I tell ya, life just ain't fair.
I work and slave for many years to master medicine, surgery, and molecular biology because I want to be part of developing new therapies for cancer. My reward? Instead of being in the lab directly participating in experiments, I spend more of my time begging for money to fund my lab (otherwise known as writing grant applications) than actually supervising the work that goes on there and worrying about losing the funding that I have. Pay lines for NIH grant applications keep getting tighter and tighter, and private sources are becoming way more competitive. Such is the life of an academic surgeon circa 2006. Private practice is looking better and better--or it would, if it weren't for the constant ratcheting down of reimbursement by Medicare and third party payers. Going to work for a pharmaceutical company would mean that I'd have to give up my autonomy as a researcher, making that option not so attractive either.
Now, I have to thank Celebrity Nutritionist (note the capitalization) Don Lemmon for showing me a better way.
Who needs to go through all that education, learning, study, and pain to help people when you don't need to? Yes, it seems that all you have to do is to declare yourself the #1 Nutritionist and declare:
What do I know about nutrition, fat loss, exercise, health & fitness, and bodybuilding routines that you do not? Plenty. Not only because I started off working in the medical industry, spent years training athletes and celebrities, but more so because I actually live and practice what I preach. Certainly, if I weren't doing what I am right now, I would have become a practicing physician somewhere in Southern California . Today you know me as the #1 Nutritionist Online for a reason... I chose a different path than those who prefer to depend on drugs or perform unnecessary cosmetic surgery...
Of course, to pull this off, it helps a lot if you're a buff personal trainer and bodybuilder. There's no way I'd be able to play that card, given my physique (although I could certainly play the "trust me, I'm a doctor and scientist" card if I were ever inclined to go that route). Looking at Don's website and seeing some of his health advice, though, I'm sure glad he didn't decide to go into medicine. Heck, after looking, I couldn't even find out what his qualifications are that let him declare himself to be a "nutritionist." An actual degree in, oh, nutrition or a related field or evidence of scientific publications in the area of nutrition would have been nice, but I found no evidence of any listed on his site. But, hey, who needs those if you're a bodybuilder and personal trainer to the stars? It's close enough to the same thing as a nutritionist, right? Besides, Don has celebrity testimonials; he apparently doesn't need degrees or science. Apparently this allows him to sell a bunch of supplements (making claims for them without providing any references to scientific research that I could look up), push chiropractic in his books, sell "internal cleansers" and "fat burners," and even push dessicated animal glands as something to take to promote better health:
Probably the most amazing product we manufacture is our Glandular Therapy (complex) which contains over 50 sources of desiccated animal glands, plant sterols, phyto-chemicals, protein enzymes and other co-factors.
Never mind that all those proteins and enzymes will be digested down to amino acids, and little or none will reach the bloodstream.
No one else has before attempted to deliver so much, all at once like this because they never knew it mattered in doing so. Certain things in nature belong together and that would be a combination of glandular tissue and plant oils.
Glandular tissue and plant oils: Two great tastes that taste great together!
Paracelsus, a 16th-century physician developed a doctrine based on the theory that ingesting healthy animal organ tissues has the capacity to heal the human body. The belief was that eating heart tissue heals heart tissue; kidneys heal kidneys, etc.
Today, this belief remains the guiding principle not only behind our Glandular Therapy, but "live cell" therapy and even the more modern scientific backed "organo-therapy." All herbs have secret ingredients; so do animal glands.
The concept of ingesting animal glands or glandular extracts to stimulate diseased or ailing human tissues and adding spark to healthy ones through their special hidden components are practices that actually date back long before Paracelsus.
Primitive societies used all the parts of the animals they hunted, gathered and brought home to eat; leaving none of it to waste. Whether it was the bones, skin, sinew or glands, all bits and pieces were used as food or protection to survive.
Dessicated animal glands? And from 50 different sources, yet! Yum. I wonder what those "secret ingredients" in those animal glands that supposedly have such health benefits are. Nothing like "secret ingredients" in a supplement or remedy, I say! I mean, where's the fun if you know exactly what it is that you're getting? And there's lots more on Don's site where Glandular Therapy came from.
Thanks, Don, but no thanks. Call me back when you have something a little more recent to offer, you know, something based on a concept that dates back to, say, the 19th century rather than the 16th. (Beauchamps, anyone?) Funny you should mention live cell therapy, though, as that's a "therapy" totally without a sound basis in science. I had thought that it dated to the early 20th century and had no idea that the idea behind it is in actuality well over 400 years old. If a variant of live cell therapy is Don's alternative to drugs and the secret to his pumpitude and wealth, I think I'll take the drugs, thanks. Or nothing at all. Like homeopathic remedies, for instance, which are basically the same thing as nothing at all.
And what's Don's reward for selling all these supplements, DVDs, and books? Not only does he get to live in a big house in Utah with a panoramic view of beautiful mountains and pal around with KISS, but he married a porn star named Asia Carrera (WARNING: definitely NOT work-safe if you go past the splash page):
Currently, I live in Utah with my wife Asia Carrera. We live right near some of the world's most beautiful mountainside properties.
Let's see. I'm fairly well off but nowhere near wealthy. I slave away submitting grant applications in the slim hope of keeping my lab going. I go through the wringer tyring to get tenure. In contrast, Don's rich, married to a porn star, and gets to hang out with KISS and other celebrities, leaving enough time to get into correspondences with the guys at Improbable Research?
I tell ya, I'm in the wrong business. It just ain't fair.
NOTE: I'm only kidding when I imply that I'm envious of Don for having married a porn star. I'm fortunate enough to be very happy in my marriage; so that's not the case. (I don't like fake boobs anyway.) Come to think of it, I'm also kidding when I imply that I'm envious over his home in Utah. If I had that much money, you can be sure that I wouldn't choose to live in Utah. I like a more urban environment. A nice big house in Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, or Wrigleyville in Chicago would be more my style if I ever became wealthy. I wouldn't mind having Don's money, though, and it would probably be fun to hang out with KISS. On second thought, maybe not. Gene Simmons has always struck me as a pompous misanthrope in most interviews that I've seen him in.
Finally, no doubt some cynic out there will think that I mentioned porn stars and Asia Carrera as an obvious ploy to artificially increase my hit count, resulting in traffic spikes like the one that PZ got for his infamous Sex in the MRI post.
Perish the thought! You know me better than that! Such shameless blog whoring is not something that I ever indulge in. (Well, hardly ever, anyway.) This mention was strictly because of the amazing coincidence that a Celebrity Nutritionist would end up marrying a porn star, nothing more.
No, I would never list terms like XXX, porno, Asia Carrera, hot lesbian action, naked celebrities, naked porn stars, Paris Hilton sex tapes, or any such other terms blatantly designed to bring in traffic from Google searches by all those those porn seekers out there. You know that.
It's way too obvious.
ADDENDUM 6/16/2006: I've confirmed the reports of a couple of readers who commented that Don Lemmon was killed in an auto crash outside of Las Vegas on June 10. An obituary is here, and his wife writes about it here; it's enough to break your heart. It also makes Don Lemmon's comments below seem rather creepy, given that they were posted a mere two days before his death (yes, I checked; the IP address from which the comments originated tracks back to St. George, Utah, which is where Don lived); and I mentioned Don in passing in this post just a day before his death. I'm now glad that I never wrote that snarky followup post, as I had been strongly tempted to do after Don took me to task.
The ironic thing is that I guess I might have right after all about life being unfair, just not in the manner I had meant when I wrote it. Don's dead at a young age; his children will grow up fatherless; and that sucks regardless of my low opinion of the claims he made on his website for his supplements.
ADDENDUM 6/22/2006: I've closed this post to new comments.
A more detailed followup post was published here, and that's where you should comment from now on if you have anything to say about this story. Thanks.
More like this
Paracelcus? PARACELCUS??!! E gads.
In a way, though, this is almost reassuring. The altie preoccupation with "ancient Chinese wisdom" and "the traditional knowledge of Native Americans" seemed to neglect all the grand discarded garbage of Western Culture. Glad to see it's not just about bashing Dead White European Males.
Wait, this is Utah. Shouldn't he be married to multiple porn stars?
I'm only kidding when I imply that I'm envious of Don for having married a porn star. I'm fortunate enough to be very happy in my marriage; so that's not the case. (I don't like fake boobs anyway.)
Now, isn't it obvious who made you add this? ;-)
Now, isn't it obvious who made you add this?
*chuckle*
I went past the first page.
She has nice nipples.
But I wouldn't want to be her. (I also have nice nipples, or at least that's what all my female friends who have seen me topless have told me, if they've said anything about my body at all.) I wouldn't want to be married to a CELEBRITY NUTRITIONIST! Being married to a programmer is plenty fun!
It would be interesting to ask an archeologist or anthropologist whether "primitive" cultures actually did use every bit of the animals they killed. I suspect the answer is no.
Deliberate attempts at generating blog traffic have never really worked for me. On the other hand I often get hits for folks looking for porn for cartoons given that I've discussed cartoons airing on Canadian tv more than once. Its kind of disturbing when you get hits like "Juniper Lee porn," said Ms. Lee being the 10 year old protagonist of a cartoon show currently airing on Canadian and American tv.
I wonder what his celebrity clients have to say about the dessicated animal gland suppliments in light of any PETA affiliations or dedications to vegetarian lifestyles?
I love the appeal to Paracelsus, one of the Hermetic alchemists of the 16th century! And the gland thing reminds me of the "monkey gland" craze of the nineteenth century immortalised in Poe's Murder in the Rue Morgue.
Basically this guy has taken every outdated irrational view, based on ancient and implausible philosophies, to sell snake oil to the rubes.
What shocks me is how often these hucksters parade around without anyone (besides you) in medicine or the media questioning their qualifications. Maybe it's because we in science and medicine try to be polite and civil since it is bad form to criticize our colleagues. However, we need to do a much better job publicizing the lack of qualifications of these people who are such an affront to the health professions. Remember that Airborne's $90 million/year sales was supported not by science but rather celebrity endorsements and Oprah appearances.
I'm trying hard to educate journalism students on how to more critically evaluate the qualifications of sources. When I started my educational efforts in herbal medicines and dietary supplements in 1995, I was shocked at how quickly I became perceived as an "expert" by the media at a time when I was only teaching a few pharmacy and med school lectures on the subject. Now, 10 years later and with grants and publications in the field, I am only now slowly growing comfortable with being called an expert. I guess that others don't have the same reservations or scruples.
Nor me. I was just being facetious. On the other hand, it would be nice if my little satirical piece were to start showing up in Google searches for "Don Lemmon" or any of his remedies, in order to give just one article with a skeptical viewpoint alongside all Don's claims, glowing testimonials, and other websites and blogs praising him. When I Googled Don, there was not a skeptical article to be found referencing him, save one, and it only mentioned him very briefly.
Orac wrote:
Or Phil Plait with "I get email from a Playboy bunny", which for some odd reason is the top Google hit when I search for my name plus the word "sex".
Orac
That "Trust me, I'm a doctor and scientist," line does work. If you're looking for a laugh that is. That's what I get with it anyway.
Gentlemen!
Admit it, you all toss off to women like his wife. This behavior makes us all look bad. Work on being less obvious you're jealous. After reviewing his site, it doesn't seem to me he needed his wife's help in gaining exposure. He appears proud if anything and is rather accomplished. Four books, novels, a product line; things a porn star cannot provide and odds are no one here can boast either.
Kondum
I find it a little strange that you've latched onto a paragraph or two about the glandular complex. Have your read his books? He actually encourages people to NOT take his (or any supplements) until after they have proven how they can vastly improve their health with food alone. It is actually quite the effective program, and I am a LOT more impressed with the differences that his program makes in the lives of everyday people than any celebrity.
"There's no way I'd be able to play that card, given my physique". In all honesty, there is reason to be completely skeptical, since there are many many programs and claims out there, but spend the $25 for book one, and don't bother with any of the supplements, and I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised.
There is so much jealousy in there it's sickening. Read book 1 and do nothing more, results happen. It's obvious this person did not read it and shouldn't be spouting off anything he doesn't know or understand.
Oh, there's a lot more just on Lemmon's website than just that one paragraph that I could have "latched on to," so much so that, if I wished, I could do a series of posts debunking what's there. (For example, now that you mention it, perhaps in a future post, I'll take on his "detoxification" claims about his herbs; that's one of my favorite unfounded, fact-free claims to deal with.) No, I merely picked his glandular therapy claims as "low-hanging fruit" that demonstrates in a very brief period of time that Lemmon doesn't know what he's talking about with regard to that particular supplement, and I only listed one example because I didn't want the post to get any longer than it already was.
If Lemmon stuck to exercise, bodybuilding, and workout books and videos, I'd probably have no problem with him. Heck, I'd say more power to him. But he doesn't confine himself to things that he understands. Instead, he claims to be a nutritionist (and not just any nutritionist, but the "#1 Nutritionist"!), even though, as far as I can tell from his website he has absolutely no qualifications to do so. (Becoming a "nutritionist" is not just something that you pick up on your own.) He makes claims based on long-discredited and physiologically impossible ideas like "live cell therapy." In case you don't know, live cell therapy has been a staple of quacks for nearly 100 years. That's another reason that his "glandular therapy" caught my attention when I was reading his website, and his claim of "secret ingredients" in animal glands was so ridiculous that it would have amused the heck out of me if people weren't wasting their money on this stuff.
I was, however, relieved, that at least he wasn't recommending injecting the extract. Severe allergic and immunologic reactions have been reported from injected live cell therapy. Of course, eating such extracts does no good either, because the digestive tract breaks down all the proteins into amino acids.
It's rather disingenuous of Lemmon, if, as you claim, he says in his book not to use his "glandular therapy" except as a "last resort" if diet isn't working and then to sell that very same "glandular therapy" on his website with such hyperbole-filled claims based on no science.
"I'm not jealous! ...Oh, wait, yes I am... But my point remains valid!" -Philip J. Fry.
While Don Lemmon can be certainly challenged to provide peer reviewed journal articles, or other credible scientific sources, to back up the claims for his supplements, the last part of your post amounts to little more than a personal attack. I also realize this is a blog and many standards for serious arguing are not observed, but you are an educated individual and could most certainly do better. You bring up valid questions about his claims regarding supplements, but it is unfortunate you end your post with an unrelated batch of insults.
You bring up an important point here. Don Lemmon is in excellent shape. He stresses that it is diet, above all else, that enables him to maintain himself. Based on that piece of evidence, it is reasonable to assume that he is doing something correctly. Many of the tenets of his nutrition program are widely espoused by registered dieticians, although some are not. I think that it is necessary to challenge pseudo science and silly claims. However, we part ways when you drift into what seems to be little more than petty sniping.
Heh. I'll have to remember that one.
In actuality, my first draft of this post was much harsher, but then I decided to go for a more facetious tone.
Let me put it to you this way: Lemmon claims to be a nutritionist but doesn't produce any evidence that he's ever been trained as a nutritionist (at least not on his website); sells dessicated animal glands in capsule form at a handsome price; claims that his "glandular therapy" works because of some sort of "secret" components; and openly bases his claims on concepts that are nearly 500 years old (and are not that far removed from the concept of "evil humours" or the different kinds of bile), as well as on the concept of "live cell therapy," which is nothing but 100-year old quackery, and you think that he doesn't deserve some sniping directed his way?
I beg to differ, and I make no apologies for my "sniping" in this case. In my mind, the pseudoscientific silliness Lemmon sells negates whatever other advice he gives that is helpful and accepted. The best that I can say is that his dessicated animal gland supplements probably do no harm, but they don't do any good either.
It is not the tone of your criticisms that are directed toward his glandular product with which I take issue. You make excellent points and while your tone is mocking it is not distracting. The part I don't like is your somewhat smug critique of where Mr. Lemmon chooses to live, the poeple he chooses to associate with, and the woman he chose to marry. Once again, I realize this is a blog and you are employing some irony. None the less, you seem to drift from a factual critique toward a personal attack.
Hmm...I think your last sentence deserves further consideration. If someone is wrong about one thing, or even several things, does that make everything they do invalid? Not that I am comparing Lemmon to Linus Pauling, but Pauling seemed to think that Vitamin C was something of a cure-all. This is seriously disputed. Because Pauling advanced a theory on rather shaky ground, does that make his other work useless? A hyberbolic example, but a useful one to consider.
Here is something to think about: Don Lemmon has a number of clients that lost a lot of weight through lifestyle changes. They are now healthier people. He has a number of clients that have gotten significantly stronger, once again through lifestyle change. To me, that is also worth recognizing. That does not mean that false claims should be allowed to slide. However, I think it is in keeping with the scientific method to analyze a hyptohesis, discard what cannot be supported, but keep what is valid. In your last sentence above, you seem eager to discredit all of Lemmon's work, although you may not be familiar with all that he says.
Wow!
Talking socks.
It's nice to know that someone cares.
I wonder if the herbalist detoxifier crowd ever gets together with the colin cleansing detoxifier crowd and berate each other for not being open-minded about the claims of the other.
Not that I am comparing Lemmon to Linus Pauling, but Pauling seemed to think that Vitamin C was something of a cure-all. This is seriously disputed. Because Pauling advanced a theory on rather shaky ground, does that make his other work useless?
The difference, of course, is that Pauling doesn't claim to have credentials as a nutritionist or a doctor. It's one thing to have crackpot ideas; it's a whole other thing to pretend that those crackpot ideas stand in for expertise, and to use them accordingly to bilk money out of the unsuspecting.
For instance:
Don Lemmon has a number of clients that lost a lot of weight through lifestyle changes. They are now healthier people. He has a number of clients that have gotten significantly stronger, once again through lifestyle change.
You can make the necessary "lifestyle changes" for losing weight at home, for practically free. Or you can join a reasonable gym for a minimal price. People do not get FILTHY RICH by advocating lifestyle changes for weight loss and muscle building. They get filthy rich off of useless supplements, quick-fix "fat burners," and other ways of preying on the uninformed.
I'm not surprised the guy is invoking Paracelsus, since the P-man was all about unlicensed physicians who had gained their expertise from wandering around instead of from school. He also believed in gnomes.
Asia Carrera is teh hawt
(sorry, couldn't resist)
If you google "don lemmon skeptical", you get this thread as the number two hit. His site was number one.
If you google "don lemmon insolent" then click "I feel Lucky," guess what you get? :)
Regarding personal attacks, it should be noted that more than one person on the Healthfraud list has asked Mr Lemmon what evidence he has for his claims, and received abuse and threats in response. It's so nice when celebrities take the time to talk to their fans.
Try it yourself!
I tried getting great, big biceps by strapping steaks to each arm, and all I got was mauled by bears. That's kinda like live cell therapy, isn't it?
Oh, and everyone knows Adrianna Sage is the hottest woman in porn.
Everyone.
Not me. I never heard of Adrianna Sage.
Trust me. I've put in hundreds of hours of research on this, and know whereof I speak.
so so sad. I mean c'mon guys, who gives a sh*t, grow up and move on. Guy makes cash marries porn star and lives in utah. ok so he sells snake oil to brainless consumers, s'pose that's nothing new, put the soapbox away and go rub one off to his wife or better yet, get back to writing that grant proposal...
Uh, dude, I have moved on. The post to which you replied is nearly a month old.
Hey man, fun topic and all, but I noticed you didn't contact me directly and neither did your supposed sources for your facts. How ironic is that? I am sure you will come up with some excuse for that or try to turn things around, but what were you thinking (laughs)? Seems to me you lose credibilty when you use less than credible source of information to admit your envy (and pretty much the use of your hand to pleasure yourself to my wife). Thanks for the obvious amount of fanfare but boasting about your search engine ranking? Do you not realize this blog sends me traffic? DOH! Have a good one!
I just visited your friend's site mentioned above, they have NEVER emailed me. Not once and not under any conditions would I respond to something like that. if for no other reason, I wouldn't want to tarnish my 15 year old business. So come on buddy, this being an old post and blog or not, you did go in for an attack against someone who wasn't asking for it and someone you do not know anything about. Luckily, I have a sense of humor about being in the spotlight... :-)
According to the message board found at http://www.liesandpropaganda, Don Lemmon died in an auto accident on June 11, 2006. He leaves behind his pregnant wife, Asia, and his one year old daughter.
So DOn apparantly was killed on June 10. What I want to know is if they were so rich then why is Asia soliciting donations on her homepage and on ivillage???
Well MARIA, maybe because Don was the primary breadwinner in the family, the only one pulling in a significant household income, and Asia is now a single parent to one, soon to be two babies. Give her a freaking break.
And dont bring ivillage into this, if you are a member there and 'know' her, you would know we are doing this for her, because we love her and she needs us right now, not because she is asking.
"you would know we are doing this for her, because we love her and she needs us right now, not because she is asking."
AHAHAHA! You've got to be kidding me! "Not because she is asking"???? Read her "bulletin". I've never seen anyone beg as shamelessly as she is. And now she hates the new baby? I wouldn't give her ten dollars if I had a billion. That's truly one of the most pathetic things I've ever read. I'd say she has some serious mental problems.
"That's truly one of the most pathetic things I've ever read. I'd say she has some serious mental problems"
You want to talk pathetic and mental problems.....
attacking a woman who just suffered such trauma and is currently 7.5 months pregnant sounds like you may be the one with some mental issues.
What you have written IS "truly one of the most pathetic things I've ever read"
here's the first begging post and they continue....
06/11 - ...and the fairy tale comes to an end. The police just left my house. Don was driving home from a business meeting in Las Vegas, and he got into an accident and rolled the Jeep. He's dead. He's never coming back to me. My husband, my soulmate, my other half, the one I was meant to grow old with. I'm almost 8 months pregnant with a son he will never get to see, and I have a one year old daughter who will never be able to remember anything about her father... and he was such a GOOD father to her, she was such a daddy's girl you wouldn't have believed it! Now she'll just have to take my word for it when I tell her how much daddy loved her, because she's too young to remember him for too much longer. Oh god, how that breaks my heart. How am I going to go on without him? How am I going to get a job at almost 8 months pregnant, with a one year old baby??? I couldn't go back to porn even if I wanted to, I'm much too huge. My ex-hubby, Bud Lee, is driving out here in the morning with another good friend of mine, and they are going to help me get through this. Somehow. If anyone wants to make a charitable donation to a pregnant widow who doesn't know how she's going to raise these two babies on her own, there's a spot on my sales page where you can donate up to $100. If anyone wants to send more than that (I'd be forever grateful!), you can use my Paypal Account, to address asiac@asiacarrera.com (that's asiaC@, not just asia@). I trust that no one out there is heartless enough to misuse that email address at a time like this. Oh god how I wish I could wake up from this nightmare. My life went from being a dream come true to hell on earth in just an instant. Please keep me in your thoughts and send me strength! I've got to get through this for my two little babies, otherwise I swear I'd have nothing to live for anymore. But I have no choice, I will do the best I can for Catty and Devin, somehow, some way, I must...
Personally, I don't find her posts "pathetic" but truly sad. Asia just lost her husband and the family breadwinner. Regardless of my low opinion of the altie proclivities and supplement business that I made fun of, she loved him, and she's expecting another child soon. Maybe Don wasn't as wealthy as his web page led me to believe; maybe he's in hock to buy that fantastic house in Utah that he bragged about. Who knows the truth?
Give the new widow a break. Unless you've lost a spouse unexpectedly, you can't really know what she's going through.
Maria, I can only hope you never know the immense pain and fear Asia feels right now. Maybe you never had met your true love or you are trapped in a miserable relationship but I can tell you if I lost my husband, who happens to be my best friend and soul mate I don't know what I would do. Asia also happens to be living in a state where she knows noone and has been estranged from her family for nearly 15 years. Who is more pathetic, the person writing a blog with her honest feelings and emotions or the loser who logs on, reads it and then says really cruel things? Don't log onto her site anymore. Just one more thing....KARMA IS A BITCH.
My closest friend lost her husband suddenly at the age of 35 and had to face raising her young baby alone, perhaps her website might be helpful to others in similar situations
http://www.griefandrenewal.com/main.htm
Ok, shameless plug for a good friend's site and someone who's strength through adversity I have always admired. Even tho she didnt feel terribly strong through all of it, she was -- and she's raised one terrific kid and built a new life. It took time for sure.
"What you have written IS "truly one of the most pathetic things I've ever read"
If I didn't know better, I'd guess you're probably Asia yourself. No one else could possibly read that crap and not want to vomit. Is this yet another way to get people to send you money?
I did look back through her "bulletins" and all I saw was a lot of bragging about how smart she is and how she had invested her money and was set for life. So which is it? Either way, she's obviously a pathological liar. Her husband is dead and all she's worried about is how much money people are gonna send her.
And that last stuff about her new baby was way over the top. Sorry, but she's a head case.
My only comment is that while Don was trashing my profession (registered dietitian) and saying some truly obscene and mean things to me, he was bragging that he has 3 houses to choose from to live at this summer. Now, perhaps he was bragging and overexaggerating, but it if is true then she could sell one of those. Not to mention, she was a famous porn star for a long time and probably made lots of money. If she doesn't have any, then I feel very sorry for her but it's not unheard of for people to take advantage of a bad situation.
Leigh:
I assure you that it is very unlikely that Wendy is Asia Carrera posting anonymously.
Her IP address does not track back to Utah. While it is true that someone with a little computer savvy (like Asia) could route her post through a different IP address to make it appear to be coming from somewhere else, Don Lemmon did not do that when he commented above. His IP address tracked back to St. George, Utah. Please do not make such insinuations without better evidence.
In fact, I think I'll close comments on this post, given that it's nearly two months old and I don't like to keep monitoring posts that long. If anyone wants to comment further on this issue, you are still free to do so under my much more recent followup post on this whole issue, lcoated here.