The recent stunt by the New Zealand Skeptics Society might be very amusing, but it fails to add much to the debate on homeopathy. The skeptics swallow large amounts of homeopathic remedy to attempt to show its overall uselessness. Unfortunately, this demonstration is no more significant than an atheist demanding that God strikes him dead [...]

In what has to be the most bizarre over-reaction I have heard in a long time, the Herald reports that a 12-year-old girl was arrested for scrawling on her desk. That is: properly arrested in handcuffs and dragged off to the police station and given eight hours of community service as her sentence.
Wow.
I realise this [...]

Apparently, Mr Obama would now like to talk to to Republicans about health care. The man is really a laugh riot. After trying to ram a highly divisive, partisan health bill through the senate and failing, Mr. Obama would like a televised bipartisan summit for half a day to break the impasse.
I suspect you are [...]

Teen sells virginity for $45,000 online
So that’s the going price on the open market is it? I did wonder (academically speaking of course).
I know many will find my sentiments archaic, but I find that very, very sad.
And Lisa Lewis is no longer the most expensive prostitute in New Zealand…
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I was thinking about the placebo effect the other day, and it reminded me of this excellent article on the matter at Wired Magazine. The article points out that:
It’s not that the old meds are getting weaker, drug developers say. It’s as if the placebo effect is somehow getting stronger.
And that seems to be true [...]

I don’t know about you, but I find the Atheist ad campaign amusing on many levels:

There is the almost evangelist zeal shown by the rapidity with which the money for the ads has been raised. Now if only us religious zealots could be that zealoty…
Then there is the whole delicious irony of displaying a philosophical [...]

Over at SciBlogs, Gareth Renowden and Ken Perrott are commenting on my post Global Warping. As the comments are interesting and should not be missed, I have pasted them here. You are welcome to go over to SciBlogs and add your comments.
Gareth Renowden 1 day ago
Jim, I think you are giving far too much weight [...]

Ahhh, only the Japanese…
Man marries virtual girlfriend
In a bizarre story reminiscent of the film Lars and the Real Girl, the man, known by his nickname SAL9000, fell in love with a fictional character from the Nintendo DS “love simulator” Love Plus.
Popular in Japan’s geek subculture, the game invites players to pick a girlfriend and then [...]

Sometimes you just shake you head in wonder at the complete pointlessness of some research…
There is a prime example in the Herald today which declares Heavy drinking can cut risk of heart disease, says study.
Drinking a bottle of wine a day, or half a dozen beers, cuts the risk of heart disease by more than [...]

Some strange people have asked if they could follow this blog on (shudder) Twitter. I can’t help feeling that’s a little like asking Shakespeare if he has a graphic novel version of Macbeth…
(OTOH there probably IS a graphic version of Macbeth. Poor Will. Spin. Spin . Spin.)
Seeing as I have just compared myself to Shakespeare, [...]