'Wellness Guru' Belle Gibson lied about having brain cancer, profited from lying about bogus cancer cures

Now that is a bluff on irony that most people are just not willing to run.

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Youā€™d think that lying about having a devastating, deadly disease for profit would be bad enough; but no. She had to top it with a whiny non-apology paired with a big doe-eyed glamour shot. Whatever her actual ā€˜illnessā€™ is, it certainly involves an utter inability to feel shame.

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DingDingDing! We have a diagnosis!

PSYCHOPATHY

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Itā€™s both an indefensible comment, and a completely understandable one. I personally am prepared to bear the cognitive dissonance and go with it.

And of course anti-GMO

Narcissistic hypochondriacal sociopath

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The CEO is a RWNJ who wants to be a political player, so of course he has to be cheating people on their deathbeds. I wonder how much they bill for each prayer session??? Their original commercials featured happy people whoā€™d been treated for pancreatic cancer, and I pretty much assumed most of them were dead by the time the commercial aired.

So glad to hear you got the second opinion and survived. I would encourage anyone who gets a cancer diagnosis to get a second opinion. Insurance often covers it, and if you can make it to a good teaching hospital, even better.

Fck cancer indeed, and idiots like Ms. Gibsonā€¦

The thing is that when you are staring down the barrel of a terminal disease, it is very very scary. For me, fear was the hardest part of the experience. And people who are afraid are not necessarily thinking rationally; hence, they can be open to anything that seems to offer hope. Thatā€™s why you want to try to have an advocate with you through the process, to help you think more clearlyā€¦

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Itā€™s worth pointing out that the legal definition of mentally ill is a subset of the psychological definition. Specifically, in legal terms someone is lacking in guilt if their mental illness is such that they donā€™t know that what they did is wrong. Even so, such a person is not released to do more harm, but treated differently than someone who is aware that what they did is wrong. It is possible to be mentally ill from a doctors point of view and not qualify as legally mentally ill. Most criminals would be regarded as mentally ill by a psychologist by virtue of the fact that their mentality leads to dysfunction in their life. This does not free such a person from culpability.

Okay?

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Generally an insanity defense requires a fairly complete break with reality.

I responded as I did because there seemed to be some confusion about this in the conversation above. To say someone is insane is not to say they are not without guilt. Legal insanity, as I explained in my inarticulate way, is a specific subset of insanity in general with the specific intent of identifying those who are insane in such a way that they do not realize what they have done is wrong. It is an attempt to make the law justifiable to a sane and rational person. It also has the result of making it ā€œjusticeā€ rather than ā€œrevenge.ā€ Hooray!

Speaking of fungus, they are actually quite amazing. Obviously penicillin and derivatives are the most popular fungal drug and various suppressants used for cancer treatment, but there also cardiovascular drugs, M.S. drugs, drugs used in transplant surgery, anti-virals, anti-inflammatories and more. Several species have also shown anti-cancer properties.

Cordyceps (the freakiest of the mushroom world), reishi, chaga and turkey tails have been shown to inhibit the cell division and in some cases trigger apoptosis (programmed cell death) of various forms of cancer including breast cancer.

Unlike the various snake oils out there, there is actual research including clinical studies on them. They certainly arenā€™t a cure, but they seem to help swing things a little bit in your favor.

(honestly as I write this, I kind of feel like one of those hokum peddlers, but the research is quite positive)

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Looks like youā€™ve been beaten to the punch @fuzzyfungus :wink:

Ergot and Psilocybin are pretty decent as well :mushroom: [size=9]More Amanita than anything else, but I donā€™t think thereā€™s an emoji for that[/size]

Wow, what a shitstain.

The hoax is nothing new though. People are always so willing to buy into the hokum. It makes you wonder about the power of reason in this day and age. All the proven science and tested analysis in the world gets willingly disbelieved in exchange for the modern-day equivalent of magic beans.

Countless people get rooked into pursuing the ā€˜Miracle Cureā€™. Lump these charlatans in with the anti-vaxxers.

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Some folk (country A) want to sue & punish the individual this time.
Some folk (country B) think that steps should be taken to restrict such unregulated BS generally, and/or educate folk about the dangers of bliksters and/or shame the shammer.

Which country are you happier to be in?

And in other news, the top voted definition of RWNJ on urbandictionary.com was written by a RWNJ

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I have to agree with Xeniā€™s observations here. Especially the ones about those who, by publishing these kind of bullshit claims, lead people away from the solid science behind real treatments and into the murky paths of ā€˜alternativeā€™ (i.e. made-up) medicine.

My wife (and partner of 28 years) was keen on alternative therapies, but reasonably discerning (although I had to bite my tongue over some that she felt were the ā€˜real dealā€™). She never smoked or drank, had a handful of vitamins every day (and no, please donā€™t bother linking to the other story about supplements and cancerā€¦).

She fell ill last April, and passed away 5 weeks later, at the age of 46. The cause of death was ā€˜primary tumour of unknown originā€™ (abdominal) - but once a secondary hit her liver, it was like she had been hit by a truck. So yeah, fuck cancer, and fuck any of these clowns who think itā€™s a good idea to mislead people who are seriously ill.

My advice to those who fret about following the right fad diet, or being pious avoiders of certain substances for fear of relatively rare consequences? Live your life as best you can. Itā€™s a lottery, might as well bloody enjoy it!!!

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this is not a reply to anyone in particular. American Slang alertā€¦ to her one could say ā€œEat Shit and dieā€. that about covers it. Not elegant but perhaps an effective response to such a creature. Iā€™d excuse her slight because of her age and a little more for her existential confusion as mitigators, but penalty she must suffer be it a lifelong reputation as a truly hideous creature or whatever.

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