posts by pooka1:
"He seems to be a man of faith, not evidence. … Faith in conservative treatments as against evidence for non-fusion (and possibly fusion) surgery. … I suggest that is no way to approach a serious medical issue (if that is indeed his approach)." Post #241
"I was right. He's a man of faith, not evidence. … He's a man of faith AS AGAINST evidence. … Science is a way of knowing. Faith is a way of pretending to know." Post #250
"What isn't ridiculous to suggest is that what gets linked to is simply where O'Brien's hopes and interests lie, as opposed to where the evidence leads. His site, his prerogative I suppose but that is not really being true to what facts are or are not out there." Post #256
++++++++++++++++++++++
In the thread "Setting the Record Straight", which NSF President and CEO Joe O’Brien started as a response to accusations against him on this board, the President outlined the purposes of this forum.
Item 10: "this Forum is intended to be a community center to give all patients and families an opportunity to give and receive vital information and support."
and -- "we need open communication for all in an environment that shows courtesy and respect for, and by, everyone."
Item 11: "Anyone unwilling or unable to abide by the spirit of item #10 is kindly asked to leave the Forum and find another venue to satisfy your needs."
Bizarrely, that very thread has been hijacked and has degenerated into a vehicle for yet more accusations against Joe. Most recently in the form of pooka's "Faith versus evidence" campaign, an insult to the intellect and character of the President.
I invite readers unfamiliar with Joe O’Brien’s deep and broad background in all kinds of scoliosis treatment, and his personal familiarity with the top practitioners worldwide, surgical and conservative, to read post #1 in the thread "Setting the Record Straight." He almost certainly knows more about more kinds of scoliosis treatment than *anybody* on this board.
The proposition that he is promoting or discouraging any kind of treatment out of ignorance or blind faith is preposterous.
Q: Why doesn't he chime in and defend himself? Answer: I'm sure that the organization’s president has more important demands on his time than to constantly comment on petty accusations and get involved in squabbles of the nature that have become all-too-common here. I would expect a moderator to do the defense for him and clamp down on the offenders.
Linda, I request -- again -- that you control the very few people who are consistently out of control, disrupting discussions and alienating many participants with sarcastic or wild remarks, taking over threads, including now the President’s thread, and casting aspersions upon the President himself.
The NSF Forum deteriorated noticeably after the appearance of tx and pooka around the beginning of 2008. You appear mostly to side with them, and never attempt to tone them down, in my observation. No thread in the Non-Surgical area is safe from their abrasive pontifications – yet they are not even interested in non-surgical treatments except insistently to disparage them. Now pooka is essentially attacking the President, as if she understands better than he how to manage the NSF.
Only the moderator can maintain the environment that Joe has defined. The rest of us are hostages. Please enforce the principles that Joe defined above. Thank you.
"He seems to be a man of faith, not evidence. … Faith in conservative treatments as against evidence for non-fusion (and possibly fusion) surgery. … I suggest that is no way to approach a serious medical issue (if that is indeed his approach)." Post #241
"I was right. He's a man of faith, not evidence. … He's a man of faith AS AGAINST evidence. … Science is a way of knowing. Faith is a way of pretending to know." Post #250
"What isn't ridiculous to suggest is that what gets linked to is simply where O'Brien's hopes and interests lie, as opposed to where the evidence leads. His site, his prerogative I suppose but that is not really being true to what facts are or are not out there." Post #256
++++++++++++++++++++++
In the thread "Setting the Record Straight", which NSF President and CEO Joe O’Brien started as a response to accusations against him on this board, the President outlined the purposes of this forum.
Item 10: "this Forum is intended to be a community center to give all patients and families an opportunity to give and receive vital information and support."
and -- "we need open communication for all in an environment that shows courtesy and respect for, and by, everyone."
Item 11: "Anyone unwilling or unable to abide by the spirit of item #10 is kindly asked to leave the Forum and find another venue to satisfy your needs."
Bizarrely, that very thread has been hijacked and has degenerated into a vehicle for yet more accusations against Joe. Most recently in the form of pooka's "Faith versus evidence" campaign, an insult to the intellect and character of the President.
I invite readers unfamiliar with Joe O’Brien’s deep and broad background in all kinds of scoliosis treatment, and his personal familiarity with the top practitioners worldwide, surgical and conservative, to read post #1 in the thread "Setting the Record Straight." He almost certainly knows more about more kinds of scoliosis treatment than *anybody* on this board.
The proposition that he is promoting or discouraging any kind of treatment out of ignorance or blind faith is preposterous.
Q: Why doesn't he chime in and defend himself? Answer: I'm sure that the organization’s president has more important demands on his time than to constantly comment on petty accusations and get involved in squabbles of the nature that have become all-too-common here. I would expect a moderator to do the defense for him and clamp down on the offenders.
Linda, I request -- again -- that you control the very few people who are consistently out of control, disrupting discussions and alienating many participants with sarcastic or wild remarks, taking over threads, including now the President’s thread, and casting aspersions upon the President himself.
The NSF Forum deteriorated noticeably after the appearance of tx and pooka around the beginning of 2008. You appear mostly to side with them, and never attempt to tone them down, in my observation. No thread in the Non-Surgical area is safe from their abrasive pontifications – yet they are not even interested in non-surgical treatments except insistently to disparage them. Now pooka is essentially attacking the President, as if she understands better than he how to manage the NSF.
Only the moderator can maintain the environment that Joe has defined. The rest of us are hostages. Please enforce the principles that Joe defined above. Thank you.
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