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Skeptic Summary #277

Headdesk, Pi Day, a UFO, a quiz, star stuff, how you help, science-based pharmacy and more!

B****slapping at Mariano’s - (what else is there to say?)

Happy Pi Day everybody! - Another around the Sun.

Most credible UFO sighting in the last 25 years - was basically a no-show.

Political spectrum quiz - Telling you what you already knew, or at least suspected.

Editor’s Choice: Just thinking out loud - About star-stuff and atomic bombs.

Promotions - Tell us how you help out.

Science-Based Pharmacy: Turning an eye on the profession, separating fact from fiction on both sides of the counter — Inspired by the blogging of Dr. David H. Gorski and Dr. Steven Novella’s superb site, Science-Based Medicine, pharmacist Scott Gavura has taken up cause of promoting evidence-based science at the pharmacy. The pharmacy is probably where we go the most often for our medical needs. The pharmacist’s job is to do more than fill prescriptions. He is also there, if we ask, to help us make an informed choice, even if we are only looking for a simple headache remedy. Pharmacies often sell whatever sells, and you are pretty much on your own if you choose not to consult with the pharmacist. So they, like medical doctors, should also adhere to a high ethical standard when giving advice, which is, unfortunately, not always the case. And that is why there is a need for a blog like Science-Based Pharmacy.

On his “About” page, he says:

Pharmacy is a registered health profession. In exchange for the provision of products and services to patients, pharmacists are granted exclusivity to provide these actions. Unfortunately, these privileges are increasingly being abused through the growing availability of highly questionable and potentially dangerous products and services in pharmacies.

If it looks like pharmacy-based quackery, we intend to scrutinize it and report on it. We believe pharmacists are compromising the health and welfare of consumers through the sale of questionable products. Pharmacists need to take responsibility for restoring their own profession to one that relies on science, not mysticism and wishful thinking. We plan to use this forum to advocate for higher standards in pharmacy education and regulation, as well as the overall regulation of drugs and other products sold in pharmacies.

There is a clear difference between what pharmacists and pharmacies can currently do, and what’s in the best interest of our patients. This blog will draw that line.

I happened on an article about Neti Pots for Sinus Congestion which I found to be well researched and balanced, and continued to read my way through the articles. Gavura informs us on subjects like homeopathy and vaccines from a pharmacist’s perspective, as well as many other subjects that should be of concern to pharmacists and consumers alike. I recommend Science-Based Pharmacy for some very good and informative reading.

SkeptiQuote: HOMOEOPATHY, n. A school of medicine midway between Allopathy and Christian Science. To the last both the others are distinctly inferior, for Christian Science will cure imaginary diseases, and they can not. — Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

Wednesday: Despite it being St. Chatty’s Day, there weren’t a lot of people in chat. So, we talked some about reasons to dislike Lieberman, a little about what might be coming up in the November elections and a lot about home improvement and what it can do for you and your taxes. Disgust about Daylight Savings finished things off for this reporter, even though stragglers from pubs were showing up, two hours late (Ricky is fired again, in case anyone is wondering).

Come chat with us.

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2010: Another bad year for the anti-vaccine movement, as the Special Masters rule

Antibiotics don’t cure colds, so why do patients think they do?

Artist’s daughter a little tyrant

Bloodhound supersonic car’s lift problem fixed

A Day in the Life of a Poison Center

Hunting for “The Hobbit”

Pity the poor inverts

Preachers who are not Believers

Public Pensions Rolling the Dice

PZ Myers Expelled, Gains Sainthood… the anniversary.

The SBOE vs. Itself

Understanding the Health Care Reconciliation Process

What’s New by Bob Park

Why Hollywood Always, Always Gets the Future Wrong

Your Friday Dose of Woo on Tuesday: Alternative science for alternative medicine

Got some skeptic news items? Send them to us, and we’ll think about adding them.

Media Mythmakers: How Journalists, Activists, and Advertisers Mislead Us, by Benjamin Radford.



“This hard-hitting critique of our media culture examines not only the ways in which we are deceived, but also the media’s role in propagating those deceptions. But Media Mythmakers goes beyond criticism to give concrete examples of the damage that manipulation of the news causes. From missing children to the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, from the efforts to end slavery to AIDS education, myths and deception in the media threaten us all. While the public is being misled, real problems go unaddressed and resources are wasted on misguided ideas. In an increasingly complex world, where accurate and unbiased information is more important than ever, this book provides a timely and much-needed analysis.”

— Product Description

Forum Topics:

1. The Supper
2. PZ expelled from Expelled — Dawkins slips in!
3. Funny FAILS
4. Scattershots: gargoyles & grotesques
5. Quote Mine warning propaganda poster
6. A literal jewish conspiracy
7. The shallow end of the gene pool…
8. Documentary: 1983 ‘Moonwalk’ was staged
9. The ‘opinion’ thread
10. New World Order happening right now!

Articles:

1. Fundamentalists Hate Noah’s Ark
2. Evolving a Venom or Two
3. Scientific Truth
4. Miracle Thaw — The Bogus Miracle
5. The Bible’s Bad Fruits
6. Cold Reading
7. Skeptic Summary #276
8. Miracle Thaw Tray
9. TAM5
10. SkeptiCamp Atlanta: A Personal Overview

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