Bolen breaks silence, wind with threat v. Tsouderos

[David Brown]

I was waiting to see if Bolen would write anything more about DDI v.
Barrett before either a judge dismissed it or DDI mustered the sense
to abandon it. But, it turns out I missed a post four days ago, in
large part because, for some reason, Bolen didn't post about it on
usenet. To remedy that, here's another installment of MYSTERY BOLEN
THEATER!!

“The Desperation Level in the Quackpot camp has reached an all-time
high.  The Doctor's Data v Stephen Barrett Federal Court case is so
devastating to them that they are, without doubt, at a point similar
to where the Japanese High Command was when the Americans were
designing the attack on their mainland towards the end of Word War
II.”
So, what exactly does Bolen think “we” have to be “desperate” ABOUT?
As of early this month, DDI's DOA lawsuit has been met with an
affirmative defense, a request for summary judgment, a statement of
intent to file for “SLAPP” dismissal, and a motion for sanctions. The
closest thing to a setback for Barrett's defense was that a January 13
hearing on the motion for sanctions was postponed until February.
Meanwhile, DDI's most notable actions were to ask for more time to
respond to Barrett and file a case summary which they then filed a
motion to withdraw it from the record. If anyone should be desperate,
it's Jeffrey Levens, who might be personally disciplined if the suit
leads to sanctions.

“The Japanese, at that point, put together a very desperate three-part
strategy:  (1)  Kamikaze airplane pilots who would sacrifice their
lives driving their airplanes into American naval ships.  (2)  An
organized `fight to the death' to defend the homeland, and (3)  a
continuing propaganda effort to do two things (a) convince the
Japanese people to keep fighting, and (b) convince the American
soldiers that millions of them would die during an invasion attempt of
the mainland.
“Did the tactics work?  Well, yes and no.  The Kamikazes were not
particularly successful, and the organized "fight to the death" and
the supposed killing of millions of US servicemen in an invasion
issues were solved, very effectively, by the employment of the two
nuclear weapons used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“Then, as history points out, the US High command simply parked the
battleship  USS New Jersey off the Japanese coast and said "Come on
out here and sign these `Unconditional Surrender" papers before we
decide to get angry and REALLY do you some harm..."”
For once, Bolen offers an account of facts that is mostly
unobjectionable. The problem, of course, is, which side does the
analogy really apply to? And while we're talking about strength or
weakness, why didn't BOLEN post a promo for this piece on the
misc.health.alternative google/ usenet group? Might it have anything
to do with my epic overkill in taunting him, including but not limited
to posting thirty-eight pages worth of text almost entirely by copying
and pasting his favorite “threat”?
https://groups.google.com/group/misc.health.alternative/msg/6883444bcbf0558d?hl=en&&q=Bolen

“Barrett's Masters and Minions are reeling...
“The Doctor's Data v Stephen Barrett Federal Court case has the
quackpots, simply said, up against the wall.  They can see the
invasion fleet sitting there at the outer islands, so to speak.  And,
it's anxious move time.”
So, Bolen still expects someone, somewhere, to believe that people who
support Barrett are or have any reason to be in fear of DDI, their
lawyers and their SLAPP suit. Meanwhile, the Bolenator himself has
stopped posting on a usenet board where it happens an “Evil Possum” is
ready to pounce at any sign of activity. So, who's really afraid?

“Keep in mind that virtually everything Barrett and company do has to
do with smoke and mirrors.  It is all illusion.  Stephen Barrett is
not in charge, and did not design the project.  Someone else did, and
someone else is running it - not Barrett.  And, that `somebody' is
manipulating the Defense case to try, frantically, to keep from being
officially `Discovered.'"
Now, Mr. Bolen, I believe I've already gone over this: If Barrett had
anything to conceal, a massive “fishing expedition” is NOT an
effective way to find it.

“Of course I know who is running the illusion, and how it is done, and
`No' I am not going to tell you all about it today.  You are going to
have to keep reading my newsletters.  (smile here).”
Does that mean that if enough people stop reading Bolen's newsletter,
he will shut up? In that case, it seems like a risky thing to say.
Rather like the time a televangelist said God would strike him dead if
there weren't enough donations, without considering how many people
might want to see him dead.

“But let's get back to Trine `Two Shoes' Tsouderos, and her pathetic
attempt at fifteen minutes of fame.
“American newspapers are on their ass... as well they should be.
“Trine `Two Shoes' Tsouderos is a writer for the failing, failing,
failing, failing, failing, failing, failing, failing, failing Chicago
Tribune.  These days she virulently attacks the Autism bio-medical
treatments and parents.  Not long ago little Trine (with only one
shoe) was writing suburban restaurant reviews. Then, I suspect,
probably on the edge of being laid-off, she was recruited to become
part of the new breed of so-called `Investigative Reporters,' the ones
that get funded by outsiders for their work.
“Yes, that's what I said `funded by outsiders for their work.'”
Ah, the irony... So says the man who took over $100K from a cancer
quack who died of cancer, whom a court denounced as a “paid
troublemaker”, who's wasted ten years of his life and probably over a
million dollars in other people's legal bills on a vendetta against a
retired psychiatrist. And sometime soon, I ought to post my file on
bolenreport.com analytics...

“American newspapers are nearly dead - for they held on to old ideas
about news distribution way too long.  Now they are playing catch-up -
as fast as they can, and they are WAY behind the ball in this market.
“Way behind the ball...”
Would those “old ideas” include only delivering to people who WANT to
receive your “news”?

“So what are the newspapers doing?  They are scrambling to find
anything, virtually any kind of (censored) tactic, to get readers -
for it is numbers of readers that generate advertising dollars.  News
vehicles that formerly relied on printed pages are suddenly thrust
into the internet competition for readers.
“One of the tactics beginning to be employed is a thing called "paid
content," and it is controversial.  It comes in two parts:  The first,
where a reader pays to log on to a news source, and the second,
something called `crowdsourcing' where a so-called `Investigative
Journalist' gets funded by someone.  See the quote from the Wikipedia
article:
"`The increased accessibility and interactivity of online journalism
has also created new opportunity in the guise of crowdsourcing,
enabling people to get investigative journalists working on stories
that they themselves have suggested and funded.[8]'
“An article on `crowdsourcing' describes the practice thus:
"'Basically it works by members of the public providing suggestions
and tips for stories. When a journalist accepts a suggestion, he
creates a pitch, which is then funded by those who are interested, in
a piecemeal fashion. Once written, the story is published or sold to a
mainstream media outlet.'"
Let's see if I can summarize: Journalists ask for money from the
general public for the stories they want to write and a significant
number of people want to read, THEN they sell the resulting product
commercially. And, Bolen is COMPLETELY against it. I guess he would
rather be supported by clicks from people he send unsolicited emails
to.

The North American Health Freedom Movement's communications network...
“There is a BIG difference in the way that members of the North
American Health Freedom Movement and the quackbusters  communicate
with the public.  Health Freedom people communicate with massive email
lists.  Small State or regional groups run lists of 40-50,000
reachable by pressing the SEND key.  Larger groups normally run in the
hundred thousands, with many running in the millions of email
addresses.  It is how we roll.”
Might this have anything to do with many people sharing Bolen's habit
of putting names on lists whether they wish to be or not?

“The quackbusters, on the other hand, can't compete for that kind of
interest.  Probably the biggest email list in quackbusterland is
Barrett's Consumer Health Digest, which runs around 12,000 emails. 
This small group uses an entirely different communications route to
meet the public - they use SEO (Search Engine Optimization) tactics to
dominate the search engines so that when an unsuspecting member of the
public types in a key-word on a search engine (Google, Yahoo, Bing)
their articles come up fist on that search engine.  That is how
Barrett's poorly written, (censored) articles appear on the first page
of Google.
“Why the difference?  Because the North American Health Freedom
Movement is so large - dominating the quackbusters 100,000 to 1. 
Maybe more.”
So, let's see, according to Bolen, there are 12,000 names on one
“quackbuster” mailing list. 12,000 times 100,000 is 1.2 BILLION.
That's close to the estimated population of China, about the same as
the figure for India, and more than twice as much as the figures for
the USA, Canada and Mexico COMBINED. So, Mr. Bolen, where exactly
would these “members” of your “movement” be? Perhaps that would be
counting multiple personalities of “health freedom fighters” who
object to taking their medication.

“So, let's put this into perspective.  What I'm saying here is that it
sounds impressive to have a writer from the Chicago Tribune commenting
on something, but the reality is that even an average size newsletter
for a Health Freedom Movement group has a bigger circulation than the
entire Chicago Tribune.  Put the Health Freedom lists together over an
issue and we can generate in the tens of millions of emails.  And, we
do that regularly.”
And what “lists” would these be, Mr. Bolen? And incidentally, the
DAILY reported circulation of the Chicago Tribune is over half a
million. Would you care to name a newsletter that can do that EVERY
DAY?

“So, where's the part about Tokyo Rose?
“Trine Tsouderos is hosting Stephen Barrett today on her blog.  The
subject of which is:
"Join us at noon CT (1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT) on Tuesday, Jan. 25, for an
hour-long chat about detoxing with the Tribune's health reporter Trine
Tsouderos and panelist Stephen Barrett, M.D..
This chat will take a skeptical look at `detoxing'--the popular, age-
old therapy for a wide range of ailments, from Alzheimer's disease to
autism. What's the scientific evidence supporting the therapy? Are
detoxing treatments like chelation safe? How reliable or interpretable
is the lab testing done to measure metals and other chemicals in the
body?'”
So, let's see: Is Bolen saying that Barrett or Tsouderos were going to
talk about Doctor's Data? Or the suit against him? No? So what IS
Bolen saying? Perhaps what he means to get across is that someone who
is a defendant in a lawsuit should lose the right to speak through
the media, and that plaintiffs should use lawsuits specifically to
threaten third-parties who associate publicly with a defendant. Gee,
that sounds like saying that the “health freedom” movement should put
an end to free speech and freedom of association. And incidentally,
Mr. Bolen, what exactly do you think such behavior has gotten YOU,
other than an Evil Possum who followed you home from Orac's blog?

“Pay attention to the words above `This chat will take a skeptical
look at “detoxing.” '  Pay attention to the word `skeptical.' 
Virtually ALL of the promo for this blog comes from the `Skeptic' SEO
network - the same network that puts Barrett's crappy articles at the
top of the search engines.”
And what are some EXAMPLES of these “promos”? Orlandosentinel.com.
Usatoday.com. Fox8.com. Latimes.com. Is Mr. Bolen claiming these are
all examples of a “`skeptic' SEO network”? And on what basis?
Reposting something with the WORD “skeptical”? Gee, by that
reasoning, BOLEN could be in some network with BARRETT. And that
would go a long way toward explaining why the Bolenator won't stop
trying to “help” DDI.

“Now comes the good part...
“The way a blog works is that the owner of the blog, in this case
Trine `Two Shoes' Tsouderos, has control of who can comment, and then,
consequently, what the public actually sees - in short, giving the
blog owner editorial control over the content, which, in legal terms,
means that Trine "Two Shoes, and her so-called `panel,' is about to
involve herself, and her personal assets, in the Doctor's Data v
Stephen Barrett Federal Court case.”
So, in addition to opposing things like free speech, freedom of
association, sending news to willing subscribers and being paid for
what you write by people who want to read it, Bolen also has a problem
with blog owners controlling their own blog. Okay, then, Mr. Bolen,
let ME control YOUR blog. Or, I can ask Ms. Tsouderos, Liz Ditz, Dave
Gorski and 12,000 Consumer Health Digest subscribers, all of whom you
have tried to threaten by saying we would be “new defendants”, for
financial assistance in a suit to take it from you.

“I love it.”
Not for long.