The Carnival Introduction Tradition

Staying true to my Tradition of wrapping up any Carnival hosted here it's time to do a roundup of the most interesting introduction links written by my fellow bloggers.

I have to be honest in that I really didn't like how the Carnival turned out. I've been thinking about different themes for about two weeks and after trying out three different themes (Which came out horrible) I scrambled to put this one together in the last minute. On the whole, I think it came out interesting but I wish I would have thought of something more creative. I'm kicking around the idea of hosting the Carnival of Comedy but it'll be a long time from now (I am tired!).

Hosting a Carnival is no small task. Thirty entries take time to read and, honestly, some are really not "up my alley". Which means I either misunderstood the piece, didn't have the expertise to judge whether it was true at all (which is probably what happened with the Einstein God piece that's getting objection for being included), or, really wasn't very interested. Mostly though, I did enjoy the majority of the entries.

So on to the fun task. First up:

Orac linked with this entry:

"Hey, wait a minute! Debunking quacks and dubious alt-med is my territory! (OK, it's also the territory of Peter, Anne, Paul, Skeptico, and others, and I know I've gotten derailed a bit dealing with "intelligent design" pseudoscientists during the last couple of weeks. Don't worry, though, the alt-med stuff is coming again next week.) And, worse, the Mad House Madman is funny about it. Now I remember why I stole his idea for an interesting and unusal format to do Grand Rounds when I hosted my first blog carnival way back in February. Damn. If I had known the Madman's intent, I would have submitted this article instead of the article about the risks and benefits of phase I oncology trials that I did submit".

So there Orac, you just did submit that link. Anyways, I love most of your entries so I have no problem hosting another post of yours.

Although debunking alties isn't exactly my territory I am hoping to make it into the next Skeptics Circle. Heck, maybe I'll just submit the Tangled Bank for it. I hope to come up with something original to debunk, but I'll start slow. For now, I've debunked the fact that your the only debunker in town (except for Peter, Paul, Anne, and Skeptico).

St. Nate:

"And, once again, the Madman has taken a very creative approach to the project and arranged them like a row of alternative medicines. Yeah, he's crazy, but it's a fun kind of crazy".

Depends who you ask. Some of my patients don't think it's so "fun". But I hope you do.

BTW, I have absolutely no idea how Nate, Orac and Charles were the first entries. I mean they gave their submissions in so late, except for Nate. Really, how in the world did they end up at the top?

And I loved this one (Great Job) 10,000 birds:

"If television has taught us anything (and hasn't it taught us so much?) it's that medical professionals lead tragic, tortured lives. Misanthropic Becker, bitter House, and the agonized souls in the E.R. all explore the depths of human misery, their only crime presumably being that they care too much. Bearing the weight of the world on your shoulders and a stethoscope around your neck clearly takes its toll. Bones McCoy was gripped by a Messiah complex, Dr. Bombay of Bewitched obviously suffered from syphilis-induced dementia and Quincy was ostracized by the medical examiner community because of his closeted relationship with his finicky roommate. Further examples of doctors, nurses, and dental hygienists ruined by their profession are legion, at least on TV.

The Mad House Madman of Chronicles of a Medical Madhouse is obviously another casualty. At this stage in his career, this second year resident seems to have already cracked under the strain of medical practice and has been reduced to peddling dubious wares via the twenty-eighth installment of the Tangled Bank. By all means, you should examine this fascinating case study".

I just love it.

That wraps it up. If I had to pick a site I discovered from the Carnival that I just love reading it would have to be Mindhacks. I'll add it to the sidebar, somewhere.