#816: Donna Karan

A.k.a. Donna Ivy Faske

Honorable mention goes to Ted Kaptchuk for his ideas on placebo, but for real, unhinged woo you could do worse (or whatever you want to call it) than having a look at Donna Karan. Karan is a fashion designer, and the creator of the Donna Karan New York and DKNY clothing labels. Apparently her fashion design background and flashy celebrity life makes her, in her own eyes, an expert on self-help and spirituality, and she is not hesitant to offer you health or lifestyle advice based on “ancient oriental wisdom” or suchlike.

Thing is, Karan has the money to back it up. In 2008 the Beth Israel Medical Center, once a respectable institution but quickly becoming a nexus of pure quackery, was eager enough for her money that they gave her a cancer-treatment floor to combine “Eastern and Western healing methods”. As they put it “the Karan-Beth Israel project will have a celebrated donor turn a hospital into a testing ground for a trendy, medically controversial notion: that yoga, meditation and aromatherapy can enhance regimens of chemotherapy and radiation.” Karan’s intentions may have been honorable, but Karan is also in the grip of what she calls “Urban Zen”. Instead of using her money to pay for, you know, more oncologists, “fifteen yoga teachers will be sent to BethIsrael’s ninth-floor cancer ward starting in January to work with nonterminal patients, and nurses will be trained in relaxation techniques." The urban zen project also included a research part. Dr. Benjamin Kligler, the research director in integrative family medicine for the Beth Israel-affiliated Continuum Center for Health and Healing and the research project’s principal investigator, acknowledged that the experiment of yoga teachers and their interaction with patients did not lend itself to the random, double-blind placebo trials favored in the medical world. Solution? “It might be time for the medical establishment to consider a new research model for what he called ‘lifestyle interventions.’” Duh. The whole dismal affairs is pretty well dealt with here.

Apparently Karan is involved in or behind the Huffington-post-based health-care initiative, the Well-Being Forum, where people from Tony Robbins to Deepak Chopra give you health advice.

Diagnosis: The epitome of crazy celebrity fluffpot who is unable to grasp the central distinction between fashion design success and how to understand science. A bad case of Dunning-Kruger fed by wishful thinking. Since she has a lot of money to push into her campaign for quackery, Karan must be counted as quite dangerous.

#815: Gary Kah

The delightful Andy Kadir-Buxton is British and hence disqualified, but Gary Kah is not far behind in terms of sheer, undiluted lunacy. Kah is stock fare on the RaptureReady webpage, though even RaptureReady adds certain qualifications: “Many people have yet to embrace the conspiracy views that Kah holds, but, because he is so well-respected, most will not discount them completely.” Yes, there is something strange in that quote. RaptureReady also emphasizes that Kah was (apparently) “an international government representative,” who during his travels “soon began to witness events that appeared to be leading to a one world government,” namely The New World Order. He also “observed that, among the circles that were working toward this goal, there was much occult activity. This stretched to many U.N. Officials, U.S. Government leaders, bankers, and even ‘religious’ figures.” In 1984 he began in earnest to warn everyone around him of the events. Then, apparently, in 1987 he “was invited to join the World Constitution and Parliament Association, which is at the forefront of implementing a world government,” a position he used to collect documentation of the conspiracy while pretending to work for them. Anyone else notice something strange about this Illuminati (or Knights Templar) organization (which doesn’t exist) hiring Kah, who was already a vocal conspiracy theorist, without suspecting that he might double-cross them?

In his book Enroute To Global Occupation (1992) he laid out his documentation, as well as information he got from Eustace Mullins (not a particularly reliable source) proving the imminent rise of this government. The book is on whale.to’s list of suggested readings compiled by Brice Taylor (to be covered). In The New World Religion (1999) he detailed how the New World Order would forcibly convert everyone to the occult New Age religion of the leaders, which encompasses, it seems, such new age ideas as Evolution and environmentalism. Being an exceptionally severely affected victim of Dunning-Kruger Kah argues that global warming is part of the conspiracy, in part by citing none other than Lord Monckton, which is sort of analogous to citing Mullah Omar as an expert on mathematical logic.

Diagnosis: Another example of the fun die martyr and persecution complex taken to the extreme. Kah seems to carry some influence, but even with our experience with these kinds of creatures, one wonders if he doesn’t harm the denialist movement more than he helps it.

#814: Joshua Joscelyn(?)*

Joshua Joscelyn used to work with Kent Hovind’s creation science ministry, as a park guide at Dinosaur Adventure Land, and head of publications and the apologetics departments as well as producer for the popular series, Creation in Common Sense. In 2010 he resigned, however – as any person who comes to her or his senses would do. Joscelyn, however, did not come to his senses.

Apparently Joscelyn resigned because the ministry was not sufficiently uncompromising, didn’t unhesitatingly accept the absolute literal truth of the King James Bible (over all others), because they paid taxes and allowed Calvinists on their programs. In short, they sold out. And didn’t pay Joscelyn enough. Currently he is affiliated with the libertarian party and has at least experienced one failed bid for a seat on the local water board on a fluoride conspiracy platform.

Diagnosis: I guess one could say that the events show that Joscelyn is (somewhat incoherently) principled. More than that, however, they show that he is batshit crazy.

*The question mark signals that, despite all the crazy we have come across thus far, I am not completely convinced that Joscelyn is not a poe.

#813: Henry Jordan

Henry Jordan is a physician (general surgeoun), erstwhile (2006) candidate for Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina (R), and later co-chairman to the Presidential committee for Duncan Hunter’s presidential campaign in 2008. He is also a creationist. As Jordan puts it: “A bunch of amoebas didn’t get together and design all this,” which is, I suppose true, and illuminating with regard to how well Jordan understands what he is talking about. Drawing on his own experience as a physician, he elaborates: “We’d be operating on people … looking at their hearts, their liver and their lungs, I’d tell the techs, ‘Can you believe those little amoebas figured all this out?’” His main argument, however, is the extremely compelling argument by “really”: “I mean you’ve got to be stupid to believe in evolution, I mean really,” said Jordan.

Accordingly he believes the sin of pride and people’s desire to decide their own fate, rather than obey God, are why people believe in evolution.

During his Lieutenant Governor campaign he also pointed out that: “There are only two nations I know of that have been supernaturally blessed: Israel, because God chose them … and the other is the United States.” Yay, go US!

He also said “Screw the Buddhists and kill the Muslims. And put that in the minutes,” and lost the election.

Diagnosis: Deranged nitwit 

#812: Timothy Jones

Tim Jones is majority leader of the Missouri House of Representatives, and known to be - or at least have been - a staunch birther. Indeed, Jones was the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by “Birther Queen” Orly Taitz in a federal case alleging that President Barack Obama was secretly an Indonesian named Barry Soetoro and ineligible to be President of the United States, demanding the release of an original birth certificate, immigration records, passports and other vital records from Obama. He has, in fairness, toned down his involvement, but has – as far as we can see – never actually renounced his earlier stance on the issue.

Diagnosis: Yet another example of how at least one party in the US can be argued to be mainstreaming lunacy. It ought to scare you.