From: ara@zurich.ai.mit.edu (Allan Adler)
Subject: snake oil
Organization: M.I.T. Artificial Intelligence Lab.
Distribution: sci
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 06:38:07 GMT



The recently formed newsgroup alt.support.cancer has been infected with a
parasite who seems to be selling snake oil to cancer patients. Actually,
it is not snake oil, but some herbal stuff called BARLEYGREEN. One of
his stylistic indicators is a tendency to capitalize all his buzzwords,
such as HEALTH, TRUST, CLEANSE, etc.

I find it distressing to see such a well-intentioned newsgroup as 
alt.support.cancer polluted in this way, and I don't feel the 
atmosphere would be improved by a flame war.

That is one of the reasons I am posting here. The other is that it occurred
to me that someone like the party I am referring to (Jeff Cannon) may have
turned up on sci.med and people might have had some experience dealing with
him. If so, please let me know.

I do not still have his original snake oil posting, but I enclose one of
his followups in reply to one of my flames. The flavor still comes through.

I should also mention that I read alt.support.cancer because a friend of mine
has Hodgkins disease and does not have access to usenet himself. As far as
I know I am quite healthy.

Allan Adler
ara@altdorf.ai.mit.edu


From: cannon@superdist.Sun.COM (Jeff Cannon)
Newsgroups: alt.support.cancer
Subject: Re: HEALTH
Date: 10 Apr 92 03:24:26 GMT
Reply-To: cannon@superdist.Sun.COM (Jeff Cannon)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: superdist.ebay.sun.com

I knew I would have these types of problems when I decided to post to this
network, but I could not live with myself unless I share my positive 
experiences with others.

Not one of us will be able to grow without TRUST.  At first,
I was very skeptical when a good friend of mine introduced me to
BARLEYGREEN and herbs.  I finally decided to TRUST him and give it 
a try.  Since beginning on the products on December of 1990, I have
not came close to getting sick and neither has my 5 yr old daughter
as well as several others.  The items that I mentioned are remarkable,
but I did not create them, God did.  The Creator left us all that
was needed to remain in good health and to cure ourselves in time
of illness.

MANY OF THE DIS-EASES THAT EXISTS IN THE U.S. DO NOT EXIST IN SEVERAL
OTHER COUNTRIES.  THIS IS BECAUSE WE LIVE QUITE DIFFERENT, WE EAT
FOODS THAT WE CANNOT DIGEST PROPERLY, WE ARE CONSTIPATED, WE DO NOT
ASSIMILATE THE NUTRIENTS FROM OUR FOODS, WE EAT DEAD FOODS (NO ENZYMES,ETC.)
WITH NO NUTRITIONAL VALUE TO THE BODY WHATSOEVER. There is alot more to 
mention, but the point is made.  We cannot expect our bodies to remain
healthy under these conditions.

I never said that I could cure cancer.  The cure lies within each of us.
The body must have your assistance to cure itself of DIS-EASE.  All
that I can suggest to you is the types of assistance that the body is 
searching for and what items that I have seen work.

Cancer just does not appear from thin air.  It is either inherited and/or
accumulated in the body over a period of time from "wrongs" that have
been done to the body (whether it be from the environment, what you eat
and assimulate, or from accumlated stress,etc.).

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions of what I say.  I am not preying
on anyone.  This would not be healthy.  When one does bad things, they have
a way of coming back to get you.

Hopefully, I may be able to reach just one person.  That one person can
share their experiences with this net (positive or negative).  If not,
I wish all of you the best and do not give up HOPE.

Take Care,

Jeff
*************
In article <ARA.92Apr9110652@camelot.ai.mit.edu>, ara@zurich.ai.mit.edu (Allan Adler) writes:
|> I find it difficult, reading Jeff Cannon's remarks, to believe that he is
|> not simply preying on the fears of cancer patients in order to sell them
|> something.
|> 
|> Even if one assumes that he is in earnest, it is still disturbing to read.
|> It has the ring of someone who believes he can cure cancer with
|> ideology.
|> 
|> As I have pointed out on other occasions, never assume that you are
|> too strung out to be useful to a parasite and never assume that someone
|> else is too well off to be one.
|> 
|> Allan Adler
|> ara@altdorf.ai.mit.edu