Skeptic: Promoting Science and Critical Thinking

Babies Get Much-Needed Help From Chiropractic Adjustments. When Sydney Winkler encountered one of the biggest adjustments of parenthood, she brought 2-month-old Lily to the chiropractor. “She was really colicky, crying, fussy, we had a couple days there where she was screaming and not settled,” said the mother from Bloomington. Dr. Anne Spicer, a pediatric chiropractor… more

Watchdog blast homeopathy site over whooping cough The consumer watchdog has forced a homeopathy website to take down claims the whooping cough vaccine is dangerous. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said the assertions by the Homeopathy Plus! website, which has ignored a previous order by the Therapeutic Goods Administration to publish a retraction of… more

It’s heartbreaking to have to bring news of the first death from whooping cough in Idaho, a state that has experienced a spike in illnesses due to lack of vaccinations. Idaho infant dies from whooping cough amid regional outbreak | Reuters. Whooping cough took the life of a 9-week-old girl from Idaho this week, the… more

Pediatricians in Canada discharging unvaccinated children. Pediatricians in Canada are starting to discharge children whose parents refuse to have them vaccinated. More and more, doctors are taking a stand when their medical advice is being ignored, said Dr. Hirotaka Yamashiro, chair of the pediatrics section for the Ontario Medical Association and president of the Pediatricians… more

Last week, the website Grist got themselves into a sticky mess with the publication of this article: Paper asks: Does high-fructose corn syrup contribute to a rise in autism? The blaring headline version of the new study’s conclusion would read: “High-Fructose Corn Syrup Causes Autism.” And while that may be a bit of an overstatement,… more

Likely in response to the overwhelming negative reaction to their decision to air a promotion from an anti-vax organization… Shame on you American Airlines. Anti-vax harms kids.(Updated: AmerAir defends the ad) and the huge following of the Bad Astronomy blog, American Airlines has decided not to air the AVN interview or include the information in… more

Media Release – AVN Information to air on American Airlines. The Australian Vaccination Network’s President, Meryl Dorey, has recently participated in an interview which will air for two months on all American Airlines domestic and international flights for the months of July and August, 2012. This interview will cover the following issues: the recent world-wide… more

Woman arrested for child abuse thought her baby was possessed Clearwater police have arrested a woman for child abuse after they say she tried to toss her her 3-month-old baby in the ocean because she thought he was possessed by demons. Officers found the woman on Palm Bluff standing on the sea wall half naked… more

Parents bury infant alive on advice from astrologer | The Jakarta Post. A nine-day-old infant was buried alive by the parents on the advice of an astrologer in Hapur, in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Malaysia Nanban reported that the ill-advised parents had put the baby in an earthen pot and buried it three feet in… more

Swedish town rocked by second child exorcism – The Local. Another teenage girl in Borås, western Sweden, has been subjected to physical abuse such as kicks, beatings and electric shocks, as her parents tried to exorcise her from evil spirits. “I can confirm that the investigation is under way and we are hoping to complete… more