oracknows

Profile picture for user oracknows
David Gorski

Orac is the nom de blog of a humble surgeon/scientist who has an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his copious verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few probably will. That surgeon is otherwise known as David Gorski. That Orac has chosen his nom de blog based on a rather cranky and arrogant computer shaped like a clear box of blinking lights that he originally encountered when he became a fan of a 30 year old British SF television show whose special effects were renowned for their BBC/Doctor Who-style low budget look, but whose stories nonetheless resulted in some of the best, most innovative science fiction ever televised, should tell you nearly all that you need to know about Orac. (That, and the length of the preceding sentence.)

DISCLAIMER: The various written meanderings here are the opinions of Orac and Orac alone, written on his own time. They should never be construed as representing the opinions of any other person or entity, especially Orac's cancer center, department of surgery, medical school, or university. Also note that Orac is nonpartisan; he is more than willing to criticize the statements of anyone, regardless of of political leanings, if that anyone advocates pseudoscience or quackery. Finally, medical commentary is not to be construed in any way as medical advice.

To contact Orac: oracknows@gmail.com

Posts by this author

October 2, 2006
Although I think Bora is being overly alarmist when he declares that we are now officially living in a fascist state, that doesn't mean that I don't find the passing of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which authorizes military tribunals for "enemy combatants," a category that, given the murky…
October 2, 2006
While I happen to be on the topic of free speech and neo-Nazis today, here's something that came to me via Holocaust Controversies, a Holocaust denier comments about Sergey's post about the 65th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre: So is this the so-called "massacre" where kikes were supposedly…
October 2, 2006
As much as I oppose Holocaust denial, fascism, and neo-Nazis, you might recall that I am very much in favor of free speech. Indeed, I tend to take as broad an interpretation of the First Amendment as possible, and remain very grateful to our Founding Fathers for enshrining this freedom in the…
October 1, 2006
I have a weakness for kitschy and campy stuff, and album covers are a particularly fertile ground for tacky and silly stuff. Fortunately, thanks to Dennis Catron, I get to indulge my enjoyment of such things with his lovely collection of camp album covers. Most of them come from the 1950's and 1960…
September 30, 2006
Yep, this about sums it up:
September 30, 2006
Today is just the kind of day when these lyrics speak to me: And you run, you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking Racing around to come up behind you again The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older Shorter of breath and one day closer to death Every year is getting shorter…
September 29, 2006
Here he is on Extras, providing a little impromptu song: What an honor, to be dissed by Bowie in song, and a song that rather sounds like some of his really old stuff. You know, it'd be really cool if Bowie were to record this tune. Speaking of which, it's been three years since his last album.…
September 29, 2006
Earlier this week, I thought that I had identified this week's woo target. I told myself that this was it, that this was the one for this week. I even started writing it the other day, because, as much as I try to get this thing done early, somehow I always seem to be writing it at 11 PM Thursday…
September 28, 2006
If you think I'm hardcore when it comes to my disgust at antivaccination advocates like Dawn Winkler, you should check out House, M.D.: [House walks away. Cut to the clinic and House is in an exam room with a young mother and her baby.] Young Mother: No formula, just mommy's healthy natural breast…
September 28, 2006
It was a late night in the O.R. last night; so I didn't get to spend my usual quality blogging time. However, it occurred to me. In honor of being called a "pharma moron" on Whale.to, coupled with all the antivaccination lunacy that's been infesting the comments of this blog, only to be tirelessly…
September 27, 2006
Yes, it's that time again! This time, the Skeptics' Circle comes to us by way of Sweden. In fact, it comes to us by way of a Swedish archeologist named Martin Rundkvist, and he's rounded up a fine collection of skeptical blogging that should serve as your antidote to the woo that so permeates the…
September 27, 2006
"It's just minor surgery." How many times have surgeons said that to patients? How many times have you, as a patient heard that? How many times have I said that to patients? It's supposed to be reassuring, and most of the time it is. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as "minor" surgery if it's…
September 26, 2006
First, it was HIV/AIDS "skeptic" Celia Farber referring to me as "low rent riff-raff." I was so honored by that particular accolade that I had a smile on my face the rest of the day after I discovered it. Fortunately for me, that's not the end of the accolades. Thanks to my posts about Dawn Winkler…
September 26, 2006
As a long time Led Zeppelin fan, I'm not sure whether I'm amused or appalled by this. Yes, it's 101 cover versions of Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven, including a reggae version by Dread Zeppelin. (Actually, I kind of like Dread Zeppelin. I even saw them in concert once in Cleveland back in the…
September 26, 2006
Via History News Network: (Translation below the fold.) Apparently, the above cartoon, Der Bonker, in which a disconsolate (and rappin'!) Hitler is portrayed sitting on the toilet complaining about Churchill, is causing an uproar in Germany: A satirical cartoon about Hitler, where he sits on the…
September 25, 2006
I wrote last week about the Tripoli Six, six health care workers who were jailed by Libya on trumped up charges of infecting patients at a hospital they worked at with HIV. Since then, many other have chimed in, and the most recent count of blog posts about this case is well over 100. According to…
September 25, 2006
It's coming fast. In fact, it's almost here. Yes, the Skeptics' Circle, the blog carnival for afficianados of skepticism, science, and critical thinking, is due to appear at Salto Sobrius on Thursday, September 28. That means you only have two days to get your best skeptical blogging together to…
September 25, 2006
After the three posts that I recently did about vaccination have garnered well over 250 comments between the three of them (and still counting), I thought it might be time to switch topics. As important as they are, I don't want this blog to become all vaccines all the time. (After all, look what…
September 24, 2006
Thanks to Norm, I recently found out that Richard Dawkins now has a web page (the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science). Certainly, any self-respecting skeptic would have to add that one to his sidebar, which I've now done. Even though I don't always agree with the vociferousness of…
September 24, 2006
Here's a belated notice that the Carnival of Bad History #9 has been posted at World History Blog. Enjoy!
September 24, 2006
One of the things that I remember most about my A.P. English course in high school is the time that we all read Aristophane's Lysistrata. This play, as you may or may not remember, is a comedy taking place during the Peloponnesian War. The plot, boiled down to its essence, entails a plan by which…
September 24, 2006
I realize that PZ and Skeptico have already posted this, but it's just too hilarious for me, as a bit of a connoisseur of pareidolia, to pass up, regardless of who might have posted about it before. We've seen Jesus in many strange places, even on toast, but I bet you've never seen Him appear in a…
September 23, 2006
Oooh, I have to get me one of these! Of course, the specs would have to be more up to snuff with what one can purchase these days. Even so, I wonder if anyone could put one together with a Mac.
September 23, 2006
Holy crap. I suspected that my two posts about Dawn Winkler, the antivaccination activist running for Governor of Colorado on the Libertarian ticket, might generate some comments and attract some of Dawn's fellow antivaxers to the comments. Little did I suspect just how many, or how hysterical they…
September 22, 2006
With all the vaccination "skeptics" who've crawled out of the woodwork over the last couple of days in response to my two posts about Dawn Winkler, the Libertarian candidate for the Governor of Colorado who happens to be a rabid antivaccination activist, not to mention totally clueless and nasty…
September 21, 2006
Skeptico explains why confirmation bias and the Forer effect make astrology seem like it might work when it's really a load of crap. As usual, he makes it plain why astrology is bunk, reiterating his Astrology Challenge.
September 21, 2006
Change of Shift, the nursing blog carnival, has been posted at kt.
September 20, 2006
Declan Butler of Nature has issued a call for help from the scientific and medical blogosphere in protesting and raising awareness about an utter travesty of justice, a vile and utterly vicious miscarriage of justice. This is one that I can't help but throw the paltry weight of my own blog behind.…
September 20, 2006
I have a confession to make. I've never really understood the whole pirate schtick that PZ and some other bloggers find so amusing and that the Flying Spaghetti Monster has included as an integral part of the great religion of Pastafarianism. I suppose that makes me an apostate or something like…
September 20, 2006
Yesterday's post on Dawn Winkler, the antivaccination activist who is presently running for the Governor of Colorado on the Libertarian ticket, provoked this comment, which linked to an amusing e-mail exchange that Australian skeptic Peter Bowditch had with her regarding vaccines a couple of years…