The Mad Skeptic

In the Interest of Debunking

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Seven and a half years ago, Sylvia Browne had a massive live failure while on the nation-wide Coast to Coast AM radio show. After her failure, the media briefly picked up the story and I wrote about it and examined some of her "predictions" for 2006. Randi was kind enough to discuss some of my analysis on the Swift at the time. I'm re-posting an edited version of my original entry because of the current scrutiny of Browne and because it is a pre-Mad Skeptic blog post:

"Psychic" Sylvia Browne made an appearance on Coast to Coast AM this past week (January 3, 2006). When the news was incorrectly reported that 12 of the miners in the West Virginia mine disaster had survived the coal mine explosion, she stated something to the affect of "I knew this all along". Here's the Fox News story about the whole incident: TV Psychic Misses Mark on Miners.

When the unfortunate truth was revealed and she found out she was wrong, Sylvia Browne started making excuses -- claiming she thought they are dead all along. If anyone has recordings of the January 3, 2006 show, I'd be very interested in listening to them. Based upon Sylvia Browne's major gaff, I doubt the episode will ever appear on reruns. If, by any chance, you have or have a recording of the January 3, 2006 show, please let me know.

However, there is something we can examine, and possibly, test. "Psychic" Sylvia Browne provided George Noory with a list of predictions for 2006! I have cut and pasted the actual text from the Coast to Coast AM website [formatted for this post]:

Psychic Forecast
Acclaimed psychic Sylvia Browne appeared for the 2nd and 3rd hours of the show, sharing her forecast for 2006. Among her predictions:

The weather will be even worse this year than 2005, with hurricanes in the Northeast, and floods in the Southeast, and more tornadoes than ever before. She blames "this damn warming trend."
Two large quakes will occur in Asia, with smaller ones in Washington and California.
There will not be a worldwide bird flu pandemic-- the disease will be mainly confined to Asia.
New health treatments include an insulin replacement for diabetes, a vaccine for stomach-related cancers, a breakthrough in MS involving the hypothalamus gland, and a vaccine that blocks the need for nicotine.
Gold and property remain good investments.
The popularity of Pres. Bush and Gov. Schwarzenegger will continue to slide downwards, and Congress and the Bush administration will be embroiled in more scandals.
Troops will begin returning from Iraq.
Trains and trucks continue to concern her as far as safety and terrorism.
The 2008 election will be between Kerry and McCain, and Kerry will win in a close vote.

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2006/01/03.html

At this pre-event time [at the time of writing], I would like to comment on a few of Sylvia Brown's predictions:

The weather will be even worse this year than 2005, with hurricanes in the Northeast, and floods in the Southeast, and more tornadoes than ever before. She blames "this damn warming trend."

Sylvia Browne is playing the odds here. Plain and simple. She is firmly on the global warming bandwagon with the media, etc. She's observed this past year with its incredibly high number of hurricanes and is expecting a similar situation to occur next year (which is quite possible because because we will be going from a weak El Nino year to a neutral or weak La Nina year). Hurricanes are not uncommon in the Northeast. I remember leaving work in Manhattan a few years ago due to one and another one going through Blackstone, MA when I was a child.

[A historical examination of her prediction now shows that she was completely wrong about the "hurricanes in the Northeast". Also, the 2006 hurricane season was milder than expected. Floods in the Southeast? Didn't happen. There weren't "more tornadoes than ever". Instead, it was, pretty much, an average year.]

Two large quakes will occur in Asia, with smaller ones in Washington and California.

Sylvia may be going through Geology text books! Either that or she might have the Science channel on cable (If you're a "psychic" do you even need a television?). The occurrence of what appear to be "earthquake storms" have been documented in Turkey, Iran and other localities. Often these earthquakes are referred to as "after shocks" when, in fact, they are a further release of stress on the same fault the initial earthquake took place on. I would also like to point out that she used the word "Asia". Asia is a big place -- very big in fact and there are a lot of faults in Asia. China's got them. India has them (look up the Deccan Flats if you have time). This is a real broad stroke from this "psychic". She's almost certainly guaranteed a significant earthquake somewhere in Asia. As for predicting smaller earthquakes in Washington and California -- that's like saying "the sun will rise tomorrow". They have minor earthquakes out there daily. Pretty easy to predict something like that. I'll predict for the year 2006 that the Adirondacks will erode.

[I could only find information on 1 major Asian earthquake -- the Hengchun 7.1 quake -- which occurred off of Taiwan. Interestingly, Browne totally missed the 6.7 quake that took place off of Hawaii that year.]

There will not be a worldwide bird flu pandemic-- the disease will be mainly confined to Asia.

Again, she's playing the odds -- based entirely upon what she's seen on the news or read in newspapers and magazines. The likelihood of a Bird Flu mutation which will allow it to be passed from human to human within the next year (based upon an article I just recently read in the New York Times) is unlikely. There appears to be a slowing in the mutation rate of the virus. Why this is occurring no one presently knows or understands. However, it is not impossible for the virus to mutate into a pandemic strain. I don't think anyone wants her to be wrong on this one but, I'm pleased to say, she isn't making a "psychic" prediction.

[I am glad to note that bird flu did not turn into a worldwide pandemic. However, bird flu cases and deaths did continue to increase throughout 2006 and 2007.]

New health treatments include an insulin replacement for diabetes, a vaccine for stomach-related cancers, a breakthrough in MS involving the hypothalamus gland, and a vaccine that blocks the need for nicotine.

A very quick Google search on "insulin replacement" found this: http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/mdd/v03/i09/html/news10.html.

A search for "vaccine for stomach-related cancers" found this:
Korean breakthrough on stomach cancer (08/12)
(NLM.NIH.GOV) SEOUL - The South Koreas Food and Drug Administration says it has proof nimesulide, a material that represses cyclooxygenase-2, or COX-2, prevents stomach cancer. A germ known as Helicobacter pylori that survives on mucosas in the stomach is known to cause various stomach-related diseases, including stomach cancer, the Korea Times reported Saturday. Some 90 percent of Korean adults are infected with helicobacter.at http://www.pirweb.org/pir01b_dec04.htm.

Again, I Googled "MS hypothalamus" and found this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14705110&dopt=Citation -- which I would like to add was published in January 2004 (some prediction).

Finally, Googling "nicotine vaccine" discovered this beauty: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/05/030521092701.htm.

Look at those articles. Not one was published after Sylvia Brown made her prediction. She surfed the web and was counting in the ignorance of her audience to substantiate her "prediction".

Gold and property remain good investments.

Give me a break! Gold and property have been good investments since the earliest days of civilization. This isn't a prediction. It's a statement of common sense.

[The price of gold increased over 2006 but it was basically maintaining a trend that had been established in 2000. More importantly, while real estate values did peak in 2006, that same year was the beginning of the burst of the housing bubble -- which lead to the Great Recession we are still recovering from 6 years later. I wish I had known that before my Ex and I bought a house in 2007! I certainly hope no one took Browne's real estate advice.]

The popularity of Pres. Bush and Gov. Schwarzenegger will continue to slide downwards, and Congress and the Bush administration will be embroiled in more scandals.

Look at our current political situation. Do you honestly believe: Bush's and Schwarzenegger's popularity won't decline? or There won't be any more scandals? She's stating the obvious! Last I knew, that wasn't a prediction.S

[Analysis of Bush's approval ratings reveals he was on a steady decline from 2002 and it was unlikely the trend was going to change. Schwarzenegger's popularity also continued to decline, in part, due to his taking positions contrary to his political affiliation. As Browne's "church" is located in California, she would have undoubtedly been inundated with bellyaching from the politicos about Arnold's positions.]

Troops will begin returning from Iraq.

Great prediction Sylvia. Bush, himself hinted at that on t.v. prior to your useless "prediction".

[The Iraq troop withdrawal did not begin until 2009 -- regardless of what Bush or Browne said.]

Trains and trucks continue to concern her as far as safety and terrorism.

Is this even a prediction given the fact we have almost an "open" border between the U.S. and Mexico as far as truck-related shipping is concerned? I know I saw some t.v. news magazine show on this very topic within the last two months. Wait a minute, I rescind my initial question and replace it with a statement. This isn't a prediction. It's bullshit from a schister.

[I should point out that this "prediction" was anything but. It is simply a statement along the lines of "I'm concerned it might rain today" -- hardly predicting anything.]

The 2008 election will be between Kerry and McCain, and Kerry will win in a close vote.

We'll have to wait and see on this one but I do have to say that I saw a portion of an interview with Kerry where he was discussing his Presidential aspirations. Picking McCain is, almost, a no-brainer because he is a prominent and popular Republican. Saying it will be a close vote is like predicting minor quakes in California -- it's certainty. Pay heed though, we can test this one. She's predicted Kerry will be the next President of the United States of America! Now we only have to wait 2 years to see if she's right. I'm certain, by that time, there will be interference by some ghost, alien, constellation, planet, or other mumbo-jumbo which might alter the results. I'm also certain Sylvia will be there to give us her bullshit excuse.

[As we and Barack Obama now know, she was completely wrong on this prediction.]

Sylvia Browne: Grief Vampire

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Wed, 15 May 2013 01:48:00 +0000

The recent escape and rescue of Amanda Berry and her fellow captives Gina DeJesus and Michele Knight has, again, lead to scrutiny of "psychic" Sylvia Browne's claims to supernatural powers. If you aren't familiar with this particular case, Browne informed Berry's mother that her daughter was dead and the poor woman went to her grave with the belief her daughter had been murdered.

Browne was wrong. Very wrong. Not only that, she's been just as wrong in the past on a variety of cases. CSI examined some of her claims and, surprisingly, found Browne was right 0% of the time. I say "surprisingly" because those results are worse than random luck -- clearly indicating Browne has no abilities whatsoever. She should have "FAIL" tattooed to her forehead. Maybe that will save innocent and unsuspecting believers from wasting their money and emotional energy on this parasite.

Some time ago, Marc Klaas described his experience of being repeatedly approached by "psychics" claiming to have information about the whereabouts of his daughter, Polly Klaas. In his description, he referred to these individuals as "second wave predators" -- people willing to take advantage of the emotional suffering of others for money or fame. He rightfully points out that these "psychics" are often counter productive if you have a missing child. I recently wrote a criticism of a local alternative news weekly that promoted a "psychic" who made similar claims about working with police to find a missing person. I followed up on that claim and found it to be false. Somewhere along the line, someone coined the term "grief vampire" to describe these predators. Maybe it was Ben Radford but I don't really know the source. However, I and those like Ben Radford, feel "grief vampire" is an adequate description of Sylvia Browne and the second wave predators like her and I am of the position people should be reminded of this evil woman's ways whenever possible. To that end, I made the graphic below. Please use it when you encounter Browne apologists or general psychic woo-woo online.

For more information on Sylvia Browne's disgusting ways, I urge you to visit Stop Sylvia Browne. I also urge people to visit the Klaas Kids Foundation for more information on ways to help keep our kids safe and for tips on what to do should you find yourself in the horrible situation of having a missing child.

No Pain No Gain

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:00:00 +0000

In the realm of weightlifting or fitness in general I doubt there is a myth so foolish and misguided as "no pain, no gain". Yet, this myth persists and I rarely go a week without hearing it in conversation both in and out of the gym. I'm not referring to conversations where the phrase is being used in some allegorical or symbolic context. These conversations often are exclusively about working out.

Why do people still hold on to "no pain, no gain?"

First, let's get the obvious out of the way: if you experience pain while working out, it is your body's way of telling you "stop and go to the doctor." Listen to your body and follow its instructions! I have personally observed people inflicting grievous harm upon themselves simply because they believed in "no pain, no gain" and continued to exercise. They soon discovered that decision was a terrible one when they herniated disks in their back, tore their bicep, or demolished their rotator cuff. I'm in that club too. When I was younger, I suffered rotator cuff injuries in both shoulders. One was so bad, my arm was effectively useless from elbow-height and up for months and the pain was some of the greatest I have ever experienced in my life. For months on end, I had to sleep in a particular way and even then was only able to sleep for a couple of hours at a time -- all because I was stupid in the gym.

Thankfully, I avoided surgery.

So where does this myth come from? Setting aside the militaristic/jock/moron mentality which seems to celebrate the myth as a macho truism, I believe there are two reasonable sources for the myth's origin. First, I believe the fatigue experienced while performing an exercise ("feel the burn") might be a source. Second, I believe delayed onset muscle soreness is a source as well.

As anyone who has just started working out knows, you will hit a proverbial wall where your body's no longer willing to keep performing without significant effort and stress. Marathon runners, powerlifters, and athletes of all types experience this fatigue as well. Breathing hard, sweating excessively and feeling "the burn" in your muscles are common symptoms. To improve your fitness, you need to continually bump up against this fatigue and, thereby, push your body to its limits and improve body's capacity to exercise. If this unpleasant experience of fatigue is falsely equated to pain, I can easily see it as a source of "no pain, no gain".

Delayed onset muscle soreness ("DOMS" for short) is the pain you experience after doing an exercise your muscles aren't used to. If you have ever have gone running for the first time or done arm curls and then felt that soreness the next day, you've experienced DOMS. I think it is fair to call DOMS "painful" and I certainly have suffered from it in the past to the point where I couldn't walk up or down stairs or extend my arms without very real pain. DOMS, like fatigue, is a natural consequence of exercising. DOMS happens because when you push your muscles past what they are accustomed to, damage is done to the muscle fibers. Your body responds with soreness (called "muscular mechanical hyeralgesia") and heals the damage. As the muscle heals, it prepares itself for that level of exertion. In this way, the muscle becomes stronger by the "repeated-bout effect". If DOMS is the pain, "no pain, no gain" certainly makes sense. But it must be noted that it is a mistake to lift or exercise before your muscles have recovered. Wait until your muscles are healed up and you can gradually increase your workout. This is the concept of "specific adaptation to imposed demands" (SAID) bodybuilders and weightlifters use to get bigger or stronger. Runners who gradually increase their running distance in preparation for a race are using the same principle.

Whether it is fatigue or DOMS, these are experiences which should be expected with exercise. Neither of these conditions are sudden and shouldn't be extreme. Fortunately, if they do become extreme, it is possible to decrease the intensity of your workout to accommodate your body's abilities. If you are working out and unexpectedly feel some pain, something has gone wrong. Stop your exercise, take a breath, and take an accounting of what is going on. Maybe you've pulled a muscle or have had a cramp. If you were to continue to keep working out, that pull or cramp could go from a painful inconvenience to a significant and persistent injury. Honestly, which would you rather do? Take some time off to recover or risk a serious injury or disability? Training through pain like this is not a sign of your devotion to fitness or some macho-masculine ideal. It's a sign of stupidity and it's time we get rid of the myth of "no pain, no gain".

Is Canada About to Give Up on Asbestos?

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0000

I've written about the Canadian asbestos industry in the past. If you haven't read those posts,the short version of the situation is this: Quebec has been one of the leading exporters of asbestos in the world and they have done a great many things to keep it that way. Whether it's been industry-funded papers meant to propagate doubt about the dangers of asbestos exposure (a trick learned, no doubt, from the American cigarette industry), lobbying groups, or keeping chrysotile ("white asbestos") from being listed as a hazardous substance under the Rotterdam Convention, the Canadian asbestos industry has done its level best to remain viable.

Despite the asbestos industry's best efforts, the rest of the world really doesn't agree with their view of the their product. As you can well imagine, the demand for something which can potentially give people mesothelioma is pretty low and getting lower all the time. Sure, there are some countries like India and Thailand which are willing to import their product but the Canadian asbestos industry has fallen on bad times. In an attempt to maintain what remains of this once significant industry I've personally heard people make claims about using chrysotile as a means of carbon sequestration based upon a carbonate precipitate observed on mine tailings as well as repeated claims to chrysotile's safety. Often, the blame is placed on the mineral tremolite (another form of regulated asbestos) that is a common contaminate in chrysotile ore bodies. Those talking points really aren't that convincing to the general public so the asbestos mining industry in 2002 managed to convince the Quebecois government they were too big to fail (at least their mines are enormous) and a $58 million government-backed bail-out plan was arranged in 2012 to reopen the Asbestos, QC Jefferey Asbestos mine and to operate it for 20 years.

The chrysotile industry was saved and free to export its product to the developing world! Well, that was the plan...until there was a change in government in 2013 and it was revealed the government knew of 180 medical facilities were loaded with asbestos. There was a public outcry against having this carcinogen in a place people were supposed to be healing and, thus, the government's hypocracy was revealed. While the Canadian government was perfectly content shipping the chrysotile out of the country, their citizens didn't want to be exposed to it themselves. Of course not. It could give you cancer.

Now the winds are changing. They mayor of Thetford Mines, where one of the largest asbestos mines in the world is located, is now openly discussing a post-asbestos economy. This is a big deal. Thetford's economy was built on asbestos and their looking to an asbestos-free future indicates an end to an era. The Chrysotile Institute lost its governmental funding -- signaling the end of government-sponsored pro-industry lobbying (the conflict of interest is staggering). Also and very tellingly, Canada is no longer challenging chrysotile's being labeled a carcinogen in the Rotterdam Convention. It really looks like Canada is closing the book on chrysotile. I sincerely hope towns like Thetford Mines or Asbestos (I've been in the area and enjoyed my time there -- the Asbestos Mineral Museum is amazing) and the people who depended upon the chrysotile industry are able to leave the past behind them and find a safer and more productive future.

When Experts Get It Wrong

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Brian Dunning's recent guilty plea to wire fraud in a case involving eBay and a cookie-stuffing scheme will, I believe, provide some ad hominem ammunition to his critics and woo-woo proponents of all kinds. His award-winning podcast, Skeptoid, has critically examined a number of topics beloved and endorsed by the less-than-critical thinking crowd. The woo-woo retort or dismissal to topics Dunning has accurately addressed may likely fall along the lines of "You can't trust what he says. After all, he's an admitted criminal."

Is this "Dunnning dismissal" valid? Absolutely not! If someone where to dismiss anything Dunning has addressed on Skeptoid only because of his recent legal troubles and criminal punishment (at the time of this writing, sentencing has not happened), they are committing the Genetic Fallacy. This logical fallacy follows that if the source of the claim is somehow faulty (i.e. someone has done something wrong), their claims are likewise faulty. This is a logically unsupportable position and it is a convenient way to avoid addressing a claim -- especially if that claim is contrary to what you want to believe. As anyone who's listened to Skeptoid or read his blog knows, Dunning does excellent research. If someone can't counter his research and conclusions with information and research of their own, the intellectually lazy way to dismiss his analysis is to taint it with his criminal plea without addressing the facts. I'm certain I and my fellow Skeptics need to be prepared for this possible occurrence Dunning is a major player in the greater skeptic community and there may be blow-back as some try to discredit skeptics in general through the association fallacy.

While it should be easy to understand that the information and research that someone has done is not automatically discredited simply because that person has done something wrong, there is another side to this Genetic Fallacy coin and it involves the Dunning-Kruger effect and assuming everything someone has done is right. The Dunning-Kruger effect (not related to Brian Dunning) is the tendency of people to overestimate their abilities in a field in which they have no training. If you have a child you probably witness this effect regularly. Just the other day, my daughter (who is 5) honestly informed me that she was perfectly capable of fixing an issue I was having regarding Flash DRM on my Linux media-PC based solely upon her ability to use the mouse and operate another computer. While it might be easy to dismiss claims of expertise from those who are obviously untrained, this effect is particularly problematic when the person is a recognized expert in their field of study. Just as we should not automatically discount someone's work just because they did something wrong, we need to realize that people who have been right about many things can be horribly wrong about others.

One of the greatest examples of the Dunning-Kruger effect is Linus Pauling's promotion of vitamin C. Pauling received two Nobel Prizes (Chemistry and Peace) and he, undoubtedly, was a remarkable man. Unfortunately, he became enamored with orthomolecular therapy and then became convinced that mega-doses of vitamin C could prevent people from getting the common cold as well as cure a number of diseases including cancer. While he died of prostate cancer himself, he believed his taking of vitamin C prevented the cancer from progressing and, thus, prolonged his life. The truth of the matter is, however, there is no evidence supporting his claims. Despite all the evidence contradicting his belief, Pauling continued to promote it blinded by his experience in another field of study and convinced himself he was correct. He wrote a series of books to promote vitamin C and the idea was picked up by the general public. After all, he was a Nobel laureate. He couldn't be wrong, could he? He was and massive amounts of money was wasted in both pharmacies when well-intentioned people bought supplements that didn't work and in laboratories when scientists examined Pauling's claims.

Another but lesser known example of the Dunning-Kruger effect is Brian J. Ford's claims about aquatic dinosaurs. Ford is a recognized microscopist who, judging from his Wikipedia page, appears to consider himself a bit of a polymath. I'm somewhat familiar with him as he writes a column in a journal I regularly read. The man certainly knows his way around a microscope and may be an expert in many things -- except Paleontology. In 2012, Ford wrote a non-peer reviewed article in a "journal" called Laboratory News in which he claimed he had determined that the large non-avian dinosaurs were all aquatic. He later followed the article with essentially the same content in his non-peer reviewed column in the peer-reviewed journal, The Microscope. When later challenged, Ford dismissed that criticism of Paleontologists and Geologists with a myriad of special pleading and an actual appeal to Galileo. Ford, honestly, is laughably wrong and seriously outside his expertise and, yet, doesn't realize it. The aquatic dinosaur hypothesis was once seriously considered but was finally discredited at least 50-or-so years ago (I believe it's even earlier but some people were still considering Apatosaurus and other sauropods to be semi-aquatic well into the 50s and 60s) . From a personal perspective, I've done a little work in the Hell Creek Formation of North Dakota (related to my work in the underlying Fox Hills Formation). The Hell Creek is a the last Cretaceous deposit in the area, it is demonstrably terrestrial deposits, and it's the home of Triceratops. Not only is the idea of an aquatic ceratopsian absurd (a giant, heavy, skull with frills and horns makes swimming a little hard, to say the least), it is obvious Ford is ignorant of the actual Geology in which these fossils are preserved. Multiple lines of evidence clearly show his idea to be wrong. Even though he lacks any sort of expertise in the area and was promoting a previously discredited idea, a number of media outlets promoted Ford's idea -- just because he was an expert in a different field. Like Pauling, he was wrong and, like Pauling, he appears to be doubling down on his idea.

So what's the take-home from all of this? I would say it is we always remember that people have flaws and they can make mistakes. We must not be blinded or unduly influenced by someone's reputation and then have the perspective taint our understanding of their ideas. We must judge the evidence based upon the evidence alone. Simply because someone did something wrong does not mean their ideas or research is wrong. Conversely, just because someone has done something right, it doesn't automatically follow that all their ideas are right. As a critical thinker, it is your responsibility to keep your eyes squarely on the prize -- the facts and the evidence -- and not get overly distracted by where it comes from. By being aware of the Genetic Fallacy and the Dunning-Kruger effect, you'll be much better prepared to critically examine evidence and make informed decisions.

The Metroland and a Puff Piece for Psychics

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:48:00 +0000

The say that the press is the "4^th Estate". The non-governmental entity that keeps the crooks honest and provides one of the stalwart pillars on which a healthy democratic society can be built. The First Amendment protects the press from governmental interference and, consequently, a lot can be written that might otherwise be forbidden. While all of this may be true, anyone who's been in a grocery check-out line recently will know, a lot of the content the press is pushing is nothing more than voyeuristic commercials bereft of any semblance of intellectual substance. One of the many answers to this corrosion of quality journalism is the independent weekly newspaper. The thinking goes that the independent weekly would be free of commercial obligations and mainstream infatuation with whose anatomy was revealed to whom and what some talking-head thinks about it. I've read a few independent weeklies in my time and I can say this is, for the most part, the case.

However, many independent news weeklies do have one significant and repeatedly demonstrable weakness -- they like to publish stories on woo-woo which have absolutely no basis in reality. Quacks, crack- pots, and "psychics" avail themselves of these independents by getting cheap advertising by way of traditional ads as well a fawning stories which lend them an air of credibility. Why do they get these stories? I believe it is the result of limited budgets which prevent the papers from being able to afford qualified reporters and fact checkers, a limited coverage area (most of these papers serve a city or region), and an anti-establishment or contrarian demeanor or intent. When these factors are taken into consideration, it is easier to see why Albany, NY's independent weekly, the Metroland, published a credulous cover story on two "psychics" in the Albany area but it doesn't make it acceptable.

The story, "The Medium has the Message" by Sarah Sherman, covers interviews with two self-proclaimed "psychics" and the obligatory readings from them, an embarrassing amount of "Facebook journalism" (where the author asks for and receives comments on social media and then simply cuts and pastes those comments into their article), and only three small paragraphs featuring statements from a skeptical, evidence-based perspective. These paragraphs are what we often laughingly refer to as the "token skeptic". They were only put in the story to lend it some cover of being researched or "critical". I guess if you're coming from a contrarian perspective you may not want too much reality seeping in your story on those who claim to be psychic. Reality is way too "establishment". Some see the real world as boring anyway and, besides, one of those "psychics" being featured has been one of the Metroland's most reliable advertisers for many years. I guess that whole "independent" thing might not be what it seems.

In reading the article, it opens with a very simplistic and edited example of a cold reading yet the author never examines cold reading later in the story. From my reading of the article, I don't think the author is aware of the skill. Despite her proclamations of skepticism, it is quickly evident the author went to the first "psychic" lacking critical thinking skills -- at least as far as it pertains to these types of claims. If she had, I know this puff-piece would never have been written because the claims would have actually been examined and tested instead of regurgitated as truth. Basic fact checking is absent in the piece and two glaring examples are where she credulously parrots the "psychics'" claims to have been contacted by area police forces for help in missing-persons cases. I did take the time to follow up on Ms. Manning-Hilton's claim. I contacted Chief Frisoni of the Scotia Police force who informed me that, contrary to her claims otherwise, Ms. Manning-Hilton was not contacted by the Scotia police. Rather, she contacted them unsolicited in 2005 about a missing persons case. There is a big difference between claiming the police called you and you calling the police. To be more blunt, Ms Manning-Hilton's claim has been proven false. Just for the record, no "psychic" has ever found a missing person (even though many claim they have -- usually AFTER the person or their body is found), many claim police forces contact them for assistance when they haven't, and "psychics" often can cause significant harm.

As Sherman does allow the "psychics" free reign to sell themselves, we are treated to some prime examples of fantasy-prone personalities. Often early in life, those who are fantasy-prone often seek out ways in which they are "special". They embrace these beliefs and make them a part of their lives -- regardless of their basis in reality. However, I believe there are two different types of "psychics" being represented in this story. One, in my mind, is a true-believer. I think she really feels as though she can do the things she claims she can or she does a good job pretending she can. The second, however, is trained in Psychology and, almost certainly, knows scientifically established ways to manipulate people. Regardless of her creation myth, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised she knows what she does has nothing to do with psychic abilities. For this contrast in characters, people may be interested in reading the story.

I'll leave the past-life regression for those interested in reading the article. If you're inclined to believe in psychic powers, you'll be inclined to believe in that foolishness. All I have to say is this: do the hard work the author didn't and Google "confabulation" and "false memories". While researching this story, I should note, I uncovered that the author and the first "psychic" profiled went to the same college. Not only is this not revealed in the article, it is not certain whether the author and the subject had a previous relationship. Where/are they friends? Did they share classes or a social environment (physical or online) where the author may have revealed information the "psychic" later presented as having discovered through mysterious and special means?

While this story's getting published isn't nearly as bad as the ridiculous ghost-hunting story published in the Times Union (the area's major newspaper), it is still very disappointing to see. This type of fluffy, credulous, farm-league journalism is, honestly, embarrassing to me as a resident of the area. If papers like the Metroland aren't willing to cover stories that actually have a basis in reality or bother to fact check their stories (a simple web search on psychics would return articles on cold reading or possibly, the Mad Skeptic handout "What You Need to Know About Psychics") what does it say about independent weeklies? Is the Metroland trying to fill the hole that was created when the Weekly World News ceased to be printed? Are we to expect that caliber of "journalism" when we are reading about political or social issues? Are they fact checking those stories or are they just playing mouthpiece for what ever agent or cause they've chosen to befriend? You see, rational people knew the Weekly World News was made up of fictional, campy stories that were meant to be ridiculous for entertainment's sake. Many of us, myself included, really enjoyed reading the WWN for that very reason. The Metroland, unfortunately, is blurring the lines between fantasy and reality. Whether they are doing this out of ignorance, laziness, or to keep certain advertisers happy doesn't matter. They need to stop.

The Mad Skeptic Mixed Tape 2

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Since posting the first Mad Skeptic Mixed Tape, I've continued to come across songs I thought should be added to the Skeptic/Atheist musical lexicon. Unable to keep these songs to myself any longer, I now give you the Mad Skeptic Mixed Tape 2!

Monster Magnet -- Crop Circle: These guys are one heavy, heavy metal band with heavy blues influences or a heavy blues band that plays in the metal style. I can't decide but this song is one raunchy punch in the gut.

16 Volt -- Don't Pray: Heavy, metal industrial song about religion. 16 Volt, while not well known to the general public, has a hardcore industrial fan base.

Alien Sex Fiend -- Evolution: As much as fundamentalists hate Evolution, they may hate Alien Sex Fiend more. Alien Sex Fiend's Bat Cave/Goth/Industrial music is often explicit and, well, weird.

Bad Religion -- American Jesus: A scathing commentary on American Exceptionalism, Christian Revisionism, and Christianity in general. Bad Religion is one of the most intelligent bands out there -- and they're punk.

The Police -- Synchonicity II: The Loch Ness Monster makes an appearance in this creepy Police classic about family and social dysfunction.

Ikon -- Ghost In My Head (New Version): This is a Goth club classic. How can you beat a song about possession?

Ministry -- N.W.O.: The conspiracy mongers love to talk about the New World Order. Ministry's N.W.O. certainly provides a good soundtrack to the fevered dreams of those mad prophets. Bonus samples of George H Bush!

Covenant -- Dead Stars: Another Goth club classic. In addition to the astronomical imagery, this song warns of rampant Internet over-connectedness and how it's important to step away from the computer from time to time and be a real person. I think many Skeptics loose sight of this fact.

Lard -- Can God Fill Teeth?: Lard is the project of Jello Biafra (The Dead Kennedys) and Ministry. "Can God Fill Teeth?" is an absurd look into the thinking of a deranged conspiracy nut. Plus, a shout out to the Weekly World News!

Nick Cave and the Badseeds -- Red Right Hand: About a conspiracy puppet master. Oh yeah, this song was featured in an X-Files episode!

Tool -- Ænema: Fundamental rejection of gratuitous materialism plus Armageddon! Some say the end is near.

The Conflation of Health and Fitness

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 14:00:00 +0000

conflate: \kən-ˈflāt\, 1) to bring together, 2) to confuse

How often have you heard someone exclaim, "Boy are they fit"? Perhaps you've heard people talk about how someone might be "diesel," "built," or "put together"? Depending on where you live, there are countless slang terms for someone who, generally speaking, is lean and/or muscular. What those terms are describing is a generic concept of physical fitness. You might have interpreted this physical fitness as an indicator of someone's health and you may be correct in this assumption most of the time but this is not always the case. You see, fitness and health are two different things and, yes, it is possible to be physically fit but not healthy.

Broadly, "fitness" refers to an organism or population of organisms' ability to interact, survive and reproduce in a given environment. When applied to sports and exercise, this concept is altered to indicate how effectively one's body had adapted to the increased or specialized physical activity. So, someone who is "physically fit" has a physique that has developed in response to the demands of their exercise and lifestyle. Consequently, it is possible to have a continual spectrum of people who are physically fit that runs from marathon runners -- (who are often extremely lean and wiry) to sumo wrestlers (who can be extremely obese and strong). Both are well adapted and, therefore, physically fit for their respective sports but are they healthy?

Health is a combination of multiple factors. Physical health includes many things related to muscular strength, cardiovascular fitness, as well as neurological fitness -- not to mention genetic make-up. Of course there are endocrine and other factors that go into consideration and, often overlooked and not easily communicated through glossy magazines, mental health and lifestyle choices. In order to assess health, a skilled and reputable physician will examine these and other factors to determine someone's health. You'll notice that physical fitness is only a portion of what is taken into consideration.

So, it is possible for a marathon runner, body builder, or sumo wrestler and everyone in-between to be unhealthy. For example, there is evidence that marathon runners exhibit symptoms similar to those of heart attack victims within 24 hours of running a race -- potentially putting them at risk of a heart attack. A body builder may choose to use anabolic steroids to develop the physique that may give them an advantage over their competitors -- thereby potentially doing permanent damage to about every system in their body. Sumo wrestlers are often obese and it is unlikely they get enough cardiovascular exercise. As I've highlighted before, muscular strength and mass do not replace or equate to a healthy cardiovascular system. Any one of our examples might drive drunk or engage in other risky behaviors that would would never be considered healthy.

Do you want to improve your health? See your doctor -- it's their job to help you improve your health. Talk to them and decide what you need to improve. Speaking as someone who suffers from hypertension and who knows of physically fit people who have suffered heart attacks and who have died from drug overdoses, I can honestly tell you that you can not really assess a person's health just by looking at them. Just because some svelte hottie is strutting their stuff doesn't mean they're actually healthy nor should you think that, because you don't look like someone in a magazine, you aren't. Being fit and being healthy are different but related concepts. Just remember not to judge the book by it's cover or the person by the body.

What You Should Know About Psychics

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:00:00 +0000

I just published my newest informative Skeptic Pocketmod entitled "What You Should Know About Psychics". It aims to inform people about cold reading and the harm psychics can do.

This one includes some original cartoons. My daughter likes to draw and has recently asked me to draw with her so, voila!

I originally thought I'd like to call these little booklets "Skeptic chicks" after the chick comics but, the more I say it, the lamer it becomes. This type of book has a number of names -- one of which is a "minute book" for the amount of time it takes to read one. Regardless, the intent is the same -- to provide an informative pamphlet that is cheap to produce and easy to distribute. These little booklets only require a single sheet of paper to make!

Unlike my first Skeptic Pocketmod -- "What is Skepticism?", this one does not have the page boundaries as I found them to be distracting (and I still haven't figured out how to make them fit right). Regardless, the folding instructions are exactly the same and if you are interested in making and distributing these booklets, I recommend you start with "What is Skepticism?" for practice.

So, without further ado, here's "What You Should Know About Psychics" -- suitable for distribution at your local psychic fair! It is licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA so you are free to use as you like as long as you provide attribution and share alike.

What You Need to Know About Psychics Pocketmod

Here are the folding instructions:

I'm also providing a larger version in the event it might be more appropriate for your purposes. Please save paper and print on two sides.

What You Need to Know About Psychics

Previously:
What is Skepticism? Here's Some Handouts!

Time to Stop Paying Attention to TEDx

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 14:52:00 +0000

In light of continuing evidence that TED^x continues to promote New Age and pseudoscientific nonsense, I thought it might be time people let the TED organizers know where we stand in that regard. To help serve that purpose, I made the following graphic and I'm licencing it under Creative Commons BY-SA.

What is Skepticism? Here's Some Handouts!

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Just last week, Sharon Hill wrote up a handy guide over at Doubtful News explaining Skepticism. While aimed primarily at the main stream media, I think it is a good primer for the layperson.

The Media Guide to Skepticism is licensed under Creative Commons so that it can be distributed and adapted as long as attribution is given -- which is a different licensing than the rest of Doubtful News. I raise this at the outset because a lot of the cryptozoology blogosphere reads her site and Doubtful News has, previously, had material stolen. I've written about the crypto-crowd's problem with copyright in the past. I know The Mad Skeptic gets cryptozoology traffic as well so, just to be abundantly clear -- I have permission to use Sharon's material (it's in the license itself). Furthermore, this does not mean the rest of her content is now up for grabs to steal and present as your own.

Now that I've warned the unscrupulous, I have been playing with the idea of making Skeptic chicks for some time. Back in the day, I had a Palm Pilot which I used all the time. It was before smart phones and I loved using the damned thing. Even looked into putting Linux on it. I digress. When it died, I learned of a "paper PDA" which, in fact, is something called a PocketMod -- a simple way of folding a single sheet of paper so that it makes a little 8 paged booklet that can be used to keep track of your calendar and so on. I always felt it could also be used to distribute information as a small booklet. I decided Sharon's Media Guide was ideal source material for my first Skeptic chick. So, I took her material, changed the formatting here and there and added information that wouldn't be apparent in a printed form (links, etc.) and I present it to you here. I made this with the intention that these little booklets could be made cheaply and then left in places where the public might find them -- like a laundromat or, say, a psychic fair (I bet these would go over well at the Mind, Body, Wallets Richard Saunders seems to frequent) . All you need to make one is to print the pdf below on your home printer and then fold and cut it according to the instructions on the original PocketMod site.

Skeptic PocketMod by Myron Getman

I understand some of the boxes don't line up perfectly. Unfortunately, that is an artifact of the program (pdfjam) I'm using and I haven't figured out how to correct it yet. Fortunately, the booklet folds up just fine. Once you've gotten everything folded, you can trim off the top, unused portion.

But what if you need something bigger? Well, I made a bigger version -- perfectly appropriate for placing on tables or anywhere a larger document is appropriate.

What is Skepticism Pamphlet by Myron Getman

Like Sharon's, my material is licensed under Creative Commons so it is free to copy, distribute, and modify provided appropriate attribution is given. Please download them, copy them, and hand them out or put them where people can find them. In donig so, you can help people better understand Skepticism and Critical Thinking.

Review: Twinkie, Deconstructed

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:00:00 +0000

Despite the bankruptcy and apparent demise of Hostess Foods, the humble Twinkie, in many respects, remains the quintessential example of the modern processed and industrialized food item. Kids and adults alike enjoy the little cakes and the numerous knock-offs they spawned. Despite a familiar resemblance, these snacks aren't your grandmother's cupcakes. Modern ingredients and processes make Twinkies and their kin ideal candidates for examining modern industrial food science.

Steve Ettlinger, in Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated into What America Eats, systematically goes through the Twinkie ingredient list and reports on each component's origin. In a very accessible and entertaining fashion, Ettlinger reveals not only the rather mundane sources of some ingredients but some rather obscure and possibly revolting sources of others. While not on exactly on the same plain as a Michael Pollan book, Twinkie, Deconstructed is no less informative or enlightening. While I'm not a Twinkie fan myself, I found the book to be a fun read and it opened my eyes about many of the ingredients I put into my and my child's bodies.

If you have an interest in food science or are just looking for an entertaining and science popularizing book, this book may be for you. Ettlinger reports the evidence he uncovered as well as rather effective descriptions of the factories he visited in researching the book without taking any discernible position on the "right-ness" or "wrong-ness" of one process or another. He is definitely intrigued by the subject and his enthusiasm shows in his writing. While not fiction, the book can easily described as a page-turner. He manages to educate the reader without coming across as preachy or professorial.

While Ettlinger's curiosity is contagious, he doesn't address a few areas a more serious book might address. For example, he does not discuss such issues as the health risks associated with eating excessive amounts of processed foods or the reliance on oil by the industrialized and processed food industry. Ettlinger, however, addresses this criticism at the beginning of the book. He was only investigating where each of the ingredients come from and nothing more and he does a good job keeping on track. If you were looking for something more substantial like Fast Food Nation, you may end up finishing the book without being satisfied. Not unlike a Twinkie. However, if you're looking for a sweet, entertaining and informative read, Twinkie, Deconstructed just might be what you want. Not unlike a Twinkie.

Are Carbon Nanotubes the 'New Asbestos'?

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:00:00 +0000

The author, looking dopey at the Jeffery Asbestos Mine.

Nanoparticles are very tiny particles which are manufactured for a variety of purposes and have a considerable potential in a different uses ranging from art to medicine to cellphone batteries and everything in between. Whether one is talking about silver nanoparticles or carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or any other similar material, these products are, in many cases, too new for us to have a full grasp of their possible environmental or health effects. A recent article in The Independent raised these issues and caught my eye.

Whether you are aware of it or not, there are nanoparticles you probably encounter on a daily basis. Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide nanoparticles are used in sunblocks, for example. Consequently, these nanoparticles are potentially easy targets for exploitation by quacks and conspiracy-mongers. The general public is, like Quantum Physics, aware of nanoparticles but few really know what they can and can't do. Turns out, the scientific community doesn't really know the potential risks of nanoparticles either.

I've previously written about a questionable application of silver nanoparticles -- or rather, the claim of the application of silver nanoparticles. Silver has antiseptic properties and it is used for that purpose. Unfortunately, there is evidence silver nanoparticles are toxic to beneficial microorganisms and fish once they get into the environment. As silver is persistent and stable, these particles of silver could have long-term negative effects.

What about carbon nanotubes (CNTs)? Here's the worrisome bit -- CNTs have a similar morphology to chrysotile asbestos. Chrysotile is formed through metamorphism and is found in a group of minerals called serpentines and serpentinized rocks (often, in certain marbles). As the mineral forms during metamorphism, it curls up into a tightly rolled scroll. Imagine rolling up a very, very small area rug. The end result is a long, thin straw or tube and this characteristic is what makes chrysotile's asbestiform morphology (there are other forms, called "habits", of chrysotile but I won't go into them). In effect, nature made nanotubes long before there were people to make CNTs, or dinosaurs, or trilobites, or.... I think you get the point.

While there has been some argument in the literature about the toxicity of chrysotile, the majority of the papers which attempt to break the relationship between chrysotile and cancer are funded by mining or industrial interests. Learning from the cigarette industry and climate change denialists, these interests have continued to generate a degree of ambiguity in an attempt to maintain their income and protect themselves from lawsuits.

However, the scientific consensus is that chrysotile causes cancers and other diseases when inhaled and there are good papers out there that examine this issue. Based upon my reading of a variety of these papers, the exact mechanisms by which the mineral causes cancer are still not fully known but it's morphology almost certainly plays a major role. Being long and thin, chrysotile and other asbestos fibers easily penetrate the lungs' alveoli where they pierce the body and their length causes inflammation and interferes with mitosis and white blood cells attempting to consume them. Instead of being able to remove the mineral fibers, those white blood cells have their cell walls punctured and their cellular contents and enzymes leak into the surrounding tissues -- causing more problems. If the morphology of chrysotile (or asbestos in general) is a primary characteristic (or secondary, for that matter) that causes cancer, what might that say about CNTs and their morphology?

There is some cause for concern. A recent paper by Atsuya Takagi, et al demonstrated CNT induced mesothelioma in exposed mice. Such a finding would seem to indicate the morphology of the particle is causing the body to respond in such a way as to develop cancer. Chrysotile (Mg₃(Si₂O₅)(OH)₄) and CNTs (C and possible impurities or doped components) have completely different chemistry. The Takagi study supported an earlier priliminary study by Poland, et al that found asbestos-like pathogenicity for CNTs. There are also studies that show lymphocyte reactions to CNT (the leaking white blood scenario), genotoxicity, as well as an increase in fibrosis in mice. Fibrosis, in this case, is referring to scarring of the lungs. All of these conditions could lead to disease. Things are not looking good for CNTs.

Almost every paper I've read on the toxicity of CNTs highlights how little research has been done on this topic. Should we be concerned about the possible carcinogenic properties? To date, there are no studies demonstrating a CNTs/cancer association but there are many serious questions that remain to be answered. It is quite possible nanoparticles are too new a material to have an observable health effects. Remember, the average latency for the development of mesothelioma is approximately 30 years. After all, CNTs are used in cars and other things we use or work with and breathing them in could be a very real risk further down the road. It is my opinion that we should be limited our exposure to breathing in CNTs based upon my knowledge of chrysotile. But, I should point out I am a Geologist -- not a medical researcher. I am concerned because other fibrous materials, like fiberglass, are also known to cause serious diseases like silicosis and other, non-asbestos but fibrous amphiboles have been shown to cause mesothelioma as well.

The simple truth, however, is that not enough is known about this aspect of CNTs. While they appear to be benign in other uses and they have considerable industrial, medical, and technological potential, we just don't know enough to say if they are or are not dangerous when inhaled. Even though there are studies which seem to indicate that shortening the length of CNTs reduces their toxicity, I'm more willing to say there is a high probability they are dangerous when inhaled and would not recommend anyone knowingly expose themselves. I just hope the studies that will eventually be published are free of industry bias like those which have been written about chrysotile and this subject can be settled once and for all. Hopefully, CNTs isn't like chrysotile. Knowledge is power and, if we know the dangers of CNTs, we can better safely take advantage of it's technological promise by implementing appropriate protocols and limitations to their use.

Quartz Plays Ghost Movies?!

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Herkimer diamonds - a form of quartz

I was listening to Strange Frequencies Radio a couple of weeks ago and they were discussing a new paranormal television show called "Ghost Mine". During their conversation, they mentioned something that I wasn't aware of before -- that belief that quartz somehow "holds energy" and can play back paranormal "ghost movies". As a geologist, I was shocked to learn that this fundamental property of the most common mineral in the Earth's crust wasn't covered in any of my Mineralogy or Igneous/Metamorphic Petrology ("IgMetPet" for short) classes.

Is quartz some sort of a rechargeable ghost movie battery? No, but I am left wondering where ghost hunters could have ever gotten the idea in the first place. I've come up with two possible sources. One is based in woo-woo New Age beliefs and the other is firmly rooted in very real properties of quartz.

The New Age belief I suspect is the major source of the "ghosts love quartz" idea is the mystical powers attributed to various crystals. Whether used for mystical healing or projecting some aura or another, crystals are believed to somehow focus "energy" in some fashion. How this is supposed to occur is not known and practitioners can't explain it's mechanics. The "energy" itself is some amorphous concept of energy which has never been observed or measured. Needless to say, Physicists and my fellow Geologists find New Age crystal powers to be nothing more than a feel good, fantasy-prone belief system. However, if crystals can somehow focus or channel some amorphous undefined paranormal "energy," couldn't it also record amorphous, never observed "life energies" that could later be played back? Maybe they fart unicorns too!

What about the real properties of quartz that might lead ghost hunters to believe they can somehow store energy? I believe this belief as well as that of the New Age practitioners stems from a misunderstanding of quartz's piezoelectric/pyroelectric and triboluminescent properties. When you apply pressure or heat to quartz, an electrical charge is generated. That charge can be substantial and if you've ever used one of those long lighters to light a barbecue grill, you've used a quartz piezoelectric charge to ignite the lighter's butane. The other characteristic of quartz is it is triboluminescent. If you were to crush, scrape, or bang the mineral, it will flash with a faint light. That's right, quartz, out of the ground, can flash light! Go try it yourself sometime. I remember discovering this property when I was a small boy and banged two pieces of milky quartz together on dark summer night. I thought I had made a great discovery (this property had been known since prehistoric time but was described in the early 1600s) and I still have those pieces of quartz. All the same, these properties are well described and repeatable. Has anyone ever observed ghostly images coming from quartz during its long history of Geological examination? No.

Quartz is the most common mineral on the Earth's surface. It's in the soil, sand, and bedrock -- not to mention things like building materials, digital wristwatches (where it's piezoelectric properties are still used for timing), and lighters. If a ghost hunter were to go looking for quartz as some kind of repository for ghost images, they will find it without any difficulty. They don't even need to try. It's there already. Consequently, quartz is a ubiquitous excuse for science-y sounding ghost hunters to hold up regardless of where they might be or what evidence there actually is. They might as well claim that the air records ghosts. However, the New Age "energy" explanation has never been scientifically observed or tested and, for all intents an purposes, only exists in the imaginations of New Age practitioners.

The real properties of quartz are fascinating and illustrate just how amazing even the most mundane mineral on the planet can be. There is no need to try to augment this characteristics to make the mineral more interesting. Those properties, while benefiting humanity in a multiple of ways, have nothing to do with paranormal "energy". I can understand how some ghost hunter could have possibly ignorantly combined the New Age and real characteristics of quartz in an attempt to explain why someone saw a ghost. There seems to be a lot of effort recently to make ghost hunting "scientific" and this supposed explanation would fit that bill but it has no basis in reality. Quartz does have some really cool characteristics associated with real forms of energy but that doesn't mean they somehow record "life energy" and replay it later as a ghost.

Review of the Ketchum Coast to Coast Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Bigfoot's been seen in "all 50 states and Canada, except Hawaii." - Melba Ketchum

I finally got around to listening to the Melba Ketchum interview on Coast to Coast AM and, honestly, she didn't say anything new or adequately answer the many criticisms about her self-published Bigfoot DNA paper.

If you're interested in listening yourself, the official audio can be heard and downloaded at the Coast to Coast AM website.

One of the things that was unavoidable was Ketchum's unsurprising use of "science-y" sounding words. This is a phenomenon Sharon Hill has studied and others like Richard Feynman have likened to cargo cult science. That is to say that believers in things like Bigfoot affect the appearance of what they believe scientists do in order to give the appearance of being scientists themselves. Ghost hunters, perpetual motion machine inventors, and alt-med snake oil salemen use this tactic. The difference with Ketchum is that she actually is a veterinarian and has some real experience in testing for DNA. Consequently, she's better equipped to obfuscate her weak claims in a sciencey smoke screen. I'm still doing some follow up with some genetic technicians I know on specifics about the testing she boasted about on the show so I won't focus more on dispersing this cloud. Regardless, her sciencey language was meant to impress the credulous and boost the believers but it never added any substantive information to the interview.

Ketchum fell back on A LOT of special pleading -- especially when it came to the observation that her study never submitted its DNA to GenBank. Essentially, Ketchum claimed GenBank didn't want her DNA because it didn't have a species attached to it. It has been noted by others better versed in this topic than I that GenBank does accept DNA without species identification. Ketchum also didn't feel it was much of a deal because they included the data as a text file with the paper. Experts in the field have pointed out the text file is useless. It looks to me that Ketchum has made her data unavailable while giving the appearance (to non-geneticists) of providing it. Perhaps the greatest special pleading claim was that "Bigfoot is not Darwinian". That's a pretty loaded phrase and Ketchum implied that Bigfoot didn't evolve so much as was created during her claimed hybridization event, somehow evolved faster than usual, or to cover the big problem with inter-species hybridization when it is possible -- sterility. Another doosy was her claim that Bigfoot can somehow sense "electronics." Using her horses as an example, she said that Bigfoot knows when a cameras are nearby and avoid them at all costs. She also claimed that Bigfoot are better at camouflaging themselves than "anything else on the planet". Interestingly, a piece of the evidence she has presented to support her claims is a video of a sleeping Bigfoot. Apparently, it couldn't sense cameras and wasn't able to camouflage itself. Maybe "Matilda" (the name of the supposed Bigfoot in the video) needs to take a remedial Bigfooting class.

Despite her claims of being a scientist and that her data has "proven Sasquatch exists", Ketchum relied heavily on the good 'ole logical fallacy of argument from popularity. She kept making the claim that, because so many people have claimed to have seen Bigfoot, it must be true. She and the host, George Knapp, also kept relying on argument from antiquity when they kept bring up legends of American Indians that supposedly support the existence of Bigfoot. If your paper unequivocally proves the existence of Bigfoot, why keep on repeatedly relying on these old canards? Because your on a believer show, of course!

There was a lot of attempting to answer legitimate criticisms of how her paper was published. However, Ketchum failed on every attempt. Rather, I think she made things significantly worse for herself. She admitted to purchasing an unnamed journal. Craig Woolheater at Cryptomundo believes it was Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Exploration in Zoology -- which never published anything and only had a call for papers out. Ketchum clearly stated the journal was "acquired" to "get the paper out". If her claim is true, it might satisfy the believers and uninitiated in science, publication, or journalism, but it is a severely unethical action. Personally, I don't believe Ketchum purchased any journal and is only making the claim in an attempt to legitimize her paper. Anyone interested in this topic, though, should be left wondering "why would someone make claims of unethical activity if their paper is as good as they claim it to be?" Ketchum hasn't really answered this question.

When examined as a whole, the interview served three purposes: 1) to appear to answer the criticisms of the paper, 2) drive traffic to her site and to sell copies of the paper and, 3) make the case for a conspiracy theory against her paper. Throughout the interview, Ketchum repeated phrases like "legitimate science" when in reference to her and her paper. All the while, she laid down the case that the "scientific establishment" wouldn't have anything to do with her "legitimate science" and actively worked against the publication of her paper. She used GenBank and unnamed journals as foils to demonstrate how she had to purchase the DeNovo journal in order to self-publish. The other journals, she claims refused to have anything to do with her research with the exception of one which, she claims, withdrew it's intention to publish the paper after its legal department got involved. Yes, a lot more special pleading. She did let one thing slip. A number of us remember how she was shopping the paper to a Russian journal at one point. Evidently, they rejected the paper as well. I guess the Russian peer-reviewers wouldn't pass the paper either. Don't worry, it's just a new piece for her conspiracy.

Overall, the interview was a classic C2C display of softball questions and credulous hand-holding. Ketchum didn't really answer any of the serious criticisms and questions about her paper and DeNovo Scientific Journal. Rather, she fell back on a lot of special pleading and other logical fallacies which were meant only to reinforce her position with her supporters. The truth of the matter is this, there isn't a "scientific establishment" as Ketchum would like people to believe. There are many, many journals and they are competitive. If Ketchum's paper was legitimate, it it was well written, and if its data was supportable, a journal would publish it once it passed peer review. The discovery of Bigfoot would be the modern-day equivalent of the discovery of the mountain gorilla and the paper could potentially make a journal a lot of money and get it a lot of positive press. There is an incentive in discovery. Instead of having the paper published in a real peer-reviewed journal, Ketchum self-published online and tried to defend her paper and actions on the auditory equivalent of the Weekly World News. She has not answered her critics and continues to wander down the woo-woo primrose path. While there has been some talk made about legitimate scientists and science journalists looking at the paper, I find it extremely unlikely it will be found to be as "legitimate" as Ketchum claims. She has started down the conspiracy path and will continue to do so -- not doubt while continuing to sell her paper and the movie she previously trademarked.

On Skeptical Civic Participation

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:00:00 +0000

In a recent episode of The Virtual Skeptics, Tim Farley addressed an issue I'm starting to believe Skeptics are not all that good or effective at -- civic participation in areas that are broadly and incorrectly labeled "political". That is, at least as I view it, anything that involves communicating directly with government representatives. In doing so, he mentioned a couple recent posts of mine as well as one I wrote a couple of years ago about legislation that aimed to close the supplement loophole. I thank him for the shout out.

In all of these specific posts, I urged people to write their representatives in the government and express their views. Whether people actually follow my suggestions, I'll never know but in bringing up the issue Tim made me aware of a stigma that some skeptics seem to hold -- that making your opinion known to your representative is somehow "political" and being political is to be avoided. Such thinking is, honestly, foreign to me -- maybe because of my membership in my union and the Atheist community. In both instances, making your views known is a prerequisite if you ever hope to accomplish anything constructive. I hold that such a position as that Tim indicated is akin to the cartoon skeptic ostrich burying its head in the sand.

While I accept that there are issues which are blatantly political, I'm not referring to those and everyone should feel free to discuss those topics whether or not they identify as a skeptic. I'm referring to legislation that addresses topics that have demonstrable scientific or skeptical support. If one really cares about any issue enough, they should be willing to let their government know. Whether for or against a particular piece of legislation, what good are you doing only opining about it on Twitter or on your blog? Such self-righteous or indignant pontification serves no purpose if legislators never read the tweet or post. Chances are very good your Senator isn't following your Facebook feed. Why not let your words do some more heavy lifting?

As I have previously noted, it seems a lot of skeptics seem happiest complaining about how somebody, somewhere got it wrong. Such puffery and hyperbole rarely does any good beyond making the writer feel superior while preaching to the skeptical choir. A lot of us do it and continue to express the same observation on countless blogs, creating a chain of well-intentioned but potentially ineffective discourse -- unless something happens to open that ecology up to the greater, non-skeptical community. For example, Tim Farley broke that chain when he and others decided to do something about David Mabus. I'll admit it. I was one of the many, many people who received strange and threatening messages from him, yet who did nothing about it other than tweet something here or there. Once this echo chamber was broken by Kyle VanderBeek's Change.org petition and Farley's pressure on the appropriate authorities something real was accomplished.

A sign of a healthy democracy is active participation of its citizens. I don't believe that maybe going to vote every 4 years in the presidential election cycle is "active participation." Governance happens every day and how are your representatives supposed to know how you feel if you don't let them know? Taking the "I don't get involved with politics" excuse because you're afraid your opinion won't be heard or simply because you're too lazy to take the time to write a letter or email is intellectually dishonest. Letting your representatives now how you feel isn't politics. It's civic participation. Frankly, if you took the time to read this post or to write a blog post yourself about the most recent tempest in the the teapot, you have enough time to write your representative about something you care about. You have no real excuse not to communicate about things like closing the supplement loophole or the teaching of Evolution in public schools. Look at the success the Australian Skeptics have had on such issues as exposing the AVN. Are their recent successes because they got lucky and the government just felt like addressing Meryl Dory's lies and misrepresentations or was it because they spoke up and actually did something? Think about it.

If the skeptical community doesn't reach out and take principled stands on legislation on topics where there is evidence what purpose does it serve apart from being some self-selected subculture that exists to debunk pseudoscience, pass around science stories, and feel smug about itself? We must be reaching out to those in positions of authority. It can be done. I know because I do it. I can't speak for anyone else but one of the reasons I am a Skeptic is because I have a daughter and I want to work toward making the world a better place for her and everyone else. I write my representatives with that goal in mind and, you know something, they often write back.

Ketchum to Appear on Coast to Coast AM

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 13:52:00 +0000

Melba Ketchum is going to appear on Coast to Coast AM tonight (Sunday, February 17, 2013). Why she's not appearing on a National Geographic special or a cover story of Science I believe is self-explanatory. Crackpots don't make it that far and C2C is the big time for crackpots.

Cue free advertising.

I predict a couple things based upon a lot of the banter I've observed since she posted her "research" paper online: she will do her best to push traffic to the DeNovo site in an attempt to get people to buy the $30 paper ("Just go to my site, the evidence is all there." is a common refrain on C2C) and she will unveil the second phase of her clown show -- the conspiracy.

I predicted some time ago that Ketchum would eventually fall back on the conspiracy claim that the "established scientific community" would work to prevent her paper from ever being published because, for some unexplained reason, it doesn't want proof of Bigfoot to be revealed. My prediction, it should be noted, should not be viewed as anything special because this is the pattern a lot of quacks, woo-woos and pseudoscientists follow. Whether you're talking about the Roswell incident (another C2C favorite), perpetual motion machines or Ketchum's Bigfoot study, when the believer can't support their position they find it easier to claim a cover up than to admit they are wrong.

Melba won't admit she's wrong. She's made such a joke out of herself at this point that I'm certain she sees the only way to rehabilitate her reputation is to make such a conspiracy claim. The very existence of the DeNovo Scientific Journal is based in this conspiracy claim. Ketchum claims the manuscript was rejected by every journal she sent it to except one -- so she bought it to "protect" the peer reviews and ensure the paper was published. Not only does that claim seem odd, it looks unethical as well. Why would you make such a claim of intellectual corruption if your paper was legitimate? What this journal was before it became the Geocities extravaganza we have now, she doesn't say. Honestly, I don't think there ever was a pre-existing journal and, if there was, I sure would like to see it's catalog of papers.

I believe Ketchum's goal is to elevate her paper to a Roswell-like status in the Bigfoot realm and so, somehow, make it a matter of faith. The problem she has is she has made empirical claims -- claims geneticists can easily test. Oh wait, she's got a conspiracy cover up for that too! Bigfoot DNA is "special" and somehow includes single and double strand DNA. OMG IT'S A NEW FORM OF DNA!!!!! You see, scientists don't want us to know that.

Update 2/17/13 11:00AM:

Coast to Coast AM is on very early in the morning regardless of where you are in the United States. If you don't live in the US, Canada, or Mexico, I don't know if you'd be able to receive the show. Their syndication may take them to other countries but I don't know. Consequently, it might be a little difficult for some folks to listen to the show. While I used to listen to it regularly when I was in college, before my daughter was born (and I was a ner-do-well rock musician and DJ), and when I was delivering papers as an additional form of income (no, this skeptic is not some shill for some monied corporation), I no longer have the endurance or urge to stay up all night listening to anything.

I used to record the show on tape but those days are gone so I decided to find an alternative that would integrate with my podcasts. A year or so ago, I found DAR.fm. If you are interested in listening to the episode of Coast to Coast or listen regularly, you can configure DAR to integrate into your podcast stream. Here's how I've done it:

First, you need to register a free account on DAR.fm (click "not now" when you're presented the paid accounts page).
You will then be presented with the "Start recording your favorite radio shows" page. Coast to Coast is currently listed as the #4 show. Click the "record" button to the left. Do a search for "Coast to Coast Weekend Edition" and record that as well. That's all you have to do to listen to the recorded show on DAR. If you don't want to integrate the show into your podcast feeds, you can stop here.
In the top right corner of the page, you'll see your profile name and "settings" underneath. Click "settings".
Under your "Account Settings" page, click the "Downloading (iPad, phone, PC)" option. From here you can copy the RSS feed into your podcast software (I use Google Listen through Google Reader), or subscribe through iTunes, etc. I should also note that DAR has a dedicated app for iPhone and Android so that might be an option you would like.

Ketchum Publishes DNA Paper in "Journal"

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:36:00 +0000

This just in: Melba Ketchum claims to have finally published her paper which supposedly identifies Bigfoot as some novel form of hominid in a "journal" I had never heard of before. I went to the site and found a poor design and a lot of stock photos. Not what I'd expect from a scientific journal.

The paper, Novel North American Homins, is presented online in abstract form only and, importantly I should note, can not be read unless you buy it. That, on the face of it, isn't suspicious as that is still a common practice with reputable journals. However, the "journal" itself is suspicious. While not a geneticist, I do spend a fair amount of time with my nose in journals and I had never before heard of "DeNovo Scientific Journal". The very name reeks of "look we're really scientific, we even used the name in the title!" Plus, why do they have words like "open access" and the like prevalent on the site while they are charging for content?

My spidey sense went off so I started digging.

I soon learned that www.denovojournal.com was registered anonymously through Domains by Proxy at GoDaddy. In reading the GoDaddy Whois records, I learned that the DeNovo Science Journal was only first registered on February 4, 2013 -- 9 days ago! Furthermore, the domain is only registered for one year. Why would a "scientific journal" only register their domain for only one year and why would it be registered anonymously? If you go to the website of an actual journal, for example, you will find they don't hide their registration information. Furthermore, Tim Farley pointed out that DeNovo is hosted at Wix.com -- which specializes in free and cheap website hosting. In going there, I realized the DeNovo site is nearly identical to the stock bayne_consulting1 free website template. The website authors didn't even bother to try and make their look all that unique.

I CALL BULLSHIT.

The circumstances, as I see it are as follows:

Ketchum needed to publish her paper to save face but needed to monetize it somehow
Time was running out -- there are rumors of a possible lawsuit being considered
She or someone connected to her created "DeNovo Science Journal" and created the site (hence the anonymous registration). While not conclusive on it's own, Ketchum's new Bigfoot site (currently offline) and the Sasquatch Genome Project site (online but horribly designed) and the DeNovo Science Journal all share the same name servers -- Media Temple -- indicating a possible connection between all three.
The free site exists only for the purpose of creating a web presence for the "paper" and, most importantly, get gullible people to pay $30 for the paper

I ask anyone with actual knowledge of the matter to let me know if DeNovo Science Journal ever existed prior to February 4, 2013 and whether they can show me any other paper this journal has published other than the Ketchum paper or others that will be published. I doubt this task can be accomplished. You see, DeNovo has an image of their present edition. Wouldn't you know it, it's Volume 1, Issue 1. This journal's only article ever is the Ketchum paper.

Ketchum HAS NOT published her paper in an actual peer-reviewed scientific journal. Pay not attention to the bigfoot behind the curtain! Instead, she and her accomplices have created something that resembles a journal with the hopes people will fall for it. Shame!

For more on this story, Sharon Hill has a very good write up over at Doubtful News.

Update 2/13/13 11:00AM: Added name server link to Ketchum's other websites.
Update 2/15/13 7:30AM: Added Tim Farley's comment and link to Wix.com, added link to stock Wix site, updated Sasquatch Genome Project link, and added link to Doubtful News.

The Bigfoot Hunter: One of the Best Indie Films I Have Ever Seen

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Back in the dark ages when I was starting this blog, I stumbled across a pretty funny video posted on YouTube where a group of meddling kids goes looking for Bigfoot with someone who, honestly, shouldn't own guns and his white-trash sidekick. I wrote about the video and suggested everyone go watch it.

I don't make a habit of going back and re-reading all of my posts and, after a while, they kind of settle into the dusty nether regions of my memory. At one point or another, I realized people were still going to that post and I was curious as to why (I suspect it's because I reviewed MonsterQuest). Regardless, I learned that the awesome YouTube video I suggested everyone go watch was gone. I was sad.

A few months ago I learned why the video was gone. The film was the work of Greg Newkirk and the Planet Weird/Who Forted team (if I screwed up who responsible guys, let me know but remember -- I'm bigger than Bobo, smell worse than a Skunkape, and pick up small cars so your insults will cut derply) and they had taken the YouTube film down and got it all prettied up and made one hell of a documentary. As a donor to the Planet Weird project, I was on of the lucky few to get the limited edition DVD.

So, I popped me up some poppin' corn and sat down to watch me some television.

The Bigfoot Hunter: Still Searching is quite possibly one of the best Bigfoot documentaries I have ever seen. While it is obvious (especially seeing how they make a point of letting you know this) that the film was shot with consumer-grade video equipment, the editing and content will make you not care about somewhat grainy images or compression artifacts. Hell, this is an indie film and they're supposed to have that crap anyway.

The main focus of the film is Tim Holmes, the stalwart leader (and only member as far as I can tell) of the Elmira Bigfoot Watch. Holmes appears to be a simple man with simple pleasures. He simply likes to carry around his simple shotgun in the simple woods simply looking for Bigfoot (and shoot his high school diploma). I did say he's a simple man right? Intentionally or not, Holmes comes across as hilarious and disturbing at the same time. I'm surprised Planet Weird got out without suffering an accidental shooting.

You get to tromp through the mixed hardwood forests of New York's Finger Lakes Region with Holmes and Planet Weird and participate in something which resembles a hunt -- sort of. A footprint may or may not be discovered and conversations about keeping the last shotgun shell for yourself in the event Bigfoot gets to you are some of the highlights. Holmes' conversations on a variety of topics will leave you well.... Frankly, there is no way I can adequately convey the Tim Holmes experience here and you have to see the film to fully appreciate what I mean. Fortunately, you will be able to soon!

Starting on Valentine's day, Planet Weird will be streaming The Bigfoot Hunter: Still Searching for free online! Now you have no excuse to laugh and learn. The film really is well done and deserving of all the attention it can get. Oh yeah, Planet Weird is starting a web series in the vein of Bigfoot Hunter! I can't wait. If they can even approach the awesomeness which is Bigfoot Hunter (and the hilarious out takes on the DVD), I predict they will be a success. It's about time the fluffernutter bile of Finding Bigfoot had some real meaty competition.

Vermont Bill to Protect Herd Immunity

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Having just recently written about New York legislation I thought Skeptics and Atheists might be interested in, I decided to expand my research to neighboring states. In doing so, I came across a bill that will definitely make skeptics and doctors happy and infuriate anti-vaxxers. You see, this bill aims to eliminate the religious and philosophical exemption for public schools when immunizations rates fall below 90%!

House Bill 138: AN ACT RELATING TO THE IMMUNIZATION RATES OF STUDENTS ATTENDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS clearly aims to protect herd immunity in public schools. It currently doesn't have a Senate equivalent and had been refered to the House Health Care committee. Herd immunity is when immune-compromised and non-vaccinated individuals are protected from dangerous diseases by the fact that disease transmission is prevented in a community when everyone is immunized against that disease. The level at which herd immunity is achieved is different for various diseases. However, they all hover around a 90% immunization rate -- that is, if 90% of a population is immunized, those who can't be vaccinated (infants, etc.) are protected from the disease by those around them.

Anti-vaxxers, by not vaccinating themselves or their children, put others at risk. They may not believe it and may go through all manner of contortions to justify their irrational beliefs and actions but it is the truth and not getting vaccinated is a demonstrable health risk to the community at large. While anti-vaxxers will often make claims that vaccination is a personal choice, they refuse to accept or acknowledge their responsibility to the health of others. Curiously, many claim to have society's interests at heart -- often falling back on naturalistic fallacy or conspiracies. Their ignorance and cognitive dissonance must be extreme as I suspect they all benefit from a variety of things society provides like public schools. Imagine a medicine and social contract symbiosis. By sending their un-vaccinated children to a school or other environment where people are in close proximity to one another, they are encouraging the spread of harmful and potentially dangerous diseases and, thereby, endangering children and society. For example, my child's school was exposed in this fashion last year and numerous outbreaks of preventable diseases have been recorded year after year -- some have lead to deaths.

Frontline did an excellent television documentary on this issue called "The Vaccine War" (you can watch the entire show on-line for free).

Representative Tim Jerman, one of the co-sponsors of the bill told me by email that this bill is in response to two factors. First, Vermont mistakenly made it easier to get the religious and philosophical exemption last year -- no doubt from anti-vaxxer special interest pressure as Vermont is a typically "liberal" state and anti-vax is a form of woo-woo often held by those on the left side of the political spectrum. Then, Vermont had the second largest Whooping Cough outbreak in the country last year. The bill's author, Representative George Till, is a practicing physician and I'm informed the medical community (unsurprisingly) overwhelmingly supports the legislation.

Unfortunately, Rep. Jerman feels the bill isn't likely to pass because Vermont is currently tied up with Gun Control and Death with Dignity legislation. He is also afraid nothing is going to be done until some unfortunate child dies from a vaccine preventable disease. As skeptics, we must do our best to ensure this does not turn out to be the case! This bill works to provide a vaccine firewall and protect children. Skeptics, write the bill's sponsors and let them know your support of it and spread the word. This bill needs our help! If you live in Vermont, write your representatives and ask them to take up action on H 138!

[I'm debating starting a Change.org petition but I'm not a Vermonter (although, I live 30 minutes from the NY/VT border) and I think a resident's petition would be much more effective. Hopefully, someone from Vermont will do just that. If it's you, let me know and I'll edit this post and add the link.]

Some New York State Senate Bills Worth Skeptic and Atheist Attention

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:00:00 +0000

The New York Capital Building

I recently read an article by Jann Bellamy on Science-Based Medicine about naturopaths trying to get licensed in in Massachusetts. Having dealt with that same issue here in New York a year and a half ago, I was concerned the quacks may have gotten another bill into our legislature. Perhaps, because New York and Massachusetts are neighbors, there was some naturopath scheme afoot. Curious, I went to see if there were any bills being considered. Thankfully for now, there weren't any I could find.

Here in New York, our government has been working toward an Open Government initiative and a lot of information is easily available on-line for anyone who might be interested. The New York State Senate consequently has all the bills referred to and being considered by its committees available to the public on the web. Frankly, it is a wonderful effort. The page, while not attractive, is easy to use so I decided to see if there were any bills I might be interested in as a Skeptic or as an Atheist (or both for that matter). Happily, I found a number of bills I felt I could support. Skeptics and Atheists often find ourselves taking a stand against something. Well, supporting positive things like sound legislation is just as important. Here a few bills I think deserve a letter in support (I've included links to templates in .doc format) from fellow Skeptics, Atheists, and New Yorkers:

S1649-2013: Requires products labeled as dietary supplements or nutritional supplements to carry a label stating that product has or has not been tested by United States FDA
Let's face it, there is a lot of useless crap being sold as a "supplement" and all these products successfully do is separate people from their hard-earned money while providing false hope. While not banning these (S)CAM products, this bill would require they label whether the FDA has even tested them and I feel that would work towards helping educate the consumer -- especially considering how many supplements have no efficacy at all or make exaggerated claims. S1649-2013 support template.

S743-2013: Establishes no itinerant vendor shall offer for sale baby food, nonprescription drugs, cosmetics and batteries
While this bill is meant to address the illegal sale of stolen goods, my reading of it suggests it could help shut down a "grey market" of (S)CAM supplements being sold at flea markets, etc. There is an Assembly version of this bill so the template can be adjusted accordingly. S743-2013 support template.

S905-2013: Prohibits label obstruction of over-the-counter drugs
While intended to protect customers, I feel this bill would serve to prevent unscrupulous retailers from hiding warnings and other information (like the "quack Miranda warning") on questionable supplements. There is an Assembly version of this bill so the template can be adjusted accordingly. S905-2013 support template.

S1291-2013: Mandates comprehensive, medically accurate and age appropriate sex education be taught in all public schools, grades one through twelve
The evidence is in and abstinence-only sex education is a failure. This bill would require all public and charter schools (religious or otherwise) actually teach kids about sex. This bill has repeatedly died in committee, probably meets with religionist and closed-minded resistance every time, and needs our support. S1291-2013 support template.

S1336-2013: Establishes duties for pharmacies when pharmacists employed by such pharmacy refuse to fill prescriptions on the basis of personal beliefs
The legality and safe use of birth control pills and Plan B have been established for quite some time now. Yet, there are still pharmacists who believe their participation in one religion or another gives them dominion over a woman's uterus. This bill serves to circumvent these self-righteous pachycephalics and force their employers to make sure people can get their medication. Like the previous bill, this one has repeatedly died in committee -- probably for the same reasons. Are you willing to let religionists control your or your loved one's reproductive health? I hope not. There is an Assembly version of this bill so the template can be adjusted accordingly. S1336-2013 support template.

S1494-2013: Provides for the dispensing of emergency contraception under certain circumstances and conditions
This bill aims to facilitate the availability to Plan B by women who can't go to or don't feel comfortable going to a general practitioner. I see it as an aid in reducing unwanted teen pregnancies and abortions (possibly due to an abstinence-only education) as well as those in lower income and poor communities where access to a doctor might be limited. Honestly though, Plan B is cleared to be sold over the counter. New York shouldn't be going through legislative contortions -- just to sell it over the counter! There is an Assembly version of this bill so the template can be adjusted accordingly. S1494-2013 support template.

S789-2013: Encourage voluntary, informed vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV)
I have a daughter and she will be given the HPV vaccination and I've already discussed it with her doctors. I'm not afraid she'll suddenly turn into a sex addicted slut as the religious right contends nor am I afraid she'll contract some neurological condition like the anti-vaxxers claim. It's time parents get accurate and unbiased information about a simple shot that could prevent cervical cancer rather than being scared away by ignorant fanatics! There is an Assembly version of this bill so the template can be adjusted accordingly. S789-2013 support template.

S1249-2013: Creates the New York Stem Cell Research Institute
If you're against stem cell research, I suspect you're a fundamentalist Christian as well as an blithering idiot. There is so much potential that not researching stem cells is a dereliction to the duty to protect the welfare of the common people -- something government is supposed to be doing. S1249-2013 support template.

There was one bill I liked but thought should be amended:

S2239-2013: Provides for the creation of a drug guide for seniors regarding the drugs commonly used by people over 62 years of age
I like the goal of this bill. However, I feel it also needs to include supplements people take. Some supplements like St. John's Wort can have very serious side effects when taken with prescribed medication. Shouldn't that information be included as well? I've included two templates to the primary sponsors of the bill in the Senate and Assembly. Template to amend the Senate bill (S2239). Template to amend the Assembly bill (A363).

Naturally, I wouldn't be my normal self if I didn't complain about something. Yes, I found this little gem that should never make it to law:

S859-2013: Provides for the establishment of a voluntary chaplaincy program for the public schools
One might think this a joke. Nope. This bill is sponsored by a Pentecostal minister. A Pentecostal minister who voted against marriage equality in New York based on religious grounds. Made a stink about it too. I have a sneaking suspicion he doesn't believe in the First Amendment and the separation of church and state and this bill exists simply to get religion's toe in public educations' door. Write your representatives and let them know sponsored religious activity has no place in our public schools! If a student wants a chaplain, they can go to their church. Otherwise, there are school psychologists and guidance counselors available. S859-2013 oppose template.

If you would like to download all the templates in one go, you can get them in this zip file: The Mad Skeptic 2013 legislation templates.

A few words about autism: The New York has a number of bills addressing autism and autism research. This is a topic of interest to many Skeptics due to its relation to the anti-vax movement. All the bills I read looked good but I deliberately chose not to include them for the sake of brevity.

While the Senate's bills are found on a very user friendly website, the New York Assembly's bills are not as accessible. While their bills are searchable, it appears you have to search for everything by keyword or bill number rather then browse through a page where they are all conveniently listed. Consequently, I'll be writing about Assembly bills at a later date. Fortunately, there are usually Assembly equivalents to the the Senate bills listed and they can be found through the Open Government page for a particular bill. If there is an Assembly version of a bill you like, you really should also write your Assemblyperson and ask them to support it in addition to writing your Senator.

Take some time and look through my list of bills. I feel we can have valuable input on them all. I urge every one of my New York readers to write their representatives and let them know your positions. If you don't live in New York, chances are good that similar legislation my be considered in your state or country. Get involved and write your representatives in government. While one letter or email may have little impact, it has more than doing nothing at all. Many letters and emails and, well, then we're making some noise and that can lead to real benefits for everyone.

Religious School Uses Students to Remove Asbestos

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Respirators? We don't need no stinkin' respirators!

Here's one for the asbestos and religion bin -- two great tastes that go "Are you kidding me!"

It was recently reported that Buckeye Education School, a small religious school (22 students in the 2009 - 10 school year) in Berea, Ohio, was caught using its students to illegally remove asbestos containing materials from a building it owned. Not only is this action against Ohio and Federal laws, it's morally bankrupt. One would think a school, religious or otherwise, would be interested in ensuring its students had a bright future. Religions are, supposedly, concerned about their adherents' welfare. Apparently in this case, the futures and welfare of the children involved didn't matter when it came to Buckeye Education School trying to save money by illegally renovating a building. Now, the children who "volunteered" to participate in this criminal child-labor asbestos abatement will need to be concerned about developing diseases such as asbestosis or mesothelioma by the time they could have children themselves, if not sooner.

Buckeye Education School bought an empty YMCA with the intention of moving in. That's all well and good but renovations require things like asbestos surveys to determine whether it is present and professional abatement crews to remove it if it is found. This type of work isn't cheap -- partially due to the expertise and equipment required but also because of the risk to the health of the workers. It is most likely Buckeye simply didn't want to spend the money required to get the job done correctly and was hoping no one would say anything. After all, they are a school and they had purchased a large building. It's unlikely they could do both of those actions while remaining ignorant of the pertinent State and Federal regulations. There is always the chance they are unbelievably stupid but what could that say about the quality of their educational program?

The greatest irony of this story is that Buckeye Education School illegally removed asbestos from a Y next to which lives an asbestos removal professional! Not only is Darren Clink aware of the hazards associated with asbestos abatement, he knows what protective gear is required and how the waste is to be disposed. I can imagine the anger he might have felt watching children working in asbestos laden dust and throwing waste into open dumpsters. He also videotaped the work. This case is not about some rejected contractor (which Buckeye could claim). Rather, it's what you get when someone gets their hands on a video recorder and they know something very wrong is being done.

What about the religious sect with which this school is affiliated? According to WKYC, the school is run by Sterling Education which is associated with the Exclusive Brethren. For those who may not recall, the Exclusive Brethren are an isolationist, fundamentalist Christian sect that got in some trouble in Australia a few years back. There have been allegations that the church (which only hires Exclusive Brethren teachers and crudely censors textbooks by tearing or cutting out offending pages) brainwashes children. The church, which forbids ownership of televisions and radios and actively ostracizes outcasts and former adherents, has been likened to a cult. Somehow, I don't think those children "volunteered" so much as they did what they were expected.

It is my suspicion that the Buckeye Education School will plead ignorance to the appropriate safety regulations as some sort of a rationalizing defense. Perhaps, they will claim confusion about AHERA (Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act) -- the Federal law designed to protect student and employees from exposure to asbestos. However, AHERA applies to public and non-profit private schools. While it is possible the Exclusive Brethren are running for-profit schools, I find it unlikely as it appears Sterling Education is a nonprofit. If they claim confusion about AHERA, they'll certainly claim confusion about NESHAP and OSHA violations -- both equally egregious. Fortunately, ignorance does not equate to innocence. It is possible to be stupid and guilty.

Sterling Education operates 35 schools across the United States. Are all of them run with equal disregard to the health and welfare of their students? If I were a parent who had a child in Buckeye Education School or any of the remaining 34, I would be sending my child elsewhere. Of course, I'm not a member of the Exclusive Brethren which means I have access to television, radio, the Internet, and I'm not afraid of anyone who isn't an Exclusive Brethren. I learned about this story. It is unlikely Exclusive Brethren parents will and, if they do, they'll continue to send their kids to questionable schools against their parental instincts in order to avoid being permanently cut off from their friends and family.

Selling Science: Little has Changed in 25 Years

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:00:00 +0000

I recently finished reading Selling Science: How the Press Covers Science and Technology by Dorothy Nelkin and, while fairly dated (it was revised in 1995), found the book still relevant. Fortunately, the writing is very accessible and Nelkin provided ample references -- making Selling Science both a good commentary and resource. For those interested in the portrayal of science in the mainstream media, I would recommend the book if you're looking for an introductory text.

Originally written in the late Eighties, Selling Science is dated and the examples of stories provided -- the Challenger disaster, the floundering beginnings of the understanding of the AIDS epidemic -- may not be all that well known to the younger reader. Having been a child and teenager while these stories were fresh and prominent in the media, I found the book to be a bit of a time capsule worth opening. I remember people actually worrying about whether they could "catch AIDS" by drinking from water fountains or kissing someone, for example. What I discovered in reading the book is that, while technology and the consumption of media has changed, many problems outlined by Nelkin remain unsolved or overlooked.

A good half or so of the book examines the, essentially, dissociative identity disorder which is much of science reporting. Perhaps, the science media could often be viewed as bi-polar where stories are often either "breakthroughs" or "disasters" but the examples Nelkin provides show the media all over the map in its reporting -- regardless of the stories' accuracy. My take-away was that the sensationalist hyperbole highlighted in the book is still a significant problem which shows no sign of abating. How often have we heard of amazing discoveries that will solve major problems within a few years that never develop or some "Frankenstein" science that could run amok and kill us all while nothing bad happens?

Cozy relationships between reporters and scientists and scientific organizations are discussed. Also, the failure of media parroting "science by press release" is examined. While Nelkin was focusing more on the use of public relations firms by research organizations looking to increase grant funding, the flaws highlighted were again observed by the media's thoughtless reporting of Melba Ketchum's claim to have discovered Bigfoot DNA. With the Internet as prevalent as it is now, anyone can release a press release so the danger of propagating junk science by press release is far greater than it was in 1987 or 1995. Refreshingly, Selling Science addresses pseudo-science. Discouragingly, few media outlets have used her lessons and message in the book to improve their reporting.

If you're looking for a book that effectively describes many of the problems associated with the reporting of science, Selling Science: How the Press Covers Science and Technology is a good choice. Examples are provided and a basic historical outline is presented as it relates to society's changing view of science (the paradigm). What's missing, however, are possible solutions to the science reporting problem. Had these solutions been somehow provided, the book would be much more robust and significant. Instead, it serves as a good general introduction to the issue of effective science reporting by the mainstream media.

Three Gym Myths

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 15:00:00 +0000

Getting ready for deadlifts

I've made no secret that I'm a regular gym-goer. As my Twitter, Facebook, and Fitocracy followers already know, I'm in the gym an average of 12 to 15 hours a week and my interest is in weightlifting more geared towards Powerlifting and Strongman than what is typically associated with weight training -- Bodybuilding. Having started lifting weights in high school, I now have over 20 years of experience in the gym. I've seen a lot in that time and thought it would be helpful to apply my Skepticism to some gym myths. With many people making New Years resolutions, here are 3 gym myths worth disposing of once and for all:

Spot Reduction

This may be the most often debunked fitness myth yet it continue to persist. Just turn on late night television on any given day and one will be presented with advertisements for one device or another which claims to flatten your belly or firm your butt. While it is possible these devices could improve the tone of the muscles underneath fat, they will not selectively eliminate fat in an area. It is physiologically impossible. The only way to loose fat is to burn more calories than you consume -- which can be accomplished one of two ways. Either one eats less or exercises more. If you want to really reduce your pants size, a treadmill, bike ride, or Zumba class is a far better option.

You Need to Supplement to Get the Real Benefits of the Gym

I see younger, mostly male, gym members discussing various supplements fairly regularly. They usually claim that one product helps do something particular while another does something different. Various combinations of products are compared (often referred to as a "stack" -- unfortunately taken from the usage of steroids where a "stack" is the combination of steroids being taken) as they relate to one's goals. I'm not talking about steroids. I'm referring to over-the-counter products available on-line and at stores like GNC. While some of these products do have a degree of efficacy (such as protein powders), some are the sports nutrition version of alt-med -- complete with false self-funded studies, well-financed advertising campaigns, and big price tags.

I'm here to tell you that you DO NOT need to supplement to get very real benefits from going to the gym. How do I know? I don't supplement at all. While I used to take a couple supplements, I'm not even taking protein right now. Instead, I eat a fairly balanced diet (definitely not as healthy as it could be, however) and I still manage to train for 3 hours at a rip and out-lift people half my age who do supplement.

I'm not saying certain supplements don't have their place -- especially for ectomorphs (people who are typically skinny and who have trouble gaining muscle mass). What I am saying is you don't need supplements to make gains and improve your overall health. If you are considering getting into fitness but don't know what supplements to take, worry no further! Just eat a balanced diet and you will do fine. If, later, you find you've hit a sticking spot or "plateau", you may want to consider adding a dietary supplement like a whey protein product if changes in your routine don't prove beneficial.

The Resting Metabolism

At one point in my lifting career, I would often comment on how, based on my weight and muscle mass, my resting metabolism was somewhere in the neighborhood of 5000 calories. Typically, the average resting metabolism ranges from 1000 to 2500 calories so my 5000 sounded pretty impressive and there would be talk about how "healthy" I was. The problem was I was using my muscle mass as an excuse not to do my cardiovascular exercise. I know there are people who view themselves as being healthy that think this way. Everyday I am in the gym, I see weightlifting, bodybuilding types doing their "cardio" -- which never really is breaking a sweat while taking a 10 or 15 minute leisurely stroll on a treadmill. By that measure, grocery shopping is a marathon and walking to the toilet is a light jog. They look good and they have a pretty low body fat percentage so what are they doing wrong? For all the effort they put in getting big biceps, they aren't training their hearts.

When I first went to my current primary physician, I tried my resting metabolism reasoning on him. What he pointed out was the one muscle, the most important muscle, I was neglecting was my heart. In many respects, your heart doesn't care if you're heavy because of an excess of fat or muscle and, when you're a big time weightlifter, you'll have a good deal of dense, heavy muscle. What your heart cares about is how difficult it is for it to pump blood around your body. If you aren't exercising your heart, you aren't making it any easier for it to do its job. Weightlifting is an anaerobic form of exercise and it doesn't benefit your cardiovascular system much. No matter how fit one might appear, they will be neglecting their heart if they don't do real cardiovascular exercise. They may actually not be all that healthy! Just because muscles burn through calories faster than other tissues in the body, there is no reason not to do real cardiovascular exercise. No excuses! Otherwise, you may end up dying from a heart attack even if you have a strong "in shape" body.

Getting into the gym can be a very intimidating undertaking if you're new to fitness. The important thing to remember is to find something you enjoy doing and sticking with it. Consistency is the key to any successful fitness regimen. There are no quick fixes. Additionally, it is important to avoid wasting your focus and energy on things that, at best, harm your wallet or, at worst, harm your health. Keep your eyes open for these and other gym myths, apply some critical thinking, and you'll be able to get the most out of your time in the gym.

1/7/13: added links and corrected some embarrassing spelling errors -- I really should edit these more before they get posted!

The Top 10 Mad Skeptic Posts of 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Myron Getman) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:00:00 +0000

It's that time of year again. 'Tis the season of recycling where that wonder of technology called Google Analytics allows me and other bloggers to regal you hapless readers with lists of our writing. Actually, it is kind of interesting to see what the most popular posts are for the year and, as a blogger, they help me see what types of posts my readers find most interesting. Unfortunately, these lists are biased against posts written later in the year but, hey, it's New Years Eve and I've got some partying to do so I'm not going to try to correct for the bias! Top 10 lists still make good retrospective posts at the end of the year so, without much to do, here's the Mad Skeptic Top 10 posts of 2012:

10) Conspiracist to the Defense of Cryptomundo -- where I take on a "Colemanite" who tried to misrepresent my blog and what I've written. I knock down each of his falsehoods and logical fallacies and leave him to his fantasy-prone imagination.

9) Pink Slime Freak Out -- after all the media attention to pink slime, I thought I'd take a look at the issue and came to the conclusion our society is a bunch of hypocritical wusses.

8) Asbestos Exposure Killed Donna Summer? Not So Fast.... -- I examine the claims made by Donna Summer and others that she developed cancer from asbestos exposure from the World Trade Center collapse. The truth is much more uncertain than some would like you to believe.

7) Is Cryptomundo Responsible for Defamation? -- I dip my toes into the cesspool which is the cryptozoology scene yet again to discuss a lawsuit over name calling and butthurt.

6) Time to Stop Laughing about the Florida "Zombie" Attack -- after hearing a truly disrespectful and antisocial attempt at a joke at Ronald Poppo's expense, I decided enough was enough. We really can be a bunch of insensitive assholes.

5) Anonymous Coward Attacks James Randi and Skeptics -- I examine an anonymous website meant to defame Randi that was, apparently, accidentally put on-line before completion. I also examine some possible culprits -- including Marc Stevens and the possible connection to the quack Burzynski clinic.

4) You're Doing It Wrong -- I get caught up in the bullshit, self-righteous pissing match between certain camps in the Atheist/Skeptic communities. By asking a simple question, I get labeled and trolled and then decide to tell the assholes what I think of their fucking behavior.

3) Cryptomundo Again! You Gotta be Kidding Me! -- where I discuss some of the things I think an object of my closest criticism gets right! No doubt, Loren Coleman's favorite post of mine! Moar exclamation marks!

2) Modus Operandi: Ad Hominem -- In case you thought only the woo-woos fought amongst themselves, you're wrong. I comment on some of the adolescent and damaging in-fighting in the Skeptic community.

1) Kethchum DNA Project Shaping Up to be a Hoax? -- with this year's hubbub about Bigfoot DNA, it doesn't come as a surprise this post is numero uno but I'm still left asking, "Where's the paper?"

Here's some other interesting information. I've been writing this blog for over 4 years now and in that time:

The top 10 posts have been:
1) Twitter No God Fail Whale Fail
2) Finding Bigfoot. Not Worth Your Time.
3) Finding Bigfoot. A Delayed Initial Review.
4) Consumer Alert: Colloidal Silver Nano-Technology in Your Laundry?
5) Ketchum DNA Project Shaping Up to be a Hoax?
6) A Bigfoot Encounter in Upstate New York
7) Connie Sonne Fails Twice
8) The State of New York Endorses Woo-Woo Peddling
9) Modus Operandi: Ad Hominem
10) MonsterQuest -- Pseudo-poly-woo Fun and First Post

The top 10 Countries Visiting the page have been:
1) United States of America
2) Canada
3) United Kingdom
4) Australia
5) New Zealand
6) Germany
7) Netherlands
8) Sweden
9) India
10) Ireland