Cruel Hoax in Belgium

You’ve heard that heart-rending story about the guy in Belgium who was diagnosed with a coma 23 years ago and who turned out just to be paralyzed? I’m sorry to report that he probably really isn’t conscious, and angry to report that we’ve all been hoaxed by a “facilitator”.

For those who may need further evidence for my contention, the proof can be found at http://tinyurl.com/ye9d9lp — where it is clearly seen that the “facilitator” is looking directly at the keyboard, while the subject is asleep! There can be no further doubt.  This FC claim is simply untrue, a farce, a lie – and the “facilitator” knows it! And no, this man is not going to write a book, but the “facilitator” is, and if this humbug is not stopped, she’ll make a fortune doing so. Put a stop to this, someone!”

Update:

There’s more from Science Based Medicine.

Meanwhile, this case stands as a cautionary tale – mostly about the dangers of the media discussing the implications of a story before the facts have been verified. It may also be a rare case of misdiagnosed locked in syndrome. My best guess is that Dr. Laureys is correct about the preserved cortical activity, but he is simply not familiar with the phenomenon of FC (he did not sound familiar on the interview) and has been deceived by it.  If this is so, then the FC is an unfortunate distraction from this case (and getting disproportionate attention from the media). I am already reading science bloggers comment on the fact that the video of Houben typing calls the whole case into question.

When Arrogance and Incompetence Collide

You get brilliant diplomacy.

Who knows? Under a Commander in Chief like that, Navy SEALS might even go on trial for punching a barbarian they should have just killed. All on the word of the barbarian in question, of course.

Or you might even find rubes willing to spend five dollars on a button.

Update:

Some good points about the SEALs from an Army officer.

I suspect that by asking for a court-martial instead of non-judicial
punishment, the SEALs are maintaining that they are absolutely innocent of striking the detainee after he was subdued.  They would be foolish to do this as a “How dare we get punished for one little punch” statement — they know that a court-martial will only assess the binary “did it happen/did it not happen” aspect and not whether it’s a big deal in the grand cosmic scheme of things.  And being found guilty at court-martial, even for a single punch, would be devastating for anyone’s future.  I think the SEALs will argue that the bloody lip was caused 1) by someone else at the detention center or 2) by the detainee himself, who knows the knots we tie ourselves in over these kinds of things.

Finally, I’d submit that someone who got punched in the face by a Navy SEAL would probably end up with much, much worse than a bloody lip.