I don't see the point. Sorry, couldn't resist.

On our backchannel discussion forum, we ScienceBloggers have been discussing a rather interesting idea that we could use to provide extra value to our readers. The idea is to do short articles about basic concepts in science. It's an intriguing idea, and, while I could try my hand at posts about a number of basic concepts in science, I think that, given my background, my strongest contribution would be basic concepts in my areas of expertise. These could include questions such as: What is cancer? What is a randomized clinical trial? How does chemotherapy work? (Certainly The Cheerful…

Here's an interesting concept that's just been released for purchase, either as a digital download or as a bona fide book: The Open Laboratory: The Best Writing on Science Blogs 2006. It's edited by fellow ScienceBlogger Bora Zikovic. Oh, and it happens to contain a couple of posts by yours truly. In any case, it's a chance to see the best science blogging of the last year or so, all contained in one nice package.

One of the consistent themes of this blog since the very beginning has been that alternative medicine treatments, before being accepted, should be subject to the same standards of evidence as "conventional" medical therapies. When advocates of evidence-based medicine (EBM) like myself say this, we are frequently treated with excuses from advocates of alternative medicine as to why their favored treatments cannot be subjected to the scientific method in the same way that medicine has increasingly applied it to its own treatments over the last few decades, in the process weeding out treatments…

A couple of days ago, I commented on the sad case of Jennifer Strange, the woman who entered a water drinking contest and died, apparently of water intoxication. While listening to the radio this morning as I got ready for work, I heard pundits discussing the case, and one of them stated that she had drunk over two gallons of water in the course of the contest. I've been unable to confirm that Strange did indeed drink that much water, but, if true, that would be around 8 L of water in a short period of time and would be enough to explain her death. The DJ also mentioned that the Sacramento…

The latest History Carnival has been posted at Investigations of a Dog. Lots of good stuff there.

My dear mother pointed out the other day that my Sitemeter is rapidly approaching the 1,000,000 visits mark. And so it is. I had noticed a couple of weeks ago that I was getting close to the zone, but it crept up on me faster than I had expected. With your help, I should be there in week or so. With a little judicious link love, I could be there even sooner. That would leave one question. As Mr. Sun put it: Once a blog reaches one million "page views," the blogger is placed in a sealed room with another popular blogger of the opposite ideology. There, in "Intelligent Blogging Apparel," they…

Regular readers of this blog know that I have a particular dislike for Holocaust denial and that, indeed, I've tried to do my small part to counter the lies spread by Holocaust deniers, beginning on Usenet eight years ago. Regular readers will also know my opinion regarding laws in certain European countries such as Germany and Austria banning Holocaust denial upon pain of prison and other penalties. Although I can understand why such laws may have been necessary in the early postwar period, when the resurgence of Nazi-ism was a real danger, now, nearly 62 years after the end of the war, I…

After competing in a water-drinking contest to win a Wii for her children, a young mother died of water intoxication: SACRAMENTO, California (AP) -- A woman who competed in a radio station's contest to see how much water she could drink without going to the bathroom died of water intoxication, the coroner's office said Saturday. Jennifer Strange, 28, was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest in which KDND 107.9 promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the winner. "She said to one of our supervisors that she…

...or at least the Cybermen would be more entertaining: Now, if I could only see a Dalek episode redone this way. Imagine how the Daleks would sound. (Hat tip: Jody.) And while I'm doing the Sunday Doctor Who thing, who ya gonna call?

I've lamented numerous times (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) about the sometimes painful ignorance of biology and evolutionary theory that's all too common among my fellow physicians, an ignorance that leads to truly embarrassing forays into the "debate" over the pseudoscience of "intelligent design" versus the real science of evolution, an example of which includes the Physicians and Surgeons for Scientific Integrity's idiotic petition expressing "skepticism" about evolution. Here we go again. This time, I learn of a pro-"intelligent design" book for children written by....a physician! Note the author:…

It's rapidly approaching once again: Our once in a fortnight festival of skepticism, our showcase for reason and critical thinking, our veritable carnival of anti-woo. Yes, the Skeptics' Circle will be appearing once again on Thursday, January 18. This time around, it will be hosted by someone who has what has to be one of the coolest blog names of all time: Frank the Financially Savvy Atheist (although I'm not sure what, if anything, atheism has to do with being financially savvy). So, if you're a skeptical blogger, fire up your keyboard and get an example of your best skeptical blogging…

Even though women are an increasing proportion of doctors, it's still true that most physicians are men. And what better way for big pharma to influence those men than with hot young female pharmaceutical reps? And where better to find hot young female pharmaceutical reps than in cheerleading squads? I therefore introduce to you the All-Pharma Cheerleading Squad! (Hat tip to Kevin, MD and Pharmagossip, the latter of which frequently makes fun of big pharma's blatant recruiting of young, beautiful women to serve as reps.)

In a warmup for his "debate" later today in LaJolla, CA with Arthur Allen, David Kirby spews the usual pseudoscience again. I can't believe he's still making the long debunked "autism has the same symptoms as mercury poisoning" statement with a straight face, and then continuing to parrot the same old "mercury in thimerosal in vaccines causes autism" and the same fallacy of equating correlation with causation by claiming that, because autism increased in the 1990's at the same time when more vaccines were being added to the childhood vaccination schedule. I'm not sure why the video is cut…

Those of you who've been around this blog for a long time probably remember Dr. Lorraine Day. In fact, I mentioned her in one of the very first substantive posts that I ever did regarding why breast cancer testimonials for alternative medicines are inherently misleading, presenting her as an example of a once respected academic orthopedic surgeon who had fallen deeply into woo. I had also been aware of her association with infamous Holocaust denier Ernst Zündel, but I had mainly thought that this was more because of Zündel's love of woo (he claimed that he had cancer and had called Dr. Day…

The other day, as is my wont every week, I was perusing my Folder of Woo, the folder on my computer in which I keep a bunch of URLs leading to many potential targets for Your Friday Dose of Woo, looking for this week's victim. I had one all picked out, too, but for some reason it just wasn't getting the woo-inator going enough to inspire me to do what is expected every week. Not that it wasn't good woo, even really good woo. It just wasn't great woo, and YFDoW just hasn't been around long enough for me to settle for anything less than the greatest, finest, tastiest woo just yet. Or maybe it…

Since I started this blog, I've become aware of all sorts of weirdness and woo. One special category of woo that irritates me is psychics, particularly the ones who claim that they can contact the dead, like Sylvia Browne or John Edward. They are arguably the worst kind of "psychic," usually using cold reading or some variation of it to take advantage on the hopes of people desperately missing their loved ones who died. Sometimes, however, I learn of a self-styled "psychic" who's so off the wall that my revulsion wrestles with my bemusement, and it's not clear which will win. This is one such…

Online prayer benefits breast cancer patients? At least that's what they were saying a couple of days ago on the Internets: NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Praying online in a support group may help women with breast cancer cope with the disease more effectively, a new study shows. Dr. Bret Shaw of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and colleagues found that breast cancer patients who used a higher percentage of religion-related words in their communications with an Internet support group had lower levels of negative emotions, better functional well-being, and more confidence in their ability to…

I learn from Janet, Bora, PZ, and Afarensis that this week is supposedly National Delurking Week. Lurkers, for those of you who aren't hip to the Internet lingo, are people who read blogs (or, for that matter, any form of online forum), but never (or only rarely) leave comments or posts. They are said to be "lurking." During National Delurking Week, we bloggers are supposed to ask lurkers to delurk momentarily and leave a comment. Given that Respectful Insolence averages somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 unique visits per day on most weekdays (a little more than half that number on weekends)…

After having pontificated a bit longer than perhaps I should have about why Richard Dawkins' treatment of the execution of Saddam Hussein as a missed opportunity for psychological or historical research was so misguided, I thought it might be time to take a more pro-Dawkins tilt. After all, even though the majority of my posts about Richard Dawkins have been critical, on balance I do admire the man; it's just that he has a maddening penchant for using historical analogies that make me want to tear my hair out. A while back, PZ posted something that he called The Courtier's Reply. In essence…