Winter is here, and it’s time for all good skeptics to heed the call and flock to Auckland for the annual conference, where illuminating conversation and inspired addresses await. And then the same good skeptics can generate battle strategies to cope with all the fuss about the Millennium and the imminent end of the world. In the meantime, here’s a copy of the Skeptic to read while making these important plans.

There’s a mixed bag this time, and there’s very little on the sad case of Liam Williams-Holloway, an event which raised issues and got people talking, always a good thing. It raises some basic questions about society however. Does Government have the right to force treatment — any treatment — on people? Or should parents be able to make informed judgements themselves? Can these same people analyse information accurately, because issues like these are a minefield of grey areas. It’s not always black or white.

Check out Neil McKenzie’s comments in Skepsis; he’s right about the Otago Healthcare authorities needing a lesson in public relations. And he’s also right that it’s Liam who’s going to suffer the consequences. My heart goes out to the parents.

There is so much fear and misinformation out there about cancer and “treatment” for it, so it is interesting to see that there may be something to this shark cartilage talk. Paul Davis and George Slim, two Wellington researchers, describe in their article an experimental model which provides one of the pieces of evidence necessary to establish that shark cartilage may have an anti-cancer effect. More work and funding is needed, but it’s a step forward. Although I’m sure the sharks wouldn’t agree.

By the way, they mention the use of St John’s wort for depression. Just last week a friend of mine said she’d been using it and it was working. It’s just that, since taking it, she was getting this really weird tingling and buzzing down one side of her face. As her family gets taken out by strokes, blood clots and things like that, she was a tad concerned.

Here’s an uncanny coincidence: my husband David had just come across some references to St John’s wort while looking for information on an unrelated topic on the Internet. He found that it has been demonstrated to be effective as an anti-depressant (working with neurotransmitters), but it may have less favourable side effects. While the mechanism is still unclear, it seems to work in a way similar to some prescribed medicines, which, when combined with certain food and other potions, can cause dizziness, blood clotting, heart failure and a few other fun things. While one couldn’t say the St John’s wort was indeed the culprit in this case, if it were me I’d stay with the depression. People have this frustrating perception that if its herbal, then it’s gotta be good for you.

And a little while ago, there was another uncanny occurrence in our household. We received a query by email from a total stranger in France about a missing regiment in Gallipoli. And, just hours before, David had been reading back issues of the NZ Skeptic and had come across a reference to exactly this topic. Things move in mysterious ways. Then, out of nowhere, chair-entity Vicki Hyde sent us an article written by Ian McGibbon on the Missing Regiment (which wasn’t really missing as much as being totally butchered, but read the piece yourself).

But — another curious coincidence, and how do we explain this — I’ve finished this little piece and it’s 10am — time for my morning coffee. Ways move in mysterious things.

PS All of this talk about how useful the Internet is begs me to urge people to go and see The Matrix. Ignore the silly pseudo-spiritual talk and be chilled and intrigued by the sheer brilliance of the story. The costumes are pretty good too. (As is Keanu Reeves).

Recommended Posts