Category: Pseudoscience

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Pseudoscience

Thacker the hack keeps Thacking and hacking

Paul Thacker

hack: adj.: 1. Working for hire especially with mediocre professional standards (a hack journalist); 2. performed by or suited to a person who works or writes purely for the purpose of earning money; 3. characteristic of a hack 4. MEDIOCRE (e.g.) hack writing, hackneyed, trite.

Thack: adj: All of the above, but in the style of Paul Thacker. Verb (transitive): To write hack hit pieces in the style of Paul Thacker.

I know I’ve written about Paul Thacker’s attacks on young physician Dr. Allison Neitzel three times now, but he just keeps going lower and demanding more not-so-Respectful Insolence. Orac is happy to oblige.

Categories
Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery Skepticism/critical thinking

Hack conspiracy journalism: Paul Thacker vs. the definition of “physician”

Paul Thacker at work
Paul Thacker at work writing another entry for his Substack.

I normally don’t publish email exchanges, but when someone like Paul Thacker misleadingly characterizes an email exchange with me, let’s just say that I will make an exception in his case.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Pseudoscience

Denis Rancourt on COVID-19: No virus, just psychological stress

Denis Rancourt and Steve Kirsch
Denis Rancourt pontificating about "no virus" and "17 million deaths" due to COVID-19 vaccines, as Steve Kirsch laps it up.

It’s hard to believe that in the 21st century there are still those who are “not convinced that viruses exist.” Virus denial and antivax go together and always have. Denis Rancourt, while far from the first or more vociferous virus denier, is an excellent example.

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Pseudoscience

Cureus shockingly does the right thing and retracts an antivax review about COVID-19 vaccines

Cureus retracts
The soon-to-be-retracted Cureus antivax article.

A misinformation-laden review article in Cureus by prominent antivax activists that called for a moratorium on COVID vaccination has been retracted. What took so long, and how could such a paper been published in the peer-reviewed literature in the first place?

Categories
Antivaccine nonsense Computers and social media Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

A quack is launching his own AI chatbot in 2024

Skynet AI
From a perspective of science, medicine, reason, and skepticism, this is what Mike Adams' AI chatbot reminds me of.

Crank, quack, and antivaxxer Mike Adams is unhappy with current AI systems. So he’s developing his own “natural health” large language model-based AI chatbot for 2024. Hilarity will ensue, for sure, but is he at the vanguard of a dangerous trend?