trentmkelly/rationalwiki huggingface dataset:
Cantron

{{altmed}}
'''Cantron''' is yet another odious piece of [[cancer]] woo. Other names it is sold under include '''Cancell''', '''Protocel''', '''Sheridan's Formula''', '''Jim's Juice''', '''Crocinic Acid''', '''JS–114''', '''JS–101''', '''126–F''', and '''Entelev'''.

It was invented by [[crank]] biochemist James V. Sheridan with the aim of targeting the anaerobic cell respiration of cancer cells, in accordance with the now-outmoded Warburg hypothesis (that cancer happens when cells make energy anaerobically, rather than by [[mutation]] or activation of oncogenes). Thus, it originated in the sort of [[pseudoscience]] that holds that an invalidated hypothesis is valid.

==Ingredients==
The precise formula is secret. The FDA lists the components as inositol, nitric acid, sodium sulfite, potassium hydroxide, sulfuric acid, and catechol. The nonexistent "crocinic acid" was originally listed as an ingredient.

==Effectiveness==
None. The National Cancer Institute tested the constituents in animal experiments in 1978 and 1980 and ''in vitro'' on human tumors in 1990 and 1991, and concluded that the ingredients could not be taken in doses high enough to kill cancer cells in the body, and that [[WOMBAT|further study was not warranted]].

The American Cancer Society recommends against bothering with it.<ref>[http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=8422607 "Questionable methods of cancer management: Cancell/Entelev."] ''CA Cancer J Clin'' '''43''' (1): 57–62. 1993. doi:10.3322/canjclin.43.1.57. PMID 8422607.</ref>

There appear to be no tests on the secret formulation itself, which is a nice [[escape hatch]].

==Legal status==
The stuff is sold as a [[dietary supplement]]. Sheridan has been legally enjoined against selling it.<ref>Segal, Marian. "Court says to cancel the CanCell". ''FDA Consumer'' (May 1993: Federal Drug Administration) '''27''' (4). ISSN 0362-1332.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Cansema]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Alternative medicine]]
[[Category:Cancer woo]]

Categories: Alternative medicine, Cancer woo
Capital

{{Economics}}
:''Were you looking for "[[Das Kapital]]", you godless pinko commie?''

In [[economics]], '''capital''' refers to the monetary funding that is available for an organisation to permit the acquisition of assets such as land, premises, machinery and raw materials, as well as the costs involved in turning those raw materials into products, including paying wages. On a company balance sheet, capital appears as a "liability" in that it is technically money that is owed to the shareholders and other investors.

==Capital and assets==
Capital can consist of:

*Shareholder funds, which is the amount that the organisation owes to its owners
*Retained earnings, such as profit after [[tax]] and dividend payments
*Loan capital, such as money borrowed from a bank or other investors who have bought bonds issued by the organisation

Assets are the things that an organisation requires to be able to carry out its business. They include:

*Fixed assets, normally long term investments such as land and premises, computers, furniture, machinery and so on.
*Advances or loans made to customers (especially in financial institutions) that will be paid back, normally with interest.
*Investments, such as where the company has invested in another company or bond, usually short term and easy access so that the organisation can access the funds should it need to do so.
*Cash, i.e. cash in the till that the company can keep "liquid" for short term requirements.
*Accruals, which includes money owed to the organisation in interest or in a business to business environment where 30 to 90 day payment terms are commonplace.

[[Category:Economics]]{{stub|economics}}

Categories: Economics
Carbon

<!-- Please turn this into a serious article. -->
[[Image:Carbon8All.png|thumb|left|Eight allotropes of carbon:<br/>
a) [[Diamond]]<br/>
b) Graphite<br/>
c) Lonsdaleite<br/>
d) C<sub>60</sub> (Buckminsterfullerene)<br/>
e) C<sub>540</sub> (Fullerene)<br/>
f) C<sub>70</sub> (Fullerene)<br/>
g) Amorphous carbon<br/>
h) Single-walled carbon nanotube<br/>
]]{{Chemistry}}'''Carbon''' is an element with [[666|six protons, six neutrons (in the most common isotope) and six electrons]], four of which are valence electrons.

Carbon can bond in many configurations. Although it forms stronger bonds with [[fluorine]] and [[oxygen]] than with itself, carbon-carbon bonds are so stable that the two best-defined forms of elemental carbon are resistant to chemical attack and remain solid at very high temperatures. 

The reason carbon bonds so readily and in such variety is that its valence electron shell is half full.<ref group="note">Or is it half empty?</ref>  As such, carbon is very happy to share electrons with almost any reasonably friendly nearby atom.

Pure carbon forms several different compounds in different ways. [[Diamond]] is a three dimensional lattice that, due to its stable bonds, is very hard. Very, very hard. And [[crystals|pretty]] when cut well. Graphite forms 2-dimensional sheets that are very loosely bonded to each other, making it very slippery. Synthetic [[Nanotechnology|buckyballs]] are footballs (soccer balls to you Yanks) formed of 60 carbon atoms; buckytubes are similar but form long hollow fibers.

The study of how carbon interacts with other elements is called "organic chemistry".

Hydrocarbons are a convenient way to [[fossil fuel|store chemical energy]] for later use via oxidation.

==See also==
*[[Activated charcoal]]
*[[Buckminster Fuller]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group="note"}}
{{stub|chemistry}}
[[Category:Chemicals]]
[[Category:Elements]]

Categories: Chemicals, Elements
Carbon offset

{{globalwarmingnav}}
{{cquote|OK, I murdered a guy, but I'm totally gonna get ''two'' women knocked up!}}

A '''carbon offset''' is a special type of economic credit whereby a user of a particular unit of "dirty" power (i.e. that which emits carbon dioxide or other [[Pollution|pollutant]]) invests in a process or activity to remove an equivalent amount of pollution from the environment—planting a tree, installing or operating a smokestack scrubber, maintaining a [[Renewable energy|solar power]] plant.

While it seems like a good idea on paper, the debate rages as to whether this is actually a good thing or whether it's just the [[Sunday School environmentalism|environmental equivalent of ordering a Diet Coke with your Double Whopper]].<ref>Or worse.  At least a 22 oz. Diet Coke saves you 240 Calories.</ref> It is worth pointing out that, even if carbon offsets are a Good Thing, the limited amount of [[environmental]] remediation available compared to the massive amounts of pollution being put out risks carbon offset inflation by overselling the available amount of remediation, rendering said offsets useless and an economic black hole.

In practice, many carbon offset schemes are environmental [[indulgence]]s.<ref>[http://www.monbiot.com/2006/10/19/selling-indulgences/ Selling Indulgences], [[George Monbiot]]</ref> Only about 30% of the money spent on carbon offset programs offered by airlines actually goes into reducing emissions.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8399740.stm '30% of Carbon Offsets' Spent on Reducing Emissions], BBC</ref> The most problematic type of carbon offsets are tree-planting programs, as these don't permanently reduce emissions and may, in fact, increase them if the trees are not properly maintained and die or catch fire.<ref>[http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/climate-change/science/the-problems-with-carbon-offsets-from-tree-planting/ The Problems with Carbon Offsets from Tree-Planting], David Suzuki Foundation</ref>

In a textbook example of "perverse incentives," twenty chemical companies headquartered in [[Southeast Asia]]n nations produced excess chlorofluorocarbons in order to destroy them and get extra carbon credits.<ref>[http://www.philstar.com/article.aspx?articleid=605447&publicationsubcategoryid=200 UN Board Could Rein in $2.7 Billion Carbon Market], Associated Press</ref>

==See also==
*[[Ecology]]
*[[Greenwashing]]
*[[Externality]]

==External links==
*[http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/research/climate/cop07/offsets.php Carbon Offsets], Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford
*[http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/05/buying-a-stairway-to-heaven/ Buying a Stairway to Heaven?], Real Climate

==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Environmentalism]]
[[Category:Economics]]

Categories: Environmentalism, Economics
Caribbean

[[File:CaribbeanIslands.png|right|thumb|200px|Isn't that sea a beautiful shade of blue?]]
{{needs sources}}
The '''Caribbean''' is the name given to the various nations lying in the Caribbean Sea. It is also sometimes referred to as the '''West Indies''', although this term is usually restricted to describing the area under colonial rule. Geographically it refers to two main groups of islands, the Greater and Lesser Antilles. Politically, it also often includes the nations of Belize and Guyana, which are located in [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]] respectively, but are usually considered closer culturally to the English-speaking Caribbean.

The various islands of the Caribbean were colonized by the [[Spain|Spanish]] in the early 1500s, much to the confusion of the Carib and Taino tribes who had already been living there for at least a millennium. For the next 400 years, these islands and territories then passed between various powers, including [[United Kingdom|Great Britain]], [[France]], [[Denmark]], [[Portugal]], the [[Netherlands]], and [[Sweden]]. During the 17th to early 18th centuries, the Caribbean islands were also regularly used as a base by pirate crews, who took advantage of their weak colonial governments, and their prime location in relation to the triangular trade routes.

Today, most nations of the Caribbean are politically independent, although they maintain heavy ties to their colonizing powers through languages and economic influence.

During the [[Cold War]], the Caribbean played a major role in defining relations between the [[United States]] and the [[Soviet Union]], culminating in not one, but ''two'' invasions of sovereign nations ([[Cuba]] and [[Grenada]]) by the US military.

The present-day demographic landscape of the Caribbean is heavily defined by the legacy of [[slavery]] - a large percentage of those living in Caribbean nations are of [[Africa]]n descent.  The white minority are typically much wealthier, and this is especially the case in the Caribbean's many [[tax haven]]s.

The various nations of the Caribbean are also among the most religious in the world, due to the influence of [[missionary|missionaries]] and the [[Catholic Church]] in the 17th and 18th centuries. The influence of indigenous African traditions can also be felt in many syncretist religions, which mix African spiritual beliefs with [[Christianity]].

Lotsa nice beaches in the Caribbean, as well as rum, and some pretty awesome food. Roast oxtail, anyone?

Some of the best [[cricket|cricketers]] in the world have come from the Caribbean. And then, of course, there's Reggae. And [[Rastafarianism]], if you're in need of a laugh.

[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Slavery]]
[[Category:Tax havens]]
[[Category:Americas]]

Categories: Geography, Slavery, Tax havens, Americas
Carl Paladino

[[File:Carl Paladino Headshot 2010 3 color adjust.png|thumb|165px|left|You haven't seen the last of 
Fat Tony
 Carl Paladino]]
{{uspolitics}}
"We're mad too," '''Carl Paladino''' was the 
batshit crazy wanna-be mobster
 [[Tea Party movement|Tea Party]]-backed [[Republican Party|Republican]] gubernatorial candidate for New York in the 2010 elections. He ran what was probably the most disastrous and nutty campaign in 2010, even by both New York and Teabagger standards (arguably surpassed only by the Nazi reenactment guy, [[Rich Iott]]). Just about every week, he managed to make a 
bigoted
 "controversial" statement bound to offend some major demographic or have some embarrassing details about his past uncovered. In addition to his numerous homophobic statements, a number of his e-mails leaked that contained various racist depictions of [[Barack Obama|Barack Obama]] and [[bestiality|bestial]] pornography ("It was a joke!").<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/17/carl-paladinos-craziest-l_n_720430.html#s141424&title=undefined The Big Bad List of Paladino Gaffes and Controversies]</ref> One of the main issues of his campaign was using eminent domain to prevent the [[Ground Zero Mosque]] from being built. Not to mention his numerous unsubstantiated accusations about his competitor and then-State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's affairs while he himself had fathered a love child. Of course, he believes [[global warming]] is a "farce."<ref>[http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/10/15/gop-governor-deniers-iii/ Governor deniers]</ref> Not one to make a quiet exit, he swung around a baseball bat during his concession speech and claimed that we "haven't seen the last of Carl Paladino."<ref>[http://online.wsj.com/video/carl-paladino-concession-speech/81B1F5AE-0E7A-4D07-A17C-549FF9EA7EE3.html Carl Paladino threatens to break your 
kneecaps
 Albany]</ref><ref group=Note>The uncomfortable aspect is that we've heard [[Richard Nixon|this sort of thing]] before, [[Vietnam|with]] [[Cambodia|extremely]] [[Watergate|distasteful]] [[War on Drugs|sequelae]]. Fortunately, Mr. Paladino doesn't seem to have either Richard Nixon's [[Sarcasm|vibrant charisma]] or his [[Machiavellianism|innate political shrewdness]].</ref> Lock your doors at night, folks.

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paladino, Carl}}
[[Category:Denialists]]
[[Category:Failed Tea Party candidates]]
[[Category:Islamophobes]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:New York]]
[[Category:Racists]]
[[Category:United States politicians]]

Categories: Denialists, Failed Tea Party candidates, Islamophobes, Living people, New York, Racists, United States politicians
Carl Wieland

[[File:Carl wieland.jpg|thumb|165px|right|Wieland.]]{{crenav|1}}{{cquote|So, when Wieland became a [[Christian]], he could see the great importance of the early chapters of [[Genesis]]—and that there was no need for those [[Evangelism|campus Christians]] to lose the intellectual battle.|||And he gave up his medical practice to support [[young earth creationism | young-earth creationism]]<ref name="bio" />}}

'''Carl Wieland''' {{lived|1950|}} served as the Managing Director of [[Creation Ministries International]] (CMI). In keeping with the stance of that organization, he is an [[evangelical Christian]] and a [[young-Earth creationist]].<ref name="bio">[http://creation.com/carl-wieland-retires Carl Wieland retires after four decades.] creation.com. 2 March 2015. Retrieved on 10 November 2015.</ref>

Wieland, who trained as a medical doctor at Adelaide University in South Australia, ceased practising medicine in 1986 prior to forming CMI after he crashed head-on into a fuel tanker and spent nearly six months laid up in hospital.<ref>http://creation.com/regenerating-ribs-adam-and-that-missing-rib</ref>

He wrote extensively for two of CMI's magazines, the prole-feed vehicle ''Creation'' and the pseudo-scientific ''Journal of Creation''; he  also became a popular figure on the creationist lecture-circuit.

Wieland was a key player in the schism that saw CMI separate from its former parent-organization, [[Answers in Genesis]] in 2005. For a while there, Wieland and [[Ken Ham]] went on like two first-graders in a schoolyard, with Ham stealing CMI's magazine subscription-list and substituting an Answers in Genesis publication, and then Wieland accusing Ham of theft and moral failure.<ref>http://archive.cincinnati.com/article/20070623/NEWS0103/706230388/Group-sues-Answers-Genesis</ref> You just can't make this stuff up. The dispute, widely reported, unmasked the unsavoury and inbred microcosm of the fringes that represent young-earth creationist [[belief]].<ref>[https://archive.is/9yA8 Trouble in Paradise: Answers in Genesis Splinters]. Archived from the original at Reports of the National Center for Science Education, Volume 6, Issue 6, November-December 2006.</ref><ref>[https://archive.is/7YU0O Lord of the ring]. Archived from the original at theaustralian.com.au, 5 June 2007.</ref>

Wieland retired in 2015.<ref>http://creation.com/carl-wieland-retires</ref>

==See also==
*[[Roraima pollen paradox]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wieland, Carl}}

{{crebox|1}}
{{Down Under}}

[[Category:Christians]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Australians]]

Categories: Christians, Living people, Australians
Carnitine

{{altmed}}
'''Carnitine''' ('''C<sub>7</sub>H<sub>15</sub>NO<sub>3</sub>''') is a chemical found in food sources such as red meat and dairy products. The biological role of carnitine is fatty acid metabolism: it transports fatty acids from the intracellular fluid to the [[mitochondria]] to generate metabolic energy.

As a [[dietary supplement]] it is found in the form of either acetyl-L-carnitine or L-carnitine. It is also sold and marketed as a so-called "fat-burner" (i.e. it will help metabolizing your body fat quickly, thus making you slim and fit), or a fat-loss supplement. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center,<ref>[http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/carnitine-l-000291.htm]</ref> "...there is no scientific evidence to show that it works. Some studies do show that oral carnitine reduces fat mass, increases muscle mass, and reduces fatigue, which may contribute to weight loss in some people."

The most widespread chemical form of carnitine is L-carnitine, and this form is usually sold as a weight-loss supplement. L-carnitine can be derived from L-tartrate.

A 2011 study published in peer-reviewed scientific journal ''The Journal of Physiology'' found that a L-carnitine L-tartrate supplement increases muscle carnitine content which in turn reduces muscle carbohydrate utilization and increases muscle lipid use. The net result is reduced fatigue during exercise and increased athletic performance.<ref>http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3060373/?tool=pmcentrez</ref>

A 2014 study of several nutriceuticals including Juvenon® (α-lipoic acid and acetyl-L-carnitine mixture) found that "The results are consistent with epidemiological studies suggesting that dietary supplements are not beneficial and even may be harmful for otherwise healthy individuals."<ref>[http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11357-013-9609-9 Lifespan effects of simple and complex nutraceutical combinations fed isocalorically to mice] by Stephen R. Spindler et al. (2014) ''Age'' 36:705-718.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Biochemistry]]
[[Category:Chemicals]]

Categories: Biochemistry, Chemicals
Carrot

{{Sources needed}}
[[File:Carrots.JPG|right|thumb|165px|Some carrots]]
{{foodnav}}
The '''carrot''' is an orange (normally, although many eastern varieties are purple) root vegetable related to such others as parsley, fennel, dill and cumin. Originating in [[Afghanistan]], it is an excellent source of Vitamin A which is metabolised from the orange carotenoid β-carotene which gives it its characteristic colour. Carrots are also a relatively good source of fibre.

==Woo==
{{main|Vitamin and mineral supplements#Vitamin A/beta-carotene}}
Carrots were the subject of a very pointed (har!) and partially successful [[woo]] during [[WWII]].

[[UK]] fighter pilot John Cunningham (Cat's Eyes) was the first person to shoot down an enemy plane with the help of radar. The existence, or at least the success, of radar was concealed by crediting a high carrot (vitamin A) diet. As there was already a [[German]] [[folklore]] myth that carrots improved night vision, the subterfuge worked.  Along the same lines, British pilots were given bilberry (a herb) which purportedly improved night vision. 

Although ''deficiency'' of [[Vitamin]] A causes night blindness, a surfeit does not improve it and can be toxic, as anyone who's eaten a polar bear's liver will know.{{fact|joke}}  Luckily, carrots don't actually contain vitamin A, your liver metabolizes beta-carotene into Vitamin A when needed and the excess is stored in your fat cells.  If you reach capacity there, at that point the beta-carotene finds its way to your skin cells and gives you a weird albeit harmless condition where you turn orange.

==With the stick==
The carrot and stick is a popular motivational technique to subjugate horses, donkeys, and mules. The offer of a carrot to a horse (or donkey etc.) as reward is attached to a stick that makes the carrot just out of reach. Some instances has an additional stick to strike the animal to help it along. The promise of [[Heaven]] and threat of [[Hell]] in the [[Abrahamic religions]] is perhaps the ultimate example of the carrot-and-stick method.

==See also==
*[[Vitamin and mineral supplements]]

{{foodbox}}

[[Category:Alternative medicine]]
[[Category:Diet woo]]
[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Plants]]

Categories: Alternative medicine, Diet woo, Food, Plants
Case-control study

{{sciencenav}}
A '''case-control study''', a type of retrospective study, is a study design that looks for relationships between types of data.<ref>[https://www.bmj.com/about-bmj/resources-readers/publications/epidemiology-uninitiated/8-case-control-and-cross-sectional Case-control and cross sectional studies], ''Epidemiology for the uninitiated'', 4th ed, Coggon, Rose, and Barker, Ch 8</ref> It is used especially in epidemiology. It differs from [[randomized controlled trial]]s (RCTs) in several ways, and is usually considered a somewhat weaker type of [[evidence]].

Rather than randomly assigning a group of subjects to different exposures (treatment vs. [[placebo]]), it takes groups of people who ''already have'' the condition in question, matches them with a similar group that does not, and uses [[statistics]] to look for commonalities and differences between the groups.

For example, one particular study<ref>[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2716781 A case-control study of the effectiveness of bicycle safety helmets] by R. S. Thompson et al. ''N. Engl. J. Med.'' 1989 May 25;320(21):1361-7.</ref> was designed to look at the relationship between head injuries and wearing [[bicycle]] helmets. By looking a groups of people who were injured in bicycle accidents, and comparing the rates of head injuries in groups that did or did not wear helmets, the authors were able to find a strong association between not wearing a helmet and sustaining a serious head injury.

There are limits to this type of study, especially in establishing ''[[causation]]'' ([[Correlation does not imply causation|vs. ''correlation'']]). Perhaps the group of people who wore helmets had more careful habits in general and were more careful riders.

This type of study is invaluable, however, as designing an RCT to look at this association would be unethical. (Imagine randomly assigning 300 people to ride with helmets, and 300 without for a year, and seeing which group had more head injuries &mdash; yuck).

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Science]]
[[category:Research terms]]
[[Category:Types of medical studies]]

{{stub|science}}

Categories: Science, Research terms, Types of medical studies