Skeptic: Promoting Science and Critical Thinking

Massachusetts Creates Fake Scam Websites To Warn People Of Real Scam Websites – The Consumerist.

Make a ton of money working from home! Lose weight by taking some fruit extract pills! Clear your debt today, guaranteed! Most of us know to give a wide berth to websites making promises like these. But the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation has decided the best way to educate the consumers is for the state to create its own slate of bogus sites that look eerily like real scam sites.

The repository for these pages, at topmassachusettsdeals.com, itself sounds a bit like something scammy. But that’s where you can find pages for products and services like Flabkiller, Envelope Elf, and ModExperts.

Clicking on any of the links on these bogus scam pages will take readers to a page providing more information on how to identify and avoid similar ruses.

Source: The Consumerist

The main site is here:

This is an effort by the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation to educate consumers about the scams and false claims that exist in today’s marketplace. Each button below is a link to a fake service or product. If you attempt to purchase the product or apply for the service being advertised, you will be directed to a second page that provides information regarding the truth behind such claims. The webpage will also provide you with tips on how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of similar scams, and direct you to additional useful consumer resources.

Try it out, the ads look just like the real fake thing!

Skechers Will Pay $40 Million to Settle FTC Charges That It Deceived Consumers with Ads for “Toning Shoes”.

The Federal Trade Commission announced that Skechers USA, Inc. has agreed to pay $40 million to settle charges that the company deceived consumers by making unfounded claims that Shape-ups would help people lose weight, and strengthen and tone their buttocks, legs and abdominal muscles.

Besides Shape-ups, Skechers also made deceptive claims about its Resistance Runner, Toners, and Tone-ups shoes, the FTC alleged.

“Skechers’ unfounded claims went beyond stronger and more toned muscles. The company even made claims about weight loss and cardiovascular health,” said David Vladeck, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC’s message, for Skechers and other national advertisers, is to shape up your substantiation or tone down your claims.”

Tip: The Consumerist

But WAIT! THERE’S MORE! Not only did various celebrities endorse the shoes but so did a chiropractor. But, he was a little bit biased (as were the rest who got paid for their endorsements):

Shape-ups ads with an endorsement from a chiropractor named Dr. Steven Gautreau, who recommended the product based on the results of an “independent” clinical study he conducted that tested the shoes’ benefits compared to those provided by regular fitness shoes. The FTC alleges that this study did not produce the results claimed in the ad, that Skechers failed to disclose that Dr. Gautreau is married to a Skechers marketing executive, and that Skechers paid Dr. Gautreau to conduct the study.

These shoes were ugly and useless. Reebok also settled with the FTC for similar deception. There is no quick fix, put on any decent shoes and get moving.

Skulls Found in Florida Backyard From Peru Date Back to 1200 – ABC News.

The two skulls, of a 10-year-old boy and older man, date to 1200 to 1400, and show signs of being from Peru or South America, thousands of miles and a millenium from Winter Garden, Fla.

“The mystery is how they ended up there,” medical examiner Jan Garavaglia said today. “We don’t have any way of finding out.”

The skulls were discovered in January when a plumber installing an in-ground pool came upon a piece of bone and reported it to the police.

The bones, it turned out, had a lengthier history than the 30 years or so since they were buried in Florida. When x-rayed by the medical examiner’s office, it was clear that the bones were hundreds of years old, and that the human tissue on the cheek of the skull had been mummified. The skulls featured an “Inca bone,” a telltale sign of a human from the Incan culture of Peru, Garavaglia said.

Tip: Strange Times

Archaeologists and anthropologists from the University of Central Florida and Yale were consulted to try and trace the origins of the skulls. It’s possible that the bones were brought from South America into Florida when transporting such things was not against the law, as it now is. But is remains a mystery how they ended up there. It was quite a surprise to find the relics and, then, to realize their antiquity and point of origin.

Your guess is as good as mine what the heck this is all about.

Iceland Review Online: Daily News from Iceland.

MP for the Independence Party Árni Johnsen arranged for the relocation of a 30-ton boulder, which he believes is home to three generations of elves, from Sandskeið on Hellisheiði in southwest Iceland to his home Höfðaból in the Westman Islands today.

Árni first encountered the elves’ dwelling when he was in a serious car accident in January 2010. His car overturned and landed beside the boulder 40 meters away from the highway, Morgunblaðið reports.

His SUV was damaged beyond repair but Árni escaped the accident unharmed. He considered whether the boulder might be a dwelling for hidden people and had it saved from landing underneath the south Iceland Ring Road when the highway was widened.

“Ragnhildur [a specialist in the affairs of elves] said it was my protecting spirit, because my time hadn’t come,” he concluded.

Tip: Fortean Times

Umm. I kind of have no comment on this. I thought this was a joke but it seems to be a real news site. Anyone? Cause it’s really weird. I suppose it’s no weirder than some belief in angels or ghosts or witches, etc. but elves seems odd to those of us that don’t live near enchanted woodlands. They obviously have those in Iceland. I want to GO THERE!

This has UFO hot story written ALL OVER IT. Start the hype… GO!

Mystery object nearly causes mid-air collision | wtsp.com.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a mystery in the sky. A mysterious object flying over Denver nearly caused a mid-air collision Monday evening, 9Wants to Know has learned.

As far as investigators know, the mystery object did not show up on radar Monday.

Investigators believe this object, whatever it is, could pose a serious safety hazard to planes.

Radio transmissions from LiveATC.com confirm a nervous-sounding pilot reported a strange object at 5:17 p.m. Monday.

The pilot is heard telling air traffic control: “A remote controlled aircraft, or what? Something just went by the other way … About 20 to 30 seconds ago. It was like a large remote-controlled aircraft.

Tip: Google News

Authorities think it is one of the following: a military or law enforcement drone, a remote controlled aircraft, or a large bird. Of course this will be recorded as a UFO sighting.

The thing is,there are A LOT of things in the sky these days. Just from the past year, we have seen stories where people have mistaken data collection balloons, chinese lanterns, remote controlled objects (some specifically made to fool people), and hoaxes in the air. We have also seen the prevalence of drones grow.

Could this be a alien spacecraft or something not of this world. The odds are not likely since there are so many odd but terrestrial explanations that would fit.

Is a mystery predator on the loose? You can’t tell a thing from this piece in the Telegraph but it sure looks to scare people.

‘Beast of Bont returns’ as 20 sheep found massacred – Telegraph.
Fears a savage big cat could be roaming across a remote mountain range have been reignited after 20 sheep were found “massacred” in their fields.

The mutilated carcasses were torn to shreds and scattered across moorland near to the Devil’s Bridge in the Cambrian Mountains near Aberystwyth, west Wales.

The area has long been linked to the so-called “Beast of Bont”, a big cat believed by some to have been on the loose for decades.

Locals have reported sighting of an unknown creature since the 1970s, and now fear the predator could have struck again.

“As we walked further we saw several more sheep scattered closely together, again as though some large animal had attacked them.

They found two big groups of mutilated sheep and lambs in fields about two miles apart. Most had been stripped bare – leaving just mounds of wool and bones.

Tip: Fortean Times

This article contained hardly any details about the attacks. Who owns the sheep? How long were they there? What was examined? Was a vet called it? Way too many questions. I could hardly tell what was happening in present time and what was past allegations. Very confusing. I will look for additional information so watch for an update. But for now, all this did was sensationalize an event and leave us left holding a wad of wool, no substance.

Add on: I have found a video done by Mark Davey, filmed 6th May 2012, who discovered the carnage.

Notice that the sheep are mostly LONG dead. I suspect it would be hard to tell at this point what they died of because predators have certainly been at them.

Here is another piece by Wales Online. The Beast of Bont is said to be the most feared cat in Wales. Allegedly a puma, it is credited to have mutilated 50 sheep in Pontrhydfendigaid, near Aberystwyth, since 1995. Ref.

We previously covered a story from Congo about an accused teen of witchcraft also being beaten to death.

Faith-healing parents acquitted of murder charge.

A faith-healing Washington couple accused of being criminally responsible for their teenage son’s death for failing to call a doctor have been acquitted of second-degree murder charges.

Zachery Swezey was 17 when he died at his Carlton home of a ruptured appendix in March 2009.

Jurors were told the couple belong to the Church of the First Born, which believes in faith healing. The Swezeys told investigators they thought their son had the flu. They also said the boy chose not to see a doctor.

Tip: @blue_wode via Twitter

This teenager could have lived had he gotten medical attention right away. Faith did not heal or save him.

But at least “The couple did call church elders to pray for him and anoint him with olive oil.” Cause we know that ALWAYS works. It’s difficult not to be disgusted at such ignorance.

The jury had trouble with making a decision. Because the boy was old enough to choose? Is this a fair choice?

Child with strange power, sets furniture alight without touching it.

An 11-year-old girl, alleged to have the power to transmit intense heat, has set fire to furniture in her family’s apartment in Ho Chi Minh City without using matches or a lighter, her father claims.

In a description of the phenomena, reminiscent of Stephen King’s book The Fire Starter, the father, who asked not to be named, said the family had noticed recently that the girl had the ability to make things burn without actually touching them.

Du Quang Chau, director of the research centre of Radiesthesia Energy, in HCM City said the child had been sent to the centre for checking after the fire. (The concept of radiesthesia is based on the fact that objects carry energy and radiate at a specific frequency, much like the theory of vibrational frequencies described in homeopathy.)

Chau said that during tests on the child, energy coming from her body made the surface of sockets and electric cables burn.

Tip: @Blue_wode via Twitter

A highly questionable claim! What is Radiesthesia Energy? Oh, radiesthesia is related to dowsing? You can see we’re off down a dubious pseudoscience path here.

We have no published results of such tests. It’s all anecdotal, which in terms of science and credibility means next to nothing.

File under physics fiction for now.

Babies Get Much-Needed Help From Chiropractic Adjustments.

When Sydney Winkler encountered one of the biggest adjustments of parenthood, she brought 2-month-old Lily to the chiropractor.

“She was really colicky, crying, fussy, we had a couple days there where she was screaming and not settled,” said the mother from Bloomington.

Dr. Anne Spicer, a pediatric chiropractor at the Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington, specializes in pregnant women and babies.

Dr. Spicer said fussy babies often have a misalignment at the top of the neck, which appears to the case for Lily. She said misalignments put pressure on the nerves that cause symptoms elsewhere. It can often be the result of trauma often during birth.

The International Chiropractic Pediatric Association points to two studies that show estimates of growth in children visiting chiropractors.

The organization says a 2000 survey found around 30 million pediatric visits to chiropractors (by Lee et al. in the Archives of Diseases in Children). A study published in 2009 showed more than twice that, with around 68 million pediatric visits to chiropractors, according to Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing.

Tip: @Blue_wode via Twitter

Should chiropractors treat children?

High-velocity, low-amplitude thrusting, commonly used by chiropractors, is usually the type of manipulation that injures a child’s spine. Most chiropractors who manipulate an infant’s spine may simply use light thumb pressure to “adjust” an allegedly misaligned vertebra, thus reducing possibility of injury. Although such treatment may be harmless, it has no known beneficial effect other than the calming effect of human touch. Some chiropractors may use a spring-loaded stylus or an electrically powered mallet in an attempt to tap vertebrae into alignment.

Of all the claims made by chiropractors, I regard the claims made by those who treat children to be the most problematic. I have always advised against manipulating the spine of a small child or a newborn baby for any reason.

How about this?:

Most of a newborn’s bones aren’t even bone yet – they’re partly cartilage. One chiropractor tried to tell me a newborn’s neck is stretched up to 2 1/2 times normal length during the birth process, which is anatomically impossible. There is NO credible evidence that the birth process harms babies’ spines or that chiropractic benefits children in any way.

Ask your pediatrician if they would recommend a chiropractor. Pediatricians are medically trained to understand children’s health. Chiropractors? Have trouble with science.