May 5th could be a monumentous day for British politics. As part of the deal which brought us the Con-Dem coalition, the country will go to the polls to vote in a referendum on adopting the Alternative Vote (AV) system for electing MPs. Currently, the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system is used, in which the candidate with … [Read more…]
Well, this could be an interesting event. At rather short notice, the NHS Wirral Primary Care Trust are to hold a public meeting this Wednesday March 6th at 6:30pm in the Old Market House on Hamilton Street, Birkenhead. There they will discuss a recommendation made by their Professional Executive Committee (PEC) to discontinue Homeopathic Services … [Read more…]
Whilst out and about in Liverpool today, I spied a few much-anticipated adverts for the BHA’s Census Campaign on the sides of a few buses. It’s always great to see humanist causes championed, but immediately I noticed something wrong. Rather than the snappy, humorous phrase on their website: If you’re not religious, for God’s sake … [Read more…]
I’m very excited to announce that I’ll be making a long but hopefully fruitful trip from Liverpool all the way to the south coast to speak at Portsmouth Skeptics in the Pub on April 14th. My talk is entitled “The Scientific Method: Uses and Abuses” where I introduce the scientific method, talk about how science … [Read more…]
With Andy Russell, I seem to have gotten in a little hot water with Hayley Stevens over a rather ill thought out and throwaway comment I made in my QEDcon review: (ghosts don’t exist, move on) Hayley, if you are reading this I’d like to apologise for the above comment. I know that you do … [Read more…]
As a skeptic, I’ve been waiting for this day for quite a long time. These days, no debate on health or science is complete without a contribution from the sparkling brain of Mike “Health Ranger” Adams. Today, Mike Adams has shared his thoughts on the 10:23 campaign against homeopathy, and my, is it a barnstorming … [Read more…]
An oft-repeated chant of the antivax brigade is that the MMR vaccine causes autism. Of course, this link has been debunked in countless studies, including a Danish study which compared 400,000 vaccinated children to 100,000 unvaccinated children and found no difference in the autism rate between the two groups. Unsatisfied, some antivaxxers try to move … [Read more…]
Well, what on Earth can I say to convey my thoughts on QEDcon? It was an amazing weekend for so many reasons. The speakers, the events, the organisation, the venue, everything contributed to an experience that all who were there will never forget. I’d like to sincerely thank everyone involved for such a great time! … [Read more…]