All entries by this author

Nesrine Malik on Lubna Hussein *

Aug 5th, 2009 | Filed by

Some 50 female protesters braved tear gas and baton beatings from police outside court yesterday.… Read the rest



The Wisdom of Crowds *

Aug 5th, 2009 | Filed by

Research into how people behave at mass gatherings shows that crowds act in a highly rational way.… Read the rest



Potions to Prevent Swine Flu *

Aug 5th, 2009 | Filed by

You don’t get swine flu because you’re out of shape or under stress.… Read the rest



Vatican Cracks Down on RC Sisters in US *

Aug 5th, 2009 | Filed by

A ‘distrust of women who are not directly and submissively under male, ecclesiastical control.’… Read the rest



Reply to the Archbishop of Canterbury

Aug 5th, 2009 | By Eric MacDonald

The Rev’d Canon Eric MacDonald
The Redoubt
26 Katie Court
P.O. Box 3638
Windsor
NS, B0N 2T0
Canada

The Most Rev’d. Rowan Williams
Archbishop of Canterbury
Lambeth Palace
London, SE1 7JU
United Kingdom

1 August 2009

Dear Archbishop Williams,

Thank you for your response to my letter.

You may not want to start a correspondence with me, but you can scarcely expect me not to respond to some of the things that you said, and the claims that you made, since your response to my letter comes in the form of an argument so stunningly biased that it deserves, in my view, not much more than a fairly curt dismissal. (I will try to provide more than that, but you … Read the rest



The royal prerogative

Aug 4th, 2009 5:15 pm | By

Good old Prince Cholls – he plans to question publicly the Food Standards Agency’s conclusion that expensive organic food is no better for you than produce from intensive farms. His dedication to keeping his subjects entertained is impressive. (His care for their health not so much. And as for his critical thinking skills…)

“This study hasn’t changed His Royal Highness’s views one bit,” one of the Prince’s friends tells me. “Charles thinks it’s ludicrous to suggest that vegetables treated with chemicals or meat raised with antibiotics can be as good for you as proper food.”

And he comes to this conclusion via…well they don’t say.

Lord Melchett, who is the policy director of the Soil Association and a close

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Police Beat Women Protesting Lubna Hussein Trial *

Aug 4th, 2009 | Filed by

Hussein said she would take the issue all the way to Sudan’s constitutional court if necessary.… Read the rest



Ben Goldacre on Soil Association’s Bad Arguments *

Aug 4th, 2009 | Filed by

SA seek to undermine the public’s understanding of what a ‘systematic review’ is.… Read the rest



Holford Watch on the FSA and Organic Foods *

Aug 4th, 2009 | Filed by

It is inappropriate to put figures about purported nutritional advantages of organic food into the public debate in the absence of any context.… Read the rest



Prince Declares Mind Unchanged *

Aug 4th, 2009 | Filed by

‘This study hasn’t changed His Royal Highness’s views one bit.’… Read the rest



The Home Office Have Assembled Some Evidence *

Aug 4th, 2009 | Filed by

Ben Goldacre takes a look at it. He asks if it is a joke.… Read the rest



Royal Family’s Support for Homeopathy is a Joke *

Aug 4th, 2009 | Filed by

BMA and MHRA have condemned Ainsworths and ‘Swine Flu Formula.’ Time the Royals did the same.… Read the rest



Have some Treatment

Aug 3rd, 2009 6:01 pm | By

Got a broken leg? Hepatitis? Chapped lips? Have you tried some nice medicine?

A pharmacy supplying homeopathic remedies to the Royal Family…, Ainsworths, has been accused of “quackery” for supplying bottles of pills labelled as “Swine Flu Formula” for people suffering from the disease…Ainsworths has been granted a Royal Warrant by the Queen and Prince Charles, who are both said to be supporters of homeopathy…Its treatment is in the form of small “sugar pills”, which dissolve under the tongue. It is sold in £7 bottles, containing 50 pills, which can be bought on the company’s website or over the counter of its central London store. The label on the bottles reads: “SFF (Swine Flu Formula). Treatment: One to be

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The Chiropractors’ World Unravels *

Aug 3rd, 2009 | Filed by

They are getting more attention than they wanted. Sad.… Read the rest



Homeopathic ‘Pharmacy’ Sells Sugar Pills *

Aug 3rd, 2009 | Filed by

Ainsworth’s, homeopaths to the royal family, sells sugar pills as swine flu treatment.… Read the rest



The Epistemology of Photoshopping *

Aug 3rd, 2009 | Filed by

Bachelard, Lacan, Heisenberg, Peggy J Bowers – it all adds up.… Read the rest



Daughter Turns Atheist – Call the FBI *

Aug 3rd, 2009 | Filed by

Or an exorcist.… Read the rest



Andrew Brown Pitches a Fit at ‘Militant’ Atheists *

Aug 3rd, 2009 | Filed by

Clock strikes twelve.… Read the rest



Footnotes on footnotes

Aug 2nd, 2009 12:45 pm | By

I mentioned that a commenter at The Intersection said I was lying. Tim Broderick, he is; here’s the central part of what he said:

When Ophelia Benson claims through her “questions” that Chris and Sheril have no evidence she is not telling the truth. It’s one thing for people who haven’t read the book to assert this – she has the book. So let me say that again and more emphatically: She is lying.

Here is the question from her own site: “How do you know overt atheism causes people to be hostile to science? How does that work? What is your evidence?”

From page 173 to page 185 there are detailed endnotes with citations to back up the assertions

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Americans Have No Sense of Humour *

Aug 2nd, 2009 | Filed by

Says BBC reporter on his way out the door.… Read the rest