How could I have missed it? A few days ago, the short list for the 2009 Royal Society Prize for Science Books was announced, and Ben Goldacre's (him again!) Bad Science is on it http://royalsociety.org/news.asp?year=&id=8635

Meanwhile the winner of the 2009 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction (for which Ben Goldacre's--him again, again!--book is also shortlisted) should be announced this Tuesday, see http://www.thesamueljohnsonprize.co.uk/pag.../2009/shortlist.htm

Hi Michelle,

Are you not a fan of Ben Goldacre? I ask because I notice that you say "him again!" every time you mention his name.

It's become somewhat of a curiosity to me since it is very frequent and I'm thinking there must be a reason for it.

Edited by author 06-29-2009 04:26 PM
In response to Arak Thaylann, it's a running joke or TMoB tradition. It started when Ben Goldacre (him again!) produced a huge amount of writing as the big autism scare story in the UK Observer fell to pieces, was retracted, etc.

He blogged copiously, he put stuff in the Guardian, the BMJ, and if I'm not mistaken, the Lancet.

So I was providing links to the latest developments, which disproportionately were reported by Dr Goldacre. This caused me to put (him again!) after his name, a repetitive behaviour that has continued to this day.

The very famous behaviour analyst Sidney Bijou died earlier this month, at the age of 100. See http://www.apbahome.net/news.php?nid=29

Dr Bijou authored, with Patrick Ghezzi, one of the very few theoretical papers about autism produced by behaviour analysts. Bijou and Ghezzi (1999) founded their model on the premise that autism is an attachment disorder. As has been noted by Gernsbacher et al. (2005), the available evidence shows this is not the case.

Edited by author 06-30-2009 12:58 PM
A new film called 'Adam' about an AS guy will be released on 29 July 2009 in the US. I don't know about other countries. See http://www.foxsearchlight.com/adam. It is described as a romantic comedy.

Regardless of the betting odds http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jun/3...amuel-johnson-prize , Ben Goldacre (him again!) does not win the Samuel Johnson prize... see who did in this tweet http://twitter.com/bengoldacre/status/2407816533

Edited by author 07-01-2009 03:07 AM
Today is Moving Day in Quebec (for anyone unfamiliar with the phenomenon--see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_Day ). Here http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianp...IzupCcdxMrvhphk0v-A is a story about a moving company in Montreal that uses bicycles. Excerpts:

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Thibaut said driving rain and steep hills provide the biggest challenges, but Mont-Royal, which rises above the downtown area, offers the toughest test.

Its imposing slopes have sometimes forced him to hop off his bike and push the load on foot.

"It keeps us in shape," he said. "It's a good job."

After trying to tackle the mountain last fall while hauling a washing machine, Myette does everything he can to steer clear of Mont-Royal.

For the most part, though, the hardest part of the job is lugging appliances down numerous flights of stairs.

"Once it's on the bicycle it's almost a break - almost," he said.

[...]

Transport Myette client Christiane Proulx found an ad for the company online.

"He's very professional," she said as the workers wrapped her furniture in padded blankets.

"It's very ecological and it's cheaper, too. It's at least 40 to 50 per cent cheaper than a truck.

"Guys in trucks don't always have the same respect."

Proulx's only moving about 700 metres down a city street, but Myette said he's prepared to go to much greater lengths.

"We can go to Quebec City (about 250 kilometres) if people want," he said, estimating such a trip would take three days and break the bank for some customers.

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Edited by author 07-01-2009 05:09 AM
Re /m9322,

As Michelle's message was posted at 3.42 PM ET (US) or 8.42 PM BST in the UK yesterday which was before the official announcement of the result, Ben Goldacre must have been told beforehand. I am very suprised at that. I thought the winner was kept secret until the official announcement.

I saw a programme about the Samuel Johnson Prize on BBC television last night. There were films about the six books on the shortlist in which the authors spoke about their works, and the judging panel discussed the books. The winner was announced at about 12:10 AM this morning. It was 'Leviathan or, The Whale' by Philip Hoare.

The BBC breaks the news about a court ruling that was just handed down, decriminalizing homosexuality in India http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8129836.stm

"The ruling overturns a 145-year-old colonial law which describes a same-sex relationship as an "unnatural offence"."

BBC article on MIT research, speech acquisition and a new data collection device: "Their first deployment will be in six pilot studies of children with autism where they will be used to monitor and quantify the children's response to treatment."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8127804.stm

Edited by author 07-02-2009 08:55 AM
More about the striking down of the law criminalizing homosexuality in India, from the Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/...sex/article1203903/

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In an unequivocal judgment, Justice S. Muralidhar invoked the country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and his belief in inclusiveness as laid out in the constitution.

“This Court believes that Indian Constitution reflects this value deeply ingrained in Indian society,” the judge wrote. “Those perceived by the majority as deviants or ‘different' are not on that score excluded or ostracized. Where society can display inclusiveness and understanding, such persons can be assured of a life of dignity and nondiscrimination.”

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

The Indian government may still appeal this ruling.

Edited by author 07-02-2009 11:26 AM
The 6th World Conference of Science Journalists has been taking place in London, at Central Hall, Westminster, from 30 June to 2 July. See http://www.wcsj2009.org. Here is the list of speakers: http://www.wcsj2009.org/programme_speakers.php. It includes Ben Goldacre.

The programme Leading Edge which is being broadcast on BBC radio tonight from 9 to 9.30 PM, is about the communication of science. The presenter attends the Science Journalists Conference. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00lbt42.

Re /m9328 , there was an avalanche of live-tweeting from the WCSJ (which is now over). You can get the WCSJ tweet-by-tweet here http://twitter.com/edyong209 with some more here http://twitter.com/dgmacarthur and even a bit from he-who-has-taken-over-TMoB http://twitter.com/bengoldacre

Also re the WCSJ, in case anyone missed it http://www.badscience.net/2009/07/steve-connor-is-getting-eggy/ and http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2009/06/troublemakers_fring.html

And... Vaughan Bell provides his slides (they are very good; some of the information will be familiar to regular Mind Hacks readers) here http://www.mindhacks.com/blog/2009/07/fringe_benefits.html The title of his talk was "Don't touch that dial! Technology Scare and the Media."

Edited by author 07-03-2009 01:45 PM
Re /m9328, one of the speakers on Leading Edge, broadcast on July 2, was Fiona Farr from the Science Media Centre.

She called the MMR scare a bad science story. She said that not enough journalists in their reporting of the story pointed out that 99.9 per cent of doctors and pediatricians were certain that the MMR vaccine was safe. The concept of balance meant that one doctor (Andrew Wakefield) was given equal time with the other doctors and medical experts who knew that the vaccine was safe. A mother of a two-year-old boy hearing the arguments about the MMR vaccine and autism, which gave equal time to opinions for and against the vaccine causing autism, would naturally be reluctant to get him vaccinated.

Half the problem is that there's little recognition from scientist that the general public don't always argue from our lofty intellectual heights.
Their fears and opinions have an emotional genesis. Until scientists and public educators accept that you just have approach the discussion from their perspective, all the science in the world won't do you any good.
If Tony Blair had stood up and admitted that his kids had had the MMR jabs - it would've had more effect than all the advocacy done over the years by the Department of Health.

The same effect is seen the Michelle and Ari's discussion - Michelle has the science to back up her position, but Ari's got his eyes on the prize and is playing *realpolitik*... So publicly mandated ABA appears to be ASAN's stance.

And again it's seen with the New Republic - Attwood and his angels have all dropped by, to enjoy my tabloid expos&#E9; and scandal mongering - while studiously ignoring some solidly based work from ASAN.

Sad but True.


Harry Williams.





"Entwicklung durch Ikonoklasmus" - The New Republic