Atheist Hobos has a list of the five worst quacks in the world today. Despite the fact that Deepak Chopra is not on it, it’s a pretty good list. Two of the five are anti-vaxxers, Jenny McCarthy and and Meryl Dorey. Then there’s Leonard Horowitz, an AIDS denialist who sells products like this:
Breath of the Earth Hawaiian Holy Water
HYPERCHARGE NATURAL HEALING using Hawaiian Holy Water researched by Dr. Len Horowitz and Dr. Masaru Emoto. This water holds the spiritual blessing of the Big Island of Hawaii, revered by Kahuna’s as the sacred rebirthing place spiraling down from the center the universe. This supercharged blessed water is recommended for its “purgative and restorative” properties. It ousts negativity and general pathology, and lays the foundation for the creation of paradise.
Price: $24.20
Yep, that will land you on a list of quacks every single time. So will this:
Holy Harmony Perfect Circle of Sound Tuning Forks (Complete Set)
Used for healing, chakra balancing, or instrument tuning, the 9 Holy Harmony Tuning Forks contain the 6 frequencies (“the original Solfeggio”) found in “Healing Code” by Dr. Leonard Horowitz and Dr. Joseph Puleo; plus 3 newly discovered frequencies completing this numeric series and creating “God’s Perfect Circle of Sound.”
Price: $188.00
Or you could just flush your money down the toilet and complete the perfect circle of sanity.
13 comments
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peicurmudgeon
June 16, 2012 at 9:18 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’ll save my money for a bottle of wine and siy on the deck with my lady and rejuvenate. Much more cost effective.
Modusoperandi
June 16, 2012 at 9:23 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Who’d have thought that Jenny McCarthy, whose claims to fame involved naked boobies and farting on TV, wouldn’t be a calm and reasoned, trustworthy and knowledgeable expert?
Michael Heath
June 16, 2012 at 9:26 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I used to play a lot of golf with a few older guys wearing copper bracelets and sometimes even magnets around their torso. They claimed these would keep the aches and pains away and maximize their flexibility.
jayarrrr
June 16, 2012 at 10:16 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Domo Arrigato, Dr. Emoto… Domo… Domo…
Must have a high magnesium content if it’s “purgative”…
Trebuchet
June 16, 2012 at 10:42 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’d have to disagree with the inclusion of Jim McCormick, the fake bomb detector guy, on the list. He’s not a quack, just a garden variety scammer. He belongs on a different list.
Thinking a little further (and probably thinking too much, at that!), I guess by my definition of a quack I’d challenge most of the list. Trudeau and Horowitz definitely qualify because they’re running medical scams for profit. McCarthy and Dorey, not so much — both are probably better classed as sincere (and very dangerous) fruitcakes. Neither is trying to sell anything, as far as I know. Stanislaw Burzynski, on the other hand, belongs on the list.
StevoR
June 16, 2012 at 11:26 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m surprised that Lord Christopher Monckton doesn’t make this list for his HIV “cure” :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl2lShU6zD0
which also apparently “cures” the flu, malaria, muscular sclerosis, and the common cold. Or not.
OTOH, at least its a step up from Monckton’s earlier suggetsion that AIDS sufferers allbe put in isolation and concentaryion camps advocated in an article many years ago inthe Spectator when the disease was first emerging.
Monckton is almost the dictionary illustration and epitome of quacks and snake oil salesmen.
gupwalla
June 16, 2012 at 2:03 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
To the extent that magic water has health benefits, it’s because it’s water. Water does in fact have “purgative” properties, though the primary object of the ousting would be excess nitrogen in the form of urea.
And many people would benefit health-wise from a couple of extra glasses of water (blessed or otherwise) added to their daily diet.
caseloweraz
June 16, 2012 at 2:52 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“This water holds the spiritual blessing of the Big Island of Hawaii, revered by Kahuna’s as the sacred rebirthing place…”
Kahuna’s? That’s a bar and grill in St. Petersburg, FL. How does it come into this? <G>
“…lays the foundation for the creation of paradise.”
It’s an elixir! It’s a purgative! It’s a foundation material!
caseloweraz
June 16, 2012 at 3:00 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m delighted to see that Kevin Trudeau is on the list. If I may paraphrase a line from the song “Jim Bridger”:
‘As long as there’s an FTC don’t let his memory die.’
puppygod
June 17, 2012 at 6:57 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@5 Trebuchet
Nah. Every celebrity is selling something – themselves. That is books, interviews, talks, fundraisers, appearances at talk-shows etc. It’s not like they work pro publico bono and give stuff away for free, even if they don’t directly sell (para)pharmaceutical product.
slc1
June 17, 2012 at 8:08 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
According to David Gorski, Mike Adams is the quack’s quack.
democommie
June 17, 2012 at 8:37 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This:
“quack 2 (kwk)
n.
1. An untrained person who pretends to be a physician and dispenses medical advice and treatment.
2. A charlatan; a mountebank.” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/quack
Indicates to me that most of these people MIGHT belong on the list. But, three words, “Benny FUCKING Hinn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Hinn).
I wonder if Jonathon Pryce had him in mind when he did the character, “Elliott Carver” in that Bond film.
wheatdogg
June 17, 2012 at 11:26 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
… the 9 Holy Harmony Tuning Forks contain the 6 frequencies (“the original Solfeggio”) found in “Healing Code” by Dr. Leonard Horowitz and Dr. Joseph Puleo; plus 3 newly discovered frequencies completing this numeric series and creating “God’s Perfect Circle of Sound.”
“Newly discovered frequencies”? So, these are ones that no human ear has ever heard since we first started hearing and making sounds. Indeed, according to the description here, “these tuning forks are unlike any scales or sounds found on the earth.”
Except, with the exception of the fancy velvet lined case, they look exactly like the aluminum tuning forks I’ve seen listed in physics equipment catalogs, for much, much less money.
But the physics ones are the boring “known frequencies,” like 256 Hz, 440 Hz and so on. Bring me some of those unknown frequencies!