tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23315434564722445122024-03-12T16:14:42.612-07:00Minot SkepticTurning the magnifying glass on to ideas, claims, devices and beliefs.skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.comBlogger560125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-26756909222823107912012-11-27T18:25:00.002-08:002012-11-27T18:25:19.332-08:00RebootingThe group will be rebooting on December 4 at 7 pm at the Blue Rider here in Minot. Many people desired to see the group continue. If you are interested please attend. Topics will be name change, format, subjects to discuss and explore. See ya there. <br />
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skeptical dodoskeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-4138482143334194682012-03-20T15:43:00.000-07:002012-03-20T15:44:14.306-07:00Thank you for contacting me<br />regarding access<br />to family<br />planning services. I appreciate having the benefit<br />of your views on this important matter.<br />I firmly believe that everyone<br />should be able to obtain affordable health insurance coverage. Americans deserve to<br />have competitive<br />options available to<br />them in<br />the health insurance<br />market, and I will continue to work to protect and preserve these<br />options.<br />The Respect for Rights of<br />Conscience Act would have simply<br />preserved longstanding religious protections that have received bipartisan support in Congress. <br />The new Department<br />of Health and Human Services (HHS) rule changed these longstanding<br />protections and now<br />require employers to<br />provide specific additional coverage to their<br />employees. The specific services which employers must now purchase for their<br />employees are<br />sterilization services, certain abortifacient drugs, and contraception. There<br />are no exceptions, outside of a very narrow allowance for qualifying houses of<br />worship. <br />Unfortunately, many religious<br />organizations, such<br />as universities and hospitals, which up until now provided comprehensive health insurance coverage for<br />their employees within the religious<br />tenets of their<br />faith, are required by this rule to violate those tenets. These organizations will have<br />to purchase<br />additional benefits that violate their religiously<br />held beliefs, irrespective of their religious<br />teachings. Even<br />before implementation this rule, their employees enjoy access to these same<br />services mandated by<br />this regulation, as they can acquire supplemental insurance by way of a rider to<br />their existing policies. Alternatively, individuals can directly purchase these<br />services, although not necessarily through their<br />employer-provided plan. <br />On March 1, 2012, the Respect for<br />Rights of Conscience Act was considered on the Senate floor in the form of an<br />amendment. This Act would allow religious employers<br />to continue<br />providing comprehensive employee<br />coverage without violating their religious teachings or<br />moral sense of<br />conscience, as they<br />have been doing up<br />until now. The amendment failed to pass with a vote<br />of 51 to<br />48. Consequently, the newly issued HHS<br />ruling with its<br />family planning coverage mandate still stands, with no exception, outside of<br />the very<br />narrow window mentioned above. <br />While I support a robust and competitive private<br />market where<br />products and services are affordable to consumers, I have serious concerns that<br />this rule places some Americans in the position of violating their conscience or<br />religious beliefs. In so doing, I believe this rule jeopardizes Americans'<br />Constitutional right to free exercise of religion. As mandates for health care<br />services are debated in the Senate, you can be sure I will work to ensure health<br />care consumers have choices and to protect your Constitutional<br />rights. <br />Again, thank you for contacting<br />me. If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact my<br />office at (202) 224-2551. Sincerely,<br />John Hoeven United States Senatorskeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-77169234748451385612012-03-11T01:45:00.002-08:002012-03-11T01:53:12.215-08:00PsyhicsWonderful meeting with our guest Mr. Dustin White, from Fargo. A magician and mentalist in the tradition of James Randi. He gave a great talk about how mentalists or psychics function. Also showed a few simple magic tricks. I love magic, I know it is a trick, but a master can make you almost believe in it. We need more like Dustin White and James Randi to show the trickery and scam of psychics and such. We had an interesting discussion afterwards with one person believing in psychics. It is interesting to see how such people function. Their beliefs drive their perceptions. This is true for all such beliefs from psychics, to astrologers to religion. Dustin is majoring in religion and Greek. He is fascinated by religion as I am, not because it is true, but because it causes perfectly normal thinking people to warp their cognitive skills to conform to their beliefs. And sad to say but we must say Good Bye to MSS. The blog will continue, until sometime in the future MSS may resurrect as it were in the future.<br />Peace<br />Skeptical DoDoskeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-83491840178765538332012-02-24T16:12:00.000-08:002012-02-24T16:12:37.017-08:00Raw Milk<iframe height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6VbwYqV4Eog?fs=1" frameborder="0" width="480" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-45217380755201770072012-02-12T08:34:00.000-08:002012-02-12T08:52:50.698-08:00Abortions and the Consequences of Not Doing ThemAbortion has become a hot button issue. I will not indulge in the medical reasons for doing<br />them, but instead will focus on the arguments made by the opponents of abortion and<br />the consequences that will occur if they are successful in making abortion illegal.<br />No one I know of, even on the choice side of the debate, likes abortions. I as a physician have not<br />done abortions, but have referred patients to abortion clinics after explaining different options to the patient; it is up to the woman and her conscience. I have no right to intrude my biases or<br />beliefs into another’s at such a stressful and vulnerable time. <br /> The abortion opponents make the following arguments for denying the procedure.<br />“Life begins at conception.” My response is then to ask: is not the egg and sperm alive? At<br />conception the fertilized egg is a/or potentially a human being. But with the advent of cloning then every cell in the human body is potentially a human being. So every time you scratch your nose you commit a holocaust. It has been estimated that 70-75% of all fertilized eggs or conceptions are eliminated from the body, most with the woman not even knowing she was pregnant. If one says God decides which eggs survive, then does that make God a serial killer of those hundreds of eggs per women that did not please him. Another argument is that abortion<br />causes pain and suffering to the embryo/fetus. When a conception product reaches the level of blastula it is nothing more than a glob of cells that doesn’t even have the differentiated nerves to recognize noxious stimuli. Later in development when nerve cells are forming, the myelination that will allow for proper function, including pain perception for the central nervous<br />system is far from complete until long after birth. Another controversial topic highlights this<br />dilemma, circumcision. This procedure has been carried out for years in newborn baby boys without anesthesia. Now, it is still done in some regions without anesthesia. Studies have shown increases in heart rate, blood pressure and respirations with the procedure. But the infant is also tied down and restrictinga baby from moving also causes these same responses. I have done circumcisions on unanesthizedinfants and have had them fall asleep while I was doing the procedure. Now authorities recommend anesthesia to prevent pain and suffering, which they say will cause deep underlying psychological scars in the child. If you ask a grown male if he remembers his circumcision, he will say no. If you ask him if he thinks he was psychologically damaged by doing the procedure without anesthesia, he will look confused at first and then call you crazy. This discussion is not to condone circumcision, but to highlight the question of does the fetus feel pain during an abortion. Odds are not, but we really don’t know. <br /> Now we come to religious arguments, which is really where the opponents are coming from. They say the soul is started or instilled at conception. What is the soul? It is a rather nebulous term that everyone seems to understand, but no one can define adequately. I can<br />find no place in the bible where it says the soul is put into a fertilized egg. If one likens it to personality, then that really doesn’t start to develop until one has been long born. Genetics may have some effect on it, but so does environment as the child grows up. Is it consciousness? A little homunculus inside your head that is aware. Consciousness is hard to define, but neuroscience is getting closer. It seems to be a byproduct of 100 billion neurons with 100 trillion synapses as an emerging property of complexity of the brain. Can you remember when you first became self aware? God forbids murder. But God in the bible has killed enormous numbers of innocent people including children. Flood of Noah, if it occurred at all, must have killed untold numbers of children. The first born in Egypt were killed and I wager that by far the largest number of them were innocent. He commanded the Hebrews to kill the Midianites, Ammonites, Moabites and other tribes occupying Canaan before the Hebrew invasion of Joshua including<br />the children, but to save the virgin women for themselves. <br /> The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2010 reported that every minute one woman dies from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth, or approximately 529,000 per<br />year. For every woman that dies in childbirth twenty more suffer injury, infection or disease, that<br />is equivalent to about ten million per year. Five direct complications account for greater than 70% of maternal deaths; they are hemorrhage 25%, infection 15%, unsafe abortion 13%, clampsia 12% and obstructed labor 8%. There are one million children left motherless per year and they are ten times more likely to die within two years of their mother’s death. An unsafe abortion as defined by the WHO is a “procedure for terminating an unwanted pregnancy either by persons lacking the necessary skills or in an environment lacking the minimal medical standards or<br />both.” 95% of the maternal deaths globally occur in developing countries. Those numbers of deaths are equivalent to six jumbo jets crashing per day, each carrying 250 childbearing age women. <br /> When one tries to get accurate information of legal and illegal abortion rates in the United States and other countries with associated mortality and morbidity, one has to be<br />careful of the sources because of biases found in Pro Life sites. Truly academic, fact based, neutral sites are swamped by an ocean of propaganda sites. Books and articles can be found, but propaganda sites spin the data from them also.<br /> According to a study by Moos et.<br />Al., from the Dept of OB/Gyn at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2003, the world wide unintended pregnancy rate approaches 50% of all pregnancies. Also, “Virtually no experimental or observational literature reliably answers questions about the effectiveness of counseling in the clinical setting to reduce the rates of unintended (unwanted, mistimed) pregnancies in this country.” Yes, abstinence is the only way to delay or prohibit unwanted<br />pregnancies, however, humans being what they are, means to rely on that is folly. Studies<br />have shown that religious kids have as much sex and get pregnant like any other and in some studies more; case in point is certain religious politicians, who represent family values,<br />whose daughter had out of wedlock sexual encounters with a child being produced. That is not to mention other recent popular religious family value politicians having affairs that<br />resulted in children out of wedlock. Almost half of unintended pregnancies end in abortion. According to JB. Smith et.al. the “primary benefit of increased contraceptive prevalence is a reduction in the number of unwanted pregnancies and thus abortions.” Indeed, studies by the WHO, Guttmacher Institute and others have found that the rate of unintended pregnancy and subsequent abortions decline. And the death rate due to abortion complications fell by more than 50% in five years following liberalization and legalization of contraception and abortion. <br /> The WHO also has research that shows that in countries that outlaw abortion, after it being legal, the practice and subsequently illegal abortion rates skyrocket, and needless to<br />say the death rates. We have experience with trying to legislate morals that failed miserably, it was called Prohibition. Are we doomed to repeat this mistake? There are approximately six million pregnancies per year in the U.S., half are unintended. The mortality rate from a legal abortion performed during the first trimester is approximately 0.6/100000. The risk of dying from the abortion doubles for every two week delay after eight weeks gestational age. In 1975, according to Williams Textbook of Obstetrics, 16th edition, 25% of terminated pregnancies occurred by legal abortion, 2/3 in unmarried women and ½ occurring in teens. It has been estimated that 70% of current legal abortions if not available would have occurred illegally<br />then. In 1990 there were 1,200,000 abortions per year in the U.S. and it has been decreasing.<br />In 1996 there were 314 abortions for every 1000 live births for a national rate of 20/1000<br />for 15-44 year old women. How many died per year before Roe v Wade? In the 1940’s greater than 1000 women died per year secondary to abortion complications. Several studies from a<br />book titled “When Abortion was Illegal” cite a study in 1932 that estimated the death rate from illegal abortions at 15,000 each year. More conservative estimates calculate 5,000 to 10,000 per year. These abortions death rates primarily reflect women who tried to do the abortion<br />themselves or had untrained opportunists perform the procedure. In the 1960’s in New York 42% of the maternal mortality rate was due to illegal abortions. <br /> So when or if abortion again becomes illegal, what will be the consequences?<br />It should be obvious by now that the death rate will climb. The cost to the tax payer will increase to take care of the sick and injured. More prisons will be needed and to be paid for to house the new criminals. Some will give their children up for adoption, around 5%, but the numbers vary. Some will keep the babies, but a lot will be stuck at the poverty level because they cannot afford to leave their unwanted children alone and go back to school or work. It has been shown in other countries by WHO and other international agencies, if you give women the right to control their own bodies that automatically translates into more opportunities economically and the country then begins to prosper. Margaret Sanger said in 1920; “No woman can call herself free who does not control her own body.” Then there is the cost of raising a child. A minimum is $118,590 that will also ultimately have to be carried by the taxpayer. <br /> Pro Life then means Pro Death and can best be exemplified by the true believer who guns down a physician who is simply trying to provide a safe and economical service to the<br />individual women, who knows that she cannot carry this child to term<br />for whatever reason.<br /><br />Peace Skeptical DoDoskeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-50593432950720673772012-02-06T22:44:00.000-08:002012-02-06T22:47:14.591-08:00My Response to Monicas Last LetterDear Ms. Hannan;<br /> I<br />appreciate your letter of January 10, in response to my letter. I am writing back to correct some<br />misconceptions and correct some items in your letter. <br />First as to analogy you tried to make with regards to world<br />being flat or round, I get the impression that you thought that people then<br />thought it was a matter of opinion. The<br />round earth hypothesis was proved correct by evidence. The flat earthers were “skeptical” basing their<br />judgments on church doctrine and intuition from very short sighted observations<br />in the everyday world. The flat earthers<br />had no evidence to support their stand.<br />Also, by an analogy the alternative medicine world has no evidence other<br />than anecdotal. And as discussed in<br />the previous correspondence anecdotal evidence is the poorest kind. Testable<br />evidence is the final arbiter of truth, which means that if one makes a claim<br />one must present positive proof in the form of evidence for it. The vast majority of alternative medicine<br />does not, and this has been borne out in multiple studies. If an alternative medicine is shown to work<br />by testing, meaning experiment, then it becomes conventional medicine.<br />Second; as to the problem with news organizations presenting<br />such things without really vetting those can lead to people getting<br />harmed. Several cases illustrate the<br />point. I have a patient right now in the<br />hospital with a massive rectal cancer because she took alternative medicine in<br />the belief that it will cure her. She<br />now has to undergo an operation to prevent her from dying a most horrible death<br />by bowel obstruction. Steve Jobs of<br />Apple tried herbs and other alternative medicines for 9 months before allowing<br />surgery. When his tumor was diagnosed it<br />was very highly likely curable then, at time of surgery 9 months later it had<br />spread and required more extensive surgery and chemo. I had a patient couple years ago I diagnosed<br />with a tumor of his pancreas. He refused<br />to get treatment and elected to go for coffee enemas and herbal treatment. When I got him back it was too late to offer<br />him anything other than palliative care.<br />All have been promoted by the media as truthful. The antivaccine scare was promoted by the<br />media without trying to understand or see what the evidence is or was. Since June 6, 2007 to December 31, of 2011<br />88,292 children got sick that didn’t need to and 866 have died due to not<br />getting immunized. I know the news<br />media would like to tell a balanced story; the problem is that sometimes there<br />is only one side, the side with evidence, the other is bogus. I will refer you to couple sites for you to<br />check out yourself. One is Science Based<br />Medicine that is founded and run by Steve Novella MD a Neurologist at Yale<br />University School of Medicine and founder of the New England Skeptical<br />Society. He has other real docs with<br />expertise submitting stories that are well vetted with references. Next Whatstheharm.com is a site that has<br />researched actual cases where people have been killed, injured or financially<br />taken by charlatans. <br />Third; as to my doing what UND tells me is not all<br />true. Their charge to me is to teach<br />residents to use evidence, logic and compassion in diagnosing and treating<br />patients. In that way we produce high<br />quality physicians for service in our state.<br />UND does not tell me exactly what to teach or how.<br /> As a<br />physician and skeptic I can recommend several well written books and other<br />articles to read if you would like to learn more about alternative medicine and<br />the studies done on those areas. As a<br />true Skeptic I invite you to look at the data yourself and decide. The charlatans tell people what to believe<br />and think, usually for money. There are<br />some red flags that denote such people and if interested I can send those to<br />you also. May I suggest that you have<br />the stories checked out by someone who knows?<br />I can suggest some people to you.<br /> As to<br />corporate sending you these stories, I am sorry. Maybe you should inform NBC HQ of the<br />problem. Or as I suspect there is<br />someone there who is a believer and wants to push the woo, or maybe as in most<br />things money is more important than integrity and truth.<br /><br />Best Regardsskeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-29443517065471194822012-02-05T19:10:00.000-08:002012-02-05T19:10:08.538-08:00Clarifying the various Human Species<iframe height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IzuKlZf1qXU?fs=1" frameborder="0" width="459" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-62665123348040412082012-02-01T00:49:00.000-08:002012-02-01T00:49:29.647-08:00Marijuana: Negative Health Effects<iframe height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nnNPm5cG85c?fs=1" frameborder="0" width="480" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-62875487663672976902012-01-15T06:36:00.000-08:002012-01-15T06:39:09.785-08:00KMOT Responds to My LetterPlease note the following letter that I have reproduced from Monica Hennen at KMOT. See if you can spot the cognitive error. Also, note that she uses the argument that she is only following orders from corporate.<br /><br /><br />Dear xxxxx:<br />Thanks for your letter dated December 29, 2011. I wanted to respond to you personally both as<br />the news director for NBC North Dakota News, and also as the anchor of the show<br />you saw, because you name me personally.<br />First, let me say I understand your concerns. I’m sure it must be frustrating to see<br />stories on procedures you consider to be bogus.<br />And if somebody at KMOT was rude to you, I apologize on their behalf. That is certainly not our policy at NBC,<br />North Dakota News, and I will discuss that with the staff.<br />That said, however, I must correct what I believe is a<br />misimpression on your part that I am in some way responsible for the content of<br />the news piece you saw. You say, “I was<br />saddened to see an example of irresponsible journalism on your station (sic)<br />part. Monica Hannen (sic) has done<br />something like this before.” I can<br />assure you I have not done a story such as this. As a former medical reporter, I can also<br />assure you that had I done this story, I would have made every attempt to talk<br />with those who believe and those who don’t.<br />But even then, because I am not a doctor, and because I didn’t do the<br />research, I would not make a claim as to the procedure’s efficacy. That is not my job. Recall that at one time, the “experts” among<br />us thought the world was flat. Those<br />skeptics who thought it was round were ridiculed, yet in the end, they were<br />correct.<br />My job as the anchor of the show is to introduce stories<br />that are written by others. My job as<br />news director is to make every effort to ensure the content generated at my<br />stations is correct. In this case, it<br />was sent to us by NBC News. I do not,<br />nor can I vet every story the network does.<br />As I’m sure you do with information you receive from UND, I have to<br />accept at face value that the stories the network sends are well reported<br />because I can’t do the footwork on every story.<br />When I know there is an obvious error in a story I can choose to correct<br />it, but I couldn’t refute the information in this particular story, which was sent<br />to us as a part of a regular health feature provided by NBC and chosen by a<br />producer, not me. I would also point out<br />that nowhere in the story do I or the reporter claim this works. As you point out, it is anecdotal. What I can do is pass your concerns on to the<br />network.<br />I would invite you to continue your work of warning “the<br />public of dangerous claims to public health, finances and safety.” Please do continue to monitor our shows. We will continue to make every effort to<br />provide you and the public with the best information we have available.<br />Best Wishes<br />Monica Hannan<br />News Director<br />NBC North Dakota Newsskeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-12322676197103565972011-12-29T16:42:00.000-08:002011-12-29T16:43:22.844-08:00KMOT Promotes Quack Medicine<div><br />Dear Sirs:<br /> Referring<br />to your news broadcast of 12-29-2011 at 5 pm, I was saddened to see an example<br />of irresponsible journalism on your stations part. Monica Hannen has done something like this before. At that time I called your station and was<br />rudely dismissed; therefore I am placing the complaint differently. <br /> I have<br />watched KMOT primarily since I moved to Minot some years ago, finding its<br />quality and objectivity good. I am a Professor<br />of Family Medicine at UND and President of the Minot Skeptical Society. On the night of the bad journalism Monica<br />talked about using a laser by a chiropractor to stop or cure allergies and<br />using “energy medicine”. She had stories<br />or anecdotes for the broadcast. I have<br />tried finding any information about this procedure/treatment. All the information I found was on bad<br />internet sites and there are no reliable studies in any scientific journal. This makes the treatment Monica recommended be<br />classified as Quack medicine. I refer<br />you to a well documented site that regularly published articles by real medical<br />doctors and skeptics called Science Based Medicine and an article about this<br />very topic dated November 18 by Harriet Hall.<br />Dr. Hall is a retired Air Force flight surgeon and Family Medicine<br />doctor who writes for them and her own site Skepdoc. Science Based Medicine site is written by<br />real doctors, professors and skeptics and research and critique Quack medicine,<br />false claims etc. <br /> As we<br />say in the skeptical movement “the plural of anecdotes is not evidence.” Putting information like this in the public<br />sphere by an otherwise responsible and good news organization is irresponsible<br />journalism and potentially dangerous. You need to research your news feeds and find<br />if they are reliable, truthful and good information that the public should have<br />or not. I would be willing to sit down<br />and discuss this with you at anytime.<br />But for now I am going to publish this on our blog site and face book<br />site. Our purpose at Minot Skeptical<br />Society is to warn the public of dangerous claims to public health, finances<br />and safety. I will continue to monitor<br />your shows and any items of such bad journalism will be exposed.<br /></div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-3865125309761858832011-12-16T04:55:00.000-08:002011-12-16T05:07:09.555-08:00Christopher Hitchens Passes<div>The Hitch, Christopher <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hitchens</span> died at MD Anderson, from his esophageal cancer, diagnosed one and half years ago. His wit, candor and humor will be sorely missed. I met him once at a meeting in Washington DC in 2007. He was a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">truly</span> the every persons genius. He would go have a drink with you and shoot the bull. I loved watching his debates and his commentaries on TV and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">Youtube</span>. He would tolerate no bull and quickly cut to meat of the matter and state his position in an elegant and precise <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">English</span>, that I only wish that I could I have. He was feared among the religious, because he gave no quarter and expected none. He along with <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Dawkins</span>, Harris and <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">Dennett</span> became the Four Horsemen, and as such <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">propheted</span> the demise of our childish notions of religion. A movement that has been gaining momentum world wide. He was a true humanitarian and fought for equal rights and fair play in a world dominated by religion and therefore rarely if ever grants them. His vices of smoking and alcohol contributed to his disease and early <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">demise</span> and therefore should be a warning to us all, but only a few will heed. He will <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">truly</span> be missed. Rest easy Hitch.</div><div>Peace </div><div>Skeptical <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-error">DoDo</span></div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-69618819071044231012011-11-26T16:29:00.000-08:002011-11-26T16:31:04.456-08:00Aloe Vera Advertisement in Minot Daily Again.<div>There was an article in the Minot Daily on November 21, extolling the the virtues of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">AloeCure</span> by a person that supposedly found a miracle cure in the product and forgoing other medical treatments. This one was for Heart Burn. The whole article looks suspiciously like an article I blogged about earlier that also said aloe would cure or prevent cancer with a host of other illness. The <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">similarity</span> is that it was an vet who discovered this himself. The medical/<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">pharma</span> complex was putting him down because of the money they wanted to make over him. Also saying that the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">PPIs</span> used to treat heartburn is unsafe because of increase risk of fractures. The individual even has a picture of himself by <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">AloeCure</span>. Says it was clinically tested. Usually that means they gave it to their friends to try. Any medicine can have side effects, even plain water and oxygen. When the absolute numbers of side effects of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">PPIs</span> are looked at they are so small as to be almost microscopic. Now what are the side effects of ingesting aloe? I will list them; bloody diarrhea, cramps, decrease absorption of other <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">meds</span>, loss of vision, muscle weakness, vomiting, swelling, sodium and potassium imbalance, liver failure, kidney failure, premature birth or miscarriage and if you have allergies to plants from the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">Liliacae</span> family (garlic, onions, tulips) you may have an allergic reaction to aloe. Also, 1 year of repeated ingestion of aloe increased the risk of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">colorectal</span> cancer. When I was in private practice I had a patient that died of colon cancer because he <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_9" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">believed</span> that the Aloe he was drinking would cure him.</div><div>Peace Skeptical DoDo</div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-66002557350830815762011-11-17T18:13:00.000-08:002011-11-17T18:27:14.160-08:00The Better Angels of Our Nature<div>I just finished reading a wonderful book by Steven Pinker called "The Better Angels of Our Nature; Why Violence Has Declined". Just to warn you it is not a short read, but the data presented and the logic including studies in psychology, sociology and anthropology just adds to the strength of the argument. Steven Pinker is a Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and a two time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and has been named as being among Times 100 most influential people in the world today and Foreign Policy's 100 Global Thinkers. His premise, which he able to mobilize large data sets, is that violence has been declining since the 1500s. In the beginning chapters he gathers the data and presents it. He goes through the studies and experiments done in sociology, anthropology and psychology and integrates those studies into the premise and I think proves it. What is really wow as so many things in science and history is that the data/evidence completely goes against intuition. I would think that the 20th Century was the bloodiest with the world wars etc. but no it was not. The good old days were not that good really. It is a book I am going to keep in my library for its logic, integrating of data, experiment and history to come up with good theory of the decline of violence in the scientific sense.<br />Peace Skeptical DoDo</div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-27969152965902342312011-11-15T14:00:00.000-08:002011-11-15T14:08:38.596-08:00Delta Airlines Is Putting Their Passengers Health at Risk<div><div>There is a so called public safety video that Delta Airlines is showing to its passengers. It is about avoiding the flu. It has accepted techniques like coughing into your elbow etc. But it is really a slick propaganda peice for the antivaxer with the final comment that the flu vaccine doesn't help. It is put out by the National Vaccine Information Center with their website. It is really an antivax site. Why did Delta put this on? This is truly irresponsible. Another airline American is airing a public safety video expounding on the value of vaccines and recommending them. I think this truly affects us in Minot, because Delta is the prime carrier here and has been for a while. Sign the following petition to get Delta to pull the video at; <a href="http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-delta-to-stop-putting-their-passengers-health-at-risk">www.change.org/petitions/tell-delta-to-stop-putting-their-passengers-health-at-risk</a>. </div><div>Peace Skeptical DoDo</div></div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-59331691695532960322011-11-12T15:15:00.000-08:002011-12-29T18:50:51.603-08:00Note from North Dakota Senator<div>I received a thank you from Senator Hoeven about the book "Denying Science" and the letter I sent him. The note says; "Thank you for the book andfor sharing your comments. I appreciate hearing your input! Best Wishes John. Now that I have received two notes of reception of the book and thanks that is nice. However, whether they will read it and take my comments to heart is whole different subject. The only way to get politicians to hear you is to make your thoughts know to them and provide evidence to support it. If they do not heed good councel then the next move is to vote them out of office.</div><div>peace Skeptical DoDo</div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-61973953225799647842011-11-10T12:31:00.001-08:002011-12-29T18:50:51.611-08:00A Thank you from the Congressman<div>This is interesting I got a thank you from Congressman Rick Berg. I sent the book Denying Science by John Grant about 2-4 weeks back. Here is what the note that is very short says; Thanks for thinking of me and shairing the book "Denying Science". Look forward to reading it! Thank you. signed Rick Berg. I have not gotten any aknowledgement from Senator Hoeven. I wonder if he really will read it? One can only hope. </div><div> </div><div>Peace Skeptical DoDo</div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-9934922734205485222011-11-09T05:45:00.000-08:002011-12-29T18:50:51.621-08:00Happy Carl Sagan Day!<div>Happy Carl Sagan Day! He was born on this day in 1934. His career included astrophysics, cosmology, pioneering exobiology, promoting SETI and science communicator. He published over 600 papers and authored or co-authored over 20 books. He advocated scientific skeptical inquiry. He wrote and starred in the wonderful series COSMOS. He wrote the book Contact that was made into a movie n 1997 starring Jody Foster. He taught at Cornell University and one course he taught was critical thinking. He died on December 20 1996 from pneumonia as a complication of myelodysplasia. The great Carl Sagan was described as arrogant or conceited by some. But it was he who along with James Randy are the God Fathers of the modern Scientific Skeptical Movement. He described the small blue dot, that was the earth as seen from voyager as it left the solar system with such eloquence that it still makes me cry with appreciation. We miss you Carl for there will never be another one like you. </div><div>Peace Skeptical DoDo</div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-31651560013778188172011-11-07T05:06:00.000-08:002011-12-29T18:50:51.629-08:00Theocrats and Government<div>Over the past week the Republican controlled house adopted a resolution for "God in We Trust" be the national motto. The Republican controlled Michigan legislature passed a measure outlawing bullying, except Christian bullying. Over the last several years almost every state has made it harder if not impossible for a woman to get an abortion. It seems that the Republicans want to save the unborn children, but after they are born they don't care about their welfare, education or health. The Supreme Court as said that corporations are people, which has led to corporations dumping huge amounts of cash into election campaigns of their chosen. The 1% as mentioned in a large financial corporation's memo has stated that the United States is no longer a democracy but a Plutocracy. That is the country is controlled by the top 1% of wealthiest in this country. The common people they control are allowed to because they think that they will become part of the top 1%, which the actual top 1% will not allow. Religion is used by them to control the masses, because they know that invoking Jesus or God makes the masses stop asking questions. They, the top 1%, have so corrupted the messages in the holy books, never mind whether they are true or not, but corrupted them to conform to their ideology; "Getting wealthy is God's will and the richer the better and to hell with anyone else." I support the Occupy Wall Street movement because of this, but I am afraid that it is going to take a another spring here in the west to change it.<br />Peace Skeptical DoDo</div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-30004404496619873572011-10-31T16:01:00.000-07:002011-12-29T18:50:51.660-08:00CAM Claims Another Life in Minot<div>We admitted a poor man with throat cancer. He had a trach or artificial tube in his throat for him to breath. Multiple metastasis with emancipation secondary to the tumor was very evident on exam. He was truly suffering. When he was diagnosed he did not want to take "traditional treatments" for his tumor and that was before it had spread. He preferred herbs and homeopathy. He died several hours after admission to the hospital. Sound familiar? CAM promises much and delivers nothing. The power of belief can be itself a cancer.<br /><br />Peace Skeptical DoDo</div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-18500598822369907152011-10-28T11:03:00.000-07:002011-12-29T18:50:51.671-08:00Letter to North Dakota Senator and Congressman<div>The following is from a letter I sent to Senator Hoeven and Congressman Berg. I sent a book as indicated in the letter as a gift and an article about Perry purposely changing numbers in a report on climate by Texas scientists. The scientist withdrew their names from the report that was 200 pages long. Also I sent a copy of the report that was funded by the Koch brothers that global warming is real. It will be interesting to see if I get a response.<br />Dear Senator<br /> Please<br />accept the enclosed book as a gift. I<br />think you will find it very informative and interesting. One of the things that worry me the most is<br />the rejection of science and science education in our society in favor of<br />pseudoscience. This will have very grave<br />consequences in the future. Over 60% of<br />the current jobs available worldwide are based on science and technology and<br />that percentage is predicted to grow. <br />Such things as energy, ecology, medicine (which includes the modern synthesis<br />of evolution and genetics) and technology are only some of the areas that<br />directly affect all of us now. <br /> Nature<br />is not democratic and she cares not what you or I think, believe or what our<br />ideology is. She will do as she does<br />despite us. We ignore her at only at our<br />own peril. You as a leader in the state<br />and nation have an obligation to not only yourself, but to your family and most<br />of all to your constituency to make laws that take into the account nature’s<br />unforgiving proclivities. You and I, if<br />we ignore them may not be harmed by them now or say 10 years in the future, but<br />what about our children, grandchildren and all the rest of the following<br />generations.<br /> An<br />example of science denialism is what I am sure you remember as the “Climategate”<br />2009 scandal. It involved backers and<br />funding from sources that backed organizations lobbying against action on<br />climate change, such as the Koch brothers who are billionaire industrialists<br />that own and operate large coal fired power plants among other interests. They mislead the media and public as to the<br />reality of the UK climatologist’s research etc. They then funded the Berkeley group founded by<br />physics professor Richard Muller. He<br />gathered a team of ten real scientists including Nobel Physics Prize winner<br />Saul Perlmutter to test the findings of the climate scientists. The Berkeley Earth Study group concluded that<br />global warming is real! For more<br />information go to <a href="http://www.berkeleyearth.org/">www.BerkeleyEarth.org</a>.<br /> A<br />courageous person is one who is willing to chance having his or her mind<br />changed when looking at the other side’s evidence or data. A courageous person also follows the<br />evidence/data, even if it leads to areas that one doesn’t like.<br />Best Regards<br /><br />Peace </div><div>Skeptical DoDo</div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-76479091443153770902011-10-20T17:58:00.000-07:002011-12-29T18:50:51.681-08:00Steve Jobs<div>Walther <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Isaacson</span> said on the news tonight that Steve Jobs only regret was that he did not have the surgery for his tumor when advised. When he was diagnosed with the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">insulinoma</span> the tumor was localized and essentially curable. He tried diet, herbs, spiritualism etc, before realizing that none of that was working had surgery. When he had the surgery the tumor had spread. Here is reality! Nature, reality, doesn't care what you believe, think, wish or your <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">ideology</span> is, she will have her way no matter what. So we had better learn about reality and work with her not against her. A lot of his friends told him to have the surgery, but his views about going against the stream, did not work in this case. IN fact he a lot of quacks telling him to do these therapies. No we do not have separate realities, we may experience the reality differently, but the reality we all experience is the same. The only way of understanding it is through the methods of science. It will be fun to see what the CAM quacks spin on this.</div><div>Peace </div><div>Skeptical <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">DoDo</span></div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-16483780810339102632011-10-11T13:50:00.000-07:002011-12-29T18:50:51.690-08:00Michael Shermer at Fargo Freethought<div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSZpDolqJWTcEiQ-Jv9Vc41ETzjveW5QxBmJKaFbcP-rUtdoRS7limFpNFg7icTX0tLj7xZNosMpEqC0HAoC8n8jKOaIqjrCNuKWxkbbHwMuvpcxyAHly5PLEYDxnLxN8dFolxK8x4VU4/s1600/DSC01479.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px; height: 240px; float: left; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662340711031290082" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSZpDolqJWTcEiQ-Jv9Vc41ETzjveW5QxBmJKaFbcP-rUtdoRS7limFpNFg7icTX0tLj7xZNosMpEqC0HAoC8n8jKOaIqjrCNuKWxkbbHwMuvpcxyAHly5PLEYDxnLxN8dFolxK8x4VU4/s320/DSC01479.JPG" /></a><br /><div>You see yours truly with Michael <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Shermer</span> at the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Free thought</span> Convention in Fargo. Michael gave a good talk about his new book "the Believing Brain". In the background you can see the theologian Robert Price, an author, member of the faculty of a seminary. </div></div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-85750617481160941682011-09-28T00:28:00.000-07:002011-12-29T18:50:51.700-08:00Faith Panel<div>15 people attended Tuesday nights meeting. Good discussions on various faiths that attended. Lot seemed to center around atheism. All was civil. I think everyone learned something of the other persons belief system. Hopefully this will allow for everyone getting along. </div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-48686898317449528312011-09-26T05:05:00.000-07:002011-09-26T05:24:26.229-07:00Project 42, Red River Valley Free Thought Convention<div>I attended the Red River Valley Free Thought Convention in Fargo this last weekend. I enjoyed myself and got to meet and talk to the speakers. The Red River Valley Free Thought Society has been in existence for few years and this is the second convention that they had. Jon Lindgren was the mayor of Fargo from 1978 to 1994. He is a retired professor of economics at NDSU. He is the president of their organization. Their primary goal is separation of church and state with promoting an atheistic world view. Richard Carrier is the author of Sense Goodness without God and Not Impossible Faith. He received his PhD in ancient history from Columbia University. His current interests is the intellectual history of Greece and Rome as well as the history of Christianity. Robert M. Price or the Bible Geek is a religious skeptic and professor of Theology and scriptural studies at Coleman Theological Seminary and professor of biblical criticism at the Center for Inquiry. He has authored several books including The Reason Driven Life and Inerrant the Wind; The Evangelical Crisis in Biblical Authority. Richard Haynes or better known as Brother Richard received a degree in Religious Studies and was minister for 19 years in a large Atlanta Mega church. He was "born again" into the real world. He works now to build non-theist communities and is executive director of AtheistNexus.org. P.Z. Myers the associate professor of biology at University of Minnesota at Morris and vigorous critic of creationism and intelligent design. He received the Humanist of the Year Award in 2009. He has the largest science blog on the net Pharyngula, which won the Readers Choice Award for 2011. We in conjunction with MSU had him here in Minot couple years ago to speak. And finally Michael Shermer the founder of Skeptics Magazine and is executive director of the Skeptics Society. He is adjunct professor of Economics at Claremont Graduate University. He has written many books and publishes Skeptic Magazine. He talked about his new book about the believing brain. The speakers gave talks on Saturday followed by a debate between an atheist and a preacher. A panel was held Sunday morning with Q & A. I thought it was a good conference, fun and meeting new people.<br />Peace<br />Skeptical DoDo</div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2331543456472244512.post-40569986290964939312011-09-08T13:23:00.000-07:002011-09-26T05:24:26.236-07:00Pain in the Ass<div>I would heartily recommend the book "How to Become a Really Good Pain in the Ass" by Christopher DiCarlo. It is a "Critical Thinkers Guide to Asking the Right Questions". The author is lecture on bioethics and philosophy of science, fellow and advisor of the Society of Ontario Freethinkers and Center for Inquiry. It is entertaining and always informative covering the development of skepticism during the time of Socrates to now. He goes through the main cognitive fallacies in a delightful insightful way. His analysis of how arguments are put together will help in becoming a really good "Pain in the Ass". He then goes into the big 5 questions of life, existence etc. and compares and contrasts natural mind to the supernatural mind. This is a real education and I highly recommend it. It will definitely go into the must read list. It published by Prometheus Books.</div><div>Peace Skeptical DoDo</div>skeptical dodohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18055518596376773469noreply@blogger.com0