The Gary Null Show is here to inform you on the best news in health, healing, the environment.

Without a second, Ralph Nader is one of the most influential Americans during the past five decades.  He is directly responsible for many of our most important bills that have provided protection to consumers against the onslaughts of corporate short-term profits and the Friedmanite free market, unregulated capitalism. landmark acts for Freedom of Information, Clean Water, Clean Air and Energy, Whistleblower Protection, Wholesome Food, and others that have been enacted by Congress.  A graduate of Princeton and Harvard universities, Ralph has been a presidential candidate for five elections, building his platform on consumer rights, humanitarian and civil rights efforts, environmental sanity, and democratic government.  Ralph’s most recent book co-authored with Mark Green is  “Fake President: Decoding Trump's Gaslighting, Corruption and General Bullsh*t" which gives a deadly rebuke to Trump's incorrigible fakery, from his dishonesty about foreign policy to blatant ignorance about the environment and his messianic narcissism. His broadcast, Ralph Nader Radio Hour airs every Thursday at 2 pm, right here on Progressive Radio Network.  Ralph's website is Nader.org and CSRL.org

To Save the Planet and Sustain Your Health, Become a Vegan

On Sunday evening, the Academy Award recipient Joachim Phoenix gave an extraordinary speech. He spoke about his personal dark side he had struggled with in the past, and how the movie industry and his peers in cinema gave him a second chance.  It was an affirmation of redemption.

For those of us in the vegan movement, Phoenix's speech was heartwarming and emblematic of the kind or revelations that emerge when a person realizes the violence from which their meat in a meal originates. It is food from a living, sentient being.  He gave the image of a mother cow giving birth to an infant calf and the mother crying for days as her calf was taken away.  Other celebrities, either in attendance or absent, have already reached this realization, such as Natalie Portman, Peter Dinklage, Michelle Pfeiffer, Woody Harrelson, director James Cameron, Daryl Hannah, Paul McCartney and many others.

Today, the science is clear. There are hundreds of reliable peer-reviewed studies supporting the benefits of a Mediterranean or a healthy plant-based diet for relieving and treating disease, including a variety of cancers. On the other side of the equation, there are equally many studies that have determined unhealthy foods such as meat contributing to cancer,  heart disease, diabetes, obesity and inflammatory illnesses such as arthritis. If we focus solely upon health issues, then disease and premature death are on the side of a meat-based lifestyle.

Some people care more about the environment than they do about themselves. Consequently their concerns about the largess of the meat industry is that it is energy intensive. The water necessary to grow a plot of potatoes compared to a hamburger is astronomical. Weaning ourselves off of meat reduces global warming because the billions of animals raised annually for human consumption increases greenhouse gas emissions, notably methane.

If you do not feel this is particularly important, then consider the frightening event of Antarctica reaching 67 degrees F earlier this month. For the last three years, the southern continent has had the highest temperatures every recorded.

Therefore, every bite counts.

There is also today a growing movement to purchase organic  plant-based food that is raised locally. This is in part because there is a highly educated class of Millennials and X-Generation who realize the importance of a healthy diet for sustaining a healthy body.

But what is perhaps equally important is to investigate and understand where our information for making wise choices comes from. Who inspires us to seek the truth? And that is why Phoenix's speech was so necessary at this time.

Throughout our lives we have two principle kinds of mentors who guide us. First, there are the policymakers. These are our parents when we are  young, school teachers when we are learning, and then when we enter society there are the captains of industry whether it is the CEO of a telecommunication company such as Verizon or any of the other large corporate entities. These are the people who establish and often write policies. From the policymakers, information trickles down through think tanks, foundations, public relations firms, lobbyists and politicians. And the media is their primary echo chamber.

The second mentor are opinion leaders. These are the people who are in the public eye and who often generate a large following.  Average people look up to them as role models and examples of what they assume is appropriate behavior. These are the people who are thought to "be in the know," ahead of the curves and who drive future trends. Sometimes they work endlessly, such as the basketball star LeBron James who inspires thousands of kids but then also represents Nike products.  Or a popular actress who speaks on behalf of a cosmetic product to sell a solution for perfect skin. There are thousands of such motivational speakers in politics, athletics, entertainment, corporate culture and the media who have been acknowledged for their success.

So when we think of a famous person as an opinion leader who becomes a vegan, there will be a sizeable number of people who will follow their advice and example.  The largest increase in the vegan movement occurs when a person who people admire acts by example and explains why it is so important to stop the suffering of animals.

Bravo for Joachim. Let us hope that others in the audience and viewers will come forward and join the effort. It only takes about 3.5 percent of the population to support any given cause in order to change the course of policymakers.

Important Vegan Facts to Consider

What if I told you that going on an incredibly delicious, cost-effective plant-based diet would:

• Reduce your risk of all cancers by 50%,
• Decrease your chance of developing diabetes by 50% and eliminate Type 2 diabetes,
• Drop your chance of developing heart disease by 24%, reduce your chance of dying from heart disease by 29% or if you have heart disease, reduce future cardiac events by 73%,
• Lower your risk of colon cancer by 40%,
• Have an 80% chance of reducing arthritis symptoms in less than four weeks,
• Assist you in losing a minimum of one pound of body weight per week until you reach your goal, and without exercising (although I recommend exercising too),
• Significantly lower high blood pressure and unhealthy cholesterol levels,
• Double the number of natural “killer cells” in the body, thereby increasing the strength of your immune system,
• Significantly lessen your likelihood of being obese,
• Help you have leaner, healthier children,
• Improve your sleep, your sex life, and your complexion,
• Give you more energy than you have ever had, and, most importantly, add quality years onto your life

In addition, despite the lack of action in the US, there are nations and major cities around the world taking climate change seriously. Visionaries and scientists are creating unique and wonderful innovations in renewable energy to challenge America's hubris, denial, and complacency. Rather than descending into apathy, withdrawing into isolation and being unwilling to face these problems, we might consider optimistic strategies for how we can individually and collectively make a difference. And the foremost effort each of us can begin at this very moment is to adopt a healthy, plant-based diet. Not only is it affordable, but a vegan lifestyle will also strengthen our physical and mental health to face the challenges ahead. It is the single most important thing each of us can do to save the planet.

What if I also told you that in one year of eating this way, you would save the lives of approximately 400 animals (fish and shellfish included), plus, you would save 300,000 gallons of water, nearly 90,000 pounds of grain (which could go to feed humans), and more than 5,700 gallons of gasoline, all while generating 50% fewer carbon emissions? You would also end your contribution through dietary choices to depleting rainforests, eroding topsoil, world hunger, and global warming, while standing for cleaner air, cleaner water in aquifers, rivers, lakes, and oceans, cleaner drinking water, the humane treatment of animals and humans, and the health of any number of species and the planet too.

Would you want to hear about it? Moreover, would you be interested in knowing that millions—and a growing number—of people in our country and around the world are choosing this diet and lifestyle right now, and for the very reasons  just pointed out?

Weaponizing Wikipedia

Richard Gale and Gary Null PhD

Progressive Radio Network, February 10, 2020

"It is dangerous to let the public behind the scenes. They are easily disillusioned and then they are angry with you for it was the illusion they loved."  -- W. Somerset Maugham

"He who despises his own life is soon master of another's. Beware, for such a man can become master of souls." -- 17th Century Irish Proverb

These quotes share something in common. Both take us behind the scenes of what on appearance are presumed to be objective and factual for anyone to believe. Both quotes also define the duplicity hidden in the editorial world of the world's largest so-called encyclopedia, Wikipedia. But very few people have the background or scholarship to spark the suspicion as to whether or not the information Wikipedia' provides on many subjects is accurate or not.  Popularity and hype trumps the reality of what Wikipedia really is. And almost no one really knows anything about the encyclopedia's parent organization, the WikiMedia Foundation.

Dr. Ken Stoller is a board pediatrician medicine, specializing in functional and natural medicine practicing at the Functional Neurology clinic in San Francisco, and an environmental activist. He is a founder and president of the International Hyperbaric Medical Association having pioneered hyperbaric treatments for various conditions including fetal alcohol syndrome. Having become frustrated with medical agency and association cover-ups and the corporate medical lobbying powers over the rapid rise in children’s developmental disabilities, Dr. Stoller and other physicians testified before Congress on the role vaccinations have played, particularly mercury, in the rise of autism and other related conditions. For a couple decades Ken has been treating stroke, autism, cerebral palsy, MS and Lyme brain disorders. Recently the state of California's Medical Board has filed a case against Dr. Stoller for medically exempting children from receiving vaccinations. He received medical degree and training from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine in 1986 and his website is BodiesInRebellion.com

Science Based Medicine: A Swamp of Medical Buffoonery 

Richard Gale 

Progressive Radio Network, February 6, 2020

Every religion, large institution, political party and scientific and social discipline has its lunatic fringe.  Within the practice of medicine in the 21st century the aberrant margins are the far extremes of alternative medical beliefs and the small clique of Science Based Medicine (SBM) within the conventional medical establishment. While the former is completely unsupported by any credible science, the latter is plagued by rampant shortsightedness, professional bias and hubris, and outright disdain towards all medical therapies that do not fall within the purview of its worldview of uncompromising scientific reductionism. 

Unfortunately, despite its small following, the leading SBM voices have succeeded in having an enormous detrimental influence over the narrative of healthcare and the freedom of medical choice in the social media, including Wikipedia. 

The Society of Science Based Medicine is the brainchild of Dr. Steven Novella at Yale University with the loyal support of his colleagues Drs. David Gorski (an oncologist at Wayne State University) and Harriet Hall. SBM blogs -- the Science Based Medicine blog, Neurologia and Respectful Insolence -- have functioned as clearing houses of opinions for the modern Skeptic organizations to source opinionated and prejudiced essays in their efforts to criticize and debunk alternative and natural medical therapies, including those that have received mainstream acceptance in the field of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).  A brief visit to the SBM blog will reveal that approximately 90 percent of its content is savage, cirumlocutory and scientifically shoddy attacks against non-conventional medicine and those who practice these natural therapies. For the most part its articles represent personal opinions rather than rigorous scientific inquiry. And the site largely serves Skeptics on the internet and Wikipedia to fuel them with ammunition in their anti-CAM campaigns.

SBM's David Gorski's articles are unquestionably the most entertaining albeit flagrantly bombastic.  In a recent article sharing his despair over the rise in CAM's popularity within the conventional medical community, he writes, 

"As much as I hate to admit it, at times I feel like Sisyphus, pushing the boulder up the hill only to have it roll down the other side, only to have to push it back up the hill and roll down again, over and over and over again for all eternity. Certainly trying to keep track of pseudoscience in medicine and trying to educate why so much of so-called “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM) is quackery (and the stuff that isn’t quackery is just medicine rebranded as CAM) and why “integrative medicine” involves integrating quackery with medicine can seem like a very Sisyphean task."

This is classic Gorski. Yet perhaps it is an indication that he may suffer from a savior complex. Does he believe he holds a prophetic mission to warn against the very bad bogey women and bogey men in the alternative and natural health communities who are determined to force upon the public vitamins, supplements, medicinal herbs, healthy diets, and alternative and natural medical therapies for personal gain? Rather than allow Gorski to wallow in the self pity of his eternal fate to battle effective natural medical treatments with his quarry, might his burden be lessened by bolting the boulder on his back? 

Conspiratorial paranoia, scientific denialism and the lack of critical thought abound in Skeptic and SBM publications. It is witnessed in SBM's unwavering defense of genetically modified foods, fluoride, and vaccines. There's Novella's defense of the endocrine disruptor Biphenol A (BPA), the herbicide glyphosate (Roundup), synthetic chemical sweeteners, and more recently the telecommunication industry's talking points about the safety of electromagnetic radiation from cell phones and the coming 5G "internet of things." Over the years SBM authors have attacked a gluten-free diet (aside from the 1 percent of people who have Celiac disease), state licensing of acupuncturists and naturopaths, plant-based diets, nutritional therapies and the Keto Diet for mental disorders, omega-3 and other dietary supplements, antioxidants, etc. In the SBM universe, with few exceptions, only pharmaceutical drugs and surgery should define the practice of medicine.

Given Novella's positions noted above, it comes as no surprise that we find him serving as an Advisory Board member for the American Council on Science and Health, a pro-industry front organization with financial ties to Chevron and ExxonMobil, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, McDonalds, Bristol Myers, Proctor and Gamble, almost all of the agricultural giants including Bayer, Monsanto, DowAgra, Syngenta and tobacco companies such as Altria, Reynolds American, Phillip Morris and British American Tobacco.  Surely this is the real quackery of junk science that poses the greatest threat to public health and costing the lives of millions of the planet's citizens.

Least worrisome is SBM's reliance upon cherry-picked science (often infected by corporate conflicts of interest), its scientific arguments against CAM (largely irrational and based upon the flawed theory of "plausibility"), and an ideological belief system (i.e., Skepticism) that strictly adheres to a dominant medical institution that we now find cracking at the seams. Once SBM's rhetoric is fully understood it echoes as an exasperated last breath effort to keep alive the failures of Herbert Spencer's, Marx's and the founder of scientism August Comte's nineteenth century scientific materialism. And unless SBM receives imperial decree, there is very little chance this fringe movement will gain much popularity nor have any constructive  impact within the medical community. 

The Skeptic proponents of SBM seem determined to prevent medicine from evolving beyond its current reductionist, materialist perspective. For that reason SBM's followers adamantly oppose funding research that may someday explain why and how alternative healing modalities have been successful for countless people worldwide. Consequently Skeptics are the strongest opponents of the growing trend in CAM therapies entering medical school curriculums and being offered in hospitals and clinical settings. In recent years, the American Medical Students Association has sponsored an Integrative Medicine Day.  Novella and Gorski have damned this effort as "quackademic medicine" and have published articles excoriating the study of natural health treatments as a threat to science.  Writing for the New York Times, health journalist David Freedman called these medical Skeptics "prickly anti-alternative medicine warriors."

However what is far more vexing is SBM's religious zealotry to discredit any and all alternative medical practices it does not agree with. This is best displayed by these authors' consistent use of demeaning language and exhibiting a narcissistic sense of intellectual superiority. More often, we might find ourselves questioning their state of mind and lack of reasonable integrity. For example, SBM advocates are readily adverse to the precautionary principle. Once they grasp on to a belief, such as the non-toxicity of fluoride or glyphosate, this belief rapidly morphs into dogma despite the evidence to the contrary.

But modern medicine's increasing acceptance of CAM therapies, according to Gorski, is a trend to mourn. In his article "NCCIH Surveys Physicians on Their Recommendations of 'Complementary Health Approaches,' with Depressing Results," he opines over a press release by the NIH's National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health that reported,

"More than half of office-based physicians recommend at least one complementary health approach to their patients, according to a new analysis of data from a nationally representative survey. In addition, female physicians recommended every complementary health approach at a higher rate than male physicians except for chiropractic and osteopathic manipulation." 

The remainder of Gorski's article is a criticism of the report's underlying message and then reshaping facts into SBM's own image. It is intellectual alchemy that only unveils a deep seated callowness and animosity towards natural health and those who practice it. Gorksi states that it bothers him "that so many physicians recommend vitamins and supplements," and it bothers him more "that so many physicians recommend acupuncture (22.4%), homeopathy (12.6%), and naturopathy (10.4%)." David, we are delighted you are bothered! Welcome to the evolutionary changes happening within modern medicine that finally woke to the volumes of research Skeptics categorically ignore and deny. 

Seemingly Gorski and Novella want to carry medicine back to the days of the Flexner report at the beginning of the last century when modern medicine first turned tyrannical to appease industrial giants such as Carnegie and Rockefeller.   

Gorski writes,

"... if you don’t understand that naturopathy is a hodgepodge of pseudoscience and quackery mixed with some sensible interventions based on diet and lifestyle (although, truth be told, even the science-based interventions used by naturopaths are usually tainted with pseudoscience), you should not be a physician."

Regarding acupuncture, he writes,

"Many years ago, I once thought there might be something to acupuncture. The more I read, the more I studied it, though, the more I realized that it’s just a theatrical placebo and that its only effects are nonspecific placebo effects."

And the more I read SBM articles and these lengthy diatribes attacking the advances in alternative health, the more I realize that Gorski, Novella, et al. may be living in an alternative universe. 

Finally David concludes,

"In reality, this study is very much like every other NCCIH study examining CAM usage: Its function is marketing, not “to inform”. Expect it to be used to argue how popular CAM is, how many doctors accept it, and thus to argue to policymakers and insurance companies that CAM should be reimbursable by government and private health insurance plans."

And here we rediscover one of SBM's favorite conspiracies; that is, everyone practicing alternative medicine is a hustler and charlatan selling placebos and snake oil for profit and personal gain. It is beyond belief that these folks fail to consider the possibility that because there are tens of thousands of alternative health practitioners serving millions of clients and patients it might have something to do with the success and effectiveness of these healing modalities. I realize that this may be a difficult stunt for a Skeptic brain to comprehend, but it is a very simple and common sense possibility they may wish to consider.

One among many glaring reasons why there has been a large uptick of interest in CAM, both within the medical profession and among the public, is the loss of trust in conventional medicine. This has nothing to do with CAM advertizing or propaganda as SBM skeptics want us to believe. Instead it is a sign of the increasing failures in our medical system. Drug companies' claims are no longer trustworthy. The federal health agencies consistently betray us by fast-tracking drugs that only shortly thereafter need to be stamped with a black box warning. For decades the industry has become a profitable machine sourcing false promises about the latest medications to hit the market. Its court fines for engaging in unethical or illegal activities grow annually. And conventional medicine's graveyard of victims is many square miles larger than the tiny land plot of casualties that may be attributed to CAM.  

If we undertake a thought experiment to carry SBM's principles, criticisms and beliefs to their ultimate conclusion, what might modern medicine look like through the eyes of an SBM Skeptic? SBM imagines itself to be the new paradigm of conventional medicine that will replace the current widely accepted "evidence-based medicine" model. It hails itself as the future paradigm for evaluating medical research and to recommend best practices and treatments. Yet its failure lies in contributing absolutely no original research to improve the practice of medicine. Rather, as I have noted above, SBM is a repository of sarcasm, mean-spiritedness and criticism. It is a harbinger of a medical Inquisition in its witch hunt to defame CAM practitioners and their therapies. Therefore if a curse from the heavens were to fall upon America's healthcare and SBM proponents were to take control over national healthcare policies and medical schools, what might our healthcare system develop into? Based upon what we can surmise and extract from the numerous articles on the SBM websites, what would be our options for freedom of medical choice?  How accessible would natural and alternative health therapies be for patients?

Below is the list I compiled that is based upon conclusions I have drawn from SBM articles criticizing CAM therapies and other health-related topics:

• Defund and discontinue the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (CAM);
• Cease government research grants for alternative health modalities and therapies;
• Discontinue CAM courses in medical schools and discourage education in CAM therapies at universities;
• Chiropractic practice would be limited to only a small number of health indications and would not be covered by insurance plans. Access to Chiropractic services, therefore, would be strictly out of pocket;
• Similarly, acupuncture could only be provided for a small number of medical indications and would likely require a physician's recommendation or prescription;
• Vitamin supplements would be removed as over-the-counter products and put into the hands of pharmaceutical companies;
• Many supplements, or all supplements, would require a doctor's prescription;
• All dietary and nutritional counseling must conform to the terribly outdated standards set forth by the American Dietetic Association, which represents mainstream pharmaceutical interests; 
• No state could authorize Naturopathic medical board certifications, and current states that recognize Naturopathic practice would have permissions revoked;
• The large majority of botanical medicines would no longer be available, and likely not purchasable over the counter;
• The practice of homeopathy would be outlawed and the sale of homeopathic remedies would be banned;
• The practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Indian Ayurveda, and Energy Medicine (e.g. Reiki, polarity therapy, therapeutic touch, emotional freedom technique) would be prohibited;
• A nationwide moratorium would be set to prohibit the labeling of genetically modified foods (GMOs);
• Water from public utilities and dental products, such as toothpaste and mouthwash, would be required to contain fluoride;
• Vaccination for all children and adults would be mandated at a national level and children could be vaccinated without parental approval. Failure to comply could result in outrageous fines or criminal proceedings.
• Finally, all sites focused on alternative health, plant-based diets and natural nutrition, vaccination hesitancy, dangers of electromagnetic radiation, GMOs risks, etc would be strictly censored.

Undoubtedly, this list may appear to be unduly extreme and perhaps unfair; nevertheless, I believe it accurately reflects the condemnations and hate-mongering found scattered throughout SBM and Skeptic blogs and articles. Skeptics disproportionately ridicule CAM while at the same time fail to critically evaluate their own medical profession's rickety research that finds its way into peer-reviewed medical journals. Furthermore, this is the same scenario subtly being promoted by the Skeptics on Wikipedia's alternative health pages who are in the habit of referencing Gorski, Novella and other SBM authors in addition to SBM's predecessor Stephen Barrett and Quackwatch. 

If my list is accurate, it portrays a regime that may best be defined as medical fascism.  In my opinion SBM should never be perceived as a champion of public health. Rather it is an ideological cancer. Its authors are master wordsmiths who use the language of science to tailor the illusion of Science-Based Medicine as a new gold standard; nevertheless, it is only a ruse to confuse the public and to restore the dying Flexner paradigm of modern medicine that should be buried alongside its millions of victims.

The Gary Null Show is here to inform you on the best news in health, healing, the environment. Effects of cocoa-derived polyphenols on cognitive function in humans, Researchers identify link between decreased depressive symptoms, yoga and the neurotransmitter GABA, Mushrooms may alleviate features of pre-eclampsia, Folic acid supplementation could counteract effects of sleep deprivation, Time Spent In Nature Will Save $6 Trillion Globally In Mental Health Care Costs, Claim Australian Researchers. 

Quackwatch's Promotion of Psychiatric Propaganda

Richard Gale and Gary Null PhD

Progressive Radio Network, February 3, 2020

Every respectable journalist, especially investigative reporters, have multiple sources for stories they are working on. Major news outlets and news papers, such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and television news networks will also have independent fact checkers who review and vet content to validate the content's accuracy.  One media source that has risen to become one of the world's most popular resources for information, used by more people than all of the major American newspapers combined, is Wikipedia.

However, unlike mainstream journalism, Wikipedia does not pass the smell test of being legitimately credible. Editors and writers are more often than not anonymous. Their background, expertise and scholarship on any given subject are largely unknown. This is especially the case for many of Wikipedia's pages dealing with Alternative and Complementary Medicine (CAM) and the personal biographies of CAM's leading practitioners and advocates. Moreover, although Wikipedia has strict rules for determining what are reliable and unreliable resources for sourcing citations, these guidelines are often not adhered to or intentionally ignored altogether.  Instead, many sources relied upon to discredit CAM and non-conventional medical doctors and practitioners are dubious at best. In some cases they are solely resources publishing ideological propaganda and personal opinions.