So, last month I had a prolonged discussion with a "naturopath" about various kinds of "therapies" and science in general (I described it briefly here). One of the BIG NAMES thrown at me during that discussion was Joe Mercola and his woo-selling web site (no link here... I do not want to bump his Google rank).
As is was coming from a believer, Mercola was presented to me as an "authority" on various natural remedies and products. We did not discuss it in details, but I'd tried to point out that Mercola, while accusing everyone of various conflicts of interest, including the dreaded BIG PHARMA links, has direct financial stakes in most of what he's promoting, way more direct than any doctor has to the BIG PHARMA!
I stumbled upon a great article today from Orac, "Joe Mercola's shampoo woo", which dissects this problem to the core: it's always about money when somebody tries to sell you something "natural".
Friday, July 23, 2010
New Show Worth Watching
This has been going around the blogosphere:
Phil Plait, TV Star
Sounds interesting and I know I'll watch it.
My son will have a blast too: he loves Discovery shows about cosmic disasters, UFOs and all kinds of weirdness!!!
If you want a taste of Bad Astronomer's style, read his books, they are excellent:
Phil Plait, TV Star
Sounds interesting and I know I'll watch it.
My son will have a blast too: he loves Discovery shows about cosmic disasters, UFOs and all kinds of weirdness!!!
If you want a taste of Bad Astronomer's style, read his books, they are excellent:
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Vacation Time - Revisited
As you might have noticed, my on-line activities have been slow in the last month, mostly due to summertime slump and vacation travels. From my occasional "woo-woo" debunking, I switched to my additional passions, which always have been: travel, hiking and outdoor photography (fortunately, they go together well). This year was slightly different, since it was the first time we went on an extended "exploration" trip with our 5 year old son. The "exploration" trip in our book means renting a car and going on an extended road trip from one hiking destination to another. Most of the time it also means extensive driving in between strenuous hikes. I was very worried how he would like the long walks, early days, strange hotels, and general lack of "quality" kids entertainment (Sponge Bob, for example), but I was very surprised to find out he loved it and he wanted more.
Our trip this year took us to Central and Southern California, a place I always wanted to visit, but never had a chance. We started in San Francisco, visited Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, Mono Lake surroundings (including Lone Pine), Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, made a quick stop in Legoland, explored Los Angeles a bit, and finally hit Big Sur on our way back to San Francisco.
We traveled in a fairly large group (three families, with kids around the same age), so it made it easier, but our various hikes stand as a testament, that kids can be introduced to nature at a very early age. In Yosemite for example, we managed to hike to the top of the Nevada Falls (hike descriptions here and here), a trail not easy to accomplish for most of the city dwellers of much more advanced age.
In addition to hiking, we managed to see a few gems that were worth every minute.
First one was the Alcatraz Island, with its famous prison. I was worried that it would be boring for my son, but he loved it and even managed to walk the whole personal audio tour by himself.
The second one was an unforgettable night at the Death Valley Junction's Amargosa Opera House Hotel. According to the management, it is one of the most haunted places in America, which I would believe, if only I'd been able to see anything out of ordinary... nope... not me. I did not see, nor hear, nor feel anything weird, and I suspect it is just a marketing plot (surprise, surprise!!!). However, the history of the place, the setting, and the Opera House itself with its amazing paintings is really something to see, so don't miss it when you are exploring the Death Valley and its surroundings.
Now, you can tell that I have been doing mostly image processing for the last few weeks, as I managed to stack up 5000 shots on my old, trusty Nikon, but that's what digital photography is all about: cheap volume and selection.
Our trip this year took us to Central and Southern California, a place I always wanted to visit, but never had a chance. We started in San Francisco, visited Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, Yosemite National Park, Mono Lake surroundings (including Lone Pine), Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, made a quick stop in Legoland, explored Los Angeles a bit, and finally hit Big Sur on our way back to San Francisco.
We traveled in a fairly large group (three families, with kids around the same age), so it made it easier, but our various hikes stand as a testament, that kids can be introduced to nature at a very early age. In Yosemite for example, we managed to hike to the top of the Nevada Falls (hike descriptions here and here), a trail not easy to accomplish for most of the city dwellers of much more advanced age.
In addition to hiking, we managed to see a few gems that were worth every minute.
First one was the Alcatraz Island, with its famous prison. I was worried that it would be boring for my son, but he loved it and even managed to walk the whole personal audio tour by himself.
The second one was an unforgettable night at the Death Valley Junction's Amargosa Opera House Hotel. According to the management, it is one of the most haunted places in America, which I would believe, if only I'd been able to see anything out of ordinary... nope... not me. I did not see, nor hear, nor feel anything weird, and I suspect it is just a marketing plot (surprise, surprise!!!). However, the history of the place, the setting, and the Opera House itself with its amazing paintings is really something to see, so don't miss it when you are exploring the Death Valley and its surroundings.
Now, you can tell that I have been doing mostly image processing for the last few weeks, as I managed to stack up 5000 shots on my old, trusty Nikon, but that's what digital photography is all about: cheap volume and selection.
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