog, or on some other blogging platform. At least 4,000 words would be best. Still, I should take a couple of days off more often and not under circumstances like the current upheaval.
Upheaval or no upheaval, strike or no…
oracknows | July 21, 2010...this time it's Abel Pharmboy, who's now here. Please reset your bookmarks.
Farewell, friend. I'll still be reading.
oracknows | July 20, 2010...remember that the following three domains will always point to where I am:
http://www.respectfulinsolence.net
http://www.respectfulinsolence.org
http://www.respectfulinsolence.com
Also remember that, should anything happen, I still have my old Blogspot blog Respectful Insolence, which can be reactivated at a moment's notice, as I did last year when an attempt at a software upgrade at ScienceBlogs took longer than anticipated.
The fastest way to find out what's going on, though, is probably my Twitter account:
http://twitter.com/oracknows
And, don't forget, I also have my other super secret…
oracknows | July 20, 2010There's one thing I like to emphasize to people who complain that this blog exists only to "bash 'alternative' medicine," and that's that it doesn't. This blog exists, besides to champion science and critical thinking (and, of course, to feed my ravenous ego), in order to champion medicine based on science against all manner of dubious practices. Part of that purpose involves understanding and accepting that science-based medicine is not perfect. It is not some sort of panacea. Rather, it has many shortcomings and all too often does not live up to its promise. Our argument is merely that,…
oracknows | July 19, 2010I can't believe it.
I really can't believe it.
I really, really, really can't believe it.
Bora has left ScienceBlogs.
Readers of just this blog probably don't know what a body blow that is to the ScienceBlogs collective. Readers of multiple ScienceBlogs probably realize that Bora was the proverbial heart and soul of ScienceBlogs. It's news that's left Isis the Scientist speechless and GrrlScientist "deeply upset." Even ScienceBlogs' big macher PZ Myers has pointed out how Bora compared the situation here to to Bion's Effect, where the departure of a few people at a party triggers a sudden end…
oracknows | July 19, 2010The Force remains strong in Darth Jobs, even after antennagate.
I actually love my iPhone 4 and haven't had any problems with it. Even so, I found the above video about Steve Jobs' infamous Reality Distortion Field to be hilarious, even though it comes from Taiwan and I can't understand a word of it. It doesn't surprise me in the least that Jobs' power derives from the dark side of the Force.
ADDENDUM:
Here's the same video with English subtitles.
Well, it's not the greatest as far as English subtitles go, but you get the message I think.
oracknows | July 19, 2010"I know you are, but what am I?"
That's basically the child's version of a familiar logical fallacy known as the tu quoque, which basically means, "You, too!" It's a very simple and simplistic logical fallacy that tries to argue that, if one's trait shares one or more of the same bad traits of the people he is criticizing, then his arguments can be dismissed. It's sometimes very effective in that implied within the fallacy is a charge of hypocrisy. As a diversionary tactic, it can be very effective.
Not too surprisingly, I've found a doozy of an example of just this fallacy over at the other…
oracknows | July 18, 2010Now this would be a most excellent gift for skeptical friends: The Periodic Table of Irrational Nonsense. Check it out:
(Bigger version at the link.)
It would clearly make a lovely poster, although I must confess that I have my doubts that it will show up well enough on a T shirt to be worth doing.
oracknows | July 16, 2010
Ever since I somehow stumbled into a niche in the blogosphere where I seem to be one of a handful of go-to bloggers for issues having to do with vaccines and the anti-vaccine movement, like Spider-Man I realize that with great power comes great responsibility.
Wait a minute. That beginning was too pompous and pretentious even for me. I know it's hard to believe, but even Orac has limits when it comes to pretentiousness.
Orac-ian pomposity aside, there are indeed certain topics that I can't resist. Whether it's because they intensely interest me or my being an aforementioned "go-to" blogger…
oracknows | July 15, 2010As much fun as I had at TAM8, there is one consequence of being out of town and not paying attention to the blog or the Internet as much as I usually do. Well, actually, there are multiple consequences. One is a momentary lapse in insanity. In other words, it's good for the mental health to cut back on the blogging. True, such is the level of my insanity that I didn't just stop altogether for five or six days, as I probably should have, but what can I say? Another consequence is that inevitably one or more things pop up that under normal conditions I'd be going full mental Orac on that…
oracknows | July 14, 2010Orac note: Please be sure to read the addendum.
Say it ain't so, Jill! Check out this e-mail notice from the latest Generation Rescue mailing list sent to me by a reader. It's apparently legitimate, because I found a copy of it on the Generation Rescue website itself. Look at who's being featured at a fundraiser for anti-vaccine guru, discredited and delicensed U.K. physician and "researcher" Andrew Wakefield:
A Private Evening with Dr. Andy Wakefield
To benefit Dr. Wakefield's research:
"Strategic Autism Initiative"
WHEN: Sunday, July 25th
WHERE: Private house in Woodland Hills, California…
oracknows | July 14, 2010Wendy, I'm home.
Oh, wait a minute. I'm not that crazy. Yet.
Sometimes, though, it does seem as though the constant barrage of quackery, anti-vaccine pseudoscience, and pseudoscience in general might drive me to become like poor Jack Torrence of the Stephen King novel and movie The Shining. Fortunately for me, I discovered that there really are people out there who share my passion for science and reason and my dislike of woo. Unfortunately, I waited several years before venturing forth to gatherings of like-minded (and sometimes not-so-like-minded) skeptics to meet people in person and start…
oracknows | July 13, 2010Finally, I'm winging my way back home after TAM8 plus a couple of days. It seems as though I've been away a long time, even though it's only been less than six days. While I'm on a travel day, check out this video that a few of you have been sending me:
Not bad. Not bad at all. How'd I miss it a couple of months ago when it first popped up on YouTube?
oracknows | July 13, 2010Remember Doctors Data? It's the highly dubious medical laboratory that Trine Tsouderos exposed in her series on the quackery that is the "autism biomed" movement. A couple of weeks ago, Doctors Data also decided to launch what appears to be frivolous lawsuit against the creator and maintainer of the Quackwatch website, Steve Barrett; i.e. a SLAPP lawsuit.
Apparently unsatisfied with its legal thuggery against Steve Barrett, Doctors Data has apparently decided to plumb new depths by using new media to threaten other bloggers. This time around, Doctors Data has actually Tweeted a cease and…
oracknows | July 12, 2010Although The Amazing Meeting is now over, my vacation is not, at least not yet. My wife and I decided to take an extra couple of days off before winging our way home tomorrow. Originally I had planned on posting "reruns" for a couple of days, but something popped up that I felt obligated to comment on. I knew this was coming, thanks to the inimitable Australian skeptic and promoter of science-based medicine Dr. Rachie, with whom I shared the podium both for the Science-Based Medicine Workshop and on a panel on Saturday at TAM. She told me that something would be coming on Monday (Australian…
oracknows | July 12, 2010...then how come there are so many believers in homeopathy?
Truly, a scientific mystery...
oracknows | July 11, 2010I may be in Las Vegas as The Amazing Meeting winds down today, but still I'm a bit sad.
Has it really been two whole years today?
Yes, we have a different dog now, but does the presence of a new friend make you forget a friend who's died?
oracknows | July 10, 2010Still away, still having too much fun to blog. So....we still need content:
Fear not. The logorrheic insolence will return. Just not today. In fact, as this autoposts, I'll be heading over to the Skepchick party. I'm a little nervous. I don't think I've been to such a bash since college or medical school. I'm an old fart now.
In the meantime, before I get a chance to comment on it, perhaps you'd like to comment on David Colquhoun's taking me to the woodshed for not immediately dropping my association with Seed. Personally, I think his argument that science bloggers should never be paid goes…