Denial Desperation

Guest Posting by Concerned Observant Citizen

The death of Emery Taylor has set off a disturbing action in the “dissident” (denialist) community.  They have taken this death as a Publicity Opportunity to “Circle the Wagons”.  Mr. Taylor’s death has become a call to arms to batten down the hatches and decide if you are a true “dissident” or a “denialist”.  This has started because Mr. Taylor’s death was a “classic AIDS Death” according to Gos, an AIDS dissident blogger, who is also afraid this fact “will prove to be a massive crisis of faith for many who currently call themselves ‘AIDS dissidents’”.  Gos goes on to conjecture that the truth of Mr. Taylor’s death “will make or break us.”

How AIDS Denialism Can Kill You Part VI: Emery Taylor Dies at age 28

The Rethinking AIDS Website predominantly displays Emery Taylor as one of many people  living just fine without HIV medications. The Home Page at Rethinking AIDS says…

.

“HIV+ for over 10 years, no meds, healthy”

Emery Taylor was interviewed at the RA2009 Conference:"According to the numbers I have AIDS, but when you look at me you see a healthy 28-year old ... I don't spell AIDS at all ... I work 70 hours a week ... It's just not consistent with what my doctor said would happen eleven years ago when I tested positive."

Emery Taylor has died. The following Facebook page announces his memorial service.

"It's with heartfelt sympathy that Rehoboth Temple communicates the passing of one of its members, Emery Taylor. 
Our condolences and prayers are with his family, friends and the many whose lives were touched by him.


See past stories on How AIDS Denialism Can Kill You
Part V: Karri Stokely 
Part IV: One Too Many Coincidences 
Part III: Lambros Papantoniou
Kim Bannon
Part II: Henry Bauer
Part I: AIDS Myths Exposed

Goodbye to another reckless source of AIDS Denialism

Mothering Magazine Ceases Publication

 BY SIERRA ON FEBRUARY 15TH, 2011 @  http://blogs.babble.com

After over 30 years of publication, Mothering Magazine is leaving the shelves. Mothering will continue as a web-only organization, but the magazine has printed its last issue.

Mothering has long catered to hippie mamas, featuring stories on attachment parenting, cosleeping, natural foods and creative play. The magazine, and more recently the message boards, have been a home base for parents with an alternative viewpoint for generations.

The magazine announced the change on Facebook today, surprising their thousands of readers, many of whom hold subscriptions to the print magazine.

The January/February and March/April issues of Mothering will still be published, but in web-only form. After that the magazine will cease publication altogether, though Mothering will continue its message boards and other online activities.

Montreal Gets a Crash Course in AIDS Denialism

HIV denialism has taken too many lives  

Beware the medical myth that HIV is harmless or doesn't even exist  

By KEN WITWER AND SETH KALICHMAN, Montreal Gazette February 11, 2011

What if most everything you think you know about HIV and AIDS is wrong?" This, according to Terry Michael in his opinion piece "Junk science and AIDS" (Gazette, Feb. 5) is the question that HIV-positive boxer Tommy Morrison is asking Canadian officials in his plea to fight in Quebec on Feb. 25. Morrison has repeatedly tested positive for HIV and refuses to take an HIV test that is mandatory if he is to take part in the fight. The authorities require the test because, fairly or not, they do not want to risk Morrison's infecting his opponent or anyone else who comes into contact with his blood.

Rather than encourage Morrison to take the simple, routine HIV test, ending the speculation about his HIV status and clearing his way into the ring, Michael astonishingly states that HIV tests are not accurate and that HIV, the cause of AIDS, does not even exist.

The science is indisputable. HIV tests are among the most accurate tests for any medical condition. HIV/AIDS has caused tens of millions of deaths: men and women, old and young, gay and straight.

UPDATE: The Kansas City Star has printed a very sad account of Tommy Morrison's life in AIDS denial. Click here for that story.

HIV denial is fatal

The most convincing argument that the virus causes AIDS is that anti-retroviral medications are prolonging the lives of millions

Montreal Gazette Feb 10, 2011

How I wish that the opinion article "Junk science and AIDS" by Terry Michael (Gazette, Feb. 5) had begun: "Once upon a time there was a wicked journalist preying on sick and dying people ..." Instead, the article brought us a seemingly reputable journalist publishing a vitriolic and prejudiced rant exhorting Canadians to know that "there is not now and there never was a human immunodeficiency virus.".

Michael is wrong - as are the arguments he uses to deny that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can cause the fatal destruction of the immune system that we call AIDS. Were his article to have been government-sponsored, people would in all likelihood be crying propaganda! It is incongruous and inexplicable that the executive director of what is claimed to be a prestigious and responsible U.S. journalism foundation could write such a misleading and harmful article.

I will not address the prejudiced, pejorative nomenclature Michael uses -such as "lucrative profits," "incestuous urban gay enclaves," "victims of a multi-billion dollar HIV-AIDS industry." Nor will I address his distorted presentation of the science and history of HIV/ AIDS with which he justifies his denial that HIV can cause fatal illness. Science establishes its truths through reproducible and peer-reviewed evidence, not by what politicians, journalists, or even individual scientists might "declare." The quality of science that explains the cause and disease mechanisms of HIV infection that lead to AIDS, and that underlies the development of highly effective anti-HIV treatments, resulted in a 2008 Nobel Prize being awarded to the two scientists who discovered HIV.

Peter Duesberg and the Other Top 9 Most Controversial Professors in America

OnlineUniversities
Peter Duesberg. This professor was much admired and respected at his University of California-Berkeley campus, and has completed some incredibly respectable work. But a recent article in Discovermagazine brought to light some of Duesberg’s more controversial, perhaps even unsavory, beliefs to light. Since 1986, Duesberg has been an adamant AIDS denier, believing that the illness is caused by drug use rather than by the HIV virus. Despite a lack of evidence backing up his claims, as well as some concerns about ethics in regard to his published articles, Duesberg’s views have affected international AIDS policy, especially in South Africa. It is thought that the government’s refusal to provide anti-viral medications to AIDS patients, believing with Duesberg that their condition was not caused by a virus, led to hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths.

Is Boxer Tommy Morrison's Cut-Man the Dumbest Guy on the Planet?

Boxer Tommy Morrison tested HIV positive in 1996. Sadly, he had to stop boxing and gave up a three fight deal worth over $38 Million.

When Earvin 'Magic' Johnson faced the same tragedy, I remember feeling great sadness for him, his sport, and his fans. I was living in Chicago in 1991 and in case you do not remember, in 1991 Chicago was focused on Michael Jordon and NBA Basketball.  Magic Johnson's announcement that he was retiring from the LA Lakers after testing HIV positive stunned the world. Perhaps outside of LA, no place could have been more devastated than Chicago.

Those of us working in AIDS research at the time knew everything in our city had changed. I remember thinking how basketball must be a pretty low-risk sport when it comes to HIV transmission. No question, B-ball is a high contact rough sport. But aside from President Obama's recent lip injury, I am not sure when the last time was that I saw a player bleed on the court much less on a fellow player.

The Anti-Science of AIDS Denialism: New Must Read Blog Post

AIDS Denialism: Deadly Ignorance Part I@ In Vivo Blog http://cwgk.blogspot.com/
Those of us in the skeptical community are no strangers to whacko medical theories. It seems every week there is another quack promoting a new "naturalistic" diet or treatment. By far, though, the brunt of a skeptic's time is dealing with denialism – groups of individuals denying that contemporary medical practices don't work or are even dangerous. In the last few years, the anti-vax denialists have been in the media spotlight due to their elaborate campaigns and the outspoken celebrities like Jenny McCarthy who have taken up the anti-vax fight. But there is another camp of deniers festering away in the underbelly of alternative medicine. These people are the AIDS deniers; people who claim that AIDS is not caused by the HIV virus, but rather that it is actually caused by drug use. Some even go so far as to claim that HIV does not exist! Given the horrifying prevalence of AIDS in third world nations and even its alarming proliferation in developed nations, increasing support for AIDS denialism is not simply worrying but outright dangerous.

AIDS denialism has been known to me for some time, having learned about it from reading about Nobel Prize winner Kary Mullis, who is one of AIDS denialism's best known proponents. Though, given Mullis' colorful personality I figured he was just a lone crank. It was not until this past week when a good friend of mine, SofiaRune, began to get comments on a Youtube video she produced about debunking the link between HIV infection rates and male circumcision. A user by the name of "mykoolaidtastesfunny" made a variety of claims about how AIDS and HIV are not linked, and how HIV has not been shown to exist. He also posted a video by a variety of AIDS "skeptics" repeating his points. Immediately we began to investigate these claims. In the following series of posts, I'll address the claims of the AIDS "skeptics". In Part I, I will focus on the video that started it all…
To read the entire post (and others), click here

BBC Horizon "Science Under Attack" seeks to understand denialism

Science Under Attack
BBC, January 2011
BBC has produced a great episode of Horizon focusing on Denialism. They have a short segment on AIDS Denialism that features well known AIDS skeptic (I am being respectful here) Tony Lance. The show is hosted by Sir Paul Nurse, Nobel Prize winning biochemist. The focus is mostly on global warming denialism and it does a fantastic job laying out the connections that all denialists share. I was interviewed for this piece, but they ended up not using me. Oh well. No hard feelings. Tony Lance made the point far better than I ever could. The BBC showed me a wonderful time - on a charter boat along the Hudson River at sunset! Views of Manhattan that I will never forget. It was amazing to talk with Dr. Nurse. Really thought provoking piece and well worth the time. Click here to watch.

Holocaust Denialists are only asking questions to encourage debate. Sound familiar?

E-Mail About Book Questioning the Holocaust Shakes a School

By FERNANDA SANTOS

 New York Times January 25, 2011

The e-mail list of the Public School 290 PTA is a useful source on matters like fund-raising, after-school programs and the rules for the talent show coming up. It is not known to provoke strong feelings

But the message that went out at the wee time of 2:18 a.m. on Jan. 16 disturbed many of the parents who bothered to read it. “You should read this book! It is rocking my world!” read the message, floating over a book’s cover. The cover had a dark Star of David at the bottom, the Nazi flag at top and the title in between: “Debating the Holocaust: A New Look at Both Sides.”

Why we should care about AIDS Denialsm: AIDS Denialist doctors group and Senator Rand Paul call for repeal of health care reform

Vocal Physicians Group Renews Health Law Fight

Barry Meier

New York Times

Published: January 18, 2011

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons is pursuing the repeal of the health care law, but some medical groups say the association, with 3,000 dues-paying members, doesn't represent most of the nation's physicians.

A small professional group of doctors involved in the effort to repeal the new health care law has a history of opposing government involvement in medicine, including challenging President Bill Clinton's attempts to overhaul health care in the 1990s.

Rand Paul made opposition to the health law central to his successful Senate bid in Kentucky.

The group, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, has exerted vocal influence in the country's health care debate, despite having just 3,000 dues-paying members. Other medical groups assert that the association's positions are unrepresentative of most of the nation's 800,000 physicians and that its scientific views often fall outside medicine's mainstream.

Junk Science Isn't a Victimless Crime

Vaccines don't cause autism-and there was never any proof that they do. Too bad kids had to die while we figured that out. 
By PAUL A. OFFIT
The Wall Street Journal January 11, 2011

 In 1998, a British surgeon named Andrew Wakefield published a paper claiming that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine might cause autism. To support his case, Dr. Wakefield reported the stories of eight children who had developed symptoms of autism within one month of receiving MMR. He proposed that measles vaccine virus travels to the intestine, causes intestinal damage, and allows for brain-damaging proteins to enter children's blood streams.

 The problem with Dr. Wakefield's study-published in the Lancet, a leading medical journal-was that it didn't study the question. To prove his hypothesis, he should have examined the incidence of autism in hundreds of thousands of children who had or hadn't received MMR. This kind of study has now been performed 14 times on several continents by many investigators. The studies have shown that MMR doesn't cause autism.