pagodacup
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Michael Ellis As Angel
Moron Boy makes a number of salient points to be sure. I really don't think Mr. Ellis would bother to take the time to defend himself on a blog for The Reader, no offense, so let's get that out of the way. If he was really guilty of the crimes for which he has been accused, then why was the only thing that stuck not actually a crime, and only for 6 months? This guy killed 10's of thousands right? The craziest fact and the one which has Surfpuppy's hackles up is that Metabolife was taken by 1 in 3 Americans according to a survey by Health Digest ... Oh, I read the book so before you go all Oliver Stone ... read it. Read the book, then make your decision, but base it upon all the facts people. At the end of the day, we can argue this till we pass out, peace be with you all ...— March 17, 2009 3:03 p.m.
Michael Ellis As Angel
Surfpuppy I agree with your thought in #57. You make some great points in your comments, and some valid ones in others. Ellis is not a choir boy, neither am I, and if we all were under this microscope ... wouldn't you fight with whatever means you had to get the truth out? For yourself? For your family? He had some very serious allegations leveled against him, his family and business partners. I think that we are all numb to the foul actions we learn that abound in our gov't as a whole, but especially within the FDA. It's almost as if we expect it. I don't want to be bitter because we live in the best country in the world. Hate him or love him, Ellis seized his opportunity and did help millions of people. His product was proven to be safe and effective when used in accordance with the labeling and when ok'd by the person's physician. I just think the fact that an even stronger ephedrine based weight loss product being sold by a pharmaceutical company is available now, when his and many others like his were banned because they used the naturally occurring form in Ma Huang is frightening. Why are there no warnings on a Coke not to take it with ephedra products? How come Starbucks has no warnings? children's cold meds? I mean, they said Metabolife was responsible for killing Americans. Just thoughts, just thoughts ... I wish you all a wonderful weekend I'm glad we can agree to disagree and have a forum to express our thoughts. Peace.— March 13, 2009 2:45 p.m.
Michael Ellis As Angel
Well, I have gotta say, this back and forth is getting pretty ridiculous, bottom line, this is a free rag, and the journalistic integrity reflects that. Personal attacks launched without the other side of the story are wrong, have been wrong and will always be wrong. This article is not badly written, but researched with obvious vitriol and anger toward Mr. Ellis ... just be fair Don, either way, Ellis is on the hook, if he makes any false statements his arse will land back in jail. He isn't aiming low, nor is he hesitant to connect the dots ... with names. If he was such a bad guy, such a tax cheat, an arms dealer, a drug dealer, after years of litigation, six months for a false statement is the best they could do? Great use of taxpayer money, what a joke! Oh and I guess the money his over 80,000 distributors made as well as his employees now without jobs wasn't needed here in San Diego. Guess you and Penny Crabtree made your bones on the Metabolife report back in the day and are trying to go 20/20 style again huh? Oh is her hubby still enjoying that cushy post with his big pharma employer? Funny how that worked ... and she hasn't been heard from since ... shame when you can't come clean. And with that, I bow out, I'm at Real Time with Bill Maher, another cat unafraid to speak his mind truthfully!— March 13, 2009 2:18 p.m.
Michael Ellis As Angel
Seems I started quite a firefight. Listen, all I wanted to let folks know is this ... I was wrong in my impression of the man, the product, and the company ... I still have my reservations about some of Mr. Ellis' choices, but, I have many more questions about the FDA, IRS, and the DOJ. The book itself was a great read, I was really surprised, and I do urge those of you who may have been users of the product to read it. I think we are all entitled to our opinion, but at least have those decisions be made knowing all the facts. The FDA has been shown to be corrupt by their own scientists, 8 of whom just recently came forward to expose what they felt was corruption which would cause American's their lives. We know it's broken, a lot of the system is, it's still the best in the world ... but, we should all be a part of asking ?'s, finding the truth, and making money.— March 13, 2009 10:14 a.m.
Michael Ellis As Angel
Mr. Bauder I based my opinion strictly upon the book, and by going to his site to see if the statements were backed up. I came to the blog to express my thoughts, that's all ... actually, if I was someone that worked with Mr Ellis or had a connection I'd hope he could scratch me a check ... one thing is for sure, he made a lot of money! Thank you for responding, and continued good luck.— March 11, 2009 4:05 p.m.
Michael Ellis As Angel
My sister used Metabolife years ago with great success, I too warned her of the dangers of the product based upon what I'd heard. She has always tried to convince me that the product was safe and effective ... Hmmm? She recently bought me the book because she felt I should read the story because I had many questions about the company. I read it this past week. It changed my view completely. How come it is ok for pharmaceutical companies to sell weight loss pills which they 1) Compare their ingredients to Metabolife? 2) Contains much more ephedra and caffeine than Metabolife ever did? 3) If Metabolife was a killer, why did they and other companies get 60 days to sell out there lots? I thought Mike Ellis was a bad person, a fat cat, a tax cheat, one who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. I now know the other side of the story. There has got to be balance, I have a better view now, actually have a more well rounded opinion of the man. You seem to cover very little of the story. I guess you have a personal agenda when it comes to Mr. Ellis? I was wrong in my opinion of the man, the business, the product.— March 11, 2009 2:50 p.m.