Like most of you, I’ve heard and read about the anti-vaxers. I don’t want to beat this dead horse, but I did want to share my recent experience. I’d never heard the dark side first hand…until now. I found out about an information session at a “clinic” that treats autism and various other children’s neurological issues. The clinic is only about 3 miles from my house so I said “Why not? It’ll get me out of the house for a while.” The woman (I will call her Ms. Information) who runs the clinic is an RN from South Africa. Her office had wall to wall shelving full of homeopathic bottles. Other services offered include “bioenergetic assessment,” “neurointegration therapy,” and “craniosacral therapy.” These are just big, fancy words that mean “crap that doesn’t work, but you still have to pay me.” I should mention that she does recommend legitimate neurotherapy in addition to all the other expensive unscientific treatments. » Continue reading “Anti-vaxxers in our own backyard”

I love the Bert show, let me say that right now.  Day after day, they entertain me like few other morning shows have.  I like the charity projects that they do, like Bert’s Big Adventure.  Chances are that if you have been in the Atlanta area, you have at least  heard of them.  I personally love the critical eye they cast towards listener’s dubious stories.  If you call in and you don’t have your story straight, you will be eaten alive!

The problem is that when it comes to pseudoscience and woo they are woefully inadequate.  I’ve been forced to listen to those damn Atlanta Ghost Hunters too many times.  Now, their latest golden calf is this weight loss supplement called Healthe’ trim.  They have numerous commercials throughout the day with Bert Weiss, the namesake of the show, giving his testimonial of how effective this supplement is, followed with testimonies of actual users.

My inner voice stewed, “These commercials are so annoying! This is CRAP!”  I turned on the radio today and listened to the creator use Bert show airtime to hawk this junk.  In response I sent this email: » Continue reading “Celebrity Endorsements or Why I Love/Hate the Bert Show”

Generally I support the idea that politics should stay out of science and vice-versa, but when talking about problems that can be accurately measured and quantified, I think science can lend a hand in providing solutions. Case in point: the new super speeder law that has become official on 1 January 2010. This law will tag on an additional two hundred dollars to a speeding ticket when the measured speed is thirty-five miles over the posted limit.

There are two stated reasons for this extra fine: the first is that Georgia lawmakers want to reduce the amount of speeding in the state. If you’ve ever been on any part of I-285 you know what I’m talking about; it’s a frakking racetrack. The second reason stated that this extra money will go fund trauma centers, but (fine print) the legislature can do whatever they want with it.

I don’t want to talk about Georgia politics, (but I will if given half a chance); instead I want to focus on the idea that higher fines will decrease speeding. Surely, other states have tried this approach. There should be a mountain of data out there confirming or unconfirming this idea. Can we move this from an idea to a testable hypothesis? » Continue reading “Evidence Based Government”