BOO!
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- Written by Jamy Ian Swiss
- Category: Swift
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Last night, my life-date, Kandace, and I managed a night out at the movies, where we actually managed to catch a rare double feature. First we saw “World War Z,” the Brad Pitt zombie extravaganza, which is first rate. When the zombie apocalypse comes, I want Brad on my side!
Then we saw “The Conjuring.” The movie is a classic ghost story, with elements of poltergeists, exorcisms, and all the standard tropes. The bad news is that the production has gone to great lengths in all the attendant promotion (and in some respects within the film itself) to loudly proclaim itself “based on a true story.” The good news is, if you can divorce yourself from the stew of paranormal mysticism and Catholic superstition, what’s left is a perfectly entertaining horror flick with some fun scares.
Black cats, black crows and snail facials -- This Week In Doubtful News
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- Written by Sharon Hill
- Category: Swift
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Hello, everyone. Welcome to the weekly summary of Doubtful News. Your Doubtful News crew was busy last week at The Amazing Meeting, presenting, learning and networking. It was a fantastic time, as usual. Many participants were not aware of the Doubtful News website and how it works. We take stories in the mainstream media and question their content and context in terms of what we know about the world. Does this news sound reasonable or is there something here that should give you pause? Also, we keep you up-to-date about the latest developments in the subject areas of anomalies, the paranormal, alternative medicine and more! Here is a rundown of the mysterious, the strange and the credulous claims from this past week that you may have missed in the news, but shouldn't. People really believe this stuff.
Read more: Black cats, black crows and snail facials -- This Week In Doubtful News
Last Week At Science-Based Medicine
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- Written by Dr. Harriet Hall
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Here is a recap of the stories that appeared last week at Science-Based Medicine, a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo-woo in medicine.
Do clinical trials work? It depends on what you mean by “work” (David Gorski) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/do-clinical-trials-work-it-depends-on-what-you-mean-by-work/ Evidence-based medicine tends to worship the randomized clinical trial as the only valid method of investigation. A recent article questioned whether clinical trials even work. They do, and they’re the best method we have; they will improve as science evolves. Subsets of patients may respond to a treatment that “doesn’t work” for a whole population, and we can learn to identify them.
The Business of Baby and the Monkey Business of Margulis (Harriet Hall) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-business-of-baby-and-the-monkey-business-of-margulis/ Journalist Jennifer Margulis has written a dreadful, dangerous book, “The Business of Baby.” She correctly identifies many areas where modern maternity care needs improvement, but she is anti-vaccine, pro-home births, and anti- pretty much everything mainstream doctors do, accusing them of acting only out of financial motives. She uses cherry-picked information, inflammatory language, distortions, and fallacious reasoning to support her “natural” agenda.
BULLETIN….
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- Written by James Randi
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Our good friend Carolyn Porco has offered us the opportunity to be part of a really global experience!
Last year, this lady was named one the 25 most influential people in space by Time magazine. Well, not “in” space, but “about” space… Click in on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4-nxib2J_g and hear Morgan Freeman tell you what to do. When? Go to http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/waveatsaturn/timezones/ to find out. I’ll be out front, smiling, along with a load of other folks who take delight in such matters…
I’ll tell you no more. Help Carolyn, and feel good about doing so…
Should I Take Omega-3 Supplements or Not?
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- Written by Dr. Steven Novella
- Category: Swift
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I was boiling some pasta for dinner once when my daughter and I both noticed a fishy smell (something we both detest) permeating the kitchen. Since we never cook fish in our house, that seemed odd. It took a moment to locate the source – I had unknowingly purchased a box of pasta that had been fortified (or poisoned, depending on your perspective) with omega-3 fatty acids. This became known in my house as the “fish-pasta incident.”
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