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Announcements Skepticism/critical thinking

The 107th Meeting of the Skeptics’ Circle: OMG! A podcast!

Well, here’s a new way of hosting a Meeting of the Skeptics’ Circle. What we have this time is the combination of a minimalist presentation of the relevant links with a maximalist bit of podcast blather from Theo Clark of The Skeptics’ Field Guide. Go check it out! Next up is PodBlack Cat on March […]

Categories
Bioethics Clinical trials Medicine Surgery

The most massive scientific fraud ever?

Science as it is practiced today relies on a fair measure of trust. Part of the reason is that the culture of science values openness, hypothesis testing, and vigorous debate. The general assumption is that most scientists are honest and, although we all generally try to present our data in the most favorable light possible, […]

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Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Quackery

Not all legislators are boosters of pseudoscientific nonsense

I know I’ve been hard on a lot of legislators, including woo-friendly clods such as Tom Harkin, Ron Paul, and Dan Burton. Occasionally, though, a legislator will show that he “gets it” (or at least hasn’t drunk the Kool Aid). Forwarded to me was a letter sent from Representative John Linder (R-GA) in response to […]

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Complementary and alternative medicine Medicine Politics Quackery Science

Will the government ever regulate dietary supplements?

Advocates of so-called “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM) frequently make the claim that they are the victims of a “double standard,” in which (or so they claim) they are subjected to harsher standards than what they often refer to as “conventional” or “orthodox” medicine, usually because, don’t you know, big pharma controls everything and rigs […]

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Announcements Antivaccine nonsense Autism Complementary and alternative medicine Entertainment/culture Medicine Popular culture Quackery

Calling all Air America fans, calling all Air America fans!

Crank alert! Age of Autism has announced that David Kirby and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will be on the David Bender Show at 1:15 PM today. It would be nice if, to counter the antivaccine activists, reality-based listeners would call in, although I am very pessimistic that Bender would give them a fair shake, given […]