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2 days agoCan We All Stop Using the Kool-Aid Metaphor Now?
Seriously.
Using the phrase “Drank the Kool-Aid” is facile, dismissive, and utterly offensive.
I am a SF Bay Area denizen old enough to remember the day of the Jonestown Massacre, November 18, 1978,… -
5 days ago from bookmarkletFrom NeuroLogica Blog: Some Muddled Thinking from Bill Maher
Bill Maher has been getting a lot of heat lately and seems to be getting a bit defensive. He was particularly stung by Michael Shermer’s open letter in which Dr. Shermer thought it necessary to give Maher a basic lesson in germ theory.
Unfortunately, Maher has responded not by thoughtfully engaging his critics, but with a rambling defensive diatribe in which he simultaneously protests the criticism pointed his way while repeating and amplifying the pseudoscientific nonsense that garnered criticism in the first place.
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5 days ago from bookmarkletFrom Better Health:Domestic Violence: More Common Than You Think
“The CDC estimates that 37 percent of women who sought emergency department care were victims of domestic violence.”
What? 37 out of every 100 women I have triaged?
Seriously?
“Domestic violence victims are more likely to seek treatment for chronic and psychological conditions.”
Okay. But no way have I been taking care of victims of domestic abuse – I mean, hello, wouldn’t it be obvious? The hovering, overbearing abuser who answers all the questions for the patient? The bruises that aren’t explained by the story?
You know, the stereotypical, classic scenario?
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5 days ago from bookmarkletFrom Media Matters for America: Palin goes rogue on the facts
In August 2008, when then-senator and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said the media had held her under a “sharper microscope” because she was a woman, Sarah Palin rose to condemn her, accusing Clinton of a “perceived whine” that would harm other female political candidates. “I mean, work harder, prove yourself to an even greater degree that you’re capable, that you’re going to be the best candidate,” Palin instructed Clinton.
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6 days ago from bookmarkletFrom The Skeptical OB: Homebirth midwives don't want you to know
What would you think if the package insert for your new medication said the following?
“Our company, Drugs4All has tested this medication in 20,000 people and collected copious data about its effects. But we made a promise to Drugs4All shareholders that we will not let anyone see that data unless they can demonstrate that they will use it to promote the well being of our company.”
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1 week agoStupak Amendment Demonstrates the Hypocrisy of Anti-abortion Politicians
“SEC. 265. LIMITATION ON ABORTION FUNDING
a) In General.—No funds authorized or appropriated by this Act (or an amendment made by this Act) may be used to pay for any abortion or to cover any part of… -
1 week agoFor the Flowers of the Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead…. -
1 week agoIn Praise of Sesame Street!
Sesame Street debuted on PBS 40 years ago today.
It broke new ground in children’s television in a number of important ways. It was one of the first shows that didn’t talk down to kids; it presented… -
2 weeks agoWho Are You, Who Are So Wise in the Ways of Science?
Watching one of my favorite movies the other night, I was struck by a mysterious sense of familiarity. I’d seen this scene played out before, but not in the context of the Monty Python oeuvre.
Then… -
2 weeks agoMarriage is Dead! Long Live Marriage!
So the the majority of voters in Maine have decided that certain civil rights should be based upon the collective chromosomal makeup of the pairs of its citizens wishing to exercise those…
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