fredag, juli 31, 2009

Louis Theroux: Paedophiles [1/7]

Ganske pussige greier men også underholdende.

Read More...

torsdag, juli 30, 2009

Beware the Spinal Trap

Skeptikeren slutter seg entusiastisk til bloggstafetten til støtte for Simon Singh og ytringsfriheten, og gjengir derfor artikkelen som førte til injuriesøksmål fra The British Chiropractic Association. Vi oppfordrer samtidig alle andre bloggere til å gjøre det samme.

free debate

___________________________________________

Some practitioners claim it is a cure-all, but the research suggests chiropractic therapy has mixed results – and can even be lethal, says Simon Singh.

You might be surprised to know that the founder of chiropractic therapy, Daniel David Palmer, wrote that “99% of all diseases are caused by displaced vertebrae”. In the 1860s, Palmer began to develop his theory that the spine was involved in almost every illness because the spinal cord connects the brain to the rest of the body. Therefore any misalignment could cause a problem in distant parts of the body.

In fact, Palmer’s first chiropractic intervention supposedly cured a man who had been profoundly deaf for 17 years. His second treatment was equally strange, because he claimed that he treated a patient with heart trouble by correcting a displaced vertebra.

You might think that modern chiropractors restrict themselves to treating back problems, but in fact some still possess quite wacky ideas. The fundamentalists argue that they can cure anything, including helping treat children with colic, sleeping and feeding problems, frequent ear infections, asthma and prolonged crying – even though there is not a jot of evidence.

I can confidently label these assertions as utter nonsense because I have co-authored a book about alternative medicine with the world’s first professor of complementary medicine, Edzard Ernst. He learned chiropractic techniques himself and used them as a doctor. This is when he began to see the need for some critical evaluation. Among other projects, he examined the evidence from 70 trials exploring the benefits of chiropractic therapy in conditions unrelated to the back. He found no evidence to suggest that chiropractors could treat any such conditions.

But what about chiropractic in the context of treating back problems? Manipulating the spine can cure some problems, but results are mixed. To be fair, conventional approaches, such as physiotherapy, also struggle to treat back problems with any consistency. Nevertheless, conventional therapy is still preferable because of the serious dangers associated with chiropractic.

In 2001, a systematic review of five studies revealed that roughly half of all chiropractic patients experience temporary adverse effects, such as pain, numbness, stiffness, dizziness and headaches. These are relatively minor effects, but the frequency is very high, and this has to be weighed against the limited benefit offered by chiropractors.

More worryingly, the hallmark technique of the chiropractor, known as high-velocity, low-amplitude thrust, carries much more significant risks. This involves pushing joints beyond their natural range of motion by applying a short, sharp force. Although this is a safe procedure for most patients, others can suffer dislocations and fractures.

Worse still, manipulation of the neck can damage the vertebral arteries, which supply blood to the brain. So-called vertebral dissection can ultimately cut off the blood supply, which in turn can lead to a stroke and even death. Because there is usually a delay between the vertebral dissection and the blockage of blood to the brain, the link between chiropractic and strokes went unnoticed for many years. Recently, however, it has been possible to identify cases where spinal manipulation has certainly been the cause of vertebral dissection.

Laurie Mathiason was a 20-year-old Canadian waitress who visited a chiropractor 21 times between 1997 and 1998 to relieve her low-back pain. On her penultimate visit she complained of stiffness in her neck. That evening she began dropping plates at the restaurant, so she returned to the chiropractor. As the chiropractor manipulated her neck, Mathiason began to cry, her eyes started to roll, she foamed at the mouth and her body began to convulse. She was rushed to hospital, slipped into a coma and died three days later. At the inquest, the coroner declared: “Laurie died of a ruptured vertebral artery, which occurred in association with a chiropractic manipulation of the neck.”

This case is not unique. In Canada alone there have been several other women who have died after receiving chiropractic therapy, and Edzard Ernst has identified about 700 cases of serious complications among the medical literature. This should be a major concern for health officials, particularly as under-reporting will mean that the actual number of cases is much higher.

If spinal manipulation were a drug with such serious adverse effects and so little demonstrable benefit, then it would almost certainly have been taken off the market.

Simon Singh is a science writer in London and the co-author, with Edzard Ernst, of Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial. This is an edited version of an article published in The Guardian for which Singh is being personally sued for libel by the British Chiropractic Association.

Read More...

onsdag, juli 29, 2009

Geerup's Terrible Lizard Classification

Read More...

tirsdag, juli 28, 2009

Connie Sonne Press Conference









Read More...

søndag, juli 26, 2009

Connie Sonne Paranormal Challenge







Read More...

Metal Søndag 26. juli


Accept - Breaker
CBS, 1981

Dette er albumet Accept endelig ble til Accept. De to forrige albumene jeg skrev om er kun for spesielt interesserte. Dette og resten av 80-tallsalbumene deres er hvor folk flest burde starte når de skal høre Accept for første gang.
Breaker er sjokkfullt av solide heavy metal riff som blander det beste fra metalpionerene Judas Priest og Scorpions sammen med de australske hard rockerne AC/DC. Dette er selveste definisjonen på catchy 80-talls metal. Vokalen til Udo er absolutt inspirert av AC/DC, bare litt mer metallisk og styggere.
I tillegg til å være jævlig bra heavy metal er det tonnevis av hint av tidlig power metal og speed metal. Hadde de ikke fokusert på enkel og kommersiell heavy metal kunne de fort ha utviklet seg til å bli det første skikkelige power metal bandet.

Er du ute etter ren og rettfrem metal er dette albumet for deg. Du må virkelig hate tradisjonell metal for å ikke digge Breaker.

------------------------

Chörnyj Woron er sikkelig ekte tysk thrash metal band av den gamle skole som har gitt ut en demo. Du kan høre dem på deres Myspace.

Nå over til metal musikkvideoer.

Megadeth - Peace Sells

Nocturnal Rites - Awakening

Belphegor - Bondage Goat Zombie

Read More...

lørdag, juli 25, 2009

More Human Than Electric Sheep

"Next subject," the intercom crackles, "A. Robot, engineer, waste disposal. New employees, six days."

A large man enters the test administrator's office, awkwardly pats his hands against his standard-issue paper gown.

"Come in," says the administrator. "Sit down, Mr. ... A. Robot, was it?"

"Anthony. The name's Anthony Robot."

Robot takes a seat, frowning at a collection of strange devices on the administrator's desk. An automated black pump lifts, sucking air into its ruffled chambers, then lowers, hissing oxygen into a tube. A small camera follows Robot's every move, presenting him with a close-up of his own iris on its display.

"Do you mind if I recharge my... watch while I'm here?" Robot produces an AC adapter, turns in his seat, craning his neck as he tries to spot an outlet. There is no watch on his arm.

"Please," the administrator insists, "just don't move."

Link

Read More...

mandag, juli 20, 2009

Grand Canyon carved by floodwater -- debunked!

Read More...

søndag, juli 19, 2009

That Mitchell and Webb Look - Abraham and Isaac

Read More...

onsdag, juli 15, 2009

Ida met the challenge again

Read More...

tirsdag, juli 14, 2009

Ida met the challenge too

Read More...

mandag, juli 13, 2009

Ida met the challenge

Read More...

Pantry Ghost ADDENDUM

Read More...

lørdag, juli 11, 2009

AT-AT Attack!



Se flere bilder her.

Read More...

My Future's So Dark, I Gotta Wear Spikes

Scope this, nerdzoid.

Back in 198X, our shared history totally split into two timelines when, through a series of unlikely events that can be traced back to a power surge as a young man was saving his Dungeone & Dragons character data on an Apple IIe, the entire score from John Carpenter's The Thing became the U.S. national anthem.

Soon the opening ceremonies of sporting events across our once-great nation became drawn out and unsettling. Within a month the world's superpowers were destabilized. Resources were depleted, nuclear fallout ravaged the landscape, and holographic advertisements crowded the major cities, looping their crass and dehumanizing pitches for an audience of soot-faced victims of the unjust and depraved. Our clothes' shoulderpads grew ever larger, a defensive measure spurred by the increasingly harsh environment we found ourselves in.

Now it's 2009, the future of the 80's. Things are royally donked.

Link

Read More...

onsdag, juli 08, 2009

Godless Comedy from That Mitchell and Webb Look

Read More...

'Black magic' child abuser jailed

A former police officer who claimed he was a "black magic" high priest while sexually abusing three children has been jailed for seven years.

Link

Read More...

søndag, juli 05, 2009

Metal Søndag 5. juli


Kyuss - Kyuss
Elektra Records, 1994

Sommeren har så langt vært drepende for en høst og vinterelsker som meg og det tar livet av lysten til å høre på black metal. Da er det likegreit å omfavne lyset og varmen, sette på litt god gammeldags stoner metal.
Kyuss fra 1994 blir ofte referert til som Welcome to Sky Valley på grunn av platecoveret. Sky Valley ligger i delstaten Georgia, men selv om det nok varmt der om sommeren gir dette albumet meg følelsen av å kjøre i en åpen bil gjennom ørkenlandskapene i Nevada. Uansett hvor dette albumet måtte ta deg når du hører på det er det garantert et kokende varmt sted.
De tunge riffene hypnotiserer deg hele veien til ingenting annet enn musikken og varmen eksisterer. Jeg kjenner det så godt at jeg knapt kan skrive om det mens jeg hører på. Dette er fucking stoner hele veien. Dette er fucking musikalsk marihuana hele veien.

Jeg kjenner det på hele kroppen at jeg må skaffe meg dette albumet på vinyl nå. Det er ikke lenger nok å høre det på CD. Mer gidder jeg ikke å skrive i denne varmen.

-----------------------

Decaying Citadel er et amerikansk minimalistisk funeral doom band som har gitt ut en demo. Du kan høre dem på deres Myspace.

Varg Vikernes er blitt intervjuet av tabloidavisen Dagbladet. Du kan lese intervjuet her.

Jeg tar sommerferie, så det blir ikke noe Metal Søndag de neste to eller tre ukene.

Nå over til metal musikkvideoer.

Overkill - Hello from the Gutter

Dawn of Solace: - Dead Air

Carnivore - Sex And Violence

Read More...

torsdag, juli 02, 2009

Shermer on Larry King Live with the UFOlogists

Read More...