Skeptical reporter @ 2013-05-31

Skeptical Reporter for May 31st, 2013 David Colquhoun (UCL) and Steven Novella (Yale) have written an article on why acupuncture doesn't work. The journal “Anesthesia & Analgesia” has published the article: “Acupuncture is a theatrical placebo” together with another article written by supporters of acupuncture as a form of alternative therapy.  On his blog, Colquhoun wrote about his reasons for writing the article: “Acupuncture is an interesting case, because it seems to have achieved greater credibility than other forms of alternative medicine, despite its basis being just as bizarre as all the others. As a consequence, a lot more research has been done on acupuncture than on any other form of alternative medicine, and some of it has been of quite high quality. The outcome of all this research is that acupuncture has no effects that are big enough to be of noticeable benefit to patients, and it is, in all probability, just a theatrical placebo. After more than 3000 trials, there is no need for yet more. Acupuncture is dead”. One former conspiracy theorist, Charlie Veitch, has opened up about the consequences of him changing his mind. After years of promoting the idea that the September 11 terrorist attack in the United States was just a controlled demolition, Veitch posted a video on his YouTube channel announcing that he had been wrong. Veitch had expected a few spiteful comments from the so-called “Truth Movement”. What he had not expected was the size or the sheer force of the attack. In the days after he uploaded his video, entitled “No Emotional Attachment to 9/11 Theories”, Veitch was disowned by his friends, issued with death threats and falsely accused of child abuse in an email sent to 15,000 of his followers. “I went from being Jesus to the devil,” he says now. “It was relentless. A guy in Manchester set up a YouTube channel called ‘Kill Charlie Veitch’. It said, ‘Charlie, I hope you know I’m going to come and kill you. Enjoy your last few days. Goodbye.’ So many hate videos were posted – my face superimposed on a pig and someone’s killing the pig.” Another message featured images of his sister’s young children incorporated within a video of child pornography. Alex Jones posted a film in which he claimed he’d known “all along”, and that Veitch had “psychopath, sociopath eyes”. His mother called, devastated, believing the pedophilia “confession” which she’d been emailed, along with 15,000 others, was real. Looking back, he describes the conspiracy community as an “evil-worshiping paranoia. As someone who’s been deep in it, and seen the hatred and the insanity, I think big terrorist attacks will come from conspiracy theorists.” A man claiming to be Jesus is gaining followers and causing concern among cult experts in Australia. Former IT specialist Alan John Miller, or AJ as he prefers to be known, runs a religious movement known as the Divine Truth from his home near the small town of Kingaroy. Miller claims that not only is he Christ, but his partner, Australian Mary Luck, is in fact Mary Magdalene, who according to the Bible was present at the crucifixion. He told Sky News: “I have very clear memories of the crucifixion, but it wasn't as harrowing for me as it was for others like Mary who was present. When you are one with God you are not in a state of fear, and you have quite good control over your body's sensations and the level of pain that you absorb from your body”. He holds seminars near his home and also travels around the world teaching people how to have a personal relationship with God, often by delving deep into their emotions. Dozens of his followers are understood to have bought properties in the area to be closer to him.  After his crucifixion the Australian claims he entered the spirit world where he met Plato, Socrates, popes and presidents. Whilst critics dismiss his claims the seminars attract large groups of people, up to 150 a time. In New South Wales, Australia,