My recent post (coupled with similar posts by Dr. R. W. and Abel Pharmboy) about the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) and its credulous promotion of non-evidence-based alternative medicine while posing as being "skeptical" of big pharma brought this rejoinder from Joseph of Corpus Callosum, in which he took issue with one aspect of my suspicion of the promotion of woo in medical schools by AMSA. I have to strenuously disagree with nearly all of his points. Here's the first, and most easily dismissed: They [Dr. R.W., Abel, and I] raise some valid points, although I would not be…

Although I'm clearly not as vociferous about this as other ScienceBloggers, I do remain concerned about the rise of fundamentalist religion, whether it be Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or whatever. Whenever dogmatic, literal, fundamentalist interpretation of whatever holy scriptures someone believes in takes hold, the brain shuts off, and no other interpretation other than the narrow interpretation of the fundamentalist is viewed as acceptable. Another pernicious effect is that, if scripture seems to conflict with science, science loses, and religion-inspired non-science like creationism takes…

While we're plugging blog carnivals, why not pay a visit to the History Carnival, over at the Axis of Evel Knievel?

Change of Shift, the blog carnival for nursing, comes to us from the U.K. at Life in the NHS.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I really loved Babylon 5 while it was on; it was one of my favorite TV series of all time, and I own all five seasons on DVD. Even though the fifth and final season seemed a bit stretched out, the last five or six episodes of the series made up for it, so that the conclusion packed every bit of the punch that the high points of the best seasons (seasons two and three) did. So, what to make of this? BURBANK, CA, November 13, 2006 - Warner Home Video (WHV) and Warner Bros. Television (WBTV) have announced the start of production of "Babylon 5: The Lost…

Effect Measure has a good post about the NIH granting process. I'm not going to rehash what revere said, as far as the description of what happens once a grant application arrives at the NIH and how it winds its way through the Initial Review Group to one of many study sections through programmatic review. In any case, I agree that it's a crappy system--except for all the others. Certainly it has much to recommend it. Junior scientists compete for funds with more senior scientists on a more equal footing than perhaps any other nation in the world, and almost anyone can get a grant if they…

Monty Python invades Grand Rounds over at the rumors were true. Read it, or we shall be forced to say "Ni!" to you.

I always thought that David Copperfield was a bit cheesy. Heck, I still do. But this incident gives me a bit of respect for him: WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) -- One of three teenagers charged with attempting to rob illusionist David Copperfield as he left a performance has pleaded guilty. Terrance Riley, 17, was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison for three counts of robbery with a weapon and one count of attempted robbery. He will be housed with other inmates under the age of 21. Circuit Judge Edward Garrison also ordered Riley to testify against his two co-defendants, his brother…

Light blogging today, I'm afraid. My high speed Internet access was on the fritz last night, leaving odds and ends. Truly annoying. (On the other hand, maybe it's the FSM's way of telling me to slow down a bit.) Patch Adams, the famous doctor who advocates humor in medicine and has been known to dress up in a clown outfit, as shown in the movie starring Robin Williams, displayed a distinctly non-amusing side of his personality in a speech at Vanderbilt University last month: Patch Adams, M.D., an unconventional doctor who became a household name through a 1998 movie starring Robin Williams,…

All too true, sadly...

If you're a physician, there comes a certain point in your career when you start caring a lot more than you did about the next generations of physicians in the training pipeline. While you're in the middle of training, you are the next generation; besides, you're too worried about just getting through medical school, residency, and Board certification to be all that concerned about those behind you in the pipeline, anyway. Then, when you're early faculty, you're concerned about establishing yourself, getting your career on track, and, if you're in academics, getting promoted. True, physicians…

Lots of other bloggers seem to be taking this one; so what the heck? It's surprisingly accurate for a silly Internet quiz. And, yes, it is pop, not soda. No matter how long I'm stranded here on the East Coast, it will always be pop! What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop." The Midland The Northeast…

It's Frank Zappa, of course, with what is arguably the best (or at least one of the best) songs celebrating skepticism ever written (and it has a killer guitar solo in the middle, too!): I used to love that song when I was a teenager. (I still do.) I wonder if it affected me...

It sounds like casting genius, even if it's only a small role: LAS VEGAS, Nov. 6, 2006 -- Hide the Bats! Christopher Walken has agreed to play the ultimate bad-boy rocker -- Ozzy Osbourne.. Motley Crue lead singer Vince Neil told ABC News Radio in an exclusive interview that the 63-year-old Oscar-winning actor will make a cameo appearance as Osbourne in "The Dirt," a movie based on the band's controversial 2001 autobiography. "How funny is that going to be," Neil told ABC's Al Mancini at the Opening of Vince Neil Ink, the singer's new tattoo parlor in Las Vegas. Walken's press representatives…

In the U.S., today is Veterans' Day; elsewhere it's Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, marking 88 years since the truce that ended World War I. Whatever you're doing, please take a moment to reflect on the sacrifices our men and women in arms have made throughout history to protect our nation. Regardless of your views on the war, remember the sacrifices our troops are making now in Iraq. I happened to come across this video on YouTube; It's one man's tribute to his parents' service during World War II, and I think including it here is appropriate: And, finally, a poem that encapsulates the…

As a native Detroiter, I couldn't help but find this little story amusing (sorry, it's just the adolescent in me): Hooters of America Inc. is moving ahead full throttle with a campaign to pressure the Troy City Council into granting a liquor license transfer for the chain's new Troy location on Rochester Road near Big Beaver. Officials with the company made the announcement at that location this afternoon, as Hooters girls -- dressed in orange jumpsuits and orange scarfs -- picketed outside, carrying signs with messages, such as "Don't Endanger The Owl" and "City Council Buy U A Beer?" The…

I saw the trailer for Spiderman 3 last night. The comic geek in me is starting to get excited, because the movie looks like it's going to be really, really good, perhaps the best Spider-Man movie so far. It looks as though Venom, the Sandman, and Harry Osbourne, Jr. taking up where his dad (the Green Goblin) left off will all be making an appearance. In case you missed it: I can't wait until May 4.

On November 10, 1975, the most famous maritime disaster in Great Lakes history occurred, when the freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior while trying to make it to Whitefish Bay in a gale, with the loss of 29 lives. Having grown up in the Detroit area, I still remember it almost as though it were yesterday. Canadian folk singer Gordon Lightfoot memorialized the crew and the loss in his famous song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Here's a tribute video incorporating the song: And here are the lyrics: The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot The legend lives on…

Let's get one thing straight. There's just no way on earth that I can imagine topping last week's Your Friday Dose of Woo. I can only be as good as my source material lets me be (well, maybe a bit better), and Toby Alexander and his "DNA Activation" represented such unbelievably potent, bizarre, and concentrated woo that I can't imagine that I'll find its like anytime soon again, much less find something that tops it. Even if I were to find woo more potent than Toby's, it would probably rend the fabric of the space-time continuum. Of course, given his "multidimensional spectra of DNA…

Just what a high school needs to warm up the crowd at a football game, a little speech by Joseph Goebbels: CHARLOTTE, North Carolina: Part of a speech by World War II Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels was played over the public address system before a high school soccer game, prompting an apology by the home team's principal. Forestview High School principal Robert Carpenter said neither he nor his team's coach knew about the speech before the 90-second excerpt was played during pre-game training Saturday, according to a letter he sent Monday to visiting Charlotte Catholic High School…