Stolen directly from Bob Parks’ page, words of wisdom. re a protocol for acupuncture tests:UPDATED 8/20: Walgreens makes decision on Trudeau Book. Table of Contents: |
(Note: For formatting purposes, long urls are truncated and a link to the
full url is placed as a footnote. For example: www.randi.org/shopping 2 )
The August 15 issue of TIME Magazine ran a good discussion of the “intelligent design” vs. evolution battle, but the cover was a problem for me. An excerpt from the article:
Sometime in the late fall, unless a federal court intervenes, ninth-graders at the public high school in rural Dover, Pa., will witness an unusual scene in biology class. The superintendent of schools, Richard Nilsen, will enter the classroom to read a three-paragraph statement mandated by the local school board as a cautionary preamble to the study of evolution. It reads, in part:
Because Darwin's theory is a theory, it is still being tested as new evidence is discovered. The theory is not a fact. Gaps in the theory exist for which there is no evidence (??) ... Intelligent design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin's view ... As is true with any theory, students are encouraged to keep an open mind.
As a reader asked me, “Like the Theory of Gravity? Or Germ Theory?”
After that one-minute reading, the superintendent will probably depart without any discussion, and a lesson in evolutionary biology will begin...
My problem is that – as often happens – the caption-writers and the graphics artists and the editors of TIME weren’t together here. The cover clearly invites one of the misconstrued notions that creationists often throw up to those who accept the overwhelming evidence for evolution: “I refuse to believe that my ancestors were descended from monkeys!” The Time Magazine cover shows the divine finger being extended to a chimpanzee. Evolution does NOT postulate that first the chimp was present, and that homo sapiens developed/descended/derived from that species. It says that primates – including humans and chimps – all descended from a common ancestor.
Reader Patrick Onkst, who describes himself as “a long time follower of the JREF,” informs us:
Today I went onto Ebay, typed in “ghost hunters” in their search engine, and could not believe what [I] found as the last item on the 2nd page. You have got to see this to believe it! For US$189,500 you can purchase a machine/computer that will allow you to see into the “Etheric Plane” that will allow us to see other beings that are no longer with us.
The people that are selling this thing state, “This is not a joke! It is REAL!” and they have a complete description of this device. They actually show sample pictures!
Check it out. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
Not to anyone’s surprise, I’m sure, when I wrote to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C., 39 months ago, I received no response. Here is that letter, re-sent – by certified mail – just this week. Again, I don’t expect any response, because this particular office is known to ignore respectful inquiries. Perhaps my readers might wish to follow this matter. Here’s the current inquiry:
General Information Services Division
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Crystal Plaza 3, Room 2C02
Washington, DC 20231
Monday, August 15, 2005
CERTIFIED MAIL # 7003 0500 0002 3034 8287
Dear Sirs:
This is an enquiry concerning a specific patent issued from the USPTO. Please direct this to the appropriate person(s) who would handle such an inquiry. This inquiry was originally sent to this address in May of 2002, but received no response.
Our website has carried articles about a device known as the “Motionless Magnetic Generator” or “MEG.” On March 26, 2002, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued US Patent #6,362,718 to the MEG. In our Commentary column for May 10, 2002, at www.randi.org/jr/051002.html, we show a photograph of the MEG apparently powering a one-watt neon eco type light bulb. The information about the light bulb can be found in the May 24, 2002 Commentary, at www.randi.org/jr/052402.html.
The inventors of the MEG have stated that their machine “will provide free energy from the vacuum for the lifetime of the device." Should the MEG be functioning without a power source or any form of motion, it would be contradicting all laws of physics which are known at the present time. In order to clarify some of the issues surrounding the MEG, I would like to ask the following questions:
1. Is the USPTO confident that the MEG functions as stated in US Patent #6,362,718, in other words, producing free energy?
2. Was a working prototype of the MEG submitted to the USPTO prior to the issuing of US Patent #6,362,718?
3. If yes, was the prototype MEG subjected to testing by the National Bureau of Standards, or any other person, agency or organization, for the purposes of assessing the validity of the patent application for the MEG, and what were the results of the test(s)?
UK reader Les Rose observes:
I have just enjoyed as usual this [last] week's commentary. Of particular interest was the exchange between Chris Green and the BBC radio DJ Johnny Walker. Amazing that Walker was so obtuse about the need to question outrageous claims. He seems to have forgotten rather quickly that when he was diagnosed with cancer, he tried alternative medicine for some time, which failed, and eventually resorted to orthodox treatment and survived. See http://radio.about.com 1. The alt med story came from my local paper last year.
The “Ultra Tweeter” we wrote about last week drew quite a few clarifications from readers. Gareth Lowe commented:
The interesting thing about this product is that the neither the reviewer nor the manufacturer seem to be aware of the difference between the compression waves in air that form audible signals and electromagnetic radiation. The blurb for these products seems to believe they are just opposite ends of the same spectrum:
The Ultra Tweeter principle of operation is very unconventional. They don't generate sound in the audio band or even in the 20-100KHz band like super tweeters. They function in the Gigahertz band normally used for satellite and microwave communications.
We shouldn’t expect quacks to know about science, Gareth; their expertise is in selling junk to naïve people. Mike Ruskai asks:
I'd like to know what universe they live in where electromagnetic radiation has an "audio band." In my universe, what we hear are sound waves (i.e. vibrating air molecules), not portions of the electromagnetic spectrum (as microwaves are).
But engineer Chad Wahls, who provides Electronics Engineering and Support for the University Of Illinois School Of Music at the Urbana-Champaign campus, has an important technical fact to point out:
Please note that there is no frequency response documented on the Golden Sound Ultra Tweeters but only that they operate in the gigahertz spectrum. Also note that they hook in parallel to the speaker terminals via standard speaker cable to a standard binding post. The glaring problem here is that even a short length of standard speaker cable has enough capacitance that absolutely NO "Gigahertz" material will make it into the Ultra Tweeter. In order to make a plausible connection one must use a high quality coaxial cable intended for broadcast applications terminated with a proper coaxial connector such as what is seen in high speed wireless routers or better.
This is further compounded by the fact that when connected in parallel to a speaker it has been paralleled to a big inductor so now with the capacitance of the wire in series and a big inductor in parallel you have a beautiful low pass filter that I would reason NOTHING over 500Khz would pass through, and that's being generous. As you can see this is much lower than "Gigahertz" material.
Chad, try telling that to that genius reviewer Srajan Ebaen, publisher of the site at 6moons.com who condescendingly dismissed our inquiry by telling us that he only publishes, regardless of whether the material is nonsense. His ignorance of physics – and of the real world – doesn’t bother him one bit; he’s happy that way. Perhaps Baron Lytton Bulwer (1805-1873) anticipated Mr. Ebaen’s existence when he wrote:
Man is arrogant in proportion to his ignorance.
Reader Gerry Presar got into a discussion on a Transcendental Meditation site. Yes, they’re still out there, trying to levitate and change the world. Gerry issues this warning to us, along with a suggestion for a new commercial opportunity. He noticed an entry on the site from a John Manning, who seems to be totally into the woo-woo spirit of the cult:
The other thing I heard, but not directly from Maharishi, is that it's not a good idea to meditate in a bathtub full of water – as the water takes your energy. My few times of trying it proved the point, as I felt very drained and tired as a result. I'm curious as to others' experience.
Gerry couldn’t resist entering into repartee with those on the site. He observed:
This is a most interesting hypothesis that certainly warrants investigation. If true, this effect would likely have something to do with a differential between the energy contained in the bathtub water and the energy produced by person meditating in the water. In this case, the energy would be transferred via some sort of osmotic process, which would continue until the energy produced by the meditator equalized with the energy contained in the water. The time it would take to reach energy equilibrium between the meditator and the tub water would depend on the rate of energy transfer and ability of water to retain this energy. Therefore, it could take a number of meditation sessions to achieve energy equilibrium. Once this equilibrium occurs it would logically follow that the experience of feeling drained and tired would disappear. At this point the water would be charged with meditation energy.
Having gotten this far with the experiment, the entrepreneur in me would prevent me from pulling the drain plug! Rather than wasting multiple gallons of energized water I should think it would be profitable, if not philanthropic, to bottle it and take it to market. One might think that the bottled water market is already saturated (no pun intended), but this meditation water would be unique enough to earn its place on the shelves of better health-food stores across the country. By packaging this meditation water in five-gallon containers, customers could easily take it home to fill their bathtubs. Once they get into the tub they could absorb the energy through reverse osmosis. Better yet, they could drink it straight for a jolt that would make a venti Starbucks triple espresso seem like a glass of warm milk at bedtime. Spreading enlightenment and making a fortune, now that's what I call a worthwhile endeavor! I just hope that the Maharishi doesn't get pissed that I thought of it first.
No, I think that Maharishis don’t get pissed, Gerry. They just giggle….
Reader Joy Harris:
Here's a little story that illustrates how I had myself convinced a few years ago, that I had some sort of subconscious psychic power.
On my first day as a cashier at a retail store, my manager assigned a secret number to me that would unlock my register and allow me to operate it. I thought I had read my number as 6681, and I used that number most of the day before I found the slip of paper in my pocket that said my number was 6281. Thinking that maybe both numbers would work, I tried the second number, but it was not functional. I knew I wasn't using someone else's number, because the register printed my name at the bottom of the receipts. I began to think that they had accidentally given me the wrong number, but that somehow I had subconsciously discerned the correct number, and was using it all morning.
Randi comments: At this point, a lesser intellect might have run to the media with news of this miracle. But not our Joy:
About a year later I learned the truth. By this time, as a supervisor, I was learning to program these same registers. I had a new employee, and had to assign and program a secret number for her. That's when I learned that only the last two digits are programmed in; the first two numbers are set by the cashier the first time she punches in her number. And after she punches in, no other numbers will work.
So instead of being psychic, or even a lucky guesser, I turned out just to be clumsy! What a let-down!
Love your web site, anyway.
I suspect that Joy’s not at all bummed out. She solved the puzzle, and I’m sure is satisfied that the world works just the way she expected it to….
Stolen directly from Bob Parks’ page, words of wisdom. re a protocol for acupuncture tests:
You need a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study with good statistics to find out what works and what doesn't. And double-blind is hard to do with needles. But it wouldn't matter, I still wouldn't believe it. The trouble is, it's silly. Acupuncture, complete with "meridians" that connect acupuncture points, and moxibustion – which applies heat to the acupuncture points, predate vivisection by thousands of years. Well, by 2004 they've looked: no features of our anatomy correspond to any of this stuff. They discovered acupuncture before it was known that blood circulates, or that germs cause disease. But is there anything acupuncture doesn't treat? The Wednesday New York Times reported that "acupuncture is moving toward the mainstream." Mainstream what? When a stage magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat, I may not know where the rabbit came from, but I know it's not magic. It's not science either.
Briefly, though Bob chooses to disbelieve the results of a proposed test, I must say that not only would I believe it if the claim were properly shown to work, but I’d have no choice in the matter: the rules of our JREF challenge require that we commit ourselves to a protocol in advance, and stick with it. But I share Bob’s impatience with such nonsense.
Our friend John Atkinson made a purchase:
I've just bought the Jonathan Margolis biography of Uri Geller, autographed (by UG), for 99p. That's about US$1.80.
Gee, for a book that originally retailed for $34, and even taking into account the cost of mailing it – $7 – it looks as if John got himself a bargain! But he adds:
I was the only bidder. It’s autographed by Geller himself, which may explain the lack of bids!
This was a used copy. I note that used copies of my 1982 book Flim-Flam! currently sell for $6.50 – and that’s a non-fiction book….! New copies – also autographed, though not by Mr. Geller! – sell through the JREF for $22, at www.randi.org/shopping 2 Suitable for all ages, as can be seen in this photo of Miss Irrissa Guyett, 18 months old, beginning her inquiries into reality….
According to RADAR Magazine, the Kabbalah Centre that Madonna and so many other airheaded celebrities have chosen to support (see www.randi.org/jr/080504string.html#1 and www.randi.org/jr/041505hollywood.html#1) has applied for trademarks on more than 90 Kabbalah-related words, images, and phrases it hopes use to describe an incredible array of consumer goods: aftershave lotion, bandannas, bath salts, belts, blouses, body powder, bubble bath, caps, cleansing milk, cologne, deodorant, dresses, eyeliner, face powder, footwear, hair lotion, hats, headbands, hosiery, jackets, lipstick, makeup cream, nail polish, pants, perfume, ponchos, rainwear, scarves, shaving soap, shirts, shoes, shorts, sleepwear, socks, sweaters, sweatshirts, swimwear, talcum powder, toilet water, vests, and watches, are included.
RADAR Magazine tells us that the Kabbalah Centre is even developing a “water-based liquid compound for the decontamination of nuclear waste.” Wow! Sorcery applied to our lives, folks!
Question: on her 47th birthday this last week, Madonna was involved in a riding accident. She sustained three cracked ribs, a broken collar bone and a fractured hand when she fell from a new horse. Did she forget to tie the magic red Kabbalah string around her wrist?
Reader Todd Metcalf:
As always, I enjoyed this week's commentary… I would like to comment about one of Steve Champeon's comments. He wrote, "it is not possible to ‘reason together,’ for those so exposed have been damaged irreparably by their exposure." It's not always that bad. I dropped my belief in a god several years ago and I was indoctrinated in one of the most religiously oriented states in America – Tennessee. There are ways to break indoctrination, even among the most fervent believers.
However, I do feel that the scientists and educators don't appreciate just how dire the situation is getting in this country, so I address this next part to them.
When [Republican US Senator] Bill Frist and his ilk talk about a "culture war" they are not speaking rhetorically. They truly believe this is a war as much as the current situation in Iraq. Having been educated, and I use that phrase loosely, in the state which is famous for the Scopes Monkey Trial, I will tell you what will happen if ID is allowed to be taught alongside evolution, because it happened to me:
Originally, the teacher started out with a derisive and dry commentary on evolution, made snide comments on its precepts and claimed that the science is weak. Then, he or she pulled out the Bible, King James Version only and not that godless RSV [Revised Standard Version], and read the story of Genesis. Then the teacher melodramatically proclaimed "And that was how the world began."
Eventually, evolution was not taught, but several hours of class time were devoted in finding those "patterns" which point to "other-worldly" causes. By the time I got to high school, the chemistry/physics teacher was stating that he or she believed the Earth is only 6,000 years old, because the rate of decay for various isotopes of carbon has changed. Along the way, I was assigned science books which had the first few chapters deliberately ripped out. I was never taught about the Big Bang, no teacher ever taught the existence of the dinosaurs or the geology and history of the Earth, nor was I taught Kepler's laws or Galileo's discoveries. Every year like clockwork, I started my biology studies with Mendel's experiments after a prayer was said over the loud speaker, even though it was 1980 and the Supreme Court had ruled years earlier that that was unconstitutional (the prayer that is).
The State of Tennessee cheated me out of an education. Eventually, I took control of my own education and taught myself. When I raise objections to ID I'm always dismissed with the phrase, "You're not a scientist." That's why I ask the scientists, the educators, and the professionals – please, do not let this happen to another generation.
Reader Olav Westerman of Stockholm tells us that progress in Sweden is not always what we’d expect of this highly advanced part of the world…
First, I want to tell you that your site is the only Internet site that I visit regularly, every Friday. I didn’t realize just how ignorant and stupid humans can be, before I started to read this site.
I just want to mention to you, that "Karolinska Institutet" in Stockholm – the number-one medical research institute in Sweden – has received a private donation of 45 million Skr (about 6 million $US) for research in alternative medicine, including homeopathy, acupuncture and healing. A new faculty headed by a professor will be started for the research. The donated money is expected to last about five years. After that, we taxpayers will have to pay for the research, since "Karolinska Institutet" is run by governmental funds. Personally I object strongly to being forced to pay for research in healing and such utterly nonsense.
A busy thread discussing these folks has been running on the JREF forum at forums.randi.org 3. As you know, I don’t actively participate in the forum, which is independent of the JREF, but Hal Bidlack – you’ll meet him again at the Amaz!ng Meeting 4 – alerted me to an interesting post by one “Peter,” who uses the nom-de-plume “GreenStar.” I give that to you here, so that you may better appreciate the stance of these weird martial artists who think they have magical powers with which they’ll knock over opponents from a distance:
I've just noticed the thread re the Yellow Bamboo “test” held in Perth earlier this year and would like to clarify some of the issues surrounding that encounter. I'm the second “attacker”...the guy with the black T-shirt.
First up, I had exchanged email with James Randi prior to this event. It was not a sanctioned test but we assured Mr Randi of our credentials and that we were not stooges, so he was aware.
We did NOT challenge YB. They advised us of where they practiced and invited us to engage them, and we accepted.
Having dealt with this sort of nonsense before, I initiated a discussion with Alain (the local YB practitioner) as to what would constitute a win for them and what would constitute a win for us. Clearly, all they had to do was KO us without touch but it was necessary for us to clearly define what would constitute a loss for them.
It was agreed that they would tap in submission should they fail, which was a protection for them. Alain admitted he did not want to get hurt. They were not prepared to sign legal waivers. Without such waivers we could have been placed in a precarious legal position had they been hurt and we were not prepared to get assault charges levelled against us for no good reason. Additionally, the test was held at a local family beach, lots of little kids etc and we were not going to unnecessarily cause distress to folk who were simply out for a nice day at the beach.
YB made much of the fact that we had to be legitimately angry. Now how one assays that I'm not too sure, but what was amusing was that after they failed, Alain was heard by me to be saying something to the effect that they didn't really lose, that it all still works etc., etc. I walked back (now quite pissed off) and asked them whether they wanted another go, and this time I wouldn't hold back. They all looked down, shuffled their feet and looked like chided school kids. Alain had the temerity to tell me to chill out, why are you so angry, anger is not good for you etc., etc.
Since their utter failure, several YB practitioners, including Peter Semjonow from Sweden have returned to usenet (primarily rec.martial-arts) claiming we have “chickened out” by not going to Bali (at our own expense!!) to test their guru Pak Serengen.
I have invited YB to Bring Pak to Perth and we can do it all again. All they have to do is come to our Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school and prove it. I have offered them a private USD$100,000 bet, winner take all. I will place the funds in escrow with a CPA, they have to do the same. Now with all their supposed resources, the support of the rich and slightly famous 12th level "Dr" Alvin Donovan, wouldn't you think they would jump at such easy money?
Ha! No such luck. Irrespective of their response to my offer, I understand they might want to try their luck again here in Perth. If this does happen, there will be no tapping. They will either be choked unconscious or have limbs broken.
And we will video it all. Thanks for your time, hopes this clears up a few issues.
Reader Richard Hammer writes:
The JREF is fantastic. Keep up the good work.
I sometimes have a look at www.anomalist.com. Today there was an ad on the side for a psychic test, so I clicked on it. It took me to http://web.tickle.com/tests/ 4. I completed the test, and then waded through page after page of special offers and on and on and on, till they finally gave up that I would spend any money or accept any of the special offers. Here is a quote from the results I obtained:
However, even with this bias, an objective score still acts as a good measure of how psychic you're likely to be. If you had no psychic ability at all, you'd theoretically have answered about 6 of the 27 objective questions right. Instead, Tickle found that you answered 6 of them right. This means that you got more of them correct than what would be expected by chance, which indicates that you're relatively more likely to possess unusual psychic talent.
I believe the quote speaks for itself.
Yes, it does, Richard. The lesson is: design your automated response systems so that they won’t make you look any sillier than you already are…. Incidentally, the Tickle site refers to “mental telepathy.” May I ask, what other kind is there….?
I received dozens of references to the French amateur psychic Herve Vandrot, 24, who recently left his crystal ball on his windowsill while he went visiting. The sunlight coming in the window did just what sunlight has always done when passing through a fat lens: it concentrated a beam on a nearby stack of laundry, setting it on fire. By the time M. Vandrot returned, his own and two other flats were consumed, and several others were uninhabitable.
One of Vandrot’s friends who helped him sift through the debris, said:
I don’t think it was the crystal ball. I have had crystal balls on my windowsills for years and nothing happened.
Well, I predict that this friend may decide to move his crystal, and I foresee a sharp decrease in fires in psychics’ apartments….
Norwegian reader Ragnar L. Børsheim tells us:
In August last year two men stole the paintings "Scream" and "Madonna" from the Munch museum in Oslo. The paintings are still missing. The information-officer at the museum tells the newspaper Dagbladet that several "psychics" who claim that they can find the paintings have contacted them. The most cheeky have to be some claimed psychics from the Philippines who contacted the Munch museum and said that they could find/see the missing paintings if the museum just could send them another original painting by Edvard Munch, so they could touch it.
Several Norwegian psychics also contacted the museum, and one claimed to have "seen" the missing paintings in America. First, this person had "contact" with the paintings and saw them in Copenhagen, but then the psychic “lost contact with them,” until suddenly the paintings emerged in America. The psychic vision disappeared when the objects were on water, you see. Amazing.
The museum tells the newspaper that they have received several crackpot tips after the theft of the painting. Many of these tips are from so-called "psychics." The story was presented in the newspaper as a funny story, and with the proper angle that these kinds of tips from "psychics" are not to be taken seriously.
Source: http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2005/08/12/439958.html
Bear in mind that if just one detail among the hundreds that these “psychics” come up with, turns out to be true – “One of the thieves wears glasses” – the media will trumpet that “hit” and ignore all the other bad guesses. Ah, but it was ever so….
Reader Tracy Stone of Greenville, South Carolina, informs us:
Last Monday (8/9), the National Geographic Channel showed a fairly decent special called "Is It Real? Psychic Animals." The main focus of the hour-long segment was to address the claim that animals can predict natural disasters. The narrator stated the fact that certain animals have keener senses than humans – and gave several examples. However, the producers also decided to look at the claims of believers that animals have psychic powers – such as telepathy and precognition. Regarding the psychic claims, there was a strong showing by Tony Youens – a noted UK Skeptic, and Bryan Farha. Dr. Farha is on the faculty of Oklahoma City University, and is familiar to readers as the caller who extracted a promise from Sylvia Browne and Larry King to accept the JREF challenge.
The TV presentation was quite entertaining. Although National Geographic tried to appear unbiased, viewers could easily make a sensible conclusion when pet psychics made statements that I recall as "your horse wants more grass…" and "I convey thoughts to rodents to get out of the way when I mow, but sadly, they don't always listen…"
I do recommend this show.
Reader Paul K. Compton in Lexington, Kentucky:
I’ve been a regular fan of you and your skeptic cause for a long time now, and it was a pleasure meeting you a couple of years ago when you came to Berea College in Kentucky. I just wanted to quickly share with you what happened this past week, when I noticed a Kevin Trudeau infomercial (he was hawking his book) on our CBS affiliate WKYT-TV here in Lexington. Recalling your recent information on him, I fired off an Email and a letter to the TV manager, Mr. Wayne Martin. I also used some of your Walgreens complaint letter as a bit of a template – hope you don’t mind. I expected to get the usual standard & generic thank-you-for-your-interest-yap-yap response, but instead I received the following answer the next workday:
Dear Mr. Compton, thanks for sharing your concerns about a recent paid program that aired on our station. There is no FTC or FCC restriction in airing the program, that we are aware of. However, I agree with you that it should not air. Therefore, it will not air on our station in the future. Thanks for being a loyal WKYT viewer. Wayne Martin
It turns out that Mr Martin was apparently correct that Trudeau is still allowed by the FTC to continue to sell his book, although he is barred from pushing his other quack products. Anyway, my effort was minimal, and the response was gratifying. Thank you for your efforts.
No, Paul, I thank you. Reader Susan Lavery in Hialeah, Florida, gives us this e-mail she sent to Walgreens Corporate, following my complaint about their selling the Trudeau book:
I would not have paid any attention to this book had it not been for James Randi’s website. As I was waiting to pick up a prescription at my local Walgreen’s I noticed the book prominently displayed by the prescription drug counter. I glanced through the book and discovered that it was filled, not with harmless nonsense, but with medically dangerous nonsense. Just as an example: That sun exposure DOES NOT cause skin cancer but that SUNBLOCK and SUNSCREEN do!!! That is just one example of many.
I suggest that in the interest of your patrons’ health and wellbeing and also in the interest your organization from a lawsuit standpoint that you remove this item from your stores immediately, or, at the very least, place it in your fiction book section.
This book is a serious menace to society, written by a well-documented fraud. Check it out.
I promised I’d keep you in touch with the response of Walgreen’s to this quackery. To date, nothing has been sent directly to me, and the Trudeau book is still stacked up at the cash register at my local pharmacy. But reader Lavery gives us a very encouraging follow-up report! She writes:
Here is the reply to the e-mail I sent them regarding Trudeau's quack medical book:
Wednesday, August 17, 2005 1:27 PM
Subject: RE: Fw: Consumer Complaint
Dear Ms. Lavery,
Thank you for taking the time to email us with your concern regarding our store at 4451 W 12th Ln. Please be assured that Walgreens takes customer comments and complaints very seriously, and we will continue to try to improve the way we do business.
We will be sending a request to all our stores to remove this book from the sales floor. Thank you for taking time to bring your comment to our attention.
Sincerely,
Odalys Muller
Miami Central District Administrative Assistant
So here’s my own response to Ms. Odalys Muller, an obviously responsible and responsive associate of Walgreens Pharmacy:
Dear Ms. Muller:
It doesn’t often happen that we see a complaint acted on with the sort of concern that you’ve shown in responding to Ms. Susan Lavery’s recent notice about the Kevin Trudeau book that Walgreen’s was offering for sale. This was certainly a better reaction than shown by Mr. Jeff Bialczak, a Walgreen’s associate – after I e-mailed him, wrote personally to him, and featured my complaint to him on my web page (see www.randi.org/jr/072905beenthere.html#13). Mr. Bialczak never responded in any way.
Thank you for caring.
ADDED BULLETIN, SATURDAY MORNING: Today I went to another Walgreen’s Pharmacy -- # 4768, at 340 State Highway 84 – and inquired about the Trudeau book. I was informed that just yesterday an urgent store-wide directive had gone out instructing that the book was to be immediately removed from the shelves and no longer offered for sale. Then, dropping by the same local Walgreen’s -- where I’d originally spotted the product on display and found that it had been subsequently moved to the book section – see above – I discovered that it was still there, despite the recall! I asked for the store manager, was met by a Mr. Levy, and asked him about the books. He told me that they had been removed from sale, but was surprised when I showed him that they were still on display in the different location. He had them taken down right away, and assured me that they would not be returned to the shelves. He thanked me for calling his attention to this matter.It matters, folks. Paul Compton and Susan Lavery both had very satisfactory responses to their concerns over Trudeau, and you can do the same. Please, get on your keyboard and start making a fuss. We’ll all be better off for it.
Reader John Hankins:
This amused me greatly. Zinedine Zidane is arguably the world’s greatest footballer (sorry – soccer star). This week there has been a huge amount of coverage of the fact that he claimed to have heard a mysterious voice that prompted him to rejoin the French national side. He had previously retired from international soccer. Of course, this was jumped upon by the media and religious-types as a divine encounter – many column inches were written about how he’d found God etc., etc.
But today it turned out that Zidane’s words were badly misinterpreted. He says there was no religious element and in fact no mysterious voice – it was his very alive, very real brother who had spoken to him. It’s at www2.sbs.com.au/home/index.php3?id=61635
Isn’t it interesting how the woo-woo types are so keen to attach mystical reasons to events? They must be pathologically irrational – I have no doubt that even after the explanatory comments by Zidane some will continue to claim divine intervention.
Reader Ken Vale asks the question: Demonic Possession or Mental Illness? From a news story in the Phoenix East Valley Tribune he writes:
Basically a woman believes she is/has been possessed by up to 10 Demons; a minor exorcism performed by priests has done little to solve her problem. A Bishop sent in an exorcist to help her, the exorcist interviewed her and then did nothing, and the Bishop wrote to the woman:
In his [the exorcist’s] judgment, you do not have need of an exorcism because you are not suffering from demonic possession. He does, however, recommend regular spiritual direction from a seasoned spiritual director and regular reception of the Sacrament of Penance from a discerning confessor who can assist you in uncovering whatever might keep you from freely knowing and doing God's will.
Mary Langlois, a close friend and Catholic who was on hand that day as she has been for all of this woman's minor exorcisms dating back to 1991, said of this, "Absurd. It was absolutely ridiculous. It was pure psychobabble." At one point the assistant closed her eyes for 30 seconds, then announced that the woman was beset by six generations of sexual violence.
A reader informs us, of this individual said to be demon-infested, that he’s been in touch with her:
I read an article about her a while back and contacted her. I know she's been diagnosed with a psychotic illness because she told me she took antipsychotics for a period but claims it didn't help (of course, that doesn't mean she isn't psychotic). She also told me that she is currently taking an antidepressant. I suspect she's either schizoaffective or schizophrenic with depression. Anyway, just wondering if this is the same person you mean. I have severe mental-illness myself and I tried to convince Shirley to get psychiatric help. She's obviously not getting the right kind.
Not according to the church, my friend. They’re still back in the 1400’s and loving every minute of their ignorance….
Phil “Irrepressible” Plait comments about a recent article in a prominent scientific journal:
Physics Today is a monthly physics and technology magazine with news, editorials, and features aimed at professional physicists. That's a pretty selective crowd.In the August 2005 issue just sent out, they printed an opinion article in the "Issues and events" section (available online for free at www.physicstoday.org 5 ) about the ironically-named Intelligent Design movement. The article hits the high points pretty well, and discusses the Smithsonian Museum flap discussed in previous commentaries. [See www.randi.org/jr/052705a.html#1a and others.]
Two of the key players in that melodrama were two scientists (I almost put quotation marks around the word) at the Discovery Institute, the "think tank" that pushes the ID agenda. One of them, Guillermo Gonzalez, made an amazing assertion, as quoted in the article, saying that the Discovery Institute "...didn't start out with the assumption of design. Our evidence of design didn't start with the Bible."
This is dissembling at best. As someone who speaks for the Institute, he must be aware of the so-called "Wedge Document," a leaked white paper from The Center for the Renewal of Science & Culture, a program started by his Institute. This paper makes it quite clear that first and foremost, the Discovery Institute is to promote a religious viewpoint. The document says "Design theory promises to reverse the stifling dominance of the materialist worldview, and to replace it with a science consonant with Christian and theistic convictions." [www.infidels.org] 6
The Discovery Institute's methods have backed this up. Facts that support their pre-judged viewpoint are trumpeted; those that are not are ignored or distorted. They make claims about "irreducible complexity" that are long debunked, and they quote-mine: take quotations out of context so that they appear to support Institute policy. This isn't science. This isn't even religion. This is a gross miscarriage of truth and honesty.
The terrible and dishonest tactics of some in the ID movement are documented copiously on the web. For brutally honest looks at this, try The Panda's Thumb [www.pandasthumb.org] and Pharyngula [www.pharyngula.org] I have some information as well on my own blog at www.badastronomy.com/bablog/?p=111.
I'm glad that scientists such as the ones at those blogs are taking on this issue. The Kansas School Board fiasco occurred because the creationists involved kept quiet, running a "stealth campaign". Getting this issue into the light will reveal it for what it is: an attempt to not only wedge religion into the classroom, but also to supplant science as our method for understanding the Universe. As scientists, we must speak out, now.
You can stay up all night with Phil at www.badastronomy.com – and you’ll see him at The Amaz!ng Meeting 4, of course.
We have sad news to tell you.
The Kentucky Association of Science Educators and Skeptics, an organization founded by Dr. Robert A. Baker, has announced that their founder died on August 9th. We have lost a good friend, a great mind and a leader in the skeptic community. Dr. Baker will be missed by all.
Somewhat closer to me was the loss – the very same day – of another leading personality among the skeptics, Philip J. Klass, at age 85. Phil was primarily an aviation journalist, the senior avionics editor of Aviation Week & Space Technology, but he also investigated UFO sightings and wrote books debunking reports of visits from outer space.
Phil was reviled as a "disinformer" by believers in alien beings, particularly those who insisted they had been abducted for scientific testing. We need hardly add that the grubbies have already begun insulting his memory. We’ll let them wallow in their desperation. They’ll not survive as Phil has.
Thank you for sharing your wit and wisdom with us, Robert and Phil.
I’ve been told to mention that the presale of the TAM3 DVDS is now underway. The disks are being materialized even as I write. Save yourselves $4 by ordering now. Price until September 15th: $45 ($52 International).
Finally, go to www.tachyon-energy-products.com for hilarity, and – more seriously – for additional information of the “Sniffex” device we challenged last week, go to www.stocklemon.com 7 for a real eyeful! Apparently we’re not the only ones who spotted this fake, and the fakery may be even more extensive than we previously knew…!
Complete References for long URLs :
1 http://radio.about.com/b/a/065693.htm
2 http://www.randi.org/shopping/index.html#books
3 http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60880
4 http://web.tickle.com/tests/esp/?sid=2005&supp=content_esp&test=espogt
5 http://www.physicstoday.org/vol-58/iss-8/p24.html
6 http://www.infidels.org/secular_web/feature/1999/wedge.html
7 http://www.stocklemon.com/report_view.asp?ReportID=36