AntigoBuzz Blogs

I don’t believe they teach science in chiropractic schools. That’s easy to tell, by the weird “science” chiropractors spout to justify their fees. It seems they also don’t teach ethics, judging by the ethical lapse into plagiarism printed in the Antigo Daily Journal in its March 2010 “Family Primetime” insert.

Stacy Bula’s article, “What about those pesky symptoms? Listen to your body,” beginning on page 15, is a blatant, uncredited swipe from someone else’s published work. Compare Bula’s alleged article with the one at http://www.integritychiro.net/docs/Efwf.htm by Susan M. Brown.

Brown’s article picks up midway through its first paragraph with, “The current view of health holds that if we have symptoms, we are sick and if we are without symptoms then we are healthy. And so much of modem health care, especially that which is medical in its approach, is geared toward ridding the individual of their symptoms. Some of the sickest people are symptom free.”

Bula’s article begins, “The current view of health holds that if we have symptoms, we are sick and if we are without symptoms then we are healthy. So much of modem health care is geared toward ridding the individual of their symptoms. Some of the sickest people are symptom free.”

The next 444 words of Bula’s article are word-for-word copied from Brown’s article. Then Bula skips a sentence, picks up her running plagiarism by writing, “Chiropractic’s purpose and intent is to turn on the power of the body so that it can heal…” etc., etc., yadda-yadda, where Brown writes, “My purpose and intent is to turn on the power of the body so that it can heal…” etc., etc.

From there, Bula copies Brown right through to the end of Brown’s article, then adds, “Chiropractic is not the diagnosis or treatment of any condition or disease. The focus of chiropractic is to reduce stress to your nervous system so your whole body can function better. Health is not the absence of symptoms, as sickness is not the presence of symptoms. Health is a condition of wholeness in which all of your organs are functioning 100%. To insure maximum health potential for your family, maintain a regular schedule with your Family Chiropractor. Symptomatic or not, Chiropractic Care offers your body the best possibilities for better function therefore better health.”

Nice finish, you think? Think again. That last bit is a two-paragraph “Editor’s Note” appended to Browns article when it was published by “Integrity Chiropractic” at the web address I listed above. Bula scales new heights of plagiarism and deceit by by stealing from two different authors in the same piece, and offering the unaccredited theft for publication as her own work.

Shame on you, Stacy Bula. You owe Susan Brown an apology for stealing her work and presenting it as your own. And you owe this community an apology for insulting its intelligence by thinking you could get away with your attempted deceit.

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You guessed it! The Antigo Daily Journal continues its unbroken
streak of victories in the Albus Bad Writing Award competition. The
winner for 2009 is “Troubling times for a few local residents”, Oct. 28,
2009 posted for your enjoyment and amazement at
http://www.antigodailyjournal.com/full.php?id=9470

Don’t be so distracted by the high-frequency use of “and-”, “but-”,
and “after-” splices in this sorry excuse for a newspaper article that
you miss out on “commotion erupted”, “following several tense
moments in that community”, “As to”, “was advised”, dedicated
use of passive voice, and all the other wince-inducing ineptitudes
in this piece.

If you think it would be hard to top that dazzling assault on
journalistic standards, you would be underestimating the depth of
bad writing talent at the ADJ. Contenders for the 2010 award are
beginning to line up for recognition. For instance, “Fire inspection
team is checking Blackjack ruins” (Feb. 5, 2010 front page)
contains this gem of unjournalistic excess:

“A team of professional fire inspectors from across Wisconsin were
driving those cars and trucks in the parking lot, and they were taking
the interior of the club apart, piece-by-piece in a bid to find a cause
for the pricey fire that may have ended nearly a century of fine dining, friendship and perhaps — just perhaps — a good dose of revelry at the corner of Forest Avenue and South Superior Street.”

That’s right folks — that’s all one sentence, preserved for your
admiration at
http://www.antigodailyjournal.com/full.php?id=10062 in
case you thought I just made that up on my own.

Where do we go from here? The sky’s the limit. From “Melee injures
two at Antigo home, man jailed” (Feb 2) we have:

“Police got notice of the feud at 5:55 p.m. and the first reports of the
fight suggested something very bad had occurred as there were
statements that a man’s ear was “almost bitten off” and another
man was bleeding heavily.”

Not too shabby: two “and-” splices, an “as-” splice, an ambiguous
“there were statements”, and a report that “suggested something
very bad had occurred”, all in just 39 badly-chosen words.

As to the future awards, we were advised after perusing indications
after finding the paper walking down the street, when we were
professionally scrutinizing suggestions as to continued publication
of something bad occurring in the community and reports of the
altter occurred in the former after editing which never occurred we
will just have to wait and see and be looking.

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I’m not a farmer, so I’m not up on all the practices and regulations
regarding manure spreading, but I’m pretty sure you’re not
supposed to stuff it into people’s newspaper and mail delivery
boxes. That calls into question the mystery material the Antigo
Daily Journal prints in its occasional “Family/Primetime” tabloid
insert.

First question: Are these things articles, or ads? Who gets paid,
and who does the paying? There are no “This is an advertisement”
disclaimers, but they sure look like ads, to me.

Next, whether its an ad or a “legitimate” article, isn’t someone
supposed to be in charge of maintaining the Truth? There are some
“truthiness” problems in ADJ’s February 2010 issue of “Primetime”
in Amy Stuber’s article “Elmininating stubborn childhood ear
infections”. Let’s take a look.

Skip the generic Wikipedia stuff covering acute otitis media in the
first 2/3 of the article, and go to the paragraph with the lead, “As a
holisitic health care profession, chiropractic doesn’t believe in
writing prescriptions after prescription for the treatment of AOM”.
Well, that’s understandable, because chiropractors CAN’T WRITE
PRESCRIPTIONS. But Amy doesn’t tell us that.

Then, in discussing “more of a preventative approach to AOM”, Amy
explains, “This lifestyle centers on the correction of dysfunctional
areas in the spine called vertebral subluxations.” Newsflash: only
chiropractors call it “subluxation”. No one else can detect “vertebral
subluxations”, or see them on x-rays or CT or MRI scans. Vertebral
subluxations are an imaginary artifact invented by chiropractors.
The have exactly as much scientific validity as Santa Claus’s flying
reindeer, or a palm reader’s interpretation of the signifance of the
“life line” on your hand.

Then we have a little indirection. Amy asserts “researchers stated
that spinal manipulation resulted in fewer episodes of AOM…” etc.,
quoting the source “Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 2003″. I looked it up.
You can too. It’s titled, “The Use of Osteopathic Manipulative
Treatment as Adjuvant Therapy in Children With Recurrent Acute
Otitis Media”, at
http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/157/9/861

Nothing in the abstract about spinal manipulations, vertebral
subluxations, or even chiropractors! The study used the services of
a doctor of osteopathy, a field involving the manipulation of joints
and the tissues surrounding them, for instance the
temporomandibular joint, your jawbone’s connection to the head,
which is in direct proximity to the eustacheon tube whose
inflammation and swelling is at the core of AOM. In other words, we
seem to be talking about manipulation of the actual offending
sturctures directly! No distant adjustments to correct dysfunctional
“vertebral subluxations” here, folks! I don’t have access to the
complete study, but would be happy to read and analyze the
detailed original for you if Amy would provide it to me… if she has
it… or ever read it.

Finally, the real corker. Amy claims, “In a study of 46 children, all
under the age of five, 93 percent recovered with chiropractic
intervention alone.” Impressive, but totally unsubstantiated. Even
though Amy did not cite the source for this one, I looked it up (I
have my ways…). The abstract for R. M. Froehle’s “Ear infection: a
retrospective study examining improvement from chiropractic care
and analyzing for influencing factors” is at
http://www.mdconsult.com/das/citation/body/182494952-2/jorg=jo
urnal&source=MI&sp=837971&sid=0/N/837971/1.html?issn=

The “study” is a retrospection. That means cherry-picking the data
from existing treatment records instead of designing a scientific
study carefully, with controls and double-blind structure, deliberately to get relevant results. Treatment, from the study’s abstract:
“INTERVENTION: All treatments were done by a single chiropractor,
who adjusted the subluxations found and paid particular attention to
the cervical vertebrae and occiput. Sacral Occipital Technique-style
pelvic blocking and the doctor’s own modified applied kinesiology
were also used.”

Head-twisting and pelvic blocking and “the doctor’s own modified
applied kinesiology”, to “adjust” imaginary “vertebral subluxations”,
all for treating ear aches which usually resolve themselves. If they
don’t resolve, they could require prescription antibiotics and perhaps surgery, neither of which can be provided by chiropractors.

The Conclusion from the abstract: “CONCLUSION: Although there
were several limitations to this study (mostly because of its
retrospection but also, significantly, because very little data was
found regarding the natural course of ear infections), this study’s
data indicate that limitation of medical intervention and the addition
of chiropractic care may decrease the symptoms of ear infection
in young children.” Wrap your head around that one… just don’t
twist your neck while you’re doing it.

Here’s an explanation from a blog article tracking a lawsuit by the
British Chiropractic Association (BCA) against a critic,
http://gimpyblog.wordpress.com/2009/06/ – “The BCA claim that
Froehle RM (1996) shows that ‘93% of all episodes improved. The
study’s data indicates that  … the addition of chiropractic care may
decrease the symptoms of ear infection in young children’.  The
study has no control group and is little more than a collection of
case notes on the duration of ear infection, of which the author
notes ‘very little data was found regarding the natural course of
ear infections’.  Therefore the study says nothing about the impact
of chiropractic care on the duration of ear infection compared to
the natural course of healing but it does say infections get better
over time.  This is not evidence supporting the use of chiropractic
care in ear infection so much as supporting evidence for the old
adage that time heals all wounds.”

In other words, the study, and Amy Stuber’s handling of the
references and facts, are little more than bovine excrement, brought
to you by the Antigo Daily Journal’s manure wagon, polished and
buffed and offered up as factual health care information. Hey! Watch
where you step, there!

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The Midtown carwash is in serious need of some help.  You
have to pay $3.00 for a simple wash and the water just trickles
out of the stupid sprayer.  I did not see a “comment” box
either, which isn’t surprising.

So, I would suggest going elsewhere to wash and/or spray
off your car or truck.

Midtown carwash is located on 7th Avenue, near the BP Gas
Station across from McDonalds.

..

Page 6 of the January 13, 2010 issue of The Antigo Daily Journal
has a story about Antigo’s Scott Tatro, who will be at the Antigo
Library Wednesday, January 20, from 6:30 to 7:45pm, where is
wife, Ann, will facilitate communication with Scott at a book
signing for his book, “Locked In, Chiropractic Adjustment Gone
Wrong.” For some unknown reason, the story did not make it to
ADJ’s web site, or I would provide a link for you.

His story is horrifying.

Get his book, available at Antigo Book World, then take it with
you when you go to meet Scott at the library. Why should you do
that? Go to his web site, https://scottslockedin.com and you’ll
see why.

***************UPDATE 02/24/2009*****************

Scott’s story was shown on WSAW Channel 7, which you can find HERE

There was also a story on WAOW Channel 9, which you can find HERE

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