Carnival #8: It’s back with a bang

The Carnival of the Africans has had its eighth edition published this week at Simon’s Amanuensis. It is a stellar edition.

It’s really tough to pick the highlights, each submission is really worth reading. But maybe start with these before you go and read the rest of them.

• The Skeptic Blacksheep has been musing on the ways the world will end (don’t forget to party like its 2012 … nah, doesn’t have the same ring to it).
• George Claasen reminds us that the public was taken by a charlatan. We should keep the right critical attention on Danie Krugel so that this long drawn-out saga will one day come to an end.
• Bullshit Fatigue has written my new go-to article for explaining to people what Nutura and other homoeopathic remedy companies are actually claiming they can do. I hear about Rescue Remedy from family members and friends of friends surprisingly often and next time I’ll be nudging them in the direction of that article.
• Two posts on the quantum-god-of-the-gaps? What a treat! Subtle Shift in Emphasis has a thoroughly excellent post which shuts down every avenue of quantum special pleading and Rupert over at Orion Spur reviews the book Quantum Gods which will definitely be the next book I buy – right after I do something about this backlog.
• And I agree with Simon, it really is worth mentioning Owen’s post; Is Science Religion? not only for the great post he wrote because of the interesting discussion it has spawned. Oh, and way to spoil the ending there Owen, couldn’t you wait until maybe the second paragraph before you gave us the answer?

Arrgghh, if I don’t stop now I’ll rewrite the entire carnival on my blog! It’d be a better idea if you go and read the rest of the Carnival.

A Quick Blogroll Announcement

Joy-Mari has joined our African Science and Scepticism blogroll. Her blog Digital Immigrant is well worth following. Enjoy.

Alternative Treatments to Receive Greater Scrutiny

… but will it be enough?

A new article by Marilynn Marchione, distributed by the Associated Press, paradoxically entitled Boost for alternative medicine once again highlights the alarming increase in acceptance of alternative treatments by medical aid organisations and even hospitals. It may be a question of the hospitals providing the service because of the increased number of requests from their patients or part of a plan to increase revenues. This dispite there being any good evidence for the efficacy of alternative treatments when compared to existing science-based treatments.

If I had a medical aid which announced that I was allowed to claim for accupuncture, that would appear to be an endorsement of the treatment. Patients trust their medical aid companies becuase they are “in the business”, if they say I can claim, it must be a valid treatment. It would be misguiding to the medical aid user, and yet it is exactly what has been happening.

African Science and Scepticism Blogroll update

It has been a long time since I updated the blogroll, but here it is. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the **new** blogs.

Full Blogroll

• Ambient Normality
• Angela’s The Skeptic Detective
• Auke’s Psychohistorian.org
• Bongi’s Other Things Amanzi
• Bullshit Fatigue ** new this month **
• Doctor Spurt’s Effortless Incitement
• Emeka Okafor’s Timbuktu Chronicles ** new **
• Ewan’s Corner
• George Claassen’s Prometheus Unbound
• Gustav Bertram’s Constant Flux ** new this month **
• Heidi’s Hideout ** new **
• Intrepid Aardvark ** new **
• James Hough’s Acinonyx Scepticus
• Jonathan & Ross’ The Science Of Sport
• Jonathan Davis’ Limbic Nutrition ** new **
• Leonie Joubert’s Scorched
• Maydont’s Pause and Consider
• Michael & Stephen’s Irreverence
• Michael Meadon’s Ionian Enchantment
• Moonflake’s Smoke and Mirrors
• Owen Swart’s 01 and the universe
• Pickled Bushman
• Richard Harriman’s Botswana Skeptic
• Rupert Neethling’s Orion Spur ** url changed **
• Shadows Hide ** new this month **
• Simon Halliday’s Amanuensis
• Stop Danie Krügel
• Subtle Shift in Emphasis
• The Skeptic Black Sheep
• Wilhelm Louw’s The Little Book of Capoeira
• Yet Another Sceptic’s Blog

Title-only Blogroll

• 01 and the universe
• Acinonyx Scepticus
• Amanuensis
• Ambient Normality
• Botswana Skeptic
• Bullshit Fatigue ** new this month **
• Constant Flux ** new this month **
• Effortless Incitement
• Ewan’s Corner
• Heidi’s Hideout ** new **
• Intrepid Aardvark ** new **
• Ionian Enchantment
• Irreverence
• Limbic Nutrition ** new **
• Orion Spur ** url changed **
• Other Things Amanzi
• Pause and Consider
• Pickled Bushman
• Prometheus Unbound
• Psychohistorian.org
• Scorched
• Shadows Hide ** new this month **
• Smoke and Mirrors
• Stop Danie Krügel
• Subtle Shift in Emphasis
• The Little Book of Capoeira
• The Science Of Sport
• The Skeptic Black Sheep
• The Skeptic Detective
• Timbuktu Chronicles ** new **
• Yet Another Sceptic’s Blog

Sceptical of Satanism Scares

Soon I will be blogging about the “Believe It or Not” show which I took part in earlier this evening and presenting the arguments that I made. But in the mean time, if there are any visitors who would like to comment on the show, feel free to do so below. I am interested to see what many of the 702 listeners who were not able to call in felt about the show.

I will respond to as many comments as I am able to when I am able to, but if you would like a more immediate response, go to the discussion about this topic at the South African Skeptics Forum.

Derren Brown: Belief and Non-Belief

I hope this lazy linking doesn’t become a habit.

This brilliant piece by Derren Brown landed in my feed reader a moment ago, it is bloody good and well worth recommending it to everyone who ever faces stupid comments like “Well, atheism is based on faith also” and “You can’t prove that [insert supernatural hokum] doesn’t exist” and so on.

But why’re you still here? No amount of my blathering will do it any justice.

P.S. I almost missed this great piece of writing because it was slyly posted with a backdated byline – thanks be to the almighty Google Reader.