cult
I suppose we all heard that DONALD TRUMP has recently turned his genius towards the film industry. Specifically, he wrote:
“The Movie Industry in America is DYING a very fast death. Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw our filmmakers and studios away from the United States. Hollywood, and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda! Therefore, I am authorizing the Department of Commerce, and the United States Trade Representative, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
Well done Donnie!
After this decisive move, the hero of the mentally challenged announced another, even more far-reaching and long-awaited measure:
“TARIFFS ON RATIONAL THOUGHT”
On his patform ‘UNTRUTH ASOCIAL’, Trump proclaimed:
Rational thinking in America is DYING a very fast death. Other Countries are offering all sorts of incentives to draw scientists and other experts away from the United States. Universities and many other areas within the U.S.A., are being devastated and pseudo-science is thriving as a result. This is a concerted effort by other Nations and, therefore, a National Security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda! Therefore, I am authorizing all my government Departments and other relevant bodies of the US administration, to immediately begin the process of instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all RATIONAL THOUGHTS coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands. WE WANT SCIENCE MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!
Trump’s latest move earned criticism as soon as it became public. Democrats pointed out that it was Trump himself who had driven US scientists to seek employment outside their home country. A spokesperson of the Whit House responded with merely a two-word-statement:
FAKE NEWS!
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) tends to prioritize inherent general immunity instead of vaccination, thereby contributing to widespread vaccine hesitancy or refusal amidst the general public. The objective of this investigation was to furnish evidence regarding the profiles and drivers of seasonal influenza vaccine hesitancy (IVH) among TCM clinicians. Between January and May 2022, the Chinese researchers conducted a nationwide survey in China with embedded an influenza vaccine hesitancy scale to 3085 registered clinicians (1013 TCM and 2072 Western medicine (WM) clinicians).
The results suggest that TCM clinicians exhibit lower possibility of influenza vaccine uptake and are less likely to recommend the immunisation to the patients. 58.3 % TCM clinicians and 52.3 % WM clinicians were categorized as being influenza vaccine hesitant. Compared to WM clinicians, TCM clinicians have lower confidence in vaccine (p < 0.001) and are less inclined to accept others’ vaccination recommendation (p < 0.001). Higher educational attainment in TCM (postgraduate: OR = 1.98, 95 %CI,1.30–3.02; doctor: OR = 2.20, 95 %CI, 1.28–3.77) and ignorance of influenza vaccination cost policy (OR = 1.76, 95 %CI, 1.18–2.63) are significantly associated with increased influenza vaccine hesitancy.
The authors concluded that the concerns and doubts towards influenza vaccine is highly prevalent in the Chinese clinicians, especially those practicing TCM. High TCM educational degrees and ignorance of influenza vaccination cost policies are two primary risk factors for developing influenza vaccine hesitancy.
The findings are, I think, far from surprising. There is plenty of evidence about the negative stance towards influenza and other vaccination that practitioners or proponents of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) display, e.g.:
- Do views about so-called alternative medicine (SCAM), nature and god influence people’s vaccination intentions?
- Use of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) and its association with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status
- Chiropractors Aren’t The Solution To The Primary Care Shortage: the thorny issue of vaccination
- An osteopath and anti-vaccination activist received a well-deserved and long-overdue indefinite suspension
- Prison sentence for a German HEILPRAKTIKER who issued false vaccination certificates
- Interest in so-called alternative medicine is linked to vaccination coverage
- Naturopath jailed for selling fraudulent vaccination documents
- Vaccination rates of Canadian healthcare professionals: those of chiropractors and naturopaths are at the lowest
- A Professor for Integrative and Anthroposophical Medicine claims that severe adverse effects of COVID vaccinations are 40 times more frequent than officially recognized
- Preference of so-called alternative medicine predicts negative attitudes to vaccination
- Intelligence, Religiosity, SCAM, Vaccination Hesitancy – are there links?
- A well-known opponent of vaccination has died of COVID after self-treatment with MMS
- The International Chiropractors Association’s Statement on Vaccination
- A naturopath promoting fake news about COVID vaccinations
- More information on homeopaths’ and anthroposophic doctors’ attitude towards vaccinations
- The UK Society of Homeopaths, a hub of anti-vaccination activists?
- HOMEOPATHY = “the complete alternative to vaccination” ?!?!
- Are anthroposophy-enthusiasts for or against vaccinations?
- Far too many chiropractors believe that vaccinations do not have a positive effect on public health
- Naturopaths’ counselling against vaccinations could be criminally negligent
- HOMEOPATHS AGAINST VACCINATION: “The decision to vaccinate and how you implement that decision is yours and yours alone”
- Use of alternative medicine is associated with low vaccination rates
- Integrative medicine physicians tend to harbour anti-vaccination views
- Vaccination: chiropractors “espouse views which aren’t evidence based”
With so much evidence and unquestionable serious harm being caused by these SCAM anti-vaxxers, the obvious question is this:
WHY IS SO LITTLE BEING DONE ABOUT IT?
Yes, it’s CAW again!
How best should we celebrate?
- I could show you how often we had to discuss the harm chiropractic does to patients.
- I could tell you about the contraproductive advice chiropractors tend to issue to anyone who wants to hear it.
- I could list the fatalities chiropractic manipulations have caused.
- I could write about the unethical transgressions many chiropractors commit.
- I could elaborate on the financial fraud some chiropractors are involved in.
- I could write about the dishonest cherry-picking that chiropractors like to engage in.
But that would not be nice, and they would say that I have an axe to grind, a chip on my shoulder, that I am incompetent, don’t know what I am writing about, in the pocket of BIG PHARMA, etc.
So, I decided to celebrate the CAW by reporting on a chiropractic success story, a type of article that chiropractors like: a case report of a patient cured by chiropractic treatments.
Chronic low back pain (CLBP) has been the leading cause of disability globally for the past few decades, resulting in decreased quality of life physically and emotionally. This case report is, according to its authors, important in the medical literature to add to studies reporting successful conservative treatment of CLBP and chronic neck pain (CNP). Triage, diagnosis, and understanding of economical and conservative therapeutics can, the authors stress, benefit patients; providers as well as institutions and third party payors benefit from improved outcomes.
A 39-year old male presented with severe CLBP who had experienced no long-term success with prior chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy (SMT). After symptoms began to worsen in spite of receiving SMT, the patient sought treatment for his pain, abnormal spine alignment, and poor sagittal alignment at a local spine facility. History and physical examination demonstrated altered spine and postural alignment including significant forward head posture and reduced cervical and lumbar lordosis and coronal plane abnormalities. Treatment consisted of a multi-modal regimen focused on strengthening postural muscles, specific spine manipulation directed toward abnormal full-spine alignment, and specific Mirror Image traction aiming to improve spine integrity by realigning the spine toward a more normal position. The treatment consisted of 36 treatments over three months. All original tests and outcome measures were repeated following care.
Objective and subjective outcome measures, patient-reported outcomes, and radiographic mensuration demonstrated improvement at the conclusion of treatment and maintained at 1-year follow-up re-examination.
The authors concluded that this is case demonstrates that the CBP orthopedic chiropractic treatment approach may represent an effective method to treat abnormal spinal alignment and posture. This study adds to the literature regarding conservative methods of treating spine pain and spinal disorders.
What, you are NOT impressed?
- You even claim that the patient’s symptoms worsend despite long-term SMT?
- You insist that such a case poves nothing and certainly does not justify the conclusion?
- You point out that one of the authors is a compensated researcher for CBP Non-Profit, Inc., while another one is a compensated consultant and researcher for Chiropractic BioPhysics, NonProfit, Inc. and one is the CEO of Chiropractic BioPhysics® (CBP®)?
- And you note that this paper was funded by Chiropractic BioPhysics?
Let me tell you this: you are a spoilt sport! We are, after all, in the realm of chiropractic research where things are different. What is normally called promotion florishes here as research, and the rules of science, ethics or even common sense are suspended.
Homeopaths regularly claim that the main reason why homeopathy is not accepted in science or responsible healthcare must be that science is not sufficiently advanced to understand how it works. According to Indian researchers, this obstacle has now been removed: they claim to have found the mechanism by which homeopathy works:
The outcome of the research done during 64 years has revealed that homeopathic potencies are specifically structured water preserved by ethanol. The primary target of homeopathic potencies is structured water in the living body. A potency is capable of converting the water structure in the living body into a different form. The converted water structure interacts with proteins suspended in water in the living body. Water structures in different organs of living organisms are different from each other. Water structures in the entire body of an organisms are interconnected by hydrogen bonded network. Any change at one location due to application of homeopathic potencies brings about rearrangement of the entire hydrogen bonded network of water in the whole body. In this way the effect of a potency spreads throughout the body including the affected organ without actual movement of the molecules of the potentized drug. A well selected homeopathic potency restores health by changing the water structures favorably in the affected organ or part of the body.
The autors concluded that “the phyco-chemical basis of homeopathic potencies are activated specifically structured water. The specificity has been conferred on the potencies by the original drugs, and mechanical agitation applied during the preparation of the potencies has provided activation. Homeopathic potencies are capable of changing the water structure in the living body. Water structures in the entire body of a living organism is not uniform. Different organs / tissues have different water structures. Water structures undergo a change in living tissues during stress / disease. A well selected remedy would change water structures of different tissues in the living body briefly, but its specific action manifests itself in the diseased tissue. The right remedy targets the diseased tissue because it is selected on the basis of the symptoms of the concerned papient. A remedy dropped on the tongue / mouth of a patient would reach the target not by itself, but by changing the hydrogen bonded network of the structured water in the living body. While the primary target of homeopathic potencies is water, the secondary target is protein suspended in the water structures. A changed water structure influences the conformation and function of the protein. Homeopathic potencies act on the binding sites of a protein. Here the potencies serve as ligands. Ordinary water also serves as a ligand in a non-specific way. Homeopathic potency is structured water which is capable of binding a protein in a specific way.”
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I am so glad that, after over 200 years of uncertainty, this is all ceared up. All that is left to do now is to
- firstly show that these concepts have any bearing on reality,
- and secondly demonstrate that homeopathic remedies cause health benefit that differ from placebo.
In other words, this [and all other similarly far-fetched] speculations about the mode of action of homeopathy leave us exactly where Hahnemann left it more than 200 years ago when he proclaimed in his ‘Organon’ that homeopathy’s “actions must be called spirit-like”.
The Society of Physicians and Scientists for Health, Freedom and Democracy, (Mediziner und Wissenschaftler für Gesundheit, Freiheit und Demokratie, MWGFD) is not well known outside Germany. Let me therefore introduce it to an English-speaking audience.
The Society has undoubtedly a most inviting name. Who amongst physicians and scientists would be against health, freedom or democracy? But before you rush off an join this attractively-named group, it is perhaps worth having a closer look at the society’s aims and woork. This is from their website:
… The Basic Law, the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the values enshrined therein are our basis. We strictly reject radicalism in any form. As a non-partisan organisation, we are not affiliated with any party or political group. We refrain from day-to-day political activity, but are happy to provide governments and parliaments with our advice and expertise. We know that simplifications and categorisations are often used in turbulent times. For us, such political categorisations are inaccurate. After all, it is not party political guidelines, wishes or programmes that are decisive for us, but as doctors only the well-being of the patients and as scientists the scientific data basis and the scientific discourse in its entirety.
Our activity consists of obtaining and disseminating trustworthy information on medical and social issues. To this end, we provide specialist articles, brochures and videos, which you can find on the subpages of the ‘Information’ menu item. In this way, we want to contribute to an open and objective discussion that serves the good of society and the formation of a rational opinion.
Amongst other things, the MWGFD advertises a study assessing the value of masks by children during the COVID pandemic. It was conducted and published by some of its members, and the MWGFD states it “clearly shows that children regularly poison themselves by breathing back carbon dioxide when wearing masks and expose themselves to the highest health risks, which from a legal point of view clearly fulfils the offence of bodily harm.” Further down it mentions that the study was – as I have discussed on my blog – withdrawn because of dubious methodology.
The MWGFD conducts several further activities that promote conspiracy theories around COVID, e.g.:
- A 10-point plan for a Corona phase-out concept.
- With the project ‘vaccinated, damaged, denied’, the MWGFD would like to give a voice to people who have suffered considerable damage to their health as a result of the so-called corona vaccination. An urgently needed discourse on the sometimes terrible consequences of this unprecedented vaccination campaign is still being deliberately prevented by massive socio-political pressure. This applies in particular to those involved in the healthcare system. That is why we also want to offer courageous doctors and therapists as well as other professional groups who were and are professionally affected by the vaccination campaign and its effects a platform to make their contribution to coming to terms with this concealed catastrophe – in the interests of the people affected and social peace.
By now, you probably wonder who is behind the MWGFD. Here is the full list of their current executive committee:
- Prof. DDr. phil. Harald Walach, he is, of course, well known to readers of my blog, not least because he is a member of my ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE HALL OF FAME.
- Dr. med. Ronald Weikl, during the pandemic, he issued blank certificates for exemption from the mask requirement and received a prison sentence for his crime.
- Prof. Dr. phil. Wolf-D. Stelzner, another prominent German anti-vax activist.
- Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Klaus Steger, another prominent German anti-vax activist.
- Prof. Dr. Werner Bergholz, another prominent German anti-vax activist.
- Prof. Dr. med. Sucharit Bhakdi, the man who, together with Weikl, founded the society in 2020 and whom we discussed recently on my blog.
So, knowing all this, do you want to join the Society of Physicians and Scientists for Health, Freedom and Democracy? I for one decided against it.
“Dr. Arleen Scholten” – rings a bell?
Yes!
She is the chiropractor who treated John Lawler who then tragically died. Since Scholten was found not guilty of any wrong-doing by the General Chiropractic Council (GCC), she is practising unabated. These days, she seems to be particularly fond of treating children. Here are some excerpts from what she claims on her website:
Subluxations, or misalignments, within the spine can disrupt the vital communication between the brain and the body. These subluxations induce stress on the nervous system, potentially leading to a diminished function in the affected area. Infants, children, and adults can all experience spinal subluxations. Birth trauma, minor or major traumas, and developmental stress can all cause subluxations in infants and children. During the initial five years of life, the body generates more neural pathways than at any other time. It is crucial to optimize this production through pediatric chiropractic care, as these early years are pivotal for each child’s potential…
Chiropractic adjustments are safe for patients of all ages, including newborns… Over time, chiropractic practitioners have received valuable feedback from parents and young patients, highlighting significant and unexpected improvements in various aspects of their lives, including:
- Sleep patterns
- Behavior and attitude
- Immune system functionality
Additionally, patients have reported improvements in conditions such as ADD/ADHD, colic, torticollis, ear infections, bed-wetting, digestive issues, allergies, asthma, seizures, and more.
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Allow me to add a few comments on these claims:
- Subluxations only exist in the imagination of chiropractors.
- Therefore, they cannot disturb vital communication between the brain and the body.
- Nor can they induce stress on the nervous system.
- Nobody experiences chiropractic subluxations because they are a chiropractic invention to fool patients and take their money.
- Pediatric chiropractic care does not enhance a child’s potential.
- Chiropractic adjustments are not safe; as we have often discussed on this blog, they cause not merely very frequent mild, transient adverse effects but also serious and often permanent complications of unknown frequency.
- Feedback received by chiropractors is a far cry from amounting to reliable evidence.
- Chiropractic does not improve sleep patterns.
- It does not alter behavior and attitude.
- It also does not enhance immune system functionality.
- Nor does it affect ADD/ADHD, colic, torticollis, ear infections, bed-wetting, digestive issues, allergies, asthma, seizures.
Some of these conditions can be potentially serious. Treating them with chiropractic would needlessly prolong the suffering; in a worst case scenarion, it could even cost the life of a child. This, I feel, begs the question: is one death not enough, ‘Dr.’ Scholten?
She has already once been let off the hook by the GCC, I wonder whether the ‘Advertising Standards Authority’ will be as lenient, or whether they could step in and prevent a further tragedy.
Prof Dr Sucharit Bhakdi is one of the most far-reaching disinformation disseminators of the COVID pandemic. He spread numerous bogus claims about the dangers of COVID vaccines and put forward scientifically untenable theories.
- Writing an open Letter in March 2020 to German Chancellor Angela Merkel regarding the “socio-economic consequences of the drastic containment measures which are currently being applied in large parts of Europe”
- Posting videos on YouTube claiming, for example, that the government was overreacting because the virus posed no more threat than influenza, and that any COVID-19 vaccine would be “pointless”.
- Participation in May 2020 in the writing of a “position paper of the BMI” by an employee of the German crisis management department. The Federal Ministry distanced itself from the position, calling the paper a “private opinion” circulating on official letterhead, and released the chief government councilor Stephan Kohn from duty.
- He is the co-author of Corona, False Alarm? Facts and Figures (2020), German: (‘Corona Fehlalarm?’) ISBN 978-3-99060-191-4 and Corona Unmasked. Neue Daten, Zahlen, Hintergründe. (Goldegg, Berlin/Wien 2021, ISBN 978-3-99060-231-7. An earlier book of his was published in 2016, Schreckgespenst Infektionen – Mythen, Wahn und Wirklichkeit (tr. “Bogeyman Infections – Myths, Delusions and Reality”) ISBN 978-3-903090-66-8. He published these books together with his wife, Karina Reiss, a biologist and biochemist at the Quincke Research Center, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.
- Describing Germany in December 2020 as a “health dictatorship”, saying he wanted to emigrate to Thailand because of this.
Now Bhakdi seems to have changed his tune: ‘There were few side effects’ he recently said during an interview. A remarkable admission, considering that Bhakdi had previously warned of literally millions of injured and dead people, destroyed immune systems and a ‘horror without end’ caused by the mRNA vaccines.
Bhakdi’s statement about the paucity of adverse effects is, of course, right – in fact, it might be one of the very few of his statements that are correct. Current figures from the Paul Ehrlich Institute confirm the safety of the COVID vaccines: with 65 million people vaccinated and around 182 million vaccine doses administered in Germany, only 573 vaccine injuries were noted. This corresponds to an incidence of around 0.00088 %. In contrast, it has been calculated that COVID vaccinations have saved about 166,000 lives in Germany alone.
So, how does Bhakdi explain the contradiction of first insisting on the danger of the vaccinations and now admitting that “there were few side-effects”? In the interview, he claims that the vast majority of doses administered had no effect whatsoever because they had rapidly lost their activity. He explains that, in most cases, the mRNA in the vaccines did not enter the body due to unstable packaging. Therefore the expected side effects did not materialise. An obviously fictitious explanation that is scientifically untenable and clearly a desperate excuse. When asked how someone can tell that she received an inactive vaccine, he replied that, if you did not fall ill after the vaccination, the dose you received was inactive.
I think Bhakdi deserves all the high honors that were bestowed on him. He deserves them not because he ever was right or truthful or honest about the danger of COVID vaccination. No! He deserves them for his ingenuity in finding yet another lie that enables him to bring all his previous lies (COVID vaccinations are frightfully dangerous) in line with reality (COVID vaccinations harmed almost nobody).
Yes, sometimes two lies can result in the truth:
there were indeed few side-effects!
Yes, this was the (rather sensationalist) headline of a recent article in the Daily Mail that I allegedly wrote. Its unusual genesis might interest some of you.
I was contacted by a journalist who asked for a telephone interview on the subject of chiropractic as well as my recent book. I agreed under the condition that we do this not over the phone but in writing via email. So, he sent me his questions and I supplied the responses; here they are:
· What’s the absolute worst case scenario of seeing a chiropractor?
The worst that can happen is that you die. Certain manipulations that chiropractors regularly do can injure an artery that supplies part of the brain. This would then result in a stroke; and a stroke can of course be fatal. This is what happened, for example, to the American model Katie May. She had pinched a nerve in her neck on a photoshoot and consulted a chiropractor who manipulated her neck. This caused a tear to an artery in her upper spine. The result was a massive stroke of which she died a few days later.
· How did you first become interested in the topic?
I learned hands on spinal manipulation as a junior doctor. Later, as the head of the department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Vienna, we used such techniques routinely. In 1993, I became chair of Complementary Medicine in Exeter, and my task was to scientifically investigate alternative therapies such as chiropractic. Recently, I decided to summarize all our research in a book.
· What did you learn from your research?
In essence, our investigations found that almost all the claims that chiropractors make are unsubstantiated. Their manipulations are not nearly as effective as they claim. More worryingly, they are also not free of risks. About 50% of patients who see a chiropractor suffer from side effects after spinal manipulation. These are usually not severe and disappear after 2 or 3 days. But, in addition, very serious complications like stroke, death, bone fractures, paralysis can also occur. Chiropractors say that these are rare, and I hope they are right, but the truth is that nobody knows because there is no system of monitoring such events. We once asked British neurologists to report cases of neurological complications occurring within 24 hours of cervical spine manipulation over a 12-month period. This unearthed a total of 35 cases. Particularly striking was the fact that none of these cases had previously been reported anywhere. So, the underreporting was exactly 100%. This tells me that, when chiropractors claim there are just a few such incidents, in truth there might be a few hundred or even thousand.
· Is there an especially shocking finding?
What I find particularly unnerving is the way chiropractors regularly disregard medical ethics. Take the issue of informed consent, for example. It means that we all have to fully inform patients about the treatment we plan to give. In the case of chiropractic spinal manipulation, it would need to include that the therapy is of doubtful effectiveness, that other options are more likely to help, and that the treatment carries very frequent minor as well as probably rare major risks. I do understand why chiropractors do often not provide this information – it would chase away most patients and thus impact of their income. At the same time, I feel that chiropractors should not be allowed to violate fundamental principles of medical ethics. This is not in the interest of patients!!!
· Why do you think patients are so keen on chiropractors?
I am not sure that they really are so keen; some are but the vast majority are not. Our own research suggests that, depending on the country, between 7 and 33% of the population see chiropractors. This means that between 93 and 67% have enough sense to avoid chiropractors.
· But what does the evidence actually show about the efficacy of chiropractic?
As it happens our most recent summary has just been published. It concluded that “it is uncertain if chiropractic spinal manipulation is more effective than sham, control, or deep friction massage interventions for patients with headaches” [Is chiropractic spinal manipulation effective for the treatment of cervicogenic, tension-type, or migraine headaches? A systematic review – ScienceDirect]. For other conditions the evidence tends to be even less convincing. The only exception might be chronic low back pain, according to another recent summary [Analgesic effects of non-surgical and non-interventional treatments for low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of placebo-controlled randomised trials | BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine]. But here too, I would argue that other treatments are safer and cheaper.
· Are some chiropractors worse than others?
The profession is divided into 2 groups, the ‘straights’ and the ‘mixers’. The former believe in all the nonsense their founding father, DD Palmer, proclaimed 120 years ago, including that spinal manipulation is the only treatment for virtually all our ailments, and that vaccinations must be avoided at all cost. The mixers have realized that Palmer was a charlatan of the worst kind, focus on musculoskeletal conditions and use treatments borrowed from physiotherapy. Needless to say that the mixers might be bad, but the straights are even worse.
· What can patients do to keep safe?
Avoid chiropractors, go to a library and read my book.
· If you have backpain or joint pain what can you do instead?
There is lots people can do but advice has to be individualized. By far the best is to prevent back pain from happening. Here advice might include more exercise, loosing weight, changing your mattress, avoiding certain things like heavy lifting, etc. If you are acutely suffering, see a physio or a doctor, keep moving and be aware that over 90% of back pain disappears within a few days regardless of what you do.
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I had insisted that I see his edits before this gets published, and a little while later I received the edited version. To my big surprise, the journalist had transformed the interview into an article allegedly authored by me. I told him that I was uncomfortable with this solution, and we agreed that he would make it clear that the article was merely based on an interview with me. I then revised the article in question and the result was the mentioned article published still naming me as its author but with a footnote: “As told in an interview with Ethan Ennals”
Never a dull day when you research so-called alternative medicine!
After starting his trade war, Trump initiated a war on academia. The plan to do so is hardly new; months ago Trump stated: “The time has come to reclaim our once great educational institutions from the radical left. We spend more money on higher education than any other country and yet they are turning our students into communists and terrorists.” And about a year ago, Trump’s sycophant-in chief, JD Vance, proclaimed: THE ENEMY ARE THE PROFESSORS!
In view of the facts that Trump and his minions
- called climate change a hoax;
- support creationism;
- think that vaccinations cause autism;
- categorized math as ‘woke’;
- etc., etc.
it seems almost logic that they have to go after the universities. They want to control who teaches and what they teach; who is educated and who isn’t; what is news and what is ‘fake-news’; what is truth and what is not. This is not just an attack on academia but also an assault on the First Amendment as well as an unacceptable over-reach and a destruction of the very fabric of society.
Withholding billions in research funds, rescinding the universities’ tax-exempt status and disallowing to enroll foreign students are measures of blackmail, extortion and punishment for refusing to bow to Trump’s agenda. “Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status and be Taxed as a Political Entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’ Remember, Tax Exempt Status is totally contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Harvard courageously stood up to Trump’s attack by rejecting his demands: “The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government. Accordingly, Harvard will not accept the government’s terms as an agreement in principle.”
Trump’s attack on academia is not an isolated outburst but a strategic move in a culture war: a deliberate effort to delegitimize intellectual authority, critical thinking, and every form of knowledge production that cannot be directly controlled by populist power. Universities like Harvard become targets not because of specific failures, but because they embody a troubling idea: that knowledge requires distance, discipline, and method—and that not everything can be resolved with gut feeling or loud opinion.
Academia, with its specialized language, its commitment to evidence, and its tradition of critique, represents everything the anti-intellectual populist playbook seeks to dismantle: mediation, doubt, and nuance. The far right has learned that the most efficient way to win a culture war isn’t to offer better ideas—it’s to sabotage the very tools we use to judge ideas. That’s why universities, scientists, and journalists are now treated as enemies. The goal is not to debate the truth, but to make truth irrelevant.
Just like his trade-war, Trump’s war on academia can only end in disaster and must be stopped. I for one very much hope that Harvard’s refusal marks the turning point. It should unite and embolden US academia to resist and reclaim knowledge as a public good. Trump’s primitive McCarthyism must end for good.
King Charles is, as we all know, one of the world’s most subborn (i.e. despite convincing evidence) supporter of homeopathy:
- After managing to get osteopathy and chiropractic regulated by statute, Charles had planned to do the same with homeopathy. Jonathan Dimbleby wrote in 1995: “It is now hoped that a Homeopathy Bill will be laid before the House in 1995 or 1996”
- Charles advocates homeopathy not just for humans but also for animals. Farmers in the UK, for instance, are being taught how to treat their livestock with homeopathy “by kind permission of His Royal Highness, The Prince Of Wales”
- Ainsworth, the UK homeopathic pharmacy, carries Charles’ royal warrant.
- Charles often supports homeopathic events with his presence and speeches. For instance, he opened the Glasgow Homeopathic hospital.
- The Smallwood report commissioned by Charles concluded that millions of pounds could be saved, if only the NHS used more homeopathy.
- The College of Medicine and Integrated Medicine of which Charles is a patron regularly promotes homeopathy.
- Charles regularly lobbied politicians urging them to make more homeopathy available via the NHS.
- In 2019, the Faculty of Homeopathy announced that His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales had accepted to become Patron of the Faculty of Homeopathy.
About a year ago, it was announced that the King is suffering from cancer. Since then, his illness is almost a daily subject of news and speculation. From what we hear, Charles is coping famously and well on the way to recovery (at least that is what I sincerely hope). Many who discuss the subject of Charles’ cancer are convinced that his relatively good health can only have one reason:
HOMEOPATHY
They are convinced that his treatment plan is prominently or even exclusively based on homeopathy. Here are some statements that I recently picked up on ‘X’:
- King Charles cured his cancer with herbal remedies & homeopathy & didn’t shed a hair like his DIL, if true they had cancer
- King Charles uses homeopathy. Is for his cancer in Bangalore.
- He hasn’t been sick at all ,he uses homeopathy and nobody that uses homeopathy will die of cancer .Was all to push a cancer so called vax ,like the other so called vaccines !!William unfortunately is more of the same ,and also Charles isn’t king !!
- Homeopathy . It is the only guaranteed cure for Cancer and majority of chronic illnesses worldwide proved. Although sneared at by our guilty House of Lords Health Committee. HRH King Charles was the patron of Homeopathic council for many many years, why is that ?
- King Charles has cancer diagnosis and elects to use natural remedy and Kate Middleton has cancer and opts for chemotherapy. I think that is weird. I understand the monarchy has always sought homeopathy as a first route for treatment and pharmaceutical as a last resort.
- Told my mom i think I have bone cancer and now shes making me eat onions is this the homeopathy stuff that king charles guy is doing
- As an Avid Homeopathy Enthusiast King Charles now has the superpower to cure cancer.
Similar hints can be found in articles about Charles’ cancer, e.g.: King Charles is likely using an “oxygen tent” and his proclivity for homeopathic remedies to help him battle cancer. Some also argue that Dr. Michael Dixon, who two years ago has been appointed as the HEAD OF THE ROYAL MEDICAL HOUSEHOLD, would have seen to Charles’ treatment being homeopathic in nature.
But all of this is pure speculation!
The question clearly is whether there is any reliable evidence.
I have done my best to find some … and I failed (if a reader knows more, please let me know). To the best of my knowledge, there is no evidence that Charles’ cancer is being treated with homeopathy. Contrary to the many who assume that he is being cured by a homeopath, I have always felt this to be most unlikely. I am sure that Charles receives the very best conventional treatments that scientific medicine has to offer.
