Skeptical News for 30 June 2003Skeptical News for 30 June 2003Archive of previous NTS Skeptical News listings
Ivars Peterson
It's no wonder that farmers with fields in the plains surrounding Stonehenge, in southern England, face late-summer mornings with dread. On any given day at the height of the growing season, as many as a dozen farmers are likely to find a field marred by a circle of flattened grain.
Plagued by some enigmatic nocturnal pest, the farmers must contend not only with damage to their crops but also with the intrusions of excitable journalists, gullible tourists, befuddled scientists, and indefatigable investigators of the phenomenon.
Indeed, the study of these mysterious crop circles has itself grown into a thriving cottage industry of sightings, measurements, speculations, and publications. Serious enthusiasts call themselves cereologists, after Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture.
Most crop deformations appear as simple, nearly perfect circles of grain flattened in a spiral pattern. But a significant number consist of circles in groups, circles inside rings, or circles with spurs and other appendages. Within these geometric forms, the grain itself may be laid down in various patterns.
Explanations of the phenomenon range from the bizarre and the unnatural to the merely fantastic. To some people, the circles�which began appearing nearly 3 decades ago�represent the handiwork of extraterrestrial visitors. Others attribute the formations to crafty tradesmen bent on mischief after an evening at the pub, pranksters commemorating a recent movie, or even hordes of graduate students driven by a mad professor. To a few, the circles suggest the action of numerate whirlwinds, microwave-generated ball lightning, or some other peculiar atmospheric phenomenon.
These scenarios apparently suffered a severe blow in 1991, when two elderly landscape painters, David Chorley and Douglas Bower, admitted to creating many of the giant, circular wheat-field patterns that had cropped up during the previous decade in southern England. The chuckling hoaxers proudly displayed the wooden planks, ball of string, and primitive sighting device they claimed they had used to construct the circles.
But this newspaper-orchestrated, widely publicized admission didn't settle the whole mystery, and new patterns continued to appear during subsequent summers. Moreover, in the wake of their admission, retired astronomer Gerald S. Hawkins felt compelled to write to Bower and Chorley. He asked how they had managed to discover and incorporate a number of ingenious, previously unknown geometric theorems�of the type that appear in antique textbooks on Euclidean geometry�into what he called their "artwork in the crops." Hawkins concluded his letter as follows: "The media did not give you credit for the unusual cleverness behind the design of the patterns."
Hawkins' first encounter with crop circles had occurred early in 1990. Famous for his investigations of Stonehenge as an early astronomical observatory, he responded to suggestions by colleagues that he look into crop circles, which were defacing fields suspiciously close to Stonehenge.
Of course, there was no connection between crop circles and the stone circles of Stonehenge, but Hawkins found the crop formations sufficiently intriguing to begin a systematic study of their geometry. Using data from published ground surveys and aerial photographs, he painstakingly measured the dimensions and calculated the ratios of the diameters and other key features in 18 patterns that included more than one circle or ring.
In 11 of those structures, Hawkins found ratios of small whole numbers that precisely matched the ratios defining the diatonic scale. These ratios produce the eight notes of an octave in the musical scale corresponding to the white keys on a piano.
The existence of these ratios prompted Hawkins to begin looking for geometric relationships among the circles, rings, and lines of several particularly distinctive patterns that had been recorded in the fields. Their creation had to involve more than blind luck, he concluded.
Hawkins' first crop-circle candidate, which had appeared in a field in 1988, consisted of a pattern of three separate circles arranged so that their centers rested at the corners of an equilateral triangle. Within each circle, the hoaxers had flattened the grain to create 48 spokes.
Hawkins approached the problem experimentally by sketching diagrams and looking for hints of geometric relationships. He found that he could draw three straight lines, or tangents, that each touched all three circles. Measurements revealed that the ratio of the diameter of a large circle�drawn so that it passes through the centers of the three original circles�to the diameter of one of the original circles is close to 4:3.
Was there an underlying geometric theorem proving that a 4:3 ratio had to arise in such a configuration of circles? Armed with his measurements and statistical analyses, Hawkins began pondering the arrangement. After several weeks, he had his proof.
Hawkins' first theorem was suggested by a triplet of crop circles discovered on June 4, 1988, at Cheesefoot Head. Hawkins noticed that he could draw three straight lines, or tangents, that each touched all three circles. By drawing in the equilateral triangle formed by the circles' centers and adding a large circle centered on this triangle, he found and proved Theorem I: The ratio of the diameter of the triangle's circumscribed circle to the diameter of the circles at each corner is 4:3. Hawkins
Over the next few months, Hawkins discovered three more geometric theorems, all involving diatonic ratios arising from the ratios of areas of circles, among various crop-circle patterns. In one case, for example, an equilateral triangle fitted snugly between an outer and inner circle, with the area of the outer circle precisely four times that of the inner circle.
Theorem II: For an equilateral triangle, the ratio of the areas of the circumscribed (outer) and inscribed (inner) circles is 4:1. The area of the ring between the circles is 3 times the area of the inscribed circle.
Theorem III: For a square, the ratio of the areas of the circumscribed and inscribed circles is 2:1. If a second square is inscribed within the inscribed circle of the first, and so on to the mth square, then the ratio of the areas of the original circumscribed circle and the innermost circle is 2m:1.
Theorem IV: For a regular hexagon, the ratio of the areas of the outer circle and the inscribed circle is 4:3.
For Hawkins, it was a matter of first recognizing a significant geometric relationship, and then proving in a mathematically rigorous fashion precisely what that relationship is. "That was the approach I had taken at Stonehenge," Hawkins remarked. "It wasn't just one alignment here and nothing there. That would have had no significance. It was the whole pattern of alignments with the sun and the moon over a long period that made it ring true to me. Once you get a pattern, you know it probably won't go away."
There was more. Hawkins came to realize that his four original theorems, derived from crop-circle patterns, were really special cases of a single, more general theorem. "I found the underlying principles�a common thread�that applied to everything, which led me to the fifth theorem," he said. The theorem involves concentric circles that touch the sides of a triangle, and as the triangle changes shape, it generates the special crop-circle patterns.
Hawkins' fifth crop-circle theorem involves a triangle and various concentric circles touching the triangle's sides and corners. Different triangles give different sets of circles. An equilateral triangle produces one of the observed crop-circle patterns; three isosceles triangles generate the other crop-circle geometries Hawkins
Remarkably, Hawkins could find none of these theorems in the works of Euclid, the ancient Greek geometer who had established the basic techniques and rules for what is known as Euclidean geometry. Hawkins was also surprised at his failure to find the crop-circle theorems in any of the mathematics textbooks and references, ancient and modern, that he consulted.
This suggested to Hawkins that the hoaxer (or hoaxers) had to know a lot of old-fashioned geometry. Hawkins himself had had the kind of British grammar-school education that years ago had instilled a healthy respect for Euclidean geometry. "We started at the age of 12 with this sort of stuff, so it became part of one's life and thinking," Hawkins said. That generally doesn't happen nowadays.
The hoaxers apparently had the requisite knowledge not only to prove a Euclidean theorem but also to conceive of an original theorem in the first place�a far more challenging task. To show how difficult such a task can be, Hawkins often playfully refused to divulge his fifth theorem, inviting anyone interested to come up with the theorem itself before trying to prove it. In an article published in The Mathematics Teacher, he challenged readers to come up with his unpublished theorem, given only the four variations. No one reported success.
What Hawkins had obtained was a kind of intellectual fingerprint of the hoaxers involved in creating these particular crop-circle patterns. "One has to admire this sort of mind, let alone how it's done or why it's done," he remarked. Curiously, in 1996, the crop-circle makers showed knowledge of Hawkins' fifth theorem by laying down a new pattern that satisfied its geometric constraints.
Did Chorley and Bower have the mathematical sophistication to depict novel Euclidean theorems in the wheat? Not likely. The persons responsible for this old-fashioned type of mathematical ingenuity remain at large. Their handiwork flaunts an uncommon facility with Euclidean geometry and signals an astonishing ability to enter fields undetected, to bend living plants without cracking stalks, and to trace complex, precise patterns, presumably using little more than pegs and ropes, all under cover of darkness.
Perhaps Euclid's ghost is stalking the English countryside by night, leaving its distinctive mark wherever it happens to alight.
References:
Anderson, A. 1991. Britain's crop circles: Reaping by whirlwind? Science 253(Aug. 30):961-962.
Andrews, C., and S.J. Spignesi. 2003. Crop Circles: Signs of Contact. Franklin Lakes, N.J.: Career Press.
Delgado, P., and C. Andrews. 1989. Circular Evidence: A Detailed Investigation of the Flattened Swirled Crops Phenomenon. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Phanes Press.
Hawkins, G.S. 1992. Probing the mystery of those eerie crop circles. Cosmos 2(No. 1):23-27.
Jaroff, L. 1991. It happens in the best circles. Time (Sept. 23):59.
Levengood, W.C. 1994. Anatomical anomalies in crop formation plants. Physiologia Plantarum 92:356-363.
Nickell, J., and J.F. Fischer. 1992. The crop-circle phenomenon: An investigative report. Skeptical Inquirer 16(Winter):136-149.
Peterson, I. 1996. Crop circles: Theorems in wheat fields. Science News 150(Oct. 12):239. Available at http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arch/10_12_96/note1.htm.
______. 1992. Euclid's crop circles. Science News 141(Feb. 1):76-77.
Pinchbeck, D. 2002. Wheat graffiti. Wired (August):114-117.
Puente, M. 1991. British pair's tale called tall. USA Today (Sept. 10).
Ridley, M. 2002. Crop circle confession. Scientific American 287(August):25.
Riese, T.A., and Y.-Z. Chen. 1994. Crop circles and Euclidean geometry. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology 25(No. 3):343-346.
Schmidt, W.E. 1991. 2 'jovial con men' demystify those crop circles in Britain. New York Times (Sept. 10).
Tunis, H.B. 1995. Geometry in English wheat fields. Mathematics Teacher 88(December):802.
Gerald Hawkins died suddenly on May 26, 2003, at the age of 75. See
http://www.cropcirclenews.com/modules/news/article.php?item_id=30.
A collection of Ivars Peterson's early MathTrek articles, updated and illustrated, is
now available as the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) book
Mathematical Treks: From Surreal Numbers to Magic Circles. See
http://www.maa.org/pubs/books/mtr.html.
Comments are welcome. Please send messages to Ivars Peterson at
[email protected].
Ivars Peterson is the mathematics writer and online editor at Science News. He is the author of The Mathematical Tourist, Islands of Truth, Newton's Clock, Fatal Defect, The Jungles of Randomness, and Fragments of Infinity. He also writes for the children's magazine Muse (see MatheMUSEments at http://home.att.net/~mathtrek/). The Mathematical Association of America has published a collection of his online MathTrek articles.
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In the News
Today's Headlines - June 30, 2003
INSULATION PROBLEMS DELAY LAUNCH OF 2ND MARS ROVER
from Florida Today
CAPE CANAVERAL -- The Mars rover Opportunity stayed on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for the second day Sunday due to persistent insulation problems.
The launch will be attempted again at 11:17 p.m. Wednesday. A second launch window is at 11:59 p.m.
On Sunday, workers found the band of cork, designed to insulate the rocket from
excessive heat, wasn't sticking to the skin of the rocket, causing gaps that could
lead to damage during liftoff, said George Diller, a NASA spokesman at Kennedy
Space Center.
http://www.floridatoday.com/news/space/stories/2003b/063003mars.htm
RESEARCHERS USE HEPATITIS VIRUS TO TREAT SICK MICE
from The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO(AP) -- Add hepatitis B to the list of diseases alongside AIDS, herpes and the common cold researchers are using in attempts to create medicines in the sometimes rocky gene therapy research field.
On Sunday, a scientific team of 12 Japanese and Belgium researchers reported it had some success in using a small molecule produced by the hepatitis B virus to temporarily treat hemophiliac mice.
The researchers said their technique more narrowly focuses where the inserted
genes land after being injected in the body than the other viruses. Their work was
published online Sunday by the journal Nature Biotechnology.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/06/30/financial0317EDT0006.DTL
A CLOSE LOOK AT HUMAN'S UNDERWATER VISION
from The Washington Post
A less intrepid scientist might have stayed in the comfort of her laboratory. But not Anna Gislen.
Gislen went the extra mile. The extra 5,328 miles, to be more precise -- from her lab in Lund, Sweden, to a cluster of tropical islands off the west coast of Thailand, to study a tribe of highly skilled divers known as "sea gypsies."
It was rough. The blazing sun. The gorgeous beaches. The fresh coconuts and crystal-clear waters. But in the end, with the help of her 7-year-old daughter and a few colleagues, Gislen overturned conventional thinking about the limits of human vision underwater.
Her work offers new proof of the body's remarkable capacity for adaptation -- its
ability to go beyond standard biological bounds and even physically remodel itself
when novel needs arise. It could also invigorate efforts to protect the threatened
sea gypsy culture.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48651-2003Jun29.html
June 30 2003
An investigation has begun after sightings of a legendary "ape-like" beast in the forests of central China.
The mythical creature was apparently seen by six people, including a journalist, in the Shennongjia Nature Reserve in China's Hubei province yesterday afternoon, the Xinhua news agency reported today.
The reserve is well known as a place where local legend has it that the half-man, half-ape creatures live.
Dozens of sightings have been reported and China organised several high-profile searches for the unidentified animal through the 1980s and 1990s, but no hard evidence was found.
Several years ago, China's state press said scientists had unearthed hundreds of fossilised teeth of giant apes in the area, with some speculating that Bigfoot could be a descendant of such primates.
The latest sighting was described as a grayish "mythical ape-like animal", 1.65 metres tall with shoulder-length black hair.
One of the witnesses, Shang Zhengmin, a local reporter on the way back to Songbai town from an interview in Muyu town with five local people, said they saw the beast when they took a left turn along a mountain road.
He said the "ape-like" animal was moving fast on the road and by the time the vehicle finished the turn, the animal had disappeared.
He said the passengers got out of the vehicle and found several 30 centimetre-long footprints and newly broken branches in the jungle near the road.
They also claimed to have discovered a patch of "foul smelling urine-like liquid" on the road where the creature was seen.
Xinhua said an investigation was underway.
Theories abound about the mythical creature, with some scientists speculating that if it exists, it may be an unknown primate, some arguing that it may be a bear or a monkey and others suggesting it could be a missing evolutionary link between ape and human.
AFP
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/30/1056825326577.html
The summaries of the speech and the seminar may seem sketchy or erratic in places. This is due to the fact that they are based on my personal notes, and I apologize for any imperfections. But I think all the main concepts will nevertheless come across.
Dr. Clark started out by thanking the audience for showing up in such large numbers and for their interest. After all, she felt, her theories are a fairly technical subject. She went on:
"Back a hundred years ago, food, shelter and clothing used to be main concern. But during the last 100 years we have become affluent, and people are educated enough to want health also. However, we did not use to have the same diseases we have now. We get older than we used to but quality of life is compromised.
In my eyes, the lay person is very much a central figure when it comes to health, because he has no financial interest and is not so conservative as professionals.
About twenty years ago I got into the field of research because I thought that if I applied mathematics to biology I would be able to find out new information, and that was correct. I used a device called the Dermatron, and from that I developed the Syncrometer, which was basically an accident.
I started doing research and made some quite amazing findings! Others warned me not to tell anyone about what I had found; others told me not to publish it. But as a mother, I did not want to do that. I was thinking of my children and grandchildren, and it was the correct decision.
In high school, I was fascinated by radio and that is why I took physics courses, which was vital for the later development of the Syncrometer. The Syncrometer tunes into you just like a radio is tuned into a station. With the Syncrometer, instead of turning a knob you just put different things on the capacitor instead of changing it like with radio.
All organs of animal even as far down as fish equals our organs good enough to use to use it for Syncrometer testing. But left or right organ will matter.
To use this system you do have to have a judgement to where you will find something because it might take a long time to find it. Once you have found something you want to gte rid of it but that is a different chapter.
The Zapper and Plate Zapping
7-8 years ago I accidentally developed a zapper. In essence, it is an electrical pulse. Most significant about it is that it is positively charged only! Only positive charge kills bacteria. Negative charge helps them, for reasons yet unknown. But I have recently done some work with regards to the mechanism, and found out that we are also empowering the white blood cells. Lazy white blood cells become very active. So, the zapper both seems to be killing pathogens directly, but also regenerated white blood cells.
To demonstrate the first effect, you take the zapper output and make a coil with it. This will produce a small magnetic field, if the wave is totally positive. You will have a north pole field at one end and a south pole field at the other. Measure the north pole and place it on a cup of milk. It will kill everything! If you apply the south pole, the bacteria will grow twice or three times as fast. The effect of the north pole is a matter of seconds!
One questions that arose over time is, if we used the zapper on very ill people, why didn't they respond as well as other patients? The reason turned out to be low immunity due to solvents: benzene and PCBs. They kept the current from entering the tissues. The solution for the problem was plate zapping, which will be covered at the seminar on Monday.
To do plate zapping, you do not have to be able to Syncrometer test, even though it is a tremendous help. But plate zapping is based on the same principle like the Syncrometer.
Now when we started plate zapping the organs, we usually got quite strong side or detoxification effects. These are called a Herxheimer reaction, but we did not want to settle for a name. What was it? When you kill the two large flukes Fasciola hepatica and Fasciolopsis buskii, their bugs are released, mainly three different kinds of Salmonella and the flu virus.
Flu and Salmonella reactions can be severe. As a therapist you should give yourself flu and Salmonella syndrome sometime so that you know what it feels like. It is pretty bad.
What could be done to counteract this? One approach was to put the flu and three Salmonellas on the plate when pate zapping and zap it along with whatever else was zapped. But this approach was not entirely successful.
When you plate zap you start with the circulatory system und the lymph. If you do regular zapping (as opposed to plate zapping), the current of the zapper goes mainly through the circulatory system: arteries, veins and lymph system.
How do you make the difference between zapping the liver and zapping a liver tumor? See the Syncrometer Manual.
Homeography
Another fact of the latest research is a technique called Homeography. It is not related to homeopathy.
How do you zap the right pelvic bone? You make an electronic copy of it into a bottle of water (homeographic copy). Place it on a capacitor plate. Put it right beside a chip of pelvic bone so that they touch and frequency generator (zapper) output to that plate for 20 seconds. Now the bone is in the bottle. How do I know it is really there? You should take nothing for granted! You can test it against the original chip, they will resonate.
Recently I made an even more precise and even more mysterious discovery. When you put a bottle on capacitor plate and copy a 1000 Hz frequency into it with a frequency generator, no matter which wave shape, for 20 seconds, it will have that same frequency. Now you make three such bottles, with 1000, 2000 and 3000 Hz. If you now put the 3000 Hz on the right and the 2000 Hz bottle on the left plate, you get no resonance. But if you add the 1000 Hz bottle on the left plate it will also resonate! But if you are a single Hertz off, it will not!
What is this bottle copying technique good for now? Of course you can save money by making copies, because you do not need expensive originals. There is one catch to making copies: How would you know you have actually copied them? You would test them with the Syncrometer. You can also make homeographic drops, which will be discussed at the seminar on Monday.
[Electromagnetic frequencies, such as cell phone emissions close to the homeographic bottles do not seem to be a major problem. They seem to be rather stable. Dr. Clark has not tested when you go very close to the bottle with a cell phone but traveling is no problem.]
I have improved copy making so that there is less chance of a mistake. I have designed a set so that when you make homeographic bottles it is spaced right so that chance of a mistake is less than 1/1000.
Treating Advanced Cancer Patients
3 yeasts - especially bread yeast - are a big problem when plate zapping. Interestingly, not so much Candida - this is peripheral, but we are all full of bread yeast. It comes mainly from bread that is not baked through! Eating live yeast is something which we should never do. Live yeast has also viruses, which for example carry RAS gene (oncovirus). So, the first rule is, DO NOT eat underbaked bread!
Yeast grows even more when you kill larger parasites, because they feast on the dead parasites. That's why when you plate zap, you put yeast on the right plate as "protective bottles" to always zap it along with whatever organ you zap. You can make a homeographic bottle with all 3 yeasts in one bottle because you can add several things to the same bottle.
Another big problem is Clostridium botulinum at the hypothalamus. When you plate zap, you should get a lot of dead human liver flukes Clonorchis, ca. 0.3 cm in size, in the stool. They are the ones that have tiny black hairy "legs" which are strings of eggs, and you mostly get them in the stool when you do a liver flush after you have started plate zapping the digestive tract and especially the liver. Clostridium botulinum eats them and thrives on them.
A whole book on immunology of parasites already exists. The body has great way of battling parasitic infections. Why does it fail? Because we are developing immune problems, and there are five in total: benzene, asbestos, lanthanide elements, PCBs, azo dyes. [Dr. Clark used to name the first four as immune compromising, she has now added azo dyes because her latest research with AIDS patient showed the destructive impact azo dyes have on white blood cells.]
In cancer, the cause of malignancy has been described for a long time; namely in the 1993 cancer book. It is Fasciolopsis buskii and isopropyl alcohol. But how do you get rid of a tumor, which is an entirely separate problem? Of course your focus should be on prevention. That is much much easier to accomplish than trying to save an advanced cancer patient. Advanced cancer is almost impossible to cure, it often takes clinical and natural methods together. [Dr. Clark does a wonderful job saving advanced cancer patients at her clinic, but as she says it is a TOUGH job and takes an immense effort.]
The 12-15 contributors to tumor growth are described in "The Cure for All Advanced Cancers". But I started to wonder, what is the beginning of a tumor? What is the very first step in the formation of a tumor? That is something I have done research on last year, and I found that one organ disintegrates on micro scale ("explodes"). By explode I mean you would find cells of it all over the body, in the blood - or maybe it is just information but that does not make much of a difference.
That organ is the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is our master gland, together with the pituitary gland, which is closely connected to the hypothalamus. That's why most cancer is found in organs that have hormones.
So how does it happen? One chemical, chlorogenic acid is responsible for this "explosion". It has been sufficiently studied, but the hypothalamus link is new. It is found in certain foods. [Dr. Clark's clinic has a list with foods to watch out for. It will be in the updated HIV/AIDS book.] Chlorogenic acid, when you ingest it, goes directly to the hypothalamus; you find it there in one second, so it must travel directly from the mouth through the lymphatic system.
The significance of this is as follows: the hypothalamus makes stem cell factor, which wherever it goes influences the neighboring cells to multiply. This goes to all organs physiologically, but now it becomes pathogenic. The hypothalamus also controls the pituitary gland, and that will be Step II of this scenario. It is quite difficult to make a tumor, you know!
In Step II, the pituitary gets same problem! You will find its cells throughout the vascular system (it "explodes" also). The chemical that causes that is phloridzin, found in apples. Dr. Roland Gardner from Utah has published the theory that our allergies are not due to protein in food, but a special chemical family in the food, namely phenolic compounds which give the plant its fragrance, color etc. Phloridzin is one of them. Phloridzin goes to pituitary in 2 seconds.
Step I and II go hand in hand. Dispersing cells attach to each other, going through the blood as duplets.
Now comes Step III, which is when the pancreas starts dispersing also. I have not found the chemical yet that is responsible for this dispersion. The little pieces of pancreas attach to the duplets, which then become triplets. This is our tumor nucleus. I call it that because it is in everyone's tumors. You do not see the duplets in the tumors, but the triplets.
When the triplet attaches to an organ, you have four different tissues, which is a quadruplet, or for short a quad. This combination now starts to enlarge. A triplet alone does not enlarge. All tumors are quads! An interesting question is, why does the triplet land on one organ and not another? What determines which organ it will land on? I have not found the answer yet. We tend to think that it will likely land in a damaged or taxed organ, which is often true but often it is not.
Whenever you have such tumors you have hormone problems because these quads are making hormones. Organs have stem cells which are immortal which divide and supply replacement for dead cells.
Why is chlorogenic acid so plentiful in cancer patients and not in others? The cause is a parasite: Strongyloides in the liver. Chlorogenic acid is then prevented from being detoxifyed in the liver.
This is probably not the real answer but Strongyloides are always present when chlorogenic acid is present. And it disappears when Strongyloides are eliminated. Strongyloides are very prolific!
There is another, small parasite always present when phloridzin is present: The human liver fluke called Clonorchis sinensis. In Asia, it is described as causing cancer! Small amounts are sufficient, to end up with a phloridzin problem.
Science has talked a lot about the importance of SV40 (simian virus 40) virus in tumor formation. School medicine now says the virus is present in 60-80% of all tumors. I find it in all tumors. It is released by the parasite that causes pancreas dispersion: Eurytrema pancreaticum. In diabetic families you already have Eurytrema all over the place.
What are the white blood cells (WBC) doing? Why are the WBC not working to eat up these fractions (duplets, triplets)? You do see these parts in CD8 cells so the immune system is capable of taking care of them; but something seems to be stopping them: it is mercury and thallium, which often occur together. Where do they come from? If they were from fish you would see only mercury. But if you see them together, they are from amalgam in teeth.
Removing amalgam from teeth is important, but it has already lodged itself in the body's tissues. Other metals can be detoxed with glutathione etc. but mercury and thallium cannot be gotten rid of that way. The factor Interleukin 2 is missing, and L-A and L-G are also missing. L-G was mentioned in HIV book. It is a simple dipeptide (compound out of two amino acids), lysine-glutamic acid. L-A is lysine-aspartic acid. We normally make them ourselves. They complex the heavy metals and are mostly found in meat. When you make a soup, add a little acid (HCL, hydrochloric acid 5%) to preserve them otherwise they will disintegrate. If you eat no meat, supplement it.
EDTA chelation does not touch mercury and thallium [sufficiently] but L-A/L-G will eventually, after they have taken care of all other metals.
Some foods already contain the full tumor nucleus (triplet). They are milk and eggs [and probably undercooked meat]. They do not cook out. But you can denature them with HCL. Our stomach will do that because it has HCL, but when we get middle aged we lack the HCL to do this.
Q&A
Q: Is homeography in the Syncrometer book?
A: The only part that is in the Manual is making copies. What is more
significant is that the body has its own electrical mechanisms. You can
instruct the body with a bottle to attack the parasites [and toxins] in a
specific place. For example, if you combine a bottle of water and copy
saliva and lymph on it you will make something in this bottle called
rhodizonic acid. That kills some of the large parasites, e.g. our Ascaris
even past early stages.
Body electricity is probably the basis for an event described as immunology of parasitology. The body's WBC make powerful chemicals. One of them is BQ, described by William E. Koch (and discussed in the Advanced Cancer book). There are at least 7 big immune chemicals not known to immunology researchers. We are making use of the same principles when we are using homeography.
Homeographic copying does not work when the plate is grounded.
Q: Where is phloridzin?
A: Mostly in apples. Quality of food is very much determined by the
practices of fertilizing, spraying, ripening. I have tested 20 kinds of
apples. In a few cases the green ones (unripe) had the chemical
[phloridzin] when riper or unsprayed or organic ones did not. But it is
not a rule that you can apply at this time.
The list of foods that have these chemicals is in the newest book [update on HIV/AIDS book due shortly]."
http://self-healing.telechurch.org/ClarkSpeech.txt
Regards,
Paul Lee, PT
The Quack-Files
http://www.quackfiles.com
Google: http://tinyurl.com/c0j6
Anti-Quackery Resources & Web Rings
http://quackbusters.quackfiles.com
Google: http://tinyurl.com/c15k
Anti-Quackery Ring
http://g.webring.com/hub?ring=antiquackerysite
Google: http://tinyurl.com/cs82
"Quackery: false advertising in the name of health care." - PL
"Science is what we have learned about how to keep from fooling ourselves." - Richard
Feynmann
"The plural of anecdote is not data." - Roger Brinner
"Chiropractic is to science, what Scientology is to religion - pseudo." - PL
Saturday, June 21, 2003
MUCH ABOUT HISTORY
'Physical evidence' of ancient Exodus prompting new look at Old Testament
Posted: June 21, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Joe Kovacs
� 2003 WorldNetDaily.com
"And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided." (Exodus 14:21)
One of the most famous stories of the Bible is God's parting of the Red Sea to save the Israelites from the Egyptian army and the subsequent drowning of soldiers and horses in hot pursuit.
But is there evidence that such an event did in fact happen � and if so, precisely where did it take place?
The issue is surfacing some 3,500 years after the event is said to have taken place with reports of Egyptian chariot wheels found in the Red Sea, photographs to document it and new books by scientists that could lead to a whole remapping of the Exodus route and a fresh look at ancient biblical accounts.
Wheel of fortune
"I am 99.9 percent sure I picked up a chariot wheel," Peter Elmer tells WorldNetDaily after two diving trips to the Gulf of Aqaba branch of the sea. "It was covered in coral."
The 38-year-old forklift mechanic from Keynsham, England, traveled to the region with his brother, Mark, after being inspired by videos of explorers Ron Wyatt and Jonathan Gray, who have documented artifacts that in at least one case authorities have confirmed to be a chariot wheel dating to the time of the Exodus.
"I believe I actually sat in an ancient chariot cab," Elmer said, referring to his time exploring a submerged item in what he describes as an underwater scrapyard. "Without question, it is most definitely the remains of the Egyptian army."
But despite all of Elmer's excitement, others who have been to the same location are not so sure what is being viewed underwater are the remnants of the great chase and urge extreme caution regarding the unsubstantiated claims.
"All kinds of people are finding coral and calling it chariot parts," says Richard Rives, president of Wyatt Archaeological Research in Tennessee. "It's most likely coral covered with coral. ... Opportunists are combining false things with the true things that are found. These people are making it up as they go to be TV stars."
Rives was a longtime partner of Ron Wyatt, an anesthetist and amateur archaeologist who died of cancer in 1999. Before passing away, Wyatt devoted years searching for and documenting physical evidence for events mentioned in the Bible. In addition to chariot wheels, Wyatt claimed to have found Noah's Ark on the mountain next to Ararat in Turkey, the "true" Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia and the Ark of the Covenant with the Ten Commandments near the site of Jesus Christ's crucifixion.
Among those who accompanied Wyatt on many of his excursions is his wife, Mary Nell. She's concerned about over-exuberance regarding new claims, but the Spring Hill, Tenn., woman tells WorldNetDaily she's "convinced" there are chariot parts located on a subsurface "land bridge" connecting Egypt to Saudi Arabia through the Gulf of Aqaba.
She cites Ron's discovery of a wheel hub that he brought to the surface in the late 1970s as proof.
The hub had the remains of eight spokes radiating outward and was examined by Nassif Mohammed Hassan, director of Antiquities in Cairo. Hassan declared it to be from the 18th Dynasty of ancient Egypt, explaining the eight-spoked wheel was used only during that dynasty around 1400 B.C.
Curiously, no one can account for the precise whereabouts of that eight-spoked wheel today, though Hassan is on videotape stating his conclusion regarding authenticity.
When Mary Nell went diving with Ron, she says it was very easy to assume (wrongly) that every item on the flat bottom had historical significance.
"[At first] I thought everything was a chariot wheel!" Mrs. Wyatt exclaimed, noting how difficult it is for the untrained eye to distinguish an artifact from a piece of coral. "I'm just trying to be cautious about over-identifying too much. ... It is God's truth, and we can't hype it up. We can't add to it."
However, she notes a big problem for explorers and scientists is that the Egyptian government no longer allows items to be removed from the protected region. Thus, someone claiming to find an artifact will have a hard � if not impossible � time verifying its authenticity, a classic catch-22.
The watery grave
"And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them." (Exodus 14:28)
The Bible account makes it clear that once the Israelites had marched through the parted sea on dry ground, that the waters rushed back to completely engulf the doomed army of ancient Egypt.
With that in mind, many of the items being seen in the Gulf of Aqaba have been photographed by divers for comparison to the Exodus story.
One of the most spectacular items is what appears to be a wheel with metal exposed. Mary Nell says the wheel is covered with a gold veneer, to which coral has difficulty attaching. She says the gold wheel is still there, wedged so tightly in the bottom that it feels like it's been cemented in.
Many other photographs show formations in a circular pattern with projections that could be spokes, but those items remain at the bottom and have not been authenticated.
Another issue is the route of the Exodus, and which body of water the Israelites crossed. Many travel maps and Bibles indicate a crossing point in the Gulf of Suez, the western branch of the Red Sea. But those may have to be updated if the Aqaba location is confirmed as the true location for the miraculous event.
"The truth is, no one really knows where the crossing of the Red Sea took place," says Carl Rasmussen, a biblical geographer and professor of Old Testament at Bethel College in St. Paul, Minn.
Rasmussen compiled the "Zondervan NIV Atlas of the Bible" and personally thinks the crossing took place somewhere along what is now the Suez Canal.
Yellow highlights possible spot of Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia. Gulf of Aqaba branch of Red Sea is at center, with main Red Sea at bottom-right of photo (wyattmuseum.com)
Some scientists from Europe say the current maps are wrong, and the Wyatts are right � that the crossing began at the Nuweiba beachhead, went through the Gulf of Aqaba, and then into what is now Saudi Arabia where they claim the "true" Mount Sinai is located.
For years, scholars have speculated as to the location of the actual Mount Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. At least 13 sites have actually been claimed on the Sinai peninsula as being the correct spot.
But Ron Wyatt believed it was in Arabia, even referenced as "mount Sinai in Arabia" by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 4:25.
So he and his sons made their way to "Jebel el Lawz," the mountain of the Law, which is known by the locals as "Jebel Musa" � Moses' mountain.
Unfortunately for the Wyatts, they were arrested and held in prison. His wife says someone had phoned embassy authorities for the Muslim country, claiming that Ron was spying for Israel. They were released after spending 78 days behind bars.
Rasmussen doesn't agree with the Arabian Mount Sinai theory.
"I believe the strongest candidate is Jebel Sin Bisher," he told WorldNetDaily. "The sites in Saudi Arabia have very, very weak scriptural backing, in spite of the hype."
Now, a new book by Cambridge University physicist Colin Humphreys titled "The Miracles of Exodus" supports not only the claim for an Aqaba crossing, but also the location of Mount Sinai in Arabia.
"If my book is correct, and I believe the evidence is very strong," says Humphreys, "then world maps will need to be redrawn to relocate Mount Sinai. History books, travel guides and biblical commentaries will need to be rewritten."
Throughout his work, Humphreys provides scientific explanations to corroborate the accounts of the Old Testament.
"'The waters piled up, the surging waters stood firm like a wall,' is a remarkable description of what the mathematics reveals to be the case for water pushed back by a very strong wind," he writes.
"What I have found is that the events of the Exodus are even more dramatic than is generally believed," Humphreys said. "The Exodus of the ancient Israelites from Egypt really is one of the greatest true stories ever told."
A Swedish scientist who believes the Red Sea was split says while Humphreys is correct about the Aqaba crossing, there are no natural, scientific explanations for the parting miracle described in Scripture.
"The wind did not separate the water," says Lennart Moller of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. "No person could be in that wind and survive. ... If God has created all the Earth, it's no problem for Him to separate the water for a while."
Speaking to WorldNetDaily from the isle of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, Moller, the author of "The Exodus Case," says the key in finding the correct route of the Israelites is to understand that the Hebrew reference to "yum suph" does not mean "sea of reeds" as many scholars have claimed.
Moller says it refers specifically to the Gulf of Aqaba, and while he's not formally affiliated with the Wyatts, he agrees with them that a host of other evidence can be found on the Arabian side of the water, including remains of the golden calf, pillars, altars and the even the rock the Bible says Moses split to bring forth water for the Israelites.
Regarding the items found beneath the waters, Moller believes there are remnants not only of chariots and wheels, but also human and animal skeletons.
"There was a disaster [there] a long time ago," he said. "Whatever that is, it's open to interpretation."
He also notes that the downward and upward slope of the Aqaba crossing path actually falls within current U.S. standards for handicapped ramps.
And while Mary Nell Wyatt warns overstating the claims by divers and authors could do more harm than good, she does believe there's a reason why her husband was led to discover what Ron called "God's attention-getters."
"God preserved all these evidences," she said, "[otherwise] there would have been nothing left. ... God has been lost today. Even Christians still can't believe this all happened. ... We need to pray for the Lord to help us get people to see it."
Back in England, Peter Elmer says people have mockingly asked "Why should a forklift mechanic from Keynsham be able to go to the same place Moses was?"
He takes the criticism in stride, pointing out "Jesus used fishermen, tax collectors and publicans. Why not a forklift mechanic?"
Joe Kovacs is executive news editor for WorldNetDaily.com.
by Bob Florida
Al Bielek has made a living over the last 10 plus years by selling books and claiming to to be a survivor of the mythical Philadelphia Experiment, the legend of a top secret WWII test in early stealth technology for destroyers. The legend has it that the U.S.S. Eldridge was used for the test and at some point during the experiment it went completely invisible and teleported from the Philadelphia coast to Norfolk, Virginia and the back again. Bielek's version of events is even more elaborate - he and his half brother, Duncan Cameron, jumped overboard as things started going heywire on deck and they landed in 1983, 20 years into the future and on dry land at the Montauk Air Force Base in Montauk, Long Island. What follows is an extensive bit of sci-fi sounding adventures that include nearly everything from time travel to mind control and despite being too fantastic to believe, Bielek has plenty of believers around the world. That may change now, and Bielek may well consider an other vocation, and not because anyone can prove his time travel claims wrong. Instead, his tall tale house of cards is coming down because it's now come to light that he stole the identity that he claims he had when all his adventures began.
An unlikely trio of X-File sleuths from three different countries joined forces due to their shared interest in the WWII legend and they each at some point became too skeptical of Bielek's claims. For German Gerold Schelm it was the same as for your typical detective - too many wild and baseless claims from Bielek despite some known and traceable facts. For Canadian Fred Houpt it took longer for his suspicions to cause him to take action, but after a while too many descrepencies began to appear in Bielek's tale, like so many holes in Swiss cheese, until Houpt knew there was something very wrong. For American Marshall Barnes, the most active of the three and a leading expert on the Philadelphia Experiment, it was after he had compiled fact after fact that supported the idea that something like the Philadelphia Experiment had indeed taken place but he never found a shred of evidence to support Bielek's version.
Finally the three, with the help of additional friends and coconspirators, began their own investigation focusing on Bielek himself, analyzing every aspect of every version of his story. Tracking down names, dates, places, military facts. Whether it was conferring with an expert on ship interior's who was able to establish that a photo that Bielek claimed was taken inside the Eldridge was actually from inside a much bigger ship, to discovering that many of the scientists that Bielek claimed were involved with the secret test were either dead before the test was ever conducted or were really characters from a science fiction book!
The most damning evidence against Bielek's account, however came with the discovery by Barnes that Bielek had stolen the identity of a millionaire yarn manufacturer who had attended Princeton back in the 1930s. Alex Cameron III was from Pennsylvania and appeared in a Princeton 1936 year book as "A. Cameron". That same photo was placed by Bielek on his web site where Bielek claims that it's a photo of Edward A. Cameron, the son of Alexander Duncan Cameron and half brother of Duncan Cameron. Through a series of adventures, Bielek claims that Edward Cameron was age regressed by intelligence agency scientists and then sent back in time to 1927 and placed as a young child in the Bielek family where he was raised and grew-up as Al Bielek. He regained his memories after watching a sci-fi movie about the Philadlephia Experiment on TV.
The photo of A. Cameron was the first piece of hard evidence that Bielek had ever produced to support his identity as Edward Cameron. Being that the source of the picture was known, Barnes went to Princeton and visited the archives there to verify the photo. There he made the shocking discovery that it wasn't of an Edward "A." Cameron but that the "A." stood for Alex and he was from Reading, Pennsylvania not anywhere near Lond Island. Not only that, but Barnes was able to obtain a phone number and address for the man. After calling it he discovered that Cameron had died 2 years before but was able to get the phone number of his surviving son.
Meanwhile, Schelm and Houpt were busy double checking the identity of "A. Cameron" as well and were able to get a confirmation in writing of his true identity as well as some background history on the man. He had made a good living in the yarn business and also had a daughter. Schelm got a photo of the man and his wife in their later years, sitting comfortably in a convertible automobile, proving that he had not been aged regressed and sent back in time and was now running around as Al Bielek spouting conspiracy theories about time travel, UFOs, aliens and the secret government.
Barnes prepared a secret email account for Cameron's son and when he was able to talk to him, he got permission to tape the conversation. In it, Alex IV told the true story of his father and admitted to not having any idea of who Al Bielek or any of the other colorful characters are that are associated with Bielek's tale of the Cameron brothers. Then Barnes had Alex IV open the secret email account and listened as he identified the photos of his father, confirming that in fact he was A. Cameron's son.
Then Barnes guided Alex IV to Bielek's web site at http://www.bielek.com and had him click on the bar for Al Bielek and then where it said "Ed Cameron". When the page came up describing Ed Cameron's life Alex let out a "Oh my God. That's my dad!" There at near the top of the page was his father's 1936 Princeton year book photo. Then when asked by Barnes to identify the photos of Alexander Duncan Cameron, who should be his grandfather by Bielek's account, Alex IV couldn't. "My grafather was never in the navy". This confirmed suspicions that Barnes had been having since discovering the true identity of A. Cameron. Bielek had taken two different Cameron families and put them together, with him claiming to be A. Cameron so that he could then be a part of the other Cameron family if only by name.
This twisted scenario was confirmed later by Schelm's contact with an H. Van Pelt and a member of Barnes' American team's contact with an M. Long. Both are related to Alexander Duncan Cameron and both deny any knowledge of the man in the A. Cameron photo. In particular, from M. Long's account it seems that the stories about Edward and Duncan Cameron's youth are based on the true life of Alexander Duncan Cameron. They were probably told to Bielek by one of his sons who is also named Duncan Cameron. This Duncan is a friend of Bielek and used to claim that he was the half brother who jumped overboard with Ed Cameron and traveled through time. He claimed that his spirit was placed in his current body when his previous one began to breakdown due to adverse effects from his time travel experiences. Both he and Bielek would later join Preston Nichols as part of the secret government's Montauk Project program at the abandoned Air Force Base at Montauk, Long Island and eventually be brain washed to forget after the project was shut down. Of course since the one man that Bielek claims was Edward Cameron wasn't, that means there was no Ed Cameron, thus causing a chain of deletions that cancel out not only Bielek's version of the Philadelphia Experiment but blow a king size hole in Nichols' claims of the Montauk Project as well, since Nichols is on record saying that Bielek's tale connecting the two projects together is true. A cottage publishing industry has been based on these stories for Sky Books, a small press house run by one Vincent Barbarick who uses the name of Peter Moon to publish under. There is no telling whether these revelations will help or hurt future book sales.
"I think poor Al has smoked one too many," commented Aex IV about Bielek's story. The son of the man who Bielek claimed to be said that he wasn't going to sue Bielek because the "story isn't true" and "it's just too crazy to believe", but he did give Barnes and his investigators the right to use the taped conversation and photos of his father to set the record straight.
Meanwhile, Barnes says this does nothing to harm his further invesigation of the WWII legend. "Really," he said, speaking on vacation in Southwestern, Ohio, "this is pretty good. It clears the decks of this crazy story and realigns the focus on the hard evidence that has been suppressed repeatedly but documents a real basis for trying to make a destroyer escort invisible to sight and radar during WWII. We've discovered so much more that we haven't even had a chance to organize it all, but we will fairly soon. When we do, we'll have a clear and verifiable line of evidence showing much of the who, why, when and where of the true events and also the efforts to misappropriate the legend, like what Bielek did, and the efforts to cover it up. After that, I don't think I'll ever want to deal with it again."
The web site that exposes Bielek can be found through http://www.pxarchive.de
The true account of how the A&E Channel program "The Unexplained" suppressed Barnes' evidence for the Philadelphia Experiment and lied to the public is at http://www.viewzone.com/philadelphia.html
Bill Hamilton
Executive Director
Skywatch International, Inc.
Website:
http://www.skywatch-research.org
Professor M. E. Clark Will Present
Rock Layers Produced By The Flood
Professor Clark is Professor Emeritus of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and Bioengineering at the University of Illinois. He is presently serving as Adjunct Professor of Neurosergery at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Some critics of a world-wide flood argue that such a flood would leave throroughly mixed sediment rather than the distinct, separate layers that make up the our sedimentary record. Professor Clark is a respected expert in the area of fluid dynamics, which bears directly on this issue. He will provide abundant evidence, including computer simulation, that the opposite is true, that the mechanisms involved in a global flood would be necessary to produce the sedimentary layers that we see today.
Rucky Auditorium
Medical Office Building
2126 Research Row, Dallas, TX
Tuesday, July 1st, 7:30 PM
The early arrivals gathered for a picnic and concert at a local park. Among them were UFO researchers, a historian who thinks there's evidence of early superior civilizations which disappeared from Tennessee, the author of a book on the famous Bell Witches of Tennessee, and several others.
Making her first presentation in public was a researcher who's been gathering evidence that Bigfoot-like creatures roam the Cumberland and perhaps the Smoky Mountains. And researchers says they aren't concerned about the Pacific Northwest hoax that featured a so-called Bigfoot film. Experts doubted that from the beginning.
Our Bob Brunner will have more on the conference on Monday during his Tennessee Traveler installement on WVLT VOLUNTEER TV News at 5:30.
06/28/03, 00:15 edt
http://www.volunteertv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1340114&nav=4QcHGdBO
The professor also says ancient sources, for example Bhagavad Purana, contain information about special operations for changing sex and artificial impregnation. "On one hand, my research-s results seem to be absurd. Though if we regard these facts from the view of genetic engineering, up-to-date technologies of changing sex and artificial impregnation, these recent facts are rather credible."
Though in spite of up-to-date technologies mentioned by the professor, who seems to know his subject so well, most of experts criticize Purani-s research. According to one of the experts, the results of Purani's research are questionable at least because of the fact, that Bhagavad Purana is not an ancient source, but a medieval one, written not in Hindi, but in the Sanscrit language.
http://english.pravda.ru/fun/2001/08/27/13477.html
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IN THE NEWS
Today's Headlines � June 27, 2003
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AIDS VACCINE EFFORT IS URGED
from The Washington Post
Declaring that the two-decade search for a vaccine against HIV-AIDS has fallen disturbingly short of its goals, the world's leading researchers in the field called yesterday for an international effort on the level of the Human Genome Project to speed a breakthrough.
Writing in the journal Science, two dozen HIV-AIDS leaders urged creation of a Global Vaccine Enterprise that would establish six to 10 new research centers around the world focused exclusively on an AIDS vaccine, funded by new public and private money.
"Almost everyone involved in HIV vaccine development agrees that there is
an urgent need to create and evaluate systematically more candidate
vaccines," wrote the AIDS elite, including top U.S. and international
public health officials, two Nobel Prize winners, corporate and foundation
researchers, and activists representing AIDS sufferers. "Despite the wide
variety of conceptual approaches to HIV vaccine design, the pace of
development of new HIV vaccine candidates needs to be accelerated."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37455-2003Jun26.html
EARTHQUAKE-WATER LEVEL LINK IS STUDIED
from The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- The discovery that earthquakes can affect the level of water in wells, sometimes thousands of miles away, offers scientists a new opportunity to learn more about the planet's inner workings.
Though often recorded in earthquake lore, the relationship between quakes and water sources has not been thoroughly studied, earth scientists David Montgomery and Michael Manga point out in a review in Thursday's online issue of the journal Science.
In a look at reports of water changes during quakes, the two found that
major quakes can affect the level of wells over thousands of miles.
http://www.newsday.com/news/science/wire/sns-ap-earthquakes-water,0,4560424.story
RECORD-SETTING SOLAR PLANE BREAKS APART
from The Associated Press
HONOLULU -- An unmanned plane that set an altitude record two years ago broke apart during a test flight Thursday and crashed into the Pacific Ocean, NASA officials said.
The remotely piloted, one-of-a-kind Helios Prototype crashed off Kauai within the testing area of the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a news release.
The $15 million, solar-electric, propeller-driven Helios had a wingspan of 247 feet and looked more like a flying wing than a conventional plane.
It reached an altitude of 96,500 feet during a 2001 flight from Barking
Sands. The altitude, about 18 miles, was considered by NASA to be a record
for a nonrocket-powered winged aircraft.
http://www.newsday.com/news/science/wire/sns-ap-flying-wing,0,7724365.story
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General admission for the event is only $5.00. There is a pre-registration package available that includes admission to the fundraiser dinner with the speakers in attendance, along with premium reserved seating at the event. This package is only $30 if payment is received by Sept. 15, 2003, $35 after that date and $40 at the door. Payment can be mailed to us or it can be made using PayPal from our website. Details here: http://www.texasbigfoot.com/prereg3.html
Here are some of the speakers scheduled for the event:
Loren Coleman; http://www.lorencoleman.com
John Kirk III; http://www.cryptosafari.com/bcscc/
Chester Moore, Jr.; http://www.cryptokeeper.com
M. K. Davis; http://jmichaelms.tripod.com/HIS/
Marc DeWerth; http://www.ohiobigfoot.com
Scott Herriott; http://www.squatching.com
Smokey Crabtree; http://www.smokeyandthefoukemonster.com/
Craig Woolheater
Texas Bigfoot Research Center
P. O. Box 191711
Dallas, TX 75219
http://www.texasbigfoot.com
877-529-5550 toll-free
EDMOND JACOBY
North County Times | 6-2003
Staff Writer
CARLSBAD ---- The offices and business records of Seasilver USA Inc. in Carlsbad were seized by federal officials as part of a legal action against the company more than a year after its product, a dietary supplement called Seasilver, became the subject of a strongly worded warning from the Food and Drug Administration.
A letter from FDA District Director Alonza Cruse to Jason Berkes, president of the Seasilver company and of AmericAloe Inc., which manufactures the product for Seasilver USA, referred to the product, which it charged is advertised to treat or cure 650 diseases, including cancer and AIDS, as "misbranded" and "false and misleading."
According to the letter, the product labeling and claims made in product literature cause Seasilver to be classified as a drug under existing federal law.
"New drugs may not be legally marketed in the U.S. without an approved New Drug Application," the letter admonished Berkes.
Some instructions
No executive of Seasilver or its court-appointed receiver has returned repeated calls to their offices. Similarly, an attempt to talk with Jason or Bela Berkes ---- the founder ---- at their homes failed.
Employees of Seasilver USA have told the North County Times that they were instructed during training not to say that the product cures any medical condition, and they insist that product labeling and literature are devoid of such claims.
But the warning letter in April 2002 cited as false or misleading claims such statements as "reduces risk of heart disease ... reduces risk of stroke ... reduces risk of cancer." The literature also states that Seasilver or its ingredients will "balance your body chemistry," which it touts as a benefit.
It specifically says that the product will balance blood sugar, which it identifies as a benefit for people with hypoglycemia and diabetes; that it will improve digestion; normalize weight; relieve "all inflammatory conditions"; and promote well-being.
More benefits
The literature also states that Seasilver provides relief from allergies, combats the side effects of alcohol and drugs, reduces the risk of environmental pollution, strengthens the immune system , retards aging, improves memory, and "contains every nutrient known to man."
As if anticipating the FDA's complaint, the literature says that Seasilver is not a drug but is instead a dietary supplement, and two bottles of Seasilver obtained by the North County Times plainly say "dietary supplement" on the label.
Following the filing of a Federal Trade Commission suit against the company on June 12 and issuance of a temporary restraining order the next day appointing a receiver to take control of the company's property and records, U.S. marshals on Tuesday seized the company's $5.3 million inventory of Seasilver.
The FDA filed a separate complaint Monday alleging ongoing sanitation problems at the manufacturing facility where Seasilver is made. The FDA has previously cited the company for using machinery "that cannot be properly cleaned" and for "permitting its employees to work the production line in street clothes."
No thanks
Production lines where food and food supplements are manufactured must adhere to rigid rules setting standards of cleanliness, including the use of special protective clothing.
"I wouldn't drink it," said Jacqueline Trischman, an assistant professor of chemistry at Cal State San Marcos who specializes in marine natural products chemistry.
"I would say that this product is just taking a mishmash of algae that might have some research basis for what they're saying, but it has no nutritional value," she said.
After listening to a recitation of the ingredients listed on Seasilver's label, Trischman said: "Several of these are algae; you find claims all over the map what benefits you get from them. There are a lot of things in algae you don't want to consume."
One of the ingredients is the underwater equivalent of iceberg lettuce, she said. But phyto silver stumped her.
"You might extract silver from plants, but why? The amount you would get and its activity would be minimal," she said.
The silver standard
She also pointed out that silver is silver, regardless whence it comes. Silver once was found in many pharmaceutical preparations, but a side effect of taking it over a long period of time is discolored skin, and it is therefore almost never used pharmaceutically nowadays.
Altogether, 18 ingredients are listed on the Seasilver bottle label ---- including "water extract," which the label says is 40 proof. Those ingredients are claimed to supply 13 vitamins, four macrominerals, 43 trace minerals, 24 amino acids, four enzymes, five co-enzymes and four bioelements.
Trischman noted that the co-enzymes listed on the label are ubiquitous, and most people get more than they need just from eating junk food.
A Seasilver booth at the San Diego County Fair opened for business as usual Thursday morning, but by afternoon had shut down.
Neither Jason Berkes nor any official spokesperson for Seasilver USA could be reached for reaction to the government's charges.
Contact staff writer Edmond Jacoby at (760) 739-6675 or
[email protected].
It appears to be an increasing item of concern from a quick google check.
Study: Water-treatment byproduct linked to cancer in rats/:
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9706/17/nfm/nfm.water/
Chlorination by-products may increase cancer risk:
http://se1.com/hr/archive/chlorine.htm
Findings Link Chlorination with Bladder and Rectal Cancer:
http://www.perfectlife.com.hk/chlorine_and_cancer.pdf
On the other hand,
"There is no information currently available about whether chlorine causes
cancer":
http://www.dhfs.state.wi.us/eh/ChemFS/fs/chlorine.htm
As the Earth spins slower, methods of telling time diverge. Experts warn this could end in disaster.
David Adam, science correspondent
Thursday June 26, 2003
The Guardian
Working Group 7A of the International Telecommunication Union's Study Group 7 may sound like an anonymous international committee like any other. But this is no quango of grey bureaucrats in greyer suits arguing over the desired colour of toilet paper. At the heart of this group's discussions is something of fundamental importance to anyone who has ever taken a second to fall in love or to score a goal: time itself, and how to define it.
Unbeknown to most people there is not a single accepted way of telling the time, but several different scales running concurrently. The differences are usually small, but the scales can be as much as 30 seconds apart and the gap between them is growing steadily.
Aircraft navigation systems tell a different time from the watches of passengers, pilots and air traffic controllers. Experts are warning that this could spell disaster.
"We should only have one type of timescale throughout the world," says Bill Klepczynski, a time expert who advises the federal aviation administration. "There's a possibility for danger."
The International Telecommunication Union - the global body that agrees time standards - is taking the issue seriously, and has set up the working group to advise it what to do. "We're trying to gather data on how people are using time, what sort of problems they have and whether or not a contiguous timescale would be beneficial," says Ron Beard, who heads the group.
But the plans have not pleased everyone, and arguments about the best way forward are rattling the usually steady world of timekeeping.
The problem arises because the Earth cannot keep time as accurately as modern atomic clocks, which count the steady shaking of atoms. These atomic clocks replaced the motion of the Earth as the world's official timekeeper in 1967. The pull of the moon is gradually slowing our planet down, so every now and then our clocks are halted for a second to let it catch up.
The first of these "leap seconds" was introduced in 1972, mainly as a favour to astronomers and others who still relied on the old-style celestial time. A further 31 leap seconds have been added since, most recently on December 31 1998.
And that would be that, were it not for the fact that the precise timekeeping offered by atomic clocks is now becoming widely available - most commonly through the satellite global positioning system used for navigation. To add to the confusion, GPS uses yet another timescale.
It includes the leap seconds added until the GPS clock was set in 1980, but has ignored those added since. This means GPS time is now running 13 seconds ahead of coordinated universal time - which includes all added leap seconds and to which most clocks on Earth are set - but is some 19 seconds behind international atomic time, which is based on atomic clocks and ignores leap seconds.
This multiplicity of timescales is increasingly dangerous as the systems diverge with every leap second added, warns Mr Klepczynski. "We need to go to a uniform timescale," he says. "When you have these planes navigating and flying around, what time system do you use to coordinate everything?"
Widening gaps between the GPS time used by aircraft navigation systems and the time used on the ground could generate confusion between a plane's reported and actual position, he says, and so increase the risk of a collision. A complicated situation will get more complex still when Europe launches its own GPS system, Galileo, which will be based on yet another version of time.
Computer software converts between the different timescales used. "But if anybody ever makes a mistake there's going to be a big problem," Mr Klepczynski says. His solution is to scrap the leap second, effectively merging atomic time and universal time. This is also the proposal being considered by the time lords of the ITU.
One group opposed to the scrapping of the leap second are astronomers, whose sensitive telescopes still rely on time set by the Earth's rotation. Switching to atomic time would throw their instruments out of kilter, and leave them facing costly upgrades. "The astronomers are up in arms about this," Mr Beard admits.
Changing the system could store up problems for our descendants. Without the braking effect of leap seconds, our clocks would steadily run faster and faster than the Earth's rotation, with the effect that the sun would rise later and later in the morning.
"I'm concerned that they're trying to implement a plan that will ultimately turn day into night," says Rob Seaman of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories in Arizona.
To stop this happening, we would need to introduce a leap hour every 700 years or so, in a similar way to how we change our clocks to account for summertime.
Since the debate began, the slowing of the Earth has become less pronounced and no leap seconds should be needed for several years. Experts are unsure exactly why this has happened -a number of factors can have short-term influences on its rotation, including earthquakes and even wind blowing on mountains - but they agree that the constant drag of the moon means the slowing will soon pick up again, and within a few decades we could be forced to add two or even three leap seconds a year.
As well as possible safety risks, that raises some intriguing legal issues, according to Dennis McCarthy of the US naval observatory.
"We face possible problems in the timestamping of electronic documents," he says. This is because a leap second is usually added at the end of the day, by asking clocks to change from 23:59,59 to 23:59,60 before going on to 00:00,00. But as most clocks don't permit the number 60, they show 23:59,59 for two seconds instead.
"I suspect it will happen eventually that someone says their 23:59,59 refers to a different 23:59,59 and lawyers will become involved," Mr McCarthy says. This could be important for legal or financial documents detailing the sale of bonds and securities at a specific time.
This may all sound terribly worrying to the people who stocked up on tinned food and fled to the hills over new year 2000, in case the millennium bug struck the world's technology. But there seems little immediate need for concern for computer owners.
"If computers share common files then some pieces of software could get upset if two computers differ by more than a second, but I couldn't tell you a common application that would," says Markus Kuhn, a computer scientist at Cambridge University.
Back in the committee rooms of Working Group 7A, the decision on the future of time is, well, some time away. Mr Beard says his group is unlikely to report before 2005, and the ITU will then have to get any suggested changes ratified by its member countries.
What time is it? It could be a while yet before we know for sure.
Watching the clocks
Coordinated universal time
The uniform timescale that forms the basis for most civil timekeeping in the world. UTC is based on atomic clocks, such as the one held by the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, south-west London. Some 32 extra leap seconds have been added to UTC since it was officially adopted in 1972, to account for the fact that the Earth's rotation is gradually slowing down.
International atomic time
A statistical timescale mostly used for scientific reference. The Bureau International des Poids et Mesures in Paris sets TAI time by monitoring the regular vibrations of caesium atoms in atomic clocks around the world. Coordinated universal time is generated from TAI by adding leap seconds. TAI is currently 32 seconds ahead of UTC.
GPS time
An atomic timescale used by the US global positioning system. When it was set in 1980, GPS time was based on coordinated universal time, but GPS time is now some 13 seconds ahead because it does not count leap seconds. A Russian GPS system called glonass does account for leap seconds, but adding them has caused technical problems.
Greenwich mean time
A time standard established for British navigation in the mid-19th century. GMT has now been officially replaced by coordinated universal time, so Big Ben, the BT speaking clock and the BBC radio pips all mark UTC, not GMT as some people think -although the two are usually very close. British law still refers to GMT because a 1997 bill that tried to update it to UTC was never passed. It ran out of time.
Who knew that a little cheap soothsaying would turn out to be so costly?
BY ALAN OLIFSON
http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/out_there/documents/02977839.htm
I was bored, that's my excuse. And it seemed so harmless: "Palm Readings � $10." I was in my early 20s, finishing another week at a dead-end job and spending Friday night alone � there's a lot worse I could have spent 10 bucks on. Besides, while I don't claim to understand the economics of the psychic world, 10 bucks sounded like a pretty good deal for getting someone to plug into the nether regions and download my future. If I could see the future, I'd charge at least 50 bucks a pop. Or, more likely, I'd go down to the track and read horse hooves.
But it wasn't really the deal itself that struck me, since I don't particularly believe in psychics. Or, to be more accurate, I believe that if it is possible to lock into an alternate universe, the people who have mastered this skill aren't whoring it out of a storefront next to a fruit stand at 11 o'clock on a Friday night. No, what attracted me was the chance to buy some reassurance. Some good, old-fashioned, unfounded, baseless reassurance that everything would be okay. Ten bucks seemed a small price to pay to hear a little, "Wow, the way your 'head line' curves here tells me you will find great success pursuing your dreams." Or, "Where your 'heart line' intersects your 'life line,' the groove runs deep. This means you will marry your soul mate. You are lucky."
I did not want to hear that I was cursed.
When I arrived, the psychic was busy with another client � no doubt someone who would live to a happy and healthy age 90 � but she had a relative on hand who could do my reading for half-price. She assured me this woman was blessed with the same family gift for seeing the future. Why not? I inherited my aunt's flair for decorating. She had me sign in and disappeared behind an intricate wall of draperies, the kind of standard-issue curtains everyone in the psychic business uses to convert one-room storefronts into mysterious labyrinths of divination. I think they buy them at Costco.
The reason for the 50 percent discount soon became clear: my psychic was a 12-year-old girl � not normally the go-to demographic for reassurance. The last time a 12-year-old gave me psychic advice, it was an unpleasant experience involving one of those origami devices. "What's your favorite color? B � L � U � E. Oh, you're a booger head."
My current adviser was a cute girl wearing standard-issue Gap Kids: jeans, sneakers, and a white T-shirt. This did not help her street cred. She did have a certain worldly expression, but it was more like the kind you see on kids who spend summers working in their parents' liquor store, ringing up six-packs and cartons of Marlboros.
She sat down and took my hand. After a few minutes of unusually intense concentration for a 12-year old, she spoke. "Do you have any enemies?"
What the hell? That didn't sound like the preamble to "You're going to get a raise." I explained that I was an e-commerce project manager. I don't have enemies, I have people who think I'm a dork.
"Well, someone has put a curse on you. Do you have any idea who would want to put a curse on you?"
I assured her I didn't travel in those kinds of circles. Mostly, my friends just write on me when I'm passed out.
"You are single, yes?"
Now there's the kind of psychic deduction I like to see: I'm alone, having my palm read on a Friday night, and she can tell I'm single.
"Until the curse is lifted," she continued, "you will not find love."
I never thought I would miss those little origami things.
"And how might I get this curse removed?"
"I have to burn a candle for you. For this," she actually said with a straight face, "there is only a $50 charge."
Under extreme protest from the 12-year-old and a lot of talk about how curses don't care whether or not you believe in them, I thanked my mini-mystic, paid her the five bucks, and headed home. Friday-night TV may suck, but it never tells me I'm cursed.
A few days later, I flew to New York for a completely undeserved week of debauchery with some college friends. When I returned home I was greeted, as usual, by an empty apartment and a full answering machine. The messages were the usual fare, a lot of: "Dude, I know you're home ... wake up," with noon timestamps. Then: "Alan, it's very important that you come down to see me as soon as possible. It's about the curse."
Two things struck me as, for the second time, I entered the psychic shop: one, I need an unlisted phone number; and two, I apparently do believe in psychics.
My little friend met me at the door, looking even more dour than the first time. "Thank God you're here. I was so worried. The curse was much worse than I thought. I've been trying to reach you for five days. You were on a trip?" Again that uncanny psychic ability. "I couldn't sit by and let this happen. Your plane was going to crash. I stayed up all last night burning a candle for you."
"And I suppose you now want your $50?"
"I've been up for 24 hours burning the candle."
"And if I tell you I'm not going to pay?"
"Well, the curse will come back."
Believe it or not, this is where the story gets embarrassing. I gave her the 50 bucks. Why? Well, there are a few theories on this. One is that I'm an idiot. This theory is popular among my friends. But the theory I prefer is this: I may not understand the mechanics of curses and soothsaying, but I also have no earthly idea how a plane stays in the air. In my world-view, both processes are equally suspect. What I don't need is to step onto a plane and, with every bump, every weird engine noise, every delayed takeoff, hear a little voice screaming, "Oh shit, the curse." So, sure, I may have been hornswoggled out of 50 bucks by a 12-year-old girl. But come on, who hasn't been? At least I can rest easy, knowing if I'm on a plane that's going down, it sure as hell isn't my fault. And that's just the kind of baseless reassurance I need.
If you've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell, Alan Olifson can be reached at [email protected]
� 2003 Phoenix Media Communications Group
By Matt Hunt Gardner
Alder Point - There's a new fish story making the rounds here.
Lobster fisherman Wallace Cartwright of Alder Point, Cape Breton County, claims he saw a "sea monster" recently and the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History believes him.
"We had just hauled into the cove south of the light (house) in Point Aconi, in the direction of my traps," Mr. Cartwright said Tuesday.
"Then I thought I saw a big log in the water. I turned to my buddy and said, 'Geez, that would be a dandy thing to run into.' It was a pretty big stick.
"Then I saw a head on it, like a sea turtle, and it came about a foot up out of the water."
He said the creature's snake-like body was about eight metres long, smooth and brownish. When it saw the boat approaching, it quickly submerged, surfacing again two minutes later about 60 metres away.
At first Mr. Cartwright was wary of getting close to the creature.
"God knows, that thing might have been able to jump out of the water, and I'm sure it could have swallowed you whole, I'm sure," he said.
Before resuming fishing, though, they followed the creature for about 45 minutes as it submerged and surfaced five or six times, headed for deeper water.
"I've been a lobster fisherman for 30 years, and I know what a bunch of seals or eels on the surface look like. This was one distinct animal," said Mr. Cartwright. "One I've never seen before."
The curator of zoology at the Museum of Natural History in Halifax thinks Mr. Cartwright's sea serpent was actually an oarfish, which is found in cold, deep waters north of Great Britain.
"There aren't too many eight-metre-long fish in the world, it could only be one of a few known things. That's if it's a known species at all," said Andrew Hebda.
"We have some specimens here at the museum taken from waters off Labrador and the Scotian Shelf, and we have no idea what they are."
But he said from the description Mr. Cartwright gave him, the creature is probably an oarfish, or ribbonfish. It likely followed a cold ocean current to Cape Breton.
Few oarfish have ever been caught; most specimens seen are washed up on beaches. So encounters with live specimens are rare.
Oarfish are said to be the longest of all fish. Their ribbon-like bodies usually grow to eight metres, but specimens up to 17 metres long have been reported.
Mr. Cartwright's helper, who didn't want to be named, tells of a similar sighting near Alder Point some 60 years ago.
Mr. Hebda said there have been over 31 sightings of "sea monsters" in or off Nova Scotia over the last 140 years. Usually described as multi-humped serpents, most are basking sharks, he said.
"There have been reports from Lake Ainslie, and Aspy Bay. Cranberry Lake has some monsters in it too," he said. "There have also been recent sightings of oarfish-like creatures off Antigonish and P.E.I."
http://www.herald.ns.ca/stories/2003/06/25/f129.raw.html
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In the News
Today's Headlines - June 26, 2003
OPENING UP SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH: CAMPAIGN SEEKS TO MAKE REPORTS AVAILABLE TO
PUBLIC
from The San Francisco Chronicle
A national campaign to tear down walls separating taxpayers from tax-funded scientific research is shifting into high gear, both in Congress and during commercial breaks on "The Simpsons."
The San Francisco-based campaign for a "Public Library of Science" should benefit from legislation expected to be introduced today by Rep. Martin Sabo, D-Minn., campaigners say. Sabo's proposed Public Access to Science Act would forbid the copyrighting of scientific research that was substantially supported by federal tax dollars.
If Sabo's scheme pans out, it could ensure free public access to
taxpayer-bankrolled scientific research published in journals that currently charge
steep subscription fees, up to hundreds of dollars a year.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/06/26/MN270394.DTL
VENEMAN CALLS AG CONFERENCE A SUCCESS
from The Sacramento Bee
The largest gathering of international agriculture ministers to discuss biotechnology was hailed Wednesday as a success for uniting agribusiness with developing countries and researchers overseas.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said partnerships that foreign countries forged with corporations and researchers will improve technology and lead to better ways to irrigate drought-stricken lands.
"A seed has been planted," Veneman said. "Out of these discussions, a seed can grow into more discussions."
But critics of the talks claimed the seed was genetically altered and would harm
human health. Demonstrators who attempted to derail the conference staged
mostly peaceful protests that drew attention away from foreign ministers and to
the streets of the state capital.
http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/agriculture/story/6918173p-7867656c.html
U.S. PREDICTS CANCER DEATHS AT PROPOSED PLUTONIUM PLANT
from The New York Times
WASHINGTON, June 25 � The radiation doses that the Energy Department estimates for workers at a new plutonium factory that it wants to build would cause about one fatal case of cancer for each four and a half years the plant operates, according to the draft environmental impact statement.
The number could be larger or smaller depending on the production level. The design is for the plant to run for 40 years, implying a total of about nine fatal cancers.
The estimate is given on the fourth page of an eight-page table, in the third chapter of an 11-chapter first volume of the environmental impact statement for the plant, the Modern Pit Facility. The Energy Department is considering building the plant to make smaller nuclear bombs and bombs to replace old ones that it says may become unreliable.
The department is about a year from deciding whether to build the plant, a
spokesman said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/26/national/26NUKE.html
SCIENTISTS OBSERVE UNKNOWN LIGHTNING TYPE
from The Associated Press
Scientists have discovered a startling secret in the sky: gigantic jets of lightning that shoot upward from cloud tops to nearly 60 miles into the upper atmosphere.
Unlike the familiar lightning bolts, these brilliant jets spread out in extremely thin air to form shapes resembling giant trees or carrots some 50 miles tall, according to a study by researchers in Taiwan.
"These things are so spectacular, and so startling, and we're just finding it this
late in the game," said Walt Lyons of FMA Research in Fort Collins, Colo., an
atmospheric scientist who specializes in lightning research.
http://www.newsday.com/news/science/wire/sns-ap-lightning-jets,0,3342745.story
MARVELOUS NIGHTS FOR A MOON DANCE
from The Christian Science Monitor
Summer is here in the Northern Hemisphere. Nights may be shorter but temperatures lend themselves to stargazing. Besides clouds, mosquitoes, and light pollution, nothing stands in the way of a good long gaze at the majesty and wonder of the night sky. (You can make up for lost sleep at the beach.)
July will begin and end with Jupiter, the solar system's gas giant, presenting great views in tandem with a crescent moon.
About 9 p.m. on July 1, 2, 3, and 4, look west-northwest and you'll see the duo.
On the first of the month the moon will be east of Jupiter, on the 2nd it will hover
just above the regal planet, and on the 3rd and 4th it will appear to the planet's
west. Because its orbit is so much shorter and closer to Earth than that of the
planets, the moon will appear to speed past them.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0626/p14s01-stss.html
Education Chief Draws Ire Over Comments
By BEN FELLER
AP Education Writer
April 9, 2003, 8:51 PM EDT
WASHINGTON -- Education Secretary Rod Paige on Wednesday stood by his comments favoring schools that appreciate "the values of the Christian community," but said he was not trying to impose his religious views on others.
At a hastily called news conference, Paige told reporters, "I understand completely and respect the separation of church and state." He called himself a "fiery advocate" of public education.
Critics, including some Democratic lawmakers and the Anti-Defamation League, seized on Paige's comments in a story run by the Baptist Press, the news service of the Southern Baptist Convention.
"The reason that Christian schools and Christian universities are growing is a result of a strong value system," Paige was quoted as saying. "In a religious environment the value system is set. That's not the case in a public school, where there are so many different kids with different kinds of values."
Paige said Wednesday that he meant only that schools with broad missions and diverse populations face greater challenges than those with a focused content and message. Communities should decide on values taught in schools, provided they follow the law, he said.
Paige contended that his comments were taken out of context because he was referring to universities and not public elementary and secondary schools.
"I can't honestly say this sounds like much of a clarification," said Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Paige said his record as a school board member, school superintendent and education secretary proves that he respects religious diversity. He challenged critics to find "any modicum of a situation where there was some imposition of my views on another person."
Congressional Democrats want to meet with Paige to discuss issues such as race and religion.
"For Secretary Paige to say that the upbringing of one class of children offers superior morality compared to other children is offensive and hurtful," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., urged Paige "to repudiate these divisive comments and reaffirm your commitment to students of all religions."
Paige said he understood his critics' desire for clarification, but added: "I don't think I have anything to apologize for." He said it was proper for the nation's public school leader to express personal views.
"I grew up with my faith," said Paige, a Baptist. "I grew up with who I am."
William Bennett, education secretary under President Reagan and author of "The Book of Virtues," came to Paige's defense.
"He'd prefer to have a child in a school that has a strong appreciation for the values of the Christian community. Who's opposed to that?" Bennett said.
Paige oversees a public school system that serves roughly 47 million students and his agency also helps set higher education policy.
The Baptist Press story quoted Paige as saying: "All things equal, I would prefer to have a child in a school that has a strong appreciation for the values of the Christian community, where a child is taught to have a strong faith. Where a child is taught that, there is a source of strength greater than themselves."
A recording of the interview shows Paige was responding to a question about whether Christian, public or private schools offer the best deal.
"That would vary, because each of them have real strong points and some of them have vulnerabilities," Paige answered. "But you know, all things being equal, I would prefer to have a child in a school where there's a strong appreciation for values, the kind of values that I think are associated with the Christian communities, so that this child can be brought up in an environment that teaches them to have strong faith."
On The Net:
Baptist Press story: http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID15652
L. Peat O'Neil
for National Geographic News
April 18, 2003
Dug up or done up? Recently publicized artifacts from the Bible lands have stirred unusual controversy among archaeologists and other scientists
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,90336,00.html
I see that Tom Cruise has picked up the argument advanced by Scientology against psychiatry in general and psychotropic drugs in particular. He now joins all his Scientology celeb friends in this misguided and potentially destructive cause.
Cruise visited Washington last week, according to published reports, and lobbied Congress to stop the use of Ritalin and other drugs for kids with ADHD. Scientology is waging a war against these drugs and all prescriptive medicines used for mental health including the Zoloft/Paxil family, which has helped so many people.
Why? Scientology would prefer that alienated, frustrated, depressed folk turn to them for help. But like me I'm sure you've known your share of bright-seeming children who were unable to do their schoolwork until they were given the right drugs. There is no shame in having ADHD or any other learning disability. The shame is in being so blinded by one's fierce devotion to a group that you would let a child suffer rather than get him the proper treatment.
Maybe Tom, Kirstie Alley, John Travolta, Juliette Lewis and all the other celeb Scientologists should be worrying about the environment or freedom of speech. Leave the medical work to real doctors, please.
A Chilean family want a priest to exorcise their house after it reportedly spontaneously combusted for the third time.
Juan Ulloa Vera and his wife Mirtha, who live in the house in Talagante with their four children, believe it is haunted.
They set it has burst into flames three times since they moved in two years ago and that there has been no rational explanation for the fires.
Mr Ulloa Vera says: "The first time was in December 2001. We almost had a heart attack when we saw this massive ball of fire, the size of a football going against the wall. And the things it touched turned as cold as ice.
"After the second fire we had to rebuild the house from scratch and had to depend on our neighbour's help. But this is the third fire already and we want a priest to come and exorcise the house!"
Priest Luis Gallardo from the local church has already met the family and has promised to perform an exorcism soon.
A fire service spokesman said: "We have found no normal cause for any of the fires, it's very weird. I think it is a good idea to try the exorcism, but we will investigate more to try to find a suitable answer for those fires."
Story filed: 14:05 Wednesday 25th June 2003