I survived!

Well, my four month homeopathy overdose is done, and I survived. If you're any where near Cheltenham, you may wish to come to my talk for Skeptics in the Pub.

Relatedly, I saw this post on the Refractive Index blog via David Allen Green (aka Jack of Kent), which is a good little summary of the ways twitter can be used.

Previously, I'd been aware that James Delingpole is a climate change denier, but didn't know about his thoughts on homeopathy. Without a trace of irony, he criticised skeptics for "grotesque, self-aggrandising aura of smugness". This from a man who describes himself as "I'm lovely and right about everything", and who, in the same article, goes on to assert:

Furthermore, to attempt such an argument constitutes the most sublime hypocrisy. AGW is the most expensive unproven hypothesis in the history of science. Wiser heads – such as the new intake at the US House of Representatives, a majority of whom have voted to withdraw funding from the IPCC because it is so heavily politicised and devoid of scientific credibility – are increasingly cognizant of this uncomfortable truth. Not a shred of convincing empirical evidence has yet been produced to show that human CO2 emissions pose any kind of serious threat to the health of the planet.

Let's get this clear, James Delingpole is wrong, AGW is something to worry about, and, all the arguments I have heard from climate change deniers thus far are nicely countered here (this includes those in Delingpole's piece).

Unfortunately, some people aren't as amenable to reason as others, and as the Refractive Index blog shows, when David Allen Green asks, quite reasonably:

And gets this in reply:

We can see just where the issue with tone is (amongst many other things).