Combination MMRV Vaccine Linked With Two-Fold Risk of Seizures

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100628075411.htm

Interesting study, but I won't know how I truly feel about it until I get Jenny McCarthy to parse it for me =P



I mean, look at those mommy instincts, why wouldn't I trust her with my child's health.

This week for NoCO Skeptics

This was a great week for our skeptics group. After an awesome house party (that involved one slightly drunken person falling asleep in the bathroom), several of us drove down to Boulder, CO for the annual Skepticamp (http://skepticamp.org/wiki/SkeptiCamp_Colorado_2010). Skepticamp was a great opportunity for meet skeptics from all over the state and learn about their areas of interest. A member of our group won the Skeptical Trivia Challenge! and came back with the board game Playing Gods, which we hope to get a chance to try out soon.

Our next meet-up will be at Woody's Woodfired Pizza (518 West Laurel Street, Fort Collins, CO) on this coming friday July 2 at 6pm.

According to Cnet, apple has just approved an app to help with erectile dysfunction through the use of "high frequency alpha waves." And you thought downloading porn was the only way to "increase your sexuality" with an Iphone!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20008634-71.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

My congratulations go out to Lady Gaga, who is officially no longer the biggest waste of 3 dollars on itunes.

Tonight, I and another skeptic from our group were treated to a wondrously, momentously, splendiferously, supercalifragilisticly fabulous occurrence! We were privileged enough to meet a young lady who was never wrong! It was during our local lyric cinema book group* that we watched a girl in her mid twenties take control: cutting people off, patronizing attendees twice her age, and outright laughing at other people’s opinions.

Of course, I was a pitcher or so in, and as my mind is wont to do, it started to wander. Is this what it’s like to be seated next to a table of skeptics? How can we avoid being perceived as a bunch of know-it-alls? Was “Turning Japanese” really about masturbation? Sure the last one is no “To be or not to be?” but I’d still like an answer damn it.

But, back to my point, how do we avoid becoming a group of elitist know-it-alls? While I’m sure anyone who knows me is laughing at the idea that I would try to tackle this issue, I’d like to respectfully submit that the answer is: loving the process. We have to love the logical steps that lead us to a provisional answer, not the answer we get.

As skeptics, we are blessed to have so much low hanging fruit: Roswell was project Mogul, the Bermuda triangle is a case of confirmation bias, and Silvia Brown is a horrendous b****; easy, done, knocked out before breakfast. But, I think we lose something when we approach things in that manner, we lose the process. After all, everyone has the capacity to be skeptical; it’s just a matter of what we choose to apply our skills to. With each final answer we come to, with each decision we become 100% certain of; we create one more set of circumstances in which our skeptical tool kit plays no part. A true believer is just a skeptic who has picked a “yes” in their life that they feel is beyond the process, and a denier is just a skeptic who, conversely, has chosen a “no.”

Tomorrow, someone is going to confront me with woo; it could be a friend, a teacher, a colleague or a salesman; and, at the end of the conversation it’s likely that homeopathy still won’t work, I won’t be signing up for any expeditions to capture big foot, and I won’t be hanging crystals from my nipples to ward off insomnia. But, I hope that I’ll manage to listen openly and honestly to those who disagree with me, and ply my skepticism in a way that lets people know that I’m looking for the answers, not providing them.

Not that I’m so fucking clever,

Jeff

*The lyric cinema book group is a monthly group in Fort Collins where we read a book, watch the movie, drink a few beers and have a great discussion. If you get the time it’s a lot of fun.

http://www.lyriccinemacafe.com/index.php

Who we are!

When I opened up my email today I found two messages, one leading me to our new skeptical blog (hold for applause) with the label "Who we are," and a second from a brilliantly nerdy friend entitled "Who?" I may have to rethink my position on signs. Image courtesy of Pu-sama of DeviantART

What is drinking skeptically?

There are many different ways to be a skeptic, and certainly no clear rules. What we are trying to accomplish (you will hear from the rest of the "we" later, and they may voice a different mission) is to create a inclusive group focusing on a variety of skeptical ideas and different bars to talk and argue over these different ideas, as well as meet new people. If you are interested, let us know, this blog is not a calender as much as it is a way for us to talk and spread the ideas, much like one spreads crunchy peanut butter on toast.