QuackSafeTM Search Engine

26th October, 2006 4

Le Canard Noir is pleased to announce the arrival of the Quackometer QuackSafeTM Search Engine. Do you quickly need to debunk the latest fraudulent claim? Do you need to see if others have insight into a quack? This is the Search Engine for you. The Search Engine will only return matches from sites and blogs that are known to supply reliable information about quackery, quacks, medical fraud and health realetd [read more…]

The Scent of a Quack…

20th October, 2006 0

At last, what appears to be some reasonable criticism of high street quackery in the Daily Mail… Well, it sort of starts out OK with a report as follows: … according to a report in Psychiatric Bulletin, health shops give out bad advice on depression and they offer a range of useless stuff, including the cruel-sounding cat’s claw, when only one of their products, St John’s Wort, is scientifically proved [read more…]

QuackSafeTM Surfing with the Quackometer Toolbar Button

13th October, 2006 5

Le Canard Noir is pleased to announce the arrival of the Quackometer QuackSafeTM Toolbar Button for Internet Explorer that will allow one-click access to the Quackometer and QuackSafeTM Search Engine. Click the button to find out if your current page is Quackery. Highlight a name in the text and click the button to find out if they might be a quack. Type a query into the Google Toolbar search button [read more…]

Ethical Quackery, the Monarchy and Kate Moss

12th October, 2006 12

No, this is not about our Defender of Quackery, our Quack-in-Chief His Royal Quackiness, Prince Charles, but about the Distinguished Provost of the Royal College of Alternative Medicine, Professor Joseph Chikelue Obi. And yes, it is just a rather lame story written solely to get a picture of Kate on my blog. I’ve written a rather lazy blog on the distinguished professor before that was just a bit of a [read more…]

Quack Word #40: ‘Energy’

12th October, 2006 15

Or ‘How to be debunked by a nine year old schoolgirl’ In the special world of the quack, the crank and the pseudo-scientist the word ‘Energy’ holds the highest place in the league tables of misappropriated and abused language. I often get complaints that the quackometer only spots quacks and lets cranks off the hook. That is deliberate on my part – one thing at a time. The crank is [read more…]

“Once Dismissed as Hokum…” A Guide to Writing About Quackery in the Mail

4th October, 2006 3

“Once Dismissed as Hokum” is how Dr Danny Penman begins with a less-than-half-truth in his quacktasticly exceptional article about Spiritual Healing in the Daily Mail, “Could spiritual healing actually work?“ This article ought to serve as a case study in how to write about nonsense quackery for the madder end of the British Press. I thought it worthwhile to dissect this piece to show how you can write supportively about [read more…]

Organic Milk Is/Is Not Healthier

3rd October, 2006 3

Those of you paying attention will have seen the quackometer spot these two stories from the past few weeks in the Daily Mail: Organic milk ‘better for a healthy diet’29th August 2006 Organic milk is not healthier, says food watchdog21st September 2006 So, just a few weeks apart and completely different slants. As an act of kindness, to save you from the pain of reading these articles and deciding between [read more…]