"Naturally Crooked"
A little item from the recent past here. In the March, 2006 edition of 'Scientific American' 'Skeptic' columnist Michael Schirmer takes aim at one of the more astounding purveyors of the "natural medicine swindle. This is the author Kevin Trudeau who wrote the book 'Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You To Know'. Trudeau has previously been convicted of credit card fraud and had spent two years in the federal pen. He had also been barred from his old scam of infomercials in any medium. yet books are protected speech under the US Constitution, and the old fox can go on with his old game if the matter is in print. The natural "cures" (of which Shirmer cites a humorous selection) that the book promotes refer the reader to Trudeau's website where a life membership costs $499- or $9.95 monthly. it's one way to keep on stealing even if you've been caught. Trudeau's book unfortunately reached the NYT's best sellers list.
Shirmer ends his article with an old Japanese proverb, "Baka ni tsukeru kusuri wa nai" which translates as "there's no medicine that cures stupidity".