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Definition:  This is when we assign meaning to invisible agents that we believe are a higher authority without any scientific evidence.

Connection: People all over the world believe various version os God, based on their religion. Most religions stem from a purely spiritual belief in God and the concrete and scientific evidence is either subject to interpretation or not compelling. Faith in God is primarily based on faith, that is believing  without concrete proof.  image: data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAkGBxMTEhUSE

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Post # 8 Reason for Belief:  Unexplained

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Post # 8 Reason for Belief:  Unexplained

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Definition:  This is when we can't explain why something is the way it is yet so instead we come up with an explanation that is not based on scientific fact.

Connection:  This is a picture taken by a person and posted on a website promoting UFO's. The picture is of a tiny speck in the distance. It is very difficult to tell what it is. To a UFO believer, it must be a UFO, because what other explanation could there be?
image:  http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/12/25/16/2F9BEFA200000578-3374094-image-m-2

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Post # 7 Reason for Belief:  Emotional Connection

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Post # 7 Reason for Belief:  Emotional Connection

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Definition: This is when we believe something because we want it to be true.  We have an emotional connection to the subject and are not rational about it because we want to believe.

Connection:  When people lose someone (they pass away) that they love very much, the wish to connect again with their loved one, particuarly if they did not get a chance to say goodbye, is strong.  Being able to do this by way of a Ouija board (or a medium) is a strong reason for belief.
image:  data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAkGBxMTEhUTE

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Red Flag:  Red Herring
Definition:  This is a distraction that is provided purely to detract and to provide substance  that does not either substantially support the products claims or is completely irrelevant. (http://www.nessie.co.uk/)

Connection: The main page of the Nessie website, which is a website maintained by a group who strongley believe in the truth of the Loch Ness Monster. The first page of the website, under the heading of FACTs, lists a number of facts about the Loch Ness, which is the body of water where Nessie apparently resides. The word Facts draws your attention and without reviewing the material, one would think if these people have facts proving the existence of Nessie, she must be real.

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Red Flag:  Mystical Energy
Definition:  This is the use of the word energy, which technically refers to the measure of someones or somethings ability to do work, as a sort of power that can accomplish extraordinary things.  (http://woofighters.org/2010/06/warning-signs-that-something-is-not-scientifi/)

Connection:  In this cartoon, the white-haired guy is telling the boy that he knows that aliens came down with energy valence spirit healing force.  He says It is science.  The boys says he will buy the product.  A second boy questions the testability of the statement as good science is testable.  The energy valence spirit healing force is mystic mumbo jumbo and doesn't even make sense.

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Red Flag:  All Natural
Definition:  This is used to appeal to people who seek healthy lifestyles and to suggest that the product must be good because it is all natural; yet there are a number of natural products that are not healthy of good.  (https://www.wddty.com/magazine/2017/february/flower-power-how-i-beat-eczema.html)

Connection:  This article appearing in a February 2017 health magazine discusses how a mother used flowers to get rid of her daughters severe case of eczema. The magazine promotes natural alternatives to medical remedies and the Mothers testimony supports this position.

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It started as a small patch of red skin on her neck when she was about three months old, shortly after her first round of vaccinations,"

Leyla Mehmet, 35, recalls. "Then it spread to her chest, her back, her tummy, her legs, her feet-her entire body was covered in it."

Leyla, from Southgate, North London, is talking about her daughter Alara, whose eczema was so bad "it looked like she'd been dipped in a deep fat fryer".

"People would gasp when they saw her and give me dirty looks," Leyla remembers. "We stopped going to mother-and-baby groups, to the shops-anywhere at all actually."

Alara was prescribed various steroid creams and emollients for her eczema by her GP, but her sore, red, itchy skin persisted. "I'd bathe her, cover her in creams and wrap her head-to-toe in bandages up to five times day," Leyla explained. "I followed the doctor's advice, but nothing worked."
Holding out
Eventually, Alara was referred to a dermatologist, who recommended oral steroids. But Leyla didn't like the idea of her daughter taking powerful drugs with such a long list of side-effects, so she turned them down. The only alternative, the dermatologist said, was to "get used to it" and learn to manage the symptoms as well as the emotional side of the condition.

"She told me there was a chance Alara might grow out of it, but probably not till she was much older, or she could have it for the rest of her life."

Refusing to accept there was nothing she could do, Leyla made a list of alternative treatments to try and started to make her way through them. By this time, she had already researched eczema extensively and made a number of lifestyle changes-switching her washing powder, changing her bedding and getting rid of chemical cleaning products-that she had read could help with the symptoms. But while they did help a bit, every part of Alara's body continued to be covered in eczema.

Leyla also had Alara tested for allergies and discovered she was allergic to cow's milk. Cutting it from her diet, though, still didn't solve the problem.

After various alternative therapies also proved fruitless, Leyla finally decided to visit the traditional Chinese medicine practice she passed every day on her way to and from work. "They used to give out leaflets at Southgate tube station," Leyla said. "Eczema was on the list of conditions they claimed to be able to treat. I thought I'd give it a try."
Eastern promise
Leyla made an appointment with Dr Elizabeth Chang at the Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine & Acupuncture practice and took Alara, who by this time was two years old, along for a consultation.

Refreshingly, Chang didn't just hand out yet another cream; instead, she diagnosed Alara with a digestion problem and told Leyla this would need to be addressed to clear her skin. She told Leyla to feed Alara only foods that were easy to digest, like boiled leafy vegetables, and to avoid nightshades like tomatoes, potatoes and aubergines. She also prescribed a herbal tea for Alara to drink twice a day, which included honeysuckle, peony and gardenia root, and advised Leyla to stop washing Alara so frequently and covering up her skin all the time.

"She said Alara was over-dressed, over-washed and over-creamed," Leyla recalls, "and I needed to expose her skin to the sun as much as possible."
Crazy works
Despite initially thinking that Chang was "crazy", Leyla decided to commit to her unconventional therapy wholeheartedly, and wasted no time in changing Alara's diet and "stripping her off".

"She was toddling around in just knickers a lot of the time", said Leyla, "and I would only wash her when I really had to."

Getting Alara to drink the herbal tea was the most challenging thing. "We [Leyla and her husband, Mo] would have to tackle her to the floor to get her to take it. We eventually solved the problem by giving her the mixture in a syringe."

Less of a chore was Chang's recommendation to get Alara out into the sun. Leyla and Mo took her on holiday to Spain and let her play in the sea with no clothes or bandages on. "We really noticed a difference in her skin after that," said Leyla. "It had started to heal."
Kid stuff
After six weeks of following Chang's traditional Chinese medical approach, Alara's skin had changed dramatically. She still had patches of eczema, Leyla said, but it was nothing like it had been before.

"We started taking Alara to the park, to the cinema, to mother-and-toddler groups-it was great to have the freedom to do normal things again. Before, she couldn't even sit in a car without her skin reacting."

Alara's skin continued to improve over the months until, about one year later, it was 100 per cent healthy. "By the time she was three, her skin was perfect," said Leyla. "Her eczema had gone completely."

Amazed by what she had witnessed, Leyla decided to train in herbal medicine and is currently a few months away from graduating from the College of Naturopathic Medicine with a diploma.

"All I knew was that I had to understand what I had experienced and know how to do it, so that I could give this gift that the herbalist gave me to other people."

Leyla's goal is to set up her own herbal clinic and specialize in helping people with chronic skin conditions like eczema.

As for Alara, she's now a healthy, happy four-year-old and big sister to brother Junaid. She no longer has to take herbs or follow a special diet, and she's had no eczema relapses.

"She's free to be a kid," said Leyla. "She can get wet, muddy, dusty, stroke cats and dogs, wash her hands with soap, run around naked and do all the things that 'normal' kids can do," said Leyla.
Alara's TCM prescription
EAT: Boiled leafy greens, bone broth, vegetable soup, white meat once a week, white baked fish once a week

AVOID: All fruit (except apples and melons), fried foods, nightshades

DRINK: Herbal tea twice daily (six-week course), water

DO: Expose skin to the sun regularly (taking care not to burn)

DON'T: Wash or cover up the skin too much
Eczema fact file
Atopic dermatitis-better known as eczema-is an inflammatory skin disorder that can affect anyone at an age and any part of the body.

The symptoms of red, scaly skin and intense itching can profoundly affect quality
of life for both sufferers and their families.1

Although often considered a childhood condition, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia recently concluded that eczema is "probably a life-long illness", and symptoms in children may continue well into their second decade of life and often even longer.2

Steroid-based creams, the usual treatment for eczema,
can cause irritation, discoloration and thinning of the skin with long-term use, while topical immunomodulators like tacrolimus and pimecrolimus-newer options for treating chronic eczema-have both been linked to skin cancer.
The TCM approach
The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) way of treating eczema is very different from the conventional Western approach. As Dr Elizabeth Chang, the herbalist who treated Alara, explains, "Chinese medicine sees eczema as an internal problem, not just an external one. You need to balance the whole body in order to heal the skin."

There is no one-size-fits-all treatment, says Chang, who trained as a haematologist in China before specializing in herbal medicine and acupuncture, and moving to the UK. "Each patient is treated individually, depending on his or her symptoms-whether the eczema is dry and itchy or wet and sore, for example-and on how long they've had it, and whether they're a man, woman or child."

While Western medicine focuses on topical treatments like creams, emollients and covering the skin in bandages to manage the symptoms, the TCM approach is to deal with what's causing the eczema in the first place. "I always say: you get rid of the problem from the root," says Chang.

Often the cause is diet and digestion, she says. "Oily foods and foods with a lot of salt and sugar just add fuel to the fire. With dry, flaking, inflamed skin, you need to eat foods that will hydrate you from the inside out. And drink lots of water." Also, people can be allergic to lots of different foods, which can present as eczema, Chang says.

With Alara, the very plain diet of boiled veg and limited meat and fish she was recommended was intended to boost her digestive system, help with detoxification, and hydrate her body and skin. Chang also prescribed 12-14 different Chinese herbs to be brewed and taken as a tea-herbs with calming, balancing, cleansing, hydrating and anti-inflammatory properties such as honeysuckle, peony and gardenia root.

Not constantly washing and covering up the skin was an important part of Alara's treatment too. "The skin needs its natural oils," says Chang, "and it needs to breathe."

In the two decades that she's been at her North London practice, Chang says she's had great success with treating eczema-usually with a mixture of dietary advice, herbs and acupuncture.

This has been mirrored by a number of positive clinical studies evaluating TCM for eczema. In a pooled analysis of seven randomized controlled trials, Chinese herbal medicine was shown to be significantly superior to both placebo and conventional Western medicine in reducing the severity of atopic dermatitis (eczema)-with no serious adverse effects.
Useful contacts and resources
Dr Elizabeth Chang4 Chase Side,
Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acupuncture

London N14 5PA

Association of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture UK (ATCM)Suite 12 Brentano House, Unit 5 The Exchange

Brent Cross Gardens,
London NW4 3RJ
www.atcm.co.uk;
tel: 020 8457 2560

College of Naturopathic Medicine (CNM)
www.naturopathy-uk.com; tel: 01342 410 505

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It started as a small patch of red skin on her neck when she was about three months old, shortly after her first round of vaccinations," Leyla Mehmet, 35, recalls. "Then it spread to her chest, her back, her tummy, her legs, her feet-her entire body was covered in it."

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Red Flag:  Suppression by Authorities
Definition:  This is the suggestion that certain entities are suppressing the true nature of the item for government, corporate, or personal benefit, or greed. (http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1860871_1860876_1861003,00.html)

Connection: The assassination of JFK and the subsequent investigation gave rise to a number of possibilities regarding who did it and why. One strongly held belief by a minority was a conspiracy theory that the Government themselves arranged for the assassination. This belief continued despite the arrest and conviction of the shooter.

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On the 40th anniversary of the moon landing — or was it just a sinister hoax? — TIME looks at 10 of the world's most enduring conspiracy theories

AP

This much we can stipulate: President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, struck by two bullets — one in the head, one in the neck — while riding in an open-topped limo through Dealey Plaza in Dallas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with killing him, and a presidential commission headed by Chief Justice Earl Warren found that Oswald acted alone.

That conclusion hasn't passed muster with the public. A 2003 ABC News poll found that 70% of Americans believe Kennedy's death was the result of a broader plot. The trajectory of the bullets, some say, didn't square with Oswald's perch on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository. Others suggest a second gunman — perhaps on the grassy knoll of Dealey Plaza — participated in the shooting. Others believe in an even broader conspiracy. Was Kennedy killed by CIA agents acting either out of anger over the Bay of Pigs or at the behest of Vice President Lyndon Johnson? By KGB operatives? Mobsters mad at Kennedy's brother for initiating the prosecution of organized crime rings? Speculation over one of history's most famous political assassinations is such a popular parlor game that most people have taken the rumors to heart: just 32% of those polled by ABC believe Oswald carried out the killing on his own.
Read "The Grassy Knoll Is Back."

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On the 40th anniversary of the moon landing - or was it just a sinister hoax? - TIME looks at 10 of the world's most enduring conspiracy theories This much we can stipulate: President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on Nov.

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Red Flag:  Proof by Verbosity
Definition:  This is the use large amounts of information to support claims that upon further review are not relevant or not very compelling.  (www.theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=1324.0)

Connection:   This page on the Flat Earth Society website has a link that it directs new visitors to the site to read. That link and a number of other links on the website list a plethora of facts and statistics that for the most part, have no role or relation in supporting that the earth is flat. It also rebuts various publications that oppose the flat earth Societies beliefs. Again, the information posted is mostly huge amounts of information that does not relate in any way to the shape of the earth. It attempts to lend credibility to their position.

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Red Flag:  Appeal to Authority
Definition:  This is the use of images such as symbols, celebrities and scientific materials to lend credibility to the product being offered. (http://transform-drugs.blogspot.ca/2008/10/pseudoscience-tobacco-advertsing-from.html)

Connection:  This advertisement uses Professional throat Doctors in a public test to lend credibility to their claim that Old Gold cigarettes are the smoothest cigarettes and won't make you cough "not a cough in a carload". The use of the throat Doctors recommendations implies they must be good for you because the throat doctors (Specialists of throat medicine) are approving of it..

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Assignment One,
Shelly Marie Kuris (working individually)
Student# 100633869