Month: December 2007
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Skeptics’ Circle Number 76
Good for Martin Hosting the Skeptics’ Circle and keeping out the cranks. I’m fond of Whiskey Before Breakfasts’ entry on just whether the 20th century truly was the bloodiest, and Knudsens News straight-faced description of the failure of doctors to meet chiropractic standard of care. Enjoy!
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Another assault on Evidence-based medicine
Except this time it’s from the right! Richard Dolinar of the Heartland Institute (a crank tank) writes in TCS Daily that evidence-based medicine (EBM) is bad for patients. A new buzzword entered the medical lexicon in 1992 when the Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group published one of the first articles on the phenomenon in the Journal…
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Good news on the HIV/AIDS front? Mbeki is out
While I can’t say for sure the new guy will be any better on HIV/AIDS denialism, it’s hard to image he’d be worse than South African President Thabo Mbeki, who just lost power. The new guy sounds like a nutbag, but maybe we can see this issue, which negatively affects the lives of millions of…
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Obesity Crankery – A growing problem
Recently, it seems there has been a backlash against medicine and the current knowledge of the relationship between diet, weight and overall health. I don’t actually believe this is directly the fault of scientists or doctors, who react to the trashy mainstream reporting of science with little more than the occasional raised eyebrow. However, many…
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Sexism or just idiocy from Cato?
I’m flattered that Pandagon liked our post on a terrible ad campaign for diamonds. But if Amanda thought that was bad, she should see some of the latest “reason” coming from our libertarian friends at Cato. David Boaz writes a post for Cato entitled “All Those Who’d Like to Live in Rwanda, Vietnam, or Cuba,…
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A question for Mathematicians – What is (monogamy)100
So asks the copyranter over this latest example of human stupidity: What’s even funnier than the absurd notion that a “Hearts on Fire” diamond will buy you monogamy (or that diamond purchases aren’t so frequently given in penitence for the sins of infidelity) is that really all it says is your man is a sucker.…
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Cectic, keeping the fight against dogmatic parentism alive
I’m in DC this week working for Dr. Mom and getting my physical exam skills back up to snuff, so I’ll be a little quiet. In the meantime, Cectic is keeping the dream alive: I love these guys.
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Surely we can get KBR under RICO
Reading about the latest atrocity by KBR that is the cover up of a rape of a US citizen by its contractors (apparently one of many), I ask the lawyers a question. Surely there is enough on KBR (formerly known as the evil wing of Halliburton – now independent) now to get a RICO indictment…
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Mike Adams is so stupid it hurts
Yes, I know, I’m stating the obvious again. But I just couldn’t resist when I saw this. In his never-ending quest to attack all science that doesn’t affirm his belief that vitamin D and fruit smoothies will cure all disease, he’s gone after the new new induced pluripotent stem cell findings. As far as I…
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So That’s What Anesthesiologists Do
I have to spend a few days doing anesthesiology during my surgery rotation, luckily one of the other med students forwarded this helpful video. I had no idea it was so complicated. I also like the drug song: