oracknows | October 30, 2008I've written here before about nutritional supplements. Specifically, I've expressed my dismay at the double standard, codified into law in 1994 in the form of the DSHEA. This particular bit of truly awful law in essence took away the power of the FDA and FTC to regulate dietary supplements, except under certain rather narrow conditions. In essence, if a supplement manufacturer is careful to keep the claims for a supplement from being too specific, the FDA is virtually powerless to regulate the supplement because the law defines dietary supplements as "food." So, in other words, vague,…
oracknows | October 29, 2008...the editors of Seed Magazine have endorsed Barack Obama for President.
In other news, the Pope remains Catholic, and bears have been observed relieving themselves in the woods.
oracknows | October 29, 2008Longtime readers of this blog know that my original exposure to antivaccination conspiracy theories first occurred in the context of the now pseudoscientific and discredited hypothesis that somehow the mercury in the thimerosal preservative that used to be used in vaccines was the cause of autism. Despite the backpedaling among antivaccination zealots such as J. B. Handley in the face of overwhelming epidemiological evidence that mercury in vaccines is in fact not detectably correlated with an increased incidence or risk of autism, there still remains a die-hard contingent who insists against…
oracknows | October 28, 2008Warning: Some of the links in this post go to hate sites. I include them because I think it's important for people to see exactly what white supremacists say in their own words, if they are curious to do so and thus learn how low these people will go. However, if you're at work you may not want to click on them.
Regular readers of this blog know that I have a major interest in World War II history and the Holocaust. Specifically, I've spent a fair amount of time writing about Holocaust denial. My interest in Holocaust denial derives from two sources. First, it's disgust at the racism, Hitler…
oracknows | October 28, 2008The other day, I thought it was about time that I did some of that cool and fancy ResearchBlogging.org stuff, you know, to keep this blog from being nothing more than a collection of not-so-Respectfully Insolent spleen venting at generalized stupidity. I realize that those are some of the funnest posts here and that people like them, but a little variety is required. No study, however, had quite floated my boat, and I was almost to the point of being desperate enough for blog fodder that I considered perusing Age of Autism or even NaturalNews.com (maybe later in the week) in search of that…
oracknows | October 27, 2008Hot on the heals of my post earlier today about the flurry of misinformation-laden ads being aired in Michigan to try to prevent Proposition 2, the proposed amendment to the Michigan State Constitution that would allow embryonic stem cell research using embryos that would be discarded from fertility clinics, I've learned that my alma mater, the University of Michigan, where I did both my undergraduate and medical school training, has released a series of videos countering the dishonest propaganda of groups like MiCAUSE:
The truth about stem cell science
And there's more:
Where Do Embryonic…
oracknows | October 27, 2008Two years ago, there was a brouhaha in Missouri over a ballot proposal to allow state funding for embryonic stem cell research using discarded embryos from fertility clinics. The issue made national news, including some rather despicable rhetoric from Rush Limbaugh about Michael J. Fox, who made ads in support of the Missouri initiative, as well as deceptive ads against the proposal featuring Patricia Heaton and members of the St. Louis Cardinals. It was a big stink that drew national attention.
Fast forward to two years later and to my home state of Michigan, and history appears to be…
oracknows | October 26, 2008I don't recall where I saw this, but I've been meaning to post it. What better time than a not-so-lazy Sunday, when I have to work on a talk, paper, and other things? (It's either this, or no blog for you on Monday; I think you know which you'd prefer.)
For those of you not familiar with Captain Jack, the reason he keeps getting up after being shot is that he can't be killed (the reasons would take too long to explain). I particularly like the Davros costume, I must admit.
oracknows | October 25, 2008Think this election is bad? Think it's really negative? Think it's really vicious and nasty?
Think again.
Negative campaigning and vicious attacks by candidates on each other have been with us since at least the election of 1800. If anything, these days elections are probably tamer. The difference is the media. Between robocalls, television, radio, the Internet, the blogosphere, and all the outlets that attacks can find, our campaigns just seem nastier.
oracknows | October 24, 2008You remember Dr. Rashid Buttar, don't you? He's that blight on North Carolina's medical establishment, known for his "transdermal chelation therapy" that he's unable to demonstrate as being able to be absorbed through the skin, much less chelate anything (arguably a good thing, actually, because at least it probably doesn't hurt anyone, as a real transdermal chelation agent might). He's also known for some rather more--shall we say?--colorful "treatments" for autism (colorful as in "yellow"), not to mention IV ozone. He's also in trouble with the North Carolina Medical Board for using equally…
oracknows | October 24, 2008There are times in every physician's career when he or she faces a patient with a serious, even life-threatening disease or condition, who, for whatever reason, does not want treatment. These can be incredibly frustrating and challenging patients. Most physicians try reason, cajoling, and persuasion. Believe it or not, physicians are still held in enough esteem that this will often work on the force of the regard in which patients hold physicians alone. However, it doesn't always. Then the question becomes: How far can a doctor legitimately go to persuade the patient?
Shadowfax has an idea.…
oracknows | October 23, 2008...is here at The Uncredible Hallq, and it's a fine collection of the latest skeptical blogging.
Meanwhile the countdown towards #100 continues. Next up is King of Ferrets Ferret Cage, who will be hosting the 99th Edition of the Skeptics' Circle a fortnight hence, on Thursday, November 6, 2008. I should go back and check to see whether King of Ferrets is the youngest host we've ever had (age 15). Now, I know you all want to encourage the next generation of skeptics; so encourage King of Ferrets and be sure to send him your best stuff in time to be included in the next Circle.
Also, if you're…
oracknows | October 23, 2008I'll give Mike Adams one thing. He's consistent.
Consistently a crank, that is.
Yes, that purveyor of woo, paranoia, and conspiracy theories, not to mention the creator of one of the five largest repositories of quackery support on the Internet, NaturalNews.com, the other three being Mercola.com, Whale.to, CureZone, and Gary Null, is up to his usual tricks again. He's back promoting cancer quackery in his own inimitable style, in which cancer can be prevented and cured with virtually 100% efficacy using supplements and diet and conventional medicine never cures any disease ever. Perhaps what'…
oracknows | October 22, 2008After posting about some openly racist McCain supporters from--sadly, as it is a state in which I lived for eight years and happened to like, by and large, particularly since it's the state where my wife hails from--Ohio, I hadn't planned on doing more posts like this. But a theme emerges, and I decided that this would make a good intermittent series: People with views that shouldn't still be prevalent in 2008, but are. For example:
The homosexual agenda wants people to think that homosexual men are safe for women to hang around and even be alone with. Nothing could be further from the truth…
oracknows | October 22, 2008I hate it when an article starts right out with a rather annoying usage of terminology, even when it provides information that interests me:
(AP) -- Nearly a fourth of widely used new-generation biological drugs that treat several common diseases produce serious side effects that lead to safety warnings soon after they go on the market, the first major study of its kind found.
Included in the report released Tuesday were the arthritis drugs Humira and Remicade, cancer drugs Rituxan and Erbitux, and the heart failure drug Natrecor. All wound up being flagged for safety.
That might surprise…
oracknows | October 21, 2008Yike.
I've been truly remiss in my duty. The Skeptics' Circle is a mere day and a half away. But it's not too late to submit your best skeptical work to Chris at The Uncredible Hallq.
So, if you wanted to submit a post this week but haven't gotten around to it, there isn't much time left.
oracknows | October 21, 2008Oprah Winfrey supports quackery.
That has been richly demonstrated over the last few years, particularly with her gauzy, praise-filled segments featuring such pro-woo luminaries as Jenny McCarthy, her frequently having physicians boosters of "alternative medicine" like Mehmet Oz and Christiane Northrup on her show, and her tight embrace of New Age "spirituality."
Alarmed at the antivaccination nonsense being pushed on Oprah's show, Every Child By Two has been circulating an e-mail:
Please Take The Time To Contact The Oprah Winfrey Show
It has been quite some time since Every Child By Two (…
oracknows | October 21, 2008I've been very critical of The Huffington Post since shortly after its formation three years ago, when (I believe) I was the first blogger to notice a proliferation of antivaccination propaganda at the then brand new group blog. It is a situation that the HuffPo has maintained to the present day. Indeed, on that day three years ago, I noticed that, right in among posts written by such mercury militia antivaccine apologists such as David Kirby, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., there was also Dr. Jay Gordon, who is currently very unhappy at having had a taste of not-so-Respectful Insolence yesterday.…
oracknows | October 21, 2008After having seen the worst, it's encouraging to see that it's not all bad:
Hat tip to Coturnix...
oracknows | October 20, 2008I couldn't help but shake my head in disbelief when I saw this:
It boggles the mind that in 2008 such views still exist. I lived in Ohio for eight years, and I had no idea. Of course, I did live in Cleveland...