By: Ah, fixed at last! | Lee Turnpenny

[…] The Mawk Moth Profligacies […]

Jun 2017

Act to prevent Tredinnick becoming Chair of the House of Commons Select Committee for Health

I note with interest the news of the resignation of Stephen Dorrell as Chair of the Commons Select Committee for Health. I am concerned to read that one of the primary contenders for the post will be existing Committee member, David Tredinnick..In my opinion, Mr Tredinnick’s continued advocacy of unevidential complementary and alternative approaches...

May 2015

Tredinnick’s continuing abuse of his membership of the House of Commons Select Committee for Science and Technology

He just cannot help himself. During the fourth evidence session of the House of Commons Select Committee for Science and Technology’s inquiry into antimicrobial resistance last week, David Tredinnick, quoting a statistic from a source he had located in the HoC Library, deemed it relevant to ask (@ 09:55) the first witness panel:“Between 1994 and 2008,...

May 2015

Is the House of Commons Select Committee for Science and Technology sufficiently rigorous?

To re-emphasise, the raison d’être of the House of Commons Select Committee for Science and Technology is:‘… to ensure that Government policy and decision-making are based on good scientific and engineering advice and evidence.’This week (Wednesday 26th February), the Committee holds the fourth evidence session of its ongoing inquiry into antimicrobial...

May 2015

The (un)acceptability of pseudoscience in Parliament

The transcript of the second evidence session of the Commons Select Committee for Science and Technology’s inquiry into Antimicrobial resistance is now available. Here, I edit and compile contributions to proceedings by Committee member David Tredinnick:‘Much of the Government’s antimicrobial resistance strategy, perhaps naturally, focused on increasing...

May 2015

The untenability of Tredinnick’s membership of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee

According to its pages on the Parliament website, the role of the Commons Select Committee for Science and Technology is:‘… to ensure that Government policy and decision-making are based on good scientific and engineering advice and evidence.’That’s scientific advice; not, note, pseudoscientific.We’re also informed that the Committee ‘scrutinises the...

May 2015

Comment on the commenting policy at ‘Junk Science’

Now that the silly season of collective mass delusion has passed, it is time to re-confront those perpetual other irrationalities which persist on account of the quackery-beguiled’s receptiveness to pretty much anything that serves to kid us we can feel better, no matter our blight or plight.There has of late been quite a lot of spat between sceptics...

May 2015

WDDTY’s ‘inconvenient’ editorial guide to recognising quackery

Over at QuackRag.com there is a blog post entitled ‘The inconvenient truth‘. From what I can gather, this article is the reproduced editorial of the latest print edition, which, though still to be found on the shelves of certain retailers who in their commitment to profit customer choice are complicit, I haven’t sought to purchase. It and numerous other...

May 2015

George and Pete go to Parliament

Four years ago, during the House of Commons Science and Technology Sub-Committee’s Evidence Check on Homeopathy, Dr. Peter Fisher of the (then named) Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, in response to subtly sardonic questioning from then Committee member Evan Harris, unashamedly said (@ 1: 34 → ), “The shaking is important… If you just gently stir it,...

May 2015

The pseudoscience of the creator of pseudoscience’s petty petition

My recent frowning response to what is, in effect, a defensive CAM-promoting petition brought informative comment on its creator. Hence, I’ve learned that the ‘M’ in ‘Jessica Braid (formerly M. United Kingdom’ [sic], indicates Middleton. Who, it turns out, is a CAM practitioner of some notoriety. I’ve looked again at Braid’s petition, and considered...

May 2015