Q: Why is this blog called ‘Tetherd Cow Ahead’?
A: The name comes from the very first post.
Q: Do you realise that you’ve spelt ‘tetherd’ wrong?
A: Yes I do. Not much escapes my attention in the realm of The Cow. See the above post if you’re still confused.
Q: Are you really a Reverend?
A: Yes I am.
Q: What does ‘anaglyph’ mean, and why is it your nickname?
A: It’s explained in this post.
Q: Aside from ‘tetherd’ why do you spell lots of other things funny? Like ‘colour’ and ‘sulphur’ and ‘vapourize’?
A: Because I live, and was educated, in Australia.
Q: Have you ever seen a kangaroo?
Q: Who is this ‘Sister Veronica’ that keeps being mentioned in posts?
A: You can find out about Sister Veronica here.
Q: I often feel strangely lightheaded after reading Tetherd Cow Ahead. What’s going on?
A: Don’t panic, it’s perfectly normal. You can see an expensively produced diagram explaining the science behind The Cow here.
Q: Why don’t you believe in homeopathy? My second uncle/mother-in-law/best friend’s friend’s wife used it and it completely cured his/her cold!
A: No it didn’t. Homeopathy is a crock of shit. Any effects you think it might be having can be explained by selective and/or erroneous observation.
Q: Does Glitch really have red eyes?
A: Of course! What? Do you think I’d just make something like that up?
Q: What’s the ‘Ride the Mad Cow’ button in the sidebar about?
A: The Mad Cow Ride will take you to a random post in Cowdom. This is a very good way of getting some idea of what The Cow is all about. And there are many surprises. For instance, I’ve recently discovered that sometimes when I push the button I find posts that I’m pretty sure I didn’t write…
Q: What are all these references to Rasputin’s penis that I keep reading about?
A: There’s a whole page of info about the Annual Rasputin Poetry Contest here.
Q: You seem to have some kind of grudge against the people who make Shoo!TAG™. What’s the story?
A: I don’t have anything against them personally, but they represent one of my greatest peeves – badly educated purveyors of flim-flam who use pseudoscientific thinking to promote daft products and/or services. Shoo!TAG is so obviously a piece of rubbish, and its manufacturers so plainly disingenuous that their scam is easily apparent to even a casual observer. They’ve made themselves into an excellent whipping boy. As I’ve repeatedly said to them: show me some good science behind your product and I will change my mind. They, of course, are unable to do that because they have none.
Q: But… Does Shoo!TAG™ work?
A: No.
Q: You have awfully weird stuff in your shop – what gives?
A: Everything in the Tetherd Cow Ahead Shoppe is meaningful in some respect to Cow Lore. I’m sure you could find out how if you wanted to.
Q: Are you really an atheist?
A: Yes.
Q: Why?
A: You can read some of my considered thoughts about atheism here.
Q: Aren’t you scared of going to Hell?
A: No. Like Heaven, there is no such place.
Q: Do you really send out prizes to the winners of your competitions?
A: Yes. Unless I forget. But mostly I try and send a real, actual prize to anyone who wins a Cow competition.
Q: Are you REALLY ‘Scientist of the Year’?
A: Yes! I was voted so by peer review.
8 Responses to “ Tetherd Cow FAQ ”
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[...] item was suggested by blog feiend Anaglyph, proprietor perpetrator of pretty much everything that happens at Tetherd Cow Ahead, aka TCA aka [...]
Oh, man, you are SO going to a flea-infestd Hell!
All the best people are.
I agree with you about homeopathy but i was a bit stunned when I realised what a large part of the world uses it. However when I had a think about the options (blood letting) leeches, purgatives, I realised that if at least the treatment doesnt hurt you they were at least in front a bit.
Well, that kind of depends on your definition of ‘being out in front’. If you’ve got a life-threatening kidney infection and you’re in agony you’re hardly worried about the difference between some leeches and some sugar pills.
The real danger of homeopathy is not in the third world. In fact I’m going to go out on a limb and say that most people in the third world would be very happy to get some proper modern medicine if they could afford it.
The danger is in the supposedly ‘advanced’ western world, where people have so much good health care that they take their relatively disease-free lives completely for granted and get it into their heads that silly superstitious nonsense is preferable.
Of course one could argue that we should let the Darwin Effect play itself out on such people, and sometimes that’s exactly how I feel. Unfortunately when such beliefs wander into the realms of vaccination and infectious disease, it effects all of us, not just those with no commonsense.
ha ha ha!!! I thought I’d beat you in FAQ, but of course you’re one step ahead…scientifically.
I didn’t get voted Scientist of the Year for sitting on my ass.