Category Archives: Skepticism

The Burzynski swindle changes tact.

It appears the Burzynski Clinic has dropped Marc Stephens as their hired goon because he evidently sucked at playing lawyer. Now they are hiring a “Law Firm” called Dozier Internet Law although considering they had their marketing person misrepresent themselves as a lawyer it’s hard to tell just how legitimate Dozier Internet Law really is.

This is what they write on their blog:

“Attack bloggers” need to be reined in. We are having pretty good success dealing with these types without having to file lawsuits all the time, but when it comes to push, we usually will pull the trigger and sue the “attack blogger”. It’s not free speech to create outrageous lies and propagate them all over the web. So, if you get a communication from us, be it a letter, a copy of a lawsuit, or a telephone call, consider the consequences that are about to ensue.

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So, when you get a communication from us, understand the consequences. These lawsuits will show up on the front page of Google results under your name. SEO is not the sole province of bloggers, by the way. While your lawyers, particularly those involved with the public interest groups, use your case to gain attention and raise contributions, your reputation is being ruined forever. Your reputation as an employee, your reputation as a college applicant, your reputation as a job applicant, your reputation as a private person, your reputation as a husband, and your reputation as a father or mother. Maybe you won’t be confronted with it, but the impact will likely be profound, from prospective employers passing your resume by to parents avoiding you at school functions. It will happen. –Dozier Internet Law

I think there could be more to this threat than just legal proceeding. Rhys Morgan who was recently threatened by the Burzynski Clinic had google street view photos of his house emailed to him, this was intended not as a legal threat but as a general threat of “We know where you live”. Legitimate Lawyers don’t care where you live, but hired thugs who wish to operate outside of the law do.

Now Burzynski has teamed up with Dozier Internet Law who are threatening to ruin their victims reputation as Employees, College Applicant, Job Applicant, Private Person, Spouse, Father or Mother. I have to ask ‘How does being sued for libel ruin a college application?’ (being sued isn’t a crime) unless of course you have people like Burzynski who threaten to call your school as they did to Rhys Morgan, or threaten to interfere with your family as they suggested to Andy Lewis.

Perhaps I’m reading to far into this but if the Burzynski Clinic is willing to threaten a 17 year old blogger (Rhys Morgan) outside of the legal process by sending him photos of his house and threatening to call his school then I don’t think it is to far fetched to envision these crooks harassing employers, family members and other people connected to their critics.

Threats from The Burzynski Clinic – Rhys Morgan

The Burzynski Clinic Threatens My Family – Andy Lewis

Press Release November 2011 – Burzynski Clinic

Dr Stanislaw Burzynski's cancer scam.

Their are many frauds, cheats and conmen out their to make a quick buck from the suffering of others. But there are none quite so vile as those who target cancer patients. When I first learned of The Burzynski Clinic I was immediately reminded of Penelope Dingle who was scammed into her grave by a fraud out to make a quick buck. As far as fraud goes you can’t get much lower than conning terminally ill patients and their families for easy money.

Dr Burzynski is one of these lowest of the conmen. He sells an unproven, unscientific cancer treatment called Antineoplaston Therapy. This treatment has been criticised by scientists, doctors and skeptics alike. Dr Stanislaw Burzynski has even been on trial for cancer fraud in the past.

At the moment, there is very little solid scientific evidence to show that antineoplastons are effective at treating cancer, and virtually all the research in this area has been carried out by Burzynski and his team – a red flag to the scientific world (as we’ve discussed before).

To explain, scientists are not stupid – whether they work for independent organisations like a research charity or a pharmaceutical company – and they can spot a bandwagon rolling towards them from a great distance.  Once the evidence starts to fall into place about the potential effectiveness of a discovery, it’s guaranteed that the scientific community will start to pay attention and jump on.

The fact that no other labs have managed to replicate Burzynski’s apparent success with antineoplastons or are interested in developing the treatment raises questions. –Cancer Research UK

However Dr Burzynski won’t let a little thing like lack of evidence stand in the way of some easy cash and he’s not afraid to threaten people who expose his scam. Recently 17 year old blogger Rhys Morgan was threatened by the Burzynski Clinics marketing department; which is apparently also the legal department.

Eventually, I decided to write a rather scathing blog about Burzynski and the treatment, which you can find here. The thought of someone being promised an effective treatment when in fact, it’s at best unproven disgusts me. The blog went up on August 11th, 2011. A few comments were posted but it soon disappeared into obscurity again.

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Then, out of the blue, on the 3rd of November, I received an email from a man called Marc Stephens, claiming to represent the Burzynski Clinic. He was threatening to sue me for libel for my previous blog about the Burzynski Clinic. –Rhys Morgan

However Rhys isn’t the only blogger to be threatened by Marc Stephens. Andy Lewis has also received legal threats for criticising the Burzynski swindle. However legal threats are no substitute for evidence and so far all the evidence points to Dr Burzynski being a callous fraud who like many others in Alternative Medicine is happy to cheat the terminally and their families out of cold hard cash with empty promises and false hope.

The bottom line is that Dr. Burzynski is not a miracle worker. He is not a doctor who sees something that mainstream science has not and who therefore has a cure for many cancers that mainstream medicine scoffs at. He is not a bold visionary. Rather, he appears to be a man pursuing pseudoscience. The reason that mainstream scientific medicine has not accepted the existence of antineoplastons or their efficacy against cancer is because there is no credible evidence to support this thrapy and no one other than Dr. Burzynski has been able to replicate his results. –Orac; Respectful Insolence

This is one scam I’ll be looking into allot further. I consider bogus cancer treatment to be amongst the most heinous of pseudo-science. Using legal threats as a means of censorship also does not sit well with me. The Burzynski Clinic has my attention.

Anti-vax kook wants medical professionals dead.

The anti-vaccination movement is full of nasty individuals, but it’s not often that I find one quite so repugnant as Mark Sircus who actually advocates the lynching of Centers for Disease Control personnel. Mark Sircus writes a blog post titled “String the Bastards Up” where he openly states the following:

Before I go into detail about what has been clear to many of us for years I want to bring the image of the case of a monster who commits mass murder and torments children and their parents. In this case we have a group of them who deserve to be lynched and they work for the federal government at the Centers of Disease Control (CDC). –Mark Sircus

Of course Meryl “I have a brain” Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network is onboard with this one. Evidently these people are so opposed to life saving medicine that they would advocate murder, both Mark and Meryl are long past the point of reason and are now well and truly into the ideological fanatic stages of insanity.

Meryl endorces Mark Sircus

The anti-vaccination movement is really a cult against health and medicine. It is based solely on an ideology instead of science. Allot of people have legitimate concerns about vaccination and there’s nothing wrong with them seeking more information. But the danger comes from people like Meryl Dorey and Mark Sircus who not only spread lies and misinformation based on an ideology but may also be capable of so much worse; fanatical ideology is dangerous.

However some people who follow the anti-vaxxers are simply misguided by the lies a deceit they are fed by the fanatics and really believe they are being fed good information. However this time some of Doreys followers may have seen the anti-vax cult for what it is.

Loyal subjects sense a disturbance in the force.

Meryl Dorey has a new kook!

It looks like that public health menace Meryl Dorey of the Australia Vaccination Network has found a new loon to worship on twitter. His name is Dr. Leo Rebello (@DrLeoRebello) and he’s quite the kook. He bills himself as a “Holistic Health Guru. [sic]” which lends severe doubts about his credentials. Meryl has been retweeting some of his nutty twitter comments.

Comments Meryl retweeted.

Of course he doesn’t supply any reference for his claims; so Meryl and Leo have something in common there. I have long learned that kooks don’t like evidence because it all too often conflicts with their ideologies. However Dr Rebello is even more loopy than Meryl and makes her look like Einstein by comparison. Here’s some more of his wisdom.

Comments too nutty even for Meryl.

I especially like the “VacciNAZIS” but of course no anti-vaxxer is complete without some child rape. Well a comparison between child rape and vaccination that is. They can leave the actual rape for the Catholic Church.

Catholics and Anti-Vaxxers rejoice.

At the start of the year Meryl Dorey claimed that an Australian court had ordered the rape of a child. “Court orders rape of a child. Think this is an exaggeration? Think again. This is assault without consent and with full penetration too. [sic]” In the minds of both Dr Leo Rebello and Meryl Dorey giving a child life saving medicine the the equivalent of rape. I honestly believe that some people; especially those who oppose life saving vaccination are simply beyond reason.

Some ideas do not deserve respect.

I do not respect the opinions and beliefs of those who oppose vaccination, and I thoroughly condemn the actions of those who choose not to vaccinate. Time and time again I see requests from anti-vaxxers that we all respect their decision not to vaccinate themselves or their children.

However some ideas are not worthy of respect. Some ideas are dangerous. Some ideas can even kill people and put the whole community at risk. The idea that we shouldn’t vaccinate against Measles and other diseases is a good example of an idea that deserves no respect. The decision not to vaccinate deserves the same respect as someone who believes they are ok to drive while intoxicated because they ‘know what they are doing’. That is to say “None”. Yet the cries for respect are still coming from the anti-vaccine crowd.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Vaccination has the ability to eradicate disease. Yet we have people who are strongly opposed to vaccination and if those people are expecting any respect from me then they are going to be waiting a very long time. Because if people opposed to life saving medicine want any form of respect from me they must first do the right thing and vaccinate their children.

Respect belongs to those who do the right thing, not dimwitted tossers and their dangerous unscientific ideas.The notion that it should be customary to respect another persons position is just wrong. Some ideas do not deserve respect.

No aliens for you says Whitehouse.

I stumbled upon this today.

The White House has responded to two petitions asking the US government to formally acknowledge that aliens have visited Earth and to disclose to any intentional withholding of government interactions with extraterrestrial beings. “The U.S. government has no evidence that any life exists outside our planet, or that an extraterrestrial presence has contacted or engaged any member of the human race,” said Phil Larson from the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy, on the WhiteHouse.gov website. “In addition, there is no credible information to suggest that any evidence is being hidden from the public’s eye.” –Universe Today

However this hasn’t satisfied the fanatical UFO wackjobs who started the petition demanding that the Whitehouse issue a response. Because the Whitehouse issued the truth instead of the desired response. The problem here is that the UFO kooks are asking for acknowledgement of a fact that has never been proven with any credible evidence. It’s like saying “We know this, please acknowledge it as fact.”. However facts are not determined by belief. Here’s the UFO kooks response.

The White House has responded to the Disclosure Petition.  The final signature count was 12,078.   As expected it was written by a low level staffer from the Office of Science and Technology Policy – research assistant Phil Larson.   The response was unacceptable. –Paradigm Research Group

Some people just aren’t satisfied by the truth especially when it conflicts with their beliefs. They may be entitled to their own opinions, but no one is entitled to their own facts.

Meryl Dorey doesn't learn, more trouble for the AVN.

Just over a year since the NSW Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing revoked the Australian Vaccination Network’s charity status, forbidding them from collecting donations. The anti-vaccination group has been caught asking for donations at it’s recent seminars in Western Australia.

Consumer Protection is investigating whether an anti-vaccination group breached charity laws by seeking donations at a series of meetings in WA in the past two weeks.

The NSW-based Australian Vaccination Network held public forums in Perth, Busselton, Jurien Bay and Geraldton, charging $15 and giving out brochures asking people to donate to the group. –The West Australian

Did Meryl honestly think she could get away with soliciting donations? Did she think no one would be watching after being busted by both the Health Care Complaints Comission and the OLGR?

It seems that Meryl Dorey simply doesn’t learn. She should know by now that her group is being watched, not only by Skeptics but also by government authorities, journalists and anyone else she has crossed paths with. Her rapidly snowballing legal problems are a result of her own inability to do the right thing.

Meryl Dorey to lie about mercury and vaccinations in perth.

Meryl Dorey head of the deceptively named and widely discredited Australian Vaccination Network is returning to Perth for another round of lies and bullshit. The Anti-vaccination group is going to hold a seminar called “VACCINATION:MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE” however Meryl Dorey intends to repeat the same lies an discredited information that she has become infamous for. Including the claim that vaccines contain Mercury.

It’s true that some vaccines use thimerosal as a preservative, but the mercury found in thimerosal is ethylmercury which is safely discharged from the human body it is a very safe preservative, which is why it’s use in the first place. However mercury can also be bound as a methyl and methylmercury is dangerous to humans. People often get these two different types of mercury confused. However no vaccines or thimerosal has ever contained methylmercury. This is simply scaremongering from the anti-vaccination groups. What’s more childhood vaccines do not contain thimerosal so not even the safe, organic ethylmercury is used in childhood vaccines.

There simply is no mercury in childhood vaccines. It’s a lie to scare parents our of vaccinating their children. Don’t just take my word for it; ask your doctor.

This is just one of many lies that Meryl Dorey intends to present as fact to perents tomorrow in Floreat. Along with her normal tirade of government and corporate conspiracies, and of course those evil skeptics.

If you’re in Perth you can attend her seminar but be warned it’s very difficult to sit through. There’s nothing worse than seeing someone lie to parents and provide them with misinformation that puts the whole community at risk.

A much better source of information for people attending the AVN seminar is at Vaccination Facts a website setup by Kylie Sturgess in response to the AVNs misinformation seminars held in Perth.

Dead people can be recycled too.

What’s the difference between the local cemetery and the local landfill. The answer is not much, both get filled with a waste product that is no longer wanted and could pose a health risk to the community if not safely disposed of into the ground.

Of course when a human body is disposed of in a cemetery it’s normally lowered gently into the ground rather than tipped into the hole as is done with the regular landfill. But the purpose of the cemetery is the same as the landfill, while the landfill takes care of general waste the cemetery takes care of human bodies that essentially become a waste product once the conscious person has ceased to exist. The family of the deceased often waste little time in disposing of the now vacant body into one of these cemetery landfill; an indication that they no longer want or need it.

But like many other things that our society disposes of the human body can be recycled. They say “one mans trash is another mans treasure” and vital organs that may survive the death of their owner can be used to save someone’s life. Instead of having a system where people have to opt-in to donate organs we should allow our doctors to use the organs of any deceased person to save lives. It’s allot better than disposing of them along with the rest of the body, and there are many people on waiting lists for organs that may save their lives.

With demand outstripping supply like this it should be considered a crime against humanity that we dispose of so many human bodies instead of recycling organs from them. Just because the family have no use for the body and wish to dispose of it as waste it doesn’t mean someone else doesn’t have a use for the Heart, Lung, Kidney etc.

You can see by the graphs above that our organ donor rate is pitifully low. I am confident that we could abolish the organ waiting lists if we got rid of the opt-in and let doctors do their job. A landfill is no place for valuable organs. If your loved one dies and you refuse to donate their organs if asked then you are an asshole; and I do not respect your decision to dump good organs into the ground.

Source of Graphs: Australia and New Zealand Organ Registry 2011 Report

#occupywallstreet lies, deception and photoshop.

For the past 10 days protesters have been camping in lower Manhattan in a protest called Occupy Wall Street. Twitter, Facebook and Blogs all over the internet have been alive with talk of the protest.

This is the image that has been doing the rounds of Facebook. See the streets jam packed with protesters. A protest that big certainly is impressive, but are there really that many protesters?

#occupywallstreet promotional image.

No, the photo is a fake, it was made by Jason Wettstein in a dishonest attempt to make the protest seem bigger and more significant than it really is. The forgery came to light when Travis Roy of the Granite State Skeptics posted it to the Skeptalk mailing list questioning it’s authenticity. Within 41 minutes fellow skeptic Tim Parkinson exposed the photo as a fake.

Forgery exposed by skeptic Tim Parkinson.

By forging this image Jason Wettstein has undermined his own cause. His image proclaims “DON’T TRUST THE MEDIA THEY LIE” so it is with great irony that I can now say. Don’t trust Jason Wettstein he lies.

I hate hypocrites; especially dishonest hypocrites. Checkout Tim Parkinsons blog about this. (especially the comments section.)