In addition to magnetic bracelets and shoe inserts to aid in healing and electrocution belts for weight loss, consumers looking to waste money on products with dubious medical claims can now blow their earnings on a watch that claims to protect your body from “electronic pollution” in the form of magnetic fields.
Wired News: A Watch Powered by Snake Oil
The Philip Stein Teslar watch contains a chip that works with the battery and coil to create a frequency that neutralizes the electromagnetic fields emanating from devices like cell phones, computers and radios, according to the company.
Research links electromagnetic fields with several health problems like headache, fatigue and memory loss, the company said. Those who wear the quartz watch allegedly sleep better, experience less stress and have improved concentration and more energy, it claims.
“It shields the body from these electromagnetic fields, and then the body can be more effective in taking care of itself and its immune system with those unwanted fields thrown off,” explained Ilonka Harezi, head of research for Teslar Inside, which manufactures the watch. “With us sticking cell phones to our heads, we need that protection,” Harezi said.
But others say the company’s claims are a bunch of bunk.
“There is not a chance in the world that (these types of devices) will do anything but lighten your wallet,” said John Moulder, a professor of radiation oncology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, who said he’s seen a slew of products that claim to do the same thing, including radio-frequency-proof lingerie.
Despite there being absolutely no scientific evidence that magnetic fields have any discernible effect on the body, and that’s something that has been studied extensively, the watches are being sold at such upscale stores as Bloomingdale’s New York and Royal Jewelers in Massachusetts for prices starting at $600 and going up to $2000 for one covered in diamonds. Needless to say, the watches are a hit among various celebrities and athletes and the clueless in general.
That’s it. I’m tired of being the only one who’s not making tons of money off of peoples’ stupidity and gullibility. I’m going to develop my own highly over-priced craptastic product with dubious medical claims that you don’t really need and start selling it to clueless idiots so I can be rich too. Perhaps it’s time I follow through on developing a patented Anti-Alien Anal Probe Ass Shield for people suffering from occasional alien anal probe syndrome. There certainly seems be enough of those people around judging from all the news items I read about it.
Link via Boing Boing.
Which companies are you talking about specifically that are supposed to be in cahoots with which politicians, specifically? I’m asking because it’s unusually clear in following the political money and influence from Big Oil and existing energy outlets, but off the top of my head I can’t think of any “green” company that could even imagine affording laying out the plates for the same table.
Again though, why is it a problem if the government shoves green down our throats if it’s the right thing to do? Is the EPA bad? Is it better in the Ed world view for people to pollute without oversight, to pour their toxic household chemicals into the backyard lawn where it meanders into the ground water? If a company is using a toxic solution for an industrial process is it wrong for the government to step in and go “we’ve got a non or even less toxic alternative, and you’re going to use it or we’re not going to let you do anything?”
I think I’m understanding what you claim to be upset in principle over, but in practice what exactly do you think the government is “shoving down your throat” that’s absurd? Because in practice I’m seeing protected floodplains, safer working conditions, cleaner air, alternative power sources, and, best of all, people employed in the US to come up with these solutions. Exactly where do you think your rights are being abridged in practice in a way that’s not consistent with best or better practices?
“which has to subsist on government subsidies just to survive”
I am forced to assume that was sarcasm, especially since 2008 proved “big oil” can charge anything they want for no apparent reason and get away with it. I wonder how much money Al Gore stands to gain from the mindless* anti-Co2 crusade? Or even how much it’s earned him so far? He’s really taking the WORLD “to the cleaners” on this one.
*(mindless unless you run a company pushing this agenda)
So basically your opposition to helping the environment is so you don’t enrich Al Gore, who somehow has made up the idea of helping the environment as some way to make a living?
You’re probably lucky he didn’t decide to sell groceries then, right? You’d sit at home starving yourself just to spite him?
Ed said:
MisterMook already answered this well. I’ll just add that in a world filled with concerned, educated people, the FREE MARKET might be sufficient to regulate industry. To some extent this does happen: consumer pressure can force companies to change their practices. But as MisterMook points out, the FREE MARKET has been singularly poor at preventing all kinds of abuse, including pollution. Until such a time (if it ever comes- I’m not holding my breath) that we have a populace that behaves nicely and intelligently enough, we must have government oversight for some things.
Unfortunately, governments, both capitalistic and socialistic (and everything else) have not been doing their job very well either. And it doesn’t help that there’s a lot of money to be lost by very rich corporations, if we start taking the environment seriously.
How can you admit that big oil can charge anything they want and get away with it, and turn around and lambaste Al Gore for profiteering again? Claiming that global warming is a lie made up to enrich the greens is not likely to impress anyone here. Follow the buck.
“Claiming that global warming is a lie made up to enrich the greens”
I never said global warming was a lie. I did, however, say that there has been NO increase in global average temperatures in about 10 years(If you disagree, I welcome you to prove me wrong with evidence, and I do not consider Wikipedia to be evidence).
Instead of imposing BS solutions on people how about the government ensures people have effective recourse through the court system against those who pollute their environment. And no, Co2 is not a pollutant.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muHg86Mys7I
Ed, anything is a pollutant in a large enough amount. Most people like water, but they don’t swimming in it in their attics. Oxygen is great stuff, until it catches fire and blows you to hell and back.
You’re being arbitrary and disingenuous again. Stop it.
“anything is a pollutant in a large enough amount”
Well, considering that the most reliable evidence indicates that you would have to increase the current concentration of Co2 in the Earth’s atmosphere about 2 to 5 times before there MAY be a possibility we should be concerned about a negative impact on the Earth’s climate, I would have to say that your statement has no relevance in this matter. Approximately 450 million years ago Co2 levels were an estimated TEN TIMES higher than they are today and the earth was at the extreme coldest period in the last half-billion years. Do a little research. It’s counter productive to be “spoon-fed” so-called facts.
Ed, you’re not making sense again. You really want to base your opinion on climate change on the atmospheric composition right around the time the first creatures were moving onto land? Ed, this is before the gasoline you use to burn puppies with was anything more than pond scum and parasites. You’re aware, of course, that the mid Ordovician period was marked by a sharp spike of cooling owed in large part to increased tectonic activity, right? Your CO2 levels suggestions are irrelevant when the formation of the Appalachians is spitting up dust and contaminants that block the sun.
-“the gasoline you use to burn puppies with was anything more than pond scum and parasites”
How certain are you about that “pond scum and parasites” theory of yours?
http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Hot-Biosphere-Thomas-Gold/dp/0387985468?tag=stupidevilbas-20
-“the formation of the Appalachians is spitting up dust and contaminants that block the sun”
The Appalachians formed over an aestimated 50 million year period. Hardly a cataclysmic atmosphere altering event. But then there were also the widespread Volcanic eruptions, particularly the eruption which is believed by some to be responsible for both the bentonite beds found in the eastern United States and those found in Scandinavia. Perhaps this was the cause of the global cooling? It was, after all, an eruption which is estimated to have put out 488 times more ash than the eruption of Mt St. Helens. But wait. There’s a problem with this. The Co2 put into the atmospere by this and the other widespread volcanic eruptions of this time period, in combination with the extensive flooding of continents due to high sea levels*, combined with the lack of widespread vegetation on land supressing the weathering of silicate rocks(a major mechanism for removing Co2 form the atmosphere) have already been blamed for the unusually WARM temperatures of the Ordivacian Period, so how can it be blamed for the COLD period as well? YOU are not making sense.
Also, atmosperic Co2 levels were actually around 14-16 times higher in the Ordovician Period than they are today, not 10 times as I had previously stated.
*Note the interesting point shown here that high sea levels are considered to be a contributing factor to the unusually warm temperatures, and not the other way around.
…Next.
Certain enough to note that Thomas Gold was a physicist, not a biologist or chemist.
CO2 emissions are not the end all be all of climate change, especially during times of sulfate emissions such as happens during periods of heightened volcanic activity. You want a smoking gun over a vague 100 million year period 400 million years ago?
You’re still not making any sense regarding climate change though:
Specifically Ed, if you acknowledge that climate change is occurring then what the fuck is your problem with people doing something to adjust to and limit it? Seriously, your one note makes no sense. If global warming is happening and we know that CO2 can have an effect on climate change then why are keeping up this boneheaded nonsense about people trying to limit them?
I mean, is your position “Al Gore likes it, so it must be shit!” Your science is pretty shaky, which you must know. Are you one of those guys that will shit all over the environment simply because the other guy wants to clean it up? That’s a pretty petty jackass position, Ed.
I have no problem with anyone doing anything they want, as long as they are not trying to force their views on others. Imposing regulations on people based on very weak “theory” conjured up from flawed computer models is unacceptable.
Proponents of human induced warming and climate change told us that an increase in CO2 precedes and causes temperature increases. They were wrong. They told us the late 20th century was the warmest on record. They were wrong. They told us, using the infamous “hockey stick” graph, the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) did not exist. They were wrong. They told us global temperatures would increase through 2008 as CO2 increased. They were wrong. They told us Arctic ice would continue to decrease in area through 2008. They were wrong. They told us October 2008 was the second warmest on record. They were wrong. They told us 1998 was the warmest year on record in the US. They were wrong it was 1934. They told us current atmospheric levels of CO2 are the highest on record. They are wrong. They told us pre-industrial atmospheric levels of CO2 were approximately 100 parts per million (ppm) lower than the present 385 ppm. They are wrong.
http://doctorbulldog.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/exposing-the-global-warming-myth-co2-levels/
Freedom is the emancipation from the arbitrary rule of other men.
-Mortimer Adler
Ed, I live in Calgary.
I know who Tim Ball is.
I laugh that you would use him and Friends of Science. This is big oil central. We’ll do anything to protect the profit and low unemployment.
Not saying greens are not just as guilty, and more notably alarmist, but if you take him seriously, you’re deluding yourself.
Interesting reads here, by the way.
“Ed, I live in Calgary.
I know who Tim Ball is.
I laugh that you would use him and Friends of Science. This is big oil central. We’ll do anything to protect the profit and low unemployment.
Not saying greens are not just as guilty, and more notably alarmist, but if you take him seriously, you’re deluding yourself.”
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It matters not the source of the truth if supported by evidence. And I never take evidence from a single source, unless the source has proven itself.
“The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off.”
-Gloria Steinem
“Believe nothing just because a so-called wise person said it. Believe nothing just because a belief is generally held. Believe nothing just because it is said in ancient books. Believe nothing just because it is said to be of divine origin. Believe nothing just because someone else believes it. Believe only what you yourself test and judge to be true.”
-Buddha
Ed, you wouldn’t know the truth if it jumped up and bit you on the ass.
I’m sure it hasn’t escaped many people here that trying to get proof of the efficacy of quack medical devices isn’t unlike trying to get proof that a god exists…
Belief can be a powerful and a dangerous thing.
Well, aren’t you shallow????? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had something here, but I do know better, and know that you are as dumb as a box of rocks.
Homeopathy was so “on target” that the Hahneman School of Medicine was founded upon it. Yes, allopathic medicine replaced it, but at a tremendous cost. I’ve had homeopathy that worked well for me, and at little cost. It’s good enough for the Queen of England too and the entire Royal Family as well.
As for scalar energy having an effect upon the physiology, well, I have a long list of personal friends that are now free from their aches and pains. Scalar wins. Teslar watches work, you lose.
Well non believers, what about the man who founded AC electricity tesla! not edison dc electricity. Tesla found that scalar energy was real, which is what these products do. So if any of you think you have the brains to compete with this genius lol i think not. AC electricity is real and he found that scalar was as well, why argue with a genius. LOL
Those are some impressive claims, Chris. Shame you don’t provide any citations to back them up with, but then you’re obviously not a genius.
As for why one would argue with a genius, the answer is quite simple. Sometimes they’re wrong. Being very smart is no guarantee of always being correct.
The simple fact that the ads for these watches have increasingly become more and more vague about the health claims they’re making over the years is really all you need to know about how well they work. When you have to keep fuzzing up the purported benefits it’s probably because someone has figured out they’re bullshit.
Didja hear that?? Tesla “founded” AC electricity
Bwaaaahahhahahahahaaaaa
Wonder where George Westinghouse was that day
There are four groups of people who debate the validity of unconventional medicine, and other beliefs.
1. Those who try to help others make sound decisions based on evidence-based information.
2. The scammers themselves, who continue to push their psuedoscience via any media that targets the gullible and the vulnerable.
– Then, there is the subgroup of their victims who suffer from an apparent belief disorder that leads them to conclude that a ‘treatment’ they paid a lot for was effective. They also innocently and unknowingly propagate misinformation through their personal accounts and ‘testimonials’.
3. Those who, blinded by desperate need, are considering emptying their wallets to, and fulfilling a scammers dream, despite the silent voice inside that says, ‘I know I’m grasping at straws and this is probably too good to be true’. These people are the ones for whom this is written.
4. Those who have been unfortunate enough to be duped by scammers, and who are honest, courageous, and humble enough to admit it, even through their hurt and anger. These people should not, and ultimately don’t feel ‘stupid’ about having been scammed. They realize that scammers are very cunning, manipulative, and that they are expert liars. Those who show compassion by reporting their experince ARE HEROES by very possibly saving other people from the pain and heartache that they, themselves, suffered.
__________________________________
Scammers prey on the often frail state of the human mind when it comes to making wise decisions. A scammer’s only real skill and ‘business acumen’ lies in manipulating a victim’s thought processes and beliefs.
A required course in the schools should be a study of the psychology of belief to give young people a stronger foothold against the scammers they will likely encounter in their adulthood. In this world of dishonest, greedy people, healthy skepticism and critical thinking is mandatory.
Adults who struggle with, or question their belief systems might benefit by understanding one very important aspect of how and why we might mistakenly and persistently believe what we do. It’s called “cognitive dissonance”. The name sounds ‘clinical’, but it is a mental process that is common among most of us.
It is explained briefly, but well at http://stress.about.com/od/professionalhelp/a/distortions.htm
I attempted to find a site that explains “cognitive dissonance” in plain English. The site I chose does address “cognitive distortions”, but it doesn’t fully explain cognitive dissonance.
Wikipedia does offer a more clinical definition of this phenomenon (although Wikipedia should not be considered an authority for reliable information).
The “Link” function here failed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance
http://teslar.com/ourproducts/
they are at it again with new products
I was trying to find technical info on this device myself when google popped this thread up, I must say that while I love finding anything piece of info on the man I consider the greatest inventor of all times, I am , once again, absolutely outraged at seeing his name befouled for commercial purposes especially considering he would be even more outraged himself to see his name abused in such ways. Wether the watch worked or not, it is absolutely UNcool to exploit Tesla for money, he himself shreded contracts that might have made a billionnaire more than once on principles only. And as usual here is another product made by poeple who dont seem to know anything at all about electricity, magnetisim, gravity, scalar waves , or any area of physics whatsoever. One comment here was about how the watch on a wrist would only protect the wrist: that depends on the strength of whatever magnetic field is produce( if any at all) by your watch , with enough power it could affect a whole city or even a galaxy , though I doubt the little watch battery can achieve that. But as another one pointed out, you dont need a magnetic field at all, just a shield made of a medium which isnt magnetically permeable. Les , I would like to know if you have any pertinent knowledge about Tesla and some of his peronnal work, Im learning electricity, magnetism and physics now( in the process of learning , Im NOT a physicist at the moment lol) and you seem to be the only person here with any scientific knowledge whatsoever if a bit over conventionnal ( but no one is perfect
My goal is to take over what Tesla started ( I know Ill need to live at least 500 years just to get started but hey I got nothing better to do lol) Im especially interested in electro-magnetism and high frequency current.
I own one of the original Japanese made Philip Stein teslar watches. Today I needed a new battery. The watchmaker opened the case and showed me that it contained a run-of-the-mill cheapo Japanese movement and no special chip whatsoever. Years ago I even talked to “Ilonka Harezi”. What a chump I’ve been. Oddly, there was a little piece of copper glued to the inside of the case (?) other than that it is just a commonplace watch.
Lets get one thing straight here people! NOTHING cures you! You only cure yourself. Anything that supposedly cures you is only a tool. Belief in that tool is what cures. Two people can have the same treatment for the same disease. One gets cured the other does not. Is the supposed cure bogus then? No. It did work for the one. Why do you think people get cured or not cured by all types of different methods?
You ever heard someone say I tried everything then finally…boom something works cause they decided they did not want to be sick or die anymore. Others decide they no longer want to be here so nothing works. This is not conscious thing but subconscious.
Chuck wrote:
Wow, what a stunning pile of happy horseshit that is. Thanks! I needed a good laugh today.
“The Force is strong with this one!” Yes, placebo effect does have some part in most “cures”, but not the ONLY part.
Peace.
@ Les:
Les you look like the Quack.
Really? That’s all you’ve got to contribute to the conversation? I guess what they say about country boys is true.
In the 1800s, if you told someone you can call him using a phone without wires, he’d call you crazy too. Not saying this watch works as claimed. Just that the universe is bigger than we know, at any given time. Some things we know how they work. Others we have yet to know how they work. Any of us had we lived in Galileo’s time would easily call him CRAZY.
Gil, you’re an idiot. Disregarding the fact that the concept of wireless communication was not unknown of in the 19th century, your argument that the “universe is bigger than we know” is just plain old stupid. It suggests that we should give the benefit of the doubt to extreme claims without regard to any evidence either supporting or disproving said claims.
By that logic I could argue that putting my foot up your ass might make you smarter. I don’t know how it would work and it might take several applications, but it just might work so perhaps we should give a go and see what happens. After all, the universe is bigger than we know and maybe there’s something about my foot that, when placed up your ass in a swift kicking motion, might increase your IQ.
Hey Less (pun intended)
The Philip Stein Teslar watch will make the user lose facial hair, fat and stink attitudes , looks like you my friend have the most to gain..