As we watch TV around our home now and then, we are amazed at the deceit and trickery in many of the ads we see. I'll likely continue to write about some of these as time goes on. For this first installment, lets look at the world of medicine.

My friend and medical consultant studies PDR's, or Prescription Drug References, like anyone else might read their morning newspaper, and opens my eyes regularly to the inconsistencies in this business. I remember author/columnist P.J. O'Rourke's theory that politicians deliberately keep government as boring as possible (with endless legal-speak, etc.) to cause the general public, i.e. voters, from really knowing and keeping up with what they do. In a way, this happens in the medical field as well. First, there are the product names, like Unisom, Nytol, PMS Fluoxetine, and Pnemonhist (I know, you may not recognize the later two, write me & I’ll explain their significance), which are advertised to help particular ailments that you, the consumer may have. But how many of us read the labels on these packages? If you do, then you see what particular drugs make up that product, and if you are aware of what those drugs actually do, then it becomes a real eye-opener.

Often, what the product purposes to cure or treat is only a side effect of the actual drug it contains. For instance, the Unisom ads you can see on television regularly asks 'why take Tylenol PM since it contains drugs to alleviate fever, aches and pains, when you could take their wonder drug which only allows you to get some sleep?' That makes good sense, doesn't it? What they don't mention is that the active ingredient in Unisom and, I think Nytol as well, ,Diphenhydramine HCL, is the same ingredient in Tylenol PM, without the aspirin. Ok, so it won't fix a headache, but if you're nose isn't running, you didn't really need their medicine either, which contradicts the very point of the ad. In another word, they 'lied.'

Again, I could go on, but this is supposed to be a column about internet sites. Write me and I’ll explain.

Quackwatch (http://www.Quackwatch.com) says in it's mission statement that they are a "nonprofit corporation whose purpose is to combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, and fallacies." I haven't had time to check out everything on their site, but I plan to. There is a lot of useful info on here, and they report to answer your questions. They also have a page listing whom to contact about false advertising.

If you'd like to know more about medical fraud in general, then have a look at Great Moments in Medical Fraud (http://www.motherjones.com/mother_jones/MA95/davis3.html). If your knowledge of medicine is as lacking as mine, then you may want to keep the "Glossary of Medical Fraud" handy (http://www.motherjones.com/mother_jones/MA95/davis2.html) as well in order to understand the jargon.

On to anomalies, related and otherwise, I suppose. Did you like the old movie 'The Elephant Man'? If so, I'm sure you are aware that the man did exist, and led one of the most bizarre lives ever. The Elephant House (http://www.elephant-house.fsnet.co.uk) is a very well put together and beautiful, despite the strange subject matter, and can give you both a sense of the man, John Merrick, and the times in which he lived. Worth a look, even if history is not your thing.

The Marfa Lights (http://www.marfalights.com) is a Texas phenomenon of unidentified light sources around the Big Bend area most often witnessed in an area from between Alpine and Marfa, Texas and the Chinati Mountains, southwest of Marfa. First reported in 1883, they are still a mystery today, despite many attempts, scientific and otherwise to explain them.

Less than an hour north of Boston is what is known as America's Stonehenge, a megalithic enigma called Mystery Hill (http://www.stonehengeusa.com and http://unmuseum.mus.pa.us/mysthill.htm). It's builders unknown, it's believed to have been built as observatories and, perhaps, sacrificial alters. We don't know its age, though the charcoal from one fire pit was radiocarbon dated at more than 4000 years old.

Welcome to the Bill Gates Net Worth Page (http://www.quuxuum.org/~evan/bgnw.html) makes the effort to explain, in layman's terms, just how rich Billion Dollar Bill is by showing not only how much money he has, but what that means to us. Again, I've only read part, but it's very interesting reading and I will be back.

By the way, I have never known what all those cute codes are like *70 you can use on your phone. Imagine my excitement when I happened by http://www.yashy.com/star.codes.html, where they are listed and briefly explained. So briefly, in fact, I'm now in search of a site to explain the explanations. I'll let you know how it goes.

I realize that you may be thinking at this point, 'where's the humor, what about the jokes?' Well, I can only say that I've been very busy of late on an upcoming local literary project, one that you can find out more about at NET HOT SPOTS (surf.to/nethotspots). You know, sometimes I can't believe it! Reading and writing actually paid off! Often, when I am checking out a new site, I stop and thank my teacher. That is, I used to, until she got an unlisted number. I also know I have been promising more in the 'Tips & Tricks' section and I have a couple of good ones, though not quite ready to be published. I am also trying to get the current list of sites that have appeared in this column updated as well as some new sites in the Henderson County links area concerning race results, etc. Rest assured, should you care, I will be back next week, with a vengeance and a gripe! In the meantime, feel free to let me have it between the eyes at [email protected]. Take care.