My wife's machine makes use of theories developed by Dr. Royal Rife. Hmmmm. "Royal" as a first name??? Ever notice that quacks and television evangelists often have unusual names? There's a Website that gives a good overview of this Rife stuff, http://www.rife.org/. If you do a Google search for Royal Rife, you'll see that there's a whole industry built on variations of the guy's machines. My wife's Rife machine has digital programming, and it has a label on the back that says the the machine is booby-trapped so it will be permanently disabled if you dare to open it up to see what's inside. This doesn't bother my wife, since she sees it as a safety device. The $2,000 machine supposedly has a lifetime warranty, and users should have no need to open the magic box to see what's inside.

All the gadgets of this ilk are accompanied by copious amounts of literature which purport to prove their effectiveness. The literature always has statistics - a mind-boggling quantity of statistics. The literature is always accompanied by an all-encompassing disclaimer. The disclaimer at rife.org is a good example:

All links, articles, and references contained in these pages are for educational purposes only. Under no circumstances do we offer any form or type of medical advice or services. We urge that all medical decisions should be made in consultation with your qualified doctor or health care provider.   
Permission to access these pages is given only with this disclaimer.

It makes me feel bad that at least three other $2,000 machines have been sold as a result of my wife's interest. And last year, she had gatherings in the house for a guy did $100 blood analyses by use of a TV camera hooked to a microscope. When I overheard him telling people to stop using prescribed medications and replace them with dietary supplement pills, I got worried that somebody could have serious health problems due to his advice - and we could get sued for sponsoring him. My wife's only asset is the house (and some old magnetic mattresses in the basement). My assets are fairly liquid - so I imagine it could be my retirement that would pay off the lawsuits... So, anyhow, she stopped having the blood parties in the house after I went on a tirade about the 'blood jerk' who was using our house and my wife's reputation to make a tidy profit with no benefit to us other than free blood analyses.

Most of these guys would be very effective as used car salesmen - or television evangelists. Oh - and other thing I find interesting with all of this quacker is that most of the sellers are men, and most of the buyers are women. And for the most part, these are women who consider themselves to be modern, educated, and "liberated." They also use pendulums to help them make buying decisions in the supermarket.

Anyhow, all this stuff is fascinating to me. I do think that "alternative medicine" has some value in some situations - and Although I generally trust the medical profession over the alternative stuff, I think there is a lot of hooey in both.

So, who can I trust? My big problem is that I'd really place my trust in the plasma TV because I know for certain that Lord of the Rings would look wonderful on one - but I've heard that a plasma TV lasts about 5 years in normal use, and loses half of its brightness halfway through those five years.

I guess I'd better stick with folk music, huh?

-Joe Offer-