How I learned "The End of the World Is Near."

Created By A School Teacher!

I first became aware that the world ("as we knew it") would end soon when I discovered a proprietary "medicine" called "Airborne." Its purported properties prevent respiratory diseases which, allegedly, afflict air travelers.

The packaging proclaims: "Created by a School Teacher!" 

To be precise, "Airborne" is a "nutritional supplement" that purportedly enhances immune function. The compound was "developed" in the early 1990's by Victoria Knight-McDowell, an elementary school teacher from Carmel, California.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airborne_(dietary_supplement) 

Since the overwhelming majority of air travelers do not become ill after flight, those who are sufficiently "paranoid" to feel that they WILL become ill, attribute the preservation of their health to the salubrious effect of "Airborne," which, like most nutritional supplements, results in American urine being "the world's most expensive." (The logic is analogous to Uncle Sam's justification for war in Vietnam and Iraq.)

"Airborne" is sold "everywhere": Costco, Target, WalMart... your corner drug store. 

"Airborne" is BIG BUSINESS.

Like much of America's lightly-regulated industry, Airborne is a product that is at least scientifically bogus, making a fundamental contribution to America's insatiable appetite for "more stuff" - another nail in the coffin where we are buried alive as mere "Consumer Units."

If you use "Airborne," the likelihood is overwhelming that Victoria Knight-McDowell sees you as a sucker and is taking you for a ride.

When the FDA first sanctioned Knight-McDowell's company for false advertising, it imposed a 23 million dollar fine that was paid with corporate chump change. 

Although I admire the Christian belief in "the life of the world to come," America's devout anti-rationalists might wisely acknowledge that -- whatever the prospects for "life everlasting" -- "Snake Oil" is eternal.

To learn more about The Collapse of Rationality in these neo-theocratic, faith-based United States, check out Michael Specter's TED Talk, "The Danger of Science Denial." http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_specter_the_danger_of_science_denial.html

Do you remember the Bush administration's dismissal of "the reality-based community?" 

That particular bit of surpassing arrogance deserves review. 

At the following webpage - http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/17BUSH.html - key-word search "reality-based".

Also helpful is Al Gore's excellent book, "The Assault on Reason" - http://www.amazon.com/Assault-Reason-Al-Gore/dp/1594201226

This news item just in!  Aquinas is spinning in his grave - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas

It is now America's foremost task to "catch up" with the 13^th century.

Once accomplished, we can re-visit the 17th century to explore the Enlightenment which served as political compass for The Founding Fathers.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment