Saturday 5 January 2013

YES!! Knighthood!

I'm writing just a short post today, mostly in reference to my most recent post. I provided you the link for the petition against Dr Wessely's proposed knighthood, should you wish to sign it, and explained why I find myself a little reluctant to do so.

Someone came up with a beautiful alternative. Well, they didn't intend it to be an alternative actually, they suggested both signing that petition, and ...  doing this:


As I understand it, when someone is proposed for a knighthood, they are compared with others in the same field who have also been nominated. I could be completely wrong in that, so don't quote me on it, but I think that is what I have read somewhere.

My immediate reaction was to suggest the wonderful journalist, Sonia Poulton, for her hard work writing about M.E., describing it's difficulties so perfectly within the public eye. She's become patron of the Cheltenham "Fibro, ME/CFS Babes & Guys!" group you know! I would also personally include her awesome work raising awareness of how screwed up the benefits system is. You can read some of her work:
here
BUT, I have a sneaky suspicion that because Sonia Poulton is a journalist, she would not be considered comparable to The Weasel. In fact, she's raising awareness of how treacherous M.E. is, when he is (supposedly) performing research (and downplaying how serious it is). Plus, it is not just M.E. alone that he is being considered upon.

Someone else has suggested recommending Professor Hooper for knighthood instead. I felt a little embarrassed that I had never before heard of Hooper, so I did a little research. A few clicks later I had found that he has worked on M.E. (CFS) and Gulf War Syndrome amongst other conditions; so he is directly comparable to The Weasel. He is the Medical Advisor to the Grace Charity for M.E.; I would be very surprised if any M.E. organisation is associated with Wessely (unless it is one that he has created). Hooper has also stood in direct opposition to Wessely on his stance towards M.E./CFS, which of course will make him a very attractive alternative to many. I did also find, however, that there has been a review into him, and that there are also people who dislike him as strongly as I and many others dislike Dr Weasel. Personally, I don't feel that I have found out enough about him to recommend him for knighthood myself. But I would certainly say 'yes' he's a good alternative to ... you know who ... and that if you wish to recommend someone to be in direct opposition, then Professor Hooper is probably the right person for the job.

I, myself, think I will stick to recommending a certain journalist. I have a feeling she might turn down the post if she was offered it. That, however, would be as worth seeing, as seeing her receive it!

So, how do we go about recommending someone for a Knighthood? It's actually very simple.


There is a choice of format in which you can download the form. I would suggest PDF, as most computers have a PDF reader. You then print the form out, fill it in, and post it off to the address on the website. Couldn't be simpler, could it? Well yes, since the form is rather long and complicated. 

... and sitting on my desk still waiting to be filled in.

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