Just Stop--a rant

Veterinarian Melba Ketchum

With all due respect to Dr. Melba Ketchum, DVM, there is not yet proof of bigfoot existence nor is there proof of any genome sequencing.

North American is all aflutter with speculation, and many people are treating her press release as a scientific announcement.  It is not.  Until the actual paper with the recorded methodology and results is peer reviewed and published in a scientific journal, it's all just hype.  I would dearly love for this news to be factual and prove definitively that our hairy friend not only exists but is tied closely to human dna.  I'm not dancing in the streets just yet.

The statement that something cryptid had sex and reproduced with a human female is the stuff of fantasy fiction.  I suppose it COULD happen, but often enough to breed a population?  Are we talking Sasquatch and Eve here?  The probability of contamination by a human is high.  The chain of custody and collection methods have not been released.  Dr. Ketchum's study is going to have to pass this crucial litmus test.

Additionally, virtually no "real" scientists release a teaser about what is to come.  They peer review, and they publish, or at the very least have a contract to publish, all findings. My fervent hope is simply that Dr. Ketchum is naive and inexperienced.  My fear is that she's media hungry.

Then there is the problem of the Better Business Bureau's rating of Dr. Ketchum's lab.  To be fair, most of the 16 complaints in the past 6 years have been about not providing the services promised.  There doesn't seem to be allegations of fraud.  However, this sort of baggage on the lab purporting to make historically significant announcements is problematic at best.  Combine that with Dr. Ketchum's purchase of the Erickson Project and the red flags pop up like pennants at a hockey game.

I want this to be true. I also want everyone to stop acting like it is already proven.

(and that is my rant for today)