Jake Crosby is a young autistic man who, it appears, believes that vaccination caused his Asperger's. He has written widely on anti-vaccination topics, as discussed by Orac at Respectful Insolence. Crosby primarily has been published at the anti-vaccine organ Age of Autism.
Last November (2012) there was a congressional hearing lead up by California Republican representative Darrell Issa. Autism parent Brian Hooker revealed a series of meetings he had with rep. Issa and other congress critters. Mr. Hooker was accompanied by Andrew Wakefield who wined and dined members of the oversight committee that would ultimately hear testimonies from anti-vaccine groups on the topic of autism. The testimonies and speakers at this hearing has made Jake Crosby very angry and has posted his diatribe on none other than the Bolen Report*.
The Cliff Notes version is that Jake has decided to slam his comrades-in-arms, particularly SafeMinds, because they chose to try and appear sane and rational (as sane and rational as one can be given that they believe vaccines cause autism) in front of the congressional committee by refusing to let Jake present his contorted conspiracy theories and instead letting Mark Blaxill speak and trimming Brian Hooker's screed down. Jake's little hissy fit is a thing of beauty to read as it illustrates the mindset of anti-vaxxers and their slimy tactics to weasel their way onto a platform of legitimacy.
There is a history of folk scrubbing incriminating documents from the internet record. I decided to take screenshots of Crosby's diatribe, posted below. This of course removes the links, but preserves the sense.
As always, click to embiggen.
(Image descriptions: a series of 13 screenshots of Crosby's post at The Bolen Report, SafeMinds Steals The Show, Literally...)
Arigata-meiwaku (Japanese): An act someone does for you that you didn’t want to have them do and tried to avoid having them do, but they went ahead anyway, determined to do you a favor, and then things went wrong and caused you a lot of trouble, yet in the end social conventions required you to express gratitude
Desenrascanço (Portuguese): “to disentangle” yourself out of a bad situation (To MacGyver it)
Nunchi (Korean): the subtle art of listening and gauging another’s mood. In Western culture, nunchi could be described as the concept of emotional intelligence. Knowing what to say or do, or what not to say or do, in a given situation. A socially clumsy person can be described as ‘nunchi eoptta’, meaning “absent of nunchi”
Pena ajena (Mexican Spanish): The embarrassment you feel watching someone else’s humiliation
I wonder if there's a technical term for such words?
Go read the whole list, and maybe work a few into your vocabulary
As the nation works its way through the debate over vouchers and other alternatives to traditional public education funding, a quieter battle over homosexuality, religious education and school tax money is under way in Georgia.
State Representative Earl Ehrhart, right, in 2003. He runs one of the nonprofit conduits for donors in the scholarship program.
At issue is an increasingly popular tax credit program that transforms state money into private school scholarships, some of them used at religious-based schools that prohibit gay, lesbian or bisexual students from attending.
Tomorrow, January 27, 2013 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The theme this year is built around the theme of "Rescue During the Holocaust: The Courage to Care"
Austria was annexed to Nazi Germany in March, 1938. The nation then had about 185,000 Jewish citizens, who were subjected to terrible pressures. Jews wishing to leave Austria were required to have entry visas or boat tickets to another country. The majority of the world's nations (including, to my shame, the United States) maintained very restrictive immigration policies.
At that time, Feng-Shan Ho was the Chinese consul-general in Vienna. Ignoring demands from his immediate superior, Ho issued visas to Shanghai to all who asked for them.
It was only after his passing that evidence by survivors who benefited from Ho’s aid began to reach Yad Vashem. After carefully evaluating the case, the Commission for the Designation of the Righteous decided to award Feng-Shan Ho the title of Righteous Among the Nations for his humanitarian courage in issuing Chinese visas to Jews in Vienna in spite of orders from his superior to the contrary.
Feng-Shang Ho is one of two Chinese recognized as "Righteous Among the Nations".
Remembering my father, Dr Feng Shan Ho -- an address by his daughter, Manli Ho
21 January 2013 Republic of Chad The independent international experts in charge of the in-depth investigation into the unusual reactions recorded during the vaccination campaign against meningitis between 11 and 15 December 2012 at Gouro (West-Ennedi), presented their preliminary findings on Friday 18 January 2013 at SEM. Their investigation was based on four (4) axes:
Analysis of available documents;
Analysis of the organization of the vaccination campaign and vaccine quality;
Interviews of the different parties involved;
Medical examination of the 36 cases in the two hospitals in N’Djamena.
As a result from the different analyses, discussions among the team, and after meetings or contacting those implicated (or not implicated), in the event, the experts have come to the preliminary conclusions below:
EXPERT FINDINGS
The vaccination campaign organized in Gouro was conducted under normal conditions by staffs who are experienced in implementing mass campaigns and routine vaccination programs.
The conditions of hospitalization, in particular the medical care at the psychological level, the dialogue between the community and the health staff, were insufficient.
The crises are triggered by noise, visits by foreigners, and the occurrence of crises among other patients. Apart from these agitated periods, the children lead normal lives.
The patients are aged between 8 and 25 years, and with 77% of them being girls, i.e. 27 out of a total of 35.
A child that had not been vaccinated complains of similar symptoms.
All the different medical examinations performed on the patients were normal. The neurological examination on patients at the request of the experts also concluded that all was normal.
The same MenAfriVac vaccine lot 127M1033, used in Gouro, was used in the entire Ennedi region.
The expert reports from WHO on the vaccine lot at the level of the manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII), showed no manufacturing defect.
The MenAfriVac vaccine, prequalified by WHO in 2010, has been subjected to all the required tests before being used. To date, more than 100 million people have been vaccinated in 10 countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Sudan, Senegal, Chad, and Benin). The vaccine will be further introduced in 16 African countries. Since the introduction of the vaccine, no case of meningitis “A” has been recorded in vaccinated individuals.
EXPERT RECOMMENDATIONS
Ensure the progressive but rapid return of the children to their families and a medical follow-up;
Maintain a dialogue with the families, and vaccination stakeholders and partners.
Reinforce the medical structure at the local level through the addition of a doctor and a qualified nurse for a better health follow up in the populations and routine immunization activities.
Reinforce the ability of the health staff in crisis communication and the management of rumors.
The experts wish to specifically state that analysis of the epidemiological, medical, clinical, and diagnostic tests data, has not been able to establish a causal link between the clinical manifestations observed in the patients and the MenAfriVac vaccine.
The symptoms observed in patients are similar to those described in the literature under several names:
Collective hysteria
Collective obsessive behavior
Mass psychogenic phenomenon
The independent experts thank the population and the authorities in Chad for their confidence. They request that the authorities be diligent in the implementation of the recommendations that will facilitate a return to a peaceful situation that will be to the benefit of the vaccination programs.
The full preliminary report has been submitted to the governmental authorities and will be finalized by the Health Service in Tunisia, where 7 of the 35 patients from N’Djamena were evacuated.
The Ministry of Public Health has worked in collaboration with the experts whilst guaranteeing the complete independence of the investigation. The Ministry welcomes the experts’ conclusions in reassuring the patients, their families, and the general public of the health status of the evacuated patients from Gouro, the quality of the MenAfriVac vaccine and the overall importance of vaccination. N’Djamena, 21 January 2013 The Minister of Public Health Dr Mamouth Nahor N’Gawara.
.... A conversion disorder occurs when psychological stress manifests as physical symptoms. We take this for granted to some degree – when people feel anxious they may get sweaty, nauseated, short of breath, and have palpitations. People with panic attacks can have these symptoms and also difficulty swallowing, and episodes that may resemble certain types of seizures with feelings of being separate from reality or from themselves. These are physical symptoms resulting from pure emotional stress. But in some cases psychological stress can also lead to neurological symptoms – pretty much any neurological symptoms, such as weakness, difficulty speaking, loss of vision, and involuntary movements.
It’s important to note that this is a known and well-established syndrome. Neurologists see patients with conversion disorder frequently, and it can be positively demonstrated in many cases that the neurological symptoms are not due to any damage or lesion in the nervous system but to psychological stress. For example, it can be demonstrated in someone with psychogenic blindness that their visual system actually works. Many patients with psychogenic seizures display features that are neuroanatomically impossible to be due to actual seizures.
He went on to write,
....In this case [the Leroy illness] we are probably dealing with not only a psychogenic illness but a case of mass psychogenic illness, which is also a known phenomenon. In these cases the stressful trigger is partly the appearance of symptoms in other people, which causes anxiety about there being a contagious illness or an environmental exposure. In susceptible individuals this can trigger a psychogenic illness mimicking the symptoms of those already affected. There may even be an original case that is due to physical illness that acts as the trigger. We do not know what makes individuals susceptible to this, but epidemiologically women are affected much more than men.
The LeRoy case has all the hallmarks of a mass psychogenic illness. Most of the symptomatic individuals are women, they are all part of the same small and close knit community, and have social contact with each other. The diagnosis, therefore, is not based entirely on the exclusion of other causes. The case also has a natural history and epidemiological features that fit a mass psychogenic illness.
Peiró EF, Yáñez JL, Carramiñana I, Rullán JV, Castell J. Med Clin (Barc). 1996 Jun 1;107(1):1-3. [Study of an outbreak of hysteria after hepatitis B vaccination]. [Article in Spanish]
"Tree of Life" afghan, hand-knit by "SkepDoc" Dr. Harriet Hall. This beautiful throw is made from Wool-Ease yarn, is machine washable, and measures about 66" by 54".
We are donating the proceeds from this auction to the following benefit:
Our goal is to raise at least $30,000 by Burzynski’s birthday, the approximate cost of entering one of his clinical trials of antineoplaston therapy. On his birthday, we will deliver a present to the Clinic, a challenge to Dr. Burzynski to match the total sum donated by skeptics, science advocates, and others who value good research into devastating forms of childhood cancer. The more you give, the more we ask of Burzynski.
All auction items, including shipping, have been donated to the cause.
A year ago today, the internet went on strike and dealt the final knockout to censorship bills in the U.S. Congress, SOPA and PIPA. To celebrate, a bunch of the people have declared January 18th, 'Internet Freedom Day.' They're asking people to help with a new holiday tradition of sharing one thing -- on their blogs or social networks -- that should never be censored. Doing that reminds us all that we can and will protect free speech on the web.
For our part at Fight for the Future, as MLK Day is coming up, we realized that one thing that we all care about deeply that faces constant censorship is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic 'I Have a Dream' speech. It's hard to find something that is as important to watch and learn from, yet since it is copyrighted until 2038, Youtube and other sites censor unabridged versions of the speech. You're supposed to wait 25 years to share it.
To celebrate both Internet Freedom Day and MLK Day, we made a video containing the complete 17-minute 'I Have a Dream' speech (eta: It has already been removed from Vimeo)... so people can share it on Facebook, Twitter, and their blogs. Doing just that is a small act of civil disobedience to celebrate the freedom that Dr. King fought for and make sure his words reach people around the globe this weekend. Dr. King said, 'one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.'
Aaron Swartz passed almost a week ago today. Before that, he spent his life creating massive equality and freedom of spirit through his internet activism. Aaron and the loss of him more than ever reminds me that I am not okay with a world where when someone who is just learning about civil rights, race, and our history, goes on the web to see MLK's 'I Have a Dream' speech and is confronted with a notice that says "this video has been removed." That kind of world is untenable, and we should fight against it.
We've been reeling from Aaron's death, so we're sorry this may be the first you're hearing about Internet Freedom Day. But, please do what you can, and tell people how they can commemorate how powerful the internet-using public can be in creating and protecting our social goods.
More from Internet Freedom Day: Here’s a list of things you can do right now to continue the fight for an open,
accessible, and awesome Internet.
Access action alert! Write to Congress and tell them: We will defend the internet against any legislation that threatens our freedom of speech, privacy, and other fundamental rights."
Engage in a small act of civil disobedience and share this video of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech. Dr. King’s call for racial justice is as relevant today as it was in 1963. Because this speech is copyrighted, if SOPA had passed, entire websites could have been shut down just for linking to it. This speech is too important to be censored by broken copyright laws. Please share it today. (it has already been taken down).
Update January 20, 2013: The woman who left the threatening voicemail on the law professor's work phone has contacted the law professor via email, admitting to her actions and apologizing for them. The law professor has written:
I considered deleting the contents of this post, but decided to let it stand, with the update above. I dislike removing posts. But no further action is necessary.
There is a Facebook group of lay pro-vaccine activists, called The Anti-Vaccine Wall of Shame. It has well over 300 international members, mostly from English-speaking countries. On the whole, posts to the group consist of examples of particularly egregious examples of anti-vaccination counter-factuality, denial of reality, or flat dunderheadedness.
A woman named Hollie (who evidently lives in Illinois) is one of the administrators of a another Facebook page called Motherhood: The Truth. Its About page reads in part
Some of the topics you may see here (not in any specific order): intact penis care, circumcision, natural living, family and infant nutrition, GMO information, medical marijuana, herbs/ homeopathy, natural birth/home birth, breastfeeding, full term nursing, attachment parenting, gentle discipline, homeschooling/unschooling, foreskin restoration, human rights violations, car seat safety, politics, international matters, and more....We firmly believe that vaccines are very dangerous and it is our recommendation that any parent do EXTENSIVE research on the subject.
Hollie, in particular, is rather an extreme "intactivist" who regards all circumcision as wrong. the ultra-Orthodox Jewish circumcision practice of "metzitzah b’peh " as child abuse. Hollie has represented this practice as common among all Jews, not just the ultra-Orthodox. Keep that in mind for the rest of the story.
Some weeks ago, members of the Anti-Vaccine Wall of Shame (AVWOS) discovered Hollie's inaccurate, counter-factual Facebook claims about vaccines and began refuting them, both at the Motherhood: The Truth page and on the AVWOS page. A number of AVWOS members participated in the debunking and fact-asserting, including many who use their real names on Facebook and whose employment contact information is easily available.
A few weeks ago this page was very ANTI-VACCINATION. We believe that vaccines are poisons and that every parent deserves to be informed. Our mission was interrupted by a group of losers who are terrified that the anti-vaccine movement is gaining ground. In order to keep the integrity of the page, we removed vaccines as a topic here at Motherhood.
One of those "losers" includes an Israeli-born, US-educated law school professor, now employed at a prestigious California law school, who uses her real name in commenting on Facebook. Keep in mind that this person had recently joined AVWOS, and while active, was far from the most vociferous in refuting Hollie's foolishness.
Nevertheless, Hollie chose to target the Jewish professor, rather than the other public figures on AVWOS. Hollie found the professor's listing on the law school's faculty roster, and left the following rather alarming message:
Here's an edited transcript of Hollie's message (uhms, ers, obvious errors removed)
Thursday (I am not sure if the message was left on January 10, 2013 or January 17, 2013).
Hi Dorit, my name is Hollie. I was actually just calling because I wanted to let you know that I found out your address, where you live in South Bay with your husband, and I just wanted to let you know that I am going to be posting that very, very, very publicly on Facebook, if your group does not leave some of the anti-vaxxers alone. So just take this as a word of warning, Miss Professor of Law. You do know how these things work, these threats, work, right? I will be calling the police and reporting your for harassment. I will also be blowing up the internet, showing your address and all of that. I just wanted to let you know. If you don't leave us alone, we're going to be doing this to you. OK? GREAT! Have a good day.
Just in case Hollie's FB pronouncement goes away, here's a screen-shot. As always, click to embiggen.
I will donate $100.00 to your charity of choice if you can prove that a pro-vaccination advocate has threatened an anti-vaccination advocate in this way.
January 23, 2013 The Important of ASD Research: Kaiser Permanente's Genetic & Environmental Findings Dr. Lisa Croen, Senior Research Scientist and Director of Autism Research Program
The balance of the series
March 6, 2013 Combining the Sense to Make The World Whole: Multi-Sensory Integration Deficits in ASD Dr. Clifford Saron, Researcher, Scientist, UC David Center for Mind & Brain, M.I.N.D. Instituteh
April 24, 2013 UCSF Research on ASD: Combining Clinical Excellence with Innovative Research Dr. Robert Hendren, D.O. / Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Vice Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco
May 15, 2013 Sensory Processing in Autism & Other Neurodevelopmental Disorders: From Scanner to Bedside Dr. Elysa Marco, M.D., Director of Research UCSF, Autism & Neurodevelopmental Programs, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry & Pediatrics
You may register for one or more lectures. All lectures are $25 each to attend and occur from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at Wings Learning Center, 411 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA 94063
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