New Age

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Dear Honourable Manmeet Bhullar,
Minister of Service Alberta
 

You were advertised as a featured speaker at the  Calgary Seed Event held February 19. It was said you would be putting aside all political agendas and differences, speaking on, what unites us and on Truth, doing the right thing and service to all.

It’s an important topic and I am sincerely sorry I couldn’t make it.  In the interest of putting politics aside, and given the importance of the topic, I am wondering if there is  some possibility I could get a copy of your speech? I would like to post it on my blog and I commit to doing so without any editing or editorial comments whatsoever. Read the rest of this entry »

The world loses biggest promoter of new age psychobabble and medical quackery. World survives anyway.

Today marked the final airing of the Oprah Winfrey Show -  25 years of history-making, life-changing television, according to Oprah’s website. Sadly, this self serving assessment may not be far off the mark.

The final airing marks an end to arguably history’s largest promotional vehicle  for pseudo-scientific nonsense, alternative medicine quackery, and new-age self-help woo-woo.  Few in the popular media have had the influence of Oprah. The mere mention of a book by her sends sales skyrocketing. As many have noted before me, if you have to buy the book, it’s not really self-help. It’s hucksterism and Oprah is in a league of her own. Read the rest of this entry »

This week closes off with two more embarrassments from the CBC. The first, a disingenuous attempt by Q‘s Jian Ghoemeshi to make up for his interview with Suzanne Somers (See ASkepticRTN : Jian Ghomeshi Does Blond Bubble Headed Bimbo). The second,  having Linden MacIntyre on The Current treat a story concerning the realignment of astrological signs seriously – as seriously as it was treated at the Calgary Herald (See ASkepticRTN: Calgary Herald Confirms Astrology Still Valid). Read the rest of this entry »

Suzanne Somers was Jian’s featured guest today on CBC’s radio program ‘Q’ – yet in another of celebrity interviews promoting flaky new age nonsense. The last time we met Jian, he was pumping Deepak Chopra (see Jian Ghomeshi Sells Deepak Chopra Stupidity). Now he is doing the blond bubble-headed bimbo.

Suzanne is doing the interview circuit to promote her new book on . . . actually I don’t know what it’s on. Something about staying young or sexy or beating cancer with god knows what I’ll bet. I didn’t hear much of the interview as I had to pick up some Tequila – my blue agave hormonal balance was out and needed replenishment.  So I can I can’t comment on what she had to say. Fortunately, Ms. Somers is one very tired act. She has said it all before – except when she blamed chemotherapy for the death of Patrick Swayze. She is still trying apologize for that one. Whatever new book Suzane is promoting now, it will be big news to Jian, but the same old tripe to everyone else.  Here is what some others have had to say about Ms. Somers when she was last trying pump her product.

Jon Moore on the Bimbo MD

AP Story: Suzzane Somers Questions Chemo in New Book

Oh yes, Thigh Master saved my life – no really.

Follow Oprah and you could get very sick indeed

Oprah, the mega star and media Goliath of self help nonsense is at it again.  Well, let’s face it, she is always at it. This time, however, those buying into the Oprah hype could very well end up dead. That’s the difference between taking medical advice from a real doctor and taking it from a media personality. The doctor’s obligation is to tell you the truth and help you get better. The obligation of media personalities is to sell tickets to the show – even if the ticket is a front row seat to your funeral. Read the rest of this entry »

On September 29, CBC’s Jian Ghomeshi conducted yet another interview with the new millenniums greatest flake (fraud?) Deepak Chopra on the radio program “Q”.

The focus was Deepak’s latest book on the prophet Mohamed.  Deepak has no qualifications to write a book on, well, anything. However, that is not much of a problem for Deepak. Asked why and how he chose the prophet as a topic Deepak responds:

I grew up with lots of Muslim friends.

And then,

I lived Mohamed in my consciousness.

Read the rest of this entry »

Just when you think things are over and done with, lost to the past of forgotten myths, the Calgary Herald finds a way to resurrect them. Is there anyone left that believes personality can be divined through an analysis of handwriting? Well apparently so. Valerie Berenyi tells us it’s a science in an article entitled The Science Behind Your John Hancock in the Sunday June 13, 2010 edition of the Calgary Herald.

The opening sentence gives some indication of the quality of thought involved: Every time you put your pen to paper, you open a window into your unconscious mind. Uh, no you don’t Valerie, but writing an article does provide a window into your conscious one. To quote Mark Twain: It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. Read the rest of this entry »

You too, can be at the centre of the universe – for $63.00

Can you imagine how lucky I am, living here in Calgary? My home town is a site of a great convergence, a gathering of two of the worlds greatest flakes – Deepak Chopra and Sylvia Browne. Actually three flakes, Sarah Palin is coming too, but she is somewhat off topic for this blog.

Deepak, evidently, has come and gone. I missed him. You’d think that would be hard to do, given that attendees were taught the 7 Keys to Joy and Enlightenment. Read the rest of this entry »

How do you tell what is normal in Toronto anyway?

Okay, cheap shot. But not half as cheap as what passes for journalism in the story: Paranormal sighting in Toronto by David Bezmozgis in the Saturday Nov. 28 edition of the Globe and Mail.

Focusing on Ms. Nateliya Frolova, the story concerns Russian immigrants  bringing with them a fascination with paranormal clairvoyance and healing. In introducing the piece, Mr. Bezmozgis says, what distinguishes Ms. Frolova and many of her Russian counterparts from the regular Western clairvoyants are the Russians’ claims to supernatural healing abilities. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a little late to get some guts!

The Globe and Mail reported on September 07, 2009 that the British Columbia Medical Association (BCMA) is criticizing Vancouver’s Langara College for training the public in therapies that are “medically useless” and potentially harmful.

The criticism came from Dr. Lloyd Oppel, who, according to the Globe and Mail, monitors alternative health practices for the BCMA. Dr. Oppel is reported as saying that he has watched for a decade as, Langara’s roster of holistic health courses has progressed from recreational classes to career training. The publicly accredited college offers more than 50 classes in things like iridology (divining health from iris reading) and bone breathing, as well as a three-year certificate program qualifying practitioners of integrative energy healing to work on the public. Read the rest of this entry »

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