Blog Returns Sept. 23
I’m deep diving into a new research project. There’s lots to read and lots to learn.
Science, Skepticism, and Irony
An impressive new book about the shortcomings of scientific research is inadvertently ironic.
Will Skyscrapers Survive COVID?
Tall buildings, dependent on elevators, have become precarious investments.
Hydroxychloroquine & the Judgment of History
How a safe, well-understood malaria drug was demonized as a COVID-19 treatment. Because a politician said good things about it.
A Few Months of Hindsight
Journalist George Gilder declared the pandemic over in April. Mathematician Isaac Ben-Israel insisted the virus would burn out everywhere 70 days after it began.
Funerals Have Spiked in Numerous Nations
Across the globe, many more funerals are being held this year than normal.
WHO: Disinformation from the Top
The head of the WHO isn’t annoyed his organization learned about the coronavirus from third parties. He isn’t angry it had to ask China for info more than once. In fact, he’s been covering for China.
WHO Now Says China Didn’t Report Coronavirus – Corrects Timeline
After implying for months that China followed international rules, the World Health Organization backtracks.
Secrecy & Stonewalling: China and SARS 1.0
China gave the WHO permission to send in investigators, but wouldn’t allow them near the affected area after they’d arrived. They departed empty-handed, two weeks later.
Where Are COVID Deaths Rising?
Chile, Peru, Brazil, and Mexico have experienced dramatic increases. So have New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.
40 Days in Brazil
Forty thousand Brazilians have died of the coronavirus in the past 40 days.
Financial Conflicts & the Retracted COVID Research
Lead author, paid by drug companies, gives the all-clear to products those companies sell. World’s leading medical journal fails transparency test.
Retracted Papers Written by Journal VIP
The lead author of two retracted COVID-19 papers is editor-in-chief of an Elsevier medical journal.
What Went Wrong in Massachusetts?
State hit disproportionately hard by the coronavirus.
Staggering Death Rate in 7 US States
American deaths per million equal or exceed Europe’s worst-hit nations in several locales.
This Blog Will Return May 20th
In the interim, I recommend this brilliant essay on what the coronavirus has taught us.
Civil Liberties, the Economy & Typhoid Mary
Let us not be cavalier about the coronavirus. Let us pay proper respect to the dead.
Inside America’s Hospitals
The coronavirus is straining the healthcare systems of the richest nations in the world.
How NYC’s Leaders Betrayed the Public
Medical bureaucrats wrapped themselves in the cloak of science. They said the battle was against paranoia, misinformation & stigma. Thousands have now perished.
Why Homemade Masks Make Sense
Coronavirus deaths follow choir practice. A grassroots, homemade-masks-for-all movement gathers steam.
Losing Doctors on the Battlefield
176 61 physicians have died in Italy. They’re also dying in France, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Protect Hospital Staff, Or Healthcare Collapses
Doctors on the front lines are shouting from the rooftops.
Italy’s Hospital Meltdown
Coronavirus has turned hospitals into war zones, say Italian doctors.
So You Thinks SARS Was No Big Deal (Part 1)
Canada was the only country outside Asia in which people died from the SARS coronavirus. A doctor and two nurses were among its victims. All three were in their 50s.
Coronavirus Math: The Number I’m Watching
How are different countries coping? What is the case fatality rate?
When Is A Pandemic Not A Pandemic?
The World Health Organization is playing games.
Diabetes, Doctors & Real World Results
Some people are ‘curing’ their Type 2 diabetes by changing what they eat.
Mice, Medical Research & the Media
Reputable media outlets routinely mislead the public when reporting the latest scientific discoveries.
Canada’s Carbon Tax Will Kill People
‘Winter mortality is lower when the price of heating is lower’: new research report.
Vaccines & the Globe’s Most Vulnerable
Tourists who eschew vaccination are reintroducing disease to less affluent countries.
Butter, Cream & Grains of Salt
Peer-reviewed science can be found to support nearly every position.
What the Thai Cave Rescue Teaches Us About Nature
Humans make things safe, clean, and healthy.
Is Tomato Soup Good for You?
‘Healthy’ is now being defined in radically different ways, by different interest groups.
Eat Your Veggies (With Lots of Butter)
In the low-carb universe, vegetables are served with lots of butter, mayonnaise, and hollandaise.
Perverse Scientific Incentives
There are structural reasons for the low quality of much scientific research.
Science is Not Truth
We need to lose our naivete. Many scientific findings are neither crisp nor clear.
Is Fruit Good for You?
Fruit may be natural, but its sugar content has increased due to selective breeding.
Chicken Wings & Potato Skins: My New Health Food
If fat were the villain we’ve been told it is, I should have gained 40 pounds.
Defining High Blood Pressure
Changing definitions of ‘normal’ blood pressure means more people are coping with drug side effects.
Bogus Blood Pressure Readings
Doctors and nurses rarely follow the rules when collecting important info about our health.
Medical Flip-Flops
Standard medical practice is often pointless, risky – and a waste of money.
Unethical Behaviour at the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association didn’t bother to replicate pivotal research before it told the public to change its behaviour. The result was an uncontrolled public health experiment.
About That French Paradox
When scientists began believing that high fat diets & heart disease went together, this wasn’t true in 8 European countries.
When Government Makes You Fat
After the high-carbohydrate Food Pyramid was introduced, diabetes shot through the roof.
Obesity, Diet Pills & Death
Whether it’s climate science or medical science, a fake crisis leads to bad decisions that harm real people.
Suddenly Sick: The Foibles of Medical Science
Climate science and medical science have things in common. Including suspect behaviour on the part of the United Nations.