Updates made to The Millenium Project in June 2013

The AVO saga continues (15/6/2013)
The blatant attempt by Meryl Dorey of the Australian Vaccination Network to abuse the law in order to stifle my right of free speech was dismissed in Lismore Local Court on April 26. Parties have 28 days to lodge an appeal in these cases and sure enough, at the last possible minute on May 24 Ms Dorey lodged an appeal. The grounds for the appeal as set out in the application read in full:

I am appealing because I contest the dismissal of an Apprehended Violence Order made in these proceedings.

That's all. I'm now expected to waste even more of my time responding to something which cannot even be clearly expressed given four weeks to write it out. She's appealing because she doesn't like the decision. Well, that's tough. She had three opportunities to present evidence in the original application (her original submission, the second statement she managed to convince the court she should be allowed to submit, and at the actual final hearing) so she can't really claim that there is any new evidence. As she has delayed the action against another defendant by requesting a change of magistrate because the one assigned might be biased, perhaps she is going to use a similar claim to support her appeal. I certainly hope so, because there's nothing the bench likes more than being accused of bias, and Ms Dorey's comment about the possibility of this in my case went down like a depleted uranium balloon with the magistrate.

The appeal is listed for mention in the District Court in Lismore on July 29.

Sort of apology (15/6/2013)
I had been hoping to write about something other than the Australian Vaccination Network, but because of the AVO appeal and the continuing good news in the media I'll have to stick to that topic for at least this week. Sorry if I'm boring people, but as the AVN was the reason I started this web site in 1999 I hope you will allow me a little serving of Schadenfreude at the continuing misfortune of this vile organisation.

I'm on the television (15/6/2013)
A couple of weeks ago a crew from the television program Today Tonight called in at Ratbag Castle to record some comments from me about the methods used by anti-vaccination campaigners to harass people in order to advance their disgusting anti-health agenda. Coincidentally it went to air on a day which I had spent in a courtroom listening to lawyers argue over whether the AVN could be forced to change its deceptive name. Today Tonight attracted the fourth highest audience across all Australian television networks that night, so a lot of people got to see and hear what all the people in the show said.

You might notice that in response to a question from the interviewer about why she was trying to get a restraining order on someone who lives 750 kilometres away Meryl Dorey made the slightly defamatory claim that I had encouraged people to send pornography to her (I didn't, of course) and she also admitted that the AVO application had nothing to do with the "V" part but was to stop me from saying things in public. I would have thought it unwise to go on a television show which usually attracts more than 5% of the Australian population as viewers and say such things while in the process of appealing a judicial decision about these matters. But I am not a lawyer.

Another point was the use by the narrator of the term "vaccine refusers". This is now the official term used in government publications to replace the expression "conscientious objectors". As the only basis for conscientious objection could be active and devote membership of a religious community, and as all major religious groups and sects in Australia have stated they they have no objection to vaccination and in fact actively encourage it, the word "refuser" is the correct word to use. (It surprised people to find that the obvious standouts, Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Science not only do not forbid vaccination but actively encourage it. This is why the anti-vaccination liars are trying to set up their own sham church to get around the law.)

The news just gets better (15/6/2013)
Sydney's Daily and Sunday Telegraph papers have been running a campaign called "No jab, No play" about the anti-vaccination campaigners for several weeks now, resulting in much angst among the refusers and much hate mail being sent to journalists. The latest story (June 16) doesn't appear to be online anywhere, but here is what it looks like:

Here it is in words for the benefit of search engines.

We have met Tasha David before, when she was allowed to make an anonymous attack on me on an Australian Vaccination Network web page. Read all about it here.

If you want to know where the paper got it's information about the AVN's finance woes, look no further than Ken McLeod's excellent "Meryl Dorey's Trouble With Finance" and the analysis by my other friend Christine Bayne.

Proof required (15/6/2013)
In a further erosion of the rights of vaccine refusers, the federal government wants vaccination status to be declared before children can be enrolled at school. Unfortunately the same rules as apply to prechoools and child minding centres in New South Wales won't be enforced, but at least forgetful parents will be reminded of their responsibility. Refusers will still be able to send heir pox-ridden children to school without having to claim some form of exemption, but it's a start. You can read about it here.

See more Jesus and Mo here

They sentenced me to twenty hours of boredom (15/6/2013)
On June 13 and 14, the appeal by the Australian Vaccination Network against the demand by the NSW Office of Fair Trading that the AVN change its deceptive name was heard in the Administrative Decisions Tribunal. In television courtroom dramas there is always action, and the admissibility of evidence is decided in minutes. In reality, a hearing like this is mostly even more boring than the clichéd drying paint, particularly when the lawyers for the parties each have three very large two-ring binders of paper and take it in turns to read from the voluminous documentation discussing which parts of it will later be actually considered as evidence. At one stage I found myself reading the Administrative Decisions Tribunal Act for some entertainment.

I won't give a blow-by-blow commentary because all that really matters is the decision, but here are some of the highlights. The Internet meme LULZ applies.

• There was much talk from the AVN side about freedom of speech, despite there being an AVN representative present who was later in the day to be seen on television stating that she had initiated legal action against me in order to stop me speaking.
• A representative of the AVN, apparently acting on the advice of counsel, emailed both the OFT's barrister and the magistrate hearing the appeal on the evening between the two hearing days. The purpose of the email was to whine about people commenting on Twitter and Facebook while the proceedings were going on. Depending on your standing in the legal community, this action could be seen as either an extreme breach of protocol or an invitation to shout "Are you completely insane?".
• The magistrate (who just happens to be Deputy President of the ADT) made no comment about the legality or otherwise of live tweeting (the Act gives the presiding officer discretion, but there is no legal ban), possibly because she was still recovering from the shock of the whining email.
• After lunch the AVN's barrister told the magistrate she was wrong and tweeting was illegal. The magistrate replied "Thank you" and went on to talk about the evidence before her in the real matter at hand. I posted a message to Twitter reporting on the exchange.
• Part of the evidence offered by the AVN was the paper by Professor Brian Martin which had been tendered in the AVO action against me. Apparently Dr Martin was to be an expert witness on the consequences to society of allowing this harassment of the AVN (being asked to change the name) to continue. Without even referring to the precedent set by the magistrate in my case who said she wasn't even going to be bothered to read it it was assigned to the dustbin. As I was in a courtroom where loud laughter is discouraged I couldn't do the Internet LOL thing, but a wry smile flickered across my face. I wonder when a third magistrate will be asked to accept as evidence this self-serving drivel published in the AVN's own magazine.
• Despite the magistrate saying this was about the AVN's name and not about the Stop the AVN Facebook page, the evil harassment by the SAVN conspiring with the government was brought up. Several times.
• Despite this being a matter conducted under exclusively New South Wales law, the AVN's barrister (working without benefit of an instructing solicitor) was imported from another state. At one stage the OFT's barrister turned on his learned friend and told him that if he didn't understand the rules of the jurisdiction he should perhaps refrain from acting in the jurisdiction. The gallery silently wished that eating popcorn in a court room was permissible,
• One defence offered by the AVN was that they had been using the name for 16 years and changing it would destroy all those years of corporate history and brand recognition. I jotted down the names of a few companies who had changed their names over the years without suffering any obvious damage (Australia's oldest corporation changed from the first business name registered in the infant colony, the country's largest telecommunications company (two changes of name), the world's largest mining company (two changes of name), ...).
• One of the people in the public gallery had told another court that during previous court proceedings she had been so afraid of me that she had requested that extra security be provided. Despite a continuing claim that I am a threat she didn't seem to feel threatened enough this time to ask the court to exclude me from the room. Perhaps such a request was made in the overnight emails whining about tweeting, but if it was nobody mentioned it.
• There was much discussion of an open public Internet forum operated by the AVN, and the moderator of this forum was prepared to testify about how this demonstrated the AVN's commitment to open debate about vaccination where both sides of the issue could be expressed without fear or favour. At least four people in the room had been permanently banned from all participation in the forum for expressing opinions favourable to vaccination.
• The best however was the final throw of the dice by the AVN's counsel. He offered that a change of name was not necessary as the public were protected from being deceived by the name because they could rely on the notoriety of the organisation as a warning that its advice might not be the best there is. I will paraphrase that – the AVN is such a notorious supplier of misinformation that the name does not matter.

With only five minutes left before official court closing time, and with two days transcripts to review, along with a rereading of the admitted evidence, the magistrate unsurprisingly announced that her decision would be announced on a date to be fixed. That decision will be announced here as soon as it is known. It is always unwise to second-guess how judicial decisions might go, but I am quietly confident. As, no doubt, is the management of the AVN.

And another thing (15/6/2013)
Facebook occasionally makes suggestions about pages that it thinks your friends think you might like to like. This turned up on a friend's news feed. And I remember when the future of machine intelligence seemed so bright.

Anti-vaccination humour (22/6/2013)
Sometimes I think that if you trod on an anti-vaccination liar it would be far worse than stepping in dog droppings. It would be no use wiping your foot on the grass to get rid of the smell. You would probably have to throw the shoes away, and if you accidentally walked into the house you would probably need to have the carpet replaced, because no amount of shampooing, steam cleaning or elbow grease could ever get rid of the smell of filth.

Here is an example of why I have this opinion. Anti-vaccination liars think this sort of thing is funny.

One small step for mankind (22/6/2013)
For the last 37 years, an organisation named Exodus International has offered a Christian ministry based on the idea that homosexuality can be cured by praying. Last week Alan Chambers, the head of Exodus, issued a formal apology to the people he and the organisation had harmed over those 37 years. It was an amazing admission of doing wrong.

At the 38th Annual General Meeting of Exodus it was announced that the organisation is closing its doors. I'm sure this won't make any difference to the bigots who use religion to oppress people with lifestyles they don't like, and in fact some church leaders have already come out and said that their malicious practice of gay bashing will continue, maybe with even more vigour now that Exodus has gone. I would hope, however, that thinking Christians might consider Mr Chambers' words and rethink their own potential bigotry, even if it is unintentional.

Note: Exodus International has no connection with the Exodus Foundation, a Christian charity near me that provides assistance to people less well off than most of us. As far as I know they have a "Don't ask, don't tell, don't give a damn" policy about the sexuality of the people they help. In 2020 the Exodus Foundation changed its name to The Bill Crews Foundation.

Saudi women allowed to drive (22/6/2013)
In a major breakthrough for common sense and fairness, women in Saudi Arabia are to be allowed to drive cars.

I'm writing stuff (22/6/2013)
The newsstands and letterboxes of Australia will be filling up this week with magazines with stuff written by me in them. Here are just two of them.

I keep telling people that Australasian Science is the best popular science magazine in the country, but if you don't believe me (because you are a skeptic) you should either subscribe or make sure your newsagent carries it and buy a copy and see for yourself. It is written for a lay audience so it eschews esoteric language. Even I can read it, and I've got an arts degree.

I'm sure nobody could be skeptical if I say that The Skeptic is a good magazine. It's been around for more than twenty years and has maintained a high standard of reporting on the world of woowoo and nonsense. I'm only an occasional contributor, but I hope to do more in the future. It's only available by subscription, but it's money well spent.

See more Far Side here

Extremists go extreme (22/6/2013)
During the week an official of the Australian Vaccination Network apparently forgot to take her medication and posted the following to Facebook:

Here are the words, with the major lies marked by the traditional yellow highlighter.

I was going to write something comprehensive about this insanity but I'm short of time and will leave it for later. In the meantime, you can see some comments by my friends Reasonable Hank and Shelley.

Doctors are terrorists? I haven't laughed so much about anyone being called a terrorist since the late and unlamented Hulda Clark tried to sue me. One of the charges was "Terrorist threats". Oh, and I love it when quackery supporters talk about "Western medicine". I wonder where they think chiropractic and homeopathy were invented.

What a week in politics! (29/6/2013)
The big political news in Australia this week was the change of Prime Minister, but I don't do politics here except where necessary and that event has nothing much to do with what goes on here. What does matter for the purpose of this web site is that Greens Senator Richard Di Natale got to his feet at least twice to say things that I liked hearing. The first was to move a motion:

The motion was carried, causing hysteria in anti-vaccination liar forums. Here are examples, from an email sent to Australian Vaccination Network supporters:

You can see the full serving of mouth foam here.

You can see this one here. As an example of the commitment to facts shown by the AVN, the full spray contains this:

The most recent death figures for Australia from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the total number of deaths in the country from all causes in 2011 was 146,932. The 18,000 number is idiotic enough, but to think that doctors are causing 36% of all deaths is a sign either of insanity or a total disregard for the truth.

Then things got better. Correspondence between the Senator's office and interested bystanders became very busy for a while, and then Senator Di Natale made a short speech in the Senate:

And I'm still laughing. The AVN appears to be sitting in stunned silence. I don't think they ever thought they would see something like this. And neither did I. Previous attacks on them in the New South Wales Parliament are recorded in Hansard, the written transcript, but this one went out on television and is there on YouTube. Now they don't know who to vote for, with all three major parties wanting them crushed to oblivion. As do I and my friends.

See more Close To Home here

Oh, dear ... (29/6/2013)
In another massive victory for Mark Geier (seller of castration drugs to children) over the medical establishment, his licence to practice medicine in the state of Hawaii was revoked on March 14, 2013. This follows his victories in having his licence cancelled in all of the other states where he had one.

The man is a winner and conventional medicine is quaking at the way he is attacking its very foundations and causing it to collapse like the controlled demolition of a New York skyscraper.

Having succeeded in Hawaii, the last US holdout, Mark Geier is looking for more challenges. There are rumours that he is going to apply for medical registration in both Canada and Australia, where local state and province registration procedures will give him many more opportunities to be either refused registration or to have it granted and then revoked.

See the good news here.

When will Tim Bolen announce this news?

Some sense about that HPV vaccine (29/6/2013)
Anti-vaccination liars like nothing more than telling lies about vaccines, and one of the vaccines they like to lie about on a daily basis is the one against human papilloma virus, the vaccine that protects women from the most common killer cancer in developing countries and the second biggest killing cancer in developed countries – cancer of the cervix. They employ the usual Nirvana Fallacy (it's not 100% effective so therefore it's not effective at all), and they wet their pants telling lies about all the deaths and injuries the vaccine causes. To give you a taste of the sorts of things they count as vaccine reactions, one of the deaths was of a 70 year old man (?), one was a baby less than a year old (?) and one was a women killed as a passenger in a car several months after receiving the vaccine.

Some friends of mine, David Hawkes, Candice Lea and Matthew Berryman, got together to look at the truth, and their paper Answering human papillomavirus vaccine concerns; a matter of science and time has just been published.

Here is the abstract:

Since the introduction of the HPV vaccine, questions have been asked about its efficacy in preventing cancer linked with HPV. Concerns about the HPV vaccine safety profile have also been raised. This paper highlights the rapidly growing body of evidence (including clinical trials and post-marketing surveillance) illustrating both the safety of the HPV vaccine, through a detailed investigation of reported adverse events, and its efficacy in reducing both HPV infections rates and the resulting drop in cervical lesions, which have been demonstrated to be good predictors of cervical cancer risk.

See more SMBC here

And one last thing (29/6/2013)
The Tour de France is on. Here is what it used to be like.