Peter said:
>>>What do Aajonus, Bruno and Ronald have in common. Answer: Their
>>>attitude to parasites which they, depending on the circumstances,
>>>believe  are either harmless or have a beneficial, healing effect on
>>>the body.

Michael said:
>>What is this based on?  Is there any scientific type evidence backing
>>this up?

>As far as I know it is all based on faith & anecdotal experience.

>Michael said:
>>This statement also indicates that they think you can/will get
>>parasites from eating RAF but that they are not harmful as opposed to
>>thinking that you will not get parasites.

>That is correct. The thought takes a little getting used to.

Perhaps it would help to remind yourself that cooked eaters get parasites
as well. It's not like parasites are limited to raw foods (plant or
animal). Mosquitos, rodents, and other critters (rusty nails even, if we
care to believe the tetanus stuff) do their bit. Milwaukee had quite an
epidemic a couple years ago from their tap water. Every other month it
seems we hear about some fast food place laying a bunch of people out. And
of course, there was the recent unpleasantness about raw apple juices being
blamed for illnesses. Perhaps it helps to remember that botulism is mostly
a problem for "improperly" canned foodstuffs. I suspect that one could, if
they wanted to, put together enough scare stories about cooked food germs
to scare people into RAF! ;)

While much of this is as much about toxins as parasites, I just mean that
RAF is not alone in it's ability to harbor parasites. I read somewhere (I
know, I know, I want the reference too!) that autopsies on a bunch of male
heart attack victims found that sixty percent of them had trichinosis
larvae in their rib cage and sternum. They were hardly rawists, much less
RAFfers. If even such a much-maligned parasite as trich is so common, and
so asymptomatic (unless someone is going to argue that the heart attacks
were caused by the trich?), perhaps the parasite stories that get told
around the campfire might be missing the point, which is that even for
cooked folk parasites (not all RAF-bourne) aren't that much of an
issue...especially when heavy-duty medical treatments are available as a
last resort if need be.

>From the RAF propaganda press,

Kirt