Sorry I’ve been away for a bit. I’m finishing up the details on my likely new job. I’m weighing my options. A well-paying job up north, or a not-so-well-paying job down south, but in a great place down south? The options are endless when the world is your oyster. I’ll let you know once that decision is made, but I’ll be traveling a lot to both places in the meantime. Me and Pedro (not her real name) have to decide.
Speaking of jobs, there’s a reason why I will keep the new job’s location, nature, and name very much hermetically sealed. Remember my first legal threat? The same guy has been at it again. This time, he’s going after Dorit Reiss, a lawyer law professor and vaccine advocate from California. And he has done it in the most creepy way:
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What? He didn’t have pictures of her kids to really ramp up the creepiness factor to 11?
Of course, if you’re diligent enough, you can find these things out on your own. The creepiness comes from a rabid anti-vaccine activist who continues to claim that his very much alive child is dead due to vaccines (hence his former Facebook name of “Death by Vaccination”) and his call for people to harass a vaccine (and, thus, science) advocate. If they can’t win the scientific argument, they’ll do this. They’ve done it before. They’ll do it again. Just read what “the kid” tried to do to Orac a while back, or what a “douchebag” did to Ren a couple of years ago.
It’s how they roll. It’s how they’ll continue to roll because the science doesn’t back them up.
The Poxes Blog 
And, even more crazy. The U/K Editor of that notorious anti-vaccine blog has posted this:
“Katie Couric on HPV Vax Damage Dorit Reiss’ Further Threadbare Arguments”
You have received “honorable mention” by the Editor, Reuben. He seems to have a fixation about Dorit; perhaps because she is educated, is a law professor, is extremely knowledgeable about vaccines and the diseases they prevent and is a child advocate….everything he isn’t.
Repeated insults and temper tantrums typically help illustrate that these anti-vaxers have no scientific grounds to defend their position. However, in cases like this, when they resort to personal attacks, deliberately revealing personal details and hurling threats, it becomes obvious that we are dealing with individuals that have severe problems.
On the one hand, it angers me, that they would target someone like Dorit, who is not only very intelligent and purposefully engaged in the vaccine conversation, but who is also extremely compassionate and considerate in how she addresses everyone online – even those that disagree with her vaccine sentiment. Yet, on the other hand I truly believe that many of the “characters” we repeatedly engage with have personality disorders, mental health issues and are in many ways extremely unstable. When I consider this unfortunate reality, I actually find myself feeling sorry for them. (Of course, that feeling passes rather quickly. About as quickly as they find their next victim.)
I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with this personally, and I’m sorry for Dorit as well. And as far as the new job, my vote would be to head south, even if it’s not-so-well paying. I’ve done both myself and have found the south to offer a much more enjoyable quality of life. Best of luck!
His alive son is dead? Is this the same way Jenny’s son “died for two minutes in front of her” then was soulless afterwards? These people sorely need a lesson in what death is.
Let’s even leave the anti-vaccine/anti-science nonsense out of this. How, in this age are these people able to get away with demonizing a condition like this?
Again, the anti-vax side never fails to surprise me with their bullying tactics.
Their accusations of bullying by actual posters well-versed in science, and at the same time harassing those same posters at their workplaces just smacks of hypocrisy.
Dorit, thanks for all of your posts and thank goodness that you have the support of your dean and university.
What is wrong with these people? They refer to their children who have been diagnosed with ASDs in the most awful terms and they are unable to get past the fact that their youngsters have special needs.
I have enormous respect for you, Dorit, Orac, Ren and every other blogger who posts excellent articles, in spite of the vicious harassing behaviors of the anti-vaccine, anti-science cranks. Thank you.
-lilady
Thank you, Lilady. If it helps, my Dean expressed his support of my activities.
Glad to hear your Dean has your back.
Thank you, Mr. Gaines.
And AoA has the gall to post about “vaccine-bullies?”
I might just need to buy those guys a Dictionary for Christmas….because a whole lot of words they use don’t mean what they think they mean……