Swift, named for Jonathan Swift, is the JREF's daily blog, featuring content from James Randi, the JREF staff, and other featured authors.
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Swift
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Written by Sharon Hill
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Happy Darwin Day!
Here is a rundown of the top stories in pseudoscience, superstition and conspiracy mongering from the past week courtesy of Doubtful News.
It was a big week in conspiracy ties. Of course, that never brings good news. The WORST news was another killing tied to conspiratorial thinking. The motive for why this man killed his children, himself and EVEN the dog is not clear, but his work on 9/11 government conspiracy is mentioned.
The misinformation about Sandy Hook continues. Thanks for your sloppiness, media.
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Swift
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Written by Marc David Barnhill
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The following is a contribution to the JREFís ongoing blog series on skepticism and education. If you are an educator and would like to contribute to this series, please contact Bob Blaskiewicz.
The British poet Christian Ward became a controversial figure recently when his poem "The Deer at Exmoor," which won the Exmoor Society's Hope Bourne poetry prize, was revealed by the Western Morning News to have been plagiarized from Helen Mort's "Deer," which had itself won the Cafe Writers Open Poetry Competition in 2009.
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Swift
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Written by Dr. Harriet Hall
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Here is a recap of the stories that appeared last week at Science-Based Medicine, a multi-author skeptical blog that separates the science from the woo-woo in medicine.
Epigenetics: It doesn’t mean what quacks think it means (David Gorski) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/epigenetics-it-doesnt-mean-what-quacks-think-it-means/ Epigenetics is misunderstood and used by quacks as evidence of mind over matter and the ability of people to re-program the expression of their own genes. Dr. Gorski explains what epigenetics really means and corrects common misconceptions.
Here we go again: A bill licensing naturopaths rears its ugly head in Michigan (David Gorski) http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/here-we-go-again-a-bill-licensing-naturopaths-rears-its-ugly-head-in-michigan/ Naturopathy is a cornucopia of quackery. A proposed bill in Michigan would authorize them to engage in a whole list of disturbing practices. We hope this year’s bill will meet the same fate as last year’s: oblivion.
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Swift
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Written by Dr. Steven Novella
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"The most meticulous regulation of nonsense must still result in nonsense.
– Edzard Ernst, M.D., PhD.
In the US the practice of health care is regulated by the states. Each state board of health issues professional licenses, manages complaints and compliance, and essentially regulates the standard of care. This means that the state legislatures pass the laws that establish which professions will be licensed and under what rules.
In other words - in the US alone there are at least 50 legal fronts along which we need to defend the scientific legitimacy of health care.
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Swift
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Written by Leo Igwe
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The news of the murder of a 20-year-old woman, Kepari Leniata, from Papua New Guinea for witchcraft has made headlines across the world. Leniata’s relatives accused her of killing a boy through sorcery. They ‘tortured her with a hot iron, stripped her naked, tied up her hands and legs and threw her into the fire in front of hundreds of people’. Police and firefighters were at the scene but couldn’t save her life. The lynch mob outnumbered them. Belief in witchcraft and sorcery is very strong in Papua New Guinea. Witch killing is widespread in this former Australian colony.
Every year, hundreds of people mainly women are murdered because of belief in witchcraft. Women are made out to be the scapegoats for the ills many people in the country suffer. These killings take place mainly in rural communities where belief in superstition and magic is very strong. Modern education and development, including the introduction in 1971 of the Sorcery Act by the Australian Colonial administration, have not succeeded in eradicating this harmful traditional practice. The government of Papua New Guinea lacks the political will to make witch-hunts a thing of the past on the Island. The government needs to uphold the rule of law, provide protection and support to accused persons and bring witch hunters to justice.
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