Rachel Maddow on Betsy DeVos: Must Watch

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1. Scisne says:

   February 4, 2017 at 11:41 am

   With the charter school industry that’s favored by nominee for U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos bleeding vital funds from the public’s schools, the thoughtful person will ask: “Why are hedge fund people the main backers of the private charter school industry? After all, hedge funds are not known for a selfless interest in educating children.”

   Well, the answer, of course, is MONEY.

   For example, look at DeVos’ home state of Michigan: There are 1.5 million children attending public elementary and secondary schools and the state annually spends about $11,000 per student which adds up to pot of about $17 billion that private charter school operators have their eyes on. If these private operators succeed in getting what DeVos wants to give them — the power to run all the schools — these private profiteers could make almost $6 billion in profit just by firing veteran teachers and replacing them with low-paid inexperienced teachers, which is what the real objective of so-called “Value-Added” evaluations of veteran teachers is all about.

   But wait! There’s more!

   In fact, there are many more ways that big profits are being made every day right now by the private charter school industry. Here are just some:

   Private charter school boards typically lease building space for their school. The buildings are often owned by REITs — Real Estate Investment Trusts — that are part of a hedge fund’s portfolio. The lease payments are typically very high and generate large profit for the REIT, profit that benefits the hedge fund. Taxpayers are clueless about this because, unlike true public schools, private charter schools aren’t required by state law to furnish the public with regular and detailed financial accounting of what the private charter school does with public taxpayer money. Can you imagine a sweeter setup? It’s free money! Taxpayer money.

   Amazingly — really amazingly — when private charter school operators spend public taxpayer money to buy things, the things they buy with public money often become the private property of the charter school! For example, if a charter spends $2 million to buy iPads for its students, those iPads become the private property of the school which can then sell them at the end of the school year for $1 million, pocket the $1 million, and then get another $2 million from taxpayers to buy new computers for the next year…and repeat that process year after year. Nice.

   And all those low-paid inexperienced teachers need scripted lessons, staff development, and supervision, so the charter schools outsource these activities at exorbitant rates to companies that are part of the hedge fund portfolio. And by keeping teacher turnover high, these needs for lesson scripts, etc. never end, year after year. And taxpayers keep paying, year after year. And children keep being taught by inexperienced teachers, year after year.

   And then there are textbooks, computer software, maintenance contracts…and on and on…year after year.

   Oh, and all that testing that’s done by both private charter schools and which is also forced on public school under the guise of “reform”? Guess who owns the testing and printing companies that produce all those many, many millions of disposable test booklets, disposable test forms, and all those test processing centers? And guess how much it all costs. And guess where all that profit goes.

   The Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education has issued a warning that charter schools posed a risk to the Department of Education’s own goals. The report says: “Charter schools and their management organizations pose a potential risk to federal funds even as they threaten to fall short of meeting the goals” because of the financial fraud, the skimming of tax money into private pockets that is the reason why hedge funds are the main backers of charter schools.

   The Washington State Supreme Court, the New York State Supreme Courts, and the National Labor Relations Board have ruled that charter schools are not public schools because they aren’t accountable to the public since they aren’t governed by publicly-elected boards and aren’t subdivisions of public government entities, in spite of the fact that some state laws enabling charter schools say they are government subdivisions. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A “PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL” because no charter school fulfills the basic public accountability requirement of being responsible to and directed by a school board that is elected by We the People. Charter schools are clearly private schools, owned and operated by private entities. Nevertheless, they get public tax money.

   Even the staunchly pro-charter school Los Angeles Times (which acknowledges that its “reporting” on charter schools is paid for by a billionaire charter school advocate) complained in an editorial that “the only serious scrutiny that charter operators typically get is when they are issued their right to operate, and then five years later when they apply for renewal.” Without needed oversight of what charter schools are actually doing with the public’s tax dollars, hundreds of millions of tax money that is supposed to be spent on educating the public’s children is being siphoned away into private pockets.

   Charter schools should (1) be required by law to be governed by school boards elected by the voters so that they are accountable to the public; (2) a charter school entity must legally be a subdivision of a publicly-elected governmental body; (3) charter schools should be required to file the same detailed public-domain audited annual financial reports under penalty of perjury that genuine public schools file; and, (4) anything a charter school buys with the public’s money should be the public’s property.

   NO PUBLIC TAX MONEY SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO GO TO CHARTER SCHOOLS THAT FAIL TO MEET THESE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS OF ACCOUNTABILITY TO THE PUBLIC.

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2. Jack says:

   February 4, 2017 at 12:11 pm

   *** UPDATE: Betsy Devos’ quack “brain enhancement” company Neurocore removes key video from the Internet ***

   A couple weeks ago, I chanced upon Neurocore’s YouTube channel, and included on this channel was its longest and most detailed video about it’s treatments and practices:

   Neurocore’s “Reclaim Your Brain,” a two-bour seminar run by its resident non-expert “Dr.” Tim Royer, who has no M.D., just a “doctorate” in psychology from Argosy University, an unaccretited on-line diploma mill whose degrees are not recognized by the mainstream educational world.

   Well, I spent time embedding the video here, then watching, transcribing, and writing commentary on highlights / lowlights of Neurocore’s and “Dr.” Tim’s pseudo-scientific farce-of-a-seminar. I posted all of that this here on this blog.

   Where am I goin’ with this?

   I just checked and … It’s gone! I tell you!

   The Neurcore “Reclaim Your Brain” seminar video is GONE!!!!!

   Go here, and you can see my handiwork, but once again, the video I embedded has
   been removed from YouTube by folks at Neurocore: (“That which one hides is that of which one is ashamed.”). My posts with the video embedded are about half-way down in the Comments section:

   Betsy DeVos Refuses to Divest From “Brain Enhancement” Corporation

   The New York Times, the Washington Post and others have begun exposes on Neurocore, but now those investigating no longer can see Neurocore’s “RECLAIM YOU BRAIN” seminar “Dr.” TIM strap pill bottles to his head while quoting the Bible.

   Well, you can still read my commentary and descriptions of what was just there a couple days ago. Unfortunately, from now on, reporters and anyone else in learning about Neurocore can only read my descriptions and analysis, and will just have to use their imaginations to envision what was on the video.

   Rachel Maddow could have used sceenshots of “Dr.” Tim with the pill bottles strapped to his head, and other ridiculous images. Again, go here and scroll down into the comments section:

   Betsy DeVos Refuses to Divest From “Brain Enhancement” Corporation

   Better yet, I’ll move some of that here in the following posts.

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3. Jack says:

   February 4, 2017 at 12:15 pm

   *** ATTENTION: Betsy Devos’ “Neurocore” is, at bottom, a religious/Bible-based concoction ***

   Jennifer “Edushyster” Berkshire first guessed this might be the case in a tweet (and I followed soon after on this site, but didn’t have any definitive proof until now.)

   Yes, folks, there’s a fundamentalist Christian underpinning to this Neurocore’s pseudo-scientific crapola.

   The video below shows a lecture from Neurocore founder “Dr.” Timothy Royer, where he intersperses his supposedly scientific facts with quotes from … you guessed it … The Bible.

   I kid you not, folks.

   NOTE: “HOPE 139” is the earlier or former name of Neurocore, created by Dr. Tim Royer. The number “139” refers to a verse in the Bible, from THE BOOK OF PSALMS, BELO “Dr.” Tim cites this verse as the foundation of “HOPE 139, later renamed as “Neurocore”:

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   PSALM 139: “I praise You (God), because I am fearfully and wonderfully made by You.”
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   This video is from back when Dr. Tim’s Neurocore was called “HOPE 139.”

   In the excerpt below, “Dr.” Tim — who’s not a real medical doctor (SEE EARLIER POST) —- carries out his powerful and scintillating “Linda Demonstration.”

   First, he lines up a bunch of women all sharing the same first name, “Linda.”

   Why?

   Well, to invoke “The Bible”, of course.

   (The CAPITALS and parentheticals () are mine, JACK)
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   ( 5:40 – )
   VIDEO JUST REMOVED FROM YouTube
   ( 5:40 – )
   “Dr.” TIMOTHY ROYER: (carrying around a silly model of the brain while he talks)

   “But when we look at each ‘Linda’, even though they have the same name, they’re the same sex (gender), every one of their brains is unique, AND GOD KNIT THEM TOGETHER IN A VERY SPECIAL WAY. They may have the same name, but they will never be like each other.

   “You may have the same diagnosis as a hundred people in this room, but that doesn’t make you the same as everybody with that diagnosis. YOU HAVE BEEN CREATED (by God) IN A VERY SPECIAL WAY.

   “HOPE 139, who sponsored tonight’s event, IS ROOTED IN A PASSAGE IN THE BIBLE, FROM PSALM 139, that says:

   ” ‘I praise You (God), because I am fearfully and wonderfully made by You.’

   “Every ‘Linda’ has been ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ (by God). Their brains have been knit together (by God) in such a way before the foundations of the world, that they will never be like each other.

   “And even though the world’s pushing on you to become … or go into a box, I want you to know that everybody in here is special, and created in special and created in a very unique way, and you have a unique purpose.

   “And your brain. You need to go and learn to know your brain.

   “Linda’s, go a head and sit down. Thank you for coming up. Awesome.”
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   Seriously folks, watching this video is truly an embarrassing experience. Both he and all the Christian extremist audience members are completely oblivious to how “Dr.” Tim is making a complete ass of himself.

   Shortly after the brilliant, “Linda” demonstration, “Dr.” Tim babbles away about brain “electricity” and how the food we eats affects “the electricity” coursing through a brain’s “power plant” made up of “a quadrillion neurons/”.

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4. Jack says:

   February 4, 2017 at 12:16 pm

   Sweet Jesus! “Dr. ” Tim’s lecture is crazier than a soup sandwich!

   To visually demonstrate the ineffectiveness of psychiatric drugs, he puts on white sports headband that he tells the audience will represent “the brain” — being careful to mention that the headband was donated by a professional basketball player sitting in the front row.

   Why that fact is relevant or important to mention, I have no freakin’ idea.

   To set up the demonstration, the headband has earlier had velcro material glued on it or sewn into it. He then takes some pharmaceutical pill bottles that also have velcro glued on.

   (Go to 18:49 )
   VIDEO JUST REMOVED FROM YouTube
   (Go to 18:49 )
   When you go to a psychiatrist, “Dr. “Tim claims, the psychiatrist then prescribes medication, and that looks something like this. He then sticks the the pill bottles — one after another — onto the headband, all the while running down the so-called expertise of the man “who went to medical school” or “graduate school” who’s doing the prescribing.

   Eventually after all the pill bottles are stuck on, “Dr.” Tim looks like he’s wearing Batman’s utility belt on his head.

   For that full visual just go here:
   (Go to 23:07 )
   VIDEO JUST REMOVED FROM YouTube
   (Go to 23:07 )

   Don’t you see how silly that using psychiatric meds is? says “Dr.” Tim via this visual.

   All the while, “Dr.” Tim is a guy whom most of the audience falsely presumes is a medical doctor, when he’s actually not one, and he’s trashing someone who actually DID go to medical school.

   The mind boggles.

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5. Jack says:

   February 4, 2017 at 12:17 pm

   There’s more lunacy in Dr. Tim’s lecture. It just gets worse and worse.

   After quoting percentages and statistics about the number of children who suffer from learning disabilities, “Dr.” Tim then goes for another riveting visual.

   ( 33:27 – )
   VIDEO JUST REMOVED FROM YouTube
   ( 33:27 – )
   When you’re a child with learning disabilities, “Dr.” Tim tells us, it’s as if you’re in a prison. A spotlight then illuminates a prop “jail cell” with bars, and within it is an adult performing the role of a child (wearing kids clothes), a child whose “imprisoned” by disability.

   “It’s as if you’re in a prison,” sadly reports “Dr.” Tim.

   The actor, portraying a mentally disabled child, attempts to read a book, then repeatedly throws up his hands and head in frustration, with some of the worst over-acting and gesticulating outside of a 1920’s silent movie.

   For this full visual go here:

   ( 33:45 – )
   VIDEO JUST REMOVED FROM YouTube
   ( 33:45 – )

   To further illustrate the child’s low achievement, the word “KAT” is spelled on a poster board — presumably, that’s the level of the disabled child’s writing skills.

   God save us all!!! This can’t be real!!!

   THIS GUY is Betsy Devos’ expert on how to treat children with learning disablities???!!! The guy putting on this freak show?

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6. Jack says:

   February 4, 2017 at 12:23 pm

   MORE ON THE Neurocore video:

   At various times, “Dr.” Tim Royer condemns traditional mental health treatment because … wait for it … it doesn’t have “an exit strategy,” or a point at which the treating physician terminates use of a certain medication. “Dr.” Tim then condemns any prescribed course of medication from the mainstream medical establishment that has no such termination.

   He makes an asinine analogy of an ambulance with pharmaceutical treatment.

   Eventually, that analogy leads up to this comment:
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   ( 23:13 – 23:20 )
   VIDEO JUST REMOVED FROM YouTube
   ( 23:13 – 23:20 )

   “Dr.” TIMOTHY ROYER:

   “HOPE 139 (Neurocore’s former name) and the (HOPE 139’s) Reclaim (Your Brain) series is not about a short-term pharmalogical fix. The best medicine for the brain is the brain itself. The best medicine for the brain is the brain itself.”
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   “The best medicine for the brain is the brain itself” —which he repeats twice in succession — is code for Neurcore’s unscientific quackery.

   Then later on, “Dr.” Tim ridicules traditional medicine.

   Just go to a psychiatrist office, he tells the audience, and “have a good laugh” by asking that licensed physician what “Dr.” Tim believes is the ultimate “Gotcha!” question.l

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   ( 26:56 – 28:00 )
   VIDEO JUST REMOVED FROM YouTube
   ( 26:56 – 28:00 )

   “Dr.” TIMOTHY ROYER:

   “For those of you with ADHD, if you want to have a good laugh, go into your physician’s office and ask him … or her — and I have a lot of good friends that are physicians — but ask them:

   ” ‘What is the exit strategy … for my medicine?’ ”
   — (DRAMATIC PAUSE as if he’s made some powerful “Gotcha!” moment)
   “You know I had those medicines on my head.”
   — (puts back on the idiotic headband with the pill bottles velcroed on it)
   “When … WHEN … do I get to get rid of one of these things? What’s the exit strategy?” What IS the EXIT STRATEGY for stimulant meds? THERE IS NONE! OKAY?! You’re just GOIN’ forever with it, and you gotta wonder with all this STUFF in here.”
   — (reaches up the headband with the pill bottles velcroed on it)
   “And I go to talk to somebody, and I say, ‘Hi, I’m Tim.’ ”
   — (DRAMATIC PAUSE)
   “Well, AM I Tim? Or WHO am I? Am I REALLY the persn I was made to be, or am I Tim-plus-all -these-other-things?”
   — (reaches up the headband with the pill bottles velcroed on it)
   “Who AM I under the surface there? For the ADHD child and adult, they always wonder:

   ” What would I be like without medicine?’ ”
   — (takes off back on the idiotic headband with the pill bottles velcroed on it)

   x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

   Re-read the last few sentences there. Psychiatric medicine, “Dr.” Tim implies, is going against God’s design of you as a person: “Well, AM I Tim? Or WHO am I? Am I REALLY everybody I was made to be (by God), or am I Tim-plus-all -these-other-things?”

   Again, it’s the same anti-science, pseudo-science that is at the core of the extremist Christian mindset of Betsy Devos and her allies.

   Earlier, “Dr.” Tim said, “The best medicine is the brain itself “— which, again, is code for “You need to use Neurocore’s treatments,” —which to date, are total quackery, and have no scientific basis whatsoever, and have never been studied or proven to have any efficacy whatosever.

   Incredibly Dr. Tim then immediately pivots to the area where Neurocore is at its weakest.

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   ( 28:00 – 28:11 )
   VIDEO JUST REMOVED FROM YouTube
   ( 28:00 – 28:11 )

   “Dr.” TIMOTHY ROYER:

   “(At HOPE 139 / now Neurocore) we use quantifiable data. That’s what we’re about here (at Neurocore). Objective science of the brain, and understanding what is at the core of the diagnosis.”
   x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

   This is the most ludicrous statement of all, made back in 2012.

   THE TRUTH:

   NEUROCORE HAS ZERO, NONE, ZILCH, NADA “quantifiable data” OR “objective science” backing up any of its treatments. Neurocore’s has ZERO “understanding (of) what is at the core of the diagnosis.”

   As for trashing the concept of idea of accessing mainstream medical establishment, and taking prescribed medicine on an on-going basis, or even a permanent basis, here’s some thoughts.

   With some medications, yeah, a patient sometimes has to take it for an indefinite period of time, or perhaps for the rest of the patient’s life… unless a medical breakthrough of some kind comes up with an alternate treatment. To just condemn or dismiss out of hand any and all such treatments as harmful or wrong is nonsense. Whether it’s insulin, or high-blood-pressure medicine or countless others, yes, there is “no exit strategy” to some conditions, unless the exit strategy is to stop taking it and eventually die.

   The reason that Dr. Tim — a uniquely untrained quack who doesn’t have the medical training or licensing to diagnose a case of the “sniffles”, or to prescribe children’s aspirin — the reason he’s going after traditional medicine is the same reason that Scientology goes after it:

   Mainstream medicine is Neurocore’s competitor.

   Betsy Devos and other Neurocore honchos want to discredit traditional psychiatric therapy and treatment so that people with ADHD — or so that parents of children with autism, ADHD, autism, etc., who are in need of such legitimate treatment, will instead first choose to go to Neurocore, or for those who are getting legitimate treatment, they will abandon that in favor of Neurocore.

   That’s dangerous, very dangerous.

   That’s also why the fine print of NEUROCORE’S CONTRACT carefully polnts out that Neurcore GURANTEES NO POSITIVE RESULTS, and indemnifies Neurocore against any lawsuits that patients might file — you’re doing this at your own risk, so if it has no positive effect whatsoever, or if something goes wrong, you can’t sue us.

   The latest is that Dr. Fotuhi, a Neurocore representative, claims that they’ve been recently collecting positive “internal data,” and promises that, in a few years, they’ll have data that verfies that Neurocore works.

   Two problems with that:

   1) you need a non-involved outside entity to make that determination — a peer-reviewed study, for example, conducted by a group with no financial gain. You can’t trust people who have a financial interest in the outcome of a study to control a study. Duh!

   2) Assuming you accept that Neurocore can study itself, shouldn’t the folks and Neurocore FIRST do the studies that prove Neurocore’s efficacy before embarking on experimental treatment of patients?

   A few posts earlier, Mitchell Robinson calls this the “Ready, Fire, Aim” approach to experimental medical technology.

   Dr. Fotuhi, WHY DON’T YOU CEASE ANY AND ALL NEUROCORE TREATMENTS IF AND UNTIL YOU HAVE PROOF THAT IT WORKS?

   Why? Because you can’t make money if you do that.

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7. Laura H. Chapman says:

   February 4, 2017 at 12:29 pm

   Watched the Maddow show twice. Thank you for making it visiable on your blog and for Jack’s details about the snake oil marketing by Dr. Tim of DeVos snake oil business: Neurocore.

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8. Jack says:

   February 4, 2017 at 12:41 pm

   Here’s the very first post I did about Neurocore — which includes another great “Dr.” Tim Neurocore video, which the folks at Neurocore have yet to take down as they did the two-hour “Reclaim Your Brain” seminar (SEE ABOVE):

   x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

   I’ve been doing a little Mercedes-Schneider-ish on-line sleuthing regarding the latest revelations about Betsy Devos’ and her “brain cure” company Neurocore, which alleges that it can provide miracle cures for kids suffering from autism, ADHD, epilepsy, etc.

   In a nutshell: Scientology-lite.

   “Scientology” in that Neurocore’s treatments are a money-making scam, based on utterly bogus pseudo-science, the practices and technology being utterly ineffective in treating what it claims that it can treat, and with no scientific basis whatsoever.

   As with Scientology, so-called “medical experts”/ non-experts also engage in high-pressure sales tactics to get customers to pay for more and more of Neurocore’s “treatments.”

   Most of the time, the patients and their parents complain that they’ve been scammed.

   “Lite” in that no one is getting a full-on Scientology-style brainwashing. Not yet anyway. At this point, Betsy and Co. just want your money.

   And with the power of U.S. Department of Education behind her, there’s no telling what Betsy could do: financial incentives to states — a la Race to the Top — encouraging their schools and state education departments to mandate or encourage the employment of Neurocore to treat kids with autism, ADHD, epilepsy, etc.?

   If that happens, we’re talking hundreds of millions will be going to a company primarily owned by Betsy and her husband.

   Given Betsy’s other connections, I would suspect that some fundamentalist Christians allies of hers are behind all of this nonsense… though I have no proof of this as yet, just my guess. There’s an anti-Science pseudo-science at work here that often goes hand-in-hand with Christian extremists (“intelligent design,” anyone?)

   (SEE ABOVE for the proof that I later found that yeah, it’s a religious concoction.)

   In some cases, the patients are assured that they have made “progress”, and the patients’ trust in Neurocore’s seeming authority sometimes might lead to a placebo effect of feeling you’ve made “progress” when you really haven’t.

   Put yourself in a kid’s shoes: you get to watch full-length Disney animated features (SEE BELOW) during your “treatment, “and will watch more Disney full-length cartoons in further treatment sessions.

   What kids wouldn’t claim “progress” or emerge happy from a “treatment” or happily go to further “treatment”?

   In other cases, the parents of kid Neurocore patients, and adult Neurocore patients are absolutely livid, and report the whole Neurocore experience as a money-depleting scam.
   (Complaints are in a link BELOW).

   Neurocore’s YouTube videos are a joke.

   In the following promotional piece, kids sit in cubicles and watch the Disney animation hit “FROZEN”, while wearing headphones, and having their breathing and heart rates monitored, using a highly toxic encephelogram cream applied to the skin just above the EKG nodes. (the toxicity accusation is from a complaint in another link later in this post).

   This Frankenstein freak show takes place in Neurocore’s “Neuro-feedback Brain Performance Centers,” nicknamed “The Brain Room” where Neurocore’s resident expert “Dr.” Tim Royer explains how the video player pauses when it’s detected a patient’s loss of focus or interest — detected via the “bio-feedback” monitoring. Watch this video (it’s only 3 minutes long), and just take in the absurdity:
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=UO1c2lnXJR4
   “There’s nothing like this in the world,” enthuses “Dr. Tim”

   Yeah, I bet!

   Indeed, watch “Dr. Tim” explain how the little girl patient “Emily” gets rewarded for staying focused, or for returning to being focused — the film FROZEN continues playing, or returns to playing, respectively — “sort of like ‘sticker charts’ for the brain … adapting a brainwave related to sleep … allowing us to bring her into the zone where the brain is perfectly balanced … making sure that oxygen is going to the brain in an appropriate way. … ”

   Huh?

   ” … where the brain is perfectly balanced … ” Hmm, as opposed to being “imperfectly balanced”, or it being “perfectly unbalanced.”

   ” .. making sure that oxygen is going to the brain in an appropriate way. … ” Hmmh… as opposed to “oxygen going to the brain in an inappropriate way.

   Whatever you say, “Dr.” Tim.

   I was wracking my brain as to what this pseudo-scientific farce reminded me of, and then it hit me. It’s sort of a white-faced version of AMOS’ ‘n ANDY — in the scenes where the Kingfish would attempt to verbally and otherwise demonstrate scientific expertise in a field where he has none:

   In the following video, the Kingfish claims simultaneous expertise as a doctor and aviation instructor (?!) when giving Andy a physical examination as a preface to teaching him to be a pilot. NOTE the expert exam to see if Andy’s heart is “running alright”, or whether Andy has “20-20 vision,” then how the Kingfish tests Andy’s “equib-uh-larium”, by attempting to “certificate ya.”:

   (at about 11:15 – )

   Yeah, yeah, I’m fully aware that AMOS’ ‘n ANDY was and is racist-as-all-Hell, but please bear with me, as I’m trying to make the point that what the Kingfish is doing to Andy is not very far removed from what Neurocore’s Dr. Tim is trying to put over on unsuspecting people. There’s but a hair’s difference between the two

   I apologize to anyone offended by including this video.

   It’s also reminiscent of Scientology’s “Purification Run-down”, where Scientology patients/religious adherents stay in a scalding sauna for hours on end while popping
   an endless number of unidentified vitamins … all to “purify” the body of “thetans” — the spirits of dead aliens that inhabit all human beings. (Medical experts have also been skeptical of this, to say the least;-) )

   Here’s Neurocore’s slick introductory video, where it claims its work is “based on decades of clinical research.”

   Yeah? What “research”? Conducted by whom? And why won’t you allow independent researchers to study your “cures”?
   https://www.youtube.com/user/NeurocoreMedia

   Customer complaints are vociferous, yet there’s no “money back guarantee” here. Neurocore’s patient contract is written so that the “contract ensures (Neurocore’s) protection whether they fulfill their obligation (actually cure autism, ADHD, epilepsy, etc.) or not”: (BELOW is that quote, included in the first complaint listed)

   http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/neurocore-c324014.html

   BELOW is the third complaint from the above link, written by “organic fan.” Note the similarities to Scientology (or EST or its current incarnation Landmark Forum), in that the staff are all about putting on the hard sell and signing you up to pay for more and more Neurocore “treatments.”

   Also, as with charter schools and their untrained, uncredentialed teachers, those administering Neuro-core’s medical psychiatric treatment are young — mostly college-aged. As with the Kingfish in the earlier video, they have ZERO actual medical education or expertise (outside of Neurocore “expert training,” of course) As with Scientology, think of the cost savings / profits where you can pay your untrained “medical personnel” minimum wage. This is a total money mill scam:
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   organic fan:

   “The staff is young, uneducated and barely trained in brain-solving issues, but their training is mostly in selling you the program.

   “It is a mass production enterprise that doesn’t pay attention in results, but mostly in signing you up for an over-$3000 program. They have a computerized system to make appointments that is not verified, so many mistakes are made and double appointments are booked.

   “One assistant is supposed to view/adjust your progress during the session and do seven other people at the same time in the same room…very unreliable!

   “Some of the staff are rude and (patient) hygiene is not their priority. They reuse the same earphones and other device, from one person to another, without any cleaning. The Ten20 cleanser and conductive cream they use, are highly toxic and applied on the ears and the cranium. Research has shown some of the ingredients like methyl and propyl parabens in their cream to be carcinogenic and one wouldthink the application on the skin with an electrode makes it even more absorbed by the body. Glycerin and Polyoxyethylene20 cetyl Ether also have a long list of side effects that nobody at NEUROCORE wants to hear about…liability is the issue here…

   “They are pushing you to refer people before you ever know what the session is all about and frankly, are unaware of people’s needs. No therapy here, and the contract is worded carefully, so that if you don’t get any result, you can’t blame them.

   “Do your research before spending your money there.”
   x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

   … and here’s one more complaint from adult Neurocore patient “Jane Vander Sloot (further down the page at the same link ABOVE),

   Here, as in the first YouTube video above, Jane talks about just watching movies while being monitored.

   When she asks how and why the Neurocore treatment works — the precise scientific mechanisms, that is — she gets stone-walled:

   x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
   JANE VANDER SLOOT:

   “So I started going to The Neurocore. All appointments have to be made online, which is confusing and frustrating and overall, employs a horrible software system that creates scheduling problems. I also have to agree with the fact that they seem to hire only men and women who are college age and don’t seem to really understand how everything works or why it isn’t working.

   “After going for months and spending tons of money, I saw absolutely NO progress, even though their ‘reports’ showed my ‘progress.’ After thinking it may all be a scam, I found it to be absolutely TRUE as the whole process involves being hooked up to probes while watching a movie.

   “Somehow, mysteriously, your brain gets ‘re-trained’ by simply watching the movie. Well, my sleep deprivation was so bad at the time that after a few weeks, I’d actually fall asleep while ‘watching’ the movie.

   “Lo and behold, their stats and charts still showed I was making progress! How the heck does your brain re-train itself when you’re asleep and not following the protocol?

   “HUGE SCAM.

   “And ALWAYS be weary when they won’t tell you HOW it actually works. A good doctor, therapist, etc. will always explain IN DETAIL how their process works and what to expect over time.”
   x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

   More on “Dr.” Tim, in the next post.

   (HINT of what’s ahead … I always put “Dr.” is in quotes.)

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   • Jack says:

     February 4, 2017 at 12:45 pm

     “Dr.” Tim is not a real doctor.

     Thanks to the work of “The Distracted Mom”, who details this on her blog, we now know that Neurcore’s Dr. Tim is not a medical doctor, though he employs treatments that are usually associated with, and can only legally be administered by an actual physician with and M.D. degree.

     First, who is “The Distracted Mom”?

     x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
     “About Carolyn

     “I’m Carolyn Mallon, RN, and I have ADHD. I’m also parenting at least one ADHD child, so it makes for quite an adventure! I don’t have all the answers, but I certainly share the challenges of many ADHD parents! I started this blog as an exercise to help us improve our game at home and at school.

     “Join us!”
     x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

     How refreshing! An ADHD parent expert with actual medical training who admits that “she doesn’t have all the answers.” … unlike Betsy, the bigus “Dr,” Tim and Neurocore..

     Here’s the post where Carolyn outs Neurocore’s “Dr”. Tim on his misrepresentation of himself:

     http://www.thedistractedmom.com/recognizing-credible-sources/

     x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
     THE DISTRACTED MOM (Carolyn Mallon, Registered Nurse)

     “Does Neurocore’s Timothy Royer (who calls himself ‘Dr. Royer’ on Twitter) pass the credibility test?

     “Well, his PsyD degree is in psychology, (and that degree is from Argosy University, an unaccredited on-line diploma mill, JACK he also has a doctorate in theology) not medicine, and he has no published research to be found. His site does not provide links to research studies that would indicate how he might substantiate his claims about raising the IQ with his technique or to back up his claims of so many patients who no longer require medication after his treatment.

     “Finally, he most definitely has a vested interest in selling his product: a very expensive treatment program which may not be covered by insurance, leading one to question the efficacy of the treatment.

     “While Royer’s claims are interesting and appealing to anyone who depends on medication to function normally, without conducting any research studies or publishing his findings for peer review, his claims remain unsubstantiated and anecdotal at best.

     ” … ”

     “As concerned parents or adults affected by ADHD and related disorders, we see a lot of headlines designed to grab our attention. Many of them sound like they are reporting new scientific findings, and some of them are… but others are peddling their wares and hoping to influence consumers or impress them with false authority. Every responsible consumer should know how to critically analyze an article or study, especially when the it concerns their health and money.

     “Many of these press releases and articles do not link to any studies at all, but rather reference “research” in a nebulous way. Others may use buzz words and scare tactics or rely on implied authority. Others may appear like legitimate reporting but may actually be selling something. The ‘Fish Oil’ headline above, for example, looks like a press release, but scroll down in the “article,” and you’d see that it’s an ad for a supplement and that it doesn’t even link to any research at all!

     “How to Spot a Dubious Source

     “When evaluating the credibility of a source, first examine the author’s credentials and institution affiliations. Some are well-respected (major universities and government institutions), but others can appear well-respected but are agenda-driven (the Discovery Institute).

     “When evaluating an author making any big claims, you should examine not just their degree, but also if they have any credentials from the field or any peer-reviewed published research.”
     x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

     Here’s one final tidbit:

     “Dr.” Tim presents and promotes “Neurocore” at … wait for it … Amway conventions, where a captive audience of thousands of Amway fanatics have to listen to him promote “Neurocore.”

     C’mon! You had to see THAT ONE coming. After all, both Neurocore and Amway are owned by … the proposed Secretary of Education Betsy Devos and her husband. If Betsy becomes Secretarry of Ed, you don’t think she’s going to take advantage of every opportunity to get rich, mix things together, and engage in conflict of interest whenever she has a chance to make a buck?

     Billing himself as “Dr. Timothy Royer”, he puts on a hard sell about Neurocore’s theories and treatments at an Amway convention.

     I can’t find any video yet, but I would presume that, in part, he was pushing Amway sales partners to employ Neurocore for themselves as well as pushing others outside Amway … again, all the while Betsy and Dick Devos own both Neurocore and Amway.

     Here’s a tweet from an Amway salesperson devotee looking forward to the presentation:

     Excited to listen to @DrRoyer talk about the #brain and #stress today @Amway #healthandwellnessday #ReclaimYourBrain http://t.co/QJvFnuaHyy—
     John Wierenga III (@JohnW_3) July 15, 2015

     ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
     And to get an idea of what these Amway Nuremberg-rally-style conventions are like (and what Amway’s all about), watch this Dateline NBC expose video BELOW. NOTE how Amway keeps changing its name — rebranding itself as “Quixtar” or “Alticor” or whatever to fool unsuspecting people who already know what a scam Amway is:

     (Hey, at 2:04, isn’t that Betsy’s husband Dick Devos speaking to the masses — making the ridiculous promise that they all can “have a wonderful life” and “make millions” — with Betsy looking on admiringly?)
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL6QHHO4-6Q
     (Hey, at 2:04, isn’t that Betsy’s husband Dick Devos speaking to the masses — making the ridiculous promise that they all can “have a wonderful life” and “make millions” — with Betsy looking on admiringly?)

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   • Jack says:

     February 4, 2017 at 12:47 pm

     And finally, here’s the video that Dr. Ravitch liked so much that she made a separate article about it:

     I just thought of another comparison to Neuro-core’s farcical pseudo-science.

     Back in the 1980’s, SCTV did a TV parody of a National Enquirer-based TV show (actually called the “The National Midnight Star” TV Show), and the late John Candy would portray a medical expert or “Top Researcher.”

     Here he is explaining… Dr. Tim-Neurocore-style … how “dreams can kill you”:

     (at 00:15 – )
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbvvftwZbOo
     (at 00:15 – )
     ANCHORMAN: “Your dreams can kill you, say Top Researchers.”,

     TOP RESEARCHER: (graphic reads “Top Researcher”)
     “It’s true. Say you were dreaming that you were at a party, and that you’re just wearing … your underwear … or you were running, and you were being chased, but it was real slow because your feet were like lead … and you’ll …

     “You’ll probably die.”

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9. Jack says:

   February 4, 2017 at 12:53 pm

   Jennifer “Edushyster” Berkshire found Neurocore’s “promises” page and tweets it here:

   The biofeedback company Betsy DeVos won't divest from claims to raise IQ by 12 points. Problem solved! https://t.co/YJ2BSSuTzL

   — Jennifer Berkshire (@BisforBerkshire) January 22, 2017

   Here’s the link to that page which lists Neurcore’s promises:

   https://www.neurocorecenters.com/the-patient-treatment-experience

   Yes, that’s right. Neurocore promises to raise a person’s IQ by 12 points!!!

   I’m curious. Why 12 IQ points? Why not 11 or 13? or 20 or 30? Exactly how did they calculate that number?

   The same way they make sure that “oxygen flows to the brain in an appropriate way”?

   Or by “putting the brain in perfect balance”?

   I’m starting to imagine what it was like when a “medicine tonic” or “snake oil” salesman would come through town back in the Wild West, and put on a demonstration on the back of his wagon.

   “Step right up! I say, Step right up! This here tonic is GUARANTEED to raise your IQ by 12 points!” he shouts, holdiing the bottle. “Do I have a volunteer from the crowd?!” At which point, a pre-planted shill in the audience raises his or her hand, comes up on stage, drinks some tonic, then starts talking in some faux-intelligent manner.

   The internet-era version of those shills are the testimonials at the bottom of the Neurocore page (JUST BELOW).

   https://www.neurocorecenters.com/the-patient-treatment-experience

   x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
   “Neurocore:

   “First, we identify real causes.
   Then we train the brain to fix them.

   “When you come to one of our Brain Performance Centers, you’ll experience a proven program based on your individual brain data.

   “It’s safe, easy, and painless—with no side effects and no medication.

   x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

   “Brain Diagnostics

   “How well is your brain working?

   “Using advanced qEEG technology, we find out. Sensors are attached to record your brain’s electrical activity. We analyze the data to identify the sources of your symptoms and develop a program focused on your challenge. We build your database through a variety of methods:

   ” — Electroencephalogram (EEG)
   ” — Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
   ” — Integrated Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Test (IVA)
   ” — Behavioral Checklist

   x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

   “Brain Performance Training

   “At a Neurocore Brain Performance Center, our 45-minute neurofeedback and biofeedback sessions take advantage of your brain’s ability to change – its neuroplasticity. With neurofeedback, you watch a movie that plays only when your brain speed is within the therapeutic range. When it goes out of range, the movie pauses, which tells you that something is out of balance. During the 30-session program, your brain learns how to stop spiking out of range, and brain function improves. With biofeedback, you learn to breathe deeper and slower to maximize your heart function, allowing proper blood and oxygen flow.

   x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
   “Lasting Results

   “ADHD
   Adult ADHD
   Anxiety
   Autism
   Depression
   Memory
   Migraines
   Sleep
   Stress
   Teen ADHD

   x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

   “As you progress through the 90-day program and you optimize your brain activity, your symptoms recede. For the long-term, neurofeedback creates positive, permanent physiological changes in the brain that will help keep you well.

   ” — Over 10,000 children and adults have used our services for long – term improvements.

   ” — 75% of people who complete our program are able to reduce or eliminate their use of medications.

   ” — On average, neurofeedback can increase IQ by 12 points.

   x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

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10. bethree5 says:

    February 4, 2017 at 2:31 pm

    Great link, thanks, Diane! Rachel nails it as usual. Concise… yet slow-paced for the news-glazes-my-eyes crowd… leading step by step into full grasp of the complexities. Love Rachel Maddow– & glad she is finally paying some attention to ed issues.

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11. Jack says:

    February 4, 2017 at 2:45 pm

    Go check out Neurocore’s FACEBOOK page. As Rachel indicated, the second post celeberates Neurocore’s brain-enhancing food that can cure you of maladies such as bi-polar disorder.

    Where were these guys when Charlie Sheen needed them?

    The restaurants that concocted these “brain-benefitting dishes” all get to advertise on the Neurocore page.

    Who needs psychiatrists or psychologists to cure or treat mental illness when when you have chefs who do such a better job at that?

    x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
    https://www.facebook.com/Neurocore/

    neurocore
    Yesterday at 8:40am ·

    “And just like that, we’ve reached the final round of our Name That Recipe poll. For one last time, tell us what YOU think would be the best name for these brain-benefitting dishes made by Chef Bob Waterbury, owner of The Lazy Susan (http://bddy.me/2l0291B), and Chef Abby Therrien of Terra GR Restaurant (http://bddy.me/2kZZULC). Thank you to everyone who entered your clever ideas for each dish. If yours didn’t make it into a poll, stay tuned for some upcoming contests you’re going to LOVE. #loveyourbrain #BrainFoods
    x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

    Unfortunately, some folks must have gotten win of the Neurocore scam from Maddow, or perhaps from reading on this blog.

    They’re starting to invade the Neurocore FACEBOOK page:

    MORE BELOW

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