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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 in medicine. 

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Over the past several weeks promotion of the newly licensed Cuban anti-cancer medication Vidatox has been evident. The venom from the Cuban scorpion Rhopalurus junceus is the base for this supposed cancer treatment, and the manufacturer has received permission from the Chinese and Albanian governments to distribute the remedy in those countries. The treatment was previously only available in Cuba but they are now seeking licensure and distribution opportunities abroad, including, we must assume, Canada and Mexico (due to the US embargo, Vidatox could not be imported into the US). It remains, however, a dubious and dangerous treatment that is worth our skeptical attention and we must remind our governments and regulatory agencies that its sale should not be allowed.

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This week sees two new editions of The Randi Show, our biweekly video podcast from James Randi himself. In our "Season of Reason" episode, Randi discusses the many accomplishments of the JREF this year and encourages those who can to please donate to support our work for next year and beyond . Plus, he finally reveals whether he is, in fact, Santa Claus!

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  • Montreal Gazette, November 26, 2011
    Human magnets and their repulsive claims
    … no human magnet has been able to claim the $1 million offered by the James Randi Educational Foundation for any demonstration of a paranormal phenomenon under controlled condition …
  • Cocktail Party Physics | Scientific American
    In Praise of Insignificance
    A couple of years ago, I attended my first Amaz!ing Meeting — an annual conference sponsored by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), founded by magician, escape artist, and scourge of fake psychics and pseudoscience around the globe James Randi.

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If it weren’t bad enough that Jim Humble is still pushing bleach as a cure-all, the latest product that he is championing is MMS2.  What is MMS2, you may ask?  I’ll let Jim speak for himself:

“OK, so what is MMS2? What chemical turns to hypochlorous acid in the body? Hold on to your hat. It’s a special type of swimming ----- pool ----- chlorine. Well, that's what everybody calls it - swimming pool chlorine. BUT it is really not chlorine. It's a special agent that is used to "shock" the pool, called CALCIUM HYPOCHLORITE.”

That’s right.  Pool shock!  This is the stuff that they recommended that you wear gloves when you prepared it before putting it in your pool when I was a kid.  But it’s ok.  Just in case you were worried that ingesting pool chemicals might be bad for you, ol’ Jim has you covered:

“Good luck in using MMS2. Don't let the terrifying cautions on the pouch of Calcium Hypochlorite scare you away. I've tested it for years. “

  1. It's beginning to look a lot like reason ...
  2. James Randi at the University of Colorado Next Week
  3. The Burzynski Clinic
  4. James Randi Answers Questions from Mexican Students