Cinema Libre's Philippe Diaz Tries to Bully "Vaxxed" Critic into Silence

Cinema Libre Founder and CEO, Philippe Diaz
Source: Cinema Libre Studio

Apparently, Philippe Diaz, founder, president, and CEO of Cinema Libre Studio, is a litigious bully.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back up and start by introducing you to Fiona O'Leary. Fiona is the mother of five children, living with her husband in Ireland. Two of her children are autistic, as is Fiona herself. Several years ago, she became an outspoken advocate for autistic rights, campaigning against quack autism treatments like MMS, chelation, GcMAF, and so on. Last year, she was featured in an Irish documentary called Bleach Cult, which detailed the bleach treatment known as MMS, a protocol created by ex-Scientologist Jim Humble. She also worked with the Illinois attorney general to shut down MMS promoter Kelli Rivera. In April 2015, Fiona and her husband, Tim, founded the charity Autistic Rights Together, an organization of autistic and non-autistic individuals dedicated to promoting the rights and respect for children, teens, and adults on the autism spectrum.

On July 19, Fiona started a Change.org petition to stop the film Vaxxed and its production team (Andrew Wakefield, Del Bigtree, and Polley Tommey) from spreading its anti-vaccine message (e.g., stating that there is no safe vaccine) in the state of Texas, and possibly beyond. The petition notes how the film and its production team are spreading misinformation about vaccines and autism around the country, particularly during the Q&A sessions after some of the screenings. Examples include Polly Tommey telling people that pediatricians are dangerous and should be avoided, Tommey saying that she would never judge parents who murder their autistic children, and Bigtree's urging of anti-vaccine activists to exercise their second amendment right to bear arms in their fight against vaccinations. Fiona also notes Bigtree's comments comparing autistic individuals to chimps and dogs, as well as how the supporters of Vaxxed ridicule autistic individuals who protest the film.

This is where we get back to Philippe Diaz and Cinema Libre's threats. On July 21, he sent a letter on the studio's letterhead to Mrs. O'Leary threatening her with legal action.

What does the dox say?

The other day, a friend of mine wrote a blog post about how an anti-vaccine Facebook page was taken over by someone who worked their way up to admin privileges, locked out all of the other admins, and then started posting goat memes, a practice known as "goating". My friend had been invited to take part, but by the time he took a look, the goating was well underway. All he did was write up a blog post describing what had happened, mentioned in passing that he had enjoyed watching events unfold, and giving a history of how goating started.

And for that, he was doxed.

Are You Weird? Not on the Internet! #NeverWeird

Nothing weird or dorky to see here.

Ever feel like you don't quite belong? That something you do, or something you're interested in sets you apart from other people, but not necessarily in a positive way? I've certainly felt that way. I geek out about something or make some dorky joke and just get blank stares, or people suddenly find something intensely interesting somewhere else. Before sci-fi and fantasy were considered acceptable fare by the general public, I was into dragons and magic. I liked Star Trek. Hours ticked by while I played games on my computer. And role-playing games? When, where, and what type of character is needed? Don't play? I'll show you the ropes. Online role-playing games? Woot! I spent a number of years playing a MUD (multi-user dungeon, basically a text-based online game) originally named "F-----" (sorry, gotta avoid infringing on a trademark owned by some ocean-adjacent spellcasters). Eventually, I moved on to be a builder, creating large portions of the world. When the trademark owners decided they wanted to get in on this whole online gaming thing, giving an ultimatum to the owner of the MUD to buy a license or shut down, I spent a hectic several days converting the entire world to remove any trademarked words and change descriptions. I spent hours every day playing, building, and running quests. After a few years, the game took a hiatus. Although I helped start it up again, I realized that it took over too much of my life and that I had to give it up. I scaled way back, ultimately quitting the game.

But no matter how geeky my interests, I still held back a little bit so I could "fit in" (sorta) with "regular" people (not to mention my fear of getting sucked into something that would eat up all of my free [and not-so-free] time). And because of that, I wasn't quite geeky enough for the geeks. The really hard core gamers? I might as well have had three heads when I showed any lack of knowledge about the latest game. I'm weird. And I'm proud of that.

The internet, however, is something of an equalizer. No matter what your interests, no matter how odd your sense of humor, you will find a community online that accepts you and welcomes you for who you are. Online, you never have to worry about being "weird". That's one of the big messages in Felicia Day's new book, You're Never Weird on the Internet (almost).

Rob Schneider, Censorship and Free Speech...and Measles

What is it with the anti-whatever mindset and claims of censorship? It seems to be a feature of these types of people, that they claim their free speech rights are being infringed upon when other criticize what they say or call for them to face reasonable consequences for their actions. I've written about this before, in the case of Jenny McCarthy, when she was being considered to join The View. Jenny McCarthy, as regular readers will know, was, for a time, the celebrity face of the anti-vaccine movement. She held rallies, gave interviews and was all around a very vocal proponent of anti-vaccination tropes. When the news came out that she was going to be on The View, many in the health and science community were concerned that she was being given a platform on which to spew her nonsense, lending her a legitimacy that she had not earned or deserved. They made their opinions known to the producers of the show. The anti-vaccine community, predictably, went into a frenzy, accusing science advocates of infringing on McCarthy's free speech rights and trying to censor her.

The latest D-list celebrity face of anti-vaccinationism is comedian Rob Schneider. He has not been shy, at all, about voicing his opinions on how bad he thinks vaccines are, whether on Twitter or in radio interviews. His public pronouncements on vaccines recently came back to bite him in the butt. And, once again, the tired old false arguments about free speech were trotted out and dusted off.

Beware the Wakefraud

The sun set long ago, and outside, the world sleeps. Only the occasional passing car breaks the tranquility of the night. Inside, a lone figure sits before a laptop. The lamp on the desk sheds a soft, if weak, light, nearly drowned out itself by the cold illumination of the monitor. The figure's fingers tap out a few final strokes, then move to the mouse. She drags the cursor across the screen and clicks "Publish". A sudden flash of lightning and thunder, then the room goes dark.

A low, quiet chuckle filters out of the laptop as the screen fitfully flickers back to life. On the screen, four words shed an ominous, baleful glow:

The Wakefraud had struck.

Sharyl Attkisson Accuses Critics of Astroturfing

Back on Monday, Labor Day, I wrote about an execrable piece of reporting that appeared on CBS This Morning just over a week ago. The story was about Dorothy Spourdalakis, mother and murderer of Alex Spourdalakis. Earlier this year, Dorothy and Alex's godmother, Jolanta Agatha Skrodzka, plotted for at least a week to kill Dorothy's son, a 14-year-old boy with severe autism. At home in the apartment in River Grove where the three of them lived together, Dorothy and Jolanta drugged him with sleeping pills, and when that did not kill him fast enough, Dorothy, as she admitted and is reported in various media outlets, used a kitchen knife to stab Alex in the chest four times, hitting his heart twice. She then slashed his wrist so severely she nearly severed his hand.

The CBS story, however, does not tell the story of cold-blooded, premeditated murder. Instead, it shows Dorothy kissing Alex and washing his feet when he is in the hospital. It portrays her as a loving mother who, pushed to extremes of stress by, as the report says, a system that failed her. What is not in that story are some very important facts that, had the reporter included them, would have made for a very, very different telling. A theme that runs throughout the whole piece was that Dorothy had no support, no help. For example, Dorothy's lawyer is shown, saying, "Every door closed. She had nowhere to go. She had nowhere to take her son. There's no help for him." That is at odds with other reports. For example, the Illinois Autism Society offered support, but Dorothy turned them down and only requested a lawyer. The state's Department of Children and Family Services offered respite care and psychological counseling, but the family refused this help. Also left out of the story is the background of the "documentary" produced by Polly Tommey, of the Autism Media Channel (AMC), as well as her connection to Andrew Wakefield, also of the AMC, who was working on the documentary before Alex's death as part of a reality TV show. And yet another factor omitted was the connection between Dr. Arthur Krigsman, who reportedly diagnosed "lesions" in Alex's stomach, and Andrew Wakefield: they used to work together at Thoughtful House in Texas, and Dr. Krigsman bases much of his treatment philosophy on Wakefield's now-retracted paper purporting to find a connection between MMR vaccine and gastrointestinal disorder. Meanwhile, Alex himself was portrayed as a violent, difficult to manage young man with no hope of a future. It is, sadly, the image that all too often is presented of those with developmental disabilities like autism. And it is false.

In the end, many science and autism bloggers rightly criticized the story for its many faults (Liz Ditz has curated a robust list of responses). Now, in my post, I did not mention the reporter's name, because, really, it isn't particularly relevant to the problems with the piece (except insofar as this particular reporter has a history of promoting anti-vaccine pseudoscience). But she has been active on Twitter recently digging an even deeper hole for herself.

Jenny McCarthy, Censorship and Free Speech

Most of you have probably heard by now that anti-vaccine activist Jenny McCarthy has been picked to be a host on ABC's The View. Following the announcement, there was a media uproar lambasting the decision. Newspapers, magazines and blogs erupted with posts questioning the wisdom of giving her a platform with millions of viewers from which she could spew her vaccine-related misinformation and fear-mongering. Some took the angle that she should get a large platform so that more people can see just how ridiculous are her views on vaccinations. Toronto Public Health even went so far as to tweet, urging people to contact The View and ask them to get rid of her:

They aren't the only ones, either. Before the hiring was officially announced, Phil Plait over at Bad Astronomy urged people to write to the producers, as did Just the Vax. There is even a Change.org petition to remove her from the show.

It isn't much of a surprise, then, that her supporters among the anti-vaccine community are all up in arms, crying "Censorship!" and lamenting about the infringement on McCarthy's First Amendment right to free speech. I didn't comment on this whole thing when the story first broke, because, well, everyone else had already said everything. But I would like to touch on that whole free speech issue a bit.

Happy (Belated) Blogiversary

So, I missed my own blogiversary yesterday. At least I remembered it was sometime in February. At any rate, three years ago, on February 5, 2010, I started this blog. Back then, it was name Silenced by Age of Autism. It was an apt name at the time, since my primary intention was to give people a voice to post their comments that the editors at Age of Autism blog censored. I had attempted to engage Kim Stagliano and some of the other commenters over at AoA in reasonable discussion. I followed their commenting guidelines. I kept my tone civil, even though I disagreed with what they were saying, and yet they saw fit to ban me. And even though I asked, I still have not received any answer.

Not that I need one. Age of Autism is an echo chamber of anti-vaccine conspiracy-think. The editors want to give parents who mistakenly believe that vaccines cause autism a "safe" and "comfortable" place to gather. By that, they mean no dissenting opinions; no questioning of the status quo. Such things might make people feel uncomfortable (having their beliefs questioned) and, horror of horrors, it make them actually think, and no one enjoys that. So instead, if it looks like someone can pose a serious threat to the calm, tranquil, hate-fueled environs of AoA, they are silenced. That's how it all started, but things have changed.

Stop Criticizing Me or I'll Blow Up the Internet!

There is something strangely fascinating about the tactics that anti-vaccine cranks use. Reading their various rants and how they react to critical refutation of their arguments, it becomes very clear, very quickly, that these are angry people. Ruled by their emotions, I wonder if they ever actually take the time to distance themselves from anything to think it through before reacting. We've seen it time and time again. Some of the things they say and do, particularly when they've had at least a little time to consider their actions, just astound me.

The latest in the "And you thought that was a good idea?" line of actions comes from Hollie. Hollie has a Facebook page called Motherhood: The Truth. (I have this image of a bunch of young moms sitting around a table with cards in their hands: "I play 'Timeout', followed by 'Warrior Mommy'.") On this site, apparently after some folks posted comments taking her to task for her anti-vaccine claims, vaccine-related posts are taboo (unless, of course, they're anti-vaccine...then it's okay). At any rate, the folks on the Anti Vax Wall Of Shame (AVWOS) countered her claims, which Hollie didn't like. No, not at all. So what did she do? She targeted one of the members of AVWOS.

Censored on Dan Olmsted at Autism One on The Wakefield Inquisition

It's been a while since I've put one of these posts up. One of my readers tried to leave a comment over at Age of Autism on the post Dan Olmsted at Autism One on The Wakefield Inquisition. I'm putting this up so that any comments which the moderators at AoA censor can still see the light of a computer screen. If you have tried to leave a comment on that post but were censored, feel free to copy your comment below. Include the date and time that you tried to post, if you can.

I.D.I.O.T. Director Muzzles Public Health Educator for Being Mean

March 1, 2012 - In a shocking move, Bouffon L. Kiekenlever, MSW, Director of the Infectious Disease Information Outreach Team (IDIOT) at the Madonnaplot State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, muzzled a public health advocate and educator's personal outreach efforts. In a statement released by the IDIOT, Ms. Kiekenlever acknowledges that she literally gagged Robert Morgan Sliepcevich, an infectious disease investigator for the department, and tied his hands in response to several complaints made by members of the public.

"He had developed a habit of teaching people, in easy to understand terms, concepts about infectious diseases, epidemiology and statistics," said Kiekenlever. "That upset people."

The complaints were lodged by members of the online community Age of Unreason, many of whom subscribe to the tabloid broadsheets published by the National Vaccine Misinformation Center. One of these letters was leaked to Harpocrates Speaks.

Defending a Fearful Magic

I suppose that writers should, in a way, feel flattered by the censorship laws. They show a primitive fear and dread at the fearful magic of print.

-- Sir John Mortimer, Clinging to the Wreckage, p. 183

I've been debating with myself whether or not to write this post. In fact, it's taken me a very long time to put my thoughts down, and I've even held this post back even after I finished it. You see, a recent post of mine was received somewhat, shall we say, unfavorably by someone. I had put down my thoughts on some general rules to follow when writing things on the internet, whether it's in a blog, comments on a newspaper article, Facebook, what have you. As some illustrative examples of what not to do, I included some screen shots of this individual's tweets and other comments, but never actually used the person's name in my own composition, though she did identify herself in the comments, later on. In fact, she left her comments only minutes after sending me an e-mail.

I had tried to inject some humor into the post as a means of keeping the issue light while still providing an educational point. But, as anyone who has done extensive writing or reading in the skeptical community, you can probably see where this is going.

How Not to Make a Fool of Yourself on the Internet: A PSA

It seems that there are people out there who may, perhaps, lack a certain understanding of just how the internet works. They may write some ill-advised comment which draws well-deserved criticism. They might follow this up with additional statements which serve only to attract more criticism, with a big ol' side of humiliation. Maybe they do not realize that in the internet, nothing is truly erased.

And so it is that I find myself here, offering up some advice to the poor, self-centered, crass, ignorant folk on the internet. Even though doing so may rob myself and other bloggers the entertainment of invoking the Streisand Effect, I feel that there are those who may benefit from some instructive illustrations.

Paying to Volunteer

This past weekend, while many were getting together with family and friends, sharing in feasts, watching TV and spending too much money on holiday shopping, a story erupted among skeptic circles. Like many such matters, it began with the actions of an apologist for what is, at best, questionable science and at worst rank quackery. An individual, Marc Stephens, put himself forth as representing one Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski. Mr. Stephens, you see, took it upon himself to defend the reputation of the good doctor, going so far as to rattle his saber and issue legal threats to Andy Lewis (aka Le Canard Noir) of Quackometer and teenage skeptic Rhys Morgan. They were to take down their less than complimentary writings about Dr. Burzynski or face a libel suit. We've seen this kind of thing before.

May As Well Try to Stop a Storm...

Clouds gather on the horizon. Thunder, like deep, rolling laughter, rumbles forth. A storm is gathering. Watching the approach from a vast, flat plain, a lone figure stands, clad all in maille and wearing the livery of his liege lord, shouting defiance to the heavens while brandishing a long metal pole. Marcus had always envisioned himself a great warrior, yet his simpleness of mind was apparent as he stood on that plain, watching the storm draw nearer and nearer.

Behind him rose the small, yet ornately decorated manor house of his lord, Stanis, whose wealth was accumulated through false promises to those desperate enough to turn to him for succor. The manor was surrounded by open land sloping gently down to the building. Its moat was filled with the dreams and hopes of the sick who sought relief at its doors.

Lightning flashed, arcing through the air between cloud and servant, drawn to the idiotic pomp enshrouding Marcus. Bolt after bolt zigged and zagged to the metal man, and every one then being drawn to the manor house and the lord watching from its lone turret. The more Marcus shook his fist impotently at the sky, the more frequent and powerful grew the display of light. He would as soon try to silence a speaker of truth as stop the storm about to plunge him, and his Stanis, under a flood.
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To put this all in context, check out the posts linked by Liz Ditz, Josephine Jones and Anarchic Teapot. For how the storm started, check out Rhys Morgan and Le Canard Noir. And if you like this little story or think that the tin man needs some more well-directed shocks, please consider sharing this on Twitter.

A Brief Note on Legal Thuggery and the Silencing of Others

A friend of mine, we'll call him Mr. T, was recently the target of the negative attentions of a bully, we'll call him Mr. BS. You see, Mr. BS said some defamatory things about some people on twitter. Mr. T didn't take kindly to it (after all, he pities the fool that bullies others) and called Mr. BS on it, going so far as to write up a blog post, stating facts about the exchange, as well as some additional information about Mr. BS. This ruffled Mr. BS's feathers, but rather than doing what a normal person would do and contacting Mr. T privately to work out the disagreement, Mr. BS published Mr. T's work address, phone and e-mail address on Twitter and in the comments of a news article, as well as blast e-mailing just about everyone at Mr. T's place of employment, threatening law suits if Mr. T didn't back down.

Imagine for a moment a purveyor of health and science information. The don that controls things on his street comes by and tells him to pay up or he's gonna break some kneecaps. In the situation with Mr. T, the "payment" is to cease all use of social media on topics of public health and instead of breaking kneecaps, he stands to lose his job. Why such a strong reaction? Because Mr. T's overseers viewed Mr. BS's sabre rattling as enough of a nuisance that they just wanted to avoid any legal issues altogether, thinking Mr. BS more of a tiger, when in reality he's closer to a gnat.

Autism One: Pick Up Your Police Escort at the Reception Desk

Time to take a trip back to some subject matter that was at the creation of this blog: censorship, autism and anti-vaccination sentiments. It should come as no surprise to anyone who reads here regularly that I take these issues rather seriously. Generally speaking, censorship seems to go hand in hand with the anti-vaccination folks within the autism community (and let it just be said that the autism community is very broad, with the anti-vaxers representing a rather small minority, thankfully). Silencing dissent is a favored tactic, as evidenced by the "editorializing" favored by such luminary and (mis-)informative sites as Age of Autism, among others. Where truth and reality rear their ugly heads, there will always be a moderator close at hand to protect their quailing, fragile readers, making such reason-based comments disappear down the memory hole before a single electron hits the screen of an AoA reader.

Should you decide to attend an event organized by those with anti-vaccination notions, be not afraid of having your tender sensibilities bruised, for there will be an ever-so-polite and helpful event organizer to call the police to haul out any suspicious-looking persons. Yes, though they may be mild-mannered and behaving themselves, who knows when they will utter uncomfortable truths? Best to remove them, without any justification, before any charlatans or quacks can be challenged, before any parents, trying their best to cope with a child with a disability about which, frankly, not a great deal is known, can have the scales removed from their eyes and their wallets protected from expensive and utterly useless treatments. Fear not, for brave folks like Teri Arranga will quickly summon hotel security and police to deal with anyone she thinks may pose a threat to your delicate sensibilities.

New Name: Harpocrates Speaks

Over the past year, my topics have drifted away from focusing solely on comments that have been censored by the moderators over at Age of Autism blog. While I still think that people should have a place to copy their comments, to have their voices heard, I want to broaden the scope of this blog. With that in mind, I have decided to rename Silenced by Age of Autism.

After asking for suggestions and racking my own brain for ideas, I stumbled onto something that I think is quite appropriate: Harpocrates Speaks.

Age of Autism Owes Me a New Irony Meter

So, I heard about some rumors that Age of Autism had their Facebook account removed. Out of curiosity, I wandered over to their main blog page. As I scrolled down just a bit, I saw something that caused my irony meter to go sproing!

There was a post title "Even the Kids Know" consisting solely of a picture and a caption.

Here's a screen shot:

Censored on Autism Advocacy Organizations and Parent Groups Support Dr. Andrew Wakefield

If you have made comments on the Age of Autism article Autism Advocacy Organizations and Parent Groups Support Dr. Andrew Wakefield, please copy your comment here, including the date and time you posted at AoA.