Gwangi Valley - Lost Blog of the Gwangi

Where dinosaurs are extinct, crystals aren’t magic and the Earth is more than 6,000 years old.

  • About

    Beware: Non-apologetic skepticism, science and rational thinking rules here.

    Do you believe the Loch Ness monster is real, that there may be a hidden valley full of living dinosaurs somewhere, that pads on your feet will draw out 'toxins' or that crystals will heal you? Well, if you do, no matter if you're a Raelian or a thalian or a Baptist... you're kind of an idiot. There? Does that set the tone of this blog well enough? The 21st century is no place for hoky ancient mysticism and old wives' tales. Grow up or grow extinct.

    Link to Podcast (RSS feed) for this blog
    Get and audio feed of
    Gwangi Valley from Talkr.

  • Archives:

  • Categories

Archive for the 'skepticism' Category


What do you mean by ‘natural’?

Sunday, January 11th, 2009
education, pseudoscience, science, skepticism | No Comments »

“Natural”. It’s thrown around every day on television and in magazines and… well, on Oprah and the like quite a lot. Mostly it’s used as a thinly veiled epithet aimed at the pharmaceutical industry. While I have no problem with bashing corporations who look more fondly on profits than on people, that does not, then, [...]

Short post at everydayskeptics.com

Sunday, December 21st, 2008
pop culture, skepticism, society | No Comments »

I posted a short piece to everydayskeptics.com about a recent so-called miracle.

http://everydayskeptics.com/how-to-cultivate-a-miracle/

The truth about vaccination is hard to hear

Monday, November 17th, 2008
education, pop culture, pseudoscience, quackery, science, skepticism, society | No Comments »

Preface: As often happens lately, it’s the podcasters at The Skeptics Guide to the Universe that get me off my butt and finally writing about something I’ve been meaning to get to. This entry is such a case. Their recent guest, Paul Offit, had a great Op-Ed piece in the NY Times regarding the controversial [...]

The relativity of wrongness

Sunday, August 24th, 2008
science, skepticism, society | No Comments »

Something I hear far too often for my liking and which annoys me to no end is the blustery reply, “Well in the ’70s they thought there was global cooling, so nyah!” OK, I added the ‘nyah’. But you know the argument. It’s along the lines of ‘if scientists were wrong then, then you have [...]

Science loses one of its champions

Monday, August 4th, 2008
science, skepticism | No Comments »

I’ve just heard that skeptic and astronomer and genuinely great guy Jeff Medkeff, aka The Blue Collar Scientist (http://bluecollarscientist.com), has died. He’d recently been diagnosed with liver cancer. He’ll be so very sorely missed.
Jeff and I had corresponded briefly and I kept thinking that it would be awesome if we could get together and meet. [...]

Follow-Up on the Cracker

Thursday, July 24th, 2008
cults, pop culture, pseudoscience, quackery, skepticism, society, supernatural | No Comments »

Well, P. Z. Myers has ended his crackerfest — although, one assumes, the overly worked-up catholics who’ve been sending him nasty un-christian sounding messages will continue on.
I won’t spoil the plot for you by telling you exactly what he did with his Jesus-flavoured cracker. You really need to read his post. Indeed, you should read [...]

It’s different when it’s your cow…

Friday, July 11th, 2008
pseudoscience, quackery, skepticism, society, supernatural | No Comments »

P.Z Myers, a scientist, professor at UMN and noted stirrer-upper of shite with the religious right, is embroiled in a bit of a… difference of opinion with some very itchy Catholics. But let us talk about cows for a second. Sacred ones.
A sacred cow. I doubt anyone reading this has not heard the term. It’s [...]

I couldn’t have said it better

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
cults, pop culture, quackery, skepticism, society | 1 Comment »

I may still write a piece on ‘Expelled’, the Ben Stein movie that has everyone talking… about what a steaming pile of crap ‘Expelled’, the Ben Stein movie, is. I want to discuss both it and ‘The Profit’, the movie Scientology managed to get, in America no less, in essence banned from release. Yes, my [...]

The Dichotomy of the ‘Closed Mind’ Argument

Sunday, April 20th, 2008
education, pseudoscience, quackery, science, skepticism, society, supernatural | No Comments »

Scientists, skeptics and other rational thinkers are often accused of being “closed-minded” or “not open to new ideas” when they refute, debunk or otherwise remain skeptical of a belief or claim. And, likely just as often, the accuser is someone arguing in favour of their own brand of mysticism or pseudo-science. Or, at the very [...]

The False Compromise -or- How you might be an asshole

Monday, April 7th, 2008
pop culture, pseudoscience, quackery, science, skepticism, society | No Comments »

Growing up I heard a phrase that, while crass, has stuck with me. “Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one and yours stinks.”
I would add, “Quite possibly, you’re also an asshole.” Maybe that’s just me. But I often find that pure opinion, the uninformed sort in particular, can be a parsimonious and troublesome commodity in [...]