The Observer defines Fisking as "This is the practice of savaging an argument and scattering the tattered remnants to the four corners of the internet" so I think we need a new word to describe quite how utterly eviscerated this press release from Durham has been by Ben Goldacre.
Thursday 25 September 2008
Wednesday 24 September 2008
Books
Don't worry, this isn't going to turn into a book review blog, but I have been reading a lot recently. I have not long finished Nation by Terry Pratchett and started Anathem by Neil Stephenson the former being very good, the latter has a very steep learning curve, but at nearly 900 pages it can afford to take a little time getting going.
In between, I polished off Bad Science by Ben Goldacre and I cannot recommend this book enough. It isn't simply a book of the blog or a potted history of the various tactics assorted quackery and the media have used to promote and sensationalise misinformation. Using examples that will be familiar to those of you that do read his blog it is an attempt to inform the reader of how to spot the methods used by pharmaceutical companies and quacks to promote their snake oil and defend their market share and how the media is complicit in this and the overblowing of unfounded heath scandals for reasons of circulation.
Find it, read it, spread the word. Arm yourself against the rubbish that we are all subject to from people trying to make money out of our health and worst of all exploiting the nations children.
Tuesday 23 September 2008
34th annual Steel City Beer Festival 2nd - 4th October, Cemetery Park.
The 2008 Steel City Beer Festival, our 34th annual event, comes to you in a marquee in Cemetery Park, with around 100 different beers, Ciders & Perries to try.
The festival site is Cemetery Park on Montague Steet, just off Cemetery Road in Sharrow. It's just a few minutes walk from Ecclesall Road, up the hill behind the Pomona pub. Please see the Festival Website for more information, including details of bus services and mapping.
| Opening hours and costs | ||||
| Day | Times | Normal entry price | CAMRA members price | Entertainment |
| Thursday 2nd October | 17:00 - 23:00 | £2 | Free | Poke + Special guest TBA |
| Friday 3rd October | 12:00 - 16:55 | £2 | Free | Quiet Session |
| 17:00 - 23:00 | £3 | £2 | Treebeard | |
| Saturday 4th October | 12:00 - 23:00 | £3 | Free | Afternoon: Rico's charity pub quiz/Morris Dancers/Meet the LocALE brewers Evening: The Kahunas |
| STUDENT SPECIAL THURSDAY NIGHT: free entry on production of a valid student ID. | ||||
| A glass to drink from - £2 sale or return | ||||
You will need to buy a souvenir festival glass when you arrive, this is the glass you will drink from for the duration of your visit. In line with the parks trust policy the festival glasses are made from toughened plastic rather than glass. Please note due to this policy we cannot allow guests to bring their own glass.
When you leave the festival you can keep the glass as a souvenir or alternatively return it to the glass stand for a refund.
It is CAMRA policy to offer oversized lined glasses where possible to guarantee full measure - however we have not been able to find a supplier that makes oversized plastic glasses, so our glasses will be pint glasses with a half pint line. If you are drinking halves you therefore have an oversize glass, if you are drinking pints please ask for a top up if you think your head is excessive.
Quality hot and cold snacks will be available from the Outside catering service provided by the Original Farmers Market Shop of Bakewell.
Wednesday 17 September 2008
In the dog house
After the news that the RSPCA had pulled out of crufts the Dogs Trust has joined in with their own boycott.
The Kennel Club has decided to shoot the messenger and is complaining to Ofcom about a BBC documentary on genetic illnesses in pedigree dogs.
The message put across by the programme was that all their disabilities, their illnesses, were caused by something which the Kennel Club had done, to the point where we were likened to Nazis. - Caroline Kisko
The Times report suggests that "Antagonism towards the Kennel Club heightened when a senior official was filmed voicing approval for breeding female dogs with male offspring." which I can't verify, as the documentary was on too long ago for an iPlayer showing. But if true paints a picture that suggests Caroline Kisko's Nazi analogy, while tasteless (no matter how many dogs are suffering due to this eugenics they aren't humans) could be reasonably accurate. When even the sponsor of your show is making public statements of concern, you should worry.
The British Veterinary Association has heard that these disease problems due to inbreeding are serious enough that some breeds are in danger of dying out and would it be such a tragedy to see them go, breading traits for fashion and showing should stop, no domestic dog needs to be anything other than 'dog' the only selectable traits that need to be minded are those that keep a working dog warm and well tempered with the sheep. An end to specialist breeds could hopefully mean less murderous sociopathic dogs.
Friday 12 September 2008
Freedoms
The really important thing about freedoms is that you need to remember that everyone has them. So while you may well indeed have the freedom to say what ever the hell you like about a company on the internet, they have the freedom to sack you. And the next company that you want to hire you has the freedom to be put off as well.
Tuesday 9 September 2008
LHC
As well as Radio 4's Big Bang Day (including a Torchwood special afternoon play) there has been a lot of media attention about the Large Hadron Collider being switched on tomorrow.
Most of this has the scientists denying that they will cause the end of the world/universe and I wonder if there would have been half as much coverage of this event otherwise. This further lead me think, who started the apocalyptic stories in the first place? What better way to increase the profile of your experiment that you don't think will get noticed in the mainstream press than doom and gloom. Shame that it doesn't lower house prices or cause immigration, then it would have been a really big story.
Monday 1 September 2008
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