tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4149461649421262092024-03-18T12:52:30.673-04:00Encyclopedia of American LoonsIt’s … The Encyclopedia of American loons! Our new and exciting series presenting a representative sample of American loons from A-Z.G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.comBlogger2753125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-62743055816521843402024-03-18T05:04:00.004-04:002024-03-18T05:04:50.697-04:00#2749: Dusty Deevers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sarDfnK6H9jCkBes7P3FqLBChrwudZMlRbMK1b-O5UULvYU1dbYU-tTvc6iwFhcgOw-o2mcCrlBK-pjV5HC1jaZR-Sf0zrbD9fH_lG93Nm1L5hw5QshWzlMwrvkJyyQ0ju6tcIOmAyuBAUYEQeRHWo4qcmhymCJAZ7JZpKOPO6_A2CItgaMdkhUkpJw/s176/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="176" data-original-width="176" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sarDfnK6H9jCkBes7P3FqLBChrwudZMlRbMK1b-O5UULvYU1dbYU-tTvc6iwFhcgOw-o2mcCrlBK-pjV5HC1jaZR-Sf0zrbD9fH_lG93Nm1L5hw5QshWzlMwrvkJyyQ0ju6tcIOmAyuBAUYEQeRHWo4qcmhymCJAZ7JZpKOPO6_A2CItgaMdkhUkpJw/w200-h200/Unknown.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Dusty Deevers is a pastor, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/dusty-deevers-lawmaker-jail-people-watching-porn-1234959499/">Christian nationalist</a>,
member of the Oklahoma Senate since December 2023 and a frontman and
spokesperson for the ideology and principles of Gasht-e Ershad and the Taliban
(he would use different terminology himself to obscure the relationship). </span><span lang="EN-US"></span>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Deevers self-identifies as a “<i>constitutional
conservative</i>” for marketing purposes, but doesn’t actually recognize the
Constitution; instead, Deevers explicitly <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/christian-nationalist-pastor-dusty-deevers-is-running-for-a-seat-in-the-oklahoma-senate/">dismisses any notion of separation of church and state</a>,
<a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/oklahoma-state-sen-dusty-deevers-provides-a-case-study-in-christian-nationalism/">has vowed to apply</a>
“<i>the word of God to every issue</i>” and <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/oklahoma-state-sen-dusty-deevers-provides-a-case-study-in-christian-nationalism/">believes that</a>
the Bible “<i>has prescribed governing and then He has also prescribed the
means for our governing and that means is in accordance with His word. If we do
otherwise, then we are essentially usurping the sovereign role of God through
Christ, who has been seated above every power in Heaven and on Earth and under
the Earth</i>.” Or, if it is still unclear: “<i>Either you’re coming under the
rule of God, your Creator […] you’re going to come under the rule of the
serpent. So, it’s a serpentine theocracy or a rule of God, and there’s not a
space in the middle.</i>” Indeed, Deevers have emphasized, literally, <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/oklahoma-state-sen-dusty-deevers-is-taking-his-christian-nationalism-to-its-logical-conclusion/">his wish to take the US back to the 1600s</a>,
well before the Constitution and that liberty thing and those ideas of
inalienable rights arrived to undermine good theocracy: “<i>Why can’t I go back
to a ‘Lex, Rex’ age [1644], or a ‘Vindiciae Contra Tyrannos’ age [1579]?</i>”
<a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/why-cant-we-go-back-christian-nationalist-state-sen-dusty-deevers-wants-to-go-back-to-the-1600s/">asks Deevers</a>.</span><span lang="EN-US"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Deevers also self-identifies as an “<i>abortion
abolitionist</i>” and is the author (co-sponsored with Senator Warren Hamilton)
of <a href="https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/as-more-women-leave-oklahoma-to-end-pregnancies-or-order-pills-online-lawmakers-seek-tougher-laws/">a bill classifying abortion as homicide</a>,
which would allow both doctors and mothers to be prosecuted and to potentially face
the death penalty if charged with first-degree murder. The bill also allows for
wrongful death lawsuits on behalf of fetuses. And for those who might be
concerned about the relationship <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/mar/07/us-health-secretary-xavier-becerra-alabama-ivf-ruling">between anti-abortion measures and IVF</a>,
at least <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/right-wing-round-up-cryo-orphans-and-embryonic-neighbors/">Deevers is clear</a>:
parents who use IVF are “<i>waging an assault against God</i>.” He also
<a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/christian-nationalist-pastor-dusty-deevers-is-running-for-a-seat-in-the-oklahoma-senate/">advocates ending no-fault divorce</a>.
</span><span lang="EN-US"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">In 2024, Deevers also <a href="https://reason.com/2024/01/22/oklahoma-bill-would-ban-sending-sexy-selfies-unless-youre-married/">introduced a bill</a>
to ban all pornography, i.e. anything involving sexual acts, nudity, partial
nudity, or any content that appeals to a sexual fetish, such as BDSM. According
to the bill, anyone who buys, views, procures, or possesses porn would be
punished by up to 20 years in prison, while anyone who poses for or otherwise
assists or offers to assist in the production and distribution of such
materials would be punished with a year in prison. Initially, he didn’t even
bother to try to invoke the Constitution for that one, but instead <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/right-wing-bonus-tracks-a-lament-for-cpac/">lectured fellow lawmakers about</a>
how pornography is a tool of Satan and must be outlawed so people “<i>can be
set free</i>” to give their lives to Jesus, and pointed out that anyone who
views pornography knows that they are violating “<i>the holy character of God</i>”.
This is <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Spiritual_warfare">“<i>spiritual warfare</i>”</a>,
<a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/this-is-spiritual-warfare-dusty-deevers-holy-crusade-to-outlaw-pornography/">said Deevers</a>.
But he also – perhaps dimly aware that someone who is a self-proclaimed
“constitutional conservative” should pretend to care about the Constitution –
eventually <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/this-is-spiritual-warfare-dusty-deevers-holy-crusade-to-outlaw-pornography/">went on to claim that</a>
“<i>Our Constitution says this very thing: We get our rights from God</i>” (it
most certainly says no such thing but “constitutional conservatives” are not
the kind of people who care about distinguishing the Constitution from
imprecise allusions to the Declaration of Independence), and that therefore
God’s law, as Deevers interprets it, supersedes what the Constitution actually
says. He has elsewhere <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/oklahoma-state-sen-dusty-deevers-is-taking-his-christian-nationalism-to-its-logical-conclusion/">proudly explained how</a>
the justification for bills he introduces is built entirely on provisions from
the Bible.</span><span lang="EN-US"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">As you might expect from someone like
Deevers, he is also rabidly <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Anti-vaccination_movement">anti-vaccine</a>
and not afraid to deploy every anti-vaccine gambit and conspiracy theory <a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Anti-vaccine_argument_bingo">in the book</a>,
no matter how silly. Deevers is particularly inclined to going Godwin, and <a href="https://eu.oklahoman.com/story/news/2021/12/21/some-oklahoma-churches-push-vaccines-others-sow-misinformation/8974487002/">he hasfor instance compared</a>
vaccine mandates to the Nuremberg laws. Before being elected senator, Deevers
also claimed that governments were pushing the vaccine under the cover of
utilitarianism, and “<i>these were the same equations, the same moral
principles that were used in the 19th and 20th centuries to immunize the
society against becoming infected with bad genes, Jewish genes, low IQ genes</i>”
(it most certainly was not) – note also the presupposition that governments are
intentionally using vaccines to kill people – before <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2022/09/06/covid-19-vaccines-and-the-nuremberg-code-revisited/">invoking the Nuremberg Code</a>,
which <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2021/07/20/the-nuremberg-code-gambit/">antivaxxers like doing</a>
but which Deevers <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2021/08/25/after-fda-approval-of-comirnaty-antivaxxers-claim-its-still-experimental/">seems to understand not much better</a>
than he understands vaccines: “<i>You do understand what road this is heading
down</i>,” said Deevers. “<i>If they can force you by utilitarianism to take a
jab for a disease, they can force you to do it to protect you from people whose
IQ is lower than yours or people whose skin color is different than yours</i>,”
just like governments being able mandate seatbelts (or restrict access to porn)
means that they can also force you to commit genocide or put people in
concentration camps, just like that.<i> </i>“<i>And <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory">they</a>’ve</i><i>
done it over and over</i>.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Of course, Deever is not alone – indeed,
the Oklahoma state legislature have been plagued by frothingly insane religious
fundamentalist anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists <a href="https://eu.oklahoman.com/story/news/2021/12/21/some-oklahoma-churches-push-vaccines-others-sow-misinformation/8974487002/">for a while</a>,
such as governor <a href="https://respectfulinsolence.com/2018/10/25/the-republican-party-has-become-the-antivaccine-party/">Kevin Stitt</a>,
the aforementioned <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/bills-eliminating-school-immunizations-and-other-anti-vaccination-measures-confront-state-legislatures/">Warren Hamilton</a>,
state senator and <a href="https://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2023/01/06/oklahoma-creationist-legislation-for-2023/">creationism advocate</a>
<a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/oklahoma-state-sen-nathan-dahm-spreads-false-christian-nationalist-history/">Nathan Dahm</a>
and state senator Jake Merrick, former pastor at Tulsa’s Living Rivers
Millennial Church (led by the militant anti-vaccine activist Paul Brady), all
of whom, like Deevers, spent time others could have spent doing good in the
legislature pushing for abortion bans and laws to block vaccine mandates.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;">Diagnosis: In fairness, Deevers is, as a senator,
doing exactly what he promised he would do as a senator during his campaign.
Unfortunately, what he promised to do was fighting for a kind of raw theocracy
that would make hardened Taliban veterans blush. Completely insane.</span><span lang="EN-US"></span></b></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-79075842893762295982024-03-15T04:16:00.000-04:002024-03-15T04:16:05.092-04:00#2748: Kayla Dee<p><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In 2017,
the Rochester Public School Board decided to take seriously a state law that
requires students to be vaccinated for diseases such as measles, mumps and even
chicken pox, to the consternation of local antivaccine loons, of which there
seems to have been a number (more than 70 had to be ordered to leave school).
The requirements weren’t really strict: exemptions were available for those
rejecting vaccinations for health <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2020/02/19/latest-attempt-by-antivaccine-movement-to-invoke-religion/">or religious reasons</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, but parents would have to fill
out paperwork, something that apparently required too much investment in their
children’s well-being or was too mentally challenging for some.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Local
antivaxx mom Kayla Dee was one such. Angry with the law, <a href="http://www.kvrr.com/2017/03/02/minnesota-anti-vax-mom-dying-disease-part-plan/">Dee explained that</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> “<i>my religious beliefs are if
you get sick with something, it’s part of your plan in life. So, why get the
vaccinations to try to prevent it? Yeah those diseases are going to suck if you
get them, but if you live through them, great! If you don’t, that’s your plan
in life. Also, medically, it’s against my beliefs because who really know
<a href="https://vaxopedia.org/2018/05/13/are-there-hidden-ingredients-in-vaccines/">what’s in these vaccinations</a></i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">?</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">” Well, <i>we<b> </b></i>know precisely <a href="https://vaxopedia.org/2016/09/02/vaccine-ingredients/">what’s in the vaccines</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, but a much more pertinent
question is: Why does Dee <i>care</i>, given her general view on medicine? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
scariest thing of all is that, in the present situation, Dee decided that she
would be homeschooling her children while she fights against the state law. And
she is allowed to that.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis: No,
this is not satire. Really. That she is even allowed to be in the vicinity of
children is preposterous. </span></b></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-79239825116926881512024-03-14T05:32:00.003-04:002024-03-14T05:32:46.145-04:00#2747: Adrianne DeCotes<p><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDddflkDswHFIqCAQahbjAR7srZhnwYqzNDeyujpDtTfaKkOv13q2MUmpid02840GG-NKr2_mAAqqTHMhf-ejsMfcidFFOtAN7ZHj2Zxxli5Z6hLnpzEEoCY3uyvxXDcE7k8OpOmYuSyhphLDbtc-zJF6iPKjVmTMVl2W4LuLLTuXEoA6SlPxwJcaiPLI/s259/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDddflkDswHFIqCAQahbjAR7srZhnwYqzNDeyujpDtTfaKkOv13q2MUmpid02840GG-NKr2_mAAqqTHMhf-ejsMfcidFFOtAN7ZHj2Zxxli5Z6hLnpzEEoCY3uyvxXDcE7k8OpOmYuSyhphLDbtc-zJF6iPKjVmTMVl2W4LuLLTuXEoA6SlPxwJcaiPLI/w200-h150/Unknown.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>Adrianne
DeCotes is a Manifesting Coach and Intuitive Guide. A “manifesting coach” is
someone who helps you deploy <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Law_of_attraction">the law of attraction</a><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, and is hence sort of a fluffy,
rosy new age counterpart to a <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Name_it_and_claim_it">prosperity-gospel</a>-promoting</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> TV preacher. An “intuitive guide”
is an old-fashioned <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Psychic">psychic</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, rebranded for marketing purposes. In
addition to providing coaching services, where she promises to help you “<i>discover
how to make manifesting easy, fun and automatic</i>”, DeCotes also produces
videos for YouTube with titles like “<i>10 Signs Manifestation Is On Its Way</i>”,
which views like unfocused versions of pseudotheological rantings by fundie
end-times preachers, repainted in pastel colors and glitter paint – they say
very little of substance (this is all about spirit <i>fluff </i>– <i>substance</i>
is antithetical to all they stand for), but what little she says is profoundly
silly. <br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">DeCotes has
also had a career providing “<a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Spirit_guide"><i>spirit guide</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> readings</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">”, where she would consult the
<a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Akashic_Records">Akashic Records</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> to give you advice related to your
spirit guides. Specific advice and information is, however, something
self-declared psychics understandably need to be careful with, so she seems to
have at some point modified her services to focus on “<i>intuitive readings</i>”
about what areas in your lives you are being “<i>blocked</i>” from realizing according
to your Akashic Records, claims that are a bit trickier to actually test
insofar as the Akashic Records are inaccessible to ordinary people (you can pay
for expensive courses to get access). </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
This kind of thing is hugely popular, perhaps mostly <i>because</i> of the lack
of substance (<i>reality</i> is hard and uncompromising, so it is best to avoid
it), as well as its concern with ephemereal care and empathy. But what little
substance you find is magnificently delusional. Now, there is nothing about
DeCotes and her services that obviously stand out from a long line of providers
of similar services; rather, she serves as a more or less random illustration
of a trend that is disconcertingly popular. We severely doubt that she
manifested the coverage she receives here, but she is of course free to
interpret this entry as a summary of her file in her Akashic Records.</span></b></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-8707611667066118752024-03-11T05:26:00.000-04:002024-03-11T05:26:25.045-04:00#2746: Carolyn Dean<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsR-W8h0wg7pGSNRMYFa3nO0LtXAh3mgKepC7t4gP7oDSGWOaPnYxP7axKaFSGRxbHj14VgBKCAlUBkO6pfPmpQILXQipXRO5PWs8MaDBSfrOFFFWbyhybQTpkRIRHAOD4zSxG36O63L8S49gud1jcSKxhWcBs3crtRMwql7JpnD3CO1V78DXYNdQ1Uss/s225/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsR-W8h0wg7pGSNRMYFa3nO0LtXAh3mgKepC7t4gP7oDSGWOaPnYxP7axKaFSGRxbHj14VgBKCAlUBkO6pfPmpQILXQipXRO5PWs8MaDBSfrOFFFWbyhybQTpkRIRHAOD4zSxG36O63L8S49gud1jcSKxhWcBs3crtRMwql7JpnD3CO1V78DXYNdQ1Uss/w200-h200/Unknown.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Carolyn
Dean is a <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theory">conspiracy theorist</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Homeopathy">homeopath</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Naturopathy">naturopath</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Cholesterol_denialism">cholesterol denialist</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Anti-vaccination_movement">anti-vaccine activist</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and promoter of her homemade “<i>magnesium
miracle</i>” cure. Now, Dean did, in fact, have a degree from a legitimate
medical school at one point in time, but <a href="https://quackwatch.org/cases/foreign/dean/">her registration certificate was revoked</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> in Ontario (where she was working)
in 1995 because of unfit medical practice and disregard for the welfare of 36
of her patients; the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario correctly
described her conduct as disgraceful and unprofessional. Dean, who was also a <a href="https://quackwatch.org/related/naturopathy/">naturopath</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and graduate of the <a href="https://www.naturopathicdiaries.com/students-guide-naturopathic-school/">Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> in Toronto (she didn’t lose her <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alternative_Medicine_Education">ND</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> degree), didn’t even try to
contest the charges, but promptly moved to the US (ultimately Hawaii) to
continue her practice of scamming victims with insane quackery. </span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The College
case summary is instructive enough:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Dean used unscientific methods of
testing, such as hair analysis, <a href="https://quackwatch.org/related/electro/#:~:text=Scientific%20Reports&text=Each%20participant%20was%20tested%20with,used%20to%20diagnose%20these%20allergies">Vega</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and <a href="https://quackwatch.org/consumer-protection/eav/">Interro testing</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Iridology">iridology</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Reflexology">reflexology</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> as well as treatment not medically
indicated and of unproven value, such as <a href="https://quackwatch.org/homeopathy/">homeopathy</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://quackwatch.org/ncahf/articles/c-d/colonic/">colonic irrigations</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://edzardernst.com/2020/10/coffee-emema-a-tragically-stupid-way-to-die/">coffee enemas</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, and <a href="https://quackwatch.org/cases/ftc/news/ftc-news-releases-for-1986/buckingham/">rotation diets</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She did not individualize her
patients and try to reach an appropriate diagnosis and treatment but rather
pre-diagnosed them without individualizing them with her preferred nonsense
diagnoses <a href="https://quackwatch.org/ncahf/articles/c-d/candida/">candidiasis</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and immunodeficiency problems.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Conspiracy
theories</span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Carolyn_Dean">According to herself</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, her loss of a license was obviously
an <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Galileo_gambit">attempt by the “<i>medical establishment</i>”</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> to remove her, and the entire
incident was “<i>staged and fake removal of my medical license in Ontario</i>.”
Because of course there is a conspiracy afoot: “<i>[t]he conclusion I draw from
my experience with the medical establishment is that they will do anything they
can – up to and including pushing people to commit suicide – to maintain their
monopoly on disease care</i>” because the conclusion that the whole world is <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Persecution_complex#Role_in_tribalism">in
a conspiracy to get you</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> is <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Big_Pharma#Brave_Maverick_Doctor">far more palatable</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> than the obviously correct one
that <i>you</i> made a mistake. She is currently the director of the
pseudoscientific Nutritional Magnesium Association where she advertises herself
as <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Big_Pharma#Brave_Maverick_Doctor">the “<i>Doctor of the Future</i>”</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. And she currently also
contributes to <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/NaturalNews">NaturalNews</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, which in any sane world should be
diagnosis enough. (She has also, to add insult to injury or something,
apparently also been a repeated contributor to <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/The_Huffington_Post">Huffington Post</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
conspiracy theory complex she has built is elaborate. Of course, much of her
work, including her articles and lectures, is heavy with irrational <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Big_Pharma">Big Pharma</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> conspiracy theories (“<i>the
future of medicine is unfortunately in the hands of Big Pharma; it’s got
nothing to do with patients anymore or even doctors for that matter</i>”), and
the list of people and organizations ostensibly in the pockets of Big Pharma is
staggering. When the FDA is, as she sees it, harassing proponents of <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Homeopathy">homeopathy</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> just because they are earning
money by promoting nonsense quackery to people in desperate situations, Big
Pharma is the ultimate source. She frequently cites NaturalNews as a source for
her claims, as well as a source for medical information.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But Dean
is, perhaps most famously, author – together with several other deranged quacks
(Martin Feldman, Debora Rasio and, not the least, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gary_Null">Gary Null</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> – of the rather infamous 2005
paper <i>Death by Medicine</i>, published in the <a href="https://quackwatch.org/consumer-education/nonrecperiodicals/">quack and pseudoscience outlet</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> the Journal of <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Orthomolecular_medicine">Orthomolecular medicine</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, where they try to argue that modern
medicine does more harm than good by examining statistics of deaths due to
pharmaceutical drugs. Of course, the paper is blithely lying about many the
numbers by wildly extrapolating, and even when the numbers are (more or less)
correct, the authors misrepresent them and their significance (basically,
anyone who dies during treatment in a hospital is counted as a <i>death by
modern medicine</i>). There is a brief but telling takedown of their
ridiculousness <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/death-by-medicine/">here</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, and a slightly more detailed
discussion of the idea <a href="https://respectfulinsolence.com/2019/02/13/medical-errors-2019/">here</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. Despite its misrepresentations,
errors and baseless extrapolations, the paper <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/no-everything-you-thought-you-knew-about-disease-is-not-wrong/">has become wildly popular</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/naturopathy-and-dubious-compounding-pharmacies-a-deadly-combination/">in denialist and altmed circles</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, and <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2012/07/20/a-chiropractor-strikes-back-at-the-institute-for-science-in-medicine-again/">has been</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2021/08/13/misinformation-about-medical-errors-rears-its-ugly-head-in-stat/">widely used</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, despite its lack of quality and
its sordid provenance, <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2019/02/13/medical-errors-2019/">as a source</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> for <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/are-medical-errors-really-the-third-most-common-cause-of-death-in-the-u-s-2019-edition/">further speculation and extrapolations</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. Undeterred by facts, evidence and
science, Dean went on to publish a book to speculatively elaborate on her
misrepresentations in the papers, <i>Death By Modern Medicine</i>, with forewords
by <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Joseph_Mercola">Joseph Mercola</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Julian_Whitaker">Julian Whitaker</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, no less.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And as Dean
seems to see it, the conclusion of the paper (and book), that modern medicine
is killing you and not helping you allows her to reject <i>science</i>
wholesale – not just the results of studies she doesn’t like, but the whole
epistemological framework, including such features as <i>evidence</i>, <i>accountability</i>
and <i>accuracy</i> – as vestiges of her grand conspiracy. And she has promptly
gone on (or continued to go on) promoting various forms of pseudoscience and
quackery free from and unfettered by concerns for evidence, safety,
accountability or accuracy. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Magnesium
woo</span></i></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As for
pseudoscientific <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Panacea">panaceas</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, Dean’s <a href="https://theskepticalcardiologist.com/2017/08/12/quackery-promotion-by-mainstream-media-part-i-readers-digest-and-naturopathy/">quackery of choice</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> is <i>magnesium</i>. According to
Dean, more or less any health condition is caused or triggered by magnesium
deficiency (yes, it’s the <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-one-true-cause-of-all-disease/">One True Cause for All Disease</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">), and can be cured by buying her
magnesium supplements. Indeed, Dean apparently sells her own, <i>very special</i>
type of magnesium, ReMag, which is apparently better, so don’t you go ahead and
buy whatever ordinary kind of magnesium you can get your hands on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now, Dean
admits that she has received a warning letter from the Food and Drug
Administration stating that she cannot say magnesium can treat a disease
because saying that it can treat disease would be lying. But, reasons Dean, the
real problem she needs to circumvent is the fact that the FDA requires that
drugs be tested for safety (and efficacy), so she must avoid committing herself
to anything “<i>that will make magnesium a drug and subject to drug testing</i>,”
insofar as (she doesn’t explicitly say that) her health claims wouldn’t fare
well under <i>testing</i>. So Dean’s solution is to emphasize that her
magnesium and vitamin supplements are not drugs because they haven’t been
tested for safety or efficacy. Her live-radio website, for instance, contains a
<a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Quack_Miranda_Warning">Quack Miranda Warning</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> that also emphasizes “<i>A vitamin
is not a drug, NEITHER is a Mineral, Trace Element, Amino Acid, Herb, or
Homeopathic Remedy. Although a Vitamin, a Mineral, Trace Element, Amino Acid,
Herb or homeopathic Remedy may have an effect on any disease or the structure
and function of any body system</i>.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So
according to Dean, her <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Vitamin_and_mineral_supplements">magnesium and vitamin supplements</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> can, in fact, cure practically all
diseases. Magnesium, in particular, “<i>helps to alleviate heart disease,
stroke, osteoporosis, diabetes, depression, arthritis, and asthma</i>,” and is,
in her words, a <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Panacea">“<i>miraculous mineral</i>”</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (though again: “<i>You may need a particular
kind of magnesium [her ReMag] to achieve therapeutic levels</i>”). As she sees
it, “<i>[i]f you were to list today’s leading chronic diseases, heart disease
(angina, high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol) along with diabetes,
osteoporosis, depression, generalized inflammation, and toxicity are found at
the top. Magnesium is a mineral and nutrient that when eaten or supplemented in
the proper amounts and form, has had a miraculous healing effect on these and
other serious health conditions</i>” (she promptly added long Covid to the list
in 2022, as a putative “<i>new label</i>” for magnesium deficiency). She has no
real evidence for these claims, which are false, but since magnesium is, as she
sees it, not a drug, she doesn’t need evidence (note that that’s actually what
she says). “Evidence” is presumably something that belongs to <i>science</i>,
with its oppressive focus on facts, reason, evidence and accountability, which
are all just tools that <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Big_Pharma">Big Pharma</a> uses to suppress people who wants to get your
respect and money from just making things up. Instead of scientific evidence,
Dean cites e.g. <i><a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/What_Doctors_Don%27t_Tell_You">What Doctors May Not Tell You</a></i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> for her claim that 200 mg
magnesium daily<i> </i>“<i>showed 80% reduction in migraines with 200 mg
magnesium</i>”, in direct contradiction with <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25533715/">an actual metastudy on thequestion</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (which did admittedly not include <i>What
Doctors May Not Tell You</i>). She also recommends <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Homeopathy">homeopathic</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> magnesium.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In addition
to the real medical conditions her magnesium supplements can cure, she Dean’s
claims to be able to treat <i>non-real</i> and <i>nonsense</i> medical
conditions (and probably much more successfully, for obvious reasons),
including <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/candida-and-fake-illnesses/">yeast overgrowth syndrome</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/detox-scams-are-worthless-and-potentially-dangerous/">detox reactions</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/multiple-chemical-sensitivity-separating-facts-from-fiction/">multiple chemical sensitivity</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, and <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/electromagnetic-hypersensitivity-and-wifi-allergies-bogus-diagnoses-with-tragic-real-world-consequences/">electromagnetic sensitivity</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. As the reader probably
recognizes, Dean is hardcore on <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Chemophobia">chemophobia</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> pushing: “<i>Toxic chemicals are being
found in all foods, all bodies of water, and all humans in every study
performed</i>.” And don’t try to tell her that <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/The_dose_makes_the_poison">the dose makes the poison</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> or talk to her about the
difference between trace amounts detected by sensitive instruments and
poisoning. Science is dumb! Instead, Dean quotes “<a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/top-ten-signs-your-detox-may-be-a-scam/"><i>detox</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> expert</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">” <a href="https://centerforinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/quackwatch/casewatch/board/med/rogers.pdf">Sherry Rogers</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, who thinks everyone should use
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/06/infrared-saunas-will-not-detoxify-you-toxins-sweat/528813/">far infrared saunas</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> to eliminate (unspecified) stored
environmental <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Toxin">toxins</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (by unspecified mechanisms).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Her claims
are summed up in her book <i>The Magnesium Miracle</i>, published in 2003 and
updated in 2017, and briefly reviewed <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/is-magnesium-the-underlying-cause-and-treatment-for-everything/">here</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. Her work is also promoted by the
Nutritional Magnesium Association, an organization apparently devoted to hyping
magnesium as the cure for all ills and featuring all manner of magnesium
quacks. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Cholesterol
denialism</span></i></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Dean also
belongs to a group we might not have covered as extensively as we should: <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Cholesterol_denialism">cholesterol and statin denialists</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. Dean claims, in line with her
general tendency to prefer conspiracy theories over reason (and especially over
the possibility that there might be details she is missing or has
misunderstood), that the American Heart Association “<i>simultaneously is
covering up statin side effects</i>”, that cholesterol does not cause or
increase the risk of heart disease, and that cholesterol levels above 200 are
not dangerous. And to achieve a synthesis of her cholesterol nonsense with her
magnesium quackery, she asserts that magnesium operates as a “<i>natural statin</i>”
(<a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Appeal_to_nature"><i>natural</i></a> statins are of course better than other statins</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">) and keeps cholesterol in balance.
And to turn that synthesis of denialism and quackery into money, she markets
her “<i>Total Body ReSet</i>” bundle of dietary supplements for cholesterol,
which will cost you $299. She also recommends <a href="https://quackwatch.org/cases/fdawarning/prod/fda-warning-letters-about-products-2010/evenbetternow/">clay baths</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and <a href="https://quackwatch.org/device/reports/aquadetox/">footbath detoxification</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She has furthermore
stated that chronic inflammation is the cause of heart disease and that
cholesterol is unrelated. That claim is, to put it mildly, <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-cholesterol-controversy/">not supported by scientific evidence</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, but <i>evidence</i> was of course
never part of the package here. She also endorses the pseudoscientific nonsense
of the British leading cholesterol denialist <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Malcolm_Kendrick">Malcolm Kendrick</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Dean is
also an <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Water_fluoridation">anti-fluoridation</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> conspiracy theorist, and claims
that she knows “<i>that fluoridation of tap water is a disaster afflicting the
population with an epidemic of chronic disease, including arthritis and cancer</i>.”
She cites <a href="http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2013/04/505-russell-blaylock.html">Russell Blaylock</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://theoutline.com/post/1183/the-quack-behind-the-msg-scare-is-still-stoking-fear-for-profit">no less</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, as her authority. <a href="https://www.cancer.org/cancer/risk-prevention/chemicals/water-fluoridation-and-cancer-risk.html">The claim is
false</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, and Dean cites no evidence to
suggest otherwise. The connection to cholesterol denialism? As Dean (though
emphatically not reality) sees it, statins are potentially toxic fluoride
compounds and may release fluoride ions that can irreversibly bind to
magnesium, thereby contributing to muscle pain. That idea flatly contradicts
elementary chemistry, but whatever. Fluoride atoms in statins are not released
as ions.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Antivaccine
views</span></i></b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Determined
to get <i>everything </i>wrong, Dean is an anti-vaccinationist and has written several
garbled and conspiracy-filled articles claiming that vaccines do not work,
despite the fact that <a href="https://vaxopedia.org/2019/02/24/we-know-vaccines-work/">they obviously do</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. She is, for instance, the author
or an article “The Politics of <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Thiomersal">Mercury Poisoning</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/yes-autism-rate-rising-vaccines-caused-vaccines/">in Autism</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">” for something called <i>Total
Health Magazine</i>, in which she touches on an impressive array of antivaccine
tropes, including appeals to the <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2022/02/10/theres-no-autism-epidemic-but-there-is-an-autism-diagnosis-epidemic/">largely mythical</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2017/01/25/another-reminder-that-there-is-no-autism-epidemic/">autism epidemic</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and citing <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2010/09/17/safeminds-swings-at-price-et-al-and-miss/">safeMinds</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> as an authorative source.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Consistently wrong about everything (almost to the level of being genuinely
impressive) and fundamentally disgraced as a consultant on anything related to
health and medicine. Unfortunately there are i) people for whom <i>being
disgraced</i> is apparently considered a virtue, ii) people in desperate
situations willing to try virtually anything, iii) lots of people who don’t
have medical expertise themselves and wouldn’t really be in a position to know
what a dingbat purveyor of potentially dangerous nonsense Dean actually is when
they come across the drivel she is producing for various outlets. As a result,
Dean still has a <s>victim</s> fan base. And even after some 2700+ loons, that
is genuinely shocking.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hat-tip:
<a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Carolyn_Dean">Rationalwiki</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">; <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/is-magnesium-the-underlying-cause-and-treatment-for-everything/">Harriet Hall @SciencebasedMedicine</a></span></p>
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{margin-bottom:0cm;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-37539692642884581862024-03-08T04:39:00.002-05:002024-03-08T04:39:57.533-05:00#2745: John Dawson<p><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhke5VLxMSaYkrCaHqibtOjZRQC0up5aZIeh_Xu37gEdDeaiLEq-mbhBKAKXeF-ykcinTJSTdSVzJUATEAy8j7Y96hZL5fQMmdaf8p3f0VnjK-Pun_Uq4uWUpQgRnRoA4BE7JIckmG8XzfDekqm1pKCVXgwIrmjLsBRWGLBW3-Rz-8lDnVpHizIjiQG7oo/s1280/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhke5VLxMSaYkrCaHqibtOjZRQC0up5aZIeh_Xu37gEdDeaiLEq-mbhBKAKXeF-ykcinTJSTdSVzJUATEAy8j7Y96hZL5fQMmdaf8p3f0VnjK-Pun_Uq4uWUpQgRnRoA4BE7JIckmG8XzfDekqm1pKCVXgwIrmjLsBRWGLBW3-Rz-8lDnVpHizIjiQG7oo/w200-h113/maxresdefault.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Patricia
Davis, proponent and <a href="https://quackwatch.org/related/dictionary/mds/) of subtle (https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Subtle_energy">inventor</a><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Aromatherapy">aromatherapy</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, ostensibly a form of <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Vibration#Woo">vibrational</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Vibrational_medicine">healing</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_medicine">vibrational medicine</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> that uses <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Essential_oil">essential oils</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> to (a) heal the “<i>physical body</i>”
by affecting the “<i>subtle body</i>” or “<a href="https://skepdic.com/energy.html"><i>energetic</i></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <i>body</i>”, or (b) contribute to personal
and <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Self_help">spiritual growth</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, is apparently British, and hence
formally disqualified for an entry, even though she thoroughly deserves one.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">John
Dawson, however, is a champion of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and <a href="https://currentpub.com/2023/10/04/nbc-news-tackles-seven-mountain-dominionism/">Seven Mountains Dominionism</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, and the founder (with Alaskan
Apostle Mary Glazier) and leader of something called the <a href="http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/10/27/115813/98">International Reconciliation Coalition</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (the words making up the names of
these organizations appear to have been chosen more or less at random). And he
is American enough, even though many of his organization’s efforts to promote
hate, evil and insane fundamentalism are taking place abroad. Dawson himself
apparently originally hails, like <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Ray_Comfort">Ray Comfort</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, from New Zealand.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">To give an
indication of what kind of guy we are talking about, Dawson wrote (together
with Jane Hoyt) the foreword to <a href="http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2013/11/795-cindy-jacobs.html">Cindy Jacobs</a>’s</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> book <i>Women of Destiny:
Fulfilling God’s Call in Your Life</i> – taking Cindy Jacobs’s claims seriously
is more than<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>enough to qualify you as a
loon on its own. But Dawson is, in fact, the author of numerous books himself, and
some of them have been frighteningly influential in dominionist circles, including
<i>Taking Our Cities For God</i> and <i>Healing America’s Wounds</i>. Now, given
the rather violent antics of the <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/167499/new-apostolic-reformation-mastriano-christian">New Apostolic Reformation</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, you may sort of have an idea <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Spiritual_warfare">what
the former might be about</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> – and Dawson’s book was indeed one
of the early guidebooks for applying the rabid fundie idea of <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Spiritual_warfare#Spiritual_mapping">spiritual mapping</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> of cities to <a href="http://www.talk2action.org/story/2010/3/6/95620/29842">identify demonic strongholds</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (“<i>you should have the census in
one hand and the Bible in the other</i>”) before using looting, violence, rage
and prayer to expunge said demonic influences. <i>Prayer</i> is an important
weapon in their arsenal: “<i>The prayer of a human being can alter history by
releasing legions of angels into the earth. If we really grasped this truth, we
would pray with intensity, and we would pray constantly</i>”; given its power,
one would have hoped that people of Dawson’s ilk would restrict themselves to
employing that one; unfortunately, <a href="http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/10/27/115813/98">they don’t</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As for <i>Healing
America’s Wounds</i>, it might superficially look like a book calling for apologizing
for the harms caused by genocide against Native Americans, slavery and other
atrocities, but the angle it takes is … well, lunatic: what Dawson calls for is
application of the principle, later central to the NAR, of <a href="http://www.talk2action.org/story/2010/10/17/11135/471/Front_Page/_Lou_Engle_Only_One_of_Many_of_Sen_Brownback_s_NAR_Apostle_Problems">“<i>Identificational
Repentance and Reconciliation</i>”</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, a spiritual warfare tool to be
used to overcome the resistance of ethnic, racial, and religious populations to
converting to evangelical beliefs: you see, their resistance is really caused
by demonic “<i>strongholds</i>” – that is, the groups in question (and their
resistance to Dawson’s brand of religious fundamentalism) are really controlled
by demons due to sins they or their ancestors have committed: Native Americans
are controlled Baal, and Roman Catholics and Muslims by Leviathan and the demon
<i>the Queen of Heaven</i>. And removing the demons to facilitate mass
conversion requires the “<i>taking of territory</i>” along the lines of the
tactics outlined in <i>Taking Our Cities For God</i>. At least <a href="http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/12/8/162939/009">unofficial NAR
leader</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2014/12/1234-c-peter-wagner.html">C. Peter Wagner</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> recognized Dawson’s book as an crucial
spiritual warfare textbook; his Fuller Theological Seminary students have been
required to read it, and it served as the foundation for NAR’s “<i>Reconciliation
Walk</i>” in the Middle East to apologize to Muslims and Jews for the Crusades
and then convert them, in order to – <a href="http://www.talk2action.org/story/2010/10/17/11135/471/Front_Page/_Lou_Engle_Only_One_of_Many_of_Sen_Brownback_s_NAR_Apostle_Problems">in Wagner’s words</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> – tear down the “<i>primary
[demonic] stronghold to blind the minds of Muslims and Jews to the gospel for
centuries</i>.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Apparently,
Dawson has a background as as a leader with <a href="http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2024/01/2736-loren-cunningham.html">Loren Cunningham</a>’s</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> organization <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/7/11/752404/-Ensign-House-Owned-By-Group-Proposing-Christian-World-Control-Plot">YWAM</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, which continues to produce insane
fundamentalists to this day, and he has even enjoyed a stint as president for
that organization. Dawson is also deeply involved in the organization Toward
Jerusalem Council II, which is devoted to establishing cooperation between NAR
fundies and <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Messianic_Judaism">Messianic Jews</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> for the purpose of converting
Jewish people in large numbers, something that is crucial to ushering in the
End Times. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis: Though
less obviously visible in the today’s loon landscape, perhaps, the lunatic
fringes of the Taliban remains a force to be reckoned with in the US, and
people like John Dawson continue, despite being raving lunatics, to wield a lot
of influence. Still scary as hell.</span></b></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-73963527885816594052024-03-06T08:40:00.001-05:002024-03-06T08:40:19.392-05:00#2744: Kim Davis & Casey Davis<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOovwM0j-ymqn71bItLdrT3NZizJKGVngyFybgzm_LFxFPPUFlDVjWB4Nnl1qUkSOO8D-9iAU7xutVXNN9RCWHgjeGFG6dgA4t5VBOt_JcDKEKed2xP5mdb3033Jlj-KTzjCQnKexcElXf6JmipmaoqGH8TgVIgGLuIFti09Z9XgEQ9rI3Nad8dl-zrVo/s300/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOovwM0j-ymqn71bItLdrT3NZizJKGVngyFybgzm_LFxFPPUFlDVjWB4Nnl1qUkSOO8D-9iAU7xutVXNN9RCWHgjeGFG6dgA4t5VBOt_JcDKEKed2xP5mdb3033Jlj-KTzjCQnKexcElXf6JmipmaoqGH8TgVIgGLuIFti09Z9XgEQ9rI3Nad8dl-zrVo/w200-h112/Unknown.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">We really,
really didn’t plan on giving these ones a separate entry, but for the sake of
comprehensiveness and because we’ve managed to get some distance to the
silliness: <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage#United_States">As many remember</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, Kim Davis was the county clerk of
Rowan County, Kentucky, who became <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Persecution_complex">a martyr for the Christian right</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> for<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/us/same-sex-marriage-kentucky-kim-davis.html?_r=0"> refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> following the 2015 Obergefell v.
Hodges decision. I.e.: She refused to do her job, and refused to quit, and
after a court order, a lawsuit, being jailed for five days in contempt of
court, and agreeing to an arrangement where her deputies would issue the marriage
licenses instead and she wouldn’t interfere, she promptly interfered. She then
lost her bid for reelection and is currently on <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Wingnut_welfare">wingnut welfare</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. </span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Her subsequent
activities include traveling the world as a celebrity with wingnuts like <a href="http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2018/04/2000-harry-mihet.html">Harry
Mihet</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> on behalf of <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Liberty_Counsel">Liberty Counsel</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> to spread <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/right-wing-bonus-tracks-kim-davis-in-romania/">the message that</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> “<i>same-sex ‘marriage’ and
freedom of conscience are mutually exclusive, because those who promote the
former have zero tolerance for the latter</i>.” Emphasizing that connection is
important, since otherwise it would be somewhat tricky to avoid the obvious
tension between what they were actually doing – campaigning against legalizing
same-sex marriage in places <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/religious-rights-romanian-anti-lgbtq-referendum-fails/">like Romania</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> – and what <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kim-davis-romania_n_59df7caae4b00abf3646d038">they claimed to be doing</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">: “<i>encouraging religious freedom</i>”.
Of course, their attempt to construe their efforts, including Davis’s refusal
to issue marriage licenses, as a matter of religious freedom is hard to
maintain if one cares at all for the facts, and the mask frequently slips. As
Davis fan Randy Smith, leader of a group of supporters, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Theocracy">illuminatingly</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Theocracy"> put</a> it: “<i>at the end of the day,
we have to stand before God, which has higher authority than the Supreme Court</i>”.
Or, in other words: nothing here really has anything to do with either the
Constitution or religious freedom.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">After her
antics, Davis quickly acquired <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/kim-davis-sotu-ignored-the-christians-being-mashed-down-literally-by-obama/">a number of fans</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, including <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/organizations/liberty-counsel/">Liberty Counsel</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (whose founder <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/mat-staver/">Mat Staver</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> represented her in court), <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Focus_on_the_Family">Focus on the Family</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/health-misinformation-now-has-powerful-allies/">Jim Jordan</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQn-o4jnO2a_EUuHSsLkO0Jyz8E-HX_QGVdSz_lkBurG3F2_I647FlEmjpPi3vz3Tf08uNWgXMUPwMBSLgTOssGC03wvex54tlCkuzcElLUzeKcGuGjBpondATT-cD108lxthmU4x75JPvVyZLO5AjVZEZHgsEbRgDjX4om3k757VDYvniYU2XrLgUjrE/s1260/Screen-Shot-2015-07-07-at-9.21.27-AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="689" data-original-width="1260" height="109" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQn-o4jnO2a_EUuHSsLkO0Jyz8E-HX_QGVdSz_lkBurG3F2_I647FlEmjpPi3vz3Tf08uNWgXMUPwMBSLgTOssGC03wvex54tlCkuzcElLUzeKcGuGjBpondATT-cD108lxthmU4x75JPvVyZLO5AjVZEZHgsEbRgDjX4om3k757VDYvniYU2XrLgUjrE/w200-h109/Screen-Shot-2015-07-07-at-9.21.27-AM.png" width="200" /></a></div>Another
notable fan was the county clerk of Casey County, Kentucky, Casey Davis (not
related, but he apparently views Kim Davis as a “<i>sister-in-Christ</i>”), who
launched a bike ride across Kentucky ostensibly to bring <a href="https://www.joemygod.com/2015/08/kentucky-anti-gay-county-clerk-casey-davis-is-biking-across-the-state-for-his-sister-in-christ-kim-davis/">attention to the circumstances surrounding Kim</a><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> – he “<i>cannot let my sister [who
at the time was among the most thoroughly media-covered people in the US] go to
jail without my doing something to let others know about her plight</i>.” Casey
Davis pointed out that <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/anti-gay-clerk-following-the-law-is-a-violation-of-my-rights/">forcing him to follow the law is a violation of his rights</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/paranoia-rama-trump-fights-war-on-christmas-beck-stocks-up-on-guns-anti-gay-clerk-fears-imminent-death/">that</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> he was prepared to die in the
battle over gay marriage (“<i>if it takes my life, I will die for because I
believe I owe that to the people that fought so I can have the freedom that I
have</i>” – you keep using that word “freedom”; we don’t think it means what
you think it means) and <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/kentucky-clerk-says-he-may-die-fighting-gay-marriage/">portrayed himself</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> as a victim of the “<i>war on
Christianity</i>”: “<i>Christians just don’t have rights anymore</i>” (i.e. religious
fundies cannot force those who disagree with them to do what they want them to
do) after the Supreme Court’s “<i>unconstitutional</i>” gay marriage decision. He
also emphasized that his job is not to issue marriage licenses to gay people,
but rather to <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/kentucky-clerk-its-my-job-to-tell-gays-theyre-going-to-hell/">tell gay people that</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> they are going to hell, because
divine laws “<i>supersede</i>” American law. Casey Davis, too, quickly rose to
wingnut fame, for instance by <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/whos-who-at-the-values-voter-summit-2015/">serving as a centerpiece</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> at the <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Values_Voter_Summit">Values Voters Summit</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> in 2015.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/the-persecution-of-kim-davis-according-to-kim-davis/"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Here</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> is Kim Davis describing, as she saw
it, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_persecution_complex">the persecution</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> of Kim Davis. The description
leaves little doubt that she deserves an entry here.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Befuddled fundies who are deeply confused about the meaning of such basic words
as “freedom”, “right” and “job”, and who deeply endorse their identification as
<i>victims</i> of not being able to force others to live the way they’d like
them to live. The religious right has of course been using them as props for
all they’re worth, but hopefully they’re nearing their expiry date as wingnut
props by now.</span></b></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-69410767964744681922024-03-04T04:03:00.000-05:002024-03-04T04:03:02.578-05:00#2743: Hannah Pearl Davis<p><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiml6JjypGFj4hIlpoMUoZpJ63M01m3hNYft6kQfu6Di-QRuY41-VK1NMZVszVzV4wqlU2cgMbErhoTnFZ0xerrIDl-HZDNn3gDJdq_u9cu-1cDwu6RRBSMegX4G4nwA2OVvhDNFTQQy7hlGyLLoPOZYM0MbnccOH_W5gA8nKy-P3svb81QtiHDkCAkwtU/s640/Pearl_Davis_on_James_English.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Pearl Davis Tells her story Anything Goes with James English Ep/292 Women Cheat More Than Men - Pearl Davis Talks Relationships All Video and Sound Edited by Stephen Pettigrew" border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiml6JjypGFj4hIlpoMUoZpJ63M01m3hNYft6kQfu6Di-QRuY41-VK1NMZVszVzV4wqlU2cgMbErhoTnFZ0xerrIDl-HZDNn3gDJdq_u9cu-1cDwu6RRBSMegX4G4nwA2OVvhDNFTQQy7hlGyLLoPOZYM0MbnccOH_W5gA8nKy-P3svb81QtiHDkCAkwtU/w200-h200/Pearl_Davis_on_James_English.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Though we don’t have the attention span to sit
through confused TikTok and YouTube videos, it’s hard to avoid to, at some
point, notice the existence of Hannah Pearl Davis, or, as she is known online,
JustPearlyThings. Davis is a <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/is-pearl-davis-serious/">genuinely stupid</a>
wingnut activist who rose to prominence (in part because a lot of TikTok users
are suckers idolizing mediocre extremist conspiracy theorists who, like
themselves, are genuinely stupid and angry) in <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Manosphere">the manosphere</a>
due to her criticism of the perceived censorship of <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Andrew_Tate">Andrew Tate</a>
and due to her general rantings about “<i>feminism</i>”. Davis was banned from
TikTok in 2022, but is, as far as we can tell, still present on YouTube. She
also runs the Pre-Game Show podcast. <span lang="EN-US"></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span lang="EN-US">As a self-declared “<i>anti-feminist</i>”
activist, Davis has indeed frequently been described as <a href="https://thetab.com/uk/2023/03/23/pearl-davis-influencer-andrew-tate-300335">'the female Andrew
Tate'</a>.
She claims that “<i>women should not vote</i>” and that “<i>the courts, the
legal system, all of society is basically pandering and simping for women</i>.”
In an attempt to clarify her views, <a href="https://www.indy100.com/news/pearl-davis-andrew-tate-vote">she also tried to argue that</a>
“<i>only five per cent of women wanted the right to vote</i>” and that “<i>if
feminists want the right to vote, right, then it should come with the draft</i>”,
and seems as unaware about the status of the draft as she is about most other
things going on around her. She also thinks that divorce should be illegal (<a href="https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/the-ridiculousness-of-thats-just-my-opinion.198629/">“<i>tHAt’s
JuST mY OpIniOn</i>”</a>).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">And as with a lot people with the
inclinations and mental abilities of Pearl Davis, things quickly ended up in
antisemitic conspiracy theories. Indeed, her video (since deleted) in which she
performed her song “<i>Why Can’t We Talk About the Jews?</i>" (including
phrases like “<i>Now I'm not saying Hitler was a good guy, but I just wanna
know why</i>” and “<i>now there’s all these conspiracy theories, and the more
they talk, I think maybe they're right</i>”) seems to have made even erstwhile
fans somewhat uneasy. In an <a href="https://forward.com/culture/555746/hannah-pearl-davis-piers-morgan-uncensored-interview-antisemtic-free-speech-cancel-culture/">interview with Piers Morgan</a>
(an erstwhile fan who was not impressed with said video), <a href="https://www.indy100.com/news/pearl-davis-piers-morgan-antisemitism">Davis tried to claim that</a>
the song was about cancel culture and free speech rather than anti-Semitism –
though she also asserted that “<i>I don't really have a strong opinion either
way</i>” about the Holocaust. Then she claimed that Piers Morgan was censoring
her by criticizing her. Ironically, Davis often claims that she just wants to
have all claims on the table for debate; as she amply demonstrates everywhere
else, however, she doesn’t really mean <i>debate</i>; Davis has no aptitutde
for or wish to engage in <i>debate</i>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span lang="EN-US"> </span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">She also, probably unaware that it is
relevant to judgments about the state of her anti-semitism, praised <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/nick-fuentes">Nick Fuentes</a>:
<a href="https://angrywhitemen.org/2024/02/08/blazetv-host-alex-stein-im-very-good-friends-with-nick-fuentes/">according to Davis</a>,
Fuentes is a “<i>good person</i>” and based on looking at his Wikipedia page
before having him on her show, she didn’t believe he was antisemitic or racist,
despite Fuentes explicitly <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Holocaust_denial">denying the Holocaust</a>
and promoting white supremacism. (Her reasoning seems to be based on the
currently popular reasoning pattern “I agree with X; I am a good person
(presupposition); racism is somehow associated with being a bad person; hence,
X is not racist”)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US">Diagnosis: Ultimately, Davis is possibly
best categorized as an extension of the boogaloo movement and the post-truth
movement popularized the last decade or so: She’s just <i>saying stuff</i>,
without the slightest care about facts or reason, and without recognizing why
facts and reason matter to the topics she discusses – partially because she
seems <i>unable</i> to grasp facts or employ reason. And her popularity is
unsurprising, insofar as a lot of people share those traits and are desperate
to sympathize with and pander to someone who shares their ineptitude for and
dislike of details, fact-checking, consistency or serious analysis, and someone
who can help channel their rage at “elites”, i.e. those who do care about and
are able to engage with such things.</span></b></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-77437844621702359522024-03-01T03:47:00.000-05:002024-03-01T03:47:00.213-05:00#2742: Devra Davis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOo6QheBDb7yuwp2WoqEyHiCcENxwzcAWcQj-n4D-2RmBRdxV2ArJfBI4LIWg9JPRgwe5fvi9Z4Bh2HK8HpCZIno9ceKVfZ0tcQsvPFc-yWzeQfXsPAtelrNRAW3_8YTxgB48utp44rPrwK_Ae0WBUAvy8VIr8v6_HnWnCaAOQYGzxryciAysl6ClknhM/s1280/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOo6QheBDb7yuwp2WoqEyHiCcENxwzcAWcQj-n4D-2RmBRdxV2ArJfBI4LIWg9JPRgwe5fvi9Z4Bh2HK8HpCZIno9ceKVfZ0tcQsvPFc-yWzeQfXsPAtelrNRAW3_8YTxgB48utp44rPrwK_Ae0WBUAvy8VIr8v6_HnWnCaAOQYGzxryciAysl6ClknhM/w200-h113/maxresdefault.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><a href="https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/radiation/cell-phones-fact-sheet"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There is no
credible evidence</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> that cell phones increase the risk
of brain tumors or any other forms of cancer, and <a href="https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/electromagnetic-fields-and-public-health-mobile-phones">no plausible mechanism by
which they could be doing so</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> – there is, in other words, evidence
of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article/101/24/1721/933131">neither correlation</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bem.20702">nor causation</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. But the myth that there is an
association is a persistent one – fear sells, even though the basis for the fear-mongering
<a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/critique-of-risk-of-brain-tumors-from-wireless-phone-use/">is nothing but speculative pseudoscience and conspiracy theories</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. Unfortunately, now matter how
crazy the conspiracy theory or brand of pseudoscience may be, it <i>is</i>
possible to find some authority figure that can lend the idea, however
<a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Microwave">outlandish</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, a sheen of legitimacy by virtue
of their credentials (without, of course, having any more credible evidence
than their usually less coherent followers). </span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For the
purported association between cell phones and cancer, perhaps the leading
“authority” on the conspiracy side is Devra Davis, an epidemiologist,
toxicologist, author, founder and director of the Center for Environmental
Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, and former professor
of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh. Davis has also served on
several governmental and non-governmental organizations, before founding and assuming
the position of president of the insane pseudoscience group the Environmental
Health Trust, an organization devoted to trying to argue that (and pushing
pseudoscience <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/03/a-critical-analysis-of-the-latest-cellphone-safety-scare/">apparently indicating that</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">) mobile devices, WiFi, 5G, and
other radio-frequency systems pose a health risk to humans and a risk to the
environment, despite being <a href="https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/cancer-myths/do-mobile-phones-cause-cancer?_gl=1%2Aza1dpx%2A_ga%2AMTI3MDM1MDM5My4xNjk2ODQ2ODQ5%2A_ga_58736Z2GNN%2AMTY5Njg0Njg0OC4xLjAuMTY5Njg0Njg0OC4wLjAuMA..&_ga=2.16269365.2002922170.1696846850-1270350393.1696846849">in direct conflict with</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/a-review-of-are-electromagnetic-fields-making-me-ill-how-electricity-and-magnetism-affect-our-health-by-bradley-j-roth/">all credible evidence</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, scientific consensus, <a href="https://theconversation.com/mobile-phone-health-alarmists-bereft-of-credible-arguments-64739">and reason</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. Indeed, Davis has <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1125339/">a history of being careless with facts and evidence</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> in her other works, too, and even of
engaging in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673607617358?via%3Dihub">other straight-out conspiracy nonsense</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Her views
on cell phones are summed up in <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/a-disconnect-between-cell-phone-fears-and-science/">her book</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <i>Disconnect: The TRUTH About
Cell Phone RADIATION, What the INDUSTRY Has Done to Hide It, and How to PROTECT
Your FAMILY</i> (capitalization in the original). In the book, Davis focuses on
studies (mostly shoddy) that appear to support its alarmist conclusions while deliberately
ignoring or falsifying information about studies showing no harm and dismissing
them as products of a vast, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Shill_gambit">industry-led conspiracy</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> on the grounds that they reach a
different conclusion than the one she is looking for. And <i>accuracy</i>
really isn’t Davis’s strong suit: “<i>if you examine only those studies that
have analyzed people for a decade or longer you find one thing: Every single
one of them shows that long-term heavy use of cell phones has increased the
risks of brain tumors</i>”, says Davis, citing the rantings of one <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/cell-phones-and-cancer-again-or-oh-no-my-cell-phones-going-to-give-me-cancer-revisited/">infamous Swedish alarmist</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (<a href="https://cdn.centerforinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2009/09/22164425/p36.pdf">Lennart Hardell</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">) as well the large-scale
Interphone study, whose conclusion, in direct contradiction with how Davis
describes it, was that “[o]verall, no increase in risk of glioma or meningioma
was observed with use of mobile phone”. And that example is merely one
illustrative example of her style, and not the most egregious one. <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/a-disconnect-between-cell-phone-fears-and-science/">Here</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> is an even-handed review of the
book.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So Davis is
aware that the current science is pretty clear that there has been <a href="https://academic.oup.com/neuro-oncology/article/12/11/1147/1138971">no increase</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article/101/24/1721/933131">in brain cancer</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17220708/">after cell phone use becamewidespread</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. In response, Davis claims to have
unpublished research “<i>taking a more sophisticated look</i>” and that you
should trust instead. And perhaps because dimly aware that appealing to
mysterious unpublished studies is less than convincing, and because the massive
lack of evidence for the purported association (and the clear and unambiguous
evidence for no association) <a href="https://theconversation.com/mobile-phone-health-alarmists-bereft-of-credible-arguments-64739">is a sore point for Davis</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, she tends to just lie about the
existing evidence: In a 2016 <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jul/06/abc-catalyst-under-review-episode-linking-wifi-cancer">episode for the Australian TV program <i>Catalyst</i></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, for instance, she brazenly and
completely falsely just asserted that “<i>every single well-designed study ever
conducted finds an increased risk of brain cancer with the heaviest users [of
mobile phones]</i>”. The claim was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/17/abc-catalyst-program-linking-mobile-phones-to-brain-cancer-should-never-have-aired">quickly refuted by real scientists</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, but some damage to the public was
likely already done: despite being full of nonsense, Davis and her rants are
<a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2023/04/24/antivaxxers-attack-scientific-consensus-as-a-manufactured-construct/">frequently cited by people who don’t know much about the science or evidence</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2015/03/20/the-new-york-times-and-fear-mongering-about-the-apple-watch-and-wearable-tech-the-nyt-response/">including major media outlets</a></span>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In her
book, she also tries to defend, by inventing an elaborate conspiracy and
appealing to a putative frame-up, the results of Hugo Rudiger, who was <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/0807.2554">found guilty of scientific fraud</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and whose results could, once the
fraudulent parts were removed, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16997616/">not be replicated</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. A signifant part of the book is
also devoted to desperately pushing the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/bem.20589">decidedly evidence-anemic</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> idea that cellphones are a threat
to male fertility, discussed in some detail <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/a-disconnect-between-cell-phone-fears-and-science/">here</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (the few studies that ostensibly
supports the idea have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/bem.10083">notoriously failed to replicate</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">). She falsifies physics, too: “<i>[e]lectromagnetic
waves ability to travel depends on how long they are. The faster a wave
oscillates and the smaller it is, the shorter the distance it can reach</i>”,
says Davis. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Davis’s
ideas had, not surprisingly, a significant impact during the Covid pandemic.
Though not herself explicitly linking <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/5G">5G</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> to <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic#Unscientific_5G_fears">Covid symptoms</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, Davis vocally asserted, without
evidence, that 5G wireless technology poses health risks. Her nonsense was used
as an alleged source of authority e.g. in <a href="https://julesevans.medium.com/how-the-new-age-got-taken-over-by-the-far-right-part-two-c102f523cfda">Sacha Stone</a>’s</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> new-age conspiracy film <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanhatesthis/coronavirus-5g-conspiracy-profit"><i>5G
Apocalypse: Extinction Event</i></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Though she lacks the wild-eyed incoherence of most anti-cellphone activists,
Davis has plenty of paranoia and conspiracy allusions to offer. What she
doesn’t have, is evidence, science or a care for facts, accuracy or
accountability. It is probably no exaggeration to call her one of the leadings
proponents of pseudoscience in the US, and her influence is disconcerting.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hat-tip:
<a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/a-disconnect-between-cell-phone-fears-and-science/">Lorne Trottier @ Sciencebased Medicine</a></span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-66484682991441200162024-02-28T05:26:00.000-05:002024-02-28T05:26:12.214-05:00#2741: Zach Dasher<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2XhUAqQAPD7emjvgwuUFTZxGuaJKPnwmOk_paCrRR4_2oQMfmmy7htDcLW61DWpFwIS8DO5l6DxpgUXzzHqtt-5-rdyv2kLjiLRauVKpfRhyGKHgNwQ5SlTf-iWpovHlnkXSFhGFkDbbzgq-mBDYZ00l3FB4R2HtWtnTsfE-Ht2TIhyphenhyphenHixTYSQLOPEdI/s720/hq720_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="405" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2XhUAqQAPD7emjvgwuUFTZxGuaJKPnwmOk_paCrRR4_2oQMfmmy7htDcLW61DWpFwIS8DO5l6DxpgUXzzHqtt-5-rdyv2kLjiLRauVKpfRhyGKHgNwQ5SlTf-iWpovHlnkXSFhGFkDbbzgq-mBDYZ00l3FB4R2HtWtnTsfE-Ht2TIhyphenhyphenHixTYSQLOPEdI/w113-h200/hq720_2.jpg" width="113" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Though he
is perhaps not considered extreme by 2024 standards, Zach Dasher was generally
considered a notably colorful candidate when he <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/get-ready-america-five-extreme-gop-candidates-who-could-be-heading-to-congress-next-year/">ran for Congress in Lousiana in2014</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. He didn’t win that one, but he
did get to serve as an at-large delegate to the 2016 Republican National
Convention. Dasher’s hopes were mostly based on his Duck Dynasty reality TV
fame – Dasher is the nephew of Duck Dynasty patriarch <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/the-five-most-outrageous-and-ridiculous-gop-ads-of-2014/">Phil Robertson</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, an anti-gay conspiracy theorist
and defender of Jim Crow. And Dasher has stated that “<i>We share a very
similar background and philosophy, and our spiritual beliefs are the same as
well</i>.” (His wife, Jil, is <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/andrewkaczynski/wife-of-duck-dynasty-cousin-running-for-congress-ive-seen-pe#10rhnsh">an advocate for</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy">conversion therapy</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.)</span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As Dasher
saw it, “<i>my platform begins with God. That’s really what this whole thing is
about. In Washington, when we look at what’s going on, we see an erosion away
from that platform</i>.” Of course, people who believe they are representing
God in politics have a <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Self_projection_as_god">tendency to project wildly</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, and Dasher followed up by
accusing the federal government – not himself – of “<i>believ[ing] that they’re
God</i>”; government is, according to Dasher, intent on “<i>gain[ing] control
over every aspect of our lives</i>” as part of a plan to create a “<i>culture
of dependency</i>.” And the “<i>swift drift away from God will usher in tyranny
and death</i>”: “<i>Tyranny will get its foothold – if it already doesn’t have
it – and in the end, there will be mass carnage and mass death. It’s
inevitable.</i>”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He then
went on to <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/andrewkaczynski/gop-congressional-candidate-atheism-post-modernism-contribut#2y5gmw1">blame the Sandy Hook shooting on</a> atheists and post-modernists</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (though the shooter “<i>was made
in the image of God</i>. <i>But somewhere along the way he believed what the
atheist says. He reduced humanity to nothing more than a collection of atoms</i>”
– Dasher cited no evidence, of course, since <i>evidence</i> is an atheist
post-modernist tool), whom he also accused of “<i>brainwashing a generation</i>”
through rap music and general “<i>moral decay</i>” and erosion of liberty
(whatever he means by ‘liberty’). He also advocated for schools to “<i>arm the
teachers</i>” but warned <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/goper-zach-dasher-americans-need-unlimited-guns-to-defend-against-tyrannical-government/">that government officials intend to repeal the Second
Amendment</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> in order to eliminate all other
freedoms.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Apparently,
the disturbingly insane documentary <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/citizens-united-breitbart-debut-new-christian-war-film-at-rnc/"><i>Torchbearer</i></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, a “<i>Christian war film</i>”
about Phil Robertson directed by Steve Bannon, was the brainchild of Zach
Dasher. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Possibly old news. Dasher is a fanatic loon and conspiracy theorist, but might
not possess the level of unhinged frenzy that seems required to make it into
the limelight in 2024. Still, he does apparently have some powerful allies.</span></b></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-70267233522336752742024-02-26T00:26:00.000-05:002024-02-26T00:26:11.858-05:00#2740: Mark Dankof<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjafSo_RnrSAcWKqALDRhHgdkffxGAHn9Hqe6b03yocETvY5cZSs71GR_FPz0n55fZoI-WzQRTt5_J2XCNVMQW-mviYniZNyB1RM0KdNK_yBYqLwQIkhcoKZIhYmB7Cif_NR65KwnE_53E2cPrJOO5yWiHbT1O7MFkodB1DSwYIu-g2liq_VFNsc5xf12E/s275/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjafSo_RnrSAcWKqALDRhHgdkffxGAHn9Hqe6b03yocETvY5cZSs71GR_FPz0n55fZoI-WzQRTt5_J2XCNVMQW-mviYniZNyB1RM0KdNK_yBYqLwQIkhcoKZIhYmB7Cif_NR65KwnE_53E2cPrJOO5yWiHbT1O7MFkodB1DSwYIu-g2liq_VFNsc5xf12E/w200-h133/Unknown.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Mark Dankof
is an at least semi-regular (we can’t really be bothered to check) contributor
to American Free Press, an anti-semitic conspiracy outlet founded by a.o.
<a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Willis_Carto">Willis Carto</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> with a long history of promoting
insane conspiracy theories, including <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/9/11">9/11 conspiracy theories</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> in which Jewish people are blamed for being
behind the attacks. Dankof also makes regular appearances on <a href="https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/Hearing-on-Anti-Semitism-ADL-Testimony-to-House-Foreign-Affairs-Subcommittee.pdf">Press TV</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, a conspiracy outlet operated by
<a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Press_TV">the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. He also runs a website, Mark
Dankof’s America (as well as something called the Dankof Report), where <a href="https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/press-tv-report-2015-4-1.pdf">he
features</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> articles blaming the Israeli
Mossad for, well, more or less anything, including the assassination of John F.
Kennedy.</span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So yes, most
of Dankof’s contributions to these outlets consist of free-ranting about
various conspiracy theories he has dreamt up or found in the darker corners of
the internet and which he has promptly adopted. For instance, his November 2012
Press TV segment “<i>US, Israel plan Assad removal to hurt Iran: Analyst</i>”
<a href="https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/Press-TV-Report-2012-12-28.pdf">claimed</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, without evidence (screw evidence),
that “<i>Zionist-affiliated arms dealers, oil consortiums and bankers seek to
overthrow the Syrian government …to pave the way for an American and Israeli
military attack against Iran</i>.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And make no
mistake, the <a href="https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/Press-TV-Report-2012-12-28.pdf">“<i>Israeli regime orchestrated 9/11 attacks</i>”</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">; Dankof is more than ready to rant
about “<i>the kinds of forces that some of us think are very much involved in
covering up the truth about 9/11, and that includes a disproportionate power
that the Israeli lobby has and that Jewish interests have in the United States
in our news media that keeps some of this stuff from being discussed</i>”;
indeed, “<i>it appears to me that the United States is, as obviously as we
know, co-opted by the Israeli lobby, so is the United Nations and Israel is
simply using the United States to buy what it wants</i>.” Fortunately, <a href="https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/press-tv-report-2015-4-1.pdf">as Dankof wishfully sees it</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, “<i>The American people are
increasingly sick of [Jewish control] they’re sick of the pack of lies that all
of this is based on, they’re sick of the Israeli control of their foreign
policy and their government and their news media</i>.” In a 2011 article,
Dankof even quoted from and wrote that the <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/The_Protocols_of_the_Learned_Elders_of_Zion">Protocols of the Learned Elders of
Zion</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> accurately reflect the state of
the world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Old-school neo-nazi. It would be somewhat curious to know how he responds to
new-school QAnon-related antisemitism, but we frankly cannot be bothered to check
or think too much about it. </span></b></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-11308886052146203462024-02-23T04:40:00.003-05:002024-02-23T04:40:35.472-05:00#2739: Jennifer Daniels<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBcT6nzwtQyV1F3TRFiCH_AFJm-lZTI1xGD8TQxtn3-wiDgWWTIPbroVwJZaBbb7shGiBzW2MKG8Hfdvr6UgvHuP5gaGLJz0jG1vnbXeFYxw3Uwzt-W0CWRRbp7FXkkL_zlC8ljDcRHMOe6bitxulUj_2J2jsBW1uisvra7sCRI-8rwldCr0R4I037jrg/s298/images.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="169" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBcT6nzwtQyV1F3TRFiCH_AFJm-lZTI1xGD8TQxtn3-wiDgWWTIPbroVwJZaBbb7shGiBzW2MKG8Hfdvr6UgvHuP5gaGLJz0jG1vnbXeFYxw3Uwzt-W0CWRRbp7FXkkL_zlC8ljDcRHMOe6bitxulUj_2J2jsBW1uisvra7sCRI-8rwldCr0R4I037jrg/w113-h200/images.jpeg" width="113" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Raymond
Damadian was an MD, a pioneer of magnetic resonance imaging, religious
fundamentalist and <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Young_Earth_creationism">young-Earth</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Lists_of_creationist_scientists/D">creationist</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">) where the latter position was
based not on any evaluation of that science (which would not touch upon his
area of expertise) but on incoherent religious ramblings and paranoia. But Damadian
is also dead.</span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jennifer
Daniels is another one-time MD gone rogue, and though she is still alive (as
far as we know), she is no longer an MD, having <a href="https://quackwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/quackwatch/casewatch/board/med/daniels/surrender_2004.pdf">surrendered her license</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> in response to being confronted
with the legal dimensions (having her license revoked) of her absolutely
batshit nonsense claims about health and medicine; indeed, Daniels had been in
trouble with the New York Department of Health over her claims and behaviors
for a long time before surrendering her license. According to herself, though, she
“<i>had her medical license suspended due to not prescribing enough drugs and
truly healing her patients</i>,” which is demonstrably a bald-faced lie. She
currently resides in Panama, where she produces books, radio shows, and videos;
sells <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Vitamin_and_mineral_supplements">supplements</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">; advises clients as a health coach;
and provides “<a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alternative_medicine"><i>Holistic</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Mentoring Consultations</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">”.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Daniels is
perhaps best known for her <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/turpentine-the-fountain-of-youth-according-to-dr-jennifer-daniels/">advocacy for turpentine</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, no less, which according to
Daniels is the Fountain of Youth and able to cure a wide range of conditions
(including a number of <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/naturopathy-vs-science-fake-diseases/">fake ones</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">) but which according to reality is
poison with no recognized or plausible benefit for any condition whatsoever.
Among the conditions turpentine was supposed to be able to cure, according to
Daniels, was chronic Candida; now, it is technically true that patients after
taking turpentine would no longer suffer from chronic Candida, but that would
of course be for the reason that none of them had chronic Candida in the first
place. <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/candida-and-fake-illnesses/">Chronic Candida is a fake disease</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Daniels
allegedly got the idea of <a href="https://www.skepdoc.info/turpentine-the-fountain-of-youth/">using turpentine</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> from asking African-American
patients if their slave ancestors had an affordable <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Panacea">miracle cure that cured everything</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. In the beginning, <a href="https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-it-worked-for-me-gambit/">she tried it
herself</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, and it is worth quoting her
description of what happened at some length: “<i>I think my IQ went up like 50
points, I could just feel it, all this mental energy and understanding and
clarity, just like when I was 10 years old, everything was very clear and
focused. I said WOW what a feeling. I did some math problems, I said this is
pretty good</i>.” Since she had heard that turpentine could cause seizures, she
went on to determine the maximum safe dose: stopping when she felt a little
twitch or “<i>even softer than a twitch</i>.” Then she gave it to her family.
How Daniels obtained a medical degree in the first place is a very, very good
question –Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have
things to answer for. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As for
scientific evidence, Daniels refers to a review study from France that <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20197260/">doesn’t at all say what she claims it says</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. In general, however, Daniels is “<i>not
much of a fan of research</i>”. The reason she gives for not being a fan is “<i>because
every research project I’ve been involved with, I’ve been asked to falsify data</i>.”
Given her general grasp of things (and level of honesty), we suspect that she
might have misunderstood some instructions and the distinction between <i>falsifying
a hypothesis through testing</i> and <i>making up data</i>. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you are
going to use turpentine, you have to follow her instructions, however: First,
you take her Vitality Capsules, which according to her “<i>clean out the bile
ducts and the gall bladder system as well as the small intestine, large
intestine</i>”, promote circulation<i> </i>and contain “<i>no <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Chemophobia">chemicals</a></i>”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. Then you must to follow her diet
instructions (organic, and abstaining from <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_food">GMOs</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2011/01/24/i-prefer-my-food-dead-thank-you-very-muc/">“<i>dead food</i>”</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">). And then turpentine will be so
successful that Daniels, according to herself, stopped using antibiotics in her
practice (but if you experience some worries here, Daniels reassures us that “<i>[t]here
is no medication that turpentine interacts with</i>”, a claim she pulled
directly out of her ass and for which she has no evidence or tests to back it
up). She has also recommended turpentine for children; indeed, children should
start getting turpentine in castor oil when they reach 30 pounds to prevent
Candida and <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/parasites/">parasites</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Panacea"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Moreover</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, turpentine ostensibly improves eyesight (users
were, according to Daniels, able to discard their reading glasses) and resolves
tinnitus, and it helps with diabetes by healing the pancreas – it will
ostensibly allow Type I diabetics to lower their insulin dose. That said,
Daniels’s recommendations aren’t limited to turpentine; she can also give you
thicker and less gray hear: “<i>use minerals, small willow flower, and <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/List_of_medicinal_plants#S">shou wu</a></i>”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Apparently,
according to Daniels, “<i>Liver time is 1-3 AM; lung time is 3-5 AM</i>.” We’ll
just leave that there without comment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Oh, and she
is of course <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Anti-vaccination_movement">anti-vaccine</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">: “<i>There is no vaccine or
injection Dr. Daniels recommends</i>.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis: It’s
hard to imagine that she is unaware of the ridiculousness of her claims, but it
probably doesn’t matter, since at this level, stupidity becomes
indistinguishable from malice. Completely bonkers, but contrary to what you’d
probably think: there are people to listen to this kind of stuff.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="NO-BOK" style="mso-ansi-language: NO-BOK;">Hat-tip:
<a href="https://www.skepdoc.info/turpentine-the-fountain-of-youth/">Skepdoc</a></span></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-24595696612436638702024-02-21T06:06:00.002-05:002024-02-21T06:06:30.778-05:00#2738: Jim Daly<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKuZHrzqXOi-llLFrAxbavjkUDATWlqaU84fQDYIdNXcOD0vTXwDx8J95EaoQrVi4ADOY-KWEd9x-lCmwItxOafOmov1aV-jA3RLbyk3jqZTkh3Ukk5zpRcySUvR-kamebXwzAIQmYziZqWJgGRkGX-SXUHKi2VotJFxEXexI7U0O8VkkKHnCKICpRRs/s227/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="227" data-original-width="222" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKuZHrzqXOi-llLFrAxbavjkUDATWlqaU84fQDYIdNXcOD0vTXwDx8J95EaoQrVi4ADOY-KWEd9x-lCmwItxOafOmov1aV-jA3RLbyk3jqZTkh3Ukk5zpRcySUvR-kamebXwzAIQmYziZqWJgGRkGX-SXUHKi2VotJFxEXexI7U0O8VkkKHnCKICpRRs/w196-h200/Unknown.jpeg" width="196" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Focus_on_the_Family">Focus on the Family</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> is a fundamentalist hate group –
presently <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/focus-on-the-family-has-declared-itself-a-church-avoiding-irs-disclosure-rules/">self-designated as ‘<i>a church</i>’</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/heres-how-focus-on-the-family-convinced-the-irs-to-call-it-a-church/">for tax disclosure purposes</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> – that we’d have had plenty of
opportunities to cover already. Jim Daly is its current president (or, since it
is now a church: “<i>head deacon and elder</i>”) and as such generally
responsible for the group’s efforts to promote in particular anti-gay
propaganda and legislation, <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/focus-on-the-family-political-arm-seeks-money-to-fight-ex-gay-therapy-bans/">including fighting</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> restrictions on <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy">conversion therapy</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. He is also the main host of the
Focus on the Family radio program. </span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Though Daly
is <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/religious-right-leaders-call-on-christians-to-stop-engaging-in-name-calling/">behind efforts to</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> repaint his group’s messages in
<a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/focus-guest-gays-needs-to-be-told-that-marriage-is-not-in-the-cards-for-you/">friendlier and more inclusive terms</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> – mostly just emphasizing how much
they love people <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/jim-daly-claims-satan-is-behind-push-for-same-sex-marriage/">while denouncing them as being manipulated by Satan</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and claiming to be nonpartisan
<a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/focus-on-the-family-election-special-claims-us-government-is-modeled-after-biblical-israel/">while taking explicit positions on political issues</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> – Daly has himself spread <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/04/27/anti-lgbt-activities-roundup-4272017">plenty of hate against LGBT people</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. He has, for instance, claimed
that </span>same-sex marriage endangers civilization<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/jim-daly-claims-satan-is-behind-push-for-same-sex-marriage/"><span lang="EN-US">and</span></a></span><a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/jim-daly-claims-satan-is-behind-push-for-same-sex-marriage/"> that</a><span lang="EN-US"> </span>Satan
himself is <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">behind</span>
same-sex marriage since “<i>he hates marriage because it’s a reflection of
God’s image</i>”<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <span lang="EN-US">–</span></span>
“<i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">t</span>he Enemy hates
that, it’s disgusting to him</i>,” <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">said </span>Daly, “<i>and with that, he wants to break it down, he wants
to destroy it</i>.”<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/jim-daly-cites-elie-wiesel-holocaust-quote-to-protest-gays-in-the-boy-scouts/">Here</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> is Daly trying to invoke Holocaust
survivor and author Elie Wiesel to argue why it is important to denounce the
decision to allow “<i>openly practicing homosexuals</i>” in the Boy Scouts,
which, as Daly sees it, will undermine “<i>the character and safety of the boys</i>.”
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In a more conspiratorial
mode, Daly has also claimed </span>that “<i>homosexual activists</i>” wish to
restrict the speech of anyone opposed to homosexuality<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">,</span> and <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">that <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Homosexual_agenda">campaigning on behalf of LGBT rights</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span>“<i>it really is a form of
fascism</i>.” <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">On the
pseudoscience side, meanwhile, Daly has </span>supported <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">and promoted </span>the <a href="https://familyinequality.wordpress.com/2012/06/29/200-researchers-respond-to-regnerus-paper/">discredited</a> anti-LGBT study by <a href="http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2019/03/2151-mark-regnerus.html">Mark Regnerus</a>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Yes, it’s hate, and hate pinned up by pseudoscience; and trying to portray your
hate as something other than hate isn’t going to make it less hateful. But the
religious right remains a powerful political force in the US, and Focus on the
Family remains more or less in the center of the religious right; Daly’s
political influence is, in other words, difficult to overestimate.</span></b></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-34139892991387960962024-02-19T04:18:00.007-05:002024-02-19T04:18:57.489-05:00#2737: Guggie Daly [pseudonym]<p><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Despite
increased popularity of anti-vaccine messaging, antivaccine views are still
widely regarded with the suspicion and ridicule they deserve. One
tried-and-tested method for changing people’s minds, however, is: <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/George_Orwell#.22Newspeak.22"><i>Newspeak</i></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. If you can’t change the facts,
obscure them by inventing a new nomenclature. That, at least, <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2017/04/14/guggie-daly-tries-to-manipulate-language-in-the-service-of-antivaccine-beliefs/">was the
motivation for</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> antivaccine lunatic Guggie Daly in
an article (‘<i>Vacctivism Terminology: How to Empower Instead of Cower</i>’)
<a href="https://www.romper.com/p/changing-anti-vaccine-language-cant-hide-the-scientific-facts-supporting-them-50572">she wrote for</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> the insane rot of pseudo-religious
pseudoscience and denialism <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Appeal_to_nature"><i>Natural</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Mother Magazine</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">: Instead of calling your kids “unvaccinated,”
<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5597904/">wrote Daly</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, use “<i>vaccine-free</i>” or – to
maximize the potential for being misleading – say that your child “<i>has an
intact immune system</i>”; and instead of “vaccine-preventable diseases”, use “<i>vaccine-associated
diseases</i>” (Daly denies, <a href="https://lymphosite.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/40_times_more_human/">against all evidence</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, and all of reality, that vaccines
effectively prevent disease). And of course: instead of calling yourself “anti-vaxxers”
– a term that media manipulation has made so “<i>negative</i>” – use “vaccine
safety advocates”: That, by the way, is an <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2020/01/24/vacciphilia-grooming-pedophilia/">Orwellian ploy as old as the antivaccine movement itself</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. “<i>I encourage transparency and
better ethical standards from pharmaceutical companies</i>,” added Daly while
encouraging precisely the opposite for her own group of fervent denialists.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Of course,
redecorating the map doesn’t change the terrain, and in reality, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/01/health/vaccines-for-kids-safe/">vaccines were
and are safe and effective</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. But Daly and her ilk have left
reality behind a long time ago. As Daly <a href="https://www.image.ie/editorial/used-anti-vaxxer-139783">mistakenly sees it</a>, vaccines “<i>are an
optional, experimental product based on an unproven theory. Informed,
consenting adults can choose to take them if they want. But it’s medical
malpractice to force them onto non-consenting children. Instead of people
demanding that vaccine companies, doctors and the government prove that this
medication is safe, effective, necessary treatment in our children [which we do
demand, and <a href="http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/yes-autism-rate-rising-vaccines-caused-vaccines/">the demand has been thoroughly met</a></i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">], we take on undue responsibility
to prove that vaccines are ineffective, unsafe and unnecessary. Completely
backwards</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As for Daly
herself, ‘Guggie Daly’ is apparently the pseudonym of a Missouri-based “<i>mommy
blogger</i>” who has, apparently, achieved some popularity in antivaccine
movements for her (deranged) posts on vaccines and <a href="https://honestmidwife.com/a-hard-way-to-lose-your-birth-idealism/">home birth</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. There is a brief portrait of her
<a href="https://autismum.com/2014/01/16/vaximom-guggies-at-it-again/">here</a>.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Absolutely insane antivaccine conspiracy theorist who has elevated her
antivaccine views and her ‘crunchiness’ to a New Age-religious identity. She is
garbage, and anyone who takes advice from her is garbage, too.</span></b></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-53026777087145666852024-02-16T03:22:00.005-05:002024-02-16T03:22:54.513-05:00#2736: Kate Dalley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtezUypmwEbxfOeYgFd_QFg0h_mzp6GAkAK7pqoTSLvFOEAXVDMdkjScGMDLt0glUIpoyLqey3x1X6CVncT8PmjbNOIcKqAmKl2aA2uNim5AB4BmpngSWQEiBvn0wyMs27EtRPWnLkW-lbPbSQUCVzvxa8UcFIKB1HXcU4GeWhOTp5Mdw50jNN9n4msIQ/s300/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtezUypmwEbxfOeYgFd_QFg0h_mzp6GAkAK7pqoTSLvFOEAXVDMdkjScGMDLt0glUIpoyLqey3x1X6CVncT8PmjbNOIcKqAmKl2aA2uNim5AB4BmpngSWQEiBvn0wyMs27EtRPWnLkW-lbPbSQUCVzvxa8UcFIKB1HXcU4GeWhOTp5Mdw50jNN9n4msIQ/w200-h112/Unknown.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Radio talk
shows are still apparently popular in far right and conspiracy circles, and the
amount of bullshit, hate and nonsense propagated on the airwaves is staggering.
The Kate Dalley Show, which is part of <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/TheBlaze">TheBlaze</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Radio Network, is just one serial
offender. Her work has also been featured on <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alex_Jones">Alex Jones</a>'</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> show. </span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now, much
of what you’ll encounter on Dalley’s show is precisely <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/stgeorge/comments/mbs876/ridiculous_things_kate_dalley_says/">what you’d expect from wingnut conspiracy theorists</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, albeit embellished with an even
for ridiculous wingnuts startling amount of allusions to violence, and there
is, frankly, little that otherwise distinguishes her contributions from the
rest of them. Dalley is an antivaxxer, for instance – virtually every major
antivaccine activist in the US has appeared on her show at some point – and has
in particular promoted various falsehoods and conspiracy theories related to
(of course) the Covid vaccine: “<i>Pfizer admits that vaccinated people can
<a href="https://vaxopedia.org/2021/04/21/shedding-and-covid-19-vaccines/">shed the vaccine</a></i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> on unvaccinated people</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">,” says Dalley, <a href="https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/no-evidence-covid19-vaccines-cause-shedding-pfizer-trial-protocol-doesnt-admit-vaccine-shedding-occurs/">completely without any foundation in anything resembling reality</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. Even more disconcertingly, <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/10/utah-protesters-claim-hospitals-are-killing-people-who-have-covid/">Dalley has been pushing</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> conspiracy theories suggesting
that hospitals are actively killing Covid patients rather than helping them by
pushing real medicine instead of <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic#Ivermectin">fake cures</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> conspiracy theorists have deluded
themselves into thinking are efficacious. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In August
2021, for instance, Dalley presented a longer segment in which she explained
how she ostensibly saved her diabetic husband from murderous hospital staff
when he got “<i>COVID pneumonia</i>”: Apparently her husband went to the
hospital with extremely low oxygen levels after his <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/ivermectin-is-now-fast-becoming-the-new-mms/">Ivermectin</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> failed to cure him (Dalley
convinced herself it was just because the dose was too low), but although doctors
wanted to put him on a ventilator, he was able to walk out of the ICU after
just a few days because, as Dalley’s utterly unverified anecdote has it, she
had demanded that the hospital give him massive, <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-effectiveness-of-zinc-and-vitamin-c-on-the-duration-of-covid-19-infections/">intravenous doses of vitamin C</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> instead. Then she provided instructions
on her website for people who want to fight the hospital COVID protocols, including
“<i>Don’t let them do Remdesivir. It can cause organ failure</i>,” and “<i>REFUSE
THE VENT</i>” because apparently ventilators are instruments for mass murder
rather than life saving – Dalley’s guiding idea being apparently that hospitals
allegedly (<i>facts</i> have nothing to do with this) has a financial incentive
to put people on ventilators because it gets much more federal money for the
treatment than it would for vitamin infusions that don’t work.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Of course,
Dalley’s conspiracy mongering isn’t restricted to antivaccine nonsense. In
2018, for instance, <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/10/26/The-far-right-false-flag-narrative-over-the-attempted-bombings-of-Democrats-was-all-over-t/221870">she quickly dismissed</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> the news that several explosive
devices sent to Democratic Party figures and Trump critics as a <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/False_flag_operation">false flag operation</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> based on nothing but wishful
thinking: “<i>It’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s the false flaggy
time of the year</i>,” said Dalley. Her show has also been described as one of
the best sources for information about the <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/New_World_Order">New World Order</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> by precisely the kinds of people
you’d expect to claim such things.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
According to Dalley, “<i>[t]his country is need of truth and logic right now</i>,”
so she’s basically admitting that you shouldn’t listen to her program. Take
that piece of advice.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hat-tip: <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/10/utah-protesters-claim-hospitals-are-killing-people-who-have-covid/">Mother Jones</a></span></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-76344093237126527632024-02-14T05:45:00.004-05:002024-02-14T05:45:49.543-05:00#2735: Steve Daines<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-SYu8-DxhRNy0AuqrVatKXU6Z119OhDmEojDAr82PdmfgwO08hCKCo_iie6PAcZVgjK9sJpJ1NhF0pgHVk-NoeOWqHxEO5BOTKLE7syA90G_jChzteB8oCJkvhwi4Bz8xz80L2BZUek4hb57vdKzwm-a319YuOKkDdeg8UDUym7l9dej9pNA4m3yIak/s253/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="253" data-original-width="199" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-SYu8-DxhRNy0AuqrVatKXU6Z119OhDmEojDAr82PdmfgwO08hCKCo_iie6PAcZVgjK9sJpJ1NhF0pgHVk-NoeOWqHxEO5BOTKLE7syA90G_jChzteB8oCJkvhwi4Bz8xz80L2BZUek4hb57vdKzwm-a319YuOKkDdeg8UDUym7l9dej9pNA4m3yIak/w157-h200/Unknown.jpeg" width="157" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Steve
Daines has been serving as the junior United States senator from Montana since
2015, and has generally taken the wingnut positions – opposition to marriage
equality, attempting to overturn the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-michael-brown-mitch-mcconnell-7ff6b30f2e2f25c0cc7e1d7420a0f058">presidential election results in Arizona
and Pennsylvania in 2020</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, opposition to net neutrality and
to creating an independent commission to investigate <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/2021_U.S._coup_attempt">the 2021 Capitol attack</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> – you’d expect, including
attitudes toward Donald Trump that are strikingly illustrative of the principle
of political expediency. </span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For our
purposes, however, Daines is most notably for his rather consistent denialism
on scientific matters. A climate change denialist, Daines has claimed that “<i>to
suggest that [climate change] human-caused is not a sound scientific conclusion</i>.”
Of course, Daines wouldn’t be able to distinguish <i>science</i> from <i>incoherent
substack rant</i> if his life depended on it. Daines is also a creationist and
<a href="https://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2014/06/03/creationist-in-montana-gop-senate-primary/">has advocated for</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> creationism being taught in public
school: “<i>What the schools should teach is, as it relates to biology and
science is that they have, um, there’s evolution theory, there’s creation
theory, and so forth. I think we <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Academic_Freedom_Act">should teach students to think critically</a></i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, and teach students that there are
evolutionary theories, there’s <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Intelligent_design">intelligent-design</a></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> theories, and <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Teach_the_controversy">allow the students to make up their minds</a></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. But I think those kinds of
decisions should be decided at the local school board level. Personally I’d
like to teach my kids both sides of the equation there and let them come up to
their own conclusion on it</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.” Yeah, he systematically covers virtually all the talking points of
the <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Discovery_Institute">Discovery Institute</a>-led</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Intelligent_design">intelligent design</a> movement</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> there, leaving little doubt from
where he has gotten his information, and it is certainly not from <i>science</i>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">His views
apparently enjoyed some <a href="https://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/creationist-wisdom-483-steve-daines-supporter/">support among Montana constituents</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, however.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Crackpot denialist and conspiracy theorist. There are, of course, plenty of
them in positions of power these days, and Daines is fairly typical, but still!
It is worth taking a moment to reflect on how absolutely insane it is that
someone like Steve Daines would be entrusted with power.</span></b></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-34554114906987476872024-02-12T03:55:00.005-05:002024-02-12T03:55:54.679-05:00#2734: Tyler Dahm<p><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Tyler Dahm
is an ultimately relatively minor Colorado-based <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Anti-vaccination_movement">anti-vaxxer</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> who claims that her adopted child
became developmentally delayed as a result of vaccines based on gut feeling, no
evidence whatsoever and, presumably, a wish to be an independent thinker
unfettered by science, fact or reason. Now, Dahm has occasionally claimed to be
a physician graduating from the University of Colorado School of Medicine,
though elsewhere she has admitted to dropping out of medical school because the
professors didn’t believe her stories about vaccines (presumably because
narrow-minded professors have been brainwashed into thinking that <i>evidence<b>
</b></i>matters). <a href="http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2022/08/2558-del-bigtree.html">The people behind</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> the <a href="https://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/vaxxed-review-personal-take-fraudumentary/">Vaxxed</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/vaxxed-bus-tour-trolling-anti-vaccine/">bus tour</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> did believe her, however, and
promptly featured Dahm and her claims in their propaganda materials. (It is
worth noting that Dahm’s LinkedIn profile doesn’t claim that she’s ever
attended medical school, listing her instead as owner of the quack business
Pathways <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Appeal_to_nature">Natural</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Wellness">Wellness</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Center in the relevant period, a
company that was selling useless junk medicine including a <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/top-ten-signs-your-detox-may-be-a-scam/">detox</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://werstupid.com/blog/detox-foot-bath-scam/">footbath</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> to cure autism, no less.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Dahm is
primarily notable for a video she produced in which she accosted (then-)California
state senator, vaccine advocate and <a href="https://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/anti-vaccine-cult-violent-threats-against-california-senator/">frequent target of antivaxx hate</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Richard Pan at Denver airport. We
are unsure how Dahm thought the video, which is discussed <a href="https://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/senator-richard-pan-responds-anti-vaccine/">here</a>,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> would support her cause, but at
least it illustrates well the sort of unhinged thinking, cherry-picking and
rank denialism we all associate with the anti-vaccine movement. Dahm concludes
the video by pretending to be shocked by Pan’s patient, reasoned,
<a href="https://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/autism-and-vaccines-150-peer-reviewed-articles-no-link/">well-supported</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c5347?view=long&pmid=21209059">factual</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> statements and labeling them “<i>misinformation</i>”.
Even Dahm seems to have realized the video didn’t exactly help her case and
promptly tried (and failed) to delete any traces of from the internet.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Unhinged anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and likely to be a danger to her
immediate surroundings. Her broader significance is questionable, but Dahm is
sufficiently crazy to warrant an entry in our Encyclopedia.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hat-tip:
<a href="https://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/senator-richard-pan-responds-anti-vaccine/">Skepticalraptor</a></span></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-53881771131241220662024-02-09T05:39:00.003-05:002024-02-09T05:39:57.569-05:00#2733: Karl Dahlstrom<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0GyV0Brdux3fn_WoGoUf-cxIIFubnvxzrOemK88dmSPngCCUE29CsEF0e1MEphDJRgSR6J_V6PCrTeWw930Nn6Dk5DZVjiiBc-aoCA4pVqgiLrLDIHmWgDzaQaKOUjgwf4jsKzufPE9Byw6ysGoAfAbU0geB1wpJHnnM02X3aDyvSNITsT9j4KBbbtHg/s117/dahlstrom.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="117" data-original-width="96" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0GyV0Brdux3fn_WoGoUf-cxIIFubnvxzrOemK88dmSPngCCUE29CsEF0e1MEphDJRgSR6J_V6PCrTeWw930Nn6Dk5DZVjiiBc-aoCA4pVqgiLrLDIHmWgDzaQaKOUjgwf4jsKzufPE9Byw6ysGoAfAbU0geB1wpJHnnM02X3aDyvSNITsT9j4KBbbtHg/w164-h200/dahlstrom.gif" width="164" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Karl L.
Dahlstrom is a <a href="https://onlysky.media/hemant-mehta/the-58-million-frivolous-lawsuit-against-richard-dawkins-is-finally-over/">self-proclaimed “<i>modern Renaissance man</i>”</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and creationist who in 2013
self-published an anti-evolution book called <i>The Organized Universe</i>. According
to Dahlstrom, his book offered “<i>scientific proof</i>” that Darwinism was a
hoax. No, he doesn’t have the faintest clue, but his attempt was apparently
based on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benford%27s_law">Benford’s law</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> – so the theory of evolution isn’t
only false, but a genuine fraud. Experts in the field were not impressed. </span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Dahlstrom
is most famous, however, for <a href="https://casetext.com/case/dahlstrom-v-dawkins">filing a frivolous lawsuit</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> against Richard Dawkins and the
Dawkins Foundation on the grounds that Dawkins, in a 1989 book review in the
New York Times (yes, 24 years before Dahlstrom’s publication), said that</span>
“It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to
believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.</span>”<span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span>Dahlstrom <a href="https://www.skeptical-science.com/people/weird-lawsuit-demand-58-million-richard-dawkins/">was convinced that</a><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span>the “somebody” Dawkins
referred to in that statement was <i>him</i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, because, as he himself put it, he, Dahlstrom, “<i>is the only
individual on earth in the history of man that has scientifically disproven
Evolution. This makes Karl L. Dahlstrom the number one candidate for Richard
Dawkins attack, even though Karl L. Dahlstrom, i.e., the ‘somebody’, could not
be ignorant, stupid, or insane</i>.” Therefore “<i>Dawkins has caused millions
of persons to be prejudiced and biased against Karl L. Dahlstrom and injured
his reputation and subjected him to hatred, contempt, ridicule and financial
injury from persons not exposed to the truth about Darwinian Evolution and the
position Plaintiff Karl L. Dahlstrom has taken on this issue</i>.” Accordingly,
Dahlstrom demanded that Dawkins pay him $8 million in actual damages and $50
million in punitive damages. How he calculated the numbers is unclear.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Of course,
Dahlstrom’s stunt was purely motivated by publicity, which he achieved. A lot
of people are currently aware that Karl L. Dahlstrom is </span>ignorant, stupid
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">and</span> insane<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. May the present entry serve to
remind us all. We doubt such publicity will lead to significantly increased
book sales.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But still:
Who <i>is</i> this clown? Well, it turns out that Karl Dahlstrom has a
colorful CV – and not everything there is ultimately funny. Dahlstrom is apparently
also associated (in some unclear way) with something known as the <i><a href="https://quackwatch.org/credential/reports/pma/">Pastoral Medical Association</a></i>
(PMA), a Texas-based group that “<i>licenses</i>” health and medical practitioners
who subscribes to their “<i>mission to promote scripture-based health and
<a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Wellness">wellness</a>
concepts</i>” (though Dahlstrom’s exact role with the organization is unclear).
Subscribers call themselves “<i>PSc.D.</i>”, “<i>D.PSc.</i>” and/or “<i>Doctor
of Pastoral Medicine</i>”, and offer medical services that require a government-issued
license; the PMA, however, doesn’t recognize the authority of governmental
bodies: “<i>regulation of the Almighty’s health care concepts is outside the
jurisdiction of .. secular regulatory boards</i>”. In other words, to be “<i>licensed</i>”
by the PMA, you don’t need a medical education or medical expertise; you need
to subscribe to their religious doctrines, and most of PMA’s members are “<i><a href="https://quackwatch.org/related/naturopathy/">natural health</a>
professionals</i>” and <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Chiropractic">chiropractors</a>.
And if you should wish to receive treatment from PMA’s “<i>licensed</i>”
members, you’d need to join its “<i>Member Share Program</i>” and sign an
agreement that shields practitioners from attention and/or lawsuits. The whole
thing is pretty secretive, but they do run a “<i>PMA Directory of Alternative
Health & Medicine</i>” where you can pay $49/year for a listing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Dahlstrom
does, however, have a long story of promoting and marketing “<i>private
membership association</i>” for people who want to avoid government regulation
on various issues. Accordig to Dahlstrom, members of these these groups enjoy
Constitutional protection that gives them permission to “<i>safely</i>”
exchange information (including health-related advice). Indeed, Dahlstrom operates
the “<i>ProAdvocate Group</i>”, an association devoted to establishing private
medical membership associations for unlicensed medical practitioners and other practitioners
under attack for “<i>alternative medicine</i>”.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As you
might suspect, Dahlstrom has spent several years in jail and has <a href="https://quackwatch.org/credential/reports/pma/">a substantial legal history</a>,
including convictions of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Government, mail fraud,
<a href="(https://www.sec.gov/files/litigation/litreleases/lr15464.txt">securities fraud</a>,
operating as an unregistered broker-dealer, tax evasion and setting up sham
trusts. In addition to <i>The Organized Universe</i>, Dahlstrom is the author
of <i>The DNA of Scripture: How True Natural Science Confirms the Holy
Scriptures as True</i> (2015) and <i>How to Avoid Probate, gift, inheritance
and Estate Taxes, Etc.</i> (1977).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Ignorant, stupid and insane. (And wicked.)</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hat-tip:
<a href="https://quackwatch.org/credential/reports/pma/">Quackwatch</a></span></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-84615489960588293042024-02-07T06:53:00.000-05:002024-02-07T06:53:00.541-05:00#2732: Pete D'Abrosca<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxSVSSBcU3quBAweKLVmCKzWVDkQKG_45ylrDoOUyFVQ8UYvG22axKalKh8ODxobDCftXKWVaCnDOJ5j8HTdMkRhr9gw3l5NO4VkhgGrCqVq50r4z4dtVGOr1DoRWibOQgzEA5Q6j4YU-59WlmskUQuCKwmQys9FHs1tpEXHtoAWCGI6PNtOjMJVuTPpY/s275/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="183" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxSVSSBcU3quBAweKLVmCKzWVDkQKG_45ylrDoOUyFVQ8UYvG22axKalKh8ODxobDCftXKWVaCnDOJ5j8HTdMkRhr9gw3l5NO4VkhgGrCqVq50r4z4dtVGOr1DoRWibOQgzEA5Q6j4YU-59WlmskUQuCKwmQys9FHs1tpEXHtoAWCGI6PNtOjMJVuTPpY/w133-h200/Unknown.jpeg" width="133" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Pete
D’Abrosca is a wingnut extremist, political commentator and failed (<a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/anti-immigrant-bloggers-dreams-for-congress-crushed-by-own-incompetence/">due to incompetence</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">) 2020 North Carolina congressional
candidate. D’Abrosca is the kind of guy who claims that conservatives should “<i>strip
every Democrat of their committee assignments the minute they take back the
House simply for being liberals, which should be criminalized</i>” because <i>freedom</i>.
His dislike of liberals is in fact so great that <a href="https://www.dailydot.com/debug/pete-dabrosca-vaccine-liberals/">he bragged about</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> how he wouldn’t get the COVID-19
vaccine solely to make the liberals mad. “<i>My logic, as usual, is impeccable</i>,”
said D’Abrosca. It isn’t. D’Abrosca has also frequently written posts boosting
the <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2023/01/18/when-died-suddenly-comes-for-a-colleague-and-friend/">“died suddenly”</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2023/05/23/antivax-physician-dr-rashid-buttar-died-suddenly-and-antivaxxers-are-contorting-reality-to-blame-vaccines/">anti-vaccine conspiracy theory</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.</span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Predictably,
D'Abrosca is very concerned with LGBT <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Homosexual_agenda">grooming in American schools</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. He is also concerned with race
issues; D’Abrosca was for instance unhappy with Joe Biden’s choice of running
mate for the 2020 election, <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/it-begins-from-the-front-line-of-the-rights-first-attacks-on-kamala-harris/">writing that</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Kamala Harris “<i>is a radical
black nationalist who will stoke racial tensions until America descends into a
full-blown race war</i>.” One is really left unsure whether he had any idea
about who Harris <i>is</i> and one is probably forgiven for suspecting that he
would have written the same about any potential pick. And don’t get him started
on Ilhan Omar, who according to D’Abrosca “<i>is</i> a terrorist” because she
disagrees with him on immigration and whether people in prison deserve medical
services. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">That said,
D’Abrosca has managed to draw some attention to himself and his views on
immigration, in particular after he was promoted by <a href="http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2023/05/2644-tucker-carlson.html">Tucker Carlson</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
We have to admit that D’Abrosca has the potential to do it big! But we don’t
want to contribute to that by giving him more attention than necessary.</span></b></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-8724748903344672862024-02-05T03:51:00.001-05:002024-02-05T04:04:52.937-05:00#2731: Al Czap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0hhVxZfmtEPZ-LX8ZlgFrTuR_95oWwxFQM_rD09hVQGIe6JnIRtQTik-hO25luhPaUdQ40zrY8xtpSNCEODYsTBSWnfPA9GNJdXG1IxHS0xro6StN9F6ltRFFgC5uJxACcl3m9oXdPIKWgokhMljjTJw10eLcKZBoDXp0cQTGdJJrAlSK93jfZvQQQ7A/s300/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0hhVxZfmtEPZ-LX8ZlgFrTuR_95oWwxFQM_rD09hVQGIe6JnIRtQTik-hO25luhPaUdQ40zrY8xtpSNCEODYsTBSWnfPA9GNJdXG1IxHS0xro6StN9F6ltRFFgC5uJxACcl3m9oXdPIKWgokhMljjTJw10eLcKZBoDXp0cQTGdJJrAlSK93jfZvQQQ7A/w200-h112/Unknown.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Al Czap is
the former president of Thorne Research, Inc. (sold), and current leader of
Tesseract Medical Research, neither of which is involved in research but in the
development of a range of quack products marketed –blatantly disregarding actual
research, evidence or facts – as health-promoting products. At least Thorne
Research has been duly targeted by the FDA for its <a href="https://quackwatch.org/cases/fdawarning/prod/fda-warning-letters-about-products-2004/thorne/">violations of the Federal
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">; the company’s product range
included:</span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Perfusia-SR, marketed as being
beneficial for <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Panacea">a number of clinical conditions</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, including “<i>Coronary heart disease,
Hypertension, Erectile dysfunction, Diabetes, Peripheral vascular disease,
Alzheimer [sic] and vascular dementia</i>” by improving endothelial function.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Lycopene, marketed <a href="https://quackwatch.org/cases/fdawarning/prod/fda-warning-letters-about-products-2008/a1/">as having been</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> “<i>positively associated with
reduced risk of prostate, breast, and lung cancers</i>.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><a href="https://quackwatch.org/related/dsh/msm/"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">MSM-750</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-136/calcium-d-glucarate#:~:text=Calcium%20D%2Dglucarate%20might%20lower,evidence%20to%20support%20these%20uses">Calcium D-Glucarate</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, which apparently is a “<a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/top-ten-signs-your-detox-may-be-a-scam/"><i>detoxification</i></a>”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> agent targeting unspecified “<i><a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Toxin">environmental toxins</a></i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">”. </span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">DHA (omega-3 from algae), which
apparently helps cure your ADD.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">-<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://www.fakefoodwatch.com/2013/01/olive-leaf-extract-industrial-food.html">Olive Leaf Extract</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Czap has in
fact been involved in a number of pseudoscientific ventures as a self-styled “<i>inventor,
founder, ground breaking industry guru and product pioneer</i>”. He does not
appear to have any medical background, but hardly views that as a constraint.
Currently, Czap is primarily involved in autism quackery, claiming to have “<i>tamed
the most offensive yet most therapeutic molecule available, Butyric Acid</i>”,
which is almost like magic when it comes to autism treatment: According to Czap
(<a href="https://www.readcube.com/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1000419">but not reality</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">), autism involves “<i>excess
propionic acid and insufficient butyrate</i>”, and based on <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Anecdotal_evidence">his own description
of</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> “<i>[s]eeing the therapeutic
response to the butyrate from a local autistic child</i>”, he is now changing
lives! And as opposed to Big Pharma, “<i>Czap’s efforts are pure and
patient-focused, free of the medical industry’s traditional constraints</i>”;
said constraints would be facts, evidence, accountability and concerns for
safety and efficacy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He has also
served (as secretary) on the board of directors of The Alliance for Natural
Health USA (formerly the American Association for <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/harvard-medical-school-veritas-for-sale-part-ii/">Health Freedom</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">), a lobbying organization whose
goal is to persuade government that various types of quackery are good and
dubious health claims are correct through political rather than scientific
means.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
If you’re lucky, your spam filter will mostly take care of this one, but you
should nevertheless stay alert. Yeah, one of <i>those</i> guys. </span></b></p>
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{margin-bottom:0cm;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-81390220886262713842024-02-01T08:48:00.001-05:002024-02-05T04:04:43.289-05:00#2730: Doug Cutler<p><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Andrew
Cutler was one of the leading promoters of pseudoscience and conspiracy
theories related to <a href="https://quackwatch.org/related/mercury/">mercury toxicity</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> in the US for a while (especially
anti-<a href="https://quackwatch.org/dental/hg/key/">amalgam pseudoscience</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and <a href="http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/review-of-trace-amounts-bad-science-and-conspiracies/">anti-vaccine conspiracy theories</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">), and would have been an obvious
candidate for a substantial entry had he not suddenly passed away. But Doug
Cutler, though perhaps somewhat less famous than his namesake, is a comparable
threat to human flourishing for reasons that are ultimately not that
dissimilar.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Doug Cutler
is a Michigan-based <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Naturopathy">naturopath</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and, <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2017/06/26/you-cant-have-naturopathy-without-antivax/">like many naturopaths</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Anti-vaccination_movement">anti-vaccine activist</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/what-naturopaths-say-to-each-other-when-they-think-no-ones-listening/">According to Cutler</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, childhood vaccination is <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2021/07/20/the-nuremberg-code-gambit/">a huge experiment</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> with “<i>our children as the
guinea pigs</i>”. Well, it’s not really an <i>experiment</i>, as Cutler
imagines it, since he already knows the conclusion: that vaccines are safe and
effective (<a href="https://vaxopedia.org/2017/08/13/vaccines-work/">they</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://vaxopedia.org/2017/10/22/vaccines-are-safe/">are</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">) is “<i>the biggest medical fraud
(perpetuated by <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Big_Pharma)">Big Pharma</a></i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">”. Cutler knows this based on his “<i>intimate
association with hundreds of mothers that had vaccine injured children</i>” –
i.e. any medical problem children might suffer from are vaccine-related,
therefore the fact that there are many children with medical issues shows that
vaccines are dangerous. Yes, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias">he starts his reasoning</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Texas_sharpshooter_fallacy">with his conclusion</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> as his premise and promptly goes
on to lambast advocates for science for their “<i>dogma/bias</i>”. Fuck <a href="https://vaxopedia.org/2018/02/28/hierarchy-of-evidence-and-vaccine-papers/">the
studies and the evidence</a></span><a href="https://vaxopedia.org/2018/02/28/hierarchy-of-evidence-and-vaccine-papers/"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.</span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Of course, Cutler
also draws upon his “<a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/nd-confession-part-1-clinical-training-inside-and-out/"><i>training</i></a></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and knowledge of <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Toxin">environmental toxins</a></span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">” to analyze “<a href="https://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2010/08/27/the-nvic-vaccine-ingredient-calculator-a"><i>the actual ingredients of each
vaccine, one by one</i></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">”, concluding that he “<i>could never in good
conscience justify those known <a href="https://vaxopedia.org/2016/09/02/toxins-in-vaccines/">toxic ingredients</a></i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">”. Sometimes, he tries to run with
the <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2018/03/07/yet-more-evidence-that-the-antivaccine-trope-of-too-many-too-soon-is-nonsense/">“too many too soon” gambit</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, as well – “<i>10 vaccines from
birth to 6 years in 1983 and 36-38 vaccines from birth to 6 years in 2010.
Insane</i>,” says Cutler without bothering to even cursorily compare his
antivaccine website sources to <a href="https://vaxopedia.org/2019/07/09/vaccine-schedules-from-the-1940s-to-2019/">the facts</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> – but it really all comes down to
“<i>I am opposed to all sources of toxins therefore I am against vaccines</i>”.
Like a lot of quacks these days, Cutler is obsessed with alleged toxins – <i>demons</i>
won’t fly with his target demographic if you use that term, but yes: that’s
what he means, and this is religion; it has nothing to do with science – and
his grift is fundamentally based on identifying various “toxins” that are
allegedly possessing you and then sell you various regimens and life-style
changes that will ostensibly exorcise them and purify your <s>soul</s> <s>wallet</s>
body. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And Cutler
is not just another conspiracy theorist with a computer and a severe case of
paranoia. Cutler’s practice, Cutler Integrative Medicine, is one of the larger
naturopathic practices in Michigan, and it offers <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2016/05/23/quack-attack-naturopaths-and-supplement-companies-press-for-naturopathic-licensure-in-michigan/">a range of woo</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">: Here you can get subjected to constitutional
and <a href="https://quackwatch.org/cases/ag/tx/colonic/colonic2/">colon hydrotherapy</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/applied-kinesiology-by-any-other-name/">applied kinesiology</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Homeopathy">homeopathy</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://quackwatch.org/chiropractic/dd/naet/">Nambudripad Allergy EliminationTechnique (NAET)</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, and <a href="https://quackwatch.org/consumer-education/News/rife/">TrueRife Technology</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (oh, yes). NAET is ostensibly a “<i>non-invasive,
drug free, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Appeal_to_nature">natural</a></i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> solution to alleviate allergies of
all types and intensities using a blend of selective <a href="https://skepdic.com/energy.html">energy</a></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Heroic_medicine">balancing</a></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, testing and treatment procedures
from <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Acupuncture">acupuncture/acupressure</a></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Allopathic">allopathy</a></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Chiropractic">chiropractic</a></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Nutritionist">nutritional</a></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, and <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Applied_kinesiology">kinesiological</a></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> disciplines of medicine</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">,” i.e. woo pinned up by your usual
blend of vague goobledygook and falsehoods. And <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/nobody-licenses-quacks-in-my-state-hb-4531-and-the-licensing-of-naturopaths-in-michigan/">naturopaths are still seeking to be licensed in Michigan</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, which would give people like Doug
Cutler an official stamp of approval.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Dingbat paranoid conspiracy theorist whose advice on health is significantly
worse than chance. A danger both to his immediate surroundings and to people in
Michigan and the US in general – Cutler seems, in fact, to be a rather
significant voice of authority in naturopathic communities in the US.</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></b></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-88011418576704941552024-01-29T06:39:00.007-05:002024-02-05T04:04:30.667-05:00#2729: Melissa Curtin<p><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Unfortunately
for everyone, Steve Currey – <a href="https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/hollow-earth-a-journey-through-3-centuries-of-conspiracy-theory">leading champion</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> of the <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Hollow_Earth">Hollow Earth</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Hollow_Earth"> theory</a> – died, which is indeed a
pity since he would have provided some lighthearted relief in between all the
sordid hate and dangerous nonsense we are currently covering. Now, <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/retired-general-predicts-obama-will-start-killing-us-soldiers/">Jerry Curry’s contributions to civilization</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> aren’t entirely without comedic
value either, but it turns out he’s dead, too.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Melissa
Curtin’s contributions are decidedly less funny, though hardly less deranged.
Curtin is an <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Anti-vaccination_movement">anti-vaccine activist</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> affiliated with <a href="http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2023/11/2705-larry-cook.html">Larry Cook</a>’s group
<a href="https://vaxopedia.org/2019/08/17/guess-who-thinks-vaccines-are-connected-to-mass-shootings/">Stop Mandatory Vaccination</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, and <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2023/01/04/damar-hamlins-collapse/">like most anti-vaccine activists</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, she likes to blame any health
misfortune anyone experiences on vaccines, regardless of facts and evidence –
indeed, finding tragic stories on social media or in mainstream media and
blaming them on vaccines seems to be her main schtick. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For
instance, <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/death-gardasil-not-so-fast/">Curtin promptly weighed in</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> on the tragic case of Colton
Berret (a case also quickly picked up by <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Andrew_Wakefield">Andrew Wakefield</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Andrew_Wakefield"> </a>and <a href="http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2022/08/2558-del-bigtree.html">Del Bigtree</a>’s</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://www.skepticalraptor.com/skepticalraptorblog.php/is-vaxxed-producer-del-bigtree-credible-on-vaccines-not-really/">anti-vaxxine conspiracy flick</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/andrew-wakefields-vaxxed-antivaccine-propaganda-at-its-most-pernicious/"><i>Vaxxed</i></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">), a 17-year-old who had contracted
transverse myelitis at age 13, something <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2018/01/17/did-gardasil-kill-colton-berrett/">his mother but no evidence</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> blamed on him having received the
HPV vaccine: “<i>Another tragic death of a child damaged by and caused from
vaccines, and in this case, it was the Gardasil/Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine
(HPV) that took his life</i>,” concluded Curtin, fully unconstrained by facts
and evidence, adding that “<i>Colton is one of thousands of severely vaccine
injured children who ultimately lost his life and succumbed to the <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Toxin">toxic</a></i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> travesty of <a href="https://vaxopedia.org/2018/12/05/diagnosing-vaccine-injuries/">vaccine injury</a></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and damage</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.” </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27585798/"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Large-scale,
serious studies</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> have found no association between
transverse myelitis and prior immunization, including with HPV vaccines, <a href="https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/hpv-vaccine-safety-and-acceptance/">which
are safe and effective</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. Anti-vaxxers, of course, have
their own “researchers” suggesting otherwise that they prefer to cite (i.e.
<a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-claim-that-gardasil-causes-premature-ovarian-failure-ideology-not-science/)">anti-vaccine activist Yehuda Schoenfeld</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">) instead of the real studies. But
even if there were such an association, there isn’t really even a correlation
between vaccination and transverse myelitis in the Berret case given the
timeline and how transverse myelitis works. Does that matter to anti-vaccine
activists? Of course it doesn’t. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Silly and angry conspiracy theorist who seems to have found an algorithm for
deranged reasoning she sticks to without hesitation and without regard for
facts or evidence. But although she is silly, she is also part of a movement
that is responsible for genuine harm to real people, not the least through
their exploitation of people in tragic situations. So Curtin is at least as
repugnant and as dangerous as she’s silly.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hat-tip:
<a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/death-gardasil-not-so-fast/">Science-based Medicine</a></span></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-19333824364987904892024-01-26T04:08:00.006-05:002024-02-05T04:04:19.696-05:00#2728: John E. Curran<p><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Frauds are
far too often allowed to continue to fraud happily along given <a href="https://www.respectfulinsolence.com/2023/08/14/the-abim-acts-against-covid-19-antivax-quacks-or-does-it/">the impotence of the institutions and agencies</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> nominally charged with overseeing
medical practices, though there are limits to how brazen you can be. John E.
Curran apparently cares as little about those limits as he cares about his <s>victims</s>
patients (and about facts) and has managed to <a href="https://quackwatch.org/naturopathy/legal/curran/">land himself in trouble on
multiple occasions</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. In 2008, for instance, the Rhode
Island Department of Health <a href="https://quackwatch.org/naturopathy/legal/curran3/">suspended his health care practices</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, the Rhode Island Health Aid in
Cranston and the Northeastern Institute for Advance <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Appeal_to_nature">Natural</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Healing in Providence, after he
<a href="https://quackwatch.org/cases/fda/court/curran/affidavit1/">falsely portrayed himself</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> as a physician and naturopath – Curran
had listed <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Alternative_Medicine_Education">ND degrees</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> from various <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Naturopathy">naturopathic</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> pseudoeducational institutions as
well as an MD from the <a href="http://quackfiles.blogspot.com/2005/05/ntla-orders-bogus-st-luke-university.html">St. Luke School of Medicine</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, none of which were accredited,
and his website claimed that he was “<i>certified</i>” by Brown University,
Duke University and Harvard University Medical Schools, even though medical
schools do not “certify” people (he presumably bet on his target audience not
being aware of that). </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And what he
offered at those practices was bullshit from start to finish: His “Complete
Body Assessment” was a diagnostic program priced at $950 (including “<i>an
in-depth consultation regarding your health history and nutritional diet,
<a href="https://quackwatch.org/consumer-protection/eav/">BioMeridian</a></i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Stress Assessment, <a href="https://www.wondriumdaily.com/food-sensitivity-tests/">Food testing</a></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (250 foods), <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Iridology">Iridology</a></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, Chinese Tongue and Nail Analysis,
Urinalysis, Blood Oxygen Level Testing, Heart and Lung evaluations, and a <a href="https://quackwatch.org/cases/fdawarning/prod/fda-warning-letters-about-products-2016/thermogram_assessment/">Full Body Thermography</a></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Scan</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">”) and his “<i>treatment</i>” offerings
included an impressive array of quack devices.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Like many
quacks, Curran would commonly use blood samples to conduct <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/functional-medicine-reams-of-useless-tests-in-one-hand-a-huge-invoice-in-the-other/">nonsense tests</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> to provide false and usually
nonsense diagnoses, and then prescribe nonsense treatments that occasionally
were not only useless and expensive but demonstrably harmful. He would for
instance tell patients that they suffered e.g. from live parasites in their
blood stream, severely reduced number of blood cells, worms in their blood,
holes in their blood or life threatening diseases, and then diagnose them,
using <a href="https://quackwatch.org/related/tests/livecell/">live blood analyses</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and <a href="https://quackwatch.org/consumer-protection/eav/">Bio-Meridian tests</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (neither of which has any genuine
diagnostic value, of course), before offering treatment programs costing
between $200 to $10,000 and guaranteed to make no actual medical sense. Curran
apparently managed to collect some 1.3 million by falsely telling victims that
they suffered from (or would soon suffer from) life-threatening diseases or
were near death.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Among his
many nonsense products, a perhaps particularly notable one was his <a href="https://quackwatch.org/naturopathy/legal/curran3/">“E-water”</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, which ostensibly has the “<i>synergistic
healing properties as the water in Lourdes, France</i>,” which might actually
be true but not for the reasons his victims might think. It was <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Technobabble">ostensibly also</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> “<i>uniquely charged water wherein
the molecules spin in reverse direction and emit electrical energy</i>”, which
is certainly not true (in the way a random string of letters is not true). He
also sold his so-called “<i>Green Drink</i>” containing “<i>a synergistic blend
of all natural compounds that support and promote the body’s overall ability to
fight and prevent disease</i>”, which he falsely claimed to have formulated
himself (it turned out to be a commercially available dietary supplement that he
bought from a distributor).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Before
that, in 2006, Curran was also convicted of mail fraud and money laundering.
and was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison and ordered to pay $1.4 million in
restitution to 338 victims. John E. Curran is, in other words, not among the
good guys.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Villain. Hopefully still in jail, but we don’t really know and recommend
locking your doors if you live in the Rhode Island area.</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Hat-tip:
<a href="https://quackwatch.org/naturopathy/legal/curran/">Quackwatch</a></span></p>
<p><style>@font-face
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-78221487458208014722024-01-23T07:33:00.003-05:002024-02-05T04:04:08.933-05:00#2727: Vernon Cupps<p><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Vernon
Cupps is a somewhat curious figure. Cupps has real scientific credentials and was
a radiation physicist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory until his
fundamentalism got the better of him and he joined the <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Institute_for_Creation_Research">Institute of Creation Research</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (ICR) instead. There, he is what
they call an <i>“ICR Research Associate</i>”, though his output – like those of
the institute’s other associates – consists of apologetics, pseudoscientific
denialism and <a href="https://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2016/10/01/jason-lisle-vernon-cupps-together-again/">painfully dim</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <a href="https://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2016/09/04/icr-jason-lisle-vernon-cupps-together/">pseudo-philosophy</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. Cupps has added nothing to
science, knowledge or civilization as an ICR Research Associate, but he lends
the institution a faint sheen of legitimacy in virtue of his credentials.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">According
to Cupps’s post <a href="https://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2016/09/03/icr-has-a-creationist-nuclear-physicist/">“<i>Modern Science and Vain Philosophy: An Ancient Deception in
Our Midst</i>”</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, modern science might seem
deceptively attractive as an explanatory scheme for natural phenomena, but it’s
really a deception: As the Bible covertly suggests (“<i>hidden truths</i>”), “<i>Satan
consistently tempts his victims through both outright lies and subtle deception</i>”,
and a crucial piece of Satanic deception is the “<i>deceptions of modern
science that try to undermine the authority of God’s Word</i>” by suggesting
that the Earth is older than <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Young_Earth_creationism">a few thousand years</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, that the Universe came into being
through the Big Bang, and that animals evolve. According to Cupps, “<i>naturalism
has turned much of modern science into a dizzy array of conjecture, wishful
thinking, assumptions, and will-driven consensus far removed from the
constraints of true science, which rests on observation and reproducible
experimentation</i>.” It’s somewhat painful to see someone with a scientific
background espouse such fatally silly misconceptions about science (hint:
science rests on reproducible <i>evidence</i> – whether it is in history,
biology or astronomy – not primarily on <i>experimentation</i>: <i>chemistry </i>is
not the only scientific discipline). Then he laments how scientists confuse
good Christians with facts and evidence, when in reality facts and evidence is
just Satan-speak. Cupps expands on his misunderstandings (and throws in some
<a href="https://blog.ed.ted.com/2016/06/07/whats-the-difference-between-a-scientific-law-and-theory-in-ted-ed-gifs/">confusion concerning laws and theories</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and plenty appeals to <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Denialism">“same evidence, different interpretation”</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">) <a href="https://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2020/10/31/icr-says-evolution-the-big-bang-arent-science/">here</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, asserting in passing that <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Flood_geology">flood geology</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> is equally valid as an
interpretive scheme as real geology.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And Cupps
is a committed young-earth creationist: “Six days” means <i>six days</i> and is
<a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Day-age_creationism">no metaphor for millions of years</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">: “<i>Genesis doesn’t fit with deep
time</i>”. Fortunately, <a href="https://sensuouscurmudgeon.wordpress.com/2017/09/30/icr-six-day-creation-means-six-literal-days/">according to</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> Cupps’ assertions and a
substantial amount of <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Evidence_against_a_recent_creation">wishful thinking and denial</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, “<i>observations and reproducible
experimental data support the biblical narrative better than any of the current
scientific hypotheses such as deep time that appear to contradict both the
Bible and the data</i>.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Denialist fundie nutter. There are lots of them, though very few with genuine
and borderline relevant credentials: As such, Cupps is an invaluable asset for
the denialist movement and general sad case for humanity. </span></b></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-1463523382126085912024-01-21T09:34:00.006-05:002024-02-05T04:03:56.901-05:00#2726: Loren Cunningham<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3curcN7hH4E5xeFNQmm6pX1UdbIZ0ytq-hW3stPM6Vg06_2nK9gJQZsJwqPuBvys5mqx20MefbA9sKvimbIyOh8T_yn9VFtO9D0_ZbBGMhvhGKavvFeBrLR6I06DXssgqew0GjLwHSSAnzZvnoV93WBN4Lt4J3G3hCncgZabT1WdLeK02HnPMDbtiRtk/s300/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3curcN7hH4E5xeFNQmm6pX1UdbIZ0ytq-hW3stPM6Vg06_2nK9gJQZsJwqPuBvys5mqx20MefbA9sKvimbIyOh8T_yn9VFtO9D0_ZbBGMhvhGKavvFeBrLR6I06DXssgqew0GjLwHSSAnzZvnoV93WBN4Lt4J3G3hCncgZabT1WdLeK02HnPMDbtiRtk/w200-h112/Unknown.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Loren Duane
Cunningham is a fundie’s fundie and the founder of the international Christian
missionary organization – <a href="https://culteducation.com/group/1245-youth-with-a-mission/22531-ywam-people-often-did-more-harm-than-good.html">often described as a “cult”</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> – <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/story/missionary-group-thrust-into-limelight-after-colorado-shootings">Youth with a Mission</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (YWAM) and the fundamentalist University
of the Nations (not a <i>university </i>in any meaningful sense of the word). Apparently,
Cunningham founded the YWAM on the basis of a vision he had in the Bahamas in
1956.</span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The YWAM
remains a proponent of <a href="http://www.talk2action.org/story/2010/1/20/131544/037">Seven Mountains Ideology</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and is affiliated with <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Campus_Crusade_for_Christ">Campus Crusade for Christ</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. The guiding ideology is, accordingly,
<a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Dominionism">dominionist</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> – part of their agenda is “<i>fighting
a <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Spiritual_warfare">spiritual battle</a></i></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> to redeem the area of government</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">” – although they admittedly tend to
spread their agenda through charitable work and aid rather than explicit
aggression. Indeed, Cunningham is <a href="https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/perry-partners-with-founder-of-seven-mountains-dominionism-for-prayer-rally/">one of the founders</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> of the radical “Seven Mountains
Dominionist” ideology, and <a href="https://survivingchurch.org/2016/10/29/seven-mountains-teaching-a-critique/">he claims</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> (of course) to have received the
agenda and his marching orders directly from God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Cunningham’s
University of the Nations is a Bible school that is not accredited by any
recognized accreditation body – they do have <a href="http://americanloons.blogspot.com/2018/05/2012-forrest-mims.html">Forrest Mims</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> on their affiliated faculty roster,
which doesn’t exactly help. We can’t say that we’ve bothered to delve deeply
into their courses and syllabi, but at least YWAM promotes the existence of <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Demonic_possession">demonic
possession</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> and the efficacy of <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Faith_healing">faith healing</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. They are, of course, also
virulently anti-gay.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Loren
Cunningham’s son David Cunningham, by the way, is a documentary film maker
known for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/sep/13/bbc.september112001">deceptive wingnut propaganda pieces</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Diagnosis:
Theocratic dingbat with an enormous and often devastating legacy. Probably
semi-retired by now, but the damage caused by him and his organization won’t go
away anytime soon.</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><b><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Note: Cunningham recently just went ahead and died, but since we'd already written up his entry before we got the news, we decided to publish it anyway.<br /></span></b></i></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-414946164942126209.post-38852264323254243872024-01-16T05:28:00.003-05:002024-02-05T04:02:54.981-05:00#2725: Jeremiah Cummings<p><span lang="EN-US"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnFWxo8LcY8tJ0r0JELbqrRASBhHLlkcF_MdqnJrNWiRz0CuBWIdwpSddsLEEI-rFzO_Uh3bzqzjmRtQAitXzX0SfUqjJbQW1gOtmOAFo6fIOZoc8sfoUW5rfNZOaOhDSl89IGcUhbsxlQfJVdjc95eb2Sx4HyLabnshRskDBdL7wmU0INf-uWHE4xnw/s300/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnFWxo8LcY8tJ0r0JELbqrRASBhHLlkcF_MdqnJrNWiRz0CuBWIdwpSddsLEEI-rFzO_Uh3bzqzjmRtQAitXzX0SfUqjJbQW1gOtmOAFo6fIOZoc8sfoUW5rfNZOaOhDSl89IGcUhbsxlQfJVdjc95eb2Sx4HyLabnshRskDBdL7wmU0INf-uWHE4xnw/w200-h112/Unknown.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>Jeremiah Cummings is a preacher, former
member of the soul group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes and former Muslim
who converted to Christianity in 1997. He is, however, probably most famous for
his <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/evangelist-jeremiah-cummings-blames-bill-mahers-religulous-misfortunes/story?id=8653902">somewhat non-flattering appearance</a>
in <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Bill_Maher">Bill Maher</a>’s
<a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Religulous"><i>Religulous</i></a>.
Cummings is a promoter of the <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Name_it_and_claim_it">prosperity gospel</a>,
which is the fundie idiot version of the New Age self-help rubbish <a href="https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Law_of_attraction"><i>law of
attraction</i></a>
– with the twist, of course, that you also need to send money to him, Cummings,
to make you wishful thining work, an act that will then make God answer your
prayers if you pray well enough and in the right way. “<i>Money comes, money
happens</i>”, says Cummings. “<i>Call me Dr.</i>,” <a href="https://misplacedboy.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/random-movie-review-bill-maher-but-im-not-wrong/">asks Cummings</a>,
who apparently has no degree in anything.<p></p><p><span lang="EN-US">Cummings justifies his scam in part by
claiming that Jesus was all about getting rich: Jesus, as Cummings imagines
him, “<i>was not poor ... he was a well-dressed man</i>” who wore “<i>fine
linen</i>”. He even has a book, <i>From Gold to Glory</i>, to explain (or
whatever) how things, according to him, hang together. His subsequent complaint
that his appearance in <i>Religulous</i> ruined his career must accordingly
mean that he isn’t doing things entirely right himself.</span></p><p><b><span lang="EN-US">Diagnosis: Con man, though he probably
believes his own scam. That said, he seems to have enjoyed a more subdued
presence after <i>Religulous</i>, and we’re not entirely sure about his current
whereabouts.</span></b></p>
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{page:WordSection1;}</style></p>G.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08875360501107597863noreply@blogger.com1