Skeptics in the Pub Online
While the current pandemic
restrictions are in force, there are no live Skeptics in the Pub meetings being held anywhere as
far as we know. Skeptics in the Pub Online is the result of the collaborative efforts of several
SitP groups and hosts Thursday evening talks present by authoritative speakers on topics of
skeptical interest. Regularly check their Facebook page for upcoming talks.
Alternative medicine and conspiracy theories
A study by researchers at the Colorado School of Medicine suggests that advocates of homeopathy
and alternative therapies generally are more likely to accept fake news and conspiracy theories
about medical conditions that are circulating on social media. The results have been published in
the journal Health
Psychology.
Neil O'Brian MP
It isn't often that praise and support for our politicians is forthcoming from the skeptical
community. So, step up to the platform Mr Neil O'Brien (@NeilDotObrien), Member of Parliament
for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston (party irrelevant). According to the Sunday Times (14.2.21)
'the MP has become a virtual superhero in the fight against conspiracy theorists, hunting out
lockdown sceptics on social media and destroying them with a barrage of facts. … He is dogged in
his pursuit of guilty parties and has taken to keeping charge sheets against them-records of
deleted tweets and in accuracies he bombards them with'. Individuals whom he regularly has in
his sights include 'contrarian journalists' such as Toby Young and Allison Pearson, and
'maverick scientists' search as Sunetra Gupta, Carl Heneghan and Claire Craig. Claire Craig
has deleted all her tweets from 2020 but unfortunately for her Google has cached them. Mr
O'Brien reminds us that 'On 18 October she claimed in a now-deleted tweet: "No-one is
going to die of it (only with it). Flu diagnoses have been replaced by COVID. This happens when you
overtest people dying of respiratory failure until you get the result you are looking
for"'. Why doesn't she just say, 'Sorry, I was wrong' (Ask a silly
question-Ed.).
Matthew Syed
Matthew Syed, journalist, author, broadcaster and Olympic Games table tennis player now has a
series running on Radio 4 called Sideways, which explores 'ideas that shape our lives with
stories of seeing the world differently'. Recordings of these episodes are freely available
here and are of great interest to
skeptics. The first episode is a critical account of the supposed 'disorder' Stockholm
Syndrome and the second covers how the misunderstanding and misuse of statistics can have harmful
and even tragic consequences, as in the case of the late Sally Clark, falsely convicted of murder
after the deaths of her two children. I think skeptics will find these episodes very useful.
The myth of 'learning styles'
A recent review paper has revealed that the discredited idea that students learn better when
taught in a way that matches their specific 'learning style' is still held by many teachers
and educators. See original paper here and commentary
here.
Informed choice
From 'MD' (aka Phil Hammond) in Private Eye, 18 December 2020, headed 'Brains needs
BRAUNS':
Informed choice for any medical intervention requires BRAUNS. You need to know and understand
the Benefits, Risks, Alternatives, Unknowns, what if I did Nothing?, and Safety net if something
goes wrong.
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Marjorie Taylor Greene was recently elected to the US House of Representatives despite her
explicit support of QAnon, a far-right movement spreading conspiracy theories based on the claim
that there is a global cabal of Satan-worshipping cannibalistic paedophiles opposed by Donald
Trump. She has also endorsed the call for assassination of Democratic members of Congress; denied
that a plane crashed into the Pentagon on 11 September 2001; expressed racist and antisemitic views
(involving, amongst other things, the bizarre notion of a 'secret Jewish space laser'); and
perpetuated the myths that the school shootings at Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012 (see
separate entry here) and at Parkland, Florida, in 2018 were faked. She also supports Donald
Trump's discredited allegation that the US presidential election result was fraudulent and he
was the outright winner. The House of Representatives has voted to strip her of her committee
assignments, despite her announcement that she has now rescinded her extreme beliefs, for which she
blames the media, which are 'just as guilty as QAnon for promoting lies': 'I was
allowed to believe things that weren't true', she insists. (Does she think we're all
daft?-Ed.) She also maintains that she is a victim of 'cancel culture' and that
Democrats are trying to 'crucify me in the public square'.
Life after death
Robert Bigelow is a 'maverick Las Vegas real estate and aerospace mogul with billionaire
allure and the resources to fund his restless curiosity embracing outer and inner space, U.F.O.s
and the spirit realm. Now he's offering nearly $1 million in prizes for the best evidence for
"the survival of consciousness after permanent bodily death".' Click here for
further infromation.
Health minister contracts coronavirus after 'inoculation' by shaman
From BBC News, 24.1.21: 'Sri
Lanka's health minister, who endorsed herbal syrup to prevent Covid, has tested positive for
the virus. Pavithra Wanniarachchi tested positive on Friday, a media secretary at the Ministry of
Health told the BBC. She had promoted the syrup, manufactured by a shaman who claimed it worked as
a life-long inoculation against the virus. …. A junior minister, who also took the potion, tested
positive earlier this week. The health minister had publicly consumed and endorsed the syrup as a
way of stopping the spread of the virus. The shaman who invented the syrup, which contains honey
and nutmeg, said the recipe was given to him in a visionary dream. Doctors in the country have
quashed claims the herbal syrup works, but AFP news agency reports thousands have travelled to a
village to obtain it.
Online Course in using the Freedom of Information Act
The course, by the Campaign for the Freedom of Information, is scheduled for Tuesday 2nd March.
'It is designed to help campaigners, researchers, journalists and others make the most of the
Act and the parallel Environmental Information Regulations. It explains the legislation, shows how
to draft clear and effective requests and describes how to challenge unjustified refusals. The
course's interactive sessions will encourage you to test your own FOI drafting skills. The
course is aimed at both beginners and those who are already using the Act but want to do so more
effectively.' For further information click here.
Professional Standards Authority suspends Accreditation of the Society of Homeopaths
The Professional Standards Authority has suspended the accreditation of the Society of
Homeopaths (SoH) following its failure to meet Conditions set by the Authority during 2020. ... In
February 2020 accreditation was renewed, subject to a Condition that included making its position
statements clear that registrants must not practise CEASE, practise or advertise adjunctive
therapies that are incompatible with Society registration, or provide advice on vaccination. ... We
undertook an in-year review of the SoH during the summer of 2020, after concerns were raised in
relation to the appointment of a key official. As set out in the outcome of our in-year review
three further Conditions were issued, the first two of which were due in October 2020. In December
2020, a Panel met to consider whether these had been met. We found the Conditions were not met and
that the SoH did not fully meet a number of our Standards. In view of the recurrent nature of the
concerns, and that several Conditions had already been imposed on the SoH since February 2020, we
decided to suspend accreditation.'
The Sandy Hook School Shooting
There is an ongoing conspiracy theory in the US that the mass shooting at Sandy Hook elementary
school, Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012, in which 26 people were killed, never took
place and was a hoax perpetrated by campaigners for greater gun-control legislation. Parents of the
deceased children have been subject to harassment and accused of being actors. In a recent
television interview, Lenny Pozner, whose 6-year-old son Noah was killed at the shooting, had to be
disguised by theatrical make-up artists for his own safety. He has been conducting a systematic
campaign against those promoting the conspiracy theory, who have retaliated by publishing his home
address, his social security number, and photographs of every flat he has lived in for the past
twenty years. He and his family have had to move house seven times. A Florida woman has served a
prison sentence for leaving death threats on his answerphone. Reported
here.
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