Andrew Brown and ‘Evil’ Science

The smell of burning straw men is, again, wafting over Andrew Brown’s latest contribution to Comment is Free: This isn’t bad science. It’s evil science How helpful is it to say that science is neutral in itself, and what makes it good or evil are political decisions? Scientists, […]

R. vs Catt – is eight years too harsh?

On Monday, as has been widely reported, a 35 year old woman from North Yorkshire, Sarah Louise Catt, was sentenced to eight years imprisonment after pleading guilty to a, thankfully, extremely rare offence under s58 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861. 58. Administering drugs or using […]

Why I can’t support the Mental Health (Discrimination) Bill

Most people will be aware of the aphorism that ‘the road to hell is paved with good intentions’, fewer will be aware of the fact that there is quite a solid body of psychological research literature which suggests that there is considerable truth in that statement. In particular, […]

Abortion and Mortality Rates – How not to do science.

Over on the other side of the big pond, the Sacramento Bee is carrying the following report of a newly published ‘study’ which looks at the ‘relationship’ between female mortality and first pregnancy outcome. SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Sept. 5, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ — A new study of the medical records […]