Ian McAll and Tinnitus Remedy

While trying to add some polish to my earlier blogpost about "Tinnitus Miracle", I stumbled-upon Ian McAll's "Tinnitus Remedy".
These guys really need a new schtick, because McAll's speech sounds almost exactly like Thomas Coleman's: long-time sufferer, tried everything, was told he just had to live with it, did his own research and came up with a simple program to cure tinnitus in under a week.

To his credit, I didn't notice McAll claiming any sort of professional credentials, like Coleman did. He's just a regular guy, desperate to be rid of his tinnitus, who came up with a cure by working with his own two hands.

Makes you want to cry, doesn't it?

Okay, so who is Ian McAll?

I have no fucking idea. I'll try to dig something up later.

Next step is to look at his website tinnitusremedy.com, which was easy enough, since Yahoo! was kind enough to display it at the top of my search results as an ad.

TinnitusRemedy.com is registered to Ian McAll, which shocked the shit right out of me, I have to admit. What was not a surprise is that the website is registered in Hong Kong and the server is Cloudflare, the nice people who also work for TinnitusMiracle.com and ExposingJohns.com, so you know it's totally legit.

At the bottom of the webpage are the words "All material Copyright © 2014 TinnitusRemedy.com", but I couldn't find any listing for Tinnitus Remedy on the US Copyright Office website, nor any copyrights owned by Ian McAll. So, if I somehow violate his fictitious copyright, is he going to sue me in a Chinese court? Lots of luck, buddy.

There are two reviews of Tinnitus Remedy on the homepage, accompanied by pictures of the people who supposedly sent them in. Let's have a look, shall we?

A very pretty girl. Did she send her pic, along with a note of thanks?

No, she didn't. Here's the original picture

In case you're wondering, it's a stock photo. You can get it at this link. It's called "Young Housewife in the kitchen".

How about this guy?

A handsome young man. Did he send in his thanks to Ian, along with a pic?

Don't be silly. It's a photo from a Spanish language webpage. Here's the original.
 
So, Ian McAll used fake photos posing as letters of thanks from satisfied customers. Prick.

I like this quote from Ian's site

Nothing makes me happier than receiving these letters everyday from people who have gotten rid of their tinnitus and started living the full, happy lives that they deserve. You owe it to yourself to try my program because there is nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I'll just bet he loves getting these letters. It's so much easier when you write them yourself, you lying piece of shit.

So, for the measly price of $37, what do you get? According to a review I found, you get:

1. Different techniques to help tinnitus sufferers treating the actual root cause of the tinnitus condition on a permanent basis.

2. The medications that should be avoided by tinnitus sufferers. These medications either worsen the condition or lead to other health issues.

3. A list of dietary supplements that are known to be helpful for tinnitus sufferers.

4. Multiple breathing methods for tinnitus sufferers to help the body heal.

5. A variety of tips for accurate diagnosis of tinnitus condition on one’s own.

6. Information on a particular common ingredient used in the households that is capable of worsening the tinnitus sufferer’s conditions.

7. List of easily available vitamin supplements for improving the condition of tinnitus sufferers, and more…

Dietary supplements and vitamins? Sounds just like Thomas Coleman, doesn't it? Even the price is the same! Of course, McAll does it better. Coleman just gives you a book, while McAll gives you three books and a couple of CDs.

I get how people feel trapped when suffering with tinnitus. I feel the same way when the ringing in my right ear gets louder than usual. But, McAll is using outright lies to sell you something that won't do you any real good. Like "Tinnitus Miracle", you can get all sorts of useful tips for managing your tinnitus - for free - by joining the forums at Tinnitus Talk.

Hey! I checked out the FAQ section on McAll's site. Let's have some fun!

McAll's text will be in red and my responses and snappy comebacks will be in black. Here we go:

Frequently Asked Questions (you'll notice that none of these questions include: "do you have any medical training?" or "have you submitted your research for scientific peer review?" or "do you have any evidence of clinical trials?"or "why is your website registered in Hong Kong?")

Question: Will this remedy really work for me as well?

My Answer: Nope.

ANSWER: In order to determine if this will work for you (it won't), just fill out our short questionnaire by Clicking Here (link baleeted!!!). If you are eligible, you will be then be shown a short video related to the remedy. (Thereby wasting even more of your time)

Question: I've tried other Tinnitus cures I've read about on the internet that haven't worked. How is this different?

ANSWER: Most cures for Tinnitus online are 100% bogus (just like yours, Ian), and often times going to see a doctor can do little to nothing to improve your condition (aside from knowing that you actually have tinnitus and what sort of problems you might face, such as anxiety or depression, which the doctor could give you recommendations about). As a former sufferer (yeah, right! You and Thomas Coleman) of Tinnitus, I know the pain and confusion you are going through (not to mention the pain you'll feel when you lose the $37 and the confusion when get no relief from this bullshit program). It took me several years of trial and error (you should have collaborated with Thomas Coleman, it would have saved you both some time), but I finally did figure out how to get rid of my Tinnitus for good. I've also helped thousands of other people (like those two phony reviews you posted on your website?) as well, so I'm quite confident this will work for you as well (more like you're confident that you've suckered yet another person out of $37).

If you've already gone to see a doctor, chances are they will prescribe you with some form of toxic chemicals (I hate to repeat myself again, but NO MEDICATIONS ARE PRESCRIBED FOR TINNITUS!) recommended by big pharma that may even worsen your condition. Big pharma is in the business of making money (so are you, dickhead), and "curing" a condition is not as profitable for them as "treating" someone (aside from all those clinical trials going-on, right now). Please keep that in mind.

If you have tried some remedies online, you probably were disappointed by how silly their recommendations were; like holding a lit candle near your ear with the hopes that the heat will help dislodge whatever is "inside" of your ear causing your Tinnitus. This is ridiculous and please do not attempt it. My NATUAL (invest in Spellcheck) 3-step remedy (you send him money, he takes your money, he sends you shit in the mail. Yeah, three steps) has helped thousands of people rid themselves of Tinnitus once and for all within a matter of a few days (notice how he provides no proof that he has actually helped anyone).

Question: How long does it take for the remedy to work?

My Answer: forever.

ANSWER: It varies from person to person, however, I would estimate the average time to be around 10 days once you start the process.

Question: Once your system rids me of my Tinnitus, will it return again later on?

My Answer: how can it "return" when it won't go away?

ANSWER: In most cases no, however, you need to keep some things in mind. The reason your Tinnitus started in the first place may be due to exposure to loud music, machinery or other sounds. You need to think about this, and determine if you are exposing yourself to loud music/sounds, and if so, take precautions going forward. You need to make sure you wear ear plugs whenever you are exposed to loud noises in the future. If you are mindful of this, most likely your Tinnitus will not return. (the only good advice you've given, so far)

Question: My doctor recommended I get surgery, what should I do?

My Answer: surgery is not a treatment for tinnitus

ANSWER: I don't want to contradict what your doctor (yeah, since doing that could set you up to face civil or criminal charges, even in China) tells you, but, I will say this: If it were me, I would never let anyone with a knife go near my ears. In all of my time researching Tinnitus (how long was that?), I have not seen more than a few cases were (should be "where" not "were") surgery has helped. To me, it seems like another scam for hospitals to make money. (you should talk about scamming people, like with those two fake reviews you posted)

Question: Will your remedy also fix some of my other symptoms besides my Tinnitus?

My Answer: nope. However, your bank account will feel a bit lighter.

ANSWER: Getting rid of your Tinnitus will most certainly help you sleep better at night, relieve some of your anxiety, improve your concentration and improve your general quality of life. It may also improve mild hearing loss, relieve dizziness and relieve pain in your ear as well. (do you have any sort of scientific evidence to back up any of this?)

Question: Do you offer support once I begin the treatment?

ANSWER: Yes, I will be available by to assist you every step of the way. I will give you access to my private email address and I'll be here for you every step of the way. (bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!)

This system looks like a virtual clone of "Tinnitus Miracle", as if one of them simply copied their system from the other. I have no idea which of these douchebags got started first or if they copied from yet another scammer.

Duane Browning

Which Scams I Go After

Someone asked me how I pick and choose which scams to write about. I thought that I'd spell it out:

• If a scammer contacts me directly;
• If a scammer contacts a relative or a friend of mine and I find-out about it;
• If a scammer is running a scam involving Hawaii, in any way;
• If a scammer is running a scam involving a disease of which I suffer or a friend/relative suffers, especially if someone I care about has died from it;
• If I'm on YouTube and I have to watch a scammy-looking commercial before I can watch the video;
• If my Twitter feed gets flooded with obvious bullshit;

Do Not Call 844-708-2743

While reading the news online, my browser suddenly froze and a female voice came over my speaker telling me that my computer had been infected by a virus. I was given a phone number to call in order to have it cleaned-off.

I had multiple windows open on my browser and I couldn't close any of them. I couldn't switch from one window to another. I was essentially stuck on the window with the recording playing over and over, along with its accompanying pop-up.

The number I was told to call is 1-844-708-2743, which is a toll-free number. I Googled the number on my iPhone but didn't learn who actually owns it. However, I did find reports about it posted online.

I found reports posted on 800Notes and a very brief note from WhoCalledMe. Nothing else. It certainly didn't display as belonging to Microsoft.

I have McAfee, along with some other programs installed on my laptop and I run a scan using all the programs, in case something managed to slip through. If a virus or trojan managed to get past all of them, I was going to have some problems, if I didn't clean it out.

I found this post on 800Notes rather interesting

• 0
  

  Slim replies to Mac

  23 h 4 min ago
  DO NOT CALL THAT PHONE NUMBER!
  
  If you see the message ONLY with your browser,
  -- google "browser hijack", and try some of the solutions seen there.
  
  If you see the message pretty much all the time,
  -- download the anti-malware program from malwarebytes.com (or another legitimate site)
  -- run it
  --  Make sure you check the boxes that say "PUPs" (Potentially Unwanted Programs)
  
  If none of that works, you may have to visit your local computer repair shop, or restore your system from a backup created before you saw the "virus warning".
  
  DO NOT CALL THAT PHONE NUMBER!

I had previously heard of MalwareBytes, but never had installed it, since I thought McAfee and my other programs were enough to keep my laptop safe. However, a friend of mine who does computer repair told me that when a computer comes into their shop, they run several anti-virus programs on it, rather than just one. Pressing Alt+F4 to close all my windows and the browser at the same time - rather than turn my laptop power off (a.k.a. the hard shutdown) - I then opened the browser again and decided not to trust the pop-up and suspicious voice.

Figuring that More is Better Than Less, I went over to MalwareBytes and installed the free version.and let it run.

Sure enough, my laptop had about 20 items installed on it, including a couple of trojans. Since I use a web-based email and not the email program on my laptop, these hadn't been sent out to people I had emailed in the past. I have no idea how long the malware had been on my hard drive, but my laptop has been giving me problems for awhile.

I had the program clean off the malware and then rebooted. So far, everything seems okay.

If you don't have Malwarebytes installed on your computer, you should go get it now.

Using my browser's History, I was able to discover the web address that was displaying in my address bar when my browser got frozen and the voice and pop-up came on. It was from scan-direct.com which is *NOT* a Microsoft-owned website. I did a WhoIs search and unsurprisingly learned that it is an anonymously-registered site, hosted by the fine people at Cloudflare. The site was created on March 22, 2015 and is due to expire exactly one year later.

Anyone who sees that warning in their browser should not call that number. It's not Microsoft and is likely a bunch of scammers trying to hijack your computer.

Doing a further bit of research on these people, I discovered another phone number affiliated with them, which is 1-855-507-0661. 800Notes also had a report on this number, as did CheckWhoCalled. I tried calling this number from a pay phone and it is currently out of service.

Attempts to call the 844 number resulted in hearing a recorded message telling me all their operators were assisting other clients and for me to call back later. According to this webpage the number is registered to someone who lives on Princeton Street in Houston, Texas. The registrants' names are not listed.

I will continue to try calling that number until someone answers. I will update this blog post with my discoveries, if any.

Update: I got through after trying several times Sunday night. If the location where the phones are answered is really in Houston, it made more sense to wait until they were actually awake. 

The man who answered said that his name is "John Marshall", which was interesting for a guy whose accent sounded like he was from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. I asked him for the name of his company and he said it's "Support Man Computer Services" and that they work with "thousands of companies" and whenever a computer system detects that it has been infected by a virus, the system automatically directs the user to call their company by default. 

If it were true, that is one helluva sweetheart deal for any company to have! 

Of course, it's not true and a Google search for "Support Man Computer Services" yielded no results whatsoever. There are countless computer support companies around the world and there is no reason for "thousands of companies" to all trust just this one. 

A more likely explanation is that some hacker planted a program in a website which would cause a browser to freeze and display a pop-up telling a user to call a phone number. Right?

Anyway, "John" asked me some questions about my security programs and operating system and I bullshitted my way through them. I was standing out in public on a pay phone and obviously didn't have my laptop with me. Even if I did, I wasn't going to take instructions from some guy I didn't even know, especially when it comes to my computer security. I ended the call by telling him that I'd call back (you keep a candle burning in the window for me, Johnny) and did some shopping. 

I called again about 8 hours later. John answered again, but this time claimed to be Windows Tech Support. I later filed a report with Microsoft about this. 

So, that's what I found out. There might be more to it, but I didn't have the time or inclination to indulge my curiosity any further. 

In short: this is a total scam. There is no reason to believe anything these people tell you. Their story doesn't hold up under even modest scrutiny. If you've seen the  pop-up after a browser freeze, just press Alt+F4 to close your browser and run Malwarebytes (get it if you don't have it already) and/or whatever anti-virus program you've got. 

Remember, do not call that number from your own phone. It would allow them to know your phone number and they could start harassing you in the future or sell your number to other scammers. 

You could file a report against them with the Federal Trade Commission, if you want. I do advise filing a report with Microsoft about this. Use this link

Duane Browning

Tinnitus Miracle is Bullshit

There are few people I despise more than those who take advantage of others who are at a drastically low point in their lives. Whether it's people struggling with debts they cannot pay, the unemployed or people suffering from chronic - or even fatal - illnesses, there will always be that special breed of scum who will try to take advantage of them for personal gain. I've written about many people like that in this blog and now I turn my attention to Thomas Coleman.

Coleman claims to have developed a system that helps people with tinnitus cure themselves, using natural and holistic methods. He calls this system Tinnitus Miracle.

For the sake of Full Disclosure, I'm letting you know that I have tinnitus and I've had it since I was very young. It's usually not very bad, though I've had times where it got very loud. Until I learned what tinnitus is, I thought it was normal. When I was a child, I had numerous ear infections, so maybe that's a reason I have tinnitus today. I don't know for sure, because (like Thomas Coleman) I'm not a doctor.

Anyway, enough about me.

So, who is Thomas Coleman? Well, in the video where he introduces himself and his system, he claims to be a certified nutrition specialist, health consultant, medical researcher, speaker and author. He is not an Otologist. Otology is the branch of medicine which studies normal and pathological anatomy and physiology of the ear as well as diseases of the ear and their diagnosis and treatment. Tinnitus is one of the conditions studied by otologists.

Let's examine these claims, shall we?
Certified Nutrition Specialist: this requires only a bachelor's degree in healthcare, nutrition science or food service. Most states require them to be licensed, others just require them to be registered. Coleman does not provide the name of the college or university where he received his degree. He also provides no evidence that he is, in fact, a Certified Nutrition Specialist;

Health Consultant: this doesn't really mean anything. Who does he consult? I get health and diet advice whenever I go to the vegan grocery store and that advice comes from people with little, if any, background in medicine. Sure, Coleman's got his degree, so that gives him a bit more credibility than the vegan kids at the market;

Medical Researcher: Okay, this is a joke, right? What type of research has he done and where has he done it? With a bachelor's degree, his only place in a medical research project would be limited to cleaning-up the lab after the real scientists have gone home for the day. Coleman may consider himself to be a "researcher" after having done the research in developing Tinnitus Miracle, but an authentic medical researcher would be both amused and insulted that Coleman would give himself that kind of label, considering his lack of a degree in a field of study relevant to performing serious medical research;

Speaker: I could find no listing for Thomas Coleman being available to book for speaking engagements. The only speaking we know about is in the video he posted;

Author: the only thing I can find that he wrote is his "Tinnitus Miracle" e-book. There is no listing for him writing anything else. If he's an author because of that, then so am I because I write this blog.

So, Coleman provides no evidence to back-up his claims of being a CNS and the rest of his claims are laughable, at best.

Anyway, Coleman claims to have been a long-time sufferer of tinnitus, trying all sorts of things until he finally discovered his system and called it "Tinnitus Miracle". He then claims to have had other people try it and they were all cured, too.. He also claims that over 14 years, he's helped over 217,000 people in 163 countries eliminate their tinnitus. Furthermore, he states that Tinnitus Miracle is effective for all types of tinnitus, regardless of the person's age or background. So, Tinnitus Miracle is like a "one size fits all" program.

Sounds awesome. Especially since otologists have been doing research (i.e. real research) for years and haven't yet found a cure. Researchers have found ways to help people cope with their condition, but no outright cure has come down the pipe.

You would think that if Coleman's claims were true, word would have gotten out and we would have heard of this guy long before he bought a website and posted his video. The American Tinnitus Association could have shutdown years ago and millions of people with this condition could have been relieved of it. But, the ATA is still around, research is till going-on and millions of people (between 10 to 15% of adults) still have tinnitus.

Coleman's video also offers much to criticize him about.

He states that he went to his doctor and was eventually diagnosed with tinnitus, but was told that there was no treatment and would just have to live with it. This is strange, because William Shatner was able to receive help from the American Tinnitus Association, as you can see in this video

Either Coleman had a very uninformed doctor (it happens) or he made the story up. 

Next, Coleman said that he went to a psychiatrist who prescribed numerous drugs. Since tinnitus is a physical condition and not a psychiatric one, prescribing drugs for it seems odd. No medications are currently prescribed to treat tinnitus. If a psychiatrist did prescribe medications, it may have been to help cope with the stress caused by his tinnitus (medications were for anxiety and depression), not for the tinnitus itself. He says that another doctor told him he needed surgery, but surgery isn't used to treat it.

So, Coleman went out and bought a lot of books, went to the library to read everything he could on the topic and interviewed a lot of people. He delved into homeopathy and naturopathic methods and says that he tried every treatment known to science, all to no avail.

So, he concentrated on holistically treating his condition, realizing that the only way to "cure" tinnitus was to remove the underlying cause of it. He eventually stumbled on his Tinnitus Miracle system and his tinnitus was gone! He then got 27 other people to try it and their condition cleared-up in less than 4 weeks.

Coleman repeatedly mentions drugs prescribed to people with tinnitus and how the pharmaceutical is a big villain which is ripping people off and that if a cure was found for tinnitus, the pharmaceutical industry would lose money and customers.. Let me repeat myself:  No medications are currently prescribed to treat tinnitus! 

Coleman is just using the pharmaceutical industry as a bogeyman in the hopes that people will somehow feel that they are "taking control of their own health" by buying his book and putting money into his pocket, instead of Big Pharma's. Coleman sounds like the scammers who sold colloidal silver, noni juice and numerous other "natural" health products for which big promises were made but never delivered.

Coleman also makes the absolutely ludicrous claim that tinnitus is more like an alarm going-off, rather than an actual problem. He claims that there is an underlying malfunction in your body and it is expressed by the buzzing/clicking sounds in your ear. Sort of like if there is a fire in a building, an alarm goes-off to warn people. The alarm isn't the problem, the fire is the problem.

To back-up this bullshit claim of knowing what really causes tinnitus, when medical researchers with real degrees in medical science who have spent years of their lives getting an education and working in their respective fields haven't, he offers absolutely no God damned proof of any kind! None. Zero. Nada. Fuck all.

He goes on to claim that Tinnitus Miracle is a "clinically researched system that is backed by over 35,000 hours of nutritional expertise".

No shit? Okay, If it was clinically researched, then Coleman should have submitted his findings to be published in the scientific literature, like the Lancet. His research would have been subjected to peer review by people who specialize in that field of study (e..g. otology or otorhinolaryngology) and then others would have had the opportunity to attempt to replicate his findings with studies of their own. Then, if they could replicate his findings independently, Coleman would be hailed around the world as "The Man Who Found the Cure For Tinnitus" and his name would have been mentioned alongside those of others who found cures for various diseases or medical conditions. Not bad for a guy with bachelor's degree.

If he did submit his findings to be peer reviewed, I'd be very interested in reading it for myself. But, he apparently didn't. He offers no verifiable proof of any kind that he has helped anyone, let alone how he came to his stated conclusions. So, we're supposed to just take his word for it.

Fuck that and fuck him!

If you don't know how scientific peer review works, it is best explained in this video

There are numerous videos on YouTube touting Coleman's Tinnitus Miracle and I have found many websites mentioning it. This resembles the approach taken by multi-level marketers who flood the Internet with webpages telling people that a particular product is not a scam, thereby drowning-out any naysayers and getting more victims hooked into the scam.

So, I went into the web forums for people living with tinnitus to see what they had to say about Thomas Coleman and his Tinnitus Miracle:

From actiononhearingloss.org.uk

Oh just one last thing , I so agree with you movie miscreant ,thomas coleman should be in jail.His methods of selling by deceiption / false promises and fraudulant web site techniques that are frequently altered , repositioned to lead in web searches , false information & impersonation of valid medical websites is just immoral if not illegal.Just to make money off desperate people in that fashion is a man dancing with the devil.

From Tinnitus Talk

I have had the delightful T in my left ear since I guess the mid-80's. I experienced a horrific inner ear infection which threw me off balance and into a series of significant tests and out of work for about a week. I slowly recovered but the T remained and I have been dealing with it since.
In the last few weeks it has become more pronounced and I looked on the web for some advice on how to deal with it and landed on the Tinnitus Miracle sight. That looked like a scam so I searched for reviews and this site came up with people discussing it as the obvious scam it is.
Wow- I have been reading on here for hours. I am so amazed at the number of folks here and especially those with very significant symptoms that are overtaking their enjoyment of this great gift of life.
I have already learned new terminology and the latest information about this blasted high pitch tone. I plan to keep digging in to learn more. Thank God for my air purifier that runs at an auditory level that masks this ring every night. I am blessed to sleep fairly well because of it.
Thank you community, for making this a great place.

and an entire thread where Coleman and his book are discussed:

It's a scam at worst, or misleading at best. Contains nothing you can't find here on Tinnitus Talk. Don't bother buying it.

This has been discussed before, so I merged the threads.

I found this comment to be particularly alarming

Believe it or not, about three years ago I posted a video on YouTube about my experience with tinnitus and when I reached about 10k views (it now has over 25k) I received a private message from Thomas Coleman (or someone using his Tinnitus Miracle account) asking if I'd be willing to make a video clip telling everyone that my tinnitus was cured by using his product. In return he would pay me $100 from paypal. I told him to screw off. 

Those posts were copied and pasted directly from those fora without my editing them.

If Thomas Coleman believes in Tinnitus Miracle so much, you'd think he'd be more open about it. However, he doesn't show his face in the video and we are left to assume that it's even his real voice. It could be an actor playing him or it's even possible that Thomas Coleman doesn't really exist and it's somebody scamming under a false name.

The website itself also raises red flags for me:

TinnitusMiracle.com is registered anonymously via WhoIsGuard, so you don't really know who's behind it all.

Also hosted on the 72.52.245.31 IP Address are other websites that offer "cures" of various conditions and which look eerily similar to tinnitusmiracle.com:

• acidrefluxatoz.com claims to be able to cure your acid reflux in under two months
• acnenomore.com "clinically researched system that is backed by 30,000+ hours of nutritional expertise for eliminating acne for good". Sound familiar?
• bacterialvaginosisnomore.com "Over 143,000 women and men in 157 countries worldwide have already used Linda Allen's Yeast Infection No More (TM) system to get rid of their Candida yeast infections permanently!" Deja vu!
• yeastinfectionnomore.com dead link
• holisticacnetreatments.com cure your acne holistically. Video on site sounds exactly like Thomas Coleman
• relationshipatoz.com helps women find and keep the right man
• earth4electricity.com generate your own electricity and live off the grid
• yeast-infection-no-more.com same as bacterialvaginosisnomore.com
• easy-love-spells.com How to cast love spells. Doesn't seem to be selling anything
• protectionspells.org All About Protection Spells
• moneyspellsthatwork.net Spells for Money
• solar-power-advice.com generate your own electricity and live off the grid. links to earth4electricity.com

The above-listed web addresses all share the same IP address as TinnitusMiracle. While the ones for magic spells seem harmless enough, the others appear to offer "cures" for various ailments, the veracity of which I am doubtful.

The voices on TinnitusMiracle and HolisticAcneTreatments sound almost exactly the same, so I'm guessing that it's the same guy using different names.

Everything about Thomas Coleman (or whatever the fuck is his real name) and his "Tinnitus Miracle" seems wrong. In my opinion, it's just a scam looking to fleece people out of their money. What makes it particularly egregious to me is that, while some people do grow accustomed to it, others really do suffer. People who are suffering sometimes become desperate and desperate people will occasionally fall victim to unscrupulous scumbags, like "Thomas Coleman".

Steer clear of these scams that claim to cure tinnitus. The only thing they are really offering is to separate you from your money by using false hope and empty promises.

Is Thomas Coleman Even A Real Person?

Thanks to the good people at Tinnitus Talk, I've learned who really is behind "Tinnitus Miracle" and it's not Thomas Coleman.

Since "Tinnitus Miracle" is a copyrighted work, it is registered with the US Copyright Office and you can view its listing at this link.

The copyright-holder for "Tinnitus Miracle" isn't Thomas Coleman, but an Israeli citizen named Hayim Oshky, who also owns the copyright for "Acne No More", which is mentioned in the links above. Not surprisingly, "Acne No More" has been denounced as a scam, too.

Compare that listing to this picture of the front cover of the book. The manpictured on the cover is supposed to be Thomas Coleman, but it could just as easily be an actor hired for the part or it could also be simply a stock photo.

 You'll notice that at the bottom of the book cover, it says that the book is copyrighted by Thomas Coleman. The US Copyright Office says differently.

Mr Oshky was also kind enough to post a review of  "Tinnitus Miracle", which seems a little self-serving, since he's the actual author.

Hayim Oshky's company, "Higher Ways Publishing", is also the copyright-holder for various other books offering bullshit miracle cures and quack treatments for various things.

What You Can Do For Yourself

If you're living with tinnitus and you have questions you'd like to have answered, please visit the American Tinnitus Association website,

If you'd like to chat with other people living with tinnitus, sign-up with Tinnitus Talk. 

Postscript

I am under no illusions whatsoever that this blog or even the very informative discussions regarding this scam will affect sales of "Tinnitus Miracle" in any way. These scumbags are posting on behalf of it all over Twitter and this little blog won't stop more than a few people from wasting their money on it.

While my condition isn't very bad, others are not so fortunate. For some people, like William Shatner before he received help from the ATA, living with tinnitus can be debilitating. People may feel like they are being driven insane by the constant ringing in their ears. People like that get desperate and desperate people do desperate things, like spending money on scams like "Tinnitus Miracle".

The best advice I can give to anyone living with tinnitus is to sign-up at Tinnitus Talk. Members there have tinnitus and most have been living with it for a long time. They know how you feel and what you're going through.

Duane Browning

Monsanto, Nazis and Zyklon B

I'm no fan of the Monsanto Corporation. Certainly, there is a lot to criticize them about, but that is not the purpose of this blog entry.

If you're going to criticize a person or a corporation, you should do so because of something they have actually done. You shouldn't be making things up out of thin air. Don't invent a story out of whole cloth in order to demonize your target.

However, some people have taken to the Internet to accuse Monsanto of complicity in the Holocaust. Here are some examples:

Monsanto was the main supplier of Zyklon-B to the German government during the extermination phase of the Holocaust. pic.twitter.com/klK9iBQdYG
— Taylor Pike (@pike_taylor) March 11, 2015

Okay, this is a pretty horrendous accusation. But, is it True?

Well, no. It isn't.

I sent this Tweet in response

@pike_taylor the company was actually Tesch & Stabenow. The owners were executed after WW2 for supplying Zyklon B to the Nazis.
— Duane Browning (@fixedgear808) March 14, 2015

I received this in reply

@fixedgear808 you're just trying to covering up a major corporation. Good try @MonsantoCo
— Taylor Pike (@pike_taylor) March 14, 2015

So, by pointing-out an error, I was accused of being a Monsanto operative.

Okay, enough bullshit. Let's get to work.

The patent for Zyklon B was actually owned by the German company, Degesch, of which 45% was owned by IG Farben and they licensed several companies to produce it. One such company was Tesch & Stabenow. During the Second World War,  Tesch & Stabenow sold Zylon B to various Nazi death camps.

For it's normal usage as a pesticide, Zylon B was made with an accompanying warning odorant, so people would have some way of knowing that they were being exposed to it. Zyklon B was an odorless gas and the additive was included as a safety measure. When Tesch & Stabenow sold Zylon B to the death camps, they deliberately omitted the warning odorant, thereby with the full knowledge that it was going to be used on humans. This is why the heads of Tesch & Stabenow - owner Bruno Tesch and director Karl Weinbacher - were executed after the war for their part in the Holocaust. In fact, it was supposedly Tesch's idea to sell it to the Nazis in the first place.

So,Bruno Tesch was the guy who had the idea to supply Zyklon B to the SS for use in the death camps. This was not an idea that people at either Degesch or IG Farben came up with.

Certainly, IG Farben did work with the Nazi regime and there were trials after the war for people who directly assisted the Nazi and its war effort. However, the blame for supplying the SS with Zyklon B was squarely on Tesch & Stabenow.

So, how did Monsanto get blamed for supplying Zyklon B to the Nazis? It's because somebody made it up.

You see Monsanto did enter into a joint venture with IG Farben. But, this happened in 1967, about 22 years after the war was over.

During World War 2, Monsanto worked very closely with the US Government in the Manhattan Project. Also during the war, Monsanto produced DDT, which was of great help in the fight against malaria-carrying mosquitoes. From what I can find. Monsanto did not produce Zyklon B and had no connections whatsoever to the Nazis.

There were American companies that actively did business with the Nazis even during the war and you can watch this video

The ten companies listed in the video are:

1. Coca-Cola;
2. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer;
3. Chase Manhattan Bank;
4. Dow Chemical;
5. Brown Brothers Harriman;
6. Woolworth;
7. Alcoa;
8. Ford Motor Company;
9. General Motors; and
10. International Business Machines

For all its flaws, complicity in the Holocaust and/or otherwise aiding the Nazis is not one of which Monsanto is guilty.

If you don't like Monsanto, fine. As I said, there's a lot to criticize them about. But, don't pull stuff out of your ass and tell me it's gold.

Duane Browning