tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477385342066275897.post6099119956416001463..comments2024-01-11T10:42:04.473+00:00Comments on Hawk/Handsaw: Andrew Lansley and Nadine Dorries, perhaps unsurprisingly, don't read this blog...Paul Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18101626906004768474noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477385342066275897.post-5391091136326760102023-10-16T00:56:20.247+01:002023-10-16T00:56:20.247+01:00Very nice blog you hhave hereVery nice blog you hhave hereThirty9stepshttps://thirty9steps.tumblr.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477385342066275897.post-8204254210578265172008-05-20T00:58:00.000+01:002008-05-20T00:58:00.000+01:00Yes, we (loosely speaking) are just a group of blo...Yes, we (loosely speaking) are just a group of bloggers and the League of Concerned Nerds (tm). On the other hand, the <A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/mar/17/tax.pressandpublishing" REL="nofollow">Taxpayer's Alliance is pretty small yet remarkably effective</A>: "The TaxPayers' Alliance, which claims to be "Britain's independent grassroots campaign for lower taxes", has popped up in our papers more than three times every day this year...<BR/>They boast 18,000 registered supporters of whom 3,000 have donated money, but their real success is media coverage. As well as providing comment, says Elliott, the TPA uses freedom of information laws to compile headline-grabbing reports, always giving an obvious "top line". "One journalist told me the TPA now does the work newspapers used to when journalists had the time to do investigations," he says".<BR/>They have an effective core staff of 3 (not paid afaik), one of whom is Wat Tyler from <A HREF="http://burningourmoney.blogspot.com/" REL="nofollow">Burning Our Money</A>.<BR/><BR/>For a more grassroots, less organised approach to a different audience than reads newspapers etc., I've been wondering about a cross between <A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/user/CaptainDisillusion" REL="nofollow">Captain Disillusion on YouTube</A> and <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1XFF8WY40DY2H/ref=cm_cr_pr_auth_rev?ie=UTF8&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview" REL="nofollow">Jaime Pretell's debunking text and video reviews on Amazon</A>.<BR/><BR/>Both of which are examples of going to where some people get their information from?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477385342066275897.post-21323599956644357872008-05-19T16:36:00.000+01:002008-05-19T16:36:00.000+01:00Loads of issues here, I think.In this case, Prof F...Loads of issues here, I think.<BR/><BR/>In this case, Prof Field (the lead author of the Trent research) has stepped up to the plate and pointed out that his study cannot sustain Lansley's interpretation of it. It's perhaps a pity that, at least in the published comments, he has concentrated on Lansley rather than the far more egregious Dorries. However, that's a side issue. Prof Field is obviously a more authoritative voice in this debate than I am, and rightly so. I'm really just an amateur with a reasonable ability to look at research, stemming from my day job as a geologist. So the question is why would anyone be paricularly interested in what I have to say?<BR/><BR/>Doing press releases would be a good thing, I think, but you would have to be something other than just a bunch of bloggers, because no-one is going to take that seriously. Even so, Nadine Dorries seems to have become the go-to media person on abortion limits, despite her comments being almost entirely useless in terms of constructive debate. Would it be possible to create some umbrella organisation that becomes the go-to on scientific issues, by pooling expertise?<BR/><BR/>Of course, there would be nothing stopping me from writing letters to the editor and such like (and I have done this in the past). But what you're really talking about is something a level or two above that, I think. I don't think letters to the editor really do much to advance debate.<BR/><BR/>Just some disconnected thoughts, really. But it's an issue I've been thinking about to. What's the best way of converting blogging into useful results?Paul Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18101626906004768474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477385342066275897.post-71273547778626161632008-05-19T16:13:00.000+01:002008-05-19T16:13:00.000+01:00I do expect our elected representatives to instruc...I do expect our elected representatives to instruct their research staff to carry out a thorough search, particularly when they are discussing such important matters.<BR/><BR/>And yes - anything that abhors 'centralisation or organisation' would end up being like herding cats.<BR/><BR/>So - carry on grumbling into the cornflakes and discussing with the members of the same choir (mostly) rather than attempt a contribution to the level of public discourse?<BR/><BR/>No merit to the idea at all? In which case, are we complaining/blogging as a method of venting, and for the benefit of some people who know how to conduct a blog search, or what?<BR/><BR/>Related to this post but something that I've been musing for a while.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477385342066275897.post-8079563855995930402008-05-19T14:49:00.000+01:002008-05-19T14:49:00.000+01:00To be fair, I could hardly expect folks like Lansl...To be fair, I could hardly expect folks like Lansley and Dorries, who after all are very busy people, to read what is a fairly obscure blog. It might be an idea for them read Bad Science, though...<BR/><BR/>Lansley seems to be at least trying to make an honest argument that some infants born at 22 weeks do survive. But that hasn't changed since the last time the abortion limit was amended to 24 weeks.<BR/><BR/>Dorries, on the other hand, is not attempting to make an honest appraisal of the evidence.<BR/><BR/>You could imagine that something like Bad Science Blogs could put out press releases on some issues. But it would have to become a more centralised, organised thing, and I think that would probably go against the spirit in which it came about.Paul Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18101626906004768474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4477385342066275897.post-19465884931910379252008-05-19T13:46:00.000+01:002008-05-19T13:46:00.000+01:00Well, they ought to read this blog. This constant ...Well, they ought to read this blog. This constant parroting of things that they ought to know are untrue/inaccurate is wearing thin.<BR/><BR/>Is one of the issue that, as blogs, we don't have an easy way to submit complaints to newspapers and similar? Do we need a way that allows the League of Concerned Nerds (tm, Ben Goldacre, age 33 11/12 and 3/4 or thereabouts) to send letters to individuals and organisations? <BR/><BR/>In that way, we could complain to Jayney Goddard and her organisation about her distortions on <A HREF="http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2008/05/how-to-become-daytime-tv-expert-jayney.html" REL="nofollow">The Wright Stuff</A>, to Nadine Dorries about this material, and various other outrages of the day. If we had enough people who were able to comment, it would also permit press releases.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com