May 2009

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Acupuncture in any form is useless

May 13, 2009 in Health & Medicine by askeptic | 7 comments

The nonsense from Dr. Daniel Cherkin of Group Health Center for Health Studies notwithstanding

The article in the Tuesday May 12 edition of the Calgary Herald entitled; Acupuncture in any form eases back pain written by Julie Steenhuysen of Reuters caught my eye. In any form?  What does that mean?

Well basically, it means that either the trial leader, Dr. Daniel C. Cherkin and his employer, Group Health Center for Health Studies, don’t understand the concept of a control group or they were willing to play fast and loose with the the interpretation of their experimental results. Doing so would certainly please their sponsor, The National Center for Complimentary and Alternative Medicine, a virtual black hole of scientific ethics and credibility whose only discovery after a billion dollars of taxpayer effort is that it needs more money to do more useless research. Read the rest of this entry »

Speaking of Grades, Bishop Henry . . .

May 6, 2009 in Education, Evolution, Religion, Skeptic News by askeptic | No comments

Bill 44 has been producing quite a stir here in Alberta.

This is the bill that will either allow parents to remove their children from such controversial subjects as evolution or will not permit parents to remove their children from such subjects as evolution — depending upon who in the government you talk to. The Premier says parents will have that right, the Minister responsible says parents won’t. Half the Conservative caucus is speaking out in favour of the Government’s position (although they are split on which government position), while the other half of caucus is running for cover. The opposition is against it, although here again, just what ‘it’ is, isn’t clear. Read the rest of this entry »

Latest Update: Monkeys Are Back In Alberta Education

May 6, 2009 in Education, Evolution, Religion, Skeptic News by askeptic | No comments

Did ASkepticRTN cause the Alberta government’s turnaround?

It was on the weekend that AskepticRTN delivered its critique of the Alberta Government’s Bill 44  (see AskepticRTN, Education in Alberta: No Monkeys Please). Copies were sent to the politicians involved, as well as all the newspaper columnists mentioned in the post.

I guess we had an impact. First, we got flooded with e-mail. I love e-mail. It lets me know I actually have some readers out there and I like that. One regular reader, Ian, actually submitted a comment. That’s great too. Ian always gives me constructive criticism. Read the rest of this entry »

Education in Alberta: No Monkeys Please.

May 2, 2009 in Education, Evolution, Religion, Skeptic News by admin | 2 comments

You think the Alberta media is dumb about science? Just wait to you get a load of our politicians!

It’s called Bill 44. Last year the Alberta Provincial Government promised a review of human rights legislation in the province. Much of this review was driven by the actions of The Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship (AHRC) Commission with respect to Ezra Levant. A publisher of a local Alberta magazine, Mr. Levant, reproduced those infamous Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammad. A complaint was lodged and Mr. Lavant was hauled in front of the Commission for promoting hate or something like it.  Read the rest of this entry »