Science! It works (AGAIN) bitches!

Last night I watched the news, and saw a story about stem cell research that has basically cured sickle cell anemia! Yeah, take that bitches! Science works once again. This story actually caused me to be quite amused. Not at the misfortune of the peole who suffer with this terrible disease, but exactly what this potential cure meant. Let's see if I can explain why I was so amused (and yes, my intent is to be sarcastic and insulting, if you don't like it, fuck off).

You see, sickle cell anemia is an evolutionary adaptation (mistake even) in response to Malaria (a killer of MILLIONS). Now, to some, malaria is some sort of god(s) given punishment (or at the very least, the psychotic sky dady created it). You know, yet another very obvious sign of a loving and benevolent being... Anyway, with malaria being such a horrible disease, and it killing millions, it actually produces a very strong evolutionary tendency on quite a few folks who may have a random mutation that allows them to survive. Not that evolution is true though, right? So now we have scientists that come along, and use STEM CELLS to virtually cure this disease in 90% of the tested patients. Notice how prayed didn't play into this in the slightest (because prayed in no way works...). If anything, the scientists are fighting against god's creation, and winning! Suck on that you impotent imaginary skydaddy! :P And then the thing that really amused me... Most of the religious people in the world opposed stem cell research! Even after it was shown that fetal stem cells were not required, they still opposed stem cell research on some misguided principles that I just can't understand (like attempting to understand people who think the earth is flat).

So far, in all of history, no god(s) have ever healed an amputee. Eventually, I am quite sure that scientists will develop a method for humans to regrow severed limbs. Like I said, "Science! it works bitches!" So, if you are in a life threatening situation where science has the answer, what would you do?

(Waits for the standard apologetic's answers of skypsycho gave us brains, you can't measure prayer, we prayed for the scientists, etc... They are so predicatable.)

God loves abortions!

So I just came accross this article where the "right to lifers" want to define a person at conception. Now, I'm not going to get into the debate about medical abortion itself, mostly because I am a man, and probably am not the most qualified person in the world to talk about it. Also, it's a subject that has been beaten to death.

Instead, I want to point out the incredibly flawed logic that these people are using. By trying to define a person at conception, they are (by their own defenition) condemning up to 70% of all souls that ever come into existence to purgatory (or hell depending on what flavour of the 38,000 different sects of christianity they adhere to). Up to 70% you say? Yep:

It is estimated that up to half of all fertilized eggs die and are lost (aborted) spontaneously, usually before the woman knows she is pregnant. Among those women who know they are pregnant, the miscarriage rate is about 15-20%. Most miscarriages occur during the first 7 weeks of pregnancy.

Now, to a rational person, this is how evolution deals with the whole tricky process of assembling a human being. Evolutionarially it's really a way to prevent gross malformations, and an endless parade of suffering. The first up to 50% of miscarriages are caused by chromosome problems that make it impossible for the baby to develop. Usually, these problems are unrelated to the mother or father's genes. The remaining 15-20% are caused by things such as hormone problems, infection, physical problems with the mother's reproductive organs, problems with the body's immune response, or serious body-wide diseases in the mother (such as uncontrolled diabetes) . Like I quipped, assembling another human being is tricky business, and evolution has developed these neat little tricks to keep the ones that are alive and functioning from prematurely expiring too often (and then we help with our medical technology).

Of course, to the vast majority of these people, evolution doesn't exist, everything is boiled down to "goddidit". In their worldview, since evolution doesn't exist, what causes up to 70% of all souls that are created to spontaniously abort? Well? I mean, smart people know about biology, genes, chromosones, hormones, and all that sciency stuff, but these people view the world through the lens of the supernatural. Since they can't really attribute something that is naturally spontaneous, it must be supernaturally spontaneous, i.e. god(s). They may argue that another supernatural entity is responsible (satan, santa, evil spirits, whatever), but then wouldn't the supposed good entity not imbue the soul until the other ones are through with their mischief? The good one is supposely omnipotent, omnicient, and omnibenevolent. Should be an easy solution there. But then, these fundamentalists who want to take away women's reproductive rights and domain over their own bodies are going to define a person at conception, thus pre-emting their god. Or, endorsing the wholesale condemnation of souls... I wonder what the Dope (I mean Pope, transposing a p and d is so easy) would say on the subject?

I would like to point out that the rights of women is an entirelly different discussion, and Austin Cline handles that one admirably.

Sometimes People Make me Sick!

Okay, so today I did some charity work in a hospital (reading stories to kids, playing with Legos, that sort of thing). One of the Doctors there is an acquaintance of mine through an Atheist group, so he gave me a tour. One of the most depressing areas was the "Maintenance Ward". This is where people who are for all intents and purposes dead, but are still kept alive at the requests of the family. Even in a small podunk area like this backwater bayou, there were quite a few old folks hooked up to machines there.

Now, you'd think that these people have families that just can't bear to part with them, and that's why they are keeping them on the machines. Of the 9 patients, NONE of them have regualr family visits. Not a one! As a matter of fact, two of the patients haven't had a visititor in over 18 months! So why are they there? Well, medicare pays for the life support, so it's no burden on the family. But here's the thing I found disturbing... Each of those patients still gets a Social Scurity check. And every single one of those checks is chashed by the surviving family.

Now, I can't say with any certianty that this is the only reason that these peole are kept on life support; but the implications are strong. In each case, the patients did not have any sort of living will, or any will at all even... I just gotta wonder what level of humanity it takes to use a person's body in that manner? It's disgusting!

So, make sure you have a living will! Do the thing that Americans really suck at: PLAN! For fuck's sake people, it's not that hard. And to the people who are using their elderly relatives in this way... I hope you're proud of yourself.

By the way, 8 year olds LOVE fart jokes! They were telling me some good ones!

Can't see, can't type...

Ugh, just had an eye appointment and they had to dilate my pupils, so right now I can't see. Um, so I won't actually be blogging. Just wanted to say that it's cool how we can do all these really cool things on such an "irreducibly complex" thing. Well, either that, or we may actually have an idea about the evolution of the eye, and all that. ;)

Finally, a good day for Skeptics

Today was a good day overall for the skeptical movement. So instead of covering the same three topics that I type up on most days, I am going to repost a blog entry from Dr. Phil Plait (the guy that inspired this web page and who is also the president of the JREF). Enjoy the good news, and remember that it takes a concerted effort to actually put down woo. While they have no standards of evidence, and pretty much just make stuff up on the fly, we are bound by science and our conscience to present information that we can actually back up.

And again, for that anonymous asshole that can't seem to read, the above paragraph is mine, and below from the linked blog...

Well, antiscience is taking major body blows the past week or so, and it’s a wonderful, wonderful thing to see. It started with Newsweek taking down the quackery promoted by Oprah Winfrey, and has taken off from there:

1) Reader’s Digest jumped on the anti-Oprah ride… and when the milquetoast middle-of-the-road offend no one RD takes you on, it’s time to rethink your very existence.

2) Deepak Chopra — who couldn’t find reality with both hands, a compass and, evidently, the aid of centuries of scientific advancement — ran to Oprah’s defense, and, as usual, mangled more logic in one essay than can be humanly possible without the aid of quantum healing. Massimo Pigliucci magnificently takes him down, as did JREF’s Jeff Wagg at the Swift blog.

3) The Australian government has ruled that Arnica Montana, a homeopathy company, falsely advertised the efficacy of its product — which, in the case of homeopathy is everything they advertise — and they had to post a humiliating retraction. I weep non-diluted tears for them. Dr. Rachie has more info. Also, Steve Novella has written a lengthy and complete destruction of homeopathy on his NeuroLogica blog. If you are a homeopathic believer and feel you must spout your undiluted nonsense in the comments below, read his essay first, because if you make any of the claims he debunks I will allow everyone free reign to mock you. Because that’s better than allowing babies to die due to homeopathy.

4) Simon Singh is being sued by the British Chiropractic Association because he wrote about their "bogus" claims. BCA vice-president Richard Brown then posted a flailing essay titled In Defence of Chiropractic in New Scientist magazine, a piece laden to the hilt with astonishingly poorly thought-out logic. Apgaylard thoroughy dismantles the claims from Brown, leaving the emperor looking a little naked out there.

This kind of antiscience antireality antihealth garbage will always be with us, but I can hope to help amplify the chorus of voices being raised against them. It’s important, as I have been hammering home for months. They will never rest as long as people credulously accept their claims, so we need to make sure as many people as possible examine their claims as critically as possible.