Homeopathy: a new study proves efficacy (according to Dana Ullman)

I am indebted to my good friend and log-term admirer Dana Ullman for alerting me to this new (2019) paper. It reports a study aimed to test whether homeopathic medication administration to COPD patients during the influenza-exposure period may help to reduce the frequency of common URTIs. This prospective, observational, multicenter study was carried out […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathy: a new study proves efficacy (according to Dana Ullman)

American Loon #2138: Allen Quist

Michele Bachmann is crazy, but compared to her mentor, Allen Quist, she can at least occasionally come across as deceptively reasonable (they’re close: Allen Quist’s wife Julie was for instance Bachmann’s district director while Bachmann was in Congress). Quist is a soybean farmer, former...

Read the full lunacy: #2138: Allen Quist Encyclopedia of American Loons

Live Blood Analysis revisited … but it turns out to still be bogus

About a year ago, I published a blog-post about LIVE BLOOD ANALYSIS (LBA). My conclusion at the time was that LBA is an ineffective, potentially dangerous diagnostic method for exploiting gullible consumers. My advice is to avoid practitioners who employ this technique. But perhaps it was too harsh? Recently, this post started to attract a […]

Read the rest here: Live Blood Analysis revisited … but it turns out to still be bogus

Oscillococcinum: “If it’s made from a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s got to go”

Oscillococcinum is by now well-known to readers of this blog, I am sure (see for instance here, here and here). It seems an important topic, not least because the infamous duck-placebo is the world’s best-selling homeopathic remedy. Just how popular it is was recently shown in a survey by the formidable ‘Office for Science and […]

Read the rest here: Oscillococcinum: “If it’s made from a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s got to go”

The AHRQ review of spinal manipulation for chronic back pain: more bad news for chiropractors

Chronic back pain is often a difficult condition to treat. Which option is best suited? A review by the US ‘Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’ (AHRQ) focused on non-invasive nonpharmacological treatments for chronic pain. The following therapies were considered: exercise, mind-body practices, psychological therapies, multidisciplinary rehabilitation, mindfulness practices, manual therapies, physical modalities, acupuncture. Here, […]

Read the rest here: The AHRQ review of spinal manipulation for chronic back pain: more bad news for chiropractors

2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #4

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

Story of the Week...

Teenage activist takes School Strikes 4 Climate Action to Davos

Protest by 16-year-old Greta Thunberg snowballs to last day of World Economic Forum

 

Swedish youth climate activist Greta Thunberg at the World Economic Forum in Davos, eastern Switzerland. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images 

The 16-year-old activist behind the fast-growing School Strikes 4 Climate Action has taken her campaign to the streets of Davos, to confront world leaders and business chiefs about the global emissions crisis.

Greta Thunberg, whose solo protest outside Sweden’s parliament has snowballed across the globe, will join a strike by Swiss schoolchildren in the ski resort on Friday – the final day of the World Economic Forum.

Thunberg travelled by train for 32 hours to reach Davos, and spent Wednesday night camped with climate scientists on the mountain slopes – where temperatures plunged to -18C.

Having already addressed the UN Climate Change COP 24 conference, Thunberg is rapidly becoming the voice for a generation who are demanding urgent action to slow the rise in global temperatures.

As she travelled down Davos’s funicular railway from the Arctic Base Camp – while more than 30,000 students were striking in Belgium - Thunberg said the rapid growth of her movement was “incredible”.

“There have been climate strikes, involving students and also adults, on every continent except Antarctica. It has involved tens of thousands of children.”

Teenage activist takes School Strikes 4 Climate Action to Davos by Graeme Wearden & Damian Carrington, Environment, Guardian, Jan 24, 2019

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Editorial of the Week...

This Could Be The Biggest Scandal Of The Climate Change Era

The world is headed for up to 5 degrees Celsius (9 F) of global warming above pre-industrial levels by 2100, which would lead to devastating consequences for billions of people. Credit: Anton Petrus via Getty Images

Governments and businesses habitually set out emergency response plans to protect their economies, jobs, cities and other crucial assets from potential disaster. Yet when it comes to climate change ― the biggest, most urgent threat the world faces ― there is no emergency plan.

On the issue of our lifetime, countries can agree very little. The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2019 published last Tuesday found that increasing divisions between the world’s major powers is the most urgent global risk we face because it stymies vital collective action on climate change.

Instead of action, we see delays, rejections and avoidance, as December’s United Nations climate summit in Katowice, Poland, so acutely reminded us. The event, which brought together world leaders, scientists, campaigners and the private sector, settled most of the rules needed to ensure countries follow the climate pledges they have made to date. What it failed to do is push countries to step up their targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions ― currently the only viable way to prevent climate breakdown. The Middle East, the U.S. and Russia refused to even welcome landmark scientific predictions on climate change, signaling their intention to continue blocking progress.

This Could Be The Biggest Scandal Of The Climate Change Era, Opinion by Sandrine Dixson-Declève & Anders Wijkman, Huffington Post, Jan 23, 2019

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Toon of the Week...

 

Hat tip to Stop Climate Denial Facebook page.

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Quotes of the Week...

But the tone has shifted. The feeling is more dire. I don’t know what kids are supposed to do with the sobering fact that their planet is changing for the worse.

According to Laura Kastner, a clinical psychologist and professor in the psychology department and the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington, the way to teach kids about environmental issues is not by overwhelming them with data or presenting them with projected outcomes they can see no way of changing. It’s by being realistic with kids and also teaching them agency and action.

It’s what Kastner describes as the “both-and.” The idea of first acknowledging that, yes, climate change is happening, and there are things we can do to help. “We really are going to have to deal with this, and there is so much to do, so let’s get to work,” she said. “We want to be responsible and smart and informed about what’s happening, and we want to be hopeful and agentic.”

Heather Price, an atmospheric chemist, climate scientist and chemistry instructor at North Seattle College, who has presented climate science to members of Congress, says that whenever she gives a talk about rising temperatures, ocean acidification and mass extinctions, she always spends at least a quarter of her time discussing the areas where scientists see hope and how people are already altering the trajectory. For example, the capacity of renewable energy in the United Kingdom has surpassed that of fossil fuels for the first time, and in the United States, electric car sales were up 81 percent in 2018 over sales in 2017. Price knows the science is depressing. “But,” she says, “it’s not on the science side where the good things are happening. It’s on the mitigation, on the solutions.”

Ways to help kids cope with — and help combat — climate change by Ronit Feinglass Plank, Lifestyles, Washington Post, Jan 22, 2019 

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SkS in the News...

[To be added.] 

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Coming Soon on SkS...

[To be added.] 

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Climate Feedback Reviews...

How credible were 2018’s most popular climate articles?

Summary

To investigate whether last year’s most “viral” climate change stories misled the people who read them, we asked scientists to evaluate a list of top articles (as we did last year). In November, we searched Buzzsumo for the climate articles[1] with the most shares and interactions—as many as 1.2 million in the top spot—selecting the top 10 that focused on verifiable statements about climate science. (One more story entered the list in December.) Two stories did not receive any reviews, but all the evaluations and comments we collected can be found below.

Compared to last year’s top 10, there is a notable lack of low credibility stories. Two stories garnered mixed reviews from scientists. In one case, this was an article detailing false claims about sea level rise made by politicians, in which some reviewers felt the article simply wasn’t clear enough in its corrections. But there were no articles from partisan outlets presenting inaccurate rejections of climate system at the top in 2018. Instead, the list was dominated by major news outlets—with the exception of the top story, which was published by the local FOX station in St. Louis.

This leads to an interesting question we unfortunately cannot answer at this stage: is this improvement in the credibility of the most-shared articles the result of recent changes to social media algorithms or just chance?

Almost half of the stories in this list cover major IPCC and US National Climate Assessment reports released last year. It also seems clear that people are interested in learning about (or commenting on) the environmental impacts of diet. The #4 story of 2017 was about the greenhouse gas emissions associated with beef production, and two of 2018’s top stories are on the same topic.

Several of the remaining stories featured dramatic headlines on events related to climate trends—things like winter warm spells at the North Pole or the 400th consecutive month warmer than the 20th century average. The most popular story (titled “NASA releases time-lapse of the disappearing Arctic polar ice cap”) was actually an article on the 2017 global surface temperature ranking that included a NASA animation of Arctic sea ice changes over the years.

 

 

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SkS Week in Review...  

• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #4 by John Hartz
• New research, January 14-20, 2019 by Ari Jokimäki
• SkS Analogy 17 - Lotteries, evaporation, and superstorms by Evan & jg
• State of the climate: How the world warmed in 2018 by Zeke Hausfather, (Carbon Brief)
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #3  by John Hartz

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Poster of the Week...

 

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American Loon #2137: Janet Quinn

Janet Quinn is an “Associate Professor, Adjunct,” (a bit unclear what that means) at the University of Colorado School of Nursing, and a true crackpot. Though she does have a PhD in Nursing Research and Theory Development from NYU, her thesis was on therapeutic touch (TT) (Quinn is a...

Read the full lunacy: #2137: Janet Quinn Encyclopedia of American Loons

Acupuncture is effective for chronic back pain!!! If you disagree, tell the CMS

Really? Acupuncture for chronic back Pain? If you doubt it, the following announcement might amaze you: In response to the U.S. opioid crisis, HHS is focused on preventing opioid use disorder and providing more evidence-based non-pharmacologic treatment options for chronic pain. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services […]

Read the rest here: Acupuncture is effective for chronic back pain!!! If you disagree, tell the CMS

Integrative medicine for coronary artery disease works – provided your trial is fatally flawed

The objective of this ‘real world’ study was to evaluate the effectiveness of integrative medicine (IM) on patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and investigate the prognostic factors of CAD in a real-world setting. A total of 1,087 hospitalized patients with CAD from 4 hospitals in Beijing, China were consecutively selected between August 2011 and […]

Read the rest here: Integrative medicine for coronary artery disease works – provided your trial is fatally flawed

American Loon #2136: Greg Quinlan

Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) is an organization devoted to promoting conversion therapy (also for children) and the (more or less mythical) ex-gay movement, the central ideological commitment being that homosexuality is not a product of biological determination –...

Read the full lunacy: #2136: Greg Quinlan Encyclopedia of American Loons

Does acupuncture reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease? Yes, that would be nice, but I fear the answer is no!

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a higher risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Despite good evidence for effectiveness, acupuncture is often advocated for RA, and it has not been reported to prevent CHD in patients with RA. The authors of this analysis aimed to assess the risk of developing CHD in acupuncture-users and non-users of […]

Read the rest here: Does acupuncture reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease? Yes, that would be nice, but I fear the answer is no!

Healing Cancer: A Homoeopathic Approach

The claim that homeopathy can cure cancer is so absurd that many people seem to think no homeopaths in their right mind would make it. Sadly, this turns out to be not true. A rather dramatic example is this extraordinary book. Here is what the advertisement says: The global medical fraternity has been exploring various alternative […]

Read the rest here: Healing Cancer: A Homoeopathic Approach

American Loon #2135: Hal Puthoff

Harold Puthoff is an engineer and parapsychologist and one of the true legends of pseudoscience. In the 1970s and 1980s Puthoff directed a CIA/DIA-funded program at SRI International tasked with investigating paranormal abilities, collaborating with Russell Targ in a study of the purported...

Read the full lunacy: #2135: Hal Puthoff Encyclopedia of American Loons

‘Users of homeopathic medicines can no longer remain silent’

Belgian homeopaths, together with the ‘European Committee for Homeopathy’, have published a statement which I find too remarkable to withhold it from you: START OF QUOTE Users of homeopathic medicines can no longer remain silent about the untruths circulating in the media. These lies raise doubts which naïve and gullible people take on board all too easily […]

Read the rest here: ‘Users of homeopathic medicines can no longer remain silent’

Are cervical manipulations for neck pain truly ‘much safer than the use of NSAIDs’?

In 1995, Dabbs and Lauretti reviewed the risks of cervical manipulation and compared them to those of non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). They concluded that the best evidence indicates that cervical manipulation for neck pain is much safer than the use of NSAIDs, by as much as a factor of several hundred times. This article must […]

Read the rest here: Are cervical manipulations for neck pain truly ‘much safer than the use of NSAIDs’?

2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #3

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

Story of the Week...

Climate Forecast: World Is “Sleepwalking into Catastrophe”

In an annual World Economic Forum report, climate change, extreme weather and biodiversity loss were named among the highest global risks

Children use basins to cross a flooded street in the aftermath of Typhoon Mangkhut in Calumpit, Philippines on September 16, 2018. Credit: Noel Celis Getty Images

Climate change is the biggest threat to the planet, the World Economic Forum said yesterday in a sweeping catalog of global risks.

The institution’s annual analysis of economic dangers worldwide named extreme weather, natural disasters, man-made environmental disasters, biodiversity loss and failure to adapt to climate change as the chief perils to society.

Of all the risks to the globe, “it is in relation to the environment that the world is most clearly sleepwalking into catastrophe,” the WEF said in its Global Risks Report. “The results of climate inaction are becoming increasingly clear.”

Climate Forecast: World Is “Sleepwalking into Catastrophe” by Anne C Mulkern, E&E News/Scientific American, Jan 17, 2019 

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Analysis of the Week...

Climate Change’s Giant Impact on the Economy: 4 Key Issues

Many of the big economic questions in coming decades will come down to just how extreme the weather will be, and how to value the future versus the present.

Wading through flood waters from Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston in August 2017. “We know we can adapt to slow changes,” a Yale economist said. “Rapid changes are the ones that would be most damaging and painful.” Credit: Jonathan Bachman/Reuters

By now, it’s clear that climate change poses environmental risks beyond anything seen in the modern age. But we’re only starting to come to grips with the potential economic effects.

Using increasingly sophisticated modeling, researchers are calculating how each tenth of a degree of global warming is likely to play out in economic terms. Their projections carry large bands of uncertainty, because of the vagaries of human behavior and the remaining questions about how quickly the planet will respond to the buildup of greenhouse gases.

A government report in November raised the prospect that a warmer planet could mean a big hit to G.D.P. in the coming decades.

And on Thursday, some of the world’s most influential economists called for a tax on carbon emissions in the United States, saying climate change demands “immediate national action.” The last four people to lead the Federal Reserve, 15 former leaders of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, and 27 Nobel laureates signed a letter endorsing a gradually rising carbon tax whose proceeds would be distributed to consumers as “carbon dividends.”

The Trump administration has long rejected prescriptions like a carbon tax. But policy debates aside, many of the central economic questions of the decades ahead are, at their core, going to be climate questions. These are some of the big ones.

Climate Change ’s Giant Impact on the Economy: 4 Key Issues by Neil Irwin, Upshot, New York Times, Jan 17, 2019

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Toon of the Week...

 

Hat tip to Stop Climate Science Denial Facebook page.

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SkS in the News...

The second part of Graham Readfearn's article, Climate Advocates Underestimate Power of Fossil Fueled Misinformation Campaigns, Say Top Researchers (DeSmog, Jan 18, 2019) focuses on Inoculation. It begins with: 

In addition, the researchers suggest using an emerging communications technique known as “inoculation” in which the public and policymakers are made aware of key misinformation techniques as myths are being busted.

The link embedded in the above is to the article, Inoculation Theory: Using Misinformation to Fight Misinformation by John Cook (DeSmog, July 15, 2017). 

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Coming Soon on SkS...

[To be added.] 

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Climate Feedback Reviews...

USA Today story updates readers on trend in monthly global temperatures

 

Climate Feedback asked a team of scientists to review the article, Earth just had its 400th straight warmer-than-average month thanks to global warming by Doyle Rice, USA Today, May 17, 2018

Review Summary

This article in USA Today notes that April 2018 was the 400th straight month that global temperatures were above the 20th century average, and correctly identifies human activities as the cause of this trend. It also highlights several regions that saw record-high April temperatures.

Scientists who reviewed the article found that it accurately described these facts and clearly explained how above-average months are calculated.

This is part of a series of reviews of 2018’s most popular climate stories on social media.

USA Today story updates readers on trend in monthly global temperatures by Scott Johnson, climate Feedback, Jan 14, 2019 

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SkS Week in Review... 

• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #3 by John Hartz
• New research, January 7-13, 2019 by Ari Jokimäki
• Our oceans broke heat records in 2018 and the consequences are catastrophic by John Abraham (Climate Consensus - the 97%, Environment, Guardian)
• Book Review: Saudi America by gws
• New findings on ocean warming: 5 questions answered by Scott Denning (The Conversation US)
• Observations and models agree that the oceans are warming faster by Zeke Hausfather (Carbon Brief)
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #2 by John Hartz

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Poster of the Week...

 

from Skeptical Science
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Violinist Schools Us on Vaccines (Hilarity Ensues)

Have I told you that Pedro, my partner, (not her real name) is a car mechanic? Yeah, and that makes me an expert in fixing cars. Why, I’m the best car-fixer there ever was, all because of Pedro. If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. So why is it […]

Read more at: Violinist Schools Us on Vaccines (Hilarity Ensues) by Reuben

A new, imaginative and ‘semenly’ effective SCAM for back pain

One would be hard-pressed to find a form of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) that is not being promoted for back pain: chiropractic, osteopathy, reflexology, naturopathy, homeopathy … you name it. Intriguingly, they all seem to generate similarly good – a realist would say bad – results. Faced with this large but largely ineffective options, one […]

Read the rest here: A new, imaginative and ‘semenly’ effective SCAM for back pain

American Loon #2134: Kevin Purfield

Kevin Purfield is an insane conspiracy nut whose main claim to fame is being arrested, apparently for harassing the families of the victims of the Aurora shootings to tell them that their loved ones didn’t really die and that it was all part of a grand conspiracy. The reason he concludes...

Read the full lunacy: #2134: Kevin Purfield Encyclopedia of American Loons

The ‘Institute for Scientific Homeopathy’ and ‘the most stupid idea conceivable’

Once again, I am indebted to the German homeopathy lobbyist, Jens Behnke (research officer at the Karl and Veronica Carstens-Foundation); this time for alerting me via a tweet to the existence of the ‘Institute for Scientific Homeopathy’ run by Dr K Lenger. Anyone who combines the terms ‘scientific’ and ‘homeopathy’ has my full attention. The […]

Read the rest here: The ‘Institute for Scientific Homeopathy’ and ‘the most stupid idea conceivable’

‘Chiropractic Substracts Years From Your Life’ (?$?$?)

The notion that ‘chiropractic adds years to your life’ is often touted, particularly of course by chiropractors (in case you doubt it, please do a quick google search). It is logical to assume that chiropractors themselves are the best informed about what they perceive as the health benefits of chiropractic care. Chiropractors would therefore be […]

Read the rest here: ‘Chiropractic Substracts Years From Your Life’ (?$?$?)

The ‘Dunning Kruger Effect’ in action

The ‘Dunning Kruger Effect‘ (DuKE) has been discussed here before. The DuKE means that, the less you know, the less able you are to recognize how little you know, and the less likely you are to recognize your limitations. Consequently, your confidence in yourself is inflated and you believe you are more competent than your opponent. […]

Read the rest here: The ‘Dunning Kruger Effect’ in action

American Loon #2133: Fred Pulver

Tachyons are theoretical particles or waves that travel faster than the speed of light, a recurring theme in popular science, and thus far without empirical support for their existence. New Age religions are religions, however, and have never cared for empirical support. So, according to Fred...

Read the full lunacy: #2133: Fred Pulver Encyclopedia of American Loons

Is chiropractic proven effective for a long list of conditions? No, I really don’t think so

Most chiropractors claim they can effectively treat a wide range of conditions. I have looked far and wide but I fail to see sound evidence to show that this assumption is true. On a good day, I might agree that chiropractic works for back pain (but this would need to be a very good day […]

Read the rest here: Is chiropractic proven effective for a long list of conditions? No, I really don’t think so

American Loon #2132: Ana Puig

Ana Puig is a Tea Party Operative who was appointed legislative liaison for the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue as part of Governor Tom Corbett’s attempt to turn “Pennsylvania’s state government into a favor mill for campaign supporters.” Puig, previously co-chair of and...

Read the full lunacy: #2132: Ana Puig Encyclopedia of American Loons

Probiotics are NOT entirely risk-free

Probiotics (live microorganisms for oral consumption) are undoubtedly popular, not least they are being cleverly promoted as a quasi panacea. But are they as safe as their manufacturers try to convince us? A synthesis and critical evaluation of the reports and series of cases on the infectious complications related to the ingestion of probiotics was […]

Read the rest here: Probiotics are NOT entirely risk-free

Severe adverse effects of chiropractic in children

I would warn every parent who thinks that taking their child to a chiropractor is a good idea. For this, I have three main reasons: Chiropractic has not been shown to be effective for any paediatric condition. Chiropractors often advise parents against vaccinating their children. Chiropractic spinal manipulations can cause harm to kids. The latter […]

Read the rest here: Severe adverse effects of chiropractic in children

2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #2

Story of the Week... Analysis of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review...

Story of the Week...

Once derided, ways of adapting to climate change are gaining steam

Recognition is spreading that communities need to build resilience to climatic and coastal threats even as the world seeks ways to curb emissions driving global warming.

Mexico Beach, Florida in aftermath of Hurricane Michael

From chronically flooded Midwestern towns to fire-charred California suburbs, from Bangladesh’s sodden delta to low island nations facing rising seas, a long-underplayed strategy for cutting risks related to human-driven climate change is coming to the fore—adaptation.

Through 30 years of efforts to limit global warming, the dominant goal was cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases, most importantly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. Efforts to adapt communities or agriculture to warming and the related rise in seas and other impacts were often seen as a copout.

The spotty nature of adaptation efforts so far can be seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael—where one reinforced, raised home famously survived, nearly alone, along Mexico Beach, Florida, after the strongest Panhandle hurricane in at least 155 years. In the Camp Fire that devastated Paradise, California, and killed 85 people, a sprinkling of houses built and maintained to withstand embers survived, but—again—were the rare exception.

But signs are emerging that a significant shift is under way, dividing the climate challenge into two related, but distinct, priorities: working to curb greenhouse gases to limit odds of worst-case outcomes later this century while boosting resilience to current and anticipated climatic and coastal hazards with just as much fervor. There’s action from the top down, and—perhaps more significant in the long run—from the bottom up.

Once derided, ways of adapting to climate change are gaining steam by Andrew Revkin, Environment, National Geographic, Jan 10, 2019

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Analysis  of the Week...

How the fossil fuel industry got the media to think climate change was debatable

A brown-coal-fired power plant in Bergheim, Germany. (Sascha Steinbach/EPA-EFE/REX)

Late last year, the Trump administration released the latest national climate assessment on Black Friday in what many assumed was an attempt to bury the document. If that was the plan, it backfired, and the assessment wound up earning more coverage than it probably would have otherwise. But much of that coverage perpetuated a decades-old practice, one that has been weaponized by the fossil fuel industry: false equivalence.

Although various business interests began pushing back against environmental action in general in the early 1970s as part of the conservative “war of ideas” launched in response to the social movements of the 1960s, when global warming first broke into the public sphere, it was a bipartisan issue and remained so for years. On the campaign trail in 1988, George H.W. Bush identified as an environmentalist and called for action on global warming, framing it as a technological challenge that American innovation could address. But fossil fuel interests were shifting as the industry and its allies began to push back against empirical evidence of climate change, taking many conservatives along with them.

Documents uncovered by journalists and activists over the past decade lay out a clear strategy: First, target media outlets to get them to report more on the “uncertainties” in climate science, and position industry-backed contrarian scientists as expert sources for media. Second, target conservatives with the message that climate change is a liberal hoax, and paint anyone who takes the issue seriously as “out of touch with reality.”In the 1990s, oil companies, fossil fuel industry trade groups and their respective PR firms began positioning contrarian scientists such as Willie Soon, William Happer and David Legates as experts whose opinions on climate change should be considered equal and opposite to that of climate scientists. The Heartland Institute, which hosts an annual International Conference on Climate Change known as the leading climate skeptics conference, for example, routinely calls out media outlets (including The Washington Post) for showing “bias” in covering climate change when they either decline to quote a skeptic or question a skeptic’s credibility. 

How the fossil fuel industry got the media to think climate change was debatable by Amy Westervelt, Post Everything, Washington Post, Jan 10, 2019 

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Toon of the Week...

 

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Coming Soon on SkS...

• Observations and models agree that the oceans are warming faster (Cheng et al.)
• New findings on ocean warming: 5 questions answered (Scott Denning)
• Book review: Saudi America (gws)
• SkS Analogy 17 - Lotteries, evaporation, and superstorms (Evan)
• New research this week (Ari)
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #3 (John Hartz)
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #3 (John Hartz)

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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 #2 by John Hartz
• New research, January 1-6, 2019 by Ari Jokimäki
• Climate negotiations made me terrified for our future, Climate Adam (YouTube Video)
• Republicans call for 'innovation' to tackle climate change, but it's not magic by Dana Nuccitelli (Yale Climate Connections)
• Skeptical Science takes the Pro-Truth-Pledge by BaerbelW & John Cook
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #1 by John Hartz

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American Loon #2131: Cindy Pugh

More state legislators. Cindy Pugh is former a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives representing District 33B in the western Twin Cities metropolitan area. Pugh is not a fan of marriage equality. Indeed, Pugh thinks that what LGBT activists are after is not really marriage equality...

Read the full lunacy: #2131: Cindy Pugh Encyclopedia of American Loons

When homeopaths start lecturing us on EBM, hilarity is never far

The German Association of Medical Homeopaths (Deutscher Zentralverein homöopathischer Ärzte (DZVhÄ)) have recently published an article where, amongst other things, they lecture us about evidence-based medicine (EBM). If you feel that this might be a bit like an elephant teaching Fred Astaire how to step-dance, you could have a point. Here is their relevant paragraph: … […]

Read the rest here: When homeopaths start lecturing us on EBM, hilarity is never far

Massage: one of the few alternative treatments that is supported by fairly sound evidence

Having been frantically searching for a decent quality study reporting a positive result, I am delighted to announce that I might have had some luck. This study examined the effects of whole-body massage on knee osteoarthritis, compared to active control (light-touch) and usual care. Assessments were done at baseline and weeks 8, 16, 24, 36, […]

Read the rest here: Massage: one of the few alternative treatments that is supported by fairly sound evidence

American Loon #2130: Scott Pruitt

A.k.a. King of the swamp Ok, we’ll be (relatively) brief. Scott Pruitt, an Oklahoma lawyer, was Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from February 2017 to July 2018, at which point he was under at least 14 separate federal investigations by the Government Accountability...

Read the full lunacy: #2130: Scott Pruitt Encyclopedia of American Loons

American Loon #2129: Matt Pruitt

That there is a “Bigfoot Field Researchers’ Organization” isn’t really that surprising (director: one Matt Moneymaker, no less). That they don’t find anything isn’t particularly surprising either. In fact, it is even unclear whether “loon” is a fitting epithet for all of their members. Matt...

Read the full lunacy: #2129: Matt Pruitt Encyclopedia of American Loons

Chiropractic education … evidence-based? … No, wait…

The 2018 World Federation of Chiropractic ACC Education Conference was held on 24-27 October in London. It resulted in several consensus statements developed by the attendees. I happen to know this from a short report that has just been published; it can be found here. Of the 10 points made in this consensus, I find only […]

Read the rest here: Chiropractic education … evidence-based? … No, wait…

Gangrene is the death of the patient treated purely with homeopathy.

Slowly, I seem to be turning into a masochist! Yes, I sometimes read publications like ‘HOMEOPATHY 360’. It carries articles that are enragingly ill-informed. But in my defence, I might say that some are truly funny. Here is the abstract of one that I found outstanding in that category: The article explains about Gangrene and its […]

Read the rest here: Gangrene is the death of the patient treated purely with homeopathy.

American Loon #2128: Alan Pressman

We initially encountered Alan Pressman as a member of the board of directors of Purity Products (Jahn Levin’s group), a manufacturer and online pusher of homeopathic remedies and, in particular, dietary supplements and vitamin supplements (pseudovitamins, mostly) with...

Read the full lunacy: #2128: Alan Pressman Encyclopedia of American Loons

A review of “A New Year’s Message” from NCCIH’s Director: Helene Langevin M.D. January 2019.

By guest blogger Dr Richard Rawlins (Orthopaedic and trauma surgeon and author of Real Secrets of Alternative Medicine)   The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) was the US Federal Government’s lead agency, under the auspices of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), for scientific research on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). […]

Read the rest here: A review of “A New Year’s Message” from NCCIH’s Director: Helene Langevin M.D. January 2019.

Non-surgical Treatments for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis? How to make even a useless therapy appear to be effective

Lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) is a common reason for spine surgery. Several non-surgical LSS treatment options are also available, but their effectiveness remains unproven. The objective of this study was to explore the comparative clinical effectiveness of three non-surgical interventions for patients with LSS: medical care, group exercise, individualised exercise plus manual therapy. All interventions were […]

Read the rest here: Non-surgical Treatments for Lumbar Spinal Stenosis? How to make even a useless therapy appear to be effective

2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #1

Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week...  Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... 

Story of the Week...

Katharine Hayhoe: 'A thermometer is not liberal or conservative'

 

Katharine Hayhoe: ‘Fear is a short-term spur to action, but to make changes over the long term, we must have hope.’ Photograph: Randal Ford

The award-winning atmospheric scientist on the urgency of the climate crisis and why people are her biggest hope.

Katharine Hayhoe is an atmospheric scientist and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. She has contributed to more than 125 scientific papers and won numerous prizes for her science communication work. In 2018 she was a contributor to the US National Climate Assessment and was awarded the Stephen H Schneider award for outstanding climate science communication.

In 2018, we have seen forest fires in the Arctic circle; record high temperatures in parts of Australia, Africa and the US; floods in India; and devastating droughts in South Africa and Argentina. Is this a turning point?

This year has hit home how climate change loads the dice against us by taking naturally occurring weather events and amplifying them. We now have attribution studies that show how much more likely or stronger extreme weather events have become as a result of human emissions. For example, wildfires in the western US now burn nearly twice the area they would without climate change, and almost 40% more rain fell during Hurricane Harvey than would have otherwise. So we are really feeling the impacts and know how much humanity is responsible.

Katharine Hayhoe: 'A thermometer is not liberal or conservative', Interview by Jonathan Watts, Science, The Observer/Guardian, Jan 6, 2019

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Editorial of the Week...

Hope for a Green New Year

Democrats can’t pass legislation yet, but they can get ready for 2021.

 

Supporters of the Green New Deal made their voices heard on Capitol Hill in December. Credit: Scott Applewhite/Associated Press 

Let’s be honest with ourselves: The new Democratic majority in the House won’t be able to enact new legislation. I’ll be astonished if there are bipartisan deals on anything important — even on infrastructure, where both sides claim to want action but what the G.O.P. really wants is an excuse to privatize public assets.

So the immediate consequences of the power shift in Washington won’t involve actual policymaking; they’ll come mainly from Democrats’ new, subpoena-power-armed ability to investigate the fetid swamp of Trumpian corruption.

But that doesn’t mean that Democrats should ignore policy issues. On the contrary, the party should spend the next two years figuring out what, exactly, it will try to do if it gains policymaking power in 2021. Which brings me to the big policy slogan of the moment: the so-called Green New Deal. Is this actually a good idea? 

Hope for a Green New Year, Opinion by Paul Krugman, New York Times, Dec 31, 2018

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Toon of the Week...

 

Hat tip to Stop Climate Science Denial Facebook page.

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Coming Soon on SkS...

• Skeptical Science takes the pro-truth pledge (Baerbel, John Cook)
• New findings on ocean warming: 5 questions answered (Scott Denning)
• Climate negotiations made me terrified for our future (Climate Adam)
• New ocean heat content research (John Abraham)
• New research this week (Ari)
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #2 (John Hartz)
• 2019 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #2 (John Hartz)

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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 #1 by John Hartz
• New research, December 24-31, 2018 by Ari Jokimäki
• Portuguese Translation of The Debunking Handbook by BaerbelW
• 2018 in Review: a recap of the Skeptical Science year by BaerbelW
• 2018 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #52 by John Hartz 

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American Loon #2127: Michele Presnell

Michele Presnell represents the 118thdistrict in the North Carolina General Assembly (yes, them again). Presnell is against Muslim prayers because “I do not condone terrorism.” Some background: Presnell co-sponsored of North Carolina’s proposed (since dropped), unconstitutional 2013 resolution to...

Read the full lunacy: #2127: Michele Presnell Encyclopedia of American Loons

Homeopathy for benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH)? No, afraid not!

Benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH) affects many men aged 50 and older. It is caused by an enlargement of the prostate resulting in difficulties to urinate and to fully empty the bladder. There are several conventional treatment options, including life-style changes that are effective. In addition, a myriad of alternative therapies are being promoted, most of […]

Read the rest here: Homeopathy for benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH)? No, afraid not!

American Loon #2126: Burt Prelutsky

“Columnist for the WND” is not a badge of honor, but Burt Prelutsky is one and has none. As a fundie wingnut with a persecution complex, Prelutsky is very concerned about the marginalization and persecution of Christians in the US. As evidence for such (widespread) persecution and marginalization,...

Read the full lunacy: #2126: Burt Prelutsky Encyclopedia of American Loons

Acupressure for post-operative pain-control? There are good reasons to be sceptical!

Acupressure is the stimulation of specific points, called acupoints, on the body surface by pressure for therapeutic purposes. The required pressure can be applied manually of by a range of devices. Acupressure is based on the same tradition and assumptions as acupuncture. Like acupuncture, it is often promoted as a panacea, a ‘cure all’. While […]

Read the rest here: Acupressure for post-operative pain-control? There are good reasons to be sceptical!

Intravenous quackery anyone?

I came across an embarrassingly poor and uncritical article that essentially seemed to promote a London-based clinic specialised in giving vitamins intravenously. Its website shows the full range of options on offer and it even lists the eye-watering prices they command. Reading this information, my amazement became considerable and I decided to share some of it […]

Read the rest here: Intravenous quackery anyone?

Unproven medicines a risk to health and wallet

2019 starts well, namely with a comment entitled ‘Unproven medicines a risk to health and wallet’ on the recent statement of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) . As it is remarkable in that it confirms what I have been saying ad nauseam for years, I reproduce it here in full: Australians are in danger of […]

Read the rest here: Unproven medicines a risk to health and wallet

American Loon #2125: Bobby Powell

The Truth Is Viral is a Michigan-based, far-right, ultraparanoid conspiracy theory group whose Publisher and Editor-in-Chief is one Bobby Powell, a frighteningly paranoid wingnut tinfoil hatter if there ever was one. Powell is primarily afraid of the powers-that-be, such as the UN, whose vehicles...

Read the full lunacy: #2125: Bobby Powell Encyclopedia of American Loons

Any fine resolutions for 2019?

“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” (Bill Vaughan) Any New Year resolutions? As far as my blog is concerned, I can think of a few: Be more polite to people whose opinions differ from mine. I have to […]

Read the rest here: Any fine resolutions for 2019?