Kevin Bass, BTW, became a “relevant” medical commentator for pumping out absurd, vitriolic, unhinged hit tweets against anti-establishment science writers in the field of diet and nutrition.
He’s totally devoted to The Science in that realm, and has done everything he can to propagandize against those who offer reasoned critiques against…
Kevin Bass, BTW, became a “relevant” medical commentator for pumping out absurd, vitriolic, unhinged hit tweets against anti-establishment science writers in the field of diet and nutrition.
He’s totally devoted to The Science in that realm, and has done everything he can to propagandize against those who offer reasoned critiques against it.
You can disagree with the perspectives presented by Taubes or Teicholz, but they’ve undoubtedly produced formidable scholarship/journalism that should be dealt with in kind — not through character assassination, strawmanning, etc.
Bass has long been a power serving sycophant — now deployed as an operative of some kind.
I deliberately avoided looking into his background or doing any type of a character assassination on him because Newsweek was publishing this (and edited it) so I viewed it as Newsweek's position stated by a third party (a medical student). My view instead was the article should be judged by exactly what it said and nothing else.
I thought they chose a med student to write it so it could sound official (and medical) without them having to commit to a doctor stating it, plus people would be less likely to attack a medical student (although as a year 7 MD PhD he basically is a doctor).
I wrote more about the third party technique here:
I'm an RN, not a doctor, but I thought after 4 years of med school one became an MD, then residency and fellowships continue one's training but under the title of officially being a doctor.
"7th year med student" makes him sound like he was held back, like a "16 year old 8th grader".
So basically it takes that long to fully indoctrinate them into Allopathy. I worked in hospice / chronic care but follow holistic medicine models in my life. We are now at an existential crisis. And its about time
One has to ask if anyone should enter conventional "healthcare"? Isn't it a giagantic ethical mess and series of major compromises on real health care, ie how do you treat the core health issues, not the symptoms?
I would say that only alternative, chiropractic, herbalist, and other similar practitioners could possibly make proper diagnostics and recommendations.
Agree the identity of the author isn't germane to your analysis. It's just very, very, very conspicuous THIS DUDE shows up as the "medical student" speaking truth to power.
He's a self-declared dietary science "misinformation" buster. A volunteer fact-checker working hard on behalf of the status-quo.
Spidey sense is he's being groomed for, or at least posturing for, some kind of promotion where he might wield his mythbusting wand more prominently.
Prominently "speaking truth to power" or engineering attention in other ways would seem to be consistent for a guy with a last name such as his which likely indicates that he's from a ruling class family. Usually they come out of nowhere and are rocketed quickly to positions of influence and authority, which hasn't happened to him though, so my suspicions could be off mark. What I mean by that is that he should've whizzed through all that skooling in a couple of years. Kinda like young generals that get decorated like Christmas trees in no time flat.
I could not care less what a medical student has to say in this matter unless it's about his experiences in the system. On the other hand, it shows very clearly that even as a fledgling he's already adopted the attitude superior taken by many establishment medicos as well as a wholly undeserved sense of authority so i suppose that's useful to see.
To put even a weak apology to the public onto a student instead of a head of FDA or similar person also illustrates contempt for the public.
"Get the apprentice to do it, those in charge have no time!"
It is our failed culture. Those who aquire power have zero responsibility to the public. Their only responsibility is to themselves maintaining or if possible acquiring more power
Pure manipulation, including the choice of message presenter. He is "one of us," they would have you believe. He represents the caring side of these Sonderkommandos. The article is to soften the intensity of the response to what they have been unsuccessful at hiding (completely).
Here’s what I wrote to one of the more prominent know-it-alls at a well known “libertarian” site who wrote, “The Maskers Just Took a Beating,” published today.
You wrote, “[The Cochrane report] is highly respected, and is known for its serious research methods.”
That was the case but Cochrane lost much of its credibility when they forced one of its founders out.
Their pathetic “admission” should be seen for what it is, a pathetic attempt to reestablish credibility. It’s similar to Newsweek’s attempt with its “apology” no doubt ghost written by a team of professionals and “authored” by the soi disant authority with the name of Bass as in Bass Pro Shops, Bass shoes, and no telling what else. The propagandist is probably a member of one of the richest families in Texas, according to Forbes, and in this context I believe that could tell us something useful.
Since I stopped reading after your first claim, you may have already addressed the possibility. If so, good for you. If not, you may want to pay closer attention to how the skunks operate and act (write) accordingly.
"I could not care less what a medical student has to say in this matter unless it's about his experiences in the system. "
Or unless he comes clean about his motives and background. Even then I wouldn't bet the bank on its veracity. He's likely nothing more than a Billy Gates who's made to appear that he's at least completed kollitch and therefore must be more "authoritative" on the matters at hand.
One simply doesn't get published in the rags without connections.
He's probably not just some plebian med student and I doubt he wrote it. The name alone suggests otherwise...and gives us a clue as to what it is, I think.
I do heartily agree with the idea that the thing should be judged on it's own merits and you did a(nother) masterful job. It's up to us to check out and comment on his background for confirmation or suspicion of our own conclusions but only after reading it and only if we're so inclined.
You often learn more by asking key questions than by stating opinions. The answers you get back are a clue to the direction in which the narrative is being steered.
Without a doubt. I've long admired the "Socratic" approach for that and other reasons. I find it fascinating how few people show any interest in any opinions besides their own. Most don't even want to hear possibly useful info.
I find that a very few well placed questions is often worth more than a ton of assertions.
How does that work in publishing? I assumed they just sifted through submissions until they found something they could run with, and maybe helped a bit with editing. People do submit unsolicited material, right? It would give you some distance, as in "the views of our editorial writers do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication." Or have I got that wrong?
When you become prominent you are approached by PR agencies who offer to write articles or opinion pieces for you to publish under your own name. I suspect at least half of all "bylined" publications of "experts" are ghost written by PR agencies hired by political interest groups to give fake credence to their positions. I used to be approached by these people all the time and they often sent me completed editorials, Congressional testimony, or letters ready to be signed and sent. I didn't play the game so they eventually went away.
Many scientific, medical and legal experts do not write in language that is well understood by the public. PR firms play the important role of translating their jargon into comprehensible (but often inaccurate) writing that sways the public. It is part of the "third party technique" propaganda you exposed in an earlier posting.
Yes. Over 60 years ago the science editor of "The Saturday Review," John Lear, wrote a series of articles dealing with the same issues that we're still dealing with and he describes exactly that in one of them. I have not found it yet, but ran across this, which most of us can relate to. I believe that Sackler owned some of the PR publishers and was involved in publishing propaganda disguised as expert opinions by KOLs.
"HERE is a curious parallel with the case of Henry Welch, Ph.D., [KOL par excellence], the U.S. Food and Drug Administration antibiotic division chief who lost his job after being discovered in the private pay of antibiotics promotion journals. Dr. Welch became associated with those journals after a meeting between the original co-owner of them and Dr. Arthur Sackler, a psychiatrist who chairs the board of William Douglas Mc - Adams, Inc., the biggest drug advertising agency in America (see SR/ 3 March 1962). And the recent incitement of medical opposition to Congressional restriction on unlimited freedom in doctors' use of human guinea pigs has centered in a series of reports in Medical Tribune, a paramedical newspaper that was founded by Dr. Arthur Sackler among others and has been serviced editorially by an oganization owned by Dr. Arthur Sackler.
For a good overview of the hanky-panky in the pharmaceutical industry, I recommend the book Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre. I think there was an entire chapter about KOLs.
It was published pre-Covid by several years, so things have only accelerated since then.
Malcolm Kendrick also published an excellent book that's more focused on the statistical manipulation of pharmaceutical studies, Doctoring Data. He also frequently writes about it on his blog; for example the criticism of peer review https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2022/11/24/cleaning-the-augean-stables-part-i/
Added bonus, he's a very entertaining writer, especially if you imagine it in his Scottish accent.
I recently read his book "The Clot Thickens." In addition to being a fount of information, he does, as you say, have a great "voice" and is very entertaining.
And this is something relatively recent in PR - I used to want to work for one of the top firms, and I don't think they were doing this solicitation in the past. I followed the industry for a while & was gifted a free subscription by John Stauber of PR Watch to that publication - but that was then & here we are.
That should also have been a red flag for me -"why is a defense contractor handling logistics for vaccine distribution?" But I'd heard Catherine Austin Fitts say lots of Federal work (not just health related) is farmed out to defense contractors, probably because of black budgets, lack of oversight, etc.
Oh thank you for reminding me of the PR firm's name who worked for defense contractor ANSR on the Warp Speed program! I just couldn't remember it, after learning of it back when I followed David Martin Ph.D. in 2021 (Activate Humanity). Yes, I ordered Laura's book in summer 2021, when I learned the publisher was shipping free to US! I am indebted to Robin Monotti in the UK for learning a lot of the non-approved narrative back in 2020 & early 2021. He helped give Dr Yeadon a platform when the latter was being messed with for his findings.
It is kind of funny in a creepy way. The first big contract came out under the Trump administration. The democrats were in an uproar for about 1 week. They thought it was to blunt their Trump killed everyone with covid campaign strategy. I suspect the DOD told them to shut up because they all stopped at once. Biden admin continued the contracts.
Came here to share the same thing. Kevin Bass has been a belligerent a**hole for a looooooong time in the diet/nutrition/exercise world. He is deservedly well-hated in that circle.
I wrote the following on AMD’s comment on Meryl’s post about this topic:
“Thank you for your writings, AMD, they have been very helpful in unpacking this gobbledy goo.
I have followed his [Kevin’s] Twitter for quite a while since I used to be especially interested in Dean Ornish, Lifestyle Medicine, and “plant-based diets” as advertised by Essenstyn, Campbell, Barnard et al.
His shift was sudden. Hard to know what happened behind the scenes, but I appreciate your thoughtful approach.”
Seeing that comment near the end about ghostwriters makes me think it’s not unlikely that this article was industry-written and then Mr. Bass was chosen to be the author and he agreed because it’s fancy to be published in Newsweek. And maybe he agreed with the content. But it when I first read it, it didn’t sound like him, and now it makes more sense that it was crafted in that strategic kind of way.
Also, he is ongoingly active on Twitter. I don’t see why he wouldn’t debate Steve Kirsch or engage here? It will be interesting to follow.
This comment made me lol. The thought arose as the sound “gobbledy goo” in my mind. My phone autocorrected to gobbledygook, but I changed it to preserve my apparent neologism.
You would probably enjoy these short letters by T Jefferson who expressed similar sentiments. The one to Norvell is particularly interesting.
"I have so completely withdrawn myself from these spectacles of usurpation & misrule, that I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month; & I feel myself infinitely the happier for it."
-Jefferson letter To Tench Coxe Monticello, May 1, 1794
"…for I knew nothing of the facts. I read no newspaper now but Ritchie's, and in that chiefly the advertisements, for they contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper." [ ed comment: we all know how much truth is in those! 😉]
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to To Nathaniel Macon, Monticello, January 12, 1819
"I will add, that the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors. "
-Thomas Jefferson to John Norvell, 14 June 1807
Heck it even applies to medical journals!
Drummond Rennie: deputy editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association:
‘There seems to be no study too fragmented, no hypothesis too trivial, no literature citation too biased or too egotistical, no design too warped, no methodology too bungled, no presentation of results too inaccurate, too obscure, and too contradictory, no analysis too self-serving, no argument too circular, no conclusions too trifling or too unjustified, and no grammar and syntax too offensive for a paper to end up in print.’
Why most published research findings are false. Ioannidis JPA.PLoS Med. 2005;2:e124. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
What I mean is that the type switches messages like a liar changes stories so their shiftyness is a good clue that they're looking for a way to get what they want dishonestly (is there any other way for them?).
I'm always amazed at the twists and turns of FDR's constantly varying "New Deals" or Stalin's multiple 5 Year Plans and NEPs (New Economic Policies) or our bankers' and industrialists' funding of both Communism and Fascism, then their apparent antagonsim to those useful idiot fakosophies. One minute petroleum is all the rage, then nuclear power is, next minute they're both our doom; today eggs are suddenly bad, tomorrow they're healthy etc., etc.
One minute covid is gonna exterminate us all and the jabs are our only salvation. Now it's in fashion to bash the mess.
The sudden shifts can be relied upon to suggest that the first thing in fashion was a fraud.
He's a nobody but likely has big bucks behind him. If his titles (MD, Qrs, XYz, etc) have not been purchased, (philanthropy, ya know), and his "authority" embellished and promoted, bring some salt cuz I'll eat my socks.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Bass family owns Newsweek or at least has a ton of influence.
As noted above (“ Bass has long been a power serving sycophant — now deployed as an operative of some kind.”), I also noticed that a few years ago in regards to Bass and his fallacious attacks against low-carb advocates. The rulers of Corporate $¢I€N¢€ need to replenish their ranks with new lieutenants to replace those currently being sacrificed.
"Bass has long been a power serving sycophant — now deployed as an operative of some kind."
I looked up the name and I believe it may explain why your comment is probably correct. Check it out. Big money family name. I doubt he's some distant relative of the clan.
His new substack was launched last month, about the same time as the Newsweek opinion piece. Surprise surprise, he's going to be selling advice on diet, nutrition, supplements, and pharmaceuticals.
I was never one to take supplements because there's no real way to know what goes into that stuff. Usually those promoting it strike me as questionable too and this reinforces the notion. Another quack pushing garbage we don't need that could possibly (Likely) be harmless.
Kevin Bass, BTW, became a “relevant” medical commentator for pumping out absurd, vitriolic, unhinged hit tweets against anti-establishment science writers in the field of diet and nutrition.
He’s totally devoted to The Science in that realm, and has done everything he can to propagandize against those who offer reasoned critiques against it.
You can disagree with the perspectives presented by Taubes or Teicholz, but they’ve undoubtedly produced formidable scholarship/journalism that should be dealt with in kind — not through character assassination, strawmanning, etc.
Bass has long been a power serving sycophant — now deployed as an operative of some kind.
Thank you for sharing.
I deliberately avoided looking into his background or doing any type of a character assassination on him because Newsweek was publishing this (and edited it) so I viewed it as Newsweek's position stated by a third party (a medical student). My view instead was the article should be judged by exactly what it said and nothing else.
I thought they chose a med student to write it so it could sound official (and medical) without them having to commit to a doctor stating it, plus people would be less likely to attack a medical student (although as a year 7 MD PhD he basically is a doctor).
I wrote more about the third party technique here:
https://amidwesterndoctor.substack.com/p/what-is-the-third-party-technique
I'm an RN, not a doctor, but I thought after 4 years of med school one became an MD, then residency and fellowships continue one's training but under the title of officially being a doctor.
"7th year med student" makes him sound like he was held back, like a "16 year old 8th grader".
MD/PhD programs are 7 to 8 years.
So basically it takes that long to fully indoctrinate them into Allopathy. I worked in hospice / chronic care but follow holistic medicine models in my life. We are now at an existential crisis. And its about time
One has to ask if anyone should enter conventional "healthcare"? Isn't it a giagantic ethical mess and series of major compromises on real health care, ie how do you treat the core health issues, not the symptoms?
I would say that only alternative, chiropractic, herbalist, and other similar practitioners could possibly make proper diagnostics and recommendations.
Thanks. I guess for some folks 8 years of college just isn't enough!
My thoughts too
Agree the identity of the author isn't germane to your analysis. It's just very, very, very conspicuous THIS DUDE shows up as the "medical student" speaking truth to power.
He's a self-declared dietary science "misinformation" buster. A volunteer fact-checker working hard on behalf of the status-quo.
Spidey sense is he's being groomed for, or at least posturing for, some kind of promotion where he might wield his mythbusting wand more prominently.
Prominently "speaking truth to power" or engineering attention in other ways would seem to be consistent for a guy with a last name such as his which likely indicates that he's from a ruling class family. Usually they come out of nowhere and are rocketed quickly to positions of influence and authority, which hasn't happened to him though, so my suspicions could be off mark. What I mean by that is that he should've whizzed through all that skooling in a couple of years. Kinda like young generals that get decorated like Christmas trees in no time flat.
No doubt a student of Peter Hotez, who in 2018 published "Crafting Your Scientist Brand" https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3000024.
Now that he's got all this attention, he just launched a substack that will be selling supplements and dietary advice.
I sense that too .. maybe he wants to be David Gorski ("Science Based Medicine")when he grows up ~ https://roundingtheearth.substack.com/p/the-rounding-the-gorski-challenge
I shall never again buy a pair of Bass shoes or shop at a Bass Pro Shop. No telling what else they're into, and it's probably best not to know.
Still...I can resist anything. Except temptation.
I could not care less what a medical student has to say in this matter unless it's about his experiences in the system. On the other hand, it shows very clearly that even as a fledgling he's already adopted the attitude superior taken by many establishment medicos as well as a wholly undeserved sense of authority so i suppose that's useful to see.
To put even a weak apology to the public onto a student instead of a head of FDA or similar person also illustrates contempt for the public.
"Get the apprentice to do it, those in charge have no time!"
That makes me imagine a hospital press conference, and it’s beyond a stretch to think a medical student would be anywhere near the mic.
Damage control. Complete with an "authority."
Makes me trust 'em even less, which I didn't think was possible.
If I can't ignore 'em, I laugh at 'em. Been laughing a lot lately.
It is our failed culture. Those who aquire power have zero responsibility to the public. Their only responsibility is to themselves maintaining or if possible acquiring more power
I think this is what they call a limited hang out. Very limited.
Like sending the rookie in to test the radiation level.
Or the old life cereal commercial, “ here’s Mikey get Mikey to try it he’ll eat anything!”
'Zackly!
Article no longer there lol
Pure manipulation, including the choice of message presenter. He is "one of us," they would have you believe. He represents the caring side of these Sonderkommandos. The article is to soften the intensity of the response to what they have been unsuccessful at hiding (completely).
Yup.
Here’s what I wrote to one of the more prominent know-it-alls at a well known “libertarian” site who wrote, “The Maskers Just Took a Beating,” published today.
You wrote, “[The Cochrane report] is highly respected, and is known for its serious research methods.”
That was the case but Cochrane lost much of its credibility when they forced one of its founders out.
Their pathetic “admission” should be seen for what it is, a pathetic attempt to reestablish credibility. It’s similar to Newsweek’s attempt with its “apology” no doubt ghost written by a team of professionals and “authored” by the soi disant authority with the name of Bass as in Bass Pro Shops, Bass shoes, and no telling what else. The propagandist is probably a member of one of the richest families in Texas, according to Forbes, and in this context I believe that could tell us something useful.
Since I stopped reading after your first claim, you may have already addressed the possibility. If so, good for you. If not, you may want to pay closer attention to how the skunks operate and act (write) accordingly.
"I could not care less what a medical student has to say in this matter unless it's about his experiences in the system. "
Or unless he comes clean about his motives and background. Even then I wouldn't bet the bank on its veracity. He's likely nothing more than a Billy Gates who's made to appear that he's at least completed kollitch and therefore must be more "authoritative" on the matters at hand.
One simply doesn't get published in the rags without connections.
He's probably not just some plebian med student and I doubt he wrote it. The name alone suggests otherwise...and gives us a clue as to what it is, I think.
I do heartily agree with the idea that the thing should be judged on it's own merits and you did a(nother) masterful job. It's up to us to check out and comment on his background for confirmation or suspicion of our own conclusions but only after reading it and only if we're so inclined.
Thanks once again.
Thank you too!
Hey, ya wanna go toodling down to the nearest Bass Pro Shop in our new Bass shoes and check out the specials? Wink, Wink. ;)
You often learn more by asking key questions than by stating opinions. The answers you get back are a clue to the direction in which the narrative is being steered.
https://www.media-ecology.org/What-Is-Media-Ecology
Without a doubt. I've long admired the "Socratic" approach for that and other reasons. I find it fascinating how few people show any interest in any opinions besides their own. Most don't even want to hear possibly useful info.
I find that a very few well placed questions is often worth more than a ton of assertions.
"I thought they chose a med student to write it"
How does that work in publishing? I assumed they just sifted through submissions until they found something they could run with, and maybe helped a bit with editing. People do submit unsolicited material, right? It would give you some distance, as in "the views of our editorial writers do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication." Or have I got that wrong?
When you become prominent you are approached by PR agencies who offer to write articles or opinion pieces for you to publish under your own name. I suspect at least half of all "bylined" publications of "experts" are ghost written by PR agencies hired by political interest groups to give fake credence to their positions. I used to be approached by these people all the time and they often sent me completed editorials, Congressional testimony, or letters ready to be signed and sent. I didn't play the game so they eventually went away.
This is a really good comment I am going to add to the article.
Most people have no idea that this is happening. Thank you for this insight.
Look up Key Opinion Leaders too!
Thanks, I didn't know the technique had its own name. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-36822-7_12
Many scientific, medical and legal experts do not write in language that is well understood by the public. PR firms play the important role of translating their jargon into comprehensible (but often inaccurate) writing that sways the public. It is part of the "third party technique" propaganda you exposed in an earlier posting.
Yes. Over 60 years ago the science editor of "The Saturday Review," John Lear, wrote a series of articles dealing with the same issues that we're still dealing with and he describes exactly that in one of them. I have not found it yet, but ran across this, which most of us can relate to. I believe that Sackler owned some of the PR publishers and was involved in publishing propaganda disguised as expert opinions by KOLs.
"HERE is a curious parallel with the case of Henry Welch, Ph.D., [KOL par excellence], the U.S. Food and Drug Administration antibiotic division chief who lost his job after being discovered in the private pay of antibiotics promotion journals. Dr. Welch became associated with those journals after a meeting between the original co-owner of them and Dr. Arthur Sackler, a psychiatrist who chairs the board of William Douglas Mc - Adams, Inc., the biggest drug advertising agency in America (see SR/ 3 March 1962). And the recent incitement of medical opposition to Congressional restriction on unlimited freedom in doctors' use of human guinea pigs has centered in a series of reports in Medical Tribune, a paramedical newspaper that was founded by Dr. Arthur Sackler among others and has been serviced editorially by an oganization owned by Dr. Arthur Sackler.
Human Guinea Pigs and the Law
by John Lear
The Saturday Review, October 6, 1962, p. 55
https://www.unz.com/print/SaturdayRev-1962oct06-00055/
For a good overview of the hanky-panky in the pharmaceutical industry, I recommend the book Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre. I think there was an entire chapter about KOLs.
It was published pre-Covid by several years, so things have only accelerated since then.
Malcolm Kendrick also published an excellent book that's more focused on the statistical manipulation of pharmaceutical studies, Doctoring Data. He also frequently writes about it on his blog; for example the criticism of peer review https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2022/11/24/cleaning-the-augean-stables-part-i/
Added bonus, he's a very entertaining writer, especially if you imagine it in his Scottish accent.
I recently read his book "The Clot Thickens." In addition to being a fount of information, he does, as you say, have a great "voice" and is very entertaining.
And this is something relatively recent in PR - I used to want to work for one of the top firms, and I don't think they were doing this solicitation in the past. I followed the industry for a while & was gifted a free subscription by John Stauber of PR Watch to that publication - but that was then & here we are.
Have you read Laura Dodsworth's book State of Fear about the SAGE group in the UK? Fors Marsh did that work in the USA. The receipts are here.
https://www.usaspending.gov/recipient/9fc60084-0841-d30d-d513-79bcde62e106-C/latest
That should also have been a red flag for me -"why is a defense contractor handling logistics for vaccine distribution?" But I'd heard Catherine Austin Fitts say lots of Federal work (not just health related) is farmed out to defense contractors, probably because of black budgets, lack of oversight, etc.
Oh thank you for reminding me of the PR firm's name who worked for defense contractor ANSR on the Warp Speed program! I just couldn't remember it, after learning of it back when I followed David Martin Ph.D. in 2021 (Activate Humanity). Yes, I ordered Laura's book in summer 2021, when I learned the publisher was shipping free to US! I am indebted to Robin Monotti in the UK for learning a lot of the non-approved narrative back in 2020 & early 2021. He helped give Dr Yeadon a platform when the latter was being messed with for his findings.
Why did I never know that before?
It is kind of funny in a creepy way. The first big contract came out under the Trump administration. The democrats were in an uproar for about 1 week. They thought it was to blunt their Trump killed everyone with covid campaign strategy. I suspect the DOD told them to shut up because they all stopped at once. Biden admin continued the contracts.
Sweet.
Great point. Similar things happen with political junk mail for us ordinary folk.
Came here to share the same thing. Kevin Bass has been a belligerent a**hole for a looooooong time in the diet/nutrition/exercise world. He is deservedly well-hated in that circle.
OFD - Love your name/title!
I wrote the following on AMD’s comment on Meryl’s post about this topic:
“Thank you for your writings, AMD, they have been very helpful in unpacking this gobbledy goo.
I have followed his [Kevin’s] Twitter for quite a while since I used to be especially interested in Dean Ornish, Lifestyle Medicine, and “plant-based diets” as advertised by Essenstyn, Campbell, Barnard et al.
His shift was sudden. Hard to know what happened behind the scenes, but I appreciate your thoughtful approach.”
Seeing that comment near the end about ghostwriters makes me think it’s not unlikely that this article was industry-written and then Mr. Bass was chosen to be the author and he agreed because it’s fancy to be published in Newsweek. And maybe he agreed with the content. But it when I first read it, it didn’t sound like him, and now it makes more sense that it was crafted in that strategic kind of way.
Also, he is ongoingly active on Twitter. I don’t see why he wouldn’t debate Steve Kirsch or engage here? It will be interesting to follow.
While I do like the term "gobbledy goo", accuracy compels me to tell you that the correct term is "gobbledygook"!!
Reminiscent of the substitution of "dribble" for "drivel". Oh, the horror!!
Maybe we can enjoy both! ;)
This comment made me lol. The thought arose as the sound “gobbledy goo” in my mind. My phone autocorrected to gobbledygook, but I changed it to preserve my apparent neologism.
:)
There is nothing fancy about being published in Newsweek. Real news seekers gave up on it years ago.
You would probably enjoy these short letters by T Jefferson who expressed similar sentiments. The one to Norvell is particularly interesting.
"I have so completely withdrawn myself from these spectacles of usurpation & misrule, that I do not take a single newspaper, nor read one a month; & I feel myself infinitely the happier for it."
-Jefferson letter To Tench Coxe Monticello, May 1, 1794
http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/presidents/thomas-jefferson/letters-of-thomas-jefferson/jefl107.php
"…for I knew nothing of the facts. I read no newspaper now but Ritchie's, and in that chiefly the advertisements, for they contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper." [ ed comment: we all know how much truth is in those! 😉]
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to To Nathaniel Macon, Monticello, January 12, 1819
"I will add, that the man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods & errors. "
-Thomas Jefferson to John Norvell, 14 June 1807
Heck it even applies to medical journals!
Drummond Rennie: deputy editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association:
‘There seems to be no study too fragmented, no hypothesis too trivial, no literature citation too biased or too egotistical, no design too warped, no methodology too bungled, no presentation of results too inaccurate, too obscure, and too contradictory, no analysis too self-serving, no argument too circular, no conclusions too trifling or too unjustified, and no grammar and syntax too offensive for a paper to end up in print.’
Why most published research findings are false. Ioannidis JPA.PLoS Med. 2005;2:e124. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
The latter is what you get in a "publish or perish" world.
Thank you, will have a look. Love the comments! I feel that way about ,much "news" at he moment!
Quick question, do you agree with the addition I put at the article about you and this comment?
That's a great point; he needs to debate him!!!
"His shift was sudden."
At least they're consistent!
What I mean is that the type switches messages like a liar changes stories so their shiftyness is a good clue that they're looking for a way to get what they want dishonestly (is there any other way for them?).
I'm always amazed at the twists and turns of FDR's constantly varying "New Deals" or Stalin's multiple 5 Year Plans and NEPs (New Economic Policies) or our bankers' and industrialists' funding of both Communism and Fascism, then their apparent antagonsim to those useful idiot fakosophies. One minute petroleum is all the rage, then nuclear power is, next minute they're both our doom; today eggs are suddenly bad, tomorrow they're healthy etc., etc.
One minute covid is gonna exterminate us all and the jabs are our only salvation. Now it's in fashion to bash the mess.
The sudden shifts can be relied upon to suggest that the first thing in fashion was a fraud.
He's a nobody but likely has big bucks behind him. If his titles (MD, Qrs, XYz, etc) have not been purchased, (philanthropy, ya know), and his "authority" embellished and promoted, bring some salt cuz I'll eat my socks.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Bass family owns Newsweek or at least has a ton of influence.
As noted above (“ Bass has long been a power serving sycophant — now deployed as an operative of some kind.”), I also noticed that a few years ago in regards to Bass and his fallacious attacks against low-carb advocates. The rulers of Corporate $¢I€N¢€ need to replenish their ranks with new lieutenants to replace those currently being sacrificed.
Anyone who believes in eating lots of processed carbs really does not understand nutrition.
Or his daddy owns or controls a junk food processing conglomerate.
"Bass has long been a power serving sycophant — now deployed as an operative of some kind."
I looked up the name and I believe it may explain why your comment is probably correct. Check it out. Big money family name. I doubt he's some distant relative of the clan.
https://www.forbes.com/profile/bass/
His new substack was launched last month, about the same time as the Newsweek opinion piece. Surprise surprise, he's going to be selling advice on diet, nutrition, supplements, and pharmaceuticals.
Fantastic catch. Thanks for that. SMDH.
I was never one to take supplements because there's no real way to know what goes into that stuff. Usually those promoting it strike me as questionable too and this reinforces the notion. Another quack pushing garbage we don't need that could possibly (Likely) be harmless.