Then a few days ago I moved up the evolutionary scale, and for one glorious day I became an Adorable Rodent. Again I became a Flappy Bird, but I would rather be an adorable rodent, -maybe because they are more soft than birds. I wonder how the Ecosystem finds out whether I'm a Flappy Bird or something else?
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Flappy Birds and Adorable Rodents on the evolutionary scale
I have signed up to be part of the TTLB Ecosystem several month ago, and I have found my way up to be a Flappy Bird.
Then a few days ago I moved up the evolutionary scale, and for one glorious day I became an Adorable Rodent. Again I became a Flappy Bird, but I would rather be an adorable rodent, -maybe because they are more soft than birds. I wonder how the Ecosystem finds out whether I'm a Flappy Bird or something else?
Then a few days ago I moved up the evolutionary scale, and for one glorious day I became an Adorable Rodent. Again I became a Flappy Bird, but I would rather be an adorable rodent, -maybe because they are more soft than birds. I wonder how the Ecosystem finds out whether I'm a Flappy Bird or something else?
Friday, August 26, 2005
Homeopathic trickery
People fall for all sorts of trickery no matter how absurd it is.
Some of it is homeopathy.
BBC News has this article about how homeopathic benefits were questioned - referring to the study published in today's edition of the respected Lancet medical journal. The study casts doubt on homeopathic cures and the finding is compatible with the notion that the clinical effects of homeopathy are placebo effects.
Is this the end for homeopathy?
I think not.
Homeopathy is still growing in popularity and advocates of homeopathy will maintain the therapy, using the principle of treating like with like even it doesn't work.
Promoting homeopathy has nothing to do with studies, homeopathic effects are all in the mind and simply a matter of personal taste. No matter how many peer-reviewed scientific papers published demonstrating that homeopathy is superior to placebo in placebo-controlled trials - people won’t accept facts and certainly not if they were fooled.
If some people are feeling better, - not the same as actually being better - after having homeopathy it's caused by the whole experience of the therapy and attention on the individual. The true believer needs something to be true and they will ignore all evidence to maintain the illusion.
They don't need evidence. They just need the "Prince of Quacks" to say it works.
Fresh links:
Study: Homeopathy Drugs Don't Work
Homeopathy no better than placebo-analysis
Homeopathy no better than dummy drugs, says study
Docs told to be bold on practice
Study Casts Doubt on Homeopathic Cures
Homoeopathy's clinical effects are placebo effects, The Lancet
Homeopathic medicines don't work
Lancet study says homeopathic medicines don't work
Homeopathy no better than placebo, study
Do homeopathic remedies work?
Homeopathy "no better than placebo"
Effects of homeopathy 'are all in the mind'
Fresh doubts raised over homeopathy
Homeopathy does not work: UK study
Some of it is homeopathy.
BBC News has this article about how homeopathic benefits were questioned - referring to the study published in today's edition of the respected Lancet medical journal. The study casts doubt on homeopathic cures and the finding is compatible with the notion that the clinical effects of homeopathy are placebo effects.
Is this the end for homeopathy?
I think not.
Homeopathy is still growing in popularity and advocates of homeopathy will maintain the therapy, using the principle of treating like with like even it doesn't work.
Promoting homeopathy has nothing to do with studies, homeopathic effects are all in the mind and simply a matter of personal taste. No matter how many peer-reviewed scientific papers published demonstrating that homeopathy is superior to placebo in placebo-controlled trials - people won’t accept facts and certainly not if they were fooled.
If some people are feeling better, - not the same as actually being better - after having homeopathy it's caused by the whole experience of the therapy and attention on the individual. The true believer needs something to be true and they will ignore all evidence to maintain the illusion.
They don't need evidence. They just need the "Prince of Quacks" to say it works.
Fresh links:
Study: Homeopathy Drugs Don't Work
Homeopathy no better than placebo-analysis
Homeopathy no better than dummy drugs, says study
Docs told to be bold on practice
Study Casts Doubt on Homeopathic Cures
Homoeopathy's clinical effects are placebo effects, The Lancet
Homeopathic medicines don't work
Lancet study says homeopathic medicines don't work
Homeopathy no better than placebo, study
Do homeopathic remedies work?
Homeopathy "no better than placebo"
Effects of homeopathy 'are all in the mind'
Fresh doubts raised over homeopathy
Homeopathy does not work: UK study
Autism Treatment may have caused the death of a 5-year-old boy
Really awful news about the death of a 5 year old boy:
Orac comments on chelation death and there's a great article here and here too. Over at ABC news you can watch this video.
A five-year-old boy with autism has died in America after flying from Britain for a controversial medical treatment for the neurological and developmental disorder.Chelation therapy is an intravenous treatment designed to remove heavy metals from the body.
....
Stephen Barrett, a retired psychiatrist and founder of the Quackwatch website, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Many doctors who treat children for autism claim they are suffering from mercury or lead toxicity. There is not sufficient evidence that autism is caused by mercury or lead toxicity." (Source: Autism boy dies after alternative therapy
Orac comments on chelation death and there's a great article here and here too. Over at ABC news you can watch this video.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Psychics on TV are misleading the public
Ghost world
by Robert Dominguez (published in Daily News Front Page)
Spirited TV programmers are finding that their message is the medium
Psychic James Van Praagh has always made a nice living by claiming to see dead people.
But he has made a killing with his ability to foresee how television audiences would be entranced by programming about psychic phenomena, haunted houses and other otherworldly encounters.
He's channeling a trend that has ghost-themed shows materializing on several, well, channels.
On TV these days, paranormal is the new normal.
Van Praagh, a best-selling author of several books on communicating with spirits, is now the executive producer of "Ghost Whisperer," an upcoming CBS series that stars Jennifer Love Hewitt as a newlywed who talks to the dead.
Following in the otherworldly footsteps of NBC's similarly themed drama, "Medium," "Ghost Whisperer" is based on an actual psychic, and is just one of a slew of new shows about the paranormal — all featuring real-life ghost hunters, crime-solving mediums or supposedly haunted places.
"I predicted this would happen five years ago on 'Larry King,' right after 'The Sixth Sense' came out," says Van Praagh, referring to the 1999 hit film about a boy who sees dead people.
"But what's so amazing," he adds, "is how it's become much more acceptable in the mainstream, where you're now seeing more and more of these types of shows."
The TV landscape has become a veritable ghost town in recent months, led in great part by the success of "Ghost Hunters," which began its second season in July.
Shown weekly on the Sci-Fi Channel, the reality series features a team of paranormal investigators from Rhode Island who travel to supposedly haunted sites across the U.S. and attempt to gather evidence of ghostly activity, using such high-tech equipment as infrared cameras and digital recorders.
"This kind of show is popular because almost everyone has had a paranormal experience or knows of someone who has," says Grant Wilson, one of the lead investigators on "Ghost Hunters."
Now viewers will have plenty of chances to be creeped out, as several new shows have been patterned after "Ghost Hunters."
In June, Biography Channel launched "Dead Famous: Ghostly Encounters," a reality show that pairs a female skeptic with a male psychic — think Mulder and Scully of "The X Files" — chasing after the spirits of such deceased famous folk as Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe and Jim Morrison.
The Travel Channel, which regularly produces such spooky specials as "America's Most Haunted Places" and "Haunted Hotels," premiered "Most Haunted" last month. The Friday-night show features a team of paranormal investigators that goes to sites in Europe.
Recently returning for a third season on Court TV is "Psychic Detectives," a series that recounts real-life cases on which cops and psychics worked together.
Based on its popularity, in November Court TV is debuting "Haunting Evidence," which has yet another investigative team — a psychic, a medium and a forensics expert — visiting "haunted" crime scenes.
Not everyone views these shows as harmless entertainment. Joe Nickell, a columnist for Skeptical Inquirer magazine who regularly debunks psychics, mediums and other paranomal phenomena, calls the current trend "shameful."
"You have ignorant people on these shows misleading the public," says Nickell. "The two most egregious ones are 'Psychic Detectives' and these hapless guys on 'Ghost Hunters' with their Radio Shack equipment 'detecting' ghostly phenomena. It's nonsense, because they're not scientists.
"There's no end to these stories being out there, because they sell," adds Nickell. "That's the bottom line." Meanwhile, Van Praagh has turned his self-professed "gift" for communicating with the spirit world into a cottage industry.
Besides his books, two years ago he hosted "Beyond," a syndicated daytime talk show where he professed to contact the spirits of his guests' loved ones. And his life has been the subject of two TV movies — in which he has been portrayed by such heavyweights as Tom Selleck and Ted Danson.
Van Praagh sees even more opportunities to capitalize on the public's increasing interest in otherworldly topics. This fall, in addition to "Ghost Whisperer," he's producing two shows that will merge the paranormal with two of the hotter trends in reality programming.
"Possessed Possessions," a special for The Learning Channel, will have psychics reading the energy from people's belongings. "It's like a creepy 'Antiques Roadshow,'" says Van Praagh.
The other show, for A&E, will have people receiving "psychic intuitive makeovers," he says.
"This all wasn't as accepted as it is now," says Van Praagh. "More people than ever are believing in life after death. They're looking for other belief systems and for other ways to deal with the world around them, and people want to find out what this is all about."
by Robert Dominguez (published in Daily News Front Page)
Spirited TV programmers are finding that their message is the medium
Psychic James Van Praagh has always made a nice living by claiming to see dead people.
But he has made a killing with his ability to foresee how television audiences would be entranced by programming about psychic phenomena, haunted houses and other otherworldly encounters.
He's channeling a trend that has ghost-themed shows materializing on several, well, channels.
On TV these days, paranormal is the new normal.
Van Praagh, a best-selling author of several books on communicating with spirits, is now the executive producer of "Ghost Whisperer," an upcoming CBS series that stars Jennifer Love Hewitt as a newlywed who talks to the dead.
Following in the otherworldly footsteps of NBC's similarly themed drama, "Medium," "Ghost Whisperer" is based on an actual psychic, and is just one of a slew of new shows about the paranormal — all featuring real-life ghost hunters, crime-solving mediums or supposedly haunted places.
"I predicted this would happen five years ago on 'Larry King,' right after 'The Sixth Sense' came out," says Van Praagh, referring to the 1999 hit film about a boy who sees dead people.
"But what's so amazing," he adds, "is how it's become much more acceptable in the mainstream, where you're now seeing more and more of these types of shows."
The TV landscape has become a veritable ghost town in recent months, led in great part by the success of "Ghost Hunters," which began its second season in July.
Shown weekly on the Sci-Fi Channel, the reality series features a team of paranormal investigators from Rhode Island who travel to supposedly haunted sites across the U.S. and attempt to gather evidence of ghostly activity, using such high-tech equipment as infrared cameras and digital recorders.
"This kind of show is popular because almost everyone has had a paranormal experience or knows of someone who has," says Grant Wilson, one of the lead investigators on "Ghost Hunters."
Now viewers will have plenty of chances to be creeped out, as several new shows have been patterned after "Ghost Hunters."
In June, Biography Channel launched "Dead Famous: Ghostly Encounters," a reality show that pairs a female skeptic with a male psychic — think Mulder and Scully of "The X Files" — chasing after the spirits of such deceased famous folk as Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe and Jim Morrison.
The Travel Channel, which regularly produces such spooky specials as "America's Most Haunted Places" and "Haunted Hotels," premiered "Most Haunted" last month. The Friday-night show features a team of paranormal investigators that goes to sites in Europe.
Recently returning for a third season on Court TV is "Psychic Detectives," a series that recounts real-life cases on which cops and psychics worked together.
Based on its popularity, in November Court TV is debuting "Haunting Evidence," which has yet another investigative team — a psychic, a medium and a forensics expert — visiting "haunted" crime scenes.
Not everyone views these shows as harmless entertainment. Joe Nickell, a columnist for Skeptical Inquirer magazine who regularly debunks psychics, mediums and other paranomal phenomena, calls the current trend "shameful."
"You have ignorant people on these shows misleading the public," says Nickell. "The two most egregious ones are 'Psychic Detectives' and these hapless guys on 'Ghost Hunters' with their Radio Shack equipment 'detecting' ghostly phenomena. It's nonsense, because they're not scientists.
"There's no end to these stories being out there, because they sell," adds Nickell. "That's the bottom line." Meanwhile, Van Praagh has turned his self-professed "gift" for communicating with the spirit world into a cottage industry.
Besides his books, two years ago he hosted "Beyond," a syndicated daytime talk show where he professed to contact the spirits of his guests' loved ones. And his life has been the subject of two TV movies — in which he has been portrayed by such heavyweights as Tom Selleck and Ted Danson.
Van Praagh sees even more opportunities to capitalize on the public's increasing interest in otherworldly topics. This fall, in addition to "Ghost Whisperer," he's producing two shows that will merge the paranormal with two of the hotter trends in reality programming.
"Possessed Possessions," a special for The Learning Channel, will have psychics reading the energy from people's belongings. "It's like a creepy 'Antiques Roadshow,'" says Van Praagh.
The other show, for A&E, will have people receiving "psychic intuitive makeovers," he says.
"This all wasn't as accepted as it is now," says Van Praagh. "More people than ever are believing in life after death. They're looking for other belief systems and for other ways to deal with the world around them, and people want to find out what this is all about."
The Prince in a secret mission
The Prince of Wales is an eager advocate of alternative medicine.
Now he's supporting a secret health study.
The report was attacked by Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary and alternative medicine at the University of Exeter:
Fresh links:
Why Charles just can't quit the snake oil
Catherine Bennett, Thursday August 25, 2005-The Guardian
In 1982 the Prince of Wales was elected president of the BMA, and promptly used this platform to lecture doctors on the attractions of healing.
Charles seeks public alternatives
Brisbane Courier Mail, Australia - 24 Aug 2005
PRINCE Charles has commissioned a report to establish how the British Government can save money by using alternative medicine in the public healthcare system ...
Row over alternative care report
BBC News, UK - 24 Aug 2005
A report commissioned by the Prince of Wales into the cost of complementary medicines has sparked controversy. Prince Charles, an ...
Prince Charles probes alternative healthcare
Reuters.uk, UK - 24 Aug 2005
LONDON (Reuters) - Prince Charles has commissioned a report into how the government could save money by using alternative medicine in the public healthcare ...
Charles commissions medicine study
Daily Mail - UK, UK - 24 Aug 2005
The Prince of Wales has commissioned a report into the benefits of complementary therapies, Clarence House said. The report is being ...
Prince orders cost study of alternative medicine
The Observer, UK - 23 Aug 2005
The Prince of Wales has asked a leading independent economist to examine whether the use of complementary therapies could save the NHS money, Clarence House ...
Prince plots alternative treatments for the NHS
Times Online, UK - 23 Aug 2005
By Mark Henderson, Science Correspondent and Andrew Pierce. THE Prince of Wales has secretly commissioned a report into the benefits ...
Prince commissions alternative medicines report
Politics.co.uk, UK - 24 Aug 2005
Prince Charles has commissioned a report into how complimentary medicine could help the NHS save money. The Prince of Wales asked ...
Prince Charles goes alternative
Finance24, South Africa - 24 Aug 2005
London - Prince Charles has given the go-ahead for a major report into the money-saving benefits of complementary therapies for Britain's free-care-for-all ...
Now he's supporting a secret health study.
The report was attacked by Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary and alternative medicine at the University of Exeter:
He said: "It is highly selective in its use of evidence and it looks like the conclusions have been written before everything else. The Prince of Wales also seems to have over-stepped his constitutional role." (Source: News.scotsman.com)The Prince obviously tried to influence conclusions in the report, so it had to be secret.....
Fresh links:
Why Charles just can't quit the snake oil
Catherine Bennett, Thursday August 25, 2005-The Guardian
In 1982 the Prince of Wales was elected president of the BMA, and promptly used this platform to lecture doctors on the attractions of healing.
Charles seeks public alternatives
Brisbane Courier Mail, Australia - 24 Aug 2005
PRINCE Charles has commissioned a report to establish how the British Government can save money by using alternative medicine in the public healthcare system ...
Row over alternative care report
BBC News, UK - 24 Aug 2005
A report commissioned by the Prince of Wales into the cost of complementary medicines has sparked controversy. Prince Charles, an ...
Prince Charles probes alternative healthcare
Reuters.uk, UK - 24 Aug 2005
LONDON (Reuters) - Prince Charles has commissioned a report into how the government could save money by using alternative medicine in the public healthcare ...
Charles commissions medicine study
Daily Mail - UK, UK - 24 Aug 2005
The Prince of Wales has commissioned a report into the benefits of complementary therapies, Clarence House said. The report is being ...
Prince orders cost study of alternative medicine
The Observer, UK - 23 Aug 2005
The Prince of Wales has asked a leading independent economist to examine whether the use of complementary therapies could save the NHS money, Clarence House ...
Prince plots alternative treatments for the NHS
Times Online, UK - 23 Aug 2005
By Mark Henderson, Science Correspondent and Andrew Pierce. THE Prince of Wales has secretly commissioned a report into the benefits ...
Prince commissions alternative medicines report
Politics.co.uk, UK - 24 Aug 2005
Prince Charles has commissioned a report into how complimentary medicine could help the NHS save money. The Prince of Wales asked ...
Prince Charles goes alternative
Finance24, South Africa - 24 Aug 2005
London - Prince Charles has given the go-ahead for a major report into the money-saving benefits of complementary therapies for Britain's free-care-for-all ...
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
McCain has surrendered his integrity
Will John McCain endorse Intelligent Design and give up his political principles - if that helps him get elected?
Monday, August 22, 2005
Anne's Anti-Quackery & Science Magazine
(Click on the photo to enlarge it)
It’s my first edition, so please don’t be too hard on the design.....Look inside and read about:
A real shock if you think chiropractic is safe
Chiropractic and spinal manipulation is considered to be totally safe, but a serious side effect is stroke.
The Chiropractic War on Public Health
About the chiropractic anti-vaccination movement and how chiros are getting more patients by joining the anti-vaccination lecture circuit.
Homeopathic arguments are like diluted water
Homeopaths have come up with quite a few arguments that homeopathic works. Almost all homeopaths have the "I have seen it work" argument as the foundation of their belief in homeopathy.
What is the paranormal in homeopathy
If there is an effect of homeopathy, then it's quite unknown to science.
Prince Charles and Quackery
The Prince's opinion should carry no weight at all and he should have been given the same reception as Tom Cruise received when expressing his views about Psychiatry and Science.
Uncritical piece on Adam Dreamhealer
Most people with a little sense of critical thinking would shake their heads.
Battle between Science and Quackery
Hulda Clark, the number one quack in Canadian Quack Watch and her assistent Tim Bolen fights science with quackery
Smart people believe weird things, they do
Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for no smart reasons (said by Michael Shermer).
The 11th Meeting of the Skeptics' Circle
The hottest topics about quackery and especially anti-vaccinationism, creationism, other pseudoscience, religion, history, and a few others to round out the list.
Excellent Scientology information
Clambake.org is fighting against The Church of Scientology
I found this entertaining link to the magazine cover generator over at Radagast’s Home.
He found it over at Boing Boing, -a directory of wonderful things.
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Unintelligent Design and the Smithsonian
Evolutionary biologist Richard Sternberg made a fateful decision a year ago. It was sad too, to learn in the first time that the Smithsonian Institution anyway was showing the film on "Intelligent Design." A govermentsupported institution should remember where the money they get come from. Great many citizens does not subscribe to mythology or Christianity. It is time for rational people to take a stand on all fronts against Intelligent Design instead of letting UnIntelligent Design undermine the science of evolution.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Questions about Science
In this article published in New Scientist: they ask what life would have been if some past event had turned out differently:
There is more questions to ask about Science:
Why do people accept science when it contradicts what they would normally expect?
If you had a hundred million dollars to spend on scientific research, how would you spend it? Would your answer be different if you had a thousand million dollars?
How does Scientist work and in which way do they "produce" and "construct" scientific knowledge?
Is there a point at which scientists will have to stop asking questions?
What if Newton had carried out his threat to quit science? What if Darwin hadn't sailed on the Beagle? What if Einstein hadn't found a job that allowed him so much time to daydream? The trouble is that until recently, the answer to these questions seemed to be disappointing: science would look much as it does today.The human understanding of science has changed over the time. In the 1990s there was a science war, and since then it has been acceptable and worth answering questions about Science like the one posed in the New Scientist.
There is more questions to ask about Science:
Why do people accept science when it contradicts what they would normally expect?
If you had a hundred million dollars to spend on scientific research, how would you spend it? Would your answer be different if you had a thousand million dollars?
How does Scientist work and in which way do they "produce" and "construct" scientific knowledge?
Is there a point at which scientists will have to stop asking questions?
Friday, August 19, 2005
Ernst Haeckel on Slate
Over at Slate they have a slide-show essay about Ernst Haeckel, 19th-century evolutionary theorist and subject of the new film Proteus.
Haeckel discovered, described and classified thousands of new species of one-celled sea creatures and he contributed with graphic work too.
This is what Science Magazine said about Nature's Beauty and Haeckel's Talents. Science Magazine is a member of AAAS and Evolution is on frontline in their pressroom. AAAS has defended the teaching of evolution in public school science classrooms.
Haeckel's has beautifull artwork, I think:
Original bits from Ernst Haeckel
Ernst Haeckel: Die Radiolarien (RHIZOPODA RADIARIA) Berlin, 1862
Eine Sammlung historischer und moderner Biologiebücher
Haeckel discovered, described and classified thousands of new species of one-celled sea creatures and he contributed with graphic work too.
This is what Science Magazine said about Nature's Beauty and Haeckel's Talents. Science Magazine is a member of AAAS and Evolution is on frontline in their pressroom. AAAS has defended the teaching of evolution in public school science classrooms.
Haeckel's has beautifull artwork, I think:
Original bits from Ernst Haeckel
Ernst Haeckel: Die Radiolarien (RHIZOPODA RADIARIA) Berlin, 1862
Eine Sammlung historischer und moderner Biologiebücher
Monday, August 15, 2005
Prince of Wales and Quackery
HRH is the president of the Foundation for Integrated Health, an organisation devoted to the use of therapies considered quackery:The Prince of Wales's foundation for Integrated Health website provides information about the integration of complementary and conventional healthcare, including details of what we do, publications, conferences and seminars. (Source: www.fihealth.org.uk)The Sunday Times - Britain brings this interesting article about HRH and Quackery:
Charles’s "alternative GP" campaign stirs anger by Jonathon Carr-Brown, Health CorrespondentSince members of the Royal family are using alternative remedies like herbs "Liz" probably will become "associates" of the foundation. But what about other 100.000 medical docs?
PRINCE CHARLES has angered medical traditionalists by launching a campaign encouraging GPs to prescribe more "alternative" treatments to NHS patients.
The Prince of Wales’s Foundation for Integrated Health hopes to have signed up 150 GPs to the new and controversial scheme by October. Those who join will become "associates" of the foundation and are expected to offer a wide range of herbal and other alternative treatments to their patients.
..........
Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine at Exeter University, said: "There is considerable danger in this initiative".
"The information the foundation puts out is dangerous and misleading. If it enters the realm of general practice it seems to me more like an attempt to brainwash GPs and patients."
This is not the first time Charles has called for alternative research and supported alternative medicine.
Charles backed a controversial treatment last year which involved taking daily coffee enemas and carrot juice as cancer treatments instead of using drugs.
Michael Baum, emeritus professor of surgery at University College London sent An open letter to the Prince of Wales: with respect, your highness, you've got it wrong (More woodoo). Michael Baum's frank and reasoned answer to the medical advice given by someone not versed in medicine and science and the dozens of comments - are worth reading.
HRH has another engagement for sCAM via The King's Fund, of which he is the president. The organisation dishes out money for alternative treatment. Kings Fund supporting acupunture and I found several external links on complementary medicine.
Many people care about what the Prince's saying, because he is a high profile figure. I hope that intelligent people will be able to recognize the Prince's amateurish statements for what they are. The Prince's opinion should carry no weight at all and he should have been given the same reception as Tom Cruse received when expressing his views about Psychiatry and Science.
Further reading:
Prince Charles > CAM News Items
News Target: Articles on Prince Charles
Prince Charles and "Alternative" Medicine
The Prince's work
Prince Charles slams nanotechnology
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