Reckless Endangerment: Is Henry Bauer pulling our leg?

"And going to the university and the University of Florence in particular, it came out that Professor Ruggiero – that’s myself – was in absolute terms the Best Professor in the Entire University... and not only in biology and medicine but overall, concerning all the professors of the entire university" - Dr Marco Ruggiero, Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Florence.

"Derrida's method consisted in demonstrating the forms and varieties of this originary complexity, and their multiple consequences in many fields. He achieved this by conducting thorough, careful, sensitive, and yet transformational readings of philosophical and literary texts, to determine what aspects of those texts run counter to their apparent systematicity (structural unity) or intended sense (authorial genesis)."
- Wikipedia: Jaques Derrida (and also copy-pasted to 2,520 other websites)

"I have long ago given up looking at anything from Snout... He has no credentials at all to discuss the things he talks about, yet feels free to denigrate a long-established, peer-reviewed Italian journal, and highly competent, even distinguished scientists and scholars. If anyone prefers to take his opinion rather than mine, I think that shows rather poor judgement in view of the curriculum vitae posted on my website and the anonymity and missing C.V. of Snout…"

- Henry H. Bauer. Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, Science Studies and Dean Emeritus of Arts and Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Is Henry Bauer pulling our leg?

EVERY NOW AND AGAIN, you come across something Henry has written that's so hilariously dumb it makes you think, "Oh no, come on, he can't be for real. This has to be a wind-up, he has to be pulling your leg, his whole "thesis" has to be a satirical hoax cunningly designed to show how easy it is to get people to sign on to obviously nutcase ideas," in the traditon of Alan Sokal.

Here's my current favorite:

And how could it happen that in California [30]—and even in San Francisco, one of the first locales of AIDS [31]—F(HIV) among childbearing women is quite low (less than 2 per 1000) [30, 31] and remained unchanged during six successive years (1990–95) [31]? With so many high-risk males in the vicinity, why were so few women infected?
Demographic Characteristics of HIV: I. How Did HIV Spread?

Gee. Are there any ladies who have spent time in the vicinity of high-risk males in, say, the Castro district of San Francisco circa 1980-95 who can let us in on their secret as to how they managed to remain uninfected by these high-risk males? Even despite getting in their vicinity?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Woah woah woah. Wait a sec now Snout...are you telling me that women are unlikely get a sexually transmitted disease by being in the vicinity of men, the majority of whom have little to no interest in engaging in sexual activity with them!? Balderdash I say!

-Poodle Stomper; March 19, 2009 at 1:58 AM

About "Reckless Endangerment"

HIV/AIDS denialists comprise a loosely associated group of individuals devoted to promoting their belief that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. Many denialists also claim that HIV does not exist, that HIV testing is a "fraud", and that medical treatment of HIV/AIDS (including the prevention of mother to child transmission) is ineffective and can only cause harm.

None of these claims are accepted by scientists who perform actual research in the field, or by qualified physicians practising to an acceptable standard.

HIV/AIDS denialism is not a bona fide scientific position – it is a political or ideological movement. Its tactics have nothing to do with legitimate scientific debate, but rather the repetitive deployment of a well-worn set of misleading rhetorical gambits and long-discredited argumentoids.

HIV/AIDS denialists target their misinformation toward the general public, in particular to people living with HIV/AIDS or who are at risk. Their principal medium is the internet, but they also make use of books, magazines and film.

The aim of HIV/AIDS denialists is to create the illusion that there is legitimate scientific debate about their claims, when in fact there is none.

One denialist tactic is to publish on the net materials that superficially give the appearance of competent scholarship. The purpose of this blog is to expose the true nature of such pseudo-scholarship.

HIV/AIDS denialist propaganda is older than the internet itself, as are the efforts of scientists and activists to counter and refute denialist claims. This blog focuses on only a small sample of denialist pseudoscholarship which hasn't yet attracted critical scrutiny elsewhere - it's not a comprehensive examination of all denialist claims.

There is a great deal of good quality information about HIV/AIDS on the internet, together with a considerable amount of misleading, incompetent and frankly dishonest nonsense. A list of web pages with reliable information and useful or interesting viewpoints pertinent to this topic can be found below.

Important Note: The information and opinions contained on this blog are not intended to replace the advice of an appropriately qualified physician. This is particularly so if you are someone seeking personalised advice about a serious medical condition. Such advice should be informed not only by recognised qualifications and experience in the assessment and treatment of that condition, but also by personal knowledge of the medical history and circumstances of the individual asking for it.

Praise for "Reckless Endangerment"

- Henry H. Bauer. Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, Science Studies and Dean Emeritus of Arts and Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

"Aww Geez, the dog's got out again."

- Anonymous RE Correspondent.