No, there is no evidence that Hillary Clinton has Parkinson's disease

Remember Vox Day?

Vox Day is the pseudonym used by a truly vile man named Theodore Beale. I first encountered him 11 years ago on the precursor to this blog, thanks to his antivaccine stylings and outright misogyny. Later, I learned the depths of his wingnuttery, such as his accepting pseudoscientific claims that vaccines cause sudden infant death syndrome, and several others. Hilariously, his anti-science rants are inevitably accompanied by smug posturing about how scientists are arrogant (pot, kettle, black) and how science is a corrupt system that is ideologically driven (talk about projection). Basically, he seizes on any criticism of how science is practiced as an excuse to attack science itself. That doesn’t even take into account his odious suggestion, ten years before Donald Trump made it, that we should forcibly eject 11 million immigrants here illegally, because, hey, it worked for Hitler. It was a “classic” that briefly made Vox too much of a wingnut for WorldNetDaily. Sadly, the Overton window appears to have shifted, such that Vox would no longer be too much of a wingnut for many publications.

It’s not surprising, then, that Vox is a Donald Trump supporter.

Also, given his history of accepting any crank science or medicine that fits into his preconceived world view, that Vox has also jumped onto the “Hillary is unfit to serve” bandwagon. Three weeks ago, I noted two very unhelpful and bordering on despicable misuses of medicine, both involving armchair diagnoses of political candidates. First, there was the tendency of those on the left to assign psychiatric diagnoses to Donald Trump. That was bad enough, but what Trump supporters were doing was arguably worse, namely insinuating all sorts of dark conspiracies to hide serious illness in Hillary Clinton. The “evidence” used upon which the various “diagnoses” assigned to Clinton has been risibly lean, but that didn’t stop wingnuts like Dr. Jane Orient and Dr. Gerard Gianoli, both of the crank doctors’ organization the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). Basically, based on pure speculation, they did some fine JAQing off and asked if Clinton had post-concussive syndrome from a concussion and a cerebral venous thrombosis suffered after falling when she was ill with the flu in 2012 and from which she appears to have made a full recovery. There have also been insinuations that she has Parkinson’s disease, based on...basically nothing.

I guess it should come as no surprise that Vox is totally down with that observation because...”experts.” It’s hilarious to me how Vox castigates legitimate experts who point out that his beliefs are nonsense, but says this about people who support his beliefs, like Dr. Ted Noel, an anesthesiologist who has concluded through a fair amount of contortions of logic, that Hillary Clinton “probably” has Parkinson’s disease:

That is the conclusion of a a board-certified Anesthesiologist with 36 years of experience, backed up by the observations of a) a victim of Parkinson's Disease and b) a registered nurse who cares for patients with Parkinson's Disease.

First off, being a “board-certified anesthesiologist” has little or nothing to do with expertise in neurology or Parkinson’s disease. Yet, note how Vox emphasizes that he has 36 years of experience, presumably at anesthesia. I’m sure he’s a perfectly capable anesthesiologist, but he’s no more qualified to diagnose Parkinson’s disease than any other non-neurologist, probably less, given his high degree of specialization. Yet, none of that stops him from posting a ridiculous video:

And an equally ridiculous article to go with it:

Noel is hilarious. He claims that he does “exactly what the CIA” does and looks at publicly available records to determine if there is a story that fits the observations. Here’s the problem. He gets the method backwards in that what he does is to start with the story he wants to tell and then cherry picks bits of information and video to weave together to tell that story, namely that Clinton has Parkinson’s disease. He begins with the standard conspiracy theories, going back to 2005 when Clinton fainted onstage. Particularly silly is one point where Noel recounts an episode where Clinton fell down and struck her head, noting that to strike your head falling requires a “complete loss of protective reflexes” and that dehydration from an illness isn’t enough to do it:

It explains every one of the items listed above. Further, since it is a diagnosis primarily made by observation, the video record is sufficient to create a high degree of certainty.

The 2009 fall where HRC broke her elbow suggests that she had working protective reflexes, and her arm took the brunt of the fall. But three years later, she had a catastrophic fall where her reflexes were unable to help her. It is notable that this fall took place at home, where she would have been unstressed and in a familiar setting. Failing reflexes are common in PD. Poor balance is also common in PD, and a fall without working protective reflexes is a prescription for head injury. Her subsequent concerns with transverse sinus thrombosis are plausibly related to the fall. Her need for fresnel lens glasses also fits with post-concussion syndrome.

Uh, no. It happens all the time. People fall and hit their heads. Noel is really stretching here. There were a total of three falls, and Noel stretches to claim that the first one was due to early Parkinson’s, the second one due to a Parkinson’s freeze. Noel keeps going on and on about how “I am not her treating physician” but that Parkinson’s is the most likely explanation for Clinton’s behavior and that she is a politician who “lies about everything.”

His next bit of speculation is that a month after Clinton’s concussion she was experiencing occasional confusion, which he at least concedes is not uncommon after a concussion, but then he goes full on conspiracy wingnut. For instance, he shows video of Clinton nodding her head, pointing to that as evidence of Parkinson’s disease. Never mind that it’s something she’s done for a very long time, going back to the 1990s. To Noel, this isn’t just an odd tic; it’s a Parkinson’s tremor. Now, I’ve seen Parkinson’s tremors. Not surprisingly, Noel pulls up the video of Hillary with an exaggerated startle response, which Noel attributes to levodopa-induced dyskinesia. No, it’s not. I find it quite telling that nowhere in the video does Noel show video of actual Parkinson’s disease tremors or levodopa-induced dyskinesia to compare with Hillary Clinton’s movements. If he did, it would become obvious that Clinton’s behaviors are neither of these things.

Then there’s this:

PD is a chronic disease with a downhill prognosis. HRC’s instability and frequent cough suggest that her PD is advanced. This is not a good outlook for someone running for the Presidency. The office of the President is one of the highest stress jobs in the world. Stress sets off PD episodes, which render the sufferer incapable of proper response.

At this point, a bit of speculation seems appropriate. HRC talks about her yoga sessions. But no one we know of has ever documented one. It is possible that this is cover for sessions designed to teach her coping mechanisms for PD or for rest breaks. Exhaustion makes PD worse.

HRC’s coughing suggests that her swallowing disorder is advanced, placing her closer to an aspiration pneumonia that would disable or kill her. That’s bad enough, but PD has one more, even more dangerous step in its progression.

As PD continues, cognitive problems can develop. In time, they become full-blown dementia. The United States cannot survive if its President is mentally impaired.

Yes, the cough thing. Since I last wrote about this, conspiracy theorists have started to point out that Hillary Clinton coughs a lot. That’s prompted me to point out that I, too, cough a lot, because I have seasonal allergies and frequently get bronchitis in the wintertime and have for as long as I can remember. People who have seen me give talks certain times of the year probably noted that I usually had at least a low grade cough. Now think of it this way. Clinton has been on the campaign trail for over a year and a half, giving as many as several talks a day and, when not giving speeches, is forced to speak with campaign staff, donors, and others. So what if she has a cough? I bet if you looked hard enough you could find video of Donald Trump coughing or, going to past elections, Barack Obama or Mitt Romney coughing. Constant public speaking can do that.

No one seems to be asking if Newt Gingrich has Parkinson's, even though he coughed as he wondered if Clinton's coughing meant she was seriously ill.

Parkinson’s disease is indeed a serious, progressive, degenerative neurologic disease. Perhaps the best indication that Clinton almost certainly does not have Parkinson’s disease is how carefully Noel and the peddlers of this particular conspiracy theory had to cherry pick video of Clinton to find brief snippets that they could point to as Parkinson’s-associated tremors, “brain freeze,” and levodopa-induced dyskinesia. As Steve Novella, a board-certified neurologist, pointed out when I was on The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe three weeks ago, the exaggerated startle response pointed to by Noel is not a Parkinsonian freeze, nor was it dystonia or a seizure. As Novella points out, Parkinson’s is an “across the room” diagnosis that is easy for a trained neurologist to recognize, particularly if it is advanced, which, remember, is what Noel is claiming.

Ever wonder why none of these videos shows actual patients with Parkinson’s disease with dyskinesia or resting tremors for comparison? (And, no, a static photo of Michael J. Fox looking “bug-eyed” doesn’t count.) Ever wonder why, out of literally thousands of hours of video of Hillary Clinton taken over the last two years and then before, when she was Secretary of State, that these few snippets of video that can be tortured to sort of look like Parkinson’s disease symptoms are the best that Dr. Noel (and before him, Martin Shkreli and Dr. Jane Orient) could come up with? Did you ever wonder why not a single board-certified neurologist has stepped forward and say, “Yeah, that looks like Parkinson’s”? The reason is simple. It doesn’t. Those startled looks are not dyskinesia, and that head bob is probably a nervous tic, not resting tremor. Seriously. Advanced Parkinson’s disease is not something you can hide when you’re on video hundreds, if not thousands, of hours a year. It’s just not. the very fact that these few snippets of video are the best that the conspiracy mongers can come up with is excellent evidence that Hillary Clinton does not have Parkinson’s disease. If she had Parkinson’s disease, it would have been noticed long ago by someone other than a greedy pharmaceutical entrepreneur, the CEO of a crank physician organization, or an anesthesiologist with a political agenda who asks near the end of his video about who would run the country if Hillary Clinton were incapacitated and then shows a photo like this:

Bill Clinton

Yep, he insinuates. It’ll be Bill Clinton running the country again. Of course, the Constitution declares the line of succession, and if Hillary Clinton were elected and were to become incapacitated, her Vice President, Tim Kaine, would assume the duties of the Presidency, Dr. Noel's insinuation that if he were to do so the Clintons would "lose their juice," not withstanding or his "question" wondering whether Clinton had a "freeze" during the Benghazi attack and that's why it was such a disaster. (I just knew he'd manage to work Benghazi in there somewhere.)

Insinuations about the health of political candidates and leaders is nothing new. However, these conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton’s health from the fever swamps of Alex Jones territory take it to a level I do not recall ever having seen before. No wonder Vox Day eats them up. As brilliant as he thinks he is, he is the living embodiment of the Dunning-Kruger effect and the arrogance of ignorance.

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JustaTech: "Chris: Oh, there are Eastern European grocery stores up there? Sweet! I’ve been looking for some very specific kinds of rye (getting in touch with my Scandinavian heritage)..."

Both hubby and I have Scandinavian heritage, but he also happens to be Dutch enough to have spent time visiting his grandparents who used to live outside of Amsterdam. A favorite is the pumpernickel with butter and slices of either Gouda or Edam cheese.

That grocery store (which is near Sam's Club, about 133rd) did not seem to carry it, and neither does HT Market at the Oak Tree (around 105th, though it does sell some Eastern European products). HT Market is where we get the Dutch chocolate sprinkles, it is in the Indonesian section.

We used to get a particular kind of pumpernickel at a (German) Continental Store near the U-District, but that is gone. We have found it at the Tall Grass Bakery in Ballard. They also go to several farmer's markets:
https://www.tallgrassbakery.com/find.html

We actually picked up some very good dark rye pumpernickel in a local grocery store in Custer, SD last month. But did not find any in Madison, WI.

“Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking”

Whoa, I now remember hearing about that, but totally forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder.

In case anyone has wondered which particular era Donnie was stuck in, it looks to be between 1950 and 1957. His clock stopped before the Sino-Soviet split and the death of Tailgunner Joe but after the Red Scare manufactroversy of the early 1950's.

Just think! Next January 1 might well be the dawn of his 60th Groundhog Year!! (Apologies to Bill Murray.)

You still don't know a put-up job when you see one, do you?

Here's a quote from someone you probably would appreciate enormously: "In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

By Donald L. Cline (not verified) on 14 Sep 2016 #permalink

In reply to by Opus (not verified)

(getting in touch with my Scandinavian heritage)

Have you gone so far as lutefisk and akvavit? Not that I recommend lutefisk.

“Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking”

Whoa, I now remember hearing about that, but totally forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder.

Thanks for the reminder as well. I've also been meaning to read that; I've got the time on my hands as well.

I've been cooking a lot lately - I made jumbo shells stuffed with a three-cheese mix, corn and zucchini, bathed with homemade pomidoro sauce, and topped with cheese tonight - but I probably won't be able to make much in the way of Russian or Polish food this year, the nearest relevant stores being in Portland. It's only an hour away, but still.

Hmmm...Ben Carsin IS a neurologist and he's thinking Parkinson's - or something neurological in nature, but not good for a presidential candidate to have and he's demanding an MRI and proof she's healthy. To the untrained eye, she looks sick - to the trained eye, she appears to have something serious. Seems the author of this article is grabbing at straws to try to explain away what is pretty obvious to most of us.

By Sandra Hayley (not verified) on 13 Sep 2016 #permalink

^pomrodoro sauce. The Polish spelling of tomato is pomirdora, not sure if Italian is the same.

Did I mention that I had to chase a chicken out of the house today? Things are fairly rustic around here.

^Pomidor. Pomidora is Russian. It's all been slurring together in my head lately.

JP: "Have you gone so far as lutefisk and akvavit? Not that I recommend lutefisk."

It is available at the Scandia store across 15th Ave NE from Ballard Pool. It has been rinsed, so you just need to heat it up by oven poaching. Yes, I asked.

Glad you are cooking, and it sounds yummy. Sorry about the chicken. It has gotten a bit rustic here just ten blocks from the Univ. of Washington. We now have coyotes and deer... the deer have been seen running along the Burke Gilman trail.

Stupid typo: "across 15th Ave NW from Ballard Pool."

Corrected a multi-mile mistake.

Sorry about the chicken.

They're the neighbor's, and they sneak inside when the door is open to eat the cat's food. Little bastards.

Sandra Hayley: "Ben Carsin IS a neurologist and he’s thinking Parkinson’s "

So, he was a retired pediatric neurosurgeon.

Here are some things you need to understand:

1. A neurosurgeon is a completely different discipline than a neurologist, for one thing (and this is important), they do not diagnose the patient. He does not have the relevant training.

2. The word "pediatric" means he specialized in children, they are not the demographic most likely to get Parkinson's, so he does not have the relevant training.

3. He is retired and just playing politician right now.

4. His last name is Carson.

JP: "Little bastards."

Yep, I have been around live chickens and that is exactly how I feel about them. I much prefer them to be ready for cooking (mostly because I spent too much time plucking a dead chicken for a dinner once a upon a time long ago, also they are annoying and tend to get underfoot).

@JP I am happy every time I see you post about normal life stuff. I did a bunch of fun cooking this past weekend, too. I have an internet friend who raises chickens and seeing the pictures of her tiny Serama chickens (they are small enough to sit in your hand! and some are fluffy!), but not enough to deal with the hassle of adding more lifeforms to the list of things I'm responsible for keeping alive.

@Chris we've got deer on Mercer Island, too! Apparently they swim quite well (much as I enjoyed the mental image of them using the 90 bike lanes to get here). No coyotes yet, as far as I know... wonder if they swim.

By Emma Crew (not verified) on 13 Sep 2016 #permalink

Joseph Smith @134 because Parkinson and pneumonia are TOTALLY the same thing. They both start with P and have nine letters! Wait, so does PRESIDENT, ? get me a numerologist, STAT!

By Emma Crew (not verified) on 13 Sep 2016 #permalink

Emma, I am amazed that there are no coyote on that island! I was wondering how I could attract coyote or some other predator to my garden. Though I did have to remove a bird carcass from my yard that had been torn apart by a raptor.

The specific deer that annoys me has been dubbed "Lefty", and there are photos:
http://unionbaywatch.blogspot.com/2016/07/union-bay-surprise.html

The UW has a large urban farm in that area where they sell the stuff they grow. They were delighted that the coyotes were controlling the rabbits, squirrels and rodents. I wonder how they feel about that deer.

Poorly written article full of cliches "truly vile man" "misogynist". Impossible to read something so biased.
Let me guess...written by a woman and left wing brainwashed one at that.

"I am happy every time I see you post about normal life stuff."

It definitely beats rotting in the jail, er, I mean the "evaluation and treatment facility."

@Chris - We've seen coyotes in my mom's neighborhood in Bellevue. There are also a lot of rabbits in the area plus one guy who thinks "free range" chickens means they get the run of the neighborhood -- and if anything happens to them he can just buy more chickens. A coyote tried to eat her neighbor's cats (only failed because the cats went on the roof and she heard the fuss and chased the coyote away). So I think the secret is "have plenty of tasty and easily caught animals about?"

By Emma Crew (not verified) on 13 Sep 2016 #permalink

@ Chris, JP, Emma Crew

(BTW, JP, I second Emma's post)

mostly because I spent too much time plucking a dead chicken for a dinner once a upon a time long ago, also they are annoying and tend to get underfoot

Reminds me of an old French one-man show.
The humorist is talking about this one time, when he was a child, his family bought a live duck at a farmers' market.

Dad: "What should we do with the duck until dinner next Sunday?"
Grandma: "Oh, let it loose in the apartment. It will be at hand when we need it."

And then the artist confided to the audience: "I don't know about having it at hand, but gosh, how much of it did we have underfoot!"

The next 15 min of the show is about the duck escaping by sheer dumb luck all the family's attempts at catching and cooking it. The grand finale is the wracking of the apartment by a party of a dozen hunters, including a waterfowl specialist who installed his barque in the bathtub.
At the end, the family gave up and went on tuning out the duck*, which is still happily quacking around.

* tuning out ducks is something I have been doing, too.

By Helianthus (not verified) on 13 Sep 2016 #permalink

@les: boy, are you ever ridiculous! If that was your intent, then Hooray! You succeeded in spades! However, if you were serious, then I feel very sorry for you. The author is well known, figuring out who HE is isn't difficult for most people with a normal intelligence, and he's far from left wing.

@Gilbert: give it up already. Have you ever seen anyone faint? They collapse. If (like I can do sometimes) she was able to give warning, her SS agents grabbed her and pulled her off her feet. And, viewing the video, that's EXACTLY what happened. Since they had her arm, escorting her, it's pretty easy to pull someone off their feet. Hillary isn't a big woman, compared to the SS agent. And I can pull my boyfriend (taller and close to double my weight) off his feet if I stumble unexpectedly when we're walking arm in arm. Your conspiracy theories are getting dull.

Muscle weakness caused by myasthenia gravis worsens as the affected muscle is used repeatedly. Because symptoms usually improve with rest, your muscle weakness may come and go. However, myasthenia gravis symptoms tend to progress over time, usually reaching their worst within a few years after the onset of the disease...

The disorder usually affects arms more often than legs. However, if it affects your legs, you may waddle when you walk. If your neck is weak, it may be hard to hold up your head.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/myasthenia-gravis/symptom…

So Dr. Noel has an agenda , but this author doesn't .

She lies about EVERYTHNG , this is just one more .

Thanks Chris! I'll head up there this weekend. The first loaf I made of "authentic" scandinavian rye bread could be used as a door stop. Or a hammer.

I almost tripped on a chicken on the Burke Gilman trail once; I was busy watching out for inattentive cyclists and didn't think to look for chickens.

JP: I have actually looked into purchasing a dried lutefisk as a (joke) Christmas present for my dad once year, but it was so big there was no way it was going to fit in my suitcase. I've never had it, as I've been told it strongly resembles gefilte fish, and all my Jewish friends growing up strongly warned me away from that.

By JustaTech (not verified) on 14 Sep 2016 #permalink

@Gilbert: We have a video of Trump bragging that his tower was the tallest in Manhattan after 9/11. Is that sufficient to diagnose him as a psychopath?

By Gray Falcon (not verified) on 14 Sep 2016 #permalink

No .

By dan (not verified) on 14 Sep 2016 #permalink

In reply to by Gray Falcon (not verified)

It wasn't even the tallest, Gray Falcon.

The Trump building, 40 Wall Street, is 927 feet tall, or 25 feet shorter than 70 Pine.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-911-building-lie_us_57…

Is that sufficient to diagnose him as a psychopath?

No. But it is sufficient to diagnose him as an asshole -- Did I mention that I am no fan of Trump?
============================

Patients who have had a stroke or who have a chronic neuromuscular disease, such as muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, or ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) may have impaired swallowing and mechanical defenses against pneumonia.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/13/it-could-take…

Her head was not slumped forward, It was craned back -- same thing, as far as muscle control goes.

DONALD TRUMP: "40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and it was actually, before the World Trade Center, was the tallest — and then, when they built the World Trade Center, it became known as the second-tallest. And now it’s the tallest."

Which would be true if 70 pine went up after WTC -- I don't know.

This entire Clinton health discussion is so blatantly idiotic on it's face. No one is going to seek one of the most grueling jobs on this planet having the poor health that all you nutters claim Sec. Clinton has. People get freakin pneumonia all the damn time. People make weird faces and get captured in photographs. Get over your damn selves; I'd be more concerned with policies of the candidates if I were you.

By Science Mom (not verified) on 14 Sep 2016 #permalink

I've watched many a Private go down just as she did at the vehicle. Lock the knees, stand there too long, unlock them and down they go.

Lordy! The entire US Armed Forces are ill!

By Wzrd1 (not verified) on 15 Sep 2016 #permalink

In reply to by dan (not verified)

Just remember, FDR kept the country together during World War II despite not being able to stand for long periods.

By Gray Falcon (not verified) on 14 Sep 2016 #permalink

Gray Falcon, That was from a ten minute phone interview and he was prompted to talk about his tower --

Your building is, ahh, Trump tower is one of the great tourist attractions in the world; It's well known...are you taking any precautions...

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1764219419001?bckey=AQ~…
======================

She's not well, Science Mom. The disclosure of 'pneumonia' came hours after her collapse; But why mention it beforehand as she had decided just to 'power through' (unsuccessfully, might I add).

Gilbert, if you can diagnose someone from afar from a ten-minute clip, so can I.

By Gray Falcon (not verified) on 14 Sep 2016 #permalink

She’s not well, Science Mom. The disclosure of ‘pneumonia’ came hours after her collapse; But why mention it beforehand as she had decided just to ‘power through’ (unsuccessfully, might I add).

I can only parse that ridiculous sentence so much. Of course she's "not well"; she had pneumonia and carrying on a grueling schedule. All this speculation makes the lot of you look even dumber and more pathetic than you already do.

By Science Mom (not verified) on 14 Sep 2016 #permalink

I’ve never had it, as I’ve been told it strongly resembles gefilte fish, and all my Jewish friends growing up strongly warned me away from that.

It's worse than gefilte fish, I'd say, at least if we're talking about the non-sugared variety.

I kid you not, some gefilte fish is sugary sweet. There's a line running through Eastern Europe that separates sweet from non-sweet gefilte fish; I found this out after ordering the stuff in a restaurant in Krakow once and being unpleasantly surprised.

JP: Sweet gefilte fish? Sweet? Dear Dog that's terrifying. Why? No. I don't want to know the probably very interesting cultural reason why you would make fish balls in gelatinous goo sweet.

*shudder*

By JustaTech (not verified) on 14 Sep 2016 #permalink

All this speculation makes the lot of you look even dumber and more pathetic than you already do.

Well, I speculate that tomorrow will be an interesting day --

"So I just want to get this over and done with and get back on the trail as soon as possible," she added.

She will make her first stop in Greensboro, North Carolina on Thursday

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/hillary-c…

I don’t want to know the probably very interesting cultural reason why you would make fish balls in gelatinous goo sweet.

The sugar beet industry in Poland. Sugar had only recently been a high-status food, so when Poland started swimming in sugar, it started going in *everything*.

That's my take on it, at least.

Sorry for telling you. :-)

I would vote for Alan King or Allen West in a New York Second for President, and they are both blacker than ZEROBama by half, so don’t start with me on this racist crap.

Ah, but the real question is: would Donny marry an octoroon?

JP: "It’s worse than gefilte fish, I’d say, at least if we’re talking about the non-sugared variety."

Apparently some people are trying to elevate gefilte fish:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/09/13/493631807/the-gefilte-ma…

I personally loved the pickled herring at a Klezfest a few years ago (we went because a friend of youngest child was in the Klezmer band).

@Gilbert: give it up already. Have you ever seen anyone faint? They collapse... And, viewing the video, that’s EXACTLY what happened.

Whatever, MI Dawn #191. She says she did not; or is a faint somehow different than just loosing consciousness; Is there a designation for 'walking faintness'? Sleepwalking?

Hillary Clinton says she got dizzy but didn’t lose consciousness when she stumbled on the way out of the 9/11 memorial Sunday.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/09/12/clinton-health-campaign-plans/

Of course, she could be lying but that loss of legs without a faint sure looks even more suspicious -- A firing defibrillator, myasthenia gravis, a seizure, ..., Parkinson's.

“Well if it is, it’s a mystery to me and all of her doctors,” he said, “because frequently—well not frequently, rarely—but on more than one occasion, over the last many, many years, the same sort of thing happened to her when she got severely dehydrated,” Bill Clinton said.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/09/12/clinton-health-campaign-plans/

Why can't that thing drink water? Will she melt like the witch she is?

Note to D. Cline: I'm done with reassembling your scattered comments into something coherent for an external reader. If you want replies, learn to blockquote and comment in the normal location.

Or we can do what is most effective for trolls: let us all ignore Donny.

let us all ignore Donny.

I thought Narad might have something to say in response to this cracker-ass sh!t.

@Gilbert It is certainly possible to be dizzy enough to fall over without losing consciousness without a serious chronic health issue. I have a friend who gets vertigo bad enough to fall over (once while simply taking a shower!) whenever she gets an otherwise barely symptomatic sinus infection. One time after she was on the floor she told me "I still feel like I'm going to fall down, but I'm not sure which direction down is." Bacterial infection, loads of coughing, dehydration can all work together to disturb the inner ear.

By Emma Crew (not verified) on 14 Sep 2016 #permalink

I thought Narad might have something to say in response to this cracker-ass sh!t.

Nah, that's as predictable as dirt, given his pining for the antebellum years, and there's the misspelled Khazars routine, too. I'm guessing that the payoff from this gem* was on par for the crank-augury course,** though:

You are going to find out just what a monster your favorite First Enemy Agent is very soon, Mel. He's right at the tipping point. He is not going to be able to contain his raging narcissist amygdala much longer; he has been thwarted too many times and he cannot allow that to stand....
....
He's gotten away with so much criminality, now he thinks he can get away with anything. You will see, before the end of this year, the next thing he thinks he can get away with.

* It's cute how it likes to refer to parts of the brain. Coupled with the "Piled Higher and Deeper" routine along with everything else, I'm going with really severe overcompensation.
** Nonexistent.

My partner when I was a private investigator in San Francisco was black and we saved each other’s ass several times in some pretty nasty ghettoes

What was it like having Quinn Martin as a boss?

Waiting for a job to render, had spare time (but I agree with Narad, these are old “points”, easily refuted if one searches the internet).

the slave traders were mostly black

Possibly true, if you count everybody involved up to and including African tribes trapping other Africans. Although I've usually come across that claim only on sites trying to downplay the impact of slavery, or the diminish the "white blame" for it, whatever that is. But maybe that's just my bad luck. The slaves were, however, brought with ships owned by white, sailing under a white captain and mostly white crew, and sold to mostly white slaveholders. And African “black-on-black” slavery was very small scale before the European money started pouring in. Caribeans had native slavery as well, but I doubt comparable to the New World slave trade. Plantation-type slavery was unique in the annals of slavery, both in scope and in spirit.

the early slave owners in the United States were black

“the early slave owners in the United States were included some blacks.

Fixed that for you.

Also for your consideration, not early, but in 1830 there were 3,775 such black slaveholders in the South who owned a total of 12,760 slaves.[189] 80% of the black slaveholders were located in Louisiana, South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.
Total number of slaves in those four states, in 1830 was 997,740. So blacks owned aproximately 1% of the Slaves in those four states.

There are also varying numbers given to free black men buying family members as slaves, because freeing them was not possible or more expensive/complicated. Nobody is denying this didn't happen, but there seem to be vastly different numbers so won't hazard a guess.

blacks were not the only slaves

No they weren't. They were the vast majority. Many were indentured servants, though, which is not the same as a “slave bought and paid”.

police have shot more white than they have blacks in spite of the fact the highest crime rates are in black communities

Well, given that there are over 5 times as many whites as there are black in US, you'd expect that. Now, as a exercise to the reader, what's the ratio between blacks and whites killed by police?

blacks kill each other off at a far higher rate than whites

True. I wish they'd stop.

whenever a black is shot in the course of committing a crime the black community goes ballistic and screams about police brutality but whenever a white is shot in the course of committing a crime you never see the white community (or the black community) going ballistic over it because he was a criminal and the shooting was in self-defense

And whenever a black man is killed by a cop certain white communities go ballistic and scream about black brutality.

 the fact  the family members of blacks shot in the commission of crime wail and moan and ask questions like “how else was he supposed to get any money for school clothes?”

Every time?

And what about blacks were shot who weren't in the commission of crime?

Many were indentured servants, though, which is not the same as a “slave bought and paid”.

Should read "Many non-black slaves were indentured servants, though, which is not the same as a "slave bought and paid" (chattel)."

whenever a black is shot in the course of committing a crime

Trayvon Martin was not "in the course of committing a crime" when he was shot.
Unless you count "confronting your white stalker" as a crime. But then, according to the "stand your ground" laws, people do have the right to confront anyone they feel threatened by.

That's not the only instance where "in the course of committing a crime" is a highly questionable description of the context.

One such black victim was full on his back, arms outstretched, and he was previously busy calming down an (white) autistic teenager. He was shot anyway (he survived). The cop claimed he was aiming at the autistic boy.

By Helianthus (not verified) on 14 Sep 2016 #permalink

I’d be more concerned with policies of the candidates if I were you.

Good point, Science Mom.

Everything HRC touches she kind of screws up with hubris

http://hotair.com/archives/2016/09/14/leaked-powell-e-mail-everything-h…

I would rather not have to vote for her, although she is a friend I respect. A 70-year person with a long track record, unbridled ambition, greedy, not tranformational, with a husband still dicking bimbos at home.

http://dailycaller.com/2016/09/14/hacked-emails-powell-isnt-voting-for-…

It doesn't matter what her stated policies are -- They'll all get 'dicked'.

So, Gilly, let me see if I understand your point of view -

Clinton is at death's door, and if we elect her, she may likely die after taking office, and we'd be stuck with not Trump, not Clinton, but Kain as president? Is that what you are suggesting is likely to happen?

Because I gotta ask - what's the down side?

Of course there is no evidence. The people who are publishing her medical reports are not a third party. She simply just creates false evidence.

By John Robertson (not verified) on 15 Sep 2016 #permalink

Nothing quite so successional, Johnny. I fear she will have one of her macerena fits and slump down on The Button.

@ JP:

THANK YOU so much for that map and the Gefilte Fish Line.
My own mother purchased the eastern variety ( -btw- we're supposed to be WASPs but sometimes I truly wonder - also a few family names and interesting hair textures on my father's side).

I never tasted the stuff. Oy. It's scary looking.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 15 Sep 2016 #permalink

You know The Button isn't an actual button, right?

What???

I never tasted the stuff. Oy. It’s scary looking.

Homemade gefilte fish (non-sweet) is not bad, at least I think; but then I am almost undiscriminating in my enthusiasm for seafood.

I even had the jarred variety at Passover once and didn't mind it. (With lettuce and carrots, anyway.)

( -btw- we’re supposed to be WASPs but sometimes I truly wonder – also a few family names and interesting hair textures on my father’s side)

My dad's side of the family is ethnically interesting. If I had a hundred bucks to blow, I'd do one of those DNA things, but I don't, especially after finally getting set up with a smartphone. (Welcome to 2016, self. It was actually the cheapest phone Verizon even has anymore.)

I fear she will have one of her macarena fits and slump down on The Button on the red phone and butt-dial the Kremlin with her face.

p.s. Of course it is not a button it is a modified Gameboy with an OPLAN 8010 touchscreen interface.

Well, the red phone isn't red, it isn't a phone, and the US end is in Virginia, not the White House.

Are you just really stupid, or trying (and failing) to be funny?

"I know that the red button on my desk phone will connect me with the White House Army Signal Agency (WHASA) switchboard and that the WHASA switchboard can connect me immediately to the Joint War Room. If I called the Joint War Room without giving them advance notice, to whom would I be speaking?"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_football#History

Clinton's eyes were doin' the chameleon thingy again today -- Diplopia; one this way, one that.

Johnny: I think that Gilbert might be providing us another (unnecessary) example of John Scalzi's aphorism "The failure mode of clever is asshole."

By JustaTech (not verified) on 15 Sep 2016 #permalink

Carry her water, JustaTech; In buckets full of holes.-- The deplorables.

Are you a parkinsons doctor? No? Then you cant make a diagnosis that she doesnt have parkinsons. Did you research all possibilities, exam her, and come to this conclusion? Your logic is severely lacking. You cant assert she doesnt have something. Good luck proving a negative, its impossible.

However, ive been following this closely, and many doctors from many backgrounds have commented all over the net, that there is definitely something going on. Parkinsons is certainly a valid hypothesis. A diagnosis simply cannot be made from all the video evidence we have, but we mostly certainly can conclude she does in fact have some symptoms of Parkinsons, which also overlaps with symptoms of other disorders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd4NH9jKNas

This is not a healthy person. She has some kind of neurological issue. Parkinsons or something else, but its something. Normal people do not have involuntary head bobbing and facial distortions like this, and you dont have to be a doctor to know this.

Levodopa-Induced Dyskinesia seems to fit this behavior quite well and ive seen no one come up with a better hypothesis.

The bias I see in this blog would lead me to believe that people would try to pass this off as a normal startled reaction. You would have to be deep into the koolaid to think that reaction is remotely normal.

By Jason Kones (not verified) on 16 Sep 2016 #permalink

Mr. Kones, do you know what the null hypothesis is?

By Gray Falcon (not verified) on 16 Sep 2016 #permalink

Let's say you work in the welfare office. Would that video clip alone be sufficient evidence to all someone to collect disability payments?

By Gray Falcon (not verified) on 16 Sep 2016 #permalink

What an odd question!
When my wife filed for disability, she never went near the welfare office, she went to the Social Security office and they scheduled their own physician's visit.

You know, doctors certify disability, not clerks.

By Wzrd1 (not verified) on 17 Sep 2016 #permalink

In reply to by Gray Falcon (not verified)

She doesn't have Parkinson's Disease; she has Clinton's Disease.

By The Demo-cat (not verified) on 16 Sep 2016 #permalink

@ Jason

I'm a Brit, so I don't really care, but that vid, that reaction from Hilary, was over that Chai drink. Just look at the reactions of everyone around her, she be clowning around.

That video is proof of nothing. You posting it as evidence... well you need to do a whole lot better than that.

Hans was moping about in Ole's general store, so Ole asked him what was the matter. Hans said, "There's a family of skunks goes under my porch every night and stinks things up so I can't sleep." Ole wrapped up some lutefisk, gave it to Hans and said, "Just put some of this under there after supper. You'll be fixed up real quick, you betcha."

A few days later, Ole sees Hans on the street and he's still moping. Ole asks him, "What's the matter Hans, still got those skunks?" Hans replies, "Oh no. They're gone. Now it's Norwegians under there I can't get rid of."

All of this talk of lutefish has convinced me, I'll have to try it. :)
But then, I've quite enjoyed baccala quite a few times in my day. Old family recipes and all.

Although, I do recall an episode back when we lived in Philly, where a woman of Sicilian-American ancestry complained quite vociferously about some Vietnamese neighbors rehydrating fish and some epithets issued that bear no repetition here.
I simply reminded her of her grandparents and probably, parents preparing baccala and that the term "dumb WOP" is a double negative (hey, both of my Sicilian grandparents had their papers and passports). Dumbfounded, she did precisely what everyone really wanted, she shut the hell up with her bigoted bullshit.
Using the epithet used against Italians did something painful to her, it made her think.
Even her already disgusted, somewhat slow witted husband got it. (Nice guy, not extremely brilliant, but overall, quite a well balanced individual and not given to sharing his wife's bigotry. The subsequently divorced, part of the reason given was her bigotry. He took great pride in his construction workmanship, which I admired enough to teach him some tricks in working concrete and masonry that dad taught me, for which he was immensely grateful.)

By Wzrd1 (not verified) on 17 Sep 2016 #permalink

In reply to by sadmar (not verified)

Your logic is severely lacking. You cant assert she doesnt have something. Good luck proving a negative, its impossible.

Why no, it isn't. I, for instance, don't have diabetes, a thyroid disorder, or Gardner syndrome. Or a broken leg or congenital asplenia, for that matter.

Interestingly enough, although rather OT...
I'm now officially the oldest male in my father's derived line of the family that isn't diabetic.
Every other male has become diabetic by age 50, some long so.
Type 2 diabetes in our family shows a direct correlation to body mass and I've successfully staved off becoming overweight.

Or is that evidence toward proving a negative, as increased body fat and insulin resistance are known comorbidities?
Yeah, I know, small sample size (pun intended).

By Wzrd1 (not verified) on 17 Sep 2016 #permalink

In reply to by Narad (not verified)

^ On the other hand, I do have an acquaintance (a former colleague who lives in the same part of the neighborhood). I ran into Colleague about a week ago and asked, "Hey, are you limping?"

"Nah, Parkinson's."
"Oh, I had no idea! When were you diagnosed?"
"About a year ago."

We then had a nice chat, comparing neurologists, how things are going at work, etc. But anyway... where's the bradykinesia?

Go back to playing the slobber blues on Tyler Durden's skin flute, or wherever your usual moron hole is.

You know, doctors certify disability, not clerks.

That was more or less my point. It wasn't that commenter's job to make that kind of decision, since he was not a doctor, let alone one who personally examined her.

All he was trying to do was shift the burden of proof.

By Gray Falcon (not verified) on 17 Sep 2016 #permalink

As opposed to a physician, who wants to play in politics? ;)

By Wzrd1 (not verified) on 17 Sep 2016 #permalink

In reply to by Gray Falcon (not verified)

This written part of a post is so totally incorrect "The 2009 fall where HRC broke her elbow suggests that she had working protective reflexes, and her arm took the brunt of the fall." My Father, who also had Parkinson's, fell and broke his shoulder during stage 4. He basically had no reflexes at that point. Therefore, that statement is inaccurate, totally untrue and misguided.

By xelorwatch (not verified) on 21 Sep 2016 #permalink

For most part you clowns attacking Dr Noel are sucking off of Bill Clintons d...k likely. If you had listened to what Noel said responsibly no doctor can make a diagnosis without a physical examination of the patient. He was making medical observations based on her obvious bizzare and unnatural behavior documented in undisputed video.

For most part you clowns attacking Dr Noel are sucking off of Bill Clintons d…k likely.

You seem to be having some difficulties in sentence construction. This, for example, suggests – by contrast – that you, instead, are "sucking on Bill Clintons d…k likely."

Is it part of an intelligence-gathering mission?

If, as is statistically likely, Clinton's transverse sinus is still blocked, she would still have increased pressure and swelling and decreased blood flow to her brain. That swelling would place pressure on the exposed portion of the sixth cranial nerve at the base of her brain, explaining the apparent lateral rectus palsy. And such a deficit can be partial and/or intermittent.

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/healthcare/297208-clintons-eyes-a…

Gilbert, we're electing a president, not choosing a soccer player.

By Gray Falcon (not verified) on 23 Sep 2016 #permalink

One thing I can't understand is why Hillary Clinton has not been asked about what happened in that coffee shop with her head. In fact, I think that it should have been brought up in the debates. Is it a seizure? Surely it is an involuntary movement of some kind. I admire Dr. Ted Noel for his courage in using his own name to bring these issues up. He is a brave man, regardless of whether he is right or wrong about his Parkinson's disease hypothesis.

No matter how this election turns out, it will not be much longer until the liberals can no longer lie about Hillary's neurological disorder. It has been worsening for a few months, and soon it will be obvious that the Clintons have been brazenly lying, again. No surprise there, the Clintons have had no credibility for decades.

By Mark Sullivan (not verified) on 07 Oct 2016 #permalink

Behold the thread-necromancer: Posting on a thread two days after everyone else so as to make sure nobody will reply to him. Never mind that nobody will see him, either.

By Gray Falcon (not verified) on 08 Oct 2016 #permalink

@ Gray Falcon:

Well, we saw it.

By Denice Walter (not verified) on 08 Oct 2016 #permalink