What's Up?

This blog pretty much died in its crib because the inspiration, a guy named Mackler who was arguing with me at the nhunderground forum, disappeared under some very shady circumstances. I wont go into details, but after all the drama I saw and some private correspondence with those involved, I just decided to drop it. It seemed silly to try and prove a point to someone who wasn't around to see it.

BUT!

I have noticed that Mackler is back. And, I have a new (to me) Power Mac G5 with an iSight camera and everything, so I'm all set to show proof of my ingestion of said pills. I have the pills and all I need is to see if ol' Mackler is still interested in being proven wrong for all the world to see. I'm going to head over to the nhunderground forum and see, between all the hoopla over Ian Freeman's release from jail over the infamous couch debacle, if he, or anyone else, is still interested in me going through with it. If so, I'll be back at it post haste.

OK...

I am just not sure when I am going to get a new hard drive so I can install the new Mac OS, and therefore getting my iSight working. So, I am going to move it to the other computer, the G5 iMac, and I will be posting the video of me taking the pills starting tonight. Look forward to the new videos! Yeah!

What, no video?

So, my stupid computer is still freezing after only a few minutes of up-time, and just so Mackler can't accuse me of "cheeking" my pills or somesuch, I really wanted to video record my consumption of the pills. Once I get the Mac working, I will fire up the iSight and get this shindig underway. NJLiberty took Mackler up on his bet (see comment below) and has had no ill effects whatever. I am not giving up, but technical difficulties have really, really slowed things down. I'll publicise things on a few forums when the experiment is truly underway, until then, patience, my friends, patience...

It finally arrived!

So, I got the stuff! I'll post my first video shortly. Then the action should really pick up. I'll start linking to the forum and hopefully traffic and commentary will make for some interesting exchanges. I doubt that Mackler's mind will be changed, as he is really, deeply invested in this insanity, but I am interested in his dissembling rationalizations, accusations of dishonesty, and whatever colorful displays of illogic and superstition he has to offer as the "experiment" proves his "powerful medicine" to be nothing more than a placebo. We'll see...

Waiting...

Still haven't recieved my sugar pills, er Homeopathic medicine, but while checking on the shippment at Amazon, I cam across this book: Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: The Evolutionary Origins of Belief. It promises to go into why anyone would believe something as silly as Homeopathy, and how it may incur, counter-intuitively, some evolutionary benefit to be, well, superstitious. I'm looking forward to reading it, and with the way things are going, I'll likely get it before the placebos, I mean, 200C Sulfur tablets, get here.

Also, I'm gonna jazz up the ol' Mac with the camera on it, so's I can get better pictures of me swallowing the pills every day, once they finally arrive. I'll be upgrading to the new, snazzy, Leopard version of OS X (that's pronounced "ten," not "ecks," folks). I think it is pretty cool that I am getting a solid 7 years out of a Mac, not many HPs, Dells or Campaqs can do that. I may even get a dual processor daughter card to wring another couple years out of my Mac. Hell, my old beige G3, purchased October 1998, was running OS X v10.3 well into 2003 before the motherboard crapped out. What can I say, I love me some Apple computer products!

And... We're off!!

So, I finally went and ordered the very exact stuff that Mackler suggested, along with the new Ron Paul book (yeah, I'm still pissed at how the campaign was run, but I have heard good things about the book) and Bill Kauffman's Ain't My America. As soon as it arrives, I'll begin taking the sulfur, and the rashes and boils should ensue!

;-)

I When they ask me why, tell 'em I did it for the LULZ!!!

Even more procrastination!

Well, I swear, I will kick this off soon! I am in the market for a new Mac, the one that has the camera I was going to use to verify my daily doses is, to put it lightly, on the fritz. I was on vacation for my 32nd birthday, too. Still, I gave my word, so, I better get on it. Updates soon!

Lazy and broke...

So, I haven't posted for a bit because I don't yet have the stuff, I was waiting to be paid, which happens tomorrow. I'll order the stuff Mr. Mackler recommended in his comment to my post about what I THOUGHT was the recommended stuff (that was an awkward sentence...). To be honest, there isn't really any difference between the worthless sugar pills, but in the interest of satisfying the guy that I am acting in good faith with respect to his "dare," I want to be sure I get what he suggests.

Also, my main computer is failing. I have an older Mac, a single processor FireWire 800 Mirrored Drive Door from 2001. It has had years of solid service, months and months of uptime, but suddenly it will just hang, spinning beach ball and all. I'm trying to fix it but in the mean time, I'm using the living room Mac, arguably a better machine, a 17" G5 iMac, but I inherited it from my brother after his death, so it has none of my software or data on it, and I haven't really bothered to switch. As a graphic designer, I don't really want to use the much smaller iMac for my work, because my other Mac has a bigger 19" monitor where I can see a whole page and my palettes.

Anyway, why do you care? I'm just making excuses, right? Alrighty, then. Look for more posts soon, and the videos of me taking these pills as well as commentary about the experiment. I'm also going to take pictures, as a sort of "before" image to verify I have hair and lack boils. These will also serve to motivate my fat ass to get back to the gym...

So, here's the recommended stuff, Sulfur 200C.

A list of the symptoms this stuff supposedly treats:

Hepar Sulphur is a remedy indicated for unhealthy skin conditions. Is a favorite for acne as it helps the skin to clear faster. Key remedy for teen and adult acne. Provings have also shown symptoms of eczemas, foul smelling pus from eruptions with skin sensitive to cold and touch.
Colds, sore throats, and croup from exposure to the cold. Croupy cough. Hepar sulph helps with painful and hoarse dry cough worsened by cold weather. Sneezing and runny nose whenever exposed to cold dry winds.
Coughs and sore throats where something feels like it is stuck in the throat.
Earaches with discharge, swollen lymph glands, boils.
Digestive problems with smelly, offensive stools.
Person often feels chilly, is irritable and oversensitive to surroundings.
Worse with cold applications.
Hepar Sulphur is an important polycrest remedy. Hepar Sulphur, also known as Calcium sulphide of Hahnemann, and sulphur of lime. Complete name Hepar Sulphuris Calcareum, is from an impure sulphide of Calcium. Hepar Sulfuris Calc. Prepared from burning the white interior of oyster shells with pure flowers of sulphur. This remedy is indicated for many other ailments. Mental symptom of wanting to set things on fire. Better from damp, wet weather, warmth, wrapping ears and head, after eating. Worse from: very sensitive to the slightest touch, clothes brushing on painful area, lying on painful side, dry, cold air, in the morning, worse from not being covered up, from being chilled or from drafts, cold food or drink. Hepar sulphuricum is helpful for later stages of sinus inflammation, when pain is behind the eyes and nasal discharge is thick.
Hepar Sulphur's Mini Materia Medica:
Abscesses: Helpful in later stages of an abscess. Hepar sulphur given at this time will often cause the abscess to come to a head and drain.
Acne: Beneficial for skin that is unhealthy, easily infected. Slow to heal acne. Teen acne. The book, Essentials of Homeopathic Therapeutics by Dewey, lists the symptoms of Hepar as skin sensitive to the open air, inflamed skin; acne and injuries that produce pus easily; sensitive eruptions; pus is foul smelling; ulcerations have small pimples around the edges.
Dental Infections: Useful for dental abscesses. Painful, bleeding gums.
Ear Infections: Helpful for ear infection that feels like something is sticking the ears. Stitching pains, discharge from ears, pain is unbearable and makes child irritable. Wants to cover the ears.
Colds: Useful for late stages of stuffy colds.
Cough: Helpful for hoarse, rattling, wheezing, choking cough. Suffocating attacks. May cough up thick yellow mucus.
Croup: Useful for loose, rattling cough. Deep, barking voice. Follows Aconite & Spongia; may prevent recurrence.
Hoarseness: Beneficial for person who loses voice, croaks.
Hay Fever: Helpful for hay fever with sneezing. Itching eyes & throat. Watery nasal discharge.
Infected Bites: Beneficial for localizing infection, hastening healing of skin lesions.
Mental State: Corrects mental state of oversensitivity, irritable, peevish. The book, The Spirit of Homeopathic Medicines, by Grandgeorge mentions the important mental symptom of wanting to set things on fire. Mentally and physically worse from cold dry winds. Sensitive and on edge- physically & emotionally.
Sore Throat: Helpful for sore throat with splinter or plug sensation. Classic feels like something is caught in throat when swallows. Pain extends to ear on swallowing. Throat extremely sensitive to touch. Pain on swallowing food.
Styes: Useful for inflamed eyes & lids.
Sweats: Helpful for person with profuse, sour, sticky, offensive sweat that sweats easily at night.

Wow. I'm in for it... NOT. What I wanna know is, if a person only had one or two of these symptoms, and took this stuff, shouldn't they come down with all this stuff, too? How does the stuff "know" how to target only the particular conditions they need help with? Of course, it doesn't and there's no way to explain a mechanism that doesn't exist, but I'd be curious to hear the official Homeopath line on that story...

Anywho, I'll be placing my order and I'll post pics when I receive it. Until then, keep on checkin' back, new content should be posted soon. In my next post, I'll be explaining the dilution level of this stuff and what that actually means, in terms of it's therapeutic potential.

Answer the challenge!

Here's the post that started it all:

Hey Dylboz, I have a challenge for you: You're so sure that homeopathy is ineffective, are you? Let's try a scientific experiment. Homeopathic theory says that the medicine that cures a symptom in a sick person will cause the symptom in a healthy person. You deny this, correct? You should also know that according to homeopathic theory, the more dilute the medicine, the more powerful it is. You deny this as well, correct? So let's get some very dilute homeopathic medicine. Maybe something used to treat skin disorders. You'll take one dose a day, and then after three months of this you'll come down to Murphy's Tap Room to show us how it's had no effect on you and I'll be publicly humiliated. Wouldn't that be fun? And as you claim, harmless. What do you say?


So, I am going to go for it! 3 months of overly expensive water to prove this guy utterly, completely, irrevocably WRONG!?! An offer I simply cannot pass up. I only wait for the pitiful mutterings explaining why I did it wrong, how I must have lied, or how I actually had the conditions but the homeopathy really cured them! In terms of what conditions I'm going to "cause," I decided to pick something like baldness, warts, and facial acne. These are things that are pretty obvious, both that I don't have them now, and when nothing happens, it'll be pretty obvious that, well, NOTHING HAPPENED. We'll have to see what the store has to offer.

PS - I may have some pals join in the fun, so look for their posts and pictures and videos too. Enjoy!