5% sugar, 5% opium extract, 60% alcohol, 30% water. Cures what ails ya, you betcha. What - it's "herbal", innit?
Still waiting for my shilling check from Big Pharma....
Posted on 11/29/2005 9:31:13 AM PST by Sub-Driver
Kansas Prof. Apologizes for E-Mail
11 minutes ago
A University of Kansas religion professor apologized for an e-mail that referred to religious conservatives as "fundies" and said a course describing intelligent design as mythology would be a "nice slap in their big fat face."
In a written apology Monday, Paul Mirecki, chairman of the university's Religious Studies Department, said he would teach the planned class "as a serious academic subject and in an manner that respects all points of view."
The department faculty approved the course Monday but changed its title. The course, originally called "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationisms and other Religious Mythologies," will instead be called "Intelligent Design and Creationism."
The class was added to next spring's curriculum after the Kansas State Board of Education decided to include more criticism of evolution in its standards for science teaching. The vote was seen as a big win for proponents of intelligent design, who argue that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power.
Critics say intelligent design is merely creationism — a literal reading of the Bible's story of creation — camouflaged in scientific language.
Mirecki's e-mail was sent Nov. 19 to members of the Society of Open-Minded Atheists and Agnostics, a student organization for which he serves as faculty adviser.
"The fundies (fundamentalists) want it all taught in a science class, but this will be a nice slap in their big fat face by teaching it as a religious studies class under the category mythology."
Mirecki addressed the message to "my fellow damned" and signed off with: "Doing my part to (tick) off the religious right, Evil Dr. P."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
5% sugar, 5% opium extract, 60% alcohol, 30% water. Cures what ails ya, you betcha. What - it's "herbal", innit?
Still waiting for my shilling check from Big Pharma....
Apparently so. Actually, it's because we're all the same person :)
I think it's a little worse than that. As WC Fields said, you can't con an honest man. These people get conned because they want a cheap solution to their problems. Why pay a doctor when the faith healer will guarantee better results for 20% of the price? Why learn all that science when there's a much simpler story in the Good Book? Why go to the trouble of living like a decent human being when the Son of God will just come and dissolve away all your sins for free?
And of course, having bought the cheap imitation, it's psychologically necessary to claim the genuine article is worthless.
Waste genuine opium and good grain alcohol on this lot? Hell no. Meths and Jimson Weed: works as well, and 80% cheaper
Something to think about: (from "Guns Germs and Steel")
A number of genetic diseases are caused by a person inheriting two copies of the same recessive gene. The reason that gene is present in fairly high concentrataions is that heterozygous individuals have an increased resistance to a particular infectious disease:
Sickle cell - malaria
Thalassemia - malaria
Cystic fibrosis - cholera
Tay Sachs - tuberculosis
Two questions for RWP and the other scientists here:
Would it be possible to vaccinate for these by inserting a copy of the mutated gene somewhere?
Are researchers looking for diseases corresponding to other common genetic disorders?
He evidently was never board certified in psychiatry. He tried to be, and failed.
IX-NAY! IX-NAY!
Boy, that sure sounds similiar to my #459:
You've hit the nail on the head; many people are susceptible to anti-Evolutionism precisely for the same reason they reject modern medicine, pharmacology, and other sciences: they are unable to distinguish real science from pseudo-science. This makes them a "mark" for every crackpot idea that comes along, whether it be dietary cures for all diseases or "free-energy" scams.
From Quackwatch, How to spot a quack
They Claim They Are Being Persecuted by Orthodox Medicine and That Their Work Is Being Suppressed Because It's Controversial.
The "conspiracy charge" is an attempt to gain sympathy by portraying the quack as an "underdog." Quacks typically claim that the American Medical Association is against them because their cures would cut into the incomes that doctors make by keeping people sick. Don't fall for such nonsense! Reputable physicians are plenty busy. Moreover, many doctors engaged in prepaid health plans, group practice, full-time teaching, and government service receive the same salary whether or not their patients are sick—so keeping their patients healthy reduces their workload, not their income.
Quacks also claim there is a "controversy" about facts between themselves and "the bureaucrats," organized medicine, or "the establishment." They clamor for medical examination of their claims, but ignore any evidence that refutes them.
"Science doesn't have all the answers."
Quacks use this ploy to suggest looking beyond what scientific medicine has to offer; they also imply that since medical care has limitations, they are entitled to have them too. Medical science doesn't claim to have all the answers, but its effectiveness keeps increasing because the scientific method offers ways to find more answers. The idea that people should turn to quack remedies when frustrated by science's inability to control a disease is irrational. Quackery lacks genuine answers and has no method for finding them.
"They persecuted Galileo!"
The history of science is laced with instances where great pioneers and their discoveries were met with resistance. William Harvey (nature of blood circulation), Joseph Lister (antiseptic technique) and Louis Pasteur (germ theory) are notable examples. Today's quacks boldly claim that they, too, are scientists ahead of their time. Close examination, however, will show how unlikely this is. The ideas of Galileo, Harvey, Lister, and Pasteur's overcame their opposition because they were demonstrated to be sound.
" I'm asking myself, why are we arguing with these people, when we could be getting rich selling them patent medicines?"
Because we have some human decency and integrity. We wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing we were keeping people from getting real treatments for their illnesses.
LOL!
Please Explain. How does "the fascist nature of Darwinists" differ from "people who accept the theory of evolution are fascists"?
Hey, I managed to pass the bar on the first try, so I'm at least more successful than, say, a Kennedy ;)
Asprin is not on editor's list of real foods that cure all diseases. I am not pimping for the AMA or for drug companies. But the claim that a specific diet will prevent or cure every disease is dangerous nonsense. The reliability of a specific web site that is not part of my discussion.
Editor is a dangerous psychopath who will, if taken seriously, kill people.
The doctor who runs Quackwatch seems to have engaged in some quixotic lawsuits. It's pretty hard to win libel suits in this country.
I note that there has not been a peep about the substance of his website.
My question about fixing the germ line is whether we will eventually take the process too far. I would hope that really severe defects would be first on the list, but I worry about making us all into Barbies and Kens.
Oh, my, you forgot to ping the whackjob to your post. What a breach of netiquette!
Money talks. People will be eager to buy their children some extra good looks and enhanced sex appeal. A few more IQ points or an enhanced immune system will be a lot more expensive.
In a just world medical quacks would be in prison. There is nothing wrong with saying nutrition is important, or even with saying it can cure some ailments. What Editor is saying is dangerous, and if taken seriously, potentially fatal.
My brother is a psychiatrist. Prior to specializing, he completed medical school, the usual internship in an emergency room, and a two year residency practicing general medicine. He has all the legal and training qualifications to diagnose your chest pains. He could legally treat you for any number of diseases.
I wouldn't recommend it, and he wouldn't do it, but every M.D. has experience in general practice.
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