Mr. Pilot, don't take this personally.

People just believe weird shit. And nobody is more resistant to being told reasonable facts by reasonable people possing reasonable EVIDENCE than people who are obsessively and irrationally concerned about their health.

These are the people who spend billions at "Health" stores, buying useless nostrums like Airborne and Homeopathic "remedies." The same people who think that the Applied Kinesiologist at the Chiropractic office really CAN diagnose your nut allergies by having you hold a sealed, unopened jar of peanut butter in your left hand, while pushing down your extended right arm. The ones who claim to be "chemically sensitive." or (even better) "electro-sensitive." I could go on and on and on. You know the type well, I am sure.

These same people read "alternative" health marketing, cleverly disguised as a health magazine, and take every word as gospel. They listen to people like Gary N__l and hang on his every word.

To them, one person's anectdote trumps sober analysis of real evidence, every single time, and there is no talking sense to them.

Many of them really are sick, but not because of the reasons they claim. Many are simply, mentally ill- suffering from any number of obsessive-compulsive disorders. I feel true compassion for their suffering- many suffer horribly and can't function normally. I wish them good health and recovery via treatment that not only works, but that is ethical, evidence-based, and gets to the root of the real problem.

Unfortunately, the "Alt Health" industry is happy to take their money. In many cases, the practitioner actually is able to calm the patient down with some new food/supplement ritual, but to this trained scientist this is tantamount to telling a conventional OCD sufferer that they can make themselves feel better by counting every lamp finial in the house, instead of every doorknob before they go out.

Much of that huge industry is terribly dishonest, and that just chaps my ass, no end.

So no, you're not a lier. Thanks for the info- Great column!

...but I guess somebody has to create a regular feature that is deliciously irresistable to the insatiable mob of Drudge and Freeper-Bots who are drawn to it as flies to shit.

Good way to drive up the hit meeter and advert rates on Salon, so that actually useful content can be sustained. I sure hope it's worth it.

To the tin-foil brigade, thanks for your support.

1. Draw your curves.

2. Plot your data.

Damn you! Why do you hate America so much? If you don't like this country, then GO BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM!!

hunh? You're already there?

Never mind.

/snark

Nice try, Big Pharma, et al. It's called, "Too Little, Too Late.

We ain't buyin'

I can only hope President Obama isn't, either.

...give a whole new meaning to the "Left Behind" series.

It is not likely Barack Obama, our first Marxist President as well as being an elitist, will pick a strict constructionist supreme court justice...Obama thinks the Supreme Court has the power to redistribute wealth...And you can bet Obama won't pick someone who will vote to make him show his birth certificate.

Um, you left a few things out:

-Obama is Secret Muslim who studied at a Madrassa in Indonesia.

-Obama pals around with terrorists.

-Obama wants to take away our guns.

(Did I forget anything here? Help me out, people!)

Nice attempt, though, at cramming as many stupid RW talking points as possible into one post, but you really need to be more thorough.

Thanks for playing.

If Republicans wanted the same things/people that Democrats did then, well, they wouldn't be Republicans. Republicans are supposed to protest judges they believe are activists, just as Democrats protested judges not to their liking, including Alito and Roberts. H*ll, Obama himself obstructed Bush's choices for the court. That's our system--so get over it! The way you all complain in this article, you would think that you have no power! You have all the power right now. Shut up and enjoy it as it never lasts!

That's a very good argument. Too bad it has nothing to do with the story.

Of course, one should oppose any SCOTUS nominee who doesn't represent their values- that's axiomatic.

The point of this article is that the GOP is making no secret about their ginning up to oppose someone who HAS NOT EVEN BEEN IDENTIFIED YET- based, not on whether or not they represent their values, but, ipso facto, that the nominee will be appointed by President Obama- proving, yet again, that he can do no good in the eyes of the GOP.

Sure, there were always plenty of progressive howling over SCOTUS nominees by GOP presidents, and while it is certainly fair to say that they probably weren't surprised to be confronted by a nominee they didn't like, none, to my knowledge, ever made such a public showing over their intemt to oppose, blockade, and obstruct any nominee until, A. They knew WHO it was going to be, and B. they were prepared with a credible argument about actual FACTS about the ACTUAL PERSON in question.

That was the point.

...The same is true with accidents or abductions. You're either 0% or 100%. You're either gonna fall, or you're not; you're gonna drown, or you're not; you're gonna be abducted, or you're not. And all you have to know is, can I live with what happens at 100%? If the answer is, "no," then don't do it, and don't let your kid do it.

Um, no. There is no certainty. That's not how LIFE WORKS!

If the answer to your question is, in fact, no, then DON'T have kids, EVER.

Then go and blow your brains out before something bad happens to you.