OMG! I've been mentioned on the Webz!!

And it isn't favorable. =( In regards to my post from back in June wherein I commented on the decline of chiropractors in Britain:

I have been wondering who sceptics were since I tried engaging with them on http://www.skeptics.org.uk a few years. One had to be impressed with their knowledge of anti chiropractic literature and their enthusiasm to debate it, particularly Blue Wode who is the administrator at EBM First .Where do the find the time?

Trouble is very few of them come out from behind their pseudonyms. My mother used tell me if someone cant put their name to what they are saying its probably not worth listing to. Sceptics have every right to have their views (even if their sceptism seems limited to the unorthoox ) and in a free country I was able to express my disagreement with Simon Singh writing to the Guardian and publishing my opinion on this blog. Simon has every right to have his views about me and chiropractic and should be credited for putting his name to his views, as has Joe Mc Kean below who proclaimed in his blog today “The end of chiropractic quackery in great Britain” .

What I dont understand is why the President of the BCA Tony Metcalfe had to hire a lawyer to wave a big stick at Simon and why the chiropractic profession is running scared of Joe et al, who probably needs to get out of his room more often. When I was seventeen all I thought about was getting laid with girls in small hot pants. Have things changed so much for the youth of today.

I only just found this (it was apparently posted on June 11) because, being the attention whore that I am, I was checking out my backlinks. I gotta admit, I don't really have much to say in response to this not-all-that-nice mention of me. As far as I can tell, the blogger (whose name I cannot seem to find, not that it matters) is annoyed that I'm a chiropractic skeptic – and that I'm 17. (But that's to be expected when you're a teenage blogger, I suppose.)

A couple of small corrections I'd like to make, though:

1. Nitpicky, perhaps, but spell-checkers are a dime a dozen these days, ya know. (Which is an expression to mean "they're bleedin' free".)
2. Contrary to what this guy says, pseudonyms are actually very useful, and in many cases, even necessary. Some people simply cannot afford to have their personal opinions, like those they'd spread on their blog, attached to their professional careers or social lives for fear or retribution and such. It's common sense.
3. Seriously, how hard is it to spell "Joé McKen" correctly? I can understand "Joe" without the accent on the "e", as many don't know how to make accents and it's a negligible mistake, but "Mc Kean"? Pete on a stick, I've been called (or had my name pronounced) "McCain", "McKinnon", "MacCain", and even "McKenzie" once. Is it so hard to pronounce "Meh+Ken"? Not to sound like a sourpuss, but sheesh. Proper pronunciation of one's name seems like a basic courtesy to me. Or am I too old-fashioned?
4. No, I wasn't saying "The end of chiropractic quackery in Britain" as a hailing or a statement of fact as he makes it sound, but as an open question, à la "Could it be chiropractic quackery in Britain is going away?".
5. And of course, the obligatory "needs-to-get-out-of-his-room-more-often". Unos, I fail to see how that's relevant to my skepticism and/or credibility (or lack of it), and dos, perhaps if there was anything to do in this dreary town – a single park, or movie theater, or recreation center. Anything at all. Then perhaps I'd be out more often. (Hey, I think they're building a large indoor pool some streets away – now that is something I'd love, being the water-lover I am.)
6. Finally – yes, I do dream of "getting laid" (though personally I prefer "having sex", or even "making love", if it doesn't sound too mushy of me to admit). But I'm also realistic enough to realize it ain't gonna happen in these parts. *Dramatic sigh*

All I have to say say is: you wanna remove the skepticism from me? Find me any good and credible evidence pointing towards chiropractic medicine actually working, instead of the placebo effect, and I'll believe it. Good luck. It just ain't out there – hence why I'm a skeptic.

(Speaking of which, why is "skeptic" always used as though it were a derogatory title?)