What do Boots the pharmacy and Dora the Explorer have on common? It has nothing to do with simian sidekicks and isn't really a joke but I'll come back to this later.

I was half listening to Dora the Explorer the other day. It was on in the background somewhere and I was doing something else entirely but picking up enough to keep track of it.

Our animated explorer was trying to rescue her friend who had been dragged by his new kite across the lands to Polar Bear Mountain. Now my previous experience to Dora alerted me to this before we got to it but it dawned on me that when we finally got to meet the inhabitants of Polar Bear Mountain that instead of the ferocious survival experts of Arctic Circle, they'd be friendly, talkative and not be seeing a live monkey as the next meal regardless of attire.

Now what would you do, based solely on Dora's experience, if you came into contact with a live polar bear? Would you go for a wee natter or realize that you encounter could end in your untimely demise as part of Mr Polar Bear's next meal ticket?

So where do Boots the pharmacy come into this? Well, did you know that Boots stock a range of own brand homeopathic 'rememdies'. Homeopathic remedies are active ingredients that are diluted down to infinitesimal amounts that they have no physical effect as they claim to. Essentially, the best you'll get from them is a placebo effect which is all well and good if that makes you feel better.

Did you know that people also sell homeopathics for preventing things and serious as malaria? Now if Boots sell homeopathic remedies, that sort of legitimises the product as a whole doesn't it? What prevention do you reckon a homeopathic medicine is going to give you against something as serious as malaria?

That adds a bit of irresponsibility to Boots' decision to stock them if you ask me.

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Notes on the Picture...
My new toy came winging it's way to me from the depths of eBay today. Can you guess what it was? I think I could have some fun with this.