- Zicam cold remedy gets FDA warning. (Thanks to Brian and Steve.)
- Alan Alda on his career in science.
- Christian group sues for right to burn gay teen novel.
- The Onion asks what people think about anti-vaccinationists. (Thanks to Brendan.)
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I KNEW there was something fishy about Zicam, right from the very start! Man, I should have written my prediction down somewhere, then I could win the million! …But you guys believe me, right? Right?
I never got the point of burning books, especially in this day and age. They can just publish more.
@Vengeful Harridan (Elexina): Certainly!
Anyway, regarding the book burning article:
Well, at least we now know how they feel about Huckleberry Finn.
Also, has the Christian Civil Liberties Union ever won a case? I’m just curious, because I don’t see them winning this one.
@Imrryr: Right, and shouldn’t we burn their lawsuit for containing those words? It’s not the word itself, silly CCLU, it’s the intent!
What bugs me about Zicam is that it gained automatic FDA approval by passing itself off as a homeopathic remedy. It’s not, though, not in any real sense. It contains significant levels of zinc gluconate and zinc acetate: 1X and 2X potency respectively, which translates to 10% and 1%, if I’m reading the info correctly. This seems to be contrary to the whole homeopathic concept.
On the other hand, is sounds like anything can be classified homeopathic if the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia Convention says so. In theory, you could mix 1 ml of anything with 10 ml of water, call it a 1X potency and sell it as such, provided you could get it listed in Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia.
The title of the novel burning article seems totally inaccurate given the story is about some old church biddies suing a library because they had their sensibilities offended by a book containing some stuff they found hard to swallow.
@James Fox: “some stuff they found hard to swallow”
Heh. Heh heh heh heh heh heh.
Sorry.
I didn’t even know there was a Christian Civil Rights Union. Does someone actually stand up in court and say “Your denying our civil rights buy not letting us deny theirs”.
I’m actually pretty sure that it’s only really derogatory to a specific subset of males. But I suppose that — and, apparently, context — doesn’t matter.
And how dare that library force those people to read that book, simply by making it available to the public! Or maybe they tricked them, cleverly disguising it as a “young adult” novel which, as everyone knows, has elderly people as its target demographic. Or was it the mere presence of the book that caused this horrific damage?
@Steve: “What bugs me about Zicam is that it gained automatic FDA approval by passing itself off as a homeopathic remedy.”
Well it’s not so much approval because the products don’t have approval. The homeopathy lobby got a bill passed that said the FDA was basically not allowed to touch a non-pharmaceutical until it has a sufficient amount of complaints and then it’s up to the FDA to prove that the product is too dangerous.
Of course this not only means that a HUGE segment of products in your local drug store aren’t even tested for quality let alone whether the product actually works or is safe. Almost everything that is sold as a “supplement” homeopathic or not, has no regulation. Added to that it takes forever for the FDA to get a dangerous product off the market. Which is why it has taken a ridiculous ten years for Zicam and how many people had to die before ephedrine was yanked?
Can I start requiring people to compensate me for exposing me to things that I dislike or disagree with even if I’m not in any way forced to take part in it? If so, I want a billion dollars from every disco artist ever.
Also… I’m totally crushing on Alan Alda. I watched M*A*S*H when I was a kid with my dad and loved him then… now I find out he’s all nerdy and intelligent which totally makes him that much better.
I want a dollar for every person who thinks it’s okay to wear flip flops anywhere but in their own yard or at the beach.
@Vengeful Harridan (Elexina):
And $20 from every parent who thinks it’s okay to let their 13 year old daughters dress in shorts and skirts that are more suitable for hooker. .. a really slutty hooker.
And: Lauren’s Lessons for Life, #13. never, ever wear clothes with words written across your butt -unless you are a roller derby girl and you’re getting paid for it.
@Vengeful Harridan (Elexina): Ah, Roller Derby, the sexiest sport.
@Vengeful Harridan (Elexina): @tmarie: It all starts with the personified plastic evil that is a Barbie Doll !!
@Steve: It contains significant levels of zinc gluconate and zinc acetate
So, is there anything to the claim I read years ago that Zinc ions (I forget which valency) are effective in treating the common cold? Allegedly, the ions cling to the cold virus and it is no longer able to pass through whatever “keyhole” in cell membranes normally gives it such easy access to our cells’ replication facilities.
This is of course orthogonal to the issue of whether or not smearing zinc gel inside your nostrils destroys your sense of smell. And I agree that any treatment that contains active ingredients shouldn’t qualify as “homeopathic” by definition.
@Vengeful Harridan (Elexina): And: Lauren’s Lessons for Life, #13. never, ever wear clothes with words written across your butt -unless you are a roller derby girl and you’re getting paid for it.
Not even “The Doppler Effect” printed in red?
@Vengeful Harridan (Elexina): Flip Flops are part of the unofficial uniform here in sunny San Diego. Burn, ye blasphemer!
“I want a dollar for every person who thinks it’s okay to wear flip flops anywhere but in their own yard or at the beach.”
@pciszek: Only if your name is actually Doppler.
@Lancothis: Don’t care. They’re not real shoes and never will be. Sandals? Yes. Flip flops? No.
@pciszek: The NIH has this. Long story short, the jury’s still out on that.
The problem with Zicam is that everyone falls for the appeal to nature fallacy. Even the FDA assumed that natural products just can’t be harmful. Everyone always forgets about poisonous mushrooms and various addictive drugs. Nature has no intention to serve humans, and it’s wrong to assume that natural is always safer or healthier. The FDA should know better.
I just tried to find the Christian Civil Liberties Union on the web and funny thing: they don’t even have a web site. (If they do, please correct me.) I guess they’re as technologically retarded as they are morally.
Here’s a link from the blog of the old people complaining about library books:
http://www.librarypatrons.org/book.asp?ID=24
It’s hilarious because they actually drew censor bars over stick figures showing sexual positions!
FYI, here is a link to their main blog:
http://wissup.blogspot.com/
Gabrielbrawley was going to comment on the book burning but his head exploded. Seeing as he has come over all dead we have sent him home for the afternoon.
They can burn all the books they want if they OWN them. But the library books don’t belong to them. So it’s both pointless and illegal.
@Vengeful Harridan (Elexina): I’m in sunny Cali, too, send me your addy and I’ll drop you a dollar.
@catgirl: “Even the FDA assumed that natural products just can’t be harmful. … The FDA should know better.”
It wasn’t the FDA, it was the Senate and House of Representatives. Homeopathic and other supplement companies lobbied the government to take the FDA’s right of oversight for these products away and they got what they wanted.