Archive for July, 2010
Psychic Shoots! Psychic, Erm, Misses By A Mile…
Posted by Marsh in Predictions, Psychics on July 7, 2010
Here at the Merseyside Skeptics Society, we’re not ones for gloating when a psychic does something stupid. It’s just not our style. We prefer to rise above it, stay classy, and make only a few gags about builders bums and nipping to the loo. See – classy.
Still, for a change, I’m going to write about an abject psychic failure that doesn’t involve Joe ‘the Power’ Power. You see, sometimes, in order to give the impression that they’re able to see the future, psychics will make predictions about things. And sometimes, they’ll make those predictions somewhere that ends up in the news cycle, and documented on the internet. And sometimes, just sometimes, they utterly fail to realise how much scope this gives for their duff predictions to come back and bite them on the behind. Case in point:
U.K Psychic: Ghana Will Win The World Cup
It’s not the prediction England fans in the county wanted – but Fabio Capello’s men will not be bringing home the World Cup this summer.
In fact – if Ipswich medium Sue Knock’s information from the psychic world proves true – an African side will lift the trophy for the first time.
She is predicting Ghana – the team of Essien, Muntari and Appiah – could take home the coveted cup.
For any non-football fans out there, Ghana will not be winning the World Cup, at least not in 2010, having lost to Uruguay in the Quarter Finals. Read the rest of this entry »
Homeopathic Feedback
Posted by Marsh in 10:23, Homeopathy on July 5, 2010
Recently I wrote on this site a letter you can send to your MPs, urging them to support the campaign to remove homeopathy from the NHS. If you haven’t sent the letter yet, please do! I also sent this letter out as an email, to everyone who signed up for updates on the 10:23 Campaign site. Inevitably, some interested parties on the site were homeopaths. Which means I get entertaining and enlightening feedback – awesome!
Here’s one of my recent favourites, with my response. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did (for full clarity, I’ve not corrected any grammar, presentational issues, and to be clear I’ve not missed a word of what I received):
Why the “fight against Homeopathy” if you think it doesnt work? Homeopathy is safe, and inexpensive.It is in the interests of multi-national drug companies to suppress homeopathy because it is effective and doesnt have side-effects. Check out France and Germany. Also check out the history books where you will find “witch-hunt” and “witchcraft” referring to suppression of Americans in the 1950′s.Read Doctorow’s “The book of Daniel” :Berthold Brecht and Arthur Millers “Crucible” .
Your campaign is targeting well-trained practitioners who are unable to make a living, largely because of adverse publicity.I am wondering about the business interests of Simon and other leaders of your campaign, and whether there may be involvment with any drug companies.If so I would politely ask any of you to declare this, please.Last week the World Health Organisation were exposed:-members of the committee who upped the status of swine flu to pandemic, were found to have business interests with the multi -national pharmaceutical company who produced the vaccine.The bill for vaccine cost Great Britain £1.2 Billion, and most of it was refused and unused.There has been no pandemic. Magdalena Whitehouse BA RGN PCH RShom.
Pick your way through that one, if you will! Well, I did, and here’s my response Read the rest of this entry »
Simon Jenkins Versus The ‘Bishops’ of Science (Mad Journalist Syndrome – Part 2)
Posted by Colin H in #spoofjenks, Journalism, science, Simon Jenkins on July 4, 2010
Back in February, I wrote this blogpost in response to a Simon Jenkins opinion piece in the Guardian’s Comment is Free section, in which he accused scientists of scaremongering over the swine flu pandemic. My particular issue with the article (I had many) was Jenkins’ suggestion that because things didn’t turn out as badly as they could have, then we should have ignored ‘scientists’ and played it safe (that was the benefit of hindsight unironically extolled by Jenkins there). To me, Jenkins’ suggestion completely missed the point. The precautions taken to deal with the pandemic were for ‘potential’ danger – no-one could know for sure exactly what would happen, it was what ‘could’ happen that mattered. It was a weighing up of risk. The whole of Jenkins’ piece seemed motivated more by an irrational hatred of scientists than out of any reasonable or rational concern. It was not the first time Jenkins had done this either (see here, here and here) – the piece was just one in a long line of anti-science rants which Jenkins seems to randomly publish in the otherwise science-friendly Guardian, like taking a shit in the middle of a gateau.
Question of The Week: What Woo Would You Go Along With To Get Your Dream Job?
Posted by Colin H in Fun Stuff, Question of the Week on July 2, 2010
We all need to work. Without work we run out of money and end up living on beans in a stolen wheelie bin. That’s obviously not a good route. Wheelie bins are uncomfortable.
So, in order to avoid a future of bins and beans, we work. We quite happily jump through hoops we wouldn’t normally bother with in order to get work, especially if it’s a dream job that we really want. This is understandable. But how far would you go? At what point would you draw the line? What if your prospective employer wanted you to – gulp – submit to some woo?
The Question of The Week is this: What woo would you go along with to get your dream job?
Maybe your interviewer wants you to do a personality test that involves astrology? Maybe they want you to take that dubious lie-detector, the polygraph (it happens)? Maybe your dream job involves working with homeopaths or mediums on a daily basis? How much could you go along with to get that job? Can you put your skepticism to one side if you need to?
Let us know in the comments field below…
Skeptics with a K – Episode #025
Posted by Mike in Podcast, Skeptics with a K on July 1, 2010
Extended episode! Blasphemy in Pakistan, Jenkins in the Guardian, and homeopathy in parliament. Plus, Schrödinger’s Christ, Nelson’s Column, Marilyn Manson and woo in the workplace.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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