All authorities are not created equal. There was a long thread discussing Dr. Rona's credentials, and whether they had been misleadingly presented.
On Mar 22, 2009, at 10:57 PM, Michael Smith wrote: > Oh sure! > Now you're just substituting one authority (Dr. Rona) for another > (Dr. Schwarcz) And we don't even get to see his statements! Instead > they are relayed through a friend. Reminds me of that book (Urantia?) > > I had a quick look at the article seemed fine to me (lol). > > --Mike > On Sun, Mar 22, 2009 at 5:59 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > On 22 Mar 2009 at 11:14, [email protected] wrote: > > > The article is here: > > http://shop.snyderhealth.com/article_info.php?articles_id=6 > > The claim that distilled water is dangerous to drink makes no sense on > theoretical grounds, and my PubMed search in my previous post > showed that > the claim has not the slightest empirical support either. > > As I noted, I am offended that Dr. Rona should be peddling such > outrageous scaremongering while advertising his M.D. degree from > McGill > University, the same internationally-respected university where I > received my undergraduate degree. > > But help is at hand. There is a Ph.D. chemist who has a well-deserved > reputation and awards for debunking health claims, especially those > relating to the supposed dangerous effects of chemicals and chemical > additives. In a way, he is the Amazing Randi of chemistry. Around > these > parts he is known for his newspaper columns and radio and TV > commentaries, which provide refreshingly good common-sense and > scientifically-accurate advice on all things chemical. This man is Dr. > Joseph Schwarcz. > > By some amazing cosmic coincidence Dr. Schwarcz is both a Ph.D. > graduate > of McGill and currently holds a position there as professor of > chemistry. > He is also Director of McGill University´s Office for Science and > Society > "which is dedicated to demystifying science for the public, the > media and > students." Who better to provide an opinion on the deadly distilled > water claims of McGillian Zoltan Rona than Dr. Schwarcz? > > So I wrote him. No more than an hour later I had my response. > Bearing in > mind that I didn't ask for permission to repost his letter, I won't > say > what's in it. But I think I am safe in relaying his statement that > he is > aware of Dr. Rona's activities, and he believes the distilled water > claim > to be "ridiculous nonsense". > > I think he just might write a column about it. I hope so. > > > More on Dr. Schwarcz: > > Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Schwarcz > Office for Science and Society: http://oss.mcgill.ca/schwarcz.php > > Stephen Paul Brandon Emeritus Professor of Psychology Minnesota State University, Mankato [email protected] --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
