Stolen and Looted: an interesting article

This is part of my on-going “Stolen and Looted” series in which I examine cultural resource management practices, looting of archaeological sites, and out-right theft of artifacts.

In an online newspaper called The Spectrum, which is the online version of a Southern Utah printed paper, there was an article by Byron Loosle titled Archaeological Artifacts: Grandfather Clause or Illegal Action? In this article, Loosle summarizes very well the problem with looting artifacts from public lands and archaeological sites in general. While it’s legal in the United States to remove artifacts from private lands (assuming one has the landowner’s permission), it is actually a crime to pick up even projectile points (a.k.a. arrowheads) from the surface when on public lands like National Parks.

Loosle makes a couple of quick points an analogies that I think are effective:

the impact of any type of collecting can be crippling to science and research efforts. In order to piece together the big picture and gain a firm understanding of the history of prehistoric cultures, scientists rely not only on studying the artifacts themselves, but the locations in which they lie.

A high percentage of sites in the Great Basin, for example, are the result of transient hunting and gathering activities that occurred over about 10,000 years. Many of these transient hunting sites are small and represent only temporary use. Even the larger sites usually show only surface or very shallow deposits. These variables make extracting information from sites very difficult.

Like clothes and hairstyles, arrowhead styles changed through time. Scientists rely on these markers to date a site. The type of stone used for the point can help us understand where people had traveled, and artifact placement shows where activities occurred in the past. Just one visit from an enthusiastic collector can virtually destroy the information potential of a small site, just as repeated visits to more substantial sites leaves devastating results.

Actually, that’s a relatively large portion of the article, which is very short, but these types of internet articles seem to disappear after a few months or even weeks and Loosle’s words are worth repeating. I hope he doesn’t mind my liberal interpretation of “fair use” with this quote.

In spite of the lucidity and clarity of Loosle’s remarks, there was a single comment at the time I wrote this by someone upset that “BLM people” would expect him to just leave an arrowhead on the ground where he sees it. The commenter makes several ignorant remarks about proving he didn’t make it himself or that he found it on public lands, etc., missing completely Loosle’s main points.

Interestingly enough, I empathize -as I’m sure most archaeologists and cultural resource managers do- with the commenter’s motivation to pick up and keep an “arrowhead.” But Loosle wasn’t speaking to the casual hiker that spots a projectile point on the surface along a trail. Indeed, he notes that “approximately 90 percent of the Anasazi structural sites in Washington County have been damaged by illicit digging, with percentages just as high for sites compromised by surface collection activities in Beaver and Iron counties.”

These damages aren’t done by people walking along and spotting arrowheads. These are people who are actively digging and looking for artifacts with an intent to remove cultural resources from lands shared by us all. These people are thieves and they’re stealing from me, you and even the commentor to Loosle’s article. They’re making a profit at the expense of us ever gaining contextual knowledge which could help create a more complete understanding of our cutural heritages.

An Abnormal Interest in Gilgamesh

I’ve written about Gilgamesh and ancient Mesopotamia several times in the past, but my articles and posts are nothing near the original work that Duane is doing at Abnormal Interests in translating ancient texts.

I’m a frequent reader of his blog (but one of the worst, I’m afraid, since I rarely post comments) and I highly recommend reading his work if you have even a passing interest in the translations of ancient texts.

His latest post is a translation of The Letter of Gilgamesh. In the letter, Gilgamesh, the King of of Ur, citizen of Kullab, creation of Anu, Enlil and Ea, favorite of Shamash, and the beloved of Marduk, makes a “gentle” request ruler of another land: “send me a large portion of your wealth and come visit me. If I have to come to you, it won’t be pretty and I’ll not only take everything I want but pulverize your cities.” Okay, I’m paraphrasing. Here’s a quote:

I[f ]on the fiftieth day of Teshrit, I do not meet you in the gate of my city Ur, (then) I swear by the great gods, whose oath can not to be revoked, (and) I swear by my gods, Lugalbanda, Sin, Shamash, Palil, Lugalgirra and Meslamtaea, (that) I will send (35) to you Zamana, and the divine lord of my person (‘head,’ my personal god?), the aggressor(?), whose name you honor. He will pulverize your cities. Your [palac]es he will pillage (and) your orchards he will [plunder(?)].

You gotta love Gilgamesh! He was two-thirds god and one-third human, so his threats weren’t to be taken lightly!

One of the things that I found so compelling about the Gilgamesh story is the love and friendship he had with Enkidu. Thousands of years have passed since the story was written, and yet the emotion of loss still comes through loud and clear in a tale written in a language long since dead, forgotten then deciphered and translated thousands of years later.

Gilgamesh was clearly pressuring this ruler, and probably other rulers in the region, to align with him. The demonstration of their alignments and their commitments was a substantial sacrifice of their national wealth, but what they received in return was the protective umbrella of his Empire.

The Serpent Mound

We really don’t know for sure what most ancient, pre-literate cultures used many of their monumental constructions for. We’re reasonably sure about things like the pyramids of Egypt and the temples of Greece, but these examples of architecture were constructed during periods in which there was writing, so their builders discussed the significance of monumental architecture in their life times.

But what of Stonehenge? Nabta Playa? The Nazca Lines in Peru? We can make some guesses -some very educated guesses- but we still cannot be as certain of the use and purpose of these sites as we can of those mentioned in the previous paragraph.

The same holds true for the Serpent Mound in Locus Grove, Ohio, which was constructed by local Native Americans at around 1000 CE. Nor do we truly know the purposes of other earthworks in the Ohio Valley -were they fortifications; were they mortuary; were they cult centers; or some combination of these? While not as old as many of the mounds built by the Hopewell and Adena cultures (1000 BCE to about 700 CE), the Serpent mound is, perhaps, one of the most famous and popular of the earthworks in the Ohio Valley -maybe even the United States.

Interpretations of the Serpent Mound

Modern inhabitants of the region first surveyed the Serpent Mound in 1846 and was initially recognized as a serpent that appeared to be swallowing or ejecting an egg from its mouth.

Several decades later, Francis Parry offered a new interpretation which was analogous to symbols found in Southwest Native American cultures. He suggested that the oval was a “Sun” sign and the coil at the tail the “wind” sign. The wavy body in the middle was interpreted by Parry to be the “aboriginal cloud form.”

And, just so we can all rest assured that the cloud of ignorance perpetrated by modern fundamentalist Christians is nothing new, let me mention another interpretation of the Serpent Mound. Reverend Landon West of Pleasant Hill, OH suggested that the mound represented man’s fall from grace in which “Satan beguiled and tempted Eve” to taste of the forbidden fruit. Clearly, Landon thought, this was created by the hand of God directly or, at least, through one of his nutters.

More recently, rational analysis has yielded to a more rational interpretation. By comparing the mound with the anatomy and striking habits of real snakes, researchers now see the oval portion at the head of the snake as its mouth and the triangular-shaped portion behind the head as the neck, which is
“puffed out” by inflation in certain species when agitated. Native American cultures were careful observers of nature, to the point that I would characterize them as “scientists” of a sort -they observed the habits and behaviors of animals and the universe, making predictions and assumptions that held true when hunting, or just determining the seasons. It’s very likely that the snake was a totem figure and venerated by the culture that built the mound in the same way it was venerated and respected by cultures around the world. If one is to create a mound to honor a snake, then the logical course of action is to show it in the position of action: striking!

Incidentally, the Serpent Mound is situated on a ridge that is on the edge of a massive crater, probably created about 300 million years ago when a small asteroid impacted the region. Its very doubtful that the Native Americans that constructed the mound had any clue of this, but it is interesting that the head and the tail both are situated near cliff-faces of the ridge (there’s an overlook at each end). Though completely unaware of the asteroid impact, the mound’s builders may have, indeed, been aware of other details of astronomical significance, namely the summer and winter solstices. This is consistent with the level of knowledge and technology of other mound-building societies of the world, suggesting a need to have an accurate method of tracking and celebrating the seasons for agricultural purposes.

Because of this, I rather liked the interpretations that include an egg being consumed or ejected by the snake, since most societies rightly view the egg as a symbol of fertility and fertility is necessary for agricultural societies.

I was at the Serpent Mound just a two weeks ago and I have to say that the nearest town, Locust Grove, is aptly named. There were thousands of cicadas, close cousin to the locust, in the trees buzzing in unison and, occasionally, dropping down on the heads of unassuming passersby. Here’s one such cicada. Colorful little buggers.

Big Flower that Looks at Sun God

It’s been held that the sunflower was originally domesticated in eastern North America then introduced to Mexico -the sunflower is a major seed crop in the world when it comes to obtaining oils. But recent evidence suggests very strongly that it may have been the other way around.

Shells of sunflower seeds (called achenes) were found in a dry cave in Mexico (Cueva del Gallo) which dated to about 300 BCE. Cueva del Gallo was used in antiquity as a ritual center -caves were thought to be the passages the sun used to travel the underworld from the west only to rise again from the east, so this may hold some significance that sunflower seeds were found. As David Lentz, of the University of Cincinnati, writes in his paper at PNAS, Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) as a pre-Columbian domesticate in Mexico, “the modern O tomi word for sunflower, dä nukhä, trans lates to “big flower that looks at the sun god.”’

The cave presented a dessicated environment that preserved the shells in “pristine condition,” but the Cueva del Gallo shells weren’t the oldest found. That prize goes to a water-logged site at San Andrés where accelorator mass spectrometry dates sunflower remains to older than 2600 BCE! This puts the sunflower in Mexico as a probable domesticated crop far earlier than was previously believed. It was thought that the Spaniards brought the crop and that it was originally cultivated in North America. Now, the questions arise: did cultivation of the sunflower begin in one place then get introduced to another through trade. Corn made its debute in North America via trade from Mesoamerica northward -perhaps the same happened with the sunflower.

If your university library has access to all of PNAS or if you’re willing to pay the fee (or already subscribe) you can get the full paper by Lentz, et al, at this link. If not, here’s the abstract, also available at the same link:

Mexico has long been recognized as one of the world’s cradles of domestication with evidence for squash (Cucurbita pepo) cultivation appearing as early as 8,000 cal B.C. followed by many other plants, such as maize (Zea mays), peppers (Capsicum annuum), common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). We present archaeological, linguistic, ethnographic, and ethnohistoric data demonstrating that sunflower (Helianthus annuus) had entered the repertoire of Mexican domesticates by ca. 2600 cal B.C., that its cultivation was widespread in Mexico and extended as far south as El Salvador by the first millennium B.C., that it was well known to the Aztecs, and that it is still in use by traditional Mesoamerican cultures today. The sunflower’s association with indigenous solar religion and warfare in Mexico may have led to its suppression after the Spanish Conquest. The discovery of ancient sunflower in Mexico refines our knowledge of domesticated Mesoamerican plants and adds complexity to our understanding of cultural evolution.

Personally, I find research into early domestication of crops and animals to be fascinating. I’m convinced that much of early domestication is related to religious and cult activity, some of it perhaps even because of it. Sun gods, fertility godesses, and the deities that people in antiquity assigned to the natural world created an intricate system of beliefs and rituals as they sought to appease imagined gods in order to bring about favorable conditions for subsistance. Indeed, and according to Lentz, et al, demise of the sunflower until its reintroduction at a later date by the Spanish was probably due to the power it held as a symbol for ritual use in pagan religion. Spanish preists were notorious for obliterating native culture and religion as they sought to convert indigenous Mesoamericans to Catholism.

When is an e-card not an e-card?

When it’s a trojan or virus, of course. Some of you may have received the following email from me:

Hello,

I’m sending a quick email to a few friends/family just to alert about something I just noticed in my Gmail inbox.

I received an email that alleged itself to be from “GreetingCards.com” which is a respected Hallmark Cards site that happens, I think, to also allow you to send those cute e-mail postcards. The message says something like “someone who cares about you has just sent you a card. Click here to view it” (or something very similar (except “here” is underlined and an internet link).

Don’t click it. Especially if you’re using windows.

The link initiates a download to an ftp site and causes your computer to automatically run a .PIF file. This is the type of file that Windows uses to  run old-school MS-DOS programs. Lowly skilled and wannabe hackers use this to pass on viruses and the .PIF file itself is an executable Trojan.

I only sent this email because I *almost* clicked on it thinking it was really a greeting card. I realized that if I can almost be fooled (I like to think I’m pretty savy with a ‘puter), then some of my friends might not think to investigate the link a little closer.

I run a Linux operating system rather than Windows, so its likely that it wouldn’t have affected me in the least, but it will definately affect Windows users and possibly Mac (I don’t know if Macs handle .PIF files or not).

If you get an email like this, its always best to hover your mouse over the link and read the status bar at the bottom of FireFox, IE or Safari to see what the link resolves to. In this case, its a numeric IP and never a good thing to click. I already sent copies of the email to abuse@greetingcards.com and the ISP for the IP address.

And I was just thinking of sending you all a silly e-card when I got that….  🙂

Carl

I’m always an advocate of forwarding phishing emails and emails that clearly link to trojans (usually files with extensions like “.pif” or “.scr”) to the ISP or company that is being impersonated. This allows big corporations like Citi, Chase, Hallmark, etc to sic their IT pros on the issue and resolve problems a little quicker. There are methods they can take to eliminate fraud, phishing, and inadvertant hosting of harmful programs that shortens the lifespan of a given virus, worm, or trojan. And, the less lifespan these things get the less willing the no-good, low-life, wannabe hackers are to create or pass them on.

So, if you ever get an email that says its from Paypal, Citi, Chase, Bank of America, or any institution that handles your money which asks you to click a link to verify your contact information, don’t click that link unless you’re willing to load up your computer with spyware and answer questions that will let a bunch of theives call up the legitimate financial instutitions that you’re a client with to use that personal information against you. They need only your birthdate and last four of a social security number, or simply a mother’s maiden name to access all your banking info and make any changes they wish.

I know. I work for a bank (when I’m not an archaeology student).

What to do:
1) don’t click the links
2) hover your mouse over the links and look for IP addresses, different spellings (http://www. chasse.com), etc.
3) login to you bank’s website using the links provided on bank literature such as statements or the back of your credit card
4) call your bank, credit card or customer service for the institution through the number on your statement or card
5) ask them about the email -my bank usually knows about the latest phishing schemes within hours of them being started and gets daily updates to all customer service reps
6) forward a copy of the email to abuse@institution.com (where “institution” is the domain for your bank, etc. -i.e. abuse@ebay.com)

And there’s one other thing that I recommend for Gmail users:
7) click on the little down arrow in the email header just to the right of “reply” and you’ll find a list of options. One of these is “report phishing.” Doing this will send the email to Gmail and will improve Gmail’s spam/phishing filter for everyone else. Don’t believe me? If you have Gmail, click on “spam” along the left-hand sidebar and browse the messages Gmail catches!

Looting antiquities and hurt feelings and an appeal to Memorial Day

As many of you are aware, A Hot Cup of Joe is a blog that originated at Blogspot. In fact, the original blog is still there. I even continue to get hits and comments even though my last post was announcing the move to WordPress.

Some of the comments are interesting and I think each and every post that’s at Blogspot exists here thanks to the import feature of WordPress. But, occasionally, I’ll move a recent comment to the WP version just because its interesting, relevant or worthy of mention. Here’s a comment left on my last post at Blogspot:

Sheri said…

As this is day of memory and appreciation for those that have served our country, I would like to express my opinion on a particular blog that you placed in 2006 in Hot Cup of Joe. It was an Oregonian article by Brian Denson in regards to looting of Indian antiquities. I want to express to you that you do not have the facts and yet you revealed your non researched document as truth in the light of being an highly acclaimed archaeologist student. I too, am a student in college. I also have a love for the antiquities of the American Native Heritage as well does a fellow soldier, Harold Elliot, US Army six years active duty-Volunteered. Four of those years in Special Forces. One year in 82nd Airborne as officer. One year in 101 Airborne in Vietnam as an officer. Receiving Purple Heart, Silver Star, and the Vietnamese Cross of Galanty. Yes, He had a collection. That collection was honest and true and was with the heart of preservation of history and the respect for our Brothers the Native Americans. It is politics of those in office that want prestige and fame that disguise themselves as heroes. BLM Officials, Forest Service Officials, FBI Agents. All of whom have Antiquity collections themselves who steal from the confiscations under the name of operation bring em back. Not only has that been the case but they have destroyed these precious vessels and attempting to destroy the lives of two men, Harold Elliot and Miles Simpson who are innocent. THE GROWTH OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN THE YEARS SINCE THE END OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR HAS FED IN THE PARANOIA OF A PORTION OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC: MILITIA. AS IN 1692 WITH THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS, SOCIETY BREEDS INDIVIDUALS THAT REQUIRE THE NEED FOR CONTROL AND THE ENJOYMENT OF STRIPPING INNOCENT PEOPLE THEIR CIVIL FREEDOMS. Harold Elliot and Miles Simpson’s civil rights were and still are being violated. Look at your previous blog Phillip Fields,Bly Oregon. MORE INFO IS AVAILABLE IF THERE IS AN INTEREST.

May 26, 2008 8:23 AM

I think Sheri has totally misrepresented my post and my intent. But for anyone who wants to view the original and see for themselves, it resides here. Indeed, the only time I mention Elliot’s name at all is in quoting the article itself and then by providing commentary following the quote. The commentary stated, “I wonder if Elliot and Simpson have clear documentation that shows ownership of all of their artifacts prior to 1970? If not, then they clearly are looters, whether they got their hands in the dirt or not.”

My intent wasn’t to slander or ridicule a specific individual (which I didn’t, by the way) but rather to point out the problem of looting archaeological sites and how the buyers, dealers and collectors are every bit as culpable as those that actually do the digging.

Looting of antiquities is a problem for us all, not just archaeologists, because it cheats us out of our histories and obliterates the stories of our ancestors by destroying the contexts of the artifacts that are stolen from the ground. Looters care about quick sales and dollar figures -they discard contextual items of no intrinsic value without concern for information that can be gained from the broken pot sherds, burnt rock, or off-color dirt patches within the same strata as the artifacts they recovered. And the buyers and collectors, who may well believe that they are connoisseurs or cultural advocates who appreciate the ancient cultures the artifacts represent are every bit as culpable as the midnight diggers who rob graves, obliterate archaeological sites and leave behind rubble piles of contextually destroyed matrix.

So, do I know whether Elliot is a good person, a looter, guilty of violating antiquities laws. No. Of course not. Nor have I ever professed to. If Elliot is guilty or not is of little concern to me and was not the point of the post I created. As I said, IF he received stolen/looted goods, he’s every bit as culpable and is every bit as guilty of looting as the diggers that stole them. Period. QED.

It makes no difference whatever that he was a Vietnam Vet, a service member for 6 years or even a good father (his daughter also created a post on the old blog).

If Elliot did NOT receive stolen and looted goods, then he’s innocent.

Religion and the Imagination – Cue a John Lennon Song

According to an anthropologist at the London School of Economics, the very process that John Lennon suggested we use to put religion and other human institutions out our minds might very well be the reason we have religion to begin with.

Imagination, says Maurice Bloch [New Scientist], is what sets humans apart from other animal species. Unlike even our closest relatives, chimpanzees, humans have the unique ability to imagine things that do not exist.

It seems like common sense when you think about it: art, theater, cinema, music, and language it self are each derived from the human imagination. The suggestion that religion is a product of human imagination isn’t necessarily a new one. Modern popularizers of the atheist movement have suggested as links to religion and imagination, though perhaps not as explicit as Bloch.

Daniel Dennett, in Breaking The Spell, tells us that language makes it possible for us to, “remind ourselves of things not currently present to our senses, to dwell on topics that would otherwise be elusive” as we consider our ancestors or other absent and dead people. This is what Bloch refers to as the “transcendental social,” comprised of a group with members one may have never met (clan members, ancestors, gods, deities, etc.).

Richard Dawkins, in The God Delusion, writes, “[c]onstructing models is something the human brain is very good at. When we are asleep it is called dreaming; when we are awake we call it imagination […]”

V.S. Rmachandran, a prominent neuroscientist, describes many ways in which the human brain uses imagination to cope with damage to cognitive abilities of the brain after traumas or injuries. He includes an entire chapter on a syndrome known as anasognosia in which patients who suffer from strokes or  brain injuries that result in paralysis of a limb construct elaborate and imaginative denials of their paralysis to the point that they actually believe an otherwise paralyzed arm is perfectly normal and sometimes even stronger than the non-paralyzed arm!

Perhaps the same neurological and cognitive functions that inspired the pages of Rama’s Phantoms in the Brain are related to the neural architecture Bloch believes was developed in humans some 40-50,000 years ago. This is the period of the Upper Palaeological Revolution in which lithic technologies and art “suddenly exploded in sophistication” and where funerary artifacts, rock and cave paintings begin, and stone tools take on new styles that allow for more advanced and diverse uses.

In my studies of the Neanderthal to human switch in Europe, where the dominant species of residence changed from Neanderthals to humans, I’ve often considered that it may have been the willingness of humans to believe and imagine which gave them a competitive edge over Neanderthals. If Neanderthals had a diminished capacity to utilize their imaginations, they would have been less likely to develop or adapt to changing climates or environments. They would have been less likely to migrate and spread out except to put space between rival clans or groups. Humans, on the other hand, are naturally curious and imagine every sort of possibility, giving rise to in-groups and out-groups and a natural drive to explore and migrate, perhaps seeking “the good life” in the next valley, and quickly adapting to conditions ranging from desert to arctic using their imaginaitions.

Given that humanity has had thousands of gods and religions in recorded history alone, it isn’t hard at all to imagine that they are each the result of, well, imagination.

Books mentioned:

Dawkins, Richard (2006). The God Delusion. London: Bantam.

Dennett, D. C. (2006). Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. London: Viking.

Ramachandran, V., and Sandra Blakeslee, (1998). Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind. New York: Morrow

Geeks and their Toys

I’m hooked. I’m an addict and I admit it.

It all began about one year ago when I caught my first episdode on PBS. Since then, I’ve sought out and watched each episode of Dr. Who (the modern series, that is).

And now I’ve found the perfect geek toy:

The Sonic Screwdriver!

Okay… now I’m a real twit

I’ve just started using twitter (@cfeagans), and it seems interesting so far. Playing around with the new version of Ubuntu (Hardy Heron) and re-installing some of the apps and extensions I had before. It includes the new version of Firefox as one of its packages, which seems a bit quicker and less memory intensive. Apparently FF3 doesn’t pre-cache pages, which created a large memory footprint for FF2. Many of my old extensions no-longer work though. I miss my Blue Ice theme and some others, but so far no real regrets.

Poison ivy is killig my left hand at the moment, so not a lot of typing or blogging will happen in the next day or so… It’s killing me, too, since I’m feeling an urge to tackle some of the writing projects I’ve been thinking of recently and blogging on some archaeology and pseudeoscience topics. I’ve actually started a book on pseudoscience that discusses the kooks, cranks and nuts I’ve personally encountered on the web. I’m thinking of publishing direct to Kindle or Lulu (or both). If anyone has suggestions/tips regardng either, my ears are open.

Or, if anyone as tips on how to get rid of a poison ivy rash fast I’m also listening!

Kevin Trudeau is still a liar

One of the most popular (i.e. the most clicked on/referred by google/etc) post I ever did was also one of my first. It was Review: Kevin Trudeau’s Natural Cures: Part 1 and it easily has the most comments. My old blog at Blogger is still getting hits & comments all the time. Here’s the latest (in italics below with my responses in bold):

———-============————-

well I am outraged. I personally went through a battery of tests in my 20’s and went through 5 heart specialists, was misdiagnosed, missed two months of work, and finally diagnosed with mild MVP!

I’m very sorry to hear that.

So yes, it is possible for the “medical” specialists to be idiots and completely miss something as simple as MVP.

I’m always fascinated that those that cannot meet the expectations of some are automatically idiots, regardless of the issue at hand.

And as for the injection of cellular material, I dont know much about that but what the heck do you think is in vaccinations????? Chicken embryos, monkey livers ect….Doesnt the medical community claim this is a perfectly safe procedure to inject our children with?

Are you suggesting that vaccinations are “chicken embryos” and “monkey livers?” Vaccinations are comprised of vaccines, which are killed or otherwise inert forms of microorganisms like bacteria or viruses. They “teach” the immune system what the actual virus looks like so that it might be recognized and more easily defeated during phagocytosis and other immune responses to foreign invaders. There are no chicken embryos and monkey livers involed except perhaps in the cultivation or collection of the microorganisms.

How much longer can they continue to deny that they are causing our children to have autism and other diseases with these “recommended” vaccinations.

Why should they do anything *but* deny it? Why would medical professionals admit to an assertion based on hysteria, ignorance, poor education, and out-right confabulation and fear-mongering? There isn’t a single bit of scientific evidence which suggests that vaccines have anything to do with “autism and other diseases.”

You should do a little more research before you bash alternative treatments.

And you should obtain an education before you take a stand based on ignorance. It makes you look foolish. And, for that reason, it is perhaps wise that you chose to be anonymous in leaving your comment. But please: cite a source of information that should have been included in my “research.” If you reply to that at all, I’m sure it will be the standard woo retort, “why should I do your research for you,” given whenever said research doesn’t really exist except in the imagination.

Why not try acupuncture-you will find yourself in better shape for having had a treatment.

I might as well try eating deep-fried bannana peels and smoking cattail leaves. There’s precisely the same amount of evidence that they have any redeeming value in putting one in “better shape” as acupuncture.

I for one, after reading Kevin’s books, am happy to say, my family is drug free, healthier, and better for having been given Kevin’s powerful and true information.

Kevin Trudeau is a con artist. He’s a quack. A hack. He’s an asshole out to rip good, hardworking Americans off -stealing there money by making them fear medicine and doctors. I hope you don’t have to find it out the hard way.

Good luck to you and good health to you and your family.

To all else that read this comment, this is a good example of why science education and critical thinking skills should not be neglected in America to the extent that they are. I’m not a fan of “big pharma” and other corporations that are willing to profit on the misery and needs of hard-working people. Kevin T. has made himself out to be a “champion” of the underdog and the people, but he’s really out for #1. Himself. The guy *is* the establishment he pretends to warn others about. He exploits the fact that science education and critical thinking skills are not at a premium and that he can scam his marks into “buying” a book that doesn’t actually reveal any information about “natural cures.”

There is no substitue for scientific medicine. There is no “alternative” to it. Its either scientific or it isn’t.