Strangely for a skeptic blog, I’ve yet to write anything about one Dana Ullman. In case you haven’t come across him before, Dana is a homeopath whose misleading, catty and disingenuous remarks in defence of his profession on Twitter and various blogs are legendary. Such exchanges inspired Kimball Atwood over at Science Based Medicine to … [Read more…]
You may remember a few months ago when I blogged about the vile racist tweets of Liam O’Donoughoe. Well, the latest piece of racism I’ve spotted comes not from the world of football, but from the account of a Labour MP and member of the shadow cabinet, Diane Abbott. You’ll notice the sweeping ‘white people’ … [Read more…]
Just what is the current state of NHS provision in Liverpool, birthplace of the 10:23 campaign against homeopathy and my current residence? As a skeptic and ardent 10:23 swallower, I was very happy to learn from Andy Lewis on Quackometer that the Liverpool Homeopathic Hospital has closed. This seemed to happen without any fanfare from … [Read more…]
The hunt for the elusive Higgs boson at CERN was slightly overshadowed by the fact that the presentation shown last week contained the infamous Comic Sans font. Twitter exploded in a cacophony of rage and bile, so I’ve made a little Rage comic (yes, I am obsessed with them) to parody the ridiculousness nature of … [Read more…]
A little while ago I blogged about going on a ‘mini tour‘, giving talks at Hackney, Liverpool and York. Well, it’s now all done and dusted, I had a fantastic time, and I hope everyone who came to see me enjoyed themselves! On November 28th I was very privileged to have the honour of speaking … [Read more…]
Please don’t be worried by the title of this post. I haven’t turned evil, this is simply a thought exercise. First off, I’d do the hard part and get a medical degree. I’d follow this up by getting a qualification that isn’t quite a doctorate, but I’d say it is anyway so that I could … [Read more…]
Tomorrow, I’ll be in Hackney talking about the scientific method. A key development in the scientific method occurred during the 20th century when Karl Popper worked to show the benefits of empirical falsification over classical inductivism. I’ve tried to sum up the difference between the two positions in a Rage comic. And why not? If … [Read more…]
It’s just dawned on me that I’ll be at three speaking events within a fortnight. They are all in different places throughout the UK, so if you were feeling generous you could broadly call it a speaking tour! Dates and events are as follows: November 28th 2011: “The Scientific Method: Uses and Abuses” at Hackney … [Read more…]
You’ve just got to love Nadine Dorries. The conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire has been in the sights of people like Tim Ireland for quite awhile now, thanks to her irrational stances on issues such as abortion, and for claiming that her own blog is “70% fiction”. As a result of Dorries stance on abortion … [Read more…]
Last Thursday, John Walliss from Liverpool Hope University gave a very interesting talk on “end of the world” cults (although I’m pretty sure that’s the wrong word for them). However, the guest of honour was in fact not John, but none other than Jesus Christ himself! In a superb and blatantly obvious piece of pareidolia, … [Read more…]