Thursday, November 26, 2009

Is it just me?

The Professional Standards Director for Boots the Chemist, Paul Bennett, has had a Gerald Ratner moment. And in case you don't know what that is, Gerald Ratner, who was head of the largest jewellery chain in UK, had a habit of standing up at public events and telling everyone how crap his products were. If I remember correctly, he once described his jewellery as about as durable and expensive as a prawn sandwich. Paul Bennett has done pretty much the same thing by announcing that homoeopathic remedies sold by Boots are useless, and only stocked because they sell, not because they work.

This is actually pretty fascinating. I can't decide whether Bennett is actually doing this out of stupidity, or some moral crusade. The only thing I do know is that he's right, homoeopathy doesn't work even though a huge number of people believe it does. The remarks were made to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, which is investigating the scientific evidence behind homoeopathy. How many times does it have to be investigated? The conclusion is always the same, there is no evidence to suggest it does anything.

The chairman of the British Association of Homoeopathic Manufacturers, Robert Wilson, is sure there is "strong evidence" that homoeopathy works however. He told the committee, "Boots are a very important retailer, they sell a great deal of these products. If these products don't work beyond the placebo effect, why do people keep buying them?" I love that quote. He's saying that homoeopathic remedies must work because people buy them. Isn't that rather like saying witches really did exist in the 15th century because people burnt them?

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Apparently Jesus may have visited Britain. I didn't see it in the papers. He went to Glastonbury apparently. I don't know who was playing that year. Must have been a while back. Probably Duran Duran or something.

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Roman Polanski has been let out of custody on bail. He gets to stay at his Swiss Chalet and has to wear an electronic tag. I guess that means he's not going to abscond then.

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Swiss nutter, Yves Rossy, famous for throwing himself out of planes with a jetpack strapped to his back, has crashed while trying to fly across the Strait of Gibraltar. He landed in the drink and had to be rescued. The man is 50, he should know better.

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Is it just me, or does anyone else find Alan Carr creepy as hell?

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