Now that we have a new thread, in order to ensure that this thread continues to meet TL standards and follows the proper guidelines, we will be enforcing the rules in the OP more strictly. Be sure to give them a complete and thorough read before posting!
NOTE: When providing a source, please provide a very brief summary on what it's about and what purpose it adds to the discussion. The supporting statement should clearly explain why the subject is relevant and needs to be discussed. Please follow this rule especially for tweets.
Your supporting statement should always come BEFORE you provide the source.
Casey Means is Trump's new pick for surgeon general. I didn't know much about her, so I checked her Twitter (she's a huge fan of RFK Jr.) and her Wiki: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Means
From her Wiki: "Means graduated Stanford University School of Medicine in 2014 and subsequently chose to practice functional medicine. Her medical license has been inactive since 2024. She founded the health company Levels. Means co-authored Good Energy, a book on metabolism, with her brother, Calley."
That's already a problem because... "Functional medicine (FM) is a form of alternative medicine that encompasses many unproven and disproven methods and treatments.[1][2][3] It has been described as pseudoscience,[4] quackery,[5] and at its essence a rebranding of complementary and alternative medicine.[5] In the United States, FM practices have been ruled ineligible for course credits by the American Academy of Family Physicians because of concerns they may be harmful.[6][7]" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_medicine
Another fun fact from her Wiki: "Means sells sponsored dietary supplements, creams, teas, and other products on her social media accounts.[16]" I'm getting Dr. Oz type vibes from what I'm reading about her, in that she does indeed have a medical doctorate, but has since become a snake oil salesperson.
On May 08 2025 18:22 DarkPlasmaBall wrote: Casey Means is Trump's new pick for surgeon general. I didn't know much about her, so I checked her Twitter (she's a huge fan of RFK Jr.) and her Wiki: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Means
From her Wiki: "Means graduated Stanford University School of Medicine in 2014 and subsequently chose to practice functional medicine. Her medical license has been inactive since 2024. She founded the health company Levels. Means co-authored Good Energy, a book on metabolism, with her brother, Calley."
That's already a problem because... "Functional medicine (FM) is a form of alternative medicine that encompasses many unproven and disproven methods and treatments.[1][2][3] It has been described as pseudoscience,[4] quackery,[5] and at its essence a rebranding of complementary and alternative medicine.[5] In the United States, FM practices have been ruled ineligible for course credits by the American Academy of Family Physicians because of concerns they may be harmful.[6][7]" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_medicine
Another fun fact from her Wiki: "Means sells sponsored dietary supplements, creams, teas, and other products on her social media accounts.[16]" I'm getting Dr. Oz type vibes from what I'm reading about her, in that she does indeed have a medical doctorate, but has since become a snake oil salesperson.
I love alternative medicine and placebos. You literally can't mistreat or overdose, because most of it doesn't have any effect beyond water. Production is therefore super easy, you have zero R&D cost.. and the only thing you need to do is swirl around in a white lab coat and be DR something.
And Idiots and poor people just gobble up your useless shit and PAY PAY PAY.. because they are desperate, ashamed or have no means to see real doctors.
This is like real estate and gambling had a lovechild.
This industry of bunk is now at $34 billion , FDA and other national institutions were already extremely impotent in addressing the fact that it's all bullshit, now, it's going to go into overdrive.
Love Tim Minchin, my skeptical origin story is finding a mention of Skeptics Guide to the Universe on this forum 15ish years ago, I still listen but it's honestly so fucking depressing that they have been yelling into the void about this for so long and it's only getting worse, I mean, Demon hunted world was written 30 years ago and it's never been more true:
“I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time -- when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness...
The dumbing down of American is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30 second sound bites (now down to 10 seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance”
And then Americans elected the actual demon who embodies this to the highest office, eh...
EPT
