A Simple Request For Lowell Hubbs

If there is one thing I have learned since starting this blog, it is that vaccine conspiracy theorists don't like it much when you question their views.  They like it even less when you use legitimate science and peer-reviewed research to invalidate their opinions, and they absolutely hate it when you use their own words to show how ignorant they are about matters of science or the world around them.

This is probably why, even months after being banned from commenting on this blog, Lowell Hubbs continues to try to add various comments to this blog on a regular basis - sometimes as many as ten comments in a single day.  Once I informed Mr. Hubbs I would no longer post his nonsense he became rather agitated and actually increased his daily visits to this blog.  Perhaps even more disturbing is how he visits the blog numerous times each day often hours apart as if responding to the posts here has become his sole purpose in life.  I guess that isn't necessarily a bad thing if it keeps him off the streets and occupies enough of his time that he can't pollute legitimate scientific discussion elsewhere, but one has to admit it borders on obsessive.

In truth I had hoped to start allowing Mr. Hubbs to comment again because frankly much of my best information comes from his own words, and the posts that have received the most traffic on this blog are those that stem from statements has has made here or elsewhere.  However, Mr. Hubbs has had to resort to dishonesty and deceit as he has continually attempted to post comments under other names in the hopes I might actually publish a few of them.  Of course Mr. Hubbs is quick to deny this fact, but it seems odd that he complains about me not publishing comments which he wouldn't even know exist had he not been the one to submit them in the first place.

Then again, it seems odd that half a dozen different usernames all originate from the same source too.  It is also odd that different usernames all seem to refer me to the same anti-vaxxer websites, rely upon the same grammatical and spelling errors, contain the same improper use of participles, run-on sentences, and the overabundance of common splices.  It is odd that all of these different usernames use the same version of Internet Explorer, log on during the same time of day, and of course exhibit the same psychotic behavior by posting angry, profanity laced messages mixed in with a dose or two of random conspiracy.

But I'm sure those are all just coincidences, because of course Mr. Hubbs denies that he has ever posted as anyone else.  Granted he has actually been caught doing this on several occasions elsewhere as well, and although he initially tries to deny he is doing so, eventually he falls into the same pattern of lying in order to cover up previous lies, and eventually he gives up and just admits it is him as if everyone should just forget the fact he was lying about it in the past.

This is probably why nobody takes these vaccine conspiracy theorists seriously.  I mean honestly, why would someone take the word of a man who changes identities every time his views are questioned?  Why would anyone trust a man who has to post under dozens of different usernames just to defend statements he made under a different name?  Why would someone trust a man who refers to himself in the third person in order to act as if he is a separate person?  Why would anyone trust a man who has been caught lying about who he is time and time again?

The answer seems clear... nobody would.  This explains why nobody ever comes to the defense of Lowell Hubbs other than Lowell Hubbs.  I'm not talking about this blog by any means (although nobody defends him here either), but I'm talking about all of the other blogs and forums and websites that Mr. Hubbs posts on.  Everywhere he goes, he finds himself alone.  He isn't even able to make friends on well known anti-vaccination strongholds, and he is routinely mocked at any website that deals in matters of science.  In truth, the only place Mr. Hubbs goes unchallenged is on his own websites and blogs that are under his sole control and where he can refuse to allow anyone else to comment. 

This is why it bothers Mr. Hubbs that I haven't allowed him to have free reign on this blog.  It is why he spends hours upon hours drafting comments to add to this blog and why he has submitted hundreds of comments to the various postings here.  Literally hundreds of comments to this one blog alone some of which are 250 word single paragraph missives full of absolute rambling nonsense.  It is also why he grows more angry and bitter as time goes on, even going so far as to project his disturbing views on to others as he fabricates stories of him being stalked and hacked or that people are offering as much as $15,000 as a reward to "take him out", or that people have offered as much as $50,000 or $75,000 to harass and stalk him.

My only question is - where can I get in on a little of this cash? 

(Lighten up Mr. Hubbs... it is a joke)

The entire point is, if Mr. Hubbs honestly wishes to engage in any level of legitimate debate (which I fully understand is a gigantic stretch), the first thing he needs to do is start attempting to publish comments using his blogger ID.  That way everyone can be assured it is the real Lowell Hubbs posting as Lowell Hubbs since it would require his blogger login to post.  If he chooses to NOT use his blogger username, I'm afraid his comments will once again be diverted to the Spam folder... which actually isn't an issue for the 70 - 80% of his comments that are sent there automatically by Google.

That said, if I do allow Mr. Hubbs' comments to be posted - and obviously I'm not making any promises since he most likely will continue to attempt to post under whatever name he can think of that day - there is going to need to be a basic framework and a basic starting point to prevent Mr. Hubbs from moving the goalposts or switching to a new subject anytime he feels like it.

Thus, for starters, lets ignore the previous posts and focus on one issue and one issue alone.  For the sake of discussion, let's focus on the subject of vaccinations since that seems to be at the heart of most of Mr. Hubbs' random conspiracy theories.

If  Mr. Hubbs wishes to continue to comment here, he needs to show us his evidence that children who have not been vaccinated are healthier, or that children can be reliably protected from vaccine-preventable diseases without vaccination.

This is not a request to be bombarded with anti-vaccination websites nor is it a request to be sent YouTube videos, links to his personal writings, links to some self-proclaimed expert who once wrote a book on the subject, or some random Internet expert who has a website devoted to the subject.  This is a request for real, legitimate science.

I'm not asking for this science to be from a US government agency nor am I asking for it to be published by the CDC or FDA or WHO or anything of the like.  What I am asking for is legitimate peer-reviewed science published in a legitimate medical, scientific, or scholarly journal and that has been acknowledged as adding to the scientific field of knowledge on this subject.

It isn't really a difficult request.  If Mr. Hubbs believes that non-vaccinated children are healthier, it would seem sufficient to post a reference to one single legitimate study that shows this to be the case.  There is no need to muddy the waters with dozens upon dozens of links nor is there any reason to post a 1,200 word response full of opinion and conjecture.

One single study, one single link... one single response, posted by a legitimate blogger username.  It really should be that easy.  However, as we have all discovered time and time again, Mr. Hubbs is the type of guy who read some words and now thinks he knows something.  He is the type of man who honestly tends to believe that quantity takes precedence over quality.  This suggests he can't be bothered to provide legitimate science or a peer-reviewed study, because he just knows the truth and therefore shouldn't be required to prove it to anyone else.  If he actually does bother to comment on a subject, it typically comes in the form of a train wreck of a message that will contain 40 or 50 URLs the vast majority of which won't even relate to the original subject and the bulk of which are merely pasted from one of his many websites.

I hate to sound pessimistic, but I pretty much know how this will play out.  Either Mr. Hubbs will spam the comments section with dozens upon dozens of anti-vaccination sources mixed with some overtly biased 'expert' opinion, or he will claim that the truth cannot possibly be published in a legitimate journal due to the massive conspiracy which somehow controls the flow of all scientific information on the face on the planet.  Mix in a reference or two to the term "sheeple" along with a few links to his own personal website (which is in effect nothing other than a repository for other biased links and scientifically unsupported viewpoints) and you have the makings of a typical Lowell Hubbs response.

I'd like to be wrong... so let's see how it goes.