Time: Sun Mar 16 12:25:48 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id KAA24024; Sun, 16 Mar 1997 10:17:19 -0700 (MST) Date: Sun, 16 Mar 1997 12:24:21 -0800 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: Web of Fraud and Deceit (fwd) <snip> > WEB OF FRAUD AND DECEIT > > >by Dr. Joanne D. Eisen and Dr. Paul Gallant > >1 A FLY IN THE OINTMENT > > "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we > practice to deceive!" > > Sir Walter Scott penned those words 150 years ago. But he >must have had a crystal ball to see into the 1990s, because he >sure pegged the medical politicians of America's >anti-self-defense lobby to a tee! > > We're going to untangle this web for you. > > One of the dictums of medicine has always been "Do your >patient no harm". Yet, there are some doctors in high places >who are doing just that. For there are medical "professionals" >in this country who have, by their actions, truly aligned >themselves on the side of the criminals who prey upon society, >both the common street-variety of criminal, as well as the >government-variety. > > They've done this by corrupting a once-prestigious body of >medical literature with lies and fraudulent studies, in the name >of "public health". They've suppressed and distorted legitimate >research on firearms and violence when it disagrees with their >own preconceived notions. > > They've even gone so far as to force the resignation of the >only editor of a medical journal who dared print the truth --- >Dr. Miguel Faria was editor of the Journal of the Medical >Association of Georgia [JMAG] until the summer of 1995. Dr. >Faria's resignation was forced, not because he was an >incompetent editor, but because he refused to mix politics with >medicine [see sidebar]. > > These unscrupulous doctors have done all this to achieve a >goal of civilian disarmament. Well, Hippocratic Oath or not, if >they succeed, the medical politicians will have done irreparable >harm to their collective "patient" --- America's law-abiding >citizens. > >2 BLACK IS WHITE, RIGHT? > > Just as the spider meticulously spins his web, strand by >strand, the medical politicians have used their journals --- >JAMA, NEJM, Trauma, Pediatrics --- and some government agencies >--- the CDC --- to spin their own intricate web of fraud and >deceit. But the target of this web is a different sort of prey >--- it's guns --- our guns! And gun-owners! > > Each strand in the medical politicians' web is another lie, >couched in "scientific" language. Each lie is systematically >leaked to willing accomplices in the media, and heralded as a >great new medical discovery. Each lie is accepted, and repeated >ad nauseum, until liberal folk who, often unfamiliar with >firearms, become fearful of those who themselves, casually and >naturally, regard firearms as tools, as beloved collectibles, as >sporting equipment, and most importantly, as emergency >equipment. > > Law-abiding American gun-owners have been told that WE are >the murderers in society, that WE are responsible for all of >America's problems. We're told guns are "dangerous", and that >if you own a gun, it'll more than likely be used against you! >We're told that if you own a gun, you're magically going to >become transformed into some raging, homicidal sociopath. We're >told, in short, that no thinking, caring, civilized person >should even want to own one of these horrible things in the >first place! > > And, to make sure we buy all this malarkey, the medical >politicians whip up "studies" designed to "prove" their lies, >and tell us black is white, and white is black. > > It is said that "figures lie, and liars figure", and while >the anti-self-defense lobby relies on the "new" math to figure, >the old math works just fine to debunk the figures of the >medical politicians. Most of the tricks used to try to fool us >are not difficult to understand. The tough part comes in >identifying, in a particular study, just which tricks are >employed by these charlatans to skew the results to their >desired conclusion. Here's some of the "how". > >3 A SAMPLE OF BIAS > > As an example, scientific studies depend on sampling >procedures --- that means taking a small portion of the whole, >and using it to base conclusions about the whole from that small >portion which was actually chosen. If that sample is large >enough, and selected properly, it will represent the whole well >enough for most purposes. But, instead of using scientifically >rigorous representative samples, unscrupulous researchers often >use small, carefully selected, non-representative samples, so >that they can build their bias into the study from the very >start. Then, by using data from those unrepresentative samples, >they extrapolate their conclusions to the whole. > > Suppose, for example, we consider a shipment of "fruit", >equally divided into apples and oranges. Apples are high in >pectin, and low in Vitamin C. Oranges, on the other hand, are >higher in Vitamin C, and lower in pectin. However, we could >design a "study" which will "prove" that apples are as high in >Vitamin C as oranges are. All we'd need to do is carefully >select samples of the "fruit" in our shipment, making sure that >we only choose the oranges, and use them as our "representative >fruit sample". Once we determine the Vitamin C content of those >oranges, we can then project the Vitamin C content of this >"fruit" "sample" back to the entire shipment of "fruit". > > Voila! "New Medical Studies Prove Apples Are Just As Good A >Source of Vitamin C as Oranges Are." > > We could devise a similarly dishonest "study" to "prove" >that apples and oranges have the same pectin content. > > Honest researchers take into account the entire shipment. >Dishonest ones generally don't. And, they won't tell you that, >either! > >4 OF DARKNESS AND ICICLES > > Another example of the statistical chicanery used by the >medical politicians is called the "post-hoc" fallacy. This >trick is often camouflaged by a wealth of impressive, but >irrelevant, statistics cited within a study. The post-hoc >fallacy goes like this: If "A" follows "B", then "B" has caused >"A". A variation of this occurs when there may be some >legitimate relationship between the variables "A" and "B", but >it is not possible to be sure which is the cause, and which is >the effect. > > For example, it is always darker on each successive 3rd >Thursday between the months of October and December. Suppose we >measure the temperature on each 3rd Thursday of these months --- >it is highly likely that the 3rd Thursday in November will be >colder than the 3rd Thursday in October, and the 3rd Thursday in >December will be even colder. > > Voila --- "Researchers Make New Discovery: Studies show >that the darker it is, the colder it is!" Just think of the >money that the manufacturers of energy-efficient [plugless] >refrigerators could rake in by marketing a large, dark box! >Sounds silly? Well, when the equation reads "more guns = more >crime", the logic's the same, but that one apparently doesn't >sound quite so silly to some people. > >5 WHO'S LYING HERE? > > Sometimes, finding the truth can seem an almost impossible >task. Sometimes, it's a matter of one person's word against >another, with no other witnesses to help set the record >straight. Today, we have two camps of medical scientists, and >each tells a different story. One side says guns are bad. The >other says guns are only tools --- it's some people who are bad. >If one camp is telling the truth, the other must be lying. But >which one? > > Sometimes, it's easy enough to tell who the liar is, and >one doesn't need 20/20 vision, or a PhD, to see through the web >--- just some plain, old-fashioned common sense. > > In 1986, a study by a Dr. Arthur Kellermann was published >in the New England Journal of Medicine [NEJM] which claimed >something rather incredible to us gun-owners --- this study said >that "a gun-owner is 43 times more likely to kill a family >member than an intruder." Yet, another group of medical >scientists said this was simply not true. > > Who's the liar? You make the call. Hint: The authors of >this study used the bad-guy body-count as the sole measure of >the protective benefits of guns --- totally ignoring the lives >saved, the injuries prevented, the medical costs saved, and the >property protected by the presence of a gun. > > Just 5 years later, in 1991, another study appeared in the >NEJM authored by Colin Loftin, PhD, which, to us gun-owners, >told another incredible tale --- it said that in Washington DC, >the city's ban on all handguns, rifles and shotguns, led to a >reduction of violent crime in the nation's capitol. And, again, >another group of medical scientists said that this was simply >not true. > > Who's the liar here? You make the call. Hint: Just 2 years >after the NEJM published this "study", the mayor of Washington >DC proposed that the National Guard be called in to patrol the >streets of Washington D.C. to keep what little was left of the >"peace". > > Fast forward to 1993. Yet another study appeared in the >NEJM, also authored by Arthur Kellermann, claiming this time >that "a gun-owner is 2.7 times more likely to kill a family >member than an intruder". And, again, another group of medical >scientists said this was simply not true, either. > > Who's the liar? Again, you make the call. Hint: Kellermann >lumped the good guys with the bad guys, and called the bad guys >"victims". Kellermann had the unmitigated chutzpah to label >perpetrators killed by the police, in the line of duty, as >"victims"! > > The claim that a firearm ban could somehow lower the rate >of violent crime in Washington DC was outrageous. That "a >gun-owner is 43 times more likely to kill a family member than >an intruder" was equally so. In hoping to create a more >plausible hoax, Kellermann merely re-cooked the statistics on a >lower flame in order to come up with his "2.7" number. > > What gave Kellermann the confidence to think he could get >away with the perpetration of such a hoax? Banking on the high >esteem most Americans hold their doctors in, Kellermann betrayed >this trust, and in the process, gave Americans corrupted, >statistical and scientific horse-puckey! > > One additional hint --- a week after publication of this >study, during his presentation to a firearm-prohibition advocacy >group, Kellermann made an emotional admission of his already >well- known anti-gun bias! > >6 NOT ALL THE SAME > > In this indictment of the medical politicians of the >anti-self-defense lobby, we'd hate to leave you with the >impression that all doctors come from the same mold as the >Kellermanns and the Loftins. They don't. In fact, there are >some true American patriots within the medical community in the >vanguard of the counter-assault against the web of fraud and >deceit of the medical politicians. > > In stark contrast, Dr. Edgar Suter is a once-unassuming >family doctor from California. Now, Dr. Suter is the >outspoken, foremost expert on firearms and violence in the >medical literature on firearms today. He is, not so >coincidentally, also Chairman of Doctors for Integrity in Policy >Research. > > In the June 1995 Journal of the Medical Association of >Georgia, Dr. Suter wrote: > > It is increasingly common to hear that 'guns are a > virus', or discussion of the 'bullet as pathogen'. As > appealing as the claim may be to some, guns are not > pathogens, and crime is not a disease. Crime is a > social problem that does not lend itself to analysis > or treatment under the medical model. > > Treating crime as a disease --- the essence of the > 'public health' approach to gun violence --- is as > illogical and ineffectual as the converse --- treating > disease as a crime. It is a distorted concept, > indeed, that the rights of good people, the most > virtuous and productive citizens, should be defined > --- or more precisely, restrained --- by the criminal > actions of predators in our society." > > In 1994, there was a study published in the Journal of the >Medical Association of Georgia, authored by Dr. Edgar Suter: >Guns in the Medical Literature --- A Failure of Peer Review". >Calling most of the medical literature on firearms "politicized, >incompetent results-oriented research", Dr. Suter concluded: > > Errors of fact, design, and interpretation abound in > the medical literature on guns and violence. The > overwhelming preponderance of data we have examined > shows that between 25 to 75 lives may be saved by a > gun for every life lost to a gun. Guns save far more > lives than they cost. > > Again, another group of medical scientists says that this >was simply not true. Who's the liar? > > Go ahead --- you make the cal >"death-wish"! > > The Centers for Disease Control's National Center for >Injury Prevention and Control [NCIPC] is funded by you and me. >Since 1992, millions of the CDC's annual budget for injury >prevention and control have gone to "research" on gun injuries >and studies on how handgun availability affects homicide rates. >Even more specifically, over the last few years, the CDC has >funded the politically driven, scientifically-corrupt >firearms-related "research" of Dr. Arthur Kellermann with over >$1.7 million of YOUR money! The CDC also funds newsletters that >urge people to lobby for "gun-control". > > A 1989 article in JAMA quoted a CDC official's statement >that his work there involved "systematically building a case >that owning firearms causes death." And, in the words of NCIPC's >own director, Dr. Mark Rosenberg, he "envisions a long term >campaign, similar to tobacco use and auto safety, to convince >Americans that guns are, first and foremost, a public health >menace." It couldn't be stated more plainly. > >2 A DIFFERENT BREED > > In contrast to the phonies like Kellermann and Rosenberg, >there are some concerned medical doctors out there who do take >the Hippocratic Oath to heart, and put their patients' welfare >above all else. These are "working" physicians --- they have >practices to tend to, and real patients to care for. Their >activities to preserve our Constitution and its Second Amendment >are funded, in contrast, by their own incomes, and by >individual, concerned private citizens, not by government grants >that allow them to sit in an office all day and think up ways to >do us gun-owners in. > > Some of the medical doctor-players in the fight against the >politicization of American medicine: > > Dr. Edgar Suter is a family doctor, and the Chairman > of Doctors for Integrity in Policy Research, a > nationwide group of health- care professionals --- the > name says it all! > > Dr. Miguel A. Faria, Jr. is a Prof. of > Neurosurgery and Adjunct Prof. of Medical History at > Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, > Georgia. Dr. Faria fled the shores of Castro's > persecution, and knows, firsthand, all about the price > of Liberty and freedom. > > Dr. Martin Fackler is the foremost authority on wound > ballistics. He is a tenacious fighter against the > tide of politically-correct medical "opinion" when it > comes to the diagnosis and treatment of gun-shot > wounds. > > Dr. Timothy Wheeler is Chairman of Doctors for > Responsible Gun Ownership, a California-based > nationwide group of like-minded physicians. > > Dr. Sarah Thompson is Executive Director of Women > Against Gun- Control. Unlike the other "Sarah", Dr. > Thompson does not pull in thousands of dollars every > time she opens her mouth in public. When not treating > patients, Dr. Thompson works tirelessly on our > behalf. > > >3 NO, NOT "TEFLON BULLETS" > > Spiders are usually helpful to man --- their webs catch >insects which are ultimately harmful to our food crops. In this >case, however, the web's function is less benevolent, for this >web is spun to catch and destroy the truth, and our guns, in the >process. > > The web of fraud and deceit is badly in need of a teflon >coating, so the lies can't stick anymore. But a good, >Dr. Paul Gallant is engaged in the private practice of Family >Optometry, Wesley Hills, NY. He is Chairman, Committee for Law- >Abiding Gun-Owners, Rockland [LAGR], a 2nd Amendment grassroots >PAC based in Rockland County, NY. > >The authors may be reached at: LAGR, P.O. Box 354, Thiells, NY >10984-0354. > > --- --- --- >COPYRIGHT 1997 by Conservative Consensus (unless otherwise >noted). Please redistribute widely, provided nothing is >changed, and our headers and trailers remain intact. >Publications may reprint provided credit is given. > >+--------------------------------------------------------------------+ >| SUBSCRIBER OFFER ::: O T T O S C O T T ' S C O M P A S S | >+--------------------------------------------------------------------+ >| "I find it not so surprising that a lot of Otto Scott's ideas and | >| observations have been borrowed," his editor recently told me. | >| As the editor of Conservative Consensus, I agree! Otto Scott | >| writes on today's topics from a unique, historical perspective, | >| that gives you a looking-glass into the future. | >+--------------------------------------------------------------------+ >| Conservative Consensus subscribers can get a free issue by | >| writing to: Otto Scott's Compass, POB 69006 Seattle, WA 98168, or | >| umedia@newway.net for email. Subscriptions are $50 per year. | >+--------------------------------------------------------------------+ ======================================================================== Paul Andrew, Mitchell, B.A., M.S. : Counselor at Law, federal witness email: [address in tool bar] : Eudora Pro 3.0.1 on Intel 586 CPU web site: http://www.supremelaw.com : library & law school registration ship to: c/o 2509 N. 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