text:
Don't be skeptical of skeptics
I've been off-line for a couple of weeks so this is a very belated response to Frank Swain's gig at Westminster Skeptics at the beginning of August.
Frank Swain, aka SciencePunk, no longer calls himself a skeptic. This isn't because he's become less of one. On the contrary, he described himself as being "born of the skeptic movement" and "hugely enamoured" with it. But he has, in recent years, distanced himself from the "skeptic community" because he doesn't want to be associated with its attitudes and behaviour.
It seemed a little odd when, towards the end of his talk, he introduced what he described as the most important part of it with the revelation that as a "white, middle-class, college-educated, science-background man", he wasn't qualified to talk about it. As it turned out, that was one of the few things Frank said that I agreed with. The topic at this stage was "who we invite and make space for in our community", the community in question being the people who write or talk or campaign in any way on the kind of issues that skeptics are concerned about; the one Frank is hugely enamoured with but doesn't want to be associated with.
Before he said that, we'd heard much about how macho, aggressive, arrogant, intolerant and hostile skeptics are and we were treated to a list of quotes of the "quacks are stupid" variety that he'd lifted from various skeptic blogs. We also heard how we were doing things wrong, from what he described as our "evidence or fuck off" approach to debate to our refusal to engage with people's "scary" emotions. Even the format for skeptics meetings in pubs was "intimidating". He didn't pull his punches — here's a typical quote:
…I don't want to shoot my load too soon but there is something very important I want to say, which is that arguing from the basis of facts is ineffective and cowardly…
It was obvious that, however enamoured Frank might once have been, he doesn't love us anymore. Now, in the "most important part" of his talk, he told us of lots of other people don't love us either. People like women, mothers, humanities graduates and members of the Green party. As for ethnic minorities, "We do fail to take an interest in them, don't we?" he said mysteriously, before moving swiftly on.
On women he was more forthcoming: women aren't comfortable coming into "this very aggressive environment", he claimed. He'd even had emails from women telling him as much.
I wish to goodness those women would email me so I could tell them to get a fucking grip!
As many readers of this blog know, I was not born of the skeptic movement myself. Rather, I am a born-again skeptic, having previously spent many years as a female humanities graduate and occasional user of altmeds, which never failed to disappoint me. I owe a debt of gratitude to the many skeptics who helped me on my path to enlightenment. Having spent some years trying to be all nice and polite and empathic when engaging with promoters of pseudoscience and opponents of vaccines, only to be repeatedly sneered at and insulted while my arguments — whether facts or anecdotes — were ignored, I can't begin to describe how liberating it was to find all these blogs by people who weren't afraid to call a spade a spade or quacks stupid.
As for skeptic meetings, I don't recognise the "very aggressive environment", Frank spoke of. One of the many ironies about his presentation is that, having attended many different skeptics meetings, I've only ever felt uncomfortable twice and both times were during his talk.
He made much of how important it is to think about how you would explain an issue to your mother. I agree. My son is six foot plus and nearly fourteen stone but I'd still give him a slap if I heard him use such a graphically macho expression as, "I don't want to shoot my load too early". Is this how Frank talks to his mother?
Worse was to come (no pun intended):
It's only by understanding mothers and understanding that they are swayed by stories not facts…
Oh dear! It's been a while since I felt as patronised as I did at that moment. Mercifully, most skeptics don't say things like that or I wouldn't touch them with my husband's lightsaber.
Much of what Frank said came across as either bizarre or gratuitously insulting. Take, for example, his view that that arguing from the basis of facts is ineffective and cowardly. Frank accuses skeptics of fetishising facts and of having "an obsession that you fight based on the factual accuracy of your idea", which isn't effective, he says, because people prefer stories and we have to "emotionalise" issues.
OK, I'll concede there is some truth in that last point, which is why I write as I do. Just look at the colourful and interesting way I am telling the story of Frank's talk, for example. And I make frequent use of stories of people suffering and dying at the hands of evil or stupid quacks in my blog posts. One of my favourite skeptic websites has an abundance of such stories. Funnily enough, the invariable response from my detractors is to dismiss them as anecdotes.
But what is "cowardly" about arguing from the basis of facts? Here's Frank:
When you go in with a foregone conclusion and you know your numbers are right, you're being particularly cowardly and very pedantic in my opinion and the worst thing about that is that you make no attempt to understand where that other person might be coming from.
I think what Frank is trying to say here is that the danger of being sure of one's position is that we might fail to empathise with the other person and why they take the position they do. If that's what he meant then it's a fair point, which applies equally to those we argue against. It probably applies to most people arguing about most things they feel strongly about.
That Frank should make this point in such a hostile and aggressive way by calling it 'cowardly' struck me as another of the ironies about his talk. In any event, he is wrong. It is not cowardly to base an argument on facts and the reality is that people respond to both facts and stories, depending on where they're at.
Here's Frank on mothers again:
They hear these conflicting stories and above all else they want the best for their kid. They want to protect their child at all cost and it's only by understanding this that you are then going to convince them that the MMR is the right way to go and you cannot do that with this arrogant attitude that you are right based on facts.
Rhetoric that sounds persuasive when spoken looks pretty empty on the printed page doesn't it? How silly is the suggestion that skeptics don't understand that mothers want to protect their children at all costs? And that one shouldn't try to present them with the real facts because that's "arrogant"? What are we supposed to do instead? Frank didn't tell us.
It so happens that back in the mid-eighties when I was having my children, there was a big scare about the whooping cough vaccine. I was swayed by stories of the jab causing brain damage and I was equally swayed by stories of the miseries and dangers of whooping cough. The anti-vaxers caused me a great deal of anxiety and even less sleep than I was getting already with a young baby. So what did I do? I went looking for the bloody facts and I went on looking until I found them (not so easy in those pre-internet days). As a result of what I found out, both my children got all the jabs they were supposed to. I wish to goodness I'd known some of the facts that I know now before I'd been persuaded by people's anecdotes to waste any time or money trying out quack therapies.
So I wasn't persuaded by Frank's argument about arguments. I felt his comments about blogging were a bit loopy as well. After pointing out — presumably for those of us too dim to realise it — that there's a limit to what we can do on a blog and that a lot of people don't come to the internet for information, Frank went on to say that the approach we choose to take and the tone in which we do so "narrows down our audience". This is undeniably true. People who don't want to read a skeptic perspective on anything will not read skeptic blogs. The danger, argues Frank, is that we only reach the people who think the same way as us; that we're just an "echo chamber".
It's a curious suggestion that people only read stuff they think they are going to like and agree with and I invite anyone who thinks there's any truth in it to look at the lower left hand column on this blog and peruse some of the comments that have been made about it — and me — by my readers.
In his introduction Frank had said,
The most powerful thing I can do as a writer is change someone's mind, shape the way they see the world, change the way someone thinks…
I agree. What Frank failed to do in his talk is explain why he thinks skeptic bloggers aren't doing this because I know from personal experience that they are and that skeptic bloggers can take a large part of the credit for the recent groundswell of support for skeptic causes from people who'd hitherto taken little or no interest.
My most fundamental disagreement with Frank is over his idea that anyone who promotes a sceptical approach to pseudoscience is a member of the 'skeptic community' and answerable for the crimes of any other member of said community. He referred to the recent twitter storm over Gillian McKeith during which somebody apparently called her a "stupid fucking cunt".
What does it show about a community when we allow somebody to say something like that and they feel comfortable in an environment saying someone is a stupid fucking cunt?
Allow somebody?
I don't buy into the notion that we are a 'community' in any meaningful sense of the word. As far as I'm concerned, the only thing I have in common with most other skeptics is an opposition to the dishonest promotion and public funding of altmed. Being a skeptic is a small part of who I am. Amongst other things, I am also a feminist. I write from a feminist perspective but I'm not in any 'feminist community'. In common with other secularists, I am opposed to religious privilege but nobody talks about a 'secularist community' and I don't mind standing shoulder to shoulder with feminists and secularists who use quack remedies when we're campaigning for abortion or against faith schools.
When I see the nasty things that other secularists sometimes say about those with any kind of religious faith, I can get quite offended on behalf of the highly intelligent, thinking and liberal but religious members of my extended family. But I am not responsible for how other secularists behave — they have nothing to do with me and I don't see why I should feel any different about other skeptics. I don't defend the way a bunch of people I don't know behaved over Gillian McKeith on Twitter but I can understand the anger behind it. It wasn't because McKeith is an enemy of scepticism, as Frank suggested, but because of what she did and what she had done before she did that. And if "all" that's happened as a consequence is that she has stopped promoting herself on Twitter, as Frank lamented, then that sounds like a result to me.
Frank did make the point that skeptics aren't formally organised and therefore lack the infrastructure of the environmentalists. Nevertheless he constantly referred to skeptics as if we were bound together by something more than a shared interest in promoting an evidence-based approach and critical thinking.
We are a community; we know the same people, we have the same experiences, we read the same things…we have our own particular gods and monsters and we elevate these people who are our gods up to this level where no-one is allowed to criticise… anything that someone like Ben Goldacre or Simon Singh or Evan Harris says is beyond question. There's this prevailing attitude that you don't speak out against these top people.
Hogwash. Yes, there are a number of guru-like figures for skeptics but only because they have achieved a high profile by saying and doing things we agree with and because they have been the targets of bullying and abuse from people who stand for what we disagree with. But where does this idea that any individual skeptic wouldn't speak out if he or she disagreed with anything any of these prominent figures said or did? Because I certainly would. I am an admirer and frequent defender of Richard Dawkins, for example. Dawkins is said to be a guru for hard core atheists like me. Yet the only blog I've written about him was to argue that he was wrong and I'll do the same favour for Ben or Simon or anyone else in a heartbeat should they give me cause to.
I think that's very dangerous, it's not a situation I think we should be in…We like to think of ourselves as critical, sceptical people,
So says Frank. Well that's OK because that situation doesn't exist outside of his imagination. The reason we think of ourselves as critical, sceptical people is because we are and I hope that nobody was so demoralised by Frank's talk (which was notably short of constructive suggestions) that they'll do anything differently.
Here are all the other blog responses that I'm aware of. I think most, if not all, are more sympathetic than mine.
48 Responses to Don't be skeptical of skeptics
I've been an atheist all my life, even after exploring lots of religions, I was born into the movement, I guess.
I'm also female. Being female and capable of being a mother doesn't mean I can't be a skeptic. I have had mental health issues which have meant that I DO appreciate how easy it is to become vulnerable to scams and "miracle cures".
I also appreciate that for parents, the main source of information on anything is the general media, and that because the general media's coverage of science is often abysmal, it is very easy to believe horror stories like the MMR scandal.
I've argued myself that skeptics need to think carefully about how they approach communicating facts and scientific knowledge to people who are vulnerable to getting caught up in health scandals and believing in altmeds.
It's not about winning an argument, in these cases, it's about sharing the truth and avoiding unnecessary risks people suffer at the hands of snake oil peddlers.
I wasn't terribly impressed by the Gillian McKeith thing, but that's just my take. She had done plenty in the past that might warrant it, and her behaviour toward a twitterer was hardly exemplary.
I agree with you. I certainly feel that I'm aware that people other than white, rich middle class men exist, because I don't belong to that group. Most of what I've seen of the skeptic movement has been an honest desire to protect people who are vulnerable from harm. It's not about ending the movement, I think it's about how we communicate the truth to people affected.
Skepticat said:
"As many readers of this blog know, I was not born of the skeptic movement myself. Rather, I am a born-again skeptic, having previously spent many years as a female humanities graduate and occasional user of altmeds, which never failed to disappoint me."
"I wish to goodness I'd known some of the facts that I know now before I'd been persuaded by people's anecdotes to waste any time or money trying out quack therapies."
There ARE quack alt. therapies, of course there are. And there are some lousy therapists – sometimes because they're beginners. There are also quack medications, lousy doctors and stupid medical or surgical procedures. If I broke my leg though, I wouldn't be saying to the ambulance driver "No, no – take me to my Reiki Master!" because I don't dismiss all doctors, surgeons and medical personnel on the basis of some of the clowns I've met in the past. I'm prepared to give each new bod the benefit of the doubt, since earlier disappointments/failures were nothing to do with them personally.
You tar all so-called "quacks" with the same brush, and as a successful hypnotherapist with a very good local reputation even within the medical profession itself, I find that offensive and way too subjective.
However, it is understandable if what you say is true about your own personal experiences. Cynicism is an angry, vengeful condition born of hurt and disappointment. Skepticism isn't, it is a genuinely open-minded position seeking evidence. Evidence comes in many forms – but not to the cynic. Cynics are on a mission, and will dismiss as much evidence as they can if it is not helpful to their cause.
Sometimes a client will tell me that they previously went to a hypnotherapist and didn't get the success they sought at the time. Within two minutes (about five questions) I'll know the reason for that, and it won't worry me at all. However, if that client had decided to feel all hurt and 'cheated', they might have concluded after that first disappointment that they "tried hypnotherapy but IT didn't work". Rubbish. There is no IT. There is a client, an issue and a therapist, and if that particular therapist wasn't very good, or wasn't very good with that issue, then there could well be a client and an issue still at the end of it. Just as anyone would prefer to have an excellent GP or an excellent dentist, an excellent hypnotherapist can do far more than a beginner, or a dabbler.
I'm not defending all of "alt.med" on that basis though, and I'd be interested to hear more about the therapies you actually tried.
Another great post
@Chris Holmes
Where you begin, "There are quack alt. therapies, of course there are. And there are some lousy therapists – sometimes because they're beginners. There are also quack medications, lousy doctors and stupid medical or surgical procedures…" That looks like a Straw Man argument. Surely Skepticat only complains about quack therapies – she doesn't actually imply all alt therpists are quacks. (Although she may actually think that.)
Again, where you say, "You tar all so-called "quacks" with the same brush, and as a successful hypnotherapist with a very good local reputation even within the medical profession itself, I find that offensive and way too subjective" I reckon that too is a straw man.
As you also state you are a succesful hypnotherapist, I just had to have a nose at your website. I found it interesting that you don't provide much in the way of evidence to support the conditions you say you can treat. (I don't count anecdotes as evidence). As far as I'm aware, systematic reviews suggest hypnosis doesn't help smoking cessation. (Have to admit that surpised me, as smoking cessation seems to be the staple of most hypnotists.) I also couldn't find much positive evidence regarding depression and hypnosis (found this qoute from 1998: There is a dearth of investigations into homeopathy for depression from Ernst, Rand, & Stevinson, 1998). Also nothing much on anxiety: "The current RCT evidence is insufficient to support the use of hypnosis for treating anxiety." (Primary Care and Community Psychiatry, Volume 12, Issue 2 2007 , pages 49 – 63 ).
I am aware there is significant good evidence regarding hypnosis and pain. As I would assume there is for relaxation and pain.
One last thing, Chris – how do you define hypnosis?
I am already well aware of what you all (on this side of the 'debate') DON'T count as evidence. My clients of course expect me to live up to what appears on the website, and I do. If I didn't, they would want to know why and as I deal with these people face to face – unlike yourselves, I'm not just talking the talk here, I've spent the last ten years working with thousands of real people. So although you have to read about the work of other people (like Ernst) to have any views, I actually have expertise in that field (unlike Ernst).
How do I define hypnosis? If you really had read into the website, and not just "had a nose" at it, you wouldn't need to ask.
I have to say, if I had read the kind of material you seem to believe is telling you the truth about hypnotherapy, I'd never have bothered with it and I'd have missed out on the most wonderful and fulfilling work I've ever been involved with – so excuse my contempt for Ernst, Cochrane group et al. If you really want to know – which of course you don't, but it's entirely your loss – you're looking in the wrong place.
"FYI, the therapies I tried were the stuff sold on in high street chemists like homeopathy and Bach flower remedies. The only quack I've ever had an appointment with was a chiro."
Wow, you really know your stuff about the entire alternative field! HA! Sounds to me like you were bullied into your cynical position and made to feel like a fool for even entertaining the idea such things could help. Since I've never tried Bach remedies, never been to a chiropractor or tried any homeopathic remedy ever, I'm not even in a position to suggest that they would be useful for anything, but if that's the extent of your personal experience I don't think it was "evidence" either – but that didn't stop you mentioning it, did it?
Anecdote – worthless.
"I have to say, if I had read the kind of material you seem to believe is telling you the truth about hypnotherapy, I'd never have bothered with it and I'd have missed out on the most wonderful and fulfilling work I've ever been involved with – so excuse my contempt for Ernst, Cochrane group et al. If you really want to know – which of course you don't, but it's entirely your loss – you're looking in the wrong place."
Wouldn't it be more consistent with such [shockingly "endarkenment", anti-scientific] views to just not include – along with the 'evidence' you do value – an example of that contemptible, wrong place, kind of material (your Evidence E2) when it happens to appear to support your beliefs?
Look into my eyes, not around the eyes, into the eyes. Relax. And Sleep, sleep, sleep.
Hypnosis really isn't as effective as you suggest. You will change your webpage so it is not going to be misleading. Ernst and Cochrane Group are good sources of proper evidence. Anecdotes are crap.
Three, two, one, eyes wide open and wake up.
That'll be fifty pounds, please. See you next Tuesday for another session.
"The reason we think of ourselves as critical, sceptical people is because we are"
..and long may you remain so, for it is scepticism that has driven the course of human development, the ability and desire 'not' to accept the status quo just because we are told "it is the way it is".
Reading through your posts is refreshing and a pleasure, it is nice to see such a well balanced arguement being postulated and grown, I will be back as I feel your style and content has much to teach.
@AG excellent last comment, though I am sure Chris does not much appreciate it! £50 LOL!
HMMM! no follow button, will have to blog roll you then!
Oooo I see it now thanks S!, youre blogrolled now anyway so I will see your new posts come up.
I don't know about 'kind' comments I speak as I find, there are many no doubt think I am too forceful (profane) but well I only write about what tee's me off mostly! and as I said I could learn much from your style!
See you around the place…
When I speak with someone one-on-one I am much more aware of their sensitivities. I try to empathize as best I can and draw out their beliefs and discuss them. Sometimes the person is uninformed and sharing facts goes over well, other times people are convinced by their own perception of results that no amount of RCT evidence will prevail.
Whereas speaking with a group, it is hard to achieve such a rapport and there is a tendency to be a bit more dogmatic. "I feel your pain" and other trite/worn statements do not establish rapport.
I think the latter situation is what leads to criticism of the aggressive nature of skeptics. When faced with wretched, dogmatic statements of "true believers", it is hard not to attack stupidity. It creates a cognitive dissonance in skeptics to hear bulls**t, and one gets upset.
There seems to be consensus that narrative is a better communication vehicle for relating points of view and facts. This is Skepticat's style and I enjoy her periodic blogs. They have provided me with insight to the interactions with purveyors of alt. meds. I have never tried them, as I was wary of them since was a teenager, so have only a scientific understanding of the attraction and danger of alt meds for the credulous.
I utterly despise the alt med practitioners who pull someone in and suggest that continuing treatment is necessary; perhaps a lifetime or until you insurance runs out. Society suffers too much from the unintended consequences of rules and laws. To have them based on unprovable assertions of "truth" has even worse consequences. That is what makes me aggressive, I fear the effect of decisions based on non-science.
From Frank's Speech:
we have our own particular gods and monsters and we elevate these people who are our gods up to this level where no-one is allowed to criticise… anything that someone like Ben Goldacre or Simon Singh or Evan Harris says is beyond question.
This is, to borrow a phrase, utter bollocks, and it shows that Swain either hasn't been paying attention recently or is being quite dishonest. Look no further than the critiques of Dawkins over the handling of his website forums and the Bill Maher affair, or over Phil Plait for his "Don't Be a Dick" talk, or over frigging Randi and his stupid, stupid comments about Climate Change. If there are gods in the skeptical community, Randi is chief among the living ones, and the global warming kerfuffle shows that the legions of skeptics will descend on him as well, given reason.
It is touching to see how much you all love and appreciate each other for like-minded ignorance.
"Andrew, if I gave out an award for the most entertaining comment ever on this blog, it would go to you."
Andrew, your clueless notion of what "hypnosis" is differs not one jot from the average moron journalist, so of course you think that's hilarious and so does the Septic Cat. Yes, you really deserve a comedy award. You have a rare talent.
You are all very naive about the way "scientific evidence" is manufactured, but I think you're pretty comfortable and complacent in your babyish trust in the powers that be, so go back to your mutual admiration activities and don't worry your little heads about it. It is interesting, though, to see what happens in the Church Of Science camp when one of your own number starts to raise questions about prevailing attitudes: pretty much the same thing happens to any scientist who admits to having an open mind about psychic abilities or UFOs.
I think a good deal of this so-called skepticism is just fear really. Fear and denial. Oh, and of course ignorance.
Jim R:
"I utterly despise the alt med practitioners who pull someone in and suggest that continuing treatment is necessary; perhaps a lifetime or until you insurance runs out."
Jim, I would entirely agree with that if there are demonstrable cases where it holds true. FYI hardly anyone has ever used insurance to claim back the cost of a hypnotherapy session in my ten years' experience. Since I do most of my work in one, two or three sessions (very few people need more than that to get the success they describe on my website) any hypnotherapist who SUGGESTS continuing treatment over a long period would be a fraud.
Skepticat, I know you would love to believe you're open-minded and maybe you once were, but I work with skeptics all the time and believe me, you are far closer to cynic than skeptic. When you are talking about flower remedies and homeopathy though I suspect you're right but I don't KNOW that. I have little doubt, but I don't KNOW it. That's an open mind. Whatever the case, that has no bearing whatever on other therapies in the alternative field. My enthusiasm for hypnotherapy is based entirely on the results I get. Nothing else.
This week's email of The Skeptics Society has an article by Raymond Eve. that looks at the differences in worldview between two fairly opposite groups: Creationists and Wiccans. Eve says,"… these two groups were deliberately chosen with the expectation that they would be both extreme and diametrically opposed in their choices of epistemological rules for knowing." Article at:
Eve concludes that socio-cultural factors are a significant factor in paranormal beliefs. Further people from rural vs. urban settings tend to have conservative vs. modernist, respectively, approaches to understanding reality.
I think the sharp contrasts between these groups offers insights into the world view of skeptics. Using the rule of return to the mean, I will attempt to summarize an average skeptic. There is probably no skeptic who would hold to 100% of these observations. Skeptics bridge this cultural divide and it makes us hard to understand by people from either of the cultures. Familiarity with the article will help with the following assertions.
1. Skeptics are scientific cultural traditionalists in desiring significant proofs for changing some part of their worldview. I think the perceived cynicism is rather an interpretation by others of the desire to preserve the insights (understandings) achieved with so much difficulty. Skeptics can review the research of many people and see where the consensus leads, but they do not accept things on the basis of authority alone. Charges of Scientism as a religion just don't wash.
2. Skeptics are comfortable with a broader list of acceptable social activities as are cultural modernists. There isn't any proof to reject activities that are neither harmful to us as individuals or to society. This does not imply anything about the personal choices of any skeptic, rather the acceptance of those choices that may be made by others.
3.+ More descriptors can be abstracted and I would welcome them.
I think this provides understanding of the cultural presets of skeptics and persons with whom they may clash. The skeptic mindset is achieved with great difficulty. One has to overthrow a lot of cultural dogma and search for a basis for a new worldview. This involves a lot of work over a long time. When a skeptic is "reborn", it is like a light has been seen. It is exciting. New skeptics should be forgiven for acting as proselytes. They are the source of some friction with the "established" order and disorder. I think the views are frightening and disturbing to some. Because of the journey to skepticism, I guess that most "new skeptics" are older.
There is no central authority to which skeptics subscribe. There is not a list of agreed dogmas. There is consensus on a large number issues, but squabbles over many others. The attacks on skeptics as a class represents to me the reaction to a new, growing, disorganized group that is questioning the basis for the very existence of some activities in society. In the future I predict that there will be a significant growth in the ranks of skeptics and a corollary rise in alarm by entrenched interests in society.
I really look forward to critiques of this position, even if they demolish it. That embodies the essence of skeptical debate. Ad hominem comments will be dutifully ignored.
You're quite right – I don't really know what hypnosis is. As far as I know, to-date there is no consensus. So I guess I could argue you don't really know what hypnosis is either. And since you earn a living from it, what does that make you? 😉
I also suspect you may be unable to objectively evaluate how effective your hypnotherapy is, as to do this you would need to follow up all of the people who come to see you (at different points in time). All you have a few little anecdotes, which are of little value.
Do you think that all of the claims on your website would stand up to scrutiny? I might add that I am happy to accept that hypnosis (or relaxation) can help with pain management as there is evidence and sound underlying rationale.
Just caught up with some blog reading – great piece Skepticat.
You're quite right – I don't really know what hypnosis is. As far as I know, to-date there is no consensus. So I guess I could argue you don't really know what hypnosis is either. And since you earn a living from it, what does that make you?"
I have no confusion at all in my understanding of it, which makes me a better-than-average hypnotherapist. And there IS a consensus, but it's an old-fashioned one (circa 1950s) and still involves some degree of misunderstanding. Believe me, there is NOTHING mysterious about hypnosis or hypnotherapy, but there is a public concept of it which is entirely wrong. The erroneous concept is that hypnosis is "something somebody does to you" (as in 'hypnotizes') i.e. a treatment. This notion is gleaned from watching Stage Hypnosis (not hypnotherapy, which most people have NEVER seen)and being taken in by the illusion that the 'hypnotist' has some sort of power or influence over the 'hypnotized' person. The assumption that accompanies this notion is that 'hypnosis' is some mysterious altered state that you (Andrew, Skepticat… anyone) have never experienced, which is rubbish. Trance states are normal and we all drift in and out of them all the time.
Your mention of relaxation is typical of the virtually non-existent understanding of hypnotherapy in the scientific world, and beyond. Relaxation is therapeutic in itself, being the opposite of stress, but here's the thing: relaxation is not even required in the hypnotherapy process. It is an optional extra we usually throw in because it makes people comfy, but it has no significant role in any change process. Any discussion of the subject which centres on relaxation is a discussion between novices and dabblers, not experts on hypnotherapy.
The significance and usefulness of trance states can be summed up thus: in non-trance states the Subconscious mind pays little or no attention to what is going on around us; it leaves it to the conscious mind to deal with that. So if you are talking to a person who is not in trance (e.g. in ordinary conversation, a doctor's consultation or a job interview) you are talking to the conscious mind alone, and therefore any changes resulting from that would be limited to the small amount of daily behaviour which is operated under conscious direction.
If the person is in trance – any old trance, depth of trance and depth of relaxation are nearly always irrelevant – the information / case for change / would be heard not only by the conscious mind but the Subconscious also. This dramatically increases the range of potential positive adjustments, since all bodily reactions, instant reactions, emotional reactions, feelings and habitual behaviour are all under Subconscious direction.
2 crucial points in truly understanding hypnotherapy:
1) The common notion that a person is "more suggestible" because they are in trance is utter rubbish. The same misunderstanding can be found in the word "susceptible". The fact is, if the person is not in trance at all, then the subconscious mind never hears the suggestion for positive change, so of course it does not respond.
2) If the person IS in trance, then the suggestion will be HEARD. However, the Subconscious mind of any individual is a law unto itself and does not have to change a damn thing, whatever is suggested. I have never encountered any scientific investigation into hypnosis where these facts have been understood! The assumption always seems to be that if you get the person relaxed enough, or deep enough into trance, then they will respond to whatever suggestion you care to pitch at them! What nonsense!
For any suggestion to be accepted and acted upon, it is essential for that individual to recognise the advantage in that change for them personally at the time the case for change is presented. The therapist's task is to make the case well, and present it in a manner that is wholly acceptable to that particular person.
The word 'hypnosis' doesn't even mean anything. Hypnos is a Greek word referring to sleep, and there is no sleep in hypnosis or trance states. Unfortunately we seem to be stuck with it, just as we are stuck with the antics of the stage hypnotists, who are really just illusionists.
Skepticat: You may yet prove not to be a cynic. To some degree I have an open mind on the subject! Cynics are so certain that they are correct in what they already believe that they are done with any learning on that subject, and will only pay attention to material which appears to confirm their beliefs. There is usually some bitterness about the matter on their part, and they rarely know much about that subject in reality.
Skepticism on the other hand is a cautious, somewhat doubtful position but without a particular axe to grind – in other words skeptics are quite happy to abandon the cautious doubtful position if they subsequently find it to be unnecessary caution.
You called me "some jumped-up quack of a nicotine denialist". From a position of knowing WHAT about the subject, exactly? You didn't engage with the argument, you don't even know what my argument about nicotine is! For a person who claims to have little interest in labels, you're pretty quick to slap them on other people without knowing anything much about the subject. Can't speak for homeopaths, but I am NOT a quack and my detailed arguments about nicotine have received some very favourable reviews from the people who actually read them.
@Chris Holmes
"I have no confusion at all in my understanding of it, which makes me a better-than-average hypnotherapist." Bit of a logical fallacy or two going on there! (i.e, you're talking rubbish man!)
I should accept there is consensus about a definition of hypnosis because you say there is? Like heck! Where's the evidence!
Do you have any sort of qualification in clinical psych? Given soe of the stuff you calim to be able to acheive, I'd have thought it essential.
I'm well aware that hypnosis is not necessarily something that someone does to you (that's why self-hypnosis is possible).
You talk about a state of trance as if it's some real objective state (like sleep). Do you have a definition of 'trance'. And do you have any references to reliable literature to support your '2 crucial points'?
Lastly, you cite New Scientist (1992) for supporting the smoking cessation aspect of hypnosis. I suggest you go look at this open access review: Hypnotherapy for smoking cessation
Abbot NC, Stead LF, White AR, Barnes J (http://www2.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab001008.html)
HEre's the plain langauge summary:
Does hypnotherapy help people who are trying to stop smoking
Different types of hypnotherapy are used to try and help people quit smoking. Some methods try to weaken people's desire to smoke,strengthen their will to quit, or help them concentrate on a quit programme. The review of trials did not find enough good evidence to show whether or not hypnotherapy can help people trying to quit smoking. So it looks like your claim on your website is actually a bit dodgy!
I read Chris' 8/9/10 post and went to Wikipedia to read a bit about hypnotherapy. The most important thing I learned is that stage hypnotism (Mesmerism) and hypnotherapy are completely separate and unfortunately share the same name, hypnosis.
Hypnotherapy works best if the patient is willing. It is also 1000s of years old. There was a summary of trials from Victorian times onward that were positive as to effects.
Reading Chris' numerous, word posts was becoming tedious, but I went in search of damning material. It was really thrilling that my skeptical nature showed be how interesting hypnotherapy is. My perception had always been colored by equating it with Mesmer's,"animal magnetism".
Andrew, you can accept or not accept whatever you choose, I really couldn't give a toss. The suggestion that a qualification in clinical psychology would make me better at what I do is absolutely laughable. I would challenge any clinical psychologist to beat the kind of results I get with my methods, they wouldn't come anywhere near it unless they were also trained and very experienced with hypnotherapy. Your assumption that clinical psychology is a superior discipline is simply the blind, ignorant prejudice of someone who knows nothing about the subject.
Don't quote Cochrane bullshit at me, virtually every bit of official misinformation I ever read about hypnotherapy came from that direction so I know what they're about even though you obviously don't.
Jim's quite right that hypnotherapy and Stage Hypnotism are utterly unconnected, but actually Mesmerism is something else again. To be fair to Mesmer, he was not a fraud but he misunderstood WHY he was getting the exciting results he got with his therapies. We now know that the notion of Animal Magnetism was fanciful – he was actually performing a rather quirky form of hypnotherapy which was probably helped a good deal by the force of his own personality and formidable presence, as well as general excitement about his very fashionable Paris clinic hype and some group hysteria during the gatherings enhancing the responses and the atmosphere in which they were generated.
To be sure of avoiding all that, the best way to do hypnotherapy proper is in peaceful, comfortable one-to-one consultations.
@Chris Holmes
Your first two paragraphs in the post above are brilliant! Clearly you do give a really big toss and also feel very insecure when challenged by anyone with some knowledge of EBM. And so you should! Crikey, man, how can you possibly dismiss resources such as the Cochrane Collaboration and clinical psychology? I can only guess that you have no understanding whatseover regarding the logic of how to evaluate the effectiveness of what you do. For example, how do you know what kind of results you get once someone has gone away. Do you assume they are satisfied if they don't return?
Do you have a definition of 'Trance', by the way?
Interesting article on "The Limits of Science" about being skeptical of science, posted at:
Testing the Claims of Mesmerism: The First Scientific Investigation of the Paranormal Ever Conducted
This is a really long article, but was "commissioned by King Louis XVI of France and conducted by such scientific luminaries as Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier."
Frank Swain has wisely distanced himself and his ideas from the growing hysteria, innuendo and psuedoscience at the heart of the "official" sceptic movement, characterized by bloggers such as you.
For example, attacking MD's for their dedication and utilisation to the growing field of Homeopathy, a field which has proven itself beyond all reasonable doubt to be efficacious, you have demonstrated the characteristic tendency of the pseudoscientific "skeptic" to jump to conclusions, take positions and condemn before acquiring any semblance of knowledge on the topic in question, as well as proclaiming allegiance to a flawed set of laboratory science standards which even conventional medicine itself does not pass, and which remains completely specious as the supposed means of confirmation of "evidence" based medicine. On the basis of this lack of knowledge, you then undertake wild sweeping assertions about Homeopaths preying on earthquake victims, as though the dedicated Doctors attempting to help in any way they can are somehow involved in deliberate deception to fool the "gullible". How dare you impugn the motives of such Doctors, what a disgraceful position. You are a disgrace to real skeptics.
Well, too bad, the attempt to stop NHS funding for Homeopathy fell flat on its face, it backfired, and rightly so because people caught on to the idea that a few loudmouth village idiots who talk big about "science" in fact knew hardly anything about the field that they were condemning and were, in fact, repeating a lot of innuendo that they had heard from other "skeptics".
This is not real skepticism, it is not even close. Is it any wonder that Frank Swain wishes to disassociate himself from this sort of pretension?
Definition of an oxymoron = homeopathic medicine
Andrew, you are an innocent. Bless. You still believe in the integrity of the Cochrane Collaboration and EBM. I have visions of your little lip trembling when you first found out the truth about the Tooth Fairy and Santa, and I find I just can't do that to you again. This despite the rather tempting thought that maybe, if I said "I don't believe in EBM!" loudly enough, Edzard Ernst might die. Not that he has any credibility any more anyway.
FYI: Trance states (there are lots) are mental states in which your Subconscious mind is paying close attention to what is going on around you. Daydreaming, automatic repetition of habitual behaviour and shock states are all examples. The conscious mind is awake during these moments but is not directing behaviour or making any decisions, the Subconscious is. Hypnotherapy is, quite simply, pleading a case for change whilst the Subconscious mind happens to be listening.
Skepticat, that last "dummy" comment doesn't really "engage coherently" with the content of the post you are rubbishing, does it? One law for you…. Yeah, yeah we know: "It's not worth etc etc" …still, not you at your best, now is it? Kind of thing you hear in the playground just before it all kicks off.
Not being silly.
Like you're not prone to cathartic tantrums! We all are.
What a stupid blog post. You are so ignorant.
sorry you feel the need to write such junk. At least I can get laid when feeling low.
Hi Stu,
Well done for getting laid at last night. I sense it was the first time and I understand why you feel the need to boast about it. Boys will be boys as they say, even if doing so on my blog makes you look a bit sad. :-).
Now, which bit of my blog post do you disagree with and why?
Stu said: "At least I can get laid when feeling low."
Yes, you can buy anything these days, apparently.
Now, as Skepticat asked, what precisely was junk and ignorant?
vaccination is like your understanding of homeopathy, bullshit on stilts with no EBM, why do you still believe it? Has it something to do with a previous post where skepticat said: 'millions of doses and years of experience tell us it works?'
How does that not equate with your 'critique' of homeopathy?
Hypocrite springs to mind, sorry but I can't see any difference
Hi Skepticat, have you noticed that polio in India has been renamed as NPFP which is indistinguisible from Polio and twice as deadly. There are more cases where more of Bill and melinda's poison has been forced on children, 60,000 cases.
When Bill and Melinda get taken to the war crimes tribunal for mass murder I wonder if they will call scum like you as a witness?
I'm sure you've got a source for this claim (The Telegraph India seems to think that Polio is about to be eradicated in India, and the WHO seems to agree – do you think they're fooled by a simple renaming?), and you're going to cite it. Right?
Pingback: Truth is the new Hate Speech


text:
Steve O'Brien made his first collegiate start last week, and the Sacred Heart junior right guard helped clear the way for teammate Keshaudas Spence to rush for a career-high 138 yards and three touchdowns in a 27-10 win over Dartmouth.
"Once we were able to get Keshaudas cranked up, we were able to run the ball and control the clock," said O'Brien, the former Holy Name High star from Uxbridge.
O'Brien was part of three Super Bowl championships at Holy Name and a lot of his former teammates — Brandon Potvin (UMass), Corey Brown (WNEC) and Santino Simone (Anna Maria), to name a few — also went on to play at the college level.
"After having so much success, we had the itch to keep playing," O'Brien said.
The 6-foot, 300-pound O'Brien, an Academic All-Northeast Conference selection, was redshirted as a freshman at Sacred Heart. He played in just one game last year. He made his 2012 debut in the opener against Morgan State.
The Pioneers are 2-4, but they are playing for more than victories this season.
They are playing for their coach, Paul Gorham, who is on medical leave, but is inspiring his players from afar.
Early this year, the 51-year-old Gorham was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable lung disease. In March, he underwent a double lung transplant, and a few weeks later, had both of his legs amputated just below the knees.
"He's really been a rallying cry for us," O'Brien said. "We all want to get behind him and do it for PG."
The Pioneers are wearing "PG" stickers on the backs of their helmets.
"He's always on our minds," O'Brien said, "when we're preparing for games and postgame after big wins because he was always getting excited with us in the locker room. We miss him, but it's been a rallying cry for us, something for us all to get behind and work for it for him."
O'Brien said Gorham visited the team once this year and watched a preseason practice from the sidelines in his wheelchair.
"It was pretty inspirational to see him out there on the field," O'Brien said.
Gorham, who has been at Sacred Heart for eight years, was an assistant at UMass from 1999-2003, and before that at Brown, New Haven and UNH, his alma mater.
Mark Nofri, Sacred Heart's linebackers coach, stepped into the role of interim head coach.
Nichols players gave coach Kevin Loney a Gatorade bath last week and, boy, did it feel good.
The Bison were celebrating the end of a 17-game losing streak and Loney's first victory as a head coach after beating New England Football Conference foe UMass-Dartmouth, 26-16.
"When you start coaching you always think of that first win," Loney said, "and it's just as good as I imagined and I'm happy we were able to do it especially for the coaching staff and our players and all they've gone through for the last Lord knows how long. Hopefully we can build on it."
The win was the first for Nichols since Oct. 30, 2010. The Bison went 0-10 last year, Loney's first with the team.
"It's a process," Loney said, "and during this whole process our kids have gone into every game playing hard, working as hard as they could have worked. In some cases, it was a matter of them hoping to win instead of expecting to win. But that's a process and that will come with more success. I'm proud of the way the kids battled through."
Nichols hasn't had a winning season since 2007, and with just three games left, won't again this year, but with a young roster, Loney is hopeful for the future.
One of those young players is sophomore defensive back Wesley Williams, who had three interceptions against UMass-Dartmouth.
For his efforts, Williams was named New England Football Conference Defensive Player of the Week and Division 3 Northeast Defensive Player of the Week. He was also named to the D3Football.com Team of the Week.
"I'm extremely proud of Wesley and his performance," Loney said. "We've played a lot of man coverage this year, so in our first week of playing more zone, to have a guy record three picks is outstanding. He's been a versatile guy for us this year, and I'm looking forward to seeing how his season ends."
Allowing 50 points in two of the last three games does not sit well with Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore.
"It doesn't sit too well with anyone around here," Gilmore said.
Harvard demolished HC, 52-3, three weeks ago, and last week Colgate rolled up 609 yards en route to a 51-35 victory in Hamilton, N.Y.
To no one's surprise, junior quarterback Gavin McCarney and senior tailback Jordan McCord led the Raiders' outstanding option attack. They combined for 367 rushing yards and McCarney also completed 10 of 13 pass attempts for 171 yards.
The Crusaders (1-5, 1-1 Patriot League) gave up six plays of 25 or more yards.
"When they hit a couple plays on us we somewhat abandoned our reads and techniques," Gilmore said, "and when we weren't successful, we started trying to make calls that exposed us in other areas. There were a lot of different factors, the biggest being how good Colgate is."
Adding to HC's defensive woes was the loss of junior starting inside linebacker Scotty O'Donoghue, who suffered a knee injury on the opening kickoff and won't play tomorrow at Lafayette. O'Donoghue ranks among HC's leaders with 36 tackles.
With senior quarterback Andrew Shoop, the Leopards (4-2, 1-0) have some big-play ability. Shoop has missed two games this season — one for violating team rules, the other because of a concussion — and has completed 62 percent of his passes for 978 yards and seven touchdowns.
Turnovers have been a key in Lafayette's four victories. The Leopards have a plus-9 turnover ratio this season (plus-13 in their wins) and lead the nation with 15 interceptions.
The Colgate game marked the first time this year Holy Cross did not turn over the ball, and Gilmore was pleased with the progress of sophomore quarterback Steven Elder, who threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns, and the offense, which put up a season high for points.
Holy Cross has won four straight against the Leopards.
Former Holy Cross quarterback John O'Neil will make his broadcasting debut tomorrow, working alongside Bob Fouracre for HC's game at Lafayette.
O'Neil, who threw for 6,670 yards during his HC career, graduated from Holy Cross in 2006 and went on to earn his MBA from Boston College. He works in finance in New York.
The game can be heard on WTAG 580 AM and 94.9 FM, and on the Internet at GoHolyCross.com.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Baltimore City schools change to affect 30K students
Students will be issued new bus passes
Baltimore City is about the change how children get to and from school.
The change affects more than 30,000 students who take the bus to class.
The students will be issued new bus passes and in some cases, it'll mean getting to school earlier or later.
At one time, at least 50 Baltimore schools were operating on separate bell schedules, meaning they started at different times. But that has been cut to a half-dozen, which will affect bus schedules and some routes.
A dressed-down City Schools CEO Dr. Andres Alonso made unannounced visits Tuesday to dozens of buildings to check on back to school progress. WBAL-TV 11 News Education Reporter Tim Tooten caught up with Alonso at Barclay Elementary-Middle School in East Baltimore.
Alonso said he made the visits "just to check to, first of all, make sure the principals are getting the support that they need."
He was talking about support inside and out. This year, more schools will sound their first period bells at the same time, and that will affect the ride to school.
"We wanted to become more effective, more efficient, cut the time down that some kids were spending on buses," Alonso said. "It was just too many different bus schedules and it was making it very, very difficult."
The change will help the district, which operates its own fleet of buses, to save millions of dollars, which will reduce how much it has to pay cab companies to make sure students get to school.
Principals are also prepared to issue electronic bus passes to students who take the MTA to school.
"It's electronic, and it just gives us tracking mechanisms that really are good in terms of knowing how your program is working," City School COO Keith Scroggins said. "It saves us a lot of time and allows us to really track our costs, and that's the most important thing."
Parents familiar with the traditional MTA bus passes said they support the change.
"When I went to school, it was basically transferring paper. You had to slide it into the bus thing, so I think the electronic thing is pretty good," parent Shizal Browning said.
Whether it's on the road or in the school building, it won't be long before students head back to the classroom. More than 80,000 Baltimore City school students return to school on Monday.


text:
KSIS training dates and times are now available for fall 2018. Instructor-led training is available for faculty, academic advisors, and staff at no charge. However, registration through HRIS is required. See Using HRIS to register for classes.
Training for staff and faculty include the following topics:
- Advising in KSIS
- Class Scheduler
- Deans Office Staff
- Grading in KSIS
- Master Extract Reporting
- Processing Minors in KSIS
- Student Records for Academic Department Staff
- Student Records for Administrative Department Office Staff
For more information about each topic and the dates and times for training, visit the KSIS Training web page. If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Fred Darkow, KSIS Training Coordinator, at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Forsake Me Not
1. Forsake me not; be not far from me,
though like a lamb I've gone astray.
Lord, wilt thou put thy arms around me
and lead me back with thee to stay?
2. Forsake me not; be not far from me
when sorrows press upon my soul.
Lord, grant me strength and understanding.
Lift up my heart and make me whole.
3. Father, I know that thou art with me.
I have no reason, then, to fear.
Thy loving answer reassures me,
"My child, I always will be near."
Text: Margo Faraoni
Music: Margo Faraoni
Artist: Faraoni
Album: Music Published in the Church Magazines: New Era
Composition Date: 1995-08-01
More Info: New Era


text:
After the update to Gnome 3 my laptop freezes when coming out of suspend mode. The desktop graphics are corrupted and I usually need to do a hard reboot. Sometimes I'm able to do Alt+F2 and type "r". The only failures I see in the logs are included below. Otherwise Gnome 3 has been running fine. How can I resolve this?
/usr/lib/pm-utils/power.d/sched-powersave false: success.
Running hook /usr/lib/pm-utils/power.d/wireless false:
Turning powersave for wlan0 off...Error for wireless request "Set Power Management" (8B2C) :
SET failed on device wlan0 ; Operation not supported.
Running hook /etc/pm/sleep.d/90alsa resume suspend:
ALSA lib pulse.c:229:(pulse_connect) PulseAudio: Unable to connect: Connection refused
aplay: main:660: audio open error: Connection refused
Last edited by markz79 (2011-06-15 15:08:57)
Same freeze with nvidia driver (with Nouveau, computer resumes correctly from suspend but workspace switching is very slow).
Downgrading to gnome-power-manager-2.32.0-2 may have resolved the issue. I am still testing.
I use the nvidia driver.
I don't use gnome-power-manager, so it shouldn't be the problem.
With the g-p-m downgrade I don't have any issues, or at least haven't yet. I've seen a few posts in other forums regarding this or a similar issue but no resolution.
@jib2: Did your problem surface after upgrading to Gnome 3?
My latest update to nvidia:
[2011-04-20 17:57] upgraded nvidia (270.41.03-1 -> 270.41.06-1)
I didn't have any problems with the nvidia drivers while using Gnome 2.
I have this problem, too, but it occurs when using gnome-power-manager or just using pm-suspend from a console. This is a fresh install and I'm using Nvidia drivers.
Last edited by crabmarkjellozest (2011-05-03 21:43:14)
@markz79: yes, the problem started with gnome3 upgrade.
My computer is a desktop, so i never used gnome-power-management.
When resuming from suspend, i get the unlock screen and i enter my password; then, when clicking on 'unlock', the display gets corrupted and the computer freezes. No log.
This problem doesn't occur with Nouveau driver.
Last edited by jib2 (2011-05-04 05:53:42)
Same problem here.
I installed Gnome3 on a completely new system (thinkpad t61p) yesterday. I use the nvidia video driver, which worked without any xorg.conf file. Everything works fine beside suspend and activating another monitor via nvidia-settings.
Linux thinkpad 2.6.38-ARCH (64bit), Quadro FX 570M/PCI/SSE2, nvidia 270.41.06-1, gnome-power-manager 3.0.0-1
edit: just realized that it's also not possible to switch again back from the console (strg+alt+f1) to gnome3 (strg+alt+f7).
Last edited by hooch (2011-05-04 15:37:07)
I went back to the latest g-p-m and the problem persists. I was hoping upower 0.9.10-1 or kernel 22.214.171.124-1 might solve the issue. The display still goes corrupt after I enter a password to unlock the computer. Interestingly, I've been able to do "Alt+F2, r" to restart gnome-shell and within a few seconds the display corrects itself.
I am having the same issue. I've pretty much resigned to completely shutting off my laptop whenever I need to close and move it.
Is there an upstream bug somewhere where we can post comments?
There is a thread in Nvidia forum http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=161990 where you may post comments.
No response from nv people so far...
Linux thinkpad 2.6.38-ARCH (64bit), Quadro FX 570M/PCI/SSE2, nvidia 270.41.06-1, gnome-power-manager 3.0.0-1
edit: just realized that it's also not possible to switch again back from the console (strg+alt+f1) to gnome3 (strg+alt+f7).
Exact same rig here -> same issues with suspend and switching consoles.
Thinkpad T61p - 15.4' WSXGA TFT - 2.5Ghz Intel Core2 Duo T9300 - 2X2GB Kingston RAM - 160GB 7200RPM - NVIDIA Quadro FX 570m - Intel 4965AGN
hey dolinux made it to the arch forum hah...
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=647355 - this was the bug that i could not find again.
I am able to switch between tty ok btw.
Last edited by cell (2011-05-06 00:47:55)
Well, It looks like they have closed the bug. It seems the message from gnome is to switch to the slower more power hungry nouveau driver. I for one am going back to xfce.
Last edited by bluefalcon (2011-05-10 22:23:46)
I suspend once or twice a day and recently quite a lot because of some suspend issues and I have yet to experience a hard lock. But then this is with a (very standard I suppose) gtx260. I am not a graphics guy either but if people are getting hard locks then my guess would be the driver. It is annoying but even if they could I can't blame them for not working around nvidia. Anyway this is a opportunity to rage about nvidia, sweet. Also flash sucks.
I hear a lot of good things about xfce these days.
I should have mentioned my laptop is a Dell XPS M1530 with a nVidia GeForce 8600M graphics card. On several desktops with nVidia cards I do not have this problem. I am going to turn off lock after suspend to see if that makes a difference.
lspci | grep nVidia:
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G84 [GeForce 8600M GT] (rev a1)
Same problem here, the only workaround is ALT+F2 and r. Not always works. My graphic card is:
koven@koven:~$ lspci | grep -i nvidia
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G98M [Quadro NVS 160M] (rev a1)
Mu driver nvidia version is
Name : nvidia
Version : 270.41.06-1
URL : http://www.nvidia.com/
Licenses : custom
Groups : None
Provides : None
Depends On : kernel26>=2.6.38 kernel26<2.6.39 nvidia-utils=270.41.06
Optional Deps : None
Required By : None
Conflicts With : nvidia-96xx nvidia-173xx
Replaces : None
Installed Size : 3944.00 K
Packager : Ionut Biru <email@example.com>
Architecture : x86_64
Build Date : Wed 20 Apr 2011 01:11:09 PM COT
Install Date : Sun 01 May 2011 08:01:37 PM COT
Install Reason : Explicitly installed
Install Script : Yes
Description : NVIDIA drivers for kernel26.
I see nouveau driver will kill my battery so I think I'll not suspend for a while. Let's wait until this issue be resolved.
Last edited by Koven (2011-05-12 13:37:10)
I am running a Macbook pro an 8600M GT
$ lspci | grep nVidia
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G84 [GeForce 8600M GT] (rev a1)
Last edited by bluefalcon (2011-05-12 20:52:02)
So far no issues after I turned off lock after suspend. Anyone else willing to give this a try? If we can narrow the problem the Gnome (or nVidia) developers will be more likely to respond.
To turn off lock-suspend: run "dconf-editor", and set org.gnome.power-manager.lock-suspend to false (unchecked). I also have "lock-use-screensaver" off.
setting org.gnome.power-manager.lock-suspend to false seems to have worked for me as well. I was able to suspend and resume with no issues.
The problem remains for me. After several successful resumes I thought turning off lock-suspend resolved it. It does seem like the problem occurs less frequently, though.
Yeah, I have seen it a few more times as well. It seems to only happen when I am using my external monitor configured with twinview.
Just posting [1] as reference. There seems to be some consensus about this. So it is a waiting game I guess.
So distros and GNOME write it off as an nVidia bug, and nVidia thinks it's a GNOME bug or doesn't care. Downgrading g-p-m or GNOME fixes the problem, which indicates that the GNOME folks need to be working with nVidia to resolve this. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to be a priority.
I am having the exact same problem. Thank you for the tip for disabling the lock after suspend; I hope it will make a difference because I am tired of rebooting my PC every time I suspend it.


text:
Chemotherapy Induced Nausea and Vomiting (CINV) Existing and Pipeline Drugs Market is Expected to Reach USD 2.1 Billion Globally in 2018: Transparency Market Research
28 Nov, 2012, 12:07 GMT
ALBANY, New York, November 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research (http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com) "CINV Existing & Pipeline Drugs (Aloxi, Emend, Netupitant-Palonosetron FDC, APF530 & Rolapitant) Market - Global Market Opportunity Assessment Study, 2012 - 2018," the global CINV market was worth USD 1.3 billion in 2011 and is expected to reach USD 2.1 billion in 2018, growing at a CAGR of 7.1% from 2013 to 2018. The North American CINV existing and pipeline drugs market is expected to reach USD 1.0 billion in 2018. Sluggish economic growth and a poor reimbursement scenario in European countries have hampered the growth of CINV drugs market in these regions.
Browse the full report at http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/cinv-market.html
Nausea and vomiting represent the most frequent side-effects experienced by chemotherapy patients, referred to as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), which is debilitating to cancer patients. Emetogenic refers to the likelihood of a chemotherapy drug affecting the patient in an adverse manner, leading to added illness or sickness. Highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC) mostly leads to nausea and vomiting in 90% or more of the cases, while moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (MEC) causes nausea and vomiting in 30-90% of the cases.
Current drug treatments available to prevent CINV have failed to completely overcome the symptoms of this disease. Moreover, most of the drugs are approved for acute-onset CINV whereas there is no drug approved yet for delayed-onset CINV for patients receiving HEC, which occurs more frequently (50-70% of patients) in the cancer population. The inefficiency to effectively predict CINV incidence and understand the complex physiology of CINV by healthcare providers coupled with the failure to adhere to recommended guidelines, have been prominent reasons for deficiency in CINV treatment.
Related & Recently Published Reports by Transparency Market Research
However, the current pipeline in the CINV market offers huge potential to overcome such unmet needs, with better and efficient drugs for both acute and the more prominent, delayed-onset CINV. Netu-palo FDC of Helsinn Healthcare, currently in phase III trials, which was in-licensed by the Helsinn group from Roche in the year 2005, helps in preventing CINV in acute as well as delayed-onset CINV patients. Due to its combination of a 5-HT3 antagonist and an NK-1 antagonist, the netu-palo FDC helps in overcoming unmet needs existing with current drug treatments available, which are mostly 5-HT3 antagonists. Moreover, other drugs in the pipeline, namely, APF530 and rolapitant offer physicians alternative treatment options for patients who show little relief from existing drugs in the market.
This research is specially designed to estimate and analyze the demand and performance of the CINV pipeline drugs in a global scenario. The research provides in-depth analysis of CINV pipeline drugs manufacturers, product sales, trend analysis by segments and demand by geography. The report covers all the major product segments of the global CINV pipeline drugs market and provides detailed analysis, historical data and statistically refined forecast for the segments covered. The study presents a comprehensive assessment of the stakeholder strategies, winning imperatives for them by segmenting the global CINV pipeline drugs market as below:
- CINV - Pipeline Products
APF530 (long-acting granisetron - 5-Ht3RA)
- Efficacy Results of APF530 MEC Phase III Study
- Efficacy Results of APF530 HEC Phase III Study
Rolapitant (NK-1-RA)
Chemical structure of rolapitant
Netupitant-Palonosetron FDC
- Introduction
- Mechanism of action
- Chemical structure of netupitant
- Unmet Needs in the CINV Market
- Clinical Trial Details for CINV pipeline drugs
- Clinical Trial: ID- NCT00343460
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Netupitant-palonosetron FDC
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In addition the report provides a cross-sectional analysis of all the above segments with respect to the following geographical markets:
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text:
The Purity Code
- Jim Burns Author
- 2008 9 Sep
Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt from The Purity Code by Jim Burns (Bethany House).
Purity: Freedom from guilt or wrongdoing; innocence; virginity; physical chastity; freedom from inappropriate elements; virtue; the state of lacking a moral wrongdoing; honor.
Code: A set of standards to live by; a system or collection of values and regulations.
A growing movement of people your age are committing themselves to something called the Purity Code. They're going against what society considers "normal," and they're making a radical commitment to God, their family, and their future spouse to live a life of sexual integrity and purity. It is one of the wisest decisions they will ever make, with far-reaching positive results.
Did you know that the decisions you make today can affect you for the rest of your life? And deciding to commit to the Purity Code can even affect your future children and your children's children. I know that sounds almost too serious to handle, but following the Code really does make a difference.
The Purity Code is not just about sex. It is about living in a way that can bring you the most freedom and set your future up for joy. People who live by the Purity Code carry the least amount of spiritual and emotional baggage (bad memories, regrets, etc.) into relationships and their eventual marriage.
Thousands of people before you have committed to the Purity Code, and although some later compromised their commitment, I have still never met a person who regretted making the initial commitment. In fact, they say it is one of the best decisions of their life. A commitment to the Code is not always easy; the temptations to break the Code are everywhere. But with God's help and your wise decisions, you can live life as it was meant to be lived.
Here is the Purity Code:
In honor of God, my family, and my future spouse, I commit my life to sexual purity. This involves:
- Honoring God with your body
- Renewing your mind for the good
- Turning your eyes from worthless things
- Guarding your heart above all else
Well, that's it. That's the Purity Code. Looks and sounds pretty easy, doesn't it? Actually, it takes an incredible amount of faith in God and a lot of self-discipline to make the Purity Code a way of life. But then again, good things almost always require effort. People who do best don't follow the Code just to please their parents or because everybody else is making a commitment. They take the time to seriously consider this very personal decision. Then and only then, when they truly understand what is involved, do they commit to the Code.
If you decide to live by the Purity Code, you will need to give four areas of your life to God for His help and strength: your body, mind, eyes, and heart.
The Purity Code is very closely linked to your relationship with God. The problem is, at the same time that your body is changing and you are rapidly moving from childhood to adulthood, your relationship with God is probably changing. At one time it seemed so simple, didn't it? And yet for many people your age, faith now seems a bit more complicated. As you examine the Purity Code and your relationship with God, don't think you have to have it all figured out. God is eternal and all-knowing, and you, well, aren't. (And neither am I!) If it is a bit foggy right now, believe me, it will become clearer as time goes on. Thankfully, the Bible, written so many years ago, is filled with the answer to the Code.
Jesus was once asked a very important question: "What is the most important commandment?" Without hesitation He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." The second most important commandment, He said, is "love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:30-31). Some people call this the "Jesus Creed" and believe it contains the most significant words Jesus ever said. These simple directions are definitely essential to understand and live by. They also summarize the Purity Code.
Honoring and loving God with your body (strength), mind, eyes (soul), and heart is really about living a life of purity. We do this in more ways than just our sexuality, but everyone would agree that a pure life includes sexual purity. Even the statement about loving your neighbor as yourself fits perfectly with the Purity Code. By living a life of purity, you are not only caring for your relationship with God, your family, and your future spouse, you are caring for others who will look to you as a role model and not causing them to stumble in their future relationships.
* * *
Each year when I was a youth worker, I would talk with students in my youth group about the Purity Code. Scott and Anne didn't know each other back then—they weren't in youth group at the same time—but they separately made commitments to live according to the Purity Code. After college they met and fell in love. When they decided to get married, they asked me to officiate at the wedding. What a privilege!
Before the big day arrived, we spent time together in premarital counseling, and I asked them about their sexual purity. They both talked about making a commitment to sexual purity at a young age and then keeping it. They had honored God, their families, and each other (before they had even met) by committing themselves to sexual purity.
Their wedding day was one of the most joyous days I have ever experienced as two incredible people pledged their love to each other. Today their marriage is strong and secure. Sure they had temptations before marriage, and still do, but with God's help and some strong doses of discipline, they are living a life of freedom and enjoyment because they honored God with their bodies, they renewed their minds for the good, they turned their eyes from worthless things, and above all else, they guarded their hearts. You can do the same!
Copyright © 2008 by Jim Burns
Published by Bethany House Publishing, a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287 Grand Rapids MI 49516-6287
Used by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.


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Food & Drink
Five trips for crime fiction lovers
By Leslie Gilbert Elman, Special to CNN • Updated 7th July 2012
View Gallery
5 Pictures
It used to be safe to say that most of us don't go looking for crime on our vacations, but that's not true anymore. Crime fiction travel, a juicier version of the well-worn literary pilgrimage, is a popular way for people to see the world.
"A lot of people read crime fiction in advance of visiting a new city. Once there, I think it's natural to see how the real place aligns with the one on the page," says best-selling crime novelist Laura Lippman, whose main character Tess Monaghan is a reporter turned private investigator living and working in Baltimore.
A sense of place is vital to creating realistic crime fiction, but writing about a place people know and can visit presents challenges, notes Lippman, a former Baltimore Sun reporter. "If you want to write about a real place, you better get it right, or you'll hear about it," she says. When authors succeed, their books and characters can become forever linked with the locations in which the books are set. Here are five destinations whose local authors get it right.
Grit on wry: A dinner with Elmore and Peter Leonard
Thanks to her Tess Monaghan series, including the Edgar Award-winning "Charm City,"
Laura Lippman
has become an ambassador for her home city of
. When the city hosted the annual Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in 2008, a
self-guided tour
of "Laura Lippman's Baltimore" was developed for fans who wanted to see the sights the way Tess sees them.
One destination is the
Fell's Point neighborhood
where Tess lives, and even manages to detect crime while bedridden, "Rear Window" style, in 2011's "The Girl in the Green Raincoat." Other tours cover neighborhoods north and south of Baltimore's Washington Monument in downtown Baltimore and include local landmarks such as the Enoch Pratt Free Library, which Lippman mentions in most of her books.
Among the qualities that endear Tess to fans are her unabashed love of food and her loyalty to her favorite neighborhood haunts. They include the
Daily Grind
Kali's Mezze
in Fell's Point,
Lexington Market
south of the Washington Monument and
Matthew's Pizza
, where Lippman recommends the crab pe.
Author uncovers thrilling world of 'An American Spy'
Brattleboro, Vermont
Mention Vermont and the mind fills with images of bucolic farms and snow-covered mountains. Crime novelist
Archer Mayor
, who also works as a death investigator for Vermont's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and as a detective for the Windham County (Vermont) Sheriff's Office, sees those things and others. His police detective protagonist Joe Gunther is more than likely to gaze out at the Connecticut River near Brattleboro and find a body floating on the surface, as was the case in Mayor's 2007 novel "Chat."
, Joe Gunther's home turf, embraces its position as Vermont's fictional crime center and the entire state of Vermont embraces Archer Mayor. At 12
Vermont Welcome Centers
, including Guilford on I-91 near Brattleboro and Williston North and South on I-89 between Montpelier and Burlington, a new lending library program lets visitors pick up a print or audio edition of an Archer Mayor novel to enjoy while they travel and to return when they're done.
Lodging packages
with an Archer Mayor/mystery fiction theme are available in Brattleboro, Burlington, North Bennington and Waterbury. The
Brattleboro Literary Festival
takes place in October.
The past year has not been kind to Brattleboro. A fire severely damaged the historic Brooks House hotel and much of the town's Main Street, and rains from Hurricane Irene flooded the downtown area. But Vermont's natural beauty remains unblemished.
Edinburgh, Scotland
Five years ago
Ian Rankin
retired his Edinburgh detective John Rebus when the fictional character reached mandatory retirement age for Scottish police. Yet after 20 years and 18 Rebus novels, Rankin and his hard-driving detective had become indelibly linked to Edinburgh. Since 2000,
has offered two-hour guided walking tours that start at Rebus' favorite pub, the Royal Oak, and incorporate readings from the Rebus novels plus mentions of other local writers, Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Lewis Stevenson among them.
Ian Rankin has his own interactive
Rebus' Edinburgh map
at his website, and he recently updated his Ian Rankin's
Edinburgh app
, available on iTunes and Google Play. One reason for this flurry of activity is the hotly awaited return of his detective. "Rebus: Standing in Another Man's Grave," a new Rebus novel, will be released in the United Kingdom in November and in the United States in January 2013.
Rankin fans visiting Scotland in September should also take advantage of
Doors Open Days
, an annual program that offers access to buildings and sites not usually open to the public. The scheme inspired Rankin's 2008 stand-alone art heist novel "Doors Open." A TV adaptation of that novel, starring Stephen Fry, is in production.
Gaborone, Botswana
Alexander McCall Smith
helped devise the tours based on his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels that have been run by
Africa Insight
since 2003. The novels, which feature Precious Ramotswe, a "traditionally built" woman of unspecified age, are so charming and gentle it might be surprising to learn that many of the characters and places mentioned in them are drawn directly from real life. Stops on the tour vary but typically include Mma Ramotswe's house on Zebra Drive (a private residence), her birthplace in the village of Mochudi, and a visit to the "orphan farm" where Mma Ramotswe meets Motholeli and Puso. (Mma and Rra are the formal terms of greeting and respect for women and men, respectively, in Botswana.)
The full-day tours have changed over the years as more books have been written — the newest in the series, "The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection" was released in April — but the core tour stops come from the earlier books and a cup of Mma Ramotswe's favorite red bush tea is always on the itinerary. Half-day tours, walking tours and two-day tours that include a visit to the
Mokolodi Nature Reserve
also are available.
We can thank Sweden for the current popularity of crime fiction tours; the country is rife with them. Even the beautiful, tiny fishing village of Fjällbacka in the Bohuslän region of West Sweden, which typically sees its population drop to 1,000 individuals in the off-season, now receives a steady of flow of visitors who want to
see the locations
mentioned in
Camilla Läckberg
's best-selling Erica Falck novels, starting with "The Ice Princess."
Henning Mankell
's Inspector Kurt Wallander is resentful about working in Ystad, a small city in the Skåne region of southern Sweden that he considers a backwater. Yet visitors now flock to Ystad from all over the world for the
"In the Footsteps of Wallander"
self-guided tour. (You can follow the route by map or by
.) The tours feature locations from the books and from both the Swedish and British TV series based on them. ("Wallander Series III," starring Kenneth Branagh, will air on PBS "Masterpiece Mystery" in September with episodes based on "An Event in Autumn," "The Dogs of Riga" and "Before the Frost.")
Not surprisingly perhaps, the most popular crime fiction tours in Sweden are
the Stockholm tours based on the Millennium Trilogy
by Stieg Larsson. The
Stockholm City Museum
sells maps for self-guided Millennium Tours and conducts two-hour guided tours focusing largely on the residential Södermalm neighborhood where fictional journalist Mikael Blomkvist works and where fictional computer hacker Lisbeth Salander lives. It hardly matters that Blomkvist and Salander don't "work" or "live" in a real sense; "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and its sequels made them real enough for travelers to want to visit them.
The man behind 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'
Do you have a favorite crime fiction destination? Share your tips below.
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