I’ve incited the Defenders of the Truth(tm) part 1

In response to my post on H1N1 anti-vaxxers in Vancouver, I received the following email:

Hello Ian,

I just finished reading your piece re. Vancouver and “conspiracy theorists” which  put forth several flawed assumptions:

1- No one “crashed” the Kevin Annette event. Kevin Annette actually addressed the very  issue of the N1H1 flu and its relevance to indigenous populations at a downtown rally only a short while before he spoke at the VPL. Furthermore, he INVITED the audience to come hear him at the library where he said he would also address the issue of how smallpox was deliberately spread to such populations historically.

2- Infering that those who organized the rally are tied to/influenced by www.legitgov.org  has no basis. That same flyer cited The Center for Disease and Research Policy, The World Health Organization, The Times of India, The Telegraph and a number of other sources in the quotes included. Furthermore, the citation by legitgov.org re. vaccine manufacturers being exempt from liability in the event of vaccine induced damages has been alluded to by scientists like Professor Emeritus of Genetics, Joe Cummins of The University of Western Ontario, Dr. Tom Jefferson, European epidemiologist etc. Citing a source does not infer you are tied to that source… Our group is made up of individuals of diverse backgrounds and areas of expertize including teaching, nursing, science and research who’ve come together out of concerns re. the lack of transparency and questioning re. H1N1 and its fast tracked vaccine.

3-Re. the “crazies” on the flyer. No one in Vancouver wrote the words from The Project of the New American Century re. “targeting specific genotypes”, nor did anyone locally write; it’s “not determined if the virus was a natural mutation or bio-engineered. Many fear the latter.” That came from the Pentagon’s ‘Air Force 2025’ written in 1996. Nor did anyone locally create the image ‘Epidemics Made to Order’ which was taken from ‘Science Digest’, April 1951. No one in Vancouver forced Washington DC medical director of the DCHHS to say “This strain of swine flu influenza that’s been cultured in a lab..” HE made that comment, not us. And Neurosurgeon and MD, Dr. Russell Blaylock gave his article that “omminus” title not us. As for him quoting the well respected journal Virology re. the strange origins of the 2009 N1H1, other respected scientists have rightly questioned the origins of the latest human-avian-swine concoction, too. The flyer was simply a compilation of a few of many quotes “from the horse’s mouth.”

Lastly, as one of a number of individuals who attended Kevin’s talk re. residential schools after leaving the Art Gallery, I find your accusation and, once again, assumption that those who came “craftily” only did so re. the swine flu absurd and insulting. I personally know individuals who raised questions at the VPL (at the Art Gallery) only one or two of whom alluded to the H1N1. These people have known Kevin for years and respected his work re. exposing the crimes committed by residential schools … Once again, it was Kevin who spoke to the implications of H1N1 re. indigenous grops at the rally, and invited people to hear him at the VPL comment further re. smallpox etc.

Your comments are way off base,

Alright, regarding point 1, I did not have access to the knowledge that the anti-vaxxers were invited by the host. So it wasn’t so much as a lecture that was “crashed” as one where everyone but the hosts (CFI-Vancouver) had drank the anti-vax Kool-Aid.

Point 2: The reason I linked them to legitgov.org is because that’s where the exact flier they handed out came from. It’s not a matter of citation, it’s a matter of handing out some wacky fringe groups propaganda. If I handed out Conservative Party fliers, but said it was merely about the information on them, I’d still be a Tory hack.

I’m really not sure what point 3 is trying to get across, but if you hand out information from someone who says wildly outlandish things, I can thereby accuse you of the same.

Now he makes another point (this one isn’t numbered), where he feels like my comments were “absurd and insulting,” which, ironically, is how I feel about people who fear-monger about vaccines which are there to increase herd immunity to the masses. The residents of the Lower Eastside and aboriginal reserves are likely at a higher risk of exposure to H1N1 due to unsanitary conditions, and therefore the government feels that vaccinating them could save lives and prevent further spread of the disease.

I’m not going to concede being off base, because frankly, a flier from some conspiracy site isn’t going to convince me that your conspiracies are anything but just that.

And as for Kevin Annette, who was asked by CFI to speak on the topic of residential schools, I’ll hold him at fault for hijacking our meeting and taking it into quackery.

While he may have done some good work with the victims of those atrocities, it doesn’t make him immune from irrationality.