Monday, September 24, 2007

Herbal Cancer Treatment

http://www.cancersalves.com/ is an online herbal remedy store. As you enter the site, you are greeted with this disingeniune manufactured remark:
"Knowing your time and your life are valuable to you and those you love, we have done everything possible to make your visit to this site worthwhile. We know how critical your issues are, and we know that truth and honesty are crucial to good decisions and happy outcomes."
The site describes itself as an information goldmine for herbal remedies for cancer and other diseases. It even goes so far to say "
there is no sales pitch, merely intelligent explanations of the herbal remedies as they have been used by skilled practitioners historically and in the present." even though a sales pitch for a $27 Herbal Remedy book lies right next to this hypocritical message. The site attempts to persuade the customer that they are indifferent to whether or not their products are purchased, they just want to spread the information.
The site at least admits:

Where products are concerned, the Sanctuary makes no claim as to the superiority or effectiveness of what it provides. The herbs and/or herbal formulae are merely offered in the hopes of and with prayers for healing. The formulas are produced in accordance with historic and traditional precepts, not modern science. As such, using the methods of science, they are not 'proven.'

The site conveniently dodges being disproven by actually testing the products on animals on the basis that: "it does not condone experiments in which tumors are transplanted into animals or in which laboratory animals are deliberately exposed to carcinogens." Therefore, no concrete proof will really ever be offered for these herbal treatments.




Shortened Version of Last Weeks Paper

People’s thoughts and opinions are influenced by a number of environmental factors. It took me nearly eight years to develop my opinion on the use of capital punishment in the justice system. I was exposed to many influences during that time, each shaping the course of my thought in a different way. My current position can trace its roots to a combination of my upbringing, my education process, and the influence of my peer group. These components have mixed to make my anti-death penalty stance seem rational to me.
My upbringing had a significant effect on my anti-death penalty stance because it allowed for the development of my curiosity of social structures. When I was growing up, I would listen to books on tape with my family. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor exposed me to racism for the first time. I was baffled by the existence of racism and I could not understand why it was still present. I became aware of corruption I became aware that decisions were left to people who already had prejudices and they were capable of making horrible unjust decisions based solely on skin color. This changed the path of my developing opinions about the world around me. I began to become curious about why people acted the way they did and I would often spend hours a day dreaming the matter. I had many conversations with my parents about racism and their willingness to listen to my questions fueled my curiosity. If my parents had not exposed me to controversial topics like racism, it would have taken me much longer to consider why people think the way they do. This questioning attitude developing inside of me along with my knowledge of corruption changed the way I thought about the world and therefore eventually influenced my opinion on the death penalty. I came to realize that many decisions were made not in fact but largely in opinion. My upbringing clearly had a significant effect on the development of my opinion on the death penalty.
My education process also played a significant roll in the development of my opinions. With my developing awareness of the world, I entered fifth grade. My teacher asked me to consider that if I had hypothetically grown up in New Mexico as opposed to Minnesota how I would differ as a person. It was at that point that I realized how much the area I was living in had influenced me. I realized that our social environment plays a large role in our developing opinions and altitudes. This seed had been planted in my brain 7 years before I was sure that the death penalty was an unacceptable punishment. I was beginning to understand that the decisions people made on their way to becoming criminals had been a result of their upbringing. I began reading books that built on this idea. Works by S.E Hinton and Walter Dean Myers widened my lens and allowed me to consider that criminals do not start out as bad people; they are usually not given the guidance to prevent criminal action. The realization that the environment largely determines who succeeds and fails, occupied my mind during the years that followed. I began to understand how criminals developed and I continued to read more books on the subject. My schooling also taught me social justice teachings. These teachings taught me how to articulate the idea of the dignity of all human beings. All of these influences that I was exposed to through my education process dramatically shaped my decision.
My peer group had significant effect on the development of my opinion. As I moved into high school I began to listen to more and more debates between very conservative people and more moderate people. One debate that really significantly altered my opinion on the death penalty occurred in the stands of an away high school football game my sophomore year of high school. In the blustering October cold, I listened to debates over the war in Iraq, welfare, and then the prison system. I’ll never forget hearing, “I think we should execute all the people who are serving life terms in prison because those murderers, rapists, and thieves are a disgrace to America.” This statement was so extreme that it really made me think about where I stood on the issue. While I knew I did not agree, I had no facts to back my position The morning after I researched the issue. I read several web pages on execution styles, statistics, and people who were wrongfully executed. Then I looked into the cost, I read that it was sending someone to death row after appeals and court processes was three times more expensive than a forty-year prison sentence. It was at that point that I decided which side I was leaning towards but I still did not feel complete confidence in my position. My peers caused me to further consider other points of view. I came to the conclusion that execution is not a rational punishment for murder because a peer sparked the internal debate. My peer group clearly had a strong influence on the development of my opinion about the death penalty.
The course of one’s thoughts and opinions is usually altered by factors outside of oneself. As I matured my upbringing, my education process, and my peers influenced my opinion.

Monday, September 17, 2007

Holocaust Hoax Propaganda

Christianity has its roots in Judiasm but that didn't seem to stop these loving Christians from creating their own holocaust denial webpage, http://biblebelievers.org.au/holohoax.htm.
The "bible believers" claim that the gas chambers used at aushwitz were never actually used and were to faulty to be used. The authors support for his claim comes from "America's leading specialist on the design and fabrication of execution equipment" Fred Leuchter who allegedly took samples from the walls of the Aushwitz gas chambers and tested for traces of cyanide, finding none. The author then goes on to explain that not one autopsied body of Jew was found to have died of gas poisoning. The author makes no mention of crematoriums. The author states that most of the holocaust victims died of typhus and that the holocaust was an elaborate Zionist hoax. The author claims that even if the evidence againest gas chambers was eliminated, it would take "68 YEARS" to execute 6 million victims by gas chambers, he sights no source and seems to have pulled the number out of the air by his own figuring. The author continues to make many more bigoted anti-semitic claims in the name of Christianity, though the claims continue to seriously lack a reliable support.

Monday, September 10, 2007

UFO News Blog

In my search for a UFO blog on google I came upon this: http://www.cosmicparadigm.com/ufonews/

This UFO news blog entilted Cosmic Paradigm keeps UFO enthusiasts up to date with the latest reports of UFO sightings and other news involving extraterrestrials. The author strangely does not identify him or herself which I find somewhat strange, but there is contact information just in case a UFO is sighted.

The sight holds the title Cosmic Paradigm for a reason. The blog makes the claim that their are two main world view paradigms, the "Existing Paradigm" and "The Larger (Cosmic) Reality". The blog states that "Many people in the United States cling to the existing paradigm" but a number of people are begining to embrace the idea of "The Larger (Cosmic) Reality". The "Existing Paradigm" consists of the beliefs: 1. Aliens are here to harm us. 2. being un-open to a larger reality. 3. Its likely that there is intelligent life out there but it unlikely we will ever encounter it. 4. People are poor because they want to be 5. Global Warming isn't real. This is just a short list of the characterization of someone holding the "Existing Paradigm".

People who follow the "Larger (Cosmic) Reality" paradigm believe that "Earth-humans are not the only conscious life forms on this planet, let alone nearby worlds." Another belief held is that aliens have contacted humans to awaken them and help them transition this planet. Believers following this paradigm also believe that feelings of fear and paranoa will attract aliens who bring more fear and paranoa. Other beliefs of the "Larger (Cosmic) Reality Paradigm include: 1. " There is no word "accident" in the vocabulary of the universe. Each experience is created as an education for the soul." 2. The world we are living in right now is mostly an illusion and it was made to make us compliant.

In the frequently asked questions section several more claims are stated. Among these are: people have been abducted and subjected to experiments, Keeping alien secrets keeps the ruling elite in power, and (my favorite) there are hybrid humans and non humans on our planet.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Sometimes I Just Don't Understand

I often find it difficult to understand how someone could genuinely enjoy the majority of the popular music we are exposed to today. For a more specific example, I was hanging out with a friend of mine and I asked her what kind of music she listened to. She first said she liked everything; which I usually interpet as meaning she doesn't have an eclectic taste in music at all. I asked her to be more specific she said, "Well I like just about everything but rock." Wow, that eliminates about 50 percent of recorded music. So I was I inquired further and She responded by saying what ever is on KDWB or B96. KDWB and B96 are the two media giant owned top 40 stations of the Twin Cities area. Both of these stations have a play list of what seems like less than 120 songs. Every time I flip by one of these stations, they are playing an annoying pop or hip hop song that I have already accidentally heard a million times. I just don't understand how someone can exclusively listen to radio stations that constantly loop music that is basically manufactured by one of the four major record labels. I just don't understand how someone can make that decision consciously.

Howdy

This is my first blog entry on my newly created blog. Many will follow.