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Odd that this should happen really, since I often get accused of not reading what the anti-vaxers have to say. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In additional to the tripe on the Facebook pages, the forums, the mailing lists and comments on news articles, I have perused the information pack for conscientious objectors, flicked through Living Wisdom and looky over there >>> a copy of Callous Disregard by Andrew Wakefield.

It’s more than I suspect they do with respect to research. Although, Meryl Dorey says she reads papers about vaccination but apparently comes away with completely different conclusions to the authors, making the exercise rather futile.

Indeed, the recent HCCC investigation concluded that whilst the AVN may cite peer-reviewed research, they quote selectively from it, often in contradiction to the conclusions or findings of the studies themselves.

Ms Dorey explained this discrepancy with the following:

“It is true that oftentimes, our information will contradict the conclusions or summaries of the studies. This is because, as opposed to most doctors and government officials, we actually read the studies and frequently, the summary and conclusion does not agree with the raw data itself…..Many times, that disconnect can be explained by the financial links between the study’s researchers and the companies whose products are being studied. So, whilst the AVN does frequently draw different conclusions to those printed at the end of these articles, it is because our analysis of the data shows that the printed conclusions do not correspond with the raw data. This is not selective reporting – it is accurate reporting.”

Raw data. It doesn’t mean what you think it means Ms Dorey. And the financial links? Oh course, the old shill canard again. When you ‘aint got nothin’ else.. (and you don’t know how to read papers).

The AVN have been in oodles of trouble lately, the most recent being for multiple breaches of copyright associated with selling material on their website without permission. Which is funny, because one of the things I came across in the information in Living Wisdom was their permission to reproduce policy:

“Whilst reproduction and dissemination of the information found in Living Wisdom is actively encouraged (unless otherwise stated), it is expressly forbidden for anyone to reproduce any of this information for the purpose of profit…”

My emphasis.

Which directly contradicts the reason they were recently in strife – for selling other authors’ material on their website, without permission.

An article from the Sydney Morning Herald describes:

“an anti-vaccination group is under fire for allegedly breaching copyright laws by selling newspaper and medical journal articles online without permission from the authors.

The packs, which were selling for up to $128, included home-made books filled with articles photocopied from journals around the world, information on drugs taken from MIMS, the medical guide used by doctors and nurses, and copies of brochures inserted in medication boxes by pharmaceutical companies.

Under the Copyright Act, articles can be copied for personal research or for use by students but cannot be disseminated widely or sold.”

In response, Meryl said she was “unaware she had breached copyright”. This is despite the fact that she is listed as the editor of Living Wisdom and therefore probably wrote the policy. Even if she didn’t, one would think it is part of her job to understand copyright restrictions as the editor of a magazine for more than a decade.

But the duplicity of the AVN is something we have come to know well. This is a recent screen capture from their website.

So it appears Meryl knew about some of these copyright rules “a couple of years ago” at least.

One wonders if the authors contacted by the Sydney Morning Herald decided to take any action against the AVN given some might be owed a nice wad of booty. Based on the AVN’s permission to reproduce policy, they themselves would be joining a queue to recoup any lost funds. So what’s good for the goose is good for the gander right?

Oh wait, except when you’re a bunch of hypocrites.

I just finished a conversation with my school friend who has two girls, one 15 months and the other 3 years, about vaccination. She relayed to me a story about her mothers and babies group where one such mother had steadfastly refused to have her kids immunised and was making a song and dance about the fact. This erked my friend, since she has been vigilant about getting both her girls immunised according to the Australian Government’s recommendations. She informed me that when you get your kids vaccinated in Australia, the government (in fact, Centrelink) send you $200 for the privilege.

It seems they also send this money to conscientious objectors. The objector in question proudly told my friend she had signed a statutory declaration, under the watch of her GP, detailing her reasons for not having her kids vaccinated. Despite this, the Australian government still sent her the $200, normally reserved for those who have their kids immunised. This mother was very proud of the fact, which eventually resulted in her being involved in a rather large argument with the rest of the parents who were essentially protecting her child via herd immunity.

This is interesting to know for me, as a non-parent, and as a person interested in the anti-vacc crowd, since they never seem to mention that you also get money for refusing to get your kids vaccinated. However, they are very quick to mention that doctors get paid for reporting the vaccination of kids.

Hypocrisy? I will do some further research and get back to you, but I smell a rat.

During a rant on her LBC radio show, she spat misinformation and conspiracy theories about the safety of MMR and vaccination. In addition to shouting over the top of nurses and GPs who had called in to politely correct her. But like Jenny McCarthy she has a “Mommy” instinct, so she obviously knows best. No-one can compete with that, least of all science.

When Ben Goldacre was sent a clip of her rant, he did the responsible thing and posted it to his blog so that millions of people could hear the irrational, ill-informed, potentially damaging opinions for themselves.

And believe me, you will not believe how bad this is until you hear it.

The response from LBC was to threaten Ben with legal action for a breach of copyright. This threat has backfired in a major way for LBC. By threatening to slap Ben with a lawsuit unless he remove the offending material (which he subsequently has), they have effectively started a huge Streisand effect which is currently resonating across the globe.

“To all of you Bad scientists, who are SO angry with me, good luck with your research. Should you fall ill I will attend you as best I can with my motherly love. Should I fall ill, as a non paid up member of your club, will you administer to me? And should I refuse your drugs then what?” Jeni Barnett

The mp3 appeared on Wikileaks sometime this morning with 13 servers hosting it from all over the world. People have already begun blogging it, with links to the Wiki page.

My good friend Res posted the entire 40 minutes (the excerpt originally on Ben’s blog) on my YouTube channel. Several people have commented that transcribing the segment is the best way to get around the legal red tape. Time will tell if this is the case, however…

Click here to hear the 40 min rant on YouTube

…I hardly think it matters anymore, following pleas for help on his blog and twitter, Ben has mobilised an army and this thing has gone viral.

As a example of Jeni’s complete lack of scientific understanding she said this gem during her show; “Have you had the flu jab? But still you’ve got the cold?”. The influenza virus is not the same virus that causes colds. FAIL.

Well done LBC for making what could have been an embarrassing stuff-up which may have resulted in a few cranky posts on Jeni’s blog into a world wide scandal. (Interestingly, someone calling themselves Andy Wakefield from Thoughtful House posted a message on Jeni’s blog offering assistance. Well, I guess he would know!)

Thank you Ben for bringing this to our attention. Thank you Res for posting this to YouTube.

Here are some other links worth reading.
Podblack
NHS Blog Doctor
Holford watch

Gasp as she reveals Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will have heart problems, that there will be a security threat on Barack Obama, and that the financial crisis is not over.

Here is the amazing video, you will believe!

The main stage, with a hippy banging a drum

Seems only yesterday when I had my first experience with this festival of “woo”. Some of you might recall my run in with a Live Blood Analysis salesperson, detailed on the SkepticZone podcast (episode 2) and the accompanying blog.

And this year looks to be a similar affair. A brief perusal of the programme revealed delights representing a wide spectre of woo, including Tea Cup Readings with Betty (sounds like something straight out of the 1950s), Nana Mays Magic Hands (ditto), the Church of Scientology, and Noseworks Neti Pots (I’m serious – check out the hilarious how-to video on the website).

The amazing computerised horoscope machine - looked like something from a 60s side show alley

Of note are several seminars from our favourite psychics from The One (more on that later) but one that immediately caught my attention was “Psychic Spoon Bending and Egyptian Alchemy” by Elisabeth Jensen. Who is Elisabeth Jensen you ask? Some of you may remember her from this gem of a video, in which she bends spoons with her psychic powers and the muscles in her hands! Seriously folks, her preceeding spiel is a lot of jibberish about meditating and imagining the spoon getting white hot, that there is a candle flame underneath it etc., then she simply physically bends it! I urge you to take a look at the video, you won’t believe your eyes! So I imagine this is what she had planned for MB$ next week. Andy Milman, spoon-bending extraordinaire and myself plan to attend, just to see it for ourselves. (Note: Elisabeth requests that you please bring your own spoons).

Fry and Laurie bend spoons

Next on the schedule is the (Rev Dr) She D’Montford. She is giving a seminar about discovering your own psychic powers so that you too can be “The One”. According to the programme, She will also reveal the secrets of what really happened behind the scenes on “The One”. Hmmm. Sounds intrguing.

Next on the schedule is Ezio De Angelis! His seminar is entitled “Connecting with Spirit”. I anticipate a whole lot of, “Can I come to you my sweets?…is there a problem with the plumbing my love?…” in rapid fire. This guy’s cold reading is a bit like John Edward, fast and furious, thereby increasing the chances of a hit.

Head in on Friday at 4.30 pm to see Mitchell Coombes, “Psychic to the Stars” in “Messages from Beyond”. Yet more cold reading. But cheaper than going to his stadium shows, a bargain at $16 for the festival compared with $35 for his RSL tour.

Some of the other gems making up the free seminars include “Weight loss, causes of weight gain, how to lose (but spelt “loose” in the programme) weight and keep it off” with Natasha Flynn. No information is provided as to Natasha’s qualifications apart from “works alongside Dr Sandra Cabot” who wrote the best selling book, “The Liver Cleansing Diet”. It appears Dr Cabot (or McRae) is a legitimate doctor which makes her promotion of “woo” even more unacceptable. and according to her website she studied medicine at Adelaide Uni, my alma mater (how embarrasing). I’ve got an idea for how to lose weight and keep it off, eat less and move more. Simple. Sheesh.

And yet more nonsense “Food Intolerances, Digestive Enzymes And Alkalisation” presented by Philippe Thebault. This guy has discovered two new enzymes that increase your ability to digest food. BS.

So there we are people, 4 days of nonsense, expensive supplements, magic Goji berries from the Amazon, nose candles (possibly I made this up) plus all the usual suspects like reiki, chiropractic, iridology, magnets, chinese medicine, cleansing etc etc. Fortunately, there is no sign of the Live Blood Analysis people. Shame, these guys really get my goat, they had me shaking in the corner last year (ask Andy Milman if you don’t believe me).

If you be brave and live in Sydney, come join us on Sunday November 9 at 1 pm for a trip to the other side.

We spent a LOT of our own precious time in the audience watching the making of this dreadful show, purely in support of Richard. It was at times tedious, but overall a very good education in how psychics do their stuff. Over the five weeks of recording there was always a representative or two from the sceptical community, so collectively we didn’t miss an episode. This gave us precious insight into the editing process too. Typically, 6 – 8 hours of footage would be recorded a week and eventually whittled down to the 43 minutes you would see every Tuesday evening.

Hence, there was plenty of time to make mistakes, and LOTS of excuses for getting it wrong. Particularly with respect to the off site tests, when we did the sums, the results were ~92% fail! In fact, it was only in episode one, the lost boy in the bush where the psychics had any success. One may have just got the lucky, the other ran around for 15 minutes until the entire area was covered. Sheesh we can do that too! It would be interesting to repeat this test with seven lay people and see how we do.

I digress…Suffice to say, much of the footage ended up on the cutting room floor a lot of which was when the psychics didn’t get hits. Unfortunately this also applied to Richard’s comments so I guess we can’t cry foul there. In the early days of broadcast, I heard some criticism from sceptics accusing him of not being hard nosed enough, not mentioning the buzz term “cold reading “ etc. Well I’m here to tell you that he did do these things. He did get frustrated and call them out when necessary. Unfortunately this just doesn’t rate. The producer’s designed a show for entertainment and ratings. The populus is not interested in a bunch of psychics being wrong and looking silly. And it worked, the last episode (the just-awful-bad-taste Peter Falconio ep.) was the highest rating show in the country, attracting 1.5 million viewers.

And despite the fact that Richard’s approach was as the “humanist sceptic” i.e., nice not nasty, people still thought he was mean. Recently, whilst doing a Mystery Investigators show at the Australian Museum for Science in the City, one of the girls in the audience told Richard, prior to the show commencing and BEFORE she recognised him, that that guy from The One was a “meanie”. Later as the show progressed and he put up a photo of himself from the set, the poor kid cringed and put her head in her hands! Don’t worry all was forgiven when he signed her an autograph, bent a spoon or two and had his photo taken with her.

Just last week Richard and I went to Adelaide, South Australia to attend the National Sceptics Convention Australia where we stayed with my folks. My Mum’s hairdresser was a big fan of the show and was heard to say following the Falconio debacle, that the police simply must head up north, she was convinced they would find his remains (grrrr). When Mum subsequently mentioned that Richard was currently staying at her place, the hairdresser’s response was, “Doesn’t he spook you?”. Well, yes he does, but not for that reason…

Richard "The Spook" Saunders. Also known as a "meanie"

In any case, we witnessed an awful lot of guessing and classic cold reading techniques being thrown about, some more blatant than others. And the excuses were always the same. This is a collection from my memory, (so don’t quote me on this) but you get the idea and I note, these were used multiple times.

I was nervous performing on television

I interpreted the psychic messages wrong

On Ned Kelly’s bones, they were where I said they were, even though they were not

I’m not used to performing in this environment (hmmm, well a fair few of you do stage shows so that doesn’t cut the mustard with me)

I wasn’t listening to my spirit guides

My spirit guides were punishing me for being too confident (well then, fire them!)

I was reading the person next to you

You may not know about it now, but go home and ask your family, you will find a connection somewhere.

When I said it was definitely not silver, I meant that silver is considered to be Gold in some parts of the world (wha?!!)

This is not what I normally do

I did not go with my first choice, which was right

On the airport luggage challenge, the people were standing too close to one another

I never claimed to be always accurate

This always works for me at home

I had no time to practice

The times for the tests were too short

‘Nuff said