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Here is a rundown of the whirlwind week in weird, the paranormal and questionable claims from the past week courtesy of Doubtful News.

It was a HUGE week for skepticism. Great press was had all around from the big story of the week: Amanda Berry found and the humiliating epic fail, once again, of Sylvia Browne. Every skeptic and not so skeptic on the planet had something to say about this example of how psychics are unhelpful and downright hurtful.

While we had this bit of good press, there was bad news - the planned departure of Eugenie Scott from the National Center for Science Education. Genie is the thinking parent's angel on earth and we're all so grateful for all she has done.

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In today’s China, it appears that ancient superstitions are rising to the top of the politicians’ agenda for serious attention. The official view, their explanation for the series of misfortunes they believed to be threatening their careers last year, centered around a pair of Imperial guardian lions, traditionally known in Chinese as “shi,” and often called "Foo Dogs" in the West. They’re a pair of fierce-looking stone lions that guard so many homes and businesses, including the state-owned China Tobacco building just across the street from the government Land Bureau offices.

Well, a Land Bureau official has revealed that the secret weapon the Bureau used was “feng shui,” the ancient practice of how to arrange objects and to design architecture to supposedly improve health, prosperity and luck. For proof, he pointed at a stone wall in their parking lot that was built to block the feline statues’ harmful “qi,” or energy.

It’s a fact that Marxist ideology is fading in China, but as I’ve so often noted, ancient mystical beliefs once banned or shunned tend to gain ground and even replace one sort of nonsense with another; this happened in Russia within recent years when abandoned churches began to fill again as the grip of Communism relaxed.

Chinese fortunetellers are now eagerly offering costly sessions in astrology and numerology, and business people are consulting feng shui masters for financial guidance.

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Is Dr. Oz a fraud or a fool? I can’t know for sure, and I don’t care.  

I do know this: He sure doesn’t seem like much of a scientist to me.  

And I am also pretty damned sure that he is a hazard to America’s health. And probably the greatest hazard on network television today. And that’s saying something.  

When was the last time that a revolutionary, historic, scientific breakthrough was first demonstrated and announced on an afternoon television talk show?  

The correct answer: NEVER.  

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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.  

Undermining the regulation of stem cell therapies in Italy: A warning for the future? (David Gorski) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/undermining-the-regulation-of-stem-cell-therapies-in-italy-a-warning-for-the-future/ Stem cell quackery is rampant: clinics offer miraculous cures with untested treatments that may not even contain stem cells. Swayed by arguments of “health freedom” and “compassion,” the Italian government is on the brink of approving stem cell quackery and even facilitating it with government funding.  

GAPS Diet (Harriet Hall) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/gaps-diet/ The Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet is a mishmash of half-truths, pseudoscience, imagination, and untested claims. It is the invention of one woman who believes a large number of health and psychological problems (especially autism) are caused by an imbalance of gut microbes. Her claims are not supported by any published evidence.  

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It was a Sunday unlike any other in the history of Lagos. Friends gathered at the seminar room at the University of Lagos not to pray or worship, not to bind or cast away demons or utter meaningless tongues and syllables as is often done on a usual Sunday. Instead people convened to think, question and exercise their will to doubt and to critically examine issues and claims. People gathered to reason together, and for a skeptical fellowship.

It was an unusual event, and the first of its kind. One participant described it as a historic day. And indeed April 28, 2013 was a memorable day for freethinking people in Lagos state. Around 40 participants turned out for the inaugural forum of humanists and skeptics in the state. It was a coming out event for many who met and interacted for the first time with people of like minds.

  1. Natural Does Not Mean Safe
  2. Small Study of Reflexology Finds Nothing, Headline Should Read
  3. Yet Another Sylvia Browne Fiasco
  4. This Week In Doubtful News