While trying to avoid working on my grant yesterday, I was idly flipping channels. I had planned on killing a few minutes while psyching myself up to go back into the Bat Cave that is my office, ignoring a gloriously perfect sunny day with temperatures in the low 80s, to do battle with the grant […]
Author: Orac
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 this particular surgeon 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 35 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: [email protected]
This is disturbing. Yesterday, I did a rather light-hearted edition of Your Friday Dose of Woo about “ionic foot detoxification.” A reader pointed out that in a story in which Randi had also discussed this woo, there was a comment along the lines of “I think autistic children should really do this.” How prophetic! Sadly, […]
Don’t forget, everybody, that the 67th Meeting of the Skeptics’ Circle is due to land at The Bronze Blog on Thursday, August 16. Bronze Dog will host. As you may know, Bronze Dog is the creator of a great list of “doggerel” commonly used by the credulous to defend pseudoscience or the paranormal. It’s up […]
After over a year of doing Your Friday Dose of Woo, I can’t believe I’ve never come across this one before. Sometimes there’s a bit of woo that comes my way that’s so off the wall, so unexpected, the claims for which are so unrelated to reality that it startles even me. Moreover, unlike truly […]
Somehow, I don’t know how, I managed to wind up on the mailing list of über-woomeister Dr. Joseph Mercola, who’s almost as bad as Mike Adams, only less blatantly crazy in pushing conspiracy theories. Yesterday, I received this pitch by e-mail:
