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Blogging Politics

In case you’re curious…

…this is what a troll is on the Internet. Personally, though, I prefer the Flame Warriors version, although I’m not sure that I agree with Mike Reed’s characterization of trolls as “generally quite harmless.”

Categories
Cancer Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

End of year update on Abraham Cherrix

It’s been a while since I’ve heard anything about Abraham Cherrix, the teen who rejected conventional chemotherapy for Hodgkins’ lymphoma in favor of the quackery known as Hoxsey therapy. Ultimately, there was a legal battle resulting in a compromise that allowed Cherrix to pursue “alternative” therapy at a clinic in Mississippi run by a radiation […]

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Medicine Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Skepticism and the scientific consensus

It figures. Some of the most interesting questions and posts showed up right before Christmas, just the time when I didn’t have time to discuss and (hopefully) expand upon them. Neither, I’m guessing, did anyone else, which is unfortunate because this post was about an issue worth further discussion in the skeptical blogosphere. I’m talking […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Quackery

Mercury and autism: More Huffington Post nonsense

The whole post-Christmas thing left me without time to do anything other than a couple of brief bits. Consequently, given Deirdre Imus’ two recent appearances on the Huffington Post, I thought it would be as good a time as any to resurrect this post from June 27, 2005. For those of you who haven’t been […]

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Autism Blog housekeeping Humor Medicine

Dumbest comment of the year from an antivaccinationist?

While I’m recharging a bit from the Christmas festivities yesterday to the point where soon I’ll be able to write a substantive post, full of the Respectful Insolence™ and science or medicine that readers have come to expect, here’s something to amuse (I hope). On Sunday, I wrote a not-so-respectfully insolent takedown of a truly […]