Is That A Thermoregulater, Or Are You Just Pleased To See Me?

While on the subject of what prehistoric beasts were actually like, here's some interesting recent research from the University of Western Australia looking at why those reptiles had such large crests and other features. Dr Joseph Tomkins, the lead author of the study, argues that such features were part of a sexual attraction strategy, rather than being used for thermoregulation. In terms of heat control, the features were either larger than necessary, or unnecessary.

Tomkins and his colleagues found that the relationship between body size and crest or sail size was very similar to what you'd expect from a sexual trait in a creature alive today, but even more so.

'We expected there to be a relationship, but we were really surprised at how exaggerated the structures of these fossil creatures were in comparison to existing animals.'

'In red deer, large males have large antlers. Also in stag beetles, bigger males have big mandibles. It's even the same in stalk-eyed flies: the stalks on the largest males are disproportionately large. But the head crest of pteranodon in particular outclassed these traits,' says Tomkins.

Presumably, this just goes to show that size does matter.

Tomkins, an expert in so-called sexual selection – how different traits have evolved to attract a mate – says, 'While I was doodling a sail-backed lizard, it suddenly struck me that the sail had to be sexually selected.'

EoR trusts that 'doodling' is not a euphemism in this context.

Prehistoric sexual preferences

St Galileo

EoR has always been fascinated by the preoccupation with Saintly relics. Now he can make a pilgrimage to Florence and join in the celebrations, as he worships the three fingers and molar of Galileo.

“He’s a secular saint, and relics are an important symbol of his fight for freedom of thought,” said Paolo Galluzzi, the director of the Galileo Museum, which put the tooth, thumb and index finger on view last month, uniting them with another of the scientist’s digits already in its collection.

'Secular saint' is a new one on EoR, and he's not really sure what that means. Though it's probably no sillier than the 21 foreskins of Jesus (presumably some sort of circumcisory equivalent of the miracle of the loaves and fishes). Thankfully, all dissension has now ended since the Holy Prepuce has ascended into Heaven and became the rings of Saturn.

So what would Galileo be the patron saint of? Deluded self taught scientists with theories that will overturn the scientific establishment if only they would listen?

Time To Move On Andrew

Thanks to Andrew Bolt, we now know that even New Scientist has admitted the Climategate reviews were a whitewash. We know this because he links to a New Scientist editorial.

In Bolt's dog whistle world, if the science isn't addressed by the reviews, then the science is disproven. Strangely, he fails to link to other New Scientist articles of recent time, such as:

Climate scientists respond to 'climategate' report (Bolt actually removed this link from the editorial he reposted - if he'd turned the page of the issue in which the editorial appears he would have found this article).

IT'S time to abandon the black-and-white fiction that human-induced climate change is fact or conspiracy. Instead, accept that the climate is changing and that there are shades of grey about how fast, how severe the impact will be and what we can do about it.

That's the message from leading scientists digesting the UK's official report into the "climategate" affair, in which private emails from the nation's Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in Norwich were made public in November 2009.

Muir Russell, a former civil servant who spent seven months investigating the affair, concluded in his official report, released on 7 July, that "the rigour and honesty of the scientists involved are not in doubt". But he exhorted them to show more openness, to shed their "unhelpful and defensive" attitude when responding to requests to share their data and to make more effort to engage with climate sceptics who dispute their data and conclusions.

(...)

Questioning climate science is what good scientists do, (Brian) Hoskins (of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change) adds. "As for people with a political agenda, will the report silence them? No."

It's almost as if Brian Hoskins could psychically foresee the reaction of Andrew Bolt!

Climategate inquiry: no deceit, too little cooperation

Climate change report is 'reliable but flawed'


As always, Bolt enjoys cutting and pasting and then watching his commenters rant on. The first comment, from Andrew of Ipswich, is so wonderful that, thankfully, it saved EoR from having to read through the rest of them.

this is particularly surprising as New Scientist has been a bastion of warming for a few years now. To the point that I didn’t bother buying it as the articles just annoyed me

Because when you don't like science, you should just ignore it.

Thistle Thoughts

EoR, having accidentally sat on some thistles, ponders the State of Things.

If someone invites you to go parasailing, decline. It won't be as much fun as you imagine.

The Global Warming Denier 'Suicide Bomber' Mindset?

Andrew Bolt's readers detest refugees arriving by boats. They detest Muslims. They detest suicide bombers. A brief perusal of his blog will show that those three groups are pretty much identical. But EoR wonders just how dissimilar his core audience is from suicide bombers.

Ariel Merari has spoken to suicide bombers who failed at their mission in order to investigate their motivation and psychology (and, yes, this is a particularly self-selecting group since we can't investigate successful bombers, and the findings may only apply to Palestinians). He found a number of characteristics:

None of the 15 would-be suicide bombers we interviewed suffered from a psychosis, but they had one of two personality types. Two-thirds were dependent-avoidant: such people find it hard to say no to authority figures and are more likely to cooperate to carry out tasks against their own judgement. They are also greatly influenced by public opinion. The rest were impulsive and emotionally unstable. (...) Some of them apparently enter a psychological state known as a dissociation, in which they shut themselves off to disturbing thoughts.

The overwhelming majority of Bolt's commenters are climate change deniers. Far in excess of even increasing public opinion on the subject, and astronomically above the support for such contrarian views amongst climate scientists. There is no acceptance of possible catastrophic outcomes of global warming, or even of less catastrophic but nonetheless significant issues (such as more powerful hurricanes, flooding, decreased rainfall). Views which contradict their own (and which are in the majority) are typecast as conspiracy, whitewash or, ultimately, they are simply ignored because the cognitive dissonance between belief and reality is too difficult to reconcile. Christopher Monckton, as an example, would seem to fall in the "impulsive and emotionally unstable" group, and possibly narcissistic.

The organisers of suicide bombers, on the other hand, are different types:

They are not dependent - they are manipulative. They are much more intelligent than the bombers (...). Some had university education. They were not psychopathic. They were very pragmatic, they believed they were doing it for their nation and that it was the right thing to do. They did not express any moral doubts about it.

Who are the leaders of climate change denial? The Lavoisier Group. Exxon Mobil. Koch Industries. And more. All organisations with a clear commercial agenda (just like the tobacco companies before them).

EoR is not, of course, suggesting that climate change deniers are potential suicide bombers, but the psychological similarities in opposing an unacceptable worldview are fascinating for understanding just why people promote these views, or believe them.

The Higher Mathematics of Idiocy

EoR is thankful that Chevrolet UK has finally come up with a desperately needed piece of science that the world has been suffering for centuries without. Not a cure for cancer. Not an answer to global warming. Not a Unified Field Theory. No, far more important than that, the formula for the perfect handshake.

PH = √ (e2 + ve2)(d2) + (cg + dr)2 + π{(4<s>2)(4<p>2)}2 + (vi + t + te)2 + {(4<c>2 )(4<du>2)}2

(e) is eye contact (1=none; 5=direct) 5; (ve) is verbal greeting (1=totally inappropriate; 5=totally appropriate) 5; (d) is Duchenne smile - smiling in eyes and mouth, plus symmetry on both sides of face, and slower offset (1=totally non-Duchenne smile (false smile); 5=totally Duchenne) 5; (cg) completeness of grip (1=very incomplete; 5=full) 5; (dr) is dryness of hand (1=damp; 5=dry) 4; (s) is strength (1= weak; 5=strong) 3; (p) is position of hand (1=back towards own body; 5=other person's bodily zone) 3; (vi) is vigour (1=too low/too high; 5=mid) 3; (t) is temperature of hands (1=too cold/too hot; 5=mid) 3; (te) is texture of hands (5=mid; 1=too rough/too smooth) 3; (c) is control (1=low; 5=high) 3; (du) is duration (1= brief; 5=long) 3.

It's 'developed by scientists' so it must be real (even though the press release also states it was only developed by one (psychological) scientist.

EoR expects that, by the time you've worked out all those variables and come up with your answer, your punter will have wandered off to another car yard.

What Is Wrong With This Advertisement?

"The Animal Planet Triceratops sit on is a strong and sturdy and can hold up to 125lbs. The triceratops is covered in high quality plush material to ensure a comfortable ride. It even makes realistic Triceratops sounds. Batteries included. Age range 3 years+."

Howard Sattler-Meryl Dorey Love-In

Regardless of the Australian Antivaccination Network having being publicly slammed for lies and deception, Howard Sattler again featured Meryl Dorey today as his favourite vaccination expert. Those familiar with Meryl's tactics would be unsurprised that her statements consisted mostly of lies. Okay, only of lies. This is EoR's summary (EoR's editorial comments are in italics):

The AVN provides a balance of information. The medical community only provide one side.
We have no problem with anyone deciding to vaccinate as long as they make an informed choice.
We never say vaccination is dangerous.
You wouldn't go into surgery without a second opinion. (But would you go to a conspiracy theorist for it, or would you choose another surgeon?)
MMR hospitalised her son with encephalitis! (She should be lucky he didn't get autism). Nobody will ever say that it wasn't 100% linked to his vaccine.
Dr Rachel Dunlop is not a medical doctor (neither is Meryl — why didn't she say this?).
Skeptics are saying there's no such thing as free speech in Australia!
The NSW HCCC report "supposedly" did an investigation. We're going to the Ombudsman unless they withdraw their findings.
An independent investigation would never have proceeded with the complaint.
Skeptics don't want people to have access to this information.
Howard called for skeptics to have the 'intestinal fortitude' to call in.
First caller labelled Meryl a "champion", thimerosol was a "big fraud", autism diagnoses have increased because of vaccinations. Meryl said he had a "lot of good points". She doesn't assert vaccination is leading to a rise in autism, rather it's many research papers that are proving it.
We have security because the Library has had Skeptics contact them (It must be those free-speech hating terrorist skeptic breakaway group that only exists in Meryl's increasingly conspiracy-ridden mind).
Val of Langford rang: a granddaughter got really ill after vaccination and then became autistic. The doctor doesn't seem to see a problem with it.
Julia of Gwelup rang: her child had a strange reaction to whooping cough vaccine. The clinic sister said don't give any more of those shots. He is okay now though he was very active as a child (but not ADHD active) and maybe that was due to vaccination (maybe not).
Steve of Belmont: was fearful when he read of the vaccination/autism link. The Health Department bully because they won't cover the cost of importing special non-autism causing individual vaccines from the UK.
Troy of Greenmount: concerned about people being persecuted for airing an opinion. Government is in bed with Big Pharma.
Raz of Mundaring: never vaccinated because a friend's children became sick. Used homeopathic vaccination instead (Meryl pointed out that this was a very valid method (EoR points out that it's also a very valid method of doing nothing)).
Scott of Thornlie: (at last, one of those evil skeptics — but why didn't he demand that Meryl be censored like all skeptics do?) asked how many people have polio today? Pointed out that herd immunity has an effect which is way people aren't getting sick (Meryl missed the point and rambled on about "my research").

Howard stated he had emails and tweets from skeptics and then said "where are you?" Didn't he just answer his own question? Howard has a problem with emails. He's old school and doesn't see them as a valid form of discourse. Perhaps Angry of Perth should write him a lengthy letter. Twitterers are "gutless wonders". Meryl confirmed that skeptics "can't argue with the facts so they attack the person."

Unlike the Big Pharma funded skeptics who are all demanding Meryl be silenced and all her 'information' removed from the interwebs, EoR doesn't really care what she says. She has her delusions and she's entitled to them. If she wants to make a webpage with those fallacies and lies that's her right. If she wants to get people to pay her for those lies, well, there's a sucker born every minute.

What EoR has a problem with is Sattler's constant promotion of Meryl as a vaccination free-thinking* campaigner (always without anyone speaking for "the other side") because "I don't necessarily agree with her but she's entitled to her opinion." EoR wonders why Sattler doesn't give half hour slots to neo-Nazis? To Islamic terrorists? Aren't they entitled to their opinion as well? Isn't Australia a democracy (as he and his callers argue)? Shouldn't they be able to promote their particular ideologies via his radio show?

Update: The audio, if you have the strength for fullscale delusional raving, is available via The Skeptics' Book of Pooh-Pooh.

*That's 'free-thinking' as in 'free of thinking'.

Cure Diabetes By Spending Your Money Now!

In a week which has seen Big Pharma chastised for not revealing all the results relating to Avandia, it's good to see that Big Altie seems to follow exactly the same game plan.

I don’t know how many trials they have today, but from a company that has 20 hidden trials in which to hunt for an isolated positive result in one subscale from one variable, this does not feel like compelling evidence.

So, up to 80% of claims made about various nutritional supplements are unfounded.

As a high-level researcher, constantly seeking out the latest information, and presenting this is a fully informed scientific manner (though never as a 'medical' doctor, of course) EoR expects that Dr Peter Dingle will very quickly amend many of his claims that promote these sort of supplements and foods, as well as his listing of books for sale (you will note that there is no medical advice there, only the sort of information you'd suspect an environmental toxicologist was qualified to give, hence titles such as "6 Week Healthy Eating Planner", "The DEAL for Happier, Healthier, Smarter Kids", or even "The Science of Achieving Goals").

Another book listed there is "There is a Cure for Diabetes" by Gabriel Cousens, MD (which, of course, is not medical advice from Dr Dingle since he's not making this claim, only selling the book). Yes, there is a cure for diabetes! Lying GPs will try and convince you otherwise, but don't trust them. Because you know they're all in the pay of Big Pharma.

Conventional medicine remains utterly ignorant of the healing power of raw living foods, preferring instead to rely on patented chemical medications that simply don't work to heal anyone or anything. No person suffering from diabetes has ever been cured of diabetes through pharmaceutical medications. It has never happened in the history of medicine. And yet type-2 diabetes can be cured at a rate of 90% - 95% with a raw living foods diet.

A 90% cure rate! From juicing and 'non-dead' foods alone! EoR is deeply, deeply impressed. Where are the studies supporting this claim? You'll never see them. Big Pharma must be suppressing them, as Lifestyle4Health clearly shows (EoR thinks he's got the conspiracy chain correct here): World Diabetes Day is international (this is not a sign of success, but of Evil Illuminati Control) and its theme is 'education and prevention'; since there's no mention of 'cure or reversal' this is not a sign these things don't exist, but that they're being suppressed; pharmaceutical commpanies provide 'educational grants' to support World Diabetes Day; pharmaceutical companies sell diabetes drugs... Yes: pharmaceutical companies want to make as many of you sick as possible! By funding an organisation with the aim of preventing diabetes. EoR sometimes finds it hard to get his head around the altie conspiratorial mindset. Maybe his tinfoil hat is not set correctly.

A thought strikes EoR: since pharmaceutical companies are only doing this to maximise profits by hiding the cure they have for diabetes, a clever Big Pharma company could release that cure, take all the profits away from the other companies, and laugh and sing all the way to the Illuminati Controlled Bank.

There is a Cure for Diabetes is an Amazon bestseller even though it garners a number of one star reviews, and one that wanted to give it zero stars:

When phrases as ludicrous as "reset the DNA through green juice fasting" appear in the official summary of a book, you know you're in for a fast-talking ride with a quack. Your DNA (remember, the foundational molecules of genetic expression resident in nearly every cell of your body?) does not get "reset" by anything you eat.

Assuming that his approach could possibly be a cure (which would contradict verified principles of diabetic pathology and physiology), it would be great to see Cousens submit an actual clinical study for peer review. Unfortunately, such careful, impartial research isn't quite as profitable as writing a best-seller. Why make sure what you're promoting is true when you can rake in the cash?

Zero stars.

Dr Dingle (not a medical doctor, remember) nonetheless obviously sees some hidden merit in this inestimable tome, as do his customers since the book has sold out.

More Warmist Alarmism

While Russia is suffering an unprecedented heatwave, the rest of the world is warming as well:

Last month was the hottest June ever recorded worldwide and the fourth consecutive month that the combined global land and sea temperature records have been broken, according to the US government's climate data centre.

The figures released last night by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) suggest that 2010 is now on course to be the warmest year since records began in 1880.

EoR waits to see this reported by Andrew Bolt.

Russia Enjoys the Benefits of Higher Temperatures

Here in the antipodes EoR doesn't hear much news from Russia, but the BBC reports that western Russia is suffering a heatwave:

For the past two weeks temperatures across much of western Russia have soared past 35C, in the hottest and longest heatwave in decades.

Russia is also suffering what is thought to be the worst drought in more than 100 years.

There has been virtually no rain since winter and crops are shrivelling.

"We've had 10mm of rain, scorching hot temperatures over 35C, which have just burnt all the crops up," says Colin Hinchley, a Briton who now farms in Penza near the Volga river, in southern Russia.

"Winter wheat crops are 50% of the yield, and spring crops, in some cases, are going to be virtually none."

(...)

The heatwave is expected to last another week. By then Moscow may well have broken through its highest ever temperature of 36.6C.

Now, EoR is not going to claim that this has anything to do with global warming (though a 100 year drought is obviously climate related) but it does show what effect global warming might have and the catastrophic effects an abnormal increase in temperature can have: crops are affected by a small heatwave and people are dying (admittedly drunk Russians, where alcoholism is a national pasttime). The Moscow Times, in its idiosyncratic way, advises:

Russia's top public health official, Gennady Onishchenko, has advised Muscovites to stay away from the sun, subsist on a diet of fruits and vegetables, and not go overboard fighting the weather.

Of course, if global warming was real (it's not, we all know it's a World Green Communist Illuminati Conspiracy) then that would actually be a good thing. CO₂ is good for plants, and the more the stuff the more plants will grow. Never mind less water, or changing climates and ecosystems. Or even that more phytoplankton means more gets eaten. Just so in Russia, a heatwave is good. Air conditioner sales have soared. Except this has now led to stock shortages. Ice cream sales have also soared. Except freezers are breaking down in the sun and prices have had to be lowered. EoR can't quite see the positive aspect of melting asphalt and dangerous pollution from peat bog fires, but he's sure there's a rightwing think tank website with a header image of flowers somewhere masquerading as the Truth About Climate Change that will assure him these are also good things to have.

So, just one small weather event (note again: EoR isn't claiming here this is or isn't related to climate change) has had devastating consequences, some of which related to crops are obviously going to have longterm impacts in the future.

If weather gets colder for any reason then that, of course, means climate is also cooling. Is that clear? Hotter temperatures=weather; colder temperatures=climate. So simple any fool could understand it. Even a trolling journalist.

The Miracle That Is Homeopathy

Colic is a major cause of horses being euthanized. But it doesn't have to be so. When the veterinarians have failed, given up, and gone for the easy euthanasia option, there's still the powerful healing ability of homeopathy that can pull the distressed animal through. Frank J. King, Jr., ND, DC relates one particular anecdote where

The vet left me his euthanizing drug thinking I would need to use it soon.

Now, EoR doesn't know what the law is in the USA, but no vet would leave such dangerous and restricted drugs with an owner in Australia and tell them to 'do it yourself'. This seems bizarre and unbelievable to EoR.

We administered a homeopathic indigestion/colic formula every 15 minutes for one hour and noticed a slight improvement within that hour. Over the next three hours, we gave two doses per hour with continual improvements. We gave one dose every hour until bedtime and one dose in the middle of the night; by morning the mare seemed normal, minus a lot of hair on one side. We continued one dose in the water bucket per day for about three weeks.

What amazed me is how this mare blossomed since the life and death colic incident. She put on more muscle than ever, was much calmer and thrived on minimal feed?.what was a constitutional weakness now became a constitutional strength. Her digestion and assimilation system were functioning incredibly well. She became one of our easiest keepers!

Assuming that this anecdote is actually real, Frank J King, ND, DC has apparently never studied the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy.

Of course, a large number of colics resolve themselves, especially minor ones, and giving magic water drops just leads people to claim The homeopathic remedy helped to normalize the condition gently and speedily and is compatible with veterinary care. The veterinary care can be ignored, since it's clearly the homeopathy that leads to any recovery. Self-resolving colic (or 'cured' through magic means) does not remove the underlying cause (feed, worms, sand, torsions, intussecptions etc) and so the condition is likely to recur.

Homeopathic remedies are fragile creatures, however. They weaken with time. They are utterly destroyed if you merely brush a finger against them. Strong smells will neutralise them. Cordless phones and mobiles, of course, are utterly evil and must be shunned at all times. Putting your pillules in a drawer will protect them (because electromagnetic radiation and smells are unable to penetrate wood, presumably).

Regardless of their fragility, you can always have your horse treated via eCapsules.

Adapted from the Harmonic Translation System by New Science, the unique energetic signatures of common supplements and healing modalities (such as Bach Flower Remedies, homeopathics, crystals, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, tissues, nosodes, sarcodes, tissues and antidotes for a variety of infections and diseases, and much more), are translated into color, geometric patterns and sound, then packaged as an eCapsule that can be played on the client's computer.

Apparently, this is especially effective for illnesses that real veterinarians have 'failed' to diagnose. Possibly qi stagnation, or past life emotional trauma.

eCapsules, at least, resolve the issue of how you get your horse to actually take those gentle, holistic, vibratory miracles. One of the suggestions is to apply the remedy under the tail/anus. Remind EoR never to shake hands with a homeopath. And what on Earth is "the sunprotection stuff that (you) just put in water trough"?

Spanking the Fat Monkey

Diets are hard work, and depressing because you can't eat all those nice foods you enjoy so much. You could try a slimming supplement but, since they work no better than a placebo that's probably not the answer (though will that stop pharmacists selling them, along with the equally useless homeopathic remedies? EoR doubts it). What if you could lose weight and have fun? Well, now you can masturbate yourself thin.

The first person in indulge in the act was Onan. He was struck down by God for doing so, a harsh punishment for something so natural.

Masturbation is the wonder weight loss method.

The beauty of this technique is that it needs no special needs or product placing; all the equipment you require is literally at hand and is portable ready for instant use.

EoR trusts that the adherents of this method will refrain from losing weight on public transport, or in lifts.

This book is a parody, but it's so similar to the loony beliefs of the newage set that it's hard to tell. In any case, parody or not, it's a courtesy to your readers to at least spell words correctly and employ a reasonable level of grammar. Both are missing from this book. Though this quote could almost be real:

The only diet I can bend my mind around.
Uri Gelder
Bender

And why has the quote ostensibly from the Crown-Prince of Woo, Prince Charles, been censored? As the author states

Already you may have realised that this book is not something to be taken seriously. (...) this book was knocked up one lunch time after indulging in several pints of ale down the pub.

And it shows all the signs of that origin as well. Of course, joke or not, it doesn't stop someone coming up with an apparently real version (this may also be fake, despite the fact that it's on the interweb — EoR was unable to find it at the Mainichi Daily News).

According to the Mainichi Daily News, a Japanese scientist has developed what he calls "The Masturbation Diet"-a diet that is exactly what it sounds like. "Rve (sic) minutes of vigorous masturbation can consume 300 calories, which is the equivalent of sprinting 300 meters," says Dr. Shukan Tokuho, adding that the experience can be so refreshing that it can replace a light meal, thereby saving even more calories. For even more benefit, Dr. Tokuho recommends sitting in a chair with your heels raised about 10 centimeters off the floor in order to put tension on the stomach muscles. He claims that this style of masturbation done twice a day for a month can trim about eight centimeters off a man's waist. The good doctor summed up his revolutionary diet with the phrase "shake for breakfast, shake for lunch and a sensible dinner."

Meanwhile, at Today Tonight (home of the diet fad), there's the latest "walk in, walk out" weight loss method. It seems to involve day surgery liposuction (costing anything up to AU$12,000), but then comes a statement out of left field:

"The radio frequency energy is melting the fat cells, it's tightening the skin."

EoR is impressed. Almost as impressed as by brainwashing to lose weight.

How and why do these "brainwashing" programs work? They work because you are self-hypnotizing yourself with the excessive repetition (400-500X daily). If you just spoke them a few times a day, the part of you that recognizes the falsehood would cynically respond "yeah right".

This probably works in the same way as compulsive self-abuse. There's no actual time left to eat.

Thistle Thoughts

If Trisha McCagh read Paul the Psychic Cephalopod's thoughts, would Paul be able to psychically verify her skills?

Speaking of Health Fascists...

During the Third Reich the (mostly pro-homeopathy) Nazi leadership wanted to solve the homeopathy question once and for all. The research programme was carefully planned and rigorously executed. A report was written and it even survived the war. But it disappeared nevertheless – apparently in the hands of German homeopaths. Why? According to a very detailed eye-witness report, they were wholly and devastatingly negative.
Commentary on the Paris et al. paper by Edzard Ernst, published in British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology (via DC's Improbable Science).

Liek was a hands-on practitioner but also something of a romantic, yearning after simpler times when science was not the be-all and end-all of medicine, when the doctor-patient relationship was (purportedly) intimate and sacred. As founding editor of Hippokrates, a magazine of general health interest with strong ties to homeopathy and the natural foods movement, he helped to usher in a broader and more holistic medicine of the sort embraced by many Nazi leaders—medical men like Kurt Klare, Karl Kötschau, Walter Schultze, and Ernst Günther Schenck, but also high-placed politicos like Heinrich Himmler, Julius Streicher, Rudolf Hess, and even Hitler himself.

(...)

Homeopaths likewise joined with Nazi enthusiasts to argue that mercury could cause memory loss and that arsenic could cause depression. The homeopathic stress on the potency of rare (or absent!) trace elements fit well with the idea that powerful bodily disturbances were likely to come from our surrounding ourselves with exotic substances like mercury, lead, and arsenic. The idea of prevention fit well with this notion that health could be restored by avoiding exposure to rare but powerful agents corroding the German Volkskörper.
Robert N. Proctor: The Nazi War on Cancer

Opening the international congress of the Homeopathic Society in the name of the Fuehrer on 8 August 1937, Rudolf Hess offered the following stout defence on the creed :« The new Germany considers it politically necessary to proceed in the verification of all phenomenons whatsoever. However, certain physicians have not hesitated to attack and reject not only new therapies but also others whose origins go back to a distant past, as is today the case of homeopathy, without even making the effort to subject these therapies to serious examination. For this reason, I have taken under my protection the XII International Congress of Homeopathy in Berlin, to express the interest of the National Socialist State in all modes of therapies that are useful to the people´s health ».

As a result of this high-grade intervention, it would appear, a well-known homeopath, Dr Fritz Donner (assisted by a pharmacologist and an internist), was ordered to come up with the necessary proofs. His findings were not published and they were withheld from the medical community for many years. It was only in 1969 that a translation of the Donner report appeared in a French magazine (the results were never published in Germany).

Henri Broch, who was responsible for the report coming to light, cites inter alia two letters of Fritz Donner to, respectively, E. Unseld, president of the German Association of Homeopathic Physicians, and H. Schoeler, editor-in-chief of the Allgemeine homöopathische Zeitung. These confirm that all of Donner´s findings were negative and that he came under pressure to conceal the results of his research. As Donner himself stated (translated from the french) : « One cannot inform homeopaths about the real nature of homeopathy, nor can one publish it in a homeopathic journal. In the best homeopathic tradition, anyone can come up with the most glaring absurdities and they will be published; by contrast, the fundamentals of an important medicine against diphtheria will never be published and the researcher who works on these sources will be threatened with immediate dismissal ».
Eric's HOMEOPATHY page

Hitler gets the results from his latest Homeopathy RCT

EoR wonders why 'modern' homeopaths (inverted commas because today's homeopaths are unchanged from those of two centuries ago) are so reluctant to mention their favourite therapy's embrace by the Nazis. They seem to be happy to claim support from anyone else.

Health Fascism Frolics

According to the Australian Antivaccination Network Meryl Dorey has received the decision of the NSW Health Complaints Commission investigation into her organisation, and it's bad news.

Yesterday Dorey received the final 30 page answer from the HCCC to the Skeptics complaint. This inevitably reiterated all the charges brought against and included many gems of Orwellian Newspeak, such as:

‘In Australia vaccination is a key plank of public health strategy. It is thus extremely important for individuals, especially parents, to be able to make informed decisions about vaccination. The AVN provides information that is misleading for the average reader by inaccurately representing information, selectively reporting information, and giving non-peer reviewed and anecdotal material the same authority as peer -reviewed literature’.

EoR fails to see how that's 'Orwellian'. It says the AVN presents biased, incomplete and misleading information. It seems simple and clear.

According to the AVN the NSW HCCC and anyone who vaguely agrees with its findings is "corrupt", using "bogus evidence", and "sinister". The hilarious article was written by Martin Walker (an 'investigative writer' and graphic designer who has to rely on whale.to to host his biography because Wikipedia is controlled by the sinister medical elite overlords).

(Martin Walker) is uniquely qualified to write this piece, having researched the origin of the ‘skeptic’ movement from its birth in the US 2 decades ago.

Yes. There was no skepticism before 1990. Not Harry Houdini. Not Edgar Allan Poe. None. Though this is typical of the AVN: lie early, and lie often.

Oh, and EoR cringes every time he sees that awful AVN logo. He keeps thinking it's a dead child being laid to rest in the weeds.

The Magic of Germany

Well, now it seems it's Germany's turn to realise that homeopathy is bullshit. In the very country that brought us the genius of Samuel Hahnemann, this favourite form of magic seems to be falling out of favour. Der Spiegel reports that the Social Democrat Party is calling for the State to no longer fund homeopathic treatment (English summary here — EoR finds it amusing that it only takes two comments before Big Pharma is invoked, completely missing the point of who is calling for the support to be ended).

The print edition of Der Spiegel has a much longer article, but one thing struck EoR: the people who support homeopathy. Prince Charles. Karl Lagerfeld. And these attendees at the Homeopathic World Congress, Berlin 1937.



As if that's not scary enough, here's a picture of just how scientific the production of homeopathic remedies is. Just like Big Pharma. It's all modern and sciencey. Notice the sterile clothing. The white coat. The gleaming metal and plastic. Computer controlled equipment. Charts on the wall. And a leather cushion to beat your magic potion against.

The Incomprehensible Harvest

EoR recently looked at animal communicator Trisha McCagh. It will come as no surprise that she is one of the speakers at the NEXUS Conference 2010. This is possibly more prestigious than any boring old veterinary conference since it brings together in one location possibly the single largest collection of tinfoil hat wearers in Australia.

Speakers will cover such topics as how electromagnetic radiation causes ill health; the alien origin of all human civilisations; the terrible 9/11 cover up; "the electric nature of the cosmos" (of course, no true tinfoil hatter would point out that this and the EMF radiation scarer seem to contradict each other); a proponent of the "expanding earth hypothesis" (you see, there is an obesity epidemic!); how quantum physics 'proves' woo, and the usual plethora of amazing scientific advances in 'health technology' (because, while science is evil and completely wrong, if you add a scientific veneer to your illusions that's a good thing).

With so much woo to choose from EoR finds it hard to single out any one example, but :David-Wynn: Miller (sic) is outstanding. He will be revealing

How our Language has been used to enslave the masses for thousands of years, and what we can do about it.

EoR wonders which language has been used for thousands of years. English? No, that hasn't been around long enough. Maybe it's Aramaic? But we don't use that anymore. Ancient Babylonian? Nope. The only likely candidate in semiregular use would seem to be Latin.

If you're not certain exactly what he means, have a look at his website.

IF YOU LEARN HOW TO SYNTAX YOUR CONTRACTS
YOU WILL LEARN SELF SECURITY.

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM BEING HARVESTED.

Scary stuff, eh? But what does it all mean? Brace yourself: this is the rest of his front page. EoR wanted to abridge it, but didn't know where to start. Anyway, you need to see the whole thing to truly appreciate it. After this, EoR couldn't face anymore, so he has no idea whether the rest of the website carries on in a similar manner.

:ADJECTIVE, ADVERBS & VERBS WITH THE WRONG-USE

:COPYCLAIM~12/AUGUST~1980/2010, PLENIPOTENTIARY-JUDGE: David-Wynn: Miller.

~1 FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD ARE WITH THESE CLAIMS OF THE CORRECT-COMMUNICATIONAL-USE OF THE LANGUAGES AND SENTENCE-STRUCTURES WITH THE WRITING OF THEIR COMMUNICATION-CONTRACTS.

~2 FOR THE MODIFICATION OF THE FACTS ARE WITH THE CLAIM OF THE VOLITION-VOID WITH THE CORRECT-QUANTUM-MATH-SENTENCE-STRUCTURES AND METHODS OF THE UNITY-STATES-CORPORATION'S-TRUTH-COMMUNICATIONS AS THE NEW-WORLD-STYLES-MANUALS.

~3 FOR THE NOW-TENSE OF THE COMMUNICATIONS/LANGUAGE ARE WITH THESE CLAIMS OF THE JURISDICTION WITH THE AUTHORITY OF THIS AUTHOR AND PLENIPOTENTIARY-JUDGE: David-Wynn: Miller.

~4 FOR THE [PRE]POSITION OF THIS NOW-TENSE-TIME IS WITH THESE CLAIMS OF THESE [PRE]POSITIONS: BY, OR, IN, ON, FOR, AS, WITH, [A]GAINST, THROUGH.

~5 FOR THE SPEECH OR WRITING: 2 + 2 = 4, TO + TO = FOUR, TWO + TOO = FOR, FOR + FOUR = ATE; ATE + ATE = SIXTEEN. WITH THE POINT: [DID YOU HEAR WHAT I SAID; WHAT I MEANT WHAT I SAID; WHAT I SAID; WHAT I MEANT; WHAT I SAID]: FOR THE WORDS THAT WE HEAR ARE WITH THIS CLAIM OF THIS THINKING, HEARING AND WRITING WITH THE CASE-LAW-FRAUD/FICTION BY THE MODIFICATIONS WITH THE FACTS BY THE ADVERBS OR ADJECTIVES.

~6 FOR THE ORAL-STATEMENT OF THE ASSUMPTION, PRESUMPTION, MODIFICATION OR OPINION IS WITH THE WRITING-CLAIM ON THE PAPER WITH THE FICTIONAL-LANGUAGE-FORMAT (F.L.F.) BY THE AILING-AUTHORS.

~7 FOR THIS PREPOSITION = POSITIONAL OF THIS WRITING-CLAIM IS WITH THE RULE-CLAIMS AND VOTING-CLAIMS OF THE AILING=ARTICLE, CORRECTION = LODIO(OWNER) WITH THE CORRECT-SENTENCE-STRUCTURES OF THE OPERATIONAL-ORDER-FACTS WITH THE QUANTUM-MATH-COMMUNICATIONS BY THE POSITIONAL-LODIO-FACT=PHRASES.

~8 FOR ANY TWO-FACTS-[NOUN] COME-TOGETHER, FOR THE~FIRST-FACT IS WITH THE VOLITION AS THE ADJECTIVE-MODIFIER; EXAMPLE: MILWAUKEE COUNTY, FOR THE WORD: MILWAUKEE AS AN EXAMPLE, AS THE ADJECTIVE OF THIS PROPER-NAME (FACTS-[NOUN]) OF THE ~COUNTY WITHIN THE STATE OF THE WISCONSIN. FOR THE WORD ~MILWAUKEE IS WITH THE CLAIM AS AN ADJECTIVE AS THE MODIFIER OF THE COUNTY-PRONOUN INTO A FICTION FOR THE LACK OF THE HYPHEN FOR THE CAUSE OF THIS FICTION.

FOR THIS CITY OF THIS MILWAUKEE IS WITHIN THIS TERRITORY-STATE OF THE WISCONSIN. = CORRECT-TITLE.

~9 FOR THE MAIL-FRAUD-NAME: TITLE~18: U.S.C.S.~1341: FICTITIOUS-CONTRACT-MODIFICATION BY THE ADJECTIVE-PRONOUN OR ADVERB-VERB-USURY OF THE NAME.

~10 FOR THE CONTEXT OF THE ADJECTIVE>>MODIFYING<<PRONOUN IS WITH THE USURY-CLAIM OF THE FOREIGN-VESSEL-COURTHOUSE IN THE DRYDOCK AS THE FICTION-LANGUAGE-COURT OF THE YELLOW-FRINGE-FLAG.

~11 FOR ANY PARTY OF THIS FRAUD OR FICTION ARE WITH THIS CONTRACT OF THIS FICTION-JURISDICTION OF THE FUTURE-TIME-TENSE OR PAST-TIME-TENSE OF THESE LAWS, LOCAL-RULES OF THE COURT, TITLES, CODES, RULES, STATE-GUIDELINES OR GOVERNMENT-JURISDICTION AND FOR THE DICTIONARY-TERMS OF THE WORDS ARE WITH THE CLAIM OF THE ADVERB-VERB-MODIFICATION AND VOID OF THE POSITIONAL-LODIO-FACT=PHRASES.

~12 NOTE: EVEN THE WORD: PRESENT IS WITH THE FICTION OF THE PEOPLE WITH THE TEACHING BY THE NOW-TIME.

~13 FOR THE PRE-FIX BEFORE THE SENT MEANS: BEFORE THE FACT OR NO-TENSE=NO-CONTRACT.

~14 FOR THE FLAG OF THE FICTION/FOREIGN-JURISDICTION IS WITH THE FICTION-PERSON OF A FICTION-NAME WITH A FOREIGN-FLAG, WITH THE BIRD-ATOP OF THE FLAG-POLE (CANCELS THE JURISDICTION OF THE FLAG).

~15 FOR ALL FICTION-COURTS AROUND THE WORLD ARE WITH THE USURY-ALTERATION-FICTION OF A FLAG WITH A FICTIONAL-JURISDICTION BY THE MODIFICATION-FICTION-LANGUAGE-VOID-MEANING=AILING.

~16 FOR THE MODIFICATIONS OF A WORD ARE WITH THE FRAUD-CLAIM BY THE TERM: MOTION. FOR THE MOTION OF THE FICTIONAL-GERAN-[NOUN] IS WITH THIS CLAIM AS THE VERB AS THE FICTION-FACT THAT THE ACTION, CHANGE, VELOCITY, SPEED, MODIFICATION-USE OF THE FACTS-[NOUN] BY THE ADVERB-MODIFICATIONS WITH ALL MOTIONS.

~17 FOR THIS CAPTURE IN THIS FICTION-JURISDICTION IS WITH THE CLAIM OF THE FLAG, LANGUAGE, TIME-TENSE, MODIFICATION-VOLITION, PRO SE=NO-SPEAK AND CHANGING-CASE-NUMBERS WITH EACH-NEW-HEARING.

~18 FOR THESE SIR-NAMES OF THESE FICTIONS ARE WITH THE MODIFICATION-CLAIMS BY AN ADJECTIVE OR ADVERB.

~19 FOR A NAME-CHANGING OF A NOM-DE-GUERRE IS WITH A DEAD-FICTION-NAME IN THIS DRYDOCK-VESSEL-COURT.

~20 FOR A DRYDOCK-COURT OF A FOREIGN-VESSEL IS WITH A CLAIM OF THESE~TWO-DIFFERENT-JURISDICTIONS.

~21 FOR THE JURISDICTION OF THE FICTION IS WITH THE CORRUPTION/AILING-CLAIM OF A MATTER WITH THE LIE, MODIFICATION, PRESUMPTION, ASSUMPTION, PERJURY, STORY AND AILING IN THE COURT.

~22 FOR THE LAWS OF OUR BIBLES ARE WITH THE USURY-ADVERB-MODIFICATION-CLAIMS OF A FICTION-LANGUAGE AND BRAINWASHING THROUGH THE SCHOOLS, PAPERS, MAGAZINES, BOOKS, LAWS, CODES AND CONTRACTS WITH THE DUMBING-DOWN OF THE PEOPLE AS SLAVES (10% OF THE POPULATIONS) BY THE FICTION-COURTS AND LAW.

~23 [REMEMBER] FOR THE BOARD/PEOPLE OF THE ELECTION: SUPERVISORS, MAYOR, LEGISLATION, SENATE, JUDICATORY, AND GOVERNORS, ARE WITH THE CLAIM OF THE WRITING: "THE LAW" ADVERB-VERB WITH THE USURY OF THE CORRECT-TERMS WITHIN YOUR COUNTY OR YOUR-HOME.

~24 FOR THE LAWS OF A JURISDICTION ARE WITH THE CLAIM-USE OF THE FACTS[NOUNS=NO-NO] AS A ADVERB, VERB, PRONOUN OR ADJECTIVE WITH THE WRONG-LANGUAGE-FORMATS WITH THE FICTIONS OR FRAUDS, WITH THE CONTEMPT, FOR THE LAWS OF THE CITY, COUNTY, STATE, AND UNITY-STATES OF OUR-WORLD-CORPORATION; FOR THE KNOWLEDGE OF YOUR RIGHTS ARE WITH THESE CLAIMS OF THESE FREEDOMS WITH THE PEOPLE BY THE TRUTH-COMMUNICATION-LAWS.

~25 FOR THIS CONDUCT OF THESE FICTION-LANGUAGE-FORMATS ARE WITH THE KIDNAPPING, TORT, LARCENY BY THE FRAUD AND DECEPTION, COLLUSION, RAPE, PRISON OF THE FELONY. FOR THE KNOWLEDGE-LACKING OF THE FACTS ARE WITH THE STEALING-CLAIM OF YOUR RIGHTS WITH THE COLOR OF THE LAW BY A PARTY AS THE OFFICERS OF THE COURT. [IF THEIR LIPS ARE MOVING YOU ARE BEING LIED TO]

~26 FOR THESE ADJECTIVES OF THESE DESCRIPTIVE, OPINION, PRESUMPTION, ASSUMPTION-WORDS ARE WITH THESE CLAIMS OF THE VOID-JOINING WITH THE TWO-JURISDICTIONS OF THE DIFFERENT-PLANES IN THE PORT-COURT.

~27 FOR THE VOWEL BEFORE THE TWO-CONSONANTS AT THE BEGINNING OF A WORD MEANS "NO-CONTRACT".

~28 FOR THE FRINGE ON A FLAG IS WITH THE MILITARY-CLAIM OF THE DRYDOCK-VESSEL-COURT.

~29 FOR A MOTION OF A CAUSE IS WITH THE CHANGING-CLAIM OF A FACT INTO A VERB "IN LAW" OR "AT LAW".

Attending the NEXUS Conference would be worthwhile just to see whether this man can string any two words together in any sort of lexical sense. Does it make any more sense if you're on halluinogenics? Has he just run it back and forth though an online translator or does he create his own gibberish? Whatever happened to even the semblence of coherence?

Or could it be true (whisper who dares) that EoR has already been harvested. Oh, the pain, the pain.

The Ever-Expanding Climate Cover-Up

Another report on Climategate, another finding of 'nothing to see here, move along'.

The report was unequivocal in its backing of the scientists in terms of research integrity, though it did criticize their openness. “Their rigour and honesty as scientists are not in doubt,” it said. In response to the assertion that CRU had withheld data, the report found that it was mostly not theirs to withhold but was easily accessible in public databases. One of the report's authors, physicist Peter Clarke of the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, told a press briefing today that they were able to download the relevant data “in a few minutes” and then process it in the same way as CRU had done, producing similar final results. “It took a couple of days of code writing,” he said. The authors found no evidence of bias by CRU in its selection of data. Allegations of misuse of tree ring data were also put aside.

The report did criticise (as previous reports have done) the handling of FOI requests.

EoR presumes that Muir Russell will now have to be added to the deniers' List of Conspiratorial Fellows.

Yesterday EoR resisted any octopus jokes (Q: How many suckers does an octopus have? A: As many as pay the entrance fee) but he feels no such qualms today. Via Talking Squid:

On Judgement Day, all the conspiracy theorists are resurrected, and after discussing matters among themselves they send a representative to talk to the Lord. The representative goes to the Lord and asks: “Lord, we’d really like to know: who killed JFK?”

And the Lord replies: “Oh, really. It was Lee Harvey Oswald. He was acting alone. There was no conspiracy.”

The representative goes back to the crowd and they ask: “Well, what did the Lord say?”

He looks around carefully, leans forward, and whispers: “This is bigger than we thought … “

Welcome Your Psi-Powered Cephalopod Overlord

Never mind communicating with animals via a psychic, just let them talk directly to us.

A "psychic" octopus is said by its aquarium owners to have predicted the country's football team will knock England out of the World Cup.

When consulted, Paul the octopus chose a mussel from a jar with the German flag on it ahead of one in a similar jar bearing the cross of St George.

Cephalopods are intelligent creatures, but who would have suspected their aquatic fascination with a human propensity to knock a ball about from one end of a paddock to another?

"Paul's prediction was phenomenal," said aquarium spokesman Tanja Munzig.

"He swam straight over to the German glass, climbed in and even put a lid on top once he was sitting inside."

It's also amazing how Paul has learnt to recognise national flags, and to associate them with the appropriate team.

Some people might be cynical, even dismissive of such skills, but the journalists aren't falling for it. Other animals are actually quite poor at betting on sporting competitions.

Other animal oracles in German zoos cannot claim such a strong track record.

Nineteen-year-old hippo Petty falsely predicted a German win over Serbia last week. At the Chemnitz zoo in eastern Germany, she had to choose between two piles of hay with red apples on top and nibbled from the wrong pile.

Tamarin Anton, a monkey at the same zoo, chose the wrong raisin a few days ago, incorrectly claiming that Ghana would beat Germany, kicking it out of the World Cup.

Now that Paul has correctly predicted the outcome of the Spain-Germany bout (and "every German World Cup match so far") EoR's advice is to put your house and all your savings on his next prediction. He doesn't appear to have issued his official prognostication yet, but even money is being offered on it already. EoR presumes that means his guess will either be right or wrong. Or that, in a game with two teams, one will win.

Woof! Woof! Bark! Neigh!

Didn't understand what the title of this post meant? Then you need the services of Animal Communicator Trisha McCagh. She claims to have been "Guest speaker at the Australian Veterinary Conference 2006". She's also supported by Australian Zoos, including the Perth Zoo. EoR imagines that they also accept and encourage her magical healing powers which utilise such scientific modalities as reiki, crystals and chakra balancing. Like many alternative practitioners, she doesn't sell her stuff. It's an 'investment'. She also now has a book out.

Believe it or not, animals are born knowing about the afterlife. They understand they’ll eventually be returning home, as I found out through King, a gallant white stallion.

His guardian, June, had been given King from a horse rescue centre. She was a woman with a big heart, who had already saved many horses from traumatic circumstances. Sadly though, she felt King’s condition was far beyond a recovery. June came to me for help because she wanted to be sure she was making the right decision about euthanasia for this noble beast.

Like me, June holds the strong view that euthanasia is the ultimate act of love and kindness; that we’re acting selflessly in giving what is best for another. King was extremely emaciated through neglect and was so tired. He knew at a very deep level his journey had come to an end, and he was actually looking forward to the freedom and joy that awaited. I was able to confirm with King that he was more than ready to leave this world.

When I gave this information to June, she then knew what she had to do: she called for the vet to assist him on his way. As King fell into his final sleep, June was amazed at how calm he was, as though he was effortlessly surrendering to his next journey into the realms. She said it was one of the most beautiful experiences she’d ever encountered.

When I contacted King shortly after his passing, he clearly conveyed that, as he left his body, he saw a waterfall of white light in front of him. As he walked through it, he grew the most magnificent white wings, took flight, and began to soar towards the heavens. He told me how wonderful it was to be light once again, and free of the burdens of illness and pain of the earth plane.

As King went beyond the clouds, he landed on a golden path, where his spirit horse mother was waiting for him, and they continued on together into the realms. And just think: it was June who took the action that allowed King to soar when he was ready to go. Without her generosity, his flight into the light would have been delayed.

Trisha McCagh: Stories from the Animal Whisperer: What your pet is thinking and trying to tell you (Allen and Unwin, 2010) pp231-232

Having browsed the book, EoR never fails to be amazed how literate and voluble animals are, conversing easily and freely in extensive English.

Woo: coming to a Zoo, near you.

Bolt Exposes Scientists

Andrew Bolt seems to be a little slow off the mark in pointing out that the various reviews that have examined the Climategate accusations and found them wanting of all veracity (other than a criticism regarding the handling of FOI requests) is obviously proof, not of critical examination of evidence and measured judgment, but of clear and obvious manipulation by the secretive cabal of communist world government climate scientists who only want to destroy the world, tax you to death and rape all your children! Bwahahaha!

According to the tinfoil hatted Bolt, Climategate was ignored by local media. Presumably, this shows how out of touch Bolt is with Australian media.

In Bolt's Bunker Against Green Insanity, Climategate was "a gamechanger", "a turning point", evidence of cheating and manipulation, and "a furore".

In the real world, Climategate shows how flimsy are the arguments the deniers repeat over and over, and how desperate they are to grasp on to any distorted claim to further their agenda.

Official Members of the Global Warming Conspiracy (does not include all those other organisations and individuals tasked with faking all the other evidence for Global Warming):
University of East Anglia Climate Research Unit
Dr Phil Jones
Lord Oxburgh
The Royal Society
Dr Michael Mann
Pennsylvania State University
ABC
Robyn Williams
National Science Foundation
The Australian Media

And, of course, no reference to Bolt can go by without at least one well-reasoned comment from his followers. The Thought of the Day Award this time goes to liarsofthecentury:

The moral of he story is don’t go lying and scamming people and pretending you can change the weather with taxes when in fact it is designed to destroy industry and take us back to mid evil times ,just like it says in the secret Iron mountain report that was released and the eu agenda 21 ,its all there and its a plan hatched long ago in the 50s ,once people invaded countries with arms now its by radicals and stealth ,lies and draconian laws, like those 250.000 that Wrong Wong is hiding, expose those and they are history ,why do you think they wont let anyone see them ,the real question is who are they working for?

It's Never Been Tested, But We'll Treat Everything With It Anyway

Homeopaths are at the forefront of amassing rigourous scientific evidence of the incredible power of water to heal every disease and illness known. They are particularly favoured of the customer satisfaction survey, conducted some time after providing a non-blinded treatment.

It appears homeopathy is equally effective in horses.

There are more than 138 randomized controlled trials of homeopathy in human medicine, but fewer than 20 have been performed in all of veterinary medicine and not one has involved horses.

To gain insight regarding the kinds of problems that veterinarians in the UK treat via homeopathy and owner-assessed changes after homeopathy, twelve members of the Faculty of Homeopathy veterinarians recorded data systematically at 777 consecutive homeopathic appointments for horses over a period of 12 months.1 A spreadsheet enabled the recording of information, which included:

date of appointment;
horse and owner identity (anonymised);
sex of horse;
main medical problem treated;
whether the condition was chronic or acute;
whether the appointment was new or a follow-up;
owner-assessed clinical outcome on a seven-point scale, ranging from -3 to +3, compared with the first appointment; homeopathic medicine(s) prescribed;
and whether any conventional or other complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) was being used concurrently to treat the condition.

Data from 289 horses comprised a total of 305 individual conditions identified as chronic in nature, of which 234 had a follow-up assessment. At the final appointment for chronic cases during the study period, 4.3 per cent were receiving conventional medication and 17.1 per cent were being given another CAM treatment in addition to homeopathy.

The homeopathic veterinarians treated more than 100 different conditions. The eight chronic conditions most frequently treated with homeopathy were:
arthritis
headshaking
laminitis
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
sweet itch
dermatitis
sarcoidosis
Cushing’s syndrome

At the time of the final appointment, owners assessed the impact of the homeopathy on a scale from -3 (major deterioration) to +3 (major improvement) compared to the first appointment.

For the 234 cases, a final score of +2 or +3 (moderate or major improvement) was reported in 86.7% of cases.

1. Mathie RT, Baitson ES, Hansen L, Elliott MF, Hoare J. (2010) Prescribing for chronic conditions in equine veterinary practice in the UK. Vet Rec. 2010 Feb 20;166(8):234-8.

Unfortunately, EoR's institutional subscription doesn't include The Veterinary Record, so he's unable to assess the full paper, but the summary provided is cause for concern. Where was the control group? Why use a vague 'improvement' assessment scored by someone (the owner) who is not a medical expert? Why only assess "clinical outcome" at final appointment (which, presumably, was anywhere up to twelve months later than the initial appointment). Why only choose those with chronic conditions (homeopathy is claimed to be able to treat anything)? What was done to eliminate the natural variability of chronic conditions? Of all the amazing numbers given (777 appointments, which then becomes 289 horses, which then becomes 234 horses that were actually part of the survey) why isn't the most important (the actual number of owners making the satisfaction survey response) given?

Most importantly, if there's never been a study of homeopathy to treat equine conditions, why is it being promoted so liberally?

And, finally, were all the vets involved paid up members of the The British Veterinary Voodoo Society?

I'm Not A Doctor, But...

Andy points EoR to Husband and healer 'must share blame'.

Coroner Alastair Hope has been urged to find that prominent Perth toxicologist Peter Dingle and wife's homeopath contributed to her death

On the final day of the inquest yesterday he was also urged to refer two doctors - William Barnes and Igor Tabrizian - to the WA Medical Board over their treatment of Mrs Dingle and to consider whether Mr Dingle's "emotional abuse" of his wife amounted to torture.

(...)

Counsel assisting the Coroner, Celia Kemp, said Mrs Dingle played a part in the "misadventure" that led her to forgo conventional treatment and accept the homeopathic treatment of Francine Scrayen. She said Mrs Dingle did not make the choice alone but with the influence of her husband.

"Dr Dingle's strong anti-conventional views would have influenced his wife," she said.

She said it was likely Dr Dingle, who holds no medical qualification, advised his wife against surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

EoR's observation of Dr Dingle's advice giving in the media is that he is announced as "Dr" Dingle. No clarification or disclaimer is provided as to the fact that he is not a medical doctor. If someone asks about a specifically medical condition Dr Dingle does, however, invariably state that he is "not a medical doctor". This is immediately followed by "but" and a whole slew of advice (usually involving eating more nuts and fish oils and so on and so forth).

As an example, consider this page from Dr Dingle's blog (which EoR blogged about long ago). EoR leaves it to his readers to determine whether or not Dr Dingle provides medical advice on that page, and in relation to exactly how many conditions. It's not a pretty sight.

More recently, he advises on Breast cancer Anti depressants and Fish oils, wondering "how many woman (sic) have died in the interim" of breast cancer and combined depression drug use. Fish oil, of course, is a wonder substance (and not at all a drug) that works far better in combination with chemotherapy than chemotherapy alone to prolong life. Perhaps Dr Dingle will any day now publish an article wondering how many woman have died in the interim from using alternative therapies?

The jury is still out (if such a metaphor is appropriate) on whether or not SSRIs affect Tamoxifen (EoR's emphasis):

If you take both an SSRI antidepressant, such as fluoxetine or paroxetine, and also take tamoxifen, speak with your doctor about the potential interaction between them. Your doctor may advise switching either to another type of antidepressant or another form of hormonal therapy.

If you are postmenopausal, you may be able to switch to an aromatase inhibitor, a hormonal therapy that is not affected by CYP2D6 inhibitors. In addition, make sure your doctor knows about all the medicines you take, since there are some other medications that are CYP2D6 inhibitors.

Tamoxifen remains the standard optimal treatment for premenopausal women. But regardless of menopausal status, you may be able to switch to another type of antidepressant to manage tamoxifen-related hot flashes. For medical options and other tips on managing hot flashes, read a recent article from our newsletter.

Clinical depression is a serious condition, so do not stop taking your antidepressant without consulting your doctor. Many other treatments exist for depression, including medicines that do not inhibit CYP2D6.

EoR notes that Dr Dingle makes no warning about stopping antidepressant medication in conjunction with a (real) doctor on his blog.

The level of evidence for fish oil as a treatment for depression is shown when most Google hits are for sites such as fishoilfordepression.org, christinas-home-remedies.com and oilofpisces.com. Unfortunately, the jury's still out on this one as well, with some small scale studies indicating there may be an effect (Eor's emphasis again):

A number of studies suggest that fish oil supplements may be an effective add-on (adjuvant) therapy for depression. In fact, some studies suggest that fish oil supplements may be as effective as prescription antidepressant medication — but the two in combination are more effective than either taken alone. However, more research is needed to confirm these results.

(...)

At this time, it's probably premature to make a strong recommendation for or against fish oil supplements as a treatment for depression. Consult your doctor before starting any new dietary or herbal supplement to treat depression, especially if you take other medications.

Dr Dingle again doesn't mention the strength of the studies he relies on, whether there are any contradictory studies, or whether his proclamations are based on preliminary evidence or not. Of course that, like urging people to give up their antidepressants in favour of an unproven alternative, are not in contradiction of the Hippocratic Oath because he doesn't have to adhere to any such restrictive medical standards. Not being a medical doctor.

Hopefully, though, the fish oil is working for Dr Dingle now that his friends at the ABC (though they are still showing him on Can We Help?) and 6PR have abandoned his well-reasoned and considered health advice. At least the newage journal Nova still has a place for him.

Dilbert on Homeopathy

The Mozart News Effect

Take one small study about a specific cognitive task, run through the journalistic machine of scientific misunderstanding and exaggeration, and you have The Mozart Effect.

NPR reports on how a study that showed listening to Mozart improved one spatial reasoning task for about ten minutes, became a whole industry of 'listening to Mozart will make your baby a genius' products. The latest issue of Intelligence calls it the 'Schmozart Effect'.

EoR's readers will also be aware of the role journalists played in beating up the MMR-autism scare. Recently, journalists (or one in particular, though others repeated his falsehoods unquestioningly) have also been berated for reporting misinformation on climate science.

When journalists started reporting that the cognitive researcher had claimed rock music had a negative impact on cognition, she started getting death threats. She had never made such a claim, but even if she had, are death threats any sort of intelligent response? Perhaps there's a 'Rock Music Criticism Effect' yet to be studied?

As the NPR report notes, the 'Mozart Effect' could just as easily be a 'Pearl Jam Effect', if you happen to prefer that sort of music. Which probably explains EoR's discovery of the 'Throbbing Gristle Effect'.

Bolt's Experts

Andrew Bolt continues to demonstrate his lack of understanding of scientific method, and relies on his wonderful,non-partisan, highly educated and independent readers to demolish the empty scam that is Science.

Kenskingdom ('retired school principal') doesn't like those dodgy Bureau of Meteorology graphs. They must be suspect because, as we all know, the BOM (and CSIRO, and the ABC, and Professor Stanley, and the University of Western Australia, etc etc) are all corrupt, lying, mendacious, cheating, alarmist bastards! So Kenskingdom prefers to graph the unadjusted data and what does he find? A warming trend, just not as steep as the one from the BOM data. Conspiracy exposed! Climate warming demolished!

EoR wonders why, if there really was a conspiracy, the conspirators would put out data that doesn't quite fit so nicely with their conspiratorial line, and then have to make adjustments to it which any retired school principal can so easily take and prove the lie? Wouldn't it have made more sense just to publish the faked data straight up? These dumb scientists. Not only have they got climate change wrong, they can't even fake a simple little global conspiracy! There's no hope for them.

Bolt's methods (and EoR uses that term very loosely in this context) are also obvious from his double standards in cherry picking data:

Weather is not climate, which is worth remembering when you hear the next screams of “global warming” on a hot day:

Sydney’s week of cold weather continues, with the city recording its coldest June morning since 1949 when temperatures dived to 4.3 degrees.

Just so that's clear: if weather is abnormally hot, that's because it's weather, stupid. If it's abnormally cold, that's because it's global climate cooling. Please amend your textbooks accordingly.

Of course, Bolt just loves it when extremely cold weather occurs, and it's a regular denialist card he's fond of playing.

Frankly, though, the kind of audience that Bolt is performing to (and it is a performance — an unintentionally satirical burlesque performance) is obvious from the supportive comments he gets. moronlieskickthemout, for example:

That is what it said in the leaked emails ,it was worse than all the data anywhere .You cannot change the climate with taxes morons and of course dumb as you are you know it ,this is a war against truth with lies idiots against sensible people ,just ask those labor backbenchers they i am surprised they even know their own name.

There's some crazy alternative universe somewhere where that actually made sense. Possibly.

While obvious of brisbane irrefutably points out:

it is time that scientist woke up to their own mortality. we can work, we can grow crops, we can have babies, we can make shelter for ourselves, but we can not make the sun or make the sun rise. we can find minerals but we can not make metal. we can store water but we can not make water. all the natural ingredients are provided by a creator. the scientist just need to grow up, like the rest of us, and stop pretending that they are the creator of the universe.

Meanwhile, the denialist travelling revival show is doing so poorly it's only made news in the Narrogin Observor.

Invisible Gorillas

EoR has previously noted the invisible gorilla (via the invisible bear) effect. The gorilla seems to have preceded the bear and so Professor Bradshaw was correct in referring to the gorilla as the animal exemplar of this selective perception effect.

There's a bunck of videos available, including the original, but Dan's "Monkey Business Illusion" is also well worth watching, even if you've seen the bear version and think you know what's going on.

There's also a whole book on the subject.

This experiment reveals two things: that we are missing a lot of what goes on around us, and that we have no idea that we are missing so much. To our surprise, it has become one of the best-known experiments in psychology. It is described in most introductory textbooks and is featured in more than a dozen science museums. It has been used by everyone from preachers and teachers to corporate trainers and terrorist hunters, not to mention characters on the TV show C.S.I., to help explain what we see and what we don't see. And it got us thinking that many other intuitive beliefs that we have about our own minds might be just as wrong. We wrote The Invisible Gorilla to explore the limits of human intuition and what they mean for ourselves and our world.

This has a wider importance than simply scientific research though. As a sometime bicyclist, EoR is well aware of how invisible he is to drivers.

Most people believe that unexpected or unusual events draw attention, perhaps even more than typical events. Why? In part, the belief is based on our experiences. When, on occasion, we happen to notice something unusual or unexpected, that event is remarkable. We take mental note of it and remember it. When we notice a typical or expected event, that’s unremarkable. Critically, we are, by definition, unaware of any events we don’t notice. If we fail to notice unexpected events more than expected ones, we won’t be aware of those probabilities. (...) A 42 year old bicyclist was riding down Highway 18 in the Town of Summit (in Wisconsin) when he was struck from behind by a 20 year old driver. According to the article, police are still investigating why the driver didn’t see the cyclist, but Officer Dana Hazelton noted that bicyclists rarely ride on the highway because “There’s actually a bicycle trail that’s just south of Highway 18 that’s probably 20 feet off the road that’s made for bicyclists.” In other words, people don’t expect to see bicyclists riding on the side of the highway, so they are less likely to notice them.

Homeopathy is a Religion After All

Andy points EoR to this report: Victoria tries to dilute homoeopathy problem.

A red-faced Victoria (New Zealand) University is distancing itself from a homoeopathy course offered through its continuing education programme.

"Homoeopathy: increasing your health awareness" will teach participants about the "internationally recognised, scientific medical system" in a one-off lecture.

The lecture is being given by "Art Buehler, the senior religious studies lecturer". Well, EoR can certainly see the link between religion and homeopathy. Faith in the face of all evidence to the contrary. The ritual gestures (succussion). The ritual text (Hahnemann's Organum).

EoR can also imagine just how the lecture is going to go:



Then there's this slightly older gem that EoR has discovered: Increase your height.

Forget about growth hormone injection or limb lengthening operation. They are way to expensive and dangerous for you. What you need is a safe, effective and affordable way to grow taller naturally and easily by using homoeopathic medicine

EoR loves seeing homeopathic 'doctors' arguing with each other. It reminds him of Edward Lear's and Lewis Carroll's (rather better) efforts. One advises:

I think, Baryta Carb 30 on alternate days is much better than to give it three times a day. Dr.D.Sharma, please don't mind.

So, taking the correct variety of (identical) water on the correct days is really important.

The full debate (which EoR admits he has not read beyond the first page) goes on for 33 incredibly mind numbing pages. At least it keeps them off the street.

They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;
They pursued it with forks and hope;
They threatened its life with a railway-share;
They charmed it with smiles and soap.

They shuddered to think that the chase might fail,
And the Beaver, excited at last,
Went bounding along on the tip of its tail,
For the daylight was nearly past.

"There is Thingumbob shouting!" the Bellman said,
"He is shouting like mad, only hark!
He is waving his hands, he is wagging his head,
He has certainly found a Snark!"

A Bunch of Bankers

Security of your financial data when using online banking is extremely important. This is why JP Morgan Chase bank is limiting access to its website to only those browsers which meet their rigourously high security standards. From July 18, 2010 if you use the wrong (insecure) browser you may not be able to access their site.

Why are some browsers not supported?
There are two primary reasons—security and popularity. There are dozens of browsers in use today, but not all offer the minimum levels of security that we require while others may not perform well with our site. The security of your accounts and private information is one of our highest priorities and some browsers, especially older versions, are simply higher security risks to use with our site.

As for popularity, we continually monitor the types of browsers that customers use to access our site. Based on that information, we know that supported browsers are used by more than 95% of our customers. If a new browser begins to grow in popularity, we will assess and test its security and performance with our site to determine whether or not we should support its use.

Why do I get a “Page Not Found” error now when I go to your site?
You may be using an outdated browser that we don't support. There are dozens of browsers in use today, but not all offer the minimum levels of security that we require while others may not perform well with our site. We strongly recommend that you upgrade your existing browser to one that we support. We strongly recommend that you upgrade your existing browser to one that we support.

So if a browser is blocked from their site, how will they be able to tell it has increased in popularity? And while some browser statistics (a notoriously arcane and inaccurate art) indicate some browsers have a lower percentage of users, on the internet that can still be millions of people, and thousands for any particular popular site. It's like a business excluding customers because they are wearing the wrong colour shirt. The only effect is to reduce clientele and damage the business's bottom line.

So, which particularly secure, popular browsers are the select few to meet the high standards of the Chase bank? Safari 3 or higher, Firefox 2 or higher, and Internet Explorer 6 or higher.

Internet Explorer 6? Perhaps the worst browser ever and the oldest, least compliant, browser still in use? A browser full of security holes? A browser even Microsoft doesn't want you to use?

There are also issues of accessibility since disabled users require specific browsers that have such low usage they don't even appear on the statistics, and mobile access (it seems no mobile users access JPMorgan Chase).

EoR feels that the JPMorgan Chase bank may, like so many before them, suffer the Streisand Effect (and many, many more sites).

This is not an approach taken by other banks. EoR's bank is quite happy to work with a browser considered 'insecure' by JPMorgan Chase. Another, PNC Bank, states:

PNC uses Extended Validation Secure Socket Layer Certificates (EV SSL) which works with high security browsers (Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 3.0, Opera 9.0, Safari 3.2, and their next generation browser versions, as well as Flock, Google Chrome and iPhone), to help you recognize when you are at the legitimate PNC site and not a "spoofed" site.

Oh, look! They're all those browsers JPMorgan Chase don't want to know about.