An Analysis of the Lowell Hubbs "Counter-Blog"

Ok I'll admit it - after I received a message from a contributor about one of Lowell Hubbs' responses to one of my previous posts, curiosity got the best of me so I decided to look with my own eyes.  Obviously I am not about to spend hours upon hours reading every link and sentence Mr. Hubbs has provided as 98% of it is merely cut and pasted from his website or other websites from known antivaxxers, but I did spend a couple of minutes looking at it to get an idea of the content and the structure.

Here is what I found within a single one of Mr. Hubbs ramblings:

• Number of embedded URLs found within the post: 168  (Yes really... 168)
• Number of YouTube Videos presented as if they are "fact": 2
• Number of images used (several in direct violation of copyright protections): 9
• Number of references to Mercola websites: 13
• Number of references to Lowell's own blog as if it is a legitimate source: 5
• Number of statements or URLS obtained via his "University of Google" education: hundreds
• Number of references to the known and proven conspiracy theorist library whale.to: 7
• Number of references to a web.mac.com personal blog: 4
• Number of references directly to "Dr" Tenpenny's online supplement store: 1
• Number of references to biased (non-scientific) websites such as ageofautism and natural news: Too many to count
• Number of references to peer-reviewed scientific studies, published medical journals, or other mutually accepted sources of scientific and medical material anywhere on the planet which show a link between vaccines and autism, the MMR vaccine and autism, thimerosol and autism, or any combination of the above:  0
• Once again showing that Mr. Hubbs has zero knowledge of the scientific method, a complete misunderstanding of the concept of burden of proof, a lack of the ability to rely upon proven science, the inability to formulate a post without feeling the need to continually refer to previously discredited "experts" and a very strong overusage of websites, blogs, and known fellow anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist source material with an obvious complete and total misunderstanding of what he is actually reading:  PRICELESS

Aside from the fact that Mr. Hubbs is still trying to use sites like whale.to to make a point even though it has been 100% discredited in every scientific circle on the planet, and aside from the fact that Mr. Hubbs is still attempting to defend the 100% discredited Andy Wakefield, and aside from the fact that Mr. Hubbs relies upon himself as a source when he quotes his very own website (which leads to even more links and unsupported blogs, which in turn lead you back to some of the very own sites he listed originally), and aside form the fact the Mr. Hubbs actually has pasted the same information more than once because he can't even figure out how to cut and paste properly, the simple reality is that to anyone who doesn't go by the name Lowell Hubbs, that entire blog is a total trainwreck which actually only serves to harm the antivaxxer movement. 

As it seems, not only is Mr. Hubbs not taken seriously by the medical or scientific community at large, but as it seems he isn't even taken seriously by the primary anti-vaxxers.  That is like a group of skunks ignoring and avoiding one single skunk because they all think he smells bad.  This lack of credibility on Mr. Hubbs' part is why not a single one of the "established anti-vaxxers" has ever associated themselves with Mr. Hubbs even though he proclaims to have "one of the best anti vaccination sites on the planet" and has admittedly spending countless hours and "all of his available time" performing "research" via google and typing letters to the editor, posting on chat boards, posting comments on medical blogs etc, etc.

The bottom line is even when Mr. Hubbs does reference a real study or a legitimate table found on a reputable unbiased website, he doesn't have the knowledge to interpret the data properly therefore he makes up (or likely repeats) the incorrrect conclusions about the data, or in many cases merely makes statements that have no bearing on nor any relation to the information presented.  It goes without saying that if a single blog post has to contain well over 160 links to other websites and blogs, that the author of the post is unable to actually formulate his own thoughts, do his own research, or publish a well thought-out and well argued blog post.

Mr. Hubbs has a long way to go when it comes to matters of science, but it would appear he also has just as long of a way to go when it comes to matter of writing, debate, and basic logic.  A word of advice to all of you reading this: If you are still school age, please stay in school.  If you are older and have kids - please ensure they stay in school, because we can see in Mr. Hubbs what happens when you are a poor student and make poor decisions, and clearly that is NOT the type of future you want for yourself or anyone you may care about.

There is some good news to come from Mr. Hubbs continual ramblings however.  It shows people just how unstable and insane the anti-vaxxers are, which in turn leads them to real doctors, real science, and real medicine, which in turn helps keep vaccinations numbers up, and preventable diseases down. 

Thanks Mr. Hubbs!

Andrew Moulden: Still a Quack

A frequent contributor to this blog sent me a message which was commenting upon one of the statements Mr. Hubbs wrote on his website. Apparently Mr. Hubbs was trying to develop some type of a "response" to my expose on Andrew Moulden, so he provided the following quote:

"Your statement that he took 8 years to try and complete a residency, that only qualified for 3 years, is total bullshit. Where and how can you verify that crap. Dr. Moulden is a brilliant man, and was in the top of his class." ~ Lowell Hubbs

I'm not sure how far I can dumb this down so someone like Mr. Hubbs can understand it, but I'll give it a shot. I provided the specific link which proves the fact that Moulden tried for eight years to finish his residency and never did, but apprently Mr. Hubbs is incapable of actually reading the source material that is presented to him. The fact Moulden never finished his residency is not in dispute even by Moulden himself, yet here we have the vaccine conspiracy theorist Mr. Hubbs try to claim it isn't true.

The simple truth is anyone can examine the certification in the link I provided in the original post (or since Mr. Hubbs is likely too ignorant to go back and look, he can also find it right HERE). That information is directly from The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (as I mentioned in the original post), which is where Moulden attempted to complete his postgraduate work (he attended both the University of Ottawa as well as the University of Toronto - both of which are verified on the website referenced above). Since the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is the one and only licensing body in the entire province of Ontario, if it isn't listed on their website it just didn't happen no matter how bad Mr. Hubbs or Mr. Moulden wish it to be true.

Why do I suddenly feel like I am going to have to teach a remedial geography lesson to Mr. Hubbs before he understands all of this?

Note to Mr. Hubbs: Ottowa and Toronto are both cities in the Canadian province of Ontario. (I probably shouldn't assume that you understand Canada is the country directly to the North of the US, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on that one) A province is much like a state here in the US, but the difference is there are only 10 provinces (and three territories) rather than 50 states. Because of this, and because both Toronto and Ottowa (where Moulden attended his post-graduate universities) are in Ontario, Moulden's post-graduate results would be found in The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario website, and since it shows his failure to complete an actual residency... well you do the math.

In any case these facts are not in dispute which is why Moulden has never been able to practice medicine, and why he is never going to be taken seriously. He is a drop-out who couldn't even complete a basic five year residency program when given eight years to do so. In fact he couldn't even make it beyond the first three years when given eight years to do so (please note Mr. Hubbs that he started his residency in June 2000 and by June 2008 he was still working on his third year of residency - you do the math), and as such he has no license to diagnose or treat a patient either in the US or Canada.

These are facts. These are provable facts. These facts are not in dispute. Now if Mr. Hubbs or any other anti-vaxxer wishes to claim otherwise, it is their duty to provide some hard facts to support their statements (which we all know they cannot do).

The whole lack of a medical license is what got Moulden into trouble for his "BrainGuard" con-game, so if the man really wants to help people the first step would be to actually obtain a license to practice medicine. Granted the only residency he was even attempting to complete was in psychiatry rather than neurology or immunology or any other related field, but we will go ahead and gloss over that minor detail since he never finished it in the first place.

I guess there is no money to be made by spending years at a teaching hospital however, so like all the good little snakeoil salesman before him, Moulden figured out it was much more profitable to give seminars and produce DVDs or sell nutritional supplements to idiots who can't even verify credentials when they are put directly in front of their faces.

Either that or he wasn't smart enough to actually complete the residency. Take your pick Mr. Hubbs, because those are really the only two options.

This is why it is impossible to ever teach Mr. Hubbs anything, because he refuses to acknowledge facts even when they are presented to him in black and white. This is also why Mr. Hubbs will remain nothing other than a vaccine conspiracy theorist - because not only does he like to ignore indisputable facts that are given to him, but he even goes so far as to make up wild stories about hackers, hitmen, and other "powers that be" who are forcing people like Moulden to run for cover, but yet he is never able to provide so much as one single piece of evidence to support those wild claims.

As to Mr. Hubbs comment about Moulden being "in the top of his class", this is yet another parroted statement that comes from the lips of Moulden himself, yet there is zero evidence that this is factual. Thus if Mr. Hubbs wishes to actually run around making such a claim, it is his duty to support it with evidence. I have discussed his reliance upon argument from ignorance in the past, but something tells me Mr. Hubbs probably lacks the intelligence to understand what his is doing is nothing more than rehashing logical fallacies time and time again.

The bottom line is that it is never acceptable to merely repeat a statement of another without any supporting evidence as that is hearsay. It is also never acceptable to expect someone to "disprove" or "refute" something unless you are able to actually prove it in the first place. I could easily say that the planet Neptune contains a delicious peanut butter center and then tell Mr. Hubbs that it is true because he can't prove me wrong, but thankfully for anyone who understands logical fallacies and the rules of debate (not to mention basic scientific theory and common sense) that form of argument simply will not suffice.

Granted for a "cut and paste" google educated expert like Mr. Hubbs, if you took away his ability to rely upon hearsay or unsubstantiated rumors or his heavy dependence upon logical fallacies he wouldn't have a whole lot left to talk about, so I don't expect anything to change in the near future.

Maybe that brain-damage Mr. Hubbs admitted to in the past makes it impossible for him to understand such simple concepts, but if that is the case I highly recommend he shy away from operating an automobile or any heavy machinery and stick to riding a bike... maybe one of those bikes that has a nice tray on the back where you could haul groceries or library books rather than a car (because we all know Mr. Hubbs history behind the wheel of an automobile).