#2606: Joe Brown

Joe Brown is an Arizona-based naturopath who specializes in cancer treatments, e.g. by “educating patients like Dr Oz on their condition and providing them choices on their treatment plan”. His advice consists of undiluted nonsense, but basically he is “[u]sing an Integrative model, by combining Vitamin D, Vitamin C, Acupuncture, DMSO, Ozone, Graviola, Natural Remedies and Alternative Medicine unlike cancer centers of America, using Naturopathic modalities with the latest scientific research, giving you, the patient, the treatment options you need a Holistic Doctor who provides treatments”. Yes, there are some grammar issues in that passage, and we suspect that they are intended to help sift potential customers by turning away those not potentially in his intended target group.

 

And yes, he claims to be able to treat cancer and be a genuine alternative to conventional treatment – though he admits that his “list of different therapies that are used around the world and maybe discussed with Dr. Brown” contains suggestions that “can only be administered outside of the United States” because the US has at least some standards in place to help protect people in difficult situations from predatory charlatans. The list includes e.g. laetrile, infrared saunas, cranio-sacral therapies and homeopathy, as well as, well, more or less any piece of cancer quackery you may have come across. He also recommends products to “boost the immune system” because of course he does.

 

Indeed, Brown has his own line of supplements, which are as expensive as they are quacky. But he’s got testimonials. And a list of scans of diplomas and awards he has received, not all of which are … equally impressive (we haven’t bothered to try to check what “The Imperial Council of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine” is, for instance). Apparently he’s also “Princeton’s Top Doctor”; it is unclear, to say the least, who, exactly, awarded him that title.

 

Diagnosis: Fairly typical, really, and we don’t remember how or why we took note of him, but good grief: people should be aware he’s out there, with others like him, providing a genuine threat to humanity.

#2605: Steve Brouard

We don’t know much else about him, but Steve Brouard is an Iowa-based creationist affiliated with the Quad-City Creation Science Association, and a representative specimen of local creationist clown, it seems. Brouard appears to hold the common creationist view that the theory of evolution is a ‘theory in crisis’; referring to court cases like Kitzmiller v. Dover and McLean v. Arkansas Board ofEducation, Brouard asks “why does a scientific theory hide behind judges and the threats of lawsuits to justify itself? Free and open debate is what advances science and learning, by discussing the meaning of available evidence.” That it is creationists who are trying to legislate creationism into places like public schools is something he conveniently overlooks – and although science precisely is about “free and open debate” and assessment of evidence, what people like Brouard want is precisely not open scientific discussion of the evidence among people competent to understand it, but to foist religion on children in public schools.

 

Otherwise, Brouard promotes standard creationist talking points: that lots of scientists in the 18^th and 19^th centuries were religious, for instance. He also invokes the claim that junk DNA is a myth (presumably referring to and misunderstanding the discussion surrounding ENCODE, or to Jonathan Wells’s ramblings) and claims that homology is “circular reasoning” – he doesn’t provide an explanation, rather strongly suggesting that he is repeating a claim he has read but don’t quite understand.

 

And of course: evolution is religion! It is “a basis for theology – the religion of atheism. By faith, atheists believe the first cell popped into existence by itself and a jellyfish-like creature morphed into a T-Rex. There is no science for these beliefs – only speculation” because it costs nothing to just deny the science, even if it stares you in the face. Then he challenges defenders of science to a debate. No really. With Eric Hovind.

 

Diagnosis: Very, very standard fare, and very, very dense and dumb. Probably minimal influence, but whatever influence he has certainly isn’t to the benefit of humanity.

 

Hat-tip: Sensuous Curmudgeon

#2604: Mo Brooks

“Alabama wingnut” doesn’t have a particularly sympathetic ring to it, and Mo Brooks delivers precisely what you expect. Morris Jackson “Mo” Brooks Jr. is a major promoter of conspiracy theories, a wingnut, white supremacy apologist, Trump sycophant and, until 2023, member of the House of Representatives from Alabama. That is on top of being the kind of person who is opposed to government-funded healthcare or restrictions on insurance companies when it comes to charging more for people with pre-existing conditions because, as he says, people who lead “good lives” don’t tend to have pre-existing conditions.

 

Brooks was a central figure in making false claims about voter fraud in the period between the election and January 6. Dimly aware that his role in the riots (urging the crowds to “fight” just prior: “today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass”) could reflect badly on himself, he was quick to claim that Antifa was responsible (he later had to recant). His January 6. speech to primarily self-declared Nazis consisted largely of Christian nationalist talking points, and claiming, without any indication of evidence, that over one million illegal immigrants voted for Biden in the 2020 election (he specifically objected to counting Arizona’s electoral votes on that basis) – “if only lawful votes by eligible American citizens were cast, Donald Trump won the Electoral College by a significant margin”, said Brooks, after having done an intuitive calculation on his PIDOOMA numbers; “in my judgment, the evidence is overwhelming and compelling that the Dec. 3, 2020 elections were the most voter fraud and election theft riddled of any election in United States history,” says Brooks and goes on to completely fail to elaborate on the nature of or even provide any shred of indication of the existence of the evidence he refers to.

 

According to Brooks, Biden promised to create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants in order to get their votes. He also sought a Presidential pardon in the waning days of the Trump administrations, which was not granted – just in case. He nevertheless went on to defend Trump’s election lies, repeating Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen, and alleging that socialists were taking over the government. Trump endorsed Brooks in April 2021, but when Brooks announced his candidacy for the US Senate seat being vacated, Trump rescinded his endorsement in March 2022 because Brooks refused to “immediately” remove Biden from office and illegally hold a new presidential election. Brooks subsequently lost the primary. It is hard to fathom, even taking how his mind works into consideration, that Brooks could have failed to foresee that this would inevitably be the outcome of the strategy he was choosing.

 

In August 2021, after a Trump supporter made a bomb threat against Capitol Hill, Brooks put out a defense: “generally speaking, I understand citizenry anger directed at dictatorial Socialism and its threat to liberty, freedom and the very fabric of American society. The way to stop Socialism’s march is for patriotic Americans to fight back in the 2022 and 2024 elections. I strongly encourage patriotic Americans to do exactly that more so than ever before. Bluntly stated, America’s future is at risk.” Yes, he defends terrorism. Explicitly.

 

Brooks is a climate change denialist. In 2018, during a hearning of the House Science, Space, and Technology Commitee, Brooks not only repeated the tired denialist claim that the Antarctic ice cap is actually growing, but added his own take: that rising sea levels are caused by rocks falling into the sea: “Now you have got less space in those oceans because the bottom is moving up”, explained Brooks. He wasn’t nominated for a Nobel Prize that year either.

 

Brooks is opposed to immigration, nominally because “illegal aliens give America drug-resistant tuberculosis and other diseases that threaten all of us.” He has also said that immigration reform is part of a “war on whites” – even Laura Ingraham was uncomfortable with that quote, but Brooks was presumably primarily addressing his Alabama voter base.

 

Oh, yeah – and Brooks has more recently been pushing anti-vaccine talking points, e.g. calling the COVID vaccines “experimental” in July 2021 – that is a talking point you have gotten from organized antivaxx groups. He also claimed that some masks “help spread COVID-19” and that “time will reveal that masks [yes, it’s the I will have evidence in the future gambit]… endanger the health of those who wear them,” suggesting that they increase risk of heat stroke, oxygen loss and cancer. He was as careful as he usually is when it comes to providing evidence for these easily debunked claims.

 

Diagnosis: A cartoon character of deranged wingnuttery and conspiracy mongering, and any reasonable person would recognize him as such from a mile away. He remains popular with his voter base, though.

#2603: Sonia Broglin et al.

Finding silly scam products on the Internet is not difficult, but the Luminas Pain Relief Patches are so silly that one would expect even the dimmest wits to be able to see through it. But apparently, they don’t. There is a fine takedown of the product here. The patches – a cousin to Gwyneth Paltrow’s energy patches – promise to cure virtually anything through what they call “energy”, by which they mean, of course, not energy as understood by anyone caring about the real world, but rather shimmering ghostly spirit stuff – basically what New Age guru-types mean when they talk about ‘quantum physics’.

 

And indeed doesn’t the advertisement for the Luminas patches! The patches ostensibly take advantage of “revolutions in quantum physics,” and are charged with the “energetic signatures of natural remedies known for centuries to reduce inflammation” – “… energy that your body inherently knows how to absorb and use with absolutely no side effects.” So it goes. For obvious reasons, they do not attempt to explain how “scientists and doctors” are able “to store the energetic signatures of hundreds of pain- and inflammation-relieving remedies on a single patch”, nor what an “energetic signature” means, nor what revolutions in quantum physics they are talking about – nor, for that matter, how any of it is supposed to work to provide health benefits – unless you count some impressively handwavy word salads like this:

 

“For the geeks and scientists among us: Each patch contains 5.2 x 10^19 molecular structures, each with 2 oxygen polar bonding areas capable of holding a targeted, host electron, creating a total possible charging capacity equal to 10.4 x 10^19 host electrons. After considering the average transmission field voltage of humans (200 micro volts) we can calculate the relative capacity, per square inch of patch, at 333 Pico Farads.”

 

You don’t exactly need a degree in chemistry to recognize that … there are some gaps in that story. Fortunately, there are no scientists among the “us” at Luminas, nor in their target audience.

 

Sonia Broglin is the amazing genius behind the nonsense, and she is, naturally, the director of product development at Luminas. She is also a certified EnergyTouch® practitioner who graduated from the EnergyTouch® School of Advanced Healing. Energy touch is apparently “an off-the-body multidimensional healing process that allows the Energy Touch® Practitioner to access outer levels of the human energy field” – look, it’s multidimensional” and a registered trademark. This is serious New Age magic, and you can pay for study to a diploma in the technique by visiting an online page through a link in your spam folder.

 

Broglin is, perhaps surprisingly, not alone in this obvious scam. With her on her team, she’s got:

 

-       Craig Davies, who is a “Pro Sports Doctor.” If you ask “doctor of what?” you are probably not in the target audience for this amazing product (he’s a chiropractor)

-       Dr. Ara Suppiah, who seems to have some legitimate training but is currently pushing the quackery known as “functional sports medicine”.

-       Ashley Anderson, a nurse practitioner affiliated with Athena Health and Wellness, a women’s health (and wellness) practice that mixes real health treatments with “integrative medicine” quackery

 

Apparently, the product has had some “astounding results” – not any real evidence, of course, but they have some testimonials. They also have a hilariously silly series of imagings of patients using thermography (basically, it seems, just thermographic imagings of patients with and without patches, with no control of environmental factors or anything else).

 

Diagnosis: It’s hard to imagine anyone being a true believer in anything as profoundly nonsensical and obviously scammy as the Luminas pain patches, but we’ll charitably (?) assume that Broglin and her team are. And you wonder how New Age dimwits go on to believe Qanon nonsense!

 

Hat-tip: Respectful Insolence

#2602: Ted Broer

More wingnut conspiracy theories! And whereas last post’s David Brody, say, at least make an attempt to appear reasonable to those who don’t know better, Qanon conspiracy theorist Ted Broer is unconcerned with such airhead fripperies. According to Broer, America has been “duped” by its corrupt and compromised elected representatives; indeed, explains Broer, most members of Congress have been “compromised” by their involvement in things like pedophilia and human sacrifice and have indirectly handed control of the country over to Lucifer. “Over 50 percent of Congress – in my opinion, probably closer to 70 percent – has been compromised or is being controlled in one way or the other.” If you feel that he missed an opportunity to provide sources for his estimate, you have sort of misunderstood how the minds of people like Ted Broer work.

 

“They have basically given control of the government to the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about. They have, in turn, taken this military industrial complex and they have given it over to the CIA. The CIA has given it over to the Sabbatean Kabbalists … These are the Druids, these are the ones that were taught the ancient forms of worship by the fallen angels. These are the bad guys that run the planet and they, in turn, have given over their control to Lucifer to control the energy field around the planet.” Yeah, those darn druids. One may wonder about the unnecessary middlemen, though – why not give control right over to the druids? That, we suspect, is one of the questions Broer wouldn’t quite understand the point of. “It’s all to control the thoughts and the minds of everybody on the planet,” concludes Broer, who has at least determined to avoid such a fate by ensuring that his mind is completely isolated from any part of reality.

 

Also, fluoridation is really a Nazi mind-control program.

 

Now, we haven’t bothered to actually listen to the radio show he runs with Austin Broer (presumably a relative or husband), but we’ll include the blurb for the latest episode we could find – it probably gives you the flavor:

 

“Episode 1830 - Who are the weirdos supporting Biden? Pseudo President gets massive blowback due to speech from Hell. Modern Psychiatry is demonic! AR 15’s vs F 16? Think Afghanistan. An excellent open letter to Biden. How the media was censored. The schools are perversion indoctrination centers! California power grid is a mess. Country Star dropped due to his wife’s correct anti-woke comments. Plus much more. High energy must listen show.”

 

We’re assuming that Ted Broer is identical to the nutritionist and health-and-supplement woo author who has published a number of books on weight loss, appeals to nature and GMO conspiracy theories. In any case: don’t listen to any of the nonsense that falls out of nutritionist-Broer’s mouth either. Insofar as they are the same, they seem to have walked a long journey from faddish but boring food pseudoscience to zeh-lizard-people-are-trying-to-use-nanobots-to-5G-charge-my-precious-bodily-fluids, but it is a pretty natural development – there was never any affinity for reality in any of his thoughts anyways. It really isn’t that surprising that Qanon, white supremacy views and unhinged pizzagate nonsense are to a large extent promoted by self-declared nutritionists, yoga teachers and weightloss gurus these days.

 

Diagnosis: Relatively minor, we suppose, but he makes a lot of noise. He is really a rather sad figure – at least the Qanon people at the top, like the Watkinses or Coleman Rogers, get to produce the bullshit. Think how sad it is to be a consumer of it … then again, it’s clear that Broer actively uses his imagination freely to add color and fluff.

#2601: David Brody

David Philip Brody is a fundie evangelist and Chief Political Analyst for the Christian Broadcasting Network. Brody is most famous for working as a microphone and publicity agent for various wingnut political figures, including David Lane, Jenna Ellis and – not the least – Donald Trump; Brody has been aptly called “Trump’s court journalist”. In addition to providing air time for Trump to hold campaign rallies, Brody has for instance, in fawning terms, expressed his admiration for Trump’s “bravery”, “guts” and “moxie” in calling for a ban on all Muslims from entering the US, and he has offered suggestions for how to turn it into a full-scale religious war.

 

Someone’s got to promote such views. Brody is generally disappointed that other media won’t, and was furious when the “hipster soy boys” (oh, yes) at Twitter, who are sitting on “their satanic beanbags somewhere in their soy latte cafe,” suspended the personal account of conspiracy theorist and white supremacy-sympathizer Marjorie Taylor Greene – Brody has a long history defending her, in particular her feeble and stunningly idiotic attempts to compare Covid-19 mask mandates to the Holocaust. Brody is, in fact, a big fan of anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Stella Immanuel too, and yes: he is antivaccine, and has repeatedly promoted an impressive range of antivaccine tropes in multiple tirades against Covid-19 vaccines – ostensibly against vaccine mandates, but when you lead with the government “risking the health and safety of millions of Americans” when promoting “this very experimental vaccine”, you are an antivaccine conspiracy theorist. Brody also pushed the standard antivaccine delusion that vaccine “mandates” would be in violation of “the Nuremberg code”, which concerns medical experiments (which the vaccine is not and never was after having been made generally available). He also cites the Cutter incident to sow fear, uncertainty and doubt – effective, of course, to those unaware of the legacy of the Cutter incident and why nothing similar could happen with the Covid-19 vaccine. (Interestingly, he complains about the profit-driven Big Pharma, but – being unwilling to criticize capitalism – quickly leaps to claim that  the government is to blame that the Big Pharma’s quest for profit has negative consequences; barely dodged a head-exploding cognitive dissonance there, eh, David?) He was, obviously, mad as hell over face masks, too. Where he did want the government to intervene with force and censorship, however, was access to internet pornography during the pandemic, which Brody called “a major, major issue”.

 

Brody has more recently promoted numerous QAnon conspiracy theories, such as baseless conspiracy theories about the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. When met with apposite mockery, Brody and guest at his program The Watercooler, Anna Perez, accused their critics of not “getting your facts straight”, relying on QAnon material to determine what said facts should be.

 

As an author, Brody has written the wingnut campaign manual The Teavangelicals: The Inside Story of How the Evangelicals and the Tea Party are Taking Back America (2012) and The Faith of Donald J. Trump: A Spiritual Biograph (2018, with Scott Lamb), which is as good an example of the fundie wingnut genre of Donald Trump-finds-God fan fiction as any. Trump endorsed it, calling it “a very interesting read”. We’re sure he would have found the claims in the book both interesting and surprising. But we are even more sure Trump didn’t actually read it. Brody is, by the way, also on the record praising Trump’s “1950s mindset” in relation to BLM protests.

 

There’s a good David Brody resource here.

 

Diagnosis: A rather central figure on the religious right crazy clown circus circuit, Brody does epitomize contemporary religious wingnuttery pretty brilliantly, complete with intense paranoia, anti-democratic and almost romantic yearnings for Strong Men as leaders, and endorsements of any and all ridiculous wingnut conspiracy theories, up to and including Qanon-nonsense.

#2600: Morgan Brittany

Celebrity loons are generally trite, and Morgan Brittany is a faded B-list soap celebrity (Dallas) turned wingnut commentator and columnist for the WND. She is also a recurring guest on Hannity. There is something narratively satisfying about her fate.

 

Brittany hit her new career running in 2014, with posts e.g. about how the government was showing “no urgency to stop [Ebola] from entering the U.S.” and claiming that the perceived lack of efforts showed that Obama intended to use the disease to test out the non-existent FEMA coffins, declare martial law and seize guns. “Why was there preparation being made for FEMA camps to house people in isolation?” wondered Brittany, since that’s the kind of stuff people like her wonder about. (Similar questions were asked by Laurie Roth, Steve Stockman, Rick Wiles, Mychal Massie and Erik Rush, for instance).

 

A similar ploy was apparently lurking behind the 2015 riots and demonstrations in Baltimore (after Freddie Gray was killed by the police), which according to Brittany were all “planned” by President Obama to privilege African-Americans above all others and usher in “the breakdown of our society.” Having stumbled upon the end game of Obama’s plan for a race war, Brittany concluded that if the Baltimore police officers who were indicted in the death of Gray were not convicted, then “perhaps Obama will have to institute martial law to preserve order, form a national police force and postpone the 2016 elections.” “I don’t think the chaos in Baltimore ‘just happened’,” said Brittany. No, it didn’t ‘just happen’, we suppose. At least she was more assertive here than she was a year before, when she was just asking the question about whether Obama deliberately tried to stir up the situation in Ferguson to distract people from his latest executive order on immigration. She did explicitly state, though, that Obama wished to use the increase in child migrants to incite an anti-Obama revolution, which he could use to introduce “martial law,” “confiscating our guns and ammo,” and create a “totalitarian state” and a long line of “military arrests”.

 

Together with Ann-Marie Murrell and Gina Loudon, Brittany authored the book What Women Really Want. We dare dismiss its theses without having read it.

 

More recently, she has focused on promoting COVID conspiracy theories and anti-vaccine nonsense on Twitter.

 

Diagnosis: Yeah, whatever. Just forget her, shall we?