One of the current targets of the Australian Skeptics is the Australian Vaccination Network. I will not stoop to link to them, though a swift search engine foray will either get you to their site or, depending on how the skeptics have reacted, a googlewhacked site explaining their work.
Essentially, under the guise of "caring for the children", the Australian Vaccination Network is actively discouraging vaccination for children.
Yep, that's what I said. They're discouraging vaccinating your kids. I don't wish to cover old ground, so I'll point you to my good friend
Doctor Rachael Dunlop's blog, which has extensive coverage and linkage on the subject of the AVN. The background is not my issue.
My issue for the evening is the kind of people you end up talking to when you engage with the AVN's supporters.
There's a Facebook fan page for the AVN. We skeptics, of course, can rarely resist such things, and I've spent some time this evening poking away at it, questioning some of the wild claims made by AVN supporters, along with many of my skeptical buds.
But I never thought I'd have a sitting duck with a giant target painted on his ass just pop up in front of me
Screenshot:
So, as you can see, our friend Erwin Alber has quoted an eminent doctor in defence of the AVN's cause. Except he hasn't. He's quoted a convicted criminal and charlatan.
So either Erwin is a flat-out liar, or he's too dumb to check wikipedia before quoting. Or both.
I think both.
[Update: 20th July 2009, 10pm]
Erwin is a bit sore. Here's a private message he sent me on Facebook a little earlier:
What Erwin fails to understand is that the "Stop The AVN" page is not mine. The information on the owner is easily available to anyone with a will to find it. There's a clear list of the 3 admins on the right hand side of the page, but Erwin, well, he doesn't seem to realise this.
In the matter of a couple of simple exchanges, this prominent supporter of the AVN has revealed himself to be utterly incapable of the most basic levels of research. Which pretty much sums things up.
Oh, and lastly, Erwin's ban from the "Stop The AVN" page (for excessive spamming, not for dissenting opinion) was lifted around the time I got his pleasant missive above, as a result of discussions had among the group's members. He was warned that spamming the group would result in a renewed ban, so let's see how that goes for a while.