A lot of people think that breastfeeding is a tenuous, fragile, and even dangerous thing. Oh, they might concede that breastfeeding is a fine thing to do if it’s easy, and the mother is perfectly healthy, and the baby is… Read More ›
Science
Cos chicks shouldn’t dig SF! Especially hot ones!
Joss, Joss, Joss, don’t be such a big giant douche. Here is Joss Whedon accepting the Bradbury Award for screenwriting (part of the Nebula Awards): Note that in this set of Nebulas, the women dominated. Top honours were won by… Read More ›
Psychiatrists see reasonable adaptations to CFS, label it “cause” and “maladaptation”
There’s a whole industry that involves measuring the survival techniques and truths of people with CFS, then pointing the finger at them for causing their own illness with their Scientifically! Proven! personality “deficits”. Here’s the latest product of that industry…. Read More ›
Been way too long since the last astronomy nerd post
This one is just so elegantly composed. North America got a very pretty show this week from the Moon and Venus.
Emergency Department “Did Not Waits” – what’s the real story?
This appeared in yesterday’s West: “Urgent ED cases walk out before treatment”
More than three patients needing urgent attention leave the busy emergency departments of Perth’s major hospitals every day without being treated, new figures show. Documents obtained through Freedom of Information laws show that last year, 7215 patients across all levels of urgency attended the emergency departments at Royal Perth, Sir Charles Gairdner, Fremantle and Princess Margaret hospitals but left without being seen by a doctor.
They included 48 category 2 or “emergency” patients, typically including suspected heart attacks, and 1184 category 3 or “urgent” cases, which can include head injuries and major bleeding or fractures. Twenty of these patients were children.
This article looks at some important questions, but it fails to illuminate us on what the answers might be – and the information presented is a little misleading.
Severely injured asylum seekers and the right to privacy
As Aussies probably know, folks on a boat were rescued by the Navy up off Ashmore Reef this week, after their boat caught fire. The origin of the fire is a matter of some dispute. The Liberal (conservative) Premier of… Read More ›
Political speech and PR cleanup: the AAP squirms at the DigitalNow conference
You can download the full video of Amber McArthur’s keynote here, but I’ve picked out the part of interest to me, because it is right at the end.
Why is it of interest? It’s a chap from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), in this video called only “John”, quietly panicking about the organisation’s latest public relations disaster: Jay Gordon’s April Fool press release stating that the AAP would no longer accept sponsorship from infant formula companies.
First the good news
A Netherlands study showing that midwife-assisted homebirths are at least as safe for low-risk mothers as midwife-led hospital deliveries and Did you know that defence lawyers in NSW and other Australian states can subpoena counsellor records of rape victims on behalf of the alleged rapist? Without the victim’s knowledge?
Thursday Cheezburger: Cats and Technology
Runner-up:
Skeptic quickhit: homeopathy
Reworked (with the artist’s permission) from a poster featured on Orac’s blog.
Hoyden About Town 