The Damned

I’m not a huge follower of the CAM movement as they generally appear to be quackers enough for me to dismiss en masse, but they do have their followers and supporters, and they’ve recently be been busy on Twitter, mostly circling like decrepit vultures around the Shorty awards.

Anyway, there’s this one guy who calls himself “Health Ranger” (I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean, but I’m guessing that it’s related to some Americanism I’m ignorant of) who has popped up in quite a few Twitter conversations recently, so I thought I’d take a look at his spiel.

He doesn’t like sceptics. Oh no. Not one jot.

Well, it seems that he doesn’t: he calls them “skeptics” (the quotes appear to be part of the word itself), but he doesn’t actually seem to know any. Not a one. At least nothing like any sceptic (or skeptic) that I know.

Apparently, as a sceptic (or a “skeptic”), I believe:

• ALL vaccines are safe and effective
• there is NO LIMIT to the number of vaccines a person can be safely given
• people of all ages can be safely given an unlimited number of drugs all at the same time
• that the human body has no ability to defend itself against invading microorganism [sic]
• that pregnancy is a disease
• that DEAD foods have exactly the same nutritional properties as LIVING foods
• that water has no role in human health other than basic hydration
• that all the phytochemicals and nutrients found in ALL plants are inert, having absolutely no benefit whatsoever for human health

as well as some other crazy shit.

I have no idea what a living food is. Is that like oats that are still attached to the ground? A chicken kiev that’s still running around? A surprisingly perky salmon fillet?

Oh, yeah. In the grand tradition of those that Make Shit Up™ he completely fails to provide any actual quotes or references. Just saying…

I guess I’m not a “skeptic” then. Well, thank fuck for that: they sound as batshit insane as the Health Ranger!

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Dear Annabel Croft,

Just FYI:

/hattip: @bengoldacre

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2. Dear Frau Hitler Darwin exposed! /hattip Sneer Review ...

Now here’s an example of great sceptical activism, all centred around the ongoing BCA vs Simon Singh libel claim and recent ASA adjudication on chiropractic advertising.

Simon over at Adventures in nonsense has been busying himself recently:

For some time, chiropractic has managed to get away with being the acceptable face of alternative medicine. With some evidence to show that it helps with lower back pain, and many chiropractors only using the therapy for this purpose, it was seen by many as a legitimate therapy and largely escaped criticism from sceptics.

That all changed when the BCA decided to sue Simon Singh for libel. In a fine example of the Streisand effect, all the energy usually reserved for criticising homeopaths and reiki healers was redirected straight at those chiropractors making wild and outlandish claims to treat colic, asthma and a host of other problems unrelated to the spine.

With the BCA attempting to stifle debate over the bogus claims pointed out by Simon Singh, I was determined to do something.

Golly gosh, what did he do? What did he do?

[Don't you just love cliff-hangers?]

I don’t want to give the game away here, so pop on over and read what Simon and his chums have been up to from the man himself.

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1. Sceptical? Bored? A solution is at hand While playing catch up with Planet Atheism, I saw this...

Apparently this blog has been chosen (with 60 others) for an award: the “Holy Blasphemy BEST Atheist/Skeptic (sic) Site Award 2009″.

The donor of same doesn’t consider themselves an “Atheist” (sic) but does believe in astrology and the power of gemstones.

I wonder how they feel qualified to judge sceptical or atheist web sites when they say things like:

I like talking to myself in the dark; hey, if these things are comforting to me, it would be irrational not to do them simply because they aren’t proven to ‘be effective’ (if it works for me…it’s effective.)

*boggle*

I wonder what the author makes of anti-wimmin astrological Moon-rape.

Edit: I realised that I didn’t link back to the original post. Mea culpa.

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