On Ros(s)ing

That homeopathy zealot Roslyn Ross is conforming to type in the comment thread below a recent article entitled, ‘Are homeopathic ‘remedies’ helpful or harmful?’, by Jennifer Gunter. I’ve observed and encountered much of the activity of this irritating snark a number of times in recent years and have previously commented on the fervid activity of this apologist and propagandist for homeopathy. Indeed, so predictable, so tedious is her fallacy-laden modus operandus that I figured it deserved its own fallacy name:

                       Ros(s)ing


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Charlatanism: fantasy or dishonesty?

In his Homeopathy: The Undiluted Facts Edzard Ernst delineates between two types of charlatan: the dishonest and the fantasist. I don’t know and have never met Sally Lloyd, a homeopath who charges for her services. Neither do I know whether she actually offers them to people diagnosed with cancer. But if she spews forth the following disgraceful misinformation to anybody daft or desperate enough to ‘consult’ her, there is something seriously amiss. [Read more... ]

Yikes! Going to the dogs.

So, the one who tweets under the handle, @HomeoReikiDogs; who variously ‘practices’/promotes/advocates/endorses (e.g.) Reiki, chakras, auras, prana, homeopathy, MMS, ‘energy methods’, ‘Moon healing’, Venkatesh, etc.; the one who claims to treat dogs and other animals with such guff. In fact, it seems any wackiness is welcome on asteroid ‘Yoda’...
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Scientists aren’t gods – quite the opposite: they’re fallible and accountable

I don’t know whether ‘Sir’ Simon Jenkins has acquired the clout to by-pass sub-editors and supply the (sub-)headlines to his own articles. If he has, then he palpably lacks the nuance one might fairly expect from a journalist of his seniority and standing, his recent piece – Scientists aren’t gods. They deserve the same scrutiny as anyone else – suggesting he’s not much better than any outrage-provoking, clickbait-generating hack.

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Are nonsense ‘cures’ for cancer a ‘soft target’?

I confess to wondering whether Edzard Ernst’s recent increased activity at The Spectator website has arisen due to the latter’s cynical recognition (following the lengthy reaction to Tarek Arab’s naïve, quackery-appeasing dreck) of his sure-fire clickbait potential. Certainly, a run of homeopathy-centric articles this month (May 2016) provoked some of the harpies who descend on these things in order to promote their cult to potential converts. And, inevitably, this draws reaction from those of a sceptical bent.


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Homeopathy – could be some trip

And now, with homeopathy’s terrestrial effectiveness taken as a given, why shouldn’t preparations for its extra-terrestrial application commence?

My god, it’s full of pills!

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QUACKSONEBOWIE

So, Bowie is dead. And all and sundry have been airing their favourite anecdotal bits and eulogistic pieces all over the (social) media. Which is understandable, given his longevous and massive cultural significance. That so many lament his passing, days after the birthday release of a lyrically portentous album, is understandable; many of us will have grown up and lived our lives to a soundtrack in which he was ever present. Like all prolific artists, he did put out some duds. But when he was good, boy was he ever!

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A homeopath talks shite

... I freely confess that I didn’t know what meconium is. But Wikipedia (from where ‘DrPaul’ nicked the photo) soon enlightened me. Though as to what exactly he did with ‘The sample [he] derived from the drug free home birth of a friend of mine… ‘ (so why could he not take his own photograph?), I remained mystified. As such, I perhaps ought to qualify any statements I’m making by declaring my ignorance, thus leaving him retaliation room should he take the opportunity to lambast my admission that I do not wholly comprehend his ‘triturating’ and ‘proving’ of foetal faeces. Because he has not, I consider, made himself very clear...

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Dialogue with a homeopath

... Emphasis of claimed homeopathy-fill-able niches was followed by a brief history lesson for the homeopathy-uninitiated, replete with some of the plethora of logical fallacies which tend to accompany these things, including links to material by one or two familiar homeopathy luminaries, and the ever handy argumenta ad populum, which all makes for ready marketing material...


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Is the media complicit in promoting quackery?

I despise articles like this: not just because they are (the celebrity/health-drecked online version of the) Daily Mail; not just because they are dumbly written/edited under the assumption that readers will be lost if they risk paragraphs containing more than one sentence. But because such sensationalist clickbait churnalism, though guaranteed to draw attention and instigate a good playground scrap, is not only irresponsible and misinformative; I would argue it is also, in its quackery-promoting complicity, potentially dangerous...

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(de)Romanticising energy

... re-reminded of my perennial confusion at the term ‘energy medicine’, as freely resorted to by the CAM-ites, in particular those who claim to be all things to all people – the homeopaths. What exactly is it, this energy, that its proponents so enthusiastically espouse without explaining what it is they mean? Is definition deemed superfluous? Because arming the pseudoscientifically gullible with the mere terminology is enough to satisfy not only their limited critical faculties, but also those of potential converts? Because for the advocates/disciples/apostles of homeopathy et al, no further information or explanation is necessary?

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Calling out (in)Clement information

Avoiding cancer is a doddle!

So declareth the esteemed oncologist, George Dryden, on her authoritative medical blog, ‘it shouldn’t happen to a vegan™’. Sorry, wait, strike that; so pontificateth, the Brian Clement-beguiled, Hippocrates Health Institute-certified ‘Health Educator’, George Dryden, on her egregious generator of wind for blowing up her guru’s freshly-flushed jacksy....

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Act to prevent Tredinnick becoming Chair of the House of Commons Select Committee for Health – again

The Select Committees are disbanded when Parliament is dissolved for the general election. Now, post-election, process is underway to establish the next incarnations of Committees, with voting on nominations for respective Chairs to take place on Wednesday 17th June.
Though not surprised that Tredinnick is making another bid to exert his perverse influence on government policy, I find alarming the list of his nominators...

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A(nother) Twitter on homeopathy: shameless propaganda and ‘trolling’

Though I might have previously been aware of her activity here and there without taking much notice, I think I first ‘directly’ encountered arch homeopathy propagandist Sandra (Hermann-)Courtney when she once turned up at my blog here, and posted a compendium of family/friend/pet anecdotes. After I replied with my objection to her homeopathy-promoting opportunism, she returned in a bit of a seemingly hissy fit. I was being nasty, apparently....

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A(nother case) for Coleus fornicans

... I suggested a homeopathic remedy to calm his nerves. Being a scientist (a label that, by his own admission, was becoming tenuous), he was initially very sceptical. However, desperate for help and the avoidance of another sleepless night, he acquiesced to my proffering of 50c pilules of extract of Coleus fornicans, to be taken regularly...

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A Twitter on homeopathy

Batty enough as homeopathy is, one might, if feeling in particularly fair mood, grant that some are on the more ‘sensible’ end of the battiness spectrum, restraining their discussion of what they claim homeopathy can effectively treat, and (occasionally) condemning those who claim it’s efficacious application to serious, life-threatening disease. That’s not to give any credence to any claims made by the homeopath who quacks less noisily – this may merely be part of a ruse aimed at acquiring some kind of regulatory ‘respectability.’...


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Calling out more misleading information

What is it about conspiracy of circumstance that may engender vulnerability to the perceived charisma of charlatans? That might increase susceptibility to assimilation of the bogus teachings of some self-proclaimed health guru? I don’t know (exactly). Though I do know that such querying is likely to be met with offence, and responded to with logical fallacies and familiar quackery apologetics: ‘Each to their own’; ‘Keep an open mind’; ‘If well meant and there’s no harm in it, then what’s the problem?’, and so on… blah, blah, blah… But when the cult-brainwashed make public statements in disregard of modern clinical science, promoting their beliefs to the gullible and marketing related products to the duped, I’m afraid such lazy tropes do not hold water.

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Detox? What a load of old goop! | Lee Turnpenny

... Now, I’m an admirer of Gwyneth Paltrow, based on her performances in a number of films. So, as Bingham’s article cites Paltrow’s ‘lifestyle website Goop [sic]‘, I perambulated over for a look. Well, it is certainly a very swanky looking place; very professionally maintained; very ‘convincing’ marketing (oh yes, marketing – there is plenty on sale there) pitched at the pre-convinced and the too-‘open-minded’ curious. With prominent announcement of ‘the annual GOOP DETOX’, replete with enticing colour photographs of… well, food...

Read the full post: Detox? What a load of old goop! | Lee Turnpenny

Comment on cult commenting

What, do we have here a full-blown devotee of the cult of homeopathy receptive to question, challenge, criticism and correction of publicly-made statements? Nah, don’t be silly...


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