Genomics, Evolution, and Pseudoscience

Michael - under the off chance you're serious: Th...

2010-03-17T09:19:51.296-07:00

Michael - under the off chance you're serious:

This law doesn't rule on the efficacy of astrology, nor does the article. The article simply points out what the law says:

(It says that) Astrologers cause Global Warming. (among other things)

Do you? Or would you (at best) predict it?

This new law makes me ashamed to be from south dak...

2010-03-16T15:25:26.417-07:00

This new law makes me ashamed to be from south dakota =(

Well, we can hope, but law decisions don't really ...

2010-03-15T15:57:43.052-07:00

Well, we can hope, but law decisions don't really stop crazies. Creationists haven't stopped trying to worm their way into the classroom even though they lost the case in Dover, so I'm not sure why the anti-vax people will be any different.

Anonymous: I read enough of the Zylowka study to s...

2010-03-12T05:54:21.390-08:00

Anonymous: I read enough of the Zylowka study to stand by my comments. It's a poorly-controlled, small study, as I wrote originally. Like many people promoting their own work, the authors state that "a controlled clinical study is warranted." That's standard fare for pseudoscience - produce a vague result, claim it suggests your vague idea has merit, and ask for money to do more research. This study doesn't prove anything and it certainly doesn't convince me that they deserve more funding.

Hi Steven, I am posting with regards to your comm...

2010-03-11T14:08:27.460-08:00

Hi Steven,

I am posting with regards to your comments on the mindfulness & ADHD study (Zylowka) ... Did you read the paper?

I get the impression not. The authors main conclusion was a larger study is required, and warranted because of these findings.

If you had read the paper, you would have also noticed that the assessment included the Attention Network Task (ANT). The ANT is a computer-based task (not self-report as you claim) - one that was developed by Posner.

Finally, Mindfulness Meditation Training isn't a crackpot theory (as your dismissiveness of it suggests), it's heavily researched (including neuroimaging data) in relation to the positive effect it has on various psychopathologies.

It's all very well having a blog discussing pseudoscience, but I think you should be more responsible in the future - you were overly critical of a technique that is already widely accepted and used in clinical practice.

Maybe you should stick to discussing topics that fall in your area of expertise.

Joe Butler

is that last comment a joke? it has to be. eithe...

2010-03-08T06:22:51.084-08:00

is that last comment a joke? it has to be. either that or he is from south dakota.

Hello Mr. Salzburg: Thank you for your essay on S...

2010-03-07T11:32:19.490-08:00

Hello Mr. Salzburg:

Thank you for your essay on South Dakota & Astrology.

My name is Michael Zizis. I am a Toronto practising astrologer with decades in the business.

When we judge, a person or a thing, we become blind to it.

If inductive logic is a science then Darwin was a scientist. Maybe observation of reoccurring phenomena can't give you insight. Maybe cultural astronomy should be scourged, and its proponents burned to death.

I suspect you are a busy man — so I will cut to the chase.

Liz Greene British Astrologer - predicted to the week exactly when Soviet communism would fail in 1989.

I got my clients out of the tech boom of 1999/ 2000 just before the bubble burst in April May. I was correct within one day.

Arch Crawford after strong initial skepticism, and a loathing of the craft made many millions of dollars investing through astrology.

Michel Gauquelin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Gauquelin physicist made it his life's mission to destroy astrology; his father was an astrologer. He ended up vindicating astrology and made important contributions to the research of it. For his pains he got thrown out of the Sorbonne.

If your argument against astrology is crap astrologers, I assure you there are no crap journalists or crap reporters or crap public commentators. If it is your wish to hide behind the little god of opinion that many worship, then feel free to dump this heartfelt letter. Pat Robertson said that the Haitians deserved their fate, making a pact with the devil:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/13/haiti.pat.robertson/index.html

- that is an opinion.

If you love the wolfpack mentality {because whoever is in power is right, and after all you are a guy — with absolutely no need for a self examined life: that's for fairies & faggots} , then understand that every wolf behind the leader is following an asshole.

If you have the courage to face your demons here is a simple suggestion: make a list of people who love you hate you, and are indifferent to you — along with their birthdays. A strong pattern will emerge.

In all sincerity Mr. Salzburg, I mean you no harm. Just choose carefully who and what to hate. Kepler and Copernicus practised astrology.

If you would like to know more about astrology's beginning in observing agrarian cycles, practised by brilliant men and women farmers of the Mesopotamian plains, to insure their children wouldn't starve, I will be only to glad to help you with it. These were practical and ingenious people who did things for practical reasons.

If your argument is about free will vs., predestination: only information confers freedom.

You can choose anger. That's a judgement that blinds you. It's a good drug in the short term. And lastly, Mr Salzburg, do you believe in Spanish?

Astrology isn't a belief system, it's a language. It's gifted and complex codification is just one brilliant organising principle. Astrology is a tool with which to get amazing things done. Do You hate your wrench and your fork and your knife, and Mom's eye glasses?

with sincere regards,

Michael Zizis

... cosmological, and ecological dynamics that can...

2010-02-28T18:57:54.945-08:00

... cosmological, and ecological dynamics that can *affect world weather...

Not exactly the biggest error in the legislation.

My son takes Vyvanse for ADHD. It has made a huge...

2010-02-23T09:40:23.720-08:00

My son takes Vyvanse for ADHD. It has made a huge difference in him. The trouble, however, is getting him to take the meds, as father tells him he doesn't need it. I think that for some people who actually have ADHD, the meds go a long way ... like removing that 50 pound back pack so they can run the same race as everyone else. I don't believe in drugging children just because they are hyper or have some behavior issues. I do, however, believe it is important to get them medical help if they indeed have a real medical condition, or imbalance, that can be improved through the use of medications. Along with that, discipline is important. It is difficult to discipline an ADHD child with a "time out", "grounding," or removal of his favorite things ... as ADHD children generally don't care and move on to something else quickly, and with very little thought about consequences. I want to know if anyone has successfully put their child in a "time out" without strapping them down. If so, how? Good luck!

Anon: the website you cite is written by a homeopa...

2010-02-08T06:32:42.723-08:00

Anon: the website you cite is written by a homeopath, a quack practitioner and anti-vaccination fanatic. She claims to have read the science and discovered that vaccines don't really work. She might be lying, but she appears to be simply hopelessly confused and scientifically illiterate. That's the nicest way I can put it. She doesn't cite a single scientific study supporting her wild claims because there isn't one. Instead, her post is a long rant describing her own misguided interpretations of cherry-picked facts and half-truths.

GMC tactics on another doctor, and these are good ...

2010-02-07T16:43:44.338-08:00

GMC tactics on another doctor, and these are good guys? I don't think so.
jayne-donegan.co.uk/MyExperiencewiththeGeneralMedicalCouncil/tabid/985/Default.aspx

Update: other experts are agreeing with this predi...

2010-02-06T11:10:23.028-08:00

Update: other experts are agreeing with this prediction, nearly three weeks later - for example, see http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100205/ap_on_he_me/us_med_swine_flu.

hilarious

2010-02-04T10:01:14.633-08:00

hilarious

I Steven, I just went to the Lancet website an it...

2010-02-04T06:59:24.432-08:00

I Steven,

I just went to the Lancet website an it looks as if the original article now has a big "RETRACTED" in front of the original paper title. Also if you open the pdf it has a big red "retracted" layed over each page.

It was about time!!! Thanks for all your efforts -I have sent links to your talk that's posted on youtube around to many people who needed to hear the truth.

What do you think about what he said about cancer ...

2010-02-02T05:24:24.975-08:00

What do you think about what he said about cancer being a fungus and being able to cure it with sodium bicarbonate??

I absolutely agree, the GMC reacted too late to st...

2010-01-29T08:47:24.452-08:00

I absolutely agree, the GMC reacted too late to stop a massive fall in confidence in the vaccine. The story now needs to be focussed on getting parents to trust the MMR vaccine.

I work at Sense, the charity for deafblind people and we work with families still living with the effects of previous rubella outbreaks. You can read our full response to this story on our website: Sense website

Thanks for taking the time to email me about this ...

2010-01-28T19:12:21.861-08:00

Thanks for taking the time to email me about this post, so I could add it to the list.

One of my blogging habits is to collate pro and con posts on a particular issue. One reason to do is that each blog has its own set of commenters and often the comments reveal aspects of the issue previously not considered elsewhere.

Today's issue is the UK's General Medical Council's ruling on Andrew Wakefield.

I've included this post in the list.

The list can be found at

http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2010/01/andrew-wakefield-dishonesty-misleading-conduct-and-serious-professional-misconduct.html

Interesting. Scheibner is a retired geologist who...

2010-01-26T11:49:17.614-08:00

Interesting. Scheibner is a retired geologist who has become an anti-vaccine activist. She apparently doesn't even understand that the polio virus is a distinct species of virus that can be definitively diagnosed. The vast majority of cases of viral meningitis are caused by other viruses.

I see no reason to give any credibility to Scheibner, who appears to be a crackpot.

One last thing: "Polio has not been eradicated by...

2010-01-26T11:16:25.079-08:00

One last thing:

"Polio has not been eradicated by vaccination, it is lurking behind a redefinition and new diagnostic names like viral or aseptic meningitis. According to one of the 1997 issues of the MMWR, there are some 30,000 to 50,000 cases of viral meningitis per year in the United States alone.

That's where all those 30,000 - 50,000 cases of polio disappeared after the introduction of mass vaccination" —Viera Scheibner, PhD

Check it out. Just google her.

Anon: that image is a good example of misinformati...

2010-01-25T05:35:53.774-08:00

Anon: that image is a good example of misinformation you can find on the web. Polio reached its peak in the 1940s and 1950s, before the vaccine dramatically reversed its progress. How can you believe a chart that shows mortality of more than 100%, as that one does?
But you're also confusing mortality with the other effects of polio. Polio often causes devastating paralysis, but its mortality rate (the percentage of those who die after being infected) was never that high.
See this review article for more: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1473032/?tool=pmcentrez

Here's an example of what I mean. Everyone talks ...

2010-01-25T05:18:33.653-08:00

Here's an example of what I mean. Everyone talks about polio. The graph we always see is from the 50's onwards. This clearly looks like the vaccine is working. If you look at the actual chart from the 20s you see polio cases were already well over cut in half before the polio vaccine was introduced.

Polio from 1920s - 1970s

The real reason for the decline in polio is probably better health and hygene. Which is why polio is still a concern in third world countries. Science can easiltu be manipulated.

I used to get the fu and colds every year. I got ...

2010-01-25T04:44:02.876-08:00

I used to get the fu and colds every year. I got flu shots and I still got the flu. After reading about vitamin D a few years ago (not from Dr. Mercola) I began taking 1000 IU of vitamin D and 500 IU of vitamin C starting in October and continued through until May. It's been 6 years and I haven't gotten a flu or cold since. My wife laughed at me until I went three years without a cold or flu. She started and now she has been cold and flu free for three years? I know its anecdotal but hey it works for us. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. What's different about summer and winter...lack of sunlight. Human's have been on this planet in some form for millions of years. Most of that time in warm sunny places. It just makes sense that the use of the sun and nutrients from the earth would be utilized by our bodies through evolution. Mr. Salzburg, your own critical mind is being dulled by manipulated science that's used for profit. Perhaps it's time for you to wake up! :)

I didn't say he wasn't a doctor. I said he is a po...

2010-01-21T08:26:13.855-08:00

I didn't say he wasn't a doctor. I said he is a politician. So let's agree that he had medical training in the past. I don't know what he learned, or when he learned it, but he doesn't know about the flu virus, the evolution of influenza, the influenza vaccine, the methods of choosing a vaccine, or the epidemiology of the flu. In principal, this shouldn't be surprising - doctors have specialties, and relatively few of them specialize in infectious diseases.

But Wodarg is throwing around his medical credentials to give himself credibility, and then he's making incorrect, irresponsible, and inflammatory statements about the flu. It's just nuts to claim that the flu vaccine might cause cancer. In fact, I don't know how anyone with even a modicum of medical training could believe this. He doesn't deserve any respect after making such wild claims.

You can easily see via google that the title "Dr. ...

2010-01-21T08:12:10.143-08:00

You can easily see via google that the title "Dr. med", the german equivalent of "MD", is used numerously on his website:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site:wodarg.de+%22Dr.+med%22+wodarg&aq=f&aql=&aqi=&oq=

My comment is entirely accurate. He is a politici...

2010-01-21T05:02:59.114-08:00

My comment is entirely accurate. He is a politician, as I wrote, and despite having medical training, he doesn't know anything about the flu - or worse, what he thinks he "knows" is wrong.

Also, note that many politicians "specialize" in health without knowing much about it - we have some noted examples in the U.S. Congress, some of whom created our own embarrassing agency, NCCAM.

I would also add that Wodarg's site is very careful not to state that he has an M.D. - it says he studied medicine, which in Europe is often done at the undergrad level. It says he has "training" from Johns Hopkins but doesn't mention a degree. That raises my suspicions even further. I stand by my comments.