The Fear Babe - A Review

Hey y'all, I just got done reading a book called The Fear Babe. In the interest of full disclosure, I approached the authors; Kavin Senapathy, Marc Draco and Mark Alsip to get an electronic advanced copy so I could review it. No Shill Bucks exchanged hands. I don't know any of the authors personally and other than a few exchanges on social media, we really know nothing about one another.

If you've read any of my blog posts, you know that I harbor great disdain for anyone who spreads misinformation or outright deceit, especially if they are lining their pockets at the expense of those they are duping. Add in the potential for real physical harm and I'd like to rent a giant dumpster into which I could throw them all together. Vani Hari aka the Food Babe, ranks right up there close to the top of my worthless list and I fully expected this book to be some rolicking good fun at tearing her down off of her self-styled throne of woo. I was wrong.

This book has finally demonstrated to me, the intrinsic value of the Food Babe, of course not as an aspiration or a beacon of truth but as a valuable teaching tool for anyone with a remote interest in their health or nutrition. The authors; Kavin Senapathy, Mark Alsip and Marc Draco combine their talents in a way that turn this book, which addresses complex and serious topics, into something that is easily grasped even by those who don't speak "chemicalese"; like myself.

When I first cracked open the book, I did something I don't normally do: I read the foreword. It was penned by Dr. Kevin Folta and certainly set the tone for the entire book that follows. It introduced the topic of food fear-mongering factually and with humor. In fact, my introduction to the food terrorism ring, called "Al Quesadilla", still makes me chuckle at the mere thought. I would love to see an entire satirical piece dedicated to this pernicious cult and their leaders!

The book itself is presented with an even hand towards Hari, something that I admire, given that the authors have been personally (and unfairly) maligned by the self-styled Food Babe. Rather than tear down the Food Babe for who she is, they often give her motivations the benefit of the doubt, something I was not inclined to do prior to reading this. Instead they present the actual facts behind the science she typically misrepresents and go on to explain how she could potentially have misunderstood the actual facts as opposed to intentionally misconstruing them. Then they go one further and use the nuggets of fear that Hari extracts from her misinterpretation to instruct us on how to evaluate the facts for ourselves. Lest they fall into the trap with which Hari ensnares her readers; "My Opinion", the book has an exceptional amount of footnotes and cited research so that the reader can verify and validate - a good practice for all of us.

The Fear Babe also covers topics beyond just the food that Hari espouses and delves into areas such as alternative therapies and lifestyle advice that may put people at risk. It also explores the technology and psychology that may attract and hook those predisposed to blindly adhere to advice that is clearly not in their best interests, such as the alternative cancer therapies. (side note: as a cancer survivor, I would love to see a subsequent book devoted to the topic of cancer woo, and the book does hint at it!). While Hari is guilty of pushing these alternatives and perhaps scaring people away from life-saving diagnostics (along with her woo-natic advisory council) she's not the worst offender. The authors again, are using Hari simply as a teaching tool so that readers can be aware of key words, phrases and caveats that signal either deception or a complete lack of understanding of the topic at hand. You will learn to extrapolate these methods of critical thinking to apply them to anyone who presents their opinion or study as fact.

And finally, the book does not dig itself so deeply into the realm of the scientific that it loses the lay person in the details. It's is sprinkled throughout with examples and well drawn parallels to describe concepts, and enough humor to keep you turning the pages well past the point that you intended to turn off the lights and go to sleep!

All in all, the book has caused me to look at the Food Babe Army in a different light. Some may indeed just be searching for answers and swayed by irrational fear adeptly instilled by Hari and her ilk. Thus, I need to treat them with respect, knowing that all of us just want to be healthy and happy at the end of the day. I've even decided that perhaps Hari has good intentions but buries them in clickbait to improve the bottom line of The Food Babe LLC.

This book is a good read, in fact I devoured it so quickly that I'm going to go back and read it again, more slowly, since the facts and concepts presented deserve thoughtful consideration. If you are one of the "banned by Food Babe" (as am I;) then you will thoroughly enjoy the book. If you've never heard of the Food Babe but have seen memes claiming that XXX insert organic plant here cures cancer, MS, "leaky gut" and autism; then you should read this book. If you've ever thought that one of these miracle cures might work; then you should read this book.

A huge thank you to the authors whose extensive time and research is evident in this book and who maintain professionalism in the face of unwarranted accusations on a regular basis from the food babe army. I truly hope that the army reads this and understands the difference between evidence and cult charisma. Kudos and happy shilling ;-)

The Book is due out on October 29th - you can pre-order your copy from Amazon.

The Periscrap Edition

We interrupt this series on the seven deadly spins to bring you this brief public disservice announcement. If you've ever seen the Food Babe do a periscope broadcast, this video will explain itself. When narcissism meets technology designed to allow users to share brief events, it's a train wreck and Food Babe makes this clearly evident in her constant self-aggrandizing broadcasts. Without further ado, meet our version; The Food Boob.

We now return you to your regular programming!

The Seven Deadly Spins: Part II

The second deadly spin, from Vain Hair's 'advisory council that I'd like to address is Sloth. For the first installment, click here: http://blazingpants.blogspot.ca/2015/08/the-seven-deadly-spins-part-1-lust.html When we think of sloth, we we think of laziness, slow movement, etc. Today we'll address sloth in one that wants fame and fortune but is far too lazy to get an actual education in nutrition and so, opts for online diploma mills that spend more time educating students on how to start and run a scam business than about human biochemistry or actual nutrition.

Meet Christa Orecchio, self proclaimed "co-author" of a pamphlet of recipes called "eating for wellness" written by Ms Orecchio and Cheryl Tiegs - because you know a paid supermodel knows everything about nutrition. Of course, our slothful O'wrecker doesn't call it that; she calls it the "The Anti-Inflammatory Diet" which was actually a subtitle to the original e-publication that is no longer available. Perhaps it's because it was pushing a product that Tiegs was endorsing through infomercials that the FTC had a significant problem with. TriVita was sued by the FTC for making false health claims about their 39.99 (plus shipping and handling) bottle of miracle elixir cactus juice. No, I'm not making this up - read it for yourself here: FTC on TriVita

But O'wrecker likes that narrative of 'anti-inflammatory' because it pushes her concept of Candida being the root of all physical ailments, which of course, she has a cure for. But I won't get ahead of myself here. Let's take a look at O'wrecker's educational claims and we can see where the deception starts.

According to Orecchio's own linkedin resume, she posts this:

I contacted University of North Carolina and they know nothing about the CN or HHC designation, nor do they offer classes in nutrition outside of a nursing program nor do they have anything related to "wellness". Nope, instead her CN, HHC come from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN), which will start you on your new business for the low, low price of $5,995. along with about 25,000 other quacks. Don't worry about the rigors of academia though, it's an online school with all open book tests and in order to satisfactorily complete your education you need only do a few simple tasks. for nearly half of the required points, you need only attend a few "coaching circles" and if you complete and submit your required "health history" (potential new clients) you need only score a 50% on one of 4 tests to graduate! So much less stressful than a real education don't you think? Then you can hang that HHC off the end of your name to make it appear as though some certifying body thinks you know what you are talking about. There is no body that certifies a holistic health coach (HHC) by the way. I'm going to dedicate a whole post to IIN, after all, how many actual higher institutes of learning have rich CEOs instead of deans or chancellors? This "school" not only teaches you to create your own scam business (and recommends you charge $125/hr) but sells you all the tools to do it along the way. You can even buy your "integrative" web site from them. Sorry, I couldn't resist that! Nor is there any certification for a 'clinical nutritionist' (CN).

It seems that O'wrecker wanted a more lucrative career than her degree in business was providing for her so she gave up selling yoga pants and went on into woo instead. Her website shows lots of videos that make it seem like she's an in demand TV personality when, in truth, most of them are infomercials that she paid a pretty penny to make to the "Wellness Hour". These shysters specialize in helping quacks health care providers attract and keep suckers  clientele.  They even have a video on "gummy bear breast implants". I swear! I cannot make this shit up!

Anyway, O'wrecker hangs out her shingle in the greater San Diego area and tells people that they have an overgrowth of Candida yeast but sells a ton of supplements to solve the issue. In fact, going back to TriVita, they sell a line of supplements (probably about as effective as their cactus juice) and have a newsletter for which O'wrecker is a regular contributor. So please tell me how food is medicine (one of her favorite lines) but as a consultant she recommends lots and lots of pills, drops and books? Guess that crack education pays off because she offers a whole store for her "whole journey" through woo, and the products don't come cheaply!

But before you can start to recommend your crap, you have to have a backstory. You have to have overcome some life threatening ailments due to your eating habits, right?It doesn't even have to be very original, since that would be too much like work. I mean The Food Babe had appendicitis, right? O'wrecker has to go one better:

Now that she has you convinced that you can be healthy and attractive like her (sound like the food babe?) you'll need to follow instructions. First you need to enrol in a "gut thrive program because everyone in the who's who of woo has to say 'gut' these days. Her program can be yours for the low, low cost of:

Of course she must have been doing crystal math when she proclaimed the value of this "program" at $3800.00! But wait, you have to purchase the supplements FIRST.

And of course it doesn't end there - you need a transition and maintenance supplement plan for the low, low price of:

And be prepared to keep forking over the cashola, because she's a "nutritionist" after all, it says so on several of her many websites.  She also makes some claims about closing her 'successful' private practice to go with her new online program, because I'm sure that it's much more profitable to suck in a couple of thousand people at a time, charge them 700 bucks and sell them a bunch of supplements. Additionally she claims to have co-authored a book about fertility called ""Whole Baby, Whole Mama". An online search for the title of this book, however, only results in one hit. Her website. But you can get her "cookbook" which is available only for sale on her website as a non-refundable digital download only. Yeah, that sounds legit.

The food babe has a bio on her 'advisory council' that states O'wrecker had a private practice for 10 years, though Christa claims 8 on her own site (which she began while still enrolled in that crack, intensive nutrition program). Food babe also touts a "nationally syndicated" radio show, which is really the paid programming from the folks at the Wellness Hour that we mentioned above. Someone has some disposable cash apparently.

While I could go on for hours about her dubious credentials and online practices, I'm going to go ahead and call this one a big fat, five alarm, get the bucket brigade fire, fire!

If you buy into any of this quack's line of BS about your gut, candida (which by the way, she refers to as a disease as opposed to a common yeast that we all have present in and on our bodies) overgrowth or anything that requires you to buy expensive supplements, think about her lack of qualifications and endorsement of the food babe. Those two are peas in a pod. Both are too lazy to get a real education about their topics, they just want to cut to the paydirt.

I'll just leave you with a set of her qualifications in her own words: The Whole Journey are not acting in the capacity of a doctor, licensed dietician, psychologist or any other licensed/registered professional. Christa Orecchio and The Whole Journey will not diagnose, treat, or cure in any manner, any disease, condition, or other physical or mental human ailment.

Thanks for coming along with our queen of sloth; O'wrecka.

The Seven Deadly Spins: Part 1 - Lust

I'm calling this series of posts the Seven Deadly Spins in honor of Vani Hari and her new "advisory Council" of six. Together they add up to the seven blithering idiots who spread fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) about the world we live in. If you were to adhere to everything they say (you couldn't since they contradict each other frequently) but if you could, you'd end up living in a glass bubble subsisting on juiced kale and pumped in oxygen (pure oxygen, cause you know that nitrogen mixed in is an evil conspiracy by the airlines)

First up, I'm going to introduce Dr. Joel Kahn, integrative cardiologist and his deadly spin is lust. Now with a name like Kahn, you'd expect me to choose 'wrath' as his deadly spin because the "wrath of kahn" is a much catchier title but we're about truth here, and wrath is not something I attribute to Kahn.  Passive aggression, pride and condescension he possesses in great supply but that's attributable to many in his profession. No, his real sin is lust. Now I'm not talking about carnal lust here, I have no idea about that, nor do I want to. I'm talking about his lust for the limelight. He craves the fame, attention and wealth that his heroes like Dr Oz have been basking in and he's shown that he's willing to ditch science over his lust for it.

Because vegans don't get cancer, apparently

He calls himself many different things; America's Holistic Heart doctor, Interpreventional cardiologist, Vegan Cardiologist I just call him quackers or for fun; "Chakra Kahn". Let's start with his educational claims. He is undisputably a board certified cardiologist but he likes to tout his Summa Cum Laude graduation from University of Michigan medical school. The reality is that he entered medical school through a now defunct and then experimental program called Inteflex, that sought to fast track high school students into the medical profession by combining undergraduate and medical school into one six year program. In doing so they avoided the complicated and competitive process of being accepted into mainstream medical school. In fact, its 50 accepted students never even took the MCAT. So while Joel may have graduated summa cum laude, at most he only bested 30 some odd students, who were only required to pass courses with a 'C' average, for that title.

Now that's not enough for our boy Joel and his constant quest for edumacation. According to his website he states:

"My knowledge of heart health and healing has come to some degree from standard medical education, journals and conferences. A larger part has come from my post-graduate training at the University of South Florida in Metabolic Cardiology."

But when asked about his education in health and nutrition on twitter he responded thusly;

But according to Chakra Kahn's own words he took 'metabolic cardiology' at USF and according to USF, they don't offer a graduate degree in it, more like a one year certificate of completion. Nice try Joel but you are bending and distorting your achievements, yet again.  

It's also interesting to note that 'metabolic cardiology' is a new field invented by Dr Stephen Sinatra (integrative cardiologist, anti-aging specialist, author and anti-vaxxer) who famously writes; "most diseases result from an inadequate supply of essential nutrients, emotional blockage and environmental toxicity" and who is also a believer in earthing aka grounding. Of course he will happily lighten your wallet to sell you wootastic cures. What I find funny is that Sinatra has a page on his site to help you find the best integrative cardiologists. It must chap Kahn's hide that while he isn't listed his 'pal' Jack Wolfson is listed. I'll get back to him in a couple of minutes, I promise. It's seriously a tangled mass of webs with these hucksters - all intertwined to boost the bottom line.

Anyway, back to Chakra Kahn, whose mentors, like Sinatra are a who's who of woo list! He counts among them, the infamous Dr Oz, Dr Mark Hyman (who I will be writing about in the next post), Daniel Amen, Dr Mercola and...gack...Gabriel Cousens. Oh my, my little munchkins, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, simply slide your wallet over and don't make any fast moves.

All of these 'physicians' are violating their own code of ethics, or perhaps when you step into the woo world as a trained doctor, you trade the hippocratic oath for  the capitalistic oath, because certainly Chakra Kahn has no problem with that:

See, Kahn links to all kinds of profitable endeavors from his website. He links to the Daniel Plan, which is a faith based plan for diet and exercise that's willing to sell you all kinds of cool merch, books, CDs and links to Dr Mark Hyman, who will readily sell you the rest of the stuff, like supplements cookbooks, powders and miracle self-cure kits. In fact, you can pay up to $300.00 for supplements that support your 10 day detox so you can literally piss away 300 bucks. Kahn also has links to the Thrive store - which is an online merchant designed to give up to 20% of the cuts back to the referring site. Problem is, nowhere on Kahn's site does he have a disclaimer that tells you he gets paid to promote these affiliate products. I'm sure that the FTC as well as the AMA would frown on that practice. But hey, capitalism is the cooperation of many, right? He provides links and you provide cash, downright symbiotic.

I'm focusing on Joel, because since becoming a member of the Food Boob's advisory council, he has become her most vocal and ardent defender on twitter. Now why is that do you think? Just since he's become the boob's advisor, he's picked up a couple thousand twitter followers. You see, Vani has what he lusts for; she has fame and followers but he has something she does not; credibility. So they do a swap. Vani gets to reference a doctor - no a cardiologist,  whenever she's out in left field (which is usually) and he gets to cash in on some of her followers. Sadly for him, his credibility will be shot all to hell, what there is of it, anyway.

You see, Kahn just isn't doing as well as some of his shyster idols. They go on CNN, make big bucks on their woo and have much more brand recognition than the Chakra Kahn has. Take his pal Dr Jack Wolfson, the notorious integrative Paleo cardiologist and anti-vaxxer. See in order to up the woo quotient you just keep adding random words to your title. Wolfson is much more well known as the Paleo doctor and was much more in media demand until his disastrous CNN interview about vaccines. When Kahn was asked about the difference between the vegan cardiology theory that he pushes, and the paleo theory that Wolfson promotes (along with the requisite supplements) Kahn referred to it as 'splitting hairs'. Say wha???? They seem like opposite ends of the spectrum, but then, as Joel repeatedly reminds everyone on twitter. HE is a doctor and you are not. Funny how that science thing only counts when they are selling their brand of 'science'. I do have to wonder, however, about some of Kahn's advice.

He recommends a strict vegan diet. OK, that works for some I suppose and he even claims it's anti aging, however, if that's the case one wonders why his website photo is at least 25 years old. Is he not content with his looks on his strict diet, exercise and spiritual healing routine?

Joel's website photo, doesn't he look young and healthy?

Current photo of Joel (age 56)

He also recommends sleeping on 'grounded sheets' and believes in Earthing 

(something even Woo-Master Andrew Weil thinks is bunk).  Most recently he wrote a few paragraphs of poorly researched and even more poorly cited opinions about genetically modified foods. The citations he actually managed to include were laughable links to fraudulent studies, long ago debunked. So why put himself into this controversy? That's right, back to his deadly sin. Lust for the limelight. Help him out Food Boob, poor guy just wants to be Dr Oz before he's too old. Whoops, that ship looks to have sailed already. Sorry, buddy.

But don't ask him questions or take him to task on anything via social media because his responses are as worthless as his advice. I was told to hug someone because he deduced I had anger issues based on asking a few simple questions. Despite his PR person actually responding to my personal cancer story with a completely inappropriate remark, I'm not angry, I'm amused.

Dr Kahn's PR agency tweet in response to a cancer story

Believe it or not, she's still doing PR for a doctor who claims to teach classes in cardioncology after that brilliant response. Of course the good doctor himself told me I needed to visit Heart Math and buy an application to reset my energies or some such nonsense, also known as tooth fairy science.

Sadly, I could go on all day but it's time to get out the truth-o-meter. What say you? Well, according to Joel Kahn, in an interview he said; "the consumer is at the prey of whomever is most effective at marketing" and it's the first honest thing I've heard him say. So choke down another handful of chlorella, doc, since that's what you swear by, because we're going to call this a big fat pants on fire.

Oh and I'll save the 200 bucks you wanted me to spend on Heart Math and I'll sleep on Egyptian cotton instead of plugging in my sheets to ground them. Watch your wallet folks, the Seven Deadly Spins are out to get their hands on it!

Next time we'll talk about the Second Deadly Spin.

That's All Folks!

Food Babe; BA or BS?

What does the Food Babe know, that you don’t? Quite likely she knows something about stacking the deck in her favor on the Internet, but she doesn't know any more about food than you or I do. In fact, probably less. Food Babe LLC is a company. It’s not a person with a particular insight, education or talent. It’s a profit making business and should be viewed that way.  Vani is not a researcher or an industry expert in any sense of the word - she's a peer; perhaps just a bit more ethically corrupt than the rest of us.

If you were going to start a new career after 15 years and enter a new field, how would you do it? Personally, I would get more education, not necessarily a new degree, but classes, internships or certification courses to ensure that I was adequately prepared and at least competitive and knowledgable in my new chosen field. When Van Hari left the computer consultancy business to start a new career, she did none of these things. Why? Because she never really changed careers. According to Hari, she earned a degree in computer science from UNC, but whether it’s a BA or a BS is unclear, though certainly neither would qualify her to spew the BS she does about food, additives and agriculture.

Vani's response to scientific (or even common sense) criticism of her "advice".

No, instead of changing careers, Vani only progressed in hers. She started out as a consultant on large custom software projects for Accenture, moving on to Program management and Product management. Having spent many years myself in Product management for “shrink wrap” or off-the shelf software, I have a good idea of the skill sets one must employ. One of her more notable projects was as Web Services Manager. When managing a set of products such as this, her goal was to increase demand for Bank of America and their services by leveraging web based services and platforms. Their customers are banking customers like you and me, who would avail themselves of the software. In order to do this, SEO (search engine optimization) is a critical component. People have to find your products when they do a google search. Keywords that ring a bell with consumers must be used and you need to generate links to and from other sites to improve your visibility. The backend has to lead to upgradeable products and services to increase the reach and revenue of the bank. So all Vani really did was to create a new set of products for a new set of consumers using the experience she developed in managing web based projects. And those keywords that ring bells? Yup, toxins, chemicals and GMOs or anything else she believes might scare you right out of your grocery cart. And certainly all her links take you to upsell opportunities such as partner products or expensive newsletters.

It’s no accident that Vani was named one of the top influencers on the Internet. It has nothing whatsoever to do with her knowledge of the subject matter and everything to do with her knowledge of creating an online presence. The same is true for social media. If you ran across Vani via the web (which is how she launched herself), it was undoubtedly due to her canny abilities in web based software and techniques for leveraging the software. While I have no problem with someone leveraging their software expertise to earn a substantial income, I do have a problem when the products or services provided are detrimental to the end user. People employ the same methodology to bring you the likes of porn or child porn, but that doesn't make the product they are delivering any more palatable.

The hypocrisy here is that Vani goes after companies and entire industries as though they were nameless faceless entities, not comprising hundreds of thousands of employees that work every day to feed their families. They are a "them" and worthy of derision.  Food Babe, however, claims to be a researcher or a citizen journalist (fighting "them" for YOU) though she proudly claims to have gotten her research skills from a high school debate team.  Apparently, her research skills were a little subpar; when she tried to compete on a college debate team, she failed after only a week.  Her behavior on the web also shows that she lacks debate skills, preferring to ignore (block or ban) those who challenge her or accuse them of being paid by some "big company". (sound familiar?)

Imagine something so big an entire industry wants to hide it - aka put on your tinfoil hat!

Fueling conspiracy theories and fear-based marketing are effective, though morally deficient ways of increasing the web clicks on your site. By impugning large sectors of the population with a blanket label of "industry" or "companies" as she likes to call them, she fails to include herself in that mix. The organic market has become a huge and quickly growing market sector which has profit margins that soar above the meager margins of the conventional sector. And while the conventional sector is well regulated, the organic market sector is not. It is chock full of charlatans like the "Food Babe" who blanket the Internet with rumor, innuendo and outright untruths about the conventional sector, simply to secure the high profit margins they are currently experiencing. They sell unregulated "supplements" to combat the yarns they spin of the dangers of vaccines and food products you consume. So make no mistake, the organic sector is an "industry" and "companies" in the same right as the conventional food companies.

So the next time you see the Food Babe and her cohorts in trickery; John Roulac (CEO of Nutiva and board member of GMO Inside),  Mike Adams (self-titled "Health Ranger") and David Wolfe (avocado wolfe) condemning a particular food product or slandering a conventional food company, stop and ask yourself; what's in it for them and how are they profiting? The answer will probably be pretty clear when you see the "miracle" products they offer instead. But guard your wallet because their brand of faux-nutrition and health isn't cheap and it could actually do more harm than good.

So of course, Vani still gets our 5-alarm, stand back, pants-on-fire award since the more frequently she gets called out on her lies, the louder and longer she screams, much like a toddler in the throes of a temper tantrum. You've seen them, they do it in a supermarket too. Just because something comes up in a search engine result doesn't mean you should buy into it...but hey, it's on the Internet so it must be true. Just like I'm a bunny rabbit slipper in real life.

That's all folks - thanks for coming along for the ride!

Rap Your head around this!

I write about frauds, scammers and catfish but why is it that people fall for the woo these people sell and what can we do to stem the flow of sheer nonsense and pseudoscience? We can counter it using the very same tools that the charlatans employ to get their snake oil out to the masses - via social media. As I was tweeting about a previous post using the hashtag #pseudoscience, I came across a very special and enlightened person who is fighting fire with a big fat fire hose aimed where it will do the most good; our young people.

I would like to introduce you to Mr. Lund, a science teacher at St Johns public high school in St Johns, Michigan who is using charlatans as a teaching tool, and using it in a way that engages his students like nothing I've seen before. I don't usually wish I were a writer for the New York Times or Washington Post, but today, I do wish that, because people need to know about this man and his colleagues. Lots of people. Mr. Lund agreed to answer some questions for me so that I can bring you his story and I encourage you to share it with as many people as you can!

I introduce Scientific Method Man of the Tungsten Clan!

Rich Lund has a love of all things science and as his moniker implies, things provable and repeatable with the scientific method, which he teaches to his students in grades 9 through 12. Mr. Lund (I'll call him that in case his students are taking a peek here) pursued a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Michigan State University (go Spartans!) but wanted to embrace all of the disciplines of science that he had come to respect, so he went on to obtain a teachers certificate and is now working towards a masters in education. That said, this man is a master of education. Let's take a gander at why.

Lund starts out his science classes by, of course, teaching what the scientific method is but he goes one further by also teaching what pseudoscience is. This is the crux of the difference between the two, in my mind. Pseudoscience and hucksters never encourage you to question their claims and tend to completely discount opposing views without ever producing a valid shred of evidence. The scientific method, on the other hand, encourages you to explore all alternatives and either prove or disprove them before forming your theories or reaching conclusions. What Lund is doing, quite brilliantly, is instilling kids with the concept of critical thinking. A concept that will have implications well beyond the science classroom. Now it's all well and good to stand in front of a classroom of young adults, who would no doubt rather be texting their pals, and explain these concepts but Lund goes way beyond the chalkboard and textbooks to bring these concepts to life in a way that kids can relate.

Check out this video, conceived, written and produced by Mr. Lund, all on a shoestring budget he calls "the teacher budget" called "Pseudoscience (you can't get my money)". Go ahead, I'll wait.

It's brilliant, right? In it he hits the key points for kids (and many adults) about how to spot scams and cast a critical eye upon them. He also spent time in making these videos of a quality that kids have come to expect, and it pays off. His kids love the videos, they learn something and they share them. What also strikes me here as important that Lund quite modestly did not point out to me, is that by using this method, he becomes a real person to the students he teaches and not just a stuffy science guy with a lab coat and a pointer. By dispelling the notion that scientists are bespectacled nerds with no social skills closeted in some lab, he opens up the world of science to a new generation of possible scientists.

I asked Lund how he came up with the idea and why he chose rap. He told me that the rap/hip hop genre lends itself very well to conveying a lot of information via lyrics, since lyrics, word play and double entendres are endemic of the style. He also plants quite a few little Easter Eggs (my term, not his) that students "get" once they learn the science info behind the videos. For instance he uses the phrase "You can't touch me, I'm like Kelvin zero degrees - that's how I live."  which the kids will get if they understand the concept of absolute zero. (I have to say, this one really tickled my funny bone!). So not only does rap/hip hop lend itself to this type of educational content, it does it in a way that's fun, lively, engaging and something that likely fits right into the genre of what his students are already enjoying. I picture pulling up to a stoplight next to a car full of kids, hearing the bass rumble and then hearing all these kids rapping along explaining what a mole is! (check out this video to see what I mean)

Lund has done quite a few videos but the reason I chose these two is that the pseudoscience video (which is how I was introduced to Lund) is near and dear to my heart. The mole video on the other hand, shows the breadth of techniques that Lund employs to continue to surprise and reach kids. In "The Mole", Lund gets his fellow teachers, as well as students and the Assistant Principal involved in the video. If you remember back to those days in high school, the last person you expected to see having fun and being cool was your principal and according to Lund, the reaction was cheers, hoots and applause! Always keep them on their toes! I give Lund kudos for getting the other teachers involved as well as involving the students. 

Lund has taken quite a bit of time and energy to create these incredible teaching tools. He writes the lyrics, gets his colleagues involved, at times even teaching some of hip hop's colloquialisms to his fellow teachers. Imagine a bunch of science teachers hanging green plastic table cloths all over a classroom, practicing these routines and knocking them out. Lund then painstakingly edits these videos (having done a fair amount of video production myself, I can tell you this is no small amount of work) adds the music he's created, all the appropriate background imagery and voila; brilliance on youtube! By investing so much of himself and producing these on his "teacher budget" he also displays to his students that if you want something, if you believe in it enough, you can achieve anything.

He's got quite a few videos on scientific topics, so if you are looking to brush up yourself or share with your own kids, please do subscribe to his Youtube channel: Mr Lund Science and give him a follow on twitter too: Scientific Method Man and Mr Lund

There is so much more I could say about what Lund is doing, but I want to also add that he has had the support of the school officials and school board, which I would guess was not the case at the outset. Lund has proven that scientists can be, altruistic, creative and extremely talented in ways that one doesn't expect from the stereotpyical chemistry professor. I am a huge fan and am wishing him luck on a project in the works that involves a partnership with Backyard Brains which is trying to help the very important, yet under-represented area of neurology break its way into the classroom setting. 

Do me a favor, share this with as many people as you can. These folks are training the future of America. By his own account, Lund is a true patriot and told me this; "I would say that feeling the need for critical thinking in the populace in general just comes from loving this country.  A patriotic society will show you its patriotism hand in hand with its skepticism."  

Today's truth meter reading is the far other end of the blazing pants spectrum. We award Tungsten Clan and Scientific Man with the ultimate award of Elemental Truth! Keep up the good work guys and thank you for restoring my faith in truth.

That's all for today folks!

Ads by KickAssTeachers

Pirate of the Caribbean

I've posted before about the self proclaimed "Food Babe" aka Vani Hari, aka Vain Hair. Whelp, truth is always stranger than fiction, or so the old saw goes, and this food barbie makes a good case for the truth of that.

Whilst her vast "army" was out marching against Monsanto and GMOs, Vani was happily posting pics of her West Indies vacation on Instagram, never once considering that she should be leading this fight against the enemy that she claims is the root of all ills (literally). It seems like basking in the sun (sans effective sunscreen of course) was a much better use of her time and the money she earned from her "army" purchasing the overpriced products she promotes on her pages. A pirate is a thief and this one loves the Caribbean.

From Vani's Instagram

Many of her followers excused her obvious absenteeism, claiming that she works so very hard that she deserves to be on vacation spending her shillbucks on expensive private bungalos and sailboats in the Caribbean. But, many of those of us who aren't necessarily enthralled by the brand of woo she peddles wondered if she had kept to her strict dietary regimes, while enjoying the fruits of her pseudoscience.

Turns out she's a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to that. She'll happily grill the staff about their food products and preparation even going so far as demanding to tour the kitchens and have special meals prepared based on her daily whims. However, according to Vani herself, she can't seem to resist "croissants and the most delicious breads". Now hold on there a moment! I thought that gluten, GMOs and non-organic foods were poison? At least that's what Vani tells her followers every chance she gets. So, tell me why would a poisonous concoction of these foul ingredients be even remotely tempting? Seriously, I hear that antifreeze tastes sweet but I am never, ever, tempted to swig the stuff just to please a temporary sugar craving.

From Vani's Instagram - Echire butter is the most expensive in the world.

So why does Vani claim that it's human to crave desserts and breads? She has also stated that when you go through her juice cleanses and start eating strictly from her $17.99 per month food guides, that your body will crave only good foods. Are you seeing the hypocrisy here? Oh wait, if you look at Vani's real goals, there is no hypocrisy. Vani is in this game to build herself an empire of fame and fortune. The more her army harasses companies like Monsanto, Kraft and Subway, the more she can claim personal victory for any changes those companies do in fact make. Of course, even when they make changes, Vani still won't relent, it only fuels her hunger (pardon the pun) for more fame based on fear 

Take for instance Kraft foods. In particular Kraft Mac & Cheese. She claims a personal victory for Kraft announcing that they would change their formulation for their popular Mac & Cheese to remove the artificial color - that orange color that kids around the world have come to equate with their after school Mac & Cheese treat. But was that enough to appease Vani and her army? Nope. She's like a food terrorist, once she sees that she has a little power, she is unwilling to let it go. In fact, she is demanding that people who purchase from her line of over-priced guides and partner products, NOT purchase Mac & Cheese from Kraft. Honest. This is a screen shot of the Vani's checkout page on her website:

Theoretically these statements are legally binding agreements. Now, I'm not an attorney but that statement sure doesn't seem legal to me. Seems to me that it violates competition/anti-trust laws that prohibit agreements that prevent fair trade between competing businesses. And this, after Kraft bowed to her ridiculous demands?

But back to Vani's perceived hypocrisy. Vani eats whatever the hell Vani wants. Her goal is to make the rest of us follow her rigid guidelines because it brings her more fame and wealth. That's the bottom line. So if Vani gets caught with butter running down her chin and croissant crumbs on her billabong top, she twists it into a way to make more bucks from her army.  She sent an email to her army (full disclosure: she has banned me from her facebook army, her page and even receiving her email newsletters) telling them of her "slip" and proclaiming that as a result, she was doing a webinar; but only for those who would order her juicing guide within 24 hours, to get back on track. Of course, they weren't the ones eating croissants in St Barths, but they should have to pay the price anyway, apparently.  It was when I went to see how much her juicing guide cost, that I found her not-so-legal insistence that you could have her or you could have Kraft but not both. Never both.

From Vani's Instagram; she captioned it: "My ride for the next 2 weeks"

So for Vani's indiscretion, it will only cost you an extra $24.99 and with it you'll get even more pitches to purchase partner products, but hey, your money will help get Vani back on track. Won't you be so proud? I'm guessing that some fan - or not fan - must have snapped a pic of her stuffing her face with foods on the Vani unapproved list, so she took the opportunity to turn a fault into some more big fat dollars for Mr & Mrs Food Babe. After all, 2 week vacations to the Caribbean aren't free you know! But according to Vani. she's personally cheering you on...between dives, sails and croissants. For real, she cares and I guess all  that expensive French butter she's using makes her hair shiny in the Caribbean sun. Don't you wish you could afford some?

So for these reasons, I once again award Vani Hari with our highest honors. The 5 brigade, Too hot to get near, Pants-on-Fire award. (she doesn't buy her own garbage any more than I do)

That's All Folks!

Ads By StealingYouBlindinParadise