The Guardian just got a little better

[Thing]

The UK newspaper of that name, that is. Emma Mitchell's "Ask Emma" column today had this welcome news
The time has come for me to turn my attentions to new projects. I have loved reading your letters, and it has delighted me to hear of so many readers embracing ways to improve their health naturally. Nurture yourself, your friends and your family, and I wish you love, light and lots of laughter - the best medicine.
And I wish you, Emma, good luck with your conscience. On August 17, 2002 you got an enquiry about a sore that wouldn't heal, one of the classic potential warning signs for cancer. You suggested rubbing lavender oil on it. Yes, you said they might want to see a doctor too. No, that doesn't get you off the hook. Lucky for you there's no afterlife.

By the way, that column is still accessible on The Guardian's web site, with no correction or proper warning.

But of course, there was a lighter side to your column. On November 1, 2003 a tree surgeon wrote to you about excessive ear wax. You told him that it was caused by the noise of his chainsaw, which certainly gave me a good laugh at your stupidity.

Of course The Guardian, being bastions of fair play and accountability forbade Ben Goldacre from referring to you in his Bad Science column. But he had recently mentioned some excessive plugs to a particular company by you and an Observer columnist on his own website. He recently took these posts down, saying that it wasn't the end of the matter and that something good might be happening soon. So I like to think you were fired. But it'd be pretty shameful for the Guardian if it was for conflict of interest rather than reckless endangerment of life.

By the way, in my opinion, The Guardian is about the best wide-circulation UK newspaper. Says it all, really.

[tkingdoll]

Yay! I can't think how many letters of complaint and corrections I've sent to The Guardian regarding Emma's stupid inane wafflings. What really used to infuriate me was the way that the paper wouldn't print retractions, even when she lied outright (see her article of Flouride for a good example), but simply published letters from angry dentists, doctors etc in the letters page, as though the corrections were a matter of opinion and not a matter of fact.

Good riddance, Emma.

[StewartP]

Did you guys followed any of the wars between The Guardian and UK blogger Scott Burgess? Scott regularly fisks the Graun
http://dailyablution.blogs.com/

Scott hassled the Graun because they had a "trainee" journalist called Dilpazier Aslam, who had written articles on the July 7th bombings. Turns out Aslam was a member of Hizb-ut-Tahrir. Scott argued that either The Graun new about his extremist links or, hadn't bothered to check him. Either way it was slack
http://dailyablution.blogs.com/the_daily_ablution/2005/07/sassy_suicide_b.html

[Big Les]

"love, light"???? Was Emma actually Shirley Ghostman all along?

Anyway, good riddance, and more power to Ben's elbow!

[Kenny 10 Bellys]

Are they simply replacing her with a less corrupt nutter, or not at all?

[Blue Wode]

According to the final paragraph of Emma’s column in the Guardian last Saturday, it’s going to be Max Pittler:


Next week, Dr Max Pittler will answer your questions.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1836558,00.html


We can only hope that it will be the same Max Pittler who’s a Senior Research Fellow with Edzard Ernst's team:
http://www.pms.ac.uk/compmed/staff.html

[Kenny 10 Bellys]

Sounds like the Dr Max Pittler of the "INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE RESEARCH". I guess we'll have to wait and see what he comes up with, but I dont imagine they're going to replace their lovely Ask Emma column with one diametrically opposed to it. It'd be fun, but I cant see it happening.

How much fun would it be to write that column? "Dear Dr Ten-Bellys, my karmic energy appears to be out of alignment with my third eye, what can you recommend to cure this?" "First you need to get a small ball-pein hammer from a good hardware store. You then need to sit down in a dark room and hit yourself lightly but firmly on the third eye for as long as it takes for you to realise how dumb you're being. Repeat as necessary."

[Dog Boots]

This reminds me of something a friend/co-worker of mine once told me.

In 9th grade (the last obligatory year of Danish grade school) there is an obligatory 1-week internship in a profession of your choice.

The friend of mine had a classmate whom was stationed at one of the largest Danish daily tabloids/papers, where he was given the task of putting together the daily horoscopes! :boggled:

"Just go down to the basement and find some old ones to get some inspiration", he was told...

[richardm]

How much fun would it be to write that column? "Dear Dr Ten-Bellys, my karmic energy appears to be out of alignment with my third eye, what can you recommend to cure this?" "First you need to get a small ball-pein hammer from a good hardware store. You then need to sit down in a dark room and hit yourself lightly but firmly on the third eye for as long as it takes for you to realise how dumb you're being. Repeat as necessary."

I think you should apply for the job just in case Max doesn't work out.

I must have missed that bit about Emma leaving. When I got to her bit I usually just turned the page because it made me all cross, and that's no way to start Sunday morning.

[Lothian]

I think you should apply for the job just in case Max doesn't work out.

I must have missed that bit about Emma leaving. When I got to her bit I usually just turned the page because it made me all cross, and that's no way to start Sunday morning.Same here I don’t waste my time on the new age twaddle, and skip those pages and turn straight to the tried and tested techniques used by Neil Spencer in his horoscopes

[richardm]

The stars have been fixed in their positions for thousands of years so they should know a thing or two am i rite?

Edit: It's true
:)

[Lothian]

The stars have been fixed in their positions for thousands of years so they should know a thing or two am i rite?

Edit: It's true
:)Of course. If it were not true it would not be in the paper.

[Kenny 10 Bellys]

As one of the 500,000,000 Gemini's on the planet who are meeting a new person, consoling an old friend, learning a lesson and going on a short trip today, I have to say I find your lack of faith disturbing.

[sophia8]

Well, Dr Max Pittler has just had his first "Ask Max" column published. And he sounds sensible!
One question was about night sweating, for which he recommended cutting out caffeine and reducing stress; the second question was about bloating and poor digestion. For this he recommended more fibre, more fruit, more exercise, adding at the end "This is a relatively cheap remedy - and might even save you money. If you want to take a dietary supplement, there is good evidence that psyllium....is effective." Good heavens! A complementary medicne pacticioner recommending health measures that don't cost money!
The thing that really irritated me about Emma Whateverhernamewas was her constant puffing of private "health centres" and expensive branded supplements, to the extent that I wondered about her journalistic neutrality. Her last column was absolutely typical. A mother asked about her child's severe eczema; Emma spouted her usual nonsense about "toxins" and "inability to digest proteins", with no mention of real medical measures, before spending most of the column on bigging up a business called "The Naturopathic Centre For Children", which offers "therapeutic nutrition", kinesiology, iridology, homeopathy, acupuncture, etc.
Yuck. Good riddance.

[Blue Wode]

Here’s the link to Max Pittler's debut column:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1841945,00.html

Max H Pittler is deputy director of complementary medicine, Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth. Before following Max's recommendations, you should consult your GP about any medical problems or special health conditions.

And he is on Professor Edzard Ernst’s team. :)

You can find his profile here:
http://www.pms.ac.uk/pms/school/details.php?id=136

[Mojo]

One question was about night sweating, for which he recommended cutting out caffeine and reducing stress; the second question was about bloating and poor digestion. For this he recommended more fibre, more fruit, more exercise, adding at the end "This is a relatively cheap remedy - and might even save you money. Well, that's no good in an alternative health column. You could go to your GP and get the same advice. ;)

The thing that really irritated me about Emma Whateverhernamewas was her constant puffing of private "health centres" and expensive branded supplements, to the extent that I wondered about her journalistic neutrality. Ben Goldacre seemed to be investigating this a few weeks ago, in particular the promotion of one particular company by Emma and another columnist, but nothing seems to have come of it yet. Her last column was absolutely typical. A mother asked about her child's severe eczema; Emma spouted her usual nonsense about "toxins" and "inability to digest proteins", with no mention of real medical measures, before spending most of the column on bigging up a business called "The Naturopathic Centre For Children", which offers "therapeutic nutrition", kinesiology, iridology, homeopathy, acupuncture, etc. And also colour therapy, ear candling, numerology... :oldroll:
Yuck. Good riddance.

[Soapy Sam]

Why do we never hear the term "Astrological Determinism" ?

[Yahzi]

Why do we never hear the term "Astrological Determinism" ?

Because even astrologers can't agree on your forecast...

:D