Denialism

Month: July 2008

  • PZ vs. the cracker

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    MarkH
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    I was trying to avoid weighing in on this one, but blogorrhea always wins. I won’t bother rehashing the details of the imbroglio—if you don’t know, well, you’ve been sleeping. Go on…google “pharyngula cracker”…I can wait. OK, now that you’ve caught up, here’s my two cents. I’m conflicted about this. It’s not usually a good…

  • Just one more thing…

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    MarkH
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    Look, my beef with Steve Wilson isn’t about style, isn’t about quality, isn’t about personality…it’s about truths, and it’s about health. Getting a detail wrong in an investigation of, say, cement is a peccadillo. Helping spread lies about the most important public health measure since clean water is a real problem. It probably couldn’t hurt…

  • Some of the best blogs you might not be reading

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    MarkH
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    This is my little version of blogrolling, something I vowed to never do, but I’ve been reading so many good blogs lately that I’d like to share some links. Some of these are on our blogroll, some aren’t. EpiWonk: An epidemiology blog. Archeoporn: one of the best names on the web. Submitted to a Candid…

  • Some random thoughts

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    MarkH
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    Some links, general business, and not-so random thoughts. Tangled Bank #109 is up at Greg’s place. The Blog that Ate Manhattan is hosting the latest Grand Rounds, Seinfeld additon. ScienceBlogs has a new project called Next Generation Energy. It will cover energy problems, alternative, etc. It will feature writers from ScienceBlogs and other outside experts.…

  • Feministe on Gardasil

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    MarkH
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    Complementing Pal’s essay on Gardasil yesterday is our buddy la Pobre Habladora guest blogging on Feministe. Which, I think, brings us to a new angle on anti-vax denialism because as Pal mentions, the motivations behind harping on Gardasil are different than the usual nonsense. Gardasil, to everyone’s dismay, has become intertwined with sexual politics in…

  • Antivax lies from a local reporter

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    MarkH
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    It’s worse than I thought. A local investigative reporter has just broadcast a report on mercury, vaccines, and autism that was devoid of any investigation. It was a piece of lazy journalism, relying on the propaganda of the antivax cults, rather than real medical information. It was a pure propaganda piece. Before this aired, I…

  • Should parents worry about HPV vaccine?

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    MarkH
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    That’s the question posed by CNN yesterday. It’s a good question. Any time a new vaccine or treatment is available, safety is a concern. Pre-marketing testing is likely to miss very rare reactions, so the government monitors new drugs when they hit the market. Gardasil has so far been quite safe, which does not rule…

  • NISSSBETTTTTT!!!!

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    MarkH
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    Arghhh!!! Framing. What is it? Is it a way of communicating issues effectively to diverse populations? Or is it another word for compromising your values until they become meaningless? In his latest piece, SciBling Matt Nisbet shows it to be the latter. While many of us are shaking our heads as we are forced to…

  • Swallowing nutrition myths hook, line, and sinker

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    MarkH
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    I’m starting to worry about health coverage in the NY Times. Lawrence Altman is a great health reporter, and I like one of Michael Pollan’s pieces in particular, but the Times also has a bunch of those blog-thinggies, and one of the writers has disappointed me before. Oops, she did it again…

  • Medicare cuts—a bad thing

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    MarkH
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    Look, I know no one is weeping for doctors and their complaints about payment cuts, but you should at least be concerned, and here’s why. Some doctors are rich…very rich. Most are not. Medical education is largely financed with debt, and primary care doesn’t pay all that much. Small practices work on narrow margins, and…