For Skeptics Only...

This weeks Amazing Randi touches upon the usual scams, highlights the incredibly gullible, and since so many conservative Republicans are prone to believing in lots of invisible delights and designs it's Katherine Harris in the crosshairs.

I'd just wish they'd stop and think, just once, before they do something as silly as this:

James Randi's Swift - November 18, 2005

FLORIDA – A STATE OF IGNORANCE?

"Taken from information in an article by David Park Musella, of the Skeptical Inquirer staff. If you’re not subscribed, you should be. See www.csicop.org/si:

In Florida, as in other locations worldwide, citrus canker disease is a serious threat to citrus crops. It’s caused by a bacterium which causes brown, crusted lesions with yellow halos to appear on the leaves and the skin of fruit, reducing photosynthetic capacity, stunting the growth, and preventing the maturation of the fruit. The standard treatment is draconic: The diseased trees are simply cut down and burned. And, as we might imagine, Florida state government officials are regularly offered new supposed cures and preventatives. Florida's citrus crop contributes billions of dollars to the state's economy, so when that industry is threatened, anything that might help is of course considered.

Katherine Harris, Florida's Secretary of State back in 2001, was quite enchanted with a miracle product named, “Celestial Drops” – which name should have been enough of a warning in itself. Ms. Harris, rightly concerned about the fact that citrus canker was blighting the Florida crop, considered this “alternative” treatment, which was supposed to work by principles of “improved fractal design,” “infinite levels of order,” and “high energy and low entropy.” Not at all slowed by the fact that she had no notion of what those terms meant, and without first calling in scientific advisors, Secretary Harris ordered a formal study in which researchers worked with a rabbi and a cardiologist – obviously the appropriate experts for such an investigation – to test the drops. That official study determined that the product tested was simply water that had been blessed according to the principles of Kabbalist mysticism, "chang[ing] its molecular structure and imbu[ing] it with supernatural healing powers." Right!

Then the Celestial Drops notion was scientifically tested. As a result, Wayne Dixon, the head of Florida's Bureau of Entomology, Nematology, and Plant Pathology, reported that the
…product is a hoax and not based on any credible known science…. I wish to maintain our standing in the scientific community and not allow [the developers of Celestial Drops] to use our hard-earned credibility to promote their product.

We’ve learned that Ms. Katherine Harris has moved up to greater heights of power; she is now a member of the U.S. House of Representatives…."

Ouch. I tell ya, it ain't easy being a conservative republican with a brain nowadays. At least that's what they tell me.

PS: Tried to post a picture of Ms Harris but Booger is feeling the ill effects of the full moon. Good a reason as any for it to become inoperative.