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The Media

The media, all those channels that are supposed to give us the information we need to understand what's happening, have been taken over and bent to a corporate agenda. In a certain sense that means they have betrayed the trust of their readers, listeners, viewers. This will either have to drastically change, or people are going to turn to other sources for obtaining their information.

April 12, 2012

Quackbusters, Skeptics and the Web of Trust

Categories

Food for Thought

Society

The Media

What are 'quackbusters', you might ask.

Well, Tim Bolen has the answer to that question. On his site (quackpotwatch.org) he explains:

The "quackbuster" operation is a conspiracy. It is a propaganda enterprise, one part crackpot, two parts evil. It's sole purpose is to discredit, and suppress, in an "anything goes" attack mode, what is wrongfully named "Alternative Medicine." It has declared war on reality. The conspirators are acting in the interests of, and are being paid, directly and indirectly, by the "conventional" medical-industrial complex.

These so-called quackbusters seem to be a branch of a larger movement, the "skeptics". Their website at www.skeptic.com/ shows who they are. Skeptics think of themselves as having opinions based on scientific 'truth'. They are very outspoken and very much "out there" to disabuse the rest of us of any idea that does not fit into their version of the scientific world view.

While real scientific procedure requires there to be observation and experiment, formation and testing of hypotheses, and open discussion of both experiment and theories, the skeptics have firmly made up their mind on a number of issues. And they don't hesitate to tell us where we are going wrong...

Mercury and fluoride for instance are not poisons for skeptics, and anyone who thinks they are must clearly be a conspiracy nut.

Vaccination is good for you, as are chemotherapy and radiation cancer treatments offered by conventional medicine. If you oppose either of them you are simply a 'quack' or at the least you are an easy target for those who take advantage of your stupidity.

The practices of alternative medicine, including "chiropractic, the placebo effect, homeopathy, acupuncture, and the questionable benefits of organic food, detoxification, and ‘natural’ remedies" are a favorite subject of the skeptics. They know that only mainstream medicine should be relied on and everyone who is into those practices really needs to have their head examined.
Continue reading "Quackbusters, Skeptics and the Web of Trust"

posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Thursday April 12 2012

updated on Thursday January 26 2017

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January 26, 2007

'Guinea Pig Kids' - BBC Video Raises Aids Lobby's Heckles

Categories

Health

Pharma

The Media

In the summer of 2004, Liam Scheff, an independent investigative journalist published the story of Incarnation Children's Center in New York, where experimental and highly toxic Aids drugs were forcibly administered to foster children of the State. Originally published in the article The House That Aids Built, the story was subsequently carried by The New York Press with the title: Orphans on Trial.

Children refusing medication were surgically implanted a tube to allow direct injection of drugs into the stomach - Image: Altheal.org

In November that same year, the BBC broadcast a video on the Incarnation story: Guinea Pig Kids. The video is available from this page, and here is a transcript (PDF). Nevertheless, in what appears to be an attempt to censor unwelcome information, some Aids treatment activists have now filed a complaint against the BBC, asking that the film be purged from the broadcaster's archives and any reference to it be removed from their website. The complaint is summed up by Chitra Bharucha, acting Chair of the BBC Trust as follows:

"The inflammatory film and companion written piece on the BBC website misrepresented as "human experimentation" on vulnerable children of color what were in fact crucial and successful efforts to make lifesaving treatments available to desperately ill foster children with AIDS through compassionate use of clinical trials of HIV drugs already approved for adults. Although the film was broadcast over two years ago, an article about it on the BBC website and the video, circulated by HIV denialists, continue to spread false and dangerous ideas about AIDS, antiretroviral treatments, the care provided to children at Incarnation Children's Center, and the importance of making lifesaving medications available to desperately ill children regardless of their family circumstances. The legitimacy accorded these erroneous ideas by the authority of the BBC facilitates the spread of disinformation, which in turn undermines prevention efforts and impedes treatment access, both by individuals and as government policy."

The whole text of the complaint can be accessed here.

Those complaining are advocates of the failed all-pharmaceutical solution to Aids. In their attempt to brow-beat the BBC into submission, they self-righteously conclude their missive with the words:

"The film's researchers Celia Farber and Liam Scheff as well as Christine Maggiore and David Rasnick who appear in the film, reject the solid scientific evidence that the virus known as HIV is the cause of the complex immune system breakdown known as AIDS, and that without treatment - the very treatment the children in ICC received through clinical trials - almost all HIV-infected people will die of illnesses related to the disease. None of them have any standing in the scientific community. Consequently, Doran [the BBC film-maker] defamed several institutions doing competent and important work. Doran's documentary is ignorant of the ethics of clinical trials, the role of state institutions who look after children and the science of HIV.
We call on the BBC to rectify immediately this betrayal of the public trust by taking the steps outlined above. Please respond at the earliest opportunity."

The problem here is that there's a cat struggling to get out of the bag. As a matter of fact, it may already have escaped ... and it won't be easy to put the screaming beast back in there. The information on the scandal that is Aids is out. It's all over the net, and the shameful censorship that the mainstream media can be subjected to may well work on the BBC, but it won't work with an army of individuals who have smelled the fresh air and who have seen, each one of us individually, a glimpse of the truth.
Continue reading "'Guinea Pig Kids' - BBC Video Raises Aids Lobby's Heckles"

posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Friday January 26 2007

updated on Thursday December 16 2010

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January 30, 2006

Mesh Networks And City Wireless Will Transform The Internet

Categories

Technology

The Media

Will internet access be controlled and monopolized by a handful of global internet access providers? Can governments prevent access to certain sites? Perhaps there is an alternative in the making.

Hundreds of municipalities are recognizing that facilitating internet access is part of their responsibility towards citizens, and they are planning to bypass traditional internet access providers, opening access to the net in a more direct way. According to an article of DMeurope.com, over 400 cities world wide are currently planning to deploy broadband networks in their areas, and 2006 should see a doubling of the numbers. Rome, along with New York, San Francisco and Paris, is among the major cities planning to provide citizens and visitors with widespread internet access, choosing between fibre or wireless broadband networks using wi-fi hotspots, mesh networks or pre-WiMAX technology.

Mesh networks are a natural candidate for constructing a resilient, locally networked access to communication infrastructure. The Times in the UK has an article that explains how New Orleans could have profited from such a network to facilitate hurricane relief and how some of the most unlikely places are linking up with the internet by installing networks of little radio boxes that start communicating with each other, as soon as they find peers within reach, forming an autonomous network.

Mesh networks are rugged and self-configuring. They are normally established by municipalities, by upstart internet providers or by co-operatives of users. Those linked in can communicate directly with each other and also access the larger internet, normally through a leased-line access point that is shared by the network's users. Some networks allow users to contribute by sharing unused access bandwidth with others.

Not only will local networks allow more easy access to the main information pipeline, on which we depend more and more, but their spreading will proof the internet itself against catastrophic occurrences. An internet braced by a myriad of local peer-to-peer networks will be less influenced by either catastrophic disruptions or the more subtle commercial decisions and content restrictions operated by today's access providers, as well as government censorship and military intrusions.

One could even imagine a scenario where the information that now sits on servers is redundantly backed up - stored on a myriad of personal computers that are linked up with each other through P2P networks - eventually forming a second tier of the net, one that could survive the most harsh conditions life may confront us with. Actually, some people have been working on what I was envisioning here. Just found out (November 2006) that the Freenet has been under development for years. It is still in its infancy, and being developed on a shoestring, but work is progressing. If you're interested, you might want to pitch in helping with testing, development, or even a donation.

Anyway, here is the Times article on mesh networks...
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posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Monday January 30 2006

updated on Sunday November 21 2010

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November 27, 2005

What if Everything You Thought You Knew About 911 Was a Big Fat Lie?

Categories

The Media

War Crimes

Is there still anyone who DOESN'T know that the 911 twin-towers disaster was a manufactured event designed to justify "perpetual war"?

Certainly if instead of watching CNN, ABC, CBS and other so-called mainstream media you looked around for the real news that populates the 'net, there is hardly room for doubt, and there wasn't, even back in 2001. Perhaps whatreallyhappened.com was and still is one of the best sites that pulls together stories that do not receive the deserved attention because of suppression of the real news by corporate-owned media.

No wonder the feeling that the press cannot be trusted to give us the straight dope is getting kind of ubiquitous. Probably the greatest mystery to people all over the world is how most Americans don't care to look and if they do, don't think they are responsible for the actions of their government.

In addition to the following link collection, here is an absolutely must see video available on google video, that pulls some of the glaring inconsistencies together in an easy-to-follow way: Loose Change 911

Here is the collection of links for those who might have missed the story of the century:

Continue reading "What if Everything You Thought You Knew About 911 Was a Big Fat Lie?"

posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Sunday November 27 2005

updated on Saturday December 25 2010

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