Hey Deborah,

Your latest posts are most erudite. Is this a pet subject of yours?

Norm,

You signed off:

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"Pass the bananas!"
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Well, you wouldn't want to do that in Australia right now. We had a storm that wiped out most of the banana crops in Queensland (NE area of Oz - the pointy bit on the RHS). The price leapt overnight from 99 cents/kilo to $15/kilo.

Based on that and the ever-increasing price of gasoline in Oz our Government justified the Reserve Bank raising official interest rates - so now all debts are given yet another 0.25% hike.

Who would have thought? The economic indicator of our mighty country is gas and bananas. Huh? I wonder what next month will bring. Maybe artichokes and mosquito repellant. Duh!

Just changing the subject slightly...

One thing has certainly reached critical mass - radical Islam Jihad - suicide bombers are coming to a cinema, shopping centre or restaurant near you.

Back to bananas - our near neighbor, New Zealand, is still selling bananas at 99 cents/kilo. Guess where they come from?

Ka-ching!

You guessed it! AUSTRALIA - work that out!

We are certainly being manipulated. Gas and bananas.

It's not enough being an ordinary monkey any more. You have to be a gorilla or at the very least... a mandrill.

Gary

Hi Gary,

      A pet subject? No. Something that I have been seeing growing for years?  Yes. And it is starting to distress me , greatly.

      I have no time nor patience for self styled gurus, who hawk there pseudosciences as fact and use fear as a control.

      They lure people in with impossible promises of good health, cures for diseases, and mental well being.

       Desperate people latch on to these hopes, because they want to believe. Sometimes with devastating results.

      I am not against using alternative methods. But not when it entails throwing out  good science.

     And don't even get me started on the pharmaceutical companies. LOL

Your Good Friend

Deborah

Hi! 

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I have no time nor patience for self styled gurus, who hawk there pseudosciences as fact and use fear as a control....  I am not against using alternative methods. But not when it entails throwing out  good science.
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I guess I'm lucky. I've never come across any of the gurus that say pseudoscience is fact or use fear as a control. The ones I read all talk about theories and possiblities.

But really, what is good science?

...for decades, until today, we were told that Pluto was a planet. Science said so. Today it's not a planet anymore because scientists can see farther in space now and realized that it isn't a planet.

...As of Aug., 2005 scientists have identified the part of the brain that covers the sixth sense, and particularly warns us of coming danger. Co-author of the studies, Joshua Brown, based at Washington University at St. Louis claimed that this part of the brain figures things out, without you knowing how, from the anterior cingulate cortex, a brain area near the top of the frontal cortex. The findings, published in the Journal “Science,” are in direct conflict with the modern psychological sciences, which say there is no such thing as “psychics”.

So really, what is good science? Science "changes" based on the knowledge and tools available to scientists. It's not "fact" any more than pseudoscience. It's more like "this is what we know right now, but it could change..." 

If science was fact, carved in stone, Pluto would still be a planet and they wouldn't be able to pinpoint the part of the brain that warns us of impending danger.

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And don't even get me started on the pharmaceutical companies. LOL
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Now there I agree. I won't start. NO one has that much time to read my opinion.  lol

Linda

Hi Linda,

    I think you have been one of the lucky ones. Because there are plenty of people out there that have met these pseudoscientists who are hawking their miracle cures.

    Unfortunately, most of these people are dead today.

     These people play on the fear of death, and cater to hope. They use scientific terms and references, portraying their therapies as natural and non-toxic, while portraying standard scientific therapies as dangerous.

     There are three types of Alternative Medicines: Genuine, Experimental, and Questionable.

     Genuine meets the scientific standard for safety and is used in conjunction with traditional medicine.

     Experimental is unproven but has some merit and is undergoing trials. This is also used in conjunction with traditional medicine.

    Questionable is unproven and lacks any scientific method, Usually promoted as "miracle cures" and include no traditional medical treatment.

     The list of these alternative methods would take up pages, but here are a few:

        Koch Antitoxins

        Immuno-Augmentative Therapy

        Livingston-Wheeler Regimen

        Macrobiotics

        Metabolic Therapy

       None of these have been proven to cure anything let alone cancer, but they are touted daily by hundreds of healthcare gurus.

      Hulda Clark has always been one of my personal favorites, she has a book out called "Cure For All Cancers". And yet I don't think she can even prove her credentials.

     It is said in science that theories can never be proven only disproved. There is always the possibility that a new observation or a new experiment will conflict with a long standing theory.

     This is what makes good science. Always striving for new knowledge that will unlock the doors to disease, mental illness, and a microcosm of ideas.

    Not the pseudoscientific ideas of charlattans whose only pupose is financial gain and notoriety, through the bilking of helpless individuals.

    True scientists are a rare breed of people. Some put their lives on the line daily every time they walk into their labs.

    Others work their whole lives on a project and never live to see the fruitions of their work.

    And then others must make a choice; to continue the work that they believe in and feel  dedicated to , or leave to be with the people they love.

    These are people who truly dedicate their lives to others.

Your Good Friend

Deborah

Hi Deb;

You're right - I'm one of the lucky ones. I've never heard of any of the people you mentioned. I must live a sheltered life. lol.

I hate the pharmaceutical industry. I won't even get started. It would be too long. I do believe in natural medications. It's said that the rainforests contain cures for every disease known to man - provided we don't destroy them all before some of the miracles they hold are discovered.

Even in saying that, I do NOT believe in self diagnosis or quackery. In North America, because of the FDA, herbs are sold over the counter. In Europe, they are dispensed by doctors. I tend to like the European approach, because plants can be every bit as potent as a pharmaceutical.

But pure quackery?  No, I'm not into that. lol. I'm the sort that wants to see some verifiable test results by people qualified to speak for the product.

Ironically, when I started this thread, it wasn't about stuff we ingest. lol. It was about different ways of thinking. Transcendentalism, human behaviors, self growth... that sort of thing.  And I know there's a lot of quackery in THAT industry, too. I guess it's everywhere. Next thing you know, people will think they can get rich overnight without doing any work. LOL.

Linda