Those of you who have read my previous screeds know that I have little patience for alternative quackery and useless supplements, but I recently came across this journal:

http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/ecam/about.html

This is really all I wanted. If something is worthwhile, subject it to some standard scientific inquiry. If the results are not reproducible or extant, it's a crock.

Don't forget, folks- extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. Keep the burden of proof on the providers of alleged cures, which is where it belongs.

Peace!

To whoever wrote:

"- Dr. Amen may be greedy, and using various means to get wealthy from people worried about conditions he claims he can help with, but greed is the norm in our society. Remember that we have a medical industry that is far more expensive than any other in the world, yet the USA ranks below virtually all other industrialized nations and some poorer nations in most indicators of health."

Yes- this much is true- but is this the fault of the medical "establishment" eschewing so-called "alternative" treatments, or a wildly out-of-control insurance system and pharmaceutical companies who are a little too cozy with gov't regulators?

"- The Medical Establishment has a long record of trying to prevent development of treatments that do not have a high potential for profit for elements of the industry"

Hmm- sounds like the typical bullshit propaganda spouted by chiropractors and other snake-oil salesmen of dubious repute.

it is documented...

(sure it is... at countless silly "alternative" websites, vanity publications, and 'health" expos )

...that conventional medical treatment is a major cause of fatalities in the USA plus countless other damage to people's lives.

Oh please. Cut the crap already. Major cause? Somehow, I don't think you'd be quite as sanguine if you were dying of sepsis from a burst appendix. Grapefruit seed oil and olive leaf ain't gonna get you out of THAT jam, buddy.

Conventional medicine is hardly perfect, but do you seriously expect me to believe that the number of people harmed is not vastly out-weighed by the number helped? All (useful) therapy entails risk. Life itself entails risk. You pays your nickle and you takes your chances. Eat your granola, take your vitamins, run 3 miles a day, die anyway.

"That something isn't approved by the Medical Establishment is not an indication that it isn't valid."

I'd rather take any therapy that is required to submit to testing and oversight, however imperfect, than some crack-pot nostrum that isn't tested or regulated AT ALL.

"- Alternative medicine does offer promising treatments for many things, but the Medical Establishment often makes it next to impossible to do the kind of studies on them that would provide conclusive evidence of validity."

There you go with your conspiracy theories again.

"Most of what Dr. Amen is promoting has indications of having potential."

According to whom? I think it's clear that there is no evidence of consensus, and Dr. Amens Carnival Barker schtick and promises of certainty make him immediately suspect.

Makes me wanna holler!

@ Pounce

"I like the fact that she's still punching.Of not giving up. If Obama is nominated he can thank this roughing up to getting him ready for a real fight against McCain. Where the gloves come off. because before this he wasn't ready."

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You're not the only one who read the Sunday NY Times, not that I even agree with it's premise that was repeated in your comment.

Obama was plenty tough before HRC started chucking her gorilla biscuits. He was tough by being SMART and unwilling to engage in childish character assassination games and race-baiting. He's better than that. Secure in himself, smart, capable and nearly un-flappable. A world-class statesman.

Obama 08!

"The laws should be defined to say: Marriage is between two consenting adults. Period.

And to shut the Bill O'Reillys of the world up, remind the jerk that the adult has to be at least 18. That should knock the wind out of his "A man wants to marry a duck..." Ever met an 18 year old duck that could sign paperwork or otherwise be mentally sound enough to agree to such arrangement?"

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Umm... The last time I looked, one "duck-year" was equal to approximately 5.1 human years. By that metric*, the average duck would be able to legally consent 3 years, 193 days, 9 hours, 52 minutes and 41 seconds after hatching.

(* and not those reflective of current age-of-consent to marry statutes for phylum, "Chordata" which may vary from state to state)

I fear that this might still give O'Reilly an in. There's no straw he won't grasp at, after all.

...Anyhoo, I have finally, at age 42, begun to find the path all the way through my nervous system where I can pretty much call up orgasmic feelings at will anytime and anywhere...

-BS65

Ewww... I just threw up in my mouth a little.

...It didn't take me long to regard the uncivil rabble (ShawnWM, localit, kate etc) as Operation Chaos trolls. I now use my former radio skill of reading ahead, and if I see any of their names on the by-line, I just ignore their froth. Simple, really.

To anyone who claims to be a democrat, but who will vote for McCain out of spite if their fave candidate loses is, frankly, full of shit. I say, goodbye, good luck and good riddance.

Don't feed the trolls.

...I am Asian and female, you sexist idiot!!

... and the mail-order bride of a prominent Republican senator, too, no doubt.

"Now, before resorting to more ad hominem typical of Obamabots, ask yourself this question: would you have been so enamored with him had he been a half Japanese, half white with an association to a Japanese fascist group that believes in Iapanese supremacy and a glorification to Japan's war crimes in WWII?"

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Q. Hey! Did you hear the one about the guy who's half-Black and half-Japanese?

A. Every December 7th he tries to bomb Pearl Baily