The Shroud of Turin

Could this be the face of Jesus? Computer artists have come up with this image using information and blood encoded on the Shroud of Turin. The results will be shown on the History Channel tonight in the US. But according to the company that made the image, Studio Macbeth, it does not resemble the face we are familiar with - the picture of Jesus we have in our minds is nothing like this man.


Ray Downing, President of Studio Macbeth, said that because the shroud was wrapped around, rather than laid on top, the blood was transferred to the cloth as it was wrapped around the body, making the job more difficult.

'I have a lot of information about that face and my estimation is we are pretty darn close to what this man really looked like' Mr Downing said. He also claims to have discovered what substance created the image and how it ended up on the shroud. 'I will reveal at the end of the show what type of event that must have occurred 2,000 years ago.

The team of graphic artists has been working on the project for twelve months, using the newest technology to create the computer-generated image.

Mathematical Genius Grigory Perelman

The Poincare Conjecture is so difficult, the US Clay Mathematics Institute named it as one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems in 2000 and pledged a $US 1 million bounty to anyone who could solve one. Russian mathematical genius Grigory Perelman did just that - he is the only person ever to have solved any of the seven Millennium problems.

He should have been in Madrid in 2006 when all the greatest maths minds in the world came together at the International Mathematical Union's four-yearly congress. He should have been there to accept the Fields Medal, an outstanding, prestigous award for the best mathematical mind in the world, but he didn't want to go, he was home in his flat in St Petersburg. Sir John Ball was given the the task of getting his to accept the medal, but after two days trying to talk him around, he still refused.

Grigory Perelman doesn't care about medals or money. When he was offered a $1 million American dollars he said he would have to think about it and would let them know. He lives in a 2 bedroom flat with his elderly mother in a run-down Soviet-era tower block in St Petersburg and is currently unemployed.

His mother Ludmila, a talented mathematician and his father Yakov who now lives in Israel, was a prominent engineer. As a child, he was enrolled in an elite maths school and the director Mr Rukshin remembers that at the age of 14 he devoted himself entirely to maths, even putting aside his beloved violin.

Soviet hatred of Jews was very strong when he was growing up and life was difficult but nevertheless, he got a PhD at Lenigrad University and went on to fill a position with a top institute. In the late 80's, he moved to America and spent time at top universities. His American Colleages were shocked when he returned to the poorly funded research institute in St Peterburg, working for a low salary instead of accepting one of the lucrative offers made to him in America.

But he wasn't interested in churning out academic papers, he had his sights set on one goal only -to solve the complex maths puzzle known as the Poincare Conjecture that has baffled mathematicians for over one hundred years. For some reason, this annoyed his colleagues at St Petersburg Steklov Mathematical Institute and they lost patience with him and voted him out. He was very hurt and upset at not being re-elected. "They voted out the most brilliant mathematician in the world" said Tamara Yefimova, one of his former teachers. Disillusioned, Perelma left in December 2005 and has not worked since.

In 2002 and 2003 he quietly published the answer to Poincare Conjecture and it took four years for teams of academics around the world to check his solution. Eventually they said that he had done it - he had solved the unsolvable!

Success brought the fame he never wanted. He received fantastic offers of employment, invitations to speak at top academic conferences and prizes came from everywhere. But he withdrew from the world and spent all his time at home with his mother, living on her modest pension and money sent by his sister every month who lives in Sweden. Every day at exactly the same time he goes to the grocery store and buys the same things: eggs, cheese, spaghetti, sour cream, bread and a kilo of oranges.

Journalists anxious to find out if he's decided to accept the million dollar prize keep knocking on his door. "I have not decided yet" he says from behind the closed door. When they asked if he would talk a little about himself he said "Nothing needs to be known".

Ireland needs your good ideas

After President Obama's success with his recent healthcare reform bill and his slogan "Yes we Can", Irish President Mary McAleese wants ideas to kick start the economy and make a dramatic change to the country. It's called "Your country - your call" and the goal is to pick two truly revolutionary ideas that will create jobs and prosperity for Ireland. The two winning ideas will win $150,000 each and $850,000 to get their ideas off the ground.


Unemployment is high and government support is low in Ireland at the moment and they need fresh new ideas to make the country great. They know there is deep affection for Ireland amongst Irish Americans and are looking for their input as well as other Irish living around the world.

There are eight categories in the competition: Communications and Technology, Design, Engineering and Manufacturing, Education and the Arts, Energy and the Environment, Food and Agriculture, Health, Sport and Nutrition, Professional Services and Other.

Come on, do it for Ireland.

The Romantic Stork

Storks were once thought to be monogamous but that's not necessarily true, they can change mates after migration and have been known to migrate without a mate. But one male stork travels 13,000 kilometres every year to be with his true love who can't fly.

This is the fifth year that a stork named Rodan flew from South Africa to the village of Brodski Varos in eastern Croatia to be with her. Stjepan Vokic looks after the female stork he named Malena who was shot by hunters, leaving her unable to fly. "He came a bit earlier this year and looks rather exhausted after his long journey" he said.

Every year the couple raise a brood of chicks and it's Rodan who has to teach them how to fly because Malena cannot. Then in August, Rodan and the young ones will start to prepare for their long trip to winter in South Africa while Malena remains in Croatia and waits for him to come back to her in the spring.

A true love story.

British Hurt Locker

Captain Wayne Owers, a member of the Royal Logistic Corps, risked his life 93 times to diffuse Taliban bombs on a six months tour of duty of Afghanistan. He is the most prolific bomb destroyer in the history of the British Army. His average was one diffusion every two days - the highest strike rate recorded by the Ministry of Defence. He will receive the Queen's Gallantry Medal later this year. Captain Owers 39, has served in the Army for 20 years and has been to Iraq, Bosnia, Oman, Kosovo and Northern Ireland.

He said "I used to enjoy the job when I first went out, but when that first bomb went off, I started to get a sour taste in my mouth, it really hit me when I saw my colleagues get injured." After an explosion in May, a friend lost two legs and an arm. Two months later he was standing next to a soldier who had his leg ripped open after stepping on a bomb. "He was handing me a piece of equipment - that's how close I was, I flew backwards but didn't even lose a fingernail". However, Lance Corporal Davie Timmins, Captain Ower's bodyguard, lost his right eye and hearing in his right ear in the explosion and swallowed his own tongue. Lance Corporal Timmins, himself a Queen's Gallantry Medal recipient said "I was losing a lot of blood but Captain Owers pulled my tongue out of my mouth, sat me up and whacked me on the back several times saying "Don't you die on me".

After seeing the suspense-packed Academy Award movie The Hurt Locker, you get an insight into just how hot and cumbersome the protective suits are and can understand why the bomb diffusers chose not to wear them. Captain Owers didn't like to wear them either.

The Gap, Sydney

The Gap is an ocean cliff in the Sydney suburb of Watsons Bay. The suburb is made up of silvertails - politicians, judges, rich professionals and lots of old money. It's also home to Doyles Seafood Restaurant, one of the best in the country. When you leave the sheltered harbour beach side and walk across the road you come to the windswept cliffs of The Gap, where every year, 50 or more people commit suicide by hurling themselves off the cliff into the sea.

Caroline Byrne, an Australian model was found on the rocks at the bottom of The Gap in 1995. Her boyfriend said she was depressed and had jumped but twelve years later, Gordon Wood, who was then living in the UK, was brought back and finally convicted of her murder. Charmaine Dragun was another well known casualty of The Gap, she was a journalist before joining Channel 10 as an anchor. She suffered from depression and anorexia and died after jumping off the gap on 2nd November 2007.

Woollahra Council, with the support of the Black Dog Institution, have come up with a 'Gap Master Plan'. This involves special high fencing, lighting, signs, cctv cameras and emergency telephone support telephones.

Local resident, Donald Ritchie, who has lived opposite the Gap for nearly 50 years, has shown what can be done when you have the chance to intervene. He and his wife have talked many back from the brink with a few kind words and a cup of tea. Honoured with an Order of Australia, Ritchie has talked more than 160 people out of taking their lives.

The Gap is the hottest suicide spot in Australia and it's only taken Woollahra Council this long - over 100 years - to do something about it.

Boxing Kargaroo

There was non-political news coming from the National Capital yesterday, David Striegl 25, was jogging up Mt Ainslie in his lunch-hour when he had an encounter with a large kangaroo. He was king hit from nowhere and has a black eye to prove it. He didn't see him coming until it was too late - he heard something from his left side, turned around and the kangaroo swiped him across the face, leaving deep scratches. Then it threw a punch that knocked him out. Luckily a passing motorist spotted the unconscious man and took him to hospital where after a tetanus shot, he was allowed to go home. He's back in the office today with a new nickname - Skip.

Last year there was another unprovoked incident with a Kangaroo in Canberra in a home invasion. A nine footer terrified its owners when it came in the window and jumped on the owner and his wife who were in bed and gouged holes in their furniture. The owner, Mr Ettlin wrestled with the animal and finally dragged it out of the house. "My initial thought when I was half awake was: it's a llunatic ninja coming through the window" he said at the time.

Fast Food

A health food blogger who lives in Denver, Colorado, wanted to see what happened when she left a McDonald's Happy Meal on a shelf, uncovered, in her home for 12 months. The food should have decomposed, but it didn't, it looks almost the same.

Click to enlarge image

When it was pointed out that the air in the Rocky Mountains has little moisture, which speeds up decompotion, she said she had the windows open many times, but the flies and insects just wouldn't go near the food. She said "If flies ignore a Happy Meal and microbes don't decompost it, then your child's body can't properly metabolise it either. Now you know why it's called junk food".

David Smith, a former rugy player used to weigh 15 stone until a ruptured Achilles tendon forced him to leave the Army. Twleve years later at age 38, he weighed nearly 20 stone and ate lots of Big Macs with extra chips before dinner.

These two pictures of visceral fat are interesting, I'd never heard of it before. It's the internal fatty tissue that wraps itself around the heart, liver, kidneys and pancreas and streaks through the muscles. And it's very dangerous - it looks like an inert lump of lard but it's constantly pumping poisons into the bloodstream. When he changed to a low fat diet and started moderate exercise, almost a litre of this horrible stuff simply disappeared.

I must admit I love McDonald hamburgers, fries and my favourite - hot applie pie. But now that I'm watching my weight, they are no longer on the menue. It's just a shame that most fast foods taste so darned good - fatty, unhealthy food is simply very hard to resist.

St Patrick's Day 2010

St Patrick's Day was first celebrated in Sydney in 1810 when the NSW Governor Lachlan Macquarie provided entertainment for Irish convicts. We love the Irish and tonight, the Sydney Opera House will turn green and there will be much revelry in and around The Rocks and in other Irish pubs across the country, where large amounts of Guinness will be consumed.


But we don't know anything about the famous Saint. The real St Patrick wasn't even Irish, he was born in Britain around 390 AD to a well-heeled family who had a town house, a country house and lots of slaves.

He showed no interest in Christianity as a young boy but when he turned 16, he was kidnapped and sent overseas to look after sheep as a slave in the mountains of Ireland for seven years. While he was there he had a religious experience and became deeply devout. In a dream, a voice told him to escape and he returned to England on a pirate ship. After being reuninted with his family, the voice told him to go back to Ireland, which he did, and spent the rest of his life converting the Irish to Christianity. When he died on 17th March 461, Patrick was mainly forgotton but slowly, mythology about him grew and centuries later, he was honoured as the Patron Saint of Ireland.

In Ireland on St Patrick's Day, it's traditional for revelers to wear a shamrock. St Patrick chose the shamrock to explain the holy trinity, the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. But after a very long winter, there are few authentic shamrocks to be found this year so shamrock sellers are resorting to other three-leaf clovers which according to the Irish Times, are "bogus shamrocks". Botanists say that there's nothing unique about the Irish shamrocks, most species can be found throughout Europe. St Patrick got the credit for banishing all the snakes and it's true that no snakes exist in Ireland today but they never did, it's simply too cold for them to survive.

Up until the 1970's, St Patrick's Day in Ireland was a minor religious holiday until the Americans re-invented it. Irish soldiers fighting with the British in the US Revolutionary War held the first St Patrick's Day parade in New York in 1762. In 1962 Chicago decided to dye a portion of their river green, a unique event held for the past 40 years.

The Sydney 2010 St Patrick's Parade will be held this Saturday, 21st March leaving the Town Hall and making its way to Hyde Park where a family day has been organised. Food stalls will serve Irish food and beverages, which will naturally include a cold glass of Guinness.

Fattest Woman in the World

Donna Simpson 42 from New Jersey wants to become the fattest woman in the world - she already weighs 43 stone but wants to nearly double that by reaching her goal weight of 1,000 lbs (71.4 stone). And the tragedy is that she insists she is healthy and is the parent of a small child. She needed a team of 30 medics to deliver her daughter in 2007 during a high-risk Caesarean birth.

She can only walk a few steps before she has to sit down and uses a scooter to shop. She has a partner Philippe 49 who encourages her to eat more. They met on a plus-size dating site and says he is a fat-admirer but only weighs 150 lbs. To achieve her goal weight she will eat up to 12,000 calories a day which costs a lot of money, in fact she spends $750 a week on food so where does the money come from? She runs a website where men pay to watch her eat.

Donna's mother made huge meals for all her children and gave them lots of treats so by the time Donna was nine, she weighed 13 stone. When her mother died, her father remarried a woman who put Donna and her brothers on a strict diet. From the ages of 14 and 18, Donna started taking diet pills and slimmed down to 11 stone but found being thin didn't make her happy. She was miserable all the time because she couldn't stop thinking about food. When the weight came back "I felt like who I was meant to be" she said.

When she was 19 she met her husband who was a chef at a steak restaurant. He came home at 2am with left-overs and they would stay up and eat huge piles of steak, mashed potatoes and gravy. When she was 27 she fell pregnant with her eldest son Devin and her marriage ended and by the age of 31, she weighed 43 stone. She lost 5 stone in six months and was due to have a gastric band operation but her close friend died during a similar operation and she called it off.

Then Donna discovered a website for obese women, she joined up and once she admitted her real size, she was flooded with emails from men - they wanted her to get fatter and sent her protein shakes through the post to help her along.

So Donna continues on her journey to become the fattest woman in the world and she has a huge incentive - men pay to watch her eat.

Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe

A seventy-year-old, six-ton bull elephant dies of natural causes and for the starving people of Zimbabwe, it's the answer to their prayers.






Hungry people arrive from all directions and it took just one hour and 47 minutes for them to cut the meat away from the body - even his trunk and ears - and when there was nothing left but the skeleton, they took his bones away to boil for soup.

Conditions are expected to get worse this year after the collapse of agriculture caused by President Mugabe's violent seizures of thousands of white-owned farms since 2000. Harvests for this year will produce less than a third of the required amount to feed the whole country.

Just after dawn, a villager on a bike spotted the dead animal miles from anywhere and within 15 minutes, people from every direction arrived. The women formed a ring around the elephant and the men stood inside, fighting to get at the meat.

Some of the meat was eaten straight away but most was dried on washing lines and stored to eat later. There were celebrations in surrounding villages for the next two nights.

This is how the people survive under President Mugabe.

Nothing left

The Exorcist

Exorcist Father Gabirele Amorth 85, says the devil is at work in the Vatican. He's been the Vatican's chief exorcist for 25 years and has dealt with 70,000 cases of demonic possession. He's convinced that sex abuse scandals are proof that the devil is at work inside the Vatican and made the extraordinary comment that there are cardinals who do not believe in Jesus and bishops who are linked to the demon.


Father Amorth has just published Memoirs of an Exorcist, a series of interviews with Vatican journalist Marco Tosatti. But Father Jose Antonio Cucurull, a Rome-based exorcist said that he had "gone well beyond the evidence" in making these claims.



Father Amorth told La Repubblica that the devil is "pure spirit", invisible and manifests himself with blasphemies and afflictions in the person he possesses. "He can remain hidden or speak in different languages, transform himself or appear to be agreeable. At time he makes fun of me" he said.


He said that once it took six or seven of his assistants to hold down a possessed person. Those possessed often yelled and screamed and spat out nails or pieces of glass which he kept in a bag. "Anything can come out of their mouths - finger-length pieces or iron, but also rose petals".



He hopes that every diocese would eventually have a resident exorcist. Under Church Canon Law, any priest can perform exorcisms but in practice they are crried out by a chosen few trained in the rites. He said the 1973 film The Exorcist, although exaggerated, offered a substantially exact picture of possession.

Starlings fall out of the sky in Somerset

Something weird happened last Sunday afternoon in Somerset. More than 100 starlings fell out of the sky and landed dead and dying into Julie Knight's front garden. Every bird had blood oozing from its beak and curled up claws. About 70 were dead when they hit the ground but some were still flapping until the RSPCA put them out of their misery.

Experts have no idea what happened, there are lots of theories, but none that make any sense. Their best bet is that the flock was chased by a bird of prey and hit the ground as they changed direction. But a neighbour said they were dead or dying before they hit the ground.

Lady Scott from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said 'This is one of the oddest things I've ever heard about, we've certainly never come across anything similar. Post mortems carried out on the starling proved inconclusive. They were all found to have physical injuries with most suffering either broken wings or a shattered beak but no underlying health problems or toxins were found which could explain their sudden deaths.

An RSPCA spokesman said the incident still remains a mystery.

David Beckham's Tattoos

Last Saturday, David Beckham showed off his latest tattoo - a copy of the beautiful painting of Cupid carrying his wife Psyche to heaven by Francesco Francia. I'm rather impressed that the Milan footballer not only chose a classic work of art, but he decided to cover the lower part of her body with a veil, to protect her modesty.

Two months ago, he got a Jesus Christ design in memory of his grandfather who died in December. Last year he also added another one of several tattoos dedicated to his wife - a ring of 10 roses placed around his arm, representing their 10 years of marriage. He also has a guardian angel on his right arm to watch over his three sons Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz. His tattooist, Louis Malloy lives in Manchester but flies around the world to wherever he is needed.

England's most picturesque street

The Shambles in York has been voted Britain's most picturesque street in the Google Street View Awards. The cobbled street is lined with buildings from the 1400's and oozes historic charm. If you ever visit York, at some point you will walk down The Shambles. Ironic that a street with such a horrible name wins a prize for being the most beautiful in all England.

Cutaneous Horn

Grandmother Zhang Ruifang, 101 years old, of Linlou village in Henan Province, began developing a mysterious horn last year. It started with a rough patch of skin on her forehead but it started to grow and is now 2.4 inches long. Another growth has appeared on the other side of her forehead, possibly another cutaneous horn. Common in elderly people, they can be removed surgically and more than half are benign.

Sydney Mosque Open Day

The recent sentencing of home-grown Islamic terrorists has created an even wider division between Australians and the Muslim community. And we will never forget the gang rapes committed by 14 Lebanese men led by Bilal Skaf. Then we were told that Sheik Hilali has told his congregation that immodestly dressed women were like "uncovered meat" and joked about the infamous rapes. That's when the Lebanese Muslim Association realised that the imams at the Lakemba Mosque were having an adverse influence over their young people and made sure that any future imams were to stay apolitical. "If they are not going to shape up, they'll be shipped out because immeasurable damage has been caused as a result of their media commentary and doublespeak", a Muslim Association member said.

Now Sheik Yahya Safi, the imam at the Lakemba Mosque has decided to hold an Open Day tomorrow so the public can learn what the Islamic faith is all about. Sydney's largest Mosque caters for 1000 people who pray there every day and for Friday Prayers, the official day of worship for the Islamic faith, there can be up to 5,000 worshipers.

If you attend the open day, you will take a tour of the Mosque and get to question the Sheik who says he's a little more moderate than past sheiks. If it's his idea for the Open Day then it's a very good one. He wants to show that they are trying to assimilate and his aim is for his people to practice the real Islam. "When people have a bad idea about you, you need to give them the right idea, we want them to understand who we really are and what our religion is about" he said.

The Lakemba Mosque is at 65-67 Wangee Road Lakemba. Tomorrow's open day is from 10am until 5pm.

Footnote: Addressing an Open Day at Lakemba Mosque on Saturday, the President of the Australian Islamic Mission, Zachariah Matthews wants to introduce Sharia law into Australia. The comments shocked Australians attending the open day. Under Sharia law, women have been stoned to death and corporal punishment is rife.

"I wasn't talking about Sharia law in its entirely - we are not calling for the introduction of the penal system which calls for cutting off hands" he said.

I can't believe it, here was an opportunity for the Muslim community to show their wish to assimilate with Australian society and that's how they handled it. I give up.

Sydney Backpackers

Some of Sydney's most expensive suburbs including Potts Point, Bondi, Coogee and Manly, are being invaded by backpackers. They set themselves up on footpaths, waiting to sell their campervans after their Aussie adventure holiday. The budget travellers, mostly from Europe, are making themselves very unpopular by urinating in the gutters and home owners are furious and want action.

Angela Gallo, cafe owner said "They sit outside our cafe with their gas burners and chairs, cooking meals sometimes for up to eight people and make a mess on the footpath. All the council has to do is put up signs saying "Selling vehicles is illegal and start towing them away".

Peter Miller, manager of Great Aussie Backpackers in Potts Point said there was an oversupply of vehicle sellers in Sydney. "With the downturn in global economies, we have more backpackers leaving Australia than arriving, so they sit there for days and weeks because they have lots of time but not much money" he said.

One backpacker Cedric Lemercier from France said he had been trying to sell his van for five weeks and had dropped the price from $6000 to about $3500. "I am going to New Zealand next and I need the money" he said.

Sydney Council has promised to investigate.

The James Bulger Case

Two ten year old boys tortured and murdered 2 year old James Bulger in 1993. The injuries they inflicted on this helpless little boy were so horrific, it world was stunned. One of the killers, Jon Venables now 27, was back behind bars again last night but the Ministry of Justice won't tell us why, all we know is that he breached his parole. James' distraught mother, whose remarried name is Denise Fergus says that she and the public have a right to know what Venables has done to be recalled. He will now be able to appeal within 28 days and if successful, he'll be released again.

Since being freed, Venables has been given help with his education, finding jobs, and accommodation. They say he's a born again Christian (how convenient) and wants to get married. Thompson is understood to be living with a homosexual partner.

Mr Justice Morland at the trial said they committed a crime of 'unparalleled evil and barbarity' and were the youngest to face a murder charge in the 20th century.

The public were outraged by the way these two boys were protected by the justice system, given new identities and sent out into the world with lots of help and support. It seems obvious to me that British justice bends over backwards to protect the accused, rather than the victim and it's simply not fair. The Australian justice system seems to be the same - totally unfair. Every consideration is given to the accused and the victim is just left to get over it.

On 16 March 2008, 18 red balloons were released during a private ceremony at Kirkdate Cemetery to mark what would have been James Bulger's 18th birthday.

On the 2nd March 2010, one of his killers is back in gaol and for his family, the nightmare continues.

Depression's Upside

There was an article in the New York Times yesterday called "Depression's Upside" and the idea is put forward that depression can be good for us, it helps us recognise our problems so we can do something about them. Most mental illnesses are rare, like schizophrenia for example, but depression is everywhere.

I think there's enough stress in our daily lives without having something terrible happen like a divorce or the death of a loved one to send us on the downward spiral towards depression. Although every case is different, it could go something like this.

Your share port folio is halved in the recession and your retirement fund is looking grim; you get stuck in traffic for hours every day and the frustration makes you so angry, you become aggressive and mean; there's pressure from the boss to meet unrealistic targets and then there's sleep deprivation - for some reason sleep eludes you, even though you are completely exhausted, the ordinary function of going to bed every night becomes an exercise frought with anxiety. Many dark, lonely hours are spent lying awake wondering why you're not asleep yet and how can you possibly get up in the morning and go to work - but you do and drag your body through the day feelilng like death warmed up. Then you start having panic attacks, your heart races and you break out in a sweat. Before long you no longer feel like sex and problems develop with your significant other. You end up in your doctor's surgery, probably asking for some sleeping pills and your doctor asks "Do you think you are depressed?". You think about it for a minute and say "I don't know" like a dumb idiot.

Some academics studying the subject have come up with the theory that depression has an up side, it helps us recognise a problem and spurs us on to find an answer to it. They give an example of a young man who was having difficulties with his academic department. He didn't know whether to leave the department, leave academia although or stay put. He wasn't given anti-depressants, he was 'talked through his problem' and eventually he realised he couldn't fix it and decided to leave. And here's the bottom line - then he started to feel better. What they are saying is that anti-depressant drugs interfere with the solution to the depression, they discourage patients from dealing with the cause of their problem.

Another example was a woman who came in to see her doctor and wanted to reduce her medication. When asked if the pills were helping, she said they were great and she felt so much better but she was still married to the same alcoholic son-of-a-bitch but now he was tolerable. The point being the woman was depressed for a reason and the drugs made her feel better but there was no real progress made.

I've known people whose lives have been transformed for the better because of anti-depressants and I suspect that these scholars have never been depressed and haven't got a clue what they are talking about. Maybe some people with depression can be 'talked through' their pain without drugs to discover what their underlying problem is all about, I think the idea is very commendable. But I suspect that most people know they are anxious and unhappy but haven't got any idea why.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/magazine/28depression-t.html?pagewanted=1&em