The Quackometer's Other Blog http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com Off topic thunks and stuff that might not be right on the main blog posterous.com Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:20:00 -0800 Another frothy threat from Burzynski's alleged representative. Lot's of RED ARROWS. http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/another-frothy-threat-from-burzynskis-alleged http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/another-frothy-threat-from-burzynskis-alleged
Purely for your pleasure, I do not want to feed trolls. No commentary required.

This came to me this morning cc'ed to the great and the good in the sceptical blogosphere and a few people at the Burzynski Clinic. I have removed one name to preserve one blogger from disclosure until they go public.

Andy Lewis,
 
Just so you know that I am very serious.  I copied Renee Trimble the Director of Public Relations, and Azad Rastegar the spokesperson for the Burzynski Clinic.  You and your supporters can stop asking if I am an attorney.  Again, I represent the Burzynski Clinic, Burzynski Research Institute, and Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski.  If your articles remain online I will pursue you in court to the highest extent of the law.
 
Threats to your family? You mentioned to me that you just had a child.  I advised you to spend more time with your child instead of lying to the public.  I also advised that you will be affected financially once a lawsuit is filed against you. Why would you be so selfish and inconsiderate to your family to go through the stressful and financial burden of multiple court proceedings knowing that you are posting lies and propaganda?
 
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
 
You are apart of a network started by Michael Shermer called “Skeptic Society”--http://www.skeptic.com/, which is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational organization that examines....alien abductions”.  Your network is linked to other fraudulent websites and individuals, such as, quackwatch.comratbags.com, the21stfloor, Peter Bowditch, [REDACTED] , Stephen BarrettDr. Saul Green, etc.  I also have you guys linked to the Wikipedia page of my client.  You should know that the IP Address is publicly recorded by Wiki.  A subpoena is used to obtain your personal information.  By law, the government does not need to notify you, or disclose when they are pursuing your personal information.  see Wikileak personal information.
 
You define your network as individuals that “prefers beliefs and conclusions that are reliable and valid.... A skeptic provisionally proportions acceptance of any claim to valid logic and a fair and thorough assessment of available evidence”.  Your evidence comes from Stephen Barrett and Saul Green who are apart of your skeptic network, so how fair and valid are your assessments..?
 
You are fully aware that the quackwatch website is not reliable, valid, fair, or a thorough assessment of available evidence, and that its owner, and your network, were exposed as frauds, not licensed, and maliciously disseminating false information to the public. Your Skeptic network uses the quackwatch.com website as the Bible to your mission of lying to the public.  You are not posting your “opinion” and “concern for public health”, you and your network are posting malicious propaganda against my client which stretches back over 10 years.
 
Your opinion and concern for public health “defense” will not stand up in court.  Your statements are not True, you have no absolute, conditional, legal privileges, or consent to post, and your statements consist of actual malice.  As you already know, Dr. Burzynski is a public figure and the Burzynski Research Institute is a publicly traded organization.  So your libelous statements are now  interfering with business contracts and business relationships. The information you assert in your article is factually incorrect, and posted with either actual knowledge, or reckless disregard for its falsity.
 
Again, I advise you to shut down all libelous articles about my client immediately.  Your network is full of lawyers, and I am sure they know the source of information that you use, such as quackwatch, are considered fraudulent and void, in addition to the conflict of interest between my client and Saul Green.  I am showing that you have no source of information, and you will not be able to show proof of your statements against my client in court.  What is the source of your allegations?  You formulated your opinion based on statements made by other skeptics blogs, and Quackwatch, which consist of false information per court orders.  Opinions must be supported by facts.  You are aware of the fact that my client is involved with FDA approved clinical trials, completed phase II, and has approach Phase III.  Phase II, as you know,--- to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.  You have full access to evaluate the data of Antineoplaston phase II results, you and your entire skeptic network refuse to acknowledge the results.
 
Let me quote what's on your website: “When we say we are “skeptical,” we mean that we must see compelling evidence before we believe”.  Here is some compelling evidence for you about your network.  I will use this information in my legal complaint filed against you and many of your associates.  You no longer have a right to an opinion when its proved your acts are malicious.
The Main Skeptic website
skeptic website

Andy Lewis – A Skeptic.  Yes, that is you.  Quackometer..Quackwatch no difference.
andy website bri article

Your twitter Andy – Guilty by association?  That is Ratbags Peter Bowditch...
Andy twitters

Peter bowditch – Ratbags owner/A skeptic
rat skeptic

Mr. AUSTRALIAN SKEPTIC – see title below
peter bowditch

Peter Bowditch – You people look up to this guy? 

peter bowditch2

Saul Green – A skeptic
green skeptic

My client Sued AETNA...AETNA hired Emprise, Inc. who went out of business..Saul Green unemployed.

aetna saul

Saul Green’s RESUME: This is public information

green resume

Saul Green the Unemployed Skeptic Retaliates with a LIE.  A few weeks later Shontelle Hiron  is cured by my client and make news worldwide.  Due to my client saving her life, She even carried the Olympic torch in 2000 with my client by her side.
jama

[Redacted]

21st floor – A skeptic
21
21 skep

Genomic Repairman – After my legal complaint
Genomic Repairman

Stephen Barrett – A SKEPTIC.   Quackwatch and Ratbags court documents

barrett sued

Stephen Barret QUACKWATCH the SKEPTIC WEBSITE
barrett suedh

skepps 


This is a very serious matter.  Be smart like [redacted]  and everyone else..including Google when I went after them.  If your articles are still up I will pursue you.  You have no defense, Andy.  Honestly, what do you think the judge and jury are going to think about you when I disclose your connection, propaganda, and false information?  Its not about your message, its about the context of your message. The context of your posting is to create in the public the belief that my clients are disreputable, are engaged in on-going criminal activity, and must be avoided by the public.

 This email proves you and your skeptic network are maliciously attacking my client.  ALL of the negative information on the internet about my client is linked to your skeptic network.  I will prove this in court.  Do me a favor and post this email on your website..that is another pattern of your skeptic network.  I would greatly appreciate it. 

 Please remove all articles Immediately.  Spread the message to your associates.
 
Regards,
Marc

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http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/4SnGsmbon4BP lecanardnoir lecanardnoir
Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:27:00 -0800 What Ever Happened to Liverpool Homeopathic Hospital? http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/what-ever-happened-to-liverpool-homeopathic-h http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/what-ever-happened-to-liverpool-homeopathic-h
The Liverpool Hahnemann Homeopathic Hospital.
Last year I asked the question, Are There Any Homeopathic Hospitals in the UK? In short, the answer was, "It is a myth that there are homeopathic hospitals in the UK. What we have are the tiny, vestigial remnants of Victorian Quackery in a few small clinics."

Not so long ago, the Faculty of Homeopathy was boasting of five NHS Homeopathic Hospitals. Since then Tunbridge Wells Homeopathic Hospital closed. The Royal London Homeopathic Hospital gave up pretending it was a homeopthic hospital last year and renamed itself the  Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine where it serves up a mish-mash of superstitious medicine. We learnt this week that Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital has closed its pharmacy that specialised in labeling bottles of sugar pills for customers. It also styles itself the Centre for Integrative Care in Glasgow, no doubt to avoid the poisonous name of 'Homeopathic Hospital'. Bristol Homeopathic Hospital retains its name but is reduced to an annex building. Liverpool too was reduced to being part of the Old Swan Clinic in Liverpool.

But now no mention of Liverpool appears to exist.The Faculty of Homeopathy no longer lists it. The Old Swan Centre web site appears not to mention homeopathy. Indeed, it would appear that Bristol is the only clinic that still exists and dares to call itself a NHS Homeopathic Hospital. 

So what happened to Liverpool. It would be good to mark its demise. But does anyone know what happened? Any info gratefully received.

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http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/4SnGsmbon4BP lecanardnoir lecanardnoir
Wed, 14 Sep 2011 11:58:29 -0700 Dana Ullman Begs for Money from Homeopaths http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/dana-ullman-begs-for-money-from-homeopaths http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/dana-ullman-begs-for-money-from-homeopaths You know, I write my blog posts for nothing. I quite enjoy the act of writing and exploring the issues involved. Dana Ullman is though a shill for homeopaths. He does not practice homeopathy - he just wants to spread homeopathic propaganda in return for cash. There is no other pretty way of saying it.

Friends,

    My newest article, "The Disinformation Campaign Against Homeopathy," was just published in the Huffingtonpost: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman/disinformation-about-homeopathy_b_952967.html?ref=healthy-living-body

    It is about time that someone stood up against the disinformation that is frequently spread (and repeated) on homeopathy!  And this article is just part one...wait until you read PART TWO!  I name names...and provide specific critique of two leaders of the disinformation campaign against homeopathy:  one from the USA and one from the UK.  I know that most people will be able to guess who in the USA I cover...but few people will guess the person from the UK...yeah, I'm going to keep you guessing.

    We can all expect the deniers to be out in force in the comments section of this article.  Therefore, I hope that those of you who appreciate homeopathy can and will join the discussion.

 

    By the way, on January 1, 2011, I told a group of homeopathic supporters that I could not afford the time and effort to write any new articles on homeopathy UNLESS some people stepped forward to provide financial support for this work.  Shortly after announcing this, several people stepped forward...and I was then able to write that article about the French virologist who won the Nobel Prize and who had just been interview in SCIENCE magazine for his interest in homeopathy! 

    This funding from PEOPLE, not companies, also enabled me to write the articles about homeopathy and ADD/ADHD and on "The King's Homeopath" (the homeopath to King George VI, for whom the movie, "The King's Speech," was made).

    I now need more support from the homeopathic community...without it, I cannot afford the great amount of time it takes for me to write these articles.  The good news is that a non-profit organization was established to support my work.  Americans can send tax deductible donations to the FOUNDATION FOR HOMEOPATHIC EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, 2036 Blake St., Berkeley, CA. 94704 (or you can send PayPal donations to:  fher@...

    People outside of the USA and others who do not need a tax deductible donation can send credit card contributions to Homeopathic Educational Services:  https://www.homeopathic.com/cms-global/shoppingcart/ViewProduct.do?productId=215  (This links allows contributions in $10 increments...you choose how many increments you wish).

   

    Please consider putting your wallet where your heart is!

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http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/4SnGsmbon4BP lecanardnoir lecanardnoir
Wed, 31 Aug 2011 02:52:38 -0700 Didi Ananda Ruchira of Abha Light tells homeopaths how to cheat online polls http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/didi-ananda-ruchira-of-abha-light-tells-homeo http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/didi-ananda-ruchira-of-abha-light-tells-homeo Currently, the Guardian is holding one of those daft online polls to see which side of the homeopathy debate can muster the most clickers...

Here is how one notorious AIDS and malaria quack is telling other homeopaths how to rig the poll...

(Note the beautiful conspiracy thinking at the end whilst the actually conspiracy to mislead is being orchestrated by her.)

Hi Rochelle and all,
I doubt that there are really all that many people out there voting.
Here's how to log your votes -a tactic which I'm sure the skeptics are already using, so there's no need to be secretive about it- Some pro-enthusiasts on this mailing list may wish to use the same tactics.
I use Firefox, so I'm giving instructions for that. You can figure out other browsers easily enough.
1. go to the webpage and vote
2. then go to the menu - TOOLS - CLOSE RECENT HISTORY and set it to delete cookies and cache for the last 1 hour.
3. Close the browser.
4. open it again and vote again.
5. Repeat the same till you get really tired of this sham vote by the Guardian.
ADDITIONAL - if you want to invest $30 or so for a year subscription, you can buy one of those "hide IP" proxy softwares which will change your IP when you open up your browser - Easy Hide is a good one.
Then change your proxy with every vote - making it look like the vote is coming from somewhere else- just in case the survey is actually tracking your IP from their computers.
To speed up this tedious work, temporarily set your homepage to the poll page so to save yourself a click
==
Right now, it's about 8 AM in Nairobi as I write this and I've logged in about 20+ votes, only to see the "no" side climb as I do it.
That tells me that either (a) there's some earlybird/nightowl guys/gals in UK or USA also clicking away as fast as I'm doing it  OR (b) Guardian is skewing the votes by registering all the "yes" votes as "no".
=== 
what do you think?

Sincerely,
Didi Ananda Ruchira | Director | Tels: +254 (0)733-895466   /  +254 (0)723-869133  | www.abhalight.org 

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http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/4SnGsmbon4BP lecanardnoir lecanardnoir
Tue, 30 Aug 2011 08:07:35 -0700 Ed Vaizey does not think there is a problem after reviewing 38 Degrees NHS Legal Review http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/ed-vaizey-does-not-think-there-is-a-problem-a http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/ed-vaizey-does-not-think-there-is-a-problem-a

I wrote to my MP about the findings of a legal review of the NHS reforms.


This is a summary of their findings


http://38degrees.3cdn.net/8f198acad5d3ae0363_8gm6iv7se.pdf


You can email your MP too to find out what they think,


http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/speakout/email-your-mp-now


This is his reply...


Dear Andy,
 
Thank you for contacting me about the Health and Social Care Bill. You will be aware that the significant amendments the Government is making to the Health and Social Care Bill have been welcomed by many organisations, including the NHS Confederation, patient groups, and think tanks. 
 
You asked about three specific points. First, you wanted reassurance that the Secretary of State’s duty to secure provision of NHS services will not be abolished or passed to another body. I can confirm that the Bill, as amended, will not abolish this duty or pass it to another body.
 
Second, you wanted reassurance that private companies will not end up in charge of determining what services are provided on the NHS. I can confirm that the Bill will not allow this to happen.
 
Third, you asked for assurance that the NHS Commissioning Board will not put more emphasis on competition and choice at the expense of encouraging different bits of the NHS to work together for patients. I can confirm that this is the case.
 
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Ed Vaizey MP
Minister for Culture, Communications and the Creative Industries
Member of Parliament for Wantage and Didcot

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http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/4SnGsmbon4BP lecanardnoir lecanardnoir
Sat, 27 Aug 2011 05:37:02 -0700 Help With Quackometer: Geek needed http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/help-with-quackometer-geek-needed http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/help-with-quackometer-geek-needed At present, the 'Am I a Quack?' function is not working.

Part of how this function works is by using a Yahoo Pipe.

You can see the pipe here...

It would appear that Yahoo have made the Yahoo Search component unavailable after upgrading to the new V2 pipes engine.

So, my questions are:

1) Is this correct? Is there a way I can still use Yahoo Search (without paying lots of cash)?

2) Can anyone invent a pipe that takes a name as an input and returns a list of URLs of suspect web pages to analyse for quackiness. (You do not have to do the analysis - just return the URLs.)

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http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/4SnGsmbon4BP lecanardnoir lecanardnoir
Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:52:56 -0700 Some Amusing Homeopath's consider what to do with the ASA and skeptics http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/some-amusing-homeopaths-consider-what-to-do-w http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/some-amusing-homeopaths-consider-what-to-do-w From the minutus discussion board...

From:

 timothymaccaw

Opting out is effectively what Uschi Kraus-Harper has done with her response to the ASA (see below) after their fatuous demand for unwarranted website changes because of their current homeophobe attitude. 

If I had a work website, I would be doing exactly the same. 

If they can't accept a) that the HoC S & T Committee Report on Homeopathy was a stitch-up job that has subsequently been totally discredited, b)that they are being manipulated by pharma/medical interests hostile to an effective, safer competitive medical system, c) that double blind RCTs are in most instances invalid for the purposes of testing the homeopathic healthcare method, 
that is their problem. 

Tim

----

My last email from 5th July 2011

Dear Ms McFinn

Please note that I have clearly stated that I shall be happy to cooperate and to sign a pro forma letter if it contains complaints that are reasonable, i.e. that have been made because I have statements on my website that are in breach of codes of honesty, truthfullness, decency and legality. As it stands, the complaints all have to do with the debate about the efficacy of homeopathy.

I repeat that as practitioners of an established form of medicine, according to your own ruling, homeopaths do not need to provide proof of efficacy for their form of medicine. You are using the report of the Commons Science and Technology Committee as a legal reference when it is no such thing. It seems to me that you are breaching your own rules and overstepping your remit. You are trying to threaten me with your sentence "...inform them of the action we intend to take". The word harrassment comes to mind and I shall consider taking legal steps if this does not stop.

Ursula Kraus-Harper MA PhD RSHom
Registered Homeopath 


***********************************************

It is a witch hunt!!!  I have changed my  website in accordance to advice from Society of Homeopaths. It’s to do with the wording. You are not allowed to mentions  homeopathy can help any sort of medical condition.  For example my website now states that  :-


<<Although a consultation is holistic, in that it treats the whole person, conditions I am frequently consulted for are:-    >>  Only then I have written the list of diseases. One or 2 have links to research or articles on them being cured but that is OK because I have not stated it on my website.
On my First Aid page is written << The indications for the remedies below come historically from various homeopathic Materia Medica and the principles of homeopathy.>>What actually happened was that a skeptic site put out an order that members complain about the websites of local homeopaths. The ASA has been so overwhelmed by this happening that they put out this statement :- http://www.asa.org.uk/Resource-Centre/Hot-Topics/Homeopathy-complaints.aspx 

 

Rochelle Marsden Msc, RSHom, MNWCH, AAMET

Registered with the Society of Homeopaths

****************************************************

>> The ASA have demonstrated a clear unwillingness to co-operate with or 
>> understand the complexities of CAM and are actively facilitating the hate 
>> campaign of groups of sceptics. Isn't it time we opted out of their 
>"authority" as a profession? 


>> however of we actively opt out as a group, and set up our own "self 
>policing", 


sounds like a plan. let's go for it.


Sincerely,
Didi Ananda Ruchira | Director | Tels: +254 (0)733-895466   /  +254 (0)723-869133  | www.abhalight.org 

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http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/4SnGsmbon4BP lecanardnoir lecanardnoir
Tue, 05 Jul 2011 06:48:01 -0700 Proposed ASA "allowed wording" for advertising homeopaths' services. http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/proposed-asa-allowed-wording-for-advertising http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/proposed-asa-allowed-wording-for-advertising Further, to my last blog post's report on a leaked email from the homeopaths showing how they are trying to agree some wording with the ASA as to how they can advertise their services, I can now reveal the first draft. I think it is pretty good.

The homeopathic consultation will involve you visiting my front room where we will have a chat, a cup of tea and some Hobnobs. You will discuss your vague sense of unease, a headache you had last week when the kids were playing up, and how you are frightened of the chemicals they put in everything these days. At the end of the session, I will give you a little tub of sugar pills, and we can both pretend that these are a magic remedy for all of life's problems. As long as we don't get carried away and start acting as if they can cure real illnesses, then all will be dandy. I will then tell you to come back in a few weeks if life is still a bit shit.

Oh, and you will give me £75, because I have a certificate and everything for this you know.

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http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/4SnGsmbon4BP lecanardnoir lecanardnoir
Thu, 02 Jun 2011 09:17:03 -0700 Chris Ruane MP, ex deputy head, has doubts about germ theory http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/chris-ruane-mp-ex-deputy-head-has-doubts-abou http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/chris-ruane-mp-ex-deputy-head-has-doubts-abou One of the readers of my blog wrote to his constituency MP about his concern for public funding of NHS. This is his MP's reply.

Quite an astonishing display of anti-intellectualism and ignorance. It might be worth pointing out that before Mr Ruane became an MP, he was a school teacher.

Dear Andrew,

I too have my concerns about certain types of homeopathic or alternative
medicines and treatments such as palmistry, astrology, and even aroma
therapy but I feel that western medicine has relied too heavily on the germ
theory of disease that illness and disease came from without and can be
treated from without  medicine or surgery.

I believe a good proportion of illness and disease can be effectively
controlled by tapping into and enhancing an individual's natural immune
system. That the patient is not such a passive receptacle for science,
medicine and surgery but can contribute to their own recovery. The illness
should be seen in the round that the psychological and social condition of
each individual patient are as important to an individual's recovery as
surgery.

Western medicine should not be dismissive of other practices such as
acupuncture, meditation but the balance needs to be struck.

Yours sincerely,

Chris

Chris Ruane MP
For the Vale of Clwyd

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http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/4SnGsmbon4BP lecanardnoir lecanardnoir
Wed, 01 Jun 2011 08:32:00 -0700 Homeopaths discussing treatment for HIV http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/homeopaths-discussing-treatment-for-hiv http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/homeopaths-discussing-treatment-for-hiv

I thought I would share with you this little conversation I saw on a homeopathic discussion site. Just to remind you (if it were needed) how completely detached homeopaths are, how separated they are from any sense of ethics, and just how bloody dangerous their advice is.

 

On 2011-05-30, at 2:23 PM, Dale Moss wrote:

 

I have a couple of new patients who've survived several decades with HIV.  Both sought alternative treatment early on and did well for many, many years.  Unfortunately, both are now on HIV drugs and experiencing their toxic side effects.  

One is on Intelence and Truvada; he also takes Levothyroxine for hypothyroidism.  

My question is:  if he responds well to homeopathic treatment, is it possible to reduce the antiretrovirals he's taking?  Has anyone had experience doing this with HIV/AIDS patients?  

 

Peace,

Dale

 

*********************************************************************************************

Hi Dale!

Have you not tried the Peter Chappel Protocol / Remedies?  Just wondering if they worked at all.

I've heard that African HIV is a different strain than American. Don't know if that's true or not….

Just curious….

 

Thanks for your feedback

*********************************************************************************************

I just read Jeremy Sherr's article in last month's Interhomeopathy e magazine.  Jeremy has some interesting things to say about working with HIV positive kids and adults in his African clinic,

You might find some clues there.  http://www.interhomeopathy.org/letter-from-africa

Carolyn

*********************************************************************************************

just a reminder that it has never been proved that HIV causes anything including AIDS

to keep equating them is to continue to further the lie

Yes there are AIDS and aids-like symptoms but get the HIV out of sentence as it is part of their lie and their drugs.

http://www.wellwithin1.com/AIDS.htm

treat the symptom picture as usual but as long as they are on these toxic drugs which make them ill, you probably will not get anywhere

Sheri

 

*********************************************************************************************

I have not tried Peter Chappell's remedies.  My understanding is that Helios was supposed to be making them, but they're not listed on the Helios website -- and the link for ordering through Chappell's website doesn't appear to be working. 

Has Chappell pulled back to avoid the pharma hounds, or is there some secret portal I don't know for obtaining PC remedies?

Peace,

Dale

 

*********************************************************************************************

Yes, I've read the piece.  It's fascinating, particularly what he says about CD4 counts going down after a good remedy, but the quality of the remaining cells being higher.  I've seen the neurological aspect in one patient (repeated cases of shingles), but not the fungal.  Yet.

The situation in Africa, however, is different from here.  Far fewer patients there are on antiretroviral drugs, and the general response of Africans to well-chosen remedies is amazingly quick, compared to the slower response we often see in highly suppressed* Western patients.

Peace,

Dale

 

* Note: 'suppressed'  is a homeopathic term for someone who has taken lots of real medication and thus has 'suppressed' their symptoms. A bad thing in their world.

*********************************************************************************************

peter chappell also wrote of the easier time treating people in Ethiopia due to less body toxicity.

it was one of the reasons he chose to work in Africa as I recall.  for that matter it is similar to the quick

response from children and young animals who have not been toxified with years of contamination.

 

tanya

 

*********************************************************************************************

I wonder whether environmental factors such as our EMF "soup" might be causing any interference, at least in some people?  Just something I've been wondering about.  

 

Shannon

 

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http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/4SnGsmbon4BP lecanardnoir lecanardnoir
Thu, 12 May 2011 07:51:29 -0700 The Mayhem caused by Nightingale http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/the-mayhem-caused-by-nightingale http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/the-mayhem-caused-by-nightingale This little beauty is worth preserving, just in case someone sees a modicum of sense and removes it...

Originally here.

Complaints About Homeopaths To The UK Advertising Standards Authority

Posted by Sue Trotter on May 12, 2011 at 3:30am in Social Media-Twitter-Questions-Answers-News

Chatting with my husband last night about the complaints by the Advertising Standards Authority here in the UK agains homeopaths, we think we have come up with a plan to put an end to this nonsense. We can play the race discrimination card if we get this right. Please bear with me whilst I explain. 

If we can find some British Indians/ Pakistanis or Bangladeshi's they can complain to the ASA explaining that homeopathy is a prefered system of medicine in their countries of origin, used to treat a wide range of illnesses. The current wave of complaints against homeopaths would therefore seem to be an attack on their culture and beliefs and therefore discriminatory. (I know homeopathy is not a belief system but many think it is, so why not use that to our advantage). If we can get figures for the numbers of people using homeopathy as their primary healthcare in India and the rest of the sub-continent, even better! 

They can also claim that it is akin to Christians claiming that Hindus and Muslims cannot call their beliefs a religion because it is not Christianity. 

If they go on to suggest that the current wave of complaints may have been instigated by someone who has an agenda that is perhaps something other than scientific (just make a suggestion and leave it to them to work out what that agenda might be). 

We would need to get a smart lawyer to draft the letter/s but if we could get the ASA to look at this as potential discrimination that may well decide to back off. If we can find someone on the ASA's complaint list who's family hail from the Indian sub-continent to complain they are being discrtiminated against, even better .... and if the ASA find in their favour but still go for those of us of European descent we can then go for a different race discrimination angle. 

Got to be worth a try..... you know how twitchy we are here in the UK at the slightest sniff of racism or other discrimination!

I am not sure how to co-ordinate this so have forwarded to a couple of homeopath groups and see what people think. 

Time for homeopathy to stand up for itself ! 

with love and peace 

Sue

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Fri, 18 Mar 2011 06:35:01 -0700 ASA will not be making individual adjudications against homeopaths - this time. http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/asa-will-not-be-making-individual-adjudicatio http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/asa-will-not-be-making-individual-adjudicatio

Since the 1st of March, the ASA have been taking complaints about adverts on traders web site. The Nightingale Collaboration - a new body set up to counter misleading quack claims - decided to make homeopathy its 'focus of the month'. In a move that might have been anticipated, the ASA have been inundated and will deal with complaints in a generic fashion.


People who complained to the ASA received this email this morning,


ADVERTISING CLAIMS ON HOMEOPATHY WEBSITES

 

Thank you for your recent complaint.

 

As you may know, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has received over a hundred and fifty complaints about over a hundred different websites for homeopathy.  Complaints cover a range of issues from specific claims made by individual advertisers to general concerns about the sector as a whole.  Because of the volume of complaints, we are sending this letter to everyone who contacted us on these issues to let you know what action we intend to take. 

 

The ASA has an established position on claims that can be made, and those claims that are not likely to be acceptable for homeopathy, based on the requirements set out in the CAP Code and previous ASA adjudications.  Although we have not historically received many complaints about advertising for homeopathy, the Code has general requirements for substantiation of claims in the health sector and the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) offers specific advice on marketing health-related products and services. Further information about the requirements of the advertising Code is available on our website www.asa.org.uk and fromwww.copyadvice.org.uk.  

 

We are seeking to enforce compliance with the Code even-handedly across the sector by contacting all of the advertisers we have received complaints about as well as the bodies that represent homeopaths and homeopathy in the UK.  We will be explaining the Code’s requirements, giving advice on how to ensure advertising claims do not breach the Code, and asking advertisers to remove any claims which do not comply.  More information about what that means in practice is provided in the CAP Help Notes on Substantiation for Health, Beauty and Slimming claims and Health, Beauty and Slimming Marketing Communications that Refer to Medical Conditions.  You can find these documents on our Copy Advice website, as indicated above.  Because the ASA has only been regulating websites since 1 March many of the advertisers we contact will not be familiar with us or the work we do and will need help and assistance from us.  For that reason, we plan to monitor compliance 3 months after making our expectations of them clear. We feel that this will give advertisers, some of whom are very small and have limited resources, sufficient time to make the necessary changes. 

 

The ASA will not be publishing individual adjudications on this occasion.  We will however publish specific, up-to-date advice to the industry and its representative bodies in due course and we will work with them to ensure that advertising for homeopathy is compliant with the Code. 

 

Thank you for taking the trouble to contact us.  While you will not see immediate results please be assured that we are working hard in the background to resolve the issues that have been complained about.  


Now. This will be a good thing of homeopaths amend their web sites. I understand bodies like the Society of Homeopaths have been telling their members to remove claims about named treatments from their web sites. (Somewhat belatedly - as their code of ethics forbids this anyway.) However, I doubt we will see much major change - and this is why: homeopaths actually believe they have the evidence to justify their claims.


Homeopaths believe that because they have been 'successful' for 200 years, this justifies their practice. They also believe that the array of substandard research out there again justifies generic claims to be made.


This is step one in a long campaign to clean up misleading claims. It will undoubtedly need a second wave of complaints where individual adjudications are made - and even then, I suspect it will require the ASA to start referring individual traders to the Office of Fair Trading for criminal proceedings to be taken.


Cultish beliefs do not disappear that quickly.

 

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Mon, 14 Mar 2011 11:56:10 -0700 Society of Homeopaths hope the ASA will believe their scraps of evidence. http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/society-of-homeopaths-hope-the-asa-will-belie http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/society-of-homeopaths-hope-the-asa-will-belie So, it would appear that the Nightingale Collaborations focus on homoeopaths is having an effect. No doubt the ASA have been inundated with complaints about homeopaths' web sites.
The Society of Homeopaths has announced that it is glad that the ASA will bring some clarity to the area:

Society of Homeopaths welcomes progress on advertising clarity
The Society of Homeopaths today welcomes the Advertising Standards Authority's (ASA) announcement that it is to set up a project to look into the evidence base for the efficacy of homeopathic medicine.

The Society, the UK’s largest regulator of homeopaths, is looking forward to working with the ASA and will be submitting the well established and growing body of research evidence that shows homeopathy to be a safe, clinically-effective and cost-effective option.

Zofia Dymitr, chairwoman of the Society, said: “We are delighted that the ASA have decided to take an evidenced-based look at Homeopathy. For a number of years now it has been difficult to advise our members on issues like wording for adverts because the ASA’s position has been inconsistent. We look forward to working with the ASA to clarify the facts around Homeopathy and, once the ASA has concluded its work, to help our members to share the knowledge of their services with potential consumers in the full confidence of the ASA just like any other business or service provider”.

It is touching that the Society think an evidence based approach will do their members any favours. However, they now have little choice in the matter. What we can expect, if the way they handled the House of Commons investigation into Homeopathy is anything to go by, that they will attempt a strategy to redefine was is meant by science and evidence. If they can move the goal posts then they might, just might be able to make some claims in adverts. 

But unless the ASA make a huge error of judgement, it now looks inevitable that homeopaths will not be allowed to make any claims to treat or cure and named condition. And the irony is that the Society of Homeopaths Code of Ethics expressly forbid homeopaths from doing any such thing. If only the Society had actually taken their code seriously, they might not be in such a precarious position today.

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Fri, 11 Mar 2011 05:05:13 -0800 MPs tell us that libel reform is a 'cause whose time has come' http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/mps-tell-us-that-libel-reform-is-a-cause-whos http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/mps-tell-us-that-libel-reform-is-a-cause-whos

From the libel reform campaign...


We had a great event in parliament yesterday. Thank you to all of you who urged your MPs to come along – we had a good turn out and lots of good responses from them (see below). We also heard from organisations, from Mumsnet and Facebook to Which? magazine,  the BMJ and Nature, on why MPs should support our blueprint for reform of the libel laws. You can download the blueprint, What should a defamation bill contain? here.

And huge thanks to everyone who has donated to our new appeal in the last few days. Some wonderful messages of support have been left at http://www.justgiving.com/libelreformappeal2011

We’ll be in touch next week when we know more about the Government’s draft bill.

Best

Síle and Mike

Lord Bach, Opposition Spokesperson for Justice, said that “reform of the defamation laws is clearly a cause whose time has come. This is a campaign that has massive support. I congratulate the Libel Reform Campaign on having got to this stage.”

His comments were echoed by other MPs and Peers.

David Davis, MP for Haltemprice and Howden, agreed that “we have a massive mandate for change here; there is no doubt about that. This is a once in a generation opportunity. If we get it wrong our children pay the consequences.”

Denis Macshane, MP for Rotherham, reiterated “this is not a once in a generation chance, but once in a lifetime. We cannot let this slip.”

Lord Willis of Knaresborough urged the campaign to continue to “use all of its might to make sure the Government’s bill is translated into real action.”

Lord Lester of Herne Hill said, “The problem for libel reform is we are not starting with a clean slate but with 300 years of case law.”

Julian Huppert, MP for Cambridge said, “we want a system where the side that wins is the one with the truth not the one with the most cash.”

The meeting was chaired by Dr Evan Harris, former Lib Dem MP, who said, “We all accept the current libel laws are unacceptable. Everybody here wants next week's Government draft defamation bill to match the contents of our blueprint and if it fails to do so, will be urging MPs and peers to amend it.”

The parliamentarians heard from a wide range of organisations who signed up to the Libel Reform Campaign blueprint yesterday, from Mumsnet and Facebook to Which? and the journal Nature.

Martyn Hocking, editor of Which? magazine told MPs how money spent on lawyers holds back work protecting consumers. He warned that public interest should be at the heart of the Government’s reforms because "we're getting to the point where even responsible media hesitate before publishing research or expert opinion for fear of being sued."

The hosts of online discussions and social media sites told MPs the laws need to be modernised to accommodate the internet.

Richard Allan of Facebook said, “we celebrate the fact that we have created a platform for people to speak freely. The current libel laws are an accident waiting to happen.”

Justine Roberts, co-founder and CEO of Mumsnet, said, “Current libel laws are simply out of date. They are analogue laws in a digital age. Wholesale reform of English defamation law must be a real priority for our parliamentary representatives.”

Dr Fiona Godlee, Editor-in-Chief of the BMJ spoke about the impact of the laws on medical publishing. She said, “Like all editors I am aware of articles softened or pulled because of libel threats. Science and medicine require independent and rigorous debate – not a ‘nice to have’ but a ‘must have’. The current libel laws are utterly against the interests of scientists and therefore the interests of patients and the public.”

Dr Philip Campbell, Editor in Chief of Nature said the libel laws impact on the reporting of issues including research misconduct. He said, “Either we chose not to cover a story because the impact is not worth the incredible effort and time it takes or we suffer by covering the story.”

Simon Singh, science writer and libel defendant, said, “Scientists and science journalists who have been the victims of libel actions, including me, are anxious to see radical reform so that others do not have to suffer the same threats to their freedom of speech.”

Charmian Gooch of Global Witness told MPs about the impact of the laws on human rights campaigners. She said, “The need for libel reform affects NGOs working on a wide range of issues across all aspects of civic society. It is categorically not a tabloid issue.”

Naomi McAuliffe, Amnesty International UK said, “When we’re targeting companies, everything from reports to leaflets have to be checked by lawyers. This is not something that my colleagues across the world have to do; it is something we have to do in the UK. It is an expense our members should not have to pay and it is an expense that could otherwise be spent on exposing grave human rights abuses.”

Peter Noorlander, Media Legal Defence Initiative said, “We help journalists in countries such as Nepal or Ukraine defend libel cases in their countries. These journalists used to think of the UK as a safe haven for free speech - but increasingly they are threatened with libel suits in London which they cannot as a matter of practicality defend.”

Eric Metcalfe from Justice spoke about the high cost of libel litigation. He said, “In the last 21 years the libel lottery has only grown worse. The high cost has become a real threat to freedom of expression in this country.”

Richard Mollet, Publishers’ Association said, “We look forward to reading the draft defamation bill, and recognise that its publication is a crucial step in reforming our current libel laws. The book industry should not be impeded by archaic laws which deny publishers the right to be truly independent and free to express opinion and ideas in the public interest.”

Tracey Brown, Sense About Science, responding to discussion about the national media, said, “We have some of the tightest libel laws in the world and people suffer unfair damage to their reputations. Why should those people have to use anti-free speech laws and spend 18 months and £200,000 to get a correction? We need other means to resolve inaccuracy quickly. Under new law we should be encouraged to ask ‘is it true?’, rather than ‘will they sue?’”

Jonathan Heawood, English PEN said that the public interest is often best served by allowing open debate. He told MPs “We would much rather live in a society characterised by noisy imperfection than perfect silence.”

MPs also heard a statement of support for the Libel Reform Campaign blueprint signed by Jonathan Ross, Marcus Brigstocke, Nick Ross, Dr Ben Goldacre, Dave Gorman, Joan Bakewell, Professor Nancy Rothwell, AC Grayling, Shappi Khorsandi and others.

On behalf of the signatories to the statement author and President of English PEN Gillian Slovo reiterated “We all believe that any individual whose reputation is damaged by a false and defamatory publication should have recourse to the law. But beyond that we need to protect freedom of expression and the rights of citizen critics, and to prevent powerful interests from shutting down discussion on matters in the public interest.”

Summing up the discussion John Kampfner, Index on Censorship said, “We have made it clear that libel reform is about active citizens, democracy at home, journalism here and abroad, and a stronger civil society. But we must remind ourselves that nothing has changed yet and the work is ahead of us to tell law makers all we have heard today.”

What should a defamation bill contain? And the statement to parliamentarians with full list of signatories is available to download from www.libelreform.org

 

Email info: This email was sent to andy@scali-lewis.net. If you no longer wish to receive our periodic emails please unsubscribe. Thank you.

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Mon, 21 Feb 2011 12:02:00 -0800 The Herbalists are Delighted. http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/the-herbalists-are-delighted http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/the-herbalists-are-delighted
Government announces statutory
Regulation to Save Herbal Medicines

The SaveHerbalmedicine.com Campaign is delighted to announce and welcome the Government's decision, issued today, that herbal medicine practitioners are at long last to be statutorily regulated, and
this to is to be done under the auspices of the existing Health Professions Council (HPC)! After 8 years of meetings and consultations, committees and reviews, not to mention setbacks, it is wonderful that the voice of the citizens of the UK has been listened to and finally agreed with. The Department of Health also released its Review of the Consultation Process which ended in 2009 and there are many encouraging details contained therein. For example, it has been revealed today that 85% of the
respondents to the Consultation on herbal regulation were in favour of statutory regulation. Amarjeet S Bhamra, saveherbalmedicine.com campaign founder said "We congratulate the Govt on taking this long awaited decision. By doing so they have acted to protect our human rights and freedom of  choice and although there is still a lot of work to be done, this is the first concrete step in the right direction. What is of great interest to me now is the manner in which the HPC will set about its new task and I hope that they have the vision to ensure that the regulatory and decision making process is inclusive  and takes in to account the views of the various voluntary bodies who have been doing their best to regulate this sector for so many years. With the current challenges faced by HealthCare in this country, we need to adopt a holistic approach to how we all work together to deliver the best for our citizens. When we started the campaign over 14 months ago, we couldn't get more than a handful of MP's to even
reply to us but with the blessings of HH Swami Ramdev and guidance of Lord King, Lord Dholakia, Lord Popat and the unfailing support of David Tredinnick MP, John MacDonnell MP,and the encouragement of Paul Uppal MP, Virendra Sharma MP, and Keith Vaz MP as well as others we persevered. Thanks are also due to the 50,000 + visitors to the website whose enthusiasm and emails of support kept the lights burning. With this announcement I feel that a major corner has been turned and I look forward to making sure that CAM finds its true place in the 'medicine chest' available to all in the UK " Satish Sharma, campaign dogsbody said "in the words of Voltaire, there is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come, and it is clear that the place of herbal medicine in the history of human healing is as unassailable as it is ancient, and its time has truly arrived. It is greatly empowering to see the campaign objectives being achieved so fully and I would like to extend a huge hug to everyone who   participated in any way whatsoever! Now we need to move to get Classical Yoga and other Indian Healing Sciences recognised as having an equally valid place in the landscape of our British Health Services..... The work
never stops!

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Fri, 10 Dec 2010 07:30:28 -0800 BBC Radio 4: The Life of Samuel Hahnemann http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/bbc-radio-4-the-life-of-samuel-hahnemann http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/bbc-radio-4-the-life-of-samuel-hahnemann This the BBC Radio 4 programme that was on today about the Life of Samuel Hahnemann, founder of homeopathy. It is well worth a listen.

This is not a programme about whether homeopathy works or not. But an examination of the place of Hahnemann in medical history. It is an interesting history of the thought processes that led to homeopathy. I think thought it overstates Hahenmann's medical legacy. Peter Fisher claims that Hahnemann innovated with an empirical approach to medical matters. I am not so sure. Hahnemann was just one of may Empiricals that practised throughout the Golden Age of quackery in the 18th Century. They were known as quacks as they ignored the learned theories of the ancients in medicine. The Empiricals were often non university educated travelling sellers of nostrums and tonics, but included the likes of methodist John Wesley who insisted that theory counted for nothing and direct testing was everything. Nor was Hahnemann as advanced in his empirical thinking as others, who were far more sophisticated in understanding how we can be fooled by simple empirical observation.

Homeopathy survived, not because of some great insight into health, but by stumbling across a set of ideas that ensured it was immune to refutation, was alluring to many and unable to do direct harm.

Fascinatingly, Hahnemann comes across with an attitude that would be indistinguishable from any modern day homeopathic activist or blogger. He was angry and  abusive. He saw nothing but the evils of the modern mainstream medicine of the time. His lectures were rants. And students would come, not to hear his ideas, but to laugh at his presentation style. It would be nice to think that the anger in Hahnemann is the reason that homeopaths, most of all followers of superstitious medicines, are a uniquely angry lot, convinced of the superiority of their world view, and histrionic at the evils of doctors and their drugs.

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Sun, 14 Nov 2010 22:41:00 -0800 'Keep Scientists in Cages' - The new wonderful quack slogan... http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/keep-scientists-in-cages-the-new-wonderful-qu http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/keep-scientists-in-cages-the-new-wonderful-qu
This perfect little piece of quack conspiratorial thinking comes from a homeopathy discussion forum. For all to see, is the Great Skeptic Scheme exposed. All I can say is that it is an honour to have my name in this list as an "harbinger of corporate scientific totalitarianism"...

For those who think there is no war going on, here is the proof. Via Louise McLean from Sue Young.

I have several times referred to the attack on homoeopathy as a war. Here is the exposure of how that war came to pass. It goes back to the heady days of the Blair Administration of the UK. It has been a concerted effort ever since. 

The financiers of this war are the big corprate pharmaceutical giants like GSK, Aventis, Pfizer and other assorted corporate criminals, who see nothing in poisoning the populations for profit and present their "science" - now debunked in JAMA and BMJ - as the ultimate in "scienctific truth". 

We face a formidable opponent here in the UK and by extension the US and the world. If these corporations succeed in banning homoeopathy - for which purpose the Codex Alimentarius was formulated - then your and our freedom of choice will go out the window.

In the EU, a new directive has been published, banning herbal products, beginning April 2011. A campaign has been started to avoid this happening. Petitions can be signed online and many signatures have been collected already. However, the attacks are undiminished and in the UK the war is getting hotter. 

As a profession, we should be aware what is happening and who are the major players and where their funding is coming from. The article here is an excerpt from a blog by martin Walker, an untiring advocate for health freedom. 

It would be in our interest to organise ourselves along international lines, to fight this corporate menace as a collective. As long as we remain divided into different factions - even country-wise - we will pull the shorter straw and will lose this war. 

My plea to all the homoeopaths of HWC is to unite and close ranks against this corporate menace. 
~ Kaviraj.

Martin Walker's new article Science is the New Politics 

"But, most particularly, we must remind ourselves that doctors stopped being scientists when they became drug pushers and they are now some of the people who know least about science of any kind"

So here they all are - all the major skeptic players "suited and booted to fight to the death for corporate science".
~ Sue

Campaign Against Health Fraud - On April 3rd 1989 at a Steering Committee meeting held at the Ciba Foundation, two joint presidents were elected: Dr Michael O'Donnell, broadcaster and former GP, editor of GP magazine, and television and radio presenter Nick Ross. 

At that time, soon after the press launch, the leading Campaign activists included, Dr Christopher Bass, a psychiatrist and committee member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; Dr Simon Wessely; Professor Michael Baum and his brother Professor Harold Baum, Diana Brahams and Dr Vincent Marks. 

Within a couple of months of its launch, the Campaign Against Health Fraud had produced a newsletter. It was not as professional as its American counterpart 8 but it provided a good platform for the Campaign to promote attacks and debunking projects which it had initiated.....

The Skeptic 2010: The Editorial Advisory Board members are: James Alcock/Julian Baggini/ Susan Blackmore/Derren Brown/ Scott Campbell/ David Clarke/ David Colquhoun /Brian Cox/ Richard Dawkins/ Sergio Della Sala/Richard J. Evans/ Stephen Fry Actor/ Wendy M. Grossman/ David Allen Green/ Dr Evan Harris (former MP for Oxford West & Abingdon) Liberal Democrat Science Spokesman/ Simon Hoggart/ Bruce Hood/ Professor Ray Hyman/ Robin Ince/ Paul Kurtz/ Stephen Law/ Andy Lewis/ Scott Lilienfeld/ Elizabeth Loftus/ Richard McNally/ Tim Minchin/ P Z Myer/ Mark Newbrook/ Charles Paxton/ Phil Plait Astronomer/ Massimo Polidoro/ Benjamin Radford/ James Randi/ Ian Rowland/ Karl Sabbagh/ Simon Singh/ Karen Stollznow/ Richard Wiseman

In 1997, New Labour was elected to power in a landslide general election vote. The party and Blair particularly had fought the election with the support of old Liberal hands and old Liberal money. Following the victory, while Blair got on with nothing in particular, the old Liberals, throwing in their hand with the core of the Revolutionary Communist Party about to call itself after its magazine Living Marxism (LM), completely realigned science policy in Britain and re-invigorated UK lobby organisations. 

At the Centre of this massing of troops at the start of the scientific revolution, was David Sainsbury, the billionaire GM entrepreneur who donated around £6 million to New Labour before and after the Labour victory. For part of his £6 million Sainsbury was given the job of head of Science at the Department of Trade and Industry. From this commanding position, with the help of his old Liberal buddy and PR agent for the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies, by then 'Lord' Dick Tavern, Sainsbury built a covert lobby for science, technology and industry that has continued throughout the last decade. The stratagem and ultimately the policies they acted out were closely linked to US neo-liberalism and conspiratorial world government organisations such as Bilderberg and the Trilateral, which the major players attended. The chosen Liberal Peers, aided in this task by LMs 'grass-roots activists', funded mainly by the largest corporations, particularly pharmaceutical companies, a range of 'covert' black propaganda organisations. These organisations were set up by Liberal Peers and staffed by LM activists. The initial impact of this corporate lobbying style of government can be gleaned from Greg Pallister’s brilliant book The Best Democracy that Money Can Buy.14 

However, as the government settled in, the Liberals, ex-Liberals, LM activists, assumed a steadier and more covert role and steered science policy steadily in the direction of corporatism. 

The joint forum included, Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick, with his 20-year history in Revolutionary Communism and Lord Taverne QC, previously top PR man for GlaxoSmithKline. Other members of the Joint Forum included people influential in academia and media; Peter Bell, former controller of policy, BBC News; Philip Harding, controller of editorial policy, BBC; Steve Connor, science editor, The Independent; Dr. Graham Easton, GP and ‘senior broadcast journalist’, BBC Science Radio; Professor Susan Greenfield, director, The Royal Institution.21 

The Guidelines,22 when they were published, were perhaps the most devastating subversion of British democracy ever. They gave complete control of media reporting on 'health' to a gang of corporate 'experts' all in the orbit of the pharmaceutical corporations. In fact this was corporatism at its most severe in relation to health and the media. It was, however, essential for corporate science if it was to gain the upper hand in, for instance, the battle over MMR and the role of the GMC and Dr Wakefield. 

With the setting up of a whole group of other organisations, such as the Science Media Centre and Sense About Science, grass roots skeptics and the renovated HealthWatch, the main corporate lobby groups were re-invigorated. Along with the groups came the individuals, chancers like Dr Ben Goldacre and Dr Simon Singh, who emerged out of thin air and were given high profile places without previous experience; suited and booted to fight to the death for corporate science.

By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, together with various regulatory bodies such as the GMC and the MHRA, these groups and individuals had decimated alternative health and destroyed the careers of a number of caring and thinking doctors and practitioners.....

During his parliamentary career, Evan Harris declared some of his obvious ties to industry: he was funded by vaccine manufacturer Aventis Pasteur as a member of an all-party group that attended a Chicago conference, and the corporate lobby group Sense About Science, funded by, amongst others, vaccine manufacturers GSK and ABPI, provided Harris with a secretary/research worker. 
His more complex ties to corporate science and industry, remained hidden because the corporate science lobby pretends that they do not actually represent conflicts of interest....

After he lost his parliamentary seat Evan Harris became President of Westminster Skeptics in the Pub group, some of the other high flyers in the skeptics movement, like Ben Goldacre and the LM leftovers from the Science Media group and SAS are also attenders at these meetings. Harris is on the large Advisory Board of the British Skeptics magazine, that throws him cheek by jowl with such notable science cranks as: Susan Blackmore, David Colquhoun, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Fry, Wendy Grossman, Paul Kurtz, Andy Lewis, James Randi, Karl Sabbagh and Simon Singh.In November 2009, Harris attended a meeting 'Evidence-Based Policy or Policy-Based Evidence?' and later had his photograph taken with Goldacre and Professor David Nutt. 

In January 2007 Harris entered in the parliamentary Register of Members Interests, 'I have been provided with the services of an intern to conduct research work and co-ordinate a project by Sense About Science, an independent charitable trust.' In June 2003 Laure Thomas was Evan Harris's secretary. Throughout 2007 Laure Thomas was writing film reviews for the Institute of Ideas, an LM off-shoot funded by Pfizer that also organises a web site called Culture Wars.85 In October 2007, Thomas was still senior Press officer at the Medical Research Council, where in 2008 she was a finalist in the 'Debating Matters Competition', another LM Pfizer subsidised educational opportunity! 
Later that year, however, she was back working for the science czar at the BIS,86 which is where one assumes she probably started in the first place, during the high and balmy days of David Sainsbury.

The Department of Trade and Industry, (DTI) for a decade the lair of Lord David Sainsbury, was turned into the BIS almost immediately Sainsbury left in 2006..... throughout 2007 Laure Thomas was writing film reviews for the Institute of Ideas, an LM off-shoot funded by Pfizer that also organises a web site called Culture Wars.85 In October 2007, Thomas was still senior Press officer at the Medical Research Council, where in 2008 she was a finalist in the 'Debating Matters Competition', another LM Pfizer subsidised educational opportunity!... Ms Thomas, Evan Harris, with his parliamentary involvement in health and science, Sense About Science (with it's pharma funding), ex RCP activists, LM and organisations such as the Institute of Ideas and Cultural Wars (with their pharma funding), the Medical Research Council (with it's pharma funding) and the governments department for industry, leaves one gazing into the distance wondering how deeply hidden might be some 'ties to industry'

Amazing that Brian Deer, Harris and their scientific sycophants had managed to turn round the established legal process for damage to over 1,500 children - including damage from Urabe strain mumps vaccine to which the government had all but admitted - and accuse Dr Wakefield of committing criminal offences against the twelve children cited in the Lancet paper.

Martin Walker concludes: I am fed up with hearing people ask, 'Who are the Skeptics?' 'Where does Ben Goldacre fit in?' Do the work, read the material, watch the videos, wear the T-Shirt, forget about your favourite subjects, the professional focus of your life, for a few days, and arm yourself with information. The example of Skeptics in the Pub is useful here, and our own Arnica groups an inspirational strategy; they must be built. We must aim for a network of groups that cover the country, one that is able to come together for conferences and such things as elections, as well as being able to picket meetings, heckle speakers and publish the truth about their message. These groups have to find slogans that market our cause; 'Our Science Not Theirs', 'Science for People Not Profit', 'Keep Scientists in Cages', 'Homeopathy is safe, Corporate Science is Deadly', 'Corporate Science is not Science', 'Corporate Science = Science Fiction', 'Beware Corporate Science'. 'Science = Truth, Corporate Science = Lies'.

Finally, we have to understand that we are on the brink of war, these no-goods are storming the fortress of democracy and freedom of choice, they are the barbarians at the gate. They are the swindlers, cheats and liars, but most importantly they are the harbingers of corporate scientific totalitarianism and the death of the human soul. We have to fight their idea of a feelingless robotic future, a world where the majority are disfigured and disempowered by drugs and environmental toxins.

Though I have paraphrased the article - do please go a buy a copy for £3 to help Martin stay afloat financially and keep writing - there is so very much more in this article... I have barely scratched the surface.....!!!!

 

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Fri, 12 Nov 2010 01:17:00 -0800 The University of Wales Degree Validation Scam http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/the-university-of-wales-degree-validation-sca http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/the-university-of-wales-degree-validation-sca

Ouwbogusdegrees

This is essential viewing. Available for a few days more on BBC iPlayer, this Week In Week Out investigation shows how the University of Wales validates a huge range of colleges, both in the UK and abroad, to provides its degrees. These colleges range from offering evangelical christian courses to bonkers alternative medicine. You can see contributions from AC Grayling and David Colquhoun. The University has created a huge business, gaining lots of fees, from underwiting the 'quality' of courses offered by people with bogus doctrorates and dodgy academic practices.

I would say that the BBC Team did not need to spend so much time in Malaysia or Barcelona to find dodgy examples. I have written about how the University of Wales underwrites the dodgy claims of McTimoney chiropractors here in Oxfordshire. But I guess the BBC team found the street food of Kuala Lumpur and the Tapas of Barcelona a little bit better than the kebab van in Abingdon.

I hope there will be more coming out regarding the chiropractor college. This situation is not just about poor quality academic courses. Because the University is essentially outsourcing the teaching of its degrees to all and sundry, the protection that students might get at a regular university is not necessarily offered to those at the private college. If something goes wrong such as you are unsatisfied with the quality of the course, have been bullied or even ripped off you may not have recourse to the same protections offered to other students. You may have paid tens of thousands of pounds to such a college. Unhappy, and there is not much you can do.

So, here are my concerns about the University of Wales and the McTimoney college:

The University of Wales is Responsible for Enabling Bogus* Chiropractic Claims to be Made

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Sun, 07 Nov 2010 14:27:00 -0800 What has happened to Society of Homeopaths Director William Alderson? http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/what-has-happened-to-society-of-homeopaths-di http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/what-has-happened-to-society-of-homeopaths-di

This week in the New Statesman Magazine, an article by Edzard Ernst will be appearing that responds to a dreadfully misleading advert by the homeopathic charity HMC21.

Ernst will say,
I was shocked by an advertisement in the accompanying supplement, "Social Care: Who Pays?", referring to me and my work. Rarely had I seen an advert so inaccurate and borderline libellous in a respected publication. The advert, which appeared to breach the British Code of Advertising, was by a lobby group called Homeopathy: Medicine for the 21st Century (H:MC21). It contained unjustified attacks on myself and colleagues, including statements that gave a dangerously false impression of homoeopathy's therapeutic value.

That advert is now in the hands of the Advertising Standards Authority.
William Alderson is Chair and Treasurer of HMC21. Until a few days ago, he was listed as a Director of the Society of Homeopaths, and a member of their professional standards committee.

Board of Directors Profiles

William Alderson RSHom

William was voted on to the Board of Directors at the 2010 Annual General Meeting, and is a member of the Professional Standards Committee.

Having first turned to homeopathic treatment when conventional medicine failed to help, William's interest was stimulated by the discovering that there was a coherent theory underpinning his successful treatment. For the next 18 years he read about both homeopathy and orthodox medicine, finally training as a homeopath. He qualified from the London School of Classical Homeopathy in 2005. A paper based on his final year dissertation was published in Homeopathic Links in 2008.

There is now no mention of Alderson. What could have happened? Have the Society removed him as a Director? Or are they just removing information about him ahead of the innevitable repurcussions?

http://www.homeopathy-soh.org/about-the-society/Bod.aspx

Companies House list William Alderson's appointment as a director, but not his removal. Curiouser and curiouser... http://bit.ly/bvDXlY

I do wish I was a fly on the wall.

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Wed, 03 Nov 2010 08:18:48 -0700 Before and After http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/before-and-after http://lecanardnoir.posterous.com/before-and-after
The quite extensive Patrick Holford promotion stand in WH Smith has been altered. Can you spot the difference?

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