The View from Number 80
AB ABSURDO
 

Number 80 Home Page   80's Recommended Reading

 Links from Number 80

 

 Coral Business Dream - Mar 03

Money For Old Rope
 As a very occasional feature here is The View from Number 80's Business Section

Coral Con - Amongst the spam offers that clog up 80's inbox along with all the usual claptrap there seems to be an increase in those that plug "coral calcium" (CC). Taking regular calcium as a constituent of diet or supplements can be beneficial and helps protect against osteoporosis, for example. So what is CC and what are the claims for it - is it more effective than the more familiar kind? In a search on the internet one name appears frequently connected with this substance - Robert Barefoot, who is identified as the discoverer. A look at his website shows some interesting and familiar features. Claims are made for the efficacy of CC in combating a wide variety of ills - from cancer to Alzheimer's - which Barefoot states are caused by acidosis, acidification of the body which is reversed by use of CC. One link is in red to catch the attention - I'm Sick I Need Help. When one clicks through instead of say, a responsible suggestion to see your doctor or health care professional the reader is presented with a page of more dubious claims and a blatant sales pitch -

"If you are sick, I implore you to read "The Calcium Factor" and "Death By Diet". Also, inexpensive health test kits, audiotapes, and an audio version of the book "The Calcium Factor" and the video tape "The Calcium Factor" can be purchased from ......."

Scroll down to read Barefoot's advice for those suffering from terminal cancer - two words that spring to mind instantly are unscrupulous and callous. Barefoot's pages have all the hallmarks of quackery - claims to cure a very wide range of health problems, although to avoid legal action Barefoot likes to say his CC merely "helps the body to cure itself". Also no results from properly conducted studies are shown but there are plenty of appeals to anecdotal evidence....

"The scientific evidence that calcium is the key to good and long health is overwhelming. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to read simple articles in reputable newspapers, magazines and the doctor’s own journals that are all saying that disease can be cured by diet."

And of course the endless plugging of the various materials that Barefoot is peddling.  Quackwatch takes a withering look at Barefoot's brand of hogwash, demolishing his claims, his questionable credentials and much else. This page from the Wellness Guide puts things nicely when it says "Bottom Line: There is no evidence that coral calcium cures or treats any disease, or that it is better than a basic, inexpensive calcium carbonate pill." Most tellingly the article from Wellness is entitled - How to Sell a 5¢ Supplement for $1. This is the essence of things - Barefoot and others like him are not out to cure anyone, they want one thing and that is your money. The fact that the advice these charlatans give may lead someone to die from a condition that could have been treated by real medical science seems to bother them not one bit. It is merely a lucrative business to them. They deserve nothing but contempt.

Alien Loot - Roswell, what does that name conjure up? Crashed saucers, tiny alien bodies, government cover-up, excitement and mystery? More like the rustle of dollar bills. It is reported that now the inhabitants of this otherwise unremarkable town can now celebrate "Extraterrestrial Culture Day". Never mind the fact that the whole Roswell myth has been thoroughly debunked, what we have here is business pure and simple. Roswell has little if anything to attract tourists and their cash barring the saucer myth and so the local businesses and lawmakers will keep plugging the story. If it has worked in Scotland with Nessie since the early part of the last century then there is no reason why Roswell's attraction should not help to lighten visitor's pocketbooks for a long time to come. Talking of Scotland a local politician has decided his town too wants to jump on the gullible tourist bandwagon by proclaiming the town of Bonnybridge "UFO Capital of the World" and proposing "twinning" with Roswell. Again the truth of the matter has little to do with extraterrestrials and a lot to do with money. This gazetteer for Scotland lists the two main features of the town thus "its industrial estate lies to the south, and to the west is a sand and gravel quarry." With attractions like these it would seem that UFO tourism would be an upward step. Yet somehow "Bonnybridge" the sci-fi TV show still seems a long way away..........

(To be honest 80 is a little unfair to Bonnybridge as it does have a Roman fort nearby. Whether the legionaries were ever buzzed by a flying saucer is not recorded.)

Feng Shxx - 80 looked at the oriental gobbledegook of Feng Shui a while back but a recent email brought this little gem to notice. Feng Shui Made Really Easy has a distinctly non-harmonious bilious yellow background color and text that is almost as grating. Written by the self-styled Master Joseph Yu to explain the theory behind FS, here is an explanation offered regarding Qi

"There is something called Qi (or Chi) that is fundamental in this study. We know the existence of Qi, we know what it is but we cannot give it a definition. We do not need a definition because this is something fundamental. That is how we build up a scientific system. Although Feng Shui is not a science by itself, we still like to employ as much rigor as we possibly can."
Obviously rigor means something very different to Master Yu than it does to this reader. He goes on
"The fundamental properties of Qi are: [1] Qi can be carried by the movement of air. [2] Strong winds will disperse Qi. [3] Qi can be retained by water."
It is obvious that Yu likes to borrow terminology from science without any idea of what it actually means. 80 is no expert but the idea of something that is a "fundamental force" being blown around by wind or "retained by water" seems odd and not applicable to the fundamental forces poor old Western science has to get by with. The page itself is just a preamble to the meat of the matter which is, surprise surprise, selling something, for "Master Yu also offers the highest quality Feng Shui Correspondence Course, Four Pillars Course, International Seminars, moderates the Astro-Feng Shui on-line forum, and offers various Feng Shui and Astrology services..." Click the link provided and you will be rewarded by the unsurprising information that Yu (with others) has written a book fittingly called "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui". The praise for this book in the reviews on the Amazon website is unstinting - and nonsensical. "this American Masterpiece tops the lot - it peels away the layers of superstition and myth permeating the modern practice." It is 80's opinion that when you peel away the " layers of superstition and myth" you will be left with zip, nada, nothing - three terms that also describe the scientific content of this ridiculous and profitable little scam. (Thanks to Ken True)

Dreaming of Cash - The final part of the Business Section is about a scheme dreamed up to make money from - dreams. The interpretation of dreams goes back a very long way in human history - the biblical character Joseph interpreted dreams for the pharaoh of Egypt. His correct readings brought him power and great wealth from the royal coffers. Nowadays The Dream Interpretation Center has to rely upon Visa or Mastercard. The person behind the site is Layne Dalfen whose "own interest in dreams stems from her early experience in Freudian analysis where dream work was the primary tool." Mentioning Freud (and a bit further down the page, Jung) does not engender great feelings of confidence in Dalfen's work - nor does her certificate in "gestalt counselling". The Theory page opens with this sweeping and unsubstantiated declaration "All great psychological thinkers agreed on one thing - that dreams are expressions of our deeper selves and that understanding our dreams can give us valuable insight that we can use in our waking lives." The odor of pseudoscience already pervades - hold your figurative nostrils and click through to "For Some Basic Principles of Dream Interpretation". Here are excerpts from Dalfen's book Dreams Do Come True - "Dream research and analysis is one of the few scientific areas in which each of us can become as knowledgeable as any professional" Particularly if you shell out for the book which contains information to access the four levels of dreaming so that you may "Tap into your Spiritual Resources". Furthermore "Interpreting your dreams not only helps you solve your immediate problems-whether creative, work-related, or personal-but can lead you to a richer, happier life." On this page is a nicely revealing quote - "A dreamer is the only person who knows what a dream is about... One person might say 'I'm dreaming about a cat because someone in my life is being really independent and it's annoying me. Someone else will say 'I dreamed about a cat because I'm having a really bad reaction to someone and I'm allergic to cats." So, as far as 80 can make out, your dreams can mean any old thing you like - after all it is your dream. Dalfen's book is not very expensive but beware if you think you need a private consultation, for it will cost you a cool $80 for one hour. What is known in some circles as a nice little earner.

Preparation YHWH - Last month 80 took a look at an odd little tale in Exodus 33 of the Christian Old Testament - the strange story of God's backside - which was followed by a rumination on rumps and remnants. This is another look at a little known cranny in the Good Book and yes, it is bottoms again. The God of the OT was a great one for punishments and plagues but He thought up something particularly nasty for the Philistines who had taken the Ark of the Covenant into their territory. Wherever the unfortunate Ark-stealers took it God's plague followed them - close behind. It happened first in Ashdod and then in Gath "the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts." (1 Samuel 5:9) From Gath the Ark was taken to Ekron and finally to the land of the Philistines and the plague followed. In despair the thieves asked what could they do to stop their punishment. The priests came up with the answer - a trespass offering to make amends. They were to make golden images of their emerods, load them and the Ark on a cart and send them on home.(1 Samuel 6:5) But what were these emerods that caused such distress? The ever reliable New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary tells us these little pieces of the Almighty's handiwork are in fact hemorrhoids - the Christian Answers page agrees but leaves out any discussion of golden piles as a trespass offering. What an adventure movie that would make - Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Hemorrhoids. A further couple of interesting points arise from this little known biblical episode. Once the Philistines did as they were told (you can hear their goldsmiths saying "You want me to make a golden WHAT?") God would "lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods". Gods? Plural? Yes, this is when Yahweh was just a local tribal god, one among many, before his worshippers decided to foist their fantasies on everyone. And a violent little god he was too "And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men." (1 Samuel 6:19) None of that soppy forgiving and redeeming from this guy.

On a related note you may not be aware that the Roman Catholic church, which has a saint for darn near everything, has piles covered. A little known Portuguese saint, one Goncalo, can apparently cure this unpleasant condition, although how the congregation of the church at Murtosa, outside Lisbon, react to sufferers baring their backsides to Goncarlo's statue is not reported.

Ethical Excellence - Many religionists, particularly those of a more fundamentalist nature, would think the next title something of an oxymoron. The Ethical Atheist is a fine site dealing with such subjects as Atheism, Ethics, Science and Education. (Yes, the first two are a bit obvious). There are links leading to articles about many affairs of great concern from the conflict in Iraq to faith-based funding, pushed by George Bush Jnr and his fellow right-wing Christians, to the space program, cloning and much more. Also available is a list of Ten Commandments - for ethical atheists - with a detailed look at the ramifications, and a list of Questions for God - each with a link to the responses received (although not from the big G Himself sadly). These pages alone are worth a look but there is also a link to the Dark Side of the Ethical Atheist. Disappointingly for fundies it is not a secret link to Satan but a much harder hitting look at religious beliefs and also a lot of humor. See the page of Ridiculous Religious Merchandise (some will be familiar to regular 80 readers) and a page of angel pictures courtesy of Victoria's Secret! For those of a zoological tendency the Biblical Species Not Known to Science is great stuff. Highly recommended.

Miscellany - Here is an interesting essay called Does God Exist? courtesy of the Atheist Foundation of Australia - when you visit do look at the Humour Pages. In reading any of the better skeptical literature a name that occurs frequently associated with interesting and thoughtful writing is Dr. Massimo Pigliucci - go here to find his Skeptic and Humanist web pages and take a look at his Rationally Speaking monthly e-magazine - highly recommended. For a reasoned view of subjects that are currently dominating the news The Federation of American Scientists is a good source - here you will find the lowdown on Weapons of Mass Destruction, Terrorism, Chemical and Biological Arms Control, Government Security and many other topics. On CSICOP's Doubt and About pages there is the latest piece from Chris Mooney "The Skeptic's Message Lab - Some thoughts on new ways to critique alternative medicine." on how to approach the whole sorry business (and as above, business it definitely is) of CAM - Complimentary and Alternative Medicine. How about Japanese journalist, Shun Akiba, and his tales of a conspiracy to silence him. Why? he claims to have found evidence of various map anomalies that lead him to conclude there is a secret network of tunnels underneath Tokyo. (80 could have told him about that for nothing - read You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming and you will learn the indomitable head of the Japanese secret service, one Tiger Tanaka, has his own private subway train in just such a network of tunnels.) Last in this short round-up are the New Zealand Skeptics whose well laid out site is a mine of information. They currently have a Teaching Critical Thinking Competition with a prize of $1000 (for just one page!) and notice of the Skeptics Conference 2003 to be held in September at Victoria University in Wellington. More details can be had by signing up for email alerts. 80 may be wrong but seemingly unique to this site is a range of excellent Information Flyers (pdf format so you will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader) These cover a range of subjects from Acupuncture to Channeling to UFOs and Aliens. If you need good well-presented information to hold your own against the rising tide of irrationality then the NZ Skeptics site is the place to visit - highly recommended.

Quotes

 "The first key to wisdom is assiduous and frequent questioning ... For by doubting we come to inquiry, and by inquiry we arrive at truth." Peter Abelard

"The known is finite, the unknown infinite; intellectually we stand on an islet in the midst of an illimitable ocean of inexplicability. Our business in every generation is to reclaim a little more land." Thomas Henry Huxley

"We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, it is somewhat beauty and poetry." Maria Mitchell

"One could not be a successful scientist without realizing that, in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of scientists, a goodly number of scientists are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid." James Watson

"All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure." Mark Twain

"The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out." Anonymous Chinese proverb

"A faith that cannot survive collision with the truth is not worth many regrets." Arthur C. Clarke

"How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?" Charles De Gaulle

"Oh, everything's too damned expensive these days. This Bible cost 15 bucks! And talk about a preachy book! Everybody's a sinner! Except this guy." Homer Simpson
 


 

         

Number 80 Home Page   80's Recommended Reading

 Links from Number 80


 

©Copyright 2003 Eighty  Ross W Sargent  All rights reserved