Denialism

Author: MarkH

  • Man-cow hybrids: has the time finally come?

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    MarkH
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    In a little over a week, Michigan voters will be asked to vote on Proposal 2. The proposal is very simple. It is a constitutional amendment that makes Michigan a less hostile place for human embryonic stem cell (HESC) research. It forbids state or local government from passing laws that are more restrictive than federal…

  • The ethics of blog anonymity

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    I took on the ScienceOnline09 anonymity panel because I thought it might be interesting, but the conversation that has developed has turned this into a much deeper issue than I had anticipated. I’m stepping into a big, brown pile of ethics here, and hopefully Janet won’t make too much fun of me. Abel over at…

  • My irony meter just exploded

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    How stupid do you have to be for Jenny McCarthy to legitimately toss the epithet back at you? This question may seem unanswerable, but in this case, McCarthy may have gotten it half right regarding Dennis Leary. The headline at MSNBC delcares: McCarthy calls Leary ‘obviously stupid’ I don’t know much about Leary, but like…

  • Open letter to the American people

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    MarkH
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    My Fellow Americans, In a very short time, you will be given the chance to exercise one of the greatest and gravest responsibilities for citizens of the world’s most successful democracy. On that day, you will be choosing between two candidates, both tireless public servants whose personal stories show our nation’s ability to nurture the…

  • Don’t Let Him Defecate!

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    MarkH
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    This will be Orac’s new favorite show, perhaps the best reality show ever made. Meet Shirley Ghostman. The UK’s premier psychic who is mounting a search for the UK’s next psychic superstar. Watch his students cry as he channels Lady Di! Watch as he brings forth a evil serial killer in the presence of his…

  • So what’s the good news?

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    This thread needed to be moved up for obvious reasons. Have at it. –PalMD I’ve been writing quite a bit about “questionable” illnesses, shameless quacks and the like, but there are reasons that people seek out odd diagnoses and cult doctors. They feel crappy, and they haven’t yet found someone who can make them feel…

  • Health priorities

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    I made a mistake. First, I got a little worked up during last night’s debate because, when discussing health problems, both candidates gave shout-outs to relatively rare conditions rather than to the big killers. My second mistake was more grievous. I read something in HuffPo written by Deirdre Imus. No one brings the stupid quite…

  • Why should I trust you?

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    MarkH
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    On call one night as a medical student, I was presenting a case to my intern. As I recounted the patient’s ER course, the intern stopped me and said, “Pal — trust no one.” That sounded a little harsh to me, but the intern was nice enough to explain further. “Look, you’re going to be…

  • Tissue is the issue–revised version

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    MarkH
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    NB: images in this post are thought to be in the public domain, but were not well labeled, so if you feel they have been posted without proper attribution, please email me or leave a comment. Thanks. Also, this is a revision of a post from yesterday which I’ve pulled secondary to ethical concerns. I’ve…

  • Hmm…ethics…

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    MarkH
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    Ok, I pulled my post while considering ethical issues, viz this conversation: Dianne, PAL: I’m out of my depth here, so could you address what the ethical boundaries are for describing a case (even without personal identification) on an open board? I’ve always dealt with that one by Just Don’t — and I know it’s…