There you are.

Having had a look at your comments, I was surprised that people thought I had asked for you to signh the Singh thingh. I re-read the post and realised that the quote at the end, from Simon, sounds like a plea from me. I wanted to raise awareness of the case, but please don’t sign anything unless you want to, and also understand and happen to agree with it. And as several of you have pointed out, this isn’t about whether or not chiropractors’ claims stand up, it’s about the appropriateness of libel as a way of silencing disagreement and avoiding debate. 

I’m now in Glasgow, for the last venue of the tour. It’s coming to an end. I then get a week for radio interviews, a bit of filming, and some discussions about changing anything in the show, and then we’re into dress runs at the Adelphi. Oh – what’s this?

Now that looks very handsome, doesn’t it? Oh yes it does. Look at those people walking past, all excited about it. They literally cannot believe it! Imagine the faces of their children when they get home and tell them what they’ve seen!

First night in Newcastle was marred by some lights not working right at the end, so you couldn’t quite see what was going on. The audience response to the finale was, understandably, the weakest of the tour. But a fun night nonetheless, and apart from this upset, it was a good show. The following two nights were great – some of the better moments of the tour, in fact. And some lovely people, as ever, hanging around outside, although I didn’t get much signing time. Apologies to anyone disappointed in the fact I had to rush past scribbling so illegibly on programmes, breasts and tickets. 

Glasgow was terrific last night: we have a couple of nights here at the Royal Concert Hall, a night off (the show has to be packed away), and then back up again for the final night on Sunday. A lovely city and venue to be finishing in. An exciting last little run and then we’re all getting geared up for the press night in London. 

Good Morning x

 I have put my name to a petition that feels that libel laws should not be used to silence discussion of medical practice and scientific evidence. This is following the British Chiropractic Association bringing a libel case against Simon Singh for questioning the evidence relating to their claims. It seems to many people, including your blogger, that the response to this should be open debate and defending of claims, not suing the respected author of an article for highlighting such doubts.

Simon has taken the brave move of appealing the pre-trial ruling, and Sense About Science have joined with him to gather support for the freedom of speech issue that underpins this. It can all be read about here. Simon is quoted as saying:

 

“It has been a stressful and frustrating twelve months since I published my article on chiropractors and their attempts to treat children with conditions such as asthma. The British Chiropractic Association’s decision to sue me for libel has been an enormous drain on my time and energy. However, the support that I have received from family, friends, readers, bloggers, scientists, journalists and those who care about free speech has been incredible, and it has played a crucial role in my decision to continue defending my article and fighting the libel action.

More importantly, everyone agrees that there is something fundamentally wrong with the English libel laws, which have a chilling effect on journalists, whether they write about science or anything else, whether they live in Britain or anywhere else. Hence, I am delighted that so many individuals and organisations have come together to launch a campaign with Sense About Science to highlight how the English libel laws clash with the right to discuss science in a frank and fair way. The Keep Libel Laws out of Science Campaign will also raise issues related to my particular libel case, and it will encourage a debate on the reform of the English libel system.

The campaign launch revolves around the statement shown below, and I would urge anyone who cares about science or free speech to show support by signing up.

And I would also encourage you to make your friends and colleagues aware of the issues at stake and ask them to sign up. It is possible that the time is right for major libel reform in England, which will then allow scientists and journalists to write with less fear of being intimidated.”

Let’s hope so. 

x

Cory Doctorow’s brilliant BoingBoing has brought this to my attention. I did a little wee of excitement and will be emailing the nice lady suggesting she might like to come and photograph at my place. Hmmmmmm, lovely, ssshhhhhh, everyone else go away. 

Private Cabinet Series

x

More important, desperately-needed work from Sense About Science. The groundless, pseudo-scientific claims of homeopathy are now pushing towards creating a possible public heath disaster. For an honest appraisal of homeopathy, and what testing has shown, look here. And for SAS’s excellent PDF entitled I’ve got nothing to lose by trying it – Weighing up claims about cures and treatments for long-term conditions, go here.
Again, we are reminded of the lucid, simple point that a medicine works or it doesn’t. It can’t be shown to not work but somehow still be said to ‘work’ in some ‘alternative’ sense. Here is the press release, sent to me yesterday:
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