television
oracknows | December 27, 2008An oddly racist commercial, or just bizarre? You be the judge:
Oddly Racist Commercial - watch more funny videos
oracknows | December 23, 2008I'm happy to say, I've never watched an episode of The Doctors, at least if the episode segment I've just been sent is any indication of the quality of the science and medicine discussed on the TV show. The episode, which aired on December 11, featured a segment on autism featuring an old "friend" of the blog. The fact that he was featured on a television show ostensibly designed to discuss medicine and make it accessible to a general audience tells me that not only the producers but the physicians who do the show are utterly without a clue. No, it wasn't J.B. Handley or Jenny McCarthy, but…
oracknows | December 22, 2008Why does anyone listen to actors when they pontificate about health and medical issues?
Think about it. What is it that actors do? They read lines given to them. True, some have a talent that goes beyond that; they can actually write or direct. But few of them have any more abilities when it comes to science than the average populace. Indeed, arguably, they have less knowledge of science than average. Witness, for instance, Jenny McCarthy and her crusade against vaccines. Yes, I realize that she claims not to be "antivaccine," but her actions and words say otherwise. She's also managed to…
oracknows | December 21, 2008As much as I'd love to take credit, the postponement of the appearance of Jenny McCarthy and J.B. Handley on Larry King Live! originally scheduled for last night had nothing to do with me. Really. The cancellation was apparently announced shortly after my post appeared, leaving no time for it to have had an effect. Heck, for all I know the cancellation had occurred before I posted and I just hadn't noticed.
Despite all the insinuations of dire conspiracies in the comments of the Age of Autism post on the cancellation, it's far more likely that Larry King probably just didn't want to work on…
oracknows | December 16, 2008Just as a quick followup to my post on Tong Ren, the quackery that combines acupuncture, "energy healing," and, in essence, the stereotype of voodoo dolls in a veritable potpourri of woo, take a look at this news report done by the FOX News affiliate in Boston:
If you want horrible, credulous, idiotic reporting, the above segment has it all. Indeed, it doesn't even include the usual obligatory brief sound bite from a skeptic! True, it does mention that the Massachusetts State Board of Medicine's Committee on Acupuncture had received complaints about Tom Tam for his claiming to be a "master…
oracknows | December 10, 2008I didn't get to see this interview last night on Late Night With Conan O'Brien. After all, I usually show up at work between 7:00 and 7:30 AM. However, Hugh Laurie, star of House, was interviewed by Conan and revealed himself to be not unlike me in that he's definitely a booster of reason and science in medicine over irrationality and dubious "complementary and alternative medicine" (CAM) therapies, not unlike the character he plays on House. Check out the interview. (The relevant passage begins at about 23:50 into the show.)
I knew there was a reason I liked Hugh Laurie, even though I haven'…
oracknows | November 20, 2008
PROLOGUE
LOCATION: The Liberator, cruising through space.
GAN: Are you sure it's fully switched on?
ORAC: Of course I'm properly switched on. Having depressed the activator button what else would you expect?
CALLY: It's his voice.
BLAKE: It's exactly as though Ensor were speaking.
ORAC: Surely it is obvious even to the meanest intelligence that during my development I would naturally become endowed with aspects of my creator's personality.
AVON: The more endearing aspects by the sound of it.
ORAC: Possibly. However similarities between myself and Ensor are entirely superficial. My mental…
oracknows | November 19, 2008It looks as though the Jenny McCarthy woo factor has claimed two more celebrity victims' brains. If a recently viewed press release is any indication, it appears that Anthony Edwards and Dustin Hoffman are getting into the autism quackery business:
Internet Marketing Company joins Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey, Dustin Hoffman, Anthony Edwards and others in fight to help children with Autism.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (June 4, 2008) -- Market America announced today that it is in the development and testing stages of a new line of nutraceutical products that will support the health of children with Autism…
laelaps | November 6, 2008Maybe Toumai (or the first known skull of Sahelanthropus, if you like) doesn't represent a true human ancestor, but this documentary is still pretty interesting. Called Pre-Human: Riddle of the Toumai Skull, I missed it when it originally aired, but thankfully the glory of the inter-tubes has allowed me to see it.
The most curious thing about this particular show is that Toumai narrates its own story, and in a British accent no less! What do you think of this sort of narrative style?;
laelaps | November 1, 2008It's a little dated, but here's an episode of the old TLC show PaleoWorld about hominid posture and bipedalism;
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 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 6, 2008As you may remember, the evening after the Hollywood face of the antivaccine P.R. machine Jenny McCarthy was scheduled to take part in a web chat. At the time, I suggested sending questions in to the Oprah website, to see if any would get through. I'm sure there was some serious screening and vetting of possible questions; so I suggested trying to word them in such a way as to indicate Jenny's ignorance without triggering the censors. Apparently never was heard a discouraging word in the web chat (big surprise there), but apparently one rather clever wag did manage to get a question through…
oracknows | October 1, 2008Readers may be wondering why I haven't written about Jenny McCarthy's latest brain dead outburst against Amanda Peet. (Actually, brain dead is too kind a description of it, given that Jenny's retort in essence boils down to her having an "angry mob" on her side making Amanda "completely wrong.") It's because I decided to try to resist for once in my life. And I was doing really good at it, too, even though several readers sent me links to various stories about Jenny McCarthy's outburst. Still, I resisted. Even after antivaccinationist financier J. B. Handley wrote a post demanding of Amanda…
oracknows | September 23, 2008Thanks to our "friends" at the Age of Autism, I've learned something interesting.
I knew that antivaccinationist "mother warrior" and Indigo Child Supreme Jenny McCarthy was slated to appear tomorrow, September 24, on the television show that arguably serves as the most powerful and pervasive promoter of woo, magical thinking, and dubious health advice in the world, The Oprah Winfrey Show. I hadn't actually planned on watching it (I'm never home when it's on anyway), and setting the DVR to record it for later viewing seems more than I'm willing to do to expose my brain to the neuron-…
laelaps | September 23, 2008Even though discussions of it on the web has generally dwindled (it seems some people just can't bear to watch it anymore), Jurassic Fight Club is still generating a few comments and critiques. Over at his recently-minted blog, Sean Craven has posted a series of his thoughts on the show (parts 1, 2, and 3), including ideas about what could have been done better. For those of you frustrated with the show, it is edifying reading.
[Update: Sean has posted an update based upon some responses to his review. Have a look.]
laelaps | September 14, 2008I haven't seen this one yet, but here's the BBC Horizon program "Mystery of the Jurassic" about discoveries made in Jurassic-age rocks in Agentina by Oliver Rauhut and others;
laelaps | September 13, 2008Tyrannosaurus might be the most famous dinosaur, but its sleeker evolutionary relatives Albertosaurus and Gorgosaurus have always had a special place in my heart. Here's a brief spot about Albertosaurus from the series Jurassic Fight Club (which is about as much as I can handle without becoming frustrated over something or other in the show), featuring (among other tyrannosaur experts) Thomas Holtz, who is celebrating a birthday today;