Deflecting Criticism – Accusing the Critic

The internet rants of live blood analyst Errol Denton have prompted me to resume my survey of the methods used by quacks to deflect criticism. As the title of this posts suggests, one method is to accuse the critic of something more reprehensible than the behaviour of the quack.

Xocai, Norwegian Bloggers and the Streisand Effect

Regular readers of this blog will know that I have debunked the health claims made by some for xocai chocolate – and had run-ins with their marketeers as a result. However, my iss ues with them pale into significance when compared to the experiences of some Norwegian bloggers:

A Xocai Salesman Doesn’t Seem to Like Me

Someone by the name of Adam Paul Green has taken a keen, if not obsessive interest in my blog. As will swiftly become clear, he’s a Xocai chocolate salesman.

A Fourth Year of Steam

It’s New Year’s Eve and time for my review of the year.

Professional Councils and the Chilling of Dissent

It is hard not to take the verdict of the Health Professions Council’s case against Stuart Jones as a warning to medical professionals not to raise criticisms. Even if it was not intended, it is bound to have a chilling effect on whistleblowers.

Deflecting Criticism 1 – Legal Threats

So you’ve got some sweet deal going – might be alternative medicine, might be hi-fi tweaks. Whatever it is, some twat of a journalist or blogger is pointing out holes in your scientific arguments and suggesting that your product is not as good as you say. This could be a threat to your income stream. What do you do?

Getting Away With It

I am not a lawyer and this is just a rant.

The Metropolitan Police officer who struck Ian Tomlinson shortly before his death is to escape prosecution.

A Second Year of Steam

[BPSDB]
Having completed a second full year of blogging, I thought I’d do as I did in 2008 and post an overview of the year. It’s a bit late as I’ve just returned from South Africa and most of the time was a fair distance from an internet connection. Enough excuses.

If Your Phone Doesn’t Get You, Your Microwave Will

[BPSDB]It is clearly time for scare stories about microwave radiation again. The “Body Matters” pages in the Monday 7 September issue (paper edition only. Not online for some reason) of the METRO carried a story by Yanar Alkayat headed “The hidden dangers in your pocket“. If that is not scary enough, alongside it is an X-ray photograph of someone using a mobile phone. The unspoken implication is that microwaves have similar effects to X rays, which is nonsense.

Internet 2, BCA 0

[BPSDB]Most members of the sceptical blogosphere will be aware that the British Chiropractic Association is suing Simon Singh for his suggestion that the evidence base underpinning chiropractic is somewhat lacking. They must be regretting it now. First there was the slight upsurge in the number of complaints to the General Chiropractic Council about their members’ breaches of their code of practise (40 last year and so far this year 590). Now the Streisand effect has kicked in and a slightly modified version of the suppressed article is appearing all over the internet. Like here.