American Loon #2166: David Rives

David Rives, son of Richard Rives and head of David Rives Ministries, is a creationist in the grand tradition of ridiculous crackpots like Ray Comfort and Carl Baugh, whose TV program “Creation in the 21st Century” (on the Trinity Broadcasting Network) Rives seems to have inherited....

Read the full lunacy: #2166: David Rives Encyclopedia of American Loons

The French certainly are fond of their healers

We have discussed various forms of healing before – see, for instance, here, here and here. Of all the implausible SCAMs, healing takes the biscuit. Here is a healing-paper that fascinated me. The aim of the study was to report epidemiologic data on ‘biofield healers’ (all types of energy healers) in radiation therapy patients, and […]

Read the rest here: The French certainly are fond of their healers

American Loon #2165: Michael Rivero

What Really Happened (WRH) is a website run by one Michael Rivero. The website, which sports the tagline “Putting America First, Second, And Third!” claims to be telling you “what really happened,” which is rarely what really happened. Rivero credulously endorses more or less any conspiracy...

Read the full lunacy: #2165: Michael Rivero Encyclopedia of American Loons

SCENAR, effective for a very broad range of diseases or merely a means for quacks to exploit the public?

My friend Roger, the homeopath, alerted me to the ‘Self-Controlled Energo Neuro Adaptive Regulation‘ (SCENAR). He uses it in his practice and explains: The scenar uses biofeedback; by stimulating the nervous system, it is able to teach the body to heal itself. The device sends out a series of signals through the skin and measures […]

Read the rest here: SCENAR, effective for a very broad range of diseases or merely a means for quacks to exploit the public?

American Loon #2164: Kerri Rivera

The Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) is, essentially, industrial strength bleach (28% sodium chloride) that, when diluted in acidic juices, results in the formation of chlorine dioxide, a potent bleach used for stripping textiles and industrial water treatment. As a treatment for medical...

Read the full lunacy: #2164: Kerri Rivera Encyclopedia of American Loons

More dodgy research on homeopathy for Dengue Fever

Dengue is a viral infection spread by mosquitoes; it is common in many parts of the world. The symptoms include fever, headache, muscle/joint pain and a red rash. The infection is usually mild and lasts about a week. In rare cases it can be more serious and even life threatening. There’s no specific treatment – except for […]

Read the rest here: More dodgy research on homeopathy for Dengue Fever

The 1st ever trial of ‘power point therapy’ (based on the theories of classic acupuncture, neuromuscular reflexology, and biocybernetics)

Power Point therapy (PPT) is not what you might think it is; it is not related to a presentation using power point. Power According to the authors of the so far only study of PPT, it is based on the theories of classic acupuncture, neuromuscular reflexology, and systems theoretical approaches like biocybernetics. It has been developed […]

Read the rest here: The 1st ever trial of ‘power point therapy’ (based on the theories of classic acupuncture, neuromuscular reflexology, and biocybernetics)

Explaining Homeopathy with Quantum Bollocks

Actually, the article is not entitled ‘Explaining Homeopathy with Quantum Bollocks’, it has the title ‘Explaining Homeopathy with Quantum Electrodynamics’. Its two Italian authors have prestigious affiliations in the world of quantum physics: Independent Researcher Homeopathic Clinic, Bassano del Grappa What they write must therefore be authorative and important. Let’s have a look; here is the abstract: […]

Read the rest here: Explaining Homeopathy with Quantum Bollocks

American Loon #2163: Robert Ritchie

Robert Ritchie is the rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan and executive director of America Needs Fatima (ANF), a project of the right-wing American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (we’ve dealt with them a couple of times before), and one might naturally...

Read the full lunacy: #2163: Robert Ritchie Encyclopedia of American Loons

American Loon #2162: John Ritchie

The American Society for Tradition, Family and Property (TFP) is – you guessed it – a wingnut anti-marriage-equality group (we’ve met them at least a few times before). John Ritchie is their Student Action Director, and thus for instance responsible for their 2011 report on “pro-homosexual...

Read the full lunacy: #2162: John Ritchie Encyclopedia of American Loons

Holistic horse care

‘The Horse‘ is not a publication I often read. But I was alerted to an article in this magazine that fascinated me. Allow me to show you a few short quotes: In essence, holistic medicine falls under the realm of what we now refer to as, “complementary, alternative, and integrative veterinary medicine,” or CAIVM. The American […]

Read the rest here: Holistic horse care

A homeopathic love-letter

As you can imagine, I get quite a lot of ‘fan-post’. Most of the correspondence amounts to personal attacks and insults which I usually discard. But some of these ‘love-letters’ are so remarkable in one way or another that I answer them. This short email was received on 20/3/19; it belongs to the latter category: […]

Read the rest here: A homeopathic love-letter

American Loon #2161: Robert Ringer

Robert Ringer is a motivational and political speaker, as well as author of several best-selling personal-development and political books. Ostensibly a libertarian, Ringer has over the years moved toward more and more feverishly deranged conspiracy theories. Currently an ardent defender of what he...

Read the full lunacy: #2161: Robert Ringer Encyclopedia of American Loons

Naturopathy (according to the WNF) = quackery steeped in obsolete fantasies

This paper notes that, according to the World Naturopathic Federation (WNF), the naturopathic profession is based on two fundamental philosophies of medicine (vitalism and holism) and seven principles of practice (healing power of nature; treat the whole person; treat the cause; first, do no harm; doctor as teacher; health promotion and disease prevention; and wellness). […]

Read the rest here: Naturopathy (according to the WNF) = quackery steeped in obsolete fantasies

American Loon #2160: Les Riley

The founder and director of the anti-abortion group Personhood Mississippi, Les Riley is a rightwing extremist who used to blog for the Christian separatist group Christian Exodus, a group of dominionists whose mission statement says that “[t]he initial goal was to move thousands of...

Read the full lunacy: #2160: Les Riley Encyclopedia of American Loons

TCM prevents osteoporosis? No, almost certainly not!

This ‘nationwide, population-based ‘cohort study’ was meant to investigate the probable effect of TCM to decrease the fracture rate. Its authors identified cases with osteoporosis and selected a comparison group that was frequency-matched according to sex, age (per 5 years), diagnosis year of osteoporosis, and index year. The difference between the two groups in the development […]

Read the rest here: TCM prevents osteoporosis? No, almost certainly not!

No good evidence for chiropractic, osteopathic or other manual treatments for children suffering from any condition

An impressive 17% of US chiropractic patients are 17 years of age or younger. This figure increases to 39% among US chiropractors who have specialized in paediatrics. Data for other countries can be assumed to be similar. But is chiropractic effective for children? All previous reviews concluded that there is a paucity of evidence for the effectiveness […]

Read the rest here: No good evidence for chiropractic, osteopathic or other manual treatments for children suffering from any condition

American Loon #2159: Seth Riggio

Seth Riggio is an admittedly rather obscure fundie theocrat associated with the Conservative Party USA and founder of  the organization The Conservative Comeback, which is primarily an anti-abortion, anti-marriage equality group (“upholding the Sacred Bond of marriage against an...

Read the full lunacy: #2159: Seth Riggio Encyclopedia of American Loons

2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #11

Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... SkS in the News... Reports of Note... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... 

Story of the Week...

Here's a running list of all the ways climate change has altered Earth in 2019

 

Earth is now the warmest it's been in some 120,000 years. Eighteen of the last 19 years have been the warmest on record. And concentrations of carbon dioxide — a potent greenhouse gas — are likely the highest they've been in 15 million years.

The consequences of such a globally-disrupted climate are many, and it's understandably difficult to keep track. To help, here's a list of climate-relevant news that has transpired in 2019, from historically unprecedented disappearances of ice, to flood-ravaged cities. As more news comes out, the list will be updated.

Here's a running list of all the ways climate change has altered Earth in 2019 by Mark Kaufman, Science, Mashable, Mar 16, 2019

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Editorial of the Week...

Big Oil must choose: bad guys or good guys on climate change

 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology professors and associate professors participate in a Frontiers of Science and Innovation: Future Technologies to Meet the Energy and Climate Challenge talk during the final day of IHS CERAWeek at the Hilton Americas in Houston Friday, Feb. 26, 2016. ( Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle ) 

There is no better place to be in the energy industry than the United States. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler made that much clear during his opening statement at CERAWeek.

“If you are looking to buy energy on the open market, look to the U.S.” he said Monday. “If you are looking for energy technology or technical assistance, look to the U.S. If you are looking for reliability, certainty, and security, look to the U.S.”

Left unsaid: If you want leadership in the fight to confront climate change, look somewhere else.

Big Oil must choose: bad guys or good guys on climate change by Editorial Board, Houston Chronicle, Mar 14, 2019

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El Niño/La Niña Update...

'Monster' El Nino a chance later this year, pointing to extended dry times

Relief for Australia's drought-hit regions could be a long way off, with climate influences in the Pacific and Indian oceans tilting towards drier conditions and a large El Nino event a possibility by year's end.

Sea surface warmth

El Ninos are marked by unusually warm sea surface temperatures that typically result in rainfall patterns shifting eastwards away from south-east Asia and the Australian continent.

Climate scientists said the conditions in the Pacific were particularly concerning given an unusual build-up of equatorial heat below the surface that could provide the fuel for a significant El Nino.

If such an event transpires, the Great Barrier Reef would face another bout of mass coral bleaching while the drought gripping southern and eastern Australia could intensify.

'Monster' El Nino a chance later this year, pointing to extended dry times by Peter Hannam, Environment, Sydney Morning Herald, Mar 16, 2019 

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Toon of the Week...

 

Hat tip to the 100% Renewable Energy FaceBook page.

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SkS in the News...

Gregory Hill's Guest Opinion: Climate change scientists use language accurately — their critics are not (Bucks County Courier Time, Mar 11, 2019) references and draws from the Intermediate versions of two SkS rebuttal articles:

1. What were climate scientists predicting in the 1970s?
2. What has global warming done since 1998? 

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Coming Soon on SkS...

• Holistic Management Cannot Reverse Climate Change (Seb V)
• Global Warming ‘Hiatus’ Is the Climate Change Myth That Refuses to Die (Kevin Cowtan & Stephan Lewandowski)
• Editorial cartoonists lampoon, praise Green New Deal (Michael Svoboda)
• Analysis: The climate papers most featured in the media in 2018 (Robert McSweeney)
• New research this week (Ari)
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #12 (John Hartz)
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #12 (John Hartz)

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Climate Feedback Claim Review...

Claim that cows have more impact on climate than cars depends on the timescale

CLAIM

"Burping cows are more damaging to the climate than all the cars on this planet."

VERDICT

SOURCE

Financial Times, 19 Feb. 2019

DETAILS

Lacks context: This statement can be accurate or inaccurate depending on the timeframe you select. Just considering the next couple decades, it's true, but in the longer-term it is not.

Claim that cows have more impact on climate than cars depends on the timescale, Edited by Scott Johnson, Climate Feedback, Feb 21, 2019

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Poster of the Week...

 

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SkS Week in Review...  

• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11 by John Hartz
• New research, March 4-10, 2019 by Ari Jokimäki
• Hopes for our climate future, YouTube Video by Climate Adam
• Wallace Broecker: Scientists memorialize a titan of climate science by Bud Ward (Yale Climate Connections)
• The temperature evolution after 2016 suggests hotter future by Ari Jokimäki
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #10 by John Hartz

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American Loon #2158: Jim Rigano

Jim Rigano was for a while, until 2016, a member (vice president) of the Springboro, Ohio, board of education, famous nationwide for its attempt to get creationism taught as science in public schools in the guise of a “controversial issues” policy – according to the school district website,...

Read the full lunacy: #2158: Jim Rigano Encyclopedia of American Loons

Update on spinal manipulation for back pain confirms: it is not the treatment of choice

A new update of the current Cochrane review assessed the benefits and harms of spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) for the treatment of chronic low back pain. The authors included all randomised controlled trials (RCTs) examining the effect of spinal manipulation or mobilisation in adults (≥18 years) with chronic low back pain with or without referred […]

Read the rest here: Update on spinal manipulation for back pain confirms: it is not the treatment of choice

Jeremy Corbyn and homeopathy

I ought to admit to a conflict of interest regarding today’s post: I am not a fan of Mr Corbyn! He fooled us prior to the Referendum claiming he was backing Remain and subsequently campaigned less than half-heartedly for it. Not least thanks to him and his sham of a campaign Leave won the referendum. […]

Read the rest here: Jeremy Corbyn and homeopathy

American Loon #2157: Ron Riffe, David Bay & Cutting Edge Ministries

Cutting Edge Ministries (CEM) is a South-Carolina-based fundamentalist group of deranged conspiracy theorists, famous (to some limited extent) for instance for various 9/11 truther conspiracy theories based on pareidolia and numerology: 9/11 was, according to the website’s...

Read the full lunacy: #2157: Ron Riffe, David Bay & Cutting Edge Ministries Encyclopedia of American Loons

Homoeopathic remedies may be safe, but do all homeopaths merit this attribute?

I stared my Exeter post in October 1993. It took the best part of a year to set up a research team, find rooms etc. So, our research began in earnest only mid 1994. From the very outset, it was clear to me that investigating the risks of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) should be our […]

Read the rest here: Homoeopathic remedies may be safe, but do all homeopaths merit this attribute?

American Loon #2156: John P. Rickert

John P. Rickert is a Catholic priest with a Ph.D. in mathematics from Vanderbilt University. Given his education, Rickert met the requirement for signing the Discovery Institute’s very silly and (given its goal) actually self-undermining petition A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism,...

Read the full lunacy: #2156: John P. Rickert Encyclopedia of American Loons

‘Most of the supplement market is bogus’, but surely not the world’s 1st super-supplement!

“Most of the supplement market is bogus,” Paul Clayton*, a nutritional scientist, told the Observer. “It’s not a good model when you have businesses selling products they don’t understand and cannot be proven to be effective in clinical trials. It has encouraged the development of a lot of products that have no other value than […]

Read the rest here: ‘Most of the supplement market is bogus’, but surely not the world’s 1st super-supplement!

New review confirms: osteopathy is NOT evidence-based

Osteopathy is a tricky subject: osteopathic manipulations/mobilisations are advocated mainly for spinal complaints; but many osteopaths use them also for a myriad of non-spinal conditions; osteopathy comprises two entirely different professions; in the US, osteopaths are very similar to medically trained doctors, and many hardly ever employ osteopathic manual techniques; outside the US, osteopaths are […]

Read the rest here: New review confirms: osteopathy is NOT evidence-based

Is yoga safe and effective in primary care?

A recent blog-post pointed out that the usefulness of yoga in primary care is doubtful. Now we have new data to shed some light on this issue. The new paper reports a ‘prospective, longitudinal, quasi-experimental study‘. Yoga group (n= 49) underwent 24-weeks program of one-hour yoga sessions. The control group had no yoga. Participation was […]

Read the rest here: Is yoga safe and effective in primary care?

American Loon #2155: Dan Reynolds et al.

Dan Reynolds is chairman of the Triangle Association for the Science of Creation, a North Carolina-based group whose “mission is to rebuild and strengthen the foundation of the Christian faith by increasing awareness of the scientific evidence supporting the literal Biblical account of creation and...

Read the full lunacy: #2155: Dan Reynolds et al. Encyclopedia of American Loons

2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #10

Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... John Cook in the News... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week...

Story of the Week...

Rain Is Triggering More Melting on the Greenland Ice Sheet — in Winter, Too

Pulses of melting linked to rainfall doubled in summer and tripled in winter, a new climate change study found. That's a problem for sea level rise.

The total precipitation over the Greenland Ice Sheet didn’t change over the study period, but more of it fell as rain. The scientists estimated that almost a third of the total runoff they observed was triggered by rainfall. Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

When a frozen snowflake falls on the Greenland Ice Sheet, it lands with a whisper and stays frozen, sometimes for months.

But raindrops splat down, making little craters and melting some of the adjacent snow crystals. Multiplied across thousands of square miles, they can trigger widespread melting and runoff, which can lead to more sea level rise.

A new analysis of satellite and weather data shows that melting associated with rain in Greenland doubled in the summers and tripled in the winters from 1988 to 2012 as temperatures rose , scientists write in a studypublished Thursday in The Cryosphere, a journal of the European Geosciences Union.

The total precipitation over the ice sheet didn't change over the study period, but more of it fell as rain, the study found. The scientists estimated that almost a third of the total runoff measured was triggered by rainfall.

They also found that melting events triggered by rain lasted longer, lengthening from an average of two days to three in the summer, and from two days to five in the winter. 

Rain Is Triggering More Melting on the Greenland Ice Sheet, Including in Winter by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Mar 8, 2019 

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Editorial of the Week...

If America can find $716bn for the military, it can fund the Green New Deal

If we redirected the trillions spent on fruitless wars, funding Medicare for All and a Green New Deal is perfectly realistic

The Sunrise Movement organized a protest to pressure Senator Mitch McConnell to support the Green New Deal on 25 February in Washington DC. Photograph: Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock 

At long last the political debate in the world’s richest country is vibrant with proposals that would help the most vulnerable in our society. And what do we hear in response? A growing chorus of naysayers.

“Just pipe dreams” – that’s how the Washington Post columnist Robert Samuelson referred to proposals for guaranteed jobs, Medicare for All, universal childcare, and the Green New Deal.

Like many other pundits and politicians, Samuelson says we can’t afford such luxuries. Taxing the rich wouldn’t raise enough money. We’d have no choice but to resort to deficit spending.

Funny how some politicians have no qualms about ballooning the deficit with tax cuts for the rich but balk at investing in the long-term health of our people and communities. Just as peculiar: the fact that military spending cuts are virtually never mentioned as an option for freeing up funds for social good instead of war.

This year the US military budget is $716bn – and boy is it ripe for slashing.

That military budget represents about 53 cents of every discretionary dollar in the federal budget – and it’s one of the biggest reasons that people so often throw up their hands and shake their heads when they think about funding innovative ways to end poverty.

They don’t need to throw up their hands, though. The politicians and pundits should just start listening to children.

If America can find $716bn for the military, it can fund the Green New Deal, Opinion by William Barber & Phyllis Bennis, Comment is Free, Guardian, Mar 6, 2019 

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Toon of the Week...

 

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John Cook in the News...

John Cook is quoted extensively in the article, Mason climate communication scientist rejects White House plan to undercut National Climate Assessment, News at Mason, George Mason University, Mar 4, 2019

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Coming Soon on SkS...

• The temperature evolution after 2016 suggests hotter future (Ari)
• Wallace Broecker: Scientists memorialize a titan of climate science (Bud Ward)
• Hopes for our climate future(Climate Adam)
• Analysis: The climate papers most featured in the media in 2018 (Robert McSweeney)
• New research this week (Ari)
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup (John Hartz)
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest (John Hartz)

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Climate Feedback Claim Review...

Senator Sanders’ claim that climate change is making tornadoes worse isn’t supported by published research

Key Takeaway: Human-caused climate change is known to be having an influence on some types of weather extremes, including heat waves and intense rainstorms. However, scientists aren't certain about certain other types of weather, either because historical data are insufficient to detect trends or because it's unclear how those weather patterns will respond to warming. It is not currently clear how climate change affects tornadoes.  

Senator Sanders’ claim that climate change is making tornadoes worse isn’t supported by published research, Edited by Scott Johnson, Climate Feedback, Mar 8, 2019

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SkS Week in Review... 

• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #10 by John Hartz
• New research, February 25 - March 3, 2019 by Ari Jokimäki
• SkS Analogy 19 - A table full of crystal and ideal temperature by Evan & jg
• Inequality, Sunk Costs, and Climate Policy by Frank Ackerman (Triple Crises) 
• Next self-paced run of Denial101x starts on March 5 by BaerbelW
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #9 by John Hartz

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Poster of the Week...

 

from Skeptical Science
via IFTTT

Homeopathy during the Third Reich: a telling bit of history

The discussion about the value of homeopathy has recently become highly acute in Germany. Once again, it seems that German homeopaths fight for survival with all means imaginable. This can perhaps be better understood in the light of what has happened during the Third Reich. In 1995, I published a paper about this intriguing bit […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathy during the Third Reich: a telling bit of history

American Loon #2154: Rebecca Rex & Dawn Richardson

Antivaxxers are very active in Texas, and antivaccine groups like Texans for Vaccine Choice have been quite effective in blocking commonsense measures and legislation, such as legislation that would have required school-level reporting of vaccine exemption rates so that parents interested in...

Read the full lunacy: #2154: Rebecca Rex & Dawn Richardson Encyclopedia of American Loons

An expert in homeopathy – or a virtuoso in ignorance?

In a previous post, I have tried to explain that someone could be an expert in certain aspects of homeopathy; for instance, one could be an expert: in the history of homeopathy, in the manufacture of homeopathics, in the research of homeopathy. But can anyone really be an expert in homeopathy in a more general […]

Read the rest here: An expert in homeopathy – or a virtuoso in ignorance?

IMPORTANT: Diagnostic methods used by alternative practitioners are useless + dangerous

We have discussed the diagnostic methods used by practitioners of alternative medicine several times before (see for instance here, here, here, here, here and here). Now a new article has been published which sheds more light on this important issue. The authors point out that the so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) community promote and sell a wide […]

Read the rest here: IMPORTANT: Diagnostic methods used by alternative practitioners are useless + dangerous

American Loon #2153: Walter ReMine

Walter ReMine is an electrical engineer and young-earth creationist, and something of an authority in the creationist cargo cult science movement. ReMine is for instance responsible for (with Kurt Wise) reintroducing the pseudoscientific discipline of baraminology, which has become a central...

Read the full lunacy: #2153: Walter ReMine Encyclopedia of American Loons

Yoga and the NHS

Guest post by Richard Rawlins (Richard Rawlins is an orthopaedic and trauma surgeon, a member of The Magic Circle and author of ‘Real Secrets of Alternative Medicine‘)   It is 18 years since Health Secretary Alan Milburn launched a scheme for family doctors to prescribe exercise, aerobics, swimming, and yoga for those who are overweight […]

Read the rest here: Yoga and the NHS

‘Osteopathic’ techniques for Crohn’s disease?

Crohn’s disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease characterized by recurring flares altered by periods of inactive disease and remission, affecting physical and psychological aspects and quality of life (QoL). The aim of this study was to determine the therapeutic benefits of soft non-manipulative osteopathic techniques in patients with CD. A randomized controlled trial was […]

Read the rest here: ‘Osteopathic’ techniques for Crohn’s disease?

A p-curve analysis confirms: ultramolecular homeopathic remedies are placebos

Researchers tend to report only studies that are positive, while leaving negative trials unpublished. This publication bias can mislead us when looking at the totality of the published data. One solution to this problem is the p-curve. A significant p-value indicates that obtaining the result within the null distribution is improbable. The p-curve is the […]

Read the rest here: A p-curve analysis confirms: ultramolecular homeopathic remedies are placebos

American Loon #2152: Judith Reisman

Judith Ann Reisman is a wingnut activist most famous for her deranged crusade against sexologist Alfred Kinsey and insane hatred of homosexuality, which she believes was the cause for the rise of Nazism. Her thoughts are often published by the WND, RenewAmerica and The New American, the...

Read the full lunacy: #2152: Judith Reisman Encyclopedia of American Loons

2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #9

Story of the Week... Opinion of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week...

Story of the Week...

How the Weather Gets Weaponized in Climate Change Messaging

Clearing snow in Buffalo, N.Y., in January. Credit:Lindsay Dedario/Reuters<

In the summer, when heat waves scorch cities or heavy rains flood the coasts, some climate scientists and environmentalists will point out any plausible connections to global warming, hoping today’s weather will help people understand tomorrow’s danger from climate change.

Then winter comes. And, like clockwork, those who want to deny the established science that humans are warming the planet will try to flip the script. In January, when large swaths of the country were gripped by bitter cold, President Trump took to Twitter to mock climate fears: “Wouldn’t be bad to have a little of that good old fashioned Global Warming right now!”

Welcome to the weather wars. As battle lines harden between climate advocates and deniers, both are increasingly using bouts of extreme weather as a weapon to try to win people to their side. Weather, after all, is one of the easiest things for people to bond over or gripe about, a staple of small talk and shared experience that can make it a simple but powerful opportunity to discuss global warming.

But, as Mr. Trump’s words show, it’s also a framing device that can be easily abused. That raises the stakes for how scientists, who have long tried to distinguish between short-term weather fluctuations and long-term climate shifts, draw out and discuss the links between the two.

How the Weather Gets Weaponized in Climate Change Messaging by Brad Plumer, Climate, New York Times, Mar 1, 2019

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Opinion of the Week...

Scientists Must Speak Up for the Green New Deal

The resolution’s focus on climate and social justice highlights the central challenges—and opportunities—of our time

Credit: Getty Images 

When Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey introduced the Green New Deal (GND) resolution on February 7, 2019, many climate advocates rejoiced. From the Union of Concerned Scientists to the League of Conservation Voters, advocates representing a diversity of interests recognized that, finally, a resolution had been introduced into both chambers of Congress with an ambition that matched the scale of the climate-change challenge. The resolution presents a broad vision of what climate action in the United States could look like, centering the economy and jobs, especially for working class people.Meanwhile critics, both of the well-intentioned and bad-faith sorts, lambast the resolution for being unrealistic, falling short, being too vague or too costly.

With so many voices in the GND debate, one that is conspicuously silent is the voice of the scientific community. We urge scientists to engage in the discussion, both with their scientific expertise and as citizens.

As we wrote two years ago:

“We are women and scientists who strongly believe in the power of scientific solutions to change lives for the better, particularly those of other women and marginalized groups. Our goal is to use our knowledge, expertise, and experience as scientists to highlight the unique challenges faced by women around the world in the face of climate change, and propose policy and grassroots actions to address these challenges.”

The GND is galvanizing a movement around these very ideals and we see a critical role for scientists, and for women scientists in particular, in how the GND resolution is enacted. Here is why:

Scientists Must Speak Up for the Green New Deal, Opinion by The 500 Women Scientists Leadership,, Observation, Scientific American, Feb 25, 2019

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Toon of the Week...

 

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Coming Soon on SkS...

• Next self-paced run of Denial101x starts on March 5 (Baerbel)
• Inequality, sunk costs, and climate policy (Frank Ackerman)
• SkS Analogy 19 - A table full of crystal and ideal temperature (Evan)
• Analysis: The climate papers most featured in the media in 2018 (Robert McSweeney)
• New research this week (Ari)
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #10 (John Hartz)
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #10 (John Hartz) 

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Climate Feedback Reviews...

Western Journal op-ed deceives readers with completely unsupported claims

 

Climate Feedback asked a team of scientists to review the article, Media Hysteria: Climate Change ‘Heat Records’ Are a Huge Data Manipulation by Jay Lehr & Tom Harris, The Western Journal, Feb 20, 2019

Three scientists analyzed the article and estimate its overall scientific credibility to be 'very low'.  

A majority of reviewers tagged the article as: Cherry-picking, Flawed Reasoning, Inaccurate, and Misleading.

Review Summary

This op-ed published by The Western Journal, written by two members of think tanks opposed to the conclusions of climate science, makes several different types of claims about global temperatures and global temperature data. The authors attempt to argue that global temperatures are not increasing by cherry-picking some local examples of weather extremes. The headline further claims that temperature data have been “manipulated”.

Scientists who reviewed the article found that it provided no support for any of its claims, which contradict existing research and data analysis.The argument it attempts to make suffers from flawed reasoning, pretending that a cold record at some location decades ago would mean that the last few years of global average temperatures haven’t been the warmest on record.

The reviewers indicated that the content of the article does not support its headline.

UPDATE (26 February 2019) The Western Journal has retracted this op-ed, providing the following message in its place: “This Op-Ed has been retracted for failing to meet The Western Journal’s Editorial Standards. After publication, a number of factual claims made in the Op-Ed were determined to have been untrue. The decision was then made to retract the piece. Before we had done that, questions were raised about the methodology used by its authors to reach their conclusions, but because the decision to retract had already been made, The Western Journal did not investigate the validity of those questions. We note them here only for the record.
We apologize for publishing material in violation of our Editorial Standards of factual accuracy and for any confusion we might have caused by doing so.”

You can read an archived copy of the op-ed here. 

Western Journal op-ed deceives readers with completely unsupported claims, Edited by Scott Johnson, Climate Feedback, Feb 26, 2019

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SkS Week in Review... 

• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #9 by John Hartz
• New research, February 18-24, 2019 by Ari Jokimäki
• What's in the Green New Deal? Four key issues to understand by Dana Nuccitelli (Yale Climate Connections)
• Prices are not Enough by Frank Ackerman (Triple Crises) 
• Fighting Climate Change: Structural vs individual action (Climate Adam video)
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #8 by John Hartz

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