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JREF's Pigasus Awards “Honors” Dubious Peddlers of “Woo”
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/jref-news/2074-jrefs-pigasus-awards-honors-dubious-peddlers-of-woo.htmlFrom the James Randi Educational Foundation
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Since 1997, the JREF’s annual Pigasus Awards have been bestowed on the most deserving charlatans, swindlers, psychics, pseudo-scientists, and faith healers—and on their credulous promoters, too. The awards are named for both the mythical flying horse Pegasus of Greek mythology, and the highly improbable flying pig of popular cliché.
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The Pigasus Award in the Scientist Category goes to Houston biochemist and physician Stanislaw Burzynski, who sells expensive cancer cures by administering “antineoplastons,” costing his customers tens of thousands of dollars, and which have never been shown to be efficacious in controlled trials. His cancer therapy is not FDA approved. Despite his many customers to whom he sells his so-called “cancer cure,” he has never published the final results of a single clinical trial. The FDA has sent his clinic warning letters about their unsafe research methods and is currently investigating possible violations of rules meant to protect research subjects, including children.
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The Pigasus Award in the Performer Category goes to entertaining radio host Alex Jones for his continued promotion of quack medicine and unfounded political conspiracy theories. One of the most popular and influential radio personalities in America today, Jones focuses primarily on promoting support for the “Truther” movement, the “Birther” movement, promotion of paranoia surrounding water fluoridation, denial of climate change, beliefs such as that the 2004 tsunami in South Asia and the 2012 Hurricane Sandy were man-made, and various political conspiracy theories, such as belief in a nefarious New World Order, that the Sandy Hook Massacre was a government “false flag” attack to generate public support for gun control, and that the U.S. government engineered the Oklahoma City bombing. His show is also one of the primary promoters of pseudoscientific quack therapies, giving valuable promotion to the complementary and alternative medicine website Natural News, and promoting such quackery like “Supernatural Silver,” a number of expensive water purifiers to remove “poisonous fluoride” from tap water, and dozens of untested herbal and alternative medicine remedies.
The Pigasus Award for Refusal to Face Reality goes to Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Harvard-trained cardiologist who hosts The Dr. Oz Show on broadcast television, one of the most popular syndicated television shows in America. The only person to have won a Pigasus Award two years in a row, he wins a third time this year for his continued promotion of quack medical practices, paranormal belief and pseudoscience, including pseudoscientific Reparative Therapy to "cure" gay people, the “energy-healing practice” of Reiki as a way to cure disease, various TV psychics and mediums such as Theresa Caputo and John Edward, faith healers such as "John of God," GMO conspiracy theories, and any number of new quack diets, herbal remedies, anti-aging cures, and untested “wonder drugs,” among many other pseudoscientific and paranormal claims.
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Full list of winners are:
Pigasus Scientist - Stanislaw Burzynski
Pigasus Funder - Pumpkin Hollow Retreat Center
Pigasus Media - SyFy
Pigasus Performer - Alex Jones
Pigasus Refusal to Face Reality - Dr. Oz
Good list this year. I don't really think there is a controversial choice in any of the categories for this go around.
19 replies
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.... too much schlock and not enough of anything worth actually knowing about.
Sigh.
I used to like watching the surgeries. 
So we are purely entertainment for you Sid? Otherwise, why stick around as long as you have?
