"I think it's jumping the gun to assume everybody who shops at Whole Foods is a believer in nonsense. "

Of course, "everybody" is a big word. Just as it's a big word to say everyone that supports global warming has a clue (since their research is bought and sold and is their daily bread), especially since the clues they give (in the form of predictions of doom) consistently fail to come true... :P

dirge - lest you display anymore ignorance, leeches are used in modern day medicine from time to time...

....as is bleeding. My father has too much iron in his blood, and regularly has to go in to give a pint because of his condition.

While not all liberals buy into homeopathy (i'm sure it is a small number), and not all who believe in homeopathy are liberal -- I do think it is true that liberals are more apt to be purveyors on alternative medicines, especially those from history or from folk traditions, e.g. yoga, tai chi, accupuncture, cupping, trepanation . . .

krellin, thanks, yes, I know this. Helps with pulling out infected fluid from infections.

In fact I would say leeching has far more empirical evidence to support its efficacy than homeopathy.

trepanation also has a medical use, typically after a brain injury resulting in brain swelling, BUT that does not give any credence to idiots who go about drilling a hole in their skull for some half baked reason. I'm sure it doesn't make them any smarter either.

I guess all of China and India are 'liberal'.

Liberal americans are more apt to . . .
I think you know this is what I meant. It is an unsupported assertion anyway so go at it if you will.

This is a good book for lay people and people like me who have a social "science" degree:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Science_(book)

has a chapter on homeopathy.

" I can honestly say the only thing I ever see bordering on that is the stupid Activia."

Every Kroger has a probiotic aisle and homeopathic aisle (not as large as Whole Foods, but they exist). They and every other grocery store sells the Ezekiel bread they're talking about.

The guy who wrote the article has a shtick of bashing liberal rationalists. Every article he has written is a variant of the same theme.

Ezekiel bread is just an ancient grains bread. Some of that shit is really low sugar and carb and worth it. But that isn't homeopathy either. Homeopathy is "medicine", not food. Check out the Wikipedia link I posted above again. I have seen nothing in our local Kroger like that at all.

Nutritional info on Ezekiel bread, lest you think I don't know what I'm talking about:

Source of Complete Protein - Rated 84.3% as efficient as the highest source of protein (comparable to that of milk or eggs)
Contains 18 Amino Acids - Including all 9 essential amino acids

Increased Digestibility - Sprouting breaks down starches in grains into simple sugars so your body can digest them easily.
Increased Absorption of Minerals – Sprouting breaks down enzyme inhibitors, so your body can more easily absorb calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc.
Increased Vitamin C - Sprouting produces vitamin C.
Increased Vitamin B - Sprouting increases the vitamin B2, B5 & B6.
Great source of Fiber - Combining sprouted grains and legumes gives a good amount of natural fiber in each serving.

From http://www.foodforlife.com/about_us/ezekiel-49

Now, I have to be careful about how much I eat because while it has very little actual sugar, it does have a high Glycemic Index as a result of the sprouted turning to simple sugar and quickly absorbing into the bloodstream. It will raise blood glucose if you aren't careful.

Oh, and now we attack meditative practices - something that psychologists and psychiatrists whole heartedly recommend adding to one's daily routine? Tai Chi is meditative martial arts. Done slowly and with very precise movements, it helps one to focus and clear their mind of the noise that distracts them.

Guess I'm a moron for practicing it and finding the calming and refreshing effects in it. Some people lift weights and release adrenaline and endorphins and such, I practice Tai Chi. I don't buy into any of the spiritual bullshit, but it does have an effect on the mind the same as any other means of exercise that releases endorphins and any other practice that is repetitive and focuses one mentally.

Well according to Semck's buddy you're supposedly a liberal since you do Taiji Quan.

I guess. I view it more as "willing to understand that Eastern Culture has made some great contributions to the world and we could learn a lot form them". But whatever. :-)

And if it doesn't work somebody better tell the 80/90+ year old Chinese people who do it every morning at 530 am in Shanghai and are more physically fit than many teenagers.

@krellin: not going to turn this into an AGW debate with you, sorry.

Yj - I'm not trying to turn it in to a AGW debate - I'm referencing the question of whom you put your faith in.

I find it fascinating how some people are able to dismiss people as kooks (The people <Whole Food freaks> that spend gobs of money on a lot of nonsense that won't make them live any longer than you) because you recognize that their claims are ridiculous and know that snake oil is only good to loosening the crack pipe from the clutching fingers of a crack whore...

...but in other instances, when people make outrageous claims for which there is a consistent record of failure-to-produce results...you believe them with all the faith of an Irish Catholic selling tickets to see the Virgin Mary as she appeared in a lump of burnt toast.

I just don't understand the inconsistency in your thinking, man. The proof -- predictions that don't come true -- is the same in both cases.

The science on the efficacy of these products is by no means as obvious as your wonderful column writer claims. I know he consulted his 'friend' on probiotics, but that doesn't qualify as scientific analysis by any standard I'm aware of. Sounds like the same kind of anecdotal stuff that he is complaining about.

"And if it doesn't work somebody better tell the 80/90+ year old Chinese people who do it every morning at 530 am in Shanghai and are more physically fit than many teenagers. "

A lot of them smoke like chimney's, too, so I guess we all need to light up, right?

I do almost daily. Granted, it's a pipe on the drive home from work or a cigar out in my workshop while I work on some project or another on the weekend...

If they smoke like chimneys and can still smoke me up the stairs to Sun Tat Sen's Mausoleum then at the very least tai ji isn't making them unfit.

OK then krellin, but it's difficult to discuss this in general terms.

You would acknowledge though, that in a general case one idea is demonstrably sound and that another idea is demonstrably ridiculous, that there would be no inconsistency with my accepting the former and rejecting the latter.

You feel there is an inconsistency because you think they are both ridiculous.

Not to speak for krellin, but you say it is "demonstrably sound" yet no such demonstration has been made to anyone. All predictions continue to fail. Therefore it is "demonstrably ridiculous". Would you not agree?

Putin, I am all for fitness and you want to meditate, there is probably sound medical science behind meditating (i.e. reduce stress = less toxins in the body).

I'm just suggesting that just becuase some dude is old and has done X doesn't mean that X made him old, because he also does A through W and Y and Z too.

@YJ - I would trend to - it is demonstrably ridiculous to believe in global warming, as every prediction of doom and gloom and failed to payed out as predicted. Clearly, you would have to be a blithering idiot to continue to believe these chumps.

I can find a few people, on the other hand, who consume the snake oil and live a pretty healthy life to a long age....so there might be something to it...

I truly find your belief system baffling, my old friend....

I notice that this guy didn't single out chiropracty, which is pure junk science that rejects germ theory of disease that plenty of conservatives I know participate in. Guess that doesn't abide by the homeopaths = liberal narrative going on here.

Well, draugnar, it seems to me that to say, "all predictions have failed, therefore AGW is ridiculous" is a bad oversimplification.

First, I have to assume that you are correct when you say, "all predictions have failed." Let's accept that at face value, for arguments sake (I am not yet convinced that this is the case, but it's not germane to my reply so who cares).

The second assumption we have to make is that an untrue conclusion means that the premise is untrue. By way of example, if I say, "Gay marriage is now legal, therefore the world will explode in the next ten years." Tick-tock-tick-tock 10 years later, but the world has not exploded! Does this prove that gay marriage is not legal? Clearly not. All it proves is that somewhere along the line a mistake was made on the way to my conclusion.

So even if it is true that, "no predictions have come true," that allows one to conclude precisely nothing about the truth of AGW (for or against). It only allows one to conclude that the specific hypotheses (AGW will cause A, B, and C) are likely untrue.