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Wrecky

October 11th, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

I like this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2011/oct/11/placebos-reiki-cancer-patients-harm
Its basically a (link to a) clinical study that shows that Reiki energy healing has real benefits for cancer patients… it just doesn’t work any better than having some totally untrained person wave their hands around and go “Ohm.”  The author (of the Guardian article, not the study) concludes that, if you’re going [...]

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Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

October 4th, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized

I never, ever, thought I’d say this, but:
This is fanfiction, about Harry Potter, and its really, really good.
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality.
Yeah.  I didn’t believe it either.  But its true.  Way, _way_ better than Rowling’s version, to my mind.

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Quacks like a duck…

October 3rd, 2011 · No Comments · Uncategorized


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Homeopathic Food

October 6th, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized

I love homeopathy; if they weren’t so utterly ridiculous, who would I make fun of?
Oh right; scientologists. Still, homeopathy is fun!

(Click image for the comics homepage, which fairly reliably amuses me…)

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Nice Sources of Checked Facts in Politics(?)

July 19th, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized

Quick post: I was mailing these to Coz and decided I’d share a bit more widely.  Two sites which I’ve only just started following, both of which claim to check politicians on both sides of the fence (and off in the back paddock) purely on their facts.  Or, they being politicians, on their distorted fabrications [...]

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Not Changing MY Mind…

July 14th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized

Interesting article in NPR - if you can get past the fact that its a radio transcript, and they use the phrase “you know” more often than the judges at a valley girl competition - where they discuss the human tendency to hold onto belief more strongly in the face of contradictory facts.  I’ve long [...]

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Happy Birthday To Us!

April 1st, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized

Hard to believe, but the Ministry of Skepticism has been going for a year now.
No fooling!
We’ve had some fun field trips, including an evening with members of The Process Church of the Final Judgment (forerunner to the Best Friends Animal Society) and the awe-inspiring Dorks in the Desert (otherwise known as TAM 7) which some [...]

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Chocolate Placebo

March 15th, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized

Cross-posted from ForBattle , because if high school taught me anything it was “anything thats worth doing is worth getting credit for… twice.” And y’know; seemed kind of appropriate.
I’m sick.
And of course I was sick over the weekend. But it gets better: I had a day off scheduled and a three-day weekend lined [...]

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Lancet recants study linking vaccines to autism">Lancet recants study linking vaccines to autism

February 2nd, 2010 · No Comments · Uncategorized

Click the title; I have no further comment.

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Jesus’ PR Team

September 10th, 2009 · No Comments · Uncategorized

My friend Mindy sends us a pointer to this little article about Jesus’ new ad blitz. Spect he’s got a new album coming out soon or something.
Claims are that its low-key, so while I can’t see a billboard on the side of a bus turning me back to any of the One True Faiths [...]

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