This week closes off with two more embarrassments from the CBC. The first, a disingenuous attempt by Q‘s Jian Ghoemeshi to make up for his interview with Suzanne Somers (See ASkepticRTN : Jian Ghomeshi Does Blond Bubble Headed Bimbo). The second, having Linden MacIntyre on The Current treat a story concerning the realignment of astrological signs seriously – as seriously as it was treated at the Calgary Herald (See ASkepticRTN: Calgary Herald Confirms Astrology Still Valid). Read the rest of this entry »
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Suzanne Somers was Jian’s featured guest today on CBC’s radio program ‘Q’ – yet in another of celebrity interviews promoting flaky new age nonsense. The last time we met Jian, he was pumping Deepak Chopra (see Jian Ghomeshi Sells Deepak Chopra Stupidity). Now he is doing the blond bubble-headed bimbo.
Suzanne is doing the interview circuit to promote her new book on . . . actually I don’t know what it’s on. Something about staying young or sexy or beating cancer with god knows what I’ll bet. I didn’t hear much of the interview as I had to pick up some Tequila – my blue agave hormonal balance was out and needed replenishment. So I can I can’t comment on what she had to say. Fortunately, Ms. Somers is one very tired act. She has said it all before – except when she blamed chemotherapy for the death of Patrick Swayze. She is still trying apologize for that one. Whatever new book Suzane is promoting now, it will be big news to Jian, but the same old tripe to everyone else. Here is what some others have had to say about Ms. Somers when she was last trying pump her product.
AP Story: Suzzane Somers Questions Chemo in New Book
Oh yes, Thigh Master saved my life – no really.
Whew, that’s a relief!
I am sometimes asked by friends if I really think the Calgary Herald is as bad as I make out in these pages. I have had the same question posed to me by a number of Calgary Herald Editors and Columnists.
My answer is always the same: I don’t know much about international affairs or the latest happenings in and around Calgary, but I do know something of science. This gives me a basis on which to judge the quality of reporting on stories that concern science or have a scientific angle. On matters of science, the answer is yes – the Calgary Herald is both hopelessly biased and utterly incompetent. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s not as though I haven’t been critical of the CBC. Its promotion of alternative and complimentary medicine, especially on the National News, is blatantly anti-science and puts people at risk.
If I am going to be critical of irresponsible behavior, I am obligated to acknowledge a job well done. That describes the recent broadcast of CBC’s Marketplace program: Homeopathy: Cure or Con? I’ll save you some time, the answer is Con. At one point, reporter Erica Johnson described homeopathy as: flawed science and goofy thinking. That’s being kind. Read the rest of this entry »
My days usually start waking up to the local CBC Radio show, The Calgary Eyeopener. Nothing like greeting the day with the latest news and views on Calgary and beyond. Today, I learned the Catholic Church has evidently abandoned faith in favor of science. Talk about eyeopeners. I’m tempted to say it’s about time, but you just know it is a little more complicated than that.
This apparent change in religious direction came up during an interview with Calgary Bishop Frederick Henry concerning the progress of having Pope John Paul II declared a saint. Rest easy, progress is being made. According to Bishop Henry, the path to sainthood requires ‘proof’ of having conducted at least two miracles. The first of these miracles was confirmed just the other day. Well thank god. I was getting worried there.
But how do you confirm a miracle? According to Bishop Henry, with science. I’m guessing here as there is no record of the interview on the CBC website, but I reckon the interview lasted about 5 minutes. In this space, Bishop Henry must have used the ‘S’ word (science) ten times. He seemed very anxious to sell the idea, ludicrous on its face, that a claim of a miracle must undergo the most rigorous scientific examination by the Church to be confirmed as a miracle. At one point, Bishop Henry states that he is familiar with the science involved and, therefore, can personally assure listeners that this miracle of Pope John Paul II is a scientific fact. No hubris there. I found a number of things troubling in all this. Read the rest of this entry »
A 1998 paper linking autism to the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) set off something close to a global panic concerning childhood vaccination. It was a small paper, consisting of only 12 case studies. At the time of publication, strong concerns were expressed by medical scientists about Dr. Wakefield’s paper and the public cautioned against reading too much into a very small study that ran contrary to existing evidence about the effectiveness and safety of the MMR vaccine.
No matter. Hyped by Hollywood stars such as Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy, and promoted by media heavyweights such as Oprah, Larry King and in Canada, CBC’s The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos, the public predictably overreacted. (Jenny McCarthy looks way better on television than Ben Goldacre as does Jim Carrey.) Parents withheld permission for child vaccinations and in Europe, some MMR vaccination programs were canceled. The results – rates of autism didn’t change but the number of children becoming sick and dying from these diseases skyrocketed. The website: Jenny McCarthy Body Count estimates the number of deaths in the United States alone at 624 as of January 1, 2011. Read the rest of this entry »