Month: May 2009
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How do we break this cycle?
I’m open to suggestions. Do we just need to kick our PR departments in the pants? To be fair, often the internets skips that step. H/T TR
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Taxing Cigarette Butts and the Buttheads Who Flick Them
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has proposed a $0.33 tax on cigarettes to address the problem of cleaning up butts! This follows an audit (PDF) of litter in the city that found cigarette butts to be a major problem (along with chewing gum, and unbranded napkins). The cigarette companies are against it: “Obviously we think…
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Denialism in the Literature
It’s good news though! A description of the tactics and appropriate response to denialism was published in the European Journal of Public Health by authors Pascal Diethelm and Martin McKee. It’s entitled “Denialism: what is it and how should scientists respond?” and I think it does an excellent job explaining the harms of deniailsm, critical…
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The Good and Fragile Egos
Following up on my earlier post about Beyond Google and Evil, I just came across this article from the Wall Street Journal on one of Google’s detractors, Consumer Watchdog. Believe it or not, Google went after their funding! …In January, Consumer Watchdog circulated a press release alleging a “rumored” lobbying effort by Google to enable…
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Beyond Google and Evil
I apologize for the infrequent blogging. A tough semester. I did have time, however, to publish an essay about Google’s rhetoric that might be of interest to Denialism readers. No, I’m not calling Google denialist, but am trying to explain what Google means when the company talks about privacy (most companies interpret information privacy to…
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Nature Reviews “Denying AIDS: Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, and Human Tragedy”
Seth Kalichman has written a book on HIV AIDS denial and Nature has a book review that’s got me excited to get my copy. From the review: Inadequate health policies in South Africa have reportedly led to some 330,000 unnecessary AIDS deaths and a spike in infant mortality, according to estimates by South African and…
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Angels and Demons – Feeding our love of conspiracies
Tomorrow Angels and Demons comes to theaters across the country. One in a long series of movies that profits from the idea that underneath our regular, ordinary world, there are powerful forces controlling the scenes. I understand the appeal of these movies, it’s an entertaining concept. A fictional conspiracy engages your intellect, creates a mystery,…
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Have you written your letter to Oprah yet?
If you have been keeping up with Pal or Orac in my absence, you already know the bad news. Oprah has decided to up her woo quotient from promotion of the Secret and relatively harmless nonsense to actively promoting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories in the form of a Jenny McCarthy TV show. Gawker suggests a good…
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Obesity – A new study and what it means to be a “healthy weight”
In response to the conversation on “Obesity, Evolution and Delayed Gratification” on the main page and Razib’s coverage of a fascinating new study on the relationship to the lactase gene and obesity, I thought now would be a good time to write about an important new study that helps define the boundaries of what normal…
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What should a national health care system look like?
I was pleased to see president Obama deliver this address yesterday: Click To Play I was even more pleased because he has gathered the traditional opponents of healthcare reform around him and has convinced them to commit to reform in the US system. This is a positive sign. However, I’m concerned because, as with all…