More Talks by David Kirby
June 15, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Just as he announced that he would be addressing the House of Lords in the UK earlier this month (an event attended by 1 MP, 4 Lords, and some others), so journalist David Kirby has noted that he will be speaking in June at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island; New York University Law School; and Northeastern University in Boston (he lists the times and dates on the Huffington Post).
The event at NYU Law School is hosted by Mary Holland, Esq., who is the Director of the LLM Lawyering Program at NYU Law School, and the event at Northeastern is hosted by Richard Deth, Ph.D., professor of Pharmeceutical Sciences at Northeastern University. Ms. Holland also blogs about the Autism Omnibus proceedings on the Age of Autism website, and Professor Deth, who has done research on autistic children not being able to excrete neurotoxic metals, is registered as a paid expert witness in the vaccine litigation omnibus proceedings.
Ms. Fournier, who is noted as hosting David Kirby’s speech at Brown University, is the President of the National Autism Association (which contends that there is a link between autism and vaccines) and, per the NAA website, a resident of Rhode Island. I am not sure if Mr. Kirby is speaking under the invitation of someone at Brown University. Perhaps the Salomon Center for Teaching, where he is scheduled to speak, seemed a good venue, and one available for an outside group hosting a non-academic event especially in the summer months.
David Kirby notes that he “sincerely encourage any and all vaccine-autism skeptics, critics, agnostics and cynics living in the northeastern US to please consider attending one of these talks, armed with all of your most pointed, difficult and critical questions” and notes that he will also be speaking in New Jersey, Long Island, and southern California, about vaccines, air pollution, mitochondrial disorders, and the like. (Not exactly about autism, that is.)
“…air pollution…”.
Laying the ground for the next thing?
As a teacher of several students with severe mitochondrial disease (including c-oxidase deficiency and Leigh’s Disease) , who cannot speak, walk, use their hands, who eat by g-tube, who have progressive illnesses and are considered to terminally ill, who have lose siblings to the disease; I would love to fill the audience of the Kirby event near me with my students and their friends with mito and ask him to explain to them why he his hijacking their disease for his twisted agenda. Seriously I would love for him to look my students in the face and tell them why he is turning the disease they lost their brother to, the disease taking their motor skills and that will likely end their lives and tell them why he is turning it into a political issue.
Agnostics? So it *is* a matter of faith.
David,
you want to talk to skeptics–here we are. We respond on your blog. Take part in the discussion.
Ms. Holland’s educational background is quite impressive. I note though that her focus in research is a bit chaotic:
Globalization of Legal Education
International Human Rights Law
Post-Communist Eurasian Legal Development
Vaccine Safety Law and Vaccine Injury Compensation
I wonder what her background is in that last research interest is because her C.V. wouldn’t appear to show much interest in the science behind paid PR man Kirby. I would like to ask Mr. Kirby if he is on the payroll of SafeMinds and Mr. Handley.
David Kirby has been challenged on blogs and by email. He generally dodges such challenges. He said he would respond to questions put to him on the British Medical Journal’s Rapid Response board very close to 3 years ago… Kirby slithered:
“In a future correspondence, I will respond to the original review in the BMJ and the various posts on this site that have questioned my methods, intent and even my integrity. Some good points were raised, and I am more than happy to address them.”
We’re still waiting, Mr. Kirby.
Mr. Kirby wrote travel articles for the New York Times. Why would he want to answer questions about medical and educational issues on autism?
Wait… is this a way for him to get other people to pay for his travel expenses?
I am in the greater Boston area and plan to go to the one at Northeastern.
I would be happy to coordinate with anyone else who is interested and prepare handouts, etc.
I don’t want to make the focus of this to be pro-NO but to try and kill the false “mercury causes autism” idea.
Shame on Kirby for exploiting Tim Russert’s death to publicize his own views about autism, and shame on Kirby for using the Huffington Post to publicize his speaking engagements (all organized by his friends).
“I would love to fill the audience of the Kirby event near me with my students and their friends with mito and ask him to explain to them why he his hijacking their disease for his twisted agenda. Seriously I would love for him to look my students in the face and tell them why he is turning the disease they lost their brother to, the disease taking their motor skills and that will likely end their lives and tell them why he is turning it into a political issue.”
—Kate
Good point. From the outside, it can look like just another asinine ploy to push his agenda. But it’s also an insult to many actual people, and not merely an assault on reason.
So far, this kind of empathy hasn’t been seen in his writings.