Tag: snake oil

Tomorrow, a visit to a demigod

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Life in general

There’s a game show on TV called “Snake Oil” in which contestants try to figure out which of the products they’re shown are real and which are snake oil. Goodness knows, that before the FDA was created, a lot of people made a lot of money selling patent medicine, otherwise known as snake oil.

In general, the Pure Foods and Drugs Act was a good thing except for the part which led to medicines being labeled as “prescription only.” As a Libertarian, I resent this and believe that after reading the pros and cons and contraindications of a medication, I should be allowed to buy it over the counter even if I have to sign an acceptance of liability statement.

Kavevala a demigod from Finish folklore

Doctors have saved my life twice from cancer and have been instrumental in curring other ailments. I’m in awe of their knowledge and skill. Nonetheless, I don’t think they should have the right to prevent me from buying a medication that has been working. This control casts them in the role of demigods and I don’t like that.

I was taking a medicine this summer that was working to get rid of a summer-long infection. However, due to a miscommunication between doctors, it wasn’t renewed when another round was needed. Now I’m stuck without it because it got rid of enough of the infection to keep new  tests from showing I still have it. The fact that I can feel the difference between being on the the medicine and not being in the medicine isn’t considered relevant.

What this comes down to is a four-month infection for which I received two weeks of treatment that was effective but I’m barred from continuing the cure because I cannot buy the medicine with a prescription. I’m going to be talking to the “demigod” tomorrow, though I think it will come to nothing.

So, more green tea and honey. I don’t think the FDA controls that yet.

—Malcolm

All of you political PR flaks need to quit bugging me

On By Malcolm R. CampbellIn Politics8 Comments

God forbid you should ever donate to a cause because once you do, your in-basket will be filled with dire warnings such as DONATE NOW TO STOP WORLD FROM BLOWING UP.

Does this almost-SPAM really work?

I associate it with the kinds of pitches I see aired with late-night TV shows where actors who look as reputable as Hannibal Lector try to push “miracle” products that I can get delivered immediately at 99% off if I call now. “Operators are standing by.”

So now, it’s politics. The bogus theme I hate most is, “Hey, Malcolm, we need 100,000 signatures by midnight to stop [whoever] from doing [whatever].” Are you serious?  What’s with the deadline? This crap has been going on for years and suddenly I have to sign some silly petition with no legal standing by midnight?

And, “Malcolm, are you with us? A mysterious donor will triple match all contributions made in the next 15 minutes.”

I wonder how long it will be before this shrill rhetoric turns into outright threats. “DONATE OR DIE. Killers are standing by to rub out everyone who fails to support our nonviolent loving kindness campaign by high noon.”

When I see a lot of this schlock from the same place, I unsubscribe, assuming I can figure out how and can get through the barrage of questions I have to answer: “Don’t you love us anymore?” “Did we do something wrong?” “Do you think we’re just a bunch of assholes?”

Then, after I unsubscribe to something I never signed up for in the first place, guess how much good it does? Nada. Zip. The dire messages and pleas for money keep coming.

I figure e-mail SPAM and blog comment SPAM must work because they aren’t going away. I’m starting to think that I should use this technique to sell my books: “Hello, buy a copy of Conjure Woman’s Cat by midnight or I’ll put a hex on your ass.”

Okay, it was just a thought.

But seriously, you political bastards asking for money and signatures before midnight need to shut the hell up. Let’s see, if given the choice between donating to your petition drive or buying a bottle of Scotch, what should I do? I’m buying the Scotch because it tastes good while the petition drive probably isn’t going to do squat.

I saw an article today that said most cell phone calls will soon be from spammers. I can believe that. Most of the e-mail in my in-basket is SPAM. Thank goodness WordPress weeds out most of the SPAM comments on my blog. Everybody’s talking and nobody’s listening.

The reason is simple: those doing the talking are selling snake oil.

—Malcolm