Five Years of Narcissism, Bias, and Cranial Rectosis

So, I saw over at Orac's hate site that he had written a post about his 5 year blogoversary. Good for him. I also noticed that he devoted a significant portion of his post to little ol' me.

Maybe I should feel honored. Instead, I feel defiled, dirty. The ick....it burns!

I'm not going to go into detail about all of his patting himself on the back and him masturbating his already enormous ego. I will, however, pick apart the portion of his crapfest that pertains to me.

Here's what he has to say:
"One of my biggest disappointments was a fairly regular commenter named Craig Willoughby. A couple of years ago, maybe longer, he showed up in the comments of posts about vaccines. I don't remember exactly when he first showed up; it may even have been at the old blog. However, I do remember that, among those drinking of the Kool Aid of the "vaccines cause autism" movement at least then he seemed among the most reasonable, even though he didn't like what I had to say. In others, like J.B. Handley, I saw no hope of ever reaching them, but I had thought that maybe Craig was reachable. Sadly, either I was wrong that he is reachable or I botched trying to do it. Of late, Craig has drifted ever further from reason, into the anti-vaccine biomed cult (see his comments cited here for an example). These days, apparently Craig's decided that he detests me so much that he's taken to launching nasty, poorly-written, poorly thought-out, profanity-laden, spittle-flecked attacks against me that confuse insolence with pure bile and demonstrate a total misunderstanding of science."

David, here's the deal. I am a very reasonable individual. Where you failed was in gaining an ally. Calling someone a liar, an idiot, and doing everything under the sun to insult and ridicule that person is not a very good way to win friends, is it? So, in essence, yes you failed. You were trying to get me to see your point of view, but fortunately, I can't stick my head that far up my ass. And calling my blog poorly written? I mean, really, Mr. Pot, have you read some of the crap you vomit out? It's not like I'm writing pulitzer material here, and neither are you. I blog to help relieve stress, and I can honestly see why you and so many others have taken such a shine to it. Believe me, I am kicking myself for not starting sooner. Also keep in mind that this is my blog, and I can write, rant, or whatever the hell I want to do. If you don't like it, well, I'm sure I don't have to finish that sentence.

Going on:
"As much as I realize that one blogger isn't likely to make the difference, I know Craig reads my blog regularly, which is why I will simply say two things. First, vaccines didn't cause your child's autism and other problems. They just didn't; science is clear on that. Your anger, as understandable as it is, given your stressful situation, is misdirected and misguided. I know you won't like hearing that; it may even provoke another tirade against me. So be it. Know this also: I am not your enemy. Neither is Paul Offit. Neither is Steve Novella. Know this also: J.B. Handley, Generation Rescue, and the rest of the biomeddling anti-vaccine movement are not your friends, either."

Have you read my son's medical records? Have you ever met my son? Have you ever seen any autistic children? No? Then I do believe you are just blowing smoke out of your ass, David. The science is NOT clear on the vaccine/autism debate. Have there been any studies done on any other vaccine other than the MMR? Have there been any studies on an unvaccinated populace to determine neurological health outcomes? Have the children who regressed after meeting all developmental milestones been studied? Did you know that the DTaP has some pretty serious adverse reactions (Look Here)? Did you know that my son's reaction is almost word for word what it describes under the Very Rare reactions? You and Novella and Offit make these very definitive statements without reviewing ALL the evidence. That is not science.

One thing is very clear to me; you are indeed the enemy. You say that you believe that adverse reactions occur, but the minute someone says that they think that they or their child had one, you immediately say, "No, you are lying," or "you are confusing correlation with causation." Hell, you probably would deny a reaction if it happened while the needle was still in the arm, David. Same with Novella. And while I have changed some of my opinion about Offit, he would probably do the same thing. As long as you and the scientific community continue to dismiss these reactions, you will continue being the enemy.

And yes; Ms. Stagliano, J.B., Dan Olmstead and everyone over at AoA are my friends. They were there for me to offer me support and advice when my son's rages were at their most violent. They offered suggestions of things I could do to help him. They suggested the GFCF diet; a diet, I might add, that is condemned by you and your sycophantic minions. In his case, it was logical considering that he has allergies to milk and wheat. Since then, he has stopped having rages 2 to 3 times a day and now has one maybe once a month.

But doctors and scientists say there is nothing they can do to help him. They want to drug him into oblivion. Doctors like you want me to institutionalize my son. So, who are my friends again?

And here's the last part:
"Finally, Craig's quite wrong when he says that I'm only interested in being right. What I'm really interested in is science and how to apply the best science to medicine. What I'm really interested in is science and reason. I won't lie and say it doesn't bother me when evidence shows me to be wrong, but I do change."

So, when the link between vaccines and autism is found, are you going to apologize to everyone, or are you going to disappear, then show up under a new moniker to abuse those you disagree with elsewhere? Lucky for you that you can't be sued for being such an ass.

Anyway, I've said enough for now. I need to go take a shower after perusing his blogorrhea for too long. I will leave Orac and his ego some time alone together. Hell, it is so damned big that it needs its own zipcode. Does his wife ever get jealous?

Yet Another Really Stupid Post from Orac

So, today has been an exercise in frustration and exhaustion. Late last night, my lovely wife began complaining about a pain in her side. She didn't complain too much, so neither she nor I thought too much of it.

Then, early this morning, she began really complaining...I mean curling up into the fetal position complaining. Then she began vomiting and her Blood Pressure skyrocketed. Yay....ER time.

I knew it was a Kidney stone, though I didn't realize how bad it was. It was actually 3 kidney stones, all of them quite large. One of them was completely blocking off one of her ureters, and the other was doing a wonderful job of nearly blocking off the other. The third was still in her kidney, and according to the Doctor, that's the largest of them.

They did surgery about an hour ago, and they were able to zap the two in her ureters. The last one will have to be blasted in January, sadly. But, she'll be fine; nothing too serious.

So, then I get home to take a break from the hospital and give the kids a break as well. I glance at the enemy's site, and lo and behold, another idiotic post.

Orac is gleefully going on about how another study supposedly exhonerates vaccines and autism. Now, seeing how he is gloating, it is safe to assume that he is not really interested in the science or the methodology behind the study. Nor is he interested in how this affects other children and those that may indeed have been injured by vaccines.

Orac croons:
"Last week, yet another study was released investigating whether there is a link between MMR vaccination and autism. Last week, yet another study failed to find a link between MMR vaccination and autism. This week, yet another study is all set to be attacked by Generation Rescue and the anti-vaccine movement. The sad and sordid history of reactions of the anti-vaccine movement to studies that do not support its belief in the unsinkable rubber duck of a myth that vaccines cause autism."

No; he's only interested in being right.

Now, I haven't had the time to look in detail over the abstract of the study, nor have I had the time to analyze the numbers. However, one thing that was glaringly obvious is that none of the children were completely unvaccinated. Also, another thing that was glaringly obvious is that it somehow "exhonerates" all vaccines by "exhonerating" one vaccine.

Tell me, David....have there been any other studies on a vaccine other than the MMR? What about the MMR in conjunction with other childhood vaccines, like the DTaP, for instance?

When I have a chance I'll go over the study in detail and look at the numbers. Right now, I just wanted to post this to say one thing;

If Orac is only interested in being right, that means he is biased. Such bias calls his objectivity and reliability into question.

I wouldn't trust anything he says as far as I could throw him.

Why I Does What I Does

So, why did I start blogging? Very good question, actually.

Over the past few years, I've been involved with a movement that believes that vaccines, as a whole, are not truly as tried and tested as the CDC, FDA, and the Pharmaceutical interests make them out to be. Reading through the studies, it is apparent (apparent to my 10 year old daughter, even) that there are both methodological and outright complete data misrepresentation/misreporting. Almost every single one of them was done by a group that had direct financial interests in the outcome of the study. Then, as we often do when we dig into all of this, I find a very large community of people who, for whatever reason, defend the current vaccination schedule. Overall, there is nothing wrong with that. But, when it is pointed out to these defenders that these studies that they deify are rife with Conflicts of Interests and data errors, some of them go ballistic! They vehemently and vapidly attack anyone who has the gall and the audacity to claim that their sacred texts are in any way tainted.

Some of them are not so bad. Some people I talk to are very nice, very respectible and respectful, even if I do feel they are a little misguided. I understand why they defend vaccines; they feel that the vaccines save lives, and for the most part they are correct. But here's where I come into the difference of opinion with them. The vaccine schedule they insist we follow has never been tested for safety. Even the CDC admits this. The studies that they claim exhonerate vaccines and autism were almost all funded by the Pharmaceutical companies.

Here is what I don't understand. When it's pointed out that these studies could have conflicts of interests, it's almost like a light-switch turns off in their heads. No, I'm not calling them idiots, I just don't understand how they can so blindly trust "science" from a corporation that has been caught repeatedly lying about the safety of their products, that has been caught repeatedly paying for the outcomes of their studies so that it comes out the way they want it to. This is a group of organizations that have paid ghost writers to fake data, then they pay doctors to sign off on it. Do I believe this is a vast conspiracy? No, not at all. But I do believe that the whole story is not being told. And until independant research is done, as well as a study that looks at the neurological health outcomes of unvaccinated children, there will continue to be controversy.

Anyway, going on. So, I argue with the truly fanatical individuals. And, as one of the people whom I disagree with but also respect says, I think that perhaps I was using these arguments as a way to both blow off steam and to fuel my anger.

As some of you may know, being the parent of a severely autistic child can be extremely stressful (that's a picture of my handsome little man at age 5 at the top of the page, btw; it is a rare one of him smiling). Add on top of that; a sick wife, a 40+ hour a week job, Zero help from the government, Zero help from insurance, a ton of medical bills, and doing everything in your power to give your special needs child the therapy and help they need. Well, it is very stressful, to say the least. So, I used these arguements, the anger that I got from these arguements, as fuel to keep me going. Sometimes, I'd lash out at online people. Most of the times, it was because someone was being a total ass and they completely deserved it. But, I also lashed out at someone I consider a friend, even though I don't agree with her all the time.

So, it got me to thinking. Was this good for me? I see the use for my anger, but lashing out at friends?

I decided to follow the advice of my friend, Kim Wombles, and another friend, Thelma. They thought that maybe I should blog about my thoughts and feelings. And you know what? I cannot for the life of me figure out why I was reluctant to do this for so long. This is oddly fulfilling and liberating. I can express as much anger and say whatever I want on my blog, and I don't have to worry about things like moderation. If someone doesn't like what I write, well, they can kiss my ass as far as I'm concerned. This is MY blog, and I can write what I want. This control feels.....good (insert maniacal laughter here).

So, Kim and Thelma....I'm going to try this out. I'm going to blog what I feel here. If I feel angry, well, it will show in my posts; this will become my new outlet. Let's see how this experiment works.

And, I'm truly sorry for lashing out at you. Please accept my sincere apology.

The Idiot Scumbag Gets it Wrong Yet Again

Since I can't always look at all of the sites I usually read during my day at work, I usually end up checking them when I get home. My work's proxy is somewhat wonky with the sites it allows and disallows. It both frustrates me and gives me no end of amusement to see Orac's site blocked by my proxy as a hate site. Makes it all worthwhile.

So, I get home to check to see what the scumbag is up to. You know, the checking up on the enemy type of thing. And lo and behold. Poor wittle David Dorkski is upset about something that Kim Stagliano wrote. Oh, Waaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!!

So, he begins his diatibe with the usual immature, 12 year old mentality verbal diarrhea that we all come to expect from his little pea brain.

"My irony meter exploded in a near-nuclear conflagration, leaving nothing but a sputtering, molten puff of plasma when I was referred to this gem from Kim Stagliano over at Age of Autism directed at the enemy of all anti-vaccine pseudoscience, that Dark Lord of Vaccination (to anti-vaccine loons) himself, Paul Offit:"

Seriously. Irony meter? And this guy is supposed to be a doctor? How old is he? And Mr. Offit is not the "Dark Lord of Vaccination," he's just the mouthpiece of his lords and masters, the Pharmaceutical giants. If he didn't want to be the face of the vaccination movement, I'm sure he would stop saying whatever it is they pay him to say.

So, he goes on to quote Kim Stagliano, then whimpers, moans and accuses her of projecting. Now, this is a tired anti-safe vaccination tactic known as the "I know you are but what am I?" defense. It's just as immature and even more nauseatingly boring.

He mentions in his usual whining and blathering way that it is not Doctors like Offit that are causing distrust in vaccines, but parents like me who have vaccine injured children.

Wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong, you fucking nitwit!

See, here's the deal. The pro-safe vaccine crowd had nothing to do with the public distrust of the H1N1 vaccine. People were distrustful of it from day one, and the guerilla marketing technique of the Pharma industry just made them even more distrustful. Parents like me had nothing to do with this. Hell, Age of Autism has nothing to do with this. Do you really think, you fucking moron, that 41% of all Americans read Age of Autism? Or, maybe it's that you think that 41% of all Americans are parents of vaccine injured kids?

Or, maybe it's doctors, scientists, and wannabes who have made a game of insulting, harassing and ridiculing the pain that these parents and their children feel. Like, you, right, David?

And then, the comments from his sycophantic lickspittles are even better. Trying to paint Kim as "Dr. Evil." Ladies and Gents....these are supposed to be scientists and doctors. These are supposed to be the people we go to when we are sick. And they just nod their little bobble heads, agreeing with everything their overlord says. Hell, if he farted in the same room, they would probably all run to where he broke wind and try to bask in it's wretchedness.

Now I bet you are all gonna sleep so good tonight, huh?

Dorkski....pull your head out of your ass and grow the fuck up.

Addendum:
Last night, someone posting under the name of "JB" posted this:
"Oh Craig, so proud of your blog - you used even more profanity than me and kim

JB"

All of you reading this probably thought that this would be the one and only JB Handley. No. You see, the IP address for this individual is not consistent with the location of Mr. Handley. So, I called him on it and told him it was illegal to impersonate someone on the internet. He responded later that evening, and I mistakenly deleted his comment (still getting used to Blogspot and the way it does things). Here is what he wrote:

"WTF are you talking about? Do you think there's not more than one person in the world with the handle JB?"

Yes, there would be, my friend. But, reading your comment, you are leaving everyone the impression that you are Mr. Handley. Now, I will leave this up to the interpretation of my readers whether or not they believe that you were pretending to be Mr. Handley.

Here's what Texas has to say about what "JB" did:

Sec. 33.07. ONLINE HARASSMENT. (a) A person commits an


offense if the person uses the name or persona of another person to

create a web page on or to post one or more messages on a commercial

social networking site :

(1) without obtaining the other person’s consent; and

(2) with the intent to harm, defraud, intimidate, or

threaten any person.

(b) A person commits an offense if the person sends an

electronic mail, instant message, text message, or similar

communication that references a name, domain address, phone number,

or other item of identifying information belonging to any person:

(1) without obtaining the other person’s consent;

(2) with the intent to cause a recipient of the

communication to reasonably believe that the other person

authorized or transmitted the communication; and

(3) with the intent to harm or defraud any person.

(c) An offense under Subsection (a) is a felony of the third

degree. An offense under Subsection (b) is a Class A misdemeanor,

except that the offense is a felony of the third degree if the actor

commits the offense with the intent to solicit a response by

emergency personnel.

(d) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this

section also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor

may be prosecuted under this section, the other law, or both.

(e) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that

the actor is any of the following entities or that the actor’s

conduct consisted solely of action taken as an employee of any of

the following entities:

(1) a commercial social networking site ;

(2) an Internet service provider;

(3) an interactive computer service, as defined by 47

U.S.C. Section 230;

(4) a telecommunications provider, as defined by

Section 51.002, Utilities Code; or

(5) a video service provider or cable service

provider, as defined by Section 66.002, Utilities Code.

(f) In this section:

(1) ” Commercial social networking site ” means any

business, organization, or other similar entity operating a website

that permits persons to become registered users for the purpose of

establishing personal relationships with other users through

direct or real-time communication with other users or the creation

of web pages or profiles available to the public or to other users.

The term does not include an electronic mail program or a message

board program.

(2) “Identifying information” has the meaning

assigned by Section 32.51.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
 
Further Addendum:
 
So, this morning before work and while I was having my morning caffeine, I happened to glance over at Orac's hatesite and was shocked to see this gem in the comments section:
 
"I say let these anti-vaccination alarmists and their children die via some vaccine-preventable disease. Evolution at its finest.


Posted by: Xenu
December 8, 2009 4:43 PM"

I say this again; these are supposed to be Doctors and Scientists.

Now, to be fair, one of the posters over there, Chris, was rightfully appalled by Xenu's comment and was vehemently opposed to what was said. Thank you, Chris....you get much deserved Kudos for that.

Now, I'm wondering if Offit would be willing to post some of his "death threats" that parents of vaccine injured children have allegedly made to him. He SAYS that he has had death threats, but has not backed this up with evidence. So, this sure does sound anecdotal to me, yes? Now, we all know that we, the parents of vaccine-injured children, HAVE received death threats.

Oh, and Orac, in case you didn't guess....you're one of the 2 people I don't allow on this site.

Go to Hell, Reibel!

As some of you may know, Ken Reibel goes by the onscreen name of AutismNewsBeat, HeraldBlog, MidwestDad, and who knows how many other monikers. Also, as many of you know, Mr. Reibel makes sport of mocking, harassing and antagonizing parents of vaccine-injured children.

Now, he and I have been at war for some time. His sarcasm, bullying, and beligerence are quite familiar to those who frequent Age of Autism, Huffington Post and AutismAbout.com. Recently, on another blog I comment on, he had the audacity to insinuate that I am lying about my son's condition.

Now, to parents of children like ours, that is about the most offensive and humiliating thing you can say to us. The nerve of that arrogant little prick!

Of course, I retaliated. Did it go further than it should? Yes, it probably did. But, that isn't really what matters at this point. What matters is that he said outright that I was a jihadist and then posted information about where my place of residence is; something I have never made public. So, that shows me that he did a little bit of digging in order to find that information. Can anyone say Stalking?

I've decided that I've had enough of this pretentious little weasel. I have issued a Cease and Desist Order to Mr. Reibel so that he will no longer have any type of correspondence with me. So, hopefully, if he abides by the letter, this will be my first and last post about him.

If you, my dear readers, have had similar run-ins with him and he has gotten a little too harassing in his commenting, tell him to stop harassing you and to not have any more contact with you. Then, save any further correspondence to you so that it can be referenced by a legal team.