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Michael Simpson

Lifetime lover of science, especially biomedical research. Spent years in academics, business development, research, and traveling the world shilling for Big Pharma. I love sports, mostly college basketball and football, hockey, and baseball. I enjoy great food and intelligent conversation. And a delicious morning coffee!

Creationism legislation–Oklahoma update 3

One of the two anti-evolution and anti-climate change bills, introduced into the Oklahoma legislature earlier this year, died in committee.  The remaining bill, HB1551, was passed by the Oklahoma House Common Education Committee in February, so may be scheduled for a floor vote soon.  The surviving bill is modeled upon the Louisiana Louisiana Academic Freedom Act, which states:

…the teaching of some scientific subjects, such as biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning, can cause controversy, and that some teachers may be unsure of the expectations concerning how they should present information on such subjects.

Read More »Creationism legislation–Oklahoma update 3

Alabama and Mississippi think Obama is a Muslim and evolution is wrong

Obama receiving an Alabama jersey after honoring Alabama for the 2011 NCAA Division 1 football championship. Of course, it was followed by a Muslim prayer.

I’ve always considered the Deep South, which includes Alabama and Mississippi, to be a part of the country way out of step with the real world, including the rest of the country.  Without the South, the United States would basically be a liberal, religiously tolerant, progressive country, similar in a lot of respects to Canada.  Both Alabama and Mississippi are relatively poor with educational systems that rank at or near the bottom of the US.  Other than college football champion, it’s hard to see that their educational system has done much positive.Read More »Alabama and Mississippi think Obama is a Muslim and evolution is wrong

NASA says 2012 Mayan apocalypse is bogus

I would hope that every single reader of this blog would know that the predicted Mayan calendar apocalypse, that some people (including the History Channel, as annoying as that is) will happen in 2012, is nothing but pseudoscientific junk.  First of all, the Mayans themselves didn’t make that prediction, it’s based on the “end” of the Mayan calendar.  The Mayan calendar just starts again, just like all modern calendars.  Those Mayans were brilliant astronomers, which is more than I can say about the current gang of 2012 doomsday prophesiers!Read More »NASA says 2012 Mayan apocalypse is bogus

Joe Mercola using random nonsense words to push vaccine denialism

The anti-vaccination lunacy is made up of lot of individuals who push the various myths and pseudoscience regarding vaccines onto the planet.  There’s Andy Wakefield, whose original article was withdrawn by the medical journal who published it, and who was stripped of his medical license because he perpetrated a fraud.  Why he’s not sitting in a British prison is beyond my understanding.

Then there’s Jenny McCarthy, an anti-vaccine advocate whose education included posing nude and starring in bad movies.Read More »Joe Mercola using random nonsense words to push vaccine denialism

Pseudoscience loves the Strawman Fallacy

In my recent post about Bill Moyers and the anti-vaccine lunacy, I referred to the Straw Man Fallacy, which I’ve just added to my Logical Fallacy FAQ.  I try to keep my FAQ to a few sentences (and I will add links to more complex descriptions of the fallacies), trying to make it easy to grasp the essence of the particular fallacy.

Read More »Pseudoscience loves the Strawman Fallacy

Vaccination Nation–Bill Moyers takes on the anti-vaccine lunacy

It’s not often that a political blog will show up on a skeptic’s posting, even if it’s written by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, two respected political commentators.  In their article, Vaccination Nation, they strike out against the anti-vaccination crowd, quickly demolishing some of their ridiculous arguments.  I would have missed this article if not for some rantings of an vaccine denialist that will be discussed later.

Read More »Vaccination Nation–Bill Moyers takes on the anti-vaccine lunacy

Kiribati needs to find some new land as oceans rise

Caroline Atoll (Kiribati), channel between west side of Long Island and Nake Island (in background)

Sometimes, when we talk about the consequences of global warming, it feels as though it’s an intellectual exercise.  Maybe the winters seem a little warmer.  Maybe we know that the sea-level will rise.  But that’s all down the road, and maybe, we can change the direction upward direction of the global temperature.Read More »Kiribati needs to find some new land as oceans rise

Mandatory whooping cough vaccinations for Illinois students

A pertussis (whooping cough) outbreak in Illinois has afflicted over 1100 individuals as of December 2011.  In order to protect children and non-immunized adults, WJBC reports that beginning in the 2012-2013 school year, all students in the state of Illinois entering sixth and eighth grade must show proof of having received the whooping cough vaccination.Read More »Mandatory whooping cough vaccinations for Illinois students