Skepticism
pharyngula | August 23, 2006Don't let the first paragraph stop you—it's awful. Once the reporter gets out of the way and lets Shermer get going, though, it's a good interview.
Here's the bad part of the opening:
Some of Shermer's ivory towerish science pals, like Richard Dawkins and the late Stephen Jay Gould, told him not to bother with the I.D. boosters, that acknowledging them meant going along for their political ride, where the integrity of science was being run into the ground.
Gould and Dawkins have both said we shouldn't debate creationists—we shouldn't elevate them to the same status that science holds. But…
tsmith | August 22, 2006 The International AIDS conference is barely over, but already it's getting results when it comes to working against stigma and combatting denial--and is receiving help from one U.S. politician. Stories after the fold...
First, from Buisness Day comes harsh words for South Africa's leaders:
Former International AIDS Society president Mark Wainberg has launched a blistering attack on the South African government for failing to contain the country's HIV epi demic, widely acknowledged to be one of the world's worst.
Describing the government as "obtuse, dilatory and negligent" on the treatment…
pharyngula | August 18, 2006The latest in Pharyngula-approved carnivals:
The Friday Ark #100 (Woo-hoo! Nice round 3 digit number!)
Carnival of the Liberals #19
I and the Bird #30
Skeptics' Circle #41
Now, open that thread and sing!
pharyngula | August 15, 2006My complaints about that post-modernist screed against evidence-based medicine have elicited some responses.
First up is a Calvinist post-modernist who defends the work by mischaracterizing the criticisms of various bloggers, including me, as:
"Chuckle, chuckle... stupid postmodernists... Sokal... grain of truth surrounded by words I don't understand... chuckle, chuckle... ridiculous... stupid postmodernists... QED."
Umm, no. I don't see that in any of the posts about it. In my own, I said that the accusations of fascism were over the top, that I had read it and found it full of jargon (that…
tsmith | August 13, 2006If I could have been at this week's conference for one session, it would have been this morning's symposium on AIDS denial and responsible journalism. Hannah has already mentioned it and given her impressions and thoughts. The session itself was moderated by HIV researcher Daniel Kuritzkes and journalist Laurie Garrett, currently a Senior Fellow on Global Health at the Council on Foreign Relations. Talks were also given by HIV researcher John Moore, South Africa-based science journalist Tamar Khan, Toronto Star science reporter Kim Honey, and Nathan Geffen of the Treatment Action Campaign…
clock | August 11, 2006Carel discovered a fascinating website about iris pigmentation. As Carel notes:
Morgan Worthy, a retired psychologist, has put together an iris pigmentation site that includes lists of iris color for over 5,600 vertebrate species, along with observations based on his database that range from the insightful to the mundane to the crackpottish.
There are hypotheses there concerning eye color in humans and in animal predators. Looks like a treasure trove of material for blogging when you are out of inspiration and especially if you are wondering what to send next for the Skeptic's Circle.
pharyngula | August 3, 2006There's some new movie out about religious indoctrination, reviewed by David Byrne.
Saw a screening of a documentary called Jesus Camp. It focuses on a woman preacher (Becky Fischer) who indoctrinates children in a summer camp in North Dakota. Right wing political agendas and slogans are mixed with born again rituals that end with most of the kids in tears. Tears of release and joy, they would claim — the children are not physically abused. The kids are around 9 or 10 years old, recruited from various churches, and are pliant willing receptacles. They are instructed that evolution is being…
tsmith | August 1, 2006So, msnbc has a story about a waitress who was given her own--previously stolen--driver's license from a customer who was trying to prove she was 21.
The 22-year-old waitress, whose name was not released, called police last week and said she had been handed her own stolen driver's license by a woman trying to prove she was 21. The woman, who became suspicious of the delay as the waitress went to call police, fled the Moosehead Saloon, but her companion provided her name.
Clearly, this is a case of supernatural intervention, aka "design," as evidenced by this quote from a local police officer…
tsmith | July 28, 2006A reader sent me a link to this site, which contained a reprint of a story by CBS 47 in Jacksonville. Mostly, it was a repeat of the story I already discussed, but it added this tidbit of information:
The NPA teamed up with the Oklahoma State Department of Health to study the creepy crawlers.
They took skin samples from 20 patients who claim they have the bugs, but were diagnosed by their doctors as delusional.
Researchers found collembolan, a microscopic critter, in 18 of the 20 patients.
Collembola feed on algae, bacteria and decaying matter. They thrive in wet or damp surroundings, and…
clock | July 26, 2006If you are interested in mammoths, or if mammoths make the news, the first place to go is Archy: WOOLLY MAMMOTH LINKED TO SCIENCE FRAUD!!!
tsmith | July 26, 2006Every couple of months, it seems, comes a new media story on Morgellons disease, a "mysterious ailment" in which
Most individuals with this disease report disturbing crawling, stinging, and biting sensations, as well as non-healing skin lesions, which are associated with highly unusual structures. These structures can be described as fiber-like or filamentous, and are the most striking feature of this disease. In addition, patients report the presence of seed-like granules and black speck-like material associated with their skin.
Sounds like something that's right up my alley of interest, but…
tsmith | July 24, 2006Just wanted to point y'all to PZ's post on Gallagher's editorial (as he notes, he's much less generous than I am) and make a few clarifications:
1) Gallagher didn't coin the term "spiritual left;" that's lifted from Silver's book. I know many of the comments strongly disagreed with that term, and to be fair, it's not of his invention.
2) I understand that most of the examples Gallagher mentioned are present on all sides of the political spectrum. I agree that the right has more political clout and funding, and I disagree with Gallagher with his statement that the left is a bigger threat…
pharyngula | July 24, 2006Since I was just griping about the false claim that the political left is as anti-scientific as the right, I will mention one exception where I think the argument has some merit: alternative medicine. I am not a fan of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), which had a 2005 budget of 123 million dollars—123 million dollars that was sucked away from legitimate science and placed in the hands of quacks. The latest issue of Science has two articles, pro and con, on NCCAM, and you might be able to guess where my sympathies lay.
A major goal of NCCAM has been to…
pharyngula | July 21, 2006Some light reading, and otherwise…speak your mind in the comments.
Friday Ark #96
I and the Bird #28
Skeptics' Circle #39
tsmith | July 20, 2006The name "Richard Gallagher" may be familiar to some readers. Gallagher is the editor of The Scientist, and last year, somewhat naively suggested that the evolution/creation "debate" was actually a good thing (you can find the text of his editorial at this site). Both PZ and Jason Rosenhouse took him to task for the editorial (and Gallagher replied, and PZ shot back). The next month, The Scientist then published a number of letters responding to the editorial, and Gallagher also wrote a reply (republished here by the Discovery Institute). Gallagher ended that piece with this quote:…
clock | July 19, 2006Big Heathen Mike just produced an issue of the Skeptics Circle that IMHO will be one of the most memorable ones! Who can resist taking a little trip with skeptics AND the Scooby Doo gang all together!
clock | July 19, 2006Sometimes a metaphor used in science is useful for research but not so useful when it comes to popular perceptions. And sometimes even scientists come under the spell of the metaphor. One of those unfortunate two-faced metaphors is the metaphor of the Biological Clock.
First of all, there are at least three common meanings of the term - it is used to describe circadian rhythms, to describe the rate of sequence change in the DNA over geological time, and to describe the reaching of a certain age at which human fertility drops off ("my clock is ticking").
I prefer the Rube-Goldberg Machine…
tsmith | July 19, 2006Despite the fact that abortion is a public health issue, I don't write on it much. It's so emotionally charged, and I can only handle so many trolls at one time. However, regardless of one's position on abortion, we should be in agreement that women shouldn't be lied to at such a trying time--but it would seem that's the case:
Women who consult with pregnancy resource centers often get misleading information about the health risks associated with having an abortion, according to a report issued Monday by Democrats on the House Government Reform Committee.
Congressional aides, posing as…
tsmith | July 15, 2006More interesting stories that I didn't get to this week...
Ewen is looking for volunteer producers for his radio show. If you're in his neck of the woods and would like to learn about science journalism, drop him a line.
Mike notes that MRSA is winning the war on drugs, due in part to dirty needles and a lack of needle exchange programs.
Orac discusses the latest Geiers drama (those would be the folks who've been most prominent in pushing the vaccination/autism link here in the U.S.) Turns out a court recently laid the smackdown on them, Kitzmiller-style.
More sequence information has been…