Daily LOLz: It was my cookie
September 2nd, 2010
Categories: lol
Homeopathy Rewritten
September 2nd, 2010
Its, safe, natural and side effect free. That’s because it is just water.
Homeopathy is based on the “law of similars” which is “like cures like”. So if you’re sick, you take what would cause those symptoms and it cures it? Not quite; you have to dilute it. You take a glass of water and a prop of what ever causes the symptoms you have and put a drop of it in the glass of water, then mix it up, take a drop of that water and put it in another glass of water, mix that up and repeat. The more you dilute it, the stronger it gets.
Doesn’t make any sense does it? Nope, none at all. How does this work? Well supposedly the water retains the “memory” or “vibrations” of what ever is diluted in it, even if its so diluted that the chances of it even having a single molecule of what ever was diluting is tiny. This is called the “law of infinitesimals”.
Homeopathic dilutions are measured in X. 1X is a 1 in 10 dilution (one parts water (or other filler) and 1 part “active ingredient”), 2X is 1 in 100 dilution, 6X is 1 in 1,000,000, 30X is 1 in 1030 dilution (1 with 30 zeros behind it). Homeopathic dilutions are also measured in C which is double X (2X equals 1C, 6X equals 3C). By 30X dilution you would need a sphere of water 50 times greater than the size of the Earth just to have one molecule of the “active ingredient”.
Is there any science behind this? No. Beyond studies in alternative medicine journals the majority of the scientific literature shows that homeopathy is no better than placebo.
But people swear by it, why? Well, when your sick and you take something there are only three possible outcomes. You get better, worse or stay the same. If you get better: “it worked”, if you stay the same: “You need more”, if you get worse: “you need more”, now add the placebo effect and confirmation bias (remembering when it “worked” and forgetting when it didn’t) and you see why people swear by it.
Its just water and has no other effects than water.
Links and sources
National Center For Homeopathy
Homiowatch
Skepdic – Homeopathy
Categories: Belief, Paranormal, Philosophy, Pseudoscience, Science, Skepticism, Stupid stuff
The Grand Return of Daily LOLz: Jehovah’s Witnesses are getting more aggressive in their evangelizing
September 1st, 2010
Categories: Agnosticism, Atheism, Belief, Funny, Religion, lol
Global warming Denialist accepts Global Warming
September 1st, 2010
Climate change sceptic’s U-turn
The world’s most high-profile climate change sceptic is to declare that global warming is ”undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today” and ”a challenge humanity must confront”, in an apparent U-turn that will give a huge boost to the embattled environmental lobby.
Bjorn Lomborg, the self-styled ”sceptical environmentalist” once compared to Adolf Hitler by the United Nations climate chief, is famous for attacking climate scientists, campaigners, the media and others for exaggerating global warming and its effects on humans, and the costly waste of policies to stop the problem.
But in a new book to be published this month, Lomborg will call for tens of billions of dollars a year to be invested in tackling climate change.
Looks like denialist can change. While this is a PR boost, it doesn’t effect the science of global warming. He is an economists not climate scientist nor is he a scientists in any field related to the climate.
Categories: Global Warming, Pseudoscience, Science
Court Rule No Link Between Vaccines and Autism
September 1st, 2010
Federal Circuit Rules No Link between Autism and Vaccine
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has just upheld lower court findings that reject a causal connection between childhood vaccines and the onset of autism.
The ruling came in Cedillo v. Secretary of Health and Human Services, which was the first of a series of test cases heard by special masters for the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in 2007. The claims court picked several such cases to test different theories of causation advanced in the roughly 5,000 cases alleging a link to autism filed under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.
“We see no legal error in the standards applied by the special master” in determining there was no causal connection between the mercury-based preservative in the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine administered to Michelle Cedillo in 1995 and the autism and retardation symptoms she began to show afterward.
A win for reality. Of course the antivaxxers will not stop there. Thats the thing about people who follow pseudosciences; they don’t give up they just cover their ears and continue shouting their bullshit claims.
In other news on the vaccine front: Journalist Amy Wallace wrote and article telling the story being sued by antivaxxers for an article she wrote for Wired Magazine.
Both found at Skepchick
Categories: Anti-vaccination, Biology, Law, Pseudoscience, Science
Short Story: A Man and His Goddess
August 31st, 2010
This is just something that just came to me, I don’t know if I’ll make anything more to it.
“Oh great Azræ! I give you this sacrifice of blood and flame! Come to me great Azræ goddess of- war. Azræ Come!”
A wind blew through the temple then from behind him Mal heard a sigh.
“Why have you called me?” Mal herd from behind him.
Mel turned and saw a young woman in a long robe standing in the middle of the room.
“Oh great Azræ, my enemy’s gather, they seek my death. A ask for your assistance-” (more…)
Categories: Short Stories, Writing
This is America!
August 30th, 2010
This is not Saudi Arabia this is America! The A in USA doesn’t mean Arabia, it means America!
What am I talking about? Among the pathetic arguments against the “mosque” (its a cultural center you ignoramuses) the bigoted idiots spout out is “they don’t allow churches in Saudi Arabia”. So what? This is America! We don’t base our laws or take away people rights because of what some other country is doing. If you care so much why are we buying oil from Saudi Arabia? How much American money has went to terrorist groups, money that was spent on gas for your giant SUV’s? And what makes you think Saudi Arabia in any way shape or form represents Islam and Muslims as a whole? Islam is not a single monolithic religion. Even within the two largest versions of Islam there are divisions. The fact that you morons can’t spend five minutes looking up anything on Islam says allot about you and all of it bad. “But the quran says” What about your bible? Next time you actually read the bible you should read the parts you don’t like! Do you know that there are American Muslims fighting in our military, fighting for this country right now? That American Muslim solders have died fighting for America in Iraq and Afghanistan? Of course you don’t, that would challenge you view on Islam and you can’t have that now can you.
If your going to reply don’t say “your defending Islam”, “why don’t you say something against slam” I have said plenty of things against Islam but I talk about your religion more because you are the biggest threat to this country, the liberties and freedom we have in this country!
© 2009 all rights reserved
Categories: Agnosticism, Atheism, Belief, Rants, Religion, Stupid People, Stupidity
Skinks Evolving Live Birth
August 29th, 2010
Zoologger: Live birth, evolving before our eyes
Travel abroad and you are bound to see people doing things a bit differently. If the yellow-bellied three-toed skink were to go wandering, though, it would find members of its own species giving birth in a completely different way.
Skinks from the northern highlands of New South Wales give birth to live young, but those living in the coastal regions near Sydney lay eggs.
The skink is one of only three reptiles in the world that have different reproductive habits in this way. We are seeing them at a halfway stage in their evolution, and that means we can see the evolution of live-bearing in action.[...]
SCIENCE! Its works bitches!
It’s time for a good old fashioned rant: Whats the Meaning and Purpose of Meaning and Purpose?
August 28th, 2010
Many theists say that with out god life has no meaning and purpose, we atheists say that with out an afterlife life has more meaning and we make out own purpose, they reply with “but its not objective”, we point out that objective meaning and purpose are impossible. Well here is a new question: Whats the meaning and purpose of meaning and purpose? Do happy people give a shit about meaning and purpose? No! Only unhappy people care about it and if happy people don’t care about it then maybe its not the lack of meaning and purpose in your life, maybe you are unhappy because your life isn’t going well, all that stuff you planned never happened or maybe your just clinically depressed.
What is the point of meaning and purpose? Do they actually give us anything or are they some pseudo-philosophical questions that get way too much attention?
© 2009 all rights reserved
Categories: Agnosticism, Atheism, Belief, Humanism, Philosophy, Rants, Skepticism, Theism
